#can you tell i love vaporwave too

[justagh0ul]

what was the top five songs for you spotify wrapped :0

hiii ty for asking! i'm lazy so you can just have my whole wrapped thingy. it has the top 5 songs already on it lol

[seeminglydark]

I'm in love with Caro's style! It's a super cool mix of masc, fem, and vaporwave kind of look. As an enby who, at first, thought I had to look a certain way after coming out as non binary, I was wondering how Caro found their style after they started transitioning and figuring out who they were as a person.

Hello! So I did draw an entire four page little comic thingy to answer this, but I'm going to post it tomorrow cuz I wanted to draw a cute little cover for it ha. Figured I would answer you in text today though, and then you can have the visual tomorrow <3 First thing I'm going to say is that there is no 'certain way to look' for any gender identity or sexuality, cuz thats important, for those who dont wanna read through this text dump. Dress how you want forever.

SO! *rubs hands together* how Caro found their style! Background to those who havent read my comics, Caro grew up as a super high femme kid with crazy helicopter parents who controlled every aspect of their life, including how they dressed. They participated in pageants, modeling and wore a LOT of pink. Not that Caro didn't like pink, they did, but they liked purple better.

After Sully (highschool sweetheart) left, and Caro was on their own, they cut their hair off in a fit of rage and suddenly had to grow up real quick because they were on their own. Whats that got to do with fashion, RJ? Everything, dear reader! When they left, they had a bunch of Sullys shirts and his battle jacket. All 10 sizes too big of course, so paired the oversized tops with their own jeans, workout shorts etc. They had their cheer sneakers. And that is what they wore for a few months, til they got a job at the local gas station. The gas station employees were like, what is going on here with this little girl wearing too big clothes with a fucked up haircut, so, they pitched together and got this kid a proper haircut, during which Caro tearfully explains they arent a girl at all, they dont know what they are and everything is very scary and please dont fire them. Bev, one of their older co-workers decides they need better clothes and takes them to Seattle to thrift! Caro never thrifted in their life and found themself enamored with tacky 80's clothes and patterns, bright colors, funny tee shirts, etc. They worried, because maybe that wasnt what a boy would wear. Bev tells them theres no such thing as what a boy or a girl would wear, something Caro had never heard before, and that gives them mental permission to gleefully grab all the things they never got to wear growing up. They looked like a roller rink carpet threw up on them. they loved it.

The Gas Station Adults buy them a jacket that fits as well, GasCo purple of course, with their chosen name on the name tag. a symbol of acceptance. Caro started hearing things about genderfluid and nonbinary, and looking into what that meant, and what it could mean for them. Their podcast project, Mil-Liminal goes viral. Goldie, their agent, helps them get on low t. they realize how much fun body hair is and LOOK they can wear crop tops to show off their new tummy trail while still hiding their boobs. Whats even more fun? Getting tattoos. Taking their body back. Making themself into the person THEY want to see, and whats makes them the most happy. Still looking like an arcade carpet threw up on them, still loving it. They get top-surgery. Goldie asks them if they want to do a public face reveal. They've kept themself hidden this entire time, and realize they dont want to do that anymore. They shouldnt have to. They want to show the world this person theyve become. Which also means choosing a signature look for Mil-Liminal.

A Mix of their Highschool Varisty Jacket, and their GasCo Jacket. Sneakers. A nod to the pieces of clothing they always felt comfortable in.

Shorts and crop tops or mesh tops. Show off the tattoos, and the scars they earned becoming the person theyve always been.

Wear their identity on their sleeve, because not everyone can, but they are in a position where they want to make a difference and be seen for those who cant, cuz they know how it feels to be lost and scared and not have any idea how to move forward. Let their voice BE a voice.

A SnapBack. A call back to the first date with their highschool sweetheart, who listened, and put his hat on them and took them out and let them be themself, and loved them for it.

The most important thing to take from this anon, is that there is no Look. There is no way to dress or act or look if you're non binary, its not fashion. The same way clothing has no gender, anyone can wear whatever the fuck makes them happy. Put clothes on that, when you look in the mirror, you feel comfortable and happy. Its a very personal thing, and its about YOU, and how you feel. and your gender journey. Gender and Sexuality is as vast a spectrum as the human condition.

Thank you so much for the ask and inspiring me to make a look book and fashion journey post, I'll put it up tomorrow <3

[declanlikesmusic]

never got into vaporwave probably, what projects should i listen to for an introduction??

I always love this question. Finding the best primers to the whole of the vaporwave landscape and introducing new people to them is one of the many things with this genre that I just find so fun. I'm going to try to be as succinct as I can, but I am going to shoutout a lot, specifically twelve, so go ahead and take your time with these.

Macintosh Plus – Floral Shoppe (2011)

The biggest vaporwave album of all time. I will tell you now that this album is by no means perfect, it has quite a mixed reputation among fans & outsiders of the genre, but this is the album to single-handedly define the genre's core ethos in such a highly-concentrated way. If nothing else, this should give you a taste of what inspires and influences the genre most.

Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 (2010)

By all accounts, this is the very first vaporwave album and to this day, nothing sounds quite like it. A classic array of disorienting, hazy & psychedelic loops of old popular songs that still sound fresh and wholly enveloping.

猫 シ Corp. – HIRAETH (2014)

This one here is to help people gain a better understanding of what your typical standard vaporwave album often sounds like. It's quite varied in a number of subtly different styles & approaches to traditional vaporwave with some ambiance sprinkled in as well.

SAINT PEPSI – Hit Vibes (2013)

Now we're getting into the individual subgenres of vaporwave and while there's a few traditional vaporwave tunes sprinkled in here for variety, this album birthed & defined the genre of future funk with some of the best dance bangers you'll find in the scene. Lots of classy tunes on here, it's an absolute jam.

Blank Banshee – Blank Banshee 0 (2012)

Up to this point, every album I've shared has been intensely sample-based. This album still carries some samples, but it has original beats & synths to establish another subgenre known as vaportrap. It's a great beat tape with some classic tunes and I also recommend its sequel too, which is my favourite vapor album of all time.

ESPRIT 空想 – virtua.zip (2014)

Carrying on from the last album, this one almost doesn't use samples at all and when it does, it's usually an extra sound or instrument at most. I'm putting this here to establish that even basic vaporwave can be crafted from original compositions and the results are short but great.

t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 – 現実を超えて (2014)

What makes vaporwave the way it is and not like any other genre adjacent to it is its intensely heavy focuses on atmosphere more than anything else. So naturally, you're going to see a lot of bridges to ambient music. This first example is the subgenre of slushwave, which crafts the same excellent vaporwave tunes, but additionally filters them through such a wash of effects that transform them into psychedelic & blissful dreamscapes.

식료품groceries – 슈퍼마켓Yes! We're Open (2014)

The next subgenre in this vein is mallsoft, which answers the question of vaporwave being set in the tall & wide spaces of shopping centres by placing relaxing tunes in pools of reverb and letting them sprawl from the loudspeakers of the area's corners. This album is the first big one to establish that with a unique setting and gorgeous sample choices.

2814 – 新しい日の誕生 (2015)

The last of these ambient subgenres is dreampunk, which is a lot like vaportrap in that it heavily relies on its own compositions with very few samples while still retaining the genre's focus on nostalgia, this time set in the melancholic & rainy nights of the urban city through what is at least the second biggest album in the entire genre.

death's dynamic shroud – I'll Try Living Like This (2015)

I'm gonna end this list with a few of the genre's weirdest corners. Vaporwave is constantly wide open to new & unique ways of experimentation and this album stands as the best example of that. Wholly unique aesthetic choices, completely innovative sampling techniques and an overall opus of incredibly strange, surreal & psydchedelic soundscapes.

Infinity Frequencies – Computer Death (2013)

After that, I'll close this list with two examples of an abstract subgenre known by two names. They're synonymous to the greater community & world of music, but I see them as two different approaches. They're both defined by the creation of intensely haunting, isolated & eerie loops of mysterious soundbites extracted from the likes of television & radio. Signalwave is what I use to describe the more accessible & musical end of that sound and this start of a trilogy is the best example for it.

