#mod Annie explains things

[the1andonly-adrienbillcipherfan]

Yeah why don’t you like talking mod?

(Mysterious)

That’s not a reason

(Yes it is)

I really don’t understand them

@universe-001

I don't understand my mod much either.

If you bring up Greek mythology they'll go on a ra-

(OH MY GODS YES. YES YES YES.

SO ATHENA SHOULDN'T HAVE TURNED MEDUSA INTO A GORGAN BECAUSE POSEIDON IS KNOWN FOR THE SAME THING ZEUS IS: FORCING HIMSELF UPON WOMEN,

IN THIS PRESENTATION I WILL EXPLAIN WHY I AM AN IRL HALF BLOO-)

SHUT THE FUCK UP, ANNIE-

[a-survivors-dilemma]

Hi there, Mr. Postman! Or is it Mr. Grantz if that's alright...? I'm probably one of many uhh... "spectators" per se(?), I actually dunno how many. Nice to meet you, nevertheless. Also the one you greeted and Wick had lead just now is, well... Memory, which is a nice one to put into a joke!

Also Merry Christmas, mod Annie! Have some cookies and a warm glass of milk 🍪🍪🍪🥛. If this is alright, does the asks so far only shown in Memory's phone and uhhh... how many acts are mapped out there? Sorry if these are more lorewise than ever, but I really love how you designed Victor and Wick which made me excited to see the rest! Happy holidays! ☃️🌲

PS: I'm a little confused whether Memory's eyes are either light blue or yellow-

*You could call me Mr. Grantz, or even Victor if you would like. Unlike most hunters, I’m not too big on formalities. - Victor Grantz

———

Merry Christmas Enzina! Thank you for the milk and cookies ^^ very delicious!

Here are the answers to your questions, which I don't mind by the way! If you ever want to know anything, if it's reasonable, I'll answer it haha

- So far, yes, only Memory can see the asks via her phone. When certain characters are open for asks, they get the asks through their small tablets, which they use to send out quick messages in-game.

- Okay, so blue-eyed Memory was a mistake on my end that I didn't realize until after I posted the ask ahaha. Memory (in this AU anyways) has orange eyes! The reference I use for Memory is this one! Memory has all the same colors as Charlie from the Actor AU version of this AU (the blonde girl in the reference) but this time I accidentally used Charlie's eye color instead of Memory's eye color! I’d like to note that Charlie is not Memory’s actor, Memory and Charlie just happen to share all the same colors.

- As for how many acts are mapped out, there are many acts mapped out!

Right now, we are in what I call the "BellaDonna Stage" of the askblog and within this stage, we are in act 1 of 5. Act 1 involves Memory getting an invitation. Act 2 involves Memory memory syncing with Victor and following him into the manor. Act 3 is seeing a match from the hunter's perspective. Act 4 is Victor's story. Act 5 is the end of the BellaDonna Stage and transition into the “Lady Thirteen Stage”

At the end of Act 5 of the "BellaDonna Stage" we move into Act 1 of the "Lady Thirteen Stage" which is going to see Memory syncing up with Michiko. Act 3 of this Stage is going to be a match from a survivor's perspective. Act 4 of this stage is NOT going to be just Michiko's story, you'll get the story of about... 2 or 3 people in that act.

After this, the plan splits into 4 possible stages, those being:

The Golden Ratio Stage (Edgar and Jack's path)

The Lost Identities Stage (Robbie and Andrew's path)

Cats and Roses Stage (Naib and Aesop's path)

And Showtime (Mike's path)

Showtime is a very unlikely stage to happen first, however, as the first 3 are split into 3 - 5 acts (Lost Identities is actually about 6 acts but 2 of those acts happen at the same exact time), while Showtime is split into 10 - 15 acts. Showtime takes up a MASSIVE chunk of the AU and leads into many other acts, such as Luca's act, Fan's act, Emile's act, BonBon's act, just to name a few. And to do Showtime the justice it deserves, you’re going to see many more asks answered in the comic style, many more asks drawn and lined and done in full color, more asks are going to answered at once, it’s going to be a HUGE thing. Each act has a max of 3 or 4 characters excluding matches and Memory. BellaDonna's Stage (as it stands) has Victor, Mary (Belladonna), Joseph, Michiko, and Robbie as its star characters. Now to put Showtime into perspective, Showtime has: Mike, Margie, Vera, Arbor and the 6 missing kids, Naib, Tracy, Luchino, Joker, Robbie, Fan, Jack, Leo, Bane AND Norton in it, as well as occasional mentions of Luca, Emily, Emile, Ada, and BonBon from Mike himself. That's going to be SUCH a fun act by the way. We already have mentions of Mike from Memory and Mike was the blog icon (soon to be the new banner!) I’ll say this now, but Mike is going to be your bestie in terms of lore.

As for any special events… most of the special events are going to belong to Edgar actually. It has something to do with how Edgar is as a hunter. Other special events are going to be either specific to events in the game (Like COA) or having to do with an OG IDV Survivor being put into this AU.

If you would like, I can do an in-depth outlining map of the AU! I’d be more than happy to, and it’s very easy to keep a map outline like that rather spoiler free. The only “spoilers” would be who you would be getting to know in that stage but even then that’s a pretty light spoiler tbh. I could also do a detailed breakdown of the specific stages, their acts and the characters who are going to featured a LOT in those acts. This way would include a lot more lore but more potential for spoilers. The thing is many of those acts will be far away tho.

- The design from Wick is (as Victor was saying) from the time when Victor met Mary (aka Belladonna) which is why Wick looks so out of place beside Victor! Victor’s current design is a combination of his human form (based off his default skin) and his demon form (based off Keyboard and Specter)! I absolutely adore the designs for these two as well!

Happy Holidays! - Mod Annie

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi, to the previous anon who was talking about Loumand shippers and how shocked they will be when season 2 comes around: how about we let show fans experience the story at their own pace just like book readers did.

The story is structured that way on purpose (but mostly because Annie decided to retcon a lot of IWTV when she wrote TVL nine years later).

It makes sense to ship Loumand given where the show is at currently. When revelations happen next season, fans will probably readjust their takes, but all in due time.

What you are doing is akin to me going up to someone watching season 1 of Game of Thrones and being like, hey by the way, all the Starks die so you shouldn't root for them, oh, and Sansa's new crush Joffrey turns out to be an evil prick and he also dies, poisoned at his own wedding and Jon snow is a Targaryen.

Why??

I understand that the books have been out for decades and spoiler warnings are no longer in order, but why don't we just let new fans experience the story the way it was meant to be experienced, without jumping in to rain on their parade and hounding them about how their opinions on certain characters are wrong based on what happens in later books.

