#and also like its kinda funny and catchy

[croszukis]

nz rugby's concussion awareness campaign june 2025

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Spicy Stories

JK Rowling: hello children Poe: oh Poe: oh joanne Poe: you're back Rowling: i have concernss Poe: uh we're mostly about just telling stories here Poe: you have your own campfire for your terf stuff don't you? Rowling: yess but they've really been getting on my nervess lately

Rowling: you know how it iss with terf deatheaterss Poe: not really Rowling: alwayss agreeing with everything i ssay Rowling: all "oh yes dark lord" this and "oh spare me dark lord" that Rowling: ssometimess you jusst get tired of hearing "masterful gambit dark lord"

Rowling: i tell you, you don't know how hard it is to run a cult L Ron Hubbard: oh yeah woof big mood Hubbard: people think its all fun, but its actually a lot of work Rowling: I know right????

Poe: regardless, joanne, i'm going to have to put my foot down Poe: this campfire is just for stories Rowling: uhhh actually i do have a new ssstory Rowling: i wass insspired to write after having an argument on the internet Barker: oh damn no shit? Barker: that's wild

Rowling: it's a new harry potter ssstory King: oh man! it's about time, i've been hoping for a new potter story for ages! Rowling: itss about hermione going back in time to help grindelwald, who actually had sssome good points if you think about it

Rowling: i call it Rowling: the time turner diariesss Barker: wow this is not really funny anymore Baker: its like INTENSELY not funny Lovecraft: catchy title tho!

Rowling: i'm retconning grindelwald into a misundersstood idealisst Rowling: who was only forced to make hard choicess because of the unreassonablenesss of decadent weimar society

Rowling: oh also you know that thing where people kept criticizing me cuz technically grindelwald's "evil" plan was to prevent the holocaust? Rowling: well good news Rowling: i've rectified that little mistake

Rowling: like, why would the naziss target transs & queer people, traditionally the most powerful and widely accepted memberss of ssociety? Rowling: would not the naziss, famouss for their love of diverssity, actually approve of them? Rowling: i'm jusst asskin questions

King: actually joanne there's a lot of well-documented evidence Barker: give it up steve King: no no i can fix this King: i'm sure if i just lay out the facts in a logical, well-reasoned manner- Barker: oh god that's so cute Barker: don't you just love him? Poe: that's our steve

King: so you see the nazi book burning of the institute for sexualwissenschaft- Rowling: nope Rowling: didn't happen King: King: well it kinda did, see, as i was saying- Rowling: thiss iss missogyny

Rowling: i don't undersstand you lot at all Rowling: i come into your campfire, i make a sstatement that i really want to be true & you all refuse to accept it Rowling: thiss issn't the way it works over with my terf deatheaters at all Rowling: they love accepting things i ssay!

Rowling: it'ss actually really missogynisstic that you all refusse to accept what i'm ssaying asss truth Rowling: even though you all know how badly i want it to be true King: but joanne, it isn't true- Rowling: ssave it for court ssteve!

Mary Shelley: sup fuckers Shelley: i got here late wot's going on? Barker: joanne is doing holocaust denial Rowling: EXCUSE ME it'ss only holocausst denial if you quesstion the murder of jews Rowling: tho now that i think about it i do have some questionss

Rowling: like, would they not have ussed their goblin magic to essscape? Lovecraft: ya know, she makes a good point Sonia Greene: i'm right here howard Lovecraft: Greene: see, this is why i don't talk much

[prisonhannibal]

do you have any recommendations of your favorite sami art (music, novels, film, etc)?? sorry if you have been asked this before, and thank you for taking the time to answer!!

I love this question thank you for asking! Warning I'm gonna talk a lot now.

Music

Mari Boine. LEGEND. She has been making music since the 80s before the Sámi parliament was even established and I think she paved the way for sámi artists in a time where it was much less accepted. Her work is very influential on modern sámi music, and her style is very sámi with a lot of joik and traditional drums, but mixed with modern music in a very unique way. If you're only gonna check out one sámi musician I'd go for Boine. My favorite songs are Idjagiedas (Listen all the way through the build up is sooo good), Máze (More traditional joik, for the sámi village Máze which was planned to be flooded and destroyed to build the Alta hydroelectric power plant, which led to the Alta conflict in the 70s and 80s. It's often used as sort of a protest anthem even now. GOOSEBUMPS), Gula Gula, and Vuoi Vuoi Me. Check out the albums Gula Gula (english title: Listen, listen, hear the voices of the foremothers) and An introduction to...

Hildá Länsman. Joik artist and singer. I love her she makes some stuff thats like electronic joik? very unique. And some more traditional stuff. Listen to Jođi, Gii dan livčče and ESPECIALLY Oaidnemeahttun which is a seven minute long MASTERPIECE. Starts slow but that build up is INSANEEE

Lávre. Definitely more traditional. Vuložat is a beautiful album. Favorites: Viellja and Joavdan.

Emil Kárlsen. Really really cool mix of traditional and modern. The album Nagirvárrái slays and features a lot of other cool sámi artists. I love Áhkku its so beautiful

Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen and ISÁK. Ella Marie is an activist, actress and musician who was the singer of ISÁK until they broke up. They had some really fun catchy stuff kinda sámi dance pop? Love it

Movies:

Ellogierdu - The Tundra Within Me (2023) A sámi single mother and feminist artist moves back home from the city to work on an art project about gender in Sápmi. She meets a reindeer herder and drama happens ahhhh I love this one it made me so happy. So many movies by or about us are all about historical trauma and it was really refreshing to see a movie about two sámi people falling in love and also its funny

Ellos Eatnu - Let The River Flow (2023) It's about the Alta conflict and the large civil disobedience actions in the 70s. The main character is Ester (Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen), who ends up in the middle of it and has to face her complicated relationship with her sámi identity and her place in society as a sámi woman. This one made me sob in the movie theatre

Ofelaš - Pathfinder (1987) HISTORIC for being the first ever sámi language film, and was actually nominated for an oscar for best foreign language film! It's based on an old sámi story, and is about a young sámi man who returns home to find his family massacred by an enemy tribe. He flees, but is pursued by the attackers, and him and other sámi people have to find a way to survive and outsmart the attackers

Sami Blood (2016) A young girl and her sister are removed from their family and placed in a state boarding school in the 1930s, where they are abused, beaten for speaking sámi, and used in dehumanizing research by scientists from the swedish institute of racial biology. She decides that to protect herself from oppression, she will escape her life, reject her sámi identity and force herself to assimilate into swedish society. This one also made me ugly cry its so heartbreaking

Artists:

Nils-Aslak Valkeapää AKA Áillohaš. The Legend himself! He was a musician, joiker, poet, writer and artist. He did it all!!!

Britta Marakatt-Labba. Textile artist and painter who is most well known for her textile embroidered art work Garjjat where a murder of crows gradually turn into humans and then police officers who destroy a sámi village. Her work is often very political, and its very powerful. She has a 24 meter long embroidered work about sámi life, history and mythology. A lot of cool stuff!

Synnøve Persen. Activist, writer and painter who was very involved in the early ČSV movement and is an important figure in sámi resistance history. In addition to being a successful artist, she also made the first unofficial sámi flag, and is known for participating in the 1979 hunger strike in front of the norwegian parliament during the alta conflict. Very inspirational for me as a female sámi artist

John Savio. He was a woodcutting artist and the first sámi artist to get a formal art education and the first sámi person to get his own exhibition at the national gallery. He sadly never became successful, and died early, but after his death he is recognized as one of the most important and famous sámi artists

and......me! jk

[arrimorr]

Hello, nice to meet you!! How are you? I'm mesmerized by your art, the way you mix traditional, digital and 3D is fascinating! Also, your OCs and their stories and designs, I'm going through the tag giggling and kicking my feet! I would like to know if you could share your process or how your original characters' stories and designs came to be, the exploration and inspirations for it. I'm utterly fascinated and it made me want to create more and explore my own art!

Hiiiii!!!!!!!! 👋👋👋 Thank you so much, Im really touched by your kind words 😭😭😭

I'm also afraid I won't say anything coherent and useful to your questions, because there are many different directions I can go from with them...If we are talking about mixed media, I'm really into practical effects, that were popular in the old cinema (and can be found nowadays in things like Dhmis and I saw the tv glow), jdkslwlww there is something really uncanny and catchy about the mix of realistic imagery with something way more staged. This similarly applies to making simple and cartoony stuff mixed in with something more detailed and volumetric. Like....my art is FAR from there but this is what currently inspires me

(a trip to the moon 1902)

The funny thing is that I also initially started to play around with clay bc learning 3d was driving me INSANE, tears fell down my face as I went through the stupid donut tutorials, but Im kinda both here and there by the end of it. ANYWAY, if you have any technical questions about clay mixed media or 3d you can always ask me!

