#y'all like actually have to listen to the song to get the full effect of this

[strangersatellites]

strangers 1.3k words

inspired by ethel cain's song "strangers" and if you read this it is a requirement that you listen to it. (its linked at the bottom)

idk team I was just listening to this song for the millionth time and needed to get this out, so here's 1.3k words of Eddie experiencing life after death and Steve dealing with grief and guilt I guess

Eddie is a ghost. 

He’s made his peace with that.

Some kind of Upside-Down ghost probably. He doesn’t really care.

The people of Hawkins don’t know that. They still believe, still fear that he’s out there somewhere. Everyone that cared about him knows better.

WIthout a proper grave he just kind of… drifts. 

Into and out of spaces, he leaves behind no trace save for a soft breeze if someone’s really paying attention.

They usually aren’t.

He’s not really a physical being so much as a feeling. Still in his body but less aware of it than he ever was. He thinks he couldn’t explain it if he wanted to. Couldn’t explain the way that people can’t see him or hear him when he’s there, but later feel like they had, and feel crazy trying to explain it. He’s had to learn his way around his new consciousness in a way that lets him be near the ones he cares about without hurting them. It's an exhausting cycle, to feel out of your mind.

He can see it in the way dread and grief tug at the shoulders of the people he loved. He knows this because the more someone thinks of him, the closer he can get to them. 

At first he was at home a lot. 

Well, as at home as he could be in this new place they’ve got Wayne in. It’s nowhere Eddie’d ever been when he was living, but Wayne’s there so it's home nonetheless. But as weeks turn into months the closest he can get is just outside the door. He can’t get inside, can’t actually see Wayne anymore. Can’t see the way that loneliness weighs him down. The way he picks himself up every time.

So he lets himself drift to wherever he’s pulled next. A time or two it's been to Jeff’s garage while he’s practicing. Several times he’s gotten to see inside Dustin’s room late at night before the kid falls asleep. 

But the place he’s finding himself more and more often, he didn’t recognize at first. He just knew it was a basement somewhere. Drafty, door locked tight, and with nothing but dusty tools to keep him company, he found comfort in knowing that someone was remembering him. Even if only a little. Even if it’s a stranger.

Eddie’s drifted in and out of whatever kind of consciousness he experiences for a while before his surroundings morph and change. 

The kitchen of the Harrington house he would recognize anywhere. 

He smiles as he takes in the new space and thinks that if he had a human body he’d be sat up on the counter just like he is now.

Steve walks into the kitchen with a furrow in his brow and Eddie takes the time to really look.

This is the first time he’s seen Steve since the last of his air left his lungs and he’s hit with a strange sense of longing. 

Can see it in the bags under Steve’s eyes that, even now, say he’s still carrying everything on his own.

He’d always done that.

When Eddie had made that stupid, stupid decision, though he’d be loath to admit it alive, he’d wondered if Steve would've done the same thing. 

He thinks they both knew the answer was yes and that that’s the reason Steve still looks like hell even months later.

He looks like hell but he’s still so handsome walking over toward Eddie now. 

Eddie knows he can’t see him, doesn’t know he’s there. But he still finds himself longing for the closeness when Steve grabs a glass from the cabinet and leaves the room again.

In an instant Eddie’s back in the basement. Steve’s memory of him gone as quick as it came as Eddie is left with the question that followed him his whole life:

Am I no good?

As he wastes away in the drafty, cold he realizes that he doesn’t feel a pull anywhere else. He decides that seeing Steve once in a while, if only for a short time, is better than being forgotten.

It becomes a routine. Eddie’s hours will turn into days, and he’ll lose track of time. Then he’ll blink and he’s watching Steve stare at himself in the mirror. He looks like he’s been crying and like he’s going to be sick. Eddie wants nothing more than to be able to comfort him. But as quick as they come, they go, and Eddie begins to connect the dots. 

Eddie’s memory, like everything else Steve seldom allows himself to feel, gets carried with him always. But he locks them away tight in his heart and only lets them out when he thinks no one is watching. When he thinks he’s allowed to miss Eddie.

So Eddie stays in the basement, stays in Steve’s heart, heavy, guilty, until Steve’s ready to face it again.

One day it catches Steve by surprise.

Eddie can tell because he’s in the middle of putting away groceries when Eddie gets there.

At first Eddie’s confused. But then he sees the milk carton in Steve’s hand with the big MISSING: EDDIE MUNSON and his photo on the side. There’s a sale sticker over his face in what was surely some angry grocer’s last ditch effort to sell milk with the Hawkins devil on the side.

Steve’s frozen just looking at it and honestly Eddie gets it.

After everything that was lost, this may very well be the only physical memory of him that’s left save for a polaroid photo in an evidence locker somewhere.

He’s able to drift close enough to hear the breath Steve lets out before he puts it in the fridge and finishes unpacking his bags.

From that point on Eddie’s no longer in the basement.

He’s able to drift all around Steve’s house and he learns that he can touch things.

He watches Steve’s smile come back when Robin’s over.

He flits his fingers across windchimes when the air is still and watches them take in the music.

He watches Steve crash after long days at work and drags a blanket up over his shoulder.

Sees his confused face when he wakes.

He looks on when Steve pours the milk down the drain and puts the empty carton right back in the fridge.

Even though this makes him sad, he makes a smiley face out of the magnets on the door. Hopes that Steve notices.

He sees him scream out his anger late into the night and wishes that he could touch Steve.

But as time goes on he’s able to witness the way that Steve learns to carry the guilt, but to also try to let himself breathe.

Eddie spends a lot of his time wishing he were alive so that he could tell Steve he’s proud of him. That he could tell him he’s surrounded by people who would help him carry it all if he would just put it down. Wishes he were alive for a lot more reasons than just that.

But the night he gets the closest is when he figures out that he can use the phone in the office to call the one in Steve’s room while he’s away.

He’d learned early on in this afterlife that if he spoke he wouldn’t be heard. But he has a hunch that this might be an Upside-Down loophole.

He’s sitting on the floor across from where Steve’s lying in bed, and he’s watching the stream of tears drip down his pretty, pretty face while he listens to the voicemail.

Hey Stevie.

Called you just to tell you that I made it real far, and that I never blamed you for loving the way that you do while you were torn apart.

I would still wait with you there.

Don’t think about it too hard or you’ll never sleep a wink at night again. Don’t worry about me, Stevie, just know that I loved you.

And I’ll see you when you get here.

[curio-queries]

Musings on MUSE

Long post below the cut. Overall, I do like the album but this release has definitely been a journey for me, that's for sure.

First, let's check in on the rest of my theories:

Open Locker Meaning: Nope, I don't think there was any meaning to this. It was fun to theorize though!

Sound Effects Interlude: Nope! I'm still kinda bummed about this. I talk more about it in the Showtime section below.

Rooms Going from Dark to Light: Yes, I still think this was intentionally done for the purpose of helping us realize that MUSE was such a departure from FACE

SGMB as an Actual Band: Yes, confirmed. I talk more about this in my Final Thoughts below.

The Emoji Poll from the Insta Chat: Honestly, I now think the company did intend each of these to reference the different songs...which is disappointing to me as a marketing tactic for the reasons I stated in the theory. Oh well.

So, some right, some wrong. It was definitely fun to participate in the theorizing this time. And as Jimin said, he wanted us to come up with all sorts of ideas for the meanings.

Ok, now let's go through some thoughts on each of the tracks:

Rebirth (Intro)

I remember being actually surprised by how much I was liking Rebirth on the first listen...and then it ended. I had to remind myself that it was intro and likely would be not as complete as a full song but even now...I just really can't get over it. This would have been an absolutely lovely song if fully developed. I'm not saying the way it ends is bad, but a big problem I have with it is that it's an intro that doesn't deliver.

The next track is Showtime...an interlude. But an interlude from what? All we've had is an intro. A beautiful intro, don't get me wrong but both of these tracks are used to set up what comes next. And Rebirth just doesn't have anything next. It's just such a shame there wasn't a song in between. I've put other songs (usually Slow Dance) in between these when I listen and it absolutely makes everything better.

Interlude : Showtime

The first time I heard this on the album, I had some choice words for our beloved trickster. Little did we know that we'd already heard a good chunk of this as the intro on SGMB's video (see it IS an intro...anyway, I'll stop bringing it up). Once I got over that, I still couldn't help being a little disappointed that we weren't in fact getting an Interlude like Dive on FACE. Dive was such a great storytelling point and I loved that Jimin recorded many of the sounds himself.

Initially, I didn't think I'd be listening to it much except when doing full album runthroughs but do y'all hear Jimin's absolutely lovely humming in this track?! Oh it absolutely hits my brain in just the right places. This may be one of my absolutely favorite things we got from the MUSE project...definitely top 3 at least.

Smeraldo Garden Marching Band

I don't have much to say that wasn't in my SGMB post. The little tidbits we've gotten of Jimin interacting with Loco were beyond adorable.

Slow Dance

I am so conflicted about Slow Dance. I absolutely love the overall tone of the song, the pacing, Jimin's performance. I think it's a great song with one exception...I really don't care for the featuring artist. I don't know anything about her beyond this track but hearing her on this is easily my least favorite thing from the whole MUSE project. I knew to be wary going into it as women's voices generally don't appeal to me but I wasn't expecting to dislike it this much. It's that much worse on a song that I think would have been my favourite without her. Oh well. She's very talented, absolutely performs her parts well. It's just not to my personal taste.

The live performance video has some of the absolutely worst camera work and cuts as well. I realize they were trying to show off the skyline as the backdrop and intentionally used the band as cut points so they could edit better takes together but it just doesn't come off well. And they have such awkward chemistry live, which I fully blame on the weird obsession people seem to have with seeing members interact with women. Jimin is very specifically measuring his interactions with her to prevent as much drama as possible.

Be Mine

Be Mine is actually pretty forgettable to me. It's not bad but not great. I was expecting to do another english lyric comparison post like I did for Like Crazy but I just can't yet find the motivation to. Maybe that will change in the future but for now, probably not.

Who

There is so much to talk about with Who. I was originally going to make a separate post for it but I'll just include everything here:

The Song: It's a fine pop song. I do actually enjoy listening to it but that's all. There's no depth to dive deeper. Again, it's fine. I don't think pop songs are inherently less because they lack depth. This song accomplished exactly what it needed to. As far as actually listening, I do prefer it over Like Crazy but LC has other things going for it.

The Music Video: I hate it. It's so very amateur and I expect more from this production. The bad CGI. The overt vhs effect with no actual storytelling purpose. If you took all of those out, it'd be a fine performance video. But no, it's the 'official music video', they have to try to make it bigger than that...emphasis on try... Also, I adore our members but I'm so over these mumbling-lip-syncs. I don't know how else to describe it but it's just bad. If you're doing the music video 'sing along', do it right. If not, don't do it at all. This non-commitment just comes across as incomplete.

The Perfomances/Choreo: I think this choreo is absolutely perfect. It accomplishes everything this song needs. They were able to take advantage of the fact that it's not getting performed in front of an audience and the staging is so perfect for camera. The camera director of the dance practice absolutely killed it. The lighting of the Jimmy Fallon performance was stunning as well. I was reminded of how much I loved the lighting in many of the Golden performances. My favorite part of the Who choreo is the little jumping-leg-cross move.

