#this ep and concept was so tasty

[sunwoozs]

MOONBIN & SANHA | ‘Madness’ M/V

[bengiyo]

Bake Me Please Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

I am here because I like Ohm and I thought Guide was really good in I Feel You Linger in the Air.

How much are they selling these cakes for if they are only serving such a small clientele base every day? This can’t be cost-effective.

I hope they fight this woman in the streets over these cakes.

Oh no, Guide’s character is making tasty treats but everyone thinks they’re overpriced compared to the mass-produced stuff. We’ve got a classic setup going here.

Yes, we should have all of Ohm’s characters have a meaningful meet in grocery stores.

I’m going to end up so hungry watching this show.

Yes, let’s have a bake off.

Is Shin allergic to the desserts he makes?

I like Peach. I wouldn’t stay with a hostile employer like this.

Please be Shin by the pool.

Well well well. There he is. He’s probably sad because of his parents.

Thinking about @shortpplfedup telling me that Ohm must have a provision in his contract that his hair can never get wet.

Now why are you calling this man in the middle of the night, sir?

I think I’m glad this show is only six episodes. I’m not sure this concept has 8-12 episodes in it. Still, I am looking forward to the cakes and seeing Ohm play off Guide.

[letsrilakkusu-blog]

My favorite Going Seventeen episodes

In honor of the return of GoSe, my favorite past episodes!

2019 ep 5 Caratland Behind - Solely for DK and Jeonghan's recording of BRING IT. Jeonghan's lil "tu~rn left" was so cute but I was totally blown away by DK's angry rap. So much 'tude, possibly fiercer than the original. :0

2019 ep 17-18 Karaoke Escape Room - The moment Hoshi is dramatically drawing out the last lyrics to some random old song that they don't know and the 100 points shows up on screen and everyone absolutely loses their shit. Also, the members being relatable AF because they can't do math.

2020 ep 5-6 Past Life Destiny - Where do I even start? DK full on grinding the floor and getting up close and personal with the camera during his intro dance. JiHan's chaotic reenactment of a scene from "I'm Sorry I Love You" where Shua throws himself out of the car (not scripted). All the SeokSoon drama. As a bonus, Seungkwan sang DBSK's Hug while DK was choosing his partner and I squealed!

2020 ep 9 Insomnia Zero - Birth of Wonwoo's iconic ~tasty~ and when I learned that Woozi has no chill.

2020 ep 21-22 Kartrider - "Booster! Booster! Booster! YAH! BOOSTER!" - Hoshi failing to get a booster, 2020

2020 ep 23-24 Seventeen's Got Talent - Seventeen is so good at adlib humor, they just take the concept and go hard. Too many amazing characters! My favorites were diva judge Boo, sloth rapper Hoshi, musical actor Jun, angry ballad singer DK, robot Shua, and of course "Jun" aka mischievous Minghao.

2020 ep 25-26 The8 and the Shadows - Minghao wanted to be the leader for a day and the GoSe team gave him what he wanted... kinda lol. Favorite moments include the impromptu "We Will Rock You", DK's sogo dance, Jeonghan casually throwing water at Shua, and Shua getting everyone to imitate the voodoo doll he threw on the floor multiple times.

2020 ep 33 Mousebusters - Not so much for the actual Mousebusters part but the orange and grape games they did after. Seventeen takes games EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY.

2020 ep 40-41 Don't Lie II - Hoshi absolutely slayed this season of Don't Lie and he knows it. There's something so satisfying about seeing his chaotic thought process pan out to actually be correct.

2020 ep 44-45 TTT - I enjoy all of the TTTs but the focus on "hyperrealism" made this one even better because it seemed like the members were simultaneously more and less aware of the cameras and making content for the show. It had all of our favorite SVT pastimes - eating and drinking, badly played sports, games they've played a thousand times, and overly-enthusiastic karaoke.

2020 ep 46 Going Magazine - Minghao styled Hoshi sooooo well for the shoot, holy crap. Praise the denim crop top. And Mingyu was carrying this whole project so hard, this is when I first started to appreciate how hardworking and talented he is in other artistic ventures outside of just performing.

2021 ep 11 Ad Genius - Honestly too many meme-worthy moments to count, but my top are: Shua putting Shin Ramen in his hair, Jeonghan putting gochujang on his eyebrows, and Coups proposing to Dino with all kinds of products while Hoshi sings 2AM's "This Song" in the background.

2021 ep 24 Tribal Games - The Whispering in Silence game is probably my most rewatched Seventeen clip ever. Hoshi "epik"-ly screwing everything up makes me laugh every time.

2022 ep 37 How to Eat Rice - We must pay our respects to two members who threw away their idol image for this episode: 1) DK, the hungry rice monster, and 2) Shua, who poured a bucket of ice water over himself to prove that ramen tastes the best when you're cold. Double respects to Shua because he didn't even win after all of that lol.

2022 ep 50 GOING Radio Show - Dino going "look at my fit!" while Vernon is fighting for his life keeping his laughter in is one of the first clips I ever saw of Seventeen and it's still hilarious. The whole corner with Jeonghan and Dino learning English from Shua and Vernon was peak comedy.

Anyway, the two episodes that have been released so far have been really enjoyable! Lots of pun humor, member banter, and a surprise twist! I'm looking forward to Wednesdays now~

[hyunsoolgc]

-ˋˏ VIDEOGOMDORI ◡ EP. 08

in which Hyunsoo visits his favorite pc cafe and has some tasty treats

Hyunsoo fidgets with his camera, adjusting the angle to get the perfect shot — something he has not quite mastered even still. He plucks nervously at the the strap of his camera bag as he steps into the bustling streets in search of his destination. The air fills with the scent of street food and the chatter of locals he has grown so used to by now. Despite the familiar surroundings, Hyunsoo's heart races with a certain apprehension. Becoming accustomed to the concept of vlogging and filming his activities has been something of a challenge, but he is determined to share his passion with those who would bother giving his silly little interests a passing glance.

"Hello, it's rookie actor Lee Hyunsoo," he greets his viewers with a shy smile and a tepid wave into the camera, his voice low. ( Speaking to no one in a busy street is enough to make his palms sweat. ) "Today, I'm taking you to the PC Bang I've been going to since I was a trainee. Follow me!"

One transition later and he steps into the bustling café. Rows of high-powered computers line the walls and fill the space in rows, many occupied by eager gamers lost in their virtual worlds. Hyunsoo navigates through the maze of tables to the spot he most often makes himself at home. His finger presses against the teddy bear sticker against the glass of the computer tower.

"This... is where I usually sit," he sinks into the chair and sets the camera down to spread his arms out. "It's quieter, and I can focus a lot better on my game."

He settles down with a contented sigh, firing up a game with practiced ease. Any observant viewers would recognize League of Legends booting up. As he plays, he narrates his strategies and shares tips with his audience, even pointing to his favorite characters either based on appearance or skill. Despite his soft-spoken nature, his passion for the hobby shines through in every word.

"Now, let me show you the other games I love to play," he says, gesturing to the screen while he waits for his next round. "This one is a classic that I've been interested in lately called Terraria. And over here is a fast-paced shooter that always gets my heart racing, honestly... I can't play it too much these days."

Between matches, Hyunsoo takes a break to order some food from the quick menu. He recommends dishes, describing each with mouth-watering detail. "You can't go wrong with the spicy chicken... And the cheese tteokbeokki is one of the best I have had in Seoul by far. Trust me, you won't regret trying it. This time, I'll order neoguri and the sausage and tteok skewers."

After devouring his meal, Hyunsoo dives back into his games with renewed vigor. Time seems to fly by as he immerses himself. With each victory and failure, he gives sheepish grins to the camera.

Hyunsoo's allotted time eventually runs out on his timer, ringing in at a total of two hours that seems to have gone by in a blink. It is hard to believe that it would eventually be edited into a condensed series of clips after he sends it off. He leans in closer and sighs,

"Thanks for joining me today, everyone. I hope you enjoyed seeing my favorite PC Bang as much as I did sharing it with you. I'm sure the owners would really appreciate it if you stopped by... but remember not to take my seat, alright? It's important to me!" He teases the audience with a snort and a playful scrunch of his nose.

[jedusaur]

good things this week:

my boys took out the defending champs and then took Dallas to game 7 and that... is a good thing I guess :/ no but seriously they did spectacularly well this season and I'm really proud of them and excited to see what happens next year

the Firebirds are still killing it though! my man Joey Daccord! 60 saves in triple OT! Western Conference finals up next! let's go!

hit 6 months with Steph on the same day the Kraken got eliminated so we decided to reschedule date night for a day I was not busy lying on the floor staring at the ceiling in despair, so we did our date last night and it was lovely and I love my girl a lot

UNCLE'S DAY OMFG

my brother wears red/orange/yellow tie-dye shirts pretty much every single day and he also likes Ted Lasso so I decided to get on video chat with the fam in Chicago while they watched this week's ep and it was nice to check in with them (they asked somewhat dubiously if I always watch the episodes more than once lololol)

it was my sister-in-law's birthday this week so a bunch of us filmed tasks for her to judge Taskmaster-style and I maaay have taken it a tad more seriously than some others >.> I have not received the final points breakdown but I did get to see the compilation of videos and I am certainly a contender at least

the temperature hit 90 on Monday so I got rocket bae's air conditioner set up and holy christballs my life is going to be SO much better this summer than it was last summer

made iced tea and stuck in a couple sprigs of mint from the garden and that was very nice on the hot days

one of my closest friends started watching Ted Lasso recently and in S1 she was extremely dubious that she could ever like Jamie and yesterday she got to the Amsterdam ep and messaged me that she now loves "one (1) little asshole" :D :D

had to make an important phone call about my health insurance that could have been massively tedious and difficult but actually went very smoothly and for once nobody fuckin called me ma'am

discovered a local business that looks like a great concept but the website desperately needs a copyedit, so I e-mailed them like "any chance you guys wanna hire me freelance to clean up your site" and they actually seem interested! did not really expect that, maybe I should be cold-contacting more often

made stirfry with peanut sauce and cauliflower curry and creamy fettuccine and a super tasty cheese board and then used the leftover blueberry-lemon-thyme goat cheese on a blueberry bagel with fresh basil from the garden (Mom's suggestion) and Bolivian rose salt, and all of it was delicious good job me

some of my plants are starting to emerge! got tiny lil baby radishes, snap peas, chives, and cantaloupe \o/

painted my nails sparkly gold and they look amazing in the sun

[playablezelda]

i finished up ep 2 of jfa last night night which means its Time For Clowns which probably means i Will be contemplating the concept of nickmaya circus au further

but what i’m REALLY looking forward to is getting to ep 4 and all the juicy phoenix despair when maya is kidnapped esp because the bf and i are rewatching a playthrough of the professor layton crossover and nick just ‘lost’ maya so i am just like swimming in tasty nickmaya angst

[mikuchae]

mikuchae's top 40 kpop releases of 2023

DISCLAIMERS: i did not include japanese releases, english versions, remixes, or korean versions of japanese songs. but kep1ers "i do, do you? was the best japanese release this year, FYI. also i'm sorry if your favorite album didn't make it on this list. i'm sure i probably liked a bside off of it or two.