Sorry for the long rant mod, but I'm so tired of these silly shipping wars that people keep trying to start over nothing.

Ranting is fine, but I have had anons on this blog, yelling at me about Loumand... and this blog is clearly labeled as based on the books, my personal one, and not spoiler free.

Do not get me wrong, I get your point but...

That anon coming here and theorizing about how shocked the Loumand shippers will be... is not that.

They are not out there souring the experience for the shippers that think that. They are not out there, trying to convert them. They sent an anon ask to MY blog, which is labeled as pointed out above in my bio.

If someone comes to my blog and asks me things I will not lie to them just because the show has not laid out all the cards yet. I have had asks of Loumand shippers (polite, inquisitive asks) and I gently explained what they asked about, and if I notice they know not even the basics? I try to not spoil too much. Just had one of those earlier. But will I twist the story to their (at this point of course flawed) expectations? No.

All the first time watchers can experience the show as they want - but going to a book-based watcher, and in a way demanding that they pay into the tale that is spoon fed? That's something else.

When I was watching GoT (since you brought this up), I watched the first season, and then, in the hiatus, got the books. When I got to the red wedding I literally threw that book into a corner and told my partner I am pissed, I couldn't tell them why, and told them not to ask.

And they didn't.

Because they knew that asking me would spoil them. They also knew by my reaction that there was shit incoming :)

My blog is not spoiler free. It's in my bio.

It's not me going to them.

It's them coming to me.

Big, big difference.

You can mute me, block the tags, block me if you need to.

But I will not take blame for someone getting spoilered on 40 year old book content on my blog when I clearly point it out in my bio.

[fnf-writingz]

I understand being back in school soon lol, mines next week.

I do have a request if you're down? It's mostly just me wanting fluff on Annie dealing with an S/O who wants to try the "liquid" for the first time lol

aw shit :[ we know we answerin this a bit late but we hope ya have as good of a time at school as you can- carol (also new mod here, ayo :P)

~ Annie with a S/O Wanting to Try the Liquid ~

--

"Why won't you let me try it??"

Annie just hesitated as she looked for an answer

How could she tell you that the liquid could potentially turn you into a monster?-

She couldn't tell you it was dangerous, she drank it all the time. She also couldn't tell you she didn't have any more, she had a whole stash-

So, she settled for shaking her head, explaining it could have some weird side effects for people who didn't drink it

You were persistent though, and after a while she caved in, handing you the bottle

She gave you a warning before she handed it to you, concern clear on her face

...You still didn't listen to her warnings as you chugged the whole thing-

It was strange, sweet yet slightly acidic at the same time. It tingled a bit as you drank it, electrified your body, but you didn't think much of it

That was, until you suddenly started changing forms-

"Damnit, I told you it was a bad idea babe!"

You just stared at her in your liquid form, definitely a lot bigger than before

She just sighed, giving you a hug while shaking her head

She helps you deal with the side effects, albeit a bit salty as she does-

She loves you though, so she doesn't stay salty for too long-

Thinks you're really cool in liquid form anyway-

[afrival]

Uh Oh! the AoT Characters Had Unrestricted Internet Access— What did they get into?

self explanatory :) this is based purely on vibes

slight nsfw warning for Erens

only doing the young scouts no veterans

•=======================•

Eren:

- Remember that period of YouTube where Minecraft animation porn was a thing that you could just....!find? Yeah.

- Now he’s kinda just a big ass weeb

Mikasa:

- LPS roleplay channels. She even had one idc I don’t make the rules. She also made shit that would fit on r/im14andthisisdeep. sHE’s brOKen 😞

Armin:

- Superwholock. I don’t need to explain— just. Look at him and tell me I’m wrong. Dan and Phil too

- Also I think he’s a big musical buff and went APE during Hamilton, he still loves it

Jean:

- Minecraft Hunger Games but got way too into it like he still has a hole in his wall from when he raged over it

Connie:

- FIVE NIGHTS AT FUCKING FREDDIES and his favorite was Foxy. Dressed up as the puppet for Halloween and it looked like shit

Sasha:

- Homestuck and Undertale, made OCs and everything. Probably read Sans x Reader on deviantart

Ymir:

- SCPs. like she was OBSESSED

- also got WAYYYY into Heathers

Historia:

- Wattpad fanfiction ❤️ we’re talking “Kidnapped by One Direction” and “Adopted by Tyler Oakley” type shit

- She was also really into Voltron and kinned Allura ☹️

Reiner:

- “how ba-a-a-ad can I be I’m just doing what comes naturally”. god bless

Berthodlt:

- Online flash games like club penguin, animal jam, wekinz, etc. He cried when club penguin shut down

Annie:

- Refused to listen to mainstream music like. She INSISTED that it was fucking garbage. Little did she know that MCR and PATD was very popular 😙

Pieck:

- Twilight 😩 like it was a such a lifestyle when it was popular and she THRIVED

Porco:

- Old Minecraft YouTubers and he still plays it religiously

- also I’m gonna say he watched Minecraft Diaries because that’s fucking hilarious, along with that he was obsessed with Minecraft mod showcases

[katiewattsart]

25/03/20 : A RECAP

25/03/20 : A RECAP

- Who Watches the Watchmen? - Power, Discourse, The Other

- Ever Tried. Ever Failed - Failure, Resilience, Sustainability

- Teddy Boys and Haul Girls - Subcultures, Resistance, Commodification

- Utopia and Dystopia - world-building, social justice

- Nothing is original and that’s ok - The Copy, Remix Cultures, Bricolage

- Hauntology and Nostalgia - Political Nostalgia, Subversion, 

- Telling Stories - Narrative Theory, Narratives in practice, storytelling

Who Watches the Watchmen?       

Power

Theorists Include:

Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Laura Mulvey, 

John Berger

Moral Panic

The Panopticon

Surveillance 

Feminism

Sex/Gender 

The Gaze

The Power of Looking

“Looking involves learning to interpret and, like other practices, looking involves relationships of power....

To be made to look, to try to get someone to look at you or at something you want to be noticed, or to engage in an exchange of looks, involves a play of power.”

Sturken, M. Cartwright, L. (2004) Practices of Looking

The Panopticon

Designed by British Jurist and social reformer Jeremy Bentham in 1791, as an architectural system of control and surveillance. 

Used by Foucault to analyse systems of power, and the self-regulating society. 

Section and plan of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon penitentiary, drawn by Willey Reveley, 1791 

- Power is reinforced through language

- Bodies act under strict constraints of power exercised by institutions

- The Power of Subversion

- Gender is a social construct and is performative

- The structure of power is Patriarchal

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Drawing Power: How depictions of superheros have changed in the Marvel Universe from the 1960s to the present day 

A post-structural analysis of Power and Illustration in the graphic novels of Frank Miller

Power Play: A history of Alan Moore mocking authority  

Imbalance of power: Becoming Unbecoming and readdressing female histories

Chintz and power: Jim Shaw’s anti-fascist wallpapers

Political cartoons and the British Establishment, from William Hogarth to Steve Bell

Ever Tried. Ever Failed.

