#they're named after lady gaga songs

[voidheartkisses]

Show everyone the shittens the shittens need to be seen now

Alright, Narilamb shittens

Judas and Mary. I originally designed them in 2022 but never posted them anywhere, slight redesign. Both have red eyes like the crown

[thesinglesjukebox]

LADY GAGA AND BRUNO MARS - "DIE WITH A SMILE"

14 years after "Grenade," Bruno finally found someone who would do the same...

[5.70]

Kayla Beardslee: Hey, when is that Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars collab being released? [5]

Ian Mathers: Mars and Gaga are both skilled at their craft in a way that often seems like a throwback to an earlier era of the art/industry, taking the biggest swings possible in terms of seeking mass appeal without feeling like they're compromising or calculated, talented mimics and style chameleons when they want to be. Working together on a big, heartfelt, suitable-for-all-occasions ballad actually feels perfect along those lines. The result is the kind of sturdily good (or "good," depending on your sensibilities) song that, if it catches you at the right moment in your life, might make you bust out crying. [7]

Joshua Lu: This collaboration would've been unthinkable in 2010; now that their careers have somehow converged, the outcome feels weirdly predictable. The emotional heft, vocal runs, and vague nostalgia are there, even if all it does is fill that "Perfect Duet"-sized hole in pop radio. "Die With a Smile" can't help but feel underwhelming in the context of their career trajectories — the kind of corny balladry that Bruno's outgrown and that Gaga mostly uses just to recapture the general public — but it's impossible to wholly reject when it's this nicely crafted. [6]

Grace Robins-Somerville: Most Obamacore song of 2024, hands down. "Die with a Smile" is this very specific meld of the era when you couldn't go to the supermarket without hearing a Bruno Mars ballad and when Gaga was doing a country pivot (although this is far blander than anything on Joanne). It's been a while since I've heard such blatant Grammy bait. [3]

Jackie Powell: Entertainment Weekly's Joey Nolfi wrote that “Die with a Smile” is a song that recalls “the emotional bravado” of “Shallow,” the Grammy- and Oscar-winning smash from Lady Gaga’s A Star Is Born. He’s correct. “Die With a Smile” thrives upon accented and intentional dynamics while making vague and simple lyrics mean more than it they do on the page. That’s also what made “Shallow” so convincing. The difference on “Die With A Smile” is that Bruno Mars is more Lady Gaga’s equal than Bradley Cooper ever was. Mars has more to sing on a song that has Gaga’s name billed first, but both artists shine without the other having to sacrifice. Gaga’s part, which begins at around a minute and a half until the song's end, transforms this from a Silk Sonic B-side into something that’s much more memorable, emotionally resonant and cinematic. It's a song that makes me wish I had someone to sing it to.  [9]

Katherine St. Asaph: So old-fashioned that YouTube's preroll ad recommended me Botox, and so definitively a Bruno Mars song that I'm genuinely unsure why the credits are in the order they're in. It works, albeit in an unexciting way, because Bruno and Gaga have practiced melodrama for years -- see "I'd take a bullet straight to my brain" and "not even the Gods above can separate the two of us," respectively -- and have also practiced singing pretty then belting big. [7]

Jeffrey Brister: When it comes to Bruno Mars, I want immaculately executed genre pastiche, something that sounds like the past but keeps a thrilling modern affect. Gaga, for all of her artsy subversion and slight avant-garde leanings, has just as much of a traditionalist impulse, if not stronger; under the right circumstances, the results can be explosive. That alchemy is present here: two artists synced up and bringing out the best in each other’s performances. There is absolutely nothing new here, but it’s polished and perfectly executed. I’m a mark for that sort of thing. [7]

Jonathan Bradley: It's not right to say Bruno Mars is so adept with pastiche that he transcends it; pastiche is his artform, his milieu, the genre that this genre artist seeks to perfect. "Die With a Smile" has two ideas: the first being the familiar terrain of the Bruno Mars ballad, and the second being "What if a Bruno Mars ballad was Jeff Buckley?" Even a few years after the 1994 release of Grace, pop music seemed like it only had room in its past for an artist like Buckley: a soulful and beautiful singer-songwriter who leaned toward rock-god charisma rather than folkish introspection. Mars has Buckley's swooning fragility as well as his stormy squalls of guitar, but for all that Buckley represented the last of something, he never sounded like he was going over someone else's territory. That fundamentally does not work for Mars's attempt to recreate the sound; navigating someone else's territory is Mars's entire point. If "Die With a Smile" has a third idea, it's the addition of Lady Gaga, who is herself no stranger to pastiche (see the Madonna-isms of "Born This Way," the heartland rock of "You and I," or the way she slipped effortlessly into the Hollywood prestige turn that was "Shallow"). Here, she delivers only competence, as if she'd been asked to sing backup on a new recording of "When I Was Your Man" and found out at the last moment that the assignment had changed. [5]

Harlan Talib Ockey: Once you get past the surprise of "Die With a Smile" being a Jeff Buckley impression, it's remarkably insubstantial. "If the world was ending I'd wanna be next to you" sounds clunky and hyper-literal next to, say, "I'd catch a grenade for you". At least the harmonies are nice. [4]

Iain Mew: Bruno Mars's progression makes it a fruitful idea to go back and invert "Grenade" from a distance. Back then, he took the prospect of death as an opportunity to bitterly prove his unmatched love. Now he meets no less than the end of the world with smooth certainty that it's a chance for mutual togetherness. Lady Gaga's way with projecting intensity and sincerity in the most extreme contexts makes her the perfect foil, and for two lines after she comes in, it's transcendent. Then Mars comes back in, and not only is there not enough space for Gaga to shine, there's barely any space at all. Maybe the old anxiety hadn't gone away completely after all. [7]

Alfred Soto: Bruno Mars hasn't sounded this convincing a love man in years, if ever. Too convincing: Gaga is a backup singer on her own single. Mars sure would fuck himself if he could. [5]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Someone pointed out recently how absurd it is that Lady Gaga's Twitter bio is literally advertising for the HBO Chromatica Ball special, Haus Labs cosmetics, Joker: Folie à Deux, and now "Die with a Smile." That sums up my feelings toward this entry into the Gaga canon: random and indicating a certain directionlessness—or perhaps overdirection?—in her career. She sounds great, and the bridge is perfect TikTok fodder, but she and Bruno Mars sound like they have as much sexual chemistry as brother and sister.  [4]

TA Inskeep: Mars and Gaga sound nice enough together, but there’s no frisson, no spark; they’re just two famous singers, singing a duet for you to stream and buy.  [5]

Scott Mildenhall: To the song's great benefit, the annihilatory proposition is underblown. Instead, its precise lilt is folded and finessed throughout, heading hither and thither without over-accelerating or escalating. It's a fine balance between ostentation and undulation. There's minimal vocal chemistry, but the blend is happening elsewhere. [7]

Hannah Jocelyn: I was with family over the weekend, and my brother asked “who is this??” like it was two stunning new artists on their debut single. Upon learning it was Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, his excitement dissipated. Only Andrew Watt could make two of pop’s best vocalists sound anonymous (don’t get me started on that weightless drum sound he's inexplicably made his signature). I can’t tell where Gaga ends and Bruno begins, which is a horrible mental image. [5]

Taylor Alatorre: The drums treat every other measure like it's a climax because the entire song, or more precisely its billing, is one undifferentiated climax. Which means no build-up, no peaks or valleys, no memorable grooves or meaningful sense of release. It's just those two names together on a lighted marquee, a chart-watcher fanfic straight out of 2012, What Could Be measuring short against What Must Be, which in this case is the greatest common denominator of softer-than-talcum piano balladry. At least "Grenade" had cartoon bloodletting on its side, and "Shallow" had the benefit of context. "Die with a Smile" reaches for that old doomsday rhetoric out of sheer reflex, even when the prophesized end is painted in washed-out watercolors, like a dream whose outlines dissipate five seconds after waking. Andrew Watt's approach to retromania is less playful than the Smeezingtons' was, but also strangely less reverent, since if you truly revere the music of the past then you don't try to half-seriously Mandela effect yourself into its hit parade. [2]

Nortey Dowuona: Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga getting to coast by cornering the market on having both vocal talent and a modicum of charisma -- you know, the old-fashioned model -- would be frustrating, but at least Watt's patient hand is keeping this over there next to the white Broadway crowd. Anything but more Bruno funk. [7]

Mark Sinker: Obviously I want to claim I’m only onboard with Bruno as a project at last thanks to Gaga’s in-video cigarette — casually centred, disgustingly compelling — but I have to admit it’s something entirely more wholesome: the actual topic, the actual melody, the actual delivery! He got me in the end! (Also, I like thinking of him as a little monster. He is a little monster….)  [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Would be a [6] with flipped Mars-Gaga ratio, but even then this would not quite get to the force of melodrama that would allow it to reach exit velocity and escape the great and depressing middle ground of tasteful 20th-century pop pastiche. These two have taken enough stabs at staid, boring pop songs for all occasions that they have become the legacy acts they once aspired toward and collaborated with. Good for them; bad for us. [4]

Kristen S. Hé: As much as I wish this Venn diagram had produced something more adventurous, it's arguably harder to write a song like this -- one that'll probably be on radio rotation for decades, and that I'll never object to hearing in any context. I've often found Bruno's schtick cloying and insincere, but here, I'd believe it even without Gaga's added star power. Bruno, please stay in this lane forever. (Gaga, please don't!) [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[gh0stbeeee]

New Death Note Swap AU:

L and Light are Super Stars while Misa is both the World's Greatest Detective and Kira.

