#also I'm always curious which song will be in top 5 because of this

[jinchaeji]

Jokes on you my anxiety won't let me play any of my songs in public (unless I know that the other person also likes this)

I will do this trick alone tho

Favourite songs too short? Turn your favourite song into a 2-hour album with just one simple trick! Passengers in the car are gonna love it!

[silverlining-ships]

Music comms are CLOSED!! Check out the waitlist here!!

Ok y'know what, screw it. My brain seems to require three-four pieces at one time (genuinely cannot figure out why that is), and with the fact I only have two queued up right now and the game I'm composing for doesn't need any tracks at the moment, I'm getting composer's block again. So we're OPENING my music requests!!

I'm actually stunned at how many people seemed interested in getting a piece of soundtrack music for their f/o. I'm opening it to non-mutuals, and it's totally free! If you're concerned about paying/tipping for work, I'm always happy to receive content for my selfship, but I will not accept any money, and there's no pressure to tip content anyway. Again, this is for fun!

This is how it works:

Fill out this google form with the title of your ship, some songs you like, instruments, etc etc.

You can message on Tumblr or Discord (@/slipperson on Discord) on top of submitting the form too! I'll reach out myself once I get started on your piece.

I'll sketch out a draft, which is exactly like sketching out a basic pose for art - it'll typically only use piano/minor percussion. Sometimes I'll even give a simple concept before I flesh out a draft. I'll send it to you for approval.

If changes are needed, I'll refine the draft and re-update. If not, I'll go on to fleshing out the instrumental - this means adding instruments, changing volume (for example, in my first example, I used a lot of "dynamics"/volume changes to simulate the swelling of instruments). This is like adding the flat colors in a piece of art!

I'll send it to you again - I'll make changes upon your request, but if approved, I'll finally go ahead and mix the final draft. This means putting it through an audio program (audacity if you're curious!) and polishing the sound. This is like rendering the lighting!

After it's done, I'll send it to you for once last listen. Upon approval, I'll post it to Soundcloud, link it on Tumblr, and tag you in the post!

Important bits:

No comship/proship/aged up-or-down/RPF ships. Live action characters are fine as long as it's not the actual person. Familial/platonic ships are totally okay!

If you are a minor/ageless blog, I'm willing to write a piece for familial/platonic content, but not QPR/romantic.

Downtime is 1-2 months after I first open your request. I may finish it sooner, but no later than 2 months. This is because music generally takes awhile--30 seconds of music can take me 4-5 hours to concept! I also tend to work on 3-4 pieces of music at a time.

I will give frequent updates. Don't be afraid to reach out if you're curious on the status!

My work is never cleared to be used commercially or in AI programs. We're a bunch of selfshippers on Tumblr, so I know we all hate AI, but it's worth the mention. I tend to be strict on copywrite - it'll stay under my name, all rights reserved - however, you are free to use your piece wherever you'd like as long as it's not commercial use, used in a monetized campaign/video/form of media, and not used in AI.

I may put these tracks on a streaming service at a later date - not on Spotify, as the service is TERRIBLE with allowing their work to be remixed into AI. Something like Bandcamp or Soundcloud for Artists. If you are uncomfortable with this, please let me know.

Examples:

I will have my queue/completed list on my carrd here.

Thank you so much for your interest!! I'm actually so stunned I got so much love for this, and I'm excited to celebrate your ships with you!

heart border

[abcwordsurge]

hello my good friend mx surge! what kind of music do you like/prefer, genre-wise? got any favorite songs? and then can i get some favorite lyrics? smile! and. tell me what characters/stuff the lyrics make you think of if you'd like to go that far! doesn't have to be any characters I'd know about or even any at all. i am Curious <- all /nf! do as much as you like. i love asking questions and hearing your thoughts 🫡🫡 —marley

hello my wonderful friend marley! eeee I love talking about music. this is gonna be a long one

(disclaimer: I am admittedly Very Bad at genres, so I'm gonna give you artists and maybe you can decide for yourself what genres they are)

AJR is a big one, I could talk for days about AJR. they're one of the only bands I've been to a concert for (very very good concert, very fun, very dramatic, highly recommend, they are clearly showmen, not just musicians, and that makes for entertaining shows). I'm unironically following someone on tumblr who posts ONLY AJR stuff because every time I see the name "AJR" it's like a visceral reaction that makes me grin. ooh, also Twenty One Pilots. I love then. looking forward to their new album

I listen to a lot of broadway. some of my favorites are Be More Chill, Mean Girls, Six, and Titanic the Musical, just to name a few. I love seeing live shows especially- I saw Something Rotten not too long ago, and the Nick was BRILLIANT it. was, admittedly, a high school production, but nonetheless. he danced a lot, even unchoreographed dancing in the background, just like, vibing, and it was so obvious that he was just having a good time and enjoyed being there (the actor, that is, not the character) and I just liked watching him

oh, and Sleeping at Last! I first discovered them by their Atlas: Enneagram album, because I'm a nerd and adore personality tests (I'm an INTP and a 5 in case anyone was wondering), but I've been slowly absorbing the rest of their music, and it's all so beautiful

favorite songs... hm. I can't not say "2085," the closer to AJR's most recent album, and perhaps the most emotionally devastating song they have released as of yet (which is really saying something). best lyrics from that song are undoubtedly the last bit, where they say "you gotta get better, you've all that I got," then it gets softer and the lyrics change to "I gotta get better, I'm all that I've got." HEARTBREAKING /pos. I mean, I like that part enough that I wrote a whole fic inspired by it. one of my very few angst fics. "All That I've Got," a Minnesconsin fic (link here if you're curious). by the way, the first song of that album, "Maybe Man," is also a banger, highly recommend

I love "96000" from "In the Heights" (I think it's only in the movie version, not the musical version? not 100% sure though). ooh this song makes me crazy. this song... ok. I can't talk about this song without being a bit weird about it, but stick with me. this song always makes me think of the people on the Titanic. I read a book once with fictionalized versions of a few of the Titanic's officers and crew members, and once I was listening to this song and when it got to Sonny's verse, all I could think about was how exactly it matched fifth officer Harold Lowe's vibes. it's not really the lyrics, but several of the verses just remind me of various crew members' vibes. and it's. it's just a great song

"Air Catcher" by TOP. that's another wonderful song. always makes me think of Iowa to Wisconsin, for no particular reason. best lyric is "I don't believe in talking just to breathe," which is an idea that always appealed to me

Tyler Joseph is a BRILLIANT lyricist, actually. other great lyrics by him:

"our words are loud but now I'm talking action" (Neon Gravestones)

"for us to think is to be alive / and I will try with every rhyme / to come across like I am dying / to let you know you need to try to think" (Car Radio)

"death inspires me like a dog inspires a rabbit" (Heavydirtysoul)

"haunted by a couple big mistakes / she covers all the dents with the way she decorates" (Redecorate)

"like an "I love you" / that isn't words / like a song he wrote that's never heard" (Shy Away)

I love "despair" by leo. always makes me think of florida talking to loui (in a queerplatonic way, of course). another great floui song is "Tightrope" from The Greatest Showman, but I picture this one as loui to florida

holy moly this is even longer than expected. I'll leave you with this for now. you've probably gotten a good grasp of my taste by now haha. thank you sm for the ask, I had a delightful time answering :D

[aiiria17]

An unnecessary over-analysis of tails overtime by someone with no problems whatsovever

hi gamers I'm here to talk about the best character in all of sonic the hedgehog media tails "the fox" miles "tails" prower the fox because he deserves everything including detailed analysis

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

this is the best character I've ever seen. His name is Tails and he's so cool. If you say something mean I will next make a shorter text post with your address

In Sonic 2 he's mostly a sidekick but also the main character in a way. He's the main character in the same way my aunt is. Like technically he only exists in relation to my dad but like she's so cool and therefore the main character.

he doesn't do much according to my research (memories) but also he does everything by being there and being so cute. LOOK AT HIM:

Anyways shout out to Tails he saved the world and killed the death egg robot and that guy's a BITCH. So thank you Tails I will sacrifice 7 goats to you tonight (I normally only sacrifice 5 from the farmer who lives 20 minutes from my house. The police are catching onto me. I don't have much time until they arrest me, afterwards I can only sacrifice like prison food so sorry in advance Tails). NEXT ITERATION

Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Tails is better so Sega should delete this game actually)

Tails looks a lot different this time.

I hear this game has Super Tails I wouldn't know I'm not doing research for this game but if so it's a top tier game (already is)

Tails fulfills the strange role in this game of being between two figures in Sonic and Knuckles (the titular rivals).

