#there’s a lot of info about the album but also about their break for will’s health

[definitlynotdumb]

transcription of the rolling stone article featuring car seat headrest that came out a few days ago (since it's paywalled and barely legible on archive.org), continues under the cut for length

Car Seat Headrest come back from the brink

After a serious health scare for Will Toledo, he and his bandmates reconnected with the joy of playing music together

By Simon Vozick-Levinson

March 4th, 2025

Car Seat Headrest: Dalby, Ives, Katz and Toledo (from left) Image credits: CARLOS CRUZ

Will Toledo has taken fans of his band, Car Seat Headrest, on some epic adventures over the years, leading them through concept albums full of lengthy songs and countless thrilling concerts. But he’s never spun a story quite as dramatic as the one he’s revealing this spring.

The Scholars, out May 2 on Matador Records, features at least a dozen distinct characters, in settings that include a mysterious university and a clown school. There are references to a 16th-century Venetian playwright, an old American folk song, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. At a private performance of the album at New York’s Bitter End club last month, guests were handed a printed libretto explaining all of this, with lyrics cheekily credited to “my great-great-great-great-grandfather, the Archbishop Guillermo Guadalupe del Toledo.”

There's a lot more mythology where that came from, including an enigmatic online game. If you don't have time to race down the rabbit hole, though, here's the most important thing to know about The Scholars: it's the most directly pleasurable Car Seat Headrest album in a while, packed with anthemic choruses and satisfying live-band crunch. Songs like "The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)" and "Devereux" are bright, catchy, and instantly accessible. The lead single, "Gethsemane", stretches out for nearly 11 minutes of proggy rise and fall.

“It came from jams, mostly,” says Andrew Katz, 34, the band’s wry, energetic drummer. “We hadn’t really played together in a while. Let’s just rip, record it, and see how it sounds.”

A couple of days after the Bitter End performance, Toledo and his bandmates are gathered in the basement of Matador Records’ downtown Manhattan office. Katz sits next to guitarist Ethan Ives, 31, and across from bass player Seth Dalby, 34. In the middle is Toledo, 32, lanky and thoughtful as always, with an N95 mask and long hair hiding much of his face.

Car Seat Headrest began 15 years ago as a solo project for Toledo, who built a devoted fanbase on Bandcamp before moving to Seattle, assembling the musicians who now make up the band, and signing with Matador. Though this lineup has now been together for nearly a decade, they’d never fully brought their live dynamic into the studio before. 

“We found that we had a sound as a four-piece that had not really emerged on any of our previous records, because those were more like me coming up with solo demos and then giving that to the band,” Toledo says. This time, he adds, “I was more of an organizer than the composer.”

The Scholars is a hard swerve away from Car Seat Headrest’s last album, Making a Door Less Open, whose glossy pop surfaces and occasional satirical edge were the result of a long, fraught recording process. Almost as soon as they’d released that album into a pandemic-stunned world in May 2020, Toledo says, he started thinking about doing things differently next time. He recalls listening to Mozart’s Magic Flute and forming the beginnings of an idea for an album structured like an opera, with songs in the voices of multiple characters — an “exercise in empathy,” he says.

Before he could develop that idea any further, though, he was sidelined for months with an unexpected medical crisis that put the band’s future in question. 

Car Seat Headrest previewed their new album, The Scholars, with a private show at the Bitter End in New York. Image credits: GRIFFIN LOTZ FOR ROLLING STONE

IT STARTED IN the spring of 2022, when Car Seat Headrest mounted their first tour since before the pandemic. “When we came back, we found we had a lot of younger fans,” Toledo says. “Fans who had never seen Car Seat before. A lot of them, I think, hadn’t seen rock shows before at all.”

Those audiences made for some memorable nights, as documented on the live album Faces from the Masquerade. At one March 2022 show in Brooklyn, Toledo wore a fursuit onstage for the first time, drawing rapturous cheers from the furries in the crowd. “That was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing that went with the energy that we were riding at the time,” he says. “And the audience loved it… The best shows were, I think, the best shows that we’d played up to that point.” 

“We were like, ‘Finally, we’ve hit the peak. We’re having fun now,'” Katz says.

“And then just a couple shows after that, I got Covid,” Toledo adds.

They canceled their next few shows, and the rest of the band flew home to Seattle. Toledo spent a few days isolated in a Washington, D.C.-area hotel room, resting up and “scrolling through Twitter, looking at all the very nice responses” to the fursuit he’d debuted in Brooklyn. After a week or so, feeling recovered, he flew back west to join the rest of the band.

Once he was home, it became clear that Toledo was still dealing with a serious health issue. “I started feeling worse and worse again, and I didn’t know why,” he says. “I would wake up in the morning, feel OK, and then as soon as I started eating, it seemed like my tongue was burning.”

Toledo got through the next few months with difficulty, canceling some shows and doing his best to tough it out at others. “We played Seattle, and that was by far the worst I’ve ever felt during a show,” he says. “I’m still not sure how I got through it.” Many of his problems were digestive in nature, leading to a mistaken diagnosis of stomach flu. But no matter how many times his symptoms seemed to improve, they always came back.

Finally, in October 2022, he made the decision to scratch all of Car Seat Headrest’s upcoming dates. Toledo broke the news to fans with a grim message posted on social media: “After another month of struggling to regain my health, I am currently forced to face the fact that my body lacks the basic levels of functionality necessary to leave the house most days, let alone embark on a tour.”

During that long period of uncertainty about his health, Toledo’s bandmates let him know they were OK with Car Seat Headrest ending if that’s what it took for him to get better. “I think we had a phone call,” Katz says. “I was like, ‘Dude, if you got to quit, just quit. It’s not the end of the world. We are all capable people. We’ll figure something else out.’”

“Hey, maybe another album’s not in the cards,” Dalby recalls thinking.

Eventually, Toledo was diagnosed with histamine intolerance, a chronic condition that he was able to manage by going on an extremely limited diet. “I remember I did a grocery run,” Katz says, turning to Toledo. “All you could eat was what, carrots and one other thing? It was really scary.”

By the spring of 2023, with Toledo’s health under control at last, they were ready to start work on their next album. The mood was open and collaborative, from those liberating full-band jams to the newly prominent songwriting contributions made by Ives.

“One of the first things we did was just me and him sitting down on one of our friends’ lawns with acoustic guitars and going back and forth,” Toledo says. “Just listening and seeing, ‘Where can it go from here?’ It felt good to step back from the role of having to provide the material.”

The guitarist — a big-time Neil Young fan who’s wearing a Steve Albini T-shirt when we meet — ended up taking a turn on lead vocals at several key points on the album, including on a majestic power ballad he co-wrote called “Reality.” (In the libretto, he’s credited as “Artemis.”) “I had wanted to contribute more writing to the band, and I had already been sort of vocal about that,” Ives says. “It ended up being fortuitous.”

“I thought of our practice space as a workshop,” Toledo adds. “And days when we were working on Ethan’s songs were easier for me.” He liked how it all fit into the storyline he was sketching out, comparing it to the way dancers come on and off the stage in Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker: “I really feel like my strong point is less coming up with the original content and more prodding something that’s already there into a direction that I see it going.”

Ives (left) with Toledo at the Bitter End show. Image credits: GRIFFIN LOTZ FOR ROLLING STONE

TODAY, TOLEDO SAYS, his medical ordeal is in the past, for the most part. “I feel better now than I ever have in my life, in terms of the vigor and energy of my body,” he says. “That still varies from day to day, and there is still fragility there. Sometimes I still do have a day where, for no discernable reason, I have a downturn.”

He’s been able to limit his symptoms most effectively by sticking to a strict diet: “In case any readers out there think they might have this, try a diet of oats, pumpkin seeds, rice, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and, if you eat meat, chicken and turkey.” He also feels he’s benefited in other ways from the clarity that can accompany a health scare.

“Being very sick puts you in touch with what’s real in life and what isn’t,” he says. “As I started getting better, I tried to keep having that time for stillness in my life, and I started meditating more. And I’ve kept that up as a daily practice.”

At both the Bitter End performance and our interview, he’s wearing a tight-fitting N95 mask, which he tells me he does both to protect himself and out of consideration for a close friend who has been battling post-Covid symptoms for five years. “I wear it pretty much whenever I go out in public now,” he says. “It’s more worth it to me to stick on a mask when I’m in public and then have people in safe spaces that I can unmask around.”

He’ll be wearing the same mask when Car Seat Headrest return to U.S. stages this year for a series of carefully limited engagements. “We’re not going to tour in the sense of getting on the road and doing a different city every night,” he says. “Every couple weeks, we’re going to fly out and do a show. And that was a very practical decision based on estimates about my health.”

He and his bandmates are currently working out a new setlist that will have room for some of the more sprawling songs on The Scholars — the longest of which, “Planet Desperation,” rages on for almost 19 minutes on the record — along with at least a few older fan favorites.

“I love how simple they are and how big a reaction we can get,” Katz says of the more concise songs from albums like 2016’s Teens of Denial and 2018’s Twin Fantasy (Face to Face). “I love it. But obviously, you have to fucking move on at some point. You can’t just keep playing ‘Drunk Drivers’ for 25 years.”

Toledo agrees. “I get so excited playing these new songs that I would rather spend less time on the old songs,” he says, and though I can’t see his expression, I get the sense he is smiling slightly. “If they hate the record, we’ll go back to Twin Fantasy. But we’re hoping that they like it.”

here's all, thanks for reading! consider reblogging to support my efforts (no pressure)

tagging @cosmicanchorite and @thoseareyougotsomeniceshoulders since you said you were interested on my other post!

have a good one :)

[smellslikechahnspirit]

[Book]

Are we good for each other?

2. The Streamer

Bang Chan x F. Reader

Synopsis: Written according to y/n trophy. A story about how you two met. Both having a difficult life, finding peace in each other. Not without lots of drama. Just read it, it's great.

Genre: Enemies to lovers, soft, some smut, drama

Warnings: Under eating, depression, toxic ex (Let me know if I missed something)

Word count: 3298

______________________________

[6:15 PM]

Christopher walked into the studio. ‘’Why are you so late? We started like half an hour ago.’’, Changbin scolded at him. ‘’Sorry, something came up I had to go home first.’’, Chris replied. “Why?’’, Jisung asked him with curiosity. ‘’Doesn’t matter, let’s just continue, our break turned out way longer than I hoped.”, Chris said annoyed as they all got behind their laptops and continued on the song they were trying to produce. It wasn’t really working out the way Chris had planned. He thought this was going to be an easy song to write, yet it turned out to be such a pain in the ass. They couldn’t figure it out. It was almost like they’d been working so much lately that their brains couldn’t really handle another one and were in desperate need of a vacation or at least some time off. But they didn’t know when to quit. 