40. A Dream of ILY:1 - ILY:1

ALBUM RANKING:

twinkle twinkle (title track)

tasty

secret recipe

thanks to

2024 will be the year ILY:1 breaks out of nugudom. mark my words. every track on this ep brings the sort of fairytale/storybook/christian horse girl feel back to kpop effortlessly. it also fits the members incredibly well and i hope its the direction their company continues to take with their music for a while.

39. TEENFRESH - STAYC

ALBUM RANKING:

i wanna do

not like you

be mine

bubble (title track)

first of all, we're way overdue for a full album. second of all, great ep. bubble is almost infectious, a sugary sweet, vibrant song that makes it almost impossible to be in a bad moon when you listen to it; which is why it's such a crime to make it less than 3 minutes long. anyway, i think stayc, for a group just 3 years old, have managed to create such a wonderful discography filled with gems and songs that can fit in any kpop stan's playlist

38. KILL MY DOUBT - ITZY

ALBUM RANKING:

bet on me

none of my business

bratty

psychic lover

cake (title track)

kill shot

i have so much fun when i listen to itzy. it's been an honor to support them since dalla dalla and see their discography grow into the catalogue it is today, no matter what some losers on stan twitter say. bet on me is probably my favorite song from by them to date, a cooler, more mature switch from their usual music. it's a perfect song to listen to while walking outside w friends at night, and the meaning behind it makes it even more special to take in.

37. FACE - Jimin

ALBUM RANKING:

like crazy (title track)

alone

face-off

set me free pt 2

interlude: dive

oh, hey! the first boy-group adjacent release! was wondering when we were gonna get to that. anyway, this releasing the same night as fall out boys album was life-changing for me. like crazy is, well, a crazy song. the instrumental following the first chorus grabs you by your ankles and drags you through the rest of the song. the somber feeling in alone and face-off feels like sinking into a pit of tar ( in a good way). i'm not even sure how to describe set me free pt 2, with it's bone-shattering instrumental and jimin's booming, commanding voice suckerpunching you through the song-- like he's demanding to be heard. a one of a kind solo debut from a one of a kind performer in the industry.

36. A Midsummer NMIXX'S Dream + expérgo - NMIXX

ALBUM(S) RANKING:

roller coaster

paxxword

party o'clock (title track)

love me like this (title track)

my gosh

home

just did it

young dumb stupid

yes im including both releases bc a midsummer nmixx's dream was too good to be used for just two songs and also its my ranking list and i'll do what i want. besides that, im glad that this was a better year for nmixx. it's been tough seeing the backlash they've had simply for releasing just more experimental music than other groups-- which makes me understand this switch for a more smooth, less "noisy" sound. at least for these two releases - soñar seems to have that "nmixx change up" concept back, and we love her for that. back to these two releases-- i loved roller coaster so much. fun song, fun mv, fun choreo, i love fun kpop songs.

35. OMG + Get Up - NewJeans

ALBUM(S) RANKING:

ditto

cool with you

super shy

new jeans

get up

omg (title track)

asap

eta (title track? idk all of these songs had mvs)

newjeans continues to blow me away with every release. the only reason this isnt top 10 despite every song being basically perfect is bc every song is way too short (what the fuck is ador thinking making get up less than a minute long and then saying "uhhhh maybe we'll release the full ver someday 🤫. anyway) . and, although it was released in dec of 2022, i cant pass up an opportunity to talk about ditto. a beautifully haunting song with a melancholy feeling perfect for the upcoming month of january. just perfectly produced songs with concepts executed effortlessly and further cementing the group as a force to be reckoned with even with just 3 official EP's.

34. I'VE MINE - IVE

ALBUM RANKING:

off the record

payback

either way

baddie (title track)

ott

holy moly

following their first full album in april (which is coming up soon!!), ive once again took over the kpop scene with their first official EP. baddie wasn't necessarily a concept i had imagined for ive, especially since i've typically thought of their concept as a more mature, modern version of iz*one's. but i was pleasantly surprised with the song and the music video. however, i definitely prefer both pre-releases, with off the record being my favorite of the three and of the album. i'm a sucker for kpop producers sampling older songs, so this song using "memory" from cats was no exception. ALSO LOOK HOW CUTE WONYOUNG IS IN THE MV W THOSE GLASSES ASJAKDJSDHJLE

33: 5-STAR - Stray Kids

ALBUM RANKING

collision

hall of fame

item

topline (ft. tiger jk)

super bowl

fnf

mixtape:time out

s-class (title track)

get lit

dlc

youtiful

you either get stray kids's music or you don't. thankfully, i do. or at least i really did with this album. idk. i know experimental, "noise" music isn't every kpop fan's thing but i don't mind it-- especially if its from a group that does it exceptionally well. if i were recommend a non-experimental skz song to someone, it would probably be collision- a nice step back from the loud, fast-paced songs on the album.

32. THE WORLD EP. 2: OUTLAW + THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL - ATEEZ

ALBUM(S) RANKING:

dune

we know

wake up

crazy form (title track)

wake up

this world

matz (hongjoong + seonghwa)

outlaw

arriba

emergency

dreamy day

bouncy (title track)

silver light

it's you (yeosang, san, and wooyoung)

django

youth (yunho + mingi)

everything (jongho)

fin: will

ateez's "the world" series is probably one of my favorite examples of world building in kpop. from the references to actual art pieces in the "guerrilla" mv to the cool "choose your character" type teasers with bouncy and crazy form, this was truly a great era for their music. both albums are a ride from start to finish. with this world building you up for dune's electrifying chorus like a rollercoaster trudging up a hill. the eery synths in we know feel like you're being prepped for a boss fight, either against or alongside ateez. although this recent album was the last of their "the world" trilogy, i hope they do decide to incorporate the instrumentals that accompanied it in future projects.

31. READY TO BE - TWICE

ALBUM RANKING:

wallflower

moonlight sunrise

set me free (title track)

got the thrills

crazy stupid love

blame it on me

no, it definitely doesn't make me irrationally emotional that we've now switched to just one regular twice comeback per year, why do you ask? besides that, another solid album from them. wallflower quickly became one of my favorite bsides of theirs with it's sultry, cooler feel to the instrumental. also i rly like the part in the set me free choreo where they're all dancing in a circle during the post chorus. we love you twice.

30. ISTJ - NCT DREAM

(and fuck tumblr for putting a limit on videos 🖕🏻)

ALBUM RANKING:

yogurt shake

blue wave

istj (title track)

broken melodies

skateboard

poison

starry night

pretzel

sos

like we just met

i'm happy to say that this is the first time i've enjoyed an nct dream full album entirely. in terms of title tracks, i still dont rly vibe with hot sauce, and it took me a bit to warm up to glitch mode, but ive always enjoyed most of the bsides. istj, however, is probably one of the best examples of "good" experimental sm music. a loud, techno-ish instrumental but with plenty of amazing vocal moments so the song doesnt sound like they're yelling at you. yogurt shake takes the cake as one of the cutest boygroup bsides of the year, another track that makes it difficult to be in a bad mood when you listen to it.

29. I feel - (G)I-DLE

ALBUM RANKING:

queencard (title track)

paradise

lucid

allergy

peter pan

all night

2023 was finally the year i decided to bite the bullet and jump into idles discography, with queencard being the catalyst for it. queencard is pure fun and you're miserable if you dont like it. oh, you're not a queencard? your boob and booty isnt hot? get over it.

28. Second Wind - BSS

ALBUM RANKING:

lunch

fighting (ft. lee young ji)

7pm (ft. peder elias)

i'd like to give a big shoutout to booseoksoon for releasing a song that manages to get me psyched up for work every single morning without fail. and not only that, but releasing an EP with a really cool concept; each track representing a different time of the day. ive listened to lunch many a time while waiting for 20 minutes in the line at qdoba. and i wouldn't have it any other way.

27. MY WORLD - aespa

ALBUM RANKING:

welcome to my world (ft. nævis)

thirsty

im unhappy

spicy (title track)

salty & sweet

til we meet again

would you guys be mad at me if i said i ultimately preferred this concept for aespa instead of the whole kwangya shebang? i hope not. on its own, i think the whole kwangya/alternate version concept is cool but the execution of it has been kinda meh since black mamba, but all the songs that came from it have been pretty good, dont get me wrong. plus i think it should have been just aespas concept all along instead of trying to tie in exos 10+ year old storyline into it, but whatever. anyway, incredibly strong bsides. also i <3 the blonde hair on karina

26. Love War + HATE XX - YENA

ALBUM(S) RANKING:

love war (title track)

wash away

hate rodrigo (ft. yuqi of (g)-idle) (title track)

wicked love

bad hobby

intro: wash away

and a big fuck you to kpop stans who lack basic media literacy to know that hate rodrigo is a satirical song about celebrity worship and an even bigger fuck you to yuehua for doing barely anything to protect yena when she was getting hate for the song. primal rage aside, very nice songs from her this year!! love war was an interesting concept change from her past two title tracks but that isn't a bad thing at all!! also yena + yuqi saiki k reference <3

25. The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION - TOMORROW X TOGETHER

ALBUM RANKING:

tinnitus (wanna be a rock)

farewell, neverland

devil by the window

sugar rush ride (title track)

happy fools (ft. coi leray)

my ult group makes their debut onto this list with their january EP. i thought of this album as a return to their softer concept seen in songs like "fairy of shampoo" or "blue hour", but with a more mature feel to the concept. tinnitus is an absolute gem in their discography, with the song and choreography (if you watch their performance) telling the story of using music as a coping mechanism. farewell neverland is one of txt's most underrated songs, in my opinion- another perfect song for winter. a brilliant start for boy group music this year.

