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halfseoulco · 2 years

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Proof — BTS: A review

Published Monday, June 13th, 2022 — There is something so incredibly satisfying about the biggest musical group in the world releasing an entire anthology album mere days before their ninth anniversary—because it’s something only BTS could pull off.

Introduction

The physical version of BTS’s love letter album to themselves and ARMY features two discs of past songs hand-selected by the individual members, two new songs, and an entire third disc of demo recordings as well as three additional new songs. The album was prefaced with videos from each of the members revealing what their “proof” is leading up to the release date.

“Yet to Come”

The septet also released individual member teasers and a music video for “Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment),” which calls back to their 2015 “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life” era; and at the time of this review holds over 77 million views. The MV pays homage to some of their previous music videos, little Easter eggs that only ARMYs would notice—which makes it all the more emotional and intimate, precious moments shared between BTS and ARMY throughout the past nine years. The song itself is deeply retrospective, thinking back to everything they went through to reach the point at which they are now and how what was driving them the entire time was their love for music and support from ARMYs around the world who believed in them when no one else did. But what really lies at the heart of this mellow hip hop track is an almost philosophical reflection on what makes something or someone “the best.” “The best” usually designates that there is only one—so does that mean that there can only be one best moment or is life made up of a series of the best moments? “Yeah, the past was honestly the best,” Taehyung sings in English. “But my best is what comes next.”

What underlies “Yet to Come” is the same humility that these seven young men have carried through their entire career—the acknowledgement of others giving them the title of “the best” but that none of it was for the titles or trophies; and that they are still unused to the fame and attention that they have garnered since “I NEED U” gave them their first music show win. Yoongi’s rap verse emphasizes this: “언젠가부터 붙은 불편한 수식어. 최고란 말은 아직까지 낯간지러워. 난 난 말야 걍 음악이 좋은 걸. 여전히 그때와 다른 게 별로 없는걸.” Translated, they say, “The uncomfortable title given to us since some time ago/Being called the best makes me blush even now./I, I just love music/Still There’s not much changed from back then.”* They are still seven artists with the same love for music that they had when they first embarked on this journey and that is what gives BTS that extra special something that few can even hope to match.

What to Expect from Proof

The version of Proof that is available on streaming platforms includes two other new songs, “달려라 방탄 (Run BTS)” and “For Youth”**, as well as fan favorite “Born Singer,” which was previously only available on SoundCloud.

“Run BTS,” title reminiscent of “RUN” (2015) and their own variety show, “RUN BTS,” is a gritty, rock band track detailing the hardships the seven of them went through in order to get the group off the ground and how they truly started from the bottom and made their way up. More than that, however, it is also what one might consider—and I say this in the best way possible—the child of “MIC Drop” (2017) AKA the musical form of bragging, with the lyrics making references to how BTS’s success has no one decided factor but that one thing is certain and that is that they have been running since the beginning towards their dreams, punctuated by laughter. (”방탄의 성공 이유? 나도 몰라 그딴 게 어딨어. 우리들이 모두 새빠지게 달린 거지. 뭐라 하든 달린 거지. 답은 여기 있어 하하하.”) The song also mentions how they have it all: good music, a good team, and qualities such as comfort and virtue.

“For Youth” tugs on the heartstrings in a way that is both sad and happy, the song beginning with a recording of ARMYs singing “Epilogue : Young Forever” (2016) during which many people have guessed was at the Permission To Dance concert in Los Angeles on Day 2 (November 28th, 2021). The softer, more poignant opposite of “Run BTS,” “For Youth” references ARMY’s full name, Adorable Representative MC for Youth, describing an equal relationship between BTS and their fans in which the former calls the latter their best friend for the rest of their lives. The lines “We run, we fall, we make each other stand up/rise, and we fall. Will you give me that/your hand?”*** perfectly sums up how BTS and ARMY rely on each other, with one’s conditions and feelings affecting the other and vice versa; and the song is one of the most sincere expressions of the love and affection that the group feels for their fans who have stood by them and defended them.

Conclusion

Nine is considered a lucky number in Korean culture; and with one era coming to an end and another beginning, we can only surmise that the next year and the following years to come will continue to bring great fortune and happiness to BTS and ARMY as they keep following the upward trajectory that their career has been on. No matter where their journey takes them next, they know that ARMY will be beside them every step of the way.

As FESTA 2022 comes to an end, make sure to also check out BTS’s session with Spotify, affectionately dubbed #SpotifyPurpleU, during which they briefly discuss their music through the various eras, as well as their live performance of “Yet to Come.”

Happy anniversary, BTS. Thank you for the nine years you’ve given us. We look forward to many more that we can spend together.

GENIUS LAB USA RATING: Good music, got them.

Proof Track List:

CD1

Born Singer

No More Dream

N.O

상남자 (Boy in Luv)

Danger

I NEED U

RUN

불타오르네 (Burning Up (FIRE))

피 땀 눈물 (Blood Sweat & Tears)

봄날 (Spring Day)

DNA

FAKE LOVE

IDOL

작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv) (Feat. Halsey)

Dynamite

Life Goes On

Butter

Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)

CD2

달려라 방탄 (Run BTS)

Intro : Persona

Stay

Moon

Jamais Vu

Trivia 轉 : Seesaw

BTS Cypher PT.3 : KILLER (Feat. Supreme Boi)

Outro : Ego

Her

Filter

친구 (Friends)

Singularity

00:00 (Zero O’Clock)

Euphoria

보조개 (Dimple)

CD3

Jump (Demo Ver.)

애매한 사이 (Young Love)

상남자 (Boy in Luv) (Demo Ver.)

따옴표 (Quotation Mark)

I NEED U (Demo Ver.)

흥탄소년단 (Boyz With Fun) (Demo Ver.)

Tony Montana (with Jimin)

Young Forever (RM Demo Ver.)

봄날 (Spring Day) (V Demo Ver)

DNA (j-hope Demo Ver.)

Epiphany (Jin Demo Ver.)

Seesaw (Demo Ver.)

Still With You (A cappella)

For Youth

*Translations courtesy of Doolset Bangtan.

**I have not yet received my physical copy of the album and therefore am not reviewing “애매한 사이 (Young Love)” or “따옴표 (Quotation Mark)”.

***This is my translation of these lyrics, including both the contextual and literal meanings.

#GeniusLabListens #BTS #PROOF #Album Review #KPOP #Happy Anniversary BTS #This is my gift to you

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beananacake · 2 years

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oh i have so many questions! okay how about question number 11,12,13 for snapshot, saviour, and the accidental princess, please!

Anon, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions! I'm sorry this took a while lol Brace yourself for reaaaaaally long answers!

11. Was there a scene that you didn't originally plan to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

Snapshot: It had been a while since I had written for Snapshot so I don't really remember which ones were last minute additions. I know that when writing it, I feel it should be authentic to real life as much as possible...? So even the nitty-gritty of every day life had to be added in.

Savior: Believe it or not, I didn't really plan on including the Epilogue for Savior. I wanted an ambiguous ending for everyone but I felt it was lacking in that family dynamic so I had to add it in.

The Accidental Princess: The end of Chapter 5 and the kiss in Chapter 8! It felt too early for me to write down Kit's confession but it just felt right that I did. The secret garden brought it out, tbh. And, I sht u not, I actually forgot to put the romance in Chapter 8 lmao I was ready to upload it then I thought Patch, aren't you writing a romance? Where's the luuuurve in this chapter? You're nearing the end! So yeah. That's how we got the kiss.

Also, Louis was supposed to propose a marriage pact on Ch4 but it felt too early and I haven't really established how close they were at that point. (There are literal lots I could talk about with TAP because I kept every scene I removed from the uploaded version.)

12. Was there a scene you wished you could have included? Why didn't it fit in?

Snapshot: I wish I could have added more to Y/N and Richard's date in ch3 but I don't know what else they could do in a theme park. I've never been on any dates so I am absolutely clueless on what goes on during those lmao

Savior: I wanted to add more of Angel's origin. There's a lot of mystery about who and what she is so I wish I could have written more about that. I guess I'll do that when I get to editing Savior.

TAP: Oh, lots. Literally a lot. This is the fic where I have a "dump" for every chapter. The one thing I had been adamant on adding but didn't was Kit teaching Y/N how to ride a horse. It looked cute in my head but when I wrote it down, it was too technical and I wasn't able to capture the feelings I wanted to convey. Plus, having not put it somehow made sense in ch9 when she disappeared and Kit had the stables checked for horses. So, it all came together, in an unexpected way.

13. My favorite line of dialogue from this fic was [xyz]. What inspired it?

I think you were supposed to say what yours were, nonny, but I'll put mine instead lol

Snapshot: "Because I love him and I miss him and not talking to him hurts but talking to him hurts." You know I love angst and pining. This line did it for me because it's true. There's something human about admitting that you want to talk and not talk to someone you love. It's raw human emotion and honesty for me.

Follow ups to this one are Gina's lines in ch5: "Hey, zip it. I'm having a best-friend-giving-advice-in-a-rom-com moment." and "Y/N i'm literally so close to smacking you with a spatula." because in those two lines, you could tell they're best friends.

Savior: Again, the angst of: "So, I left him. I left him even if I didn't want to because I was so afraid of losing him that I made him lose me first." I needed a way for Ikaris to connect with Angel and is there anything else stronger than a shared life experience? Both of their fears were valid and they did it both out of love. It's the sacrifice for me.

TAP: I love that scene where Y/N stood up for herself against the Grand Duke. "But may I also remind you, sir, that I am not just any person in this household. I am the prince's wife. I have let all of you tread on me as though I am merely the ground you walk on. I believe I am entitled to a modicum of respect, if not for being Kit's wife, then at least for being human... Forgive me for not submitting to your will, Your Grace, but I implore you to see that you have not afforded me the same treatment I had been giving you... That is not a suggestion for you to act towards me with disrespect." For me, it just goes to show that she is kind-hearted but takes no shit from anybody.

Thank you for the questions, anon! I hope you leave more!

#anon asks #snapshot fic #savior fic #the accidental princess fic #richard madden x reader #ikaris x reader #prince kit x reader #ask answered #beananacake writes

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dorkvader · 2 years

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The Batman

Not since parasite have I not been able to shut up about a movie like this. 3 days later and I still cant get this film out of my mind. It reminds me of lord of the rings, in the sense that it set up this rich world and characters that I just want to see more of. The more I think about it, the more I prefer it over Dark Knight. The Dark Knight is a fantastic movie, but I think The Batman is the superior comic book movie. Watching it feels like sitting down and getting absorbed in a batman comic. Reeves just understands the source material so much more than Nolan. His version of Gotham just feels more alive than Nolan's. It feels like it has it's own identity vs Chicago/NY standing in for Gotham. It feels lived in AND IT'S COLORFUL!!! IT'S DARK AND GRITTY BUT STILL COLORFUL!!! God bless Greig Fraiser and the art dept. The tone of the film was set immediately. They really translated the visual tone of the comics well to the big screen and I hope they get recognized for their work.

(Spoilers and more fan girling after the cut)

Batman is nothing without his Rogues' Gallery, i think that's the highlight and also the biggest flaw of Nolan's version. His Joker and Two-Face were so much more compelling than his Batman(no offense bale, u still did good). I loved this take on the Riddler. It baffles me that it took THIS LONG to get a neo noir version of batman. You know the hero KNOWN FOR BEING THE GREATEST DETECTIVE. I loved his dynamic with Gordon, I could watch that buddy cop drama all day. I can't wait to see more of Farell's Penguin so glad he's getting a spin off. Zoe's catwoman feels like the most fleshed out version. Again, this all stems from Reeve's understanding the source material and translating it well into the script.

