#not a day goes by when i don't think about falsettos and how it was written over the course of 10 years and just. oh my god | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor · 12 days ago

Text

Now that chapter 2 is ending (is Hobi's new album still chapter 2?), I really wanted to go over the albums again. I haven't listened to most of them in a long time, and never one after the other, so I thought it'd be interesting to see how I feel about them now... Long post ahead!

Happy

Production: Not the best production, in true Hybe style. It's like there's a filter of white noise. Also, imo Jin shouldn't sing so much in falsetto. The Running Wild chorus sounds a bit weak bc of it. When he belts it's too much as well. They need to find a balance with him. He sounds amazing in Heart on the Window, for example.

Favorite/least favorite song: I'll Be There/Falling

Rating: It's an okay album, but the production sounds "grainy" and the songs are nothing to write home about. 7/10

Indigo

Production: It's decent, but not amazing. RM's English sounds garbled. There are maybe too many collabs. The album's flow could be better. Some songs are too heavy. Knowing how good RM can be, I think all the tracks sound unfinished and unpolished.

Favorite/least favorite song: Yun/Closer (only song I don't like)

Rating: The vision was there, but the album is still very rough, not like RPWP. 7.8/10

RPWP

Production: Pretty good production. Out of Love ruins the flow of the album, so does the interlude. Overall the flow could be better. It goes back and forth between fun and darkish. I felt a bit exhausted listening to the album but maybe my attention span is gone.

Favorite/least favorite song: Come Back to Me/Out of Love

Rating: It's a good body of work. Without a few songs it'd be excellent. But despite many moments of brilliance, imo the album is a bit draining and overstuffed. But he achieved his vision. 8.3/10.

JITB

Production: Good production, but Hobi's rap style isn't appealing to me. I don't like the edgy, dark sound he went for, it's excessive. The instrumentals are all very good, but then I don't like his rap, it makes the songs unnecessarily heavy. I also don't like his lyricism. What If, for example, is so out of touch.

Favorite/least favorite song: More/Pandora's Box?

Rating: The songs are overall good, but the album is a bit of a miss due to the rap style and lyrics. JITB is interesting and ambitious, but I think he failed in executing the concept. Like Indigo, it's not quite there, but I can't say it's not a good album. 7.7/10.

HOTS

Production: Good production, the features lighten up the album. His songs are better when sung by/with other people tbh. JK and Yunjin ate. Imo Yunjin did her best work ever in this song.

Favorite/least favorite song: NEURON/what if... or lock/unlock

Rating: HOTS is more commercial yet more polished than JITB. You can see the growth, but it feels like a bunch of easy listen songs that don't really have a connecting thread. It's a nice album, but a bit empty. I think that's on purpose, it gives OST. 7.5/10

D-DAY

Production: Decent production, not amazing. Yoongi did some interesting things, Snooze and Amygdala are raw, but the songs don't touch me. Most tracks are mid (People Pt. 2, D-Day, LGO,...) and even though most aren't dark I felt drained. There's too much screaming and autotune, and Yoongi's rap isn't as raw or dynamic as before. He usually gets it right but this was Soundcloud level rap at times (eg. Huh?!). Even Snooze doesn't resonate with me...

Favorite/least favorite song: Polar Night/Life Goes On

Rating: It's hard to judge this album fairly because it was such a disappointment to me. Agust D and D-2 are masterpieces and this album pales in comparison. It's very average, even the lyrics can't touch the other albums. 7.5/10

FACE

Production: Okay production, but Jimin's voice doesn't sound clear at all. The album isn't really my style. Why are the solo albums so heavy? They needed some color and more dynamic production. Lyrically I'll admit I don't get what he's saying, but it's been ages since I read the lyrics. The use of random sounds bothers me. I hate the voice over in LC.

Favorite/least favorite song: Letter/Interlude: Dive (the breathing, water, and gulping sounds are disgusting, sorry)

Rating: The album isn't my thing. It's a bit flat too. I only really like LC, SMF Pt.2, and Letter. I actually prefer SMF over LC. 7.8/10

MUSE

Production: Terrible production. The autotune's too much. I don't like how Jimin sings, it sounds artificial and grating. The songs are all mid imo, slightly annoying even because of how Jimin sounds... There's not a single track I truly like. I hate Sofia Carson's voice.

Favorite/least favorite song: Who/Slow Dance

Rating: The album really isn't much, but would be a 1000x better with decent production. 6.9/10

LAYOVER

Production: Decent production, not very smooth. V's vocals aren't crystal clear. Imo his voice sounds a bit flat, whiny/nasal, and even pitchy, especially in Rainy Days. If his tone were richer the songs would sound better. Maybe there's too much autotune or smth.

Favorite/least favorite song: Slow Dancing/Rainy Days

Rating: It's a very easy listen album, but nothing special. I don't have much to say about it. 6.9/10

GOLDEN

Production: Good production, by far the best of the solo albums. This was the first time I listened to Golden in full, in order, since it dropped. It's weird it starts with 3Dl I would've chosen a different track. JH singing "I wanna see it in motion, in 3D" in his thick ass voice is so unnecessary. The ending too... It was a ride listening to the tracks in order. The explicit version should've been last - it's definitely the cringe version. But the album flows much better than I remembered. All the songs are pretty different so it never gets boring. It's a pretty dynamic and exciting tracklist, very pleasant.

Favorite/least favorite song: SNTY/Hate You

Rating: I know I've gotten used to the cringe parts, but Golden's a very solid pop album and a very good debut. It doesn't reinvent pop music, but it's very, very solid. Jungkook elevates the songs a lot, he did a great job singing them. Listening to Golden again in its entirety after listening to the songs in random order every day made my appreciation grow. 8.5/10

Final thoughts: I was surprised by how weak I found the albums. Chapter 2 has a lot of good music but the albums aren't necessarily amazing. In RM and Hobi's case the growth was clear. Their second albums were more polished and their vision clearer. But some albums like D-DAY and Layover were uninspired. I don't think there was really a vision for those albums. It was just about releasing music. Happy was uninspired but the vision was happy music Ig. In the end I rated Golden higher than RPWP. It probably seems biased and wrong, but I'm not directly comparing the albums when I rank them, in the sense that different genres have different standards. RPWP is much more brilliant than Golden, but Golden is a better pop album than RPWP is whatever it is, because imo it misses sometimes. Regardless, to me RM, Jungkook, and Hobi are the winners of chapter 2. They had and showed the most growth, variety, and ambition.

PS: If you made it this far, thank you! I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

#bts #reviews #text #rm #jin #jungkook #v #jhope #suga #jimin

10 notes · View notes

falsettos-tight-knit-family · 1 year ago

Text

Trans Whizzer

Okay I have thoughts-

I've noticed the headcanon of Whizzer being trans floating around a lot. Personally, I don't headcanon any of the characters as trans. The only character in Falsettos I even have a sexuality headcanon for (aside from ofc what's explicitly stated in the musical) is Mendel being bisexual because of the disaster bi energy he gives off.

However, as a trans masc fan of Whizzer myself, I still love the idea of him being trans. So much so, that I've thought of some headcanons for it. I learned about this idea while I was on my period, so ofc my mind immediately went to "how's he deal with this shit?" So here's the answer:

First thing that came to my mind was Charlotte and Cordelia sitting with him while he's struggling with cramps, talking about how much exercise helps lessen the pain and that he should try going on a jog with them. Meanwhile, Whizzer is lying there in agony going "You want me to what?" Like he is currently incapable of standing up, let alone doing any kind of physical activity.

Sometimes Cordelia will make him some chocolate chip cookies and bring them over. The 2 of them, Marvin, and Jason end up sharing them, since she always makes far too many for one person.

Most of the week goes by decently cramps-wise, but there's always one day where he'll be going about his day when suddenly, sharp pains have him debilitated on the ground or closest place to sit/lay down for hours at a time. The only thing that would sometimes help is putting a heating pad against his back or stomach.

Going away from cramps, I think it's pretty obvious to Marvin when it's Whizzer's time of the month. How? Well one way he can tell is when he comes home from work to the house being completely emptied of any and all chocolate candy. I don't care how much they had at the time, every piece would be devoured, unless Marvin knew ahead of time and actively hid it from him.

Alternatively, Marvin knows it's that time when Whizzer is acting more cuddly than usual. Yes, he likes cuddling and physical touch at any time, but this is different in that there are 0 sexual undertones when he's on his period. Just one big teddy bear always wanting to have his arms wrapped around Marvin in some way.

Luckily, most of the cravings he gets are things that don't require Marvin to cook anything (chocolate, ice cream, etc.) There's a lot of frozen pizzas and take-out during those weeks. Marvin says he can make something nicer for him, but Whizzer only lets him do so if he can be in the kitchen supervising because "If you start a fire, I do not have the energy to deal with it today". A non-dessert thing he'll eat a shit ton of are french fries -- fortunately, a common thing to order for take-out.

Was this mostly me projecting my own pain onto him? Yes. I don't know how much sense this made, considering it was basically just stream of consciousness lol

#ive never put this much thought into something i don't even technically agree with #just know that if you headcanon trans whizzer i love you and everything you stand for #anyway #falsettos #whizzer brown #marvin gardens #whizzvin

28 notes · View notes

yourknifemyside · 2 days ago

Text

"You're not the same anymore Don't wanna play that game anymore You'd make a better window than a door"

#4. The New Abnormal, by The Strokes (2020) 🔁

After how complicated and conflicted my thoughts on Comedown Machine were, I feel like I can breathe a giant sigh of relief that this is going to be a much less difficult review. The New Abnormal is equal parts an evolution and a return to form for The Strokes after a seven year gap from their prior album. It's just a good album, I'll tell you that up front. Until now, I've always tended to pass it over when thinking about the band. It was always a record I'd think was good, but would exit my mind faster than it'd arrived once it was over. I never knew if that was just me not giving it the proper attention it deserved (I often put it on while doing other things,) or if it really just wasn't particularly memorable. The main goal of this revisit for me was to give it my full attention, so that's what I did!

