#*I also excluded the bonus tracks!

[permanentreverie]

folklore & evermore!

folklore:

exile, epiphany, my tears ricochet, august, the last great american dynasty, mirrorball, seven, invisible string, this is me trying, illicit affairs, peace, betty, mad woman, cardigan, the 1, hoax

evermore:

gold rush, long story short, evermore, 'tis the damn season, champagne problems, ivy, tolerate it, coney island, marjorie, happiness, willow, no body no crime, closure, dorothea, cowboy like me

send me an album and I'll put the tracks in order from most -> least favourite!

[slythereen]

Tbh I think the most logical and realistic theory to why RBR is pushing the lestappen agenda so much more than Ferrari is that it just benefits Max more than it does Charles. Charles is already like an angel to the F1 community. He’s EXTREMELY well liked across all fans. No one genuinely dislikes him (there are trolls that hate on him to annoy the lecfosi but otherwise). Unfortunately Max doesn’t have that same luxury. He’s seen as an evil jerk by probably a good half of the F1 community (although it’s improving). Being seen having such kind and gentle interactions with Charles helps soften that reputation. And the only drivers whose interactions with Max get this much attention is Charles and Daniel. However, I don’t think Daniel has the same positive effect on Max’s reputation that he used to, or at least not as much. Not since he got his seat again at another’s expense, and even more so after he got the contract renewal instead of Liam Lawson. The general view of Daniel is still positive I’d say, but not nearly as much. Plus, when Max and Daniel interact on behalf of RBR, it just excludes Checo and looks more like a different agenda, which pisses some people off even more and doesn’t help anyone. Charles on the other hand, there is literally no negative side effect to their interactions to be widely seen, so RBR is going to take advantage of that.

yes, this is also a strong theory in my mind! the added baggage around doing it with daniel these days is a good point. charles is unproblematic and has great star power on the grid and that’s why all the top teams like to flex their charles interactions on social media (not just rbr).

i think charles comes with the added bonus that he has never really spoken badly about max and clearly approves of his (controversial) driving style. last year, the friendly rivals “full of respect” narrative that rbr was big on was a dig at lewis for sure, but it was also about max being seen as friendly/fun at the height of a (brief) title battle. especially when rbr (or christian) still gets some good press for “defending charles more than his own team” (every time ferrari fucks up, the chrisrian horner quote goes around? great staying power for rbr). yes, there was the austria 19 scuffle (and the great lestappen unfollowing) but everyone talks about that in a fond way now because of the change in their friendship since. and austin is a good example (“no i don’t mind max trying to punt me to dallas, i - an angel! - would do the exact same”).

i think it also benefits rbr to suggest that they might be able to get charles. yeah, it’s unfortunate for the Look if they can’t get him (and suggests that even the best car can’t lure whoever they want), but this is charles. the suggestion that they’ve even been able to get him to consider it for longer than a second is powerful, precisely bc no one thinks charles will ever leave ferrari (and many think rbr would be the last place he’d go, because of their “bad” rep).

charles benefits from it too, imo. rbr was definitely driving it and charles seems more passive with it (liked the merc tweet, but not rbr — which i think is more about the “mr russell” joke than merc). the padel date is new buy in. for him, it’s useful to suggest he has options elsewhere — but i also think max’s reputation benefits him for the exact opposite reason (suggesting he’s not just a “soft” angel and is in fact as brutal and deranged as max on track, given the chance).

so. yeah. there’s also a very strong plausibility that this is all just rbr capitalizing on rehabbing max’s reputation and charles taking the extra bargaining leverage with ferrari.

[neoswiftology]

so I made a search engine of taylor swift songs

hello! so um. yeah. I made a pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript search engine of Taylor Swift songs because I'm not normal.

Swift Song Search v. 1.0

Catalog:

All studio albums including all bonus tracks and some remixes

Both rerecordings excluding ATW10 Sad Girl Autumn and Short Film versions

The Holiday Collection and Beautiful Eyes

Features:

field search by song title, writers, or producers EDIT: producers search is not working and writers search is glitching. looking into it!

filter by album

filter by type of album/collection (studio album, rerecording, EP)

filter to only show songs Taylor owns

filter to only show self written songs

filter to exclude alternate versions - remixes, demos, acoustic versions, etc.

combine any number of filters, though some will obviously produce zero results (ex. filter by Reputation and Taylor owns)

combine the field search with any number of filters, or just use filters to search the full catalog

click the song title to show/hide more detailed song info

fully responsive

Important notes:

Songs that have been rerecorded are labeled as alternate versions

All Too Well and ATW10 are considered unique versions

Results will display below the filters box, so you will have to scroll to see them on mobile

Credits are from Wikipedia (I know >.< but it was the quickest way) so lmk if something is inaccurate

Also just give me feedback in general if you wanna! this is my first real JS project so i'm still learning for sure

This is just the first iteration of this project, so feel free to follow here or the tag #songsearchupdates for updates! I will be adding the rest of her catalog bit by bit and adding functionalities like searching featured artists and boolean searching. My ultimate goal is to add subject tags for themes like heartbreak or falling in love and for motifs like rain, midnight, or gold, which is well beyond the capabilities of one person. If you are interested in helping with data entry for this project, please send me an ask here on tumblr or email me at neoswiftology@gmail.com and I will get in touch when it's time to start on that phase of the project.

cool thank u for reading happy new year

[galavant-song-tournament]

Honestly I’m convinced that the only way that ring is getting to mount doom is through the power trio of Sid/gareth/vincenzo.

Gareth is really against magic for power, and he can be the muscle. Chance of temptation or giving it to Madalena though.

Vincenzo doesn’t appear to have any ambitions tbh, I think he has the least chance of being tempted but also he’s frail so unlikely he’d make it there on his own.

Sid does have heroic ambitions but the ring can’t really tempt him when the way to achieve those ambitions….is to destroy the ring. He’s been the excluded guy the whole time so bonus points for filling that thematic niche. He’d even out Gareth and Vincenzo, helping to keep them going and on track.

(Isabela/gwynne/galavant are far too likely to go the boromir route tbh, plus Isabella and galavant are too much of Main Characters to fit that thematic niche.)