[7:03 PM]

They were still at it, when suddenly JYP came barging in. ‘’Okay guys that’s enough, close your laptops, now.”, he said as he took a seat on the couch next to them. They were a bit confused, also since they were extremely tired. ‘’What, why?’’, Jisung asked. Chris looked at the door opening and saw Jeongin standing there.

‘’I’ve heard about how hard you guys have been working and of your plans to finish the album earlier than expected but this is not right, I need my employees to be healthy and in the right mind. You guys are taking a break whether you guys like it or not.’’, JYP said firm, but sweet.

Chris looked back over at Jeongin since he knew he must’ve snitched on them. ‘’It was supposed to be surprise, to finish the album earlier, thanks mate…”, Chris said to Jeongin. “No no no, don’t blame him, it was all of the members who gave me info on your work behaviours. They are looking out for you guys, be thankful.”, JYP said. They all stayed quiet for a bit.

‘’Look, I understand you guys too, but this isn’t healthy. That’s exactly why I’m giving you all a break, including the other members.”, JYP said while looking at the 3 boys. Chris looked up with big eyes. “What, no, I can’t not work. I need something to do.”, Chris said stressed. “Yeah, about that. I know you’re a workaholic, so instead of giving you a vacation or something, I have a task for you all. Instead of working on your music, I want you guys to skill up on some of the ISAC competitions. Go try wrestling, or sprinting, maybe even archery. I don’t care what you decide to skill up on, but this year I want us to beat a lot of idols in ISAC. So maybe you’ll even find a new hobby out of this. It takes your mind of work, plus this is still kinda work. Since I’m asking you guys to do this.”, JYP said.

Chris wasn’t happy with all of this, but also realised that it might be the best thing to do for them right now. Normally he’d keep going until he couldn’t anymore, but seeing the other members go through the same thing made him concerned about them as well, so eventually he understood why JYP was doing this. “Alright, so from when do we- “, Chris tried to ask, when JYP interrupted him immediately. “Right away, leave everything at your desks, you’re free to go home and relax for now. Tomorrow, I don’t want to see anyone at dance or vocal practise let alone see anyone in the studio.”.

“And when do we go back to work again?”, Changbin asked. “Whenever I think is right, you’ll hear from me.”, JYP replied. “But really, please don’t see this as a bad thing, guys, I just want you guy to perform at your best and you need to calm down with the hard work, at least for a little while haha.”, JYP said laughing. The guys finally all gave in and felt at ease. Looking at each other like they could really relax now, for a while. JYP gave them all a hand and left the studio.

[7:41 PM]

Since JYP told them to take the rest of the day off, they were now all at the dorms. But Chris wanted to talk to all the members together, so Minho, Jeongin, Felix and Seungmin came over to their dorm, just for a little while. They were all sitting in the living room when Chris came back from the bathroom.

“So, what’s the plan Hyung?”, Minho asked him. Chris didn’t look that bright due to everything that happened today, yet he didn’t want to tell the members his hardship. “Well, JYP asked us to skill up on some of the ISAC subjects. Obviously were not gonna start until tomorrow, but it might be smart to think about which skill you wanna improve on.”, Chris said.

They all started thinking about the subjects and which one they’d enjoy the most. “I think I’ll go with archery, I’m not that great yet, I mean I can do it, I just wanna be even better.”, Jeongin said. They all agreed with him, that sounded nice. “I might try soccer, I’m not terrible but I definitely like to improve that skill.”, Seungmin said right after. “Nice!”, Chris said. They all smiled. Something about doing these fun activities, for “work”, was kinda fun after all.

The rest of the guys still had to think about it for a bit. “Do you think I could try and skill up on gaming? I know I’m pretty good already, but I’d really love to.”, Felix asked. “Uhm, well I mean I think JYP meant that you’d have to improve on a skill, you already got this down man, why not try something else?”, Chris replied as the leader he is. “Yeah, you’re right. I just thought it’d be nice, but no, you’re right. Maybe I’ll try archery too. What about you though, have you thought of anything you wanna do yet?”, Felix asked.

Chris stayed quiet for a little, he was thinking. He was already really good at almost every sport, he was fast, strong and got basically everything down already. “I don’t know man, do you have an idea of what I should improve on?”, he asked Felix. “Hmmm, well, why don’t you improve your gaming then?”, Felix replied. He looked up and saw the rest of the guys looking at him too. “Whyyyy do you guys always say I’m bad at gaming, I’m not that bad! Am I?”, Chris asked.

“Do you want an honest answ- “, Minho got cut off by Hyunjin. “You’re not THAT bad, but also not that great Hyung.”, Hyunjin said. Chris thought about it for a second. “I’ll sleep on it.”, Chris said. “Well, for now let’s all just relax, and tomorrow I wanna hear all of your ideas, and well find you a suitable coach for your skill.”, Chris said as he got up and waved the guys goodbye and went to his room. The guys all went on with their stuff and some went home to their own dorm. Besides Felix.

He went over to Chris his room. They’re really close so Chris didn’t mind. I mean they’re all pretty close, but Felix and him were just different together. Without saying anything Felix walked in and closed the door behind him.

Chris of course, couldn’t just do nothing, so he sat behind his small desk next to his bed. He really wanted to open his laptop but thought it might be better not to, since he'd see all the unfinished projects.

Felix walked over to the bed and laid on it. Took out his phone and opened up the streaming platform. His favourite streamer was on, playing his favourite game. He smiled at the phone, proud, since she had the lead score. Chris looked over at him. “Why are you smiling”, Chris asked. “Yeah, so there is this girl, she’s a streamer, but I actually have been playing together with her for a while now. She’s amazing at this game! Although I don’t know what’s wrong with her right now, she sounds very depressed.”, Felix said with an honest expression.

Chris was curious now and got up and lay down next to his friend, so he could see his screen too. “Like privately?”, Chris asked. “Yeah, I once contacted her and she replied, since then we’ve been gaming together a lot, almost every night.”, Felix said. “What’s her name?”, Chris asked cuz he was very intrigued now. “Well, her gamer tag is PurpleStrike00, but I mean I know nothing about her besides that. We both respected each other’s privacy. So, I don’t know, I never asked.”, Felix replied.

Chris watched her play; she was indeed amazing. They both kept watching for a while. Since there was no cam, only her voice audio, they listened carefully, as she explained her actions.

“So yeah, I see those two hiding behind that van, if I go from the right, I can snipe them easily, they’d have no idea where I’m shooting from. Ha haaa, see I told you. Damn I wish my friend was online right now to witness this beautiful double kill. Ah I’ll tell him about it later, he’s always on very late.”, the streamer girl spoke to her audience.

Felix and Chris looked over at each other, smiling.

“You know the guy I’ve been playing with lately right; you’ve probably noticed him in my team for a while now. He’s really good, we will definitely join championships next year.”, she spoke. “She’s definitely talking about you mate!”, Chris said to Felix, who just blushed.

The stream went on for a while when she suddenly started speaking again, in a very sad soft tone. “You guys wanna hear a little story while we’re waiting for the new match to load? You see today was actually a pretty bad day for me. Not that anyone asked but I just feel like telling this story, I hope you guys don’t mind.”, she said.

Everyone in the comments was very curious and asked her to tell it. “So today, I was just working at my job downtown. Lately I’ve just been a bit out of it, since I am currently not in a great place, but imma spare you guys the details on that. So, I try to help out a customer. Since he looked pretty stressed out, and I wanted to be nice and help him a bit by doing my job right for once. Yet of course everything went wrong. I tripped and spilled his drink on him by accident.”, she said very embarrassed.

Chris couldn’t believe his ears. Could this really be the girl from the café today? He stayed quiet and continued listening. “I mean this wasn’t the first time something like this happened, since lately I messed up a lot at work, but this time my boss had enough. She fired me. I mean I totally get it, the guy I was serving was actually pretty well known. You guys will know him too, but I’ll respect his privacy and will not say his name, but I’m pretty sure that I got fired, since my boss knew who he was too.”, she spoke.

Chris looked down. He already felt bad for her when it happened but now after he heard her say she wasn’t in a good place to begin with he felt even worse. He may have been a bit upset in the moment, but he couldn’t care less if someone spilled a drink on him by accident, it could happen to anyone.

Felix looked over at him. “What?”, he asked. “Nothing, just…that’s a pretty upsetting story.”, Chris said. He didn’t want Felix to know it was because of him, since Chris now blamed himself. Felix stayed quiet for a little bit but then suddenly looked up at him with big eyes. Chris was confused.

“Okay hear me out, what if, we ask JYP to hire her as a coach, to help you with your gaming skills? That’s a perfect plan! Then she gets a new job, and you can learn skills from the best. Plus, I know her so I can ask her straight away.”, Felix said all excited. Something inside Chris liked the idea, cuz then he’d be able to make it up to her. But also felt guilty and was kinda scared.

“Uhm, I don’t know man, what if she doesn’t want to?”, Chris said. “Well, I can just ask her if she’s interested right? Maybe she doesn’t maybe she does. I’ll message her, wait.”, Felix said. Chris felt hesitant but stayed quiet. Felix texted her and she responded through her stream.

“Hey, I see my friend is online guys, I think imma go for today. It was fun, I hope to see you guys in the next stream. Bye for now!”, she said and ended her live stream. Immediately she called Felix.

~

Phone call

Y/n: Hey AussieBlaze_LYB, I saw your text what’s up, you’re off early, wanna join a match? I’m just done streaming. (You sounded a bit upset, still after all, happy to hear from him though, since he’s kinda your only friend at the moment, even though you don’t know him)

Felix: Hey, yeah, I got off early today, there were some complications, I’ll tell you about it soon. But hey, I don’t wanna be rude to ask, but what was with that story just now, I listened to your stream, you got fired? (Felix said with an understanding tone)

(You started crying softly not able to say another word due to all mixed feelings)

Y/n: Sorry I really do not wanna be pathetic right now but as a matter of fact I am. I am a loser. (You explained everything again and with more detail, also what you were feeling in the moment) Sorry, I know it might be a lot to take in, but I feel like we can talk comfortable with each other like that since were pretty close now.

Felix: Hey hey slow down, breath, of course you can talk to me about problems. You see, I know we do not know each other besides the fact that we game together, but I feel like you need someone to talk to right now, and I’m here. Ready to listen. This might be crazy of me to ask you this, but what’s your real name?