Trying and failing as art

Experimentation

Sustainability 

Social Justice 

Capitalism 

The Process

Resilience 

Artists Include: Beckett, Smithson, Ono, Signer, Banksy, Wei wei

failure:

1. Lack of success.

2. The neglect or omission of expected or      required action.

3. The action or state of not functioning.

Oxford living dictionaries

Guerilla Design

Chapitre Zero (2013)

Furniture designers Duccio Maria Gambi/Mattia Paco

Salvages wooden pallets, unwanted furniture, and assorted pieces of wood 

Create urban public furniture to create ‘social spaces’ in Paris.  

Sustaining Culture? 

Justin Gignac, New York City Garbage (2001)

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Tru Try and Try again: why those who keep going get the most done

From one to many: how Greta Thunberg’s perseverance made a difference in a world of indifference

Resilience and Sustainability are the tools we need for surviving the future 

We Make Our Luck: the aggregation of Marginal Gains

Say Nothing, Do Nothing, Be Nothing: the purpose of the Crit in Art and Design

Teddy Boys and Haul Girls: Subcultures

Subcultures

Subversion

Bricolage

Youth Culture

Dominant/Deviant culture

Conspicuous Consumption 

Punk

Culture Jamming

Utopia/Dystopia

Theorists/ Artists Include: Hebdige, Williams, Leckey, Banksy, Warhol, Adbusters

Dominant culture:  a dominant culture is one that is able, through economic or political power, to impose its values, language, and ways of behaving on a subordinate culture or cultures. This may be achieved through legal or political suppression of other sets of values and patterns of behaviour, or by monopolizing the media of communication. 

Dominant culture. A Dictionary of Sociology. . Encyclopedia.com.

ubculture: Subcultures are smaller groups within the larger culture that have slightly different—or additional—traditions and ideas. They tend to share much in common with the larger culture and typically interact with members of the majority on a regular basis. Most people belong to at least one group that can be classified as a subculture. 

Feminist Critique:

The role of women/girls is largely ignored.

The experience of youth is gendered.

Wider gender politics can be investigated through the study of youth subcultures. 

This is England (2007) Shane meadows:

Haul Girls

“In fact, the closest thing to the old model of a subculture I've come across is Helina and the haul girls. Their videos are about conspicuous consumption: a public display of their good taste, carefully assembled with precise attention to detail. When you put it like that – and at the risk of incurring a fatwah from middle-aged Paul Weller fans – they sound remarkably like mods.”

-Alexis Petridis

Conspicuous Consumption:

..is a term introduced by the Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in his book "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899). The term refers to consumers who buy expensive items to display wealth and income rather than to cover the real needs of the consumer.

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Cosplay and the Carnival: Counter culture as the World Turned Upside Down 

Representations of Subculture in Film, Theatre and Costume/Illustration

England’s Dreaming: Punk as a critique of Thatcherism and the rise the Me Generation

Dressing/Drawing Working Class Subcultures from 1950 to 2000: An Artifact

This Is England: From Skins to The Inbetweeners, a cultural reading of England’s youth culture

Art & Artifice: a discussion of representations of young people and material culture from Annie Swynnerton to Andy Warhol

Utopia and Dystopia

World-Building

Social Justice

Critiques of culture

Art and Crisis

Transformative design

Theorists include: Thomas Moore, Philip K. Dick, Ernst Bloch..

Sir Thomas More 1477-1535

- First person to write about Utopia - a perfect imaginary world

- Greek - Ou-topos - No place, or Nowhere

- Eu-topos- A good place

Can a perfect place ever be realised? 

Utopia means nowhere or no place. It has often been taken to mean good place, through confusion of its first syllable with the Greek eu as in euphemism or eulogy. As a result of this mix up, another word, dystopia, has been invented, to mean bad place. But, strictly speaking, imaginary good places and imaginary bad places are all utopias, or nowheres. 

- John Carey

The Garden of Earthly Pleasures -Hieronymus Bosch circa 1490-1510

UTOPIAS IN FILM

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

I Am The Architect: The Role of the Designer in Dystopia 

Fashioning Utopia:  How costume design in Science Fiction helps us reimagine the world 

Interior Identities: How the inner spaces of our lives tell the narrative of our times

Digital Dystopia: How the Ghost In The Machine Became A Trope of the Internet Age

The Perfect Palette: The search for Utopia on the canvases of the Stanley Spencer

NOTHING IS ORIGINAL - and that’s ok!

The Remix

Hauntology 

Appropriation

Nostalgia

The Copy

Sampling

Theorists/Artists Include: David Lynch, Kenneth Goldsmith, Simon Reynolds, Mark Fisher.

WHAT IS ORIGINALITY?

How would you define originality?

Should we try and pursue originality?

Does originality exist?

If so, what does it look like? 

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Steal Like an Artist: How Our Influences Make Us Who We Become

Copy Paste Culture: How Rap Reflects the Wider Art World of the 1980’s and Beyond

Youtube Made Me Hardcore: How Access to Everyday Editing Software Made Everyone an Artist

Hauntology and Nostalgia

Nostalgia

Hauntology

Politicisation

Style and Aesthetic

Commodification

Reflexive/restorative

Theorists include: Svetlana Boym, Mark Fisher, Jacques Derrida

NOSTALGIA AS DOMINANT MODE

How do explain the large number of works based on pre-existing work?

Why do you think that adaptations are the dominant product in today’s media market?

Two Types of Nostalgia

estorative:

 “puts emphasis on nostos (returning home) and proposes to rebuild the lost home and patch up the memory gaps.” (Boym)

Reflective:

“Reflective nostalgia, on the other hand, “dwells in algia (aching), in longing and loss, the imperfect process of remembrance.”

“Personal nostalgia can be used therapeutically to help individuals move beyond trauma” (Batcho, 2017)

Historically being nostalgic or using nostalgia as a form of expression in art or literature has not been seen as a good thing, rather it’s been viewed as the antithesis of progression and innovation. Miuccia Prada once said ‘nostalgia is a very complicated subject for me. I'm attracted by nostalgia but I refuse it intellectually.’ 

Definition of Hauntology

Hauntology is a philosophical concept referring to the return or persistence of elements from the past, as in the manner of a ghost. The term was coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1993 book Spectres of Marx.

