#used nies formatting hi nie love you

[avgury]

↳ picking theme songs is something that can be so personal

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songs teddy relates to:

mitski - townie

there’s a party and we’re all going and we’re all growing up somebody’s driving, and he will be drinking and no one’s going back ‘cause we’ve tried hungry and we’ve tried full and nothing seems enough so tonight, tonight, the boys are gonna go for more, more, more and i want a love that falls as fast as a body from the balcony and i want a kiss like my heart is hitting the ground i’m holding my breath with a baseball bat, though i don’t know what i’m waiting for i’m not gonna be what my daddy wants me to be!

genius lyrics describes this song as “capturing the coming-of-age attitudes of anarchy against parental principles,” which, yeah, that just about sums it up. but really, i think the desperate, erratic tone of this song captures the fact that teddy is constantly trying to reform the perspective of her life to make it somehow meaningful, because she’s so certain that she’s missing something; the lyrics “we’ve tried hungry and we’ve tried full but nothing seems enough” along with the lyrics “change is gonna come but when, when, when,” really illustrate how teddy feels perpetually unsatisfied, always living in the future as she tries to picture a life that will be right, where she’s doing something that matters, like a main character. equally as important is the lyric “i’m not gonna be what my daddy wants me to be,” which is perfect for teddy, who has so violently and anxiously rejected the perfectly normal lifestyles of her family members, at least mentally. she could not picture anything worse than a life where she’s exactly what her parents want her to be: simple and quiet and married and unextraordinary.

odie leigh - crop circles

all these words of mine i’ve said before i’m running out of things to say, silence i can’t endure every time, i think i’m done but yet, another crop of memories, it springs up in my head and i, i don’t think i’ve changed no, and i’m too scared to stay the same so my carpet’s got crop circles, my carpet’s got crop circles these days

i think this song really captures a lot of teddy’s overall anxieties - she absolutely doesn’t want to stay the same, and she’s constantly consumed by the idea that she’s somehow running out of time to become the person that she wants to be. she’s felt this anxiety for so long that it’s familiar and agonizing, and she quite literally does run crop circles into her carpet. she paces around for hours on end, back and forth, back and forth, with some kind of unplaceable restlessness she doesn’t know how to cope with stirring inside of her.

a song that captures teddy’s relationship (with romy):

beach bunny - entropy

you’ll get over it in a few months see the way that i blush when our lips start to touch and i’m emotional thinking about why i had any doubts from the words pouring out i can’t exhale, but i can’t hide the letters in my bedroom, the way my heart’s in bloom ‘cause somebody’s gonna figure me out it’s what i am, it’s what i was, it’s what i wanna be come yeah, somebody’s gonna figure us out and i hope they do, ‘cause i’m falling for you

this extremely slay song is all about a secret relationship, so what could be more fitting for teddy and romy? if you go and look at the rest of the lyrics of the song, it’s pretty clear (at least to me) that the people in this song were friends before eventually becoming lovers, and i’m like pretty seriously sure that it has to be about gay people just based on all the nods to internalized homophobia. this song fits teddy and romy especially well because of the line “somebody’s gonna figure us out, and i hope they do, ‘cause i’m falling for you.” i don’t actually think either of them wanted their secret relationship to be found out - it was secret for a reason, and anyways, teddy thought it was romantic - but i do think there’s something to be said for loving someone so much you want to shout it from the rooftops. i love the lyric “i can’t hide the letters in my bedroom, the way my heart’s in bloom” firstly because teddy has absolutely written romy at least one long-winded love letter, and secondly because i really don’t think teddy has the easiest time trying to hide her feelings for romy, because she loves her so much, and it’s so hard for her to not let her face betray that. like, her heart is in bloom, guys.

group theme song:

creedence clearwater revival - bad moon rising

i see the bad moon a’rising i see trouble on the way i see earthquakes and lightning i see bad times today don’t go round tonight well, it’s bound to take your life there’s a bad moon on the rise

this one pretty much speaks for itself, i think, but i will add that in the book the shining by stephen king, when wendy is driving, she hears this song playing as some sort of omen. that seems relevant to me because i do kind of get the shining vibes from phantasm; for example, the idea of the spirits that are tethered to a certain place reaching out to someone (jack torrance, or the saboteur in phantasm) and making them do things they wouldn’t otherwise do to people that they love is very tethered.

a song that teddy has a special connection to:

lcd soundsystem - all my friends

you spend the first five years trying to get with the plan and the next five years trying to be with your friends again though we’re running out of the drugs and the conversation’s winding away i wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another five years of life and to tell the truth, oh, this could be the last time so here we go, like a sail’s force into the night and if i made a fool, if i made a fool, if i made a fool  on the road, there’s always this and if i’m sewn into submission, i can still come home to this you forget what you meant when you read what you said and you knew you were tired, but where are your friends tonight? where are your friends tonight? if i could see all my friends tonight, if i could see all my friends tonight

this song is teddy’s hype-up song, especially during her senior year so far. the first bolded lines emphasize the way that teddy’s so caught up in planning everything and has trouble living in the present, but ultimately it’s her friends who bring her back down to earth and make everything worthwhile. the line “to tell the truth, this could be the last time” absolutely is referring to the fact that this trip is kind of their last huzzah with things being the way that they have been for the friend group. this song is so important to teddy because she honestly probably walks around late at night and has main character moments to it. i also think her dad was a big fan of lcd soundsystem, and he used to play it in the car when he drove teddy to school in the mornings. it’s kind of the only thing they have in common, so it means a lot to her and reminds her of him. if she hears it when she’s drunk she’ll start crying about how much she loves her friend.

