#spoken of with great respect ; verse

[foxes-that-run]

Love of My Life

LOML closes out Harry's House, it's a sad song about realising someone is the love of his life after he had lost them. Harry has spoken about an albums start and end, Harry's House starts with Sushi, imploring his muse to let love in and asking himself if just a taste of love is enough. LOML is about loss of that person and realisation that they were the love of his life. To Zane Lowe Harry said:

"Love of my life, I’ve always wanted to write a song about like home and loving England and all that kind of stuff. And it’s always kinda hard to do without being like ‘went to the chippy and I did this thing’ and to me Love of My Life was the most terrifying song for a long time because it is so bare, it's so sparse." He went on to say: "And in the spirit of what Harry's House is about, I think it started as an idea that was very literal, on the nose, [...] As I started making the album it wasn't about the geographical location it was much more of an internal thing."

So, what he said was that it is about his home and England is a metaphor. Home is common theme in Harry's work, most notably in Sweet Creature but even in 1D it has meant more than a place to him. The notebook also has a quote 'your mother is my home'. Taylor has also used home or homeland to refer to Harry, WomanExile has a great post on their usage of home as a metaphor for each other.

The Lyric Video has roses, which Harry and Taylor Swift also use to refer to each other:

Since 1989, all rose and thorn lyrics are about Harry

Harry 's rose Tattoo is from 11 September 2013, when they started dating again after the VMAs.

Roses have been in videos, outfits, social media posts about each other, a list is here.

Timeline

In the NY ONO show Harry said he wrote it in Rob Stringers' (Sony CEO) house and that the phone ringing in it is his. As it Was was recorded in the same session, and in part, has a similar meaning. This places it in the first half of 2021. After the rest of the album, California. Also after Folk/evermore which are about communicating and endings respectively. Harry had seen Taylor in March at the 2021 Grammy's. At the time it was written Taylor was still dating Joe. Harry had been dating Olivia for a few months.

California in particular refers to 'summers death left to breathe' indicating that there may have been an ending of sorts in 2020 before he returned to England and drove to Italy over the time Folklore was released.

Though not lyrically addressed, to me LOML is a 'yes' to Question..?'s "Did you realize out of time, she was on your mind?" Question was written in the same time period, after the Grammy's interaction but was released 6 months later.

Tracklisting, release and length

Love of My Life is Harry's only track 13, Taylor's number. It was released on her birthday. It is 3:12 long, or March, 31 2012 - the date they met.

Live shows

Harry said to Zane Lowe he thought he would close the show with it. And he did up until March 25 2023 when it was replaced by Fine Line in the last leg. Later that same week Taylor Swift replaced Invisible String with The 1 and announced her split from Joe Alwyn. It only returned for the 3 Wembley shows.

It was missing for 30 shows and is one of the least played Harry’s House songs, only above Boyfriends and Grapejuice which was added for the last leg.

Lyrics

Baby, you were the love of my life, woah Maybe you don't know what's lost 'til you find it

The first verse is a turn on the phrase “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” he reconnected with his love and found she is the 1 but it is past tense, he still lost her. This is similar to the Clean secret message, which also appeared in the OOTW video “She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything.” And the cyclical nature of this relationship.

Take a walk on Sunday through the afternoon We can always find somethin' for us to do We don't really like what's on the news, but it's on all the time

The second verse to me is remembering good times with this person, when he felt at home, with shared experiences and comfort.

I take you with me every time I go away In a hotel, usin' someone else's name I remember back at Jonny's place, it's not the same anymore

To me, I take you with me everytime I go away refers to what Harry said about an internal feeling, no matter where he is in the world his love is ever-present even when they are not.

In the Dublin show on the 22nd June 2023 Harry confirmed this refers to his childhood friend is Jonathan Harvey. This speaks to Harry’s concept of home as the feeling that you are loved and belong. To me this reference is to when Harry took Taylor on a tour of his home in England, to the lakes, where he grew up and she may have met Jonny in 2012. She said that was her best birthday, sharing his home with her was important to him. To me, this line means their relationship is different now to it was then. As it was is also similar with with an external view of how others would see them and their place in life.

It's unfortunate, ooh Just coordinates, ooh

It’s unfortunate, just coordinates sounds to me like he’s reflecting on how they got from the Lakes trip to their current state. This applies to his feelings about love and home. The impact touring has had on his life, what is home and his relationships.

I don't know you half as well as all my friends I won't pretend that I've been doin' everything I can To get to know your creases and your ends Are they the same?

Knowing his love is a theme, in Sunflower Harry sang “Let me inside, I wanna get to know you” and in Fine Line “Spreading you open Is the only way of knowing you” to explore the idea of intimacy co-existing with distance with the same person.

He also sings about not knowing his love in Trouble “And I don’t even know you / But I feel like I do sometimes”. Interestingly in If I could fly he feels like she knows him “Now you know me / for you eyes only”.

The “are they the same” speaks to once knowing all the creases and ends but not now. “Super Pretty” has a similar theme of distant intimacy and vulnerability “do you still feel the same about me”.

Baby, you were the love of my life, woah Maybe you don't know what's lost 'til you find it It's not what I wanted, to leave you behind Don't know where you'll land when you fly But, baby, you were the love of my life

The final chorus adds “don’t know where you’ll land when you fly” which confirms he is singing to a person not a country. Specifically a person with a private jet who can fly without the destination known. For that person every mystery take off is relentlessly tracked by an instagram account. How alienating it must be to someone who loves and wants her to see that and not know.

#haylor #harry styles #harry’s house

[kalfui]

hiya, sent the looooong ask way back down. it is nice to see that there is a community of people that enjoy canon!alastor, I'm glad I sent that in order to see more of us chiming in.

still, feel like I put us on a bit of a sad train there, so balancing out on your blog with some favourite things about the character:

that he doesn't really like men, but gets on very well with women and that women also very much enjoy his company in return -- vaggie sooomewhat exempt, but to be fair, he did make a deal with her girlfriend, and also he did end up helping her with the commercial, so even she's got more respect from him than I'd argue any of the guys in the show (also isn't she genuinely smiling when he pops up again at the end?) I'd really want to go into deepdives of each of his relationships with women (charlie, rosie, nifty, mimzy, vaggie, heck potentially carmilla and susan too) that we've seen so far. wonder if he'll get on with cherri bomb too if she sticks around the hotel

something about a guy who women feel somewhat safe around, because there's a sense that he's not about to hit on them or objectify them, but just enjoys their company and is in return also very charming and a great conversationalist

(this of course quite funny considering his past as a serial killer, but hey, what character in this verse aside from charlie hasn't got a very messy past with murder)

also I think all the people around him can tell there's a queerness to him that isn't definable by the classic "lgbt" because of how he presents -- I like the way this show managed to hit on some of the overlap between aspec identity and other forms of queer identities, that is, alastor is very camp, and there's a history of aspec people being folded into other queer spaces and having similar manners of conduct and codes of being. I just think the way alastor moves and speaks is wonderfully well done, and not just when he's being a little weirdo on purpose

that being said, also like his weirdo "not-necessarily-trying-to-freak-people-out" traits, like the neck craning. this isn't me talking about him as queer necessarily, it's just something I do as well, especially when trying to understand what's going on or listen better. next time I watch I'm going to pay attention to when he tends to do that

but the being a little weirdo as someone that has always felt like an outsider to how people are "meant" to be and embracing that and enjoying that, rather than angsting about it, especially in a story where there is an underlying theme of romantic love throughout, alastor being there and that not being his drive makes the themes its hitting on so much more rounded (and presumably will continue to do so)

I really like that he doesn't know, because of that invisibility x 100000 during his lifetime (asexual was coined in the early 20th century but it wasn't widespread, nor do I know if there were communities of people who claimed that term as early as the 1920s -- but probably not in louisiana in any case!) especially with regards to the aromantic part of the equation. it's quite nuanced in its depiction (amir talked about liking that too -- that he wanted it spoken aloud so it was there, but it wouldn't make sense for alastor to know)

I am also very into rosie knowing and what this says for her as having a sort of "matchmaker of the village" vibe to her, that she's kept up with the newest queer lingo, but that she's also not told alastor/potentially hasn't even floated the idea properly to him outside of that joke + maybe other jokes?

things we don't know so much about/anything about: I'd be so into knowing more about his relationship with his mother, and how his aroaceness also ties into the otherness/not being easily definable of a creole background, and more about the struggle during his lifetime of potentially feeling apart from what other people are -- since this show overlaps a lot with horror all over the place, I like that his background includes being a serial killer, it has Thematic Deliciousness and fits with the show generally (like I said, who hasn't got a messy past and probably killed some people on this show?) -- but how his becoming close to people is over the radio, with that disconnect between body and voice (relatable to me again) and being able to reach people through that voice whilst it still being on his terms, not how society demands connection, and also through his murders, which in a lot of cannibal murder narratives (hannibal, raw, yellowjackets, ravenous, etc) the idea is about getting close to people, as well as exploring dis/respect of others. basically -- how did alastor feel about the people he killed? were they people he wanted to be closer to, or people he despised, or both? I lean towards the second, considering how he tends to unleash demon form against characters he thinks are beneath him/deserve pain

also in the future, am very excited to see how he'll function both as a very dark grey moral figure who's on the "good guys" team, but who also perhaps will want eventually to get closer to the people of the hotel (he seems to genuinely care, considering he pushed mimzy away without knowing he had an audience in husk), but lack the language of how with the amount he's cut himself off from deeper connections, potentially with an underlying feeling there of "connection = romance" his whole life, and the only ways he's had of dealing with that is by being superficial with people around him/the constant powerplays. basically -- what will it take for him to be genuine and vulnerable around people?

