#technically its YouTube music

[godihatechoosingusernames]

Tell me you're gay and mentally ill without telling me you're gay and mentally ill

[an-excellent-choice]

I'm back and I noticed something about the Wash My Pain Away OST version. The greatest difference of the OST track to the original is that a flute and a guitar(?) leads the music while the original has a piano.

The original always sounded more melancholic for me with the piano but the OST version sounds more hopeful.

The song always seemed melancholic because of the oppressing mood it sets but with the flute being a wind instrument it sounds light to your ears. Making it sound so hopeful but you immediately notice if the flute gets quiet since the melancholic feeling immediately returns.

I don't why but I just visualize this flute is like a sliver of hope Gale has for himself. (Gale = strong wind = wind instrument = flute)

The song starts without it but you start to hear it then it tries to be strong tune for a while then even with the guitar getting more urgent until it just peters out. It tries to keep up with the other instruments but it just keeps going in and out in the song.

Until finally by the end it it finally catches up and just gets stronger and stronger until it just takes over the song again then the song with it.

I just see so much how Gale being hopeless at the start of the game then getting hopeful but then this hope getting shredded by Mystra's command. Him becoming hopeless until he finally stands for himself and gaining back his hope to save himself to the very end.

[nemotakeit]

i remember the first time ever i listened to SO i was like pfft rap? get out. (i was cringe) and then when i gave it a listen again a few months later i was a changed person... so i binge listened to their entire discography immediately and was genuinely shocked because how could ALL of their songs be bangers, like i couldn't believe it was possible it was surreal........ i wish i could turn back time (lol) to experience that pure shock again

[iregreteverythingpleasehelpme]

I've kinda been fixating on lost media recently(only the songs though) and i found out about this lost vocaloid song "Lament of a Suicidal Spinster", by A. Maya. All of her songs were privated or deleted years ago, along with her social media accounts, and the only clip of her song is on a top 25 worst vocaloid songs video, so I wanted to find this song, cuz, it didn't actually sound bad.

So I got on my computer today, checked out her old youtube channel, which was completely empty,

And I check the community tab

WHAT

I WAS SHOCKED

And only two days ago too!!!

I checked it out,

She uploaded it!!

After about 10 years she's back!

I don't know why I am so excited but I was worried, what happened to her? I wanted to know if she was alright, and she explained EVERYTHING in the comments of the video!

I am actually surprised the vocaloid/lost media fandom hasn't said anything about this yet, and the youtube video only has 40 views. Please check it out, if you're a vocaloid or lost media fan, its cool. She is also uploading a remake in July!

(Also, somebody who has a Fandom account, please update the wiki, I would but I don't know how and I think i would fuck it up)

[writer-rider-flirty-thirties]

MsMojo posted a video of DCOMs yesterday and the top one - naturally - was High School Musical. The problem? They played the last 15 ish seconds of the song High School Musical (the last one in the triology) and...

I cried. Legit tears.

Someone send help.

(this video)

(it's a good list for the most part)

[moodr1ng]

i ♥️ discourse posts about whos a real music lover bc im so not. the most obscure band i listen to is o. children and like thats it. most of the time unless i like everything a band has put out i probably just listen to a couple of their most popular songs. when a song is like 7 minutes long im probably gonna think its too long unless its like REALLY fucking good. etc. so i just accept that im not a True Music Lover and therefore get to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else try to one up each other about how cool and special and niche their taste is fhekdjdke

[ask-the-crimson-king]

Music Shill of the Day: The Awakening by Kamelot

Hello. I am here to spread the Good Word of this album. Because it's very good and I very much enjoy it.

Take this link to listen to it, it's very worth. I will be providing the embedded videos individual songs for my top 5 songs on the album since Tumblr only allows for 10 pieces of media at a time and this album has 13 songs.

I am now going to spend a very long time talking about this album now, and this post is going to become very long. Sorry for filling/crashing dashes with it.

SCALING GOES: 1 - Terrible. Horrible. Should not have been recorded; 5 - Average. It is a song, it is perfectly what I expected and serviceable; 10 - PERFECT, there is nothing wrong with it, this is the perfect song.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, in the order as they appear on the album...

