#both lyrically and in sound imo

[mbat]

ok yeah re: the tags on my previous reblog asking why everyone thinks tøp is bad: i looked it up and literally every answer was 'it just wasnt my kind of music and therefore its bad'

also they think he sounds whiny and like an emo teenager. ??? let bro have mental issues damn, again it doesnt make the songs bad, it just makes it not your thing.

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Against the Kitchen Floor (Will Wood)

And I swear! I will die trying!/I'm still in the process, but I'm making progress; I promise I honestly wanna prove improvement's possible, I swear!/I'm so fucking sorry! I'm not a good person, I'm barely a person at all, But someday I'll be perfect, and I'll make up for it all!

Less rare than scarce, less diamond then rough/Unlikely to be more than just the coal you failed to crush

I'm catatonic in your arms, crying, "How did I cause so much harm?"/I'm down pounding my head against the kitchen floor/Apologizing for my life and ever entering yours

The vertex of my redemption arc/I’m searching on that virgin heart

"The raw emotion! And I strongly relate to desperately wanting to improve for someone you love. I belt out this song when I feel really hopeless"

"my one OC. also me. also it's just a really good song. one of will's best imo. screaminbg"

"Literally hits almost all of my self-esteem issues. Feeling like people only care about you for your body? Check. Not understanding why anyone would want you? Check. Thinking that all you do is hurt people? Check. I don't cry very often but this song DEFINITELY made me teary"

"one of those if u aren’t paying attention to the lyrics ur like this is nice but once u hear them its an OW holy OW and guilt and I’m sorry feelings"

"Just. Loving someone but not feeling like you’re good enough and trying to improve."

"Not only does this song have lyrics that are deeply relatable to me, but this song also feels very deeply personal to the artist and I feel that anyone who listens to it for the first time has that same feeling of getting punched in the gut. Just the lyrics and the melody and Will Wood’s vocals make this song an absolute masterpiece and I cry every time I hear it."

"One reason I'm attached to this song is because my friend sent it to me and said "I'm kin assigning you this song" and ruined my life (/j) It messed me up because I've always had a hard time in my life figuring myself out and dealing with my emotions, and for what feels like the first time, this song has been able to near perfectly describe how I feel about myself and my impact on other people, and it always just meant so much to me that my friend who sent it to me knows me better than I know myself and shared the song with me and I love them dearly."

Tongues and Teeth (The Crane Wives)

If you're fine with that you can be mine.... I WILL POISON ALL YOUR HAPPY THOUGHTS!/I WILL LOVE YOU LIKE THE ASHES IN MY CIGARETTE BOX!

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel/It's all that I can give to you, my dear/And when you come in quick to steal a kiss/My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear

And I know that you mean so well/But I am not a vessel for your good intent

"I quote the above passage."

"It sounds happy until you listen to the lyrics and then you're like. Oh"

"Can I submit The Crane Wives whole catalog? Just every song they've ever made? Tongues & Teeth is so good tho so I'll make it my flagship, its both so personal and so universal cause you can interpret it in so many ways to apply it to so many blorbos. I've applied it to 10 and it fits and hits different every time. Absolutely Iconic song."

Against the Kitchen Floor submitted by @pixopolis + others

Tongues and Teeth submitted by @they-thespian666 + others

[undying-love]

Give me a fact or some facts that make me believe in McLennan completely!

The only way it would be confirmed 100% is if Paul decides to speak about it (which is very unlikely). But there is a lot of interesting things that, when added up, make a compelling case.

Check out some of my previous posts:

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/747116547607314432?source=share (John seemingly hinting at it)

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-the-oyster/745421073667031040?source=share (this post was made by @i-am-the-oyster. It's extremely compelling)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/745845642958700544/is-arrow-through-me-about-john?source=share (Arrow Through Me is very likely about John)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/744309254463324160/why-pauls-song-fuh-you-might-be-about-john?source=share (why Paul's song "Fuh You" is highly likely to be about John)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/763072273237393408/they-always-make-it-sound-like-johns-ex-was-paul?source=share (why do they always talk like Paul was John's ex and not Cynthia?)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/743060695141203968/quotes-to-think-about?source=share (analysis of some quotes)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/745385646421606400/paul-being-very-secure-about-his-sexuality-andor?source=share (someone who is an "immovable heterosexual" doesn't talk like this, imo)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/740604882160091136/in-these-four-months-pauls-attatchment-to-john?source=share (very interesting comments made by Francie)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/741853393262346240/bizarre-poem-written-by-paul?source=share (weird poem which may be about him and John)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/740518716575563776/what-does-pattie-know?source=share ("What does Pattie know?")

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/746737159003832320/everything-that-paul-and-johns-girlfriendswives?source=share (comments made by almost all of their wives/girlfriends)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/745712172768919552/paul-turned-to-linda-and-one-or-two-friends-and?source=share (do you think this might be normal platonic friends behavior?)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/744843356938682368/mpls-pauls-london-office-interior-style-is (Paul collecting John-related things)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/745773134413791232/paul-being-normal-over-john-a-compilation?source=share (Paul's comments about John)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/742882446559838208/beatles-book-authors-saying-totally-normal-things?source=share (even their biographers noticed it)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/748696306813386752/love-goes-both-ways?source=share (the way the look at each other)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/743961690413105152/beatles-insiders-comparing-john-and-pauls?source=share (every time insiders compared their relationship to a marriage)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/756850117398659072/some-lyrics-they-wrote-about-each-other?source=share (very revealing song lyrics)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/755299637557067776/paul-describing-john-a-compilation?source=share (Paul describing John's looks)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/759175217991057408/john-and-paul-being-normal-about-each-other-a?source=share (John and Paul revealing comments about each other)

https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/760524606194974720/i-would-like-too-see-a-compilation-of-all-the?source=share (them being jealous of each others girlfriends, wives and friends)

[burningcheese-merchant]

BurningCheese/GoldenSpice Playlist

Ok, time to stop being a bitch and post the ship playlist I keep harping on about already.

Gonna mark each song with an emoji to signify if it's meant to either be Burning Spice's POV (🔺) or Golden Cheese's (🧀). It's also going to be band/singer name first, song name second, for ease of understanding

Thank you to everyone who's reached out to me, both on here and on AO3, with song suggestions! A good chunk of these came from me myself, but a lot of people introduced me to plenty more songs that I loved and agreed suited these two perfectly. It's been fun putting a playlist together with this help, it feels like a fun group project now lol. (Hell, you guys are actually helping me think of new writing material. Music is a huge source of inspiration and creativity for me, as I'm sure you've noticed. In a way, you're all indirectly making fic requests lol)

You're all still more than welcome to keep shooting me song ideas to add, the playlist is ever-expanding! I'll just come back to this post and edit any new additions in. (This playlist is 3x longer than my PitayaFire one. I need you all to understand how big of a deal that is for me personally. I never thought I'd be this down bad for a ship besides that one. It's fucking surreal)

Some of it is meant to sound one-sided, others like it's a mutual love/relationship. I'll let you guess which is which lol. Now rock out to Evil Spice Man x Pretty Cheese Lady with me 🤘🤘🤘

Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up🔺

Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care🔺(with the Wild Spice crew as the backup singers!!!)

