#the title as sung in the chorus

[michyeosseo]

why do you keep losing yourself?

why can’t we feel the same way?

Can Love Be Fair by G.Soul feat. Ben

[voltas-do-mar]

bring me home / bring me home thoughts of you will bring me home as the sun may rise with crashing tides oh, you will bring me home

oh, at home there's my darling [The name here is muffled. Two syllables.] and i miss him all day long he has strange style / but he makes me smile and for him i will stay strong

[bloop-bl00p]

“Fîls de joie” What Poison could have been.

TW: Mention of Sexual Assault, Sexual Abuse, Rape, Drugs, Addiction, Manipulation, Mention of Fetish and sex in general, mention of Sex works, Raphielle II don’t go harras him and respect his pronouns

I’m trying to be a writer and I understand writing about taboos and controversial things is difficult. I only write about what I know which is the effect of emotional and physical abuse and religious traumas. Notheless if I’m trying to do something out of my domain of expertise I’ll research it to respect the concerned part of the audience.

Vivienne Medrano said that people who’ve been sexually abused helped write episode 4. Part of me wants to believe it, it’s most likely true, it’s the best thing a writer can do, let knowledgeable people help and not just rely on sites about psychology. But, with how rape and assault are presented sometimes it really feels like she’s lying.

Angel Dust is the only character whose abuse is presented as serious.

Stolas kept belittling Bliztø and kept talking dirty even when the Man was in danger

You cannot tell me that he couldn't hear the gunshot through the phone, in this scene, he keeps making his disgusting speech. Blitzø was practically forced to make the deal as he wasn't in a situation where he could process his thoughts clearly since he was trying to survive

And it was a joke.

Angels Dusk kept harassing Husk throughout the series but he never once apologized. Yes, it stopped after Looser Baby but he should have a mindful conversation with Husk and genuinely say sorry about his behavior.

“It starts with sowwy🥺” What’s the point of having this song if the characters don’t follow through with the lesson?

Those scenes were mostly jokes.

And I haven’t mentioned Sir Pentious getting dragged while being drunk in a sex room, or Moxie being kissed by Succubus despite mentioning he didn't want any of that.

AAaaAaaaAh look at these men, being uncomfortable because they are touched and talked down despite verbally addressing their discomfort! That hilarious!

I want to believe she cares, I’m a fan of these shows, I know it doesn't look like it but I’ve been hooked since the Pilots. Not only was I disappointed at the final result but I was also shocked to learn Medrano is simply just an asshole with too much money in her bag.

Poison failed where Fîls de Joie succeeded:

Before reading any of what I wrote you should listen to it, there are English subtitles. And honestly, it's a good song on its own.

What’s the context of Fîls de Joie?

A sex worker died and her son is holding funerals for her. You can guess it with the wordplay in the title, Fille de Joie (Girl of Joy) is one of the many ways to say prostitute in French. Fîls (son) de Joie is a way to say that he’s the son of a sex worker.

While sung by the same man, you can notice that Stromae gives us four POVs in the song, the son in the chorus, a client, the pimp, and a policeman.

Everyone besides the son is a hypocrite and relatively an asshole. But even if those verses are self-centered and a pathetic attempt from these men to bring sympathy to themselves, despite never hearing the story directly from the Woman, you can guess exactly how her life was and you sympathize with her. It tells us a story, her story.

This woman was a good mother, and it shows how much the son insisted on leaving her alone, speaking proudly of her despite acknowledging her flaws, and even repeatedly calling her a hero.

But HEY! (But HEY!) Leave my mom alone Yes I know, she’s not perfect, it’s true She’s a hero (She’s a hero) And I will always speak of her with pride

The client is trying to be excused from his actions by stating he’s lonely and addicted to it.

Being alone is not easy And it’s been years since my last time

The hardest part, well, it’s the first time And now what’s hard is to decide when the last time will be

But he’s also verbally violent even stating that as long as he got the money he could pretty much do everything to her.

Maybe this time around we can do it with me insulting her. Yeah everything is negotiablе in life, if you got the money And after all, I’m probably her best customer

With that alone, you can probably guess that it’s not the only violent client she had but she has to endure it because she needs money. Considering that she has a son it’s probably to support his education or something related to her well-being and his.

Then comes the pimp, he brushed off all of his misdeeds by saying he gives them shelter and food and should be grateful for it.

Why does everyone hate me? I’m the one feeding them Their lives would be way more mediocre. Without me, their lives would be shitty

Not only that but his good actions are not for the sake of it, he should have his part of the deals. He doesn't want them to feel like princesses eventually calling them hookers in a very dehumanizing way.

That has a price, Missy. Well duh, in this life, everything comes at a price. Nobody ever told you? They say I’m guilty of human trafficking But 50, 40, 30 or 20% is not nothing

They better not delude themselves and think they’re models Ladies—or should I say: hookers!

Not only does this woman have to endure constant violent behavior from her clients she barely gets enough money despite being the one at work, receiving either 50% or even 20% of what she actually gained. The rest goes to an egocentric pimp that only sees her as merchandise.

While we can technically understand where the policeman is coming from, he’s just doing his job, he’s making a mistake apparent in the other’s verse but much more evident in his.

He doesn't see her as a human.

I know that it’s your job But I gotta do mine, don’t I?

Take back your ID and what’s left of your dignity You’re pathetic, pfft Find yourself a real job!

This song doesn't tell us the story of a prostitute but the story of a financially struggling Mother who juggles between abusing clients and a society that only focuses on the top of the iceberg, the fact that she’s selling her body.

Stromae tries to appeal to our compassion and teach us that it’s important to understand why someone will go their way to sell sex for a few pennies. And rather than rejecting them, we should help them.

Another thing I like about the clip as a whole is the Military. They don’t have a Belgian or French uniform but they wear multiple of them to show that this dehumanization isn’t linked to one country but it’s global, every countries and cultures take part in it, and it needs to be fixed.

What does Poison tell us?

Angel got stuck in an abusive situation and was forced to do sex work for his pimps, it focuses more on the sexual assault rather than his life.

He obliviously regrets his choice resulting in him blaming himself for getting into such a messy situation. A situation he’s seemingly addicted to despite himself, he knows it’s bad but he can’t help it.

What's the worst part of this hell? I can only blame myself

You're feedin' me poison Addicted to this feelin', I can't help but swallow. Up your poison

The poison can also be a metaphor for the drugs he seems to take directly from Valentino’s brand. A drug he either takes himself or is forced to inhale.

He uses the same substance to forget his situation and numbs the pain while also putting on a false Sex-addicted mask to convey that he’s fine and stay on Valentino’s good side. A direct consequence of his abuse is his addiction and his hypersexuality.

I got so good at bein' untrue I got so good at tellin' you what you wanna hear I disassociate, disappear

At the end of the song he’s waisted, traumatized, and finally breaks down as he finally has a short time to process everything that happened. Because here’s the thing, Poison is a fantasy, it’s a mask he puts in to forget the emotional and physical weight that was put on him, hence why it’s so flashy and pretty. The few glimpses of Angel being visibly distraught show that all the parts where he isn't are him disassociating.

See I can analyze stuff and I totally understand what they were trying to do with it but the difference with Fîls de Joie is, that we didn't know the life or personality of The Mother and we learn it through the song.

Angel Dust and Valentino’s relationship is highlighted throughout the shows and Poison doesn't add anything new to the table. The song is POINTLESS. Husk already looked at us and told us that Angel Dust being sexual was a whole persona he puts in.

You can say that the song humanized him since he was basically the “AaahaAH SEX” character but the locker scene already did and… I don’t like the story behind the making of it, why you ask?

Because Vivienne let Raphielle’s work affect her writing.

Visually speaking I believe you can present a disturbing concept with equally disturbing imagery, I understand that the point was to make you uncomfortable and the Dance sequence was Angel Dust disassociating while what was happening was displayed on the screen.

But… can someone explain why they let the work of someone blatantly fetishizing Angel and Valentino's relationship leak into the final product? I don’t even care that Raphielle or Vivienne have a nonconsensual fetish but we can all agree that his content depicting the two men will be inrentently for gooning purposes right? Or am I crazy for saying that?!

Okay, I wanna be clear, Raphielle can do everything he wants what I care about is that his fetishistic content was referenced in the shows.

→ Here’s one of his works. Go at 2:45 if you wanna skip the sexual stuff

→ Click here for more proof

The idea of Angels Dust being “sexy” while his image is projected on screens is from Raphielle II, his work is for sexual gratification but Medrano still referenced it despite Raph being pretty vocal about it.

And that’s not all.

Yes, Vivienne, it’s great marketing to make a cum joke about visuals displaying rape. Because in case y’all forgot all of the sex scenes in the clip are non-consensual from Angel Dust's perspective.

