#specifically you're gonna go far but really every song i can do something with

[the-physicality]

it's the hope that kills you

[fairestwriting]

Hello Lis! Wow, it’s been a minute. How are you doing?

Sooo I got a request I was saving.

May I request HCs of the Music Club Trio (Cater Diamond, Kalim Al Asim, and Lilia Vanrouge) (Separately) who found out that [Reader] [Gender Neutral] [Platonic or Romance (your choice)] can sing/rap incredibly when they were alone practicing their vocals in an empty classroom? [Reader] was trying to keep their talent low-profile as they don’t like too much attention and can’t deal with embarrassment if something slips. How would the three react?

- @sanctum-of-ramshackle

hellooooo it has been a Lot of minutes huh 😭 but im surviving!!! the call of writing is one i can't bring myself to ignore .....

and! since you said both platonic and romantic are fine, im writing it more ambiguously so the other readers can see it however they prefer ;3

Cater Diamond

At first, he's too shocked to move, standing near the door and just listening in awe, but he eventually just snaps. Breaks your focus with a sound that's almost a squeak, rushing into the classroom you thought was empty way too quickly. Probably startles you into making a noise sounding just as awkward as his.

The questions of when and how you learn to sing like this start, Cater grabbing your hands and lookinf at you with big, bright eyes. And though he's usually cheerful, this degree of excitement still feels like a completely new side to him. You mumble out your explanations of how you've been practicing a long time, but had some specific boundaries...

He listens to each and every word, maybe even surprising you with the attentiveness. You might have expected requests for videos and pictures for social media posts anyway, but there are none. Instead, he cheerfully raises a hand and asks if he can practice with you. Then if you want to go to karaoke with him this weekend-- He's a bit more pushy about this one.

(If you're especially close, Cater might ask for an audio of you singing your favorite song. The intimate feeling of the request makes him nervous, but he can't really resist. Doesn't matter if your next school break is far away, he already knows he's gonna miss your singing a near painful amount.)

Kalim Al-Asim

He doesn't think twice after the first few lyrics he sees you sing so soulfully... a part of him wanted to stay by the door and listen until you were done with the song, but Kalim just can't hold back, and he rushes into the classroom just like Cater would. Unlike him, though, Kalim mostly showers you in praise.

It's a bit hard to have any sort of conversation for a bit, when he keeps guahing about how well you held that note and how emotional you sounded in that verse and how your voice was so, so, so beautiful, why didn't you share that with the club before?

...At least, with that one question, Kalim gives you enough time to explain yourself, and your concerns about unwanted attention, then the stage fright... and he does listen, though it takes a bit for him to understand. But it's definitely not in a malicious way, and you can see that. He's just so, so, so awed by how amazing your singing voice sounds.

Then, he has his own questions, a few on your background with music -- hardly the focus -- and a bunch on if you'd be willing to sing for the Music Club when they gathered. He assures, with that always sunny smile of his, that it's completely okay if you don't want to do that, but he's sure the other members would be delighted to hear you too.

And if you don't want to share that with them, Kalim asks if it's okay for him to listen to you a little more? He promises to not disrupt your practice. If you agree, you'll find that he's really an ideal audience member, clapping excitedly at the end of every song. And he happens to know one, he'll go all puppy-eyed as he asks to join you. Starting then, he'll take every opportunity to make your songs a duet.

Lilia Vanrouge

The only one who manages to stay by the door for a whole song, with that hard-to-read smile of his reaching up to his eyes. He claps as you finish your song, chuckling and fondly commenting how he had no idea you were so talented. Might spook you if you're jumpy, and it'd make him laugh too, but not without an apology. Pranks aren't the focus now.

Lilia walks up to you, looking straight into your eyes as he speaks. Part of his surprise is that your talent managed to fly under his radar for so long, when he usually picks up on these things so easily. He did have a feeling you were the type to hide your true potential for whatever reason, sure, but that's still not even remotely close to learning this secret of yours.

Lilia already mentions he's assuming you don't want to attract too much attention, or be judged, before you even start to explain. He reassures with a soft voice that he won't be sharing it with anyone you don't want to share your voice with, and his interest is more in how you got into music in the first place. If you play any instruments, if you had any training...

You see a rare glint of awe in his eyes as he speaks, it's clear that just from these few minutes of showcasing your skill, he's gained plenty of artistic interest and respect for you. He's especially curious about whether you write your own music or not. Depending on your own approach to your work, he'll honestly offer to help you... for the price of getting to be the first to hear any new songs you make, of course, he'll say with a cheeky smile.

if you wanna support my work, you can buy me a ko-fi or commission me!

[the-chessboard-is-personal]

season 2 time wahoo another damn liveblog am I right??

(liveblogging ii season 2, for if it's not obvious. same style as last ii liveblog)

1 - woahh! okay I love the style tbh. wait. Super Mario 3D World/Initial release date: November 21, 2013. this episode: Apr 2, 2013. INANIMATE INSANITY PREDICTED THE DOUBLE CHERRY???? ...huh. weird. why does MePhone have an app for that? y'know, RESURRECTION?

2 - MePad ? can teleport? ?? yeah that egg is gonna be relevant again isn't it

3 - BOW INATOR?? holy shit holy shit ohhg waow,,there is something in this episode that I want so much. lmao. "umm huh, lmhuehyahahuh.." (<- me attempting to spell what test tube said at the end of the ep)

4 - I didn't think the elimination song sucked.. hey wait why does it sound like they get killed or something when they go through the portal. also where does the portal lead

5 - SEVEN?? MeOS SEVEN??? oh huh. is that why someone who dies in space can't come back? OH THE NO SERVICE COMMENT WAS FORESHADOWING!!? wait why is that how it works. why does MePhone specifically get notifications about people dying. wh- okay?? that was ominous ?MePhone what does that rnean. ..chESS MENTIONED

6 - aaand there's another one. ANOTHER TWO??? .oh :| ...what the entire fuck. and yep this episode makes me uncomfortable. who would've FUCKING GUESSED

7 - oh so THAT'S where the portal lead. ..as down as the WHAT- ouhjghhu nooo... not a song

8 - ah yes, MePhone got The Common Code- oh. also idc what the objects say, ftrEwy7u9iop8oaTE7gI is a wonderful name for a challenge. or a password. each new MePhone gets less understandable because of the "techy" voice effec- oh he's dead. [sees Steve Cobs's reaction to the egg] ohh okay. one moment [walks away from the computer]please don't be like dsmp please don't be like dsmp please don't be like dsmp please don't be like dsmp plehokay. oh I don't like him

9 - ...I'm not crying you're crying.,, uohg this is the second time a show like this has had something that felt like it was directed at me. and the other time was Gothi talking to Xanu in Fool's Gold,.,. which was also about moving on.. is.. is that wh- oh hey a gravity falls reference. haha lol :) ...oh this is the depression eppisode. BITCH -> 🌮 <- BITCH

10 - aha! I've figured it out! the secret is MPABZCEAS!! holy fucking shit my joke was immediately kind of relevant. wha..suitcase?? y'know that voice kinda sounded like MePhone

11 - wHUH SMG4 SOUND?! oh wait that sound probably isn't from SMG4, that's just the first time I heard it. still though, neat. ...wild theory. I'm gonna sound like Fan here, but. "Is anything on this show real?" seems.hmm idk. sus. I call foreshadowing. hokay something's definitely going on with Suitcase. oH FOR FUCK'S SAKE yep don't like this episode either

12 - oh fuck they're in episode 1. oh fuck they're in HWUH ?? ..ohh MePhone hates Cobs too. hey if anyone's read this far, I want to know who's your favorite character from the alternate timeline, because why not! mine is Traffic Light

13 - woahhh MePhone backstory! oh. oh I do Not trust that "screen protector". HEY HEY WHAT WAS THAT WHISPER [turns on captions] oh. oh REALLY. HMM. ...wh. what. what what what what what ROBOT ADAM?? MEPHONE 3???? WHAT WHAT WHAT AAAAAAAA UH OH! UH OH OH NO UH OH!! ohkay this is the panic time, the time in every show tumblr freaks out about where things go CRAZY. OKAY OKAY I'M READY AAAAAA

14 - so the person who told me I should watch ii said I need to watch all of season 3 after this episode. I have no idea why! oh fuck! but anyway. that rneans I'll be splitting this section into actual paragraphs since this is the last episode of this liveblog. (<- said that before starting the episode). anyway.

okay. okay Fan just got abducted. ..hhhow did he know that. how did he know that MePad let Marshmallow leave. .hey hey what's with the shot of that panel with the hole in it. maybe I'm just tired but that doesn't seem..right. and not in the bad writing way.

uhm. hey 17:36 isn't supposed to be hitting me too whY IS IT HITTING ME TOO WAUGH.

"is that what you said to Pickle" OHH DAMN MY HEART DROPPED LIKE THE SCENE HOLY SHIT. wait IS FAN DEAD FOREVER??

wait didn't test Tube get eliminated? why did Microphone go through the portal??

looking at the comments for. tbh I forgot what reason when i saw this one

uh knew what KNEW WHAT OH FU-

anyway. so Fan glitching is. gonna be foreshadowing? oh boy let me guess... uhh.. wait why would Fan glitch. other things that glitch are..the tree MePhone made for Cobs? MePhone himself when Tissue Box sneezed on him?? that MePhone 3?? but none of that has anything to do with Fan..

unless.. AHA!

FAN IS A PROJECTION MADE BY ONE OF THE NEWER MEPHONES

COBS IS GOING TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AS LONG AS FAN IS THERE!!

although with Fan eliminated, th- oh there's an after credits scene?

