#two songs from their first album ….

[mrghostrat]

they played…. no reptiles……….

[art--harridan]

[Image description: A digital drawing based on the film Girl Shy. It depicts Harold Lloyd's character Harold Meadows sat at his typewriter, paused in thought as his fingers hover above it. His eyes are looking up and his mouth is slightly open, like he's dreaming awake. A thought bubble floats around him like smoke, with the faces of two women in the middle of it. The two have annotations next to them that denote the twenties era stereotypes that they are styled as. The one noted as "the flapper" is smiling and has curly, slightly unkempt hair, with a headband around it. She has lighter makeup than the woman next to her, who has dark lips and eyeshadow and is labelled "the vamp". She has large circular statement earrings and an ornate headpiece atop her smooth updo. Her eyes are downturned, and her expression less approachable. Harold is coloured in greyscale, and so are the ladies, although they have a warmer brown tone, as does the smoke. There's a pinker line of light surrounding them and the writing. The background is a dark brown.]

Inktober - Day 15 (Guidebook)

Film - Girl Shy (Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, 1924)

[purplespacekitty]

part 2

part 1

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 24: FFS (Things I Won't Get)

I have something terrible to confess, which is that at first I was not much of an FFS fan, at all. I actually actively DISLIKED most of what I've know from them at that point, which was what the Spotify algorithm seemed very content to throw at me whenever possible until it eventually forgot about it. Well, nothing wrong with that I guess, but I also want to think that most of my initial aversion to this project came from how I was still pretty, uh, close-minded in a sense when it comes to music at the time (and I'm saying all this as though FFS is even THAT much of a departure from Sparks, which it's really not? But maybe I just I saw it differently back then, which I guess is also fair).

But yeah anyway, I had a huge change of heart a couple months later, decided that all these songs are incredibly cool actually and I'm a huge fan now. This is a very solid collaboration and album and I'm so glad this happened. Like, it really is among my very favourite things from Sparks that I barely ever think about in such terms for some reason. Because I've noticed that I treat FFS more like a compliation than an album maybe? Cause yeah I'm pretty sure this is the only album where I have 30-40+ plays on several songs and only around 5 or so on a couple others. And I'm not super attached to the order of the tracklist either, and I'm mostly saying this because I've been a 100% albums over playlists type of person for the longest time. I will listen to the whole album start to end even if I don't like everything on it. It's like, well, if I like the whole thing enough to revisit it, then too bad, I'm sitting through it all until I can enjoy everything on it to at least some extent.

Overall, to me this album embodies that mid-2010s electro pop / indie rock energy that I love very deeply, in the sense that it feels appropriate to think, had I known about it back in the day, I feel like I would have LOVED it and it would have been my personal soundtrack of those early middle-school years of my life (or even earlier, I have this one note of me saying that "FFS is so primary school-core it hurts", so. While it didn't exist in the world yet at that time it still FEELS like that time, and I absolutely love it when music reminds me of a period in my life from around its release even if I was absolutely not aware of it yet at that point. It's like this source of free nostalgia that you didn't know would be attainable from this particular place.)

Also I will just say that it's ENTIRELY because of FFS that I eventually decided to give FF a go as well, and now I'd consider them one of my favourite bands, so, well, heck yeah to that!!

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

Johnny Delusional: oh yeah, I think it's important to note that it was especially THIS song that I found annoying as heck in the beginning. I thought it got very schematic and predictable at points (the long pause after the bridge especially I found to be so.... ahhhh come on, I could see this coming from a mile away!!) All of, which... well, maybe that was still a valid point in a way, but who cares since I love this song now, absolutely and completely and it's just soooo replayable. Every day is a good day to listen to Johnny Delusional a dozen of times

Call Girl: huge huge fan of the intro on this one and that whole wobbly synth sound it has

Dictator's Son: I really like that little guitar riff moment during the bridge

Police Encounters: notably the only FFS song among those early ones for me that I really liked from the start. And it's the ultimate jam, it's incredible how instantly happy and energized this song always makes me feel even after so many listens

Save Me From Myself

So Desu Ne: maybe the biggest offender (positively) when it comes to that "primary school-core" sound. Those cutesy synths are so important to me personally

