#I’ve also been thinking about remaking that one! and putting a little more song in…

[cuppajj]

Hey!! I found your Tumblr through your animation for your of drill burst! The one where he is staring down overlord in G-9! I just wanted to say that I REALLY enjoyed finding that! It was very well done, and the other bots there banging on the platform and stuff really added a nice touch to it!

Aaaaaa thank you sm!!!!! That one’s one of my favorites! I’m so happy you enjoyed it just as much! 😊

[sodapaladin]

✨Top 10 Games of 2023✨

It’s time for my annual list. As usual, these are games I played this year, not that came out this year. So despite all the hits this year, don’t expect to see many of them!

10. Fire Emblem Engage

While I was wary of the new character designs and anniversary excuse-story, Engage turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected. Not my favorite Fire Emblem, but a good one nevertheless.

9. Paradise Killer

What *style*! I went and bought this game immediately after my friend showed me the song “Paradise (Stay Forever).” Going in blind was wild. I sure didn’t expect the protagonist to be part of an extra-dimensional cult. I love exploring the vaporwave island.

8. WarioWare: Move It!

A worthy successor to Smooth Moves. While the amount of extra context seems oddly lacking for a WarioWare game, I love all the creative uses for the joycons. With the major exception of Jimmy’s boss minigame, everything works shockingly well.

7. Super Mario RPG

I debated where to place this. On one hand, I don’t feel like the remake added too much. The QoL improvements are nice, but the SNES original is still perfectly playable. It’s also quite short for an RPG, and on the easy side. But it’s just so charming anyway.

6. Darkstalkers 3

AKA Vampire Savior, not to be confused with another game. On the quest to capture the magic Third Strike had for me, this comes pretty close. If only I could find online matches now.

5. Suika Game

I had to see what the hype’s about, and I understood. So simple and cute, yet challenging. A great way to kill a few minutes.

4. Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp

I held off on this for a while, since I have both original games, and it didn’t seem like much was changed. The QoL improvements have been nice, though, such as speeding up the CPU’s turns. Most importantly, it no longer cheats during Fog of War, so you can actually strategize as intended instead of cheesing certain maps.

3. It Takes Two

Playing this co-op game with my brother was a blast. Solving puzzles through teamwork is a satisfying joy, and I’d love to play again as the other character sometime.

2. Vampire Survivors

So addicting. It was hilarious to find out the dev works on slot machines. Now it’s quite clear that they know all the right bells and whistles to set that dopamine off.

1. Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2

It’s incredible when you can feel the amount of love poured into the development of a game. I picked up this solo-dev passion project thinking it’d be a cute little indie game. I didn’t expect it to be my favorite mystery dungeon experience.

Everything from the writing and QoL features show how clearly the dev loves this genre and wants to make the best version of it. The balance is wonky, some of the recruitment requirements are questionably difficult, and the English translation is extremely rough, but I can’t help but be charmed by the whole package anyway. I’ve put in around 50 hours getting to the “final” boss of the story, and there’s still a massive postgame dungeon. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but for fans of mystery dungeon games, absolutely.

[sunsethillshq]

welcome  home  celine  & kamile !  we’re  so  excited  to  have  you  here  at  sunset  hills !  before  we  give  you  the  keys  to  your  new  place  ,  make  sure  you  go  over  this  checklist  to  make  sure  everything’s  all  squared  away  —  we’ll  give  you  24  hours to  come  by  the  leasing  office  ,  please  let  us  know  if  you you  need  anything  at  all  !

✿ * · (  moon gayoung  ,  cis woman  ,  she/her   )   a  little  birdy  told  me  CELINE BAEK  just  moved  to  sunset  hills  .  have  you  met  them  yet  ? they  look  somewhere  around  26  ,   if  i  had  to  guess  !  pretty  sure  i  heard  them  driving  down  the  street  playing  CONTROL  by  HALSEY  ,  they  sounded  a  little  pitchy  but  they  had  the  spirit  !  must  be  their  favorite  or  something  .  hey  …  it  looks  like  they  just  moved  into  AURORA LANE  .  have  you  heard  about  what  they  do  for  a  living  ?  someone  told  me  they’re  a  CLOTHING BOUTIQUE OWNER  ,  but  who  knows  if  that’s  even  true  .  guess  we’re  just  gonna  have  to  wait  and  see  .  nervous  ? maybe  you  should  be  .  sunset  speaks  just  posted  about  them  …  apparently  they're  RESIDENT  ID  04  ?  between  you  and  me  ,  i  think  that  might  spark  some  things  in  the  community  …  but  what  do  i  know  !  you  guys  might  get  along  just  fine  !  (  cherry  ,  she/her  ,  29  ,  est  .  )

please answer at least TWO of the following in character :

what was the LAST song you listened to on spotify ?

“what do you gain from asking these questions? they seem to be a bit invasive... but i’ll humor you by answering. first of all, i use apple music not spotify. don’t give me that look, i’ve had it since high school and really don’t feel like remaking playlists with thousands of songs. but i believe the last song i listened to was monster by kanye west and a few other artists. but lets be honest, we all listen to that for nicki’s verse anyways.”

who’s a celebrity you HATE ?

“just one? i can’t list just one. lets start with the most obvious. kim kardashian. well, all the kardashian / jenners really. for some reason these women think that they’re not perpetuating a horrible image for young girls and other women their own age. the photoshop, unhealthy habits and diets, all of it is toxic. plus kim’s crying face is not cute. also, gwenyth fucking paltrow. i don’t know, her face just bugs me. and she thinks sunscreen is toxic. it’s ridiculous. please wear sunscreen.”

what is something you LOVE about yourself and something you wish you could CHANGE about yourself ?

this is kind of a loaded question for celine, because while she likes to pretend she’s the best, most of the time she feels like she’s the worst. things she likes about herself have nothing to do with her personality, and more about her physical appearance which she puts a lot of time and effort into. her hair, her style and her clear skin are probably the only things she really likes about herself. when it comes to something she could change, she would say something like her family. it’s the one thing she will never be able to change, so of course its what she would like to most change.

tell us TWO TRUTHS and a LIE !

“i haven’t played this game since high school, but why not. it could be interesting. here we go. when i was a teenager i won a talent search and modeled for h&m for a hot minute but never pursued modeling after that, i’ve never been to a live concert because i have very sensitive ears, and my dog only understands korean.”

extras :

add  an  alternative  faceclaim  here  ,  this  is  mandatory  !  (  in  case  we  get  apps  with  the  same  fc  at  the  same  time  ) lee jieun / IU (  age  would  be  changed  to  28  )

please  add  any  edits  /  pinterest  boards  /  playlists  for  your  muse  here  if  you  have  any  to  share ! PINTEREST BOARD.

✿ * · (  cemre baysel  ,  cis woman  ,  she/her   )   a  little  birdy  told  me  KAMILE “KAM” AKSAKAL  just  moved  to  sunset  hills  .  have  you  met  them  yet  ? they  look  somewhere  around  24 ,   if  i  had  to  guess  !  pretty  sure  i  heard  them  driving  down  the  street  playing  I LIKE YOU (A HAPPIER SONG) by  POST MALONE ( ft. DOJA CAT )  ,  they  sounded  a  little  pitchy  but  they  had  the  spirit  !  must  be  their  favorite  or  something  .  hey  …  it  looks  like  they  just  moved  into  MIDNIGHT PARK  .  have  you  heard  about  what  they  do  for  a  living  ?  someone  told  me  they’re  a  VET TECH  ,  but  who  knows  if  that’s  even  true  .  guess  we’re  just  gonna  have  to  wait  and  see  .  nervous  ? maybe  you  should  be  .  sunset  speaks  just  posted  about  them  …  apparently  they're  RESIDENT  ID  018  ?  between  you  and  me  ,  i  think  that  might  spark  some  things  in  the  community  …  but  what  do  i  know  !  you  guys  might  get  along  just  fine  !  (   cherry  ,  she/her  ,  29  ,  est  .  )

please answer at least TWO of the following in character :

what was the LAST song you listened to on spotify ?

“that’s a hard question. don’t give me that look! i can’t remember what i had for breakfast let alone what i last listened to. i had a late shift last night. let me check...oh! that new one by doja and post malone! that new one on the radio! ‘i like yooou  i dooo!’ love it. post malone is so endearing and he’s kinda cute. and doja hasn’t released anything but hits in a minute.”

who’s a celebrity you HATE ?

“hate? i don’t know, i really don’t hate anybody.  i try not to read about celebrities, ya know? i don’t have the time or energy. but if i had to say someone...  i guess the guy who tried to buy twitter is kind of a douche bag most of the time, but it’s not like i know him personally, so who knows? what's his name? elon something.”

what is something you LOVE about yourself and something you wish you could CHANGE about yourself ?

kam would probably say that she loves how compassionate and generous she is, if you ever caught her on a good day where she felt like bragging. any other day she would have a hardtime coming up with an answer due to her lack of confidence. which is exactly what she would most like to change about herself. the only place she’s really confidant in herself is at work. she didn’t graduate at the top of her class for nothing, being a vet tech is what she was born to do.

tell us TWO TRUTHS and a LIE !

“i freakin’ love this game! you really put me on the spot! okay, okay... okay i got ‘em! i moved here from london when i was three years old, i still work at my first job once a month purely for the discount, and i got bullied in elementary school so badly that i was taken out and was home schooled until middle school.”

extras :

add  an  alternative  faceclaim  here  ,  this  is  mandatory  !  (  in  case  we  get  apps  with  the  same  fc  at  the  same  time  )  N / A.

please  add  any  edits  /  pinterest  boards  /  playlists  for  your  muse  here  if  you  have  any  to  share  ! PINTEREST BOARD

[glowyjellyfish]

…so here’s my FF7 fanmix. It’s an eternal work in progress, but this is the most stable incarnation before Rebirth hits and gives me new ideas. A few of these songs have been on my list basically since the original ff7 came out. I’m pretty happy with most of it—Yuffie and Red need work, Barret, Aerith, and Cid need more songs, and although I like the narrative I constructed with Vincent’s songs the tone is all over the place, but conversely I adore the Tifa section. I just figured I’d finally share what I have, see if anybody out there had any bright ideas, and let other people see if they like mine.

These are based on the OG, with Remake providing lots of inspiration. There will be spoilers for anybody unfamiliar with the OG, more than just The One Spoiler everybody knows, some vaguer than others.

Cloud

Bullet With Butterfly Wings by Karen O (I know this is cheating but it’s such a good song for him!)

Seven Nation Army by Seven Nation Army

Break Out by Foo Fighters

Best Imitation of Myself by Ben Folds Five

When She Was Bad by Buffering the Vampire Slayer

Hollow by Yosh (also cheating, but too good not to use)

Who Are You, Really? by Mikky Ekko

All These Things That I’ve Done by The Killers (I think this is a pretty popular song for Cloud fanmixes)

Still by Ben Folds

Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse

Invincible by OK Go

Barret

We Will Rock You by Queen

Uprising by Muse

Still Swingin by Papa Roach

Ready Aim Fire by Imagine Dragons

Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows

Angel Down (Work Tape) by Lady Gaga

Tifa

All the King’s Horses by Kamina

That Distant Shore by Rebecca Sugar

It Takes All Kinds by Aimee Mann

Breaking Up Girl by Garbage

Hush by Buffering the Vampire Slayer

Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

How Not To Drown by CHVRCHES & Robert Smith

Back to the Start by Mr Little Jeans

Shake It Out by Florence + the Machine

Dogs Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine

Braver Than We Are from Dance of the Vampires (look… just listen to this song if you can find it and try and tell me not to include it. I had to!)

