#anyway listen to epic the musical it’s good

[retvenkos]

Olive, my darling, do humour me: cym as classical songs that SLAP to you

MUTUALS — let me know if you want to be included or taken off!

this one is my absolute FAVORITE actually but also i’m sorry for my classical music illiteracy

@noesapphic: lacrimosa — mozart | ♩

@permanentreverie: masquerade suite waltz — aram khachaturian | ♩

@teaand-dreams: nocturne no. 1 in b flat minor op. 9 no. 1 — chopin | ♩

@anthonysharmaa: devil's trill sonata: iii. allegro assai — giuseppe tartini | ♩

@moonlit-imagines: the four seasons: summer, presto — vivaldi | ♩

@heliads: piano concerto no. 2 in c minor, op. 18: 1. moderato — sergei rachmaninoff | ♩

@locke-writes: the orange tree — philip glass | ♩

@amortensie: orfeo ed euridice, wq. 30 — christoph willibald gluck, raniero de' calzabigi | ♩

@juliastrojan: 1812 overture — tchaikovsky | ♩ (but also !!! every time i hear carpe diem from dps,,,, i think of you 😭)

@murswrites: dracula enters — philip glass | ♩

@swanimagines: badinerie — bach | ♩

@biqherosix: elfentanz — david popper | ♩

@the-radio-star​: swan lake, op. 20, act II: no. 10, scene. moderato — tchaikovsky | ♩

@musicallisto: après un rêve, op. 7, no. 1 — gabriel fauré | ♩ (but also,,,, ma’am,,,,, light of the seven from GoT my BELOVED !!!!! ramin djawadi did the absolute mOST there and i love him for it <3)

@ughgclden: slow dancing in the dark — nicholas yee | ♩

@donnakenobi: études dans le genre fugué, op. 97: no. 4b, allegretto è sempre legato — antoine reicha | ♩

@scvrllet: wyden down — riopy | ♩

@mirclealignr: string quartet no. 1. mov. ii — derya kavuncu | ♩

@oceanspray5: finding melody — gavin luke | ♩

@missameliep: ave maria — charles gounod | ♩

[yuyu-bubu]

if nobody got me i know devi mccallion got me can i get an amen

[tenmyoujump]

every day i make at least one post about how good roselia is and every day i am simply very smart and correct

[lotussokka]

i dont think anything can ever compare to how i felt when trxye and the wild ep (and then blue neighbourhood) were first released. it felt so bizarre but also so fucking wonderful to hear a pop song where a man explicitly refers to his love interests with male pronouns. and even though that was at a point in my life where i was desperately trying to not be trans and avoiding thinking about my sexuality, it still felt like coming home

[idlyfretting]

I want everything we missed between S3 and S4. I want all of it.

I want the kids starting high school and being totally overwhelmed by normal shit when they’ve only just gotten used to weird alternate dimension shit. 

I want Robin starting senior year and all of her friends from band and soccer and drama club and everything else being like “who the fuck is this person and what did they do with Robin????” because she comes back from summer break and is just not right.

I want Steve baffling Keith because he’s definitely flirting with every girl over the age of eighteen who walks into the store, but he’s not being a douchebag? He’s not being mean to Keith, like at all? He’s not being all buddy buddy with him obviously, because that would be fucking weird, but he’s just sort of being normal? Like a normal flirty good-looking former jock who knows how to talk to people? (And Keith definitely thinks he’s been flirting with every hot adult person who comes into the store, but it’s Steve fucking Harrington so that can’t be right????)

I want Nancy running that newspaper like it’s the goddamn New York Times and nobody even thinks to question her about anything because who the hell is gonna question Nancy Wheeler? She’s scary.

I want Eddie seeing these three freshies walk into the cafeteria with what he thinks is fear, but after corralling them and inviting them to Hellfire and making them eat lunch with him and the other members every day, realizes it’s not actually fear, it’s just sensory overload. They’re not actually afraid of the popular kids or the jocks or the teachers or the bullies, they’re just baffled. Almost like they didn’t realize it should be an issue at all?

And they start coming to Hellfire meetings and these kids are fantastic. Their characters are perfect additions to the group and the campaign he started at the beginning of the year is gonna be fucking aces because their group is so well rounded now. 

And sometimes Lucas bring his girlfriend Max Mayfield to the sessions, which isn’t so bad because she mostly just sits in the corner doing her homework or listening to music. But sometimes she does listen in, and scoffs at certain plot points in the story, or laughs at parts that definitely aren’t supposed to be funny.

And Robin Buckley shows up a couple times as well, mostly doing the same as Max, but one time she watched them play and it was nerve-wracking as hell having someone essentially stalking around them, giving whispered comments to the three freshmen that either resulted it grim nods or obnoxious laughter. Which, what the fuck, how does she know these kids???? (Kids who Eddie definitely thinks are half feral, but absolutely loves them anyway.)

But then one day late in October, the session runs late, and it’s just the Hellfire boys this time, and it’s a FANTASTIC boss fight (not the final one, but still a big damn deal), and everyone is tired but riding high on an epic win, and they all file out of the school into the cold parking lot. And just a couple spaces away from Eddie’s van is Steve fucking Harrington’s stupid maroon beemer. 

And Harrington is sitting on the trunk of it, leaning against the back windshield, casual as anything, with Robin fucking Buckley sitting right next to him. 

Leaning against him. Practically sitting in his goddamn lap.

She’s got a book propped open on her knees, combat boots up on the trunk, and she’s resting her head on his chest.

Harrington’s laying all the way back, stupid douchey sunglasses on, either staring at the sky or just full on sleeping. 

They’ve both got matching green vests on. 

A shout from one of the kids has them perking up to look in their direction. Robin rolls her eyes and marks her place in the book before hopping down from the car. Harrington stays where he is but sits up with a grin on his face.

Before Eddie can say anything, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike race over to them and start talking over each other about the campaign. About how fucking cool the session was, about the monster they defeated, about the tactics they had to use to survive the whole things. 

Eddie doesn’t know what he expects to happen, didn’t even consider the possibility of these nerdy freshman knowing Steve “The Hair” Harrington, but they obviously do. 

Harrington just nods along, asking them a question that Eddie can’t hear that spawns another slew of comments from the kids. The three of them pile into the backseat of the beemer while Buckley takes the front and Harrington slides into the driver’s seat. As the car starts up, the radio blares something loud and poppy and definitely something from the top 40. 

This doesn’t seem to deter the kids, who Eddie can see leaning forward from the back, still regaling Harrington and Buckley with their successful session. The red beemer pulls out of the lot, and continues down the street out of sight.

Eddie is still standing by the back entrance of the school, Gareth, Jeff, and Alan behind him. All of them frozen, completely dumbfounded by what the last five minutes.

“What the actual fuck?”

[linghxr]

Playlist Spotlight - My Rock-ish Mandopop Playlist

Not long ago I shared that you can follow me on Spotify! Thanks to everyone who has followed me/one of my playlists. Anyway, I wanted to make a post dedicated to my Rock Out playlist (yes I know the name is lame—I couldn’t think of anything good). This playlist is also my most followed!

Before I got into Mandopop, I mostly listened to indie rock, alt rock, pop rock, etc. I used to listen to heavier music, but my tastes slowly shifted. As a result, I don't really listen to straight-up Chinese rock, but I do love rock-ish music.

Today I’ll be highlighting some songs/artists from Rock Out. I hope you enjoy them. I went through to try and make sure none of these songs have been featured on my blog before (but I may have missed one or two).

