#Video Review: Parallel

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: Austin's DAIISTAR Shares Fuzzy "Parallel"

New Video: Austin's DAIISTAR Shares Fuzzy "Parallel" @DAIISTARR @FuzzClub @forcefieldpr

Austin-based shoegazers DAIISTAR (pronounced Day-Star) — Alex Capistran (vocals, guitar), Nick Cornetti (drums), Misti Hamrick (bass) and Derek Strahan (keys) — formed back in 2020. And since their formation, the members of DAIISTAR have crafted a narcotic blend of noise and melody that draws from the neo-psychedelic era of the 80s and 90s and modernizes it with modulating synths, heavy guitars,…

[aleximustpl4y]

My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love: album review

Year: 2002

Label: Eyeball Records

Genre: Post-hardcore, emo, punk-rock, pop-punk

Members: Gerard Way (vocals), Ray Toro (guitar), Mikey Way (bass guitar), Matt Pelissier (drums), Frank Iero (additional guitars)

Producer: Geoff Rickly

Listen to it here: [x]

Join me in this beautiful journey of cathartic destruction where two lovers are doomed to meet and die in every lifetime.

You must keep your soul...

History

I don't think American rock band My Chemical Romance need any introduction, but for the sake of the review, I have to start from the beginning.

Hailing from New Jersey, the band was founded by Gerard Way in September 2001 after he witnessed the Twin Towers attack on his way to work. They are considered one of the most influential rock groups of the 2000s and a major act in the pop-punk and emo genres, despite the band rejecting the latter label. The name of the band was suggested by Mikey, Gerard's younger brother, who was working in a Barnes & Noble when he was struck by the title of a book by Irvine Welsh named Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (Bullets for short) is their debut album, produced by Thursday vocalist Geoff Rickly. Despite being sold under the alternative rock genres, it is considered an emo album with strong influences from punk rock, hardcore punk and heavy metal.

The graphic impact

The album cover, as well as the disc, features Harry Houdini hanging upside down in a straitjacket. Gerard Way has stated that it is not a digital image, but was in fact made with some watercolor, some borax, some plastic wrap, and a color photocopier in the Eyeball Records offices.

Why put Houdini on the cover? All references to Houdini in the following albums aside, it's clear that Gerard admired the magician and saw in one of his most famous tricks – escaping from a straitjacket while dangling from a crane – a possible analogy for life: you can spend a whole lot of time in your life ‘escaping’ death, but it will still come eventually.

Autumn color palette, play of light and handmade special effects: aesthetically speaking, the album cover is very interesting to look at.

The tunes

Bullets starts off with Romance, an acoustic cover of an instrumental piece known as “Romance Anónimo,” “Romance d'Amour,” or “Spanish Romance,” composed by an unknown nineteenth-century musician. The sweet and melancholic melody lulls you into a (false) sense of security.

Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us kicks off with a tits-blowing metal-core guitar riff, hitting you hard and fast, setting the real tone for the entire album. A very young Gerard yells the frustrated lyrics about a toxic relationship which, given the title's theme of the mirror, may be with an ex as well as drugs and/or alcohol. The chorus is an anthem for those who are sick and tired of their partner's (or the personification of drug abuse) manipulation tactics, and the way Gerard screams his lungs out makes it cathartic for those who haven't any words left in them anymore.

“This song is about sucking dick for cocaine.” – Gerard Way introducing the song in concert

Vampires Will Never Hurt You catapults you into another dimension, a darker, more eerie one, brought mostly by the intriguing bass line and the backwards whispering in the intro. The lyrics are the last rational, yet desperate, words of a man who's about to transform into a vampire against his will, and begs his lover to “put a spike in [his] heart” as soon as the sun goes down and to go hide before they'll get her too.

Drowning Lessons starts off with a bittersweet riff, introducing us to probably the saddest story told in the album. Drowning Lessons talks about a man who killed his spouse. My personal interpretation (I don't know if someone else had this idea before me) is that he killed himself shortly after and this is his otherworldly punishment: reliving this day over and over for eternity, perpetuating the cycle of insanity and guilt. The ending leaves you with a feeling of waiting and suspension, the fade-out suggests that the narrator is stuck in this loop and it will be like this forever.

In the fast paced Our Lady of Sorrows Gerard encourages his interlocutor to strip away their insecurities and live freely, to trust and believe in him so that they may be saved. The song is painted with religious imagery (hence the title), and implies that the narrator and the person he's speaking with are constantly at each other's throats: letting go of their doubts is the only way to end this before they murder each other. Gerard is angry, almost arrogant, but it's an arrogance driven by desperation since he doesn't want to lose his friend/lover over their insecurities, inviting and insisting that they “take [his] fucking hand and never be afraid again”.

Musically speaking, Headfirst for Halos is a sucker punch in the teeth, and yes, that is a compliment. The guitar is very Iron Maiden-esque, especially in the intro, and on a technical level, this song proves that these guys know what they're doing. The lyrics' grim undertones go in complete contrast with the upbeat tone of the music, turning it into a suicidal anthem. Despite the fact that it discusses how the narrator is stuffing himself with psychotropic drugs that make him numb to any kind of feeling, as well as his struggle against the idea of killing himself in this spiral of madness, Headfirst for Halos could be considered a powerful message of hope. This song, in my opinion, is not only about someone who succumbs to a psychotic episode, but it's also a way for the lyricist to remind us not to give up, not to do what the song proposes. Its end, where the protagonist probably commits suicide while repeating himself to “think happy thoughts”, is cathartic and destructive, truly beautiful in its tragedy.

"This song is about suicide - don't do it." – Gerard Way

I don't think I'll ever be ready to talk about Skylines and Turnstiles, but I'll try to give it justice. The track, the first one that was recorded while making the album, is a moving tribute to the victims of 9/11. It describes both the last moments of those people's lives and the experience, the feelings that Gerard had while witnessing it. The previous track's message of hope is reinforced in Skylines: when Gerard witnessed the tragedy, he knew he had to do something in hope to help people go through their grief and sadness and make the world a brighter place, giving them a reason to keep fighting. The song starts with “You're not in this alone”: Gerard is offering friendship for those who were hurt or scarred from 9/11, and it could also work in a broader sense, where he reaches his hand out to those who are feeling like this life isn't worth living anymore.

Inspired by Dawn of the Dead, Early Sunsets over Monroeville begins with a sweet and romantic melody, painting a dream-like picture of two lovers living a perfect life, “just like upon the screen”. The song, after that, takes a left turn that gives me shivers to this day just like the first time I heard it. The lyrics are a desperate call for help from the man who has to kill his lover, because she has been bitten by a zombie and is turning into one. He doesn't have the heart to shoot her, but on the other hand, it would be a mercy killing. The whole theme of the zombies could also be a metaphor for the couple's relationship that has gone awry, so the narrator has to “shoot” and hurt her by telling her that there's no love anymore between them. Gerard's voice, in the early stages of the song, is filled with nostalgia and melancholy, making the second part even more striking and emotional to listen to. His cries become more and more insistent, in a crescendo of desperation, and the fact that he repeats the same lines over and over only accentuates the interior dilemma he's having, while the melody becomes more and more fast-paced as well. The last line hangs in the air, which, again, marks the horror of the whole situation, leaving you in a state of suspended turmoil.

This is the Best Day Ever tells a story of a couple who meet in the emergency room, likely after they both attempted suicide, and they plan to escape the hospital together. It doesn't matter to them if they'll die after: they'll be free either way by doing it. What stands out the most is the upbeat and fast-paced melody, which accentuates the anticipation of the protagonists and their hope to get out of the situation they're in.

Cubicles tells a story of a shy and lonely office worker who falls in love with a woman who works two cubicles away from him but doesn't even realize he exists. He spends the time writing her love notes, but never gains the courage to give her the letters, let alone talk to her, until she quits her job and he misses his chance. From that point, he spirals into madness and is terrified he'll die alone, as portrayed by the repetition of the verse “sometimes I think I'll die alone”, which changes into just “I think I'd love to die alone” at the very end, coming to terms with his suicidal thoughts.

I think there's no better way to end this album, other than with Demolition Lovers. The song starts with a slow, sweet yet dark melody, while Gerard begins singing the beautiful, tragic story about a Bonnie and Clyde-esque couple, who run in the desert and eventually get shot by the people they were escaping from. As the music grows more intense, the man tells us how he isn't afraid to die for his lover and he is willing to prove how much she means to him despite their relationship being flawed. They die in a pool of blood, when they kiss for the last time. Demolition Lovers is masterfully made, with one of the most beautiful solos I've ever heard and with lyrics that are an arrow to the heart, not only for the passion they're sang with, but also for the meaning they carry. The ending is simply breathtaking.