Aerith

We Are by Ana Johnson

Somewhere Over the Black Parade by Zoe Zoller (so… this is a mashup of Welcome to the Black Parade and Somewhere Over the Rainbow from an amateur theater production. It’s amazing and absolutely perfect for Aerith, but you will not be able to find it and I don’t know if it is okay for me to share it. Just FYI.)

On My Own by Peach Union

Stand My Ground by Within Temptation

Never Let Me Go by Florence + the Machine

Nanaki

(I have really struggled to find songs for him over the years; these are fine but I think he needs more)

Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men

Run Boy Run by Woodkid

Babylon by Barns Courtney

Blood Like Lemonade by Morcheeba

Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons

Heartlines by Florence + the Machine

Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

Twisted Logic by Coldplay

Yuffie

(I was a bit inspired by Intermission, but she still needs a lot of work)

Just a Girl by No Doubt

Something That I Want by Grace Potter

Mutiny, I Promise You by The New Pornographers

Boomerang by Lucy Schwartz

A Little Less Conversation by Elvis Presley (cover from Megamind)

Opportunities by Pet Shop Boys

The Future by Mystery Skulls

Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man

Reeve

(Cait Sith has a separate section below, although my view is that they are both Reeve)

Road to Joy by Bright Eyes

The Logical Song by Supertramp

Natural by Imagine Dragons

Scapegoat by Chumbawamba (one of the songs I put on here in the 90s before I understood what it was about, and now it reminds me of him even if it doesn’t totally work)

So Called Chaos by Alanis Morisette

Mowgli’s Road by Marina and the Diamonds

LIES GREED MISERY by Linkin Park (my Angry Reeve song!)

Diminishing Returns by Harvey Danger

Consequences by Buffering the Vampire Slayer (thinking about removing this one)

Cait Sith

(I think he’s basically the same person as Reeve, but he does have different vibes which requires different songs. Could use some ideas; these were just fun to give him and may not be as apt as they should be. I’m hoping Rebirth will give me inspiration.)

I Am Not A Robot by Marina and the Diamonds (recently added, may need a new position or something)

The Check’s In the Mail by Weird Al

Heist by Ben Folds

Win Or Lose by Foo Fighters

Vincent

(he is a bit of a mess; I struggled to find good songs for him and am constantly adding a bunch and removing a bunch. I think what I have is okay, and I do like the narrative I constructed here, but the tone is all over the place and I really don’t have any Perfect songs for him.)

Hopelessly Devoted to You by Kristin Chenowith (yeah, the Pushing Daisies version because I have it. I could really use a darker cover for him.)

Back to Black by Amy Winehouse

Gaeta’s Lament by Bear McCreary

The Abandoned Castle of My Soul by The Gothic Archies

Parades Go By by The Magnetic Fields

Some Kind of Monster by Neon Trees

Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace

Howl by Florence + the Machine

It’s Over Isn’t It by Deedee Magno Hall

Blinding by Florence + the Machine

Beauty and the Beasts by Buffering the Vampire Slayer

Cid

Firefly - Main Title by Sonny Rhodes

Flying by Blue Rodeo

Holiday by Green Day

We Are the Champions by Queen

Sephiroth

Liquid Smooth by Mitski

Let It Go (Epic Metal Cover) by Connor Engstrom

Wild by Poe

Holding Out For a Hero by Nothing But Thieves

Apocalypse Please by Muse

Hellbent by Mystery Skulls

And So It Went by The Pretty Reckless

I Just Wanna Be God by Alice Cooper

Zack

(his songs are kind of a mixed bag, although the last two are great. I hope to get inspired by Rebirth.)

Bud Like You by AJR

Shake It Off by Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox

Battle Cry by Ludo

Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits

Soldier by Tommie Lee Profitt & Fluerie

The Turks

Come On Come On by Smash Mouth

Ballroom Blitz by Sweet

Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants

…plus the odd song or two for other characters or general purposes that I’m really not sure about.

I probably should have tried making a Spotify playlist to share or something, but to be fair I hate Spotify.

[keytaryourheart]

Brett Thoughts

I am keytaryourheart so it is time for some key talk. Not Tim Key.. the keyTAR.

I haven’t been blogging about BD lately even tho this technically started as a BD blog. Also my latest hyperfixations have been absolutely bonkers so BD as been put on the back burner so to speak.

So I’m gonna start by recapping the releases of late last year and maybe a little bit of the TikToks.

I’m a Werewolf (Unfortunately)

Solid. I haven’t listened to it much because ehhhhhh. Unfinished business will always be my #1 for halloween and Spook Me Up has the “Please feast on me” line which is CRAZY plus it had the keytar solo. I’m a Werewolf was a little too Tom Cardy for my liking and I do like Tom Cardy but this just didn’t really do it for me unfortunately. UNFORTUNATELY!

Everybody Needs to Know it’s Christmas

This was a revamp, remake, remix, rendition whatever whatever of the how to make a hit christmas song or something and I don’t know the exact name because I believe he’s PRIVATED IT! Goodness gracious. Anyway, the new version is really good so I get if he wants this to be the Final.Version.mp3. Although the original Pinocchio still very much holds up even with the 2020 version out. Oh well. The only thing I didn’t like about this 2022 version was the child choir. One of my biggest musical pet peeves. I just don’t get it. The figgy pudding line makes up for it though.

The Right Side of History

I like this. Like it’s good you know? Yeah.

TikTok has been interesting. He’s having fun, he’s getting views. Good for him.

NOW we can get onto the mother flipping Patreon.

Around 73 people expressed interest in subscribing to a Rob J Madin Patreon and apparently not all have followed through. I know there was a BDT Patreon a while back but that’s defunct.

So the Patreon will give you 1 new single everything month and this month it’s Lola (4-Letter-Word-Song) the sequel kinda to Bin Guy. It’s good. I like it a lot. I never thought I’d hear Brett say the phrase “hits diff” ever in my life. It’s a lot of fun and I got into it immediately. It go me really excited for all the BD stuff to come this year. I’m on the highest tier (I believe) but the first one is still really good and definitely worth it. I’m just a crazy fan which is why I’m forking out.

For the middle and high tier you get stuff from the archives. Which is pretty exciting given how much has been fucking archived LMAO. There are also some sick as discounts for Bandcamp and Vinyl. I’ve already bought mostly everything I want from Bandcamp so that’s not really useful to me. I also normally buy stuff for more than the minimum pay what you want anyway. I also already have the Keytar Your Heart Vinyl. Maybe I get one for playing and one for displaying. I’m only joshing that would be unwise.

The highest tier is the T-Shirt tier because guess what, you get a T-Shirt! Keep in mind you need to be in that tier for 3 months in order to be eligible to get the shirt. It’s got the Steamroller pineapple but with ROB J MADIN on the pineapple spikes. It looks like the pineapple is going to be the Patreon symbol which I totally dig I think it’s really nice.

I’ve just realised that the Bandcamp discount also extends to the merch. I highly highly highly recommend the Home Studio tote it is fucking massive, fits all of my shit and just looks so cool. I’m from Melbourne where we take totes very seriously and my god I secretly think I have the best one in the major metropolitan area.

So that’s it! That’s my spiel. I’m beyond estatic about this direction. I hope RJM gets what he was looking for out of this Patreon (lots of money) and we get some amazing lovely tunes spanning from Brett Domino all the way to Ironwood. Cheers RJM! Here’s to 2023 🍻

[teensdemo]

Is there any new stuff planned for the cowboy bebop series

Original anime series director Shinichirō Watanabe is a consultant on the series, and original composer Yoko Kanno returns to score the live-action adaptation.Ĭowboy Bebop is executive produced by André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Makoto Asanuma, Shin Sasaki and Masayuki Ozaki of Sunrise Inc., Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost. Production on Cowboy Bebop wrapped in March. So far, we’ve seen Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Logan (Brian Cox) take their side and pick their players. The highly-anticipated live action adaptation has experienced delays over the course of production due to Cho’s on-set injury, which put the show out for seven to nine months. We have a lot of stuff planned for it that I cant even talk about right now, but its the most excited Ive been by podcasting. We’re entering Week 6 of Succession, and the drama is still coming. It’s been confirmed that Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop Season 2 TV show is already in the works and the first season of the live-action Cowboy Bebop remake has not even finished filming. Cowboy Bebop also features Geoff Stults, Tamara Tunie, Mason Alexander Park, Rachel House, Ann Truong and Hoa Xuande. a stellar job bringing this Blu-ray set to North America, and while it is THE. Netflix’s images also reveal the Bebop in its mechanical glory, Ein the experiment-turned-pet Corgi and a key scene between Spike and nemesis Vicious, who will be played by Alex Hassell. : Cowboy Bebop - The Complete Series : David Lucas, Wendee Lee. The only member of the original Bebop gang missing from the series so far is hacker protégé Edward, a.k.a.

It may be a kickass song, but you need a LOT of good songs to make it a good soundtrack).Dave Chappelle Met With Mixed Reactions From Students At Alma Mater On April 3, 1998, Cowboy Bebop premiered for the first time on Japanese TV and instantly changed the anime game forever. I dont like ecchi in general, not because I watch stuff with my brother haha.

All in the, sort of, bow related but some new gadgets he has in addition to the bow.' He went on to assure that Hawkeye is 'totally there' and 'a part of the world' That still doesnt tell us if hes actually going to appear in Infinity War or not. Were developing a lot of interesting stuff for him. My question is- could it be the best Soundtrack ever, beyond any game, movie, or special piece you've heard? And if not, what do you think is?(remember- one song can't make a good soundtrack. I can guarantee in the 2nd season of Soma, theres only one super mild 'ecchi' stuff in it since the judges of the competitions are now old men. 'Hawkeye is getting a lot of cool new stuff. Some of the greatest are the opening theme- "Tank!", the Final Theme, "See You Space Cowboy(a dramatic rendition of The Real Folk Blues, with different lyrics but same melody and feel), "Blue", the final episode's ending theme, and countless more songs I've enjoyed, from tons of different styles.Īnd now, as I rediscovered the soundtrack to the movie to Cowboy Bebop, I am once again reminded of the elegance, and power, by the song "Gotta Knock a Little Harder"(right through the door). LOL I feel like shit is about to go off the rails, but I’m enjoying the ride into the unknown. This series is, as the kids say, wildin’. Many of the songs from it are on my perma-playlist, and I have on tons of my CDs- and have only burned 2 that don't contain it. Episode 8’s got this show feeling like a straight comedy with the trio running over Jet’s plan. But, Bast holds power and cunning of unknown strength and ability. My favorite song holder place has long been held by "The Real Folk Blues", the standard ending theme to Cowboy Bebop. Wielding Dragnipur, the night-bladed sword, millenia of fighting experience, and the ability to turn into a dragon Anomander presents a daunting challange to Bast (cause he can turn into a freaking dragon).

[amysteriousmessenger]

MC giving RFA+Minor trio a gift for Valentine's day please! :D

I’ve tweaked this a little bit so it’s also a returned gift!! I hope you like it!! This is my second Valentine’s day request <3

RFA + Minor Trio Valentine’s Gift Exchange Headcanons

Yoosung Kim Valentine’s Gifts

You didn’t have to think too hard to decide on what to get Yoosung for Valentine’s Day, he had been complaining that he needed a new headset for a few weeks but had already spent his student budget on new limited edition LOLOL skins. The poor boy had already been reduced to instant ramen to afford these luxuries. You didn’t know too much about which sort of headset he’d prefer, so you just got him a decently branded one that had good reviews and hoped it would work.