I. OVERTURE

Such an awesome way to introduce the album. It's a mostly symphonic piece with some... Not sure how to describe it, industrial? Technical? Some other background effects in there. Either way, it sounds totally kick ass, and it has a couple of subtle leitmotifs to other songs on the album. Very reminiscent of Epitaph's opening by Pyramaze in that sense. It's cool. I promise.

I rate it an 8/10 because I like a different song more. I will elaborate later.

II. THE GREAT DIVIDE

Yeah this is one of the top 5 on the album for sure. What a way to kick off an album.

It's BIG it's SYMPHONIC, it's beautiful. This is my 4th place spot out of the top 5, though. All of my top 5 are pretty close but still, it's good.

Karevik's vocals here are wonderful. They're light yet powerful and the instrumentals of the track complement them wonderfully. The chorus is very much more classic power metal in terms of sound, and I wholeheartedly welcome it. It's so good.

9/10. Easy. Maybe 9.5. It's good. It's very good.

III. EVENTIDE

This was released on the 15th and I posted some of my thoughts in a prior Music Shill, but I will reiterate some of them; song good. It feels very much like Silverthorn did as an album, and I really really liked Silverthorn. The riffs and the solo kick ass, I love the chorus, everything about it is very good.

7.5/10 for the song. It is still very good.

IV. ONE MORE FLAG IN THE GROUND

THEIR FIRST RELEASE. Loved it then, love it now. It's powerful anthem. I love it because I'm probably (maybe) going to make a small pride comic thing with its bridge come June, when I have a bit more free time. It's solid. It sounds quite different to the other aspects of the album, but I think that's a great thing here. It helps it stand out just a little bit more.

Not much else to say, song good. It'll be wonderful live, I'm sure. 7.5/10.

V. OPUS OF THE NIGHT (GHOST REQUIEM)

When the teaser dropped shortly before One More Flag in the Ground, this was one of the songs sampled I wanted to hear the MOST. And I was overjoyed that this was the second single dropped before the rest of the album.

This song is amazing. It is great. I am absolutely someone who is a bitch for good strings in metal and the like, and man. MAN.

Tina Guo is superbly talented and her additions to this track are fucking masterful. Dear lord I love this so much. The entire song is so GOOD. I love the small solo the cello gets. I don't have much else insightful to add. It's good. It's wonderful.

9.5/10, easy. EASY. #3 on the album by a THIN margin.

VI. MIDSUMMER'S EVE

I'm not really a massive fan of a lot of Kamelot's ballads. I have to be in a certain mood to really enjoy them, they're not something I usually pick out to listen to. This does not mean I do not like this song, simply that I know it's good, it's just not for me.

The instrumentals are very calming and very nice, giving a reprieve to the very BIG and over the top symphonic sound the album offers thus far. The solo with the cello again, kicks absolute ass. Love it.

But, overall, the song is good just not for me.

6.5/10.

VII. BLOODMOON

THIS. SONG. KICKS. SO. MUCH. ASS.

I don't know how to fully describe all my feelings about this WONDERFUL song. It's so good. IT'S SO DAMN GOOD.

I love the lyrics, I am in love with the instrumentals, I love every single aspect of this song. There is not a single thing I do not enjoy about it. It's so good. The probably hidden jewel on the album, maybe. The album is full of absolute bangers but DAMN do I love this song.

THERE IS A LEITMOTIF FROM MOONLIGHT GUYS. I did not expect that at ALL. Such a good call back. This song is so good.

10/10, best song on the album. Deserved.

VIII. NIGHTSKY

If Eventide is Silverthorn, then Nightsky is Haven or The Shadow Theory. I enjoy it's opening immensely, but the chorus loses it a bit for me. It goes back into a sort of softer tone, which is completely fine for the sort of story and messaging of the song, but not really it for me.

The song is still very good. Even the intro alone is enough to keep me listening. I love that choir build-up. I wish the chorus was a bit punchier, but that's just personal preference.

6/10. Good song.

IX. THE LOOKING GLASS

This is very much a Kamelot song. I love the story attached to it, I love the instrumentals, I love Karevik's vocals, I love many things about it.