I think that could totally work!

[101flavoursofweird]

This is, of course, excluding Raphael as a dog parent. Because he’d win by a mile.

Also, I know Alfred cares for Marie but I associate him with Elisabeth.

For anyone not familiar with Rhythm Thief but would like to vote, there’s some spoilers and propaganda under the cut taken from a previous post of mine:

Duchess Elisabeth In her diary, Elizabeth writes that the best day of her life was the day Marie was born. Unfortunately, Jean-François (Elisabeth’s evil cousin) discovered Marie’s true heritage of being the last blood descendant of the Babylonian royal house don’t ask

Fearing for Marie’s safety and the resurrection of the Dragon Crown (an ancient flying weapon), Elizabeth gave Marie away to a convent when Marie was yet an infant, with her only possession being a violin… which miiight have helped Jean-François to identify Marie. (Unconfirmed in game!) Whoops. Elizabeth must have been feeling sentimental and wanted to give Marie something to remember her by. Marie can’t even remember what her mother looked like.

Elizabeth doesn’t acknowledge Marie when JF reunites the two of them later on, but we can see how affected Elisabeth is when Marie plays her violin

However, Elisabeth turns her back on Marie and walks away. Elizabeth has to pretend she has no interest in Marie so JF will leave them both alone. Elizabeth demands to know what JJF would want, theoretically speaking, if he had found her daughter. “Money? Honor?” JF, at some point, tracked Marie down, inserted himself into Marie’s life and paid for Marie to take violin lessons so she could unlock the ancient weapon. Elisabeth knows this and she must be terrified.

Later, when the bad guys threaten Elizabeth’s life in front of Marie, they reveal that Elizabeth has been lying in order to protect Marie. (Even the villain recognises this!) Elizabeth tries to keep the act up, insisting that she is nothing but a stranger to Marie. Marie decides to save her and plays the song anyway after hearing Elizabeth call her name in distress. 

Then, when the giant flying weapon has been unleashed, Elizabeth takes a literal bullet for Marie. Elizabeth reveals the truth to Marie and she calls Marie ‘Ma chère, Marie’ before passing out. Marie weeps for her mother

Fortunately, a pendant Elizabeth wore with young Marie’s picture saved her from the bullet. Raphael remarks that Elizabeth was Marie’s guardian angel. 

After the bad guys have been defeated, in the final scene of the game, Elizabeth can be seen peacefully listening to Marie’s music at the opera house. In Marie’s bonus episode, she watches Marie at her examination to enter the conservatoire. She’s glad to hear Marie’s laughter and she encourages her to enjoy herself. She tells Marie to “play like you were playing for him”- Elizabeth approves of her future son in law, Raphael

-

Inspector Vergier

In Vergier’s first scene, we see him sending in an army of roller-skating police officers to arrest Phantom R. Vergier takes his work very seriously.

At Paris Constabulary HQ, Raphael overhears Vergier talking to another officer about how he hasn’t been home in days. Apparently, Vergier has been on a certain case since his wife died. The other officer basically tells him, “GO HOME TO YOUR KID”.  (Charlie) Vergier clearly hasn’t recovered from his wife’s death but he’s been neglecting the one family member he has left so…

In a later chapter, Raphael again overhears Vergier talking to his colleague. Vergier asks if Charlie has turned up yet. He knows about Charlie’s mission to hunt down Phantom R, but he considers Charlie’s efforts an impediment to their investigation. Raphael picks up a family photo that Vergier dropped and decides to hang on to it. During his second fight with Charlie, Raph comments that Charlie is just like their father. Charlie snaps at him to “LEAVE MY FATHER OUT OF THIS!” (It’s not like Charlie’s trying to prove their worth or anything- what gave you that idea?)

Raphael goes looking for Charlie after Marie gets captured. He talks to Vergier’s friend from university and learns that Charlie and Vergier just had some sort of argument. Also, the friend comments that Charlie is about Raphael’s age. So... Charlie’s 16-18, maybe. It’s not unheard of for a parent to leave a 16-18 home alone, but Charlie was left at home for DAYS??? Raphael finds Charlie at a cafe and asks them to return the photo to Vergier. Charlier huffs that they don’t want to see their father again, but then they reads the message CharlieMs mother left on the photo. 

During the battle below the ancient flying weapon, Charlie saves Vergier from a bunch of henchmen. Vergier acknowledges that he protects Paris in memory of Charlie’s dead mother. Charlie reminds him that there’s no time like the present, and announces that they’ll help him save the city. Vergier doesn’t refuse this offer. 

In the final scene, Vergier and Charlie can be seen pursuing Phantom R together.

There’s also Charlie’s bonus episode, where they fight off the last remnants (?) of the evil organisation. Vergier announces that the case he was working on is officially closed. He’s realised that no matter how much he warns Charlie to stay away, Charlie wouldn’t listen. He just asks Charlie to stay where he can keep an eye on them.

-

Isaac, Raphael’s father 

The first chapter of the game opens with dialogue of Raphael crying as Isaac leaves him. He left three years ago... when Raphael was fifteen. Raphael’s mother previously died in an accident, so Raphael was orphaned.

Raphael became Phantom R and chased after the mark his father left for him on the coin. 

Raphael reveals to Marie that his father was an artist but he never got a big break. Isaac became a forgery artists, swapping his fake art pieces with their authentic counterparts. Raphael tries to fix his father’s crimes and hunt for the mark by returning the real art pieces.  

Raphael thinks that he sees Isaac beneath Les Invalides and at the Palace of Versailles. He’s distressed and frustrated when he loses Isaac in the crowd. Isaac was in a hurry to escape...

During his final battle with Jean-François, Raphael learns that Isaac has been working with J.F. and the Chevaliers. Isaac made forgeries for J.F.’s organisation when Raphael was young and sickly. Raphael insists that he made those forgeries to pay the doctors. So, it does seem that Isaac initially joined the organisation for Raphael’s sake, but his intentions became warped over the years. 

Raphael couldn’t believe that his father would fall in with the Chevaliers and Elizabeth was close friends with Isaac... once. Isaac couldn’t have shown any obvious signs of going to the dark side years ago. 

