black bat & robin at the ktv

helloooo, i have a request if its possible♡

since we got figure skater! Sirius..... Do you think we could get hockey player! James x figure skater! reader? Maybe they go to the same place but the place where they practice its kinda shitty so its literally kinda like an across the hallway situation where the hockey practice happens on one ice rink and when you leave you can walk thru the ice rink of the figure skaters that its on another section of the place IDK I'M NOT AN ARCHITECT SORRY

BUT THE POINT ITS, that one day James leaves practice later than usual and he's walking to get out but he heards his favorite song playing and he goes to see whats up because its his favorite song ever! and goes to the other ice rink and sees the reader practicing and inmediatly he has the biggest crush ever and its almost dreaming about a house and three kids with that cute girl

idk i think i explained myself like sht but hope you like the idea! cause i think it would be soo cute

Hi lovely, you explained yourself perfectly! Thanks for being so patient with me, I hope this is alright <3

hockey player!James x figure skater!reader ♡ 718 words

James’ entire body is pleasantly sore, and he’s very much looking forward to going home to a nice, hot shower. 

“Do you and Moony want to go get breakfast tomorrow morning?” he asks Sirius as they leave the locker room. The two of them had taken longer than usual changing out of their gear, Sirius filling him in on the absolute hell week Remus had at his new job. To hear Sirius talk about it, all the other professors are simply jealous of Remus. James is sure that’s partly true, but he’d bet they need less reason than that. Somehow, James had thought leaving school would mean emerging into a more mature world, but adults seem just as petty as teenagers. Maybe pancakes and a good, uplifting chat would do something to take the sting out of Remus’ first week and help prepare him for the next. 

Sirius cuts James a sideways look, gray eyes narrowed. “Breakfast at what time?” 

“I was thinking six, six thirty.” Sirius scoffs, and James grins. “Only joking. How’s eleven?” 

“Still too early,” Sirius grumbles, “but we’ll go.” 

James bobs his head, pleased to have a course of action for helping his friend. “Ask Moons where he feels like going, and just…” He hears a faint, familiar melody. “...just let me know.” 

“Sounds good.” Sirius pushes open the door, but James has stopped. He’s looking back towards the rink, intrigued. “Coming?” 

James waves him off. “In a bit. See you tomorrow.” 

Sirius makes an amused sound, not unused to James’ diversions, and goes. 

James follows the sound of his favorite song, unabashed about bopping his head to the beat as he approaches the rink. He knows figure skaters sometimes use the rink after his hockey practice has wrapped up, and he absolutely has to see who’s choreographed a routine to this. He comes to a stop near the edge of the bleachers, and watches through the tempered glass as one lone skater launches into a turn. 

This wouldn’t be the track James would have thought of for a figure skating routine, but frankly, you’re doing it justice. Your movements are springy and nimble as you glance across the ice, one complicated-looking move to the next to the next. It seems like both skates are never touching the ground for more than half a second. There’s a lot to be said, probably, about your skill, your technique, but James is a philistine. All he can think about is how pretty you look. 

You’re gorgeous. Stunning. Graceful in your movements and seraphim in your countenance. A wisp of hair has freed itself from the confines of the rest and whips about your face, but you don’t seem to notice it, your gaze steady and lips just slightly pursed in concentration. 

James would never tell his friends because they’d mock him to hell and back, but he does believe in love at first sight. Only under particular circumstances, though. The sight has to be good enough—meaning, he has to see some aspect of who that person is behind a pretty face. You certainly do have a pretty face, and you’re dancing to his favorite song, and James doesn’t understand how he could ever be expected to not be totally enamored with you after this one spectacular look. He worries that if you glance over, you’ll see him with giant cartoon hearts boinging out of his eyes on springs. 

The song ends, and you spin to a stop. James’ breathing stops, too, as your gaze lands on a point not ten feet to his right. He wonders if he’s being creepy. It’s not like this is a private rink, and James wouldn’t be weirded out if he spotted someone watching him running drills or something (actually, if it were you he’d be over the moon about it), but he’s been told not everyone feels like he does about that stuff. And though he hardly thinks of himself as intimidating, James is also a big guy. He wants to woo you, not spook you.

You skate to the edge of the rink to restart your music, and James slips out. He hears it blaring softly behind him, and he probably looks like a total idiot when he grins and dances out the front door. An idiot in love.

Hazbin Hotel Has Better Theology Than Most Modern "Christian" Stories

As a Christian who was raised in a fundie cult and escaped to now have a far healthier and vital faith, I genuinely really like this show. The songs are bops. The characters are well crafted and interesting, and likable too. The art design is bizarre but appealing.

And, as a theology nerd who studied theology as part leaving said cult and also has since gotten papers published in theology, I'm actually fairly impressed by the show's handling of theology.

No, I'm not expecting the story to preach or even like, be explicitly Christian in a lot of ways. But it's taking a lot of the really beautiful aspects of Christian theology and re-contextualizing them in a way designed to provoke thought: by juxtaposing them with the antithesis of what you would think, by making demons heroes. In my opinion, this makes the beauty shine brighter.

Yeah, yeah, it's designed to be offensive and obscene in a lot of ways. Yet, it's never (thus far) mean-spirited. On the contrary, it seems to have a big, beating heart at its core that is perhaps best embodied by Charlie Morningstar, its protagonist and the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith.

Critique of the Church, with Caveats

The story works best with an interpretation that heaven isn't actually heaven or God (who has been conspicuously absent), but instead as a critique of the church. Specifically, the evangelical American church, and specifically, white evangelicals. (Same as She-Ra's premise, actually).

God's absence therefore makes sense, because while Christians do believe God is present as a living reality among us, we also can't like, see him physically now. So, God being not even mentioned in HH makes it seem more like a mortal reality rather than an immortal one. Honestly I kinda hope God doesn't appear in the story, not only because I think it could cross some lines (which is admittedly personal), but also because I don't see that the story really needs it.

Adam in particular reminds me of every "theobro" on Twitter (I'm not calling it what you want me to, El*n). Basically a dudebro coopting his supposed salvation to flex in an often misogynistic way, who doesn't realize that he has absolutely no love in him and therefore is actually a worse human being than everyone he condemns on the regular.

(Which is kind of why I'm expecting Adam to wake up in hell next season...)

Think red hats. And Mark Driscoll. And, I have a list of pastors. Sigh. They advocate for how "simple" Christianity is, except they themselves make it ridiculously complicated and don't even examine what they suppose is "simple" if it requires them to take the planks out of their own eyes. "Shallow" is a better description of what they actually preach.

But what sends people to hell or heaven anyways?

Eschatology and Atonement Theory

Hazbin Hotel combines a lot of theories, throwing not only the idea of a physical hell (albeit mixed with Dante's idea of what hell is the Inferno, but to be fair a lot of the church has adopted that idea too) but the idea of annihilation, which HH calls "extermination."

See, in Christianity, there's a lot of debate about hell. Like, since 2000 years ago. The reason is because a lot of Bible verses seem to indicate hell, but others indicate the eventual redemption and salvation of absolutely everything in the universe, so you have Christian universalism tracing itself back just as long. But, setting aside universalism, people who do believe in hell tend to fall into one of two camps:

Physical hell, aka suffering for eternity, or annihilation: the idea that souls that aren't saved end up annihilated, or snuffed from existence. HH combines both of them, wherein everyone lives in hell but then every so often heaven "exterminates" a certain number of sinners.

And then you also have Catholic purgatory, which is also adapted in HH in that... for most Christians, physical hell doesn't offer the ability to redeem yourself. Chance over, you're dead. But, Catholic Christianity, which draws on ideas of praying for the dead, has the idea that people can improve themselves or be prayed out of it and into heaven. This seems to be somewhat similar to the idea of Charlie's hotel, in that sinners can improve, redeem themselves, and rise to heaven.

And, I mean, it's already kinda worked. Sir Pentious acted out Jesus' words: Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

But anyways, the branch of theology that deals with the afterlife is eschatology. And Hazbin Hotel takes on a related form of theology as well, a type of theology I've only seen covered in stories once before (The House in Fata Morgana): atonement theory.

Atonement theory is something I remember well from my theology 101 class, as in I remember sitting with a friend and her turning to me and being like, "okay, so we know Jesus' death and resurrection give us eternal life, but we have no idea how or why?" To which the answer was "basically, yeah."

Most of the white, American evangelical church is very "penal substitutionary atonement," but the reality is that this theory has only been popular for the past few hundred years. It's also, imo, somewhat scripturally unsound. But there are a lot of other theories, and sometimes the theories overlap. Here's a fairly decent summary. (I'm in general a believer in Christus Victor.)

So how does atonement theory tie into Hazbin Hotel? Well, essentially the scene where Charlie and Vaggie are debating with Emily, Sera, Adam, Lute, and others in heaven is them going over various atonement theories and realizing that they actually know nothing at all. How does one get to heaven? How is one saved? They don't know.