You also wanted to get him some extra things to go in his giftbag, so you got him a new t-shirt tand some cute strawberry heart shaped Pocky, which you definitely didn’t buy with the pure intention of playing the Pocky Game with him. Of course not.

Yoosung would have put quite a bit of effort into thinking about what to get you for Valentine’s Day, since he didn’t want to screw up and be a bad boyfriend. He even asked Zen for advice, but didn’t think the bold, extravagant declaration of love really suited him.

Yoosung decided to go for the traditional route and gift you a little charm bracelet, a small bouquet of red roses and cook a meal for you. Of course, it was his special omurice, packed with extra love because it was Valentine’s day. He’d picked out the charm bracelet online, it was a little silver one with a sparkly star charm on it.

Zen/Hyun Ryu Valentine’s Gifts 

If Zen knew anything, it was dramatic romance. He’ll pour Valentine’s clichés on you like it’s nobody’s business. Zen buys you a chunky bouquet of red roses, a big box of chocolate (he doesn’t usually eat chocolate because he doesn’t want the sugar to affect his skin, so he makes sure the box is extra big so he can cheekily pick at a few that he likes) and takes you out for an evening meal.

When you get home after the dinner, Zen will pick you up outside the door and carry you bridal style over the threshold, just because he wants you to feel like a princess in his arms.

You can also bet that Zen is going to sing for you for Valentine’s Day. He’d have spent a while picking out the song, and depending on what he thought was best, it would be 1) Your favourite song, 2) A dramatic love ballad from a musical he’d been in, or 3) a joking strip-tease song.

For your gifts, you’d have gotten Zen some new skincare products that he’d been looking at. You knew how much he loved his sheet masks so you’d brought him a fun selection to have a try of. Some of your favourite evenings with Zen were spent doing skincare on one another, so you wanted an excuse to do that more.

For his big gift, you got him a ticket for two to go for an all-exclusive spa day trip. He was flustered that you’d spent so much money on him, but you assured him it was for the both of you to spend time together and to enjoy!

Jaehee Kang Valentine’s Gifts

Valentine’s Day wasn’t a holiday that Jaehee had off from work if it was a weekday, so you were really lucky this year that it had fallen on a Sunday. She’d gotten all of her work done late on the Saturday night in order to have the day free to spend with you.

You got Jaehee a fancy new coffee maker that she had had her eye on for a while, but couldn’t justify to herself since her old one was still in fine, working condition. You’d imported some special coffee beans for her to try too. You also felt like it was important to give Jaehee some flowers too, since you knew sometimes she felt so dull and drab because of how Jumin made her dress for work, she deserved to feel pretty too.

Jaehee got you tickets to a musical show you’d been wanting to see, but had missed the tickets for. She’d seen that a pair of them had gone up for sale second hand and had quickly snatched the sale in order to get them for you. It wasn’t a show that she’d have usually seen, but she’s very excited to get to watch it with you.

Jumin Han Valentine’s Gifts 

To start, you’d have gently implied to Jumin about setting a budget for Valentine’s Day, because God knows he didn’t know the value of money sometimes and you felt bad knowing you couldn’t match whatever he was going to spend. You didn’t want Valentine’s to be about money, but about your feelings for one another.

You told the chef on Saturday night that he wasn’t needed for breakfast since you wanted to make breakfast for Jumin yourself. You made him a spread of sweet pancakes with syrup and fruit and hand dripped his coffee yourself, taking the time to decorate a little foam Elizabeth the 3rd on top of it. You’d also made him lunch to take to work, and put a little note in it saying that you and Elizabeth missed him whilst he was gone. 

Jumin had arranged for the two of you to go to an extremely overpriced restaurant for dinner, which is where you were exchanging gifts. You have Jumin a pair of cufflinks engraved with yours and his initials, which he immediately swapped the ones he was currently wearing for. 

Coincidentally, Jumin also gave you jewellery, it was a beautiful necklace with far too many diamonds in. He clipped it around your neck, agreeing to himself that his selection was correct as it looked beautiful on you. He also added that there was another gift waiting for you at home, since it would have been inappropriate to bring to the restaurant. 

He had gotten you a set of lingerie to wear for the night, obviously. 

Saeyoung Choi Valentine’s Gifts 

Seven was a hit at heart, and a car guy, so the choice was obvious: you were going to get him a giant Hot Wheels tracks with all the extra decorations. You spent far too much money on it, but knowing how happy it would make him made it entirely worth it. 

You thought he was going to cry when he unwrapped it, and he immediately set it up and spent hours making the track and remaking it, adding extra obstacles, making the car go over Saeran’s head, loop, jump through flames- everything. He was so happy with your gift that he almost forgot to give you your own gift. 

Which he then changed into- 

Seven was going to be your maid for the day, outfit and all. He explained his gift by telling you he knew how much effort it must be to look after him, so he was going to look after you for a change, and ‘look good while doing it’. 

He also got you a bunch of imported snacks that you had really been wanting to try, but couldn’t work out the proxy or shipping to be able to do it. You were swimming in snacks, you didn’t know where they were going to go.

V/Jihyun Kim Valentine’s Gifts

Always a romantic at heart, V would have put a lot of effort into your Valentine’s gifts and spent a lot of time considering it, he wouldn’t have wanted it to be a commercial gimmick but an actual symbol of his love for you. You felt the same, of course.

For V, you gifted him a new portable polaroid camera and cartridges. He had so many big expensive cameras, but a little polaroid captures fun moments and prints them instantly. They could capture moments without taking V out of it and distancing himself.

You also gave him a set of imported watercolours from Europe, since the reviews said that they were really good. He’d mentioned wanting to experiment more with watercolours, so this was the perfect time to gift him a set to practice with.

For your gifts, V would have first gifted you a weekend getaway for the two of you, knowing how stressed you had been recently. He wanted to give you a chance to relax and to just spend some time being utterly in love with one another.

Secondly, V gifted you a painting, of your hand touching a rose petal and being illuminated by the sun. He didn’t need to explain it, because he knew the painting reached your heart.

GE Saeran Choi Valentine’s Gifts 

Saeran was always getting you gifts, so he wanted to do something extra special for Valentine’s Day, but remaining in the spirit of the holiday. He was in love with love, and wanted to show it. 

You’d woken up to a room full of flowers, so many flowers. Saeran would have decorated the room silently before you had woken up since he wanted you to wake up to the beautiful sight. He’d tell you the meaning of each flower and how each one represents a different reason as to why he loves you entirely. You’d been awake about thirty seconds, this man is shameless with his affection.

Saeran would make you breakfast in bed and would cook for you for the entire day, making whatever you wanted to eat. He’d already made a bunch of baked goods in preparation whilst you were asleep.

Over dinner, you’d give him his gifts even though you were worried that they weren’t enough in comparison to what he had done. You gave him some seeds, a new pair of gardening gloves since he was continuously hurting his hands on rose thorns, a photo album of the happy memories the two of you had been making with the RFA and a little keychain that had a picture of the two of you in it to go on his housekeys. Needless to say, he cried.

Saeran had also got you another gift, a tiny gold necklace with a little heart in the middle of it. He said he chose it because he wanted you to carry his heart with you everywhere you go.

Vanderwood Valentine’s Gifts

Vanderwood absolutely forgot Valentine’s Day was a thing until the day before, when he wanted in on Seven trying on his maid outfit to make sure it still fit okay and had to immediately explain himself.

He was not someone to celebrate Valentine’s Day, since he didn’t want to get attached to anyone, but you had somehow wormed your way into his life and refused to leave. 

He’d have gotten you a new laptop, since he couldn’t bear to look at that horrific old thing you were using. He set it up with anti-tracking software and made it as safe as possible to people like him didn’t steal your information, he wouldn’t do anything romantic, but he might be a little less mean to you for that day. He wouldn’t even say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ to you, he’d just hand you the laptop and show you how to use it.

For your gift to Vanderwood, you tried gifting him a vape pen so help him cut down on smoking so much, but he didn’t willingly accept this. He took it, and would maybe use it when he was at home and no one could see him vaping though, since you’re the one who gave it to him. 

Just to add an extra gift in, since you knew the vape pen wouldn’t go down well, you gave him a voucher for a coffee shop and an Elvish dictionary: you had insider information that Seven was about to change the intercom on the door’s language, after all.

[curious-minx]

Notable 2020 Video Game Soundtracks That Can Be Enjoyed As Standalone Experiences

Video Game Music is gaining recognition, with many soundtracks receiving vinyl pressings, orchestral concert reviews, and an increasing presence on music streaming platforms such as bandcamp and Spotify. We’re also witnessing the uprise of indie video game development teams where games are being made by the sort of passionate type of game designer that takes soundtracks seriously.  Soundtracks by small teams of developers such as Celeste, Undertale, Disco Elysium, Hollow Knight, RuneScape, and Lisa: The Joyful are titles with soundtracks that easily stand up against the likes of bigger budget productions made by reliable sources of video game music like Square-Enix and Nintendo.

2020 is no exception in terms of having one of the biggest budget soundtracks around with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which builds upon a legacy of industry-standard-creating soundtrack work. Taken as a whole, Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s soundtrack is clocking in at over 8 and half hours of music. The soundtrack has three composers with the Beethoven of video game music, Nobuo Uematsu, most notably coming out of retirement to get the job done.  Here are some other amazing 2020 video game soundtracks more conducive for standalone background listening:

TETRIS EFFECT by HYDELIC 

Genres: EDM, Ambient Pop and straight up Ambient 

Describing this album makes me feel like I’m some sort of burnt out fanciful raver, head permanently lodged in the clouds. The level of giddy technicolor enthusiasm rivals that of Icelandic Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi, but if he wanted to keep his post-rock firmly planted in the outdoor music festival on Mars territory. Despite the album’s notable two hours runtime, each and every song feels like its own uniquely crafted composition, no repetitive motifs or nostalgia-baiting.

There is unfortunately still a Tetris movie in some sort of shaggy state of development in Hollywood right now. The movie is being billed as a dull biopic about the creator of the Tetris game. Whereas listening to Tetris Effect you imagine a Tetris movie directed by someone more fitting like the Wakowskis. Tetris Effect’s opening song “Connected (Yours Forever)” is a bonafide vocal pop song, like a more sugary CVRCHES-style cooing of the lyrics:

“I’m Yours Forever

There is No End in Sights For Us,

Nothing Can Measure the Kind of Strength Inside Our Hearts,

It’s all connected we’re all together in this life, don’t you forget it

We’re all connected in this”

Try your best not to imagine a cast of Hollywood’s most beautiful plucky orphan mutant misfit youths using the power of Tetris to heal a broken and dying planet!

Notable Track: Next Chapter

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HADES by DARREN KORB

Genres: Progressive Metal, Folktronica, Folk Metal, Dimotika, Greek Folk Music

Darren Korb has become one of the most notable video game composers of the past decade. Korb, an integral member of the Supergiant family, continues to outdo himself with each and every soundtrack. Bastion and Transistor originally found Korb creating a niche for himself with downtempo folk-infused electronic soundscapes and even some vocal pop with collaborator Ashley Barrett. Hades is an altogether different beast for Korb, who much like the developers of Hades, have found themselves at the height of their powers.

Korb also contributes vocals on this album, and I can say without hesitation that these are some of the nicest vocals I’ve ever heard from a video game music designer, because video game musicians are bonafide musicians.The album clocks in at two and half hours and separate from its game is still an absolute thrill ride.

