#tbh i didn't use spotify much this year but i obviously used it enough to have every song on here except for like 5 be vocaloid

[autistickaitovocaloid]

Top song playlist is here what are my vibes?

[sinningtamer]

Not sure if you’ve answered this before but what are your favourite fics and ships?

Love all your art btw! <3 Thx for all the food!

i might've years ago, so let's go again! i'm gonna answer this question as only NSFW/kink related, otherwise the list would be way too long haha

alright let's start with the obvious: ParviII is and always will be my #1 one ship, even when I dip in and out of the fandom a lot (i feel the term OTP is super outdated these days? but if there was one ship i could use it with it's them...)

so obviously i'm gonna say Talking Body and Payment and Payback by @sparxwrites. because. you know. how can i not. oh yeah, Good Vibrations is also a classic. hiii sparx, i'm sorry for picking your older fics, i just have such a bias. they've written a ton of great stuff over the years though, so go give the account a peak! there's something for everyone, especially if you like darker stuff.

...speaking of accounts with a lot of content who lurk around here, shoutout to @pawpunkao3. lmpᴇarI is one of my favorite ships, and they're still such a rarepair somehow?? anyways I think about Between Bedrock and a Hard Place at least once a week tbh. A New Religion That'll Bring You To Your Knees is fantastic, and i have a soft spot for I Spy (even tho i didn't watch too much empires). again, another author with a whole arsenal under their belt, so don't just take my word for it and check the rest of his fics!

back to lmpᴇarI being a rarepair... @thatstoomuchsoup has Chicken Soup for the Soulbounds (okay it's more pearI-centric but they're both there) and is another blog that specializes in some of my kinks and these fandoms. same with @anon-teddy's content, gotta give a shoutout to full. this is also making me realize i haven't sought out enough poly S0up Group or GᴇmpuIse/PᴇarIgem fics...maybe i'll get back to you on that...

there's a bunch of good explicit trᴇᴇbark fics, but i said i was gonna keep this list concise, so the only one i'll specifically point to is how to deal with your supernatural lust for blood (and other things) in a completely normal and god-honoring fashion. for...reasons. also because it's good!

edit: oh my GOD i realized two seconds after posting this i completely forget to mention @also-an-art. go read (this is) hungry work and honey don't feed it right fucking now. i've read both of these in full (pun intended) multiple times they're that amazing. it's rare that the plot is just as good as the horniness, when i tell you i lost my mind at some of the development in these. also hot and dirty (like the la air) is a guilty pleasure. AND it introduced me to a song that ended up being #20 on my spotify wrapped LOL (RPF warning on that one! trust me tho)

let's get to my other bias, shall we? RᴛSpiff and RᴛS00t don't....have any explicit fics. nor does poly lᴀds. CMRᴛ does, though! I'm kinda picky about how people characterize them, but play it cool and Every Stumble and Each Misfire are lovely (note that the second one is also blatant RPF! don't say i didn't warn you o7)

speaking of lᴀds, if you follow me on main, you know i got into Bᴀnᴀna Bᴜs Sqᴜᴀd just last year (I'M SORRY, OKAY, DON'T @ ME-) you'd think getting into an old fandom late would mean a ton of great smut fics, right? to be honest, i haven't found many that i care for, but maybe i'm just picky... however, i remember your lips, they're the ones i miss, and smoke in your lungs, your lips on mine are SO GODDAMN GOOD i'm not even mad it's only those two i like because i could reread them 20 times. god. such fun characterization. shame the author orphaned them because i badly wanna read more of their stuff.

this is the part where you go, spirit, do you read anything besides (mᴄ)yt fandoms??? and i go, not really.............well, sort of. i like 0verwatch! and M0icy!! Reciprocity is a delightful PWP long fic. i'm also not really an omegaverse guy, but Water Me has such a good take on it i fell in looove.

okay, i'm gonna cut myself off here, enough though i could probably name dozens of more fics if i sat and thought about it. if anyone i tagged wants to be untagged, feel free to reply here or shoot me an ask/dm!!

