#idk i'm not musically inclined at all i'm artistically inclined-

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

well i've concluded that i can totally perfect remix 8-

[shakingparadigm]

SECOND ASK HELLO!!!!

IVAN AND TILL TIME (will get to the other characters separately)

soo!!! for ivan and till i'm still debating whether they should be what most closely mirrors their alnst counterparts (idols/musicians/actors) or something that kinda just has the overall vibe

One of the reasons i'm more inclined to go with ivan being an idol and till being an independent musician is that for till (ivan i can see doing something else), till's character is really tied to his music and i think it would be weird to separate him from that if that makes sense. So i'm going with that for now :D So everyone else will probably be idol/music industry related so they know each other

BEFORE THE TRAIN (basically just a modern au)

Note: Anakt garden here would probably be an idol/acting training program or something

IVAN:

- Was raised from childhood to become an idol, has had very little control of his life

- faces constant pressure to preform well and keep a good brand image

- Every aspect of his life is monitored by someone else from his diet, hobbies, relationships (not that he has any skjdjf), etc

- (he's an almost perfect mirror of his alnst self)

- Due to the heavy restrictions in behavior, ability to peruse passions, and being isolated from a normal childhood, till caught his eye for that reason

- He envies till's freedom in being an independent artist, having split off from contractors/labels to persue his own music (and his ability to make his own decisions, live his life without the huge pressure etc)

- The intense competitive nature of his career is something so ingrained in his life that he finds it hard to imagine a simple domestic lifestyle

- His manager is Unsha of course

- basically, i barely changed him

- BOY'S GOT PROBLEMS

TILL:

- Was initially part of a music group signed to a music label after anakt garden

- Has a background in acting

- Broke away from the group to create his own music

- He has a decent sized cult following online, though his popularity is nowhere near ivan's

- He still faces mistreatment from other higher-ups in the industry and is looked down on for his choices

- Usually, this is from former friends & managers (HI URAK)

- He admires Mizi (pop singer? maybe?) for her carefree and genuine persona

- i may still change some things about him

ALSO mizi sua ivan and till are friends here and stuff. They see each other outside work and things

ALTERNATIVES:

- Ivan: business/finance, faces pressure to inherit a family business

- Till: still acting/music, but not independent and mistreated by urak

- Other ideas?

BOARDING THE TRAIN

IVAN:

- TILL'S ON THE TRAIN UH OH,, NATURALLY IVAN FOLLOWS

- His number is pretty high. either 500 or like 1000 idk what's considered high i forgot

- His number remains pretty consistent

TILL

- I'm thinking mizi disappeared and this upset him enough the train appeared

- "WHY CAN'T I FIND HER" oh sorry till here you go she's right here

- His number is probably similar to ivan, give or take a few numbers only

- His number constantly goes up and down

OKAY I NEED HELP FOR THIS PART WHAT DO THEY DO WHEN THEY'RE ACTUALLY ON THE TRAIN

HELLO!!!!

(long infinity train au post incoming!)

I 100% agree on the first part!! I've had those thoughts when thinking up my College/Modern AU, the question of "if these characters weren't forced into it, would they still choose to pursue music?" and although my answers for certain characters fluctuated, Till was consistent in the way that the answer was always yes for him. He is a goddamn prodigy, after all, and literally makes music of his own volition (which doesn't seem very common in the garden, at least to the extent and frequency that Till does it). Though he was forced into it as well, Till views music as an outlet rather than a responsibility.

Ivan, I think he'd definitely be under a company or management. Though I feel like if he wasn't forced to sing in this universe, another route for him could be his (very successful) modelling career. It seems to be his main "thing" besides singing, after all, and he rose to fame because of it. I also think the finance/business stuff might translate better into the modelling thing since he deals with commercials and brand deals, ambassador stuff (not to say this can't happen with idols, it'd just be emphasized if he was a model I think. The idol idea is still perfectly fine! It'd also make more sense for Ivan and Till to meet/grow close if they were from the same company, though I was also still fond of the childhood friends idea.... I realize it might be hard to pull that off in a modern au if Unsha and Urak are still rivals).

Ivan boarding because Till boarded first is so Min and Ryan 😭 insert that one meme "I'd follow him to hell and back but I just wish he'd stop going there" (it could be argued that Min was just trying to get his keys back, but. come on. we all know it wasn't just about the keys).

Till boarding because Mizi went missing is so unfortunately plausible 😭 it's literally the love conga line all over again. Mizi boards because of Sua, Till boards because of Mizi and Ivan boards because of Till. Insanity.

Though depending on the reason for their boarding, it could go a lot of different ways. Would they have some kind of meteor scene parallel where Ivan tries to take Till away from the train, Till gives him a sorry look before running in, Ivan pulls that sad smile and then runs in right after him? Would the train appear during a fight? Would they board separately? I feel like boarding together was a rare instance for Min and Ryan (at the time) because their issues were largely centered around each other (and their circumstances of course. but the point is they had to figure themselves out together). So for Ivan and Till to board the train together, they must've had a very prominent issue within their relationship that they need to confront (which is already true, very complicated issues in fact so no worries about that part). Though I'd love to hear your thoughts on how their issues and relationship complexities translate to this more modern au!

500-1000 is an insanely high number 😭 I mean at least it's not as bad as Grace and Simon, but I'm fully convinced that Ivan and Till could come close that point at least once 😭 (or just the ALNSTverse versions of them maybe). Maybe they'd be around (and I apologize for always bringing them up) Min and Ryan's 202. It's relatively high to Jesse's 20-something and Tulip's 30-something (I can't remember atm my bad).

Ohhh wait sorry I'm answering this ask in portions and I just realized you said they had different numbers. Does this mean you had them board the train at separate times?

I love the detail of their numbers going down in different ways! I could definitely see Ivan's staying more consistent and harder to budge because (as VIVINOS says) Ivan is incredibly persistent. Or stubborn. This can be seen in his mindset too, where he's firmly convinced he isn't cared for despite their childhood comics proving that he and Till were basically friends. I feel like Ivan is the type who's number doesn't change very often, but when it does it goes down by a large amount.

Till, on the other hand, with all his severe reactions seems like his number would fluctuate quite a lot. Just like how his collar switches between colors fairly quick. It would definitely go up and down a lot 😭 smaller amounts than Ivan's, I think.

Though I can see the situation reversing (Ivan's number constantly fluctuating as a reflection of his muddled and confusing thoughts, Till's number being more constant because he's more firm in his self identity), I still think the ones mentioned above fit just the slightest bit better.

WHAT DO THEY DO... HMMM... It really depends on the reason they're on the train in the first place. And that reason depends on the severity of their issues in this modern au. Do they board for their own personal reasons that aren't as intertwined with each other? Are their attachment methods still as unhealthy as they were in the ALNSTverse? Or are they slightly more mellowed and better adjusted in a more "normal" society? would Ivan still be unhealthily fascinated and devoted to Till? Would Till still feel conflicted about Ivan? Would they be more focused on their own individual issues and less on each other or vice versa? Naturally both can be the case but one usually wins over a certain amount. There's a lot to think about!

A lot of the train cars force the passenger to deal with their issues in somewhat literal ways (like how min and ryan are usually forced to work together, tulip is forced to sing a song she is emotionally attached to, actually hey wait fuck that's a good one?) Would there be a train car where Till has to recognize Ivan's feelings head on (Finally looking at him)? Would there be a car that would take their deepest inner thoughts and manifest them into physical, tangible beings or objects? Many possibilities! I'd love to hear more of your thoughts and ideas!