Broadly speaking, the notion that the present is haunted by lost futures

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The Machine in The Ghost: Digital and Analogue Traces in the Art and Films of David Lynch

Breaking the Future: How Nostalgia and Hauntology has Led to an Influx of Genre Movies and Remakes, and What Can be Done to Change It

The Effects of Nostalgia: Instagram and the Filter 

Telling Stories

The Mainstream

Narrative

Provocation/Disruption

Street Art

The Spectacle

Theorists/Artists include: Kruger, Banksy, Warner, Anderson, de Certeau, Georges Perec, 

Texts’ that could hold a narrative?

…novels, comics, films, tv series, plays, films, children’s books, animation, games, photographs, news stories, magazine covers, folktales and myths, book covers, paintings, editorial illustrations, window displays, packaging, logos��

The Culture Industry

How might film be seen as an ideological tool, then and now?

CRAFTING NARRATIVE

Exploring how makers and designers are using objects and making ,to tell stories.

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Costume as Character in Game Of Thrones

Grayson Perry as Storyteller: Culture Captured in Ceramics and tapestry

Dressing the Window: Narratives on Display

Suffragette Jewellery and the Story of Adornement as Dissent in Early 20th Century Britain 

ALL UR VIRAL PHENOMENA R BELONG 2 US

Networks

Collective Understanding

Viral Phenomena

Populism

Digital Culture

User Content

Memes

Satire

Viral phenomena are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. They get their name from the way that viruses propagate

“Breaking the Internet”: The narratives of Viral media

Why do things go viral?

- Relatability

- Empathy

- Irony / irreverence

- Political meaning

- Humour

- ‘Smarts’

The word meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene as an attempt to explain the way cultural information spreads; such as beliefs, fashions, stories, and phrases

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The Viral Marketing campaigns of JJ Abrams

The Meme is Dead, Long Live the Meme! How Do We Keep up with the means of communication when the means of communication change on a Daily Basis?

HASHTAGS: Friends or Enemies?

The Rise of Cancel Culture and Implications for Critical Thinking

ESSAY PREPERATION 

What do you want to explore?

theme/idea

artist/designer

object/image

These Questions should now: 

- guide your research and keep you focused.

- What information are you lacking, and where do you need to go to get it?

- Brainstorm a list of Questions, considering whether you need to:

Analyse               

Appraise

Assess

Compare

Contrast

Criticise

Define

Discuss

Describe

Examine

Explain

Indicate

Illustrate

Interpret

Judge

Justify

Outline

Refute

State

Summarise

Trace

Title/Question

Be concise and explicit. This is a working title/question.

EG. Who Decides Who Decides? 

Critiquing power in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Keywords

Include here any words you think will help you identify the research you want to undertake.

EG. Power, Foucault, Surveillance, war on terror, citizen activism, superheroes

introduction/Questions

Use this section to introduce the questions and any issues that are central to your research.

EG. This paper explores the ways in which power is exercised in the MCU, and compares the films to the source comics to see how the two mediums differ

Background

What are the key texts and approaches in the field? How does your proposal  extend our understanding of particular questions or topics? You need to set out your research questions as clearly as possible, explain problems that you want to explore and say why it is important to do so. In other words, think about how to situate your project in the context of your discipline.

EG. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons; V for Vendatta etc, Crisis on Infinite Earths

DEVELOPING YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION

5Ws: answer the following questions:

Who does your topic impact? 

Who cares about your topic? 

What is influenced by or influences your topic?

Where is your topic relevant?

Why is your topic important?

You could try free writing!

Write continuously for a set amount of time without stopping. Ignore grammar and spelling. Write what you know and identify gaps and questions to pursue. 

Or mind mapping!

A visual form of brainstorming. Include related subtopics, concepts and words and connect to them to your topic. 

TASK

Before next session:

Brainstorm and mind map your ideas

Gather images, quotes

fill in your research proposal for GCOP200 

(as much as you can)

Bring it all with you to your seminar

[bnha-imagines-and-hcs]

How abt class 1A reacting to a new kid in their class that was once an ex-villain. Like they did a lot of bad things, but they're slowly trying to be good. Hope this makes sense^^

Hey boo,yeah that totally makes sense! Thanks for your request! For the sake of thisbeing realistic we´re going to assume that this person was not a part of theLeague of Villains and is roughly the same age as the students.

- Asa whole I think class 1-a would be very weary of this new kid at first. They´veall experienced what some villains are capable of first-hand since the attackson UA happened. And since no one knows how the League of Villains got insight intothe school administration distrust-levels have been high.

- It´s only after Aizawa reassures everyone thatthey went through basic rehabilitation already and have been checked and lookedover multiple times by the principal and the other teachers to make sure theywere okay to have in UA´s hero course that everyone calms down a little.

- Theex-villain probably has a bumpy first week to be honest. While no one treatsthem with hostility (not even Bakugo, even he is weary of them) most of theclass has settled on observing them closely. They don’t move into the dormsimmediately because they´re still undergoing resocialization with their newfoster family and everyone is pretty happy with that arrangement for the moment.

- Ifeel like Iida is the first to approachthem. He takes being class president very seriously and he sees it as part ofhis duty to make sure everyone in class feels comfortable enough with oneanother to work together and create a good atmosphere for learning. He is alittle suspicious of them still but he also holds great trust in the administrationof UA. He offers them help should they have any questions on things concerningclass and tells them to come to him should anyone be picking on them.

- AfterIida´s taken the first step some start to follow his example. Uraraka, Asui, Kirishima and Kaminari being the first ones.

- Uraraka felt bad for the new person from the startknowing that they would have a hard time making friends, she just was toounsure if they´d rather be left alone or not to be the first one to go up tothem.

- Kirishima similar to Iida has strong idealsand lets them know that he doesn´t care what they did in the past as long asthey are being earnest about wanting to do good from now on. He ends upbecoming one of their best friends as they really needed someone as reliableand good-natured in their life.

- Asui also believes in judging a person on theircurrent beliefs and actions. Also she´s as straight-forward and uncomplicatedas ever making her easy for the new kid to interact with.

- Kaminari was pretty scared of them at first but he kindatried to joke his fear of them away and it sort of worked out? Just like Asuihe´s easy to interact with so they get along fairly well.

- Ifthe ex-villain identifies as female Ashidois the one that introduces her to the other girls and does her best to giveher a smaller group she can identify with more easily than all of Class 1-A.

- Mostof the others warm up to them gradually after seeing how hard they are tryingto be a better person. Especially after they move into the dorms with them. Noone pressures them into opening up about their past but especially Hagakure and Sero have expressed their curiosity more than once. As soon as theydo open up about their past and explain how much better their life is now mostof the class forgets about the mistrust they´d been harboring.