24. D-DAY - Agust D

ALBUM RANKING

snooze (ft. ryuichi sakamoto and woosung of the rose)

people pt 2 (ft. IU)

haegeum (title track)

amygdala

huh? (ft. j-hope)

interlude: dawn

sdl

d-day

life goes on

polar night

when bts first announced their "chapter 2" back in june of 2022, i knew that yoongi's solo release was gonna be good. initially, daechwita was one of the only kpop songs i liked in 2020, and i patiently waited for him to produce another song using korean traditional instruments since it worked with his style so well. and my god, does haegeum deliver. using an instrument of the same name, haegeum is almost terrifying-- and the music video that accompanies it makes the experience all the more immersive. snooze is probably my favorite solo bside from a bts member this year-- an overwhelming yet inspiring track with a beautiful instrumental from the late ryuichi sakamoto, who had passed away a little less than a month before d-day's release, and kim woosung's wonderful vocals. people pt 2 was also an excellent pre-release, and has left me wanting at least 20 songs by yoongi with an IU feature. just a wonderful album overall that i regret not being able to see live every day.

23. Loossemble - Loossemble

ALBUM RANKING:

strawberry soda

newtopia

colouring

day by day

real world

sensitive (title track)

intro: searching for their friends

the second post blockberry creative freedom release, loossemble's self-titled debut EP is just a fun and easy listen. i also really appreciated them for releasing this on a friday so i didn't have to worry about going to work with less than five hours of sleep. from the jazz instrumentals reminiscent of red velvet's "birthday" in real world to the unapologetically cute intro title "searching for their friends", this album is pure kpop. i also think it was really sweet that yves, despite not being an official member of this unit, got to participate in the production of strawberry soda and make one of the sweetest b-sides of this year.

22. Howl - CHUU

ALBUM RANKING:

aliens

my palace

howl (title track)

hitchhiker

underwater

i am so unbelievably proud of jiwoo, especially as someone who's ulted her since 2018. her journey has been both heartbreaking and utterly inspiring. this ep is a wonderful solo debut and exactly how i envisioned it. aliens, an 80's-esque track, has aided me in several walks through campus, aka therapy. just an extremely solid ep that i also wish i could have seen live but alas had a final on the day she was going to be even remotely near me.

21. <Version Up> - ODD EYE CIRCLE

ALBUM RANKING:

air force one (title track)

je ne sais quoi

my secret playlist

did you wait?

love me like

lucid

hey, that's three loona releases in a row! wacky! anyway, with how deprived i was of loona music and how often the boycott podcasts kept getting deleted off of spotify, oec could have released an album of them reading aloud from a cookbook and i would have streamed it like it was actual music. air force one is a masterpiece, a song that sounds like exactly what i would have expected to hear from odd eye circle if loona's subunits had continued to release music in official ot12 albums. the bsides are nothing short of perfect, from je ne sais quoi's hypnotic chorus to love me like's pep that motivates me when I go on the treadmill at the gym. also jinsoul with an eye patch was hot.

20. UNFORGIVEN - LE SSERAFIM

HERE'S A GIF FROM THE MV BC I CAN ONLY POST 10 AUDIOS FUCK YOUUUU TUMBLR

ALBUM RANKING:

eve, psyche, and the bluebeard's wife

flash forward

fire in the belly

no-return (into the unknown)

burn the bridge

unforgiven (title track)

fearnot (between you, me, and the lamppost)

source music thinks they're slick for calling it a full album and then making the half that i didn't rank just a "greatest hits" compilation. i see you, bastards. anyways, shoutout to epatbw for being my most-listened to kpop song this year. it's funny to think that the part of "the hydra" that was never released back in oct of 2022 would end up being one of the most stand-out, love it or hate it b-sides of 2023. overplayed? you could argue that. catchy as hell? you betcha. flash forward also stands out to me, not only bc it's just a really cute song, but sakura finally has lines!!! the world cheered!!!

19. Guilty - Taemin

ALBUM RANKING:

guilty (title track)

not over you

she loves me, she loves me not

blue

night away

... the rizzness

taemin, we are so happy a REAL performer is back. guilty, the styling, the choreography, and the bsides that accompany it are so unapologetically taemin. a perfect return to an extremely impressive solo career spanning what will now be ten years. also if i ignore the first sentence of the rizzness i can like the song. his power.

18. Good and Great - Key

ALBUM RANKING:

coolas

good and great (title track)

can't say goodbye

intoxicating

mirror, mirror

live without you

if i could sit down and have a conversation with any idol and talk about their creative direction, it would be kibum. i'd also like to be in a committed relationship with him but i digress. from the dystopian workplace setting in good and great to the campy 80's horror movie elements used in the gasoline concept photos, to the bowie-inspired space concept in bad love, kibum has cemented himself as a one of a kind artist-- and has made me secretly wish for him to work with my favorite groups in terms of styling and concept direction. coolas is electrifying-- tbh one of the few english songs to come out of sm that i've enjoyed. kibum is many things to me, but most of all, he is a STAR.

17. EXIST - EXO

ALBUM RANKING:

love fool

hear me out

let me in

regret it

no makeup

another day

private party

cinderella

cream soda (title track)

i was so deep into my zb1 hyperfixation in july that, although i listened to it the same hour that it came out, i didn't come back to exist as much as i thought i would. which i'm regretting as i type this and relisten to the album for the first time in a while. i unfortunately still can't really vibe with cream soda, and i'm upset with myself for not knowing why. but, rather than focus on the negatives, let's talk about the positives. it's an exo album. every bside here is handcrafted by jesus.

16. Circle - Onew

ALBUM RANKING:

circle (title track)

anywhere

no parachute

paradise

caramel (ft. giriboy)

rain on me

expectations

cough

walk with you

always

good lord he's done it again. after serving pure cutieful in dice and gut punching me with blue, jinki somehow does both with circle. i'll let you all in on a little secret; i'm a sucker for choirs being utilized in kpop (ex. this song, kind of dune by ateez, mama by j-hope). this song is already gorgeous on it's own, but the choir in the background of the chorus makes it all the more heart wrenching. the bsides are all excellently produced-- from the breezy track anywhere to paradise, which is heavily reminiscent of sunshine, one of my favorite bsides from his previous album.

15. HARD - SHINee

(he's so fine)

ALBUM RANKING

10x

juice

identity

satellite

the feeling

like it

insomnia

hard (title track)

gravity

sweet misery

going on 16 years into their career and not a single miss. going on 16 years into their career and still being innovative. going on 16 years and still having an impeccable discography that still holds up TO THIS DAY.

14. LOVESTRUCK! - Kep1er

ALBUM RANKING:

happy ending

why

lvly

back to the city

giddy (title track)

bet u losers didn't think kep1er would show up here. THINK AGAIN, FOOLS!!!! kep1er once again releasing an incredibly high-quality EP only for it to go completely under the radar of kpop stans thanks to their shitty company. this concept was executed wonderfully, from the beautiful concept photos to that indie-film style trailer dropped before the album that apparently just never got brought up again. this album even has some of my favorite vocal moments of 2023, from the melancholy post-chorus in happy ending to chaehyuns spectacular high note in giddy.

13. MELTING POINT - ZEROBASEONE

ALBUM RANKING:

take my hand

melting point

kidz zone

good night

crush (title)

zb1 gave us the best boy group debut this year and then said "watch us do it again" 4 months later. ANOTHER perfect album for winter. also, for a group not even a year old yet, kidz zone feels nostalgic enough to make you feel like you've known these boys for years now.

12. I've IVE - IVE

ALBUM RANKING:

cherish

blue blood

not your girl

hypnosis

next page

heroine

lips

shine with me

i am (title track)

kitsch

with starships track record of literally just single albums in 2022, i honestly thought it was gonna take years before we even got rumors of a full album for ive. so imagine my surprise when they gave us one in april. this album is one of a kind, with powerful bsides like blue blood and hypnosis to cuter, more bubblegum pop tracks like cherish and not your girl.

11. SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN - SEVENTEEN

(cannot find a gif of god of music anywhere for some reason so here's a gif from home run)

ALBUM RANKING:

diamond days

monster

god of music (title track)

back 2 back

yawn

headliner

woozi you fucking genius you. a spectacular album to end the year with. from the callback to their literal first song in diamond days to the haunted house-ass instrumental in monster, another masterpiece from seventeen to fawn over until they release the next masterpiece.

TOP 10 HEYOOOOO

10. FML - SEVENTEEN

(woozi pls pick me)

ALBUM RANKING

dust

i don't understand but i luv u

f*ck my life

super (title track)

april shower

fire

hey speaking of seventeen here's the masterpiece they gave us before god of music. when super comes on i become the physical manifestation of "bro thinks he's on the team." FUCK YEAH SEVENTEEN, I LOVE MY TEAM AND MY CREW!!!

9. Chill Kill - Red Velvet

ALBUM RANKING:

knock knock (who's there?)

underwater

bulldozer

iced coffee

nightmare

will I ever see you again?

chill kill (title track)

one kiss

scenery

wings

it's a red velvet full album. do the math. every song is gonna be perfect. now don't make us wait 6 years for another one again i swear to god @/smtown.

8. Layover - V

ALBUM RANKING:

slow dancing (title track)

rainy days

for us

blue

love me again

just insane production. slow dancing is one of the prettiest solo songs from a bts member, teased originally as a 70's style song about dancing with your lover-- that had me hooked from the beginning and i hadn't even heard the song yet. i mean of course i would know all about that considering me and taehyung are in a fully committed relationship haha i mean what lolololol

7. the billage of perception: chapter three - billlie

ALBUM RANKING:

nevertheless

enchanted night ~ white night

euonia (title track)

extra-ordinary

various and precious (moment of inertia)

lionhearted (the real me)

my favorite release from them to date. billlie are on their way to crafting one of the most intricate, unique discographies in the industry. but honestly, the final chorus of nevertheless alone is enough to say that they've already achieved that. kpop groups are playing checkers. billlie is playing chess.