Pattinson's batman feels like he has so much depth and room to grow. He's not the world's greatest detective yet. I like that the Riddler beats him. That he takes this loss and learns from it. Striking fear and getting revenge won't save gotham. That scene when one goon gets unmasked and echoes back Batman's own line back to him "I'm vengeance". REALIZING HE INSPIRED THE RIDDLER AND HIS GOONS. Then followed immediately by Bat's trying to help people out of the flood BUT THE PEOPLE WERE AFRAID OF HIM?????? It really just drove home the point, who was he doing this for? For gotham or himself?

My one big gripe with this movie is it's run time, it feels like a movie and a half. but I also don't know what I would cut to make up for it. The whole thing feels so layered but not convoluted. The kind of movie that needs a rewatch to see if you missed anything on the first go.

I'm just absolutely blown away by how everything came together for this movie. The tone was just right, Matt Reeves KILLED IT. Big props to the Cast, the Art Department, and the Cinematography team. Like EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT.

P.S. I hope DC learns from this. I feel like a big reason why BvS and Justice League failed, was because they wanted to copy what Marvel achieved with the MCU. Marvel had a decades long plan, there was no way they would be able to catch up with that kind of development. but also, as cool as a barry keoghan joker would be, the joker is oversaturated at this point. I think he would be a better 3rd movie villain. I would like the second one to be like a Mask of the Phantasm type plot, really dig in to why Batman is Batman.

#the batman #spoilers

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secretsandwriting · 3 years

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This is what won as well as responses to almost if not all the comments left.

After this I'll make the new one to go over some of the options you guys brought up to refine it.

Ok, so first here are the things that are done and will be in the next one.

Y/n will be a vigilante. (83.3% voted yes)

Enemies forced to work together (76.7% voted yes)

Enemies to lovers (76.7% voted yes)

Dating to stay undercover (53.3% voted yes, 23.3% voted its fake dating, thats always an option)

Fashion (76.7% voted Fashion)

People might die. (36.7% voted just not the batfam and co, 26.7% voted no please let everyone live, and 26.7% voted maybe as long as I don't like them)

Angst response is easier to show then to type out.

So now were on to the three questions where you could type your answers.

Things you don't want.

+ means there different requests I put together

Stalker ex boyfriends + SA and yanderes + Crazy ex + Allusion to s*xual *ssault + dark themes, r@pe, abuse, cheating + S**ic*de. It's a really bad trigger for me. If it ends up in play, trigger warning in advance.

First off, I don't really want to do any of these and I know I've done some of them before so I get why you're bringing it up. I'm actually trying to avoid them more now because its not the best for me to be writing them and all that.

As for the dark themes, its based off DC so I can't promise that not coming up as for trigger warnings, I'm not the best at them but I do try to put them before any part that has things in them so that's a given. But for the most part the only ones of these I see happening is the dark themes and those would mostly be the normal Gotham things.

Pet’s Dying, My pets dying lol

I mean, I figured out a way to help stop that so you don't have to worry about it.

Really gritty violence?

The nice thing about smau is that people don't normally post that type of thing on social media, escpecially if your trying to keep your identity secret. Also I don't like how I write things like that so I try to avoid it. There might be mentions of it happening but I doubt I'll ever go into too much detail on it.

SLOW BURN LIKE NO SIS I CAN'T HANDLE THAT

Well, since undercover dating won there won't be too much to slowburn.

If it is enemies to lovers, please don't make them too antagonistic

No this would be my favorite version of enemies to lovers. They may be enemies but they know that the other isn't actually that bad but they have pride so its really just petty in general.

IF YOU KILL THE MAIN CHARACTER AGAIN IM COMING FOR YOUR KNEECAPS

Jokes on you I took my own knee caps

jason being a whore

I love this but you don't want it which almost makes me sad but ok anon. I'll try not to make Jason a whore.

No kids: just everyone being young and living it up without being too idk domestic?

Ok, idk how to avoid making it too domestic but I'll try.

Anything you do want?

Having to live together. Cohabitation

Easy. I got you anon.

Titus and co as well as Jason bestie + bat cow 💕 + reader may be enemies with dick but reader and damien have a brother-sister bond

These three kinda go hand in hand and I like all of them.

Soulmate au? Secret dating?

Probably not soulmate au and secret dating would have to be a side relationship because Dick and Y/n would be fake dating. So I could do it, but I need another couple to do it with.

Stupidly cute fluff + happiness maybe + Some sweet domestic fluff is always nice :)

Already wanted all of these in it, so you three are thinking on the same wavelength as i am.

SASSY PET RACCOON LIVING HIS BEST LIFE , FAKE DATING where maybe ONE of the batfam still don't believe that they are dating and try everything to prove that they aren't which leads to Dick and reader to try absolutely anything to convince everyone

I love it. Thank you. However the pet raccoon isn't confirmed yet as there were a bunch of other options people put in so I'm going to have that one run again.

john mulaney quotes

THE FACT I NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS I TRULY SAD. THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME!! THIS WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN

Flustered Dick, even if lowkey + Dick's ass

I'm combining these simply because together, they give me some great ideas.

y/n having literally EVERYONE wrapped around her finger (maybe one exception idk)

Ok, but really. This is a great idea. Everyone just loving her but one of them sitting in the corner like. "Idk man, something about her isn't right..." Proceeds to sip drink.

CAR CHASE CAR CHASE And maybe slowdancing in the rain

So these were sent in by the same person. I like both! I like both a lot. I just figured out how to do a car chase in smau so its all good!!!!

Soft, moonlit whispers as one of them bleeds deeply + Dicks reaction to love interest being hurt, badly. I always love that. + fluff, and angst (maybe reader getting injured really badly)

I might get in trouble for this, but I do like the ideas... A lot...

More action

I'll try! I've found it a little hard with smau and I'm not the best action writer but I do want to add more action so I'll try to figure out how to do more.

Anything else or is it all covered?

pls for gods sake, for my sake, for your sake, don't kill the pets

Ever since I got this, it was one of the first so its been a little while. I keep wondering if its a threat? But again, pets dying isn't planned. I should have enough to go for plot so that there is no need to kill pets.

A lil bit of CRACK just batfam crack in general oh and maybe BATCOW making an appearance

The only problem with batcow, is pinterest doesn't have many pictures of cows that look like they could be pets because there are rarely people with them so thats why batcow hasn't shown up. Since I have more time to plan this one, I'll look for more options and see if I can find any.

what if, and hear me out, we made it gay🌈? or, at least, masc fem reader?

No, simply because I'm not comfortable writing it as the main relationship/character. I've tried before and I didn't like it in the least and scrapped a week work. So If I tried I doubt I would finish it, if I did, it wouldn't be good because I would probably just give up part way through. So I can definitely do ships and all that that aren't the main but for some reason every time I've tried to do it as a main relationship, I hate it. Sorry!

it would be cool to have more poc or lgbtq rep

I'm actually planning for more poc to happen in the current one. I noticed lack of poc not long ago and confused myself as to why so there will definitely be more representation.

As for lgbtq, I'll try. I was planning on trying to have at least one ship or something because I haven't. But as long as its not the main relationship I can do it so that I'll at least post it.

kiss ily muah

I love you too! muah! I really needed this, thank you!

NO KIDS PLEASE AND THANK U

Ok, No kids and you're welcome.

If there is an instance of fashion, could they help each other get ready, and laugh and joke a lot?

You genius you! Of course I love it!

Nope everything’s perfect! love from yours truly fuzzycloudsz <33 + All covered + All good! + We good + That's all. I love your stuff. + its covered !!!@ cant wait!!! + All good

I'm glad I got everything then! Thank you guys! I'm glad you like my stuff and that your excited for the new one!

#dick smau planning

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incorrect-ikevamp-quotes · 4 years

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Hello yes, could you elaborate on the Comte wedding event pleease. Crying and fangirling and dying are all acceptable. I missed it and I adore your rambles about Comte? Thank you either way.

!!! I’d be delighted to!! And awww, I’m so glad :D I love to write about him in any capacity, it makes me so happy to know people enjoy it when I do! Tysm for the full license to cry/fangirl/die because lbr it ain’t a Comte event if all three of those things don’t happen .Please don’t worry, I don’t mind talking abt it anyway! 💕💕💕

Okay my fellow Comte stans, you know the drill! I’ll be placing the details of the Wedding Story Event (jpn version) below the cut! Please don’t read if you want to wait for the official translation, and I hope you enjoy if you do take a peak! c:

AIGHT Y’ALL in fair Verona where we lay our scene-- This event begins on a lovely summer day with Comte and MC at a boutique picking out a wedding dress for their upcoming ceremony. As usual, she provides a bit of background as to how we got here. Comte doesn’t have a proposal event (as far as I know) like the other suitors because he actually proposes marriage in his MS. I won’t go too far into details just in case, but they essentially swear their love to each other in a church at night--just the two of them. (I’m not 100% sure, but I think this event takes place on the anniversary of the vow that they shared, what Comte called becoming “a vampire’s bride.” Yes it’s as hot as it sounds AND I LOVED IT). Now, despite their private promise to each other, Comte does specify that he fully intends to have a public wedding whenever she feels comfortable doing that. As such, this event is picking up from there.

With all the nitty gritty settled, it’s time to get to the fun bits. So Comte is weaving in and out of the dresses, trying to find the perfect one for his beloved. MC is equal parts exasperated but amused, and she notes that it reminds her so much of when she first debuted in high society (reference to the beginning of Comte’s MS). Back then, when she agreed to debut, he told her that he would immediately send word to his tailor to make the necessary preparations. It’s a kind of nostalgic moment; she remembers how thorough and excited he was (”I’ll be sure to show off your every charm”), and he’s effusing that energy in the boutique too. Eventually he settles on two of them and requests that they both be prepared, and MC sputters. She’s like Comte???? W H Y we only need one dress???? And he insists that, since it’s a special occasion, there’s no harm in it is there? He also goes on to say that it is in line with her culture’s tradition of “dyeing the bride in the husband’s colors.” MC shoots back that the tradition doesn’t entail several wedding dresses for the bride, but he pays the correction no mind. Y’all. I loved this part because it just emphasizes how much of a LIL SHIT he can be. Like he’s 100% harmless but I was like BOI IF U DON’T--I WILL KISS UR CUTE FACE. YOU STOP THAT.

I find it interesting especially because it remains in line with a trend about Comte that is so arresting for me, something that I find so endearing about him. I’ll note other places in the event I find it, but in this moment he is revealing something critical: for all of his capacity to play with the language and expectations that other people have/use, he only ever uses it for good. Here he’s purely being playful (with a stark note of respect and awareness); he has no intention of overwhelming her or undermining her cultural expectations of what a wedding means. Especially because MC, even in her monologue, isn’t truly upset--she honestly seems to find it adorable and funny more than anything. It’s also clear that Comte is working within her comfort zones. While he would buy the entire damn boutique if she let him, he settles on two because he knows it would stress her out otherwise (MC tends to be p pragmatic, not really about extravagance she is a mood).

And so they make their selection and exit the boutique, and they’re walking arm in arm back to the carriage. Comte laments narrowing it down to only two, but he’s happy they found something nice. MC thanks him for bringing her along, but he says it’s only natural--he wanted to pick out the dress the world would see together, he would never be happy with it otherwise. MC melts (WHO WOULDN’T) and says she’s really looking forward to wearing them, and he’s shook AF.

