#sorry for the shitton of yapping

[pleasedontcareaboutme]

Hello all. It's been a while 🥲

Before new year's eve I finally got the time and motivation ( and courage) to listen to Subrosa. So this will be a long post about all my first impressions about the album. Overall, I reallly loved it more than I expected, and I'm proud of all of the members sooo much.

Beware, this post will be longggg. I'll write about my first impressions for now, in another post I'll try to deep dive more into the themes the members touched, and tried to make sense of some things. Of course, all of this is just speculation of my tiny Buck-Tick infested brain lol. Also excuse me if I misuse any terms, I'm not an expert.

Enjoy if you are curious. 🥰

1. Hyakuman Nayuta no Chiri no SCUM

A very sweet opening, a hopeful one at that. Very cosmic, truly shows how vast the universe is and how insignificant we all are. But that's why we are not alone.

I think Atsushi would've loved this song. I love Imai's slightly shaky, almost crying voice. It fits the song really well.

2. SUBROSA

Hhmm, going into Imai's psychedelic paradise right on the 2nd song, I love it. Has a very industrial feel to it, the rap scratches my brain at all the right spots lol. The lyrics has a bunch of references as usual, Imai flexing he is smart lol.

There's a part at around 2:35 where the beat switches to a more atmospheric, calmer sound? And that is just. Chef's kiss. I know I'm biased but this is a reallly great song. 🥲

3. Muyubyo SLEEP WALK

I'm going to be honest at firsttt I didn't love this song, but I found it cute. It's still not my favorite, but I appreciate it for what it is.

It is still a good song. There's just something like, missing? But I will listen to it still. All night lonG. I do like the instrumentals, the SSL vibes? That might just be me though.

4. From Now On

Honestly at this point I just sound like I'm repeating myself, but this is also a great song.

The baseline reminds me of Sapphire a bit, which I loveee. I feel like it also gives Schaft vibes? I could imagine Raymond Watts as a feature on it lol. I love Hide's nonchalant vocals, it fits the song. It'ssss not one of my faves though, but next to so many great songs, it's hard to choose favorites. 😭

The message is nice though. I appreciate Hide a lot for singing in english. 🥹

5. Rezisto

I literally killed myself when I first heard this song. It is perfect. Everything that I wanted from this album. I think I'm lowkey Imai biased but I just love how his brain works. I love everything about it really. The lyrics I find fascinating and beautiful, I'll touch up on it in another post.

6. Shinkeishitsu no Kaidan

Weirdly enough, the first song I repeated multiple times. It is so good to use as a focusing song lol. It also makes me question my existence. Truly, truly a divine instrumental track.

7. Raijin Fujin

Okay, first critique lol. Of course, even when it was released as a single I wasn't a huge fan of it, and was really scared of the direction the band was about to take, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thank god.

I know I'm not the only one who thinks this is one of the worst songs on the album, but it's fine. I still think it has a place in the album. It's very upbeat, and fun. I'm not a fan of the vocals. I like the instrumental, but I don't love the prechorus. Might be an unpopular opinion, but my favorite version is the club remix on the single lol, because the vocals are less promenient.

I did learn to like this song after many listens, not my favorite still.

8. Meiosei de Shine

It's funn. It reminds me a bunch of older songs, can't even pinpoint them one by one. I didn't notice at first it's an Imai Hide duet 😭 I thought it's only Imai. But that makes it more precious. It's a fun song really, gives me Dada Disco vibes mostly. The instrumental is great too, electronic noise brrrrr. It does lack somethingggg, I don't know what though. Maybe more variety? Or idk. But as a fun song I appreciate it. I imagine Acchan shaking ass and it's suddenly so much better. 🥰😭

9. Yusei Tsushin

I'm gonna be honest! I wanted to love this song bc of the lyrics, it's so stupid 😭 It reminds me of Boogie Woogie / Jonathan Jet-Coaster a bit, but flatter. I don't get as energized personally. Also the vocals in the chorus are so strained, I'm dying. I love you Imai, but I prefer your calm singing or lowkey talking style. But I appreciate the effort! I'm okay with this song, but might be my least favorite unfortunately. 😭

10. paradeno mori

Funnest! I did cry on it tho lol! 😭 the lyrics references got me. I just loveeee Hide's voice here. It does remind me of Atsushi's singing style a bit. I can 1000% see Acchan shaking ass to this.