Am I supposed to believe that this woman cares when not only she has a double standard only showing rape and sexual assault as a whole in a bad way when it comes to her favorite character?

Am I supposed to believe that she cares when she associates herself with a fetishizer and references his work in her show?

Why did Stromae managed to make me care about an unnamed fictional dead woman in the spam of 3:57 when she just irked me in 20 minutes with her so-called “well done” representation of sex workers?

Is that really what people call a realistic presentation? How does someone manage to fumble so hard on every aspect of the series, I’m starting to believe that Hazbin Hotel is just rage-bait with the lack of respect she puts into it.

That’s all for me if anyone wants to add anything, the comments are there.

[ensemblewithsenpai]

Nov 11th: The sixth song in the Ultimate 9 Songs campaign has been announced. The song is titled Kazehaya-senpai no Zangeshitsu! ~Mayoeru ES Idol-ban~ (Kazehaya-senpai's Confessional! ~Astray ES Idol Version~) sung by Tatsumi and Chorus of Astray Guests. It will be released on Nov 26th at 12AM JST.

[cyberbrained]

Schwein Interview: Part 1 — Atsushi Sakurai / Rockin'F (June 2001)

There were different troubles, this time it was a fight with myself

Part 1 — Atsushi Sakurai interview Interviewer: Yoshiyuki Oono scans: tigerpal @ dreamwidth/livejournal

I thought everything would work out if I let my natural flavor spill freely in Japanese

Did you write the lyrics based on the compositions? Sakurai: That’s right. First, around last autumn, six compositions written by Sascha and Raymond were completed. The songs’ structure was well done, vocals and chorus were added. Although there were also vocals by Lucia [Cifarelli] in the song Porno, I was told “Please, Atsushi, add melodies and lyrics however you like here.” Generally that was the feeling. So, regarding the recording itself, from starting work on the songs, ideas came in more and more; times when we were told, “I’m entrusting you with everything,” increased. Hence, being given freedom in working, this became a collaboration.

Did you discuss the content of the lyrics with Raymond and co.? Sakurai: I did. Although I was told, “Please do whatever you like,” too many mental images were off so talking about the title and Raymond’s connotations gave me a hint for the lyrics.

This time unusual alcohol and women came up in the lyrics. Are those motifs Raymond held? Sakurai: Perhaps I should say it was simultaneous [between us]…

Like you recorded while drinking? Sakurai: There was that too (laugh). What Raymond said and the things I myself hold were rather close. “What can I do, I wonder?” When it was time to talk seriously, if I thought about what’s coming to mind, it was all things I like. Alcohol and women (laugh). But even though I liked the words that came first, I wondered what my specialty is. When there is time I would sugarcoat [my ideas] but this time around that kind of thing wasn’t needed. Working in a band up to now, sometimes I’d add things to myself that weren’t necessarily there [in me], so returning to myself like this allowed me to be myself.

Has there been an opinion among the members of Buck-Tick that “This Acchan now is very relaxed,” recently? Sakurai: This time, participating in this album, even though third parties could look at me closely, I was never aware of that. Regarding everyday life, I wasn’t thinking stuff like, “Let’s proceed calmly.”

This time there are lyrics coexisting in Japanese, English, and German. Were you worried about the distinction between each word? Sakurai: Frankly, I thought Japanese would be hard to fit in. I sang after Raymond did and there were times when things felt out of place. But if we’d stopped there nothing would have even started. Based on what I'm capable of doing, I thought everything would work out if I let my natural flavor spill freely in Japanese. My own singing, Sascha, Lucia, and Raymond’s vocals too, everyone’s sound would be captured. But it was definitely complicated because Japanese, which comes across direct, appeared suddenly.

What about the parts sung in German and English? Sakurai: Isn’t it brief really? I just did chorus and unison. Initially I didn’t think I’d be doing chorus in English, since there were a lot of people who could be entrusted with it. Symbolically, there were three people who could sing in English.

In Schwein there’s rap-like Japanese, German vocals have entered, that great sense of language is interesting, right? Sakurai: Sascha sang those. Basically, the lyrics he’d written were translated and then fitting lyrics were created [in addition]. I couldn’t get a precise conclusion from the translation, so I asked, “What atmosphere would it be?” and after that I started getting more mental images. That kind of feeling.

I had the conviction to work since “I’ve been given the other members’ compositions”

Isn’t it interesting how Schwein is reaping your style and everything you’ve done with Buck-Tick until now, like with Crown’s equalizing, Spank the Monkey’s part with the stacked double vocals? Sakurai: The engineers were first-timers; I could only give my abilities as a raw ingredient. There was an engineer called Russel [Kearney]; I told him, “Russel, you’re the chef. Handle it as you like[1].” After that we tried out many things, it was fun. There weren’t misses.

I listened to your vocals and there wasn’t anything out of place at all. Sakurai: I wondered if I could deliver in the gaps between the other vocals, but I wasn’t worried at all.

Then, what was your approach with Schwein? Sakurai: I had the conviction to work since “I’ve been given the other members’ compositions,” so there wasn’t any holding back. Raymond and Sascha’s experience and strengths brought out the best in me.

Who created the melody lines? Sakurai: Raymond and Sascha were in charge, Imai’s compositions are his own. With four people the melodies were well considered.

Conversely, how many songs did you devise the melody for?[2] Sakurai: Well, the one where I did things selfishly however I liked was Fantasia. I did the verse my way and the chorus’ melody came to me too… Then, Spank The Monkey’s chorus, Lard, Lips, Liquor’s melody, and for Organzola’s[3] duet part I was free to do whatever I liked.

How is your approach with Schwein different from that with Buck-Tick? Sakurai: Until now, although the composer had created the melody perfectly, this time whether it was the songs or the album as a whole, I couldn't easily imagine. Also, I wondered how far it would be good to go, how far I could go, but there wasn’t hesitation. That’s why, honestly, the feeling of collaborating and being free to do as I pleased with the melodies were first [in importance]. The singing itself was the same as always but regarding feelings I was able to keep the high tension for a month. There were different troubles and, thinking about it deeply, this time it was a fight with myself.

—

Notes:

[1]He called him コック, which means chef (in this case), because he did a pun on cooking in Japanese. I didn’t keep it in English out of fear it would sound unserious (of me). “Cook it up however you like” is what I would’ve gone with and in that case this note would read “Yes, he really said that.” Also...that word's other meaning had me loling hard at that bit at first glance.

[2]Sakurai isn’t credited with any compositions for Schwein. I suppose what they mean here is more along the lines of where his input was heavier.

[3]Re: Organzola as a title word (because idk when I’ll make it there with my speed): later in this interview (under Sascha’s part, which is the fourth and final part), it’s explained it’s a mashup of Organ, the English word + Gorgonzola, the Italian cheese, which apparently equals...g3n1tal organs. ...well, idk about you but I'm glad to learn this so many years later lmao

[queenbeyondthewall]

Final stop on the Lannister siblings/Hozier self-titled campaign is From Eden, one of my first Hozier infatuations and to this day one of my favourite songs of all time. The absolutely unavoidable aura of Jaime/Brienne that comes from this song motivated me to write these analyses. A romance between a completely disillusioned narrator and a youth whose idealism he recognizes, outwardly dismisses, and inwardly admires? I hope this is already screaming Jaime/Brienne at you.

Babe, there’s something tragic about you Something so magic about you, don’t you agree? Babe, there’s something lonesome about you Something so wholesome about you, get closer to me

Reading this as Jaime’s thoughts about Brienne is pretty straightforward, I think. Brienne’s story is rather tragic - she's an outcast due to the rigid gender norms of her society, lonesome and desperate for acceptance and respect (from people like Renly to Catelyn and eventually to Jaime himself.) The real tragedy is that we (and Jaime) can see that she’s one of the few truly good people in this story, despite the lack of appreciation from her surroundings. Her kindness, courage, skill, and honour are in short supply in Westeros.

No tired sigh, no rolling eyes, no irony No “who cares,” no vacant stare, no time for me

The Jaime/Cersei/Brienne triangle is pretty renowned, and not only for the obvious romances. These lines, especially in contrast to the warmth of the ones before, seem to highlight the aspects of his former life that Jaime has grown so tired of. The cool reception that Jaime receives from Cersei upon his return to King’s Landing, including the detachment of the sept sex scene and her mockery of his severed hand, contribute to showing him how the two of them might not be one soul in two bodies after all.

Honey, you’re familiar, like my mirror years ago Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on his sword Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me, I should know I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

Now the chorus, aka the most braime set of lines that have ever been sung. On the face of it, this verse is gently dismissive of the idealism that Jaime sees reflected in Brienne from his own youth. Jaime would have us believe that he has seen through the lie of honour, of true knighthood, the lie that allows Kingsguard to be called the finest knights in the realm while they stand by and watch tyrants rape and torture and murder. Take this quote, for example.