( + @chiisana-lion !! I'd also love to hear any thoughts you might have on an ALNST infinity train au !! If you have any !! let's share these brainwaves together !! )

[eggzspider]

my thoughts on homeschooling/unschooling as a previously homeschooled child now in education

for reference when reading i went into alternative education aged 14, mainstream education aged 16 and am currently 18.

lowkey i think homeschooling was awesome for me. but i am also very aware that a whole lot of parents homeschool for entirely the wrong reasons. bc religion/alternative beliefs are quite big where im from, a lot of parents have this calling from god to neglect their kids idk. my mother definitely fell victim to a lot of these mindsets, especially since the lockdowns, as she became super entrenched in conspiracy theories, and being a "truther" (??) but my dad is very conventional so i think i got lucky in that. both my parents made sure i was seeing people and socialising as well as doing decently well academically.

all that being said, i think a lot of my positive experience is to do with my generally being academically inclined anyway. when i entered education, i didn't struggle to keep up, and after adjusting i found school/college a really good environment. this most definitely does not go for other families though. a lot of the other homeschooled kids I've known have found adjusting to that environment really difficult, especially regarding self regulation, and just generally making this huge switch from "child led learning" to the structure of classroom learning and such. what i did find difficult was not being able to play into my strengths, eg i am a good artist and writer, but i suck at maths and sciences, and normally that wouldn't have even occurred to me, if i found something boring (long division) i just wouldn't do it and would find something fun (write more or draw or wtv) to do. this uneven kind of education did mean that i ended up resitting various exams, which did do some deeply evil things to my self esteem/mental health

socially, i do feel very .. idk . weird ?? i dont think that being homeschooled makes you into a genuine socially inept outcast, if youre a cool person and not a dick people dgaf, but i do also think that ive missed out on a lot of experiences that other people my age had. when i entered education, i hadnt really had much experience of pop culture, an didn't really get a lot of jokes and things which did result in some generally quite minor bulling when i was in my mid teens. i think i have a lot more independence, but i think that might be just a me thing, as i also knew kids who literally wouldn't leave their rooms bc they were so unused to being around other people. aside from that i also think i have less of an inclination to follow trends, and get super wrapped up in social politics. i am just generally alternative, culturally, musically, artistically whatever, but i do blame this on the homeschooling, most of the adults i was around were very conscious of things like consumerism, capitalism, and environmental awareness which influenced me a lot. it amazes me on the regular that people are so genuinely uncaring about these things, and how culturally sterile a lot of people are. being able to seek out my own entertainment without peer pressure or a curriculum to follow got me to explore a lot of things (esp the arts) in my own time, and get some really deep understandings of things that i wouldn't have learned in school, but have really helped me now I'm finishing college, (uk init) and starting to prepare for university.

on top of this a lot A LOT of homeschooled kids are queer. like and insane proportion. turns out if you don't have a constant threat of bullying, or unwanted outing, you will be so much more inclined experiment with gender and sexuality without fear and repression. im transmasc and queer, and have received virtually no harassment or discrimination from other homeschooled kids or their families. even super fundamental families who homeschool to make sure their kids dont learn about dinosaurs and transsexuals are honestly remarkably chill.

so yeahg i think homeschooling is. ok. not for everyone. i think a good way to think of it from a parents perspective is "is my kid going to be in a better environment in mainstream education? are they going to be better off socially as well as educationally? are there things that school can offer that i cant, and vice versa?" and preferably not "aha yes you will stay at home forever to skin rabbits and say scriptures."

TLDR: i loved being homeschooled bc it made me a pseudointellectual aesthetically minded art freak. homeschool your kid if you want a peculiar homosexual child with PLUR values and an educational minmax build but you must unfortunately have a lot of time on your hands and resist brainwashing your child at all costs. peace and love.

[quizzically]

wait while i'm making posts.

I think the statistical implications of how most tumblr polls work is totally fascinating and really should be acknowledged by people who compile data they get from tumblr polls to show facts

i am such a huge statisticshead it really interests me i love data analysis. it kills me when people let the sanctity of a good old fashioned poll get taken out back and shot. BUT IT DOESNT HAPPEN ANYWHERE MORE FREQUENTLY THAN ON THIS SITE

The bias on polls is INSANE. "Voter fraud" game is INSANE.,shithole bananas. Ok let's take a favourite obscure character poll for example. let's say it's relatively small scale that receives about 400 voters per poll at leaston each of its rounds. people who are into smaller fandoms seek a blog that runs a poll about their small fandom. they Nominate their own candidate. when this candidate appears in the polls, because of how tumblr polls function (they appear on your dash from people you follow already, voting takes literally no more than 10 seconds if youre not super divided and then youre on your way. no need to register a name, or any other details. polls can be botted, you can use alternative accounts, there is no showing up in person.) the success of the candidate may almost entirely depend on the dedication of the person who nominated that character to promote and spread "propoganda" as its always called, to their followers and friends who may have had no actual previous opinion of this character. IT IS THE PICTURE OF A NIGHTMARE BIAS. they could not be less from representing the opinion of a general public or an actual body of people. It's less like gathering statistics and more like a popularity contest? but you're not shown all your options! maybe the opposing candidate is great but just doesn't have anybody who is obsessed with them to write a 3000 word essay on how they're so great! music blogs are really widespread too, either for knowing music or liking it, so that reduces bias, but still; people on tumblr are often young, often queer often leftist id say, they will be inclined by these demographics to recognise/like certain artists or genres less, certain genres more. like what im imagining is old, classic (but obscure and not trendy) bands might get voted out in favour of a broad-appeal modern artist. Despite that band actually being recognised worldwide and having cultural-reset-level influence. i probably should recognise that tumblr polls are not trying to represent a world statistic..that's pretty impossible and an unrealistic standard. i dunno.it just gets me het when people pretend they have ANY credibility. lets talk about vriska winning pathetic meowmeow over harry dubois ok. ITS A POPULARITY CONTEST! SMEAR CAMPAIGNS! How many people can you get to show up for you but it doesnt actually represent whos better or who SHOULD factually win! i suppose popularity contests IS all they are or all they can be tbh it's just like. who likes apples who likes oranges. IDK take everything i say with a grain of salt These polls are cursed horrible sickly animals. just wanted to talk about it

[toburnup]

just based on your playlist for is your light on, im assuming u arent big into metal (80s heavy or otherwise) which is fair it rlly isnt for everyone! but just in case you were looking (and also bc i rlly like talking abt it 😔) for things tht might suit steddie (and only be mildly anachronistic, not that st is super faithful to a timeline lol) i think “wait for you” by bonham (or “guilty”, also by bonham) (both of which r from 89, so not far off) would be worth listening to, or even like. reading the lyrics.

a lot of heavy metal just sounds like hard rock (bc that’s what it’s iterating on), and most of the time when people think of metal they’re thinking of stuff more like thrash or death metal which are a lot less accessible as subgenres. steve might be more inclined to some of the less intense more rock adjacent heavy metal, (like bonham or stuff like dio, and some maiden songs), even if eddie is most likely more of a thrash fan. (if you’re interested in a recommendation with his tastes in mind, and willing to put up with prog/thrash stuff: savatage’s 87 album “hall of the mountain king” feels very him. if it’s not to your taste music wise id just read some of the lyrics. a little on the nose wrt satanic panic but in a fun way) (savatage’s later stuff slows down a bit and might be more listenable to people who dont like metal, like their 95 album, dead winter dead) anyway.

sorry for all the parentheses lol i will stop infodumping in your inbox now, i rlly like your writing :)

!!! thank you! i love this message lol. and i appreciate the intro level song suggestions 😭 i typically don't go looking for time period specific music for my playlists, just base it off vibes and what i listen to while i write, but it's not really because i dislike metal. i'm just not very into 80s music in general, unfortunately 😅😅

i love love LOVE my 70s hits, but the 80s are just ahhh, idk. maybe it's because i didn't grow up listening to it at all, but it's never clicked with me (generalizing, there are some artists who i like). i never go out of my way to listen to classic rock or anything like that. i'm more into pop/indie pop/disco.

but don't apologize for infodumping! i liked reading this. always curious to learn more. i'll give all the songs you suggested a try. who knows, maybe one of them will be the song that changes my mind lol.

[checkers-dance]

hi tumblr user checkers-dances. i write to you from my death bed. i fear i may not make it past this winter.

JOKES ASIDE. ive been sick the past few days. its really not that bad but im dramatic and also havent been genuinely sick in years so i have mostly stayed on my bed and done nothing but watch hour long video essays. if im not doing that, im watching mx videos. in any case, because ive been using kpop to Cope, i remembered this one youtube trend where people came up with like a whole idea for a kpop group. in a lot of ways its kind of like making your own superm, but im less interested in that aspect and more on trying to think about the more technical side of it. so because im dying and in need of fun, and also it was just a lot of fun coming up with my idea for an nct alternative, i've been thinking about what i would do if i had to manifest a kpop group out of thin air. here at incest entertainment, what type of music can we offer to the market?

i'm still not super sure of what route i would go but i've established a couple of ideas and once again, im smarter and cooler than any real kpop company.

-we're going with 7 members. i think that's kind of a perfect number, not too much and not too little.

-one thing i know for sure is that i need at least one member with creative inclinations. preferably we would have multiple guys because i think it'd be cheaper than having to always rely on outside producers probably? but also because here at incest entertainment we want our artists to have as much artistic freedom as possible <3 and because i do have a bit of a vision for what i want this group to be, i need to have strong communication with the idols who will be performing the songs, and i think a good way to go about that is having at least one of them who is also involved in the music.

-so i want the group to have a really strong concept. i think we are in desperate need of more kpop music videos with larger storylines (and those storylines would be even connected to the lyrics of the songs themselves). i'm still not entirely sure what the concept would be but it'd be very story driven and it'd have kind of mystery to it.