The Remixes: I think I'm in the minority here but I hate all of them. Yes, there is a legitimate industry tactic to releasing these and I don't begrudge them for running a business but I'm so over remixes that are just a reinstrumentization of the original song. I do think these are well produced and some do highlight different aspects of the song that make for great moments...but it honestly comes across to me as not being able to make up their mind about who the target audience is. If they're looking to get rock-lovers, release an actual rock song...not a pop song that's put on a rock costume. I was hopeful for the acoustic remix at least but there is something off about it. I haven't been able to figure out what bothers me about it but it absolutely doesn't speak to the acoustic-loving part of my brain.

Closer Than This

I spent a LOT of time evaluating CTT as potential context for FACE in this post but we've now learned this was written AFTER the FACE promotions so I'm very happy to see I wasn't completely off the mark with saying that it didn't fit into FACE at all.

I still absolutely love this song. Some of that may be the pure nostalgia of when it was released. It was christmas time, we'd just sent the last of the members for their military service, and this song was exactly the kind of comfort I needed at that time of the year.

Final Thoughts

So, like I mentioned in my Theories and SGMB reaction posts, I do see MUSE as Jimin intentionally showing us what he's capable of. Jimin is the ultimate performer. He absolutely loves being an idol. This career allows him to dive into whatever he needs to embody the music and performance. I stand by what I said previously about MUSE being more of a work project than a personal one like FACE was. MUSE was about breadth while FACE focused on depth. Both good but different. (I have a side post I may eventually release about my thoughts on this as a music fan brought up in the west that's now enjoying kpop but that'll have to be another day).

MUSE was a lovely project and a great tool for Jimin to expand his music catalogue whilst knowing that he wouldn't be able to properly promote whatever was released during this time.

One final point: the pronoun debate is beyond asinine. If people find more meaning in certain pronouns than others, let them be. Arguing over original lyrics vs hiding behind public expectations is childish. This is music that was created with a professional purpose, not someone's diary of their deepest thoughts that we stole from a bedside table. Pronouncing the creator's intention like this reminds me of those bad english teachers that were fishing for specific answers on authorial intent and masquerading the lesson as reading comprehension. Those are a scavenger hunt with one hidden 'answer' and not real life.

[sidekick-hero]

Get to Know Me Tag Game

I was tagged by @augustjustice and @steviewashere thank you both for the tag 💜

Favorite Color - To wear, mustard or coral. In general, all shades of green or purple.

Last Song - You're gonna go far by Noah Kahan

Currently Reading - bookwise I'm listening to an audiobook, power to the people - how open technology arms the terrorists of tomorrow by Audrey Kurth Cronin. and ficwise a lot of shorter fics here and there but also working my way through the maginificent fic "he'll see I'm not so tough" by @alivingfire which is simply gorgeous and which I can't recommend enough, even though I'm only half-way through. One of the best stories I read in a good while. Oh, and I have the honor and the pleasure to beta read for @vthx who is also insanely talented and I can't wait for y'all to see this fic. And I'm also beta reading for @multidimensional-wavelength and his @steddiebb2024 fic. Let me just say, it's my favorite take on the fake dating trope so far, it's so much fun to read and he is super talented.

Currently Watching - Right now, Pride and Prejudice. Also I'm always rewatching Stranger Things it seems 😅 it's great to play in the background.

Currently Craving - Nothing, actually. Maybe sleep? Although I shouldn't be tired, I had a 2h nap today lol.

Coffee or Tea - always coffee. you can wake me up in the middle of the night and I take a coffee. Which is also why it's not really working anymore. I only feel the effects if I don't have enough.

A Hobby You Would Like to Try - No idea. My days are super full with work, trying to have some kind of social life, my mom and my dog, reading, writing, running, podcasts, watching something on TV sometimes... seriously, I don't think about hobbies much.

An AU You're Working On/Thought Of - I'm taking a writing break right now but I really, really, really wanna write my wolf!steve AU I started during steddie love month. It was supposed to be my steddie big bang entry but I dropped out. I have the whole thing planned in my head, it's a love story, of course but mostly an adventure with a conspiracy.

Tagging, no pressure: @hbyrde36, @matchingbatbites, @just-my-latest-hyperfixation, @klausinamarink, @medusapelagia and everybody else who wants to do this!

[maxphilippa]

For the character thing:

Can you do Suitcase, please? (She’s my favorite!)

Favorite thing about her: Genuinely, she's one of the characters that I really like the most on S2, although thanks to the fandom treatment I have to watch s2 in order to remember the things I liked about her as well, but in general I just think that Suitcase is a very kind hearted character. I usually talk about how Mic has an heart of gold, but Suitcase genuinely does as well. She has done no wrong in the whole s2, except for laughing at Knife's doll, but she's also just. Very mature emotionally, which makes sense. The thing that I like about her the most is how she's still full of love but knows when to put her boundaries first after what happened too. I can relate to her- well, could, since I felt like that once.

Least favorite thing about her: The same thing I said about Nickel. It's not a bad thing since it also makes it work out on canon, but I think that one of the main factors as to why their relationship gets misinterpretated the most is because from how one-sided Nickel's and Suitcase's relationship is. But that's not quite true at all. Suitcase did care about Nickel/saw him as a friend of sorts, or mutual friend because of Baseball. She genuinely had a sort of appreciation for Nickel, but the way Nickel saw things was very different (but Suitcase is aware that Nickel "tried to" protect her, but he just kept pushing her away), and this is explicitly said by Knife.

Suitcase tends to see the good in others so of course she would hope that Nickel genuinely means it when it comes to giving Balloon a chance, and yet... I just think that I would want to. Rework the way they were written on early s2, since that has an effect as to how they ended up being. To make stuff more emotional on Suitcase's part.

Favorite line: "Baseball, you can't just... fix it. It simply just won't go away. But you're here. You're listening. You're trying. So... thanks."

BrOTP: Mic, Knife, Pickle, Cabby, mostly everyone else.

OTP: World's Worst Polycule + Trophy's Big Ass Polycule.

NOTP: Taco. I. I genuinely don't get why people ship her with Taco.

Random Headcanon: More than a headcanon it's kind of based on canon, but making art of any sorts makes her feel relaxed and process her feelings well. She likes doing paintings, yes, but she also enjoys doing crochet and making sculptures. Maybe even got into photography too, or writing. It really helps. And meanwhile I do think that Suitcase doesn't know how to cook, she can really do good stuff if she follows the recipe with time and with someone else too.

Unpopular opinion: SHE'S AWESOMELY PANSEXUAL 💥💥💥💥💥💥, I think that Suitcase suffers as well, one of the worst treatments in the fandom, and that would be her infantilization on fandom terms. I know that it is a thing on fandoms for people to pick on sweet/well intentionated characters to dumb-ify and/or infantilize, but Suitcase's is one of the worstvcases I've seen, ESPECIALLY regarding fanon Nickel. People treat her as this hopeless, naive and weak character when she's not.

She struggles with mental health a lot, sure, and she really sees the good parts of people and tends to hold onto things she thinks about eother, but she's not a "kid" just because of that, neither should be treated like one either. Suitcase is one of the most mature characters in the series (not surpassing Knife of course), and she knows a lot about those troubles on general. Nickel hurted her, yes. But she cared about Nickel enough to believe that he could still change. She hoped that he would get her input as in finally realizing what he did wrong. I genuinely just hope that once Nickel and Suitcase get reunited, people can actually realize how emotionally mature she is. Y'all treated her so poorly.

Song that I associate with her: Never Love An Anchor, Me And My Husband, Washing Machine Heart, Misery Meat, Maybe I Was Boring, Around The Pomegranate, Slow Dance With You, Tears Over Beers, and I'm Sorry, Boris.

Favorite pictures of her:

[seokjinsonlyone]

Idk if you’ve been asked this before but what is your favorite song from each members solo projects so far? Lol the astronaut is the exception 😂

omg!!! we must have some sort of connection bc i was just thinking about this earlier and i'm gonna assume this is in our hiatus era bc the rapline just has so much history it'd be impossible to pick just one LOL so imma go in chronological order of when it was released!!

for hobi it's safety zone like that song just really hold a special place in my heart like the sound of it is soooooo i can't even describe arson is a close second tho

for joonie it's closer hands down when i first heard that track i literally started vibrating on the frequency of bees

for mini it's it's actually hard to pick but his lil ep hit so freaking hard and was so unexpected for me and listen i am not really a lyric girly like i will listen to a song in english mind you could know all the words and sing it but not really pay attention to what it's saying at all like there's this one song i love and i swore by that song listened to it on repeat for hours wanted it played at my wedding that's never gonna happen and everything and like a year later i realized it was a breakup song all this to say that the english version of like crazy makes me soooo insane specifically the line "emotions on ice" like that one line right there changed the trajectory of my life BUT THEN there's alone and like i said NOT really a lyric girly so the way that this song sounds and just the composition is SOOO clever like in the chorus part where he's like "day and night fall" and when he says fall there's that voice effect that literally drops and the overlapping "mayday, get me out of here" that's literally a cry for help like that is so freaking genius and caught me from the beginning and it's just so it's a song i really like to listen to even tho it's really sad LOL BUT THEN there's set me free pt 2 which i realize now i could've just led with bc it really does have both those elements like it has that sound that makes me vibrate and the lyrics that alter my brain chemistry (especially when he's like raise your hands for the past me i'm just head in hands about that line AMONGST MANY OTHER PARTS) AND THE PERFORMANCE MY GOD i don't even know where to start talking about that one so i won't so let's just say set me free pt 2 is king for me

for yoongi i literally decided on my way into the house after getting off from work that dday was my favorite from the album like i was going back and forth between dday and sdl and decided that what takes sdl to the top for me is adora's adlibs like she really snapped but if i was picking my fav from yoongi bc of yoongi it's dday like y'all don't understand the way i be blasting that song everyday on my way to work it be like 5am and i'm in the car volume turned all the way up talm bout time for some paycheck and i'm riding downtown 😭 it's become my ultimate hype song me thinks

and i know my seokjinnie only has the astronaut but it's SO good like "when i'm with you there is no one else and i get heaven to myself" is such a wonderful and lovely line and when he starts belting about how much he loves me god my heart is so full i am at peak military wife whenever it comes on

and the babies haven't released anything yet but i will use this opportunity to say that i am forever changed by taehyung's jazz covers like that festa video that dropped had me listening to jazz for the rest of the week and like you can tell how much he has improved as a singer his voice is just like honey and i gulped it down with a cup of tea fr like i've probably watched it five times by now i love it so much and for jk can i just say that i miss when he was in his silk sonic phase like i was literally screen recording that one live when he covered leave the door open for the first time honestly i have most of that concert screen recorded LOL like baepsae hip thrusts and all but i think of all the songs jk has covered and my god there has been plenty his cover of leave the door open is my favorite and i'd like to hear more of him with that sound there's also this one other song he covered once it was during one of his morning lives it was a korean song and he was imitating the singer but i have no idea of the artist or the song but just know that there's a section in my brain that holds that one specific cover dearly

i have no idea how this got to be so long i didn't expect to have this much to say on this topic BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING

[theheightofdishonor]

TAG 9 PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

Got tagged by @telomeke. Thank you! I appreciate it.

THREE SHIPS 🔹 huh for bl or in general? You know what, i'll do both.

For bl, i don't want to pick the same ones you did because otherwise i'd have nozue/togawa and pat/pran too so

Sound and Win (MSP)

Zhou Shu Yi and Gao Shi Di (WBL)

Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor)

For non-bl

Erina/Mito from Food Wars

Barbara and Melissa in Abbott Elementary

Kyotani/Yahaba from Haikyuu!!

