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lesbianslovebts · 11 months ago

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I'm looking forward to your reviews on their individual albums/music etc

Okay, I will tell you as long as everyone promises to be nice!

First, I want to be upfront with the fact that I do not have the technical knowledge required to critique their individual singing or songwriting skills in depth, so this is not that kind of review. However, I believe that people should actively engage with art, be it music, painting, or writing, at whatever level of expertise they may have, rather than consume it mindlessly. The following are my personal opinions and observations as a fan since 2015. I will focus mainly on their Chapter Two individual works, but I will also reference their previous solo and group work. And as a friendly reminder, the members of BTS are not above criticism as artists or as people.

"Indigo" by RM

If I had to use one word to describe this album, I would use "growth." More specifically, I would classify the transition from "RM" to "mono." as linear growth, and the transition from "mono." to "Indigo" as exponential growth. This is a project that Namjoon worked on for several years, which is apparent by the way each song is like a chapter of the same overarching story. The diverse genres and moods depict the ups and downs of life really well, and listening to the entire album in one sitting is a cathartic experience for me.

When I first saw the tracklist and noticed how many other artists were featured, I was nervous because a lot of BTS' collaborations feel like forcing a puzzle piece into a spot where it doesn't fit. What I mean by that is, they either cut out a chunk of the original song or insert a blank space and then fill it with a clipping of what sounds like an entirely different song. A substitution rather than a collaboration, if you will. However, that was not the case here. I think Namjoon did an excellent job of blending his own sound, style, and emotion with that of the other artists.

The only thing that I actively disliked on this album is the beat in "Change pt.2" from about 0:49 to 1:00. It's grating on the ear, which might have been intentional given the content of the song, but it isn't pleasant to listen to, and I cringe every time I hear it. As for a favorite, I can't really choose, but I think the objective number of replays would point to "Lonely."

"The Astronaut" by Jin

This one is an outlier because it's only one song, but I will discuss it just the same. I really liked Seokjin's voice in this one. I don't know the official terms, but it's lower and less breathy than usual. To me, that makes his voice sound warmer. Overall, this was a soothing song that left me wanting more when he gets back. I am waiting (im)patiently.

P.S. I know people tend to love or hate Coldplay. I don't listen to them or know anything about them as people, so the fact that this was cowritten by them doesn't really factor into my opinion of the song, if that makes sense.

"D-DAY" by Agust D

The amount of money I spent to see him live in Chicago should tell you how much I liked this album. Similar to what I said about Namjoon above, there's tangible growth from his mixtapes "Agust D" and "D-2" to his studio album "D-DAY." It's to be expected that experience will improve the craft, of course, but I still have to say it.

Yoongi is my favorite composer of BTS, by far. "Interlude: Dawn" and "Snooze" give me goosebumps every time I listen time them. Also, I love it when he uses traditional instruments like the haegeum. There's just something about the emotions he conveys in his tone, lyrics and melody that made this album a nonstop repeat for me.

My complaints are few and small. The autotune gets to be too much in the song "D-Day," and I'm not crazy about "People Pt. 2." Personally, I am not a fan of IU's voice. I have nothing against her, by any means, and I know she can sing, but I prefer women with deep, husky voices. And for the life of me, I can't figure out what her part means. I'm guessing this was a direct translation from Korean that didn't really...well, translate.

"Jack in the Box" by j-hope

When I first watched the MV for "More," I stimmed for joy. I was rocking, flapping, and squealing. I braved Lollapalooza as an autistic person, surrounded by a hundred thousand people in the summer heat, wearing the denim jacket I painted and an N95 mask to hear this man live. Hoseok's personality shone through in the concept, the MVs, the music, and the lyrics. He burst out of the box to show who he is as an artist. Perhaps I am (Hobi-)biased, but I don't have much else to say other than that I love this album, and I'm excited to hear more from him in the future.

"FACE" by Jimin

"Set Me Free Pt. 2" was the first single that was released, and it thoroughly crushed my hopes for the rest of the mini album. Though I liked the melody of the chorus, the 9 repetitions of "set me free-e-e" left a lot to be desired lyrically. I think he was trying to portray the desperation he felt by repeating the phrase, but his voice didn't show a progression in emotion as he continued through the chorus. For comparison, in Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name Of," the last line "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" is repeated 16 times, but the way it starts as a murmur and builds up to a scream is powerful; it hits you in the chest. "Set Me Free Pt. 2" didn't have that effect. Also, the autotune in the middle when he "raps" is awful. I saw people on here reaching to explain why the autotune wasn't actually that bad, but...it just doesn't sound good. And him saying "fuck all your opps"? Yikes.

The other single "Like Crazy" was much better and more in line with what I was expecting. Rarely do I like any of the excessive remixes they put out, but the deep house one is actually good. I liked the music video, too. But unfortunately, the mud on his hand after all that bathroom imagery was a...shitty decision. Overall, I don't go out of my way to listen to any of the songs but "Like Crazy" and "Letter," which is my favorite.

"Layo(v)er" by V

I was underwhelmed by this mini album. I expected R&B and jazz from him, and I think his voice suits those genres well, but none of the songs had a particularly strong impact on me. I would say I like "Love Me Again" the most, but it doesn't even compare to "Singularity" and "Stigma" for me. I have to be in a specific mood to listen to slow music in general, so the odds were stacked against this album from the beginning.

"Golden" by Jung Kook

This album was the biggest disappointment I have ever felt as a fan. Honestly, I didn't think it could get any worse than "Permission to Dance," but I was wrong. Before I continue, I feel like I need to offer some context on my general opinion of BTS' music from 2020 onward before I get too deep into the weeds. So let me start with that.

A lot of people think BTS peaked before or during the "Wings" era and sold out with the release of "DNA." I am not one of those people. Most of my favorite BTS songs come from the "Love Yourself" and the "Map of the Soul" eras. There are songs that tug on my heartstrings, songs that give me energy, and songs that are inextricably tied to certain memories from college and my first job. This was when I felt like I was changing and growing in a positive way thanks to BTS' message and music.

That changed with Covid-19. I loved "Map of the Soul: 7" and had tickets to see BTS in Chicago, but then the concert was postponed. Later, it was canceled. Half a year into the pandemic, BTS released "Dynamite" as a fun summer song to lift everyone's spirits. It was their first all-English song, which might've had more global appeal due to the number of people who speak English as a first language, second language, or lingua franca. Personally, I don't hate "Dynamite," but I do hate what it led to.

This was their first Billboard #1. It succeeded far beyond anyone's expectations, and I was proud of them for that. I was glad that more people were checking out their music because BTS is one of my main special interests. However, a lot of what followed felt like an attempt to recreate the success of "Dynamite" rather than an effort to grow as artists. Whether that desire for numbers came from the company or from BTS themselves, I'll never know. All I can say is, I'm glad DynaButterPTD did not get a Grammy. Let's continue.

"BE" came next, and if I had to describe it in a word, I would say "homemade." BTS were more involved in this album than any other, including the concept, the album design, the photoshoots, the music video, and the songs. Because of that, the overall vibe was different, and combined with the effects of the pandemic, the album gave me the feeling that the members of BTS were struggling with who they were as a group, as artists, and as people.

This continued into "Butter" and "PTD," two more all-English songs, and various collaborations of the puzzle-piece-that-doesn't-fit variety I mentioned above. It was an identity crisis. I can't think of another way to describe it. Eventually, BTS decided for themselves that they had to take a step back, spend some time alone, and regroup later. I was both sad and relieved to hear the news. Releasing "PROOF" was a good way to look back on what they'd accomplished so far and put an end to Chapter 1.

That brings us to Chapter 2. More specifically, "Golden." Now, I love Jungkook. Spend 5 minutes scrolling through my blog, and that much will be obvious. But this album was not it for me. First, I want to make it clear that the members of BTS can sing in whatever language they so choose. Having said that, I do tend to prefer their songs that are entirely in Korean or are a mixture of Korean and English. Why? Emotion.

BTS' all-English songs tend to be written by other people, and those people tend to be the ones who write the same bland, unoriginal songs for overrated American/Canadian/British pop singers. Although Jungkook sings the English lyrics of this album with excellent pronunciation and technique, it doesn't have the magnitude of emotion in songs that he participated in writing, such as "Your Eyes Tell," which is in Japanese and English.

I don't know a lot about song credits, but I've noticed the following pattern: the more the members' names show up in the credits, the more I like the song. Looking at the credits for Golden? Jungkook's name isn't listed on a single song. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. A lot of wonderful singers all around the world can take a song that is given to them and make it their own by contributing their own talent, their own voice. But frankly, Jungkook didn't do that with these songs. I didn't want to say it, but...these are Justin Bieber songs. Especially "Too Sad to Dance," which is nearly indistinguishable from Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself."

On episode 21 of Suchwita, Jungkook said he recorded five songs in a week, which amounted to one song per day in a 3-hour session, give or take. Yoongi said that was a sign of unbelievable growth, and for comparison, Taehyung said it takes him 3 days to record one song. If I remember correctly, Namjoon worked on "Indigo" for 3 years. So, it's really no wonder why this album is the music equivalent of fast fashion.

I've already talked about how much I hated "Seven" (the song and the MV) in other posts, I can't do it again. Jack Harlow's part in "3D" makes me gag. I can't take the lyrics for "Shotglass of Tears" seriously. I mean, "she the life of the party...42 in her body...tell me, am I ever gon' feel again?" Yikes! "Closer" is generic runway music. "Yes or No" is tolerable. The only song I really liked is "Standing Next to You." I'm just disappointed. I don't have anything else to say.

#llbtsanswer #llbtspost

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struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor · 2 years ago

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Okay I'm using this ask to share some thoughts (not hate!) regarding Tae's album.

I've always had difficulty "getting" Taehyung, and he's the member I relate least to despite his vibes matching mine pretty well. But his songs kinda hit home for me, and I was looking forward to his album because it could be something entirely unique in terms of the sound. His voice is amazing, his love for jazz could really shine- maybe even sth operatic. I loved all the solo albums thus far, as well as the solo songs (except dreamers because I don't touch the whole Qatar world cup stuff), but Love Me Again just completely disappointed me.