(OKAY BUT I NEED TO SCREAM ABOUT THIS. DOES HE UNDERSTAND HOW TOUCHED I AM. DOES HE KNOW. His route hammers home this idea that for Comte, being with someone absolutely means being on the same page. It means being there for each other yes--but it also means making sure the other person feels wanted and included. He could have so easily just picked his favorite and been like “yeah this is what we’re going with.” But not only does he not do that, he refuses the very idea of a ceremony without it. He wants this to mean something for both of them, and he’s more than willing to put in the time and effort to ascertain that. I’M FUCKING TENDER OKAY. HE CARES SO MUCH AND I SOB)

He asks her if there’s anything else that she really, really wants for their wedding, and she thinks it through. It’ll be a reasonably sized wedding, with the men of the mansion in attendance and most of their closer high society friends. They’ve picked out a dress, the venue is set, the people closest to her will be there...she really can’t think of anything else? So she asks him if he has anything he really wants to do for the wedding, and he replies in the negative too, saying that “My only ideal wedding can be one in which I can see you at your most happy." ARE YOU KIDDING ME--Before MC can recover from that, he goes on: "Even now, I'm enjoying the preparations, and I want to do whatever I can for you." MC feels like she can never win against his sweet affection, so she nearly kills him with her answering line: "It’s more than enough. More than anything, being able to swear our love together again--to renew our vow--is the best part of it all." Comte is visibly shocked and is quiet for moment (MAN DOWN!!!!!!!!! VAMPIRE DOWN GET THE DEFIBRILATORS!!!!! LEONARDO PUT THAT LIGHTNING ROD AWAY I SWEAR TO GOD--) before he just replies with a “Is that so :>>>” And translating this nearly killed me [At the sight of his gentle smile, I smile back.] IM GOING TO SCREAM THEY ARE JUST SO TENDER IM SOFTE????????????

As they’re walking, Comte asks MC to tell him about weddings in her time. What were they like? He wants a reference point. She goes on to describe how ceremonies really range from formal to more informal affairs, and gets to a little custom that’s apparently held in Japan. When a groom intends to marry a bride, he will go to the bride’s family to ask for their approval. Comte visibly seems concerned about it, and I’m pretty sure he feels bad denying her that experience; not only did he propose to her without knowing any of that, her family isn’t within range to be able to honor it properly now. Even so, he keeps listening and comments now and again with a great deal of interest, paying close attention. He asks, what happens if the groom is rejected by the family? MC goes on to say that it’s a kind of test of perseverance: the groom is expected to ask/prove himself until he gets an answer in the affirmative. Internally, she notes that such a thing rarely ever happens irl--it’s mostly dramatized in movies and TV shows. She used to dream of how thrilling it might be to have someone do that for her, but it was mostly just a silly little fancy, nothing she was obsessed over. Comte, being a literal fucking legend, senses this emotional shift in milliseconds, and starts musing about something. When she tries to ask what’s up, he’s like not to worry leave everything to me.

PLEASE CUE THE CIRCUS MUSIC. BECAUSE THIS IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO TURN INTO A CLOWN FEST.

So it cuts to them back home and Comte is asking Sebastian to give MC’s hand in marriage. Sebastian is utterly bEWILDERED and is like “I mean I understand I’m probably the closest relative she has right now but also WHAT!? YOU’RE MY BOSS/LORD I’M YOUR BUTLER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD”. Comte 100% is undaunted by this very normal reaction and insists that class/status has no place in matters like this, and Sebastian and MC are desperately trying to stop him from bowing his head/kneeling. MC notes she never expected him to take it to heart, tells him "Comte, you really don't have to go that far, it's a custom not a duty--" (IT’S SO FUCKING FUNNY????? YOU CAN FEEL THEIR MOUNTING CONCERN AND I CAN’T BELIEVE COMTE WAS STRAIGHT UP JUST “i am not above begging” AND THEY’RE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE YOU SHOULD BE ABOVE BEGGING)

The circus only escalates when Leo comes in LAUGHING HIS ASS OFF "damn...bahahahhahahaaaaa now THIS oughtta be good/interesting." MC (and I simultaneously) start yelling at him and he replies "What? Comte's already ready and willing, why stop him?" For whatever reason, this gives Comte an idea (NEVER A GOOD SIGN) and he’s like you know what? That’s actually perfect, get everybody in here I’m gonna ask them for permission too :D

Several things I want to say about this. 1. COMTE LITERALLY DOES NOT EVEN REACT TO LEO’S MOCKING HE JUST “omg ur face was useful for smth for once this gives me an idea” 2. META TIME. First and foremost, I seriously can’t deal. This man knows MC has nothing because of her traveling through time, no friends or family--he’s always so, so aware of what she’s sacrificing to be with him. It is never outside of his thinking. Not only does this decision solidify her presence as a member of their family (I’m just so UGLY SOBBING about the fact that he does not consider them all ANYTHING LESS--THEY ARE HIS CHIRREN AND HE LOVES THEM AND I’M SOFT) this is also such a brilliant, strategic move on his part. Not only is he doing this to fulfill her younger wishes of having someone be so confident in their love for her that they would insist on it in front of her family/loved ones--his doing this also solidifies her presence as his wife within the mansion from here on. There can be no mistake; this is an unquestionable statement as to how her identity has shifted in meaning, a powerful allusion to his possessive streak. (and WE LOVE THAT FOR US HELL YEAH)

Furthermore, I continue to be fascinated by the way he keeps subverting traditional or expected forms of supplication. While many could see this as a yielding of his pride (and in some ways he undeniably is) this choice to acknowledge her culture’s customs yields much more valuable dividends for him. 1. MC--notorious for never betraying the things she wants, having trouble asking for anything--is have her dreams fulfilled even if they were just silly little fantasies from when she was young. He’s actively making her happy, and he gets to openly gush about how much he loves her (FOR HIM THIS IS THE DEFINITION OF A WIN-WIN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND--) 2. This is a way for him to make amends and do proper respect to the marriage customs of her place/time, and that’s infinitely important to him. He’s trying to set a precedent; that even if he ever does make a mistake or neglect something (even if accidental) he will do his utmost to make it right, pride and money be DAMNED.

While it can be argued that he’s just being silly and over-the-top, when you look closely this is 100% a clever, very mindful approach to their future. While it may partially have been executed on an emotional/excited whim, he is also claiming MC as his own in the most clear and respectful way possible. And tbh that’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen

So, after Leo walks in on them everyone else starts filing in one at a time (OKAY YOU CAN’T CONVINCE ME THAT THEY WEREN’T ALL HUDDLED UP TO THE DOOR SQUIRMING TO HEAR WHAT WAS GOING ON AND AT SOME POINT LEO SAID “omfg i gotta see this dumbass bitch on his knees” AND BLEW THEIR COVER/MADE THEM EVEN MORE CURIOUS):

Jeanne: "It's so noisy in here."

Mozart: "What's going on?"

Comte: "Ah, excellent timing. I want to get permission from everyone."

Vincent: "?????? Did you do something wrong Comte?? What could you possibly need forgiveness for?"

Isaac: "A mistake made/wrongdoing by Comte?...Why am I dreading what it could be..."

Dazai: “Ah yes, yes I see, you are asking for a young lady's hand in marriage” (IM WHEEZING BC EVERYONE ELSE IS SO LOST AND HE'S JUST 100% ON THE BALL KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON THE NARRATIVE DISSONANCE IM CRYING)

Theo: Young lady??? The hell are you going on about

So things are getting increasingly chaotic and MC is just [jfc this is getting out of hand, Comte they don’t even know what you’re asking them to do]. She tries to explain but falters, and Comte puts an arm around her--signals that he’ll give them the context. So he tells them "You all know that our wedding day is approaching. As such, I'm asking you all for your approval in taking MC as my bride. No matter what happens, I promise to make her happy forever--for every moment, every second of our time together. Please, forgive my taking her" (WHEN I TELL YOU MY HEAD WAS IN MY HANDS IDK HOW MC DIDN’T DIE ON THE SPOT S I R. SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) MC: [...Comte...My heart melts at his confession, at his earnest plea. It feels like every single iota of our feelings are infused in every word he speaks, teeming with the love shared between us in overwhelming measure.]

For a little while silence falls until Napoleon speaks up, and honestly? It was so sweet ;-; I tear up every single time: “Forgiven. You know how much I dislike formalities anyway. And besides, who could say no to le Comte?” MC notes that everyone murmurs in agreement and a kind of warmth settles in the room. Arthur notes that MC will be a Comtesse very soon and MC just. I’m going to be a WHAT now (”C-c-comtesse??”). And it’s so FUCKING FUNNY YOU CAN FEEL THE RED EYE EDIT MEME ON COMTE WHEN HE GOES “Oh? Is there anything wrong with that? Everybody said yes, after all :>” MC internally accuses them of ganging up on her, but reveals that more than anything she’s a little overwhelmed by the outpouring of love in the best way:

MC: [Overwhelmed with feeling; touched, a little shy, embarrassed, but also full of joy--my eyes burn at the edges with tears] “I'm glad everyone approves c:”

Comte: Agreed :> your country/homeland has a nice custom. A v important step to inviting my loved one into my life as my wife :>>>>

So it then cuts to them in Comte’s room after the circus and MC thanks him for the sweet confession in front of everyone, tells him how happy it made her. He insists that it was only natural he would, and that it isn’t even enough.

Comte: “I am the one...your life, your time as a human being; I'll be taking all of it from you.”

MC: [...Comte? He took my hand with a very serious expression]

Comte: "As I said before, I will make you a vampire someday."

MC: “Don't call it that--a price. I want to live with you too!”

MC notes that while she hasn’t made the leap yet, she knows she’ll be ready for it soon enough.

Comte: “Thank you. But the last thing I want is to take things from you, I want to do everything I can to make you happy, to make you smile. Whether that means weddings, requests--anything in my power.”

COMTE REALLY SAID "she is entrusting me with her future and that means I have the responsibility of not only ascertaining her happiness, but proving my unwavering devotion to it" AND IM HOLLERING????? LADIES GET YOU A FUCKING MANS. MC finally begins to understand this, and she’s like OMFG is that why you went off so hard this afternoon???? And Comte’s like :>>>> guilty as charged, though I think I'm also just still excited about the wedding too, haha! They hug it out (YESSSSSSS LET ME H O L D) and MC asks him again if there’s anything he wants for the wedding too. Aight y’all I would be irresponsible if I didn’t warn you beforehand, get fucking tissues. I’m still upset abt his answer and I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. He thinks about it for a bit, before kissing her forehead and saying “I suppose, can you pray for my happiness too? That's enough."

AIGHT IMMA GO BACK TO THE EVENT IN A SECOND BUT I GOTTA SAY. BITCH. BITCH ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME????? COMTE THAT ISN’T OPTIONAL THAT’S A GOD DAMN PREREQUISITE?????????????????? OFC WE WISH FOR YOUR HAPPINESS WHAT THE FUCK??????????????? THE A U D A C I T Y. I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE INSULTED IN ALL MY LIFE. OKAY RANT OVER.

MC is surprised but naturally agrees to it, having wanted that for him even without prompting. She continues to think on it, insisting that she wants to do something for him too. An idea sparks but it only says that she made preparations without telling him anything for now, preparing a tangible sign of her love for the wedding.

The premium end begin here. She’s getting dressed for the wedding, and she’s--as usual--in awe of his perfect selection of accessories/jewelry to go with the gown. She’s about to put on her shoes when she notices something odd, and there’s a knock at the door. Comte enters to ask if she’s ready, and they both freeze and stare at each other. They both sheepishly admit to being completely taken with the sight of the other, and they laugh about it together. Comte tries to ask if she’s ready again, and she assures him that she is--just that she found something unexpected in her shoes.

He explains that the coin is an English six pence. Sebastian told him that they are no longer made in her time, and Comte explains he acquired it about three hundred years ago in England when he was living there (he says that he kept it back then because he liked the design on it). He explains that there is a tradition, that the English would put a six pence in a bride’s left shoe in the hopes of wishing her good fortune and prosperity in her oncoming union. MC has her understandable and customary (JESUS I FORGET HOW OLD THIS MAN IS SOMETIMES) and he places a hand over hers that’s holding the coin when she starts staring at it.