The rhythm through the verses is great and something that I can definitely get pumped to. I love it. It's a very nice song. I don't really have much to say, it's good.

7/10.

X. NEW BABYLON

You ever have a time where you're vibing and listening to an album and then you get PUNCHED in the face?

YEAH. THIS SONG KNOCKED ME OFF MY ASS.

Kicks ass, though. It's definitely another anthem song and I LOVE IT. One More Flag in the Ground is definitely more grounded (hehe), this song by contrast sounds LOUD and BOMBASTIC. It sounds massive. There is a good balance between calmer verses and then the chorus that punches you in the teeth. In a good way, I promise. It's awesome.

This song is fighting HARD with Bloodmoon for #1. I love this song so much. BUT Bloodmoon gets that edge, but just barely. Maybe my opinion will change by tomorrow, this is a close call for me personally.

Loved Melissa Bonny's part here, having some harsher vocals on the record is always nice.

9.9/10. This is very good. Love it.

XI. WILLOW

The second ballad-y song on the album. I have similar thoughts with it and Midsummer's Eve. It is a song, and I recognize how it is good, but it's just not for me. And that is okay. Nice reprieve after New Babylon.

I give it a 6/10.

XII. MY PANTHEON (FOREVERMORE)

This song is deceptive. It starts off nice and soft and then it KICKS the chair from under you. LOVE that, this is a great way to begin fully closing out the album. It rocks between being nice and calm and then BAM.

And in terms of the lyrical content, it matches wonderfully. I love it. It also has some neat darker and slightly more gothic elements occasionally thrown in. VERY very good. Very kick ass. Love it.

It makes my #5 in my top 5.

8.5/10. Love the varied sounds and I love how it feels like a proper wrap-up to the album by seemingly incorporating a bit from each song preceding it. Wonderful.

XIII. EPHEMERA - OUTRO

LETS GO FOR MORE INSTRUMENTALS IN THE ALBUM! I love Ephemera. I enjoy it a little bit more than the intro because 1. it's longer and 2. it feels a bit more complete, as though it can stand alone. With the overture, I feel like it kinda has to be followed by The Great Divide.

Either way, this is beautiful and gorgeous and what a great way to round out this entire album. I love this so much.

8/10. Good shit.

AND THAT'S THE ENTIRE ALBUM. IT'S FUCKING AWESOME. Worth the five year wait, I think this is the best Tommy Karevik has done with the band yet. MAN THIS IS GOOD.

PLEASE GO LISTEN TO AND SUPPORT THIS ALBUM IF POSSIBLE, it is so worth it, I promise. It is amazing. 8/10 in total for the record; it has a couple of pitfalls for me personally, but otherwise is a well executed album. The structure of how the songs play into each other works amazingly well, and each song is a gem on its own.

Well, that's all I got. I hope you can enjoy the album as much as I did.

[daily-tally-hall-music]

Day 15! We've got Variations On A Cloud by Miracle Musical! Fun Fact! This is the only original song by Miracle Musical that's been officially performed live!

There's another fact, but I'll post that once we get to the VoaC demo [;

[recapitulation]

hey if you enjoy holst's jupiter reminder that there's a horn choir version that is (extremely biased opinion ->) better

[thepeakofsonicmusic]

Random fact: If two polls didn't get a tie in the first tournament, I would've just put Sonic Youth for no reason

[laurie849]

POV: Going To Centre Parks

Really funny video, idea by my brother, recorded by my dad and edited by me

[thatone-highlighter]

28 for the song asks o/

28: A song by an artist with a voice that you love

So i did this one before but since ive gotten it again ill give some song recs for the other voices i mentioned

The Fray- over my head (cable car) is Really Good, personally my fav on that album

Bastille- i have a good few just off the top of my head for this one, we got Icarus, What Would You Do, Pompeii, Quarter Past Midnight, Million Pieces, Another Place just to name a few

OneRepublic- ive gotten a lot more into OneRepublic recently and i know a lot more of their songs than i thought i did, but if i were to pick one or two id prob go with Love Runs Out and Someday

ONE OK ROCK- Vandalize, it was the first one by them i listened to and still my fav

The old other singer im imagine dragons- okay so from memory theres like, two whole songs where he gets his own part and not just backing vocals, but Man does Speak To Me slap

[danandphilplay]

i watched phil first! and i found out about them through my older sister and her friends

i think danandphilbeats is technically a channel but only because its on youtube music so,, that can go under other?

