#these are literally the most recent songs i've listened to from musical artists i like so

[littlestartemis]

This is like THE thing I'm most annoying millennial about, but I've decided I'm going to make a guide about this instead of just venting to my friends about it for the Nth time. I am not a fan of spotify. On the surface I already didn't like it, the idea of paying a monthly subscription for a media player that requires an internet connection was abjectly backwards imo. Then I actually used it recently, and I'm even more frustrated, because searching for songs doesn't give you any clear indication on if it's the Actual Song you wanted, or just some rando's remix or something. Not to mention the queue and playlist functions just not working 1/3 of the time, and... yeah.

"Man I wish this artist would release on spotify so I could listen to this song."

"Hey are you gonna put this thing on spotify? I'd really like to listen to it away from my computer/off youtube."

Allow me my one snarky comment here because I feel strongly about this and then the rest of the post will be a polite and detailed guide.

I'm gonna let you all in on a secret, you'll never believe this. There's a method, inside your computer (and phone!), where you can listen to music, any music you want... without the internet. Fuckin wild, right? (Making a break because this ended up being longer than I thought it would)

On your computer, even up to Windows 11, you have a thing called "Windows Media Player" that's just automatically on your computer. And if it's not, for whatever reason, lemme make things even easier for you with a link to install it.

You open it up, and you're greeted with this. (yours obviously won't be filled with FFXIV clips and songs by default, just work with me)

Now, I think everything here is perfectly self explanatory, but I've heard as time's worn on that the younger generations are becoming increasingly poorly taught when it comes to navigating computer programs.

Home is just the first thing you get when you open it. Shows all your recently viewed media on your computer

Music Library is your entire collection of songs in your music folder (we'll get there)

Video Library is the same thing but for video files

Play queue is what you have queued up to play in a list Right Now

Playlists is... the list of playlists you've made

So! Good first step, we have a media player. This thing doesn't need an internet connection, it can make playlists, it can shuffle, it's got it all. But like, how do you actually get songs on it, right? Well, we've got a few methods.

If you're a fan of contemporary/pop music, you've got the easiest time of things. If you're already someone who's ok with paying spotify once a month for their service (which is just a media player with always on internet), you shouldn't have a problem with giving that money directly to the artists you already like the work of instead. Not to mention, on streaming services music can be added and removed at the whim of... really any number of people. Whereas if you get yourself the mp3 file, you own that shit forever.

Most every artist offers a way to buy their music from them directly in album form. For shows, movies, and video games, that can be a little more up in the air, but it's nothing a quick google search of "[media name] original soundtrack download" can't direct you to. My first port of call would be to recommend this site here. Despite the name, it carries an absolutely stupid titanic repository of music downloads, the vast majority of which being for things that either no longer have legal means of purchase, or never had one to begin with. You'll have to download them one at a time if you don't/can't make an account and donate to them, but... that's literally just a time investment. Lil bit of elbow grease.

Now, let's say you're willing to put in that elbow grease, but what you wanted isn't here. Well, you've got an ancient, tried and true method to follow suit on next; youtube conversion. It couldn't be simpler. Copy/paste the url (the funny string of letters numbers and characters in the bar at the top of your browser window) into the thing that says "please paste youtube url here", and press the convert button. You've even got options to change the quality (if you need a smaller file size) and trim a length of time off the beginning or end of it! Again, you'll need to do this one at a time, and via this method you won't get premade names (beyond whatever the yt video's name was) or special album art or whatever. But if all you're after is listening to your music of choice without fucking spotify, that shouldn't be a problem.

And I'm not done yet! Circling back to my earlier comment about "some kids just don't know how to work their computers", some of you may genuinely be asking "what am I supposed to do with these mp3 files after they're on my computer?" We'll start with "where even are they" to begin with. You have something baked into your computer called a "file explorer". I keep mine pinned to my taskbar, but you aughta be able to find it and open it up by searching that name in your start menu

This is what the left side of that File Explorer window aughta look like, more or less. You only need to worry about two of these things here for our purposes; Downloads, with the arrow pointing down at the line, and Music, with the music note in the green circle. By default, anything you download, be it from a converter, more illicit sources, or 100% legal "I bought this from the band's website", is going to go into your Downloads first. (side note, if your computer ever tells you you're running out of space and you're like "what the fuck how??", check your downloads, might need to clear that shit out into the recycle bin) You're gonna move those files from Downloads to Music (I only recently learned that file explorer supports additional tabs now, like browsers! That rules). The simplest method of moving them over though would be to click once on the file, then right click, you'll see a row of pictures at the top of the right click menu, you want the scissors (this is called Cutting). Once you click those scissors, you head over to your Music tab, and in the empty white space, you right click, and at the bottom of the menu you'll see a clipboard with a piece of paper, (that's Paste) click that, and it'll remove that file from Downloads, and move it over to Music.

Your media player program is automatically designed to detect mp3 files inside that Music folder. So, from here, you just need to work the media player!

Open up that Music Library tab in your Media Player, and everything will automatically be grouped Alphabetically, you can change that with "Sort by:" in the top right. Know what else? If you do buy an album (or download one otherwise), it'll recognize that on its own too! You can sift through your collection by Albums at the very top there! So you just wanna listen to an album, you can pop over there, click an album, and...

Play all, right at the top, the red button.

You wanna make a playlist? Right click any song, and in the right click menu you'll see "Add to+", check that, and you'll be prompted to just add it to the now paying queue of songs, or to make a new playlist. Do that, you name it what you want, and now you can just right click-> add any songs you want to that playlist.

Now when it comes to phones, I know most people have iphones, and in that realm... yeah I can't help you sorry. But if you're not, we're in another "this should be on your phone already, and if it's not you can install it". Samsung Music. Open that bad boy up, and

Damn doesn't this look familiar. On my Samsung phone at least, nearly EVERYTHING I just laid out applies to making this all happen just on your phone with no computer. But, if you only download on the computer, and still want this shit on your phone, there's a VERY easy method there too!

Get a USB-C cord, hook up your phone to your computer, and you remember the method I told you for moving those files over from Downloads to Music? Works the exact same for moving things from your computer to your phone. Hell, your phone even has a Music folder of its own! Works the same.

This has been my very long and hopefully helpful PSA about listening to music via methods that don't involve God Damn Spotify. Go enjoy yourselves. Don't pay for shit you don't need to pay for.

[azdrahon]

bro listens to absolute BANGERS impeccable music taste there

now my songs uhh

Echo feat. Codrin - Sub Chiuveta

lord of the game x 666 kill chop deluxe

Depeche Mode - Useless

DJ Blyatman and Russian Village Boys - EZ KATKA

Lemon Demon - My Trains

@daosromania @gray-soul and anyone else who wants to

When you get this ask you have to put 5 songs you listen to, post it, then send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positive vibes are cool)

1:coming undone by korn

2:pressure by muse

3:lifetime achievement award by lemon demon

4:pseudologia fantastica by foster the people

5:GMFU by odetari

& im not sure if im doing this right because i never did answers on here before but here goes nothing lol

@crazycratebreaker @emmasmudge @oninonring (im not sure if oninonring is following me or not but they're a person i would love to get to know better) @dogbound1128 @sleuth-hounds @valoo622 @meet-you-at-the-cemetery-gates @deathnot-e @shinyeeveelynn & @blackheartbiohazards

[ivy-diaries]

‎ ⁎ ‎ ‎ 𓍼 ‎ ‎ ๋ ‎ ◜ &.&. THE IVY INCIDENT ep 1. ◞ ‎ ... ‎ ‎

The intro plays, and Ivy appears on the screen smiling and leaning into the mic to speak. “Hello guys, welcome to my new podcast, 'The Ivy Incident!!’ This has been in the works ever since I stepped into the dive podcast studio when I came here to film the kpop daebak show with Eric so it's soo exciting to finally show you guys this project!” she laughs as the other staff there are heard clapping.

Laughing, she continues "so in this podcast, I invite my friends from the industry and we just you know, talk and share stories! It's a lot similar to Eric's but mine is more personal if you will because all these people are very very close to me and I've known them for a pretty long time! This episode is just gonna be me cuz this is like an introduction for all the first-time listeners who don't know who I am!" “So I heard Diane has some questions prepared for me, so let's get into it!” 

“let's start with the basics, yeah? Who is Ivy Jennifer James?” Diane asks her. 

