#but the audio in the first teaser didnt seem like that at all

[straykats]

kat talks: 5-star

tldr; it did not take long at all for this comeback to grow on me i love it so much. i find that with most new songs my first listen is always very apathetic and/or ??? LOL and there exists only a small handful of songs that i immediately was like oH MY GOD (this is across all artists i listen to) but yeah i always forget that when listening to new music and i think this comeback is the first time i fully acknowledged that my first listen is rarely (and doesnt need to be) instant likesies. theres a lot of small bits throughout the album that remind me of other songs (not a bad thing, just smth i noticed i kept noticing?). topline, dlc, the sound and time out were/are my favs hehe (update: relistening to the album again and collision and fnf are creeping up to my favs too help)

hall of fame

okay im pretty sure i've heard this in my brief listen before but i also dont remember it at all

i cant describe it but that alien-sounding melody actually has me seeing like a weird alien brainwashing thing

WHOS FUCKING-- WAS THAT JEONGIN??? AT 1:24???? that was so pretty i want that framed

during hyunjins bit i got weird b me flashbacks??? i dont think it sounds similar but my mind immediately went 'b me !!'

jesus felix

the moon landing audio is such a cool inclusion,,, 5 star,,, hall of fame,,, a star/celestial body themed comeback,,,,

s-class

okay wbk i was so confused the first time round but its grown sm on me

i LOVE the power of the opening

the cartoon boing/spring sound and (its not but) the tom and jerry running sound hehe

this song definitely sounds.. grand? and wide? and a good title track

"[im] up above the world so high" nice nice twinkle twinkle reference hehe

i absolutely love jeongin's bit in the bridge and i love the choreo of it too

item

i love the game sounds they use in this hehe

seungmin's prechorus reminds me of smth but i cant place what it is

felixs ... tone? like? the voice he uses???

hyunjin/changbin bit in the bridge >>>>> i cant explain it but it sounds so good

super bowl

the instrumental at the beginning took me by surprise.. i also am sitting ehre trying to identity the?? The Sound. digital/synth. like the almost cowbell almost snare one. ive replayed it so many times.

i thought this when i first heard it (while doing the dishes lol) but is this song all in english?

whats that sound between 'have a bite' and 'make it mine'

screams TFDGVJABVAD the whisper im sorry i cant do it HAHAHAHAHA

topline

to be mad honest i was SO excited for this based on just the teaser

'we skedaddle intoxicated razzle dazzle' best line fr

okay ik i didnt say much for this one but its one of my favs

underground rebellious kinda vibes i love it (i described that wrong but i have a very specific img in my head)

dlc

im trying to play this on the pino and its driving my nuts but in a good way

the 'amudo moreuge' line throughout the entire song is so [deep breaths] like i cant explain it but it BUT AHHHHHH (fun fact for any pokemon people LOL the song oracion has the same kinda thing in it. idk what to call it.)

oh i LOVE love the piano during the second verse AHHHHHHHHH not gonna be able to replicate it but thats okay

the song/chorus has a.. an urban tropical feel? like it's ALMOST something you would hear with a tropical background but smth about the key, maybe, plavces it instead in an urban setting at night (bc lyrics) and seems kinda bittersweet

THATS WHAT THE AMUDO MOREUGE LINE DOES it adds such a sad kinda tired/resigned feel to the song which is like. on one hand the lyrics are so 'lets dance like crazy without a care in the world' but on the other hand the song feels so lonely and kind of. 'don't worry about me, i'll manage my sadness alone'??? like, 'let's have fun together but i'm really sad even though i'm smiling' kinda thing ARGHHHHH

get lit

seungmin's line rmeinds me of smth ARGHH its another skz song i know that for sure but i cant remember which one (ngl a lot of the songs in this album have parts that remind me of another kpop song,,, one of the above reminded me of nct but icr which song)

oh wait i think its my pace @ seungmins line

the instrumental would be so cool for mashups etc

wait one of the lines is 'today im so cocky' which is interesting bc theres a previous line (sueprbowl?) thats about not being cocky or smth HMMM i would revisit but tbh i cbb rn rip

collision

tRUMPETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT... i think

trumpets reminded me of maknae on top and this song also suits jeongin's voice sm i love it here

oh??? the ringing at the end???