周笔畅 / Bibi Zhou Bibi doesn’t have a lot of rock songs, but the few she has are soooo good. And the clips I’ve seen of her performing them live are great as well.

《别装了》 has a slightly-dated sound, but I mean this in a good way. Everyone needs a go-to 2010 pop-rock song.

《沉默的真相》 is from a soundtrack, and it’s so good that I’m planning to watch the show. It starts out more dark and lowkey but really takes off.

《荷米斯》 is one of those songs that makes me feel effortlessly cool (which I am not).

孟慧圆 / Meng Huiyuan 《背比》 is a very bouncy song. It’s also short and snappy—just a lot of fun to listen to all around.

张惠妹 / A-Mei I mean, you already know the legendary A-Mei. I don’t even have to say anything. A-Mei has two great rock albums (AMIT and AMIT2) plus some other rock-leaning songs here and there. But I wanted to feature some of her songs from other albums.

《发生什么事》 is loud and powerful. You can just let go and jam out to this song.

《不要乱说》 gives off strong don’t mess with me vibes. I feel empowered yet intimidated at the same time.

《不顾一切》 would make the most perfect spy or action movie theme song! And I would definitely watch the movie.

徐佳莹 / LaLa Hsu 《拉拉队》 puts me in a instant good mood. It’s very peppy, which is perfect because 拉拉队 means cheerleading squad.

林宥嘉 / Yoga Lin 《热血无赖》 is fast-paced and upbeat. It will definitely jolt you awake if you’re drowsy. I hope that 林宥嘉 makes more rock-infused songs in the future!

林忆莲 / Sandy Lam 《盖亚》 is arguably one of the least rock songs here, but it’s a true masterpiece, so you should listen to it anyway. It will 打动你 for sure. It’s very grand and powerful with a strong message too.

莫文蔚 / Karen Mok About a year ago I was listening to Karen Mok 24/7. And I still listen to her all the time today. She has some great rock songs from throughout her career.

《I Will Be Fine》 would be the perfect song to play while racing through the city at night with the windows down. Yes, that is very specific. But that’s how it makes me feel, and I think the lyrics fit.

《因为所以》 is mellow in a sad, wallowing way. The lyrics are quiet tragic, but they are a good opportunity to practice 因为……所以.

《野》 gets the blood pumping! It makes you want to get moving or maybe even headbang a little.

萧敬��� / Jam Hsiao I’ve been meaning to explore 萧敬腾’s discography ever since I heard 《皮囊》 on 乘风破浪的姐姐. I think the best way to describe this song is wild and in-your-face. The delivery comes across as the perfect amount of unhinged.

蔡健雅 / Tanya Chua 《多米诺》 is not a style of song Tanya has explored a lot, which is a shame because she’s good at it! It’s not anything groundbreaking, but it’s a solid and catchy pop-rock song.

薛之谦 / Joker Xue 薛之谦 is my latest Mandopop obsession. I’ve been listening to his music nonstop lately. He has quite a few rock-ish songs, but he can truly pull off all styles.

《慢半拍》 has an addictive little bounce to it, but it also has a rather sinister feel. And it’s infectious from the first listen.

《野心》 to me sounds epic in a dark way? It’s hard to describe. It feels like there is a story with many twists and turns behind the lyrics.

《凤毛麟角》 was described as causing goosebumps in the YouTube comments. I find that very fitting. It’s kind of haunting, at least the quieter sections are.

许含光 / Lumi Hsu 《安森girl》 gives me the feeling of cutting loose. It sounds like youth and making mistakes.

路嘉欣 / Jozie Lu 《你不懂》 is a perfect teen angst song. It makes me feel oddly nostalgic. I think I would have liked this song a lot back in high school too.

邓紫棋 / GEM 《不存在的存在》 is the closest to rock I’ve heard from GEM. This song slowly and steadily builds to a crescendo, and then calms down again. It’s very dark and sorrowful.

郭顶 / Guo Ding 《落地之前》 is so smooth and atmospheric. There’s really nothing to dislike. And of course I just had to include a 郭顶 song. The whole album this song is from is perfection.

韦礼安 / WeiBird 《狼》 astonished me upon first listen because I had no idea 韦礼安 had this in him! And wow, he really pulled it off. This song is bombastic!

[scattered-winter]

the only mcu movie I can think of right off the top of my head that was genuinely enjoyable to me (and still is no matter how many times I rewatch it) was black panther. the story is still pretty generic in the sense that The Protagonist has a Bad Guy with Personal Connections that he has to fight, but the thing that made BP so interesting was that the villain wasn't just fascinating, he was right. and unlike so many other superhero movies that would have ignored the very real, very valid points that the antagonist offered for the sake of The Protagonist always, always needing to be right, Black Panther offered a very interesting narrative where The Protagonist saw the angatonist's point, and realized what he was ultimately trying to do (help people the way wakanda is very much equipped to do) and decided that yes, he had the right idea. instead of stubbornly clinging to his ideas of right and wrong, T'challa changed up the status quo and actually did something to prevent something like what happened to Killmonger ever happening to anyone else again. from a writing standpoint, it was a very interesting narrative that, in my opinion, made the movie so much more nuanced and fascinating than a lot of other mcu movies. I just wish that more of Marvel's writers cared less about money and hype and cared more about actually.....writing a good story

(it should be mentioned that I haven't read any black panther comics, so I was just looking at this from the standpoint of someone who's only ever seen the movie lol)

Like, I can *live* with all the things the MCU messed up, I can move on and just say it’s not that good. But it’s incredibly annoying how it twists the general opinion of the characters.

Loki is apparently everyone’s favorite sad boy who dates an alternate version of himself.

Scarlet Witch is a character who’s been Romani and Jewish for years, her parents were holocaust survivors for crying out loud, but now people only think of her as the white washed character who joined a nazi organization.

Clint is a deaf character with serious attachment issues but now he’s just Mr. family man.

Spider-Man is, well, Spider-Man. But now he’s Iron Man Jr, and has a awesome high tech suit instead of Peter taking the weekends to sew its holes together.

The Hulk is a meme now and not a suicidal man with DID.

I’m just… really worried about what their portrayal of Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight might do to the characters.

[forbidding-souda]

Hey Mod Souda! Thank you so much for the healing factor request, can you uh please do Mikan, Ibuki, Peko and Sayaka with an S/O who already has kids, that they had them when they were really young?

Mikan Tsumiki, Ibuki Mioda, Peko Pekoyama, and Sayaka Maizono with a S/O who already has kids

based request from based anon

currently listening: james bond vs austin powers by epic rap battles of history

-Mod Souda

Mikan Tsumiki

❤ She gets nervous around kids. Dealing with them while on the job is rather easy, all she has to do is put a smile on her face and tell them that she's proud of them. But meeting your kids rendered her speechless. She forgot how to even interact around people - which is something that happens a lot anyway. There was always the chance that your child would hate her. She imagined them pulling on her hair, yelling at her and drawing on her skin with those cheap crayola markers.

❤ But the more time she spent around them, the easier it gets. These is just a tiny versions of you - and your children doesn't love her any less than you do. She always saves for them little stickers that are in the pediatric ward of the hospitals she volunteers at. She gets for them building sets like legos whenever she feels the means to.

"Up?" Your youngest asks, standing in front of Mikan with their arms raised. She blinks. And then she looks at you, panic in her eyes, wondering if it's okay for her to touch them. You give her a small laugh before nodding.

She picks them up from under the armpits, holding them curiously before tucking them into her arm. They grab at her hair, wrapping their fingers around it.

"See - it's easy." You smile. "You're a natural."