Sera criticizing Emily for asking questions was also very relatable, and I feel for Sera. She's genuinely scared but the truth will set you free, Sera. John 8:32. Anyways, the point is like... the angels are an organized religion, an evangelical church, that preaches about simplicity but mistakes shallowness for simplicity and discourages depth and discovery.

Anyways, the whole crux of theological study and atonement theories is that they should promote humility. We don't know for certain on this side of the curtain. That's okay. So what do we have to guide us?

Love. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8).

Charlie is Jesus

"Why would you endanger your immortal life for these sinners?" 

Adam, the absolute worst, says the above to Charlie in the finale.

I mean... look. That's literally the premise of Christianity. That the immortal son of God comes down to earth, lives with sinners, loves us, and dies to save us. However that happens. Charlie even responds:

"They're my family!"

In other words, she loves them. Yeah, sure, they're destined for extermination, but they are going to be exterminated over her dead body.

In a lot of branches of Christianity, and even in some creeds--though I'm going to give into my pet peeves here and state that it is NOT Scriptural and relies on the faulty assumption that God is bound by time, when I think God exists outside of it--state that Jesus descended into hell after his death and took all the souls of people who were saved prior to his coming to earth to heaven. Again, I think that's small-minded at best. But, the idea that Charlie is working among them to bring them to heaven is pretty reminiscent of this idea. And I don't hate it lol.

Charlie sees worth inherent in everyone, and no matter what they've done, thinks there's a future for them. Honestly we need people like her on this earth.

Angel Dust

Angel Dust is clearly my favorite character. Bite back your shock, I know (I have a type). But his name is also a fascinating multi-layered pun.

Angel is clearly foreshadowing his endgame. Let's be real, we all know Angel is ending up as an angel. And "angeldust" is of course a name for PCP, and considering Angel's drug habits, yeah.

But, dust also has another meaning to it. See, when Adam was created in Genesis 2:7, the words in Hebrew are "apar min ha'adamah," which is translated literally as "dust of the ground." So the dust is what creates Adam, literally "ground."

In other words, I very much expect Angel Dust to end up being foiled with Adam even more so. Adam might be the first man, but Angel is the first sinner working towards redemption. And let's be real, for all Angel's flaws, he's already a better person than Adam. And if there's any hope for Adam (not that I particularly care if there is but) it'd be through realizing that he and Angel aren't actually different after all. Conversely (and not necessarily mutually exclusively), Angel might serve as a more symbolic "adam" in that he becomes the person all sinners look to for hope. Which, y'know, since "the last Adam" is also a Scriptural term for Jesus...

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45).

I fully expect Angel's arc, alongside Charlie's, to bring life and redemption for everyone around them. Maybe, maybe even the dramatic "all" of Colossians 1:20 (which means, literally, all, everything, everywhere, in the entire universe).

Closing Thoughts

But honestly, regardless of how the story ends--besides that it will presumably end happily because HH is at its core feel-good despite being profane--season one at least has got good theology. Why? Because it's digging into the questions that theology is concerned with. It's digging into the ideas of human nature, of what it means to be a good person, of what it means to redeem oneself, of affirming how precious each individual human soul is.

It doesn't offer cheap answers, and it specifically calls out the white American evangelical church for how it purports to be simple but actually just confuses people and punishes them for things they can't help, that creates more stumbling blocks than it does shine a light. And it does it in a way that is scandalous. Offensive to many religious people.

But, y'know, Jesus was pretty scandalous too.

So I really love the story so far because it emphasizes what I find so beautiful about my religion, and criticizes the parts that have also hurt me. I don't think it's remotely aiming to be a Christian allegory or anything like that, and I don't at all think anyone has to be religious to enjoy it or gain the core message of it, but I do think that it's doing a hell of a lot more good in the world message-wise than most evangelical movies of the past 30 years.

Angels, demons, language, and culture part 4: Literalism and metaphor

Part 1 (angels are never children, and that matters), Part 2 (written language is mostly coded human rather than ethereal/occult in Good Omens), Part 3 (human writings contain useful social rules, which is partly why Aziraphale values them)

It may be time to restate @thundercrackfic's original questions?

How good is Aziraphale’s reading comprehension? How much does he understand subtext and metaphor? Because his behavior this season struck me with the impression that he didn’t really understand the books he collects. He’s clever at puzzle solving, and contains vast knowledge; but he always seems to take things at face value (when he’s not willfully misunderstanding), and refuses to give up black-and-white thinking, which would make it very difficult to analyze texts.

I think there are definite reasons to believe that reading comprehension of human literature (as defined in the question) is difficult for Aziraphale. One of them, as stated in part 1, is that Aziraphale doesn't get the tremendous advantage of childhood and its brain plasticity, which (among other things) is known to help with learning language. I'm not surprised his French is pretty bad. Learning another language from the ground up as an adult can be a cast-iron PITA (yes, experience speaking).

Another is simply that Aziraphale is not human. He's an outsider to humanity. He's fairly empathetic, and he does learn (unlike almost all his fellow angels!), but that leaves him without much of a yardstick to gauge when human literature is being literal and when it's not. There also seems to be a general angelic tendency to believe what they're told? Muriel definitely has it, Michael seems to as well, and even s1!Gabriel can only (and barely) muster skepticism on one occasion that I recall (the photo incident). I can see this making Aziraphale's reading, especially early in his existence on Earth, a good bit harder for him than reading is for, say, me. I'm used to unreliable narrators and figurative language and other sorts of clever fun productive lying. Aziraphale's acquaintance with lying is -- well -- his lies don't usually involve much metaphor? I suppose one could argue that "big sharp cutty thing" is a kenning, but not really in the human way of kennings because he only uses it the once.

Moreover, it appears (based on the s1e3 cold open, mostly) that he bops around the world quite a bit until finally settling in London (with the occasional jaunt elsewhere when he gets peckish). Nothing at his creation other than the auto-polyglottism She bestows on Her angels seems to give him any tools for navigating the bewildering variety of human cultures and customs... and literary metaphor (along with lots of other literary things) is commonly culturally-bound, culturally-specific.

I mean, if you read something (maybe in high school (or analogue) or college) that was written A Long Time Ago and/or Very Far Away, didn't it probably have a ton of what lit-critters call "apparatus" in it? Explanatory introductions, bibliography, and above all footnotes/endnotes/margin notes, many of which explain figures of speech that otherwise wouldn't make sense? Not to mention stuff like (just as an example) which local then-current political morass Dante threw this particular historical person in this particular circle of Hell for. Stuff that if you're not there, not embedded in the culture and the time, you're just plain gonna whiff. Hell, even Shakespeare editions have a ton of apparatus, and Shakespeare's in Early Modern English for pity's sake!

(Which is not to say that something has to be ancient or not-from-here to benefit from some apparatus. What is The Annotated Pratchett File if not apparatus for Discworld?)

So our peripatetic angel reading literature of whatever time he's actually in (which mostly won't have apparatus he can rely on for help) will often find himself not clued-in enough to a given human culture to completely understand its literary figures, metaphors included. And sure, that's going to lead to some misreadings and misunderstandings and overliteral takes! I can't read Dante's Inferno and understand everything in it! It takes Italianists years, if not decades, to do that!

And to make the problem even more difficult, literature feeds on itself, and on other arts as well. (Hi hi hello, comparative literature major, I totally studied various flows of literary and artistic influence in college and wouldn't trade that major for anything ever, it was the best major.) Think about all the time and effort GO meta-ists have spent of late teasing out callbacks and allusions and references in GO s2. That kind of work is also part of what Aziraphale has to do to understand fully what he reads... and it's a lot of work, even for a reader as voracious and possibly sleepless as our angel.

So yeah, in sum, I don't think Aziraphale has a perfect -- or even good -- track record on understanding what he reads. I adore him because he reads anyway! He never gives up on trying to understand! That's absolutely praiseworthy! (Crowley has something of an analogue to this in his love for human inventions. He doesn't understand how anything actually works, for the most part, but he loves it all the same.)

I think there's also an outstanding question about what Aziraphale gains from reading, a sense of social rules (Part 3) aside? Well, it's known that reading (especially fiction, especially fiction about characters who are Not Like The Reader) increases empathy. I don't know if Aziraphale reads specifically for that reason, but I'm absolutely willing to believe that fiction works on him that way, just as it does on us, even if he doesn't fully understand everything he reads. Did you fully understand everything you read as a child? Or even as an adult? I would never claim that of myself. Yet I certainly will claim that I picked up a lot of what I suppose I will call my character -- it runs deeper than personality -- and my general understanding of life (insofar as I have one) from reading.