“A boy knelt; a knight rose. The Young Lion, not the Kingslayer. But that was long ago, and the boy was dead.” - AFFC Jaime I

Really? If that boy and the idealism he represented died long ago, why does Jaime send Brienne off on a mission to rescue Sansa as his “last chance for honour?” Why does he name the sword he gifts her Oathkeeper? From Eden’s speaker dismisses the idealistic viewpoint of its subject in one breath, but is drawn towards it in the next, much as Jaime is drawn towards Brienne because of her relentless idealism, not in spite of it.

Babe, there’s something broken about this, But I might be hoping about this, oh what a sin.

There it is - hope. Jaime trusts Brienne because he hopes against hope that she can finally prove the ideals of knighthood as true and attainable.

A rope in hand for your other man to hang from a tree

Ok so this is a minor point but. THIS. This is the line that genuinely makes me stop and consider if Andrew Hozier-Byrne is secretly a massive asoiaf fan. WHY ELSE would he include a line like this that is so clearly a reference to the one and only Hyle Hunt?! Hyle Hunt, whose house’s sigil is that of a hung deer, who accompanies Brienne throughout AFFC, who was a suitor to her hand in marriage, whose last appearance on page is as he’s being hanged, and who is predicted to die in TWOW by hanging? I just. I can’t. It’s too much. Thematically I guess hanging is a motif throughout AFFC, especially in the Riverlands with Brienne and the BwB, and they will be very relevant to Jaime and Brienne's story early in TWOW. I guess.

This song is terribly romantic which fits because to me Jaime and Brienne are the main love story of the series. I had a lot of fun writing this and hopefully you can now join me in bashing my head against a wall every time I listen to this song and am reminded of them.

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

Ok 30 sec content is enough to activate me, so here is a little extra coming from the sheet capture of the video.

This is actually a vocal part sheets. And this is the end of the song. We can see the long held notes next to the hand with the pen.

There are some interesting notation here. First C4. I am gonna ignore the a and the b. Maybe it is augmented and flat - I don't know - the notation is weird to me lol. Anyway, C4 is the middle C on the piano. That I am sure.

Then I am not a specialist in vocal ranges, american notation, pitches etc, so I am just gonna say that, I read notes over C5, reaching B5. But I hear kinda one octave below when Joey sings. I never understood how that translates. I leave the schematic here for comparison.

Anyway, if I consider what I hear being one octave below of the music notation, then we reach B4 to the highest point, flirting to the limit of the Tenor register (so yep Joey is a Tenor 😅).

Then I can barely read the power chords. I guess C and D for sure but I can't get the small characters. For those with good eyes, let's go !

Then, I am gonna go on the only part I feel confident with - the rhythm - as it is given by the actual music notation that I can read. This is a bit blurry but things can be deduced mathematically.

I remember saying that the Ride of the Witcher had an odd 5 beat rhythm, the first time I heard it. I was wrong. It is on 4 beats BUT the melody falls on five beats from what I am reading here 😅. Hence my confusion.

I am not gonna try to give the correct names of the notes in English - as there are the american way, the "european" way, the french way... 😅. Let keep it mathematical.

A basic 4 beats means that between two |, you will always have a total of 4 beats. So the addition of all your notes and silence between the bars is always 4.

The rhythmic I read here is :

1(+½) ½-½ ½ 1 | 1 (1) (1) ½ ½ |

Then we have the second motif that is a bit easier

1 ½ ½-½ ½ 1 | 1 (1) (2) |

Both first parts ends on the first beat on the second block thanks to the liaison. The second motif sounds a bit like 6 beats because the lyrics begin on the last beat of the preceding part, after the silences.

The two same motifs are repeated after with the same breathing part until we arrive at the end of the chorus, where the silence are now sung.

So the whole thing seems turning on a square wheel. Love it 🥰😅.

Now, I find it very interesting to have the actual music notation. I found a piano score - probably ear deciphered - and see how they tried to fits the notes in a strange way to go with the feeling it doesn't fall where it should 🙂. There are suddenly, 1 beat or 5 beats bars to make the count right.

The voice is on the lower part here.

Now for the long notes, they are held 8 beats with this notation.

This is all I have to say about this screenshot 😅.

Oh and one last little thing. We can see a v4 under the title of the song. So there was 3 other versions before this one 😏.

[seancekitsch]

Can you do Jaskier catching you singing while doing something domestic?

it’s been a while but here it finally is!

For Jaskier, hearing his own songs being sung to him isn’t out of the blue. Plenty of people sing along in taverns or forget the titles of his songs and sing a chorus or a verse or two to explain themselves to him. However he’s never heard a voice so lovely, with a tone so clear and timbre so sweet. And really, it’s not like he’s used to hearing any of this outside of a town.

Jaskier stares up at the trees that make his canopy, at the trees that shield the hansa from the elements and you all have slept more or less in a pile under for almost two days now.

“But the story is this: she’ll destroy with her sweet kiss,” the voice sings, and Jaskier sits up with a start, untangling the arms of Geralt, Regis, Milva, Angouleme, and Cahir off of him in their cold little huddle for warmth as they push further into the winter.

He looks about him, and counts. The only one missing… you.

He follows the sound of the voice, now correctly matched to you, the typically silent member of the Hansa; only loud when you argue with Angouleme over who gets the last bit of cheeseboard when you all can afford a tavern. More often thought you are silent, observing, and using it to your advantage when you can.

Jaskier rises from his spot and follows the sound of your voice like a siren’s song.

Your voice, your song- HIS song, leads him to nearest body of water, a small lake still ebbing and flowing before the cold sets in for the season. You’ve taken it upon yourself to grab everyone’s extra clothing from their bags and do some washing.

“I’m weak, my love, and I am wanting,” you sing, your tone growing… sad? as Jaskier approaches, he starts to hum along.

“If this is the path I must trudge-“

“I’ll welcome my sentence, give you my penance,” Jaskier finishes the line, and you jump, practically throwing yourself into the water.

“Sorry!” He grabs your shoulders gently, bracing you.

“Butchered that worse than Geralt would, I reckon,” you joke, peering up at him not shyly, but in that quiet defiance that sometimes shakes him to his core.

“No,” he responds, breathy and stunted like the song took the words from him, “Beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

Your lips ease into a smirk, your whole face softening at his words… the ones he realizes he just spoke.

“I mean- the song, your voice.”

“I’ll take those compliments, all of them,” you joke, and rise to stand with the finished laundry in your hands.

“But can you take these back to camp for me? I only have yours left to finish.”

Even his? He didn’t even notice his own clothing in a pile next to you,

“Why do you do this for us?”

“Easy, I don’t like when you all smell like horse and I don’t want to argue to make you do your own washing,” you answer, shrugging as you turn back to his clothes.

“I like this shirt on you,” you comment, pulling one from his pile.

“And the singing?” He asks, not at all wanting to move from his spot next to you.

“Favorite song of yours,” you respond, dunking the shirt into the water.

Jaskier looks back to the camp, noticing that finally the rest of the Hansa has begun to stir.

“Will you duet with me next time, then?” He asks, hopeful to get another chance to hear that rare voice.

“Maybe if you help me with the washing,” you retort, your smile telling him all he needs to know.

[nanomooselet]

On Narrators

You know what, fuck it.

I've seen a lot of references to Trigun Stampede having an unreliable narrator, and unfortunately it's activated my media analyst trap card. While there's always a degree of interpretation to these things, there is a difference between interpretation and declaring a banana skin to be orange zest. It makes a difference, especially if you're trying to bake a cake.

That isn't at all what Trigun Stampede is doing. Among other things, it doesn't have a narrator.

Narration, loosely defined, is text (or spoken lines etc) that directly addresses an assumed audience, which may or may not be the actual audience (it depends on the needs of the story). Think voice-overs, think Kuzco in The Emperor's New Groove, think the text panels in a comic or manga that list time and location, or describe the situation. The song of humanity continues to be sung is narration. A narrator is the character who performs narration; sometimes from with the story, sometimes from a position adjacent to it.

Honestly one of the most interesting things about Stampede, in my opinion, is that it makes a point of having neither.

There's no framing device, no presenter, no announcer, no chorus, no soliloquy, not even an internal monologue. There's no direct line to the writers, giving away their intentions. Indeed, the imposition of any text at all is almost entirely absent, save some pointed timing on the title cards, and no character's voice is objective. Zazie or Roberto, who come the closest, can definitely still be wrong - Roberto says Vash is "not long for this world" when Vash is longer for the world than almost anyone else; the man he says would kill with a smile was in fact coerced into becoming a killer. Zazie knows much and is always truthful, but isn't all-knowing, nor operating with complete understanding. And on the other end of the scale you have characters like Dr. Conrad or Knives, where the easiest way to tell they're mistaken or lying is if their mouths are moving. (Outside of brain fuckery. Then you're on your own.) Then there's Vash, who doesn't lie, necessarily, so much as he doesn't volunteer the truth, and tends to dodge giving answers when asked outright.