❤ Watching her bandage up your youngest kid makes you feel so much more safe with leaving them around her. When they scrapped their knee, she sat them down and began explaining to them the process of using bandages, brushing their hair from their forehead and infodumping to try and distract them from crying.

❤ She became suddenly hyper cautious when around them.

❤ "Kids get injured a lot," you have to explain to her. "But you can't be too worried about it. It's just the growing up process."

.

Ibuki Mioda

❤ Plays with your children as if she was their age. She makes pillow forts, imaginary cars out of cardboard boxes, ties blankets around her as if they were capes, and makes flower crowns for your daughter. When it comes to bed time, you're going to have to negotiate with her, too. She gets your kids all riled up, which is a good thing when you're not in the mood to be dealing with that army, but a bad thing when it comes to being a responsible adult.

❤ She teaches them music. In a funny light: lot of guitar hero. But literally, the most patient and calm you've ever seen her is when she was teaching them how to wrap their little fingers around a bass. Beyond the riffs, she was teaching them basic scales, something you didn't even realize she knew. It hardly crossed your mind that she paid attention to any form of music theory.

"Come on, are you sure they need to sleep?" She whines, lifting the blanket from over her body, where she was chasing them around pretending to be a ghost.

"Am I sure? It's 11pm - yes, I believe I'm sure."

She sticks her tongue out at you. "Party pooper!"

Your kids laugh, whining along with her. She turns them against you consistently. You just sigh and scoop them up in your arms, carrying them away from her.

❤ Coming home and seeing them all cuddled on the couch is such a heart warming sight. Most of the time, she is asleep with them, but sometimes she is humming to them or singing loudly.

❤ She gets them so much candy that you feel the need to confiscate it. Which also means, hey, you get to eat some, too.

❤ And she has so much mobile games on her phone that half of the time she's not even the one playing on it - it's just them playing and watching over their shoulders.

❤ She's like their older sister - they couldn't be more happy to have her around.

.

Peko Pekoyama

❤ They were scared of her at first. She never smiled around them, she never showed that she loved them or even cared for them. She was just this terrifying figure that loomed around the house. They were more surprised that she wasn't a demon. But once she started cooking them breakfast, helping the young ones get dressed for school, and buying them fluffy stuffed animals they realized that she meant no harm. Whenever she wasn't around they started asking you where she was. You didn't think they would miss her that much when she was on missions.

❤ You were surprised to see her playing with them. She would pick them up, holding them upside down and spinning them around. They would often find the weapons that she has hidden around her body, and you moved quicker than her when it comes to taking it away from them. One of the first times you've seen her smile was when you gasped when seeing a knife in their hand. The cockiness - horrible.

"It is good for them to learn how to defend themselves." Peko holds the knife in front of you, showing you, as if you don't know what a knife looks like.

"Not with a weapon - they will hurt themselves before they hurt someone else."

"It is a part of their learning."

You shake your head, getting the frustration out of your body with the motion. "Let them be in their double digits first, at least."

❤ And their school called you one afternoon, telling you that one of your kids had flipped somebody on their back and pinned them to the ground. Immediately you sighed. It was her wasn't it.

❤ Which, you weren't too mad, rather impressed that she had managed to teach them that behind your back.

.

Sayaka Maizono

❤ Your kids were dying to meet her. They saw you on her instagram before you even told them she was your girlfriend. Your oldest almost had a heart attack. So you took them to one of her shows, and then backstage, where they met her for the first time. It was as if they forgot you even existed. At least they like her, you think.

❤ She is more motherly than you thought. She wakes up early to make them breakfast, and she also cooks them dinner for you. She can do their hair, she can bathe the young ones, she can care for them more than you even expected her to. They call her mom quickly into the relationship. They have so much fun singing her songs with her - you thought she would get tired of it, but she sings with them the same energy she has on stage.

She hums, brushing their hair in the bathroom when you wake up. You stand in the doorway for a second. For some reason, the situation surprises you. It's the weekend, and they usually sleep in, did she wake them up?

"Heyyy," you smile sleepily.

"Good morning!" She smiles at you, her blue eyes sparkling. "I'm taking them to the dance studio - I hope that's alright with you. You can come if you want."

A day without the kids, sounds like a blessing.

"That's perfectly fine by me. I'll stay here and clean."

She nods, knowingly, smiling to herself. "I hope your day is nice and relaxing, then."

❤ Sometimes they will write her songs for her to perform. One of your kids has a knack for instruments, and Sayaka loves to perform music with them, especially late at night when you tell her they need to be sleeping.

❤ Their rooms have posters of her - which you thought was weird at first, but you tell yourself it's better than them not liking her.

❤ Which, you would have posters of her, too, she's just so damn pretty.

[gloseoks-ia]

✩ new year’s eve - bang chan ✩

pairing: bang chan x gn!reader

summary: you and chan are the only two without someone to kiss at midnight

word count: 1k

warnings: none, just lots of fluff and party fairy felix

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

small a/n before we start: hello friends! this is my first real attempt at imagine writing. hopefully everyone enjoys it, i’m always open to comments and helpful critiques! also the biggest thanks to my pals @plutominho for inspiring me to start writing again, i love you guys :D

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

you walk next to your best friend, listening to him ramble on about how epic the party tonight was going to be. it was new year’s eve, and chan had convinced you to go to one of his friends houses for a party this year. normally you stayed and had movie marathons through the night at each other’s houses. but this year, chan heard a friend was throwing a big party and insisted you both try something new this year and go.

“i know parties aren’t really our thing, well, not really your thing, but it’ll be fun. i’ll be there with you the whole night, i promise.” chan grins at you and you feel yourself smiling back, his happy personality a contagious thing.

“you better not leave me, or you can find another ride home,” you say jokingly, lightly nudging his arm.

“i won’t! you don’t have to threaten me.” chan reaches his hand up to knock on the apartment door. you can hear music from inside, but not quite so loud that other neighbors would complain.

the door opens, revealing chan’s friend, felix, was it? you hadn’t met him before, but you remember chan talking about his favorite friend from work.

“hey!” he smiles brightly at the two of you and opens the door more to let you both in. “welcome to the greatest new year’s eve party of your life!”

your eyes widen as you look around, there aren’t quite as many people there as you’d thought there might be. but you did have to admit, felix went above and beyond with his new year’s themed decorations. what looked like hundreds of glittery balloons hang from the ceiling, the doorways, and are strewn about the floor of the apartment. gold and black streamers hand with the balloons, posters with the words “happy new year!” are plastered on each wall and oversized glitter is simply everywhere.

you lean over to chan. “does he go this all out like this for every holiday?”

chan nods. “yeah, he says baking and holiday decorating are two of his main gifts in life.”