[the-solar-system52]

ok who the FUCK was going to tell me that my favorite musician ever made a demo based off my favorite movie ever AND I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT IT???

so there i was, scrolling on google through some 2010 content, and I see a song on Genius titled "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE" and out of curiosity i click on it and get jumpscared by NEIL FUCKING CICIEREGA????? AS IN? LEMON DEMON NEIL CICIERGA? AS IN MY NO 1 SPOTIFY WRAPPED ARTIST SINCE 2021?? THAT NEIL CICEREGA???

and I hit play and ITS THE OPENING TO SPIRAL OF ANTS?????

SPIRAL OF ANTS WAS ORIGINALLY BASED OF 2010 THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT??? WHAT WHAT WHAT

(here is the youtube video the Genius site leads to: https://youtu.be/QuFv1jAo2CE?si=ceAdnsvOxEgcMBp1)

so ofc i relistened to Spiral of Ants and started digging for any hints towards its 2010 origins. i couldn't find much literal stuff since alien warnings about one of Jupiter's moons and a bunch of ants dying don't really have much in common. there is one lyric that uses the word 'odyssey' that could be referencing 2001: A Space Odyssey but idk.

but! in regards to the themes of Spiral of Ants instead of just the plot then there is plenty in common! SOA has an overarching theme of fusion and collective consciousness, since the story follows a hivemind of ants mindlessly following each other into a spiral and eventually becoming one ant and dying. i always took this song as a metaphor for mass hysteria and/or capitalism since fusion is viewed in a negative light. the ant's lack of individuality prevents them from recognizing the colony is just being led in circles since they are all only focusing on following the ant right in front of them via pheromones, and the fusion is what ultimately leads to their death.

2010 also has the theme of fusion! the scene the demo title quote appears in happens right after the scene where Hal and Dave fuse (technically. the exact time they literally fuse sort of depends on who you ask, but they definitely metaphorically fuse in this scene. cuz yk "Don't be. We'll be together.") the Europa message is basically Halman's first words. and although some out-of-context lyrics from SOA may fit Halman, 2010 overall has a more positive view on fusion. Halman doesn't count as a hivemind since he's only a fusion of two people, and because of that, he still retains all of his intelligence and memories from his past life unfused, if anything he's smarter. Instead, Halman acts as a metaphor for a functioning symbiotic, and possibly romantic, relationship between Hal and Dave. They fused because they actually wanted to be together, and not out of mindless instinct like the ants in SOA did. Fusion is the thing that saves them, instead of the thing that dooms them.

I think it's really interesting to think about how Spiral of Ants could've originally been based of Halman but then evolved into the song we know it today. And what would the song have been like if it stuck with the initial 2010 inspiration? Would it have been more hopeful and positive instead of the story of inevitable death we got in the finished project?

And am I a little pissed off that we could've gotten a Lemon Demon song based of my favorite fictional character ever but instead we got a song about ANTS? Maybe yeah. But this knowledge certainly gives me a new appreciation of the song overall.

Though I do wish this could've been an Ivanushka situation, a demo of Touch Tone Telephone that was released fully with completely different lyrics and story but the same melody. But the demo we have of Europa has no lyrics and is basically just opening of SOA with no major musical differences I can make out. If lyrics were ever written for this earlier Halman-inspired version of SOA, then it's been 10 years since the demo, I don't reckon our chances of getting the full song. But I can dream I suppose.

Also! Here's picture of Neil in Hal cosplay that I found on Pinterest. You're welcome.

Honestly knowing Neil was a space odyssey fan makes me think of what other songs could've had space odyssey influence? Ancient Aliens always gave Dawn of Man vibes to me, but even more vague stuff like Soft Fuzzy Man, Cabinet Man, No Eyed Girl or Aurora Borealis?? Who knows, the possibilities are endless!

