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badnewswhatsleft · 7 months ago

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rock sound #312 (nov 2024)

transcript below cut:

ROCK SOUND 25 ICON

FALL OUT BOY

A BAND THAT CAPTURED THE HEARTS, MINDS AND HEADPHONES OF A GENERATION OF KIDS WORLDWIDE, FALL OUT BOY UNDOUBTEDLY CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF THE ALTERNATIVE SCENE FOREVER, NEVER AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT, TAKE CHANCES AND MAKE BOLD CHOICES AS THEY PUSHED FORWARD. FOLLOWING A SUMMER SPENT EXPLORING THE 'DAYS OF FALL OUT PAST', PATRICK STUMP AND PETE WENTZ REFLECT ON THEIR PATH FROM POP PUNK, HARDCORE MISFITS TO ALL-CONQUERING, STADIUM-FILLING SONGWRITERS AS THEY ACCEPT THEIR ROCK SOUND 25 ICON AWARD.

WORDS JAMES WILSON-TAYLOR

PHOTOS ELLIOTT INGHAM

Let's begin with your most recent performance which was at When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas. It was such a special weekend, how are you reflecting on that moment?

PATRICK: It's wild, because the band, I think, is going on 23 years now, which really came as a surprise to me. I know it's this thing that old people always say, 'Man, it really goes by so fast', but then it happens to you and you're just taken aback. There were so many times throughout the weekend, every 10 minutes, where I'd turn around and see somebody and be like, 'Holy shit, I haven't seen you in 18 years', or something crazy like that. It was hard not to have a good time. When I was going up to perform with Motion City Soundtrack, which was an exciting thing in itself, I turn around and Bayside is there. And I haven't seen Bayside since we toured with them. God, I don't remember when that was, you know? So there was so much of that. You couldn't help but have a good time.

PETE: I mean, that's an insane festival, right? When they announce it, it looks fake every time. The lineup looks like some kid drew it on their folder at school. For our band, the thing that's a little weird, I think, is that by deciding to change between every album, and then we had the three year break which caused another big time jump, I think that it would be hard for us to focus on one album for that show. We're a band where our fans will debate the best record. So it was amazing that we were able to look backwards and try to build this show that would go through all the eras - nod to Taylor obviously on that one. But it's also an insane idea to take a show that should really be put on for one weekend in a theatre and then try to take it around the world at festivals. The whole time on stage for this particular show production, I'm just like 'Is this thing going to go on time?' Because if the whole thing is working totally flawlessly, it just barely works, you know what I mean? So I give a lot of credit to our crew for doing that, because it's not really a rock show. I know we play rock music and it's a rock festival, but the show itself is not really a rock production, and our crew does a very good job of bending that to fit within the medium.

That show allows you to nod to the past but without falling fully into nostalgia. You are still pushing the band into newer places within it.

PATRICK: That's always been a central thing. We're a weird band, because a lot of bands I know went through a period of rejecting their past, and frankly, I encounter this thing a lot, where people have expected that we stopped interacting with older material. But we always maintained a connection with a lot of the older music. We still close with 'Saturday'. So for us, it was never about letting go of the past. It was about bringing that along with you wherever you go. I'm still the same weird little guy that likes too much music to really pin down. It's just that I've carried that with me through all the different things that I've done and that the band has done. So for us, in terms of going forward and playing new stuff, that's always the thing that's important to me; that there should be new stuff to propel it. I never wanted to be an artist that just gave up on new music and went out and played the hits and collected the check and moved on. It's all got to be creative. That's why I do it. I want to make new music. That's always why I do it. So something like When We Were Young is kind of odd really. It's an odd fit for that, because it's nostalgic, which is not really my vibe all that much. But I found a lot of nostalgia in it. I found a lot of value in looking back and going 'Wow, this was really cool. It was amazing that we did this, that we all did this'. That scene of bands, we're all old now, but it has taken off into such a moment culturally that people can point to.

Let's jump all the way back to the first ever Fall Out Boy show. There is very little evidence of it available online but what are your memories of that performance?

PATRICK: So the very first Fall Out Boy show was at DePaul University in a fancy looking dining hall. I actually applied to DePaul, but I never went there because the band went on tour. I think there were only two or three other bands. One was a band called Stillwell, who were kind of a math rock emo band, and then this heavier, more metallic band. And then we were there, and we had a guitar player, John Flamandan, who I have not seen since that show. He was only in the band for a week or two, and we were still figuring ourselves out. We had three songs and I had never sung before in front of people. I did a talent show at school one time when I was a kid and theatre kind of stuff where you would sing, but it was more in that context. And I was also a kid too. This was the first time ever that I'm the singer for a band and I was fucking terrified. We had a drummer named Ben Rose, really great guy. I haven't seen Ben in a million years, either, but we were still figuring ourselves out. The other thing is that all of us, with me being the exception, were in other bands, and all of our other bands were better than Fall Out Boy was. We were very sloppy and didn't know what we were doing, and so I don't think any of us really took it seriously. But there was a thing that was really funny about it, where even though we kind of thought we sucked, and even though we weren't really focusing on it, we had a lot of fun with each other. We enjoyed trying this other thing, because we were hardcore kids, and we were not the pop punk kids and the pop punk bands in town, that was like 'the thing', and we were not really welcome in that. There was a fun in trying to figure out how to make melodic and pop music when we really didn't have any history with that. It was very obvious that we didn't know what we were doing at the beginning.

So when did it begin to feel like things were finally clicking? When did you find your roles and what you wanted the band to be?

PETE: In regards to the music, I liked Fall Out boy, way before I probably should have. I remember playing the early demos and it giving me a feeling that I hadn't felt with any of the other bands that I had been in. Now, looking back on it, I might have been a tad early on that. Then as far as the roles, I think that they've been carving themselves out over time. We've always allowed ourselves to gravitate to our strengths. Between me and Patrick, we'd probably make one great, atypical rock artist if we were one person. Because our strengths are things that the other doesn't love as much. But I think that what has happened more is it's less of a fight now and there's more trust. We have a trust with each other. There's things that Patrick will play for me or explain to me, and I don't even really need him to explain it, because I trust him. I may not totally understand it, but I trust him as an artist. On the other side of that, it's also very nice to have someone who can veto your idea, you know what I mean? It's nice to have those kind of checks and balances.

PATRICK: I had been in this band called Patterson, and all three of the other guys sang in kind of a gravelly, Hot Water Music vibe. I was not intending to be a singer, but I would try and sing backups and, it wasn't a criticism, but there was this vibe that, while I could do the gravelly thing, my voice was coming through and it didn't fit. It was too pretty and that became a thing I was kind of embarrassed of. So when Fall Out Boy started, I was actively trying to disguise that and mute it and hide behind affectation. Pete would really push me to stretch my vowels because that was in vogue in pop punk at the time. There were all these different ways that we were trying to suppress me, musically, because we were just trying to figure out how to do the things that the bands we liked did. But that wasn't really us, you know? It's really funny, because 'Take This To Your Grave' was recorded in three sections, about six months apart. Over the course of that time, I can hear us figuring it out. I think a really defining moment for me was 'Saturday', because I am not brave, I am not a bold person, and I do not put myself out there. When I was showing the band 'Saturday', we were jamming on the bit after the second chorus, and I was mumbling around, just mucking my way through it, and I did the falsetto thing. I didn't think anyone could hear me over us bashing around in Joe's parents house in this tiny little room. But Pete stopped, and he goes, 'Do that again'. I was so terrified of doing that in front of these guys, because you gotta remember, I was incredibly shy, but also a drummer. I'd never sung in front of anyone before, and now I'm singing in a band and I'm certainly not going to take chances. So I thought the falsetto thing was really not going to happen, but when I did it, there was this really funny thing. Somehow that song clicked, and it opened up this door for us where we do something different than everybody else. We were aiming to be a pop punk or hardcore band, but we found this thing that felt more natural to me.

As you embarked on Warped Tour, simultaneously you were finding this huge level of pop and mainstream success. How was it navigating and finding your way through those two very different spaces?

PATRICK: I used to work at a used record store and what shows up is all the records after their success. So I got really acquainted and really comfortable with and prepared for the idea of musical failure. I just wanted to do it because I enjoyed doing it. But in terms of planning one's life, I was certain that I would, at most, get to put out a record and then have to go to school when it didn't work out. My parents were very cautious. I said to them after 'Take This To Your Grave' came out that I'm gonna see where this goes, because I didn't expect to be on a label and get to tour. I'm gonna give it a semester, and then it will almost certainly fail, and then after it fails, I'll go to school. And then it didn't fail. Warped Tour was very crazy too, I was talking about this at When We Were Young with My Chem. Both of us were these little shit bands that no one cared about when we booked the tour. Then we got to the tour, and all these people were showing up for us, way more than we expected, way more than Warped Tour expected. So Warped Tour was putting both of us on these little side stages, and the stages would collapse because people were so excited. It was this moment that came out of nowhere all of a sudden. Then we go to Island Records, and I had another conversation with my parents, because every band that I had known up to that point, even the biggest bands in town, they would have their big indie record and then they would go to the major label and drop off the face of the planet forever. So I was certain that was going to happen. I told them again, I'm going to put out this record, and then I'll go to school when this fails.