Unsurprisingly, but thankfully all the same, The New Abnormal has course-corrected the baffling production choices made back on Comedown Machine. I think there's still elements of that album lingering in some of these compositions and arrangements, but pretty much only the positive elements. The open, airy soundscapes of their earlier days has returned and been refined—cleaned up, but not without the grit and edges that helped to give The Strokes such a lively sound. There's a larger use of synths and drum machines than their previous efforts, but they're treated as an added flavor more than a distraction or diversion from the core sound.

The New Abnormal features The Strokes at their most mellow and melancholy—there's no shortage of bright, summery bangers of course, but a welcome, healthy dose of introspective and contemplative songs really help to uniquely color The New Abnormal as something truly "new" for the band. This is a more weathered and mature group of musicians than the brash, attitude-fueled kids that burst on the scene two decades earlier, and I like that this growth is reflected tonally, both lyrically and sonically. All the while, the blissfully catchy melodies that keep me coming back to The Strokes remain on full display. This is honestly The Strokes at their catchiest in what must've felt like forever. The main melodies in The Adults Are Talking and Ode To The Mets, and the choruses to Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus and At The Door, might be some of the best the band have ever put out. There's just a lot of life and energy to these songs, something that was sorely missed on their previous record. Even their slower song have an undeniable drive to them—At The Door is truly impressive in how engaging it is for its entire five minute length, without any percussion to propel the song forward. That's owed to the strength of a great vocal performance and melody from Julian Casablancas, who, in a stark contrast from Comedown Machine, really feels like he gives a shit on this one. Lyrically and vocally, I feel the passion towards crafting something meaningful and personal on this record, and I appreciate that most of all.

As much as I do like this album, I still find a couple things that give me pause. It's my typical complaint of "some of these songs are a little too repetitive," and, "some of these songs are a little too long," both of which compound in the Eternal Summer that slices the tracklist in half. Pretty much every song on this album runs a minute or two longer than you'd typically expect of The Strokes, but Eternal Summer puts them all to shame, coming in at a staggering six minutes and fifteen seconds. "Eternal" indeed; whereas most of the rest of these songs make pretty good use of their extended runtime, this one puts a lot of emphasis on its repetition, and goes on for a long time. This also harbinges the heaviest use of falsetto on the album, something I really did not like on Comedown Machine. I have to say, it really doesn't bother me quite as much at any point on The New Abnormal as it did back then—he sounds a lot better in that range this time around, and implements it more tastefully across this record—but there's still a bit too much of it on this song for my taste. It ends up being a bit of a skid mark on an otherwise pristinely flowing tracklist, which is a damn shame. Bad Decisions also isn't really my favorite, combining repetition with very familiar-sounding parts. They kinda just mashed the instrumental of I'll Melt With You with the vocal melody of Dancing With Myself and called it a day. It's a little bit too goofy for me, but I can jive with its energy during a full album listen, I'd just never put it on separately. But those two songs back-to-back, as well as having a lot of great tunes, but nothing that really blows me away, are the only things keeping The New Abnormal from being truly excellent.

I really like this album, and I can see it continuing to grow on me with time as I revisit it more often (this will probably be in rotation for me this spring/summer!) I'm excited to see if my feelings on it blossom further in the warmer weather, or if it once again leaves my mind the moment I publish this review. Only time will tell, I suppose!

7 / 10 Favorite tracks: Not The Same Anymore, The Adults Are Talking, Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus Least favorites: Eternal Summer

Listened on Jan 12th, 2025

#music #the strokes #the new abnormal #good #t

5 notes · View notes

taechnological · 2 years ago

Text

to elaborate on what i said about taehyung and seokjin being both similar and different from each other at the same time:

they're similar in the way how otherworldly handsome both of them are. both have voices perfect for ballad songs. both are december babies. both don't shy away from voicing their opinions when smth is wrong. both are kim. both are naturally built broad, and are of almost the same height. both are amazing actors. both have very delectable necks. both have strawberry farms in the family. both are "givers" by nature. both have posted their bare backs on the internet for us to see. both are exceptionally smart when it comes to cheating in run bts. both think outside the box.

and they're different in the way seokjin's falsetto goes higher than the clouds while taehyung has a voice deeper than the pacific ocean. seokjin hates the cold while taehyung thrives in winters. seokjin is the youngest of the family but oldest in bts while taehyung is the oldest among his siblings but one of the youngest in bts. seokjin is basically a chef but taehyung can't cook at all. seokjin is loud among close friends while taehyung is more of a listener. seokjin avoids social interactions while taehyung makes friends wherever he goes. seokjin is modest, taehyung is bold. everything we know about seokjin is a myth while taehyung openly shares tmi with us like it's nothing. seokjin hasn't aged a day in the last ten years while taehyung seems like he went through puberty thrice.

#i'll add more later #taejin #vjin #taehyung #seokjin #jin #bts text #bangtan #taechnological #bts #kim seokjin #kim taehyung

127 notes · View notes

taminoarticles · 2 years ago

Text

— Tamino for Style Magazine Italia, June 2023 (x) (x)

Tamino returns to play in Italy: “The warmer the countries are, the warmer the audience"

The singer will perform at the Rocca Malatestiana in Cesena on July 4th and at the Spazio 211 in Turin on July 5th. "In Italy I always like to play," he says. But "in reality it scares me to meet too many people.” A true hero of introverts.

By Pier Andrea Canei June 15, 2023

The soundcheck is over, Alcatraz sold out, a thousand Milanese waiting to see the star of the evening: the Belgian-Egyptian singer Tamino. He relaxes behind the scenes, drinks green (tea) and wears black (Armani): like a 26-year-old prince of darkness. He has gentle manners, and a voice that vibrates on a broad spectrum. From the dark depths (the school is the one that goes from Leonard Cohen and Jacques Brel to Jeff Buckley and the alt-rock genre called “shoegaze”: emo tones, monochord guitars) to an angelic falsetto.

Soon, Tamino will go out there on stage and, without doing ballets or stepping on flowers, almost motionless except for when he holds his oud (a lute of the Arab tradition), he will attract attention. He is hieratic, with the charisma of a crusader of introverts, quiet people, and young romantic heroes; what allowed him to create a following that goes from [sic], (Colin Redwood [sic], former bassist of Radiohead, left Thom Yorke's group to follow him through studios and tours) up to the Arab world, from which it takes up sounds and instruments.

Tamino: Style's interview

Amir, the title of your first album and your middle name, means "prince" in Arabic. Were you raised as a little prince?

Well, I don't think so. Princes lead a very controlled life, lots of rules, discipline. I had a free childhood.

For the idea of calling you Tamino, like the young prince in Mozart's Magic Flute, we should thank your mother, Eva (de Pauw, anthropologist, hobby musician, passionate about cultures). What was it like growing up in Belgium?

Inspiring in many ways: lots of good art, music, art movements. From the Surrealism of René Magritte, to the music of Tom Barman's dEUS, a band that has opened many doors to the alternative scene. Then there are the negative sides in the social culture: in Belgium we tend not to value the potential of others... We are made like this, we like to see ourselves laying low, leveling ourselves up.

You realized this as soon as you finished compulsory school and left to study music in Holland.

It was an enlightening and difficult experience. From cool Antwerp designers to Amsterdam street style. Two hours by train and you land in another world. I wanted to shake off the provincial part of Belgium.

Habibi: I needed love

And your first hit song was born right in Amsterdam, in 2017: Habibi ... an Arabic and universal word of love.

You can say it to your loved one, to good friends, but also to a waiter: “Come here habibi, bring me a coffee”... Well, during the first days in Amsterdam I was depressed, very lonely, it was difficult to find human ties. I was looking for warmth, love: that piece came from there.

Of that vagueness that generates universality...

I think back to a title from the Talking Heads: Stop making sense. When you write lyrics for a song, you don't have to chase a precise meaning. Better ask yourself if your words convey the right feelings.

Typically Tamino: the yearning, the nostalgia. Songs like Indigo night: nocturnal, brooding, even melancholy. You recognise yourself in it?

I certainly tend to ruminate on things a lot. Too much...

An app to free yourself from the ego

And how do you free yourself from it?

Meditation helps. I also use a specific app, Waking Up: Beyond Meditation. Ten minutes a day is enough. It helps me to free myself from the ego, to feel myself a witness of thought, of consciousness. Simply necessary. More than diet or physical training.

Sahar, the title of the second and most recent album, means "at the crack of dawn."

For me it is already part of the past: the last words I sing are “before I step into darker days”...

That is: “Prima d'inoltrarmi in giorni più oscuri.”

I mean: before facing new torments, new struggles. What helps you grow is discomfort. That's the challenge. Never be afraid to step into the unknown.

Out of the comfort zone...

I like spending some time in New York. I stay out of my own comfort zone, it's not comfortable for me. And doing so inspires me.

Lone sailor

In the video for Sunflower, a duet with the singer Angèle, you have the air of a romantic hero. Do you want to act?

In that video I enjoyed interpreting, even without lines, this figure of the lonely sailor. This was an idea from the director. I've only done a little theater and at most a few sailing trips with friends.

Would you be a testimonial for a perfume?

Well, yes, under the right conditions... For example, a prestigious operation like the Bleu de Chanel campaign with Gaspard Ulliel, with that spot directed by Martin Scorsese.

A spot that stylises the clichés of a rock star life: glamorous places, flashes, meetings with crazy people...

In reality it scares me to meet too many people. I'm a very lonely guy. Even though I’m finding it easier and easier for me to make connections lately, I steer clear of glam dinners or events.