The Man Without A Tan: realized quite regrettably late how much of a banger this is

Things I Won't Get: you know how it is with me and Russell's falsetto

So Many Bridges

[christinaseas]

I remember seeing a post go around a few months ago that referenced a post I hadn't seen about people being surprised about the old cost of My Chemical Romance tickets and just wanted to share this:

[fanfictiongreenirises]

thank you @theehighwarlock for the tag!! (you changed your name!! i love it!!)

rules: put your repeat playlist on shuffle and let your followers choose which song they like best

tagging two friends who i know use spotify: @dottie-wan-kenobi @they-reap-what-we-sow <3 and anyone else who wants to do this!!

[mellotronmkll]

I kinda miss when progressive rock music was my big fixation like I miss the long nights on progarchives which have been replaced by long nights on tmbw but the beautiful thing is that it will always be there for me when I'm ready to return...and that's a fact

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

Hello <3

I've listened to both songs and I love both of them, but I like "Cast your spell uranus" a bit more, because of the lyrics - and drumming of course. I like these lines a lot: "Take me to the tower Make love to the Moon" Just lovely <3

But daaamn, "You can do voodoo" is hella catchy!

So, as I'm in your ask box... Could you tell me your 5 favorites songs by Russ? And why you like them?

OMG HI

okay yes i have to agree with that too, actually! though i love that russ did just about everything on that solo album 'you can do voodoo' is from himself, it was kind of like him making use of his new freedom to do whatever he wanted after he left the band, so that's one of the reasons i love that album. AND it was not long after he did that one that roger asked him to write for/produce his ride a rock horse album, so he must have liked what he was doing too.

i can't think about that anymore without thinking of the story russ told, which i think more or less went like this:

roger: russ, can you write some songs and produce my next album for me? russ: yeah roger: great, i'm going to the caribbean for six weeks, bye russ: NOOOOOO russ: i won't know what key you're gonna sing in! roger: I CAN SING IN ANY KEY

it's better when russ tells the story, the way he does the "I CAN SING IN ANY KEY" in roger's voice, and he sounded pretty close too

AND THEY TOURED TOGETHER TOO in the 80's, russ played guitar for him. i always think about the way, before russ did one of his own songs in the set, roger introduced him and was like "he's a great singer" the way he said it was so. like. awwwwwwwww. sounded so genuine.

this picture was from the same tour:

(a fan handed the flowers to russ to give to roger and i believe russ has this picture on his wall in his studio)

i THINK that was the first tour he did since he took like a decade off of touring to be with his kids when they were born.

and then they were part of the rd crusaders later for charity.

okay anyway, i ramble a lot and go off topic sometimes

oh my god i have to only choose 5 songs???????? IMPOSSIBLE

okay wait i'll try

no wait, I'LL DO A DOUBLE LIST(still difficult to choose when i love literally everything) and then if you want to listen, you can either choose between the lists or both of them if you want. one from argent and one from russ.

from argent, i'll chooooooooooose:

liar <- i love this one because it was the main one that stuck in my memory after i first watched their set of six video where i couldn't stop thinking about it for months before i actually got into them more(the video the massive gifset of bob henrit drumming was from(also i am once again thanking @burn-on-the-flame forever for showing me argent in the first place, hello i love you)) three dog night did a cover of this, which made it a hit. (they also did a cover of their song 'chained'.)

it's only money <- both part 1 and part 2. this is me cheating in an extra song because they're technically two songs. i just really love the way these sound

thunder and lightning <- i love the sound of this one too, and the lyrics. like, just everything.

gonna meet my maker <- same with this, i love everything, but especially russ's voice in this, i can't listen to it enough. also you can never go wrong with adding harmonica to songs.

tragedy <- CATCHY and CORRECT

and from russ AFTER argent, i'll choose:

winning <- this was about his life, i love the catchiness and the lyrics. santana did a cover of it, most people know that version.

