september 2022 media roundup

[chaandki]

this is gonna be a poor excuse for a media roundup since i don't actually consume a lot of media. i prob should have called it september recap or something but it's basically a media roundup with more non-media than media


music
this is gonna be embarrassing but i never tracked my music listening until i made my last post so this is really only like the last week of september.

388 scrobbles, 13 scrobbles per day
93 artists, 137 albums, 197 tracks

artists

1. beyonce (47)
2. rosalia (34)
3. enhypen (32)
4. weston estate (22)
5. aespa (17)
6. rihanna (15)
7. newjeans (10)
8. zico (10)
9. ive (9)
10. blackpink (8)

tracks

1. illusion (13)
2. so good (11)
3. new thing (9)
4. cuff it (8)
5. energy (8)
6. alien superstar (6)
7. de aqui no sales (6)
8. so what (5)
9. love dive (5)
10. shut down (5)

guess i wasn't listening to a lot of music this one week.

kpop thoughts

• nct comeback - 2 baddies took like 5 listens (3 without the MV, one stoned) for it to finally hit for me. my first couple of listens i was really not vibing how there wasn't much variety between the song sections but then once i starting viewing the song from the prospective of the last chorus it all made sense. the whole song is a build up for the last 45 seconds of the song. also i hate johnnys parts. im a johnny ult. i know his limitations and his strengths. sm does not and it ends up like this. every time i hear him say "bapa EELLLLL" i contemplate changing the song. album wise i kinda wish there was more variety in the album, 80% of it was rnb which i love but like halfway through the album all the songs starting blending in with each other. here is my listening thread and here are the songs that made it into my personal best of nct playlist: faster, 2 baddies, crash landing, designer, tasty, time laspse, playback.
• my enha listening curve is starting to head downward. i think all their music is still great but i think the novelty wore off so they've just been integrated into my daily listening lineup instead of being the only thing i listen to. i am actually kinda upset i can't see them at radio city. i was tracking ticket prices for a couple of months but then my sister decided to come visit that weekend so my bank account was saved. i am living vicariously through all the concert videos and sunoo cheering compilation. i feel sooooo vindicated as a sunoo stan to see him consistently get one minute screams. you can't just hate him.
• nmixx- ok so i actually liked o.o on the first listen and i still listen to it. ive def heard worse kpop songs so i dont know where all the hate came from. it does sound like trailer/marvel music but it's still good and listenable. anyways that being said i liked dice too. i think the beat change sounded better here than o.o but i liked the o.o beat change section better. also the mixing on this song was so weird and tinny? it made lily's vocals unlistenable in some sections. listen to the streaming version of the song and then the version with the live band and you'll see what i'm staying. cool (your rainbow) is i think a better song than dice. i obv know why dice is the title but i think cool (your rainbow) shows their vocal ability a lot better and musically fits them more.


non kpop music thoughts
• man...renaissance is such a good album. like.....wow. front to back. it's def gonna be the top of my yearly stats. i think i listen to this album at least once a week. alien superstar was my song of choice when the album first dropped but after a couple of listens i think cuff it has that place now.
• if you dont know who weston estate are please educate yourself. they're so good. so so so so so good. not a single bad song from them. i found them through tiktok for peaches (specifically this version) and ive been hooked ever since.


fics
i saw someone else do this and i thought it was really smart. ive tried (and failed) to read more print but you can't beat the convenience of reading fics on your phone and not needing two chapters to know all the characters. i tried to think about how i would make this section without turning into a review so i'm just gonna throw my favs from the month here.

• sunburn- kihunie sunoo/sunghoon, 36.7k, e
  god this was so incredible i actually read it once and then read it again right after. some of my favorite tropes are messy friend groups, fwb, and oblivious characters and this had it all. the amount of tension in this was great.
• oopsy!- starryboy sunoo/jungwon, 10.5k, t
  this is the sunwon fic of my dreams. see all my favorite tropes above? they're all here. i think sunwon is a criminally underrated ship because you can do so much with them.
• like the stars right here- unconscious bang chan/felix, 16.5k, m
  GOOOOD THE ANGST. if a fic doesn't make me choke up and want to cry then what was the point. god just seeing chan suffer was so heartbreaking because you can't blame any of his decisions. also very good characterization very true to canon.
• stuff like love- hope_and_hardship, ninamonday soobin/seungkwan, 5k, t
  i fucking love tinhatting. anytime i see a group a x group b pairing i eat it up (thank you 97 line). this was so silly and happy and the txt banter was so good.


general purchases
eyeee am an adult as mentioned before. i have a job and two degrees and my own apartment so if you turn off my wifi im basically a grown up. anyways most of my purchases are things for the apartment or daily use so i figured i would talk about purchases ive made that i've really liked

• paloma candle by moco. i actually have a candle subscription that sends me a new candle every month and this was septembers. it smells so freaking good. bright and citrusy with a little bit of greenery. my roommate and i loved it so much we bought another one. sometimes we just keep the candle open so we can smell it all day.
• iphone 14 pro- lol. i had the iphone xs for like 5 years so honestly any new phone would have come here. i got the purple one. tbh it doesn't look too purple day to day but when the sun catches it right it's breathtaking
• cam the cat squishmallow- i am a squishmallow girlie!!!! i have six of them and i love them all very much. she was my most recent purchase so i could have one at my parents house when i go visit. i love her so much.
• shower eucalyptus- ive seen so many people have these in their shower and i just never got around to buying one until i saw one for like $2 at trader joes. it has totally changed my life. my bathroom smells so good all the time and especially after i take a shower. it is kinda strong especially if you have a smaller bathroom/multiple people showering daily but if you like the smell of eucalyptus it won't be that bad.
• function of beauty hair mask- ok listen. i live in nyc. ive SEEN the function of beauty ads for years now so i knew it was a millennial subscription bullshit whatever but they had it in target and i needed a new shampoo so i splurged and got the whole set (shampoo, conditioner, hair mask). i basically got all the additions they offered and split them across the three products since i only wash my hair 1-2x a week. let me tell you. my hair is SUPER soft right now and shiny and strong. at first i only used the shampoo and conditioner and i didn't like it and wasn't gonna repurchase but then my hair adjusted after like three weeks so i added in the hair mask and WOW the hair mask really packs a punch. i got the pink one (for curly hair) and added strengthening, frizz control, shine, volume, and scalp care. it smells very strongly of watermelon jolly ranchers if that's your thing but i def recommend trying it.
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i think that's all i have for now. like i said i only started using dreamwidth the last week of september so i didn't track much. october's round up should be fun.