“oh, good to know,” you say. you spy a table loaded with desserts and make a small beeline for it, chan following behind you. the table is covered with plates of almost every baked good you could think of, and they all looked amazing. you know right where you would be staying for the rest of the night.

you pick up a brownie and offer one to chan as well. “there’s nothing weird in these, right?”

chan just shakes his heads and takes a bite. “nope.”

you take a bite of brownie as well and you’re pretty sure it’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten. “these are so good, i can’t believe you’ve been hiding this brownie fairy from me for so long!”

chan shrugs and lets out a laugh. “you never asked.”

~~~

the night wears on and chan eventually convinces you to move away from the brownies and say hi to some people with him. as much as you want to stay plastered to the wall next to the brownie table, you follow him anyway. along the way at some point, he slips his hand into yours to make sure he doesn’t leave you behind with a bunch of people you don’t really know.

it’s getting closer to midnight and everyone’s starting to get ready for the big countdown that would shoot the world into a new year. felix had somehow managed to keep the dessert table full and the party under control all night. he really is the perfect party fairy.

there are only a couple minutes left now and people are starting to pair up and gather around felix’s tv to see the countdown. it seems like everyone had paired up with someone for the big kiss that always happens right at midnight.

chan fidgets a little next to you. you figure he might wander off soon to find someone to kiss for new years but instead he stays planted right next to you.

“so,” he says, something like nervousness creeping up in his voice. “it, uh, it looks like just about everyone has someone to kiss at midnight.”

you nod and look around. “yeah, it looks like it.”

“except for us.” chan lets out a breathy laugh. “i guess that means you have to kiss me. i-if you want, i don’t want to pressure you.” he looks at you, his sweet eyes full of sincerity.

there’s only a minute left to go now, and the room is starting to get louder with shouts for the new year, but all you can see is the boy in front of you.

“it would be wrong to break tradition, right?” you smile and the one he gives you back is that same one that lights up every room, deep dimples poking his cheeks. you bring your hands up to cup his face and if possible, he smiles even wider.

the 10 second countdown starts and chan takes a small step closer to you, his arms gently wrapping around your waist. he leans his forehead against yours and gazed into your eyes.

as the clock strikes midnight, chan whispers, “happy new year,” before tilting his head to kiss you. you kiss him back and feel yourself smiling. the whoops and cheers from the party fade away and for that one perfect moment, it’s just you and your favorite person, the boy you love.

chan pulls you closer before slowly letting your lips disconnect and rests his forehead on yours again, another beaming smile gracing his beautiful features.

“i’ve wanted to do that for so long,” he says, just loud enough for you to hear him over the din of the party around you.

“honestly, so have i,” you gently stroke his cheeks with your thumbs. “it was perfect.”

chan hums quietly. “it was, and you can have more whenever you want, i’m yours.” he backs up slightly. “that is if you want... me.”

you laugh and nod, pulling him in closer again. “of course i do. i wouldn’t be standing here talking about kissing you if i didn’t.”

chan gives you a relieved smile and kisses you once more, shorter this time, but still just as sweet. “i’m glad. then happy new year baby, here’s to the year of you and me.”

“happy new year, to this year, and all the years of us to come.”

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

[heezoneie]

Enhypen: when you wake them up just to say "I love you"

i love this one 🥺! thank you for the request! <3

group: enhypen

member: all

genre: the fluffiest

word count: 1.5k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heeseung: You had just gotten home from a long day at school/work, and all you wanted to do was cuddle with your boyfriend and eat some food. As you set your stuff down, you looked around noticing your boyfriend was no where to be seen. You looked at the time on your watch: 8:30 pm. “It’s not that late,” you thought. Making your way to your shared bedroom, you saw the door slightly ajar. You quietly pushed opened the door and walked in to see your boyfriend passed out in the middle of the bed. Smiling fondly, you walked up to Heeseung. His adorable face was squished against the pillow, and to you that was the best sight ever. After admiring Heeseung for a little, you went to put on some more comfortable clothes for the night. You crawled into bed and snuggled up to Heeseung. His eyes fluttered open. “Hi baby,” He said with a raspy voice. Looking at him, your eyes held nothing but pure adoration for him. “Hey,” you whispered. He put his face in the crook of your neck, “When did you get home?” “Just now, you look so cute while you sleep,” you mused. He buried his face deeper as heat rose to his cheeks. A comfortable silence fell, and neither of you wanted to leave your current position. “I love you,” You said with sincerity. Heeseung’s eyes met with yours, and he leaned in to connect your lips. “I love you too.”

Jay: The journey home was long. Sitting in the back of the travel van, Jay rested on your shoulder. You had your earbuds in, listening to whatever shuffled through your playlists. While one hand was latched with Jay’s, you used the other to adjust the air to make sure it wasn’t too cold for him. The passing lights mixed with the moon beams cascaded onto your boyfriends face. You didn’t think it was possible for someone to look so ethereal. Even though he wasn’t all dressed up as he normally is, you couldn’t have been more in love. His dark hair falling over his forehead perfectly, while his body was covered in a simple sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. You were truly in love. You began to pepper kisses lightly over his face. Lifting his head up, he looked at you with droopy eyes. “How did i get so lucky?” You said without thinking. A blush found it’s way to the tips of his ears and cheeks. “Honey....” He trailed off, taken back from just waking up. It wasn’t very often Jay got flustered like this. You decided to take it to your advantage. “I’m so in love with you, I don’t think you understand.” Jay could see the genuine glint of love in your eyes. “I love you too, honey.” He pressed a soft kiss to your lips, leaving you falling deeper in love with the boy in front of you.

Jake: The sun was beginning to set, the purple and pink hues in the sky slowly dissipating into the twinkling black night. Your head rested on Jake’s chest as you two stared at the stars. It was a normal thing for you two to go stargazing. There was something so special and intimate about the moments that only you, Jake, and the stars would ever know about. The countless kisses and jokes made under the stars were something that you couldn’t replace with anything else. You had been rambling about a possible shooting star, when you noticed Jake’s breathing had gotten heavier and slower. You looked up from you position on his chest, to see your amazing boyfriend illuminated by stars. The shine of moonlight graced his face like a painting made by the most exquisite of artists. Every detail of him made you fall deeper and deeper into him. Moving some hair out of his eyes, you whispered, “I love you, so much. I’ll never be able to express how much Jake.” His mouth curved up into his heart-melting smile. “I’m glad we feel the same way angel.”

Sunghoon: Curled up under blankets, you and Sunghoon’s eyes were glued to the tv in font of you. You guys were having your annual movie night. Typically, it would be loud, as the other boys join you, but tonight they were all busy doing who knows what. Of course, neither you nor Sunghoon were complaining, this just meant more alone time. With their comeback happening, you and Sunghoon haven’t been able to be alone, him doing show after show, stage after stage. Being the supportive s/o you were, you made sure not to complain, all you wanted was to see your boy happy. You began to notice how Sunghoon’s eyes started to get heavier, trying to stay awake for you. You slowly reached your hand to his head, tangling your fingers in his soft hair. After his eyes finally shut, you placed a kiss on his head, “I love you Hoonie.” Too tired to make coherent words, Sunghoon snuggled impossibly closer as to return the gesture.

Sunoo: The sounds of the rain and the soft music leaving the speaker filled the silence of the room. The space illuminated by the candles lit on the bedside table. Even though it was a rainy and cold day, you couldn’t help but relish in the time you were being granted with Sunoo. You both were cuddled together under the fluffy comforter in his bed. You two had been in his room for the past couple hours, hiding from his fellow members, and cherishing being with each other. The day consisted of you two whispering sweet little words and playful cuddles, falling deeper in love. You did whatever you could to make sure you got see the beautiful smile that could easily put any diamonds or gems to shame. After deciding to rest, Sunoo fell asleep rather quickly, leaving you time to admire his features. A quiet “I love you,” slipped past your lips and into his ears. Despite being in dreamland, he still heard you. Mumbling a sleepy, “I love you too,” Sunoo’s grasp on you tightened. Smiling softly at the sight, you laid your head down and followed him into a deep sleep.