Mariah Carey - Obsessed 🧀

Three Days Grace - I Hate Everything About You🔺🧀

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance🔺🧀

Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)🔺

Mindless Self Indulgence - What Do They Know?🔺

Britney Spears - Toxic 🧀

Fish in a Birdcage - Rule #34🔺(this is also a great PureShadow song ngl. It's how it was first introduced to me, even lol)

Shayfer James - Filthy Habit🔺

King Gnu - SPECIALZ🔺🧀 (look up the English version of the lyrics. Very BurningCheese-core imo)

Mindless Self Indulgence - This Hurts🔺

Jack Black - Peaches🔺(shout out to the anon in my inbox who suggested this. Joke's on them, I had this on the playlist right from the start lolololololol)

Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine?🔺

Lady Gaga - Poker Face 🧀

Olly Murs (feat. Flo Rida) - Troublemaker 🧀

Rihanna - Where Have You Been🔺(fun fact: I had this playing on a loop as I wrote "Our Little Dance" to get into the Yandere Spice mindset lol)

Lady Gaga - Judas 🧀

Miike Snow - Genghis Khan🔺

The Orion Experience - Obsessed With You🔺(this song is just really funny. You can probably apply it to all Beast x Ancient ships tbh)

Nine Inch Nails - Closer🔺

Mindless Self Indulgence - 5TR82HE11🔺

Air Traffic Controller - This Is Love🔺

Bad Omens - THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND🔺🧀

Isabel LaRosa - favorite 🧀

Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch🔺(listen I imagined Spice singing this to Golden and just started howling with laughter, it's fucking hysterical ok)

ENHYPEN - Bite Me🔺

Scissor Sisters - I Can't Decide🔺(GC would sing a few parts tho)

5 Seconds of Summer - Teeth🔺🧀 (mostly Spice though)

Buerak - Культ Тела 🔺(look up English lyrics, very Yandere Spice coded. Thank you to the anon who suggested it)

Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango🔺

Lady Gaga - Disease 🧀

G-Eazy (with Halsey) - Him & I🔺🧀

Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time🔺(imagine Spice singing this while stuck in prison. Please. He's singing and the other Beasts want to off themselves because it's so annoying and he won't stop. Please it is so funny. I have so much fun imagining this freak acting stupid-)

[angrycommielez]

Mr Everdeen's name theories

Ok so I listed all the options I had in mind for Mr Everdeen’s name, including the theories about him being related or close to the Covey. ✨Feel free to add more✨.

Ballad names : 

Although I love the ballads of Joe Hill, Tom Joad, Michael Collins and James Larkin etc I don’t think this is what she has chosen (cause yes she has decided his name and she better gives it to us sorry that sounds like a threat) because it’s not really related to his story. 

Annarchie from Annarchie Gordon : I saw someone on Tumblr or Reddit talking about this scottish ballad and how they could see Mr Everdeen being named after this song for it’s about a women, Jeannie, who “is to be married off to the wealthy Lord Saltoun, but she is in love with Annachie”. Contrary to Katniss’ parents who end up together, Jeannie marries the Lord. So she, and Annarchie, both die of a broken heart. Similar to Mrs Everdeen falling into depression when Mr Everdeen literally dies. 

Also, if he’s named Annarchie, wouldn't it be funny if Mrs Everdeen’s name was Peggy (because of the ballad of Peggy Gordon). 

Jack from Black Jack Davey : When I heard this song and its differents versions like “G**** Davey”, “The G**** Laddie” or “The G**** Rover”, I thought of Mr and Mrs Everdeen. I mean, look at the lyrics : 

He whistled and he sang 'til the green woods rang And he won the heart of a lady

It is also a ballad about a girl from a wealthy family falling in love with a man she’s not supposed to marry. There are multiple versions and in some, while she left her husband (and sometimes baby) behind her to go with her lover, this man leaves her. But in most of the versions I listened to they live happily together. Plus, in this ballad, the man sings and he’s a traveler, like the Covey. 

And in “Black Jack Davey” well, there’s also a color, so…….

Robin from Robin Hood : Many people have said this was one of their guesses, due to the obvious connection with the woods and the use of bow and arrows, but also because Robin is kind of a rebel. Just like Mr Everdeen. It’s also a name connected to nature since Robin is a type of bird. And god do I love birds images in THG. 

Ira from Ira Hayes : He was indigenous (an Akimel O'odham American) and was a marine who fought during the Pacific War. He suffered from PTSD and alcoholism. It’s not in relation to what happened to Mr Everdeen who wasn’t even born during the Rebellion and died in a mine accident, but Ira is also a common name in the South and it’s my hc that the Everdeens are part native. 

Covey name : ballad + color 

If Mr Everdeen not only has a ballad name but also a color, maybe Black for “Black Jack” as stated before. But others could be : 

Ash (for Gray as in Lucy Gray but also for the fire symbolism).

Russet (color of fall “often associated with sorrow or grave seriousness”).

Cornsilk (if he is Maude Ivory’s son or grandson, it could make sense to have another shade of an off-white color. Specially in contrast to Snow’s obsession for his white roses). 

Crimson (deep red, similar to Carmine so perhaps a link with Clerk Carmine Clade. And numerous birds have that name although not in America).

Copper (reddish brown, there's a venomous snake named “the eastern copperhead” in eastern North America that can be found in Appalachia). 

Or types of green like Erin (also an irish name), Myrtle (a dark green + Myrtus is a kind of flower). And obviously, Evergreen. I remember thinking it was a funny coincidence that Katniss’ favorite color was green when her family name was so close to Evergreen. Then TBOSAS came out and I thought maybe the Everdeens are descendants of the Covey but they have changed their names or were forced to. 

There’s Canary and Olive but too obvious imo. Maybe Beaver (color + animal so linked to nature and hunt), Chestnut (named after the nut of chestnut tree so nature and food), Fallow (a pale brown associated with fallow deer) or Fawn. 

I saw Claret (color of red wine) and the word has a nice ring so it stuck with me, even though I don’t see why specifically that could be a covey name for him. 

Traditional / nature names : 

I'd like to believe that naming Katniss and Prim after plants was a personnal thing for Mr and Mrs Everdeen, in relation to how they met. But since others in 12, especially in the Seam, have nature names perhaps Mr Everdeen has one too.

Ira / Hayes : traditional names in the South, also a link to Ira Hayes. 

Fawn : traditional appalachian name (and linked to the animal). 

Lafe : traditional name in the South, means “heir, descendant ; faith” (could refer to Lucy Gray and the Covey’s legacy, that Mr Everdeen passed down to Katniss).

Merle : traditional southern name and also a bird. 

Earl : traditional southern name which means "nobleman” or “warrior.”

Tanner : traditional southern name which comes from the profession of tanner as someone who made leather from animal hides. The name “is often associated with hard work and practicality, reflecting the practical and hands-on nature”. 

Chayton : originates from the Lakota word čhetáŋ, meaning “falcon” or “hawk.” 

Willow : traditional appalachian name and also linked to nature (now imagine toast babies named after him)

Harper : traditional appalachian name and a link to the musical instrument. 

Yarrow : traditional appalachian name, meaning “rough stream” but also associated with a wild herb and flowering plant.

Hunter / Archer / Forest (but let’s hope it’s not hahahahah)

Knowing that if it's a traditional name, she probably changed it a bit.