UH. UM. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT

AND THE OMINOUS OUTRO THEME. UH OH

okokokokokokayokayokayokay. that's obviously some kind of MePhone. the Meeple logo is there and it's phone shaped, so. that's pretty obvious. but not one that's been seen before, right? like not even a model that's been seen before, because none of them have the grabby hands.

because of the red X imagery I'm gonna guess this one is called MePhone X. and if not, well I'm gonna refer to it as that until I find out otherwise

with how scary that moment was clearly intended to be, we can all agree that Toilet just got permakilled, right? like. despite not being in space? that was definitely. not anything good that happened to Toilet there. I'm just gonna assume Toilet's dead, yep that just happened. aaand now there's a seemingly murderous (although maybe it had a grudge against Toilet for some reason, but I find that unlikely) MePhone roaming around. n e a t .

thiiiiinking that thing is the exception to the "each MePhone we see is dumber than the last" rule that seems to be present. hm. wonder who the Big Villain is going to be

welp it's too late to binge s3 rn so uh. yeap. okay. sure. that's a thing

[mistresscitrusslice]

"I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care 🩷😘"

Mastermind is THE Meljay song from Mel's perspective. It's about time I did a song breakdown for Meljay bc honestly they deserve it. Truly an underrated overhated couple

"Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned" Brings up the visual of the astral-looking magic that brought them together in the first place. Maybe fate didn't bind them, but their love feels celestial anyway.

"You and I ended up in the same room at the same time" I don't think Mel intentionally bumped into them in the hallway, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. If that hadn't happened, I do believe she would have sought him out at a later date, maybe offered him her patronage under the table, but that's getting into fanfiction territory.

"And the touch of a hand lit the fuse" This could not get any more literal

"To assess the equation of you" THE NERDS ARE FLIRTING. wee woo wee woo They're literally so cute I'm fuming. Can we be certain this song isn't actually about them?

"Checkmate, I couldn't lose" I feel like Mel has this attitude about a lot of things. She seems like the kind of person who has at least three contingency plans for every situation and as a result is used to getting her way.

"What if I told you none of it was accidental / And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me?" Mel certainly had her eyes set on Jayce from the moment of his trial. To an extent, even before the trial, from the moment she heard his name from Elora's mouth. Post-time skip, every one of her moves toward him was intentional to attract and mold him. Even before it becomes obvious that she fell harder for him than intended, she clearly harbors feelings and admiration for him as far as pre-time skip.

"What if I told you I'm a mastermind?" BECAUSE SHE ISSSSSS "And now you're mine" BECAUSE HE ISSSSS

"You see, all the wisest women had to do it this way / 'Cause we were born to be the pawn in every lover's game" Something something Mel is a fox. She has to be because she doesn't want to be the pawn to her wolf mother. This is not something she can just turn off when it comes to her love life, but maybe she can learn to (or maybe they can make each other worse)

"I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails / And the liquor in our cocktails" Ship motifs, only loosely tied. (I think that line would work better for Melvik) The second line here works really, really well for Meljay, though. I'm specifically thinking of the opera scene where she hands him the golden flute of golden wine.

"What if I told you none of it was accidental / and the first night that you saw me, I knew I wanted your body?" Oh, she for sure wanted Jayce's body, but more than that, she wanted his mind. She and I can agree that nothing is hotter than reckless intelligence

"No one wanted to play with me as a little kid / So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since" Hmm something tells me Mel didn't interact with a lot of people her age as a child

"To make them love me and make it seem effortless" And she does it well too!

"This is the first time I've felt the need to confess / And I swear / I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care" This song plays it off in a joking way, but this is unironically Mel 😭 She cares about peace, she cares about not going to war, she cares about progress, and she cares about Jayce. The road to Machiavellianism is paved with sweet little arm kisses with your lover's head in your lap and soft finger brushes in the chilly night air.

"I laid the groundwork and then saw a wide smirk / On your face, you knew the entire time / You knew that I'm a mastermind" Jayce absolutely does not know. He knows that Mel is a political mastermind, but he does not know that that is also being directed toward him, the sweet boy. If he found out that Mel approached him partly out of ulterior motives, he would be mad, but it wouldn't last. They've both harbored feelings for too long not to repair their relationship. He can't stay mad at her and she has a way with words. Their character flaws have glued them together.

[heatwa-ves]

please explain your izuleo playlist with as much detail as you want im interestedddd

MIKIIII THANK YOU. okay here's my playlist and im gonna do a song by song breakdown... I'll try and keep it decently brief so this doesn't become one million words but we'll see. my playlist is vaguely chronological so it starts pre-checkmate!

astroboy- suggi

okay so this one is just straight up a leo song. you just have to listen to it it's literally about him "I raised my hands up real high, they called me stupid when I asked why we couldn't fly. am I too far ahead of my friends, or I am late?" hellooooo hello. hi. leo tsukinaga everyone!!!! right down to the moon/space theming

"oh, the rain, you're losing your flame, where'd the burn, the passion go? you run through the pain, you're losing your aim, and you feel like you alone missed the grow" LITERALLY about his breakdown post checkmate. uagh.

cheerleader- ashnikko

an izumi song!!! I don't have to explain anything here you get the vibes

brand new city- mitski

having to preface this by saying I do not listen to mitski this is the only song of hers I listen to and only because it makes me think of izumi so much I feel like throwing up.

"If I gave up on being pretty I wouldn't know how to be alive, I should move to a brand new city and teach myself how to die." yeah. izumi sena.

yoru ni kakeru- yoasobi

well I'm sure you know this song and the story behind it "the seduction of thanatos" I think it works very well about the izuleo dynamic around this time when they're very codependent and leo is so severely depressed and suicidal. they're fucked up 👍

it's all so incredibly loud- glass animals

so this one makes me think of izumi going to see leo in a similar vein to lionheart but probably before that and he sees leo so broken and neither of them can bring themselves to say anything. "I tried, for you and I, for too hard, for too long" makes me think of the ending scene of lionheart and so on

softcore- the neighborhood

"you've been my muse for a long time, you get me through every dark night. I'm always gone, out on the go, I'm on the run and you're home alone"

"every time I kiss you, baby, I can hear the sound of breaking down"

you get it. you see the vision. more depression era stuff.

less of you- keshi

depression era leo... there's so many lines in this song that correlate to them but a fav is "too much time in the limelight, gimme your all on the land line, want it so bad but I won't lie and it just gets worse in the night time."

are you happy? - shy martin

"and I know I thought that pain's part of love, but I think I broke you, though I didn't mean to. but are you happy, looking back at us when you met me? would you go back and tell yourself to leave it, knowing what we know?" UARFGHBHBB izumi.... who killed cock robin ass song.

from now on we are enemies - fall out boy

I've talked about this one EXTENSIVELY before but it really is just a song about leo tsukinaga. what else can I say.

always- keshi

well yk.

bad thoughts- half alive

i love when they hate eachother. they don't actually truly hate eachother but man sometimes it feels like it. everything hurts. "like a time you gave your all but just got hurt, like a crack in the mirror bringing out your worst"

to everyone who wants to die- takayan

read the translation oh my goddddd. leo. leo

sing to me- missio

this is a song I DREAM of making an animatic to its just so deeply fundamentally leo

never ending song- conan gray

okay this one is a bit more specific but I like to think of leo while he's out of school seeing izumi in a magazine or an ad or something.. and that brings with it a whole ton of complicated feelings

"but we've grown too close, now it can't amount to nothing. I can hear your voice in the music on the radio, and it goes on and on and on, like a never-ending song" you get ittttt

bodybag- chloe moriondo

more of the vibes more of the complicated feelings . this one is mostly here bc I love it and was thinking about izlo while listening icl. unrelated but chloe moriondo is cool as hell they have some awesome music videos especially the one for this song

love or the lack thereof - isaac dunbar

the epitome of pre/early ! izlo love. to meeee also I just love love loveeee it as a song

last minute - kitty

"you're the loop of rope I hung up in my stupid closet" "you're all poised and im made of poison" do you get it do you GET it. it's leo about izumi frfrfrrr

"could you wrap your hands all the way around my neck, and tell me where I stand, tell me everything I'm wrecking when I spin. take over my breath, in out in, I am missing you to death"

android girl- deco*27

I love this song and while I love the original im partial to rachies english cover especially the lines

"we restart and fall apart together, what we have will drag on in this way forever"

"make it stop, make it stop there's so much guilt and regret, I don't get how I can forget and start to hope again, we haven't even come to the end, so much for promising together forever, we aren't even friends"

the girl in my memories- jeebanoff

"in place of your fleeing love, only my sad solitude remains, even though that time won't come again, the memories that are gone, are forever" more depression yaaay

achilles come down- gang of youths

SORRY it's just such a compelling look at depression and being suicidal... so many of these songs are about Leo's depression but I swear this part of the playlist is over soon and moves further in the timeline. I really love this song it's just... everything about it... leo is achilles here of course and the voices talking him down and telling him to go through with it are his family/izumi and his own mind/the students from school respectively.

calender girl- stars

"all of the things that I thought were so easy just got harder and harder each day. december is darkest, in june there's the light, but this empty bedroom won't make anything right, while out on the landing a friend I forgot to send home, who waits up for me all through the night- calendar girl who's in love with the world, stay alive"

HEALING!!!!! GROWING AS A PERSON!!!!!! OVERCOMING DEPRESSION!!!! DO YOU GET IT

"I dreamed I was dying, as I so often do, and when I awoke I was sure it was true. I ran to the window, threw my head to the sky, and said "whoever is up there, please don't let me die," but I can't live forever, I can't always be, one day I'll be sand on a beach by a sea"

crush of judgement- knights killers

i don't need to explain this one

move me- half alive

THE izuleo song THE reason I made this playlist. won't you be my song when I cant dance WON'T YOU BE MY SONG WHEN I CANT DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!! LIGHT MY FIRE BURN THE TREES!!!!!!!!! also watch the music video it's gorgeous

the third heart- harumaki gohan

first of all go play genei ap rn it's a short mobile game created by this artist featuring lots of their songs about a reserved girl who loves music and her more extroverted friend who asks her for song recs. it's a very izuleo vibes game and just a beautiful game in general I think you'll love it sm mikiii

second of all.... just. this song. play the game and watch the music video for the full impact frfr 🫶 anyway back to izuleo

back around- half alive

depression never truly leaves but you get better!! it gets better!!! there are bad days but there are so so many good days!!! this whole album is kinda izlo vibes

you get me so high- the neighborhood

"you're my best friend I'll love you forever" 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 makes me think of them... kind of talking about their past .... not very well because they have no emotional maturity but still.