Now, an unreliable narrator is metafictional, taking advantage of the narrator being a character, and therefore capable of having an agenda.

What makes them unreliable is that they exert motivated influence over what we see - even accidental influence like distorted recollection or misconception. But before declaring such influence is occurring, we need a solid reason to doubt. You don't dismiss an account as unreliable just because it doesn't line up with your own expectations or desires - not without something like a clear contradiction, perhaps, or some conspicuous omission. *

We simply have no reason to believe what we see in Trigun Stampede is anything other than the truth (inasmuch as it's obviously fictional of course). We see some events from multiple viewpoints - here is what Vash experienced, here is what Knives saw, here is what other characters are doing - and what one character sees isn't different from what any other character sees when the perspectives swap. It's just from different distances and angles. The same words are said, the same events play out, and the same reactions are demonstrated by the characters, according to their established values and motivations.

The narrative itself is unadorned and unchanged by their viewpoints. Whether a character is being truthful is simply a judgement you're given to make as the events that occur and their actions reveal more about them.

The term for this isn't narration; it's focalisation, and it's hardly some avant-garde artistic statement. It's intrinsic to telling even the most simple story.

For instance, the way Knives evolves from his initial presentation. His introduction as an adult is as a wrathful would-be god and a merciless killer before his more nuanced motivations and origins are slowly revealed. It would have been different if he'd been introduced first, discovered Tesla and was then depicted destroying Jeneora Rock. He'd come across as more of a protagonist. Instead, because the central character is Vash, we see him first, the humanising struggles of Jeneora Rock's people and Vash's efforts to help them, his anguish when it's rendered moot, and all the ways he suffers as a result of Knives's actions. This is focalisation that makes Knives the antagonist, representing what Vash must overcome. A complex, compelling and perhaps tragic antagonist, but still - not the guy the story is about.

Oh, and that has nothing to do with their respective moral positions, good or evil. It's structural. A protagonist attempts to achieve while an antagonist obstructs, and both by nature will transgress.

Stampede isn't exactly free of ways to manipulate sympathy, and exerts strict control over the perspectives it presents. You could argue it misdirects, or lies by omission - but that's not the same as an unreliable narrator. A narrative is always going to impose some kind of order on events to produce a specific effect, and that does come with bias. But it's the nature of storytelling never to be entirely objective.

I'm not sure that I really have a point, honestly, except that Trigun Stampede is a show that's exceedingly careful to show the characters exactly as they are. It doesn't lie. Personally, I find that more interesting to contemplate than the alternative. We have everything we need to know why the characters do as they do. Certainly far more than some would rather have us know.

* There are two times I think something like this is happening. One is Wolfwood's flashbacks to the orphanage, which are coloured as memories of the softness the Eye ripped away from him. Hence the different art style, and the title of the episode they occur in: once upon a time. It's a fairy tale, more emotionally true than literal to highlight the harshness of his life since then by contrast. There's likely more to that story than Wolfwood is recalling at that moment.

The other, big surprise, is within the memory world. It has manipulative editing, clips taken out of context, video noise, ADR, everything. All you'd need to make it more obvious it can't be trusted is a disclaimer in the corner or inconsistent timestamps or something.

[iamvercnika]

₊‧⁺˖ ⠀⠀⠀ THE SOUND OF VERONIKA  ! 

stepping  into  the  music  scene  with  a  self-titled  mini  album,  VERONIKA  released  an  eccentric  title  track,  entirely  sung  in  slovenian.  unfortunately,  even  after  troubling  herself  to  learn  how  to  pronounce  each  word  in  a  different  language,  the  artist's  career  didn't  pick  up  until  she  released  a  korean  version  only  two  months  later.  quite  fast  when  it  comes  to  getting  any  kind  of  recognition  in  the  music  industry,  but  knowing  that  VERONIKA  debuted  in  GLASSHOUSE  makes  sense  as  to  how  quick  she  became  famous.  the  music  video  for  VERONIKA  barely  received  six  million  views  in  the  first  twenty-four  hours,  which  was  a  shock,  considering  she's  under  a  popular  company. 

this  didn't  stop  the  singer  because  at  the  beginning  of  2021,  VERONIKA  released  MIDNIGHT  DREARY,  and  its  title  track,  THE  WITCH  LIVES,  became  one  of  the  most  talked-about  songs  in  the  months  that  she  was  promoting  it.  the  title  track  delves  into  the  undying  spirit  of  the  witch,  symbolising  resilience  and  eternal  power.  it  narrates  how  VERONIKA's  essence  transcends  time,  haunting  and  guiding  those  who  encounter  her  legacy.  the  song  received  high  praise  from  critics,  and  it  accumulated  twenty  million  views  in  the  first  twenty-four  hours,  as  well  as  three  music  show  wins.  up  until  now,  fans  have  thought  of  this  song  as  VERONIKA's  best-released  one. 

BUMP IN THE NIGHT  captures  the  fear  and  thrill  of  nocturnal  encounters  with  the  unknown.  it  evokes  a  sense  of  dread  and  excitement,  reflecting  the  spine-chilling  moments  when  the  veil  between  worlds  is  thinnest.  it  was  early  in  her  career  that  VERONIKA  admitted  that  she  thinks  of  the  album's  concept,  as  well  as  the  production  of  it.  "i  have  at  least  fifteen  unreleased  songs  that  i  plan  on  using  for  my  future  albums,"  the  singer  revealed,  which  started  the  whole  talk  of  "raiding  her  hidden  laptop"  debate  on  twitter.  GOOSEBUMPS  was  the  song  where  VERONIKA  exposed  the  range  her  voice  could  go  to,  and  the  most  watched  parts  were  the  surprising  high  note  in  the  beginning,  as  well  as  in  the  chorus.  the  song  won  only  two  awards,  but  it  definitely  deserved  them. 

AS  ABOVE  is  the  first  part  of  the  twin  albums  the  soloist  revealed  she  worked  on  simultaneously.  its  title  track,  SHE  KNOWS  THE  TRUTH,  talks  about  the  witch's  profound  understanding  of  the  universe's  mysteries.  it  highlights  VERONIKA's  role  as  a  keeper  of  arcane  knowledge,  exploring  themes  of  insight,  revelation,  and  hidden  truths.  the  song  received  a  seven-point-five  score  on  pitchfork,  making  it  VERONIKA's  first  album  to  be  ranked  on  that  website.  SHE  KNOWS  THE  TRUTH  received  four  wins,  and  the  music  video  racked  up  seventeen  million  views  in  the  first  day,  and  has  been  gradually  climbing  up.

SO  BELOW  is  a  continuation  and  the  second  part  of  the  twin  albums.  the  title  track,  I  KNOW  BETTER,  emphasizes  the  witch's  practical  wisdom  and  strength  in  navigating  the  physical  world.  it  underscores  VERONIKA's  confidence  and  mastery  over  the  mystical  and  mundane  aspects  of  life.  the  song  wasn't  as  much  of  a  hit  as  the  previous  one,  but  it  still  received  a  nice  win  on  the  music  show  and  at  least  seven  million  views.  the  concept  for  this  album  focused  on  earthly  manifestations  of  the  witch's  power,  which  was  a  bit  mundane  compared  to  AS  ABOVE's,  which  was  about  the  higher  knowledge  and  wisdom  possessed  by  the  witch. 

the  soloist's  first  ep  album,  KILLING  MR.  STRANGER  is  about  confronting  and  overcoming  external  and  internal  threats.  STRANGENESS  IN  US  explores  the  duality  of  human  nature  and  the  inner  battles  that  parallel  external  conflicts.  it  portrays  VERONIKA's  struggle  against  societal  fears  and  prejudices  while  embracing  her  unique  identity.  the  album  is  raw  and  showcases  VERONIKA's  inner  feelings,  which  resonates  with  her  fans  who  share  the  same  feelings.  however,  many  fans  deemed  this  song  lacklustre  and  said  it  became  boring  after  a  couple  of  listens.  it  didn't  receive  any  wins,  and  the  music  video  had  only  six  million  views.  even  the  artist  herself  admitted  it  felt  empty,  but  that  was  the  point  of  it.  no  one  believed  her,  though,  because  this  was  the  only  track  that  she  didn't  produce  by  herself,  and  the  fans  felt  like  she  was  forced  to  say  that. 