In a way Tails is like Hillary Clinton because she was stuck between Obama and Bill Clinton which undermined her individual identity. Unlike Hillary no need to investigate Tails' emails cause I think nobody else in mobius has an email so it's just Tails and all his alts which is wild to imagine.

Point is Tails is not as important here as in cooler games like... NEXT ITERATION

TAILS (PEAK) SKY (PEAK) PATROL (PEAK)

This game is good cause it has Tails in it.

Tails realizes here that he is peak and therefore doesn't NEED Sonic to have a 2d game for the Sega Game Gear system. Fortunately for us, Tails has a successful adventure. Oh wait a minute. That's also a game. wait one sec

Tails adventure

haven't played it yet I hear he napalms like napalm man megaman 5. That's crazy cause I don't think Tails would support the vietnam war unlike THIS FUCKER

back to Tails Sky Patrol

For those who have sad pathetic worthless lives and don't know the plot: Tails goes to an island, finds a bunch of minecart tracks and then fights Witchcart and her squad of goons. In a way, Tails is once again like Hillary Clinton. You see, the reason this game is seen as irrelevant is because it was less successful than the previous games but, just like Hillary, it's of similar quality to some of the Sonic (Joe Biden) led titles (only Sonic CD all of the other ones clear but CD is ass). Unrelated what even were in those emails like can Tails recover Hillary's emails I want to know I'm curious

Sonic Adventure means 3D Tails!

I love Sonic Adventure Tails.

First of all the narrative: Tails is trying to break out of his assumed role of being just a sidekick. Given that all Tails really was up to this point was Sonic's little buddy the direction Sonic Adventure took was huge for the beautiful path Tails' character went down.

The arc that Tails' story in this game starts creates the arc that attached me to this character from the outset. I personally have always found it hard to see myself as capable of doing things because others can accomplish things that feel impossible to me, even if I have a similar skill set to them. Seriously, Tails' theme from this game is one of my favorite Sonic songs period because it just reminds me to be confident in my abilities.

Second the gameplay: Tails' gameplay serves to show what the story is showing by having the player use Tails' unique skillset to outpace Sonic, the "fastest thing alive" which indicates his ability in spite of not having the confidence he is yet to find.

I don't like Sonic Adventure as a whole a lot but Tails is the highlight of the game to me. I like the way Tails is developed to blossom into a new beautiful character throughout the game. Everytime I play I look forward to Tails' campaign.

wait oh god I mean uhh Hillary Clinton uhhh Epstein didn't kill himself uhhhh chemicals in the water? I don't know I do want to show my actual love of Tails a little bit well NEXT ITERATION

Sonic Adventure 2

so first of all the mech levels are fine you're just bad

So narratively it's just kinda more of adventure Tails but now with a cool mech. It's like when the lizard people attach their skin suits so the cspan footage won't record the truth about our government. One time I went in to meet my senator and he turned his head 180 degrees to look at me. I saw his eyes blink sideways while he was getting his skinsuit zipped on from the aide in the office who also was probably in the Illuminati to honest. I would speak his name but he put a curse on me that if I speak the truth to what I saw my ancestors will all have the feeling that they are perpetually walking over hot coals, even when not walking! Normally I'd drop the "jokes on you I'm gay" but I don't know if this applies to cousins and that would be a fucked up thing to do to my cousins.

Anyways Tails

yeah he's good in this game strong character shows his smart side while keeping the strength he got for himself in Adventure 1. I'd give him a (Sonic Adventure) 2/2

Sonic Heroes

Fuck this game it's so trash

Tails' model looks good but I really don't want to continue thinking about this game cause if I do I'll scream and the curse I got from that other lizard witch person (no minecart sadly) means that if I scream because of Sonic the Hedgehog my urethra will explode. Yikes

Shadow the Hedgehog

He's so cute

Lowkey when playing this game I didn't have it in me to not go on the Tails routes for levels but sometimes I had to and wanted to apologize so I just doubled my goat sacrifice total which is rough cause I also have to sacrifice at least like 1 goat to the high demon Nahadareth who will also make my urethra explode. Overall I'm going to use this platform to say I think Tails and Shadow have such a funny little dynamic. It's adorable and I want to see them go on an adventure and do cool stuff together Sega if you don't do this I will send a death threat to a janitor at your headquarters via carrier pigeon and YOU'LL RUE THE DAY

He's seriously so adorable in this game though it made the ten times playing nearly worth it.

nearlyNEXTITERATION

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) - XBOX360/PS3

Fun fact this was my first mainline Sonic game. Thankfully not my actual first Sonic game, except for the fact that my true first Sonic game was Sonic Chronicles.

Anyways I don't remember him doing very much cause Sonic just fucks off with Elise for like all of his route but I love dummy ring bomb.

Dummy ring bomb is great because it lets Tails both bomb the enemies and my PS3 simultaneously because Sonic 06 can't handle loading in one more asset let alone 100. Seriously what did he do? His role is almost as easy to forget as the fact that the chemtrails are still being spread by the government through the airplanes. You know Sonic 06 was a great perfectly functional game and then on release day the government put out twice the chemtrails cause George Bush though Silver the Hedgehog would make the kids gay. As a kid exposed to Silver the Hedgehog early on, he was right I guess.

Okay so like fun fact the next Sonic media I know about in continuity is Boom (and I forgot about Generations and don't feel like going back so fuck you specifically actually) and like I'm good so we're going straight to "NEXT"ITERATION SONICFOCERS

SONICFROCES

SONICESSRES

fuck

SONICFORCES

put more effort into backspacing than sega did into this game

this cutscene is disgusting

honestly a bigger assassination than Jeffrey Epsteindidn'tkillhimself and John killedbytheF.BI Kennedy combined. Tails would never cower cause he can fly.

Oh I get that like it's literally Chaos zero and tails is supposed to be competant but also he can fly like why crouch just go up WHAT WERE THEY THINKING.

Jokes aside my favorite line in this game is that in the opening cutscene Silver(?) says "Tails... Tails has just lost it" so apparently my boy went insane like he got MKUltra'd and then got that instant fast therapy off camera and was good and chill by the time we saw him again. Some say his activation word is Zavok. My activation word is "the" because the government just really hated me in particular when I got MKUltra'd. But I'm built different so I've just been exclusively speaking and only listening to foreign languages for all these years. I still don't know any languages but like I listen to them and make some sounds which is cool I guess.

Sonic Forced me to play this at gunpoint and Tails would never that's why I like Tails games more

I'm not doing Mania or Superstars cause Tails doesn't do anything and it's midnight and I'm only going to pad kinda hard from here out.

SONIC FRONTIERS

good game imo people are just mean :(

his ass is THINKING

I love Frontier Tails. like as much as Adventure Tails. Unfortunately doing the "sincere analysis" bit twice kinda kills the vibe so I just gotta bullshit I guess and if you're still reading sunk cost fallacy means you'll read whatever slop I throw out next so here we go.

I like Frontiers Tails cause he can transform into a robot in final horizon and fly around but unfortunately not destroy any towers cause 1. He's not Bush and 2. Tornado fuel can't melt steel beams but that's not a real video game and in fact a free update and I wouldn't say that patch 1.4 changed Bridget's character in Guilty Gear but it did make me give up on playing her and the game and I'm so sad please help me.

Actual Frontiers Tails lives next to a volcano while in his little cyber form where he can both not feel physically and still can't find Hillary's emails somehow. Anyways I'm seen as illiterate by some definitions of the word I actually just monkey-on-keyboarded up to this point in my whole life so I don't know what he was doing but his memory token was wrenches so that means he is wrench mans. For any people who got this far but are also illiterate this is a wrench:

lmao get owned illiterate people that's actually the cat the government sent to monitor me. If you reverse image search and say "that's a stock photo" just know that you're falling into their trap and should be ashamed.

Conclusion

me like Tails :) here's my favorite Tails

I like how the Sonic Riders aesthetic looks.