“Oh we’re going back to the beginning okay! So as you’ve already mentioned, my name is ivy jennifer james. I was born in New Castle, Australia where I lived till I was five and then I moved to the US where again I lived for five years before moving to Korea when I was eleven. And in korea, i signed with bighit entertainment and when i was asked if i was ready to debut when i was 14 i think? I was like imma do it. So i debuted at 14 under both jype and bighit and the rest is history! And i'm here today hehe”

“What motivated you to pursue a career as a solo artist?”

“Hmm i think ever since i got into bighit, i've always wanted to be a soloist? I'm not really sure why but I always saw myself as a soloist for some reason. Even till now, if you ask my dad he’d say that i was born to do this” ivy laughs and continues “i think ever since i was little ive wanted to something in the field of music and performance”

“Was being a kpop idol your first choice?”

“It was actually! I mean keeping in mind that i started this since i was a literal child, it actually was my first choice. The kids at school did tease me for this but look at me now” ivy chuckles

“Who are your music inspirations?”

“That's a great question and I was literally talking to Jun about this this morning! I dont have one specific inspiration but i think i draw inspiration from any and all artists! I've been pretty inspired by the Beatles and Rolling Stone pretty recently and obviously, Taylor Swift is one of my biggest inspirations out there.” 

“Are you a sweet or savory type of person?”

“It honestly depends on my mood if i'm being honest” she laughs hard “now, im craving something savory! I'd kill for some fries right now oh man you’ve perked up my cravings now diane!!”

“What's the last song you listened to?”

Ivy laughs hard and almost tears up laughing “this is actually so funny oh my god the last song i listened to is actually a helium ingested cover of let me love you by justin bieber which yeonjun sung for me yesterday after a party we went to and let me tell you, it was soo funny!!”

“According to you, tell me 3 flaws and 3 qualities about yourself”

“Ooh, three qualities of mine would be, one, I think I'm kind I guess? Second, I'm somewhat responsible, and third and finally, I think I'm a human sized golden retriever because I'm very bubbly and very smiley smiley most of the time! And three flaws of mine are, one, i’m a big overthinker, i just rethink about every single choice or word of mine a little too much. Second, my moods are based on the weather…”

Ivy laughs at the look on Diane's face “yea.. My mood everyday kinda depends on how good the weather is.. That's why I'm not as fond of the rain because it makes me kind of depressed and I just shut myself off most of the time. Third, im a bit of a perfectionist so i expect any and all things to be a little too perfect.. If its not what i expect it to be, i just leave that and will not ever touch on it again and i know i should change these things and i am trying so.. yeah “

“okay, something similar but three things you like and three things you dislike”

 “I don't like these types of questions!!” she laughs “it makes me think too much to give an answer!! But anyways… hmm three things i like are, one, my husband” she giggles as a small blush is seen on her cheek “well it's true!! I wouldn't have married him if I didn't like him would I?” she giggles “second, i really love what i do so, my career and third, my loved ones! I love my friends and family because they've stuck with me through thick and thin and I'm really grateful for that!” she smiles and gives the camera a little hand heart

“three things i hate are.. Hmm lets see… one, people who do not value privacy. I've said this multiple times and i'll say this again but I do love my fans.. I love them a lot and I wouldn't be here without them. But there are some people who claim that they are fans but do unhinged stuff to get close to me. And like that's why I've sued some people for not valuing my privacy. I got hate for it but honestly I don't care when the privacy and the lives of the people i love are at stake."

"Second, coming back to a slightly normal side, I absolutely hate the smell of fish. I don't know if it's cuz im vegetarian but I always throw up whenever I smell it and third, coming back to a more serious side, I hate the fact that most people on the internet feel like it's their right to comment on us as celebrities or idols or as performers. It's so irritating that they don't even feel sorry for what they say. They don't know how much we over think it and it slowly becomes an insecurity that takes years to wear off.”

“Okay this is your second to last question and the question is, For listeners who may not have heard your music before, can you recommend a few songs that best represent your sound and artistic vision?”

“That is a really good question, oh my god! So I think my discography is quite diverse and I have a lot of songs for different kinds of people who like different things. So the top three songs that i’d recommend to people are, one, vengeance as its called. There's no explanation for that song but I loved making it and loved singing it so that's the first song and second, I have a song called lovers in the night  that i co wrote with seori which I absolutely loved and we had a great time writing the song. And third I think is, my whole album called “for us.”  which i wrote with yeonjun and its songs dedicated for each other and hence called for us!”

“Okay… last question, can you give us any hints of the upcoming guests you have here?” Diane asks, smiling knowingly. Ivy giggles and wiggles her fingers across the camera

“Well I guess I can.. But most of my friends have not given me exact dates of their free schedule so even i’m not really sure on whos coming” she laughs at herself “so that's all i can tell you now because that's just all i know so” she just shrugs as she smiles.

“That's it for this episode and I hope you guys enjoyed this. I'm so excited for all the things we have in store for you guys and I hope you look forward to it!! So this has been ivy so far and thank you for listening to the ivy incident! Have a good day or good night bye!!”

⋆ ivy taglist ˒ @stealanity @alixnsuperstxr @riikiblr @skz-libby @escapetheash (lmk if u wanna be added or removed)

⋆ priya says ˒ so this is not proofread so read at ur own risk lol <33 but if you've come this far,, please reblog with the bow emoji (🎀) so I know that readers are interactive and writers get the credit they deserve!! so lmk who you want to see on ivys podcast and any feedback tbh!! Happy reading!!

[heliza24]

Let's talk about the music in Young Royals! (Part 1)

This post, which will focus on the needle drops used in the show, is the first part of a two-part analysis. Part 2 will focus on the original score.

I love the way music is used in Young Royals. It was one of the first things that attracted me to the show, but it's only recently that I’ve stopped to think about why I find it so effective. I used to (in a pre-disability past life) work in the music industry, and I’ve been missing my old job a lot lately. So I thought I would use some of my knowledge (and my media analysis skills) to write this meta. I've tried to link a youtube video for every song I reference, so you can go and listen to the tracks if you want to.

First, let’s talk about some logistics. “Needle drops” are when a show uses a pre-existing song as part of the score (like literally dropping a needle on a record player; isn’t it weird how that terminology has stuck around even while the technology has changed?). You can also call them music syncs, which refers to the fact that in order to use pre-existing music in film, you have to obtain a music synchronization license from the copyright owner (this ensures that the recording artist and the songwriter get paid for the use of their music). The person in charge of selecting songs and clearing the rights for them is called the music supervisor. The Young Royals music supervisor is Magnus Palmborg, and I think he does an incredible job. (He was also a co-writer on Simon’s Song, so we really have a lot to thank him for).

Music serves a very important role in Young Royals. I believe that the selection of songs and use of the score really helps establish one of the most important themes of the show: the dichotomy between the public and private self. So much of Young Royals is about the images characters consciously try to project and the pressure society puts on them to act a certain way, and the way that conflicts with their actual internal feelings.  And this dichotomy exists very clearly in the music too.

Most of the needle drops in the show are big, bold pop and hip hop songs. They are usually played over montages of the students at Hillerska, often towards the beginning of the episode, and they reflect the “cool” image that the students are trying to project to each other. The very first time we see Hillerska, “Wannabe Ghetto” by Fata Boom is playing, and the lyrics “keep up the front like it’s your mission/Look our best, cover up what’s missing” perfectly sums up the pressure the students feel to fit in at such an elite school. When everyone is getting ready for the welcome back party in 2.1, the incredibly confident "Ripe" by Flavia is playing. The lyrics “no need to go to work unless you're working on my body” are full of sexual confidence, but they also play while students are putting on makeup and trying to look their best, literally working on their bodies. (Flavia is one of my favorite finds from the soundtrack by the way. She makes total queer bangers, I recommend checking her out). 

It’s probably worth talking briefly about the opening title card here. A lot of shows have full opening sequences, with their own theme song. Young Royals eschews this, choosing instead to just flash the title on screen over an existing scene, often with a needle drop (but this changes each episode). I think this approach works really well, because it lets the music clue us in to the mood of each episode. A lot of episodes start with a very intimate scene, like the music room scene at the beginning of 1.3, and then contrast that with a burst of pop music during the title card that reminds us of the front the characters are normally projecting. In 1.3 the title card is shown over a montage of Felice struggling in the stables and is accompanied by a loud, lyricless pop song. That contrast from the intimacy of the music room, to a space where Felice feels like she’s always pretending, is really effective.  