Notable Track: In The Blood

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DEFECTIVE HOLIDAY by MECHATOK

 Genres: Ambient Trance, Balearic Beat, Progressive Electronic, Nature Recordings, Spoken Word, New Age

One glance at the album artwork is all it took for me to know that I must listen to this album. Defective Holiday is an indie walking simulator that is explicit about its intentions: a lightly interactive one hour experience. This soundtrack clocks in at only 31 minutes and it is purely the most conventional album in terms of length.

Last week in late November, Mechatok announced a collaboration with one of the leading zoomer Swedish cloud rap mavericks Bladee, the cofounder of the Drain Gang. Last month gives a pretty clear picture of what kind of circles Mechatok is floating in on. Highly online gonzo vaporwave maestro James Ferraro is another apparent influence on this soundtrack, especially regarding the way the sinister mundane dialogue is woven into the soundscape. There’s one particular track on the Defective Holiday OST, “Rescue Shot Buibo”, that is adorned with standard trap-style drum fills that give the album a shot of energy before wandering back off into the haze. This soundtrack and video game is all about the pure vibe and aesthetic nature that are currently trending in these extremely stressful times.  In a time where all of our holidays were defective from the very start, I think the casual walking simulator will remain a genre high in demand. I have a feeling we’re going to hear a lot more from this empathetic young German.

Notable Track: Valley

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Last of Us II by Gustavo Santaolalla, Mac Quayle (and Ashley Johnson)

Genres: Ambient, Cinematic Classical, Dark Ambient, Spanish Folk Music 

L

The Last Of Us is a horror game where the music itself is arguably playing a critical character role, which can only be expected billing two titans of audio visual soundtracks. Of course Academy Award winner Santaolalla knows his way around a soundtrack. Wielding a resume of astonishing versatility in various TV and film projects, he might have found his higher calling in not only video games but in the horror music canon. Last of Us is an extremely emotional series, and with the wrong soundtrack, the experience could become insufferably bleak. The occasional  splashes of color and light are what make this soundtrack so unsettling and eerie. Not since Silent Hill 2’s Akira Yamaoka has there been such an effective standalone horror video game soundtrack experience. No wonder Gustavo Santaolalla is one of the only video game composers integral enough to the game to warrant a cameo banjo-playing character model based off of him.

As if having one major composer from prestigious TV and movies wasn’t enough, Mac Quayle, composer of the whole Mr. Robot series, contrasts against Santaolalla’s acoustic contributions. The soundtrack itself is sequenced in a way that switches between the two composers. “The Cycle of Violence” composed by Quayle, a track that more than lives up to its name, is immediately followed by Santaolalla’s somber “Reclaimed Memories.” This dance between violence and heart is what the Last of Us excels at as a franchise, and that is why this soundtrack is an effective stand-alone experience.

The only disappointing part of the soundtrack is that Ashley Johnson, voice actor of Ellie’ three songs, is not included in the game’s official tracklist. Ellie’s “Take On Me” a-ha and “Future Days” Pearl Jam covers have made a little history by being the most powerful songs sung by a video game character. When Ellie sings and plays on her guitar they aren’t some little Easter egg idling moments to provide levity for this heavy revenge horror story. These songs are used to make some of the strongest character development choices made by a video game character seen in recent years. Ellie is joining a small club of singing video game characters alongside Parapa the Rapper and  maybe the cast of obscure Atlus title Rhapsody: Musical Adventure.

Notable Track: Unbroken

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Persona 5 Royal Straight Flush Edition by Shoji Meguro 

Genre: Acid Jazz, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Lounge, Jazz-Funk 

This is one of those soundtracks that, much like Nobuo Uematsu’s work in Final Fantasy, is really the heart and soul of the entire Persona franchise (and his work in the adjacent Shin Megami Tensei universe is equally as noteworthy). Persona 5 Royal finds Meguro making his most complete, funky, and otherworldly opus that sounds like no one else in the biz.

You will find many people online scouring message boards, subreddits, bandcamp features, and Yahoo Answers looking for more music like Persona 5. Outside of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, how many other games are packed to the brim with truly foxy songs!? Persona 5 could not predict how badly the title “Throw Away Your Mask” would age, despite the game being more than ahead of its time with the majority of NPCs wearing PPE. Be a good Joker, put on your mask and keep chasing Meguro’s acid jazz-infused dragon through many more semesters to come.

Notable Track: I Imagine

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Streets of Rage 4 by Olivier Deriviere & Various

Genres: Electro House, Nu Jazz, Synth Funk, Acid House 

Composer Olivier Deriviere is a living definition of a video game soundtrack journeyman. He has a career stretching back to the early 2000s working on notable big budget titles like the divisive 2008 Atari fifth Alone in the Dark installment and Remember Me, an unsung buried gem from the PS3/360 era Capcom title. Remember Me is where Deriviere’s electronic leanings started becoming especially prominent in his sound. On the Streets of Rage 4 soundtrack Deriviere has completely come into his own element, developing a whole new sense of campy playfulness.

Electronic French House music can be a divisive genre. For every Daft Punk commercial success there is a band that ruffles feathers like Justice. I sense a strong presence of late departed French House titan Philippe Zdar of Cassius as well. If you’d played this soundtrack for me out of context, I would have guessed an obscure voguing tape from the 80s or a really talented mysterious DJ set. Instead, this is a sequel to a classic beat em up franchise that left a portion of players disappointed by the game’s four hour playtime. The soundtrack is over an hour and fifty minutes long of high octane House music bliss. Much like the Tetris Effect soundtrack, it is truly impressive how much depth these tracks have when they could have easily been nostalgic recycled beats. Sometimes a game’s soundtrack can offer more post game enjoyment than an actual game.

Notable Track: Chill Or Don’t

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Hylics 2 by Chuck Salamone & Mason Lindroth 

Genres: Experimental Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Hypagogic Pop, Stoner Rock, Jazz-Rock

A soundtrack that comes closest to capturing the experience of hearing the Earthbound or Katamari Damacy soundtracks for the first time. The Hylic indie RPG series is a wonderful and strange beast that is ready to frolic and show its playful side. Hylics is a part of a recent uprising of indie games being developed on the RPG Maker software. 2020 year has left us all with variations of the same stressed out adjectives: Weird. Messed Up. Surreal.

Why not listen to an album from a game that is the perfect embodiment of that surreal mantra? Step away from your computer, draw a bath, and put this album on. Thank me later!

Notable  track: Xeno Arcadia

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Ultrakill: Infinite Hyperdeath (Act I Soundtrack) by Heaven Pierce Her aka game developer Arsi “Hakita” Patala 

Genres: Drum and Bass, Industrial Metal, Ambient, Progressive Metal, Acidcore 

Nothing says “modern indie game development” more than a game built completely from the ground up by one person. Ultrakill’s developer “Hakita” is one of those kindly folkloric DIY figures that make video games such an extensive art form. The game is a painstaking gloriously bloody ode to Dooms of yesteryear but with plenty of its own fine tuned style. The perfect soundtrack for when you’re painting your personal Hell a darker shade of gore, but also would really like to kick your ass into shape if you need an adrenaline boost to your Quarantine blues.

Notable Track: Panic Betrayer 

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Risk of Rain 2 by Chris Christodoulou

Genres: Progressive Rock, Space Rock, Space Ambient,  Post-Rock

Something about the country of Greece brings the best kind of futurism out of the country’s composers. Christodoulou’s Risk of Rain 2 soundtrack is no Bladerunner knock off. This soundtrack for the colorful sci-fi indie rougelike is punchier and less nocturnal than your typical synth-heavy sci-fi soundtrack. Risk of Rain is one of the more successful Kickstarter series around and has the best quality an indie game can have: it feels like a labor of love on all fronts. There’s no reason a rougelike like Rain of Ruin or Hades needs a soundtrack this good, but Christodoulou casts a spell with his electronic-driven prog rock that makes you want to keep respawning. A huge missed opportunity if Christodoulou does not get to soundtrack an earnest sci-fi action-adventure for even big screens. Oh! This soundtrack also features some spoken word segments from Werner Herzog; what more do you need to know?

Notable Track: The Rain Formerly Known As Purple

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Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus by Guillaume David

A big debut project from an up-and-coming composer Guillaume David. Prior to the making of this soundtrack, David was a video game voice actor who worked on a Resident Evil Devil May Cry crossover voicing the character of “Hunk.” Warhammer 40K might become a franchise that more people will care about solely based on the quality of this installment’s soundtrack. When you see the title Warhammer 40,000, what sort of sounds come to mind? If you guessed “Neo gothic cyber Gregorian chants that seamlessly melds the ancient and futuristic”, you would be correct. A turn-based action game could possibly fall into dull territory, but with a visual identity as strong as Warhammer 40K  melded with a suitable musical atmosphere, the action and world becomes irresistible. This soundtrack is a brisk 56 minutes and the other soundtrack on this list with a more conventional runtime. Not a second is wasted on this dynamic and fantastical soundtrack. Prior to hearing this soundtrack I had no intention of ever looking into playing a game based off of something as convoluted as Warhammer 40K, but now I very much want to know what these robot priests are about. That’s the magic of a quality soundtrack.

Notable track: Millenial Rage

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Honorable Mentions:

Happy Listening! 

[princesssarisa]

Fictional character ask: Cinderella’s Stepmother

@ariel-seagull-wings, I don’t know if my answers will be as good as yours, but I’ll try.

Favorite thing about them: I’ll agree with @ariel-seagull-wings​ on this. Her ambition to see her daughter’s married well is fully understandable, since nothing else will secure their future, and I respect her determination to see them achieve the best marriage possible.

Least favorite thing about them: Needless to say, the way she abuses Cinderella, and in many versions abuses her own daughters too in different ways.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I’ve been jealous of family members who I thought were prettier and more talented than I was.

*I can be a perfectionist.

*I enjoy glamorous social events.

Three things I don’t have in common with them:

*I don’t have any children.

*I prefer dogs to cats.

*I have too much empathy for my own good, not too little.

Favorite line:

Like @ariel-seagull-wings​ I have to vote for this notorious quote from the Grimms’ version:

“Cut off your toe, when you’re queen you won’t need to walk anymore.”

From the original Disney film, after she agrees to let Cinderella go to the ball if she can finish her work in time and find something suitable to wear:

Drizella: Mother! Do you realize what you just said?

Lady Tremaine: Of course. I said “If.”

From the 1957 version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical:

“On our shopping tour today, I bought you the most beautiful materials and all the frills and froufrou my purse could afford... so whether or not you marry the prince, you both have to marry somebody this year!”

From the 1997 version:

(When Cinderella and the stepsisters are fantasizing about falling in love with the prince.)

“Rubbish! This isn’t about love, it’s about marriage!”

(When Cinderella asks her why it’s so hard for her to imagine her dancing with the prince.)

Because... you’re common, Cinderella. Your mother was common and so are you. Oh, you can wash your face and put on a clean dress, but underneath you’ll always be common.

From Ever After, when Danielle asks her if she’s ever loved her:

How can anyone love a pebble in their shoe?

From the 2015 Disney remake, when Cinderella asks her why she’s so cruel to her:

Why? Because you are young and innocent and good, and I...

(What would the end of the sentence have been? “... and I am not”? “... and I envy you for it”? “... and I once was too”?)

brOTP: Like @ariel-seagull-wings I’ll say Lucifer, her cat from the Disney version.

OTP: It might be interesting to pair her with Don Magnifico, the stepfather from Rossini’s opera La Canerentola. They certainly have a lot in common!

nOTP: Cinderella or either of her daughters.

Random headcanon: She genuinely loved her first husband, the father of her daughters, and his death played a role in shaping her into such a bitter, hard-hearted person. This is made explicit in a few modern retellings, especially the 2015 Disney remake, and it’s also implied in the 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein version with the last verse of “Falling in Love with Love,” so I’ll go with it.