In his final scene, Isaac discusses with the seemingly real emperor Napoleon that he wants to begin the next phase of their plan. He quietly warns Raphael to be ready for whatever that is.

Note: Isaac’s motivations and reasons for leaving are never made clear during the game or from his point of view. As we don’t have a sequel, these can’t be confirmed.

[astrum-aetherium]

HEY GIRLIE LUV UR BLOG was just wonderin what type of modern media (like after the 80s or smth) henry wld like in ur opinion? things like idk music/artists or movies/shows or heck even musicals! ^^

awh, thank you so much!! i'm always heartened greatly to see people finding enjoyment in my blog and my content. i do this for all of us henry-enamored masses, as goddd knows we deserve it. there is such a profound lack of content about him pretty much everywhere.

this is such a thrilling ask to receive! i would love to share my thoughts on that. because i have strong perfectionist tendencies, however, i will deviate from the instructions a little bit and break this down into two sections — a short mention of interests that align with the canonical timeline, and one that attunes to a more modern setting. beware that i'm incredibly biased, but all of these just make sense to me. click on links to hear examples.

so, we know that TSH takes place in the 80s. it's never directly mentioned which year we are actually toying with, but it's sort of generally established in the fandom that the story starts in the late summer/fall of 1983 (richard attending hampden and joining the greek class), and ends in the summer of 1984 (henry doing what he did). therefore, these first few propositions on my end are based on this boundary. not to worry, however — it'll be quite short, as i, as a contemporary member of gen z, have way more things to add to the modern list.

he would be quite fond of classical music, there's no way around it. specifically, and mostly because of donna tartt's own description of him likening an old ballerina, i would even go as far as saying that he prefers ballet. take tchaikovsky as an example — swan lake or the nutcracker as the classics, definitely. i wouldn't even exclude the possibility that he would like to go see performances thereof (aside from reimaginations of ancient greek theater, of course). i'm not exactly well-versed in classical music, but from what i do know, i would also like to add that he could like rachmaninoff, shostakovich, beethoven and bach, of course. chopin, even. and yes, i know, this might be quite boring to uninterested minds — which is why i will be moving on.

to assume a slightly more modernized viewpoint (80s-90s)... he would love depeche mode. specifically their albums some great reward, black celebration, and ultra — the comparably darkest ones. this doesn't quite align with the "canonical" timeline as all of those were released around/after 1984, but i just know he would. specifically the songs but not tonight, only when i lose myself, lie to me, if you want, and (of COURSE) enjoy the silence. just basically depeche mode as a whole — so fitting.

for a more broad approach to slightly older music: tears for fears, the cure, duran duran, billie joel, U2, chris isaak, the smiths.

now, to modern stuff. i have to mention lana del rey. there is no way around her when i talk about henry. ultraviolence and honeymoon are his albums. from UV: specifically shades of cool, black beauty, and the title track itself. from honeymoon: the blackest day, swan song, terrence, and, once again, the title track itself. from other albums, i'd say: if you lie down with me, did you know, NFR, national anthem, and i can fly. a bonus mention of unreleased songs that suit him so well: cult leader, tv in black and white, and serial killer. can you tell i am a diehard lana fan? always have, always will. i could write a novel-length essay about how each song on her discography correlates with henry. i love them both so.

other examples of newer music he would like: mitski (specifically heat lightning and once more to see you, but generally all of them), lorde, mac demarco, local natives, the national, birdy. and — you need to hear me out — some taylor swift songs. i think he would appreciate the poeticism of folklore (e.g. hoax, this is me trying, the lakes) and evermore (cowboy like me, tolerate it). sue me.

when it comes to film and tv... i'd say he would be one of those people who genuinely enjoy silent movies, lol. pretentiously so. to be less humorous, i think he'd quite enjoy complex dramas. the haunting of hill house, maybe. the sixth sense. the shining. the silence of the lambs. hannibal. TROY (although he would complain and complain and complain about the inaccuracy but still like it). a clockwork orange. dexter. evidently, i'm not a huge movie nerd, which is why this might be a little general. but here are just some thoughts.

for musicals, i needed to consult my devoted theater kid friend. to make a long debate short, we agree that it would be the phantom of the opera, les mis, and heathers (for some funny reason). as an explanation on the latter — he would enjoy the hierarchy concept and the dark comedy of it all. but this is just a wild card, lol. the other two are more fitting (specifically the phantom of the opera!).

this took longer than anticipated to compose, but i hope it provides some sort of outlook. thank you, once again, for this wonderful ask! i was overjoyed to say the absolute least.

[jim-the-simpleton]

it isn't a puscifer album if it isn't rereleased at least once

This is the stunning sequel to my vagina mine post, where I listed the number of times that Puscifer's "Vagina Mine" had been released.

I created a table in Google sheets to document every track that Puscifer has released on Spotify and count how many times a track has been remixed, rereleased, or released in a live album. The only excluded Puscifer work has been "8 Ball Bail Bonds," an album which isn't available on Spotify and contains the original, country-themed comedy act as it was performed in the past. I also am not including anything that was released exclusively in physical media, such as the vinyl version of the track Simultaneous, nor counting reworked versions performe exclusively live with no official release. I am, however, including their original version of Flippant into the sums, despite the track being released only on the iTunes version of Money Shot.

Here are my findings:

On average, each Puscifer song has been released a total of ~3.93 times. There are 57 original songs in their discography, but a total of 224 released tracks, with 82 live versions and 85 remixes and rereleases. On average, each song is released 1.44 times in live albums and remixed 1.49 times.

Puscifer has released original music on 11 singles, EPs, and full-length albums, but has released 25 total singles, EPs, and LPs. Most of their releases contain zero wholly original material.

The only songs that have exactly one version each are Lighten Up, Francis (A track on "V Is For Vagina"), PSA, LOL! (a brief spoken-word track on "V Is for Viagra, The Vagina Remixes" announcing a bonus remix of their hit song Cuntry Boner), Polar Bear (the opening track to their "C Is For..." EP, whose full title I am not typing out), and their cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

The song with the most versions of all is Momma Sed, which has one studio version, three live versions, and four remixes/reissues, totaling in at eight releases.

