#I'm watching whatever actually live performances i can find and like

[idubildino]

dino is actually such an objectively solid vocalist and honestly in the like. upper ranks within the group overall

[bahrtofane]

soapy oh soapy

jude looses his lucky charm and looses his mind in the process

word count - 1.5K+

watch it - HAPPY ARPIL FOOLS. the most unserious fic to date ( jk theres one more coming )

p.s. -big shout out to my friends @aloejuicebr for fueling this madness u guys are real ones and even bigger shout to plooki @yayam26 for making soapy missing poster

-----

You end up forcing jude to do skin care with you after begging him for weeks because you just know you can work your magic and make him feel the best he’s ever felt. All you need is a night in. And time. Lots of time 

After some persuasion and begging, pouty lips and puppy eyes, he gives in. 

“Fine.” is all he says while you’re in his living room, legs over his watching a movie that you've long ignored in favor of bothering him. 

But you’re already giggling. Picking out a headband you want him to wear in your head. Pink care bear one it is. The night comes on a rainy day, he has a rare day off the next morning, so you want him to start it on a good note. 

You’re getting ready for bed, in your pjs, jumping about while you get your little baggie full of goodies out. 

“Here,” you hand him the headband,” put this on” pink care bear one just like you envisioned. 

He takes it, feeling the soft material while he hums, “what’s this for?”

“Keeps things out of your hair.” you smile, dragging him to his bathroom. You take about a hundred pictures, and he poses for you for each one. Giggling while you coach him into poses. You think you'll send a few to Jobe for good measure. 

You face the sink and think of a game plan. Eyeing the counter  

It’s here you first lay eyes on soapy. 

“Jude what the hell is that? "You grimace, looking at what looks like a dry stump of white something, sitting on its own little ceramic dish. 

Jude looks away, scratching the back of his neck, mumbling something under his breath. 

You swing your little kit on the sink counter, setting a hand on your hip,”what was that?” 

He sighs dramatically, putting his face in his hands,”it’s my good luck charm. soapy,” he wails. 

You snort, patting his back, “I'm sure he’s very uh lucky,” you give it a small pat. 

“No he is,” Jude brings his head up to face you, “ I know it. I've had him since before dortmund. “ he nods proudly. 

You grimace,”you’ve had a piece of soap for years?”

He only nods harder. 

“Okay jude. Whatever you say. “ 

“I am not getting rid of him,” he points a finger in your face. One that you gently move, pulling his hand into your own. 

“I didn't say get rid of him. Let’s get your skincare started, yeah?”

He nods, following you through the steps like a lost puppy. leaning down while you help him apply the creams and foams just right 

When it’s all set and done, he wiggles into bed happy as can be. Sighing deeply, “that was actually really nice. Thank you. “ 

peck! right on your nose. 

you laugh, “told you it would be nice. “ 

your next plan is to find a way to deal with soapy…

——-

Jude loses soapy. It becomes a whole fiasco. He can’t find him in the usual small little pocket in his duffel bag in the usual ziplock baggie. 

He’s frantic at his hotel, tearing his things apart, looking and relooking at the bottom of his suitcase. His jacket pockets, his pants pockets. 

He tries to think. Did he leave him in his bathroom? No. Can't be it. He remembers putting him inside the familiar zip lock baggie while getting the rest of his things ready. Where in the world did he go. 

His soapy. His poor soapy! How is he supposed to live in these conditions. He’s never. ever missed a single game without soapy. What is he supposed to do now? Loose?? There goes his good luck down the drain. Years of good performance is about to take a nosedive. 

When he’s set to do his routine face time with you pre game, you pick up on his sour mood. But he only brushes it off, blaming it on pre game nerves 

You don’t believe him, but don’t want to press

Jude pends 20 minutes locked inside the bathroom, head in his hands while he scolds himself. It’s a bar of soap he wants to scream, pull yourself together. But he can’t. Soapy has become more than just a silly little joke. He’s become attached to soapy, a part of his routine. He’d rather die than admit it out loud to anyone 

For now he sighs, smoothing his jersey down and getting ready to get on the pitch. 

——-

The only thing that’s been in his mind is getting back home and getting to the bottom of the mystery. Unfortunately for him, soapy is nowhere to be found in the bathroom. Not in the living room. The kitchen. The hallway. He thinks of hiring a cleaning team, but what is he supposed to say ? 

Oh hey guys clean my house and also be on the lookout for a dried out stick of white that looks like a finger haha. 

No. Absolutely not. 

He takes to his own devices and begins to tear apart his house in a desperate search for his beloved soapy. He spends the whole day on his hands and knees looking under places he didn’t even know his house had to begin with, squeezing under and into spaces he’s sure gonna regret tomorrow. 

It’s already dark out when he calls it quits. Nothing but a few bruises to show for it. 

He’s really lost him huh. 

——-

His behavior is soon picked up by teammates, coaches and staff. The usual cheery youthful Jude is replaced by a damp sluggish cranky one.

He’s silent at training, chewing the inside of his cheek while going through the familiar motions of each drill. 

Eduardo comes to him after they hit the showers, squeaky clean and ready to go home. 

“You good?”

Jude gives him a bashful nod, “yeah man. just a little worn out, don't worry.”

He gets a clap on the shoulder in response, and gives a tight lipped smile back. He’s gotta figure this out or it will start to affect more than just his mood. How stupid of him to let an old slice of a soap bar affect him so much. 

A little piece of him can guess why. Soapy is one of the very few stable things in his life. And perhaps the only stable physical thing. something to count on. Something to be able to rely on. Unchanging. 

But now that he’s gone and lost it ? jeez. 

——-

You show up to his house on a cloudy day, his favorite snacks under your arm. He greets you with a kiss, but you see the way his eyes droop and sag. What's wrong with your golden boy? 

He leads you to the living room where you make yourself at home. Plopping down on the couch and handing him his things. 

He takes them gingerly, setting them on the kitchen counter while he takes a seat across from you 

you frown, “Jude. What's wrong? “

He looks away, playing with his hands, knee bouncing. Okay what is going on that’s gotten him so worked up

“Baby…” you try, scooting closer to him. 

He screws his eyes shut, bawling his hands into fists, “I lost soapy,” 

oh. 

Your gaze softens, “You lost him? When?”

He sighs, cracking an eye open, when he sees you aren’t making fun of him he opens both, relaxing. 

“I don't know. when we played villareal away I couldn’t find him. Then i got back and tore this place up and still no luck.” arms falling into his lap. 

You place a hand on his knee. Gentle. Soft. 

“He couldn't have gotten far. I'm sure he’s somewhere obvious. “ 

“I guess,” he mumbles, leaning into your touch. 

You smile, letting him lean against you. He's so cute when he pouts. You like babying him anyway. The rest of the day is spent with his head in your lap while you press occasional kisses to his face, letting keeping up with the kardashians play in the background. 

When it’s time for you to leave, Jude whines, pouting and asking you to stay just a little more.

“It's already late jude, I would if I could you know that. “

He huffs, “I guess. “ 

You forgot about your bags laying on the kitchen counter, might as well put them away before you go. 

Jude gets up to help, sliding against the hardwood and meeting you in the kitchen

He grabs a chair from the island in the middle, bringing it to him and a little baggie falls from it. Is that what he thinks it is ? He picks it up faster than you can turn around and almost screams. He could cry tears of joy 

It’s soapy. 

You were right. It was right in front of him all along 

He holds up the bar for you to see and you smile, “see. told you. “

He nods, “yes you did,” kissing your lips as a thank you 

You hum, patting his head when you pull apart, “glad you found soapy.” 

Maybe soapy isn’t so bad after all. 

[h2llish]

⁀➷ ˖ may i interrupt?

notes ─── another fic for @cloudcountry 's event! rollo deserves it <3 perhaps this can be connected to my other fic but let's not worry about that.

ROLLO FLAMME ─── you'll always be there to drag him away from a dance he doesn't want.

warnings ♡ fluff, angst? takes place during the event, alludes to romantic, gender neutral, lowercase intended, reader is not mc, playful teasing

there's a certain tenseness to the way rollo glided along the floor, hands gripped by the heir of briar valley, as he led the student council president in a dance. perhaps it was only you who noticed (it was), the only one to eye the furrow of rollo's brow and the frown on his lips. you wondered what they were talking about to make him look so distressed.

perhaps you knew ─ after all it was only so many hours after the incident that spread across noble bell and the city. where flowers that resembled that of fire traveled across the ground and climbed up the arms of everyone around you. you were no different, falling unconscious as you could feel your power wither under the touch of the flowers. you remember it because you were far too focused on getting everyone else out of the dorms ─ of course you didn't succeed. but everything ended well, nonetheless.

you remember immediately going in search of rollo, hardly caring as the fatigue of your magic returning weighed at you. you were too worried about him to care about yourself, pushing past people who began to wake from the incident, and rushing out to the tower where you heard someone say he was. ─ he was okay, by the looks of it, tired and drained but nonetheless okay.

the students of night raven college who were with him said he helped stop the flowers ─ that he rushed to ring the bell after he realized what the flowers were. but you knew better, you knew rollo. and your gut told you they were lying ─ that whatever happened, was not the events they were telling you.

but you chose not to investigate ─ whether that was because you knew you wouldn't like what you would find out, or because you know that you wouldn't be surprised. but you do know that whatever it was, you don't think you'd do anything to make sure the real truth got out. rollo meant too much to you, you had been there for all his troubles and grief, and you wouldn't do anything to risk your friendship with him. even if that meant taking a lie to your face and living without knowing what actually happened (even if you had your suspicions).

"[name]?"

you paused, turning your attention away from the pair to look back at your peers and the students of night raven college. you'd stopped paying attention to the conversation they were having, your attention only on rollo and how uncomfortable he so obviously was dancing with the fae prince. you followed him across the floor with your stare, the background voices of those around you fading out the longer you watched.

you'd always followed him, sharpening your magical abilities to follow him to noble bell college with the intention of being at his side. you'd joined the student council so that you were always near, so that if he ever called for you, you'd be there. you were there when he struggled to grieve after the loss, and when he stayed awake into the late hours, sitting quietly in the council room and watching the flames dance in the fireplace. you were always right there.

─ except for right now, and you hated it.

"are you alright?" they had asked, and you had half a mind to ignore them and leave. but they were your peers, a part of the student council as much as you were, and you knew rollo always strove to perform a certain amount of control that not everyone had. perhaps he had too much of an effect on you, or perhaps it was just you doing everything to stay at his side, to always be there ─ as you too tried to keep that professionalism noble bell was said to be known for.

"i'm sorry," you smiled, polite as you bowed your head and chose to ignore their questions. "but i have something i need to do. excuse me."

perhaps a part of you simply didn't care for keeping a good look past excusing yourself, as you hardly gave anyone the chance to reply to your words before you were turning away and walking off. you didn't care for the people who littered the floor in pairs, waltzing to the music that filled your ears. you hardly batted an eye their way as your attention remained on the heir and council president. you managed to maneuver the pairs with a certain ease in your steps despite urgency that you hardly masked. (you didn't think malleus was a terrible individual, but you refused to leave rollo in a situation he didn't enjoy any longer. you'd promised yourself to always be there, after all.)

you made sure to announce your presence the moment you were within distance for them to hear, clearing your throat and putting on a smile that you'd long since mastered (polite, you told yourself, you had to remain polite). "i apologize," ─ a lie, and perhaps the fae knew that too, ─ "may i interrupt? you've taken up so much time of our student president, and i must admit, i'm jealous."

their gliding had come to a stop upon your arrival, and rollo pulled away from malleus as the heir turned you, and smiled, polite, and much more genuine than your own. he bowed, and you returned it as rollo moved to stand beside you, (perhaps relieved to finally stop dancing with him).

"of course," and he looked at rollo. you felt your curiosity pull at you as you glanced between them ─ and you asked yourself what could cause such a tenseness between them that held a certain (one-sided) disdain in the air. you knew rollo held contempt towards magic and mages, but this seemed different, like an event that carried on since the start of night raven's arrival.