Conclusion

Words can't even describe how much this album means to me. The themes, the arrangements, the messages of hope derived from destruction and tragedy, the whole meaning of the band itself... it's just beautiful. The genre is not cohesive but since it's their first artistic effort, it makes sense that they had yet to find their own style: after all, creation is just experimentation. But despite Bullets not being coherent in style, the atmosphere remains consistent thanks to the lyrics that have all the same feeling of catharsis in romantic destruction. I just wish that some songs were mixed better (but if anything that adds to their charm) and that it would last longer. Also it's worth mentioning how all the songs are connected without being connected at all (just how they are connected to their next album, which we'll check out next time), which makes me love the mind behind them even more, if possible.

Final, very personal and unprofessional score: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

...like a secret in your throat.

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Sudeki

Climax Studios is one of those studios that kind of does everything. You see them crop up all the time, but outside of the Japanese market where these studios can carve out a place for themselves, a lot of western ones tend to be bought up and tossed away. Somehow, Climax has managed to survive, even as a subsidiary, and have had their hands in surprising places. From Silent Hill to Serious Sam, they have a habit of appearing where you’d least expect them. That goes double for one of Microsoft’s attempts to crack the Japanese market, the extremely Japanese-influenced Sudeki.

Read more...

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Return of Daimajin

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

Recently, I had the pleasure of revisiting Daiei’s Daimajin. In many ways, it’s fairly typical of the studio’s consistently above average B-movie efforts, combining competent period drama (reminiscent of the Zatoichi and Sleepy Eyes of Death franchises) with spectacular kaiju mayhem (à la Gamera). The first film’s excellence, however, is utterly dwarfed by its sequel, Return of Daimajin, which elevates the previously established themes and tropes to almost biblical proportions: the political intrigue is more intricate and suspenseful, the battles more epic and meticulously choreographed (courtesy of director Kenji Misumi, a veteran of the chanbara genre), and Yoshiyuki Kuroda's special effects more elaborate and explosive.

The plot—which is repeated more or less verbatim across all three chapters of the trilogy like a poetic refrain—revolves around the concept of divine retribution. In the era preceding the unification of Japan, the land is splintered by conflict and strife. Ambitious, opportunistic tyrants ruthlessly exploit the peasantry; excessive taxation and slave labor abound, as commonplace and devastating as earthquakes and typhoons. When the innocent cry out for justice, the ancient deities that govern nature answer their call by animating a colossal ceremonial statue to wreak terrible vengeance. But the wrath of the gods is indiscriminate, and only the tears of the pure-hearted can once again quell the stone giant's blind rage following the completion of his violent duty.

The influence of foreign culture is already evident in that basic premise (the eponymous guardian spirit is essentially a reimaging of the golem from Jewish folklore), but this particular installment takes the allusions a step further. During his climactic rampage, for example, the monster magically carves a path through the waters of a vast lake like Moses parting the Red Sea. Additionally, his anger is roused by the desperate prayer of a young princess condemned to crucifixion and immolation by a conquering warlord; her selfless offer to sacrifice her own soul in exchange for the salvation of her subjects more than justifies the ensuing deus ex machina. Indeed, images of crosses pervade the story: the wreckage of a demolished torii gate, for instance, is distinctly cruciform in shape; the central villain, meanwhile, meets his karmic demise when he becomes entangled in the rigging of a burning boat—mimicking the sadistic execution that our heroine nearly suffered at his hands.

These (admittedly cosmetic) references to the iconography of Western religions and classical literature lend Return of Daimajin a mythic quality that distinguishes it from the rest of the otherwise rather formulaic series. Simple in its narrative structure yet absolutely immaculate in its craftsmanship, this sophomore entry in Daiei's sadly short-lived saga ranks among the very finest creature features ever produced.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

M.I.A. - Paper Planes 2008

"Paper Planes" is a song by British hip hop artist M.I.A. It was released on 11 February 2008 as the third single from her second studio album, Kala (2007). It samples English rockband the Clash's 1982 song "Straight to Hell", leading to its members being credited as co-writers. A downtempo alternative hip hop, pop track combining African folk music elements, the song has a less dance-oriented sound compared to other songs on the album. Its lyrics, inspired by M.I.A.'s own problems obtaining a visa to work in the USA, satirise American perceptions of immigrants from war-torn countries, and said that the issue was probably "them thinking that I might to [sic] fly a plane into the Trade Center".

M.I.A. had wanted to work with American producer Timbaland for the album Kala, but her application for a long-term US work visa was rejected. This was allegedly due to her family's connection to the Tamil guerrillas, commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, a claim M.I.A. denied. Her visa problems were also attributed to her criticism of the Sri Lankan government's discrimination and alleged atrocities committed against the Tamils, with whom M.I.A. shares an ethnic and cultural heritage. She expressed this on her politicised debut album Arular. The unexpected success of "Paper Planes" paralleled M.I.A.'s condemnations of the Sri Lankan government's war crimes against the Tamils, generating accusations that she supported terrorism.

The song received widespread acclaim from contemporary critics, who complimented its musical direction and the subversive, unconventional subject matter. It won awards from the Canadian Independent Music Awards and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and earned a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The song has received praise in publications such as NME, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, each naming it among either the best songs of the 2000s decade or of all time. The review aggregator Acclaimed Music reports it as the second-most acclaimed song of the 21st century.

"Paper Planes" was used in the theatrical trailer for the 2008 stoner comedy Pineapple Express, directed by David Gordon Green, which catapulted the song to mainstream success in the US. "Paper Planes" and the DFA remix appear on the soundtrack to Danny Boyle's drama Slumdog Millionaire, released in 2008. The video game Far Cry 3 (2012) begins with "Paper Planes" used in the opening cinematic sequence.

"Paper Planes" received a total of 68,9% yes votes!

[slimedryer]

TO BE A FLY ON THIS WALL (or: time. pain.)

A 41 minute, 14 second compilation featuring the breakdown during every live, formal performance of "The Foundations of Decay" in 2022 and 2023, in chronological order.

(Many thanks to @sleepoutro and @angstics for their foundational data compilation work. More information, credits, and individual video details after the cut.)

During work on a separate Foundations video project, I decided the the breakdown footage wouldn't be used. Of course, it's an impactful moment every show — the footage shouldn't go unseen, and the most fun My Chem fans can have is finding parallels, noticing patterns, etc. So, that project was put on hold while this compilation was made.

Hopefully the final product looks deceptively simple. I'd estimate 150 hours of work including learning DaVinci Resolve, footage discovery (YT search is borderline useless now?), review, and editing. If, after all that time, there's any discrepancies in the data, links, or audio/video sync, let me know.

link to angstics masterlist: angstics.tumblr.com/post/714904480751206400/

link to sleepoutro masterlist: sleepoutro.tumblr.com/post/702020960719683584/

I also utilized the MCRchive Dropbox catalogue, but for this project didn't include any videos I wasn't able to source directly from YouTube (note: two videos from edmorris2191 were set to private between sourcing and publishing).

DATE (YMD) | VENUE LOCATION | UPLOADED BY | LINK TO FULL VIDEO

2023 03 26 | Intex Osaka, Osaka, Japan | kei-y | youtube.com/watch?v=GroVKRMiFrc

2023 03 25 | Makuhari Messe 9-11 Hall, Chiba, Japan | liveshowclips (video) | youtube.com/watch?v=1BrZ9Xj8deg (video) | maddhatter_yungho (audio) | youtube.com/watch?v=5lnNus6nZ-8 (audio) [The visual here was fantastic but the audio was better on an alternate recording.]

