#belter tattoo

[talesfrommedinastation]

The Knight is Crowned King

“I am saying it is time to put aside the trooper, the CT number, the clone who served under a sergeant in a Republic that no longer exists. It is time for you to become the captain that we– your people –need you to be.”

Tech stood up straight. “Then, if that is the case, Camina, I have a request.”

“Say it.”

“Get me a tattoo gun. Now.”

-Camina Drummer and Tech, Far Past the Ring

————————-

I really can’t thank @cloned-eyes enough for this wonderful piece that they did. She she taki taki!

It is Camina Drummer giving Tech the infamous 'collar' tattoo of The Belt in her presidential office, LDS mural still behind her.

For me, this culminates the spirit of Far Past the Ring, especially for canon characters Camina Drummer and Tech.

The story was initially conceived as a fun little romp for Clone Force 99, where Tech would meet a Belter engineer, they’d chat, maybe have a short romance, and move on with their lives.

This was February 2023.

But after Plan 99 aired a month later…well, we all went a little nuts. I did, too. Blame the Wellbutrin.

Also, blame me taking folklore classes at Berkeley as an undergrad. I decided the short story was going to become something bigger, and Tech was taking center stage.

On that note, I was so angry for Tech.

I was angry for all of his potential as a character, thrown down the mountain on Eriadu.

So, I decided to whip out the ol’ English 251 notes I had from years ago, and chart out Tech’s own Hero’s Journey, through the world of The Expanse meeting the world of Star Wars.

But I did not want Tech merely limping off into the sun into a simple, happy ending. No.

I wanted him to face challenges, fight, win alliances, and be received as the goddamned hero that he is.

To quote Campbell himself from The Hero with a Thousand Faces:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

And who better to bestow this mighty power and crown unto Tech then Camina motherfuckin’ Drummer.

If you haven’t seen The Expanse, know that Camina Drummer goes through the Hero’s Journey of Hero’s Journeys herself. She rose from an orphan working the docks on Ceres, to a foot soldier for Anderson Dawes, a director under Fred Johnson, the first commanding officer of the largest vessel in human history (The OPAS Behemoth, later Medina Station), and then, the first president of the Transport Union, arguably the most powerful person in the universe.

It isn't an easy journey: she's shot, beaten, breaks her spine, loses the love of her life, watches loved ones get murdered in front of her, and is abandoned by those who professed to love her.

But Camina Drummer never gives up. She fights to the end to make things right. Girlfriend is rewarded....and now she passes that onto Tech.

After all, Camina’s people, the Belters, adorn themselves through tattoos. They live their lives in space, in the vacuum, where jewelry can be lost, damaged or hurt the owner. So they tattoo.

Years ago, cheap suits were supplied by Inners for Belters under their governance. They demanded Belters to work and extract resources from the Kuiper Belt and other outer planets in order to make them rich. The helmet connections ot the suit would often burn the wearer's neck, as seen below on Anderson Dawes.

In many ways, it is also a symbol of the yoke of slavery, of a chain around one’s neck.

Although younger Belters now wear better vacsuits, they still wear the tattoos to remind them of what their ancestors went through, seen on Naomi Nagata below.

A symbol of pain is now a symbol of what Belters are fighting for–freedom. Which they earn.

So, by getting that tattoo, done by Camina Drummer, the hero and president of the Belt, is our Tech getting crowned.

It’s right after Camina makes him their Chief Systems Engineer as well as a commander. He bled and fought for his chosen people, and he is rewarded as such.

It's him saying I'm here, I'm one of you, and your leader is the one putting it on me.

Oh, and in true fairy tale hero’s journey mode, Tech also gets a beautiful Belter ‘princess’...Sjael Drummer, Camina’s cousin.

Once again, something that originally wasn’t in the cards last year, but I wanted a full Hero’s Journey and I was damned if Tech wasn’t going to get it!

Tagging those that have commented and enjoyed the story: @eyecandyeoz @perfectlywingedcrusade @megmca @skellymom @cdblake1565 @thecoffeelorian @supremechancellorrex @that-salmonberry-punk @autistic-artistech @deezlees @littlefeatherr @nahoney22 @freesia-writes @eelfuneral @yeehawgeek @isthereanechoinhere96 @sued134

[coffeeslot]

I got a bit of an upgrade. Themeda triandra, kangaroo grass, and an Expanse reference combined.

[rocicrew]

She’d spend years, if not decades, of her life practicing. Only showing aspects of herself to survive. Marco had been the first one to see all of her. And there was nothing of her to show now. No one in the Cant, or at any Inner run contracts she’d been on after Pallas, had heard her real accent. Whatever Belter expressions she spoke had been slip ups, from tiredness and never before her superiors. And on the Behemoth, she’d leaned further on the opposite side. Her accent thicker than the young girl’s she’d once been. One that corresponded to her place of authority once she’d gained the title of Chief Engineer. Her hair dyed bright purple, as if playing a role, would allow her to finally fit from the place she’d run from.

Her tattoo, as impulsive as it’d been, felt closer to her true self than anything else she’d done. Jagged pieces fitting together in a mosaic. Sharp angles coming together to create a whole piece. A collection of all the people she’d been, of the person she was.

[venndaai]

Lore behind the Beltalowda neck. Tattoos is reallyfascinating

it is, yeah! I still really love the Belters, most compelling part of the Expanse really.

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 2: The Expanse 1x03

(Hi @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold @thisislavieboheme @kindclaws! Yes, I am watching The Expanse!!)

Back to The Expanse today after a 2-week hiatus. The hiatus wasn’t about giving up on it; it was just a scheduling thing. The break was not the greatest because I felt a bit like I was thrown into the deep end with the lore and plot and all the characters but I basically followed.