The lyrics are unimaginative and repetitive, and the melody is just...weird? I barely could finish watching it once. It's not generic, just forgettable (whereas f.e. Harry Styles' music is maybe generic by virtue of being pop but definitely not forgettable).

The MV is a thing I can't be bothered to analyse because the song gives me no motivation to go look at it. The MV for Set Me Free pt 2 wasn't overly complex (compared to Like Crazy, other BTS productions or the AgustD trilogy), but the song was so good you wanted to connect the lyrics to the poem on his chest & the choreography. There was depth. Layers!

If it was sth Tae had his fingers in, I'd just accept it but learning now that he wasn't actually involved is just confusing. After witnessing the care, love and soul the other members put into their releases, it feels off-putting (say what you will about seven but the sheer meme-ness of the MV is worth its existence. Also JK being constantly infantilized by ppl younger than him, and him doing such a song is very liberating). Like this album was just something he thought he had to do because the others were doing it? An afterthought. Maybe I'm being unkind, maybe I shouldn't expect BTS to always write emotionally cathartic pieces about the human experience.

But after crying to The Astronaut, being shocked by JitB, pondering life to Indigo, getting my world rocked by Face and going through every human emotion ever conceived with D-Day this fell flat. Every other BTS member has proven with their solo albums that they're more, that they have depth and complexity in both who they are and how they use music. That there's a point to what they're doing. I'm holding off on JK because I'm somewhat hopeful he will release a full album, and from what we've seen from him (Magic Shop, Decalcomania, Still With You etc) he could do something just as emotionally meaning as his hyungs (The pressure on him is insane).

I've never not cared about a release. I've never checked out of promotions. I won't go around spreading my opinions. One because I just don't care that much, and two because I feel like Taehyung's fans tend to be more toxic - even non solo just regular Tae biased army.

Tl;dr: If you don't want to have a deep song (which is fine) at least don't make it boring both musically and visually, and don't just hint at concepts (through clothes or set design) but commit.

Well, I understand what you mean. I just listened to Love Me Again and Rainy Days again, and they're pretty nice songs, but not really my style. Having both pre-releases be so similar is a bit unexciting too, as are the MVs are. Overall nothing V has done lately has been exciting to me. But that's okay. There's tons of BTS content I haven't watched. I haven't even watched Yoongi's D-Day tour. I'm busy and it feels like too much pressure to watch everything even if no one is making me. I didn't expect to care about V's debut since I wasn't looking forward to it (in the sense that I just didn't care much, no offense to V, I do love him but he feels distant from me) so I'm not disappointed, but I think he had the potential to do a lot more and it's still a bit sad he likely won't blow it out of the park with his debut, like Jikook did, in very different ways (even if I had major complaints with their debuts, they did surprise people and challenge people's images of them).

Thanks for the ask! You shouldn't worry about sharing your opinions. If you knew the amount of hate asks I deleted when I shared my not so positive Seven opinions... There was one private message and a reply to my post as well...

#ask #bts #v #text #thanks for the ask!

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anditendshowyoudexpect · 2 years ago

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Except for the countdown clock during my own three spaceflights, I have never watched a clock as closely as I watched the sleep timer during that first shift. To my mild astonishment but great delight, Robin Williams had jumped at the opportunity to help us celebrate the shuttle’s return to flight with a rousing crew wakeup call. On top of thinking it was a wildly fun idea, he had a personal connection to the crew: he and Pinky Nelson had been contemporaries at college in Southern California. He sent me a five-inch reel of tape with about a dozen variations of “Gooood morning, Discovery!” on it. At least half of them were so edgy that playing them on air-to-ground would surely have gotten me fired, but the others provided more than enough material for my needs. Mr. Williams’s agent had also been thrilled by our scheme because of the publicity boost it would offer. He gave me a scare when he laid out his plan for promoting Robin’s participation ahead of the launch. I told him in no uncertain terms that this was to be a surprise, and that I would destroy the tape if there was so much as a peep from their end beforehand (I had the foresight to demand they give me the studio master tape, so could make good on my threat). For the first morning’s wakeup, Pierre and I made an audio tape with two of Robin’s craziest opening shouts and a corny number Mike Cahill had written to the jaunty tune of the Green Acres sitcom title song. We had managed to keep our escapade secret the entire time it was afoot. Only Pierre, KT, and I knew what was about to hit the airwaves.

The sleep clock finally hit zero. The tone that signaled an active link to the shuttle beeped into everyone’s headset a fraction of a second later, followed instantly by Robin Williams bellowing “GOOOOOOOD MORNING, DISCOVERY!” Quizzical looks and then huge grins spread across the faces in the control room at the sound of his voice, so very familiar but utterly unexpected within the hallowed walls of space shuttle mission control. On he went: “Good morning, Discovery. Rise and shine, boys. Time to start doin’ that shuttle shuffle, you know what I mean? Hey, here’s a little song comin’ from the billions of us to the five of you. Rick, start ’em off, baby. The Hawkster, to you.” Then the “Green Acres” melody started, and Cahill and his pals launched into lyrics that seemed absolutely perfect for the shuttle team’s happiest day in nearly three years:

On orbit is the place to be,

Free-wheeling on Discovery.

Earth rolling by so far below.

Just give her the gas and look at this baby go.

We can’t believe we made it here,

So high above the atmosphere.

We just adore the scenery.

Yeah, Houston’s great but give me that zero-gee.

Hey, look out the window!

That’s neat!

Cap’n, I’m hungry.

Let’s eat!

Maybe we’ll land at … White Sands?

Uh-uh.

Look ma, no hands!

This is the life! Oh, what a flight!

Earth orbit, we are here!

Rick Hauck jumped onto the air-to-ground link as soon as the tune ended, with an exuberant, “Gooooood morning, Houston!” The STS-26 crew was clearly awake and in very good spirits.

Kathryn D. Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention

#space shuttle discovery #sts-26 #kathryn sullivan #space exploration #books #i love it #she's very no nonsense throughout #ain't no business like space exploration business

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darlingtimes · 2 years ago

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恋する惑星　(Planet in Love) - UNISON SQUARE GARDEN

Spotify link / YouTube link

I’m a planet in love, and you’re the universe Dancing on an unprecedented scale

Japanese to English lyric translation by a fan and amateur!

As I ponder the reason planets spin round, they spin another day If I have a history of being cowardly, what of it?

Pondering why planets are linked together is rather astronomical And therefore romantic—pretty nice, isn’t it?

For what ends am I going this far for? Even if I’m found out by the whole of humanity, that’s fine, I’ll keep saying it la la la

I’m a planet in love, and you’re the universe Dancing on an unprecedented scale With some awkward wading through space, I won’t delay Damn it, I gotta stay cool I’ll put my pounding heart into it and make a desperate appeal Can you see me? But gravity continues to preserve its balance Looks like it’ll be a bit longer until it’s do-or-die for me

I want everyone to understand a bit more the reason planets are sad If I have history of being cowardly, what of it?

“Jokes overflowing in wit!” is the kind of impression I want to give But now it’s a scene for that astronaut to stand out Next it’s my turn, la la la

I’m a planet in love, and you’re the universe Dancing on an unprecedented scale From my perspective, there’s pitfalls in every direction I’m just one among a million I know that well, but Even so, I can’t be nothing but stardust Can I keep on shining?

Even if there’s no meaning behind the orbit I follow If we get to exist together, I hope you’ll do something with me too, whether it be analysis or what

I’m a planet in love, and you’re the universe Dancing on an unprecedented scale With some awkward wading through space, I won’t delay Damn it, I gotta stay cool—but I can’t! I’ll put my pounding heart into it and make a desperate appeal Can you see me? But gravity continues to preserve its balance Looks like it’ll be a bit longer until it’s do-or-die for me

I want be in the same world as you I want to keep shining for a while yet!

Notes: 星　means “star” but is also a general term for a celestial body, so I translated it as “planet” to fit with the context of the song.

#lyrics #unison square garden

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thefreakhouseband · 2 years ago

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Welcome to the Freak House!

About Us

Audrey Arson

I'm the oldest of the band. I'm a bit of a self-proclaimed older sister to the others and I feel super protective of them. When I'm not making music with the band you can usually find me working on my comic or some other artistic pursuit. I'm a chronically exhausted college student. You can tell what songs I wrote by them having a more jazzy or melancholy tone to them or just being bat-shit off the walls insane. Some of my inspirations are MCR, Scene Queen, , Set It Off, and Demi Lovato (for some reason).

-Your resident garbage girl

Butchface

I’m that guy with the neon green hair in the blog’s pfp lol. pronouns are he/him, xe/xem/xyr, and it/its. I take a lot of influence from older punk rock and, surprisingly, country and folk music. my favorite bands are My Chemical Romance, Oingo Boingo, They Might Be Giants, The Cure, Talking Heads, Bikini Kill, Shilpa Ray, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Iron Maiden, The Magnetic Fields, The Daniel Pemberton TV Orchestra, Lemon Demon, Man or Astro-Man, Radiohead (not in a pretentious way, I swear), Will Wood, Creedence Clearwater Revival… oh boy, there’s a lot. I like music! I tend to disappear at unpredictable intervals due to chronic pain/fatigue and parental restrictions, but I always come back. I like writing songs about things I’m passionate about, which is often personal, sometimes political, and every now and then a ballad about freaky-looking deep sea creatures. or weevils. I keep my dad’s old stenobook by my bedside to write lyrics in - he wrote lyrics for the Panama City punk bands he was in in 1990-ish in there, and I figured I could put it to good use again after all these years. he’s cool with it. see you around, and stay safe out there 🪲

Harley Homicide

I'm sassy, I'm trashy and (if you pay me enough) I'll let you put it in my ass-y. I'm the band's second oldest and the token British person. I use any pronouns, I literally don't care what you call me xx. My music taste is all over the place, having been raised by a metalhead and a former chav during a time where pop punk and emo were more mainstream. I'd say my biggest inspirations in terms of performing are Freddie Mercury and Ronnie James Dio. You'll be able to tell which songs are written by me because they're shit! I'm not much good at writing, but I'm great at partying like I'm Paris Hilton. When I'm not doing band stuff, you can find me shopping, watching/reading/playing anything DC comics related or just sorta... Staring into space. I don't do much, but I'm still your fave member fer sure! Thanks for visiting The Freakhouse! We hope you enjoy your stay!