although that being said, clearly rosie, nifty, and mimzy like him enough to have been a part of his life/afterlife for a good long while (not that nifty has much of a choice, but she also definitely likes him)

also wonder what it would take for him to cede control and trust that someone would help him simply because. I think with his background of being an outsider, being callous and taking what you can get however you can get it, only to have someone get their hooks into him through that deal, is such a great, complex little tragedy, and whether at some point he'll be able to escape that narrative or be doomed by it, excited to see. and I think this does play into his being aroace, because of the way this is an invisible, but oh-so-tangible lacunae in someone's life that makes people shun you and treat you differently. as much as I'm into how it's not angsty for him to move through the afterlife the way he does, I wouldn't be averse to some (more) angst related to needing to be in control because it's the one thing that has kept him together his entire life/afterlife, and ultimately the impossibility of that

basically: Great Alastor Altruist and the continued fallout from realising he really did almost just die... for the sake of his friends. and whether that will push him at first into being more closed off/manipulative, or if he'll embrace-ish the idea that he (gasp) likes these people. bit of both probably

saw a post somewhere that talked about how alastor would like velvette the best out of the vees and might even get on with her, and I'm adopting that as a headcanon for now. I just think they'd be such a great odd friendship from the outside, but at the same time it really works + of course vox would hate it

(also one last one that's more salty: other characters potentially going "hey, love might help alastor to open up more" and him getting justifiably very angry at having to assert his boundaries. on the one hand I wish it didn't have to be something as blatant as this for people to get with the programme, on the other, that episode in bojack horseman where todd and his girlfriend are both ace and he goes to dinner at her parents house, and they're both extremely allosexual, is one of the best episodes of tv ever, so sometimes a big stick is what's needed)

this got long, ending it here, but could go on forever. the TL;DR is that I enjoy how rich a character he is, and how that plays into the wider themes and arcs of the show, and how his aroaceness has existed thus far in the show as simply There in mannerisms, including the spectrum of disinterest-disgust when people either talk about romantic or sexual things, or whenever angel tried to hit on him to begin with, but also just the flick of the wrist, the crane of the head, the playful way he interacts with people whilst also practicing vigorous assertion of his own boundaries, the way he weaponises his smile, etcetc. and in subtle things like his easy friendships with women, and how all of the above plays into his character arc of creating distance between himself and other people, whilst asserting control over situations by literally being The Radio Demon, and so on. there's a whole analysis of this particular character as aroace being The Radio Demon that one could do. and that I also like his background and hope we get to see more of it/confirm it more

Oh my god, Anon. You are simply amazing. Thank you so much for both your earlier ask and this one, I'm so glad that because of your ask, many other people have been sharing their thoughts with me, and it makes me very happy! I love how you worded this! You're saying everything I couldn't find the words for. Thank you so so much! As I don't have much to say other than how much I appreciate and agree with you, I'll leave your ask out in the open for everyone to read because this is simply wonderful, I can't wait for the shows future, and Alastors future. He's such a lovely character. I can't help but love him way too much, and reading through this made me happy that others also love his character and just how much they do, too! I'm glad other people share my opinions and are curious about what will happen next! My inbox is always open for thoughts, theories, and whatever else you could say about characters canon personalities, characteristics, relationships and etc!

#hazbin hotel #hazbin #alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #spindlehorse #this is actually fucking amazing #thank you so much anon i really enjoyed reading through all that

[cloudsandwaterfalls]

2nd House Ruler in Dif. Houses

Hello, my loves! I hope everyone is doing amazing! This post is the second installment in my series about the effects of house rulers in different houses. This post will focus on the effects of having the 2nd house ruler in different houses in one’s natal chart. 

The 1st installment for the 1st house ruler can be found here [x]. 

The 2nd house ruler is the planet which rules the sign on the second house, and in which house this planet lies in your natal chart determines what effects the 2nd house ruler will have on a person. Traditionally, the 2nd house ruler is an indicator of one’s wealth and fortunates. 

DISCLAIMER: Before we start, I just to acknowledge that I’m NOT a professional astrologist, however, I have been personally studying astrology for the past 6 years so I am knowledgeable about the subject. So please only take whatever interpretations resonate with you and leave the rest. 

TRIGGER WARNING: Each section contains a bottom part which discusses the “if ill-placed” effects of the 2nd house ruler in that house. Includes concepts such as depression, health issues, eating disorders, wealth issues, etc. Please read only if you feel comfortable with such concepts, otherwise skip the bottom section. Thank you!

FIRST HOUSE: 

This placement allows a person to earn for themselves, there are no family burdens for them to solve financially. 

It also shows a person who has good earning capability and the capability to handle their finances well. 

This could also mean that they are self-employed and thus, earn independently. 

This placement also indicates a person who is well-versed in speech, singing, and learning. So, they could also speak many languages. 

Since 1st house rules self, it also shows a person who takes good care of their face and could have very extensive facial and beauty routines. 

However, if the 2nd house ruler is ill-aspected, all the above aspects could be reversed and so they could lack concentration in studies, have poor eating habits, and poor financial management and/or earning skills. 

SECOND HOUSE: 

This indicates a person who is financially complete in the sense that they have it all - a house, a car, a pool, a good stable job, etc. So, they could have a well-respected or top position in society, especially in the financial ladder. 

This also indicated a person who is a bit of a foodie because they enjoy good, luxurious food. 

They might also have a good face (and great eye sight usually) and voice which can be used to lure in large audiences (in public speaking) and even their family members, this could be why these people are likely to receive a lot of financial benefits from their family members. 

If ill-placed, this placement could mean the person will have challenges in gained wealth and might have medical concerns related to the eye and/or face. 

THRID HOUSE: 

This placement indicates that a person will earn money through their personal efforts. Unfortunately, money will not come easily to them if they just sit there and hope for it, instead these people have to work for every penny that they want to make. 

However, that money could come from siblings, close friends, and neighbors since these are aspects which the 3rd house generally rules over. 

They could also make money through artistic efforts, singing, speech, sales, marketing, advertising, and short distance travels.  

If ill-placed, this placement would mean one will earn money through dishonest actions because of their personal anxiety to get money and wealth. They could also be impatient, lack courtesy for others in speech, and just overall, have a very harsh-spoken mannerism. 

FOURTH HOUSE: 

Since the 4th house traditionally rules over home affairs, this placement means that the person will finance the house meaning they will be the financial head of their home (whether it’s their birth home or their in-laws home after marriage). 

This also means the person could gain wealth by accumulating high savings, speaking, singing, education, real estate, agriculture, underground work like mining and minerals, vehicles, healthcare (nurturing work/service), and/or through maternal relations. 

This placement also makes a person well-educated, emotionally balanced who strives for other’s happiness, and a great story-teller. 

However, if ill-placed, this placement could indicate someone who faces financial losses from the above mentioned fields like speaking, singing, education, real estate, agriculture, etc. 

FIFTH HOUSE: 

This means a person will earn wealth through their mind and intellect. 

They could be employed within government agencies, speculation business, spirituality, sports, and/or entertainment. 

As a result of their sharp mind, these people develop good money-saving skills and high intelligence, but still maintain their code of ethics while earning money. 

If ill-placed, this indicates a person who has problems with paying their taxes or loans, are not able to enjoy their life (since 5th house rules over pleasure and little joys in life) because of wealth issues. They could spend unnecessary amounts on children and romantic partners and speak in a dishonest manner. 

SIXTH HOUSE: 

This means a person will earn money through service since 6th house rules over service to others. 

Income and wealth could come from service occupations such as healing, protection, public service, law, armed forces, martial arts, fighting, boxing, legal trade, animal service. 

A person must work hard and have perseverance to earn money and weirdly enough, sometimes people with this placement earn money through their enemies. 

However, if ill-placed, this could mean that the person will struggle in saving money, get in disputes easily (make lots of enemies), lose money through accidents and health problems (even addictions), get into high debts, have speech articulatory issues or harsh speech, have eating disorders or dental issues, and spend unnecessary amounts of money on pets.  

SEVENTH HOUSE: 

This indicates a person will make money through their partnerships, this could be romantic, platonic, or business partnerships (domestic or foreign business transactions/contracts). 

Partnerships could also improve this person physically instead of only financially. 

If ill-placed, it means a person could not get lots of opportunities for partnerships or lose partnerships quickly, will could lead to episodes of depression. Their health may be weak and this could cause a sick or worried romantic partner or a business partner who faces troubles in transactions or contracts. It could also cause the person to seek out multiple relationships or spouses.  

EIGHTH HOUSE: 

This indicates a person who makes money through other’s support. 

Career placements for income could be in occult sciences, astrology, healing arts, research and/or spiritual practice. 

The person could get money through inheritance, insurance, alimony, wills of elderly, etc. 

If ill-placed, it could indicate a person who is dependent on others and otherwise poor themselves, have financial problems with partners, could lose their inheritance, gets a low paying job, may be abused by a family members, be prone to alcohol or drug addiction, and have low concentration in their studies. 

NINTH HOUSE: 

This indicates a person who is financially fortunate. They are usually lucky in money patterns and might have parents or partners who are prosperous and thus, gain wealth through these means. 

Possible careers/sources of income could be from professions such as a lawyer, philosopher, teacher, mentor, prime minister or president, judge, travel agent, import or export manager, finance service, or jewelry design. 

Their parents could be a huge help in their careers and in money matters. 

If ill-placed, it indicates a person who had unfortunate financial matters, who doesn’t have spiritual growth, can face problems when traveling like money issues or even food poisoning or diet restrictions, and problems in higher education. 

TENTH HOUSE: 

This means a person will earn their wealth through their wealth. 

This wealth will earn them good reputation and status. 

Possible careers and income sources include financial jobs, speaking, entertainment, sales, modeling (profession which uses their face), and constant studies (higher education). 

If ill-placed, indicates the fall of reputation through career, lots of career issues such as no promotions or enemies in work place, bad dental of facial health, loss of wealth and respect, and financial losses from working with big companies or the government. 