6. ok im gonna be honest i still havent listened to kiss of life's full debut album yet but i really like sugarcoat and i think that song is good enough to deserve it's own spot in the top 10. we love you natty. we're proud of how far you've come.

5. GOLDEN - Jungkook

(ok i know this technically isn't kpop bc every song is in english but have you considered i love jungkook)

ALBUM RANKING:

standing next to you (title track)

closer to you (ft. major lazer)

somebody

yes or no

3D (ft. jack harlow)

seven

shot glass of tears

too sad to dance

hate you

the last bts member to release an album this year, golden is modern pop perfection. standing next to you booms with it's high pace and it's almost as if you can feel jungkook's stage presence even if you're just listening to the song.

4. Unlock My World - fromis_9

ALBUM RANKING:

attitude

my night routine

#menow (title track)

prom night

what I want

eye contact

in the mirror

don't care

wishlist

bring it on

it's hard to rank an album when all of it's songs are perfect, as has been the problem with a lot of these releases, but with fromis_9 in particular. i've said this before on twitter, but fromis are one of the very few groups to have an extremely seamless, graceful transition into a more mature concept since their debut in 2018. i can only hope and pray that pledis does more to promote them this year, especially after the success of unlock my world, and continue this gorgeous transition.

3. The Name Chapter: FREEFALL - TOMORROW X TOGETHER

ALBUM RANKING:

skipping stones

dreamer

growing pain

happily ever after

chasing that feeling (title track)

blue spring

deep down

back for more (txt ver)

do it like that (ft. the jonas brothers)

coming in at bronze is txt's third full length-album, which managed to do the impossible; make a rock song released by a kpop group NOT sound corporate. skipping stones is guttural, a song reminiscent of day6's music that, if i were just a tad bit more mentally unstable, would make me fall to my knees and clutch my chest in any public setting if i were to hear it. dreamer feels like a big sister to their older r&b track, 20cm, and just might be better than it. a solid full-length album from my ult group that i will treasure for a while.

2. Magic Hour - Kep1er

ALBUM RANKING:

the door

love on lock

tropical light (yujin, yeseo, youngeun, and xiaoting)

tape (chaehyun, mashiro, dayeon, hikaru, and hiyyih)

galileo (title track)

YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE PRAISING KEP1ER??? YOU'RE TALKING TO HEAD KEPLI1AN HERE. this EP almossttt topped doublast for me. almost. magic hour, although i will defend kep1er's "noisier" music until the day i die, is the concept i admittedly think wakeone should have given them from the start. the softer, more elegant feeling exhibited in tracks like the door and tropical light fit each member down to a t and, if this is the path they will take until july of this year (except they're NOT DISBANDING they're gonna EXTEND THEIR CONTRACT UNDER A DIFFERENT COMPANY MARK MY WORDS), i am extremely excited for what's to come.

and.. without further ado...

YOUTH IN THE SHADE - ZEROBASEONE

ALBUM OF THE YEAR RANKING

in bloom (title)

new kidz on the block

always

back to zerobase

our season

and i

where do i even begin? this year saw the birth of the 5th generation of kpop, and i truly think there was no better song than in bloom to start it. refreshing and whimsical and sampling Aha's "take on me", in bloom is a masterpiece from start to finish. "my day starts and ends with you" rings throughout the song, promising the listener that they will stay with them. let's dissect the rest of the album. back to zerobase, the intro, is both mysterious and welcoming, ushering the listener in with a warm smile but holding something unknown behind it's back, evident in the album trailer it was originally teased in, with possible easter eggs to potential *matpat voice* LOOOREEE. new kidz on the block is fun and cool, telling other groups in the industry to look out, because here they are. and I shows off their cuter side, with lyrics perfectly crafted to fit the y/n fantasies of any zerose. our season is their standard thank you to the fans, we'll promise to stick by your side track except IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD AND THEY'RE GENIUSES FOR LISTING THE SEASONS IN THE SONG IN THE ORDER THAT WE MET THEM IN. finally, always, hao's solo song, is a sweet, vibrant song, carried by hao's beautiful vocals.

and there you have it. a very solid year for kpop for both boy groups and girl groups. this year was probably my favorite for kpop since 2018. now, with the releases already slated for january and the upcoming debuts of some groups, i'd say that 2024 already looks extremely promising be just as good as 2023-- if not better.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Sept 2021 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Don’t Say No Ep 9 (Line) - It’s my corny af hurt/comfort soap opera that I watch at 1.5x and skip all the sex scenes and Fiat crying, but I like it that way, so there. Yes I am one of those people who only eats the outside of the peanut M&Ms, why do you ask? Episode recaps here. 

Bite Me Ep 5 (Viu & Viki) - sometimes I feel like this show is skipping all the important bits, or having them occur off screen intentionally, like some ancient Greek play. Still, the depth of the feeling understood between the two leads is clearly transferred to us despite that. Are they dating? Sure seems that way. Without anything being actually said about it. It’s oddly magical. I talked a bit about the north/south divide and food as a love language with regards to kao soi in this post. 

7 Project Ep 5 The Breakup Zone (iQiYi & YouTube) - another het installment, so I skipped it. Nash. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Peach of Time Ep 10 fin - A Korean BL (maybe not BL tho) featuring Thai talent that really went beyond a lot of tropes into interesting territory and allegory in a way only Korea does. I hope we get more collabs like this, perhaps happier than this one next time? RECOMMENDED only if you are prepared for The Sad. Because it is quite sad.  

x Friend or Lover (YouTube) Ep 6 - still waiting on the final of this Taiwanese indie series.  

Love is Science? (BL sub plot on Viki) Ep 14 (aired ep 15) - Taiwanese drama finally got subbed yesterday, so those of us who are waiting seem to be on a week’s delay. The BL couple actually has the most interesting story arc and the most unusual character growth. I’m enjoying how unpredictable these two are. Honestly, they could have gotten their own series with this much story - and now I really want that for after the baby comes. I’m a little sad we didn’t get the coming out in the skate park sequence (LOOK I love coming out drama, especially with sporty friends, it’s a THING), but I also get why the writers are doing what they are with these boys. And the actors sure can handle it. Taiwan at it’s finest.  

Love Is the series (YouTube) Ep 5 - continues to be fine for a V-BL but not all that actually good. 

See You After Quarantine? (Viki) Ep 6, 7 - Taiwanese gameboys with Japanese talent stuck in, what more could we ask? AND THEN they gave us some *thirsty boi* action, great kisses, and charmed the pants off... well... everyone. Taiwan, we don’t deserve you. Honestly, you spoil us. Turns out Aaron Lai is the best wingman any gay Japanese man in quarantine could ask for. Everyone should be watching this. It’s utterly charming. 

The Tasty Florida (Viki) Ep 3 & 4 - this Korean BL so fucking cute. Look it’s formless and too short but simultaneously aching and kinda special-sweet. But Korea has got to settle into something a bit longer for their BL for everyone’s sake. It’s time. Light On Me proved it was possible. I’m not asking for much, just 15 min+ of fresh content with at least a 10 ep arc. 

In Case You Missed It

Someone dropped K-BL movie cut of 2015′s The Lover series onto YouTube. The series was about 4 different couples all living in the same apartment complex, one of the 4 was a BL plot about a sunshine sweetie Japanese tourist who ends up roommates with a hot shy tsundere Korean boy. It’s 1.5 hours, proving Korea and stretch its BL when it wants to. 

Read more about it here. 

GOSSIP!

Rumors of OhmFluke to star in new Thai BL Oh! My Sunshine Night. It’s from Newsinfinity Entertainment who announced the casting and showed the couple in workshops. This is this (small) production house’s first BL and they aim to “appeal to to general audiences* with a “broader view of BL that everyone will watch.” Which is code for LOW heat, light gay, soft boys. If this happens I think we can expect this to be Thailand doing Korean-style BL. 

* GENERAL AUDIENCE? Let’s be clear no piece of media will EVER appeal to everyone. Here is the USA “general audience” is code for “families with socially conservative values and children who are still minors” AKA what used to be prime time TV watchers AKA suburbia. 

 The concept is analytically old fashioned and so fractured at this juncture (socially economically spatially politically) that “general audience” is actually impossible to target and it doesn’t really exist. But try telling that to the publicity department. 

We also call this the “Disney live action demo.” (Think Pirates of the Caribbean.) I occasionally refer to them as “the Simpsons.” And they’re about as realistic. All that to say I am VERY suspicious of Oh! My Sunshine Night‘s production house. 

To My Star does seem to be getting a second season, same director, same mains. Korea is much better about executing on its promises than Thailand, but until I see proof of filming or an honest trailer, my favorite boys are staying in the gossip section. I don’t wanna get my hopes up. (Honestly now, how many of you also want an alt reality with these two as a couple but Kim Kang Min playing his long suffering cardiologist intern character from Hospital Playlist? Just me?) 

I reported on Unforgotten Night a while ago. It seems to have been fully cast now, I still think the publicity stills make it look like a joke. But with this line-up I guess it’s even more of an alt answer to KinnPorsche. 

You know that thing that happens in media when suddenly we get multiples of the same style of movie or show at once? It’s now happening with BL. Love triangles. Restaurants. And now mafia. 

Cutie Pie (our arranged marriage Thai BL staring Zee) dropped some wardrobe fitting photo ops. Also... fancy pants sexy suits that fit, so that’s exciting. 

Starting Soon

My Mate Match from Starhunter should be starting on Line TV next Saturday. Usually, Line has subs relatively quickly and is available internationally. However the fact that the trailer is not subbed and the show is not listed on Line’s site has me nervous. No idea on length of run either. 

Starhunter studio doesn’t have a great track record in general for narrative arcs and this one is not based on a y-novel so could get waffly. This is a roommates love triangle BL about a boy who is looking for one roommate and ends up with two vying for his home and his heart. Stars Jet as the uke lead which I’m pretty happy about as he’s got great comedic timing and is accustomed to BL. He’s opposite two friends/co-actors from Gen Y and other projects, so we know they’re comfortable with each other. They could do great things... if they get a decent script. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moment?

[reflectionsofacreator]

Finished Episode Ardyn.

