#i think it's actually a crime that my number 1 song is the one who ended up being in the lowest position in the contest but whatever

[thelilylav]

Y'know what? Fuck it (gives u guys a list of poc artists to listen to cause the white ppl on the music side of tumblr have been embarassing me)

List is under the cut, and warning bc I made it very long

Rock:

Los Abuelos De La Nada

Gesu No Kiwami Otobe

Chuck Berry

Ben E. King

Los Prisoneros

Ahmed Fakroun (ok this one's french art rock but in my book it still counts)

Burnout Syndromes (been fucking w them since I got into Haikyuu lmao)

Infinity Song (their hater song genuinely gets me every time LMAO)

People in the Box

N.E.R.D (my god if u don't know them.. idk dude my brother has been obsessed w them for forever so i just was not getting away regardless lol)

Punk/Punk Rock (& other punk subgenres):

Nova Twins (u must listen to them it's just the way it's gotta be guys)

Rina Sawayama (her hatred of Matty Healy is so attractive. i cannot believe i found her two years ago cause i still remember i would not shut up when i first heard her music it was so good)

BABYMETAL (the way their band name just straight up screams at people gets me every time lmaooo)

Indie:

The Younger Lovers

Mashrou Leila

Stella Jang

Shak SYrn (Jenni is on repeat in my room at any given moment)

Steve Lacy (if u listen to more than just Bad Habit u will find an actuall amazing discography)

Jenny Nuo (i have been OBSESSED w her music since like 2021 ish and it is a crime she hasn't blown up more imo)

Nujabes

Hemlocke Springs (oooo i hate that she does not get more love!!! synth pop and alt indie is such a fun niche like!!!)

Lyn Lapid (in my head she's huge but i have recently learned that artists i think r super popular may be unknown to an entire genre of ppl soo)

Megagonefree (found them on ig and omg!! PLS go check them out genuinely)

boa (i am once again shaming u if u don't know them)

Wallice

JAZZ (in all caps bc I fucking LOVE jazz no it's not dead go listen to jazz rn motherfuckers):

Idris Muhammad

Esperanza Spalding

Joanna Wang (ok she does pop and folk music too but idk she felt most appropriate here)

SAMARA JOY (put. some. respect. on. her. name. i would actually go to war for her i am not kidding. also this is in all caps bc MY MOM GOT TO SEE HER LIVE??? AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHO SHE WAS PLS I WAS SO MAD OMGGG but i've been promised tickets next time so we're good)

Sade (my og one and only)

Funk:

Fadoul

George Clinton (i mean he's just a classic yknow)

Parliament (Give Up the Funk can make me dance like no other i swear)

Stevie Wonder (i mean.. like if we're on the topic of classics anyway then...)

Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5 (moreso his earlier stuff if my memory isn't lying to me.. look it's been a second since i listened to mj IM SORRY i am a busy person ok TT)

R&B:

Valerie June

Maxine Nightingale (if u don't listen to her... how do u have fun? actual question i put her on every time i need to feel happy atp)

Boney. M (technically they're reggae but they also count as R&B so idk.. i'm just putting them here if anyone wants me to move them later i will)

Amahla (Ca Suffit was so good and got me to check out the rest of her music, YOU SHOULD TOO!!)

Mary J Blige (not to judge but like... if u don't know THE queen then idk how to help you tbh)

SZA (wouldn't be a list without her in it tbh. i'm in love w her not even joking abt that)

Kali Uchis (to this day i cannot believe i saw her live i'm truly never getting a better moment than that omggg i have such a big crush on her anyway)

Aupinard (if ever u need to just vibe, this is the man u go to.)

Wejdene (TU PARLES AVEC UNE ANISSA MA MOI J'APPELLE WEJDENE- she's been my day 1 since i was like thirteen i can't even lie)

Annisse (just found out she only has like ~500 listeners on spotify??? apparently i'm one of them tho lmao so yeah go get that number up guys i love her too much for this disrespect)

Sister Sledge

Cheryl Lynn

Reggae:

Daddy Yankee (he's an honourable mention cause i couldn't not lmao)

Skindred (they're a reggae/metal fusion band and i will shut up abt them when i'm dead bc Nobody rewired my brain chemistry!!)

Manu Chao

Toquinho (i was so convinced this man was bossa nova but apparently he is reggae and i need to do some music theory review)

Folk:

Sushi Soucy (oh the things I Deserve to Bleed had me going thru in 2020/2021)

Miriam Makeba (Pata Pata should be enough to get anyone listening to her, just saying)

Lead Belly (do urself a favour and do some research on this man, i'm not kidding even if u don't like folk music u should know abt him- ESPECIALLY if u like Nirvana that'll make sense later trust)

Pop:

Corinne Bailey Rae (she has so much good music that gets ignored bc of Put Your Records On so.. yeah go listen to Black Rainbows she's only gotten better as time goes on lol)

Dru (he is for any person who likes ke$ha. i'm so serious he is early 2000s in a bottle and i love his music ur rlly missing out if u ignore him)

Monique Hasbun (found her recently! she's a Palestinian, Mexican and Salvadorian artist who plays around with Latin pop and does a lot of fusion music. she's dope go listen to her fr)

Mohammad Assaf (he made the Palestine song that's been going around ig a lot, but his other stuff is great as well. he's another Palestinian artist, so once again, go check him out!!)

Pinkpanthress (i LOVE her she's so much fun to just vibe to and idk how anyone couldn't have heard of her atp but then again this is the sight that didn't know who drake was so... sigh. go listen to her if u don't already!!)

Aliyah's Interlude (BROOO if u haven't heard of her actually go listen rn i'm so serious she is so good i can'ttttt ok bye)

Veondre (had a collab w Aliyah on It Girl and is gonna be releasing her own music very soon! she's trans too so go give her some love)

Shalco (wasn't sure whether to put him here or in hip hop, but his stuff is very very good either way)

Ado (she's j-pop but it's a form of pop so into the pop category she goes)

Moon (she's got two songs out rn, Moonlight and Seoul City Drift, and both r going on loop in my head at all times)

Jay Chou (call me a basic bitch idc he's good ok)

Atarashii Gakko! (i wouldn't say they're j-pop, but google did, so i'm just going w it lol)

flowerovlove (just trust me on this one)

El Tio Gamboin (Los Gatitos is such a cute song)

Grace Chang (see note for Jay Chou)

King Gnu (for all my j-pop lovers... come get ur man)

Salsa:

Lalo Rodriguez (included this genre specifically so i could mention him)

Adalberto Santiago

Roberto Roena (he's a classic i can't lie)

Hector Lavoe (i think he might be the most popular one in this genre lol)

City Pop (this is its own genre bc i literally did a presentation in high school abt it and i'll be damned if i don't flex my knowledge now):

Mariya Takeuchi

Miki Matsubara (my QUEEN my everything my-)

Anri

Taeko Onuki (one of my most listened to artists last yr for a Reason)

Kaoru Akimoto

Kingo Hamada

Jun Togawa

Bossa Nova:

Joao Gilberto (ooo he gets me every time i fucking love this man)

Elizeth Cardoso

Johnny Alf (forgot this man the first time around my bad BUT he's called the father of bossa nova for a reason so)

Hip Hop:

Flyana Boss (they're sooooo good i actually can't gush enough i have never felt so girlypop listening to music before go listen to them!! found the duo through ig so yeah if u want go follow them on there too to show support)

Lil Uzi Vert (for any emo lovers, go check out his song Werewolf with Bring Me the Horizon it is SO GOOD)

Samyra (she's slowly curing my body dysmorphia lol)

Yame (there's an accent on the e but idk how to do that on tumblr. anyway my ass loves french rap and before him i was stuck with klub des loosers so he saved my faith in the genre i can't even lie)

Lay Bankz (u cannot be chronically online and not have heard Ick yet, but i'm repping her regardless bc SHE'S SO GOOD)

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie (HEAR ME OUT-)

Kaliii (Area Codes was one of my most listened to songs last year... as it should be tbh)

Miguel (he does R&B too i just first listened to him bc of his collab w J.Cole sooo)

Tyler the Creator (putting him on here just to brag abt getting to see him in concert lmao)

XXXTentacion (he has been mourned and talked abt an insane amount, but he deserves it i'm not even gonna joke on this one. his artistry is insane and he deserves some love if u haven't listened to him yet)

Kendrick Lamar (i mean i've been reblogging stuff abt him enough. Mr. Morale was actually the album that made me start Listening listening to him and i'm honestly glad it was bc that album is still my favourite to this day if i'm being totally honest)

Renaissauce (criminally and i do mean CRIMINALLY underrated)

[id-rather-be-an-outsider]

Fanboys

chapter 1: introductions

summary: y/n is moving into her new dorm at Jujutsu U!

word count: 755

a/n: thanks for waiting! I know a few people have gotten excited for this one :) let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist!

Y/n pocketed her phone after checking her social media to see how well her recent sponsored post was doing, and double checked the number on the dorm unit. 507. Good. She opened the door, and sitting on the couch were two girls around her age, one with light brown hair, and the other with dark green hair. They both turned their heads, faces stoic, until they saw her keychain. “Hey, is that an Emile keychain?” The brunette asked, “You kind of look like Emile, actually.”

Y/n’s eyes darted to the right, thinking about a quick answer, but she knew it was already too late when she could feel herself smiling in embarrassment. “I, uhhh… I am… Emile.”

The brunette jumped up, and the green-haired girl slowly stood up beside her, excitement shining in the former’s eyes, interest in the latter’s. The brunette exclaimed, “No way! I listen to your music all the time!” She zipped over next to y/n, saying, “Nice to meet you, Emile, I’m Nobara, and this is Maki.”

“I can introduce myself!” The green-haired girl said, “Name’s Maki.”

Y/n laughed. I like these girls. “You can call me y/n, actually. Emile’s just my stage name. So, what should I do with my things? I don’t really have much.”

“Oh! You have your own room, and there’s a closet in there. We were going to leave the biggest one for you, but they’re all the same size, so it didn’t matter. Let me show you!” Maki flopped back down on the couch, and Nobara tugged y/n down the hallway to her room. It wasn’t large, but it was big enough that her recording equipment would fit, once she picked it up. She was worried about damaging it if she just jammed it in her brother’s car, so she planned to get a U-Haul to bring it after the first week of classes were over, just so she was ahead on her schoolwork. After Nobara helped y/n unpack what little she had in her suitcase, she ran to the bathroom, and y/n went out to the living room to chat with Maki some more.

When y/n took a seat next to her, Maki asked, “So, I take it you’re a Music major?”