The songs with the most remixes/rereleases are Rev 22:20 and Queen B, which each have 5 remixes or outright reissues. The song with the most live versions is our old friend Vagina Mine, with four live versions total.

The album with the highest average rereleases is, unsurprisingly, their first EP, Don't Shoot The Messenger, with each new track being released an average of 6.67 times. If Puscifer rereleased the songs on Don't Shoot The Messenger 14 more times, this album would beat The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in total rereleases.

The album with the highest average live releases is Conditions Of My Parole, with 2.08 average live releases. This is unsurprising as the What Is... concert album was recorded during the COMP tour and Parole Violator is a live version of exclusively tracks from COMP.

The album with the highest average remixes also goes to Don't Shoot The Messenger, with a whopping 4.3 remixes and rereleases. Not only does the EP itself contain remixes of the tracks it features, but these tracks were often released in the following LP V Is For Vagina and then subsequently remixed again. Two of its tracks were also featured on the studio session album V Is For Versatile.

Aside from the albums with no original material, the album with the least rereleases of original material is "V" Is For Viagra, The Vagina Remixes, because Puscifer has not had the balls to rerelease PSA, LOL! in any new format.

I personally think Puscifer should release more of the same music.

[hehearse]

Hey! Have you ever listened to "The Hearse" by Matt Maeson? I could ramble for hours about it's ORV-like qualities but I can't decide whether it's more Yoo Joonghyuk or Kim Dokja.

Right now I'm leaning towards Kim Dokja because "I am the man we both couldn't stand/ I can't wash off the dirt from my hands/ What was it like to feel in love?" which seems to match his well buried self-hatred pretty well and the chorus "I will never go backwards/ I will never be free/ I will never run faster/ will you sink down to me?"

BUT the alternate chorus "I will never go backwards/ I will never be seen/ In the wake of disaster/ will you sink down to me?" feels more Yoo Joonghyuk coded because of his regressions (especially since he's never truly "going backwards" when he regresses, he continues on while everything seemingly rewinds). The lyrics could either be "I will never be seen in the wake of disaster" or "In the wake of disaster will you sink down to me?" And I think that dual-meaning perfectly encapsulates YJH regressing vs KDJ calming him down from regression depression.

Okay maybe I'm thinking this is a Yoo Joonghyuk song now.

Sorry for filling your inbox with my rambling about song lyrics! All I meant to send was:

hehe look this song reminds me of orv and it's called hearse

Anyways have a lovely day! Your art is amazing as always bye

OHH i never heard it!! and AHHH what a nice listen huh

I MEAN. do we need to differentiate the two. both are good!!

also please bear with me, i thrive on outsourcing the smart interpretation job to people looking at my art usually my craft is easy just slap pixels on the canvas hehe

BUT if you allow me to be a devil's advocate for a bit you can completely make it out to be Kim Dokja, who doesn't seem too eager to go backwards or be seen. constantly trying to escape his own story and being it's character in the eyes of relatives/coworkers and such. he is also not. at the height of his no matter how capable he is during the scenarios, running himself into one bear trap after another. his house is also built on sand, the faulty foundation that is his mother's way of loving by taking the blame and bearing the weight alone. he is also much more of a driver of a hearse than yjh is, a reader keeping the story's engine going and taking the coffin to it's destination that is the story's perfect ending hahehe come on sink down to him, his house' foundation is not just sand, it's quicksand and he is half-buried already

ANYWAY the beauty of it's duality! one coin, two sides etc etc they are so intertvined that you can't exclude one to interprete the other all the smart words that i'm guessing apply

[yiangchen]

today i tried to explain to my coworker all of the different versions of midnights because she didn't understand. i was like alright so first we have the standard edition of midnights okay? thirteen tracks. released in october of 2022 at midnight.

then we have the 3am edition. released at 3am the same night as a surprise. includes all 13 tracks plus seven new 3am tracks okay? makes sense? okay good. alright.

then we have the target exclusive known as the lavender edition, which consists of the original 13 tracks plus three bonus tracks. one of them is an entirely new song hits different. the other two are you're on your own, kid (strings remix) and sweet nothing (piano remix), which are two of the standard tracks. these three tracks were not available on streaming. note: sweet nothing (piano remix) is really also a strings remix, there's no added piano just added strings, but for some reason, it's referred to as a piano remix...not a strings remix...but i digress!!

fast forward to may of 2023 and the til dawn edition comes out. includes the 13 standard tracks, the seven 3am tracks, one of the target lavender edition bonus tracks hits different (but not the other two bonus track remixes of you're on your own, kid and sweet nothing), a new version of snow on the beach featuring more lana del rey (because people were upset that lana didn't have a verse on the og version of the song on the standard edition), and a remix of karma featuring ice spice.

but wait!!! there's more. on the same day in may, taylor also released the late night edition. includes the 13 standard tracks and then eight "late night tracks", which are actually just five of the seven 3am tracks (excluding paris and glitch for some reason...), a new song you're losing me (from the vault), snow on the beach (featuring more lana) and karma (featuring ice spice). for some reason, hits different is not included and is only on the til dawn edition despite the other two til dawn edition songs (snow on the beach ft more lana and karma ft ice spice) being on the late night edition. also, the til dawn edition was available on streaming, but the late night edition was only available to buy as a CD or as a digital download, so....

this was a wild day because we finally got hits different on streaming, but then the new song you're losing me wasn't on streaming. an absolute tragedy!!

but hey! don't worry. you're losing me will be released. fast forward again to the end of the year and taylor releases you're losing me as a midnights single as a thank you for winning spotify artist of the year 2023.

you're losing me is not on any of the albums on streaming though. it just kind of exists on its own. yeah, no. there's not a single album actually that includes every single song.

oh and also? those remixes of you're on your own, kid and sweet nothing? still only available on the target lavender edition. yeah no. they probably won't ever be on streaming.

[tmbgareok]

I have a somewhat lengthy question. I’ve always loved the 2002 comp DAS: 20 Years Of TMBG, from it being 2 CDs to it being compiled by yourself. Would you guys ever consdier doing a followup to it with another 2CD of material from 03-23? Or is that no longer feasible to release a something that elaborate in the not so psychical world of 2023 as it was in 2002?