(You were hesitant at first. Since he still could be a 40-year-old creep in a dirty basement somewhere. But something in you didn’t care for a second since you were so desperate for attention)

Y/n: Please do not tell anyone else, but my name is Y/n. What’s yours?

Felix: Y/n is such a cool name, my name is Felix.

(You both were laughing after that since you had long debates about not ever telling each other. Then there was a little conversation about this and that, he wanted to hear you laugh since he knew you were upset, and tried to make your day a bit better)

Felix: Okay Y/n listen, I have like the weirdest question ever. You see, where I work, we have an assignment right now. And long story short, we need someone who can teach my group mate how to game.

Y/n: Hahaha well then why don’t you teach, you’re amazing.

Felix: Well, you see that’s kind of the thing, I have to do another assignment, so I won’t be able to. This is actually for work, so like you’ll get paid and everything.

Y/n: Hmhm, so were doing charity work now huh Felix?!

Felix: No no no, not like that, I just figured since you needed a job, and I kinda need you to help me out, so it’ll be a win-win situation, right?

(While you two were having this conversation, Chris was obviously still in the room listening to it all. He felt worse and worse about the situation. He’d now have to spend days, maybe weeks with you, while he knew you didn’t even know it was for him yet. Should he say something? He just couldn’t)

Y/n: Well, to be really honest, I do need the money, I’m barely have enough money left for food, let alone rent this month. So yes, I’ll take it! But you do need to inform me a bit more.

Felix: Okay well, just meet me at this address tomorrow morning. (He texted you the address).

(Then you agreed and asked for things like what you should wear or bring. You started to sound very tired to him, so he preferred it if you’d take some rest for the big day tomorrow. Both of you said your goodbyes and hung up the phone)

~

“See, I told you she’d be interested! This is gonna be so fun, I wonder what she looks like.”, Felix said all excited towards his friend, who smiled but seemed very uneasy still. “Dude what’s up, you seem uneasy. Did you not want me to ask? I think it’ll be great though!”, Felix said while sitting down next to the boy who was currently pacing nervously in him room.

Chris decided he had no other option now but to tell him. “You see mate, today…(he explained how he was in a café and the exact thing as in her story happened today in the café he was in.) and I kind of think she’s talking about me….”, Chris said, looking terrified at his friend's reaction.

“Bro, what a coincidence, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem right? That’s so funny though, you’ve seen her in real life, was she pretty, what did she look like, what was she wearing?”, Felix asked all excited. Chris only remembered your crying face while you walked out. He ignored you from the start so didn’t fully get to take it all in properly. He stayed quiet for a bit.

“Felix, you gave a girl a job, while I know she’s not gonna want it after she finds out it’s for me, and I didn’t say anything just now.”, He said putting his hands through his hair. “Why would it matter, why would she not want it?”, Felix said acting dumb. “Didn’t you hear her just now, she despises me, she got fired because of me, she probably hates me, she even said she knew who I was.”, Chris said a bit more panicked than before.

“Well let’s be honest, she didn’t even tell me privately who you were, so something in her respects you and your privacy.”, Felix said smirking. Chris just looked at him dumb founded. “Let’s just leave it for now, go take a nice warm bath, and just relax, I’ll see you tomorrow in front of the gate at work, around 7 am. I’ll tell her to be there at that time too over text. Everything will be fine.”, Felix spoke as he encouraged his friend to stay calm. Then Felix left right away, so Chris wouldn’t have time to respond.

[11:03 PM]

You had laid out your outfit for tomorrow. It was a very nice expensive dress, your ex once got for you. You hated wearing it, but it was the only formal thing you had, and you wanted to look professional. You were super excited. Sadly, it was still a few hours of sleep, before tomorrow, so you decided to just hit the hay with a very excited feeling in your stomach. Felix had texted you the time and address. Which made you feel warm. You really felt like you could trust him. Only time will tell now.

Part 3

...Masterlist...

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© 2022-2025, smellslikechahnspirit • No posting on other sites or platforms, rewrites, or translations

[manaberrysoup]

Hi pookies!

On this account, I’ll be talking about Visual Kei, its history, and popular bands! 🎤🎸

(I’m new to this app, soo a lot of things are still a bit confusing for me 🙏🏻) There's not much info about Visual Kei online, and it’s often hard to find, so if I can help anyone interested in this topic, I'd be super happy !! ᕦ⁠༼⁠✩⁠ل͜⁠✩⁠༽⁠ᕤ

!!

Before We Begin: I apologize for any spelling mistakes, as English isn’t my first language. 🙇‍♀️

This post will include: What Visual Kei is, Visual Kei genres, and information about Visual Kei bands.

Okay class, first lesson!! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

What is Visual Kei?

Visual Kei (Vkei) is a music and fashion subculture that originated in Japan. The term "visual style" refers to a concept that involves not just music but also dramatic stage costumes, makeup, and overall aesthetics. It was popularized in the late 1980s and early 1990s by bands like X Japan.

1. Visuals: Vkei artists often dress in androgynous styles that challenge gender norms. Expect colorful hair, exaggerated costumes, dramatic makeup, and theatrical accessories!

2. Music Genre: Vkei bands generally blend rock and metal influences with other genres like punk, pop, gothic, etc.

3. Performance: Stage performances are theatrical, often focusing on storytelling and creating a dramatic atmosphere.

Sub-genres:

1. Eroguro Kei (Erotic-Grotesque Kei):

Features: As the name suggests, Eroguro Kei combines erotic and grotesque elements. It is known for its dark and disturbing aesthetic. Costumes are often scary, vampiric, or horror-themed. Stage performances frequently include images of fear, death, and taboo subjects.

Examples: Some periods of Malice Mizer and the early years of Dir En Grey(visual kei era) MAYBE close to this style.

Malice Mizer ☆

Genre: Gothic Rock, Baroque Pop

Active Years: 1992 - 2001

About:

Known for their gothic and theatrical style, the band pushed visual elements to the extreme. The era with Gackt as the vocalist is particularly famous. Iconic songs include "Beast of Blood" and "Bel Air."

Career Summary:

Malice Mizer debuted in 1992, creating a legacy with their gothic, baroque, and theatrical approach. Over their career, they went through three different vocalists, each bringing unique styles. Their most famous era was with Gackt as the vocalist (1995–1999). After the death of drummer Kami in 1999, the band eventually disbanded in 2001. Despite their short lifespan, they are considered one of the most iconic Visual Kei bands.

Dir en Grey

Genre: Alternative Metal, Progressive Rock

Active Years: 1997 - present

About:

With a darker and more experimental sound, the band has transcended the boundaries of Visual Kei, gaining an international fan base. Songs like "Obscure" and "The Final" have had a massive impact on the Visual Kei scene.

Career Summary:

Starting in 1997 as a more traditional Visual Kei band, Dir en Grey quickly evolved into a group with a darker, more experimental sound. They have toured extensively in Europe and the US, building a global fan base. Albums like "Withering to Death" and "Uroboros" showcase their transition into alternative and progressive metal, solidifying their status as an innovative force in rock music.

2. Kote Kei:

Features: Kote Kei represents the traditional and classic style of Visual Kei. In this subgenre, stage performances and costumes are usually darker and more serious. Black, red, and metallic colors are typically prominent. The fashion consists of costumes that combine both masculine and feminine elements, often with gothic touches.

Examples: X Japan and early Luna Sea can be considered examples of this style.

X Japan

Genre: Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock

Active Years: 1982 - present (with breaks)

About:

Pioneers of Visual Kei and one of the most influential bands in introducing this subculture to the world.

Career Summary:

Formed in 1982 by Yoshiki and Toshi, X Japan is considered the pioneer of the Visual Kei movement. They gained immense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s with albums like "Blue Blood" and "Jealousy." After disbanding in 1997, the band reunited in 2007, continuing to perform globally. Their iconic song "Endless Rain" remains a Visual Kei anthem.

Luna Sea ✷

Genre: Rock, Progressive Rock

Active Years: 1989 - present

About:

One of the most influential bands in the Japanese rock scene, known for their softer and more melodic sound. Popular tracks include "Rosier" and "I for You."

Career Summary:

Formed in 1989, Luna Sea became a key figure in the Visual Kei scene. Their music blends melodic rock with progressive elements. They disbanded in 2000 but reunited in 2010 and have since continued to release new music and tour. Albums like "Mother" and "Shine" are iconic in their discography, and they remain a favorite in Japan's rock history.

3. Oshare Kei:

Features: Oshare Kei is the more cheerful, colorful, and energetic side of Visual Kei. In this subgenre, the clothing is generally in pastel tones, stylish, fun, and sometimes "kawaii" (cute). The music is lighter, energetic, and sometimes contains pop-rock elements. The stage performances focus more on fun than visual aesthetics.

Examples: Bands like An Cafe and SCREW can be considered examples of this subgenre.

An Cafe

Genre: Oshare Kei, Pop Rock

Active Years: 2003 - 2019 (with breaks)

About:

An Cafe (Antic Cafe) is one of the most well-known Oshare Kei bands, famous for their colorful and cheerful style. Their songs are often fun, energetic, and positive. Fans of the group are called "Cafekko."

Career Summary:

An Cafe debuted in 2003 and became a leader of the Oshare Kei movement in the mid-2000s. After a hiatus in 2010, they returned in 2012 but announced their disbandment in 2019, concluding with a farewell tour.

SCREW

Genre: Oshare Kei, Alternative Metal, Visual Kei

Active Years: 2006 - 2019

About:

SCREW is one of the heavier and darker Oshare Kei bands. Their music features emotionally intense lyrics combined with powerful riffs and melodic elements.

Career Summary:

Founded in 2006 by Byou and Jin, SCREW became a prominent name in the Visual Kei scene during the early 2010s. They disbanded in 2019 after 13 years.

4. Angura Kei:

Features: Angura Kei is a subgenre deeply connected to Japanese culture. This style blends traditional Japanese clothing (such as kimonos, samurai attire, etc.) with modern Vkei aesthetics. It is often inspired by Japanese history and culture.

Examples: Kagrra, and some older songs by PSYCHIC LOVER can be examples of this style.

Kagrra

Genre: Angura Kei, Neo-Japanese Rock

Active Years: 2000 - 2011

About:

Kagrra, is a standout band in the Angura Kei subgenre. Their music blends traditional Japanese instruments and melodies with modern rock and Visual Kei aesthetics. Their lyrics often draw inspiration from Japanese mythology, folklore, and history. Stage costumes frequently incorporate traditional Japanese styles like kimono and samurai themes.