Smiling with pride, y/n nodded. “Yep! What’s your major?”

Maki replied, “Well, I’m only a sophomore, so I can’t declare mine yet, but I’m going to go into Crim.”

“That’s interesting! What made you decide on Crim?” Y/n said, leaning forward. “No one at my high school ever expressed an interest in Crim except some of the really creepy true crime girls, but half of them didn’t graduate.” She frowned to herself. “It’s probably a good thing, though. I know I wouldn’t want one of them examining my body with complete apathy if I died tragically.”

Maki snorted. “That’s true. My reason is because I want to help people. I come from a family of really rich lawyers, with high-profile clients. I just kept seeing so many situations where some rich guy’s girlfriend mysteriously died, and somehow the police on the investigations botched things, or lost evidence. I didn’t want to be complicit in that kind of thing. I want to be a private investigator to help families. Of course, my family didn’t like that very much, so they cut me off, and now I’m here on my own merit, since I couldn’t get a dime of financial aid thanks to their tax bracket.”

Y/n was stunned. “Wow. That’s really inspiring, Maki! I wish I had a cool story like that, I’m just an idiot who got lucky with the algorithm.”

Maki blushed. “Luck has nothing to do with how good your music is, y/n. I like your songs.” She looked away, like she was embarrassed, and y/n’s smile spread from ear-to-ear.

“Thanks, Maki. Even though I’m proud of my work, it’s always just one of those things, where I get flustered because it’s my voice. You never really expect anyone to believe in you, you know?”

Maki looked up at her in surprise, mouth slightly agape. Softly, she said, “Yea, I know exactly what you mean.” The two of them exchanged an understanding grin. Two girls against the world. Unbeknownst to them, Nobara’s bathroom break consisted of not actually using the toilet, but telling the group chat all about how her favorite artist was talking to Maki and also is living with them for the next year.

label << masterlist >> catalogue >>> chapter 2

[sohcah--toa]

bullet train/マリアビートル details ~

Hello!! I recently dug up the Bullet Train script (if you search it up, you should be able to find it relatively easily!! I'm not sure if it's completely reliable but it seems to be the first version) and listened to the soundtrack. (It's awesome, you should listen if you haven't already!!)

There's a lot of stuff here about マリアビートル, I hope you enjoy reading 🥳 (It's really ridiculous)

-- 1 ) LEMON'S CHILDHOOD // BACKGROUND(??)

I attached a photo for reference in the book!! :D (there's highlighter marks, I'm sorry) His backstory is tragic and aahh noo 🥹... I won't say much on it because we're all thinking the same thing. In the script, this is carried over when Lemon passes out because of the water. But apparently, in the final movie, this isn't shown a lot. In the book and movie, they aren't brothers and have a considerably colder relationship, so I can understand why the childhood scene in the cut is so much more wholesome. (Still supersuper cool though!!)

-- 2) "I'm forever blowing bubbles"

The original reason why this song was chosen for Bullet Train was because of Tangerine's West Ham United sticker (turns out, that's a football club). Hey!! But wait a minute!! There's a funny coincidence because Ladybug in the book was trying to become a football star. He has a quote that's like "my friend told me that someone like me could either become a footballer or a criminal, so I did both" and he says that his first crime was stealing a football.

The song delves into themes surrounding fortune as well!! I love their music selection 🙇‍♂️😤

-- 3) THREE ASSASSINS/グラスホッパー REFERENCES

Okay this part (in a way...) contains spoilers for Three Assassins, which is the first book of the "series"! ! The story revolves around a guy named Suzuki, who appears again in Bullet Train!! He kinda-sorta becomes friends with Ladybug and it's like 😊 they are so happy. To be completely honest, Suzuki's a bit traumatised but so is Ladybug, right?? Lovely friendship!!

It's also so interesting that he's reading a hotel buffet menu because his wife used to love eating at buffets and he adopted the habit of hoarding all the food as well. He's on the train to meet with his dead wife's family (which was extremely difficult for him after her passing).

-- 4) BULLET TRAIN REFERENCES IN THE MANTIS/AX

There's this other book in the series called The Mantis or AX for the Japanese version. This one isn't talked about a lot but if you like family stories, this book is so so soo good. It really pulled at my heartstrings when I first read it but I can't say too much without spoiling everything. Anyway, it makes a few references to Bullet Train and literally starts with the main character, Kabuto (an assassin), having a flashback to talking to Tangerine and Lemon during one of his missions, where they had the same target so they worked together. The Twins really respect him, actually, but find it funny that he's so careful around his wife (YES KABUTO, AN ASSASSIN, HAS A WIFE). Some characters reappear so.. :")) yay!!

-- 5) 777

Ladybug comes back!! He comes back in the latest book in the series; 777. So far, the Japanese reviews have been pretty positive and I think there's an English translation coming in November!! 🥳 I like how the title is 777; 7 like 7 tails in Nanao (七尾), car 7, his favourite number is 7 (if I recall correctly), 7 the "lucky number".

-- 6) THIS GUY

No one asked but I heavily dislike the Prince in the book. (to be honest, who doesn't...) He's just mean for no reason and likes ruining people's lives, makes fun of poor Ladybug (this really isn't that bad compared to the other stuff he does) and yeah, the list goes on. Also apparently he (heavily) tortures other schoolmates and it's not like he gets paid for it like the Twins or the other guys. He just does it for fun?? OK!! The premise of his character is amazing and it's great to see a villain that's actually just straight evil but since he's designed that way, we are validated when hating him ww. He talks about politics as well for some reason... keeps referencing historical tragedies.... man.

-- 7) ASAGAO/THE PUSHER

The Pusher is back too!! Weee~ (not really)

In the movie, it seems as though this entire part got cut out which, like, is reasonable. I attached a photo from the Grasshopper (2015) movie for reference hahaha. The guy in the black suit is the Pusher!! Yeah, he pushes people!! (not in the fun way!!)

He is in charge of protecting Wataru from the Prince's guy, although he's reluctant at first. He's obsessed with bugs and stuff. Whenever he opens his mouth, it's probably going to be about bugs. The Pusher's also strangely poetic. Maybe it's because he likes old bands like the Rolling stones? Oh!! And he gets mentioned in The Mantis.

And speaking of the Kimura family, Yuichi Kimura says something very true and it's:

"who do they gotta make the train toilets so nasty"

-- 8) LADYBUG IS COOL

This is very much a fact. In Mariabeetle, he gets kidnapped when he's 8 years old because he gets mistaken for a rich kid (after he lost a bet with his wealthy friend and had to wear his "rich person backpack"), then in the place he's being held captive, he escapes by HIMSELF since his dad isn't able to give the guys money for his son back (since they took the wrong person!!). But heyy he's resourceful and smart.

AND guess what?? He gets traumatised because there was this other boy being held but Ladybug didn't save him and it's haunted him ever since. This is also one of the reasons why he ends up helping the Prince even though he knows it won't do him any good.

Obviously, it gets worse from there. He makes it back to his family and they're pretty happy. Unfortunately, they're far from rich and Ladybug has to study extremely hard to get into a college. Spoiler alert, he doesn't. THE THING IS!! He studied so hard!! It's just that during his exam, some kid sneezed on his paper and he wiped it, smudging all his work and even his name!! Nanao! No!!

-- 9) TANGERINE BOOK RECS

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

"We perished, each alone."

-> He really loves that quote. A lot. Also he's a Virginia Woolf fan!!

2. Forbidden Colours - Yukio Mishima

-> He's also a Yukio Mishima fan... I wonder if he's ever read "The Sound of Waves". What would he think about it? Hahaha this will keep me up at night 😅 (<- SLANTED EMOJI!!)

3. The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea - Yukio Mishima

-> To talk about Article 41 of the Penal Code of Japan. (Mr Kotaro Isaka, the author, studied law, by the way!! It's interesting!!) However, here, Tangerine quotes Mishima on Article 41 ;)

4. Hemingway and Faulkner

-> Actually it's a collection so it's not really a book recommendation but these two people are real - Ernst Hemingway (the Old Man and the Sea guy) and William Faulkner. They didn't really get along, by the way, and even though they respected the other's work, they criticised more than praised. Sounds like the Twins.

5. Demons - Fyodor Dostoevsky

-> "Crime is no longer insanity, but simply common sense, almost a duty; anyway, a gallant protest."

I think the author is a heavy Fyodor Dostoevsky fan, just because he also referenced his works in Three Assassins.

6. Crime and Punishment ;D

-> "Science now tells us, love yourself before all men, for everything in the world relies on self-interest."

(CONT'D) yeahh this book was referenced in Three Assassins and one of the characters is obsessed with it. Glad to see that Tangerine is a fan too hahahaha.

-- 10) LEMON IS AWESOME

Opinionated text here but Lemon is plain awesome.

"Between the principal's name and Doraemon's gadgets, it was blindingly obvious which one was more important."

To each their own and I know he's a criminal but he seems like he has no enemies. Sounds very wholesome.

-- 11) HORNET THE MVP

She's in Three Assassins AND the Mantis!! Hypercool. In both books, the Hornet is a team of a male and a female. The female is eliminated (this word choice ww) by Ladybug but the male is still up and kicking, though Ladybug feels bad about it. They use poison needles, like the movie, but they trigger anaphylaxis, which is a really dangerous allergic reaction that causes body shocks.

-- 12) SUZUKI: PHILOSOPHER AND ECONOMIST

"If people knew that they might be killed by someone tomorrow, economic activity would grind to a halt."

... well 😅 take from that what you will.

(that's Suzuki!!)

Cela dit... that's all.... so long, I'm sorry. But thank you so much if you read until the end!! I hope you at least found it a bit entertaining!! :"))

[kai-anderson-whore]

Hi I got a Colin Zabel X Reader request. Also assume they are already in a relationship cuz if I can’t have him in the real world, I am not waiting in my alternate reality. Just a heads up that’s for all my requests. It’s literally the only reason I don’t read “friends/enemies to lovers” or “angsts” cuz I need them NOW 😭😭. Okay back to the actual request. Reader visits Colin just outside the crime scene to check up on him and maybe help him with like potential scenarios, people who might’ve known the victim, etc. Then reader went to talk to Mare while Colin was doing something maybe on a phone call and Colin noticed a police officer had joined in on the women’s conversation. The officer is being a bit flirty with the reader and Colin gets possessive and rushes into the group. Colin clearly speaking about his plans with the reader after his shift a bit too loud and giving obvious affection to her. Like grabbing at her waist, thighs, shoulders, arms, maybe a bit of her butt 😏, quick kisses, moving her hair out of her face. All the while Colin is glancing at the man with a death glare and the reader didn’t even notice a problem in the first place but starts to blush at his affection and gets closer and closer to Colin to hide her face. Signaling him “let’s go home and watch tv while cuddling cuz she’s getting a bit sheepish with all these ppl around” (Colin knows exactly what she wants when shes hiding her face without her even saying a word). And that’s all! Sorry for the rambling in the beginning.