silent oath- knights

for obvious reasons

reunion- harumaki gohan

I imagine this is after the end of ! era .. they've both grown and matured immensely as people.. it'd probably have more impact if I read requiem but um..... I'll get to it... (I've been saying this for a year and a half) to me it's a goodbye to their teenage years and the ups and downs and them moving forward into adulthood and a more stable relationship

don't be so hard on your own beauty- yeule

they help eachother heal 🥹. this one is a bitttt more reliant on some of my takes on izumi that I don't really wanna get into rn but yk. it's here. it's vibey. things were bad and now they are better. there's sunlight streaming though their apartment window. they don't have anywhere else to be this morning. yk.

work of art- downer Inc, kellin quinn

ueeeghhvhb they love eachother.... izumi brings leo inspiration.... these descriptions are getting less and less coherent

I swear ill never leave again - keshi

ueeeeueueueuehhhehhehhehuuueueue

infinitely ordinary- the wrecks

I like the romance of mundanity.. I think they could be happy.. it's very hopeful and a good ending to the playlist

[misc-obeyme]

i need more sibling angst w all the seven bros. i keep getting those siblings/brothers slideshows on tiktok and it’s killing! me! ☹️☹️☹️

especially between mammon and lucifer,,,,,,their relationship is actually sad. the game kinda plays it off as a joke and makes mannon the comic relief by spiting him as a fool 24/7, which i get. like ok. it’s an otome game first and foremost. they’re not gonna go super hard with lore and interpersonal relationships. but if you take a step back and see it beyond that, there’s much to dissect AND digest. lucifer plays this stereotypical authoritative role and mammon is the opposite. i know lucifer means well and he truly loves his family, but he has a heavy hand. the trauma of losing lilith? he can’t fathom losing another, so he’s sworn that he’d protect the rest even if it meant despising his own father. mammon feels the same way, but he copes differently.

i feel like both the two eldest are just trying to keep things together. where lucifer is so scared he doesn’t realize he sometimes hurts his brothers, mammon picks up all the pieces and holds it together. they mean a lot….😢

here’s some songs i think would fit:

“shame” by mitski (also “real men”)

“neptune” by sleeping at last

“kyoto” by phoebe bridgers (her song “i know the end” is also very good)

“not strong enough” by boygenius

also i would recommend fiona apple in general! one of my fav artists 😋

Okay, anon, I had to go on TikTok to look up those slideshow videos 'cause I haven't seen them (I rarely use TikTok and when I do it's all cake decorating videos because I have a problem). So I was seeing a bunch where it's a picture of the siblings as kids and then switches to one of them all grown up?? Can you imagine something like that with our bros??

But you happened to touch upon a subject here that I have opinions about. You're right. It's an otome game and the point is for the MC to be able to have all these hot guys fall for them. I get that. But it means that I'm never sure what they're going to sacrifice in the name of silly otome vibes.

The Mammon/Lucifer dynamic is a perfect example.

In fact, I would argue that just by himself, the "Lucifer as authority figure" concept is a disservice to his character. It sets him apart from all of his brothers in a way that makes it so they don't get to fully flesh out his relationships with any of them. He's too strict, too overbearing, and too often puts himself apart from the rest. It's annoying because all of the brothers indicate that they love Lucifer. They love him and that's why they followed him to the Devildom to begin with. Satan loves him, too, albeit with far more complexity attached. But Lucifer can only express his love for them through strictness. He's trying to ensure he never loses them and I get that, but he also never allows himself to be soft with them. We only get very rare glimpses of that. Lately in NB I feel like they tried to help with that, as evidenced by the way the first season ended. But generally speaking, they too often play to his role as authority figure, in my opinion. And yet he's the star of the show. The way he's always last like they think MC is going to choose him over the rest every time. The way we get more insight into his history, the way he has a far more involved and complicated character, where other brothers are just regulated to very simple personalities. I don't get why they do that, personally.

As for Mammon specifically, that whole thing confuses me still. I went through a hardcore Mammon phase where he was actually next to Barbatos in my ranking (this was before I figured out how much I love Solomon lol). And I really had an issue with Lucifer constantly punishing Mammon all the time for things that seemed relatively minor. If we consider that it's actually Lucifer's fear that is the motivation behind his tendency to be strict, though, it changes the meaning. Mammon gets punished the most because he's the one Lucifer cares about the most. But that doesn't make it okay in my mind. If anything, that's just even more fucked up. But the annoying thing about all of this is it's only our fan interpretation. It is far more likely that the only reason Mammon is the one who gets strung up all the time and so on is because it's funny. Or it's supposed to be. I'm pretty sure they just wrote it that way to be a joke, not because they're making some grand statement about Lucifer's relationship with Mammon and how he deals with the trauma he's endured.

Mammon is often depicted as kinda silly and moronic, but that's also a disservice to his character the way Lucifer being the strict one is to his. Because you're completely right. Lucifer doesn't realize he hurts his brothers and Mammon is the one keeping things together. It always struck me as far more likely that Mammon is playing a role for his younger brothers' benefit. We get enough flashes of insight from Mammon that indicate he understands things far more than he lets on. He deliberately acts out to draw Lucifer's attention because Lucifer's fear of losing his brothers makes him too harsh on them. And if Mammon is always Lucifer's top priority, then he's more likely to leave the younger ones alone. This is also fucked up. And again, this is all just outside interpretation because I don't think any of that is something they meant to imply with their Lucifer-always-punishing-Mammon joke. That's just how it comes across.

The problem with these jokes is that if you take them in any kind of serious context, you get analysis similar to the unfortunate three paragraphs I just made you suffer through. Because these jokes, if looked into more deeply, imply all of the complicated stuff I talked about. But I don't think they meant to imply any of that, which is why it's kind of fucked up when you look too closely at it.

That's how a lot of it goes with this particular game and that's why I always have such a hard time trying to figure out what's going on. Because they definitely have all this lighthearted nonsense sitting right beside some actual deep character development. So what are we supposed to take seriously and what's meant to be just silly stuff? (Another example is my issue with the reason behind Barbatos being angry with Solomon all this time - I took the joke as something serious lol.)

I apologize for the length of this response, but it's just something that I have a lot of thoughts about! I have a tendency to come at everything from a storytelling perspective where I want everything to have a reason and to make sense. But I think some of the stuff in this game really isn't meant to have a deeper meaning, so I'm just creating extra analysis where there is none. I've had to kind of balance my expectations and even then I end up with moments like the Barbatos reveal where I get annoyed lol. But that's on me, I really should know better by now.

Anyway! Thank you for the song recs, I'll have to listen to them all! I loooove "Not Strong Enough" by boygenius, I've been listening to that song a lot lately! So I'm sure I'll enjoy the others you've recommended as well!

And again I'm sorry about how long this response ended up being! I never realize I have so much to say until I've written four or five paragraphs and then I'm like ohh oops.

[ghost-proofbaby]

I'm gonna cheat because I don't listen to TS but you know how much I love our pair from Maroon. can you tell us which of her newest songs you most associate with them right now. any tidbits you feel like sharing

^ it's me pleading for special treatment because I love you

abi babe i will always give you infinite special treatment always. however i apologize for how long this is because, uh, this is the couple who i specifically think dominates my brain while listening to TTPD.

i've already covered "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", so that one 100%.

besides that, though...

Down Bad. the entire premise of the song being compared to being abducted by aliens and when you're returned to earth being like "actually i liked it better up there take me back" as a metaphor for love feels very much like when you had a good relationship, something you expected to last forever, and it just gets taken from you. however, to spice things up - i think it works better applied to how eddie feels. the whole 'fuck it if i can't have him' is exactly how he feels as he's completely destroying himself in the aftermath. and just for fun, so you don't necessarily have to listen to the songs if you don't feel like it my love, i'm adding the specific lines from each song that i feel apply the most.

"how dare you think it's romantic, to leave me safe and stranded? 'cause fuck it, i was in love. so fuck you, if i can't have us."

^ it applies to both reader/sugar and eddie. first half feels very her, because he left her behind to not risk exposing her to a life that had begun to decay him. but second half feels very him cause... fuck it, ya know?

So Long, London. this one is about just being sad and mad about the end of a relationship, and that's where both eddie and sugar still are mentally. to build something so sacred up only to watch it be burned down by the other person. sugar is far angrier than eddie, though, since she's not really taken the time to work through how she feels with the end of it all.

"i didn't opt in to be your odd man out. i founded the club she's heard great things about. i left all i knew, you left me at the house by the heath. i stopped cpr - after all, it's no use."

also.... honorable mentions to the entire goddamn bridge, but specifically "you swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?" and "i'm just mad as hell 'cause i loved this place for so long"

I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can). it's a bit of a spoiler, and a bit of a reach, but i think it's a good perspective from the others looking in. the media, but also specifically corroded coffin. this really only applies to post break-up them story-wise, too. he's wrecked himself, destroyed all that he was, and sugar is the only one seeming capable of bringing him back to what he once was.

"i can fix him - no, really, i can. and only i can."

loml. i guess what i'm saying is basically every single song where taylor got very vulnerable and terribly sad about the end of an important/long relationship. this one speaks for itself quite a bit because of the theme of the guy saying "you're the love of my life" repeatedly, only to leave. which is exactly what eddie did, in the grand scheme of things. and taking it a step further? the small implications of a breakup and attempt at rekindling? yeah, yeah that's them alright, your honor.

"who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames, if we know the steps anyway?"

^ literally what they are doing as we speak ^

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived. this one i would mostly apply to all of sugar/reader's anger pre-reunion. that anger of a man who simply ghosts you. she didn't let herself feel the 'breakup' much, but she did go through some of the stages of grief - and she got stuck at anger.

"you kicked out stage lights, but you're still performing. and in plain sight, you hid. but you are what you did."