HERE ME OUT.

L was first on the pop scene in 1999, made music under the name "L" and quickly dominated the UK top hits billboard, going international within a few years. Started humble, but with the support of Quilish, was able to get a record deal and it soared from there. Basically, instead of becoming a detective, he became a voice artist.

Light, on the other hand, started his music career after he had a breakdown due to, y'know. Extreme boredom, pressure, and depression because of his lifestyle. It led to him running away because he didn't want to watch his family be ashamed of him. But, with Light being Light, he was able to find work as a small time idol under the name "Kira." Of course, he became super popular, started writing songs in English to appeal to an overseas audience, and went international in 2004. (L is 22, Light is 18)

(BTW, very important, their music styles are based off of gwen stefani, lady gaga, and some nicki minaj, basically they make 2000s/early 2010s dance floor pop music)

L and Kira were household names by 2006, and by god. Did they not like eachother. It started when Light as a rising star was compared to and accused of copying L, but even though it was obvious to anyone with ears that Light's music was more manic than L's heavier beats, it sparked a dislike in Light that boiled over when they met eachother at a red carpet event where L called Kira trashy. They were both drunk and ended up fighting one another, which created a huge rivalry.

(Imagine two twinks in designer paris hilton-esque y2k fashion just beating the shit out of each other in front of the paparazzi, because that is their aesthetics in this AU)

For years, they sang shit to each other in their music, entire diss sections added for each other. On the internet, it became known as "the kira/L bits" in their respective songs.

Then, Shinikami appeared in 2006, and the detective Misa Misa was on the case.

And nothing changed for them for a few months, until Gelus saved them at a party in California from a crazy gunman. Then, when they were staying in the same room at a celebrity hospital, Rem drops Gelus's Death Note in front of them.

And they fight over it, touching it at the same time and sharing ownership because of it.

Rem is annoyed by them at first, but decides to protect the brats as Gelus's dying wish.

After they learn about the source of Shinikami's power's, they're pissed. Attention hasn't been on them because of this supernatural killer!

Oh, and uh, killing people is bad and whatever...

It's unacceptable!

Buying the shinigami eyes with the extra life-force gifted to them by Gelus (they each have 1 shinigami eye due to shared ownership of the death note), they set out undercover to go find Shi and take em down with a panty and stocking type dynamic!

Misa, who has smugly been playing against herself this whole time while Ryuk watched, has no idea what shit is about to hit the fan...

End game is LightxL and RemxMisa obviously hehe

(Detective Misa's story is the same as in the swap au, but she just had a Kira arc as well :))

[jujuberii]

main 4 music headcanons :)

psa these are mostly stan and kyle lol

stan playlist:

kyle playlist:

kenny playlist (wip):

specifics under the cut!

Stan:

'heh... you ever heard of a band called... radiohead.? yeah... they're pretty niche..'

listens to music on one of those portable record players his mom got him

collects records but never actually uses them to listen to music

teenage dirtbag music but not in a cool way

tryhard

listens to 'face down' by red jumpsuit apparatus and 'gets it'

90's alternative divorced dad rock typa

doesnt like to listen to ac/dc because randy would play it all the time

'yeah, im kind of an old soul... i bet you don't even know nirvana....'

'name 3 songs'

used to be really into death metal (would compare how heavy his music is to other peoples) but he calmed down abt it after middle school

plays acoustic

'you know, i can play this song on acoustic.... (rizz)'

Kyle:

the cure enjoyer (not goth tho)

poser

music taste is varied, he mainly listens to whatever he finds on tiktok

Tyler, the Creator was his #1 artist

got Stan into the cure and the smiths

listens to full albums

would complain about Stan's music taste back in middle school

gorillaz fan but doesn't care abt the lore

has Tyler merch

Kenny:

listens to literally anything and everything

does not gaf

playlist goes from the offspring to britney spears in 5 songs

would love cupcakke but hasn't discovered her

Stan and him share a similar music taste lowkey

designated aux because eric likes how some of the songs on his playlist annoy kyle but stan can stand the other songs

'the bad touch' by bloodhound gang was his favorite song in middle school (overplayed it)

doesn't have spotify premium so he sends his playlists to kyle so they don't have to deal with ads when he's on aux

doesnt listen to his freaky songs when karen is in the house

can play bass if he cared enough to keep playing after elementary

Descendants was his #1 artist

(just like me fr)

Eric:

literally only listens to music that's annoying

really bad soundcloud rap, shitty meme songs etc.

NEVER put him on aux

(he will beg to be put on aux)

in secret he listens to a lot of 2000's pop

its canon he likes britney spears and justin timberlake so

lady gaga is his idol

calls stans music emo

kenny is the only one who knows his real music taste

has gaslighted kyle into thinking that he legitimately likes the shitty soundcloud rap he plays

2014 boom clap songs are his go to at parties

compares kyle to ed sheeran

:)

[korshrimpski]

KEVIN KORCHINSKI APPRECIATION POST

Hello, this is a remake of a post i made last season and i'm making it because 1. love kevin 2. can't stop thinking of how shit my old post was lol, so a remake is need (you won't find the og post because i deleted it)

1. let's start with some base things. he was drafted 7th overall in the 2022 draft to chicago

2. he's a defenceman

3. his rookie season was last year. he struggled a bit and is going to play in the AHL this year for the rockford icehogs

4. he got 5 goals and 10 assist

5. his dynamic with connor bedard is so sweet. They were both rookies for the chicago blackhawks last year but before that they played on team canada (wjc) 2023 together.

6. In warms ups connor would glide in bump into kevin, kevin would bump/push him back and connor would spin (x) (x.2) (x.3)

7. they also got their first fine together 🤗 (they went no bucket for their rookie lap and got fined)

8. since kevin and connor's whl teams never played each other they bicker about which team would have hypothetically beaten the other in a match up

9. kevin and connor combined to defeat the leafs in OT last season and it was beautiful

10. if you want more kevin and connor content here is a list of videos for you to watch:

Every Shift Season 1 Episode 5: Ambition to Action | 15:06-15:20

Every Shift Season 2 Episode 6: Great Expectations | timestamps; 1:37-4:20

(INSTAGRAM video)

they did a podcast together (it is a very painful watch because of the host :/)

11. he has a youtube channel (the name of which i cannot remember which makes me so sad) but it is him doing backflips or talking about hockey

12. speaking of him having a youtube channel- he was asked if he could be an influencer and he said he would try and then fail

13. there is a scar under his eye that he got when he was playing in the WHL conference finals and got high sticked in game one

14. the reason he decided to go to the WHL was to follow in his fathers' footsteps and so they have something to bond over (x 0:00-0:45)

15. kevin speaks really high of his dad as he is one of his main inspirations

16. literally whenever there is a single post about him people default to the "hi kevin" video/gif from spongebob lol

17. he used to play the piano because his mum wanted one of her kids to learn piano so kevin was put in piano. In year 9 he quit to focus on hockey. But he still likes playing piano for his mum

18. but kevin likes music and can play guitar, ex.1, ex.2,

19. here's him singing a zach bryan song with alex vlasic x

20. speaking of zach bryan, kevin is a big country fan

21. he is also a big coldplay fan because of his dad

22. his favourite show is suits

23. he was a very energetic kid and because of that his grandad called him "energy bunny" (x)

24. his hockey habit is that he has to change his laces every game. if they're a pair of laces he likes he'll keep them for a couple of games. he also has to retie his laces after every period

25. he is competitive with big sister whenever they play cards | timestamp: 10:26-10:56

26. he was at school for a test, when his friend told him he got drafted to the Seattle Thunderbirds (x)

27. during his rookie season, colin blackwell took kevin under his wing. they would drive together to practice some days and colin teached kevin who to cook steak

28. there is an amazing video of kevin and sam savioe singing shallow by lady gaga in colins car that i have to show you, like it's beautiful x

[bzedan]

Shout out to Chase for a photo from the archives for this playlist cover.

October is always fun because I'm building or refining a monster playlist AND my monthly playlist (see all my Halloween playlists here). Like, how many songs from scary/spooky movies does one add? This time around, just two: 'Tenebre' (from the film of the same name) and 'Wolf Like Me' which has been used pretty often but most recently in Wendell & Wild. Balanced, I think, by the inclusion of 'Crockett's Theme' by Jan Hammer for Miami Vice.

Also, The The's new album sounds like Jack Skellington breaking out to do a solo album and I'm all about it.