FIRST SHIP 🔹 in a fandom-y way, probably something Harry Potter tbh

LAST SONG 🔹 I was gonna say Lonely by R.M. but I forgot I watched a bit of the Legally Blonde musical after that so I think it's actually Whipped Into Shape from Legally Blonde the musical. Those two are wildly different songs but Callahan's verse in whipped into shape is so damn good, i listen to just that section all the time. Lonely on the other hand, I don't listen to all that often because I generally prefer Change prt 2 but it's a really great song on and if I hear it once, it ends up being on repeat for the rest of the day.

LAST MOVIE 🔹 Like telomeke, the last movie that I watched (or atleast remember watching) is a tamil film. It's Mersal. Though I could be getting the order of events wrong and it's actually KGF prt 2 which is a Kannada film. I've lately been in a show vibe so I haven't been watching film unless it's with other people so either way the last one was either Mersal or KGF 2. I lowkey forgot Vijay had a triple role in Mersal, I thought it was only a double role. Plot's watchable enough but the songs are where it's at. This movie's soundtrack was a hit when it came out and I still have the entire soundtrack on my spotify. KGF 2 is only good if you turn your brain off and don't take it too seriously. The background music is spectacular though. And the outfits. I spend the entire almost 3 hour runtime rating Rocky's looks. (man's not afraid to wear a full pink suit ok, definition of nontoxic masculinity /jk)

CURRENTLY READING 🔹 Well, I just finished Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies by Seth Holmes and ofc y'all know i'm on my Haikyuu!! re-read of which I am on volume 8 if notes are to be believed. However, I am miserably failing because the original idea was to read it in chronological order and NOT skip ahead but I have no self-control and keep re-reading bits. Like just the other day, I read the ball-boy arc which led to me reading the Spring Tournament arc and now we're on the last bit of the Kamomedai match and- It's fine though. It's going.

CURRENTLY WATCHING 🔹 What am I not watching is the real question

Attack on Titan

My School President

Bad Buddy (just restarted today)

Moonlight Chicken

The Warp Effect

Abbott Elementary

and I just finished rewatching Old Fashion Cupcake for the fourth time so imma add that too

CURRENTLY CONSUMING 🔹 a box of chocolates that I got for my birthday! They're pretty good.

CURRENTLY CRAVING 🔹 not much at the moment honestly but I really want the Butter Paneer and the payasam I didn't get to eat on my birthday.

ONWARD TAGS 🔹 i feel rude but i don't know who to tag so im just not going to. If anyone sees this and wants to be tagged, go ahead or let me know and I will but my mind's kinda blank

[earthbovndmisfit]

What song do you think fits best jonawagon?

Hi, nonny! In all honesty, I can't pick just one, not even if I had to, so I'm going to be mean and give you all the songs that I can remember that fit them instead >:D Warning: it's gonna be long, but i hope that’s okay!

Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon. This one's a given and I'm convinced Araki drew a lot of inspiration from it to create Robert and the relationship between him and Jonathan.

Side mention to Keep On Lovin' You, also by REO. The song as a whole is not actually a love song but these lines "And I meant Every word I said When I said that I loved you I meant that I loved you forever And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you 'Cause it's the only thing I want to do I don't want to sleep, I just want to keep on lovin' you"? 100000% jonawagon energy. Same can be said about a lot other REO songs btw (hence why I'm convinced that Araki took a lot of inspo for the character and his relationship with Jonathan from this band and their music). Speaking of yet another REO song that fits them so so so good...

All Heaven Broke Loose - REO Speedwagon. "It hit me like a shot right out of the blue All heaven broke loose I was shaken by the power of love Taken by the power of you". There’s a jonawagon fanfic named after this song and my life has never been the same since ;v;

Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Boys Town Gang. Listen to the whole song and tell me it doesn't fit them.

Last Rose Of Summer - Judas Priest. "I give you this, the last rose of summer. A token of my unyielding love. So when the winter's mantle stills the earth And all around seems dead and cold This rose reminds you of a time when all was warm and living". Those lines always make me think of them. The fact that Judas' singer is some gay british gentleman named Robert is just a little bonus lol.

Baby, I love you - Ramones. The Ronettes' original version also works but I feel the "punks in love" touch the Ramones gave it fits Speedwagon better since that's pretty much what he is in PB, lol.

I'm Affected - Ramones. I feel this one fits better from Jonathan's perspective due to the "When I look into your big brown eyes" line.

Safe Home - Anthrax. This song. I have so many jonawagon feels about it. The acoustic version is amazing and fits them like a glove.

Digital Love - Daft Punk. I feel this one fits them during their pining/yearning stage.

Something About Us - Daft Punk. I feel like it hits right in the feels for these two during their pining/yearning stage too but just right when the time to confess their feelings comes. The song leaves it a little open since its not precisely a sad song, so the feelings can be totally requited on both ends. It's that uncertainty and self-consciousness from both sides (bc yeah, after all the abuse and overly difficult life at home Jonathan had to endure, there is no way he doesn't suffer from any side effects to it).

Kiss From A Rose - Seal. An anon brought this one up time ago and yesss. All of the yessssss.

To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens. Another kind anon suggested this one and I feel like it hits right for them

Amor Eterno - Juan Gabriel. This is a song in Spanish. The author/singer of this song was a gay man and there are countless rumours that this song was written and dedicated to a man he was in love with. The man died a tragic death, with the event leaving the singer so affected, because he loved him so much. This is basically the song you rip your entire heart out with when the love of your life has died. So, yeah. 10000% jonawagon feels right there. (i will try to post a translation of the lyrics of this song so y'all get the full image and extent of this). Speaking of Juan Gabriel, there is at least another one of his songs I feel fits the ship:

Te Lo Pido Por Favor - Juan Gabriel. A translated snippet of it goes more or less like: "How can I repay you for everything you do for me, all this happiness, all this immense love? Only with my life. Well, here's my life. I'm giving it to you."

Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow - Freddie Mercury. Lots of feels. So many of them.

Yell! - Amano Yuri. "No matter when, my warm hands should surely heal your wounds." The song comes from Yu Yu Hakusho and is performed by the main character's love interest who, much like Speedwagon, is forced to remain on the sidelines, watching as the man she loves fights for his life.

Laguna Sunrise - Black Sabbath. I feel like the vibe fits them very well.

Planet Caravan - Black Sabbath. Same as the previous one. Also, composer of the song, Geezer Butler, said: "the song is about floating through the universe with one's lover." So, yeah~

Love Talkin' - Tatsuro Yamashita. Just change pronouns accordingly and voilá~

Mr. DejaVu - Naja. "You showed me true kindness for the first time What I withheld cannot be given now; the moonlight frosts me over I couldn't even say goodbye Don't let me be alone Even if there is no eternity I'll believe in the red thread"

Endless Love - Megumi Ogata. "I kiss those eyelids that will never open again. Tonight, you are going on a journey into eternity. It isn’t too cruel, even if you live on a different star, beyond hundreds of billions of hours. Love Forever I’m sure I will find you because I will never forget you. My love for you will last forever. Love Forever"

Turn On Your Light - Judas Priest. The song is so sweet. One of the few ballads Judas has ever done and it hits the mighty jonawagon feels just right~

Sayonara Wa Iwanai - PERSONZ. "Sepia colored memories, decorations that wipe away my tears. Those are words from the bottom of my heart. I won’t see you again. I don’t want to think about that, that’s why I decided not to do it. No matter what, ¡never forget! No matter what, I won’t say goodbye now. Never say goodbye, because we will see each other again one day, smiling."

500 Miles - The Proclaimers. "And when I'm dreaming, well I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you"

Do You Want To Know A Secret - The Beatles. "Let me whisper in your ear Say the words you long to hear I'm in love with you~"

An Angel Is Missing - Ronnie Dio And The Red Caps. Change pronouns and etc accordingly and it totally fits them~

Hand In Glove - The Smiths. Basically, requited but doomed (gay) love the way only The Smiths can do it. Bittersweet and with that Gay British touch to it.

My Love Life - Morrissey. This would be in Robert's POV. I've said it before, but this song could work great as the prequel to the next one...

I Can Have Both - Morrissey. Which would be about Jonathan finding out that he is in love with both Erina and Speedwagon. Basically, Jonathan coming to terms with being bi and polyam.

Hazme Sentir - Austin TV. Instrumental song. The title translates as "Make me feel". Despite the obvious title, give it a listen and you'll understand why it's here c:

There are a lot more that are escaping me right now along with some others that are 100% pining/yearning material and All Of The Sad Feels, but I decided to leave most of the sad ones out for now because Jonathan and Speedwagon deserve to be happy. Give me a few minutes and I'll put links to all the songs in a reblog of this post for everyone who wants to check any of the songs listed here! can't add external links or tumgle will do The Thing to the post.

Also!! and this goes to everyone reading this: by all means, please feel free to drop more song recs for the ship either here or in my ask box anytime!!

[nightswithkookmin]

RE HOW BIGHIT MARKETS BTS

Thanks for the question dear.

Marketing is for a lot of things but in BTS's case, I'd say the primary goal of marketing them is to expose the entire group and or the individual members to an audience, a particular audience at a time, to brand them in a way that makes them appealing to that target market- to put it simply.

During one of the recent run episodes, when Jimin performed his dance from Serendipity- which I must say, God he is breathtakingly beautiful when he dances. Serendipity and the choreo is my weakness. If I see anything better than that- hold on, there's filter too. Ayayaya.

Stream Serendipity and Filter🔪

Oh and did y'all see JM's bit in Film out? Omg! I'm afraid I'd have to fly to South K to kiss his talented ass morning, afternoon, evening.

Who's coming?

Anywho, when Jimin performed Serendipity on Run and suggested that was the dance the staff was performing, the members- cough RM, quickly pointed out how he was plugging, self promoting (to Run's target audience)

Run has a different demographic.

When Suga talked about them not being funny on their Let's BTS show on KBS the Host pointed out how they were actually funny in their Run episodes.

A lot of Army(who are already fans of BTS or each individual member) watch Run but not all who watch Run are Army or even listen to BTS songs. So any performance of an individual's music or choreo would attract such a 'unique' viewer who might go on to become that member's stan or bias etc.

Similarly, when a member embarks on a solo project they are exposed to a new or unique audience. That's where most of the solo stans come from.

For V, his fanbase are not just made up of people who enjoy him as a musician but as an actor as well.

He has a strong fanbase in SK outside of 'Army' because of his exposure to the Korean market beyond BTS and this comprises of his musical collaborations with Korean Artists and film companies such as his OST Sweet Night on the series Itaewon class.

It's the same with Suga and IU, his Agust D mixtapes which draws in audiences that are not necessarily into boybands, RM's Mono whixh attracts strong hiphop fans, Jimin's dance collaborations with Taemin for example and his contemporary dance performance which attracts people in the world of contemporary dance and ballet- point in case the black swan performance at the end of the year, Jin and Hobi's MCing etc.

All these projects exposes them to unique audiences and markets outside of Army or BTS's own fanbase.

And I think the best way to understand how this is important or how this affects BigHit's marketing approach is to look at their recent YouQuiz interviews.

Jimin, Jhope and JK were paired to attract aspiring dancers or persons who want to be dancers and learn from these three dance leaders of BTS- or at least they were paired to appeal to them in my opinion.

Tae and RM were equally paired to appeal to creatives and creative minds and persons who are more into composing and writing lyrics and are full of passion and musical geniuses.

Jin and Suga were paired to appeal to mature audiences.

Ten out of ten when any pair is paired in BTS it is for marketing reasons to appeal to certain fanbase or audiences and are often strategic moves unless of course it's to balance things out to not create the impression they are promoting subunits within the group in furtherance of the BTS kumbaya agenda- Team over units or solos.