^ all his self-destruction when she sees it at surface level :) just seeing him as doing nothing more than throwing a tantrum :)

this is getting a bit out of hand now, but when it comes to the double album bit, there's even more. i don't want to bore you to death so i'm just going to list those songs but. yeah. this album felt very maroon coded to me. the losing and the anger and the sadness and the clinging to what once was. should've expected it, in all fairness.

from THE ANTHOLOGY, i'd say that 'the black dog', 'chloe or sam or sophia or marcus', 'how did it end?', 'i look in people's windows', 'the prophecy', 'peter', and 'the manuscript' are the ones that fit best for maroon. some are a stretch, some it's solely based off of one line that i couldn't get over, and some i just simply think it's the vibes. a true matter of the illness that is "they're my blurbos so i'll apply whatever song i want to them".

i'm sure we'll see a few of these as chapter titles going forward, including the anthology ones, so that'll probably be when i dig in a little deeper about specific lyrics. or when i post ominous music posts.

anyways if you made it to the end (especially you abi) i love you so fucking much and thank you for enjoying my absolutely insane ted talk i just basically did on how TTPD is very very sugar x eddie coded <3

[spotsupstuff]

HOW are you so good at finding voice claims..give me ur power

JLKSDJSKLGJKCMK I LISTEN TO SHIT TON OF MUSIC I SUPPOSE? the more varied the better! from all over the world and as far into the years as possible and then the usual stuff like watching some videos, remembering shows that i used to like...

the Main thing i try to do when looking for voice claims is have an idea of what the characters main theme is. Disdain is an interesting case cuz i've gone thru three voices for her before settling on The One!

the key ideas with Disdain are: ghosts, england, tragedy, drowned victim, that specific ghostly blue/green which all come originally from This one. the song came first, character later

made Disdain a design and listened to this song while intensely looking at her face. figured out that this voice is too soft and too... royal, i suppose

so i focused at the song itself. it carries the specific Disdain™ vibes that i wish to respect and heed. the song is the foundation so i went on spotify and looked through the different covers of it. the Second version i landed on was this one

not bad but mmm.... lets look through some more versions. so i came to the Acapella Onion one

it was a comparison game between the two for a bit, staring into Disdain's face for like ten more minutes and then went with the Onion one because i like that it's more Brisk. a part of Disdain's thing is that she is very decisive. she wants Yes or No to her yes or no questions, she rarely uses words like "maybe" or "probably". when she Says something, she says it with Conviction. it's like a verbal karate chop to the throat. a karate chop is a fast, brisk thing, so the Onion version fits much better because of that

another reason why it's better is that it's less fancy, it's just voice and white noise, the way of speaking is more stripped/direct. interesting thing about Disdain's clothes design is that it's rather simple- her dress looks like a peasant one rather than something more worthy for a God. googling "england folk dress", you're gonna see some detailed glorious things, i could've taken inspiration There, but chose not to

so my voice claim choosing includes consideration of the personality, main theme of the design/character's story and the finalized design itself

i showed this new voice claim vid to my partner Just Now basically and he told me "you know, i feel like i would accept any voice that you would put on them" and like yeah, voice claims aren't really much of a rigid thing, you can be rather free with them. whether they fit to the character's face or not is a -so so gesture- way of going about it

so i quickly put together Zephyr's old (MALINDA) and updated (Zdenka Tichotová) voice claim

said he liked the old claim better! the thing is though that he doesn't really know Zephyr as a person

Zephyr didn't originate from a song like Disdain did. Zephyr originated from a historical religiously important person and bravery itself. she has a freer range of places to choose from compared to Disdain's tunnel vision of My Jolly Sailor Bold covers

originally i chose Malinda because Zephyr is supposed to be a mix of French and Irish inspired and the singer covers and knows a lot about Irish tunes. the protion of song chosen Feels like freedom, from singing in Irish to just belting out a single tone straight from the heart. it sounds like defiance. that's what Zephyr is about

the thing is that i listened to some more Malinda stuff later, trying to imagine Zephyr singing it and well... Malinda is originally an American person. the curse of successful Americans rears its head again in the form of superficiality/faked Booming emotions and annoying pride (not sayin that every American has this but... the successful ones especially are so so likely to fall to it) and my Gods Zephyr can't have something like that stapled to her. she's supposed to be genuine and simple

so i went searching for something that is more anchored in humanity/the earth. when i want something like That i usually head either to my childhood or my czechoslovak spotify playlist jgslkgjklsd

Zdenka Tichotová has worked with Nedvedovci in folk-gospel band Spirituál Kvintent in the 70s and 80s. Nedvedovci often sung and wrote songs mourning not enough love in the world. or about freedom of the people here back when we had Lords here but also for example about freedom from the censorship of the Soviets. they are incredibly grounded and covered in the humane and miss Tichotová was bound to follow along with them

THAT's what i wanted for Zephyr more than anything. the fact that one could argue miss Tichotová's voice is "imperfect", not smooth, has traces of age in it makes it *even* better. because it sounds genuine. it's not some studio's idea of mechanical perfect, the One Good Take that then goes through editing and autotune and what not, it's Real and Honest

so that is also what i consider when choosing voice claims for my guys- some history of the voice, what the character symbolizes...

hope this helps at least a lil!!!

[tinylongwing]

I hope it's okay to ask Lord Huron questions on this blog.

Is Buck the narrator for all three most recent "lore albums" or something? I don't know how Lonesome Dreams fits into the storyline, but I might be wrong, and I'm pretty sure the movie soundtrack doesn't. I'm pretty sure he's the narrator for at least Vide Noir, but I'm not sure how he fits in with Long Lost.

If Buck is Strange Trails' narrator, he's not the only one, because Hurricane is from Johnnie's, and The World Ender is from Cobb Avery's. The Yawning Grave seems to be told by some malevolent, omniscient, ancient entity I don't really have a name for, but seems an awful lot like whatever Ender was summoned in Secrets of Life. It's almost like a camera pan effect with the transition to Frozen Pines, almost as if the focus is being shifted to a different character. I'm not entirely sure who that character is, and I'm not all up to date on the lore yet.

There's such a heavy focus on darkness being bad in Strange Trails, and then as far as I know, Vide Noir(the album) is about a guy, Buck Vernon, abusing a substance literally named Black Void, and trying to find his fiancee. Frozen Pines feels like Buck coming back to himself after taking Vide Noir, it basically references the Emerald Star without actually referencing it. It's like Buck talking to Lee; he'll be waiting for her, he's gonna look for her everywhere, etc.

Relistening to Strange Trails specifically looking for Vide Noir references, after Meet Me in the Woods there is SUCH a tone shift, and it starts referencing how he can't go back from the darkness, or how everything she touches turns to back.

This whole exposition has morphed into me actually asking if Vide Noir and Strange Trails are the same story from different perspectives or in different settings. Apologies for the rambling.

It is very okay! It is more than okay, it's great and I would answer Lord Huron questions every day all day if more people did this. ;)

I'm impressed with how much of this you've worked through pretty damn close to accurately without having checked the wiki or watched the movie, haha. I definitely recommend doing both as most of your questions here, the ones we have answers to anyway, will get answered.

But in short, without rewriting the entire wiki for you:

Strange Trails, Vide Noir, and Long Lost are all in the same universe with shared characters that weave in and out of those albums and there are many narrators among them. Buck Vernon is probably the closest thing to a main protagonist since his narration features heavily in Strange Trails and Vide Noir, but he's absent from Long Lost (well, as far as anyone can tell anyway).

Strange Trails is sort of like a loose connection of stories that establish a lot of the strange things and the characters in that universe and start us off learning about Buck and Lee and their relationship, but we also get a lot from Frankie Lou, the World Enders, and a handful of others. Some of the songs narrated by one character about their life in-universe tell stories that are shared in common with other characters (and the music video for The Night We Met in particular shows us this well - that song is by Frankie Lou and appears to be describing her doomed relationship with Z'Oiseau, but the video primarily focuses on Buck on his drive west toward California to find Lee).

Vide Noir is slightly more linear and slightly more focused on Buck specifically, except for where it's nonlinear and also has a whole bunch of World Enders/Phantom Riders narration which probably is doing the dual purpose thing again, describing what they're up to while also "coincidentally" helping describe Buck's confusion, anger, and anguish as he searches for Lee, gets black-brained and survives, and finds Lee only to learn that yes she did mean to leave him and she doesn't love him.

But you're absolutely right to dive back in to Strange Trails and look for references to vide noir because they're everywhere - Meet Me in the Woods is a great example of this, though it's primarily describing Frankie's experience with the drug in that case.

The Strange Trails album liner notes were very specific about which songs were performed by which characters and who the narration is supposed to be, so I recommend checking that out in the wiki as a starting point. Vide Noir didn't give us that so it has mostly been a matter of interpretation (though it's easy-ish to sort out which are performed by the Buck Vernon Band and which are performed by the Phantom Riders - but if there are other narrators in there it's still not totally clear and Moonbeam is sort of an odd track out in particular).

Long Lost mostly has told us which characters performed which songs again, which is nice and helpful! And the music/lyric videos have been a big help yet again, as has Alive from Whispering Pines, which obviously also deserves a watch if you haven't seen that series yet.

Anyway, hope this helps - I know some of it boils down to "time to read the wiki" but it just saves me from having to re-type the wiki, haha.

[megafreak400]

Watching all of One Piece - The East Blue Saga

Well i've been trapped. You watch one introduction story about a cute reindeer doctor and suddenly you're locked in anime jail, unable to leave until you've traversed the entire grand line. I'm committed at this point though, so join me on my journey as I watch all of One Piece for the first time. Some background to start with. As alluded to the entire reason why I started this was I watched the Drum Island Arc on a whim before deciding to say fuck it and just watch the entire show. I haven't watched an anime series in like at least 5 years so why not start with this behemoth (this was decided before I watched Zombie Land Saga, but I blame a friend for that one.) Also note that i'm watching the Funimation dub of the original anime (not the live action also.) The plan is to write a blog post for every story saga. Is this the smartest way to break thing up? Eh maybe not but I'm going with it if it comes back to bite me oh well. So yes while I did watch Drum Island first, I won't give my thoughts on it until I finish the next saga. My plan is to break this down in four sections, though this may change in future blogs. The sections will be: 1. A talk about music I liked and OPs I liked 2. My general thoughts on the arcs (I will not recap what happens this blog assumes you know) 3. My thoughts on Major Characters or Characters I really really like. This saga will be a heavily focused on our main cast, but i'll make mention of guys that stood out or guys I hated as well for the supporting cast/villians during the arcs section 4. Overall thoughts on the saga.

Music

A great first opening for this show, catchy as heck and I think it fits the feel of the show perfectly. I do think maybe a rap may have been a better fit but this is still really good.

