#and those parts are so goddamn catchy

[everywhere-all-around-the-world]

I think we need to appreciate Bang Chan’s vocals more I love listening to his voice sm

[justheretoposttrash]

day 12 of the final endhawks: endhawkspocalypse:

the adhd side of my brain has taken over and decided that consistency can No Longer Happen, so i've decided to make this my last day of posting, at least when it comes to sequential daily posts. i'm still unhinged-ly working on endhawks-related things for the foreseeable future though, and always happy to talk about the ship!

here's a final hodgepodge of thoughts!

part 1 - more ch430 positives

the continued use of a ranked *number system* in particular is silly imo (ig the masses do love a catchy numbered list). but at the very least, i gotta appreciate that the main characters didn't get top rankings straight outta school--when i think about how old they are post-timeskip compared to hawks, especially! bbygirl got #2 at 22 but was child-soldiered into it and was absolutely breaking his proverbial back. it's really not an aspirational thing to beat, and it's not something the main characters have to achieve to be "cool" or fulfilled narratively. they focused on their happiness, instead--shoto on finding his own identity and balancing his life thanks to his support system, bakugo on getting his boyfriend/whatever/queerplatonic-died-in-each-others'-arms-on-a-battlefield-in-a-past-life-and-now-they-keep-reincarnating-together soul-partners/rival back at his side so they can keep pushing each other, etc.! mirio's ascent notwithstanding, it's a healthy nugget from the final chap.

another cute thing from 430 is when hawks jokes that nagant is a villain. this joke has layers to it, considering both had to take on the villain label because of the commission, also contributing to their respective traumas under the commission. (they both even had someone cradle them in their arms shouting that they were still a hero despite them being at their low points--and physically very crispy. one of those someones being hawks himself, ofc.)

next, i gotta appreciate how unfettered hawks's facial expressions have become (also, his under-eyes are already thicker and darker, bro needs to sleep 😭) compared to how subdued they were in the twice fight (and to be clear, his expressions still screamed volumes then. i love how they're drawn to convey so much nuance in his emotions). once he was cut free from the commission, he stopped putting on a smile while doing hero work (there wasn't much to smile about post-raid, but pre-raid i'd argue things were bleak for him already, so at least he doesn't feel the need to put on as many airs). he also started actively sweating and showing fear, but without losing more genuine displays of confidence and happiness. (all this makes me very curious if his speech patterns have also changed in the original japanese to any extent compared to how they were at his introduction)

part 2 - dabi=endhawks truther?!?! *not clickbait*

i remember it being kinda hilarious that dabi tossed out hawks's history as an extra "fuck you" to endeavor, but i forgot how direct he is about his intentions.

he's just like, "yeah, i specifically wanted to drag hawks (and reveal his betrayal and hopefully shake your faith in him) to hurt you, dad. even though you two have hung out, like, maybe twice (may he rest in peace) in your whole lives. trust me, i knew this would be devastating for you. don't ask me how i know." like. touya my man. what are you doing. also thank you. almost makes the angst-lover in me wish he'd added a "don't worry about hawks, dad. you'll be joining him soon" right before attacking him with prominence burn to twist the knife, though understandably that would've convoluted the spotlight when the focus was meant to be on family and the touya reveal. but goddamn, just imagine.

he basically did the exact same thing to hawks by telling him his identity. in revealing a name that could only hold any significance to hawks through its relation to endeavor and what touya's existence implies about him, touya wielded a secret from endeavor's past to psychologically hurt hawks and shake his faith. it's just wild that he did it to both of them, pulled off flawlessly and with maximum drama, in rapid succession. legendary.

anyway, ppl tend to portray dabi as an endhawks anti, when funnily he's kinda more on the side of enjoying the fact they have a connection--granted, mainly as a thing to leverage to hurt them, bc he fuckin despises them (and granted, hatred in dabi's eyes is a complicated thing)--but still! he ain't in denial about endeavor's and hawks's relationship, he's an og! he's first in line! this makes his daddy issue allegations so much worse, but he doesn't care! and honestly i owe my life to him for his service in unearthing the truth; he's doing canon, in-text work to forcefeed the public endhawks crumbs that they didn't even want, and he deserves our utmost respect 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

part 3 - our hero academia ft. protective enji

my mind was too wrapped up in The Plot to notice the subtleties of when Press Conference Lady yells at endeavor post-raid--for one thing, i realize on a second read that she's actually kinda yelling at hawks. so much of the emphasis is on endeavor's past actions that i didn't pick up on a few key details. for one, when hawks discusses his murder of jin, the visual centers endeavor's reaction, solemn but accepting/calm.

secondly, Press Con Lady speaks up right after hawks is done talking. thirdly, what she describes--not looking sorry, empty-seeming apologies, incompetence in the face of villains--apply as criticisms equally to hawks as they do to endeavor (notably not to jeanist, as he doesn't have a past or scandalous behavior to answer for).

it's also at this time that endeavor looks more angry (just look at his frown in the panel above!) and actually gives some pricklier-sounding pushback, when before he was mainly resolved and remorseful.

notably, he's translated as saying "we" and "our". ofc he's paying respect to his colleagues at large as well, but considering Press Con's criticisms are pointed most specifically and apply most to hawks and himself, he's strongly implying and acknowledging the pain that hawks has been through.

as he goes on to speak, the word choice shifts away from "us" and "we" to "me" as he claims responsibility for what happens next and urges peoples' slings and arrows to aim at him alone--again, for the sake of his colleagues and family at large, but particularly for hawks in this moment.

the undercurrents are so understated in this scene, but the degree to which endeavor shifts the language and focus away from hawks and onto himself is profound. throughout mha, we've got plenty of thought bubbles showing how hawks feels about endeavor in outright terms, but not as many from endeavor about hawks, especially after all their dirty laundry gets aired out. but even without thought bubbles, how he feels about hawks even at the worst of times becomes perfectly clear.

(god they drive me insane lmao)

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

What are your opinions on each of the songs? (you can answer with as much or as little detail as you'd like)

Big shocker that the songs from the 2 good episodes are in S and the only one that isn’t is still B tier/sar

The first 2 songs in S made me either tear up/shake violently or cry, and therefore they deserve to be up there IMO. Out for love is also just genuinely catchy and had actual build up to it. Also God “Ready for This” just. OOUGGGHHH IT SCRATCHES MY BRAIN SO GOOD LIKE A WARRIOR CATS MAP. I like it a lot. You cant have multiple characters sing about working together and expect me to NOT cry.

“Stayed Gone” isn’t one I listen to often but it’s so peppy and fast and full of hatred I can’t help but enjoy it. Also everytime the song starts my brain does this

I dont know anything about Welcome Home

I have. Issues. With “Loser, Baby” but aside from those the song holds a lot more weight to it than I usually give it credit for. And for as cheesy as the start if it is, the line before of Angel talking about self destructing resonates with me a lot. Also Husk lays down in a puddle of vomit and no one talks about that ever.

I think the first song in B is “Happy Day in Hell” and I’m adding it there 1. Because it is the first song 2. It gets a reprise thing 3. Charlie almost gets hit by a truck. Other than that it’s not really my favourite but I respect the impact it has.

“Hell is Forever” just fucks. End of story. Alex Brightman killed it.

“Respectless” is good I love Velvette’s VA, but the sudden start of the song and the ending are so out of left field the first time me and my friends watched this show we had to pause cause we lost our fucking minds. Could’ve been better but I’d listen to it again, yeah.

“Hell’s Greatest Dad” is silly and funny and maybe I’m biased as a violin player and jazz enjoyer but a lot of the instrumental tickles my brain so nicely. I will say though it confuses me so much because why does Alastor care about being seen as a father figure?? My mom said it could just be him wanting to show up Lucifer and that’s it but I dunno.

“More than Anything (Reprise)” AKA “Charlie and Veggie Kiss Scene - Hazbin Hotel”

This song sounds like it’s straight out of Barbie & Th Diamond Castle and I’m honestly pissed the girls in the movie didn’t kiss so I’m coping with this. ALSO THE FACT ITS A REPRISED SONG ABOUT LOVE MAKES ME A BIT CRAZY. I never noticed this was the same song Lucifer sang to Charlie SOMEHOW but that’s actually really cute.

“It Starts With Sorry” Has a big part in Sir Pentious’s character growth and just his character in general. I’ve been working on this in my Pentious rant but I never see people mention how much this song probably meant to him. Yeah it’s super corny, but he was fully expecting to be killed and had just been told to kill himself. This was definitely huge for him and I’m not gonna be convinced otherwise.

“You Didn’t Know” is really good but Lute’s part is by far the best and I pray to GOD she gets her own song in S2 her voice actor can SING. GODDAMN! I am very interested in Lute’s character development and I love seeing what people do with close-minded characters like that and hopefully Vivzie doesn’t condemn her to Vivziepop Woman Syndrome. If she isn’t important in S2 I’m going to be pissed but I dunno maybe S3 if we get one.

“More Than Anything” Wish my dad was like this! This song is incredibly sweet and I appreciate it a lot. Honestly might go way higher on the list if I keep thinking about it.

“Whatever It Takes” Sorry you will never be Imagine Dragons. Vaggie doesn’t sound anything like herself cause her VA is making her voice so much more gruff for her character, which is fine! I like her voice (the voice direction is not very good but I digress) it’s just her voice is so high in this I can’t even tell it’s Vaggie.

“Welcome to Heaven” is boring, but we got a Molly cameo!

“Poison”. Read this and this and this. -10/10. I’d rather make out violently with Elon Musk.

[pardonmydelays]

~ VIVO Review ~

Cute movie! I can see why you think it's better than Encanto.

Lin-Man's voice is so recognizable in both talking and singing, and rapping 😂 (it's a good thing!)

*thinking to myself* Of course the monkey's gonna rap, and I wouldn't expect anything less of My Mans™

The first song was catchy. His singing is pretty good, especially with the high notes! It wasn't Broadway-esque kind of high, but he hit the high notes that works for his singing style. Does that even make any sense????

L-M's accent. That's it, that's the bullet point. F*ck me up. 🫠🥵

"I cannot go to Miami. I'm an old man." // "Yeah, great point. Know your limits." The sass. 😆

"I always assumed you were an old man." Damn, Vivo...

I love the 3D animation and then the way it turned into 2D animation with neon colors in the night time?? Gorgeous!

"WHO'S MARTA?!?!"

Vivo wasn't having it with Andrés going to Mambo Cabana. He locked himself in the suitcase and I found that kind of funny, and dramatic.

Gotta stan that witty and dramatic, melodical little kinkajou. Lin-Manuel Miranda being the voiceover made Vivo even more entertaining and likable.

"What difference can one song make?" Me, thinking to myself: Oh, you have noooo idea...

Gabi trying to talk to Vivo during the memorial service. 😆 Great first impression of the character.

"One More Song" almost had me in tears! The way he held out 'song'... ugh. Sing it, Lin!!

"Ugh, it's the weird kid." 😆

The accordion scene.

"You're going to the cookie sale. You're going to take selfies. And you're going to have fun and bond!" We love a parent forcing their kid to do things they don't want to do.

The entire clip after Gabi opens the circle suitcase. Vivo: "pEaCe!"

"Are those little gravestones?"

"Oh, plastic birds. Florida's weird."