Okay I kinda struggled with this one but I hope you like it 💕

Jealous of the officer (colin zable x reader)

Warnings: mentions of a crime scene, mentions of murder, Colin being jealous and a bit possessive.

Taglist: @spill-the-t @iluwmycats @lili-tate @evanpeterswifeyy868 @jademunson @evanpetersfansblog @howtobesasha @lustforeverrrr @fand0mh03

•¤❅¤•.•°˚˚°•..•°˚˚°•.•¤❅¤•.•¤❅¤•.•°˚˚°•. .•°˚˚°

You drove down the road the radio playing the latest song that's number 1 you hummed along tapping your finger on the steering wheel as you drove to a crime scene to meet Colin, you pulled up turning off your engine pulling out your keys before exiting the car.

You spotted Colin right away talking with some other officers about the case. You caught his attention right away he let out a smile and waved you over with a small smile you walked over to your partner, "what happened?" You asked your arms folded trying to keep yourself warm, "woman been murdered in her own home" Colin said handing you his cup of coffee to keep you warm.

"Any suspects you can think of already?" You then asked you weren't really a detective but you always helped Colin on his cases with potential thing that could have happened, potential suspects etc. "We know she was married could have been the husband" Colin sighed rubbing his temples. "What about evidence already?" You went on to ask taking another sip of the coffee before giving it back to your boyfriend.

"We have her laptop and phone the husband is already in for questioning we'll go over her devices and look for clues what we know so for it was a crime of passion" Colin went on to inform you had a long thought about the case before coming up with a suggestion, "maybe she was having an affair the husband caught wind of it and went off on one" you suggested not wanting to completely jump on the band wagon about it.

"Potentially could be what happened guess we got to find out" Colin replied before his cellphone rang he excuses himself you took the time to talk with mare about the case, "Alright mini detective what's your suspicion?" Mare asked when she saw you coming over to her. "Well a crime of passion that's what I've been told, maybe a affair of some sort I don't know" you shrugged Mare nodded gazing around the scene till she saw another officer coming towards you both.

"Evening ladies" the officer smiled at you both but mostly you, you didn't notice it at first, he sent you winks as he spoke, "What's a girl like you doing at a crime scene?" They asked you shrugged before replying, "here to see the detectives".

"Well maybe we could grab dinner or something if you arent busy tonight" He offered then you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist with the scent of the cologne you immediately knew it was Colin, "actually she is she's coming home with me" colin said a little too possessivly not that you mind. placing a kiss on your cheek you didn't see the death stare Colin gave the officer but they looked taken aback.

"You okay babe?" He then asked you.

"Yeah just chatting to Mare and this officer" you replied realising you hadn't catch their name, "I just got a call from the chief we're keeping the husband in till he calms down then we'll question him" Colin told Mare who nodded noticing his jealousy towards the officer and you. He knew you didn't do anything wrong but he couldn't help but feel jealous.

Colins hands held your biceps giving them a little squeeze, you couldn't help but feel that little bit of electricity when Colin touched you even innocently, it would send you in a frenzy. "Detective zable we found this in the victims dresser" another officer called out holding a piece of paper, "mare would you mind" Colin asked his hands now dangerously close to your bum making you blush like crazy and hiding your face in colins chest luckily no one saw.

"Sure" mare said heading in to the house to look at the piece of evidence. Colin's gave your butt a little squeeze you couldn't help but blush even more and hide yourself futher into his chest.

Colin knew what that could mean when you blush and hide your face in his chest in public. That you wanted him and he didn't half want you either to teach you a lesson and to show the other officer your HIS and his only.

"Excuse me I'm going to take y/n home she's a bit sheepish with all these people around" Colin informed pushing a strand of your hair away whilst giving the officer a smug look. Taking your hand and guiding you to your car since he took a ride with mare today.

"That's a pretty colour on your cheeks" he teased pulling your car door open helping you inside, "Colin shush your the one who made me blush like a schoolgirl and now your teasing me" you whined putting your seat belt on.

"Well love I had to let that officer know that your mine" Colin shrugged before closing the car door and entering the driver side. That's when it finally hit you.

"You were jealous" you gasped.

"He was Flirting with you clearly and I had to let him know that your mine and I'm yours, anyway let's go home" he smirked starting the engine to go home for you both to have the time of your life.

[meiloorunsmoothie]

finding neverland, a review of sorts

hello! this is a sort of an after the fact "live blogging" (except all in one post 💀) of my thoughts as i was watching finding neverland (a.r.t. version). i basically just wrote whatever i was thinking down as i was watching, so this is truly very raw (obviously, i've gone in and cleaned some things up + added gifs to help those who read it (and myself if i come back to this post) figure out what on earth i'm blabbing about).

...read at your own risk! (also, in case it wasn't obvious, spoilers ahead)

act 1

THE SCOTTISH ACCENT

when he sings with it too 😭

i was not expecting this to be as funny as it is for some reason

"i don't know why you talk to that dog like he's a person" XD

"and what precisely is this poor wretch's crime?" "he's my younger brother" - yep, checks out

i'm 13 minutes in and i love it already

can we talk about how thayne jasperson as porthos weirdly works

okay wait, but is jeremy actually kind of doing choreography...?

OKAY BUT THIS RIVER SCENE IS SO CUTE

also when he randomly loses the accent

laura michelle kelly is amazing

uh she just coughed. i'm scared and paranoid...maybe laura actually just needed to cough, but i'm going to keep this here in case it is something... (EDIT: IT WAS AND I WILL NEVER RECOVER)

i'm obsessed with this (retroactively, why doesn't it show up again 😭)

"nice try, but no." jack is me.

this is me every day and it's a problem ⬇️

THIS IS SO FUN HOW HAVE I NOT WATCHED THIS SOONER

"perhaps having fun is more important than everything being perfect" - yes!

okay but the ex-ballerina in me is going crazy for the maid choreography

okay sobbing cause "neverland" just happened—it's weird that i've never listened to him sing this before and i'm unsure whether i should just pause now to recover or rewind and watch it again (edit: i did both)

"well at this rate, we'll also have to imagine that there's an audience" - THEM LOOKING AT THE AUDIENCE AFTER THAT IS ABSOLUTELY GENIUS

sylvia's dress is so pretty lol

...this is interesting choreo

but i love the door merry go round

okay i've seen "hook" and "stronger" before, but this is so much better with context

maybe my boot is just really bad (it is) but did he just pull a stick out of his pant pocket

i can't i have no words

act 2

i would very much like to see what's happening on the other side of the curtain

PRINCESS DIGGORY

SHE'S COUGHING AGAIN

this bar scene reminds me of lotr for some reason but i like it, it's very fun

WHAT YOU MEAN TO ME my beloved

the singing while lying down 😳

i am unwell

oh a kid song, let's go - okay but actually, i love this number

HELP THIS WAS LITERALLY ME AND MY SIBLINGS okay how much will i have to pay them to watch this

NOOOOO WHY

WHY

WHY

i'm so upset i can't even bring myself to put a gif here, but we all know what scene.

aiden gemme is doing a great job as peter.

OK BUT THIS DUET

SOBBING

why is there upbeat music do you not know what just happened.

i love it when the audience is part of the show

this whole scene MY HEART I CANNOT

this is so chaotic but i love it it's perfect

CHILLS

i. love. laura. michelle. kelly.

that was beautiful even though it was sad

"mary, you're outside!" akdfasdhflashdfas

i can't (how many times have i said that). this is such a perfect ending

la fin

(until my next rewatch which could be right now)

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Current Top Ten Olivia Rodrigo Songs

I've found myself talking about Olivia Rodrigo's music a lot lately (mostly screeching about entry #2), so I'm finally going to give her a list! Though I've never been much of a "drivers license" fan, I still got really into her with the release of SOUR--the end of my junior year in high school could have been soundtracked solely with that album (+ "Rollin'" by Brave Girls!).

1. good 4 u

I mean, I would love to have a more surprising pick for number one, but this one's a classic for a reason! Like, I remember what was going on in my life when I first heard "good 4 u"--it's a landmark all on its own. And that dramatic lead-in to the bridge? I feel my heart explode in my chest every. single. time.

2. girl i've always been

This one is new, but it blew me away from the first listen. It's not a big spectacle like "so american", but the understated acoustic atmosphere is executed so well that I can't look away! This country-inspired sound is unusual for Olivia, but she acclimates to it so well, I think--I feel so comfortable in this song, it doesn't feel unfamiliar at all. And the line "well, I have captors I call friends" is worth a spot on this list all on its own.

3. jealousy, jealousy

This is my "brutal". In "jealousy, jealousy", the burn-it-all-down angst we know and love Olivia Rodrigo's music for has been smoothed out --it's cold, cruel, withdrawn. It's the girl dressed in all black who sits alone at lunch and glares at the popular kids from across the cafeteria, taking on her loneliness with grace and elegance and absolutely vicious resignation, and when I listen to this song, I get to feel as cool and above-it-all as that girl for a few minutes. I don't actually want to be this imaginary girl, but Olivia's music often lets me play a character for a bit--and this one is by far my favorite!

4. 1 step forward, 3 steps back

Okay this has, like, sentimental value. "1 step forward, 3 steps back" was there for me when I really needed it... I love how delicate it is, and I love harmonizing to the bridge, but it's really just here because I keep it like a security blanket.

5. all-american bitch

The ballads on GUTS didn't really work for me--the lyrics felt uncomfortably blunt, too generalized to be impactful, more like lectures than stories. But "all-american bitch", a big rock track with lots of screaming??? These lyrics GOT ME. My nonbinary experience of femininity has its own nuances, but all the stereotypes and expectations placed on the Perfect Good Girl still affect so much of who I am. In "all-american bitch", the bluntness of the lyrics actually works in its favor. It's scathing--just straight-up listing all the stereotypes and expectations and judgements placed on women is revealing, exposing their contradictions, and I think it takes away a little of their power. Honestly, this song is so powerful that it's a little much for me most of the time--I tend to avoid it, despite how much I like it--but I can't deny how fantastic it is.

6. favorite crime

Admittedly, I think "Partner in Crime - Spotify Singles" by Lucy Dacus is this song but better. I like both songs a whole lot, though, and the vocal layering in "favorite crime" is a shot right through the heart.