If I had to answer why Aziraphale reads, though? I'd think back to my own childhood, as a bullied child with somewhat neglectful parents who held outsized expectations of me. Reading for me was peace, was escape, was enjoyment, was something to think about that wasn't my own unhappiness, was -- now and then, honestly not often enough -- seeing myself reflected in a book and feeling less alone. I hope and believe that human literature and music served similar purposes for our poor angel.

Simp (Part 2) | Wilbur Soot

A/N: Oh wow, thank you so much for all the love for the first chapter!!! It means a lot. Also, i have another fic called Happy (Sad) New Year if you’re interested in seeing. And another thing is that I might update this series weekly.

Summary: You might have a crush on Tommy’s cute tall friend with the glasses.

Pairing(s): CC!Wilbur Soot x gender neutral!reader, CC!Wilbur Soot x actor!reader.

Warning(s): None.

italics: streams

my masterlist :))

~~

After your Twitter interaction with TommyInnit, The same thing happened again, funnily enough, was with a friend of Tommy’s and fellow streamer. You recognized him from the first vlog you’ve watched of Tommy’s, the cute tall one with the glasses. Wilbur Soot was his name or at least that was what people called him. Again, your fans tagged you in various posts, moments caught from his stream. In one of those clips, he jokingly banged his fist on his desk.

“That was suppose to be me, chat! I like them first! It’s not fair. Tommy keeps rubbing it on my face.”

There was another one where he talked about when he first liked you.

“I found this soundtrack, right, chat. And it was from this movie. I searched it up, watched it and just immediately it became one of my favourite films. They played one of the characters in it and I found out they wrote a song from the soundtrack that coincidentally is my favourite.”

The thing that got you though was when he complimented your singing and writing in the song that you wrote. You remembered being scared shitless for that particular role for two reasons. One, you never sang in front of that many people before and it made you nervous. Two, although you loved writing songs—you have a journal filled with unfinished songs—you didn’t think you had the ability to write one that was vital to your character’s arc.

“They have a very good voice in my opinion, no, a great voice actually. And that specific song was quite relatable for me—I’m pouring my heart out here, chat, and here you are calling me a simp. Fine, go ahead, call me a simp. I don’t care. Maybe I am a simp. What about it, chat?”

You thought it was really sweet how he thinks of you and you couldn’t help the slight fluttering in your heart and the butterflies in your stomach when his fans tell him that he has a crush. Also his cute smile didn’t help at all with the sensation growing inside you. Honestly, you could just watch a video of him smiling over and over again.

For days, you keep thinking about him which was frustrating and exciting in some way. You felt like a teenager again, crushing on a boy that smiled at you in passing. You haven’t told anyone about it, knowing that everyone was going to tease you if they knew and would try to convince you to reach out to him. You wanted to, badly even, but life in the spotlight has its ups and downs. You don’t want the paparazzi to be crowding and violating this man’s private life just for the sole reason of trying to find out who you might be dating next.

You were scrolling down YouTube again, filling the time as you sat down in the hair and makeup trailer, when you came across a band. From experience, artists you found on YouTube most of the time was your cup of tea so you clicked on the video titled ‘Taunt’ by Lovejoy. The already enjoyable song got more enjoyable when you saw the familiar face that had been invading your mind. You eyes grew wide, your head no longer bopping, and finally that feeling in your heart returned.

“Don’t smile too much. I’m doing your powder.” One of the makeup artist spoke, moving a brush across your cheeks.

“Oh shit, sorry Sloane.” Yet, you smiled again as the video plays out.

Sloane smirked, looking at your phone screen. “Know one of ‘em? Is that why you’re smiling all of the sudden?”

“I know that tone.” You glared at the older woman beside you. “And yes, I do know one of them if you must know.”

“Which one?”

“The one with the glasses and the hat. The tall one.”

Sloane leaned closer. “He’s cute.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I can see why you’re into him.”

“I did not say that I like him.”

“You didn’t have to.” Sloane pointed the brush she was holding at your face. “Your smile already did.”

~~

When you realized Wilbur Soot have a band, the obvious choice was to go on a rabbit hole of listening to their entire discography. It took a few listens but their songs grew on you and eventually made their way into your various playlists—some grew annoyed listening to you repeating their songs. Now that you found a perfect opportunity to try and talk to Wilbur, the only thing that’s left was the execution. You didn’t want to make it too obvious that you’re trying to reach this guy. You could only imagine the article they would write about and you didn’t need to be ask about “a mystery guy” when doing press junkets later on.

“What are you scared of? You’re just posting about this band that you like. You’ve done it a million times.” You said, trying to calm yourself.

With one last inhale and exhale, you began typing. Your heart beating vigorously with each letter that you pressed. It was incredibly ridiculous how nervous you were. You kind of wished someone was there to give you some emotional support but alas you were alone in your trailer.

“Okay, that’s good enough, I think. Not too long, not too short. All that’s left to do is post it.”

Your thumb hovered over the button, still contemplating whether or not this was the right choice. Maybe you should’ve chosen the lowkey route. Just slide into his DM’s like many of your friends did. What if he doesn’t see it? What if he doesn’t interact with it the way his friend Tommy did? What if he turns out to be an absolute dick? The possibilities were endless.

When the waiting and the doing absolutely nothing began eating you out, you decided it’s now or never.

“Fuck it.” You closed your eyes, pressed the button and the deed was done.

Hey there Slug! I hope you ain't too buys and might have a lil fun with this one! Of each individual character, what are your respective favorite songs of theirs and why?

This is an easy ask to answer, so I'mma clear it from the pile and get to some older ones eventually.

I assume you mean solo songs only, right?

Under a cut for length because there are a bajillion boys in this series

Ichirou: I like his VA's rapping work in just about everything; he's really solid. Stage Ichirou also has a youthful quality I appreciate a lot, but of the main series songs... probably Break the Wall. It's high energy in a fun way. It also ties into a creative project I've been chewing on for years that's near and dear to my heart, although I'm not sure if I'll ever put it to paper and share it anywhere.

Jirou: I think Jirou's VA has a very pretty singing voice, so I like his softer songs. In general, I admire the "softer" aspects of Jirou's character and think that's where he shines best. So probably School of IKB, although I adore his choruses in Re:start.

Saburou: Requiem. I'm very, very, very into things that commit to being over the top and goofy, and I also enjoy combining classical and baroque elements with other genres. What's not to like here?

Samatoki: Gangsta's Paradise. The high speed rap is technically compelling. I generally appreciate v. fast rap since I enjoy learning and singing them. If the stage plays count, I really enjoy the emotion Samatoki's stage actor brings to Come Back to Me.

Juuto: ...There is some interesting text in the Personality section of Juuto's wiki page. (I have it pulled up to quick reference the song lists.) If anyone with wiki edit powers is reading this, you may want to clean that up... Anyway, I feel like they give Juuto great background music in just about every song, but Uncrushable takes the cake for me. I really like the BG music in that.

Riou: Move Your Body Till You Die, hands down. Goofy as fuck. Also, great workout music.

Ramuda: I find his main voice pretty grating, and his usual styles of music aren't my favorite in general. So Ramuda songs don't do a lot for me. I appreciate Pink Colored Love for plot reasons, though.

Gentarou: The slower Hypmic songs rarely do a lot for me, but I found myself enjoying Yume no Kanata a lot. Not sure I know why, necessarily...

Dice: 3$EVEN was one of the first songs I really enjoyed in Hypmic, and I still like its high energy today. In general, I'm impressed by Dice's VA's rapping ability and appreciate his parts in group songs a lot.

Jakurai: Like I said earlier, I'm not usually a fan of slow songs, so none of Jakurai's solos or duets have ever stood out to me. With that being said, I think Jakurai's speech style and slower rhythms makes him more fun and easier to translate w/ full rhyme and rhythm than many other characters. Like I think Labyrinth Wall would be fun to do a full cover of with syllable matching rhymes and line length while simultaneously trying to stick as close to the core meaning and tone as possible.

Hifumi: Both Champagne Gold and Don't Stop the Party are high-energy bops and great for working out. Slight preference for the former. I also really like his singing voice in group songs.

Doppo: Doppo's angrier verses in group songs are fun, but I'm especially fond of BLACK OR WHITE. In particular, I enjoy the DOTAMA cover. I'm a big DOTAMA fan for both his lyrical strength and considerable rapping chops. He's got a lot of songs that are really punchy and angry in this exact vein, and I love throwing on a playlist of his stuff while grinding out tedious work projects. Hahaha. Just rapping along "I don't want to work. I don't want to work. I don't want to work. BUT HERE I AM, WORKING!!!!" furiously under my breath.

Sasara: Comedian Rhapsody is really fun. This is another song I would love, love, love, love to try and do a full translation w/ preservation of rhyme/line length/jokes. Not for sharing--at that point it's just kinda showing off--but it's fun to chew on bits of it when I have moments of free time.