The point of this post is to tell you that Hillary Clinton ate my dog and I don't know why can someone ask her please I'm just confused

[dreadark]

whats your current top 5 arknights operator themes? ik you like endospore (i do too i think it's one of the best. it reminds me of pokemon gen5 ost) and the pallas one i think? but im curious abt the others

and. while we're at it. which ones do you think suck if there are any

always a hard question... probably like

keep the torch (pallas) forever #1 of course it's such a unique style that somehow the only thing I've seen it compared to is beyond the bounds which was also my first thought when I heard it because they really are similar. but what Is this style called... (the word is genre isn't it)

immutable (kal'tsit) I really like how the instrumental has a completely different vibe (imo) it sounds mechanical(?) like along the lines of passenger or rosmontis's themes. but with the lyrics it sounds...graceful? with this sense of longing?? idk what I'm saying I don't actually know anything about music

endospore (mizuki ... #2) it just makes me so instantly emotional somehow it's like 80% of why I like mizuki. and I...don't like IS3 but this theme is so good i can imagine a better version. like...it really is mizuki's last stand

high mists of spring (qiubai) probably half the reason this is here is because it doesn't have lyrics but it's still just a really good theme... I like how emotional guitars can sound, I didn't expect something like this for qiubai but it really works

dormant craving (ho'olheyak) actually I think it fails as a character theme (the sound(?) is good but if you start paying attention to the lyrics they... do not match ho's character. which makes me a bit sad because I assumed she was a more interesting character from the lyrics before I read lonetrail rip) but still it's been stuck in my head for months so I have to include it. I literally have all the lyrics memorized (mostly it's really fun to sing to)

the explanation wasn't asked for but I love rambling. other than the top 2 the other ones will change based on my mood probably

there's... also a lot of themes that I think suck but to not get too much into a rant... recently degenbrecher's theme annoys me... she should've gotten something cool like carnelian or flametail or her own boss theme hello?? how did you make that one so good and then this... (I have this same problem with mudrock...)

but it's like... I guess the song isn't bad just... uncharacteristically wistful..? just not intense enough. does this sound like a 3 time kazimierz major champion to you like why does stainless's theme sound cooler than hers. it's not right

[gunilslaugh]

Q&A :)

Q&A! Thanks to everyone who sent questions :)

Q: I'm curious if you have any favorite XH members when it comes to writing?

A: No specific member comes to mind right away, but there is a soft spot in my heart for Hyeongjun.

Q: What motivates your writing, like what keeps you up and going!

A: 1st my love for xdinary heroes. 2nd I like creating stories that others can enjoy. 3rd the support, whenever someone says that they like my blog and writing it really motivates me to keep on writing. 

Q: Do you speak any other languages other than English?

A: I’m only fluent in English, but I am currently learning French :) and I speak a little Spanish too!

Q: Congrats on 100 followers! What's your favorite trope to write about?☺️

A: I’m not quite sure, but I think friends to lovers is always cute!

Q:Do you have a bias in XDH??? I personally cannot decide. Everytime I think I chose a bias, the others swoop in and take the spot 😅

A: No, I don’t have a bias, they're all too loveable!!!

Q:I was wondering. Do you play any instruments? Even if it's a work in progress or you can only play like two notes, I’m genuinely curious. Any instruments you wanna learn?

A: I used to play violin when I was a child from ages 5-7 I think. Playing the piano always seemed like it would be fun.

Q:Do you live in the United States?? Just curious tbh

A: Yes I do.

Q:My questions are how did you become a villain and what made you open this account and start writing? 💚

A: I’m already a fan of other jype groups, so I watched “Origin of Xdinary Heroes” teaser  when it was released in November 2021 then I found out that they were gonna be a band and that sold me. I was really excited to hear what their sound would be like and once they debuted I was obsessed with Happy Death Day, which solidified me being a villian.

I opened this account because I always created stories/scenarios in my head and I just had the thought. What if I wrote them down and posted them? I found that Xdinary Heroes didn’t have many writers for them and I felt like they were a group I could easily write for so I just gave it a shot and it has turned out wonderfully. ❤ 

Q:what's your top 5 xdinary heroes' songs and which content from them do you like the most? ❤️

A: Wait, why is picking top 5 songs so hard!? (This list could change on a daily basis lol)

-Sucker Punch! (first song that came to mind)

-Zzz

-Good Enough

-Crack in the Mirror 

-Strawberry Cake

Honorable mention: the rest of their songs

I like their Rock The World content the most, it can be so chaotic I love it.

Q: Which members are the easiest and hardest to write about? Or it doesn't matter?

A: Thankfully It’s easy for me to write about any member. I think Gunil might be the easiest to write for. Maybe it’s because I named my blog after him lol. For the hardest maybe Jooyeon because he’s a shy goofball who can also be a menace, still very fun to write for him though.

Q: When did you first get into XDH??

A: Technically I guess you would say pre-debut like I stated in a previous answer I watched their teaser and became invested.

[ghostfilecabinet]

do you like the pre-watcher era more than the current content? just curious.

Not necessarily! Pre-Watcher Shane and Ryan only really had two types of content: ghost hunting and true crime - I loved both and therefore devoured all of their content.

Watcher era Shane and Ryan have lots of different kinds of content. They have the ghost hunting aspect, except slightly different, and I still love it. True crime has been replaced with general 'mystery', which I also love, so I consume all of that too.

They've added other things, though, and some of those things I'm not really interested in. I love Are You Scared? because I've always loved horror stories, and I love Top 5 Beatdown, because my brain gets serotonin from both ranking and arguing (to the point where for Valentine's Day, J made me a workbook where I could rank various things from Taylor Swift songs, to natural disasters).

I like history, but I don't like puppets, so me and Puppet History have a complex relationship but generally I'll tune in if the subject matter intrigues me enough. Everything else tends to depend on how invested I am in the boys. Sometimes I'm really active in Watcher fandom, and whatever they put out I will consume because what I'm looking for is Shane and Ryan. Other times, I'm in other fandoms, so I'll only consume the mystery-and-ghosts-and-ranking content.

At the end of the day, it's not so much preferring one era over the other, it's just that with Watcher era they do a lot more things, and not always things I'm interested in beyond the fact that Shane and Ryan made it, so I'm not always consuming ALL their content, unlike in pre-Watcher era, when they only posted ghosts-and-true-crime, which I'd consume even without any investment in them.

[lazanskywrites]

my favorite indie songs

My favorite blog post we've been assigned so far this semester was to explain our favorite songs. I chose to rank my top five songs from the 2014 Tumblr Girl era because there are too many songs I like to compile into a top five list.

In this blog post, I want to compile my top five indie songs. I've always been a lover of indie and alternative since I've been able to stream my own music. Ever since I can remember I've listened to artists like Foster the People, MGMT, and The 1975. I'm not trying to seem "different" from everyone else, but I never was truly drawn to rap music growing up. I love the soft, abstract, and light sounds that make up the indie genre.

Here are my top five indie songs of all time...

#5 "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun

This is a classic indie anthem, especially in the summertime. "Walking on a Dream" is without a doubt their most popular song, but there are countless other indie classics from EOTS. This song reminds me specifically of my freshman year of high school. Football games, my first homecoming, and spending countless sleepless nights with friends (before we were all employed and busy).

#4 "Loving is Easy" by Rex Orange County

Like many other fans, this was the first song of Rex Orange County that I'd heard which made me a fan. The tune is so soft and catchy that there's quite literally no way to dislike it. Alex O'Connor's voice is distinguishable and perfect for indie ballads. "Loving is Easy" reminds me of 2018 when indie became the trend. Kanken backpacks, checkered Vans, scrunchies, and HydroFlasks were all the rave when this song was popularized. Other good Rex Orange Country songs are all from his older albums (in my opinion). During 2018 I was also listening to his songs "Apricot Princess", "Never Enough", and "Sunflower".

#3 "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John

I LOVE this song. No indie fan could ever hate it because of its sheer catchiness paired with light and airy sounds. I remember listening to this song in the car with my friend who'd recently gotten her license. We were all sophomores during the 2021 "return to normality" post-Covid school year and it was easily the best school year. We went to campus every other day, so each day that the majority of us didn't have school we'd spend its entirety together having sleepovers almost every night. As soon as we all began to get our licenses we felt so grown up and invincible. This song pays tribute to my friends and me as we lived in naivety and bliss. I think any of us would pay hundreds of dollars if it meant we could go back to being sixteen-year-old girls.

#2 "ILYSB" by LANY

Each one of these songs has a specific time in my life it's associated with. This song holds the most prominent memories for me. My best friend and I used to spend hours together listening to indie hits and reading...this is embarrassing...fanfiction of our favorite celebrities together. What else is there to do when you're eleven-year-old middle schoolers with iPhones and laptops that have unrestricted Internet access? We would sit side by side and share the cute stories we'd found with each other. It must make sense now as to why I'm so good at navigating Tumblr; I've been using it since I was eleven. Unrelated to being typical tween girls, this song will definitely be on my wedding playlist. I just think it's cute not only to sing to a partner but also to a best friend.

#1 Flashed Junk Mind by Milky Chance

What else is there to say besides I ABSOLUTELY LOVE EVERY LITTLE THING ABOUT THIS SONG! No, the lyricism isn't as sentimental as "ILYSB" but this was one of my top listened-to songs throughout my teens. I saw one of my celebrity crushes at the time (2017 Finn Wolfhard in case you were curious...specifically 2017) post about how he liked it, and of course, I had to follow suit. I doubted how much I'd like this song though. It's the ideal summer anthem with a funky beat and easy-to-follow lyrics. There's nothing to dislike about "Flashed Junk Mind" or Milky Chance as a band. If you like this song and want something a little slower, check out their song "Stolen Dance".