I think my favorite part of this episode was the part with the Ambassador to Mars, not because the UN storyline is my favorite—honestly it’s more like an exposition crutch, helping to give overall context from a more removed, birds’-eye-view—but because it really gave some interesting context to Mars. When ep 2 left off just before the boarding of the Martian ship, I was really excited to find out more about them. And then I was semi-disappointed: I guess miliary dictatorships are pretty dull, at least in terms of their overall aesthetic. They’re just… humans who wear black and stand really straight. (And have no testicles?? LMAO) But being able to contrast that very austere, very rigid, very dark military ship vibe with what the Ambassador describes of the planet itself was way more compelling: people with a common goal coming together to build a garden out of rock is like my fantasy for a utopian future (especially contrasted with ‘we paved over ours!’) and if I had heard that about Mars FIRST I would have a totally different expectation for the society. Honestly maybe that would have been more interesting. But hearing first and foremost that it’s a military dictatorship and being introduced to something of what that looks like simultaneously to getting this other information about the goals and appearance of the planet turns the story into something very different. And in a way none of it is surprising. Of course it’s a military dictatorship: a physically difficult task like creating a garden on Mars could probably most easily be accomplished through very rigid rules and structure and hierarchy. And the people who would sign up for such a task would be susceptible to falling into that sort of order. So that’s very interesting world building to me that I’d like to know more about.

I also liked the little mini-plot with the almost spy-like intrigue by Chrisjen. So much of the show is just really broad-based world building; there isn’t a lot that feels self-contained to any one episode, so that was nice.

The characters from the Canterbury are starting to get to me a little. I like Holden and I like Naomi—don’t love them but I enjoy them, they have potential—and I sort of have a soft spot for Amos-as-guard-dog and the sort of mystery about what his relationship with Naomi might be. But the other two? Meh. I feel like this group of five survivors should be better than it is… if you’re going to destroy the Canterbury in the first episode and also take out all of the other characters you’ve just started to develop, all in one twist at the end of the first hour, the people who are left and now have to carry this entire third of the show by themselves better be stellar. I just don’t feel like they are. Maybe I want something from them that they are not and were never intended to be, a sort of insta-found family thing, but I’m just not connecting with them. I could stand for the other two to be killed off, not gonna lie.

Currently, I don’t think Naomi is OPA but I sort of wish she was/hope she is… like, that would be the most interesting turn for the story to take, in my opinion. I feel like this might be the sort of statement I’ll regret putting down later for any number of reasons but I’m just saying—it’s my feeling right now. I do like that she is a confirmed Belter because it makes me feel smarter for recognizing her tattoo last week even though, like, that was probably supposed to be very obvious and not a secret clue or anything. I’d also like an explanation for her weird hand gesture during the interrogation. Much hay was made of it but I didn’t really get it.

I did like the Martian Captain a lot. First, love that she’s referred to as Sir (real “female crewman” vibes there). Adored her coffee mug. Totally taken in by her whole… her whole thing. The whole package. The only charismatic person on the planet honestly.

The Ceres story feels the most comfortable to me, I think because it’s Blade Runner-esque aesthetic is so familiar. Giant, overrun, poor, noir-ish, future city—this one in space! (I say this even the most obvious Blade Runner parallel in this episode specifically was the Mars ship interrogation.) Also the political unrest situation is a familiar narrative, with beats I can follow pretty easily. I like their transparent phones and iPads and stuff. I don’t actually think that kind of look is where technology will go—it doesn’t look very stable, and it’s already starting to become dated in a way not dissimilar to how Apple Store Enterprise in ST09 is dated—but future aesthetics reflect the tastes of the era in which they were made, and this is such a specific Shiny Futurism, very familiar to my era of sci fi, that I enjoy it. And it pairs interestingly with the dirty sci fi of the rest of the station.

I also liked the credits with the curfew announcement playing over them instead of music. On the one hand, I feel like that kind of trick is best for, like, real emotional outlier episodes, episodes when everything has changed and something devastating has happened, and I’m not sure that the death of the minor cop after 3 episodes really counts as that. I mean a whole ship blew up in 1x01, so let’s put it in proportion. But on the other hand, I think referencing that trick of using non-music credits as a sort of emotional emphasis helped to play up how ominous the curfew is. Otherwise, it sort of seems like just another step in the direction the narrative has been going in from the jump. But as it is, I’m left with this very eerie sense of, like, a turning point being reached in some way. We’ll see if that’s what actually happens, but that’s the mood for me right now.

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

Naomi getting a chest tattoo and purple hair due when she goes back to the belters??? Love it

[doolallymagpie]

DRUMMER SWEEP! she won! as if there were any doubt. now I've gotta find 'Mechs that'd go well in her OPA command lance

and also figuring out what trim colors would pair well with a nice Dark Angels-esque metallic green (i'm aware the uniforms are black, but the Behemoth's lighting makes them look a little green, and there's way too much stuff in BattleTech with "metallic black" as the main color anyway)

for detailing, i'm probably going back to that "dazzle camo" look i tried on "Mockingbird" Mehra's shadowhawk, using various belter tattoos as references

[talesfrommedinastation]

Happy Tech Tuesday!

Here’s the old boy in some modern gear. Might give him some Belter or Ojibwe tattoos, IDK.

[ivy-fawley]

→  diagon  alley  is  home  to  many  ,  a  direct  connection  to  the  wizarding  world  ,  right  in  the  centre  of  london  ,  many  people  like IVERSON "IVY" FAWLEY  ,  spend  majority  of    her   time  in  the  busy  alley  ,  people  know  her  as  the  TWENTY THREE year  old  who  is  a  HUFFLEPUFF  graduate  ,  now  working   in  family services ,  i  think  the  role  suits  them  perfectly  as  i  think  they  are  VIVACIOUS  but  also  they  can  be  TENACIOUS  ,  but  that's  just  my  opinion  .  || playlist ||

→ NAME: iverson “ivy” adelyn fawley → NICKNAMES: ivy, ives, glitter girl, glitter demon, that bitch with the glitter → AGE / D.O.B.: 23 / 7 january  → SPECIES: pureblood witch  → GENDER / PRONOUNS: cisfemale / she&her  → SEXUALITY: lesbian  → RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single as hell (and cute as a button)

FAMILY  → PARENTS: Francis & Delilah Fawley → SIBLINGS: ? → COUSINS:  ? → PETS: clyde, long-eared owl she brought home 6th year because ‘he’s got the cutest little hoot, listen, listen’ ‘hooo’ ‘😍‘