Related media to some of the songs:

Joshua Ray Walker's album of covers, What Is It Even? is full of bangers and he discusses the influence of the women on his work and "countryfication" these particular covers over at Holler.

Go enjoy Roxy Music on Old Grey Whistle Test singing 'In Every Dream Home A Heartache' on Youtube. I always picture the setting to be one of those wild glass-walled modernist homes that are so Los Angeles, like the Stahl House.

'Downhill' is from Pom Pom Squad's latest album Mirror Starts Moving Without Me, which bangs. They're a joy of a band and the latest album is aesthetic as hell, as the lyric videos on their Youtube can attest.

Anyway here's a link to October's playlist on Spotify, with the track list below the cut.

And embedded, if you like:

'You Suck (the life out of me)' - Dead On A Sunday

'In Every Dream Home A Heartache' - Roxy Music

'Flesh For Fantasy' - Billy Idol

'I Will Walk You Home' - Melanie

'Life After Life' - The The

'Toxic' - Koen Fagen

'Cognitive Dissident' - The The

'Wolf Like Me' - TV On The Radio

'Black Country' - Tonstartssbandht

'Calling It' - Automatic

'Downhill' - Pom Pom Squad

'Linger' - Joshua Ray Walker

'Tenebre' - Claudio Simonetti

'Lose It' - Austra

'Smells Like Teen Spirit (feat. Mckenna Breinholt)' - Cinematic Pop

'Happy Together' - FLOOR CRY

'Magnum' - Show Me the Body

'WHOLESOME' - Indigo De Souza

'Lost Boys and Girls Club' - Dum Dum Girls

'Army of Me' - Björk

'All You Pretty Girls - 2001 Remaster' - XTC

'Dangerous Game' - Blu DeTiger

'Running Up That Hill' - Chromatics

'Black Leather Gloves - 7" Release' - Cosmetics

'Crockett's Theme' - Jan Hammer

'The Waves' - Wang Chung

'Deadbeat Club' - The B-52's

'Fever' - La Lupe

'All Shook Up' - Nick Lutsko

'Lovesong' - Dead On A Sunday

'Water Witch' - The Secret Sisters

'That's Life' - Lady Gaga

'Mad World' - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox

[penroseparticle]

Penrose Song of the Day, Day 39: London Calling by The Clash

So I used to scorekeep hockey games a lot. Like a lot a lot. There was a period of time where I could make about 400 bucks a week scorekeeping games on the weekends. I ran the scoreboard, the reporting to Gamesheet (A scorekeeping app), kept a paper scoresheet, and did the music. It was a lot of work to run all 4 of those things at once! Especially if a game got busy.

I've done house level, Travel level, AA and AAA, Really everything. At a certain point you learn the scoreboard machine. You learn when to click what buttons when which whistles blow and you start to get almost mechanical. Like an automaton that reacts to specific noises. And the thing is that no matter how great or badly I did at scorekeeping, no one ever mentioned it after. I could royally fuck up putting the score on the board and I would still get called back the next week to do the clock. Parents notoriously hate working the scoreboard- they just want to watch their kid and get in fights with the refs. Easy money. I charged 60 bucks a game and they forked it over gladly (Hockey parents don't care man. They're paying 8k for the season anyways sometimes. House is like 2k, travel can be way more with hotels, airfare, etc. It's an expensive sport. What's an extra 60 bucks a season to not have to sit in the box and freeze while missing Timmy score a goal.)

What I CONSISTENTLY got praise for was the music I played.

Now I think I have good taste, but I'm not like. Special. Most people have similar tastes, everyone's on the bell curve of "can tell a song is good" vs. "Carrying tunes in tin buckets". It's helped by the fact that some things are kind of obliged- certain songs are, for lack of a better word, required (For instance, Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis is a Chicago Goal song. So if you are doing hockey music in Chicago, you ARE including that song no matter what. Period). So building a good playlist isn't that hard. A little The Alan Parson's Project to kick the games off. Some Chumbawumba for after a tough hit. The Hockey Song because this is Youth Hockey.

The mainstay of the list, for better or worse, is a classic rock/arena rock/current pop mix. It's what people expect, it's what I mostly have to deliver. Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Huey Lewis and the News, Duran Duran, One Republic, that kind of thing. It's consistently a crowd pleasing list, and it's gotta have energy, be recognizable, and be something that people will want to hear possibly twice over a hockey game. The original playlist was something like 50-60 songs. I thought that would be enough, because I am stupid. Turns out hockey games have 30-50% of their game time with the clock stopped- as in, the times when someone would typically play music to fill dead air. So I added more songs. Put on some Rush because I'm catering to the Dad demo. Putting Imagine Dragons and Boss Beat music in its natural habitat (Don't look at me like that, I've been to sporting events, these songs are made for this). Some pop girlies because I like sports, but I'm still gay. Kesha. Lady Gaga's Bad Romance (permissible due to it surviving in the zeitgeist, etc.).

And then I got... weird with it. One of the first goal songs I ever used was Otherworld. As in, the boss music for when you fight Jecht in Final Fantasy X. VGR's Electronic Amp-Up of Mii Channel features prominently and is a huge crowdpleaser with the 25-45 crowd. Baby Shark exists for when I want to annoy people. Megolovania is on it for god's sake. If it sounds good and is a little Easter egg for someone listening, trust and believe that I put that song on the list.

People loved it. Every game, without fail, between 1 and 3 people would find me after to compliment the music. The playlist was good! I named it "18U no vursing" and have used it for about 6-7 years now.

The problem with making a good playlist is that you have to constantly top yourself. I wanted to make the list better. Have more fun with it, include more jokes, more clever remixes and mashes. Things that people would like.

What made that easy was something so simple I almost overlooked it. People already told me what they would like. There's a reason arena rock, classic rock, and pop music are the bog standard. It's what works for the medium and what people like to listen to.

There's such a thing as getting too in the weeds, too obscure. You gotta remember your audience, your goals, and your scope. I wasn't debuting hot new artists (ok I was sometimes). I was playing music for people during their kid's sport. And so I readjusted my scope. The playlist grew. A few indie picks, the gags that worked (Mii Channel, Baby Shark, Electronic music with a hidden secret, etc.), but mostly pop and rock and that's all.

I'll let you in on the secret for why my hockey playlist got so good and why people started to love it so much. I'll tell you the secret to making any list popular. I started getting suggestions.

And I listened to them.

The first song I added to the playlist due to a suggestion was London Calling. I like The Clash, but there's billions of songs out there, I hadn't thought to put them on yet. But a ref skated up to me during stoppage of play and said "Hey do you have The Clash on there?" and I realized I didn't. I added it mid-game and played it between the 2nd and 3rd periods.

He thanked me after the game.

A couple weeks later I was asked if I had the soundtrack for Slap Shot on there. I started playing Maxine Nightingale, Leo Sayer, the works. The guys had a hoot and were laughing and smiling between periods.

I noticed that refs were a little nicer when I flubbed the scoreboard if I was playing songs they requested.

I asked one of my teams if they had a specific warmup song they wanted me to play. They were delighted to tell me it was Levels by Avicii. I played it every game to kick things off. Another team told me it was Welcome to DC by Mambo Sauce. A third said Welcome to the Jungle.

The playlist grew. It's 400 songs long now. Like a full 24 hours straight.