Unpopular opinion: I don’t know if this is unpopular, but it’s slightly surprising. When comparing the different versions of the stepmother from different retellings, I definitely think Disney’s animated Lady Tremaine is one of the most cruel and hateful, even though she’s one of the more understated versions of the character who hardly ever loses her temper and is never implied to use corporal punishment on Cinderella. The reason is that few other versions of the character take as much sheer sadistic pleasure in making Cinderella miserable. This is clear both from her facial expressions and from Eleanor Audley’s fantastic vocal performance.

Song I associate with them: “Falling in Love with Love” from the 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein version.

Favorite pictures of them:

These illustrations:

These pictures from Disney’s animated version:

Jo Van Fleet in the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein version:

Bernadette Peters in the 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein version:

Cate Blanchett in the 2015 Disney remake:

[aceofshitposts]

I saw that you like CATS the musical. What are your thoughts on the movie?

AAAAH AHHAHA oh man oh boy y'all should BUCKLE IN cuz it's a ride

my simple thoughts? it's entertaining if only because it butchered the stage show so badly in an attempt to idk modernize it? Well, modernization is one part of it I think. The other part I'll go into below lol. I don't necessarily hate some of the more modern renditions of the songs (mostly the ensemble sets like Jellicle Song for Jellicle Cats) but then others are just... so poorly done it's insulting.

I've said this at the end of this whole rant too but I'm gonna put it up here in case people don't (justifiably) wanna see me go on and on about it:

The movie wasn't made for fans of the musical. It was made to make money and I believe they choose, at least partially, to do that through making it the weirdest and worst possible adaptation they could so that people would want to go see the train wreck. Which, really, worked! It was all people could talk about for a good while so like... Goal achieved, I guess.

A MUCH MORE COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS UNDER THE CUT cuz i don't wanna. flood your dash with... this

ALRIGHT SO. Most of my friends know I'm actually a huge fan of new adaptations of things. I love remakes (provided the people making it are coming at it with some form of heart and not just... cash grabbing which is more often the case) I love seeing other peoples interpretations of characters, or changing settings. It's one of the reasons I like American comics so much, getting to see different writers takes is fascinating.

I think musical movies can be wonderful ways to introduce people to a stage show that might have been unavailable to them otherwise! Chicago, for example, is one of the BEST musical to movie adaptations in my opinion. It kept the heart of the show, it's funny and the song numbers are done really well.

There are of course other famous examples, such as Grease or Bye Bye Birdie. Hairspray was also a wonderful take. These are simply off the top of my head, there are of course more.

CATS in particular has a history. If you go through my CATS tag you may see a few posts from @catsnonreplica which posts photos from non broadway productions of CATS! It's a fascinating read and I love, love, love looking at the other interpretations of the characters! CATS is a musical full of fun and wonderful characters if you take the time to see past the ridiculousness haha and the Korean and Japanese runs of CATS especially have some of my favourites.

How does this relate to the movie, I hear you say well. As you might has noticed the movie's interpretations of the characters is........ lackluster at best and downright uncanny valley at best.

CATS is, at its core, a ridiculous thing. I will fully admit that! But it's fun, it's entertaining and if you pay a little attention you can actually get the plot. (Honestly I don't understand when people complain it has no plot but that's a whole other rant for another day)

The movie was... obsessed with this idea of like... semi realism? Like obviously, as a fan, I think they should have leaned into the over the top character designs but instead we got...w ell:

Bombalurina:

Demeter left and Bomba right. Demeter was actually cut! From the movie which is. upsetting lmao.

Macavity is one of the worst offenders for me:

Macavity was... I wish I could know what the hell they were thinking there cuz it's even in his song? Ginger cat??? THAT IS NOT... A GINGER CAT...... but I digress. I would show more examples but I think you get the point.

So. We've butchered the characters appearances. Okay that's fine but what about their personalities?

ALSO BUTCHERED.

There's... there's a lot to unpack here. Just for context: the Jellicle Ball happens once a year and the Jellicle leader chooses a single cat to be reborn into a new life. In the stage play all the cats who are nominated for this honour are on the older side (Jenny-Any-Dots, Bustopher Jones, Skimbleshanks, Gus The Theatre Cat, and eventually Grizzabella) AND are always nominated by another cat. Not themself, unlike the movie where they all seem to nominate themselves.

Jenny-Any-Dots went from a doting grandmother figure who's celebrated for her selfless volunteering and tireless work into a conceited, vain younger cat who is obsessed with fame.

It's an incredibly strange dichotomy. I don't doubt some of it isn't the result of the uh people playing the characters honestly. I do think some of them did the best they could! I don't really blame Jason Derulo, for example, for Tugger. And honestly, Tugger was probably closest to his stage version (while being a trouble maker, he's shown to show Deuteronomy an immense amount of respect)

Speaking of Tugger! This will bring us to one of the biggest grievances with the movie and that is how they handled Mr Mistoffelees.

So... Ugh. So. We have Victoria as the pov character, which imo is like whatever in the grand scheme of things, and then we have Misto who they have decided will be get live interest cuz... Of course. Misto is shown throughout the musical to be awkward, unsure of himself and well. Really, kinda incompetent. Which is Wild cuz in the stage show he might be aloof but he's fairly confident in his powers.

So, Old Deuts gets kidnapped. In the stage show Tugger is the one to bring Misto forward! It's really quite sweet, imo, and I'm showing myself as a Tuggoffelees shipper here, but again Tugger is previously shown to be pretty conceited but then here he is boosting and hyping up Misto to bring Deuteronomy back. My friends and I have lovingly dubbed this the boyfriend hype song.

SOMEHOW. The movie manages to make this, easily, the MOST BORING number in the whole thing. Which, again, WILD. Misto awkwardly stumbles through his whole song, which again is... Boasting of his supreme magical powers which movie Misto clearly. Does not have or believe to have. The song, to me, feels super awkward and unnecessarily drawn out in the movie which sucks cuz it's one of my favourites in the show.

The declawing (heh) of Mr Mistoffelees actually reminds me strongly of how they changed Gaston in the live action Beauty and the Beast movie. He's gone from a beloved figure in the animated movie to someone so disliked in the town that Le Fou has to pay people off to say nice things about him. It's just. Wild character choices were made!!

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat is probably my favourite in movie non ensemble number. It feels the most... Genuine? Compared to the other nomination songs.

Other problems include but are not limited to:

The inconsistent size scale of the CATS which throws me off constantly.

The weirdly overt sexual overtones added to MANY of the songs (Jenny and Bustopher being the worst)

This is just a personal gripe and opinion but I don't like that they used the UK version of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. The American version is both better known and tbh way more fun. Teazer's giggle? Adds ten years to my life every time.

Victoria's added solo song, Beautiful Ghosts, while I like the song as a song it doesn't fit the style of message of the musical. In the movie she's singing directly to Grizzabella who's being an outcast for years that she should be grateful she even has memories of being part of the tribe?? What?? But I know they had to add an original song to be able to be nominated for awards in like the Grammys n shit (which is why all musical movies will have an original song, fun fact!!) kinda funny they went to the effort though considering........... I don't think anyone could have genuinely believed CATS 2019 was gonna win anything but golden rhaspberries.

Movie Mr Mistoffelees has made repeated appearances as my sleep paralysis demon

The various cut characters, shout outs to Jemima, Demeter and Jellylorum especially

Bombalurina being a henchman to Macavity rubs me the wrong way

God I've written... So much. You probably get it by now haha. Like I said at the beginning, I try to go into any adaptation with an open mind but... Let's be honest, this movie wasn't marketed to people who are fans of the musical.

It was marketed, and made, to make money. And they choose to do that through, I think, intentionally making the worst possible version ever. Bad press is still press and the more outrageous people said the movie was the more people wanted to go see exactly what kind of train wreck it was.

Which is a disservice to the stage show, honestly, and all the people who've worked on it over the years.

But what can we do, right?

And besides all that, I do... Still own the movie version and I do still rewatch it on occasion. It is entertaining even if it's in a train wreck kind of way. I usually end up watching the 1998 version, then 2019 and then various tour runs that are on YouTube. (I highly recommend the 2016 tour, it's very good)

So in conclusion. It's fun (?) to watch. I enjoy picking things apart and doing analysis (if you couldn't tell!) so like... I don't hate it?

It did what it set out to do, I guess, and I can't fault it for that but. It's not a fair metre with which to judge the stage show imo. But I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, haha.

Jazz hands. I'm more than happy to elaborate or just chat about CATS if anyone wants! I grew up listening to the Broadway CD since I was a toddler so it's been! A very long standing obsession haha. Probably the only other thing on par with CATS is my obsession with Jurassic Park which I've also been a fan of since I was 3 (but that's a whole story in and of itself)

[kyndaris]

Who Else Will I Have Da-Chao Beans With?

With a brand-new PlayStation 5, lovingly dubbed Seto Kaiba, now in my grasp I was excited to try out Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade. In particular, the downloadable content (DLC) featuring everyone’s favourite materia hunter: Yuffie Kisaragi. Yes, you heard it right. I suffered through disappointment and numerous attempts of trying to put my name down on a PlayStation 5 waitlist just so that I could play a $30 add-on. I mean, it’s not the first time that I’ve willingly put down money to enjoy more of the story, but it’s a rare occurrence.

With that out of the way, please know that this impression of INTERmission will be filled with spoilers. I know this post won’t go up until August but considering how hard it is to still get consoles, well…you’ve been warned.

In contrast to Cloud’s stoic and no-nonsense attitude, Yuffie is a breath of fresh air. Right from the gates, her narration in a bid to impress the members of Avalanche that aren’t even present is a joy and delight. True, she’s younger than our main character, but she has seen a lot of things. The conflict between Wutai and Shinra back in the good old days of Crisis Core are very much part of the lore in the expanded Final Fantasy 7 universe.

In fact, our favourite puppy of the series, Zack Fair, also got to meet the rising ninja star of Wutai during the conflict.

But I’m getting off-topic. Back to INTERmission.

After traversing the wastelands around Sector 7, Yuffie finally reaches the slums before the plate has fallen. Once she has arrived, she meets up with the members of AVALANCHE. Except, of course, they’re not the ones that we know and love. Enter Zhijie, Nayo, Polk and Billy Bob.

As for Jessie, Biggs and Wedge? All three were located around the slums. Jessie was seated in front of Seventh Heaven (which Yuffie could not enter), Wedge enjoyed the company of many cats and Biggs was idling by not too far from the others. All of them were interactable but their dialogue essentially boiled down to: stop bothering me. I did like, however, being able to play the board game: Fort Condor with at least two of them. AND UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM WHILE I WAS AT IT.

Chadley too, made an appearance – this time offering a battle with Ramuh and also being the GRANDMASTER of the Fort Condor board games.

By the by, the Fort Condor minigame is probably quite reminiscent of the auto-battles that have gained popularity. Three towers to be defended, summonable units…

I’ve never played any of the auto-battles but it does seem fun. For a short while at least. And as a minigame within a game.

Once I had explored the slums to my heart’s content, it was back to the story missions. Enter Sonon. As soon as he appeared, I knew that things would not end well. After all, Yuffie did not have a companion when you met her as an optional side character. And in every other iteration: from Advent Children to Dirge of Cerberus, he was never present.