fnf

this REMINDS ME OF SMTH TOO an dits not kpop

but i do really like it

'ashes up in the sky' ,,,, thinkingthinkingthinking

this feels like the opposite of time out and idk how to explain it

lix singing !!!!!! i love it sm

WAIT THSI ONE ACTUALLY REMINDS ME OF B ME wait no or is it levanter

the flaura and fauna line also reminds me of venom

both of the above points refer to the melody ,, seungmin's venom prechorus "cant escape-" and then it jumps The Other Song which i cant figure out what it is AHH

was that an eagle did i just hear an eagle

the minho/chan ending is so <3 <3 <3

youtiful

the muted piano i [crying] also almost gives me knnw vibes

'must be an oracle' ????? trying to understand this. like. it must be predicting smth,, but what,,, 'look at the stars fall / they leave the sky, goodbye' which part of this is the oracle i-- ad oracle as in like a person or a message but either way

if anyone covers this song please use a xylophone or marimba hehe would be so <3

oh i can see this second verse being animated so beautifully

why did changbin singing at the end make me so incredibly soft

the sound

okay this song has been out for ages but i think the only thing i said about it was smth about the bass and also how it sounds like a 'final stand' kinda song

okay ngl i liked the jpn lyrics better for the chorus oopsies im sorry

the piano sounds so RAW like the ringing of it the way the key falls and the mallet hits the string like you can HEAR it like thats exactly how it sounds when you play that high on a piano and also like. imo i notice the sound more on older pianos and just bc of that personal association (???) this song gets a bit sadder

adding to the 'final stand' feel is the police sirens in the chorus

time out

i just love this song sm man like idk what to say at this point

OH IT REMINDS ME OF A DEEMO SONG AHHAHA WAIT LEMME FIND IT // this song omg i've never thought about it before but listening to time out just then, i literally went 'you ready?' and then i was like WAIT THATS A DIFFERENT SONG

this song would be such a fun end-of-concert/encore song woah

yeah no i really dont have much to say i just love this song sm

[helpful-hardware]

forces au time wheeeee

ill add onto this with more details as i think it out but ANYWAY

Gadget's backstory:

gadget is trans girl (hey now custom hero is perfect for some self projection)

she had transphobic parents (i didnt), and seeks out someone online that might be supportive

unlucky for her that someone is Zer0 (infinite before the ruby), an edgy pricc who seems nice enough at first

but soon enough revealed himself to be a canine supremacist fascist

shortly after that her parents somehow found out about gadget's online life and, well, ill spare the details there.

the war starts soon after and gadget is on the run, and feeling isolated

Sonic:

sega are fuckin cowards.. when yall say he were tortured for 6 months actually DO SOMETHIN WITH IT

anyway infinite psychologically tortured sonic with illusions. being drowned, crushed, you name it, he did it the bastard

worst part were seeing his friends die in gruesome ways, and developing massive guilt over being caught in the first place and letting them all down.

after being busted out he sees "oh shit, its actually a hellscape out there like in that teaser trailer"

determination to fight and to keep his emotions from being seen.

eventually we arrive at a final battle of sorts, sonic panics over the idea of friends dying for real.. combine that with chaos energy from the emeralds and

dark sonic emerges, no mercy for infinite or eggman

in fact he beats the latter to DEATH, shocking everyone including himself when the power dissipates

everyone gets a glimpse of how sonic really felt all this time and it aint pretty

after being looked over by the med team sonic isolates himself in a resistance dorm room

a few days after, shadow visits to check in on the poor boi

sonic spills it all out.. HE SAW THEM DIE-- HE LET THEM DOWN

shadow is understandably shaken, but does not hesitate to be there to comfort

oh and tails prolly distressed that his bro will never be the same again.. a fate worse than death? he aint sure but he isnt doin well either. no one is

After the war, with Gadget:

gadget found companionship in tails during the last few weeks of the war, but hasnt really opened up much

an offhand mention of having known infinite leads shadow to question gadget about it

that is all covered in this audio drama i made:

but tl;dw its war trauma on top of childhood abuse and betrayal and she cant really cope that well

shadow does his best (we love him for it) but its not an easy road to recovery for the wolf

oh and gadgets also sensitive to everyone else being ✨TRAUMATIZED✨ gahh she needs a hug..