[slexenskee]

Hey :)

I like your playlists and I found lots of new songs that way. Would you mind posting your spotify wrapped? I'm curious 👀

This just... made my year??? Omg thank you???!

Ok plot twist I don't actually use spotify 😅 I must be the only person on planet earth that switched back to an iPhone so I could use my iTunes again... but yeah I don't use a streaming service, but I do have my most played for the year! I uploaded it here - its on my instagram as a highlight reel!

For people who don't / can't access gram:

Most Played Songs by Month:

January: Mob by Eve

Shockingly my only Eve song for the year?? Last year I had like 3. Fight Song by Eve, one the CSM EDs, was my second most played Eve song but wasn't quite in my January Top 10

February: Shiki no Real by Chanceデラソウル

Suuuper groovy future funk remix of Shiki no Uta, the Samurai Champloo ED and one of my all time favorite/most played songs in my life lol

March: You Know How We Do It by Ice Cube

I go through a huge Dr. Dre/Ice Cube/Snoop phase every year and I'm not embarrassed to say it lol (also yes these are color coded by seasons bc my iTunes top playlists are separated by seasons idk why and yes that I am embarrassed about)

April: When Your Ex Says He Wants You Back by LTB Remix

I have no idea what the real name of this remix is?? I know it's a remix of When Your Ex Says He Wants You Back by Surface, but idk which one. On a related note no idea how I managed to get a full version, the only one I've found online is this version at the very beginning of this big mix

May: Deep Down by Neverdull

I will never pass up a song that samples Crystal Water's Gypsy Woman, and I am also a massive fan of everything Neverdull has put out, so it was no surprise this was my most played song when I discovered it and was in the Top 10 for several months after

June: Blame Brett by The Beaches

Omg man did I get obsessed with this band after this song. Also a huge fan of their other single Me & Me.

July: Disco by Surf Curse

I don't dislike Surf Curse but I don't listen to much else from them but this song, that always ends up on my Top 10 lists during summer. idk what it is but it's such a great beachy vibe for me. I genuinely cannot go to the beach without listening to it several times

August: Slingshot by Good Kid

Good Kid is actually my top artist of the year, and I'm thrilled to see it. It's really rare that I like so many songs off of a band's discography, and I think I have every single one of theirs. Also in my Top 10 for August was Alchemist, Osmosis, Tell me You Know, and No Time to Explain from them.

September: Honey by ID Chief

My favorite kind of future funk is when the original song isn't so spliced you can barely hear it, but there's still enough remix involved to really modernize the disco.

October: North Wind by Six Lounge

Shockingly enough I didn't actually listen to Ao no Sumika - arguably 'The' J-rock song of 2023 - very much even though I like that song a lot. I think I just can't handle my own feels, and tbh, as far as J-rock for this year goes I liked this ED from MHA more? I think the hook is just a little smoother and catchier imo.

November: From the Start by Good Kid

While I also love the bossa nova vibes of the original Laufey version, this cover is soooo freaking good. It definitely has summer anime OP vibes and there's actually an AMV using the first JJK S2 opening that gives me so many feels.

December: Standing Next to You by Jungkook

Ooof ok I'll come clean here I used to love k-pop back in 2014 and kind of got sick of the genre after EXO and F(x) broke up and was never into BTS or any of the new K-pop acts. But man this song slaps. I'm obviously a disco fan and there's some major disco grooves in this song

[aotvfilm]

Hiiiii!!!!!!!!! :D

[insert gif of Harry waving crazily and smiling broadly!]

Noooo we must give the pets all the love, right?! Thank you so much!

ESCAPADE IS LIKE--- Frick. I really love it, but it's between that and Y&B for me, and I relate to Harry in Y&B more, so that's always the one that takes the cake for me. But yes, the playlist is fantastic, and I love the ambiance and energy it adds to Dolce's wonderful writing! You have given me an idea; make playlist, then write fic, then add playlist! Ha! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh thank you so much, that's going on my phone to read late at night--- slow burn is the best. Do you have any tropes you like in fanfiction?