And with the characters its just a bunch of things and tropes that are rotating in my head from the media I like (well, in case with the Knight its the opposite actually, I made him out of a bunch of different designs and writing choices that I hate and then got stupidly attached).....My favourite cartoon of all time is Over the Garden wall and I think it shows haha. I also adore how in games like INSCRYPTION, Undertale and Off your main cast consists of "people" that were initially antagonistic to the plot, but, with some time start to feel like friends to the player. I made a bunch of miserable, hateful people that WILL try to kill the main character, but by the end of it, I really want tginf to be about finding human connection in a scenario where everything and everyone is inhuman. I grew up listening to A LOT of horror stories, so thats my comfort media 😔✊

Uhhhh what else...if you like my art I think you will like plastiboo (they have a Tumblr acc!), Im really inspired by what they do. Also lil Cthulhu has absolutely outstanding cryptid designs, and art and ...well..everything...and she has Tumblr acc too!

[oktopiasscarletqueen]

Neurotic Erotic (Bloodweave Fic) playlist

Alright, so, heres the playlist I made for the fic and unreasonable analysis I made relating the songs to Gale and Astarion.

I know writing all this is a touch cringe, but I’m at peace with that; BG3 is a special interest of mine, and so is musical/literary analysis. That being said, I’m not trying to write any kind of groundbreaking, profound interpretations here. Moreso, I’m yelling my funny words at you because I like to yap. And, sometimes this is what me and my little sister do for fun; J and I put on music and go, “ [insert character would like this sound in a Modern AU” or, “this song is incredibly [insert character]-core because…”

Before you jump in, I’m gonna warn you, the transition between ‘Francis Forever’ and ‘Cancer’ (track 6 & 7 respectively) is a touch jarring, as is the inclusion of ‘Cancer’ in the middle of the playlist  in general, lol. Second, I’ll warn you this list is bound to get updated here and there eventually. Also, I may update/add to these in future.

I have put the songs “in order”, or as best “order” as my brain can think of right now.

Oh, and of course, spoilers ahead for essentially the whole game.

Fic Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56262295/chapters/142934368

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/@Oktopiasscarletqueen/playlists

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3BIufG9W5783HUh3OvDboD?si=675313ddfbbe4664

Song list, and correlation (with my interpretation and justification, if that interest you at all, lol):

INTRODUCTION:

¡Aikido! (Neurotic/Erotic) – Everything is a Lot by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

This song is about being obsessed with death, or the idea of dying; Theres something very Gale & Astarion about it (one being asked to die and the other literally being dead). Astarion being dead is a sort of representation (within this fic) of Gale’s later focus and near idolisation of dying, which really reminds me of the song. It’s title and the general idea behind it inspired me to write this fic. Mostly the title, its catchy and interpretive whether you know the song or not.

2. Maya the Psychic – Hesitant Alien by Gerard Way

So, y’know the tadpoles, right?

3. Starman – The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars (2012 Remaster) by David Bowie

So, y’know the “Dream Guardian”, right?

GALE:

4. Cover This Song (A Little Bit Mine) – Everything is a Lot by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

Early game, Gale’s caught up on Mystra, and that’s an objective fact.  That’s what this song is in relation to him. Wishing to have her back, or at least her grace and favour. Like, imagine being cast aside by a god. A god who was your previous lover and kinda decides your fate.

5. First Love/Late Spring – Bury Me at Makeout Creek by Mitski

More Gale “pining” songs (you’re gonna see a lot of this). In the case of this one, the song is a sort of ‘love, life and duty is painful’. After the Mystra heartbreak, I can imagine Gale’s not exactly keen on letting anyone in else they abandon him again (Gale has a big ego, but he feels he’s not enough—he’s scared he’s not enough). Also, a few lines stick out for interpretation in regards to Gale. ‘One word from you and I would jump of this cliff I’m on, baby’ is very fitting for Mystra being like “lmao, kys” and how Gale is fully ready to do that as a show of faith. Another line that I wanna note, ‘And I was so young when I behaved 25…’ reminds me of not only Gale’s early magical prowess, but the fact  Gale being only 8 when he met Mystra for the first time; Gale had big shoes to fill, extremely high expectations to live up to and also an omnipotent, ever-present god leaning over his shoulder. This is where I’m gonna put a link to this Tumblr post because the OP does a fantastic job at dissecting all that (TW: mentions of grooming): https://www.tumblr.com/kirain/739521230081851392/i-want-to-take-a-moment-to-talk-about-gales

6. Francis Forever - Bury Me at Makeout Creek by Mitski

Kinda similar to above, but more “romantic” in a really twisted way. Gale really did love Mystra, I think; In the case of this song, it’s less about him as a character but more his past feelings and the grief there (obviously this isn’t what the songs exactly about, but we’re running on interpreting them into fictional characters, so… lol.

7. Cancer – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

So, y’know the Nether Brain fight and Gale’s Orb, right?

8. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Remastered) by Elton John

Acceptance and a return to the “average”. If you don’t let him ascend, Gale has the option to just live life at his own pace, and for me that’s his canon ending. My boy deserves a rest, and this song just remind me of that.

BLOODWEAVE (songs that just scream them)

9. Cannibal Queen – Tell It to the Volcano by Miniature Tigers

I just feel like the lyrics suit Gale’s feeling for Astarion in a really  fun way, idk man. It’s just weirdly them-core.

10. Baby You’re a Haunted House – Single (no album) by Gerard Way

Another ‘Gale to Astarion’ song. ‘…you’re a haunted house’ as a lyric reads as someone who has a lot of metaphorical ghosts in them (closet full of skeletons). Shout-out to the versus: ‘In the dark, we dance together…’  ‘In the dark we laugh together, because the misery’s funny to you’ ‘Sometimes you scare me, but I’ll come around to you… And I’ll find a way to scare you too’.

That’s just them (you’ll hear this from this section a lot).

11.  Red Moon – Everything is a Lot by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

First and foremost, this song is SO underappreciated (as is the album). It’s one of my favourites. This so in particular just sounds like the embodiment of Bloodweave. I take a lot of inspiration from this song when it comes to Neurotic Erotic (the fic). This song analysis would be paragraphs upon paragraphs long, so I’ll sum this up as simply as I can:

- Astarion is kinda ethereal looking (moon-elf-core) - Gales heart go doki-doki later in fic (referring to the 5th verse: 'Waxing to the rhythm writhing my chest’) - Gale and Astarion are drawn together by circumstance - They remain in each others orbit regardless of circumstance - Night is their time

Theres so much more, but I’ll leave some of the linking to you, lol

12. The Rhumba of Death – Camp Here & There: Campfire Songs Edition by Will Wood

*see to every other comment in this section*

13. We’ll Never have Sex - Single (no album) by Leith Ross

I think it’s not necessarily an argument that Astarion has issues around intimacy, particularly sexual intimacy. That’s what this is; this is why the song is here.

TRANSITION (A heads up to Astarion Territory, lol. Plus, I just like the song :P)

14. Interlude – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance

Every playlist needs a good intermission, and this one has an Astarion-vibe to it. Serves as a good heads-up for whats to come and as a cool down from the previous song instead of just jumping right into a different tone. Plus, I’ve not gotten over my emo days, so…

ASTARION

15. The End – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

The end. The end of Astarions mortal life, the end of being under Cazador’s thumb while tadpoled.

16. Dead! – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

You can’t put ‘The End.’ without ‘Dead!’ and vice-versa. But, the lyrics do speak to me in encapsulating some surface-level Astarion plot, especially when it comes to his mortal, Magistrate days. Did Astarion get what he deserved? (referring to the versus: ‘I’ll be here waiting, babe; Did you get what you deserve?’). The BG3 artbook tells us Astarion was a corrupt magistrate, so this feel fitting. It’s speculative, but I think Astarion wasn’t too popular when he was alive, lol.

17. The Sharpest Lives – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

‘I’ve really been on a bender and it shows’Astarion doesn’t have the best coping mechanisms and skills, and this song is that. Plus, it’s another vampire-related song so it fits in well. And the lines below feel like they were written for him (y’know what I mean?): ‘You can take off your skin in the cannibal glow, Juilet loves the beat, and the lust it commands, Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo’

18. Brand New City - Lush by Mitski

I feel like Astarion has a lot of issues around control, like specifically in regard to needing to be in control in some small way. He’s emotionally withering away with his destructive ways, but it’s the only way he knows how to grasp onto some semblance of control over his life. ‘I think my ways are wearing me down, But if I gave up on being pretty, I wouldn’t know how to be alive,’

19.  The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance

This song is about Gerard Ways substance abuse and struggles with it, his addiction personified as a woman. In a similar vein, I’m using this song as a representation of Astarion’s own addiction (or obsession) to power and revenge. Its fuelling him, but its also slowly him a dark, toxic (and even dangerous) path.