- Afew of them stay suspicious. Todoroki,Bakugo and Jiro can´t help but be a little stand-offish at least for the firstyear. After that Bakugo forgets to care and Jiro is over it though. In Todoroki´scase he just has mental health issues from his childhood that keep him fromtrusting them completely.

- Midoriya is really interested in their quirk thinkingabout ways of using it for good instead of bad with them.

-Tokoyami pretends he doesn´t like them. Hedoes he´s just too shy to admit it.

 After all that´shappened to the ex-villain and the initial problems of finding their placethings have finally settled down. After their first year at UA their rehabilitationis almost completed. Of course they´ll still have to see their therapist andother doctors once in a while but other than that life is good again. Finally.

(I hope thisis what you wanted!

-Love, ModAnni)

[myrecordcollections]

Nigel Planer (vocals) revives “Neil” from the short-lived yet highly influential BBC-TV program The Young Ones on Neil’s Heavy Concept Album (1984). Although the show was set in the 1980s, Neil’s lifestyle centers around the mid- to late-‘60s hippie culture, an exceedingly antiquated notion directly contrasting his ultra-mod housemates. This explains the inclusion of the fairly wide selection of psychedelic and progressive nuggets amidst the spoken links and occasional originals. The idea for the long-player stemmed from his version of Traffic’s early side “Hole in My Shoe” – which came out as a single. When Planer appeared in character to promote it on BBC 2’s Top of the Pops, he lost his footing, resulting in the backdrop falling apart and causing general mayhem on live television. The tune is given a lighthearted romp with notable session musician Rick Biddulph (guitar) working in phrases of the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” during the waning moments. Other fun covers are Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle,” Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on “The Gnome,” Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “The Amoeba Song,” aka the Incredible String Band’s “A Very Cellular Song.” Caravan’s “Golf Girl” is worth additional mention, as it features a cameo voice-over from Dawn French – half of the comedy team French & Saunders – as (of all things) a policewoman. Instrumentally, Planer is supported by an all-star cast that includes Dave Stewart (keyboards/bass/drum/guitar), Barbara Gaskin (backing vocals), Pip Pyle (drums), Jakko M. Jakszyk (guitars), and jazz heavy Annie Whitehead (trombone), as well as Jimmy Hastings, who at one time was a primary contributor to the aforementioned prog rock outfit Caravan. “Lentil Nightmare” is a tremendously amusing Planer-penned composition that, among other things, quotes “In the Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson amidst the proto-heavy progressive metal madness. The connecting bits of dialogue provide an outlet for Planer’s quirky and earthy humor. Also of note is “Neil the Barbarian,” a parody of a movie advert where Neil – a strict vegan – eats a hamburger, which transforms him into this superhero-type character. All said, Neil’s Heavy Concept Album is thoroughly entertaining and recommended for inclined parties.

[hogwartswelcomesyou]

Would you guys sort all of the hunger games characters (all three books) pretty please?

We would love to, I hope you enjoy! -Abigail

The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen: Gryffindor 

Where most people would sort Katniss into Slytherin, We feel that is not where she belongs,she has to be Gryffindor. The amount of bravery she shows throughout the three books is amazing, it all starts out with her volunteering for her sister, you always see the little description for what each house would do in a emergency, and it says Gryffindor would die for you, whereas Slytherin is kill for you, and when Katniss volunteers she does not believe she’s coming home, she just knows she could make it farther than her sister, and that’s why she believes she has to volunteer. So she has to be Gryffindor!

Peeta Mellark: Hufflepuff

This guy is literally the epitome of kindness and love. He gives to people without even knowing them, and is willing to take a beating for it. He has too much love for people, he literally runs when Katniss calls for him, he always cares about her well being. As well he is extremely loyal, to Katniss and Haymitch, enough to risk his life multiple times. So he has to be Hufflepuff!

Primrose Everdeen: Hufflepuff 

For Prim, we had some troubles choosing between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but honestly it shouldn’t have even been questionable, she learns to heal to help people, and helps people the entire time, and does everything she can to give her sister strength throughout this huge thing, and she’s even quoted recognizing that everything is changing and uses that to push her sister. So she has to be a Hufflepuff!

Gale Hawthorne: Slytherin 

This guy is incredibly amitious , he tries to make this whole plan of Katniss coming home and falling back in love with him, even though it could get her killed. He is also very loyal, always making sure to take care of Katniss’s family while shes gone. So he has to be Slytherin!

Effie Trinket: Hufflepuff

Effie is extremely kind, though she doesn’t always carry the right type sensitivity to Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch about the games, but when she begins to understand the sheer amount of terrible things they go through in the games, and the thought of them having to do it again, makes her so sad. She is so loving and loyal to them. So has to be Hufflepuff!

Haymitch Abernathy: Slytherin 

This guy is EXTREMELY ambitious, and cunning. As well he is loyal, incredibly loyal to Katniss. So he has to be a Slytherin!

Cinna: Ravenclaw 

Cinna is incredibly intelligent, he thinks of these brilliant ideas. When it’s his final creation that he will get to see played out, he knows that he will be killed for his actions. He is incredibly wise and supportive of Katniss, making him a Ravenclaw!

Seneca Crane: Slytherin 

Ambitious and cunning. Nuff said Slytherin! 

President Snow: Slytherin 

This terrible man is incredibly ambitous and will do anything he needs to do to  get what he wants. He’s incredibly self-perseving as well. So has to be Slytherin!

Cato: Gryffindor 

This guy is incredibly brave, he knows his duty and is ready to fulfill it. Has to be Gryffindor! 

Clove: Slytherin 

This girl is crazy ambitious, she wants to surivive these games, and she will do anything to do it. She has to be Slytherin!  

Foxface: Ravenclaw 

She is incredibly intelligent, she is able to stay invisible for a large part of the games by being very creative. She uses her knowledge about the different poisonous things to help her as well. Thus Foxface is a Ravenclaw!

Thresh: Gryffindor 

This guy is incredibly brave, and very protective over those he loves. Has to be Gryffindor!

Rue: Hufflepuff 

Rue is the adorable little sister I’ve never had. She is incredibly kind and loyal to Katniss without even knowing her. So her has to be a Hufflepuff!

Caesar Flickerman: Hufflepuff 

This guy is incredibly kind to all the tributes he meets, but he believes the games are a good thing that have to happen, and I blame that on the corruption of the Capitol, but regardless Hufflepuff!

Catching Fire

Finnick Odair: Hufflepuff

I really really, don’t think I should need to explain this one but, he is extremely kind and loyal to the promises he’s made, enough to save Peeta’s life and almost get himself killed.. multiple times. So he has to be a Hufflepuff!