OH WOW Rock me, that's such a song LOL! Was Louis always your 'bias'? (Kpop term because I've forgotten the other word! No, I'm not a kpop fan anymore lol, was a while ago. What music do you enjoy?) MAN, I hope your mom loved it!! I'd cry if I saw Louis in person too lksjdfjksf. Mhmmm I really loved Take Me Home, and Made in the A.M... do you have, perhaps, a top 10 1D tracklist? :D

THAT IS A BRILLIANT INSTAGRAM NAME OH MY WORD!!!!! YOU WERE AND ARE BRILLIANT!

Honestly, I don't know how I wrote that many fics. For a bit of that time I really liked someone so I channeled it into my writing. But it didn't work out, therefore!! I wrote more, and eventually shifted into Larrie mode, thank goodness. But again, it's quality over quantity, and I think some of them aren't that good, tbh.

Hey, there's no shame in trying. Honestly, you know what I do? Automatic writing. Whatever is on your brain, dump it onto the page, and then your head is either clearer for fanfiction, or you've got a potential plot; either way, you're grounded and in the headspace for it, right? Do you have any ideas I might help with?

Congratulations on graduating, oh my goodness BECKYYYYYYY. I am so beyond proud of you! I'm going for film, which is all I'll say for now since I don't wanna give myself away. Apps are indeed kicking my butt but yes. What did you stud in undergrad?

I look forward to talking again, sorry about the time difference <3

Lots of love,

Holiday Pal.

HELLO HOLIDAY PAL <3

I have an unpopular opinion to share 👀 I never loved Y&B. I read it because it was a fandom classic but I struggled to stay engaged. I think my favorite fandom classic is Unbelievers. I might go reread that now actually 😶 I hope you enjoy the fic I shared!! x

Where do I start with favorite tropes? Obviously enemies to lovers & slow burn. Can’t get enough of that shit. I love a/b/o. I also love famous/famous where they’re not in one direction. Or just one of them is & the other is famous for something else. What are your favorite tropes?

When I first noticed the band wayyyy back when I definitely think Harry was my fav. I remember having a cardboard cutout of him lmao but I was 10 so I don’t remember joining the fandom clearly ): But by the time I went to see them in concert Louis was definitely my favorite. I can’t remember exactly when I made the switch but pretty early on. My mom loved the concert! I always tried to get her to pick a favorite and I remember her telling me she loved Louis’ blue eyes. She’s a Louis girl at heart <3

I listen to all sorts of music! Some of my fav artists are Greta Van Fleet, San Fender, & Declan McKenna. Do you use spotify? If so, who were your top artists?! I also loved Made in the A.M. but I think FOUR would be my absolute fav. Omg I’ve never written a top 10 1D track list. Tomorrow I’ll go through the albums and make one! I’d love to see yours too!!!

Aw sorry to hear it didn’t work out :( At least you channeled your feelings into something creative! And you study film!!! I’m always blown away by how some people are so creative. Thank you for your congratulations :) I’m finishing up my degree in biomedical engineering right now! I might go back to grad school in a few years once I have a better idea of what I’d like to specialize in.

Ugh I struggle so much with dumping words down. I always edit things as I go along rather than write a draft and edit it. I think that’s why I struggle so much with committing to a fic because I know how much editing and reworking will go into it. But I’m going to try! I’ve wanted to for years now and you’ve helped give me the push!!

talk soon holiday pal x :)

[khiphop-discussions]

Hello, I wanted to ask aside from lessons how did you learn Korean and how long it took you to learn the basics. Thank you!

This is hard to answer cause IDK if you are planning to start or if you've already started. So I'm just gonna write this as if you haven't started at all or are maybe just working on learning hangul at the moment.

OK so I started with hangul. I had the tengugo app on android but it seems like it doesnt exist anymore or maybe they rebranded. This was around like 2017 maybe? There's probably a lot of apps for it thought especially now. Try one that has lessons AND tests so that you can actually test yourself.