I don't scorekeep as much now. But I think I'll keep building the playlist, thanks.

~~~~~~~~

Scorekeeping was nice, but playing the music was the part that made it fun. It's made me realize one thing about myself- If Radio DJ was still a job in a way that was meaningful or mattered, I would want that job. I would probably kill for that job, actually. Listening to callers tell me they missed Chappell Roan could I please play Good Luck Babe. Or telling me that their dad's favorite song was Mr. Blue Sky so thank you so much for playing it. Girls having me play Before He Cheats for their dick ex-boyfriend. Wishing people Happy Pride with an hour mix of queer artitst. Having call in time so people could just chat.

I kind of am doing that here, and now, but in slow, painstakingly written, long-form music recommendations. I like making playlists. I love getting music dialogue going with my followers. I like discovering new music, and talking about it with people here. I am slowly, surely, working the same muscles I would need to do exactly that job, just quietly and in my own personal little corner of the world.

You know I have a discord server I made? I haven't added anyone to it, and I probably won't do anything with it. Yet. It's called Radio Waystation. Let me just link the only post I've made in there so far:

"This is for playing your music and sharing it- I might set up a radio rotation but. Essentially I want to use voicechat to let us showcase our music to each other when we want to. Dynamically- You can run a prepared playlist for your radio time, you can do a Q&A or ~Call In~ time. You can actively Disc Jockey. You just have to share your sounds to other people. Your radio time, your rules- you can acquiesce to people's tastes, you can troll people, you can play the sound of silence. You can play the same song over and over. You can express yourself. And sometimes people will say THAT SUCKS and not enjoy your presentation, but ultimately your time is yours alone. (no tolerance of intolerance loophole bullshit- you know what kind of shit will get you pulled off the air, don't be a dirtbag). Workshop a song, get help putting ikea together. But I hope you play some music."

Hey I'm nothing if not consistent.

I now know that's a lot more complicated due to how Spotify and Discord interact, and whether it's strictly speaking legal (I am intimately familiar with music licensing requirements due to my past job, thanks). But I think it's something worth figuring out someday. Someday soon, I think. I want to make my radio station.

Not a lot of today's writeup was about the song, unfortunately. And that's a bit of a shame, because again- I like The Clash. 1970's English Punk Rock had some bangers, babes, and London Calling is like. one of the greats. A recognizeable guitar part, a truly bangin bassline leading in, and just the most moshable, jumpable lyric delivery. You need to be standing pressed against the stage screaming this stuff out with Joe Strummer.

Listen I don't need to defend The Clash bigger nerds than I have done so for far longer than I've been alive. But hey. It's music I love. And as always- You could be dead right now. Go listen to something that you love.

[dragonmarquise]

Alr!!! Crews general music tastes??? I know damn well eclipse loves Beyonce

Oh boy, music!! This is gonna be a fun one to get into, at least imo.

So to start off, I like to think that in general they all like the kind of music genres that pop up in the game’s music track already. Also, we know DJ Cyber made the mixtapes besides the one for the hideout (that one being made by Tryce), so bonus headcanon: at least a few of them made suggestions to DJ Cyber for songs to include on those mixtapes.

Now moving on to some specifics!

BRC:

It depends on which individual member you ask, they probably have the most varied tastes between them? Again, besides the game’s existing genres.

There is a small subset who are into Vocaloid/vocal synth songs, mainly thanks to Bel introducing it to them. Also J-pop, again from Bel introducing it to others.

Other than that, not gonna go into further detail, especially since I’d have to think on it a lot more. :u

Actually, before I move on, a bonus headcanon: both Vinyl and DJ Cyber have probably the largest range of music tastes, and are both very knowledgeable about music. They can tell you the name of a song from the first couple of notes/lyrics, knowing when songs were release, explain differences between genres of music and which one is a subgenre/derived from/evolved from what other music genre, at least a brief history of bands/musicians/singers/etc.

One time they competed against each other in a music-focused quiz game (not like, an actual game show or anything like that, it was an informal thing at a party with the other writers). Vinyl just barely won in the end, and she still lords that over DJ Cyber every now and then, lol

The Franks

Tryce mentions at one point in the game that they blast electrofunk music. Some people might think that's something made up for the game, but it is in fact an actual music genre! So I like to think that's their main favorite, along with related genres like funk in general and breakbeat.

I like to think the Flesh Prince got into these particular genres thanks to listening to old CDs and mixtapes his parents had. Not that the Prince will ever admit it to them. :P

Eclipse

Definitely Beyoncé like you said, lol. Also other R&B/hip hop/pop/dance artists in the same vein as Beyoncé: Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Shakira, Janelle Monáe, Lil Kim, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Chapelle Roan, etc.

Okay that list ended up longer than I meant it to be, but you probably get the idea, lol

Cassiopeia (leader, the winter palette for the crew) also has a fondness for orchestra music. Mostly when she's relaxing at home, it helps her unwind after a long day of either working at her shop or being out and about as a writer.

DOT EXE

Old school EDM (especially older disco, techno, and house) in general. Which is perhaps cliche/stereotypical since they're all cyberheads/full-cyber, but whatever lol

Twoson and Fourside also have their Weird Music Tastes that I mentioned back in the big DOT EXE post I made. And then Cueball in particular really likes video game soundtracks, and is a big fan of chiptune music in general.

Devil Theory

Hip hop and rap and related genres! And because of their love of anime, various Japanese songs that have served as anime openings/endings. :P

Sai also introduces the others to reggaetón too! And other Spanish genres related to that. Nunchaku and Bō don't speak Spanish, but they do still understand most of what's in those songs too. Besides, sometimes it's about enjoy the music and the beat, even if you can't understand the words!

Okay, also, I am going to give extra attention to my DT OCs specifically, with some extra particulars for each:

Sai likes salsa music, especially to sing along with, but like I mentioned in my big Devil Theory post, he never sings in front of other people. (Rise is the only exception, hee hee)

Nunchaku likes rock and metal music! And almost every subgenre for these two you can think of, like punk rock and nu metal.

Bō likes old school EDM/disco stuff, though in contrast to most other people, he especially likes EDM songs with a slow tempo. Bit of a contradiction since most people associate EDM with fast tempos and beats.

Daishō likes listening to horror media soundtracks, because of course he does, lol

FUTURISM

EDM in general, I would think. In contrast to DOT EXE, I imagine they're largely into newer songs and subgenres in that giant genre!

---

I would give personal favorites for some of the genres mentioned here, but man, that'd make this post way too long. Hell, EDM in general covers so many subgenres.

Actually, I think I can at least link some playlists I've made? Just 3 (for now?), because I have like 20 something playlists for different music, a bunch of them being for OCs I haven't talked about publicly. But I digress. :P

A playlist of reggaetón songs specifically. Okay actually tbh I think a few of these are of a different but still kinda related genre. If you can't tell by the name, I was planning at some point to pick like 5 favorites from this and make an actual mixtape to mod into BRC. I'm not sure if I'm ever gonna get back to that. :u

A playlist of mostly salsa songs, though like with the previous playlist, I think some of these are actually a different-but-related genre.

A playlist of EDM songs, mostly my favorites from a particular set of music channels! And it covers a lot of different subgenres: house, trap, drum & bass, even a few electro swing songs in there too.

Alright, now that's it! :>

[iluvromance]

no pressure but how bout a character sketch on Michael?

alright character sketch. let's do this.

michael moscovitz, the man that "practically never shuts up". he has an opinion about anyone and anything, but not in a judge-y kinda way. but more in a psychoanalysis-y kind of way that will make one question when he's had so much time to even think over something so much.

michael is blunt. he's not going to sugarcoat anything. he repeatedly reminds mia that she's in fact failing a class (or two) and he doesn't mean to be harmful about it. he's pointing out a fact that will help her. and he doesn't do it just to be like "ha ha i know more than you". he does it and then offers his help.

michael is intelligent, but never flashy. his man could be the most hermione granger-esque insufferable know-it-all and yet he is not. i personally think it is because he's a january capricorn and likely predominately earth sign'd, but that's just me. BUT ALSO to other people, he might be annoying with his nerdy rambles, but to the readers and mia, he's hot.

but despite all this "nerdy" stuff, he has a whole different side in which he has a very specific type of sardonic sense of humor and a need to always one up his sister who is several years younger than him. he calls his parents by their first names (even if it's not to their faces cmon that's SO FUNNY).

he's a feminist, and absolutely supports women's wrongs (ex. women who murder) that that's a lovely trait to have. and he has a great imagination. i mean, kenny said mia is like that josie person or whatever. and michael says mia is badass like buffy (?). the imagination on this man is insane. like the firefighter and alien plot? that's both sexy and nerdy. they probably have a lore to them.

he's also a BOY because he hates backstreet boys and probably hates any kind of hair product that makes his hair look greasy.