ELEVENTH HOUSE: 

This means a person gets a lot of opportunities to make money and indicated a good and constant cash flow. 

They could get wealth through finance, but honestly, anything is a good career choice for people with this placement because money opportunities are constantly present. 

They could get financial benefits from elder siblings, partners, children, close friends, or others who are in an influential position. 

If ill-placed, shows a person who might take dishonest methods to earn money, get into debts and other money problems, and even feel depressed due to money concerns. 

TWELFTH HOUSE: 

This means a person will earn money through enlightenment. 

They could earn money through charitable, educational, philanthropic or spiritual work/service. 

The person is likely to make money after religious or spiritual pilgrimages or self-reflection, by engaging in spiritual work or conventions, studying or working abroad in far-away places, and living a simple life. 

If ill-placed, it means the person might become a financial victim by facing money losses, could overspend after getting money and thus, lose it quickly. They could take low paying jobs, and not have any financial motivation. 

Thank you for reading til the end of this post! I hope you gained insight into astrology and its effects in daily life. 

Please like, comment, reblog, and share! Also, stayed tuned for my 3rd post in this series! 

#astro #astrology #astro notes #astro observations #astro community #natal #natal chart #natal astrology #vedic astrology #vedic chart #astro vedic #astro natal #aspects #placements #1st house #2nd house #3rd house #4th house #5th house #6th house #7th house #8th house #9th house #10th house #11th house #12th house #2nd house ruler #2nd house lord #2nd house ruler in #2nd house ruler in 1st house

[7more]

ten of my current favorite songs! thank you @tonguetyd for the tag!! these are in no particular order, i can't bring myself to rank them lol

1. disaster by blink-182

this entire ep has been on repeat but the way that tom sings the line "what do you fear, my love?" just sticks to the walls of my brain like one of those sticky hand toys

2. there is by box car racer

i associate this song so deeply with the song pretty little girl by blink from dogs eating dogs so it's funny putting it here but anyways. this song exists in a place in my brain and i live there right now

3. i'm afraid of americans (david bowie cover) by bones uk

i first heard this cover in 2018 i think and i have been obsessed ever since!! it's so good!! highly recommend bones uk to anyone who likes this cover, their music is great

4. all we know by paramore

this entire album. is so good. and pmoreblr does not give it the attention it deserves.

5. daddy lessons by beyonce

i've been listening to lemonade a lot recently, and this song has been on repeat a lot lately. don't hurt yourself will always be my favorite track, but i absolutely adore how this song is sonically different from the rest. i absolutely love the americana/country vibes from beyonce and i'd love to hear more!!

6. going away to college by blink-182

yeah i know blink is already on this list but this song again. sends me to a place in my brain that i am currently living in

7. a grave mistake by ice nine kills

THIS. SONG. the fucking GUITAR is so good oh my god

8. parklife by blur

a basic choice from blur's discography, i know, but it's just too good LMAO. i love a good spoken word bit and the way this song is written scratches an itch in my brain. when i "sing" along to the verses it makes me feel like i'm reciting the lines to a movie without bothering anyone lol

9. not nineteen forever by courteeners

what can i say. i am rapidly approaching by 20th birthday and it's hitting a little

10. cobra (rock remix) [ft. spiritbox] by megan thee stallion

THIS!!! REMIX!!! i have had it on repeat since it was released!! i absolutely love the way they blended their respective genres and it's just perfect to me.

again, thank you for the tag!! here's five more woo: @roscoe-me-and-this-fuckin-kid @falloutgirlboy @alonetogether @ignorancelive @the--vessel and anyone else who wants to do it! please don't feel pressured to explain as much as i did lol that's just me being obsessive

#nine.txt #tag game #blink 182 #box car racer #bones uk #paramore #beyonce #ice nine kills #blur #the courteeners #megan thee stallion #spiritbox #bowie #Spotify

[safetycar-restart]

For soft night can we talk about the little!drivers some more!! I don’t have any specific ideas (sorry!) but would love to hear about what what the littles (specifically Lando, charles, max, mick) have been up to! Also have we talked about little!Mick in the poly!Merc universe yet because if not, we need to!

YES!!! YES WE CAN!!! I ended up just discussing little!Mick here because I had so many thoughts, but you're more than welcome to send another ask about the others and we can discuss things more there. Hope that's alright anon!!

So firstly, we have spoken about little!Mick before! Mostly, we focused on how Mick's little space was never respected when he was at Haas? His old dom made fun of him for it, made him feel unsafe and so he only regressed on his own for a long time.

What helps him regress around people again is seeing George regressing? George regresses VERY young, and he requires a lot of care. He's loved on by everyone, but especially you and Toto. Seeing how George is cared for really helps Mick feel comfortable enough to regress.

But having said that, I actually don't think we've focused too much on little!Mick on his own in the verse? How he is when it's just you and him and Toto. And we should!!

I definitely think that the first time it happens, it's after the relationship between the three of you has property started and it's by accident.

Maybe you three plan a weekend away? You go to a cabin in Germany and it's just the three of you and Mick is so so happy. He has both his Doms all to himself!!! You and Toto had been teasing him all day before getting to the cabin, getting him all worked up and excited to scene.

You get to the cabin and share a PG shower together after discussing the massive shower in the master bathroom. Mick is feeling so nice and relaxed with his two Doms near.

Then Toto makes dinner while you and Mick cuddle on the couch and discuss weekend plans. After dinner, you and Toto have a scene planned for him.

Except once Toto comes with dinner and Mick is cuddled between you two, being handfed and praised, he feels himself slipping into little space? He's just so tired from a day of traveling and now he's feeling nice and safe and warm and he hasn't had time to regress in a while and it just all comes to a head.

He panics, because this is defined not what you and Toto had planned for the evening. But he cant stop it.

So he kinda just shakes his head and stands up, trying to focus but he can't. It's a losing battle, especially because all he wants is his two Doms and you two are right there, telling him to sit back down and asking what's wrong.

Eventually just mumbles 'little...' and Toto realises he's trying to say that he's regressing.

Mick expects you two to be upset with him, or at least a little disappointed because you obviously had a great scene planned and he just threw a hammer in the works.

But that couldnt be further from the truth.

You and Toto love Mick, all of Mick. And if Mick is feeling comfortable enough to regress here? Then that's amazing. You would never be upset with that.

Needless to say, Toto quickly grabs the soft blanket and plushie that's usually reserved for aftercare and puts on some cartoons for Mick.

He's so happy for the rest of the night, and he regresses a lot younger than he usually does because he's got both of his Doms there to help him. He gets to watch cartoons and get cuddles and be read a bedtime story and he loves it!!

Usually Mick is on the older side when he regresses and is mostly happy to just colour in or play on his own, but being able to regress younger and be properly looked after by his Doms does absolute wonders for him.

From then on, you and Toto make sure Mick has adequate time to properly regress.

#little!mick #ms #sub!mick #poly!mercedes #gn!reader #soft soft vibes

[ace-of-squirrels-card]

Turpentine is my all time favorite song. It was my top song from Spotify wrapped in 2023 despite being released on October 20 (wrapped was released Nov 29 lol). It's about searching for meaning in a meaningless life. Let me tell you what's so fucking amazing about this song: an essay, by me, ace of squirrel

Soak your clothes in kerosene

Cleanse the mind of ketamine

Slide your mom on top of me

Wash yourself with turpentine

Okay this song opens with very classic Tom lyrics. Wacky, silly, seems meaningless, casually vulgar. In many ways this entire album feels like a return to form, and that opening verse is a great example.

My arms, I've raised again

Today I don't feel bitter

I have no path within

Don't know if I'll get better

My own mind's unclean

Can't taste anything

What if I'm not like the others?

A broken man, a Frankenstein

What if my heart won't recover?

I'll clean myself with turpentine

Then there's an immediate tone shift to these really raw lyrics. These lyrics are heavy. It gives the impression of someone who woke up one day, no longer recognizing themself. As if to say "Is this what I've become?" Feeling like somehow, the whole is *less* than the sum of its parts. We're all just these broken pieces, haphazardly sewn together and hoping it holds. 

Meanwhile the guitar has this desperate, almost panicky feeling behind it. Somehow this is also very classic blink.

I feel like I'll cave in

I'm anxious, I am weathered

I've lost my way again

I know there ain't no treasure

These lyrics *kill* me, my god. These lyrics are saying we're crumbling apart, breaking at the seams. We're on this journey, we're lost, and we know that nothing good awaits us at the end? There's such a hopelessness to this verse.

My mind breaks with ease

Sticks and stones and dreams

We already have the ingrained association of sticks and stones being things that hurt us. Now you want to lump dreams into that category? Oh honey, who hurt you

Sharks smell the blood in the water

We're all just lambs to the slaughter

It's only all the time, this time

A generation lost and forgotten

Clawing at the lid of the coffin

Your God ain't coming back this time

We have this fun little moment that is very Mark here. We see these "spoken word"-like verses from Mark in a lot of his other songs (and especially collabs like Find My Own Way or Let Me Down). While a lot of the lyrics sung by Tom feel like an internal monologue, Mark's verses look outwards. The world around is more than uncaring. It's actively harmful, maliciously negligent. There's a sense of desperation and utter loneliness and constantly fighting to survive. 

Quit your job and have a drink

Take a pound of ecstasy

Blah, bla-blah, bla-blah, fuck

Wash yourself with turpentine

This ^ *this* ^ 

Self destructive, desperate. It's like they want to convey how meaningless everything feels and the best way to do that is not even bother writing a lyric here. Love it. 

Light me like a trampoline

Stick your dick in Ovaltine

Snort a bag of Dramamine

Douse yourself in gasoline

Throw up in the limousine

Jack off to a magazine

Wash yourself with ... turpentine

Goddamnit

Ughhhh this last verse. Amazing. It's back to classic goofy Tom, but it feels *very* different given the context of the rest of the song. Theater of the absurd. It really pulls together the meaning of the entire song. Its not so much some silly lyrics, and more like a desperate attempt to feel something. Anything. Self-deprecating at best and horribly self destructive at worst. 