If you stay on it, it should take less than a week. If you don't then it'll take longer obviously. Took me around 2 weeks cause I didn't stay consistent. Everything is much easier with hangul. Romanization is literally the devil. I never know which hangul character the "u" for example is REALLY supposed to be making. I just take a guess and most times its right but others it isn't. I've noticed other people have the same issue. (ex: jung vs yongguk vs seungyun vs seunghyun; first two are different sounds but the third and fourth can sound like the 1st one or the 2nd one)

Also, get a hangul keyboard on your phone (also available in the app stores). Try typing things in hangul when you need to type something that's is Korean. So if you're typing "oppa" then TYPE IT OUT IN HANGUL! 오빠 same thing with words like 사랑. Obviously to someone who speaks Korean or can read hangul (I just noticed I haven't taken my own advice with hangul but I don't think I've ever actually typed or written that word in hangul in my life weirdly enough LOL). Or just when you are typing songs into Spotify or apple music or Youtube! That helps A LOT if you can find the song using the English translation or romanization tbh. But over the years I've noticed most songs are searchable with romanization or English translated name. still comes in handy when its a common song name in English though!

Here's a desktop keyboard I use a lot but google translate has one as well https://www.branah.com/korean (you can also buy stickers for your keyboard but I haven't done that yet cause I don't wanna spend the money or stick them on LOL. It's not that expensive but since I have the virtual keyboards I don't really care anymore.)

BUT I WILL say that the thing that helped most was taking classes. It really kept me accountable cause I'm a master procrastinator and I never really built good study habits growing up. If you're similar then I think classes would be good for you. It forces you to do at least SOME work and studying otherwise you fail. I've also had other friends who say it's hard to find time to practice or study outside of school.

Going to Korea helped IMMENSELY as well so if you are able to study abroad and take Korean classes then definitely take it! I've talked about this before but despite almost NEVER using the language outside of class, classes helped me A LOT with speaking. Being in the country and passively listening made my listening skill improve LEAPS and bounds (NOTE: I was only there SIX weeks compared to studying in the US for close to a YEAR but hadn't improved that much here). I can at least make out a lot of words/sentences now even if I don't understand the content.

Some GREAT resources I've used are:

Integrated Korean textbooks. They are not super expensive and they have LOT of vocabulary. Only downside for some people is that they are paperbacks. My first book in the series (beginner 1) got a bit messed up because it was in my backpack on days it rained and it got wet. Also not in color. The dialogues can also be a bit short. But overall I think it's a really solid book to use especially for vocab/grammar patterns and the amount of chapters and info. One good thing is that is seems like people have already made. This is what we used at UCLA.

Yonsei Korean textbooks are GREAT as well. They are much thinner but "longer" length wise. They also have color. I think there's A LOT more dialogue in this book. They may not be all that much longer but it seems to me like there are more of them. I don't feel like it's as vocab and grammar heavy as Integrated Korean BUT I think that might be because it's split up into so many sections per chapter so it seems like less even when it's not. The pacing is just different. These are also similar price but I think it is easy to find them free online. Same as integrated Korean BUT I prefer physical books for certain things and language is one of them. (I think in some of the downloads people were missing certain pages for some reason from what I remember in class so that's another thing to watch out for).

These books also have a writing ,grammar, and reading book for each section. So I guess it can be expensive if you want all three or even two of each. I guess that's another reason they seem thinner or less packed than integrated Korean. Some info is in different books. For Yonsei Korean, I used the books while studying abroad at Yonsei. At UCLA I only used this for upper division Korea classes which were advanced and from what I remember I think it was more focused on reading/writing

For both sets of book books it seems like people have made pretty comprehensive quizlets so if you're running low on money or just don't wanna spend it on that then go look there!

I'm still not fluent and I DEFINITELY need to brush up on basics Those particles I can get MOST of the time but in certain situations they STILL mess me up. Everybody struggles with them though from what I've noticed. People are prone to just dropping them though since it's possible BUT avoidance = you'll never get better at them or at least struggle to so just struggle through it.

EXPERIMENTAL STUFF:

I'm planning on making a playlist of listening practice stuff (beginner to advanced listening practice videos) on Youtube so I can try and replicate my time in Korea. I will play the playlist out loud on my TV while I go about my day and see if it works the same. Hopefully my listening improves even more. There's also this method called "Repetitive Listening" that I've seen around but never tried so I think this might help with that as well.