Edit: Guys. I found a scrapped instrumental named 'Kubrick and the Beast'. As in. Stanley??? Kubrick??? Neil said this about the song:

"The albums tone ended up going in a different direction" what do you MEAN?? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WENT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION?? WAS SPIRIT PHONE ORIGINALLY INSPIRED BY THE SPACE ODYSSEY SERIES??? OR MAYBE MORE JUST KUBRICK IN GENERAL?? EXPLAIN??

[christinaroseandrews]

A lot of people are talking about how Disney didn't get nominated for their flagship 100th animated feature, Wish. Which is a big deal, I am not disputing that. This was a stellar year for animation and the academy had a glut of good options that did not include Wish. (I would have liked makoto shinkai's Suzume to be nominated but...)

But I want to talk about something else that is probably sticking in Disney's craw.

None of their Animated movies, in particular Wish, were nominated for "best original song."

Starting in 1940 with "when you Wish upon a Star", Disney's animated features could be counted upon to receive a nomination for best original song often winning the Honor. This includes movies such as Bambi; Saludos Amigos; Cinderella, and that racist mess that Disney would like you to forget, Song of the South. Even during the years after Walt's death a bunch of songs were nominated from things like Pete's Dragon and The Rescuers. But it wasn't until The Little Mermaid and the animation Renaissance that Disney's almost stranglehold and expectation that they're animated films would get nominated for an Oscar for best song really came into the forefront.

Take a walk through the best song nominations from 1989 to now and pretty much the majority of Disney and/or Pixar movies put out in those years has a best song nomination. There are a few exceptions, there always are, but generally when Disney includes original songs in its Animated properties it gets nominated.

That makes this year so odd. Disney technically has a nomination with Diane Warren's song for Flamin' Hot, which I suspect has more to do with the fact that the academy loves to nominate Diane Warren and then never give her the Oscar. ~_^ The big thing I noticed was that there were no nominations for Wish or even Elemental. And even more crucially, there was no one setting up a hue or cry that these movies (particularly Wish) didn't get nominated for best song.

Wish had all of the ingredients to be both an Oscar Bait for best animated feature and best original song. And the academy ignored it.

And frankly, I think this is 100% deserved. Wish was an okay movie. It wasn't good it wasn't bad it was just okay. And it's songs were forgettable.

Worse than that, in my opinion, they were unsingable. And what I mean by that is the songs were so complex so lyrically and musically difficult that a four-year-old in a princess dress would struggle to sing them. There were too many jumps and the lyrics were incredibly tongue twisty and they even sounded difficult for an accomplished singer like Ariana DeBose to sing. Seriously, the chorus of This Wish has so many jumps and drops that it is almost impossible to stay on key and also follow the melody. The music is just there.

When I walked out of the theater, I couldn't remember any of the songs. I still can't. And as most of my friends can tell you I have a bloody musical memory. I remember songs.

The first time I saw Barbie, I had three of the songs (What was I made for, I'm just Ken, and Pink) wrestling for dominance over who was going to be my earworm for the day. The same thing was true with Frozen, Moana, Encanto, beauty and the Beast, and even Tarzan. I still can't remember the music from Wish at all. To even write this, I had to go on YouTube and listen to the songs. And after listening to them, I still can't sing them. But just typing "I'm just Ken" has put that song in my head.

So rather than just celebrating Wish being excluded in a very good year for animation (it was so good, y'all) we should also be laughing and pointing that the Disney's attempts at getting a best song nomination for that movie also went unheeded.

Because I sure am.

[starryalpacasstuff]

Indian BL? FROM 2017????

