User Reviews Playlist
I've never made a playlist for a fic before (I've only ever made like, three playlists at all), and I'm really proud of how this one turned out. It flows so well, and there's music from multiple genres, across six decades, in four different languages. It represents me as much as the story!
Each chapter has a song, and I'm going to be sharing the part of the song that represents each chapter in this ongoing post! (Spoilers, of course, so you should probably read it first 😏)
Chapter 1: Lovefool by the Cardigans
So in chapter one, Atsumu gets dumped by Shouyou Hinata (man, I love them as exes) and he's begging not to be single again, and the part that really struck me about this song was when it says "leave me, leave me, just say that you need me," because Atsumu doesn't even care if the relationship is real, he just wants to pretend someone loves him.
Chapter 2: My Little Town by Simon and Garfunkel
In chapter two, Atsumu talks about color, and about how the population no longer can distinguish it, from a lifetime of disuse. Everyone except the artists sees the world in grayscale. And that just reminds me of the black rainbow from this song. The colors are there, but no one can see them, because they lack imagination. And truly, without art, the citizens of the Hub are the dead and dying.
Chapter 3: Androgyny by Garbage
Welcome to the Night Market, where you can find so many treasures, that glitter (which is what's in the second verse). This song is just a happy vibe, also about subverting expectations, freeing your mind and accepting androgyny, which just scream Night Market to me. I chose this verse to highlight because Atsumu is feeling like his Reviews are set in stone, but really, there's nothing that can't be turned around.
Chapter 4: Eventually (いつかは, itsukaha) by Kvi Baba
This whole album is completely amazing. I got turned onto Kvi Baba after becoming obsessed with the opening song for Trigun Stampede. This song, Eventually, is my one of my favorites from the album, and I don't speak Japanese, but I could tell it was full of longing.
This specific part is translated (according to Google, anyway) as:
I feel like I'm betting on a future I don't know My thoughts reach God Poropolo's tearful prayer Should I celebrate? Because if it were me Reasonable accident property bottom rapper I guess at most I could be considered a bitch. But you were famous
The idea that Atsumu is praying for a better future? It fits so well. And he repeats the idea that he's "celebrating," by going to the Sex Club. Unfortunately he gets more than he bargained for when he hooks up with SunaRin6969, a fairly well-known anonSex streamer.
Chapter 5: Everything Has a Price to Pay by Paul Weller
You just asked me, what I'm feeling Should I tell you? Nothing is for free Can't you see - can't you see? Everything has a price to pay
This chapter should be a happy moment. Atsumu finally sells an art piece, but more exciting than that, he gets to leave the Hub for the first time in his life. This is huge. He gets drive in a hovercar, gets to see where all the Night Market vegetables are grown, he gets to see TREES, and a house made of wood. But when Josefina and Martín seduce him, he realizes he's nothing more than a commodity to them, not a person or even an artist. He's got a price, just like his art piece or one of their couches.
Chapter 6: Mother by Tori Amos
We all deserve someone in our lives we can go to for comfort, someone who will hug us when we're disgusting, someone who will wipe our tears and never tell us we're better off dead. That person for Atsumu is his mother, who loves him unconditionally, who always sees him as her baby, no matter what he gets himself into. Growing up, this song always made me long for a person who would be there, who could comfort, who would leave a light on for me. I'm glad Atsumu has his Ma.
Chapter 7: Fountain (I Am Good) by Mosaic MSC
I am good, You say I'm good I am worthy, wanted, loved by You This is living breathing proof That I am chosen, wanted, loved by You I'm undone with love for You
The Speaker reminds Atsumu that he is good, and that beyond the love she has for him, there's the love of God, that's always accessible. But she also reminds the other Members that they have to be the light and love of God in someone else's life, and challenges them to love one another. I love this song because it's such a declaration of God's love, without conditions or requirements, something we all need and yearn for, but may not experience from others.
Chapter 8: Always Remember Us This Way by Lady Gaga
Shinsuke Kita is so many things to Atsumu. The person who taught him about colors, sure, but more than that, he taught him about a whole world that he didn't even know existed. Atsumu finally had someone who saw him, who liked him, and sure, maybe not *in that way* but our boy needs SOMEONE to understand him, damnit (a definite theme in this story). When Shin sees him drawing and recognizes him as an artist? He found the light in him that Atsumu lacked the vocabulary to describe. Plus, they're meeting as adults, and this whole song is just about how we want to remember our past loves. Atsumu wants to remember Shin not as he is today, away from him and living his dream, but preserved in amber, always his teacher, lover, and friend.
