I've Read Some Amazing Fics With Beautiful And Healthy Relationships And Messages About Mental Health

I've read some amazing fics with beautiful and healthy relationships and messages about mental health that have made me the person I am today. I wish I had half the courage fanfic writers do so take this post as a blanket thank you ❤️

Some fanfictions have left a more profound impression on me than published literature, and I want to encourage every fic writer: Write and write from the heart. Don't let fear stop you, because your impact is bigger than you think💜

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #24

Today's track is Abnormalize by Japanese indie rock band Ling Tosite Sigure from their 2013 album I’mperfect. Released as a single in 2012, the track was featured in the opening credits for the mature cyber-punk inspired Japanese animated psychological/crime thriller Psycho-Pass. The original Psycho-Pass is one of my favourite animes of all time, and the band has also provided other works for Psycho-Pass’s other shows and films such as 2014’s Enigmatic Feeling. I have adored this song since it first blew my mind as a teenager. It opened me up to how expressive and experimental production, writing, and music composition can truly be. It really was the beginning of the end for me, especially in terms of my foray into darker alt-rock fantasies. The alt-rock/post-hardcore/math-rock track (I don't even know anymore guys) is one of my favourite Japanese alt-rock songs, I also love Japanese math-rock/alt-rock groups Toe and Lite. If you really wanna go down the anime opener spiral however: if you didn't already know the FAMOUS Tokyo Ghoul OP Unravel was performed by Toru Kitajima or TK who is the lead vocalist and Guitarist of Ling Tosite Sigure. This further proves the point that this band's library is worth checking out and Japanese alt-rock, especially math-rock, is worth your time and effort. I'm not gonna even attempt to describe this track, just please give it a go and if it doesn't blow your mind I'll eat my fucking shoe.

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #33

Today’s track choice is ‘Satellite’ by American Alt-Rock band ‘Guster’ from their 2006 album ‘Ganging Up on the Sun’. The indie/alternative rock song is relaxed with soft whistful vocals and acoustic guitar that tows the track along. What makes the song attention-catching however is its endearingly quirky sci-fi esc keyboard melody. It's beautifully restrained yet layered in a way that can't be appreciated with one listen, it's a lovely wholesome track.

“You’re my satellite

You're riding with me tonight

Passenger side, lighting the sky

Always the first star that I find

You're my satellite”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #25

Today's pick is Quiet! by Australian indie band Flowertruck from their 2022 album Mostly Sunny. The four-piece band hails from Sydney with an emphasis on witty lyrics and a whimsical yet carefree production similar to 80s groups like Talking Heads. Quiet! is a tongue-in-cheek alt-rock track about not being able to fall asleep that's so delightful you can't help but smile while bopping along. Their discography is also similarly summery, using wordplay and bright nostalgic sound to explore the drama and melancholy of feeling adrift in your mid-20s (See tracks Liklihood and Sing Along to Your Life from the same album for relateable lyrics about the crushing weight of existence set to vocals and production taken straight out of a romantic comedy or coming of age film). I think the best way to illustrate Flowertrucks vibe is by this quote, from a 2022 NME article, about their song Pretending: “…Rushforth (lead vocalist) explains he’d written the music for (it) years earlier, but struggled to find the words to accompany it until an experience last year in which he turned up to a children’s birthday party hungover.” Yeah… that’s the band's energy in a nutshell: refreshingly self-deprecating yet confident, with a friendly and uplifting tone.

“I can't slip into rest

Overwrought by the mess

Of my thoughts unconscious

Pinch me!

Why does it have to be do quiet?”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #26

ALL BECAUSE I LIKED A BOYYYYYYYYYYYY

Today's song is Because I Liked a Boy by Sabrina Carpenter from her 2022 album Emails I Can't Send. I have a massive crush on Carpenter and I am a little shy to say that I appreciated her Instagram before listening to her discography properly. I was blown away by how skilled of a lyricist she was and I do love the witty and sexy energy in her other tracks like Please Please Please or Nonsense, but Because I Loved a Boy had me singing the chorus on the first listen. Oh my gosh, this song is a sucker punch and makes me want to hug my younger self. It also makes me want to hug every woman in my life the same way the Girl So Confusing Remix with Lorde did to the internet a little while ago. I think it's a universal experience for every young woman - you will be hurt by someone you love, and you will hurt someone because of love. I think we become so invested in finding villains or victims when witnessing complicated romances that we forget that everyone involved is hurting regardless of who threw the first stone. That's my two cents anyway as someone who has been in Carpenter's seat like in the song's narrative and regretfully the one who caused harm while under the haze of jealousy or for the shallow reasoning of ‘being in the right’. The song brings me back to the toxicity and devastating heartbreak of my first love, but it also fills me with the uplifting comradery of sisterhood: while I was crying because I liked a boy, Carpenter and many other girls were as well, then we became stronger, and the women we are today despite it.

“I’m the hot topic on your tongue

I'm a rebound gettin’ ‘round stealin’ from the young

Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice

All because I liked a boy”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #23

Ocean Grove and Sneaky Sound System, whats not to love? Today's pick is Ocean Grove’s cover of Sneaky Sound System’s UFO for Tripple J’s Like a Version April 2021. UFO was released in 2006 and was featured on their self-titled album, the track then climbed charts hitting platinum here in Australia. Ocean Grove is an Australian Nu Metal band that flit towards grunge and punk, and with their use of eclectic samples in their production they make some fun heavy tracks. Their best album in my opinion is 2020’s Flip Phone Fantasy and its definitely worth a look. Ocean Grove’s cover of UFO is different from their usual sound due to its simpler production but it's still very much them in the sense that you can't help but tap your foot or bop your head along to the track. It's a great cover to kick your shitty mood to the stratosphere.