Comte: "Hey, MC....Time goes by, and various things will continue to change. Among them, it is only vampires who survive without dying or changing."

MC: "Comte..."

Comte: "I used to think that made it--made us--empty. But...I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm proud of being able to keep this undying, unchanging love for you."

[He put the coin back in my left shoe, and offered them to me--gentle as though they were made of glass(Cinderella's)]

MC spends this exchange on the verge of tears, but keeps it together for the wedding. It depicts their loved ones all around them as they walk down the aisle, and skips to the end of the ceremony. The priest tells Comte he may now kiss the bride (WHEN I WAS TRANSLATING IT SAID “KISS YOUR BUSINESS” AND WHEN I TELL YOU I WHEEZED), but just as he’s about to lift her veil--she stops him in his tracks. He’s confused, and says her name, but she reassures him that she just wants to offer him a wedding gift before he lifts it. Hidden in her bouquet are two pins that she had made, and she pins them to his jacket. They were made from preserved flowers, encased in metal to render them undying/everlasting.

MC: [Me too...I want to wish for your happiness...]

MC: “For you, things might feel fleeting--like they just pass you by, are lost before you can grasp them. But even so, my feelings won't change; just like this preserved/undying flower and the life of a vampire--dedicated to [Comte's real name] in everlasting love."

COMTE.EXE HAS CURRENTLY SHUTDOWN. REBOOTING.

MC notes that his eyes get misty and he leans his forehead against hers.

MC: [Comte's real name]?

Comte: .................I want to hug you as tight as I possibly can, but I'd hate to ruin the flowers/your gift to me

BITCH WHEN I TELL YOU I SOBBED. WHEN I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1. I CANT GET OVER THE FACT THAT HER GIFT IS NOT ONLY CANON BUT ITS LITERALLY ON HIS WEDDING SPRITE, HER LOVE IS A VISIBLE MANIFESTATION ON HIS PERSON ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. THE FACT THAT SHE ONLY ADMITS TO BEING THE HAPPIEST SHE CAN BE WHEN SHE SEES HIM SO HAPPY TOO. THIS IS SO MUCH. SO M U C H

And so Comte lifts her veil and kisses her gently uwu cover ur eyes chirren, the hall erupts in raucous applause and the crowd starts congratulating them!! Comte then encourages everyone to have fun, and the reception takes on the vibe of a kind of social gathering. MC notes that he seems to prefer this level of interaction, just relaxed and everyone chill, and she turns to tell him that it seems like it’ll be fun! Before she can finish her sentence, he kisses her fiercely before leaning back with a sigh, "It's still not enough, but I'll save the rest for later tonight." BITCH!!?!?!??!??!? HOW THE FUCK CAN ANYONE FOCUS ON A STUPID PARTY WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, HELLO???????MC notes: [Everyone from the mansion that saw the kiss made fun of me endlessly, and I hid my face in my bouquet] SAVE HER. Once again, it skips to the end of the reception and they’re now in Comte’s room. (I will blink twice if I think you need tissues BLINKS TWICE)

Comte: "Yup, perfect." [He places the flower pins I gave him next to THE hourglass in the room, looking pleased HNGNNGNGNNGGNGN MY EYE HOLES ARE SUFFERING

MC: "I'm glad you liked the gift c:"

Comte: "It is proof of your unchanging love, of course I cherish it :>"

She’s just so happy to see him so delighted with it. He asks how she liked the ceremony, and she gushes about how much she loved it. He hugs her (AWWWWWWWWWWWW) and then he notes that while it was fun to celebrate, all he wants now is time with his wife (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA). He starts kissing her like the world is ending, and she says she needs to get changed--but he doesn’t care, says she’s fine as she is and that he wants her right now.

Aight usually I don’t get into epilogue territory, but honestly, this shit was JUST too good. Now this man made of magic asks MC if she’s wearing her bridal garter (you know, the one that usually comes with the whole bride ensemble in Western tradition). And she’s like ???? Uh, yeah, of course? Why... He says that he saw something interesting at a friend’s wedding reception once upon a time, and explains that the garter is usually removed and thrown to the bachelors (analogous to the bride’s throwing her bouquet, and whoever catches it will be the next to get married). PLEASE NOTE HE IS KISSING HER FOR LIKE 90% OF THIS IT’S AMAZING

MC: "So it's like the bouquet toss?"

Comte: "Yes. Now then, how did he remove the garter...?”

HE DUCKS DOWN AND SHE’S LIKE COMTE!?!?

Comte: “...Ah yes, the groom removes it with his teeth >:D”

And so this man HAS THE TIME OF HIS LIFE tugging it down slowly under her dress, caressing her legs and loving every part of her. MC’s face is on fire, and she’s torn between being turned on and embarrassed. Eventually he reappears after teasing her MERCILESSLY and admits that he didn’t do it at the reception because he didn’t want anyone else to see her reaction. Blushing, shy, desirous--all of these feelings are his to keep and enjoy. (I!!!!! LOVE!!!!!!!!!! HOW SUBTLY POSSESSIVE HE IS AAAAAAAAAA) MC notes internally that she feels the same way about him, how he only shows this intensely passionate side to her. Comte is uncharacteristically impatient and frenzied that night, and they both go at it.

It skips to midnight where the two are cuddling in the aftermath, just being cute and happy. Comte, the absolute MADLAD is already thinking about how to celebrate next year--and she just giggles at him (he’s a wackadoo but he’s her wackadoo LMFAO MOOD) and he laughs with her. They essentially swear to promise their love over and over in the future, and it just ends on that wholesome note :>>>

Also can I just. The fact that he lived for so long alone, but was always, always paying attention to all of these little things that are done with a person’s loved one ;-; that he would remember his friend doing that at his wedding and be like BROOOOO I WANNA DO THAT IF I EVER GET MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!! I just. It’s so heartbreaking and touching at the same time, I just want to hold him forever ;-; the fact that he doesn’t seem to worry as much about his own happiness, seems absolutely floored that MC would do anything in return. I JUST LOVE HIM WITH EVERYTHING INSIDE OF ME

THIS IS WHAT PEAK PERFORMANCE LOOKS LIKE

#asks #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp spoilers #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #ikevamp wedding event #NOW I CAN REST IN PIECES O-<--<#today on: reasons why i would die for comte no.347 #will i ever stop? no #do i have a problem? probably #but i have a tumblr account and the ability to write and i am making that everyone else's problem fdkjlhgfdjkh #but i hope you enjoyed my rambles!!!#you're always welcome here friend! :D #tho yall story time #when he asked abt the garter i started SCREECHING bc i knew EXACTLY where it was going #in middle school i saw a guy do it once at a wedding but i didnt know what the sex^TM was so i didnt think anything of it #i was like haha weird wedding tradition go brrrr why is everyone whistling #and when i was reading i just immediately was sent back and i was like OMFG HE'S GONNA DO IT ISN'T HE THE WILD MAN #but honestly i cant get over how romantic comte is #he has no necessity to enact all these little rituals--i dont really know if he even believes in any kind of religion at all #(i dont think he does honestly but he never speaks to it directly)#but the thought of sharing that with her #of doing those things to make her happy and express his feelings #it makes me so very softe #i dont even believe in all of those wonderful things and yet he makes me want to humor that kind of belief #also idk why the cuts arent working properly on the tumbles i apologize in advance im trying to figure out why

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nature-bro · 3 years

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hold up, my latest favorite artist is unf in my opinion, and therefore, i must share **also, definite warning: explicit stuff verbally and visually**

Ashnikko, Ashton Nicole Casey

Out since 2019, so catch tf up c:

Daisy by Ashnikko is so far my favorite - music video - and her official explanation of the lyrics

I’m fuckin in love with her brand of weird - thank you for doing your thing. It’s kinda creepy, kinda bloody, cute-but-hardcore... guro-kawaii, pretty much (omg, Cry with Grimes and Halloweenie 3: 7 Days). I never expect anything of my Spotify Discover Weekly, but I am reminded how much I like girls (ughhh, Slumber Party, why there no videoooo? i must needs live vicariously through lesbians of this caliber) and I feel strangely empowered. I believe I have listened to every song of hers... aaand I’ve listened to a few enough times so i can sing them... in my car, very loudly >u< makes me feel sexy and gritty (Tantrum, definitely, and Drunk with my friends, though everything about the animation gave me very temporary whiplash)

Daisy with Hatsune Miku

Deal With It video made me lol <3

***Spoiler, not explicit*** she includes a sexy kraken that kills em all. heh heh.

I luuv the costumes in the Working Bitch video! ahh!

(photo from the thumbnail of the clean version video)

I HAD THOUGHT

1. it is Highly Important to note that Ashnikko = BOOTS

2. some of the hair styles and makeup and alien SFX stuff reminds me of the Fecal Matter djs... whose fans are “victims”, lol, it’s great

I WANT TO MAKE SURE ASHNIKKO KNOWS ABOUT FECAL MATTER’S BOOTS HOLY SHHH

matieresfecales Instagram stories (i indeed prefer the outlandish, authentic and shiny individual on the left :p but I kind of hope said typical human on the right had at least one nightmare. am i a bad person?)

heck, it’s all so relatable. Hi, It’s Me and god, memories flooding in, right to the ouch. In the video are four masked people who i’m interpreting as Ash’s well-meaning friends, and my first thought was “i wish i’d had real friends, especially every time it could have been clear to a stranger i was making a mistake” :/ flipside tho, it’s comforting to see in media more proof of to-err-is-human

Other Important Notes of Noteworthiness from Halloweenie 3: 7 Days

- a young girl politely requesting that her Grandfather produce music as good as Ashnikko’s (she also shows up at the end of Drunk with my friends)

- I’d only hunt witches to be friends with them, too

why Ashnikko gotta be so fuckin awesome? Her voice is strong wonderful, her style is stunning and she’s a fuckin actress... to boot (:p)

AND she’s honest, or “blunt” as she puts it. hallelujah, for real. Invitation and Blow (video) lyrics. Just !?@#$ Dude, she looks like she’s having so much fun. She’s practically oozing solid gold art and i can feel it moving me. “You cut me down, I grew,” got me in more feelings. It’s scary, but i really want to find my style. you know, finally. like, this year instead of “someday”.

oh, don’t you worry, @Malena. Oct 2020, people were certainly falling in love with her. HOWEVER.

Ash knows how brilliant she it, I have absolutely no doubt. cuz it’s a No Brainer, in her own words. “I listen to my own music in the Uber” from nice Manners

shall i tell my mother i look up to this fukin awesome girl only 2 months older than me? I think I shall. heh.

#spotify #youtube #ashnikko #daisy #deal with it #guro kawaii #fecal matter #instagram #matieresfecales #well this post got long geez #looks like I'm making a pledge to myself

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drproximo · 3 years

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Original Versions of Songs You Didn’t Know were Covers

Originally published for Geeks and Beats, August 2017.

https://www.geeksandbeats.com/2017/08/songs-didnt-know-covers/

I love a well-done cover song, and I especially love a well-done cover that deviates from the original. There’s something endlessly fascinating about how two different people can arrange such dramatically different interpretations of the same source material. What makes this especially fun is when you discover that a song you’ve been enjoying for years is itself a reinterpretation. Sometimes it even goes a step further, and a song that you knew as a cover turns out to be a cover of a cover. Researching this list became a much more involved “rabbit hole” than I ever anticipated, and I am delighted to share my findings with you. I’m confident that, like me, you’ll have more than a few “whoa, I didn’t know that!” moments.