Just from the perspective of a rhyming scheme, the structure is *chef's kiss*. They're showing off a certain mastery of language in this song that I would've expected from more ....respectable artists.

The song as a whole is about searching for meaning but struggling to find it. Filling the void in your heart with whatever you can, but never being fulfilled. Doing all this dumb shit, acting a fool even if you're not, because you feel so broken on the inside. It's this delicious dichotomy between deeply meaningful and hopelessly meaningless. Now THAT is classic blink (just look at Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, which somehow has a really heavy song about about a broken family dynamic but also a song about grandpa just ate seven fucking hotdogs). 

You can hear it throughout the entire album, theres this  apology to each other. It's all of them saying "I lost track of what was important. I forgot who I was because of dumb shit that didn't matter." And turpentine is that introspective lynchpin. 

Anyway y'all thanks for reading, that was a lot to come out of an account that mostly reblogs weird Danny phantom content. 

#turpentine #one more time #blink 182 #blink182 #lyrics analysis

[nameaprice]

SIVIR

From an early age, Sivir learned firsthand the harsh lessons of Shuriman desert life. With her entire family slain by marauding Kthaons—one of the Great Sai’s most infamous raider tribes—the young girl and other orphans like her could only hope to survive by stealing food from local markets, and delving into half-buried ancient ruins in search of trinkets to sell. They would brave cramped tunnels and forgotten crypts, hunting for anything of value, often scrapping viciously with one another over the best finds. Sivir would lead others into the depths, but could rarely hold on to what few treasures she managed to unearth. After being robbed by her supposed friend Mhyra, she swore she would never allow herself to be betrayed again, and in time she joined a group of mercenaries led by the renowned Iha Ziharo, serving as their guide and general lackey.

The excerpt above is from the L.eague of L.egends Universe Lore. The complete story can be found here.

I will follow the main verse for now, making alterations as well as additions as I explore and dive deeper into my portrayal of the muse. Feel free to ask any questions via IM or inbox.

ADDITIONAL INFO.

Full Name: Sivunas Alahair. Alias/Titles: Sivir, The Bringer of Rains (Prophecy Title), The Battle Mistress, Princess Sivir. Nickname(s): Siv. Place of Birth: Vekaura, Shurima. Current Residence: Undisclosed, somewhere in Shurima.

Family ties: Nisa (mother), Xaran (father), Azir (distant relative). Relationship Status: Single. Allegiance: Herself and crew. Spoken Languages in order of fluency: Shuriman, Va-Nox. Occupation: Mercenary.

Close Friends: Samira (@eyepatchrose) Karima (Profiteer: LOR). Financial Status: Wealthy. Hobbies to Pass Time: Sparring, sigh-seeing, sleeping. Phobias: Pyrophobia. Self Confidence Level: High.

Species: Human. Gender and Pronouns: Cis Female, She/Her. Sexual Orientation: Bisexual. Romantic Orientation: Tbd. Height: 170cm.

Face-claim: Priyanka Chopra. Age: 30 y.o. (12th of April). Hair Colour: Black. Eye Colour: Green. Body Type: Athletic, toned muscles, hour-glass figure.

Voice: A little husky. Dominant Hand: Right. Posture: Flexible. Scars: Respectively atop her upper right lip, right side of belly, left thigh, and lower back.

Tattoos: None. Birthmarks: None. Distinguishing features: Green eyes, nose, silky black hair. Clothing and accessories: Golden diadem, vambraces, white shawl, armour pieces and jewellery.

#|| bio #|| shc

[dustedmagazine]

Lonnie Holley — Oh Me Oh My (Jagjaguwar)

Lonnie Holley has led a life that posed considerable challenges. An orphan who spent time as the adopted child of a burlesque dancer and much of the rest of his childhood in Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, an institution even more hellish than what one might imagine, early on Holley endured a great deal of abuse. Challenges were not to end there, and without the artistic pursuits to which he has been devoted, a conduit for purging the demons of his life, one wonders what might have happened to Holley. Fortunately, he has carved a poly-artist career as a highly regarded visual artist, poet, and vocalist.

Holley has frequently been categorized as a bluesman, and his emotive, raspy pipes are well suited to the blues. On his latest Jagjaguwar recording, Oh Me Oh My, he presents his voice in an expansive set of contexts that transcend traditional blues stylings. The list of artists who make guest appearances speaks to the respect with which Holley is regarded. Moor Mother, Michael Stipe, Sharon van Etten, Bon Iver, Rokia Koné, and Jeff Parker lend their talents to Oh Me Oh My, affording its arrangements and production a mutability that supports, never dilutes, Holley’s aesthetic. For instance, the title track features Stipe singing layered backing vocals, making a refrain over which Holley sings verses about his history and joins with Stipe in the chorus. The effect is haunting. Bon Iver joins Holley on “Kindness Will Follow Your Tears,” creating a swath of group singing and synth keyboards that buoy the lead vocals. Holley frequently bends pitches, modulating sustained notes to wring every last piece of emotion out of them. 

Moor Mother guests on two tracks: “I Am a Part of the Wonder” and “Earth Will Be There,” adorning the first with rasped rapping, trumpet, pitched percussion, and mid-tempo beats. The second begins with thrumming bass, bodily in its impact, and Holley’s spoken word. The synthesizers expand their range against metallic percussion. Holley’s voice gradually moves from speech to song. Partway through, the beat drops, a horn section is added, and the vocalist sings a refrain that, by itself, could be a hook, but here is part of a kaleidoscope of sounds. There is a sizable section of Moor Mother’s spoken word with Holley vocalizing in the background. He then takes center stage, once again singing the refrain, which is followed by the full ensemble, now with backing vocalists, creating a rousing coda. It is a fulsome, polystylistic brew. 

Holley without guest stars is no less compelling. Particularly moving is “Mount Meigs,” where he recounts the abuse of his troubled childhood. Accompanied by searing electric guitar and a thunderous rhythm section, the song uses the blues to express inconsolable suffering. There are few who rival Holley in the ability to so viscerally share the depredations of the Deep South in the 1950s and 1960s. The recording closes with a surprising twist. “Future Children '' features a Holley through a vocoder, minimalist synth arpeggios, and solo soprano saxophone. Taking a page from Philip Glass may not be as futuristic as the artist supposes, but the spaciness of it suggests that Holley may be looking to the future as well as channeling the past. For him, and for us, that is good news. 

Christian Carey

#lonnie holley #oh me oh my #jagjaguwar #christian carey #albumreview #dusted magazine #spoken word #poetry #moor mother #jazz #funk #blues

[more-than-a-princess]

@cantillat​ asked:  ❛ can’t sleep? ❜ Shirou to Sonia @ any verse you are feeling

Various Questions sentence starters - Accepting!

The clock on her bedside table read 2:41 AM, but Sonia hadn't bothered to look. No, with the french doors to the master bedroom open to the patio and the white drapes carefully tucked aside, she could easily tell it was in the middle of the night. From the way the shore had calmed to gently lapping waves, the faint hum of nocturnal insects, and where the moon hung in the cloudless sky of the Maldives, its light glittering over the surface of the water. It was the time of night every respectable person at the resort should have been fast asleep, readying themselves for yet another day of relaxation on a tropical holiday.

And Sonia now desperately wished she could join them.

It wasn't her fault, per se: she had every reason to believe, when she'd asked Cecily to make plans for a holiday during recess of the Royal Council at the beginning of January, that she'd be plenty ready to relax. Even with proper help, a distraction, to keep her mind from doing what it always did: race. Race towards a finish line that kept moving further and further away.

While it was the Nevermind trait to have a boundless curiosity about life, an eagerness to learn, for the Princess of Novoselic it translated into being constantly occupied: with work, with a hobby, with trying to manage her family in both good and bad situations. It was as if Sonia had a fear of silence and nothingness: she needed to fill it with words, spoken or heard or read, but words nevertheless. It was why the prospect of a beauty treatment, unless she had a talkative technician, was nothing short of horror (and she usually loved a good horror: it filled her life with adrenaline and dark fables that she always wished were true). Being alone with her thoughts without rest was, perhaps, Sonia Nevermind's true horror story.

She thought of her calendar once she returned home. She thought of how Liam must be making a racket in Tokyo (he was, after all, the wild one in the family) and how Sam must be pouring over another art history tome before taking to the museums of Paris, hoping that the works of great artists would inspire him to set up another canvas in his pied-a-terre. She thought of her father's reluctance to present the latest research that she'd organized and funded regarding the conditions of skong farms and the projected decrease of their population due to the anachronistic ritual of consuming the rare and majestic bird as an eighteenth birthday rite-of-passage. She thought of how her mother had taken it upon herself to debauch the bachelor she'd been quietly meeting with, off and on, less than a week ago, throwing the entire sodding Maldives plan to hell.

In short, she thought of everything except what she needed to: nothing, coupled with a decent night's sleep. With a soft growl of frustration (a noise that a princess should never make, according to several nannies from her childhood), Sonia threw back the crisp bedcovers, barely slept in, and slid her feet into a pair of house slippers. Tying a dressing gown loosely at the waist over her silk camisole and shorts, she padded out towards the main living area of the villa, her long blonde braid swishing behind her. She needed to do something, anything, to occupy her thoughts from everything she'd left behind. A country, a family, feelings she hadn't known she had until, perhaps in a bit too much of a banal fashion, she had a half-naked man on her private beach who smiled at her with an uneasy sense of familiarity.

"Can't sleep?"

Sonia gasped, instinctively grabbing the lapels of her dressing gown to pull it more firmly around her. Speak of the devil...and Sonia often did, hoping it would prompt him to show up. It would certainly give her one lifetime achievement of properly summoning something. Still, even among old friends, she drew the line at looking disheveled: moonlight had a tendency of accenting the hollow of her collarbone, the delicate lace trim of her top, and far too much exposed thigh to be considered decent to receive anyone. Well, almost anyone.