LIFESTYLE  → BORN: edinburgh, scotland  → RAISED: grassmarket, edinburgh, scotland   → CURRENT RESIDENCE: hogsmeade, scotland  → NATIONALITY: scottish  → SPOKEN LANGUAGES: english and jock (not a real language, but try telling her that)  → OCCUPATION: family services - ministry of magic (like wizard cps)  → DRINK | SMOKE | DRUGS: occasionally, occasionally, occasionally → RELIGION: god is a woman and heaven is whatever you want to be 

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES → FACE CLAIM: alexxis lemire  → HEIGHT: 5ft. 4 in.  → WEIGHT: 110 lbs  → BUILD: petite, lightly toned muscles  → HAIR: long, brown, usually curled, falls past her (natural) waist  → EYE COLOR: brown  → DOMINANT HAND: right  → SCENT: sweet pea and peonie  → NERVOUS HABITS: paces, crosses and uncrosses her legs, start stops a thousand sentences, tears up, chews the ends of her hair

CHARACTER  → MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic good  → MBTI: enfp  → WESTERN ZODIAC: capricorn (that’s the goat mermaid alek, like reg)  → SONG: belter - gerry cinnamon

MAGIC  → WAND: blue spruce, phoenix feather, 10 ¼", swishy  → PATRONUS: st bernard  → BOGGART:  la la la I can’t hear you

BIO

ivy is a sweetheart or a menace

it really depends on who you ask

and how that person feels abut glitter

also ... how you feel about glitter

because girl has ALWAYS got at least a thin dusting of glitter on her person at all times.

ivy is a real go-getter, and one of those people who always seems to be busy

she takes on 2345678 tasks per week - some paid, some not - and between work, volunteering, and having a social life, its a wonder she’s still alive to live her life at all

she is always ready with a kind heart and open ears and sofa

and she loves to bake - just LOOKING at her is enough to make her want to, but the look in your eyes will tell her if you need sad sweets or happy treats.

was and is still incredibly obsessed with Quidditch, and did want to go pro, however Ivy was of the opinion that she couldn’t do enough to help people from a broom, and that she’d always feel guilty

she found her way into an abhorrently understaffed department, and likes to think that she’s making a difference in kids’ lives, and for their families.

The Fawleys are old, and they have plenty of money, but luckily are not consequential enough these days to warrant as much scrutiny (at home or in public) as so many of Ivy’s peers, and therefore she has been freer than some, to make mistakes and live her life loudly

and colorfully

And i do mean colorfully because she bedazzles and glitters everything she can

Ivy is NEUTRAL and wants absolutely fucking nothing to do with either "side" of the war. She loves people on both and if she pretends hard enough maybe the war will just be over

Ivy and Ivy have matching poison ivy tattoos (Iverson’s is on her left arm, Ivette's on her right) and absolutely come as a set, including but not limited to sitting together in classes, and holding hands and carrying pancakes together

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GIRL GANG - Pandora, Doris, Alie, Lily, Mary, Ivy, and Ivy are adorable and precious and unstoppable and you will not convince any of them otherwise

the ivy league is 100000000% a collection of ivys and they are unstoppable 

 to be an ivy, you need to: be an ivy, be ivy adjacent, or ask

Ithere will be more at some point there always is

[thesinglesjukebox]

LOREEN - "EUPHORIA"

Scott makes sure we don't miss our other late tradition, covering the Eurovision winner...

[5.60]

Scott Mildenhall: Elemental as ever, Loreen emerges from hibernation with a backlog of feelings. Her most idiosyncratic way of expressing them -- emotionally resonant mumbles punctuated with bursts of pitch-perfect pandemonium -- remains arresting and enveloping. If those feelings are inside you too, she is intent on extracting them. It's all the very best theatre. It's understandable that Käärijä was more popular both in the arena -- those lights filled the room -- and at home, but "Tattoo" is for the long run. In keeping things smaller, Loreen could reach into the future (and more importantly, impress the juries). [9]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Less a good song than a strong reminder that your body will respond physiologically to any Eurovision Epic, no matter how boilerplate. [5]

Aaron Bergstrom: If Eurovision is a sport (and it is), Loreen is a champion in the vein of the Duncan/Popovich Spurs: clinical, methodical, laser-focused on doing exactly what it takes to win with little interest in anything else. Here to demand your respect, not win your love. Finland's out here bombing away from the logo, but that's not how you hang those banners. [6]

Katherine St Asaph: A Swedish Eurovision artist reproducing near-exactly the verse melody from "The Winner Takes It All" is a mildly clever injoke. A Swedish Eurovision artist reproducing the verse melody from "The Winner Takes It All" one octave up, belted, as a chorus, is the sort of operatic-scale injoke Eurovision exists for. [6]

Jessica Doyle: I have a great deal of respect for Loreen. That said, all of the following are better, or at least more memorable, than "Tattoo": Croatia's entry, Finland's, Austria's, France's, and Moldova's (don't get me wrong, it's structured poorly, and yet "SOARele, soarele, soarele și luna" is still on my workout playlist). And you could make the case for adding Czechia, Spain, Latvia, or even Slovenia to that list. And none of the previous made my Spotify Wrapped list, but even TSJ on perma-amnesty has limited space for the Theodor Andrei Deserved Far Better argument. (He's got talent, y'all!) [5]

Ian Mathers: It's like they say: at Eurovision, no matter how good the song actually is, you've always got a belter's chance. Luckily, the song is decent, and the lung capacity is impressive. It does have the annoying tic a lot of Eurovision songs seem to have, of starting with noises that are a lot more interesting than most of the song will be. But given the low potential floor for Eurovision entries, we're doing pretty good! [7]

Nortey Dowuona: Loreen's voice is strong. It has a thin, chalky tone when she plays it below the tone of the song, but as the drums begin getting heavier, she scales them comfortably. As the violins, violas, and double bass surround her and then are drowned by Mattias Bylund's synth pads, her voice becomes stronger and more resolute, backed by Moa Carlebecker, a fellow songwriter. But Loreen is the star, growing bigger and bigger as the song reaches its apex -- then she stops it with a flick of her index. [8]