░▒▓新しいデラックスライフ▓▒░ – ▣世界から解放され▣ (2012)

On the other hand, I will leave you with what I consider to be the most divisive vaporwave record of all time. This album defines what is more commonly known as broken transmission and it is much more obtuse, glitchy, dark & surreal to listen to depending on the album. You're going to listen to this and either love it, hate it or sit inbetween. People have taken it as a joke while others view it as a work of art. Approach this one at your own discretion.

That's it! Those are the first 12 vaporwave albums that I will almost always recommend every single one of you to check out first. The greater landscape of vaporwave doesn't start & end with these albums, but instead, they give you the best surface level primer to help dip your toes in to such an amazing genre of music.

[preeningpisces]

Non-curse AU! Choso is a big ol' nerd

A/N: As a big ol' nerd myself I feel passionately about this, so I have way too many thoughts repost bc it wasn't showing in the tag for some reason

Below the cut because I'm a yapper!

♠ Definitely the type to meet his S/O through discord because I think non-curse Choso is much shyer than regular Choso

❥ He wouldn’t be an admin. He’d be the quiet type that’s always there reacting to posts but rarely talks. Has the sickest emotes tho

❥ Prefers smaller discord communities, mostly video game servers

❥ I think he'd like the vaporwave aesthetic and all the RBG setups. Keeps his computer area neat and tidy

❥ Choso fucking loves video games. He'll buy those $300 special edition pre-orders and get the cool figures

❥ HUGE Soulsborne fan. His favorite is Bloodborne (on the nose but I couldn't resist). Also really loves Monster Hunter. Cares a lot about the monster's details, like their eating habits. I think his fave would either be Odogaron, Nargacuga or Zinogre.

❥ Picks the edgiest weapons lmfao. Definitely a longsword user in Monster Hunter. Went blood build in Elden Ring

❥ *Sigh* he does consult reddit for his builds and is a min-maxer. I'm afraid Choso is a reddit user but in a 'I need a thorough understanding of this' kind of way

❥ Function over fashion: he dgaf if that helmet is as ugly as sin, it gives him +2 endurance and he's gonna wear it

❥ Lets you create his character & name them & everything.

❥ If you can't be present for the character creation portion, he'll make his character you! Definitely made you his dream guardian in Baldur's Gate 3 (which in the early access was called the Dream Lover, which is even cuter)

❥ Not pretentious at all about what is/isn't gaming, and plays all sorts of genres

❥ LOVES NINTENDO GAMES. Mario has a special place in his heart. DEFINITELY mains Shy Guy in Mario Kart

❥ Will literally cry and die if you play video games with him. You don't have to be good because he'll happily teach you. Just watching him play and asking about the details will make his day

❥ Definitely would do those cute Animal Crossing museum dates. Loves the relaxing, chill music so much. Despite his min-maxer approach to other games, he's absolutely not a time traveler in Animal Crossing. He's of the mindset that it ruins one of the core features of the game

❥ Stardew Valley? Stardew Valley. Honestly, I can't decide who he romanced first. My heart is telling me Leah, but chat pls advise

❥ Speaking of chat, you just know he's a fan of let's players. Always watching a YouTuber or Twitch Streamer. He's a Markiplier fan. You know it, just accept it

❥ Tbh that's a cute thought: Choso being a fan of the reader that's a small twitch streamer. Should that be a thing?

❥ Really good at singleplayer games. AWFUL at pvp

❥ He'll play something like Fortnite or Overwatch for Yuji, but needs to be hard carried because he only plays when someone asks him to. He can't stand how toxic those communities are, and doesn't want to socialize with strangers just to play a game

❥ He gets HEATED SO EASILY when people are toxic, especially if it's directed at Yuji or someone else he cares about. Definitely the type to step in and check other ppl when they're being toxic. Like those clips where it's a woman in a lobby and the dudes all start being sexist. Choso will not let that shit fly!

❥ Teabag him if you want to see him lose his shit

❥ On the note of Overwatch: the only character he can and will play is Mercy, and he just pockets Yuuji the whole time. Yuji has to beg him to heal/boost their teammates

[cozylittleartblog]

Have you ever had an order that just made you go "Huh?" ? Like what was your most interesting order?

i don't think i've ever had any weird orders (not in the sense of the Items anyway) but i've def had a few orders that catch my eye :')c #1 most interesting order is that guy who bought the entire remaining stock of my vaporwave notepads, which was 18 at once or something crazy. and they'd ordered other stuff too. that was cool (and a lot to pack, i'm surprised it all fit in a mailer)

mostly the main thing that catches my eye is when i can tell somebody's ordering a ship. people who buy queen & rouxls together, or swatch & spamton, or eda & raine. that just amuses me lmao. its also funny when people have such contrasting fandoms or aesthetics, something cute and then something darker, like half life and steven universe

last minute shoutout to people who buy everything i make for a fandom as well. you know what you're about and i love it. i see you

[eashmo]

7 minutes in hell, or is it heaven? Part 9

-I'm Here-

Warnings: smuty chapters, fluff, and lots of angst. Billy is a soft, mushy boy for y/n.

A/n: another long chapter! trying to find decent 80s dresses was a bitch because the fashion companies were going through it back then. 😆 also, I know Billy's outfit isn't prom ideal like a tux would be.

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

*y/n pov*

"Hey shitbird you're riding in the back," Billy yelled at Max, who was starting to get in the front seat as we walked over.

"Hey y/n, your riding with us?" She asked.

"Indeed I am, kiddo," taking her into a quick hug.

"Awesome!" She happily says.

I smiled at her then to Billy, who was trying to hide a smile while he got in. During the ride, the atmosphere was quit, other than Max's Walkman blaring "running up that hill" by Kate Bush in her ears.

I whispered to him with a small laugh "Well so much for hiding the relationship for a bit. Couldn't wait until tonight."

He chuckles, "I'm actually glad it's out." He says as he places a hand on my thigh, giving it a squeeze.

"You guys are being too mushy. Just say love you always." Max fake gags.

"You told her?" Looking at him in disbelief.

"She sort of figured it out." He sheepishly says.

"Because I'm a genius," she laughs, taking off her headphones.

"Fuck off Maxine!" He snaps flicking her off.

I started to laugh at their step siblings antics, because I knew that Billy cared for Max deep down. He just doesn't know how to tell her that, tho. Pulling into my driveway.

"Thanks for the babe, see you tonight."

"Anytime princess, see you later."

*small moment at the mall*

Sitting with Nancy and Robin at the food court, I pushed my food around with my fork while Nancy talked away. I wanted to listen, but my mind was on Billy and prom.

'Y/n? Are you alive, sweetie?" Nancy asks.

I look up at her, "Yeah, sorry, kinda zoned out." I chuckled.

She laughs. "I was just asking, when did you and Hargrove finally make a move with one another."

"Literally last night, but we've been secretly been friends since the day after the incident at the gym. Sorry for not telling you guys."

"Really?! That's great, so are you finally going to tell us why his nose was broken?"

"I punched him because he was being a dick." I say which was sorta the truth.

"Well, color me impressed, I have noticed you been a bit ballsy lately since after the party." She chuckles.

" So you guys aren't mad that I never told you the truth about stuff between us?" I asked.

The girls shook their heads no. "we are kinda hurt that you couldn't come to us, but we also understand, I'm just glad you can finally say you're dating Hargrove because your daydreaming was quite sad this year." Robin says through a small laugh.

Scoffing "Oh piss of Ro-Ro" laughing with her.

"Honestly the way he looks at you seems like you have him wrapped around your fingers, it's actually really adorable how he looks at you, never thought I would see the day that he would actually obey someone." Nancy says.

Laughing, I shook my head in amusement.

"So what the hell are you planning on wearing? Leave it to us for doing this last minute." Robin says.

"I honestly don't know." I shrugged. Getting up, we headed to vaporwave for our dresses.