Setting aside the massive amount of retcons the dlc introduces, it’s ... decent? I feel like that’s a little bit too generous of a word, admittedly. My main thought while I was playing the dlc was “this could use a beta reader”, compared to XV’s infuriating Non-Goodness. There were a few places where I felt the order of events could’ve been shuffled around, and I felt like it could’ve benefited from a longer narrative experience surrounding Ardyn’s transformation from “imprisoned healer” to “i need revenge” because it didn’t feel very natural/explained well.

The Assassin’s Creed in me loves the fact that we’re given year dates for each major event. Thank fuck, I can time keep properly.

I didn’t like the fact that a lot of the combat ended up being “oh let’s just inflate the numbers to make it more difficult”, and it kept throwing waves and waves of enemies at you. I’m not fond of pointless wave battles, especially when it’s literally just the same thing over and over. I will say though; the mechanic where Ardyn looses hp and goes into danger state was really interesting. Especially the detail where the more his max hp dropped, the more phantom swords became embedded into his limbs. That shit was tasty.

Young Regis need to shave that stupid mustache off his face. Also the fact that Ardyn and Regis have met once before (and dueled to the death) makes that One Scene in Kingsglaive so fucking funny. XV is a comedy, I’ve decided. Like yeah, yeah Ardyn was using the face of a Crownsguard so Regis didn’t recognize him, but holy shit I was laughing so hard.

Somnus is a dick. I like him. I’ll probably have to play the dlc/ending again to get a better grip on his character. There’s shades of this really interesting conflict regarding the Lucian kings of “who they were as people” versus “the legacy they leave”, due to Somnus’ status as Ardyn’s kid brother but also The Founder King. I just with the game did something with it. In fact i’m so infuriated that I might make a wholeass post about it.

 Aera felt... superfluous, to a degree. XV has never been good with female characters of any kind, so I wasn’t expecting much of anything tbh. On the most basic level, she’s a classic victim of fridging, though there’s bits of the narrative that give her a bit more depth than that. She’s essentially a copy paste of Lunafreya, and dies at the hands of Somnus to give Ardyn something to angst about. But like... There’s something about her being the voice for the gods, as well as essentially becoming what Hope was to Bhunivelze that interests me. I’m gonna have to think on it some more.

Ep Ardyn wasn’t a bad experience, but there’s so many little details that just make me grind my teeth together. (Much like XV itself c:) I’ll probably end up playing the dlc again for 1) lore and 2) research to get a better grasp of some of the facets of Ardyn’s character. I will say though, I feel like Ardyn was a bit of a better character when there was more mystery to him -- though I’m not sure if that’s a product of XV’s lackluster writing or just because the concepts behind Ardyn are mid at best. Both could be true.

Also Verstael’s voice actor is um. Well it sure is. Got fuckin whiplash from hearing Steve Blum’s deep ass voice come out of Prompto’s twink face.

[pumpkinpaix]

HI! I'm new to the MDZS fandom and I fell in love with Suibian, but you don't see it that much. I seen somewhere that it would burn out a weaker core and I cried cause I wanted to see that, and as far as I know it doesn't happen anywhere. I'm wondering if you could tell me anything and everything you know about Suibian. I'm starving for anything about it

hi anon! ahahah, it’s always a dangerous thing to ask me about “anything and everything” on a topic because I usually have too many thoughts, most of which are unorganized. but! if you’re interested in that, then here we go!

First, re: your comment about Suibian burning out a weaker core: I am not aware of this theory (or is it something from an interview?? if someone knows, please say so!), but if it brings you joy, then it’s certainly an interesting one to consider! Unfortunately, I don’t have much more to say on it because I’m unfamiliar with it, but I do have quite a lot to say on some other Suibian concepts!

ask and ye shall receive (a very jumbled heap of thoughts as i spiral further and further out of control):

[all rough translations are mine, and thus all mistakes are mine. I am using the version of the novel that is available on luoxia because I can’t be bothered to go flipping through my print edition ahaha.]

the questions about Suibian that interest me the most are why it sealed, when it sealed, when Wei Wuxian began to wield it again, and what that might all mean. I’m going to be talking about novel, CQL, and audio drama canon all together, because I think looking at each canon alone and in combination can raise a lot of very different points!! (I have not watched the donghua or read the manhua yet, so forgive me, I have nothing to say about them. /o\)

So! the one piece of information that we’re given consistently throughout all three of the canons is that Suibian was sealed after Wei Wuxian’s death and that no one but Wei Wuxian himself (and Jiang Cheng, by proxy) could draw it from its sheathe. Thus, Wei Wuxian’s identity is revealed and the golden core swap comes to light. Wei Wuxian is surprised by this, and asks Lan Wangji, “Did it really seal itself?” (novel, chapter 63; CQL, ep 42; audio drama, S2E15).

The novel and audio drama both include a line from Wei Wuxian that emphasizes Wei Wuxian’s surprise, implying that sword-sealing is very uncommon:

万中无一的大好事竟然让我给撞上了

Something incredible that happens less than once per ten thousand times, and I actually encountered it.

the irony, of course, is that this incredible thing is what ended up blowing his cover. rip Wei Wuxian.

but what I think gets really interesting is comparing different points at which Suibian sealed itself and what that might imply in conjunction with other information. Jin Guangyao says “shortly after” his death, but CQL includes a scene in episode 19 that implies that Suibian actually sealed itself much earlier.

[ID: Gif from episode 19 of the untamed drama. Lan Wangji attempts to draw Suibian after he and Jiang Cheng storm the Nightless City and retrieve their swords. He cannot pull it from the sheathe. /end ID]

(in case anyone is curious, it’s about 30 minutes in. I spent the effort to make the gif, so I might as well give you the timestamp lol)

this scene takes place during the period of time when Wei Wuxian is in the Mass Graves (aka the Burial Mounds) after Wen Chao cast him down and left him for dead, right near the beginning of Sunshot. I’m fairly certain it’s not mentioned in either the novel or the audio drama, so this is a CQL-only detail. (please correct me if I’m wrong; I get my canons muddled all the time //hides face)

CQL basically does nothing narratively with this scene other than giving us some sad shots of Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng (honestly, valid ;A;) but!! if we decide to accept this scene as our jumping off point, we can get to some interpretations about Wei Wuxian using information from the other canons!

take this exchange from chapter 57 of the novel (immediately prior to the massacre at lotus cove):

江澄道：“还不是又为咱们的剑的事去温家了。一想到我的三毒现在说不定被哪只温狗握在手里，真是……”

他面露嫌恶之色，魏无羡道：“可惜咱们的剑还不够灵，要是能自动封剑，那就谁也别想用了。”

江澄道：“你再修炼个八十年，说不定可以。”

Jiang Cheng said, “He’s gone to the Wen sect regarding our swords again, hasn’t he. Whenever I think that my Sandu might even now be in some Wen-dog’s hands, ugh…”

His face filled with loathing, Wei Wuxian said, “What a pity our swords don’t have enough spirit. If they could seal themselves, then no one could even think about using them.”

Jiang Cheng said, “If you kept cultivating for another eighty years, maybe.”

from the novel, it seems clear that sword-sealing is something that only happens when a person’s cultivation level is exceptionally high. if this is true, and we go with the CQL timeline of Suibian sealing itself long before Wei Wuxian’s death, it means that Wei Wuxian’s cultivation level wasn’t just high, it was leagues above pretty much anyone else when he was still a teenager. (In fact, Suibian had most likely already sealed by the time this conversation takes place.)

If we don’t go with CQL’s timeline, however, I think we could make a very different argument. It’s a bit of a reach, but I think it’s a lot of fun, if you’re willing to come with me on this journey!

Jin Guangyao says Suibian sealed itself “shortly after” Wei Wuxian’s death, but we don’t really have external confirmation of that. For all we know, someone only bothered to test it sometime after his death, and Suibian had been sealed for some indefinite amount of time. All we can say for sure is that by some point shortly after Wei Wuxian’s death, Suibian was already sealed and resisted being drawn by anyone who tried it.

We’re told over and over that one can only wield a spiritual sword effectively if you have a golden core/the spiritual energy to match it. Wei Wuxian stops carrying/using Suibian because he knows that in his hands, it will act as nothing more than an ordinary sword. His method of cultivation is no longer suitable for the sword. Suibian is tied to both Wei Wuxian’s soul and his golden core.

If sword-sealing only happens when the cultivator’s level is unbelievably high, then I think we can make the argument here that by the time of his death, Wei Wuxian’s core was likewise unbelievably strong – but Wei Wuxian is no longer the one developing his core. Jiang Cheng is.

I know it’s a ridiculous reach. To be clear, I don’t think the text actually intends this or supports this in any meaningful way, but I do think that it gives us some very tasty potential!! If Suibian sealed itself sometime after the core transfer (which, honestly, we wouldn’t know – after all, who’s been trying to draw Wei Wuxian’s sword?), but just if, I think we can plausibly make the argument that Jiang Cheng’s cultivation is truly extraordinary.

:DDDDDDDD

It’s fun right?? It’s a fun concept!!! Even if it’s nonsense, even if it’s not that deep, even if this was an unintentional coincidence, I think it would be interesting to look at this as being some kind of measure of Jiang Cheng’s accomplishments. On the flip side, I also think it’s very important thematically that Jiang Cheng’s value as a person has nothing to do with his cultivation, that he is, in fact, always second-best, but that doesn’t make him any less worthwhile or deserving of love. Maybe I’m just projecting lmao. Of course, being extraordinary doesn’t preclude him from still lagging behind Wei Wuxian–Wei Wuxian might have just been more extraordinary ahahah. We can have both!!

Now for a totally different thing! Interestingly, this conversation about cultivation levels and sword-sealing (the one with Jiang Cheng) also happens in the audio drama, S2E12 (about 15 minutes in, since I just checked), but Wei Wuxian adds an additional comment:

(don’t have the transcription of the original chinese, I’m just going to translate it as I hear it)

“But maybe you don’t need to cultivate to a certain level to have your sword seal itself. What if there were some other way?”

these two versions of the conversation actually imply pretty different things, I think! this addition opens the possibility to the audience that sword-sealing is possible even without an extraordinary level of cultivation, and I think lends credence to the idea that Suibian is just an unusually loyal sword, regardless of Wei Wuxian’s cultivation level. Whether that’s something inherent to Suibian’s “personality”, or whether this says something about how Wei Wuxian inspires loyalty wherever he goes, or whether it just speaks to the strength of their bond remains to be seen.