Dorian Sinclair: This song could be quite good, if only Loreen would not hammer on the rhyme every single time. She does it every verse, and it makes the song way worse, so while some parts might be worth more, I can't give her more than four. [4]

Claire Biddles: This song is just fine, but as a bisexual lady who has had that long dark hair/fringe cut since at least 2012, it felt like I had won Eurovision again. [5]

Taylor Alatorre: I know this song isn't really "about" anything other than Loreen's desire for repeat Eurovision glory, but what exactly is the interaction being depicted here? "This is not our time... this is not the end" -- so a temporary breakup, okay. Then something about angels and violins and stars aligning -- so, a breakup that's temporary until death? Probably not, but the music keeps pushing you toward the most dramatic possible reading, despite lacking a coherent narrative structure to house all these disjointed feelings in. Loreen's powerhouse of a voice is the only real winner, matching as well as it can with the Blue Man Group drums and THX synth crescendos. She conveys a general sense of until-the-end endurance that nevertheless leaves the listener wondering just what end is being endured. [4]

Tim de Reuse: The trance stabs are refreshing -- the vanguard of the first wave of aughts-nostalgia, perhaps -- but it's so dedicated to build-worship that it ends up oversaturated, washed-out, too movie trailer-serious even by Eurovision standards. Too much 2020 in my 2002. You can't convincingly rhyme "you-hoo-hoo" against "tattoo-hoo-hoo" unless you sound like you're having fun. [5]

Rachel Saywitz: "Tattoo" is the worst rehash of early 2010s pop, the bad kind. It sounds like a horrible copycat Sia song that Maddie Ziegler would have to dance a billion pirouettes to on Dance Moms. It's the song that soundtracks "broken up :(" TikToks made by the girl who used to bully you in high school. The song that the leader of your college a cappella group made an incredibly dramatic arrangement of before sending an incredibly dramatic text message to the group chat when they found out they weren't getting the solo, "even though, might I remind you all, I am the only reason we won fourth place at inner-city regionals!" All boring things! "Cha Cha Cha" was right! there! [3]

Will Adams: 2023 was the first Eurovision I completely missed since I began actively following it in 2012. That workweek was hectic, I had a prior engagement the day of the Grand Final, the Jukebox was dead. But I wasn't too bummed; "Tattoo"'s victory was such a foregone conclusion that Eurovision didn't feel worth the watch. Song's fine, sure -- gloriously melodramatic trance-pop that's so heightened it doesn't just play to the cheap seats of the ESC but the cheap seats of another galaxy, with another committed vocal from Loreen. But "Euphoria" was all that done better. (It's probably also good I missed this year's contest because that enormous LED platform that hovered over her the whole performance makes me extremely anxious.) [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Occasionally reaches the heights of sultriness and longing that it's clearly shooting for. Otherwise, just sounds like 2011. [4]

Brad Shoup: Thank you, Eurovision, for three-minute dance-pop power ballads. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[cannoli-reader]

My Notes from Watching the Wheel of Time Show, season 1, episode 6

Originally posted on 12/10/2021. Possible spoilers for any or all WoT novels.

I skipped watching this when I went to Prime Video for that purpose, because an episode of "The Expanse" had dropped. This might have been the first time since 1992 that I have ever prioritized other media over new WoT content.

1:30 - Is this a Belter in the world of WoT? The hammock and hut suggest poverty, but those are some fancy tattoos for a child.

1:48 - Li’l Siuan is from a primitive fishing tribe, rather than an urban dock district

2:31 - Okay, that looked like a city in the background, so maybe their hut is in the Fingers of the Dragon. Probably not an important distinction, but it’s a thing about Tear that the High Lords exercise tight control over the area, and would not likely allow people to settle in the Fingers, for no other reason than to prevent anyone getting an navigational advantage over their own pilots.

3:15 - “A wise woman knows the breaking point of her line,” is a very interesting comment, given that’s a lesson that Book-Siuan utterly failed to learn her entire life.

4:14 - Always with the tragic backstories.

5:20 - I guess this is a cheap way of having her sent to the Tower, without having to hire an actor to play the authority figure or a group of extras to play a mob who compel her departure.

8:27 - Liandrin’s actual braids make an appearance!

8:41 - I can’t but notice they have yellow-washed the canonically Arabic, Leane Sharif, and at best are subbing in the background character with a hijab and no lines.

9:45 - I wonder if those are Accepted uniforms, or if this is supposed to be some sort of female guard force.

11:33 - This is a good way, I guess, of expositing the Tower’s grasp on the world is slipping, and they even found a natural way for someone like Logain to demonstrate that knowledge, without compromising too much the concept of proprietary channeling information or Tower secrets. And the fact that outsiders generally don’t make much, if any, distinction between Ajahs is already undermined by their propensity for color-coded garb.

11:36 - I wondered in the trailer why Leane looked so pissed. That explains it.

11:59 - “I am not so easily fooled” says Siuan, commenting on Logain’s factual statement (I assume it is; why bring it up otherwise, unless you’re looking to shit on the books just because). Do they realize this is not making her actually smart?

Also, that silly wing thing on the front of her ridiculous dress looks like it might be the Amyrlin’s stole.

12:35 - Logain is to be kept captive until he “lose(s him)self entirely to the madness”. Gentling stops you from going mad. That’s the justification for doing it, as opposed to just killing them on sight.

14:00 - Not for nothing, but Liandrin has a point. That it is what she wanted to do anyway does not change that fact.

14:09 - Siuan’s reference to the rules of engagement doesn’t make much sense here either, since killing is on the list and Liandrin has already pointed out that they managed not to resort to the last extreme. This just looks like a bureaucrat passing judgment on actions taken in the exigencies of combat. And considering we spent a whole episode on the tragic response to the consequences of Logain’s breaking free, we really should be considering Logain lucky to be alive.

But having the normally smooth and cool Liandrin’s voice breaking and sounding stressed and panicky seems like the show is trying to say she’s wrong and Siuan is this supreme font of wisdom and fair-mindedness

17:00 - Liandrin is really coming across as speaking truth to power, even if she is being portrayed as a troublemaker.