I do prefer the more abstracts songs on the album, but this is also really good. Some of the tiny instrumental details are really good, like the sounds at 1:50-2:00

Also love the detail that the sound slightly changes on each stage? Nice!

11. Sterilitzia

Makes me want to explore a desert lol. It's a really interesting sound, something I don't think I've heard from BT before. It's funky, interesting, industrial, I'm satisfied with it. The end got me feeling distressed though not going to lie. The heavy machinery sounds and slight distortion in the middle make it sound a bit dystopian. Loveee it.

12. Zetsubo to Iunano Kimi e

One. of. the. best. songs.on the album. 🥹I violently sobbed on it like 4 times in a row. 🫠 Hide's voice is b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.🥹 I think Atsushi would also love this one. I'd love to hear him sing it. It's a beautifull song, both lyrically, and soundwise. I'm in love 😭😭 Fuck you BT for being so great. 😭

I love the robotic sounds in the instrumental, make it all the sadder. 😭

13. TIKI TIKI BOOM

Actually! This might be my favorite fun song! It's different, yet soooo Buck-Tick! I love Imai's hurried rap part, the chorus is extremely satisfying. The smoll Tiki tiki boom's in the background, yes.

The Instrumental is something to really appreciate imo. I always find something new in it. The part at 1:45 with the descending(?) instrumentals gives it an eery feel, it's sooo good.I thought this would be my least fave but not at all.

14. PSYCHE

This album just gets better with each song. First impression was that I neeeed to hear Atsushi and Hide sing this together. Hide sounds perfect here. The song is sooooo good. How it starts calmer and then explodes in the chorus. Has a slight like apocalyptic (👀) feel to it. It's again one of my favorites. 🥹 It's just suppperrr good.

The background vocals are canonically Atsushi to me, I don't accept arguments. 😭

15. Gabriel's Horn

As one of my friends said, Vita Mechanicalis vibes. But to me KMFDM. Jesus this song is soooooooo goooodd. It was one of my favorites on first listen. The drums? or no clue what instrument tbh 😭 sound so good. Imai's voice is suppppeeerr cool here. This is what I loveeeeeeee. Fuck yes. That's all I can say. This song is realllly apocalyptic. For real. The only part that threw me off was the chorus, but it fits well looking at the concept. I love the use of trumpets and piano. Give it a divine feel as well. Like the war of gods or some shit. 😭

16. Kurage

Another instrumental track, it's really eery. I love it. It gives me anxiety honestly, so maybe I'd only listen to it if I want the full album experience. But it fits really well into the album so 👌

17. Tasogare no Howling

The last song. Interestingggggg. Verrrryy bittersweet. It's verrrryyy beautiful. I think to truly appreciate it I have to listen a lot of times. Just like in the first song, Imai's shaky vocals suit this song really well. It truly gives the feeling of the ending, that's also a beginning. I just loveeeee the deep background vocals. They give the song sooo much flavor. Cried.

I just noticed, I think Hide also sings some higher background vocals?

Okayyy, now, onto ranking the songssss. Hmmm.

17. Yusei Tsushin

16. Raijin Fujin

15. Kurage

14. Muyubyo SLEEP WALK

13. Meiosei de Shine

12. Sterilitzia

11. From Now On

10. parade no mori

9. Hyakumannayuta no Chiri SCUM

8. Shinkeishitsu na Kaidan

7. TIKI TIKI BOOM

6. SUBROSA

NOW the hardest decision, lol, I can hardly decide, but.

5. Zetsubo to Iunano Kimi e ( sorry you deserve the no.1 spot 😭)

4.Gabriel's Horn

3. Rezisto

2. PSYCHE

1. Tasogare no Howling

Honestly, this ranking will probably change depending on my mood, but for now this is it.

Also the first 5 songs are probably all no.1., but I had to decide an order. 😭

Well anyways, for now this is it for first impressions. I'll come back with my slight analysis post later.

Overall, the album is phenomenal. I will be listening to all the songs for sure. I'm happy to see the members still releasing such good music. 🥹

If you read this, I'd be curious about your opinions too! Byee

[shadowqnights]

May I ask what are your favorite MCD or Mystreet Ships or just Platonic Relationships? I love seeing people’s opinions on different characters relationships. I’ll occasionally see one that I never saw before and I think it’s so neat.

hello welcome to bee's fav ship masterlist

I’m sorry this ask took so long, this is the one that had all my progress deleted before I could save it anywhere during a blackout. So I didn’t try again to write it for a little while. I know you mentioned MyStreet but I want to make a Separate post for that so I might reblog this later with additions but for now I’m just gonna focus on the MCD side because I know my thoughts better on that and already have plenty to say about it.