But sometimes needle drops are used to reflect more intimate, genuine emotions. Sometimes the show does this by making the song semi-diagetic. (Diagetic music is music that exists within the story that characters can hear; so Simon’s Song for instance is diagetic). At the beginning of episode 1.1, Wilhelm is listening to “Bad” by Farveblind, which has the lyrics “I think it’s bad/I think it’s lame/I think it’s horrible” over and over again, which is a pretty clear indicator of how Wilhelm is feeling. The show does a similar thing in 2.3, when Wilhelm listens to “The Lonely Ones” by Lova in his headphones when he walks by the lake. He’s feeling lonely! He listens to a sad song! That’s pretty straight forward. 

But sometimes the way the music captures characters’ genuine feelings is a little more subtle. I actually think that there’s a lot more of this in season 2 than there is in season 1. There are a few examples I love from season 1, but most of my favorite examples are from the latter half of season 2. This perfectly reflects the journey that all of the characters, but especially Wilhelm, are going on; as season 2 goes on he gets more and more in touch with his real feelings and less and less able to pretend to please the royal family. These songs tend to be a little quieter than the flashy pop and hip hop that represents the facade of Hillerska, and you sometimes have to think a little bit about how the lyrics are illuminating what the characters are feeling.

Some of my favorite examples in season 1 include  “Holes (Deep Throat Choir Remix)” by Zhala that plays during Erik’s funeral, which has the lyrics “And I lose myself inside”, reflecting Wilhelm’s descent into grief and the way that he’s about to push Simon away, and “Sunday” by Gina Dirawi that plays as the girls are setting up for the sleepover and Wilhelm is going over to Simon’s house in 1.5. The lyrics “but I can see you clear here” reflect the fact that both sets of characters have found a sense of comfort with each other. But my absolute favorite example in season 1 is “Samurai Swords” by Highasakite, which plays while August uploads the video of Wilhelm and Simon to the internet. “I am leaving/I’m unleashing/I unravel to the leeches/I’m unpleasant/I’m unloving/So call out the guys with the samurai swords” plays while the camera focuses on August, reflecting his emotional state and also the fact that uploading the video is an act of self-harm for August (the image of samurai swords makes me think of seppuku, or the ritualized suicide that samurai warriors would commit instead of falling into enemy hands) and an act of aggression against Wilhelm and Simon. And when the camera cuts back to Wilhelm and Simon the lyrics say “someone else will love like a rainstorm”. The melody is so wistful and sad, like the show is already nostalgic for the perfect love that Simon and Wilhelm had which is about to be marred by the outside world. 

In season 2, I really love “My Awe Sustains” by Ari at the top of 1.5, which perfectly captures the feeling of longing between Wilhelm and Simon (this is my other favorite discovery from the soundtrack; the whole album For Evig by Ari is one of my favorites now) and “I Wanna Be Someone Who’s Loved” by Tusse, which is included after the fight in the music room in the same episode. The lyrics to this one are really heartbreaking: “You make me feel like I’m invisible… Thought it would help but no one hears my call/No I won’t give up/I want to be someone who’s loved.” The lyrics capture how much Wilhelm wants to make his way back to Simon, but there’s frustration in melody too, which reflects how trapped he currently feels. “Please Don’t Go” by April Snow and Elias in episode 2.3 is another really interesting example. It plays right before August invites Sara to his room “just to talk” and before Simon tries to break up and Marcus doesn’t let him. The lyrics “I asked you to leave but I meant that I want you to stay/I need you to hear what I mean and not what I say” seem to capture the push-pull in both sets of relationships, and how all of the characters are trying but failing to really communicate what they mean.

But I think my favorite needle drop in season 2 that's used to illuminate the inner thoughts of a character is "Mirror" by Mogli. The song starts playing right after Wilhelm's last session with Boris in 2.5, when he realizes he has a choice: he doesn't have to become king. He could let August inherit and be with Simon. The lyrics "You don't want to be sad anymore/And I can't laugh/ No I can't laugh/I want to win this race but you can't lose/I let you score" underscore Wilhelm contemplating August in the Forest Ridge common room. Letting August inherit the crown would be letting him "win" in their invisible war for power, but what would that matter if Wilhelm gets to be happy with Simon? We see Wilhelm come to that realization, and then in the next scene he tells Simon that he's willing to give up the crown for him.

Since we’ve talked about the opening title card needle drops, we should probably address the fact there is also often a song over the closing credits as well. Again, this doesn’t happen in every episode; sometimes original scoring is used instead. But when a needle drop is included at the end of an episode, it feels like foreshadowing for things to come. My favorite is the end of 2.1, right after Wilhelm has a meltdown on the call to his mom. “Seize the Power” by YONAKA plays, and seems to signify Wilhelm’s arc for the rest of the season: 

“Woke up this morning, I feel so fucking important/Look in the mirror, I’m different, I finally made a decision/All the rejected that lost a lack of respect in themselves cause people get hectic/they hurt you and make you feel helpless/they’re not brave like you/they’re too scared to do/anything that’s different, anything that’s new/I don’t need lessons/I do what I want it’s refreshing/as soon as you taste independence/you start living life in the present”

Season 2 is all about Wilhelm realizing he needs to claim his independence and start living his own life, so the lyrics perfectly represent his arc. Plus, the melody of this song is driving and angry, which helps carry forward the momentum of Wilhelm’s conflict with his mom through the end of the credits and reminds us how urgent this need to stand up for himself is.

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t talked about “Revolution” by Elias or “The Most Beautiful Boy” by The Irrepressibles yet. I saved these two for last because I think they get the most fan discussion of all of the music choices in the season, and for good reason. To me these two are almost the theme songs of their respective season; everything centers around them. They occur at the same place in the season (at the end of 1.4/2.4 and 1.6/2.6) and they encapsulate the lessons that Wilhelm needs to learn: how to stand up to his mom and defy what is expected of him, and how to prioritize his love for Simon.

(I’ve also already talked about “Holy” by Elias in my post about the sex scenes here).

Overall, I love the way that needle drops are used in Young Royals. I know some people have complained that the songs don’t have much to do with the story, but to me nothing could be further from the truth. The songs capture both the societal expectations of Hillerska and the tender, inner workings of the characters. They help us understand the pressures put on our main characters and illuminate how they are really feeling inside. Plus the soundtrack is filled with queer, female, and POC artists who are a delight to discover.

I would love to hear your interpretation of the needle drops in the show. Do you have a favorite song on the soundtrack? Is there something I missed that you want me to talk about? My ask box is open and I would love to hear your thoughts!

[taehyungfirst]

(sorry this is long)

as a boycotter who's stopped music, and almost everything from the entertainment industry across the globe (particularly songs with zionist writers/producers/singers) I just wanna say, this whole "armys only boycotted taehyung" or "armys are silent about the boycott now when it's the fav" is disingenuous at best.

A) The reason most taehyung fans even heard about the boycott in the first place, is because tae's content was included in it.

tae fans focused on what Palestinian armys were doing only when it affected tae, and were completely ignorant otherwise (for the most part).

So why do some of these fans think that just because they personally haven't seen anything, that the boycott has somehow ended, or isn't going just as strongly?

Those fans haven't seen much cause those fans don't focus on much outside of tae.

Tae has faced lots of sabotage by company/industry over the years, but reducing the boycott, which was made by those who don't hate tae at all (or any of the members) as some sort of ploy to sabotage tae, is ignorant af. especially when the movement was created by actual Palestinians trying to get HYBE to fire an actual extremist zionists who is directly complicit with what's going on.

Scooter isn't just a guy who believes in Israel, he's actively worked hard to benefit Israel. Mf got a shoutout from Israel. He visited occupied Syria and posed with the same tanks that have killed innocent people. Not to mention where he spends the money he earns, and the effort he's put in to spread dangerous propaganda worldwide.

His influence in Hybe is also growing, and that's exactly what we were afraid of.

Hybe's done nothing except ignore us and try to silence us, and continue to have their artists collab with the biggest zionist brands, and work with zionists.

Idk, Tae is my bias and I always thought a lot of tae fans were kind of smart, but seeing how literally all fans, whether they're ot7 or solos or akgaes, behave in the same exact way, has shattered that belief.

Pal armys could call out every member, but every fan will choose to be blind during that UNTIL the member they bias or stan is the one being called out, then suddenly it's "oh you only focus on X, but not on *insert other member* who did so and so"

literally every time.

Like right now, Tae just posted about McDonalds. majority of ta fans ar gonna go 'y'all have a problem ONLY with tae. Y'all HATE Tae. This fandom is ANTI Tae, and you didn't say anything about other members..." which is immediately just clown talk, considering how much Jin was being called out for being a torch bearer in the olympics (olympics was officially on the bds list) and for signing with a zionist brand very recently.