Career Summary:

Debuting in 2000 as "CROW," they soon changed their name to "Kagrra,." The band disbanded in 2011, releasing their final album, "Hyakki Kenran." Tragically, vocalist Isshi passed away the same year. The group is considered a pioneer in fusing Japanese culture with modern music.

PSYCHIC LOVER

Genre: Rock, Anisong (Anime Songs), Angura Kei

Active Years: 1998 - present

About:

PSYCHIC LOVER is a well-known name in Japan’s anisong scene, particularly for their work on anime and tokusatsu (Japanese sci-fi series) themes. They combine traditional Angura Kei aesthetics with the energy of anisong. Their music is often high-tempo, with powerful vocals and energetic guitar riffs.

Career Summary:

The band rose quickly in the anisong scene in the early 2000s, gaining a dedicated fan base through their work on anime, Super Sentai, and tokusatsu projects. Their stage performances are dynamic and occasionally incorporate Japanese cultural elements in costumes and music videos, nodding to the Angura Kei style.

!!!

Each Vkei subgenre offers a different world in terms of both music and visuals. Simply labeling it as a "gothic stage" is an oversimplification. ☝🏻🤓

We’ve reached the end (╥﹏╥)

I’m finishing here. Honestlyy, if it were up to me, I’d write until morning, but I’m not sure if this will really reach people, so I don’t want to write for no reason. I’ll continue based on the interaction I get. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me.

I wish you all healthy days. ♡

Written by: manaberrysoup

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I refused to be my ex-boyfriend's sisters' bridesmaid?

💐 to identify

Me (29F) and my now ex-boyfriend (29M) have been dating for almost 4 years now and we broke up last month. I found he was cheating on me, but that is not the only reason - the relationship has been going downhill long before that and in a way I'm glad it ended. I'm not going to detail the relationship because that is not the point of this post, but just to be clear we are still living together (separate bedrooms), I'm preparing to move to a city I have always wanted to live in and we have reached a stage where we can calmly discuss things to make the break smooth for each other, and he has been very accomodating so far.

Now, my boyfriend's sister (27F) asked me to be her bridesmaid two years back when she got engaged, and back then everything was okay so I said yes. She is going to be married this summer. To be clear about this, we don't have a relationship outside of her brother. We get along fine with each other and have some common interests, but we have never hung out one on one except for a couple of concerts we went to together. The only reason she asked me is because I'm her brother's girlfriend. The other bridesmaids are two of her friends and their eldest brother's wife. She doesn't have a lot of friends and I feel like the only reason she asked me and her SIL is because she didn't want to do the wedding with just two bridesmaids.

I don't plan to have a relationship with her once I move out of here (I want a clean break). I'm sure she wouldn't want my pictures all over her wedding album if she knew of the fact, and neither would I. That said, if I back out now it would put the whole wedding in a jeopardy. Everything has been planned with 4 bridesmaids and dress fittings too have been done. The fittings were done before the break up but I could have informed her sooner so they could hold off on making the dress, but I didn't even remember the wedding in the whole mess of everything else. I'm sure the dress has been done by now - I don't know how to ask without having to explain why.

My ex-boyfriend thinks we should just go ahead with the wedding without informing anyone about the break up but I think that's kind of dishonest and also I don't want to wait around here till summer if I can help it.

Even if we aren't that close I still think it was sweet of her to ask me and I was touched by the gesture and now I feel bad, because I will mess up the wedding preparations and she may possibly have to postpone it if she can't find a bridesmaid in time, and I will end up adding to her and her husbands' worries during this stressful time.

What are these acronyms?

[aerinmoriarty]

Taylor Swift frequently references other media in her work in a number of ways. Visual references to films like Wizard of Oz in her music videos, auditory references to Jimmy Eat World in Clara Bow, Dead Poets Society references in TTPD… I speculate she uses dozens if not hundreds of pieces of media to add context to her songs and performances.

It’s important to remember that at her root, Taylor is far more than “just a pop star” or even “just a performance artist.” At her root, Taylor is a storyteller, and one who has an enormous array of methods and modalities of storytelling. Writing songs is just one.

Because of this, because Taylor loves cramming as many layers of meaning as she can into every word or phrase, and because Crestfallen by Smashing Pumpkins is one of my all time favorite songs, it didn’t take me long after discovering Champagne Problems to wonder…

Wait. Does “Crestfallen on the landing” have multiple layers of meaning?

Not just “I’m feeling Crestfallen while I’m standing here on this landing” but also…

…the song Crestfallen is literally playing (or metaphorically running through her mind) while this event is occurring?

And so that got me just considering Champagne Problems more through that lens, adding that context of Crestfallen, taking two of the most heartbreaking songs from two artists I love…

(sometimes I think I just enjoy breaking my own heart)

And especially because I have always viewed Champagne Problems as a karma-type scenario, a tale of 2 engagements/marriages. One where Taylor leaves her muse standing alone, one where her muse leaves Taylor standing alone…

And Taylor understanding in that moment, finally, the pain she’d caused.

Now look, are these literal engagements/marriages, are they another instance of Taylor explaining business using relationships as metaphors, are they maybe less formal in the sense that they’re less weddings and more agreements to come out together or handfastings or agreements to be more exclusive or to prioritize the relationship over the career?

Who knows if we will ever know, the way Miss “keep it secret, keep it safe,” “every bait and switch was a work of art,” “I can show you lies,” tends to write and rewrite and contextualize and recontexualize everything in her life. And hell, it may even be more than 2 specific scenarios being discussed here and she’s talking about events that have been cyclical in her life…. *throws up hands*

Either way, It’s interesting to consider and it’s heartrending if you layer the added sentiment of Crestfallen atop it.

And it’s also interesting cause Crestfallen came out in 1998 and I know a lot of people theorize Taylor wanted to release a rock album named 1998, and that she’s Easter egged that year in the past so media from this year may be of specific interest to her.

And look, I’m probably never going to have significant evidence that she deliberately intended this, beyond a “general vibe”

But also… I don’t really care? One of the things that has been the most fascinating about developing theories surrounding the Taylor Swift Multimedia Universe and trying to figure out which albums and films and songs and poems and books and performances are being referenced by Taylor in her art and albums and performances is just…

The process of the theorycrafting is exceptionally fun. The process of considering media in the context of Taylor’s art and looking for evidence that they’re connected is extremely fun.

It’s fun in that way a lot of us have lacked since we were in school writing book reports and film analyses for fun.

It’s also fun in a very nostalgia-pilled, memecore fashion that no it’s Becky would absolutely vibe with. And remember: Taylor is seemingly simultaneously existing across many eras right now. She can’t use her social media to meme the way she used to.

But she’s still memeing. Hiding clips and references to all her favorite franchises in her work.

I dunno what point I was trying to make; I kinda just got high and info dumped into my tumblr sooo sorry

[clarabowmp3]

hate brigade? I'm sorry but joe alwyn is directly responsible for a lot of the mental hurt that taylor will have to deal with for the rest of her life. I don't understand how people can hear sll, half the songs on midnights not to mention the anxiety ridden lover album and not see the emotional gaslighting joe was putting taylor through! Like that takes a toll and fans qnd the general public alike has a right to call that out. Now he's saying ish about tayvis when none of this concerns him?? Like if that's not manipulative, my name is Bennett cuz he's literally re inserting himself into the ex he resented' life. Unhinged if you ask me. So I don't think it's fair to characterize people as doing the most in this case. Alwyn could have just kept quiet and ate and ate food but now he deserves the dragging. Peace.

wowww wow okay so a couple of things:

we don't know much about their relationship. all we have is speculation based on taylor's lyrics, but we have to remember she is an unreliable narrator, so at best we can take them with a grain of salt. that is excluding how she might have modified certain things to present herself in a favourable light. I'm not saying she did or didn't, but it's a possibility. I say this because of how she's written music about her cheating. She very obviously focuses on how she was feeling and what led her to cheat, rather than her considerations of how it would affect her partner, which I think is yet another manifestation of how she perpetuates her victim narrative. I'm not saying all cheaters are villains, there's definitely some complex emotions involved, but she writes in such a way so as to encourage the reader to root for her by default.

This plays into her desire to be seen as the underdog or hero that everyone wants to support. She did this with Miss Americana too where she spun this whole standing up for women and other marginalised groups narrative, which I think contributed to being a swiftie becoming a trend, along with her whole 'relatable' schtick, fostering personal relationships etc.

There is nothing wrong with liking her music (I'm not gatekeeping), my issue is with people who treat becoming a swiftie as some girl scouts patch to earn by ripping into her 'enemies,' most popularly her exes. Naturally, he has been put through hell on social media since the break-up, up till ttpd dropped and the attention shifted to matty instead.

I agree that many of her love songs from as early as lover are anxiety-ridden, but I think that speaks more to her personality rather than his actions. Certain events may have transpired and he might have acted in a certain way which made her feel insecure etc but we have no reason to think he did it maliciously. What we do have is reason to think this is extremely unlikely. 2016 was rough man, no one knew if she would ever recover from #taylorswiftisoverparty, and yet he still stuck around. To me I think that shows he genuinely cared about her, something taylor has also thought.

Could you elaborate on the emotional gaslighting he has done, (and hence the "mental hurt" he has caused her) keeping in mind all those other reasons why her music is not an accurate source of info ^^?

getting more specific with sll, I don't see how he did anything wrong? I don't want to get too much into it but I know what it feels like to be burdened by someone else's mental health issues, and I do feel irritated by it at times, even though at the end of the day I know it's something they can't control. There's nothing wrong with creating art about difficult emotions, but I think she did not need to release it for the whole world to hear, knowing that they know who she is talking about. The song itself isn't too egregious, she just expresses her frustration with the whole situation ("you'll find someone," "I'm not the one" -> even she doesn't blame him for anything let alone the emotional gaslighting you're accusing him of anon what are you on 😭) the main problem is when people like you use it to villainise joe. like explain to me what part of it shows his gaslighting

For context here is what the whole deuxmoi thing is about, taken from this post:

You can clearly see that he was expressing an opinion on what he thought was a private enough setting. How could he have known he was going to be overheard and it was going to leak to the internet and eventually reach taylor (if any of this ie even true)? She is his ex of 6 years and it's only been a year since their breakup, I think it's fine that he's still somewhat emotionally occupied with her. We don't know if he obsesses about her every day and since the London travis thing is pretty recent, maybe it was just on his mind that day? Also why does he have to keep quiet? taylor can write whatever she wants in her songs, I think he is more than justified to have a conversation in public. We have no reason to think he meant for this to get out or to "[re-insert] himself into the ex he resented' life," as you put it.

to end off, anon I really think you should touch grass (and I'm not trying to be condescending here) because it feels like you're blowing up select details out of proportion to fit the narrative taylor has created through her music. We don't know how accurate that narrative is.