THE  DEVIL  WITHIN  is  a  significantly  better  album.  containing  ten  songs,  this  full  album  talks  about  the  internal  demons  and  darker  aspects  of  the  witch's  persona.  LITTLE  MONSTER  delves  into  the  inner  turmoil  and  darker  impulses  that  reside  within  VERONIKA.  it  reflects  the  constant  battle  with  her  own  darker  nature  and  the  acceptance  of  these  shadowy  facets  as  part  of  her  power.  a  lot  of  fans  commented  how  the  song  reminded  them  of  THE  WITCH  LIVES  and  were  happy  that  despite  the  hiccup  that  was  KILLING  MR.  STRANGER,  VERONIKA  found  a  way  out  of  the  slumps  and  came  back  with  a  much  better  sound.  so  far,  this  is  her  most  streamed  album,  and  it  received  twenty-five  million  views  on  the  first  day,  breaking  her  previous  record  of  twenty  million  views.  it  also  gave  her  six  music  show  wins  and  stayed  on  the  top  five  charts  for  a  good  couple  of  weeks. 

critics  say  that  "the  burden  and  sacrifice  of  wielding  great  power"  symbolizes  VERONIKA's  second  ep  album,  HEAVY  IS  THEE.  the  title  track  symbolizes  the  heavy  responsibility  and  suffering  that  come  with  VERONIKA's  extraordinary  abilities.  CROWN  OF  THORNS  touches  on  themes  of  martyrdom,  endurance,  and  the  pain  intertwined  with  her  gifts.  trap  hip-hop  was  the  main  genre  for  this  album,  and  VERONIKA  explains  it  in  her  own  words:  "the  song  stands  on  a  fine  line  between  desperation  and  obsession,  so  i  feel  like  it’ll  be  a  good  song  for  people  to  relate  to  and  get  immersed  in".  the  song  reached  the  international  fandom  more,  mainly  because  of  the  different  genre  the  song's  stepped  in.  no  music  show  wins,  but  the  international  fandom  will  always  praise  the  song. 

VERONIKA's  most  recent  mini-album,  TOUCH  OF  EVIL,  shows  the  witch's  destructive  potential  and  deadly  allure.  SONG  OF  DEATH  is  carefully  constructed  to  embody  the  lethal  enchantment  and  peril  that  VERONIKA  represents.  it  speaks  to  the  seductive  and  fatal  charm  of  her  powers,  warning  of  the  dangers  of  succumbing  to  her  influence.  fans  were  surprised  by  the  different  approach  to  her  story  as  a  witch.  lowkey  inspired  by  the  1945  novel,  ANIMAL  FARM,  VERONIKA  went  all  in  when  it  came  to  the  music  video.  in  the  end,  the  video  had  to  be  banned  from  certain  channels,  as  it  was  "too  gore-y"  for  viewers.  despite  that,  international  fans  seemed  to  love  it  because  they  helped it  reach  forty  million  views. 

VERONIKA's  most  recent  release  is  a  single,  SPIDERWEB,  which  illustrates  how  her  presence  ensnares  and  captivates  those  around  her.  it  metaphorically  depicts  the  complex,  interwoven  connections  and  the  inescapable  pull  of  her  supernatural  allure.  the  music  video  for  this  song  focused  more  on  her  performance  rather  than  the  concept.  the  reason  why  is  explained  by  the  artist:  "SPIDERWEB  is  a  complicated  song,  and  planning  an  actual  story  for  it  would  be  hard  to  express  in  the  right  way."  VERONIKA  also  comments:  "at  the  end  of  the  day,  i'm  a  performer,  and  i  want  to  show  that  through  my  first  single.  sometimes  all  you  need  is  an  intense  stage,  a  couple  of  props  and  passion  to  show  the  story."  this  single  was  released  only  digitally  and  as  a  poca  album,  but  the  song  managed  to  reach  twenty-nine  million  views  in  the  first  day.

[autumnwhistles]

To those who don't know – I'm currently writing a Last Life musical (first song here!). This is an excerpt from Song 2 (Corners of the World), which establishes the world, some alliances, and Martyn's worldview, as he's the central figure of this. Some lyrics will be below.

As said, more audition info will be coming later this week (I just need to iron a few things out in terms of describing the atmosphere for the soloist's songs), along with the audition form. In the meantime, here's an excerpt of Song 2 (up to the first half of the first chorus), played back on NotePerformer. This song is mainly sung by Martyn – Lizzie, Bdubs, Etho, Joel, Scott and Pearl do show up later, but in the parts you hear they haven't yet.

This is the second main atmosphere I'm going for for songs – more dramatic, important, server-wide or Watcher-related events will be more in the style of Middle of Nowhere (the first, posted, song), but while exploring and delving into the players' lives this will be more prevalent (the exceptions to this are some members of Team BEST, mainly Tango but to some extent Bdubs, whose songs can be more jazzy). I headcanon the state of development of the Last Life world as late medieval, so with the music here (especially the intro) I've tried to evoke a similar atmosphere to the background soundtrack of a typical 'peasant' village.

As said, I don't have the full lyrics yet but here's verse 2 and the chorus (the second half which isn't included in the extract because it's not orchestrated yet):

Walls, corners, edges, I’ve been this way before. You’ll be cornered in the corners, and on edge in many more; And walls you’ll build and walls you’ll raise and walls will fall in war, And in the end, it’ll be a void you’re fighting for. So corner to corner, I’ll keep wandering on, Border to border, through woods, through caves, through spawn, The seasons shift and the people change, there’s night for every dawn Don’t place your faith in fleeting snows*, and keep on wandering (wandering, wandering) on.

(And yep a lot of this – namely title and the second verse – was inspired by Martyn's speech to Ren after he beheaded him in 3rd Life ("You took me in when I was a lowly traveller, going across the lands, searching the four corners of this world. I learned there was nothing in this world for me. Nothing but walls, corners, edges. But you know what, you showed me life. As much as I've taken it from you, you gave it back to me in bucketsfulls") hehehe... except now it's back to being Walls Corners and Edges again because of 3rd Life turning out the way it did and them starting anew (and also 'Ren's death made c!Martyn permanently more selfish' my beloved).)

*I may change this if it's too on the nose/sounds too unnatural, but that's how it is for now.

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — Don't Make Me by Malinda

In all of the fluffy animated fairy tale adaptations that have been made over the past century, it's often been glossed over that the original stories were cautionary tales. Girls were warned and prepared for dealing with potentially abusive husbands. The best case scenario would be reaching a respectful understanding, but sometimes more drastic measures might become necessary. When a girl's patience and forbearance hit their limits, she has every right to fight back in any way she can. Even if it makes others judge her for it.

Details:

title: Don't Make Me

performers: Malinda, feat. Thomas Sanders; Anna Ricks & Valerie Torres-Rosario (ladies-in-waiting); Leo Anderson & Adam Paul (guards)

written & arranged by: Malinda Reese, Hannah Tobias, & Johnny Deltoro

video by: PattyCake Productions

release date: 11 October 2019

My favorite bits:

the cheerful, lilting intro narration

Malinda's sultry humming leading into the first verse

all the visual parallels between the happy wedding flashbacks and the dark aftermath — the goblets, the dip, removing her tiara

♫ "Can I offer you a little salt for that wound?" ♫ sung with such condescension

her delicate, plaintive tone on the first instance of ♫ "Don't make me be the bad guy" ♫

the contrast of the sinister tone of the men plotting over a stick figure drawing

♫ "Your offering's empty, godless, and cold" ♫, oof

the ladies' superhero-style costume change sequence

the muffled filter on the start of the third chorus to allow more focus on the fight scene

matching the timing of the sword strikes with the beat 🤺

Malinda's fabulous descending belted run

the ladies facing down the armed guards with their bare fists

the crunchy counterpoint ♫ "Don't make me be the bad guy" ♫ as the guard is flipped onto the bed

Thomas's scream when he's tossed from the parapet

that final mirror shot showing the bride in white with her innocence stripped away opposite the unrepentant widow in black

Trivia:

This video was filmed at The Howey Mansion, a location PattyCake had used several times for their "Unexpected Musicals" series.

It was co-directed by Malinda and Tony, while Layne served as both cinematographer and editor.

The shoot day spanned about 13 hours, all of which had been carefully storyboarded in advance by Tony and Layne to ensure they got everything they needed as efficiently as possible.

Fight choreographer Danny Cackley had provided plenty of rehearsal for the combatants, as well as pre-visualization footage for the production team.

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The video racked up 200,000 views in just a few days, and Malinda posted a fun behind the scenes video on her Instagram to celebrate.

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The white gown was Malinda's mother's wedding dress, and she was a little surprised that her mom actually trusted her to bring it to Florida and run around a mansion in it.

PattyCake fans might recognize the blonde lady-in-waiting as Anna Ricks, who plays Aurora in their "Princess Academy" series.