In addition to that, I also wonder how much different formats play into new releases? For example, does making your content fit on vinyl disc take priority more so now than it did say 10 years ago? Are there some releases, such as comps or live albums that get excluded from the future vinyl releases because of their content or length?

Curiosity is killing this cat

JF: In the past few years we have been focusing hard on getting LPs released on vinyl and pulling our overall catalog together. Wrangling rarities and compilations is kind of inherently messy and confusing, and it is made even more complicated by various formats coming in an out of style. I guess I am specifically thinking about EPs which for many years were a nice "off the record" place to park bonus tracks and oddities. Curiously a lot of those EP songs from the Elektra and Idlewild years --some of which have great qualities--haven't been compiled into rarities but are often not in print or streaming, while more haphazard rarity comps in LP form soldier on. But we are thinking about it all, and working on some things that I think will be of interest.

[undeadorion-archive]

Do Not Participate in Tapas Inksgiving

Their practices and policies are more akin to micro-transactions in video games, and use the same deceptive pricing structure. But it's even worse because they use the veil of "supporting artists" to get you to overlook the problems. They turn around and weaponize that as "you'll hurt the artists" if you criticize the company.

Several years ago, I tracked down and calculated exactly what Tapas is getting and how much artists are getting and it's worse than I realized. Nothing has changed since then, despite promises to change the language around Ink.

This started in November 2019 and the conversation on the forums lasted until April of the following year. And it's still a problem.

Here are the prices you pay when you buy Ink:

What I found extremely strange was the "bonus" values. Why is it 4000 + 1000 and not just 5000 for $5? Because that's part of the deceptive, predatory micro transaction behavior. You'd be able to easily figure out 5000 ink for $5 is 10 ink for every penny. But it also shows their hand a bit. If you take away the "bonus" ink, the math becomes a lot easier. It's 800 ink for every $1, or 8 per penny.

Seeing that, I plugged in all the values into a spreadsheet:

Purchase amounts were rounded up by 1 penny make the math a little easier.

Now, what's that actual value? Well, I did a bit of an experiment. I created a burner account, purchased $2 worth of ink (the 1600 tier) and sent it to my main account. What arrived was valued at $1.33 before any fees were taken out. Well, that's strange. If I paid $2, and there's fees taken by Tapas at the end, shouldn't it still be $2? Where'd that $0.67 go?!

I'll get to that in a moment, but let's look at those fees for a moment. These are what they were back in 2019/2020, but they revoked my access to my ink dashboard so I can't verify if they're still the same, but this is what my math was based on:

How it works is they take the transaction fee out, depending on where the ink was purchased. Now keep that in mind, these are taken out at the cash out stage. If the ink was purchased via an app, it's 30% but via the website it's 15%. After that, Tapas takes their cut. If it's donated from users that's another 15%. But if the ink came from ad revenue (yes, they pay in their internal currency), it's 30%, though they don't take the transaction fee from that.

So how does that work out? Let's say you buy $10 worth of ink, the "most popular" tier, and give it to a single artist. That's 10,500 ink total. This is a quick summary of what happens to that $10.

Now, let's look at what happens to that $10 that turns magically into $8.70 somehow when an artist tries to cash out, accounting for either web purchase or app purchase:

So in both cases, $1.30 (13%) goes immediately into Tapas' pocket. Yes, that's almost as high as the share they take later. No, it doesn't figure into that fee. In fact, this "mystery" fee that I've labeled "Transaction Loss" is not documented anywhere on the website, and most people will refuse even exists (including staff members), but I've had these values confirmed officially (I'll get to that further down).

After the transaction loss, they take the "transaction fee", which varies by platform. That's $1.31 or $2.61 lost. Out of what's left, Tapas takes their 15%.

What started as $10 on the web is now $6.29. That's $3.71 lost or 37%. But if purchased through an app, it's now only $5.18. A loss of $4.82 or 48%.

What's even worse, is artists can't cash out until they reach $25 after fees. It's not as clear to work out what that would be at purchase due to the convoluted tiers, but it takes 41,600 ink for an artist to get $25.

The lowest amount paid up front to give an artist $25 is actually $40 (buy 2 of the $20 tiers). The most expensive is $52, requiring 26 packs of the $2 tier (excluding the "one time offer"). If you were feeling absurdly generous, and purchased the $50 tier and gave all of it to an artist, at cash out they'd have $36.13 if you purchased through the site and only $29.75 if purchased through an app.

Something important to note is that the 30% fee is enforced by the app stores. But any other decent company is up front about that fact and simply charge more to the user when making said purchase. Most notable is Twitch Bits and YouTube Premium. Both are cheaper when purchasing through a browser.

My original issue was with the change in value. The staff speaking on it said tracking the original price was impossible and they wanted to be able to offer "deals" to their users.

Well, if that's the case, how can they possibly know where ink was purchased after it was transferred to an artist, if they can't track what was originally paid for it? At the time, I had zero programming knowledge. Now I can call utter fucking bullshit on that. It's not an amorphous pool. Every single transaction has a database entry. Those entries have values attached. This includes original price and purchase location. This is made even more obvious by the reports that will show in the dashboard of how much you are given by each donor. So the value change is completely BY DESIGN.

Now, let's get to the validation of my calculations of $1 = 1200 ink after purchase.

This is the very last message received from Michael Son, then Senior Editor in Chief now VP of Content. Text reads:

I apologize again - I haven't been keeping up with this topic due to the number of notifications hitting my inbox. I will review the ongoing discussions and respond early next next to clarify questions in regards to the deployment of the new dashboard language ($0.01 = 12 Ink) when hovering over the revenue coach marks. edit: waiting on approvals from other teams. will have some updates later.

After this, the thread was closed and I never heard another word from him. By this point, my access to the dashboard was revoked, so I could not confirm if this change ever actually happened.

This was not the first confirmation I received. Earlier in the thread, Yoon Kim (Chief Technical Officer) confirmed a lot of details mentioned here. Including the strange claim that they couldn't account for how much someone paid to buy the initial ink. Which is a flat out fucking lie.