20. Hand Me My Shovel, I’m Going In! – SELF-iSH by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

Another case of a song about self-destructive behaviours that just really fits Astarions own trauma and his response to it. Will Wood is a genius lyricist, don’t @ me, and this is a prime example of his work capturing addiction and other self-destructive behaviours, feeling powerless in stopping/not being able to stop, even though you could (with a lot of effort of therapy, mind you).

21. Kill All Your Friends – Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance

The opening lines capture more Astarion plot:  ‘Well, you can hide a lot about yourself, But honey, what’re you gonna do?’ Mainly, this song just feels like it fits him, especially with ‘I was killing before killing was cool,’.

22. Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) – The Normal Album by Will Wood

Another vampire song, so naturally its here. A number of the lines in this song feel like inner turmoil within Astarion, but I can’t just copy paste the whole thing here, lol. Side note, this song has been in my private Astarion playlist for the past 2-ish years and I’ve always been like, ‘man, I wish I had the time to make an animatic to this (or Hand Me My Shovel) for Astarion’, and recently I stumbled upon an Astarion animatic someone made to this song and was SO SHOOK. So, I’m going to link it, because its fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWKObQgHaGg

23. Your Body, My Temple - Camp Here & There: Campfire Songs Edition by Will Wood

POV: Astarion’s manipulating you.

24. Vampire Reference in a Minor Key – “In case I make it,” by Will Wood

Very Astarion-core song, but specifically in regards to his softer side (in the case of this fic, his feelings down the line for Gale). Obviously the vampire song is gonna remind me of the twink vampire.

25. The Chain (2004 Remaster) – Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

So, y’know Cazador and Astarions “siblings”, right?

26. Against the Kitchen Floor – “In case I make it,” by Will Wood

So, yknow the confession Astarion has in act 2, right? My canon ending for Astarion is him healing, finally. He’s a spawn, yes, but he’s making the most of that his immortal life as he can. I’ll say it again, Will Wood is a GENUIS and (most definitely because it comes from his own experiences) he captures the process of healing but not being fully there in this song. In relation to Astarion, this is him trying—genuinely trying to be better and work out what he’s going through. He’s not there, he won’t be for a long time, but he’s willing to try. Trying is the first step.

[greenesmyfavcolor]

a couple of little shop questions for ya

1. favourite song from the soundtrack? you don’t have to pick just one.

2. director’s cut (everyone dies) or theatrical cut (audrey ii is defeated)? why?

3. which actor do you think portrays seymour the best? i’d ask about audrey as well but your username kinda clues me in there.

1. Yeah I can’t pick one 😂 It’s such an impossible question to answer cause you honestly could say any one of them and it would be more than valid.

I have solidified my top three though. In no particular order, Suddenly Seymour for its sincerity, Somewhere That’s Green for how beautifully tragic, as well as how almost comical it can be at times, and Mean Green Mother From Outer Space for just how dang catchy, fun, and climatic it is.

2. Same with this, I like both lol. I’ve always said that my head prefers the director’s cut while my heart prefers the theatrical cut.

I’d say the directors cut is technically better (or at the very least the stage ending since there are some slight differences) due to tying all its themes about greed and capitalism together. I know it’s got some pacing issues but I chalk it up to it basically being a glorified workprint that was definitely intended to be shorten and condensed eventually before being cut entirely. What I don’t like in this ending is how helpless Seymour is during the fight against Audrey II and how he just lets himself get eaten. I love the stage’s ending and how Seymour sacrifices himself, essentially making up for his actions and taking responsibility, even it was all for naught. I can excuse it in the theatrical cut since Audrey’s still alive so there would be no reason to sacrifice himself if he’s trying to live for her. But it takes away from completing Seymour’s arc, leaving you to be like “that’s it?” when he gets eaten. And then there’s the whole thing if movie Seymour even deserved his ending since his actions come across as less intentional compare to the stage version but that’s a topic for another day. Other than that tho, I really do love the director’s cut for giving us the cool rampage scene and of course keeping Somewhere That’s Green Reprise and Don’t Feed The Plants.

At the same time, I can’t help but love the theatrical cut for giving Seymour and especially Audrey the ending they deserve. Yeah, it’s cheesy and kinda throws away all the themes the movie had been building up to that point but I can’t help but get choked up every time I see Seymour and Audrey finally reunite and run off together into their new home. It also gives us unlimited potential for fanfiction so that’s a plus lol.

3. Really basic answer but Rick Moranis. When you think about it, he kinda set the stage for how most future Seymours would play him. Compared to the prior Seymours, he’s a lot more wimpy and puppy dog like. A lot of it does have to do with the changes to the movie script such as Seymour not deciding to purposefully do nothing when Orin’s dying or tricking Mushnik to get inside the plant. But no matter what his actions are (even if he’s chopping up a body) he always comes across as really likable and earnest which is important since it’s crucial to see how someone like Audrey, who values those traits in a relationship, could fall in love with him.

He’s also just really funny. His facial expressions whenever he’s nervous or just overall being a complete goof crack me up every time.

These are some of my favorites 😂

And he of course has incredible chemistry with Ellen Greene. Honestly if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t buy into Audrey and Seymour’s relationship as much as I do now. It’s easy to overstep a line into where their relationship could come across as insincere or even creepy if Seymour is not done right (like a typical trademark “nice guy”) but he absolutely sells me on that he truly loves Audrey for who she is and that she loves him back because of it.

And yeah, Ellen Greene’s Audrey is my favorite. No one else even comes close in my eyes ❤️

Thanks so much for the ask!

[dryococelas01]

I love that warframe has a hive mind zombie boy band now that's so funny.

With 2 actual songs.

That are unfortunately kinda catchy. Gonna have em stuck in my head. They're going viral.

I like the idea that the infestation just really likes boybands. They've got all the greatest hits saves on their mental hard drive, and while an ancient is pulling you across the map in its head its belting backstreet boys lyrics.

I think more horrific hiveminds should have musical tastes. I wanna hear The Floods favourite band. What do the tyranids like to listen to?

Also their infested designs fuck.

[apopcornkernel]

i dont know if there's even a ppop presence on tumblr but i do also want to promote ALAMAT, a 6-member idol boy group from the Philippines. Its members comprise of Taneo, Mo, Jao, Tomas, R-ji, and Alas. They debuted in 2021, and their creative direction centers on championing the Filipino identity and culture through their music.

sorry that ^ was a copypaste but it's a very useful and concise copypaste LOL but onto my own promo:

(note: also most of these videos have english subs!!)

(extra note bc this issue always pops up whenever locals encounter alamat: mo is always wearing black hairstyes bc he is blasian and not bc he is appropriating from black culture hdfjhdf)

KASMALA, the inverted Tagalog word for "strong" (malakas), is the MV that really did numbers on social media iirc. The video direction focused on the "human zoo" in the St. Louis' World Fair of 1904 (which included Filipinos specifically Igorots), and a general theme of anti-Filipino racism by white people (who are represented as ominous figures literally dressed in all white)

personal opinion: the music video is great but i personally think they have better songs, music-wise. and i'm going to give you an example of that by introducing you to my ALL-TIME FAVORITE ALAMAT SONG!!!

ILY ILY, a transliteration of "Ili-Ili Tulog Anay", incorporates the melody and lyrics of the Ilonggo lullaby it derives its title from. The MV and lyrics both work together to portray the experience of being an OFW/having an OFW parent. OFWs, or overseas Filipino workers, refer to Filipinos who go abroad in search of jobs that have better pay, so that they can remit money back to their families in the Philippines.

personal opinion: this is their best song THIS IS THEIR BEST SONG EVER OF ALL TIME and lyca gairanod is such a perfect singer for this. her ethereal crooning really gave me chills the first time i heard it UGH

DAYANG, the term for the wife of a Datu, is one of their most earworming songs ever. It's a gorgeous love song and what I would recommend to newbies if they want to get into alamat <3

personal opinion: The MV is kinda ass because it's just a super long extended ad for DITO PH (in terms of story and also bc they really missed out on doing a vid that drew more on culture esp bc dayang is a historical noble title and they used tausug words and designs for the graphics an the dance itself already incorporated pangasik dance which is also from the tausug people LIKEEE?? they've always promoted other cultures of the philippines i know they can do it but because of CAPITALISM--). But the song bangs so severely, as a pop enjoyer this is peak pop for me.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT DAGUNDONG

DAGUNDONG, a song basically recounting the colonial history of the Philippines from Spain to America, is just so fucking good you should watch/listen to it rn. There's EN subs don't worry you won't miss out on the context. This is colonial rage it's so satisfying I still remember where I was when they dropped this.

personal opinion: FOREVER OBSESSED WITH HOW THEY SAY "dahil puso mandirigma di papakutsa di papapugon" you guys have no idea how much i sing that line to myself sooo satisfying. Instant earworm this song i swear.