-so here's the most important part that i've come up with so far. it's by far the most unrealistic one, but if a group ever did this i think it'd be really fun. so i was thinking about how fun it was to overthink the mx music videos and try to come up with a coherent theory, and because i'm going to be pushing for a narrative i obviously want to give fans stuff to chew on and speculate on. and i was thinking about what would be a good way to do this. and then i fucking realized. let's make a fucking arg. let's throw weird code into the videos that leads to like a secret website where the fans can solve puzzles and figure shit out. i think making that aspect more interactive could be really interesting.

-to connect with the last point, i think a great way to push this would be with the physical albums. part of the appeal of physical albums in kpop is that they come with a lot of other neat things. so the albums can include items that are connected to the story, like idk. documents with info on them that they can decipher for themselves.

ANYWAY, im tired and i don't think im going to elaborate more on this, but i like this basic idea. sadly, incest entertainment isn't real and neither is my imaginary boy band.

HELP, NOT INCEST ENTERTAINMENT....INC-ENT for short. Is 7 rlly the magic number or is it just the number most frequently found in groups u like 🧐🧐🧐? THE OVERTHINKING MX ERA...listen I think this group should at least have a coherent storyline they're going for to avoid another watch/blue flower event 😭😭. Maybe it could be a scifi arg since there already are scifi concepts in kpop, or maybe it's a more historical thing. Personally I think if the company is called incest entertainment there should be incest gimmicks in the group, like them pretending they're all related despite looking nothing alike. Maybe there's even a time travel gimmick in the story so they're all each other's ancestors at diff points in the timeline. Much to think abt (help I said no more watch/blue flower stuff and then immediately went on to spawn this concept 😭)

[jestbee]

ok y’all do we think we’re getting a drEP or a dralbum

Dralbum rolls off the tongue so much better haha. Idk I'm inclined to say drEP just because that's how new artists usually go. They release a couple solo songs, then and an EP or two, then an Album if they're lucky.

Mind you, they don't come with a pre-existing audience of Dream's size, have his streaming numbers on the singles, and don't start out with Universal (still interested whether he's actually under Universal proper or one of their imprints (sidenote: what's the music industry equivalent of an imprint? I'm using publishing terms))

So, at this point, who the heck knows! He's sure been working on it a while BUT I will say we usually only hear about studio time form the point of recording, not the writing, which is what Dream has been doing, so an entire album this quick might be ambitious? WHO KNOWS

All I know is, however many songs we get, and whatever they sound like, I'm probably gonna have them on repeat for a while

[shannonsketches]

SO!! You're gonna see me be SUPER annoying about @redclovercasefiles for the next month or so, because I've been helping out on it with my dear friend Mazzie, who long-timers might remember as the author of the horror comic I was working on a few years back, Aura Ambit.

Mazzie was working on this game's script for over a year before she brought me on to help iron out some designs, and has slowly built up our little seven person team over that year, including an accessibility-forward UX/UI artist. She's been funding this entire project out of pocket with her life savings, so that all six of the people working with her on this game are getting paid on their terms, because paying her artists was and is her top priority.

I also need you to know that all six of us, separately, without planning to, contributed extra work to fit as much as we could into that budget, because all six of us, mostly strangers to each other, were So Excited to be working on this game.

I know I'm biased toward Mazzie's writing, because Mazzie is my friend and I've done other projects I've loved with her, and I love her storytelling sensibilities. But since joining onto this I've watched six other people -- four of whom I didn't know prior to this project -- immediately fall in love with the pitch and pour their whole heart into this game.

From our incredible Sprite Artist, Denaseey (https://x.com/denaseey) who is in SUCH high demand and made room for us anyway, to our amazing composer Mark (www.markalanknappjr.com) who got our pitch and just!! DONATED our trailer music pro-bono just to be a part of it (he is signed on and being paid for the whole OST, and he's grEAT), to our UX/UI artist Jenn (https://www.jenniferbertaggia.eu/) who came to our rescue at the 11th hour and made so many gorgeous assets and coached us on accessibility options, one by one we all came in and had the same reaction. We saw this game laid out and fell in love with it, and I have every belief that anyone here who enjoys my work will fall in love with it too.

So bear with me while I spam our ads, because I am SO excited about introducing you all to these characters, and this fun spooky Whodunnit.

I WILL be making fanart of these folks and I happily encourage anyone who feels so inclined to do the same and tag @redclovercasefiles (It WILL get reblogged and I promise the whole crew will scream and cry and throw up rainbows about it). Idk why my friends are all so good at making OCs but.............Goddamn. My time (as a fanartist) has come (again).

Anyway I know things are tight all around and there's a lot going on and backing a video game kickstarter is kind of small potatoes backburner-at-best stuff, but we'd love to make this game as absolutely awesome as we can. This has been a genuine dream project with a small team full of amazing, wonderful people, and I hope you'll give it a look and back us, or consider boosting us if you can!

Thanks for reading all this here's a sketch I did of Jules and Scooby Doo to hype up our crew chat

and as always come check us out on kickstarter buy gold byyyyyyye

[starvinginbelair]

ranking every original song from the next star

because i can and also i've never listened to the full discography before! reminder that this is only really my opinion and that this is just for fun (not an actual serious critique lmao). also i only watched from season 5 onwards, so there may be a bit more bias to the newer seasons and songs. this will only be songs that were written specifically for the show, no songs that were released by participants after the show.

1. good as gone by melissa (charlie) storwick

C A T C H Y. it's no wonder she won with this song, with how good it is melodically and lyrically. sonically, her voice really suits it too and while it does have electronic elements to it, it's not so overpowering that it feels dated by any means. the dynamics of her vocals in the last chorus carry it higher and makes the song not feel energetic and fun. one of the best, if not THE best written and produced song on the next step

2. all i want by alex zaichkowski

you could flip a coin between this one and in my mind because they're pretty similar to me. at least musically, both really lean into the live instrument/band aspect and i eat it up. what puts this one above in my mind is slightly better writing in the chorus and a stronger bridge. i really like how this one paints a distinct image through the lyrics though, and the songwriting is definitely some of the strongest out of the songs on the show

3. in my mind by ryan hawken

the chorus of this one is so genuinely catchy. and i feel like he has the vocal chops to pull off the way it swells in the last pass of it. the verses are memorable, and really the only weak part of this song is the bridge. definitely something you could see an early 2010s boyband singing, and one of the better songs from season 5. one i find myself inclined to listen to again

4. my best friend's girl by diego gomes

does it have a ton of vocoder and voice modulation on it? yes. does it also hit insanely hard and is a party hit? also yes. i really like the simple guitar at the beginning that transitions into a more electronic sound. i also love the breakdown section/guitar solo. obviously, the lyrics are quite juvenile but they somehow work for this song? it fits and doesn't make me feel weird and in high school lmao. i also love the octave change in the last chorus. why this wasn't more of a hit? idk.

5. fever by victoria duffield

one where i'm like how the FUCK did she not win with this song. the way the chorus hits and while repetitive, isn't at all grating or annoying. i love the verses, they're so well written, and the second verse pre-chorus is genuinely one of the best parts of the song. it really set up where she was going to go as an artist tbh and i really love that. definitely a hit, and there's a reason it's probably the most popular song from the next star

6. breaking glass by kaleia simons-cook

another one where it genuinely flabbergasts me that she didn't win with this song. it fit pretty perfectly with what was popular around the time she was on the show, an edm banger, and her voice sounds so good. has top 40 hit written all over it, and i'm still a bit salty this song wasn't appreciated more

7. sparks are gonna fly by j.d. meeboer (rip)

this was the pop-punk/pop-rock song this show NEEDED. it was so refreshing to listen to, the live instruments sound great, and the breakdown is great. of course, the lyrics aren't amazing, but you can absolutely tell that there was a lot of thought put into them and that there was a story they wanted to tell using the imagery. it's catchy as hell, and definitely one i'll revisit and replay until my heart's content. my one complaint is that i wish it went a bit harder, but i'm sure live, it could be different (it is different).

8. into pieces by electric ave

the instrumental on this one is amazing, and the swagger the guys bring to the song is unmatched. it's truly been years since this song was released and i *still* remember the lyrics because that's how fucking catchy it is. instant brainworm. i love the breakdown too, and it just elevates the song going into the final chorus. everyone sounds good on the track and really, just a song you can absolutely bop to

9. we are the brave by rebel coast

such a unique song concept! the instrumental of this one might be one of the best the next step has ever done, with the excess of snares and dark sound. the vocals on this sound great, especially from kyle and curtis. i think the lyrics are pretty weak but this does have one of the better choruses out of all of the songs. replayability is high, and i have nothing more to say than this one is a bop

10. we just don't care by the season 6 top 6

a bit autotuned, yes, but never to the point of annoyance. i think the outro really sells it for me, it's just so catchy and everyone's voice is utilized well in this one. it's also not repetitive in the way now is, even though the chorus is similarly simple. the mixing is great and everyone has a moment to shine. i like the lyrics and sonically, the backing instrumentals provide just enough that it is easily one i revisit and listen to often.