We tried on literally everything in the store, but nothing seemed right.

"Wait here, I think I know what you ladies need." The older female clerk says.

The clerk pulls out three beautiful dresses from the back room.

"Ladies, I think we officially found our dresses!" Nancy yells as we all jump up and down.

*time jump*

Standing in front of the mirror in my mirror, half put together. The reflection of the clock on my dresser reminded me that I was running out of time to get ready. Breaking eye contact with myself, I reached over and took the dress out of the bag.

"Come on, y/n," I breathed nervously . I stepped into the dress, slipping on my heels. All that was left was the zipper.

It was just Billy. I shouldn't be nervous. But I was going to prom with Billy Hargrove, the most beautiful man in the entire school, who is now my boyfriend. which was even hard to believe. It had taken us forever to even get to this point. We tiptoes around feeling this year.

Someone knocked on the front door, shaking me out of my mind. They let themselves in without waiting for an answer.

"Billy, is that you?" I called from my room.

"Yes, baby girl, it's me." A husky voice travels up the stairs.

"I'm almost done!"

He chuckles, "Take your time, beautiful."

Taking a big breath, I walk out of my room. Stopping at the top of the stairs. I notice Billy's head is down as his fingers fiddle with the corsage box. Clearing my throat, his head whipped up fast. "Fuck he's gorgeous" I thought as my eyes wander over him, he's wearing a leather jacket, a red button up that was barely buttoned, paired with jeans.

"W-wow y-you look absolutely amazing, baby girl." He stuttered a little.

"Did the famous Billy Hargrove just stutter?" I laughed.

"I take it back," he grumbles

Walking up to him, placing a hand on his chest. "Thank you, and you don't look half bad yourself." Moving my hand behind his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. A soft kiss. He pulls away with a smile, slipping the corsage onto my wrist. "Susan helped me with picking this out." He quickly says.

"I'm nervous......" I say quietly, "people are going to stare."

"Let them stare, but I'm nervous too, more so because I don't want to mess this up."

Giggling "love you dork."

"Love you too, nerd," he says, kissing my forehead.

"Do you mind zipping me up?" I asked as I turned my back to him. His fingers feathered by back until he reached the zipper, pulling it up swiftly.

"Are you ready, princess?" He asked, holding a hand out. Without hesitation, I nodded and took his hand.

*at prom*

We met up with Nancy and Robin in the school parking lot, along with Jonathan and Vickie. We chatted for a few minutes before heading in.

As we filed into the school gym, we all stared in amazement at how incredible the decorations looked. The gym was completely decked out with silver stars and streamers; it looked like the night sky. Seeing other classmates dancing to "take on me" by A-ha, genuinely enjoying the night. It was everything we could have imagined. With that, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, and Vickie went running onto the dance floor.

"Let's get some food and drinks," Billy whispers in my ear.

Nodding, I follow him over to the refreshments table. Both of us grab food and drinks for us and everyone, we found a table that was near the dance floor.

"I can't believe I'm actually at a dance." Billy laughs a bit.

"Thank you for asking me and taking me. Since middle school, I've always wanted to experience a dance, especially with someone." I shyly say.

"Anything for you, princess." He smiles as he grabs my chin, looking up at him. I see how the lights made his blue eyes like sapphires, and his hair glows like a halo around his face. This man is literally going to be the death of me, I thought. He leans in, his lips hovering over mine, getting inpatient. I seal our lips together with desire.

Robin laughed at the both of us, "Christ, get a room, you two."

"You never know Buckley, we might." He jokes, earning a hand over his mouth.

*few minutes later*

"Now it's time for a slow song, so grab your special someone," the dj says over the speakers.

*"Right here waiting" by Richard Marx starts playing*

Billy got up from his seat. "may I have this dance?" He grins, holding out his hand.

"Yes, you may."taking his hand with a huge grin. Stopping in the middle of the dance floor, I was beginning to get embarrassed with everyone staring, my arms shakily wrapping around his neck, while his confidence ones slink around my waist, we begin to sway back and forth, I rested my head on his chest, my head under his chin, hearing his heartbeat I closed my eyes and savored the moment.

"Oh, can't you see it, baby? You've got me going crazy. Whenever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you." He sings in my ear with the song.

Laughing "you are so cheesey."

He laughs with me, "You love it."

Looking at him, "indeed I do."

The song slowly ended. we made our way back to our groups table, and my friends were still on the floor together, I giggled at them, being weird to the song "You Spin me Round" by Dead or Alive. I saw Billy bobbing his head to the beat, which made me giggle harder.

"What?" He asked.

Smiling, "Nothing, I'll be right back. I'm going to the restroom."

"OK, princess." He says.

*few seconds in the bathroom*

While I was finishing up in the stall, I heard a group of girls come in, peering through the crack between the door. I saw that it was Anna, Veronica and Mary.

"Did you see how hot Billy looks tonight?" Veronica says.

"Oh, I definitely did. It's a shame he came with that ugly fat cow, I would be a much better date." Anna says as she checks herself out in the mirror.

"You know they are dating, right?" Mary sneered.

"They won't be for long when he sees me." Anna says as they cackled out the restroom.

My heart felt like it had been crushed into a million pieces. Tears were brimming were brimming my eyes. Letting out a long, shakey sigh, walking out of the restrooms, and going into the hallways. Walking through the empty corridors, the music gets quieter and quieter. Tonight was supposed to be the best night of my high school life, and it was turning into a nightmare because of my insecurities. Maybe I was having second thoughts about everything.

"Best night of our lives, my fucking ass." I mumbled to myself.

"Baby?" Billy voice broke the silence behind me, causing me to jump.

"B-Billy! Why are you here?"

"I saw you leaving the gym, princess. What's wrong?" He asks with concern in his voice. I threw my arms around him, pulling him close. He wraps his arms around me, I bury my face into the crook of his neck, and tears fall down my face.

"Baby girl, tell me what happened?" He asks again. Gently rubbing my back, pulling away enough so I could look into his eyes.

"How can you love someone like me? Someone that looks like me." I whisper.

"What?!"

"I overheard a few girls talking about me in the restroom. One of them wanted to steal you away because she prettier."

"Don't listen to those cunts, she will never be my type, she will never be you, you hear me?" He was getting angry.

"I love you y/n, you're stuck with my crazy annoying ass whether you like it or not."

Laughing through tears, "I love you too, I'm sorry for being insecure.

"It's ok baby, you know we don't have to go back in there if you don't want to, we can just go home, yeah? Get into bed, binge watch horror movies." He says calmly, hoping to sooth me.

I take a deep breath, "what about prom?"

"It's kinda overrated," he jokes.

Laughing "it kind is, isn't it?, let's go day goodbye to everyone."

Walking back into the gym, I was glued to his side. He noticed how I stared at a group of girls that were looking at us. "Were they the one?" He asks into my ear, shaking my head yes.

"Which one wanted me?" He asks, and I secretly pointed to Anna.

"Stay here, I'll take care of it." Was all he says as he walks to their table. Anna was smirking like she had won, but her smirk literally turned into a Shriek has billy poured her drink over head. He bent down to her ear.

"I wouldn't have looked at you if you were the last girl on earth, let alone touch you. You can never compete with y/n," he says loud enough for me to hear.

There was no denying that people were staring now, some even whispering. It started to make me nervous. He took me into his side again.

"You're amazing Hargrove you know that, right?" Grinning.

He chuckles. "I know, I try."

We looked into others' eyes. Everything was perfect. No one else around us mattered.

"You're cute." He winks , pulling me into a kiss, before being rudely interrupted by two people throwing their arms in between us. Pulling us back a bit.

"Jesus hargrove, you're heavy to move," Nancy says, struggling to move him. He chuckles at her.

I turn to Robin, who has me. "Didn't I tell you two to get a room!" She jokes again.

"Oh shut up," I joked back, slapping her shoulder lightly.

It really was a perfect end to a perfect night. What could top this?