OK ONE LAST one last and i'm done. okay.

MAHARANI, a Sanskrit term for the wife of a Maharaja (translated as "great queen"), heavily features singkil, a Maranao dance which uses bamboo poles like tinikling does. The song also uses SEAsian instruments like kanun, gamelan, and gangsa. Also BINI's Jhoanna plays one of the main characters here!!!

personal opinion: this is their most pop-sounding song, which i think is slightly carried by the video i'm sorryyy. it's catchy though!! and i looove the part somewhere halfway where alas starts his verse, singing it in a more spoken-word way

___

okay 5 songs is. probably enough. this post is already kinda long shdfjskdff but yeah. pls check them out if you can hehe <3

also ppop idols are just really funny. there's no concept of an idol image so they just tweet shit. alamat jao gave out his genshin UID after a fan tweeted about having co-oped with him in genshin, and then after that he started answering questions with the hashtag "#canceljao" making a lot of magiliws (alamat fans) confused, and then he posted a classic iphone notes apology like this 😭

i'll do a bini version after this my girls deserve more international hype. they occupy a more girlcrush pop genre but they're just as chaotic as alamat if not even more 😭 there are entire THREADS on twitter of them just being hilarious jdhfkshgf i love them so much

thanks for reading <3

[rogers-attic]

unpopular american dad opinions:

((im not saying my opinions are right, this is just how i feel personally about certain things in regards to the show))

- raptures delight is SEVERLY overrated. while it is an okay xmas ep, the apocalyptic part had a cool art style/music, and a quick golden turd callback, i just personally think some of the other xmas eps are better and its just really over hyped

- hot water is another ep that i feel the same way as the ep mentioned above, as well as daddys gone, which occurs in the same ep. its just not that great of an ep imho and it was kinda a weak series premiere. i think the hurricane ep wouldve been a better series premiere (the ep after hot water).

*side note: i have watched both these eps more than once and tried to give them a chance. they really dont do anything for me, im sorry*

- fox era was WAAAY better. while the tbs era has its bangers, it seems like its hit or miss for good eps in this era. they just dont seem as funny to me sometimes as the fox era ones and i feel like its a chore to watch a lot of eps from this era. while its still the same show, i also feel the vibe and quality changed after the switch too, if you get what im saying.

- while am dad has a LOT of original songs that are bangers, like b12 and good not great, some of them, like cilantros song and daddys gone (like i previously mentioned), are just too overrated. they get so much love and attention and are just overused/over hyped to the point where its not enjoyable and like the eps I mentioned about, arent that spectacular imho.

- the season 4 to present intro is my favorite! while some may call it lazy to just reuse roger personas, i think its a nice callback to previous outfits he has wore. i like to play a game with myself every time i watch those intros and try to remember which ep he wore said disguise in. yes, the newspaper ones were cool, especially the office spaceman one, and they could probably come up with more headlines than personas, they would run out of those eventually as well, and the roger ones are more eye opening and catchy.

- jeff is the best bf for hayley. now this is def an obvious one but avery was waaay to old for her and only dated him bcuz jeff wasnt assertive enough, reggie is a freaking animal, and that ian guy was so they could double date. plus, hayley had been with jeff way before any of those others came into the pic. while jeff has his flaws, so does hayley but at the end of the day, they are very much alike and have unconditional love for each other.

- klaus is a great character! while it can be cringy a lot, doesnt always get the spotlight, and is the meg of american dad, in his words “he is the glue that holds the family together” and the show wouldnt be the same without him.

- roger is NOT overrated, annoying, or unfunny. while some may say that roger is overrated and too used, he is a main character of the show after all and gets a lot of screen time because the crew know he is a fan favorite. his mischief, promiscuous behavior, costumes, and having no filter is what makes him hilarious. for an alien, he is very human and makes us all relate to him heavily. in an old interview i watched, mike barker stated roger is like the guest star every episode because of his hundreds and hundreds of outfits. and to ppl out there saying he is annoying because of the way he acts, that is literally his character like wtf grow up and learn lol

[2-shots2-thehead]

Pete dating a My space famous Scene Queen headconons?

- Can I get a kiss ? And can you make it last forever? -

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

Summary : Headcanons for the lil emo boy dating a MySpace era scene queen >-<

Pairing : Pete Wentz (FOB) x Scene!Fem!Reader (Use of Y/n)

Warnings : Mentions of physical affection- Other than that, just sillies

A/N : the ideas yall come up with for rqs have me going feral- writing this on the drive to the hospital for my unnamed chronic illness 👅 guys i just wanted an excuse to use a Tyler lyric

- ALSKSJSHAUSHDBAHKS

- you guys absolutely met at a rave and you can’t convince me otherwise

- he saw you living your best life, huge smile, n was just like ‘…holy shit’

- he instantly ran over to talk and asked for your number

- you guys went on an arcade date later that week, and had been together since

- christ your hair

- he thinks it’s the coolest thing on the planet

- he constantly offers to help style it, even if he kinda sucks at it

- i mean, he does his own hair, how hard can it be ? same thing

- its completely different

- but you let him do it.. usually

- and by usually i mean days where you aren’t going to a billion places

- days where he can sit back, look at his work, then realize he sucks at styling your hair

- you guys have a bunch of matching bracelets

- he never takes them off.

- never.

- he really likes if/when you make him bracelets/kandi

- if one ever breaks, he’s immediately rushing over to you with a childish pout begging you to fix it

- another thing he loves to help you with is makeup

- and he’s actually pretty good at it

- he just is very..good at picking colors that don’t match whatsoever

- you guys share music all the time

- he writes you little guitar riffs and plays them whenever you’re sad

- you guys have matching necklaces, but they’re always ridiculous

- adorable. but ridiculous

- ⬇️⬇️⬇️

- you convince him to let you paint his nails

- he’ll never outwardly say it, but he loves it

- he will, however, point out how talented you are and ask how the hell you do it because he would never be able to do something (oh) so intricate (…this ain’t a scene….its an arms race..)

- he also loves making you listen to music that he finds kinda dorky but oh well, it’s catchy

- like I’m talking, not time accurate, but ‘V’ - maroon 5 type shit

- he gets worried all the time that the brackets you wear will cut off circulation 🙏😭

- this man

- “okay, but..are you sure? like…sure-sure. promise? y/n, i-” “pete, my wrists are fine”

- he brings u monster all the time (if u can drink it)

- he also is constantly searching for little accessories to bring you

- tiny little trinkets

- stupid things that he knows you’ll find funny or cute

- such as little hair bows or stickers

- famous on myspace ?

- he uses it too !

- perfect, right ?

- every single time you post something, he’s the first to see it and comment

- it was pretty obvious to ppl that you were together, even before saying anything

- but don’t blame him- he can’t help it. its not his fault you’re so pretty ☹️

- he really likes taking pictures of you (like not in a weird way obviously- you’re very much aware of it 💀)

- there are about a million posts on your myspace where the caption has ‘beautiful photography from pete X333’ in brackets

- he brags to all his friends about how absolutely awesome you are

- every. single. conversation. (it gets a little tiring)

- “yeah, so then-“ “oh, did you see that y/n dyed her hair again? it looks so cool”

- long story short, my man is just down bad 😭

- giggling, kicking his feet, twirling his hair type shit

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 7: Introducing Sparks (Those Mysteries)

The big nagging question that appeared in my mind right after having my first listen of this album, earlier this year on a particularly beautiful and sunny spring day, was "so THIS is one of the weak ones???". Because seriously, this album has it all: the Sparks spirit on full display, the humour, the FUN, the lyrical wit, incredibly catchy melodies, fun and lush instrumentation... It even feels like a bit of a return to the glam era, even if in a slightly different form.

I want to get to the bottom of what makes the humour on this album work especially... I think it's truly one of its strongest sides. There's a bunch of other albums to come later that could also be considered some of the more comedic ones, and I think it's always a pretty similar element connecting it all... What is it? Well, it must just be... one of Those Mysteries. But ok, let's at least give this a try.

