#this is not my set top 10 favorite albums ever but these are all favorite albums of mine

[acasternaut]

yayy my turn my turn

[wolfienation]

some rhaenicent fic recommendations

grey ridge (ríl liatroma) by molter ( @molter-writes ) - married with kids; business drama; they’re sickeningly cute; arguably the best thing ive read in the fandom; 10 out of 10; read it like 6 times; if you haven’t read it dude what are you waiting for

ride the dragon (and do it quickly) by molter - the #roadtrip fix it 

love is complicated by molter - Alicent is an actress and Rhaenyra is her rich best friend; they idiots and they’re in love; Laena is featured and she is fed up

leaf and blade by molter  - it’s summer; they’re hiding their relationship; they’re teachers; and my all time favorite tag ‘harwin gets a whistle’ 

bodhrán beat by molter - read the tags. its by molter trust me its good.

cleopatra by dontaskmedude   - divergence from episode 4; Joffery does not die; Laenor and Rhaenyra do everything right; Alicent and Rhaenyra raise their kids together 

someone to watch me die by dontaskmedude  - this is just, this is just depressing; good but depressing; like if hurt/no comfort is your thing this is for you; it’s just so, so sad; kinda Alicent in chains/Rhaenyra half year queen era with some timeline tweaks but no happy ending; do not read this if you want them to be happy 

Untouchable by mylordshesacactus - young rhaenicent; if Aemma never died and if Alicent never married viserys; i love this story so much you dont get it

Blame it on Fate by Lumyart ( @lumyart ) - they’re rival co hosts; well, actually, they’re rival co hosts in Alicent’s mind; Rhaenyra is thoroughly enamored (as per usual) 

you don't know what love is (if you don't put up a fight) by tansymeadows - viserys manages to last a couple extra days and Rhaenyra returns after Alicent blinked her pretty brown eyes and said “you’ve only just arrived”

The Silver Queen and the Lady in Green by WanderingFan - idk how to explain this; honestly just read it; it’s really good; slow burn; like incredibly slow burn im on chapter 26 rn and they’ve only just become friends a couple chapters ago but god is it worth it 

is it too soon to do this yet ('cause I know it's delicate) by Arvedui - episode 1 divergence; it’s cute; they’re cute 

would it be enough (if i could never give you peace?) by Arvedui  - Jeyne Arryn my beloved; you and Laena would get along splendidly when it comes to these two nitwits ( i say with affection) 

Midnights Like This by pure_black_wings - based on Taylor’s album; college setting; slow burn

Duty and Sacrifice (A History of Rhaenyra the Blessed by Archmaester Gyldayn) by TheIronDragon10    (@theirondragonrants) - now when i say i love this story i mean i LOVE this story; if you ever wanted to know what the House of the Dragon looked like thoroughly united then LOOK NO FURTHER; top tier; it’s wonderful; it has angst, it has joy, it has family and sibling vibes, it has slow burn, it has pain and healing and love everything i could ever want from a realistic version of canon where my girls can be happy; emphasis on realistic because the irondragon does not pull any punches 

Cleaving to Rhaenyra by WanderingFan - another episode 4 divergence 

you’ve got your demons (darlin’ they all look like me) by geralehane    ( @geralehane ) - the reincarnation au 

lying (in the hollows of your heart) by wakesiren ( @wakesirens)  - read this for the last scene of chapter 3 and thank me later; update: READ THIS FOR CHAPTER FOUR AND THANK ME LATER

towers and dragons verse by beepboop (permanganato) - Alicent is one adorable nerd okay and Rhaenyra just loves her 

what is it good for? by bluebaric ( @viscountcrow ) - arranged marriage au; Rhaenyra is a war hero; Alicent is perpetually terrified for her life  

tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart by alphayamergo   ( @sydneysageivashkov ) - this was just, this was just hilarious; like picture Corlys and Otto snarling at each other from across the council room trying to convince Rhaenyra to marry either Alicent or Laena and that’s what this is

thine is the queendom by liadrell ( @lesbianalicent ) - this was an excellent read, really good character dive on alicent

Ember to Flame by CrowSaint (@ dayneonychus ) - intriguing concepts 

our shadow over the sea by queensmooting - sigh

Long Live Our Queens! by WanderingFan - they’re gonna kill their fathers and they’re gonna rule together and it’s gonna be great

blood in your mouth (I wish it was mine) by dontaskmedude - this made me shed some tears

Of Our Own Accord by 99bad_habits ( @99bad-habits ) - can’t wait to see how this turns out; canon divergence at 1x08; Viserys lives long enough and Rhaenyra returns on dragonback and our girls get to co-rule

and i'll still see it, until i die by irridescence - h e a r t b r e a k i n g; starts around the winter fever and goes backward from there

by choice by alicents - co-parenting rhaenicent my beloveds <3; family fluff told in segments in a non-linearly fashion; it's cute; they're cute; something to read while canon is breaking your heart

good luck, babe! by somebodytoundress ( @somebodytoundress )- based on the song by chappell roan; they're friends reconnecting after 10 years about to play lead love interests in a movie. give the song a listen and give the fic a read

am i making you feel sick? by  somebodytoundress - rhaenyra is a vampire. need i say more

fault lines by rogueorbit ( @rogueorbit ) - 1x08 canon divergence; rhaenyra returns on dragonback and her and alicent make peace; alicent plays otto like a fiddle while rhaenyra stands back and chants "i'm in love with you"

once more, to see you by Jazzfordshire ( @jazzfordshire ) - 2x03 canon compliant. takes place after their sept talk. bittersweet as hell. supercorp fans rejoice because jazz wrote it.

And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow by mrdcai ( @mrdcai ) - #valyrianmagicbabies need i say more

Desire (I want to turn into you) by mrdcai - they're friends with benefits because they're fucking idiots

lately i've been crying (like a tall child) by noheteroexplanation ( @noheteroexplanation ) - this has one of the best characterizations of alicent i've ever read. it's told from her pov from the beginning of season 2 come forward with minor changes and goes into speculation for the rest of the show. heavy, heavy book spoilers.

it’s a craving, not a crush by BeastGirl2k14 - did someone say toxic modern au rhaenicent with some vampire action thrown in for fun? (alicent with a fang kink for the win)

Where love is elsewhere held and she lingered by koyuki_kazahana - alicent runs. rhaenyra runs after her. there are book spoilers in this.

there’s more i just got tired so feel free to add your own; there are also other stories by these authors (Wandering, wakesiren, somebodytoundress, mrdcai to name a few) which I have not put here that are also enjoyable so you can check them out 

[poge-life]

𝟚𝟘 ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕋𝕍

So, this is a little bit different than the other interview fics I’ve done. Drew isn’t in this one, it’s more of how someone playing the character I created would answer the questions asked. But I did have it to where they are dating so he is mentioned quite a bit. This is based off the interview Drew did for MTV, so go on and check that out!

“Hi, guys. I’m (y/n) (l/n) and I’m doing 20 questions for 2023 MTV.”

‘Hardest Outer Banks spoiler you’ve had to keep?’

“Either that Big John is still alive or that Rafe and Avery break up this season.” You spoke

‘If you were to make a fan page for someone, who would it be?’

“Madelyn Cline. I am her biggest fan and love her with all my whole heart,” you laughed, leaning back in the chair, “my username would be ‘maddyclinemarryme’.”

‘Favorite line from the show?’

“Keep running that mouth and see if don’t come knockin’ that J-Crew lookin’ ass out’

You let out a laugh, covering your mouth with your hand before taking a deep breath, “I’m sorry but that whole scene between Rafe and Barry is on repeat in my head all the time. Just the dynamic between them is amazing and cracks me up.”

‘What was your first impression of Drew when you two met?’

You couldn’t help but smile at the mention of your boyfriend. It seemed like a lifetime ago when you two met. You were blown away by him at the table read and how well he could just easily switch over to a character like Rafe.

“It’s cheesy but I fell for him at the table read. I was just so blown away by him and how he could get so into a character like Rafe without being anything like him,” You smiled, “We were both kind of shy around each other but we sucked it up and spent a lot of time together considering we had most of our scenes together.”

“By the end of filming, we felt like we had known each other for years.”

‘Have you ever had a crush on an animated character?’