B) Perhaps part of the reason y'all haven't heard more about the boycott this time around (despite more and more people actually joining the movement) is because while before, fans would boycott but still talk and be excited by the content, now a lot of fans are focusing more and more on things outside of Kpop, so less and less boycotters have even spoken about Jm's albums (although files have been shared, and boycotters have been reported and suspended for it, still)

Idk, if you don't agree with the boycott movement , that's one thing, but to play sabotage olympics specifically about this, when it has nothing to do with biases or whatever, and everything to do with not wanting to give a dime to HYBE's greedy, capitalistic, zionist ass, is frustrating.

No one is exempt from being called out, and doing so isn't because "we're anti", and nor is any specific member, or group, or artist being specifically targeted, everyone is.

Also, OP, the harshness of my ask isn't directed at you at all, you've said nothing wrong, but this idea seems prevalent with a lot of tae fans, and I've seen this take too many times today.

No one bothers listening to Palestinians fans to learn what's actually happening. Everyone just makes their own assumptions to suit their narrative and then runs with that :/

Hi!

I’ve seen lots of people saying “you only focus on x member instead of…” and I assume it’s because of laser focus: your tl is all about your bias so you see people complaining about it making it seem like they’re only calling him out, kind of like an echo chamber. But they really all got called out, be it Jk with Golden, Jin and his new brand/olympics, Nj and his daily posts, the zionist collabs…

Now this case specifically, the mcd picture, I think it was just to show how tiny were the fries compared to his hand and considering he took that one year ago it’s harmless, the problem is choosing to post that RIGHT NOW, with an active boycott going on. So I do agree on educating him, that’s the best thing you can do. I don’t agree with it being used for fanwars, for a dick measuring contest where you wanna show that x is better than y, that’s not activism, that’s you trying to win a moral competition in a stan twitter fanwar. That’s the furthest you could be from activism. I also won’t stand with armys who have tried to make him a scapegoat for months and are now resorting to call him with the worst names and throw the worst allegations on him, that’s not educating. Don’t hold him to standards you don’t even hold yourself to, that’s what I’m saying. But I am 100% in for educating him.

[mysterypigeon]

have you seen the most recent crane wives Instagram post? there's strings on 5 tracks! also I think you might be right about there being more strings in scars and I just can't hear it for some reason

also the two string players will be joining them for their album release concert, which is cool. they had an album release concert for coyote stories, and the theatre that they performed it in recorded it and uploaded it to vimeo (of all places??). it'd be cool if they could have this one recorded too 🥺 👉👈 but I doubt they will

this ask is at least a week or two old and i am a fool.

anyways. YEAH I DID!! soso excited. every time they bring in more instruments it's incredible.

please god please. that would be so cool. you have so much information i don't!! i'm so grateful forever that you pop into my inbox and share the deep tcw secrets with me.

bad news for me only though. i'm busy the night of the 6th and entirety of the 7th!! i'm hoping they keep up with the trend of releasing music at 9 or 10 AM EST. then i could use my free time in school to listen. but i'm worried that there's going to be an explosion of people heading to genius.com for the lyrics. and when a page hits 5k views i can't edit it anymore.

it's become unreasonably important to me that the lyrics are accurate. it bothers me so much when they're stuck as wrong and i can't do anything, and it feels like my responsibility to save less-viewed pages from that fate. like this is a silly website for words from songs. but i'm also frustrated about my newest realization, which is that rayzs on genius (who wrote around or over half of the song bios) used chatgpt. i used to think they were just treating the bios like english assignments. but how do you generate incorrect interpretations of songs you like and paste them onto the lyrics page forever? and have #1 tcw fan in your bio??

so that's very off-topic but that's my concern for this album, that i can't control what's on those pages. but also it literally doesn't matter and i need to lighten up. i wonder if i should do anything for the release!! i could maybe make art. i've never really been there for an artist i really like dropping new music. i could die.

thanks ghosty!!! TWO WEEKS!!

[fr-0gg]

Just so you know, I edited none of this and this is all fresh straight from my notes app thank you very much

This is just me obsessing over the breath of the wild music for a scary amount of time btw 😃

Sorry if I say anything incorrect 😔

....

Something that I love about the breath of the wild soundtrack is the use of constant motifs within the music. I love how the music at the beggining of the game mirrors the music towards the ending, showing how specific situations can escalate over time and intensify just like in real life. A very specific example of this are the allusions to zelda's lullaby in a lot of the breath of the wild soundtrack, like how you can hear those notes in hyrule castle when you visit that area later on. Breath of the wild also does very well at utilizing it's own title theme a bunch to add emphasis to music. It also provides foreshadowing and makes for great music. Something else that i love specifically about the dark beast ganon battle music is how the sounds representing malice, power and evil quite literally battle against sounds representing wisdom and courage, at least in my interpretation. It's amazing how the song brings in such dark undertones to visually (at least i can see it visually in my mind) show you what is going on, with such a clear contrast of good and evil and perfect use of artistic elements. Certain sounds can also bring certain ideas to your mind as you listen, and indicate different things, such as how rushed piano notes and keys can sometimes represent guardians and the panic associated with them. I love how the soundtrack brings meaning into the game so flawlessly without having to rely on words- that's the beauty of instrumental music. The way the music indicates the direct tone so easily without having to make you guess, and how different instruments are used to indicate different emotions is beautiful. I feel like it can also guide the player through the game and provide them better insight on what to do in specific situations, which is something that is unique to video game soundtracks. These soundtracks are so dynamic that I feel they can be analyzed as art because that's what they are, so much care and attention to detail has been put into these songs which is what make them stand out so much to me. The way that as I listen in my room I've felt such a range of emotions in such a short amount of time, everything is conveyed so well. I was about to finish this rant, but I just remembered how in the divine beast themes you can hear "... --- ..." which is morse code for sos, and how in each divine beast the consistency at which that specific rhythm is used changes based on the respective champion's personality and feelings as a whole. The composers did such an amazing job with the music for this game, and even though breath of the wild is not the most recent game, I still feel that it's worth talking about since it's so amazing. Anyways BYE thanks for listening to my excessive rambling session!

[thenightling]

The reality of "Cancel culture" is jus an annoying casual bullying to make people stop talking about various subjects

Last night I posted something that amused me about Spirit Halloween. It was about spirit Halloween now selling adult sized reproduction Ben Cooper Halloween costumes (Popular but very cheap kids Halloween costumes from the 1930s to the early 1990s).

This resulted in someone hijacking my Tumblr post about to give a "Friendly reminder" that we shouldn't buy anything from Spirit Halloween because Spirit Halloween is owned by Spencer's Gifts and "in 2016 Spencer's gifts sold 'Grab America by the p-ssy' shirts and they have yet to apologize!"

I don't care. Yes, it's disgusting that Trump said he could grab a woman by her p-ssy and get away with it. Yes, the shirt was in poor taste but I'm not avoiding a store because it's owned by the same people who own another store that sold a tasteless shirt EIGHT years ago!

I am tired of being told what I should or shouldn't interact with.

I run a Neil Gaiman's The Sandman Facebook group and I was called a TERF apologist and even Transphobe all because I won't ban the mention of J. K. Rowling. She is literally mentioned in episode 11 of The Sandman Netflix series. And Neil Giaman's four part story The Books of Magic is often mistaken as a Harry Potter rip-off even though it was published over seven-years before the first Harry Potter book was published.

Even though my group's very first rule is "No bigotry" I was accused of leaving transphobic content on the group. Someone in "The Trailer Park Pagans are at it Again" group even kept a bunch of posts from transphobes from within my Sandman group from before I could ban them (Most of those troll posts were less than eleven minutes old when screen grabbed) to make it look like I allowed that crap.

When Hocus Pocus 2 was released to Disney+ someone in my group decided to announce that Bette Midler was a transphobe and she "No longer felt safe in the group" if I talked about Hocus Pocus. Like simply mentioning a fictional character Bette Midler played will make her manifest in their bedroom.

I am NOT justifying or "apologizisting" anything Bette Midler has said. Liking those films is not based on the personal lives of the women involved.

I posted an ASMR video by "Jim's ASMR" based on The Sandman and someone felt the need to tell me how "Problematic" he is because he cheated on his wife in real life with other ASMR artists.

I posted a Nostalgia Critic video and get a lecture about how problematic Channel Awesome is (Yes, I know. I know. I saw the manifesto.)