PETE: I think that if you really wanted someone to feel like an alien, you would put them on TRL while they were on Warped Tour. You know what I mean? Because it is just bananas. On our bus, the air conditioning didn't work, so we were basically blowing out heat in the summer, but we were just so happy to be on a bus and so happy to be playing shows. You go from that to, two days later, stepping off the bus to brush your teeth and there's a line of people wanting to watch you brush your teeth. In some ways, it was super cool that it was happening with My Chemical Romance too because it didn't feel as random, right? It feels more meant to be. It feels like something is happening. To be on Warped Tour at that time - and if you weren't there, it would be probably hard to imagine, because it's like if Cirque Du Soleil had none of the acrobatics and ran on Monster energy drink. It was a traveling circus, but for it to reach critical mass while we were there, in some ways, was great, because you're not just sitting at home. In between touring, I would come home and I'd be sitting in my bedroom at my parents house. I would think about mortality and the edge of the whole thing and all these existential thoughts you feel when you're by yourself. But on Warped Tour, you go to the signing, you play laser tag, you go to the radio station. So in some ways, it's like you're in this little boot camp, and you don't really even think about anything too much. I guess it was a little bit of a blur.

Pete, when you introduced 'Bang The Doldrums' at When We Were Young, you encouraged the crowd to 'keep making weird shit'. That could almost be a mantra for the band as a whole. Your weirder moments are the ones that made you. Even a song like 'Dance Dance' has a rhythm section you never would have expected to hear on a rock track at that time.

PETE: You know, I just watched 'Joker 2' and I loved it. I do understand why people wouldn't because it subverts the whole thing. It subverts everything about the first one. That's something I've always really loved, when I watch artists who could keep making the same thing, and instead they make something that's challenging to them or challenging to their audience. Sometimes you miss, sometimes you do a big thing and you miss, and we've definitely done that. But I gotta say, all the things that I've really loved about art and music, and that has enriched my life, is when people take chances. You don't get the invention of anything new without that. To not make weird stuff would feel odd, and I personally would much rather lose and miss doing our own thing. To play it safe and cut yourself off around the edges and sand it down and then miss also, those are the worst misses, because you didn't even go big as yourself. This is where we connect with each other, we connect by our flaws and the little weird neuroses that we have. I rarely look at something and go 'Wow, that safe little idea really moved me'. I guess it happens, but I think about this with something like 'Joker 2' where this director was given the keys and you can just do anything. I think a lot of times somebody would just make an expected follow up but some people turn right when they're supposed to turn left. That's always been interesting on an artistic level, but at the same time, I think you're more likely to miss big when you do that.

PATRICK: Going into 'From Under The Cork Tree', I had this sense that this is my only shot. It has already outperformed what I expected. I don't want to be locked into doing the same thing forever, because I know me. I know I'm not Mr. Pop Punk, that's just one of many things I like. So I would be so bummed if for the rest of my life, I had to impersonate myself from when I was 17 and have to live in that forever. So I consciously wanted to put a lot of weird stuff on that record because I thought it was probably my only moment. 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' was a fairly straight ahead pop punk song but even that was weird for us, because it was slow. I remember being really scared about how slow it was, because it's almost mosh tempo for the whole song, which was not anything we had done up to that point. But in every direction, in every song, I was actively trying to push the boundaries as much as I could. 'Dance, Dance' was one of those ones where I was seeing what I can get away with, because I might never get this chance again. We were on tour with a friend's band, and I remember playing the record for them. I remember specifically playing 'Our Lawyer…' that opens the record, which has that 6/8 time feel, and they kind of look at me, like 'What?'. Then I played 'Dance, Dance', and they're like, 'Hey man, you know, whatever works for you. It's been nice knowing you'. But I just knew that, on the off chance that I ended up still being a musician in my 40s, I wanted to still love the music that we made. I didn't want to ever resent it. It's ironic because people say that bands sell out when they don't make the same thing over and over again. But wait a second. Say that again. Think about that.

That attitude seemed to carry directly into 'Infinity On High'. If you may never end up doing this again then let's make sure we bring in the orchestra while we still can...

PATRICK: That was literally something that I did say to myself this might be the last time, the likelihood is we're going to fail because that's what happens, so this might be the last time that I ever get a chance to have somebody pay for an orchestra and a choir. I always think of The Who when they did 'A Quick One, While He's Away' and there's a part where they go 'cello, cello', because they couldn't afford real cellos, they couldn't afford players. That's what I thought would happen for me in life. So I went in and thought, let's do it all. Let's throw everything at the wall, because there's no chance that it's going to happen again. So many things came together on that record, but I didn't expect it. 'Arms Race' was a very weird song, and I was shocked when management went along with it and had kind of decided that would be the single. I was in disbelief. It did not feel like a single but it worked for us. It was a pretty big song and then 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' was easily the big hit off that record. So then we have two hit songs off of an album that I didn't even know would come out at that point. But again, it was very much just about taking the risks and seeing what the hell happened.

As you went on hiatus for a few years, you worked on a number of other creative projects. How did those end up influencing your approach to the band when you returned?

PETE: On the areas of the band where I led, I wanted to be a better leader. When you're younger and you're fighting for your ideas, I don't think that I was the greatest listener. I just wanted to be a better cog in the machine. When you're in a band originally, no one gives you the little band handbook and says 'these are the things you should do', you know? I just wanted to be a better version of who I was in the band.

PATRICK: There's a combination of things. 'Soul Punk' is a weird record. I love that record but I kind of resent that record for so many things. It's my solo record, but it's also not very me in a lot of ways. I had started with a very odd little art rock record, and then I had some personal tragedies happen. My EP that I put out far out sold expectations so then all of a sudden, Island Records goes, 'Oh, we think this could actually be something we want singles for'. I think we had all expected that I would be putting out a smaller indie record but then all of a sudden they were like 'oh, you could be a pop star'. So then I have to retrofit this art rock record into pop star hit music, and also channel personal tragedy through it. I hadn't ever really been a front man - I'd been a singer, but I hadn't really been a front man, and I hadn't really written lyrics, certainly not introspective, personal lyrics. So that whole record is so strange and muted to me. So I went from that album, which also failed so fucking hard - I should have gone to school after that one. But Pete had reached out to me just as a friend, and said 'I know you're in your own thing right now, and I know that you're not the kind of person that is going to be in my fantasy football league, so I'm not going to see you unless we make music. But you're my buddy, and that kind of bums me out that I don't see you at all, so I guess we have to make music'. I thought that was a fairly convincing pitch. It's true, that was what we do when we hang out - we make music. So we reconvene, and going into it, I had all these lessons that really made me understand Pete better, because Pete is the natural front end person. So many of our arguments and frustrations and the things that we didn't see eye to eye on, I grew to understand having now been in the position of the point man that had to make all the decisions for my solo thing. It really flipped my understanding of why he said the things he would say, or why he did things he would do. I remember early on thinking he was so pushy, but then, in retrospect, you realise he was doing it for a reason. There's so many little things that really changed for me doing 'Soul Punk' that were not musical but were more about how you run a band and how you run a business, that made me understand and respect him a lot more.

What are memories of that initial return and, specifically, that tiny first show back at the Metro venue in Chicago?

PETE: Those first shows were definitely magical because I really wasn't sure that we would be on a stage again together. I don't have as many memories of some of our other first things. We were just talking about Warped Tour, I don't have many memories of those because it is almost wasted on you when it's a blur and there's so many things happening. But with this, I really wanted to not take it for granted and wanted to take in all the moments and have snapshots in our own heads of that show. I did a lot of other art during the time when we were off, everybody did, but there's a magic between the four of us and it was nice to know that it was real. When we got on that stage again at the Metro for the first time, there was something that's just a little different. I can't really put my finger on it, but it makes that art that we were making separately different than all the other stuff.

Musically, as you moved forward, everything sounded much bigger, almost ready for arenas and stadiums. Was that a conscious decision on your part?

PETE: Patrick felt like he was bursting with these ideas. It felt like these had been lying in wait, and they were big, and they were out there, and whether he'd saved them for those records, I don't really know. That's what it felt like to me. With 'Save Rock And Roll', we knew we had basically one shot. There were really three options; you'll have this other period in your career, no one will care or this will be the torch that burns the whole thing down. So we wanted to have it be at least on our terms. Then I think with 'American Beauty...' it was slightly different, because we made that record as fast as we could. We were in a pop sphere. Is there a way for a band to be competitive with DJs and rappers in terms of response time? Are we able to be on the scene and have it happen as quickly? I think it kind of made us insane a little bit. With 'American Beauty…', we really realised that we were not going to walk that same path in pop culture and that we would need to 'Trojan horse' our way into the conversation in some way. So we thought these songs could be played in stadiums, that these songs could be end titles. What are other avenues? Because radio didn't want this right now, so what are other avenues to make it to that conversation? Maybe this is just in my head but I thought 'Uma Thurman' could be a sister song to 'Dance, Dance' or maybe even 'Arms Race' where it is weird but it has pop elements to it.