Previous Chapter

Part 10

Masterlist

2023

[ckret2]

Do you think bill would like dreamcore/weirdcore aesthetics/music? also I feel like the chaotic nature of the everywhere at the end of time soundtrack would suit him well. What do you think?

Commenting generally on dreamcore/weirdcore as a person who is aware of what they are and what their goals are but who doesn't personally regularly consume them and so is currently skimming a lot of pictures & playlists to compare to What I Think Bill's Tastes Are:

Look at a bunch of weirdcore and it's pictures of very mundane things in very mundane places, feels kind of like an old Polaroid, but framed (and sometimes added to in photoshop) in such a way to make it seem unsettling or eerie—to humans. Dreamcore is pretty similar except with less unsettling vibes, and more photoshopping of impossible things (ex: skies for floors), to evoke the sense of being in a dream. To humans, weirdcore is Very Strange And Threatening and dreamcore is Very Strange But Nonthreatening. To Bill? I think it would just hit him as "pictures of very mundane things." The things that make these aesthetics eerie and otherworldly to us are just part of his regular life. On a weirdness scale of 1 to 10, Bill considers Earth to be a 2, would probably consider weirdcore/dreamcore a 3, and he starts having fun at a 5.

He's a dream demon, he spends a lot of time inside humans' dreams, he probably sees forty liminal spaces with unseeable doorways that recede into the shadows each week.

To humans, places like that are barely-remembered phantom realms we only experience while vividly hallucinating in the dark at night, and in the waking world we use dreamcore to recapture that sense of unreality and weirdcore to sprinkle on a little dread. But to Bill, that's like, where he does his business transactions with humans. That's his workplace. That's like going to the office. Dreamcore is like human tourists visiting him at work and then going home and trying to make badly-remembered fanart of his office.

I feel like we get a pretty good glimpse of his preferred aesthetics during Weirdmageddon, with the Fearamid, the penthouse, and that ridiculous car—not to mention the mess he made of the town. As far as his aesthetic/artistic preferences go, the vibe I get off him is like... 20% Lisa Frank meets Clive Barker, 30% Hollywood Regency, and 50% the way a teenage boy in the 1990s would decorate his room if he was given a million dollars and no rules. The majority of dreamcore/weirdcore is too subdued, understate, desolate, and beige/pastel to reach his standards.

I can understand the instinct to tack that on him, though. I think weirdcore would love Bill. C'mon, try it out.

It works! It works.

I just don't think Bill would love weirdcore back.

Same goes for the music; to be incredibly reductive of a very loose umbrella term, most dreamcore music sounds like soothing relaxing 60s/70s music, played slow, with some static and an echo effect, and occasionally throw in some vaporwave or retrowave for variety. Weirdcore, pretty similar from what I can tell, but with more electronica and less of the 60s/70s music. Some of the most experimental least-conventionally-musical music might start to edge into "yeah this hits the same as listening to Shepard tones for five hours straight" but I think most of it only sounds like "weird music" to humans, and to Bill would sound like "human music." Nothing we've seen about his musical tastes so far suggest to me that his preferences are "dreamy" rather than, say, "party."

About Everywhere at the End of Time specifically: this thing is six and a half hours long, and I'm not gonna sit and dedicate my full attention to six and a half hours of concept-driven experimental music to figure out whether I think Bill would be into it, so unfortunately I'm only able to give a half-ass answer to this question with a subpar understanding of the thing I'm being asked to comment on.

Based on what Wikipedia tells me the albums are about, I think he'd respect the artistic ambition because he strikes me as the kind of guy who likes to think he's sophisticated as heck and able to Appreciate things that are Deep; and then he'd probably try to comment on how accurate it is—because like, hey, dream demon, he's probably been in and out of the heads of people with Alzheimer's. "He'd respect the artistic ambition" isn't necessarily the same as "he'd like it." I fully think he'd sing the praises of something he hates and/or that bores him to death if he thinks sophisticated people like it. (Alternatively, if he hates something he thinks people think is deep, he might go "it's pretentious and overhyped and if you were HALF as sophisticated as I am you'd be able to see that too." There's no room in his world for admitting "I think it's sophisticated but I don't personally like it.)

Listening to little fifteen-second chunks of the soundtrack on youtube while randomly skipping over several minutes at a time, I think that he'd think the first few stages just sound like normal human music (even as, from our perspective, they get even more staticky & distorted), and wouldn't fully appreciate the way the sound/memory progressively declines in those sections just because he's a little too alien to fully grasp the "wrongness" of it. From stage 4 on it starts to sound like the kind of "noise" I think Bill might register as "good music", a la Shepard tones or tornado sirens; but I'm not about to dedicate enough specific listening to pick out any sections that REALLY strike me as "yeah this is what I think Bill thinks music is," so that's just a preliminary answer. the Caretaker's attempts to represent the melancholy, depression, and confusion of having your mind and memories shut down on you might accidentally sound like a bop to Bill's alien tastes.

[darlingpoppet]

What inspired you to start Where The Dead Forget? Also can you tell us some more about your PZA Dreamers AU? (e.g. what your favourite thing to write has been so far, things you look forward to or struggle with, or anything else you like). Thanks!

As for WTDF, honestly it pretty much all started with this tweet where I expressed interest in the concept of Patroclus Hadesgame losing his memories. I had seen such fanarts already so I was curious if there were fics out there too (there are of course! I have since found some, lol!) But a friend in the comments was encouraging to the notion of me writing one myself and I pretty much immediately began spiraling from there (I tweeted this the same day I posted Once More and also about a week before I posted Upon A Lazy Bed, so at the time my brain was on fire and I was constantly brimming with ideas!) The entire story from beginning to end pretty much came to me immediately and I’ve been expanding on it ever since! A lot of my inspiration has been fueled by the experience of consuming every depiction of Achilles & Patroclus I could get my hands on, as well as countless academic writings with various analyses on the characters. Also just the entire meta tradition of storytelling with folklore characters in general, where there’s no one “definitive version”, and thinking about how that might work in-universe where things like memories, bias, human fallibility, etc make objective truth difficult or impossible to obtain. Films such as Rashomon and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind that explore similar concepts to WTDF also inspired me!

As for the PZA Dreamers AU!! I can’t remember if I’ve ever properly explained the concept in a public post but for anyone curious: the whole thing was born out of me seeing a parallel/synergy between the themes of the film The Dreamers and certain interpretations of the Iliad (the Homeric version itself ofc but also particularly Shakespeare’s Troilus & Cressida.) The characters in these stories exist in this symbolic & narrative liminal space where they’re shutting themselves off from the outside world so they can Live Laugh Love—and in all the stories, reality catches up with them eventually, usually in tragic ways. I’m making it a modern AU (a vaguely 2010s period piece?) because as a millennial I also see parallels to my generation (& Gen Z) where as a whole our own lives also seem to be stuck in a figurative liminal space academically, economically, socially (especially in the era of covid where we were all shut-up in our houses finding there was more to life than The Grind, simultaneously reveling in simple pleasures & also going insane from the ambiguity of it all until we were all forced back out again) And at the same time our generations have this fascination with liminal spaces as an Internet meme (including vaporwave which also coincidentally appropriates classical Greco-Roman imagery in its aesthetics.) I’m reading serious non-fiction books like Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher and Retromania by Simon Reynolds in service of what at the end of the day is just a horny fanfic LMFAO.