18:58 - My general motto with regard to the Tower ITB is Voltaire’s ecrasez l’infame. Siuan’s tirade suggests the show version won’t be much better despite the girl-power vibes I get from everything else about it.

21:20 - The subtitles call the innkeeper in Tar Valon “Basel Gill”. A character defined in the book by his devotion to the Queen of Andor and his loyalty to friends, including charity to a couple of friends of friends, has been repurposed as a Tar Valon innkeeper who charges high prices to the same kids Book-Gill took in and fed for the sake of a mutual friend.

21:53 - “It’s nice to see you, too” snarks the guy who has done nothing to make contact with Rand and Mat for a whole episode while he was preoccupied by personal bullshit instead of the candidates for savior of the world.

22:00 - I suspect Barney Harris is being replaced, because his moans of sickness sound more like there should be another person in the bed with him.

23:30 - So much better done ITB. No reason I can see for the changes, aside from Moiraine being the clear authorial favorite. They give her the lightning reflexes to stop Mat’s attack, and made Rand an encumbrance who distracted Lan from being the one to catch Mat.

25:16 - So Mat has to be watched lest he touch the dagger again, says Moiraine, after leaving the room to the person who followed her out. Even if the dagger is on Lan’s person, they still left it in the room with Mat, and we can’t really say this version of Lan is as good as a safe for holding objects secure, given how differently he has been portrayed from the Book version.

25:36 - Moiraine would absolutely say something like this. The problem is, the show seems to be on her side, when ITB (and on the show) she has given them little reason to trust her. How are the Two Rivers people supposed to trust she would not have treated Mat as an impediment to her mission and offed him like the ferry?

26:45 - Okay, Maigan’s agreeing with me about Siuan, but on the other hand, she’s also denouncing a Green for speaking on behalf of a Red, just because they had fought together and she believed the Red to be in the right. So it’s a crazy whacky world, when Aes Sedai display integrity? Sisters choosing the truth over factional rivalries is the equivalent of dogs and cats living together?

27:15 - One of the pseudo-feminists’ greatest whines criticisms about the book series is the frequency of nudity. Now, we are not subjected to descriptions of the women’s bodies, and it is seldom in a sexual context or with gratuitous sexual connotations for ordinary nudity, but, fair enough. Women get undressed a lot. But on a TV show, with a female writer and director, where actual human beings have to get undressed and partially display their bodies in context that encourages the viewer to see them as naked, we get an inserted bathhouse scene (not to mention an inserted sex scene and a prior bathing scene with similar display of female bodies, in the pilot), where women are striking poses & lit so as to draw attention to their uncovered skin. ‘Rules for thee and not for me’ feminism.

28:33 - Okay, why is she keeping their survival a secret? That’s pointless even for Book Moiraine.

29:05 - Please don’t give us more melting scenes for these rings.

29:15 - That angle, for a second, made the crease of Perrin’s shoulder look like Egwene’s buttcrack.

29:22 - How did they get Perrin here if the damage is so bad?

29:57 - They are doing a good job of keeping the camera on Egwene’s right profile and the other side in shadow to conceal Madeline Madden’s nosewart.

31:00 - Moiraine is leaving the kids alone, in two separate establishments, with no trustworthy supervision.

31:42 - ITB Moiraine does not think of the Two Rivers folk as friends, no matter how benevolent her actions, because she knows she might have to do something horrible to them for the greater good. She never even indicates any care for, or affection toward, them in her stream of consciousness. Show-Moiraine, whose treatment and behavior toward them has been considerably less benevolent and friendly, on a mere month’s acquaintance, most of it spent apart from all but Nynaeve, has even less reason to use that term.

32:04 - Okay, Lan’s going to stand watch, but over whom? They are in two different places and neither group knows the other is alive.

32:16 - She’s leaving them unattended to get laid?! I am just assuming. As I may have said previously, the sector of the fandom toward whom this show appears to be pandering tends to ship Moiraine and Siuan, so that's how I take the "give her my love." Only now the shippers are going to whine that we are deprived of the implied poly relationship with Lan and presumably Siuan's warder, too.

33:12 - Oh, so they have Traveling. What’s the nonsense limitation they are going to claim for why they have not used whatever this is for something more important than secret-sexy-times meetings?

33:24 - I bet Siuan’s dad could have afforded a second rowboat for the price of all those tattoos. Edit: 'kay, she got some as an adult.

34:05 - And now celibacy is a thing for the Amyrlin? And Moiraine’s “when have we ever followed the rules” in this context is not about going around petty restrictions or thinking outside the box or doing what must be done, so much as “rules don’t apply to us, because we’re all we care about.” While I might not agree with a rule of celibacy in this case, the point is generally to demonstrate the priority one places on the institution that requires it. So being Amyrlin is important, but Siuan & Moiraine hold themselves and their feelings more important. Which is super hypocritical considering the level of supremacy she is declaring in the Hall.

36:20 - Okay, the Dragon’s soul being split up is dumb, because it makes them all partial people. A soul IS a person. Bodies are just like clothes. This is the reality, even if you don’t believe in souls and use the word merely to mean the essential component of a person or concept or object. So, best case scenario, what they are saying is that the most important thing about the Dragon is his power and status. What he is, not who he is. And never mind that’s 180 degrees in opposition to the message of the books, for every character.

And if they are not actually doing this, and there is only the one Dragon Reborn, this is a stupid diversionary speculation.

36:33 - “You think I’ve forgotten that?” Moiraine asks in response to Siuan’s admonition that they will be stilled if anyone else discovers what they are up to. Um, yeah, Moiraine. It looks very much like you forgot that, since your immediately prior line of dialogue was suggesting that you tell lots of people what they are up to, and create the conditions for that to happen!

Moiraine: We should tell lots of people Siuan: If anyone finds out, we will be punished. Moiraine: Did you think I had forgotten that? Me: Well, since you don't seem to remember your own immediately previous statement, that's a fair guess.