Sadly the second OP is just ok. It's not bad but I think the english version isn't nearly as good as what i've heard of the Japanese version, and even that just doesn't hit as well as We Are. I also think the weird 4 image thing the op does is kind of lame compared to unique animation and as far as I can tell that's how it was in japanese as well. As far as ED's go, none of them really stood out to me except one.

This song is just so catchy, even more so in the English version which just has more energy to it. I mostly like the starting section with the kid versions of the main cast running, it's so good and i love kid zoro just running super extra hard it's adorable. For background music, all of it is very good but by far the best background song is this one:

Specifically the first part. When these trumpets start blaring you know that someone is doing something cool or about ready to make a bad ass stand. It's also very catchy and powerful. On a similar note I also really enjoy Rubber Bazooka. You know Luffy (or sometimes buggy for no reason...Like seriously why did they use this theme for him in that one episode) is kicking some major ass and it's always a fun time.

And my last pick for my top 3 favorite songs is Mother Sea, a remix of We are that usually plays when the saddest backstory ever is happening. Always fits the scenes perfectly, doubly so since a lot of these scene have like a white fuzzy boarder of sorts to denote a flash back that for some reason when mixed with this song just gives a very sad nostalgic vibe that I appreciate.

One last honorable mention goes to the snippets of character themes that play midway during an episode when it goes to commercial. I know that there is a full song to these and these are just parts of that full orchestration but the parts they pick really fit the characters perfectly and it's always a delight to hear the song and be like "oh zoro's poster is gonna flutter on up." All of the music in this show is delightful and I can't wait to hear more.

Arcs

Ok It's time for the Meat and potatoes section. This is mostly what stuck out to me, so if I missed something you found cool i'm sorry. Romance Dawn Arc

A good start to the story, introducing us to the insanity that is Luffy. This is mostly just an introductory arc so I don't have a ton of specific reactions here that wouldn't be mentioned in Luffy and Zoro's overall character thoughts. For other characters Koby is a weenie but I do end up liking him and I love how Luffy inspires him. It is really wild that he ends up friends with a pirate despite wanting to join the marines (though honestly kid, 90 percent of the marines I've seen in this show suck, maybe don't.....or go find captain smoker), but I guess Luffy is just built different. Villains wise, most are kind of forgettable. Alivda is a whatever character here and Helmeppo is silly but kind of obnoxious. Morgan is horrible and starts the trend of the main villian of the arc being the biggest piece of shit, and usually even a bigger piece of shit compared to the guy from the last arc. One piece is in an arm race to find the worst characters for Luffy to beat up and I'm kind of all here for this. I guess the other thing to note is Shanks, who is shown in a flash back (though in the manga I know it's just the first chapter. I really like Shanks and I know we'll see more of him in the future. Just know I think he's really cool and I hope he doesn't end up being an asshole. But beyond that there isn't much else to say about this arc. I like the Nami shows up here doing her own thing but beyond that it's just a solid introduction arc without anything too crazy that stands out.

Orange Town Arc

Chouchou is best boy! The fake out of you thinking he got slaughters when actually he struck a blow was great I really hope we see him again in the future, though I doubt it since he's such a small character. Also the Mayor was really fun, respect to him marching off to fight Buggy. Stupid of him, but he had guts. Beyond that uh yea sorry I don't really care for Buggy. This arc is great because we get more Zoro and Luffy character building but Buggy and his crew are a bit of a snooze fest. Maybe it's the dub actor who sounds like he's going for Joker if he wasn't funny and also was barely evil but I guess most of the villains in this show are giant asshats who you want to see beat up. Buggy is just kind of an annoyance so far. He's a lot more annoying in later episodes, here he was fine but IDK the anime seems to love this man and he hasn't done anything to make me enjoy watching him. Chop Chop powers are fun, but he doesn't really do anything creative with them here. His lackeys also overstay their welcome. The fact that I remember Chouchou more than the guy he was fighting should be evidence of that. And acrobat guy shouting random attack names was funny but again just got old after a while. The more important part of this arc is Nami finally meeting Luffy an Zoro. I want it noted that it takes a while for me to like Nami, here she slightly got on my nerves mostly because she was being a bit silly about thinking she could trick Buggy, at least at the time. Also shout outs to Zoro just sleeping after a bad stab womb. Won't be the last time either, I love this dumb swordsman.

Syrup Village Arc

Ok this is the first Arc I really gelled with. Not that I wasn't enjoying the show before this, I was because I really like Zoro and Luffy. But this was the first arc where I thought the overall story and pacing kept me enthralled. Ussop really shines in this arc and while it's kind of his fault no one believes him he steps up and the battle that follows is incredible. Kaya is a sweetheart, though some of her actions in this arc are a little short sighted. Her going to Kuro just seemed like the wrong move, but i respect her guts. She is also part of the reason Ussop works in this arc because his tall tales are for her benefit and it's shown she really enjoys Ussop's company. Next up....how did Merry survive? I know this won't be the last time i ask this but seriously this dude should have died. I legit thought he was going to become their boat through some strange reincarnation, and I wasn't entirely wrong? Obligatory Zoro is so dumb and I love him for it. Nami pushing him down into the oil, ok sure dick move but the guy took like a half hour to realize he could just use his sword to climb up. I also find it absolutely hilarious that if he doesn't have a sword in his mouth he's like at half strength. The Black cat pirates are by far the best villains so far. Kuro is an absolute dick and even before the reveal I hated this man. This man was a wanted pirate who decided to hatch this insane scheme to take over this rich families fortune by 2 years of pretending to be their faithful butler and faking his death to get the marines off his tail. Just an absolutely over the top insane plan but it doesn't matter because he sells it just due to how cold and cunning he is. Unfortunately he stupidly decided to reveal his plan to merry for no reason before failing to kill him, so maybe dumber than you think (like most cats.) His crew is also a lot of fun, the back and forth of them wanting to cheer him with his old name and him getting mad at them is great, and them just switching to cheering for Luffy when he reveals he was going to kill them all is hilarious. Jango is also a lot of fun, his hypnotism add a lot of twists to this arc that I enjoyed. I've learned quickly that for a lot of these arcs they need something to prevent Luffy and Zoro from just winning right out the gate, so having Luffy be hypnotized here was not only hilarious it also gave Ussop a time to shine. Oh yea and shout outs to the ussop pirate gang, those kids were pretty cool in the end and respect to them for staying to fight against Jango. Overall best arc so far, it was a joy from start to end. Baratie Arc

This might be my favorite arc of this saga. I fucking love this insane restaurant everyone who works here is nuts and It's the best. There are so many good characters in this arc. Patty and Carne stand out from the chefs, but even the nameless background chefs are great. Zoro's bounty hunter friends are introduced here and I loves these weirdos and the fact that they stick around for so long. Zeff is the best dad, his backstory with Sanji is the saddest backstory ever and I really love his goodbye with Sanji. Also The idea of a kicking pirate is great and I love that he taught Sanji everything he knows. Also his interactions with Luffy are hilarious. Full not metal not alchemist is a giant weenie and a great way to introduce how nuts the fighting Chefs of the Baratie are. I assume we'll see him more in the future but glad he got what was coming to him. Gin is a great character and I love that we get a complex villain here. One piece needs a giant asshole for the crew to defeat but having a character who is technically on the other side but has good morals helps give a bit more complexity beyond just bad guy is bad. Mihawk comes way the fuck out of now where and I assume he'll be way more important later but he's a good way to show how insane what they'll find in the Grand Line will be. It's interesting because a lot of this arc feels like setting up for later arcs, with the stuff with Nami leaving leading directly to the next one or Zoro's fight here most likely leading to big things later down the line but it never feels like it's out of place. Don Krieg is a giant weenie and seeing him and his stupid armor taken down was very satisfying. This man also sucks because he's supposed to be one of the strongest pirates ever and he went to the grand line and instantly got his ass handed to him. He also has a punch able face. The setting to this arc is also very fun. The idea of a floating restaurant is just such a cool concept. It also makes for an interesting battle ground since neither party wants to destroy the terrain. Also Sanji. This is the last time Sanji gets to be not cringe for an entire arc (so far at least) I like sanji here a lot he's fantastic. I feel like fighting wise he doesn't really get to do much here (he honestly feels more normal here and less super strong compared to later fights) but his morals when it came to feeding people and his defending of his family and home and how he finally agrees to join Luffy's crew are all handled fantastically. Sadly though he has one glaringly bad character flaw, but i'll get to that later. Overall I just love the pacing of this arc. It flows perfectly. From them meeting the bounty hunters (which is hilarious by the way, don't pour lemon juice down a man's throat to cure scurvy at home kids) to them deciding they need a chef as the reason to go the restaurant in the first place. The from there the marine jerk causing Luffy to become a chore boy, and them being there leading to Gin escaping and bring back Krieg, it just feels all natural. And as mentioned with Nami leaving it also feels like it just flows well into the next arc. 10/10 best arc. Arlong Park Arc

Fuck

Ok......Let's try this again. FUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKK This arc is apparently the arc to watch if you want to know if you'll like one piece and I get why. Also the arc that made me go "what the fuck how did 4 Kids dub this" before realizing the answer was "badly." There is some brutal stuff in this arc, and if you thought Kuro was an asshole, clearly you haven't met Arlong. Ok some minor things. Momoo is adorable and I love them. I feel so bad for them and I want to give them a hug. Granted the running joke of Luffy and Sanji not knowing what the heck animals are is really funny but leave my poor cow baby alone. Ok other small things uh............fuck everything in this arc isn't really small. Ok uh....Ussop he gets to be heroic for once, that was cool. Oh and the pinwheel guy and Nami's sister are fantastic I love them and them trying to save Luffy is hilarious and also Luffy is an idiot. alright uh where to start. Arlong is a fucking asshole. Fuck this guy the biggest piece of shit until the next piece of shit. IDK what the worst part about this guy is. The racism, what he did to nami's mom, what he did to the village, what he did to nami both in making her join his crew and giving her false hope before snatching it away. Take your pick, they're all good choices. Arlong is our first introduction to the fish man species and I really hope there are some good fish men later on (there are I know this) because pretty much everyone here (except one) are just awful. Arlong's defeat by Luffy is extremely cathartic. The entire scene in the map room and luffy's reaction...it's perfect. uh other fish man....honestly most of the other guys are whatever except Hatchan. Dude is hilarious and also very dumb. While I said Gin was great for being a good guy on the bad team, Hatchan is good for being a dumb guy on the bad team. From his first meeting to zoro to his entire fight with zoro seeing dumb vs dumb is a sight to behold. Ok i'll get to this more during nami's character section but Nami is a character who slowly gets better arc from arc with slow character building and moving her to this moment. This is her arc, and it's also when I was fully on liking her as a character. That scene, that fucking scene man. You know the one. It's just so good everything about her in this arc is done masterfully. How she fakes killing Ussop, the Tattoo she ends up getting after everything, her friendship with Luffy here. Nami is this arc and while I did enjoy the Baratie more, this arc hits on an emotional level with the saddest backstory ever told. Also obligatory Zoro is dumb. Did I mention I love him? Louge Town Arc