Lots of elements here are quite, let's call it, cheesy on surface: the seriousness with which all the different Occupations are treated, the "aAaAAAA" backup vocals on Ladies, the bridge (and, honestly, everything else too) of Forever Young, the high stakes of Goofing Off, the melodrama of Those Mysteries... Maybe it's the knowledge that it's Sparks that lets one see past this "facade". Maybe someone uninitiated could think that this is all just played straight. Or would it become too obvious for anyone to be fooled by the time we get to Goofing Off? And is there anything to be fooled about anyways...?

Because yeah, these songs are funny and poke fun at things, but without veering into actual parody teritory. I've been thinking about a very similar thing with They Might Be Giants, who also use a lot of humour in their music but are NOT a comedic / parody act (...despite seemingly every music reviewer being convinced of the opposite). Maybe it's the devotion and respect with which they both treat their art and audiences: the subject matter might be funny, but that doesn't mean that what they do can be condensed to just some joke (which is, again, lost on some reviewers). So, well, there's definitely a lot more to get into in regards to this topic and more opportunities to do that soon with later albums, so, stay tuned, maybe?

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

They're all so good... And this is yet another Sparks album that I think just flows super well and all the songs make a magnificent whole. But still, here are some personal highlights.

Occupation: literally one of the catchiest songs in existence, it tormented me for days if not weeks on end back in the day. The flow of "You need an-ah, You need an-ah, You need an Occupation" is incredibly good

Ladies: like I described earlier... it's just so funny

I'm Not: beaten by maybe one other song for the spot of THE #1 song that I was unable to stop listening to over and over right after hearing the album it's from

Goofing Off: ok, THIS one's the funniest. And the guitar solo has no right to go as hard as it does

Girls On The Brain: Ron writes about a brother who's "kinda thick" and hands the song to his brother to sing. Ok!!

Those Mysteries: only Sparks could make a song as solemn and sentimental sounding as this that I'm actually a huge fan of

[nono-bunny]

Thank Starkid for uploading VHSCC to Youtube, albeit temporarily, because their site doesn't work for me so I couldn't buy it or any other digital ticket (including Cinderella's Castle for which I was a kickstarter 🥲) and I'm so glad I can still watch it now!!

Anyway here are my thoughts/liveblogging post from watching! I didn't think to do this until I reached the second part and realized I had a lot to say so everything about the new material is retroactively written

I. Hate to say it, but I can't remember a single new song. One reason I love VHSCC so much is because it only took me one watch to remember the songs, they're incredibly catchy and iconic... And the new ones did nothing to me.

In general I didn't really vibe with the new material? I think it's important to note that I don't celebrate Christmas, like, it's not even the main wintertime holiday of where I live so inherently theres a level of disconnect for me with that angle, but I still find some Christmas stories charming- case in point, I genuinely love A Christmas Carol! I know these two stories outside of the lens of Christmas- I'm fairly certain I heard a different holiday version of Gift of the Magi as a kid, and I had the book of The Little Matchgirl as a kid and didn't uh. Really touch it after reading it once because I found it senselessly sad. So like? I'm familiar with these stories, but this version of them really didn't hit me in the way I think they're meant to or in the way the original versions do. I didn't really find Gift of the Magi touching or funny, which I feel like is what they should've gone for at the end, and I felt... Nothing with Little Matchgirl, which surprised me because I was fully prepared to cry.

Actually it. Felt really preachy while also somehow being just completely empty of meaning to me? Little Matchgirl in particular. Idk. The tragedy of it just... Completely failed to land for me when Clark immediately starts singing about uh. Activism essentially? It's like, bro, you didn't even give me enough time to process it or to get sad before you just started preaching at me??? Idk, I just. Really didn't like it. Clark's parts in general were the worst parts of the new material in my opinion, which surprised me, because I did like them in Christmas Carol! Idk, it might be a matter of the stories being too short, so it feels intrusive for the detached narrator to cut in to fill in blanks that weren't there or to hammer down the message, instead of letting the characters and story do it themselves.

I genuinely don't enjoy shitting so hard on the new stuff, but. I didn't really like them and kinda just wanted them to be over so I could watch a show I knew I DID like. I don't think it was all bad, I mean, the acting was fun and everyone's obviously mad talented, but in terms of musicality and story, which are the two things I really loved about Christmas Carol, it felt like a big step down for me. Also, I did like how Scrooge was just. There though, that was really funny

OK! Moving on! From here on its probably gonna be way more positive lmao because I love VHSCC and this is it now!

The smaller cast feels weird with how big the OG one was, in general the different casting is gonna be interesting. The stages configuration is a pretty big difference, but it does feel like, intimate which was probably really fun in person, and I like how they're playing around with it! I'm also less of a fan of this screen so far, it basically added nothing but uh. We'll see ig

Scrooge actually screeching after Clark narrating him doing it was a fantastic addition lmao. It caught me (and seemingly the audience!) so off guard and it was hilarious!! AJ has generally been way less physical than Dylan so far, which I kinda missed, but ngl he completely won me over with that one lmao

Meredith is so pretty, she's nailing it!! As I knew she would but. Still felt noteworthy lol

OK ngl given how Jaime was just. Not in the first half but still credited I was 100% sure she was not gonna be there physically, just through the screen similar to Ali in the OG, so I was actually really fucking surprised when she came out??? Where were they hiding her for the entirety of the first half!!! Travesty!!!

God the spirits are just as attractive a year later (two technically by the time of me watching this, but shh), they're SO good. A stark contrast to Clark's awful wig, actually, my god what is up with that thing???

Fuck yeah, physical chains!!

I wonder why they changed some of the interstitial lyrics? I mean, the snore was hilarious, but this isn't the first change and the previous one didn't have a comedic element added in.

The new choreography is excellent, I'm actually really happy with the stage for facilitating these changes

I'm sorry Curt is too much of a sweetheart and I'm really having a hard time buying him as post-money Scrooge lmao. He eats the singing though! Brian did too, but weirdly enough only on stage and not in the recorded version lmao

Janaya is fr so talented, I'd love to see her in other Starkid stuff!

I miss Corey. Unrelated to where I'm at in the musical rn but I forgot to mention it at the start. Brian is just. A completely different Fred and it feels weird

Best song incoming! VHSCC is what made me fall in love with James- it was the first time I saw him in a bigger role, and I can't wait to see him in Cinderella's Castle

Just wanna clarify: Brian's Fred is still fun, he's just like, different from Corey's? He's more... Sarcastic, if that makes sense?

Every year that goes by makes Brian playing Tiny Tim funnier

Thief Brian is giving Junior vibes lmao

I knew about Della and Jim replacing the gay couple so that wasn't surprising, but a nice cameo nonetheless, especially with how Scrooge bought Jim's watch lmao

Okay the "screen" aka what seems to be a sheet of fabric being projected onto is just. Completely pointless and useless aside from minor ambience. Not only have they lost the VHS aesthetic it had, the actually fun and cool effects just don't seem to be possible with it and it sucks

I do love the rest of the vast staring at and then dragging Scrooge down, that was cool

Is. Is that the ghost of the Little Match girl orrrr...? Are we dealing with an AU situation? I mean, the Della and Jim resolution doesn't necessarily conflict with what we saw and is very sweet too but. This sure raises some timeline questions lol

Matching uncle and nephew sunglasses 🥰

I wish more Starkid shows included the curtain calls, those are always so fun and they feel important to recreate the feeling of watching live theater, even through a screen.

Anyway, I'm done watching now! Final thoughts? Might warm up to the first half upon rewatching (not like it hasn't happened to me with some shows before!), but initially I'm not the biggest fan. I can't say that this rendition of a Christmas Carol is better, but it's absolutely not worse either, and honestly that's all I wanted really. It was still tons of fun, and I liked it a lot! There's for sure a disconnect between the two halves though- heck, even between the two stories in the first half- and they feel... Too different to me, so I can't exactly say doubling the length was exactly... Worth it? One advantage of the OG is that it's short, which results in me frequently rewatching it, and this doesn't really have the same advantage, especially not considering I'll probably only really wanna rewatch the second half Anyway... Regardless, I still wish I could've paid them to watch this last year, it sucks that their site just. Doesn't work for me, so I'm glad that they made it accessible for me here. And now I'm eagerly awaiting Cinderella's Castle!