PATRICK: I had a feeling on 'Save Rock And Roll' that it was kind of disjointed. It was a lot of good songs, but they were all over the place. So when we went into 'American Beauty…', I really wanted to make something cohesive. I do think that record is very coherent and very succinct - you either like it or you don't, and that's pretty much it all the way through. By the time we got to 'MANIA', I had done all this production and I'd started to get into scoring. The band had done so many things and taken so many weird chances that I just felt free to do whatever. At that point, no one's going to disown me if I try something really strange so let's see what happens. 'Young And Menace' was a big part of that experiment. People hate that song, and that's okay. It was meant to be challenging, it's obviously not supposed to be a pop song. It's an abrasive song, it should not have been a single. However, I do think that record should have been more like that. Towards the end of the production, there was this scramble of like, 'Oh, fuck, we have no pop music on this and we need to have singles' and things like that. That took over that record and became the last minute push. I think the last half of that record was recorded in the span of two weeks towards the end of the recording to try and pad it with more pop related songs. I look at that record and think it should have all been 'Young And Menace'. That should have been our 'Kid A' or something. It should have really challenged people.

But we have spoken before about how 'Folie à Deux' found its audience much later. It does feel like something similar is already beginning to happen with 'MANIA'...

PETE: I agree with you, and I think that's a great question, because I always thought like that. There's things that you're not there for, but you wish you were there. I always thought about it when we put out 'MANIA', because I don't know if it's for everyone, but this is your moment where you could change the course of history, you know, this could be your next 'Folie à Deux', which is bizarre because they're completely different records. But it also seems, and I think I have this with films and bands and stuff as well, that while one thing ascends, you see people grab onto the thing that other people wouldn't know, right? It's like me talking about 'Joker 2' - why not talk about the first one? That's the one that everybody likes. Maybe it's contrarian, I don't really know. I just purely like it. I'm sure that's what people say about 'Folie à Deux' and 'MANIA' as well. But there's something in the ascent where people begin to diverge, you are able to separate them and go 'Well, maybe this one's just for me and people like me. I like these other ones that other people talk about, but this one speaks to me'. I think over time, as they separate, the more people are able to say that. And then I can say this, because Patrick does music, I think that sometimes he's early on ideas, and time catches up with it a little bit as well. The ideas, and the guest on the record, they all make a little bit more sense as time goes on.

'MANIA' is almost the first of your albums designed for the streaming era. Everything is so different so people could almost pick and choose their own playlist.

PETE: Of course, you can curate it yourself. That's a great point. I think that the other point that you just made me think of is this was the first time where we realised, well, there's not really gatekeepers. The song will raise its hand, just like exactly what you're saying. So we should have probably just had 'The Last Of The Real Ones' be an early single, because that song was the one that people reacted to. But I think that there was still the old way of thinking in terms of picking the song that we think has the best chance, or whatever. But since then, we've just allowed the songs to dictate what path they take. I think that that's brilliant. If I'd had a chance to do that, curate my own record and pick the Metallica songs or whatever,that would be fantastic. So it was truly a learning experience in the way you release art to me.

PATRICK: After 'MANIA', I realised Fall Out Boy can't be the place for me to try everything. It's just not. We've been around for too long. We've been doing things for too long. It can't be my place to throw everything at the wall. There's too much that I've learned from scoring and from production now to put it all into it. So the scoring thing really became even more necessary. I needed it, emotionally. I needed a place to do everything, to have tubas and learn how to write jazz and how to write for the first trumpet. So then going into 'So Much (For) Stardust', it had the effect of making me more excited about rock music again, because I didn't feel the weight of all of this musical experimentation so I could just enjoy writing a rock song. It's funny, because I think it really grew into that towards the end of writing the record. I'd bet you, if we waited another month, it would probably be all more rock, because I had a rediscovered interest in it.

It's interesting you talk about the enjoyment of rock music again because that joy comes through on 'So Much (For) Stardust' in a major way, particularly on something like the title track. When the four of you all hit those closing harmonies together, especially live, that's a moment where everything feels fully cohesive and together and you can really enjoy yourselves. There's still experimental moments on the album but you guys are in a very confident and comfortable space right now and it definitely shows in the music.

PATRICK: Yeah, I think that's a great point. When you talk about experimentation too and comfort, that's really the thing isn't it? This is always a thing that bugged me, because I never liked to jam when I was a kid. I really wanted to learn the part, memorise it and play it. Miles Davis was a side man for 20 years before he started doing his thing. You need to learn the shit out of your music theory and your instrument - you need to learn all the rules before you break them. I always had that mindset. But at this point, we as a band have worked with each other so much that now we can fuck around musically in ways that we didn't used to be able to and it's really exciting. There's just so much I notice now. There are ways that we all play that are really hard to describe. I think if you were to pull any one of the four of us out of it, I would really miss it. I would really miss that. It is this kind of alchemy of the way everyone works together. It's confidence, it's also comfort. It's like there's a home to it that I feel works so well. It's how I'm able to sing the way I sing, or it's how Andy's able to play the way he plays. There's something to it. We unlock stuff for each other.

Before we close, we must mention the other big live moment you had this year. You had played at Download Festival before but taking the headline slot, especially given the history of Donington, must have felt extra special.

PETE: It felt insane. We always have a little bit of nerves about Download, wondering are we heavy enough? To the credit of the fans and the other bands playing, we have always felt so welcomed when we're there. There's very few times where you can look back on a time when... so, if I was a professional baseball player, and I'm throwing a ball against the wall in my parents garage as a kid, I could draw a direct link from the feeling of wanting to do that. I remember watching Metallica videos at Donington and thinking 'I want to be in Metallica at Donington'. That's not exactly how it turned out, but in some ways there is that direct link. On just a personal level, my family came over and got to see the festival. They were wearing the boots and we were in the mud. All this stuff that I would describe to them sounds insane when you tell your family in America - 'It's raining, but people love it'. For them to get to experience that was super special for me as well. We played the biggest production we've ever had and to get to do that there, the whole thing really made my summer.

PATRICK: There's not really words for it. It feels so improbable and so unlikely. Something hit me this last year, this last tour, where I would get out on stage and I'd be like, 'Wait, fucking seriously? People still want to see us and want to hear us?' It feels so strange and surreal. I go home and I'm just some schlubby Dad and I have to take out the compost and I have to remember to run the dishwasher. I live this not very exciting life, and then I get out there at Download and it's all these people. Because I'm naturally kind of shy, for years, I would look down when I played because I was so stressed about what was happening. Confidence and all these have given me a different posture so when I go out there, I can really see it, and it really hits you. Download, like you said, we've done before, but there's something very different about where I am now as a person. So I can really be there. And when you walk out on that stage, it is astounding. It forces you to play better and work harder, because these people waited for us. The show is the audience and your interaction with it. In the same way that the band has this alchemy to it, we can't play a show like that without that audience.

#sir the ''schlubby dad'' in question is getting on stage and GROWLING. people are dying and creaming and dying and cr #time capsule #read the charts #fall out boy #patrick stump #pete wentz #joe trohman #andy hurley

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mythauragame · 3 months ago

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Development Update - February 2025

Hello everyone! Miyazaki here with February's development update for Mythaura. We covered a lot of ground this month—it is probably the single biggest month for us in terms of development. We're excited to tell you about some of the things that we've finished up and look forward to sharing even more features with you in the future.

Note: Last month we'd said that we'd be posting about Wolfwasps...that's postponed until next month. We will be posting Wolfwasp lore as well as hosting a ✨radiant✨ giveaway.

Co-op Demo

Players will be able to explore the world of Mythaura—both overworld locations like Talon's Rest as well as the procedurally generated Wild Areas—in groups of up to three players. If there are only two players, you can add an additional Beast to the party lineup.

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Players can no longer be added to a Party if they cannot access the Party Leader’s location (e.g., if the area is not yet unlocked in their game).

When a player joins a Party, they will automatically move to the Party Leader’s location. Any location change must be agreed upon by all Party members.

By default, only friends can invite you to a group. However, we are exploring options for players who may want to allow invites more freely or block them entirely.

If a player disconnects, they can freely reconnect and will be placed back in the same location.

Forums

The Forums are the heartbeat of Mythaura's social scene. Whether you're looking to share your most recent PVP builds, recruit people to join your adventuring party in the Waspwood, or talk about how excited you are for Patch 8 of BG3 to come out (not that anyone's excitedly waiting for that, of course), the Forums will have a place to house your discussion.

Mythaura's Forums feature a Reddit-style posting system, with the ability to create nested replies.

Forums will feature:

Trending threads: What are the most popular recent threads? This feature will showcase threads that are receiving the most engagement at the time.

Tags: Players will have the ability to tag their content, helping other players find and sort through relevant content.

Thread following: Keep updated on threads that caught your interest. We know you're waiting for your favorite artist to release the baby Basilisk Glamour they've been teasing for a while.

Markdown styling to customize your posts exactly how you'd like them

Bug Bounties

During our Closed Beta window, the Bug Reports category will be special in that it will function as an issue tracker. Each thread can be marked as a duplicate of another and have a status & severity tied to it, allowing users to follow a bug, reply to indicate they have also encountered a bug, and see what status a specific bug has.

Bug Statuses

New: The default status

Confirmed: A programmer has been able to replicate the bug and confirm its real

Duplicate: This is a duplicate of an already-existing bug

Fixed: It’s been fixed!

Closed: Closed without fixing, such as if this turned out to be user error.

Severities

Low: Typos, minor visual glitches, asset issues, and browser-specific issues that do not impact gameplay.

Moderate: Functional bugs that cause inconvenience but do not break core mechanics.

High: Major bugs that significantly impact gameplay, progression, or player experience.