Mags: Hufflepuff

I really don’t think I should have to explain this. She GAVE UP HER LIFE TO MAKE SURE FINNICK, PEETA AND KATNISS SURVIED. Nuff sad, Hufflepuff!

Johanna Mason: Ravenclaw 

Since Johanna is a character that is ultimately sorted all over the different houses, Slytherin, Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw (never Hufflepuff lol) So I thought it might be a good idea to add some quotes to prove my point. But we chose Ravenclaw, one as described in the first quote, she got through her first games by being very creative and intelligent. As well as that, when she does her interview, as well as everyone else she pushes the connections between the victors and the Capitol, knowing she could possibly put the game makers in a corner. Then she always goes back and tracks her steps making sure to think logically and always have a level head, making sure they do whats best to keep everyone else. Bring me back to the post mentioned in Katniss’s sorting where Ravenclaw description is “think of plan to keep everyone alive” which she tries to do over and over again (third quote). So Johanna has to be a Ravenclaw!

“She won by very convincingly portraying herself as weak and helpless so that she would be ignored. The she demonstrated her wicked ability to murder” (Catching Fire 214)

“By there time Johanna Mason gets up, she’s asking if something can’t be done about the situation. Surely the creators of the Quarter Quell never anticipated such love forming between the victors and the Capitol. No one could be so cruel as to sever such a deep bond” (Catching Fire 251)

“It doesn’t matter, you had to tell us or we never would have moved our camp in the first place, brainless “ Ironically, her logical, if demeaning reply is the only one the comforts me” (Catching Fire 336)

Beetee Latier: Ravenclaw 

Incredibly intelligent and creative, has to be Ravenclaw!

Wiress: Ravenclaw

A little odd, but incredibly smart, has to be Ravenclaw!

Plutarch Heavensbee: Slytherin 

This guy is incredibly ambitious and cunning, he took the job as head gamemnaker and masterminded this huge plan to make Katniss the Mockingjay so has to be Slytherin!

Mockingjay

Annie Cresta: Hufflepuff

I think it’s a district 4 thing, but she is incredibly kind and loyal. Has to be Hufflepuff!

President Coin: Slytherin 

This girl is incredibly cunning, she uses all the publicity about the Mockingjay to gain popularity about herself running for president. Very ambitious and self-preserving as well. Has to be Slytherin! 

Boggs: Gryffindor 

Boggs is so brave, the fact that he holds the tracker and looks around trying to make sure there are no bombs, ending up in his own demise, making me sure the he is a Gryffindor!

Cressida: Ravenclaw 

This girl is incredibly intelligent, she knows what she needs to do to keep Katniss alive and she does just that. She ends up saving all of there lives by knowing this huge world of people. So she has to be Ravenclaw!

We hope you enjoy! 

-Mods Abigail and Jinx 

[dlamp-dictator]

Your Dictator’s Works: Kyo-Annie

Okay, finally getting down to writing these Dictator’s Works posts. Originally, I was going to talk about both Kyo and Reyna, but Kyo’s stuff turned out a little beefier in text than I thought, so I’ll just talk about Kyo for the entire thing and talk about Reyna... eh, later. 

Oh yeah, since it’s been about... over a year since I’ve done this kind of post here’s a quick summary. Your Dictator’s Works is a analysis/breakdown of my own creation, ranging from characters, to stories, and so on. Basically, a big info dump where I gush over whatever thing I’m talking about. When it comes to OCs, I’ll try and keep it to their design, but no promises.

So without further ado, here’s a Dictator’s Works on Kyoko-Annabelle Mushi, or Kyo-Annie for short... or just Kyo.

Summary, Origins, and Inspirations

In a nutshell, Kyo is a kung fu demon girl, and that’s where most of her character starts and ends. Unlike Claudia, I don’t have a 3-year-old RP blog to reference, and a lot of characters I creator from drawings rarely have a higher purpose other than what concept I had for them, but Kyo’s origins are pretty interesting. I was on a discord server and the mods decided to have a sort of Art Jam where the theme was to make a kung fu girl. I technically already had a kung fu girl, Reyna, but I wanted to make something more original. So after awhile of scribbling, Kyo came out. 

And boy did this little demon girl go through a butt load of redesign. after about 2 years of doodling her. I literally just pulled up some older pictures from my art tag and... Lord Alive, the difference in design is staggering.

Speaking of...

Design

So, like I said before, Kyo was a product of an art jam. I didn’t have a real idea for her other than “make kung fu girl that wasn’t Reyna.”

This is the oldest sketch I could find of her. For all that’s change, not much really has. The basic ideas are still present. Chinese-styles sleeveless shirt, biker shorts/spats, and bangles. Color scheme aside, the only thing that’s changed is that she wears shoes now.

And much like I said in my Dictator’s Works, I tend to give my characters a very specific kind of fray in their hair for the sake of the silhouette looking unique, so Kyo has a bit of cowlick sticking out of her hair. Canonically, Kyo’s cowlick is purposely done up with hairspray to hide her horn, but I didn’t come up with that until later.

The emblem she wears is... well...

Yeah, remember when her name was Kyo-Annie? Canonically, that’s short for Kyoko-Annabelle, as her Japanese mom and Western-demon father kept argue on what her first name should be before settling for both their ideas. Out-of-Universe, Allen X is extremely lazy when it comes to his characters and was watching some K-On reruns when thinking this character up.

And that’s really it for design. Kyo’s a pretty simple character, both in design and concept, so there’s not much to go over. The only thing I can add is that Kyo is now blond so that her original dark hair doesn’t blend into her gray skin. Canonically, she dyes it blond to be rebellious, but it’s more for design reasons than in-universe ones. Other than that, I think her design explains itself pretty well. Though... this’ll be a pretty short Dictator’s Works if I end this here, so...

Story Background

I don’t feel comfortable talking about Violacous Storm yet since I’m kind of redoing the story, and I really don’t want to talk about the made typings known as that story, so I’ll just talk about Kyo’s background and bio instead. 

Kyo is a half-demon, specifically a Cambion, a half-human, half-succubus. The gray skin Kyo has is a product of her father that didn’t show up until she turned 12. Being half-succubus, Kyo is aluring and attractive on a super natural level, but she hates it. The bangles she wears around her wrists are actually enchanted to heavily hinder her succubus abilities. To most people she just looks like a dark elf until you see her fangs, but without the bangles normal humans would be entranced by her appearance and flock to her. Kyo found this extremely annoying once she realized the attention got was due to her sucubbus abilities and not for her as a person, so she did her best to hide that fact. Wearing tomboyish and rebellious clothes, dying her hair a wild yellow, taking on a more punk-ish persona, and taking her martial arts lessons more seriously as a way to literally push away people advancing on her.

Oh yeah, I should probably explain why such a kung fu girl in the first place.