Because getting back on track to what you actually asked me: I’m not gonna lie, my favorite parts of writing this story so far have been the sex scenes, haha. Like the whole vibe of the story is supposed to be just this completely unfettered dreamy indulgence, and even things like sex have a liminal quality to me (where time seems to stand still and people are joined together transitioning through several physical states) hopefully I’ll be able to pull the whole thing off the way I’m envisioning it! The fact that it’s a modern AU is probably what makes this both easier and harder to write—things like dialogue can have a more modern sensibility but it’s probably the more flowery prose that’s giving WTDF its own dreamy, liminal quality so it’s tricky figuring out how to balance it. I’m also having a hard time deciding whether I want to dump this entire high-concept, novella-length story as a one-shot (or at least split up into 2-3 parts that are published all at once) or if I should stick to a more traditional (for fanfic) serialized publication schedule ahahaha. I guess if anyone reading this has any preferences or insight feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Oh and as for the PZA of it all: writing Closest To My Heart was probably what reminded me of the existence of The Dreamers in the first place (I had seen it years and years ago) because I realized that film has a similar dynamic of an “outsider” falling into an erotic triangle with a pair who are essentially soulmates, and ends up biting off a little more than he can chew in keeping up with the two of them… I decided I wasn’t quite done exploring that dynamic and I wanted to write about it more! Though don’t worry, I don’t think this story is gonna be quite as dark as Closest (uh oh wait this might be a lie actually), and also Patrochilles are MUCH nicer to Zag in this story ;)

(Also I didn’t even mention Hadesgame itself where the entire underworld is a liminal space Zagreus passes through to reach the surface/self-actualization and how he is constantly dying/resurrecting… Zagreus is a very liminal character! But this is already an ETA so I shall leave my thoughts there for now, lol.)

Hopefully all that answers your questions, anon! Thanks so much for the ask <3

[pastelroyce]

Getting to know y'all

phwoa got tagged by both @mtreebeardiles and @commander-krios for this one ty ty mwah mwah

i'll skip the tags this time but if you see this and want to play just say i tagged you (i'm enough of a nosy bitch to want to see anyway)

Nickname: Roy!

Sign: Scorpio. Tell me if you're surprised. Please.

Last google search: marvelous designer (a program I've been eyeing for a hot minute)

Song stuck in head: Starlight by Muse

Sleep: with the way my job has been currently, I have to pregame bedtime around 6pm so I can hopefully be asleep by 8, so I can wake up at 2.30 am. It usually never works and I spend my off days sleeping for the most part.

Dream job: I've had a lot of different dream jobs, but if I'm going to be honest I would like to never work another day in my life. Sick of it! But I can't, so maybe something in tech idfk.

Wearing: joggers with a hoodie and tshirt

Favorite song: Currently Unholy by Sam Smith and Kim Petras

Favorite instrument: guuh--

Aesthetic: I love that vaporwave shit, that nostalgic synthwave, night ride whatever the fuck you wanna call it. My normal everyday aesthetic is "I'm in my 30s and I don't care if I'm heading to the 711 in the same clothes i slept in"

Favorite authors: Alexis Hall and Michael J Sullivan are the only ones that come to mind, otherwise I really just read fanfic

Favorite color: Pink and all its variants, reds, blues and purples

Favorite animal sounds: Oh it's so hard to choose. A cat's meow, a bird that knows how to talk. Cicadas, mourning doves. Anything that's not the adult man wail my dog made earlier today.

Last song: according to spotify the last song I was listening to was 1000 Violins by The Cliks

Last series: Dragon Age Absolution.

Random: my bf and I met through tindr and the only reason we actually managed it was because he was too dumb to read the bit where we were 90+ miles away from each other, and I was coming off a four year post breakup depression and was so fucking desperate for someone to take me away from my hometown.

[hikaririnku-blog]

Tag Game

Rules: tag 9 people (or so) you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the questions below! — I was tagged by @cizzle-freezy !

(Quick disclaimer from me (Hikari), I am a HUGE paragraph writer, so bear with me.)

*~Song~*

A lot of my favorite songs tend to be related to video game soundtracks, and rarely do I expand my horizons. But, when I do, I gravitate towards a variety of genres, specifically ones akin to rock/metal/hard rock, EDM/future bass, and synthwave/vaporwave. Finally, after all these years, I have a favorite song that alligns with a multitude of my tastes.

When my partner introduced me to Devil May Cry series, the music from the games was really amazing to me. But then, they played Devil May Cry 5, got to the part where I see Vergil, and I hear his battle theme... It was over from there. Bury the Light is my Absolute All-Time Favorite™️ in my mind, something that I can repeat without getting tired of it, and, ironically, it gives me motivation, keeps me going without anyone or anything getting in my way, and makes me feel like I have the power to do anything.

*~Ships~*

Ships I typically keep on the down-low, since they're OC-related 90% of the time, and out of that 90%, a good majority are OC x OC ships with a friend's OC or my partner's. I'd get nervous sharing them, and if there is a fandom ship, nine times out of ten they're OC x Fandom, another thing I keep on the down-low. Cringe culture scared me out of sharing any of it for a long time. But I will throw fear out of the window for today, and tell my top Fandom X OC with an explanation as to why.

Dark Link x OC: Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda game series, and you can portray either yourself or a different personality into him. None are exactly "incorrect", as Link is a very flexible and versatile character, especially with responses you can choose towards NPCs in the modern Zelda games post-SNES era (i.e. Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, etc.). Similarly, Dark Link would be treated with the same flexibility and versatility. This opened a lot of possibilities for me, and I loved both Link and Dark Link for this trait. My personal favorite interpretation is that Dark Link, being around for as long as Link was (more or less), remembers a lot of his hardships throughout the past incarnations, and he can either be just as vengeful as who created him in the first place, or make a change to become his own person, and either hating Link for even being a catalyst for his own existence, or learning to work with Link and help him save the day in his own way. With this kind of interpretation, I have wondered if a special someone in his life will help hit the nail in the coffin for either result, or even create a new problem where he is internally at war with himself to go with his ideal partner or continue on his current path. It is also a good writing practice for a lot of hurt/comfort friendship and/or romance writings, too, so there's a perk in that.

*~Books~*

Not sure if comic books or manga count, but I just got done with Volume 1 of Solo Leveling and I am in LOVE with it. I refuse to go into detailed explanation of the story for this in case someone wants to read it for themselves eventually (if you actually want details, I recommend finding someone that helps explain or reads the story to you, or even get the book yourself and give it a try), but I will say, this book is a visual inspiration. I love the colors, the action details, and everything feels flowy when winds are present, and just... so angle (affectionate). And when things feel dangerous, they feel dangerous. I got severely hooked and I hope to continue reading it.

*~Movies~*

Much like the friend that tagged me, I very rarely watch movies. If I do, I must watch it with friends. The one that very much so lives rent-free in my mind was recently watching Howl's Moving Castle with my college friend. This would be my second Studio Ghibli film (first one being Ponyo) and oh my god.

Oh my god.

Somehow, this gorgeous movie made me cry with the main character Sophie. I felt her emotions, understood her. This film made me feel like I was the character. I want to read the book it was based off of so bad. It really surprised me when I discovered it was a film from 2004. Everything is so clean in animation, the backgrounds, the animation for the moving castle itself, just... everything. Granted, I shouldn't expect anything less from a Studio Ghibli film, but it's still so phenomenal. I felt like this should have been my first film, since I felt so in-tune with it more than I did with Ponyo.

*~Cravings~*

I severely crave a good hurt/comfort RP. Life isn't always chaos and despair, and, inversely, life isn't always sunshine and rainbows. It could be lifetime enemies or rivals becoming best friends because they share a tragic past that taunts them and hurts them every single day. It could be complete pessimistic strangers on a long and painful journey that helped them teach them empathy, compassion, and love. It could be anything... so long as it shows one thing.

Healing. I love a theme of healing in my RPs. It's something I connect with as well, having been a person that has been hurt before, alongside with a lot of people. The pain lasts long, but, you heal.

... I also crave a good, fresh, medium rare steak.

*~Tags~*

@jessebizarreart @juan-o-clocks @jorgedrawssomethings @risty90

Get tagged, nerds, lol.