11. turn it up by the season 4 top 6

are charlie, milly, april and parker's lines completely autotuned garbage? yes. but does it slay regardless? also yes. it's a certified bop, that i will always love dancing to. i think the lyrics are perfect for a dance track, and in general, i think it'll always bring good memories for me. so what if i'm a little nostalgic for this song? it's valid. it's catchy as hell.

12. better off anyway by brandon bizior

this song walked so the holy trinity of sparks are gonna fly, in my mind, and all i want could RUN. that pop-punk flair i really love is so apparent and there, and i cannot understate enough how much i love the instrumental. i didn't expect to like it this much even, but sonically it's so good. reminds me a lot of check yes, juliet by we the kings to be honest. what knocks it down here (still top 20 lmao) is just that i think the lyrics aren't as strong as the three songs i mentioned above, and there are other songs i like better. but definitely a replayable song and one that i was shocked to like so much that i want to revisit it!

13. see you again by amer dhaliwal

the chorus of this one is so catchy!!!! i really like how it's written too, and i think the melodies are really good. i would say the verses are kind of boring though, and they're cheesy as well. but amer sounds amazing singing the lyrics so does that cancel it out? to me it does. the high notes are killer and it's definitely one i can see revisiting. however, it does land here because i just like the other ones more, and they appeal more to me.

14. dreams by shania fillmore

classic tbh!!!! i love the instrumentation, and while the lyrics are very VERY cheesy, i find that shania's delivery makes them less so. she seems to really believe the message of the song lmao. it's also insanely catchy, and i applaud the decisiveness of wanting a country-pop song instead of something that might be more leaning into edm or straight pop.

15. front row by madi amyotte

i swear this song was featured somewhere and tbh even if it *wasn't*, it should've been. even though the writing is very very cheesy, it doesn't seem played into so much, like the artist genuinely believes that it's true. i also love the instrumentation and think the vocals are great. i genuinely think that this is one of the best songs, just for how catchy it is even upon my first listen. season 3 really had a great group!

16. up to us by jory zechner

wow season 7 really had some of the best production and songwriting in terms of melodies. i think the chorus carries this song but around it, there's p good lyrics and melodic tendencies. the one thing that i do dislike a lot is the spoken word bridge, but overall, the rest of the vocals are really solid. replayability factor is also high.

17. if i fall by wren burnett

i was shocked to find out how much i liked this one! i think the writing in the verses is really solid, and the chorus has a lot to it too. the instrumental is amazing and you can tell that wren has a great voice that doesn't need excess vocal modulation. i genuinely am going to revisit this one and it is definitely my favourite of the season 2 songs for sure. it's very early jojo and you know what?? not a bad thing at all.

18. the last word by briar gillis

so evanescence, so angsty. and genuinely i really enjoy it! i think that the verses have pretty good songwriting, but the pre-chorus is cheesy. the chorus could come in stronger, but her vocals overall are pretty good throughout and fit the song. i like the instrumental a lot too, and that she leaned into the live instrument thing. the belt before the last chorus is what i would want for the whole song going into the chorus.

19. it might be you by parker schmidt

okay so if we're talking on writing ALONE this one would be way down there with "the way i see you". but we're not, so i would just like to say that i really like the instrumental of this one and how catchy it is. yes there is a ton of vocoder on it, but it's a really really cute song otherwise and i think it's one of the ones with the most earwormy choruses. def a fave of mine, no matter what.

20. goodbye gravity by dante scott

i love the verses and pre-chorus of this song. the soft drop is also perfectly timed, and it's just a great dance song! it's so catchy that by the end i was singing along to the chorus, but it's also not dated. however, i can't put it in the top songs simply because the post-chorus is quite shallow and i really like other songs more

21. be your holiday by shon burnett

say what you want but this is a cute ass song. catchy for sure! while it is really shallow writing, and i really think the instrumental is grating with the brass, shon's voice is actually pretty good in this, and makes it up for it. aside from the spoken word pre-chorus of course. i would've liked this song to explore the more tropical sound in the way the bridge implies, as opposed to the brass. but like it's one that i always find myself aw-ing at

22. say u 2 by paige prescott

cheesy yes, but it's so catchy and easy to sing along to. i love her vocal on it and it sucks that during the live show, she also got sick similar to issy. but i like this song far more than issy's, just for how cute it is. it also has great background instrumentals and overall is just a bop!

23. i got a crush on you by isabelle stern

such a cute little song! i really like isabelle's vocals on this, and you can tell that she has such mature depth in her voice. again: electronic elements but it doesn't feel dated. the lyrics do make this feel a bit juvenile but at the same time, i think it works for her voice and she sings it well. i love the octave change too. definitely catchy, but it's not good enough to be pushed up into the upper echelon of songs.

24. lioness by kat moscone

the instrumental on this one really hits, and tbh saves it. outside of the verses, which come in really strong and are lyrically pretty alright, the chorus is weak and so is the bridge. i really dislike the rap bridge section, and while kat's vocals are good throughout, i just find myself drawn more to the backing track more than the melodies. it's catchy, but in a way that's definitely grating by the end of the song due to its repetitiveness

25. from the heart by amanda rowland

i wasn't expecting to like this one as much as i did! i think it works and fits perfectly with her voice, and i love the instrumental and how it builds throughout the song. it doesn't feel juvenile either, if a little bit cheesy in the lyrics. i think my one knock is that it builds so much that by the end, you can tell the vocal chops just are not there to hold it up.

26. caught up by grace johnston

i like the instrumental of this song and i absolutely love the chorus. they're both really catchy. however, i think the vocal delivery on this song is weak and really, the lyrics are pretty mediocre. it doesn't hit hard enough either. middle of the pack seems right about right for this song. i like the name drop too though.

27. without you here by tiana flegel

very hilary duff-esque. i really enjoy it, it's solid in terms of sound. and the songwriting is decent enough that it's not a bother to me! i wouldn't necessarily look for it to listen, but if it came on, i wouldn't be mad. kinda just a middle of the pack song

28. what r u doin 2 me by michaelah weekes

i don't love the chorus of this one, but the verses are really great lyrically. i think the instrumental is interesting too. but overall, there's nothing super special about this song. it just kinda feels like it's there.

29. shy by dunnery bond

again, it might just be that it's not my style, but i feel like this song sounds a bit like elevator music. it doesn't feel juvenile to me though, which is good. i think it's just cause i'm not drawn to this type of music, but overall it's really not that bad

30. gotta give a little extra by darren espanto

darren's vocals in this song are amazing, and that's genuinely the only thing that saves this one lmao. the verses are bloated with unnecessary lyrics, and the chorus is annoyingly repetitive. there's nothing even interesting going on in the instrumental. darren's runs sound great though, and you can tell he's probably the most talented vocalist (on vocal talent alone) out of all of the top 6's in the show. i wish they would've given him a better song though, so all of that could shine.

31. so hepburn by ryland clark

meh. that's really all i can say about this song. i think it's catchy enough, but i also don't find myself dancing along like with the others. it has this guitar lick that just goes on forever and never gives up, and it's quite annoying. the verses are also quite bloated with lyrics. i don't find that there's anything spectacular about this song, although i think that the concept is interesting! the songwriting also isn't great though, so it falls flat.

32. now by the season 5 top 6

a pretty shallow pop song tbh. i find the chorus a bit grating with it's repetitiveness, but i like the post-chorus. the verses are not that well written either though, and the overall mixing of their voices together wasn't done very well. definitely the weakest of the top 6 group songs, by far.

33. more by issy dahl

i could only find a live version of this, and she's very visibly sick in it tbh. chorus hits but the verses are super boring. kinda just meh. i wish there was a better version of it online because she really does kill the chorus. hard to judge because of the vocal performance.

34. solitude of sunday by darrelyne bickel

cheesy writing and boring instrumentals, really nothing i like in it. i think the vocals are really lacking too. just a boring song that has not much going for it, and isn't memorable overall in terms of the show. i won't be revisiting it. it's alright though i guess. mid.

35. insane (thru with you) by mimoza duot

ugh with mimoza's voice they could have done SO SO much more!!!! instead we get an electronic and vocally modulated song, with shallow lyrics. it also completely loses me on the catchiness factor, really does sound like something from an early 2000s movie that plays during the shopping montage. i wish we had more from her cause her vocals through all the modulation sound deep and great but...

36. everyday crazy by christina leclair

i really dislike the lyrics to this song. they feel really cheesy and they remind me of a knock-off of wonderful crazy by katelyn tarver. the backing instrumental IS good, but that's about all that is with this song. i think the vocals are alright, but it's really nothing special and i don't enjoy it in the same way i enjoy the others.

