#the post-semester burnout brain is whole other type of beast that i have yet to tame :(

[flying-fangirls]

Just like, SO many songs that make me think abt SunSeam:

Furthest Star, Firebird, Theodora, and Those Who Sojourn (kinda reaching for this last one) by Dirt Poor Robins

Scars, Predator (only a little but unsure abt this one), Take Me to War, and Time Will Change You (THIS ONE!!! OUGH!!!) by The Crane Wives

Ok, I think I’m done for now. Im really curious to see which of these will really stick out to you. There’s only like, 2 or 3 I’m not sure but these all feel relatively based.

Ok I am so sorry, I swear I thought I had answered this but apparently I just hallucinated it all :/ ANYWAYS ONTO THE SUNSEAM :3

"Furthest Star"- YES YES ABSOLUTELY YES. Hrnghhh I'm such a sucker for astronomy imagery, so between that and the Sunseam love, I fear I might be slightly biased toward this one. BUT OH MY GOD THAT IS THEM!!! Defying all the powers of fate and the men who have hurt them, not giving those powers any more energy and instead choosing to find their own space with only their love and joy? AUGH YES

"Firebird"- DUDE YOU HAVE COOKED TOO MUCH WITH THESE SONGS /pos. SunSeam as a phoenix is possibly the most perfect metaphor for them! I especially love how this song is all about rising from the ashes while still carrying the weight and meaning of those ashes with you; because a lot of the beauty of SunSeam comes from their ability to connect over their trauma and acknowledge how their past shaped them, yet still grow into more than their past pain.

"Theodora"- ooh ok I miiight be reading this song wrong, buuut I think there's an interpretation there of "a girl I've been trying to remember / My whole life though I never had met her / Until I met you" as finding similar pieces of yourself in a person you've just met, someone so intimately familiar yet excitingly different. So y'know, the joy of connecting over parallel pain and personality, while also discovering new pieces of yourself and this new love. So y'know, SunSeam. GOD this one is so tender too, a perfect little song of hope and warmth for these girls <3

"Those Who Sojourn"- actually? I don't think you're stretching that much. You could interpret the "sojourn" as the short "stay" both Bella and Yellow had in life, the quickly cut-off chance they each had to be their own before other people forced them into being someone they were not. But in the end, they still "own the land" because they still find a way to live outside of those who originally "owned the land" (had control over Bella and Yellow), and they create their own fates and determine their own endings.

"Scars"- SCREAMING SOBBING AT THIS ONE :'( "Was I born with a hole in my heart? / A fatal fault at the start / Tell me it's inevitable that I end up with scars" AUGHHH OK, both of these girls have always been treated like they were lesser and a burden. Yellow *obviously* with Arthur, who always compared her to John and reminded her that she would never live up to that impossible standard. And Bella? Also Arthur (love ya but hate ya buddy). I know we never technically see this in canon, but with the way Arthur dismissively talks about Bella (see the whole 'I don't feel guilty about her death, just my daughter' scene in 31), I refuse to believe that he didn't convey his resentment and disinterest to her-- whether through words, actions, or attitude. Honestly, to both Arthur and Daniel, Bella was less of a person and more of an inconvenience that they had to "deal with". So for both her and Yellow, it really was inevitable that they would end up damaged and frustrated, "nothing could have been done." OR, as this song questions, "Is that right?" Something absolutely could have been done-- these men could have been better, could have lead with love instead of resentment. But they didn't, which leaves Yellow and Bella to question if they really were born to be damaged and discarded

"Predator"- Ough yeah, this one for them </3 Both of them were abused/neglected, and not just by one person. Yellow got trapped under Arthur's pain, and then when she "moved on" to another man (Larson), she just ended up in the same powerless position. The same with Bella-- she was trapped under Daniel's control, and when she tried to escape to Arthur, she was still just as controlled by social standards and the needs/wants of men around her.

"Take Me to War"- LET WOMEN GET MEAN!! LET THEM BE ANGRY AND MESSY YES!!! I think it's especially great the singer of this song acknowledges how they are seemingly weaker than their oppressor ("There are no stones at my disposal") but they nonetheless will rage against those controlling powers ("But I keep snapping at Goliath's hands / With all of my tiny might") until they win. It's the refusal to be weakened, it's letting the fire of your anger stoke your "meak" words and actions hot enough to burn off the steel ropes holding you down. It's SunSeam baby :)

"Time Will Change You"- THIS IS IT THIS IS EVERYTHING SUNSEAM IS ABOUT OH MY GOD I'M CRYING <3 SunSeam is all about knowing the "roots" where you grew from, knowing that they were your home and the ground originally that raised you. And it's about knowing that those roots are too small to hold all the strength and beauty within you, knowing that that dirt is unhealthy and has never nor never will nourish you in the way that you need or deserve. It's about leaving behind those roots that once were everything to you, and realizing that there is an entire forest beyond that space. It's about exploring that forest without anything to hold you underground like before, and finding a new glade to live in, one which welcomes you with kind grass and loving soil. It's about planting yourself in a new home, a new chance, a new life. It's about growing into something taller, healthier, happier, and more beautiful than anything you could ever imagined before