There's an Indian BL from 2017 that I just watched. And I have incoherent thoughts

Before I continue, massive thanks to my bestie @anixknowsnothin for telling me about this show and proofreading the post for me. You don't even watch bl so I have no idea how you found this, but I'm incredibly grateful nonetheless

Here's the link to where I watched the show from, there's a glitch in the first episode subs where the subs seem to be from another show entirely, but it's only for the first ep and about 50% of the dialogue is in English anyways, so it shouldn't be hard to follow.(My ask box is also always open if there's a specific dialogue/scene in Hindi that you want the translation of)

Edit: The link seems to be region locked, so to watch it you can use a vpn and set your region to India, otherwise the episodes are available on youtube, albeit without subs

Note:- this post is going to have a few mild spoilers throughout, but I'll flag major spoilers in red

It's no secret that India is fairly behind when it comes to queer love shows if we compare it to other Asian countries. While it has a handful of great queer shows and movies, it's still quite a small quantity. Additionally, before this, I'd never watched an Indian show that felt like I was watching a bl (if you have recs, please send them my way!!). I'm not going to get into the technicalities of what feels like a bl and doesn't, because honestly, I'm not completely sure myself. For now, I'm just going based off of vibes and feelings, and this show felt like a bl through and through.

Titled 'Romil and Jugal' after its main characters, the story is a modern, desi, bl remake of the classic story...

Romeo and Juliet

Well, Bad Buddy was the first Thai bl I ever watched, so Romil and Jugal being the first Indian BL I watched just feels right, no?

I didn't actually know that the story was based off of Romeo and Juliet till the second episode, because I didn't bother looking for a synopsis, and jumped right in. However, it's links to Romeo and Juliet quickly became apparent, around the same time I started to see similarities between this show and Bad Buddy. I also did not know that this show came out in 2017 before I googled it, having already watched the entire thing, which was a pretty huge shock, because this BL is progressive by 2024 India standards.

Alright, enough of my rambling. Here's a synopsis of the show in case you haven't heard of it. (I couldn't find an official one, so I did my best to write a spoiler free synopsis)

Ramya happens to start talking to a slightly older woman at an airport, who believes that there is no romance in the younger generation. To prove her wrong, Ramya decides to tell the older woman her brother's love story. The story from the past is shown to us as Ramya narrates it to the woman in the present. Jugal is a closeted 19-year-old who lives with his parents. One day, a family moves into the house next door, and Jugal immediately falls for the son, Romil. The two of them attend the same college, and eventually become friends. The two of them eventually get together, but have to face the challenges of a homophobic society and having parents that hate each other.

I was a little skeptical of the show going in, but the show surpassed all of my expectations in the best way possible. It's no masterpiece, and it has its flaws, but it was far better than what I expected. It had both comical elements and darker themes, and it did not shy away from exploring the darker themes at all. Oh, and it has a few musical numbers. What did you expect? This is India after all.

The show is 10 episodes long, with 20 minutes per episode, and so it does unfortunately fall into some of the pitfalls that shorter shows tend to fall into, namely underdeveloped relationships and rushed endings. I did end up feeling a little bit like it didn't make sense for the pair to sacrifice and suffer as much as they did because they hadn't known each other for very long, and I felt like they should have been given more time to fall in love with each other. But it also could be argued that the show stays true to the play, and Romil and Jugal are dumb teenagers who make mistakes and stick with each other through them. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.

One thing that I loved the show for was that it showed us that the relationship is not all sunshine and rainbows. They argue, they break up, they get back together, and they do argue even after that. But every time, they eventually work through the issue and reconcile. The show even depicts Romil dealing with internalized homophobia and struggling to reconcile with the fact that he will never be who his family wants him to be. Although I do wish they'd have had more time to explore this, I'd say it was decently depicted and handled. The show really delves into how children are forced to uphold their family's wishes and are constantly put under pressure to make them proud. Although it clearly affects both of them, it's more obvious with Romil, who is expected by his family to date and marry the daughter of his father's boss, whom they think he is dating. There's a metaphor along this theme too, where Romil pretends to like the mango shake that his mom has been making for him since he was a kid, even though he hates it, and when he tries to tell her, he has to act like it was a joke to spare her feelings. The show also goes into the communal mindset of basing your actions off "what will people think?", and you can see how a lot of the characters' actions throughout the show are haunted by this question. Some of Romil and Jugal's earlier disagreements are due to this very mindset.