Then you spends the whole summer on the road

I have fun at festivals. My favourite is Into the Great Wide Open, on the island of Vlieland, Holland: 10,000 people, zero cars, music, love and kindness.

Your summer also includes two Italian stages.

I always like to play in Italy. The warmer the countries, the warmer the audience.

I live in Türkiye

Who knows in the Middle East, or in Africa.

We do the biggest lives in Turkey: crazy crowds. And Egypt is like coming home: you feel that for the people it is more than just a concert.

Your surname is famous in Egypt. Your grandfather Muharram Fouad was a musical star, your father started out as a performer.

It's like an Egyptian dynasty of music. A fun fact about me being a huge Lord of the Rings fan is that I've always felt like Aragorn, the legitimate heir to the Elven throne, who travels incognito. Nobody ever knows who he is. I felt like this growing up in Belgium. It was never talked about, nor was there much money, and that side of the family has only emerged now that I'm better known.

Who among the main names would you bring next to you at the festival of your dreams?

I don't even know if I would put myself among the top names... I'd like Anouar Brahem, Tunisian, master of the oud. And then something electronic, maybe the Aphex Twins. And I dream of working with Massive Attack.

Many festivals. But never a festive song?

I should write one first. But generally gloomy, tenebrous things come out to me.

Let's say you sing one happy song and save the world; which one do you choose?

I don't know if a happy song could save the world. Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side?

The height of happiness.A matter of feeling: a song can be sad in itself, but make you feel good. A glimmer of hope, an air of comfort. It can wrap you in emotions. Maybe you're sad, and that's okay: because you feel alive. A song full of life: well, for me it will always be a good song.

#tamino #tamino amir #style magazine italia #article #interview #italian #2023 #with photoshoot #english translated text #huge thanks to gipgio sending me the article and editing the english translation!! :D #i'm very glad that they posted the interview text online for free #but if anyone has the magazine itself and could kindly send me photos/scans of his article so we can see the photos and layout i would be #extremely grateful!!

24 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 6 months ago

Text

Christmas in July: Nickmas!: Nickmas Unite! (Birthday Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people. Christmas in July is almost over, i'm almost on vacation, but we still have some presents for you.

FOR THE LAST TIME MICKEY ROONEY IT'S NOT YOUR TURN YET.

No we're giving you something good, as it's time to start what will be a possibly twice yearly, defintely yearly tradition as it's NICKMAS!

Nickmas is us celebrating nick's giant pile of holiday specials: Kev and Me both grew up on Nick so this is sure to be a nostalgia filled few years.

Starting us off we're tackling four childhood faviorites, the boys who headlined nicktoons unite and were some of the networks best and most notable shows: Fairly Odd Parents, Jimmy Neutron, Danny Phantom and Spongebob Squarepants. It feels like a great year to do so too: Fairly Odd Parents has a fresh reboot currently airing, Danny Phantom turns 20, Spongebob turns 25 and Jimmy Neutron... er.. fucking rips? It feels weird to do FOP without it, so it's here. It also saves me from having to do the my life as a teenage robot christmas special as while I love that show dearly, said special is contained with all the sadness and misery in the world and also kicks puppies.

I may have to rethink piling all the bad specials into one go. I may not be able to get out of that alive. But for now we have four certified classics to get through filled with holiday joy, will arnett, falsetto mr krabs, Jimmy shooting santa, holiday mob boss easter bunnies, eggnog, dead parrots, shots at arbor day and musical numbers. Lots of musical numbers. Let's begin under the cut.

We begin with our faviorite average kid who no one understands, who I was happy to revisit. I enjoy what i've watched of a new wish so far, and can't wait to binge more on my upcoming break.

For now we're back with the OG, and Christmas Every Day was a faviorite of mine as a kid and holds up just as well.

The premise like a lot of classic fairly odd parents is simple, yet crazy effective: Timmy loves christmas not just for the giant mountain of toys, enough to scrooge mcduck in, but for the genuinely sweet reason that it's the one day a year his parents don't abandon him to the cruel whims of Vicky. Also it's weird to hear her again as Grey Delise is playing her a bit younger her than she would be in later instalments. It fits, it's just weird to hear.

As a result the song about how much he loves getting the day with them is really sweet. And the interjections of "Timmy can't get a girlfriend" from both of his dads are hilarous. It gives the special heart and sets this wish apart from Timmy's usual selfish ill thought out wish: He just wants his parents to actually.. spend time with him. It's deeply sad and a reminder just how, if untetionally, sad his life is: his parents love him on some level, in the good episodes anyway, but are just ultimately oblivious to how much he really ne eds them. Good thing he got backups but still.

The wish is also accidental, simply something he muses as he falls asleep, and goes with because well.. he wants his parents to be around. That makes it so while he DOES have to undo the consequences, you don't feel bad for him nor the need for him to have some commpuance as he does in some wishes: there's no hubris here just a kid wanting more of a good thing and not thinking through the implications. It's something the early seasons of Fairly Odd Parents and the revival do well: Not having Timmy or Hazel be malicious, simply short sighted and in Timmy's case arrogant.

In this case the banks are closed, god bless online banking, the stores are closed, and the schools are closed.. which chester is fine with. This was also back when Frankie Munez did his voice. Jason Marsden was fine, but it's one of those cases where they didn't even bother to get a double. That and Frankie Voiced Chester for most of the time he was relevant, so that dosen't help. With his dad going mad from lack of eggnog which is just a great runner from his addiction, his cries of "mine" and of course lockjaw who just.. shows up out of nowhere and wins our hearts.

I also give this episode credit for finding a credible way to counter Timmy pressing undo, something the series had more trouble with as it went without either making up a rule or falling back on "cosmo and wanda loose their wands. ": Santa gets his powers FROM the fairies lending him theirs.. and after 14 or so days of not having them, his godparents can't undo it. I also like that Wanda TRIES to warn him.. but dosen't have the heart to break Timmys.

The antagonists for the specials are the other holidays represnetives: The Easter Bunny, Cupid, The April Fool, and Halloweenie Dog... whose actually just Easter Bunny's dog because Jack Skelington told him

Their simple: Cupid is camp, BECAUSE MEN BEING INTO LOVE IS GAY RIGHTTTTT, April Fool is Jerry Seinfeld back when he wasn't old man who yells at comedy for being woke, and the Easter Bunny as some form of mobster is neat. Wish he'd got a spotlight like the other two.

The antagonists are fine, their mostly kinda there. Case in point I forgot about Baby New Year whose big and a grown man now. Their fine for the plot device they are, to get Timmy to go across the world to save christmas so he can meet with Santa directly, but aren't super memorable aside from the April Fool. What's up with that? And Cupid , sterotyping aside, isn't TERRIBLE... I just don't likes him because his later special is awful and he thinks matching people is "forcing you to be with someone even if you don't want to and they stalk you a bunch".

Still Timmy's jounrey is a lot of fun, as he gets help from various kids.. including those in Quebec... which the writers think acts exactly like france, but i'll let it slide as they at least knew what Quebec was? I mean they mentioned it outright, showed plenty of canadian flags and kid me STILL thought Timmy went to france.

It also leads to a ncie climax: I like the conception of Santa here as a 90's corprate buisness man till he gets his magica nd kind to timmy, evne if he' sgetting coal for life at first for this.

The end battle is also neat as while Santa has the powers of a god... baby new year absorbs them. Thankfully the other kids all show up , the generic villians realize they done goofed, and the solution is creative: Timmy realizes the way to undo this: have EVERY KID IN THE WORLD , who belivies in santa anyway or isn't jewish or Islamic or a whole cornocopia of other religions and dosen't celebrate christmas and their repsective holidays, wriote to santa. It's a neat finish and it delivers a good lesson: Christmas is special.. because it's once a year and good to enjoy it while you got it for what it is. This special is great, a bit messy in act 2, the holidays are pretty whatever, but it has enough charm, creativity and warmth to make a truly great holiday special.

This one... is the only one me and my good friend @jess-the-vampire who watched these first three with me (We ran out of time before spongebob), didn't really remember despite growing up with all four of these. It didn't help that for her it was absent from Netflix when they had it and it's been absent from most streaming for what seems to be musical rights reasons before finally being restored to Paramount+. Even back in the day this one didn't seem to be replayed that much and unlike Danny PHantom, whose special also didn't get a lot of replay, it wasn't because the series was being shafted by the network.. yet. It just.. didn't get replayed for whatever reason while Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents did and didn't seemingly have the OOMPH danny phantom did.

That being said.. this special's still a lot of fun and reminds me why this show is so dang good. Unlike Timmy who was on his best behavior, the special has Jimmy FIRMLY in the wrong, something the series does well. Jimmy is charasmatic, kind and often just fucks up because while he has the brain of a genius.. he also has the brain of a 12 year old and his ego and inexperince cause him to fuck up a bunch. It keeps the formula of "Jimmy's inventions cause chaos" form getting boring as how can vary: sometims it's him, sometims it's his family and why it's him, either hubris or simple childish mistakes, varies nicely.

In this case Jimmy hates christmas, specifically Santa. At first it just seems to be the typical jimmy "Science says it's not true so it isn't", questoning how it all works when Carl brings in horrifiying cheese nips from last year he left for santa, what santa didn't eat but touched. He also unintetionally breaks his friends spirit, questoning HOW santa functions enough to make carl sad. What makes this work is Jimmy dosen't do so intetnionally: Cindy won't let that shit go and spends the episode trying to humilate him for it, and let's face it more for her own ego and amusment, but Jimbo GENUINELy didn't mean to do that and apologizes later, which Carl takes easily.

He also has a resonable freudian excuse: He asked for a dwarf star 5 years ago and didn't get it, and then being who he is, spent the next 5 mathmatically proving Santa dosen't work. He's still a skeptical asshole, doubting the truth when his dna scanner picks up some of santa's dna on the cheez nips.. but Sheen's there the whole time needling him to keep it from being insufferable: he points out the obvious solution: Jimmy was just naughty (He did try to blow up the earth that year and all), and cheers on Carl whose kind and optimstic. This is the best carl: where he's not a dick, just a kind weird kid.