"Shirou!" She half-breathed, half-hissed. It wasn't as if speaking at a normal level would upset someone in a private villa when she was the only occupant: it was out of routine: privacy was hard to come by at Boudry House, at Novoselic Castle, anywhere she normally lived. "I...yes, I can't. I should ask what you're doing here, but I did give you free rein of the villa when you needed it."

It was a distinct sense of deja vu, she thought, as she stood in the entranceway and took him in. She could keep turning over all of the changes in him in her mind as much as she liked, from the deep color of his skin to the pale silver of his hair, and how he now towered over her with both direct words and a devastating smile. But this, instead, was something familiar. Sonia had spent plenty a night at the Emiya house as a teenager studying abroad, and plenty of those nights had been spent staring at the ceiling, wide-eyed in a futon in one of the house's guest rooms, until she'd wandered to the living room or the porch and found the teenage head of the household. Shirou cleaned, he prepared early for the household meals or exercised in the back garden. He made her cups of green tea and let her ask endless questions, or put on the television, and in rare cases, listened. Just listened, as the assumed constant shine of her smile faded to contemplation. Concerns. All the sorts of things a seventeen-year-old girl was supposed to fret over and plenty she wasn't. Sonia hesitated to be that open and honest with just anyone: so much of her life depended on her ability to carry on and find a solution, a light, when times were most dark and dire. To the point that having such times of her own was considered impossible: nobody needed, or wanted, to hear them.

It was a bit embarrassing now, to look back on and realize just how open, if not melodramatic at times, she'd been on a night just like this one. Less tropical and with fewer beaches, but a similar moonlight. A similar time. A similar plan of addressing her inability to sleep.

"I'm going to put the kettle on," She told him. She thought of making headway towards the bar cart before he'd made himself known, but this was far more fitting. "Would you like something to drink? And perhaps share what brings you to the villa at nearly three in the morning?" Work, Sonia had supposed, had to have been what drew him there. Probably some contraband object that no one on staff could catch him with.

#more-than-a-princess answered #cantillat #Non-Despair AU: The Princess of Novoselic #(Various Questions sentence starters) #(Hi I like making Sonia uncomfortable and she won't admit why) #(She can at least make tea though.) #(You can trust her with an electric kettle!)

[wallacejwriting]

BOOK OF FARSIDE 01: the city of fractured dreams

Cináed | Human, Caster | They/Them, Trans | 17 Chuishàii & Tíian | Underside | Underside Aligned loyal, indecisive, and curious

[Kih-NAHD]

Intro

Eight years is a long time, longer still when it’s almost half your life.

Eight years ago, Cináed was stolen away from their sister after a rescue attempt gone wrong. Their magic affinity discovered, they were thrown into the magic academy in Topside and left to struggle, to survive.

They did.

Eight years of training, of listening, and of learning, all with the goal of returning to Underside and finding their sister so they can be together again.

But Cináed has made friends in their time in Topside, and they’re no longer sure if they can leave those friends behind.

How do you reconcile two completely different worlds? Especially when each is trying to destroy the other. Yet if Cináed can’t reconcile them, can’t find a way to unite them, then they will be forced to choose one and turn against the other.

And they no longer know which side they want to choose.

Description

Appearance: 5’6 and built like a long distance runner. Cináed specializes in speed and manoeuvrability in combat and it shows all the way down. Light brown skin with warm undertones. Monolid, dark brown eyes and a broad nose with a flat bridge.

Cináed dip dyes the ends of their dark-dark brown hair a sort of faded cobalt blue colour. They wear one half of a pendant, a black half moon, the other half is with Cat, which is white. They never take it off.

Like all casters, Cináed’s pupils glow white when they use their magic.

Cináed prefers simple clothing to fancy, and almost exclusively wears tunics and linen pants if you let them. They own a bright red scarf that they take with them everywhere, no matter how badly it clashes with everything else. It’s the last piece Cináed has of their father and they refuse to part with it.

Magic & Skills: Cináed is a caster, meaning they have the natural ability to call forth the magic from casting stones. Cináed specializes in the elemental sigil of Wind and the harmonic sigil of Wisdom, a combination as unique as it is difficult to predict for anyone not practiced in it. Cináed is a top student at the academy and was named Valedictorian for their magic and academic prowess. It is one of the few areas of their life where they are confident.

They are also studious, well versed in a great deal of arcane history and arcane theory, as well as casting combinations. Cináed loves to be an expert in all they pursue and this has led to them studying mathematics, physics, and chemistry in pursuit of arcane knowledge.

As well, Cináed is physically fit, has quick reflexes, and is well-versed in arcane combat. They've learned to move silently as a result of living in Underside and trying to blend into Topside, and are one of the sneakiest people you'll ever meet.

Relationships: Cináed’s primary relationships are with Bran Faolán, Lara Acardi, and their sister, Cat.

Bran and Lara are both fellow students at the academy whom Cináed has grown close to in the last eight years. Cináed deeply loves and respects both of them, though Cináed’s never told the two their true origins beyond “Underside sponsor kid”, nor do they know Cináed’s goals to return to Underside.

Bran has been Cináed's roommate for the entirety of their time in Topside, though Cináed is not a sponsor kid of his family. Technically, Cináed is a sponsor kid of Gwyn Vaughan, though he's never actually spoken to them. Bran and Cináed are close friends, often leaning on one another for support, and Cináed and Lara share a love of unconventional and uncommon casting combinations.

Cat is a beacon of hope in Cináed’s life. No matter how dark and awful things got as a kid, Cat was always there for Cináed, protecting them and shielding them from harm. Even after Cináed was taken, Cináed clung to the hope that they’d be reunited and has worked tirelessly toward that goal every day.

Too bad she doesn’t know Cináed’s trans and has changed names. That’s probably gonna make it harder to reunite. But that’s part of why Cináed is so determined to do it — they figure their odds are better than Cat’s, presuming Cat hasn’t changed that much in the time.

Current Life: Cináed is two weeks from graduating from the magic academy in Topside at story start. They have been named valedictorian and have two weeks to decide if they want to stay in Topside longer or dive headlong into Underside.

Thoughts on Tairkyda Politics: Cináed fears that an all out conflict between Topside and Underside would limit their options, make their goal much harder, and put Cat in danger. They also fear that it would permanently separate them from Cat or their friends, neither of whom Cináed wants to live without.

Cináed is one of the main characters in my WIP, the city of fractured dreams, the first book in the book of farside series.

WIP Intro Post | WIP Tag | Picrew link

#writeblr #character intro #ocs #am writing #wip: city of fractured dreams #series: book of farside #wip: farsiders #c: cináed

[justaradioguy]

Consider this both a post listing NPCs that are present on this blog and an open invitation to send them asks anytime! Send in their respective emojis + your question or statement.

Subordinates

Kain answers to more people than he's in charge of, but here are three other communications nerds he is in charge of.

Corporal Nolan Finch - 18 years old, he/him. He can almost always be seen working on some project or another. He's fairly shy and timid, especially to most who outrank him. However, to those close to him, he can be a bit mischevious and even a bit of a smartass. Emojis: ⚙️👥

Sergeant Hadi Riel - 20 years old, she/her. She's very no-nonsense about 99.9% of the time. She's blunt and prides herself on full transparency, honesty, and a great work ethic. Emojis: 🔧👥

Staff Sergeant Milo Landry - 21 years old, he/they. Overall, a kind soul. However, he doesn't trust easily and doesn't have too much to say unless spoken to first. They only play by the rules because the rules aren't quite oppressing enough to be broken. Emojis: 🔒👥

Biological Family

Kain's parents are the only biological family members he knows. Nevertheless, they're here, no matter how insufferable.

Allen Fuery - age unspecified, he/him. A landlord in the well-off part of Central City. He does not consider Kain his son whatsoever and would most likely try to verbally tear him to shreds if they met again. Emojis: 🔑👥

Danielle Fuery - age unspecified, she/her. An accountant/bookkeeper for her husband's business. She's a bit less harsh than her husband, but still does not regard Kain as someone worth having any sort of familial relationship with. Emojis: 🪙👥

Other

Any other NPCs.

Chicken - baby. Exists in the Final Fantasy: Unlimited verse. An orphaned chocobo that Kain found inside the Comodeen and spoils half to death. He loves this little guy like his own child. Emojis: 📎👥

#can i take a message? ;; prompts #i am an ally and i am a friend ;; headcanon #people all around ;; npcs #guest muse ;; finch #guest muse ;; riel #guest muse ;; landry #guest muse ;; chicken #guest muse ;; allen #guest muse ;; danielle

[thewolfofpennsyltucky]

Mask Making Ethics: Rehauls, Conversions and Recasting.