Jungwon: Gathering every pillow in sight, you and Jungwon began to build the most epic pillow fort anybody could have seen. Laughing amongst yourselves, the other members helped bring you guys blankets for your little fort. After about an hour of trial and error, you both finally were able to find a sturdy way to keep your fort from falling. Setting up extra blankets and pillows, you both cocooned yourselves together in the fort. A laptop sitting in the middle of the fort played a movie, which helped give some light in your otherwise dark space. Adjusting to a more comfortable position, you and Jungwon tangled your legs together. Your head in the crook of his neck, and his own resting over top yours. Jungwon soon fell asleep, unbeknownst to you. Hearing some mumbling coming from the boy, you assumed he was still awake. Some more incoherent words fell from his lips, and you decided to speak up, “Wonie? I can’t understand what your saying.” Lifting your head, you looked at his sleeping face. As you did so, his words began to get more clearer, “I love you...” A blush formed on your cheeks, and you laid your head back down. “I love you too, Wonie.”

Ni-ki: Riki had come to spend the day with you at your house, as he had time away from the company. He arrived at your house around lunchtime, with a bag of food he picked up on his way over. After eating the food, you both retreated to your living room to hang out. “We should play Just Dance,” Riki said looking over to you. “Nooo, you know your gonna beat me. You have an unfair advantage.” You huffed. Chuckling, he stood up to turn on the game system anyways. He walked back over to where to sat on the couch, and handed you a controller. “Get up, we are gonna have fun. If it makes you feel better we can do the team setting so you are guaranteed to do good.” He offered. Deciding to participate, you stood up. “Fine, but ONLY if we do teams.” Smiling, he pulled you to the middle of the room and you two began your Just Dance marathon. After a couple of hours, you both collapsed on the couch, Riki on top of you. “Wow, i’m so tired after that. I feel like i just ran 80 miles.” Laughing at your statement, Riki found himself falling asleep rather quickly to the feeling of your hand running through his hair. Feeling his breathe even out, you whispered a quiet “I love you,” in his ear. “I love you too,” he whispered back. After some time, you realized you were both sweaty, “Riki, we both need to go take showers.” As he lifted his head, you saw a mischievous smile on his face. Looking at him questionably, his hands rose to your sides and began tickling you. It was safe to say neither of you got to take a shower for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I hope you all enjoyed! feel free to send in any requests, thoughts, or ideas! <3

[xaeyrnofnbe]

just had the most epic realization ever. it’s epic only to me but maybe somebody else will also enjoy it.

ok so have you ever listened to the album Superorganism? by the band Superorganism? if you haven’t, you should. ok basically it’s like my favorite album, no i don’t know what kind of music it is, no i haven’t listened to any of their other stuff, no i don’t even really know how i got into it. not the point. the point is i absolutely love this album from start to finish and for a while it was like my comfort music. like whenever i wasn’t feeling good i’d listen to it and be better, it helped prevent a lot of panic attacks. the main issue being it had such a specific vibe and theme i couldn’t imagine my stupid hyperfixation-themed brain-amv’s (my usual way of enjoying music) bc nothing i liked matched the vibe at ALL. at least nothing i liked enough to do that with it.

i had such a specific idea in mind- it would have to be a piece of media with some kind of simulation or hivemind or general unreality stuff as the dominant Thing Happening. and i didn’t know of anything like that. (that i liked very much)

and then just now i was just listening to one of those spotify playlists they generate with stuff you like? which i haven’t done in a while and the first song in Superorganism came on and i was like wait. hold on. oh my god. literally my most recent hyperfixation. it’s perfect.

anyways go listen to Superorganism by Superorganism and think about jrwi blood in the bayou. thank me later. or ignore this, that works just fine as well.

(btw if you’re gonna check it out, be careful if you’re sensitive to loud sudden noises bc there’s a lot of that in most of the songs)

[randomvarious]

Today’s mix:

Global Underground 012: Buenos Aires by Dave Seaman 1999 Trance / Progressive Trance / Progressive House

Alright, so, I'm continuing this journey through Boxed Records' famed Global Underground dance mix series, a set of releases I've always given a hard side-eye to, because, honestly, I really find that whole superstar globetrotting DJ aesthetic thing to be super fucking corny. I mean, like, how could you not, right? Everyone loves a good DJ, but part of what makes electronic dance music unique from most other types is that it's sort of rooted in this idea of facelessness and anonymity. And with these mixes it's the opposite. Regardless of the quality of the music that's inside each disc, these DJs' faces get plastered on these CD covers like they're some kind of solo artist who actually made the music themselves. But they didn't! Record companies just know there's money to be made when you build a personal brand around someone, and a huge part of that branding begins with putting a face to the name. But the whole thing's silly because all these DJs did was merely select and connect the songs. And now you're trying to make them the center of attention when it should be the music itself and not the DJ, because the DJ had nothing to do with the actual process of making the songs! And the songs are ultimately what make a mix good or bad! It's merely a ham-fisted, absurd attempt at trying to engender this idea that the DJ is somehow actually more important than the musicians who actually made the music that the DJs play, and then trying to capitalize on it! And I'm sorry to say it, but it's fucking worked! Damn you, Paul Oakenfold!

Anyway. My assumptions with this series have been proven wrong before—most especially with the second disc in Nick Warren's Brazil release, which is incredible—but those assumptions happen to be holding firm today with this Buenos Aires double-disc from UK native Dave Seaman. Both of these sets just don't seem to have enough juice. And that's an unpopular opinion because a lot of people on Discogs really love this thing, but I'm personally not hearing it. Don't get me wrong, there's some really good tracks in both sets, but I'm not bowled over by the totality of either of them, and nor am I really following the narrative that Seaman was trying to construct on either side here. He went more chill and atmospheric with the first set and I'm appreciative of how less conventional it is compared to other DJ mixes, but in that final leg, where it really counted, it kind of just fell flat for me.

The second disc is a bit more dancefloor-oriented, but I still didn't really feel it either. It just doesn't seem like it's cohesively building towards anything and a bunch of the tracks just feel like they're missing something. However, here's a fun piece of trivia for you: remember Natasha Bedingfield, the lady behind that "feel the rain on your skin" cheesy pop classic from 2004? Well, she's on Origin's "Refined Intricacy '99" here, uncredited, and I think, something, like, 14 years old? It's a near 12-and-a-half-minute epic that briefly hits really nicely when Origin seep the piano in. And the penultimate track, "Feeling" by Polarity, is dope too. Probably my favorite track out of either set. Supreme combo of stabbing synth, hard 4/4 kick drum with a jingling hi-hat, and a muffled hand drum rhythm too. Just excellent stuff there.

But there are simply far more misses on these discs than there are hits. I've now listened to three of these Global Underground double-discs; Nick Warren's Brazil and Tony De Vit's Tokyo both had a disc that was very much worth listening to and one that wasn't. And for what it's worth, I think that both of these Seaman discs are better than the lesser discs from those other two releases. But they're also still pretty much worth skipping entirely if you're looking for a solid DJ mix to listen to. And many people will probably disagree with me on that, but I just have to live my truth, so feel free to come at me 😎.

Listen to CD1 here. Listen to CD2 here.

Highlights:

CD1:

Underworld - "Jumbo (François K & Rob Rives Remix)" Dutch Liquid - "Smooth Groove" Deep Cover - "Breakthrough" Funk Function - "Empress Zero" Enzo Scifo - "I'm Alive (Mara's Dub)" AMbassador - "The Fade (Oliver Lieb Mix)"

CD2:

Planisphere - "Deep Blue Dream" Origin - "Refined Intricacy '99" Polarity - "Feeling"

[tillidontneedfantasy]

A Track-by-Track Breakdown of Taylor Swift’s 9th Studio Album: ‘evermore’

“My collaborators and I are proud to announce that my 9th studio album and folklore’s sister record is here. It’s called evermore,” is how Taylor Swift introduces us to this album in its foreword. One might assume a “sister record” would entail b-sides, or tracks that didn’t quite make the cut for folklore, despite Taylor’s explanation that “we just couldn’t stop writing songs.” evermore’s release came at a strange time, upon the heels of the Folklore: Long Pond Studio Sessions film on Disney+, as well as 5 Grammy nominations for folklore. The world still captivated by folklore, it’s understandable why one might not consume evermore as critically. Even as a die-hard fan, I felt some whiplash by this announcement; I am still processing folklore! Hell, I’m still processing reputation!

