#lsip

I'm in between projects and working on something new, so you know what that means - it's time for a new chapter of the Ludicrously Self-Indulgent Project, One More Time.

I love No Fun. It's a straight-up blink-182 bop, upbeat and fun, whining about how being a grown-up is hard. Is there anything more blink-182 than that? I don't think so, personally. It makes for a great Vegeta reflective chapter.

It's gotten crazy as a heart attack At a rich girl's party but I'm stuck out back I'm locked outside, inside my mind I've got to know, is this my life? We saw the summer in our photographs Planned out the future, said we won't look back Now all that news, that dream ain't true So, hey, fuck me, and fuck you too

This one is, of course, explicit.

I'm a landmine not a lifeline Cut me Off

I've got a lot of things cooking but right now things are mostly on a simmer, so I thought I'd continue WIP Wednesday with the next song in the Ludicrously Self-Indulgent Project: No Fun.

Here we get into the Second Part of the One More Time Album. A delightful bonus to the full album that came out while they were touring and gave us 8 more songs to be ecstatic over. I was thrilled when I listened to it and I realized that the new songs also fit with this wild project of writing a Vegebul one-shot to each song on this album, so I decided to include the new part of the album in the project.

No Fun is a classic Blink song. It starts with a synth note but has a few heavy drum hits once the vocals start to remind us of where we are. It's definitely a song I could hear being an opener on an album for them, and it makes sense to include it as the "opener" for their second part to the album.

This song is a banger from the start. It goes hard as a song about looking back on life and wondering how we got here. It's a genre they do so well - disillusioned kid becomes disillusioned teen becomes disillusioned adult.

It's gotten crazy as a heart attack At a rich girl's party but I'm stuck out back I'm locked outside, inside my mind I've got to know, is this my life? We saw the summer in our photographs Planned out the future, said we won't look back Now all that news, that dream ain't true So hey, fuck me, and fuck you too

Being trapped outside the life you've planned for yourself definitely fits a Vegebul aesthetic, but of course particularly from Vegeta's perspective, I think. Also the "Hey fuck me and fuck you too" is absolutely his attitude when he lands on Earth as the universe's angriest refugee.

The pre-chorus and chorus for this song are great. Just this bleak refrain set to such an upbeat tune about how growing up is shitty:

If you want to try again, now and then you're alone but no longer eighteen I know you're nervous sometimes It's a game, do you know what I mean? There's no fun anymore and nothing to do, nothing to see No fun anymore, everyone's bored 'cause we cut off their wings No fun anymore

It's a feeling that I think every adult struggles with from time to time. Wishing for that time when we had no obligation, when the world was beautiful and new and everything was interesting and could hold our attention.

Your plan was overrated, and when you made it 'Cause you were young, you wouldn't know a damn thing A marriage simulated, will get deflated The friends you had will have a kid and never be seen Your job is never good enough, or cool enough There's never passion in a deadly routine Secretly I say it, yeah, I admit it I kinda think that I just did the same thing

It's so relatable, and it also hits that 7YG time period for Vegebul where everything about the future feels bleak (at least for Vegeta), especially the line "There's never passion in a deadly routine".

Overally a very classic blink182 bop with some of the newer sound they cultivated in spaces like Neighborhoods and Dogs Eating Dogs. A really good omen for the rest of the second part of the album, if you ask me.

Next up on the LSIP: Childhood.

This is a dreamy, idealistic song about remembering days when life was simpler:

Remember when we were young And we'd laugh at everything? Got caught up in a world That forgot how to dream I'd never thought we'd end up here We're back in time to the best years Remember when we were young? We thought we knew everything

This is complicated because we don't necessarily see that either Vegeta or Bulma had an idealistic childhood. We can make some assumptions about Bulma's because she grew up smart and rich, but also she was running around on her own at 16 with a gun and a car to just travel around the world, and that says something, doesn't it?

Shifting back to the Ludicrously Self-Indulgent Project, first an announcement - after Blink released the Second Part to One More Time, I told myself I was going to sit with the new music for awhile and decide whether or not the new songs would be added as chapters. I did, and they will be. Observant readers may have already noticed the updated chapter count. I already have plans mapped out for the remaining chapters, and I'm so excited to work on them.

This week's song is Other Side. This is an upbeat song about being left behind, so very naturally it's from Bulma's perspective.

They took you away on a Tuesday A lightning bolt without a cloud in the sky We grew up Siouxsie and the Banshees 10:15 on a Saturday night It'll never be the same, stage right But we'll always have that coffee life I'll see you again on the other side

It speaks volumes about their relationship, and also how it changes. Their relationship is sudden and electrifying, changing both of their lives.

Captured lights through barricades Long-lost nights and better days

I don't know, but something about these lines just speaks to me about their relationship. It feels emblematic.

Time for another installation of the Ludicrously Self-Indulgent Project! Today we have Blink Wave. It's an upbeat punchy song accented by synth tones that makes me want to dance around. In blink fashion the lyrics are a bit darker than the music would suggest:

Hey, you said I'm sorry but I just got filled with dread I'm haunted by the voice inside my head And on and on This broken heart will carry on You are so inordinary Seems so scary to be buried I just can't keep my mind off you The pain's so deep, I can't get through With the midnight black-and-white tattoos 'Cause the same old fights, they just won't do Now I just can't keep my mind off you This hurts so bad, I can't get through But I always say I'll wait for you 'Cause the same old girls, they just won't do

It's a love song, but it has some really sad notes to it. It's about loving someone from a distance, someone who has changed your life so fundamentally that food doesn't taste the same.

This is, of course, a story about Vegeta, pining for the woman who has so affected him.

Next up on the LSIP is "Bad News". This song, despite being ultimately quite a sad one, is sort of amusing to me because it's sung by Mark, who's been married for over 20 years to the same woman, as opposed to Tom and Travis, who have both had multiple marriages.

Still, the song is sad. It's about that moment in a relationship when you realize that it's over, but you haven't quite ended it yet.

I keep on thinkin' that I might be better alone Sometimes when I get back from work, I wish no one was home I start reminiscing 'bout good times we had Like I'm always missing what we can't get back I'm givin' you bad, bad news I think I might've fallen out of love with you Years of fighting and hiding feelings All those nights starin' at the ceiling I'm givin' you bad, bad news Now I think I know what I already knew The truth is out, so there's no pretending I guess there's no such thing as a happy ending

It's Wednesday, so time for me to gush more about this album and the songs from it, and how it relates to Vegebul.

This one's a shorter song (They call it an interlude), but it's one of my favorites on the album. The piano key in the beginning, building to the crescendo of the song as it swells into a heartfelt, upbeat tune that will rip the soul out of your body if you let it.

Hurt (Interlude):

Have you hurt like this before? (Oh-oh, oh-oh) When your heart's already torn (oh-oh, oh-oh) When your tears are on my mind (oh-oh, oh-oh) We fall apart there every time (oh-oh, oh-oh) Have you loved like this before? (Oh-oh, oh-oh) Someone's heart laid on the floor (oh-oh, oh-oh) Yeah, we know that love is blind (oh-oh, oh-oh) Yeah, there's damage those eyes

The music in this one is so moving. The song on its own gets me teared up, but paired with the particular moment I've chosen for it with Vegebul, it's pretty striking. Because it's not as though we know anyone in their story who's been hurt, right? Nobody in their story has their heart broken, ever, of course.