"thank you for the dance, flamme." and then he looked back at you, "he's all yours."

"thank you," your smile remained, and you held out a hand towards rollo, turning your head just enough to keep your attention on him but watch as malleus turned away to leave, to return to his peers. "shall we dance, rollo?"

perhaps it was because it was you, rollo didn't protest, taking your hand with a polite nod, yet a glare remained burning into the back of malleus's head, practically seething. his disdain was so uncontrolled, so unlike rollo and the persona of a respectable man he'd built up since the two of you were twelve.

"if you keep glaring, your face will get stuck." a tease, just so his attention was on you (as much as yours was always on him). so he'd step away from the distaste of the dance he shared with the heir of briar valley. so that he'd release the way he held your shoulder in a grip that wrinkled your clothing.

it worked (of course it did, you know how to get his attention, you've had years before this to try), and his glare turned to you, yet the red behind it lacked in heat, and he relaxed his hand laced with yours and his nails no longer dug into your shoulder, threatening to rip the specially designed uniform. "i will not."

you grinned, and your nose wrinkled, "you're right, you face is already stuck like that." he scoffed, and you chuckled, pulling him along further into the crowd as you led him in a dance, just like malleus had done before you.

"you should thank me, you know," you said, leaning closer to him as you spoke, eyes squinting teasingly at him, ignoring the pairs of those dancing around you. "it's not every day i ask someone to dance with me."

"i suppose i'm lucky then," it was sarcastic, but he was returning your teasing in turn; just like he's always done, even if making conversation was the last thing he wanted to do (maybe because it was you, he didn't seem to mind).

"oh, most certainly." you snickered and rollo's ever present mask slipped just for a moment to roll his eyes at you, much to use to your antics you've always been known for, teasing and playful, just like when you were kids. (perhaps he thinks you were the only who hadn't changed after the incident ─ but if he thinks that, then he obviously didn't notice how much your life had begun to center around him. he wasn't the only one who lost someone that day. you too, loved his brother ─ your friend.)

you don't know how long you'd been dancing (because admittedly, you weren't entirely lying when you said you were jealous malleus had taken up so much of rollo's attention.) but he had long since relaxed, no longer tense as he had been when dancing with malleus. perhaps he was relieved, and maybe even knew your true reason in interrupting them ─ knowing you were there to save him from anymore interaction with someone he so loathed.

you pulled him with you as you leaned back, and smiled, proud, "i expect to be repaid for my generosity in pastries by the way."

"i owe you now?" he clicked his tongue.

"of course, my presence is a reward in itself, you should be thankful i'm only asking for pastries for allowing you this dance." ─ you were kidding, of course you were, he knew that. but it didn't matter how many times you would poke and tease, telling him to buy you pastries for everything you did (your sweet tooth was something that hadn't changed about you), because he always did. even when you simply just joined him for his errands after school to fetch his favorite stationary; perhaps it was his way of thinking you for staying, for being there when no one else would.

he sighed, although it lacked any real annoyance, you could tell, "shall we stop by your favorite bakery tomorrow then?" ─ and your heart fluttered knowing he remembered such a detail; yet you ignored it.

"lovely idea, my dear rollo!" you giggled, and he rolled his eyes again.

─ yes, this was much better than what he went through with his previous dance partner.

and hopefully he knows, you'd always be there to save him from a dance he doesn't want.

reader is the knight in shining armor rollo everyone needs

do not repost, translate, copy or run my writing through an ai

[jumpingjoltiks]

okay so I knoww that the sugar baby talk won the poll, but I'm dying to hear about Emmet's second date. can you please please please post about it anyway, even if its super short? 🙏 I want to smooch him in the ferris wheel

Don't we all, Anon?

This is a little short, and very quickly written, but I hope it satisfies.

Second Chances

Pairings: Sugar Daddy!Emmet x Reader (GN)

Warnings: None, just fluff 🤍

~~~

When you tell him on the way to the park that you're a little afraid of riding roller coasters, he offers to let you hold his hand through it. It nearly envelops yours. It's big and warm and comforting - slightly calloused from the hard work of Pokemon care and battling. You find you're not so scared while holding his hand. You spend the rest of the evening holding it and he definitely doesn't complain. He reaches for you about as often as you reach for him.

He lets you play as many of those rigged carnival games as you want too! Emmet's been to the park many times, so by this point he knows which games are rigged and which you have the best chance of winning. He also has a competitive streak, so you'll often end up at two-player games. Even if he does win, he'll still let you pick out and keep the prize.

"That big Joltik plush, please!"

"Verrrry cute. You'll have to share custody with me though."

After games, you both share some faire food together, picking out funnel cakes or fried cookies or whatever else terribly unhealthy but absurdly delicious you want. You'll get powdered sugar all over your shirt, and he'll laugh and say you should wear white more often.

At the end of the day, you end up in the Ferris wheel together while the fireworks go off.

This evening has been so nice. All the anxieties building over the course of the afternoon have melted away with the fun that you've had together. In the back of your mind, you know this is steering dangerously close to a real, actual date - so different from the parties you've attended as their fake partner. No formalities, no performing, no worrying if this night will be "good enough" to keep you around for next time. Tonight, it's just you and Emmet.

He's sitting next to you in the compartment, lit by the colorful flashes of fireworks all around you. His hat is off and he's smiling out at the lights of the city. He always smiles, but this is different. When he turns to look at you, there's a true warmth to his expression you've rarely ever seen. He looks beautiful.

You have a terrible urge to reach up and kiss him, which will totally make you freak out once you get home. But that's a problem for future you. Right now, you want to enjoy this moment without thinking about what it could mean. You cuddle under his arm and watch the show together, holding hands the whole time.

~~~

It's a little embarrassing for Emmet to walk you back to your dingy apartment. Even if he isn't coming inside, you're sure it's a long way off from what he's used to. The building is a bit run down and the grounds aren't clean or well kept. You try to say that he can just send you off in a taxi ("Noooope! The subway is much more efficient. I should know."), but he wants to make sure you get there safely, so he ends up escorting you.

It's sweet, in a chivalrous, old fashioned sort of way. You feel the urge to kiss him rise up in you once more, but before you dare to, you duck through the door with a goodbye and the promise of seeing him again soon.

Now that Emmet knows where you live, he finds himself a little concerned about it. You're not living on the dangerous side of town, but you're not exactly living "well" either. Your apartment is obviously small, even from the outside, and things don't seem well-maintained. If it's like that from the outside, he's deeply concerned about what's hiding on the inside. He wants to barge in and inspect things for himself (you wouldn't mind, right? Just pretend he's not even there!), but Ingo calling on his x-transceiver stops him.

Going in will have to wait. He'll discuss what he's learned tonight with Ingo. Besides, the twins are overdue to have a verrrrry important discussion with you anyway.

What's one more item on the agenda?

[pain-in-the-butler]

Out of curiosity…if Ono is your third fav Seb. What’s your Offical Sebastian Ranking™️?

Just as with the ask about the Anime Expo panel, it's fortunate for me that someone reached out, because I was thinking of making this a post on my own eventually someday anyway. What follows might be more information on my opinions of Sebastian than you care to have, so apologies in advance. Let's count down from worst to best:

6. Hiro Mizushima from Black Butler (2014)

There's a reason no one talks about this movie. It's because it sucks, and somehow I feel I can't really blame Mizushima for his performance, but... it is still a mixture of weird and unmemorable. That hairstyle does him no favors either, but maybe the fact that I find him a little bit frightening to look at should give him points rather than detract them. Off-screen, he looks like a completely normal man; somehow the film's efforts to make him a sexy butler were unfortunately funneled into making him unnerving and unappealing. And the movie is two entire hours long.

There's a lot I've deleted from my memory about the Black Butler live action film, but that lack of memory seems a sign that he should sit in dead last. Whether he's acting like a total weirdo or actually successfully impressing me, Sebastian should never be a forgettable character, and all I can think when I consider Mizushima's performance is that I never need to see it again.

5. Yuya Matsushita from That Butler, Friendship, The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World, and the first run of Lycoris that Blazes the Earth

I know some people may find this placement to be blasphemous, but honestly, the only thing I really like about Yuya's Sebastian is his singing voice, and even then I'm not that wild about it. It's been a few years since I watched TMBDITW, so it's not super crisp in my mind, but I will give him some recognition as an early Sebastian who still had little material to work with. He probably had to do some of his own legwork to adapt the character to the stage and to the original stories he was expected to act in. That can't be easy, and it makes sense that his Sebastian would be one that had to stand somewhat independent from the canon. I also appreciate that he is playing Sebastian with purpose behind his actions and not a sexyman who just serves whatever convenient purpose the narrative dictates, like Mizushima's Seb.

With that caveat out of the way, I still don't like his Sebastian portrayal. It's clear Yuya really drummed up the "I'm no one but I can become anyone" aspect of Sebastian. He can invent personas that suit the situation, like when he decides to seduce Undertaker, but as soon as the problem is solved, he reverts back to being robotic and unsmiling. You get the feeling that he's rather cold and calculating and that he is only interested in doing things that will earn him Ciel's soul. I didn't watch with subtitles, so perhaps that evaluation is misplaced, but his mannerisms dictated that energy to me.

Also, I can't get behind the sort of sexual and romantic tones that sometimes felt present, especially when real children were involved. It will always taint his work for me. There's one song where he and Ciel look at each other the entire time and it's three and a half minutes long but it felt like a year. I wanted to crawl out of my skin because it was so horrifically awkward. Stick this man in fifth.

4. Toshiki Tateishi from The Public School's Secret

So I went into this musical fully prepared to hate Toshiki's performance, considering the act he was following, and... I thought it was actually pretty decent. When I think of Sebastian in the Weston arc, I think of the "sexy professor" angle Yana kept trying to push, and I was worried Toshiki would play into that, especially considering Ciel was being portrayed by a legal adult onstage for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised! That's not what happened at all.

Though likely unintended, I would say Toshiki gives off a rather maternal vibe, behaving more like Seb does in memes: kind of silly, kind of fussy, an overworked single mother who cares for her boy. Toshiki's Sebastian was very attentive of Ciel. He was frequently pleased with his kid's impish nature and didn't seem that annoyed to be taking on extra tasks, only complaining lightly, "Even though I have things to do too!" at the end of the chores song. When Ciel came up with a plan to foil Maurice, Toshiki seemed excited to praise him and gratified to help. He was like Sebastian Lite, only a bit insidious at times, mainly the ever-attentive helper.

To me, it's the first time one of the musicals has made Sebastian feel like a supporting character rather than the driving force behind the story. I prefer when he and Ciel are both treated evenly as protagonists, but I hate it when it's All About Him. I think Toshiki's performance has a good heart and he made me laugh at times. He's not quite canon Sebastian, but I like him. I trust him not to eat the sonboy just yet. Mostly.

3. Daisuke Ono from the Japanese dub of the anime

Daisuke Ono was a part of my first experience with Black Butler, so there's something about his voice that feels like it's just right for Sebastian. And it kind of is. It's a really flexible voice, and one that is clearly giving a performance when you listen to him. He also infuses his dialogue with what sounds to me like inherent smugness, which I think suits Sebastian perfectly. Ono's performance is the most self-satisfied in nature. It makes you think of a well-fed cat licking its chops while it considers its next meal.

His voice is not sexy to me, but I can see why people find it to be. At the same time, Ono isn't afraid to give Sebastian different inflections, even ones that some might consider too embarrassing or OOC for Seb. He's a veteran voice actor and he knows how to do whatever is requested of him. Sebastian treats his career just the same: he too will do essentially whatever Ciel requires. I think Ono is a natural match is what I'm saying, especially having now seen him in person and observing the way he works a crowd so effortlessly.

All that said... Ono's Sebastian is perfect. I don't mean that as a compliment: I mean he's too lacking in flaws. Sure, he has the big flaw (okay with killing a child) but he isn't really giving "silly idiot." Ono's Sebastian is the one the girlies write about in their self-insert fiction. And for the first two seasons, that's kind of who he was supposed to be, so fine. But even when he has silly or idiotic moments, it doesn't feel quite authentic, if that makes sense? I think to Ono, Sebastian's stupid mistakes are just a fluke, quickly corrected. It doesn't feel like they're a fundamental part of who his Sebastian is.