Here’s like a little masterlist of my favourite ships + platonic relationships in MCD plus some itty bitty summaries with my thoughts on them. As always I’m down to elaborate on any of these if anyone has questions! I can always make more posts specifically about any of these pairings to fully like. Flesh out and brainstorm rewrite stuff. Some characters might overlap cause multiship win. Also these might sound non-canon because this is how I write them, a lot of this is in beeland not canonical jessland. And I've probably forgotten a shitton but fuck it we ball.

Romantic/Sexual Pairings

Garroth x Laurance. No surprises here, I’m predictable, not much to say other than what I say every other time. Enemies to friends to lovers dynamic, they’re toxic and bloody and they are obsessed with each other. They are codependent. They need each other. There is something so insane about enemies to lovers when they literally have seen the worst of each other and fall in love anyway, providing a foundation for such an intimate trust because they spent so long memorising each other for the sake of hatred. Now they would die for each other, now they are black holes for each other - I never really ship Garroth with anyone else in MCD specifically because they are completely absorbed in each other, and Laur only in like alternate timelines where Garrance aren’t quite as insane for each other and are capable of being normal exes. A delicious religious corruption sun x moon guard4guard freak4freak meal for me. Rich with hungry dog metaphors and plenty of blood. I will defend them to the death. In beeland general rewrite (not Loverman, sorry), they get to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere having an honest but peaceful life. They have a couple of kids, including Malachi<3 and once they’re old they are NOT fucking bothered by plot shit again. They go through many hells and then they finally get to rest. They are so fucking in love with each other that it makes me sickened how Jess accidentally gave me source material for the most insane yaoi that would take over my life for a multitude of years. I don’t know what to even summarise here because like. I’ve written a 500k fanfiction about them that is still ongoing like I don’t know what else to say about them that I haven’t already yapped on about. There’s probably more to talk about because I never stfu about them. No one is surprised.

Katelyn x Aphiah. More enemies to lovers but also in a more guard4princess dynamic, and if you squint also worshipper4god if you consider Katelyn devout. Katelyn enters as her assassin and does literally come close to killing her multiple times only to become her target’s most dutiful loyal guard. Their magicks call to each other. Katelyn teaches her how to fight and forces Aph to confront parts of herself that were unacknowledged before their meeting. Confident that with the amount of devotion, desire and pure angry emotion that I give Katelyn, if Laurance hadn’t been at the werewolf wedding in Season 2, she easily could have had a similar outburst and take his place there to save Aph. Katelyn is obsessed with her from the start, no matter whether considering Aph a symbol, then an enemy, then finally a friend, lord and lover. And Aph is utterly captivated by Katelyn, not just her beauty, but her power. Plus, majority of the things you like about Garmau and Laurmau can be translated to Katemau but better if you try.

Dante x Nicole. No enemies here, just lovers, oh god I love these two. They are both runaways haunted by their ‘past lives’, trying to create new names for themselves and heal. I associate them both with animals - Nicole quite literally as a fox, and Dante more metaphorically as a dog or coyote. They are best friends for YEARS before anything even happens between them, and I understand why Jess saw their vibe as an innocent young love/fling but also nooo………………….. I see the visions………………. They heal together… they understand each other’s vulnerabilities and insecurities so well….. they rescue each other…. they are adoring and energetic pure t4t love formed off years of friendship and mutual respect and like. They loved each other as friends and then they loved each other More and just very naturally became partners. They’re both very playful and adventurous when they open up, and even at their most different they’re this lovely dynamic of Nicole unable to stop yapping while Dante stares quiet and adoringly at her. And they fight together side by side!!!! (Hypnosis eyes for you to think more about mcd dancole)

Those are my big three holy trinity right nowwww but. Here are some more smaller-scale MCD ship dynamics that I also looove.

(Jeffory and Katelyn are also on this list but I talked about them yesterday in that other essay so I don't feel like repeating myself. Just know that they're included.)