2023 03 20 | Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia | gin4918 | youtube.com/watch?v=p7Kw70LCkCQ

2023 03 19 | Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia | Australian_Satan | youtube.com/watch?v=GpttxJILB_k

2023 03 17 | Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia | xander85 | youtube.com/watch?v=H8gutfrqkTQ

2023 03 16 | Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia | kingswrestlingtalk4234 | youtube.com/watch?v=A95Fma0PocA

2023 03 14 | Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia | camosconcerts | youtube.com/watch?v=AdY6luAduWs

2023 03 13 | Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia | JBfromOZ | youtube.com/watch?v=rsUFHis8nLE

2023 03 11 | The Outer Fields at Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand | Dirvinator | youtube.com/watch?v=0207hOpIFkA

2022 11 18 | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, Mexico | wikiconcerts | youtube.com/watch?v=--ag8X-RhTM

2022 10 29 | Las Vegas Festival Grounds, Las Vegas, NV, USA | sirsuchil290 | youtube.com/watch?v=uZoEQeIjOC4

2022 10 17 | Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA | deadhoarse | youtube.com/watch?v=4BSpQGxiFq0

2022 10 15 | Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA | untamedb3ast813 | youtube.com/watch?v=YDiIztE4ZuY

2022 10 14 | Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA | craiggaynier1565 | youtube.com/watch?v=pm-mWFCYZzw

2022 10 12 | Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA | danszig77 | youtube.com/watch?v=ldIbzKhQkPk

2022 10 11 | Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA | edmorris2191 | Video Made Private

2022 10 08 | Discovery Park, Sacramento, CA, USA | KobeA7 | youtube.com/watch?v=lTbVkbjqJKs

2022 10 07 | T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV, USA | Arguetil3am | youtube.com/watch?v=lmQzMFiFENk

2022 10 05 | Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA, USA | sorryimaiden | youtube.com/watch?v=oa4lUEn-B60

2022 10 03 | Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, WA, USA | BrandinoLee | youtube.com/watch?v=19UhkSGbQkI

2022 10 02 | Moda Center, Portland, OR, USA | Gravity.Prince | youtube.com/watch?v=La29nwYG3iQ

2022 09 30 | Ball Arena, Denver, CO, USA | feedbackmusicbar | youtube.com/watch?v=xXk9kfAuj0A

2022 09 28 | American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX, USA | osceola13 | youtube.com/watch?v=dfC-in1S9Z0

2022 09 27 | Toyota Center, Houston, TX, USA | ericrainey7143 | youtube.com/watch?v=giVqgehNAZk

2022 09 24 | FLA Live Arena, Sunrise, FL, USA | marcg.3333 | youtube.com/watch?v=HjUYgchyTO4

2022 09 23 | The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway, Dover, DE, USA | aleneb5712 | youtube.com/watch?v=z6NGn_L3uis

2022 09 21 | Prudential Center, Newark, NJ, USA | odetoanathema | youtube.com/watch?v=xr_V-hRH3Gs

2022 09 20 | Prudential Center, Newark, NJ, USA | jimpowers10411 | youtube.com/watch?v=Me2Zzrm1E4k

2022 09 18 | Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA, USA | siberwolf | youtube.com/watch?v=A2hC7TZPplc

2022 09 16 | Douglass Park, Chicago, IL, USA | cynthiachang465 | youtube.com/watch?v=lienHKv6JFs

2022 09 15 | Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, USA | Kittycat12353 | youtube.com/watch?v=4WQ5zCETOs8

2022 09 13 | Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI, USA | i.i.i.1 | youtube.com/watch?v=EWeF7jkZAdE

2022 09 11 | Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA | tomsarchive3623 | youtube.com/watch?v=F1ARCm_tzzY

2022 09 10 | Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA | maes6050 | youtube.com/watch?v=5UvEJxDMXW0

2022 09 08 | TD Garden, Boston, MA, USA | Lilazzini | youtube.com/watch?v=bkJfbcaoNIU

2022 09 07 | TD Garden, Boston, MA, USA | wesleyjillson4810 | youtube.com/watch?v=6a0xlGlzAWU

2022 09 05 | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON, Canada | Eddievanhello | youtube.com/watch?v=wSJPOrNWv8I

2022 09 04 | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON, Canada | AruWindRabbit | youtube.com/watch?v=xUjfaf0da2U

2022 09 02 | Centre Bell, Montreal, QC, Canada | Nataly080186 | youtube.com/watch?v=cX9K9yTVwuY

2022 09 01 | Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT, USA | kylestraveljournal | youtube.com/watch?v=UJ7F1Ps5RzE

2022 08 30 | MVP Arena, Albany, NY, USA | deterioration | youtube.com/watch?v=sYESfqGtbMo

2022 08 29 | Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA | deadhoarse | youtube.com/watch?v=cEu8nRD2-H4

2022 08 27 | UBS Arena, Elmont, NY, USA | anonymousconcertwatcher7879 | youtube.com/watch?v=M8tbKjJQtPE

2022 08 26 | PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC, USA | divineproxie7736 | youtube.com/watch?v=CAqDdKQC5CE

2022 08 24 | Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA | DatBlizz | youtube.com/watch?v=Y6CpUbyLeRk

2022 08 23 | Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN, USA | MoshPitChronicles | youtube.com/watch?v=Nks-iLsYPYk

2022 08 21 | AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX, USA | dragontype191 | youtube.com/watch?v=OVAEdXT3FqM

2022 08 20 | Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA | xXspiraloutXx | youtube.com/watch?v=LIUrd6hYNxs

2022 06 18 | Kunstrasen Bonn, Bonn, Germany | edmorris2191 | Video Made Private

2022 06 17 | Kunstrasen Bonn, Bonn, Germany | starstrucklilly9024 | youtube.com/watch?v=rnu1LOWYGbY

2022 06 14 | Stora Scenen, Gröna Lund, Stockholm, Sweden | JulianneSands | youtube.com/watch?v=x2pXYuTMi5s

2022 06 12 | Velodrom, Berlin, Germany | cybeshi | youtube.com/watch?v=PA1DtnMdy5g

2022 06 11 | O2 arena, Prague, Czechia | matovkanal5361 | youtube.com/watch?v=yGh889k4Pj0

2022 06 09 | Letnia Scena Progresji, Warsaw, Poland | wiktoria.j | youtube.com/watch?v=OpdxyuvKFFU

2022 06 07 | Budapest Park, Budapest, Hungary | FMA4EVERX3 | youtube.com/watch?v=I2xoDB6Z3b8

2022 06 06 | Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany | gabrielaw.8449 | youtube.com/watch?v=thhZGzpYk4U

2022 06 04 | Arena Parco Nord, Bologna, Italy | EndlessNightMCR | youtube.com/watch?v=bAmJQL2RY3k

2022 06 02 | Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands | Prinren | youtube.com/watch?v=ue_cUm1oYjQ

2022 06 01 | Accor Arena, Paris, France | parisandallthatjazz | youtube.com/watch?v=aoNzsPOe7Lc

2022 05 30 | The OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland | DrFluffyNips | youtube.com/watch?v=0zqCiEMg0uA

2022 05 28 | Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground, Cardiff, Wales | visiblexperia6693 | youtube.com/watch?v=o5z_iYjLu1M

2022 05 27 | Victoria Park, Warrington, England | darrenquin317 | youtube.com/watch?v=Mxso0GJyjSE

2022 05 25 | Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland | SelfishxRomance | youtube.com/watch?v=ucoez2VlGVo

2022 05 24 | Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland | calumharkness3932 | youtube.com/watch?v=SMLoZotO-S8

2022 05 22 | Stadium MK, Milton Keynes, England | MrDunky123456 | youtube.com/watch?v=DEOicrAKyuk

2022 05 21 | Stadium MK, Milton Keynes, England | ErynnHalvorson | youtube.com/watch?v=xWYsVgDNMMw

2022 05 19 | Stadium MK, Milton Keynes, England | owenpower03 | youtube.com/watch?v=L-notPaM_ow

2022 05 17 | The Eden Project, St Austell, England | keeleyduckworth500 | youtube.com/watch?v=lz5mywxeyoI

2022 05 16 | The Eden Project, St Austell, England | jannersontour8696 | youtube.com/watch?v=q9-GcMktJuA

[therealcocoshady]

Kinktober - Day 6 - Sex Work

Kinktober 2024 Masterlist

A/N : For the "sex work" prompt of Kinktober 2024 I thought I'd mix it up with a request I received as well. Granted, it's playing on the words of the prompt rather than the actual theme but I hope you guys like it nonetheless ! ✨ Also, I did have a second idea, which I might end up doing too 😏

CW : Mention of sex work - Flirty texts - Mention of hook up

The studio was buzzing with energy as the podcast got underway. Marshall sat at the head of the table, wearing his usual hoodie and cap combo, arms crossed casually as he listened to the banter among the other rappers. One former D12 member had decided to launch a podcast and, when he was ask to be the first guest, he was happy to show up to support his friend. In the past years, he’d grown more and more picky when it came to doing interviews and appearances, but he was glad he did this, supporting his buddy and talking about hip-hop in general, instead of just him. It was much better than random journalists asking about his professional life. The conversation had flowed from the evolution of hip-hop to its biggest influencers, and now, they were moving into more contemporary topics—reviewing music videos from up-and-coming artists. 