the spooky 9 theme song:

lala lala - when you die

and if i could, i’d try again i’d predict what was ahead at the bottom of what made it stop i did such a real bad job and if i could, i’d do better save my friends from all this hurt take a picture of your brother, sorry for not leaving faster crashing cars on icy freeways keep my friend safe now and always turn the lights off, keep the bills low keep my friends safe, keep my friends close keep my friends safe night and day keep my friends safe now and always

i actually think everything about this is kind of self explanatory, even down to the title. the song as a whole is about death and trying to prevent it, and about wanting to keep your friends safe from anything bad that might come their way. since the spooky nine formed their friendship as the result of a dangerous, frightening situation, i kind of feel like to some degree, unity and safety has always been an emphasis in their group? and i’m not trying to godmod anyone’s characters and i’m also not trying to say that they’re, like, overly cautious, because i know that most of them aren’t. i just mean that i think it’s possible that looking out for each other was especially important to them, which makes this song fitting; on top of that, with the upcoming events that will no doubt put them in danger, i think a song that repeats the wishes to keep one’s friends safe makes a lot of sense. they have no way of knowing what’s coming for them this weekend, hence the lyric “i’d predict what was ahead,” but they ultimately just want everything to be okay, and for them all to stay safe. i think as her mun, i can tell you teddy especially wants this - for everyone to be happy and safe together, enjoying one another’s company.

[watch-grok-brainrot]

Hey, thank you for sharing your knowlege :) So based on your post about language rules surrounding Lan brothers: if Huaisang might be his given name, then Lan Xichen is calling NHS by his given name while calling his own brother Wangji? XD And also calling Meng Yao "A-Yao"? ...What does that mean? I'd always assumed NHS's name would have had to be courtesy name since he still uses it as sect leader, or at least no other name is ever mentioned after the time skip.

Oh god. Sometimes I really wonder why I allow myself to spew random thoughts -- especially my headcanons. But hey! You’re inviting me to share my thoughts so here you go! :)

First of all, there is an equal chance that huaisang is NHS’s courtesy vs given name. We don’t know. We are not given another name for him. I know fandom assumes that it’s his courtesy name so I wanted to throw out the other possibility. We don’t really talk about it much and it’s a fun thought. I know given names in CQL/MDZS tend to be single character and courtesy names tend to be double but historically people can  have double character given names and single character courtesy names so that really isn’t binding. 

Second of all, we have NO IDEA how old characters are when they are given courtesy names. I headcanon golden core formation because that makes sense to me as a coming of age thing for cultivators. We also don’t know how early on the courtesy names are determined -- wwx chooses Jin Ling’s courtesy name before he’s even born. Is that a Jin clan thing? And why is the generation character of the Jin clan tied to their courtesy names? There is a chance that every clan does it differently. 

So, I'm going to answer your ask assuming 1) golden core formation, for most clans, triggers the bequeathing of a courtesy name and 2) that huaisang is his given name. As we know well, NHS detests cultivation because of his family’s history with the sabre spirits etc. He does a half-assed job of it. AND it’s noted in the novel that yes, he forms a golden core, but it’s barely a thing. You can call it a golden core but it’s definitely NOT strong and NOT something to be proud of. He is a weak cultivator -- and this is by his choosing. (of course, i headcanon he later cultivates with fan and brush but that’s an entirely different post and i’m not gonna get into that right now). So based on nhs’s relationship with his golden core, I can see LXC calling NHS huaisang for two reasons. 1)NHS doesn’t care for his courtesy name. It’s not something he embraces or values. He won’t tell people to call him that. (We also see this with Jin Ling. He really doesn’t like his courtesy name so he actually gets mad when people use it. Preference still matters.) 2) LXC has known NHS for a LONG time. Huaisang is an affectionate way for LXC to refer to NHS and this affection is rooted in NHS running around as a kid in CR before he had a golden core. As an older brother figure, he’s allowed to keep using it -- especially if NHS doesn’t really like his courtesy name. And if NHS doesn’t really use his courtesy name, there’s no reason for people to use it either? We just don’t have actual data to make that guess. Also, if you respect him as sect leader, you’re going to call him Sect Leader Nie. If you're his friend, you can call him Nie-xiong. If you don’t like or respect him, you might as well call him NHS, right? His reputation doesn’t really inspire awe. Again, context gives us so little information. :) 

Ok. So the second part of the ask -- “A-Yao”. First of all, what, LXC, nicknames?! Are you really so starved for affection in CR that you start using nicknames? Seriously?! (This is why I ship them as a ship that crashed and burned in the most horrific ways. So much pain and i love it.) The level of fondness is so deep. Asdl;kachjahlj. 

That aside, JGY was Meng Yao -- Yao being his given name. He didn’t start cultivating until later. His mom calls him that. He’s not “educated” in the old classic sense. His standing in the cultivation world is LOW. All of these point to Yao being his given name. I think GuangYao is JGY’s courtesy name. (And before you go, “Can you use the same character in your given and courtesy names?” yes. Yes you can. In fact, Li Bai of drunken poetry swordsman epic shenanigans fame is Last name Li, Given Name Bai, Courtesy Name TaiBai. And both Bais are the same character. Yes. there is historic precedence for this.And it’s Li Bai and it feels like he really didn’t give a f*ck. I think it’s hilarious, btw.) Like Zi of Zixuan and Zixun or Ru of Rulan, the family/generation term is part of the courtesy name. (Note: Because of the comment that Rulan’s Ru is the generation character and part of the courtesy name, I assume Zixuan and Zixun share the Zi as their generation character and so those names are their courtesy names. We don’t have that sort of indicator for the Nies so it can go either way.) LXC calling JGY/MY “A-yao” can be referring to MY/JGY’s courtesy and given name so it’s not necessarily rude. But as LXC doesn’t usually give nicknames, this is just VERY VERY FOND.