There was absolutely no hesitation from you as soon as you answered, “Danny Phantom. He was the first character I had seen that set the tone of what kind of guys I would have a thing for.”

‘Drew hesitated with his answer.’

You looked over to one of the producers as you raised your eyebrows, “Who’d he say?”

‘Lola Bunny’

You rolled your eyes as you tapped the microphone against your lips, “Him and any other guy his age. I will say, Lola was like the cultural reset for cartoon women.”

‘Who is an artist you’ve had on repeat?’

“T-Swift. Or Adele. My first ever CD was Taylor’s debut album and I was in love with her. Adele just knows how to write music that knows just where to hit you and gets me all emotional.”

This next one was a voice message they had chosen. They had asked fans to send in any kind of questions they wanted and they would pick the best ones.

‘You recently said in an interview that your guilty pleasure was ‘America’s Next Top Model’, who was your favorite winner?’

“Ugh, I know there’s so much controversy about ANTM but I can't help but love the show. My sisters and I would sit there and watch it all the time. We lived for the drama. My favorite winner would probably be… Whitney from season 10. She was the first ever plus size girl to ever make it to the end. She’s also the only plus size model to ever win the show and that kind of gave me a sense of…security, I guess? That you don’t have to be a stick or have the same body type as everyone to be a model.”

‘What did you think of Rafe’s buzz cut?’

You excitedly sat up in your seat as you held out your hand, “Can I just point out the fact that Rafe hasn’t had the same hair cut in any season?”

“But I was surprised at how well that played out for Drew because he was practically shitting himself because he thought Jonas, our showrunner, was gonna get upset with him but he actually wanted Rafe to have buzzed hair this season. I was actually a major fan of the buzzed look.”

“Then again, I’m a little biased because he’s my boyfriend but he always looks good.” You shrugged, leaning back in the chair as the producers laughed at your words, “He’s sex on legs.”

‘What’s your favorite line from season 3?’

“ ‘What do you need from me to bring down Rafe?’ I think that says enough.”

‘What would be your ‘most likely’

“Most likely to be napping. It doesn’t matter where I am or what we’re doing. I will find somewhere to take a nap.”

They had pulled up some clips from the premiere of season 3 from some of the questions they asked and it was Madison, “ (Y/N), who has the best music taste out of our friend group and why is it me?”

You let out a laugh as you looked back over at the camera, agreeing with her, “Madison does have the best. Only because she and I have the same music taste so I’m always vibin’ when I’m with her.”

‘What is your go-to karaoke song?’

“Drew always makes me sing ‘Tequila’ with him. He says it’s because it’s only one word throughout the whole thing,” You explained, “Drew likes to commit to things but finds the easiest way to do it.”

‘What is your irrational fear?’

You shuddered as you spoke, “Spiders. I am terrified of them. Drew kills all the spiders in our house. It’s ironic because I have a spider-web tattooed on my shoulder. But do not ask me to do anything with a spider or else I will cry.”

‘If Avery had a theme song, what would it be?’

You thought about it for a second, tilting your head in thought, “Happier than ever by Billie Eilish. Especially for this season. This season really shows that Avery is struggling to hold onto her relationship with Rafe and starts to realize he isn’t the same guy he was when they first got together.”

‘If you had to get a tattoo right now, what would it be?’

You let out a puff of air as you leaned back in the chair, “Jesus, I don’t even know what I’m getting when I set up my appointment. I’d probably get something that has to do with my dog. He’s been my best friend since I’ve had him.”

‘What’s your favorite book?’

“ ‘The Way I used to be.’ It’s the first book I ever finished in one sitting. It was a lot darker than what I was used to reading but it easily became one of my favorites. I highly recommend it but it does cover very sensitive topics, so please look into them before you read it.”

‘What is your dream theater role?’

“Oo, Satine from ‘Moulin Rouge'.’ I fell in love with her and the show the first time I watched it. Or Christine Daae from ‘Phantom’ but I cannot sing for the life of me.”

‘What would the internet be surprised to learn about you?’

“I’m a homebody. I prefer staying in over going out. Probably watching ‘Degrassi’ or ‘Lord of the rings.”

‘Favorite TV show you’ve recently watched?’

“The walking dead,” you answered, “I stopped watching it after Rick left because I was tired of getting my feelings hurt by that show every 5 minutes. But I got back into it after the last season came out.”

“I have the game on my iPad and I’m constantly playing it.”

‘What do you think of everyone shipping Rafe and Barry?’

You let out a laugh, throwing your head back before looking back at the camera, “Oh, lord. I find it hilarious. Drew and Nick are a dynamic duo and everyone loves them. They’re constantly sending each other fan edits people make. They love it.”

“Rafe and Barry have more chemistry than Rafe and Avery do, I think.”

“And there you have it. That was 20 questions with MTV and you guys got to know me a little bit better. Be sure to check out season 3 on Netflix and go watch some other interviews we’ve done.”

Are there any specific interviews you guys want me to do? I honestly love doing them!

[swearphil]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about. tagged by @reasonandfaithinharmony! thank you, friend!

buckle up, friends, because I somehow posted 98 gif sets this year and it's probably going to be 100 sets by the end of the year tbh. that number sounds so ridiculous. it's all your faults because part of the reason why I made so much was because I felt so encouraged and loved by the people I've gotten to know and know better this year, so thank you.

I started trying to put all the sets in a post and that just got overwhelming for me to look at so we're doing my top favorites with some fun statistics at the end. I think it'll come as no surprise that I mostly made rwrb and heartstopper sets this year, so I decided to do my top 5 rwrb sets, top 5 heartstopper sets, and top 10 miscellaneous sets.

top 5 rwrb sets

page to screen ripped pages: this is the first set I made after the movie was released. I worked on it for hours and really enjoy how it turned out. the text placement was what took the longest. I knew what words from each passage I wanted to highlight so it took some rearranging to make sure those were visible.

acd x all american bitch: the idea for this came about when casey posted an instagram story of GUTS and songs that correspond with their characters. I love me some bi coloring, so using that for this set was really fun!

firstprince x wildest dreams: I don't know what it is about this set that makes me love it so much. I think it's the shade of pink and then the light orange from the text.

henry "that is him, part and parcel": I adore henry and bea and that's all I have to say about this set.

firstprince x exile: I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the tags for this one and I am not sorry at all for the pain I have caused. I got the idea for this set after sending @kiwiana-writes the fake fic title "I gave so many signs" and they wrote a heartwrenching summary. I immediately wanted to do something with it!

top 5 heartstopper sets

moments of healing: day two of heartstoppercentral's pride celebration for this year. putting this together made me really emotional. I'm so grateful for alice and these moments of communication we get on the show.

imogen x ballad of a homeschooled girl: yes, I did intentionally use colors on the lesbian flag for this set. it was actually going to be purple at first to match the GUTS album but I didn't like how it looked. I tried pink, liked it, wondered what color worked with pink, and thus the color palette was born!

narlie x brighter than sunshine: day 3 of heartstoppercentral's pride celebration. as schitt's creek fans know (and as a couple people pointed out in the tags), this is the song that plays at the end of "Meet the Parents." I think I knew right away I was going to use this song for this day of the event.

narlie x fearless (taylor's version): I still can't believe I made this set. it's something just last year I would have deemed too complicated. I'm proud of myself for this one.

charlie standing up to ben: this set idea was suggested by @swiftlythebest. idk if this was intentional on alice's part, but I really enjoy how charlie says similar sentiments in both episodes. like "leave me alone" -> "I don't want to see you ever again."

top 10 miscellaneous sets

alexis rose + "destined to be on fire": I can't believe how much I've grown as a gif maker over the past three years and this set shows that growth. I also adore alexis and her journey.

david/patrick open mic: I made this set once I got back home from seeing noah in concert. I was truly close to tears during the concert when I realized I was watching him perform a song from a show I have loved for three years.

david/patrick relationship dynamic: @reasonandfaithinharmony @roseapothecary and @rmd-writes are to thank for this set coming into existence. the fact that I had so many scenes to choose from shows that this truly is david and patrick's dynamic.

schitt's creek + barbie posters: I knew right away what kind of barbie david and alexis were going to be.