michael is NOT a 3-in-1 shampoo and condition and body wash guy. he avoids them, not to jump on the hate train, but because he doesn't think that logically any part of his body will be clean after using that. ("i mean that's like saying shampoo is interchangeable with body wash. that's just ridiculous!")

he's not scared by a lot of things. he likes a good challenge. he's not scared of things like spiders or bears or stuff. but i do think he'll get more scared now that he has children and he wants to protect them from everything.

the only times we've seen michael anxious is when mia is with other people (as in kenny & JP) and when his parents separate. he's overall a chill guy. i do think that he carried CBD oil with him just in case.

anyways. michael listens to weird fucking music. like has anyone ever looked up the songs that he plays at prom? they're so freaking WEIRD. michael's the type to lend someone an earbud to listen to his ipod with him and then put on the most obscure and underground band ever heard and have the audacity to compare them to like lady gaga or something.

one thing i very strongly believe in is that michael moscovitz can hold a fucking grudge. or at least when someone wrongs him, he's not going to look at that person the same. ex. michael's interaction with JP at mia's birthday party on the yacht. that man was getting pissed off. and him wanting to punch JP during prom? that wasn't an "in the moment" thing. he absolutely was dreaming of doing that since the day of his flight to japan. and when he finally does punch him in book 11, he's LAUGHING ABOUT IT!!! he thinks it's amusing!!!!!! he knows he's won. he's been waiting for that moment for years!!!

another example of him holding a grudge: when lilly doesn't unload the dishwasher or do her own chores, forcing michael to do them, he'll repeatedly remind her that he's done something for her and that she owes him.

michael gets angsty over mia. michael totally stayed in his room all broody when kenny got mia. ("what does he have that i don't? i could be so good for her. i am so good for her!") and he was pissed off as HELL when he got to his flight when leaving for japan. and even mia says that he glares at the construction workers who cat call her and lilly. AND HOW MAD HE WAS DURING THE WHOLE PRECIOUS GIFT THING (rightfully so). and how he threw rocky's shoes back at him when rocky threw them at michael. LMFAOOOOOOO

michael is a swearer. i have said this many times. everything points to him having a dirty mouth. this man does not say "freaking". he says "fucking" and he means it. that being said, i don't think he swears like a sailor. but when the time is right, he's gonna be saying them.

michael's love language is words of affirmation. it could be giving gifts if mia was a gift person. but aint no way michael "way to go thermopolis!" moscovitz isn't a words of affirmation kinda guy.

have i missed anything?

[dojae-huh]

OH idk Oasis has that kind of reputation. I just know they're kinda well-known. I wouldn't say I'm a pure rock enthusiast, heck I don't even know what rock is. I tried to understand a few times but it's just so confusing. Some ppl wouldn't even agree that oasis is rock but oh idk I don't follow the community closely. I usually wouldn't dare to discuss genre cause I'm just an enjoyer 😭😭. I realize I would listen to anything with drums, snares and lead guitar (especially this!!)

Anyway, as a 'band music' enjoyer, the reason I said that it makes sense was largely because i didn't expect doyoung to go down the rock path. I was just wondering where does his interest come from. We have some people discussed doyoung as anime songs enjoyer or japanese band enjoyer before but I just don't get that vibe fully in Dy's album. I feel like J-pop is largely from the little light's writer, Wonsang. I listen to Lucy too and wouldn't be weirded out if they say Little Light is Lucy's. That's how strong the band color is and it shows in the song.

I'm just trying to figure out where to place Doyoung because as I said, rock is a very wide genre. If you compare alternative to classics they sound very different (at least to me). For Oasis, I'm just a casual listener but from what I have listened to so far, a lot of songs have beautiful melodies and harmonies. The lyrics are not what got me interested at first but now that you asked, i'd say they are not heavily poetic but just enough to get you wonder like 'Damn, that hit me for real'. Casually realistic? Is that even a thing😂?

To say that it influence Doyoung a lot, I wouldn't dare. But knowing that he listens to Oasis and Eagles makes having From Little Wave and Lost in California makes sense. I feel these two are the closest to western rock bands that I listen to solely due to the lead guitar. Idk about anyone else but don't you get that melancholy feelings when you listen to both guitars? I get that a lot when i listen to rocks. Sorry, I'm saying nonsense here. I can't be objective cause idk music technicals, so these opinions are completely from emotional pov.

Having to say that, I think a lot things influence Doyoung's musical taste. He definitely loves korean music if his songs recommendations and covers is not that obvious yet. He could probably start developing love for rock only after he joins the school band, who knows? But his love for poetic lyrics I think definitely comes from korean music. A lot of the songs he shared have good lyrics and koreans appreciate poetic lyrics. I've seen korean youtubers making videos about who is the better writer when it comes to korean musicians and the way they discuss about the meanings of the words, the character, the history makes me feel strongly about that. And poem books still have a demand there in this day and age? I still remember when IU drops palette album, a lot of korean fans on Twitter discussed her beautiful lyrics especially in through the night and dear name. I see some discussion about Beginning as well. I am digressing a lot here but Youth album makes me wanna learn Korean so much hehe

Wiki tells me that "rock" is mainly about the instruments used: drums+electroguitars+self-written songs. However, the term is too fuzzy now, and some people don't agree all sub-genres that are under the rock umburella currently qualify to be included.

Doyoung also listened to several Korean bands (Hoppipolla, Daybreak and Day6), Maroon Five, Lady Gaga, Korean soloists, etc. And was a Girls' generation fan, heh.

I do think the Japanese influence was from Doyoung. If not in "Little light", then in other songs. All the songs had more complexity than Korean songs usually have. "Beginning" has an anime opening feel. He listens to quite a few artists from Japan, he dropped names and did covers.

Doyoung was a part of two school bands: "Heart track" and "Seven able". Vids here. And what average middle-school boy doesn't like rock? I doubt joining a band was a pre-requisite for it, heh. Doyoung always said how he misses the creative process (he participated in song-writing, arrangement, competing in festivals, he had his own fans pre-debut, he was locally known) and the vibe of a band tuning and jamming.

Doyoung like to sing live, to deliver a message. And a live band frees from dancing and allows for more experimentation (like the jazz-medley he did for the concert).

I think, what artists Doyoung was listening to in his childhood is less important, than singing becoming his anchor during his hard times in school, his reason of living and persevering.

“My dream of becoming an artist who will be remembered for a long time gave me the direction for how I wanted to live my life.” (NME interview)

It's this strong drive to sing for others, to be a healer/messenger of sorts (sing with meaning, not for fame or as simply fun entertainment), to leave an impression in history (to become a singer who will be remembered) that affects the kind of music Doyoung gravitates towards.

Think of the musical he did. How emotional it had made him (the plot, the story of Marie), how involved he was in the new world, enjoyed performing and the challenge. And the songs from Marie are not similar to rock music.

As for Do's taste. It expands. Other members introduce him to new artists and genres, the experience in NCT teaches him that he can change his opinion about a dong with time. He tries to sing in new ways (the covers he did), he always jokes he wants to do reggae.

Now, to "Doyoung's sound". Most artists evolve and want to try new things. It's usually the fans who make them "stay in lane". Gwen Stefani started as ska punk vocalist and today she is singing Christmas carols. And Doyoung already showed that he approaches music with his head, not just his heart. "Youth" is a novel about his youth. Another theme, another book will ask for different songs (maybe he will choose the topic of human nature or the cruel world). I think he will always compromise, and not choose songs exclusively to please his own idea of fun (like Jae did) or that are the most comfortable for his voice/vocal range.

We can rest assured, though, that all his songs will have meaning, tell a story and be charged with an emotion, heh.

That being said. As his first album was successful and he proved to himself that his judgement was right (a good song will find its listener), I believe, Do will be courageous in choosing songs and trust his gut and heart even more. Be more free-spirited. He is also becoming a teacher for his younger fans (the way he asked to concentrate (calm down after all the screaming and fangirling) and listen carefully to a ballad, take in the meaning of the lyrics), can dictate his own taste and understanding of a quality song.

Lastly. I do think "music that is more Doyoung like" are the songs that are not only about a message or a story (how ballads are), but that allow him to have fun, to play, to release the pent up energy. Unwrap himself from the idol and celebrity constraints. Songs that let him himself live in a moment. Rock is the music of rebellous. That's why it suits him and calls to his chaotic core. However, pop-songs also can fit the bill. Just observe him singing "28 reasons", the facial expressions and the involvement of the body, how he taps the air with his foot.

[caliburn-the-sword]

cress commentary (hehe i love alliteration)

i love how you can tell how far into a book i am by how dense?? my commentary is in terms of like how many comments i'm making over a given number of chapters. because when i'm first starting a book i'm good to interrupt my reading to taking a note down but once the stakes and tension start hitting i'll only note something down if it's significant enough

"She would have kept walking all day if he had asked it of her" jesus christ cress sounds like she's been glamoured LMAO

CRYING SHAKING THROWING UP CINDER DIDN'T MENTION CRESS TO ERLAND - but now that i know how common a name crescent is it's likely he wouldn't even think twice about it