I also at some point wanna work my way up to studying THREE hours a day (speaking, grammar, listening/reading which again was supposed to replicate my time in Korea as closely as possible). So far I failed HARD at doing this in January. I think I studied around 2 hours the whole MONTH!!!!! So now I'm gonna try and just ease in and work my way up. People almost always fail when they set lofty goals like that anyway but it's better to set expectations high and then fail to a lower, more "realistic" (whatever that is for the given person) goal then to start low.

I'll get back to you with updates on how the playlist is going!

*Just wanted to note this in case anybody is reading this: but the playlist thing is different from trying to learn when you sleep or methods like that. Playing any language while sleeping isn't really a good method. It might help a bit during REM sleep but that's a small portion of your sleep time. The noise will probably just interrupt a person's sleep quality which will make them worse at language learning (and pretty much everything else) the night after. Listening while you're awake is a bit different. But I'm not sure if passive listening through recordings works the same as it would if I was listening to ambient noise in an actual environment in Korea so that's why I'm testing it out! I suspect/hypothesize it would work similarly but again, I'll let you know!

[flowersinmytimemachine]

The German song that mentions Mclennon

Okay so as I've already said, there is a song in German that names John, Paul and also Yoko Ono. They are only mentioned in the chorus but concerning the topic of the song I think it is worth talking about.

The song is called "Kogong" by Mark Forster. (Sollten das hier deutschsprachige Leute lesen, bitte tötet mich nicht :D)

Here is the official music video:

1. About the singer

Mark Forster is a 35-year-old German Singer-Songwriter. He had his first major hit in 2014 and ever since has been able to become one of Germanys most famous pop singers. He is known for his catchy and easy-going tunes. Most of the songs talk about love, self-confidence or just having a good time.

Just like many people, I know a bunch of his songs without really being a fan. They just play his hits on the radio ALL THE TIME. Despite his fame, some people say that his songs literally sound more or less the same. (If you want to get a better idea of his usual sound, some of my favourites are: "Flash mich", "Au revoir", EFF- "Stimme")

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, "Kogong" is quite the opposite of that. Maybe you could hear that this song sounds rather melancholic and slow. And guess what? That piano that you can hear in the background? Yep, that's Pauls piano. Mark Forster literally flew to London just to record this song at Abbey Road Studios. He says:

"We recorded 'Kogong' at Abbey Road Studios, in Studio 2, where the Beatles made all their records. And the piano that you can hear in 'Kogong' is the same piano that Paul Mccartney played 'Let It Be' on. That was quite special for me and my band and I think you can hear that the old Beatles spirit somewhat comes through in it."

Kogong came out in 2017. It was released on the only album by Forster that has an overall more serious sound. So what exactly is "Kogong" about?

2. The lyrics

Here are two pictures, one with the German lyrics and one with a translation by me.

When you read the lyrics, you will probably see that it is kinda hard to understand, especially after only one listen. Quite a few phrases don't seem to make a lot of sense. Well German audiences were not so happy either with this piece. Some said that the melody is good even though nobody was used to this kind of song by Forster. But the comments online seem to share the same opinion on the text: Forster probably only wanted to show that he is also able to write more intellectual sounding songs. Many just view it as avantgardist crap. Then again the video has 20 Mio views on YouTube and is currently his 6th most listened to song on Spotify so 🤔

But now about the interesting stuff. How could ANYONE who knows at least the slightest bit about Mclennon not stumble across this line:

"I am fucking Yoko Ono. My heart is Paul and John."

My heart is Paul and John? Yes Mark, I couldn't have said it any better myself. So ever since this song came out, I was curious what all these confusing lyrics could mean. Where is the connection between this one line and the rest of the song? What did Mark Forster say about it?

3. Interpretation

Here is a statement by Forster:

"Kogong is the sound of the heart when it's listening. The song is about small and big things that my heart told me but that I kind of couldn't really hear. I really hope that I'll be able to pay more attention to it in the future, so maybe this song is my new start."