Don't buy tapas Ink. Give directly to artist, instead. Tapas is using deceptive practices (and blatant lies) to obfuscate the process so they can take anywhere from a third to half of every dollar you try to give creators. Even the numbers assigned for ink is deceptive. On twitch it's easy, 100 bits = $1 to the creator, while you the user pays slightly more than $1 per 100 to account for fees. It's easy math to do in the moment. But calculating 1200 ink = $1 isn't nearly as intuitive.

This whole system is by design.

People love to treat Tapas like this itty bitty company run like Comic Fury. Like it's just a small team working in their free time. I got a lot of "leave them alone, it's the holidays" comments. They're a multi-national company with offices in at least 2 countries. They have investors. They were relatively recently purchased by a massive Korean media conglomerate. They are in no way a tiny company surviving on meager donations from users. They're taking well intentioned money just because they can.

Don't buy tapas ink. They're stealing your money.

[styrmwb]

Favorite Final Fantasy Music (FFXI - Base Game)

I'm retiring the part joke here now I think, and for good reason. You see the title, right? Base Game? I will explain in a moment.

I love FFXI. I have very fond memories watching it being played growing up (some of the only fond memories I have at times hahaaaaa), and that love very much influences the feelings I have for it nowadays. It's absolutely an aged game. It is 100% a game of its time, and I'm ok with that! I play it when I want to chill out, mindlessly grind, and listen to some chill beats; It is such a vibe of a game. It also has a really cool world, story, and characters, and for that to all the people that make "every FF game" lists of all types and you exclude XI? I will find you. The main composers other than Uematsu in this game were Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka, who later do Stranger of Paradise and Crystal Chronicles, respectively (those are at least my favorite bits they do)

As XI is an MMO, it is split up into several expansions, and some add-on content. It's a huge game, and I can't do it justice by only doing 5 songs from the whole thing, so I'm going to split this up into a few parts, one for every expansion (plus maybe a bonus one for the add-ons and things that don't quite fit) (this is also why I can't keep doing the part joke cause then XII is gonna be like part 17 and that's fucked). It's XI week! Let's start with the base game :)

5. Despair (Memoro de la Ŝtono) You might be wondering, What The Fuck is that title? Memoro de la Ŝtono is the vocal part of the opening, and its motifs are used in several different songs. This version specifically is one of my favorites. It plays in a few different cutscenes so when it appears it's like a nice treat. I absolutely love the synth in this whole track, the heavy backing, the cool harpsichord, and the part in the middle where it just goes ham on the keys. It does really fit well with the Despair name, but also like it's kind of a jam?

4. Battle Theme Something cool about XI is that it has different battle themes depending on where you are and if you're in a group or not. This is the general battle theme when you aren't in a party (so for that reason ironically you're probably not going to hear it much considering most of this game needs a party). I love the intro still giving you that classic FF build up, but in a unique way. The whole song sounds almost like a band marching you out for war, with the snare and the flute especially. Another really cool part is when it gets less upbeat, the flute is giving you a steady yet nervous backing while the trumpet plays its heart out.

3. Awakening Yooooooooo the first final boss theme of this game. When I actually played XI myself and not through the eyes of a child watching, it was in the modern day with trusts, basically soloing it. Catch me sitting awkwardly regenerating HP while the Actual Final Boss is killing all of my ghost friends who can't do shit: it was very funny. ANYWAYS, this song is so cool. Super heavy on percussion, and the toms have a really awesome bouncy feel to them. This whole song takes the Shadow Lord's main theme, keeps a lot of the same sounds and melodies, but transforms it into a battle theme expertly. This is also a really fun song to play in Theatrhythm with the melody hitting you with a lot of triplets.

2. The Republic of Bastok One of my favorite memories of this game is seeing Bastok being wandered around. When I finally decided to pick it back up as an adult, the moment I heard this song I got really emotional and happy. The percussion with the timpani and claves really gives you the feel of a bustling city, and the melody is an absolute joy to my ears; making you feel like everything is right and happy, walking through the city as people build and craft. I really don't have much else to say about this song, it never fails to bring a genuine smile to my face.

1. Vana'diel March Vana'diel March absolutely does that thing that music does where when a specific instrument plays some specific notes, it is like, scientifically calculated to pull on your heartstrings. One day I will figure out what this term is called cause I know it has to exist. This is the title screen music; every expansion has its own unique theme, but the basic one has always been my favorite. March is a perfect word for this song, cause the intro which becomes the backing gives you that feel; imagine the end of the opening cutscene where you see the huge army walking together? That's this song. The trumpet comes in with a beautiful solo, going into the prelude showing you that this is still Final Fantasy. Bring in the rest of the orchestra to create a grand feeling of adventure, saying to you: "Hey, this is a huge world that you're about to enter. Think of this as you walk through it." It's beautiful, and this song is almost like a musical summary of why I love this game, in a way.

Honorable Mentions go to: Battle Theme #2, Ronfaure, Gustaberg, Sarutabaruta, Voyager, Selbina, The Grand Duchy of Jeuno, Hopelessness, and Castle Zvahl.

[inkofamethyst]

December 23, 2023

November/December is kind of screwing me up a little because money anxiety (which I feel like I'm definitely exhibiting signs of) makes me want to maintain consistently high saving levels each month, including my "bonus savings" at the end of every month. By most/all accounts, I'm literally doing fine when you consider my age and the fact that I'm in graduate school. I need to write this out to remind myself that not having "bonus savings" at the end of this month does not mean I did not save anything for this month. This should be obvious, but alas. I do all of my monthly saving (for all goals) at the beginning of the month and have consistently (even this month !!!) allocated a relatively big chunk toward my brand new Roth to get it off the ground. So it's okay that gifting has limited the amount leftover for "bonus savings" because I'm still very much on track to reach my goals before the mostly arbitrary deadlines I set for myself.

God, sometimes the overachiever energy is just too much. It feels like.. like a cavity. Like how too much sugar without proper cleaning will lead to a cavity and potential infection, maintaining overachiverness without regular reminders of how I'm doing in reality will lead to that awful "never good enough" feeling because I keep raising an arbitrary bar to keep it ever out of reach to maintain the sense of a "challenge".