Malinda, Hannah, and Johnny also released an acoustic version of the song, which gives it a more introspective feel.

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[yurababy]

you’re a whole constellation— l.jh

synopsis woozi’s new studio looks a bit too perfect for his liking. he has no idea what to write for his next song, but he has a thought on how to make his new space a bit more homely.

notes idol!lee jihoon (woozi) x afab!reader, ONLY 2.9K WHAT. NO WAY. i’m sorry. some angst, fluff, and smut, implied squirting or whatever u wanna call it, fingering, yeah. the vibe here is: “i call u babe, baby’s called my happiness.”

➤ happy bday. ⭐️🍰 wrote this on a whim. title from “nasty” by ariana grande bc jihoon has recommended it before. refer to pics of the universe factory if u don’t know what it looks like. he publically showed his new studio november 2021 for reference. not proofread i’ll do it later! universe factory is unbelievably gorgeous so i needed to do this. i’m sorry this took forever. it took me 4 months. mb bro.

part of the don’t listen in secret series.

taglist ♡ @zen003xx @seung-sungs @angelwonie @rubyreduji @vvsmydiamonds127 @shualicious @whyokoa @dreamhannies @313hwa @minnie-mouser22 @knucklesdeepmingi @lenireads @oolanderr @bestboysvt @misssugarlips @whereisgyu @kodzukein @i4kt @wonushuasworld  @aurumness @bibinnieposts @venusprada @ikissvernon  @listxn @starlight-nightz @svtrbi​ @bakugosbottombitch @kooklovesu @alluringlino @hiddlesdweeb

༺♡༻

“holy shit, ji,” you said as a heel clicked against the hard floor upon entering the room. a chuckle was more exhaled than laughed beside you, and if you weren’t busy admiring the setting, you’d see a suddenly shy woozi scratching his neck.

“i like it so much,” he admitted, trailing behind your wandering figure. “i’m so excited to work in here.”

“universe factory” couldn’t have been executed more perfectly than this. the purple-pink LED lights through the area with a small corner designated to a warm yellow glow, the surprising prism with drawings plastered on each side, and the ceiling.

you felt like a little kid peering through a telescope, wide eyed at the invisible celestials. the nebula and twinkling stars scattered on top were more reminiscent to an old trend of galaxy-print than a NASA sighting. but, as you turned to jihoon for the first time since entering his new studio, you found the stars in his prideful eyes. in that moment, he was sparkling.

you grinned harder as your vision was suddenly becoming blurry. “wow,” you turned your attention to something down, something to conceal the drama of your happiness. “i’m really proud of you.”

he was fixing the positions of some figurines on shelves ever-so-slightly, if you thought about it more it seemed like he was distracting himself the same way you were. he was never one to get emotional. “thank you. i am too… i just need to fill it with music now.”

your interest piqued at that. it was always so exciting to see how in the zone woozi was while creating music, but also, how his mind worked. his abilities never failed to astonish you— it was so hot how he just hummed a random melody and it would then be the chorus of a number one title track. he was nothing less than a genius.

“y/n?”

since when was he standing in front of you?

you blinked once, then twice. “yeah?”

you watched his eyes squint and the corners of his lips tug upwards, but you didn’t comment. did he have a thermostat? he should get one. the room is hot, the air feels thick. maybe you can buy him one of those hand-held fans. maybe you can fan him while he composes.

“i asked if you wanted to help. like, now, just casually.”

definitely casually, you thought, but the furrow of your eyebrows was made evident to jihoon. “i mean,” he continued, an eyebrow of his own raised, “maybe you’ll have some kind of fresh idea. new studio, new sound?”

“oh.” did he want you to sing? to play an instrument? this was woozi, what could you do that he couldn’t? “i’m not sure how i could possibly help you make a song, but sure,” you smiled. you’ll figure it out, probably, and why wouldn’t you want to spend some time with jihoon?

“trust me, you can help me in more ways than you can imagine. we’ll make a song like the kpop industry has never seen before.”

that had you holding back a scoff— what hadn’t the kpop industry seen? woozi likes it when people are honest around him. you decided to share your confusion out loud.

it only earned a wider grin from the boy who was making his way towards his long sofa. you followed in suit, taking note of the mirror right in front, taking up the full length of the wall, and his piano to the right of the mirror. the brief wonder of why such a large mirror was in his studio was held back from being verbally expressed when your earlier question received comment from the boy who had sat on the soft ivory.

for someone of jihoon’s stature, his hands were truly suprisingly large. his veins exposed themselves as nimble fingers spun a pencil in one hand, the other setting aside a notepad. he still held his smile, exhaling a bit dramatically as he patted the space on the cushions beside him, inviting you. “fans seem to think otherwise. i’m sure we could figure something out.”

that’s how you and jihoon found the first half of the evening’s end, the loud laughter and attempts at piano during dusk melting into squints to find starlight in the midst of pollution. the failed musical endevour had been given up for catch-up time accompanied by a previously hidden wine bottle.

“i wish we could see real stars more often,” you sighed, emphasizing the adjective as to not discredit the admiration for the universe factory. your eyes flickered from the faint glows above seoul to the lilac luminescence in your surroundings. a chuckle had you tilting your head at the boy beside you.

he shaked his hand as if to say “no, nothing,” but still provided context. “that reminded me a lot of a song i worked on earlier this year. you know i wish, right?”

your lips involuntary curved upwards as you nodded and sat up facing him. it was better this way, hearing jihoon talk about something he was so enamored with. you wondered if all his writing credits allowed for casual eloquency practice.

something was suddenly quiet, like jihoon was lost in his thoughts. you decided upon asking a question.

“how do you come up with sad lyrics?”

woozi seemed somewhat taken aback by that, evident in the widening of his eyes, but he regained his composure as soon as he lost it. in fact, he eaned back and stretched his triceps. “usually just imagining what it would be like, i watch anime too.”

you furrowed your eyebrows. “not experience?”

he now looked in the space between his lap, clicking his tongue. “not usually, to be honest. i don’t have time to get experience,” he laced the words with a laugh, a silent understanding between the two of you that he was talking about love. “it gets a little tiring sometimes.”

you couldn’t help the words that came out of your mouth next, a bit too fast as if instinct: “romantic or not, you’re surrounded by love, ji, that counts.”

times like these had you regretting your awful memory, when jihoon would break his front and look fragile. the look that followed your response was not quite hurt but held the same pain and shock, like it was miles away from what he expected. you turned away, once again regretfully—  it was a face that you were not supposed to see. and woozi recognized that a beat too late, because a frown already painted your face at the sight of his blush-streaked pale.

you knew he did not want to talk about that outburst from his initiation of affection. he extended an arm, an invitation which you accepted by meeting the boy who sat up almost diagonally on the corner of the couch. your body fit in between his spread legs as the back of your head hit his shoulder, woozi’s arm swinging around your own.

one, two, and some more kisses were planted somewhere among your hair and forehead. the distance between the two of you was small, but you still questioned your hearing when hot breath accompanied his lips, a plush sensation against your skin as if he was saying something but you couldn’t make out anything more than mumbles. you did make out one thing though, a little, “at least i have my friend baby.”

at the therapeutic atmosphere, your eyes has subconsciously fluttered shut, and you hadn’t realized until you remembered the joy of being in the moment with jihoon, seeing him. you must have looked starstruck when your gaze met his considering how his gibbous eyes waned into crescents, his mouth replicating the semi-circle shape as well with his smile. for some reason it made you smile too, maybe too hard for the moment.

“i love music,” he suddenly confessed, grin evident in his voice. your eyes coincidentally fell towards the wine bottle from earlier.

your face knit in confusion and you exhaled a laugh, but he kept smiling. “what’s got you so happy now?”

jihoon wet his lips and looked down at you, eyes back to their standard size. “i’ve always had this idea that i don’t think anyone else has really done.” a pause. you waited before questioning because it was so easy to tell when he was thinking. you felt the returned contact of his lips on your face in that duration. “in kpop. something you can help me with.” he then added.

you occupied yourself with his hand, ever-so reminiscent of jade and silk. “i’m listening.”

you felt the vibration of a hum in the place of a verbal answer, then jihoon’s other hand tilting up your chin. (somewhere along the way of the words you blame his wine on, your gaze fell down on his sculpted hands.)

then, a kiss, to which you eagerly responded. jihoon did not talk much about his past, his relationships, his feelings to begin with, but had you not know his schedule, he might as well have been hitting the club daily. he used his mouth like a paintbrush covering canvas, not quite hungry and overly passionate but not gentle either. the two of you were not doing this often, but you swallowed down a question that you knew was too much.  has there ever been anyone?

the action had the boy make a noise that was only comparable to a purr.

he slowy unweaved the two of you, taking his time to break the touch. you didn’t whine, you knew it was not a true goodbye. he wasn’t one for short or half-assed affection.