But though I knew his time would be limited, he brought excellent banter to the adventure and served as an excellent support to Yuffie. Even if the brother-sister connection was a little ham-fisted with Yuffie reminding the warrior of his own sister: Melphi. Still, despite the way the developers bungled the immediate connection, I didn’t mind. Yuffie, after all, was on a mission to nab the greatest and ultimate materia right from under Shinra’s nose.

It is important to know that while not much changes in the way of combat, Yuffie does play quite a bit different from the other main characters. In fact, she can fight both close-up and at range with her ninjutsu arts. Another change to the formula is that you cannot change to Sonon. Only Yuffie can be controlled – though you can give commands to Sonon and have him perform abilities and spells.

Then, of course, there’s also the synergy aspect wherein Sonon and Yuffie would combine their attacks to deal additional damage. It was fun experimenting with the system and showed how versatile the combat system could be.

Once they enjoyed a trip chasing Zhijie to obtain High-D cards that would allow them to slip into Shinra Headquarters, it was back to the slums to see Tifa and Barret return without SOLDIER-boy Cloud Strife. What I loved about this moment was that we also got to see a private conversation between Tifa and Barret that did not feature in the first game or in the Remake run. Seeing the aftermath of Cloud falling down into the slums below and how it had impacted both Tifa and Barret was a great character moment. And it also helped serve to explain the reason why Tifa ended up in Wall Market in the first place.

With that moment out of the way, our heroes Yuffie and Sonon head to Shinra headquarters. As they slip into the elevator, they are joined by Scarlet: Head of Weapons Development. From there, the game becomes a gauntlet of battles. It’s not the most thrilling chapter to experience but it does showcase how well the Wutaians fight and the innate teamwork between Yuffie and Sonon.

This new piece of downloadable content, however, is not satisfied to simply end matters here, however. When Scarlet is defeated (and even in defeat she’s assessing how best to finetune her machines of war), she activates DEEPGROUND. For the first time in a long while, I got to see Weiss the Immaculate and Nero the Sable.

While I may not have played Dirge of Cerberus, I did watch ALL the walkthroughs that I could find on YouTube back in my younger years. I watched Vincent Valentine grapple with his past and finally learn to control the power within.

That aside, the new threat that Nero presented was a challenge. With his arms strapped to his chest in a straitjacket, he reminded me of Anima Aeon from Final Fantasy X. But it was his darkness powerset that gave me all the Kingdom Hearts vibes. If I have to hear ‘Darkness’ again in anything, I think I might have to scream.

Beyond these few nitpick moments, I felt that Sonon’s death was a little overdone. Particularly for a character that had only been fighting beside us for only a few short moments. Don’t get me wrong, the developers tried their best to sell it: the swell in the orchestra, the use of copious flashbacks…

Still, the pain expressed by Yuffie (which was then followed by the Sector 7 plate falling) was enough to sell a bit of the horror.

My only question though is: WHAT IS NERO GOING TO DO WITH SONON’S BODY?

From there, the credits rolled and we caught a glimpse of Yuffie out in the wilds, on a chocobo and humming. As a side note, does everyone know the chocobo theme song? Is it a piece of canonical music within the game universe that is associated with chocobos? Like, is it used in advertisement for chocobos? I NEED TO KNOW!

We also get to see Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Cloud traipsing along on the road to Kalm. Better than that, we see Zack in his alternate dimension reaching the church in the Sector 5 slums, debating how best to reintroduce himself to his fair flower lady. Where is his version of Cloud in all this? Why are there so many people in the church? How does this whole dimension/ alternate timeline thing work?

Once again, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake left me with more questions than answers. Though I never played the original, over the years, I had scoured the wiki sites to learn as much as I could. And though I knew the plot beats, the creative directors and script writer have kept things close to the vest – tantalising me with the prospect of what is to come.

I still need a slap fight between Scarlet and Tifa, okay! It had better be in there!

[danasmonster]

Comparing the SKAM Remakes: ISAK (Part V)

Robbe (wtFOCK/SKAM Belgium)

The Differences:

OK let me start off by saying this is the most turbulent Isak/Even relationship yet. They lie to each other (Sander & Robbe), they yell at each other (Robbe), and they call each other homophobic slurs (Robbe). They also say “I love you” a lot more . . . 

Instead of pawning the weed off on someone else, Robbe had the weed pawned off on him

Unlike Isak, Robbe is still going through the process of finding a place to live. His mom has just been hospitalized and his dad lives really far away from his school, plus they don’t get along. 

Also, instead of Zoe (the Noora character) being in London, it’s Lisa (Linn) who is studying abroad, thus making the room available. It was a bit like the writers thought “meh, this character is just window dressing” and replaced her with Zoe, and it was nice to see more of Zoe's interactions with all the characters since she is more central to the series. Honestly both Zoe and Milan seem to really look after and take care of Robbe, more so than the other incarnations of Eskild and Noora. 

Milan is way more in your face about making out with men in front of Robbe than Eskild was. 

Both Robbe and Sander are in relationships with girls when they meet, however neither has been long term. Sander’s relationship with Britt has only been going on for six months, as opposed to four years with Even and Sonja. I think this is pretty significant because you could feel a lot of history between Even and Sonja and that is missing here with Sander and Britt. 

Robbe never lied to his friends in order to spend time with Sander, which was nice

But then he also totally freaked the fuck out after they kissed in the pool and went on the offensive with Sander, calling him a faggot and pushing him away . . . yeeek. I liked that Isak never took the hate for himself out on Even, never pushed him away. That Robbe did it here was understandable yes but I think I still prefer the orig. I mean Sanders face goddamn

Robbe broke up with Noor in person instead of just avoiding her/generally treating her like shit until they just fell apart 

I also liked that while yes the boys were creeping on the dancing girls like in the orig, in wtFOCK they were actually invited to be there as part of an actual audience. It didn’t feel as gross here.

Robbe and Sander didn’t just ditch the girls before the bike/pool scene - the girls went off on their own earlier and requested to be alone. It felt a little less dickish this way.

And OH MY GOD THE VIOLENCE! There is very explicit homophobia in the form of slurs and an actual physical attack on Robbe and Sander. No other incarnation has experienced such blatant hatred from other people. 

And what the fuck, Sander??? Sander flat out lied to Robbe when he told him he had broken up with Britt. 

There is also definitely some homophobia on the part of Moyo/Madhi and Aaron/Magnus. I mean, they actually call being bisexual gross and say they would be creeped out to be around a gay guy because he “might be into them.” That’s more than just ignorance, it’s intolerance, something that wasn’t present in Madhi and Magnus. Moyo in particular is way more of a dick. 

The scene where Sander has a bipolar episode is a little different because Robbe never tries to contact Britt, but somehow she is still there? Also her opinions on whether or not Sander’s feeling for Robbe are real hold a lot less weight considering they were only together six months as opposed to four years. Then instead of Sander’s friends and family taking care of him, he admits himself to a mental health facility. Then Jana/Eva encourages Robbe to just give up on Sander. Eeesh. 

Instead of Aaron/Magnus having a bipolar mother helping Sander understand it better, it’s Moyo/Madhi. Moyo also gives the minute by minute advice to him instead of Britt/Sonja. 

My Favorite Parts: 

I love the street art/graffiti subplot. I’ve always loved this type of art (when it is art). That first scene where Noor took Robbe to spray paint was so atmospheric, another song added to my playlist (

Fall

by The Bugg & Ina Copeland)Honestly any scene with Zoe and Milan was fantastic I liked when Milan readily admitted to going through everyone’s stuff when they weren’t home. I love the way Zoe is taking care of Robbe by making him food and just generally making him feel welcome when he moves in to the apartment with her and Milan. She was also really sweet when she made sure his wounds were disinfected after he was beaten up and making sure they were bandaged. Milan snuggling up to a sleeping Senna was great. I also really enjoyed the little taste of couple life from Zoe when she complained about Senna’s snoring. Zoe’s line was definitely on point. I don’t know how her relationship will end for her but this ideology is paramount to having a healthy relationship, period. 

“We’re a couple now but we also have our own lives”

It was really great and amusing foreshadowing when Noor replied to the boy’s saying all the chicks that go to the art school are hot with “

You haven’t seen the boys yet.

” Enter Sander.  

When Robbe meets Sander and they go around the store riding the grocery cart. It’s so carefree and happy and while I miss the pure absurdity of watching Even take all of the paper towels this scene was absolutely wonderful

The Halloween party was fucking epic.

Trick R Treat

by Josh A and Iamjakehill, added to playlistThe conversation between Milan and Robbe about Milan’s gaydar was really good, with the beginning of his response definitely tailored toward Robbe, and the look he gives him is so telling it’s uncomfortable. He was basically like, “I know you’re gay, bro.” Milan describes his gaydar as picking up on subtle signals, 

A certain look in their eyes. Or . . . It’s a bit like there is something in them that is desperately trying to get out. 

The conversation between Jens and Robbe about how sex isn’t everything was a prime example of how to be a good bro and healthy masculinity and I fucking loved it

The conversation between Milan and Robbe where Robbe admits to having feelings for another boy was super sweet. I feel like Milan was kind of taking on an Eskild/school nurse hybrid role here because he was mostly just encouraging Robbe not to keep everything inside and to be himself. His relationship with Robbe seems a bit more paternal and I love it for this version.

The scene where Robbe is actually open and honest with Sander about his conflicting emotions about his sexuality was much appreciated

The scene when Milan was describing a very butch guy on the bus becoming all soft like when he looked at him was great. Everyone melts for you, Milan 💋

Have I said how much I love Zoe and Milan??? Also I can’t wait to see Zoe and Senna’s story when I go through all the Nooras, Senna definitely seems like the best William so far. I know they break up in the last episode of Robbe’s season but I have hopes they will get back together.

It was absolutely amazing to watch Milan put Mojo in his place

The scene where Zoe and Robbe go Christmas shopping is terrific. I just love watching their friendship 

The scene of everyone opening their Christmas presents together was also adorable 

Things I Missed:

The funny, quirky little moments like the metal leg conversation between Even and Isak right before their almost first kiss or the absurdity of the paper towel scene when they first meet

The scene where the whole boy squad is together and giving Isak relationship advice. In this one is was just Jens and I felt let down that Aaron and Moyo couldn’t be there as well. 

And a shout out for Noor, who gets my vote for best Emma

Noor (Emma) kissed Robbe after he complimented her, not after he insulted her. 

Robbe also seems to have more of an actual relationship with Noor than Isak had with Emma. 

Noor is definitely the coolest version of Emma so far, both in personality and appearance. I mean not only does she look fucking great but she was so sweet about how Robbe couldn’t get it up when they tried to have sex. 

I really love the development of their relationship in this and how much more complex it is than in the original.

I also love that she and Robbe seem to have repaired their relationship and can be friends by the end of Robbe’s story

GO NOOR!!