Not Gabi thinking Marta sang "Despacito".

"You won't have the blood of mother nature on your hands." // "I'm not a bad man... I just want a cookie."

Eva just eating away at those cookies. Same, girl, same.

I love how feisty and determined Vivo was (sounds a lot like his voiceover actor, hmmmmm????).

"M-I-A-M-I running out of time?" Clever, Lin-Man, clever. 👌🏽

That's my second favorite song to be honest ("Running Out of Time"). My first favorite is "One More Song".

The car scene after Vivo gives Marta the song.

Gabi and her mom adopting Vivo. 🥺

Gabi singing Andrés's part in the first song.

THIS, THIS, THIS! 👆🏼

(not me reading this & grinning like a goddamn idiot)

ahh, i'm so happy that you liked it & i totally agree with all of the above! this is such a great review. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! now i really hope this will force convince more people to give it a chance ❤️

[verbforverb]

Eurovision ranking, part two! The set of entries I have stronger opinions about. You will note this post is uh somewhat more verbose than the last.

AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT REBLOG

Cat2: Your choices are not my choices, but I respect them

Croatia: My initial note on this was "I appreciate that they are trying to make a point which I’m sure will be clearer when I can look up the translation but also this is, sort of, 4 different songs in one, and not in a good way." And I still stand by all of that. Love the energy! Love the mood! Parts of it are even catchy! Unfortunately, do not actually enjoy the experience of listening to this song.

Finland: This has grown on me more than I expected. I still wouldn't say I like it, but I don't mind it as much as I thought I did, the live performance is extremely compelling, and I do at least respect its choices. While I wouldn't seek it out, but it's definitely not forgettable, and I could see myself liking it eventually, maybe. But whichever way it definitely brings a certain something to Eurovision.

Ukraine: I am so close to liking this song. It's got that Bond energy, momentum, lyrically I've certainly heard worse. But the synth is just a bit grating to me still. There are also several parts where I swear it sounds like a Wilhelm scream, extremely distracting.

Israel: On first listen, the hysteria set in somewhere around the first "power of the UNICORN" and did not let up at any subsequent point. What IS the power of the unicorn? The first thing that comes to mind is the power of being an attractive young bi woman who is happy to be a no-strings third in an otherwise straight relationship. For all I know that IS what she means, it certainly adds another element to the song if so. I loathe the attempt to make "femininal" happen like few other things in this competition and resent this song for making me hear it multiple times. Musically it's all over the place, it feels like at least two and maybe three different songs trying to be one thing. And yet. AND YET. It is catchy! Noa Kirel blows the performance out the goddamn water! I guarantee I will not forget about any element of it, not for want of trying! Makes no goddamn sense. Compels me though.

Spain: So I do get the appeal. The layering of the sounds, the repeated lines, the almost sampled-sounding chanting which is a cool effect. Maybe this just needs longer to grow on me. For whatever reason, probably a large part underexposure to the style, I find this hard to listen to. Which is a shame, because it's the most interesting thing Spain has entered in years.

Serbia: I want to like this so bad. I love the aesthetics, the energy, the ridiculous 90s video game synth intro, and I can get behind what it's going for, thematically. Unfortunately I cannot deny the experience of my ears, and I do not like listening to this song. But I very much appreciate its existence!

And finally, Cat1: songs I feel positively about! With an actual ranking!

15 Cyprus: This would have faded into the mush of broadly-forgettable Eurovision ballads for me if it had not been extremely, inescapably reminiscent of Britney Spears' If You Seek Amy. But, like, a lounge version intended for background listening in a fancy restaurant. Once heard, this cannot be unheard, and that definitely gives the whole experience a certain indescribable something, the only reason I've ranked it so high.

14 Romania: Unfortunately there was no way to divorce this song from what I watched in the national final. This is a real shame, because I like this song! It's a jazzy waltz, we never get those, it has drama and range, and the guy can pull it off, vocally! In another universe I could see this making my top 10. Unfortunately, this is the world that we live in, and it contains... that whole situation.

13 Czechia: This was so close to being in the "I don't like it, but I do respect it" category, but you know what? I do sort of like it! The spoken word / chanting is just about on the right side of annoying for me, and you can't deny it is memorable. And you have to have a deranged song about feminism and/or national solidarity from central europe, it's the rule.

12 Poland: LOOK. I am not immune to a thirst trap bop. Is this song and its background as an entry ridiculous in all ways? Yes, absolutely. It's still stuck in my head now and forever. Plus I find the "VISIT POLAND. WE HAVE SWIMMING POOLS AND HOT GIRLS AND... FRUIT" music video extremely funny.

11 Slovenia: I'm not saying this is good. But I am saying a solid chunk of the foundations for my music taste were 00s pop rock, and this is a pitch perfect example. In Slovenian. It's upbeat! It's catchy! It's got a drop! If the lyrics are bad I can't tell! Just a fun time all round.

10 Moldova: Aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just want to go apeshit? God I love a good flute/whistle line. Sometimes you are creeping through the woods towards a giant bonfire circled by sillhouetted dancing shapes, human? more than human, or perhaps just somewhere off to the side? you are unseen yet all-seeing, and you crave the perfect soundtrack to that moment, and you know what? Moldova have you covered.

9 Belgium: This is great fun, it's got those synthy disco vibes, and it's lyrically touching as well. A bit of a dark horse in that it's crept up my rankings every time I've listened to it. It's just a little too one-note - not a unique problem for Eurovision songs, but to me it kinda feels like listening to the same song two or three times in a row.

8 Norway: Sometimes, a song can just be a good bass drop and a fun hook. It's not clever, but it is absolutely a good time. Similar to Belgium, it just doesn't do quite enough to climb higher - feels a bit repetitive - but what it has is very pleasing.

7 Sweden: I do fully enjoy most things about this song. The tune is good, love the synth, Loreen is a fantastic performer and I'm here for any staging which can be described as "surprise! you lift up a paving stone and discover a eurovision performance". There's just one problem, which is that it occasionally falls back on the most godawful rhyming, and then hits it as hard as possible complete with musical emphasis and pauses. Like, first listen, "It will come a - day, when we will find our ..." "don't say way" "WAY". And then by some combination of singing style or mixing choice those rhymes were all I could make out at first, like "mumblemumble PAIN mumblemumble RAIN mumble YOUUU mumble TATTOOO", and, just, infuriating. It's a real shame because I really do like everything else about the song but those bits are so incredibly distracting. The only other note I have is that the repeated "all I care about is love" just makes me think of the song from Chicago, which is a VERY different vibe.

6 Portugal: Love the energy, love the high-tempo cabaret feel, catchy as hell, and god, what a performance! I don't know whether to be impressed, terrified or both. The only place it falls down for me is that it just doesn't lend itself, really, to humming or singing along, because it is SO high energy and high range in every sense. Instead I'm just sort of watching open-mouthed, so the song itself doesn't stick with me the way some of the more conventional entries do. But without doubt a great entry.

5 Australia: First things first: it is incredibly weird to me that I managed to straight up forget these guys existed after listening to their music quite a bit some 8 years ago. I do like them! And this! They have this crisp progmetal sound that really works for me, and you always have to love a keytar. Add to that, I think these guys can pull off a performance, god knows they've been hyping up crowds for long enough. My only complaint aside from the harsh vocals (see also germany - why?? you can do metal without them! they won't take away your hardcore card!!) is that repeatedly asking "have you ever done anything like this before?" completely out of context - and not given more context that I noticed - is one of the most baffling ways they could have chosen to open the song, and mostly makes me want to yell "like WHAT, voyager? anything like WHAT?" But that's a detail.

4 UK: To anyone accusing me of pro-UK bias, I would say that this year and the previous year are the only times in the past decade, or maybe more, I would have ranked us above the bottom 5. I would not go so far as to say this year's entry was worth the wait, or worth having had to know that Teenage Life exists, but I do love it a lot. It's a bop! A minor key bop! It's catchy! It has deranged energy! It's got an inexplicably London spoken word bit that I even think adds to the song! Ranked only on craft, it wouldn't make the top 10, but on sheer enjoyment I have to have it up here.

3 Austria: When we first listened to this, I was making noises about how it was just kind of a meme, while my wife was fully into it, proving that ultimately she is right about all things. This has grown on me so, so much to the point where I love it both as a song and a meme, and we do just occasionally say to each other in the worst attempt at an american accent imaginable, "who the hell is EDGAR?". It's catchy, funny, it has a great synth line and it's about creative control and reward in the music industry! What more could you want? No idea how this will play on stage, but I'm officially a fan.

2 France: Ough. The moment I saw this I said "that's @docholligay bait" and you know what, I don't even care because it's fantastic. The confidence? The voice? The BASS? It's simple, elegant, and it could not possibly be more French if she was holding a baguette and smoking four cigarettes simultaneously. Even the fact that she's Canadian adds to this, because there's somehow something even more French about leaning into it all so hard despite not actually being from France.

1: Germany: You knew it was coming. Germany has hosted the biggest metal festival in the world for over 30 years, and is just now thinking "hmmm, we could send some metal to Eurovision." It was worth waiting for. This is maybe the only time I've ever been pleased Germany will auto qualify, because I do NOT think this will play well with the general public, but I love it.

Brief interlude while I'm a nerd: extremely Nightwish-esque instrumentals - to the extent that I spent the first two listens just trying to figure out which song the instrumental line reminded me of, maybe Bye Bye Beautiful or Storytime? - with the crisp vocals. I don't love the harsh vocal parts, but they're a minor enough part of it that I can deal. Lyrically excellent, love a song about the duality of humanity and the ways people choose who to be and how to act from the same set of parts. There are exactly two songs this year where I still find myself mulling over the words and the other one is a criticism of the music industry through the medium of spiritual possession, so. I didn't even think until @keyofjetwolf put it in her comments that the piano / rhythm playoff mirrors the lyrics, but I like it even more now if possible. One of my first comments was "never thought we'd get metal in eurovision, the guitar solo would take up most of the 3 minutes" and then Lord of the Lost released an extended version with an extra minute-long guitar outro, so I feel especially vindicated. To conclude: hell yes.

[eldritch-elrics]

top 10 fnaf fansongs, as decided by someone who's never played fnaf

well, i promised i would make this post. so after listening to quite a few of those "pov: you were in the fnaf fandom" type playlists, i have discovered...... goddamn, a lot of these songs actually go really hard!

i've narrowed it down to 10, but definitely check out my playlist where i added all the songs i enjoyed in some way.

"i can't fix you" - yeah this one fucks. the beat!! oh my god!! also idk if i should count the video as part of the experience but this one has a really fun and dramatic video. what the hell goes down in sister location?

"break my mind" - i'm obsessed with this one it's just. silly as hell. couple awkward lyrics/rhymes but it goes SO hard it's like a really dramatic electronic sea shanty??

"you can’t hide" - i really like the production on this one. it’s funky and cool-sounding without being over the top

"never be alone" - lyrics flow really well! and that main melody is so fun and catchy!!

"join us for a bite" - whimsical in a good way. not my preferred music style, but it feels really unique and i love the vibes and lyrics. it may not be my very favorite but you could make a great case for this being the best fnaf song

"it's been so long" - god it's fucking iconic. bad but also good. you know?