surprise robo angst!:

okay this may just be inspired heavily by @wonderinc-sonic and their cyber virus au but anyway

eggman during the war sends out a virus to disable all eggtech, since he got word of some civilians hacking it

this means that omega, metal, etc will fuckin DIE unless they are out of those bodies

using pieces of some stolen scrapped tech relating to a "roboticizer" and a chaos emerald, the resistance is able to give our robo friends new organic bodies!

this is something none of them take well

omega takes a massive hit to her self esteem as her greatest trait, firepower, is forever gone

and metal... poor thing has been bottling up some feelings that let loose with the whole being a mobian thing

oh yeah both omega and metal are trans, and we got some metamy yuri as well

now back to shadow and sonic

shadow has ended up taking after sonic a bit in trying to be there for absolutely everyone even when there isnt much he can do

it takes such a heavy toll and team dark encourage him to reconnect with his old therapist because of it...

speaking of therapy! sonic.

his mental health has been absolutely shattered.. unfortunately to the point where he's been hurting himself

so his friends and shadow make frequent check ins while making sure that he is seeing a therapist for well, everything.....

it will be difficult as hecc but eventually everyone will (somewhat) adjust to this new era of mobius

after some time sonic actually starts feeling okay enough to move back into tails workshop

shadow comes by to check in and thats this other audio drama

the mental issues wont ever fully go away, but everyone is there for each other, and theyll find new ways to live

[everybodysaycbx]

exo love me right repackage album ranking bc why not

love me right- dude,,,,,,this song is SO GOOD I LOVE IT SO MUCH tho i still have no fucking clue whats happening in the music video its fine bc they look great and they look happy and the song is fantastic. however this album is so good that its only mid tier if i were to rank it that way but i cant bc im indecisive lmao 10/10 pls someone tell me why theyre american football players im so confused

tender love- okay exols,,,,,,who here CANT hear baekhyun singing "chicken tender~" when this song comes on????? if you cant that probably means youre a baby-l which means welcome to the fandom!!!!! its from a livestream him chanyeol junmyeon and jongdae did late 2015-early 2016?? (and since youre a baby-l sorry im referring to the members by their real names and not stage names that gets confusing when youre just starting out so uh junmyeon=suho and jongdae=chen okay?? good) where they sing songs from this album and the sing for you album its hilarious bUt aNyWaY this song is so cute and fun and that mini video they did (i think it was a vcr at one point but i cant remember what for) is so adorable i wish exo did more of that stuff 10/10 gimme more cute shit

call me baby- this song always gives me the same feeling as when i heard it the first time. i remember vividly how i felt when i saw the mv for the first time especially since i was more of a casual stan of kpop wayyyy back when and had stopped around the end of 2013 and only got back in the end of 2015 as a die hard exol. i was just in awe of everything and i couldnt stop listening to this song for MONTHS (also couldnt take my eyes off minseok and yixing the whole time lol still an exom stan at heart),,,,,,it made me feel nostalgic and like i was discovering something new at the same time and the swirl of emotion i get when i hear it happens every time and i love it so this has a special place in my heart 12/10 side note uhhh why do we STILL have no answers for the pathcode teasers?????? SM TELL ME

transformer- uhhhh this song took YEARS to grow on me,,,,,like i only started to like it THIS year,,,,,,yeah im a little late lol sorry imo the beginning of the song is something i still dont really like and i think the chorus could be better but its not as bad as i was thinking when i first heard it,,,,,that said i hardly listen to it and its probably near bottom of the list for this one 7/10 the chinese version is a lil better tao really shines and i love that

what if...: mmmm i love this song,,,,a vocal masterpiece,,,,this is a song i like to listen to while on a long drive staring out the window contemplating life,,,,,,its so pleasant to the ears and ksoo really shines in this song id love for him to do solo songs like this 10/10 im lowkey imagining what luhan would sound like singing this song the whole time 😔

my answer: ONE OF THE BEST SONGS ON THE ALBUM ITS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL and i wish they performed it more ;-; this is another song kyungsoo shines in (he sings well in chinese too) but i LOVED junmyeons voice here as well he sings sweet love ballads the best same with yixing!!! 🥰 12/10 give us more songs like this please and thank you (also imagining luhan singing this 🤧 why sm why)