Xoxo Harlz <3

Dart Darling

Hi I'm Dart, I'm genderfluid (any pronouns), and I'm from under the ground at your local graveyard! I'm one of the youngest, and that's super tragic because I'm an undead zombie who died from being too damn glamorous. My idol is Melissa Marie and i love the Millionaires. Also, my ghostly tendencies give me a lot of appreciation for the dramatic, and as well as all things scene and crunkcore I love theatre, cabaret, and steampunk. I've been producing music for about a year now so if the synths crunching, just know it was me, tapping away and not understanding what the equalizer does. I'm bringing you Dead Girl Couture 25/8, 366. Don't mind all the Sanrio merch around the Freakhouse, I started a cult for Hello Kitty! I mean church. You should definitely join us 😁

Til death do we party,

-Dart <3

GRACIEEEE

YOOO WASSUP!!! X3 My namez GRACE! (if you dont know me, pls call me Grace, not Gracie)

I'm gendersylphen (he/they/neos) and I'm a super cool alien with adhd from OUTER SPACEEEE! My fav colors are all of them except brown, my special interests are space and doraemon, and I LOVE SCENE SM! Crunkcore 4 LYFEEE! I wanna be an astronaut when I grow up! Also I'm the youngest here 💀💀💀💀💀 (btw im a minor so plz don't be a weirdo, tyyyy)

I'm mostly new to music and I'm SUPER excited!!! X) Ik this is gonna be rllyrlly fun!!! For me, my music stuff is gonna be super bouncy, upbeat, happy, optimistic, full of rhymes, so tht's when yk smth's by me! My fav bands/artists are Amy Can Flyy, Green Day, Nikasaur, 4*Town (4townie 4 eva!!! Aaron T is best boy) and a LOT of other stuff.

When I'm not with tha band, you can find me playing with my sibs (including my dog), doing stuff with my homiez, reading/watching Doraemon or abt space, or doing idk whatever bc I do alot. XP

So ye! Thts a bit abt me! Tysm for reading abt us, may God bless u, follow ur dreams, and have a super duper fun day! 😄

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gallavictorious · 4 years ago

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For the Gallavich Ask - #’s 10, 11 & 22. 💕

10. Favourite headcanon

Going to cheat slightly by directing you towards this old ficlet and accompanying meta of mine, because it does remain my favourite, I think.

To offer something new... while Mickey certainly didn't have (or look for) any romantic connections or actual relationships down in Mexico he did hook up with people and was out, both as gay and as a bottom. On the one hand, this might be slightly unrealistic because I'm not sure the cartel would be super accepting of it, but anything else would feel like an unfortunate regression for Mickey and make his choice of giving everything else up to go help Ian far less impactful, so this is my story and I'm sticking with it. I actually have quite a few thoughts on this, especially in relation to 11x03, and might develop it into meta proper at some point.

11. Favourite dialogue/line/quote

To be honest, most of my favourite instances of Gallavich communication are non-verbal – they say so much with just looks and expressions and sometimes little touches, and to me that's one of the most intriguing aspects of their relationship, and one of the aspects that make it seem the most natural and real. For instance, I love “he isn't afraid to kiss me” - not so much because the line itself is very special, but because of everything it signifies: Ian taking a stand for himself and pushing for more instead of allowing Mickey to entirely dictate the terms of their relationship. Now that he is reasonably confident that Mickey would like to kiss him and does have actual and very real feelings for Ian he is growing tired of Mickey's reticience, so the frustration is real – but the way (indirect but ultimately challenging) he puts his implied demand is designed to make giving in easy for Mickey. That's a strategically sound choice, of course, since it makes Ian getting what he wants all the likelier, but it's also kind of sweet? Ian calls Mickey out and he pushes, but he doesn't push too far and he still respect Mickey's boundaries. And then there's that look on Mickey's face... He knows exactly what Ian's really saying and asking for, and he has to concede that yeah, Ian's got a point. (Also he really, really wants to kiss Ian, and I guess that he, too, is getting pretty damned tired of pretending that he doen't.)

Somewhat in the same vein, the “Mick. Wait.” of 11x04 is just glorious. Ian knows he's being played but what can he do but give in? Not a damned thing, and that makes him so frustrated (partly because he can absolutely imagine that smug smirk on Mickey's face).

Other hits include:

“Hey, asshole, weren't you listening? We're doing a murder thing here.” That's right, Mickey, don't let Lip derail your homocidial scheme! Eyes on the prize! Also, way to include your fiancé in your plans! That's some proper relationshipping right there! As they saying goes, couples who kill old homophobic Nazi fathers stay together.

“That's gorgerous.” I love that Mickey feels comfortable enough to let himself care about flowers! Being vocal about his desire not only to have flowers but the right flowers! @dreamylyfe-x recently wrote a very nice meta on this. (I am totally planning to get back to that one and Have Opinions because it's a fascinating discussion, but I am also a total flake so yeah.) There's also something about Mickey having a casual and perfectly civil (until it isn't) interaction that doesn't involve crime or scams or violence that gets to me. (In a comparison I doubt anyone but me will get this line reminds me of Darth Vader's “Yes, Admiral, what is I?” in Empire Strikes back, another not at all important or special line that I absolutely adore. I'm not kidding, that's my favourite Vader line.)

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're the hipster shit, with the suspenders and the harp and all that, huh. Yeah, you're going to that.” Listen, very few things give me more life than Ian's absolute vindictive glee here. God, that smile! It makes me cackle in delight every damned time. You had it coming, Mick.

“I, Ian, take you, Mickey.” I don't have to explain this one to you guys. You know.

… oh were you supposed to pick one? Tough titties.

22. Favourite episode

I am very fond of 7x11, though I don't watch it nearly as often as I watch other episodes. The goodbye at the end is just too damn painful, even though it's incredibly beautiful and feels right. Them parting here always makes me think of Damon Salavatore's line in The Vampire Diaries: “It's right. Not just right now.” Oh, and a few lines from Alex the Astronaut's Happy Song: “you know that I love you / but I think it's over / will it still be over, always?” One day I will learn to make GIF:s and make a set to these lyrics, just see if I don't! (I probably won't.)

Ian's teary eyes and then that tremulous but genuinely happy and relieved smile as Mickey makes it across the border... There's so much love and loss and – I think – gratitude there; the sharp pain of saying a final farewell to someone you love mingling with the thankful joy of having known that love in the first place. And it's a moment of finding freedom for Ian, too; not because he's letting go of Mickey but because he's letting go of his old (and failed) strategy to deal with being seperated from him. No longer will he try to lessen the loss by lessening what they had; this time he allows his love for Mickey, allows it to matter and hurt, and he doesn't shy from the pain of seperation. Ungh. It's perfect, but it's heartbreaking. I can't imagine how I'd have reacted if I'd watched it as it aired, since it hits this hard even going into it knowing that Ian and Mickey will reunite.

Intrestingly enough, this episode doesn't contain one single of my favourite Gallavich scenes, but it just works very well as an episode. It encapsulates both their chaotic energy and their sweet tenderness, even as it illustrates their relevant differences, and it has a well-defined arc with a great (if painful) emotional pay-off. And the non-Gallavich stuff is very good too! (Contrast with 10x11, which I think have a good and well-contained Gallavich storyline with a nice payoff, and which incidentally contains both one of my favourite scenes – the flower shop – and one of my least favourite scenes – the caterer – but I am very meh about the non-Gallavich stuff.)

Also, Ian and Mickey also looks absolutely gorgerous in this one and there's manhandling. Surely that's as close to perfection as heaven will allow.

(The episodes I watch most often would probably be 3x03, 4x11, and 10x12.)

#i was SO STOKED to get this ask #because i didn't reblog the meme #and not because i don't like answering questions #but because i'm not sure how my fragile ego would handle reblogging and then NOT getting any asks #i am but a sensitive fangirl you guys and my hubris is only matched by my anxiety #so this was just perfect and i was thrilled #thank you sara! <3 <3 <3 #you are darling #this got long #sorry not sorry?#meta #well for a given value of meta...#asks #gallagher-and-milkovich

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nyarmand · 4 years ago

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what are some of your favorite vocaloid songs based on lyrics/meaning? or what are your favorite lyrics specifically?

this is tricky on account of there are so many good ones but also if we’re cutting out the songs that i mostly just listen to because THEY SOUND FUCKING INCREDIBLE then that does make it somewhat easier lol. still i’ll limit it to five because otherwise this post is going to end up being an ungodly length.

i LOVE ‘i’m glad you’re evil too’ by pinocchiop it does everything to my brain. absolutely everything. it’s such a sweet song. whole thing is great

‘astronauts’ by powapowa-p. it is my Mental Illness Song. brain melted, tears cried, et cetera. lyrics: ‘If I were alive, someday I would sing you a song I've made for you, the song I've never sung you because I feel embarrassed. I hope this song reaches you someday.’ if this song doesn’t make you cry then. well why not it’s fucking sad

‘terekakushi shishunki’ by honeyworks also. it’s a sibling rights song! it’s literally just a song about a big brother caring about his little sister! it makes me insane but in SUUUUUCH a good way. favorite lyrics: ‘Alright, I'll say it out loud, "You mean a lot to me." We'll always be like this, won't we?’ hello? hello? WHOLE brain melted

‘sekiranun graffiti’ by ryo is REALLY good. the whole song is just full of great lines, but ‘Love and music, that's all we need/I have everything I want within me’ GETS me. every time.

and lastly, ‘spica’ by toku-p! i love all the music talk in it. i think more songs about love should include musical terms. music is one of my favorite ways of conveying affection.