He wasn’t sure what to expect when they cued up the next video for review. When the host dropped your name, though, his head perked up. You, the firecracker of a lyricist he had been « mentoring » for a while now. You weren’t to Shady Records, but you had worked together enough for him to respect your raw talent and commendable work ethic. He had been kind enough to offer some guidance and even some beats from his vault, and while you were still making your way in the industry, you had already built a reputation as an outspoken voice in the game. You had a good rapport, too. In private, you’d shared more than just a few laughs, and there was a mutual admiration that sometimes tiptoed into the realm of flirtation—compliments exchanged, gazes held a bit longer than necessary—but nothing too serious. It was always playful, a line neither of you had crossed. 

The host grinned, looking at Marshall. « So, this is Y/N’s latest track. It’s called ‘Sex Work’. You haven’t seen this one yet, have you? ».  He shook his head, a little curious but still cool. « Nah, she didn’t send it to me. ». His friend looked at him and let out a laugh. “You’re in for a surprise, then”.  The video started, and the beat dropped—a heavy bass line that immediately grabbed everyone’s attention. But it wasn’t just the music that made Marshall sit up a little straighter. The visuals hit hard. You were on-screen, dressed in bold, provocative outfits, your presence commanding the camera. The scenes shifted rapidly, moving through a series of sexually charged, daring shots. It was unlike anything you’d done before. 

You were playing with the very imagery that dominated so much of hip-hop—the kind of objectification women often faced. Except you were not the object here. She was the one in control, flipping the narrative. The lyrics hit just as hard as the visuals, each line razor-sharp, calling out the double standards in the industry, using clever wordplay ad metaphors that drew a parallel between the music industry and sex work, too. 

Marshall was caught off guard. The video was bold, even provocative. You were owning your sexuality in a way that was direct, unapologetic, and powerful. But then it hit him—some of the scenes were direct callbacks to his older videos. One shot mirrored the set of his “Superman” video, and in another, you were standing where one of his infamous adult actresses had stood, reclaiming that space. « Damn, » one of the other hosts on the podcast muttered, eyes wide. Marshall’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t say anything. Not yet. The lyrics kept going, and it became clear what you were doing—turning the tables on the misogynistic narratives you had been surrounded by as an up and coming female rapper. The video wasn’t just about sex appeal; it was a statement. You were deliberately playing with the same imagery that had been used to objectify women for decades, challenging it, and throwing it back in everyone’s faces. By the time the video ended, the room was dead silent for a moment. The host was the first to speak. « Marshall, man… what are you thinking? ».  He leaned back in his chair, taking a breath. He could feel the eyes on him, waiting for some kind of reaction, maybe even expecting. You weren’t playing by anyone’s rules and it was the type of attitude he respected, especially then someone pushed the pen that far.  « Well, first off, » he said, glancing around the room before locking eyes with the host, « she killed that ». The other guys laughed, but he wasn’t joking. « She’s always been fearless with her lyrics, » he continued, « but this? This is next level. She’s calling out the hypocrisy in the industry, and she’s doing it in a way that makes you pay attention. It’s bold as hell. » He paused for a second, gathering his thoughts. « I didn’t expect her to take shots at some of the imagery I’ve used in my older videos, but I respect it. She’s making a statement. She’s an artist, it’s what she should be doing. It’s what we do as emcees, you know ?  ». The others nodded, clearly impressed with his take. « So you’re not bothered by it? I mean, some of those scenes were pretty close to your old stuff ». 

« Nah, » he said, shaking his head. « If anything, I think it’s cool. That’s the kind of artist she is—smart, sharp, and always saying something with her work. Whether it’s a track about life or, you know… this ». He chuckled a little at the end, the edge of a smirk tugging at his lips. Truth be told, he hadn’t expected you to pull something this bold. Sure, you had always been outspoken, always ready to challenge the norms, but this? This was next-level boldness.  The conversation moved on to other topics, but Marshall’s mind lingered on your video. He knew it was going to blow up and, truth be told, he was curious to know where that was headed. 

The days following the release of your music video and Marshall’s appearance on the podcast were a whirlwind of noise. Social media was ablaze with debates, and hip-hop blogs pumped out articles almost hourly, all focused on one central question: Was Y/N dissing Eminem ? Marshall, sitting in the comfort of his home, scrolled through his phone, shaking his head at the ridiculous headlines. « Y/N’s Bold Move: Diss or Power Play Against Eminem?" or  "New Queen in Town? Is Y/N Coming for Eminem’s Throne? ».  Everyone had their own theory, and the conversation was only growing louder. What had started as you making a critique of misogyny  had snowballed into a supposed rivalry between you and Em—a narrative the media had hungrily latched onto. It wasn’t surprising to anyone, though. Of course it was going to make for good headlines and farm engagement rates, even though it was a shame to have it take away from the main topic.  Interviews, radio shows, podcasts—everyone was asking the same question: What did Eminem think ? 

Marshall had been ignoring the noise for as long as he could, figuring people would see the bigger picture. But the hype refused to die down. Paul’s phone blew up with texts and calls, from journalists looking for comments to fellow artists wondering if there was any beef brewing. His team’s inbox was flooded. He wasn’t surprised that you were stirring things up—you were unapologetically yourself, always—but the whole “diss” angle? That was ridiculous. A week after the video dropped, Marshall finally caved. He knew he had to address it, especially after hearing that some major podcasts were going to dive deeper into the so-called "feud." There was no way he’d let anyone twist this into something it wasn’t. It was sort of unlike him, but he was pissed off about lies being spread and people making headlines about an imaginary feud. He wouldn’t have cared to address it if it had been anyone else, but he actually liked and respected you. He also had enough self-awareness to know that, if he let the whole thing escalate, some people would take « his side » and turn on you. Frankly, he didn’t have the time or energy for some stupid quid pro quo situation and he deemed it best to address the topic. 

That morning, he agreed to hop on a Shade45 radio show that had been asking him for a statement for days. As the interview started, the host wasted no time jumping into the topic. « Alright, Boss, we’ve got to get straight to it, » the host said, his voice filled with anticipation. « Y/N. We’ve all seen the video. She’s been pretty outspoken, and a lot of people are taking her comments about the double standards in hip-hop and the scenes from your old videos as… well, a diss. What do you think? ». Marshall took a deep breath and leaned forward into the mic, choosing his words carefully but keeping his usual bluntness. « Look, » he started, « Y/N is not dissing me. She’s not coming for me or trying to take shots.  What she’s doing is making a statement. A damn good one, too. People keep saying she’s going too far or whatever, but this is the same stuff that I, and a lot of other artists, have done for years. She’s just flipping the script, and now, suddenly, people want to act like it’s a problem ».  The host nodded, but there was still an edge of curiosity. « So, you’re not offended by her recreating some of your visuals? Some people took it as her calling you out ».  Marshall smirked, shaking his head. « Nah, man. Y/N’s one of the most talented artists out there right now. She’s smart. She’s sharp. And she’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind, even if it makes people uncomfortable. That’s what makes her great. She’s doing exactly what artists are supposed to do—make people think, make people talk. It’s the same shit I have always done with my music. And if she’s calling out hypocrisy ? Good for her. I’ve been there. I know how that goes ». 

He leaned back again, more comfortable now. « You know, I’ve worked with her, produced a couple of tracks for her, and I’ve always been impressed by how real she keeps it. She’s not here to play by anyone’s rules. She’s doing what she wants, and I respect that. If you’re mad at her for being direct, maybe it’s because you don’t like what she’s saying ». The host paused for a moment, letting Em’s words settle. « So, to be clear—you fully support what she’s doing? ». « Yeah, » Marshall said without hesitation. « Y/N’s just getting started, and if people are mad now? They better buckle up, ‘cause she’s only going to keep pushing boundaries. She’s not afraid to call out the industry for its hypocrisy. And if anyone thinks she’s dissing me, they’re missing the point. She’s making space for herself, and she’s doing it her way. That’s what being an artist is all about ». The host grinned, seemingly satisfied with his take. « Well, there you have it, folks. Marshall’s got nothing but respect for Y/N. » Marshall chuckled, nodding. « Damn right. I’ll say this though : I’ve spent enough time with her to know that it’s more fun to be her friend than to be her enemy. So, anyone who’s been talking shit… Better be ready ». 

After the podcast dropped, the noise around the supposed « diss » started to die down. Marshall’s words carried weight, and now that he had set the record straight, the media was forced to pivot. Instead of focusing on a non-existent feud, the conversation shifted toward what you had always intended—your critique of double standards. Now that people didn’t worry about a possible feud, they seemed more disposed to focus on the subject matter and the narrative surrounding you quickly took a much more positive turn.  That evening, Marshall was sitting in his home studio, tweaking some beats when his phone buzzed on the table next to him. He glanced down and saw your name on the screen.