So Jikook are not gonna be allowed to sit together all the time even if they want to, neither would JinKook, or Sope.

They shake and reshuffle sometimes.

And like Tae said in his 2018 VLive, the company decides who they collaborate in or what market to promote them in.

Tae was allowed to collaborate with Adora on his Chrismas song but not Jimin- which to me is very homophobic but it goes to show the company has a say in who they work with and most importantly which market they work in.

For JK, he's been working his way within the American marke and building a strong fanbase internationally from his English covers of Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan, to his collaboration with Charlie Puth, and most recently Jason Derulo in Savage love- that's a lot of English speaking fanbase he's attracting and appealing to outside of Army.

Tae's English mixtape would achieve a similar feat and draw in a lot of English speaking fans.

Bts did the same with dynamite and coldplay's Fix you.

So by allowing JK to work with renowned Japanese Artists and film companies, collaborating and composing original sound tracks for them such as his Your eyes tell OST, Film out, etc. he is appealing to and drawing in a Japanese audience.

As Hobi explained in his 2019 January Vlive, their mixtapes, solo projects, collaborations with Artists outside of BTS are all ways for them to expand their fanbase individually and build their portfolio.

And these new fans are mostly going to be solo stans who stan him for his music composing abilities but of course some may fall in love with BTS as well and go on to become Army so it's a win win situation.

WOULDN'T THE OTHERS OBJECT

Yes and no.

As long as the company isn't pushing him as a soloist outside of BTS and creating a separate brand with him outside of BTS's own brand I don't think the boys would object to it.

That was the problem they had/have with Jikook. In my opinion.

The company branding Jikook, distinctifying them from the group as a 'couple' subunit, selling their chemistry to fans and advertisers really doesn't and didn't sit well with the group. AT ALL.

In my opinion of course.

You can't create a brand within a brand.

It goes against Bang PD's own objective of prioritizing the team over all else which is what sold the members in the first place.

I just think in JK's case, since 2020, they are just trying to help him find himself and his bearing and his purpose.

He's been trying to find himself since 2020 and he'd talked about losing his passion and had had his passion hijacked and commercialized by the company.

He used to say he didn't know what he was going to do with himself and his life and career after BTS- having him work on music videos, directing, composing, reading these are all ways that they are doing right by him if you ask me.

They are helping him not trying to push their own agendas- which is not to say they might not change their minds about it in the future.

JK is an artist being managed by the company and they owe a duty to him to make the right business decisions for him with his consent- can't stress on the consent bit enough.

Personally, I'm happy about Japan because they are and are shaping out to be queer friendly and have a bit of progressive laws and conducive environments for queer artists to flourish in- if coming out would ruin their careers that's one less worry.

Which by the way I hate anyone who peddles this 'coming out will ruin their careers' nonsense because I can tell you one hundred percent that that is rooted in homophobia and it's not OK.

Don't tell that to no queer people shut up. You are not helping.

I know some say that out of genuine concerns for the boys but PLEASE DON'T. Don't use fear to keep queer people hidden and out of sight. Don't promote closet safety. Rhetorics like that only perpetuate queer invisibility and homophobia- do I need to spell it out to your liberal homophobic ass?!

Coming out is entirely up to them regardless of the risk you think is involved. If they want to take it. They'll take it. It's their choice to make regardless of whatever consequence.

That there are or should be consequences is a problem in of itself.

I don't want to hear 'if JK comes out he's been stupid and reckless and putting Jimin's career at risk'

'If he loves Jimin he wouldn't come out'

Go ahead kiss it😌

If he wants to stay closested respect it. If he wants to come out RESPECT IT TOO.

Support him either ways goddammit!

Y'all gone get me bothered like that huh.

JK POTENTIALLY WITHOUT JIMIN

They both have different career objectives.

I know Jimin says JK is imitating him but chilee JK is his own person. Lol.

Jimin plays too much.

He has his own aspirations.

In 2014 Jimin posted this Christmas song he did with JK. In 2020 he posted his own Christmas song without Jk.

It's not hard to see where his interests in music lie as a musician.

JK covered We don't talk anymore by himself and later did a collaboration with Jimin on the same song. He's done Fools with RM- see where I'm going with this?

Suga said he was more likely to write pop songs for JK but write dance songs for Jimin.

Jk said in the Be interviews bang PD advised him to consider dance performances when writing songs as he himself is a dancer too and need to incorporate in his compositions.

They are two distinct artists and at some point it would become necessary to brand, promote and encourage their uniqueness in their professional lives. They don't got to be tethered to each other all the time.

Personally, I don't think BigHit would want to push official subunits within BTS- yet and it's inclination towards Jikook have always been because of their marketing appeal rather than to further a career objective for both of them.

This goes back to the pairing objectives I talked about earlier. If they are going to pair Jikook professionally as an official subunit within the group it wouldn't be because they are a couple and ought to be together all the time but because it is smart for them to do so business wise.

If their pairing isn't commercially profitable they won't be paired at all- unless of course Jikook themselves want and request to be paired in that way. Know what I mean?

They each signed separate contracts with the company from day dot. They didn't sign on as a unit.

Whether or not they've decided they are a package deal I cannot say- yet, as their new contract just came into effect.

We would have to observe how they are being handled by the company going forward.

HE'D NEVER DO IT WOULD HE

Come now sis...

It's not like he's leaving Jimin😅

Jimin and Jhope were equally sent to Japan for promotion purposes without JK.

Out of all seven, Namjoon is the most promoted member in the international Market not just because he speaks English but because he is often made the spokes person for the group in interviews, at awards straight up to the UN.

Look how happy they all were and how chatty they were at the KBS Let's BTS interview.

I mean they all talked about it. About how they can't say much on foreign forums and often step into Namjoon's shadows.

RM is the most recognized and dare I say the most liked member out of all seven in the international market outside Army and their music profession.

In Japan they all have a chance to be front and center at interviews etc.

It just so happens that JK as it stands is the one member pushing to build a portfolio within that market.

Let's pray he gets mainstream and build a strong presence within the music industry there because we all know he's gonna drag Jimin up there with him😏

Just pay attention to the songs he's written and the parts Jimin sings in them- he makes Jimin shine on those songs.

They have so much potential my God.

Let's support them individually and as a unit.

I purple you and sorry I had to respond here.

Stay gold. Let's keep supporting and rooting for our guys.

Signed,

GOLDY

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #142: A Formidable Album (5/21/21)

So... how 'bout that album release week?

There's so much to cover; the release of nine new songs, the hype that's building for the World's Best Band to return to the stage, and (if we're able to come up for air) the massive speculation of what the future brings for our band.

I'm gonna get right into it, laying out my thoughts regarding this bold new album and covering all the most notable news from the week. I'll be sharing my (mostly) positive opinions about Scaled and Icy under the Read More line; I hope they're the start of a fun conversation with all of y'all who have stuck around through this last year.

Scaled and Icy Review

First, my general thoughts on the album: It's good! Really good. Do I think it's a no-skip like Vessel or a cohesive piece of art like Trench? Absolutely not! But it's also not the potential misfire that I worried that we might be getting when I first heard "Saturday" (more on that later); I think all of the songs are at least good, and some of them are downright great tracks that hold up with anything else that our band has ever released. It is also indisputably very different, but I think that generally works pretty well. Many of the songs evoke '60s rock or Britpop sounds and structures that you can tell Tyler is still trying to navigate, but I think he does a very solid job at adapting them to suit his strengths- namely his lyricism and knack for melody- rather than change to suit them. Unfortunately, this does result in a bit of square-peg-in-round-hole syndrome at times; most of the rap verses on the album feel like they're here just to fulfill an obligation to fans who would be mad if they weren't here, and most of the songs that use them are the weakest ones in the project.

"Good Day" plays a major role in getting the rest of the album to work as well as it does. Its gradual ramp-up, introducing the sound that will be used throughout the rest of the album. Its playfulness belies its message about how one can project a somewhat false optimism for oneself in the midst of tragedy: the type of dark stuff in a bright package that Tyler is so so good at. It's perhaps not an instant classic, but I am excited to see how it comes across when it's eventually used as a show-opener. 9/10

I've of course already discussed "Shy Away"; an anthemic, inimitably catchy track that I just wish had a bit more going on under the hood. Still going to be so good to hear thousands of voices scream "An 'I LOVE YOU' that isn't words!" someday. 9.5/10

"Choker" definitely took a little bit to grow on me. I think part of that was a bit of disappointment from over-inflated expectations and the environment I was in when I first heard it. With further listens, I fall more and more in love with the melody of the song... well, most of it. Like the rest of this album, the biggest weakness in the song is when Tyler tries to tick the box of having a rap verse; it just feels really out of place, unfinished, and almost amateurish, and it doesn't end the song on the note that it really should. Without it, it'd be one of my favorites on the album; with it, "Choker" is a solid 8.5/10.

Speaking of unfinished-sounding songs really hurt by their rap verse: "The Outside". There's a definite something to the vibe of the song, but that seemingly nonsensical verse is one of the two weakest parts of the entire project for me. The way the song meanders only adds to the feeling that there wasn't as much energy and attention paid to it compared to other parts of the project. It's pretty easily my least favorite track on Scaled and Icy, and the only one I might regularly skip. I've also seen plenty of people saying it's the best song on the album, so please tell me why I'm wrong! 6.5/10

"Saturday", as mentioned above, had me really nervous about this album. Like "Choker", it's grown on me a bit since I first heard it, in part because it fits better with the context of the rest of the album. However, this one really does feel undercooked lyrically and overreliant on the novelty of using a disco-inspired sound that seems to chase trends more than almost any other TØP track. The inclusion of that very sweet audio clip from Jenna boosts the song in some ways, but also adds to the disappointment in others; there are many other songs on this project that would be more worth surrendering time watching Friends. Thankfully, those come next. 7/10

"Never Take It" is fascinating. I never thought I'd hear a Rolling Stones-style song from Tyler Joseph featuring a gd guitar solo of all things, and it actually sounds pretty great. However, I also predict that this song will see some of the greatest critical scrutiny out of all the songs on the album. The lyrics seem to be Tyler's criticism of the media for playing up division in our society, but he's extremely vague when discussing which entities are spreading said division and ultimately recommends that people "educate yourself, but never too much". I'll be honest: maybe it's the fact that it sounds like something my dad would listen to, but it feels like this would get tons of play on Fox News. Since it makes specific reference to the events of last summer, it's hard not to feel like song is at least partially inspired by Tyler's brush with cancellation last year. Maybe I'm reading too deeply into it, but those reservations come from the song's lack of specificity, which is an issue of songwriting more than politics. They hold me back from truly loving a song that still manages to be one of the most exciting the band has ever put out. 8.5/10

"Mulberry Street" seems like the perfect realization of the entire album's intended tone. It is so pleasant, so lush while also simply produced, full of great lyrics, metaphors, and imagery. It really brings the whole project together, even if it's missing That One Line to really move this up to the top tier of the canon. 9.5/10

"Formidable" is the best song on the album and one of two songs I would truly rank in the top tier of the band's canon. Extremely pleasant and brimming with well-crafted lines to make your heart swoon. Jenna (and Rosie) is (are) a lucky gal(s). Or is it about Josh? Who's to say? 10/10

"Bounce Man" is just plain wild. I think Tyler's smuggling someone to Mexico to escape the feds? The playfulness of it all really covers up any frustration I might have with the clarity; it makes it clear that there's not really stakes here, just vibes. 8.5/10

"No Chances" sees the album take a turn that I'm sure the Reddit Clique is going to have an absolute field day with; it and "Redecorate" both sound quite different from the rest of the album and evoke enough elements of Trench to make me think that's it's actually possible that all this 'SAI is Propaganda' stuff might actually have something to it... until I actually pick apart the lyrics, then I'm even more confused. The song has some of the best rapping on the album, though that's not saying much (the feng shui line is a groaner right out the gate) and the gentle pre-chorus is really pleasant. I still haven't made up my mind on whether the chorus is effective or just plain goofy. This one might get worse or better on repeat listens, impossible to say for now. 7.5/10

"Redecorate" rounds out the album by opening with a Clancy quote (Tyler, you bastard), firmly setting this as a coda to Trench more than the album we just listened to. The rest of the song is really storytelling, with Tyler describing a bunch of people who are struggling deeply. The idea of "redecorating" here stands for how they are faced with the option to clean and resort their own spaces and lives or leave that to their loved ones to do after they're gone. By the time it gets to the album's name drop, you begin to wonder how much of this is potential autobiographical of the last year. It's moving stuff, a callback to some of the great strengths of the band's discography. 10/10

If I average those scores all up, this project ranks below almost every album among the Pilots discography on my rating scale, very narrowly edging out Self-Titled. That's still a very solid 8.6. Scaled and Icy is a very good album on first listen. We'll see how I feel about it after having a little more time to sit with it, but I've rambled enough: let's move through the rest of the week's news.