I really like Danny Elfman. Recently there were some awful accusations tied to him from decades ago that I will not defend but thankfully it appears there was no real evidence anyway. But apparently I'm not supposed to listen to my old recordings anymore, even though he's not getting any new money for them. Annoyingly some people have even used his Oingo Boingo song "Little Girls" as "Proof" that he's a sexual predator even though the song was meant to be a call out to shame people in Hollywood who take advantage of underage girls. You're not supposed to like the main character of the song, and he's even caught at the end of the music video version.

I was told Netflix's Castlevania is problematic and I should avoid it because of some misbehavior of the show's writer. I LIKE Castlevania!

I've been told to avoid Tim Burton because he's "racist" even though I've seen him make a conscious effort to be a lot more diverse in his casting.

On Facebook someone tried to scold me for being Wiccan. They lectured me because Wiccans borrow from other religions and there for "Culturally appropriate." Well, name any religion that doesn't do that. I replied with more or less that challenge and got "If you acknowledge the problematic elements of Wiccan why don't you avoid it?"

Because I'm a f--king adult and I don't avoid all things that are "Problematic." All religions borrow from other religions. There's no pure and untainted form of Paganism. It's Neo Paganism for a reason. And most of it was reinvented or cobbled together in the nineteenth century, just slightly older than modern Wicca pieced together from ancient folk beliefs.

Spirit Halloween Spencer's Gifts J. K. Rowling Harry Potter Bette Midler Hocus Pocus Nostalgia Critic Jim's ASMR videos Danny Elfman Castlevania Tim Burton Wicca (My own religion!)

I've reached a point where I'm sick of being told what I should avoid even discussing because it's "Problematic" or offensive. Note: I am NOT justifying sexual abuse or J. K. Rowling's anti-Trans views.

I understand there's a valid reason to avoid some of these things if you have strong convictions about them and that's up to you but I do not appreciate my posts being hijacked to be given a "Friendly reminder" why you shouldn't shop at Spirit Halloween.

"Friendly reminder" YOU don't get to dictate what I talk about or where I shop, or what music I listen to. If it's problematic that's on me. It's not your business. If I want to listen to an ASMR by a man-whore who doesn't know who to be faithful so what? I'm not sleeping with him, I'm listening to his semi-hypnotic insomnia aid videos.

[floralcrematorium]

What's your favorite music albums ever?

Thanks for the ask!

My first response is a given, if you've poked around my blog or know me. I'll pick five albums! This is a long one, so elaborations on my answers and honorable mentions will be below the cut! I've also put hyperlinks with on the name of any album or EP that I mention, even if it's a mention and not on the list.

I actually had a hard time picking and realized that for a lot of the artists I listen to and have songs I consider favorite songs in general, I've never actually gone through and listened to full albums. So anything on this list are full albums I am familiar with.

Folie à Deux - Fall Out Boy (2008)

Riot!- Paramore (2007)

Royal Blood - Royal Blood (2014)

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance (2004)

Love Me Forever - Pinkshift (2022)

Folie à Deux - Fall Out Boy (2008)

I unfortunately am unhinged about FOB. I don't know why. Anyway, I love Folie and my favorite FOB song of all time is "I Don't Care," the most well known song from the album. Ironically there's a Hetalia MEP from the early 2010's to this song, but I don't think that has anything to do with my favoritism for it, lol. I am SO sad that I Don't Care was cut from their recent tours; I was lucky enough to have seen FOB on the first and second legs of the So Much (for) Stardust tour, and it was sad to see such a set staple go (but it was worth it to see FOB play so many songs they've never played live before).

I really like how the whole album is commentary about fame as a whole, most specifically the negative aspects. I would pick apart each song and pull my favorite lines and what I think about them, but I don't want this post to turn into more of an essay than it already will be. All I have to say is this album, as well as some other influences, have inspired me to make a whole Hetalia band/fame AU about the dangers of fame, societal pressure, and the loss of one's self.

My top three songs from the album:

20 Dollar Nosebleed & West Coast Smoker -- I know this is two songs, and this spot really belongs to West Coast Smoker, but hear me out. These are the last two songs on the record and they're two signs of the same coin -- The highs and lows of a high and/or drug addiction. I especially adore the literal transition between the two songs - I am a SUCKER for when one song leads into the next. I actually made a patch for my jacket from WCS, "I'm a nervous wreck".

w.a.m.s -- This song just gives me a lot of thoughts about my favorite ships. "My head's in heaven, my soles are in hell / Let's meet in the purgatory of my hips and get well / Hurry, hurry / You put my head in such a flurry, flurry / What makes you so special?"

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet -- Seeing FOB live made me have new appreciation for this song. I love the sound overall and it's really fun to sing. I love getting to hear the highs and lows of Patrick Stump's vocal range. The lyric "Does your husband know the way that the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?" makes me want to write heart wrenching things

Riot!- Paramore (2007)

I think Riot has the reputation it deserves. It's genuinely such a good album and deserves the love it gets. I don't have particular attachment to this album other than it's a good time

My top three from the album:

Let The Flames Begin

Born For This

Fences

Royal Blood - Royal Blood (2014)

I don't have a particular reason for liking this album so much? I listen to music kinda wrong in that I don't listen to the meaning of the lyrics for most songs (note: there is no wrong way to listen to music, but the sound of a song is what matters most to me. If I can't get into how it sounds, I won't be inclined to really listen to the lyrics). So the songs or the album as a whole don't have particular importance to me besides this is just a good listen and I enjoy it. I do read over some of the lyrics once in a while and am like Oh! (but in a good way)

This is genuinely a no skips album for me. I like to throw this on once in a while.

My top three from the album:

Out of the Black

Loose Change

Ten Tonne Skeleton

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance (2004)

Revenge is my favorite MCR era <3 I was obsessed with the music videos for "Helena" when I was younger. I also love the album art. I think it's popular for good reason. I cried the whole way through Helena when I saw MCR back in 2022. That being said, it's ironic that Helena isn't even in my top three songs from the album. My favoritism towards this album have to do with the sound - I can't describe it other than Revenge is such a... sharp? Sounding album? I also know it probably doesn't count, but I'm fond of "Interlude" and genuinely put it on my playlists. I feel about it the same way that I do about "Romance" from MCR's I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.

My top three from the album:

I Never Told You What I Do For A Living -- I should not be allowed to listen to this when I'm driving. That's all I have to say. I also love that this song has a bit of a tone(?) shift? About halfway through we get the very melodic "and never again, and never again / they gave us two shots to the back of the head" lines where it slows down momentarily before picking back up

The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You

Thank You For The Venom (I am still mad that I didn't see the tote bag when on line for merch... I am so envious of everyone who got that bag)

Love Me Forever - Pinkshift (2022)

I wish I had more to say other than that I really genuinely love this album. I love Pinkshift so much. If their 2021 EP Saccharine was an album and not an EP, that would've gone here instead. I am also in LOVE with their 2023 EP Suraksha.

Love Me Forever would have ranked higher if I had any sort of explanation other than I really love this band.

My top three from the album:

Dreamer

Love Me Forever

Trust Fall

Honorable Mentions:

Nocturnal - Mothica (2022)

Absinthe

Sensitive

Casualty

Kissing Death - Mothica (2024)

Afterlife

Mirage

Red

Here-She-Comes-A-Tumblin' - Birdeatsbaby (2009)

Intro/Seventeen

The Trouble

Hymn

This Is Why - Paramore (2023)

The News

Figure 8

Running Out of Time

C’est Comme Ça

JINSEI KAKETE BOKU WA - ONE OK ROCK (2013)

Deeper, Deeper

Clock Strikes

ONION!

POST-HUMAN SURVIVAL HORROR - Bring Me The Horizon (2020)

One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As Your March To Your Death

Parasite Eve

1 x 1

Obey

Lush - Mitski (2012)

Pearl Diver

Brand New City

Liquid Smooth

[yeentosis]

literally the most satisfying thing I've done recently is start earnestly amassing an offline music collection like it's the 00's. downloading albums, fixing up covers and track info, embedding lyrics (learned that mp3 files support this literally this week), tidying up all the little details until I'm left with a library completely disconnected from any walled garden streaming service, yet the browsing and listening experience is completely identical.

and I don't even bother with flacs or anything, full bitrate mp3s are more than good enough for me and literally anything will play it; I could load this entire album onto any music player made in the last 30 years and it'll just work. say I'm going on a trip and don't wanna risk my fancy smartphone getting lost or damaged, I could buy a lil nokia dumbphone for 25 bucks and load it with an sd card with my entire library on there.

If any part of the library is not to my liking, I can just change it myself. I can update low res album art or even replace it with other editions or straight up anything, I can properly add featured artists and other fun metadata, I can remove stupid suffixes like "(20th anniversary edition)" from every goddamn track title on an album seriously what the fuck is the point of that. I actually find streaming services really inconvenient; they're so restrictive!