"dance to forget" - i think the ballerina might be the most compelling fnaf character so far. this has such fun lyrics, especially the way that the chorus uses repeating words!

"afton family" - REALLY good creepy vibes. i love the unnerving quality of the vocals

"die in a fire" - also just so iconic - this & "it's been so long" were the only fnaf songs i'd heard before i began this project. also WHY is this song so violent. good for her?

"the show must go on" - another that tells a story in a really fun way… i love the ones where the animatronics treat the human characters as defective robots who they’re legitimately trying to help

and some honorable mentions that i had thoughts on:

"no more" - ok i'm not gonna lie: natewantstobattle's style is so nostalgic for me. also i love how this sounds like a very specific type of 2000s pop rock

"daddy's little monsters" - what the hell happens in sister location? this story is intriguing

"you belong here" - i'm a sucker for this specific kind of fan-rap. idk if they're "good" per se but they're incredibly fun

"follow me" - that "follow me see a nightmare in action" hits tbh

"don’t hold it against us" - really interesting beat/noises, plus, once again, what the fuck happens in sister location

tagging @tijuanabiblestudies @wolffyluna @xerxestexastoast @rinjaespurr because you guys asked for this

[rubys-domain]

ladies and gentlemen and nons, it's time for

Doing every single domain* but only with x character/s 2: electric boogaloo

*not actually every single domain but that's not a catchy nameeeeeee

give it up for our guest star of the day: Lyney!!!!!

*camera pans to Lyney as the spotlight shines on him and he bows with a confident yet smug smile on his face*

let's see if this pretty boy can magic his way through all of teyvat's domains, shall we? ;)

(okay i'm dropping the tv show host voice now)

viridescent/maiden's - there were only 5 enemies so it was alright. not the comfiest clear by a long shot, but with better kiting skills than mine it definitely works

noblesse/bloodstained - hoo boy. despite the pyro abyss mage that i knew for a fact lyney had no chance of dealing with completely solo, i did it anyway cuz i'm the graystillplays of genshin players chongyun mains. and. yup. he died. and this is when i realized that an er sands would actually not be a bad idea for solo-ing purposes. since he gets that one stack from his burst, he can still go back up to full health if he ever drops below the usual 60% hp. of course the nre was still essential for me, but this trick definitely helped prolong his lifespan a bit. i did unfortunately have to use my other non-pyro teammates tho, i.e. barbara, candace, and lisa, all lvl >40 (again, i'm doing this to find the most efficient friendship farming strategy for domains). and of course they died too. but i beat the domain in the end. with the tiniest sliver of health on lyney. so yeah.

blizzard strayer/heart of depth - i has donned the er sands. and boy. despite the obvious loss in damage after giving up my atk sands, it was by far the most comfortable clear, despite having to fight a fucking abominable snowman. it's thanks in part to those little moments where the thing will sometimes just stand around not knowing what to do. it's not a slow connection thing it's just. idk, the movement code being wonky or whatever. (i'm not a game dev; don't come after me for not knowing game dev terms.) because of those, i had an easier time dodging, and also getting headshots in. i am not going to redo the previous two with the er sands (even i'm not that masochistic), but it definitely would've made those clears at least a little bit more comfortable

tenacity/pale flame - oh my god, that was actual pain and suffering. he literally died three times — it was awful. -20,000/10 would not recommend. unless you have some kind of shielder or resistance to interruption, these fuckers are a nightmare to fight

shimenawa/emblem - despite the electro abyss mage and his annoying electro ring thing, it was even easier than the blizzard strayer domain. goddamn

husk/clam - this... actually went way smoother than i thought it would. i did not eat a single healing food in this domain, and lyney still cleared it with full hp. his hats actually made for some decent crowd control so i didn't get corrosion as much. my teammates were all on life support tho, that much goes without saying. also that little healing trick with his burst helped a ton, especially now that he gets his burst back every two casts of his skill. the hat taunt + his skill + his burst let me get in quite a bit of aoe damage as well. he did not die once, i did not swap into my other party members the whole time. overall, i'm surprised at how well he can actually clear this domain. he might even be better than the bennet+kazuha duo here

gilded/deepwood - was pretty chill on account of not needing to hug the enemies like bennett and kazuha do. and also the er sands (ergo, way more burst casts) was enough to keep him super healthy without healing food

marechaussee/golden troupe - i mean this domain was basically tailor-made for lyney. so of course he's gonna clear it with ease. his damage wasn't amazing on account of er sands of course. but not needing to eat healing food constantly was nice and comfy. it was also fairly fun kiting practice: the meks aren't the fastest, so there's a decent size window to dash out of range of their attacks when they try to lunge at you. again, the taunt also helped them not come after me constantly. i definitely would do this again cuz i already use lyney to clear this domain anyway; might as well have him solo it and take freeloaders along to soak up the friendship points

[tutyayilmazz]

first listening thoughts about rush!

OWN MY MIND: i looove the riff and the groovy bass

TIMEZONE: more simplistic than what the reviews had me expecting but still solid, i just don't care for the effects warping damiano's voice at all

BLA BLA BLA: the repetitiveness makes it stuck in your head but i just can't get over the lyrics, especially "i guess i liked playing with your dog/it made me feel like we had a son"?!?!? 💀

BABY SAID: this guitar intro is AMAZING thankfully it returns in the rest of the song, really catchy overall

FEEL: i love the guitar and the dancy vibe but honestly enough with the cocaine

DON'T WANNA SLEEP: THIS IS MY SONGG LOUD SHOUTY AND THOMAS GOING OFF AS IT SHOULD BE 🔥

KOOL KIDS: is this damiano's chav accent supposedly?? 😂😂 i love hearing the end properly not just on low quality concert videos

IF NOT FOR YOU: really touching, i love this concept 🥹

READ YOUR DIARY: i really like this one too, probably my second fave of those so far

MARK CHAPMAN: finally onto italian the music conveys an uneasy feeling so clearly, accompanies the lyrics so well. incredible, comprehensive work!!

LA FINE: i wasn't including songs we already heard in full so far but ofc i'm making an exception for la fine bc THIS is what i love from them the most, what they are absolutely UNTOUCHABLE at

IL DONO DELLA VITA: now this is one that deserves to be called a masterpiece, the instrumentals are at their most precise and this soft singing from damiano is really precious. the part where "io nasco di te" melts into light jazz-ish cymbals and the bass vibrates all around you with the humming.... CHILLS. i will definitely sit and think about these lyrics over and over again. absolutely not surprised to see it was written for teatro d'ira vol. i at first :')

overall what stands out to be the most to me is the bass turned all the way up that just sounds incredible and really characteristic to må. it's definitely an album that's their work unlike what goddamn s*p*rm*d*l had me fearing for a good part of the year, so definitely better than that worst expectation. i will say i feel like guitar parts could easily be extended in many of the songs to make something "meatier" and grittier and the 3 italian songs just stand out with how high quality they are but at this point i know they want to branch out to typically catchy songs and they certainly excel at that as well. it doesn't surpass teatro d'ira vol. i for me, i know that's pretty much impossible but i think rush! could go higher than il ballo della vita in my ranking. and finally, TOUCH ME WHERE!!???!?!?! WE DESERVE IT TOOOO, PLEASE JAPANESE FANS HELP US OUT 😭

[randomvarious]

1990s Punk Rock Playlist

Hey, did you ever realize that if you take the phrase, “Massachusetts’ Dropkick Murphys,” you can pull out and rearrange some of the letters in order to form the words, “Mother’s Day”? It’s true, even the goddamn apostrophe too. Go ahead and try it if you don’t believe me. I’ll wait.

Anyway, I’ve got a nice little update this week for a 1990s punk rock playlist that I haven’t touched in a long while, and it includes not just any song from the Dropkick Murphys, but the first song that they ever wrote, “Barroom Hero.” The Dropkicks really were the first band to crack that “Irish drinking songs can be punk songs too” code. Sure, there were The Pogues before them, but The Pogues were more of an Irish folk band who infused their sound with punk, whereas DKM are a punk band who infuse their sound with Irish folk. There’s a distinction with a difference there.

Also, Dropkick Murphys weren’t actually always a Celtic punk band either. Although “Barroom Hero” was the first song that they’d ever come up with, it didn’t appear on their debut release, and that release doesn’t have any of that Celtic punk sound on it that would soon become the band’s very own calling card, eventually leading to anthems like “Tessie” and, of course, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.”

“Barroom Hero” is included on a 1997 compilation called Give ‘Em the Boot, which was put out by Hellcat Records, a sublabel of punk powerhouse Epitaph that was founded by Tim Armstrong of Rancid. And there appear to be multiple, slightly different versions of this song on Spotify, but the one I put on this playlist has 281.6K plays, whereas the other one is at over 5 million. And it looks like Spotify included that more popular one on their Give ‘Em the Boot entry, while the less popular one is on mine. Weird!

Speaking of weird, another add for the Spotify playlist comes courtesy of a band who was there during Cali punk’s late 70s infancy. It’s The Weirdos from Los Angeles, with “Cyclops Helicopter,” a song that fuses punk with a bounding, galloping theme straight out of some old western TV show from the 60s. It’s a fun and catchy one that appears on Frontier Records’ 1991 label sampler, Burns From the Valley of the Sun, and currently has about 37.6K plays on Spotify.

The Weirdos – “Cyclops Helicopter” Dropkick Murphys – “Barroom Heroes”

Now, those two songs are on the YouTube version of this playlist too, but I also ended up adding a whole bunch of songs to that YouTube version that aren’t on Spotify as well; some real rare and unknown ones, in fact. And a lot of them happen to make for some speedy, catchy, and melodic anthems 🤘.

First is Diesel Boy’s “Lime Green,” which is the song among these new YouTube adds that has the most plays, currently sitting at about 4.2K. There’s a shorter album version of this song that’s at about 34.7K plays, but I think this lesser known one, which comes off of Fearless Records’ great Punk Bites compilation from 1996, is better. And it has a stupid recorded prank call skit at the beginning, too, which the album version doesn’t have. Great, vintage mid-90s Cali punk sound on this one from these Santa Rosa boys.

Next is a song from a very unknown band that hailed all the way from Australia; so unknown, in fact, that I can’t figure out what part of that giant country that they specifically came from. They had an unfortunate name—Epstein—but don’t let that fact ruin the fantastic mid-90s pop-punk vibe they brought forth in 1996 with “Just the Way.” I found this one on a fantastic compilation from pioneering indie/new wave/power pop/punk rock label BOMP! Records called Pop On Top! The Cream of Australia’s Power Pop Crop!, and the song is currently sitting at only 17 plays. Criminally low. Get to know Epstein; the good kind!

Then we have a song with an even lower play count: “Hangover,” by Detroit’s Motor Dolls, an all-woman trio who had the honor of appearing alongside both pioneering punk bands The MC5 and Stooges on a compilation called Motor City’s Burnin’ in 1998. This tune only has 14 plays, and among all the songs I added today, it’s definitely the least poppy and melodic. Frontwoman Paula Messner, whose current gig appears to be performing punk rock for kids’ functions, sings with a sharp and fierce chest voice, à la someone like Zack de la Rocha. Her downhill vocals on each verse of this song are just so electric.

