#also can you tell i hate the cold

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Most-Listened of October 2023

(via stats.fm/spotistats)

[last month]

What a sleepy month... as in, I've been sleepy and haven't had much interest in new releases. (Except IVE. I have been listening to wayyyyyy too much IVE.) Hopefully I'll have some energy back in time for the RV album, and to really enjoy the Weeekly comeback (finally!!!) that just happened!

1. Lux Aurumque -- Eric Whitacre, Eric Whitacre Singers

Eric Whitacre (and a song from the same album as the last one, too??) on the top of the list two months in a row! Deserved. This is basically the same song as "Sleep" for me, but they both have just so much emotional value so I don't really mind!!

2. Invisible String -- Taylor Swift

This ended up being a theme song for my big creative writing project this month--I really don't think I've gone a day without listening to it, and I'm still not tired of that soft guitar. It’s so perfectly cozy :)

3. Either Way -- IVE

Another theme song for the writing project--I love how this song proves that sounding ‘gray’ doesn't have to be unappealing. If you liked this, you’ll probably like Dvwn’s “Yeonnam-dong”!

4. Siren -- Taeyeon

I hate that this song perfectly captured my mood for more than half of October, but thank the gods I had a song that described that mood perfectly!! If I’m stuck feeling stressed and glum (a REALLY weird combo), at least I have Taeyeon to keep me company :)

5. Chili -- Hwasa

This was GREAT. I mean it’s me, so I'll listen to Hwasa sing anything, but this instrumental really hits, especially compared to the abomination of an instrumental that was "I Love My Body". With the killer combination of Hwasa & the beat, “Chili” was an instant 'leave on repeat until I can no longer physically stand it' classic.

6. Here We Go Again -- Jini

I talked about this album, right? It carried my month!! It's not my favorite of the year--there are definitely some really messy parts (that I think will get worked out in Jini’s discography over time)--but the commitment to making catchy, energetic songs that feel mature but still youthful, and to keeping a consistent aesthetic throughout the album, is something I really appreciate. This is my favorite song from it--Jini does a great job with such a fun chorus! Can I call this my favorite NMIXX song?

7. Bad Reputation -- Jini

MORE JINI !!! The way the piano in the instrumental reminds me of Katy Perry's "Roar" is unfortunate, but "Bad Reputation" is too genuinely sweet for me not to enjoy. I LOVE TOO LITTLE JUST A LITTLE TOO MUCH <3

8. Thursday's Child Has Far To Go -- TXT

Sorry, new TXT album. I'm happy with my comfort song!!

9. Psycho -- Smyang Piano

Writing project soundtrack! This has been on one of my favorite lofi mixes for forever, but I never bothered to seek it out on its own until this month--I'm so glad I did!

10. Teenage Dream -- Olivia Rodrigo

Writing project soundtrack! A solid 3/5 for good atmosphere + some standout lyrics!

11. Quimera -- Alba Reche

One of my favorite songs of all time, here to make the cold-season days a little bit softer, as it always does. At this point, "Quimera" is a seasonal tradition for me.

12. Biriken -- Creepy Nuts

Creepy Nuts!!! Okay, so… I don't enjoy this song, like, at all, but I keep finding myself drawn to just how intensely it makes me feel. I find it so viscerally terrifying and unpleasant that it's much more compelling than a lot of other songs this month! And I think that's what really made me a fan of Creepy Nuts in the first place--I find their music so interesting, even when it isn't pleasant. I can’t look away, and that’s what happened with “Biriken” this month.

13. Mr. Blue Sky -- On The Rocks

This a cappella arrangement is so glorious. Like oh my GOD if I still did arranging, I would be taking notes on every second of this. (I'm still probably taking subconscious notes, anyway, considering how many times I've listened to it this month.)

14. Pink Venom -- Blackpink

I really don't remember listening to this one that much? But I do love it--it's my takeout cheeseburger of songs, and it's always a good fast-food meal.

15. Big It Up -- Ailee

This song is fine! I like it a LOT more than the title track, at least.