37. spotlight by april llave

it's so similar sonically to breaking glass, but i think the writing is worse, and there's an overuse of woahs and ahs in the verses. the pre-chorus really does hit, but the chorus is boring as hell with the same words repeated over and over again. the bridge is pretty bad as well. the edm backing music is interesting though, and that's probably what keeps it here and not somewhere lower. cause it is pretty catchy.

38. you better watch out for me by alicia moffet

this one is really just mid for me tbh. like i genuinely don't know why people liked it so much. i liked the message and it was a cute song, but the production is really lacking anything interesting and the lyrics aren't great either. of course, i like it better than many of the other songs but really, there's nothing special with it.

39. more perfect than a doll by lizz kellermann

the audio for this one was really bad, but i don't think that changes how bad the songwriting is either. i can see where she's coming from with this song, trying to be relateable, but at the same time, it just feels really fake. i like the vocals, but there's just not much else that draws me to this song.

40. the way i see you by brooklyn roebuck

oh wow, listening back to this one really makes you realize how HIGH SCHOOL it is. it's really not at all that catchy either. maybe it's just because it's very country and i don't love that genre, but in comparison to the other country songs on this list, it's definitely the weakest.

41. winners by jaden macphee

it might just not be my style, but i find this song really just boring and not at all catchy. the verses are quite bloated with lyrics in comparison to the chorus, which only has a few. the edm drops just aren't appealing here to me, and there's so much more they could have done with jaden's voice i feel like. he kills it on his runs, but unfortunately the rest of the song is just repetitive and annoying to listen to .

42. what we need is love by rayandra hudson

maybe it's just because of the sound quality but i really just did not like listening to this song. aside from the sound quality, rayandra sounds pretty pitchy. and it's far too reminiscent of a song like hey there delilah without the charm. it's definitely not the worst song, but not something i'd ever reach for.

43. stuck in my world by maranda thomas

i don't like the repetitiveness of the chorus nor the random people shouting things throughout the song. it's very early 2000s though, reminds me of outrageous by britney spears. i don't like that song either though, so maybe it's just the style. not one i'll be revisiting

44. do it by nissita francis

it's so cheesy and juvenile and i am cringing about it, but trying to keep in mind she was really young when she sang this. i mean it is kind of catchy, in a bad way, with just the chorus. the verses aren't really engaging and i feel like she sounds very autotuned. i really don't like the background instrumental claps either. the video is cute though! and her vocals are also good, just not her natural vocals, and you can tell.

45. if you were mine by milly benzu

the catchiest part is the "if you were mine"s and even that is really just a bright spot in a sea of edm that is bad and uncatchy. the songwriting is really juvenile and tries to have so many unnecessary drops and vocal modulation sections. i really would've just loved a song with milly's singing on it cause i know it was good, not this bs.

46. one more first chance by brock zanrosso

it's so early 2000s and so just boring. i imagine this song as a glob of wet paper mache tbh. it's just so unappealing to me, and maybe i just don't like the style, but there's something that distinctly turns me off from it. i really couldn't listen to all of it, i think the lyrics are cheesy and sonically it isn't amazing either.

47. gonna make you dance by alyssa reid

this was NOT what i was expecting from alyssa reid's debut song. it's so latin flair for no reason? there's also a really odd vocoder on her voice that's entirely unnecessary. i really question what they were going for with this song, because it's not really all that catchy either.

[demonicintegrity]

my 2 cents about the comments from will's former bandmates - i think they're legit and i'm sure those people were all truly hurt and mistreated by will. the thing is, a lot of his music (and his words outside of his music) have themes of like. being in the throes of mental illness and substance abuse and being a bad person, doing bad and harmful and wrong things that you regret. all these comments from others who knew him are from long enough ago to be part of that behavior from which he's clearly at least attempting to grow + change.

i also know he's spoken out before about the fact that he's hurt people in the past, and practically begged his fanbase not to idolize him as a perfect person that he clearly isn't. i think it's interesting that ppl who even praised this about him previously are ready to drop him after seeing the potential reality of those statements.

to clarify, i'm not a will wood fan and i basically agree with you + the last anon about all this (my knowledge comes from my brother + mom who are fans) and like. i'm inclined to believe all of these statements about him. i think everyone he's hurt in the past has a right to feel hurt, and angry, and resentful. but i also think will has a right to grow from the unhealthy person he used to be.

if anyone who has hurt me significantly showed signs of having changed for the better, i probably still wouldn't want them in my life and would continue to be hurt by their actions, but it'd be a good thing for them to change anyway but i'd want them to have a better life and be treated well by the people around them now.

anyway i'm withholding final judgement but i do think that when will said he's hurt people before and was a bad person, i was inclined to believe him. that's kind of the whole point of much of his music, and in the absence of any truly damning evidence of illegal behavior i think there's no reason yet to discard him as an artist aside from personal discomfort.

Yeah exactly that! And this goes back to a separate post half-inspired by this but also hey no one’s perfect or immune to stuff, especially messy unhealthy relationships, where you want even people who’ve wronged you to get better solely because you dont want further harm to be done. Even if you never forgive them. (you’re never obligated to.) People are going to be shit, especially when you have a cocktail of bad cards. And you want them to improve not just for their own sake, but for those around them who you do have more sympathy for. (And that goes for everyone, not just musicians you shouldn’t be idolizing to begin with.)

And if you go so far as to claim them a monster, placing them in this box of they’re Bad because They Intrinsically Are, you’re discrediting the human intent and flaws as well as context around that incident and that human capability of reflection and improving. Which doesn’t do that incident or the victim justice.

Which is why I’m on the fence about previous bandmates coming forward now (or maybe again, idk anything here. I’ve gotten in the habit of not knowing my musical interests outside of their music, for better or for worse) because while Will being an asshole X years proves he’s certainly capable of being the Bad Guy and it wouldn’t look out of character. I just don’t know if it’s only that version of past!Will capable of that or if it still extends to pre&during lockdown!Will. I genuinely don’t know and if I’m going to make a claim on Will’s character I’d like to know that first.

So while it’s worth keeping in mind because it does add extra context to Will’s character. We have know whether or not that has changed over the years and whether or not he’s genuine in his attempts to improve. And considering his apology in the thread was pretty solid about his part of the problem, and as you said he’s never been shy about the fact that’s he’s been the bad guy in the past, and if this Kitchen Floor Song is about this incident (or any other) it shows an incredible amount of remorse and owns up to the fact he was the bad guy and does take ownership of that. Because of all that I’m willing to give Will that benefit of the doubt here. Just as I gave Op the benefit of the doubt despite the flaws in their story presentation.

Especially since we don’t know his personal life so we can’t compare his life now to then. And i wouldn’t ask him to do that because he doesn’t owe anyone his personal life especially since people of status are under such scrutiny. Plus, the road to being a good person takes time and is rough. Especially if you’re managing addiction and a poor mental health. It takes a lot of time and effort to make peace with the fact that you did horrible shitty things and time to build up enough better deeds to have a chance of outweighing those.

(A bunch of his current fans have only know pandemic!Will. That is the Will they were introduced to and become familiar with. Is it fair to say to them and Will that hey, he was shit X years ago you need to see him as this right now always? I genuinely don’t know. I certainly wouldn’t like it if I met someone and a third party I haven’t met/spoken to in years was like “hey Integrity was kinda shit X years ago you need to factor that into your current idea of them in the present.” Because it ignores the context of X years ago and whatever incident and the development since then. It doesn’t change the fact that yea, I did some shit things. But it doesn’t mean I’m proud of them or am capable of that kinda stuff now. And if you’re going to bring that up in an accusatory way I’d like to be able to explain myself. Or maybe I’d just say it’s in the past and I’ve made up for it and leave it at that because I don’t have the energy to explain past!me.)

So yea. Reserving judgement on Will’s current character until I get more context around his current self. Which I might not get so who knows. And yeah as you said, because nothing outrageously criminal has happened to make a permanent stain on his character, I’m waiting for more context. It doesn’t excuse this or any other previous incident, he’s absolutely the bad guy at some/all fault there, I’m just saying it doesn’t properly color or contribute to judgment of his current self.

[birb-tangleblog]

I have a headcannon that the Dark Kingdom's culture definitely had some Asian-based aspects before it fell. (Evidence: Adira's essentially Korean according to her character designer, Hector's pets are from Asia, and the moon is super prevalent due to the Moonstone) Hector is also a skilled martial artist with a gifted sense of rhythm (Evidence: RatGT). This all makes me headcannon that Hector likes to practice taiko in his spare time (a traditional Japanese style of drum performance).