So Jimmy not able to let this go heads to the north pole and procides to be an absolute asshole, refusing to belivie the escalting proof from finding Santa's workshop to finding elves, figuring it's first a military base and then a toy shop

Even SHOOTING SANTA dosen't convince him. Cindy uses this to humilate him and when he sends her home.. she airs the footage, making it pretty clear that while Jimmy defintely needs to be humbled, and will be... she's in it for herself and only herself and will also get brought down a peg. It's why I like their rivalry and later relationship: Cindy isn't a super genius and can be a bully.. but she's often socially smarter than jimmy, yet just as egotistical as she razzes him for.

So this leads to our b plot which is barely there, but it's also lead by Hugh, whose the best, so it's naturally entertaining: He decides the best way to fix this? Make a pie themed holiday called Pule, sing a song about it, and then give up when Jimmy inevitibly saves christmas. God I missed him man. If All Star Brawl 2 gets another season BRING HIM BACK. BRING MY BOY BACK TO ME.

The main plot though is neat as Jimmy plans to save christmas... to prove Santa's not real

Thankfully he delivers MOST of the presents.. and also gets his hubris as trying to make his plane go super fast leads to it falling apart and Carl's happy he was proven wrong... even as Sheen poitns out

Thankfully santa saves them and I like this version: a super scientest like jimmy whose able to still deliver to retroville and while mildly sore at jimmy, is appricative he fixed his mistake. He also takes the boy down a few pegs by revealing Sheen was right. Because sheen's the best. Jimmy's proven himself though and gets his happy ending: he admits he was wrong, shows humility and gets his dwarf star. Cindy and Libby get coal as they deserve, a happy ending for all.

This specail is solid.. but I also see why I forgot it. The other specials here feel well..special. Something diffrent from the normal episode while still fitting the series like a glove. This one.. feels like a Jimmy Neutron episode that just happens to take place at christmas and be a half an hour long, not something super uncommon for this show. It's not bad, i'ts still quite good, but I can see why the other three in this batch are remembered more. They stand out more from the normal episodes and have unique hooks while this one is a pretty standard Jimmy adventure that just happens to involve him shooting santa, which is weird in of itself but really not a huge stretch from his usual adventures.

I've missed covering this show and INTENDED to do more this year, but got sidetracked by a lot of theme months and other stuff going on. I also haven't gotten back to jli

So it's nice to return to a pretty popular series on this blog and just in time for the anniversary.

It's also a great episode to come back with as Fright Before Christmas is excellent. Nearly flawless. It also has some nice character stuff as it's christmas time: Sam is not her usual self, happily celbrating everyone's holidays and loving the season. It's nice to see her not only happy , but to be the voice of reason without her usual judgmental tone: she just geninely enjoys sharing the holidays. Tucker... is sadly his usual self and dawns a missletoe hat to aid in his sexual harassment

Danny however is a real scrooge

Okay not that scrooge the other less fun one. Though Danny probably could ride a fucking lion and that's something the graphic novel writers should really consider.

No Danny hates christmas.. and for entirely valid reasons: HIs parents fight every year about wether Santa exists and unlike the other three cartoons in this block, there's no answer. I mean he could exist, we've seen nice ghosts at this point. But I like that they dont' answer their argumetn, just have the two both be dicks, with Maddie loudly telling a bunch of children he isn't real. Every year they've fucked it up from baby danny getting piddled on by a reindeer to their christmas dinner overcoking and trying to murder him and jazz when he was 5. I also like using the fact Sam is newer to the friend group for this: it makes Tucker's expositoin feel real.

So Danny goes to the ghost zone to blow off steam.. and ends up pissing off the exact wrong ghost; Ghostwriter. Ghostwriter is an amazing one off villian, one I wish came back but i'm fine didn't as his one appearnce is evne better than I remember. It helps he's voiced by batman horseman himself, Will Arnett, in one of his earlier voice acting roles and he nails it: Ghostwriter is just a write rmiding his buisness who has a legit beef with danny, unlike most of his rogues who want to kick his ass for ruining their mayhem or for mistaking them for a bully or him prevneting them from porking his mom. Danny destroys his christmas poem then dosen't apologize... and soon learns maybe pissing off ghosts after over a year of fighting them was a bad move.

Ghostwriter traps Danny in a story and what I like is this SEEMINGLY gives him the power of a god.. but it's within fair limits: he can't MAKE danny do things and while he later does directly manipulate people's actions it's in the ghost zone itslef where he seems to have more power, which makes sense: he can't manipulate the human world outside of stuff ghosts can normally do, using his power to make shit come to life (something a LOT of ghosts do on this show), so Danny will destroy it and be blamed for it with other people not having the context he wasn't responsible. He can't MAKE danny or co do anything.. but he can manipulate the situation, spending the evening making danny look bad, haunting presents, trees and reindeer to make it look like Danny's richard nixon and just wants to sneak into peopl'es homes at night and wreck up the place.

For the most part this really works: While Ghostwriter went WAY too far, danny's own anger and bad mood means he can't see what he's doing till it's too late. Ghostwriter wins.. simply by playing Danny. The only part that dosen't work is Jazz getting mad at him for destroying her bear.. when it was clearly possesed.

That said his friends clearly get something is wrong, but they'll help later. For now he finds help from the last place he'd expect it: his Rogues gallery. When he goes to tell Ghostwriter what the five fingers said to the face, Ghostwriter redirects him to a christmas party with all his foes.. not quite as good as a slumber party but still neat. In a nice twist turns out the ghosts have a christmas truce: it applies to ALL ghosts, danny included and while most of them make no secret they'll try and kill him tommorow, it's a nice gesture of good will that shows these guys aren't assholes ALL the time and adds a tiny bit of worldbuilding. It even makes more sense than I thought as most of the ghosts present, spectra, betram, ember, the princess, deseriee, are the ones either implied to be former humans or are outright said to be. Only Skulker really stands out as one that was ghost zone born and even he abides.

They don't abide people who break it and prepare to break ghostwriter. I also love how this sidelines him purely because unlike Danny's actions.. he didn't see it coming. he geninely forgot and was , not unfairly, under the impression they'd all break it. Instead they prepare to break him, but he counters. Danny counters by breaking his keyboard.. which frees everyone.. but dosen't stop thes tory. As Ghostwriter didn't get a chance to explain, there's only two ways out: for him to write an ending, which is hard to do as he's going to prison for a long time for this shit as Walker is one of the ghosts under the truce. I mean the law abiding prick is going to abide by the rules after all.

So Danny goes home miserable.. but it's his friends who pull him out. Granted I don't get WHY he never tells them what's going on, but this ending is still sweet to a point. His friends get this isn't like him and comfort him.. and Danny realizes just because his holidays mostly suck.. dosen't mean he has to ruin them for everyone else. Being a giant dick about it to everyone and everything won't make his holiday BETTER... and thankfully he can fix the damage ghost writer did as all the other ghosts show up to fix the presents because they can do that now.

Honestly I'm fine with the ending: Danny recovers, his story ends and ghost rider is fine with that in prison. My only issue is th ewhole "Maddie and jack ruin danny's christmas every year" thing is never adressed. They never.. learn anything which isn't entirely unrealistic, but is annoying. His parents... just never really get WHAT they did wrong and never get called out on it. I get Danny had to learn a lesson too but it's weird they don't. This isn't some fun tradition, it's an argument that affects their kids every. Damn. year.

Otherwise.. this is a great special, lots of fun wordplay and while I forgot to mention it, once Ghost writer takes over the whole thing is in rhyme. It's a nice touch that really gives the episode a festive feel. and the whole cast is here for it. It also helps danny as him using an orange breaks Ghostwriters concentration as nothing rhymes with orange. IT's a really great holiday special and well worth your time this july or you know during actual christmas.

Our last one and the big one here as it's the one that gets replayed the most.. granted it's because like Fairly Odd Parents it lasted forever and is still going and probably will till god emperor spongebob consumes our universe as is his destiny. It was also the only Spongebob Christmas special for a long time. We'll get to the others someday, but since they were made closer together I felt it was okay to go ahead and do the original.

We get some patchy Segments which I honestly forgot were here. I do miss ole patchy and i'm happy they used him again. It's always fun to see Tom kenny throw on the costume and it was only recently I found out that was him. I mean i'ts obvious in retrospect but eh.

The patchy stuff is fine, mostly some fun bits with potty who also looses his body. He's apparently immortal. or a puppet in universe 2. Hard to tell. Either way I fear him in the days to come.

Patchy tells us of Spongebob's first christmas, and I like the storybook style of this, complete with a few bits of Spongebob in the present getting ready and patrick.. doing the bare as minimum. Can relate.

The main story though is Spongebob finding out what Christmas is from Sandy after assuming her tree being lit up means it's on fire. Which is adorable. So she tells him about Santa and he tells everyone. Patrick's on board because he's also a children when the plot wants him to be like his best buddy, and Mr Krabs is on board because free shit boyo. Squidward naturally.. wants no part of this and is a fucked up little whiny bitch the whole episode. And his whole life but we don't have time to unpack that waking nightamare. Point is his job is to be sour and refuse to engage and call spongebob insane.. even though Sandy told him. Sandy is conviently missing from the special.

In fact I realized from this that Sandy almost never interacts with Squidward in the show's golden age. The only time I could find up to this episode was the Halloween Episode, while it would be four more episodes till Pressure, the most they really interact in this era. She tends to be either around just spongebob or spongebob and patrick, with Mr Krabs getting exactly one appearnce with her with Karate Choppers before pressure. It's not a BAD thing, Sandy easily cuts through Squidwards bullshit and he works better either being the foil to mr krabs or the ants at sponge bob and patrick's picnic.. or vice versa. Sandy's too calm and rational for his cynical nonsense while Spongebob no sells it most of the time due to his naivete and kindness. It's the same reason Mr Krabs and Sandy don't interact much either: Sandy's intellgence, level head and friendship with sponebob would make it harder for him to take advantage of our boy.