And following that is a song with a play count that’s even lower!: “After All,” by Sacramento’s Smartbomb CA, which only has 13 plays. It’s this sort-of rowdy hybrid of Cali punk and pop-punk, with verses that tend towards this slightly malevolent Pennywise-ish sound and choruses that represent a transitional climb towards a much more sugary and exceedingly catchy bout of melodically anthemic pop. I discovered it on a punk and melodic hardcore compilation called You Don’t Have to Be Tom Jones, Volume Two, which was put out in 1998 by Coolidge Records. Coolidge also released a cool concept compilation that same year called Coolidge 50 that had 50 different bands sing a song about their own home state. Most of it wasn’t very good, but it was mostly punk, and the handful of the ones that I’ve come to love are already included on both the Spotify and YouTube versions of this playlist.

Plus, Smartbomb CA also consists of members of another band called The Tank, who also have songs on that You Don’t Have to Be Tom Jones, Volume Two album. And I’ve got a pair of Tank songs on this playlist too.

And last, but not least, is a song from a band called Cooter, who hail from Orange County, but not the Orange County that you’re probably thinking of—Orange County, New York. And I guess that’s kind of surprising, because their song “Full House,” which appears on another album from Fearless Records called Serial Killer Compilation that was released in 1999, really sounds like some sunshining Cali skate punk-type of stuff. Its play count isn’t as low as some of these others I’ve added, but for something this good and anthemic, 146 still feels pretty damn low.

Diesel Boy – “Lime Green” Epstein – “Just the Way” Motor Dolls – “Hangover” Smartbomb CA – “After All” Cooter – “Full House”

This playlist is also on YouTube Music.

So, here’s where things currently stand with this playlist: The Spotify version is at 47 songs and just a smidge over two hours, whereas the YouTube one is at 55 songs and 2 hours and 25 minutes. I’m always gonna end up suggesting that you listen to the longer one, but you’re also gonna find some really underheard gems with it too this time.

And if anything over two hours of 90s punk rock sounds like too much for you, I’ve got another playlist that consists of tunes that are solely from the year of 1996. It’s at under an hour on both Spotify and YouTube.

1996 Punk Rock: Spotify / YouTube / YouTube Music

Enjoy!

A bunch more to add to this. Stay tuned!

Like what you hear? Follow me on Spotify and YouTube for more cool playlists and uploads!

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer Anon]

Oh those four images I sent you in the dms was from a game called Concord and was a Sony first game…that only have like 660 players on steam….

But the modern audience ™️ statement, there a difference between adapting stuff for modern audiences ie most people are well aware to the corruption our government have. How life can be complex..theoretically because how people act like with black Americans history

Than pretending your group on college or the trendy part of your city represents all modern society

Also like the uglyfication of female characters, there a difference between making a female character who have a roughy life so not American top model

Vs giving female characters muscular men jaws for no goddamn reason

Also diversity, are we usually cultural exchange like how my Chimera Republic idea acknowledges the merging (it’s in the name) of multiple cultures in the new world (though I do minimize the separatism and social Darwinism virus we had irl America) merging

Or post mayflower, post INDUSTRIALIZATION, and post civil rights movements, globalization diversity?

Because say I who trying to finished reading the Hindu epic Ramayana so I can get better ideas of eastern storytelling

Then vs these retards that think Young Adult Novel storytelling is the high standard

Remember kiddies, pop culture is JUNK FOOD media, so while it can tackles complicated shit.

Please for a love of GOD, read classical shit

Also I watch a lot of YouTube tips on world building and such….one thing I notice especially with Millennials YouTubers is that while yes many went to college and got their degrees…they are unaware about their potential biases on literature

The Lovecraft bashing is prime example of that as how they often stop in their videos to condemn his racism

Yet I saw one chick saying that King Kong represents an enslaved African man who was force to America….im familiar with the Peter Jackson take (which my aunt own a copy of) and I always saw as a example of how humanity will force animals to leave their natural homes for our sick desires of entertainment

Also woke Gen x and millennials…do you know black Americans history like say George Carver?

Or our misery porn bastardization of so the government can teach us to have a victim complex and learned helplessness?

Maybe tomorrow it just been bothering me like…how sheltered was your upbringing? Did you guys talk to a working class black kid outside of school?

Just looks lazy to me, someone really bad at AI prompts

Also diversity, are we usually cultural exchange like how my Chimera Republic idea acknowledges the merging (it’s in the name) of multiple cultures in the new world (though I do minimize the separatism and social Darwinism virus we had irl America) merging

People continually forget this about the US, we're a melting pot even if we also aren't one at times too many different groups have managed to maintain their ethnic identities while also contributing to the grand identity that is the American.

Remember kiddies, pop culture is JUNK FOOD media, so while it can tackles complicated shit.

Pop culture is important, it helps us to capture a moment in time and things like your catchy pop tunes may not have any huge deep meaning but they do provide a good 3-3.5 min of happiness while they play.

There's a place for all of that, and sometimes with the pop culture stuff something actually big and deep will come out of it, but that's a thing that will come with time.

Classics are good and important, we will be making more of them too, so long as something occasionally sticks around long enough and is of sufficient quality to become a classic.

Gotta wonder if the team that made "Clueless" thought they were going to create the masterpiece that they did, I'm not going to call it timeless because it it 100% set to a specific time, but it's something people of all ages still enjoy.

Legally Blonde is in there too.n

Yet I saw one chick saying that King Kong represents an enslaved African man who was force to America….im familiar with the Peter Jackson take (which my aunt own a copy of) and I always saw as a example of how humanity will force animals to leave their natural homes for our sick desires of entertainment

You should use that animal line on the next person you see saying that kind of thing. 'so what you're saying is you think black people are primates'

Also woke Gen x and millennials…do you know black Americans history like say George Carver?

That's the guy that was married to Weezy on the Jefferson's right? (joke)

Or our misery porn bastardization of so the government can teach us to have a victim complex and learned helplessness? Maybe tomorrow it just been bothering me like…how sheltered was your upbringing? Did you guys talk to a working class black kid outside of school?

Giving up on meritocracy being a thing is what's gotten me the most annoyed, not gonna work for everyone but it will work for some.

and I look forward the rest tomorrow

[gamestop-compendium]

101 Pinball World (Teyon, 2012)

who greenlit this and can i go back in time to get them to un-greenlight it

the game 101 Pinball World is a dsiware title that attempts to be 4 themed pinball cabinets from the comfort of your nintendo dsi. it fails at this. the word "game" is doing some serious heavy lifting also

it boasts 4 worlds with a total of 101 tables when combined, but every "world" is really just the same set of board with different coats of paint. your ball can get stuck in places it cant get out of without tilting (which entirely disables your flippers until the ball is offscreen) and its happened to me multiple times a game before. it has 3 save files if you want to subject your friends to it and promptly lose said friends over it. someone made a trailer for it and noted how you can get a slow ball, tilt the board, or even have Ball Immunity, the number one funniest thing about this title

the sound design is both lacking and overwhelming at the same time. but the worst part is the... music? do i call it music? does it count as music? does any of this matter? does it ever end? do we get some sort of retribution for the horrendous auditory crimes of 101 Pinball World? i can answer none of these questions. as if you can even hear the music over the atrociously-mixed sounds of flippers and bumpers and points screaming from the ds speakers

here is the "soundtrack"/torment, uploaded in a video by a definitely unremarkable person who definitely didnt make a game everyone was talking about in like 2018. no siree. never happened

mystmans commentary on the game is pretty on-point, speaking as someone who decided this game was a good thing to spend my precious dsi shop money on a decade ago. i still get the title theme stuck in my head from time to time, though, since thats like the 2nd best song in the game. theres only 5 songs in this entire 5-dollar game, by the way. and also it was 5 entire dollars

which means theres no reason to rank them individually /ref

5. wizard theme - hilariously garbage. "ah shit, someone killed the keyboard player." worst thing i think ive ever heard from the ds. its even worse in person believe me. this is not music

4. space theme - kinda bland? idk. its like one synth loop forever. could be worse though, wizard theme proves that real well. has a weird buzzing in the back that really makes my brain hurt. i like the little ascending-descending sounds! very fun i forgot about those

3. pirate theme - good song, but ABSOLUTELY not pirate music. this sounds more like a beta track from club penguin: elite penguin force. i bet if you changed the soundfont itd fit the penguin bill just fine

2. title theme - catchy but empty. its like how modern deco*27 songs feel to me: good melody and beat, hollow instrumental. used to be 7-year-old-mes jam though. BEAUTIFUL bassline. goddamn. just gimme this for the whole ost honestly. itd only get a little grating.

1. spooky theme - regularly gets stuck in my head, albeit a better version i thought of so im not tormenting myself forever. this is what a song should sound like. it feels like this was made first and then the devs started running out of time to get the game out. keyboard drones in the back kinda give me a headache. but tbf that happens with all of the music and this is just the one that does it the least

overall, this game isnt even worth it for the bit. do not play this. i have found few games that are worse. maybe ill talk about them eventually. one day 101 Minigolf World will have its day. not yet though. 101 Pinball World was a soulless shovelware cash grab and it wasnt even fun. what a waste of 5 bucks. shame on you tiny tadpole past gio

overall rating: 2.7 - Real Bad. has 2 good music tracks and the menu ui looks nice. boring, broken, and somewhat painful under the surface -- like broken glass hidden under a shitty old paper-thin rug. cost too much money on the dsi shop channel for what it is. Do Not Play.

[give-soup-please]

I warned you about those stairs man /ref

Anyways!

Swing music is super duper catchy. Just the beats for it, and the use of instruments make me go insane!

I get some music being very all over! I know some music can be super overwhelming. Like heavy metal? Very overwhelming.

This will be my last question since I'm very eepy so be ready!

If tomorrow it was told that you were to be gone, what would you do. You can give multiple answers if you want if you just can't decide.

My personal answer would be to just live it out. Say my goodbyes sure but live my life regularly. Maybe I'll go all out but mainly just living life. Because that's what I do the best at!

Can't wait to hear your response. It's been fun speaking!

(waves) it's been nice being social through the inbox. stay safe, ok?

going to change the wording of your question just a bit, hope that's alright

if i had 24 hours to live... let's say 9AM-9AM the next day.

i'd wake up at my usual time: 8:30am i'd shower. drink some caffiene get that shit outta the way so the day will at least start on a positive note. i would probably try and eat at all my favorite places. these names won't make sense to anyone who hasn't lived in my hometown, but that's okay.

bill's cafe for breakfast- they have cream cheese bagels that they serve with eggs benedict and smoked salmon. goddamn.

india garden for lunch- chicken tikka masala with naan bread, and mango lassi to drink. goddamn.

either between the two meals or just after lunch, i'd head to my parents place and... either apologize for not being who they wanted me to be, or egg their house. depends on how vindictive i am the day of. i have a complicated relationship with them, so...

either way, i know for a fact that i would straight up tell my mom she should have been kinder to me. because she should have been.

then i'd go to meadowlark dairy for ice cream. they have a orange/vanilla swirl that kicks ass.

after that, i'd drive to monterey bay. check out the shops, have some salt water taffy, get to the docks for an early dinner of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl... my favorite meal. bonus points if i can track down that one restaurant that serves them with strawberry daiquiris.

i'd walk to the beach afterwards, maybe enter into the ocean to feel it for one last time. after that, i'd sit down on the sand and get to work.

i'd go on discord, message all my friends, tell them how i really felt about them. i'd tell them how much i loved them. i'd dedicate as many paragraphs as i could to them as the timer clicked down. i'd probably watch the sunset on the beach if the timing was right. chances are, i'd be crying while doing that last part. if i knew i was dying, i don't think i'd have the courage to look my friends in the eye while i told them emotional things.

when it would be too cold at the beach- anyone who's been there after sunset knows the temperature drops quickly- i'd probably see if i could find somewhere open late that serves hot chocolate. i'd keep walking around til late at night.

after that, i'd find somewhere warm to sit and call my godfather. my godfather is someone who survived cancer twice. he knows a lot about close brushes with death, and there's no one else i'd want at my side while i grieve.

i know under the circumstances, he would stay up with me all night. we would talk about everything, and anything, and nothing at all. maybe he'd keep me company until the sun rises the next day.

after the sun is up, but before 9AM, i'd head back down to the beach with a bottle of strawberry moscato. i'd savor the taste, finish the bottle, and close my eyes. maybe i'd fall asleep so i wouldn't see it coming.

i'd die listening to the waves and feeling the sun on my skin. that'd be a nice way to go out.