Critical: Urgent security vulnerabilities, game-breaking exploits, data loss, or anything that could severely affect the integrity of the game or its economy.

To encourage thorough testing and reporting, players who discover and report new bugs will receive a Shard reward once a programmer has confirmed the issue. Rewards scale based on the severity of the bug. Only the first player to report a bug is eligible for a bounty—duplicate reports will not receive rewards. Players who provide exceptionally detailed reports, including steps to replicate the bug, may receive bonus Shards at the discretion of the development team. If a bug is found to be abused before being reported, the player may not be eligible for a bounty and could face consequences.

User Profiles

Beasts are at the very core of Mythaura gameplay, so we want to ensure that you have several ways that you can show off your cast of characters with the rest of the site.

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Featured Beast Groups

The Featured tab allows players to showcase collections of their favorite Beasts in a slider. Players can group beasts into customizable folders with a name and background. Up to 5 groups can be featured on your profile. Show of your favorite beast collections!

Abode

The Abode contains all of a user's Beasts. The two-toned background on each of the Beasts is based on their combination of Elements.

Gallery

Galleries are collections of items users would like to showcase.

Galleries are a separate inventory, so an item in a Gallery cannot be added to the satchel or sold until removed from the Gallery.

Stats

The Stats page will showcase a player's statistics across the Gameplay, PVP, and Forums categories.

Dossiers

A literal blank canvas! Enter your custom HTML and CSS to make pages that are uniquely yours.

Winter 2024 Rewards Reveal

Winter 2024 Glamour: Shire Unicorn

Winter 2024 Companion: Ornaboros

Winter 2024 Solid Gold Glamour: Quetzal (Young)

Year of the Snake Companion

Happy Year of the Wood Snake, everyone! It seems that with the arrival of the New Year, a colorful companion has slithered its way into Mythaura.

For the remainder of the Ko-fi shop being open (through the end of 2025), the Auspicious Ophidia will be available for purchase in both its non-radiant and radiant forms. Sponsors of ALL levels may purchase these companions.

Kirin Expressions

This month, the expressions team—the ever-talented Luci, Sour, and Koa—finished all expressions for the adult and young Kirin. (I'd like to give a personal shoutout to Luci for making the "sad baby"/fourth expression so pitiful...what did they do to deserve feeling like that 😭)

Osstelids

Sponsored by: Lomon

Our final sponsored Companion comes from Lomon, who came to us with a wonderful design for a fairy + ferret creature. Thank you for sharing your vision with us and letting us implement it into the game!

Reminder: NPC Design Contest

As we begin to populate Talon's Rest, we'll need plenty of NPC designs—and that's where you come in!

We've created a Google Form for you to submit up to three Beast designs for consideration. Please be sure to include the Beast Creator code or else your entry will not be considered.

In addition to their design being used for a shopkeeper, winners will receive a bundle of useful items for their adventures through the local Wild Area, the Waspwood Forest.

The winners will receive*:

1x Soulshift Coin (breed-changing item) of your choice

1x Godspeed Potion

3x Lockpicks

3x Crude Torch

3x Travel Rations

3x Small Energy Potion

3x Small Health Potion

1x Beta Key

NOTE: * These rewards will not show up in your rewards lookup tool since that tool only looks up Ko-fi rewards, but they will be applied to your account directly!

Writing Updates

Main story three-act outline completed

Main story greenlit

Intro quest currently being storyboarded; script to follow

Mythaura v0.35

Co-op Gameplay: Players can now form and manage co-op groups. Integrated co-op battles and overworld interactions and adjusted co-op parties to allow global co-op in any location.

Forums Buildout: Built out functionality for forums such as categories, likes, replies, thread collapsing, tags, locking & pinning recent/popular threads, following and forum search.

Social Features: Introduced a friends list, online/offline status, and user search.

User Profiles: Profiles now include additional customization and feature a nice design.

User Settings UI: Initial build-out of the account settings screen.

Beast Grid Redesign: Overhauled the Abode Beast grid design.

Beast Groups: Beasts can be added into groups freely created by users and then features on their profile.

Battle UI Improvments: Cleanup of battle UI and implementation of informative ability tooltips.

Battle Running Mechanic: When running from a battle, the enemies now have a free round of attacks. Only one beast needs to initiate the run sequence.

Battle State Retrieval: When you close your window while in a battle, you will just load right back into your battle when you return. Multiplayer & PvP battles that are completed while away are excluded.

Class & Species-Specific Overworld Abilities: Introduced unique abilities based on class and whether the species flies.

Stealth Mechanics: Sneaking now limits elite enemy aggro range and encounter rates.

Elite Enemy Detection: Added elite enemy detection, idle behavior adjustments, and footstep sounds for improved immersion.

Boss Encounters: Introduced bosses in towns and wild areas.

Fishing Minigame: Added 28 unique fish, catchable in an interactive minigame.

User & Beast Dossiers: Introduced an initial version of the dossier system.

Settable Pronouns: Beasts can now have pronouns set that NPCs will use in dialog. By default, this is linked to your beast's gender, but can be changed. Users can also set pronouns, which will display in their profile and forum header in the future.

In-Game Currency Display: Shards and gold are now visible in the UI when shopping or viewing inventory.

Added Time-Based Passive Effects: Which will allow us to add time-based effects, such as using a torch and having Illumination for 5m.

Cipher Buildout: Began build of Cipher features.

Thank You!

Thanks for sticking through to the end of the post, we always look forward to sharing our month's work with all of you--thank you for taking the time to read. We'll see you around the Discord.

#mythaura #petsite #virtual pet site #flight rising #unicorn #dragon #griffin #kirin #quetzal #peryton #ryu #hippogriff #basilisk #indie dev #game dev

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beyondtheticklecloset · 6 months ago

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Cozy Corner (SRMTHFG!)

Summary: Gibson decides to create a special space for Nova to warm up from the cold.

A/N: This is my SRMTHFG! Secret Santa fic for @rararazaquato! I really hope you enjoy it! I was told you like Gibson and Nova, so I wanted to focus on them for you!

This is my first time ever writing for this fandom. I loved it growing up and recently revisited it and I was surprised and thrilled to see others on this site who post about it even today. I found out about this exchange just in time and have been so excited to participate! Thank you @sweetcircuits for hosting! It's been so fun!