No ads, no recurring payments, no songs getting removed because the platform doesn't have the streaming rights, no albums getting swapped for alternate versions for reasons, no music is lost just because the streaming service gets shelved for any reason. I can pay 10 bucks for a new album every month *if I want to* and still save money compared to a streaming subscription, but honestly I'm happy to spend a bit more sometimes for the convenience of having full ownership of my music collection.

I was gonna hand it to streaming services for at least being good discovery tools, but that's not even true. I get more and better recommendations from communities of actual people than what the streaming algorithms can muster up (which is often just the same 10 albums over and over and over again). even youtube does a better job and I don't even have to pay for that.

take back some control from the streaming services that are currently enshittifying the music industry, go get some mp3s.

[dangerously-human]

I was tagged by @alyss-mainwarning for a song shuffle game (I always enjoy these!). Putting in a separate post instead of reblogging because I'm old-fashioned, and I think it's just easier to navigate.

rules: shuffle your “on repeat” playlist and post the first 10 tracks, then tag 10 people

I think we're probably not surprised at this point that it's pretty much all stuff off Ghostbustin' With the Buds, right?

Fairlies - Grian Chatten: Contribution from @womaninwinter's sickos playlist and it's a great THB sound from LW's self-denial POV, especially "Do you miss the days before hope knocked on your door? But you went and fell in love, and into love you fell, and it made you feel unwell, oh well" (Ah. Ow.)

House a Habit - We Are the Guests: I can't remember whose playlist I got this off of, but wow, VERY Lucy leaving vibes, especially the way the narration goes back and forth between the man and woman singing in the second verse. But seriously, this is just painfully on the nose, with lines like "I don't know if I should stay or should I go, he told me this house would always be our home… Everyone tells me to just stay the same, but it's not like that, no it's not like that, oh, tell me someone's out there listening to me 'cause I wanna know that like I wanna know you, oh, stay with me… Everyone tells me you're fine, don't be in love, let's make this house a habit… Oh please don't imagine a life without me, at least not yet, this house is a habit and it's lovely to live in it… This head is a hospital, someone please tend to it" (!!!)

Waking Up - We the Kingdom: I've talked about this one before multiple times, the victorious declaration of returning from the Other Side ("I am alive in the land of the living") as well as something that captures my own healing after the depression years.

Summerland - half•alive: Captures the temporary elation of the warmer months in a way I think vibes well with how Lucy describes that season for the Portland Row trio, the way it's the cycle of it all that even makes it meaningful, and the hope of it all in the ups and downs! "Whatever ain't golden now will only come back around." I'm particularly attached to this for the unseen summer between TCS and TEG. (Also this has been stuck in my head for at least the last week.)

Hot Tea - half•alive: Freaking cute Locklyle vibes! Especially fitting considering all the waxing eloquent about the comforts of good hot tea in these books. "Hold you in my hands like hot tea, knowing I'm safe 'cause you want me," the adopted feral cat energy, it's perfect.

Tip Toes - half•alive: Okay well, I guess this answers the question of what artist is most represented in my L&Co playlist. 😆 (They're actually in second place for that distinction, it's just that I'm also new to their music and so least likely to skip.) This song is SO Lockwood coded, especially the way his desire to make his family name immortal can blur the lines into pride, even the misplaced sacrificial nature and the way he needs to frequently reassess his priorities as a leader. "I'm on my tiptoes, trying to see past my ego, reaching for something more than this feeling of being important, leaving my hear behind is bleeding, but still my pride is screaming, my future will listen to me, will I always know this divide, living most of this war inside, take the ghost of me with the tide to die and release my heart to come alive" - like!!!

Dancing in the Minefields - Andrew Peterson: Used very recently for fanfic title purposes (That's What the Promise Is For), this one just screams Locklyle, married young and facing life's challenges together and helping each other remember the light in the world when the dark closes in. Literally could quote the entire thing for them and struggled not to when I posted the fic, so to choose something I didn't put there, can we just all shriek about that third verse/bridge, especially "So there's nothing left to fear, so I'll walk with you in the shadowlands till the shadows disappear, 'cause he promised not to leave us and his promises are true, so in the face of all this chaos, baby I can dance with you," together?

still feel - half•alive: At any given time having exclamation point variety thoughts about these lyrics, especially as applied to Lockwood, or Kipps, or tbh just broadly across this series. "To realize the hand of life is reaching out, to rid me of my pride I call allegiance to myself… Oh I am not a slave, can't be contained, so pick me from the dark and pull me from the grave, 'cause I still feel alive, when it's hopeless, I start to notice, oh, and I still feel alive" I AM FEELING THINGS!!

Out of the Dark - Tritonal, EMME: I've had this one on repeat while driving a lot lately, it's a great sound, and also a very fun Locklyle song post-THB. Obviously "I know you're scared of diving deep, afraid of what's just out of reach… Sometimes the weight's too much to carry, when it gets heavy, feels like everything's falling apart, so unsteady, you'll be the light to get out of the dark" is delightful imagery for our beloved burdened ghostbusting duo, but also the dual meaning of "There's an end in sight, just hold on tight, you'll make it to the other side" is chef's kiss, they're going to make it to their hash-it-out conversation on the Other Side in TCS and also make it to the other side of the dark in terms of emotional context and setting. Obsessed.

Twenty Something - Nightly: I've already said a few times this is my best inspiration for writing introspective angst lately, used for a Fringe WIP in addition to being on repeat for the writing of Living With the Ghost of You, especially the Lockwood POV chapter. The lyrics are only right at a slant but the vibe is perfect.

I just did one of these so I'm not going to tag anyone this round, but if you happen across this and want to join in, please do say I tagged you!

[ravenbloodshot]

fr thats why i have mixed feelings on kpop even after being a fan of a few groups and as much as we are being forced to hear about kpop groups everywhere, like we cant escapr their constant promotions they arent helping western artists if anything theyre trying to overule america. do u think itll ever calm down? i mean the groups are literally everywhere. on every brwnd name there is and most normal folk like myself cant usually afford to constantly buy expensive merch nor tour the country just to watch new groups do the same thing as other groups.

if kpop was less about quantity i think it would intruige me more to get back into it but its become overboard in recent years and prices are going up on almost everything. so if i were to even go and see one group lets say ateez in london, it would probs cost me 300-400 maybe more quid as a whole trip. when you add ticket, hotels, merch, lightsticks, those round picture banner things, hotels, train or plane tickets. music is becoming less accessible by the days. i do feel bad for new groups cause bts and blackpink hoarded the spotlight for yonks now other groups are coming abroad and its sometimes hit or miss if i like their songs. for example i prefer ateez to skz music but i still wouldnt justify investing so much to go and see them if their only venue is maybe wembley and or glasgow or wherever they tour.

i feel like groups are so detached or almost out of touch with themselves and what they expect from their fans and listeners or even general music groups. didnt surprise me that ateez were chosen for coachella, blackpink had already done it for gg's that didnt surprise me either. but how is people who have their own lifestyle to afford going to afford kpop investment? we all know the shitty seats are the cheapest but its still a no from me. sighhhh entertainment generally shouldnt be this difficult. i have similar issued with football and frankly its eventually off putting like i want to like something, do i like it? for a while then comes the huge costs it takes to really be into the groups or clubs or other forms of entertainment.

🤷‍♀️

I've never bought a kpop album in my life. I've never bought an album of anyone's whatsoever. What's the point when one can just listen to it for free on YouTube/Spotify?

But, yeah. It's all overpriced, reused concepts and albums. Ateez makes pretty good music imo, Stray kids music isn't my taste so I also agree with you on that.