[maester-of-spreadsheets]

Okay yes

You know what sure let’s do this on a Friday night (going from least to most)

One of Those Nights - somehow I can’t bring myself to make jokey jokes about the Sewol ferry song

Wild side - I don’t know her. Literally this Japanese release somehow passed me by? And I haven’t absorbed it into my personal lore

Queendom - this isn’t even a good red velvet song. Like in general.

Umpah Umpah - absolutely no one in canon is having this type of fun

Peek-a-Boo - oh this comeback ruled but frankly the song and especially music video have way more to do with Claudeline

Happiness - way more appropriate as a komm süsser tod end of the world song than anything else

Bad Boy - I think Loumand WANT to project this kind of languidly sexy toxic relationship vibe but uh.

Be Natural - The soft beige pillow of their releases (probably because it was rushed to cover various scandals lol)

#CookieJar - I guess repeatedly saying “hash tag cookie jar :)” gives “electronic mailbox” a bit

Birthday - other songs on this list sample classical music in a more compelling way

Russian Roulette - Putting this one right in the middle because it feels like it COULD fit whatever he had going with Lestat or Daniel but will see (also if you’re new to kpop or this group I’d genuinely recommend being the song you check out because it’s lethally catchy)

Dumb Dumb - Cringefail Loumand initial flirting hours!

Sappy - has that horn part that makes no goddamn sense and is probably even more jarring than fake memories

Power Up - this video kinda implies cannibalism. Can’t really put it lower than this

Ice Cream Cake - the song and video are sooo subtly menacing. I don’t know how to explain it but it feels like you’re about to turn a corner and encounter a movie monster

Chill Kill - samples movie soundtrack sounding string instruments but more importantly it’s literally about a person who kills good vibes while somehow being sexy about it

Really Bad Boy - oh my god he’s a really bad boy he’s a really really really really bad boy!!!! You’re a bad boy and you’re bad for me you’re a bad boy and you’re bad for me you’re a-

Rookie - and we’re live! Produced by the theatre des vampire! Take one! [the most grating shit you’ve heard in your and somehow you go back for more]

Zimzalabim - literally about hypnotism. And throwing yourself over the flat earth for some reason?

Automaric - the vid is so vampire coded I wouldn’t be surprised if the OG iwtv movie was on the moodboard. Everything is so moody and shadowy and yeah they’re pretty but made to look as unsettling as possible. Also the scene with them sitting in front of tons of untouched food is very “how many courses are there going to be????”

Psycho - probably would have been on the playlist if the Spotify version wasn’t missing the SYNTHS THAT BRING THE SONG TOGETHER??? Anyway- no one asks- why did you say Bad Boy didn’t fit the vibe even though Psycho is in a very similar vein? Is it because the Favourite (2018) was definitely on the MV mood board? Is it because it also draws on classical music sounds? Is it because Armand is the original visual? Well yes but also the lyrics are about how toxic and beautiful the narrator’s relationship and how people just don’t GET IT and how the two of them WILL BE OKAY all somehow delivered like a mantra someone makes through gritted teeth. I love this song so much maybe I’m just lying to myself and it’s only ranking so high because I listened to it all the time while wandering graveyards during the pandemic um

Feel My Rhythm - has a video centered around paintings and a sound built around a Bach sample. In my playlist I mentioned that the hihats sound like they want you dead and I was right. But also the whole song kind of has the desperate energy of Psycho dialed up to eleven. It clings to that Bach sample with all its worth and it always sounds like it’s going to descend into chaos but even at it’s weirdest it still holds on the beat. Just barely. Makes you kind of wish it would while you admire that it doesn’t. Or something.

Red Flavor - is blood, duh. But also wow does this song feel sad while sounding so upbeat. The lyrics go back and forth between metaphors about forbidden fruit and openly pleading for reciprocity in a relationship. There’s also a [over used internet word alert] liminality to the video where the characters seem to have one foot in the past and one in the future. But it also has the lyrics’ fear of being totally vulnerable all the time so it throws absurdities at you like a watermelon having a conversation with a watermelon. The song is bursting with emotion, but also holding itself back too. You can surrender to the way this song is trying to invoke the nostalgic hope you might have felt when you were young and optimistic (and that might include mourning the person you used to be). Or you can just see it as a fun song to sing along to on the radio (do people even listen to the radio anymore.) it’s fine! It’s all FINE.

Lying by the pool like “what if I ranked every red velvet track by how Armandcore it is”

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Dear Evan Hansen

You may have seen some ~online discourse~ about the film Dear Evan Hansen, an adaptation of the 2016 Broadway musical, and you might have wondered what all the hubbub is about. I mean, it’s a feel good story about a senior in high school, Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), who has some pretty severe anxiety and depression. While trying to fulfill an assignment from his therapist to write a letter to himself, his letter gets picked up by another student, Connor (Colton Ryan) - and later that day, Connor kills himself. Connor’s grieving parents and sister Zoe (Amy Adams, Danny Pino, and Kaitlyn Dever) are desperate to learn more from the boy they think was Connor’s best friend - after all, Connor’s suicide note was a letter addressed to “Dear Evan Hansen.” And, as you can imagine, Evan tells them about the unfortunate mistake and sits with them in their grief as they struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives. 

Just kidding! He lies to them, repeatedly, elaborately, expansively for months, constructing an entire false friendship with Connor that never happened, and ingratiating himself into the wealthy nuclear family he never had, in large part because he wants to get into Zoe’s pants! THIS IS THE PROTAGONIST OF THE STORY. Oh, and it’s a musical so there is a lot of singing and crying and singing WHILE crying and sometimes crying and not singing at all. But the #inspiration, you guys. 

Things I liked:

Pretty much everything but the story and Ben Platt’s performance. The supporting cast is stacked, and all of them do a great job at elevating material scraped directly out of a diaper worn by someone who just chewed their way through a copy of the DSM-5. 

A couple of the songs are damn catchy - “Waving Through a Window” and “You Will Be Found” are standouts for a reason - and here’s the thing, Platt sings them well. But as you’ll discover, there’s a lot more to a movie musical than just singing your part. 

Stephen Chbosky, the man behind every deep thought I and a lot of people in my generation had in 2006 after he wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is a pretty good director. I particularly enjoyed the fanvid-type cuts in “Waving Through a Window” in conjunction with the lyrics, and his use of interstitial shots to flashbacks (and sometimes flashforwards!) is a neat little bit of shorthand that I thought was used sparingly enough to be effective. 

Amy Fucking Adams. She’s holding on so hard, so desperately to the idea of who her son could have been, rather than the reality of who he was, and she is full of such deep pain that is masked by an almost endless supply of patience with Evan and relentless positivity. All this made me want was Enchanted 2 even worse than I already did. 

Super into everything Zoe wears - the costuming department did a great job, and now all I want to do is live in mom jeans and baggy sweaters.

Did I Cry? I teared up a couple of times because I’m not a completely heartless bastard and when Amy Adams offered Evan Connor’s college money, my heart broke for the lie Evan had thrust upon her, and Julianne Moore’s song got me good, because she’s just a single mom to Evan who is doing her goddamn best. 

Things I hated more than the time I dropped a frozen gallon container of fruit cocktail on my pinkie toe in my parents’ garage and it turned black and I thought it was gonna fall off:

Ben Platt is 28 years old. He originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway, so in many respects it makes sense that he plays the role in the movie, except for the one kinda sorta important thing where he looks like a wizened old crone standing amongst a sea of children doing his best twitching, cringing Hunchback of Notre Dame impression. If you want someone to convincingly play 20 years their junior, hire Paul Rudd. Otherwise, please don’t ask me to believe that this supposed 18-year-old has crow’s feet. 

And that twitching nervous energy is a huge part of the black hole at the center of this film - he’s playing to the cheap seats and walking through the halls of his high school like a wet chihuahua. It’s an excruciating acting choice to watch - he doesn’t just have anxiety, he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown seemingly every second of every day. Like honestly, where is only-mentioned-never-seen Dr. Sherman, because this young man’s meds are NOT WORKING DR. SHERMAN. 

There’s such a lack of self-awareness on behalf of the writing, directing, and performance by Platt. There’s one song, “Sincerely, Me,” that offers the only glimpse of commentary about what Evan is doing, by pointing out the malicious ridiculousness of him writing a series of fake emails as proof of his and Connor’s friendship. 

Also what high schoolers email this much?? I know this was written in probably 2014 or so, but has a bitch never heard of a text? Even a DM? This whole plot is constructed around the premise that high schoolers are just constantly, constantly emailing each other. 

Everything - and I mean EV-ER-Y-THING - about Evan’s relationship with Zoe is so creepy and disturbing that with a soundtrack change, this could easily be a horror movie. He attempts to get her to like him by describing to her all the things her brother noticed about her - oh wait, I’m sorry, all the things HE noticed about her while he was skulking in the shadows following her around for years, watching every move she made, and it ends with him singing repeatedly “I LOVE YOU” because following a girl around and never having a conversation with her or knowing her at all is love, right? This was clearly written by the same people who chose “Every Breath You Take” as their wedding song because Sting is hot and they never actually listened to the damn words. 

And it gets about 10 billion times worse when Zoe goes to Evan’s house alone, takes him up to his room, and sings “I don’t need reasons to want you” and that was the moment I was that person I hate in a movie theater and I pulled out my phone to Google who wrote the music and lyrics to the musical (we were in the back row of the theater no one was behind me THIS WAS AN OUTRAGE EMERGENCY) and of motherfucking course it was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, 2 men who heard about meeting an actual human woman from a friend one time but otherwise are unfamiliar with the concept. 

Lastly, enormous serial killer vibes from Evan sending unlabeled flash drives anonymously through the mail with no note in an attempt to right his wrongs. That’s not catharsis, that’s how the next installment in the Saw franchise starts, with Evan in a Billy the clown doll mask showing up on the screen and asking if you want to play a fucking game. 