The show also very candidly depicts the extreme homophobia of society in India. Romil and Jugal had to constantly hide who they were, always having to keep up a mask and I felt that reach somewhere deep inside me. When the pair come out, the show really shows how ugly homophobia can be in India. Their parents immediately disown them. They're mocked in college and wrongfully suspended for a fight that was provoked by other students. Very, very few people stand with them, and the pair very quickly realize that now that they are out, they simply cannot live in the city anymore. So with the help of Jugal's best friend and her mother, they flee to Mumbai, where they get jobs and live as paying guests with a friend of the aforementioned mother. But, even in Mumbai, the masks stay up. They have to act like cousins, for fear of being persecuted. The series depicted the worst-case scenario that so many of us live in fear of, so watching it was something of a cathartic experience for me.

Another thing that the show did quite well is showing how different people and their mindsets can be. Jugal's best friend, Ahalya, and her mom are very supportive, and they help the pair out quite a bit. Ahalya's mother provided a safe house for the pair and helped them find a fresh start. Meanwhile, Romil and Jugal's parents are incredibly homophobic. There was a scene that really stuck with me, (mild spoiler ahead, skip to the last sentence of the paragraph) where Ahalya's mother came across Jugal's mother, who prided herself on being educated and well-read, searching up how to cure homosexuality. Ahalya's mother then tells her off for calling herself educated yet believing that homosexuality is an illness. It is so important to me that the show depicted both the violent homophobia that permeates Indian society and the surprising, warm acceptance that one can find.

One final thing that I loved about this show so, so much is just how authentically Indian it feels. Asian cultures share a lot in common, but they also have their differences, so seeing a show where I can imagine encountering the characters in real life is really amazing. Rather than something big, it was little things sprinkled throughout the story that warmed my heart. The story felt like something I could hear the local aunties gossiping about. The way it depicts queerness in India hits incredibly close to home.

One thing I've learned watching Asian bls is that the ending of a show can make it or break it, but with this one, I'm stuck. The best way I can describe the ending is absolutely insane and incredibly Bollywood.

I believe this show was supposed to get a second season because the last two minutes of the show leave us with a massive cliffhanger. Now, it's been 7 years, so a second season is unlikely, so I'm simply pretending that the last two minutes of the show never happened. But the ending has so much more to it than just this (Major spoilers for the ending up ahead. I mean it when I say major, this is like going into Bad Buddy knowing that they're going to trick their parents in the end).

About halfway through the show, I remembered what play it was based upon and realized that there was a very real possibility that Romil and Jugal would die. The first half of the last episode leads up to this, telling us that they died when reconciling after an argument in the middle of the road when they were hit by a truck. We get a super emotional scene (yes, I cried) where the two families somewhat reconcile in their grief as they go to the police station to identify the bodies. Except... they're not dead, which is revealed when Romil's father hugs Romil's (not) dead body. They reveal that they planned this to show their family that they still loved their sons. I did say it was like PatPran tricking their parents in the end, didn't I? So the families reunite, Romil and Jugal get jobs in New Zealand and get married, and return to India for a wedding celebration (yes, I cried. again). The ending does feel slightly rushed, but if I'm being honest, it wasn't as terrible as it could have been. Believing that your child is dead for a bit is a somewhat justifiable reason for a sudden change of heart. There's a part where Romil and Jugal tell their parents that if they choose acceptance, they can reconcile, but if they choose to remain prejudiced, Romil and Jugal can simply get back on the stretchers, because they'll be as good as dead to their families anyways and it is *chef's kiss*.

All in all, the show was surprisingly heartfelt and poignant. It had me laughing, kicking my feet and even crying. There's a lot more about this show that I could talk about, but I'm going to stop here for now, and I'll try to write more on it later. This show really does deserve more recognition than it has, and I'm almost mad at myself for not knowing about it before. Am I being really biased when talking about this show? Absolutely. But I do think that this show is a worthwhile watch, and I'd really like to see what other people on here think of the show, especially because I'm aware that I am biased towards this show.

I'm tagging a few people who I know might be interested/have some thoughts about the show because this is a show that I really want to hear other people's opinions on and have conversations about, so I hope you guys don't mind!

@waitmyturtles @lurkingshan @bengiyo @neuroticbookworm