That said her absence from this one.. still feels weird. I get the story works better without her.. but it also needs her to take off, making her absence from the rest of it weirdly obvious. I didn't really notice how little she interacts with squidward and mr krabs because the show still has her go to the krusty krab on occasion, giving you the illusion they interact more than they do. Here they draw attention to her absence as her being around to tell Squidward "No santa's real you schmuck" or "He may or may not be but leave spongebob alone or else" would solve the plot.

And honestly as big and wide as this plot hole is... it ultimately dosen't matter. The story is good enough, funny enough and creative enough it just dosen't matter. Some of my faviorite gags are Mr. Krabs asking for "A Pony" (With saddlebags full of cash naturally), mostly for Clancy Brown's pitch perfect delivery. He is my faviorite and always will be. I also like the new hat guy having a head shaped for said hat, Mr Krabs falsetto in the very first christmas song, and i'm probably forgetting some as being a seaon 2 spongebob episode the joke pacing is fucking incredible.

The pacing in general works well: The specail is only 18 minutes but feels shorter as it dosen't really spare a minute: every minute either has a joke or uses the situation well as Spongebob spreads christmas to the town, Squidward continues to suck suprising no one, and we get the "very first christmas to me song" a truly heartwarming musical number with some good gags baked in. Seriously Krabs give your ex more than fruitcake. Also the star on top bit with patrick is so cute.

Santa Claus is comin tonight tonight is also adorable.. and heartbreaking when Santa dosen't come, leaving spongebob broken. Squidward does easily the most dickish thing he's ever done. April Fools as bad as it ended up... is a bit fair given both how Spongebob wouldn't stop, and how Squidward didn't mean to be the king of ashole mountain that time. This time.. he sees spongebob broke down in tears, and GLOATS taking a picture while laughing. I used to think the ending was a bit much, that because he did the right thing he hadn't earned it but... no .. it's karma.

So Squidward gets a gift from sponebob.. a custom made claranet, complete with little figures. IT's a truly sweet gesture that shows what a nice guy spongebob is.. and how much squidward sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms. And not the fun way he usually does.

So he plays santa, Spongebob buys it.. but spreads it to everyone else, forcing sqwuiardward to give away everything he owns. And this.. works better for me. I used to avoid this special as I felt the ending was a bit to omean but as I said... squidward earned it. It's somethign the middle seasons forgot: Squidward is fine being punished but he has to EARN it. It's why i'm still not a big fan of the magic conch or i'm with stupid, both feeling like predecessors to the cruller later episodes which picked on characters for no reason. Here .. Squidward can't just let spongebob have fun and while Spongebob is mildly pushy trying to include him, it's entirely well meaning and sweet. He isn't trying to force anything he just wants squidward to get a present, and Swuidward just can't let him enjoy it. He dosen't HAVE to join in.. but he also dosen't have to be a dick about it. And tha'ts why him loosing everything dosen't feel too bad for me. That and I get he'll just have it back next episode. Santa does thank him though.

Overally Christmas Who? is a solid christmas special, a true winter delight with a lot of good jokes, warmth and a well deserved karmic ending for Squidward that also has him learn some empathy

Rankings: Since any time I forget to do this kev asks me anyway let's rank these suckers.

Christmas Every Day

The Fright Before Christmas

Christmas Who?

Holly Jolly Jimmy

Not a single one of these are bad. These are all great, I just think CHristmas Every Day is the most consitent, not having the plot gaps the middle two have. Holly Jolly Jimmy dosen't have that but dosen't have the extra oomph the others do, that push to make this special feel.. special. There's nothing wrong with an average christmas episode, it's just not as memorable as the others.

So with that CHristmas in July is almost done. There's one present left i've been hinting at/threatening and it's time fo ryou to unwrap it. Until then thanks for reading.

#nickelodeon #the fairly odd parents #jimmy neutron #danny phantom #spongebob squarepants #will arnett #nicktoons

4 notes · View notes

stanleyisworking · 4 months ago

Text

SOMA Pt. 2: Student Profile - B

My next student will be code-named "B", because I am not creative with names! (By the way, in case you were wondering - I don't usually take videos of myself teaching in my studio if consent was not given by my students, so I'll try to provide as much information as possible through these walls of texts, bear with me!)

Here's a random video of the dedicated space given to me by SOMA, though!

B is much older and previously I mentioned that A wanted to get into SOTA, right? Well, B wanted to get into Berklee!

I had to take a different approach with B. Since they were considered late teens/young adult, their prior experience with singing would be a consideration for me. In fact, with all students, I take their prior knowledge into consideration, but when it comes to working with late teenagers, we would be dealing more on self-esteem, self worth, clashes in ideas, and sometimes learning how to eat the humble pie. There is a story for another day, if we even have that day, where I struggled to keep up with a specific teenage student's moodswings, but that was before I was teaching at SOMA. Nonetheless, I am thankful for that prior experience so I am better equipped this time with B!

Problem: B came to me and their main concern was not liking the sound of their voice.

I was a bit confused. When I heard them sing during the first lesson, they were perfectly fine. Sure, there were some things that we could work on - perhaps breathing technique, articulation, enunciation, and emotional interpretation, but, I quite enjoyed their vocal tone.

Solution: I tried to find out more about what they did not like about their voice.

I soon realized it was due to a lot of unfavorable comments about their singing when they were growing up. I strongly resonated with them afterward.

One of the reasons why I enjoy teaching voice so much goes back to how I put mental health first above everything else. I believe that the voice is one of those instruments that, because of an individual's past experiences and traumatic memories, can alter the way they sound. (See: Monti E, Kidd DC, Carroll LM, Castano E. What's in a singer's voice: The effect of attachment, emotions and trauma. Logoped Phoniatr Vocol. 2017)

Hence, sometimes I could share all the right techniques and hammer the countless vocal exercises, but mentally, if a singer has trauma holding them back, they would not deliver. Personally, I relate to this very much.

However! I have found many methods that worked for me in the past and I was very eager to gain B's trust and confidence, so we could work better together.

Whenever they would tell me they were uncomfortable with singing in a specific tone, I would affirm them and tell them that they sounded fine. They would say "But, in the past," and it would be about what someone had said about their voice. I acknowledged it and told them it was a valid concern, but I threw the question back at them and asked if they think thought sounded fine? Did they felt uncomfortable while singing?

Upon much reflection, B realized singing in the tone that was "disliked" by others was way more comfortable than trying to sound similar to what people liked. I was trying to assist them in developing their identity and their sound, taking the pressure away from sounding like what their friends or family liked to listen to, and to be more in tune with their body and what felt natural to them.

They slowly opened up to me as the weeks went by and we made significant progress. This student managed to hit an Ab! With a full belt! No head voice and falsetto! What?! I told them even I couldn't do that!

Seeing them proud of themselves made me proud. I know I sit in a very privileged position to be able to hear stories on how their past experience has shaped them today.

This is the most fulfilling part of my job, because I get to impact people's lives and see them grow until they are ready to take the stage on their own.

B will definitely do well and I hope they get into Berklee!

0 notes

milolovesbmc · 8 months ago

Note

I need someone to write a fic about it so bad, waiting until they invent brain Bluetooth so I can transfer the idea to every Falsettos fic writer ever in the hopes one of them will

Also now that we're on the topic I like to think how everyone visiting Whizzer would go like

- Charlotte visiting him on her lunch break and then having lunch together, she sneaks some leftovers she brought from home for Whizzer to eat instead of the hospital food

- Trina knits him the hat/beanie he wears after his hair starts falling out, she visits him more than you'd expect. She also visits him while Marvin is there so she can make him leave and take a walk and take a break for a while, even though he insists he wants to stay, she stays with Whizzer while he's away so Marvin doesn't worry about anything happening to him or Whizzer being alone.

- Cordelia visits him whenever she's free, she also joins along in him and Charlotte's lunches sometimes, she brings him flowers after Marvin admits he wanted to get Whizzer flowers but he just can't get himself to do it.

- Mendel visits when he drives Jason to see Whizzer, and sometimes he goes to visit him by himself. Mendel visits him everyday after he's dropped off Jason at school and before he has to work to bring Whizzer the newspaper or crosswords and that kind of thing to keep him entertained. He keeps complaining about his clients (unprofessional) but Whizzer is just content with having some conversation.

- Jason visits all the time on the weekends, he wants to visit Whizzer everyday, and he does at the beginning, but Trina eventually limits his visits so that he wouldn't neglect baseball and school and everything. He plays chess with Whizzer and tells him about what's going on at home and how the bar mitzvah's planning is going (up until he has to keep the surprise), he sometimes brings his homework to do while he's with Whizzer so he can spend more time there. Whizzer teaches him how to play cards (Jason doesn't really like it but plays anyways).

- Marvin is basically always there, except when Trina or someone else makes him leave, eventually the nurses just know not to ask him to leave when they need to do tests on Whizzer or stuff like that, because he just won't leave so they don't bother anymore. He does have to go back to work eventually after he runs out of sick days. He brings stuff from home anytime Whizzer says he needs/forgot something. Marvin also starts bringing him books every few days for Whizzer to read so he doesn't get bored (he eventually starts just reading them to him when Whizzer starts to get dizzy whenever he tries to read)

AGAIN, THIS IS SO LONG BUT. HERE

HI!! May I ask if you have any Falsettos headcanons??? REALLY WANNA HEAR YOURS :3

i'm gonna be so so honest i never really do proper headcanons i normally just have a thought and go hm i wonder if (xyz) and then i leave it LOL

however.! this does not apply to weatherman marvin obvs (i never shut up about weatherman marvin it's so good)

-i also quite like photographer whizzer

- and i think a lot about family dynamics between everyone but it's always in a wondering sense and not in a oh yes they definitely had this going on sort of way

i don't really ever solidify my headcanons HAHA i just think thoughts and write them on tumblr and leave it at that

BUT please please please rb with yours bc they will be much more interesting and also i NEED to hear you talk about them

#longest post ever i'm so sorry #<- apologies from me too #we're just both not normal over this show #falsettos

27 notes · View notes

mystiq-u · 3 years ago

Text

Dating Gojo

Warnings: none!