7. enough for you

This is pretty much interchangeable with "favorite crime"--a solid storyline with a genuine, compellingly fragile performance. I don't know, it just works!

8. get him back!

The flat delivery in the verses set against the soaring chorus is EVERYTHING. This is a low-stakes song, about a guy we never really liked anyway, so it's pure fun and wordplay and screaming just because you can.

9. can't catch me now

God, the vocal layering is breathtaking. (Look, I'm a man of simple tastes. I like when the harmonies do the harmony thing!!!!!)

10. ballad of a homeschooled girl

I think this song is hilarious--"ballad of a homeschooled girl" takes all the self-policing and overanalyzing and internal screaming required to be seen as 'normal', that constant stream of 'no don't do that no you can't say that no stop oh shit what did i just do she probably thinks i'm so weird', and turns up the intensity to the point where it's a sort of comedy skit. I think it's absolutely delightful to scream my worries out through this song, to honestly express the daily stresses of just existing outside my house and laugh about them, too. (Also, the "every guy I like is gay" line just makes me laugh, though I've heard that my take is an unpopular one.)

honorable mentions: happier, bad idea right?, love is embarrassing (WATCH AS I CRUCIFY MYSELF !!!!!), teenage dream (yeah i like this one, kind of against my will but i think it works way better than the other guts ballads!), so american (OH GOD I'M GONNA MARRY HIM / IF HE KEEPS THIS SHIT UP !!!)

[bugeyedfreaks]

1, 2, & 5 for the ask game w/ mojo!! nice to see someone else who has him as a fav LOL

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I highly, HIGHLY like this strange man-like creature. 🤣 And I like him for many reasons, to be sure! The reasons for why I like the character of Mojo Jojo so much are numerous indeed, and I fear that it would take me quite a long time (and quite a few paragraphs, if I am to be honest about it) to precisely list all of the reasons in a manner that would be satisfying for the high standards I hold for myself. Nevertheless, I will attempt to summarize said reasons so that I will not be wasting all of the precious time that I have today on this particular ask, the ask which you have asked of me when you sent me this list of asks from the ask game which I posted on my internet blog.

Now, let me begin to attempt to succinctly list this list describing why I like Mojo Jojo: NUMBER ONE! I quite like his manner of speaking, because the manner in which he speaks is humorous and a source of much joy for my ears. The repetition of words and the cadence of his phrasing is quite pleasing, and the performance of his voice actor, my beloved and super talented Roger L. Jackson, is flawless! Perfect! He should have won multiple awards for it! But he didn’t! It is a crime, the kind of crime Mojo Jojo himself would not attempt to commit. It would be beneath him to deprive the man who gives him his voice of the praise he deserves!

NUMBER TWO! I enjoy the character design that was designed for his character! On one hand, he is a cute and adorable little monkey, and, at first glance, you may not think that he could be a force to be reckoned with. But on the other hand, he actually IS a force to be reckoned with since, despite his cuteness, he can look evil and menacing in an instant. He wears a very cool villainous suit, one which would strike fear into even the bravest of heroes! The color combination of blue and purple that he wears, combined with his green skin coloration, is rather fetching.

NUMBER THREE! His personality is one that is interesting, very interesting indeed, but also one that can be, at times, highly relatable. He has a grumpy and pessimistic demeanor, is a bit of a loner who at most times prefers to be left alone, and is frequently annoyed with the uncultured and boorish actions of others. Same, honestly, when I am at my worst! Speaking of being the worst, that is also something that Mojo Jojo is quite adept at, since he is a thoroughly entertaining supervillain whose super evil antics always, without fail, elicit a chuckle or two from whoever may be watching.

…okay, well, now that I have accomplished my task of listing said list of reasons describing why I like Mojo Jojo, I will continue to answer the rest of the asks you have requested, albeit in a less belabored manner that will no longer reflect the speech of the aforementioned evil genius. Hopefully, despite this all being summarized (if you can believe it!), it was an adequate response, a response which I hope you have enjoyed!

...boy, that was a mouthful. Anyway...

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I like that he’s so versatile! He’s silly enough that he can be plopped into a silly, goofy story where he acts like a total incompetent dork, and he’s evil enough that you could write him into a darker storyline where he could be an actual threat. It never feels weird or forced, and it's cool that he can do both so well!

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

A little obvious, but of course, this classic:

[givemeanaccountalready]

for milgram ask game 💖 1, 2, 5, 8 for Yuno 3, 4, 6, 7 for Haruka 12, 13, 14, 15 for Mikoto

Yuno

1.) Favorite song lyrics?

I think I like Tear Drop just slightly more than Umbilical.

“I’m the one who chose / let you and you and you all in / Happy or sad? / Why decide? / Where’d you get your half-baked sense of justice / So nauseating… so creepy will you please disappear? / Phew. Anyway”

I just really like this verse from Tear Drop and that she is continuing to emphasize her point that yeah, you can punish people outside the law, but it’s never-ending and people have differing views on what the ‘right’ punishment is. No one in the audience expected Kotoko to attack the Guilty prisoners after Trial One, and during Kotoko’s voice drama, she is able to verbally put Es in the corner when they try to shut her down. As far as Kotoko was concerned, murder is murder, get wrecked by the fang of justice. Muu, in her first voice drama, brings up the idea of self-defense and Es agreed with her that killing someone in self-defense is justifiable and can be forgiven, something that conflicts with Kotoko’s view on justice. Yuno brings up that most people look down on sex work, but if it’s a consensual exchange of sex in exchange for money, is it really hurting anyone, and if not, why is it other people’s business what she does? Especially even seems to understand where she is coming from, even if they don’t give a vocal agreement to it. That said, I still want to know how in the hell she got involved with sex work in the first place. I know she’s using sex (the warmth) to fill an emotional void (the coldness), but how long has she been doing sex work, because some of those men she’s been with have taken her to upscale places that a high school boy and most college guys certainly can’t afford to take their dates to.

2.) Favorite music video frame?

I did get question 2 before and I picked a scene from Tear Drop, so it’s only fair that I pick from Umbilical.

I think this one is my favorite because it seems to be the one time she’s making her own decision and seems totally into it.

5.) Favorite voice drama line/moment?

I had gotten 5 before (see the previous link in 2 if you’re interested) and since I picked a line from her second voice drama the first time, this time I’ll do one from the first:

“That’s right. You know those people who just want to convince themselves, so they intrude in other people’s affairs even though it’s not their place—I despise them. That’s what I was saying. They only do it to make themselves feel better, don’t they? Those people don’t actually end up doing anything.”

Though, the “It’s fucking bothersome,” line is still number one Yuno quote in my heart.

8.) What is your theory of their crime? If there is a general consensus on it in the fandom, do you have any other, not-so-widely-accepted theories?

The abortion. I’m 99.99% sure that her murder was an abortion and I will be very surprised if it turns out that she murdered one of her clients because that would be out of left field at this point. @2amtechnicolor has a good post on whether Yuno actually wanted the abortion, and how that plays into her feelings regarding her Trial One verdict. It definitely put Yuno’s words in a different light and explains why she was adamant over being found Guilty in Trial Two. Definitely not something I would have thought of on my own. Before I read that post, I thought Yuno had been angered by everyone waving her off as a naive young girl who doesn’t understand what she’s done and maybe even regretted her abortion after the fact.

Haruka

3.) Favorite non-MV official illustration?

I think I like the birthday image for him best:

I like the little Chibi drawing. I do just want to point out that in his Trial Two image, the heel of one of Haruka’s shoes is stomped down and it bothers me, so now you all have to look at it:

They’re not tied either but untied fits the image of his younger self that he is trying to cling onto. I wonder what happened to his slip-on shoes he wore last trial. They didn’t have any laces.

4.) Favorite Minigram episode/moment?

Ooh, it’s probably the cat’s cradle one where Yuno is showing off her tricks and he keeps asking Fuuta if he saw the tricks and Fuuta is pretending not to care. And then they both get amazed and Haruka is like, did you see that, did ya, did ya, as Fuuta is frantically yelling that he’s apathetic. Comedy gold.

6.) Favorite relationships with another character in the prison?

Fuuta for sure. They have the, “Excuse me, he asked for no pickles,” energy that I appreciate. I think it’s important that Fuuta treats him like a peer with equal footing, because Haruka seems to be so used to being less than. I’m sad that they splintered off after Trial One. Muu is alright with me for now, since I was introduced to the idea that she has been teaching him how to write and that’s why his questions in the second response are longer and neater than in the last trial, and she does seem to be trying to increase his self-esteem, if her gifts are anything to go off of. She’s not number one best girl because she and Haruka magnify each other’s worst traits and behavior. I think Fuuta was trying to encourage Haruka to speak for himself, (see the timeline convos insistence that Haruka not speak so formally to him and trying to figure out what Haruka likes). Haruka does need someone to support him, but he also needs that someone to help give him a push so he doesn’t stagnate (same with Muu) and he and Muu are not a good fit for where they are mentally.

7.) Favorite relationships with another character if they weren’t in Milgram, the way you imagine or would like them to be?

I had gotten 7 for Haruka before and said Fuuta, but besides Fuuta… hmmmmm. I think I would say Shidou and Haruka would be interesting since Shidou is said to have treated Haruka for a cold in the Minigram and when Haruka cut his palms by pressing his fingernails into them. I know Amane doesn’t like how Shidou treats her like a little kid and would be better off with Kazui as a father figure because Kazui has shown himself to be capable of treating Es like a young adult, which she would appreciate it. But given Haruka’s mother’s neglectful treatment of him and the apathy and disappointment his father feels towards him, I think the gentleness Shidou has shown him would be a welcome relief. If I remember correctly, I think Shidou had asked Haruka to make sure to take care of himself after he finished bandaging his hands.

It’s possible that the two could meet if Shidou worked at a doctor’s office where Haruka’s mother took him for a check up. Or maybe Shidou moves his family to Haruka’s neighborhood or vice versa, and Shidou notices how Haruka is staring at how Shidou and his wife interact with their kids. Maybe he’d ask if he would mind watching their two boys while they have a date night, or start simpler with asking if Haruka could help Shidou move some things in their house and thank him sincerely and praise him a little for being so helpful. I think the gentler, while sometimes condescending, attitude that Shidou takes with younger prisoners is what Haruka would need to start believing that he is capable of doing things right.

Mikoto

12.) What do you wish would be discussed more often about them within the fandom?