Y/N :  Thanks for having my back.

He stared at the text for a moment, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. He wasn’t surprised you’d reached out; after all,  you weren’t the type to let things go unacknowledged. He liked that about you. But he could tell by the simple message that you appreciated the support more than you’d probably say out loud. He picked up his phone and tapped out a reply.

Marshall : Always. Not that you needed it, though. 

He fully meant it when he said that you didn’t need his support. He knew for a fact that you’d clap back if needed. There was a brief pause before your next message popped up.

Y/N : Yeah, but you saying it shuts up a lot of people. 

He chuckled to himself, nodding as he read the words.

Marshall :  Let ‘em talk. You’re doing your thing. If they’re mad, that means you’re doing something right. 

Y/N :  Guess I learned from the best.

Marshall leaned back in his chair, looking at your message for a second before typing a final reply.

Marshall : Nah, you’re making your own lane. Keep killing it.

He put his phone down, guessing the conversation was probably over for the night. But even as he turned back to the track he was working on, he couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of pride. You were carving out your own space in the industry, no matter how many people tried to twist her message or pit you against him. In the short while he’d known you, he had seen you evolve as an artist and, since you’d never failed to share how much his music had shaped your artistry, he felt proud. 

Y/N : Also, I’m glad that you got what I did with the references to your video. It was an hommage, not a shot. 

Marshall grinned, running his thumb over the screen as he typed his reply.

Marshall : Oh, I know. But now I’m thinking, if it was an hommage, why didn’t you just ask me to be in it ?

The dots on the screen danced for a moment, and then your reply came through, as sharp as your lyrics.

Y/N : I was only hiring professionals. ;)

Marshall laughed out loud, shaking his head. He liked your quick wit, the way you never backed down from a little back-and-forth. If anyone else had thrown that line at him, he might’ve let it go. But not you.

Marshall : You don’t think I’m professional enough?

Y/N : In music ? Sure. Can’t speak for the rest, though. 

There was a pause as he crafted his next response, his smirk growing wider. He enjoyed it too much, couldn’t help himself. 

Marshall : If you want to find out just how professional I can get, all you gotta do is ask.

He sent the message, leaning back on his chair. He could practically feel the heat of your flirtation building through the screen. You didn’t take long to reply, as bold as ever.

Y/N : Oh, I’ll keep that in mind.

There was no more texting that night, but the tension lingered in the silence that followed. Your dynamic had always teetered on the edge of something more, something neither of them had fully explored. Both of you had always kept it on the safe side. The energy between them you felt charged in a way it hadn’t before, following these texts and he liked it. There was something irresistible about a beautiful woman who was also smart and bold. However, he chose not to let it get to his head, not wanting to be that guy. Being a woman in a male-dominated industry, you probably had enough of those, even though he wouldn’t mind showing you the extent of his bedroom skills. He meant it, though. All you had to do was ask. He had made a point to avoid getting involved with celebs and fellow artists but he’d gladly make an exception for you.

Weeks later, the two of you found yourself in New York for an awards show. The ceremony was everything you’d expect—long, loud, and full of celebrities. But Marshall wasn’t really focused on the stage. He hadn’t seen you yet, but he knew you were there. He’d heard your name more than once as people in the crowd gushed about you, your bold video, and the statement you’d made in the industry. Your viral video had made you gain tons of recognition and everyone was gushing about you, even the ones who had been quick to assume you were dissing him in a desperate clout-chasing attempt. After the show, as he headed back to his hotel room, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. 

Y/N :  Nice performance tonight. Very professional. The Bradford. Suite 1602. If your offer still stands.

Marshall stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the message. The directness of it sent a jolt through him. There wasn’t any question about what you were implying. The words lingered on his screen, bold and unflinching, just like you. For a moment, he just stood there, processing. Then, without a second thought, he found himself heading toward the exit of his hotel. There was no hesitation now. His heart picked up speed as he walked out into the night, flagged down a cab, and gave the driver the name of your hotel, not too far from his. The drive was short, but each second felt drawn out, like anticipation was pulling time apart. As the cab pulled up in front of The Bradford, Marshall stepped out, the city lights glowing faintly around him. He walked through the doors and headed straight to the elevator, heart pounding just a little harder with each passing floor. When he reached your floor, the quiet of the hallway contrasted sharply with the rush of energy coursing through him. He stopped in front of Suite 1602, staring at the number on the door for a moment before knocking, his mind running through the million ways this could go. The door opened slowly, and there you were, standing barefoot in a simple yet alluring outfit that somehow made his pulse race faster than anything you’d worn in that music video. Your eyes met his with the same fire he’d always admired, but now, it was mixed with something more, something unspoken between the two of you that had finally found its moment. « Wasn’t sure you’d actually show up, » you said, your voice low but teasing. Marshall smirked, stepping inside. « Told you all you had to do was ask ». You grinned back, eyes glinting as you shut the door behind him. « Well, I am asking ». 

If you liked this and want to support a struggling student, you can buy me a cup of coffee. ☕️

[theredch3rry]

Let’s review Jimmys new video (life series in royal rumble)

- Every single persons character design was on peek 👌 (including height)

- Jimmy being shiny “are you saying I’m a toy?!”

- Martyn facing off Jimmy at the start “the big dogs”

- Jimmy giving the canary curse to Martyn 😭

- The ranch being fought over

- Seablings arguing like siblings 👍

- Joel coming into help his wife

- the snail and trivia bot

- Etho & Bdubs…

- the gals just dominating like usual.

- Joel eliminating his wife… #divorce

- muder camel <3

- Trivia bot beating them up 😔

- what is it with Joel eliminating his partners damn bro

- Scott being the last one to join in & instantly eliminating Joel

- Pearl keeping her top 5 streak 🔥

- Last Life in a parallel universe…

[slayerkitty]

The DFF Experience: A Dead Friend Forever Fandom Round Up (Part 1*)

I had the wild idea of compiling links to all the various metas, theories, and other resources for DFF for everyone to use so that links and information were kind of all in one place. I dragged @shannankle along for the ride, and we combed through the tag to find all the things we could.

We most likely have missed something even though we tried to be as thorough as possible - if you think there is something we over looked that should be added let us know in the replies or the tags; if you write meta or other resource posts in the future, please tag us and we can add it to the post.

With that, please enjoy The DFF Experience!

Media: 

Official Trailer

Pre-Release/Pilot Trailer

Behind The Scenes

No More Dream - Barcode

Without Me - Bump

Por's RIP? Pic by @having-conniptions

Reviews: 

Dead Friend Forever is More Than Just A 90s Slasher Film Imitation by @syrena-del-mar

Dead Friend Forever is a Marvel of Mystery Writing by @lurkingshan

Phee, Jin, And A Masterful Misdirect by @lurkingshan

Fun Facts to Know and Tell: 

Non refers to his brother New as “P’New” during his argument with his parents in episode 8, confirming that New is the older of the two. 

White refers to Por as P’Por when he’s alone confirming he is younger and not lying about his age

Character Profiles by @raelle-writing

Based on screenshots, White and Phee do not go to the same school as the embroidery is different. 

Fuaiz says White’s parents are rich and engineers

What the Characters Know and Don't Know (As of Episode 9) by @raelle-writing

Actor Reveals About The Characters by @raelle-writing

Theories (Episodes 1-8):

Not Jin’s Video Theory by @raelle-writing

Not Jin’s Laptop Theory by @raelle-writing

Hints at the timeline/dates things happen by @yellingaboutkp

Why Uncle Dang Was Killed by @befuddledcinnamonroll

Is Jin final girl? by @blismytherapy

Non is dead (dead men tell no tales) by @mikuni14

Why So Many Maskys? by @slayerkitty

Tan is New by @tbhimnoteasyonmyself

Are The Boys Being Drugged (Are you High, Top?) by @italianpersonwithashippersheart

Non isn’t dead (alive men tell tales) by @respectthepetty

Theories (Episode 9-10):

Why Jin Sees Keng by @raelle-writing

Is Phee Still Playing Jin (Play On, Player?) by @yellingaboutkp

What's Up With White's Hallucinations? by @jeffsatyr with contributions by @italianpersonwithashippersheart

Tan is Going to Turn on Phee (and other upcoming episode theories) by @slayerkitty

Non Isn’t Dead (alive men tell tales, but they don’t change their clothes) by @subtextsays

Phi is on Tan's Hitlist by @respectthepetty

Non is Alive (Only Alive Men Tell Tales in Telenovelas) by @babyangelsky

Non is the Hidden Character And In This Essay I Will - by @babyangelsky

On The Episode 10 Preview by @crysta1ized

Non is Alive (Alive Men Tell Tales When They Paint in Grayscale) by @yellingaboutkp

Gas Mask for Masky? by @biochemjess

On What Tan Sees by @raelle-writing

Will Phee Tell Jin the Truth? by @mikuni14

How Much is a Hallucination and How Much is Real by @babyangelsky with contributions by @respectthepetty and @shannankle

White is the Mastermind by @sniggerwarning

Top's Scar and Masky on Crutches by @subtextsays

DFF Theory Time by @squishysquadstuff

Theories About White by @crysta1ized

Ninth Person Theory by @raelle-writing

Hallucination or Real? by @raelle-writing

Non is Alive for Now (Alive men tell tales if they're about to kick the bucket) by @harurio

A Scream/DFF Parallel Theory on Who's Behind the Mask by @crysta1ized

Tree Mark Theory by @babyangelsky

Episode 11 Preview Theory by @crysta1ized

New and the Antidote by @respectthepetty

White-Non Theory by @crysta1ized

*Due to the number links and mentions the round up is now four(!) posts. Please see Part 2 here, Part 3 here and Part 4 here.