cinder and erland's relationship honestly reminds me of the relationship between buffy and giles. a teenage "chosen one" so to speak, who has the weight of the world on their shoulders and copes being sassy, and her long suffering but equally sassy mentor figure. i think that's why i love it so much

SAHARA. THAT'S WHERE CRESS AND THORNE MAYBE ARE. THEY'RE GONNA FIND EACH OTHER

i really like the townspeople of farafrah

OMG AND NOW KAI THINKS SCARLET IS THE LUNAR PRINCESS. dramatic irony my beloved. i mean kai is right that cinder has found the lunar princess,,, just wrong about WHO it is LMAO

YES THORNE HAS REJECTED HER. god she's freaking out

cress' reaction to seeing the goat <3 she's got such a distinct character voice. also she's super delulu and i love her

i remember questioning on a previous post how everyone talked to everyone else. universal language explains it. praying it's not english

thank goodness cress and thorne found someone. hopefully no one recognised him

jail for a thousand years DO NOT hit me with the one bed trope with CRESS AND THORNE OF ALL PEOPLE (note: i've never been more glad to see a character kidnapped and to NOT see the one bed trope happen)

back to being grossed out by thorne again. i don't like him. idc if he can't see, it's about PRIVACY and BOUNDARIES. he should not be entering a bathroom where an underage girl is showering, with or without consent. it's gross

omg is thorne buying the escort droid for iko

jacin is kind of a dick ngl. sometimes his humour is funny and other times he's like a 12 year old boy that thinks dark humour is like making jokes about war. like bro people are DYING. you don't have to give a shit about cinder but at least don't make fun of her friend that's been kidnapped by the queen

losing my mind that erland and cress have met

help has cress just stumbled across wolf?? this is hilarious NAUR JACIN HAS JUST COME IN OMG. THIS IS LITERALLY THE WHY IS GAMORA SCENE IN INFINITY WAR. AND NOW ERLAND AND THORNE. THIS IS CHAOS INCARNATE OMG FSKDHFSKH

EW EW EW the sex bot androids are modelled after LATE TEENS??? YIKES.

(intervention voice) come on cinder, what have i told you?? friends don't control the bioelectricity of friends

holy shit. what's happening to scarlet is literally horrifying

scarlet referencing helen of troy~

OMG PRINCESS WINTER

HOLY SHIT SCARLET'S FINGER I HATE CLIFFHANGERS I NEED HER NEXT CHAPTER IMMEDIATELY. fingers can often be reattached (or a toe in place of a finger) so HOPEFULLY that's what happens for poor scarlet if she does lose her finger

IKO FSKHFSCKFNHS SHE HAS A BODY NOW

cress is literally so paparazzi by lady gaga. and also lovefool by the cardigans. also this is home by cavetown but specifically the bridge. ocean eyes by billie eilish (even tho i imagine thorne with brown eyes lol). a few penelope scott songs but you're not allowed to make fun of me for this. god this is probably gonna end up with me making a playlist. thankfully i'm too lazy to make playlists so my ears are safe from the onslaught of random mishmashed songs that remind me of cress (that said thinking of a song when i see a character or thinking of a character when i hear a song has gotta be the highest honour i can bestow to any character)

i remember reading meyer's pronounciation guide when i first started the series and jacin's was like "jay-sin - so the real pronounciation of jason" but i'm aussie and every jason i've known has been pronounced jay-sen, so i'm respectfully ignoring that. i doubt i'm pronouncing anyone's names right anyway LMAO like i have to mentally correct myself every time i read benoit as "beh-no-it" instead of "ben-wah" (if i'm STILL incorrect i apologise to french speakers). i've also been pronouncing wolf's actual name as "zay-ev" idk how right that is

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees @shellyseashell

[omgkalyppso]

9 ship songs

@vlwv left an open tag to post 9 songs for one or more ships! So I'm going to make (/start on?) a (very embarrassing) playlist for Étoile and Astarion.

I'll tag @bosspigeon, @umbralstars, @hatefulserpent, @klkirbles, @lucius-the-sinful and YOU.

Why does t/mblr keep un-italicizing random words.

1.Something, something. Sacrifices which cost more than they're worth.

Eat Your Young by Hozier. spot/ify. y/t.

I'm starving, darling Let me put my lips to something Let me wrap my teeth around the world Start carving, darling I wanna smell the dinner cooking I wanna feel the edges start to burn

2. I've been listening to the album Conditions of a Punk a lot lately and it was a hard choice between Hot Tea, Nobody, Move Me and Everything Machine, but Hot Tea is so earnest and evokes such a comforting image to me.

Hot Tea by half-alive. spot/ify. y/t.

Ooo! Hold you in my hands like hot tea Knowing I'm safe 'cause you want me Ooo! Sitting in a garden at your feet You, me, only Holding on and on You're clawing at the corner of my heart, I Can't afford to lose you any longer Holding you like hot tea You, me, only Holding on and on

.

3. Étoile's hope and optimism after Oathbreaking? Gone. Astarion realizing that this might have larger repercussions after Étoile's little mermaid moment? Conflicting. Blood tw and fictional character death / murder cw for the y/t video.

Written In Blood by She Wants Revenge. spot/ify. y/t.

You taste like tear stains And could have beens, But I love a good train wreck. Your hair balled up inside my fist, You tell me don't get too attached Like this is just entertainment. Then again it could go up in flames, And I'll take you down in the name of love. Maybe one last kiss just to ease the pain All or nothing it's written in blood

4. Étoile accidentally needing to reorient their devotion from their Paladin order to their party, is so fun. That they were already incapable of keeping the whole of their heart from Astarion before they also had almost no where else to trust it to, manifests in stuff like this. Flashing images cw for the y/t video.

Boys Like You by Tanerélle. spot/ify. y/t.

I should be ashamed How I break for it When you're not around I just ache for it Sit around and wait for it Oh, God, give me peace It should never feel this good Being weak on my knees Praying for you

5. How many playlists that deal with vampires include either Teeth or Monster by Lady Gaga? askdfjadsk Sorry.

Teeth by Lady Gaga. spot/ify. y/t.

Help, need a man, now show me your fangs Tell me something that'll save me I need a man who makes me alright (Man who makes me alright) (Just tell me when it's alright) Tell me something that'll change me I'm gonna love you with my hands tied Show me your teeth (Just tell me when) Show me your teeth (Open your mouth, boy) Show me your teeth (Show me what you got)

6. More lost Paladin nonsense, but also the complicated distance of immediate families. Close up of an eye cw? for the y/t video.

Unconditional II (Race and Religion) by Arcade Fire. spot/ify. y/t.

I'll be yours (I'll be yours) You can be mine (You be mine) Love unites Breaking as the light divides Into the color of your eyes I'll be your race and religion You be my race and religion This love is no competition United body and soul

7. Something kinky for fun.

Illegal Tender by Louis XIV. spot/ify. y/t.

You’re taking off your stripes Even your knees are nice I’ll tease you with a knife until you’re screaming for your life I think so too And you surrender Can I spend you up? you’re my illegally illegal tender

8. Learned of this song through fallyn @twiddletaffy's vampire playlist. (:

Vampires by Night Club. spot/ify. y/t.

Vampires are the enemy 'Cause they'll do anything to get to me They breed, but they never bleed So they bleed from me, yeah they bleed and It's bringing me down It sucks the life from me Put me into the ground Kill my misery

9. Learned of this playlist from tyler @/clickbaitcowboy's full moon playlist. (: Not quite vampires, but I think the vibes were perfect.

Wolf Like Me by Lera Lynn. spot/ify. y/t.

We could jet in a stolen car Bet we wouldn't get too far 'Fore the transformation takes And the bloodlust takes And the crave gets slaked My mind has changed My body's frame But God I like it My heart's aflame My body's strained But God I like it

[666writingcafe]

The Afterparty

Author's Note: The basic idea is that instead of thinking about going to the dance, MC decides to plan this event instead. I like associating songs with different characters and thought it would be fun to imagine a concert where those songs would be performed/covered.

MIDNIGHT CONCERT AT THE FALL

DOORS OPEN AT ELEVEN

FEATURING THE EXILES

۞۞۞

SETLIST

Hellraiser by Ozzy Osbourne

You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi (Blue)

Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga (Purple)

For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert (Light Blue)

VOID by Melanie Martinez (Orange)

Alone by Heart (Green)

INTERMISSION

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica (Teal)

Money Make Her Smile by Bruno Mars (Yellow)

Feed My Frankenstein by Alice Cooper (Red)

She by Harry Styles (White)

bad idea, right? by Olivia Rodrigo (Pink)

ENCORE: Do Not Disturb by Halestorm (Black)

۞۞۞

FUN FACTS

MC always wanted to release their inner rock star but never felt confident enough to do so.

Diavolo was the one to suggest the concert as MC was sharing songs from the human world with him.

Each song on the setlist is attached to a color, and each color is associated with a person.

The songs (excluding the encore) get introduced by a color wheel.

Except for the opening song, MC wears something matching the color of the song they're performing.

MC sings and plays guitar and the piano.

۞۞۞

SONG DETAILS

Hellraiser is linked to MC.

Lyric: I keep saying that it's getting too much/But I know I'm a liar

Lucifer is Blue.

Lyric: You paint your smile on your lips/Blood red nails on your finger tips/A schoolboy's dream, you act so shy/Your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye.

He is in attendance. One, he wants to keep an eye on Mammon and Asmo. Two, Barbatos had a extra ticket and invited him to tag along.

Part of him feels embarrassed to hear MC call him out like that, but mostly seeming them perform arouses him.

Belphie is Purple.

I mean, have you seen his battle sprite? The boy is a trained dancer.

The song is heavily choreographed.

The choreography is influenced by ballet.

He is not in attendance. He went straight back to the House after the dance to sleep.

He watches a video of the performance the next morning and is impressed by the artistry of the performance.

Simeon is Light Blue.

Lyric: Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet/You thought an angel swept you off your feet/Well, I'm about to turn up the heat