rock and roll lover <- another catchy one. bob drummed on the album this was from, into the fire, and the album before it, barnet dogs

dream on <- this is one of his motivational songs, he loves putting things like that in a lot of his lyrics. he always does a little intro speech for this when he does it live, about how life makes sense when you have a passion and he always encourages people to find one.

just like me <- this is from my favorite album ever, book of love, which is like a concept album about his life. he said this song was a true story.

in to the light <- i love the lyrics of this one too. i actually love the lyrics of every song on that album, he's been helping me so much with my own mental health, it's almost unbelievable how much progress i've made since learning he exists

this is from his website, what he said about that album:

[burningcomputerpersona]

Pick a song for each letter of your URL, and then tag that many people! Much thanks to @angelthingy for tagging me <3

Bird, you can fly - Eyemèr Untitled - Knuckle Puck Re-emerging Signs of the Apocalypse - Spanish Love Songs Never Meant - American Football I Was Hiding Under Your Porch Because I Love You - Waterparks Nightmare On Southfield - Action/Adventure Green Squirrel In Pretty Bad Shape - Hot Mulligan Cigarettes & Saints - The Wonder Years Overstepping - Belmont My Life For Hire - A Day To Remember Pints Of Guiness Make You Strong - Against Me! Understanding In A Car Crash - Thursday Thank God It's Friday - Ice Nine Kills Early Sunsets Over Monroeville - My Chemical Romance Right Choice - Can't Swim Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton - The Used El Niño Considers His Failures - Spanish Love Songs Rationalize - Action/Adventure Sick Of It All - Magnolia Park One Step at a Time - Four Year Strong No Children - The Mountain Goats And Now I'm Nothing - The Wonder Years

Good lord did that take a while to finish... time to start tagging uhhh *counts* twenty-two people now: @sucker-for--anything-acoustic @tradedsymmetry @broke-bruce-wayne @mackie-ds @juliens-bakery @breaking-justin @flashlight-smallknife @cemetery-pigeons @ogbulesky @dysphoria-things @eyemermusic @plainramennoodles @unnervinglyferal @ameliafromafairytale @aiam-maianaise @weirdpinkandmagical @crazyworkswell @kind-wizard @leonidele @thevictorianpirate @mira-kyria @cant-even-spell-my-own-url

Okay I think I tagged like all my mutuals and then some... suffice to say I am sorely regretting my longass username. Anyway these tags are low pressure and open as always, so feel free to join in! (or not, I'm not the cops)

[politemagic]

Well, I admit that I have been Fantasizing about a life where I'm not there And everyone I ever loved felt not a single ounce of inconvenience Nobody cares

[glassanmals]

okay re my last post i agree w the majority of y’all. like creatures of heaven is a decent song but i feel like i’m making myself listen to it a lot just so that it grows on me but like i didn’t do that w their other songs (esp htbahb)!! and i hate saying it i’m sorry i love glass animals sm but after the whole blow up of heat waves i was like “oh shit what if i don’t like the new direction they take music wise” and this is their first new single so maybe i’ll like the rest of the songs ?? maybe there will be some hidden gems?? and i get bands wanting to change up their style like yes go for it but this new one just sounds … idk like nothing new? that’s so mean i’m so sorry i love them v much. someone said it felt like an extension of dreamland but even dreamland had interesting songs. y’all said it better than i ever could in the tags but yeah anyways can’t wait for more singles 😭🤞🏼

[her-canine-teeth]

sugar water by flower face

[pyrriax]

6, 12, 30 for the writing asks ^_^

6. What’s the last line you wrote?

Shaking its head in what seems like disbelief before meeting his eyes again, almost like it wants to say something before it makes a noise like a growl, "oh, you're one of those seraphs, aren't you. A star-eater. No wonder you act like you've lost your mind."

(ignore that that's a couple sentences, the Thought is important)

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

Oh yes! I outline my fics thoroughly. Though, I do allowed myself to deviate as much from the outline as I feel like when things go off the rails. Some snippets of planning from a couple fics & concepts:

My outlines are very... One for one. With some exceptions. I tend to basically write a very brief version of the fic and try to get the feelings and words right before I actually write it. This is... Also why it can and will take me a month to write a oneshot. I try to get things Right.