This arc is a fun time. It's a good breather arc, setting up the the transition to the grand line, introducing some new characters and reintroducing some old characters. I was not expecting to see alvida again, and though she basically acts like a different character, it's cool to see her return i guess. Buggy is here....yay? IDK maybe Buggy becomes amazing later on but he's more just used here to establish characters coming back and act as a way to make Luffy seem cool. The side stories in this arc are what i mostly enjoy though. Everything with Zoro in the sword shop was a fun time, and I can't wait to see more of this not the dead girl zoro knew in the future. Ussop's story with Daddy the Father (yes that's his name) is also fun. Any time Ussop isn't being annoying i'll always applaud. Some insane stuff happens near the end of this arc, like this weird man and the weird lighting but I'm assuming we'll learn more about that much later. And lastly, Smoker. We love Smoker. The first marine I like and IDK what his role in the story will be but i can't wait to see more of this man. Warship Island Arc

An anime only arc that....exists. This arc is fine, but honestly thinking back I really don't have much to say about this one. Eric is a stupid weenie and the entire arc is them going to the wrong place and having to back track. I do like Apis, she's a fun character, but the overall pace of the story just is kind of whatever. I do like that they work this arc into manga events like getting trapped in the calm belt or entering reverse mountain, and the main cast continues to be pretty fun in their interactions with each other but I kind of just want to get to the grand line already!

Episodes not in Arcs

Ok there are really only two things to mention here. 1. Gaimon is the best and I love his island with the weird animals. I assume he's not important but his episode is fun and the idea of this weird box man is hilarious. 2. Buggy's episodes suck. like the only episodes of the show i really didn't like. I don't like buggy as it is but he absolutely can't function as the protagonist. Small buggy dicking around is painful to watch but then they have a second episode with his crew and I just don't care. The lion is funny but other then that these episodes just felt like a waste of time.

Characters

OK I'm only going to cover the main guys here, in later sagas I main include more, we'll have to see. Monkey D Luffy

Luffy is an idiot. He's like so dumb but I kind of love him for it. Probably my second or third favorite character at this point, this man is Goku brained. That's not a bad thing mind you, but if you've watched original dragon ball, all the traits are here. A love for food (and a huge appetite,) loves to fight, gets insanely pissed if you hurt his friends, stupid strong, very very dumb and a has a good heart. Luffy is a simple character but honestly that's fine. Everyone else can get sad backstories and deep lore Luffy is fine just being this rubber wrecking ball. The fact that he actively doesn't want to know the backstories of his crew is both hilarious but also touching in a way, since it doesn't matter to him where they came from. He decided they were on his crew and his friends and that's just the way it is. East blue Luffy overall is a fun time and while him being nerfed at times due to stupidity is a bit, well stupid, it also makes it so he doesn't overstay his welcome. Him being dumb could be annoying but it's mostly paced well enough that it ends up just being funny and not overbearing.

Roronoa Zoro

I love Zoro. Man is stupid strong, stupid stupid and a good guy. Granted he's smarter than Luffy and I love it when he notices stuff and gets to show off a bit of his tactical no how. But the man also is very dumb in a lot of other ways and I love him for it. The fact that the only reason he's known as a pirate hunter is because he just beat up pirates trying to find his way back home because he got lost and he doesn't even realize he's known as this big bad bounty hunter is pretty incredible. It does suck that he gets wounded so much in east blue but if he didn't he would probably win all the fights with no struggle. And because of that we get to see how determined he is to be the best swords man. His fight with Mihawk after learning his back story is such a great moment and i really hope he becomes just that, the greatest swordsman. Nami

I like Nami a lot and I only keep liking her the more I watch. I do think it's a slow burn to liking her, she's not exactly the nicest character to the guys for the longest time, but a lot of that is her wearing a mask due to her past experiences. Once we get to Arlong park and realizing everything she's been through and how strong willed she is, it's understandable and from that point she also becomes a lot more approachable to the rest of the crew while still maintaining a bit of her trademark "you idiots" bite to her. I do wish she was a bit less money hungry at times but compared to other characters it's a minor flaw so far.

Ussop

Ussop is in a race for my least favorite main character in the East Blue and it sucks because I do like him. It's just while the lying in his arc was fine, when he starts to brag and lie during other arcs as a way to seem tougher or to take credit for others deeds, he just comes across as obnoxious. Because Usssop doesn't need to lie, he's pretty cool on his own. Him doing his marksman thing and generally being one of the smarter members of the crew is enough on it's own, you don't need to be freakishly strong dude. He took out a fishman on his own and it was legit hype but then he decides to lie to the town and tell them he did everything despite them clearly watching the whole fight against Arlong. I think Ussop will always be a character who is always really good or really annoying, but I hope he leans more to the good side the further on we get.

Sanji

Oh Sanji. Sanji, Sanji, Sanji. Sanji could be such a good character but he has one really annoying awful trait. He's horrible when it comes to women. Not only that but he's kind of an asshole to the rest of the crew during the every day travel, and only good when in battle. He was great during his arc mind you, but he always acts weird around Nami or any girl and just please dude. Men being weird about beautiful women is always a weird joke and while a lot of times it can kind of work, it just doesn't here. It's unfortunate because it kind of becomes Sanji's whole character or at the very least eclipses anything else good about him.

Final Thoughts

East blue overall is a fun saga to start our adventure. I think it establishes the world of One Piece well while leaving room for more insane characters and story elements the further in we get. It gives us our main cast (besides best boy Chopper) for a while and introduces all their back stories. A good mix of comedy and heartbreak i'm excited to watch more of this show and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

[chickensoup1025]

Onto Bubbler...

Before it starts I wanted to say I have beef with Nino in this episode cause he makes his best friend's birthday about his hurt feelings and it's annoying and he didn't even get him a present

It was actually pretty nice of Plagg to try to give him that present

We love Sabine on this blog

Did Nathalie not even try to get him something herself??? She practically raised him!

Y'all should throw a small party at school if a house one isn't gonna work

Marinette is beyond thoughtful for MAKING him a gift.

EVEN CHLOE DIDNT REMEMBER IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY???

Are you seriously telling me Paris's Teen Sweetheart didn't have a fan club that is celebrating his birthday at all? He's not getting letters in the mail? Or fans coming up to him at school? Or MORE people telling his dad to throw a party/throwing one for him??? This episode is just. Idk man.

Marinette has been a called a push over in the last two episodes (and this is the SECOND EPISODE) so it's amazing to see how far she's come!!!!

ADRIEN HAD A PHOTOSHOOT SCHEDULED ON HIS BIRTHDAY? THATS SO UGHHHHHHHHHH AND DURING HIS LUNCH BREAK TOO

Bro. Nino says he's gonna go to Adrien's house and Marinette and Alya are in the background. Cut to only Marinette and Alya at Adrien's house. Did Nino get lost????

Alya can you please tell Adrien later that it was from Marinette?

NATHALIE YOU SNAKE

Wild how Gabriel really did come out to talk to Nino. Ohhhh he wanted to make Nino an akuma. Gotcha.

DONT SIT ALONE AND BE UPSET NINO. THIS ISNT ABOUT YOU. BE WITH ADRIEN. HE WAS JUST TOLD ON HIS BIRTHDAY THAT HIS BEST FRIEND COULDNT EVER COME AROUND HIS HOUSE AND YOURE JUST GONNA WALK AWAY??? GO BACK TO SCHOOL TOGETHER AT LEAST????? Speaking of, that photoshoot was super quick? And why was he dropped off at his house? No way lunch break is that fast???? Go to school??????

Ugly ass akuma

Gabriel seriously made an akuma who specifically hates and is mad at him 🤦🏽‍♀️

What even counts as an "adult" here? 18+ or like out of university or like old enough to have kids or-

I'm a Nathalie hater I dunno yall I can't believe her this episode.

Just a weird ass akuma

This being his first party makes me wanna cry.

NINO IF YOU TURN ON A SLOW DANCE BECAUSE CHLOE ASKED YOU TO THEN YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT ADRIEN. HE WAS VISIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE EARLIER THAT DAY WHEN SHE WAS UP ON HIM OH MY GOD.

NO ITS THE ADRIENETTE SLOW DANCE SONG NO NO NO

I think Ladybug should be allowed to use her power selfishly like this more often.

Did no one hear when Ladybug said "yours truly"??? It was pretty loud

No one knows how old ladybug and chat noir even are so people might be imagining they're also just stuck in bubbles lol. Oh god, if Adrien and Marinette were adults then they wouldn't be able to transform like that out in the open and THIS COULD HAVE BEEN SUCH A GOOD PLAN TO TRAP THEM OR FIND OUT THEIR IDENTITIES HAWKMOTH JESUS. What you have to do is: Bubbler brings all the bubbles together so you can see them all in one spot. Have Bubbler WATCH, not just throw a party. If someone inside transforms then great! You know who they are. But if LB and or CN show up anyway then you know they're not an adult and that whittles down your search BY A LOT.

Girl is pretty brave for writing "Love, Marinette"

Nathaniel has some Shuichi energy hm

Cool moves...

"But adults keep children, safe, and protected. They care for their kids, they love them!" "Most adults do, anyhow." JESUS CHRIST WAY TO GO STRAIGHT FOR THR HEART

Him throwing his staff for her to swing her yo-yo around was completely unnecessary-

You can really see how the stakes change between the beginning and end of the show. "Oh I'm stuck in a bubble for awhile and just have to wait an hour at most to go back to my normal day" to "oh the world is ending"

Adrien is such a good boy...