#ask #anon #Anonymous

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 13/02/2021 (Digga D, AJ Tracey, Cardi B)

It’s not as big of a week as it is just a confusing one, so there’s no pre-amble. Olivia Rodrigo spends a fifth week at #1 with “drivers license” and let’s start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

I started writing this a bit later than usual so I just want to rush through most of what’s here. The songs dropping out of the UK Top 75 are either debuts from not long ago like “Notorious” by Bugzy Malone featuring Chip and “Lo Vas A Olvidar” by Billie Eilish and ROSALÍA, or songs that have been here for a while, like “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper and “Dynamite” by BTS. We even have some #1 hits dropping out of the Top 75 this week, like “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. In terms of fallers, we have, seemingly, some of the older Winter cuts being replaced, as we see “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix getting a harsh streaming cut down to #30, “Whoopty” by CJ down to #33, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa and remixed by DaBaby down to #34 (although this could rebound given the album release), “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #37, “SO DONE” by The Kid YAOI at #57, “All I Want” by Olivia Rodrigo at #61, “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax at #62, “Train Wreck” by James Arthur at #63, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #64, “Take You Dancing” by Jason Derulo at #65, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #68, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi at #72 and “Golden” by Harry Styles at #73, as well as some more recent debuts, including the entirety of Fredo’s album impact from last week, as “Money Talks” with Dave is at #11, “Ready” with Summer Walker at #31 and “Burner on Deck” with Young Adz and the late Pop Smoke at #32. “Skin” by Sabrina Carpenter and “Apricots” by Bicep aren’t faring that well either, at #51 and #56 respectively. When I said these songs are being replaced, I wasn’t overestimating anything as we have our new crop of hits seemingly all surging, as “Martin & Gina” by Polo G is at #54, “Be the One” by Rudimental, MORGAN, TIKE and Digga D is at #49, “Best Friend” by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat is at #42, “My Head & My Heart” by Ava Max is at #35, “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” by Jason Derulo and Nuka is at #27, “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals is at #24, “Your Love (9PM)” by ATB, Topic and A7S is at #23 (it’s honestly starting to grow on me), and “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd is somehow back up to #20. Speaking of the top 20, we also have “Friday” by Riton, Nightcrawlers and Musafa & Hypeman dopamine re-editing itself up to #16, “Save Your Tears” also by the Weeknd at #15, and two new top 10 hits, both songs with basically the same chart run and genre. “Goosebumps” by Travis Scott, remixed by HVME, remixed by Travis Scott is at #10, becoming HVME’s first and Travis’ fourth top 10 hit here in Britain. We also have “The Business” by Tiesto grooving up to #7, becoming Tiesto’s fourth top 10 hit. I honestly feel bad for the still completely uncredited vocalist. We also have a third new top 10 entry but that’s a debut that we can discuss later. I should also note that “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek is back at #74, and a winning Eurovision song, “Arcade”, by Dutch singer Duncan Lawrence is also back at #39 off of the back of some TikTok traction. I think this is the most streamed Eurovision now – I’d watch out for this being a big hit. Welp, time to get into our really, and I mean REALLY, varied and weird crop of new arrivals, starting with...

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “Roadtrip” – Dream and PmBata

Produced by Banrisk and Perish Beats

Okay, so this is a song by Minecraft YouTuber Dream, or at least that’s who I think he is. I think there was some kind of scandal related to him, and a couple people got involved and someone got doxed... listen, I don’t care. Not only is this song really not worthy of reviewing on the principle that unlike Wilbur Soot a couple weeks ago, Dream has never been a musician, which is clear from how involved no-name singer PmBata was in this, but I care for my private information not being made public so... What ridiculous excuse do I have to not review this? Okay, 1997 reggae-rock classic “Doin’ Time” by Sublime returns to #75 after Boris Johnson made a TikTok in the Houses of Parliament where he says “Pogchamp, Brexiteers, I just got tested for COVID-19” with the song in the background, and Joe Biden is on a Zoom call with him a few seconds later visibly annoyed because he prefers the New Radicals. Sure, let’s go with that. What was this entry about again?

#71 – “Goodbye” – Imanbek and Goodboys

Produced by Joris Mur, Imanbek and Goodboys

Everyone’s favourite Kazakh house producer Imanbek is finally back on the charts with his collaboration with British pop trio Goodboys, who you may know from their carbon-copy hits made with MEDUZA. After listening to that EP he made with Rita Ora, I’m slightly less impressed with Imanbek’s production, but that EP’s impact, if any, will be seen when the lead single featuring David Guetta and Gunna debuts low next week. Yes, seriously, all four on the same track. Anyway, this song, “Goodbye”, is actually pretty okay, with a generic deep house groove and fake hand-clap effectively saved by the Goodboys’ really intriguing vocal delivery and processing, which ends up in a Travis Scott-like Auto-Tune harmony that’s honestly pretty endearing right before the anti-climactic slap-house drop. The song’s lyrical content probably isn’t worth talking about, but it’s about a generic struggle with a break-up, and how hard it is for one of these good boys to say good bye. The build-up with the pre-chorus before the blue-balls second drop is kind of genius, and that’s probably my favourite part of the song outside of the abrupt vocaloid drop at the end. For what it’s worth, it takes more risks than most of these house-pop songs, most notably by having only a single verse in the middle of the song, and being really short, clocking in at less than two and a half minutes. It’s not as infectious as “Piece of Your Heart”, but this is fine. I’m glad it’s here if it’s going to give Imanbek another non-Rita Ora-assisted hit.

#60 – “Little Bit of Love” – Tom Grennan

Produced by Jamie Scott, LOSTBOY and Daniel Bryer

Tom Grennan is an English singer-songwriter who released their debut record in 2016 and was crowned by the BBC as the “Sound of 2017”, before dropping off the face of the Earth. He was brought to fame by a guest feature on a Chase & Status song that didn’t even do that well and now he’s back with the lead single from his upcoming sophomore effort, and his highest ever charting song. Well, is it any good? I mean, I like OneRepublic too. The rising strings here in the intro and chorus are pretty cool, and I’ll give it to Grennan for having an interesting voice but the odd level of grit in it does not fit well for this plastic production, which quickly devolves into vaguely danceable synth-mess that’s just not interesting. The content is mostly about unconditional love, particularly one that feels not particularly reciprocated, although some of the detail in the second verse feels like it’s going somewhere. I’ll admit, the chorus is catchy, but this mix puts way too much emphasis on a flawed vocal take from Grennan, which really detracts from the pathetic excuse for a bridge. I do enjoy how this feels like a flash-back to the mid-2010s, where happier, synth-based pop was this prominent, and I do love how the strings come back in the outro, but good production can’t do much to save a song that just feels under-cooked and definitely under-written. The OneRepublic comparison feels particularly fitting here too because their stuff tends to be just as stagnant, not to mention the lyrical riffs off of “Counting Stars”. I mean, when you start your first verse – in the first 10 or so seconds of the track – with the most recognisable part of a very recognisable song, I think Ryan Tedder deserves at least some royalties.

#58 – “Astronaut in the Ocean” – Masked Wolf

Produced by Tyron Hapi

Masked Wolf is an Australian singer and this song is actually from June 2019, just gaining enough traction, presumably off of TikTok, to debut on the charts this week. The song got a 2021 reissue and I assume a remix and, well... for God’s sake. The Kid LAROI should not have been an entry point for Australian trap, because outside of a second or two of distortion in the intro, this is far from unique. It has a guitar-based trap instrumental with dark 808s that even Gunna would pass up on, and an Auto-Tuned delivery from Masked Wolf, clearly trying too hard to replicate Drake in the intro and bridge, Kid Cudi in the chorus, G-Eazy in the first verse, Eminem AND Kendrick on the second verse, to the point where he even directly references Kendrick Lamar’s much better music. He suffers from the same problems as all of these artists combined, with lyrics that seem like they’re building up off of something interesting about depression before going into aimless flexing like a mid-tier Kid Cudi track, flows that sound as meandering and checked-out as Drake’s, the failed attempt at some kind of white-boy swagger that G-Eazy hasn’t pulled off successfully since 2016, the substance-less content hidden behind fast flows from Eminem and... oh, my God, this guy’s just like Australian Logic. I don’t like American Logic, why do we need this guy too? Yeah, this is bad, and there’s not much worth nitpicking in this mix or even the lyrics to even point out. I guess the worst bar is when he says he believes in G-O-D but not a T-H-O-T. So he’s a slut-shaming NF now? Jesus Christ, I’d take a full album from The Kid LAROI over this.

So the next two songs are ones I’ll actually need to somewhat lump together, as they are consecutive on the chart and both from the same album, and the same washed-up band.

#53 – “Waiting on a War” – Foo Fighters

Produced by Greg Kurstin

We have two songs from Dave Grohl and friends here from their latest album, Medicine at Midnight, technically three if we count the entire top 100, which means, yes, the UK just had a Foo Fighters album bomb. I’ll focus on the album as a whole with the next song because this is easily the worse track here and the worst track on the album purely out of how misguided it is. Dave Grohl wrote this song because he felt inspired by the current hell-scape of the political climate, reminding him of his own youth when he was surrounded by rising Cold War tensions. His young daughter asked him if there was going to be a war and naturally this song came out of it, reflecting on the fears he and his daughter have and that everyone deserves a future and a lifetime not taken away from them by conflict and fear. This is a good song idea but it absolutely does not work, and that’s partially down to the production. When I first heard this track on the album, I genuinely grimaced at the vocoder-mumble that Grohl takes on against the scratchy acoustic guitars. The whole point of the instrumentation is that it builds tension with rising strings, multi-tracked acoustics and eventually some electric guitars and powerful drums, yet because of how slow-paced the song is, it fails to mirror the rising tension of the prospect of there being a war. Instead, it’s a slog and its pay-off by the end feels unwarranted in the most boring way. Sure, the squeals of the guitars in the back of the mix sound good, but surely a song like this should not end like any of the Foo Fighters’ other pop-rock anthems, especially not as abruptly as it does. Wouldn’t you want a more subdued outro to comfort your daughter’s fears that at least right now, everything’s okay? That would make the most sense to me, but that’s thrown out of the window, with pathetic songwriting, with verses that play word association with the blandest of rhymes, seemingly irrelevant pop-song-generator filer and a chorus that is mind-numbingly repetitive but ultimately fails to build tension because of the content asking us to wait, constantly, even when it gets into its heavier rock tone. We’re supposed to wait for something that is only implied to never come, because there isn’t finality. Sure, that could work as a way of saying that Grohl is just as uncertain and scared as his daughter is about political conflict, but that would imply this song gives off any further emotion than the fact the Foo Fighters felt the need to cut a vaguely political track out of necessity. As a song, and as an album, Dave Grohl is utterly confused, and “Waiting on a War” is way too slow and non-specific to act as a protest song, as well as being way too on-the-nose for it to work as a ballad. Let’s talk about this next single.