More specifically I like to envision him doing stuff very similar to the famous troupe Drum Tao: The Martial Art of Drumming. Their passion and style remind me so freaking much of Hector. Here's some videos for reference:

https://youtu.be/QsuYZ-1ZP00

https://youtu.be/lE6N_QD99C8

(Spoiler alert I'm going to try to incorporate this onto one of my Ao3 stories. We'll see how successful I am. 🤣)

I get a similar impression as you, actually!! My HC or guess would probably be that a neighboring country or trade partner of the DK is East Asian-inspired, but I can definitely see some cultural diffusion and mixing happening there too. And I wish the show had leaned into it/shown us more, but the DK having this unique aesthetic w/ the furs, darker palette, paint, and hints of other influences is intriguing enough.

I feel like I've seen a few takes that give Hector some artistic inclinations or hobbies but Idk if I've seen any that had him as particularly musical! Him playing smth as aggressive and physical in its performance as drums (and taiko!!) seems fitting too- it definitely has to do w/ the passion and flare, like you ment'd- so I'm on board w/ this HC. 🥁

It seems like that style of drumming is often practiced in an ensemble- so maybe the other Brotherhood have training in it as well and can also play, tho it's more of a hobby/interest for Hector particularly? Them performing together for a ceremony or smth would be v cool ngl ngl

Maybe the DK also has a practical purpose for war drums and uses or used them as a form of communication across the kingdom? So it's performative and an art form, but also has utility as a skill.

[berlinini]

Hi I am a solo louie

But I don't like how these solo louies or especially rads idk ..also , like larries assume about louis sexuality and partner and his personal life more than his career. And as a artist

Like this weird and creepy talks that how louis is with a man or louis is a bottom like and how some hot wealthy macho man mr o is taking care of louis as if he is a tiny lost bottom like it so uncomfortable and cringe just like larries theories are cringe and delusional

As a fan we should only hype louis and his music and his career not make theories and fantasies abt him and his personal life according to what u like and want louis to be which ironllly is opposite to what louis actually is we should appreciate him as actual him not what u think he is in ur fantasy abt him

Like in the end only real louis and his music matters

Not theories about him and his personal life or sexuality or if he is with harryor he is bottom being taken care of or has an actual girlfriend who he takes care of and loves or his child or anything else

Just him his kindness his heart his strength his struggles his love his hardworking his career his success matters not how he is 100 percent gay or bi or has a girlfriend or a boyfriend or how he is with every men or not with women

Like I don't have interest in his sexuality or love life but I would always love and support him whether he s gay or straight or with man or woman

Cuz its not our place to theorize or assume

Just hype and love him

I k it may sound a bit bad

But its just am really protective of louis and just want his happiness and success

And when I see all these assumptions abt him by his apparent fans it's just I get upset cuz I want to see support for him and his music

Like the lack of promo and support by the industry and radio is so upsetting and now seeing his fans being more interested in his personal life rather than about his music like see his stream nos

So yeah just ranting but ig it's just me who purely supports him for who he is and wants to be and achieve and not any version of him which his fans make in order to like him

Hi, thank you for your message! Replying under the cut because of the length of the ask and my answer. This is going EVERYWHERE and gets quite philosophical on fandom stuff so beware.

I totally agree that Louis is a musician and fans should first and foremost be there for Louis' music. However, as with any celebrity, you may be more or less inclined to follow their personal lives - maybe there's an artist that you follow on IG, that you have a bit more interest in (you read or watch their interviews, you keep up to date with their projects), while there may be some others for which you don't care to do that - you listen to their music or watch their movies and only care about their art without feeling the need to "discover" who that person is and that's totally OK.

Personally, this is my first "fandom" experience in the sense that I've joined a community of fellow fans (the best <3 louies <3). I have a few celebrities that I've followed a bit closer over the years. And I would say that it's a double edge sword. For example, I'm a huge fan of Lorde's music but knew literally nothing about her. Now I've seen the press for Solar Power and was very put off by some of the things she said and now my perception of her as an artist and the way I consumed the album has changed. That's why they say never meet your idols - there is a difference between the public personality and the "true" person. Anyways I disgress.

My point is that if you're in the fandom, be it via tumblr or twitter or whatever, you're interacting with people who have a lot of interest in Louis. And sadly a lot of that interest revolves around his personal life. But as @seasurfacefullofclouds1 aptly pointed out in a post yesterday, Louis' personal life has been weaponized against him and so fandom's obsession over that also plays against him. But at the same time, it's only "natural" for the fandom to have done so - because that was the narrative that Louis was "given" - Larry, Eleanor, Freddie - with a PR strategy that revolved around that and that only and not his music or artistic aspirations. Louis was never allowed a "normal" career and with all the time that it took for his solo career to launch it left a void of professional music-related content, and only left his personal life to be consumed by fans. Bring into that 1DHQ/HSHQ feeding the Larry narrative - again, to the detriment of Louis. (all of this is based on my understanding of the situation as I was not in fandom at the time)

Now, is fandom going too far with all the speculations about his personal life - his sexuality, his partner, etc.? I'd say a big yes, but that goes back to the beginning of the Larry narrative in 1D (and the other ships in the band). However, for me, there are levels of invasiveness. It's my understanding that Larries have been pretty intense ("investigating" the boys' schedules, travels, etc during 1D) and keep doing so - analyzing every lyrics and piece of clothing to fit their narratives. On the other hand I'd argue that the Mr. O lore has always been "light" - we don't know who that is, what he looks like and we're just happy to imagine Louis with a loving partner. I don't know a fellow Louie who sometimes daydreams about Mr. O whose love for Louis revolves around that fixed idea. The solo louies that I know (and some of them are rad whatever that means) are here for Louis before anything and while we make fun of his love for bald men, none of us is expecting Louis to share anything about his personal life. We just want to know that he's happy. For me, it's pretty clear the Louis is a very private person - understandably because of all the shit he had to endure - and everyone I appreciate in this fandom is OK with that. I'd argue that "rads" are actually the part of the fandom that focuses the most on Louis' career - they know so much about its history, the fuck ups, the facts. So what if sometimes we have a little bit of fun talking about Louis being driven around by Mr. O? Our blogs are not focused on that. (Literally, I thought of making a Mr. O-centered blog for fun, and every mutual that I asked if it was going too far shared my concerns that we don't want a Larry 2.0 and should keep the focus on Louis' music - so please don't put us in the same basket lol)

Another thing you mentioned is the top/bottom debate, which I agree is extremely invasive. Honestly, and I'm gonna try to put this politely, for me this comes from the literal imaginary versions of Louis (and Harry, etc.) that stems from fan fiction. Obviously fan fiction is huge part of this fandom (and others). I think that as long as you consume fan fiction for what it is - fiction - it's totally OK. I have been reading really nice fics and love the work that the authors are doing. But when I look at Louis Tomlinson the artist I'm able to differentiate between what I see and the different versions of him that exists in my head from all these stories. I've said many times before that I believe Larries are stuck with an imaginary version of Harry ("cupcake Harry") that comes from how he was very young and from all the fics in which he's this adorable cute boy and not someone who would fire his musician before tour without an explanation. For example, someone recently shared this post and I was very uncomfortable with the literal fanfic that they wrote in the tags. It's different when it's contextualized on A03 - but to be comfortable saying all this like this, it's crossing a line - but again, it's a line that's been crossed already in this fandom. It's complex stuff honestly, I don't want to come across as the thought police lol.

Look maybe I'm totally wrong about that, but for me, consuming too much fandom stuff (fics, discourse, etc) will blur the lines and it's important to always remind yourself that you, in fact, do not know Louis Tomlinson. You know a public version of him, you know what you can see, through his actions, the values he shows, his lyrics, but those are parts of him and they are meant to be seen. You can decide what you focus on.

But in the end, as you say, you should be here for Louis' music. There is no reason to be here if you dislike his music and are only here for him "as a person" - it's really weird, because again, you don't know him. An anon sent me this Big Larry's post a while ago saying "the cult is first and the music ifs second" (I never answered them rip). I quote the post: "In my opinion, being a larrie means you’re supporting them both as queer and closeted human beings who deserve better. Whether you like the style of music they each create, is secondary." I SCREAMED reading this. There is no reasons to stan Louis and Harry for being queer and closeted. You being their fan will not change their situation (real or imagined)(Larries have a big victim fetish but that's another story). Louis is not asking you to be his fan because of his sexuality or his closet. Louis is A MUSICIAN who wants to MAKE MUSIC and be in the public's eyes FOR HIS ARTISTIC ASPIRATIONS. Which is why we've been saying that Larries actually hate Louis - because they keep pushing him into their narrative in which he's a shadow of Harry and doesn't even want to make music - which is very much false.