Also, I know it’s not possible for the narrative to justify this in a way that could be satisfying based on Evan’s actions, but what is with this thing where single working-class mom Julianne Moore is turning down rich people’s money for Evan to go to college? Like, obviously we can’t have that happen in the movie but in real life, fuck your pride! Take those rich people’s money!

I also know how movies work but nothing annoys me more than a giant group of high schoolers all getting beeps and boops to indicate text notifications all at the same time because I don’t know a single person under the age of 55 who keeps their ringer on. That shit is on vibrate AT MOST, and I feel like that’s a millennial thing. 

The emotional climax of the film is obviously Evan’s WAY TOO LATE confession, but the idea that it’s prompted by Connor’s family suddenly getting a lot of internet hate is, frankly, laughable. If Sandy Hook taught me one thing, it is that no tragedy is immune from trolls who live only to cause other people devastating emotional pain on the internet. That shit starts day 1. Apparently no one involved in this production has ever been on Twitter?

Also it feels like there should have been a dog somewhere in this movie and there was no dog, so points off for that too. 

Perhaps Dear Evan Hansen isn’t nearly as deep as it aspires to be. Perhaps it’s a morality play, a simplistic message of “Don’t lie, kids, lying is bad!” Major studio movies wrap themselves up with a nice bow at the end so everyone can feel good about themselves and leave with a happy ending, but the moronic cruelty on display here makes that feat feel impossible. We’re left with Evan in an orchard, reading Connor’s favorite books and staring into the big blue sky with all the self-actualization he’s earned now as a lil treat. And if Evan Hansen looked like an actual 18-year-old, it would be a lot easier to extend more empathy to him and his not-fully-developed prefrontal cortex, but it’s a little harder with this fully-grown, weathered man who was old enough to remember seeing Liar Liar in theaters. 

Dear Evan Hansen, 

Get some actual help and a haircut and maybe you can grow up enough to have an actual healthy interaction with any other living person, ever.

Sincerely, 

Me

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[sundaysundaes]

My Words, Your Thoughts (Teaser)

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader | Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Smut | Soulmate AU, Friends-to-Lovers AU

Part of the beautiful ‘Aubade’ collaboration hosted by @hyucksie​

Synopsis: As an introvert, you are familiar with the silence. Drowning yourself deep in your thoughts has been a habit you’ve become addicted to. Your life begins to change, however, ever since the day you turned twenty. Suddenly, there’s this song that’s stuck in your head, and no matter how much you yearn to hear your thoughts or be comforted by the silence, it keeps on playing. You only get to find the answer to your problem when a young, cute barista hands you a cup of coffee one day, with that song’s lyrics written on the side. And you realize that you’re not the only one who’s been hearing voices in your head.

Warnings: explicit sex, expletives, mentions of physical abuse and astraphobia (not for the main characters)

WC (Teaser): 4k

Release Date: June 27, 2021, 10 AM KST

It’s weird. It’s so weird.

It’s weird that you’ve been hearing this song replaying over and over again in your head when you’re sure you’ve never listened to it before. It’s also weird because sometimes the song sounds like the ones you often hear about on the radio—complete with instrumental accompaniment and everything—but most of the time, it just sounds like someone is humming to it. Sometimes quietly, but more often than not, vehemently like they’re having a concert in the shower, not caring if the neighbors might hear.

As someone who rarely listens to mainstream music, you don’t keep up with the trend these days but the tunes are catchy enough that you think, maybe, it’s one of those Justin Bieber’s songs people always talk about. You’re not fond of it, though, so even if you’ve heard it somewhere in a cafe or a mall, there’s very little chance you’ll be humming it in your head.

And yet, it keeps on playing.

It gets worse when it goes on for a whole day—a whole fucking day—that your brain feels like it’s seconds away from bursting into pieces. It doesn’t even sound like your voice. It seems like it belongs to a male, a bit light and a pitch higher than most. Though it sounds pleasant, the voice is unfamiliar to your ears and that’s what bothers you the most. 

Trying your best to escape, you plug in your AirPods to your earholes, choosing one of the most beloved tracks from your playlist—today, it’s Bloom by The Paper Kites—to help you relax as you lie down on your bed. But no matter how many times you turn up the volume—it’s practically turning you deaf, ironically—you can��still hear that one goddamn song playing.

“Oh my God,” you groan, projecting a murderous glare at the ceiling of your room before you shriek all of your heart’s content to your pillow. “Make it stop!”

This has been going on ever since your twentieth birthday and it’s been three months since then—three months of suffering, to be exact. Fortunately for you, you haven’t been listening to the same song for those amount of time—God, you would’ve killed yourself if that was the case. The song changes without warning. It can change ten times within a day, or stay the same for ten days. You have never heard of these songs except for the popular ones, and even then, you only ever listened to snippets as they don’t suit your taste. 

So… It doesn’t make sense that you could recite the whole lyrics, does it? 

And yet, you can. 

Somehow, you already know every word, every tune, even every ad-lib in these songs and it both amazes and creeps you out. It’s as if somebody else is singing about it in their mind, and you, somehow, are mentally connected to them.

But that’s surely not the case, right?

With more days passing by, as your brain deteriorates little by little, you start to think that maybe that is the case.

Or maybe you’re just going crazy.

It’s nine in the morning and your eyes are bleary from how you involuntarily skipped sleep last night. With the loudest sigh and your half-charged MacBook sitting still in your backpack, you let your wobbly legs carry you to the nearest coffee shop. There’s a new Starbucks store opening just a couple of blocks away from your apartment and it’s perfect since you’re going to pass it every day on your way to college. 

You’re not excited though, not when you have Michael Jackson’s Man in The Mirror playing in your head for the, approximately, thirty-fifth time that day. And it’s only nine in the fucking morning.

When you enter the coffee shop, greeted by a cute Christmas tree and festive decorations spreading all over the place even when it’s still three weeks away from the holiday, you almost weep in joy when the song stops playing in your head. It does happen from time-to-time, sometimes it stops for a few hours before it starts again with the same song or an entirely different one. But in most cases, it only pauses for a few minutes which just doubles the torture whenever you’re trying to concentrate on your paperwork.

“Hi.” You display a timid smile at a female barista, slightly wincing when the song in your head starts blaring again, as expected. It’s still the same song this time—so that thirty-sixth by now, Jesus Christ—but instead of someone humming it, it’s the original version that plays. You’re having trouble focusing on her greeting when the sound of a synthesizer echoes through your ear, stridently so. “I would like a tall skinny latte with a double shot, please.”

“Would you like anything else to accompany your drink?”

Perhaps a gun to blow my head off? “No, thanks. That’d be all for me.”

“Is that for here or to go?”

You take a quick scan of your surroundings. You still have an hour before your first class starts and since the place isn’t that crowded, you figure you might as well just spend some time here. “For here.”

You tell her your name and slide down your card to complete the payment. “All right. We will call your name once your order is ready.”

“Fantastic. Thanks.” As the female barista takes an order from another customer, you drag yourself to an empty seat in the corner of the room, next to the glassy window where you can glance at passersby. You lay your head down on the table, cheek pressed against the wooden surface, lower lip jutting out in weariness. You’re drowsy and you want to think about the snow that’s probably gonna fall sometimes near Christmas’ Day and maybe the sight of a warm fireplace where you can cozy up with your imaginary boyfriend (also known as Jung Jaehyun—that one perfect boy who lives just across of your hallway), but no, unfortunately for you, you no longer have any space left in your brain since Michael Jackson is performing a damn concert and it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna stop anytime soon.

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror…” Great, now you’re singing it. “I’m asking him to change his ways…”

The music in your head abruptly stops again but before you can close your eyes to finally enjoy your silence, a familiar voice chimes in.

“It’s a great song, isn’t it?”

Shocked, you quickly lift your head to identify a male barista placing down a cup of your ordered latte on your table. You swear you recognize his voice but his face doesn’t ring a bell.

“Hi,” he greets, smiling a bit sheepishly. “I don’t usually bring orders directly to the table but I think I misheard your name so I couldn’t call you out from there.”

“That’s, umm, that’s okay…” You hide the bottom half of your face behind your scarf as you’re not used to talking to a stranger, especially one that looks overwhelmingly pretty. “What did you think my name was?”

“Umm…” He rubs the back of his nape awkwardly. “I don’t think you want to know. It was a bit… inappropriate.”

“R-right…” You glance at the cup. “It says ‘Michael.’”

He chuckles but with only a slight hint of amusement in it. “Yeah, sorry about that. I had to come up with something and it was the first thing that came to mind.”

“And it has…” Your eyes widen when you notice the words he’s written on the side of your cup. It’s not a greeting, it’s not a motivational sentence, it’s the fucking lyrics to Michael Jackson’s Man in The Mirror.

“Yeah, okay, so—” Noticing the appalled look on your face, he hurriedly tries to reason out. “I’ve had this song stuck in my head all day long—I just listened to it a minute ago while making your order—and the lyrics are just so inspirational so I decided to write that down. I hope that’s not too weird.” Then he laughs a little, a tad more genuinely this time. “But I heard you singing that song just now. What are the chances, right?”

You swallow hard. He’s been thinking about that song too? Listened to it a minute ago? What are the chances of this is happening? Is he the one whose voices I’ve been hearing in my head—

The male barista abruptly takes a step back, his tray nearly slipping out of his hold. He has a hand pressed against his ear, eyes blinking several times in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You—” He splutters, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I can’t believe it’s real.”

“What?” The way he seems like he’s looking at a ghost sends goosebumps all over your skin. “What is it?”

“Think about something.” 

“Umm—” What is he talking about?

This time he gapes, his jaw dropping low. “Holy shit, I can really hear you. Think about something else—think about me.”

“Look, I don’t know you and you’re being weird.” The sudden change of conversation baffles you but when his words sink in, you can’t stop yourself from thinking about him as he orders. He’s cute, his entire features are cute—you’ve noticed that from the first second you laid your eyes on him, but what catches your eyes the most is his lips—the way they’re shaped so beautifully, like a cupid’s bow—

“You’re thinking about my lips? Seriously?” He asks, but might as well splash cold water to your face. “If you said something about my eyes, sure, I mean, they are attractive. One might even say that God Himself took the stars from the sky and put them in my eyes—but my lips? Huh, that’s new.”

You loudly gasp when you’re finally aware of the situation, hands flying to your face to cover your gaping mouth. “You can hear my thoughts!”

“And you can hear mine too!” He points out, and as startled as you are from the previous realization, you instantly frown upon his words. 

“I don’t think so,” you reply. “I can only hear—”

“Donghyuck-ah!” Another barista comes to interrupt from the other side of the room. “We didn’t pay you to flirt, come back here!”

“I wasn’t flirting!” He shouts back, tips of his ears reddening. When he turns to you again, he has a prominent scowl on his face which makes you squirm on your feet. “We need to talk about this. My break is in an hour, do you think you can wait?”

It sounds more like an order than a request. “B-but I have a class in an hour.”

“Skip it.”

It takes all the strength in your body to be brave enough to retort back with, “Why don’t you skip your work?”

“I’m already half-done with my work, I can’t bail out now.” He rolls his eyes. Suddenly, his courteousness just vanishes without a trace. “Look, I’ve been hearing your thoughts for months now and I have a lot to complain to you about.”