I love everything about the indie scene. The music, the fashion, and the emotions connected to it. Indie as a genre can provoke feelings of joy, heartbreak, and passion. These songs, along with others, will definitely be the songs I play loudly on a Sunday afternoon until my kids beg me to turn them down. Spoiler, I'll only turn them up.

[seekforwarmth]

hiii, lou! 💜

honestly, i love giving comforting hugs, because most of the time i don't know how to react when someone is having a bad time. i'm really empathetic, but at the same time i easily find solutions for other people's problems. when what they need at the time is just to mourn and calm down. ���

yes, when the time comes, i would love to see what blogs you have in mind. 👾

oh, i love angst at all. it's just sometimes the pain is too much. but if i'm being honest, i easily lose interest if everything is just fluff or the couple gets together too fast. 🫣

let me guess, you only like louis, harry and one dee? i can't wait to see what songs you have chosen! and i have been always thinking the songs we listen to show what kind of person we are. it's like you get the memo before even talking to someone. that's why i don't usually show people my playlists. 🦄

well, about the astrology, not only one sign makes you who you are, but a lot of different signs working with each other. also, i kinda get this. i usually prefer listening when i don't want to talk about myself. but at the same time i'm like harry when someone asks me questions i don't want to answer. talking about anything else, but not the topic we are currently discussing. 😄

i hope whatever is the reason about you not being allowed to drink coffee is not something serious and you feel better soon! and i love hot chocolate so much. i don't like coffee. i prefer tea, matcha or hot chocolate. 🪁

i think in our next spanish lesson you should teach me how to say "i love chocolate", because i can't live without it. 😋

my questions for the day: how many fics are you planing to post this year? and what keeps you motivated to write? ☔️

hope you have a lovely friday,

- your secret valentine ☺️

hi love!!

i never know how to react either, i just offer if they want to be listened and that’s it. i’ve only comforted my family when we’ve lost someone but that’s as far as i’ve gotten.

(i don’t have any blogs in mind but i’ll look for some.)

ohh i like both i think. i like it when they go through a lot of things to be together but also when it’s just them loving each other since the beginning. i guess it depends on how things are said for me hdkdhd

yes, i only like them 🤭 and before i forget about it, here are ten songs to know me better:

the view from the afternoon - arctic monkeys

music when the lights go out - the libertines

ocean’s deep - born ruffians

hometown - twenty one pilots

beautiful disaster - 311

wait for it - leslie odom jr (hamilton cast)

fireproof - one direction

headline - louis tomlinson

satellite - harry styles

everywhere - niall horan

i think that’s why i prefer listening, so i don’t have to talk abt myself, and bc sometimes i stumble with my words (idk if that’s the right expression lol).

it’s nothing serious, don’t worry! it’s something to do with my brain, i was a bit ill last summer and now it’s just a measure to not get back to that heheh we can share a mug of hot chocolate sometime!

okay, if you want to say “i love chocolate” you can use the pronoun for “i” which is “yo” or you can skip it since the verb already indicates you’re talking in first person. “yo amo el chocolate” or “amo el chocolate”. yo is pronounced like in english, amo = ah-moh, for el it’s like when you say elephant, and chocolate you already know ;)

i’m posting two fics this year. my friends keep me motivated but not in a pressured way but i want to write to make my friends happy, that’s the reason i started writing fics in the first place. since i can’t give my friends gifts for their birthdays (or just because), i decided to write fics for them. currently i’m working with a friend on something and i’m having so much fun but i’m mainly doing it to see her happy. 💗

you know, i originally wanted to ask you your top 5 louis songs and then i linked it to the movies so i mentioned soundtrack lol but i’m still curious if you want to share?

have a nice day!!

[abiiors]

i feel like my story is so weird... so in 2016 i was rlly obsessed w the movie me before you (or rather it absolutely broke me, but that's beside the point) and the movie has The Sound on the soundtrack. so i listened to the soundtrack a lot bc all of the songs are BANGERS. and the sound just rlly stood out to me. i then got into more of their music. i rlly liked be my mistake and always wanna die, but then i listend to TOOTIME and rlly didn't like that (why tho?) and after listening the man who married a robot i was OUT of there. The Sound and some other songs stayed w me tho, so ages later i got curious what they looked like so i watched the mv for The Sound (literally never saw them before) and somehow i was like "that's so emo wth i'm nothing like that" and just continued listening to my lil circle of their songs every once in a while (tho the sound was always in my top 5 on spotify each year)

well and then tik tok happened and i was at the same time rlly rlly low and grieving and under loads of uni stress, so the band was a great distraction and also a way of healing? literally got me through it (which is why i hate when ppl put new fans that joined through the tt thing down...)

anyways i'm also 🦦-anon over on @the1975attheirverybest 's blog :)

hi 🦦!!!

First of all, i love that both our first song was The Sound also Me Before You BROKE ME, i refuse to watch that movie ever again!!! but it does have some bangers in it, you're right

Second, you're so real for the TOOTIME thing. Actually i fucking loved the tune but i was like oh my god how could i like a song about cheating wtf !!! (i was also in my 1975 hater era)

Yes the tt thing is so true, i love that loads of new people are getting into the fandom because of tt and the boys are blowing up again. they deserve the success, they deserve the hype. I do understand the wariness because of the whole stalking them to their hotels, the airports situation but at the same time the gatekeeping is horrid and this should absolutely be a safe and welcoming space for ALL fans, old and new <3

[masscomgirlie]

It has come to my attention that there is the frequent question of “what's your favorite song?” but never get asked “why is it your favorite song?”

So here is a list of my top 5 favorite songs and what qualified them to make it to my top 5.

The Justin Bieber version of “Jireh” is easily in my top 5 because he was a secularist that found God and uses his platform to share the word of God, no matter what people think and regardless of he loses followers. which is something so honorable that I look up to.

“Reason to Praise” Cory Asbury is a nontraditional Christian who paints his nails black, he’ll use comedy with the words hell or ass and I appreciate that because it’s real. Let’s be honest here, you can stub your toe and throw a cuss word out and still go to heaven.

“Promises” by Maverick City is always reminding me of the promises of God.

“Give me everything” by Ne-Yo is the perfect song right before any speaking event or anytime I need something to hype me up, it's my go-to.

“Run this Town” by Jay-Z, Rhianna, and Kanye West is the perfect song whenever I need a reminder to fix my crown when I'm feeling down, that's the song I put on.

These are just five of my 5 million favorite songs. I could go on forever talking about this. Music is such a way for me to connect with my higher power and for me to also feel grounded. I really don’t know what I would do without Music. I am curious to know below what your favorite songs are and why? Do you agree with any of mine above? if so, why? I am hoping one day I can be on a worship team at my local church so that I two can be a part of the music that I love so much. I can’t promise you that I will be able to hold a note, but I can promise you I will sure try. Music is a way to bring people together, and I believe that we are on a path of creating more meaningful music as people continue to become more aware of what is really going on in the world. We desperately need more love and more light and I believe that music can be such a valuable tool to spread that!

[measuringbliss]

Glee Rewatch 1x17, You're a slut!!!

Jesse not-so-subtly coming out as bi. Hell yeah!

(If you're confused by this post, here's an explanation!)

"Physical" is actually the first Glee cover I added to my playlist. Want to try and guess which song was the next one?

Karofsky's quick appearance is actually dubbed by the same actor as Jesse's in French, which is very unsettling as Karofsky's usual voice actor is very different.

Screencap of the Glist (Matt has +5, Rachel has -5). Is Puck supposed to be hot? Is it the top of the ranking? Where are the others? They're 13, aren't they? Where are Tina, Artie, Kurt and Mercedes? (Turns out this *is* adressed in a later scene.)

On my first watch, a particular music cue annoyed me because it kept coming back, the same way that the Volkoff theme rang out very often in the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the First Fight". So this time, let's count how many times that particular music cue is played out in the episode: 1 (Sue handing out the Glist), 2 (sped-up, just before the title card), 3 (just after the title card), 4 (Sue arrives at the cafeteria), 5 (Kurt starts the reunion), 6 (much later, around the middle of the episode, Will interrogates the Glee Club), 7 (Sue writes in her journal), 8 (Will asks the Glee Club as a whole to confess) and 9 (Will looks at Quinn).

9 times in about 40 minutes! It's a lot. And naturally you won't hear that cue very much after this episode. I get that TV shows need to milk what they have but it really, really annoyed me.