36:37 - Is it weird that their post-coital garments are different than what they were wearing to bed before Moiraine came to Siuan’s room? Especially since Moiraine is wearing something more revealing than what she had on when she approached her sexual partner?

38:50 - Sacrificing a bunch of people for a stupid plan to beat the Dark One through a loophole is pretty in-character for Siuan.

39:41 - Why does Liandrin keep describing things wrong? “Nursed back to health” is not remotely an accurate way to describe Healing.

40:02 - I don’t know what’s dumber in this fan-fiction adaptational change: the Reds doing horrible things to men suspected of fooling around with their Ajah sisters, and the implication that the Red Ajah has explicit anti-male policies (nearly every non-Darkfriend PoV Red ITB has male sexual partners), or Moiraine overlooking a Darkfriend meeting place by underestimating Liandrin. Or worst of all, the Reds would not do anything to a mere trysting partner, therefore Liandrin’s association with him is a serious crime (such as treason or Darkfriend stuff) and Moiraine is in sole possession of this knowledge of Liandrin, but is letting it go unreported for blackmail purposes.

40:18 - Loial’s shoes are clearly just to make him look taller. With little success.

40:45 - Moiraine is as giddy as a YouTube fan reviewer at her encounter with Loial. Why?

41:22 - Nosewart! Fitting it gets a moment in the spotlight as the show is doing a bit of metatextual snarking. It’s not clever to bring that sort of thing up without a good answer, because it just looks like you are mocking the work you needed to crib from in order to get a job yourself. See, no one would pay for a show entirely from the mind of the Coffee Fetcher for the Good Seasons of Game of Thrones, so Rafe needs a best-selling fantasy novel series to get that level of attention. It’s not clever of him to use his show to criticize much more successful writers.

And the obvious answer to the issue of the throne and office holding the same name is that the point is the woman is subsumed into the office, that in her official capacity she is acting as the institution, not the person. Furthermore, it’s only confusing to morons, as a person and an inanimate object will almost never be discussed in the same practical context. Telling a servant to clean the Amyrlin Seat is unlikely to result in a feather duster being applied to Siuan, and describing the actions or policies of the Amyrlin Seat are unlikely to cause one to confusedly assume the chair has become animate. Unless nosewarts are a symptom of some sort of brain disease.

41:30 - One unfortunate consequence of the loss of royalty and whatnot is that people keep trying to make up stories of it without having any idea how it works. The Amyrlin Seat would not request an audience with a peasant girl still in her fake-Scottish skirt. All they had to do was copy the book dialogue where people receive a summons to an audience with the Amyrlin, not a request for an audience. And if the point of the change is to show the Tower as somehow egalitarian, the entire rest of the episode has epically failed in that regard.

41:40 - Nosewart.

41:40 - Also, Nynaeve’s question of Lan is really really dumb. I’ll just write it off as an honest attempt to show Nynaeve’s attitude of constantly questioning and refusing to be dictated to and charitably just assume the writers are simply incompetent to execute that depiction through dialogue.

41:57 - Is it possible for TV women to describe their actions without humble-bragging?

42:08 - Stating that Siuan waits for only one woman, when the Amyrlin is, by her own words, the highest ranking person in the world, just invites speculation as to whom she waits for, and how Moiraine is so certain of that fact. For someone keeping so many pointless secrets, Moiraine sucks at intrigue.

42:48 - A het man demanding that the two attractive young women come closer would be seen as creepy. So why not the equally gynosexual Siuan?

42:45 - Nynaeve does not bow. Actually, ITB, Nynaeve would make a half-hearted effort but get it wrong, because she could not care less about crap like that. But this is okay.

43:02 - If that was an allusion to Egwene’s nosewart, it was extremely rude, Siuan! And stop trying to steal my joke across the fourth wall!

43:16 - Egwene visibly deflating when Siuan names Nynaeve is the best thing ever to appear on a screen!

43:20 - And they immediately ruin it with Nynaeve’s stupid response. How is that even an insult, let alone a burn? Nynaeve would not expect people to be impressed with her strength, but she would also not mock the Tower for being weak, because she cares about the person, not their strength. Her “comeback” demonstrates exactly the reverse.

43:54 - Nynaeve does not use bad words! Not “ass” in the real world or “smoke” in WoT! And she’s not deliberately rude. She thinks “Go away, we don’t want your help” is being polite, but she doesn’t try to offend people for shits and giggles, especially powerful people who could make trouble for her or her companions.

44:53 - Egwene silently turning to go in support of a friend from back home, especially turning away from a person of power who is tacitly offering power or the chance to effect significant events, is even more OoC than the Nynaeve & Siuan stuff.

45:03 - In my headcanon, that reaction shot of Moiraine, as Siuan saying “The Wheel does not care…” is her biting back the comment that the Wheel can’t care anymore than it can want.

45:42 - Nosewart! It’s like she’s leading with it!

45:46 - Egwene: “…what do we need to do?” Siuan: glances at Moiraine Me: I hope she’s not proposing a foursome.

46:03 - Please, not another ring-melting, please.

46:30 - Last episode, Moiraine said Tar Valon and/or the Tower is not her home. So what’s with the waterworks, especially when her imminent sentencing in the Hall has been prearranged? If Siuan is the great love of her life it hurts so much to leave, instead of a Friends With Benefits deal, why’d she say that last episode?

47:28 - More than ¾ of the way through 1/8 of the season and we’ve got nothing from this episode except a sex scene. It makes me extremely suspicious of the intent in the slow, lingering close-up shot of Moiraine kissing the Amyrlin’s ring.

48:09 - Siuan is saying a lot of stuff everyone in the room should know already. And if this is a sacred object, why use it so casually? If she is already bound to speak only the truth, why not simply make her promise to do what she’s told? If that Oath was not binding on her, why bother with another go-round?

I’m not even going to bother with the colossal deviation from the books of using the Oath Rod for an ordinary punishment.

49:38 - Why is her ear gilded?

And what is the point of all these compliments? Not the time or place, especially if the whole point of her sentencing is to conceal their relationship and collusion from everyone, especially the Hall. Siuan’s fall is going to literally be Moiraine’s fault, with this pointless shipper-fan-service dialogue.