GUTS + favorite lyrics: god I really love this set. the typography? the coloring? I really outdid myself.

the good witch + ages: another set I just absolutely adore. I love the shades of pink I used. also, maisie, thank you for including consecutive years in the album because it really would have bugged me if they weren't lol

danandphilgames + fuck land: my url becomes relevant again! if you told me at the start of this year that the gaming channel would be back, I would not have believed you.

calliette x love affair: I really love the overlays for this one. it just ended up working well on its own with little manipulation from me. the song is from the end of the last episode. it worked great for the antagonists event!

ellie x you're on your own, kid: I had this idea for a few weeks before I actually got around to making it. I remember being worried and surprised that no one else that I saw did a set with this song.

vampire by olivia rodrigo: the lyric "bloodsucker, fame fucker" really did something to me.

fun statistics: out of the 98 sets I made

39 are rwrb

34 are heartstopper

8 are schitt's creek

6 are music artists

5 are dan and phil

4 are the last of us

1 is tarlos

1 is calliette

32 use taylor lyrics

tagging (no pressure of course!) @roseapothecary @swiftlythebest @rmd-writes @leclercpiastri @mulderscully @victoriaspriing and if anyone else wants to do this, feel free to say I tagged you!

[taintedcigs]

𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘, 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄, 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐘 — send me this and ask me never have i ever or hot or not questions orrr u can ask me to rate ANYTHING (pls do this one its so fun)

omgomg rate taylor’s tour looks <3

ivy u have no idea how much i love u for this and im going all in im SORRY😵‍💫💗

first, lets start with the lover era:

this custom versace bodysuit with those louboutin boots is a 10/10 like omg i love this look SOO MUCH.😭

continuing with the versace blazer and louboutin boots its still 10/10 this is perfect for the man performance i stg i love it sm💗

now for the fearless era:

the first roberto cavalli dress paired with the louboutin boots is perfect and it’s so in sync with the set, sparkly fringe dress is so perfect 10/10. however the second dress is a 6.5/10 for me bc i feel like it doesn’t fully fit fearless era, i like the swarovski crystals but thats about it for me and i don’t like the ombre im sorry🤭

evermore era:

moving onto this etro dress i think its 8/10 it’s simple, cute and fits the evermore era so clearly, and so cottagecore i luv it<33

now to the reputation era:

this roberto cavalli bodysuit is to DIE FOR. perfect reputation outfit, red black and diamond beads is actually insane and the snakes the beads form ARGH IM IN LOVE 11/10.🫶🏻

speak now era:

first of all, all of the gowns look so fun and pretty and they’re all perfect for sn era. i like the first ellie saab couture dress but i feel like the flowers with the sleeves is a bit too distracting, still its v cute so 7.8/10, now the second zuhair murad couture custom gown is so perfectly pink i love it! 8/10. and the third nicole + felicia couture custom is PERFECT. the color the sparkles and the vibes of it make me so🥹🥹 9/10.

red era:

the first ashish shirt and the hat combo is iconic, A LOT going on at the moment makes me so BRRR, 8.5/10, when taylor takes off the shirt we can fully see the red ombre bodysuit and its GORGEOUS 9/10 and with the coat its 9/10 still (i love the coat combo w the bodysuit) overall, this ashish custom shirt bodysuit and coat all together looks so cool and blends so well with the red era i luv it!🫶🏻

folklore era:

folklore in itself is in my top 3 fav ts albums, the looks she chose for this era are all so perfect i might pass out. all of the alberta ferretti custom dresses look so ethereal and fits this era so well, giving me stevie nicks, florence welsh, daisy jones vibes SO PERFECT, the first 3 dresses are 10/10, and the fourth green dress is 12/10, seriously my favorite on this tour, looks so ethereal and perfect im obssesedd🤭🤭💗

1989 era:

unpopular opinion: i don’t really like this roberto cavalli custom crop top and skirt combo, i like the custom louboutin boots and i like that they all match but the swarovski work diamonds puts me off idk. the pink and the orange one is 7/10 for me, the green combo is my fav 8/10 !! still so cute tho🥰

and finally, midnights era:

this custom oscar de la renta jacket is to die for, i love how it references the lavender haze mv, however the dress itself is a bit bland for me and i don’t like the match with the louboutin boots 8/10. THE SECOND ZUHAIR MURAD COUTURE BODYSUIT TAYLOR IM ON MY KNEES. the garter belt is perfect 11/10. the third oscar de la renta custom bodysuit is perfect as well, a bit darker but similar to the zuhair murad bodysuit, and its perfect for the vigilante shit performances 🤤🤤🤤 11/10.

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

Now That's What I Call Music! 6 2001 Adult Contemporary / Pop-Rock / Alternative Rock / R&B / Teen Pop / Pop / Boy Bands / Post-Grunge

Here we go, folks. Another dispatch from the most pervasive compilation series to ever grace US shores: it's the triple-platinum-selling,  #1-spot-on-the-Billboard-200-album-chart-achieving, sixth installment from the king conglomerate of repackaging contemporary chart hits itself; the one and only Now That's What I Call Music!

Lots of fun stories behind this eclectic set of pop songs that, overall, feels like turning on your favorite top 40 radio station sometime between 2000 and 2001, but let's start with what was probably the most popular tune in the entirety of those two full years: Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me." If you've ever wondered why or how a song on which Shaggy himself doesn't really do that much came to be the signature hit of his whole career, it's because it wasn't actually ever intended to have been released as a single in the first place! Presumably, this was just a song that was to be included on his 2000 album, Hot Shot, that would serve as a showcase for another budding vocalist, Rik Rok, who sings the song's long pre-choruses, choruses, and bridge. Now, nothing substantial ever ended up materializing for Rik Rok after this song, but the story behind its global takeover started with a radio DJ in Hawaii who downloaded Hot Shot from a p2p network, like Napster, and then decided that his favorite track on it was "It Wasn't Me." He then played it on the air and received numerous requests to keep playing it, and that clamoring audience response then persuaded MCA to release it as the album's lead single, three months after the LP had already dropped.

Also, Shaggy became known as something of a heavy sampler and interpolator, with his follow-up single, "Angel," revitalizing the melody from Juice Newton's country-pop classic, "Angel of the Morning," and a popular remix of "Boombastic" using Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" (I actually wrote about how we should be taking that Marvin song off of our collective sex playlists earlier this week). But something that probably slipped under some people's radar is how he just pretty much took the intro from a song that’s a bit more obscure in order to make "It Wasn't Me": "Smile Happy," by War, the band who became famous in the 70s for songs like "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends," all of which are from the same album. Listen to that song's opening! It's basically the same!

I don't think War or any of its members ever received a songwriting credit for "It Wasn't Me" either, but they did when One Direction's Liam Payne made his solo debut with "Strip That Down" in 2017, which interpolated Shaggy's song. So, nice to see that War finally started to accumulate some scratch from those few bars!

Next, *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," the lead single from No Strings Attached that served doubly as a dynamic teen pop breakup anthem and possibly as something of a middle finger to their former manager, Lou Pearlman, as well. It's an early 2000s pop masterpiece that comes from the famed Cheiron Studios in Sweden, which gave us the brunt of all those teen pop hits that use similar production techniques and lyrics that don't always quite make sense 😅. The most iconic producer from that teen pop haven was Max Martin, but he actually wasn't directly involved with this one. Instead, other guys from Cheiron produced and wrote it: Jake Schulze, Kristian Lundin—who was also behind "Tearin' Up My Heart"—and Andreas Carlsson.

And it's Carlsson who actually first took the song to UK boy band 5ive, who had previously charted Stateside in the top 10 with "When the Lights Go Out," in 1998. Carlsson's original conception of "Bye Bye Bye" had a rap chorus on it, and 5ive ended up really despising it, so much so, that one of the members actually called security on him 😂. Apparently, 5ive had decided that they wanted to be a "rap band" and sound like Eminem, so this "Bye Bye Bye" song, despite its chorus, was very much not for them anymore. So, the tune was then later retooled for *NSYNC, who would end up taking it to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and it then summarily became one of the most memorable songs of the early 2000s and the boy band/teen pop era as a whole. And as a result, 5ive would never chart again anywhere after 2001 😬.

OK, now for Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open.” Did you know that this fucking song, the band's only single to top the Billboard Hot 100, which also contains some utterly incomprehensible choices in enunciation from lead vocalist Scott Stapp, took home a Grammy for Best Rock Song? Unreal, right? And what might be even more unreal is the fact that notoriously cool dude Dave Grohl actually genuinely loves it, having called it one of the most amazing songs he’s ever heard! What, Dave?!