Other News

Of course, there was a lot else going on this week! To accompany the release of "Saturday", Zane Lowe over at Apple Music dropped an interview with Tyler. As usual, Zane did a pretty solid job of getting to the heart of the craft and the creation process. However, Tyler also wound up skirting a lot of the questions to just talk more about how much he loves being a dad, which makes me happy; if the cost of getting a little less attention and mental energy devoted to the music is that little girl getting all of his attention, that's honestly preferable for me.

The album rollout is not even close to over. Later today, the concert will be streamed live. It's our first real performance that we've gotten from the band since 2019, but the previews that we've seen have completely exceeded any of my expectations, and really anything that we've seen from the band. It appears that they've transformed the entire arena (which I think is the ol' Schott at Ohio State) into a whole TØP world, with different sets laden with Easter eggs and a cast of backup dancers. If the website can hold up to the traffic (and I acknowledge that might be a big ask), this could really live up to Tyler's promise of this being the best livestreamed concert ever.

Oh, and this guy dyed his hair pink.

What a time to be a fan. Catch you all tomorrow.

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[anonil88]

Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish: live listen review

Not going into it with too many expectations.

Getting Older: I like the lyrics...kind of, um its not a bad song its just not doing it for me as an intro.

I didn't change my number: Love the beat and background vocal mixing but the forward vocals are very punchy in your face. The bass on the back end of this song is kind of insane in a good way. Finneas really be putting his entire foot in his production. This new genre twist ooo chile if he ever starts producing for rnb acts we may have a problem. I hate the abrupt end to the track.

Billie Bossa Nova: The guitar melody that frames the song is the same as Havana by Camilla Cabello. Billie's lyrics are a lost better than Havana in terms of story versus radio playability. That being said this has a lot of radio potential like if I could go back in time this would be on the Gap Playlist in 2005.

My Future: I thought there would be more blending or seamless transition into this song. It may have been there but it was very subtle. Would love to hear Snoh Alegra do a cover of this song. Still really like this song and the lofi inspirations behind it.

Oxytocin: Very reminiscent of the sound from Billie that everyone is used to hearing. Again Finneas be in that studio in his whole bag while making beats. This song is um lyrically....Billie is like I'm an adult y'all. Which technically she is, but the people around her and herself gotta be careful that she is still young. Anywho Billie is using men to her advantage this is pretty clear 🤷‍♀️. Her and Finneas should continue their recent journey of scoring for television and movies. If they ever get to fully score an entire episode of something or a short film I can only imagine that magic.

Goldwing: Billie has been practicing her falsettos and studying some of her favorite rnb singers. The syncopation of her vocals as the beat *chefs kiss*. This is my favorite song. (Was my favorite and then I heard overheated.)

Lost Cause: I'm not a huge fan of this song, it doesn't really do anything new for me. Its missing this umpf and I felt the same way when I saw the music video.

Halley's Comet: This is if Sarah Bareilles and Norah Jones had a baby. Really enjoying the subtle but very nice transition in this song and then the microphone effects on her voice. She fell in love you can hear it on this album. There is also what sounds like a bit of Beatles melody in the songwriting to me. Also you can hear her almost crying on every single line of the main part of this song.

Not my responsibility: This song has to be listened to with headphones. I think this is what was played during her concerts when she did the little reveal. I would not want the pressure she has at 19 to uphold this image while going through all the same stuff we all went through or go through at 19. This includes how we each deal with our own body image.

Overheated: This song really shows how Finneas and Billie bounce off one another. The lyrics are some of the best combination of radio play/replay-ability, and flow, on the album. It really follows the production queues of 90s rnb and early 00s pop where the beat and the lyrics build on one another. It even has a similar bubble like drum that Darkchild used a lot in the 00s but its more muffled under the stacked layers of production. Finneas really makes something sound more simple than it is because if you go into the breakdown of their songs its like over 40 lines of vocals alone at times with more drums and just layers upon layers.

Everybody Dies: Thanks for the depression reminder Billie. This is much more hopeful than her past tracks about depression though. It's like a "this to shall pass" song about depression.

Your Power: IS THIS THE SAME VERSION AS BEFORE? Yes it is haha. This song got so much more hate than it deserved like its really good. Also the mixing with over the ears is very full. It feels like you're in a room and the speakers are all facing you. Also, is it weird to say that a song feels warm because this song feels very warm.

NDA: This song is very honest because she is making people sign NDA's to protect herself. Which its a mess that you can't have a fling or one night stand at that level of success or fame because some people will use it against you. Yes this does make me think how much messy shit is being said or done in Hollywood but no one finds out because of non disclosure agreements. But, this isn't something young stars openly discuss that they do for protection and also so they don't get in trouble. Because unfortunately some people should probably have an NDA on themselves glares at a certain rapper.

Therefore I Am: Yesss the transitions are back !!! Also this song is a bop liked it even when it dropped as a single.

Happier Than Ever: this song is sad and happy and a mix of a lot BUT I would love to hear Billie run forward with a country rock album. The end of this song is so distorted and punchy like Paramore.

Male Fantasy: She's in her Lana era yall she's in her Lana era. Just kidding, but I wonder if Jack Antanoff is sitting here listening to this like 🤨. Yaknow Phoebe Bridgers writing with Billie would actually be super super cool. Phoebe and Co. (I.e. Julien and Lucy) along with Billie's breathiness, ooo thinking that would sound really good. Also the lyrics would physically hurt in a good way.

The album ends a bit too abruptly for my taste but I definitely give this a 3.8/4 out of 5 for sure.

♧ My personal ranking of the tracks from Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish:

Overheated

Goldwing

Billie Bossa Nova

Everybody Dies

Oxytocin (2:18 to the end)

Happier Than Ever

Billie Bossa Nova

My Future

Your Power (ranking it here because its a really really strong song even if it isn't my favorite)

Therefore I Am

Male Fantasy

Oxytocin (the rest of the song)

Not My responsibility

Halley's Comet

NDA

Lost Cause

Getting Older

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #427

“don’t pray for me when you’re the one enslaved”

Your ex taps you on the shoulder and says, “I still love you.” You say? I wouldn't say anything, I'm pretty sure I'd just break down. Do you play video games? Not really anymore. :/ I probably would, though, if I had the appropriate consoles for games I want. You can only replay PS2 games but so many times before you're tired of them. Do you spend a lot of time with family? No, honestly. Is your house more than two stories tall? It only has one floor. Have you ever hit your significant other? Has he/she ever hit you? I'm not in a relationship, but I have most certainly never hit an s/o, and they've never hit me. I wouldn't tolerate that shit. What makes you an attractive person? (Talk about your personality too!) I'm not. What color is your hairbrush/comb? White. What snacks do you have available in your household atm? Hm. Just some fruity grain and oats bars, as well as cashew ones. We try to keep sweets out of the house. Has anyone recently told you that they like you, or find you attractive? No. Are you attracted to the last person you Facebook messaged? Holy fuck yes, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Do you care about anyone that doesn’t care about you? Ha, I'm sure. Was your last Facebook friend requests from a male or female? Some random middle-aged man, like who are you sir. Which one of your relatives is most likely to embarrass you? My dad. He can be so rude to people sometimes. When was the last time you ate a bar of chocolate? Not sure. It's been quite a while. Do you play any games on Facebook? No. What would you like to get a degree in? It'd be nice to get a degree in Arts, but yeah... I'm never going back to school. Do you wake up a lot in the middle of the night? Pretty much every night. Would you prefer to read a book, watch a movie or TV show, or play a video game? Play a video game. Do you usually get popcorn or soda at the movie theater? Almost without fail. You've got to, it's part of the experience. What genre of films do you like the best? Horror. How many bank accounts do you have? None, actually. Have you ever had the flu? No, thankfully. What is your goal for the next few months? To start getting in shape/losing weight. I seriously hope this gym routine works out. Have you ever had some kind of sleep-disorder? How did it affect your life? I have seveeeere sleep apnea. It's shocking, I never would've guessed it, though, so the diagnosis (I had a sleep study, so yes, it's legit) was an extreme surprise. I don't snore at all, nor do I like pass out in the middle of something, but I stop breathing A LOT. For a year or two (no, that is not an exaggeration), it caused consistent, horrible, and violent nightmares/terrors. It made sleep frightening to me, and I was never getting a truly restful sleep. Now, I have an APAP mask (like a less extreme version of a CPAP mask) that helps me greatly. I only very rarely am surprised by a more subtle nightmare now. Have you ever had food poisoning before? Describe the experience. No, thankfully. What are two things that you have no problem paying full price for? Quality tattoos, for one. And maybe uhhh... idk. We're the kind of family that buys off-brand foods and drinks all the time because it's cheaper, so I can't say that. Maybe health care? Like I wouldn't want service from a sketchy dentist or something. Funny, charming, cute, romantic, smart - choose only 2 for the opposite sex. Charming and romantic. Have you ever let somebody use you? Why did you do it? No. You can go back in time & change something in your mom’s past - what is it? That's hard for me to say. She doesn't seem to like talking about her past very much, because I know it's turbulent with her mother. I would say her being disowned, but I don't know how that *actually* affected her. Maybe it was for the better she wasn't under her mom's authority anymore. Do you know anybody who is around the exact same size as you? Who? I guess my mom, but she's actually smaller than me now. She's lost a lot of weight and is still going at it. Ever been to a haunted house? How scared were you? Not a house, but rather hay rides and those places you just walk through and experience different stuff. They don't scare me at all; I love 'em. Been on any websites today you wouldn’t want your parents to see? No. Which is worse: dusting or mopping? Ugh, mopping. I don't mind dusting. Would you marry somebody who was intensely religious? No. Did you pull a senior prank? No. That shit is so dumb. Did you graduate? High school, yes. Have you ever been unfaithful in a serious relationship? No, and I never would. What was the last song you listened to? I'm listening to Lauren Babic and Halocene's cover of "Bleed It Out" by Linkin Park right now. It's great. Are you one of those lucky people with 20/20 vision? Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell no. Is fashion one of your interests? No. Do you think you’ll eventually find that special someone? Hell if I know. Do you care what people think? Way, way more than I should. Is acting something you enjoy? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I feel so stupid. What was the last thing you broke/sprained? I tore a ligament badly in my foot maybe a year and a half ago. I was SO sure it was broken. My mom had to help me walk everywhere, and even when she did, I'd be whimpering and seething. Have you ever fought with a friend because of their boyfriend/girlfriend? Because of yours? No. Has a stranger ever yelled at you for your language? No. Whose house, other than yours and your families', are you most comfortable at? If we're excluding all family, I suppose Sara's? Has any of your friends’ family ever yelled at you? Probably at some point as a kid. Did you ever play a sport as a little kid? Did you enjoy it? I played a lot. The only two I really didn't like were soccer and cheerleading. Did you ever watch the show Full House? Hell yeah, I loved it as a kid. Is there a celebrity you are just DETERMINED to marry? Ha ha y'all know I joke about it, but no, not legitimately. It's not like I know him personally at all, and I'm not chasing him to California either. Just let me dream still lmao. Have you ever burned someone’s picture? No, but I've actually heard it's truly therapeutic and not just for dramatic effect, so I wouldn't be opposed to doing so if you handed me a picture of him and a lighter. What’s the longest hike you’ve ever been on? I've never hiked before. Would you ever get a lip tattoo? Uh, no. Who is the first person of the opposite sex that pops into your head? Jason. Do your parents smoke cigarettes? My dad smokes like a chimney and is 100% going to end up with cancer because of it. You should hear his cough. Mom smoked for a very, very brief period before I was born. What does one of your T-shirts have written on it? "Equal in our bones" is on my favorite shirt. Name a pet you definitely wouldn’t want. Certain inverts people are wild enough to get, like giant African centipedes in particular. Would you prefer your partner smaller or taller? Can't say I care. do you enjoy going through old pictures? Sometimes. Other times, it's too painful. It also depends on the era of the pictures. Do you believe people when they say they don’t judge people? Ha, no. We all have natural first impressions and things like that that just... happen. What did you love the most about the town you grew up in? Nothing, really... besides just childhood memories that inevitably came. My hometown was dangerous. What’s a movie that you laughed the hardest during? I'm not sure. What’s a movie you cried the hardest during? I want to say Old Yeller, but I'm not sure. What’s your favorite restaurant? Olive Garden and The Cheesecake Factory. Is there a dessert you don’t like? Yeah; I don't like pie, strawberry shortcake, and I know there're others. Favorite album? Ozzy's Black Rain. It was my introduction to metal, so there's nostalgic value there, but I also just LOVE every single song. What’s a book that you read because everyone else was reading it? None. I don't read books for that reason. Underwater or outer space? Both kinda frighten me to a degree, but I find outer space to be way cooler. So many colorrrrrrs. Dogs or cats? Cats. Kittens or puppies? Ugh, both are so cute, but I gotta hand it to kittens. Bird watching or whale watching? Whale watching would blow me away. Whales are such magnificent, awe-inspiring animals. What is your spirit animal? Probably a deer. Skittish, shy, and quiet. What was your best subject in school? English. What was your worst subject in school? Math. What is one thing you wish you knew in high school? You and Jason aren't going to last, hunty. Who is your fashion icon? I don't have one. I wear what I want/what's comfortable. Diamonds or pearls? I think diamonds are a lot prettier. What color dress did you wear to prom? First one was maroon, last one was black. What’s your favorite plot-twist? Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. My jaw actually dropped. Honestly, are you jealous of someone right now? Yes. Honestly, what’s the worst thing you’ve done when you were mad? Said things I shouldn't. Honestly, ever made anyone cry when you were mad? Yes. Honestly, when was the last time you REALLY cried your heart out? Two weeks ago or something like that. Ever pop someone else’s pimple? OH MY GOD NO alskdfa;wekrwer; Do you need to return anyone’s phone call? No. Who are you closest to? My mom. Have you ever had a bad concert experience? No. Are you currently sad about anything? A number of things. Have you had any form of exercise today? No, but tomorrow is day #2 at the gym! Can you handle blood? Yeah, np. Has any place hired you underage for a job? No. Have you ever carried a concealed weapon? No sir=ee. Are you currently searching for a job? Not anymore, at least not actively. I was going to after TMS, but I'm just... still not ready. Right now, I'm focusing on the gym and getting healthy again, but if the seemingly perfect job comes along, I'm not opposed to taking it up. Does eating breakfast make you sick? No, I've got to have breakfast or else THEN I feel awful.