Word Count: 1229

~~~

It was no secret that Nova hated the cold. Previous issue with Mandarin notwithstanding, she hated the way it made her shiver and shake like a wimp (her words), hated having to defrost her cruiser every time she needed it in a hurry, hated how it screwed up her focus to the point that it often became all she could think about in the moment.

Monkeys were not meant to live in the cold. She knew that was why it affected her so much, but what made it all the worse was seeing how the others could tolerate it much better than she could. It made her feel less than, and she hated it.

Gibson was the most observant member of the team, second only to Antauri – this also was no secret. But the more he watched Nova during this mission, the more he had to wonder just how dense the others must be not to realize how deep her suffering went.

Thankfully Shuggazoom itself very rarely got cold or saw snow, but out here in the universe when they had to jump from planet to planet to keep up with the Dark One Worm, their chances were just as good as any. They’d only encountered a handful of completely iced-out planets thus far, but every time, Nova shrank in on herself until the mission was over and they were safely on their way into the emptiness of space.

This mission was taking longer than expected, and it was affecting the yellow monkey more and more by the day. Gibson could take it for only so long before deciding something needed to be done, and he was just the monkey to do it.

It had become an unspoken rule on these snow planet missions that should the need arise for one of them to stay with the robot for any reason, Nova would be the one to do it. That way she could keep warm and still feel useful. But on this particular day, Gibson spoke to Chiro privately and asked to swap just this once. His reasons were good, he promised, and his leader believed him.

He was nervous when Chiro broke the news to Nova, but though she grumbled a bit, she dutifully took her place in the lineup and followed the others out into the cold, leaving Gibson with a minimal amount of time to get his plan underway – while also keeping attentive to the team’s needs.

He could handle it.

Most of what he needed was already on hand, thanks to the blizzard that had come through Shuggazoom before. They’d gone out and stocked up on all manner of coats and scarves and blankets before the worst of it really hit, which was all the better, since they didn’t have much time to go shopping out here in the cosmos.

Entering Nova’s room without her permission or even being in the robot felt rather ungentlemanly, Gibson had to acknowledge, but he just had to hope she’d forgive him later when she saw why he’d done it.

After a while, the rest of the team returned to the robot. They were all shivering, but Nova looked about ready to collapse.

“S-S-So…c-cold…” she gasped, her words warbled from how hard her teeth were chattering. Then she caught sight of Gibson and leveled him with a glare. “N-Never again…Gibson. Never a-again.”

Gibson felt terrible, but he went to her and gently took her freezing cold metal hand in his. “I’m truly sorry to have subjected you to these terrible conditions today, Nova. But I promise I had a good reason for it. Here.” He tugged her hand gently, urging her further into the robot. “Let me show you.”

The other monkeys and Chiro exchanged curious glances with each other before following after the two of them as Gibson led them to the hall where their rooms were, stopping outside of Nova’s with a sheepish smile.

“I do hope you’ll forgive me for having done this without consulting you first, but…well, just look.”

The door slid open with a woosh, and Nova glanced inside. At first it didn’t look any different than usual, and she was confused. Did Gibson come in here without her consent? It didn’t look like he had. But then her eyes caught on something in the back corner, and she felt her heart begin to race in anticipation. He had been in here. What…?

There was a warm orange glow encompassing this corner of the room. It came from a small space heater that had been turned on ahead of her return so it was already warm for her. The ground was cushioned with the cozy lining of winter coats and pillows, and a makeshift tent-like contraption had been set up out of blankets. It was even built in such a way that Nova could pull a blanket over like a door and fully trap the heat within the tiny space.

She stared at in astonishment.

Gibson gave it a few moments, then nervously cleared his throat. “It, erm…won’t be practically useful for when you’re to stay behind on missions in the future, since you can’t exactly manage the robot’s central computer from here, but—oomph!” He was cut off when Nova nearly tackled him to the floor in a giant hug.

“You’re the best, Gibson,” she said into his shoulder, squeezing him tight.

The blue monkey was obviously flustered, but he tried to brush it off. “Nonsense. Any one of us could see that the cold truly bothers you in ways it does not for us, so I simply did what I felt was logical…” He trailed off when she pulled back to give him a pointed look. He coughed. “And, erm…I wanted you to feel comfortable, and have a place to go when the cold gets too much for you. So…yes. I wanted to make you happy, too.”

Nova beamed at him. “You did, Gibson. Thank you so much. I love it!” She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the small, warm space. “Come on, you should get to enjoy it too, since you worked so hard on it.”

“B-But this space was meant for you—”

“And now I’m inviting you in. Come on!”

It was a tight fit, but Gibson managed to squeeze into the compact space next to her. He had to admit, actually sitting in the comfy area after going to such lengths to set it up for her was satisfying.

“Hey,” Sparx protested playfully. “What about the rest of us?”

Nova shot him a smirk. “Go find your own!” Then she whipped one of the blankets over as if slamming a door, and everyone laughed.

Later, Chiro and Antauri would compliment him on doing such a great thing for their teammate, Sparx would rib him about trying to score brownie points, and Otto would make notes on his craftsmanship, pointing out things he could have done differently. Gibson took all of it in stride. It simply made him happy to know he’d done something to make Nova happy.

The next time the team had to go out into the cold, Nova grabbed Gibson’s arm before he walked outside and said, “If you need a place to warm up when you come back, I happen to know one.”

Their shared smiles were more than enough for him.

#fanfiction #super robot monkey team hyperforce go #srmthfg #mr hal gibson #gibson #nova #chiro #antuari #sprx 77 #otto #fluff #cozy #secret santa #srmthfg secret santa

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raining-octopus · 5 months ago

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my Splatoon oc lineup :)

lore dump under the cut

Captain/Three (she/they) — 21. Captain of the NNSS. Responsible and competent. Quiet and takes a while to warm up to new people, rarely saying a word in the meantime. Mostly focused on their duties for the NNSS, but does turf in their spare time, with a strong competitive drive.

A country kid who grew up with uncaring and neglectful parents, and had few other friends. Left home at 14 to move to Inkopolis, pretty much immediately encountering then-Captain Cuttlefish and joining the NSS as the first Agent 3, quickly taking the moniker 'Three' as their own preferred name. She came to see Cuttlefish as her own grandfather figure, and Callie and Marie as family by extension. An honorary 3rd Squid Sister. A surprisingly good singer. Callie’s been trying to convince her to feature on a Squid Sister’s track for years.

After Octo Expansion, grew close to Eight, ultimately started to date. Became Captain of the NNSS and travelled to Splatlands at the call of Cuttlefish. Post-Return of the Mammalians, splits their time between Four and Eight's apartment in Inkopolis and the apartment Callie impulse-bought in Splatsville.

Refuses to admit they still get nightmares about their partial sanitization in the Deep Sea Metro, which only got worse after Mr Grizz almost destroyed the world in Alterna.

Almost exclusively uses their hero shot, but she does have minor levels of experience with the standard roller and charger models. Never felt the need to try out anything else.

Agent 4 ‘Four’/Summer (any, mainly she/her) — 19. Bubbly, energetic and free spirited… but a little bit of a pushover. Professional turfer, to the point she’s considered a minor celebrity in the competitive sphere. Prefers shooters and dualies and competes with an aggressive style, but will sometimes pick slosher in training matches. Prefers the nickname Four when with the NNSS, but still goes by Summer in professional contexts. Has a long-standing side gig at Grizzco.

Completely disconnected from any sort of music or pop sphere, to the point that she didn't realise Callie and Marie were popular until they preformed live at the annual Grand Final and all of her teammates started screaming. They also thought Pearl and Marina were just the rotation Newscasters until Eight started blasting Off the Hook's music whenever Four entered a room after she found out.

Recently scored a security job for Off the Hook's world tour, which completely baffed her competitive team and friends, who didn't think she could even remember the bands name, let alone manage to get a job as there had of security, no matter how temporary. In reality, it was a last-minute favour to Eight as part of

Currently shares an apartment with Eight in Inkopolis, having done so since they first met five years ago.

Agent 8/Eight (she/her) — 21. Sweet and kind, but rather shy. Off the Hook are her idols and main inspiration, with the Squid Sisters at a close second. Loves organising and had a passion for the fine details of weaponry that almost rivals Sheldon. He offered her an assistant job at Ammo Knights five years ago, and Eight's been working there ever since. Currently dating Three.

Planned to run away from Octavian society with childhood friend Prism, but happened to be the day Octavio escaped from his snow globe. Prism stayed behind, allowing Eight to get away. Octo Expansion ensues. Post Octo Expansion, was introduced to Four by the Squid Sisters and they quickly struck a fast friendship, moving in together as roommates.

Regained some memories as she collected mem cakes, but still had many missing gaps, remembering mostly feelings over specific events. Didn’t remember Prism at all until Side Order, as she regained the rest of her memories in her numerous trips up the spire. Even after regaining all her memories, still much rather prefers to be called Eight.

Agent 3 ‘Neo’/Prism (they/them) — 16. Tech savvy Splatlandian scrapper. Laid-back, resourceful and a bit standoffish. Also Octavio’s adopted kid, ran away to the Splatlands around events of Splatoon 2. Met Little Buddy along the way, lifelong friends ever since. Became an agent after recognising Cuttlefish when he was peeking out the manhole in Splatsville. Mains their trusty tri-stringer, but likes to use the hero shot too and is at least decent with most other weapon types.

Somehow seems to know everyone: Met Three briefly right before the Splatoon 1 boss fight, met Four right as they were running away during Splatoon 2. Childhood friends with Eight. Also friends with Marina Ida. As well as being close friends with Deep Cut, as they introduced Prism to the Splatlands and have been helping them out ever since; they see Prism as an honorary 4th member. Knows Harmony of Chirpy Chips through the latter’s Hotlantis job. Between her and Deep Cut, Prism has enough musical connections to have almost completely filled their autograph book by the time the events of Splat 3 roll around. Reconnecting with the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook fills out the rest. (The rest of the NNSS is quite frankly, baffled, especially when they figure out Prism’s lacking social skills)