My theory is that "Ice Ice Baby" is there because the dude who made the instrumental arrangements for each cover was overworked, but they needed a song to fill this moment, so they took a song with a very simple composition, knowing Matthew Morrison would handle the rapping like a champ (and as a bonus, it gives Matt and Mike something to do) and knowing that it wouldn't sell much on iTunes anyway. With that said, the choreography is nice to look at.

I love both looks here but especially Mercedes'.

Sue Sylvester calling me out.

I'm getting invested in the relationship between Sue and Emma. Will Emma eventually stand up against Sue (like in early S1)? I frankly don't remember but I'm curious.

This is the first overt fandom mention, I think (or maybe I missed one from Finn's mouth?). It's funny how already in S1B, the writers knew about the fandom's ships and winked about it.

Please note that at this point I completely forgot who made the Glist and I'm invested in that mystery too. It's so nice to have a mystery! I even liked Shooting Star! I wish we had more mysteries in Glee. ...What's that? A catfish? I don't know what you're talking about!

He's back!

History will say they were very good friends.

"Run Joey Run" is a very comedic clip and I also have to admit that Cory Monteith in a leather vest is not a bad sight. Side note, outside of the clip, Mike has his yellow-checkered shirt again and I'm in love!

Quinn is the culprit!!! Which means more Quinn in the episode, and it's always a good thing. Her putting Puck and Jesse higher than Finn is definitely revenge, and Rachel's at the bottom place because Quinn can't deal with her feelings for her obviously. Kurt, Mercedes, Artie and Tina are absent because... well, I guess Quinn has no strong feelings towards them? I don't think we've seen many interactions between them at this point. Hmm. Figgins definitely understood that it was her.

I find it weird that in an episode called Bad Reputation, we didn't get a "Bad Reputation" cover. This is a travesty.

[urdearestmom]

alright y'all I've recovered enough from vol 2 that I can now articulate my thoughts somewhat. here we go! I really want season 5 immediately but unfortunately cannot have that :( I will say that I think Stranger Things' episode Nines are just,,,, amazing. nothing so far has come close to my love for s2e9 except for s4e9. I think they're tied

ngl I was mildly concerned they were going to attempt some kind of redemption with Brenner so I was pleasantly excited when he continued to be as evil as he ever was :) El finally standing up to him and realizing she's not the monster, he is, was AMAZING and I loved how she just said bye and walked away. left him to die on his own as he deserved! Owens is still a shady guy but he's always on the gang's side (I'm just curious what happened to him? like did Sullivan have him killed? arrested? will we see him next season? I'm nearly certain we'll see Sullivan again because I don't think that subplot will be so easily resolved)

as for the rest of it, Eddie's death panned out pretty much exactly how I thought it would so I never let myself get too attached to him. what got me was Dustin's reaction! Gaten did so amazingly in that scene wow. Jason also died which was great for me because he was just insane at that point and while I kinda felt for him he was also annoying. sorry not sorry

Jopper finally getting together was lovely. I've never been overly invested in them bc they are so canon in my mind that I never doubted it would happen but it was great nonetheless. Hopper reuniting with El had me smiling so hard at the end bc for a sec I genuinely thought it was Sullivan coming to kidnap El and that was how the season would end and then it was just good ol' Hop :) El having a family like she deserves is my favourite thing!! Hopper and Mike also hugging caught me off guard bc I didn't think they'd do it but they did and I hope that leads to them having a better relationship!

now El getting picked up in the desert and blowing up that helicopter? TOP. TIER. I had my arms up cheering "HERE COME THE PIZZA BOYS!!!!!!!" and when you could see Mike getting out of the van being the first one to run to her, all in slow motion, my god. I was speechless. their whole reunion was gorgeous. El's disbelief, the forehead touch: chefs kiss. El hugging Will like that? best. I live for El having a family. El's brothers ftw

Mike's long-awaited monologue: WHAT. I was shaking and on the edge of my seat the whole scene. It will absolutely live in my head rent free for the rest of all time. I can barely even process it. He really said he's loved her since the moment he saw her I can't believe it. It's what I've been waiting for since I was 16 years old and it still feels surreal that he really told her all of that in words. Mike Wheeler, King of Not Talking About Any Of His Feelings Ever, really said all of that. Wow. Finn knocked that completely out of the park

Lastly, Max's death? HOLY SHIT. That one tore me up I was sobbing and yelling at my tv. I really love Max and didn't want her to die even though I had a feeling something else was still going to happen to her. THE FACT THAT THEY USED THE SONG FROM FINDING WILL'S BODY IN S1- JAIL FOR 1000 YEARS. Her dying in Lucas' arms and his reaction really got me. Both Caleb and Sadie did phenomenal work this season and made me love Lumax a lot more than I did before. Lumax OUTSOLD!!!! Max's little drawing and the fact that they won't get to go on their date and the way Lucas was sitting in the hospital with his beat up face reading her a book... I'm in shambles

El being there watching it happen while no one knew she was there was also heartbreaking

Mildly concerning that El couldn't find Max's mind in the void though, even if she is in a coma. El can find and even vaguely communicate with Terry who is in a vegetative state, so I'm not sure what I think will happen with Max next season. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

That ending too. Vecna's not dead obviously and Hawkins is... yikes. The cliffhanger makes it seem like season 5 will pick up where 4 leaves off and I am very excited to have a resolution!

This isn't even all I could say but I don't want this post to get super long so I'm just touching on the stuff that stuck with me

[tuiyla]

I’m VERY curious about your new midnights gif!! You said you have a lot of thoughts about making it, could you give us a rundown of them?

Oh bless you sweet Anon I'd love to! I was gonna tag rant in the post itself but gifsets often see the tags copied entirely in reblogs so I wanted to save everyone that trouble. I'd love to give a rundown thank you for enabling me lol. Long post ahead but most of it under the cut. Be sure to share any thoughts you have Anon! Or anyone else, talk to me for a potential part two lol.

After seeing the post that I linked to as inspo I know I wanted to do a similar thing for Glee but I'm still just getting into Midnights and wasn't sure about assigning songs to characters. I've made a post or two asking people for their input so I'd like to shout out @sopheadraws for suggesting Sweet Nothing for Brittana on premiere day, @secretlesbianspy for Blaine and Anti-Hero, and for You're On Your Own, Kid @rachelberryy for Rachel and @katyobsesses for Marley. I ended up straight up ignoring a lot of what people have suggested oops haha but I agreed with these pairings. And then it was a matter of choosing 6-7 to actually gif and as I was doing some of them more connections started forming.

So, I start thinking about which Midnights songs to do and immediately I know that Maroon has to be on there because Quinntana doing that is my strongest association. This was fairly straightforward as I had the characters in mind, obviously had a colour set and knew that it would be I Do Quinntana scenes. I briefly thought of other ones but it's always obvious with Quinntana, isn't it?

I liked the imagery of Maroon and lines like "Your roommate's cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that's how" and "I wake with your memory over me // That's a real fucking legacy, legacy (It was maroon)". That latter one made it to the gif though a shortened version because space. I preferred to include the hopeful and less bitter half - well, maybe not hopeful. But the impression that despite the passion and even recklessness of the song it can be something lasting which is what I wish Quinntana was. Taylor songs and Quinntana deserve their own post but I just think the complexities of Maroon fit them well and it has that sort of sexual yet tender quality that's perfect for their two-time (sadly not continued) thing. And as for the gif itself, I'm forever obsessed with shots of them while slow dancing, that contemplation and ease before they throw themselves at each other. But I'm also very glad to have decided at the last minute to include an in-bed shot. I think it adds to the lyric "I wake with your memory over me". Not that they slept that much that night in the first place.

Next was Anti-Hero, which as mentioned I was convinced of for Blaine but long before that I'd already made up my mind that it was a Santana song, too. This a) works well for @secretlesbianspy haha but also b) fits my vision of trying not to make them all solos. That second half worked a little too well because almost all ended up being duets oops but I just think that assigning songs as solos is a little too limiting and duets and group numbers potentially offer more interesting interpretations. And so we have a Blaintana duet that takes place in an interspersed sort of non-diegetic way with both lamenting their lives separately but reaching similar conclusions.