[kaptain-k-pop]

Alright ladies!!! After a full 65 hours of the album being out I am Finally sharing my Thots 👀

I have three full 8 hour shifts of listening to Nothing Else under my belt, (plus an unspecified number of hours listening outside if work...) so I'm Basically an Expert 😌💗

Dear my universe: We love a space/space-adjacent themed Astro song in this house 😌😌😌 this is such a nice choice to start off the album (also I'm a fucking nerd and so the way that the First Song on The Album is called 'Dear my universe' like addressing a letter? Like as if the album itself is kind of like a love letter from Astro to Aroha?? 🥺 Okay I'll stop. But it's just a thot that came into my head and now I'm having Feelings 🤧💜) the echoey parts and the harmonies?? So yummy, so pretty, I love it 💗

Butterfly Effect: HELLO my Love 😍💓💌💝💜💞💖💘💕💗 I was Warned by @entry-777 to be prepared for Rocky Vocals, which is a Good Thing bc if I wasn't ready for it I probably would have started crying or somethin lame like that and looked Quite Foolish in front of my coworkers, however I was NOT warned about JINWOO VOCALS (Danny you slipped Queen!!! 😭) It was like. 6 seconds. But it was there and it's gonna live in my head rent free for the next full calendar year, also Moonbin and Eunwoo's falsettos??? GOD everyone sounds so great in this song. I love our Six Vocalists 😪💜

ONE: my ONE opinions have Grown and Matured over the course of listening to it quite literally like 75 times. Do not be mistaken, I never disliked it, but I did have Certain Opinions. For example, it is a Certified Fact that I have stated before: an Astro Title Track is not an Astro Title Track without MJ throwing up Angel High Notes above the last chorus. And when I listened to ONE for the first time I was not satisfied in that department. He did like, A Few, but I was waiting for more to come and like picturing in my head what it was going to sound like and then they didn't come and I was Mildly Disappointed. So that was just one thing that like, I wanted a little more than what I got, which does not mean that I didn't like what I did get!!! Anyway, after listening to it Many More Times and paying close attention to harmonies and such I am a bit more satified with the ad-libs he did get, it's just that this song is Different than other Astros Title Tracks, it is a different style so I guess what they gave him fits more with that style than what I was expecting (still wish he had gotten to shine a little more in this Title but what are you going to do?) It could very well be the 'you listened to this song so much you are tricking yourself into liking it more' thing, but my love for this song has definitely grown in the past few days (and again!! I never disliked it in the first place!) it is still not one of my top faves on the album but that's only bc Astro are B-side Kings! I still do really like this song

Someone Else: (okay at first I Did Not Realize this was just an MJJinjinMoonbin song?? I did not Know we were getting unit songs in this album, but that explains why I didn't hear anyone else's voices in it 🤷 agdjahdjakd) in any case, I like her! She is very Fun and Funky 😌 definitely one I will continue to listen to often (also fun fact: that electronic sound at like 2:32 the first time I heard it my body physically reacted like one of Pavlov's dogs bc that same sound is also in the song that I have set as my alarm ahdjskahdjsj 'oh? we are Waking Up now? :)' Queen calm down, you are awake lmao)

SNS: Ma'am..... Hello????? Omg I love this song so much, the beat, the vocals, the soda can (yes I noticed!!! Omg when I tell y'all I got a rush of serotonin when I heard that...) another thing I absolutely adore about this song is the 'ah-ahhh, ah-ahhh' part bc it makes my brain do the same thing as when it sees an optical illusion where the thing I'm seeing switches back and forth based on what I'm focusing on like 'oh, now I see a vase, oh now it's two faces' that except with sound (so an aural illusion I guess is what that would be??) Like 'oh, that's Human Voices making that sound' but then if I focus on it it sounds like an Electronic Phone Buzzing Text Notification Sound (and then I focus on it again and it's Voices) which is probably what was intended considering it's a song named after texting? I just think that's so cool, I love that they did that and it sounds really Neat

All Good: oh my GOD this song, oh 👏 my 👏 G 👏 O 👏 D 👏 All Good........... my BELOVED™ 💜💜💜 Mental Illness?? Idek her. Lee Dongmin said "Gonna be alright" so Everything is Fine now actually. I'm gonna Do Drugs (this song) and forget my problems 😌 this song qualifies as a Hardcore Party Drug. I am going to grind this song up into a fine powder and snort it like cocaine. Holy FUCK this song is good. I'm saying something controversial (it's not controversial, lmao, I know I am not the only one who thinks this) yet brave: Miss All Good is Title Track Material 👀 now idek anything about marketing so maybe ONE was a better choice for Title Track from a marketing standpoint idek, all I know is that All Good FUCKS I literally could talk about this song for hours omg, I need to stop this post is already so long but ALL GOOD I LOVE YOU QUEEN 👑 😭💓💘💗💕💜💌💝💞💖

All Stars: "yeah let's go haha" alright yes, whatever you say 😍 okay so in this song ofc I immediately noticed the "you're my one&only" we love that self reference 😌💜 but when I was looking at the lyrics I also noticed that we have "When you call me I'll run to you" and the Very First Line is "I've got a dream, when I run breathlessly" coincidence??? 👀 ....... yeah probably, I analyze things way too much agjdjdjdjd but ANYWAY I Love MJ's bridge(? is that the right word? the '이룰 테니까' part. U know what I mean) and the "everything is OK (lala la la)"??? Alright, Depression Cured, thanks Kings 😌👑💗

Our spring: if ONE left my thirst of Angelic MJ Runs not fully satisfied Miss Our Spring came through for me I LOVE ALL HIS PARTS IN THIS SONG SO MUCH AND THE R U N S yes 👏 king 👏 yes 👏 king 👏 thank you SO much 😌💖💜💗 Idk why but I just really latched on to this song, I love the chorus and Rocky's (설레는 날에) part, also I believe if I am Not Mistaken Rocky contributed to the lyrics on this? 👀 we love that for him! Especially bc the lyrics are so pretty and not just bc I am biased 💜

Stardust: another Space themed song it's my favorite concept again 😌😌😌 and y'all know that I am a Strings Appreciating Bitch 💗 so ofc I immediately had Feelings as soon as I heard them in the back. This song is so so so pretty?? the instrumental, the vocals, the lyrics? It's so calming and peaceful listening to this song, it feels so nice and cozy 😔💗 On all levels except physical I am laying on the roof stargazing and Astro is wrapping a blanket around my shoulders and giving me a lil kiss on the top of the head. This song would really be the Bloom of the album, if not for.....

gemini: the BLOOM of the album 😭💓💌💝💘💗💕💜💞💖 Miss gemini my beloved... 😔💜 "will you protect me? Even after the long night passes the place we embroidered together stays in our hearts" Don't TOUCH me 🤧🤧🤧 I can, have, must, am, and will cry about this song if I think about it for too long. Myungjun contributed to the lyrics, arrangement, and composition and it turned out so good?? (I mean of course it did) I'm very proud of him and I got more pretty Angel High notes in this song so I am Very Satisfied, I LOVE her so much 💗💗💗

And that's that!!!

If you are reading this, ps I love u for sticking around to read all my rambling pls accept a hypothetical forehead kiss or some fingerhearts sent @ u from a respectful distance 💗

Also my askbox is always open if you want to share your opinions, I love talking about these boys..... 👀

[tomorrow-human]

MY THOUGHTS ON iDKHOW'S ALBUM DEBUT: RAZZMATAZZ

So I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME have just released RAZZMATAZZ today and heres what I think...