“i won’t do it if you say no, i swear, but if you feel like doing something, could i record the audio?” his explanation of his idea had him getting a bit timid, scarlet airbrushed against his cheeks as you watched him. 

“like a video of us fucking?” 

he cringed a bit at that, you coud see it in the scrunch of his nose.“no, no, definitely not, i wouldn’t- no. i just meant the audio? phone face-down.”

“what will you do with it?”

“delete it if you want, but i wanted to try playing an excerpt really quiet in the back of a song. thinking of releasing a solo soon.”

your head moved further up against his shoulder as you nodded. “okay.”

“what?”

you giggled and sat up, allowing him room to get up. “why so surprised? i trust you, musical genius.”

jihoon squinted a bit and shook his head but didn’t verbalize any thoughts as he quietly made his way towards his sound equipment. from there, he pressed a few buttons and did some other stuff that made no sense to you, but watching his veins flex on his nimble hands as he swiftly worked was a nice view. it didn’t take long before he exhaled, almost shyly, “one, two,” and assured the audio was working.

“it’s recording. our voices.” he spoke a bit stiffly, but you knew how he was feeling. it only took the painfully slow cracking of each of his knuckles, a deep breath, and a slightly hesitant would music interfere with the recording? probably, right? before he planted himself onto the chair closest to his recording desk. suddenly, he seemed perfectly comfortable, the evidence in his lax recline and manspread.

“come here,” his eyes dwelled on the ground for a second too long, waiting for your steps across the floor before he would look up. once you made your way over to him, a silent understanding of your designated place to be on his lap, he run his palms up and down your sides. there was a tilt to his head, eyes not leaving yours now. the recording picked up heavy breaths and the smooth of skin against skin with no real contact yet.

then, another breath, trying to come out as a laugh, but the only assurance of this is the disappearance of jihoon’s eyes and the apples of his cheeks. “well,” he started, big hands caging your waist as he circled the dimples of your back beneath your shirt. “let’s make music, then.”

in search of friction, you begin rocking yourself on his lap and take note to catch him in the gym one day. it’s too easy, the way you already begin gasping at the notice of jihoon bucking his hips up. when you bury your face in the crook of his shoulder, his lips latch onto as far as they can reach, near your neck.

“i always liked the color red. lucky me, babygirl wears it so often,” he spoke while pushing your head to face his, taking in the sight of your scarlet blush and lips tinted vermilion.

“jihoon,” you managed to form, though slightly incoherent. “get on with it.”

this earned a smile out of the latter, stroking your hair in what almost seemed like an assert of dominance. “can you go against the soundboard? give me a second.” you got into the requested position, turning your head to watch him fish through a drawer. when he revealed a sweet flavored lube bottle, he ever so nimbley poured a generous amount on his fingers (the way he moved the bottle to cover the entirety of his long digits made you salviate a bit) and approached you at what seemed like a centimeter per second.

one hand met your waist, rubbing circles while the other pulled down your skirt. he allowed it to hit the ground before he let himself see what you had other, a hidden ruby jewel just for him.

“baby’s so kind, coloring me red everytime i see her. thank you for the gift.”

he talked and moved much too slow, the wetness of your cunt darkening the color of your underwear. jihoon rubbed against the cloth with a coo and two fingers before he pushed it to the side.

with the pad of his index against your clit, you took the opportunity to rock against it. woozi didn’t punish, he simpy moved his hand to grip your hip still and gave a light slap to your pussy, eliciting a breathy moan from you. 

(he would have a hard time fitting this into a song, he thinks. he doesn’t think he could produce without being unbearably hard. he figures he could just enjoy the sex and stop thinking about work.)

“jihoon, please, please go ahead, sorry,” you begged. he kissed your shoulder and rubbed your clit with two fingers before thrusting his middle into you. no worries.

and you really loved that about jihoon, that he didn’t understand punishment during pleasure. it wasn’t that you disliked punishment, no, but sometimes you just needed to get on with it. you and him both.

“two,” you almost immedietly spoke, and he followed with his index. they curled knuckle-deep and hit into you in such a calculated rhythm, speeding up into a chorus, making you wonder if he was already composing. 

then, an anti-drop. he slowed and you made incoherable sounds. “y/n, do you want to cum now, or later?”

“both,” you whined, and the beat came back.

“is that so,” he lightly chuckled, speeding up to a pace you didn’t know could still be enjoyable. as he pushed his fingers in further, you gasped, the penetration serving as yet another reminder of how long they are. balancing yourself on the soundboard, you reached for the hand that was steady on your hip and brought it up, up, until his fingers touched your tongue. you smiled against the skin when you heard jihoon grunt.

he pushed the digits further into your mouth, allowing you to circle your spit around his skin. “you have 5 seconds. maybe you forgot, but i can’t have your noises muffled.” muffed, they were, as far as you could tell with the protesting scream that came out as a mere grumble. punishment or not, he was a bit sadistic, something he would dwell on if he had more chances with intimacy like this.

when the time was up, you did not have much time to miss the sensation in your mouth. woozi pulled out his fingers, flipped you around, supported the two of you against the soundboard, replaced his fingers, and kissed you. he knew what he was doing, working at his fast pace with his hand and keeping your mouth busy at the same time. he released your lips everytime he touched them, allowing you to still moan openly while getting what you both wanted. 

“right there,” you breathed out, though it took you a couple of tries to get out the phrase. your g-spot, he figured, angling his fingers to the area.

when he looked at where you were being recorded, he saw the frequency wave showcasing your high-pitched noises, understanding you were close before you whimpered it out. a last minute decision, jihoon’s pinky slid into you accompanied by the other two digits, his fingers rubbing and pumping and the words, “thank you, baby” against your mouth sending you over the edge. he smirked at the frequency wave when you screamed, kissing a tear that slipped from your eye as you came. only, he realized you were still cumming.

“baby,” he looked at your tightly-shut eyes and parted lips, free hand coming up to your neck to cushion your body. “are you okay?”

“huh?” you opened your eyes, becoming aware of just how wet you were. you looked down, only to see his fingers escape from your folds and relocate to his mouth. he seemed to think for a moment, tongue settled against your release, before capturing the hem of your panties between his fingers.

“sorry i ruined these, babygirl. song’s not quite finished yet, though.”

[strangelittlestories]

Chosen

Lux Astra watched sadly as the intruder walked to the centre of the Discussion Chamber. 

“Greetings to our unexpected guest.” The Lux gave the stranger a gentle smile.

“I take it you are the latest ‘chosen one’ that has risen up to remove me from my post?”

Astra was known as the light of the people and the voice of the stars. They had been given the title ‘Lux’ when they were appointed as temporary head of the galactic communion working group. That had been five hundred standard cycles ago.

“I know it is unlikely you will listen,” Astra continued, “but I must try at least to persuade you that you have been set on this path with poor intent. The road you walk is paved in broken promises and leads only to heartbreak. Believe me, the great fate engines who set you on this path will not mourn you. But I most certainly will.”

The great machines that sat in deep space and rattled and shook with the pressures of their universal equations did indeed work towards the death of Lux Astra. He had, after all, defied their predictions when he refused to let the system of Ad Nulli fall to entropy. Since then, a slow but steady supply of chosen ones had begun to arise to correct the snag in their maths.

“I regret,” the chosen one replied earnestly, “that I cannot move aside. My steps have been decided.”

The chosen one’s voice was a strange buzz. It was a soft bug-like vibrato, gentle but filled with the tension of a thousand wingbeats.

“Alas for the tragedy and paradox of prophecy.” The Lux shed a single tear. “To tell all the people of the galaxy they are less important than the destined one, picked by reality itself. But to treat that one as a toy to play hero with and then discard. Know this, chosen one, I know you and love you as the equal that you are. And as an equal I shall kill you.”

Astra waved away his volunteer guards and drew his ceremonial shepherd’s crook, ready to defend himself against whatever magic sword or genius gadget the poor fool would use to murder the Lux.

“Ah. This is where you are mistaken.” The buzz in the chosen one’s voice rose, seeming to itch beneath Astra’s skin. “I was not picked by the machines of fate nor the ghosts of physics. The mind-congress of my planet agreed a chosen one was needed. I was elected as the vessel. The consensus-choir sung the will of my people into my bones and meat and the chorus echoes in me still.”

The chosen one stepped towards the Lux and the air shook with their vibrations now. Dust rose as the ground’s molecules tore apart beneath their feet.

“Stay-”

“I respect what you have tried to accomplish, Lux.” The chosen one said with obliterating gentleness. “But you must know what you have become. A tyrant is still a tyrant, no matter how thoughtful they may be.”