#52 – “Making a Fire” – Foo Fighters

Produced by Greg Kurstin

What the hell is Greg Kurstin doing here? This is the first track on the album and is supposed to make some kind of gripping impact but is instead just a snoozefest. The choral female vocals sound bored, but at least it’s not as strained as the struggling Dave Grohl trying and failing to yelp over a stiff groove which has its momentum killed by drumming too slow and mixed too oddly to make this pre-chorus even coherent, not helped by Grohl’s butt-rock delivery and non-descript lyrics. There could be a guitar solo here, to make this track feel memorable, but no, it’s hidden under a pre-chorus with an extended gospel bridge that doesn’t build up effectively to a chorus that just comes crashing in and hence has no effect. Maybe I just can’t listen to arena rock in a quarantine context, but I can’t even imagine this making much of a fuss in a packed stadium without desperately needing tweaks in the songwriting and especially the production, because this just sounds stunted. It’s telling that Grohl made his best tracks as the Foo Fighters on his own and those first two records, alongside a pretty decent 2014 comeback in the form of Sonic Highways, are still great. I’m not denying that Grohl can write a good song, or that the Food Figures can’t play, because they’re all talented guys. This is just one album in many that leaves me with the feeling that these guys just can’t do much more outside of their comfort zone than fail miserably. These songs won’t stick around, and thank God for that.

#50 – “Believe Me” – Navos

Produced by Tom Demac and Navos

Another week, another... okay, but we already had a generic pop-infused deep house track from a couple EDM randos, do we really need another? Okay, well, this one is even less interesting than Imanbek’s effort as it doesn’t even try for a verse, instead going for a deep house groove I’ve heard countless times before, drowned out by some square synths and, yes, you guessed it, 90s piano loops and an uncredited female vocalist repeating basically the same couple lines over and over. This is made for the clubs, but I feel like even regular club-goers would tire of this vocaloid drop and cloudy production two minutes in. There’s nothing worth discussing here, because this probably took as many minutes to make as it did to listen to. I have no idea why Navos debuts a song so high, but I’ve got to assume TikTok’s to blame. Apparently this guy makes tech house, where’d any of that skill or intrigue go here?

#21 – “Up” – Cardi B

Produced by Sean Island, DJ SwanQo and Yung Dza

Anyone else surprised at how such a big name gets production from people I’ve never heard of before? Not that it matters, it’s just odd. Anyways, this is Cardi’s new single, presumably from that ever-elusive second album, debuting around 20 spots lower than it will in the US, and it’s going for a more gangsta-rap content than the hyper-sexual “WAP”, but does she keep the same energy? Well, yes... in fact, after all the mediocrity, I’m glad to have a genuinely great song debut this week. This is a great, bass-heavy beat that gives a Memphis phonk feel in the dark keys as well as the hard-hitting 808s and spacey percs and sound effects that add some needed distortion, even if there’s going to be some brief clipping along the way. Cardi brings some necessary energy from the brilliant opening lyrics and continues with a fast-paced, chanting flow that accentuates some of her funnier lyrics with her charisma that she always brings to a trap track like this. I’d say that this is maybe too repetitive – with very little of the verses to speak of – or even somewhat derivative of her previous song, “Money”, but there’s a lot better lyrical content in this one, not to mention how well she complements a more straight-forward but still killer beat. Oh, yeah, and Cardi’s stacks are Shaq-height as she dismisses haters with an impressive level of swagger and confidence, that carries the refrain, but that’s not to say the lyrics aren’t really great in the verses. There’s genuinely funny and sexy wordplay here, especially in the second verse, and also some great liners: “hoes speakin’ cap-anese”, accusing her haters of having pink-eye and their breath smelling like “horse sex”. This is a short, probably underdeveloped song, but it’s the type of surreal, high-energy trap I kind of really love and I hope this sticks around further in the UK.

#19 – “Latest Trends” – A1 x J1

Produced by ShoBeatz

A1 x J1 are a British rap duo with no other songs. Yeah, something’s fishy here: this is their only song on Spotify that blew up from a 15-second clip on TikTok, and their Spotify bio is trying to decide whether they’re the next D-Block Europe or the Beatles, as well as really emphasising how the song grew “all organically”, even though they’re already signed to Universal... yeah, there’s nothing subtle here, so I won’t buy this TikTok fame schtick, but does it matter when the song is good? Well, not really, and honestly, I’m kind of into this guitar-based drill-R&B fusion in the beat, but it doesn’t really help the fact that J1’s Stormzy impression is janky and unconvincing, especially if he’s going to try for some shallow wordplay, and that A1’s Auto-Tuned croon is just boring, reminding me a lot of A Boogie wit da Hoodie, but with a less recognisable voice and delivery, even if the first verse contains a funny line about a woman making that ass clap “for the NHS”, although he totally took that from Swarmz anyway. Yeah, I’m not a fan of this fake attempt at an organic pop-drill crossover, but unfortunately, I can very much see this working, though I’d be happy if the British public will see through this dishonesty as soon as possible.

#5 – “Bringing it Back” – Digga D and AJ Tracey

Produced by TheElements and AoD

Now for a rap duo that makes more sense to debut this high and are actually, you know, separately successful rappers, therefore they debut in the top five, which is impressive. The whole concept of this song is that Digga D and AJ Tracey are using old flows, those that would be nostalgic to their deeper fan base, to spit bars on a new track called, fittingly “Bringing it Back”. The flow AJ Tracey brings back is from his overlong “Packages” freestyle, a five-minute track from 2016, that works more as a freestyle than it does as a song, where he uses a familiar UK drill flow to go off for a really long time, and, yes, it is pretty impressive but the flow becomes stale too quickly. Digga D uses his flow from his “Next Up?” freestyle from 2017, a similarly badly-mixed UK drill freestyle but with a much more palatable length. Digga D’s flow he uses in that track is arguably slicker but honestly one that I see used a lot in UK drill and by Digga D, so I’m not sure it’s not worth “bringing it back” when you could come up with a new, catchier flow. I’ll admit that “Bringing it Back”, however, is a pretty damn good song, with Digga D’s more technical and fluid flow allowing for a lot more intricate internal rhymes that sound really great over the triumphant, string-heavy drill beat, as he trades bars with AJ Tracey’s slower but more confident, laid-back flow, which allows him to spit some more specific, interesting bars, some of which really hit, like when he says he “locked up the food for the kids like Boris and then I let it go like Rashford”. Hey, I respect it, I haven’t heard a more clever way of intertwining political commentary with cocaine smuggling since Pusha T last released a record. The way AJ Tracey and Digga D play off of each other’s lines is really smooth, and especially how Digga D plays with the beat, as while his lyrics may be less interesting, they mash perfectly with the beat’s frantic fades in and out, especially in his last lines before the first chorus, where he asks for the track to literally be turned off... and it is. So, yeah, I’m pretty damn happy with this debuting so high off the energy alone, even if Digga D is going to pronounce “LOL” like a one-syllable word. I’d say this is actually a really good starting point for people who want to get into more UK drill because it has a lot of the grit and menace of the genre in a more accessible, catchy form, even if it may run a bit too long for my taste.

Conclusion

Wow, what a weird, weird week... and a lot of it was straight garbage. I’m giving Best of the Week to “Up” by Cardi B, with an Honourable Mention to Digga D and AJ Tracey for “Bringing it Back”, though Worst of the Week is pretty much a toss-up. I’ll give it to the Foo Fighters for “Waiting on a War”, with a Dishonourable Mention tied between “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf and “Believe Me” by Navos for just both being worthless. Anyways, here’s our top 10:

The UK Singles Chart is honestly kind of chaotic right now – even more so than usual – and I don’t see that changing. Even if I don’t like all of the songs, it’s at least compelling. Anyways, thank you for reading and you can follow me @cactusinthebank on Twitter if you want. I can’t really make any predictions for next week other than Taylor Swift re-recording her own music and I guess some impact from Rita Ora and Imanbek, or hopefully, slowthai. Regardless of what happens, I’ll see you next week!

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gingermcl · 5 years ago

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Is the moon artificial?? Here’s a list of several odd pieces of information. You’ll have to decide what you think for yourself.

Ancient African legends describe a time before the moon and tell of complete chaos after it arrived. Before the moon arrives the vegetation with huge and the atmosphere had a dense fog. After the moon everything shrunk and women began to experience problems with childbirth and menstruation.

Several SSP(US Secret Space Program) whistleblowers and remote viewers allege the moon is an artificial structure. I’ve heard several SSP operatives allege they’ve traveled to the moon during government operations. The moon’s phases are a actually a holographic projection that cover whatever artificial structure is underneath. Allegedly the moon is a hollow structure.

The moon is where souls are recycled. It is the reincarnation trap.The tunnel of light that appears when one dies takes one’s spirit directly to the moon for reincarnation back to the earth plane.

The lunar wave. This is a term coined by Crrow777 who first filmed the lunar wave. I will link a few videos in the description. Crow has spent years of his life filming the moon and caught a strange phenomenon multiple times. A phenomenon he calls the lunar wave. It appears as if the moon is refreshing itself like a computer screen. It truly is strange. You should view the videos and see what you think. He has great podcasts on many topics too.

The phrase “to the moon and back” that became popular in recent years, does it allude to us loving someone life after life after life? That’s what it makes me think of after viewing the moon as a recycling center.

There are music lyrics that allude to the moon being artificial. One lyric that comes to mind is from a song titled cocoon where the song says “when I take drugs I go to the moon.” He may be referencing being high in the sky like the moon or something more sinister. Overdose and death when taking drugs.

The moon landing was an obvious fake. NASA “lost” thousands of moon tapes.....no they didn’t. They knew even amateur videographers in today’s world would tear those tapes to shreds.

Have you ever seen a photo of the supposed “lunar lander?” That piece of junk might not make it to the end of my street, let alone to the moon!! It literally appears to have been made with duct tape and shower curtains.

We’re also supposed to buy that Nixon called a phone on the moon with clear reception??? There were barely phones with clear cellular reception when they did the 9/11 hoax, it didn’t happen decades before.

Stanley Kubrick admitted to filming the moon landing before he died. He left several clues in the movie “The Shining.” Look into the moon landing if you still think it happened. I have seen a few people prove without a doubt it was filmed. Apparently there are some telltale signs in the video a trained eye can easily spot. There are countless problems with the alleged main landing.