[SIDE A]

¹LEAVE ME ALONE:

A bombastic opening track. Was released in the beginning of August...? Probably? This song just SCREAMS at you with retro futuristic funkiness. It has 8-bity flourishes in the instrumentation and seems to be maybe talking to the same person as Choke (from 1981 E.P.) and the title track Razzmatazz have been (or maybe a separate entity as suggested by the vinyl booklet and Indoctoration?).

Anyway, fantastic track, great opener, and nice mood-setter.

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²INDOCTORATION:

It's... eerie. It's not a song in the same sense as Leave Me Alone, despite having a wobbly backing track. It's a spoken interlude that seems to be initiating you into Tellex maybe? It yet again mentions the White Shadows that will be overseeing your progress with Tellex. It seems oddly nostalgic for some reason. That's strange. Overall, solid little piece of lore building that really reinforces the concept aspects.

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³MAD IQs:

It's the first song from this album that wasn't released as a single and it made my jaw literally drop. It has a similar lyrical and vocal structure to the opener and New Invention, but what I like is how much they were able to do with it, though it makes you wonder about how far apart these songs were written; but In the context of the albums concept and the Tellex stuff however, it could be interpreted as a corporate decision, this repetition. The minimal instrumentation in the verses with Ryan's sturdy drumming and Dallon's bassline makes me go fucking bananas. It's so fucking great and full of this punchy energy. And the HARMONIES. YES. "Voluntary victim~" "I'm burning~ in your mad IQs" SIR STOP BEING SO VOCALLY TALENTED. Also I think i heard him shriek right before the bridge which? Snazzy. So Mad IQs, energetic track, filled with more of iDKHOWs signature darkness.

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⁴NOBODY LIKE THE OPENING BAND:

Ah yes, Opening Band. Ironic considering how often iDKHOW are the opening band, but I'm sure that's obvious, seeing how they usually sing this one at the start of their gigs. It was actually (I think) the first or second song I didn't know how but found through youtube so I might be pretty biased here. It's a sweet sounding change of pace with the instrumentation being made up of only the piano and tambourine that tells of a typical opening band, that no ones ever heard before and likely will never hear again, via a sympathetic narrator with a hint of the typical iDKHOW teasing. In all honesty, it would've worked better as the album opener, which then could've been followed by Leave Me Alone, but it's a nice change of pace overall.

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⁵NEW INVENTION:

I already reviewed this song on my other blog right here so imma keep this brief. It shares similar aspects to Leave Me Alone, with the music video concept and song structure, but It manages to darken the narrative, and the choir-esq harmonies sound like ultra bright neon lights that only push this mood further. It still is a magnificent song and by far one of my favourites in the album.

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⁶IN THE GALLOWS:

MASSIVE SHIFT IN STYLE HOLY FUCKOLY-. The track opens with a very cutesy old timey little piano intro and starts the verse with a little funny beat. If you don't listen to the lyrics, it sounds like a silly little oldie song. But as we all know, iDKHOW doesn't do silly. The lines "For you, I'd die▪︎Or kill myself▪︎which ever makes you smile," From just the first verse are a prime example of this. The narrators murderous and suicidal intentions have clouded the romantic attraction into obsession- And I kinda like that, in a poetic way. The chorus is a standout, with the calm start to the explosion in the line "I'd swing from the gallows and wave" that just swings at you with a baseball bat to the chest. Oh, and the sax solo? Magnificent. This whole song is a chefs kiss from me.

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⁷CLUSTERHUG:

I love the lyrics of this song the most of it all. It sounds like a rebellious teenager wrote it after thinking about how shit their hometown is and wanting to get out. It also incorporates how much the narrator would want to do all this with their crush, adding that slightly goofy and pretend-aloof chorus of "only if you'd like me to I could fall in love with you" as if they weren't already in love or at least that's how I see it. The vibe of this song is more pop-y than the rest of the album, but that's more likely because it was repurposed for Razzmatazz after being originally written for The Brobecks, their older band. It's a nice little tune :).

[SIDE B]

⁸SUGAR PILLS:

This. Will. Get. Stuck. In. Your. Head- and. You. Will. Like. It. Basically, just seems like a song about drugs that, for some reason, reminds me of Gorillaz (who I dont even listen to). But the BASSLINE AGAIN- Jesus help me live. It has more of that energy we saw with the first few tracks and adds even more electronic elements. It's probably my second favourite song from this album that's not a single because of how fun the chorus sounds. What else can I say? I can just imagine myself bopping to this in the car screaming 'SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR PILLS' On a hot day.

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⁹KISS GOODNIGHT:

It's so sweet 🥺. It's one of those songs I could imagine a character in a movie singing to someone from a stage. If you want pretty song vibes just listen to it. Because it is a pretty song. And that's all I have to say on it. Now allow me to take a moment and shove it into my pretty song playlist that acts like my personal lullaby machine.

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¹⁰LIGHTS GO DOWN:

Yes. F u n k y. Give me that sweet sweet disco energy, thank you. It's just filled with all these *☆~blingy and sparkly~☆* effects, and, combined with the drumming, the result is just glorious. The best part of this song is in my opinion the bridge where it goes darker lyrically and in sound that just naturally slides into another funky-ass sax solo. I can definitely see myself dancing to this at a party and then in later years growing nostalgic for those days.

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¹¹NEED YOU HERE:

It's supposed to be happy in tone and hopeful slightly but it just makes me sad. It's a song about how, because Dallon has to tour because it's his job, he has to be away from his family often. And he had nO RIGHT ADDING HIS DAUGHTERS VOCALS AND RECORDINGS INTO THE MIX ITS LIKE HE WANTS US TO CRY. It's not my favourite of the album, not going to lie here, but it's also such a sweet song with nice instrumentals and vibe 🥺 so that's all I'll say.

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¹²DOOR:

It seems like this one was written around the time sad ukulele music was really at its peak but am I complaining? Fuck no because this song is great. It just gives it to you straight, that if the narrator ever does anything that the recipient doesn't like, they can always cut them out of their life. It's nice in that regard- you don't usually get songs that don't try to deflect the pain or gain pity. We need more of these kinds of songs. The shortness of it really adds to the effect of this being more like a regularly said thing, even though I'm always a bit sad that it ends so fast. It does, however, nicely close the near end of the album before Razzmatazz.

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¹³TOMORROW PEOPLE:

Creepy Tellex thank-you note. You're welcome..? I want no part in your conspiracy tho. Go away weird American corporate man voice.

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¹³RAZZMATAZZ:

And there it is. The title track. Like new inventions, I have already reviewed it here on that same blog so this will be brief also and more just thoughts. It's a great closer and is more old timey than most of the songs here as well. And with the last instrumental and sax solo, we come to the albums inevitable end... until next time.

[GENERAL THOUGHTS]

Overall, this was a fantastic little debut for iDKHOW and I loved it. So worth the pre-order. The songs were great and the lyrics were just excellent. My only real criticism is that the song order on Side A was a bit strange. I feel a way to fix this would be to throw Nobody Likes The Opening Band into the beginning, then have Leave Me Alone as a second track, and maybe even switch one of the songs on this side with one from Side B (either Mad IQs or New Invention with something else but then that would be kind of stretching it). Or maybe even switching Clusterhug with Mad IQs or New Invention could work. So in general? Razzmatazz good album. Next question.

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Thank you for reading, anyone who happens to see this and have read this. Hope you've enjoyed some of my thoughts on the debut and agreed with at least 2 points I made. See y'all on another review (or shitpost)!

-L.J

[briswriting]

i was tagged by @kenmaksuwu ily sam mwah

have you ever been punched/punched someone? i have lightly punched/has been lightly punched by brother and sister LOL but i’ve never full on decked someone

movie you could watch every day without getting bored? any of the narnia movies i am so soft for all of the pevensies 

the first song you remember listening too? okay so i dont remember first song BUT my first concert was the cheetah girls concert with miley cyrus/hannah montana LOL

favourite conspiracy theory? omg any of the government ones are amazing like the fbi agents watching us through our cameras, the pigeons are robots watching us they're great 

dream occupation? becoming a forensics analyst with my chem degree is the plan hehe

softest/cutest song in your playlist? i have a playlist called “:(( boops” and its not because they're sad songs its because and i quote from my playlist bio “sad because we want to be in love” and its literally full of soft and cute love songs that are both sad and happy ones to fill the void of having no love life in my heart BUT my fav song on this extremely large playlist atm is hurricane by the aces

favourite book? the harry potter books they got a place in my nerdy ass heart

have you ever experienced the Mandela effect, if so, what happened? i don’t think i personally have, but the ones people point out on social media gets to me like the berenstain bears istg it was the bernstein bears asdgfhgjhk

do you believe in ghosts/spirits/demons/afterlife all that? any supernatural shit i believe it !!

creepiest experience? this is more so a scaryish experience BUT my apartment is like less than a block away from campus so i walk to and from school when i have classes/extracurriculars but my campus is smack down right in the middle of downtown so i got out of a pledge meeting late like at 1am and i was walking home alone and that was the scariest shit because there be crackheads everywhere in downtown and omg i heard someone walking behind me and i just like straight up started walking as fast as my little legs could carry me 

i was also tagged by @miyulovestowrite ily too miyu bb besitos for you

sticky notes or notepads? sticky notes!! i have a whole bunch of those cute little sticky tabs too that are like animals and stuff ahaha 

apple or android? apple!

what’s your favorite kind of weather? fall is my fav season! so like warm but not too warm where i could wear a jacket over a cute top and shorts

if you could marry one irl person, who would it be? my obsession with tom holland died down but i would still love to marry him hehe

who’s the one fictional character who’s death you cried over the most (there’s gotta be at least one,,,) i cried over A LOT of characters when i read harry potter LOL also assassination classroom i ugly cried y'all know why if you watched it

what’s one thing about your past that you miss? i miss doing ballet !!

if you could change your name what would you change it to? i actually like my name hehe

what’s your favorite highlighter color? the pastel color highlighters !! so like light pink, lavender, and light blue!!

if you were allowed to go outside rn where would you be? hanging out with my friends probably to get boba LOL

describe your favorite writing utensil. omg so ive been using the same pencil for like the past 3 years LMFAO its a pink pentel lead pencil 

my questions: 

funniest group chat name first fandom you were ever in  randomly choose a song from your favorite playlist   if you could be placed in any fictional universe, which one and why favorite color combo if you could have a superpower what what would it be chocolate or vanilla  favorite disney movie  current favorite fandom  if you could have ANY animal as a pet what would it be 

tagging: @mikwrites @nekomas-kuroo @blkjackals @hq-vbc @haikoo @vventure @akaashichigo

[thehunternovels]

I am a damn bastard.

The man who get fucked with thousand girls, used, be the king of their head, a dark prince for their life, setted all the lies and tried to forget what he tried to kept away from his mind.

Hey.

It's me, Damon could be so simple after all, so I rather to say that I write with the girl's fingers I tried to kept away from my mind one time.

I wanna start to this with the closest past for y'all,

I've been a daddy, I'd like to say, at least I was about to, until I lost Alexander in his mother's tummy.

I felt him in my veins.

I've searched for a million of diet, what's the best for Alena, what's not right if I could just hurt my son with my only one move inside of her mother's body.

I've seen a little baby, in his mother's womb.

Can you believe it?

I bet you don't.

So I'm gonna make it more clear for you.

You can't call it as a reincarnation, get it out of your mind girl, my life is full of lies expect only one fact:

''I'm in love with you Alena Michaelson.