[foxes-that-run]

have you seen the whole niceboy ed saga? Any theories on who he might be?

i feel like he is doing it for attention and promotion taking advantage of the swifties…. i read all the theories but was wondering if there is a chance for Harry to be behind it.

Ed…Harry Edward Styles….all the polaroid pictures, and now the clip with a motorcycle, I don’t know just wondering if there is something with real meaning behind it.

Niceboy Ed

I think the most likely theory is that Taylor is Niceboy Ed and it is using it to announce/promote the re-records. Before 1989 TV it used the 1989 TV colours, referred to events in the 1989 era (Kentish Town, polaroids) and the ice cream emoji 🍦like the this photo.

The provided explanation is that Niceboy Ed is a friend of Joe's, but frankly that makes no sense at all. Especially now 2 years have passed and nothing came of a pretty successful campaign for a Sony artist. Taylor has met a lot of people who want to be famous that aren't (see The 1975 in 2014😂) yet never helped them like this.

To recap/expand

16 September 2022 - A Joe stan account (no, really! 😂) posted to Twitter that Niceboy ed was a friend of Joe's, where they got this info??? The account kept posting about Joe until a month after the break up, so it seems likely it was connected to Taylors team.

17 September 2022 - The same account posted an explanation where they said he was part of Joe's 'frosty crew' and posted a much since shared photo of Joe with some guy as 'proof':

19 September 2022 - Taylor used the Niceboy Ed sound of Life you Lead in the 'Making midnights' Tiktok., then liked 100+ posts using the sound, she wanted us to all notice the sound. I am not aware of Taylor using someone else's music to post before, (especially to promote hers!) It's 15 seconds long, it was the perfect opportunity for a snippet of the upcoming album. I don't believe Taylor would do that to promote anyone, especially not an unknown artist that was friends with or was her boyfriend. At this time people were already speculating they were ending, if not already broken up from. The YLM date and TTPD has supported that they were not on good terms at that time. This was a year before 1989 TV was announced, but we don't know when Niceboy Ed actually started. The lyrics hint at Taylors re-records:

Taken twice You're still a part of me There's still some harmony In my deepest rights On and on and on

24 September 2022 - Niceboy ed posted to Instagram soft yellow posts with a blond baby boy promoting Life you Lead (1/3) hinting that there would be 3 songs/posts, and there now are

4 October 2022 - Niceboy ed went live with a soft pink screen and posted that Heaven would be 2/3. The songcredits only refer to Niceboy Ed and music is copyright Niceboy Ed and no label or licensing deal.. the way Taylor Swift appears.

5 October 2022 - Niceboy ed's first 2 songs are on Spotify and the lyrics seem to reference Taylors masters. The Spotify visuals are a field and a train line in Kentish town.

On Google Maps you can see that the photo posted looks to have been taken at the rail overpass and across the road in 2022 was a bar called "the Rabbit Hole" (right black awning here) which may be a longbow, but given the amount of 1989 vibes from Niceboy Ed I associate this with Wonderland. Kentish Town is also home to Kenish Kebabs that appears in End Game, the owner said that it was "a certain ex boyfriend lived nearby", that quote (and the music video) were during her relationship with Joe, he is not the Ex. The kebab shop is similar to one in the 1D Midnight Memories MV and the area is both near Harry's current home and where he and Ed Sheeran couch surfed with the 1D guitarist in Tufnell Park while Harry dated Taylor. (Joe also grew up in Tufnell Park)

3 February 2023 - Moonlight appeared, this one with a pale blue, it was removed soon after but is on spotify now.

22 March 2023 - April 2023 Life you Lead by Niceboy Ed was track 5 (1989 is TS5) on the Eras Pre Show playlist. There are internet rumours it was removed after the break up, but I can’t find any evidence of the playlist changing till Europe a year later which is also after 1989TV came out.

4 April 2023 - Niceboy Ed posts 10 underdeveloped polaroids. Fans could sign up for emails and revealed polaroids with messages, the emails had Sony Music UK as a street address, (but on Spotify Niceboy Ed, and unknown new artist seemingly signed to Sony owns full rights to the songs with no licensing.... OK, sure, Harry's work is licenced to Sony, but Taylors is now owned outright.) and a sign up for discord

April 2023 - The spotify canvas's are also updated to a blue sky and lights on a road, reminiscent of 1989 and Style

22 April 2023 - Niceboy ed posts a photo of a piano, (that is still there October 2024) and 'live from somewhere, wherever you are' that phrase was used

August 2023 - 1989 TV announced. the vinyl variant colours that match NBE announced then

27 October 2023 - 1989 TV released.

5 October 2024 - After 17 months of silence Niceboy Ed posted this video of a motorcycle, went live and updated his socials for a black and green grab from it. Harry of course rides a motorcycle. He used and ice cream emoji🍦(think back of 1989 TV) before and a circus now. 🎪 (I assume back of Rep TV)

7 October - niceboy ed shared This motorbike and piano https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdJVbHYt

ASCAP

The writer/produced of the songs are niceboy ed and Merru and they are published by Sony Music. In the BMI database "Edward Thomas Oliver Green" is the writer/composer of all songs:

Mick Green / Mick Greenberg being Harry's most well known alias, which he has said he used to book hotels and published I Love You under.

Colours

Would you look at that ... and polaroids.... OK.

Photos of the kid

There is all sort of speculation about this kid being Taylor, Joe, Austin Swift, Ed Sheeran, Aaron and Jack. I'll add that Harry was a blonde toddler, but this kids face is too long for any of them IMHO. I think these photos are AI generated, composite or a model.

Notes on them others have noticed is that there is a reflection, (they are a photo of a photo), the glasses appear edited in and the apron is Postman Pat who was big here and in the UK but I gather not the US.

[rinnsverse]

COFFEE: special.02 — fun facts

COFFEE: tim drake x gn!reader

SYNOPSIS: Tim meets a barista that gives him what he needed most — a large coffee with way to many shots of espresso. Though what happens when just a single action changes the other's life, forever?

coffee master list

assuming you have gone through the whole of my coffee smau — here’s some things that you might’ve not known, my headcanons, and external info

PLAYLIST: coffee — i made a playlist that i think fit this smau or just tim in general, so feel free to listen

coffee pg.00 was originally meant to just be a one-shot but I had the bright idea to turn it into a smau since I had been really interested in them at the time and I had already created the main casts profiles so i saw no reason to not go through with it

originally reader was supposed to be adopted and have 2 moms but I didn’t know if you guys would necessarily want that or how relatable that would be so I scrapped it and went with unnamed overbearing mother and father

i actually had this idea back in December of 2022 and meant to post it on wattpad yes ik laugh at me but i didn’t have the guts to do so and I already had a lot of unfinished work that will remain unfinished

this smau also sprouted up bcuz i had gotten back into the dc rabbit hole bcuz of this goddamn site

I had also originally planned for reader to give Tim a sticky note attached to his coffee that said something along the lines of: “Good luck with whatever you need 8 shots of espresso for :)” but I for some reason didn’t so the special note at the end of the pages didn’t rlly make any sense

tim might be a genius but he has a terrible sense of direction which is multiplied tenfold when he’s sleep deprived, hence why he almost dropped you off at the wrong apartment once — pg.04

duke being readers bsf happened cuz i personally believe duke deserves more content about him

duke also always somehow manages to be the messenger bird whenever both you and tim have a fight given how tim's first resort is the silent treatment and you're petty enough to give it back so the most the two of you ever communicate during that time is through duke — pg.15

on that same note harley has become your couple counselor which always manages to become awkward due to the sole fact tim is trying his best to subtly glare at harley since she has repeatedly tried to break his kneecaps when he was on red robin duty; again, petty

this was written by a person who has never worked at a coffee shop before so if you see and inaccuracies and have worked at one, feel free to call me out on it — not so i can fix, but bcuz i find my mistakes hilarious dont ask why, i just do

i still struggle on how i format the titles of the pages and always have to look back on my previous posts to remember how i typed things out

i also suck at developing feelings and crushes with characters so if it seems rushed or sucks that will be my one and only excuse given the fact that i find it extremely hard to even gain a crush irl

nothing was proofread

tims favorite taylor swift album is evermore i may or may not make seperate headcanons about that later

planning on posting a wattpad version of this fic sometime this year, i am still debating on starting an ao3 acc since the only thing i ever do on there is simply just read fics and im not sure if i like/understand ao3's format enough to start tho

TAGLIST: @grandstrangerphantom @marsbars09 @fabitheraven @lovelypitasworld @dyjcksn @mae77eris @sugarrush-blush @djchik @soundsfunbutno @apizzacalledmel @strangetrashblog @cipheress-to-k-pop @harleycao @unhingedtimdrake @a-homosexual-homosapien @aquarii-doodles @love-stay @criminallycan @hecate-frenchfries @job-ross-the-second

[hecateisalesbian]

No clue on who chappel is, synopsis please

The best artist ever

I had like. 5 paragraphs of info written about her. But okay tumblr decided to delete it so here I am writing it again.

OKAY. Second time around.

Chappell Roan is an American singer who gained her rise to fame very very quickly last year. She is extremely talented and a famous face within the queer community. She began making music around a decade ago, however she didn’t see her stardom really start until around 2023, with one of her songs, Pink Pony Club, released as a single in 2020, was picked up by TikTok and subsequently became extremely popular. The song resonated with many people, primarily queer folks, for its lyrics and overall message, likes like “God, what have you done? You’re a pink pony girl, and you dance at the club,” and “I’m having wicked dreams of leaving Tennessee,” gaining attention of many fresh young adult queer people looking to escape the confines of their small town red state and find places like LA, with queer bars and drag joints. Other songs from her album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, released in September 2023, also gained lots of attention, including Casual, which quickly became a lesbian situationship heartbreak crash out anthem, My Kink is Karma, Femininomenon, and Picture You. In my opinion, the whole album is an absolute BANGER with not a single skip song, and some of the more underrated ones, like Guilty Pleasure and California, are hidden GEMS.