For a bit of backstory, Kyo’s human mother is a Japanese Shrine Maiden, Yoko Mushi. Yoko... got knocked up as a teenager by a really hot incubus she was suppose to seal away or kill, but fell for his charms and had Kyo at age 15. After failing in her task (and getting knocked up at that), she was reprimanded and nearly banished from the family if not for the mercy of her mother. Yoko promised to raise the child as the next shrine maiden in her stead, one that would bring honor, glory, and worshippers to their shrine. And as a show of her determination, she immediately banished Kyo’s father to the demon realm a few months later after tracking him down. Kyo herself has no clue about this aside from her father being an incubus that was banished, but does want to be a shrine maiden to both help her mother out and out of honest religous faith, though worship at the Mushi Shrine is... odd. 

Kyo’s shrine worships a god of war, so martial arts is strict practice. All shrine maidens have to go through some brutal combat training to be viable, and the last test includes defeating their teacher via knockout or death. Well, death in the old days, but modern times have made the Mushi family lighten up on the tradition. Kyo herself is versed in karate and judo, though not on an expert level. Given that she wants to beat her mom and earn the title of heir she decides learn kung fu as a way to diversify her techniques as a martial artist, along with thinking that karate and judo were boring due to their family’s style being more for practicality, self-defense, and worship rather than modern-day competitions. 

And... she happens to be a huge fan of kung fu movies, but that’s beside the point. 

Kyo and her mom had a pretty big fight about her switching styles, and Kyo walked out the room in a huff before trying to apply at a shaolin academy for girls. It tooks some effort, but she was accepted on a scholarship after holding her own against one of their top students, Reyna. The two have been bitter rivals ever since. 

Personality-wise, Kyo is hard-working, determined, and tomboyish, but also has a pension for pranks and mischief. She can come across as a bully with all the fights she picks, but thankfully only picks fights with people that she either knows can take her on, or are annoying her to the point of violence... though it’s pretty easy to rile her up to that point. This is a product of her background as a shrine maiden in training. Worshipping a god of war tends to leave you pretty excited for a fight to show off your skills not only to others, but to God watching you kick butt in his name.

And as stated before, she’s half-succubus, but hates that half of her. Despite the kung fu girl aesthetic she’s a very religious and faithful girl, and while sexual purity isn’t as heavily looked at nowdays for shrine maidens, at least at her shrine, Kyo herself wants to remain sexually pure until she takes over the shrine, marries a priest and has a daughter of her own to continue running the shrine. To that end, the bangles she wears holds back her demonic abilities, namely her hypnosis and alluring aura. Mostly out of the loathing she has for her demon-half, but also because she can’t control her abilities yet. Like I said, she hates her half-demon side because it heavily clashes with her tomboy martial artist side. One of her hopes is that becoming a full-fledged shrine maiden will help purify her and get her humanity back. 

And despite that heavy paragraph above I never talk about that side of her in the story. It’s something she keeps to herself, and you’ll mostly just see a tomboyish martial arts demon. This is namely because she’s more a rival to Reyna, who’s the main character in Violacous Storm, but I might make a one-shot or two focusing on Kyo in the future, who knows?

Conclusion

Anyway, I think that’ll be it for this Dictator’s Works. That... took long than I though it would. Next time I’ll talk a bit about Reyna, so look forward to that.

[belzinone]

// part 2! the trost arc was a clusterfuck so i didn’t get to screen so mUCH but now that i learned to transfer from the ps4 to my laptop i hope they come out a lot better. only catch is, i didn’t write the commentary down as i was taking the screenshots. so that means i (1) forgot most of my jokes, & (2) forgot some of the context sakjdfndakfnak AH WELL HERE GOES~

// this is a cute feature in the game that i really love. bel does splurge on presents, so we wasted no time spending all our money on random shit to give to people for friendship points lol

also hange’s often creeping outside her door lol (not that i’m complaining~) in her private room you can edit her design as well as put on / take off her jacket & scouting cloak whenever you want, which is great, but i wish there was a way to just default to whatever your squad’s in bc she keeps showing up over/under dressed XD

this is capturing sonny & bean after trost. they took her in with eren after the night of the disbanding ceremony bc she’s all around gifted. in her fanon they took her for her knowledge and everything else she brought to the table was just a perk.

she’d totally be down to help capture titans tho <3 her gear mods were designed for that

moblit making sure the rookie knows what she’s getting into <3 a lot of the veterans check in with her to make sure she’s down and i think that’s pretty great. yeah they’re military but there’s a lot more personal freedom than you’d expect

some do it more than others XD another way levi put it was saying she wouldn’t survive even if she was a cat with nine lives ( he’s actually super critical of hange in this game, like a lot more than usual. i don’t recall him saying anything good about her, actually D: )

GOOD GIRL nice ass

levi squad 1.0 trying to figure out how to thank levi for everything he does. petra says he’d probably be happy no matter what while the others are like PRESENT! CLEAN! TRAIN! (bel’s just taking notes lmao)

as far as presents go, i was surprised to find out levi likes silver rings :0 i never took him for jewelry but i guess he does like the little things (he also liked the hair tie haha true to yams saying he’d put up his hair if he ever wanted to change the style )

squad speak for “make me a sandwich” JKNFDJASKNAN LEVI PLS

we already know nanaba’s underrated but she’s so pretty in the game my gay hert T.T

mike doesn’t reveal what bel smells like but nanaba & gelgar smell respectively like fruit and booze (i think that’s common trivia not unique to the game tho)

I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING ANNIE DON’T DO IT & STOP SMILING (she’s so fuckin cute tho aaaaa bless this game design everyone’s so pretty DX)

i have all the time in the world queen DX

gang gang ~

i had such a slow trigger finger i missed hange’s dramatic animation so now it just looks like sarcasm askdjfnajknfak

“i’m not modeling, the camera just turned on” twice so we accidentally caught erwin before he creeped on her with his “who do you think the enemy is” question he posed to everyone haha

appreciating how much of a fuckin absolute unit mike is before my horny monkey brain kicks in and poses the thought that she can suck his dick standing up

getting to know armin is really cute. when he’s caught up in feeling not good enough, bel plays chess with him, loses spectacularly, and helps him feel better about his strengths rather than focus on his weaknesses. T.T here she’s electing to clean up the chess game while keith calls for him (and i took that screenshot for that perky chin teehee)

hange: both! both is good! :D

gang gang! the game changed eren’s spoon episode: instead of a spoon, his hand transforms reaching for a bandage you meant to hand him and he dropped. doesn’t really seem like a necessary change, but titans ran in and you had to protect him.