Bruce Springsteen – Blinded by the Light

youtube

When a WatchMojo video got me digging into this awhile back, this was the one that surprised me most. This is one of those songs that I feel like I’ve been aware of for as long as I’ve cared about music. So it was a bit of a shock to discover in my 40s that, not only is it a cover, but it was originally by The Boss. There are differences in the arrangement and the lyrics, but the Manfred Mann version is generally considered the definitive rendition.

Tina Turner – Don’t Turn Around

youtube

While “Blinded by the Light” was the big surprise on my first dive into this topic, this next one blew me away even moreso. Ace of Base’s third most successful single was originally a Tina Turner song, the B-side of her 1986 single “Typical Male”. Bonnie Tyler, whose repertoire of covers is expansive and impressive, also did her own interpretation on 1988’s Hide Your Heart.

I’ve Got My Mind Set On You – James Ray

youtube

Time for a little history about “Weird Al” Yankovic. In 1988, Al released his album Even Worse. The title had two meanings. First of all, the lead single was “Fat”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad”, and the album cover was also a direct parody of Jackson’s Bad cover. In other words, since Jackson was declaring himself to be “Bad”, Al decided he was “Even Worse”. Second, all of the other parodies were of covers that had recently been hit singles, by Tiffany, Billy Idol, Los Lobos, and George Harrison.

The last one was the one that surprised me. Harrison’s most solid 80s hit was actually a cover. I owned 45s of the originals of all the others, but I had never heard James Ray’s original of “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” (which Al turned into “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long“).

The Tide is High – The Paragons

One of Blondie’s most distinctive qualities was, and still is, a blending of several sounds and moods. As such, this reggae ditty, which was their third #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, didn’t raise many eyebrows. So, few at the time knew that it was a cover of a 1966 rocksteady song by The Paragons. Although, the fact that the gender-swap screwed up the rhyme scheme could have been a clue.

Torn – Ednaswap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OoEdfB7l18

This one’s a little weird. Shortly after Natalie Imbruglia had her breakthrough hit with “Torn” in 1997, there was a short-lived minor controversy. Apparently, some people were upset when they found out that Imbruglia didn’t write the song. It was a cover of a 1995 song by a relatively unknown alternative act called Ednaswap. Nobody claimed had that she wrote the song, however, and there was nothing new about singers having a cover be their first hit. So the “controversy” was quickly reduced to a footnote, whose most prominent documentation is a mention on Pop-Up Video.

Adding to the weirdness, Ednaswap’s “original” wasn’t technically the first recording of the song. Two years before they got around to releasing it, a Danish translation,“Brændt” (“Burned”), was released by Lis Sørensen.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Robert Hazard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aLNwOxPsjg

I almost didn’t include this one because, quite frankly, the original is awful. And, let’s be real, there’s something creepy about a guy breathily singing about what girls want. Thankfully, Hazard’s recording never got past the demo stage, so I’ll choose to consider Lauper’s version “technically a cover but sort of not really”.

Downtown Train – Tom Waits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtZKkCIVmI

If you asked a random sampling of people around you, there’s a good chance that many of them wouldn’t be able to name a Tom Waits song. On the other hand, it’s almost a guarantee that they’re familiar with at least one of his songs, but covered by someone else. The Eagles, Alison Krauss, Sarah McLachlan, Bruce Springsteen, and The Ramones are among the many big names to contribute to this. Heck, actress Scarlett Johansson recorded an entire album of Tom Waits songs (it was kind of awful, but I digress).

One of the most successful Waits covers is Rod Stewart’s “Downtown Train”. The original was a standout track and minorly-successful single from Waits’ 1985 masterpiece Rain Dogs. Stewart’s 1991 cover starts off with a similarly restrained sound, but gradually swells into a much “bigger”, almost celebratory sound.

Piece of My Heart – Erma Franklin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4

First off, the more well-known recording, with Janis Joplin on vocals, is properly credited to her band Big Brother and the Holding Company. Second, covers generally draw from that 1968 version, but the original was by Erma Franklin (Aretha Franklin’s older sister). Faith Hill’s 1994 atrocity seemed to be an attempt to destroy the song’s legacy, but Melissa Etheridge managed to restore it a little bit in 2005, even though it was a clumsy attempt at a comeback for Etheridge.

The First Cut is the Deepest – P.P. Arnold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-g5VG2pWg

This is one of my favourites. With many of the entries on this list, it’s fun to play the original for someone and watch their face as they slowly realize what they’re hearing. P.P. Arnold’s original recording of “The First Cut is the Deepest” (written by Cat Stevens) also happens to be a fantastic song in its own right.

In 1977, Rod Stewart (him again?) released what most would consider the definitive version, and in 2003 Sheryl Crow covered it as one of two new songs recorded for her best-of collection.

Nothing Compares 2 U – The Family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlzN0Gtpp8

In the 80s, there were a lot of Prince side projects and spin-offs. Morris Day and The Time may be the most memorable, with their mega-hit “Jungle Love“. Wendy & Lisa, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 5 also enjoyed a little time in the spotlight. One of the lesser-known projects, however, was The Family. The Family was often tasked with bringing life to songs that Prince wrote but wasn’t interested in doing himself. So even if you knew that Prince wrote Sinéad O’Connor’s 1990 breakthrough hit “Nothing Compares 2 U“, you might not have known that The Family had recorded it 5 years prior.

Prince would eventually record a live version as a duet with Rosie Gaines, which was included on the various iterations of his 1993 compilation The Hits. Also included on this compilation were Prince’s originals of “I Feel 4 U” (covered by Chaka Khan in 1984), and “When U Were Mine” (covered by Cyndi Lauper in 1983).

Killing Me Softly – Lori Lieberman

youtube

In 1996, the Fugees released their breakthrough mega-hit, “Killing Me Softly“. Not everyone knew it was a cover of a 1973 Roberta Flack song, but many did. Even fewer knew, however, that Flack’s rendition was itself a cover. The original, by Lori Lieberman in 1972, was a soft acoustic rendition of a poem. “His song” was Don McLean’s “Empty Chairs”.

The first cover could have turned out quite differently; according to Wikipedia:

Helen Reddy has said she was sent the song, but “the demo… sat on my turntable for months without being played because I didn’t like the title”.

Roberta Flack’s successful 1973 cover is still soft, but with some defining chord changes, and a slightly more soulful sound.

Further mutating the tune, The Fugees laid down their hip-hop version in 1996, to much acclaim.

If you poke around YouTube looking for versions of this song, you’ll probably find about a dozen copies of a crooner version credited to Frank Sinatra. It does kind of sound like The Chairman, but he never actually recorded it. That’s Perry Como, from his 1973 album And I Love You So.

Some Guys Have All The Luck – Persuaders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3NWbvFsBVo

First released in 1973 by R&B group The Persuaders, Rod Stewart’s cover of “Some Guys Have All the Luck” served as one of the important hits of his 80s comeback (and his third time appearing on this list, what is it with this guy and covers?) In between those two versions, Robert Palmer also recorded his own version, with significantly altered lyrics and arrangement. Palmer’s version is probably the strangest, kind of a gritty new wave thing, reminiscent of Pete Shelley’s “Homosapien“.

There have been several other covers, including a gender swapped country version. Of special note is Maxi Priest’s 1987 rendition, which (mostly) returned to the original lyrics and arrangement, but with Maxi’s signature “reggae fusion” sound.

Tainted Love – Gloria Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U

When Marilyn Manson covered “Tainted Love” in 2001 for the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack, it was fairly common knowledge that he was covering a Soft Cell song. Soft Cell’s 1981 arrangement, however, was not the original. American soul singer Gloria Jones’ Motown-influenced version was a B-side for “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home”, which failed to make a lasting impression domestically. Jones herself, however, had very much made an impression in England, where she was dubbed the “Northern Queen of Soul”.

Eventually the song entered the radar of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell. Their 1981 version became their only major hit in North America, and one of the defining songs of the 80s.

Side notes and honorable mentions:

You might already knew that The Isley Brothers recorded “Twist and Shout” a year before The Beatles, but did you know that a group called The Top Notes recorded it a year before that?

“I Love Rock n Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, arguably one of the most ubiquitous and recognized songs of the modern era, was originally released by The Arrows in 1975.

Animotion’s “Obsession”, unofficial theme song of the fashion world for more than 30 years, was originally recorded by Michael Des Barres & Holly Knight.

Madonna’s “Ray of Light” was adapted from “Sepheryn” by Curtiss Maldoon, though it’s not a direct cover.

Led Zeppelin have a storied history of borrowing, adapting, and straight-up stealing. A cursory Google search will provide many articles and videos discussing this, but the two examples which I think best fit the theme are “Dazed and Confused”, originally by Jake Holmes, and “Stairway to Heaven”, adapted from “Taurus” by Spirit.

Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” was adapted from “Crescent City Blues“, written by Gordon Jenkins and sung by Beverly Mahr. Also, more than half the songs on Cash’s 5 American Recordings albums are reinterpretations of a diverse selection of songs.

#music #cover songs #madonna #weird al yankovic #tom waits #beatles #cyndi lauper #bruce springsteen #killing me softly #twist and shout #johnny cash

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trackgirltuesday · 4 years

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a combination of things has me wanting to start opening up on this blog & while it may just be for me, I have this feeling in my chest that it may serve not just myself better, but maybe others too. I want something indicative of a blank slate and of who I am in this present moment. I guess this a journal for me, but if it connects me to more of you during this time that’d be pretty cool.

I left my apartment in New York City (wow I miss u) because of the COVID-19 quarantine to be safe and surrounded by family in my childhood home in PA. And ever since, I’ve watched my time spent on social media since this can be such a confusing and anxiety-provoking time. This has made me appreciate Tumblr more than ever-I feel like I can share in an open and authentic way without judgement that I just don’t feel the same about other platforms. I want to build and be a part of community, ESPECIALLY in this time in our lives.

With that, I have been really inspired lately by what I am learning and how I can share my knowledge and experiences to better shape health education. There are so many unhealthy and triggering myths that exist in the world that are perpetuated and circulated by social media. Or, maybe you’re a beginner and just don’t know where to start. Here’s the thing: I’m learning with you. I want to be a positive force, a liaison if you will, between what is clinically proven in research and practice and how we as normal, everyday, messy humans can live better, INDIVIDUALIZED, lifestyles for no one but our damn selves in our nutrition and exercise.

So to start off, my name is Olivia (no one calls me Liv anymore and I miss the hell out of it so please feel free to), I’m 22 years old, and I am currently a first year student (a 2nd year in 2 weeks!) in a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program. I am a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and am studying currently to be a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS through NSCA!). I studied biology in my undergrad years, and I am a former NCAA Division I athlete in cross country and track & field. I grew up playing soccer and tennis up until college, before switching to mid and long distance running. My current relationship with running is on the mend: I tore my hip labrum about a year ago, and after finally figuring out the diagnosis, I’m back to running 2-3 times a week. Right now I’m really into HIIT, strength circuits, and boxing. Outside of school, I worked at a yoga studio in the city and really started appreciating it! But, I am grateful for the fresh air of PA, my family, and a chance to grow.

My initial goals here are to get to know you guys and start sharing my ideas for exercises I’ve created that I’m really excited about (still gonna share chest/abs/shoulders for my distance runners out there-just gotta film)! Feel free to introduce yourself in the notes or my messages. Id love to hear what you’re up to, what you’re doing to stay active in quarantine, what type of fitness and wellness content you look forward to, and what you think is missing in YOUR daily lives that I can help provide. At the least, I’m excited to log my exercise ideas on this blog! I’m not a perfect athlete, I don’t look like a fitness model, and I won’t sell you the shortcut version of healthy habits. I’m a size 8 and content, I don’t have a killer tan 24/7, and I don’t look like a runner. But, I’m here to keep myself and hopefully you accountable, skeptical, vulnerable, gritty, and real.