And then there's U2's "Beautiful Day," a simply epic song to buy shampoo to that marked a departure from the electronic dance experiments that the band had become known for in the 90s, and began their transformation into the most ubiquitously annoying and insufferable act in the world for the next 15 years or so. Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite's production was really stellar on it, but a writer at NME wrote that John Lennon's assassin should be let out of prison so he could shoot Bono for making this one. And I mean, that's certainly a drastic measure, but then that other album wouldn't have ended up invading all of our iPhones in the 2010s, so... 🤷‍♂️....actually, I'm just kidding. Wanting people shot for making songs you don't like is unethical. Don't do that!

And lastly, I totally forgot that K-Ci & JoJo's "Crazy" even existed before I gave this album a spin today. Those guys were probably the most iconic vocal male R&B duo of the Y2K era, and were known especially for their super soulful adult contemporaryish slow jam-ballads, like "All My Life" and "Tell Me It's Real." But I don't think I'd heard "Crazy" once since it came out over 20 years ago, so, that was a total jolt of nostalgia for me, personally, right there. And I really wasn't cognizant of it at the time, but that song's also one of the first big hits to use a considerable amount of autotune on it too, long before people like T-Pain would go on to define their career with it towards the end of the decade. So, it's sort of a trailblazing song, I guess, but it was also K-Ci & JoJo's final appearance on the Hot 100 as well, so also bittersweet. And there’s another song with some autotune on here too, an early 2000s R&B classic, “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right),” by 3LW. It doesn’t use the autotune to the same extent, but it’s there in the first verse. Fantastic throwback.

So, this album was a lot of fun. Always love taking these trips down memory lane and re-experiencing, evaluating, and learning all these backstories behind these songs that I grew up with years ago 😊. Now was probably something of a nuisance when it arrived in the US because all it did was cash-grabbingly gather big chart hits onto CD, but now it's just a great collection of artifacts that document the music of bygone eras.

Highlights:

Britney Spears - “Stronger” *NSYNC - “Bye Bye Bye” ATC - "Around the World (La La La La)" Jennifer Lopez - “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” Destiny's Child - "Independent Women, Part 1" Shaggy - “It Wasn’t Me” 3LW - "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" K-Ci & JoJo - “Crazy” R. Kelly - “I Wish” Backstreet Boys - “Shape of My Heart” Evan and Jaron - “Crazy for This Girl” Coldplay - “Yellow” Lenny Kravitz - “Again” Fuel - "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" Creed - “With Arms Wide Open” Incubus - “Drive” U2 - “Beautiful Day”

[shark-myths]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you so much for the tag ((and drag)) @carbonbased000! this was very fun and thoughtful to do.

who is writing things right now? i never remember. i will tag a wide and perhaps not terribly relevant range of: @toorational @just-about-nothing @27-royal-teas @leyley09 @alienfuckeronmain @stereostatic @setting-in-a-honeymoon and anyone else so inclined!

++

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

65

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

968,103, but as i’ve said before, i have orphaned a lotta fic as well

3. What fandoms do you write for?

pretty much just Fall Out Boy, but i will occasionally dabble in something random! this includes tony stark femslash (not sorry, will not apologize), cobra kai, and anything about girls or characters who could compellingly be made into girls.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Difference Between Real Love and the Love on TV

Stranger Danger

Boys Next Door / Assholes

From Russia With Love (this is one of those random sidesteps, a MCU femslash epistolary)

Jet Black Crow

(As an aside, it is so wild to me that older fics have so many more kudos than newer ones—you can really tell that fob went 5 years between albums! imo this is NOT a list of my best fic.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

for years, I responded to every single one! then at some point i fell behind because of my high standards for trying to put the same thought and effort into my responses as all you lovely people put into the comments, then i became overwhelmed, then i stopped. I AM SO SORRY IF I OWE YOU RETURN COMMENTS, i read them and i treasured them and you are a huge part of the reason i keep writing. love u all!!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I only write happy endings, man! I stopped writing tragedies a long time ago. My angstiest fics are red and unafraid of living and In Every Universe. the end of Made One Way (Cobra Kai) is ambiguous and potentially brutal, depending on how you take it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

um, every single other one! I’m a big fan of the gory fairy tale ending of The Boys Time Can’t Capture, and transmuting the hiatus into an act of mutual care and love in Sell Out Girl meant so much to me.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not since my first fandom and god, don’t

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes, a bit, could probably write a little less about feelings and a little more about feelings if u know what i mean. I’m super into sex as a person so i almost never write about intense romantic connections without bringing smut into it somehow; they feel really tightly linked for me, and i think i also crave media with HOT and INTIMATE connections between queer people. In terms of kind, i guess i’d have to say it’s largely rushed vanilla emotion-and-orgasm driven scenes. not a very flattering oeuvre i've created here.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

mash-ups are my favorite thing to do! I especially like ripping off movie and fairy tale plots and making them stranger, or else taking a really specific constrained timeline from someone’s life or a piece of media and transforming it somehow. best sandbox ever. my craziest one is probably the coyote ugly / beauty in the beast peterick fic, Wolves Dressed As Wolves. and i love this type of transformation in everything, whether it's the weirdo gender shit i just learned duchamp was doing or katherine addison's destructively beautiful 'sherlock holmes except there're ANGELS' novel or the buenos aires re-imagining version of vivaldi's four seasons by piazzolla, my life and taste keeps taking me into the various ways we fold and refract and remake the same experiences over and over again through different lenses or angles or selves. to quote some author whose identity i forgot years ago, though the quote remains: "there are no new stories." all art is iterative, and the most interesting thing we can do as creators is deviate in new, unexpected ways.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah, a million years ago on deviantart

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! I have had a few translations and a podfic. I love it when people want to interact with my stories in their own way, all interpretations are welcome.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

one day i hope to be domesticated enough that @carbonbased000 can write with me. I used to co-write by passing the laptop back and forth with my bestie in high school; we wrote self-insert x-men fanfiction based on the comic books in like 2004 and it was an absolute blast; but generally i am considered impossible to work with, by both myself and others.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

i feel completely unqualified to answer this question. i have been driven insane by any number of pairings in my life. when i was younger, i was more interested in internalized homophobia themes in ships, because that's where WE were culturally in the early 2000s and where i was in relationship to myself, and i think each change and growth and greater empowerment and self-possession in my own life is mirrored in what i am interested in. i feel the most drawn in by dynamics between people that are creative and give me a new way to access and explore interesting ideas and themes; i’m a real sucker for shared art products and touring bands as unique and agonizing ways to connect people. there are so many different ways to express that someone is your soulmate and you'll never convince me throwing away all trappings of a traditional life in order to rove the earth and make art with your friends isn't one of them.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

do you not just block out your WIPs from your mind so that you can live in moment-to-moment freedom?? I am a finisher in general, i have a few peterick drafts lurking around in my gdocs but if they remain untouched, it’s generally because there are only a couple thousand words to them and i’m not very excited about the possibilities of the fic. there is a sequel to a meticulously historically accurate pirate fic i wrote long ago called Providence, i got to about 30k and then lost all of my extremely painstaking notes and research in a software update. I’m still very interested in and excited by the idea, but i lost the notes and felt too traumatized to continue with the project genuinely a decade ago, so the idea that i will return and finish the fic seems fairly unlikely. Providence is one of my greatest pieces of writing ever, though, so hope springs eternal, i guess!

16. What are your writing strengths?

lyrical prose and conveying humor via unusual sentence construction. i was recently told i write arguments well and feel tough as a result, like, watch out! you don’t want to fight me!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i am lazy and easily distractible, i don’t plot in advance, i barely edit because i get really rigid and have trouble seeing any other way to say something than how i’ve already said it, i have an unwillingness to delete and rewrite even when that’s the only way forward (see: my eternally 90% finished age swap peterick au), i use up all my emotional energy elsewhere and then neglect my craft for weeks at a time. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

sometimes i’ll use pet names in another language if it makes sense for the character, but i avoid this in general as i’m not fluent in anything other than english. I would, have, and do sound like a duolingo lesson.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

afi bandom, when we used to call it slash, when i thought i had invented it with my friend at summer camp, when i was 13 and sent her kidfic stories i wrote out by hand in pink envelopes.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

genuinely i almost always write things i personally want to read, so i love them all! except the fucking fixed stars of heaven, everyone knows that fic tortured me to within an inch of my sanity. My most personal and personally meaningful fic is Girl Out Boy. i have a tattoo of it on my arm.