If you consider this nitpicking, you're right! The next two Sebastians are just that good. I still consider Daisuke Ono to be a very talented and accurately-portrayed Sebastian.

2. J. Michael Tatum from the English dub of the anime

While it's possible that I pick up on more nuance in Tatum's performance because he's the only one here who speaks the same language as me, how fortunate we are to have him doing Seb's English voice. He might not actually have a real British accent, but he's just too charming not to love. To me, he has all the vocal command of Ono but is more candid in his delivery. Ono may be Sebastian the perfectionist and Sebastian the performer, but Tatum is Sebastian the butler, well settled and confident in his human role.

I really appreciate the ways you can hear Tatum's voice change notably depending on Sebastian's emotions. This is especially prominent in Book of Atlantic during the flashback sequences: an annoyed Sebastian is an entirely different sounding dude than when he's being cunning, and again when he's being subservient. And he really does have this very silky, ASMR-ass way of speaking that suits Sebastian to a T. It's inherently convincing.

And more to my own interests, Tatum's voice for Sebastian has a really paternal nature to it, and I like that. I think it adds to the complexity of Sebastian's role in Ciel's life when you can hear this caring quality in the voice of a demon that will one day kill the child he works for. He can also be snipped and punctual, and then he can be gentle and reassuring, all in the same scene. And he can be scary too... and I'm super looking forward to hearing how this plays out during season 5.

To compare him to Ono again, I think Tatum knows Sebastian can be an idiot at times, but that quality still takes a backseat to the suaveness. He's almost perfect. And I probably would even say he is perfect, if we hadn't seen perfection itself. As he is, I think Tatum is an excellent voice actor for Sebastian, and I'm grateful that we have him in the position that we do.

1. Yuta Furukawa from the second run of Lycoris that Blazes the Earth, Noah's Ark Circus, and Tango on the Campania

Yuta Furukawa. What a legend. What an icon. This is where I would say "he isn't just playing Sebastian, he is Sebastian," but Furukawa is even more than that. He's what Sebastian should be. And that's not just me being rude to Yana. Yana has flat-out said that Yuta knows Sebastian better than she does herself. She's right.

If you have yet to see Yuta perform, then congratulations: you're in for a treat. What I wouldn't give to forget my first watch of Tango on the Campania and relive that magic all over again. Yuta knows who Sebastian is with every fiber of his being. And the fact that you see him over the course of three plays means you get to witness for yourself how his Sebastian goes from being a smirking demon who lives to impress, to a creature who understands fear, hardship, and pain. And yet you still wonder: is he really learning and growing after all? Or am I too being tricked by this suave being who appears to be emotionally moved?

I'm also proud to report that Yuta plays Sebastian as a true idiot. He says silly things, he behaves in silly ways! He's embarrassing enough to make Ciel roll his eyes, he uses his brawn before his brain, and he's often surprised enough to gasp. He's not afraid to look impressed or astounded or even frightened: he wears his emotions on his sleeves, but he can hide them just as quickly. This Sebastian lives for attention from humans, but what he loves even more is learning from them — perhaps so he can become a better hunter, perhaps so he can become a better scholar. He leaves you wondering which in the most intriguing way.

And I may be biased, but Yuta to me is the most paternal of all the Sebastians. Whether or not a fatherly nature is intended, I'm at least happy to report that his Sebastian is not one romantically inclined towards Ciel. His coworker is an actual child, so there's no reason that should be an acceptable angle anyway, but it really shows in all the little ways he primps at and supports Ciel on-stage. His rapport with Reo is especially adorable and shines through in their every scene.

Not to mention, he's so endlessly entertaining to watch. He has legs for days and he can fuckin groove. He may be playing a demon but he has the voice of an angel. If I called him to my house, he'd probably fix my leaky shower. What can't this gift of a man do??

I could literally go on and on and on for paragraphs. Yana is just the same. We all love Yuta Furukawa, the only Sebastian who is more Sebastian than Sebastian and probably the best thing, in my humble opinion, to come out of the Kuroshitsuji franchise. Thank you, based Yunbastian. We did nothing to deserve you.

[reidfucker]

two left feet

dr. spencer reid knows how to dance. keyword, knows how to — not that he's any good at actually, physically performing it.

or dr. spencer reid asks you to waltz with him.

an itty bitty reid drabble as i try to familiarize myself with tumblr. no beta or second thoughts at all !!! i typed all of this out experimentally. (update: edited it a tad :–D)

oh, and spencer is a trans man. it's not explicitly stated or dwelt upon, but i hope you know.

once reid gets into something, he gets into it. lately, he's been reading up on dancing: in particular, the waltz.

in his silently agreed on corner of the couch, with his feet in your lap as you sat beside him. you see him reading the waltz book, whatever that entailed.

it wasn't uncommon for spencer to be interested by things he completely hadn't dabbled in the past. he usually accumulated facts on a multitude of topics, storing each trinket of knowledge for later use. though, he hardly ever applied those skills after getting familiar with them.

this time, he closes the book, thinking to himself. you can't help but giggle to yourself and wonder, what is so thought-provoking about the waltz? but reid finds something to ponder on even in the most mundane things, so there's no need to question.

"hm." reid hums, getting your attention.

"spence?" you can visibly see his train of thought derail.

"oh– um– i was just wondering if..." he considers his words, "i was just going to ask if you'd like to dance with me."

you grin, "aw, of course. who am i to decline you?"

"um... i'm no good yet. but hey, what's learning without trying?" he gives a shy smile, getting on his feet pushing up his reading glasses, instead of taking them off. you told him he looked cute in glasses, and he'd look cute nonetheless, but you noticed he wears them more often now.

"what songs go well with the dance you have in mind?" you say, browsing through your cd collection.

"would it be cliché if i said 'cant help falling in love' by elvis presley?" spencer stands slightly behind you, sort of waiting for you.

"yeah... very cliché. but it's okay, i'll play it anyway." you can't help but grin at how anxious he is about nearly everything.

"well, it's because my mother loves that song. well, used to, now she can hardly remember things."

you turn to him once the cd is in place, "you don't need to explain yourself to me, spencer. i like the song." you reassure him, "now... shall we dance?" you hold a hand out.

spencer gladly takes your hand, gladly taking charge. you've never danced before, and it's evident that spencer hasn't either, but strangely, you feel like the ceramic couples spinning together inside a music box.

he closes his eyes, following the rhythm, visualizing the images from the textbook.

what a mind, you think. it would be nice to live inside his brain: to know every thought before it's fully processed, to see what images flash through his mind, to watch the connections between lines from books and quotes an unsub dropped.

on the other hand, you don't know what you're doing. spencer's eyes flutter open and closed every once in a while and he oh-so-softly laughs whenever he commits a mistake. you consider kissing him, but you don't want to interrupt this brilliant mind at work.

once he's comfortable enough with the pace, he leans his forehead on your shoulder, transitioning into slow dancing. you wrap your arms around his waist, and you just melt together.

rocking you back and forth just in time with the rhythm, he whispers in your ear, "you know, waltzing was considered... scandalous back in the day. couples danced in what they called 'closed position,' they were practically, uh, pelvis to pelvis."

you chuckle, giving him a nod. he feels you nod and takes it as a sign he's good to continue.

"yeah, up until the waltzes of strauss, it was deemed inappropriate. i get that, 'the blue danube' is such a beautiful song, it's hard to pass up the opportunity to... y'know..."

reid rambles on, whispering to you all throughout, as if he were professing his love for you. and in his own little way, you knew he was.

he takes a few (many) awkwardly timed steps, and even you can admit your bodies don't flow together seamlessly. but really, it isn't half-bad.

[dammit-neal]

WTF

I'm about to be unfollowed by all the Ravi stans, but how many ways can I say HELL TO THE NO?!?!?

The thing about Ravi: He's adorable. And that's it; perfect side-character potential, good for the occasional gag. Aside from that, he has no personality, no real character development unless you count the retcon turning him into a real estate bro (I don't, that was some bullshit). Frankly, I just don't care about him. Like at all. When a corner of this fandom was clamoring about giving Ravi his own Begins episode, I was firmly in the camp of "that's a waste of screentime that would be better dedicated to characters I give a shit about."

Sorry not sorry, I don't care about Ravi. The core cast of 9-1-1 is already crowded, the screentime spent on core characters has been impacted by the overcrowding, not to mention the lower quality writing and unbalanced obsession with Buck at the expense of basically everyone else. I'm already feeling cheated, for the love of crap, please don't try to Make Ravi Happen. I think ScreenRant kinda disproved their argument in the title of their own article: "A Forgotten 9-1-1 Character" eh? So you agree he's forgettable?

Arguing with the article's points a bit: "Ravi will breathe new life into the 118." No he won't. He didn't do it when he was there before, and he's not about to find a way now. Ravi as a character isn't very interesting, and hate me for saying this if you must, but the actor playing him? Is dull. No "It Factor," nothing captivating about him, nothing that makes me think "If only this actor had more screentime and more material to work with!" He's boring. Sue me.

"Ravi Has untapped potential" See above, no he doesn't. Boring character, played by an unengaging actor. Maybe it's because he doesn't have dynamic chemistry with any of the core cast? He could thrive in a 9-1-1 spin-off maybe. "Everything that happens to Ravi is harrowing enough for a full episode, but he’s been confined to the sidelines." Yes, he has, and rightfully so. A character doesn't become great in TV or Film because of random plot points thrown at them by the writers. They're a good character because the actor playing them engages me as a viewer, whether they're dangling from a cliff or walking and chewing gum. There are actors who can take a nothing line "Here's your coffee" and make people want to see more. It's a sparkle in their eye, an instant chemistry, an interest. Ravi's character has been handed a LOT of juicy potential plot threads on paper, but I could care less to pick at those threads because the actor who plays him doesn't turn in a performance that makes me sit up and pay attention.

AND THEN THIS: Eddie Diaz, played by Ryan Guzman. I'll be the first to agree that Ryan isn't gonna win an Oscar anytime soon, but something about his performance as Eddie is interesting. He isn't any more or less good looking that Anirudh Pisharody (they're both gorgeous, the difference between them I think largely comes down to personal taste) so it's not a looks thing; it's an It Factor thing. Ryan is more interesting to watch on screen than Anirudh.

As a character, Ryan handles Eddie's rich character development well, and because he's been there for years, his character hasn't just been through plot points; he's affected the lives of other core characters deeply, and they his. He's also beloved by a good portion of the 9-1-1 fandom (and specifically hated by a random lil group of folks who seem to have it out for him specifically? Whatever, I guess). Eddie has great potential for more story, and I'm actually quite excited for a separation, because it means we'll finally get to see Eddie's story OUTSIDE of Buck's perspective, which is what it's been falling into lately. I want Eddie's perspective on Eddie's life, I actually want to get to know his family. I want to see him grow in this challenge (even though the way he got into it with more Shannon bullshit still has me rolling my eyes 360 degrees).

I hope they give Eddie's story a chance to play out. And I hope they give Ravi his 5 minutes (divided between a couple episodes) and then call it quits. I know this will upset people, and I want to be clear, I'm not writing this in order to upset people. Feel free to disagree with me, out loud if you want. But I'm tired of feeling like I can't speak my mind about the favorite squeegee character of the month, so here ya go. Eddie's a great character and I want to know what happens to him in depth. Ravi can kick rocks. I said it.

[tokyo-tower-symbolism]

I've been meaning to get into the re:live game story for a while now, but I don't know how necessary the event stories are in comparison to the main and school stories...

do you have a recommended reading order for main story and events if the timeline makes them interspersed?

Uhh, there was this one good google doc that had a bunch of stuff like what stories were important for each character, but I cannot find that right now so I'll do my best from memory but honestly I might miss a couple things so my bad.

Edit: thank you @pallastronomy for finding the doc in question, i really wanted to read that again too

To read it you can go to the wikia, read it on karth.top, or look up the parts on Youtube. That last one might be the best since you'll get the full visual novel experience.