So the subject of the song is not really able to listen to its heart. Furthermore, the lyrics hint on multiple topics and problems that the person has to face:

Being not happy at all, maybe even depressed ("you're not fine, you're only half-way fine"), this could also suggest that the subject has to keep up a facade while suffering inside

Problems in a relationship, marriage or even having an affair ("what you still want from her", "you hug eachother for far too long")

Self-image, Self-acceptance ("Wherever you are, you will always be yourself", "you need your peace")

The above mentioned quote says that this is a personal song. Another time he said that he realised that he wanted to become a singer while walking on the Road to Santiago (hence the line about hiking).

In another interview he stated that he tries to write in the same way as he thinks minus the rhymes. Overall short phrases which came to his mind.

So in concern of listening to ones heart: The lyrics suggest that the subject is not only unable to listen to its heart but rather actively ignores it due to outer circumstances. ("I don't want to hear a thing and am beating my chest like King Kong.").

Seems like there is a constant dispute between the heart and the subject. Which finally leads us to the line:

"I am fucking Yoko Ono, my heart is Paul and John."

How could a seemingly average pop singer connect a song about inner conflicts, love and self-image to John, Paul and Yoko Ono??

Well Forster said that he literally grew up with the Beatles and that they influenced him deeply. But to connect specific names to this topic, he couldn't only have been enjoying their songs. He has to know about their history and especially about their break-up. I've read a few opinions that "John" is only in there because it rhymes with "Kogong". So if he came up with that name and him being a Beatles fan, maybe the association to John Lennon isn't that far off. But why "fucking Yoko Ono"? Mark says:

"Yoko Ono is often accused of breaking up* the Beatles. And sometimes that's how I feel about my heart: Yoko Ono brings me and my heart apart." (*literally bringing apart)

?Eh?

Tbh that's hella confusing. I think he was kinda joking tho since he also states that the "fucking" is in there because of that British town. Which obviously makes no sense. Since Forster is serious about the rest of the song, its almost like he doesn't really want to talk about the true meaning of that line.

I mean the "John" could have suited only as a filler word at first. But I just don't think that other songwriters would automatically then connect that to Yoko Ono and especially Paul. Furthermore John and Paul form an unity here in the symbol of the heart. Despite the songs topic that's just such an romantic association.

Of course the average listener could easily say that this is all random nonsense. But for me who is genuinely interested in the Beatles/ Mclennon, this line doesn't seem out of context.

So if we take the lyrics of Kogong seriously, Mark Forster connects difficult romantic relationships and listening to your heart with John and Paul. Btw I know that Yoko didn't break up the Beatles, but Mark Forster is only talking about the infamous accusation of such. And even if he's only referring to the rumored breakup, wouldn't it be Beatles VS Yoko or Beatles VS John and Yoko? No, Mark Forster has to put John and Paul on one side and due to the metaphor with the heart, they together are portrayed as something pure, something romantic.

4. Conclusion

Well I can't really break the song down to every little phrase and its possible meaning. I think this post is already long enough 😅

Nevertheless "Kogong" by Mark Forster talks about conflicts with the inner-self concering love or becoming the person that you really are. All of this is quite explicitely connected to John and Paul (and Yoko) in the peak line of the chorus. (Just the way Forster sings this part is so...honest and amazing..). In my opinion, Mark Forster implies a really close (possible even romantic) connection between Paul and John while being put up against Yoko.

Shipping Mclennon or viewing their relationship as very close/romantic is often connected with horny teenagers on social media who make up crazy theories to satisfy their own desires. But here we have a man in his 30s who seemingly hints on similar ideas concerning their relationship in one of his most famous songs. And I know that this is not the first time that pop culture mentions their connection in that way but its actually the first very serious approach that I know of.

And maybe I am really reading too much into all of this. ( I mean I'm a Mclennon shipper after all lol) But in the end we still have a man who flew all the way to London just to sing-scream "I am fucking Yoko Ono, my heart is Paul and John" at Abbey Road Studios and I think that's pretty cool.

If you finished this mess till the end, thank you so much and let me know your opinion on it! ☺️🙌

(Sorry for any writing mistakes and I also have the sources of the quotes at hand, but obviously they are in German)