Genre: Fluff

Note: I've done Gojo Headcannons before but those were character headcannons. I'm doing Gojo dating headcannons now! Enjoy reading.

To be frank, he never thought he'd fall in love. Till one day he just... Did.

He became extremely clingy after you started dating. Not because he was insecure but because he knew how quickly one can lose someone and wanted to spend as much time as possible with you.

If you don't like talking very much, leave it all to him.

Wherever he goes, he brings you back souvenirs.

He likes to sing to you and sing with you.

Sometimes he sings in a weird falsetto pitch to make you laugh. He says it makes him sound like Ariana Grande and surprisingly he's not that off.

His love language is annoying the heck outta you and spending quality time together. Just like a cat.

He knows you love his eyes so he rarely wears his blindfold around you. You never ask him to do that, knowing the importance of the blindfold but he does it all on his own.

He loves to hug you from the back.

He is not a morning person and wouldn't let you get out of bed in the morning either.

He keeps spoiling movies for you. You hate him for it. He doesn't care. It's all good.

When he's in a bad mood, he lies down on your lap with his eyes closed.

He loves playing board games with you.

He loves buying things for you.

He likes watching romantic comedies with you but Howl's moving castle is his all-time favourite to watch with you.

He gets very jealous when others try to get closer to you and he doesn't hesitate in showing it.

He kisses your neck and fingers when he's jealous. That's how he shows it.

His ideal date would be a karaoke night followed by dinner and ice cream.

One time he tried cooking for you. Let's just say it was a bad day for the cooking pan. (R.I.P pan...)

He got you a bird plush once and then took it to his place. It was supposed to be yours.

When asked about it, he said- "Hey, your happiness is my happiness and your sorrow is my sorrow. It's not your plush, it's ours."

You got him a cologne you liked the smell of once. He wears it every day now. To work, on dates, to get groceries, etc.

This man LOVES matching with you. It could be matching bracelets, matching clothes, matching watches or anything and he'd melt.

He gives you a deep and loving kiss every time before he leaves for a mission.

You know everything about him. His past included. He still doesn't like talking about it because it brings back bittersweet memories.

Arguments with him are never too bad because no matter what he says, you know he loves you.

Top tier cuddler.

He can be both big spoon and little spoon when cuddling.

He loves it when you touch his head. Be it to pat him, to ruffle his hair or when you try to fix it.

(a/n): These were some of the things that come to mind when I think of Gojo. Hope you liked these.

Thank you for reading.

Likes and reposts are much appreciated.

See you soon and till then, stay safe!

#jujutsu kaisen gojo #jjk headcanons #jjk fluff #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #gojo satoru #gojo scenarios #gojo headcanons #gojo x reader #gojo fluff #gojo fanfic #jujutsu gojo #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen fluff

368 notes · View notes

ofpd · 3 years ago

Note

for the ask game hadestown cuz it's the first musical I thought of

ok well i haven't actually listened to hadestown but this is my blog and i do what i want & ik you like falsettos also so im gonna do falsettos instead . ok falsettos has a Lot of songs so im gonna try not to put too much thought into any of these & im combining songs that are combined in the cast recording

four jews in a room bitching: i'm neurotic / he's neurotic / they're neurotic / we're neurotic

a tight-knit family/love is blind: love is very often debris / when you find / what you find / then never never never never never do it over again (see: what more can i say)

the thrill of first love: we ask for passion at all times / we stand to passion and drink this toast / still it's awful trying / and we're not denying / that of all the lesser passions / we like fighting most

marvin at the psychiatrist: does she sleep in the nude / no

my father's a homo/everyone tells jason to see a psychiatrist: i think you like playing chess alone / that's not normal / what is normal / i wouldn't know

this had better come to a stop: chop chop chop chop chop i chopped it / i served his food the asshole forced me / and still the bastard divorced me

i'm breaking down: i wanna hate him but i really can't / it's like a nightmare how this all proceeds / i hope that whizzer don't fulfill his needs

please come to our house/jason's therapy: so you feel alright for about 10 minutes / feel alright for 20 minutes / feel alright for 40 minutes / drop it and smile / why don't you feel alright for the rest of your life

a marriage proposal/a tight-knit family (reprise): oftentimes lovers are crazy people / sometimes they kill each other / just like a biblical brother / did to his biblical brother / back in biblical times / biblical times? / biblical times / oh those biblical times

trina's song/march of the falsettos/trina's song (reprise): they fight too hard / and play too rough / they sometimes love / but not enough

the chess game: life's a sham and every move is wrong / we've examined every move as we move along

making a home: loving our / liking our / hating our lives / making a home

the games i play: play again the music / it's a song that i've been waiting to hear for much too long / years, years too long

marvin hits trina: mendel plans to rub my back / mendel's not a maniac / and he's sweet / and he's warm / and he loves me so

i never wanted to love you: i never wanted to love you / i only wanted to see my face in yours / jason's wild / save that child / how he adores / and hates me

father to son: a man, kid / you'll be, kid / if nothing goes wrong / sing for us all / as you march along

falsettoland/it's about time: one day i'd like to be / as mature as my son / who is 12 and a half / and this tall / that's all i'd like to be / that's all (honorable mention to: shiksa caterers / short insomniacs / hypochondriacs / yiddish-americans / feisty families / radiologists / intellectuals / nervous wrecks)

year of the child: there'll be food / like food never before (this line has always been SO hilarious to me for some reason)

miracle of judaism: would they come, though / if they were invited / and not / laugh at my hebrew / and not / laugh at my father and his friends

the baseball game: just what i wanted at a little league game / my ex husband's ex lover / isn't that what every mother dreams about / having at a little league game / looking at whizzer is like eating treyf

a day in falsettoland: in the 60's everyone had heart / in the 60's we were all a part of the same team / in the 60's we had a new world to start / could this / oh god don't say this / could this be / the new world we started

everyone hates his parents: everyone hates his parents / that's in the torah / it's what history shows / in fact, god said to moses / moses, everyone hates his parents / that's how it is / and god knew / because god hated his

what more can i say: can you tell / i have been revived / it's so swell / damn it / even i'm surprised

something bad is happening/more racquetball: my spirits sag / when i read the magazines / men dressed in drag / next to their moms / passion and fashion and filler / but not a word about the killer / i like the ballgowns but jesus christ

holding to the ground: i hold to the ground as the ground keeps shifting / keeping my balance square / trying not to care about this man whom marvin loves / but that's my life / he shared my life / yes that's my life

days like this: i think you need to play some chess / jason, sit down and begin / i'll let you win, whizzer / don't let me win / i'll let you win

canceling the bar mitzvah: why don't we tell him / that we don't have the answers / and that life can be grim / life's not all about him / and things rarely go according to plan / tell him things happen / for no damn good reason / and his lack of control kills what's best in his soul / and this is the start to his becoming a man

unlikely lovers: i can't help but feeling / i've failed / let's be scared together / let's pretend that nothing is awful / there's nothing to fear / just stay right here / i love you

another miracle of judaism: i don't know if you exist / i can't hear your fingers snapping / are you just a big psychiatrist / or can you make things not happen

something bad is happening (reprise): something that kills / something infectious (this was my attempt to not just do the entirety of this very short song lol)

you gotta die sometime: death's a funny pal with a weird sort of talent / he takes me in his arms and walks me to the bed / he pins me against the wall and kisses me like crazy / the many stupid things i thought about with dread / now delight / then the scene turns to white

jason's bar mitzvah: son of abraham, isaac, and jacob / son of marvin / son of trina / son of whizzer / son of mendel / and godchild to the lesbians from next door / sing, oh sing, oh sing

what would i do: do you regret / i'd do it again / i'd like to believe that i'd do it again and again and again (see: love is blind)

falsettoland (reprise): this is where we take a stand / welcome to falsettoland

send me an album & I'll pick my favorite lyrics from every song

#fun fact about falsettos is that i saw the tour cast w my friend in 2019 and she'd never seen/listened to it before #and she saw a bit of the aids quilt in the lobby and was like oh that's so cool that they have a bit of the aids quilt #and then she didn't think about it anymore until charlotte was like “bachelors arrive sick and frightened #they leave weeks later unenlightened” and she was like oh. oh. oh. Oh..#asks #mina tag #falsettos #long post #very long post lmfao #i gave myself chills typing a lot of these out 😭😭 i have it BAD for this musical

19 notes · View notes

rinringringu · 3 years ago

Text

welcome to the very first episode of: "daniel overanalyzing small scenes from his hyperfixations that probably mean nothing but give barinrot to him!"

so i wanna talk about this scene in falsettos that! makes me think so many things!!

during the 'Marvin Hits Trina' sequence, in the end specifically, whizzer says this line, asking to himself:

"do i love him?"

marvin then replies by giving him this look:

a really good example of 'show don't tell', amirite? (seriously, the actors are AMAZING.) maybe I'm overanalyzing, but this face feels like he's just saying

"well obviously you do, you still do, right?"

whizzer then replies "no" and well, you guys know it goes downhill from there.

but i think it's quite interesting how marvin takes everyones love & affection for granted in the first act, even when he gives nothing in return most of the time. maybe there is also a hit of desperation in that lil smile, but at the end of the day, it was him who dumped whizzer, not the other way around. he expected whizzer to still love him, even after all of the things he did! which he did tbf, but he was still hurt, and he surely wasn't going to give marvin that satisfaction.

god, first-act-marvin is terrible, we can all agree. we can even see it in these little moments, but it surely helps to make his character growth in act two stand out!