So, to reiterate, it is fine and okay to not have much in the manner of bonus savings, as long as I 1. saved at the beginning of the month and 2. did not actually spend more than I earned that month (emergencies and planned purchases excluded).

[edit: I'm also ever thankful for familial help financially actually because it's only due to their assistance that I've been able to save so aggressively these past few months without ever worrying whether I was going to be able to buy food or something (campus events with free food are also helpful). I mean I still clip coupons and watch for sales but if I want to be a little frivolous and buy frozen dumplings or something I still can, you know? I mean yes, sure, I could probably still get by without their help on my stipend, but the fact that I have help means that it may not be a totally financially ruinous decision (in a year or so, I'm sure, I will have settled into a comfortable routine and will not be as nervously obsessive over all of this, but what am I if not a bundle of obsessive nerves).]

Today I'm thankful that the discord chat gathering I hosted yesterday went really well!!! I haven't hosted anything big at my house in eight years and of those who came (all seven of us in the same place for the first time since 2019--four years!!) only my dnd-friend had actually been in my house before lol. I was lowkey anxious about hosting but my parents helped me set up a lot so I'm thankful for that too. We had a potluck which was lovely and we chatted and played games and it was just nice to see everyone again without having to work around a time zone spread of eight hours (though that's going to last for at least a couple more years). (Also thankful that the two dishes I tried for the first time went really well! Love adding new foods to the arsenal.)

Working on mini twists, should all be done tonight or tomorrow. It'll be nice to have them back in but the shrinkage is still crazyyyyy. Like my hair is def mid back length (though in need of a trim) but if I let it be after washing then it looks like it's three inches, and even with twists in it barely reaches my neck. I want a silk press so baddd. May have to add another savings goal for a $200 silk press at a salon somewhere near my school :/ UGH but I haven't been to a salon in like ten years and I'm so dreadfully tenderheaded. But I need to find someone to trim my ends.

Last thing: started reading Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson and it's very.. quaint, so far, I'd say. The narration is very storybook-y which can be fun to read though wasn't quite what I was expecting (but some lines are just so silly and out of the box that they put a smile on my face, and I love somatic reactions to media so much). I'm about a third of the way through after three days, so going steadily. Getting faster lol.

Actual last thing: Superman TAS is fun and interesting, but the music doesn't feel quite as special as BTAS. Like it's fine, it's heroic in the ways that it should be. I do like the animation a lot though, and maybe that's just the nostalgia haha it can be a lil visibly jerky sometimes :P

[teeteepeedee]

SWIFFERS, I HAVE NEWS:

Taylor’s Discography*:

Taylor Swift (Bonus Track Version): 53 minutes

Fearless TV: 107 minutes

Speak Now (Deluxe): 92 minutes

Red TV: 130 minutes

1989 (Deluxe): 69 minutes

reputation: 56 minutes

Lover: 62 minutes

folklore (deluxe): 67 minutes

evermore (deluxe): 69 minutes

Midnights: 44 minutes

= 749 minutes, or 12.48 hours

Holiday Collection + CTF: 23 minutes

Bonus songs from Beautiful Eyes: 6 minutes

= 778 minutes, or 12.96 hours

If Hits Different is at least 2.5 minutes long, we will officially have 13 HOURS OF TAYLOR SWIFT MUSIC

*I excluded any alternate versions or remixes, for obvious reasons. This also doesn’t include soundtracks or features, which would put us already above 13 hours!!!

[kmgkmg]

BACK TO US - BONUS. PLAYLIST BREAKDOWN

┊masterlist┊

for those that connect to music as deeply as i do, i thought it would be a good idea to make this post! diving deeper into my picks for the back to us playlist, all of the tracks are extremely intentional and you might not have even noticed their presence since i tried to weave them in naturally!

**below cut i give details about each track, spoilers included so i recommend reading once you've finished the series. long post (1.5k) since i included reasons + lyrics under the cut!**

first section: reuniting

✧ keeping tabs by niki: i can 100% see joshua listening to niki's music! her voice would match his really well imo and i could see him trying to harmonize with her voice as he was cleaning or smthn! while reader's emotions towards joshua aren't as strong as this song, it definitely has the same vibe!

you left without saying goodbye ---- i wish i never met you. you are the worst thing that i'm still keeping tabs on for some stupid reason. you were just being nice. now i fully believe you're out there somewhere also keeping tabs on how i might be feeling.

✧ sugarcoat (natty solo) by kiss of life: again this is veryyyyy joshua coded! when he recommended emotional oranges on summer vacation with vernon, i knew i had to add this track. the pop/rnb vibe is perfect. the lyric i included imo sums up how joshua came to his conclusions way too quick.

the image of me that you judged arbitrarily cannot be all

✧ haunt me by rini: this really describes the longing that they both felt for each other after joshua cut contact with reader.

thought i heard your voice, my favorite sound. was is somethin' there? ---- 'cause you haunt me, daily, nightly. get no peace of mind.

✧ still by jeff bernat: an artist that joshua has mentioned several times before! he's actually the person that got me into bernat's discography when i used to be a joshua/hoshi stan lol. another longing song (shocking to no one). goes over joshua's thoughts about getting past reader abandoning him :(

it's been a long time since we last spoke. i still wonder what you’re up to, after all that shit we've been through. ---- and there's probably people telling you that i’m doing fine, just taking my time. although it appears that i’m strong, it still hurts.

✧ not my job by flo: actually used lyrics of this song in 01. gentleman hong hahahaha. when reader asks joshua to tell the campers to knock it off with all the shipping, joshua says:

it's not my job to make you feel comfortable.

✧ summertime by flo: kinda inspired an interaction btwn reader and hoshi in 02. camper spirit when reader is like "i'm not going to let someone who deserted me ruin my summer."

second section: what are we?

✧ lemondrops by telana: the song that is behind it all!!!!!!!!!! i had no idea i was going to turn this into a series. it was originally going to be domestic fluff of reader giving joshua lemondrops so he could sing. but i mean hey, i gave credit where credits due, naming 06. popsicles and lemon drops after this song! just a very comforting song, one that definitely shows the dynamic between reader and joshua when they were close. the closeness that both of them miss.