One day- NO ONE HOUR of no adults and suddenly every thing everyone is trying to mail will be late for another week. Huh

Marinette didn't take the credit 🥺

"You're amazing Marinette, someone Adrien will see that too." Cut to not even a full season later Adrien leaning back in Marinette's desk chair, "You're amazing, Marinette."

SOMEONE GET THIS BOY A LEGIT BIRTHDAY OR SO HELP ME

[hella1975]

Same playlist anon, I can’t wait until more of tams rolls out and you can explain them all in order and everything, I love hearing your explanations for taob songs. If there’s any in tams that can be explained so far or any in taob that you haven’t gotten to yet 👀👀 let’s hear em if you want. Also! The depollute me playlist has essentially become my spring playlist, I listened to it last April and again now and I know I found your taob playlist in spring 2021 and I think this one around the same time, whenever you had made it. It’s just light spring vibes idk, it was completely accidental so far but I love it

ACH I JUST LOVE HEARING THAT PEOPLE LIKE MY PLAYLISTS AND ACTIVELY LISTEN TO THEM IT'S ONE OF MY FAVE COMPLIMENTS TO RECEIVE I GIGGLE AND BLUSH EVERY TIME <3333 i will gladly go through the tams playlist as best i can. here we go!

first part of this is going to be songs that got added for Vibes, aka they're just there because i think they feel very tamscore but you dont need to analyse the lyrics for any deep meaning and/or foreshadowing (bc i absolutely do put songs on playlists purely for foreshadowing in the hopes someone will see it and be unnerved hehe). there's some here where the lyrics ARE relevant, but it's either very surface level or doesn't really need much comment on it, so typically a lot of these carry themes of caretaking and sacrifice etc:

mary on a cross by ghost

everybody wants to rule the world by tears for fears (this is very atla coded anyway)

something in the orange by zach bryan

mind over matter by young the giant

soldier, poet, king by the oh hellos

no one won the war by matt maltese (!! heavy on this one)

come over by the crawlers

cleopatra by the lumineers

somewhere only we know by lily allen

meet me in the woods by lord huron

the view between villages by noah kahan

house of the rising sun by the animals (fun fact the most recent chapter was named 'bc rising sun has connotations of new beginnings etc etc' but mainly it's bc ive associated this song so strongly with tams that it wound up sneaking in)

tous les memes by stromae

mad world by tears for fears (why is tams zuko so tears for fears coded)

americano by lady gaga (for the more badass moments. they are feral)

9 to 5 by dolly parton. i am very funny

abraham's daughter by arcade fire (THE VIBES???)

california dreamin by the mamas and papas

the borders by sam fender

american pie by don mclean (this is quickly becoming THEE tams song in my head)

which leaves us with the below songs that are all on there for a specific Reason whether it be some lyrical analysis or some connection i have to the songs. if you're curious about any, please send an ask with the individual song bc id love to talk about it :) but in the interest of keeping this response at a reasonable length im gonna cut it off here lol:

rivers and roads by the head and the heart

waiting room by phoebe bridgers

evelyn evelyn by evelyn evelyn

down the river by the crane wives

scott street by phoebe bridgers

fine china by lana del rey

come by adrianne lenker

house song by searows

eleanor by cake bake betty

brother by cake bake betty

fourth of july by sufjan stevens

leader of the landslide by the lumineers

wicked game by chris isaak

the moon will sing by the crane wives

evergreen by ricky mitch and the coal miners

blood orange morning light by andrew montana

a better son/daughter by rilo kiley (!!)

bust by lomelda

the gold by phoebe bridgers (!!)

safe and sound by taylor swift

white blank page by mumford and sons

sick in the head by the lumineers

the cave by mumford and sons

dust bowl dance by mumford and sons

my tears ricochet by taylor swift

no surprises by radiohead (!!!!!!)

because dreaming costs money, my dear by mitski

slipping through my fingers by abba

ozymandias by sammy copley

[my-hot-awkward-turian-boyfriend]

10 mutuals i'd like to know better

Thanks for the tag @kalliesa !!

Last song that I listened to: "Time Machine" by Ingrid Michaelson

Favourite content to watch: it really depends on my mood, like... sometimes i wanna watch something comedic like Schitt's Creek or Parks & Rec, but other times i'm more interested in sci-fi and like, and every so often i get that hankering for something romantic lol

Favourite Games: Mass Effect LE, Tomb Raider (new age), Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, Persona, Kingdom Hearts

Favorite colour: if we're getting really specific, then burgundy, burnt orange, and mint, otherwise good ol' red will do lol

Favourite animals: foxes, otters, wolves, tigers

Favourite food: pasta is my go-to and i guess i have to say brown sugar cinnamon poptarts because i've quite literally been eating those my entire life lmao the joke in my family is that obviously eating those is the ideal diet

Sweet, spicy, or savory: probably savory because my spice tolerance is relatively low and sweet can be too much at times

Current obsessions: writing fanfic (and reading smutty fics) especially for shakarian/mass effect

Last book I read: i honestly read mostly fanfics now lol the last published books i read were "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy and "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn

Last thing I googled: "how many words is war and peace" cuz of the tumblr post about fic writers writing stories longer than that for free which i've never written a single fic as long as that buuuut my total word count on ao3 over the course of the last seven years is 1.2 million (so far) soooo yeah lmao

Relationship: i have been with my partner for twelve years now

Fun Fact: uhmmmm i was a dancer for nearly twenty years of my life

aaaand i'm not gonna tag anyone specifically but if you wanna participate you're obviously more than welcome to and please feel free to tag me in the post if you do make one yourself <3

[crazysodomite]

my opinion on every thief mission so far

Lord Bafford's Manor: fun! classic. i liked the guard interactions.

Break from Cragscleft Prison: I didn't like the spiders and zombies section of the mines. Otherwise the prison itself was really fun

Down in the Bonehoard: its. okay. it was really frustrating before i figured out zombies are really dumb and i can just. run through the mission. i wish it was regular guards...

Assassins: LOVE this mission. really fun from start to finish.

Thieves' Guild: it wasn't as bad as some other ones. it was at least interesting because of all the different locations. though i admit i got stuck for a really long time and there's a few really really annoying spots.

The sword: this is probably most peoples' favorite mission and for good reason. really really interesting and unique

The Haunted Cathedral: probably one of my least favorite missions. just so so so painfully boring. and it would be so so so so much better if the enemies were hammerites. this mission has all the enemies i genuinely hate. and frankly it's easier to just run through with no stealth at all. just completely painful mission. and what's sad is that i love the map... it would be really fun to climb into the windows and sneak on the streets and collect treasures. instead i was really frustrated with the enemy patterns and also confused as to where to go. AND i hate those monster pig enemies or whatever they are.

The Mage Towers: it was actually okay. except i had to use a guide to understand where i'm supposed to go... but when i did it was pretty okay. however a few of the towers were Painful to go through. Especially the fire one. I don't like when I'm basically forced to waste all of my resources or run through without any stealth because the map is constructed in a way that literally doesn't allow me to sneak without killing anyone... And I didn't enjoy waiting really long for flying platforms. But it was OKAY.

The Lost City: i can't say i liked it but i also can't say it was PAINFUL like some other missions. there's a spot with those ANNOYING pig enemies where you literally CAN'T possibly sneak through. there's absolutely no way to sneak unless you're exploding and killing everyone. this level specifically is saved by a lot of Garrett comments (relative to other maps) and the fun map itself. I loved climbing houses and running around on roofs. I DIDN'T like the indoor spots with pig enemies and motion activated lights. The fire elementals weren't as bad as I thought they would be. It was fun to sneak or put them out with water. I was really annoyed and frustrated trying to find my way back out of the map with everything attacking me though...

Song of the Caverns: honestly? I enjoyed this mission. I thought it was gonna be another boring and painful slog through caverns with pigs and craymen. But the unpleasant part was over quickly and the second part of the map was actually rally fun EXCEPT the fact I walked through the entire map several times before having to pull up a guide to find out there was apparently a secret passage that i needed to complete the mission. which was quite annoying but didn't completely ruin the fun.

Undercover: I'll admit I just knocked everyone out. I was a little confused by the placement of the switches but it was over quickly and I enjoyed it.

Return to the Cathedral: i just finished this and. this is probably my least favorite mission out of them all unless something worse comes up. this was PAINFUL. this was EXHAUSTING. and i was on NORMAL difficulty. the thought of doing this again on hard or expert makes me want to die. so unfun and frustrating and painful. i was basically limping back from this mission with teary eyes shaking and sobbing. i didn't like it at all. i had to use a guide and realizing there's SO MUCH other stuff you need to do to complete the mission on higher difficulties. i was so scared. I can't express it enough how not fun this mission was. I was BEGGING for it to be over. The scary skeleton monster things are actually okay for me to deal with. But the fucking zombies. And the fact there's basically no holy water on the mission. I just genuinely hate zombies in this game. Holy shit. I wouldn't have enough arrows to keep killing zombies. And they were constantly in the way. And they annoyed the shit out of me and kept alerting the stronger enemies. And the fucking fetch quests i had to do for the dumb fuck ghost 😭😭PAINFUL. So so so not fun. I had to basically play tag with the enemies the whole time. Not so good for a stealth game. If I decide to replay this on higher difficulty I'm definitely skipping this one. PAIN. I'm on the verge of tears honestly.

Why I don't like zombies/monsters in this game:

They're just not fun to sneak around. Zombies are dumb and slow and will forget you exist in 3 seconds. But they're also really annoying and loud and I have trouble determining when they've actually spotted me. Because all their moans sound the same.

The other monsters have the same problem but they're more persistent and smarter and you can't actually walk around them and they take up a lot of space and deal way too much damage. And they're usually placed in a way where sneaking past is too hard/impossible which is also annoying.

They don't talk. I like hammerites/guards because they actually talk. I look forward to entering a room and hearing conversations that might clue me in as to where to go/what to do or just tell me lore bits. And even when it's just repeated idle chatter it's still more fun than hearing moans/honks/clicks or whatever.