[hakyeonsmonstercock]

ok gonna make a masterpost rant on my thoughts / hopes for #hakyeonsolodebut bc he’s coming back soon and i know hwang sejun follows me personally so 

1. pre-release digital single

option 1: summer

song: ok i know someone at that fuckass company is gonna be like “omg you should totally do a ballad” so i thought what if we didn’t have to suffer and it was just a little teaser for the album like dream and free tempo and hyuk’s songs were and not the main song? if we have to get a slow song, rather than a ballad i want something soft and sweet like choco chip cookie.

outfit: a mix of the ceci photoshoot and big issue, oversized shirts but less pink and more.. sparkly? i’m seeing stickers on his skin and glitter on his hair but idk that might be a vision for another time. anklets if we’re doing a beach thing. hair curly and parted so his eyebrows show a little (put some glitter on them like aoa cream king) maybe even some novelty hair clips

m/v: aesthetics..... the overused 3:4 aspect ratio solid color background with some objects in front omg.. but i’d eat it up for hakyeon honestly if it was more pastel and told a story. cutesy nostalgic with a girl maybe so he can trend for being boyfriend material again. balloons, very colorful, sunny summer-like, 

option 2: autumn

song:  i know vixx generally don’t do trends (thank god they never did beat drop chorus noise /barf) BUT, and hear me out, CITY POP is kinda on the rise and his #aestheticcore ass would GO ALL OUT. yukika - neon is like, representative intl stan choice but it is actually amazing. i can see hakyeon going upbeat retro but in my mind the prerelease single is a slightly faster ballad over a vaporwave/futurefunk/citypop instrumental (can you tell i don’t listen to that cringe shit). i can also see some trot elements being thrown in that suit fit hakyeon’s voice 

outfits: imagine this picture but with highwasted brown pants instead and a much flowier white/blue shirt with like puffier sleeves? maybe an extra button undone. then a beret (!), huge fucking dangly earrings, and his hair styled wavy like for the big issue magazine. black shoes with a high heel because fuck you or whatever these shoes are called because fashion. 

m/v: yeah i want it melancholic and rainy and dark and him singing to a stand mic late at night reminiscing.... the night sky.. stars.. starlights.. get it?

2. title track

option 1: sexy

song: if hakyeon went for a sexy concept, and i could totally see him do cunt very well, bass down low and heavy, something like shinhwa’s first love (!!!), hashtag’s freesm, sujeong’s tiger eyes, OR something with a western pop influence: poison, give it up to me, or even hara’s midnight queen

but the ideal? this song is everything i could ever want for hakyeon’s solo debut. the jrock-pop-dance-edm influences are brilliant, it’s fast paced and hot and leaves plenty opportunities for what hakyeon does best, and that’s stare at a stage camera seductively. 

dance: mm a lot of hip work and some flowy arm movements. a little contemporary dance break for hakyeon to flex. female and male back up dancers falling over him/fighting for his attention/serving as his chairs (which he did already lmfao). also that thing where one person moves from stage left to stage right and the dancers behind them copy and freeze in various poses/wave choreography. ALSO there’s a smirk and panting and a growl in this song... if no one got me i know hakyeon’s facial expressions got me!

outfit: THIS gay ass shirt is the ONLY choice wtf!!! taemin move promotions inspired but with higher wasted pants to suit hakyeon’s body type. no necklaces either, maybe gloves, dr martens... the highlight of this outfit would be his arms and lipoma <3 in an ideal world id ask for a little red gradient lip too but whatever, the eye makeup can go crazy instead

m/v: literally let’s bring it back to 2012 give me a box set and 50% dance shots 50% head shots i don’t give a fuuuck!

option 2 / follow up promotions (maybe featuring a female idol): i didn’t ask to be born latina

song: k hakyeon is canonically latinx so his debut song should have a lot of latin dance or even bollywood influences! i’m thinking if solo: koda kumi shake it, , tomochin’s loca, enrique iglesias’ bailamos or if he wants to be quirky he can plagiarize ACCHA ACCHA (get it????)

and if he invites one of his bitches shakira’s la tortura, cocosori’s mi amor, enrique iglesias’ takin back my love . he already covered havana and choreographed it and put his girls in those flamenco dresses soo... we know you want to king

dance:  i trust hakyeon to make troublemaker the 2nd most controversial performance in recent history. honestly just want him to do this to shake the table a little bit if he decides to go for a feature.

but if it;s a solo song... belly dancing!!! hello?????/ literally unfulfilled potential all up in this bitch! when he starts feeling ethnic >> he’s gonna be my cousin shakira said my hips don’t lie... 

outfit: RED! hello?? arguably his best color? when we put him in a sinfully tight shirt and add lace details and a huge leather corset-like belt and a deep v neck cross with long wide sleeves with details on the chest so it’s borderline a figure skating costume and HELLO WHEN WE CONVINCE HIM TO WEAR A CROP TOP AND BELLY DANCING PANTS AND THOSE SEQUIN SEE THROUGH SKIRTS AND DANGLY ACCESSORIES AND SOME INTRICATE WAIST CHAINS ohHoHHohhhpdhp yes it’s all coming together *brain fuckng explodes* also she should grow out his hair kinda like taekwoon hyde era? embrace your heritage king

m/v:  a whole storyline set in like the 50s in which hakyeon is a bartender/cleaner at a cabaret club and he stares wistfully at all the performers on stage and imagines himself up there and practices and then the climax of the song has him receiving standing ovations and as the song closes he’s like jolted from his daydream :’)

OR one of those stereotypical man having an orgy with a bunch of women mvs

4. pussy eating anthem

stellar - vibrato imagery. nuff said.

3. ft. yikyung

obviously this is just wishful thinking but since yikyung’s pretty active rn and has a whole song it’s not too far fetched? what’s far fetched is how close they are irl but i don’t doubt hakyeon will get a lot of his friends to feature, whoever they are. 

5. ballad

6. ft. vixx

aww in my light fashion i do think hakyeon would all but force vixx into the studio to do a cute little gift for the fans song <3 i don’t doubt he’d try to include h*ngbin too in some way. i don’t have concrete ideas for this one cuz fan gift songs suck but he’d probably be involved in the production/lyrics <3

[raremood333]

discover weekly 001

modest by default - Khemisset (انهم لا يستطيعون)

this moody, jazzy album popped up on my feed two weeks ago. the cover art compelled me to click, &i was almost immediately hooked. the YT algo is generally, like, 70% effective at recommending me random music that, when i click on it, is something i actually really enjoy. i don’t listen to a lot of #barberbeats playlists, generally, but i like to read &write a lot, &prefer background music to drown out the ambient noise of my surroundings. so i like to have a backlog of playlists and albums that are smooth, soft, and deep. i abhor lo-fi beats slop, but i understand the draw for something chill yet bass-y. liquid and ambient dnb is good for getting work done, but i find it a little too active still for deepfocus tasks. enter modest by default.

as far as i can tell, this is a plunderphonics producer. no idea if it’s one person or multiple, but i sampled a few different albums from their bandcamp catalog &the quality &depth of the compositions seems fairly consistent. truly, if you’re already on that barber beats tip, i’m sure you’ve run across modest by default. they have a lot of music &it’s dynamic &well-produced. i like that they also provide a list of the original sample sources. that’s that shit i do like. i don’t necessarily listen to a lot of music like this, but it serves a purpose—namely, not being bland AI slop, nor being boring lo-fi void music. it hits just the right #studymusic notes, if you will. would highly recommend Khemisset specifically, but i think their entire catalog is worth digging into if you like jazzy sampled vaporwave-adjacent beats. no complaints here 🫡

this album was the soundtrack to my read-through of David Lynch’s Catching the Big Fish 🐟 (RIP to a real one)

🎧 click to listen to Khemisset (انهم لا يستطيعون) by modest by default

Andrey Pushkarev - Vinyl DJ Mix | Recorded in a pressing plant (Dub & Deep Techno)

speaking of moody background music, i’ve also begun listening to dub &deep techno mixes, dipping a toe into an icy cool genre of electronic music that i’ve heretofore neglected. this set by techno producer Andrey Pushkarev is a bit of gold. i don’t know how many times i’ve listened to it over the past two weeks but it’s a lot. i really covet the times when i find a dj set where every selection feels just right; i like when i can really tap into the rhythm of what the dj wants me to hear, like two hearts beating as one.