Chappell Roan has received a lot of praise for her music, her appearance, and for her queerness. She is loudly and openly queer, being a lesbian and not being afraid to let others know that. Her music is also extremely queer and out there, making it more impressive and ground breaking that she in so mainstream. While queer artists and their music often made it onto the radio, it hasn’t really been so openly there until now, with Chappell Roan. You’d be a fool to think for a second she wasn’t queer, and her music leaves no debate, and more importantly not only is her music openly queer it’s also openly sexual, many songs including lines like “so baby let’s get freaky and kinky, let’s make this bed get creaky!” (Red Wine Supernova, “Knee deep in the passenger seat, and you’re eating me out,” (Casual), “Touch me baby, put your lips on mine,” (Naked in Manhattan), etc etc. This was extremely revolutionizing for queer music as a whole, as before Chappell openly kinky queer music on the radio was practically non existent. Even without being sexual, music as openly gay as her was hard to come by on public radio. She’s become a new lesbian icon, a queer princess of pop, and has changed the music industry as a whole with her new, vibrant music, receiving many praises from many artists, including Elton John, who sung a duet with her at his annual AIDS gathering, and a multitude of artists who were also within the pop renaissance last year, including Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli xcx. All this combined, it’s no wonder why and how she became so incredibly mainstream.

Her rise to fame was extremely quick too, beginning around the end of 2023 and reaching a heat in the summer of 2024, with her Midwest Princess tour and record breaking crowds. Literally, record breaking. I mean, this girl performed at lolapalooza and broke the record for the largest crowd, which, at lolapalooza, which is the biggest music festival held in American, is an impressive feat. Seriously, you should see the photos, that crowd was MASSIVE. Her early famousosity was also cultured originally by Olivia Rodrigo, with her appearing as an opener on her GUTS World Tour and even be backing vocals on a couple of her songs on the GUTS albums. This helped to put her on a map for many and gain the attention she needed to get a kick start.

Her rise to fame was also probably helped by the single she dropped in April of 2024, Good Luck, Babe! which became so popular that it was not only her most streamed song on Spotify, but one of the top streamed songs of the year. She even performed at the VMAs, which was a SUPER cool performance that I totally suggest watching on YouTube, and was also nominated for Song of the Summer in two categories, with her being nominated for a total of three and winning Best New Artist of 2024, go Chappell. Along with that, she is also famous because of her campy, queer, and drag-inspired looks, along with her Hollywood hair of big, bouncy red curls, that make her stand out among others. Her “clown” makeup is exactly that, based on clowns, and if I remember correctly it’s because she was called a clown by boys in her hometown, and she decided to own it. I love her for that. She’s also known as being “your favorite artist’s favorite artist,” which is actually what appears when you search her up as a Did You Mean: search. It was pointed on to her on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, to which she said that she was inspired to say that by Sasha Colby, a well known drag queen and one of her biggest inspirations, who originally said something similar, “I’m your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen.” Chappell later said in the same night that it was probably some twink who worked at Google who was like “we love her” that did that.

Chappell faced some pretty bad backlash in September (?) 2024, when she canceled one of the shows on her Midwest Princess tour where she was set to perform at the All Things Go festival in New York City/Maryland. Her reason being that she was extremely stressed and very overwhelmed from her sudden rise to fame, and needed to take a break. Which, who wouldn’t need a break? I’d be stressed too. However, she faced a lot of scrutiny for it, with people berating her saying she couldn’t handle being mainstream and that this was what came with the job. She’s done multiple TikTok’s on this general topic, but she is very much an advocate in the music industry for better treatment of music artists, and not approving of the harassment fans often give, which was a big thing for her. In fact, she even threatened to quit the music industry entirely if fans didn’t stop harassing her and her family. She even cursed out a photographer at the VMAs for cussing at her, saying “Not me bitch,” to him. Iconic. I love her so much.

Now to probably why you’re asking in the first place. The Giver. Chappell has sung multiple unreleased songs at her concerts, including the Subway (which I desperately hope gets released soon) which is probably her most popular unreleased one. However, the Giver was performed when she appeared on Saturday Night Live, in the same night as Kamala Harris and Maya Rudolph did a bit together as well, singing The Giver unreleased. Shockingly, professional footage was taken down by SNL official mere hours after they uploaded it, which was weird. Recently, Chappell began dropping teasers for it being released as a single, putting up multiple billboards and posters, including in Times Square, of her dressed as a Lawyer telling people to call 1-800-HOTTOGO, which, when dialed, brings up a help line asking directory. When dialing a certain directory, a distorted snippet of the song would play for roughly 15 seconds before disconnecting. She officially came out and said that she would be be dropping a The Giver 7” vinyl for preorder, in 5 variants of The Lawyer, the Dentist, the Construction Worker, the Plumber, and the Private Investigator, all of which also got public PR in the forms of buildings, flyers, etc. The vinyl would be shipped sometime in early August, leading fans to believe that Chappell would be releasing the single sometime between the announcement (around mid February) and August. And lo and behold, about a week ago Chappell posted that the Giver would be dropping March 13th, 8:00 pm EST.

And anyways, that’s Chappell Roan for you and i have written this while listening to the Giver on repeat.

[snek-panini]

Very belated Binderary books, uh...I've lost track actually. I think they are #6 and #7. And it's another two-volume split! This is (Slow) Burn, Baby, Burn by orchidlocked, an extremely long Good Omens fic set in the 1970s. It's about our favorite angel/demon pair navigating the disco scene, and it's not an AU, which is sort of usual in a fic this long and with such a specific premise. There are a fair few real people featured here, some as major characters, and a lot of music history and an excellent playlist alongside all the fun and angsty relationship stuff that so many of us are here for. I learned a lot about disco reading this fic and it was fascinating and also way more queer than I ever realized.

For the cover up there we have a white Allure book cloth on the spine, and white HTV over homemade book cloth for the main cover. The cloth pieces both come from the same sheet but I oriented the stripes this way so they'd be coordinated-but-not-matched and I really love the effect. They're also cotton and really nice to hold. It's funny, I was thinking of binding this fic when I found the fabric while digging through the Joann's remnant bin, and as soon as I saw it this fic not only came to mind but moved up to the top of the to-bind list. It was fate, clearly.

More photos under the cut!

Both spines and a top view. That's orange HTV for the titles. This it the first time I've worked with matte HTV (I usually use metallic or foil) and I was surprised at how much thinner it is, and how easy it was to stick. And I like the color inverse here in counterpoint to the front cover. The top view shows off the handmade endbands and bookmark, and also the rounding job. I'm still working on rounded spines, and the turn-in over the spine didn't come out as smooth as I'd have liked, but I think it's a good result. The ribbon bookmark was supposed to be blue to match the endbands, but every blue ribbon I could find clashed horribly with the cover so it's this nice leafy sage green. Which actually works really well with...

The endpapers! I got these as Joann's too. All four are cut from the same print, but I shifted and rotated them when I trimmed them so the patterns wouldn't all be in the same place. I had desperately wanted this other paper I found on Etsy with little vinyl records all over it, but the pieces weren't the right shape and I'd have had to ship them from overseas ($$), but I like the mood these ones set. And they're thick and nicely textured and look awesome with the cover, so really I think things worked out very well.

Couple of pics of the interior. I kept it fairly simple but I feel like it fits the story.

The scene break line is orange, to match the covers. I usually use gray but wanted something more fun. I recently bought some off-white paper that I used for most of my binderary projects this year because I've heard it's easier on the eyes, and it is, but I used the older bright white for this so the color contrast would be sharper. No complaints; I think it looks amazing. The second image above is the appendix I put together for the volume. Being so centered in the music industry, this fic has a really long playlist that the author put together with their preferred recordings. It's linked in the story and I did include the link text in the book, but I had my mind on preservation and the challenges of digital archiving while I was making this one, so I also took all the title/artist/album info and just listed it here. It was too much to do all by hand, so I learned how to export a Spotify playlist into an Excel doc, then moved that into the Word doc to print. A lot of steps, but not nearly as hard as I'd thought, and way less tedious.

I have to say this book is aesthetically really different than all my previous ones. I ran into so many design hurdles but I honestly couldn't be more pleased with the end result. I'll have to push my comfort zone like this more often, I guess.

[staytinyville]

Yunho

PLEASE REFER TO MASTERLIST TO GET FULL TAROT READING EXPERIENCE

↣ Summary: You are invited to Idol Radio with Yunho and Hongjoong to talk about your new album! Yunho tells you that they’ll support you in everything you do. 

↣ Characters/Pairing: Jeong Yunho x gn!reader ; a touch of ot8

↣ Genre: Fluff

↣ AU/Trope info: idol!au

↣ Word Count: 985

↣ Warnings: None

↣ A/N: Honestly I was close to making you part of a group but thought against it. LOL I have like a fictional girl group that’s signed with KQ. I love them so much. Yunho is such a lovely boy and he deserves the world. WHICH IS WHY HE GOT THIS CARD.

THE WORLD

Completion, Integration, Accomplishment, Travel

The world is a card that tells you the journey you have been traveling has come to an end and you now feel accomplished with what you have done. In whatever journey it is you have been going through—college, marriage, pregnancy, partnership—the adventure you have taken has ended and now you are relishing in the results.

This card is meant to tell you now is the time reflect on the journey and know that what you have gotten in the end was due to the hard work you put into it all. And if you are not at the end quite yet this is your sign to say is coming close! 

The world is always spinning to bring about night and day. Because of this the day is completed. Just like that, so is your journey of hard work ( or it’s going to be). This card can also mean travel!

XXI THE WORLD

You waved with both hands to the camera with a smile on your face. You felt at ease knowing that your label mates were sitting next to you to do the interview. You were invited for season three of Idol Radio with Yunho and Hongjoong as the hosts and were so excited to get the chance to talk freely with them and laugh while the fans listened in. 

“You have come out with your 3rd full length album, which is something you are very passionate about.” Hongjoong grinned at you, pulling your attention back to them. 

“Yes, yes!” You beamed. “It has been a project I started on since the very beginning—I wanted to make sure each song was what I was made of rather than creating music with other people where it's a mixture.” You explained. 

“Don't get me wrong, I love working with you, Maddox, and Eden–but this gave me more satisfaction because it's what I enjoy writing about.” You laughed as Hongjoong grinned. 

You were the second person to become a trainee under KQ. While you had debuted as a solo artist, you worked closely with Hongjoong in creating music that you found a passion for. Each song most of you write usually had each other’s names in the production credits. But with your newest work, you spent a good majority working on it alone.

“There are a lot of emotional songs about different things in your album, for sure.” Yunho told you. “You talk about friendships that last a lifetime, your days that aren't the brightest, the idea of breaking out from normal standards, and of course a lot about love.”

“For you, what made you write those things to experience emotions like that?” A blush overtook your face as Yunho kept his eyes on you. 