Why did they only go once?? If they had successfully went to the moon they would’ve repeatedly gone back over and over. They would’ve probably built buildings there. If it’s an artificial structure covered by a hologram then they would have to film moon “landing.” Astronauts didn’t go at all. It has been known by the controllers for a long time that the moon is an artificial structure. And if the moon is an artificial, soul recycling center the masses will never be shown it. You’ll see it if you follow the light when you die. 😬

The moon is thought to work with Saturn (called the Saturn-Moon Matrix or Demiurge) to broadcast a low frequency across the earth plane. The low frequency is to mind control and/or hypnotize the people. It keeps humanity on a lower level of consciousness. The moon causes erratic behaviors in some folks when it is full. Any nurse will tell you the hospital is crazy on a full moon.

I have presented quite a few anomalies with the moon here. Is it artificial? According to my pendulum yes. Every single time I’ve asked. My pendulum has been proven to be right more than anything else ever has, so I’m going with that answer. I feel tye death star from Star Trek is modeled after the moon and the phases are a holographic overlay.

Additional links:

African legends about the moon

https://doowansnewsandevents.wordpress.com/tag/zulu-mythology-about-the-moon/

https://www.crrow777radio.com/hiding-the-moon-in-plain-sight/

Lunar wave videos

https://youtu.be/_3axPn65MGM

https://youtu.be/kZCw94sg2-I

https://youtu.be/BBe9HWG2W0Y

Crazy theories about the moon

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/7-unusual-myths-and-theories-about-the-moon

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noncomsociety · 5 years ago

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Non-community core tags and the meanings behind them ♡

Please do not reblog this! This is a post that will be continuously updating! Sharing the link to this post is fine.

(Some tags are finished yet but I really wanted to post it)

Kidcore - Kidcore is a aesthetic that started in 2010 about primary colors, nostalgia, and childhood. It’s like a memory tag. It is usually filled with bright colors, icons from the 90s, and popular toys such as beanie babies and webkins etc. The aesthetic started as a fashion that involved adults wearing bold primary colors and other childlike aesthetics as children had. Other names of this tag: Kiddiecore and Kidwave

Babycore - Babycore is an aesthetic that was about primary colors, nostalgia, and babyhood. The aesthetic started as a fashion that involved adults wearing bold primary colors and other baby-like aesthetics as babies had. This tags later evolved into its own tag separate from kidcore. Babycore is now a tag that is centered around infantile comfort items, nurseries, toys, and infantile looking wear.

Toddlercore - Toddlercore is an aesthetic that was about primary colors, nostalgia, and being in the toddler stage. The aesthetic started as a fashion that involved adults wearing bold primary colors and other toddler aesthetics as toddlers had. This tag later evolved into its own tag separate from kidcore and babycore. Toddlercore is now a tag that is centered around toddler essentials, comfort items, toys, clothing wear, and activities.

Toycore - Toycore is a tag that started out as a tag for toys seen in the 80’s and 90’s. Most of these toys were brightly colored. An example of popular toys under this tag are furbies and my little pony. Now this tag is for all toys but especially for toys that give the majority of users a feeling of nostalgia. Other names of this tag: Toywave

Rainbowcore - Rainbowcore is a tag for the aesthetic, items, makeup, and fashion that are filled with colors of the rainbow! This tag has nothing to do with being LGBT+ but those that are are welcomed to use the tag!

Primarycore - Primarycore is a tag for the aesthetic, items, makeup, and fashion that are filled with colors red, yellow, and blue!

Clowncore - Clowncore is a tag for the aesthetic, items, makeup, and fashion of clowns! It’s key colors are primary colors and colors of the rainbow. Clowncore is most commonly on the happy side of things rather than it being related to horror clowns it gets its inspiration for kid friendly circus clowns and cute antique figures and dolls and plush clowns. Other names of this tag: Circuscore

Spacecore - Spacecore is an aesthetic based around space! Everything in the universe beyond the top of the Earth’s atmosphere – the Moon, where the GPS satellites orbit, Mars, other stars, the Milky Way, black holes, distant quasars, and what’s between planets, moons, stars, etc. Common things seen in this tag are planets, astronauts, and rockets.

Lovecore - Lovecore is an aesthetic based on the visual culture of manufactured romance & affection. Lovecore is also a tag that corresponds to Valentine’s Day. Popular motifs seen in this tag include hearts, boxes of chocolate, lipstick, lingerie, love letters, vintage/romantic movies, cupid, angels, and the colours red and pink. Other names of this tag: Cupidcore, Heartcore, Crushcore

Medcore -

Animecore - Animecore is an aesthetic revolving around the visual culture of Japanese anime and manga.

Webcore - Webcore is an aesthetic utilising traditional web design elements combined with aspects of poetry and self-expression. This also includes GIFs, video games, and clip-art. This aesthetic mainly exists for the sake of nostalgia for late 1990's and early 2000's internet culture.

Emocore - Emocore is a tag that is based on a style of rock music resembling punk but having more complex arrangements and lyrics that deal with more emotional subjects. Emocore has a culture according to music fanbases and types styles inspired by bands in the 2000s

Scenecore -

Cleancore - Cleancore is an aesthetic based on getting clean and feeling pure. Popular motifs seen in this tag include bathrooms, soap, bathbombs, rubber ducks, clean rooms, etc.

Honeycore - Honeycore is an aesthetic based around the rural production and consumption of honey. It is similar to cottagecore in that agricultural imagery and values are emphasised, but the visuals are streamlined to create a colour palette of mostly yellows and browns.

Farmcore - Farmcore is an aesthetic based around the visual culture of an idealized life on a Western farm. Common things seen in this tag include barns, farm grown food, and farm animals.

Dirtcore - Dirtcore is an aesthetic centered around anything that grows or lives in or above the dirt/ground.

Grandparentcore - Grandparentcore is a tags based on the visual culture of an idealized life a Grandparent or a elderly person. Common things seen in this tag is what a grandparent would stereotypically enjoy such as, baking, cooking, knitting and crocheting, gardening, telling stories, collecting magnets or antique dolls and other items, having vintage clothing, and having fine china etc. A lot of people in this tag involve Farmcorm, Cozycore, and cottagecore in this tag. (See definitions below) Other names of this tag: Grandmacore and Grandpacore and any nonbinary terms for a grandparent.

Cozycore - Cozycore is an aesthetic centered around enjoying staying in doors and cuddling up with a quilt or a blanket, enjoying stuffed animals, wearing sweaters, and drinking warm tea, coffee, or hot cocoa, and baking.

Warmcore - Warmcore is an aesthetic centered around things that make you feel warm or things associated with a warm color palette. Things within the cozycore tag are also usually seen in this tag as well as the autumn season.

Cottagecore - Cottagecore is an aesthetic based on the combination of Grandma and Grandpacore, Cozycore, and Warmcore that is centered around living in a cottage and enjoying the nature and animals around you.

Sleepycore - Sleepycore is a tag based on being tired and going sleep. The aesthetic of this tag is comfort items. Popular things seen in this tag are pajama’s, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, bedtime stories, nightlights, yellow crescent moons, and lullabies etc. the color palette of this aesthetic is dark and light blue, white, and yellow.

Quietcore - Quietcore is a tag that focuses on peacefulness, silence, and calmness. The outside world and our internal world can be incredibly loud, so this aesthetic is designed to calm people down. This tag is centered around any quiet and calm activities people do to relax and find peace such as meditation, reading, studying, star gazing, bath time, preparing to go to bed, and sleeping, etc.

Teddycore - Teddycore is a tag centered around loving stuffed animals that are specifically teddy bears. The colour palette of this aesthetic is white and dark and pastel shades of browns. Users who feel connected to bears or feel teddy-like also use this tag.

Meadowcore - Meadowcore is a tag based on an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grass and other non-woody plants. Common things seen in this tag are picnics, flowers, and animals of the meadow such as shrews, voles, mice, red fox, white-tailed deer, and birds.

Faeriecore - Faeriecore is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural.

Hobbitcore - Hobbitcore is a tag based on stories by J. R. R. Tolkien about an imaginary race similar to humans, that are small in size (like fairies) that have big hairy feet.

Goblincore - Gobblincore is a tag about a monstrous creature from European folklore.

#Tags #agere #kidcore #babycore #toddlercore #toycore #rainbowcore #primarycore #clowncore #spacecore #lovecore #animecore #webcore #emocore #cleancore #honeycore #farmcore #cottagecore #faeriecore

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struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor · 2 years ago

Text

So, V's song dropped at midnight in SK.

Pros: I didn't have to wake up at 4:45 am to catch the MV.

Cons: I was in a work meeting so I missed it.

Anyway, the most surprising thing about Love Me Again is how unsurprising it is. When I heard V chose MHJ as a creative director of sorts, I thought it was because he wanted to go for something more commercial sounding, or a more elaborate MV, but that turned out not to be the case. The MV was, surprisingly, barely an MV. I mean, it wasn't that different from his Winter Bear MV in terms of aesthetics. It was very simplistic, very V. I guess that's why every track as an MV - most of them are probably low budget. The song itself is very V too. I was surprised that he ended up delivering something along the lines of what I had initially expected from him.

The song is definitely nice and I like that he's doing something very him. The chorus is catchy! His voice sounded nice, and I think he managed to show a different side to his singing even if the song itself is what we expected. I don't have anything to add. The lyrics are fine, but romantic lyrics are usually a miss for me - I'm just not interested in them.

I suspect JK will be even more criticized for being the only member so far not to write his debut song. It's a bit disappointing that he's the only one who did that tbh. Jin wrote, at least, the Korean lyrics for The Astronaut (I don't remember if he composed the song as well), and the song itself was for us, but that wasn't really a solo debut, so it didn't have to represent him as an artist. Jungkook's goal so far with his music seems to be to become a pop star, and also explore more genres of music, which means there isn't necessarily anything he wants to achieve musically, but rather he wants his music to have a certain kind of impact and certain kind of sound, so it doesn't matter who writes it or how personal it is to him - which is at odds with the other members who had a specific message or sound in mind when they released their music.