Chapter 9: Te Felicito by Shakira and Rauw Alejandro
I don't buy that cheap philosophy I'm sorry, I don't ride that bike anymore I can't stand two-faced people I used to put my hands in the fire for you And you treat me like one more of your whims Your wound didn't open my skin, but it opened my eyes I've got them red from crying so much for you
Well, I love Rauw Alejandro (one of my favorites is Todo de Ti, ofc, that song is perfection) but I love this song because it's all about the roles we play. What do we represent to the people around us? And what do they represent to us? In this chapter, Osamu realizes he truly has no idea who Atsumu is. He'd had him playing a part in his mind the whole time that turned out to be false. He isn't a fuckup with zero job and ambitions; he has a rich inner and outer life that's different from his own, yes, but no less valid. There's a mourning here, for the previous way things used to be. But by burning down the old assumptions, their relationship can rise from the ashes to new life.
Chapter 10: Mañana Será Bonito by Karol G and Carla Morrison
Because tomorrow will be beautiful Because even the sky turns blue And all the fog was a little while And no one can dim your shine Because tomorrow will be beautiful Because the lion was just a kitten Because today the sky looks clear And no one can dim your shine
So the reason I chose this song is because Karol G is fully the Queen, but also, because it has such a hope to it. Tomorrow will be better. Even when we're wading chest-high through the bullshit, we can remember that no one can dim our shine.
Atsumu is an eternal optimist. Those of us that are artists have to be. If we only focus on the ugly, how can we create beauty in the world?
He's hoping Sakusa can help him rewrite his User Reviews, turn his lion into a kitten, take his fog away, turn his sky clear.
Chapter 11: Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard's Wife by Le Sserafim
Atsumu Miya is a mess, full stop. Hot, but a mess. A hot mess, if you will. And what the fuck do you do about an android you're trying to teach to be human? There's no good answer here.
Chapter 12: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore by the Smiths
When Sakusa tells Atsumu, "you're useless," Atsumu laughs it off, but he's not laughing on the inside. That joke isn't funny. Most of Sakusa's interactions with him aren't funny.
Does Sakusa even know? Does he even care?
He'll learn. I promise.
Chapter 13: Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog
Atsumu would love to steal some bread from the mouths of decadence.
Hell, he'd love some ACTUAL BREAD.
But what he gets is one of the worst meals he's ever had, with company that drives him mad.
I included the second part here because truly, all the rich folk out here feasting on the blood, sweat, and tears of the proletariat. Playing games with their lives as if they were nothing more than pawns.
Chapter 14: Ode to My Family by the Cranberries
Understand the things I say Don't turn away from me 'Cause I've spent half my life out there You wouldn't disagree
Do you see me? Do you see? Do you like me? Do you like me Standing there? Do you notice Do you know? Do you see me? Do you see me? Does anyone care?
I chose this for Chapter 14 because even though Atsumu and Osamu have had somewhat of a reconciliation over the food Atsumu made, it wasn't really a reckoning for the pain Atsumu's caused his brother over the years. How Osamu had to carry him, financially, emotionally. Had to be the stability and responsibility that Atsumu didn't have. Now, for the first time, Atsumu sees his brother, and understands that he does care, he's not being a stickler or an asshole. He's doing his best, just like Atsumu is.
Chapter 15: Working for the Knife by Mitski
Atsumu has to get a job. There y'have it, there's the whole post. LOL. But seriously, this song embodies the despair that comes with giving up on your dream and being forced into a soulless nine-to-five. (Or in Atsumu's case, eight-to-eighteen). I chose this part, because in UR Atsumu's twenty-nine and it just stood out to me, this hopeful hopelessness that "next year will be better." I also really like the part of this song where she talks about how she wished she could make things too, but no one wanted to hear her stories. That's Atsumu too, all he wants to do is create, but no one's buying what he's selling, at least not to the point where he could sustain himself. So he gets a "real" job, working for the knife.
Chapter 16: Best of You by the Foo Fighters
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best The best of you? Is someone getting the best, the best, the best The best of you?
Are you gone and on to someone new? I needed somewhere to hang my head Without your noose You gave me something that I didn't have But had no use
I was too weak to give in Too strong to lose My heart is under arrest again But I break loose
My head is giving me life or death But I can't choose I swear I'll never give in I refuse
In Chapter 16 we are reacquainted with one Shouyou Hinata, Atsumu's ex-boyfriend. Atsumu loved him, the same way he loved all of his "romantic encounters," the same way he falls completely for anyone who gives him a scrap of attention. But Shouyou didn't feel the same for him; Shouyou dated him as a performance art piece and then abandoned him once he heard his reviews. Shouyou didn't really see Atsumu as a person, but he's very interested in TO-b10, who isn't a person at all. Shouyou rechristens his android friend as "Tobio," and is more welcoming and caring toward him than he'd ever been toward Atsumu. Which is why I chose this song, about the feeling when someone you've loved has moved on, and is giving someone new their best. I chose this section because it has that quiet desperation to survive that Atsumu's known for. That even when the odds are stacked against him, a thousand to one, in love and in life, he won't go down without a fight.