[rachelbethhines]

60 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary Marathon - Tennant 10th Review

Doctor Whooves: Wrong Way Backwards - Fan Crossover

Okay first off, this particular story is sort of like BF's Flip Flop in that you can listen to either 'side' in any order, with events happening simultaneously. This playlist is my preferred order; Doctor Whooves: WWB but this one is perhaps the most common listening order Doctor Whooves: Wrong Way Backwards. You can also go with the edited down version which streamlines everything into one video, which means no repeated scenes but you do lose a little of the ending dialogue.

(Note: If you listen with headphones you'll get the best audio experience as the sound editor does a lot of neat tricks with levels) 

But what is 'Doctor Whooves' do you ask?

Well back during 2010 My Little Pony kind of exploded upon the fan scene with a new animated tv series. Now I was never a MLP girl myself, and I've still yet see a single episode from any of the various series, but the fandom was everywhere. And as animation student at the time, I obviously had classmates who were really into the show, so I was familiar with it by proxy.

Anyways one particular background character caught the fandom's eye, a pony with an hour glass mark whom everyone said looked just like David Tennant.

He was dubbed Doctor Whooves by the fans and spawned an entire sub-fandom within the series. There were comics, fan-fictions, animations, and even fan audios. And not just one or two fan audios but whole audio series. Several in fact! By my count there is at least 20 different series, and that was back in 2016, I wouldn't be surprised if there were even more by now.

Wrong Way Backwards is a crossover between two of the bigger fan series, The Doctor Whooves Adventures and Doctor Whooves and Assistant, and I do not exaggerate when I say it might just be the best multi-Doctor story ever written.  

No I mean it! 

This came out twelve years ago. It predates Day of the Doctor by like two years and has all the hallmarks of what we would consider to be keystones of the modern multi-doctor formula but cranked up to like eleven. Doctors having heart to hearts with companions, Doctors yelling in each other's faces because they're riddled with so much guilt, companions teaming up and being bad asses together, slapstick comedy with the Doctor weirding people out ect...

It's like this little oddball crossover within a crossover fan project became the blueprint/standard upon all other later multi-Doctor stories are held to. 

I won't lie, the entire reason I included a fan section in this marathon was just so I could talk about this story. Most entries are selected randomly, but this particular one was planned from the beginning because more Doctor Who fans need to know of it's existence. Sure, the dialogue maybe a little on the nose and the MLP side of things does keep the serial from going as dark as it could, but in many ways that just adds to the charm.

And best of all, you don't really need to be familiar with either parent show or fan series to listen and understand the story. Since the MLP world is a new dimension for the  Doctor to explore, he becomes the pov character for the audience, same for when he travels to the parallel world. This means things are explained to the audience as the Doctor discovers them, so it's easy to follow along, and any throw backs or nods to continuity are really more to do with the respective audio series rather than the parent shows. You might miss an easter egg here and there but the story is easy to follow regardless.

In addition to being clever and heartfelt with it's writing, it also has a top notch production, with good audio production and voice acting. I highly, highly recommend checking it out. 

[rigelmejo]

Some language learning apps:

Notifyword - free, closest I cpuld find to a free alternative to Glossika with the feature to upload your own sentences/decks/spreadsheets, and it makes audio using TTS and plays them. However I did not test it enough to see if it schedules new/reviews so you don't need to manage figuring all that out yourself. It has potential, I will check into the app again in a year.

Smart Book by KursX - free, used to be my favorite app to read novels as it could do parallel sentence translation, then something broke on my version and it crashed whenever I opened a novel. Now any chinese book I add epub or txt shows me a black screen, no text, making the app unusable. Its easier to read in the web browser now. Which makes me sad because this app was so good back when I got it. Then something broke and I haven't been able to fix it. I paid for premium for this app I liked it so much, I'm really sad I can't see text in books in it anymore. If anyone knows how to fix this problem please let me know? Maybe it's a txt file setting? But then why do the epubs also not load text? Anyway great app... if it works for you. Sadly its broken for me.

Live Transcribe - I don't use this enough. It transcribes what people say (or audio), then you can click to translate the text.

LingoTube - only free app I know where I can put in a youtube video link, and it will make dual subtitles/let me replay the video line by line (including repeating a loop on one line), click translate individual words. Excellent for intensive listening. I'm usually lazy so I just watch youtube and look up an occasional word in Google Translate or Pleco. But this tool is excellent for intensively looking a lot up in a video/relistening to particular lines.

Duoreader - basic collection of parallel texts. No options to upload files, but super nice for what it is. Totally free.

Chinese:

Hanly - a new free app for learning hanzi. Looks great, has great mnemonics and sound information and you can tell it was made with love/a goal in mind. It's still new though so only the first 1000 hanzi have full information filled out, making it more useful for beginners. As the app is worked on more, I'm hoping it will become more useful for intermediate learners.

Readibu - free, great for reading webnovels just get it if you want to read chinese webnovels. You can import almost ANY webpage into Readibu to read, just paste the url into the search. So if you have a particular novel in mind you may want to do that instead of searching the app's built in genres.

Pleco - free, great for everything just get it if you're learning chinese. Great dictionary, great (one time purchase) paid features like handwriting, additional dictionaries, graded readers. Great SRS flashcard system, great Reader tool (and free Clipboard Reader which is 80% of what I use the app for - especially Dictate Audio feature which Readibu can't do).

Bilibili.com app - look up a tutorial, it is fairly easy to make an account in the US (and I imagine other countries) using your email. The algorithm is quite good at suggesting things similar to what you search. So once I searched a couple danmei, I got way more recommended. Once I searched one manhua video, more popped up. Once I searched one dubbed cartoon, more popped up. You can easily spend as much time on this as you'd like.

Weibo - you can browse tags/search without an account. I could not make an account with a US phone and no wechat account. Nice for browsing tags/looking up particular topics.

Japanese:

Tae Kims Grammar Guide - has an app version that's formatted to read easier on phones.

Yomiwa - this is the dictionary app I use for japanese on android.

Satori Reader - amazing graded reader app for japanese with full audiobooks for each reader (which you can listen to individual sentences of on repeat if desired), individual grammar explanations for each part, human translations for each word and sentence. When I start reading more this is what I want to use. Too expensive right now unless I'm reading a bunch, as only the first chapter (or first few) of each graded reader is free. I would suggest checking out the free Tadoku Graded Readers first online, then coming to this app later.

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

I'M HERE I'M HERE *trips from stone pebble, face first* i'm here...

That's right, my dear fellows, your local theorist is back and freed from the basement! WA-HOO 🎉 What episode do we got today... *sees thumbnail+title* ...oh. huh.

Team...*inhales* care to tell me what. the. fuck is this? "SMG4:" IS BACK ON THE TITLE?! AND THIS DESCRIPTION?!

oh my god the Team hates me so BAD (/lh /jk) WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!