Thanxx, Fireworks, Guerilla, Bouncy, Rocky etc.... Ateez put out that fire, their new comeback is a miss though

The only song I like by stray kids is Lee know's and Bangchan's song "Drive"

[kitschke]

This might be a weird question, but I ended up browsing your blog, and you have a lot of interesting looking music posts. Do you have a list of underrated songs you think people should check out? Or something like that? I’ve been trying to find more indie bands recently (since I heard Spotify might try to demonetize songs with under a thousand listens and I thought maybe bringing the listen count up would help, foolish as that might be—and I haven’t even confirmed it’s true lmao). I’ve found a couple solo artists like presence3x with only a dozen listeners, but Spotify makes it super difficult to find them. I found City of Sound thanks to their YouTube presence, but not every indie band has that. (They’re not nearly as small as presence3x, to be clear)

Feel free to delete this ask if you don’t feel like answering—I won’t take offense! I just thought maybe it would give you an excuse to talk about music or something, since you seem to like it as much as I do.

not weird at all! my page is very quiet so nice to get the chance to babble about music :°) i guess i'm getting better at coming off as knowledgeable lol.

i try to find new music from a variety of sources - obviously looking at my blog you can see i'm a big fan of the @haveyouheardthisband project and it's been a fantastic way to discover new artists of all levels of popularity. some of those bands are super obscure and they've even compiled some of the most unheard-of into a list with recommended tracks and where to listen.

for my album-of-the-day resolution, i've taken suggestions from friends + strangers (and always open to more!), but mostly literally just use a random generator lol. for my personal rules i try to exclude compilations/live albums/various artists but really try to listen to everything else it gives me even if it's not normally my genre. it does seem to tend to generate more popular artists (surely nothing as obscure as presence3x!); the lowest monthly listenership so far is Vaqo (466) (also his stuff is quite good! would recommend). so it might not reliably return indie artists but is worth a try for fun.

another off-the-wall suggestion is Radiooooo, which is such a fun concept - radio based off a decade + country. i believe it's manually sourced by music lovers and their personal collection, which is really cool and can lead to some pretty obscure older finds!

but otherwise....i'm flattered you think i have an indie taste haha. i don't think any of my favorite songs/acts are obscure by any means, but i've never considered trying to create a playlist of my top underrated songs. but i'm inspired to do so now! i'll link it if i do make something like that. thanks for the ask and letting me ramble to a fellow Music Enjoyer :°)

[quiet-nocturne]

answer your 30 questions please and thank you!!!

WOO. HERE WE GO, YA'LL:

ao3 wrapped [writers edition]

How many words have you written this year? Published? 22,685. Unpublished? A loooooot ahaha.

How many works did you publish this year? Currently, 3. Hoping to have 4-5 by christmas though. 👀

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? definitely cause i'm lovesick. That thing was a labor of love. My first fanfic baby in a loooong time.

What work of yours has the most hits? currently cause i'm lovesick (I ain't even ashamed), which is at 735 hits. But it's kind of biased, considering I only came back to fic writing in like october.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? nothing in particular - I'm just happy to have any engagement!

Favorite title you used honestly, no favorite as of yet. All the titles I've used come from song lyrics that are super royai coded/important to me, so I like them all. That answer could definitely change in the future though!

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? most recently, taylor swift (hopeless, breathless, burning slow), but also banks (cause i'm lovesick and you're all that matters to me anyway - she's SO GOOD for angsty love songs). Lyrics are so, so important to me. I have a ~300 song royai playlist (which I'm going to slim down and post here at some point) that I listen to constantly, lol, and a huge notes file on my phone filled with potential song lyric titles. I have a music degree and it's literally so important to my writing process aajsaksjljasjl.

Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Royai. lol. That's not going to change any time soon. The extreme hyperfixation is REAL.

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Again royai. They're the best. My babies. 💖

What work was the quickest to write? Surprising, chapter 2 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow. started it last night and i'm already nearly done the first draft. That thing flew out of me, especially considering chapter 1 was much more of a journey lol.

What work took you the longest to write? definitely chapter 1 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow. it wasn't the writing that was the issue - it was the editing. I really dragged my feet on it, and could have had that thing out like 2 weeks ago. 🤦‍♀️

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year? oh god. my wip's currently include: - chapter 2 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow - sequel to cause i'm lovesick (I ain't even ashamed) - a christmas fic - angsty, hurt/comfort, character exploration, ishval restoration multi-chaptered fic (I'm REALLY excited to work on this!!! yay angst) - roy and riza returning to her old father's house post-cannon and STUFF HAPPENS, fluff, hurt/comfort, etc (also really excited for this one! i've been daydreaming about it for MONTHS. Even just thinking about this fic feels like sinking into a warm bath. That's the vibes I want it to give) - ANOTHER post-promised day fic, because I'm a broken record, but this time more humorous/cute. - aaaand yet another post-promised day fic, but one where Riza REALLY ISN'T DOING WELL/almost dies like a million times at the hospital and roy is sad (!!!). - briggs angst/sick fic - does that make sense? no? it will. Yeah. yeahhh. That list is only going to get bigger. 🤷‍♀️ Some of these will also, shockingly, not have smut lol.

What’s your longest work of the year? So far, ch. 1 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow at a whopping 9, 792 words. It really ran away from me.

What’s your shortest work of the year? mmm, you're all that matters to me anyway at 5,954 words. apparently I can't write anything below 5k lol. 🤷‍♀️

What WIP are you taking into next year with you? Oof, I mean probably most of what I had listed above. I aim to have some of it done - but it's already December 7th, so yeah.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? Smut. lol.

Your favorite character to write this year? Surprisingly, Roy. I almost find him easier to write than Riza. Normally I don't enjoy writing from the male perspective. But Roy Mustang is just 🔥. I was so surprised lol.

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? No one, as of yet. But we'll see what I say once I start working more on the multi chaptered fics. 😬

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? More Royai, maybe with a dash of Roy/Maes. Maybe I'll try a bit of Ed/Winry? Who knows!

Which work of yours have you reread the most? chapter 1 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow. I am so fucking sick of it ahaha helppp.

How many kudos in total did you get this year? Currently at 142! You are all so sweet. 😭

Which work has the most comments? I think cause i'm lovesick at the moment!

Did you do any collaborative works this year? nope! Definitely something I'd consider doing in the future though!

Did you write any gifts this year? maybe! 👀 we shall see

Did you receive any gifts this year? nope!

What’s your most common category? ...Smut. lol. 🤷‍♀️

What do you listen to while writing? ahhhh I love talking about music with my ships! like I said, my ridiculously huge royai playlist. also all of my top songs on spotify were from it, which includes: 1. Say Yes to Heaven - Lana Del Ray (i've got my eye on you / i've got my mind on you) 2. Work Song - Hozier (no grave could hold my body down / i'll crawl home to her) 3. I Wanna Be Yours - Artic Monkeys (secrets i have held in my heart / are harder to hide then i thought / maybe i just wanna be yours) 4. Night We Met - Lord Horan feat. Pheobe Bridges (i had all and then most of you / some and now none of you / take me back to the night we met / i don't know what i'm supposed to do / haunted by the ghost of you) - that ishval restoration fic is definitely going to use a lyric from this song SOMEWHERE Honorable mentions: Die First - Nessa Barrett (someone dies or someone gets hurt / but if one of us dies / i hope i die first) Ya'aburnee - Halsey (i'll never know / if there's danger in confession / or it's memory that presses / like a blade against my throat / another word and i could choke / but what's worst? / tellin' you my feelings / or to die without revealing / that you got inside my head / and set a fire there instead?) Dress - Taylor Swift (there is an indentation in the shape of you / made your mark on me, a golden tattoo / all of this silence and patience / pining and anticipation / my hands are shaking from holding back from you) 10000/10, would play at royai's wedding.

Favorite work you wrote this year? cause i'm lovesick. Again, it was my baby. I loved writing it so much.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? mmmm, probably: "She'd planned to stay angry at Mustang for longer, but then he'd surprised her by sauntering into her apartment basically the second his train had arrived, eyes blazing with desire as he collected her in his warm embrace, murmuring you have no idea how much I've been craving to taste you against the soft skin of her throat." (I tried to find one that was mostly sfw lol).