[steamedlotusroot]

I translated Lego Monkie Kid’s Cantonese Extended Opening

In the tags of my first post I said I wanted to translate the lyrics of the extended OP of the LMK Cantonese dub and I did it :D

Translation notes: (some translations are wonky bc either the og lyrics are ambiguous, I didn’t have enough space to translate the phrases fully, or my Cantonese is rusty)

“All reveal your true forms to me immediately!”— 現形 means to appear/reappear. I personally interpreted it as the spirits/demons showing their true forms when SWK is fighting them, but simply “reveal yourselves to me” works too

“I truly can’t help how popular I am these days.”— One of my wonky translations I think. The og lyric is more like “really, I’m trending right now, I can’t stop it even if I wanted to / even if I tried.”

“But now I have to hide away,”— The lyric for “hide away” 神隱 very specifically refers to gods/immortals/spirits going into hiding

“From now on, keep the Golden Staff with you at all times,”— In the original JttW text, SWK’s staff is called the 金箍棒 “gold-hooped staff/rod”, but in Cantonese the staff is more commonly called the 金剛棒, which doesn’t have the “hoop” character. It’s just a gold stick 

“Only rely on having enough audacity,”— I think it’s supposed to be “have a lot of/enough courage” but it can also mean “audacity”, and since this song is about SWK and MK I think the word “audacity” fits them much better haha

“I will reach the peak for a competition of skill.”— This is an instance of Cantonese being so compressed and concise that I have no idea how to structure the sentence in English

“Endure for the sake of loyalty,”— 捱義氣 means doing a favor out of personal loyalty that you might not want to do (eg. you help your friend clean his car when you hate cleaning cars cuz he’s your bud!). I think “endure for the sake of loyalty” is a goofy way of translating this but I dunno what to write instead

“Assemble surprises.”— I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. This is a very literal translation

“The me today,”— Longer version: The me I am today

“Chock-full of abilities.”— OG lyrics 一身本領 go a little bit like “the whole body is full of skills/abilities”. I wanted to just write “full of talents” but “talent” isn’t quite accurate. I went with “chock-full” cuz it sounds funny

“Clash with fire in a duel,”— I like to think that this line refers to Red Son and I like Red Son :]

“Carrying an endless mission,”— I originally wrote “shouldering” instead of “carrying”, but because 懷 means “embrace/chest” or “harboring”, I thought “carrying” sounds less grueling and more accurate than “shouldering”

“Eyeballs looking around,”— “eyes staring wide and round” probably fits 眼仔睩睩 better, but hopefully “eyeballs” sounds wide and round enough?? And I wanted to turn it into an action so I described the eyes looking around like they’re on guard!

“Grappling arduously with the enemy,”— Lots of ways to translate 搏命: fighting for your life, wrestling for your life, blah blah blah. I hope “grappling” is evocative enough 😭

“Quick-witted actions, be clever,”— I’m not sure if it’s “quick-witted, actions sharp and clever” or “quick-witted actions, be sharp and clever” 💀 靈活 means “mentally flexible”, sharp醒 means “smart, clever, alert, quick-witted”, something like that

“It’s called the NSoFFM,”— The lyric lacks a pronoun in Cantonese so I’m not sure if it means “call me/you the NSoFFM”, “call for the NSoFFM”, “you’re called the NSoFFM”, or something else. I interpreted it as SWK listing a bunch of traits and saying “someone like this will be called the NSoFFM”

“Skyrocket to ascension / I rise at Flower Fruit Mountain.”— 飈升 means shooting up really quickly/suddenly. I’m not sure what “shooting up” means in this context so I kept it as vague as possible. I also translated 飈升 in two different ways “skyrocket to ascension” and simply “rise” even though both lyrics mean the same thing in Cantonese. “Skyrocket” is most accurate IMO, but it sounds weird by itself

“I always strive for self-improvement,”— The og is just “I forever self-strengthen”, which sounds weird to me so I expanded it

“When I wedge into the crack,”— No idea what this means?? I’m guessing it’s supposed to evoke the image of SWK jamming a weapon into a crack? Also I wanted to write “wedge into the fissure” but when I googled “fissure” it showed me results for anal fissures and I was so put off by it I just used “crack” instead, even though “crack” sounds much sillier than “fissure”

“Demons please relax, lest you lose control.”— Nothing to note, I just really like the original lyric. It’s so cocky and badass and SO Wukong (or MK!) /pos

“Use kindness as the mark of recognition,”— Not sure what this really means? I interpret it as “kindness is my goal/principle”, but 記認 means both “marking” and “recognize/remember” so uh

“Evildoing is difficult to regard as the elder brother,”— The og lyric sounds fine but trying to understand it is?? It’s not “evildoers”, it’s “the way/path of evildoing”, but then it says “it’s difficult to be an older brother (non-familial)” like who is it difficult for??? Also “brother” here means a fellow disciple/classmate under the same teacher/master/school, so like the relationship between SWK and the other pilgrims (except their master, of course)

“I can’t be beat to death, swim carefree at the edge of the sky.”— The most egregious lyric IMO. I have absolutely no clue what it’s supposed to mean so maybe I’m just not that good at Cantonese??? It could be “I can’t beat to death swimming carefree at the edge of the sky” or “I can’t be beaten to death, swim carefree at the edge of the sky”. The swimming part lacks a pronoun so idk who’s swimming? What is happening in this sentence?? Help??

“Risk your life when taking action,”— 拼命 either means “as hard as you can” or “risking your life”. I’m only assuming it means the latter because I interpret this as SWK lecturing MK on how to be a hero

“And the battle lineup is again full of wit,”— I can sorta grasp what this means, but idk how to write it in English. 陣容 means the appearance/formation of your battalion and can extend to mean the array of abilities in a certain lineup. Not sure how to actually describe this though 😭 also I used “clever” for sharp醒 earlier but changed it to “wit” here so it’d be a noun and sound like an ability or something

[thats-the-teen-spirit]

Linkin Park - From Zero - Album Review

Well, a few months ago I didn't think that I would write such a review but here we go. So Linkin Park announced their return in September followed by a tour and an album, to everyone's surprise. The new singer after the great Chester Bennington's passing was announced to be the former Dead Sara vocalist, Emily Armstrong. The announcement was followed by many controversies which I'm not gonna touch on in this review, I'm just here, purely for the music, so take all my opinions with a grain of salt.

From Zero (Intro)

A very short, barely even 20 seconds intro is a Queen-like gang vocal/choir harmony followed by Emily asking about the name of the album. It sounds like they recorded her first reaction to Mike's idea for the album name, which is - as Mike mentioned many times throughout the promotion of the album - a double entendre. From Zero means from the ground up, a new beginning which is definitely true for the band after losing a beloved former member and a friend, but also From Xero which was the first name of the predecessor band of Linkin Park. It's genius if you think about it, and by the short and cut end of the intro Emily realizes this as well.

2. The Emptiness Machine

The first single and the song that started the return. The video and the song are both great, though it left a sour taste in some fans' mouth, expecting either a Chester-imitation or someone completely different (rumors were Amy Lee and Deryck Whibley). The Emptiness Machine opens up with a modern beat and Mike's rapping, he even sings the first chorus hinting at something new to come. The second verse starts with Emily singing and while at first I thought she lacks the power Chester had, by the end of the second chorus she proves her place is right among the boys. The lyrics are about an abusive relationship to someone or something which left people thinking about Emily's past (imo the lyrics definitely fit into Linkin Park's past catalogue as well). The passion of the last chorus and the "I only wanted to be part of something" bridge will leave you wondering though: how would this song sound with Chester?