53:06 - Are Moiraine’s tears blinding her to the giant samurai hiding behind the hill?

53:50 - Ordinary Shienarans call Loial “Builder” out of respect for his people having built their lost city. Moiraine calls him Loial and treats him like a kid because A. he is and B. it keeps him in line. And IIRC, it was made very clear ITB why he is called that. I feel like a WoT Novice will be expecting him to finish whatever that structure is behind Moiraine.

54:02 - Why are Perrin & Egwene accompanying Loial with whom they are onscreen for the first time? Why is the group not together, instead traveling so far apart Moiraine cannot see the different elements of the group across this wide stretch of clear ground?

54:09 - Why is Perrin smiling? What or how does Perrin feel about anything, when he has had no dialogue in this episode, and before it, was last seen lurching out of the Children's camp?

54:27 - Rand & Egwene’s reaction suggests they have not actually been in contact offscreen this whole time, so again, why is Loial with her and not him?

55:09 - Even if the horses can’t go into the Ways, you could take the luggage off, in case you need it, or at the least, take off their tack. That’s not a good way to leave horses unattended.

55:16 - Is there a point to changing it so horses can’t survive the Ways, besides saving on the horse budget?

56:21 - The fandom defense of Moiraine’s secrecy, that she could not trust the Two Rivers folk is exceedingly stupid and not in keeping with her other actions and behavior toward them. Having her claim that she was keeping secrets because she could not trust them, but now has come to know them after a month+ apart (and being unconscious before and throughout Shadar Logoth) is even dumber.

57:07 - Egwene would never for a moment entertain the idea that the Dragon is anyone but her. And in the face of her own apotheosis, she would not have much thought to spare for the fates or cost of others. Not necessarily out of malice, just considerations of power, status and advancement take up a disproportionate share of her attention.

57:26 - Loial’s expression is like “Um, have I just agreed to help a psychopath plug the Bore with teenage bodies?”

57:50 - If you need to channel to use the Ways, isn’t that largely defeating their point in the story?

58:24 - Why did we need three different reaction shots of people who can’t see what Moiraine is doing?

58:49 - “It’s too late to turn back. Whatever happens is beyond our control…” Does that include the choice to turn back? Because that kind of feels like a dumb answer to the half-facetious question about changing one’s mind.

59:02 - “The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills” says the person who pedantically denied any such agency to the Wheel a few episodes ago.

1:00:10 - Can’t wait to see how this latest “improvement” is going to play out. It’s funny because just the other day, a browser feed had an article saying how the show has improved on the books by not keeping the cast separated for so long.

[concerthopperblog]

Review Roundup: Colin Cutler and Angra

This week, we've got two albums on offer and they couldn't be more different. One is a genre-hopping roots album of songs inspired by one of America's greatest authors. The other is the first album in five years from a Brazilian progressive metal stalwart.

Colin Cutler- Tarwater It takes a lot of guts to base an album on a literary titan like Southern Gothic trailblazer Flannery O'Connor. To do so invites comparison and there aren't many people who can win there. But Colin Cutler manages to avoid either comparison or fawning emulation on his new album Tarwater. Some of that comes down to Cutler's song choices. Half the album is a full-band re-visit of the songs from his EP Peacock Feathers while the other is made up of newly written material.

Musically, Cutler's songs bounce from honky tonk to blues to Southern rock, and some tracks that blend multiple genres. Album standout “A New Tattoo” has a driving rockabilly beat with some .38 Special-worthy guitar solos thrown in. “Save Your Life and Drive” is another muscular rocker, this time driven by some excellent blues harmonica and by Cutler's fast patter vocal delivery on the verses. Lead single “Bad Man's Easy” serves up a little Southern gothic vibe of his own. “Mama, Don't Know Where Heaven Is” kicks off with a Delta guitar riff before settling into a rambling country tune.

I'm a sucker for a good literary adapt so I've had high hopes for this album since he ran a Kickstarter campaign for it earlier in the year. However, my optimism was cautious because of the project's ambition. I shouldn't have worried. Cutler has pulled off a feat in honoring O'Connor's legacy successfully while recording an album that can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone entity.

Angra- Cycles of Pain It's been five years since Brazilian progsters Angra released an album and that's far too long. Since their formation in 1991 and through multiple lineup changes, the band has remained one of the more consistently excellent acts in progressive metal. For Cycles of Pain, they themed their album around, unsurprisingly, pain, both personal and collective. Since their last album in 2018, founding guitarist Rafael Bittencourt's father passed away as did former vocalist Andre Matos. Then there was that whole pandemic thing in 2020 that certainly brought its own share of pain.

To convey different aspects of pain, you need an appropriately versatile voice and Angra certainly has that in ex-Rhapsody of Fire vocalist Fabio Lione. While he's been with the band since 2013 and this is his third album with them, this is definitely him hitting his stride. He's operatic on “Ride Into the Storm,” he's a belter on “Gods of the World,” and he's melodic on album highlight “Tears of Blood,” a duet with vocalist Amanda Somerville.

Musically, it's Angra doing what Angra does best. Neo-classical progressive metal that never loses its melodic soul along the way. Cycles of Pain isn't anything groundbreaking from Angra, but it doesn't need to be. They're great at what they do and what they do is enough to make this a must-buy album for any prog fan.

[always-tilting-at-windmills]

Thinking of rebinding my Expanse books as hardback, in leather with golden foil filigree

This is the concept work I've thrown together so far, thoughts? suggestions?

I approve! For the symbols have you thought about using Belter Tattoos or Amos tattoos? Maybe the Roci image?