Five-Star Songs This Month:

Chili -- Hwasa (yep this is back! favorite release of the month, sorry IVE & Sunmi I STILL LOVE Y'ALL I PROMISE)

Holy Moly -- IVE (had me from the moment that low drum kicked in. even the weird glitch sound in the chorus doesn't faze me anymore!!)

Wonderland -- Aimer (okay this is late. i've loved the walpurgis album since it came out, but i didn't appreciate this song specifically until a walk a few weeks ago--and now it feels like a crime not to give it five stars.)

Dalala -- Yuju (can't believe i missed this when it came out?? this is my "off the record." yuju makes every song feel so high-class, so impeccably put-together, just by being on it.)

[crowsandturtlesandbatsohmy]

Anybody want some Haikyu!! party headcannons?

‘Course you do, here have these *shoves my Headcannons out of my notes app*

For context clues, anytime I say “idiots three” I’m referring to Tanaka, Noya, and Hinata.

NO ALOCHOL. THEY’RE UNDERAGE. It’s just punch.

• Daichi is just vibing honestly. He dances, he chats with people, he enjoys his punch, he keeps an eye on the idiots three but mostly leaves them alone. He and Suga sometimes have dance battles. He also keeps an eye on Asahi and makes sure he’s okay, and sometimes tag teams with Suga to try and get Asahi out of the corner to come dance. • Speaking of dance battles, sometimes they’re serious, sometimes it’s a competition to see who can goof off worse. They’re a staple of any parties for the Karasuno team, and they all take their responsibilities as judges very seriously. Tanaka and Noya stopped speaking for a day because they disagreed on who won until Coach Ukai yelled at them to get it together.

• Suga is always dancing. Always. He might be talking to someone, but he’s still swaying to the music and bopping his head. And he’s really good at dancing! He divides his time between vibing with the idiots three, hanging out with Daichi, and trying to coax Asahi into joining the fun. • Addition: The first time someone new (first years, other teams they’re hanging out with, etc.) get to see Suga dance they’re usually surprised, and he just gives them the most smug chesire cat smile ever and continues on his merry little way, happily lost in the next song as soon as he turns around.

• Asahi stands in the corner with a drink and talks to people. He hangs with Tsukki a lot, so it’s usually a lot of talking at Tsukki tbh, but sometimes other team memebers will come chat with him. He always tries to hide when Suga and Daichi get that look on their faces and start coming his way, because he does not want to dance. They might get him for one, and then he goes right back to hanging with Tsukki, who thinks it’s funny.

• Noya is alternating between actually dancing, goofing off with Tanaka, and jumping around with Hinata while screaming lyrics at the top of his lungs. • Noya strikes me as someone who would have learned bits and pieces of hip-hop and breakdancing but only pulls his knowledge out at a legit party, so then people forget until the next party.

• Tanaka bothered Kiyoko for a bit and then gave in and went to hang out with Noya and Hinata. He also can dance, but only knows a few moves, so he spends more time goofing off or keeping an eye on Kiyoko. • Really wants a slow (re: breather) song to come on so he can go get Kiyoko to dance with him.

• Ennoshita is also keeping an eye on the idiots three because he’s prepared to step in if he thinks he needs to. He’s for the most part pretty relaxed and just kinda hanging out in the “tall, dark, and introverted” corner with Kageyama and Kiyoko. He’s also keeping tabs on Kinoshita and Narita as they record the party.

• Kinoshita and Narita are just chilling and running around with a phone so they can record their friends. They take breaks in between to kinda bop around for a song or two, and then they go back to recording. They especially like to record the idiots three, who have the tendency to do ridiculous things like attempt the lift from Dirty Dancing. • Narita likes dancing and is happy to just vibe, but recording the party is also fun and it seems more Kinoshita’s speed, so he’s going along with it. • Kinoshita would rather record the party and make fun of Tanaka and Noya than dance, but he can dance, and will as long as Narita dances too so he doesn’t ��look stupid alone”

• Kageyama is watching the idiots three and wishing he actually knew how to dance so he could join them because they look like they’re having fun. Instead he settles for being on guard duty with Kiyoko and Ennoshita because he’s too awkward to ask someone to teach him and everybody else just kinda assumes he isn’t interested. • Suga does eventually start teaching him after Kiyoko says something to him, and he apologizes for not stepping in earlier saying if he knew Kageyama wanted to learn he’d have been thrilled to teach him. Kageyama is just happing he’s getting to learn now tbh.