3. Cut the Bridge

Already a non-single with a choppy hard rock riff and octaves, Mike starts rapping and you realize this is definitely a Linkin Park song. In my personal opinion this sound would have fit into The Hunting Party as well as this album. I'm not the biggest fan of the chorus but it's a fun song that might get a few headbangs at concerts. Emily definitely carries this song, the bridge melody by Mike is... not the best, a little jarring and does not fit his vocal style and range. We'll hear a few moments like that in the coming songs.

4. Heavy Is The Crown

Heavy Is The Crown was the second single and the anthem of this year's League of Legends championship which gave to already one of the biggest bands of the planet some extra boost of publicity. If I had to describe this song with old Linkin Park songs I would say this is a renewed version of Faint with the breakdown of Given Up. The beat and the melody throughout the song is very Meteora-era and the "THIS IS WHAT YOU ASKED FOR" breakdown pretty much calls out the fans who wanted a nu-metal banger. It's like they knew their return was controversial and they have to do the maximum nostalgia factor to appeal to the same audience that once loved them. Emily shows her real power in this one, letting out the beast and hinting at what's coming.

5. Over Each Other

A pure Emily song and the third single. Mike is not singing nor rapping in this one, and in the video we see Emily being in a relationship, breaking up and fighting with her girlfriend until the story takes a dark turn when she fakes her own death to get away from her now ex-girlfriend. It's a very honest and upbeat song that really arrives by the second half. The lyrics show a burnt-out relationship that seems to be over soon. This one I cannot even imagine with Chester's vocals, which is the first and the last time this happened during this album. The instrumentals in the second half are (in my personal opinion) very much Minutes to Midnight-like, almost as if Rick Rubin produced this one as well.

6. Casualty

Undoubtedly the heaviest one on the record, there's barely any clean vocals, (even Mike is shouting for most of the song) and there's even a hardcore punk beat in it. This is basically like their song Victimized was on The Hunting Party instead of Living Things. The guitars and drums are filled with rage and in the bridge we hear a new sound from Emily which is very In This Moment/Maria Brink. I didn't expect a hardcore song by Linkin Park but in 2024 even that could happen.

7. Overflow

After a very lengthy intro the song arrives to a space-y, flowy verse which is reminiscent of Deftones and I.O.U, the song Mike recorded with Chino Moreno off his solo record, Post Traumatic. The chorus keeps up the same slow pace and by the bridge I figured that this song would be very fitting to A Thousand Suns. Which is possibly the only song on this record that I can say this about. Like a more modern version of a medley of that album, strange sound and it's not gonna be my most listened song but I think it will find its audience.

8. Two-Faced

Ever wanted to hear a Meteora/Hybrid Theory song sung by a female singer? Well, here you go. Imagine if Figure.09, A Place for My Head and One Step Closer got together on a drunk night and had a lovechild. The verses are also very much like Nobody's Listening, another song from Meteora. The breakdown is so much fanservice to the HT fans that it's almost exactly the One Step Closer riff (even the turntables are there). This will be one of my favorites for sure, it gives me that Cure for The Itch for a old-new HT sound. The fans who can get over to be ready for the new era of the band and only love the first album will be happy to hear this one.

9. Stained

Another song that is hard carried by Emily's vocals, I swear it's like they're doing this on purpose. Mike is one of my favorite songwriters and musicians but man, is he boring in this song. This is the first song where I felt like it's a filler. Chorus melody is alright especially in the last one where it's much more epic, but the verses, the instrumental and the overall vibe of this song is very forgettable. If I wanted to be really harsh I would say, this one is a more pop-ish song of One More Light got rerecorded with a different vocalist and distorted guitars.

10. IGYEIH

IGYEIH or I Gave You Everything I Had is another heavy banger. The riff is very nu metal, reminding me of Burn by Three Days Grace. It's another one that Emily is carrying on her back, her performance is 110% again. Mike's "the clock keeps tickiiiiing" call-ins are very much forced, and in my opinion lack chemistry with the rest of the song. The yea-yea-yea-s by Emily are also somewhat forced before the chorus, the buildup and the breakdown are great though. It's not as mid as Stained but I honestly expected better from the riff.

11. Good Things Go

Probably my favorite song of the album, straight up. The modern rap beat and Mike's work on the rapping and the wonderful vocals by Emily make this composition a pleasure to listen to. Some people I saw online compared it to Leave Out All The Rest, I don't think that is true. While this is a ballad of some sort having very emotional lyrics, it's an unfair comparison to LOATR. The delivery by both Mike and Emily is amazing though and the buildup is one of my favorites of this year, it's both relieving and cathartic. This is this album's take on Good Goodbye and this one undoubtedly wins both the message and the delivery battle.

Overall I'm not gonna lie, I expected more. Upon the second listen I realized that I lost recency bias already. Some moments turned out to be probably the worst in their catalogue while others were highlights of this year's musical journey for me. The singles are definitely the stand-out songs, though Good Things Go and Two-Faced are up among them. Emily carried most of the songs as I mentioned many times before and it's clear that the band's intention was to make the audience love her as much as they loved working with her, even if this effort cast a dark shadow on the rest of the bands' performance.

7/10

[karasukarei]

Miscellaneous WinBre-adjacent Experiences

I did lots of random stuff during my recent trip and I thought some of them would be of some interest to the WinBre circle 👀

Edit: Omg I forgot to put everything under a cut I'M SO SORRY FOR MAKING EVERYONE SCROLL

Stuff under the cut:

WinBre x Sanrio

Natori's concert

Shizuoka's tea fields

Other random things of some note

WinBre x Sanrio collab

Yeah the title says it all. If I were to be brutally honest I didn’t really like many of the collab designs… The only one I found that was pretty nice was Suou x Kuromi.

The chibis really weren’t that cute imo ;-; 

Also the collab was held at the TV station, so they had the original promo standees on display too!

Yeah this is me simping.

Ok but this was both unhinged and genius. Whoever decided to put the standee in the aquarium. You are my new hero.

Natori’s concert - 劇場〜再演〜

I managed to score tickets to Natori’s concert in Osaka! This is gonna be a mini concert review (and some mild simping, cos I followed Natori even before Wind Breaker). (Just in case you’re not aware, Natori was the artiste for Wind Breaker’s opening Zettai Reido)

Overall, it was REALLY GOOD. He’s one of the rare singer/songwriters who isn’t just a musician, but is an actual performer. I’m not even kidding when I say that he sounds way better live than in any of his recordings, and the way he changes the notes between cadences on the fly really makes each live performance unique. He’s also really big on dancing and enjoying the music, multiple times he’d tell everyone “踊ろうぜ” (let’s dance!) and he’d just start dancing as he sings, it’s just so chill and enjoyable. They also had a brass triplet on stage, they were SO GOOD, the sax player even switched to flute for some songs!

The stage decor was pretty cool as well, you can essentially split the performance into two halves. For the first half, it was a sort of halloweenish sort of situation, where there was like grey cloth (I think to mimic grey stone or thick cobwebs) draped over the stage pieces and overhanging the projector. Once he starts Gekijou (song 11), all of that falls off and you can see all the intricate wooden detail on the stage sets!!! It was SO COOL, and the different decor really complemented the two halves of the setlist.