Many folks within the masked community have probably heard the terms “rehaul,” “recast,” or conversion from time to time. You may be surprised that these terms do not solely exist within the mask community, but also branch out into the art and costuming communities as well as many more. While some long term members may already be versed with these words, I’ve spoken with quite a few newer members of many communities that are a bit confused as to what these terms are. This post will hopefully answer those questions as well as highlight what is and what is not ethical within the community.  Rehauls

Rehauling is the process of taking a mask and “amping it up,” if you will. One can typically see this with licensed character masks. No doubt you’ve seen some masks around and have thought to yourself: “That looks okay, but maybe it could look a little better.” By no means am I dumping on any artist or studio, but in a mass production setting, sometimes things get put on the backburner in an effort to get as many products out on the market as they can. It looks good, but it’s not 100% “there.” Maybe the sculpt is great but the paint job is off. For example, let’s take the Trick or Treat Studios Michael Myers mask from Halloween Kills. Like many fans and collectors, I found the mask to be sculpted very well, but lacking on the paint job. This is where rehauling comes in. Many have taken to buying these masks and rehauling them to their full potential. They can be sold online, which is perfectly ethical and legal AS LONG AS YOU MENTION IT IS A REHAUL. An example of this can be found at the link below, where Nick Mulpagano rehauls a TOTS Halloween Kills mask from start to finish.  Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joLHAYRiw5o&t=765s Conversions

Conversions are in the same vein as rehauls in that they are perfectly legal and ethical. Still, it is good to give props to the original designer and distributor of the mask. But a conversion is exactly what it sounds like: taking one mask and converting into another mask. Examples of this include some of the masks worn by Slipknot in their earlier years. In my experience, when new members find this out, they’re blown away to learn that these masks started their life as a completely different thing all together. Chris Fehn (#3) wore a converted Distortions Unlimited Liar mask, which was made by and given to him by a prior member. James Root (#4) used a converted Forums Novelties Jester mask. The band purchased these, made modifications and turned these masks into their own thing. Nothing at all wrong with that. To see how this was done, check out the video by YouTube user iamtheniko to see a #3 Liar Conversion from start to finish (Or for the Slipknot Mask community, the “Spit It Out” Liar). Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4mwXy4c034

Recasting

Recasting is not okay. For the most part. There are *some* exceptions, but generally it is frowned upon within ALL communities. Recasting is the process of creating a mold of a piece and creating casts of that piece. The reason this is frowned upon is because THIS IS OURTIGHT THEFT. In recasting the work of an independent artist, you’re taking the work an artist has put into their piece, their skill, their money and everything that went into it. Not only is this stealing the work of an independent artist, but recasted pieces are generally smaller and have lesser quality to them. On the opposite end of that spectrum, recasting mass produced pieces comes with its own series of issues as well. Mainly, the pieces being mass produced means that there’s some company that owns the image of whatever the piece may be. If you are caught, this could result in a Cease and Desist notice (which is a nice way of the respective Trademark Holders saying: “Hey, how about you don’t do that,”) or a possible lawsuit. 

Sometimes, it is given an OK, but these always fall under certain circumstances. Firstly, the Company or Trademark Holders are no longer in business, in which case, the pieces were probably sold off to another company. Second, the piece has been discontinued. Third, which may fall in line with the second, whoever owns the piece simply does not care. Either way, track down the rightful Trademark Holders first. AND DO NOT RECAST UNLESS YOU GET AN OKAY FIRST. “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permission” is stupid advice and you should never follow it. Also, don’t try to be slick. People who are passionate about the community are obsessive (not an insult), and there’s always someone out there who’ll notice. No matter how well you try to cover your tracks, eventually, you WILL be caught. 

I hope that clears some things up for anyone who was curious about what recasting, rehauling and converting is. If you have questions about any piece, there’s no shame in asking someone who’s been in the community for a long time for their opinion. Call me biased, but I think we’re a good bunch. But, support your passions, the arts, small businesses and have fun collecting, rehauling, converting and making good art... without recasting. 

#mask collector #mask making #art #cosplay #costuming #film #indie film #indie artist #mask rehaul #mask conversion #mask recasting #art ethics #legalities #fair use

[drzootsuit]

Hi, I saw ur comment on the AI post while combing thru the notes. I’ve been seeing a lot of gorgeous architectural images come up in my feed and I’m discovering a lot of it is done with AI. I remain on the fence abt whether it’s cool or not, or whether to use it, bc im uneducated on what the ramifications could be. Do u think if we didn’t live in a capitalistic shitworld where artists didn’t have sell their creativity and their labor to live, that AI would still hinder or push out human creative expression? Is it’s shittiness inherent or is it just bad under these circumstances?

This is actually a really good question, and a very worthwhile chain of thought. While I endeavor to be thoughtful it's all too easy for my frothy-self to descend to loom smashing, so this is an angle worth considering. My opinion on things is heavily colored by my upbringing. It may sound pretentious, but for various reasons, I consider 'artist' as one of my cultural designations. For those who have taken sociology 101, I consider it one of my inherent status' rather than an ascribed status. Call it what you want, but for me, it's in my bones.

My problems with AI artwork are slightly hysterical at points as a result, but let's start with the most sensible note that you bring forth; the fact that we are within the system we are.

Our current form of capitalism is based around an eternal cancerous expansion of profit, and if one follows certain industries, (in my case, the games industry) one can easily see the problems with always trying to grow bigger in a finite world. Companies firing whole development teams right before shipping so that they don't have to pay them for actually completing the project, and other such acts of corporate autocannibalism are the signs of an animal that is nearing the cliff edge and begun choosing which of its own internal organs it can claw out in order to make itself lighter.

Art has always been at war with money. Making art requires money, but the people that control money tend not to understand art. This is obviously a gross tribalistic simplification, but the point is that the two need each other, can achieve great things in concert... and absolutely hate each other.

In a perfect money world, art and artists would be eliminated entirely. I speak with proof behind this: look at the NFT bubble from earlier this year. This was an attempt to boil artwork down to a stock price. Numbers to be traded and nothing more. The art attached to NFT's was crude, designed as such to carry the message of "the artwork doesn't matter. Only the money that makes it up."

So. When we look at AI, it becomes clear: a machine that can spit out art perfectly to order with no involvement from those annoying artists who demand respect, freedom, and worst of all, pay? This is a wet dream for the money. Under the current system of corporate function, AI art is one of the single most dangerous tools yet created. It stands against artwork, it stands against labor and negotiation in all forms, and it stands against the idea that art is worth anything more than cash.

But that wasn't your question. Do I, personally, consider AI art valuable if viewed without the context of the war of art vs money?

Me personally? No. This is where I will appeal to emotion so hard it will make anyone versed in debate weep enough to fill an overly-salty swimming pool.

In my view of things, Art is the result of every stimulus we recieve. Everything. Every single thing any of our senses receives goes into a huge bubbling rendering vat, and then we use that bubbling material to sculpt new works to portray our experiences and view of the world.

As such, I don't think it's worth using AI art as a jumping off point. Yes, it can provide some gummy material that can kickstart creative impulses, but to anyone that strapped for ideas, I would beg that they instead experience more things.

Hideo Kojima has spoken about his philosophy that an artist must always be adding new things to their rendering vat of experience, and I agree with him. no matter who you are, you haven't seen everything. Even within the purviews you obsess over. I love video games dearly, and even I have not played every single one. There will always be something new within the things you love, wether those things are sci-fi novels or urban architecture or tax filing systems. There is always something new to learn and see, and the pursuit of knowledge, of fresh experiences, of new people and new conversations about new topics, will, if you are an artist, spark something within you. And I think that shows what I think is another danger that AI art poses to artists: complacency.

Life begins at the end of our comfort zone. Artists must by nature be curious about the world and her people if they are to dream up stories within and without her boundaries. If an artist is able to punch in familiar keywords and receive a computer-made blob of associated goo made from stolen, unaccredited, scraped work, that artist has robbed themselves of the chance to examine themselves and the world around them.

Also, that's really the big issue. This shit comes from somewhere. The AI needs to be fed existing images in order to know what an image looks like, and there is no possible way for that to be done in a way that does not denigrate the work or the artists who make it. Even if that work is a cell-phone photo of a stack of pancakes, it is wrong for the machine to silently harvest it, and due to the other issues, I struggle to find any arrangement I am happy with even with consent and transparency.

So overall, while I think the technology is very impressive, and I can't blame people for getting excited about it, within my worldview, I am forced to be a curmudgeon. My view of art, the world, and humanity requires that I thank the programmers for their work, shake their hands on their success, marvel at the power of the technology, and then push the server cabinet off the edge of the building. It is a danger to human identity and the development of such.

Loom-smashers ahoy.

Thank you for your question! I absolutely love writing essays about things I'm impassioned about, and this was a blast.

#asks #galaxy brain rambling #ai artwork

[all-my-friends-were-glorious]

OZIAS “OZZY” MAKOWSKI

The Gift

“Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible.” - Thomas A Kempis

GENERAL INFORMATION

Name: Ozias Makowski

Nicknames: Ozzy

Faceclaim: Ronnie Radke

Age: 15

Gender: Cis Male

Sexuality: Pansexual Polygamous

Height: 6′1″

Weight: 244lbs

Birthday: December 31st

Sign: Capricorn

Occupation: Student; Student Council President

JERICHO

Jericho is Ozzy’s familiar, a Black-Headed Python. He can be very temperamental, and even lashes out at Ozzy for his rash decision-making. While he is not particularly old considering the lifespan of a vampire’s familiar, he feels like an old man having to corral an uppity teenager. He’ll bite Ozzy for any reason, mostly to get him to behave. If he is with Ozzy, he is usually draped around him like a dramatic feather boa, though he has a nice enclosure at home. He dislikes Dirge very much and wishes she would leave him alone. However, he is fond of Zen and thinks he does a good job tempering Ozzy, provided he doesn’t become an overeager follower into whatever shenanigans his partner gets into.

QUICK FACTS

Ozzy is the older son of Ryder and Ris. Warlord!Verse Mike, AJ, and Ike are his biological grandparents, and he has a rather large family through the half-siblings of his parents. Zeke is his little brother, who he cannot stand. He has one half-sibling through Ryder with Aster.

While he is a year older than him, Zen is his best friend, and the person that knows him the most intimately. Ris has referred to him on more than one occasion as Ozzy’s most ardent disciple.

Ozzy is the first naturally born hybrid of two of the Canadian-Vampire hybrids that Mike set into motion to create super soldiers for his war. Due to his parents being Ryder and Ris respectively, he is considered higher than the rest, as well. Ris has always been a thing of hubris, as has Ryder, and they passed this on to their rather self-indulgent son. 

Ris considers Ozzy a miracle, even though he knows that his parents would not think so. Ozzy’s birth was half of the reason he opted not to look for a way home, because he knew that he and Ryder were not meant to have a family.