[scibot9000]

top discovered albums this year. as in, top albums from not-2023 but that I found in 2023. i dont have spotify so i gotta do this manually.

rankings approximate. links and thoughts under the cut

hizmi - Soak (2021)

sometimes it's the technicalities that blow my mind. this is…… unmodified X68000 music????

Yeah listening to this has expanded my mind on what's possible with old FM chips. None of this sounds like the artist found any restriction with any aspect of the system.

"Rivulet" blows my mind every time. It's just an ilkae song. Like cmon.

---

SDEM - ZNS (2020)

After AE_LIVE 2022, I went on a little bender, looking for anything else ae-esque.

I pretty much immediately struck gold. I had been digging through SDEM stuff anyway but man this is another level.

"dysp 0m" in particular is one of the tracks of all time. I keep coming back to it. it's HEAVY on headphones.

---

Ssaladd - Ssaladd (2020)

This is a funny selection to land on a TOP8 because it's so understated. It even kinda feels distant.

But damnit that's why it stuck with me.

The use of wow and flutter is crazy good here!

It feels like carefully applied vibrato, an application of the expression MIDI CC. But completely unlike any other vibrato I've heard.

It feels like a pioneering mix of techniques. And I can't stop thinking about it.

---

Cryptovolans - Passenger (2022)

Is it possible to have a wall of sound in MIDI?

No, not Black MIDI. Something prog.

I keep coming back to "Board Room" in particular because it's so... weird? Slightly beyond just SC, but not by much. Heavyweight album.

---

Kid606 - GQ on the EQ++ (2000)

The textures on this absolutely blew me away.

"My Kitten Went To London" sounds insanely fresh. I can't believe it's pushing 23 years old!

That and "Dandy" really stuck wth me. The latter sounds a bit more era-appropriate somehow (maybe because of oval?), but still vibes really good.

This was actually me revisiting the album. I initially listened to it about a decade ago and didn't like it. Crazy to think I turned away from such gold back then.

---

nagz - Good (2020)

nagz has been a longtime favorite and inspiration of mine. He's been making music from the future for years and years. Blowing my mind since 2006 or so.

One of his earlier releases, hringur, stuck with me for years. It had an atmosphere that I had never heard before or since.

…until now.

It's not actually a sequel, but it's got a flavor that I just. Don't know where else you can find.

If I were to highlight a single track: "I Like You But Not Too Much" hits astoundingly hard. It's what I imagine Earthbound music might be like if it were made today.

---

DJ Technorch & 九十九音夢 – Strong Anthropic Principle (2016)

An absolutely mind melting early (found in January) favorite. Hard, hardcore, and psychedelic. And a bit silly.

"猫の気��ち 〜Cat's Mind〜 (Masayoshi Iimori Remix)" and "解熱鎮痛一撃必殺 〜Critical Arts〜" in particular stuck with me as great experiences.

I really really like the preview video, too. (nsfw warning?) (flashing lights warning?). It truly captures the vibe.

---

AE_LIVE / elseq 6-10 / onesix

I had already listened to some of these, but around march, I found fanmade CUE sheets, and that brought a whole new level of love for this release.

And then I found fan edits with another set of fan titles. Two names for all of my favorite bits? Sure!

"ceramic / clipcon" i love that percussion! the ringmod in "(drunk) / probat emp2" is some of my fav ae work ever. having splits made me fall in love with the density of "sentinel / sinistrail casual"

and then I discovered the onesix sets and fan-cuts, giving a more ambient dive which I'll only mention briefly here. But man, "reflected / seven of twelve" is one I revisit OFTEN.

[themiddleofwonderland]

My favorite k-pop videos

This list is likely to change depending on what day I'm posting it, but I just rewatched #1 on this list three times in a row and felt like making a list.

1. It's You - ATEEZ (Yeosang, San, Wooyoung) - this video makes me absolutely feral. The song was already my favorite on the album and then they went and released this?!?! It's so hot?! So Sexy!?!! I have an irrational fear that KQ will take it away because it's too perfect and sexy and wonderful and we don't deserve it. I was a Wooyoung/Seonghwa bias beforehand but now it's a four-way tie because holy shit have you seen them???

2. BTBT - B.I (Performance Ver.) - This was the first non-BTS video I became obsessed with, again after falling in love with the song and overplaying it (it was my top-played song of 2022). The dance is amazing, the way they flow, and it's such a simple video (the official video has cool cyberpunk vibes) but it works. This is the only video I've ever watched derivative videos for (dance covers, reactions) because I just can't get enough of it. (gif from the official vid bc the performance vid is criminally under-giffed)

3. Black Swan - BTS - Again, another one where the song got me first. The aesthetic of this video is just so good. I mean, the corsets speak for themselves, but I love how Jimin's amazing dancing gets such a highlight, the backdrops for Yoongi's meaningful verse, how good they all look. The dancing is great, the setting is beautiful, I can rewatch this ten times in a row and still want to watch it again.

4. Move - Taemin - Soooo good. Taemin is considered one of the best dancers in k-pop and he is showing you exactly why in this video. I love him embracing his androgyny here, with the more feminine dance moves and outfit silhouettes. The song is one of my favorites of all time and the video does it complete justice.

5. Rover - Kai - Hot hot hot. Kai. Shirtless. Blond. Those sunglasses?! I didn't like the dance much at first but it has really grown on me over time. Also, apparently this song is a cover/remake?

6. Super - Seventeen - You know, I can't figure out why I love this video so much. Like it's super basic as a concept - just all of them and a whole heap of dancers in one scene. But it works. As soon as they revealed Woozi being held up like he's on a throne with his little smirk, I knew I was done. The dance is so fun and I never get tired of watching this one.

7. Daechwita - Agust D - It's hard to decide between this and Haegeum, but this is the one that starts the story and my Agust D obsession, so obviously I had to choose it. I love the concept and how he lays out the Agust D story in just one mv. Royal Gangster Yoongi is just hnnng. I love the power here.

8. God's Menu - Stray Kids - This one is just super fun. I love all the different outfits - and like, Han in the chef's outfit is top-tier Han, he looks so hot.

9. Shalala - Taeyong - This is one of the most fun music videos I've ever seen. I love all of the different versions of Taeyong and he's the only idol I've seen pull off that shade of lime-green hair. The macarena dance should not work at all and yet it does.

10. Hip - Mamamoo - They slaaayyy in this video. I'm so obsessed with Queen Hwasa literally spitting on her haters. Moonbyul is amazing as always, I love how they have her in various roles that are typically male "anything you can do, I can do better" vibes. Also I really want to dye my hair the same shade as Whee-In's in this video.

11. Don't Call Me - Shinee - I call this the 'weird hat video'. Their hats are ridiculous. And you can tell Minho is really feeling it, just look at the gif. I love it.

[ourladyofomega]

Great news for most of you: @rivetgoth has summoned me to choose ten of my favorite listens of September ‘23. Expanding the time span to thirty days meant holding out until the end of the month just to be sure. Picking out only ten was easy to do, and whether you like me or not, you’re gonna’ have to deal with it.

Your winners are:

#1: Replacements, The: "Unsatisfied" #2: Cult, The: "Rain" #3: Chemical Brothers: "No Reason"

This group of three is what happens when you’re following a mutual who’s super-obsessed about music. @tewz is an open book with plenty of audio and music video posts for the taking, plus a couple of Spotify playlists to rifle through. (Stay for the cat videos, too.) She’s my go-to and because of her, I had easy assembly of one of my recent radio broadcasts.

A fellow dee-jay asked me to fill-in for him not long ago. Now I had a double-broadcast (four hours) to set up. I had enough reserves from her to pull it off, so The Replacements’ “Unsatisfied” and The Cult “Rain” made the cut. Chemical Brothers: "No Reason" reminded me why they retained a feverish fan base to begin with, going all the way back to their “Setting Sun” days. Dare I say it reminded me of Daft Punk? Really, I thank her for everything music-wise she’s given me, ever.