[mspandorasart]

Thoughts about Undertale Yellow

Greetings, I just returned from binging through Undertale Yellow, True Pacifist Route specifically, and am seeking a place to let out some thoughts (and steam). It's the first time I'm doing this type of "review" on my blog, but since my thoughts on it are quite strong, I thought, "hey, why the heck not"? Spoilers for the game and its ending ahead, fellas. Buckle up.

First off, let me begin by stating that, for the most part, I had a blast playing through it. The music is amazing, the boss themes real bangers, the environmental ones great as well. My favorite track was the OST that played in the Dunes: a really catchy western vibe with Flowey's theme in it as well, an earworm that filled me with Determination while running through the sandy fields. Then we have a beautiful pixel art style, gorgeous sceneries, great gameplay with challenging and fun boss fights (side note: although I couldn't fully appreciate Ceroba's fight since it had a couple pretty much unavoidable attacks. Or is it just skill issue on my part? Anyway, that part annoyed me more than it should have. Moving on, lmao.)

Furthermore, the game also has charming characters! They are the ones that kept me going and really ignited my interest. Not gonna lie, it took me until the town in the Dunes to become really invested in the game. Martlet is charming and cute, sure, but North Star and his gang, no, that guy specifically sold it for me. Charismatic, funny, very expressive sprites (well, all facial sprites are quite colorful, but it took me until North Star to appreciate/notice just how many there are for each character) and an interesting internal conflict with wanting to entertain others so they forget about the pain of being stuck underground, but at the same time being so absorbed in his persona that he temporarily acts like a douche towards his pals and forgets who he truly is. He also features my favorite joke in the game when he proudly proposes to the salesman that "he wants to buy a gun for the child". Freaking hilarious, love him, huehehue.

Story-wise, I was pleasantly surprised and taken aback by the dark twists of Ceroba and her husband Chujin. And I appreciated how the flashbacks got intigrated within her final boss fight. I don't know about you, but my biggest motivation to play RPGs are not just the gameplay, it's mainly the characters and the story. If the gameplay is amazing but the characters/plot boring, then I lose interest quickly. To me, the real rewards of a tough battle are story progression and seeing just what the characters will do next. Therefore, I greatly enjoyed the breaks between Ceroba's phases in which we saw parts of her backstory. They even made me cry!

...Although, to be honest, I don't exactly understand why we had that insight into her mind in the first place. Why did we survive so many hits to the point of 0.00001 HP? Where's that coming from all of a sudden? Why did time stop at some point like Za Warudo? Maybe that random plot armor (that happened the first time and never again) is explained in another route, but anyway, moving on-

This review-style blog entry only exists because of the True Pacifist ending. I'll be blunt, I hate it. Why?

So it ends with Clover sacrificing their soul for the monsters so they can eventually break free. Which is fine on its own. Clover is for the most part a blank slate of a character, only driven by their desire to seek the lost humans, that's basically it. Maybe it would have made a bit more sense for Clover to see an actual physical proof of their demise before they give up on them completely, but eh. I'm also wondering whether they are really okay with potentially another, possibly innocent human falling down sometime in the future only to get killed by the monsters. But oh well.

(You know, now that I think about it, I actually am a bit salty about Clover's decision to sacrifice themselves, lmao. Would've been kinda cool if it was up to the player, have another ending split.)

Anyways, the issue I'm having is how our cast of supporting characters, Martlet, North Star aka Starlo and Ceroba react to Clover's decision. They are shocked first, but... agree surprisingly quickly?? What?? Excuse me, the entire hassle we went through to get to this point was to stop Ceroba from taking Clover's soul. Now with Clover volunteering to sacrifice themselves, the gang is cool with it??

Of course they don't agree immediately, but are easily swayed within a few arguments back and forth. Man, what friends you are, guys. The reason I'm having this pet peeve in the first place is because we as the human, who has known these guys for just a day, did a lot for them, alright? They all tried to kill us at one point, but we took the beating, the hard battles, forgave them and were there for them during their internal conflicts. We were a pretty decent friend, if I may say so.

Especially with Ceroba! We did a lot to change her mind and path of self-destruction! Yet our so-called friends don't put in the same amount of effort when it comes to convincing us otherwise- or heck, use force if you must- get Clover away from there, lmao. Wouldn't it have been an interesting act of redemption on Ceroba's part, by the way, if she tried to stop us? Being touched by our mercy and refusal to give up on her, she does the same for us?

I suppose the reason I am so baffled by all this is because of Clover being a blank slate, the player character really felt like me, like I was going through the journey and not like I was controlling another character. It felt like my decision to spare them all, to talk to them and wanting to get to know them better. So the group of characters I have really grown to like giving up on me within about a minute of back-and-forth just felt... wow. Thanks, guys.

If I compare it to Undertale's True Pacifist in which every important supporting character gathers up after the confrontation with Asgore, all agreeing with the decision of me, the player, staying in the Underground with them, then oh boy, it really stings. Just would've been a cool, wholesome sign of friendship if Martlet, Starlo and Ceroba decided that "nah, even for the surface, we won't give up on Clover". By the way, in this game, we don't even really get to see why the monsters want to return to the surface so badly. They keep saying they want to, but what are the reasons exactly? More freedom, I suppose. Yet by expanding the Underground with the Dunes, the Mines, the Factory, and some of Snowdin, the Ruins and New Home, their habitat seemed so much larger than in the OG game- What I wanna say is, their desperation should've been shown way more instead of told, so the player can understand the monsters' aspiration better.

The thing is, it's a shockingly easy issue to fix if you really want "the canon ending" with Clover ending up dead and their soul taken: have Clover still have their moment of doubt and realization, remembering what the monsters told them throughout their journey. Then they go to Asgore with their gang, hoping to convince him. It doesn't work out, so Asgore starts a fight. During the battle, Clover realizes it's useless to fight back, it's better to have their soul taken for the monsters, so they allow Asgore to kill them. Their friends are not powerful enough to stop him. There ya have it.

Siiiiigh. Is it just me, being annoyed by that ending? As a whole, the finale felt a little... rushed? Was New Home always meant to be so empty? Is it to build up atmosphere? Yet there were two silly NPCs in the first screen of New Home, making me assume that maybe, there was another plan originally? (If it has been stated in a devlog or any other comment by the creators, then I apologize, I haven't read those fully.)

Anyways, if I didn't care about the game, this rant wouldn't even exist in the first place. I was really invested in the game until the ending just left me... kinda sad, not gonna lie. It will take me a while to process it all.

If you got this far, then thanks for reading. Am I the only one feeling this miffed about the ending? I might go back and edit this post if I find out there are things to be corrected. Buuuut as of now, happy holidays!

[airplanned]

10 First Lines Challenge

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to and see if there are any patterns!

This is interesting. I might do this for the last ten short stories I've written, just for myself and see if there's anything to be noticed.

Zoro's soulmate turns out to be dumb as fuck. (A Me for You. ⋆⋆⋆⋆ We have a tone.)

One of Sanji's favorite things in the world is to shower the objects of his affections with sweet words and kind gestures. (Like Clockwork. Kinda generic start, but again, this is the tone.)

Luffy has taken to jumping on people. (Not Special. ⋆⋆⋆⋆. This sets a scene, and then makes you ask where I'm going with this)

Sooga held the little girl aloft by the scruff of her neck as she snarled like a wet cat, trying and failing to stab him with the knife in her hand. (Ruin of the Yiga. Heck yeah, that paints a picture!)

Zelda sat alone on the abbey’s roof at night. (Silence. This is not a strong start, but it's also a very vibe-heavy piece, so you know what you're getting here.)

"I wish the boat had sunk and the sheep had drowned," Zelda's advisor muttered over the flagon of ale that he was determined not to drink in her presence. (Set it to a Catchy Tune. This sets up a scene, and also raises questions. Nice.)

Zelda's hands are sweating. (K.K. Ballad. This is not a strong start, but it is a sequel, so it's not really intended to catch new people.)

“Zone three today, right?” Link asks, and Zelda is inordinately pleased that he’s using her terminology. (How to Build a Bridge. Not super catchy, but it sets up a scene and an emotion, and again, this is a sequel.)

A guardian was following him. (This Guardian has a Flower Crown. This isn't a strong sentence on its own, but since it's fanfic, you know right off the bat that that's bad news.)

Zelda stormed down the hallway, her sleeves and dress billowing behind her, the rage on her face keeping everyone at bay. (All the Trashy Novels. Yessss. There's an emotion there and it's cinematic. Nice.)

So I think I do a good job of setting a tone. It's quality if I can set a scene to ground a reader. It's quality if I can be funny or raise questions that draw the reader forward. It's rare that I can do all three of these, but that's alright!