Ozzy will absolutely sass his dad, and enjoys their banter. However, he refuses to sass his mother, and if Ris tells him to do something, he does it immediately. Ris only puts up with being sassed by Ryder, though that usually ends in things Ozzy doesn’t like to think about.

He has a hard time telling himself ‘no,’ and typically will only begin to temper himself when Zen has spoken into existence the need for it. He trusts Zen to know when he’s begun crossing lines, even if he doesn’t always enjoy having to back off of things.

While Prim sees it as a simple dislike of one another, Ozzy takes his every breath as a deep offense to his own inerrant existence. He sees them as rivals at the very least, and always seeks to show up and outdo him in anything possible. This included sniping the Student Council elections by using his vampiric powers of suggestion to secure his win the day the ballots were passed around. Zen assured him that he shouldn’t need to, and typically Ozzy would have believe him, but there are few and far between times when he doesn’t trust Zen on Prim-related matters, as the two are half-brothers. 

Despite being friends with Tiff, and by extension at least aware of their brother, he has a distaste for both of their parents. His mother has never let go of the rivalry and hatred he had for Leslie for a vast majority of his life, and it has transferred down to Ozzy. He tries to keep things to himself, and for the most part just talks a big game, but has divulged to Zen that if he had the chance, he’d deliver Leslie to his mother on a silver platter. Zen believes this stems from his drive to make his parents happy that quite commonly stresses him out a great deal.

Most, if not all, of the hangout sessions he has with his friends are held at their house, or Zen’s. Ozzy isn’t ashamed of his family, though he knows that both of his parents are more theatrical and likewise hateful than most people are prepared for. It doesn’t help that his closest friend is half human, and his next closest is Leslie’s child. As such, he’s more comfortable keeping his friends far away from his parents.

Ris often treats Ozzy as though he is some kind of Messiah, and Ozzy dislikes the idea of correcting him. While he lives for the praise and the ability to do whatever the fuck he wants, whenever the fuck he wants, to whoever the fuck he wants, the pressure of being something he doesn’t really think he is gets to him. It drives him to act out more than usual from time to time, and this usually ends in worse fights with Prim.

Ozzy does not often think his actions or words through very well, and often comes from a place of emotion rather than logic. He is very reactionary and easily offended, and quick to pick fights because of this. The best hope anyone has to keep him from leaping a table and attacking is that Zen will work his magic and keep him calm.

Ozzy met Zen during recess when he was in first grade and Zen was in Kindergarten. He inadvertently made Zen cry and, while he couldn’t figure out why, felt kind of bad about it. He walked the weird little kid home after school, talking the whole time while Zen listened and hung on his every word. They’ve been best friends ever since.

Ozzy is best friends with Zen, though he’s very close with Tiff, Harley, Torm, Titus, and Gatlin. He flirts with all of his friends, at least to some degree, except for Tiff. The first and last time he did, they broke his nose and dislocated his shoulder for it. Torm is also iffy, due to his preferences. Ozzy isn’t as awful to people he cares about, though he has a bad reputation.

Ris very ardently believes a stricter, more warped version of Catholicism, and that he is a prophet of sorts. He has a god complex, but does not necessarily see himself as God. While he is not entirely sure how Ozzy is important fully, he knows that he is important, and has imparted said god complex to his son. Ozzy believes himself to be a God, however, even if his mother isn’t quite sold on the idea.

Ris has actively tortured Ozzy, both mentally and physically, and usually only stops if Ozzy gives in to him completely, or Ryder stops him. Ozzy has quite a few triggers due to this, as well as CPTSD that he refuses to acknowledge because he is not allowed to be imperfect.

Ozzy is a polytheistic solipsist, and honestly believes that he and his friends are all Gods/Goddesses. Era comes and goes from the pantheon depending on if she’s hanging out with him or Prim.

Ozzy cannot stand his brother Zeke, though Zeke has been in love with him for a while. He will fight with him, verbally or physically, whenever his short fuse runs out. Once he falls in love with Zeke, he refuses to call his brother by his name.

Ozzy is simultaneously Theophobic and Theist, and dislikes most religious iconography while also having a lot to do with it. Other people discussing it really freaks him out and he will typically try and leave the conversation.

One way that he can control things is controlling his own self harm, and his way of choice is to consume dead blood. Not enough to really kill him, but enough to make him sick.

Ozzy can take the forms of a Horned Lark and a Bombay cat.

Headcanon Masterlist

TAGS LIST

This Reckless Decadence Is Taking Things A Little Too Far (Ozzy Makowski)

If Home Is Where My Heart Is Then My Heart Has Lost All Hope (Ozzy Musings)

Oh My Feels Just Like I Don't Try Look So Good I Might Die All I Know Is Everybody Loves Me (Ozzy Aesthetic)

I Like Your Viciousness I Like Your Sins I Like Your Viciousness It Gets Under My Skin (Ozzy Closet)

All My Friends Think You're Vicious And They Say You're Suspicious (Ozzy Headcanons)

I Will Never Tell A Tortured Soul They Are Burning By My Side That I Am A Sinner I Am A Savior I Am A Lie (Ozzy Journal Entries)

Is It OK If I Speak To You Today? You've Been Pissed Off For A Week Now (Jericho)

VERSES

TBD

MAINS AND SHIPS

MAINS

@bigbadwolfletthegamesbegin​ - Scott - And We'll Dance Inside The Song (Ozzy and Scott - Bigbadwolfletthegamesbegin)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Michael - I've Fallen Down My Nose Bleeding Badly I'm Where You Want Me I Know The Words (Ozzy and Michael - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Ryder - My Patience Is Waning Is This Entertaining? (Ozzy and Ryder - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Ric - Dear Hearts And Gentle People That Live And Love In My Hometown (Ozzy and Ric - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Asher - Night Falls In The Dream You Are Falling As Dark Lightens (Ozzy and Asher - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Ague - Tragedy! When You Lose Control And You Got No Soul (Ozzy and Ague - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Luca - I'm Marvelous Intelligent So Why Doesn't That Make Me Feel Better? (Ozzy and Luca - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Era - Her Lips Are Red And Her Hips Are Turning Heads (Ozzy and Era - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@southxparkxafterxdark​ - Gatlin - And You Know You Are A Paradox And You Contradict The Road You Walk (Ozzy and Gatlin - SouthxParkxAfterxDark)

@throughxthexmist​ - Tino - Hanging Out Where I Don't Belong Is Nothing New To Me (Ozzy and Tino - ThroughxThexMist)

@throughxthexmist​ - Bastian - If I'm A Danger To Myself ust Think What I Would Do To You (Ozzy and Bastian - ThroughxThexMist)

@throughxthexmist​ - Zeke -  When We First Met You Were Fickle And Shallow But My Armour Was No Match For Your Poison Arrow (Ozzy and Zeke - ThroughxThexMist)

Here - Ris - I Play To Their Sympathies I Say The Sweetest Things To Command Their Empathy (Ozzy and Ris)

Here - Mags - That Was My Best Poker Face (Ozzy and Mags)

Here - Zen - I'm Fearless Now But It Cost My Soul (Zen and Ozzy)

Here - Tiff - Anything Can Be A Weapon If You’re Holding It Right (Ozzy and Tiff)

Here - Torm - Broke All The Rules Played All The Fools (Ozzy and Torm)

Here - Prim - Why Does Everybody Love You? They Don't Know Enough About You (Ozzy and Prim)

Here - How Could Something So Beautiful Turn Out So Fucking Deranged? (Zeke and Ozzy)

SHIPS

Here - Zen - So Tell The Gun To Sin Like An Angel With The Dirty Wings (Zen x Ozzy)

@throughxthexmist​ - Zeke -  I've Got Another Confession To Make So Complicated Let Me Try To Explain (Zeke x Ozzy - ThroughxThexMist)

#This Reckless Decadence Is Taking Things A Little Too Far (Ozzy Makowski) #If Home Is Where My Heart Is Then My Heart Has Lost All Hope (Ozzy Musings) #Oh My Feels Just Like I Don't Try Look So Good I Might Die All I Know Is Everybody Loves Me (Ozzy Aesthetic) #I Like Your Viciousness I Like Your Sins I Like Your Viciousness It Gets Under My Skin (Ozzy Closet) #All My Friends Think You're Vicious And They Say You're Suspicioous (Ozzy Headcanons) #I Will Never Tell A Tortured Soul They Are Burning By My Side That I Am A Sinner I Am A Savior I Am A Lie (Ozzy Journal Entries) #Is It OK If I Speak To You Today? You've Been Pissed Off For A Week Now (Jericho) #And We'll Dance Inside The Song (Ozzy and Scott - Bigbadwolfletthegamesbegin) #I've Fallen Down My Nose Bleeding Badly I'm Where You Want Me I Know The Words (Ozzy and Michael - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #My Patience Is Waning Is This Entertaining? (Ozzy and Ryder - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #Dear Hearts And Gentle People That Live And Love In My Hometown (Ozzy and Ric - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #Night Falls In The Dream You Are Falling As Dark Lightens (Ozzy and Asher - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #Tragedy! When You Lose Control And You Got No Soul (Ozzy and Ague - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #I'm Marvelous Intelligent So Why Doesn't That Make Me Feel Better? (Ozzy and Luca - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #Her Lips Are Red And Her Hips Are Turning Heads (Ozzy and Era - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #And You Know You Are A Paradox And You Contradict The Road You Walk (Ozzy and Gatlin - SouthxParkxAfterxDark) #Hanging Out Where I Don't Belong Is Nothing New To Me (Ozzy and Tino - ThroughxThexMist) #If I'm A Danger To Myself Just Think What I Would Do To You (Ozzy and Bastian - ThroughxThexMist) #I Play To Their Sympathies I Say The Sweetest Things To Command Their Empathy (Ozzy and Ris) #That Was My Best Poker Face (Ozzy and Mags) #I'm Fearless Now But It Cost My Soul (Zen and Ozzy) #Anything Can Be A Weapon If You’re Holding It Right (Ozzy and Tiff) #Broke All The Rules Played All The Fools (Ozzy and Torm) #Why Does Everybody Love You? They Don't Know Enough About You (Ozzy and Prim) #How Could Something So Beautiful Turn Out So Fucking Deranged? (Zeke and Ozzy) #So Tell The Gun To Sin Like An Angel With The Dirty Wings (Zen x Ozzy) #When We First Met You Were Fickle And Shallow But My Armour Was No Match For Your Poison Arrow (Ozzy and Zeke - ThroughxThexMist) #I've Got Another Confession To Make So Complicated Let Me Try To Explain (Zeke x Ozzy - ThroughxThexMist)

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[why-so-serious-lucifer]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: 🌸 Fromis_9 🌸

Here are my credentials: Like…one and a half? I’d consider myself a casual fan of Fromis_9; I’ve enjoyed a good deal of their singles, I know a couple b-sides, and I’ll sing along if their songs come up on shuffle, but I really don’t know much about the members and I’m looking forward to learning more! Also, from a more logistical side, I’m just on the heels of a three week long SHINHWA deep dive, and I needed something shorter, more fun, and way less heavy.