So first off I would suggest reading the first part of the story, so Main Story chapters 1-6. Well, suggest is a strong word. I think those chapters kinda suck, but I guess they're necessary for the premise and to introduce the characters? But then again they abandon the original premise half way in favor of the performance festival so whatever. And if you want a better introduction to the characters you should read the School Stories (ignoring SJH) and also maybe watch Shoujo Cante All Starlight. So really I don't suggest you read those chapters but

I think at this point you are can read the event stories from "Hello to Halloween" to "Surprise! Rehearsal Friends!"

And you don't need to read them all, but they're fun! I couldn't really tell you which ones are super important to the plot, sorry about that. Honestly my personal opinion at this point is to just pick a couple characters you like to follow and read their stories. You can see who participates in each one on the Revue Starlight wikia

Plus, character card bond stories! Each event has a couple gacha cards they're trying to sell, and sometimes they're not super related to the story, but sometimes they are. If someone references something that happened off screen, it either happened in an earlier event or in the bond card, but I'd still only read the bond cards once you're done reading the event is over since otherwise they can be spoilers. Just think of those as prequels instead of preludes.

Then at this point you can read Main Story Chapters 7-11. And I really do think you should read these since they are juicy. There's a new plot and we really get to dive deep into the ReLive characters and see their individual pasts and why they now stand on stage. It's great.

Now for the Event Stories, feel free to read any story from "Starry Diamond Tragic Orion" up until "Royal Retainer"

Although now I gotta bring up some caveats. Anything with Seiran is not going to matter to the main plot of ReLive, and if you're curious about them, then that gets into Stage Play Territory which is much easier to follow but not in ReLive.

And honestly same with the Seisho only stories. They're fun, don't get me wrong, but they kinda don't affect the developments of the cast at all.

Starry Diamond is a live show that had some Revues, so some of the relive events are just rehashings of those. Except Venus & Cupid Story, which is a sequel to Zeus no Chuusai from the Starry Diamond Live, and that revue is actually super important to the Yumeoji Sisters's story but it is not in ReLive.

And once you've had your fill of those stories, you can start reading Main Story Chapters 12-18, Arcana Arcadia. And this one is really good. Iirc, the main revue starlight writer came in for these parts. There's some info that directly leads into the movie. And it's honestly great.

But the issue is that there are intermission bond stories that need to be read in the middle of the chapters. If you are reading it online that can be kind of pain, but in the game I think it's in the right order? I could not say for sure since I don't actually play it. Anyways, here's the vague order according to the wikia, but I'm not 100% on this

Chapter 12: 1-2

Chapter 13: Tower, Hermit, Empress, 1-3, High Priestess, 4-5, Magician, 6-9, Hanged Man, Strength, 10-15

Chapter 14: Wheel of Fortune, Chariot, 1-2, Lovers, 3-14, Faith, Hierophant, 15

Chapter 15: 1-2, Devil, Sun, Justice, 3-15

Chapter 16: Death, Charity, 1-15

Chapter 17: Temperance, 1, Fool, 2-4, World, Judgement, 5-15

Chapter 18: Hope, 1-9, Emperor, 10-14, 15/Moon

So yeah, after this you have basically free reign to read the remaining event stories. The next big ongoing plot seems to be about Siegfeld Junior High, but that one also isn't really connected to the previous stories at all.

Also some cards have connecting bond stories even without events, such as the Frontier Rangers, Orpheus, Camelot, Snow White, and Yin-Yang.

But for real, I think the best way to get into the story is to read the main story and then see what characters you like. Then you can read along all their bond stories and events that they star in, and maybe you'll find other characters that stand out. If you are missing any information, usually characters will reference whatever they are talking about, so you won't be completely lost.

So yeah, I hope you have fun with the relive story! It touches on a lot of the themes from the show and honestly I just really liked seeing the characters again. And also Arcana Arcadia is great, just so great.

[c10udy-d4yz]

I'm preparing for a game or show that'll never happen. hmm. Anyways here's a post-war map, with a few changes made to the playgrounds. I went and got rid of the Disney connotations, but I also didn't just want to copy corporate clash, so I tried my best to give everything decent names. Most of this info is basic, the completely new info is for the Toontown Embassy and The Four Corners.

Just a side note, I did use the map from the original game as a base and traced over some areas, I was too lazy to do it all on my own, I just wanted to be transparent about that.

Toontown Central - The very Heart of Toontown. Before every other playground, it was just Toontown Central, and a much smaller version of it than it is today. From humble beginnings, to being the silly capital of the world. Because of that, the people here hold their heads up high and make sure to keep Toontown as silly as it can possibly be.

Halibut Harbor - Toontown's main exporter of pet fish and seafood. Fishing here isn't like fishing at normal lakes, which have limited numbers and types of fish- because it's connected to the ocean, it's possible to fish up anything if you boat out far enough. The novelty attracts all types of people, from chefs looking for delicious new meals, to aquarium owners wanting something kooky to add to their collection, to trophy hunters trying to catch the biggest fish they can.

Flower Fields - The very pinnacle of elegance and grace. The people here pride themselves on their beautiful flowers, and will only partake in activities that allows them to be near said flowers. Mid-day tea and brunch is always held outside, all the games they play are strictly outside games, and even if there's nothing to do, they'd rather sit outside and take in the scenery than do anything inside. Their culture is very high-end, so most of the people who live here lean more on the wealthy side.

Acorn Acres - A dream come true for every outdoorsman. There's mini golf, big golf, giga golf, fishing, swimming, hiking, rock climbing, paragliding, nature-watching, picnicking, camping- and to top it off, you can even bring your pets along for the fun. Why waste money on a vacation when everything you can do is right at home?

Maestro's Musicland - Home of the biggest radio station in all of Toontown, ran by someone known only as "The Maestro." They play nothing but the hits all day every day, and it gets loud around here really quick, especially on party nights. On Saturdays, everyone gathers in the playground at sunset and parties till the brink of dawn, and during it all there's food, games, and even live music. A lot of small artists got their big breaks performing at these parties, so Maestro's Musicland is a hot spot for people and genres of all types.

The Brrrgh - Coldest Place in all of Toontown. Snow everywhere you look, and it never stops, so you better bundle up. No one really knows how it got like this; some think it might be a curse from an angry god, others think it's a blessing, even more others think the circumstances are purely natural, and one day the Brrrgh will simply return to how it used to be, whatever that was like. But besides all that, it's actually a nice place. Great for sledding, skiing, and drinking the best cocoa you'll probably ever have in your life.

Sleepy Snoozeland - In Toontown, insomnia doesn't exist. If you're having trouble sleeping, just head on over to Sleepy Snoozeland, find a cozy little cloud, and flop down onto it- best sleep of your life right there. You can stay the night, and when you go back home, you can take a little bit of Snoozeland with you- not the clouds, that's actually very illegal, but you can buy some down pillows and hand-knitted blankets at one of the shops, if the shop-owner isn't sleeping themselves, that is.

Rapid Racetrack - Racecars, very fun! [It's 3am as I'm writing this, I'm so tired dawg :(]

Toontown Embassy - The newest playground. Since the end of the war, quite a few cogs have been interested in living amongst the toons, and surprisingly, a few toons feel the same about the cogs. If a cog moves to Toontown, or a toon is hoping to move to Cog nation, they have to wait a couple weeks while the paperwork is being processed. In the meantime, they live in the embassy and ambassadors from both societies teach them about the cultures they'll be transferring to- what to expect, what's expected of them, customs, slang, holidays- this is all to make sure they aren't completely lost in their new homes and it gives them a chance to change their minds about moving if they don't mesh well with the other culture.

The Four Corners - Sadly, for some people, the war never ended. What's left of the Toon Resistance, and the Old Rule of Cog nation, are centered in the far corners of Toontown where the old Cog HQs used to be. These HQs technically still exist, but cashbot had to merge with sellbot and bossbot had to merge with lawbot because the old cashbot and lawbot HQs were taken over completely by the Resistance. Both parties have settled in their new homes, and now it's just a continuous power struggle over who gets to takeover toontown once and for all. For now, neither of them are making much progress, but it's still possible for things to take a turn if the right info is leaked.

[steph-anie723]

giggles well since TikTok and capcut are more gone thann my grandpa and my will to live let me tell you...a story... so if anyone thinks I'm in a relationship with KURLX3 on Pinterest I'm not we're just homies who make jokes. so basically my friend scout does this think where she does like musical theatre and she was in a production of frozen. my friend Olive and I went to go see her perform in it (she was ensemble but she still ate). and i'm in a band class with ppl ages 10-14. most of the band kids do something like musical theatre, and it took me up until today I liked this kid who...I'm gonna call...hm...jellybeans I don't fucking know. jellybeans is a year younger than me btw. so Olive and I were watching the production, chilling. and we see jellybeans walk onstage, and I just randomly realize he's actually not bad looking... after the production and the cast changed into their normal clothes my friends olive and scout and I were like on the hunt for jellybeans, right? and I knew he tried hitting on me like 33284093894093847940937t7430932480t4 times before so I was like "I'm gonna tell him I like him back" or some shit idk. so we eventually find him and maybe its the fact I'm a fucking fag but I saw him in eyeliner and like smash stfu. so I told him the "u did great" and whatever and when we got back to scout's house I was like "hey do you have his number??" and she was like "no but I have his best friend's number" so I currently don't have my phone so we called his friend who im gonna call celery on olive's phone. he finally answered and we were like "hey do you have jellybean's number?" and he started calling me shit like whore and bitch and the normal insults you;d get from a closeted gay. we got sick of him so we just hung up. out of the blue our friend pearl FaceTimed us and we were like "yo can you help us get jellybeans number?" and she said yes so she called him and god jellybeans number so now I have his number and I have no phone and I have to see him on Tuesday STEPH WHAT DO I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

oh this is an original experience that’s for sure,,, idk try small talk or something 😊😊 find common interests with this fellow and pray that everything goes fun and dandy 😛😛

[queendarlings]

The Sweet - Live at Musikladen 11/11/1974

and here it is - my long announced post about sweet's iconic live performance at musikladen. and boy, do i have a lot to say about it. so, be prepared. it ended up being a lot longer than i originally planned. help. i do apologise for the chaotic feeling this might radiate. this is just me trying to get the thoughts in my head into this post.

first of, general thoughts i have on this performance (except for incomprehensible inner screaming). that right there - that's a rock performance how it's supposed to be. raw voices, loud, energy and you can see how much brian, andy, mick and steve are actually behind what they're doing. and they're having FUN - especially mick on drums. (who can say of themselves to have a smile that lights up the whole stage like that.)

a big point that isn't really obvious on the first watch, but i believe it's very important cause it says a lot about sweet as a band. this concert happened in november '74 - probably the height of their success. and yet you do not find ONE of their commercially successful singles in this performance. none of the bubblegum "little willy" or "wig wam bam", not "blockbuster" or "ballroom blitz" or even "teenage rampage" (that came out the same year). no, instead you have some lesser known singles and some songs that never made it into a single and i think that's perfect. also, "no you don't" is one of my favourite songs in existence so thank the rock gods we got this incredible live version.

moving on to the next point - their individual talents. for whatever reasons, people like to sleep on the fact that they're not just incredibly good-looking, but also talented as fuck. brian's raw voice with a power you can barely imagine, steve's bass riffs and the way his voice always compliments brian's lead vocals, andy's solos and high harmonies and mick, drumming god on percussions and powerful harmonies that balance steve's and andy's higher voices out. i rather wanna save special words to the respective song, so i'm gonna do that there.

you can feel the "fuck you" attitude in the air, actually. not that i blame them, the studio didn't take them serious, but i think it just adds a certain spice to the entire performance. and i am all here for pissed off rock. and although they're pissed off as hell, you can still see them being the people they are beyond all the glam attitude they put on for tv. like, mick genuinely enjoys all of his time on drums and encouraging his brothers, brian's actually a real softie, steve just doesn't give a flying fuck and andy is like complete rock vibes.