#4: Crime Of Passing: "Off My Shoulder"

I love everything about this track. Unmistakably reminds me of Diat and the rest of the record follows with goth rock, post-punk / d.i.y, and coldwave. As a whole, Crime Of Passing displays a great style, aesthetic, seriousness, and urgency; all coming together and consistent as a gloomy yet smoking-hot nine-track album.

#5: Yfory: "Chwaer Pwy?" #6: M(h)aol: “Therapy” #7: Es: "Emergency"

I did an all post-punk / d.i.y. broadcast last month. One portion of the show had me group together female-fronted bands from Europe. That block started with Germany’s Maraudeur, continued on with Scotland’s Breakfast Muff, and then these three. Anyone paying attention knows that Europe (and especially the UK) is giving every other city scene a run for their money.

Also from Germany, Yfory struck me with their album cover (If anyone can identify that typeset, do let me know), their fluid Welsh lyrics which is new to me, and their great craftsmanship; hence "Chwaer Pwy?". I went with “Therapy” from feminist band M(h)aol because it sounds so rough. It’s the Irish equivalent of Guerilla Toss’ “Eraser Stargazer Forever” which sweeps the floor of everything. (If you really want to set yourself on fire, listen to “Period Sex”. Wow.) And, I got excited for new sounds from England’s Es. I played their opener “Emergency” at least 20 times and I still haven’t figured them out. That’s a good thing. Fortunately, the hopeful sounds of “Emergency” follows towards Less Of Everything and far away from Object Relations, and that’s from Flora Watters on keyboards, who is that special ingredient that makes Es. Their uniqueness pushes them near the very top of post-punk / d.i.y.

#8: Mamalarky: “Green Earth”

No way! What is this?! As if Palm’s Dog Milk and Mr. Elevator got a room, fucked, and made this. And I don’t know why I’m also equating Todd Rungren’s “Hello It’s Me”, maybe Peter Max, and other late-Sixties / early-Seventies standards in the mix, but this sounds amazing. It has that lo-fi, drowsy, malfunctioning feel with a wondrous charm to it. It’s really beautiful.

Now get this: “Green Earth” is on the environmentally- conscious The Eleventh Hour: Songs for Climate Justice compilation (and later Pocket Fantasy: B-Sides), and then you can clearly hear vocalist Livvy Bennett breathe in and inhale before singing each verse. Get it? Any song that can transport you to a new, undiscovered world is a unanimous winner in my book.

#9: Blonde Redhead: “Melody Experiment” #10: Tan Cologne: "Visitation"

To describe these in one word: inexplicable. They can be a soundtrack to a future world that could very well be possible, but in the same measure possibly not. These would fit right in with the annual ‘second chance’ broadcasts I do to end the year. ‘Second chance’, meaning, songs I enjoy but simply don’t fit into a specific category, so they have one all of their own. Think Erasers’ “Easy To See”, Mega Bog’s “Maybe You Died”, New Chance’s “Real Time”, Lily’s “New Fries”, and Il Quadro Di Trosi’s “Sfere Di Qi”.

“Melody Experiment” from Blonde Redhead sounds unreal to me. I still don’t believe it even exists. If it does, it’s the definition of ‘slick’. Sonically, it has wavelengths of “Corrections” from Phil Western and a breath similar to Pixel Grip’s Rita Lukea. Don’t ask me why I came up with that. To each, everyone’s own. Tan Cologne’s new single had to be influenced by Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood “Sand“; the all-encompassing heat during the pending sundown on a blazing-hot Summer day. These final two picks I’ve already heard at least thirty times, and I plan on hearing them thirty more.

Good news: I tag no one. As always, play at your own risk.

[monkey-network]

My GOATED Tier Albums

Music is awesome. It is a form of creation that people experiment with, creating melodies that can make you emotional beyond belief. Except Weezer. For the past year I listened to a ton of albums, mainly because I have a job that doesn't require much thinking. From this, I've recognized albums that above everything possess eternal sauce. I'm talking favorites that make you wanna sing 'em in the rain, love when you're in pain, imagine yourself getting head on a train. I naturally haven't listened to every artist and genre in existence, but these stuck with me for more than a simple good time. Let's get the obvious one out the way

To Pimp A Butterfly (Kendrick Lamar)

MVP Track: How Much a Dollar Cost

On its own, this album just fucks for nearly 80 minutes straight. Everyone knows this, a 16 track stream of unapologetic Blackness that dives into all of what Kendrick has seen in the black community outside of his music-making. You get funk, jazz, soul all into a comprehensive story of his life in Cali vs his time touring in South Africa. When paired with Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City though, you see a darker story that I say is like part 2 of Stephen King's IT. There's the remorse and turmoil exposed by an older Kendrick of the haunting experience from his adolescence, like TPAB is about how he was too lucky to survive that moment in M.A.A.D. City. This album is just strong beginning to end, like it's a given to say this.

Nonagon Infinity (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard)

I've listened to plenty of King Gizzard before I could say this album is perfected adrenaline. The direction each song goes is always satisfying where it's like I can't pick a real favorite one without loving the rest of them. It's even better when there's no cuts between song while you can hear every one seamlessly play into each other like an interconnected nonagon and for it to loop back around is the cherry on top. I love how it's able to change course without ever losing the momentum like 'Mr. Beat' clashes so hard with the others but they fit it at the best point. Again, this album is the most fist pumping shit I've ever listened to.

Die Lit (Playboi Carti)

MVP Track: R.I.P. Fredo

I'll admit, back in grade school I treated trap, sound and mumble rap like I did Pepsi as a child. Disgusted and dismissive like "it's not real rap". Overtime, mainly thanks to Spongebob, I got over my prejudice and gave it more a chance. I'm not the biggest fan, but stuff like Pop Smoke, Yeat, Uzi, and Carti I got on my MP3 for the long mile. It was last month where I finally got Die Lit, and man the vibes of this are immaculate. This album just makes you wanna work out, do 10 sets on the weights to the rhythm. I'm more into lyrical strength when it comes to rap but this helped me that the beats and the hooks can be just as bumping. It honestly has everything I would've loved getting into trap music.

MM.. FOOD (MF DOOM)

MVP Track: Rapp Snitch Knishes

When I talk lyrical strength, I always think of MF DOOM may he continue to rest in peace. He wasn't just hot with wordplay, he knew how to bend the flows to his will. This, Madvillainy, and Mouse and the Mask are my top 3 DOOM albums, but MM FOOD takes the cake (hah) in being the perfect balance of the fun and power that goes into his music. I love that it isn't just a concept album about food, but a story told with the old Spider-Man and Fantastic Four cartoons. I grew to love the intermission where it's a sample soundbite bonanza; felt like Dumile was having the most fun here. I say you get the best of all the previous albums here, and to me it's the most replayable record.

IGOR (Tyler the Creator)

MVP Track: Are We Still Friends

This is where I enjoyed the album off the bat, but loved it more after hearing Tyler's entire library. I love that IGOR exists not only on its own from his typical rap work, but as his own character and not just a persona. Like TPAB and Nonagon Infinity, I can't pick a favorite track without every other carrying each other. This album is emotional sauce, exploring the ugliness and majesty of romance and heartbreak. A lot of these type of albums I feel are tonally the same passive aggressive, sugarcoated upbeat kind of stuff; that's why I can never get into Taylor Swift and the like. This hits different. I've heard nothing like I Think, New Magic Wand, I Don't Love You Anymore, all capped with still the greatest closing number I've ever heard. This is Tyler's magnum opus, hands down.

Making Mirrors (Gotye)

MVP Track: Save Me

Gotye was not a musician I expected to enjoy but Making Mirrors IS that good. It's a beautifully uplifting streak of tunes that reminds me of George Michael especially in the first half. This of course has the billion dollar single 'Somebody That I Used to Know', but this ain't even his best song. 'Eyes Wide Open', 'Save Me', 'Bronte', 'In Your Light' offer more euphoric sounds that literally ascends you. Almost every song feels like those scenes in movies where everyone's dancing in the church. It honestly sucks Gotye retired his solo career after this record when this felt like he found his footing. There's possibility of him returning after his time with his band The Basics, but I'm not complaining. Dude made a record I never thought would love as much as I did.