• Hinata is jumping around shouting lyrics, admiring the others’ dancing, or he’s watching Tanaka and Noya do the Dirty Dancing lift. • He can’t dance. Noya’s working on it.

• When Tsukki isn’t acting as DJ, he stands in the corner with a cup of punch and judges everyone. He does not dance other than the occasional subtle head bop. He tends to keep an eye on Yams just to make sure he’s doing alright, and he lets Asahi talk at him, but that’s about it. He snickered every time Daichi and Suga come to drag Asahi out of the corner, until he narrowly dodged Noya’s attempt to do the same to him. Now he’s slightly more sympathetic and only snickers on the inside.

• Yamaguchi is vibing with a drink and talking with Yachi. They kinda dance together (but not together together) off to the side where they won’t be noticed. He’s actually enjoying himself!

• Kiyoko is hanging out with Kageyama and Ennoshita, just standing off to the side by the drink table together. She doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea of dancing in front of the others, so she’s just people watching. It’s nice that Ennoshita and Kageyama aren’t talking, so she doesn’t either. • Kiyoko suspects Kageyama wants to learn to dance and eventually pulls Suga aside and says something to him. • Also she actively avoids Tanaka when slower songs come on by mysteriously disappearing to go refill the punch bowl.

And last but not least!

• Yachi is vibing with Yamaguchi and dancing a little. She’s shy, but so is he, so they’re off to the side somewhere people won’t really notice them. She’s also keeping tabs on both the idiots three and Kiyoko.

Bonus thought: When Tanaka and Noya do the Dirty Dancing lift (they pull it off flawlessly by the way) Daichi is torn between scolding them and running over to try the same thing with Hinata. Suga eggs him on and he gives in and sprints over, much to the chagrin of Ennoshita, who was going to yell at Tanaka and Noya until he saw the look on Daichi’s face. (Daichi and Hinata also pull it off, albeit a little sketchily, after multiple tries and zero help from Noya and Tanaka.)

[phosphophylight-of-my-life]

oshi no ko aqua is such a fun character bc by most counts he's a more than decent guy.

in his first life he regularly visited hospital inpatients who had no visitors. he was genuinely happy and excited to help Ai deliver her babies, because he wants her to be happy on her own terms. he saves Akane simply because he can, and gets angry at the staff on her behalf. he doesn't stop at saving her life and spends sleepless nights turning around her public image. at that point there was nothing in it for him to keep akane around, she was just a person he was able to help and wanted to help.

by most counts he's a pretty decent guy who steps up when people need him most, except. except he's also a guy who really wants to kill his dad and that makes him manipulate people somewhat often and this is somehow not entirely at odds with his instinct to help others

[themyscirah]

Amanda... I miss her.

But I don't trust a single person to write her other than Ostrander/Yale. Like I don't trust them to do it right. Because like it's easy to write her being shady and manipulative and involved in secret government conspiracies. That's what she does. But it feels so hollow once you've seen her character in the way Ostrander describes it. Like she is a woman who is desperate and trying to do what she thinks is right. She has found a place of power (as a fat Black woman in the 1980s) and is doing anything she can to fight and hold onto it as powerful and ambitious men try and steal it from her. So she doubles down. She doubles down on the shady deals and the broken promises and the violence and she destroys her enemies, and loses a part of her soul in the process. And then some other ambitious politician rises up and the process repeats itself over and over and over again as each time she loses more of her morality and more of her soul and more of the respect her colleagues had for her. In place of that she gains more power, she gains fear, and an even more badass reputation. Until by the end of the book the villains begin to understand/sympathize with her more than the heroes ever will. Like THAT is who Amanda Waller is. It may happen subtly, it may happen over a longer period of time but that descent is a critical part of her character! She is a tragic character! And I feel like every perception of Suicide Squad I've seen outside of the original has her as this static villainous snapshot which is just untrue to her core imo. Like she is not a hero. But she is also not JUST a villain. She is a highly flawed character who is always descending farther and farther into villainy as she is led there by what she believes is right.