These pictures are a day in my life of today. I’m taking classes online probably like most of you. Normally on Tuesday’s I have a 5 hr morning lecture and a 2 hr evening lecture. But today was for final presentations, so we were lucky enough to just have one long lecture for the day. After a morning lecture, the remaining 90 minutes were a yoga and meditations class. It felt really nice to practice outside in the sun and take things slowwwww. Running wasn’t on the agenda today but how! could! I! not! when the weather feels like that dream-like track meet? After being done with class for the day, I went on a lil 20 min slow jaunt for the day just to take everything in. Also, never thought I would enjoy running in a one-shoulder sports bra but this Fabletics top really is that! bitch!... Finished up this beautiful day with iced coffee, studying kinesiology & radiology on the deck in golden hour, and the most killer lasagna dinner with my parents. I hope today your 24 hours reflected everything your mind, body, emotions, and spirit wanted and needed them to be today :)

#personal #introducing myself #intro post #dptstudent #studyblr #fitblr #student #fitness

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lady-charinette · 5 years

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For the title/story ask: The Beast in Her Home :1/6/7/13/14/15 For the ship ask: 1. Marichat 2. Lukanette 3. Kataang 4. Tokka 5. Chloe/Luka With you explanation/emotion towards each ship. And my own questions: which of ur fics do you like more : The Beast in Her Home or Dinner for Two and why? Which is your fav fic ever written? What is your favorite scene youve ever written? What is the steamiest scene youve ever written? How much forshadowing and lil hints do u put in ur writing? -ʕ♥ᴥ♥ʔ

1. My inspiration? Huh…it’s actually kind of funny. So, I watch crime shows every Friday night (also during the week, but Friday’s I write while I watch). It’s either watching Special Victims Unit or documentaries based on real life crime/investigations/criminals. I wrote out a scene on my phone I had thought of while watching (it was the scene where Marinette first brought home Chat Noir, where she typed on her computer and he was behind her trying to intimidate her). I thought of different ships and fandoms to go with that scene, since I really wanted to write it and (miraculously) thought of Marichat. Thus, the birth of The Beast in Her Home! :3

6. Ohhh 6) is such an interesting question! *_* Ahem, well for once, I guess the tone of it all. It’s serious and tense, it reminds me a bit of a different fic that’s still ongoing (Fandom: FF7 “Zack Fair the Bad Boy”) and yet it’s so different. It’s a bit edgy, but has a bit of realism to it. All my stories have some elements of realism, but I guess TBiHH (The Beast in Her Home) is that AU that turns an originally canon kids show into a dark adult world with criminals and corruption, with blurry lines between right and wrong and criminals who may not be *the* true criminal of the story. There’s more to come in the story later, but it’s also about how humans react not just as a private person, but the choices they make as the person they are while “on duty” and the ones they do off it and how it changes their decisions.

7. Oh that’s a cool question too! The title stemmed from the idea I had of Chat Noir in the AU. At first it was a criminal, then a broken, self-loathing man. I thought of his backstory, the origin, of how ‘the birth of Chat Noir’ Paris’ first ranked criminal came to be. It’s still yet to be revealed, but despite who he really is behind the mask and his criminal record, there’s also a side to him that’s ‘feral’, like most brand him a monster, a ‘beast’. Marinette’s view of him at the beginning is also like that, the moment she looks at his eyes she thinks ‘beast’. He’s also (symbolically) something like the lion with a thorn on his paw in Marinette’s home, he roars and people are terrified of him, but once you remove the thorn, he’s calm and good-natured. ‘Beast’ is an intruder, a monstrosity that’s only associated with evil, but as the story progresses, we find that the ‘beast’ in (Marinette’s) home might just not be what he appears.

13. I did listen to some songs. Hmm… in no particular order: The Asking Price by FFH, Angel by Aerosmith, Diablo by Simon Curtis, The Monster by Eminem ft. Rihanna, Fight Back by NEEFEX, Good to You by Marianas Trench, The Reason by Hoobastank, Monster by Skillet, Hero by Skillet, Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi. Some of them you can listen to when there are action/tense scenes (like Diablo, Monster or Fight Back) but others are meant to portray the ‘softer’ moments (yet to come, some written). :) Good to You may seem out of place, but I already pre-wrote a scene for that particular song :3

14. Haha, it’s a small scale story really, but what I thought that may stick with readers (or will as it progresses)… How people should stay open minded, try not to have prejudices, especially against people who had rough pasts or even criminal backgrounds. Institutions like prisons should be correctional and help convicts to learn the error of their ways, shape them into better people and re-socialize them into society when they get released. I realize it’s very often not like that, sadly. Sometimes, certain life decisions force people who are normally good-natured to make bad decisions, do stuff they would normally never do…etc. Like I said, Chat’s story has yet to be revealed, but it should reflect that. Also: even when he is a criminal (according to laws), he has another moral code he follows (like some real life criminals do).

15. Oh so many things, things the FBI might find suspicious once they start looking for me (“I swear, my search history is purely for research for my fics! I don’t plan to kill ANYONE!”) haha but jokes aside, a number of different things. For one, the justice systems of several countries I’ve researched, how many prisons with fearsome reputations (check: ‘the world’s worst prisons’ you’ll get a shock for sure) there actually are in the world, that are allowed to still operate 0_0 Just how thin the line between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and ‘lawfully correct’ but ‘morally questionable’ is. It’s like those RL cases you sometimes hear of, a husband cheats on his wife/does morally very questionable things, but it’s not against the law and yet it still brings great mental harm to a person. I also learned something about myself, after reading/watching the news about all the things going on with the world: many people say, they would change so many things if they get to a position of power. I used to think that too, but I’d rather enable other, more qualified good people to rise to power and distribute and handle it responsibly, since, while my ideals are good-natured, I have no idea how to realize those ideals or run something like a country responsibly. My role is better suited as an enabler for those who can and want to do good, not just those who want to.

Ships Asks:

Ranked from Favorite to Least Favorite:

1. Marichat/Lukanette (I’m sorry I can’t decide, they share first place), 2. Tokka, 3. Kataang, 4. Chloe/Luka.

So, I’ve been a Marichat shipper since day one, but since the arrival of Luka…ahem, anyhow, I ship both Marichat and Lukanette and can see the beauty in either of the ships. Fanon Marichat of course, canon disappointed me a tweeny bit in that respect. Both ships not only give respect to the guys, but to Marinette too, she’s appreciated and loved and put as an equal in those ships, which I love and find sometimes lacking in the show (for now).

I always shipped Tokka tbh, Toph seemed like she had a crush on Sokka in ATLA and with their chemistry and their personalities, I think they would go well together (even if I like Suki, Tokka is the one for me!).

Kataang…oh boy. I’ve never really seen the appeal of the ship, even if it is canon and the main one of the show. It’s basically the whole discourse, not necessarily concerning their age difference, but just their chemistry, Katara has always striked me as more ‘motherly’ towards Aang and there are just too many hints pointing at Zutara in the beginning (the chemistry, the Oma and Shu parallels, the ‘opposites attract’ trope, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope, the hard earned bond they formed…etc.

Chloe and Luka, huh? I’m sorry, I did see some fan content for them, but I just couldn’t really imagine a good pairing to come from Chloe’s personality and Luka’s (but I can recognize why some other fans would fancy the idea).

Your questions:

- That’s a tough decision, Beast in Her Home or Dinner for Two…hmm… they both have different appeals that make them special in their own way. ‘Beast’ is more dark, more gritty but also hopeful and speaks of broken things being mended again. Dinner is more cute, fluffy, but has it’s deeper mysteries (which will soon be revealed!) and (I think) speaks more to my readers (I’ve read so many comments that relate to Marinette, with her daily life, job and her reactions etc. it’s so cute!) I brushes more with daily life as we know, while Beast is a darker version of it maybe more familiar to people from that milieu (it may not be as realistic, but for the crime/enemies-to-lovers fans out there). If I think really hard, I THINK I just may like Dinner for Two a tweeny bit more (I’m a sucker for the stuffed toy in restaurants for lonely people idea CHEERS TO MY FELLOW LONELY BRETHREN!)

- My fav fic? (wipes tear) it’s “Shikuro: A Caribbean Fairy Tale” by Inuma Asahi De (a Inuyasha fic) on FFnet, I’m not sure if it’s my favorite, but its pretty darn close. I’ve read it years ago, but it’s so fresh in my mind, the beauty of the writing, the magical mood it sets for every moment. Read it. I highly recommend it. I wish I could write as magically. Cheers to my fellow fic writers with such talents!!

- My favorite scene I ever wrote? Ah damn…that’s hard to pinpoint. I have many, I can’t decide.

- Ohh the steamiest, huh? Hm…I rarely ever write steamy stuff. I think a few are Marichat based (I posted it on tumblr, called ‘Feral’) the few others I can remember are from different fandoms (they’re never very direct, always a bit subtle ;)). The other ones I can remember are from different fandoms (Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi and such)

- Oh I normally try to pace myself (pff as if that ever works), I guess you could say a lot. Not too much, but I always try to have an organized structure when it comes to foreshadowing, not just one day be like: SURPRISE BITCH, didn’t see that coming! ^_^ In any story I wrote, there’s always some type of foreshadowing and hints, some more obvious, others more subtle. :3

P.S. OMG, I’m SO sorry if this went far too deep into the questions! I just got caught up with everything, I’m sorry! >.

#ask #ml #ml ask #my stories #fanfic #the beast in her home fic #dinner for two fic #anon #anon ask #anonymous

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problemsofabooknerd · 6 years

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My Personal Sexuality Journey

Pride Day 6!

Check out the intro to my Pride project here.

For the past few days, I have mainly been discussing books on this blog. Which is, hey, the topic of the blog so that makes sense! But today I want to get a bit more personal. I identify as a lesbian, but that has not always been the case, so today we’re going to get into the nitty gritty of my sexuality journey. It’s... long.So, I hope you’re all ready.

So, to begin with, I am not one of those “well, I’ve just always known” sort of people when it comes to being hella queer. I grew up in a hyper-religious area in Utah, and we were not exposed to a lot of queer content in any variety. My parents were always cool with The Gays, but it wasn’t a topic that was really openly discussed. I think Glee was possibly my first exposure to a visibly queer character, and that show started when I was in high school. So, basically, I didn’t have any inklings I might not be straight until college. But first, let’s go back to high school a bit.

When I was a junior in high school I managed to nab a boyfriend for about a minute and a half. The thing about being attracted to girls when you don’t really know that’s an option is that, at least in my experience, you start to assume attraction must just feel like ah, I would very much like to be friends with that person. This is probably what a crush is. I’m not saying that’s not an authentic way to crush, because I definitely think it is, but when I was young and sure of my heterosexuality, I rationalized that the desire for friendship and hanging out was actually me wanting a relationship.

I hung out with lots of guys in high school. They were cool, awkward, nerdy guys and I liked being friends with them. I also knew they liked me, so I was willing to go on dates or to dances should one of them ask.Which is how I wound up with my high school boyfriend. He was sweet, we shared a sense of humor, and I loved being around him. Shockingly, it was whenever he wanted to move past friendship activities that I felt stifled and uncomfortable. I didn’t understand what it was at the time, that fear or that resistance, but I knew that I couldn’t continue forwards in a relationship. I ended it, frustrated because I felt like I was losing a close friend rather than a romantic partner. It was a ridiculously confusing and frustrating time all around.

After high school, I went on a date with a friend’s cousin. He was what I perceived as my type, awkward and nerdy, and I knew he liked me. We went to his place after dinner and he tried to make out with me while I argued that he was missing important plot points of the first episode of Sherlock. He was shoving his tongue in my mouth and I was upset because they were dropping hints on screen that would be revealed later and oh my god when they break down the mystery at the end you are going to be so confused.