Roshou: Like most of the slow song characters, Roshou's solos aren't my favorite. I guess I prefer Under Sail to Own Stage for its background music.

Rei: All of Rei's songs are wild to the point of me liking them for the goofiness. If you commit to the bit, I'll enjoy it 9 times out of 10. Doesn't matter what the bit is. Shiro to Kuro is probably my favorite. LOVE the "heh heh we are up to no good" NPC villain energy of that song. But also, shout-out to his singing in Enishi, even if it's nigh-on intelligible to me. I love the hell out of Enishi in general.

Kuko: The king of goof himself. Sou Gyaran BAM is probably my favorite, but I am--to some degree--into virtually every song he's in.

Juushi: Wow, I'm listed as a source on this wiki page, lol. Anyway. Juushi's aesthetic as a whole isn't my cup of tea, but I have a soft spot for Moonlight Shadow, because the first two times I heard it were on Spotify shuffle while I just so happened to be scrubbing a toilet. So for a couple months after, I would put Bad Ass Temple on every time I cleaned the bathroom. Hahaha.

Hitoya: One and Two, and Law is so fucking goofy. I adore it. The live version with the airhorn? Chef's kiss.

Otome: Fuck it, let's do the ladies too. Out of all of her musical appearances, I like Just Do It the most. It adds such an interesting strength to her character, and the English portions are done super well.

Ichijiku: Love, love, love her part in Verbal Justice for its strength. This is yet another song I think would be fun to do a hell TL of, and then I remind myself that trying to rhyme "Kadenokouji" in English is a fool's errand.

Nemu: Her singing voice in WINK is nice, but I love her part in Femme Fatale for its energy. "I'm Nemu, and this is my masterpiece" Fuck yeah it is

The way I, and i think lots of others, would devour your Hozier essay like please spare us some crumbs i beg (also Vinh my beloved......when I say that song choice has ruined me.. your mind thank you)

hahaha okay this been so hotly requested but i am incapable of coherent thoughts so please enjoy these rambling thoughts that i jotted down in the notes app while on the bus!

i feel like there is more to be said but also bus journeys are finite so i'm just doing what i can with the time i have lol. what are your thoughts??? please share with the class i Know you have opinions and i wanna hear em!

adegoke: movement

so adegoke's character playlist actually has a different hozier song on it (from eden) which i always imagined to be more from MC's perspective. 

for adegoke, i love the idea of romance like the push and pull of the ocean currents, waves meeting and breaking, a rhythm. and movement just gives me that, i guess! adegoke is also a deeply creative person and movement really gives the vibe of the lover as an inspiration, a muse, which i think would be something that he would totally relate to. as a writer, love is at the core of his work - even when it isn't the subject it is what he finds grounding. 

adegoke also loves to dance (and is an excellent dancer) so that particular expression feels so appropriate. 

arthur: angel of small death and the codeine scene 

this one is quite literal, i guess - arthur is a mean little weasel and it can be a challenge to find the sweetness in him. i think arthur defaults to an "i can make them worse" approach to romance which i think this sort of speaks to.

also his family are terrible and he often feels like a bit of a stray, i think. 

atticus: NFWMB

this one has been pulled straight from his character playlist because its just So ???????? musically it just reminds me of him but i know nothing about music so i have no idea how to articulate it - the sort of unassuming and almost casual vibe contrasted with the utter devotion in the lyrics. the emotional intensity comes from the lack of fanfare, you know?

also like. atticus loves a hair pull, sort of sexy possessive vibes and a rhetorical question so the "ain't you my baby" really hits on that level as well lmaooo 

avery: it will come back

this is another one that is already on avery's character playlist hahaha what can i say i'm a hozier bitch!

this choice is really about avery's complicated relationship with softness and intimacy, especially in a romance with MC which is Forbidden when she places such an emphasis on her professionalism. the way that she partitions different parts of her life is something of a defense for her after her difficult experiences in medicine - she's learned the hard way, she knows better, and yet she just can't help herself. i always think of avery's romance as being like a dam bursting; there's nothing for a long time until a little crack forms and then the dam breaks and everything falls apart. once she has a taste she can't be satiated, which i think this song speaks to. 

charlie - sunlight

he just can't keep away, even knowing how totally disastrous it will probably be for him, but he continues on gladly because he thinks that being that close to the sun will feel worth it even after it's burned him. he's 'death trap clad happily'. 

ellis - almost (sweet music) 

i did a deep dive into ellis' who playlist on patreon way back when and (surprise surprise) this was one of the songs that features on their playlist. this was actually one that i didn't say too much about because its just a bop, you know??? there's the lyrics about their foolish heart, but otherwise this song just screams ellis at me and i never really know why its just a warm fuzzy good vibe and that's them all over. 

florrie - take me to church 

a song thats an endictment of catholicism And fucking???? all the ingredients to make up a solid florrie song. there are a few lines that give me big florrie energy (she's the giggle at the funeral / knows everybody's disapproval / my lover's the sunlight / get something shiny) but in general i imagine florrie would fare well being worshipped, i think that's a great dynamic for her, so this is reflective of that. 

griffin - someone new 

i don't think this one really needs much explanation - griffin falls fast and hard and often. he's my romeo, and every bit as naive.

beyond that, i do think that griff is someone who doesn't believe there's a Right Way to go about things and he's quite happy to muddle through life and always seems to land on his feet - a great person to help someone really uptight unwind hahaha 

imogen - my love will never die 

of all the characters, imogen is the one who is most likely to get on her knees and beg someone to love her. 

also she loves flowers 💐 

nyra - to be alone 

this one is also pretty literal lmao i am many things but i am Not a deep thinker. she doesn't love crowds, and i think the thing that nyra would value most in a partner is having someone that she can be alone with, if that makes sense? one of those special people that you can hang out with and still have the regenerative effect of alone time. 

when we meet nyra in body count she's in the midst of a really hard time in her life - we're at a real low point for her. she doesn't really feel like a person, she feels like a zombie dragging herself from one day to the next. she needs to work through that on her own (falling in love doesn't Magically Fix People), but i think that her relationship with MC would give her a few little sparking reminders to help guide her on her way. 

rowan - jackie and wilson 

again soz this is on her character playlist hahaha! this is an absolute rowan anthem for me - she is my roman candle of the wild. i mean obviously this song is so fun and that is Very Rowan, but the "better yet, she wouldn't care" particularly speaks to me. rowan is very much someone who can meet people where they're at with grace and understanding and help to build them up. 

syd - work song 

syd was the hardest person to match a song with, weirdly, but it was the second verse that really cinched it (and I was burnin' up a fever / i didn't care much how long i lived / but i swear i thought i dreamed her / she never asked me once about the wrong i did). syd is a hard person to Date because they are a fuck up! they don't always get things right or know the right things to say or make the right gesture. that said, if someone can work through the initial challenges with them, they would be rewarded with endless devotion (albeit expressed in their own funny little way). 

vinh - in a week 

lying down and dying together in a field to be eaten by animals is peak romance to vinh lmao. in general, i think once they find Their Person it will be someone that they can feel at home and happy with regardless of the situation, and there isn't much that they wouldn't be willing to endure as long as they had that. 

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by @elsie-writes !

This is the last thing I wrote, though certainly not line by any means, it's a whole scene, but I felt like sharing the whole thing. Sorry I suppose. Narul having his first experience with oysters in Makora.