Hmm, I see a lot of theories and analyses of Mikoto, and I wish I could do him justice the way others in the fandom have. I’m starting to see some discuss the reliability of Mikoto and John’s accounts, which I’m thankful for because they are putting the words together much more coherently than I could. I’m happy I got @archivalofsins to watch Primal Fear and to hear her thoughts on it because whenever I try to analyze Mikoto, I’m worried that that film is coloring my view negatively and I’m not giving Mikoto a fair shake and jumping the gun.

There are a couple of things that I want to hear more talk about. For starters, since DID is a rare disorder formed in response to extreme abuse during early, and sometimes middle childhood, what could have caused it in Mikoto? Was it abuse from his dad? When John first appeared in John Doe, it sounded like I was listening to an abusive father beat and belittle his kid. We know his mom raised him and his baby sister after she divorced their father and he sounds quite attached to her. I had hoped for some more answers on this during Trial Two, but Mikoto’s murder is supposed to be at the forefront of the discussion, so we may not get an answer just yet. Which leads me to my next thought: I think John and/or Mikoto is full of shit that the person killed by them was just a stranger. In MeMe, it looks like Mikoto is waiting for someone before we cut to the blond guy crawling on the ground while Mikoto swings the bat down. I think it was a targeted attack. Maybe he is someone from Mikoto’s past who could have ruined all his hard work with blackmail (hence the “my life… wasn’t supposed to be this way,” and “DESTROY EVERYTHING”) that Mikoto either thought he could scare off with the bat but ended up killing the guy or went there with the intent to kill or seriously harm him. I do think that Mikoto knows more than he is letting on, and that John isn’t a purely evil monster hellbent on killing anyone who annoys him.

I am bummed that Trikoto seems to be officially dead with Double, but there better not be a surprise twist of a third alter during Trial Three.

13.) Any ideas on what would they and their music videos would have been like if they had gotten a different in Trial 1?

Remember how the beginning of MeMe had some glitchiness and jump cuts? I think we would have seen more of that in Double if Mikoto had been voted Innocent in Trial One. Mikoto doesn’t seem to know, or maybe, doesn’t want to know what goes on during his memory lapses and about John. He probably attributes it to stress from his work and while the stigma attached to mental illnesses has lessened over the years, it’s still not something you admit to in private, much less in public circles around most of the world. Voting Guilty forced John to surface more, and him surfacing more often seems to have forced John’s perspective of the crime to appear more in Double and both seemed to have been stressed out over the murder. I think the flashes of John probably would have been much more violent compared to the POV of the easygoing, but ignorant Mikoto. Like MeMe on steroids. I hope that makes sense.

14.) Any headcanons on their appearance?

It’s kind of funny in a mean way that in-universe, that Mikoto is said to be so plain that he resembles mass-produced goods. I like to think he is the most fashionable of the male prisoners because he learned how to cultivate different looks to make himself stand out more and boost his confidence. He would love to join in on Mahiru’s skincare routine when he learns that she shared it with the girls. He does notice how Fuuta and Haruka balk at joining in on Mahiru and Yuno’s fashion fun times because of their low self-esteem, and does try (well, did try for Fuuta) to gently encourage them to join by offering himself up as the girls’ ‘doll’ because Amane and Kotoko are not willing and Muu prefers certain aesthetics and isn’t ready to let them go hog wild just yet. Haruka wants to join but doesn’t join in because Fuuta is loudly complaining about how it’s girly and boring and it’s only when Mikoto shoots him a death glare that Fuuta gets the message and reluctantly agrees on the condition that they don’t put anything on his face/touch his mask. Fuuta does grumble but it’s more half-hearted because Haruka is soaking up the positive attention.

15.) What do you think of their voice?

I am not the coolest when it comes to taste in music, but I did dabble with metal and I like the kind that Mikoto does where it’s mostly singing with some screaming to punctuate. Sorry, I’m a bit lame, haha 😅

As for his speaking voice, I like the sound of his and John’s different ways of speaking. It works with his more cutesy and chill moments as Mikoto and the blunt, brusque, and brutal way it gets with John. I love the range. I may not know many Japanese voice actors, but I can’t imagine anyone but Natsuki Hanae voicing him.

[danielfeketewrites]

How Eurovision 2023 Should Have Ended

Well, not quite. I just really want to talk about my favourites.

Because I've been a bit obsessed. This was the first Eurovision I actually watched. I didn't think this would be something for me, but as it turns out - I was wrong! There were so many amazing songs, iconic performance, etc.

The thing is, after re-watching and re-listening a lot of 2023 ESC, I realised that none of MY top 5 actually reached top 5. So that's what I want to share with you today.

But first - honorable mentions (actually turning this top 5 into a top 10)!

10. Lord of the Lost (Germany) - Blood & Glitter

Budget Rammstein is still some amount of Rammstein. These dudes just seem really nice.

9. Mae Muller (UK) - I Wrote a Song

Was she out of breath? Definitely. But still... The song is really catchy and the visual presentation was incredible. Didn't deserve the last place for sure.

8. Loreen (Sweden) - Tattoo

Basically everyone and their mum pointed out already how convenient it is for Eurovision to come back to Sweden for the ABBA anniversary... Still, Loreen has a beautiful voice and this was a solid song.

7. Käärijä (Finland) - Cha Cha Cha

Cha, Cha Cha, Cha Cha Cha Cha!

6. Alessandra (Norway) - Queen of Kings

She was a favourite of a friend of mine and I can really see why. Strong, beautiful voice. Powerful song. Nice performance.

And now, finally, my top 5!

5. Voyager (Australia) - Promise

I... really like this. At a glance this seems like a mix of generic synthpop and genric rock, but that crescendo! It feels so optimistic, so nice and fun. I have no idea why but this song just always puts a big, stupid smile on my face.

4. La Zarra (France) - Évidemment

I feel like instead of bringing generic popsongs, it's always better when Eurovision contestants bring something that feels specifically "of their nation". This is definitely a great example of that. Gotta love La Zarra's voice and presence. She's incredible.

3. Teya & Salena (Austria) - Who The Hell Is Edgar?

This is actually my favourite song of the whole competition. I've listened to it so goddamn much in the past few weeks. Also, I'm in love with Teya. And possibly Salena. They are amazing, incredible, and just overall iconic.

Just the creativity of taking a name of one of the most famous writers on the planet and turning it into... a beat? It's a song about getting possesed by the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, but also about up-and-coming female song writers getting nothing for their work. I love Teya and Salena and I love this goddamn song.

Oh mio padre, there's a ghost in my body!

But, when we're talking performances, there are two that I would rate even higher than that...

2. Pasha Parfeni (Moldova) - Soarele şi Luna

This was where my vote went. I'm not even that into the song, but the performance is... well, spellbinding, really. I don't even know how to explain it. It's really the combination of both that works for me so well, I think.

And finally, my number 1...

Vesna (Czech Republic) - My Sister's Crown

Yeah, they're from my country.

But I genuinely thought they were incredible! An awesome, cool song mixing modern pop with folk music. An amazing, complex choreography. Singing in four languages!

And that's not even taking in account the messaging of the piece. Not just the call for female empowerement. But also the radical, pan-slavic yet anti-russian sentiment. And also - the hands! Specifically, the SOS sign that they are doing. Everything here has layers to peel off.

This was overall an incredible song and performance. Vesna is brilliant. It's a crime they didn't make it ito the actual top 5.

That's it! Those are my favourite performances and songs of Eurovision 2023. What do you think of my takes? Hot? Cold? Shit? Let me know!

Thanks for reading this!

[fromkenari]

Anyone who knows my taste in country music knows it doesn't include Toby Keith, and it hasn't included county radio since I was in middle school, but here are some sobering stuff I learned tonight while looking up things on the interwebs.

First, we all know "Try That In A Small Town" is some vague bullshit meant to make money but not actually be culpable for anything, right? And really, the song itself? Terrible. Jason Aldean hasn't had a Hot Country #1 in almost a decade (don't come at me with those "Country Airplay" numbers that just means the *checks notes* 150 country radio stations that Nielsen checks have been playing it, but he hasn't had an actual Hot Country, which includes streaming and other services, #1 since 2014), which honestly, shocked me. However, now I know why they were putting him on every award show to sing because he was close to the top but not actually there. Now look at him. Instant crossover #1. His first one. That video? This guy doesn't even write his songs, and he's not from a small town, so I think it's giving him too much credit that he knew anything about that courthouse or that it was his idea to put the protest videos in his video. Let him dig his hole and please, stop giving him attention. It just encourages the actual reactionary assholes out there to listen to it and push him. Do you remember what happened to The Chicks when they were canceled by people??? Because they weren't canceled for the 'Dixie' that is not there anymore. They were canceled for daring to speak up about George W. Bush in front of a country music-loving crowd. Nobody gets canceled for racism in country music.

Which brings me back to my original point...

Toby Keith. We all know that mindless "The Angry American" song (and possibly some of his other #1 hits, he has 20, and he wrote 18 of them, including "The Angry American.") I want you to forget whatever it makes you feel for a second because that is not the worst one. (Something something America, Land of the Free, whatever, worst thing he says is "...boot in your ass.") I need you to look at the lyrics for "Beer For My Horses," which has a deceiving title, unlike the other song, which tells you what it is straight up. "Beer For My Horses" is a duet with Willie Nelson that Keith co-wrote, and it was a Hot Country #1 for six weeks in 2003. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song. Knowing that. LOOK AT THE DAMN LYRICS. Here's an excerpt:

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son A man had to answer for the wicked that he done Take all the rope in Texas find a tall oak tree Round up all them bad boys, hang them high in the street For all the people to see

That's pretty terrible. It's Willie's verse. It's the second one in the song. Here are more lyrics from the third verse:

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds Too much corruption, and crime in the streets It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground

This song got no critical pushback. No uproar. No removal from CMT. In fact, they made a movie based on the lyrics. I know because I've seen my own father watching the movie and immediately extricated myself from the room because I had no idea what I was witnessing. Willie's in the movie. Toby Keith stars. Came out 15 years ago. And I don't know if you were paying attention, but Willie won Country Album of the Year at the Grammys this year.

Oh, and by the way, you know how this Jason Aldean song has everyone talking about sundown towns? (If you don't and/or you don't know what they are, go look it up.) Anyway, check out the title of Tim McGraw's 13th studio album released in 2014. Actually, I'll do it for you. It's called "Sundown Heaven Town" and one of the singles was a song he did with his wife Faith Hill called "Meanwhile Back at Mama's" which is about Mama losing her house in the idyllic small town because the big city people are coming to knock it down.