MC remembers how he behaved at the traveling carnival and decided to channel that energy into their performance.

He is in attendance. Solomon dragged him to the Fall after they settled Luke down in his bed.

He is BLUSHING.

Most people would think that he's horrified by the provocative lyrics, but no.

The song might as well be one of his diary entries describing how he feels about MC, so hearing them sing what's been on his mind...

Levi is Orange.

MC is attached to a wheel of death that magically spins and deteriorates as the song progresses.

The song describes someone who judges themselves harshly and has major anxiety.

If that isn't Levi to a tee, I don't know what is.

He is not in attendance. The dance drained his social battery, and he needs to be alone for a while.

However, he watches a livestream of the event on his phone, so he's witnessing the performance in real time.

By the end, Levi can barely see the screen due to the tears in his eyes.

Satan is Green.

Satan + pianos = match made in heaven

Plus, it's a rock ballad.

He is not in attendance for the same reason as Levi. He finds The Fall too loud for his liking.

He watches the performance the next evening after he's done studying.

He thinks the performance is beautiful.

Barbatos is Teal.

It's canon that he likes metal music.

I'm in the group of people that believe that he would enjoy Metallica.

You know the riffs played on the bass guitar? Well, imagine that they're played on a violin. Now, imagine that the person playing the violin is none other than Diavolo himself.

The reason for the intermission is so that he can disguise himself so that people don't suspect that he's on stage with MC.

As mentioned earlier, Barbatos is in attendance. He's the only person outside the band that knows about Diavolo's musical feature (which is basically how he got tickets to the show).

He appears stoic on the inside, but he's simply enjoying the music in his own quiet way.

Now, slight detour but still relevant to the song: I've seen a couple of posts that state that Lucifer has listened to Metallica. One of them presents the idea that he listened to the band a lot during his rebel angel days before he fell but that he only listens to them occasionally as a demon.

Needless to say, as soon as the music kicks in, Lucifer is literally this emoji: 😳

Mammon is Yellow.

It's literally in the title. What more could you ask for?

MC plays the role of an announcer, introducing a "new girl in town".

Who plays Mammon? A female doppelganger.

As mentioned earlier, he is in attendance.

He is BLUSHING (Part Two).

He has no idea what he's going to do the next time he sees MC. Will he faint? Will he compliment their performance? Will he pounce on them like an animal? The world may never know.

Beel is Red.

Food metaphors for sex? Literally Beel.

The second song that could be a diary entry.

He is not in attendance, for he doesn't particularly like the food they serve at The Fall.

He is instead eating at Hell's Kitchen when one of his classmates rushes up to him and has him watch a livestream of MC's performance.

Let's just say that he starts craving something else the longer he watches the performance.

Solomon is White.

I mean, he is the whitest boy in all of the three realms (lol).

In all seriousness, I know that in the original game, white was Luke's color and Solomon was a rainbow (like MC), but considering that everyone else has their own color and that MC wasn't performing a song about Luke...

Some background information: Harry Styles has admitted that he and his bandmates were on shrooms when they recorded this song and that the guitarist that plays the solo at the end (Mitch) didn't remember playing it (because he was that high) and had to learn it before they went on tour so that he wouldn't mess it up.

Needless to say, the song's trippy, and I think Solomon has a trippy vibe to him, so hence the song choice.

As stated earlier, he is in attendance.

He appreciates the work that went into the performance (which features some trippy set pieces).

Asmo is Pink.

Third song that could be a diary entry.

We all know Asmo's a slut, and we love him for it.

I also think he's a major pop rock girlie, and he would definitely be a big fan of Olivia Rodrigo (especially after GUTS).

He'd definitely be singing along and having a blast.

Not just during this song, but the entire concert. He LOVES seeing this side of MC.

Diavolo is Black.

*cough* Even if the devs can't settle on one shade *cough*

ANYWAY.

Out of all the songs, this is the one MC is most nervous to perform.

You see, they don't want to get in trouble for putting Diavolo on blast, and they almost don't perform the song at all.

However, after hearing the crowd begging for an encore, MC puts their fears aside and decides to just go for it (and worry about the consequences later).

MC has had a base costume that they've accessorized with different colored items throughout the evening. Underneath this base is a black lingerie set that they bought during a shopping trip with Asmo. This set gets revealed during a pause in the song where the lights go out briefly and come back on.

To make a long story short, MC is definitely getting railed after the concert.

Oh, and the "girlfriend" mentioned in the song? Lucifer.

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

ignore this let me rant about my surge playlist because i really love it

I LOVE THIS PLAYLIST SO MUCH IS SUCH A BANGER PLAYLIST I NEED TO PAINSTAKINGLY EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY I PUT EACH SONG ON IT EVEN IF ITS OBVIOUS

1. PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN QUEEF JERKY, ethan is online

i dont think this majorly fits surge's character (other than the lady gaga meat dress part) but i think she'd probably do covers of queef jerky in universe (provided her life wasnt the way it is)

2. The Mind Electric Miracle Musical

i really love tally hall/miracle musical so um. dont be surprised to find them in a playlist of mine made after i started listening to them. the most commonly accepted theory is that its about someone being given electro shock therapy until they die/lose their mind, which (sort of) fits surge's story!!!

3. Modify Lemon Demon

the song is about extreme body mods. which kinda fits surge i guess.

4. Amnesia Was Her Name Lemon Demon

SHE DOESNT KNOW WHO SHE USED TO BE 🗣️‼️ SHE FORGOT 🗣️‼️

5. People Eater Sodikken

i think this song is meant to be about an abusive relationship??? it only very loosely fits but its a banger and i cant remove it

6. Fighter Jack Stauber

i dont think this song majorly fits either honestly but it can fit if you make it fit

7. ...Because I'm Young Arrogant And Hate Everything You Stand For Machine Girl

i cant hear most of the lyrics theyre screamed BUT I THINK SHE'D LIKE IT!!! also from what i can make out, it does fit

8. Ghost Machine Girl

this song's instrumental so it's entirely just 'well i think she'd listen to it and its a good song'

9. & Tally Hall

this song's about duality which doesnt majorly fit surge but absolutely sounds like something she'd listen to. also, later on in the playlist, there's A Lady which i added 2 months later which is a follow up of &.

10. Turn the Lights Off Tally Hall

urrrr it's about puberty and she's a teenager urrrr ummm

11. Doku Hakushi Hasegawa

this song barely fits BUT it sounds like something she'd like :D

12. SR20DET Blksmiith

instrumental but you CANNOT tell me she doesnt like breakcore and jungle

13. AM FM Vertigoaway

see above

14. Palmtree Panic - "B" Mix SEGA SOUND TEAM

ok so first of all this song actually is from sonic and second of all it sounds like trying to smile while wanting to scream which ig fits

15. Metallic Madness - "P" Mix SEGA SOUND TEAM

again, this is actually from sonic and also it sounds like something vaguely relating to surge

16. Oh Klahoma Jack Stauber

this song is about someone whose friend has social anxiety and they're trying to help them become social, which hurts not only the friend but the narrator themself. while not fully accurate, i could very easily imagine surge as the narrator and kit as the friend

17. Dead Weight Jack Stauber

similarly to oh klahoma, this is about someone who wants to be social but is unsure how. it doesnt really relate to surge but screw you jack stauber is a wonderful artist

18. The Dragon Game A Loud Scream SEGA SOUND TEAM

see 12, however with the addition of 'also its sonic team'

19. icosa Oliver Buckland

WOOHOO YIPPEE ENA!!!! (this song isnt FROM ena, but plays in auction day)

20. anemoia Oliver Buckland

ENAAAAAAAAAAA IM SO EXCITED FOR DREAM BBQ

21. God Race (Temptaion Stairway) Metaroom

ENA AND METAROOM ENA AND METAROOM ENA AND METAROOM

22. Kitty City Cyriak Harris

the animation to go with this has nothing to do with surge but i think the music gives surge vibes! ALSO its instrumental so you cant dispute that

23. Scrap Brain Zone Masato Nakamura

scrap brain zone, both as a song and as a stage, absolutely gives surge vibes. in sonic 1, im pretty sure every stage other than sbz and final zone has some form of natural element, and at the very least has happy sounding music. i also slightly associate scrap brain zone with overwhelming misery, due to the way it sounds, the name and also because when i first played sonic 1 i was stuck on it for ages omg

24. Unused Song (Sonic 2) Masato Nakamura

something about this song, including the fact it wasnt used, feels incredibly mysterious, which i mean you can link mystery to surge in a lot of ways

25. FAMILY GUY QUEEF JERKY, ethan is online

similar to the first one except its only 'i think surge would like queef jerky'. i dont know how you link this song to anything other than family guy.

26. A Lady Tally Hall

i think this surge vaguely fits surge and for some reason i cant help but picture this with surgamy. i mostly added it tho because i got mildly obsessed with it and had an excuse to add it seeing as & is in the playlist earlier

[pastelphantasia]

la*dy bucket bag list

universal peace - make it happen.

world peace.

zero hell.

zero war.

zero abortion.

zero death penalty.

make a movement. revolutionize.✓

cure cancer.

cure all illnesses.

make your own collage book.✓

💌 phind. truu. luphh.

grow a joseph's coat rose plant ✓ (my favorite flower since 6th grade)

have yer own haute fash l!ne. call it "...of many colors..." - i'm naming it that because i love joseph's coat roses and the story in the bible they're named after - the story of joseph's coat of many colors!!! (it's my l.a.m.b.) it could be like this:

bags: all exotica pastel joseph's coat rose colors on them and they could say Past💜L on them in old english text or parchment in white*chocolate*white or lavender or periwinkl* or lilac, etkii...!!!!