I'm in love with you like I've never been, never will.

You are my damn, second love, yes, but I don't count your doppelganger as my first though, you will always gonna be my first.''

First body that I've touched freely,

Loved,

Caress her hair,

Kiss her cheeks, beautiful cherry lips,

Getting approach to her forehead, and then, catch her eye,

Whisper to her ears, that her white, vampire skin has covered,

And say like: ''Good morning princess.''

Yes, yes, I say it every damn single morning I spent with her.

With my little wife.

That I owe her my life.

I'm listening 8MM, AROUND THE SUN, by writing this letter for my beloved Alena's Wattpad story, it makes me cry but song always rewinds back and I cannot take my fingers out of the keyboard.

I know you are confused, but every thing has an alignment, am I right?

She talked with the boy which she thought it could be the body I've lost, and the things that this boy had said to her, got my mind and pushed me down like a motherfucker.

'Damon is using you,' he said.

You are right dude, I am using her.

I am using the only girl in my life, I am using the only person I have beside me that I abonded all of my family and chose this girl, fucked them all, my brother was a troublemaker anyway, but yes! I fucked my sister out of my life just because of I use Alena.

Do you really think, dude?

After all of the crying, human feeling part, I stopped and thought for this one moment.

Alena was the one to make me calm and caress my chin at the bus that we got in to reach home.

I'm totally distracted right now.

Damn man, someone texted to my girl on Youtube, saying like: ''Just be normal, it is not that much hard, isn't it?''

Here is the cause his sentence wasn't make sense at all, I recorrect it, and I will give his reply later and his fingers are gonna regret to write those words to my precious girl.

That gets me fall apart.

But I can make it up to you guys.

Since I got into be that human, my feelings got even deeper than usual. As I lost my innocence with Alena, I was the happiest man, and now I am really wondering what would have happened if I was the human I am now, before I lost my virginity with her?

If one person is your first, it has to be your 'real first' in 'all means', man.

Literally.

There is too many things for me to tell and I'm not really an excellent writer like her, but I'll try my best for her, so let's get back to the point where all has started.

 I found this girl....

Whaaat?

This girl?

No fucking way in hell or heaven, she is just not a girl.

Let's take it back as you saw I don't make simple sentences.

I found the precious, one and only angel in the planet at 6 of May, 2006.

I was stalking my little girl which I took a mission as making this soul right by being her guider.

And I did.

But it didn't end well.

My brother ruined every shit.

Six years older than me, turning my life into a hell, make me wanna puke to my shoes every time, even at the moment I think I'm gonna be happy for the first time..

He broked Alena.

Yes, her virginity.

I'm not Alena's first mentally, but bodily, Aaron did that.

He stole the woman I call as 'my first love', which she get caught cheated with my brother, by me, right after there is a death, by me again, however it doesn't make sense I killed Alena's twin in the 16th century, but yeah I did this job once I was regretful for, but not any more.

I thought Aaron never would find my girl. As this was my mission, not his, but somehow he did, did and screwed me up all over again.

I got up.

For once in my life, felt this way expect all the facts spinning around me: Aaron got Alena, broked her, wasted her, and lived in her body for months.

Non of them does matter anymore, my princess will explain with the all details above all this story about my brother, the disgusting man that I won't ever call as my 'brother' again.

But however I do.

Because some things never change..

As much as my love against Alena. This will never change.

I got tortured in time by my cabin, and now I am nothing but a human like y'all readers of my girl.

Yes, I kinda gave up from my creation effect for the one I love.

If I have to be a little bit more clear, once we did find my body.

This unnecessary human's name is starts with a capital A. I believe I wouldn't call him unnecessary only if I was using his body still.

He fired me out.

Fucked me up, actually, as much as my brother did. To be honest this one was even worse than the events I've lived before.

The only moment I thought I saved Alena, myself, and our future was the day of my damn birthday. Last one, I've lived in a body that could have been actually hold by my girl's arms.

It kills me anytime it comes to my mind, makes me maybe WEAKER, but need you to know, nobody should know my weak spot, expect her, nobody will, I got those enemies beside me, can't take anything back.

Only a few things what came real to me, was my girl and me, my son whom never had been born and died in his mother's womb, which that was my stupidity, I can't ever blame my little girl for this.

I've been guiding Alena, while she is living her first, seeing the unbelievable, learning all the cool languages, got attention in the high school with the newest style, tripping around whole world just to confront my eyes..

She choose all of this just to be with me, and she did. Yeah, she's been with me for a damn thirteen years, three..

FOUR.

Four, bloddy months. We just got in five days ago.

Happy birthday my lovely wife.

I call this wish from here because a couple of nights I couldn't be able to complete this letter.

But now I am.

And I need you to know that..

You are reading the luckiest and happiest man's letter in the whole planet right now.

Whatever happens, you will always gonna be mine.

This was our story behind my mouth,

What's yours, my deary princess?

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Catherynne Valente schools her racist neighbors about the asylum seekers in their midst

[Author Catherynne Valente (previously) posted this outstanding rant to her Facebook page; I asked her permission to repost it here so it would have somewhere to live outside of the zuckerverse and she graciously gave her permission -Cory]

I live in Portland, Maine. We have recently had an influx of African asylum seekers and the city has been scrambling to find shelter and support for them.

Cue NextDoor, that wretched hive of scum and villainy. Every day someone would post some new hateful jingoistic nonsense about how horrible these people are and that they need to get out of 'Merica and leave it to the 'Mericans.

I try not to get involved on NextDoor because I live in a small community and I have to see these people at the ferry dock. But I got mad. And I got involved. And it got long.

So I decided to share it with you. Please feel free to share it with others who might need to hear it.

You know, I was going to let this thread go by without saying anything. It's not worth it, I said to myself. These people aren't going to listen. But y'all can't stop being hateful and I'm tired of getting notifications that someone else is being and absolute bell-end about their fellow man on NextDoor.

So buckle up.

First of all, "they" aren't illegal. They are asylum seekers. It is legal in every nation on the planet to seek asylum, and they are abiding by the law. Just like our friend with his grandfather's naturalization certificate at the top of the thread (which is from 1928, by the bloody way, predating the Hart-Cellar Act of 1965 which completely overhauled the process to enter this country, specifically to make it harder for minorities because human beings will keep a rock as a pet but cannot think of other human beings as brothers unless they look *exactly* like them. And even then). THEY NEED HELP BECAUSE THEY ARE FOLLOWING THE LAW. The law forbids them to work for 6 months after entry. If they were illegal, they would just start working one of the many menial jobs that have no problem hiring underpaid immigrant labor.

Second, these people are not hurting you. In any way. I would be shocked if anyone yelling about those terrible no good very bad fellow human beings had ever met even one of them. Many of them are educated and skilled. Many of them are Francophones, making Maine a wonderful place for them to reestablish themselves, as there are still pockets of French speakers in this state. Every single study shows that immigrants and asylum seekers are a net benefit to the economy, that they get off of social services much faster than homegrown welfare recipients, that they become entrepreneurs and hard workers. And yet you hate them before they even arrive.

And if you want to talk to me about how some of them are Muslim, and might bring their naughty repressive Muslim African culture into wonderful, flawless liberal America, let me tell you about Alabama. And Georgia. And Ohio. And North Carolina. And the Supreme Court. The people who are right now actively seeking to curtail my rights to my own body, to prevent me from voting for my own equal representation, to empower the companies that may employ me over myself, are as American as the flag, fireworks, and goddamned apple pie. These are individual people with no institutional power, and you have no idea what they think or believe about anything because you don't know them. The people with institutional power are hurting us all. Right now. And I don't see any angry threads on Next Door about it.

OMG BUT MY TAXES.

I. Pay. Taxes. Too. And my taxes go to support an aging Maine population, to give them healthcare, food stamps, housing subsidies, social security, and myriad other avenues of support. Support that will almost certainly not be available to me when I am old, because the very generation receiving my tax dollars has repeatedly voted for the downsizing and existential dissolution of the programs they enjoy. Yet I still pay. I pay for you. Knowing I will get nothing in return.

But you know what really pisses me off about where my tax dollars go? It isn't that they support an aging conservative population with the free time to post endless hateful multi-exclamation point capslocked screeds on the Internet. And it goddamn well isn't that 86-150 families (god, how few human beings it takes to turn on the histrionics) who have been through the most heinous and unimaginable cruelty, violence, and persecution might settle here in this state where all the young people actually born here are fleeing at rates that would snap your neck.

My tax dollars and your tax dollars and all of our tax dollars are going to build a megayacht dock in Portland so that more uber-rich assholes have a place to park their massive pleasure boats, boats that cost more than those 86-150 families could ever need.

My tax dollars and your tax dollars and all of our tax dollars are going to subsidize developers who smell fresh meat in our city so they can build more luxury condos none of us can afford (and again, the sale price of three or four of them on the West End would cover everything these families need), condos that will sit empty for all but two weeks a year so that a few families can look at the water and stuff themselves with lobster butter while complaining about live music to the point that our festivals get cancelled so they can go to bed earlier, murmuring as they drift off to a dreamland none of us can make a down payment on that Portland used to be so much better in the old days.

My tax dollars and your tax dollars and all of our tax dollars have, for eight years, gone toward blocking bills the people voted for from becoming law, fighting in the courts not to give Mainers medicare or raise our minimum wage or let us smoke in peace or have a little more choice in voting. Our money has gone to subsidizing red states that hate New England like fire. Our money has gone to making sure the megayacht-parking lobster butter bathers pay less in taxes than a barista on Munjoy Hill. And NONE of you are complaining about that.

Nor do I see any single thread looking to help the homeless vets and addicts you're all suddenly so conveniently concerned about, no matter how bad the winter gets. Pro tip: do not use veterans as strawmen when you argue that the poor deserve nothing and America is somehow full. A massive percentage of vets are immigrants themselves, and they are out there protecting your right to be a total dick on the internet.

Somehow, for some strange reason, the only time people seem to take to their keyboards to complain about where their taxes are going is when they might just end up helping someone less fortunate. When they help people more fortunate? Crickets.

This state is aging. We need a new tax base or all those senior citizens will suffer, because their services will be cut without people my age to pay for them. Young people are not moving here. They're just vacationing here. If you feel like freezing to death some idle winter without social services still yelling Don't Tread On Me, be my guest. I would prefer to live in a lively multicultural city full of art, music, food, theater, and more services being used by people who need them to survive than those who just want to pay a little less taxes and have a convenient place to park their yachts.

The hate in this thread is repulsive. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. I would imagine some of you consider yourselves Christian, even while you spit on those Christ commanded you to shelter and treat even as you would him. Nice work. There is not one of you who has not taken help from another human being at some point in your lives, even if it's only in the form of using the roads and electricity and infrastructure we all pay for collectively to make yourselves a success. Filling these people's bellies costs us so much less than filling the insatiable gullets of the vulture capitalists that have made quite the little feast of our city in the last decade. It's utterly pathetic that we must pay for the rich to harm us, but that rouses no protest, but this, THIS, these poor, desperate, hopeful people who have walked across a continent to get here, raises your rage to the breaking point.

You want to save a dollar by starving a poor man while handing over twenty to a rich one with a smile and a song.

That you would deny someone who has escaped hell on earth a blanket, a tv dinner, and a scrap of gym floor to sleep on doesn't make you a patriot. It makes you a bad person.

I said good day, sir.

Catherynne M. Valente

is a novelist; her latest book is

Mass Effect: Annihilation

.

https://boingboing.net/2019/06/18/nextdoor-is-terrible.html