Also, "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen is the first song I've heard from him and the first time I've even heard of him. I was forced to listen to it by my Spotify alarm. If you don't know why he's problematic, you can Google that hot mess, but hint: it's more racism.

Finally...

Darius Rucker has a new album coming out this year titled "Carolyn's Boy." He has the only country music I want to hear right now. (P.S. He wrote five of his six #1 Hot Country singles.) His current single is "Fires Don't Start Themselves," which, not shockingly, is a standard fair country love song and not anything outright or even vaguely speaking out against all the bullshit above this paragraph, even if the irony of the possible double meaning of the title is only potentially funny thing in this post.

[yvesdot]

7, 23, 69!

7. David Guetta ft. Bebe Rexha - I'm Good (Blue)

I'm glad we got this out of the way first because I actually didn't realize that this was a controversial take (it's not; it topped charts in 20 countries). I have had two coworkers in the past week press me on this, including one who said, "so, when you're walking to work, you just think to yourself, 'I want to listen to I'm Good (Blue) by David Guetta?'" To which I said, yes, definitely, that's exactly the point, so I don't kill myself on the way there. And then the next day I had that exact thought and listened to it.

Even if that hadn't happened, I probably would have evangelized this song. I think the original is wonderful, and I'm glad it exists! This makes it easier to play in a party context, and it matches the lyrical content to what has always been the "feel" of the song. It also kicked off an unreasonable amount of pop songs trying to do what it did, which is impossible, because Blue (Da Ba Dee) is probably the only song which could be adapted for the better (or even neutral) in this way. It's just such a weird song. I like this version! Now the rest of the post goes under a readmore for my crimes.

23. Terror Jr. - Come First

I got my own, don't need to roll me a blunt Don't ask me questions like you care if I'm dumb (Oh?) Take my treasure in your hands Better get with the program I'll let you stay if you do something I like

Does anyone remember in 2016 when this random band emerged and people started speculating that the lead singer was Kylie Jenner? It wasn't, and that seems to have ended popular interest, but the songs were genuinely fun and bright, and I missed listening to this one. I love how the singer enunciates and the little "whoop"s, and the production seems to predict my later love for SOPHIE, whom I hadn't even heard of at the time. This was a good year for diving into my old obsessions.

P. S. This is why my mother is set at "Terror Sr." in my phone.

69. Olivia Rodrigo - vampire

You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard? You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart I tried you help you out, now I know that I can't 'Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand

Rodrigo is the new TSwift in many ways-- a young up-and-comer sold on her relatability and simple lyrics about betrayal by demonic ex-boyfriends-- and I am loving it. There's not much to say on this track that hasn't already been said a hundred times better; it's just plain a good song and GUTS was a very fun album.

send a number from 1-112 and I'll give you a song from my "looped in 2023" playlist!

[meherya]

Let's talk about The Brothers Sun :)

I think, my number one gripe with this show was that, I could see the potential... there were scenes where you could see the insane shit this show could have pulled off if it was written by literally ANYONE else

The first thing that really made me go 🤨 watching this show was the incessant references to #diasporaasiankidtingz.. I'd understand if it was here or there as some sort of comedy relief... But no it was literally every other scene if not every scene....

From a cop adjacent character eating buldak noodles at an active crime scene, to teaching a Taiwanese gangster the hidden asian mom language... it was just so... stupid? Is the only way I could describe it, it's like someone compiled a number of posts from Facebook's Subtle Asian Traits page and structured the story and dialogue around that? Thought it was kind of funny that they remembered "Asian" doesn't just mean East Asian when they threw in random brown girl from the morgue...

Actingwise, Justin Chien is by no means a bad actor, every scene where he speaks in mandarin his acting is a lot less wooden than when his dialogue is english and I genuinely believe it's because of the rigid way they wrote his lines in english... as for everyone else.... Sam Song Li was rlly putting his whole bussy into his americanized first gen immigrant kid schtick and like whatever...

I found the concept of this top Triad guy coming to LA to look after his mom and brother after an assassination attempt on their father to be intriguing... his mom was as cool as I expected (her own fight scene... ofc she should've been head bitch in charge!!!) but ofc his brother would be a whitewashed loser!! But you know, it could've worked!!! It could've been interesting if they didn't have Bruce emulating Marvel movie comedy all the fucking time... But if you think about it too hard you might go, why would the son/best fighter of this Triad leave the whole business behind to look after his mom/brother and not take back up with him?? Some math was simply not mathing... but we move on

There's just a lot of points that don't make sense plotwise? Like oh so now this random cop girl is actually childhood besties with Charles?... And the way they try to force some semblance of chemistry between the two with them hamfisting by them just going back and forth like "remember when-"... and their flirting was gag worthy bc they had her speaking huskily for no reason?? It was really lifeless sort of interactions and they were really trying for the star crossed lovers bit but it simply did not work sorry.... It was kind of fucked because the tension between Drowsy and Charles in like 1/4 of an episode was 10 times whatever the cop girl and Charles had going on.... Though I do appreciate it how the show does go "once a rat, always a rat" bc she really fucked that man just to get a bust on him like woah!!! Of all my grievances with that lacklustre romance I do appreciate them not being together and her being loner loser at the end.

But anyways... I think the show did decent job at showing how trying to live up to a parent's expectations can break you as a person and force you into a role you dgaf about, and how it's important to also put your needs first before you become a shell of a person... But also they could have done it without being corny as fuck...

I think the plot with this underdog group of anti-Triads would have been soo good, if it was integrated better? Also Grace randomly approaching Bruce like we all knew she was gonna be a traitor... And like!! She wasn't wrong!! Their group was wasn't wrong!!! Why should the Triads exist when all they do is profit off others misery??? Like we are supposed to cheer on the Triads why? Because that's who we follow largely, and because of Bruce's bitchass.... He pissed me off soo bad by the end it's not even funny...

Think the show could have had merit if Bruce decided to join Grace after seeing old bald dude get killed, and realizing how fucked his family is... Him snitching to a group of people who want to murder your family, claiming that was him trying to save his family from themselves.... And believing them when they say okay well we'll try not to kill them but no promises... How are you a pre-med when you're that stupid lol

I was gonna write paragraph of how I wanted to see this go and how they could have factored in Charles being ordered to kill Bruce (which was fucking insane by the way, my fave episode of the series) to be even more wild but like it's marketed as a comedy so whatever but man it was fucking corny as shit with random gaping plot holes that we really dont want to think too long and hard about .... I will say tho, kudos for not having white people in this as love interests or sidekicks so!!!! So 2/5

also curious what Taiwanese ppl think about that scene where Bruce just calls Charles Chinese... Ik Taiwan and China got some beef, idk the specifics of it but 👀

[bergeronprocess]

My 2023 In Anime

Ah, 2023. What a year! According to my Anime Planet custom 2023 list, I watched 20 anime this year. A couple of them I haven’t finished yet and a couple of them are DNF. As the year dwindles down to its final days, I’m gonna take a look back at what anime I watched in 2023. Beware of spoilery discussion for all of the tagged shows.

Sorted by season and then in the order they appear on my list.

Winter 2023

Nijiyon Animation: Nijigasaki is my favorite flavor of Love Live (it’s the first one I watched, I like the characters a lot, the songs are great and there’s literally a girl also named Emma in the cast) and so I will never say no to more Niji. Cute fun bite-sized episodes. There was even a touching farewell to Tomori Kusunoki as Setsuna. I just saw that they’re going to do a second season, so I’m looking forward to that.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague: Holy crap, this show was a pretty little nothingburger. Literally NOTHING happened aside from the characters becoming friends. The two leads didn’t even kiss?!?! I wanted to see how they might handle that - the idea of people who are imbued with yokai powers is a neat one, but oof. This was unsatisfying.

UniteUp!: My dark horse favorite of the season, a bishonen idol show that dealt with some of the more realistic/uglier aspects of fame and the idol industry specifically. There were some production delays (that’s the story of 2023 across the industry, isn't it?) but I actually really enjoyed how they handled those - they showed these neat behind the scenes episodes with the voice actors. I love behind the scenes. The characters have a lot of heart, the songs were really good and the dancing looked excellent too. I think this is getting a second season too? If so, I’m thrilled to spend more time in this world.

Handyman Saitou in Another World: I actually watched an isekai! Holy shit! But it wasn’t one of those lazy paint-by-numbers isekai shows that are just a dime a dozen. I like how it showed Saitou using his skills (undervalued in our world) to get stuff done in the high fantasy world he found himself in after a Truck-kun situation. There WAS a bit too much fanservice for my liking - I’m a sports fan, so I’m used to that “oof, as a cis woman I am NOT the target demo here” feeling lol, but still - and I feel like they did a few too many “he’s dead! But not really because magic!” fake-outs. But hey! Ai Fairouz was in the cast here! I like her!

Buddy Daddies: OHHH did I enjoy this one. Great music, I love Kazuki and Rei, you could tell there was someone on the staff who is a gearhead based on how they portrayed cars, Miri is great, lol at how they overcome bureaucracy crime-style…Tumblr loved this one and with good reason. Also I definitely ship those two guys lol. The one downside is I feel like they kinda fridged Kazuki’s wife and Miri’s mom. They could’ve done a bit better by their adult female characters. I do still get the opening song stuck in my head now and again, though.

Soaring Sky/Hirogaru Sky Precure: Folks, this is the year I got Precurepilled. I tried Delicious Party last year but bounced off of it after episode 1 - it just didn’t hit for me somehow - but this one GOT ME! This is still ongoing and will be through the end of January (50 episodes y’all!), so I can’t speak with finality about it, but so far so good. The first boy Cure! The first adult Cure! She drives a Hummer for some reason lol! I think Mashiro is my favorite! It’s been so much fun to theorize about the story (I was SO wrong about Yoyo being Sora’s hero from her childhood, ha…) and watch it unfold. I do think they waited a bit too long to bring in the Kaiserin storyline, but hey, we’ll get a few more episodes to wrap everything up, right? As for Wonderful Precure, I don’t know lol the concept isn’t getting me hyped up, but I will at least watch episode 1 and go from there.

Spring 2023

Kira Kira Precure A La Mode: Still the only Precure season I’ve completed to date lol. This one was so much fun. I love sweets and baking, so I had great fun here, sometimes even shouting at the TV to try to help Ichika with her doomed bakes when she inevitably forgot baking powder or whatever. When I realized that Ciel had literally been in the opening credits since episode 1, that blew my mind lol. I DO wish they would’ve just let Julio become the first boy Cure, but hey, he walked so Cure Wing could fly. Himari is baby and Akira/Yukari is Haruka/Michiru for the 2010s. Aoi’s band made some good music. The very last scene was very sweet. Both ending songs are total earworms. Good stuff.