#woooow its really late but heeere are some thoughts i was havingggg #falsettos #marvin #whizzer brown #musicals #analysis #(i guess)#anyways stan christian brole he is a good actor #;; 🩸 daniel talks

35 notes · View notes

struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor · 2 years ago

Text

I was listening to my Jinmintae playlist (sounds like a mint toothpaste brand but whatever), that I made to complement my Jkaaay playlist (super creative with these names, I know), and I wanted to share my random thoughts on the songs (that I've already heard thousands of times before but whatever):

The Astronaut is still difficult as fuck to listen to. I love the song but it makes me miss Jin too much, I sobbed listening to it. "When I'm with you, there is no one else, and I get heaven to myself". But Jin is all alone now. These past few days have made clear just how hard and isolating it can be for the members and Jin doesn't even have Army now... He must miss us so much!

Sweet Night is so fucking good, I love it. The chorus is so romantic it kills me. I really love the chorus and Adora makes the song.

Christmas Tree is good too. I love V's songs but not his solo songs. It's not that I don't like Singularity, Stigma, and Inner Child, but his tracks (including Blue&Grey) not on BTS's discography are superior and I genuinely love them.

Speaking of Blue&Grey, it's a pretty song but I've never loved it (unpopular opinion, I think). I only enjoy, but not love, the rap, and I don't care for the falsetto-y parts of the song. I think the lower parts of the chorus - that V, Jungkook and Jin share - are the best.

BE as a whole is such a forgettable album to me:

Telepathy is super boring to listen to now. I think it's too sugary sweet and goes nowhere, and the production is grating and loud.

Disease is the same. The beginning is too slow (much like in Run BTS) and the song is pretty mid until the bridge. The bridge is the real highlight but the song is still bland imo, and feels disjointed.

The funny thing about BE is that I remember Hobi being worried about us not liking it because it reflected their individual tastes too much, when, in reality, after listening to Indigo and JITB, I think the problem with the album is that they tried to compromise and show their individuals colors while still sticking to what they believe the BTS sound is or should be, and ended up making something which doesn't even reflect any of them or the group itself. Ie.:

B&G sounds like a V song but it's blander and less touching and heartfelt than a non-BTS V song; Disease sounds like Hope World J-Hope trying to recreate old BTS's sound (like they did with Run BTS), but (just like Run BTS), it doesn't sound at all like old-school BTS and I think BTS either don't know what that sounds like or are incapable of recreating it; Telepathy was Suga's attempt and doing something easy and commercial like Eight but it doesn't sound like BTS and is arguably worse than Eight; LGO is supposed to be the kind of chill (Western-inspired), sentimental track the members like, but I doubt any of them would've chosen it as the tt of their own albums. Stay is actually my favorite BE song now, because I find the lyrics and style of the song the most like "old BTS". It's like a So What/Magic Shop crossover though neither of those songs is a favorite of mine.

Despite attempts to make it a more personal, self-produced album, BE is still a BTS album whose songs were mostly chosen by the company, and, thus, I don't think it truly reflects any of them, least of all BTS, sadly.

Anyway, I used to love Serendipity but now find it so repetitive? I'm not sure it aged well tbh. Also, Serendipity and Filter sound really bad and autotuned to me. To be clear, the songs aren't bad, it's just that good old Hybe production... Also, With You > Serendipity.

I was thinking that Jimin has With You, V has Christmas Tree and Sweet Night, and Jin has Yours and The Astronaut, but Jungkook doesn't have any romantic, sentimental songs. Stay Alive isn't a drama OST, and neither Still With You nor his solos are sentimental and slow and romantic like kdrama OSTs... We've never heard that kind of sound from him...

Okay, that's it! I'd love to hear Army's thoughts!

#bts #be #jimin #v #jin #jhope #rm #jungkook

4 notes · View notes

falsettos-tight-knit-family · 1 year ago

Text

30 Day Falsettos Challenge in 2 Days

I found this challenge on Google yesterday, but since I feel like answering a question a day isn't very interesting content, I'm just gonna split all of them up into 2 longer posts. I was planning on doing it all in one, but then realized how long some of my answers were and that you probably don't want to read all that. So here's the question list

And here's are my answers to the first 15 of them:

1) Favorite Character: Whizzer. This should come as no surprise, I love this man with all my heart

2) Least Favorite Character: Charlotte. Not because I like her less, I just wish we got to know her more. Since she and Cordelia only got one act, I feel like I didn't get to know them as well, especially in her case.

3) Most Overrated Character: Ngl i have no idea- It's a very character-based musical and I feel like they all deserve the hype they get from what I've seen

4) Most Underrated Character: Caroline /j But honestly, any of the women

5) Favorite Couple: I love them all, but I'd be lying if I said anything but Whizzvin

6) Favorite Song: Currently, probably The Thrill of First Love. What can I say, I'm attracted to both actors and love a good argument song

7) Least Favorite Song: Something Bad Is Happening Reprise. I appreciate the pain it brings through the implication of Marvin also having AIDS, but it's ultimately only a couple sentences long and doesn't impact me as much as Falsettoland Reprise.

8) Favorite Scene: Off the top of my head, probably the Racquetball scene from A Day in Falsettoland. To be able to see them genuinely happy and having fun together as a couple is so satisfying, and it just shows how much healthier their relationship is now.

9) Funniest Scene: Again, first thing I think of is "You are gonna kill your mother, don't feel guilty, kill your mother" "Everyone hates his parents, now I see why-"

10) Saddest Scene: Fuck man idk at this point- Unlikely Lovers gets me on a lot of levels though; Marvin refuses to leave Whizzer's side, Whizzer tells him to go home so he doesn't worry (even though Marvin by his side is probably the thing he wants most), and everyone trying to focus on happier things to distract from the fact one of them is about to die. Especially on Cordelia's part, up to this post, she's basically always been smiling no matter what, and I think this is the first time the smile starts slipping and it's so important to her character to me-

11) Best Character Development: I haven't delved too deep into the depths of their characters, so I'm gonna go with the most blatant change from Act 1 to Act 2, Marvin. He goes from a complete asshole whose internalized homophobia and misogyny fuck over everyone else in his life, to a genuinely good father and partner who has learned from his mistakes.

12) If You Could Change Something About The Musical, What Would It Be? I'm the worst critique, does it count if I say I wish they'd kept a lot of the lines from the original versions of the songs for the revival? Both ones for comedic value ("It's queer Mr. Marvin") and ones that give more depth and understanding to the characters (Can't find the exact quote, but there was a cut line from Trina explicitly about suicidal intentions)

13) A Moment That Made You Change Your Mind About A Character: I remember thinking Mendel was more annoying in the beginning and I'm not sure exactly when it changed. It might have been a Marriage Proposal when I got to see he and Trina's chemistry together that made me see him as less annoying and more just awkward and endearing.

14) A Song You'd Want To Be In: Either The Thrill Of First Love I'd just really like to be part of that choreography, or The Baseball Game because literally any role in it would be fun in my opinion. Either I'd be done with Marvin's bullshit or, in Cordelia's case, laughing my ass off at his antics.

15) A Character You'd Want To Play: Either Whizzer or Cordelia. Whizzer because he's dramatic and petty and I think he'd be fun, and Cordelia because she's just me as a girl so I think I could do her justice.

#falsettos #falsettos challenge #whizzer brown #marvin gardens #trina weisenbachfeld #mendel weisenbachfeld #jason weisenbachfeld #the lesbians next door #cordelia falsettos #charlotte dubois

6 notes · View notes

ialwaysknewyouwerepunk · 4 years ago

Text

fine line - a close reading

gonna cry bc i’m at the end, gonna cry bc it’s fine line.

(x x x)

want to give the same disclaimer as with lights up: this song is so layered, so multi-faceted, that i could never hope to give an exhaustive analysis. due to its vagueness and openness for interpretation, i assume that everyone, just like me, has their own ideas about it and has attached importance to it in ways that no one else’s words can or should alter. this song means the world to me for reasons that aren’t necessarily in this post, and that’s how it is with art that touches us deeply. i’ve tried my best to pull it apart, lay it bare, spread it open, if you will, so it’s almost as free as it can be for you all to form your own opinion on it. in the synthesis i will make my own conclusions, but feel free to ignore that if yours are totally different. i’m just one set of brain and heart taking in fine line and projecting whatever i think is right onto it. alright, let’s go

fine line, track 12

sung in falsetto

live version at the form: first verse not sung in falsetto - after first chorus goes into falsetto - like “thinking of her” has summoned her

Put a price on emotion

pouring emotions into the art you create: how much is genuine / how much do you show - line between being authentic to your audience and giving away too much, wanting to keep things to yourself and not feeling truthful with what you’ve written

exploits of the industry: lay your soul bare - or the exact opposite, some pretend emotion - to score that hit

I'm looking for something to buy

cynical. emotions aren’t genuine, right? where can i go buy some?