(the following is my live reaction:)

dude, i don't even know what to expect from this but it looks like i'm going to be incredibly annoying in this review 😅 (sorry in advance)

the way Mario goes to the front door of his home is exactly how i enter every room

Mario to Luigi: "Trying to get me back after locking you in the fridge for 5 days?" wha ...y'know what? that sounds about right

*war flashbacks to Ben's tweet*

*slowly turns to Team* what did you do? :) NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR KNOWING SMILES, ONLY I SHOULD DO THAT. ANOTHER FNAF REF WITH THE VANNY MASK ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

(hey nicc, buddy, how are you holding up?)

btw the Team could've gone with any mask but they went with this for 4 & 3 🤔

*points at 4* he wants that cookie SO BAD

UE UE UE THEY MEAN THE WORLD TO ME💙💜 they do be scheming

look how much they've changed 🥹 (and i will talk about them later)

AND their expressions? *dies*

*stares at Team suspiciously* wow the framing of this scene is quite interesting, huh

speak yourself, 4. you could barely handle horror games

OH I GET THE CLUE NOW @arco-doodles never could i have ever imagined a roles-reversed version of "the princess carry" 🗣️LET'S GOOOOOOO

SMG3: "You've used the same laugh in like all your videos." and ofc, you would know that. you were like his biggest fan (in the classic era), obsessed even smh /affectionate

HOLY SHIT ARE WE DOING FOUND FOOTAGE THROUGH 3'S POV/PHONE?!?! dude this is SICK

*deadpans at you through the screen* y'know...

I'm a sucker for this animation, dude

gonna bounce around the screen like the DVD logo, spooky style

well this feels familiar

and also the fact that Mario looked like that one meme with the realistic eyes (link) that Ben used as his pfp one time. what's crazy is that Ben hasn't seen this episode yet lmao

OH A BIT OF 2D PNG ANIMATION. also the eyeliner 👀

(hmm why do 4 & 3 get trapped in the weirdest places tf? /lh)

welp we found Luigi, we did it guys *cheesy thumbs-up* roll the credits

also it's giving:

i'm just going to drop this here, ok? ↓

4 lifting 3's chin :)

a TADC ref? in my SMG4 episode? it's more likely than you think

love the small details of not only Mario's post-it note of "Mario's Spaghetti, DO NOT EAT" but also his drawing of "stinky 4" just hung up on the fridge

it is still Mario....... NOT EVEN THE SPAGHETTI TRAP?

somehow 3 summoning ghosts fit with his internet graveyard/dark web role

*WHEEZE* the 2 dollar store item...

*danny phantom theme plays*

oh. uh, i'm intruding, aren't i? i should go...... ("he wants that cookie so bad" 2: electric boogaloo???)

i hired 3 & 4 to stare at you /silly /ref

love how 3 has his contacts with the regular names (Karen, Bob, etc.) meanwhile for 4, it's "StinkyMessGuy4". 4's different 💅

aw 4 🥹💙 you did a good thing in apologizing

3 NOOOOOOO

*IGBP war flashbacks*

oh, what's that? i was staring at space again? oh, no, I was trying to figure out HOW DID I MANIFEST 4'S CASTLE COLLAPSING IN AN IGBP PARALLEL OF AN EPISODE?! oh god, did the Team somehow see my WIPs of my door fanart? they're hacking into my tablet /silly

so let me get this straight: a supernatural entity with multiple eyes and red is causing chaos, starting from emerging out of the PC to eventually corrupting the castle and its ground, meanwhile, the friends believed that one of them is possessed by said entity and trying to save them in several ways. AND by the end, 3, having a character development moment, sympathizes with their "possessed" friend...

🧍 ...ok yeah I see how it is, Team. and while i was gone for the weekend? smh

eh close enough, welcome back IGBP

before i move on, it's crazy how the Team kept punching me in the gut for the "Eye of Horus/Ra" stem of the Goop!4 theory and now they jumped into the theory's "Eye of God" and Christianity thing with Mario's new form. "wow Mario really is 4's avatar" i can never catch a break 😔 /silly

here's some context *flashback noises*:

*le gasp* he apologized?! BIG MOMENT HERE FOLKS AAAAAA

...and it didn't work? oh shit. i'm still very proud of you 3 💙

THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE SAYS SO MANY THINGS.

ok ok first off, the fact that 3 was serious about his apology. For once, doing the right thing only to be rejected. It feels very similar to the YT arc when 3 was doing his own thing with Snitch Productions. Here tho, 4 is affirming 3's actions, approving it. 3 really did good. if it was 4 back in the classic era, 4 might've had a harder time believing 3 bc of them being enemies, which was what eventually caused Snitch Productions to get destroyed and 3 clicking into his villain arc. BUT HERE, 4 believed and trusted 3's sincerity, especially since we all know 3 isn't the usual type to be emotionally vulnerable. 4 knows bc of what 3 said to him in IGBP

second, this might be a dark subject so fair warning about death. can we talk about how 4, time and time again, doesn't mind the idea of dying? I know we talked about the death guidelines of this universe and sure, it entirely depends on the context/intent behind it. But the fact he's ok with it regardless... Here, in IGBP, and other sillier episodes, it's almost like he accepts it as some sort of punishment, just enough bc by what seems like the end for him, he's doing the right thing or something he loved or from his own doing/fault. And that is what i worry bc in a serious arc, sooner or later, something like this is gonna happen again, and 4 might say he accepts this supposed fate bc he "deserved it" after everything he's done, even before IGBP. This got sad real quick, dude

Really, Team? All this in a silly spooky episode? damn

...let's go on and try to go back to silly mode, ok? ok

GET PRANKED, BRUH‼️🚨🚨‼️‼️

*shaking violently* Team, was it necessary for you to shove the fact that the window to the boarded-up room is right there, in my face? really?

and let's not prank Mario ever again :D

Congrats to Not_wizz for your art being featured in the end credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

[Ink here! Sorry for the late review, I literally passed out for the whole day from the conference and immediately had a rough production day yesterday. But I'm here now, coming in fashionably late 💅]

This. This was an INCREDIBLE episode, I don't even know how. The animation, the story, all of it was crazy /very pos. If you haven't noticed my insanity already, this feels too familiar to IGBP (says the co-CEO of the Goop!4 theory). at this point, the Team is teasing us. So Team, while I'm upset at the fact that I had to miss this, touché. congrats, you got me good.

Now, some of you might've noticed in the end credits that Cube is the producer instead of Kevin. For the jokes and giggles, Kev may not make it out alive from Creator Clash when his opponent's out for blood, so he's passing it over to Cube. Even some of the Team joked about it when it was first announced RIP Kev /jk.

But no seriously, Cube has been the producer for several episodes now and it's nice to see the Team growing and trusting each other with these roles. I'm sure Kev will be around but hey, things change. we just gotta adapt.

Ok, back to the episode itself. 3 & 4 have really shown how much they've grown over all these years. Obviously 4, who didn't do "childish" pranks before, now does bc of 3's influence and is really getting along with 3. But 3 went through some change from 4's influence as well, episodes before and "subtlety" now. 3 tried to save his friends in Puzzle Park (more worried of their safety than his own) and now he apologizes for that prank they did to Mario. Like he said, he swallowed his pride, and 4 believed in his word. another step of character development for these two, we love to see it.

and ofc, another episode of our goofball Mario, it's really in-character for him to into a biblically accurate angel just for a prank lol.

Anyway, this has been an incredible episode and I applaud to everyone who worked on this 👏 something's brewing and I'm so excited to see what comes next. Apparently, I owe my moot a can of rizz soda so chat, I'll see you all at the next one, and remember: numbers go first........

...so *slowly turns chair* Team, what's up with that title huh? you ain't slick, "SMG4: IT'S A ME..." is LITERALLY a few words away from "SMG4: IT'S GOTTA BE PERFECT". and HEY, what's up with the framing showing the DOOR, huh? NO i'm not delusional, ANSWER MEEEE /silly

[respectthepetty]

@italianpersonwithashippersheart and @slayerkitty, I think Dee will win the scholarship too because he is a winner and will burn the hospital down if he loses, but I think he going to stay because he has to make a decision and even if he wins the scholarship, he'd still lose.

Follow me down Wild Ass Theory Road:

The director said all the money and high-tech equipment is pointless if they don't have component doctors in the hospital.

Dee took personal responsibility for his youngest patient's care.

And Dee is here for the patients.

Dee is a doer rather than a thinker like Ter, so he likes to be hands-on. Ter is compiling a lit review and filming videos, which is valid.

But Dee is conducting original research and coordinating activities.

Dee also doesn't like presenting.

Ter likes brushing shoulders with the big wigs.

Dee, strangely, isn't about that life, and really just wants to do his job, very well.

He could've been a face (dermatology), but he didn't want to do that.

He wanted to flex some knuckles, break some bones, and get the joints poppin'!

Dee is (fake) dating the boxer that the hospital, specifically his department, is sponsoring, and if the rumor mill was doing the rounds before when news spread that he was only applying for the scholarship because Ter rejected him, if he wins, I think the rumors will spread that he only got it because the hospital wanted to please their World Champion Boxer.