exodus: OKAY THIS SONG IS SO UNDERRATED AND THATS SO UPSETTING THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES ON THE WHOLE ALBUM AND NO ONE EVEN MENTIONS IT WHAT THE FUCK like i cant even explain what i like about it its just so good?????? also when baek (or jongdae if yoy listen to the chinese version theyre both so so so good) goes "shes dangerously HOOOOOOOOOOT" damn, gets me every time also chinese version we get raspy singing tao which is ALWAYS welcome 12/10 appreciate this song god dammit

el dorado: okay i wont lie,,,,,,,,i wasnt sold on this song UNTIL i saw the concert version then my third eye was opened WIDE,,,,,,,this song is so epic and no one talks about the chinese version but its also amazing?????? like everyone talks about baekhyuns high note which is amazing and deserve praise but dae does it too and its just,,,,WOW but i guess people arent as wowed bc he does high notes more often????? idk this song is just amazing in every way 12/10 i wonder what this song and mv would be like if it had been a title track,,,,,that music video would be SICK

playboy: CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! so yall know jonghyun from shinee wrote this song and gave it to exo and theres a clip of him at a fansign singing it and to be honest its 10000000000000× better and sexier than exos version. come at me idc i said what i said and i stand by it djhajjhdhs like,,,,,the performance of it is sexy but i think the song by itself doesnt go far enough with the sexiness and for me, if i need to watch a performance of the song to like it and cant enjoy it by itself, then i dont think its a success, at least for me. i mainly listen to songs through headphones while im doing literally anything so id say 90% of the time i only hear the audio and if only the audio doesnt do it for me i skip it 8/10 has potential but jjong shouldve kept it imo sorry

first love: i always forget this song exists,,,,,,and ill probably forget it again lmao its just kinda whatever for me even now its kinda boring imo the only thing notable for me is that the "ow" parts in the background are used in a funny exosexo vine and every time i see it im like "oh whats that song called again i always forget :/" 6.5/10

hurt: THIS is what im talking about,,,,,,this is my favorite song on the album its hauntingly beautiful and brUH THE HARMONIES ARE AMAZING also JONGINS VOCALS SHINING WE LOVE TO HEAR IT!!!!! the "you huuuuuuuurt me" part is so satisfying for some reason?????? goddamn i love this song both versions just kill me 12/10 gimme more

lady luck: this is another song i dont like the beginning but unlike the other song after like 30 seconds it immediately becomes PHENOMENAL tbh if i could just cut out that first part itd probably be my favorite song,,,,,,also for all baby-ls listen to this song live you will be transcended their live vocals are no joke 9.5/10

beautiful: i dont know how to really explain how this song makes me feel,,,,,,like the instrumentals just take me to a fantasy or dream world where everything seems happy and sweet like something id imagine in my childhood,,,,,,i feel like that made no sense and it probably didnt make any sense sorry lmao 11/10 i should listen to this song more (both versions are amazing what the fuck thats not fair why am i so indecisive)

exo 2014 (promise): this song is like a pavlovian response, i hear the first couple piano notes and immediately get emotional jxhsoalsbdhbx they really poured out their hearts and souls for us for this song and it makes me ugly cry every time ESPECIALLY CHANYEOLS RAP HOLY SHIT ITS SO POWERFUL AND SO RAW AND EMOTIONAL,,,that was the moment i saw his growth as a rapper and as a songwriter,,,,,same with jongdae his singing and the lyrics he wrote were beautiful,,,,,and minseoks and junmyeons voices were so soft but so emotional,,,,,and we could NEVER forget yixing and how this song wouldnt exist if he didnt write the chinese version first and the members convinced sm to use it after yixing went to them with the song and sm rejected it,,,,,,i and many other exols feel like the chinese version is written more to the former members and the korean version is written addressed to us exols and theyre both SUPER FUCKING HEARTBREAKING,,,,yixing really bore his soul for us and i cry every time which is exactly what im doing rn lmao 12/10 this song should come with a complementary tissue box

in conclusion el dorado shouldve had an mv and i mourn the missed potential every day, my hate for sm entertainment grows each day im on this mortal coil, and please tell me what the fUCK call me baby and love me right have to do with the lore ITS BEEN FIVE YEARS