This is from Book 2

Narul turned in a circle. Stands sold various kinds of bread, alongside dried meats, sausages, and more of that mysterious yellow substance. One particular stand caught his attention. Arranged on the wooden plank which constituted the counter, were strange cups or containers, slightly flat and misshapen. Inside each was some strange pearly white thing, swimming in a clear liquid of sorts. Narul had never seen the likes of them before, though he thought the cups were somewhat familiar. He approached the vendor, an elderly man, his hands calloused and crooked. “Um, what are these?” He gestured at the strange fare. “Oysters…” The old man muttered uncertainly. Narul had heard about oysters from Istek, the old sailor had craved them incessantly, though he had never quite managed to get his hands on them. Oysters were a rarity in Labisa, a product which required the molluscs to be shipped over great distances by foot and boat, a delicacy available only to the most elite. Hutbari had never been particularly fond of shellfish, as such Narul had never had the opportunity to see them. “Are they…cooked?” He asked uncertainly. The vendor blinked. “No?” The old man seemed confused. Narul shuffled awkwardly. He seemed to remember that Istek had said they were eaten raw. His stomach growled. “Worth a try.” Bop said with a chuckle. Narul had no idea how much a single oyster cost. After a moment of hesitation, he placed one of the silver coins on the counter. The vendor’s eyes widened. Immediately he started to prepare the shellfish, sprinkling them with some sort of dried seaweed, some sort of chopped allium, and a yellow oil that Narul was unfamiliar with. Before Narul could stop him the old man had already prepared no less than two dozen. The old man bowed and waited anxiously for Narul to eat. “Do…Do I eat all of it?” Narul asked Bop. “I don’t know, I’ve never eaten before.” The spirit replied. Narul grimaced. He lifted one of the cups to his mouth, and after a beat, tossed the whole thing into his mouth. He quite enjoyed the flavor, briny and yet somewhat sweet, the seaweed added some much needed contrast and slight vegetal note. He was not a fan, however, of the shell. He had no issue crunching through the brittle material, his powerful jaw rendering it to a chalky dust, however its taste was somewhat bitter and coated his tongue. When he looked at the vendor, the old man’s face had gone pale, his jaw was slack, eyes bugged from his skull. “I don’t think you were supposed to eat the bottom part.” Bop laughed. “Oh…” Narul muttered out loud. He sheepishly scooped up the rest of the oysters, balancing them in his hands as he shuffled away to find somewhere he could eat them. It took some time for the giant to master the art of eating them. At first he tried to place the entire morsel into his mouth, to remove the edible part with his tongue and then spit out the shell like an olive pit. He then switched to plucking each individual mollusc from its shell, though the tiny delicate bits of flesh were far too delicate and slippery, and wound up either in the dirt or squashed between his index finger and thumb just as often as they found their way to his mouth. Finally, he stopped to watch how the locals ate them, sliding them from the shells into their mouths, slurping them like wine from a cup. He dumped the empty shells onto a nearby pile of waste. The shellfish had been tasty, though they hardly satisfied his hunger. He started to look for something else to eat when his search was interrupted by a booming roar which echoed from the direction of docks. “You!”

Tagging @revenantlore , @kosmic-kore , @jakkon-and-rose-topic , and @illarian-rambling

What are other australian actors/tresses you like that you don't usually talk about?

hello! gonna keep the obvious big names rn (robbies, hemsworths, jackmans, snook) outta this list. stick with ppl i think deserve more hype!

steph tisdel! she's an Aboriginal comedian and her on-screen presence is utterly delightful. her comedy is so brilliantly observational, nerdy and human without being fatphobic. also, I need her and rob collins in a rom-com NOW their chemistry in season 2 of total control made me insane!!!!!

claudia doumit! one of the most beautiful women on earth. most people know her as victoria neuman in the boys and don't realise she's lebanese-australian. i think its really sad she couldn't book work here at home because she's so fucking good!

rebecca breeds! my girl becs was CRIMINALLY overlooked for an emmy a few years ago for her performance as clarice sterling in clarice!! she was so fucking good!!! aside from that, she's in one of my fave Australian comedy films three summers (2017). she has an insaneeeee range she deserves so much hype!

nakkiah lui! more a writer than an actor but if you haven't seen preppers 2021, go watch it now! she's a huge inspiration to me honestly! same for miranda tapsel!

keiynan lonsdale!! most ppl probs don't know that Bram from the love simon movie is Australian and they should because keiynan is bonkers multi-talented. dude makes drops bop after bop on spotify, dances like a maniac, and is such a warm unforgettable screen presence. i am once again begging people to watch my fake boyfriend 2022 on amazon

pallavi sharda! you just don't understand how much i need her to play chloe fraser in a proper uncharted film adaptation. also, pleaseeeeeeee watch wedding season 2022 on Netflix its such a sweet rom-com and i am in love with her

remy hii! another aus actor i just love seeing in things because he was INSANE RANGE. i've seen him thrive in rom-coms, period dramas, crime, whatever, he's a stand out. and he often does work at home too which i love! i got to see him on stage in sydney last year in the tenant of wildfell hall and he was so fun!

geraldine viswanathan! that's my wifeeeee. i know i mention her a lot already but you don't understand she's from the same city as me i love her and she's so talented and she means so much to me!

hunter paige-lochard! incredible Aboriginal actor who really shoulda blown up after leading 2 seasons of Cleverman. he's so handsome and i was ECSTATIC to see him in the newsreader season 2 trailer!

rob collins! i absolutely have talked about this man but you will hear it again!!! please watch firebite on SBS on Demand! but do not watch queen of oz!

i also have particular love in my heart for bigish name actors in a lot of stuff that aren't as well known like miranda otto, david wenham, noah taylor, eric bana, rose byrne, etc but they need no introductions!! also, please just watch Black Comedy on ABC and assume i stan every Blak actor in it because i do.

Hit me with those music recs, darling, my family forbid nonAmerican music when I turned 14 lest it make me Less Well Assimilated and I need to catch up

i gotchu friend, it's a crime that u were robbed of experiencing arab music and we must right this injustice !!!!

pls note that its late and i am who i am meaning i will gush endlessly abt my love for arab music and culture so there is a read more. also i'm MUCH less familiar with farsi and persian music than i am with arab music so i can't give many recs for that but spotify has a nice persian essentials playlist and a contemporary farsi playlist, and rly if you look up iranian/persian/farsi music, you will find a TON.

dammi falasteeni (my blood is palestinian) by mohammad assaf ⁠— [youtube w translation] ⁠— i think this is like. THE quintessential arab song. the unofficial palestinian national anthem. absolutely no one is normal about this song, and why would you be when it slaps so hard? a huge symbol of palestinian resistance, and recently removed from spotify for "antisemitism" (huge lie, the song is just a celebration of palestine)

nassam alayna el-hawa (the wind blew over us) by fairuz ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— fairuz is one of the most iconic arab singers and she drops classic after classic. her music is v traditional and i always joke that it's old ppl music (bc all arab parents adore her) but she's universally beloved. also translation note: in arabic, "hawa" i.e. wind is a metaphor for love!

yalla tenam reema (let reema sleep) — [spotify] [translation] ⁠— very popular levantine lullaby that feels like home 🥲❤ lots of versions of this song exist, but this is the most popular. fun fact: i forgot abt this song for a long time until i read it in a book documenting syrian culture and it unlocked hidden childhood memories.

sah sah (wake up) by nancy ajram ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— nancy ajram is a rly popular contemporary arab musicians, very hip w the youngins on the tikky takky, and her music is a blend of traditional arab elements with western pop! very fun, very upbeat, immaculate vibes

lamma bada yatathana ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— ik i said fairuz is "old ppl music (affectionate)", but this song is like. about 800 years old so it takes the cake lol. it's from ye olde andalusia, so lots of versions of it exist. the singer here is lena chamamyan, a syrian singer whomst i adore.

cha'am (damascus) by lena chamamyan ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— i have to include this song in particular bc i'm incapable of listening to it without tearing up. it's about the experience of being displaced from syria, and lena sings it with so much emotion that it's just. very cathartic and painful and beautiful all at once.

el hantoor by saad el soghayar ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— this song is so unbelievably cute and also like. the VIBES. what else is there to say. i, too, wanna ride a carriage around egypt.

el tannoura (the skirt) by fares karam ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— listen. yes this song feels a little sexist but like. it fucks so hard and it is my feminist kryptonite. also, PS on the translation: it says that he calls her "conceited" but imo that's not a great translation. the song more has a vibe of "oh she's hot shit and she knows it," but its not like outright insulting. you could very much make the argument that this song is not objectifying and more just sex positive.

the police are not ours by jowan safadi ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— remember kids: acab applies to west asia too !!!

boshret khair (good tidings) by hussain aljassmi ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— gang i'm so normal about this song (lie). literally such a bop with such a lovely message about solidarity among your countrymen and beyond. if i wasn't so busy shaking ass i'd be crying. s tier song, this is what healthy patriotism looks like !!

hadal ahbek (i will still love you) by issam alnajjar ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— this song blew up on the tikky takky and i mean. for good reason. so catchy, so wholesome, so romantic. literally no notes, its a perfect song.

fawda (chaos) by carole samaha ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— absolutely banging song with the sole message of "get these drama queens away from me, god i need to breathe" and she's so real for that

holm (dream) by emel ⁠— [spotify] [translation] ⁠— tbh i just stumbled across this song and thought it was dope, but just now i checked the singer's about page on spotify and i need to listen to more of her stuff cause she's got an amazing history. she's a tunisian singer and was a huge voice for the tunisian revolution. her voice is fr angelic, so its dope to know that she's an incredible person on top of being an incredible singer.

fuqaati (my bubble) by ruba shamshoum ⁠— [spotify] [translation + interview] ⁠— this is a very small niche artist but she's literally so talented and has a more jazzy style than the other recs on this list so !! i had to include her bc her style is super unique and pretty. also we always hype up palestinian artists in this household !!

there's literally no shortage of dope arab music basically, this is literally just a sampling of my faves. spotify has a bunch of dope arab music playlists that they update weekly and if you like the general sound then i highly recommend listening to more of it! also even though arab music def has its own like. unique sound, there's tons of artists that do tons of various genres. there's arab jazz, arab reggae, arab rap, etc etc etc, we love cultural exchange and cultural appreciation, amen

Looking back at TGaMM s2, while it’s pre-ending could’ve been stronger and the arc with the Chens could have used a bit more fleshing out, it’s FINAL episode was just about perfect and the stuff I loved from s1 was just as great as ever and as such, if this is the last we see of TGaMM, I’m pretty satisfied.