The fact they can't be knocked out is also annoying. And killing them is too hard. And the fact holy water has a short time limit is REALLY annoying. And there's never enough arrows. And there's always too many of them all in one place. GOD. NO MORE MONSTERS. PLEASE. Though I heard the last few missions will mostly consist of monsters. God... 😭 I still love the game but I think I will only replay the missions that are fun for me.

[likeawolfatthemoon]

ttpd first listen opinions incoming:

fortnight- not what i was expecting at all but somehow exactly right???? like i was expecting poppy, angry, synth, with the signature post dreamy and it IS all of those things to a T but something in the narrative makes it more interesting and compelling. LOVE that she is continuing to be an author inspired by her own life. creating characters inhabited by her emotions.

the tortured poets department - ooooooooohhhhhhh oh no uh oh i was not looking out for this title track at all at it fucking HIT. who's gonna love you like me??? NO FUCKING BODY!!!!!! that's some shit. the bridge 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 about the ring 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 ohhhhh i'minsane im insane I'm snane whomstsg literally right here right now is wearing a ring on their left hand ring finger that is not an engagement ring and is not really anything but a desperate wish LMAO 🙋🙋🙋 TAYLOR I REALLY NEED TO TALK TO YOU

my boy only breaks his favorite toys - ONCE I FIX ME HE'S GONNA MISS ME????????????????????? JAIL JAIL JAIL JAIL this is a fucking bop wrapped in mental illness wrapped in a gnarly relationship dynamic. pack her up, she's coming home with me!! i found the one!!!! i mean it's been a few minutes since i heard it bc i paused and i'm typing this up so i don't remember it exactly but the line about pull my string and i'll tell you how he runs bc he's scared of loved L M A O taylor youuuuu are mean to me specifically and i love you

down bad - naked and alone in a field in my same old town that somehow seems so hollow now they'll say i'm nuts if i talk about the existence of you 😐😐😐😐😐😐😐 but also...is there going to be an alien music video. i'm being so dead serious, with the cosmic love and all the space mentions and beep boop spaceship sounds i deadass think the "naked and alone in a field" is gonna be used as an alien abduction metaphor in a mv ORRRRR i am high OR both! regardless: certified banger ✅

so long, london - .... wow. honestly i need more time to process that. not unexpected at all, but just so impactfully said and i can't remember any of it because every line hit me and knocked the last one out of my head. i need to listen 1000000 more times on repeat.

but daddy i love him - again not at ALL what i expected but oh my god???? i am so in love and so charmed by this song????? like hello country taylor 🥹🥹🥹👢 LOVE that we're flipping the convention of using religion in country songs and instead say um no actually keep your predatory misogynistic institution away from my body thx

fresh out the slammer - wearing invisible rings 😐😐😐😐😐 were they 😐😐 invisible... like 😐😐😐... the.. .😐 invisible string g 😐😐😐😐😐😐😐 this is not the cringe bop akin to vigilante shit i was expecting so i am simply processing.... so much. and like. i just have to say i love this album so much so far i love her

florida!!! - little did you know your home's really just a town you're just a guest in 🥴🥴🥴😵‍💫😵‍💫🥴😵‍💫🥴😭😭😵‍💫🥴 MAAAAAM!!!! I'M UNWELL!!!! IM GOING TO HAVE TO TELL PEOPLE ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS IS A SONG CALLED FLORIDA FUCKING STOP IT SONEOBE STOP THIS WOMAN

guilty as sin? - more exploration of societal perceptions of female sexuality! and virginity! and masturbation! unpacking the religious trauma of christian girlhood!!! literally i am over the fucking moon.

who's afraid of little old me? - 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 THIS IS THE BITCH THIS IS MY NUMBER ONE IM NOT EVEN DONE BUT I CANNOT IMAGINE ANYTHING BETTER THAN WHAT I JUST LISTENED TO I KNOW THERE IS MORE BRAND NEW TAYLOR SWIFT MUSIC BUT I WANT TO LISTEN TO THAT ONE AGAIN RIGHT NOW

i can fix him (no really i can) - ummmmmmmmmm well. i liked some lyrics, i liked some music. i think this one is gonna be a grower lol

loml - fucking.........fuck. the absolute LYRICS in this bitch. my mouth is lit er a ly AGAPE !!!! i yet again need to listen to this one or twenty hundred more times to process, but also loss of my life truthers rise

i can do it with a broken heart - i like most of it! I could do without the "i'm so depressed i act like it's my birthday" part of the chorus even though i relate to it but also i just know it's gonna grow on me. right now tho.......

the smallest man who ever lived - OHHHHHH SHIT not to be that person but joe alwyn literally found DEAD IN A DUMPSTER sucks to suckkkkkk i just!!!!! damn

the alchemy - 😳 she's a rebound song....iiiiiiii - hmmmmm. people who listened to leaks and have thus claimed the good lyric urls i just wanna talk.

clara bow - OH HELL YEAH. OH HELLLL YEAH. The Themes Of It All!!!!!!!!!!! hollywood/the media/culture at large just cyclically preys on young women. THE WORLD just cyclically preys on young women. hollywood is just holding up a mirror to the rest of society!! the rest of society is failing to realize the humanity of the offerings they're served!! PERFECT ALBUM CLOSER

now that i've taken 2.5 hours to do a first listen, a quick first ranking after hearing everything only one and seeing no one else's opinions:

1. who's afraid of little old me?

2. my boy only breaks his favorite toys

3. loml

4. the smallest man who ever lived

5. florida!!!

6. guilty as sin?

7. so long, london

8. clara bow

9. down bad

10. but daddy i love him

11. the tortured poets department

12. i can do it with a broken heart

13. fortnight

14. the alchemy

15. fresh out the slammer

16. i can fix him (no really i can)

[ugly-drizella]

celebrate the rejects! (voyd)

songs to play while you smash the system and burn the whole world down

@into-the-voyd

[listen here]

--

Tracklist and highlighted lyrics below <3

T-Rex

Celebrate the rejects (Hey, hey) Eviscerate the presets (Presets) Power is my thesis (Power, power) Crimson on my lips, when I smile I'm a T-Rex

Hey, yeah! I did start this playlist after I made the connection that Karen and Drakken were absolutely giving me Nimona-Ballister vibes. So, there’s a lot of songs from the Official Nimona Soundtrack on here… and you know what, it rules, so! Any song that starts with “celebrate the rejects!” is a Karen song for sure. 

Raise Your Glass

So raise your glass if you are wrong In all the right ways All my underdogs We will never be never be, anything but loud And nitty gritty dirty little freaks

So, I actually had “So What” on here at first, but then I realized, no! The P!nk song for Karen is “Raise Your Glass” which is all about celebrating the “dirty little freaks” and the people who don’t fit in! I think this is a very idealistic version of what Karen believes, ie celebrating the things that make us difference and the underdogs of society! Maybe this is where they started out before they got into Crime ™. 

Rebel Girl

When she walks, the revolution's comin' In her hips, there's revolution When she talks, I hear the revolution In her kiss, I taste the revolution

Please take this as a gender neutral version and accept it as the queer punk anthem that it’s supposed to be. I simply think that Karen would be jazzed with being described as someone with revolution in their hips. I need ten more words here so we’re going to pretend this sentence is relevant. 

Because I’m Awesome 

They say I'm gifted, uh huh Well I'm a certified prodigy I'm gonna own you, uh huh I'm gonna bring you to your knees

Another Nimona song! I really love this one. It’s such a bop, and I can see Karen confidently saying all of these things. I didn’t highlight this particular lyric, but there’s one line that lives rent free in my head forever that goes “I always tell you how great you smell // It's 'cause I'm naturally deodorized.” 

One Two Punch

I'm a hit, I'm a one-two punch A slam dunk kind of total rush I'm a hit, I'm a hit, I'm a one-two punch Here's the thing, this is open and shut There's no one like me, look it up I've got a song to blare and a reputation to keep up

And another Nimona song! Woo! Now we’re doing a bit of transition simply from #empowering #revolution #outcast songs into something more… concrete. Hitting and punching and actually breaking stuff in order to enact that change that they want for the world! Let’s go! Punch stuff woo! There’s no one like Karen!

You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid

Nice work you did You're gonna go far, kid

This just feels like something someone told Karen after their first MAFIA mission. They’re gonna go far. This is one of those songs that is so specifically about something (in this case… Lord of the Flies, did you know that???) that it’s actually incredibly universal and I feel like I can every character into either “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” or “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” Karen, obviously, is the former. 

Heads Will Roll

Off, off, off with your head Dance, dance dance til you're dead

We’re having fun! We’re promising violence, but mostly we’re having fun! Let’s go! I’m so sorry that we keep assigning 50 words per song for these things, sometimes it’s just pure vibes, you know? What else do I have to say than this is about violence but also a bop? 

Shinigami Eyes

Are you ready to die? Got my Shinigami eyes on Everything is fine Got my Shinigami eyes

This is about Death Note, which in case you are not familiar with, involves an edglord teen who decides he gets to decide who is worthy of living and dying and kills who he deems “bad” by writing their names in a book. I think, at least. Anyway — Karen would enjoy having the Death Note, let’s be real. 

Kill V. Maim

I got in a fight, I was indisposed I was in despite all the wicked prose But I'm only a man And I do what I can I got friends in high places, I get out for free I got in a fight but they don't know me 'Cause I'm only a man And I do what I can

Listen, I wasn’t a Grimes Enjoyer till I read her description of this song which was "Kill V. Maim" is written from the perspective of Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II. Except he's a vampire who can switch gender and travel through space.” And then I was like, oh, okay! I get it! Anyway, that just seemed very Karen. 

There Will Be Blood 

When you're begging and on your knees That's when I get a sweet release You can't run from your destiny (there will be-) I've been dying to feel alive And your pain is my paradise So tonight, you gon' pay the price (there will be-)

Yeah! Violence! Fun! On the dance floor! In retrospect, maybe I could’ve also added Murder on the Dancefloor here, but maybe not! It’s here in spirit. Maybe as a bonus track with some of the second choice songs. Why the heck not? If you made it this far, it’s like the Taylor Swift hidden tracks or whatever. 

(Anyway, there’s five bonus tracks here! Have fun!)