(obviously, this could imply any number of other things as well, but I find this to be the interpretation that makes me happiest.)

If we go with “Suibian seals itself after Wei Wuxian’s death” in this canon, I think this emphasizes the loyalty aspect with a touch of grief.

If we combine this with CQL and have “Suibian has been loyal since he was a teenager”, that also emphasizes the loyalty aspect – just in a different way.

Of course, doing meta combining unique details from different canons is largely pointless in terms of crafting any real “analysis”, so I’m mostly saying all of this because I enjoy the process of building the supercanon in my head that brings me the most joy! To summarize the varied interpretations I’ve brought up in this post:

CQL-only: Suibian sealed itself when Wei Wuxian was a teenager, at latest, by the time he was thrown into the Mass Graves.

Novel-only: Sword-sealing is very rare and achievable only through extraordinarily high cultivation. Shortly after Wei Wuxian’s death, Suibian is discovered to have sealed itself, so Wei Wuxian’s core, by the time of his death, was extraordinarily powerful.

Audio drama-only: Sword-sealing is considered very rare and achievable only through extraordinarily high cultivation, but might also be accomplished by other methods. Shortly after Wei Wuxian’s death, Suibian is discovered to have sealed itself. If Wei Wuxian’s core is not wildly and improbably powerful, this implies that Suibian has become an exceptionally loyal sword by the time of his death.

CQL/novel: Wei Wuxian was already incredibly powerful by the time he was a teenager.

CQL/audio drama: Suibian has been exceptionally loyal to Wei Wuxian since at least his teenage years.

Novel and audio drama-only have a much wider range of when Suibian could have sealed itself, as mentioned, so there are further variances within those interpretations.

there’s a lot of potential here!! with my personal feelings regarding the story, I like novel-only with Suibian sealing post-core transfer, audio drama-only with Suibian sealing post-Wei Wuxian’s death, or CQL/audio drama with Suibian sealing as a teenager pretty much all equally. I think the CQL/novel interpretation gets too close to casting Wei Wuxian as a hyper-special and innately noble individual in a way that undercuts the strength of his character arc, but that’s my opinion. (As an aside, this is actually one of my major complaints about CQL in general, independent from what I’m talking about here. But that is a topic for another day ahahaha. To be clear, I still love CQL very much, despite my many frustrations!)

As for what I think is the most “likely” to be the “right” interpretation (whatever that’s worth), I would probably say the one that emphasizes Suibian’s loyalty with Suibian sealing post-death, because I think it’s the most thematically cohesive and has the textual support to back it. (I think it’s a valid interpretation even using novel-only text; it’s just slightly less explicit without the additional comment from Wei Wuxian.)

A final detail:

We don’t get anything from either CQL or the novel that explicitly addresses when/if Wei Wuxian is able to wield Suibian again, but the audio drama’s rendition of the “Yunmeng” extra very subtly indicates that by the time that extra takes place, Wei Wuxian has cultivated a golden core and is carrying his sword once more. You only get it at a couple of moments, but Suibian sometimes clinks when Wei Wuxian moves or when he bumps into something. The two instances I can remember specifically are when Lan Wangji tosses the ring onto him (the ring hits Suibian), and when he’s rowing the little boat onto the lotus pond and the motion makes a sound. It’s!!! Extremely good!!! It makes my heart very full!!!!!

ANYWAYS, if all of my scattered rambling didn’t fill the Suibian-shaped hole in your heart, I would also like to recommend @zeldacw‘s wonderful WangQingSuiChen series of comics, featuring anthropomorphized versions of Wangji guqin, Chenqing, Suibian, and Bichen. I believe the most recent comic is here, and there are links to the rest of the comics in the post. If you just want her general tag for the AU (which is more than just the comics), it’s here!

If you have interest in listening to the audio drama yourself, you can purchase it through the MissEvan app (Mao’er FM). There are buying instructions linked in this post! If you need English subtitles, @suibiansubs is the group that does them. :)

I really can’t recommend the audio drama enough, tbh, it’s really really dear to my heart, and the team clearly worked so hard and cared so deeply for the story they were trying to tell. Consider this my regularly scheduled plug for the audio drama ahaha.

As always, my meta is my meta and if you don’t vibe with it, that’s chill! I change my opinions constantly (I think I changed them like three times in the course of writing this ahahaha), and I know some of my older meta has been making the rounds and every time I see it I think about all the ways my views have shifted since I wrote it rip. For this post moreso than usual, I want to emphasize that pretty much all of the meta included in this is meant to explore intriguing what-if possibilities, not for serious literary analysis purposes. I am aware that a lot of this is reaching/overinterpreting into implications that probably aren’t there. I just think they’re fun to consider!

so this was a mess, but I hope you or someone out there enjoyed it anon!!

(ko-fi, if you’re so moved)

[concerningwolves]

I finished The Irregulars earlier this week and i was going to do a scattered, flippant bullet point “review” as i often do, but after stewing in my feelings about it for a few days i want to talk about this properly, actually.

Something I absolutely adored was the way people’s powers manifested / the way their monstrosity was directly connected to the monstrous things that had happened to them. The concept is that a rip has opened in the universe, which allows something to extend its power into our world. This power grants people supernatural abilities when they seek help by praying/asking spirit boards for guidance/seances etc. The in-world explanation for this is that the rip takes the darkest parts of people and brings those parts to the fore, thus making them do monstrous things. 

(I did feel like the show sometimes contradicted itself, one minute saying that when someone is made into a monster by the cruelty of the world they ought to be met with compassion, the next minute killing off these sympathetic monsters or subjecting them to cruel fates. The fact that Arthur Hilton, a man whose grief and trauma over the deaths of his wife and child drove him to abduct babies, was locked up in Bedlam in a windowless cell left a nasty taste in my mouth. I understand that they needed to have him there for Narrative Purposes, but after using the episode’s climax moment to reveal that this man is suffering – basically to tell us that he isn’t a monster, but someone who needs help – it felt very cheap to use him as a pawn for the plot instead of further exploring that sentiment.)

I’m a HUGE fan of the way the powers reflected the wielder, i.e., Clara (Ep. 4) was sexually abused and given syphilis, which took away her ability to have children. We learn as the episode unfolds that she’s obsessed with the idea of a family because she never had one of her own, and makes little taxidermy family scenes with dead animals. The syphilis made her hate herself and her own skin, so the rip granted her the ability to literally steal people’s faces and become them – an ability she then used to kill the men who abused her with the final goal of assuming the last man’s identity because he had a family. It was a really haunting exploration of monstrosity / what makes us monsters, and it made me go a bit feral with appreciation.

But when the credits of the last episode rolled, I just felt... dissatisfied. I was bitter at how although the casting was supposedly colour-blind, the main villain was a black man and the one “sympathetic monster” who gets killed off (Jean Gates / the Tooth Fairy) was a black woman, both with very dark skin. John Watson, meanwhile, is portrayed by a lighter-skinned POC and although he’s written as cruel, aggressive and threatening, he’s given the chance for a redemption while the Linen Man and Jean Gates get killed off. I’m not entirely comfortable talking about this aspect because i’m white and still very much learning about racist and colourist tropes, but I just kept thinking about the colourism and implicit bias in Bridgerton, and couldn’t help but feel that The Irregulars had fallen into the same or a similar trap? (If anyone has any more thoughts on this I’m happy to listen!)

I didn’t like the fact that the writers decided to acknowledge the homoerotic subtext in ACD’s Holmes canon by making John Watson manipulative and controlling, then justifying that as an act of his (unrequited) love for Sherlock. Like, it wouldn’t be so bad if there were other examples of queer love in the series (save for the one f/f couple at a fancy rich party), but when your only explicitly mlm named character is miserable, alone and pining for an oblivious/uninterested love interest – a love interest who is killed off, may I add – it’s Not Fun. Queer rep doesn’t have to be good and pure or whatever (NBC’s Hannibal, anyone?), but sure would be nice to have some positive representation first! It also seemed to me that John’s redemption was directly tied to him giving up his love for Sherlock, which I was in two minds about. On the one hand, it could be seen as him realising his love had become something deeply toxic and so he had to let Sherlock go (and that really excites me! Complex and angsty relationships are most delicious), but on the other hand it got very close to a Bury Your Gays moment so my feelings the entire time were just :/

Lastly I was super excited about Leopold because disabled character! But it seemed as if his disability just got put to one side unless it was relevant to character arcs and/or plot moments. His leg is absolutely fucked up from the first episode, but he abandons his cane? I did really appreciate the whole “you’re not broken” angle they took, though. I think it was a genuinely good-faith representation, it just didn’t quite hit the mark (which is how I felt about a lot of things in the show tbh, so... :shrugs:) 

To conclude this wall of text: monsters and the takes on monsters were very tasty, and the supernatural elements and worldbuilding filled me with glee; other bits like representation and narrative choices were dissatisfying. i am now tired and out of spoons, will probably come back and clarify this tomorrow.

[paint-music-with-me]

hi

so i just finished Tasty Florida

here’s my ramblings that people have already said before (+ more?) 

Yes i loved how short it was (the whole run time is 45 min!) - it’s fast and easy to keep up with and i love the ost. honestly i can see myself easily rewatching this again when im just in a mood. i def rec this to anyone just wanting something sweet and nothing too heavy on plot (think like Ingredients the series)

i think bc of how easy and short this show is, it opens the doors for potential to be definitely longer (whether in episodes or in duration in each episode) - though whatever I say is no way saying it’ll make the show “better”, i just love expanding more on what’s been given. 

- explore Hae Won’s motivations - I know he’s there for school but the whole idea that he’s quite sheltered (I think from his mom’s hover parenting) and then moving to a new city for school is very interesting to explore. I’m imagining more cute little misunderstandings throughout his first day as he tries to find the Rooftop Hostel (imagine each misunderstanding he meets a different staff worker from the restaurant >.< ) or even go into his dreams/ambitions - what’s he in school for? What is his dream? Does he discover that cooking is a passion? - basically we started with Hae Won as the MC (bc he was the first guy we “met”) then Eun Gyu became the MC despite being the love interest (not a bad thing but the balance of their stories wasn’t even for me)

- more dynamic between Eun Gyu and Ji Soo - i want more bromance between them in backstory and explore it a bit more - i like their talk on the roof about how Ji Soo’s family took Eun Gyu in when his father left and his mother passed so Eun Gyu feels indebted to him and his family so he never asks for anything. i want more of that dynamic where they are close but not as close as you’d think because of this elephant in the room and maybe there’s some resentment in that because how can one not feel/notice it throughout 15 years of friendship! 