Anyway, outside of the s2 (series?) finale which I’d call a 10/10 episode and ending, here’s my top 10 in no particular order:

- A Doll to Die For: I’m a sucker for Lord Hater- I mean, Lord Doom. Really funny with good horror-comedy elements and a really sweet ending, has those s1 vibes of helping a character find their happiness and it’s just an easy one to rewatch for me.

- The (After)Life of the Party: Of course I’m gonna love the ep that gave us Jeoff - plus it’s just fun in its own right, and that song’s a bop.

- Faint of Art: VERY relatable as as a fellow creative, another great song, really good jokes and an incredibly sweet ending

- Dance Dad Revolution: Pretty sure I’m the only one who really likes this one, haha. I just found it really amusing, and even when he’s at his ‘worst’, Pete is still just super charming to me. The song in this one is one of my faves (was stuck in my head for the longest time), and I love that it was the Jeoffs and their genuine love for dancing that inadvertently ruined Scratch’s scheme in the end, lol.

- All Shark No Bite: just a fun time, ngl. I love GhostShark and I’m so happy he stuck around

- Davenport’s in Demise: really interesting spotlight for Andrea. Another great song, great lesson, fun jokes- and come on, of course I was gonna put the ep with the “soft rock personality” joke on here, haha

- Kenny’s Falling Star: Idk, I just really like the story in this one. Kenny’s actually a lot more endearing than I thought he would be, and both his songs are great.

- Frightmares on MainStreet: excluding the s2 finale, this was probably the best out of all the Half-Hour eps this season, as it never feels like it’s dragging nor does it ever feel rushed. It’s fun, sweet, exciting - really the only knock against it comes from how it’s ending now feels a bit hollow, given how rushed the rest of the Chens arc ended up being. (Also I’m still a bit annoyed that the Frightmares in the thermos never came back, either as a serious threat or as a solution to defeating another threat. Like- why bother having them in the Chens’ possession in the first place then?)

- Alakasham: a nice and entertaining episode that really highlights just how much Darryl has grown over the season, plus all the stuff with the magic was a ton of fun.

- FONAA: another ep that felt like a classic s1 romp with great jokes, great moments between Molly and Scratch, and a really sweet ending.

Outside of my faves of the season, I’d say pretty much all the other eps were also really good, only ever being just kinda meh at worst.

I’d say the only ones that stood out in a negative way were:

- (I know I’m gonna be in the unpopular minority on this one) Like Father, Like Libby: it just sorta felt like a One-Scene Wonder sort of ep given that you’re just spending the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop, thus causing the rest of the ep to feel sorta boring and filler-y since it’s not super funny or interesting in the lead up to the Big Scene. I feel like it could've played better if we got more of Libby and Leah bonding instead of just Libby being only focused on her dad and Leah being worried.

Honestly, out of all the “Special Episodes” this season, it’s the one that feels the most like it instead of simply being an enjoyable ep that happens to have a Special Lesson (like Period Piece or 100% Molly McGee)

AND

- The Grand Gesture: not bad by any means, just overstuffed. It sucks that by the time we finally got a Darryl and June ep, it also had to be shared with a b-plot that felt like it took the majority of the ep. It also just wasn’t super funny outside of like two jokes and felt rushed by the end of it.

All in all, for as much as I loved this season for its episodic installments, it’s new characters (namely Jeff, Lord Doom and Ollie) and its songs, the fact that 2/3rds of the serialized stuff didn’t quite lead up to its potential in the end and fell a bit flat - plus a couple of sorta meh episodes - makes me want to say that I do think s1 is better by juuuuuust a little bit.

But hey, s2 is still incredibly solid and enjoyable - and again, DAMN, that was a super satisfying and really great ending both to Scratch’s personal arc and the show itself - which makes TGaMM a really good show overall in spite of some minor flaws and disappointments. Easily the best modern day Disney show imo right up there with Big City Greens.

75, 50, 1 for spotify wrapped :>!

75. Autocorrect by KONGOS

(it still doesnt want to embed spotify links for me but the youtube link from the previous ask was fine??? tumblr pls) Anyway this song is such a bop!! I think it showed up in my spotify discovery weekly somewhere in winter last year? or maybe the summer of this year? I have no sense of time. Anyway it was such an unexpected nice jam, wonderful to listen to while in public transit or walking somewhere 50. Fire & Flood by Dawson Hollow

This song just has good summer vibes and just makes you feel nice. Just the vibes are immaculate for this one. Highly recommend! NUMBER 1: Come Together by The Beatles

I... Dont know why this Beatles song in particular got the number 1 spot? Guessing Spotify shuffle just really liked that one in particular in my liked songs playlist this year. I mean it does have a really good beat and rhythm to it. Perfect for when you are walking or drawing. Guess its deserved but like i didnt seek it out or anything. My spotify wrapped is mostly at the mercy of spotify shuffle of my liked songs playlist. And it tends to only show me a small selection of my 4000+ songs in that list. Anyway thank you so much for your ask Mav!! Hope you enjoy the songs i shared!

10+11+12+13 + 20? :3c (you can skip some if you want)

i'm starting to realize i have less music onions than i thot. but i just love ask memes <3

this gets long soooooooo for everyones sake <3 readmore be upon ye

10: Any particular artists or songs give you nostalgia?

you and one other person asked this so i will give you one (1) artist and one (1) song that give me nostalgia

soft by washed out gives me intense nostalgia. the ties in my head aren't the best but the song is really nice so i still think of it fondly

then uhhh an artist.. i used to listen to ben howard a lot when i was younger (and by a lot i mean like 2 or 3 songs on repeat for days) so i'll use him for this answer!

11: Song that everybody hates/dislikes that you love/like? AND 12: Song that everyone loves/likes that you hate/dislike?

now we're starting to get into the whole "im not super familiar with music" issue bc i have no idea what songs are popular rn :skull: so i genuinely do not know how to answer this one. um.

13: Any songs that make you absurdly happy to listen to?

i really vibe with California Friends by The Regrettes bc (related to the next question) it's an oc song that reminds me of robin and piper and it gets me hyped up bc i love my ocs. there is a lot of oc music that gets me hyped up. OH ALSO Hey There Cowgirl by Palm Springsteen (also an oc song) (it has iris and rosie vibes) (specifically from iris' pov) (i like to sing along to it very loudly in the car)

20: Do you have any playlists dedicated to your OCs?

yeas :) tho to be fair @saltylenpai made them all, i've just added a few songs here and there (mostly for robin's playlist). so far we have playlists fooooooooorrrrr (sound of me pulling spotify up): Finley (needs to be updated), Fig, Robin/Felix, Piper/August, Iris/Rosie, Flynn, Rowan, Flynn/Rowan, Piper/Robin, Robin, Atlas, Jo (needs to be updated), AND finjo. i think thats all of them. robin's is the one i listen to the most but here are some songs that feature on some of the playlists that i like (i like all of robin's so its a little hard to choose just one)

Finley: Ideas of Home - The Wild

Fig: Need You - Shin Sakiura

Robin: Bit of Rain - Empress Of

Robin/Felix*: Don't Say You Love Me - Transviolet (my choice/early relationship), Come Again - Party Nails (Juice's choice/established relationship)

Piper/August: Now You're Here - Yola

Iris/Rosie: Take Off The Edge - Black Taxi

Flynn: Higher - Mystery Skulls

Rowan: Serotonia - Highly Suspect

Flynn/Rowan: L.G. FUAD - Motion City Soundtrack

Atlas: Heartbreak Summer ft. K.Flay - RAC (there's a lot of crj and troye sivan bc atlas is . a capital G Gay boy)

Jo (human): Put A Light On - Generationals

Jo (squid): Crying on the Subway - Hana Vu, Acid Rain - Lorn

Finjo: I Wanna Love You - Just Friends

*all the songs on their playlist hit and are bops if you want more just ask bc ill make you listgen to them, please listen to them, there are so many and i just wanna write the whole playlist down. fuck

thoughts on k r&b? favorite artists/producers? i trust your opinion…..

if you want something more specific then rank beenzino’s discography lol

wow this sent me down a rabbit hole lmao i used to dip my toes a LOT into k r&b but i fell out of it after a while cause the rappers that crossed over with it so often started to annoy me a lil bit when show me the money became like...a big thing LMAO so so many of my faves are old old

beenzino has a great discography. hes definitely up there as a fave. 24 26 girl live life like a fish...still top peak album so good.