Fromis_9, like many k-pop groups, was created through a reality show, and their name literally means “From Idol School”. They did originally have nine members: Chaeyoung, Nagyung, Jisun, Jiwon, Hayoung, Saerom, Jiheon, Seoyeon, and Gyuri, but Gyuri left after her contract expired in 2022.

So, their first song was Glass Shoes in late 2017. I heard about Glass Shoes before I heard the song itself; I’m almost always wary of managing my expectations when fans call something “the best debut in ___ years” and the like, and this was no exception. It’s one of the most k-poppy k-pop songs I’ve seen in a while, between the aegyo, the cutesiness, the pastel colors, and the schoolgirl outfits, which is often an uphill battle when it comes to my enjoyment of a song…but that actually wasn’t the case here! I wasn’t so sure at the beginning, but I loved Glass Shoes’ brightness and never-ceasing energy, and by the second chorus, I was nodding my head along.

To Heart was their official debut, as Glass Shoes was from their competition show, and begins with Gyuri playing the violin quite beautifully, before trailing into a more synthy, classic 3rd gen cutesy sound. The schoolgirl outfits have returned, unsurprisingly, but I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this one too. It’s fun and playful, and the touches of classical strings mixed with the very down-to-earth filming style and humor helped to ground it. 

From the 1st EP, To. Heart, I enjoyed the sweetness of the spoken-word intro The Way To Me, but my hidden gem was Pinocchio, for its flitting back-and-worth chorus, hints of doo-wop, and brassy instrumental.

If Glass Shoes and To. Heart felt very schoolgirl, DKDK is absolutely giving k-drama protagonists in the summer. As someone who both loves k-dramas and especially cats, I can’t deny that the music video gave me a huge smile. I like how its pre-choruses are a little lighter and fluffier before the synthy chorus takes over. Like with Gfriend, I’m much less annoyed by the cutesiness than I would be when it’s paired with other things and some good humor. Also, I’m not the biggest music video person, but I can’t deny that Fromis_9’s are pretty unique.

From the EP, To. Day, I enjoyed the sprightly distorted energy and rushing-forward chorus of Think Of You and the great layers of belting in Clover. My hidden gem was a song I’d heard of but not heard before: 22nd Century Girl, which is bubbly in the best way and utilizes synths for a roller-skate ready chorus without losing any of its youthful energy.

Love Bomb is one of the songs I know best from Fromis_9, and was my favorite of the few I knew of them for a while. It’s still very poppy and bright, but leans further into synth than their previous songs, with more minimalistic verses and a chorus that rushes forward like…well, a bomb. I like the comic book animations, the spacey backgrounds, and the stop-motion-esque dance; how an MV can be so delightful while heavily featuring dynamite is beyond me.

With a “Come on girls, get on the floor!” that leads right into the first chorus, FUN! certainly lives up to its name. It’s a little haphazard, going back and forth from rising verses to an aegyo-filled chorus that…seems to be an ad? Though I like almost all of its parts separately, together they don’t quite gel. I did enjoy the outro and watching the MV though; I was also happy to see Gyuri playing the violin again.

From the singles, From.9 and Fun Factory (respectively), I enjoyed the sleek, more mature sound of Dancing Queen and the light synths of Love Rum Pum Pum.

Feel Good is the beginning of a slight shift in Fromis_9’s sound, similar to TWICE’s maturation starting with Fancy and Feel Special. It relies on the synths always present in their songs, but with less cutesy vocals, a more toned-down brightness, and less of a pop overlay. Though I do like this one, I don’t think it quite feels like Fromis_9 and it sounds and looks like a lot of other k-pop girl groups of the time.  So, I don’t think I’d search it up, but I’m not going to throw a tantrum if it comes up on my shuffle. Also, the “nanana”’s are stuck in my head, likely as revenge.

From the EP, My Little Society, I enjoyed the “dripping, dripping, dripping” hook in Weather, the gentler vocals in Somebody To Love, and the jazz-tinged Mulgogi (Korean for “fish”, which is quite funny) with its funky guitar.

We Go is a song I’d heard before, when it came out during COVID. It has a synthy beginning as well, but feels like genuine, warm-hearted fun; exactly what was needed at the time. It’s straightforward and nothing incredible, sure, but its brightness and emphasis on optimism and friendship feels like it holds the heart of Fromis_9 in it, and had me going, “aww” at several points.

With We Go, I was reminded of something that I’d mentioned earlier; Fromis_9’s music videos are honestly some of the most unique and creative that I’ve seen in k-pop. They’re often funny, strange, and use interesting framing or setups like the excellent zoom boxes dancing in We Go or the comic book animation in Love Bomb. I don’t know how responsible the members are for their music videos, of course, but still, kudos to whoever is. I don’t think that I would love We Go as much as I do without its MV.

Talk & Talk starts where We Go left off—literally, the music videos are connected—and goes for a similarly bubbly, excited-in-love feel that takes from old video game chiptune. I loved this one’s matching 60’s / 70’s aesthetics, phone battery metaphors, and fizzy production, though I think it has a similar issue to FUN!: I like all the parts, but they don’t gel together that well. I feel like the verses should lead in to the chorus a bit more, personally, but that’s a small issue.

If the songs so far have felt like a sunny day, DM is more like a night spent out. The synths are paired with a more disco-y beat, more confident lyrics and tone, and a stronger hook at the beginning of the chorus that pulls from the gentle build-up in the pre-choruses. Though it’s still fun, it’s another step in what’s a longer maturation process that feels appropriate for a group now all in their 20’s. Also, I have to say that their voices sound great in this one!

The EP, Midnight Guest, is more on the melancholy, downtempo side than their past works, but is still strong. I enjoyed the sleek beat and strong vocal of Escape Room and the soft piano backdrop of Love Is Around.

Stay This Way returns to the sunny, summery songs from Fromis_9’s beginning, albeit in a more grown-up way that gives it a nostalgic, sun-drenched vibe with the lyrics about taking a break once in a while. It’s light and bright, and feels like a lazy afternoon at the beach. I’m (shockingly) not a fan of the random rapping in the second verse, but other than that, I quite liked this one, especially the bridge and final chorus.

From the EP, From Our Memento Box (which is much more upbeat), I enjoyed the fizzy, bright Up And Down, the lovely lyrics in Blind Letter, and surprisingly, the anti-drop lead-in to the chorus in Cheese, which normally I’d dislike.

#MeNow marks many firsts: the first full album, the first release in almost a year, and the first comeback without Gyuri, who left after Stay This Way. That’s a lot for one song, and yet #MeNow pulls it off. Beginning with a chic minimalistic sound before spiraling into a deeper, quasi-anthemic track led by a strong drumbeat, it comments on perfection and self-image while still feeling hopeful and bright and carrying the energy of a highschool sleepover. I’m not going to deny it, when they all began to climb the fence and run away together and the final chorus kicked in, I really felt something.

From the album, Unlock My World, I loved the mix of well…attitude and earnestness of Attitude, which was probably my hidden gem, but I also enjoyed the lyrics of going against expectations in Wishlist and In The Mirror, the danciness of Prom Night, the excellent disco influences in What I Want, and the warmth in My Night Routine. 

I’m glad I did this. I didn’t know much about Fromis_9 when I began this deep dive, and I’m happy to report that that’s changed, mostly from my watch of their “In The House” show, which gave me some great laughs. I enjoyed their voices more than I thought I would, and I also gained a new appreciation for how interesting and unique their music videos are. So, I can’t call myself a fan exactly, but I’m definitely excited for their next comeback! And who knows, I might become one in the future.

My Top 5 songs are Love Bomb, #menow, Pinocchio, We Go, and Stay This Way, with Attitude as an honorable mention. Fromis_9 gets an 8.25 out of 10 from me. Similarly to LOONA and Purple Kiss (albeit in a different style), I feel like the quality of their music is pretty solid and I don’t think there were any tracks I actively disliked. But there also weren’t any tracks that just grabbed me and made themselves favorites either. Don’t get me wrong, I would take their discography over a half-incredible, half-terrible one any day, but for now, there’s nothing that makes them truly stand out from such tough competition.

Remember I mentioned wanting a good discography all the way through instead of terrible and fantastic? Well…next time, we’ll be doing a pretty huge boy group, so stay tuned!

#k-pop #review #k-pop deep dive #k pop girl groups #fromis 9 #fromis_9 #jiwon #gyuri #jang gyuri #jiheon #lee nagyung #nagyung #chaeyoung #park jiwon #hayoung #seoyeon #saerom #roh jisun #jisun #DM #we go #love bomb #glass shoes #to heart #stay this way #me now #Spotify #Youtube