[foemantic]

9 first time watches in 2021

i don’t know if these are necessarily my ‘top’ 9 but these are like the only 9 i can remember watching because the entirety of 2021 has been like [tv static] so here we go???

the handmaiden (2016) - one of those things i’ve seen gifs of for god knows how long like “i need to watch this” and then i just didn’t? until early 2021? and then i did, and it was very good? i wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone it was also very dark and fucked up with some very triggering themes but the symbolism was great the execution of the plot/twists was great the last scene in the library was so cathartic 

princess mononoke (1997) - i was raised very sheltered and very religious and we did not have anything but pbs on the tv so... i have not seen as many ghibli movies as i should have and i’ve been slowly catching up over the years? i put this one off for a while because i was told the tone was really different and dark and yeah it was but it’s my favorite now? “still we find reasons to keep living” 

his house (2020) - ok this one i really really liked it’s like a distant relative of the babadook if you liked that one you might like this one it’s about sudanese refugees trying to make a life in london with a very similar key theme that boils down to “the demons are Yours and to survive you’re going to have to somehow make your peace with them” which i am very into whenever it pops up so this was probably in my top 3 horror movies of the year

candyman (2021) - loved this one? love jordan peele horrors and their themes, love that it was a remake that was really just a sequel, love it when the situation is one of those “you can’t talk about it you can’t think about it and if you have it’s already too late” things because that is so effectively scary to me and the candyman is the best supernatural slasher can’t change my mind where’s that post about the others being crusty and him rocking up in his fur coat b/c... yeah. yeah

the green knight (2021) - this was definitely my favorite movie of the year i am absolutely obsessed with visually-appealing high fantasy (even if it passionately makes me want to play dnd right now immediately on days when i cannot just play dnd) and the artsy a24 cinematic style and arthurian legend? dev patel as gawain? the themes? the tragedy? everything i could possibly have wanted 10/10 i’m still thinking about the imagery especially in the green chapel 

moulin rouge (2001) - one of those things i watched because it’s so culturally-embedded (elephant love medeley? el tango de roxanne?) and when people found out i hadn’t they were like ????? as a first-time viewer who didn’t have nostalgia goggles on and isn’t usually into jukebox musicals it’s aged very well in some ways and uhhhh really has not in certain others but it’s a good musical it was converted to a movie well i enjoyed it black swan (2010) - see above that is why i watched this one also? going in all i knew about swan lake was the barbie movie (i loved that odette doll so much) and mostly the cast was great... i got very into analyzing/talking about it... i learned some interesting stuff

encanto (2021) - this was so sweet honestly and i love the music a lot? like a lot... i’ve gone back to a couple of the songs more than once since i saw it and even more than the movie itself i’ve really loved seeing how pleased people have been to see a little of themselves in something like this???  single all the way (2021) - ok this one is just literally every single home for the holidays bad christmas romcom you’ve ever seen in your entire life? but it’s gay? so like... it wasn’t good, and i do not care even a little bit, the straight ones aren’t either!!  tagged by - @mrbingley :) ty this was fun! tagging - @dogsideye​? @quirkydetectives​ ? no pressure! and like @everyone do it! tag me! 

[cloudmyweather]

A Small Guide to Munimún’s Discography: Part one, the high school years

First of all, hi. I’m Muni, also known as moonlordress. I used to have a blog here, but then I migrated to Twitter after adult content was outlawed. I did however miss the efficiency of this website in hosting multimedia content... so after a couple of years, here we are again. The old blog still exists, I think, but I forgot the password and don’t feel like retrieving it.

So... fresh start. If you’ve never heard of me (first of all, how did you find me?), you might be delighted at all the new content I’m willing to post here, along with new stuff, of course. I want to treat this place as a sort of ongoing zine, which is what Tumblr was meant to be for anyway. I mainly involve myself with the arts of drawing, painting and music composing. On very rare occasions I also write.

I’d like to first take my time to disclose about my musical output (most of it available for free at this cool link). At 23 years old, I’m still too young to really make any sort of masterpiece, as I am mostly self-taught and don’t really play any instruments. If you’re put off by the fake digital sounds, I don’t blame you - but I feel I’ve gotten better at taking advantage of the aesthetic.

I’ve made music on FL Studio for almost 10 years now. My first experiments were mostly misguided attempts at creating rock music without any real instruments or band members - I am a tad embarrassed by the results, after all who wants to listen to music by a 14-year-old, but I feel like I’ve struck gold a couple times... I’ve always wondered if I could remake some of this music with my current sensibilities.

Anyway, the name of my project at the time was World Destroyance, also the name of my first album before I just decided to use my real name (also a bad decision). I hate all the music on that album and don’t currently know if there’s any way to listen to it. That was done in 2012, I’m pretty sure. Also in 2012 I made two more albums, slightly more interesting than the first - Magic (an album about My Little Pony characters, although instrumental), and [untitled] (a kind of self-portrait). I refer to these three as “the 2012 albums” and I don’t advise anyone to seek them out, but I’m sure they’re out there in a Mediafire link or something. I don’t remember deleting those.

WORLD DESTROYANCE – mid-2012 MAGIC – August 2012 [untitled] – December 2012

In late 2012/2013 I started getting very bitter and angry about real things, instead of the things children get angry about. I had been falling in love for some time, and hating every minute of it. I was rapidly losing all self-confidence and my self-esteem to this day has not recovered. So naturally my musical ideas were getting more abrasive. I learned about distortion effects but not how to use them. And most importantly, I discovered the Residents. The result was Friendly. I don’t particularly like it either, but I think this is where my stuff got deliberately weird instead of unwittingly.

FRIENDLY - July 2013

Highlights: “The Screaming Worm”, “Life after Death”, “Susan’s Story”

After a couple smaller projects (coupled with my questioning of the idea that anyone should even bother to hear what I make), I finished Tolerance Songs in 2014. I was still in love, but this was the first album I actually considered to be “good.” Still many embarrassing moments. I also started using vocals here and there. I never really liked my voice though.

TOLERANCE SONGS – July 2014

Highlights: 

“Hey There”, “Song for Samantha”, “Gingerbread Lovesong”, “Bloodclot”

After a while I decided that five albums and a couple Leftovers was enough material for a “best of” compilation. Just so people wouldn’t have to sit through such immature music to get to the interesting stuff. So I put together Harsh Reality in 2015, drew up a digital booklet as a gift for downloaders, and from then on decided to focus on simply making a lot of music and eventually collecting it when enough material surfaced.

also: LEFTOVERS – September 2014 Collecting unused stuff from the year spent making Tolerance Songs. The Tolerance Songs sessions... how professional that sounds... and neat!

HARSH REALITY – October 2015

Collecting highlights from the first five albums + misc. projects. Around 3 years’ worth of some autistic teenager’s bored meanderings on break from high school.

also: CANCEROUS DEVOTION – November 2014 Soundtrack for a school project. Secretly a love album.

YOU ARE MY SWEETEST DREAM – July 2015 Mini-album meditating on “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” for some reason. I just wanted to be a Resident.

All of this with virtually no audience in sight. Talk about wasting time (and words).

Continued on part two.

[riversofmars]

Happy Sunday, everyone!! <3 Here is the next encounter of the “Big, Vast, Complicated and Ridiculous“ Series! Round two at Luna U... just a bit earlier! ;)

Rating: General

Word Count: 1800

Read on AO3 or below

Luna University Part II

“Mind out!“ The Doctor stumbled back into the broom closet she’d parked and hidden her TARDIS in. The warning came just in time as someone zoomed past on a hoover board, nearly taking her head off.

“Alright then…“ The Doctor closed the closet door quickly in the hopes no-one would notice where she’d come from. She looked around and wondered if she’d taken a wrong turn in the vortex somewhere. Luna University - which this quite clearly was, she recognised the corridor from her visit just now - resembled a mad house. The corridor was a mess, there were paper cups and spilled drinks, abandoned books, half eaten dinners and items of clothing. “Oh no…“ The Doctor winced as she realised where and most importantly when she had arrived: Fresher’s week.

Slowly the Doctor made her way down the corridor, unsure of what to do next. River had to be here somewhere… She rolled up the manuscript and stuck it into her coat pocket for safe keeping. If she had calculated correctly and the TARDIS hadn’t messed with her flight plan again, River should be in her final year of her degree. An upper classman who surely should be above something as silly as freshmen parties… but this was River Song as a uni student… Young, wild… and currently downing a drink at some speed as the Doctor reached the communal area of the the student halls.

“Where… do-do you put all… that…“ The student River had apparently been competing with could hardly get his words out right and he spilled the remainder of his drink across the table.

River jumped out of the way of the liquid and laughed, shaking out her impressive mane of hair.

“I have a theory that in addition to an extra heart, there’s also an extra liver hiding in there somewhere.“ River retorted with a winning smile drawing laughter from the surrounding students.

The Doctor hung back, watching. River appeared to be in her element. Loud, bold, people were fawning over her and she was loving the attention. The Doctor chuckled to herself a little, remaking again on the vast contrast to the River she’d last met. It was remarkable how much she had changed with time and how much she had stayed the same as well.

“But before we go for another round, I do have one question…“ River took a sip of the gin and tonic  someone handed to her. “You, Darling, don’t go to this university, I would have noticed.“ River turned to look at the Doctor who jumped, startled, not expecting her to notice her at all. “So what are you doing here?“

“I uhh…“ The Doctor didn’t know what to say, she looked around to make sure River was actually referring to her. Suddenly all eyes were on her as she hovered in the doorway.  

“I mean, I’m not one to complain when a cute girl turns up on my doorstep…“ River smirked making her way over, leaving her admirers behind disappointed.

“River…“ The Doctor forced a smile, wondering how to best approach this situation. She thought back to the Maldovarium. River had indicated she’d met her then so this must have been that encounter.

“I see my reputation precedes me as usual.“ River smirked, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “And you are?“ She placed her hand on the doorframe, baring her way.

“Jane… Smith…“ The Doctor answered slowly, trying to keep the chronology intact.

“You expect me to believe that, Jane Smith?“ River burst out laughing as she seized her up. “Why have I never seen you around campus before?“

“Recent transfer.“ The Doctor retorted quickly, feeling the pressure.

“Is that so.“ River tilted her head to one side and grinned like a cheshire cat. “What is it you study, Jane Smith?“

“Archeology.“ The Doctor answered, hoping that was her best play.

“Isn’t that one hell of a coincidence.“ River hummed, stepping a little closer still. Close enough to make the Doctor inch back nervously.

“Yes, I know, that’s why I… I was hoping we could talk… professionally.“ The Doctor glanced over her future wife’s shoulder to the other students that were watching curiously.

“Well, Sweetie, you can talk to me any time but no promises I’ll be keeping it professional…“ River husked with a smirk that made the Doctor blush and her hearts beat a little faster. So this was what young River Song was like. She hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know her at the Maldovarium but maybe there was an opportunity now… The Doctor had just spent a wonderful night with her wife but still, she was drawn to this brazen version of her just as strongly. The River she had seen just now she’d known very well, but this young River, she didn’t, at all.

If the Doctor didn’t give herself away, as the older River had suggested, it would be a glimpse at what she was like when she thought no-one was watching. When she didn’t have to be good River Song, the wife of the Doctor, but her unpolished, unfinished self… so full of energy and mischief. It was alluring in a totally different way to the loving safety and warm comfort her older wife had given her.

“Well, maybe you don’t have to.“ The Doctor found herself saying, silencing all her contradicting thoughts about what she should or shouldn’t do. Why not live a little?

“How about that drink then, Jane Smith?“ River appeared delighted, she reached out and ran her fingers along one of her yellow braces.

“Sure, yeah…“ The Doctor nodded, her throat was getting rather dry after all.

“Outstanding.“ River grinned and went to fetch her a drink. The Doctor remained standing in the doorway, unsure whether to follow her or not. She felt everybody’s eyes on her and it was making her uncomfortable. “There you are.“ River returned moments later, placing a glass in the palm of her hand before stroking her fingers up the Doctor’s arm with a grin.

“How about we take it somewhere more quiet so we can talk?“ The Doctor asked, very much aware of their audience and she wanted to have River to herself. River raised her eyebrows with a smirk, this was infinitely more easy than she had anticipated but she wasn’t going to complain.

“Come along then.“ She grabbed the Doctor’s hand and pulled her down the corridor to a chorus of disappointed calls of the students they were abandoning.