- the whole burn injury was not milked out enough! - basically, Eun Gyu has to teach Hae Won because he’s not as skilled with cooking so this is the perfect opportunity for them to get closer with this situation in mind. so picture this: Eun Gyu is still a bit standoffish to Hae Won but is curious at what Ji Soo sees in Hae Won so he slips in and out of dazes. BOOM! injury occurs then Hae Won HAS to cook and Eun Gyu is stuck having to teach him. He’s a bit exasperated but he begrudingly does it. Ji Soo tries to find a way to use this to his advantage (drops Eun Gyu off, brings over lunch, spends time during break, etc). Soon enough it’s v close proximity of cooking and learning with each other. Maybe Eun Gyu talks about why he loves cooking or Hae Won talks more about his dreams. Shoot, you can even bring in that one auntie from the first ep who was the close friend of the mom! I liked her! but this couldve honestly stretched the show for one more ep (not that i’m saying it NEEDED to)

- BITCH! GIVE ME MORE OF THOSE TWO SUPPORTING CHARACTERS OMG IDEK THEIR NAMES - (researches) Ha Jin and Seo Hyeok!! I NEEDED MORE OF THEM OMGG i honestly don’t care if they got together or whatever but my gods they look like the chaotic duo that i needed in this show omggg just let them loose pleasee can you imagine the amount of chaos that could’ve happened if you jsut let these two loose? So many situations that could’ve put Eun Gyu and Hae Won in positions where they are close or alone together or even Ji Soo and Hae Won together?? just... elevate the chaos pleaseee

- talk more about the social media/exposure between customers and service - idk if i said it right, but the idea that people/customers push the boundaries with the staff people bc they are all handsome men is an interesting concept to explore - have a situation that escalates that causes a kerfuffle. Maybe someone gets too touchy with Hae Won or Ha Jin or Seo Hyeok, who ofc react negatively and maybe a fight breaks out - this puts the restaurant in a negative light and now the staff are stuck in a situation where customers are hesitant to come by bc oMg tHe sErVIce pEOplE aRE rUdE, then Hae Won probs feels bad and Ji Soo comforts him saying he did nothing wrong and maybe Eun Gyu is rightfully upset and blah blah blah but hopefully you get where I’m coming from

but overall this show is really nice, def a different vibe from My Sweet Dear which i enjoyed v much and it def helped me feel better after that disastrous Bite Me :/ so ultimately my final notes are: Nothing is better than To My Star and season 2 better be fucking good okay goodnight byeee

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Entertainment Goals

There’s a lot of stuff about achievement goals, when you’re talking about organizing your life.

Let’s take a moment and optimize the fun. Because it’s easy to make the mistaken assumption that everything classified as entertainment will, to quote a dross-removal pro, spark joy. The reality is it’s perfectly possible to lose interest in something without that meaning anything is wrong with either you or it.

Also a lot of things intended to entertain are very badly made. And if you’ve spent money on them, that money’s gone, but your time can still be spared if you don’t force yourself to devote more hours to a bad game.

I originally had a list of a bunch of the games I have but don’t care to complete, but this is supposed to be a to-do list, not a “not to do” list or a bunch of postmortems for relationships I once had with various games.

Video Games

Bastion: Want to play at least an hour more, see what’s up with it.

Breath of the Wild: I really enjoyed the time I spent playing this, and I didn’t get close to finishing before I put it down! There’s a ton left to mess with, there.

Cultist Simulator: Want to do another run to attempt romance, as a concept within their systems. But not soon. Maybe a year from now.

Final Fantasy X: I’d like to actually beat this.

Final Fantasy X-2: Eventually - perhaps very eventually - I want to 100% this.

Final Fantasy XIV: There’s a bunch left there. I’ve listed off a bunch of the possibilities, but mostly I’m willing to focus on it as a social activity with my buddy Matt.

For the King: This looks really good and I haven’t touched it yet. I should set aside time for it!

Graveyard Keeper: I’m torn on this one! I’m worried that I won’t be willing to pick it back up without restarting from the beginning, but also that I’ll find a restart really damn boring. Maybe I’ll take a bit and see whether the journal system in the game is good enough to get me caught up with where I was.

Hades: I’d like to get to the closing credits on this. But for the sake of tuning my reflexes I kind of need to have it be the only reflex game I’m playing when I’m playing it.

Hollow Knight: Maybe. I was surprised by how un-grabbed I was. Maybe it got over-hyped, or maybe it just hit me when Metrovania wasn’t what I was in the mood for. But it definitely deserves another shot. If I feel the urge to revisit a -vania I’ve already played, I should shunt that urge into playing this instead.

KH3: I’m maybe 2/3 through normal content. I have no interest in high-skill play of this game; Its secret megabosses and challenge dungeons. But I would like to finish out the regular story sometime.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: I want to do the storyline. In spite of my normal predilections, I may have to force myself to pick a team and play straight through, not try and level every member of the enormous roster up to max.

Monster Hunter Rise: This will be my Wednesday nights 8-10 with friends, for the next few years.

Pokemon Shield: Basically the same problem as MUA3. I want to finish, but if I try to catch ‘em all and level them all I end up spending exponentially more time between actual game events and the math of it catches up to what I’m willing to put in somewhere between gyms 5 and 6. But I bet if I just pick a team and play, I can finish.

Books

Raising Steam - Terry Pratchett

Shadow - Robin McKinley

Venus Envy - Rita Mae Brown

Green Kitty - Alexandra Faer Bryan

Anime

Rather than picking out specific series, I think the plan there is just to get back into the habit of watching maybe 1-2 episodes a day. But specifically no more than that. I do think I’ll watch ~12 series at once, interspersing shorter and longer offerings and starting things at different times so something’s always on the way in as something else is concluding. The 4 longer series to run while I’m doing regular 13-ep shows between will be Slayers, Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, and Hayate the Combat Butler.

Walking

I got into the habit of taking a walk with mom. Mom doesn’t have a ton of energy. So the walk I take with her isn’t as much walking as I need for the day, either for exercise or for reverie.

Meditation

I get the idea of splitting out meditation from entertainment...but I’m not gonna.

D&D

I’m running 2 weekly games and playing in 3 biweekly games. I do wish I could assemble The Dream Team - a bunch of fave players from over the years, who’ve never played together and who I haven’t gotten to play with in a while - but that last bit is generally because most of them are really damn busy. And also if I’m realistic I hardly have the time to run the 2 games I’m running.

Cooking

At least once every 2 weeks it’d be cool to run a cross-analysis between the Joy of Cooking and the contents of my house and see if I can’t make something tasty I’ve never made before.

D&D Podcasts

Limits are 1 series at a time, and 1 hour a day. There are too many hours of game being produced at a time to hear it all. We’ll see how I feel about doing another series after I get caught up to the present on The C Team.

[strifesolution]

lying

oh..themst…

favorite thing about them: VOICE. 

least favorite thing about them: edited bc i forgot to think of something and posted anyway. idfk, the dnd version of them stole some life from scarlet???

favorite line: ……Mister Dave……………. is just really funny to me still. but on a more serious note, the end of yokai temple’s “I’ve gone too far.” is TASTY

brOTP: i dont think parv and lying SHOULD interact due to probably causing the end of the universe, but itd be funny

OTP: i am admittedly a kirinlying bitch

nOTP: idfk??? a lot of ships w them would be weird in general ig

random headcanon: ooh! oh! my minecraft god lore gets weird, but the “original” lying of the lyingverse is god lying, along side kirin and ridge. they’re a god of some abstractly named concepts like the unknown/inbetween/chaos/anarchy, and basically started fucking around with time-space-reality so much alternate versions of them started popping up. 

unpopular opinion: i wouldnt say unpopular but i Love Sir Lying, Thanks. woof. im not a furry.

song i associate with them: pray for the devil…

favorite picture of them: i rarely actually have screenshots of mc characters but heres smth im pretty sure is from the bloopers of a kof ep when fuzz (??) accidentally shot him

[nossbean]

@sarahoftarth tagged me ages ago, thank you and sorry it’s taken so long!! So pandemic brain has been doing a number on me the last couple of months (few weeks? honestly time means nothing atm which is probably part of the problem!) but I’ve been getting my energy back up in fits and starts, and I remembered this comfort meme! It seemed like a great time to pull it out and have a go 💕

🌿 Favourite comfort food: rolling around in starch, basically! Bangers and mash swimming in gravy has been my main comfort food since I was a tot, also love pizza and nachos just HEAPED with tasty things and ice cream sundaes with nuts and hot caramel drizzle thank you

🌼 Favourite drink: loooove iced blended matcha drinks. Am trying to figure out how best to replicate these at home. Alcohol-wise, either a Pimms with UK-style lemonade and all the fruity/vegetably bits, or a rosé cider.

🌷 Favourite relaxing activity: long baths with candles and either fiction podcasts, or music and a good novel or fic

🌻 Favourite calming scent: rain, all permutations, by far. 

🌺 Favourite relaxing/uplifting song: hmm the closest I can answer this is by revealing the contents of my ‘in case of emergency’ playlist, best played on shuffle: Mutha’uckas by Flight of the Conchords; Goodnight New York by Vienna Teng; Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman; A Million Dreams from the OST of The Greatest Showman; Across the Stars from the Star Wars OST; and rounding it out, two from Galavant: No One But You and I Love You (As Much As Somebody Like Me Can Love Anybody). 

🍄 Favourite book to get lost in: Oh geez. This is hard for me to answer because I get lost in written stuff a lot. Instead of specifying a fave, I’ll just answer the last book I got lost in, which was All Systems Red by Martha Wells, the first in her Murderbot series. Best summed up as a robot security guard (refers to self as Murderbot) who just wants to be left alone to watch its shows but accidentally catches feelings for the humans it has been contracted to work for. Would v highly recommend, the story is a lot of fun, has great worldbuilding, and is in all ways a romp. Also, pro-tip, Tor.com’s newsletter gives away a free SFF ebook monthly, which is how I got this one (in fact, I’m pretty sure All Systems Red has been their free giveaway at least twice in the last 18 months or so, so a good chance it’ll come around again!)