In my mind this would take place at some point in season 4 or 5. I think it mostly fits Blaine in season 4 as he regrets having cheated on Kurt and crumbles under the realization that he can’t be Mister Perfect, maybe leaning into the “oh I’m the bad guy I ruin things” aspect a little too much. Like the dramatic little boy he is. Hence the clip chosen being from Hopelessly Devoted to You. As for Santana, I really like this shot from right before Girl On Fire starts playing because even though that’s ultimately a triumphant moment, it does come after the realization that she has to choose the real world. Over Kentucky, over Lima, over running back to the familiarity of Brittany, she has to choose taking that leap and truly living. And that’s terrifying when she doesn’t believe in herself. That leads us into season 5 which would fit Anti-Hero even more, when her insecurities cause her to go behind Rachel’s back and she doubles down on her bitch persona in the face of Rachel assuming the worst of her. The song fits her better in season 5 when she has that degree of introspection and also guilt about her past behaviour, so I did consider a pre-Be Okay clip where she and Rachel make peace. Ultimately, for aesthetic reasons this worked better but yeah I’m basically thinking New York Santana for this one. Actually you know what here’s a version of this with that alternate clip, as a treat (also different Blaine shot). Not fully coloured and finished so treat it as a discarded draft.

Phew told you this would be long, here comes song number three. As mentioned, You’re On Your Own, Kid read as both a Rachel and Marley song to me so it was an easy decision to use at least Rachel’s clip from their canon duet, New York State of Mind. That gave the whole thing a nice orange colour which worked for the warm to cold colour gradient that was starting to form. Beyond looking good, I chose the Rachel clip as it represents the start of her new life in New York and her stepping into her own. For Marley, a clip from Wrecking Ball fit not only because it had that orange hue but because it was her realizing she couldn’t trust Jake and thus was “on her own.”

The parallels between Rachel and Marley are interesting and less obvious than those between other OGs and their newbie counterparts, but that’s another whole post right there. What makes me think of the two in terms of this song is that vibe of wanting to escape your hometown, feeling insecure there, yearning for a love that will potentially make you stay. Finn and Jake, respectively, neither of whom end up being The One for the girls. And arguably, both Rachel and Marley are better off having had their hearts broken and realizing that they won’t be saved by some popular guy who choose them. “Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss.” It’s a bittersweet realization that they have to rely on themselves but also empowering for both of them when they step out of previous roles and take charge. Rachel makes it in New York and Marley pursues her passion, supported by but not reliant on Jake or anyone else. Everything you lose is a step you take. Romantic heartache built their character.

Next up was Lavender Haze, which ended up less of a character analysis choice and more just what would be fun if they performed it on the show. From the beginning I had Quinn in mind and then Tina was added for some Quinntina fun, and though I debated until the end I ended up including Mercedes because that’d be an awesome trio.

I wasn’t hell bent on including this in the set but at this point I realized these were the first 5 tracks of the album bar one (more on that in a bit) and I just like the idea of the three girls owning this song. Again, this has less profound reasoning and is more vibes based, but I’d like to think that this is their way of establishing their own agency in their respective relationships and in general lives. All three have been stripped of agency one way or another, often relating to relationships, and this is them saying that they just wanna do what they wanna do. All have previously given a damn as to what people say, to varying degrees, but in a sort of #girlboss move they band together and defy that. I was also originally thinking of turning it into a romantic Quinntina AU thing, before I made the choice to include Mercedes. Read it in that way if you’d like. I just like the vibes of this one basically even if I like this gif the least. It could have maybe used more work but to be honest this was one of the ones I wasn’t that invested in.

Now that I’ve realized I had tracks 1-3 and 5 on here, I thought, okay, let’s get Snow On The Beach up on here. Mostly because at this point I knew I wanted The Great War in here so it could be a “the first 5 tracks + 1 extra from 3am” sort of thing. But then Sweet Nothing happened, more on that in its own section.

So, Snow. I went back and forth but upon the 10th or so listen I decided on Samcedes. It was that “falling in love at the same time” message that settled it because I don’t think the same can be said for any other couple. And I like the whole “yeah it’s unlikely but it works and it’s beautiful” vibe plus the chosen lyric really settled it. I look back on Prom Queen as one of my favourite Samcedes moments, their origin story and something that really sells me on this song being the one for them. The chosen lyric reflects Mercedes’ initial insecurity but also how they both felt at some point, yet everything still fell into place and they still worked, for the time that they did. It’s that magical vibe that I associate with their first evening together.

With the first five down I knew I wanted a plus one, that ending up being The Great War for Klaine. I initially thought of Labyrinth but that didn’t feel quite right and looking over the lyrics of The Great War did. Frankly I’m surprised to see sets of Klaine with other songs and not this. I didn’t want to include songs from 3am at first but this fit them and the plus one theme so The Great War it was. Initially in a turquois colour but yellow won out.

More so than any other song on the album, it’s the message of overcoming difficulties and still ending up together that makes it a Klaine one for me. Their struggles and the fact that they overcame them is often stated as a reason why people are drawn to their story and in all its angstiness I think this song describes that. Overall there are a lot of bittersweet songs on this album and ones of heartbreak and lost potential, whereas Klaine are about overcoming, so. And the bg clip is of them getting back together in A Wedding whereas the second one of from the last episode, right before we see them 5 years later as a representation of that overcoming. Once I chose the lyric I also thought of and made an alternate version for the second clip being their wedding kiss and thematically I still like that better but this worked better aesthetically.

So, we have the first five and even the plus one but hold it, I couldn’t just do a Midnights set, potentially my only one without including the association between Sweet Nothing and Brittana. The more I listened to this song the more I liked it for my favourite couple. Did it mess a bit with my original colour scheme, yes, and did I feel a bit weird including Santana three times, maybe. But at the end of the day these are my choices and I’ll choose Santana any day, so. Even though it makes the thematically organized part of my brain mad I had to include this.

This fuchsia colour really makes sense for them imo (even though I also tried it in yellow), the colour I usually associate them with. The wholesome and calm domesticity of the song immediately reminded me of season 6 fluff Brittana. I thought of a season 1 clip as well that I had on stock for, uh, other TS set reasons (coming soon) but I decided on season 6 choices. The hug from 6x06 has such a wholesome vibe to me and is easy to work with, and then choosing their little moment from Home was also easy. As they share this adorable moment they sing “there ain’t nothing that I need” which feels very fitting with Sweet Nothing, and of course the feeling that they’re each other’s home. All of this felt so right to me that despite it throwing off the little theme I planned for the set I couldn’t not include it. Having this Brittana association exist was more important than some arbitrary theme to the set that still sort of exists anyway. Very happy with this song and scenes choice.

Aaaand that is mostly it, though I also have thoughts on Midnight Rain which I almost included as a Finchel song. I know, I know, it’s already full of duets but I think that one really fits them and it’s track six which would continue the theme. I can also see a dark blue colour for it which would mean turning Anti-Hero lighter so Midnight Rain could fit between that and Lavender Haze. In the end though, I decided 7 gifs were enough and also tbh I just don’t think I acre enough about Finchel to give them a gif and a song off Midnights. I have even more thoughts on colours and alternate clips but this is long as is, so, all for now. But as you can probably tell I’d gladly go on some more haha. Please do send thoughts if you made it all the way through!

[shmothman]

I love every song on volos playlist and I think I get then all but since I'm desperate for more content and curious about your thoughts specifically, why is literally every song on volos playlist there?

OH BOY BUCKLE UP (I’ll definitely be adding new songs as I think of them, but here are my reasons for every song currently on the playlist) (PLA spoilers below the cut)

1. Arsonist’s Lullaby / Hozier: literally the morning after I got to the boss fight, I was in the shower and this song came on and I yelled out loud. It just… fits so well for how I imagine Volo’s youth, and especially the time since he met Giratina. I mean. “All you have is your fire/and the place you need to reach” COME ONNN IM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH. “You’d soon learn you have few choices/I learned the voices died with me” is another especially good line: Volo feels like he’s never had much of a choice, and that now he’s called to a sort of destiny. “Something in it had a power/could barely tear my eyes away” is reminiscent of his obsession with Arceus, and his inability to do literally anything else once he thinks there’s a chance the player character could help him on his path to… you know. Call God down from heaven and fight it. And then, of course, the line “when I was a man, I thought it ended/when I knew love’s perfect ache/but my peace has always depended/on all the ashes in my wake” AUGHHHHH Arsonist’s Lullaby just has such a good vibe for Volo’s darker side. The viiiiiiiibes.

2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World / Lorde: songs for challenging god to descend from the heavens and fight you. (Lorde version because it’s darker than the Tears for Fears version.) but specifically the first line really gets me: “welcome to your life/there’s no turning back” like. Hnngngg you’re RIGHT Lorde there IS no turning back. “They will find you acting on your best behavior, turn your back on Mother Nature/everybody wants to rule the world” that is. More or less *exactly* what Volo does 🤣

3. I’m Gonna Win / Rob Cantor: I did yoink this one from this Volo playlist so definitely give it a listen if you haven’t already—it’s a different vibe than mine but very good! That being said I very much agreed with this song representing Volo’s uhhhh… unhinged gamer moment at the top of Mt. Coronet. This is an anthem for doing anything to WIN. And at the moment you battle him, that’s exactly what Volo’s feeling. And then there’s the line “sometimes it can feel like a merciless dream/and I’m falling with nothing to hold” which, again, I think speaks to obsession and the feeling that you just don’t have a choice. This is what Volo has to do.