Setlist

(source)

Commenting on just the memorable parts or areas that I found of note:

Song 2 Sleepwalk was where all the dancing started! It’s so groovy and the easy swing is SO CATCHY, I really admire how he just sings all these long run-on lyrics effortlessly! (I must admit that the way he sings the endings of a few lines, even in other songs, quite erotic cos of how he growls a bit and alters the notes x_x)

Song 6 EAT was SO GOOD live. I heard the demo before and the quality wasn’t great so I couldn’t really appreciate it, but this version was GOOD. It was so much more polished and had better mixing, and you can feel the high and low tension points in the song now, instead of it sounding a bit flat in the demo.

Song 9 Terminal wasn’t a really big favourite of mine when I first heard it, but it’s SO GOOD live OMG. The tension points were a lot clearer, and singing along with the repeating "da da da la da da da" makes it so much more immersive. This completely changed my perspective on the song, I really like it so much more now!!!

Song 10 Seishatachi I REALLY like this song (it’s the B-side to Zettai Reido), from the live you can tell it’s a pretty technically difficult song cos of the all the off-beats x_x I also realised that the very last syllable in the song is a very very long “da-“ that you can’t hear in the recording cos of all the mixing ^^; he just screams “DA——“ into the mic and holds it for a few seconds, it was SO COOL.

Song 11 Gekijou’s true stars were the brass triplet in my opinion, hearing them live was really what turned the performance into a theatre!!! Natori also welcomes you by saying “劇場へようこそ！” (Welcome to the theatre) while striking the same pose as the key visual, it’s just so cohesive and well thought-out and I was SO IMPRESSED by all the planning that went into this one song.

Song 13 Overdose had an extended mix with the chorus repeating at least 2-3 times at the end (I didn’t count cos I was having SO MUCH FUN). I must admit I wasn’t that big a fan of Overdose (yes I’m a weirdo, my favourite songs are Eureka and Cult), but DAMN the party atmosphere in this mix was amazing.

Song 15 Melodrama is his new collab song with Imase, the only note I have is that you get to hear Natori sing both parts instead of splitting with Imase hahaha (I do actually prefer Natori’s voice over Imase for this song).

Song 16 IN_MY_HEAD is an unreleased song and it is SO WILD, the video they showed with the song felt like something out of a Kyary Kyary Pamyu MV with brains spinning around on neon coloued backgrounds x_x But it’s pretty different from his previous songs, it’s far more rock-influenced with more repetitive choruses and head-banging. Part of me likes to think that Kitani Tatsuya might have had some influence on this www.

Song 17 Zettai Reido was one of the only songs he played guitar for (I can’t remember the other one but I do remember it was an acoustic guitar for that), and damn this is a REALLY hard song. I do think this is one of the few songs where his recordings were slightly better, but tbh I do very much prefer the live version because his voice wavers a bit and gives the song so much more flavour.

Songs 18 and 19 Eureka and Cult - DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HAPPY I WAS TO HEAR MY TWO FAVES IN A ROW. THE JOY AND EXCITEMENT. THE ACCOMPANYING VIDEOS WERE SO NICE TOOOO. I especially loved the one for Cult, it was an animated view of a town from up on a hill, and you can see the seasons and day/night cycles throughout the year, and was just so chill and poignant ;-;

Song 20 Itoudenwa sounds SO GOOD live, I already liked the original version but I LOVE the live version, he really sounds like he’s serenading and crooning you ;-; This was also the song where they popped streamers!!! I was surprised at how well they timed the pop, it blended seamlessly into the music and was just such a pleasant surprise.

Merch and goodies haul

GINTAPE (i.e. streamers) - THEY ARE SO PRETTY. This one is pretty beaten up after I tried to get into the case (oops) but I do have spares (might consider a giveaway in future… let’s see how things go.)

Chiitara snack collab - it’s a cheese snack (that I don’t really like…) but they gave out one to each person at the end of the concert! The packaging is limited edition, and the Osaka and Tokyo performances have different designs! The Osaka design I have reflects the food in Dotonbori, while the Tokyo one includes landmarks such as Tokyo tower. Imma be honest the collab is super funny, cos the company that sponsored the snack is a completely unrelated food company called Natori (HELP). 

Gacha album cover art pins - kinda sad I didn’t get Zettai Reido or Eureka, but at least I have Cult and Overdose!! Overdose appears to be especially in demand lmao (for obvious reasons), but I must admit it had the nicest design too.

Zepp tour early bird code - the little card you see includes a code to get access to the earliest round of balloting for next year’s Zepp tour!!! Still wondering if I should just try… Idek if I can take leave ;-;

Shizuoka’s tea fields

In one of Suou’s daily character question, he mentions that a place he’d like to visit is the tea fields of Shizuoka. For personal reasons, I really did make a trip down to the tea fields ^_^

I went tea picking here!!! It is very back breaking work and I have ever greater appreciation for the farmers who grow and process tea now (they are my true heroes; I don’t drink coffee www)

Also here’s the mountain with the word “tea” (茶) on it! It used to be planted with pine, but then weevils destroyed it so they switched to cypress ^^;

Super random but we got lost while looking for this, we ended up too close to the mountain so we couldn’t get good photos ^^; there was a tea shop there with a really kind owner that served us different types of tea and showed us the way to the best photo spots! 

^ this was the original spot we ended up in but you can't see the word really well ^^;

Random merch and other stuff I guess

Yeah I found the vegetable curry, it was the LAST ONE in store. Maybe this will make me start eating vegetables.

I also had a chance to try Wasanbon in some tea snack I bought from Ise Shrine:

It certainly tastes expensive 😳

Thanks for listening to my simping. Please have a nice day ^_^

[thecheramore]

Yes, I drew this lovely couple again — John and Nan 🥺🫶🏻

And this time I worked in a completely unusual technique for me! The idea to experiment some came up spontaneously. Initially, it was just a sketch on paper without any particular idea (just cute Mr. and Mrs. Silver, nothing too special), but suddenly I decided to cover it with color right on top in digital. It turned out nice and I decided to go on and experiment also with the light. I chose the backlight from the sunset (it's a romantic picture, after all 😉💞)

And yeah, the most important thing: I certainly based on the original sketch, but still painted the whole artwork with color splashes! And the lineart was the final stage. Usually, it's exactly the opposite. It was a super interesting experience and, so to speak, challenging. I am very happy with the result ❤️‍🔥

P.S. I LOVE this song. While I was drawing this art, I was listening to it on repeat, because, in my opinion, it PERFECTLY suits John Silver both in the meaning of the lyrics, and in the general vibe, and even in the marine theme. So, you can consider this drawing with my beloved pirate and his wonderful wife my full-fledged illustration for this awesome track 🥹❤️

(Too bad I didn't find the translation of the lyrics into English... So, I guess I will be translating it myself. When I'll be done, I'll update the post!)

Upd: Translation done! Though I'm totally not a pro in poetic translation, I tried my best to make it sound in the same rhythm and have rhymes too. And plus the lyrics are almost word-for-word accurate to the original. So, it turned out quite good imo, I managed to find the balance. Enjoy!~

Invited you out — already good

All places are closed, nowhere to stay

I don't really care, I am here in this crowd

All by myself and I look very proud

I'm going to you by the water

I'm filling the bottle, replacing with wine

I'm going to you by the water

I'm bitting bread loaf up, washing down with the wine

I'm going to you by the water

Invite you in — well, it is so...