If this was the Taylor from two years ago, this may have been a big enough fear of hers to hold off on releasing evermore. But as she explained upon folklore’s surprise release, life is too unpredictable now, and there are zero givens or guarantees. So she followed the same path this time (although making sure it fell in line with her birthday weekend). But it’s not just the strategic timing of the release that she’s thrown out the window for now, but also her mindset whilst making records. As she explains in the evermore album foreword,

“I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one as soon as an album was released. There was something different with folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found. So I just kept writing them.”

This is a revelation for Swift, to let the music lead her into artistic freedom, which is what makes evermore such a triumphant return. Truly folklore’s sister record, Taylor wrote evermore with the same creative team: Aaron Dessner of The National (Swift’s favorite band), long-time pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and William Bowery aka Swift’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn (as officially revealed in the Long Pond Studio Sessions). Additionally, former 1989 tour openers and close friends of Taylor, the HAIM sisters, join the crew, along with Marcus Mumford for some dreamy backup vocals.

The production is just as wistful and mesmerizing as it was on folklore, yet the storytelling on evermore is kicked up a notch, expanding on the topics and worldbuilding established in its sister record, with even sharper lyrics and an effective and elaborate use of alliteration. The best thing about Taylor is that no matter what she does, her masterful lyricism is always at the heart of her art, and somehow, she keeps getting better. Once again, I wanted to explore the rich stories she’s crafted in this woodsy universe. This is how I’ve interpreted the album, but I hope you find your own meaning in the songs as well.

1. willow It is fitting that the opening track to folklore’s sister album, where we wade further into the forest that is Taylor Swift’s imagination and storytelling, would center on the type of tree that is a symbol of hope, belonging, safety, stability, and healing. “willow,” one of the few more obviously autobiographical tracks on the album, is a hymn of gratitude for her man (as she wants you to know, yes, thirteen times), Joe Alwyn, and how the invisible string tethering them together pulled her to him in a time when everyone else was counting her out. Though not as present on many of the other songs later to come on this record, you can feel the lightness in her heart on this song as she embraces the way in which the willow has bent, wrecking her plans, throwing her into the water and leaving her happily lost and afloat in his current. The downward key modulation throughout the last two repetitions of the chorus is beautiful and very fitting for Swift vocally, but also sounds like the feeling of finding your comfort and settling into it, basking it in while you wait for the next place the wind pulls you. Best lyric: “Now this is an open/shut case / I guess I should’ve known from the look on your face / Every bait and switch was a work of art.”

2. champagne problems On the second track of the album, Taylor dives back into the fictional worldbuilding she began to explore on folklore. While on folklore high school relationships and dramatics took center-stage, evermore graduates from adolescence to young adulthood, not that it is any easier emotionally on the listener’s heart. “champagne problems” chronicles a rejected marriage proposal between two college sweethearts at their old dorm building. Taylor sings as the narrator, a reflective, self-deprecating young woman who jokes about belonging in a madhouse and dismisses all her turmoil as champagne problems. The term ‘champagne problems’ itself could have various meanings here: their trivial concerns, the fact that their “sister splashed out on the bottle” of champagne that they will not be using to celebrate as they had hoped, or perhaps it could even hint that excessive drinking is a piece of all the ways the narrator is “fucked in the head,” as they said. Although the person she is singing to is the one who got hurt in the story, the hurt in the narrator’s heart is just as palpable and relatable, because you only have yourself to blame when you self-destruct. Best lyric: “’She would’ve made such a lovely bride, / what a shame she’s fucked in the head,’ they said / but you’ll find the real thing instead / she’ll patch up your tapestry that I shred.”

3. gold rush On her YouTube live chat prior to the album’s release, Taylor explained that this song “takes place inside a single daydream where you get lost in thought for a minute and then snap out of it.” The daydream consists of a love story so pure that the town had never seen such a thing; it could only happen in a fantasy for the narrator. How could she possibly have the gall to call them out on their contrarian shit, or end up with her Eagles t-shirt hanging from their door, when they are so coveted by all, and when she cannot withstand the thought of even competing? She sings, “My mind turns your life into folklore / I can’t dare to dream about you anymore,” a sweet little connecting piece to this album’s older sister, effectively convincing herself out of the idea of jumping into the chaos of the gold rush because even inside her own imagination it’s too dangerous. Best lyric: “I don’t like that falling feels like flying ‘till the bone crush.”

4. ‘tis the damn season According to Aaron Dessner, Taylor had written the lyrics for “’tis the damn season” in the middle of the night amidst their Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions recording after a long night of chatting and drinking with their co-conspirator, Jack Antonoff. The lyrics perfectly encapsulate the guttural ache the track evokes. It is a tale of two people who always find their way back to one another in their hometown, which acts as the ever-returning fork in the road. The path taken, back to L.A. in pursuit of her dreams, is the one she chose and continues to choose, but whenever she returns home, she takes a ride down the road not taken, just to get a taste of what could have been, even if just for the weekend. What starts off as an icy homecoming always transforms into the warmest intimacy. The success of this track is aligned with the success of Taylor’s entire career; even with such specific details, it feels so deeply personal to the listener. You know the street you’d drive along late at night laughing, the spot you’d park the car, the person who stars in every what-if. You will never really know if the road not taken is as good as it seems, but that might be ok; sometimes, the fantasy is better than the reality, anyway. Best lyric: “It’s the kind of cold / fogs up windshield glass, but I felt it when I passed you / There’s an ache in you / put there by the ache in me.”

5. tolerate it Inspired by the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, “tolerate it” is an agonizing track from the perspective of a devoted wife who polishes plates and paints portraits and waits by the door for her husband with a battle hero’s welcome, who at best tolerates all her adoration. There are few things as painful as idolization being met with indifference, when you have all this love to give to someone who just leaves it there untouched. “tolerate it” captures that desperation for the approval you know will never arrive, but you sit and watch, waiting for it just in case you’re wrong, but you know you’re not. Best lyric: “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life / drawing hearts in the byline”

6. no body, no crime feat. HAIM “no body, no crime,” the one evermore song solo-written by Taylor, has the clearest plot from beginning to end. In the same vein as the female powerhouse country classic “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks, Taylor is out for blood to avenge her friend, Este (named for one of the HAIM sisters). The story goes as such: Este’s husband kills her for calling him out on his infidelity, and then Taylor kills the husband and frames his mistress. The HAIM girls, who are long-time friends of Taylor’s and former touring mates, lend their vocals to reinforce the accusation on the husband and to provide Taylor’s alibi. “no body, no crime” is so far the closest we’ve gotten to a return to “country Taylor,” proving that she is still the master of a killer country tune (yes, pun intended, it had to be done I’m sorry). Best lyric: “Good thing Este’s sister’s gonna swear she was with me / (she was with me, dude) / Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy”