30. How much do you edit your fics?  Do you edit as you write or wait until you finish the first draft?

So! I edit them a bit? I edit while I work, but often I don't really touch anything I've already written unless it's something longer that might be taking a few months to get through. I think the fic I've edited the most is the prologue of Artificial Stars, which was originally a quickly written 2k oneshot into about 5k of actually decent fic.

Usually I don't edit to make something shorter/more concise, since I tend to only come up with more ways to bridge concepts when I go back to it. Also to be fair... There's usually no difference between first draft and final product. I cannot be asked to edit my fics after I write them, I just release them to the birds and pray for the best. (Unless I actually decide to show it to my beta reader in full instead of just sharing snippets as I... usually do.)

Conclusion: Rarely, those thangs are being given to the world as-is unless something is horrifically wrong with them

[thoughtsformtheuniverse]

tagged by @booksandchainmail to shuffle my general listening music and post the first 10 songs. I chose my 'music' playlist rather just my full library to avoid the two (2) podcast episodes and random audiobook chapters in there.

1. Songs for Lonely Giants by The Mountain Goats ⁃ I mean. it’s The Mountain Goats. it’s slow, it’s sad, it’s pretty weird. I found this one on a character playlist for Jack from E. Jade Lomax’s Beanstalk series (read it for free here!) it’s very good!

2. Moving On by Oysterband ⁃ not blue oyster cult, but a much weirder band that mostly sings songs about working man’s politics in England in during the last century. this song has both the lines "we asked the man for justice, well he handed us a stone" and "the way to hell is straight and sure/the way to heaven is long/the way to your heart is never-ending/so I just keep moving on" and I adore it

3. Four Hours by The Longest Johns ⁃ I found The Longest Johns late in college (and felt deeply smug when their Wellerman was a hit a year later. I found them first), but I do just listen to a lot of sea shanties. This one is a big ass mood for getting off a ship again and trying to adjust to Land and Not a Watch Schedule. Also, like most sea shanties, great to do chores and lab work too

4. Theseus by The Oh Hellos ⁃ god but I always love The Oh Hellos; this is a song about the importance of maintenance and I treasure it. all of the Zephyrus album is good

5. Loves Me Like a Rock by The Wailin’ Jennys ⁃ turns out The Wailin’ Jennys, usually a folk band, did a cover of Paul Simon’s Love Me a Rock. it’s pretty good. (I actually downloaded this earlier today; I have no sophisticated thoughts yet)

6. I Don’t Want You Now by KT Tunstall ⁃ If Only is probably my actual favorite song off this album, but KT Tunstall is always a good time

7. Angels of the River by Oysterband ⁃ aaand the other stuff Oysterband does is odd, folky, kinda wifty stuff like this. Genuinely no idea what this one is about, any more than I know what Milford Haven is about. I like it though

8. Now I am an Arsonist by Jonathon Colton (ft Suzanne Vega) ⁃ to me, this is a very unlikely combination of artists; Colton usually does deeply nerdy fare, while Suzanne Vega soft and strange. this song is on my thieves playlist, and I could not really describe why

9. Heavy Horses by Jethro Tull ⁃ most of the Jethro Tull songs I like best are songs about industrialization with some of the weirdest flute solos I have ever heard, and Heavy Horses is no exception. This song is nearly 9 minutes long and about the arrival of tractors. it’s great. (Stormwatch is actually my favorite Jethro Tull album, and Weathercock or Acres Wild are more favorite songs from this one, but do I really like Heavy Horses)

10. Falling For The First Time by The Barenaked Ladies ⁃ This is the kind of overlapping wordplay I’m here for, the whole chorus delights me; "Anyone perfect must be lying, anything easy has its cost/Anyone plain can be lovely, anyone loved can be lost/What if I lost my direction? What if I lost sense of time?". And the way it comes back in the final chorus, but tweaked a little. it’s just a good time.

I’m deeply surprised that there’s no They Might Be Giants, Great Big Sea, or songs from my highschool acapella group, but other than that, this is pretty representative.

@epsilon-delta do you play tag games?

[hyunebear]

my top 3 rn are: collision, get lit, & hall of fame