Biggest surprise while writing this year? Just being able to write, in general! It's been so much fun. 💖

[natalyabby]

𝐼𝓃𝒹𝒾𝑒 𝒜𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓈/𝒮𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐻𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒞𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝐸𝓎𝑒 ⭐︎🎨

If you're looking for small indie artists to pay attention to, check out this list! 🤍

Since starting to put out my own music I've been paying way more attention to small/new indie artists and it's been soooo fun; there are so many people out there creating the coolest, stuff who don't yet have nearly as many eyes on them as you'd expect. Here are a few smaller artists/projects that are on my mind! Most of these I literally found from YouTube recommendations lol :)

✩ Homade - Blue Fish

omg I found this last night and I loved it sooo much; it's so... strange, dreamy, creative, psychedelic. It's something that genuinely feels like it could've been written in the 90s but with the aesthetics and quality of something more recent. They are an all girl rock band from NYC. The video & song are just so pretty; and I can't get over how much fun they look like they're having. I'm obsessedd! Music that feels like some sort of trip is often the best kind 🐠★🦋

✩ Baby Bugs - He Loves Me (he loves me not)

Baby Bugs has been on my radar for about a year now, ever since they put out this song and I think I saw one of their posts on IG reels. I was mesmerised! I mean, y'all know how much I am a sucker for the flowergrrrl aesthetic (the singer, Bowie goes by they/them pronouns but for the sake of explaining the vibe). Bowie's voice & lyrics are very captivating and vulnerable in a way that makes them so unique. They've put out a lot of awesome songs but this one especially has me hooked- the heartbreaking sweetness of it 💞✩🤍

✩ Fcukers - Homie Don't Shake

This one was another iconic YouTube recommendations find. I don't know too much about this band from what I could find, I think they're relatively new to the scene; but this song is awesome lol. It genuinely feels like something out of the 2000s, I mean I can see this being in 'Skins'. What struck me about this one is I love how sweet the singer's voice sounds which makes a really pleasant juxtaposition with the upbeat, 'edgy' for lack of a better word genre. This is gonna be stuck in my head for a while ✌🏼❤️‍🔥

✩ Natalya - Garden of Love

You know I had to plug myself okay 😅🤍 this one caught my eye, because I spent many hours working on it & I am the sole creator aside from my bf helping with the guitar hahaha 🤪 if I had to talk about what I love about this song, I really am happy with how it's come out. My goal with this song was something like... Lana Del Rey in terms of dreamy, romantic siren-esque qualities; meets Nirvana or the Smashing Pumpkins in terms of 'edge', grunginess, casualness/relatability, etc. As an artist; especially an extra self critical artist, it's really a challenge to not look at my work and see everything I need to improve but I can at least honestly say that I like Garden of Love & would listen to it if I didn't know it was me 💐🪷🎨

✩ Natalie Madigan - Six Strings

I came across this artist & song on TikTok and woww, she is phenomenal! I think I overuse the word 'dreamy' but yet again I do find this piece incredibly dreamy, fun, sensual. This is just a short visualiser but damn, isn't it gorgeous? When I see artists like this, really all of the artists I've mentioned & more; it's a really good reminder of the way that level of fame or praise is not necessarily correlated to the quality of the art at all; because some of these people literally have flawless music & production, meaning, visual aesthetic, beauty, etc. but it still truly is a climb like any other to get 'noticed'. Which is why it's incredibly important to do it for yourself first. ✩💕🥀

✩ Ha Vay - Fragile

I believe I found Ha Vay off of YouTube too, I'm not sure but her music & aesthetics are just beautiful. I really resonate myself with the way she connects the beauty of nature & spiritual themes in with her music. This song, 'Fragile' talks about the beauty in fragility, in being sensitive, and how powerful it truly is. The way that spiritually, the person who is called 'fragile' has access to a certain magic and strength that not everybody can understand. As a very spiritual person who has spent years studying all things esoteric & contemplating the beautiful mystery life is; I am incredibly inspired by the way this artist manages to weave this sort of magic into her work. She gets a lot of comparisons to Kate Bush which I totally see with the whimsical vibes & beautiful soprano vocals. 🦋🕊️💞

So they're just a few of the many small artists I've had the pleasure of discovering online. I am definitely one of those people who can and will bang on about how I wish we could go back to a time in the past where music & art was more highly revered and approached with more authenticity, patience & integrity.. but then I see artists like this and I'm like damn nevermind! Music & art is still as alive as ever, it's just about paying attention to the right places! ✨🌙

[gxilgramore]

INTRODUCING THE FRIDAY MUSIC RECOMMENDATIONS!

So how it's gonna work?

Basic really, every friday (if my adhd let me remember) i will recommend a set of tracks that i've been listening, the image you are seeing above you is my last.fm collage but not all songs will be from that collage, but it's there as a cover for the post and a showcase of the songs i'm not gonna mention but i still recommend.

Let's go then?

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST WITH ALL THE SONGS MENTIONED BELOW!

Will I See You Again? - Thee Sacred Souls

I discovered these guys recently while trying to sample them for a track i was doing, i took my a while to appreciate this song but now that i do i can't stop listening, that clean guitar with that gorgeous main melody, those open hats that give such a beautiful atmosphere, the incredibly catchy but mesmerizing chorus, the amazing vocal performance, holy shit this song is so fucking good in so many different levels, one of the better jams i found this year.

No Problems - Ginger Root

So fucking funky, christ, one of the most catchy songs released this year, if you like funky shit it's unmissable.

Is It a Crime - Sade

I'm getting into Sade and most of the stuff i heard from her is gorgeous, this is the best example, it sounds big, passionate, beautiful, music luxury, also sound sad and emotional, absolutely perfection from beginning to end.

Suffocate (feat. Poppy) - Knocked Loose

I'm not a metal guy, but the two Knocked loose songs i listened this year are so fucking brutal that made me interested in metalcore, the reggaeton breakdown at the end is so fucking unexpected but it goes so hard, holy shit.

Junho de 94 - Djonga

I'm brazillian, and the rap from our country sometimes can go toe to toe, and a lot of times even be better than the shit from the states, Djonga is a big example of why, this dude's flow and lyrical hability is unmatched, truly a special artist in our scene, how he guides a story of his own life in this autobiographical song is truly a thing of genius, and the confidence he has plenty, one of the best rappers that came out from this amazing country

Down Under - Man at Work

I wanted to also put Who Can It Be Now? here but I'll keep just to Down Under since Man at Work is already a popular new wave group, it's so dancy and catchy its really hard not to like, those songs made me want to go to australia.

The Argus - Ween

Those couple of weeks had been full of ween for me, not the way you're thinking, and this one has been one of my latest passions with the band, one of the most beautiful climaxes to any song ive have ever heard, still sad that the rest of the album didn't click for me.

No Hands - Joey Valence and Brae:

One of the most fun rap songs of the year, im seeing these guys since the PUNK TACTICS song on tiktok and they are truly amazing at being fun, No Hands is a bit more personal but it has such infectious energy and an amazing beat.

The Invisible Man - Maruja

Literally the best song that came out this year, holy shit, the incredible build up, tension heavy saxophone, the heavy vocal performance, the best climax maybe fucking ever? Ive been seeing this live performance they did on youtube and is truly a stuff of legend being more intense than in the studio version in a song that demands so much, truly amazing, keep your eyes on Maruja, these guys are gonna hit it big like Black Midi or Black Country, New Road.

I Got The... - Labi Siffre

Literally discovered this one today, the sample to My Name Is from Eminem that is bigger and way better, so many incredible parts coming to this amazing whole, could not recommend it enough.

One on One (feat. Headband Henny) - Micah Dailey-White

This funny guy of the TikTok released an amazing neo-soul, post-punk album with this amazing catchy song in it that i could not recommend enough, is charming, cute, catchy.

Ginkgo Biloba - Querida, Faça As Malas

Back to Brasil, this ska punk band is hella catchy, one of the best ska punk bands this country could ever offer, their lastest album is also really great.

Storge - samlrc

Still in Brazil but going post-rock is this amazing, layered, larger than life track from the trans artist that has been bubbling on the underground samlrc, again, keep you eye in her.

Saudade - ElevenWAV

We still on Brasil, but now going jazz fusion, Eleven is an amazing artist overall, but her recent projects have been proving how much she is evolving and how much she is gonna hit it big when the time comes, also one of the best trans artists coming out of this country.

Psiu - Liniker

YOURE GOING TO FUCKING BRAZIL! Liniker the best trans artist to come out of this country with her amazing fusions of MPB, Bossa, Jazz, Pagode, Neo-Soul, an amazing power house pf a voice, an undying passion, unmatched to all, literally the best ever, GO LISTEN.

Think we over? OH NO BABY!

miss you - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Going to japan, I could gush about this group for years since I love ska and i love them, but i will only say this is one pf the most insane songs and music videos to come out of the country in years, you should absolutely listen to it.

All the Strange Creatures - Murray Gold

It would not be a Gxil post without your obrigatory Doctor Who mention, one of the most energizing and epic tracks in the modern series.

AND FINALLY

Canned Heat - Jamiroquai

One of the funkiest songs ever, im not gonna say anything more, needs to be experienced, go listen.

Spotify playlist with all the songs mentioned below:

And that's fucking it for today, it was a lot but ive been wanting to talk about music for months now, the next posts on this series are going to have less songs because of it but i don't care, you have any recommendations you want to make? I'd love to listen to, im pretty open to new music, so you can send anything you want, and also, what did you think of these songs? Already love them, tell me more id love to listen.

Follow me on my music socials:

LAST.FM

SPOTISTATS

ALBUM OF THE YEAR