So.... that was one of the gayer situations of my gay life.

In college, I moved out of Utah and across the country to New Jersey where I attended an exceedingly queer liberal arts college. The new friends I was making were - at least I assumed at the time - the first gay people I had ever met. This later turned out to be absurd, as I’m not the only person at my high school who has since come out. But here they all were! Queer, vibrant, and proud. And I was so excited to be a part of a world where you could be who you are, even though I knew I was definitely, absolutely, without question the Straightest™ person I knew.

Cut to me meeting a girl my second day of orientation. Cut to me suddenly being thrust into a friendship a lot more intense than any other friendship I had been a part of. Cut to the end of Freshman year.

My second year, I became roommates with The Girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll stop being all weird and secretive. Most of you know I fell for my roommate, and that her name was Janel. But my college self, who was confused by attraction and by what the intensity of certain feelings towards people meant, had no idea.

Despite the fact that the people around me were telling me that what I was describing was clearly romantic, I didn’t want to admit to myself they might be onto something. I was even confronted a few times about how I identified at school. Here I was, this girl with short hair who was super close to her roommate. Like, we held hands. It was, um, super gay. It was super, super gay and I wouldn’t talk about it.

I knew I might want to kiss her. I also knew I didn’t want to be one of Those Girls that makes out with their queer friend and then backs out immediately.

See, because the thing was, I knew she wasn’t straight. And that added whole other levels to the situation. I knew if I kissed her she wouldn’t mind. And that was a big, open possibility that scared me right to the back of the questioning closet.

What if I kiss her and I don’t feel anything?

What if she wants to kiss me back and I hurt her?

What does it mean if I want to kiss her?

What if I kiss her and I do feel something?

Am I gay?

Am I bi?

Is it just her?

What if I hurt her what if I hurt her what if i hurt her?

That’s basically the first semester of sophomore year in a nutshell. And then, one night, things reached a tipping point of sorts. We were playing Friends trivia and drinking absolutely foul sweet tea vodka and lemonade. We were beyond drunk, and when she asked how I would feel about her kissing me, I said she should.

When I woke up the next day, I was scared. And I panicked. Because it had definitely meant something, but that meant I wasn’t straight. And I didn’t know how to deal with a self that wasn’t straight. I had no blueprint for that, so I said it didn’t mean anything. And I hurt her.

The thing is, I always take time coming to terms with things. I’m not necessarily scared of change, but I’m scared of becoming someone new. Because I don’t know that person, and I’m intimidated by people I don’t already know. I’m scared of telling others the ways I have changed, and forcing them to relearn me. It feels like a process, changing part of your identity, and that process was too big to conceptualize. So I made bad choices, I ran, and I spent a month and a half of winter break trying to decide who I was.

When I came back to school, I felt like I had a new version of myself I could live with. My personal identity, the words I used, they didn’t matter. What mattered is that I loved her, and I wanted to be with her. Thus began the portion of my life where I identified as idk I guess I’m just attracted to pretty people. I think I stole that one from Orange is the New Black, probably because that show is terrified of saying the word B-I-S-E-X-U-A-L. Shhh, don’t let the showrunners know that it’s real and out there!

After a while, I got into the bi pride side of tumblr. It vibed with me and how I felt about myself. Part of being able to accept my same gender attraction came from Korrasami - two bi girls who fell for each other in Legend of Korra. It came from reading miles of Dean Winchester is bi meta. And finally, after a few months, I was able to accept that label for myself. I had a boyfriend in high school and I thought David Tennant was pretty, which meant of course I still had to fit my relationships with men somewhere into my sexuality. I was bisexual, and I wore that word with pride.

It took a really long time to not identify as bi anymore. I mean, when I semi-came out to my grandmother I was still using the word “bisexual” to describe myself. I wouldn’t tell anyone else that word, anyone but Janel, but it felt like maybe it was a place for me to meet in the middle. To still know myself, but to know myself better. I could be the person I was, but I could also be someone new.

For a while on YouTube I was like ~undercover gay~. Like, in a “everyone knows” way but also in an “I don’t talk about it” way. My family watched my channel, and I wasn’t ready for that conversation. I adored my girlfriend, but there was still this constant underlying terror that I would hurt everyone around me if I changed again. If I told my family my identity, and it changed, I didn’t know how anyone would be able to deal with it. I didn’t know if I would be able to deal with it.

I was also terrified of the word “lesbian”, but like that’s a whole other list of internal shit I don’t want to get in to because this post is long enough as it is.

When I finally started to use the word “gay”, it felt like a step in the right direction. But it was also a tiptoe. I said it, terrified people would come out of the woodwork asking about my past relationships and interest in men. That they would confront me for thirst posting about popular tumblr dudes on my fandom blog. I whispered the word and it maybe felt right, it maybe felt like a little zing in my chest, but it also felt like leaving a part of myself behind. Maybe a part I wasn’t comfortable with and never had been, but still this definite chunk of who I had been was just no longer a part of how I was identifying myself.

And that’s fucking terrifying.

Gradually, lesbian became my word. It became a word that encapsulated why I never felt fully comfortable around men. Why I didn’t want relationships with them. It became an affirmation for the fact that I had always had an underlying attraction to women. I felt more confident when I saw Willow Rosenberg, a girl who had a boyfriend in high school, identify confidently as a lesbian in college. Because that was my story and it was ok for that to be my word. It helped me feel more confident in my attraction to women in general, and in that confidence I was able to recognize a difference in how I felt about men.

My sexuality journey was long, and it was difficult. It involved trying things that were scary, and stepping out of a self I knew to find a self I loved so much more. The confidence I found in grasping and being able to explain new parts of my identity made me happier and stronger than I had ever been in my life. Lesbian is my word. I use gay, I use queer. They are all me. But when I walked at Pride this year, it was a lesbian flag I had pinned on. Because it encapsulates me and makes me feel safe.

It makes me feel proud.

Now, real fast at the end here, a couple of notes. Bisexual was a stepping stone word for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s a stepping stone sexuality. It was a word I needed to help me figure out who I was, but that does not remotely encapsulate what being bisexual is. I have known girls who used lesbian and then knew that the word bisexual was more theirs. I have seen people who always knew that bisexual was their word. So I am in no way putting my experiencing of identifying as a person with multiple gender attraction on some kind of all-around temporary status. Bisexual peeps, your word is valid and so are you.

Also, my word doesn’t mean I eliminate trans folks. The word lesbian includes trans women, and I’m not here to have an asinine argument with anyone about that. Just putting it out there.

This was a long one, but sexuality is so goddamn difficult and it took years for me to start to learn about myself. And I’m still learning. Maybe I’ll find a new word someday that fits like a glove, and that will be scary but it will also be okay. And if you don’t have your word yet, and maybe you don’t want a word, that’s okay too. The most important thing is finding a way to be happy with yourself, whatever way you choose to package it. It’s about doing research, trying scary things, and maybe feeling like you can find a way to know yourself a little better one day at a time.

Alright, that’s where I am going to wrap up. Thanks so much for reading about my messy process of self discovery, and feel free to share your own stories too - in a reblog or a message. You are all beautiful and your experience is valuable. I’m just here to share a little bit of mine.

#pride #pride 2018 #coming out #lesbian #queer #lgbtqia+#about me #my post

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medusamyra-blog · 6 years

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Helloooo! I’ve (finally) filled out the talk tag post to give you guys some info on my version of Medusa! Please let me know if you have any questions about her, or if you’d like to plot! I’m definitely looking for a roommate or two, as well as any other connection under the sun (especially for fellow New Olympians). Let’s get this party started! (Well...it’s been started...for awhile now...I am very late...but for ME it’s a very new party, okay?)

Also I might have made some assumptions here as far as our characters go, so if you see something wonky please tell me

BASICS

full name: Myra Shirin Bahl

The name is commonly associated with the Latin word, myyrh: a bitter resin extracted from a small, thorny plant. Though many bitter things might make you pucker when they first touch your tongue, they are often proven to be very useful, such as in medicinal herbs, or flavoring fine wine. And as they say, many beautiful, wonderful things are known to be protected by thorns.

any nicknames?: As a child she went by Mimi. She doesn’t use that name anymore. Though she hears some of the folk at Old Olympus call her Medusa behind her back.

age: 25. a quarter of a century, oh no!

birthday/zodiac sign: August 19th, 1992. Leo. A fiery lioness filled with passion.

height: 5′-6:

any tattoos, piercings?: Though she has done a lot of breaking boundaries and exploring new options for herself, piercings and tattoos have been a little too permanent for her to take the plunge on. Besides a single piercing in each of her ears, her skin remains undecorated for the time being. Though she considers it from time to time, she still wonders if she’ll ever be able to reconnect with her family and her old self, and something like a tattoo is just a little too much of a commitment for the time being.

FAVORITES

sound: Ocean waves softly kissing the shore ( she sleeps with a soft noise machine when the other apartment tenants are particularly loud )

color: Dusty lilacs and calming blue hues. The color of a clear, cloudless sky. And deep, royal purple ( not just for the matriarchal implications )

person: A multitude of faces rush through her head--her mother, her father, her brother, her ex-lover, her ex-best-friend--before she reminds herself they can’t be her favorite anymore. She has to be her own favorite person now.

memory: It’s hard to pick a favorite memory when so many of the people she shared them with no longer see her in the same light. Every good moment becomes a cherished memory in hindsight. They appear in flashes: peeling carrots with her mother, sharing lighthearted conversation about how men were helpless in the kitchen. Walking down the street as a young girl, holding her father’s hand and feeling so safe, like nothing in the world could touch her with her impenetrable father there to protect her.

place: Gritty, warm sand beneath her toes, the hot sun on her back, the cool water at her feet. Specifically, the beaches home in Los Angeles (especially Malibu). New York beaches just can’t compare, though when she’s desperate for some sun she’ll use them as a placeholder.

vice: Warm lips on her neck, rough hands on her skin. She never expected to be the type to fall for such carnal pleasures, but once she got a taste, it was an urge that always came back to haunt her. Though it has never been as fulfilling as the first time, with the woman she’d loved, she loved the feeling of another person on top of her.

HAVE THEY EVER…

…been in love?

Luli had been the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. At first, Myra wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with her or simply wanted to be her. Soon, the question answered itself. She never thought she would want a woman in such a primitive way, nor a romantic way, but Luli changed Myra’s perspective on just about everything. It was passionate and warm and enlightening and thriving and everything Myra had never thought she’d wanted, or needed. It was the most wonderful and thrilling feeling she’d ever experienced--

even if it didn’t last.

…done drugs?

When she’d first gotten involved with Olympus, still new to the big city. There were so many new opportunities for her here that hadn’t existed back home, and she wanted to try everything. Nothing too dangerous, but she’ll never forget the bubbling excitement of her first joint. There had been a naive air about her that both made people protective of her, and also made people want to push things on her, but she stood her ground. She wanted to enjoy her newfound freedom, but within reason, and she certainly wasn’t about to ruin her new life by getting hooked on something bad.

…killed someone?

Not by choice. Everything that night had gone wrong. It was her first year on transportation and things weren’t going as smoothly as everyone expected them to. It was her or them and she panicked. She did what she had to do, but the first time she took someone else’s life was the hardest, even if it was for her own safety.

…betrayed someone’s trust?

Despite the age difference, Victoria had been her best friend. She’d been the first person Myra had connected with in New York, and Myra had crawled under her wing and adopted her as her mentor, whether she’d initially wanted it or not. Victoria was her secret keeper, the first person she’d told about her life back in California, what she had fled from and what she had fled to become.