Scary, of course, but for me so important

Where a kiss turns into a sign

At The Last Supper, on the Bridge, on he Cross

I'm going to you by the water

I'm filling the bottle, replacing a little

I'm going to you by the water

I'm bitting bread loaf up, washing down with the wine

I am now married to a wave

And as long ago I'm again little worried

I'm going to see my wife

I'm bitting my lips up, washing down with the wine

I am now married to a wave

I am going to you by the water

[enbymetalhead]

I have the overwhelming need to make a playlist consolidating specifically Dargor's storyline from the Algalord chronicles albums. So far my thoughts is (intended in order)

Dargor, Shadowlord of the Black Mountain (I need to decide between album and extended version - I like the extended more musically, but they both have different lyrics important to Dargor's story. I could include both, but I'd need to figure if there was a way to make one of them a reprise later on in the playlist)

The Last Winged Unicorn

The Mighty Ride of the Firelord

The Pride of the Tyrant

Rising From the Sea of Flames

Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness

Where Dragons Fly (probably not the canon interpretation of this song, but I have another post in progress about this)

Here you could probably put the whole Dark Secret Saga, but if I were to just pick the main story and character beats:

Unholy Warcry

Erian's Mystical Rhymes

The Last Angels' Call

Sacred Power of Raging Winds

Shadows of Death

Silent Dream (on the fence about this one, but it fits Dargor well enough it might be about him, plus I want something from the first half of Triumph or Agony at least)

Son of Pain (literally the most important song on this list /hj)

The Mystic Prophecy of the Demonknight (the best Rhapsody song imo)

Dark Reign of Fire (not hugely important, but Demonknight literally doesn't sound right unless it goes into this)

Sea of Fate

Lost in Cold Dreams

On the Way to Ainor

The Frozen Tears of Angels

Ok I don't know how to slice up The Cold Embrace of Fear in a satisfying way. Acts IV, VI, VII are most important story and character-wise, but they don't work at all without Acts III and V in their correct places. So then this entry would be The Cold Embrace of Fear Acts III - VII, but at that point you might as well include the extra few minutes of Acts I and II. So I'll either include the whole thing, or the whole thing from The Ancient Fires of Har-Kuun onwards.

From Chaos to Eternity

Aeons of Raging Darkness

I Belong to the Stars

Tornado

Heroes of the Waterfalls' Kingdom

There it is, definitely a few you can add and discard, I wish there was more that fit for the Emerald Sword Saga, but it's almost all Warrior of Ice POV and Dargor doesn't even fully exist until Dawn of Victory.

If I get around to making this it'll have to be a youtube or last.fm playlist. Since some specific record labels need to be sent to Abyss with all the other creatures of hell, a spotify playlist would omit a couple of the best and most important songs here. If we can't have Son of Pain what's the point.

[hardt4rein]

Hantengu Clones Music Taste Headcanons

Just what I personally feel they would listen too + how they would sing along/react to you catching them singing

🔞 Some suggestive stuff mentioned on Karaku’s part (minors dni). Also vulgar language throughout and in the songs

Please enjoy.

✘ ⚡️🍁🫧🪶✘

Sekido

Music Taste

Definitely angry breakup songs

Like for instance “Take what you want” and “Enemies” both by Post Malone 

Also songs about people betraying or using others

Literally just any song with a meaning that he could relate to 

He likes to listen to other people experiencing the same kind of emotions but in a more calm way compared to how he expresses them

If he listened to angry music that matched his unjust energy he would go blind in rage

So sticking to these “calm” sounds with opposite lyrics is the best for him

How He Would Sing Along

If he honestly even tried to remember the words that is

Would start off simply humming it at first

He would only start “singing” along if he’s alone

And by “singing” it’s more of a monotone speaking 

It almost sounds as though he’s annoyed by the fact the song has him wasting his breath to it

Reaction To Being Caught

If it was during the time he was just humming to it he won’t make a big deal out of it

He’ll just turn up the music to purposely ignore you

But if you caught him during his attempt at “singing”

Be prepared for him to yell at you for sneaking around

💀 like Sekido, it’s your fault for not noticing them come into the room

He’s turning the music off entirely

Do not mention it to him. You’re getting an earful of him saying he wasn’t singing

Like ok Mister Gaslight 💀

Honorable Song Mentions

The album “Elsewhere” by Set it Off

“Slow Bloom” “Fomo” “Watching All Your Friends Get Rich” by The Home Team

“In My Room” Insane Clown Posse

“Punching Bag” Set It Off (a little less calm than the other ones mentioned)

Karaku

Imo bro is a whole ass whore

Like he listened to music he would refer to himself with

Like for instance “Naked” by Doja Cat

But literally any song by the Weekend

Like bro is a sex fiend/tease and his music taste would whole reflect that entirely

1000% RnB enjoyer 😫

Even though he has his tastes he really doesn’t mind so he’ll even listen to his brothers music or other genres entirely 

How He Would Sing Along

Just mindlessly vibing along most times

But when he’s actively paying attention he is singing like he’s the one performing it

Even going as far to put emphasis into certain lyrics as well or playfully smirking/rolling his eyes to some lyrics

Keep in mind he can’t sing for shit 💀

Reaction To Being Caught

Would be a little caught off guard at first but gets over it quickly 

He is now singing the song directly to you 🫵

As previously mentioned most of these songs have sexual undertones 

You’re more than likely about to get eaten out to whatever song is playing 🤭

Honorable Song Mentions

“Kiss You More” and “Wine Pon You”Doja Cat 

“Don’t Go” Justin Bieber, Don Toliver

“Cry Baby” Megan thee Stallion, Da Baby

“Awkward” Sza

“One Right Now” Weekend, Post Malone

“Scoop” Lil Nas X

Aizetsu

Just like with Sekido I believe he would listen to music with meanings that match his emotion but not entirely 

Of course he wants music that matches his energy but not enough to make him start full on bawling his eyes out 

“Ghost in Machine” by Sza would be a great example 

This songs explains boredom, loneliness and wanting something more

All things I truly believe he relates to

The discography from the band Arctic Monkeys also gives him the greatest of ear worms

How He Would Sing Along

He has the best singing voice out of his brothers

Tries to keep his tone low enough so that no one can hear him

I’d imagine he would always have one earbud out of his ear just to make sure no one walks in on him

Reaction To Being Caught

He would make a little noise out of being startled

Immediately embarrassed 

Tell him you enjoyed his singing and he will immediately brighten up

But then again would still be self conscious you heard him in the first place 😅

He shares his earbuds and enjoys the music with you 🤗

Honorable Song Mentions

“Soap” Melanie Martines

“Fireside” “505” “Do I Wanna Know” by Arctic Monkeys (Just to name a few)

“Shinunoga E-Wa” Kujii Kaze 

“Okay” “Friends” “Empty” Chase Atlantic

“Lonely Boy” “Ghosting” “Farewell Neverland” and “0x1= Lovesong” all by Txt

Urogi

He 1000% wants music that matches his energy 

Bro loves hyper pop and no one can tell me otherwise for instance “Spy” Whokilleddxix

LOUD LOUD LOUD MUSIC

It’s almost like he wants his ears to bleed like he does to others

I’m not kidding if he’s listening to music it has to be on full blast 

How He Would Sing Along

He’s screaming his lungs out

Doesn’t even matter if he knows the words or not bros just screaming along

His voice will make your ears bleed (literally 🗿)

Reaction To Being Caught

Just going to ask you if you like the song being played

If not then he’s putting on something you both can enjoy

Loves jamming along with you

Please match his energy he will love you forever

Honorable Song Mentions

“So Bitter” Stxlkin

“Narcissistic Personality Disorder” Odetari

“Where’s My Juul” Full Tac

“Go (Xtayalive 2)” Kanii

“BrooklynBloodPop” SyKo

“Sex Obsession” Cade Clair

“Love Taste” Moe Shop

✘ ⚡️🍁🫧🪶✘

A/N: Anyways lemme know what songs you think they would like or you associate with them. Sorry if this was ass, k bye

[tunguszka20]

infodump about Epic please- I know nothing about it but it sounds awesome and where do I watch it? :)

Okay okay okay. Let me get my thoughts together.