Here I go on Jungkook again, unprovoked, but yeah... Still, the other members' work isn't necessarily better. Love Me Again is perhaps better than Seven in many ways, but apart from the rap and lyrics, Seven is catchier, the instrumental might be prettier, and Jungkook's vocals are better to me, so I would still rather listen to Seven overall (now that I'm used to what I don't like about it). I don't really listen to the other solo releases tbh, but I find myself wanting to listen to Seven and Dreamers, for example. As always, there's a difference between what's musically better and what is more pleasing and easy to listen to, which is one of the reasons why Jungkook has more commercial success. Perhaps I shouldn't be so closed minded about that. An artist isn't just someone who writes their music. We don't think less of actors for not writing their own scripts.

Jungkook is always on my brain, sorry!

#bts #jungkook #v #text

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ilikelookingatthings · 4 years ago

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Barbie’s Duality and Untapped Role Model Potential

this particular essay by Clarisa Calderon-Figueroa

When I say Barbie, what pops into your head? A plastic doll with blond locks? The color Pink? Princesses? Glitter? Gender segregated toy sections at Target? Ripped off limbs? Maybe personal memories of playing with Barbie yourself scroll across the back of your eyelids. Or a sense of shallow distaste as you think of plastic surgery, removed ribs, and righteous complaints about body image. Barbie is a household name that has been steadily embedding itself in the world's collective consciousness since “1959, with her vast array of careers that stem from CEO to astronaut, but who simultaneously is more associated with the lyrics "I'm a blond bimbo girl" by the band "Aqua" ( Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body") than the female empowerment message she goes out of her way to promote. The collective consciousness pulls "that age-old move" of "'demeaning' a powerful woman" and undercutting Barbie’s influence and the values she actually promotes by "'reducing' her to her appearance." ( Dockterman "Wonder Woman Breaks Through"). She is unfairly accused of selling a sexist, objectifying message under the veneer of empowering girls, stifling the untapped potential this icon has to teach children and adults the value of feminine traits.

Barbie has been accused of being inappropriate because of her body shape; on the surface these concerns are valid. According to a journal Barbie's design had been closely based on the "Lilli dolls, designed by O & M Hausser created in 1955…" which were "... racy..." dolls meant to be "… suggestive…" "… gag gifts..." that "… were not intended for children"(Hunter et al 138). She supposedly had the male gaze built into her and was repackaged for young girls. A 2006 study found that"girls exposed to Barbie at a young age were more likely to worry about their weight" (Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body"). However, the study fails to consider that Barbie is not the only doll children would be playing with in real life. Some of those dolls have even more severe proportions than Barbie with a less wholesome image. Match up a Veterinarian Barbie with her "5-inch waist", "11.5-inches of height" and a "bust of 5-inches" against a Bratz doll with their "pouty lips", "bare midriff-baring tops", and half the waist with 7/10th the bust size(Hess). The disproportionate proportions winner is the Bratz doll. The study also proclaims that Barbie wouldn't be realistic if she was scaled up to actual human size, but Barbie is not meant to be scaled up and has never claimed to be realistic.

Barbie has tried to address the criticisms about her proportions by creating the "petite, tall" and "curvy"( Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body") barbie body molds and with her worldwide reach, she can soon normalize the doll shapes from a young age since as of yet little girls still "snicker" at curvy barbie" which was noted by Tania Missad who had watched the test marketing of these new body types. If Barbie was the source of these body image issues kids would not snicker at different barbies but while she is not responsible she does have the ability to influence kids, especially with live examples of powerful female role models "Beyonce, Christina Hendricks" and "feminist leaders like Lena Dunham" with their "un-Barbie-like figures onscreen, fueling a movement that promotes body acceptance"(Dockterman 46). Barbie has the unique enduring appeal that has been picked up by generations of children; soon her different body types will recalibrate at the new normal.

Instead of blaming the society and the media that girls are exposed to daily, the blame is thrust on to Barbie even though "she's just a body" that "society can project on"(Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body") and no one tries to blame boy toys like G.I. Joe of being a bad influence on young lads despite being the hyper-masculine ideal. Barbie is not even the only female icon that has her appearance dragged out to ridicule and used to distract from their actual accomplishments. The superhero Wonder Woman was sculpted from the mind of a "feminist, psychologist and… inventor of the lie-detector test..." "William Moulton Marston" in "1941" as "icon for little girls". Wonder woman's message of empowerment became so iconic the "U.N." dubbed her the "Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls..". Unfortunately, her position was rescinded due to a "petition objecting to "a large-breasted white woman of impossible proportions..."; dismissing her as a "... epitome of a 'pinup'" (Dockterman "wonder woman breaks through"). Wonder Woman has been around since Batman and Superman and yet she has had only "one" film compared to the "'Batman's' nine" and "'Superman's seven". People even criticized Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, not for her acting talent but for the size of her breasts, according to an interview mentioned in the Wonder Woman Breaks Through article. Evidence that the phenomenon of society judging the looks of females and using them as excuses to undercut the messages those ladies represent live people and imaginary characters.

Another complaint lobbied about the Barbie brand’s narrow view of positive, cheerful girl power. It's true, Mattel could be promoting one type of image of what being a girl is like, but the fact that Barbie from her inception has "inspired resistance" to even her own "script" (Weida el al [103]17-31) and has inspired conversations about what it means to be a lady. Even when Barbie seems one note she can be used to articulate a change. Barbie, as mentioned before with the body molds, has adapted to these arguments; just as feminism has grown and changed over time. Barbie has even purposefully used start a ripple of change for young girls to become interested “in the field of computers and information technology” by filling the gap caused by the “lack of well-known female role models” with the Barbie computer science "coding program"(Martincic et al 7).

The classic Barbie doll is often accused of promoting a shallow, stereotypical view of the female gender. Its true Barbie is blonde, pretty, fashion-obsessed, loves glitter, and associated with the term princess, however, seeing these as a negative from the get go is sexist in and of itself. If someone is blonde they shouldn’t be taken less seriously than a brunette. If their preferred color is pink it doesn't mean they should be judged more than if their favorite is blue. Enjoying clothes isn’t inherent shallow as it is a method expressing yourself; and glitter is gender-neutral. By associating these feminine aspects with negative light it can lead to dismissing other traits deemed as feminine, such as kindness or compassion, as weak. If girls don't respect those aspects how will they get boys to respect those aspects? Barbie takes those stereotypical girly aspects people have been conditioned over time to avoid and proclaims there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Even the idea of princesses has become synonymous with being a damsel in distress; a passive prize to be won. In reality, princesses are leaders and have " 'spanned' nearly all cultures and time periods…" and have a "myriad representations"(Weida el al 17-31) of what princesses can be like. The damsel image can immediately be changed when you change the princess to an active main character who drives the story. Barbie has a large association with princesses due to her movie franchise that almost slaps the term princess or mention of a royal in a majority of her films that I am a big fan of because Barbie is always the main character and the goals of the movies don't revolve around romance. Barbie's overly pink girly image is associated with the damsel stereotype which also means when Barbie breaks that stereotype over and over again it will stick. Barbie draws in little girls with her pretty dresses and sparkly animation and can inspire and teach little girls' leadership by normalizing the idea that guys can "… play subordinate roles in comparison with the female characters" (Änggård) since Barbie is the active problem solver.

Barbie as a female-focused brand explores scenarios where girls are the central focus without the expectations that they'll be brushed aside in favor of boy characters which can happen in more neutral, family-oriented. Slipping in an accidentally positive preference bias toward guys. Eva Änggård had noted that while the girls had included boys in their stories, none of the boys included girls in their own stories. The boys seemed to associate "The presence of female figures…to romance" which caused "teasing" from other boys. It had gotten to the point at least "two girls" had become "angry because they were not allowed to play in the boys' stories" so they "wrote their own stories" (Änggård) that used the themes the boys had favored. Kids reflect the society around them so the fact that the boys dismissed the girls entirely from the story is a micro-example of what happens on a large scale around the world. Barbie can fight those expectations due to her wide media presence. If the media would stop focusing on the flaws Barbie is ironing out and talk about how entertaining her shows or toys are, or the lessons she actually endorses, Barbie might teach the guys who aren't just forced to watch with their sisters the leadership qualities and friendship lessons.

Barbie has a wide reach not just as a toy, but through her "39" ("List of All Barbie Movies Online") movies and TV shows including Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse. Barbie has computer games and clothing lines. Barbie appeals to nostalgic adults with their collector Barbies; using that connection to prompts those adults to introduce Barbie to their kids. Barbie has an online presence that includes a motion capture Barbie YouTube channel, the Facebook page, or her twitter account ("Barbie YouTube"). Her worldwide appeal is already strong so if the instinct to brush aside girl-oriented media and jump on every minor flaw Barbie has was curbed, she could influence young children when they are the most impressionable to accept many wonderful traits.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Cite

Änggård, Eva. "Barbie Princesses and Dinosaur Dragons: Narration as a Way of Doing Gender." Gender & Education, vol. 17, no. 5, Dec. 2005, pp. 539–553. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/09540250500192777.

"Barbie." YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/c/barbie/videos.

Dockterman, Eliana. "A Barbie for Every Body. (Cover Story)." TIME Magazine, vol. 187, no. 4, Feb. 2016, pp. 44–51. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112553378&scope=site.

Dockterman, Eliana. "Wonder Woman Breaks Through." TIME Magazine, vol. 188, no. 27–28, Dec. 2016, pp. 98–105. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=120303854&scope=site.

Hess, Amanda. "Leave Barbie Alone! She's Not the Skinniest Doll on the Block." Slate Magazine, Slate, 5 Feb. 2014, slate.com/human-interest/2014/02/barbies-not-the-skinniest-doll-on-the-block-measuring-barbie-bratz-monster-high-and-american-girl-dolls.html. WEB

Hunter, Dan, and F. Gregory Lastowka. "BarbieTM." Tulane Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property, Vol. 18. Fall 2015, pp. 133-160. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct-true&db=a9h&AN=111415505&scope=site.

"List of All Barbie Movies (Online)." Princess Movies Online, Princess Movies Online Copyright © 2020. Disney Movies Online Kids Movies, 11 Aug. 2020, www.princessmovies.org/barbie-movies/list-all-barbie-movies-online/.