game levi has a lot less chill than usual lmao so demanding (this changes later tho)

getting to know jean: tease him about his mother XD (highkey bc no one else has one sakdjfnaksnf)

it’s really sweet how hange picks you out. it’s mostly bc your character’s eager to help her with experiments. in bel’s fanon, anyone can advocate for her as a plot point.

while getting to know levi, he leads a joint training exercise for a select few soldiers from all the regiments to teach teamwork. most were just looking to earn brownie points for a promotion, so he calls it off. bad form y’all~

um sir she’s already killed a fuckton we’re flattered but a bit condescended to askjfnaksfnaj (he ends up teaching you some new moves tho so fair bc we all know he’s clumsy with his words)

see fam was it that hard XD

***spoiler alert*** player does let him down DX in an credibly stupid way that i’m still salty about might i add but that’s for the ending playthrough post <3

GANG GANG~ i love seeing her in groups X)))))

such an angelic shot of him TwT he’s so cute

yeah you’re looking sad so i’m gonna need you to wipe the floor with her ass in chess again XD

WHOOP - DE - DOO KJDSFNAKJKA (also got 69 scout credits, Nice:tm:)

i legit thought saying you wouldn’t die on him would make him happiest but he wants you cleaning and making his tea first so i GUESS that explains him preferring you pledge your ass in fidelity instead?? bruh, you out-weirding my expectations of you like fuck XD

in the initial tutorials, they said you could chill like this, but didn’t say how. i wanted to get some screens of her hanging off the wall bc that’s a very Bel:tm: thing of her but couldn’t figure it out. then i somehow got her to do it mid mission, so i stared at her dumbstruck for like a whole ass minute before taking a screenshot lmao

PETRA TO THE RESCUE!! (after bel just saved mikasa. gang gang.)

hange saves her toooooooooooo~<3 (if you’re caught by a titan and call for help, selected soldier kills it and grabs you under their arm like a football before proceeding to punt you in a random direction away from the fight lol. they all check in with this LOOK tho. my heart. i’m gonna try and collect them all DX)

fully fledged gang gang TwT

beginning of the 57th~ bel would have been at the back with the supplies so she could help pick up stragglers too. idk if this would be the safest place in the formation (probably the center) but this particular au cadet bel was assigned to bert & reiner’s group before joining up with jean & armin, i think. the babies would be sent to the safest place.

oluo: we should give levi a dust rag!!

bel & all her options after petra gives her a Look: no way no way no way XD

*big uwu energy*

// that’s a wrap for this playthrough! between big missions, you get to “think back to daily life” and leave the battlefield in order to develop the relationships you build with the other soldiers, so that’s why there’s some military slice of life between everything haha

// next time, i hope to post the rest of the narrative & some videos! :*****

[myrecordcollections]

Nigel Planer (vocals) revives “Neil” from the short-lived yet highly influential BBC-TV program The Young Ones on Neil’s Heavy Concept Album (1984). Although the show was set in the 1980s, Neil’s lifestyle centers around the mid- to late-‘60s hippie culture, an exceedingly antiquated notion directly contrasting his ultra-mod housemates. This explains the inclusion of the fairly wide selection of psychedelic and progressive nuggets amidst the spoken links and occasional originals. The idea for the long-player stemmed from his version of Traffic’s early side “Hole in My Shoe” – which came out as a single. When Planer appeared in character to promote it on BBC 2’s Top of the Pops, he lost his footing, resulting in the backdrop falling apart and causing general mayhem on live television. The tune is given a lighthearted romp with notable session musician Rick Biddulph (guitar) working in phrases of the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” during the waning moments. Other fun covers are Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle,” Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on “The Gnome,” Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “The Amoeba Song,” aka the Incredible String Band’s “A Very Cellular Song.” Caravan’s “Golf Girl” is worth additional mention, as it features a cameo voice-over from Dawn French – half of the comedy team French & Saunders – as (of all things) a policewoman. Instrumentally, Planer is supported by an all-star cast that includes Dave Stewart (keyboards/bass/drum/guitar), Barbara Gaskin (backing vocals), Pip Pyle (drums), Jakko M. Jakszyk (guitars), and jazz heavy Annie Whitehead (trombone), as well as Jimmy Hastings, who at one time was a primary contributor to the aforementioned prog rock outfit Caravan. “Lentil Nightmare” is a tremendously amusing Planer-penned composition that, among other things, quotes “In the Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson amidst the proto-heavy progressive metal madness. The connecting bits of dialogue provide an outlet for Planer’s quirky and earthy humor. Also of note is “Neil the Barbarian,” a parody of a movie advert where Neil – a strict vegan – eats a hamburger, which transforms him into this superhero-type character. All said, Neil’s Heavy Concept Album is thoroughly entertaining and recommended for inclined parties.

[myrecordcollections]

Nigel Planer (vocals) revives “Neil” from the short-lived yet highly influential BBC-TV program The Young Ones on Neil’s Heavy Concept Album (1984). Although the show was set in the 1980s, Neil’s lifestyle centers around the mid- to late-‘60s hippie culture, an exceedingly antiquated notion directly contrasting his ultra-mod housemates. This explains the inclusion of the fairly wide selection of psychedelic and progressive nuggets amidst the spoken links and occasional originals. The idea for the long-player stemmed from his version of Traffic’s early side “Hole in My Shoe” – which came out as a single. When Planer appeared in character to promote it on BBC 2’s Top of the Pops, he lost his footing, resulting in the backdrop falling apart and causing general mayhem on live television. The tune is given a lighthearted romp with notable session musician Rick Biddulph (guitar) working in phrases of the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” during the waning moments. Other fun covers are Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle,” Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on “The Gnome,” Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “The Amoeba Song,” aka the Incredible String Band’s “A Very Cellular Song.” Caravan’s “Golf Girl” is worth additional mention, as it features a cameo voice-over from Dawn French – half of the comedy team French & Saunders – as (of all things) a policewoman. Instrumentally, Planer is supported by an all-star cast that includes Dave Stewart (keyboards/bass/drum/guitar), Barbara Gaskin (backing vocals), Pip Pyle (drums), Jakko M. Jakszyk (guitars), and jazz heavy Annie Whitehead (trombone), as well as Jimmy Hastings, who at one time was a primary contributor to the aforementioned prog rock outfit Caravan. “Lentil Nightmare” is a tremendously amusing Planer-penned composition that, among other things, quotes “In the Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson amidst the proto-heavy progressive metal madness. The connecting bits of dialogue provide an outlet for Planer’s quirky and earthy humor. Also of note is “Neil the Barbarian,” a parody of a movie advert where Neil – a strict vegan – eats a hamburger, which transforms him into this superhero-type character. All said, Neil’s Heavy Concept Album is thoroughly entertaining and recommended for inclined parties.