So let's start from the begging. There's this amazing man called Jorge Rivera-Herrans (Jay), who started making a musical adaptation of the Odyssey by Homer because. He can. He's super enthusiastic about the project, if you look up his videos on yt, his enthusiasm and energy is basically contagious. He's also super funny.

So the tricky things about EPIC is that. It's not done yet. So you can't watch it (well you... Can in some way but not like you can watch Hamilton or any other normal musical). Jay puts puts new "chapters" of the story whenever he has one ready (they're called Sagas. There's 9 sagas in the whole musical, 6 of them are out. These are The Troy Saga, The Cyclops Saga, The Ocean Saga, The Circe Saga, The Underworld Saga and The Thunder Saga). 5 Sagas are in Act 1 and 4 in Act 2. Both acts have 20 songs, so a total of 40 songs.

When a new Saga comes out, there's usually a watch party (it's also streamed on YouTube), where Jay streams the songs with the lyrics, and with some scenes they recorded/animatics.

The Thunder Saga came out today, but this time Jay didn't only stream the current saga, but the whole thing (My friend @randomfangirl32 recorded it, if she'll let me, I can send you the links so you can watch the whole thing we have so far, if you want). It was because they had to re-record the first two sagas due to... Financial stuff, idk how to explain it, Jay has a video about it.

And also. The actors. The actors are SO perfect. My favorite ones are Talya Sindel (as Circe), Teagan Earley (hope I spelled her name right, and she's playing Athena), Steven Rodriguez (as Poseidon), Luke Holt (as Zeus), Anna Lea (as Penelope), but seriously, everyone else is awesome too 🥹

And then. You'll get my favorite songs. Because I can't just choose one.

From released songs:

Full Speed Ahead (it's pretty underrated imo)

Warrior of the Mind

My Goodbye

Keep Your Friends Close

Ruthlessness

Puppeteer

Wouldn't You Like (HERMES 😭😭)

No Longer you

Suffering

Different Beast

Thunder Bringer

(but like. I love every song so muchh)

Not released (there are snippets in yt):

Little Wolf

Legendary

God Games

Dangerous

Charybdis

The Challenge

Hold Them Down

King

Gracie. Thank you for this question. From the bottom of my heart. This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime question, and. I'm so happy 🥹

Anyway if you still have questions I'll. Gladly elaborate.

[nightcolorz]

loveee the armand music discussions i feel the need to talk about some of my most armand songs of all time (no mitski this time as we’ve already discussed that ^^)

- notre dame by Paris Paloma (literally any paris paloma song tbh esp the fruits and labour but notre dame isn’t appreciated nearly enough) Very very religious guilt armand, angel symbolism heavy, also very cult era armand in paris. I would put lyrics here but oh its the whole song. its the entire song.

- Abstract (Psychopomp) by Hozier. again impossible to put specific lyrics but the song being about painful memories, getting past traumas with new loves, and heavy symbolism of a hurt animal in the road and the singer feeling kinship with it is just so SO armand imo its impossible to explain. i always think of a deer being the “poor thing in the road” in the song though it is left to interpretation, and armand’s doe eyes very much come to mind with that.

- Spellbound by Siouxsie and the Banshees (Following the footsteps of a rag doll dance, we are entranced, spellbound) Both these lyrics and the intense sound of the song bring to mind Armand’s heavy use of and skill with the spell gift, especially in TVL (for books) and s2ep5 (the show) You do feel entranced by his spells even if you don’t realise it and this song captures it perfectly (also i think S&TB are very armand overall so honourable mentions to Cities in Dust, Arabian Knights and Melt which are all sooo armand as well i just didn’t want to make this so Siouxsie-centric)

- Devils Don’t Fly by Natalia Kills (Angels were never meant to fall, and you were the loveliest of all) This song reminds me so much of 2018 YouTube but oh the lyrics are so very armand. Always called an angel, even referred to it as shorthand, but so torn religiously that he could never be holy, never be more than a demon with what he is and has been through. But being made so young and so beautiful, its very fallen angel of him.

- speaking of angels, Not Strong Enough by boygenuis (Always an angel, never a God, I don’t know why I am the way I am) I don’t feel like i need to explain this one it just Is

- Teen Idle by Marina (I want back my virginity so I can feel infinity, I want to drink until I ache, I want to make a big mistake, I want blood guts and angel cake) & (Adolescence didn’t make sense, a little loss of innocence, the ugly years of being a fool, ain’t youth meant to be beautiful?) Just something about Armand finding his worth through his beauty and physical desire, not to mention the utter horror of having to be a teenager forever, seen as that same sort of obscene beauty forever. The line about drinking and making mistakes feels very Venice-era as well, with Amadeo’s main coping mechanisms being getting blackout drunk on the daily and sleeping with people he knows he shouldn’t because he doesn’t feel like he’s good for anything else or even able to do anything else (which of course also leads to his death eventually)

- Jolene by Dolly Parton (Your beauty is beyond compare, with flaming locks of auburn hair) Definitely sillier but reminds me a lot about how people in the books (especially lestat) wax poetic about how beautiful Armand is and fear it somewhat in a mix of jealousy and insecurity.

- Dominion / Mother Russia by Sisters of Mercy. this one is much more vibe based that lyrical but there is the detail of armand being described as russian in the books and also the lyrics being very repetitive and prayer like (as well as the ‘some say prayers’ line) very much remind me of his repetitive prayers both when young and in the cult

- Swan Upon Leda by Hozier (One more sweet boy to be butchered by men, But the gateway to the world is still outside the reach of them, Would never belong to angels, Had never belonged to men) This song is overall about sexual violence and reproductive rights, but these lyrics deeply remind me of Amadeo’s abuse as a child and young man, and of men feeling a right to him and his body because they found him beautiful, angelic.