Vylad x Laurance, errrr it’s complicated you already know what’s going on here. soul bonded or whatever, went through hell together. don’t know each other yet understand each other better than anyone, which isn’t saying much in vylad’s case, since no one comes close to ever really understanding him but if anyone’s going to pretend to, it’ll be laur. they are each other’s hopeful fantasy, like sitting in a dark cell and saying ‘do you think that, in another life-’. in this life, you will always have some kind of self-inflicted divide (you don’t know what the divide is blocking, because it’s not exactly friendship or romance but some third secret scary thing), but the thought will never die. you’re not even friends. in another life, maybe you could have gotten along somehow, but in this life you make stupid, foolish promises about freedom. you leave each other behind eventually, as is natural. vylad had far more clarity and knowledge of shadow knights that garroth never fully grasped, that made laurance feel seen. they make him feel seen in different ways. those damn ro’meaves.

Katelyn x Travis, nooo ha ha wow it’d be so funny if we were both burdened by years of pain and sacrifice thinking that we will never receive love only to find it in an unexpected place. it’d be so funny if you managed to save each other after years of being hurt. to the point that one of you feels that she wasted her only chance at love and the other is afraid that after years of isolation he will never know what it feels like. what if you realise that what you thought was frustrating and annoying is actually exactly what you need right now. maybe he was waiting for you his whole life. maybe he feels like letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding for so long. oomf if you keep on cracking the stupidest flirty jokes i might have to let down my tough exterior to actually smile a tiny bit if only in wry amusement but still, he gets her smiling. let’s go swimming and heal together oomfie!!!

Cadenza x Sasha, tragic sun x moon lovers forcefully separated. like your entire friend group was definitely all in love with both of these zvahl siblings at some point but like. instead of both of you being the fascination of this nerd freak one after the other, you two were meant to be together but could never voice it. you were such close friends that everyone already thought you were a package deal. not to be separated. only for everything to go wrong just as you are about to bring those feelings to light and now you will never get the chance because the girl you love just came back Wrong. and worse, she is so convinced that its Your fault that maybe it is, because if she believes it so forcefully it has to be true. without even knowing about gene altering her memories, you just let go because its the easiest thing to do. doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Laurance x Travis, but only in like a certain AU where Garroth is his ex but they’re not fucked up enough to be entirely obsessed with each other still. I don’t really indulge in Laurance or Garroth ships often because I am so ride or die for Garrance but I think in some world Laurance and Travis fit so nicely together, the same way that Laurance has that complicated relationship with Vylad but only in the circumstance that he’s not with Garroth. You have to hear me out here as I tell you that I understand Laurance on a deep insane level and you need to trust me when I say that he’s interested in science. He spends years ruling by emotion and temper. He’s searching for something logical, something with a straightforward answer that doesn’t depend on keeping his heart in check. He’s tired of being told to meditate or do yoga or whatever, thanks Vylad, he wants something tangible. Everyone is so busy worrying about him being this dangerous, volatile ticking time bomb that needs to calm down or leave when he’s already been through an emotional washing machine’s worth of hell that season alone. He’s tired and he wants a solution to a problem that is very much emotional, something that can’t just be fixed. Shadow Knights are made out of emotion, and ugly emotions at that, and now more than ever Laurance is so exhausted by the constant of it.

(Interesting to talk about later that Garroth and Laurance essentially swap, despite their respective emotional reputations, that Garroth’s leaving is emotionally driven and while Laurance’s is triggered by emotion, as per the Shadow Knight overreaction, his actual leaving is far more logical and straightforward, making it less emotionally destructive. Despite the notion that he is more emotional and Garroth is far more repressed, their breakdowns kind of reverse. It’s a little funny. Truly made for each other. Ok sorry no more garrance.)

And oh look who it is its Travis fist deep in the dirt hunting for worms with books and maps strapped to his back conducting the most fucked up science experiment known to man, someone who is very used to putting up a kind of faux performance to survive while having an incredible amount of burdens and sacrifices hidden beneath that carefully curated persona. They’re both incredibly clever, and despite those personas being playful and flirty, they know when to lock in to get the job done. And Travis is that perfect intruiging mix of heart and logic, because he’s blunt and straightforward especially when it comes to reciting things he knows from books, but when he gets passionate he can yap for hours. He is incredibly brave and sweet but also very studious and not very emotionally intelligent. He sees that Laurance has a problem and works himself to the bone to try and fix it for him, even when Laurance is trying to explain that its something unfixable. They’re kind of rivals at first that turn into besties who study each other sometimes. They are considering dissecting each other to figure out wtf is going on in the other’s brain. In a time period where literally everyone’s waiting for Laurance to snap, and he really does snap on Travis, it’s kind of comforting for someone to be fascinated by the Shadow Knight rather than afraid of it, and wants to approach it with science and reason rather than with emotion, fear or merely just projecting their own shames onto him. Their demon sides like each other or something.