You could see the proud look behind his eyes and the kind smile he gave you melted your heart. He knew the story behind every one of the songs on the album–especially the loved ones. They were about him, after all. But he wasn’t exactly able to boast about it. 

“I was a trainee alongside you guys, and it was a bit tough because I didn't feel like I was up to standard when you debuted and I was still trying my hardest.” You answered. “But in the end it really paid off because now as a soloist I'm not tied to creating an image for other people as well. It's a lonely road, I won't doubt it, but I had you all, so it wasn't so bad.”

“We love you too, (Y/N).” Hongjoong laughed, a large smile on his face as he thought about his time spent with someone like you. 

“There is a lot I wish I could say about ATEEZ, but all I'll stick to is that they are the most talented group of performers I know and they make me want to become better for not only my fans but for myself.” You spoke into the microphone, looking out the window and to the fans that were watching. “I am where I am today because of them.”

“(Y/N).” A pout was on the tall boy’s lips as he took in your words. 

“Yunho!” You cried out, giggling as he looked close to tears. “Awe, nooo.” You quickly stood up on instinct, pushing your chair back.

“(Y/N)!” Yunho faked cried, standing up as well to meet you halfway. 

“Yunho!” You laughed, pulling him into a hug.

“(Y/NNNN)!” He fake cried even louder, wrapping his arms around your body as he picked you up, so he didn’t have to bend down. 

“Yunhooooo!” You mocked him, sticking your head into his shoulder as the giggles fell from your lips. 

He swayed you for a moment before finally setting you down as laughs seemed to be heard around the studio. You looked up at Yunho, his large body covering you from the prying eyes of the fans. And that was good for the both of you because the look he gave you made you want to actually cry. 

His eyes were so soft as he kept the words in. He wanted to tell you so much in that moment but knew it had to wait. All of you were trained to not do those kinds of things in public. But you knew with the look he gave you just exactly what it was he meant. 

The rest of the show was spent joking and telling stories about your days as trainees. You also talked a bit about ATEEZ comeback and did some of their challenges, while they did yours. You were sure at one point or another the fans would find out that Yunho and you liked each other somehow with how much you both looked at each other. But that was for another day. 

Once you were all out of the studio and from the prying eyes of the fans, on the other side of the window, Yunho was quick to stop you in your tracks from behind as he wrapped his arms around you.  

“Don't make me cry like that in front of the cameras!” He joked, giving your cheek a wet, sloppy kiss. 

“I'm sorry, Yuyu!” You laughed, rubbing your cheek against his to wipe the spit off. “Kith?” You said silly, pouting your lips as you waited for him. 

He grinned widely, leaning down to give you what you wanted. Instead of pulling away, he placed his forehead against yours, smiling. “You worked hard for this. I'm proud of you.” He told you.

There was so much that led you to this moment. Each one of the boys made you feel content in what you were doing. Just like you helped them to reach this point, they helped you reach yours. You loved what you did. And you were very satisfied with the trip there.

“Thank you.”

Tags : @cultofdionysusnet , @wonderlandnet , @pirateeznet , @k-vanity ,

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

I would kill to have you overanalyze everything about Falsettos. Hope that didn't sound too threatening, I was joking, I'm just really into your analysis of the chess game :3

omg! I would love to analyze anything for you, man! 💗 I've pretty much picked everything out of a lot of the songs─ lil surprised I don't have my own corkboard with red twine commemorating my insanity on this musical lol

Looking through the album, the first option that came to mind might've been The Thrill of First Love but I think I'll take a break from toxic gays for just one moment and give you a strangely written analysis on Marvin at the Psychiatrist: A Three-Part Mini Opera, because of the different character pov's (i.e., Mendel, Jason, somewhat Whizzer, and of course, Marvin─ and I know Whizzer only announces each section of the song but hear me out, the theories are crazy and I'm obsessed with them and this song definitely factors into them aswell).

Basically, we'll start off with a quick look over Jason's lines, as he is the first character to speak/sing in the song. Right off the bat, we have him showing a HUGE disdain for love because of his father pretty much ruining his home life with the illusion of it. Well, maybe disdain is strong, but you get what I mean─ he's very reluctant to accept romance as an option for himself at all at this point because the wound is still very fresh from Marvin blowing up their family life, but yeah, also, he's a little preteen boy so it also makes sense for him to object to liking anyone just because of immaturity.

As we progress, Jason does a joint-therapy session with Marvin and they talk about outings and father/son bonding time gone badly wrong. He lets us in on his hyper-observance with his reaction to Marvin saying the pitcher they saw at a baseball game was handsome, and makes sure the audience is well aware he has some pretty conflicting emotions about his dad and his dad's sexuality. Especially given My Father's a Homo comes directly after this song, and in turn, also directly after this moment, so we know his feelings over Marvin and Whizzer (being that he enjoys Whizzer's company, seeing as Whizzer is the only adult who actually treats him like a kid and not like a victim or a baby or an average adult, like- but still) and their messy relationship.

It really makes me wonder on how it is when he's meant to go over to their apartment, since it's canonical that they live together and that Jason sees him regularly. And if they act terribly in front of him still. I assume Whizzer wouldn't allow that, another trait that gives Jason reason to side with him, because he seems like he really just doesn't want to completely, for lack of better words, fuck up Jason's whole childhood experience by being a part of it.

Now! Mendel isn't a complicated perspective, per say, just very eccentric. Especially assuming he asks MANY intrusive questions to a man who just openly came out as gay about his ex-wife and her sexual habits and such. This is where we tell him to go to horny jail.

(That's not the whole analysation, I swear─)

Mendel to me seems like he probably takes the initiative to not relay any of his clients actual info to other family members, but this song pretty much just proves he's incapable of brain-thought when he's horny. Which, yeah, that's hilarious that the only straight man is just thirsting over a woman to this gay guy. William Finn, you've done it again.

Anyhow, Mendel is pretty vital in this song. We get to see his psychiatry techniques, and with that, understand exactly what kind of situation Marvin's been, in taking therapy from him this whole time. The first part of the song is probably the best way of analyzing, since he's actually intelligible and giving Marvin advice. Well, that advice consists of telling him to ignore Whizzer's flaws and love him regardless, you can actually sorta see that at work in some aspects of the musical, even if he's constantly condescending to Whizzer throughout act one.

But generally, Marvin tends to take the exact opposite path that Mendel gives him, and basically just uses him as a venting device. Then again, Mendel is not to great at giving advice, as a neurotic little man who has like four mental breakdowns in the course of act one and two.

Next, Whizzer, of course. Short but sweet, or.. angsty? I've heard a few people theorize that Whizzer narrates the story ("Marvin at the psychiatrist, a three part mini opera, part one." "Part two." "Part three." "Psychiatrist, returning, returning! Five sessions later..." "A day in Falsettoland─ Doctor Mendel at work.") because after he dies, it sort of becomes his story of finding a true family and lover and son and being actually happy and knowing he lived well before he died really, tragically young, at least.

I'd like to take it a different direction, because I hate angst, and only sometimes tolerate it.

I've realized that Whizzer only actually narrates Mendel's shenanigans, which makes me think, especially with how he still does in act two, he gets to HEAR about the sessions. Whether it be from Marvin, or Jason, or Trina. Or even Mendel himself (this one's more act two based). It may introduce a new side because Whizzer doesn't go to therapy (shocker), but the people he's around all see this one guy so maybe he hears about the sessions and can relay them because he knows this one person's aspect of the story each time.

It wouldn't make a lot of sense for him to hear anything from Mendel in act one assuming they weren't close (at least not in the revival), and he doesn't marry Trina until Marvin and Whizzer are broken up, basically. But it would make more sense for him to get it from his boyfriend who absolutely loves to complain about any minor inconvenience in his life. I just think this could be an interesting perspective, because I've only ever seen that first theory and although somewhat fitting, I need less angst and more cool little headcanons in this fanbase please and thank you.

Finally, we go to Marvin. The star of the show, our princess with several disorders (we all know who our real queens are *stares directly at Trina and Whizzer*).

Throughout the entirety of this song, we see him barely entertaining Mendel with information. He's very vague, which probably stems from a life of secrecy and sneaking around. Although I presume he told Mendel about the affair while it was happening, or a few months in? Or Mendel just knew? Just by the general air of it, and how it seemed well-known by that point even though him and Trina only just divorced.

Marvin definitely keeps to himself, and waits for Mendel to butt in with something. Not so he can take his advice, but moreso so that he can kinda just. Have it, on hand? Or maybe so he can prove to himself that therapy is a hoax, because that certainly sounds like a Marvin thing to do.

Even while going through events with his son, he only states that eventually their interactions just go back to being stale and that they SHOULD be closer, without ever trying to actually make an effort (he assumes making an effort is taking Jason on outings even though they both prefer to stay inside, on their own. This definitely comes from his parents not doing anything with him as a kid, it's internalized so he pushes going out in public and doing what would be father/son outings onto Jason. It's something he never got to have, so he thinks that means he's fathering Jason better than average).

Not much to be said about that middle factor, besides the point of Marvin not knowing Trina was withholding love from him, which is interesting. Her character and lines definitely prevail that she was fed up with Marvin, but it could have just come out as indifference during their marriage. In I'm Breaking Down, she does make a point to state that she only wants a man to love her, so that could've been an overwhelming point in their marriage that Marvin remembers more vividly then her drifting away.

He did seem genuinely surprised when Mendel brought it up, so there is something there for sure.

But now, my dear silly, it's time for me to say adieu, because it's semi-late and I gotta update a fic draft :) but thank you sm for asking! made my day, it was so sweet. my inbox is always open for any suggestions, I'm really glad you like these little rants lol.

I'll try to post more soon 🫶

Goodnight!

[louisisalarrie]

Hi! Did you see dm posted an anon saying that Harry is gonna release a break up album in December? And they said it’s about his previous relationship (Olivia) but some larries or harries already saying it’s about Louis. What’s your feeling about it?

Yep, I sure did!

and look… i highly doubt he’s kicking off a tour in December, Christ. Most venues are already booked out by now until the end of the year, and depending on the venue, also early to mid 2025 so unless he’s booked this well in advance, and knows his album will be fully fleshed out and ready by then as opposed to taking a proper break, I just don’t see it happening. A show like Harry’s, production wise, takes a hell of a lot of planning and logistics. In this part of the world, q4 is crazy because it’s gonna be summer here so the amount of stadium and arena tours around are insane. I imagine it’s a bit quieter elsewhere, not too quiet obviously, but a lot of suppliers/crew are gonna be chilling out a bit and having a break for Christmas due to the silly season of the music industry tying up. Personally, I can almost guarantee there’s no tour kicking off in December. It would be like… a few dates and then Christmas break, which leaves a lot of his production elements just hanging out until the beginning of next year to kick off again. It’s more effort than it’s worth, With the stopping and starting. If he does start a tour in December, it would absolutely shock me.