this dj mix is gorgeous, with the faint cracks and pops of the needle in the grooves of each record like the soft kiss of a snowflake on your cheek. just…muah! 😚 really can’t get enough. this one’s good for reading or working, though i’d say it gets a bit more alive as it goes on, so if you really need music that fades into the background while you focus, this may be a bit too engaging. for me, though, it’s good for: walking, thinking, plotting &scheming, relaxing, reading, &writing. i’m listening to it as i write this. i also love the video aesthetic, of him grabbing records in real time in the middle of a giant vinyl record pressing plant warehouse.

if you like techno, if you like moody music to walk home to at night (big nighttime walk in the city vibes), you can and should check out this mix (& add it to your mp3 player if yr a real one)

🎧 click to listen to Andrey Pushkarev - Vinyl DJ Mix | Recorded in a pressing plant (Dub & Deep Techno)

[declanlikesmusic]

Today's Listens: Episode 004

August 8th & 9th, 2023

These past couple of days have been busy as fuck and I've neither had the time to listen to that many albums in each single day, nor write about them in those same days, so I thought I'd compact the two of them into one for a quick double episode! I listened to a variety as usual for as little time as I had and really enjoyed myself as usual, so here's what I heard!

Ski Mask the Slump God – STOKELEY (2018)

I kicked off the first day with simultaneously one of the most underrated yet underutilised rappers of the current day. I've always loved Ski Mask the Slump God's quirky yet menacingly skilled style and there are times where either he's punching under his weight or his label is doing that for him. (Bring back the original BEWARE THE BOOK OF ELI or I will take action.) I'm thankful to return to this particular debut studio album to end up finding a lot to love. Nuketown is the obvious big bomb highlight from the hype alone, but even the lesser appreciated cuts like the melodically sung So High and Save Me Pt 2 are fun jams, plus big hits like Faucet Failure, LA LA and Foot Fungus are great too. The whole thing is very consistently enjoyable, only really weak in a few notable spots. If you're a fan of trap rap, I can't not recommend this one.

7.6 / 10

Highlights: So High, Nuketown, Foot Fungus, LA LA, Save Me Pt 2, Get Geeked, Reborn to Rebel, Faucet Failure

Meteorological Agency – Night Coverage (2019)

Next one took me a long time to get to, I was pulled away to deal with other things after watching Jacksfilms livestream that day, so I had to wait until after my poker game that night to cover this half-hour signalwave album. This one's very sweet, lovely to hear and melodic, but it hardly exceeds more than that for me most times. I hate to kind of dismiss it like that, because it was still a good, solid time, but I was seeing a lot of praise for this out of other broken transmission albums and I hardly can say I walked away with too much compared to those who did. Still, good time, I'm keen on recommending it, just not particularly high priority.

7.0 / 10

Highlights: Indigo, Melancholy, Violet, Dream, Landscape, Rest

my bloody valentine – glider (1990)

I wanted to blaze through shorter listens because I didn't want this first day to be hardly anything, so why not throw an EP into the mix from the legendary my bloody valentine, though I had to listen to this through their EPs compilation. This was a very, very good time. It kicks off with soon from the end of their loveless album, which grew on me upon this EP and the rest from the strange title track to the almost great closer were a very pleasant time. If you want more shoegaze EPs in your life, this is a must-try among others of theirs.

7.4 / 10

Highlights: Soon, Off Your Face

HKE – OMNIA (2016)

Not gonna lie, I was kind of breezing by these albums on the first day, especially this one which closed it out, but at least it made me realise this was a little better than I remembered. HKE is a persistently bitter nutjob, I don't want to publicly endorse his music without telling you to proceed with caution, because this man's history in the vaporwave world is fucking wild. This record was ripe from the rise of the hardvapour subgenre and it's a decent time. I was kinda falling out of love with it and its persistent ambient interludes by the midway point, but once I reached OMNI, I was having a great, great time. Definitely one to enjoy whilst learning about hardvapour's messy, shitty and complicated history and its place in vapor as a whole.

7.1 / 10

Highlights: Omni, Requiem, Restore, Awake

SEA OF DOGS – Prelude (2018)

Now it's the second day of the two and I've spent all of it in the morning and afternoon being way too busy to be at home and sitting down for any of these albums. By the time it was finally evening and dinner time though, I had to kick it off with one of my favourite producers of all time. hyphyskazerbox, known as SEA OF DOGS here, put out a Prelude EP in 2018 that perfectly bridges the gap between her releases at the time. This was delightfully strange, a complete warping of music without being too plunderphonic-heavy, really genre-heavy in that matter. If you're going into this one, don't expect anything and you will receive everything, a little bit. The last two tracks are especially grounded into being more lyrical cuts with the former especially taking dominance with its atmosphere. This is another great time from an incredibly varied discography. I'd say check it out, but also know that there's others from her that don't sound quite like this that are even better.

8.2 / 10

Highlights: Hearing Her Name in Static, Warmed by the Rain and Sunny Thoughts of June, Beekeeper

Pendulum – Hold Your Colour (2005)

Finally, I've been waiting to go over this one for years now, the pioneering and genre-defining drum and bass prodigies known from down under as Pendulum with their mid-2000s debut album. I was worried I wouldn't love this one as much as I wanted to, but to no surprises at the end, this was actually a very great time. What's especially amazing to me is how basically this album compresses what would go down as several different subgenres for DnB into one cohesive record, from dancefloor DnB to liquid DnB and all sorts of others! Highly, highly recommend this one; I'm sure to EDM heads, this one is a stone-cold classic and it deserves that position greatly.

7.8 / 10

Highlights: Slam, Plasticworld, Fasten Your Seatbelt, Out Here, Hold Your Colour, Streamline

VECTOR GRAPHICS – DESTINE (2015)

This one's another EP, but just like with glider and Prelude, this one is not to be underestimated or undermined. Far from it actually, it's my favourite EP that I've heard since starting this series! VECTOR GRAPHICS, now known these days as .CASTING, is a prodigy of a slowly growing subgenre of vaporwave known as VHS Pop. There's a bunch of definitions out there, but the one that seems to be on the rise is classic vaporwave-infused hip-hop instrumentals with loud VHS fuzz. We can absolutely thank this EP for helping to popularise that sound, as its title track is often regarded as one of the best vaporwave songs of all time. I'm completely on the hype train with that, I especially think that the second of the three tracks sampled in this is completely transcendent. It's the longest and best cut on here by far, but every single track from before and after it is also a consistently great time. This EP is excellent and if I'd recommend anything in this post more than any other, it's absolutely this one.

8.7 / 10

Highlights: SURFING, DESTINE, ALBA83

Joy Division – Substance (1988)

I always like to do a slightly special record for every ten ratings that I do, even if milestones like this are as insignificant as 1330. For that, I tackled probably the last Joy Division record I will cover, their '77 to '80 compilation of non-album singles titled Substance. I've never been fully enamoured with their pioneering post-punk sound; I understand that it's for way more people other than me, but at least it was very fascinating to see this band evolve from a slightly amateur punk rock sound to a completely innovative one. The second half is especially good and consistent, but not to the level of great for me that I'd love. Almost every track here I felt that I should love and I very clearly almost do, but there's always something holding me back from that. It could be Ian Curtis's vocal styles, it could be some of the instruments played, it could even be the troubling recording quality of the late '70s as usual. The only track where everything truly clicks for me is the closing Love Will Tear Us Apart, which is very obviously their best here. I still think this compilation is very good and worth a listen if you're especially a fan of post-punk.

6.9 / 10

Highlights: Transmission, She's Lost Control, Atmosphere, Love Will Tear Us Apart

Massive Attack – Mezzanine (1998)

To finally close out this double special, I went to one of my favourite albums of all time for a proper rerating that I felt was undermining, when I last tried it. Massive Attack's Mezzanine is an incredible '90s record and my absolute favourite in the trip hop sound. I think the reason why I used to score it lower than I would've liked to is because what makes this record so excellent is often so understated that you'd have to really pay attention to find it transcendent most times. It's so eerie and urban, it feels dusty at points, but its highs are grimacing and haunting. I struggle to find new words for it, especially its first run of tracks from the incredible opener to the underrated interlude-type cut. Just dive in and absolutely check this one out if you haven't already.