✧ like i feel (feat. mereba) by xaiver omär: this song is LITERALLY about friends-to-lovers, i would be a fool to exclude it! kept this track on repeat while writing 11. taking inventory. joshua says to reader:

so, let me know if you feel how i feel. ---- also reader confesses with: i swear, i tried letting go of the feelings i had for you which is inspired by the song's lyrics of: swear i tried lettin' go ---- but i mean everything about this song is so good, esp this line: i feel a family of butterflies all in my gut, oh, and they're fluttering

✧ m.h. by yeek: just added this song for my own pleasure tbh, but one of the main repeating lines is definitely joshua's feelings towards reader when he starts hanging out with them more (around part 06/07)

i miss you when i see you no...(they) hit me with i love you.

✧ gotta get back (feat. pink sweat$) by p1harmony: another track i could see joshua singing along to

i know i'm not perfect, and i've hurt your heart before. so, i don't wanna make a promise i can't give. ---- never had someone make me feel all these ways before and now it seems that i can't get you out my mind. you got me hanging on to every word you say.

✧ all our time (feat. jae stephens) by xavier omär: summer breeeeze. perfect summertime song, could definitely see chan dancing to this for a dino danceology. and it would stick in reader's head after leaving pledis studios. would be the summer anthem for hoshi and reader.

✧ simple life by lexy panterra: nothing much lyrically, just a summertime vibes track.

✧ mornings (see you again) by alextbh: for the he/him readers! alextbh writes so many songs w a guy lover in mind, so i highly recommend checking his discography out.

been outta focus lately. all these images, playing in my head. i can't help it

✧ mess around by starchild & the new romantic: unable to think of a good description for this song so 👍

i know i shouldn't mess around, i shouldn't even hardly doubt you. i know i shouldn't fuss & fight, i shouldn't hardly run around you. all of these thoughts in my head...

✧ good life by otis kane x clay: this song is so smooth and incredibly joshua coded. kinda reminds me of niki's songs as well, vibe wise.

all the games aside then, i want you in my space. and now that you're in my world i'll never be the same.

✧ the chase by alextbh: no lyrics for this one, very sad if you listen to them but the vibe of the song regarding the instrumental and such fit the series!

✧ bamboo by ivy sole: another song in there for vibes, very much a summertime song!

✧ back to us (feat. julissa leilani) by jeremy passion: filo-american singer! idk if he's ever recommended his music, but i mean listen to it and it's just the embodiment of joshua's vibe into a song. obviously this song holds a lot of meaning for the series, it is literally the title! the song is more about a couple falling out of love, but this is based on vibessssssss! (it's a groovy little song, what can i say?)

✧ je t'adore (feat. ty senoj) by sylo: another song in the playlist for vibes. but again, very joshua coded imo! groovy pop is right up his alleyyyyy

third section: this is not a drill

✧ trust by thuy & rini: oh? rini makes a comeback? definitely a good song for explaining how reader and joshua slowly open up to each other, their need to build trust first.

baby, let your guard down. world's loud, we could shut it out. you can put ya trust in me if you choose. ---- how do i make you realize i'ma stick around if it's with you, you, you.

✧ ride with me by pink sweat$: a song joshua recommended in his 'beach drive' playlist on spotify! beach drive, perfect way to describe it. and when you think beach, you think summer, right? summer...summer camp? aha...

✧ blur by dhruv: joshua's double take cover remains iconic! and i really love dhruv's voice so i knew i wanted to add a song of his for sure! joshua's tweet in 08. another serious camper takes the first lyrics of the song:

the room tonight became a blur and all i could see was them you dancing.

✧ misfits' sunday by jooyoung: jooyoung's voice is perfect for a love story, i mean it fits all the moods. he usually does smooth rnb and although this is a newer sound he's been experimenting with, i thought the lyrics fit the series nicely!

we were young and naive nothing to worry. all the memories, fading with graphite scribbles. we grew too fast, a blink, slow talks.

✧ ore ore by sole: another track that i can't figure out how to describe...

love isn’t too far from us, love can handle everything.

✧ lucky by jason mraz & colbie caillat: tfw reader walks past joshua rehearsing with this song... (ahem, 10. what's your eta, anyone?)

lucky i'm in love with my best friend.

✧ angel 2 me (feat. jeff bernat) by mckay: jeff bernat feature, you know joshua would love this song and cover itttttt!

✧ ikaw lang by nobita: it's pretty established joshua loves filo artists, this would be a track he would play all the time. the title translates to only you.

oh, what a beautiful sight it is to look into your eyes. the way they sparkle, i cannot fathom. the way you look back at me, how brilliant they shine. heaven must be on earth. stars actually fall from the sky.

✧ 7pm (apple music home session) by joshua: joshua lulling reader to sleep with his guitar??? 🫠

at seven in my house, we'll sing both our lungs out and dance to the moonlight 'cause everything feels right.

✧ whether or not by gabe bondoc: the inclusion of gabe bondoc should be no surprise to a longtime carat! joshua loves his filo artists and i still remember this predebut vid of him singing some gabe bondoc!

i've dreamed a thousand dreams and still nothing compares to the feeling that you give me while you're standing here. i don't care if its fair.

[enigmaproductions]

Announcing Goddess Fall's debut EP, More Than a Weapon! The EP will be releasing on my Bandcamp, as well as most other digital platforms, on November 4th of this year!

Tracklist: 1. Goddess of Victory (Got Your Six) 2. Firepower! 3. Only I Have Survived 4. Indestructible (Disturbed Cover) 5. Combat (Heaven Shall Burn Cover)

The Bandcamp version of the EP will come with instrumental versions with every purchase. These Instrumental versions will be bonus tracks exclusive to the Bandcamp version, which Patreon supporters will also be getting as part of their rewards. There are no plans for physical CD versions of this EP at this time. I'm saving that for the full length album, which theses songs (excluding the covers) will also be on.

You can also now presave the More Than a Weapon EP on Spotify here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/goddessfall/more-than-a-weapon