patterns of the actual pastel joseph's coat rose on them of course...

fake, fabric pastel joseph's coat roses on them also.

plastic pastel joseph's coat rose key chains, too.

my handwriting on them in lavender, lilac, orchid purpl*, magenta, fuchsia or periwinkl*.

lochness monsters on them... sometimes holographic and\or moving and\or changing colors...

narwhals on them... sometimes holographic and\or moving and\or changing colors...

lots of old english text and parchment fonts.

another fash l!ne can be "...of a different color..." (it's my h.l.) it could be like this:

pastel lavender, lilac, periwinkle, and joseph's-coat-rose-colored horses... sometimes holographic and\or moving

💛💛✓✓

be exclusive to lula™ and V magazines. also be inclusive. mainly with glamour and allure. and rotate to elle and marie claire. but basically, yeah, be in all haute culture magazines. period.

some of my lyrics: "a horse of a different color is a bluugrass state of mind" "lavender, lilac, periwinkle and lola's coat rose colored horse... i want my tornado.. tahiti made it hit... now my phashion line's wicked..."✓ yay!!

i might want like a song called "and the mome raths" cause they're the only thing I liked in alice in wonderland.

my Gx could be "i didn't say hello - i said L-O..."

then my GXVE can be "...you might tell about" and i want purple lipsticks and dusky orange lipsticks.

make your own love story into a movie like the notebook - my relationship with my the one is so much like it!! I love it!!!

always have a milli napsacks!!!

enjoy your hannah holman obsession✓

enjoy your gwen obsession✓

have your own mag, just like lula™ magazine. name it lola dusk™ ...lo💜light of my life.

clean out chanel

and all the other designers i wanna clean out

go to central saint martins in london (fash college john galliano went to hehe... shoot for the moon!)

clean out marc jacobs

better mental health care - try to help ✓

try to make this a society that shares ✓

buy a million cute pears of pajamas to wear out. of. thuh. haus.

rompers too.

stirrup pants too.

stirrup pant rompers, too.

playsuits , too.

jumpsuits too.

and pajama rompers.

and pajama stirrup pants.

and pajama stirrup pant rompers.

spread the word of pacifism ✓

spread the word that there should be no death penalty ✓

spread the word that there should be no hell✓

zero pain ✓

zero suffering ✓

zero death✓

zero violence ✓

zero weapons✓

no meat ✓

no dairy✓

veganism ✓

environmentalism ✓

be a musician influenced by a mix of the cranberries and the la's and modern english, gwen stefani and no doubt and lady gaga, and ariana grande and madison beer and rihanna ✓

💙💙💙✓

create your own perfect rare religion\relijii (like gwen stefani's above) ✓

always help people ✓

put a band together

make new friends ✓

have your own short cartoon - like, a "short" kind of like "disney shorts." that's like gwen's kuukuu harajuku. but mine would have lochness and narwhals etkii!

have a small acting role or some small acting roles

have your own music videos

akt in your music videos!!

be a celebrity

who's a n0ncelebrity...

enjoy being an exotykka luu huu! ✓

go on world tour!!!

travel to india

maya

travel to australia

outback

tokyo

every fash capitol of the world : ny ✓

travel the w o r ld

have a million bindis & things that are like bindis (enchantress headbands, hippie headbands, perfii face paint, etc) that make you feel all like a rare entity...

be a rare entity✓

rare deity✓

numinou✓

horse whisper✓ (like gwen above)

charm butterflies ✓

charm all other insects

and charm all animals

whisper\talk to all insects and all animals.

tame animals and insects...

pet a tiger and all other animals

feed a giraffe and all other animals

buy a pom puppy

write a million lyrics

write some lyrics ✓

come up with cd titles ✓

learn everything\be a genius with ease.

enjoy now✓✓✓

help the homeless✓

donate to a charity you k n o w is good✓

"be the change you wish to see in the world" - gandhi. ✓. check cause we always are, we just need to act on it to set good examples.

set good examples...✓

use enchantress chants ✓ i do near every day. they help tremendously. i'll let you all know and keep you posted about all the chants y o u can use!!!

always help others. ✓

volunteer.

barely any juicy couture sometimes ✓ but sometimes clean them out

barely any ugg sometimes but sometimes clean them out

barely any betsey johnson sometimes but sometimes clean her out

allllwaaayysss cleannnn o u t victoria's secret

drink a lot of water

never cuss

never think anyone's ugly ✓

wear a bindi

wear spiritual religious face paint to go with your rarebreed relijii

have a zilli mansions all over tahiti

be rich.

spa always

tan near always. and never tan lines.

get a masseuse

go get your hair done at sephora or ulta

go get your makeup done at sephora or ulta always

alwaes have a mani-pedi

pedi

mani

dress dreamy always✓

daysleep✓

daydream✓

dream. always. interpret them. ✓?

have a revelation

R&R always✓

sloth✓

hang on a z✓

write your own phunn book like gisele scanlon's the goddess guide or michi girl's like i give a frock!!

cleat wedged heels could be my getas like gwen in sunday morning and stuphh. cause i luphii my baseball player the one, graham greggory mcgreggor phorever... and i love the below rocking horse ballerina shoes by vivienne westwood!!! they could be my other getas.

[alexseanchai]

I don't know which I want more:

this played as closely to missing episodes from ACD canon as possible

or this in the present day, Elementary style, not marketed as a Sherlock Holmes adaptation until after the episode with that reveal has premiered, and drawing additional inspiration from that reblog chain about keeping the adaptation characters' careers as close to the original as possible in at least one of the job itself and the connotations of having that job

which, that marketing would also be true of the ACD-canon-setting version, of course, but like, if mentions of apartment 221 in building B (or building 2, townhouse 21, basement apartment, or whatever) of a complex on Baker Street, anywhere but Victorian London, are backstory details dropped over multiple episodes and/or not in that order, then the audience will jump to "Sherlock Holmes reference easter egg" well before "previous address of central character"—where mention of Baker Street alone in context of Victorian London kinda shouts original flavor Holmes all by itself—and we'll be pleased with ourselves about spotting the well-hidden easter egg right up till we either figure out the big reveal or start kicking ourselves because we didn't

tl;dr of that reblog chain is, the character who's an opera singer in ACD canon could still be an opera singer in an adaptation set today, opera singers still exist

which, this adaptation probably wouldn't have her appear exactly, precisely because her story is in ACD canon? but maybe there's otherwise insignificant set details or lines of dialogue about her among the puzzle pieces, which could be pretty easy and would be pretty cool, so I'm gonna elaborate on that:

maybe her being an opera singer says she's a respectable artist whose niche has long enough artistic tradition that's inaccessible enough to modern audiences to be considered high art; maybe she doesn't sing opera professionally but anyone describing her artistic background uses the phrase "classically trained opera singer"—which could say a lot about her history in itself, given how few people have the opportunity and means—and she's using that training for Broadway musicals or today's top 40 hit songs or Tiktok or the silver screen

or while she might or might not be most widely known for her singing, she mostly earns her living in a way that gives her the reputation of being a sex worker (drag performances? SFW OnlyFans?) or gets her called one or compared to one as an insult (as people do to some kinds of people more often than others, for example, anyone doing a Dolly Parton / Chappell Roan / Megan Thee Stallion type deliberately sexy aesthetic, or anyone speaking out about surviving sexual violence) or possibly is actually sex work (stripper, escort, porn actress, etc), or other such thing that was or was generally assumed to be true of opera singers when and where ACD was writing

like, let's say the season two finale is planned to be the series finale, it's very late in season one, and there's a conversation overheard between background characters, or we glimpse one of the news headlines on the browser homepage between someone opening a new tab and getting where they're going, or something—whatever it is, as far as this episode's A- and B-plots are concerned, this bit is only there to make the world feel lived-in—that mentions the some-years-old tabloid gossip or entertainment news headline about the love affair between Definitely Not Prince Harry and Definitely Neither Meghan Markle Nor Lady Gaga, the stage name of the latter having been mentioned in passing in an earlier episode, and she's married someone else entirely and/or got a court date for transing gender reasons, which happy occasion (the viewers now learn) involves changing her legal name from or possibly to Irene Adler

Guys listen up I have a banger concept:

TV show (called "The Hiatus" or something like that), set in the late 19th century. It starts with us meeting the Mysterious Enigmatic MC, who's traveling through Europe, obviously on the run from someone or something. Every episode starts with him arriving in a new town under a brand new alias in hopes to quietly spend a couple of nights there, but then he accidentally encounters some random person (usually a child or a woman who's been wronged somehow) in a difficult situation and can't help but help them. He doesn't actually want to even briefly speak to anyone, he's all Mysterious and Enigmatic and secretive and EcCeNtRiC and On The Run and very obviously in huge distress but somehow he just always can't leave a situation as it is (and also visibly very curious to resolve it). The people he helped are usually amazed by how clever and observant and also Mysterious and Enigmatic he is and want to get to know him better, but after helping them he always has to leave the town even earlier and more hastily than he planned to.

As the show progresses we gradually learn more of his backstory, including that there's this Certain Person that our Mysterious Enigmatic MC had to leave and now misses dearly and can't contact, (and the more time passes, the harder it gets for him to stop himself from writing to him).

Only about halfway through the show, after N episodes and some amount of increasingly obvious hints it's finally officially revealed that our Mysterious Enigmatic MC is post-Reichenbach Sherlock Holmes.

The very last episode is, obviously, The Empty House.