[shinygoku]

Abbey Road (1969)

It's always bittersweet when things come to an end. Especially when the times were good, you want more of that! But nothing can last forever, and sometimes the best one can do is to go out on a high, a tribute to and capping off of the fun had over a decade of creating music as such a close unit. I'm not going into the ins and outs of the foregone conclusion, partly as it's too sad and messy, yet oddly commercial lol, but this Album helps soothe the pain.

Obviously this picture needs little introduction, it's possibly their most iconic of album covers... maybe even of any band! No shade meant to Revolver or Sgt Pepper, but THIS is one I'd like upon my wall~ It's also more impressive that only a handful of potential snapshots were taken in about 10 minutes, and they happened upon this near-perfect sync! While Paul's irregularity has painful resonance in the band's breakup and tedious conspiracy theories, there ain't a thing I'd change in the picture even if I did have the godly power to do so. It's incredible in its simplicity and the symbolism of them no longer facing the crowds, but walking on into the next stage of their lives. Though many people imitate this at the real Abbey Road crossing, this is yet another instance of The Beatles bottling a bolt of lightning.

SIDE ONE

Come Together: Yes, they were fully aware of the dirty reading of the track name and they lean into it. Also a very funky, catchy song~ There's a theory that the four verses describing "Ol' Flat Top" correspond to each Beatle, though debate rages on the first two being Ringo and George, the John (Walrus gumboots, Ono sideboards) and Paul (Got to be good looking cause he's so hard to see) are clear. How many of us hear the "hold you in his arms, yeah, you can feel his disease" as "hold you in his armchair"? I can detect both and I think the latter has been accepted retroactively lmao. The near-whispered "Shoot me" parts have aged poorly, probably another heroin reference but oof...

Oh! And there's also a cool official music video on yt with Low Poly Beatles grooving around, but if you're photosensitive you may find the flashing colours and strobing effects are pretty overwhelming. The comments have funny snowclone memes too. All in all I dig this number~

Something: Quite possibly George's Magnum Opus, his abilities as a songwriter having been a slow burn with incredible payoff. I've been pretty lukewarm of most of his numbers doing these reviews, but that's partly as I had Something in mind of what he could really do ^^;; The guitars, bass and percussion are all fantastic, with George's gentle but powerful vocals and the mesmerised lyrics. No wonder it even caught the attention and approval of so many, like Frank Sinatra! His cover is fine but kinda blurs into Sinatra-esque sameness, featuring "Jack" (and he missed the memo that George wrote it, oops!)

This also has a very nice music vid with the Bugs and their Girls that can be seen on yt, though it's also painful as it's both after the band split up (Paul's footage clearly being on his farm when I think the others are all in the same, different location) and each and every one of these pairings went awry in the following years either with divorce, death, or both. But uhh, don't let that distract you from the beauty of the song itself ;w;;;;

Maxwell's Silver Hammer: A notoriously controversial song, at least among The Beatles themselves. It's Paul's baby and he made an upbeat, jolly ditty about a serial killer. The other three remember it being a massive pain to record and not worth all that effort (George's critique of it being "fruity" isn't far off though lmao). In my opinion, the song is fine but also far from Paul's best, and it seemingly needed fewer Takes than a lot of their other songs, so I think the JGR distaste isn't with the song itself, but it became a heat sink of their tension with Paul. Anyway, with audiences this seems to be a popular one, at least in tumblr circles, where it's cited as one of their funniest songs. The piano and other instruments are all really strong, too.

Oh! Darling: Paul belting out his anguished declarations to another party that he won't harm them, and please don't leave him. His vocals get extremely intense and raw, nicely counterbalanced with instruments. John was impressed with this song, but annoyed he didn't get a go as it's more a Him Style performance, possibly oblivious or choosing not to see that he's very obviously the other party that Paul is pleading to. Also Ringo's drumwork here is really great~

Octopus's Garden: :D 🐙🌻💐🌷💙

I absolutely loooove this song!! Partially inspired by the real life behaviour of Octopus...s for assembling a nice arrangement of odds and ends in their patch, which Ringo learned during his break from the band in the White Album era. It's not just my Ringo bias, it's such a pretty and charming bop with somewhat profound metaphorical resonance (I'm gonna say indeed influenced by The Conflicts within the Band, ough) and funky, unorthodox instruments like the bubbles lol. Both a groovy Country & Western flavour and a song that works nicely for children, joining the likes of Yellow Submarine (hey, a theme!) and All Together Now. Additional shout out to George for his part in making this song happen and ooohh, what instrumentation there is too! That the Super Mario 3D World main theme seems to have similar key changes(?) is another W I'm giving this song~

I Want You (She's So Heavy): This one gets a lot of praise, and I do dig the shredding, building guitar riff and slowly increasing drama and Oomph of this song, but I also think it maybe goes on a bit longer than it needs to. The abrupt cutoff is a cool moment but my then my brain has usually disconnected some focus, so the effect isn't quite as profound on me ^^;;

SIDE TWO

Here Comes the Sun: In case Something wasn't enough, here's George's optimistic masterpiece. Now, I think this is slightly overplayed (similar to ELO's Thematically The Same Song of Mr Blue Sky ...which is even more overplayed in movies and such maybe due to Royalties being less pricy lmao) but I also like that this one is something like The Most Streamed Song Ever. And it's easy to shrug off the lyrics in summer but when you get weeks and weeks of dreary, overcast, drizzly, dark-at-3pm ass winter weather, a clear sky and bright sun really DOES perk one up! (Remember, The Beatles are from Liverpool, which is in England!) That also works as a metaphor, and indeed it seems George had skived off work to have a day off in the garden when this song came to him, haha

This also has a lovely Video on yt, with animated sequences of a heron flying around as The Beatles cross the road and stand for the Last Photoshoot. The latter of which seems kind of ironic, but I'm not opposed to framing the events as more Sweet than Bitter. Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened, type of thing :'3

Because: A baroque kind of piano or harpsichord backs the ethereal harmonies, musing about nature. Their harmonies were always a strong part of their songs, and this feels like a logical conclusion. A song I don't have much to say for, but I really like it all the same :)

(...The next songs are officially a Medley, but I'm still talking about each individually...)

You Never Give Me Your Money: This in of itself feels like a seamless mash-up of three distinct songs, and the whole this is such a bop! I'm inclined to doubt the official story that it's directed at the Beatle's then-Manager, who was notoriously awful and scumbaggy, just as this song seems to lack the venom that would be appropriate for such a case of vagueblogging. But maybe Paul's taking the high road here, and WOW it's got a nice view from that path! The three "parts" of it have been theorised to correspond to the other 3 Beatles in yt comments, which doesn't appear to be the case but it's still a fun observation. All that theorising aside, absolutely fab piano with the building addition of guitars, bass and percussion, pivoting to a more ragtime arrangement and then calming down and building up again for the last stretch with much more optimistic (if potentially Ironic) lyrics and a very front-and-centre guitar fading into spoken chants and bells.

Sun King: Starting with the chirping crickets that were faintly heard before (yeah, medleys be like that lol), we have a very mellow and pleasant instrumental. Then we get more harmonised "Ooooohs" and "Here comes the sun ....king" before spoken words and the return of the harmonies. The song closes after a mixing of Romance Language Words, with Ye Olde Liverpool slang mixed in.

Mean Mr. Mustard: The tempo quickly steps up a few levels for a rather dry dragging of some miserly Dirty Old Man (he's not very clean, this one!) with prominent piano and in later years, comparison to the Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Though it seems that may be more based on a bridge of a different song Paul would make, but I digress... - Mister Mustard here cuts off abruptly, perhaps one note early?

Polythene Pam: Strong electric guitar introduces this woman who "is so good looking she looks like a man", which reminds me of Lovely Rita XD;; - John really leans into a Leeverpull accent and there's tambourines, heavy drums and strong guitar, though I find it harder to parse the lyrics due to the loudness. But she was previously mentioned as the sibling of Mister Mustard. What a Beatles Characters Universe we have going!

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window: This gives me strong echolalia pretty much any time going in or out via a window is mentioned ^^;; - It seems to be a wistful kind of song about a "dancer" who needs more money and tries to gain extra cash via breaking and entering, but is less than effective at it. A cool musical assortment but not an all-timer for me.

Golden Slumbers: "Once there was a way to get back homeward" would already deal pretty heavy psychic damage to me, given how that links to multiple songs obliquely about the split, but this is also backed with beautiful (yet tasteful! very much unlike the LIB album!) and powerful instruments. Seemingly partially based on an existing lullaby but as none of the Beatles can read sheet music it still stands up as original and lovely, my main complaint only being that it's short and when not in the Medley, it cuts off too sharply. But that's to lead into...