Plus, they’ve said he’ll be dropping an album shortly before going on tour and it’s just… mans is gonna need promo. He’s huge worldwide, we know that, but he’s been gone for ages. He still needs to ramp up interest to sell tickets, so his album SHOULD be released/teased 8-12 weeks prior, maybe a little less due to his fame, but he’s not gonna announce both that close together.

As for the sad breakup songs, that anon has been extremely vague and it could be about anyone, except TR. obviously it’s not about a beard though, and we would assume louis, but I just don’t think that’s the vibe. Harry can’t drop his whole image to a heartbreaking album - maybe an EP? With like… 5 very emotional songs on it? But a whole album isn’t gonna be sad. It’s just not him or his style, unless he’s looking for a sad boy rebrand, which… I highly doubt.

December is fine for him to drop an album, but it’s just all these bullshit anons speculating. When people have real info, they don’t send it to DM… like… what’s the point? It’s purely with a grain of salt, and mostly people trying to get attention. I personally just… don’t believe it til I see it.

Again, I could be wrong and nothing surprises me these days, but that’s my opinion on it all. If it even makes sense with how scattered my brain is right now hahahha

[jmdbjk]

Burn it... so much regret.

You thought I was going to talk about something else...

First I want to address something that's been bothering me for a while:

JK's potato phone/internet connection.

The video quality of his broadcasts has been going downhill steadily and I wanted to take his phone and fling it into the Han River.

But then JK himself addressed the problem. Apparently the video quality was due to his wifi strength. And he fixed it. Yay! But not really.

Now I'll move on to other important things...

Jungkook spent the first 15 minutes beating himself up because he messed up the lyrics to Burn It during the D-Day concert. While critiquing himself harshly, he did an unboxing of his Agust D autographed D-Day album and showed us the photocards he pulled:

HE GOT THE SAME ONES I DID!!! A lot of us probably got those as well... anyway...

Then he watched a recording (a recording of the stream I guess?) of his segment of the concert and just kept shaking his head... poor baby really had a lot of regrets over his mistake.

He also knew his pitch was off during Seven and when he watched that clip of the concert all he could do was shake his head again... poor baby.

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, Boo. Do better next time. That's all you can do. Move on... live and learn... live, love, laugh and all that baloney.

He doesn't cut himself any slack because of the fact he was still fighting whatever head cold crud he's been having since his New York trip.

But he has a plan to redeem himself:

He always comes up with a plan. Lord help us if he ever carries out one of his little schemes...

So after spending almost 50 minutes dwelling on that mostly, he jumps up with the urge to make a middle of the night snack of makguksu and proceeds to walk laps and pace around his kitchen island while holding the phone. So around and around we go...

Then he said he had to put towels in the dryer, but proceeded to grab the vacuum and disappear into the auxiliary kitchen/utility room? I'm confused. He obviously does not have a housekeeper.

An hour in and he's still upset:

This is what makes him happiest:

Yoongi shows up on the comments and another round of regret kicks off..

And he went back and forth between being starving and full of regret...

Also, have I mentioned before he sings while he pees?

JK continued to watch and listen to people who posted their covers of Seven. Though I did finish watching this live, it was over the course of the last few days and I think I will just end my comments about it here.

I started this blog post this past Monday before BigHit dropped the info about Tae's album that evening. The shitstorm that followed was fierce.

I saw it all and I had to take a break from all of that or lose my sense of why I love these guys. So I sat back and let the processes process.

Sometimes you have to do what you gotta do to stay sane.

We often move on from things very quickly here and now that we've entered Tae's solo era I think I will remain in my little bubble of Jimin and Jungkook.

Sometimes I wonder what the point of it all is...

[avantgardemetallover]

hey there! here's some of my personal avant-metal/experimental rock album recommendations… you may know most of these already, i'm not sure, but hopefully at least one is new to you :-)

Estradasphere - Buck Fever super-eclectic experimental jazz-rock, silly but also really technically impressive (i know this sounds hilariously biased coming from Tumblr User Estradasphere but trust me OK im just really autistic about them)

Duct Tape Mustache - Mise en Scéne keyboard-led, kinda funky and jazzy alt-metal, they had two saxophone players!

öOoOoOoOoOo - Samen artsy french alt-metal, w/ a crazy-talented female vocalist

Radiation 4 - Wonderland technical and intense mathcore/avant-metal that really reminds me of that one patton/dillinger EP... they also had a gimmick where they'd dress as mad scientists on-stage :-)

Tub Ring - Zoo Hypothesis blazingly energetic punk/metal-y experimental rock w/ scifi themes; if you want something more bungle-esque, though, then maybe check out their album Drake Equation instead

Kayo Dot - Hubardo genuinely the most beautiful album i've ever heard, incredibly dense and dark and dramatic avant-metal concept album with jazz and chamber music influences

Now Soon Nowhere - Character Studies this one i just discovered... eclectic dark-cabaret-tinged theatrical alt-metal/rock, reminded me of Dog Fashion Disco a bit, pretty fun!

Sebkha-Chott - Nigla(h): Tapisseries Fines En XXX Strips Et LXXX Trompettes dense, proggy, super eclectic, at times overwhelming french avant-metal, there is So Much happening and i love it

sorry for infodumping in your asks i got excited 😭 have a great day!!

OMG HELLO??? That's ALOT! And not in a bad way!! I love getting info dumps of bands and sifting through them.. thank you!!!! How should I go about this? One post? I'll try...

BAND: Duct Tape Mustache

ALBUM: Mise En Scéne

GENRE: Avant Garde Metal/Alt Metal

RELEASED: 2004 (though some say 2005?)

Okay.. I LOVED THIS ONE! How have I not heard of it? I sat smiling through every track, no joke. Wonder if this is available on CD anywhere... who knows.

Also, Tim Swanson from Ideamen and Dog Fashion Disco was in this band on keyboards! Interesting!

BAND: Radiation 4

ALBUM: Wonderland

GENRE: rock/Avant-Garde metal/mathcore

RELEASED: 2003

Ooo I liked this one!!!

Also the part where they'd dress up as mad scientists? LOVING THAT

BAND: Tub Ring

ALBUM: Zoo Hypothesis

GENRE: Experimental rock/Avant-Garde Metal

RELEASED: 2004

I've been meaning to check this one out! Safe to say, I LOVED it. I will be doing a relisten... and probably to more albums by them. (Drake Equation next like you mentioned) Thank you for this!!!

BAND: Kayo Dot

ALBUM: Hubardo

GENRE: Avant-Garde Metal/Experimental Rock/Post Metal

RELEASED: 2013

Another I've been meaning to check out.. you were right, very pretty! Also, I never knew till now that this was formed after the break up of Maudlin The Well (by Toby Driver).. interesting!

BAND: Now Soon Nowhere

ALBUM: Character Studies

GENRE: alt metal/Experimental rock

RELEASED: 2008

Oh wow, okay, this one was fun!! I definitely see where you got reminded of Dog Fashion Disco too 🤔 These guys went straight to my playlist on spotify hehe

BAND: Sebkha-Chott

ALBUM: Niglah - Tapisseries fines en XXX Strips et LXX/X tropettes

GENRE: Avant-Garde Metal/Progressive Metal/Experimental Rock(And a bunch of other genres mixed..)

RELEASED: 2008

I LOVED THIS!!!!! 😮 I've been meaning to listen to these guys.. glad I finally did. Very interesting band!

ALBUMS LISTED THAT I ALREADY KNEW (AND WAS ALREADY GONNA DO ANOTHER POST ABOUT):

Estradasphere - Buck Fever (love these guys)

öOoOoOoOoOo - Samen (I love the vocalist! Lots of talent)

(Don't worry!! I'll get to them!)

Thank you @estradasphere ! :)

[toasty-self-shipping]

Some info on my Gorillaz self insert

Background on how tashuna joined the band (this takes place during phase one)

Murdoc was looking for a backup vocalist for his band while noodle did sing for some of the songs like 19-2000 and 5/4 he was looking for someone with a deeper voice and well can sing more English words Russel brings up how he has a cousin from Brooklyn who can sing really good and can played the electric guitar

murdoc being himself immediately wants Russel cousin to come to kong studio (mainly because he saw a picture of her and had different intentions) but after getting threaten by Russel to not do anything weird with her murdoc promised him that he won’t try to flirt with Tashuna

He said as he crossed his fingers behind his back

general info

Tashuna Hobbs is a 20 year old girl from the streets of Brooklyn and is the only family member who still talks to Russel Tashuna is a little self conscious about her voice due to it sounding deep and masculine but when it comes to her singing it’s the most powerful thing you ever heard in her spare time she enjoys videos games and watching anime and doing her makeup

her relations with the band

Russel

well obviously they are cousins though he secretly sees her as a little sister hence why he is so overprotective of Tashuna the two also enjoy listening to rap music though Tashuna likes the girls group music like spice girls tlc and destiny Child

Noodle

she sees Tashuna as big sister figure noodle even calls her oneesan Tashuna finds noodle adorable while she doesn’t understand what she says most of the time the two can always agree that power puff girl is the best cartoon ever

murdoc

Tashuna finds him… strange she doesn’t really try to be around him by herself the only time she would only be in a room with murdoc is either they are recording for a song or unless Russel is there

(She doesn’t hate him she just finds him creepy)

2D

She is pretty mutual with him since they do sing together the two start to bond over their love for horror movies while 2d like zombies tashuna is a big fan of the Halloween movies and chainsaw massacre movies

2D doesn’t immediately fall for tashuna immediately because he is still a little heartbroken over Paula cracker but later on in phase two he will try to make his move on her if Russel doesn’t kill him

phase two

after the band break up and everyone went their separate ways tashuna went back to Brooklyn to help out her aunt with the hair salon business since it was the y2k era and hair styles like micro braids beaded braids and asymmetrical bobs were getting popular

one day she gets a letter it was from noodle it mentions about the new album demon days and she wanted tashuna to come back at first she wasn’t going to come back but after a couple of weeks of thinking tashuna decided to pack her bags along with her electric guitar and head to London to join the band again

tashuna doesn’t really sing a lot on the album she mostly played her electric guitar her relations with the gang is still the same except he feelings for 2D is starting to get more obvious and dropping some small hints on him