7. happiness Written a week before the album’s release, “happiness” is one of Swift’s strongest and most reflective breakup songs. Although she writes it as though it is recent, there’s a lot of power in knowing that she’s been happily in love for four years, and that she is even better now at doing the thing that has always been best at. She is finally “above the trees,” as she sings, and is able to see it all for what it is, but her character is still in the heat of it all, trying to navigate the stages of grief when a relationship ends. We see the narrator grapple with many of those stages throughout the song. Most striking is the anger displayed in the second verse when she sings: “I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool who takes my spot next to you / No, I didn’t mean that, / sorry, I can’t see facts through all of my fury.” That section is jarring and feels like one of the most honest moments in a Taylor song, the insanely difficult emotional balancing act when we are grieving a relationship. The devastation of loss can distort our perception, and a part of that is the difficulty of understanding how multiple seemingly opposing things can co-exist in our hearts, such as happiness because of someone and happiness after them. But when you leave it all behind and finally find your place above the trees, you can find happiness after someone and also look back and appreciate the happiness they once provided. Both of these things can be true. Best lyric: “Showed you all of my hiding spots / I was dancing when the music stopped.”

8. dorothea Taylor Swift has the uncanny ability to create such developed and well-rounded characters with such little information, which is what makes her storytelling so compelling. In “dorothea,” we learn much about the title character through the narrator’s eyes, and the relationship they once had. The lyric “skipping the prom just to piss off your mom and her pageant schemes” alone tells an entire story in itself. “dorothea” is also the companion song to “’tis the damn season,” just from the other person’s perspective, which helps shine even more light on the story. The narrator of “dorothea” reveres her but wonders if she’s still the same soul in L.A. as she was back in their never-changing town. Whatever the answer, they’re still willing to support her no matter where she is, but she’s always welcome back in Tupelo by her hometown love’s side if she ever just wants to be herself rather than someone known for who they know. Besides, they’re the only soul who can tell which smiles she’s faking. And you can always return to the road not taken. Best lyric: “They all wanna be ya / but are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers? / Well, I guess I’ll never know / and you’ll go on with the show.”

9. coney island feat. The National What really started the folklore / evermore journey was Taylor’s love for The National. Taylor has cited them as one of her favorite bands for many years, and as we know, this led to her beautiful new collaborative relationship with Aaron Dessner. So it would make sense for the track written with the intention of this duet to be so well executed; you can feel the love and care Taylor put into writing this song. In her press for these sister albums, she has spoken about trying to channel frontman Matt Berninger’s writing style. But what actually happened was she just produced her own signature lyricism at its sharpest. “We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be / the mischief, the gift-wrapped suburban dreams / sorry for not winning you an arcade ring over and over,” is a hall of famer Swift-ian lyric. “coney island” explores the confusion, hurt, and self-reflection when a passionate affair burns out fast because you did not prioritize that person. And to top it off, Swift and Berninger’s harmonies are achingly beautiful, transporting you right there in the story, on the bench, wondering, over and over. Best lyric: “Do you miss the rogue who coaxed you into paradise and left you there? / Will you forgive my soul when you’re too wise to trust me and too old to care?”

10. ivy Leave it to Taylor Swift to make a song about an affair sound so romantic, and so sympathetic to the narrator, that you’re rooting for adultery. “ivy” tells the tale of a woman in a lifeless marriage, likening her home with him to the tombstone that the widow in town visits each day. I like to think this is the same wife whose husband was out there building other worlds without her in “tolerate it,” because then that means she found someone who celebrates her love, who holds her pain for her, who blooms all over her; they started it, but she’s fighting for it all the way to the end, nonetheless. “ivy” showcases Swift’s gorgeous vocals and her sharp lyrics, with a melody so infectious it is bound to permanently plant its roots in your dreamland. Best lyric: “Oh, I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland / my house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I’m covered in you.”

11. cowboy like me With the beautifully blended backing vocals of Marcus Mumford, “cowboy like me” is an entrancing love story of two con artists who lost at their own game and got conned into forever with each other. She’d gone from swindling old men for their money and fancy cars to falling victim to the danger of dancing with someone who only has eyes full of stars, and she knows she’ll pay for it. “cowboy like me” is one of the most romantic tracks on the record, proving that life never plays out quite as we plan. Best lyric: “Now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon / with your boots beneath my bed / Forever is the sweetest con.”

12. long story short One of the more pop-sounding tracks on evermore, “long story short” is pretty much a summary of the long story behind reputation (2017). The song is filled with various metaphors for her reputation crumbling around her, and then finally putting her defenses down to be with her lover, someone as “rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky.” It is a sweet ode to her boyfriend, and a gentle comfort to her past self that it will all work out. But it is also an oddly relatable example of how we shrug off our struggles and minimize them to just a “bad time,” when the time she is singing about was obviously something that deeply affected her (as will be further explored in the title track); but sometimes it actually feels good to just shrug it off as just a blip in your life, because at the end of the day, you survived, and that’s what counts- even if you’re not keeping score anymore. Best lyric: “Pushed from the precipice / clung to the nearest lips / long story short, it was the wrong guy. / Now I’m all about you.”

13. marjorie Whereas track 13 on folklore was a tribute to Swift’s paternal grandfather, evermore’s track 13 is a tribute to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, who was an opera singer in the 50s, and passed away in 2003 when Taylor was 13 years old. “marjorie” is quite possibly the most touching track Taylor has ever written thus far in her career. Grief is one of the most difficult topics to tackle in a song; the genius of “marjorie” is that it is simple, yet not understated. Swift reflects on the profound lessons she learned from her grandmother, about the difficult balances of kindness and cleverness, and politeness and power. She curses herself for not cherishing the moments she had with her, for complaining rather than understanding in the moment how admirable her spirit was, for all the amber skies she’d love but will never see. The chorus, blunt and hard-hitting, reminds us that someone does not have to be living to be alive, to be all around, to be with us. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now,” Taylor sings towards the end of the song, right before you hear a sample of Finlay’s opera singing in the background, a truly eye-swelling moment. It is clear that Finlay played a pivotal role in Swift’s own ambitions, as she sings, “all your closets of backlogged dreams, and how you left them all to me.” Marjorie knew she was leaving them in good hands. If you haven’t yet, check out the moving lyric video for the song, where you can see photos and video clips of Marjorie, both throughout her career and in her time with Taylor. Best lyric: “Never be so polite you forget your power, / never wield such power you forget to be polite.”

14. closure On the most experimental track musically on the record, Taylor writes off her need for closure from a relationship of some sort, whether it be romantic or platonic or business, all of which can cause hurt of equal intensity. The subject of the song is trying to make nice with Taylor, and she is just not having it, as it is not coming from a genuine place, but rather to ensure that their life remains picture perfect, or to clear their guilty conscience, or to preserve their own ego. This is a deeply relatable sentiment; as valuable as forgiveness can be, sometimes the person who hurt you just doesn’t deserve it, and all you can do is forgive yourself for blocking their number or shredding their letters. Best lyric: “I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life / staying friends would iron it out so nice.”

15. evermore feat. Bon Iver To close out the standard edition of the album, Taylor joins forces once again with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, with whom she collaborated on the Grammy-nominated duet, “exile” for folklore. However, Swift leads most of the track this time, lamenting the difficult time she went through in 2016. The piano and Swift’s vocals are haunting, particularly when she describes this time in her life as “catching my death,” consumed by a pain that she feels will never end. If you’ve ever been depressed, you know what that feels like, and the dark places it leads you. Although she is singing about a time four years prior, it sounds so present, and it is heartbreaking to hear her in such a state. When Bon Iver comes in, the tempo of the song picks up, the piano riff becomes more erratic, like a winter storm hitting you in the face, and he voices all the anxieties of the cost of such a downfall. But through those anxieties, Taylor finds not a cure, but an anchor in love, and then the tempo slows back down. By the end of the song, Taylor has the foresight to understand that although it may not feel like it now, the pain she is experiencing is not permanent (a sentiment my therapist has been trying to instill in me for years). In her Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Taylor explained how the lyrics parallel the times we are in currently, and so it feels really special to have the album end with someone who knows how it feels to be imprisoned by your pain gently comfort us with the wisdom that “this pain wouldn’t be for evermore.” I hope one day soon, as we leave 2020 far behind, we can all truly believe her. Best lyric: “I was catching my breath / barefoot in the wildest winter catching my death.”