Scatman's World (Scatman John)

MVP Track: Only You

I got more to say about this album on a later date, so I'll keep it brief. This was the biggest eye-opener of music for me. You got a man that sings like a jazz enthusiast and have his best album be Eurodance and techno. It never feels like a gimmick too while his lyrics aren't an overall strong suit. It all just makes you happy, have a real pep in the step, with a great range of tone that makes it easy to go back to. And I will NEVER forgive the internet for warping my mind over the word "scatting".

Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull)

MVP Track: Childhood Heroes

Best for last. This is the first album for me where you might as well say this is just two 20 minute songs. On a personal note, this helped lifted my spirit after 2017 basically destroyed me emotionally and mentally. The energy and flow felt unlimited like you could feel this was THE project for the band. Both parts ending with 'Childhood Heroes', all time favorite song of my life. They, by extension this album, is emblematic of old time childlike wonder. That gave me both the strive and relief to move forward, the song exhibits that energy every time I hear it. This album is a GOAT of personal expectations.

I've loved thinking about music this year. These albums mean a lot in how unreal they can feel listening, a streak of passion that are like the planets aligned when they dropped. These have also helped me branch out to other artists and albums to see if they can reach the strengths of this list.

But lesson of the day is always have your GOATs, cherish them to your life, and in conclusion...

[dichromaticdyke]

🗣 - still struggling with Bookklok BUT I did buy the complete box set so I can watch it without ads now! (Plus got some Special Features bonus vids 🤗 sad that it doesnt come with all of them :()

Anyway, been thinking about Number 1 Toki Fan Skwisgaar Skwigelf (Not mutually exclusive to HM!Toki but I'm thinking of it in that universe)

Like, Toki being a huge Skwisgaar fan is the worlds worst kept secret. Everyone knows that Toki loves/obsesses/fans over Skwisgaar. It's in interviews, it's in photos, it's in the merch. Its like the fan communities running joke that Toki is Skwisgaar's biggest fangirl before she's a guitarist. But what they don't know is that Skwisgaar is an even bigger fan of Toki but that secret is sealed tighter than the nuclear codes for every country. You know that fanart of Toki listening to Skwisgaar's solo #1,697 or something like that and it's Toki's favorite? That's Skwisgaar on an old walkman with all of Toki's "failed" takes on various guitar parts of different albums and songs. They aren't the polished, practiced pieces she can play, it's something completely raw and different. She can't get enough of it and goes to sleep listening to them when no one is with her (AKA Toki). She has some of Toki's old guitar picks in a locked jewlery box. She watches Toki compilations on Youtube (Specifically "Toki being a cutie pie for 15 minutes", "Toki being better than your man for 15 minutes", "Top 10 best Toki's performances (Not Solos)", and "Toki Wartooth Interviews Compilation" She's replaying her favorite parts and blushes like shes spying on her high school crush. It's all very cringe but it puts Skwisgaar to sleep feeling giddy every time.) She has to hold herself back when she hears other people say Toki is bad at guitar because SHE is allowed to say that; she works, lives, and fucks her but other people? And especially if they don't play guitar? She'll give you the ol' one-two but she cant let too much out, otherwise people might ~speculate~. Toki may love watching her practice but when it's reversed, Skwisgaar WILL find a way to record it and spend hours obsessing over it even after the practicing is done.

On the flipside of this, Toki absolutely has scrapbooks solely dedicated to cut out pictures/interviews/advertisements/promotional stuff of Skwisgaar that she keeps under her mattress and pulls out when she wants to oogle.

OH that’s so cute. yes yes i love it! i definitely do feel like skwisgaar would have that mindset, not just because of their complicated relationship, but-

sigh. you haven’t finished the whole show yet. GRRR okay i’m putting spoilers under the cut for DSR and AOTD, but i’ll try to get out my non-spoilery thoughts first.

there was an interview where brendon was asked who toki’s and skwisgaar’s favorite guitarists were. brendon said toki’s favorite was skwisgaar, and skwisgaar loves “every shredder who’s ever lived,” reinforcing skwisgaar’s absolute passion for guitar in general.

that “favorite” would include toki. toki’s a shredder, and her ability to keep up with skwisgaar makes her the second fastest guitarist alive. so behind several layers of jealousy and fear that toki will get better than her has to be admiration of some kind. skwisgaar’s just too proud and probably sees this exact admiration as a weakness. skwisgaar is the god, not toki—toki should be the one idolizing skwisgaar, not the other way around. she could easily hide her admiration under the veneer of criticism, but these are criticisms that only skwisgaar can make, which, in my opinion, is for one very spoilery reason:

SKWISGAAR DISCOVERED TOKI. skwisgaar has the mindset of “i can criticize toki but no one else can” because of THAT. skwisgaar is extra hard on toki because she knows what toki is capable of, but no one else does. even though the rest of the band was at that audition, none of them could possibly understand what it was about toki’s playing that moved skwisgaar so much as to make her go back on her proclamation of them being a one-guitar band.

and then there’s AOTD, the only time in the show we see skwisgaar actually encouraging toki to be good. skwisgaar has ALWAYS thought of toki as talented, and that’s the exact reason skwisgaar is so hard on her. it’s not to be a bitch, it’s because skwisgaar wants the band and every musician in it to reach their full potential. it’s why she practices basically 24/7 (that and her guitar being her ultimate comfort and stim object) and why she gets so mad at the band’s laziness—they’re the most beloved band in the world, they’re all talented. she doesn’t want that talent to go to waste.

but to anyone else who might criticize the band or toki? they’re peons who don’t understand music the way skwisgaar does. they should be lucky to even hear this music.

[hillbillyhippiemusicreview]

THE HHMR ISSUED A STORM WARNING: A NORTHER IS BLOWING IN AS SHANE SMITH AND THE SAINTS ROLL OUT THEIR LATEST RELEASE

Areas affected include: The Heart, The Soul, & Your Tappin’ Toes. Prepare accordingly.

Strong. Fast moving. Cold. Breathtaking. Those are adjectives to describe a Norther or Blue Norther, a storm bringing in fast cold winds from the north into Texas and surrounding states. Those words also perfectly describe Shane Smith & the Saints newest album, Norther. This album hits you hard and fast! Shane, Bennett, Dustin, Chase and Zach put together an eclectic record that, in my humble opinion, is their best work yet, even topping my favorite, 2013’s Coast.

Before I go any further, I will give a disclaimer that this review is biased—for good reason. I have no affiliation with the band; I’ve only met Shane twice, I’ve met the other members each once, and I follow Bennett on instagram (he’s also originally from my adoptive city of Louisville, KY). BUT, they are my *favorite* band! I may have Timmy Ty’s lyrics tattooed on my arm, but there hasn’t ever been a band that puts me in a trance quite like Shane Smith & the Saints. I’ve seen them at: Tumbleweed (LaCygne, KS), the Basement East (Nashville, TN), Headliners (Louisville, KY), Bulls, Bands, and Barrels (Lexington, KY), and most recently for their headline debut at the Mother Church, the Ryman Auditorium (Nashville, TN). So yes, I am a fan—to say the least. I *may* even fanboy out when they are within a 4 hour drive. That may ruin the credibility of my review in some people’s eyes; however, in others it makes this review even more true and authentic as I have been a fan for 10 years for no reason except for the facts that they make damn fine music, and that they are the some of the nicest artists I have ever met. And to “kind of” quote Uncle Dallas Moore, “there ain’t no one [reading] my shit anyway.” 🤠

Norther opens with “Book of Joe,” a hard hitting ballad with a heavy fiddle presence from Bennett and drums that hit you so hard that your heartbeat matches that of the drum beat. “Book of Joe” repeatedly tells us that “It’s a rich man’s war, it’s a poor man’s fight”—no matter which side of the dollar you are on, this life is always a battle. Next up, we get “Fire in the Sky.” Shane starts out by “deep talking” the lyrics, reminiscent of some of Johnny Cash’s lasts works. But then it goes into a toe tappin’, head banging song that isn’t country, Americana, or red dirt, but in my limited Eastern Kentucky vernacular can only be described as Rock.