Martincic, Cynthia J., and Neelima Bhatnagar. "Will Computer Engineer Barbie Impact Young Woman's Career Choices?" Information Systems Education Journal, vol. 10, no. 6, Dec. 2012, pp. 4-14. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1136648&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Weida, Courtney Lee, et al. "Poetics of the Fairy Tale Princess: Products, Problems, & Possibilities." Canadian Review of Art Education: Research & Issues, vol. 46, no. 2, July 2019, pp. 17–32. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=138903133&scope=site.

#Barbie #Role model #curvy petite tall #wonder woman #feminism #bodytypes #ken #engineering #careers #boys #girls #engineer #unfair?#sexist #barbie movies

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enbyleighlines · 5 years ago

Note

For your modern au prompts, how about Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang best friends going on a shopping trip?

Oooh, sounds good to me!! I hope you don’t mind that I took liberties with what constitutes as a shopping trip! This idea popped into my head, and I wanted to explore it~

—

The bell on the front door gives a twinkling little jingle as they enter. Immediately, the familiar aroma of Wei Wuxian’s favorite arts and craft store rubs against his nostrils like an affectionate cat.

Beside him, Nie Huaisang walks with a spring in their step. In the crook of their elbow, they carry a small but finely crafted handbag, as though they’re a rich socialite on a shopping spree in the big city. “Here we are,” Nie Huaisang says, excitement giving their voice a fun lyrical quality, “Where shall we start, Wuxian-xiong?”

Wei Wuxian can’t help the wide grin that breaks across his face. He scoops up one of the shopping baskets by the entrance. “We should start from the ground up,” he decides, logically, “Let’s go see how sturdy their poster board is.”

“We can always glue a layer or two of cardboard to the base,” Nie Huaisang points out.

“True, true.”

The two friends make their way towards the poster aisle. They’re on a mission, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have fun.

They’re making a diorama as their final project for freshman biology. Thankfully, they were allowed to pick their own partners, and since they’ve become quick friends over the course of the year, it was a no brainer.

Their plan is to create a miniature factory, with its walls, machines, and workers, but then label everything as though they’re the parts of a human cell. Wei Wuxian is certain that it will appeal to their teacher’s quirky sense of humor, and earn them a grade worth bragging about. Nie Huaisang is less convinced, but they’re just happy for the opportunity to show off their talent for arts and crafts.

They sift through their manyu options, poster boards of all different sizes, material, colors, and even textures.

Nie Huaisang pulls out out of the rack and gasps delicately, as though they’re holding a precious treasure. “Wuxian-xiong,” they say, “Feel this one. Isn’t it just like the gritty texture of cement?”

Wei Wuxian runs the tips of his fingers over the rough surface. “Oh wow, you’re right! But won’t that make it difficult to glue things to it?”

“Ah, I hadn’t considered that!” Nie Huaisang gives the poster board another longing-filled stroke. “Perhaps we can use little metal stands for the figurines, and stick the metal through the poster?”

Seeing that his friend’s heart is set on the poster board, Wei Wuxian nods. “Yeah, that could work! We’ll definitely need to add some cardboard to the base, though. We get a bunch of cardboard boxes at the restaurant from shipments and stuff. I’m sure Jiang-shushu won’t mind if we take one.”

Nie Huaisang eagerly takes the paper board and rolls it up. It’s still too long to fit in the basket, but at least they could carry it one-handed. “What next, Wuxian-xiong?”

“Metal wire for the stands, probably,” Wei Wuxian answers, “And maybe some of those things they use in gardens, with the names of plants on them? We can use those to label stuff. Would they have those here? If not, we can probably make our own...”

“There’s a gardening store around the corner,” Nie Huaisang says helpfully.

Wei Wuxian nods sagely. “That’ll do. Oh, and we should probably be keeping track of how much everything costs. How much did Nie Mingjue give you to spend?”

Nie Huaisang gives Wei Wuxian an incredibly self-satisfied smirk. They dig into the handbag and fish out a stack of folded bills. “Oh, we don’t need to worry about money,” they assure Wei Wuxian smugly, “My Gege gave me more than enough.”

Wei Wuxian whistles.

Nie Mingjue, Huaisang’s half-brother, took over management of the family business recently. He’s also been the one looking after Huaisang ever since their parents retired to travel the world. Mingjue likes to pretend that he’s a strict disciplinarian, yet he spends money on Huaisang like it’s going out of style.

To hear Nie Huaisang tell it, they’ve always been a spoiled child. But it seems as though it’s gotten even worse ever since Nie Mingjue became Huaisang’s primary guardian.

Nie Huaisang giggles behind their wad of cash. “So, yeah,” they say, “Money is not an issue.”

Wei Wuxian might be jealous if he was the type of person to get jealous. Instead, he only laughs in delight. “That’s good to know! Let’s take proper advantage of your Da-gege’s generosity, then!”

—

They quickly fill up the basket and have to upgrade to a cart. They take their time choosing the plastic figurines. There aren’t any factory workers, but there are some crossing guards, and a man in an astronaut suit, and they figure they can just pain over them. Nie Huaisang already has a decent collection of paints, but they also grab some new brushes, along with a fine point pen.

Then it’s off to the gardening store for some plastic plant markers, with tips sharp enough to pierce through paper and cardboard. While they’re there, they also grab some short two-inch fences and some mesh to use in constructing the cell walls.

They bring their haul back to the Jiang residence, because it’s closer.

The Jiang house is unusually quiet. Jiang Cheng is at soccer practice, and Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan are both at work at the restaurant. Jiang Yanli is home, though. She greets them at the door, and then immediately moves to prepare tea and snacks for them.

“Your supply run went well, I see,” she says, as she putters around the kitchen.

Wei Wuxian makes sure to plant a big, loud kiss to her cheek before he starts unloading things onto the dining room table. “It went great, actually,” he says, “Jiejie, you have to see all these awesome things we found!”

Nie Huaisang hovers a tad awkwardly in between the kitchen and dining room. It’s not the first time they’ve been to Wei Wuxian’s house, but it’s not a routine experience, either.

Glancing over her shoulder, Jiang Yanli examines the enormity of their haul with a worried expression. The cause of her concern becomes clear when she says, “I hope you didn’t have to use up all of your allowance on this school project, A-Xian.”

“Nope!” Wei Wuxian beams at her. “I didn’t spend a penny. Huaisang-xiong’s rich Gege footed the bill.”

“That... was probably not the best way to phrase that,” Nie Huaisang murmurs to Wei Wuxian, “Please let your Jiejie know you meant my actual Gege, and not an older guy who spends money on me like I’m his sugar baby.”

Wei Wuxian blinks. And then he starts snickering loudly. “She’s not going to assume that,” he assures them.

“What will I not assume?” Jiang Yanli places a plate of rice crackers on the kitchen’s island, and raises one of her brows at them.

Nie Huaisang grabs Wei Wuxian’s arm to stop him, but it’s too late.

“Huaisang-xiong doesn’t want you thinking they have a sugar daddy,” Wei Wuxian confesses, “So they want me to emphasize that, in this case, I used the term ��their Gege’ to refer to Nie Mingjue.”

Nie Huaisang looks like they want to melt into the floor.

But Jiang Yanli only giggles, demurely, behind the cover of her hand. “Well, I’m glad you clarified that,” she teases both of them, “Both of you are too young to have sugar daddies, anyway. Come, and have some rice crackers while the tea steeps.”

The two freshmen each hop up onto one of the stools obediently. Wei Wuxian stuffs his mouth without thought, while Nie Huaisang carefully nibbles at their cracker like a timid mouse.

There’s a bit of companionable silence. Jiang Yanli pours them each a cup of green tea, and then moves the sugar bowl within their reach.

Then she sits on one of the stools opposite them, and asks, “How are your other final projects coming along?”

Wei Wuxian heaves a dramatic sigh. “Bo-oring,” he singsongs, “It’s all essays and making flashcards for the exams. The same old generic stuff we did in middle school.”

“I get to make a poster for home ec.,” Nie Huaisang offers.

“Ooh, about what?”

“We have to try to design the food pyramid,” Nie Huaisang answers, “Other kids are just making collages out of newspaper clippings, but I want to try my hand at painting the food. I’ve never had a reason to paint food before, except for maybe an apple, back when we were learning how use shading.”

Jiang Yanli smiles. “That sounds fun,” she says, “Just don’t get so caught up in your fun projects that you don’t leave any time for the boring ones.”

“Right,” Nie Huaisang answers automatically.

Wei Wuxian is more lax. “I’ll be fine,” he assures his Jiejie, “Besides, I get my best work done at the last minute.”

Jiang Yanli gives her Didi a look. “That’s not how that works.”

“It is how it works! That spike of adrenaline really helps me get things done,” Wei Wuxian insists, and taps the edge of his nose with a cheeky little smirk.

“But it doesn’t leave you much time to go back and edit, does it?”

Wei Wuxian shrugs. “I make less mistakes on my first drafts than everyone else does on their final copies! If I start turning in perfect papers, then people might think I’m just showing off.”

“You ARE showing off,” Nie Huaisang snips.

That makes Jiang Yanli giggle again. She shakes her head at Wei Wuxian, but in a fond sort of way. Neither try to continue the argument.

“What about you, Jiejie?” Wei Wuxian asks suddenly, “Any fun final projects?”

“Just exams,” Jiang Yanli answers. She’s a high school junior, two years ahead of them. “Though, my math teacher said that anyone who already has an A in the class doesn’t have to take the final exam.”

“Let me guess,” Wei Wuxian says with no little hint of pride, “You have an A.”

Jiang Yanli hides her mouth behind the rim of her teacup. “I do,” she confirms, and her smile is audible in her tone. “So that’s one less thing for me to worry about.”

“That’s my Jiejie! Smartest girl in the whole world!”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Think so? I know so!”

Nie Huaisang smiles at that. Though the dynamic between Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian is completely different from their relationship with Mingjue, there’s still something vaguely familiar about it.

Just like Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang, really. They’ve got completely different temperaments. Wei Wuxian is a natural leader, charismatic, bold, and optimistic. Nie Huaisang tends to follow the herd, being as indiscisive and anxious as they are. Yet the two of them are often on the same wavelength.

That’s probably why, even though they only met for the first time that year, it already feels like they’ve been friends for a long time.

#asks #anon #anonymous #mo dao zu shi #mdzs modern au #drabbles #leigh’s writing

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