ALSO, why again did they never make it into the rock n roll hall of fame? what else do you have to do aside from this?? sacrifice a family member??? give. them. the. appreciation. they. deserve. for fuck's sake.

now i'm gonna talk about the songs in detail (no particular order, just me dumping my thoughts onto you)

A) "Burn On The Flame"

okay, let's start with "burn on the flame". i love brian and his little mic aggressions. that man really said "boy, i hate them microphones." (jk, but i love the attitude). also hello, steve and mick syncing in with each other - we love a great coordinated rhythm section. and let me tell you, mick twirling around his drumsticks is gonna drive me insane in the long run. i love harmonies so much AND GOD DAMN, the combination andy-brian sounds so good - it's like an exquisite cake with layers that blend together perfectly. plus then we have the switch to the chorus and let me tell you, these harmonies blow me away. andy casually going really high while brian and stevie stay below. a godly experience for the ears. mick joining in every now and then as well. ALSO, THE INSTRUMENTAL - WHY DO I SEE SO MANY PEOPLE SAYING ANDY ISN'T A GOOD GUITARIST??? HE'S ROCKING IT??? also, god save me, mick tucker on drums. (beware, this is not the last time i will say this - we still have mwtga coming up). brian clapping is the most adorable thing ever and you cannot convince me otherwise. and the way mick just locks in on andy for the second solo / finale to keep everything in sync. 🙏🏻

B) "Breakdown"

okay, let's just say this performance already starts perfect - brian's thumbs-up is a 10/10, no further explanation needed. AND THEN THE WAY THIS SONG STARTS - ANDY AND MICK AND STEVE, I LOVE YOU. mick going nuts on the bass drums and andy with the guitar plus stevie with bass - ear-yummy combo. have i mentioned already what a phenomenal drummer michael thomas tucker is? and how absolutely gorgeous brian's voice is? he's got this unique sound in his voice and it's a pleasure to listen to him. i love the way steve is absolutely fixed on his bass tho. he does not care, he just wants to rock. which he does, because oh my god, his harmonies with brian. i have talked about it before in a different post, but these two guys - they have voices that blend together so perfectly you can barely tell them apart and that results in this unique sound you can hear in the chorus - although stevie's mic seems to be really faint :( andy giving his whole energy to playing and then he just straight up starts communicating with bats cause what in the damn is that falsetto??? i heard a rumor that he could sing higher than sopranos he knew (i cannot confirm this though) and boy, do i have no trouble believing that. i am a soprano and i need a fucking lot of preparation to hit notes like this. and he just casually goes "yup, gonna do this live". my deepest respect, andy. and of course, we love a strong drumming finale!! (andy's face is a meme there, lmao)

C) "Turn It Down"

we start with a little andy hairflip!!! also, brian vibing is absolutely my cup of tea and i love him and i would die for him. also - his rough vocalising???? sign me the fuck up for front row seats, please. yeah, i think you can feel their pissed attitude the most in this song and fuck yeah, does. it. work. (i am aware that the song on its own is pissed off already, but perfect attitude!!!) stevie doing solo vocals is always a killer and will always get full points from me. my god, angels in heaven, you really sent us brian thinking we wouldn't notice? his voice and his gestures when singing? i love everything about it. i also love whenever the camera cuts to steve there's literally just "bass". nothing else going on there. he is absolutely focused on that and i deeply respect that. also, the way he sings "listen here YA PUNK" just gets me, 10/10 attitude. and brian clapping along again, i love the vibes. andy going nuts when soloing is my personal highlight of this, total commitment to absolutely rocking. one thing i really love about "turn it down" is the fact it sounds so different from other live at musikladen songs because we don't have andy in the harmonies - just mick, steve and brian. so naturally the chorus sounds a little deeper (andy's high harmonies aren't present) and that gives us a whole new touch which i believe is awesome.

D) "Solid Gold Brass"

okay, this song has me with its intro alone. i just love the wailing sound that comes from andy's guitar, so melodramatic. then we have brian on synthesizers!!!!! and stevie standing next to brian in a few frames with that smile? can't help but grin. THEN ANDY JUST GETS OUT HIS FALSETTO AGAIN AND I AM AGAIN WONDERING HOW DOES HE NOT HAVE TEN TRAINED BATS WHO'D FLY AROUND ON STAGE AT HIS COMMAND??? no, but seriously, as someone who is also a professional roger meddows taylor stan, i enjoy a good falsetto and andy has some really really great ones (medussa, anyone????). in contrast, we immediately have our ginger bassman sing-speaking and him being british sneaking in the word 'bloody'. (i support your pissed off attitude at all times, steve.) and then we get these perfect steve-brian harmonies again and i am telling you, the way brian looks at steve - i melt. brian doing the second verse is such a cool switch in the general sound of the song, i love it. plus, he can show off his amazing voice and i can't get enough of that. okay and mick being a supportive brother in the background, smiling and yelling "YEAH" when brian nails these high notes??? i stan. brian's voice is still not completely back on track and you can't convince me mick wasn't ready to throw hands with everyone who snickered at that. one thing i always love is when steve just starts messing around with his solo lyrics live. he's got zero fucks to give and he will show you. and what a sweet vibrato he uses on "arseholes". and FINALLY, we get a bass solo. i love a good bass solo and it's always beautiful to hear steve playing one. i love the contrast to some other songs they're playing (that will follow later), like how this is so much calmer than "no you don't" for example. i love how mick always checks in with everyone - like, he's the driving force, the percussions define the tempo of a song. and he's always looking around, making sure he keeps the beat steady. and i love this song cause we get the full show of brian-steve harmonies, especially the short key shift towards the end. they just give me shivers. also, in the original performance, i think "solid gold brass" is around the middle somewhere, so you can already hear brian's voice being a little strained and YET he still delivers his vocals so astonishingly well. i love the ending. andy is flexing his solo and mick just smirks and goes "not bad." - i love that brother energy, plus we get to see a little of their characters beneath the attitude.

E) "Sweet F.A."

i love the velvety voice brian has when he's moderating. bless this angel. mick starting with that focused drumming and then steve's bassline comes in and you just know, the song is gonna ROCK hard now. (i love sweet f.a., i am biased.) also, the song lyrics itself are pretty simple and i gotta say, i like that. it doesn't always have to be a complex poem. i love what they've got going on in the chorus. andy-mick-steve harmonising and brian bringing in the other part with raw power!!! so then we come to something i am not sure i even have adequate words for. mick plays the tubular bells and the drums at the same time. and to have another hand available (as he wasn't born with three arms although it sometimes feels like it), he shoves one of his drumsticks into his mouth. and. i. am. left. speechless. so, multitasking like that is no problem, huh?? he's just, you know? casually able to do that. and we're not gonna talk about it? well, I WOULD?? okay, aside from this looking cool as fuck, you're playing two different instruments at the same time. he has to keep the steady beat and also be on point with the correct tubular bell. that is a skill, friends. ALSO, ANDY ON SYNTHESIZERS. have i mentioned already how much i love the rhythm of "sweet f.a."? it's just beautiful. good hard rock. stevie being a casual and unbothered bass king whenever the cam cuts to him, i love him. mick again showing why exactly he's one of the greatest. he drops one of his drumsticks to play the gong and IMMEDIATELY turns around again to continue the drums. that coordination and talent??? CAN WE TALK ABOUT IT MORE??? can we please please please start appreciating the man more??? he's goddamn talented. are we sure he's not a god who sometimes struggles to hide he's not human? stevie comes in and checks on brian and then mick and he communicate with each other, we love a well coordinated rhythm section. also, THE SMILES. and the harmonies. look, i'm a sucker for harmonies, you will always get me with them and sweet? they're top-tier. the harmonies without brian in-between? new sound, always gets a bonus point from me, just like mick is always locking in on andy to keep the tempo constant. of course, drumstick twirling!!!!! andy puts on a show when he soloes, and i am here for it. go show off, i am proud of you!! he's an underrated guitarist. plus, i love the way steve and mick are absolutely focused on him, the rhythm section keeping it all together. also, the way these two always communicate one way or another, like, that's what you need to have a stable foundation for a band - perfectly synced bass and drums. mick gets bored somewhere during playing and just throws in a few drumming flexes and i love him for it. can we appreciate the way andy is all vibing while the secret rhythm section communication log between steve and mick has like twelve pages in this song alone already. THE ENDING IS SO CONFUSING THOUGH, DID MICK JUST PLAY THE GONG WITH HIS FOOT????? LIKE, THERE'S A FAINT GONG, BUT IT ALSO DOESN'T SOUND AS HOLLOW AS THE PLAYBACK IN MWTGA DOES. I AM SO CONFUSED??? and at the same time i wouldn't be surprised if you told me he did. honestly, is there anything this man can't do on drums???? please, appreciation for him.

F) "The Six Teens"

before i start, i think i have to tell you that i absolutely love six teens. it's so beautiful, oh my god.

so that's why the intro alone is giving me chills, it's sheer and raw power - foreshadowing of what's to come. and then brian starts to sing and his voice is pure velvet. close your eyes and just enjoy the way he tells the story. the way the sound travels and unfolds through the concert place. we have mick's drumming talent and i LOVE it so much. AND WE HAVE STEVIE POSING AROUND WHEN HE GETS HIS SOLO VOCALS, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. look, what has me feeling intense emotions is the way they structured the chorus. we have the softer, calmer first part - their voices are quieter. and then we get this powerful shift to the four-way harmony for the second time where everyone just gives their all and it's so raw and loud and pure rock and i am crying because this is so fucking good. especially the "all" part. it's just this little word and we have them building up one of their strongest harmonies ever - on these three letters. i cannot stress it enough - sweet know what they're doing, they know how to get the most out of their individual vocal ranges and they know how to combine their voices together to create a sweeping chord. just appreciating that fact. and of course, mick tucker twirling around his drumsticks is always a blessing. WE GET THE ICONIC BRIAN-STEVE HARMONIES FOR THE SECOND VERSE AGAIN. these two have voices that were made to work with each other, to swirl around each other, to create the perfect vocals together. (plus, stevie pushing the strand out of his face - i love the little gestures that make him look softer immediately.) steve's cocky attitude when delivering his solo vocals is perfection. he's the diva and he will show it off. MICK GETTING MORE DOMINANT VOCALS IN THE CALM CHORUS, WE STAN, (i love his voice so much) AND THEN WE GET OFFSET STEVIE VOCALS FOR THE POWERFUL CHORUS. ah, what a time to be alive to see this magnificence at all times. then we get another absolutely cool cat guitar solo from andy scott himself and i just wish he'd get more recognition for it. (I SAW HIM LIVE LAST YEAR AND HE STILL KILLS IT!!!!) what made me chuckle again is brian and his microphone-antics. he just goes on, playing around with the technical equipment. i really wonder how many microphone stands he broke during their career. something i cannot stress often enough - mick tucker on drums. please, just take the time to listen to live at musikladen - one time just for his drumming. you will notice how much power and skill is right there. i love the last verse - it's so HARD AND VIGOROUS (and also, it's gay which are HUGE bonus points from me!!!!!). and of course we get an ending to honour it. steve's mocking laugh and flexing his arm, i literally cannot get enough of him and his attitude. AND THEN THE FINALE IS JUST FHAJFBKJBFWEFSNFSKDF. WE GET ONE CHORUS WITH BRIAN AND STEVE TOGETHER AND THEY BOTH HAVE THESE IMMENSELY POWERFUL CHEST VOICES AND I MIGHT BE SCREAMING AT THIS POINT CAUSE I CAN LITERALLY FEEL ADRENALINE RUSHING THROUGH MY OWN BODY EVEN THOUGH I AM WATCHING THIS PERFORMANCE 50 YEARS AFTER IT HAPPENED. and the last two "all" parts - my heart is full and i am just completely high on whatever drugs my body produces when i listen to music. what a fucking performance. and there are still two songs left to talk about. (although six teens is the original closing song and could they have chosen any better? i don't think so.)