[transmechanicus]

Opening google like “Ways to capture the morose vibes of drinking alone to drown emotional difficulties without resorting to alcohol or hard drugs”

[nana2009]

why does Dave drug karkat? Is he like…flighty or something??

buoy is he.

karkat is not the most compliant captive, see.... especially since dave doesn't seem to want to actively harm him and acts so passive most of the time, so even with the possibility of things going sour that does not stop him from trying!! unfortunately, dave knows much too well how to handle these situations :/

but since karkat is so persistent and loud, sometimes a buoy has no options u kno? ;T

[crossbackpoke-check]

yOu'Re gOiNg fOr a LiTeR? | "Habs react to Quebec Maple facts", 10.22.24

[little-whats-her-name]

"I can't hear you over the sound of the eight billion glasses and plates clinking, and the very high possibility that I'm going to lose my job, and the fact that everyone at this charity dinner hates me but we have to act nice to each other, and the weird lighting in this room, and these fucking Spanx!" - Katherine Hastings, probably

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Ngl youtube videos suddenly got me slowly turning into a Justin Russo hater.

[softquietsteadylove]

some confused thena? xoxo

"Aunt Thena?"

"Jack," she blinked, looking down at him as he walked away from his friends and the curb of the school's front entrance.

He looked around them, "what...are you doing here? I'm taking the bus home today."

"Oh," she blinked again, also looking around and appraising herself of her surroundings. She was standing in front of Jack's school, humans mulling about, cars idling while waiting for children. "Yes."

"I thought you were home with Uncle Gil," Jack continued as he took in his aunt, standing with such a bewildered expression on her face. He toyed with the straps of his backpack. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she repeated, although she didn't look any less confused about her surroundings. "I...I thought I was."

Jack reached up for his aunt's hand, sliding his smaller one into it, "did you get confused?"

Thena smiled.

That was the word for it that had worked thus far. Aunt Thena had her 'episodes', or 'fits', or whatever the rest of them called it. But Jack simply said 'confused' to suffice for what clouded the Warrior Eternal's mind.

"Yes, it appears I have," Thena sighed as she enclosed her hand ever so gently around Jack's precious little one. "I seem to have ended up here."

Jack merely shrugged as he began the walk home with his aunt beside him. "Yeah, I guess that's how I get here too."

Thena merely walked beside him, looking around her still, but perhaps with less apprehension. She recognised more of their surroundings as they walked. She knew the school, and the route they took when Jack was coming and going.

"Do you feel okay?"

Thena smiled down at her brother's child, so gentle at heart. She wasn't sure if all humans had such sweetness to them and she didn't much care. There were many things which paled in comparison to Jack in her mind in that regard.

"I was at home," she narrated as they walked slowly and gently. Jack got to take his time with his little legs, while Thena drifted idly beside him. "I remember looking for something to eat and then... "

Jack merely nodded, so easily accepting of the fact that sometimes Aunt Thena would wander out into the yard and stand still for a long time. He had no fears nor reservations about it, as far as he was concerned.

Thena looked down at their hands and then around them. She tilted her head at him, "do you not fear judgement from your peers?"

He tilted his head right back at her and her antiquated speech.

"You do not wish to hold your fathers' hands."

She was referring to how 'holding hands was for babies', as Jack had so boldly proclaimed last time Phastos attempted to hold his hand in the parking lot of the mall.

"Mm, well," Jack twisted his lips as he made a face for the sake of his thought process. He shrugged, "that's different."

Thena accepted the statement for what it was, as he had done for her. She gave his soft little human hand a squeeze, "thank you, Jack--for helping me get home."