I have about a million more but I won’t go on too much. Hope you like my choices and give them a listen if you’re unfamiliar with any (to anyone reading this <3)

AHHHHHHH THANK U FOR THIS IM OBSESSED!!!! GONNA ADD THE ONES THAT ARENT ALREADY ON MY PLAYLIST RNN!!! (I already have got not strong enough, Jolene, devils don’t fly, teen idle, and Notre Dame, we r the same person). U get Armand like no one else mutual kittenbradensgf. Devils don’t fly made me laugh because it’s also on my Armand playlist because 2018 AMV YouTube songs r always so Armand to me 😭 !!! Ur so right the lyrics r so him. angel of darkness is on mine and I can’t stay it’s entirely ironic, lmao. Ugh this is my favorite I’m gonna run in a room and listen to these forever, ur analysis is so good

[jazzstandardspoll]

Descriptions & Propaganda

St. James' Infirmary

Traditional

Notable versions: Louis Armstrong (x), Cab Calloway (x), Artie Shaw (x)

Propaganda:

i love how this song starts as a lament and then switches on a dime to such a cool, proud, almost bragging defiance of death. and of course that trumpet!! that trombone!!

imo this song exemplifies the rich tapestry of popular music and the links between the jazz standards, the blues, and the english, irish, and appalachian folk traditions. people sort of fight over whether this song is influenced by the unfortunate rake/rakes progress/young trooper cut down in his prime/etc., (musicologist a. l. lloyd’s theory) or not- there’s a whole book about it, “i went down to the st. james infirmary” by robert harwood.

but none of that really matters. if you love the blues and you love folk music this song is like a familiar hug, full of the themes and motifs you recognize but maybe can’t quite pin down. the mysterious origins are part of the fun. extra propaganda: if you know/love/have ever listened to “blind willie mctell” by bob dylan, this song is the father.

i like the way this one sounds but i also think it's historically/anthropologically pretty cool... it's part of the lineage of "the unfortunate rake" which also spawned popular folk songs like "streets of laredo" and possibly "house of the rising sun" (debated among experts but possible), but this one unlike those others was taken up by jazz artists starting in the 1920s and eventually came to be regarded as a jazz standard. fascinating stuff!

Stardust

Composed by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish

Notable versions: Hoagy Carmichael (x), Nat King Cole (x), Samara Joy (x)

Propaganda: For a long time, this was arguably THEE jazz standard. To quote writer Will Friedwald: “By the mid-1950s…’Star Dust’ had already been around for twenty five years and was long established as the most popular of popular songs…[and] had also become archetypal Tin Pan Alley: its dreamy, somewhat meandering melody had inspired hundreds of other tunes, its metaphor lyric had launched God knows how many other reveries of love and loss.” Stardust isn’t just a song, it’s an institution, the forgotten bedrock of popular music before rock’n’roll. It’s been endlessly covered by both jazz bands and singers since 1927, but one of the most famous versions is by country singer Willie Nelson. I love that version, and the one by Samara Joy is transcendental. But to me, the absolute definitive version is by Nat King Cole, no questions asked. It perfectly captures the yearning for a lost love, while looking up at a sky full of stars.

[jundsthoughts]

Hi, hello, @wixenforever I have more music cause my brain is braining, and I'm obsessed with botl if that wasn't already obvious haha.

This Side of Paradise - Coyote Theory

The backing track just sounds like adventures in Hogwarts to me, honestly. Like, just imagine them in a movie style montage; chilling in the Library working on assignments, Harry dragging Theo out onto the Quidditch pitch to watch him practice, or just running around the castle. Maybe Luna drags them both into the Forest for a bit, idk, just fits that vibe tbh.

Then we have the lyrics and idk if I think it's Theo or Harry singing/talking to the other haha. Like, it fits both, I think? The first verse screams Harry to me though, especially with the themes in botl with him realizing that he doesn't have much of a reason to be, and filling that hole.

Welcome to Wonderland - Anson Seabra

The vibe is a lot more solemn than what I imagine, but, it brings ideas so here we go haha.

Honestly, while the tone doesn't fit quite well, I see this as Theo showing Harry around the Library once he's able to. When he finally gets the magic right to have his moving Library. Just, the Library having its (their?) Gift and Knight walking around, the shadows moving just so as it glides books and sections around, as they're one to do. Theo, if it's designed similarly as the one in the Tower, pointing out places like the chair and run that his Mother used to be around, and cute things like that. Maybe a re-created little nook they find or make their own in Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Wonderland, I'll be your guide

Holding your hand under sapphire skies,

Let's go exploring, or we could just go for a walk"

idk, it's just nice and cozy (except we ignore the last 4 lines cause that makes it all a dream, and while nice let's not have it only be that haha)

Chariot - Jacob Lee

So this one is honestly only here for two reasons, neither of which really connect with the fic haha. Number 1, is because of the post about Theo's eye color and the fact that I'm obsessed with it lol. And Number 2 is that it's one of my favorites from him, haha.

So, with this song, it's just another of those soft, kind of idle moments in the story, those breaks in the chaos, and they're (Theo and Harry) just sitting in one of their dorm beds, or in a nook somewhere, maybe it's a time when they just confess once more (because I'm sure something else would play for the confession scene haha), or they're just being soft with each other. Idk, not much to say this one, it's just such good vibes for a soft relationship imo haha.

Hurricane - I Prevail

All I can see when listening to this one is, is Harry talking to the Order, Ron, or someone who's completely bought into the Boy-Who-Lived thing. Like, "Cause I can't be myself when I'm with anyone" just feels so Harry coded in general, but also for this fic specifically, it just hits for me.

Then we have the

"Tell me that I'm lost inside my mind,

Remind me I've been searching,

For something I won't find"

To me screams Theo/Sirius/John/etc trying to get Harry to be himself, find what he wants to fight for, create that thing to fight for and all that, like you'd mentioned in chapter 22. All while you have Albus (probably, along with Moody etc) trying to fit him back into the moldable Boy-Who-Lived shape.

And then, once Harry just starts unapologetically being himself around anyone and everyone, the whole "The storm is coming down" part kinda kicks in haha.

Anyway, that's all I got atm, hope you've had a lovely day haha ♥️♥️♥️

[euchreiade]

@gumedybbuk tagged me to shuffle my playlist ten times and I shall do so! (I will also make a small comment for each song because yapping makes me feel good)

1 - "Alive" by SOUL'd OUT (the Jojo's nostalgia at work... crazy coincidence, the lyrics at the end of my blog description come from the last line of this song and have been there for 6 years! How time flies... great song by the way.)

2 - "Iron Fist" by Dorian Electra (My Agenda is one of my favourite albums of all time in part because of the extremely solid track production, and this one is imo really carried by its production.)

3 - "Drone Bomb Me" by ANOHNI (goodness gracious, her voice is so damn haunting. This one in particular sounds so much like a space opera dirge, a lovely image to me.)

4 - "Balloon" by Tyler, the Creator ft. Doechii (I listened to this song for the first time yesterday and it. SLAPS! I was jauntily skipping around listening to it! And Miss Doechii can't stop winning.)

5 - "King Kunta" by Kendrick Lamar (what can I even comment? It's To Pimp A Butterfly. Go listen if you haven't and go listen again if you have.)

6 - "The Untold" by Secession Studios (my high school friends and I used to play this track in tense moments in our TTRPG games. Complicated feelings ensue... Glad I'm outta there, at least.

7 - "Romeo And Juliet" by Indigo Girls (got into Romeo and Juliet related stuff back when I was in a production of it. I like both the original by Dire Straits and this cover for pretty different reasons.

8 - "Quiz" by cupcakKe (I have no idea why this isn't more popular : this feels like like a volley of musical punches to the ears. In A Good Way.)

9 - "Sous la lune" by THÉA (for such a young and underground artist, she has such an impressive catalogue that this one isn't even in the top 10 of my favourite songs of hers. She should have an international following, she deserves it.)

10 - "Innuendo" by Queen (... the cooler Bohemian Rhapsody. TO ME. My favourite Queen song. I know it's controversial, I don't care, Freddie flexed so hard in his final album.)

And I shall tag other peeps! @wyrmsoftheheart @punkbutch @finite-experience @znarikia @butchfeygela @lesbincineroar @cneasai @fishtomale @sappho114 @canidbutch