4. You’re Crashing But You’re No Wave / Fall Out Boy: forgive me, but it’s just not a Sef playlist without a FOB song or two. (Obligatory: I know they announced they’re doing NFTs and they’re definitely not getting any more of my money until they cut that shit out.) ANYWAY. This song is an extended metaphor that uses the idea of a court case to describe. Well. Crashing and burning. Which I think is very much what happens to Volo after he *tries to fucking destroy you and usurp god.* the way the rest of the people in Hisui are going to see him now is very much the way that a jury of peers might. The part of the song where the verdict falls (the chorus repeating: guilty, guilty, guilty) is where I picture him being. Y’know. Banished for his crimes. Also I really adore the line “only breathing with the aid of denial” because. Yeah. I picture Volo as being SO deeply in denial throughout his whole arc. It’s not just a river in Egypt, etc.

5. Ode to Sleep / Twenty One Pilots: forgive me for being cringe or whatever but this song slaps. It makes me think of like… fear and beginning to reckon with mistakes? A Volo on the run, who now dreads the night, not just because the darkness leaves him more defenseless, physically, but also emotionally. During the day, he’s able enough to stave off thoughts of his “failure” and what it means for him, but once he’s lying in his bedroll, trying to sleep, that’s when he actually has to face some shit. And he starts to realize just how badly he fucked up. How unhealthy his obsession was (and is). And, depending on how much you think Giratina was sort of… involved? In his decision making processes, this song also represents the process of Volo getting Giratina’s influence out of his head. (I personally HC that while Giratina definitely encouraged Volo’s anger, the decisions were all Volo. He wasn’t possessed, but Giratina was not a healthy influence.) I really like the chorus: “why won’t you let me go? Do I threaten all your plans? I’m insignificant/please tell ‘em/you have no plans for me, I will set my soul on fire/what have I become?” Though the “you” in this sequence is very much Volo talking to himself. It’s about working to escape the self-imposed bonds he has himself in, and it’s about that realization: “what have I become?”

6. War of Hearts / Ruelle: This is a bit of a darker vibe, but it’s a song about loving someone against your better judgement (“I can’t help but love you/even though I try not to”). It’s from both Volo and the reader’s perspective. For Volo, he never meant to, uh, catch feelings, as it were 🤣 and for you… Well. He betrayed you, so why do you still care about him? “I can’t help but want oceans to part/‘cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts” is yet another acknowledgment of both of you being drawn to one another for reasons neither of you can understand.

7. Hiding / Florence + the Machine: once again it’s not a Sef playlist without Florence. (Florence, Hozier, and FOB are my top artists like, 4 years running lol.) This is where the playlist begins to shift to being more about a relationship than about Just Volo. After everything he’s been through, he’s not exactly going to be able to truly open up to anyone for a while. This is the one song on the playlist that isn’t from Volo’s point of view, actually, and is more about the attempt of someone who cares about him to break through his self-imposed… punishment? Inability to connect to another human being in a real way? “I know that you’re hiding/I know there’s a part of you that I just cannot reach/You don’t have to let me in/Just know that I’m still here/Ready for you whenever, whenever you need.” It’s about the pain of being there for someone who… doesn’t necessarily want you to be—even if, deep down, they know they need it. (Which is why, in my fic, the MC/reader is not there to be Volo’s therapist. I say “I can fix him” a lot, but the character growth has to come from inside him in order for the relationship to ever be healthy—and that’s what I want to depict.)

8. Line Without a Hook / Ricky Montgomery: my partner found this one for me, and the line that really got me at first was “I broke all my bones that day I found you crying by the lake,” because of the way it parallels Volo finding you  by the lake when you’re banished—which I deliberately paralleled in my fic with you finding him in the same spot after his banishment. Despite everything (his jealousy, his anger, his “destiny”), I do think Volo truly cared for you before Mt. Coronet. (“All my emotions feel like explosions when you are around”) And quite frankly I think he was angry with himself for it. This song is, once again, about loving someone against your better judgement, and wishing to be able to take things back. (“If I could take it all back, I swear that I would pull you from the tide” and “darling when I’m fast asleep/I’ve seen this person watching me/saying ‘is it worth it? Is it worth it? Tell me, is it worth it?’”) it’s Volo’s realization that, even after everything, he wants you desperately, but he’s done irreparable damage to your relationship.

9. Stray Italian Greyhound / Vienna Teng: “I just stopped believing in happy endings, harbors of my own/But you had to come along didn’t you/Tear down the doors, throw open windows” this is Volo having truly realized just how much he fucked up, having resigned himself to it, and more or less having decided he’ll never have happiness. He knows that he can never make up for what he’s done; not truly. And then he realizes you care about him anyway. That, for some reason, against all logic, you forgive him. This song is both a plea for you to leave him to his unhappiness (because now it’s familiar. Because he feels like he doesn’t deserve otherwise), and a recognition that he loves you. And it’s a desperate cry of “what happens next?” “Where do I go when every no turns into maybe?”

10. Kamikaze / Walk the Moon: This is Volo not understanding why you’re still helping him, even after he’s crashed and burned so spectacularly. It’s the darker nights, once he’s accepted that you love him and he loves you, but feeling he doesn’t deserve it. It’s sitting with him while he cries, and curses his past self for being so stupid. It takes a lot of time for him to shift the patterns of thinking he’s had his whole life. He’s ashamed that a part of him thinks that if he had just succeeded in calling Arceus… even though the understands now why he was wrong. “Here in this room/I’m chasing down my demons, I can hear them breathing/But who knew,/That you would be my comfort, you could bring the healing”

11. Demons / Imagine Dragons: in the same vein, this is Volo feeling that, although he’s changing and growing as a person, he doesn’t deserve you. He has inner demons that he doesn’t want to show you, things he doesn’t want to hurt you with. “I wanna hide the truth/I wanna shelter you.” There is so much inside him that is hurt and torn up, and he doesn’t know if you’ll still be with him, if he shows you. “Don’t wanna let you down/But I am hell-bound.” He wants to be the person you deserve, but he feels that he can’t.

12. Flaws / Bastille: a natural follow-up to Demons, Flaws is about growing to accept those inner demons (and the flaws of the person you love) and seeing them as things that make up the messy picture of who you are. This is Volo coming to terms with the fact that he can’t change the past, nor can he ignore or bury his mistakes, his jealousy and anger, but he can still grow past them, can try to do better in the future. It’s looking at the person he loves and seeing a way to relate to his own past better. “You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve/and I have always buried them deep beneath the ground/dig them up, let’s finish what we started.”

13. Collar Full / Panic! At the Disco: and THIS song is a final acceptance that he has your love, whether or not he “deserves” it. It’s both a giving into and an acceptance of the desire that’s been there all along. “Show me your love, your love/Gimme more but it’s not enough”

14. Heaven’s Gate / Fall Out Boy: this song is essentially the overarching theme of the entire playlist. In a nutshell, this is the idea of love being enough to save someone. It’s the idea that even after so long, there are still going to be nights where Volo doesn’t feel he deserves a happy ending, but that he has it anyway. It’s the idea of being in love with someone, so completely, and seeing them as so completely good, that even with all of the mistakes he’s made, all of the unhappiness he’s suffered, he has you, and you make him want to be better. It’s the completion of his arc from selfish to selfless, with the line “I’ve got dreams of my own, but I want to make yours come true.” (Flynn Rider “you were my new dream” .gif) Also, the religious imageryyyyyy!!! This is a man who once tried to tear down the heavens and dethrone God itself, asking the person he loves for “a boost over heaven’s gate.” It’s poetic cinema.

15. New Religion / The Heydaze: finally, this song is the happily ever after. This is the ‘love conquers all,’ the acknowledgment that no matter what happens, you can dance with your loved one in the kitchen, with sunlight streaming through the window, and you can find meaning in life from it. “Somewhere there’s a light/a sign that it’s alright/I find it by your side.” It’s the final shift of Volo’s priorities, a decision to put his passions and skills to use for the betterment of the world he’s in. And, again, the line “I could call you my new religion” just absolutely slays me. I’m dead. I’ll call him my new religion alright.

[phoebe-delia]

Has anyone asked for song #1 yet? I'm very curious which song you're listening to most.

I really enjoy your writing in combination with the song prompts! Thank you for sharing it with the world!

Hello darling! Thank you for this ask. As a matter of fact, no one has requested 1!

My number 1 song is the explicit version of "Potential Breakup Song" by Aly and AJ.