8.8 / 10

Highlights: Angel, Risingson, Teardrop, Inertia Creeps, Exchange, Mezzanine, Group Four

Finally, I've got this two-in-one special right out of the way. This one had to be super delayed, I'm finishing this on the morning of the 10th, but I'm still very glad to be able to push this one out, especially as I'm freed from my job for a little bit. I hope you like what I've mentioned here and I'll see you shortly after for the next one!

[welcometoteyvat]

placeholder post for natlan archon quests and overall impressions i guess. major 5.3 archon quest spoilers 3 paragraphs in

first up, this part was written pre 5.3: it's really funny to me how much they're trying to sell mavuika lol. her web event (was voiced too, I think arlecchino's was the only other voiced event), animated short, trailer video, everything. compared to citlali's I'm really like 😭 spare some effort for my pink grandmother please. not to rag on hers, because citlali's trailer (the vaporwave retro kind of aesthetic was cute) and teaser were both really good and I prefer them more than mav's. like we know via her teaser and general story presence that citlali falls into the "experienced a lot of loss because of her extended lifespan" trope, plus the tsundere grandma otaku thing. which at least gives me a general vibe of her personality. but all mavuika's marketing still has not made me learn a thing about her 😭 her web event basically showing off her exploration utility and everyone saying "wow she's great at everything!" I don't care ,,,, this doesn't help me understand her at all or want to pull for her... so it's a bit ironic that all her marketing didn't showcase much of her character besides her strength.

you can argue her animated short showed her camaraderie with the old natlan heroes and her love for her sister, but idk. it felt kind of flat to me, I can't really place why, but besides showing she's a good person, there was nothing interesting there for me. that aside I still really dislike her design.

anyways the archon quest pacing is kinda wack to me. my comment here is mostly about the disproportionate screentime, but also some of the diversions did not feel super necessary (atea mostly). it also ramped up really quickly in 5.1 that it felt somewhat . fake? i guess. I was like there's no way we were just chilling and now we're in a full fledged abyss war.

next bit was written post 5.3: honestly? meh quest. I don't have that much to say, still digesting my thoughts, but most if not all the characters felt really flat. Citlali and Ororon in 5.1 have a good dynamic with each other, if I stretch my standards a bit, Mualani and Kachina were also alright, but idk man. the dynamics weren't there for me, the abyss fight setup (we just walked into the night kingdom) felt too easy,,, I don't know. On the whole I feel like the death exchange could be comparable to Focalor's plan to cheat the prophecy, if it was executed better (?). they said it's a relief for capitano, who's been wanting to be released from the immortality curse for ages, which is great. but they also say the death exchange is to stop mavuika from sacrificing herself again, or tell her to care about her personal life aside from her duty as archon,,, this is the part I'm ragging on because she has no personality to me, so the "self sacrifice" stuff doesn't have any impact. with furina we got to see her breakdown in 4.2, and there were like. hints at it even before then, but mavuika has none of that which made it fall flat for me. so hhh. besides that part, it just felt super unimpactful on the whole, I didn't feel anything, for the characters or choices they made. capitano's design is nice, he'll be missed (at least he's in the overworld now...)

edit: things I liked: the npcs showing up was cute, and they're all voiced! Also the part where we got the mini cutscenes of the six heroes supporting us in the fight was cute solely because Mualani's holding out hands joyfully pose solos, I died, she was adorable.

about mavuika's optional dialogue at the end of the aq: if they're going to hype dottore up this much, we better see him burn down irminsul or do something else equally batshit on screen. if they chicken out and don't make him a good amount of ethically dubious if we even have a dedicated plotline with him, I'll be seen on the news.

[lucifer-is-a-hermit]

7,8,10?

7. political/serious topics I can rant about forever: Waaayyy too many to list tbh but the top ones would be fuck capitalism, fuck nazis, fuck racists homophobes transphobes and all the rest of those fuckers, treatment of the physically and mentally disabled and other abilist nonsense, etc. Bro just ask me about how people and society treats people. Istg just ask me I dare you bro. Of course the one I can go on the most about is capitalism, but that fuckery leads to a lot of this other shit.

8. Fandom/niche/hyperfixation I can rant about for hours: Number one is Fire Emblem. Do nor ask me about FE or I will never ever shut up. It might accidentally get into mansplaining territory, like it's sooooo bad guys you really don't understand. I explained to a bartender why a seasonal beer reminded me of a FE character from the mobile game Heroes. I even pulled up that character. I would ramble about The House in Fata Morgana, but I want people to experience it themselves, so I'll just ramble vaugle as why you should play/read it (it's a visual novel okay). My current hyperfixation is Needy Streamer Overload. I even paint my nails to match the main character. Do not ask me about it either or you will hear me tell you casually how she became a cult leader or got banned from streaming by smoking weed. I'm also crazy about Resident Evil. I will mainly go on about 8, and the horror of 7. I will also go on about how Chris x Wesker is definitely cannon and they are in love with each other, like bro I will pull up recites. I also know tons of useless facts, especially history facts. Also nonsense about magic the gathering, like not even anything near coherent or cohesive. It will probably be a lot of a back in my day nonsense too. Oh answering 10 reminds me how much I can go on about everything about vaporwave.

10. Favorite aesthetic: Honestly it's pretty hard to pick one. Vaporwave is one of my top faves, along with goth, and punk but more like the everything of punk and not just the aesthetic or music. Corvidcore is just me irl. Midwestern emo/grunge is vibe when it comes to clothes. I'm also a huge fan on a bunch of different j-fashion aesthetics. Top two are lolita and gyaru. I actually have 3 different aesthetic blogs. Also do liminal spaces count as an aesthetic because they make me so happy and calm why unsettling me in the best way possible.

[sl33py-g4m3r]

|| welcome to my blog ||

|| I post various things; but mainly these: vaporwave, synthwave, lofi, y2k liminal spaces, nostalgia, retro anime, anime, larping, and personal stuff sometimes…

I have anxiety and will talk about it sometimes; also am visually impaired and might talk about that also... Hopefully not too many personal posts but its my blog so no guarantees...

also video games I'm currently into~~~ Either actively playing or just into the series; cause you can be into a series and not play the games, right? hopefully anyway.... Love bullet hell games and dungeon crawlers to death but haven't played any~~~

currently into: Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door, Pokemon Violet, Megami Tensei, Touhou Project, Len'en Project, Mushihimesama

Lots of music as of late, as I just like sharing stuff I find~~!

Might larp someone supposedly living in The Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, much to the annoyance of everyone, or so I assume ....

I have not a form for the larp character I’ve created, just that they’re from Mikado, still unknown to myself at present whether I want them working in the monastery or as a samurai….. I’ve posted about both as of late regardless… not how to allocate their stats if I were to make stats for them….

Guess the answers to those queries will come in time….. if my creativity doth not fail me henceforth

I've accidentally created two characters through text, lol. One a new recruit darn near killed in naraku (and is still unconscious), and one whom works for the monastery whom occasionally tests to see if whatever they're trying to post actually shows up here.... and likes studying relics a bit too much so that they don't get much sleep...

i know not what story I'm trying to tell or just senselessly goofing off... hope that the characters don't use the same typing and speaking patterns that I do to pull off the illusion that it is in fact other people and not myself. no idea how successful this is at present....

and that not knowing whether they sound like me so to speak is driving me up the wall... but maybe just have fun and it doesn't matter? idk...

tries to make 1 oc through writing, accidentally makes 2.... such is the way of creativity i suppose....

…..

I hope my larping for fun isn't as bad as I personally think it is; as I've never done this before....... online at least......

The annoying dog that is anxiety barks evermore

Enjoy my wares won't you~~?? Welcome~~ !! ||

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