So I totally agree with your feeling. I'm sure that the festival and the soon to come LT2 will allow us to focus on Louis' music once again. As a someone navigating fandom, I think it's important to understand how fandom works and how it also influences you, your opinion and your experience as a fan (and how it can be manipulated). A healthy dose of criticism is always good - which I see you have! If this is getting too much, you can always step back a little - and enjoy Louis' music, which is the best :)

[theflannelwizard]

are you still doing those TAWOG headcanon ask things? may i have some about, hmm, juke, perhaps? (i'm thirsty for juke content p lease)

oh if this is who i think it is i’ve seen your blog and i’ve been hoping you would send this!!! juke truly is an excellent lad :)

gender- it may be starting to look like i think everyone is nonbinary. it’s not my fault you keep giving me nb characters. juke is transmasc and nonbinary!

sexuality- hmmmm...... my instinct is to say juke is Not Straight but idk if he’s gay or bi/pan. the only ppl i’ve seen him shipped with are teri and bobert, and since both of those are valid and interesting ships, i’m gonna go for bi.

OTP- juke and teri! teri is patient with juke when he has trouble expressing himself to her, and juke is patient with teri when she gets overwhelmed or anxious. i like to headcanon juke as a pretty decent artist, and maybe he would draw outfits for teri that she could recreate when she got dressed the next day! juke is pretty old-school when it comes to romance, and he likes to do things like bring her flowers if they go on a date, but if the flowers have thorns they can snag and tear teri’s arms or hands, so he’s always careful to bring her daisies or other harmless flowers. he makes her mixtapes and she choreographs little dances to them for fun. and once teri finds juke’s music to voice switch, the conversations they have are really deep and personal. sometimes juke will jokingly erase teri’s mouth or teri will jokingly switch juke off of his voice setting, but they would never do that to each other out of spite, just in fun when they playfully argue/debate, and they always make sure not to strand each other without a voice. neither of them is especially tough, but they’re both bffs with bobert, who makes sure they don’t get picked on or pushed around.

BroTP- bobert!!!! juke and bobert bond over being seen as more machine than human, and they open up to each other about their experiences navigating the world as part machine and part real person with feelings. juke stands up for bobert if people try to take advantage of his poor social skills, and bobert defends juke if things get physical. bobert also acts as a wingman, albeit a very straightforward one- “teri, would you like to go on a romantic outing with juke? he is hiding over there and hopes you will say yes.” juke makes mixtapes for bobert, too, and bobert often remixes them or makes mashups of the songs.

NoTP- i don’t think anyone actually ships this, but gumball. juke could maybe eventually become friends with gumball, but he wasn’t treated very well by him in his one episode, and i don’t see that working out even if they tried.

A fun dynamic they would have- i’m gonna take this opportunity to talk about the power trio that is juke, teri, and bobert all together. bobert never minds third wheeling, he’s just glad to be part of the squad. juke is obviously the most musical of the three, but with his musical inclination, teri’s affinity for dance and jpop/kpop, and bobert’s mixing skills, i like to think they form a little band. teri is their singer and the (adorable) face of the group, bobert mixes a backing track ahead of time, and juke plays the track and writes all the music. they’re pretty underground and it’s just for fun, but they really enjoy it! also, teri tries to convince her friends to join cheer squad, but they both prefer to stay on the sidelines supporting her. the fact that nobody was able to find juke’s switch implies to me that he’s a pretty lonely guy, and he probably doesn’t live with his parents, so what if he lives with bobert? teri visits the two of them all the time, and when juke wants to spend time with her alone, he picks her up or goes to her place. bobert is like a brother to juke and a best friend to teri, and he will physically fight anyone who hurts or bullies them. luckily this doesn’t happen much, especially once people figure out the consequences. i also think juke and ocho could be friends! ocho can be a little intense and impatient, and juke is more the fun but sensitive type, so when they hang out it’s usually at an arcade or playing tag team video games with ocho on offense and juke following his lead. juke has met all of ocho’s uncles and honestly isn’t too impressed, which makes their friendship easy and ocho more comfortable and trusting around juke.

Any other fun headcanons or things i wanted to elaborate on- the second i saw juke i fell in love with his design!!! he’s so cute and it’s obvious his intentions are always good. it also seems that he grew up pretty lonely because of the language barrier, so he never forgets to treasure his friends and girlfriend. he’s special because i don’t think loneliness turned him bitter, just a little shy and sometimes self conscious. but once he finds his people, he really opens up and gives everything he can to them, in terms of affection and fun little surprises like mixtapes, surprise parties on special occasions, and other homebrew gifts.

[marshmallowprotection]

Yes more custom mcs I'm off my artist block and now theres no stopping me from doing this

mJust a warning, this custom mc is…uh, triggery to say the least.

Triggers: Abuse, suicide, abusive relationships, depression, overall things like that (+Rika being manipulative) 

I can understand if you dont want to look at this, its not that heavy in terms of descriptiveness, its just mentions and stuff, excluding when its described of this mc being locked in a small dark closet without food for hours…and when her brother murders her father after he murders her other five sisters…;-;

This is also a match up request (im sorry, i know, this is like the third i have sent, i just like hearing other peoples ideas and stuff and whilst im thinking this  mc might be able to go with saeran…i dunno, saeran needs a rock and she needs a rock, idk if they can be rocks for each other, idk just with their trauma they might end up just hurting each other, plus uh suit saeran times…eek. that would just trigger her REALLY  badly considering its so similar to the “locked in closet without food in the dark” thing. since. during suit times. if following ray’s route. she would be locked in her room without food for two-ish(?) days…;-;)

Also yes unfinished sketch of her ^ kind of went with a lolita/victorian style for her, since Mint Eye gives lolita/victorian style fantasy vibes (Magenta is LITERALLY a castle, like, come on Rika, did you have to make it so obvious?). 

Full Name: Sayaka Yamato

International Age: 21 (AS) 22 (OS)

Korean Age: 22 (AS) 23 (OS)

Nicknames: Madi (Yoosung, Zen, Jaehee)

Koko (By Seven)

Blood Type: AB+

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Marital Status: Single [Shipped With ???]; Has a Unrequited(?) Crush On Ray; Has Had A Previous Relationship

Ethnicity: Japanese

Nationality: South Korea

Religion: Shinto

Birthdate: May 6th, 1994

Zodiac: Taurus

Height: 5′0 ft (152 cm)

Weight: 95 lbs (43 kgs)

Status: Alive (All Routes Except V’s)

Deceased (V’s Route)

Occupation: Affiliated With Mint Eye 

Hobbies: Playing The Violin, Gardening With Ray Occasionally, Singing, Dancing

Likes: Flowers, Music, Dancing, Being Praised By The Savior, Ray, Baking, The Ocean, Flower Crowns, The Sun, Long Hot Showers

Dislikes: The Dark (Severe Phobia), Being Called “Darling” (Trauma Related), Ice Skating, Small Rooms (E.g. the size of a small closet; Trauma Related), Crowds, Smoking, Alcohol, The Unknown, Being Alone With Her Intrusive Thoughts

Affiliations: Mint Eye

Relatives: Father (Deceased)

Mother (Deceased)

5 Older Half-Sisters (Deceased)

Older Half-Brother

Background: Sayaka is a girl from Japan who moved to South Korea with her older brother when she was 14. Sayaka was born the youngest of 7 siblings, 6 girls (including herself) and one boy, who was the eldest. Her and her siblings were all born into a abusive household, their mother being a woman who slept around, making all of her children half siblings, and the one man who was there, the father (Sayaka does not think of him as her father) of the eldest child, sexually abused his daughters, whilst the mother sexually abused the only son. Sayaka’s childhood home reeked of alcohol and smoke, and whenever she misbehaved even a little, she was locked inside one of the smallest closets of the house for hours on end, without food. When she was 14 her “father” seemed to have snapped (he was already mentally fucked up, its not like he suddenly became this way), murdering her 5 sisters in front of her eyes, and then her mother, and before he could kill her, her brother (who was apprehended him, took his knife, and killed him. Her older brother then took her and ran as far away as he could, eventually managing to move her and him to South Korea where they started a new life. When Sayaka was 19, she met a man (who was 5 years her senior) who she fell in love with and moved in with him. However, once again, Sayaka was abused, mostly sexually, however. Due to her boyfriend always calling her “Darling” and due to the abuse she underwent, her main PTSD trigger is whenever she hears the word “Darling” or is called such. One day, Sayaka meets Rika by chance in a park when on a walk with her boyfriend, and Rika eventually manages to separate the two. What follows is Rika forcibly making Sayaka break up with her boyfriend, and Rika making Sayakaa trust her by telling her about her own experience with sexual abuse. Sayaka eventually becomes part of Mint Eye, becoming one of Rika’s “favorites” as she likes to say in a sort of bragging tone. Many could mistaken Sayaka being in love with Rika because of how much she seems to fawn over her, when in reality Sayaka love lies with Ray. Sayaka and Ray met in the gardens of Mint Eye whilst Sayaka was watering a Lily of The Valley, and ended up slowly becoming friends because of their shared love of flowers and gardening. Sayaka ended up developing a crush on Ray since he was her first friend and the first man (besides her half-brother, who she honestly never was very close to due to him working all the time to support him and her) to not hurt her in some way. 