You grimace. “It’s not like I can control my thoughts—”

“I know, I’m not blaming you.” He picks up the tray, his gaze softening but only slightly. “I just want to complain. You’ve been driving me crazy these past few months.”

You glance away, pouting. Wow, he surely knows how to befriend a stranger.

“I can hear you, you know.” He sighs as if talking to you is exhausting, when it should be the other way around. “Look, I’m sure you’ve been going through the same thing. Don’t you want this to stop?”

You’re not wasting any second. “Yes, please.”

“Then wait for me. We’ll talk this through.” He pivots on his heels, his tray glued to his side. When you can finally breathe properly, exhausted from the social interaction as you sink back to your seat, the barista—Donghyuck—adds, “Oh, as you wait. Can you please stop thinking about my lips? Or just how cute I am in general? It’s sweet but I gotta concentrate so I won’t write another Michael on my next order.”

You slam your forehead down the table, face aflame. “I-I’ll try.”

“Thanks.”

***

“You just can’t stop thinking about my lips, can you?” Is the first thing Donghyuck states out as soon as he’s approached your table. He runs a hand through his brown hair, which looks out-worldly fluffy that you begin to wonder what kind of hair product he’s been using. “Or my hair.”

Mortified, you mumble out, “I’m sorry,” with half of your face covered by your hands. The more I try not to think about his lips, the more I do—shit, is he hearing this too—

“Yes,” Donghyuck says, but this time with an amused smile. “Man, I didn’t know my lips were that appealing to ladies. You’re gonna make me blush.”

Well, he’s making you blush for sure. “Would it be too much to ask for you to stop listening to my thoughts?”

“Believe me, woman, I’ve tried.” He groans, taking his apron off before he sits in front of you. He loosens up his collar, unbuttoning two buttons of his white shirt—which is two more than necessary to your liking—and you have to gaze away before another thought forms inside your head about a certain part of his body. 

“Sorry if I came on too strong before. I’m Lee Donghyuck,” he introduces formally, offering you his hand. You reply with your name but you’re reluctant to shake his hand since you’re sure you’re breaking into a cold sweat, and an overly sweaty palm doesn’t really scream attractive—

“It’s literally just a handshake,” he says, stifling down a laugh. “I’m not gonna start judging you about it. You’re cute, sweaty palms or not.”

You nearly choke. “If I can’t ask you to stop listening to my thoughts, can you please be quiet about them?”

“That’s also impossible since talking is an integral part of my charm.” He leans back to his chair. “I’m pretty good with my mouth.”

That was… a poor choice of words, you think, as you stare at his lips and can’t help but wonder what can that mouth do other than talking. You take a bite of the bagel you just ordered, desperately trying to avert your attention.

“It wasn’t a poor choice of words.” He winks. “I did mean that in every way possible.”

This time, you really are choking.

“Okay, so what’s happening to us?” Donghyuck questions, after you manage to shed a tear or two during your attempt in relieving your throat. “Why have I been hearing your thoughts? I don’t even know you.”

“Same here.” You’re still going through a hard time keeping eye contact with him, but with more seconds passing by—and him pronouncing every bit of your thoughts out in the open—the knots inside your chest begin to loosen. “Ever since I turned twenty, I’ve been hearing these songs playing in my head that I’d never even heard of.”

“Never heard of?” Donghyuck snorts. “What, you never listen to Billboard’s top forty?”

You weakly shrug. “I prefer indie music better. Or instrumentals.”

“I would say that you have a soul of an old lady but the way you’ve been thinking about my lips reminds me of my sister who’s going through puberty.”

“Okay, this isn’t fair.” You shake your head, ashamed and tired of being humiliated over something you can’t fix. “Why can you hear my thoughts but I can’t hear yours?”

“Believe me, you’re much better off this way.” His face contorts in pain which makes you feel somewhat sorry if he’s not constantly being an ass about it. Hearing your insult, he notes, “Also, I’d prefer to be called with terms of endearment in the future, if that’s okay with you. Something like Babe or Darling.” The way he raises his eyebrow is just strictly illegal. “And in return, I’ll call you Sweetheart.” But before you can say anything—or run toward a running bus to put an end to this endless humiliation—he questions, “Wait, when you hear the songs I’ve been thinking in my head, does it sound like the original version of the song, or like me singing it?”

Finally, a proper conversation. “If you’re listening to the actual music, I can hear the original song as if I’m hearing it through my headphones. But when you’re just thinking about it, well, I‘ve never heard you sing, but,” you decide to tease him back—which startles you from how blatant you’re being. “From how amateur and pitchy this voice sounded in my head, I think I’ve been hearing yours.”

“Cute.” He scrunches up his nose. “Okay, let’s try again. Can you hear what song running through my head now?”

You stiffen, sitting in silence. After a few seconds pass by with only you exchanging stern stares at each other, your eyes gleam with a spark of hope. “Wait, I can’t hear you. Does this mean it stops? Because we’ve met in person?”

“Sadly no, because I was just thinking about how silly you looked when you choked over your food earlier.” He chuckles to himself and sends you another wink when you degrade him in your head. “Okay, let’s try again.”

“For real this time?”

“For real this time, Sweetheart.” He closes his eyes, holding back a smile when he catches how you flinch a little at his pet name for you. This time, you really do hear him humming inside your mind. “Don’t tell me by words,” he immediately adds, “Just think about them.”

Heaving a sigh, you close your eyes too. I’ve heard this song somewhere.

“If you’ve never heard about this song, I will literally cry and apologize to the world on your behalf.”

Be quiet, please, I’m trying to concentrate.

“Worried that you’d be thinking about my lips again?”

You almost fall from your seat. Almost. Okay, you’re singing to… You knit your eyebrows together as you provide your best effort to remember the tunes. You’re singing to Super Mario Bros theme song?

“Correct.” He taps his fingers to the table, simpering. “This is actually pretty cool. We can be, like, partners in crime or something.”

You shudder. “Please don’t tell me you’re an actual criminal.”

“If looking this handsome is a crime then I am, yes. Guilty as charged.” He makes a kissy face when you think about throwing the rest of your bagel to his head. “You look like someone who writes fan-fiction about their idols having sappy first kisses in your spare time but you’re actually pretty wild in your head, aren’t you?” He loves seeing your reactions, you know that, so you give your all in trying to act nonchalant. “Now, let’s try again. Did you bring your headphones with you?”

You check your coat’s pocket. “I got my AirPods.”

“Perfect. Put them on and play something from your phone.” As someone who’s pretty carefree, he can get serious at times. “Play as loud as you can until you feel like you’re going deaf.”

“I’ve tried that many times.” You nearly wail at the memory. “But it’s hard to drown your voice since it comes from inside my head.”

“Yeah, I know that. I’ve been hearing your thoughts too, remember? Don’t you think I would at least try something like that?” You narrow your eyes menacingly at him but he simply waves you off. “Anyway, that’s not what I’m trying to do. Put them on and you’ll see.”

He’s ordering you around. He just met you and he’s ordering you around. Socializing with people in general already zaps your energy pretty quickly, so socializing with a brat—

“I’ll grow on you, don’t worry.” He smirks and you take a mental note to really learn how to control your thoughts this time.

You follow his lead, as requested, connecting your AirPods to your phone and play something relaxing—because God knows how desperately you need it—as loudly as you can bear. Okay, go try… whatever it is that you want to try.

He smiles and shifts slightly on his seat, facing the window. His eyes glimmer under the light when he parts his lips, mouthing some words—no, singing something that you can’t hear.

Wait. I can’t hear?

Donghyuck glances at you, a grin breaking further on his lips upon hearing your thought. He gestures to you to take your AirPods away and you nod. Vacation Manor’s You promptly fades as his voice enters, and it’s weird because you’ve heard him sing in your head so many times yet it doesn’t do justice to how beautiful he sounds in real life.

It’s almost angelic, the sound he makes, which is kind of ironic for a little devil that he is. His honeyed voice is soothing, almost like the patter of rain on your window at dawn, lulling you back to sleep. You’re no expert in music but to you, he sounds impeccable that you run out of words to describe how pleasant his voice is to your ears. It’s so distinct, soulful—

Donghyuck giggles. “Thanks.”

—and��annoying. “Okay, so what happened?” You try to divert the topic. “I can’t hear you when you’re singing out loud, but I can hear it when you’re thinking about a song?”

“I guess so.” He furrows his eyebrows, deep within his thoughts. “I figured it out when I couldn’t hear your thoughts whenever you spoke out loud. I think we can work from this?”

“So instead of thinking about what I have to say, I should focus more on saying what I want to say?” You shake in horror. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“What, you don’t like talking?”

“I’m…” You swallow your breath. “I’m not really good at that.”

“You’re talking to me just fine now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, because you make it so easy.”

“Aaw,” he purrs, a lopsided smile painting his face. “Thanks, Sweetheart.”

“No.” You hold up a hand. “I mean, since you can hear my thoughts, I have no other choice but to speak. Also, you seem like you’re the type who just says whatever that comes to mind without worrying too much about my feelings—”

“Hey, now you’re just making me sound rude—”

“You are rude,” You emphasize. “But it works well with me because then I don’t have to hold myself back and pretend to be somebody else.”

“Why do you have to pretend?” He frowns. “Because you’re afraid people are gonna hate you? Judge you on your words?”

“It’s…” You look away, nibbling on your bottom lip. “I just… I’m trying to be a good person so people will like me—”

“I like you,” he says casually as if he was talking about having a cute Pomeranian as a pet, and there you are, almost fainting in your seat. “I mean, in the last forty minutes I’ve known you, I think you’re great the way you are. You don’t have to be good, you just have to be you.” He shifts closer, crossing his arms on the table, and lays his chin on them, gazing up at you with a soft smile that doesn’t match well with his previous attitude. “Don’t you think it’s great if people accept you the way you are?”

You hurriedly take a sip of your coffee, pretending to swallow even if it’s already empty. “You’re… not so bad yourself.”

“What was that?”

“Okay, well I think I should go.” There’s no way you’re gonna repeat that. Donghyuck titters, taking a hold of your wrist when you’re about to stand up from your seat.

“We still have loads to talk about.” You observe the way his fingers linger around your arm, his sun-kissed skin feels silky smooth against your own. “Why don’t we have lunch together? My treat?”

“D-don’t you have work to do?”

“I’ll make an excuse.” 

A barista with the word Jeno written on his name tag walks by and slaps Donghyuck on the back of his head as if it’s something he’s done on a daily basis—probably is. “You’re not going anywhere, asswipe, get back to work.”

When the brunette boy turns to you, he winces. “Or maybe you can give me your number so we can meet up later?”

***

A/N: I’m both nervous and excited for this as this is my first collaboration. Thank you so much, Denise, for having me on this wonderful collab!

[kongshimz]

seventeen "face the sun" album musings 

i got into seventeen in early 2020, right after they released fallin flower. i fell in love with the dreamy production style, the unparalleled attention to detail, how much emotion could be ripped out of a song so simple. the best way i can describe it is a one way ticket to the fourth dimension, and its a style of production ive found to become a signature of seventeen, found again and again all across their recent discography, albums full of pillows and cumulus clouds and thin little tendrils of emotion that weave through the dream and pierce your heart straight through. it's a style ive come to love, come to expect, even take for granted considering how much of a departure hot is from what i just described.