～ lights up themes. fake life, industry, being a sell-out

You've got my devotion

But man, I can hate you sometimes

“you” = career, music, Harry Styles™. devoted to the craft, to the job, all the ups and downs of it, despite the hardships it brings

“man” is deliberate: can be seen as an offhand interjection, like “man, that’s rough”, but nothing is casually placed in this song. “man” is: The Man, the heads in the industry, the people pulling the strings. The man in Harry, the man he’s been in the media all these years, the part he’s played/had to play, the man that’s in him

⟶ “hate you”: hate for industry shit, self-hate created by having to play pretend (～ only angel analysis, the persona of the Bukowski womaniser)

“sometimes” - it’s not fucked up all the time

“you” could also be a lover, but the sudden “hate” there then would be for that person, which is absent in any other song about them, doesn’t make any sense

I don't want to fight you

And I don't want to sleep in the dirt

like there’s a choice to me made, but he doesn’t want to make it: either I fight this “you” or I sleep in the dirt

“you” as the industry: if he doesn’t fight them, he might end up being a beggar, lose all his self-worth bc he gave in to everything they asked/told him to do

“you” as himself: fight your instincts, part of who you are/the persona. if he doesn’t fight to figure himself out, though, he fears he’ll also lose

“sleep in the dirt” as a sense of rejection, as well

We'll get the drinks in

So I'll get to thinking of her

drinks to cope - falling, only angel, from the dining table - or to be braver and confront emotions better - tbsl

who is “we”? who is “her”?

narrative of “you” as “lover” further disproven: if “I” and the lover get together over drinks and “I” starts thinking of “her”?

⟷ “her” could be the lover, but then who is “you”? the industry? some other person, besides that lover, harry is devoted to? multiple lovers, all of a sudden? no.

⟶ “I” and “you” are all harry, that get to thinking of “her” because she is in daydreams with him. the narrative that harry is fighting a part of him, the persona he has (had) to play bc of industry limits, makes most sense. that persona is within him now, and part of his work, but all of him, “we”, is begging to come into the light - of which she is a huge part

We'll be a fine line

balancing act. let everything coexist but pay attention that those lines don’t get crossed the wrong way. what we are, what i am, is a fine line between what makes us go under and what lets us thrive

we will be: determination to fulfil this prophecy, statement of fact “we always will be”

“we’ll be a fine line”: other way of interpreting it is that on both sides of that line is what entails “we”, all that is harry. what merges on that fine line is where it’s just right, when harry is fully himself in every way

“fine line” can also be an echo of criticism, bigotry, in the style of: it’s a fine line between being simply flamboyant and queer, between dressing like that and people thinking you’re a transvestite or summat (cause we wouldn’t want that, now, would we) - “we’ll be a fine line” could be owning all of it. putting himself in the middle of all those messy lines, as someone queer without a category

Test of my patience

patience with himself - kindness to self - took a long time to figure shit out and it was a challenge

waiting for change: industry and its allowances/openness

There's things that we'll never know

my favorite line

“we” = harry / harry and company / us in general, all of us listening

～ tpwk “i don’t need all the answers”: deep sense of acceptance

peace to be found in accepting this!!

You sunshine, you temptress

“sunshine” - as in all the love songs (blue skies, sunflowers, summer days…): lover - possible that there are multiple “you”s in this song?

sunshine could ofc also be directed at the temptress, still

female “temptress” - “i’ll get to thinking of her” - she - it’s tempting for harry to think of her all the time, to lose himself in the “her” in him

other interpretation for “temptress”: woman he knows with negative influence in his life - resemblance to woman “you flower, you feast”, so echo of Bukowski ～ only angel, kiwi (my sunshine, my love, who is involved with this temptress…)

My hand’s at risk, I fold

⟷ tpwk “dropping into the deep end”

not showing his cards just yet / forfeits

anxious to show all of him, to take the chance, with all the risks and consequences involved

Crisp trepidation

I’ll try to shake this soon

nervousness, anxiety - about (not) taking (enough) chances, (not) laying himself bare (release of the album that reveals much more than before)

“crisp” fresh, this feeling is unfamiliar - change is coming “soon”

sense of agency: I can get rid of this feeling by my own volition and make these changes - hesitant, insecure: “try”

wants to be braver. he’s not going back, but still needs to calmly coax himself further and further into the light, out into the open (“we’ll be alright”)

Spreading you open

Is the only way of knowing you

(can anyone else hear “spread thin” like a whisper under “spreading”? or am i imagining things.)

“you” is back - the only way of knowing “you” is to spread them open - the physical

to spread someone open - very literal, don’t need to paint the picture, or to lay bare, to lay it all out

⟶ “you” as himself - the only way of knowing who i am is by doing this: writing this album, performing these songs, letting others listen in and form their own interpretations, let this world grow where i’m laid bare and OPEN and exist as this person who has issues, who is angry, who doesn’t know who he is a lot of the time, but is still so happy to be here - let it spread and let it all circle back to me so i can grow deeper into myself

We'll be a fine line

We'll be alright

“we” = h & self, h & lover, h & fans

collectiveness from tpwk

(notes on a piano sounding like drops, like he’s emerged from the water and dripping dry)

SYNTHESIS

Everything about this song is plural. Personal pronouns are all over the place. I, you, her, we. The sound is incredibly layered, with Harry’s own voice echoing through its verses like he’s singing to himself in an empty cave. Meanings can be attached to every word like it’s a wax tablet used too many times. What Harry has said in interviews for once holds pretty true to the actual meaning, in my opinion.

“It felt like it described to me the process of making it and how the album felt in terms of the different kinds of songs on it.” (Capital FM)

This can mean a lot of things, and I think it means all of the things, of course. It means Fine Line is a summary of all of his emotions he visited on the album, of the things he’s laid bare. And it means that the actual process was also described, as one that can be frustrating and challenging, with added industry shit.

Harry has expressed straightforward gratefulness to his label for "leaving (him) alone” while making the album and that speaks volumes. This time, he had the chance to make his art without the constant interference of a label, which meant he could weave in criticism as well. “Put a price on emotion” is first and foremost a critique on the industry. It’s the first line of the song, setting the tone for the interpretation of this song is about the risks I took while making this album. It involves criticism on an industry that creates such an atmosphere that only a certain type of music and artist breaks through or can be successful, that limits people in their personal expression. Convinces them that it’s better that way. That it’s better to hide who they love because the general public won’t accept them. That it’s better to create a song about a fake emotion than be honest. Harry loves writing songs and being on stage, but it’s taken a while for him to be fully comfortable there as a solo artist and bloom into the person that could make Fine Line. He loves his career, but it’s also limited his freedom in ways beyond our comprehension, and it’s exploited him to the point where he didn’t know who he was, in ways that have clearly taken a toll on his mental wellbeing. To a point where he finishes this album reassuring himself, most of all, that everything will be alright.

That process of making Fine Line obviously includes Harry confronting emotions he hadn’t before. He has stated that he experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows while making it. There are things he hates, he was fighting but doesn’t want to (anymore), uncertainties he was trying to figure out but had to accept he couldn’t, risks he still doesn’t know he can take without shaking. At the centre of it all is this sense of “knowing you.” The different personal pronouns in the song paint a fractured picture, which is ultimately deliberate. That the “you” Harry is devoted to and can hate sometimes doesn’t line up with “her,” that the end focus does seem to be this “you” that is mentioned in the same breath as “man” and “temptress,” forming the “we” together with “I”.

After having songs like Lights Up, She, Falling and even TPWK, one of the central themes on the album has undoubtedly been self-discovery, in all its pain and glory. There are no female pronouns on the album besides, obviously, in She, and then here, in Fine Line. She is about a man living with a woman “just in his head”, who “sleeps in his bed while he plays pretend.” It is very clearly a trans narrative, the story of someone struggling to put into words what they’re experiencing in terms of gender. To a point that they fantasise about running away. Fine Line brings the ideas of knowing what it all means, which Lights Up kicks off (“do you know who you are?”), Falling deepens (“what am I now?”) and Treat People With Kindness turns on its head (“I don’t need all the answers”), together. Harry is still doubtful, and the questions asked earlier in the album haven’t disappeared, but he has accepted that “some things we’ll never know.” His aim, however, is still “knowing you.”

To have Fine Line, as the summary of these emotions of self-growth and self-discovery, echo that one female pronoun, speaks volumes. It is a direct reference to She, to that story about gender. “Her” in this song refers to “she (who) lives in daydreams with (him).” The one who still only fully comes out when they’ve had a drink. The one he’s still working to include in who he is, as he tries to figure out who he is, all of it. The song where he sings in falsetto, just like on Fine Line. Of which he sang the first verse an octave lower live at the forum, switching between those voices, those perspectives. That’s also why “you” in this song is also Harry to me. We get this fractured sense of self, this “I” and “you” conversing over a drink, this “you” Harry is devoted to and wants to figure out. “You” and “I” form “we” and all of them are Harry. The lines are blurry on purpose, there is no way to figure out where “you” ends and “I” begins.

“You sunshine, you temptress” is the most enigmatic line in that respect, and to me blurs those lines even more between the pronouns. “You” is suddenly also identified by a female noun. And no this isn’t about some kind of love triangle. “Sunshine” aligns with all the odes to his lover in the rest of the album. So what does that mean? That there are multiple “you”s in this song, meaning that Harry is addressing both his lover and a temptress? So “her” he’ll get to thinking of, the only other female pronoun used in the song, is identified as a temptress, but tempting to do what? To take risks? And no I won’t forget the “man, I can hate you sometimes,” where "man” is not a casual interjection but an identifier of “you.”

Or is it an echo of “the light” from Golden’s “bring me back to the light” and Light’s Up’s “step into the light”? So that the “sunshine” symbolises being in the clear, being out of the darkness running through his heart, the darkness caused by not knowing who you are. “You sunshine,” you beacon of light. “You temptress,” risk-taker and source of anxiety. You, one I need to spread open to figure out, to know about, source of happiness and despair, one I’m devoted to but also hate. You, man, you, temptress. You there, in the mirror looking back at me.

All of you, and myself included, we’ll be a fine line. And we’ll be alright.

This song is about all of that. The self in art, the self on its own, the other, the journey, the chances, the fears, the passion. Hope. Reassurance. Confidence. And, most importantly, that everything will be alright in the end.

read all my lyric analyses here

214 notes · View notes