i mean zion.t is a classic and he undeniably made so much good stuff, but primary was really where it was at for me. he seems to have sort of...disappeared, but his 2012 album??? unreal. SEETHRU?????

what happened to sonnet son? she was so interesting and its so hard to find her stuff now fdjksf ms. burgundy was my fucking jam the year it came out i was so into it

i kind of fell off of it around the time dean started gaining popularity but his first album i still love. 21 is a solid bop every time i listen to it

simon d. simon dominic. simon d o m i n i c oh oh. classic. he makes great stuff. cheerz still goes as hard as ever

suran is always a good listen. like no matter what she does, her voice just comes through so nicely.

gray had a hand in a lot of songs i really loved back in the day, and to this day still he's making some interesting stuff. blink was and still is a real fave (esp the remix)

giriboy has been making a lot of things lately that i very much enjoy as well, and he has been a staple for a while i think !

i also sort of miss kanto? he did some really fun collabs with some idols. his song with infinite's sunggyu was one i listened to a lot back in the day. i should catch up with his stuff

crush is good, but i never really got too much into his stuff. i loved his song 'sometimes' but i loved the cover by jamie park (ne jimin park) a lot more than the original tbh i was trying to find it but its so impossible fjhdaskjfd maybe ill have to upload it from my itunes

dynamic duo's 7th album (luckynumbers) is one that i really enjoyed. it was like...nice summertime r&b.

i used to listen to this guy called eachone a lot. he had an album in 2012 called diorama that i was really really in love with. especially the song i like...

this soulights album in particular

sexyhomme had some mixtapes that i loved that sort of straddled the line between r&b and hip hop a lot, but i always loved them. theyre difficult to find now, but he has some stuff up on spotify that is still very good ! (also 0 monthly listeners??? wth?)

do you remember that cover of officially missing you that geeks did? i dont know what happened to them but i still listen to that song. they did one with jo hyunah of urban zakapa too called just go and i really love that song

as far as the current k r&b scene goes, i think that bibi and bi (funny) are making some really interesting stuff ! btbt blew my fucking mind so im happy to see him doing some stuff. and bibi is hit or miss for me with her actual songs but i always think she's doing something interesting.

mino's last album is genuinely phenomenal. im so into it. i think he has been doing some really interesting things for a while now but that album was sort of the best of him all boiled down into one package. i loved kill and the title track tang ofc

sam kim put out a nice album in 2018 that i got to late but its a great time.

i would be remiss if i didnt mention feeldog !! ex-idol now doing a lot of production and his own solo stuff. and its all exceptionally good and very underrated. detox really is a favourite of mine this year, such a gem

the scene has changed so much from when i used to actively pay attention to it i dont even really know who is still in it beyond the k r&b that is so seeped into the fabric of kpop itself now. im glad so many idols are finding some purchase in the genre through solo careers and stuff, like genuinely i love yugyeoms r&b, and baekhyun and kai make some really solid stuff.

honestly it seems to me like the future of k r&b is a lot of idols / ex idols who genuinely grew up on and love the genre and are bringing their flavour and experience from the pop industry side of things to r&b and i think thats pretty cool. its always been rather interwoven, but you see more and more crossover now than ever before

Bpp, I wanted to add to your ask about if K-pop as a genre will ever be taken seriously. I wanted to add to your point about fandom behavior contributing to it not being taken seriously. I notice that k-pop fans are the first to disparage the genre itself outside k-pop spaces and that a lot of them don’t take it seriously (see reply to a comment here: https://reddit.com/r/kpoprants/comments/xlj0rj/_/ipjuxm7/?context=1) If the fans themselves limit the genre to just ‘mindless bops’, then why should outsiders think differently? And that particular comment just makes me think that a lot of fans don’t think of their idols very kindly or think their creative or capable of more at all. I’m not saying that these fans are bad for thinking that way, since they’re in the genre to consume the music they like, but I guess it does feel like a losing game for the genre. There are break out artists (THE break out artists) like BTS, but I feel sad if they remain that way. I guess I feel sad because there’s tons of talent and creativity in the genre and I don’t want them to be snuffed out because of its limitations. I do feel grateful that BTS, as my ults of ults, are in the position they are now that they aren’t hindered by anything to do the music they want to do, but reqding stories like CL’s breaks my heart a little. Let artists do their art!!!

**

Hi Anon,

Your link. And my post which you referenced, linked here.

I responded to an ask just now and basically described why some fans view k-pop disparagingly (linked here).

Let me say again that a lot of what passes for music in this genre is junk. And I'm not trying to seem harsh. It's the musical equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig and dressing it up in a harness and a tutu, and then stringing it up to curtsey at every fourth count. (For the people who need to hear this, please note this is a joke. Don't report me to PETA). But what I mean to say is a lot of music here is just kinda bad, and that's not exclusive to k-pop, but k-pop is the only industry with a team-supporter structure which compels a lot of people to 'buy-in' completely. So what tends to happen is that though the songs aren't that good, there are other things that attract people: 'Visuals' aka really handsome or beautiful members, lots fancy/'hype'/cool props and splashy MVs, shipping and ships, overly complicated choreos etc, that make other people stan these groups instead. And they themselves know it lol. So when out in public and asked to talk about a musician they're into, if they're aware they're primarily into the group/musician/artist for reasons besides their music, it becomes very difficult to say so in a space that values authentic artists without looking like a bimbo.

Just as I said in my first post on it, so long as these tropes continue to be dominant in the genre, it will always have this problem.

But (again, as I said in my original post), k-pop is already being taken more seriously than before. BTS have shown the value in giving idols creative liberty, in prioritizing the quality of music, and in authentically connecting with their fans. The sheer monetary rewards BTS have shown is possible, is the biggest incentive the genre has had in decades to be taken seriously as a force to be reckoned with (for outsiders), and to put out actually good music (for insiders). I've said before k-pop stans are a bit... slow. It'll take time for their mentalities to change, but the industry already appears to be moving in the right direction.

Viva Las Vengeance

Yes, I admit it, I am a hug P!ATD fan and have been since the early days in 2006 when I was a 16-year old girl who had no idea who she was yet as a person. Panic!'s/Brendon's music has helped me through some of my darkest times, most recently at the end of 2018.

I'll spare all the details, but basically I was ready to give up on EVERYTHING, until my coworker - whom I'm still thanking for her help to this day - took notice of my precarious mental state and told me to take a breather, find a video or a song I liked and just come back to myself for a few minutes before continuing my work.

I quickly fell down the rabbit hole that is Panic! at the Disco's entire discography when one song in particular resonated with me so much that I managed to drag myself out of that pit of despair I was in and found my way back to the surface.

The song I'm talking about is Emperor's New Clothes, of which I now have 2 tattoos dedicated to this song. But I digress.

What has been baffling to me is the horrible backlash P!ATD's comeback album Viva Las Vengeance has been receiving. The "reviews" on here alone are such a stark contrast to how I've experienced the album so far. So I figured I'd throw in my own 2 cents and give a little review of my own.

This is purely my own opinion and I am in no way trying to disrespect anyone else's opinions just because I am a fan of the album, nut I thought I'd share. So here goes.

Viva Las Vengeance

I have to admit, I was skeptical when I first heard this song. It was unlike anything Brendon had ever done before and at first it felt like it wasn't "Panic!", but just Brendon doing a solo project.

As I listened to the song a 2nd, 3rd and 4th time I started paying more attention to the lyrics and that's where I found the essence of Panic!, of Brendon's songwriting and composing abilities that I had loved so much on Pray For The Wicked, which is one of my favorite albums ever.

I have to admit the song does give a glimpse into the rest of the album's overall theme, which is Brendon showing off his vocal chops in every which way he can. I agree with people saying it sounds like he's straining his voice too much, but if you've ever been to a live show of this band, you know that that's kind of what Brendon does and loves to do.

As an opener to the album, it's an upbeat song that gets you moving and for me it was something that got me pumped about this new direction Brendon has clearly decided to take his music in.

Middle of a Breakup

Contrary to what I've seen on here as far as opinions on the song go, this is one of my favorites on the entire album. Its uptempo beat, the guitar riffs, the lyrics... It's just a bop in my opinion. Even non-fans in my social circle say this song is amazing. I don't give a s*** about the lyrics "not making sense", I mean, have you heard Uno, Dos and Tré by Green Day? Barely any of those make any real sense lyric-wise but Billie Joe is still one of the best song writers in his field in my opinion.

All I know is that I'm gonna be dancing my little booty off when I watch him perform this song live this February.

Don't Let The Light Go Out

This is my absolute favorite on the entire album. From the very first listen to watching the accompanying video, I was hooked. I'm a sucker for a rock ballad-type song and the lyrics are right up my alley: angsty and a hint of a love story behind it.