Jack smiled up at her as well, showing off the young teeth in his mouth still finding their permanent placement. "You're welcome. I get confused too sometimes--it's pretty scary to be alone for it."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Thena conceded to the young boy's wisdom, well beyond his years and even the words he had at his disposal.

Jack looked up at her, "does Uncle Gil help you with that?"

Thena smiled at the mere mention of her most constant in life. She nodded, looking at Jack and then at the golden bracelet around her wrist, keeping her powers in check.

True, at first Phastos hadn't gotten them quite right. Gil hadn't been very happy about the side effects they'd had on her. But she wore them still, because they were for the safety of her nephew.

"Aunt Thena?"

"Yes, Jack?" she asked softly as a breeze passed by them.

"What makes you feel better?" He looked up at her more sheepishly, "after you get confused, I mean."

There were some things, although she had more of a history of violence before coming to Chicago and getting these bracelets shackled to her. But she supposed that going dormant on the spot was a small price to pay instead of becoming the planet's deadliest force alive.

"Uncle Gil," she answered plainly and honestly. Truly, the man who had been by her side for - in many ways - her whole life was her strongest pillar of stability. She smiled and uncrossed her other arm from around herself to pat Jack's head, "and you."

"Really?" he blinked at her, baffled by the suggestion. "What do I do?"

He reminded her that life was full of promise, and love, and joy, and that it was worth protecting. It was worth all the pain and fighting and the sacrifices she had seen - and made - with her own eyes.

She leaned over, kissing the top of his head, "plenty."

Jack rubbed his hair, now thoroughly embarrassed by the public affection. "Okay, I guess."

Thena smiled, allowing his resistance to her gesture. It was part of his maturation, she was told. He no longer liked hugs and kisses and holding hands by family. She seemed a slim exception to the rule. "Indeed."

Finally turning down their street, with the house in sight, Jack looked up at his aunt again. "Do you feel better now?"

Thena inhaled as the front door opened, Gilgamesh clearly on his way to sprint out of the house to come find her. She smiled, "much."

"Good," Jack sufficed, although his hand did give hers a little squeeze.

"There you are," Gil greeted lightly, although his eyes ran over her frantically in search of distress or injury.

"I walked home from school with Jack," she explained needlessly. She let go of Jack's hand as he walked past them and into the house to shed the school day from his mind.

Gil looked at her, "you okay?"

She nodded, leaning into him without hesitation as he pressed his lips to her temple, "I'm sorry I frightened you. I woke and...there he was."

The two drifted into the house, watching as Jack independently got himself a glass of milk and some cookies. Gil chuckled, "great kid."

"He is," Thena agreed.

"Aunt Thena," Jack called out as he slapped the tupperware of homemade cookies onto the table, "have some!"

Gil ruffled Jack's hair on his way past him, "at least put 'em on a plate, buddy--come on."

Thena just smiled, seating herself at the table and taking one of Jack's preciously guarded cookies (which Gil made). "Thank you, Jack."

"Aunt Thena, do you know math?"

"Not at all." She had lived throughout the life of some of the world's greatest minds. She chewed on her chocolate chip, "ask Uncle Gil."

"Hey, don't look at me," he laughed, setting some of the cookies on a plate for the two of them and putting the rest away. "You'll have to ask your dad."

Jack let out a loud groan before rifling through his back for other homework that required his attention.

Gil and Thena traded a look over his head, assuring that she was safe home after another bout of Mahd Wy'ry--this time thwarted by a ten year old human.

[konfizry]

which one is it then

[yoohyeon]

Me internally while my aunt is annoying the fuck out of me

[beegswaz]

I MISSED BUG. BEING CORRECT ABOUT WHEATLEY..???? WHY IS THE WORLD SO CRUEL.

[nandysparadox]

autumn can you arrive faster. please

[kordbot]

my mechanics labs sucked today to the point where I'm shaking and crying gaah. one like one hug for me one reblog one bullet fired at my lab partner

[merevide]

they should make a carbonated drink that doesn’t taste like straight acid when it’s warm. imo.