Chapter 17: Everything Counts by Depeche Mode
The grabbing hands, grabbing all they can, is the foundation of any well-run capitalist system. It's all about taking more, more, more. Chapter 17 is Atsumu at work, and in his "job" he's responsible for analyzing data and figuring out ways to make humans less complicated, so the Corp doesn't have to work as hard to make more money. Atsumu's so good at his job that he's responsible for the collapse of an entire consumer subset in this chapter, giving the lies and deceit a little more power, 4% more.
Chapter 18: Blue Monday by New Order
There's two reasons I chose this song for the scene where Atsumu goes with Tobio and Shouyou to the check-in. Sakusa's always making assumptions about Atsumu, which is the reason their first "date" went so poorly. He's a man of science, but instead of looking to the subject for data, he had preconceived notions that he was trying to substantiate. Good ol' confirmation bias. But his check-ins with Tobiobot have taught him that people aren't always going to fulfill the roles they've played in the past. That human beings (and Tobio!) are dynamic and can change. Which brings me to the second reason I chose this, Shouyou's assumption about Atsumu and how it pisses Sakusa off. It's a bit hypocritical, considering how he assumed he'd known everything about Atsumu as well, thanks to his "data." Of course, Atsumu calls him out for his hypocrisy. But in the end, they've reached a bit of a detente and are on their way to actual reconciliation.
Chapter 19: Send Me an Angel by Real Life
Open fire! On my burning heart I've never been lucky in love My defences are down A kiss or a frown I can't survive on my own
I think we can all agree Aran Ojiro is an angel. Especially in this story! He sees Atsumu so clearly, sees his worth even when Atsumu can't see it himself. And in this scene, he is literally there for him, calming him down when he hasn't taken the time he usually takes to prevent his mind from being overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the Night Market.
Chapter 20: Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi
With a sudden kiss and a passionate gaze Do not cause a malfunction to the love program Type in encounters and separations well When the time comes, it ends Don't hurry!
I'm sure it's a translation choice but the idea of a "malfunction to the love program" is just perfection to me for UR. The part about this moment being a sudden kiss and a passionate gaze spoke to me, of course, because this is Kiyoomi and Atsumu's first kiss, as the result of a passionate gaze! LOL sometimes I'm so literal it hurts. The part about not hurrying is also so sweet. They both want this moment to last.
Chapter 21: Euphoria by BTS
Take my hands now You are the cause of my euphoria
Atsumu's always wanted someone to hold his hand. No one's ever understood him enough to want to touch him "for no reason." But Kiyoomi saw him struggling in his panic attack and reached out to him, offering to anchor him in his storm. Not only that, he reached for Atsumu on the street, to walk him home. It isn't just in times of crisis that Kiyoomi wants to ground him. He wants to be there for him always.
Chapter 22: Fall Into the Sky by Zedd, Lucky Date, Ellie Goulding
This song perfectly encapsulates the terror of running from the CorpsCorps and the excitement and anticipation of first-time intimacy. The driving beat, the breathlessness, the danger, the climax. It's all there.
Chapter 23: Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie
In this chapter, Atsumu reveals the reasons for his scars. This song is so hauntingly beautiful to me, and I've loved it ever since I heard it, nearly twenty years ago.
The reason it stands out to me is because Kiyoomi didn't just fuck him and leave. No. He's the first to stick around. Not only that, the only one to love Atsumu and want to be with him. To know all his secrets. To find out where his soul meets body. His first and always.
Chapter 24: Love by the Smashing Pumpkins
What I love about this song is how distorted it is, but how it's still about love. The crackle and static reminds me of the technological advancements Kiyoomi's using to make sure he can love Atsumu right. This line in particular stands out to me because Kiyoomi was lost in his vision (simulation) but now he has Atsumu in front of him, and he realizes pretty quickly that IRL surpasses the virtual, every single time.
Chapter 25: Titanium by David Guetta and Sia
This song reminded me of Atsumu's rant at work, because in his mania, he finds himself invincible, like nothing can hurt him. As we find out later, things can definitely hurt him. He's talking now, but not saying much. They fire him, and it's a relief. That job was sucking the life right out of him and he's glad to lose them. Fire away, fire away.
Chapter 26: Juban District by Ginger Root
I don't know where You've been out again sometimes But is it a shame To throw out the things you thought were right? Well I know what I can do I know what I can do I know what I can do I know what I can It's so good to get down at the Juban District I'm choked up but you'd maybe pass me up
Full disclosure: when they're at the Night Market, the live music is being performed by Ginger Root.