G) "Man With The Golden Arm"

aaaaah, mick on drums. a blessing to the world. thank you for this video, planet earth. look, i am a HUGE fan of his drumming style. he's got a unique skill and was NEVER appreciated on the level his talent demanded. so excuse me, if this turns into me writing a love letter to mick tucker and mwtga, but dear universe, does that man deserve more recognition.

let's just start by talking about he just casually drinks with one hand and twirls his drumstick with the other while looking directly into the cam. fucking iconic. and then he fucking yeets the drumstick across stage and something explodes. talk about a memorable intro. we gotta talk about the fact what a well attuned team of players andy, mick and stevie are. they are in perfect sync and it's satisfying to watch, oh my god. ANDY'S SING-SCREAM IS PERFECTION AND ONCE AGAIN, HOW HIGH IS HE ABLE TO GO?????????? when i attempt to mimic that i sound like a tortured cat. AND IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE IN MY VOCAL RANGE??? anyways, WE GET A BASS SOLO, YAYAYAYAYA. i love how mick stands up and points his drumstick towards steve to direct attention onto him and steve just gets the biggest grin on his face. their relationship is everything to me. andy gives us some cool riffs and then, we arrive at that moment. the moment where mick just goes nuts on drums and i fucking admire the skill and the perfomance so much. i originally didn't want to say much about how and what he's playing because that's a show you watch and enjoy and are awed by all on your own. however, i have a few thoughts i wanna share. yeah, i know, the cuts are irritating sometimes, but it shouldn't distract too much from the main focus - holy hell, mick is a fucking force. the speed at which he plays and it's always completely SPOT ON!!!! and he is having so much fun - he rightfully gets to show off his talent and i am so glad the band gave him the room he deserved. i mean, he gives us one-handed drumming while twirling his drumstick with the other hand. come on. that is talented. you see him doing that a lot during live at musikladen, also during "no you don't". I MEAN, THAT MAN CAN DO A FUCKING DRUMROLL ONE-HANDED, HELLO??? can we please, please, appreciate him more? like, as an absolutely perfect drummer? and the gong, i love it. and then we get the tubular bells. this time not just casually in the middle of the song, but as his actual main focus. and yes, he hits the wrong one, but you can see he still has fun playing and that it doesn't bother him one bit!! he has a good laugh about it and continues to play. and i think that's what makes him even more perfect. like, he messes up a little, but just goes on to further have fun and do what he excels at. we're all human, we're not 100 % top-tier perfect at all the time. it matters that we have fun with it and don't let our mistakes take away the joy. also, mick's smile always lightens up the entire day, so there's that. we get the count for our bassist and our guitarist to be back and then they join their forces again to bring down the roof for a grand finale. and i love it. plus, even when the other two are back, mick is still giving the show on drums.

H) "No You Don't"

okay, maybe i lied. maybe i did a certain order because i wanted my favourite song to be the glorius last. my personification of what sweet's hard rock is and what the entire music industry has slept on for 50 years - "no you don't".

the beginning of the song alone with mick having the biggest smile on his face, counting and then opening the song with a KILLER drum performance. and then we get what will always kill me - steve priest on lead vocals. he has a GORGEOUS voice and he is so underestimated and underrated as a lead singer. he does an AMAZING job. more love for stevie lead vocals please. (do i have a spotify playlist with him on lead vocals? maybe) and then, the blend to brian taking over. HOLY HOLY FUCKING GODDAMN SHIT, their voices blend SO WELL. and the way steve just looks so huffy when brian comes in earlier than planned. i love him. mick's drumming throughout this entire song is top-notch, especially the transitions from lyric to lyric. how fun drumming lessons with mick would've been? and i love the chorus vocals. mick, andy and steve doing the "no you don't" part and brian responding to that with utter force and raw power in his voice. it's fucking epic. and let me tell you about mick tucker drumming one-handed while twirling a drumstick in his other hand. he can do one-handed what most drummers need both their hands for, just pay attention. more often than not he only uses one hand for delivering a spectacular drumming performance. what also absolutely sells this "no you don't" version is the utter cocky attitude steve uses to deliver his vocals. i am in awe. god, i can't shut up about the harmonies they use. andy going in high, steve throwing in his force of a chest voice and mick balancing the other two out with his solid middle ground notes. we get the instrumental break where they all turn around (except for stevie) and it's so unexpected - to have them do nothing for a few moments. it's a nice contrast. mick and andy start to play again (stevie does to, he's just not in the shot right now) and can we talk about mick having so much energy and force he loses TWO drumstick playing so little??? and his smirk is literally killing me. that man KNOWS he's a top-tier drummer and he likes to show off (which i do not mind, please give me all the reason in the world to adore you). fucking hell, mick tucker - what a man. then he starts setting the rhythm and pace and steve and andy are locking in on him - again, exactly what you need from a stable rhythm section, so especially steve and mick need to be 100 % in sync here. and they're both handling it amazingly. and for the grand finale, we get one last chorus with their PERFECT HARD ROCK HARMONIES AND THEIR SHEER RAW POWER. every day my ears are blessed with listening to this and i will never, never shut up about it. goddamn perfection.

so, if you wanna watch an epic rock performance, go to youtube and look at these videos. they're available. for free. 24/7. what a time to be alive. i still can't believe this exists and still people just think they're glam rock and bubblegum pop. of course they started with that and chinnichap didn't really want to let them escape from that, but sweet are a top-notch rock band, especially hard and prog rock (level headed everyone). live at musikladen just proves over and over again what an incredible musical variety these men had and i wish they would get the recognition they deserve. to sum it up, i love them and their style and their music and their craft. they are incredible and "no you don't" live at musikladen might just be my favourite live perfomance of anything ever. andy is an underrated guitarist with creative solos and a sweet sweet falsetto, brian with his dual voice sound (velvety soft and raw power), steve with his bass solos and cocky attitude and strong chest voice and mick, the most underrated, most skilled drummer. they are what makes sweet so fucking top-tier and not even posthumously (except for andy) they get the recognition they deserve. which is a reason i wrote this post about them and live at musikladen. make people aware of just how good they were.

i thank you for your time reading this and putting up with my takes and my english.

kila

[wr1t3w1tm3]

The Outsiders a New Musical Cast Recording Reaction

Here you go @its-a-hare-pom-pom

Please note: I do not actually know the voices of who is who. I am having to assume who is who in some of the songs so I'm doing my best. I looked up a cast list for this. This is confusing and I'd need several more listens through to figure out who is and that's probably not gonna happen anytime soon (ya'll fill find out why in a later post).

Also, I curse a lot and there's a brief mention of suicide in my section on I could talk to you all night, so be warned.

Tulsa '67: Interesting how they changed Johnny's jumping to just a week before the events of the musical. I don't mind that change. I kinda like it? Maybe?

Okay. I need to rant a bit here. I grew up just a day's drive from Tulsa in a town not very dissimilar from it. Just switch East and West and you're halfway there. (Meaning in my city the East side was the old money and West was more of everyone else/the new money side of town).

Ponyboy's diatribe about how people get stuck in the town for life hits home for me because, like, of the nearly 300 person graduating class from my highschool, a vast majority of them went to school either in town or within the state. While I'm technically still in the state, I'm right across the river from our neighboring state so the line's a bit funky. I feel his longing to get the hell out. I feel the sort of resentment he feels towards Darry, who could've been a sports star had circumstances panned out differently. I feel his heartache for Soda when he mentions that his girlfriend up and left and broke his heart. My little sister and younger brother are both up-and-coming in similar ways to Darry (albeit a different sport for my sister) and Soda. The only real difference is that my family isn't just above the poverty line. In this economy maybe we're starting to slip down there, but if that's the only difference... shit. I'm in for a ride.

Moving on...

Grease got a Hold: I did watch the performance of this for Good Morning America or whatever it showed up on so this isn't my first time listening. This is the first time I can't tell who is who. I looked up the cast so I think the first singer is Dally? IDK. It's the whole gang except Johnny. This is when I discovered that Steve was in fact a named ensemble character.

Not my favorite song. But I'm sure that it introduces everyone well. I don't mind it, just def my least favorite of the ones I'd heard before.

Runs in the Family: I'm pretty sure it's a Darry song. Shit. I feel this song. I am literally Darry in this song, except I have parents, they're just not around a whole lot due to work.

I think I mentioned here that I work at a Nursing home. And especially during the winter if I worked twelves (luckily I'm PRN, so I can pick up shorter shifts) I'd be in before the sun and out after it. That is one of the worst feelings I've ever felt. You feel like you didn't do a damn thing but your so tired you can't do anything so you end up getting down and just scrolling while you eat and you barely have energy to grab something to eat. Had I not been still living at home I would have just gone through a drive through. You are a different kind of tired after a long day of taking people to the toilet and passing meds and working with memory care patients as they sundown.

So while I'm not a roofer, I'm not out every night working till midnight, I think I can relate to Darry the best out of the three here, being an eldest daughter an all especially. I like this song as a character set up, though I have to point out it sounds like he's whining but I also know I've done this so like... I can't complain if I wanna keep my whining privileges.

Great Expectations: This is the first song out, I'm sure we've all heard it. It's about Ponyboy relating to Pip, one of the characters in the book Great Expectations I think by Charles Dickens. I never read it in school I think due to Covid so...

That being said, great song. Still very much relate to him and his wanting to get the hell outta town but feeling trapped by family and obligations. Like I get the kid is only fourteen, and S.E. Hinton was about this age when she wrote this but it is raw and I still feel it.

Come on, we've all felt like everyone expects everything of us and have just wanted to get swept up in a fictional reality where shit is hard but we know everything will be just fine in the end, right? Right?

The line about Darry hits harder after Runs in the Family. His bit about Johnny has always hit me too, because I've always wondered (anxiously, of course) about what my life would've been like had I been born to different parents. And as much as I think about that, pretty sure I'm lucky to have what I have and I'll take it over worse.

Friday at the Drive-in: So there is also a drive in in my city, and I've been several times. I freakin' love it, and it's kind of sad that they're disappearing. This chapter/scene/song has always been a favorite of mine in all Outsiders media. I love Cherry's actress. She's able to do a more country/southern accent without it sounding like a characture. Kudos to her. I'm sure this song is really cool to see in person.

I Could Talk to You All Night: Confession time: I don't like Cherry. I understand that maybe she does have a rough life, but it has always rubbed me wrong the way she told Ponyboy it's "rough all over". Bitch, both his brothers work to keep their house you shut up. Like I went through highschool with my mom hurt, grandpa dying, Covid, a whole lotta other shit and some kid literal told me to off myself b/c I got in his space while practicing a tap number for the musical. Also, I was working through the entire school year. It wasn't terribly uncommon among my peers, but to be in the musical was a sacrifice on my part and we just... we couldn't see under each others skin. My school was on the west side and his family was new money, so I guess he and Cherry are alike in my eyes in that way (even had the same hair, lol). I didn't know what was going on with him and I guess when he broke up with his gf (she was a senior and he was a junior) he got better.

That being said, I really like Cherry's character in this song. They see each other beyond the labels for the first time in their lives. It sort of feels like a love song, but also not so much, and I really dig it. I may eat my words later but I like this version of Cherry. She comes off a lot less snooty than book/movie Cherry. Its so cute.

Runs in the Family (Reprise): Shit. Darry. Okay. The silent oldest sibling burden has fucking snapped. Bro. This is so good. Seeing what all was going on behind his outburst at Ponyboy. Shit. Shit. Shit. I'm even more in love with Darry's character. Shit. The oldest sibling being a parent when the parents aren't there. The younger siblings all leading into it. The abrupt stop that is Darry slapping Pony. I wanna scream IT IS SO FREAKINNG WELL DONEOAWE RUH!!!!!! I can practically hear Pony throwing open the screen door and Darry yelling back that he didn't mean it!I@ :OUhoihlacwijhr ;iuaweh' riu

Far Away From Tulsa: Oh, oh Pony. You're innocene it showing honey. This is the one thing I feel I've got on him is that I actually live on the edge of town, so I really live within a smattering farm fields and disappearing small farm towns. Those people will be judgey as hell, they will stalk you anyway possible to get info on you and there will be rumors. Like I love that you two have a dream, but we're getting into Of Mice and Men territory with Lenny and George (is that his name?) with the rabbit farm.