Has a sort-of-side-gig in music, under the name DJ Octoprism, but mostly uses it to upload old undiscovered tracks and ambient jingles. (aka my lore explanation for Alterna tracks ending up on the Lobby Jukebox — Prism hacked it) None of Prism’s friends have any idea, and Prism would very much like it to stay that way.

bonus sketches:

#splatoon #splatoon oc #splatoon fanart #I don’t care if some of this is inaccurate to canon #My lore my rules #I spent way too much time on this... oops #at least now I might be able to keep all my ideas straight

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littlemisssquiggles · 5 months ago

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So…about today’s new episode of Kamen Rider Gavv…

First, we had a Kamen Rider who is a Granute half-breed; born from the union between a human and a Granute who transforms using a driver built by a Granute scientist and powered by Gochizmo minions that he makes himself as a result of his Granute heritage.

Then we got a Kamen Rider who is a human, genetically infused with a Granute gland who transforms using a driver built by a human scientist and powered by Gochizmo minions borrowed from Gavv.

Now, in today’s episode, we have a new Kamen Rider who is a pure Granute who transforms using a driver built by a Granute scientist; powered by his own “artificially-made” Gochizmo minion.

Seriously, things are really cooking up now on Kamen Rider Gavv!!!

But in terms of our current rider roster, the only thing missing from our lineup is a Kamen Rider who is a pure human who can probably also transform with their own hand-made driver through the power of artificial Gochizmo minions.

If the Gochizmos can be “artificially-made” to serve other Granutes outside of Shouma as we saw in the case of Kamen Rider Vlam and Nyelv Stomach then what’s stopping the case of making a Gochizmo that’s safe for use with humans? One that can allow said human to become a rider without the need for an (unsafe) Granute implant?

I’m STILL hoping for Sachika to become a Rider somehow.

Unless Vlam ends up replacing her in the opening happily skipping besides Shouma and Hanto after he later turns good, I still want to believe those bouncing gummy bubble balloons beside Sachika in the Gavv opening OST will one day reveal her potential rider form similar to what happened with Hanto.

Call me delulu for willing to believe Sachika is rider material but I dunno, I don’t wanna give up on this theory just yet.

With the arrival of Gavv’s CaKING form, I feel like we gotta have some kind of Rider form that is meant to match that. To compliment it in a similar fashion to Valen's recent Bushel form while still being it's own thing.

The king may have his right hand knight-in-arms at the moment but what's a king without his queen, right?

And what's the perfect female counterpart to a caKING than an iceQUEEN?

Cause what goes better with cake than ice-cream?

We have yet to see some kind of Gavv Gochizmo form inspired by ice-cream.

So, how about a female Rider with ice element abilities inspired by everyone’s favourite cold dessert of ice-cream? She can be called Kamen Rider IceQUEEN.

Any excuse to make Sachika a Rider; dammit! But then again, this is just me hoping.

Now; let's discuss Vlam for a sec...

Despite him being a villain, so far I’m intrigued by Vlam.

His Rider henshin-transformation jingle has now dethroned Shouma’s as my favourite of our three titular Riders. He also intrigues me as a character. Strangely enough, he doesn’t seem interested in Dark Treats.

If anything, he seems more invested in playing the long game and rising through the ranks of Stomach Inc. to … benefit himself? Or so he’s giving off now when in the beginning when he was first introduced, I thought he was just another Dark Treat junkie turned part-timer like the other ones we’ve encountered in the series thus far.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume that Vlam’s goal was to take down Stomach Inc. Like he has his own personal vendetta against them. However, if that was the case then why doesn’t Vlam work with Shouma and Hanto instead of agreeing to be their hunters. To defeat them in the name of protecting the Granute part-timers and Stomach Inc.

If Vlam isn’t interested in Dark Treats then truly, what does he want? What’s his game? His real game?

I guess we shall see as time goes on.

~LMS (2025)

#squiggles talks: kamen rider gavv #kamen rider gavv #gavv spoilers #kamen rider vlam #amane sachika

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justforbooks · 4 months ago

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Howard Riley

Pianist and composer with a distinct improvisational style who played a key part in the development of European jazz

The Yorkshire-born pianist Howard Riley, who has died aged 81, was a leading figure among the first generation of European jazz musicians to prioritise creating an idiom of their own out of the language developed by the American musicians they had admired and studied.

Riley brought to the task a knowledge of the advanced techniques pioneered by contemporary classical composers such as Iannis Xenakis, Krzysztof Penderecki and Luciano Berio. But there was no straining for effect as he applied that knowledge to music with improvisation at its core, and his work was always most profoundly marked by his love and understanding of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and other great jazz musicians.

It was with the lineup of the conventional piano-bass-drums jazz trio that he first made his reputation at the end of the 1960s. In later decades he also became renowned for his solo performances and for duo recitals with empathetic fellow pianists, including Jaki Byard and Keith Tippett.

Notable for a lack of bombast or sentimentality, his playing conveyed to attentive audiences a deeper warmth beneath its apparently austere surface. Whether he was playing his own compositions, pieces by Ellington and Monk or a standard such as The Folks Who Live on the Hill, there was always the feeling that the material was being thoroughly and sympathetically investigated, and that new facets were being turned towards the light. Across the UK, Europe, the US and elsewhere, his listeners respected his refusal to provide easy emotional triggers.

He was born in Huddersfield, the elder of the two sons of Marjorie (nee Emmott), a secretary, and John Riley, an engineer and part-time dance band leader, and educated at Huddersfield New College, then a grammar school. Like his brother, Paul, Howard received piano lessons from his father and by 1960 he was leading his own trio in a local club.

He studied music at Bangor University, where he gained a BA and an MA, and it was during an inter-university jazz competition at the recently opened Fairfield Halls in Croydon that he first encountered the saxophonist Evan Parker, a student at Birmingham University; they struck up a friendship and would soon be playing together.

Riley spent 1966-67 in the US, studying for an MMus degree at Indiana University, where he wrote his thesis on the composer George Russell’s Lydian chromatic concept of tonal organisation, under the distinguished professor David Baker, who had played trombone in Russell’s pioneering bands. Returning to England, Riley studied for an MPhil at York University from 1967 to 1970.

In 1967 he made his first recording, leading a trio with the bassist Barry Guy, who would become a long-term collaborator, and the drummer Jon Hiseman. A mere 99 copies of the album, Discussions, were pressed by Opportunity, a tiny independent label, ensuring its future status as a highly prized collectors’ item.

It was an exciting time to be at the cutting edge of British jazz, and a year later Riley became one of a small group of London-based musicians signed to CBS, a major label. Riley’s two albums for the company, Angle (1969) and The Day Will Come (1970), again featured his trio, with Hiseman replaced by Alan Jackson, and were widely praised.

Over the course of those three albums, and a fourth, Flight (1971), on the Turtle label, with Tony Oxley replacing Jackson on drums, the group could be heard developing a language that moved away from American influences and the orthodox trio approach towards something much freer, including the application of electronic devices to increasingly adventurous compositions by each of the musicians.

All three rejected the sort of involvement in a jazz-rock fusion that was proving irresistible to their contemporaries. While others were copying rock’s basic rhythm pattern, Riley believed that “it negates practically all the rhythmic developments made over the last few decades”.

A composition for octet, titled Convolution, was commissioned from the pianist in 1970 by BBC Radio 3’s Music in Our Time. That year he was also a founder member of Guy’s 21-piece London Jazz Composers Orchestra and of the Musicians Co-operative, a short-lived organisation set up to lobby for greater exposure for the newer forms of jazz.

The first of his many solo albums, Shaped, was released in 1977. Another, Beyond Category (1993), examined the compositions of Monk and Ellington. There would be duo albums with Byard, Tippett and the saxophonist Elton Dean, and appearances with other small groups, including a trio with the bassist Jeff Clyne and the drummer Tony Levin and a quartet with Guy, the saxophonist Trevor Watts and the drummer John Stevens, all of whom Riley had met at the Little Theatre Club in London in the late 60s.

From the 70s onwards he taught in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at Goldsmiths College (now Goldsmiths, University of London), where his popular Saturday jazz workshop lasted from 1979 to 2020.

In 2012, during a solo performance at the Royal Festival Hall, he suddenly experienced the feeling that one of his feet had seized up, making it impossible to depress the damper pedal. When the sensation recurred on a much more drastic scale during a subsequent recording session, he went to the doctor and was told he had Parkinson’s disease.

Medication enabled him to resume practising and performing, and a memorable duo concert in 2016 with Tippett at the Pizza Express in London became part of the filmmaker Cath Longbottom’s documentary on Riley, shown at GIOfest, an annual festival of improvisation in Glasgow, in 2021. His final releases, including Constant Change, a seven-CD retrospective, were issued on the NoBusiness label, run from Vilnius by two Lithuanian enthusiasts.

The effects of Parkinson’s grew more debilitating, and Riley made his final public appearance at Guy’s 70th birthday evening at the Vortex in Dalston, north London, in 2017. Despite his physical frailty, the refinement and wisdom of his playing proved to be undimmed.

His final years were spent in a care home in Beckenham, Kent, where a piano was available. He is survived by Annie Garrett, his partner of 29 years, a former actor and drama teacher who helped set up the Brit school, and by three stepchildren, Tess, Fay and Reuben.

🔔 Howard (John Howard) Riley, pianist and composer, born 16 February 1943, died 8 February 2025

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #Howard Riley #in memoriam

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lazysublimeengineer · 1 year ago

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Reo, Shidou & Kunigami: When One's String of Fate has Been Cut to Make the Other Keep Going

Recently I've been asked by one of my readers why do I like a character such as Shidou Ryusei.

It's a genuine, curious yet baffling question from them as if it's a big question mark to like a character such as him.

Well, I do guess that sometimes the saying, "first impressions" last is quite true...

...at least for some readers in the fandom seeing that Shidou doesn't have a favorable impression in the fandom.

Nevertheless, I simply asked them what's not to like?