Skip and Loafer: This show is SO FREAKING CUTE. I just love these goofballs. I love how Nao-chan is able to just be herself and is not subjected to transphobia all the time. Mitsumi is adorable and also extremely relatable. I liked this one so much that I’ve started to read the manga, picking up where the anime left off. (2023 is also the year that Atlanta got a Kinokuniya location, which is very exciting for me, though maybe less so for my credit card lmao.) Season 2 pls? I would love to spend more time here.

Gundam The Witch from Mercury Season 2: Damn, this show needed at least one more season. Preferably two more. I was fully expecting 50 episodes like what Gundam Wing got lol. It needed more time to breathe, to show us more about the other characters (Lilique my beloved!) and to flesh out the big story. But alas, this is not a perfect world, and what we got was still pretty damn good, and also Sulemio married. That’s my interpretation. That's everyone's interpretation, isn't it?

Star Twinkle Precure: I’m still working on this one, but I FREAKING LOVE IT. The day-glo 80s aesthetic is right up my damn alley, I adore the transformation sequences, we get dark-skinned biracial representation with Cure Soleil, I enjoy reading the horoscopes at the end of each episode (my Japanese is at about a preschool level, so it’s great that everything has furigana lol), there’s space stuff AAAAAND this season has my very favorite Precure song ever. One of the only two so far to be in a minor key, folks, it’s PaPePiPu Romantic time.

I now have a new goal: sing this bad boy at karaoke someday. Pew pew! Pew pew pew!

Summer 2023

Yohane the Parhelion: I enjoyed Love Live Sunshine a lot, but phew, this didn’t do it for me. I feel like it would’ve been better as a 3 or 4 episode OVA (ONA these days I guess), but just didn’t have enough story for a full 13 episode season. My mom is fond of saying “just okay”...like, it wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t awful either. Yohane the Parhelion is just okay. Please just watch Sunshine instead if you want to be introduced to these characters. Sunshine is so much better.

Zom 100: I watched the first episode of this and then didn’t bother with the rest. DNF. Sorry to hear about the production troubles - that’s especially ironic for this show.

Fall 2023

MF Ghost: The other DNF for me. Watched 3 episodes, heard they were about to introduce a character who is obsessed with 17-year-old girls, noped the hell outta there. Wasn’t impressed with the 3 episodes either. I love Initial D - we named our cat Hachi because she’s black and white just like the Hachiroku - but MF Ghost just had no heart or soul. The Toyota 86 was lovingly rendered but I hated the ugly black motion lines they added when it was moving. The race they showed was dreadfully boring, the worldbuilding felt extremely unrealistic and oooh did I HATE that “outfit” they put our underage race queen in, if you can even call that an outfit.

Overtake: Of the two car racing shows this season, Overtake absolutely wins. It looks great, it introduces F4 racing to the audience very well (there’s some show, there’s some tell, a good blend) and the characters have more heart in their pinky fingernails than the entire cast of MF Ghost combined. There’s a very real and affecting subplot about PTSD, realistic discussion of just how much racing costs for an amateur team and plenty of men being unafraid to feel their feelings and cry it out. Overtake is definitely on the top of the podium. It hasn’t gotten anywhere near the love it deserves - ANN didn’t do weekly reviews of it and Anime Feminist was hyperfocused on the lack of female characters (valid! But not a dealbreaker to me!) - so I hope that people discover it later.

Shy: Thank goodness this is getting a season 2 because we spent literally a quarter of the season focused on the Pepesha and her mother subplot. That could’ve been tightened up a bit - ANN’s review mentions how Amarariruku’s villain speeches tend to be very circular, which is exactly how I felt seeing Lenya explain herself for what felt like the 50th time over - and I was genuinely looking at the episode count like “uhh??!?” before the season 2 news came out. So other than that part being a bit too drawn out, though, this is a very interesting show with a cool concept (Teru experiences Personal Growth! We are so proud of her!) and I’m interested in seeing where it goes from here. Will we meet the USA’s hero next season? I kinda want to see who that might be.

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer: Ai Fairouz is in the cast of this one too, so maybe she’s just what needs to be present for me to watch an isekai/high fantasy show? I did enjoy this one, even though the action scenes were a little bit lacking, perhaps above the skill level of the animators. They did do lovely watercolor-like scenery shots, though. The characters are charming (Belgrieve, total DILF, also giving us disability representation) and the opening song is a bop. They did leave the door open for a season 2 - for example, the question of Ange’s parentage was never answered, although it is VERY heavily implied that she is also a demon. I mean, the little demon kid Belgrieve takes in at the end literally looks exactly like her, for crying out loud.

Spy x Family Season 2: Haven’t finished this one yet - I want to watch it with my husband because he also likes it and we’ve just had a lot of stuff going on! We have watched 4 episodes, which means we’ve watched a bunch of one-off side stories basically lol. He even remarked at some point that the episodes felt weird. I was like “Well, because they’re only side stories!” From what I have read, it sounds like things are about to pick up plot-wise, so we gotta just make some time to catch up soon lol. 

Power of Hope/Kibou no Chikara Otona Precure 23: I have not seen ANY of the Precure series that have characters appearing here, so I came in fresh. This was enjoyable! I was originally bummed that we didn’t get to see them transform as adults, but the age reversion to transform was done for big story reasons and made perfect sense in that context. The episode that showed how the town was devastated by firebombing in World War II was deeply affecting - war is hell, no wonder Bell was changed by it - and it was great to see Cure Black and Cure White turn up. It reminded me of all the companions coming together at the end of Doctor Who season 4. Total fan catnip, I love it. I have not seen Mahotsukai Precure either, so I’ll be going into their sequel fresh too. (Is that what was being teased at the very very end of episode 12? Yeah probably lol)

16bit Sensation Another Layer: My winner for best show of this season. As you may have gathered from my mention of Doctor Who just now, I like time travel stories, so “Listen, Konoha Akisato has come unstuck in time” appealed to me right away. This show also genuinely taught me things about computer game development. I have a deepened respect for PC-98 game art (I follow such accounts on here now lol), which would surely make Mamoru smile. Plus, I like how it has a core message of “You can be a woman who works on erotic video games and that is not weird or perverted. Follow your dreams!” Toya does, after all - I would have loved to see her team up with Konoha and it sucks that she was being manipulated by the evil company. The show did take a turn for the Matrix-y in the fourth quarter, and I do feel episode 13 was a bit rushed (Konoha opens Comic Party and then is just immediately back in 2023? She and Mamoru explain how they told everyone about being time travelers instead of us getting to see that reaction?), but dammit, I teared up at the very end anyway. What a show!

Magic User’s Club OVA: I remember renting videotapes of this from Blockbuster way back in the day, but I didn’t remember much about the show itself, so I decided to watch it again after seeing this AnimeBackWhen video about it. It’s so fun and charming! And Ikuko Itou designed the characters and Junichi Satou is the director - a bit of a Sailor Moon reunion lol. (Fun fact I learned just now is Chiaki J. Konaka did the screenplay. This is very very different from his work on Serial Experiments Lain.) I’m not done with it yet. The opening song is a big ole bop!

2024 goals:

Finish Star Twinkle Precure

Watch Gunbuster (another "I rented it from Blockbuster during the Clinton administration" story - I bought Discotek's new Blu-Ray of it, just haven't cracked it open yet lol)

Continue to enjoy seasonal anime!

[gunsli-01]

I want to ask some questions because I've only been riding this train for 5 days.

Why was Haruka voted Innocent in the first place? I would have honestly voted Guilty both times, his crime (particularly the animal m*rder) is just unforgivable, no way to slice that.

Where are you voting with Mu? I'm likely voting Guilty because the outlook she's developing shouldn't be endorsed.

Is there anyone in particular that you believe is hiding too much to make a proper judgement? I feel that way with Mahiru and Kazui, especially the latter.

Mikoto and Kotoko both despise each other and are the biggest threats to Es. Would it be reasonable to use one of them to neutralize the other (1 is Innocent, the other Guilty)?

Well, I feel like a broken record at this point but when I got into Milgram @apatchworkstar introduced me to it and gave me a rundown on how the fan base was responding to the prisoners at that time. So, before answering question one I must implore you to look for opinions regarding that time and decision outside of just mine because what I think could be skewed and is only one side of the story. But luckily, I can answer one and two together.

Haruka Sakurai

1. To my knowledge Haruka was voted innocent because he had been heavily coded as having a learning disability/neurodivergent. The most common speculation being that he had autism. The lyrics in his song combined with his character, description on the Milgram website (you can vote here but you need a twitter or line to do so), and his mannerisms within the portal timeline seem to directly support this interpretation.

His Description as it appears on the website-

2. Though I brought it up in question one but I like to keep things orderly. For anyone interested in voting, it can be done on the Milgram website specifically at https://milgram.jp/judge . Fun fact there's also a QR code in Futa's second trial song that leads directly to the voting page. It crashed the page upon its release.

A young and quiet prisoner who tends to keep his gaze towards the ground. In the beginning he only replied to Es' questioning with very few words and confusion stating that he was unable to answer or understand what was being asked. Through continued communication via their meetings the number of words Haruka understood gradually increased. When solid communication is finally accomplished his personality will become more apparent. He has a gentle temperament and does not show any dissatisfaction towards being in Milgram. He attempts to talk to Es and the other prisoners, but since there's a gap in communication between them, they don't get along too well.

3. I don't think we have enough information about Amane, Kazui, Mahiru, and Futa's crimes at this point. Since their videos have not shown them directly commit them. Yuno also falls into that category. However, in her first trial song Umblical some of the gifts on the staircase have inverted colors which could be alluding to her killing the clients connected to said gifts which is more than these other four have. So, we at least have an inkling she killed someone.

Plus, it's weird that Futa says at a point "The one who spread it wasn't even me anyway." but he continues to focus on the outcome of the doxing in both songs as if he's clinging to the results of that to justify something else, he may have done. Like yeah, he feels guilty about being involved in it, but I don't think that's all he did in the slightest. I think the quicker we get past the smokescreen the faster we'll figure out what he actually did. There's even a line where he asks why we're focusing on that. Sooo.... Kazui is just being vague but I'm pretty sure he did something messed up but I'm bias in his favor so hell if I'll figure out what it is I'm sorry i'm weak to strong shoulders.

Though I suspect he might just be playing house (hah ha get it cause his song is performed like a play where he's the led actor) and never been in a relationship at all but just wanted to be with someone to that extent. I think Mahiru might have poisoned someone given she's a florist, discusses herbal remedies in her interrogation, and the focus on cocktails in this is how to be in love with you.