We have to go all the way to track number 7 (out of 13) for what may be my favorite song on the album, “Wheels.” One set of lyrics in particular makes this song my favorite…“You can’t blame the memories because they brought you a long long way.” As imperfect humans living in a broken world, we have all had experiences that that have shaped us. Some are great and some we could do without. Personally, looking back at those memories, the good and the bad, they all taught me a lesson or changed my direction; something I am thankful for from the Man up above. And “Just like wheels caught in their motion,” we keep trudging forward throughout this crazy life. Jumping down to the 10th song on the album, “1,000 Wild Horses” gives something to the lover of “real country.” While it may be a little faster and have some great instrumentals, the focus is obviously Shane’s deep voice, the lyrics, and the melody.

Y’all, most albums have one or two of those “skip over songs.” That isn’t the case with Norther. The album has 13 imposing songs, 6 of which were singles starting with “Hummingbird” back in 2022. I’ve already told you once, I am biased because Shane Smith & the Saints are my favorite band for no other reasons except they make great music that casts a spell on me every time I hear it; and that in my few interactions, they are all humble, friendly and down to earth fellas who work as hard as hell to make the music they want to make. So, I know it is only March, but this album has the potential to have my vote for best release of 2024!

Do yourself and the band a favor and go listen to these independent artists right now. Stream them on your preferred platform, check out their merch, and lastly go to the show! I’ve been to a ton of shows over the years, but not one show impacted me the way Shane Smith & the Saints with Justin Wells did at the Basement East. P.S. and that was a show they played with borrowed instruments from Turnpike Troubadours (I think) after their van burned!

-Cheers, N.

Below is the music video for “Adeline,” a track off Norther

[littlecornerinbrooklyn]

Favorite folklore song and favorite folklore lyric (even if it’s not from the same song)

OOOOO okay I feel like I've been stewing on this & needed to fully relisten to folklore in order to answer it

Favorite song goes to Exile (feat. Bon Iver) I just think it's one of the best breakup songs ever written and his timbre really adds to my enjoyment of it I get "so step right out" stuck in my head all the time

I think it also has my favorite lyrics (but I'm going to give myself an extra take on this because these ones are shared) because my heart shattered the first time I heard

I never learned to read your mind / Never learned to read my mind I couldn't turn things around / You never turned things around 'Cause you never gave a warning sign / I gave so many signs

and "I think I've seen this film before and I didn't like the ending" genuinely feels like an archaic idiom to me like its just perfectly succint and poetic and i say it all the time! It's some form of analogous to "play the tape all the way to the end" for me.

August is also up there, I really think it's a perfect end of summer/time slipping away/reminiscent hazy vibes that August always has it makes total sense to me that it has inspired countless people to start recording clips of their summers just to create a tiktok set to this song. It also calls back to Getaway Car and the feeling of having a real crush on someone with

Remember when I pulled up and said, "Get in the car" And then canceled my plans just in case you'd call?

the 1 is also up there with my favorite album openers of hers and Last Great American Dynasty is also WAY up in the top 10 of my favorite songs of all time from her. tbh it feels the most midnights-era sounding to me so i like that as a pop bridge from rep -> midnights (I consider Evermore the sister album to Folklore rather than like an evolution of sound like most of her other albums are)

okay essay done!

[sparklyslug]

hey on the subject of springsteen what're your favorite bruce songs? since you're a new jersian i feel like your opinion on this matter carries extra weight

ANON!! You are speaking directly to my heart and also my ego right now. This is a serious matter and I have given it careful consideration. Just know that I am bop-driven bitch so while no disrespect to the ballads is intended, they just like. Aren’t my favorites. I respect their artistry and brilliance they just don’t generally get the repeat playlist treatment. A Bruce favorite is one you can scream defiantly while you drive down the Garden State Parkway, that’s not my rule that’s just divine law.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER I MADE MYSELF STOP AT 10

Badlands (okay I lied the order applies here, this, this is my favorite of all time number one. A religious experience to scream along to this one. For the ones who had a notion had a notion deep inside, that it aiNT NO SIN TO BE GLAD YOURE ALIVE I wanna find one face that ain’t looking through me I wanna find one place I wanna spit in the face of thESE BADLAAAAANDS)

Dancing in the Dark/Born to Run (grouped together because like. Am I human? Do I have a soul? These are the two Bruce songs that are just faves as a matter of course, we simply must state them and move on)

Shackled and Drawn (the VOCALS the BEAT the driving relentless gorgeous BEAT. A song to punch God to. Wrecking Ball is a righteous fist of an album)

Lonesome Day (I’ve been listening to The Rising on repeat this week just cuz and while that album as a WHOLE is brilliant and hit at a time in my life and the whole post-9/11 of it all for max impact, but this one has to carry top pick because of the tragedy, the optimism, the determination, the grief, the absolute burner of a beat under it all. Fucking A)

High Hopes (the SWAGGER of this song, the banked rage behind a cocky grin)

Radio Nowhere (this has been a running playlist mainstay for years, not least because of how it fits with my running app, Zombies Run my beloved. Post apocalyptic excellence)

I’m on Fire (the sexiest song. Just of all of them, all songs ever. Am I making up that it’s the most-covered song of all time? If it’s not, that’s still a believable myth to me. Because the Night could occupy this spot as well, since he did write it for Patti Smith and it’s HOT AS FUCKING BURNING, but I’ll stick with my first impulse here)

Leap of Faith (the first Bruce song I fell in love with as a young lil thing, listening to the Boss with my dad 🥹)

Brilliant disguise (I love how relatively quiet and soothing and lullabye-like this is and how it slowly builds and builds and builds as the despair and suspicion and fear sets in. The howl on well LOOK at me baby struggling to do EVERYTHING RIGHT gets me every time)

The Ties that Bind (I’d be hauled out of town and deposited on the Pennsylvania border if I left off The River, and this is my River bop of choice)

I feel moved to add a few honorable mentions, covers that I actually like better than the original: Atlantic City by the Hold Steady, Because the Night by Patti Smith, and Bruce himself with the new arrangement for Born in the USA on Springsteen on Broadway, setting the record straight on one of his most mis-interpreted songs with a vengeance)

[hightealowsociety]

Music Kinda Sucks

I don't wanna be that guy that insists that things just "used to be better!!!" but, in terms of music, I kinda think that's true. I like a lot of popular music -- Taylor Swift is consistently my top artist on Spotify, and I barely even crack her top 5% of listeners. Pop is one of my favorite genres, in fact. 1989, Melodrama, Sawayama, and Magdalene are some of my favorite albums of all time. Pop is popular for a reason, and that's because it's good. But, on TikTok, I've noticed a weird trend with music.

Music isn't made to be listened to.

TikTok's short form video format prevents the playing of a full song, so of course, videos are set to song clips. Because TikTok videos are so short, they don't hold ones attention for more than a minute if you're lucky. I think that the fact that these videos are not made to be paid attention to for any longer than a few seconds at a time means that many of the new songs that are coming up as "TikTok trends" exist in the same way -- they'll have a catchy chorus, but they aren't really meant to be listened to, absorbed, and enjoyed. Not every song has to be some 10-minute long treatise on the human condition or whatever, but short, catchy pop songs should still be good, and not manufactured for a quick dopamine hit and forgotten about immediately after.

I think that it's indicative of a larger, much more concerning trend with TikTok. Videos are being packed with filler to grab kid's fleeting, goldfish attentions and made them stop and click for a second before they doom scroll for the remaining hours of sunlight in their day. Clips of people playing with slime, collecting coins on Subway Surfers, and dancing are spliced together with Family Guy clips and movie scenes. It's depressing to see little kids unable to pay attention to a video, a game, or a toy for more than 60 seconds because their brains have been fried by TikTok and YouTube.

Children, in my opinion, should not have TikTok or YouTube -- or really any social media app. Not only is it terrible for self esteem, it's doing them a lot of harm. Even kids in high school are feeling the effects, as my mom describes her students being more disconnected and unable to focus than ever before. This is, of course, in part due to COVID-19. TikTok exploded because everyone needed a quick dopamine hit while the world was falling apart. This led to kids who were 10 and 11 at the time to spend the hours that they used to play outside on their phones (since when do elementary schoolers have phones?!) and losing their grip on basic study and social skills, stunting their development. I'd like to see how this hopefully improves in the future, but for now it upsets and scares me, honestly -- music is the least important manifestation of it.