I know, I thought it would be a Taylor Swift song, too! I will say, this playlist was from Apple Music and I recently started using Spotify more so idk if this is still accurate for my current No. 1 song, but it's still a bop.

This is a bit of a challenge, but I figure if I can write a fic based on "Yeah!" by Usher, I can give this a try. This fic will be *mostly* funny and fluffy but there's some angst with a happy ending.

5 Times Draco Almost Broke Up With Harry

1.

"Tell me something," Draco said shyly, tracing patterns into Harry's bare arm. Sunlight streamed into the living room, dust motes dancing in the rays.

"What do you mean?"

"Something I don't already know about you."

"Like what?"

Draco's expression turned exasperated. "I don't know, Harry, that's rather the point."

"Right...er, okay, here's something you don't know about me. I don't like whipped cream."

Draco looked at him, startled. "You don't?"

"Er, no. I also don't like marshmallows or--"

"What?"

"Or avocado, or eggs."

Draco sputtered. "What is wrong with you?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Merlin, here we go."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Every time I tell people the foods I don't like, they get all indignant and huffy," Harry waved a hand. "It's so weird. Like I've offended them by disliking meringue."

"You don't like meringue?! That's it, I'm breaking up with you."

Harry groaned. "I regret this. I regret everything. Just--forget it."

Draco sighed. "No, no I'm sorry. In my exaggerated teasing, I see how I might've struck a nerve."

"It's fine--I'm just tired of people taking my food preferences as a personal insult."

"I take everything you do as a personal insult."

Harry just chuckled. "That you do, Draco, that you do."

2.

"POTTER!!"

"WHAT?"

"GET IN HERE!"

"WHERE'S 'HERE'?"

"TAKE A WILD GUESS, AUROR POTTER!"

....

"Ah, good to see that your tracking skills aren't too hopeless. Now, care to tell me what's wrong with this picture?"

"Er...you're angry?"

"Yes, I am angry--and the reason for that is obvious if you merely look around the room and see if you can identify what might be bothering me."

"You get really formal when you're upset."

"Potter--"

"And you call me Potter."

"If only you would use your powers of observation for discovering the cause and not the symptoms of my frustration, this conversation would be over."

...

"Is it my socks?"

"Your socks, your pants, your shirt, your trousers--all in a heap in the closet."

"So? I haven't done laundry in a while."

"Potter, you do realize there are laundry spells, don't you? So that dirty clothes don't stink up one's closet?"

"...No?"

Sigh. "Alright, I suppose I won't move out this time."

"Oh, what a relief."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Never. Especially not toward you, baby."

"I should hope not. Now, c'mere and let me teach you the spell."

3.

"I can't believe you'd betray me like this." Draco shook his head mournfully, bits of snow falling from the top of his warm hat. "I trusted you."

Harry scoffed. His breath fogged in the air. "I told you this was happening today. It's not my fault you weren't listening."

"Asking me post-coital if I'd like to attend the Weasley Family Brunch is Slytherin-level manipulation."

"Did I ever tell you the Sorting Hat almost put me in Slytherin?"

"What?" Draco stopped walking, turning to Harry in shock.

"Yeah. Told me I'd do well. But you'd been such an arse to Ron that I begged it to sort me anywhere else."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course. Honestly, I did you a favor. You were practically made for Gryffindor."

"Who knows? Maybe we'd have been friends back then."

Draco glared and Harry snickered.

"You know, Potter, between your little jokes and this stunt you pulled, I'm one insult away from Apparating on the spot and leaving you here."

Harry smiled fondly. Taking Draco's hand, he led them toward the Burrow, its warm light a welcome destination in the icy weather.

"Nah, you won't, you know why?"

"Why?"

Harry smirked. "Because then we won't get to be post-coital together."

Draco scowled. Harry laughed.

4.

"Don't say a word."

"Can I just--"

"Harry."

"But I--"

"Potter. Shut up.

...

"Draco I'm sorry--"

"Harry, what is the one thing I asked you to do when you became an Auror?"

"...Don't be stupid."

"Yes. I asked you not to do anything stupid. I asked you not to impulsively put yourself in harm's way."

"Draco it's my job to protect my partner, and--"

"You don't think I understand that? Of course I do! I can't fault you for being a loyal partner, Harry, but running into a hostage situation without calling for backup is the absolute dumbest thing you could've done! You nearly died!"

"But I didn't! And the case is over now."

"You were in St. Mungos for nearly a week! Do you know how agonizing it was to see you like that? Do you--" Draco's voice cracked and he cut himself off, turning away from Harry.

Harry's heart clenched. He walked up to Draco and wrapped strong arms around him from behind, expecting to be pushed away. Instead, Draco leaned into the touch.

"I know your job has its risks, Harry, but the least you can do is not create them for yourself. You said the Sorting Hat nearly put you in Slytherin; some self-preservation would be good for you."

Harry sighed, nuzzling Draco's neck. "Okay. I'll try."

Draco turned in his arms, looking at Harry with wet eyes. "Good. The last thing I want to do is break up with you, but I couldn't handle it if I lost you any other way, I--" The tears spilled at that. Draco's face flushed in embarrassment, in anguish.

Harry's chest constricted. He pulled Draco close to himself and stroked his hair, letting the other man cry his fears into his shirt.

"I won't let it happen, Draco. I promise."

Draco nodded, his cheek brushing Harry's shirt.

Harry smiled. They'd be okay.

5.

Draco was going to kill Harry.

He was going to break up with him, and then kill him, and then revive him just to break up with him once more.

He cast a Tempus. 8:20.

Over an hour. Over an hour he'd been waiting for Harry to return home. He was beginning to get hot in his tailored suit, despite the cooling charms.

He hadn't heard anything. No Owl, no Floo, no nothing. Either Harry had no respect for decorum or...

Nope. Draco couldn't go there, wouldn't. Harry promised and he always kept his promises.

Suddenly, the Floo roared to life, making Draco jump. Harry stumbled through with a panicked expression on his face, dusting the Floo powder from his formal robes.

"Draco! Merlin, I'm so sorry, I thought I had time and then everything got all screwed up and I got here as fast as I could."

Draco sighed. "It's fine, Harry, let's just order takeaway."

"Why?"

"Well, we missed our reservation. Cerise won't wait for more than thirty minutes."

Harry pursed his lips. "What if I had something else in mind?"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

With a smirk, Harry tossed him a hairbrush, which Draco caught with Seeker instinct.

"Harry wh--" His eyes widened as he felt the pull of a portkey, the sound of Harry's amused laughter echoing behind him.

He landed with a thud on a balcony. After a crack, Harry appeared next to him, gasping to catch his breath for a moment.

"Potter, what the fuck?"

Harry chuckled. "Surprise! Look around, Draco."

Draco's breath caught as he finally took in his surroundings. They were standing on a balcony in Paris, confirmed by the sight of La Tour Eiffel in the distance. The lights of the city twinkled like stars below them. On the balcony were two chairs and a small table with hot food under a stasis charm. A bottle of wine and two glasses sat ready for them. Draco checked the label and confirmed with a gasp that it was a 1989 Chateau Lafleur.

"Harry, I--" Draco turned around but was startled into silence at the sight of Harry on his knee, a hopeful smile on his face and a small black box in his hand.

Draco's eyes went wide. "What?" He breathed.

Harry bit his lip. "Draco, I'm sorry I don't like whipped cream. I'm sorry I forget to do laundry, and that I dragged you to Sunday dinner. I'm sorry that I worry you sometimes because my job is dangerous. I'm sorry I run late to our dates sometimes.

But I promise to give you the avocado from my sandwich. I promise to try to remember the spells you taught me, and to use my manipulative powers for good and not evil. I promise I'll use better judgment in the field. And I promise I'll try to be on time for our dates.

And I promise to do all of this for as long as I can, as long as you let me. And if you do--if you promise to love me for the rest of our lives--I promise to do the same. Draco Malfoy, will you marry me?"

Draco let out a delighted, euphoric laugh. "Yes, yes of course I'll marry you!"

Harry grinned and rose from his knee to pull Draco into a nearly bruising kiss. When they pulled apart, they pressed their foreheads together and looked as Harry slid the ring, a simple silver band with tiny emeralds, onto Draco's finger.

As they ate dinner, looking out over the city, Harry gave him a cheeky grin. "So, tell me, how'd I do?"

Draco raised his eyebrows. "With tonight? The proposal?"

"Yeah, what'd you think? I hope it made up for me being late. I'm sure you were about ten minutes from breaking up with me," Harry said with a chuckle.

Draco shook his head and smirked. "No, Harry," he raised the glass of wine to his lips. "I'd never do that."

Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).

Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it!