With Amane all I know for sure is she bludgeoned someone with a metal pipe like Mikoto did with his bat. Because we see her wielding it in Undercover.

Look at them go. If they spent more time together Mikoto could really help her with that swing of hers. Kids truly need proper guidance.

So, it's a bit too vague for me to come to a decision on all of them. Because well they're the best liars here. Like the only thing stopping Yuno from being up there is she wants to be caught. She wants us to figure out what she did and is annoyed that we're turning a blind eye to it when she put that shit on easy mode.

4. Oh, that's a tough one Mikoto has really grown on me, and I enjoy the idea of keeping him as a wild card of sorts. So, I personally would lean more towards voting him Innocent and Kotoko guilty this round. Kotoko states in Harrow that she doesn't care if people attempt to make amends/apologize she'll go after them anyway. That and she's shown to have gone after people who'd already stood trial and were given a slap on the wrist.

So, I'm uncertain if she'll stop attacking people who were voted Guilty last round just because they're voted Innocent this round. It feels like her whole I held back to give you a chance to decide if this is really what you want to do thing is bull and she's just testing Es' resolve if anything. She's already shown disdain at Es' decisions stating they didn't vote enough people guilty for her liking.

This is a case of who's working for who here at that point and at least both Mikoto's respect Es' authority as long as what he's doing isn't detrimental to them. So, even from an objective standpoint I'd rather deal with the guy who has told me how to avoid having issues with him than someone plotting to usurp me as soon as I don't fit their needs. Mikoto will mind his business if we let him, but Kotoko is minding ours and I feel that's overstepping. This is something she's been doing since Mikoto's interrogation.

She broke into the interrogation room, briefly watched Es get folded like laundry, brokered a deal with us afterwards. I bet if we said no and both her and Mikoto got voted Guilty she would've teamed up with him. Because it's not about us agreeing with her it's about her being able to do what she wants. Which literally Yuno tells us that Kotoko is the type to form an opinion all on her then act on it.

That in my opinion is more dangerous to Es and us since Es is our proxy. But when it comes to using one of them to neutralize the other I think we don't have to vote for that to happen. Given Mikoto tried to wish her happy birthday last year to which she responded and I'm paraphrasing here that something like him didn't deserve to exist he definitely would never be voted innocent and once he was voted guilty again she would finish him off. Something, she's incapable of doing while he is unrestrained because he was the only one to successfully push her back when she attacked.

This means Kotoko is banking on him being voted guilty so he will finally be restrained and unable to defend himself. So, she can kill him. Cause she's a coward who likes jumping people who are already defenseless with multiple weapons like a police baton, steel toed boots, and iron knuckles. So, honestly if you want to go that course and pick a side...

Well, I really hope it's Mikoto's because I don't know... I still hate police brutality even when it's done by women. I might be crazy but maybe more people in 2023 should too. Instead of going oh yeah girlboss moment maybe more people should go oh whoa hold on that's a narc. That's the person who disobeys authority until they become the authority at which point, they can never be wrong.

Like the shit she's doing and saying right now is fucked up regardless of how you feel about the other characters this is disproportionate punishment. Given the fact the fact that there is already a punishment system in Milgram and she's blatantly trying to replace it with her own form of punishment. That's a coup, that's disrespect, she's already stepped into our jurisdiction and she's just waiting to see if we roll over and say it's okay. After which she's going to kill someone and then say we told her to if she's voted innocent like fuck that I'm not about to be an accomplice. The other Mikoto that jumps us just wants us to stop stressing him out, something that we have direct control over, so I really don't understand why we just don't stop doing things that cause him to show up. Though I'm also an asshole with characters I like so people could be nice or make his ass worse either way I'd still be eating good.

However, Kotoko is a problem for everyone in Milgram and it'd probably be great for her to be told no by someone who can actually enforce that decision for once in her life. Especially given this line of hers, "From the beginning, I never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing the earth closer to peace. Useless weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!" When you girlboss so hard you become a girldictator.

Sorry, if this is a long answer but there's just so many interesting variables. Given Mikoto's personality it seems like if he is voted innocent he wouldn't really go on the offensive unless Kotoko attacked him. Which she just might do anyhow since she seems to fucking hate him. However, I wouldn't want anyone here to die to her of all people...so it's really hard to give a definitive answer on.

I just feel it'd be easier and safer to vote Kotoko Guilty given she's already attempted to take Es' job multiple times. Plus, we can't guarantee where the writer will go with the verdicts especially given other innocent parties can and will probably intervene. Best course of action in my opinion is to vote Mikoto and Kazui the two people capable of handling her innocent and her Guilty. If you're concerned about Es' safety and ability to do their job. But like Jackalope said we could also just vote them all guilty but then we might have a prison riot.

[flaim-ita]

Odd numbers for a Geats character of your choice!

You know I have to go with Ace

1 - My first impression of them

Love at first sight. I’m a Tsukasa fan so it goes without saying that I was THRILLED to have a new asshole boy for the first time in nearly 15 years. And then ep 1 his and I was fully cursed forever. He was so confident and cool and I just KNEW he was going to have something so very wrong with him

3 - A song that reminds me of them

Outside of canon Geats ones I guess the only one I can think of might be Black Sorrow from Alien Stage https://youtu.be/v0Rl9Au21lI

5 - My favorite ship of them

Ot4. I was obviously a mark for this one of course I am a Decade fan but they are all so mentally ill and I want the series to end with the four together or looking for each other, depending

7 - A quote of them that you remember

“My mother has done no wrong. I’ll prove it” the poor man is setting himself up for failure. Plus like wow. On a scale of Ace to Steven Universe what is your stance on blaming your abused mother for all war crimes and suffering ever?

9 - Your least favorite outfit of them

Ace wears this ridiculously oversized everything for Zombie arc and I cannot stop bullying it. But his worst suit is LazerBoost it’s too bulky and Mk II is sexier.

11 - What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

I want to ruin him. If he’s lucky, his cule will get the pieces to put back together.

13 - Your favorite friendship they have

Ace slowly going from forcing Tsumuri to be his sister to them clearly being genuinely open and honest with each other in the latest ep gives me Life.

15 - Worst storyline they had

I don’t have a single complaint about Ace like genuinely at all. But if I had to choose and acknowledging that I know why (making it easier on his beloved friends to fight him if he plays the villain mode up, also Keiwa basically just called him a sin to be rectified), I do wish he’d told the others what was being done to his mother.

17 - What do you think their first word was?

Mama. In every life, the first word he parses out, and usually much faster than most children, is whatever form of mother is easiest to say.

19 - The most random ship you've seen people have with them

Someone on Ao3 has written Ace x Hideyoshi Kan and I want to study their brain. I do not however want to read the fic.

21 - When do you think they were at their happiest?

Neon’s birthday. When Keiwa said “Ace is Ace”. I think in that moment Ace felt close to true happiness for the first time in centuries and it crashed as soon as it rose.

23 - Future headcanon

When everything is over, Ace keeps his hollow wishes. What he does not keep is his true one. His mother is dead, and he isn’t sure if he will finally forget, after this life. What he does know is none of the others can go home, and he built one especially for a DGP built family.

The Star of the Star of the Stars lives with popular breakout streamer Neon, who speaks openly about abuse and mental health issues in careful video essays but also chats and dances and is bright during actual streams. They live with three more mysterious individuals, Keiwa and Michinaga, who sometimes appear on streams, and Ace’s mysterious “Nee-San.”

What they don’t see: Ace is empty. Perhaps he forever will be. But having a family helps.

Even if it’s not who he spent so long searching for.

25 - When do you think they acted the most ooc

Ace rescuing Giroli like 2 days before Fox Hunt was hilarious timing but not necessarily OOC. Although it’s the only time his actions felt off from the reality of the story, it’s minor and movies are filmed super early.

As for proper OOC, when he’s all “I don’t care” about Michinaga. It makes sense, he finds Michinaga far too pathetic now to be a real rival, but it still feels odd.

27 - If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

I want him to meet Tsukasa because I miss Tsukasa desperately and I think they’d vibe together.

Also for non Toku I have this distinct image in my head of a Steven Universe crossover where not only have multiple Aces been friends with Rose, he then meets Steven and is kind of like “oh yeah of course there were things wrong with your mother but at the end of the day I think she wanted to be a good person, more than I did at the times, and we don’t necessarily have a right to judge what worlds our mothers definitely hoped would be better to us than to them.“

29 - How do you think they would be as a parent?

Ace seemed unsurprised that past and future people could not have kids so I do believe every Ace has had fertility issues, as a half breed himself. Any kids he did have, they didn’t live very long.

Ace is a doting father but he is distant and hyper vigilant. By the time the baby is two months he has had them checked for every possible disease and condition. He will always make sure the baby is clean and fed and cared for, but it takes longer to bond. After all, it never stops hurting when he loses a child.

When he does bond, it’s even more obvious. He is convinced his child is the most wonderful person in the universe, takes her with him when it’s safe, and cherished every moment.

If it’s Ukiyo Ace, the child survives.

[leoparddoodle]

CURRENT ASK GAME

@suibianworks tagged me, thanks :D its been awhile since i've done one of these lol

Current time: uhhh 3:03

Current activity: waiting for my mom to get home so i can play final fantasy 16 (mom wants to see what happens but doesnt wanna play lol)

Currently thinking about: Clive and definitely not my project at work causing me grief

Current favorite song: like number 1? idk thats a hard pick rn I'm listening to Kazui's Cat and Amane's Plague March for Miligram's 2nd judgment. all their second judgement songs are wild my man's in prison for being gay

but like beside that, if you haven't heard of it, the song series is pretty cool. They're partnered with DECO*27 and its a worldwide experiment that you can participate in. It's really neat! there's like 6? i think? criminals who have all killed someone and its basically up to you to decide whether that crime is forgiven or not based on what information is given (or not you can actually vote however you want its part of the experiment) as the trial goes on more info is given bout the crime and uh lemme tell you. shits wild

Currently reading: Trash Count (part 2!!)! Cale needs a fuckin break i love this book its really cool how everything connects. also cale is ultimate sick victorian wife

for manga, I've decided to start reading the uramachii onisan manga since apparently someone made him cry

Currently watching: uramichii san lol you can see why i started reading it (this is actually my second watch but its really funny so)

Current Favorite Character: Clive Rosfield. his sad puppy eyes and thick tits compel me

Current WIP: a personal one? none at the moment. (lies)

@bumbleboarhd tossing this at'cha, if you want to