One thing I will agree on with most of the reviews I've read on here is that the song is just a tad bit too high. While I still feel like Brendon is one of the greatest male vocalists of our time, even I think the chorus could have been sung in a slightly lower octave. We all know Brendon has an amazing vocal range, so in my opinion he has absolutely nothing to prove. I love the fact that he sings this song in his full chest voice and not in his signature falsetto. Nevertheless, I have seen a few live renditions of this song and I am still not sure whether or not he sings it fully live. From what I've noticed in these live performances, the verses and the bridge are 100% live vocals, whereas the chorus always sounds just that tad bit too "perfect". Even though I know he can hit (ridicilously) high notes in his full chest voice, I am a little skeptical about him doing it live in this particular song.

This is one thing I will be paying particular attention to when I see the band live on tour in a few months, not to criticize him for it, because I have experienced his live vocals in person up close and personal a few times, but just because I have been wracking my brain about it since the first live performance I saw of this song LOL.

Local God

Honestly my least favorite one on the album. I feel like this one doesn't really fit in with the rest... I can't explain it, I just don't vibe with this song as much as with some of the others.

As for the supposed "Ryan bashing", I honestly don't think it's that deep to be honest. Was Ryan's name the first one that came to mind when listening to this song? Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that. But I honestly don't think Brendon was trying to be malicious about anything here.

I think so many things happened during the pre-split days and possibly even after that that we are not aware of and that have not been made public for a reason. We can speculate all we want, but in the end the only people who know the full truth are the guys in the band and their team at the time.

I've only heard B's side of things - as far as he's been willing to share things about what happened - and I know that the split really hurt him. Regardless, I'm sure it hurt the others too, but because B's the only one left in the actual spotlight - figuratively speaking - he's the only one who gets heat for it because he put out a song that could possibly be about a former bandmate. This is like "Ryden" all over again and I wish everyone would just move on already.

T-Swift is most famous for her songs written about ex-lovers and former friends and nobody even bats an eye anymore. Just because we don't expect a certain thing from Brendon, doesn't mean he's not allowed to express himself through his music.

Star Spangled Banger

Good song, catchy lyrics, great melody, but sadly, with a title like this I kind of expected more of this song. I guess I was expecting more of a rockier, edgier, more uptempo song than what eventually made it onto the album.

But again, I admire Brendon for writing and releasing the music he wants to write. I love the song nonetheless, but again, with a title like that, I had definitely expected a little bit more from this track.

God Killed Rock And Roll

Total Queen vibes here. And I know what most people are thinking: "There's only one Freddie Mercury" and that is absolutely true. No one can do it like Freddie and no one ever will.

That being said, Brendon has never claimed he wanted to be the next Freddie Mercury, in fact, he reached out to Brian May (based on an article from an interview with Brian asking about Queen's influences on Panic!'s music).

Back when Panic! did their version of Bohemian, Brian gave Brendon rave reviews on his vocals and the band's rendition of the iconic song. Brendon has stated multiple times that Queen has been a massive influence on him musically ever since he was a tiny Beebo. So to me it's only natural to want to showcase those influences in his own work.

While some of the songs do heavily remind us of Queen's music, not once did I think "this is just a blatant copy of Queen". Brendon always puts his own spin on things and this track is just another example of that.

This song in my opinion is more of a banger than the song with the actual word "banger" in the title. This is another one - while I do think he's going into the high notes possibly a tad too much - that I cannot wait to witness live and in person.

Say It Louder

This to me is an anthem. I can't explain it, it's just a genuine bop to me. This song resonates with me because it's basically saying "f*** everyone who tells you you can't be yourself". It's also sending a message to the haters to just knock it off with the negativity and honestly, they couldn't say it loud enough "to the people in the back".

Sugar Soaker

Ultimate. Bop. I know it's basically just a song about sex, but what song isn't in some way, shape or form about sex these days? I' m not a huge fan of the seemingly glamorizing of alcohol and drug use and the objectification of the woman being sung about in this track, but again: it's not all that deep.

There are songs out there - a few rap songs come to mind, but also a bunch of country songs I can think of - that literally speak about women as objects to serve only one purpose which is not what I think Brendon was doing here,

It perfectly fits the overall narrative of the album that decribes the inevitable fall from grace many rockstars sadly go through and the music video perfectly portrays that.

The bit at the end of the video where the dude - I forget his name; is it Butch Walker? - goes "You're barely alive, man!" and Brendon goes "You're barely alive, f*** you" is just a perfect example of B's humor and I absolutely loved it!

Something About Maggie

This is the song that makes the least sense to me if I'm being honest. I can see most of the other songs fitting into the narrative, but this one it's hard to get a grasp on... It's an okay song in my opinion, not his best by any means, but it's a good message behind it.

I'm assuming the abusive person in the song isn't the character he's playing in the storyline of the album, but at the same time maybe it is? I'm afraid to say it because I know Brendon wouldn't do that to his romantic partner (the man is too madly in love with his wife, our goddess and queen Sarah Urie jk, jk, I'm not that obsessed with this man LOL), or any person for that matter.

I'm fully aware of the allegations that have been thrown his way and the comments and statements he's made in the past and while I am in no way making excuses for him, I do fully believe that he is not the same person he was during the time of most of those alleged allegations.

Anyway, the song is good but I wish we would have gotten music videos for the full album so we could actually put together and follow the whole narrative behind it.

Sad Clown

This. This song. The first time I heard I watched the accompanying music video and while at first I was like "da f***?", the song kicked off and it has quickly found its way into my top 3 of the album.

I love the esthetics of the video ( I love when B does any type of choreographed routine like in Ready To Go back in the day) and how they mix the old-timey royal setting with something contemporary like the random dance battle between the men and women. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Vocally, again, he hits notes I never thought were possible for a man to hit, but this time it doesn't feel forced. The high falsetto in this song is what he constantly does during live shows and it always seems to come out of him more naturally than his full chest voice does.

The "Vincero" that starts off the song is what my teachers used to call the "eyecatcher" in an essay or a presentation, or at least that's how I think of it. In fact, it caught my eye so much that I have it tattooed on my hand LOL. It's the motto I try to live by: "I shall win". No matter how hard life gets or what life throws at me, I'll always fight to come out on top.

All By Yourself

This song feels like an ode to the fans in some way. I think most of the fans, especially the ones that interacted with B on Twitch regularly, have felt or are feeling very alone what with COVID, people not understanding how one person, one celebrity, can make them feel so good and so seen, so understood and all of that.

"You can change the world, all by yourself", to me is B saying: "you are strong, you can change things all on your own, you don't need me or anyone else; all you need is YOU."

Fun fact: the way he pronounces the word "yourself" during most of the choruses sounds a LOT like the Flemish/Dutch pronunciation of the same word, which is "jezelf". That just caught my ear from the first time I heard this song. And just because I can't un-hear it anymore, I just figured I'd let you all suffer with me haha.

Do It To Death

Another favorite, albeit one that makes me sad. I feel like this is Brendon reflecting on the past 5-10 years of his life where it's been pretty much non-stop recording, touring, recording, touring and more recording and touring.

I've always been kind of afraid that he was spreading himself too thin (remember when everyone thought Brendon was dead at the end of last tour?) the past few years and this song kind of solidified for me that that fear was at least partly justified.

It does sound like the most Brendon thing to do to me: put all of himself into his craft and his performances until he literally has nothing left to give.

Do It To Death is an amazing song and I cannot wait - I know, here I go again - to see him sing this live. The visuals for the video are immaculate - as were the visuals for all the songs that got the video treatment on this album.

Overall conclusion

Overall the album - in my humble opinion - is amazing. Just like its 6 predecessors it shows Brendon's evolution, not only as a vocalist and a performer, but also as a composer and a songwriter. To me, he just keeps getting better as time goes on.

The man ages like a fine wine: gets better with age. I cannot wait to see what he does next, whether it be another Panic! album or something completely different (like, apparently being a father?!).

I do not care what all the haters say, I will always love and support this man and his music. I know it sounds like the biggest cliché in the world, but I do believe that if it weren't for my coworker/friend urging me to take that moment to myself 4 years ago, I would not be where I am right now. That is not an exaggeration, nor is it a cry for attention. It is simply the truth.

Panic!'s music has been a constant in my life for over 16 years and I do believe that it has helped me become the person I am today. I'm a long way from being "great" but I've realized that even just being "okay" is a step in the right direction.

NOTE: this post has been uniquely MY views and opinions. I do not mean to upset anyone by disagreeing with their thoughts on the album nor do I mean any disrespect to those who have decided to leave the fandom following all the drama from the past few years. I only ask that you extend me the same courtesy and even if you don't agree with my views and opinions, I ask you to please respect them the same as I do yours. Thank you for reading my first (long-winded) Tumblr post.