At first, it hadn’t felt like cheating. But then it did. And she knew it was wrong. And she didn’t put a stop to it until it was too late. In the end, she isn’t sure which loss was worst: her lover or her best friend.

…had their heart broken?

If love was the best feeling in the world, heartbreak was the worst. It had teared her to shreds, ripped her apart after every attempt at glueing herself back together again. What it also did, however, was harden her: make her strong, impervious, impenetrable. Just like the myth of a broken bone healing stronger than before, her broken heart and broken soul came back ten times stronger after that, and she swore she would never let it break again.

…lost someone?

Never by death, but unattainable by the weight of her own actions. Not lost, but simply impossible to find as they once were..

DO THEY…

have any pets?: This is technically TBD since I don’t know who her roommates are yet, but in my head she has two small pet (land) turtles, named after women’s rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott (“Susie and Lucy”)

have a family they still talk to?: No. Sometimes she wishes she could, but she feels it’s just too late. Even if she were to contact them, she would probably have to change back into who she was--into Mimi--and she’s just not willing to do that.

have a best friend?: It used to be Victoria, back when she first touched down in NYC. Someone she could tell anything to, confess her deepest fears and biggest secrets. Well, she left out one particularly large secret, and their best-friendship was broken forever. (Who is it now? Only time will tell)

want to get married and/or have kids?: It used to be a given that as a woman, she would settle down with a husband and pop out a few kids. Now that she’s breached so far past the Bahl Family Norm, she’s not so sure she could ever go back to that. Sure, after a stressful, dangerous day, she might think a normal, quiet life in a suburb with a family might be nice, but as far as she’s concerned, she’s too far gone to ever get that old little girl dream.

want to leave?: Sometimes, but she’s already run away once before, and reinventing yourself certainly takes its toll on your identity. Everyone has hard days, where they want to leave their life behind and start somewhere new, but she doesn’t feel she’s been in New York long enough yet to call it quits. Not to mention, she would be letting down the other members of New Olympus, the people who took her in when she was still new to the city and had no place to go, and she wouldn’t let her own flight risk tendencies harm them in anyway..

THIS OR THAT?

phone call or text? T E X T. They’re straight-forward, to the point, and leave interpretation out of the equation. “Meet at 11:05 in the alley?” There’s nothing else to it. It’s quick and it’s efficient., and there’s no way for it to be construed

wealth or loyalty? L O Y A L T Y. All the money in the world can’t buy you trust or friendship. Though she could really use the money, everyone needs at least one person they can trust in above all else.

love or lust? L U S T. Love gets you nothing but heartbreak. It tears down your walls and pillages your heart like an invading army and it leaves nothing but ruin in its wake. Lust allows you “all the same perks” without the emotional investment and vulnerability. It is clearly the superior choice.

5 Friends or 100 Acquaintances? 5 FRIENDS. True loyalty is hard to come by these days, and the less you know a person, the more dangerous to you they can be to you.

summer or winter? S U M M E R! Having grown up in California, the New York winters are pretty bracing to her. Even if summer weather reminds her of home, she will never not love the sun.

#*arrives late with starbucks* hey guys what's up #( about. )#olympustalk #check out this psd i found i wanna put it on everything #this could have been more artsy and prosey but i wanna work on threads so for now it's just somewhat informative

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loveump3 · 6 years

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jams meme: best of 2017

@blotthis tagged me in a jams meme!! thank you :D since it’s the new year, i thought i’d do a little retrospective of some of my favorite songs to come out of 2017! so here we goooo

“i wish” by wjsn

this song came out literally 3 days into the new year, but as soon as i heard it i knew it would be one of my top tracks of 2017. and i was right!! i loved “happy” too, and “happy moment” was one of my favorite albums this year, but i’ll always be especially weak for wjsn’s spacey concepts. this song is so pretty and light and pink, and the mv is a lisa frank dream, and the choreography is so whimsical and charming… great on all fronts. all hail the rookie pop princesses.

“wanted! wanted!” by mrs. green apple

mga have become one of my top favorite bands after i discovered them earlier in the year. i love how sweet and fizzy and fun their music is, and i love their lead singer motoki’s voice (i’m not sure what it is about it, but it makes me so happy). i feel like this song is a great example of their particular super-hyper brand of pop. this is a good one to blast in the car :o)

“vanilla” by fickle friends

another band that’s shot to the top of my list of favorites after finding them this year! their sparkly-pool-water 80s vibe is sooo up my alley. i love the percussion and the bright guitars in this song, and i have such a crush on natassja’s voice. (i’d also highly recommend “swim,” which has been one of my top jams this year and is also my favorite fickle friends song, and which i would have included, but it it came out in 2016, lol.)

“the song” by zion.t

i loved this song the moment i heard it. zion.t has one of my favorite voices not just in kpop but in general, and it sounds sooo nice and smooth here. and the simplicity of the song is so good?? it’s nothing frilly or explosive, it’s just a pleasant little tune. i like that the lyrics reflect that too—i love the “i’m not trying to write a hit song, i just want to write you something sweet” attitude. also for whatever reason i think the line “let’s stick together all day like alley cats” is so cute? and the mv is so wonderfully bizarre (the colors are sooo good). the rest of the album is great too; got me through a lot of shifts at work.

“when you love someone” by day6

i really thought “dance dance” was gonna hold tight to the title of Emma’s Favorite Every DAY6 song, but then “when you love someone” came out and immediately took its place. this song like the aural equivalent of a warm hug and a hot drink and it makes my heart feel so at peace every time i hear it :( also the lyrics are a complete K-O. those first few every day6 releases were SO ANGSTY, and even though i loved them i was like “will poor youngk ever write a happy relationship song???” but then he started releasing shit like this and it killed me and i immediately regretted ever asking. (also not to be a bitter betty but i’m still cheesed that we never got resolution on sungjin and wonpil’s story!!!!!!!! @ jyp i still have questions)

“we find love” by daniel caesar

“freudian” has become one of my new favorite albums. it’s so perfect for the winter—daniel caesar’s woozy gospel sound is so warm and cozy. there’s not a song on the album that i don’t love, but this one is particularly soothing and comfy. with the harmonized background vocals and the gentle piano, it sounds like something you’d hear on the radio late at night when you’re tucked into bed trying to fall asleep while the snow is drifting down outside. and daniel’s voice has this… i don’t know how to explain it. he sounds so assured and smooth when he sings, like he’s been doing this forever. i can’t get enough.

“cut to the feeling” by carly rae jepsen

2017 was the year that i remedied my worst mistake of never having listened to the power-pop gem that is carly rae jepsen’s 2015 album “e•mo•tion,” and is it too hyperbolic to say that that changed me as a person?? her brand of fizzy fluttery 80s-inspired sugar is everything i didn’t realize i needed. i’m dying for a new crj album, but in the meantime, “cut to the feeling” has done a good job of holding me over—it’s all the shout-about-your-crush-from-the-rooftops euphoria that miss carly does so well. extremely good for car rides, especially when the bridge kicks in.

“praying” by kesha

kesha has been my other pop queen this year. i liked her before, but then i listened to “rainbow” and cried like three different times while doing so, and i fell in love. every single song off of “rainbow” is great (the range of style is amazing, she goes from acoustic to pop to rock to country and back, and each one is just as great as the last), but “praying” is so raw and special; it doesn’t matter how many times i hear it, it hits me just as hard every time. i love how it builds—from the simmering power of the first chorus, to the stomp of the second (those pounding piano chords really get me), to the fireworks of the last (that fucking whistle note!!!!!!!!! also the way she sings “some say in life you gonna get what you give, but some things only god can forgive” with those horns behind her in the bridge…….i get shivers every time)… every second of it hurts so good. you can feel all that anger and pain, and also the euphoria and the healing. i’m so glad that kesha is finding herself again; she deserves the best.

“mic drop” by bts

i thought “baepsae” was my favorite “kiss my ass” bts banger, but then “her” came out and “mic drop” fuckin beat “baepsae” to a bloody pulp. the original and the desiigner/steve aoki remix are both sooo good: i love the dark grungy slink of the original, which sounds like it could play during the trailer for a movie about a scrappy gang of crime syndicate underlings who are sick and tired of being underestimated just because they’re all so young, so they’re ready to go off the books and pull a heist so big, no one will ever underestimate them again; but i also love the extra shot of adrenaline in the remix—desiigner’s verse is like whiplash (seriously, how does he manage to rap that fast???), and minimizing that bouncy little riff in the verses to focus on the vocals and the beat makes the chorus hits so much harder (also the “hella thick”/“hella sick” echoes are so much FUN to sing along to (and of course yoongi’s “baby watch your mouth” is…great, to say the least)). i really couldn’t pick between the two versions; although they share a teeth-bared-knuckles-bruised attitude, they’ve got unique vibes to me and i love them differently. that said, i’m linking to a performance of the original version because 1) yoongi and hoseok’s undone bow ties are really fucking me up; 2) apparently the reason why yoongi doesn’t do the last line of his verse is to prove to people accusing them of lip-syncing that they don’t use a track when they perform, which cracks me up because that’s such a yoongi thing to do; and 3) whoever wrote the captions added some little personal notes of their own and they’re so CUTE and funny.

“beautiful” by monsta x

idek what to say about this song anymore; it’s been 9 months and those opening bars still make my heart race. “beautiful” has become not only one of my favorite songs of 2017 but one of my favorite songs period. i’m a mess for mx and i love everything they do, but this song is really something else—rap line are in top fucking form, vocal line kill it (minhyuk’s lines are a Blessing), and the choreography is still one of my favorites from this year. i’ve listened to this song so many times i really thought i was gonna get sick of it, but i haven’t yet, and i don’t think i will.

“baby” by astro

i’m surprised my teeth haven’t rotted out of my skull after how many times i’ve listened to “baby” this year, because this song is like pure sugar. i love the snappy percussion and the bouncy bass and the bright melody, and astro have such sweet vocals to boot (especially mj, oh man ;___;). and the choreography is so!! good!!! it’s got this old-fashioned swing to it that i love. ugh. it’s all perfect. i remember a few months ago i was having a bad day for whatever reason, but after i watched a few live stages of this i instantly felt better.

“new fears” by lights

“skin&earth” was hands-down one of my top favorite releases of 2017—it’s the gritty post-apocalyptic cyberpunk album of my dreams. i’ve loved lights since like middle school, and it’s so amazing to see how her music has grown and changed; this is my favorite work from her so far. “skin&earth” has SO many good tracks, but “new fears” is probably my favorite. i love the eerie beginning, and the heavy beat in the chorus, and the lyrics!!!!!! they nail that feeling of “i would give myself up to keep you safe” in such a raw and heart-wrenching and beautiful way. just reading them gives me chills. the idea of getting new fears when you start really caring about someone……i never would’ve thought of it that way but it’s so true. UGH! lights if ur reading this i love u

“do it” by masc

god am i glad i stumbled across this one night when i was catching up on mvs, because masc have become one of my new favorite groups. i love the retro vibe, their vocals are so good (heejae’s voice…i’m weak), the choreography is SO freakin cute (i’m still not over the superman move in the chorus), and the mv is so colorful and goofy (two of my favorite things!)… truly a dream. the fan service dance practice and honestly any of the live stages are also a delight.

so there’s some of my faves! happy new year everyone!!! 2017 you kinda sucked sometimes but thanks for at least bringing some sweet jams. i’ll tag @anyhao @shinwhoohoo and @onlyoongi if you’d like to share some of what you’ve been listening to lately!

#tagged in #there are so many honorable mentions but if i listed all of those we'd be here all day lol #these are the ones that stuck out to me though #also i'm sorry if this somehow tagged anyone twice slkdfj the links didn't work the first time so i'm trying to repost #pls work this time

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