There was a band playing, a young guy with long straight black hair and thick fashionable glasses on a variety of keyboards and synths, backed by a bassist, drummer, and guitarist. People were dancing to the funky beat, although it lent itself to swaying artistically rather than any sort of specific steps.
Yeah. That's my guy. And Atsumu's dance to the beat? Chef's kiss.
Chapter 27: Miroh by Stray Kids
Lots of thorny vines, need to push down my cuts But there's no time to rest I'm alright, I'm holding on and I keep on going I just need to look ahead and run Run through the maze like a beast I'm avoiding all the familiar paths Though inexperienced, it's a new challenge Imma Bear Grylls anything that blocks my dream I'm going to eat it up I run, it's the adventure for my dream
This chapter is all about RUNNING. Running from the night market, running from the CorpsCorps, trying to find a safe place like rats in a maze. No time to rest. The prize at the end? A life free, full of art, love, creativity. A life worth living.
Chapter 28: In the Dark by Tiesto and Christian Burns
In this chapter, Kiyoomi is alone, in the quiet, in the dark. It's silent, it's not stimulating. It's nothing he's used to. He looks to Atsumu for comfort. Atsumu knows what loneliness is. And he holds his man, and helps him understand: we're in this together. We'll be together in the dark.
Chapter 29: Connection by Elastica
This chapter has two major connections. Tobio finds Kenma, which leads to the most powerful figures in the Hub joining forces. Later on, the connection between the CorpsCorps and Kiyoomi is revealed. Really, though, this song is more related to the former rather than the latter. I love the electronic buzz of the distorted guitar, it reminds me of a scratchy phone connection. And yeah, I know Kenma and Tobio aren't talking on the PHONE gaaah what YEAR IS IT but still. A connection is made.
Chapter 30: Malibu by Hole
This song is always bittersweet to me. There's a longing as well as a celebration. And that's what this chapter felt like to me. They're going to save the city, rescue everyone, but it's a huge risk. All they have is each other to rely on, to care for. It's true of both Atsumu and Kiyoomi and Tobio and Shouyou.
Chapter 31: Skin by Rihanna
So this is a realllllly sexy song. And honestly, this scene between Kiyoomi and Atsumu requires so much trust that my Demi heart might think it's the hottest one in the whole story. Kiyoomi's scared, but Atsumu keeps the lines of communication open, takes control, holds nothing back. Seriously if you haven't heard this song, make sure you're in private when you listen to it...
Chapter 32: Parallel Universe by Red Hot Chili Peppers
This song is a DRIVING SONG to me. Like, I just see the open road, hand on the steering wheel, wind in my hair. And in this chapter, Kiyoomi and Atsumu are driving back to the Hub, the unknown waiting for them. There's a suspense and drama to this song that I think is perfect for this chapter. Plus. This story is an AU. I couldn't resist parallel universe.
Chapter 33: Compliance by Muse
Ah, yes. The song from my trailer, that I heard one day at kickboxing and couldn't get out of my head. And two years later, here we are.
Obviously, Shikyo wants compliance. The whole CorpBoard does. And the question is: will Kiyoomi and Atsumu choose to live, even if it's as slaves? It's one thing to damn yourself to the recycler, but will Kiyoomi choose that fate for his love? Will he stay the Corps' toy soldier and continue to do their dirty work?
Chapter 34: Could You Be Loved by Bob Marley & the Wailers
This was the "breggae" song I was thinking of, when I wrote this chapter. Atsumu needs a ray of sunshine, and Shouyou sends him one, in the form of the song they'd always shared. In the darkness, there must be light. In this moment, Atsumu realizes he's not alone, that he's in prison with others who love just as much as he does. Ironically, he's sent to reeducation shortly afterward, so they do try to school him.
Chapter 35: Exit Music (for a Film) by Radiohead
This song has always haunted me. It's epic, but also melancholy. Which reminds me of Tobio heading off to save the world. Xe doesn't know if xe's coming out of this okay, but the overwhelming need to save the man xe loves outweighs any other consideration. I wanted to encompass the gravity of the situation, not just for those in prison, but those orchestrating the prison break.
Chapter 36: Robot Rock/ Oh Yeah by Daft Punk
I love the celebratory nature of this song. Because this chapter IS a celebration, both the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The Bots and Humans are on the same side, at least, some of them are. More and more join together to make New Hub, every day.
Epilogue: Settle Down by Kimbra
Everything's settled now, here in the ending, and Kiyoomi and Atsumu may not have a family in the traditional sense, but they are raising a child together. What will the future hold? As long as they have each other, they'll face it with the same snark and hope that they faced their past.
Thank you, if you took the time to read these ramblings, and even more so if you read all nearly 200k of User Reviews. I worked harder on this story than I have on any other fic. None of the others got a playlist! This one is special. See you at the Night Market, y'all.