Also, are they changing Pony and Johnny's motivations? Obviously I'd have to watch this but this sounds like they might be changing their motivations a bit.

The transition into Great Expectations!!! The leitmotif!??! The key change?!?!?! HOLY FUCKING SHITHLIUWE RHF AIVCWH TLGIUAWEHCFIUHA. I'm screaming!!!!! But they're dream sounds like a cowboy western fantasy. And the ending where they talk about that not being in Tulsa... realy gives me pause. I think maybe their motivations changed just a bit? BUt IDK cause I'll never get to fuckin' watch this because I am but a poor midwesterner and Broadway is a bitch.

Run Run Brother: Shit. I love this. The little boys coming to Dally. The only one they can trust to know this. This is the loss of innocence in real time. The implication that he gave them all he had (the 50 bucks) is realized here. The song sounds so frantic. Aggggg. It's so good.

The background: if you're not born into money your born into despair? The background singers are great. Grease isn't given its something you earn??? Shit. Run through the fire your bound to get burned? They really like using fire as a symbol (for obvious reasons).

The transition into "You're a Greaser now and you ain't going back?" Like he literally cannot go back. Johnny killed a kid and Ponyboy would be tried as an accomplice probably. Cheezits this is so fucking good! The wrapping back to earlier songs is so freaking well done! The desperation in whoevers voice pointing out the sign to Windrixville? I love.

Justice for Tulsa: Did they come up with a new character? Are there others? Is this the Greasers talking to each other? Immediatly suspecting Dally? So they added the interrogation that he mentions he got brought into.

Is Cherry at Bob's funeral? Honey, he's an asshole. Like I get he could've been cool but gees. I'm torn up about her. They made her way more complicated. So far I'm glad for Dally and Cherry's sake that they added this scene.

Is this Darry or Soda? No. It's a Soc. Is it Randy? Oh I love his voice. Shit, is she grilling him? She's talking about Johnny. Randy. Are they getting onto her for talking with Pony. What she did wasn't wrong? Yeah, it's a senseless tragedy. If you pushed him into it.

So this is the explanation of how they started jumping Greasers and how that tension switched things up. This might be the Act break? But I'm not sure.

Death's at My Door: Is he talking about his parents dying?

Oof. I feel him. So in my life I had a series of deaths where my grandma died, then two years later my grandpa died (different sides of the family), then a kid at my college died going home for winter break. Then a girl from my highschool died going back to school after winter break. Then working at a nursing home every time, I come back someone else is dead. So, I feel that sentiment that it feels like death is following you. But that is just growing up, and I think this is Ponyboy finally sort of coming to that realization a bit.

Are they adding romantic elements to Pony and Johnny's relationships, or is this just really flirty platonic stuff? Because now I'm confused. And I'm someone who does really flirty platonic shit with my friends.

Throwing in the Towel: Oh it's a Darry song. Oh. Darry feels guilty. Shit. Okay. Is he making up with Soda? I'm a bit upset that Soda has been jipped in here. Long list of failures, same here Darry.

Oh. Soda. Soda, ever the middle child. Trying to keep the peace, trying to hype Darry up. Their being the brothers we always knew they would.

There little harmony part is so good!

Soda's Letter: I have heard this one as well. We are finally getting a Soda song!! But still, ever the middle child, trying to keep the peace between the oldest and the youngest. Dammit. I like that they added context to the letter, since it's a bit briefer in the book/movie.

The fade in of Pony singing over Soda is so good.

Hoods Turned Heroes: I love the name on this. I think this is Two-Bit singing this. Interesting that they skipped over the fire incident and Johnny talking to them at Dairy Queen. I like that it's Soda and Two-Bit in this song. I love them as a duo. And I love that we get a Greaser son in response to Justice for Tulsa.

Interesting how they changed it to 1st degree murder for Johnny's charge, because it was manslaughter and I seriously doubt there's enough evidence to even get second degree murder.

Hopeless War: Another Pony and Cherry song. I do like the musical duo of them so far. He's not wrong about the soc's declaring the war. Cherry's also not wrong, but girlfriend, your privelage is showing.

Shit, she got a point about black and white morality. "Same mistake a thousand times" "Doing what we've all been raised to do."

Shit. I like this version of Cherry. This sounds like a country love ballad and I am all here for it. Seems like act 2, like many musicals I've seen, has fewer/shorter songs.

Geez, Cherry. Okay. I still like the Cherry best out of all of them. But girl, you've gotta understand that this kids got more skin in the game than you do. Girl. IDK, this version of Cherry is just more nuanced and I think that's what she needed.

Trouble: The way Hopeless War tansitions into this song is so fucking good!!!!

So I don't know if this is at the park or the Gang going to the park but holy shit. I love this. Is Darry trying to keep Pony out? Or is Dally? Who is telling him not to fight? Didn't book Darry let him fight??!

Little Brother: I have heard this one before as well. It's a Dally song, and it still makes me awe;u hgseruig. This is my favorite version of the Dally and Johnny relationship because it solidifies the brotherhood and the way that Dally see's Johnny. It's done fairly well in the book but the musical makes it much more clear. Even the movie does it pretty well but I like that it's a bit more spelled out here.

I think I've heard all of these last three songs so they'll maybe be a bit more in depth. Also, I am gonna say this now Grease got a Hold is growing on me as I type.

I don't really like how Johnny feels very shoe horned to the side in this version of events.

Is... is someone singing with him on the second little brother in the first chorus? Could that be Darry or am I just trippin'?

I love the way that they show Dally's descent. Oh. There's a chorus on here with him. They put a different version out on YouTube with just Dally on it. Holy shit. Holy shit!!!! I love his voice so much. When are the lyrics gonna be up I gotta see who sings what in here damn it!!!

Dally. Shit. The part where the music strips and then starts building. This will never not give me shivers. I love the orchestration on this version!

The now into no!!!!! ;jfh;ajwerhf;ija uvaiwrhf;aiu3wh I AM NOT OKAY!!!

Stay Gold: This hurts like a son of a bitch still. I can't really put my words on here, but it really is written like someone who knows they're gonna die and they're wanting to give their family a final message. Which is something you can do on hospice nowadays, but wouldn't have been avaliable in the 60's.

Can't believe we had to wait the whole musical for a Johnny solo song. But I love the touch that a man came to thank Johnny for saving the kids, because in the book that's not mentioned and neither in the movie and I like that touch. They added just a few scenes and all were very well done if not honestly needed.

The fading of Ponyboy reading it with Johnny will never not get me. They use this technique so well throughout the musical. But again with me questioning if this is platonic flirty friend shit or Johnny and Pony being romantically involved somehow? I lean towards platonic flirty friends due to the time period and the fact that they're both on the younger side... but geez.

Johnny telling Pony to tell Dally, when we know Dally is dead and Dally asked him to save a seat and just owehtouwaehrt;ouiawe I am not okay. Will never not hurt.

Finale (Tulsa '67): Is this an older Pony on the first line? Does he get out? Or is that his teacher reading it? Like the acknowledgement of Paul Newman.

Oh. This is so sweet, him turning to the hometown heroes, the little everyday ones.

He got out!!!!!! Him talking about Darry and Soda!!

Ah! They took the one paragraph directly out of the book!!!

Dally!!! Wearing grease for their disguise? Holy shit. Bro. You are killing it! Killing it! The chorus entering!!?!?! The excerpts directly from the book!

"He was just to damn good for growing old? And for his memory I'll stay gold!?!?!??!" Holy shit okay. Emotional damage dealt. You didn't have to do that.

I love me a legacy explaning final number. Shit. I love this. Beautiful ending. I love the jazzy bits.

My phone immediatly jumped me to Non-Stop by Hamilton. Fuck you spotify, didn't need that now.

Final Thoughs: Unfortunately, this is not like Hamilton in the sense that the entire freaking musical minus one song that not terribly necessary for context is on spotify. There are chunks of context missing that make me wonder how else they may have changed the story. If you're someone who's first exposure to the outsiders is this, you're gonna be left with a lot of questions. Luckily, you've got a book and two versions of a Francis Ford Coppala movie, but if this was a stand alone I think I'd be leaving the cast recording fairly confused.

I think it's amazing. I did find out while finding a cast list to compare to the featured artists that Steve is still a character. I also wonder if they're gonna release the track they use for the rumble, since I think that's a seperate track with no real singing? IDK man. I wanna see that so fucking bad.

A little mad about how they downgraded Soda and Two-Bit. I know Two-Bit was more of a minor character but it really felt like Soda got the short end of the stick here. Same with Steve, though he already had the short end so it was only a matter of time. Two-Bit makes sense despite my love of him so I kind of expected that.

Overall, I do like this, but it feels a bit incomplete as I believe some of the most critical plot details have been left for portions of the musical that are acted or spoken, which sucks for us broke ass plebs who don't live within driving distance of Broadway.

So long friends.

[marshmallowprotection]

Heyo! I really enjoyed your New Years post : ) Happy New Year!

I've been thinking lately about music tastes, as I tend to start hearing every song as my blorbo's song when I'm deep into a fandom, haha. So I'm wondering, do you have your own ideas of each Mysme character's music taste?

For me, I feel like I'd say...

Yoosung: sort of eclectic mix he picks up from others

Jaehee: Zen's songs from everything he's in, including the special edition OST only available on the DvD

Zen: is it too obvious to say musical OSTs? Probably also dance music for exercising and some pop songs

Jumin: classical, obviously. I think he secretly has a few of Zen's songs. Secretly only cause he doesn't want to deal with Zen's bragging. Also I feel like he'd have some influence from Rika and V

Saeyoung: dubstep is what comes to mind immediately. Probably some obscure bands you might find strange. Some foreign music. Maybe some rock and metal music.

Now, I find it more difficult to think of Saeran, V, and Rika's tastes, though I have a thought of them all enjoying classical music? I think Saeran would be influenced by V and Rika's tastes, and I can see them both liking classical. But I don't know beyond that...

Anyway, I'm really curious of what you think!

Hi! I hope your new year is fairing well. I have character playlists on Spotify you can check out, actually! I add to them periodically when I stumble across a song that suits the character in my eyes. Though, it is a blend. A lot of those songs are things I use to channel them when I'm writing, and not always things I think they'd listen on their own.

Like, for Yoosung, I think he listens to everything. I don't think he's the type to say, "I like this music or that music!" He just likes music. You could probably say he likes to listen to whatever's popular at the time, but he's not picky about it. Saeyoung listens to a lot of music, too. I've always been certain he loves some good jazz. His character theme is like that!

Whereas, someone like Jihyun is a lot more defined in my mind. I've always seen him as a lover of classical music. He just seems the type to sit down in his living room and listen to smooth melodies. After all, his mother was a masterful violinist. I think he appreciates orchestras most of all. Rika doesn't listen to a lot of music. I can't imagine it was accessible to her given what I know about her adopted family. But, as soon as she left that house, she started to enjoy musicals.

She loves to watch Zen perform, so it's easy for me to say she'd listen to musicals if given the choice. But, God, do I ever want her to listen to some rock music and unpack her religious trauma.

Zen has a mixture. I know he listens to musicals in his spare time, but another part of me is 100% sure he's got a work-out playlist with pop music to keep him energized. Now, as to what pop music is in there I can't say, but I know it keeps him motivated. Jaehee's likely similar in that regard, she listens to musical soundtracks and lo-fi melodies to play in the background. She doesn't seem like the type to venture too far out of her comfort zone; So she likes music that calms her down, Zen adjacent music or not!

Jumin isn't that far off from V. I can't really see him moving beyond the classical sphere unless you poke and prod him. He loves to learn and engage with new things, so he's open to other music. you just need to push him.

I can tell you that Saeran listens to classical music and love songs from decades ago. It's possible to assume he picked it up from his interactions with V and Rika, but I think he stumbled across it on his own at some point and decided that he liked the peaceful ambiance it created for his weary mind.

Let me know what you think if you check out my playlists.