“I see. May I know the name, then, of my elected assassin?”

“You may call me Vox. The people made manifest. The one chosen by itself.” The buzz of their voice was all Astra could hear now. “And I am afraid it is our consensus that we shall not abide you to exist.

[teddyroo12]

Anthems to put your pride playlists from a WIDE variety of genres that was straight up missing from the YT Music pride list, since there's a high chance we're not getting another one. (Hand picked by me. There are absolutely some songs you NEVER heard of.) Feel free to leave more in the comments!

Song: I Do Both Jay and Jane

Artist: La Rissa

Genre: House, Dance, Techno.

Release Year: 1999

Reason/Review: This song is a literal Bisexual anthem.

On Streaming: Yes, all platforms.

Language: English

Link:

Song: Love is a Shelter (In This Burning Town)

Artist: Ofra Haza

Genre: Folk (Middle Eastern), Easy Listening

Release Year: 1995 (Unreleased)

Reason/Review: This song was most likely written about the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine, but the lyrics hit home for LGBT listeners too, especially the line "Love is a shelter any time, when times of madness come".

On Streaming: No, YouTube only. The album that it's from, Queen in Exile, is unreleased.

Language: English, Aramaic

Link:

Song: It's A Long Way There

Artist: Little River Band

Genre: Classic Rock, Soft Rock, 70's, Contemporary listening.

Release Year: 1976

Reason/Review: These lyrics: "I live for the day when I can hear people saying, that they know and they care for everyone, but I feel like I've been here for the whole of my life, never knowing home." While the song uses going on a journey as a framing device, it also has a deeper meaning if you look at it from a queer lens.

On Streaming: Yes

Language: English

Link:

Song: Innuendo

Artist: Queen

Genre: Hard Rock, Ballad, 80's, Hair Metal

Release Year: 1991

Reason/Review: How the fuck YouTube Music missed any song by Queen makes me so damn upset. If any Queen song deserves to be put on the list it's Innuendo. This song is directly about rising up against bigots with the line "Our lives dictated by tradition, superstition, false religion" being the most direct. The song is also directly about coming out.

On Streaming: Yes, All Platforms

Language: English

Link:

Song: Pričaj Mi O Ljubavi (English Title: Tell Me About Love)

Artist: Novi Fosili

Genre: Soft Pop, R&B, 90's

Release Year: 1998

Reason/Review: It's a breakup/reuniting song with 2 women singing it.

On Streaming: Yes, All Platforms

Language: Croatian

Link:

Song: 恋と愛の天国 (Latinized: Koi to AI no Tengoku, English Title: Paradise of Love and Romance)

Artist: DANCE☆MAN

Genre: J-Pop, Disco

Release Year: 2000

Reason/Review: The song is about moving to Tokyo to find new love and romance. Tokyo has the biggest gay scene in the country (makes sense, it's the capital). It's also just groovy.

On Streaming: Yes, all platforms

Language: Japanese

Link:

Song: The Rainbow

Artist: Ween, Isaac Hayes

Genre: Rock, 90's

Release Year: 1998

Reason/Review: Seriously. HOW THE FUCK DID THIS ONE NOT MAKE IT IN, THE CHORUS IS LITERALLY "Many colors in the Homo Rainbow, don't be afraid to let your colors shine"

On Streaming: Yes, All Platforms

Language: English

Link:

Song: Love Myself

Artist: Crystal Kay

Genre: Pop, J-pop

Release Year: 2024

Reason/Review: This one's just a pride anthem. Kay has visited and blogged about visiting Pride Parades, this was 100% written about that.

On Streaming: Yes, all platforms

Language: Japanese, English

Link:

Honorable Mentions: (Throw em in as filler tracks)

In The Closet by Michael Jackson, if this song was sung by literally any gay couple, this song would have made it. Holy shit, it's groovy, it's got the metaphors WHY IS IT STRAIGHT?!

Queen in Exile by Ofra Haza, This one could be seen as a pride anthem, but I'm pretty sure this is more of a Jewish Pride Anthem.

Chai (Alive) by Ofra Haza, same reason as Queen in Exile, this song is about how the Jews are still alive and kicking from all they've been through.

Sexual by Amber

Touch Me by Rui De Silva

Everybody Everybody by Black Box

Forever by Dee Dee

Groovejet by Sophie Ellis Baxter

All of these are really good Handlebag house hits

[heartricky]

dog union - "en garde!"

summary: after choreographing the "artist battle mission" song 'en grade' for the survival show, 'boys planet', you had been asked to come and help evaluate the trainee's performance and give advice before their performance in the following days, what happens when you catch the attention of the youngest three trainees?

a/n: this is heavily inspired by @boysplanetmorelike's story "Let's Win This Love" - I reread it so often omg - but I wanted to change it up a bit to fit the dog union! junhyeon I miss you so much.

word count: 836

As a young choreographer, having dropped out of school to pursue your dream of dancing for a living, finding people that would allow you to choreograph for them was difficult, but thankfully, being given the opportunity to co-choreograph a few of the Kep1er title tracks had boosted your popularity, even having MNET contact you about choreographing a new song for their upcoming survival show, Boys Planet.

Naturally, you jumped at the chance, so happy and honoured to have been given such an amazing opportunity. The song being so catchy had played a huge role in your choreography, wanting it to be powerful and eye catching - even cheekily making a reference to how many hours it had taken you to come up with the choreography in the post-chorus!

After recording the song with a couple of dancer friends you had, you sent the dance off to the primary producer of the show, receiving many compliments from other producers as well on the quality of your choreography.

But apparently, MNET wasn't done with you, asking if you were willing to come and advise the trainees who had been given the song to help prepare them for the 'Artist Battle' mission before the final, wanting to make sure that they performed to the best of their ability. You agreed, having seen a couple of clips of the show before, wanting to see if you could spot a couple of your favourite trainees - you couldn't help it that Sung Hanbin was so likeable!

->

After being given a mic and a pep talk from one of the producers and star master, Choi Youngjoon, who was also going to be guiding the trainees on their performance, you walked in bowing at the trainees who were excited to meet the choreographer of the song they were performing.

"Gunwook-ah, look at them! They choreographed the song? Wow, they're gorgeous and talented at the same time?"

You blush lightly at the compliment, making eye contact with a boy with the name 'Kim Gyuvin' on his chest, telling you his name instantly. He smiled, waving lightly before turning to hit his friend, named 'Gunwook' apparently, happy that you had seen him.

You turn to Youngjoon, who had also witnessed the interaction, exclaiming lightly, "Why don't you boys say that stuff about me? I choreograph!"

Gyuvin blushes lightly at the small dig, not wanting to seem disrespectful, "I'm sorry, master-nim, but look at them! You agree that they're beautiful, right?"

"Gyuvin-ah like they'd go out with you, they look like they prefer muscles!" You hear Gunwook say, flexing his bicep muscles, kissing them lightly before winking at you, causing you to laugh a little, ducking your head.

"No! They definitely want a boyfriend who can make them laugh! Junhyeon is five years old!" A third boy who looks to be a similar age says to you, the aegyo clear in his voice, forcing a pout on his face.

You sit there in shock, not knowing what to do, until Hui, or Hoetaek on the show, interrupts, "We are here to get feedback guys, not flirt with the choreographer!" He rolls his eyes, also finding the situation funny, but wanting to stay professional in front of the cameras.

"Wait!" Junhyeon - you learn - shouts. "Let me ask at least, who is the most good looking here, choreographer-nim?"

Not knowing how to respond under the sudden pressure and attention, you mindlessly point at one of the trainee's on the end, someone you recognised from some clips circulating on the internet.

"Hiroto." You say, "Hiroto is the most good looking."

The practice room descends into silence, but not for long until you hear the giggles of Hiroto, winking at him lightly before coming back to look at the three youngest members.

"No!" "Thats not right!" "You can't do that!" " I asked you between the three of us!"

The boys burst into shouts, clearly unhappy with your response, Gyuvin even going over to pretend to whack Hiroto for what seemed to be for simply existing.

"Okay! Okay, okay." Youngjoon finally intervenes, having enjoyed the situation for too long. "If you are comfortable with it y/n, how about I propose a deal?" He pulls you to the side, whispering a fun plan to you, wanting your confirmation before telling the three teens what he had come up with.

Walking back over to your seat in front of the mirror, you clear you throat before speaking,

"Whoever impresses me the most with the choreography, and who stands out to me the most at the final performance can get my number."

Hoping the small incentive would bring a great performance from the boys, you explain the plan, the three dog-like boys agree immediately, Junhyeon even jokingly voicing out his plan to injure his two friends before the performance so that he would perform the best, but you stopped him before he could actually begin to think about playing dirty.

->

And, well, who performed the best at the 'En Garde' performance? That's up to you.