HOT!

this song is to me, rather infuriatingly, equal parts business maneuver and brilliant introduction to the album and its general themes. the title of the album is "face the sun" and hot feels like, to a long time carat, getting your eyes peeled open on a hot august day until you lose all sense of sight. in a good way. what i'm trying to get at is "hot" was an eye opener in that it was so inherently different from what their music had focused on for the past few years. it was all so generally agreeable and listenable, downright fantastic at best and somewhat boring at worst. there was no going wrong with the little jig they had going on in 2020-2021 so at first i was baffled why they chose to make such a sharp turn in the noisy, robotic-mosquito-trapped-in-a-microwave direction. and they made a big deal of it too! all of the marketing for this comeback was stuff like "I am not seventeen anymore." like goddamn minghao im happy you announced those contract renewals early or you would have started a war!

but honestly on further thought it did feel like they were running out of steam somewhat by the time attacca came out. attacca was good by all means but it felt like some of the bsides especially were starting to tilt towards the boring end of my little seventeen music spectrum. so i conceded the change was necessary and the second i did that hot started HITTING. maybe i was thinking into things way too much but the album's packaging, naming, and music all started to come together in my head. "face the sun" is equal part's about seventeen's own bravery and ours in being able to accept a new artistic direction from them. they were shining the metaphorical sun in our eyes with the sheer power of cowboy noise music and i was enjoying the fuck out of myself!

so what do i actually think of hot. if i were to rate it i'd give it a good 7/10. it's not my taste but its a well produced song nonetheless. and what i meant when i said "business maneuver" up at the beginning is that the song sounds inherently very tiktoky. it's extremely catchy, easy to remember, has a cool and similarly easy dance to go along with it and crucially it sticks to the tonic like flypaper and does not let go. all hallmarks of a song designed to go viral in some capacity, which i understand. other songs on the album are much more adventurous and better songs overall but none of them have hot's staying power. at the end of the day title tracks are designed to get melon streams and music show wins and hot has accomplished both of these things perfectly while still being both a departure from their usual material and a decent song, which is honestly pretty commendable!

now its time to stop defending hot's midness and get to the good shit.

DON QUIXOTE!

i said something about the fourth dimension in the intro to this and well. we have escaped the limitations of the spacetime continuum. we have become omnipotent beings that live outside the walls of continuity and the laws of physics. the layered fluffy production is only there for half the song and the other half is this wonderful mix of rock and hiphop that i can only describe as 21st century cowboy. which is a theme we'll continue to see!

some little things i need to get off my chest mingyu has the most attractive singing voice in kpop nobody even comes close. that perfect mix of vocal fry and actual tone.. there is nothing better than a good mingyu verse caressing your ears when you're already enjoying a good song.

the instrumental break right before the last chorus irks me just a little bit. i do not think the song needs it and i think that space could be better used for a proper vocal bridge and buildup to a more bombastic final chorus.

big things! this song does this thing i really really like where the melody is in minor but the chord progression is all major. it creates really complex emotions and can be molded to a variety of musical needs. in this case it's used, along with fast and driving percussion to create an insane sense of urgency, triumph, and hope. i have no idea what the fuck don quixote had going on but this song has me convinced he was some crazy arsonist cowboy. if that's his actual description good job seventeen for making me visualize that with the sheer power of sound waves!

MARCH!

i do not understand korean. i do however understand the words like a cowboy! and that intrigued me a little because obviously this whole album is like cowboy town but this track invokes more pirates of the carribean than wild west. but barring that little dissonance this song is wonderful.

what i mean by pirate-y music is mostly the use of 12/8, the whistle/flute that pops up occasionally, the specific rhythm of the drums and the dynamic bass. but all this is combined with a wonderful mixture of rock guitar and more modern sounding synths and percs. the pickup before the chorus in particular goes crazy and i love the guitar there. i also really like how the bass is kind of omnipresent and only fades in the prechorus. its nice to have that kind of anchor point throughout a song that generally has a lot of shit going on!

speaking of which there is an unbelievable amount of stuff going on in the chorus. you've got several layers of percs, what sounds like two layers of moving bass, the flute, synth pads, guitar chords, and heavily harmonized vocals. handling that many moving parts is no small feat but seventeen pull it off every time and its one of the things that contributes to the ethereal feel of their music i described earlier. there's so much going on its very easy to get completely immersed in the song and its a technique that very few other kpop tracks replicate.

DOMINO!

this song pisses me off. just a little bit! the verses and the prechorus are so sweet and cute and happy and a breath of fresh air from the rest of the album and then the chorus shows up and is like fuck you we're back in minor now! and an anti drop at that! like of all the places you could go with that wonderful adorable ear candy build up you go to the place all kpop songs go to die. the minimalistic chorus. i looked at the lyrics too and there's no thematic shift that could possibly justify this! thankfully the track saves itself by very gently and gracefully leading back to the major sections but i remain peeved! the last chorus is wonderful why can't they all be like that! but i digress the actual good content is fantastic. it's wonderful and funky, it's got jazz rhythms and snaps and bouncy bass and everything that makes me want to get up and dance. its mostly modest but goes full out when it needs to and knows where its emphasis lies. and then the fucking chorus star- ON TO SHADOW!

SHADOW!

im very thankful this comes after domino so i can overcome the hatred in my heart and listen to music that fits my tastes perfectly!

but as lovely as the song itself is and trust me it is LOVELY i think the real hero here is the lyrics. it's all about accepting the dark, ugly, unhappy, maybe traumatized side of you through the allegory of running away from your shadow. the hook of the chorus is incredibly powerful, both in staying power and actual lyrical meaning. the english trans is:

"Shadow, My Shadow, My Shadow I Don't Want Others To See You Shadow, My Shadow, My Shadow I Hated You And Hurt You

Oh! Now I Know You Are Part Of Me Too I Don't Want To Hide You, I Want To Hold Your Hand Because Even My Darkness Will Shine Brightly Baby I'm A Shadow Of You" (from lyricsroll)

a lot of this section's power comes from the decision to have the hiphop teamers (ft. hoshi) sing it, all members with relatively deep and raspy voices giving appropriate weight to the most emotional section of the track. also mingyu most attractive voice in kpop the way in which they sing it also contributes to those emotions. the "shadow my shadow" is all belted out. hard. but the lines following that break into falsetto, giving the feel that the singer is very emotionally affected, maybe even crying.

i also want to talk about some of the basic theory of the melody here. essentially this half of the chorus ends unresolved, or on a note that is not the tonic. this gives the listener a feeling of tension, of unfinished business, and generally really wanting that note to go back to the tonic, mimicking how this first half discusses unfaced demons and unfinished business. when the lyrics of the second half brighten up, that note finally resolves, once again mimicking how here the narrator finds closure and acceptance of their darker other half.

it's listening to tracks like these that i really really wish i could actually understand korean. shadow is an intricate weaving of the written word and musical notes that is found very rarely in kpop. you can have fantastic lyrics and fantastic music but its when those two elements reinforce each other that you get a truly good track, and i understand that as much as i am praising shadow right now i still cant understand the full emotional impact of listening to this as a native speaker.

'BOUT YOU!

this song is so lovely and cute and simple and everything i wish domino could accomplish. it rides along happily on a lazy little four chord pattern and simple rhythm pattern with great melodic hooks in the chorus and adorable rap verses icing the top of the already sickeningly sweet cake! i cannot think of anything i dislike about something but i also cannot think of anything i particularly like. its cute, its objectively well produced, its easy on the ears but its kinda just There. its a nice song to space out to and write this review to but it doesn't have the same impact as some of their other, similar bsides like snapshoot. nothing quite there to sink your teeth into and really get immersed in. but still a nice breath of fresh air from the rest of the album which is pretty much all cowboy bebop soundtrack with the occasional mcr song. its nice to have a song you don't have to take particularly seriously or dissect down to the individual note to understand the emotional impact it has on you! although obviously i take great joy in doing that even the great zuhabear in all her music theory nerd glory has to take a break sometimes.

IF YOU LEAVE ME!

to make a ballad worth listening to for an international audience is ridiculous difficult, and im choosing to believe thats the reason why so few kpop acts can actually pull it off. the ballad inherently relies on that interaction between written word and musical note i described in that shadow section, and as international listeners we just can't grasp that. i think that's why we're always so baffled when we see kdrama ost #27 blocking our faves from getting that pak or rak or melon top 10 chart position. what could possibly be so good about some piano and violins and a good singer? we always fail to consider what we inherently miss out on as non-koreans.

unfortunately that's not a defense i can use on this. it is quite possibly the most generic ballad i have ever heard in my life, musically. like the music version of those fake people AI's make up; a smoothie of thousands of inputs that perfectly encapsulates the average of all those countless individuals. and that goes for the lyrics as well, all about a sad dude musing about the inevitable end of his romantic relationship. it was honestly quite disappointing because usually seventeen ballads can break the curse of the language barrier through sheer emotional interest. smile flower, pinwheel, almost all of vocal unit's discography are perfect examples of this. they forge a mutual understanding where it shouldn't be, they are the very definition of music as the universal language. you could be as far removed from the korean language as possible and the chords in the second chorus of smile flower would still have you on the floor bawling your eyes out. but there's nothing like that here; it feels like pure filler on every possible level, and i know they've done infinitely better with slower songs in the past.

that being said its not completely unlistenable or anything; im just being harsh because i know what they can do at their best so my expectations are ridiculously high. on the general standard of kpop ballads, this is actually pretty decent. it has a lot of harmonization and more moving parts, which prevents it from becoming a total snooze fest. i still love you woozi your amazing bro

ASH!

listening to this feels like the *touches the ground* "something terrible happened here" meme. its ominous, apocalyptic. the sun has shined, we've faced it, the volcano has blown, and all that's left on the scorched earth is ash and a few survivors who are ready to fly. its the first thing you think of when you hear "mad max". we've graduated from cowboy school we're riding through the desert in jacked out motor vehicles now.

for me this song is all about visualizing. you wake up in a strange place, a strange time, everything is off. there's no plant life, just sand and ash as far as the eye can see. you almost get killed by some rando on a motorcycle but get picked up by a suspiciously thirteen membered survivor group and they're banging this in the car. the worst case scenario is here and it is what you make of it!

this is like the polar opposite of my usual taste in music but i can't help but enjoy this because of the ridiculously specific fantasies it procures in my mind, the little pinballs of sound bouncing off my neurons and somehow creating an apocalypse au ao3 fanfic. if there's anything i enjoy it's a good picture!

CLOSING THOUGHTS

im a strong believer that you have to experiment in order to find truly good music. if you always stay in a specific musical niche you'll never develop and you'll be stuck in a perpetual rut of constantly being mid but never being truly good or bad. a lot of seventeen's latest releases have felt like spiraling towards that rut, which is why im so grateful for this album. face the sun is, in all of its sexy 21st century cowboy-pirate robot mosquito riding across the apocalypse glory, exactly what seventeen needed to continue growing as artists. there is some seriously good shit in here and there are some songs i cant stand! but the important thing is the good stuff, don quixote and march and shadow and ash and the good parts of domino are some of the best music they have ever released. and when you have a discography like seventeen's, expansive and iconic and seven years old, that's a serious accomplishment! im beyond happy they renewed their contracts and im looking forward to great new music from them :)