💐 Favourite chill out TV show: a rotation of Mike Schur shows <3 Parks and Rec will forever be the show of my heart, but The Good Place is a close second, with Brooklyn Nine-nine bringing up the rear.

🍃 Favourite cheering podcast: I’ve added this one because I listen to loooaaads of podcasts and reckon I’m not the only one! That said, feel free to delete as needed! There’s two I’d definitively recommend, starting with The Good Place: The Podcast. Initially it was essentially episode commentaries done in podcast interview format, and now it’s expanded to a bit of additional content (they did an episode on the recent Parks & Rec special, for instance). It’s a really great listen, with lots of talk about all the things that make The Good Place wonderful with the crew & cast. I could honestly happily listen to hundreds of hours of Mike Schur interviewed by Mark Evan Jackson about the philosophical underpinnings of the show. It also has this bonus lovely segment at the end of every episode called, “What’s Good” wherein each guest shares something good in their lives/the world, and I’ve actually pulled that concept into my advocacy meetings because it’s so nice. 

And the other is How Did This Get Made of which I’ve been listening to a lot the last few weeks. They’ve got a long back catalogue, a lot of their discussions go off the rails in the most delightfully cracky and funny ways, and particularly of late, they are a Safe Listen, in that they’re politically conscious and bring that into their discussions which is great because a lot of the films they watch are... hoooo-eeeee. Not. (Note this doesn’t hold for their earlier eps necessarily. They’ve been doing the podcast for 10 years and the hosts have Been On a Journey which is nice in a different way!) Bonus shoutout to The Guilty Feminist for your comedy/serious-discussion-of-feminist-concepts needs, and The Strange Case of the Starship Iris for your radio drama-esque progressive radical rebels in a space ship sci-fi needs (which, honestly, I didn’t know I needed this until I listened to it and fell in love)

🌹 The best advice you’ve ever had: oh gosh. Okay, I’m offering two since I am apparently in a rambling mood this evening! One of a more personal persuasion and then also the best piece of professional advice I’ve received. So personally: try to be gentle with yourself and remember you’re doing the best you can, and that is enough. I’m trying to remind myself of this on the daily, as pandemic brain has taken me the fork out for the last while and I’m feeling behind on All The Things. The compulsive worker in me caveats that there are times when being gentle with myself can be taken too far, but frankly, I’ve found I’ve never been in the brainspace to have that constructive conversation about when I need to push myself a bit, if I haven’t been able to acknowledge the time before has been as much as I can give (that’s a convoluted sentence and I hope it makes some sense!) So in case it’s helpful: you, yes you reading this: you’re doing the best you can. And that’s enough 💙

Professionally and relating to teamwork, as I used to work in a high-pressured and often very time-sensitive field where projects had multiple moving parts, often based out on location, and where teamwork was basically the only thing which could guarantee success: when things go right, celebrate responsible individuals as well as the team on the whole. When things go wrong, tackle it as a team only. (There are caveats of course: ‘go wrong’ holds a whole host. But assuming we mean simple human error as opposed to bigotry, harassment, or malice, then the point is that it does no one any good to point fingers, or pillory any individuals, particularly since sometimes/often it was a collective erring along the way in any case. And if needs be, there can always be a debrief later) In my experience: this works well to getting a team through some of the worst of situations, and creates a more cooperative working environment overall. Also, a related note, is that particularly when the error comes from someone lower on the hierarchy, who is probably overworked and underpaid, this approach is far better for encouraging learning and growth than anything else.

Tagging: @amuserobin @forbiddenfantasies1 @djeli-beybi @brynnmck @beesreadbooks @ajoblotofjunk @fireinthetwilight @twelvemonkeyswere @klingofff @pretty--thief @ilikeblue @ronordmann and truly anyone else who fancies it! Not sure how much this one went around so sorry if I’m double tapping you & would love to see your answers!

[spookyspemilyreid]

Happy Anniversary "Hybrid Theory"! (October 24, 2000)❤

Hybrid Theory is the debut studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, through Warner Bros. Records. As of 2017, the album has been certified diamond by the RIAA for sales in the band's home country of United States, with over eleven million units, peaking at number two on the US Billboard 200, and it also has reached high positions on other charts worldwide, with 30 million copies sold, making it the best-selling debut album since Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction (1987) and the best-selling rock album of the 21st century.

Recorded at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California, and produced by Don Gilmore, the album's lyrical themes deal with problems lead vocalist Chester Bennington experienced during his adolescence, including drug abuse and the constant fighting and divorce of his parents. Hybrid Theory takes its title from the previous name of the band as well as the concept of music theory and combining different styles.

Four singles were released from the album: "One Step Closer", "Crawling", "Papercut", and "In the End", all of them being responsible for launching Linkin Park into mainstream popularity. While "In the End" was the most successful of the four, all of the singles in the album remain some of the band's most successful songs to date. Although "Runaway", "Points of Authority", and "My December" from the special edition bonus disc album were not released as singles, they were minor hits on alternative rock radio stations thanks to the success of all of the band's singles and the album. At the 2002 Grammy Awards, Hybrid Theory was nominated for Best Rock Album. The album is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It was ranked number 11 on Billboard's 200 Albums of the Decade. A special edition of Hybrid Theory was released March 11, 2002, a year and a half after its original pressing.

Linkin Park was founded in 1996 as the rap rock band Xero: lead guitarist Brad Delson, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, turntablist Joe Hahn, lead vocalist Mark Wakefield and bassist Dave Farrell (who subsequently left to tour with Tasty Snax). In 1999, after Wakefield's departure, lead vocalist Chester Bennington joined the five members of Xero and the band was renamed Linkin Park. Bennington's previous band, Grey Daze, had recently disbanded, so his lawyer recommended him to Jeff Blue, vice president of A&R coordination for Zomba, who at the time was seeking a lead vocalist for Xero. Blue sent Bennington two tapes of Xero's unreleased recordings — one with vocals by former Xero member Mark Wakefield, and the other with only the instrumental tracks — asking for his "interpretation of the songs". Bennington wrote and recorded new vocals over the instrumentals and sent the tapes back to Blue.  As Delson recalls, "[Bennington] really was kind of the final piece of the puzzle [...] We didn't see anything close to his talent in anybody else." 

After Bennington joined, the group first renamed itself to Hybrid Theory and released a self-titled EP. Legal complications with Welsh electronic music group Hybrid prompted a second name change, thus deciding on "Linkin Park".   Throughout 1999, Linkin Park was a regular act at the Los Angeles club, The Whisky.

The music that would ultimately become the Hybrid Theory album was first produced by Linkin Park in 1999 as a nine-track demo tape. The band sent this tape to various recording companies and played forty-two different showcases for recording industry representatives, including performances for Los Angeles promoter and impresario, Mike Galaxy's showcase at The Gig on Melrose. However, they were initially turned down by most of the major labels and several independent record labels. The band was signed by Warner Bros. Records in 1999, due in large part to the constant recommendations of Jeff Blue, who had joined the label after resigning from Zomba.

Despite initial difficulties in finding a producer willing to take charge of the debut album of a newly signed band, Don Gilmore ultimately agreed to head up the project, with Andy Wallace hired as the mixer. Recording sessions, which mostly involved re-recording the songs off the demo tape, began at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California in early 2000 and lasted four weeks. Shinoda's rapping sections in most of the songs were significantly altered from the original, while most choruses remained largely unchanged. Due to the absence of Dave Farrell and Kyle Christener, who took part in the 1999 extended play, the band hired Scott Koziol and Ian Hornbeck as stand-in bassists; Delson also played bass throughout most of the album. The Dust Brothers provided additional beats for the track “With You”.

Bennington and Shinoda wrote the lyrics of Hybrid Theory based in part on early demos with Mark Wakefield. Shinoda characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as “everyday emotions you talk about and think about.”

The music of Hybrid Theory draws from diverse inspirations. Bennington's singing style is influenced by acts such as Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots, while the riffs and playing techniques of guitarist Brad Delson are modeled after Deftones, Guns N' Roses, U2, and The Smiths. Mike Shinoda's rapping, present in seven tracks, is very close to The Roots' style.

The lyrical content of the songs primarily touches upon the problems that Bennington encountered during his childhood, including constant and excessive drug and alcohol abuse, the divorce of his parents, isolation, disappointments, and the aftermath feelings of failed relationships. Stylistically, the album has been described as nu metal, rap metal, rap rock, alternative metal, and alternative rock.

The album eventually produced four singles

With Hybrid Theory being Linkin Park's first album, Mike Shinoda, who had worked as a graphic designer before becoming a professional musician, has stated that the band had looked through books for inspiration on how to present themselves for the first time. The result was a winged-soldier which Shinoda illustrated himself. According to Chester Bennington, the idea of the soldier with dragonfly wings was to describe the blending of hard and soft musical elements by the use of the jaded looks of the soldier and frail touches of the wings. The art style was largely influenced by stencil graffiti, including early works by Banksy. The cover also features scrambled lyrics of the album's songs within the background, though the lyrics of "One Step Closer" are the most prominent.

Following the success of Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park received invitations to perform at various rock concerts and tours, including Ozzfest, the Family Values Tour, KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the band's self-created tour, Projekt Revolution, which was headlined by Linkin Park and featured other bands such as Cypress Hill and Adema. During this time, Linkin Park reunited with their original bassist, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell. The band kept an online journal on their official website throughout their 2001 and 2002 touring regime, in which each band member made a respective notation. Although the notes are no longer on their website, they are available on fansites. Linkin Park played 324 shows in 2001.

Hybrid Theory received generally positive reviews from critics.

Hybrid Theory debuted at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, selling 50,000 copies in its first week. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) five weeks after its release. In 2001, the album had sold 4.8 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of the year, and it was estimated that the album continued selling 100,000 copies per week in early 2002. Throughout the following years, the album continued to sell at a fast pace and was eventually certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005 for shipment of ten million copies in the United States. To date, the album has sold 30 million copies worldwide, which makes it the best selling debut album of the 21st century. As of July 2017, the album has sold 10,500,000 copies in the US.  After the death of Chester Bennington on July 20, 2017, the album reached number 1 on the iTunes and Amazon music charts.