His aggressive, overtop personality certainly overshadows other interesting aspects of his characteristics. During the second selection, he was the one who took notice of Reo's challenging stance when they encountered them and it intrigued him. It's quite ironic since half of the characters during the second selection thinks that Reo is not in his best mental state which is partially true but it doesn't hide the fact that there was a remaining tactical facet in the part of his mind and it showed in this panel above when they encountered and challenge Shidou's team with a sound reasoning from him.

Despite being labelled as a violent tempered and impulsive character in the franchise, he can surprisingly sharp especially in his judgment of characters that's why he took notice of Reo from the beginning and it contributed to his decision to choose him at the end of the match.

When Isagi and the others began questioning Reo on why he wasn't included in the lineup of their team and seemed doubtful because Kunigami wouldn't let it end that easily, it was Shidou who immediately took the reins to explain why he wasn't with them in the first place. A lot of readers/viewers of the manga/anime doesn't seem to understand on why was Kunigami wasn't chosen by him in the first place despite having a good physique and playstyle overall.

It was because Shidou noticed that Kunigami's heroic attitude and holier than thou attitude from the start doesn't resonate with him and he lacks ego. He noticed that Kunigami was reluctant to fight them and it was Reo who was willingly to fight against them despite the odds were against them.

At that period, he couldn't see the vision of Kunigami making him explode in the field and help him rising up in the program.

His statements in this panel were harsh and it probably contributed to half of the fandom's disliked or neutral perception of him. But in my perspective, it's interesting, provocative yet has a ring of truth in it.

In Blue Lock program, it doesn't matter if you're a good person or not. If you're loyal or not. If you're kind or not. Those personality attributes is not being promoted if the philosophy itself we're about egoism, individuality and being the best among the rest. And that is what is Shidou is trying to deliver in a panel like this.

For an emotionally volatile person like him, he can be clinical, cold yet logical in his perception of his surroundings and events around him and that what makes him interesting.

Despite all of this, as a reader I'm also fascinated by Reo and Kunigami's brief interaction together during the NEL arc as it was simply a reversal of their situation with each other. During the second selection, Kunigami was the one who was looking out for Reo because he wasn't simply in the right frame of mind and was overcome by too many emotions at once. Noticed that now in the NEL arc, Reo was the one who approached him and expressed on how glad he was back despite the setbacks and lost that they went through during their match against Shidou during the second selection.

I wouldn't say that it's a trio between the three of them. But their scenes together in the franchise and their matches against each other during the second selection is one of the most fascinating and thought provoking for me.

#blue lock #bllk #blue lock spoilers #ryusei shidou #reo mikage #kunigami rensuke

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seizeourdestiny · 11 months ago

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Junk Sword Playthru

On my most recent NG+ playthru of XBDE, I decided, hey, why not set the appearance of Shulk's weapon to the Junk Sword?

Hilarity ensued.

The first cutscene affected by this change is when the party first encounters Metal Face.

Like with Dunban's weapon in the prologue of a NG+ in the original version of the game, a Monado light visual effect just gets slapped on the Junk Sword when the Monado is supposed to be active.

Yeah, support that blade of light with your hand!

Get impaled by the Junk Sword, idiot.

Shots that focus on the Monado just became really hilarious to me.

No, Otharon, no it wasn't.

Shulk, that's the sword's edge you're holding it by. Shulk, you're gonna cut yourself.

And then I found out other characters will hold the Junk Sword instead of the Monado.

To be fair to Alvis, his weapon IS just a palette-swap of the Junk Sword. Still funny to see though.

Shulk continues to pose dramantically... with the Junk Sword.

And then we come to Valak.

Oh Valak.

This is what had me vibrating with anticipation after the Alvis example.

It doesn't even properly rest on Mumkhar's shoulder lmao.

Good luck holding back Dunban with the Junk Sword, Shulk.

Oh no, the Junk Sword is being deactivated!

This was an unexpectedly funny shot. The Junk Sword is enough shorter than the Monado II that it just... sorta hovers above the ground here.

Um, Miqol, no, it isn't.

The Junk Sword impaling anything just looks kinda silly to me.

Another instance where the model doesn't physically match up is in Mechonis Core.

And now, for the part that truly got me. That had me laughing so hard I nearly fell off my chair.

Zanza gets the Junk Sword.

I was not expecting that. At all.

Just... look at him lol.

Fiora gets to hold it too.

Junk Sword can still block bullets.

And hands.

And here it is. One of the last frames with the Junk Sword.

Thank you for joining me on this silly journey. This was a really fun change to the cutscenes.

There were plenty of screenshots I couldn't fit in here. I'll likely make separate posts for some of them (particularly ones in Makna, Valak, and Mechonis Core).

And for those keeping track, five characters got to hold the Junk Sword: Shulk, Alvis, Mumkhar, Zanza, and Fiora. What a lineup.

#xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles #xenoblade spoilers #junk sword shenanigans #maybe i'm the only one who finds this funny but it was hilarious to me

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sportsdp · 3 months ago

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Manchester City vs. AFC Bournemouth: Lineups and Tactical Analysis

The encounters between Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth have consistently showcased intriguing tactical battles and strategic lineup decisions. This article delves into the lineups from their recent matches, analyzing formations, key player roles, and the tactical nuances that have defined these encounters.

Recent Encounters and Lineups

November 2, 2024: AFC Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester City

In this Premier League fixture at the Vitality Stadium, AFC Bournemouth secured a surprising 2-1 victory over Manchester City.

AFC Bournemouth's Lineup:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Goalkeeper: Mark Travers

Defenders: Adam Smith (captain), Illia Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi, Milos Kerkez

Midfielders: Lewis Cook, Ryan Christie; Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert, Marcus Tavernier

Forward: Evanilson

Manchester City's Lineup:

Formation: 4-1-4-1

Goalkeeper: Ederson

Defenders: Kyle Walker (captain), Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké, Josko Gvardiol

Midfielders: Mateo Kovacic; Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gündogan, Matheus Nunes

Forward: Erling Haaland

The match commenced with an early goal from Antoine Semenyo in the 9th minute, giving Bournemouth an initial advantage. Evanilson extended the lead in the 64th minute. Manchester City responded with a goal from Josko Gvardiol in the 82nd minute, but Bournemouth maintained their lead to secure the win.

November 4, 2023: Manchester City 6-1 AFC Bournemouth

In this dominant performance at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City overwhelmed AFC Bournemouth with a 6-1 victory.

Manchester City's Lineup:

Formation: 4-3-3

Goalkeeper: Ederson

Defenders: Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Nathan Aké, Kyle Walker (captain)

Midfielders: Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva

Forwards: Jérémy Doku, Julián Álvarez, Erling Haaland

AFC Bournemouth's Lineup:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Goalkeeper: Ionuț Radu

Defenders: Max Aarons, Chris Mepham, Illia Zabarnyi, Lloyd Kelly (captain)

Midfielders: Ryan Christie, Alex Scott; Philip Billing, Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert

Forward: Dominic Solanke

Manchester City's goals were scored by Jérémy Doku (30'), Bernardo Silva (33', 83'), Manuel Akanji (37'), Phil Foden (64'), and Nathan Aké (88'). Bournemouth's lone goal came from Luis Sinisterra in the 74th minute.

Tactical Analysis

Manchester City's Approach

Under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City consistently employs a possession-based style, utilizing formations like 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 to dominate midfield play. The inclusion of players such as Rodri and Mateo Kovacic provides stability, allowing creative midfielders like Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden to advance and support the attack. The full-backs, notably Kyle Walker and Nathan Aké, often push forward to provide width, enabling wingers like Jérémy Doku to cut inside and create scoring opportunities.

AFC Bournemouth's Strategy

AFC Bournemouth, particularly against top-tier teams like Manchester City, often adopts a counter-attacking strategy. Utilizing a 4-2-3-1 formation, they focus on defensive solidity with two holding midfielders shielding the backline. The pace of wingers such as Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier is crucial for quick transitions, aiming to exploit spaces left by Manchester City's advancing full-backs. The central forward, whether Dominic Solanke or Evanilson, serves as a focal point to hold up play and link with midfield runners.

Key Player Roles

Erling Haaland (Manchester City): As the primary striker, Haaland's positioning and finishing are pivotal. His ability to draw defenders creates space for midfielders to exploit.

Antoine Semenyo (AFC Bournemouth): Operating from the wing, Semenyo's speed and dribbling skills are essential for advancing the ball and delivering crosses into the box.

Rodri (Manchester City): Serving as the defensive midfield anchor, Rodri's role in intercepting opposition plays and distributing the ball efficiently initiates Manchester City's attacks.

Lewis Cook (AFC Bournemouth): As a central midfielder, Cook's responsibilities include breaking up Manchester City's play and initiating counter-attacks through precise passing.

Conclusion

The fixtures between Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth highlight contrasting football philosophies: Manchester City's emphasis on possession and intricate play versus Bournemouth's reliance on structured defense and swift counter-attacks. Analyzing the lineups and tactical approaches offers insights into how each team leverages its strengths in pursuit of victory.

#Recent Encounters and Lineups #Key Player Roles

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dexchange944 · 11 days ago

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Matchday Insights: Analyzing Team India’s Performance Ahead of LSG vs RCB at Ekana Stadium with Diamond Exchange .

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/diamondexch_ids/

Introduction to the Diamond Exchange with LSG vs RCB match at Ekana Stadium

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Team India's recent performances and key players of Diamond Exchange id

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Analysis of the past performance of LSG and RCB with Diamond Exchange login

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Predictions for the upcoming match based on insights

As the anticipation builds for the LSG vs RCB clash at Ekana Stadium, fans are eager to see how both teams will perform. Historical data shows that both squads have fluctuated in their form this season. LSG has been making strides with its strong batting lineup. If they can capitalize on their home advantage and leverage crowd support, they could take an early lead. On the flip side, RCB's with Diamond Exchange bowling attack is known for turning up during high-pressure matches. The balance between batters and bowlers will play a crucial role in determining outcomes. Expect some nail-biting moments as players fight for supremacy. Insights from previous encounters suggest a closely contested match ahead, where every run counts significantly. Both teams know what’s at stake and are likely to give it their all on matchday.