Kiki x Cadenza, they’re pretty simple and cute. Sweet little background couple both passionate about nature - obviously Kiki loves animals, and Caddie is more interested in plants and gardening. They both have these almost-dormant magicks that emerge in very beautiful, caring ways. They are soft and tender with each other and also the idea of them meeting via Cadenza being a literal hen is kind of funny. They should throw rocks at Zane together.

Lucinda x KC, except I haven’t fuuuully thought about their endgame, just that they are so cute. Rivals to friends to rivals again, then friends AGAIN, then business partners/besties for many many years. And then when they’re older, lovers. They are stronger together, their magicks respond well to each other, and their individual business ventures actually work best when combined rather than competing. They don’t get together until they’re older ladies and, while Lucinda would still be working through some teacher-related conflicts, she’d be more willing to settle after years of wandering and long after being the White Witch, she might feel more comfortable sticking to one place. But even so they’re the kind of yuri that never has an explicit conversation about it and never tell anyone, it just happens so naturally, they’re old women who live together and have a dual witchcraft store + bakery and finally get to live in a place where they don’t have to feel ashamed of themselves or be in constant competition, even playfully, they can just Live. And also owl x cat dynamic is so cute.

Platonic/Familial Pairings

I feel like a couple of these I have talked about in more detail before so these will be kiiind of brief. Here are some of my favourite platonic dynamics and I am CERTAIN I've forgotten a lot of nice little underrated friendships but fuck it here's a top three.

These AREN’T ROMANTIC !!!

Dante, Aphiah & Aaron, their dumb dog-core little found family - Aaron becoming this old, gruff older brother figure for the both of them. After being alone for so long and bearing so much suffering, he finds solace and the beginning of a healing journey in both of them. None of them are replacing what has been lost per say, but fill the gaps of pieces missing in certain ways. Aphiah the amnesiac who, if she ever had a family at all, has literally no one now, getting to have a sibling dynamic with Dante, who waits so dutifully for his sister to come home. She looks to Aaron as a mentor figure, someone who can understand her feeling of otherworldliness and how she often feels alienated from the rest of the cast while also empathising with her as a Lord and a parent. She and Dante follow him and learn from him very attentively - and for Dante, to have an older brother figure that isn’t Gene. They take care of each other. An old wolf and the cubs that started following him around one day and while gruff and stubborn as to ignoring them at first, slowly learning to open up to them, thus earning their trust.

Vylad & Katelyn, give it up for EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED BESTIESSSSS. Every time I’ve brainstormed and thought about them with oomf I’ve been so genuinely pleased at the idea of locking them in a room together where they literally would just sit in silence and not be able to start a conversation. Such a painfully stubborn, awkward silence. Every scene they have together is so fucking funny do NOT put these guys on a boat together. They’re both gods of obsessing over their stony unfeeling tough exteriors to spare themselves of feeling. Kings of having tragic ass pasts and significant people in said pasts that haunt their respective narratives in a way that they feel no one will ever understand. So they can sit Close to each other sort of and continue to not understand each other but yet be the exact fucking same. GO TO THERAPY LOSERS.

Lucinda & Dante, go get therapy pt. 2, Dante you have to stop latching onto all of these caring figures that are a little older than you and provide some sort of semblance to a sibling, Dante stop it. She picks up on his subtle fear of witchcraft really quickly and decides to teach him more about what she does. He’s able to divulge parts of his past to her that he could never tell anyone about and she’s able to offer some comfort. I do appreciate that it’s not entirely one-sided - like yeah Dante is seeking comfort and understanding which he hasn’t really been able to take before, but he’s also there as a supportive shoulder for her, too, the way that his friendship with Aaron also starts out as mutual transaction. He notices that Lucinda has been feeling a little bit outcast by the town, even though she thinks thats what she has to be yet longs to be involved in the community, so he makes an effort to include her and spend time with her. He’s not really her apprentice, but he’s definitely willing to help out when he’s around, picking herbs and such. It’s a little funny that Dante is so insecure that he thinks of himself as undesirable and unloveable but a vast majority of town is literally a Dante fanclub willing to die for him and take him under their wing. Like oh baby. Your awkward charm is undeniable.

Stayed up late writing another ask answer yet again yippee. As always inbox is open for more asks if you feel brave enough to receive an answer of this average length and insanity :3 Stick your hand in my cage. I don't bite :).