[pippytmi]

Kacy exes era was definitely something and so was your fic

All of those angsty prompts are sooooo good. The first one where it's late but you can't sleep so you show up at their door in pajamas 😭😭

Fully imagining Kate turning into peak Season 1 mean girl cause she isn't getting enough sleep and is making it everyone else's problem too and then Lucy also can't sleep and it's effecting her performance out in the field so Jane tells her to take a long weekend and catch up on sleep but she can't cause she can't sleep without snuggling right up into Kate

thank you omg i hope I lived up to the the angsty kacy post-exes era 🫡🫡🫡

and holy shit wait i can 100% see the vision for the sleep one? like. jane notices that lucy isnt doing her best and tells her point blank “whatever you need to get well-rested” so when kate opens her front door at midnight she is understandably very, very confused. totally imagine the scene going like this:

////

Kate answers the door with an (appropriate) amount of apprehension due to the time of night, but it melts away into soft, plain confusion when she sees Lucy standing there. “Lucy,” she says, quietly, sounding vaguely hopeful and relieved and—Lucy absolutely cannot allow that. 

(The hope, anyway).

“Hi,” Lucy says firmly, “I need to sleep here. Tonight.” She reconsiders her words a little and amends, “Please.”

“Is there something wrong with your apartment?” Now Kate looks concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Everything's fine. Can I—can we take this inside? Your neighbors will really hate me otherwise.”

“Yeah, of course.” Kate steps back to let Lucy in, watching her with that patient, perplexed furrow of her brow, and Lucy is extremely mad that she still finds it cute.

“Jane told me to come here,” Lucy says, once they're standing together in the living room and Lucy is pointedly avoiding eye contact. “Well not here specifically, she just made me take time off to get some rest and…well, she might have mentioned that you're a little off yourself. In her usual cryptic way.”

“Off?” Kate echoes, frowning. “Off how?”

“Well you've been a little—prickly. More than usual. At least, that's what my team has been saying, I haven't noticed anything.” That's a lie, but Lucy is trying very hard to show she doesn't care what Kate Whistler is up to nowadays. 

(Showing up today is just. A brief lapse in judgment). 

Kate crosses her arms. “I've been nothing but professional. If they sent you to complain—”

“That's not why I'm here, okay?” Lucy pauses to exhale deeply. “I can't sleep. I'm driving my team crazy and Jane finally told me to take some time off and…I think I just can't sleep without you.”

“Oh.” Kate blinks, outwardly stunned, and her frown falls entirely. “Does this mean—”

Lucy doesn't let her finish. “I don't want to talk about us,” she says. “I don't want to listen to you explain, or…or anything. I just want to sleep, and obviously, it needs to happen in your bed or it won’t happen at all.” She pauses. “If you’re fine with it, anyway.”

Kate just stares, for a moment. “Is this…wise?” she finally asks. “The ramifications of getting used to being around each other could be…” 

“Don’t analyze it,” Lucy protests. “And don’t look at me like I’m crazy. I just need one night of sleep or I’ll actually kill someone. Can we just, take it one day at a time here?”

“Okay.” Kate bites her lip, looks down and doesn’t look back up. “Sure. We can just stay together tonight and figure the rest out later.”

The act of giving in is very uncharacteristic for Kate Whistler, and deep down, Lucy knows why Kate is agreeing. She knows why Kate is so willing to let Lucy back into her bed despite their issues. And she knows why Kate is currently gently clearing off Lucy’s side of the bed that is so obviously slept-on instead of Kate’s usual side.

But Lucy pushes those thoughts deep, deep down, and instead buries her face into a pillow and listens to Kate’s uneven breathing. “I can hear you thinking,” she says, feels Kate shift behind her. “Relax, okay? We’re just two people…sleeping next to each other…to get one night of rest. It doesn’t have to be weird.”

Kate gives a huff of a disbelieving laugh. “Right,” she mumbles. “Not weird at all.”  

Already, Lucy feels like this is working, all exhaustion melting out of her body as she sighs. “You can touch me, you know.”

Kate coughs. “What?!”

“It it helps you sleep,” Lucy yawns, eyes already closed as she pulls the blanket a little tighter. She has an explanation on the tip of her tongue about how she knows Kate likes the grounding ability to touch, but it fades when sleep comes.

(She swears, though, that she feels the faintest brush of Kate’s fingertips at her waist right before it does).

[jeffgerstmann]

So apparently AEW pays well and that's bad?

I know a couple of current WWE folks who definitely got better contracts simply because AEW existed and, thus, created a world where people might jump ship and go somewhere else.

But yeah, I don't know, people are fuckin' crazy. That said, with all of the recent free agent talk going around and that article that is all "WWE needs to look in the mirror about why they keep losing free agents to AEW," I think that's a little off the mark.

Like, yes, in a theoretical, big-picture kind of way the WWE should probably ask themselves why people would want to work anywhere else. And they can chalk it up to "well, we've had some negative press lately" or "this person just didn't want to work as many dates" or whatever. Each case will be different. But I think in the three recent cases cited, there are very real life reasons why none of those three would go with WWE. It's great that the offer from AEW was better and, honestly, I think those signees will easily find more success in AEW than they would in WWE.

Like let's not kid ourselves here: WWE could have offered Okada a fuckton of money, but would he actually make a meaningful mark in the WWE? He'd come in, the announcers would have to spend a ton of time educating the audience on why he matters because most of their audience doesn't watch anything else, and he'd probably just end up being the next foreign heel. The types of great matches he had in NJPW aren't really the kinds of things that WWE is looking for or especially needs more of. They'd probably rush him into a main event program for three months or so and then do something embarrassing with him. He'd be tagging with Nakamura in a team with a vaguely racist-sounding name or something shitty like that. He'd be another amazing performer in search of a meaningful storyline and the WWE's midcard is fucking stuffed full of guys like that right now. He'd be losing to Karrion Kross by Survivor Series.

Tack on the notion that WWE's business is doing really well and they're selling tickets everywhere they go and inventing new, more evil forms of revenue all the time and it's easy to see that WWE doesn't need Okada. They need to be making sure that they have a fresh crop of young talent ready to take over when the current headliners fall off or move on. At 36, Okada isn't quite that guy.

However, Okada is a great fit for AEW and its audience. Too good, actually. I mean I don't think he'll be a "needle mover" on the ratings because anyone in this country who knows who Okada even is already watches AEW. They're super-serving their audience. They're "building golden toilets" for their fanbase. As someone who really likes that shit, I'm stoked. But the weirdo ratings nuts online who live and die by television ratings are melting down over "is Okada a draw or not" or something. And I think it'd probably be obvious to anyone who really sat down and thought about it that Okada wasn't ever going to drag in a whole new American audience.

I'd say mostly the same thing about Ospreay. He'd become the leader of the Catch Wrestling Crew or whatever the fuck they're called now.

The other thing I'd say is that, over time, a better program will probably attract a larger audience. So AEW's programming is better by way of these new signings. They're great performers and I think they both have the ability to be super big in the US for years to come, provided they're working somewhere that plays to their strengths.

Bringing Sasha Banks over to AEW has a chance to bring in new audience since she had a level of fame here in the States already and, hey, maybe fans of hers weren't already watching AEW. It's possible! Punk did it, right? We'll see. That might immediately make her more valuable than Ospreay and Okada. That said, there are already a ton of women that I'd love to see more of on AEW TV, so inserting another star at the top of that division kinda rubs me the wrong way.

Either way, I think these three specific cases are, well, specific enough that trying to use this to claim that WWE is "losing out" on this free agency stuff is probably wrong. They know how much they're willing to spend on an individual talent, they've been at this long enough to have a pretty good idea how some of these people are likely to monetize once they get there, and they're simply not going to overspend on any talent anymore because they're really focused on trying to bring in new talent and raise them up through their system. For all we know, AEW overspent on all three.

But they aren't spending my money, so fuck it! It's awesome! I only get mad when the people I want to see are locked behind the ROH paywall. Like Athena! Put her on real TV, she's fantastic! What the fuck!

[btsbs]

With all due respect, I'm starting to think kpop fans were actually born yesterday. Even western celebrities and influencers acknowledge fanfic. I remember back in the 2000's, two members of tvxq talked about fanfic and one jokingly complained that they were always the "woman" in the stories. Singular fanfics aren't necessarily indicative of anything, but fanfic across the board is actually a pretty good indicator of how members of a group are viewed by the fandom, and it'd be insane to think celebrities or their companies wouldn't monitor that. For example, if a member is routinely villainized in stories where a certain pair is the focus of the fanfic, that might indicate bigger issue brewing in that group of shippers.

As an aside, that list of ships is made up. I read the actual hybe report and the only mentioned "ships" were nct and maybe one other group, nowhere did they provide any extensive list about ships they monitor. Pretty sure that list is just the popular ship list from postype (korean ao3).

So I’ve addressed the list already, but I’m going to take this opportunity to address your other point about companies monitoring fan fic overall. Regardless of whatever specific ship list we do or do not have proof of Hybe monitoring.

I mostly agree with you, celebrities have been aware of fan fic for decades, but most of the conversation about it has been more of a casual acknowledgement that it exists without going much deeper. Perhaps it was always a bit different within kpop, I haven’t been here that long but if you were following tvxq in the 2000’s it seems like you have been. The concept of the fourth wall has been eroding as social media has changed the way both fandom and every day life exists on the internet. The fourth wall is basically the imaginary wall that separates performers from an audience. As a fan you are aware you are watching a show, with music it’s a bit different than theatre as some interaction is expected at a concert, but the encore ends and fans share their excitement with each other and the band goes home and the wall is fully back up. In kpop maybe the wall was never quite as high, but I think my general discomfort with the idea of Hybe execs reading and discussing fan fics has to do with this blurring of lines in fandom culture. Which is also much bigger than just fan fic.

When I was younger and in the BSB fandom at their peak, fandom had only been online for a handful of years. We lived in message boards, ezines, random angelfire and geocities pages that functioned similar to a tumblr blog but without the connection. Search engines were not great, and you had to HUNT for fics. Things were starting to move over to livejournal as I stepped away from fandoms in general for over a decade- but there was no ao3, a perfect categorized library where you can find the most random specific fic you want in no time at all. Because it is so well organized, it makes it so much easier to track metrics. It wasn’t being done before because it was impossible to do, but the impossibility of it let the fourth wall carry over from the physical space (like a concert) to the internet. It was like that for a long time, until maybe 5-10 years ago.

The fourth wall is important because not every fan wants everything they say, do, or create to actually get back to the artist. We behave differently when we think they might be watching. Weverse has proved that there is some demand for a space like this, but I also think it’s just as important for fandom to have spaces that aren’t. Where we can be a little unhinged at times, share art or writing where the target audience is other fans and not the actual artist. Maybe you’re trying to teach yourself to draw or graphic design using your fav idol and you don’t really want your first attempts actually getting in front of their gaze. Maybe it’s just nice to have a space where you can say your fav wore an ugly sweater and *know* they’re not looking at that platform to ever see it.

To me, fan fic is in that domain. Fans write it for other fans to enjoy, and it feels like a fourth wall break for a company to be mining in there for market research and song inspiration. As much as I very much understand your point about why it’s done, I think it’s fair for us to ask if it should be done. Do we want it to be done. What if people start posting empty fics with their fav ship tags so their favs can have the best numbers, like people do now with streaming bragging rights. Does every aspect of fandom culture have to be a metric, a data point, a tool for more competition and consumerism?

I also think that if I was a famous person, the existence of fic wouldn’t bother me. If fans are writing it, reading it, staying on their side of the wall- it doesn’t impact the life of the celebrity much if at all. I listened to a podcast once, where they discussed hockey fandom drama over certain hockey fans screaming at the players about ships and fics from the sidelines at games and it made the players and their partners uncomfortable- which is fair, fans are climbing over the fourth wall. In this instance, it feels like Hybe may be crossing over the wall from the other side. Knowing it exists and having to confront it in your day to day life are two different things. The artists themselves also deserve to use the internet and live life with some protection from our wildest thoughts getting delivered directly into their laps as well. The fourth wall protects everyone, and Hybe potentially mining fan fic data is just another chip away at it.