16. right where you left me (bonus track) The first bonus track on evermore, “right where you left me,” captures a moment so earth-crushing, a piece of you is trapped in it forever. In this song specifically, the narrator finds herself stuck in the same corner of a restaurant where she was told by someone she loved that they had met someone else. “Glass shattered on the white cloth, everybody moved on,” she sings in mourning. We have all experienced those moments that we could teleport back to if we just closed our eyes; the scenery, what you wore, the smell and taste of the season, the very point in your body where it felt like your insides were collapsing. Or that one particular person, who is long-gone from your life but seeing them is like time-travelling back to that person you once were, ready to pick up where you left off. But as much as you want to stay in that moment forever, just in case it changes in your favor, the cold reality is that the world stops for no one. Best lyric: “If our love died young, I can’t bear witness / And it’s been so long, but if you ever think you got it wrong / I’m right where you left me.”

17. it’s time to go (bonus track) “right where you left me” was Taylor’s cry for help to get out of restaurant, and “it’s time to go” is the answer to the call, as she sings in the first line, “when the dinner gets cold, and the chatter gets old / you ask for the tab.” This song is about gathering the strength to leave situations and relationships behind that no longer serve you. She grieves the betrayal of someone she thought to be a twin from her dreams (almost definitely referring to former friend, Karlie Kloss), acknowledges that keeping a marriage together for the sake of the kids often actually has the opposite intended effect (possibly- but not certainly- something she and her brother experienced), and recounts attempting to bargain with someone consumed by greed, only able to leave with herself (absolutely referring to the end of her fifteen-year long business relationship with Scott Borchetta, her former record-label owner). But as painful as leaving all of those situations was, Taylor has gained the wisdom to understand that walking away sometimes takes as much strength as persevering. You can’t stay at the restaurant, or at the mercy of someone else forever; you have to forge your own path, even if it’s in the opposite direction of what you envisioned for so long. And even with all her past success behind her, as folklore and evermore have proved, there is so much more ahead of her. Best lyric: “That old familiar body ache, the snaps from the same little breaks in your soul / You know when it’s time to go.”

In a time where we are all trapped in our homes and in our heads, the folklore/evermore experience has been the sweetest escape. If anything, the creation of these wonderful sister records has taught me that our most powerful tool in times of distress is our own imagination. Even just the ability to close my eyes while listening to one of these tracks and feel the character’s story is a gift. The way I’ve always been able to pick up Harry Potter and escape to Hogwarts when I’ve felt alone and friendless, I can listen to folklore and evermore when I feel scared or hopeless and escape into this enchanted forest Taylor has built, where I can climb above the trees and see it all for what it is. I feel so lucky to watch Taylor’s imaginative world unravel around me. I can’t wait to see what she creates next.

DISCLAIMER – REVIEWER’S BIAS: I would literally die for this bitch.  

[checkers-dance]

i come to report on my Thoughts on ateez. ok so here's my method for getting into kpop groups: i watch their music videos and if i like what i hear, i sit down to listen to their albums. if the albums convince me, i go into parasocial mode. it's A PROCESS. ANYWAY, we are past the first stage and i'm happy to say ateez has passed the vibe check. my favorite song by them is the real. like i love guerrilla, but the real just feels so grand and epic, it makes me want to go out and fight a war. and the music video is SO cool, a bit weird, but i love it so fucking much. this song gets me so hyped, i love it so much it makes me wish it was longer even though it really doesn't need to be.

their songs have always been good but their more recent releases are especially to my taste, which makes me excited for whatever they're gonna release next.

i gave some of their live perfomances a watch and they are really good on stage, they have great energy. it's super engaging to watch them.

a lot of their songs are clearly meant to be danced to and i like that, i like songs with that energy even if i don't listen to it to dance. the only real problem i have with their songs is that i think some of them feel kinda repetitive?? they have this very signature style that i can so easily see coming and it's only relatively recently that i think they've started to get more creative with it. like it makes them very recognizable but i think there's ways to do that while still sounding unique (guerrilla is very ateez sounding but it still feels really distinct and interesting).

anyway. ateez good, i think.

So I stumbled upon some ateez lore a few days ago accidentally and I think it ties into what u mentioned abt guerrilla feeling rlly distinct from ateez's other works. I was looking at eden (the composer and singer) bc I liked some of his songs and I was curious abt his discography (I think the composer and singer are the same guy? Idk I haven't looked at pictures). And then I discovered that he apparently composed a lot of ateez's songs, esp the ones that u'd associate w their sound (off the top of my head, wonderland, pirate king, promise, stuff like that). And I also specifically looked for guerrilla or other songs from that album, but I couldn't find them. So I'm wondering if ateez switched composers for some reason? Anyway thank u for the update and yay for ateez clearing the first stage

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Summer Rewatch

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have shows I just rewatch every summer for like the past almost ten years I think. Idky, but they just make me happy and represent some really good television.

Young Justice

The show managed to un cancel itself after 6 years because we fans wanted it back so bad. Why? Because it’s so good! Great twists, best OG team, snark, epic fights, moles and more. I love it, I always will.

Justice League

Another show that managed to get its own semi spinoff with Unlimited though I just consider it a season 3/4. Anyway, like above, it really cements what the Justice League is about with its epic fights, other worlds and unique roster of heroes. Plus such good epsidoes from This Little Piggy to Starcrossed in a lot of different genres.

Avatar the Last Airbender

As I’m sure everyone has realized after the Netflix resurgence, Atla sets quite a bar as it delves into tough topics like genocide, and familial trauma, utilizes Asian influences respectful, amazing bending battles, beautiful animation and all with a lot of heart.

Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

The theme song alone is a banger. I think it’s the perfect combo of edutainment teaching about various subjects from history, art, music and more with a compelling anti hero in Carmen Sandiego. Plus it has really some heartwarming moments between her and the MC, Ivy and Zack.

Liberty’s Kids

If you want to give a pretty good view of colonial/Revolutionary War, this is wonderful. I mean seriously not only goes into the founding fathers and battles and those historic dates. It also highlights lesser known figures like Phyllis Wheatley, Hamilton (long before the musical) the Hessians, anti semitism, Native genocide and others I’m forgetting for the moment, but seriously so cool. Also encouraged my first ship with James and Sarah. Also the song is still so impactful to today. I see a land with liberty for all Yet still I know the truth will rise and fall That's just the way it goes A word now to the wise The world was made to change Each day is a surprise I'm Lookin' at life through my own eyes Searchin' for a hero to idolize Feeling the pain as innocence dies I'm looking at life through my own eyes I'm hoping and praying for a brighter day I listen to my heart and I obey How can I see it any other way? I'm looking at life (looking at life) Through my own eyes

DC Superhero Girls

Not my fav as the others, but I do enjoy the zany fun of it and it’s interpretation of all these famous dc characters in a literal high school au. Also the Zatanna episodes are my favorites so far.

Honorary mention: Archie's Weird Mysteries. I love Archie so this should be no surprise and I so enjoyed his adventures even if it was a bit narmy at times.