In V’s route, when Rika chooses to destroy Magenta, Sayaka decides to stay in Magenta. This was in search of suicide, and also to stay with Ray. She dies in the explosion whilst shielding Ray from most of the blast. 

I match you with... 

Zen!

You’re the kind of person that’s desperate to find a sense of peace in your life and you’ve never known what it feels like to live in peace. You’re haunted by the past and what those demons mean to you. It’s hard to cope but you’ve kept on living because that seems like the right thing to do... you’re lost, for the lack of a better word. 

Nobody’s ever put you first or given you the chance to see that you are worth loving and you have a life with meaning. If my brain didn’t scream, Zen, I’d be inclined to agree with you on the Ray front. It’s simply because you seem like you need someone that will hold your hand and remind you that you’re beautiful and that you never deserved to go through what you did. He would be very soft and sincere with you, not pushing you once he realized that you were the type to feel skittish and unsure of yourself around others. He just wants to see you smile and laugh, so expect him to extend his hand to you when you aren’t sure what it is you want. 

I think he’d love your style and your way of presenting yourself to the world. He can appreciates someone who seems to thrive in their style and what makes them happy. He’s always complimenting you and reminding you that he thinks the world of you at the end of the day.

[nighttimepixels]

Just wanted to let you know that... I'm trying to learn the little sign language, at least a little bit with your comic. It's always been a language I wanted to learn, both ASL and my native language, in fact. Say, why snd how did you learn this language ? If it's okay for you to respond, of course, I don't want to urge you or step in a line I didn't know was there

Oh, that’s awesome-!! I’m so honored you liked it ;v;

To answer your question - I’m not fluent in ASL, not at all! But I’ve picked up bits and pieces over the years for a lot of reasons. Some of it was media I enjoyed, more came from having a few friends that were struggling with selective mutism and wanting to be there for them even with a few signs, and more yet was just… personal interest!

I’ve learned everything I know of ASL online, but I of course rec joining a class or even just community group if you have access!

There are several wonderful sign dictionaries out there - with videos, picture sequences, and GIFs of the signs in action - and that’s a great place to start just picking up a few that are most important. Also… videos on Youtube, allllll the way. The great thing about ASL too is that even if your sign vocabulary is still small, if you learn your sign alphabet, then you can make tough spots work by spelling out words - and asking for the official sign by spelling the word out!

The thing to remember about ASL too is that… it isn’t just a ‘modifier’ to English.

There’s a lot of ease and benefits to the obvious crossover, but… there’s culture, there’s tics, heck, there’s different grammar rules! A lot of ‘extra fluff’ is left out of ASL because it’s absurd to leave it in, it’s not needed, and it’s just not part of the language for good reason, and more importantly, without detriment.

For example- in Part Two of the comic, I show Brick signing along to the dialogue as in-fic, “seems like I…. made an impression.” Now, in spoken English, we can envision the tone used, and so on, really easily, right? And the signs translated to that sentence. However… the actual signs used strictly translate to:

seem

I

impression.

A big reason why I chose those, in that order, is because part of Brick’s story is that he isn’t yet fluent in ASL - he’s still learning, and is actively searching for words & their corresponding signs! I get the feeling he’s ‘thinking’ in spoken English, and is translating in sign as best he can. (but idk, @popatochisssp is obviously the best one to ask on that front, I’m just interpreting and checked a few details with her as I was working on it X) )

I considered adding the sign for “big” in there before impression, but for space & dialogue translation reasons I ended up leaving it out - even though, tonally, that might well be what someone signing would choose to get across the same impression - or just emphasize ‘big’ using their body language!

That’s one of the things I love most about ASL- that it is just as expressive as a vocal language, despite what it seems like a lot of people think. Maybe it’s bc I’m an artist & animator, but the use of the body beyond just the ‘hand motions’ is just as important… and relays a lot about personality, just like someone’s voice and basic, more simplified body language might.

(On top of this, consider ASL’s different grammatical structure - you can read more here, it’s really cool - but basically, commonly you’ll see Subject-Verb-Object or Subject-Verb order; and if time is involved, then you might see something like “WEEK-PAST I WASH MY CAR” or, depending on the user’s vernacular, they’ll favor the subject-first style, and sign “MY CAR WEEK-PAST I WASH”. Point is, there’s variation just as in spoken language, and reasons behind those choices!)

.. okay I’ve rambled too long XD

Basically, I myself started learning bc I was interested for several reasons, both personal and bc I’m a nerd who happened across ASL content online (a couple bloggers, a few stories). I recommend just keeping it in your personal orbit as much as possible if you’re interested in learning! Read comics with sign, check out shows/movies with characters who sign, and definitely check out bloggers/youtubers who sign (and I always rec people who are HoH/deaf and/or mute most of all!)

TL;DR, if you get nothing else outta this post but are curious about Sign Language here’s some video-based Signing Content to get you interested/follow!

Things Not to Say to a Deaf Person (feat lots of BSL - British Sign Language - actually! But it applies across the board and is cool to see signing folk bust some bs)

I Can’t Hear Myself Speak! [CC] by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, who is a lovely disability advocate & queer lady who is also Deaf/HoH! She talks about how she can’t hear herself speak in this video, and the varied ways deafness/being HoH can be manifested, and a bunch of other related things. (Link includes the playlist she has for her videos on Deafness - she signs in BSL, so don’t worry if you know only bits of ASL and don’t cotton on to her signing!)

ASL time - Top 10 Basic ASL Phrases for Beginners by Nyle DiMarco! You might’ve seen him around - he’s that super nice deaf model who went viral in the past few years on a few videos! He’s got a short series about basic ASL (and him being cheeky) that’s actually a big fave of mine bc he phrases it like a conversation, not just disjointed phrases.

How I Learned Sign Language From My Deaf Boyfriend by Sign Duo! Honestly, their whole channel is great. Tons of vlogs, they both sign the whole time of course - and they’re just really relatable, they feel like conversations - plus they’re both just really likeable. I strongly recommend any content that actually features two+ people fluently signing, but these two are great and informative. Also, I recommend their video My Deaf Boyfriend: Why He Doesn’t Use His Voiceif you want to know more about that cultural choice/inclination. Remember to turn on closed captioning if you aren’t fluent in ASL! :)

How Do Deaf People Experience Music? an interview featuring Shaheem Sanchez, a stellar deaf dancer and actor. Like I said earlier, I really really recommend learning about Deaf/Signing culture alongside the signs themselves. The context is incredible, and honestly, broadening your understanding of any marginalized group by learning their stories as told by them is a good thing in my opinion.

Dos and Don'ts of Interacting with the Deaf Community [CC]by The Essential Sign. Again, turn on CC if you’re not fluent in sign - her videos are great! This one’s a great cultural one for those new to signing/who want to learn about deaf culture. She busts some common misunderstandings and shows some course corrected alternatives that are actually positive, and encourages you how to move forward without stumbling over insensitive landmines! Similarly I super recommend her video What is Concentration Fatigue? (with RIKKI POYNTER) [CC]which talks about something you don’t see mentioned as often, I think - precisely what’s on the tin.

… aaand I’ll leave it there for now, I think those are good starting points and a variety of styles! Deaf/ASL-fluent vloggers are a great resource and way to, even if you’re isolated/don’t have a practice community, get regular exposure to sign as well as actual first-hand (heh) accounts from people who sign in their everyday life!

[sugaspet]

1/2 Can I have a BTS, GOT7, and Astro ship, please? My name is Charidy. I'm 17 years old, but I'll be 18 in a couple months and I'm 5'4". I'm more artistically inclined than I am athletically and the only "sport" I do is marching band lol. Usually, I'm either writing, listening to music, or learning the choreo to a new song. I've been told that I'm a people person, but really I'm just a kid person. I love playing

2/2 with children, especially my nieces. I'm quite clumsy and I'm always tripping over something, usually myself lol. I'm a very touchy person and I tend to be very touchy with the people I love. Also, idk why, but I bite and nibble on things I find cute, which are usually people lol.

BTS: Namjoon:

He would love how kind you were and thought it was cute how you were with kids. You both were really clumsy but he found your clumsiness cute. He likes  that you write, he would like to read somethings you write. He would also like asking you if you liked his stuff since you were a writer.

Got7: Mark:

He thinks how short you were was super cute. He would kiss the top of your head. He found your touchiness cute and would love to cuddle and just hold onto you. He would sit and listen to music with you and just love being together. Although you two may not talk much while doing this its not awkward.

Astro: JinJin:

He would find your biting habit strange and always let out little squeaks when you did. He thought your artistic side was really cool. He’s short so he would like almost being the same height. He loves how you want to learn his choreo and would dance with you all the time.

-Ships are currently closed! They will be opened back soon!-