Key players to watch out for in the LSG vs RCB match

When LSG faces RCB, all eyes will be on key players who can turn the tide of the game. For LSG, their captain and star batter is crucial. He has been in stellar form, consistently scoring runs and anchoring innings. On the bowling front, LSG’s leading spinner poses a significant threat with his ability to take wickets during critical moments. His control and variations keep batsmen guessing. For RCB, their explosive opener is always a crowd favorite. Known for aggressive batting, he can change the game's momentum within overs. Don't overlook RCB's ace bowler either—his pace combined with lethal yorkers makes him a formidable force in any match-up. Both teams have dynamic players capable of making an impact that could define this exciting clash at Ekana Stadium with Diamond Exchange.

Conclusion

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#diamondexchange #diamondexchangeid #diamondexchangelogin

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cantsayidont · 1 year ago

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April 1986. Long ago, back in the prehistoric days when you could still potentially buy both a new comic book and a candy bar for a single U.S. dollar, DC had a protracted flirtation with digest-sized comics, obviously intended to capture some of the supermarket checkout rack space normally dominated by Archie Comics. With very few exceptions, they were all-reprint, with a diverse array of material ranging from Golden Age reprints to '70s horror comics to recent DC highlights. This issue, #71 of the BEST OF DC BLUE RIBBON DIGEST line (which was only a "series" in a very technical sense), was one of the last, if not the last, of this eight-year experiment, and it sort of highlights why it became unworkable.

Let's suppose that you're a kid in early 1986, and while in line at the grocery store, you persuade your parental figure to buy you this comics digest. If they could spare the $1.50 plus tax, there was no obvious reason to object — it's a comic with a silly cartoon character on the cover and seems to have some Superman and Batman stuff, no big deal. What it contains, however, is a very peculiar assortment of recent material, including, inter alia:

"The Day the Earth Died" from SUPERMAN #408 (Paul Kupperberg/Ed Hannigan/Curt Swan/Al Williamson), a story about Superman's nuclear anxiety that begins with a rather harrowing dream sequence where Superman sees Metropolis destroyed by nuclear attack, leaving him the only survivor.

"Mogo Doesn't Socialize" from GREEN LANTERN #188, the now famous Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons short that introduced Mogo, the Green Lantern who's a planet.

Three ridiculous Keith Giffen stories: Blue Devil fighting the Trickster (from BLUE DEVIL #8); Ambush Bug trying to hassle Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman into guest-starring in his new miniseries (from ACTION COMICS #565); and a short in which the Atari Force's alien pet Hukka is terrorized by a robotic toy (from ATARI FORCE #20).

A tongue-in-check Batman adventure from BATMAN #383 (Doug Moench/Gene Colan/Bob Smith) in which our hero, in both his identities, desperately tries and repeatedly fails to get some sleep.

A solo story for Katana from BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS (Mike W. Barr/Jerome K. Moore) in which Tatsu murders some guys and recovers a stolen Japanese artifact with no dialogue or sound effects other than running radio commentary on a baseball game.

The well-known Alan Moore Swamp Thing story ("Rites of Spring," from SWAMP THING #34, drawn by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben) where Abigail Arcane and the Swamp Thing get very high on one of his psychedelic tubers and Abby gets her monsterfucker card punched, which editor Barbara Randall said had to be carefully recut not for content, but to get it to fit the page format.

This was a reasonably representative sampling of DC's 1985 output, but it's a weird lineup that's all over the place in tone and content. I have no idea what a hypothetical kid would have made of "Rites of Spring" upon encountering it in this format (by the time I happened upon my copy of this digest years later — for 50 cents — I'd already read it in TPB), but it would have been apparent that we were not in Riverdale anymore.

One nice thing about the digest series is that they often had some thoughtfully selected material; the themed issues are worthwhile, chosen with care even if the size and quality of reproduction were far from ideal. DC has occasionally put out conceptually similar packages, usually in something more like regular comic book dimensions (the Walmart specials, for instance), not on a regular basis, and not on supermarket checkout racks.

#comics #best of dc blue ribbon digest #dc digests #ambush bug #keith giffen #karl kesel #green lantern #swamp thing

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inkblackorchid · 1 year ago

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Orchid's 5Ds stuff Masterpost

Figured it was time to collect all my stuff nicely in one place again, and really all my stuff, this time. Fanfiction, character analyses, other meta posts, and theories, all gathered in one spot, for my own and everyone else's convenience.

Fanfiction:

All my fanfic, as it can be found on ao3 via the links provided here. Heavy focus on the female characters in the show.

The Aki series - Brimstone in my Garden, Roses set on Fire (in suggested reading order; also known as my attempt to give Aki a full character arc while trying not to upend canon entirely. Faithshipping ahoy.)

To Bloom or To Wilt (rated M, 64k words, 6/6 chapters, complete) Summary: After the defeat of the dark signers, all the souls that were taken by the Earthbound Immortals have been returned. Among them is that of a man who is driven by nothing but anger and selfishness, eager to use and manipulate those around him at every turn. A man who has caused Aki Izayoi, in particular, tremendous amounts of grief and nearly moulded her into a weapon for his personal use. And a man who has, unfortunately, proven to be very good at avoiding law enforcement ever since his return to the land of the living. Or: Divine comes back to life for a second and final time, trying to scrape together what remains of the Arcadia Movement, take revenge on Yusei Fudo and make Aki's just barely peaceful life a nightmare in the process.

Chase the Sunlight (rated T, 26k words, 2/2 chapters, complete) Summary: In the aftermath of her final, harrowing encounter with Divine, Aki feels unbalanced and afraid that she might become a danger to others again. Yusei notices, and as usual, tries to help--albeit in his own way.

You have a Mirror, but do You see Yourself (rated T, 40k words, 3/3 chapters, complete) Summary: Several months after seeing Divine for the last time, Aki reflects on how she's spent that time trying to fully learn to control her powers--without him. Her judgement ends up not being in her favour, and now, with the start of the WRGP just a few days away, she worries something will go terribly wrong. As she ruminates on what to do, she encounters not one, but two unexpected, but familiar people who give her a lot to think about while she tries to prepare for the match against Team Unicorn.

Snapping Jaws and Piercing Horns (rated T, 49k words, 4/4 chapters, complete) Summary: It's time for the WRGP and against her own expectations, Aki finds herself in the team lineup for the very first match, set to go up against the rather enigmatic duellists of Team Unicorn. To her dismay, performing well during the duel itself is far from the only thing she has to worry about, though, with her powers feeling too volatile for comfort and doubts in her duelling skills surfacing due to a recent loss. How is she supposed to keep a clear head in this international tournament when self-doubt seems to weigh on her like a ton of bricks? More importantly yet, how is she supposed to help her team win?

Be Careful what you Wish for (rated T, 71k words, 4/4 chapters, complete) Summary: Leading up to the match against Team Catastrophe where she's supposed to be taking part, Aki has an accident that changes things. Changes them in a way she could have never assumed--and realises she's woefully unequipped to deal with. When a fateful encounter with an old acquaintance additionally shakes things up, she comes to the conclusion that perhaps, she's not quite as done dealing with her past as she thought she was.

The tainted Soil of the Fields of Arcadia (rated T, 174k words, 10/10 chapters, complete) Summary: Following an eye-opening confrontation with Misty Tredwell, Aki decides she might have to face up to her past if she ever wants to be free of it. After approaching Mikage with a curious request, she ends up with the last remains of the Arcadia Movement--and starts digging.

Next work: Currently in the process of being written!

The Carly collection - I swallowed the Dice, I make my own Luck now (currently in its infancy, more planned, but: also known as me trying to let Carly retain more relevancy in the story instead of relegating her to Jack's harem. Occupies the same, adjusted canon as the Aki series.)

The Architect of one's own Fortune (rated T, 89k words, 8/8 chapters, complete) Summary: After the bombastic defeat of the dark signers, Carly is left with a suspicious hole in her memory and the feeling that something isn't quite right. As disturbing memories resurface, she must grapple with a lot more than just an increasingly unsatisfying job and the fact that Jack is ghosting her. Overwhelmed by guilt, confusion, exhaustion from work and frustration due to her lacking social life, she's left asking herself who she really is, and, even more so, what she actually wants in life.

Next Work: To be written once I reach a certain point in the Aki series. (Sorry for the wait!)

5Ds meta posts:

All my extensive yelling about the show, both on an emotional and an analytical level. Sorted by topics. Careful, not a single one of these has a reasonable length.

Character-focussed posts:

Aki

An unhinged (slightly analytical) rant about Fortune Cup and Dark Signers Aki because I love her to death

A closer look at the amount of setup done for Aki from the pre-WRGP onward that was sadly never paid off

Why Aki losing her powers in canon bothers me beyond reasons of "her powers were badass tho"

Yusei

A rant about why Yusei's hangups regarding the Zero Reverse make me want to punch a wall (and why this means they're excellent character writing)

Crow

The Crow dissertation (also known as a deep dive into Crow's character writing and what happened to it), part one: the Dark Signers arc, or: why you should never let your characters hide in a fridge

The Crow dissertation, part two: the pre-WRGP arc and the Pearson Backstory, or: how NOT to introduce an extra signer dragon

The Crow dissertation, part three: the WRGP arc, or: what do you mean, the Team Catastrophe duel has good character writing??

The Crow dissertation, part four: the Ark Cradle arc, or: if you want two characters to have a meaningful argument, maybe you should let them interact before that.

Carly

A look at why the sudden, drastic change in Carly's character writing undermined not just herself, but someone else, too

Plotline-focussed posts:

The Meklord wordlbuilding and its many holes that give me headaches

I'll try to keep this masterpost updated as more fanfics/theories/meta posts come along! If you ever wanna hear me talk about something specific, feel free to ask, the ask box is open!

#yugioh 5ds #ygo 5ds #yusei fudo #aki izayoi #akiza izinski #carly carmine #carly nagisa #crow hogan #yugioh meta #fanfic #masterpost #my writing #phew here we go #a big shiny updated masterpost!#orchid rambles

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