From there, things happened very quickly, quicker than the Doctor had anticipated. River shoved her up against her dorm room door once she’d closed it and assaulted her lips with her own. The Doctor gasped, overwhelmed, spilling her drink over the both of them.

“Ah well, that’s a shame, we’re gonna have to take our clothes off now.“ River smirked. She slid her jacket off her shoulders and threw it onto her chair, then pulled her tank top over her head and off. The Doctor just stared at her, her head spinning. It was silly really, she knew every inch of her wife’s body very well but the way this young River was advancing towards her, flipping her hair back…

“I uhh…“ The Doctor tired her best to look at her face, not her lacy bra. Her mouth went dry.

“Something the matter, Sweetie?“ River hummed as she slowly pushed the Doctor’s coat off her shoulders, she pressed her lips to her throat, trailing wet kisses down to her collar bone. The coat fell to the floor and River pushed her hands under the Doctor’s t-shirt, running her fingers up her stomach.

“Oh crap…“ The manuscript the Doctor had left in her coat pocket had fallen out and spilled over the floor. The Doctor pulled away from River and bent down to pick it up before the pages could get mixed up.

“Lost something?“ River asked in amusement, watching her scramble around the floor. She bent down as well and picked up a couple of pages. “What’s this?“ River frowned, her voice suddenly far more serious as she skimmed the pages. “Is this some kind of a joke?“

“Uhh… no, this is…“ The Doctor didn’t really know what to say, she hadn’t gotten as far as that in her planning of this trip. Was she supposed to just tell her her future self sent this with kind regards?

“Cause this is exactly the topic I’m planning to write my thesis on, I’ve got notes detailing this section and… What is this? Where did you get it?“ There was no small measure of distrust in River’s voice now as she demanded an explanation.

“This is actually why I’m here…“ The Doctor decided it was best to just come clean, she knew River would be able to tell if she was lying. “There is someone out there that wants you to have it. Save you some time…“ She tried to explain.

“Someone? I haven’t told anyone about my topic yet!“ River countered.

“Well, it’s not just anyone…“ The Doctor gave an apologetic smile but River’s expression just grew more suspicious. “Okay fine, your future self asked me to take this to you. You wrote this yourself but a long time from now. Happy?“ The Doctor sighed, hoping the revelation wouldn't have any consequences. She figured technically, River would eventually have to find out it was her that wrote the thesis for herself, so she would know to write it in the future.

“That… does sound like something I would do…“ River admitted taking the rest of the papers, mulling over whether or not to believe her.

“I’m just the messenger.“ The Doctor held her hands up defensively. “You do with this what you like.“

“So… if you know my future self… you must be from my future, too.“ River stood up and so did the Doctor.

“Oh, no, no, who’s to say your future self didn’t come to visit me?“ The Doctor countered quickly, she knew she shouldn’t be telling her too much.

“I’m saying that.“ River pointed out, jabbing the pages at her. “And that means, either you have access to time travel or you know someone that does!“

“Now listen… River…“ The Doctor could virtually see the gears turning in her future wife’s head.

“Who are you?“ River asked suspiciously. “Your name is not Jane Smith, that’s for sure.“

“I think I best get going.“ The Doctor picked up her coat quickly. “This was great, really nice, but…“ She fumbled with the door knob.

“How did you get here? What’s your means of travel?“ River carried on, intrigued. “And how will we know each other?“

“I was really hoping we could have a bit more time for this one…“ The Doctor sighed, realising this was just another fleeting moment. “Sorry about this.“ She knocked the pile of papers out of River’s hand, sending them flying to distract her future wife long enough so she could bolt.

[project-paranoia]

Live Watch: Guardian  Episode One, Part One

It's Guardian!  The show that got me interested in this genre!  I love spooky things and I love mysteries and fantasy!  I simply adore it so much!  When I can't sleep I just put on a playlist of Guardian in the background.  I was aware of censorship before - every country has some version of it, but to some degree this was my first deep dive into how it might effect a piece of media.  Guardian is exceptionally acted and incredibly written, as well as suffering from obvious dubs where the dubbing voice actor sounds nothing like the previous actor and odd cuts that are disrupted.  In some ways it's the little drama that could fighting its way past their studio going bankrupt while they were filming, reshoots, and being taken down and altered several times.

In some ways Guardian's struggle fits the spirit and aesthetic of the show. Worn in like an old pair of jeans but still making an effort.  Putting emphasis where things count and hoping the kindness of the universe will make allowances for the rest.  Attention to detail where the story really matters.  It has the charm of a community production put on out of love with actors and crew who would not be anywhere else in the world for any amount of money.  That feeling of love comes through, and whether or not I'm barely literate I have so many words to share.

Part of why I love it as well is it has that feeling of 80s and 90s fantasy, like Moomin, Xena or Condor Heroes. Everything feels lived in, nothing's been spit shined except for Shen Wei's suits. It's an old city street of a show, it has history and character built in. 

*After all that I don't know that I have a tonne to say about the intro.  It's very good but it's also full of spoilers.  I think having the intro song be in English does make a difference in making it appealing to English speaking audiences as well as standing out as different and interesting, which the show is. Speaking of Spoilers!  Spoilers below!

* The obligatory beginning narration is beautifully animated, I have another post that will be done some time before the heat-death of the universe talking about the fascinating world building options.  Unlike some Make It SciFi plots, this one has legs and implications.

* Remakes rarely are able to meet the original on equal ground - and I struggle to believe the actors would Fit as well - but part of me really wants to have a chance to have the Dixingren worldbuilding really leaned into.  The writing is good enough we get implication but no real follow through.  I want fifty episodes of how Dixing functions, give me more pseudo-science behind the mutations, what are the biological differences.  I'm hungry for more!

* I love the cameos of later characters, and the way there was some effort to be discrete with spoilers.

* It's Ya Boy!  I love Shen Wei.  With that music cue and that sinister turn around they really set him up as dubious.  I wish they went with something a little different with the intro so his character wasn't spoiled.  The writing, directing, and acting was so good and spoiling who Shen Wei is kind of took the teeth out of that.

* Also cheers to the costume designer who outfitted Zhu Yilong so well and made him look jacked with the fit of those clothes.

* Also you can tell this is a real university because the staff has to sit in tiny student chairs.  I'm not joking, please be warned if you're going into academia.  Unless you have tenure life is An Adventure - and even then.

* Also shout out to Shen Wei's Prized Cabbage and the Queen of our hearts, Li Qian.  Why is this actress not in more things?  She has such an expressive and lovely face and she really goes all the way in with her acting.  I respect an artist that acts from their chest. Also that windbreaker, white skirt combo is chic and fun all at once, it draws the eye and makes her melt into the background all at once - perfect for the character.  I love her so much.

* Here's another one of Shen Wei's coats, it's a lovely color for him but it also is so thin that it looks like it crinkled up just from being worn.

* I'm being distracted by details and missing plot stuff.

* Story of my life.

* I love Li Qian hovering along behind Shen Wei like a duckling following their mother.  A) Mood and B) it quietly informs their dynamic.  Shen Wei has like one person he can trust but no one he can really confide in and it's the same for Li Qian. A ship will find a port in a storm and Shen Wei has Big Da-ge Energy. My fanfic heart hopes they found comfort in the pseudo familial relationship with each other while it lasted.

* Even in episode one we receive foreshadowing, we love and respect some excellent writing.  For those of you who missed it - Professor Ouyang is talking about Lin Jing who I love partially because he's so outrageous large but has the total opposite of intimidating energy.  

* What did they feed you Lin Jing? He is so tall and wide, but they do a lot with camera work to try to make him not quite as big.  Side note, I would really love to see the actor who plays Lin Jing (Liu Minting) both in more dramas but more specifically in a role where he was like a minister or scholar - someone intellectual.  I think the combination of being such a big gentleman and also someone who like plots or plans would be really dynamic if it was written well.  

* Also I like the exchange where without a word Professor Ouyang indicates he has one last thing to say, it's private and that he would like Shen Wei to ask Li Qian to leave. That's What You Can Do With Good Actors!

* Li Qian is just so pretty and the actress emotes so well!

* Shen Wei totally understanding what's going on with this shady research immediately and wanting to stay as far away as possible.  We see one of the first examples of him being aggressively polite to remove himself from a situation.

* "i'M jUST aN oRDINARY sCHOLAR." No one buys it Shen Wei.

* Angy Thinking Face

* One thing the show is really good at is using establishing shots really well so you always know where everything is and everything is going

* Guo Changcheng, all around good boy and angel.  We stan a nervous legend

* Zhou Yunlan Arriving.  Why is everyone on this show an Absolute Legend

* Guo Changcheng protecting himself with his certificate is too cute.  This young man is trying his best and I support him.

* Also that coat is Young, Pure, Stylish; I love it

* Zhao Yunlan, what's wrong with you? You are amazing!

* His irreverent style and disregard of usual policy makes him fit in really well with his band of misfits and special cases

* Guo Changcheng's OO face is too good, elastic face

* Da Qing my love!

* Jin Ling, I think he has an all seeing eye on his hoodie thing. Illuminati Confirmed.

* Also they filmed the shots so well, so you always know where everyone is in relation to everyone else

* Our Prized Cabbage!  I love her!

* Great handheld work: shaky and unhinged, but not migraine inducing

* Foreshadowing in the form of a shadow and reaching for the necklace

* Da Qing's cat behaviours. I really want behind the scenes of the actor discussing how cat was he going to cat

* We get our first real example of how Zhao Yunlan doesn't feel safe emoting negatively and so he uses a super sunny mask to hide his feelings, except with Da Qing who he lets his anger show with because he trusts him.

* I'm not even halfway through and I've written so much, peace and blessings to the readers of this.

* Zhao Yunlan's swagger, after his childhood having a little power must feel comforting and good

* I love how Da Qing is talking as a cat less than a meter from the medical examiner.  Does the examiner not care or does he know?  Is he deaf?

* Harassing Guo Changcheng is the new team sport

* Zhao Yunlan Realises Something Music

* Also, Lollipop Measurement

* It's nice to see Zhao Yunlan just being himself with Da Qing, he's able to really be honest and genuine with him

* Slow Look Moment

* This moment is so fascinating!  Shen Wei doesn't know what's going on yet.  He just sees an old friend who winces when he sees him and disappears.  We mostly see things from Zhao Yunlan's point of view, but from Shen Wei's perspective this is a first part of just some Odd and Confusing Happenings

* This cat though!  I love him!

* The delicate way they’re both feeling each other out.  This must be so confusing and startling for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is trying to figure out if this teacher is going to bust him or what.

* He forgot to let go, way to set off Zhao Yunlan’s suspicions

* “Mark Stewart” Is he though?  Who picked out that English name?

* Li Qian!  I love her and I love that striped blouse. Fashion.  Got to look good when you’re resisting a mental break. *Also she hears a meow and looks around at eye level, I love that for her.

* Zhao Yunlan!  You can’t take pictures of young ladies without their permission.  What is wrong with you!

* I love Da Qing’s very cat attitude of I Will Have Vengeance for These Wrongs

* Two for one! Shen Wei meets two faces from his past.

* Also, I get a little frustrated about people making a big deal about the 10,000 years versus 1,000 years age thing with Da Qing.  a) He has amnesia and b) the thousand years refers to the amount of time needed to cultivate to a certain stage in Chinese mythology - usually by absorbing energy from the sun, moon, or depending on the animal other sources.

* I feel so bad for Shen Wei, who knows what he thinks.  Were his friends brainwashed?  Did they forget?  Can they not say for some reason?  What is happening?

This review is getting a little long, so join in tomorrow for Part Two~~!