I'm blind when it comes to Ter, so I think this would be a good chance for him to redeem himself and step up to defend Dee which is something he DID NOT DO last time.

Dee is going to win, but he doesn't want to really study abroad. He wants to be in the hospital, doing his job, helping his patients, and doing his own research. Ter wants to study more and be a nice prop for the hospital, so let him.

Give the real loser his dream while also rubbing salt in his loser wounds letting him know that he is only getting this because Dee, the winner, is letting him.

Also, when Yak was busy with training, Dee sent Yak a message first.

Then, when Yak went to training, Dee drove four hours round-trip to see him.

Dee didn't even want to stay longer in Japan and he checked in on Yak's fight while he was out of the country. Also note that Dee didn't want to present on their work from the previous year, while Ter was quick to state they would once again proving that Dee isn't trying to rehash the past but build on it so he can keep making advancements. Also, the director is Team DeeYak.

Never once during these events did Dee admit he missed Yak first because Dee. Must. Win. And admitting he misses Yak makes him a loser.

So would Dee really study abroad and leave Yak in Thailand when he misses him so much even after a few days? Or would it be better for Dee to finally admit that even if he won the scholarship, he doesn't want to be away from Yak? He wins, but he loses.

Finally, a wedding IS coming. Last Twilight already gave us a breakup and time jump before a wedding brought the couple back together. That could happen here, but it shouldn't have happened the first time, and it'd be hella weird for it to happen twice, from the same company, in the same year. This isn't the Japanese BL run. We don't need two nickles for this.

And Dee is wearing Yak's chain in the BTS image, so they are still together, and considering how much Thailand makes a WHOLE THING over couples trying to stay together when one is abroad (Never Let Me Go, Bad Buddy, 23.5), they are together at that wedding.

Therefore, my Wild Ass Theory is that Dee will win the scholarship and will have to leave before Yak's big fight or Cher and Yei's wedding, so Green Flag Yak will say, "take the opportunity because you deserve it" but Dee will say "NO!" to the scholarship, make it to Yak's fight or the wedding at the final moment paralleling this scene,

Then, he'll scream "YAK, I MISS YOU" and *scene*

Dee has gotta lose eventually, so let it be in the finale admitting the one thing he refuses to admit - Winning doesn't matter if he loses Yak.

AMEN!

[mavyunivrse]

Shifting diary entry : 01

“ Void state & parallels ”

I got into the void state for the first time a couple days ago! I wasn’t even trying to get into it, I was just doing box breathing. It took me a while to realise I was in the void, but when I did I snapped out of it unfortunately, but now I’ve done it!

I’ve been really relaxed through meditations before but wasn’t sure if it was the void state. Now I know and I can’t believe how easy it was.

I’ve never felt my body like that—mind awake, body asleep. It felt like I was in nothing? I couldn’t feel my body or my bed, and that’s what scared me and snapped me out of it. And I could still hear my surroundings but I wasn’t paying attention to them so technically I couldn’t really hear it? Very weird, but best I can describe it is when you’re head is under water.

It’s funny because something that I think has been holding me back, is thinking I can’t shift if I hear my CR surrounding sounds. So to get this deep into the void without headphones and no subliminal was really huge for me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Time for me has been a little out of wack recently. So I can’t remember if this happened before or after I reached the void. But now I believe I’m in a parallel reality.

Here’s some differences I’ve noticed:

1. But I was going about my day as usual, and there’s this girl on TikTok I watch a lot because I really love her bedroom and movie reviews. I remember her having an English accent but suddenly it’s very clearly Scottish/Irish. I went back to her old videos I have saved and she’s always had that accent.

2. I have bumps on the ends of my teeth (mamelons) I’ve had them my entire life. Looking in the mirror they have significantly gone down, and one is almost completely straight.

3. I have time limits on my apps, all set to 50 minutes. Suddenly I have one on my Notion app, that’s got 35 minutes.

4. I babysit my sister after school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Friday afternoons. On Monday I got ready to get her from bus but I was told by my family we only ever have her Tuesdays and Fridays.

5. There’s another but it’s just a little bit too personal but it’s a big difference within my anatomy.

Anyways this has been huge for me. The closest I’ve ever been to shifting was my very first attempt years ago, and tumblr has completely rejuvenated my journey.

–ℳ

[its-t-v-time]

tbh it makes sense that kris is so annoyed by alphys bc like. ok obvious aside if i was 15 and my teacher wouldn't stop talking about anime and had a yaoi desktop background and lent superhero comics to my cringe dad and i was being possessed by something that really wanted to see her pretentious annoying anime opinions for some reason i'd be on the news. aside from that. alphys's whole deal is that she's really into video games and fiction and in undertale this is meant to parallel the player's curiosity. so in a game where the main character clashes with the player's curiosity so much i can see where that animosity can come from. especially if that player's making them read their teacher's anime reviews

[centrally-unplanned]

To share another thought on the Folding Ideas video I Don't Know James Rolfe from my last post, while I enjoyed it a ton I do think its core "meta" element fails to reach the heights it could. It is never made that explicit so I am making a subjective read here, but essentially while most of the content of the video is textually about James Rolfe, there are dozens of moments where Dan performs actions that mimic or parallel James, culminating in his own parodic angry video game review as the finale. The idea is something of a "there but for the grace of god I go" point, that perhaps all youtubers, and Dan specifically, are too close for comfort to Rolfe's reality of limited creative options and a hostile fanbase clinging to the past .

But I can't really say for sure! Because he is very adverse to making this concrete enough for the audience.

At times the visual parallels are incredibly direct. There is one moment, where Dan is explaining the real skill and craft of being an internet clown on demand, where he mimics Rolfe's style of rant to explain it while projected AVGN videos that were looping in the background flash over his own body:

And it really works, the meaning shines through; it is a moment you can see back through time where the idea for this shot was, spiritually, the impetus for the film, that this idea must have come to him and he built the essay around making it happen.

Other visual parallels are less explicit; when the parody sequence starts, Dan - who has built a 1/12th scale recreation of the Rolfe's "video game basement" aka studio set in order to "understand" him like normal people do - represents himself in that room via a tiny hand puppet

Which is cute if, like probably most people, know him as the guy who makes videos about NFTs or Qanon. But close to a decade ago, when he was first making ~20 minute media analysis takes, he represented himself on screen with a wooden puppet like this:

It is even like the same color, I am confident this is intentional, it is saying "yeah this could have been an alt version of me; I was not so far from this".

All these symbols function to make the emotional impact; but an emotional impact in service of...what? So in the essay he discusses the film Wavelength, a 1967 avant garde film that is almost entirely composed of filming the side of a room with minimal camera movement while actions occur around it. It is a movie that never gives you a meaning, and therefore you must project meaning into it, bring yourself to the table. That makes sense for Wavelength, and the aggressive cinematography of I Don't Know James Rolfe - which is stellar to be clear - is making the film out to be sort of its own personal Wavelength for YouTube.

But then we go back to that text, which is over an hour of Dan directly talking to the camera about a real person. It is incredibly concrete and detailed, with explicit points being made over and over. And through what those explicit points reveal... I don't think Dan Olsen is like James Rolfe! Does he have an hostile fanbase trapped in nostalgia? Do people acuse him of being cucked by his bitch wife? He has evolved as a filmmaker, intensely so, he does things completely differently than Rolfe does and completely differently from how he himself used to. He doesn't have a shitty biography that self-outs his own creative narcissism, he isn't obsessed with remaking his own childhood films - I am pretty sure as a kid he had never heard of NFTs, they didn't really exist! The final line of the film is "maybe you aren't a filmmaker either" - but idk, Dan, I kinda think you are! If documentarians can be filmmakers you have to qualify.

Now I'm not a fool, I understand that the film could be suggesting these are differences of degrees and not kind; that Dan is equally "trapped in the room" making vlogs for the net, just with more outward trappings of success. But, in the ruthless specificity and detail of his treatment of Rolfe...this film cannot be Wavelength. I am not capable of forging my own meaning from the pieces, he connected way too many of them. This is the trap of avant-garde; you are tempted to help the audience, but once you try to answer some of the questions, it forces the hand of the rest, they all have to fit into that schema. And the film is just too coy with Dan's own parallel life for me to figure the schema out. I make my guesses and I lack confidence in them, they feel "contradicted" by the text.

More detail would have been the easier path; less detail and more symbolic expression would have been the harder path. But right now the balance is just a bit too out of whack for it to come fully together.