Carry That Weight: BOOOOY! I love it when Ringo is so audible... and oh god, the You Never Give Me Your Money reprise with new verses!! This song is beating me up, especially with the Reality Subtext again, like if the use of YNGMYM is alluding to Paul being the odd one out (who was later proven Correct) but he still lost the band and the heaviness of that continues into this present day?! ...Or, as that's written with the aid of hindsight and my mind quick to make theories, it could also be about the whole group and their Impact, impossible to ignore (though people still try to downplay it ¬¬;; ...lol) and their legacy continues. They were amazing but also Patient Zero for much celebrity culture these days, exposed to absolute horrors as no one knew what to expect or how out of hand things may spiral... I'm rambling. The song itself is also another groovy bop, but the Meanings are maybe a bit more powerful for me =w=;;

(...Oh god the voices in this are Paul and Ringo and not John or George, oh god this song saw the future, paaaaaaain)

The End: This has a very welcome surge of energy and ooohhh man I've not talked enough about the drumming Ringo's done in this album, but I'm glad the others got him to do a solo here, even if he doesn't Need to prove his skills in isolation lol. The following 3 guitar solos are bringing such a cool rock flavour (sorry I can't tell whose is whose yet though, haha), then the climactic, calm, harmonised declaration that closes the song, the album, and even the Band itself.

...

Her Majesty: Well, other than this coda! The last note from (iirc) MMM startles one into waking up after having been so thoroughly carried by the power of the previous numbers, and then a cute little ditty postscript. I'm mixed on how much I like this being after The End, which I'm pretty sure is a common take. I will say though, that the Boys doing a little cheeky prank on their way out feels perfectly in character for them, and they liked it as a secret bonus track, so fair's fair.

CONCLUSION

Best 3: How in the hell do I pick just 3 here? Maaaan! I'm gonna hafta go with... Here Comes The Sun, You Never Give Me Your Money and Golden Slumbers. I hope you know how hard it was to not have Octopus's Garden up here!!

Blurst 3: Inversely, finding 3 duds is harder than normal here too lol. I'm gonna say Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - but only Polythene Pam is actually weak to me, the others just haven't got the same effect or Oomph as the rest of the album.

So... here we are, at the end of the (Abbey) Road. Once again I rue and shake my fist at the stupid corporate bullshit that had Let It Be come out after this, because if anything has a perfect ending, it's Dragonball GT and This Album for their respective franchises. If Her Majesty is contentious for coming out after The End, then that goes 100x more for such a limp noodle assortments of songs with meddling all over it. I'm going on a tangent here, but my point is this:

While the Beatles story ended sadly, this album is a beautiful farewell.

I genuinely wonder how they managed to pull it together for this, but I'm so grateful they found a way. If only the circumstances weren't so dire, they could have made more like this, which sounds selfish of me but it's also, like, something the boys loved to do. If they'd been allowed time and breathing room, and not being manipulated by bean counters and jackasses, if such and such could have been avoided, and so on. Blegh. Sorry for these derailings, the irl lore is too messy and sad for me to cover properly but it's an elephant in the room! Why else would a band shut up shop when they were reaching new heights? But well, they sure did leave an amazing legacy.

Abbey Road truly is the pinnacle of this. The Best album. Firing on all cylinders, no misses, every gear and cog running smoothly for a complete experience.

🪲🪲🪲🪲

So, now what? Well, I've only covered the Albums, and I was quite jammy that there was one for each month XD - However, there's tons of incredibly famous songs that I haven't got to, like She Loves You and I Wanna Hold Your Hand. These are the singles! And while I'm not sure how I'll group them for write-ups like this (by era might be sensible but there's like, a Lot! Hmmm...) there's other Beatle Material I wanna discuss, like their Movies and the previously skipped Yellow Submarine Album (which I actually love, but I feel it'd be better grouped elsewhere~).

What I might do first, though, is a bit of a retrospective on these retrospectives, as I've noticed a slight drift in my style of writing, and having listened to most of the songs again since, some of my opinions may've moved a little bit in transit. This won't be as in depth but should be Fun ^w^

[brainless-393]

Fuck it I’m posting my music yap session EARLY mueheheh

THIS SHIT IS LONG IF YOU READ ALL OF THIS WHY AND HOW THE FUCK

yap session 😼 was gonna write more but nahhh that would be toooo much

Ok first artist/ band: Lemon Demon/Neil Cicierega. Words and actions cannot express how much I love this mans music. I will only talk about my favorite songs from a few of his albums. 

First song, Soft Fuzzy Man from the Spirit Phone album. This song has been my top song for 3 years. I never get tired of it. I can somewhat relate to it in a way, which is hard to explain. The somewhat desperation to be noticed and love by someone while being different from other people (how I personally view it). Its honestly one of the best songs in the album.

Second song, Action Movie Hero Boy from the Dinosaurchestra album. Although not being one of the most iconic songs in the album like Fine, The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny, or Dinosaurchestra parts 1-3 it is still my favorite in that album. It kinda catches that somewhat childhood like feeling of wanting to be the hero in a movie for me and its a sorta silly song that has a good tune. 

Third song, Really Cool Wig from the Nature Tapes album. God I feel like all of the songs in that album are either a fever dream or just weird but a banger (Two Trucks for example). Neil has probably made history with his weird songs. I personally like Really Cool Wig because its just a honestly really good song, funny lyrics, and a catchy beat.

Fourth song, Satirists Love Song from the View Monster album. I honestly don’t know how to explain this song and why I like it. I just always lived how it seemed slightly different from the other songs in View Monster.

Fifth song, Ode To Crayola which is a single i’m pretty sure. This song is just good. All Neil does is talk about his love for crayons and thats amazing.

Sixth song, my all time favorite, Geeks in Love (which I think is in Damn Skippy but is a single on Spotify?? Don’t remember). This song was what really got me into Lemon Demon when I started listening. Although I have been exposed to his music before I wasn’t really interested until a few years ago and I heard this absolute masterpiece. Its honestly such a relatable song. And its exactly what the songs title is, geeks in love. An absolutely great song, listen to it if you want. 

(Fun fact I have 82 lemon demon songs in my playlist and listen to all of them every day. I also have the spirit phone vinyl:3)

NEXT BAND!

Good Kid

I am excited to talk about this band. I got to see them live with another band I like. Most of their music is nice, upbeat, and good listens. You’ve probably heard their cover of ‘From The Start’ which I love. All of their songs are honestly good. I have a album on a vinyl and cd and absolutely love it. Definitely recommend you listen to Mimi’s Delivery Service. This is probably one of their best songs next to Summer and Bubbly. I probably have about 170 dollars worth of merch from Good Kid… might show it some time

NEXT ARTIST/BAND

Hot Freaks

My oh my have this band had me in a chokehold this year. I absolutely love their music, most of their songs are very catchy and have a few unique styles. My favorite song, Boyfriend from their Hot Freaks Forever album gives me Spamvil vibes… idk why. I could say more but I’ve been yapping too much and trying to hurry this up. You probably have heard them before since they have a few really popular songs (I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, Puppy Princess, and a few others). 

NEXT ARTIST/BAND

WillyRodriguezWasTaken 

underrated band? Artist? I forgot. Got into listening to them last year and like their music a lot. Might mot be your type since most of their music has a distorted ish filter over it that might annoy some but some might like. If interested I recommend listening to their song Vampira first, probably their best sounding song. My favorite songs from them is either City Pop Lullaby or Power Walker

NEXT BAND

Glass Beach

Started listening to this band a few years ago. I quickly got into their music, it just was slightly relatable music and had nice sound. My favorite song, Cold weather from their first album I think really stuck with me. It honestly felt very relatable for me when I was in a tough situation for a long time. Honestly give the song a listen its genuinely so good. Their other song that I like, Jhariah Dies And Goes To Hell, which features Jhariah unsurprisingly. It’s honestly an amazing sounding song with amazing switch ups in tempo, feel, and sound throughout the song. 

NEXT BAND

Phoneboy

Words cannot describe how happy I was when I heard about this band opening for GoodKid on their concert. Their music is mainly about love, breakup or a fee others things. If curious about this band you should probably listen to their song, Hey, Kid! From their first album. It’s how I started listening to them and it’s a great song to just overall listen to. Most of their songs have an upbeat tempo besides for a few when there is a tempo change. When I got to see them in concert I got an autographed vinyl and balled my eyes out and I got tossed a pair of heart shaped glasses after the concert. 

I think I’m gonna wrap this up ngl this is a huge ass yap session