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 19/08/2023 (Olivia Rodrigo, Fred again../Obongjayar, casso/RAYE/D-Block Europe)

Content warning: In-depth discussion of mostly right-wing US politics, including references to Epstein, anti-Semitism, suicide, etc. and brief mention of prostitution

ACR hits, taking Dave and Cench off their throne as Billie grabs her first week with her second #1 on the UK Singles Chart, “What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie soundtrack. I am absolutely not complaining with this one - probably one of my favourite songs on the chart altogether, if not my absolute favourite - but regardless, welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

“Sprinter” is at #10… by the way, but what we always start off with are our notable dropouts, which are songs exiting from the UK Top 75 after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we say farewell to yet another premature ZAYN single with “Love Like This” - I told you when it debuted that the cycle would repeat - as well as “Nothing Compares 2 U” by the late Sinéad O’Connor, “Super Shy” by NewJeans, “Toxic Trait” by Stormzy and Fredo, “Don’t Say Love” by Leigh-Anne, “Tattoo” by Loreen, “Boy’s a liar” by PinkPantheress and “Escapism.” by RAYE featuring 070 Shake.

As for our returns, I guess we see a second viral resurgence of “Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine at #67, but what are infinitely more interesting are our few gains, those being “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac at #65, Luke Combs’ cover of “Fast Car” at #39, “Bittersweet Goodbye” by Issey Cross at #38, “Asking” by Sonny Fodera and MK featuring Clementine Douglas at #31 and off of the debut, “Paint the Town Red” by Doja Cat at #15. Yeah, I’m glad this seems like it’s going to stick around.

Our top five on the UK Singles Chart this week consists of “(It Goes Like) Nanana” by Peggy Gou at #5, “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift at #4, “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo at #3, “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa at #2 and finally, of course, “What Was I Made For?” at the very top. Now for our assorted range of new songs, and they, uh, sure are something.

NEW ARRIVALS

#66 - “Feel It” - Jazzy

Produced by D.O.D and Hannah Laing

You could not possibly comprehend how excited I was to see that Irish singer Jazzy had finally ditched Belters Only. “Giving Me” had grown on me in a hypnosis kind of way, but mostly because of Jazzy’s vocals, so I was very glad to see her team up with D.O.D and Hannah Laing, two much more talented and interesting producers. I’m assuming there’s an extended version of this song that the general public does not yet have access to, because on Spotify, the only version available is a “club edit”, and on Genius, the lyrics are described as snippets. Regardless, this is obviously a marked improvement. Jazzy actually has some room to get expressive - well, she had the room but never the reason to - whilst the hardcore kicks and punchier, almost factory-esque percussion from our much-preferred production duo lead to a very busy two minutes. It almost doesn’t function that well as a club track honestly as a result, instead just feeling like a complete mantra, but not at all a mindless one, and the final drop absolutely would go hard at a party with that infectious cheap, bouncy lead synth. This is not exactly all that innovative, and lyrically, there’s almost literally nothing to it, but with those two on production, it’s at least guaranteed to be a greatly-composed tune and for the two minutes it has to impress me, it sounds good. Call me a fan of this one, I’m interested to see where Jazzy goes next.

#64 - “Rich Men North of Richmond” - Oliver Anthony Music

Produced by Oliver Anthony

It’s not too hard to understand how we got here. Firstly, it was viral marketing - YouTube, for the most part, isn’t region-locked. If we can understand the language, chances are we’ll check it out. Secondly, the stars align trend-wise. We’re in a cost-of-living crisis under a government full of scandalised MPs, the level of political polarisation as well as general “I’m fed up with this crap” sentiment is on a similar level here as in the US, and hey, country’s on the rise, Combs is in the top 40. This entering our charts, and presumably not for long, makes sense. For a moment, let’s ignore just about everything else we know about this song apart from the song itself. Let’s ignore that it’s been propped up if not directly funded by alt- and far-right figures in America, let’s ignore that John Rich has latched onto this grift, let’s presume Anthony’s entire persona and backstory is true, and we can even dismiss that he’s a fan of videos claiming Israelis did 9/11. Let’s just listen to the song, and honestly, it’s pretty good. Now I don’t agree with everything in the song, and to be completely honest, the professional vocal recording and repetitive writing does not make this seem authentic. Let’s start with the positives though - the performance is fantastic, as Anthony still has that youthful crack to him, leading to some really frustrated and powerful vocal takes, whilst also taking some smokier, wiser inflections that really accentuate the idea of “living in the New World with an old soul”. The guitar work is fantastic in terms of its jumbled twang, and the stripped-back format makes Anthony’s paranoia regarding government elites seem very palpable as honestly, it is, because a good-faith interpretation of this could very much see this as a more centrist commentary, wherein Anthony shares opinions that a lot of rural American men have currently, as they reasonably feel left in the dust by the political system as it currently functions. It can leave you thinking that you don’t have many individual freedoms, and I’d very much argue he’s right about that. There are some “dogwhistle”-esque lyrics, sure, that imply a right-wing perspective, but unlike Jason Aldean, wherein due to the incredibly inauthentic presentation, it isn’t difficult to stamp those as such, I would argue that Anthony could very well be much more genuine than a lot of people are willing to believe. He’s anti-taxation, he mocks the welfare queen stereotype, although not in a way that I think is outright aggressive towards that type of person instead of the type of government that produces it, and “north of Richmond” has its... connotations. Sure, but I’m pretty sure we can agree that elite politicians, including those who love this song, are out-of-touch, right? People work too much for low pay, the average man is taxed unfairly when you consider how much large corporations are taxed, there is increased surveillance of individual freedoms that can make people feel unsafe, politicians should be looking out for low-income and hazardous jobs including mining, it’s sad that young men are killing themselves because they can’t find work or good self-esteem, and I’m pretty sure we can all agree that our public figures, regardless of party or country, should not be cozying up with Epstein, oh, and you know, homelessness is bad! These are pretty non-partisan, general ideas that aren’t exactly signs of a plant propped up by the alt-right, even if it were song long-time 4D-chess-game grifter. Hey, maybe I’ll be proved wrong eventually, but for once, put away your bad-faith interpretations. See what you can agree with on “the other side” when it comes to average people expressing their frustrations, and I’m still holding out for hope that this is what that is, and maybe you’ll realise we’re all on the same side in the first place.

#61 - “Quarter Past 3” - Fredo featuring Eric IV

Produced by Show n Prove

Well, we have two UK rap songs in a row here, starting with a track from Fredo’s newest album, Unfinished Business, which debuted at #9 on this week’s albums chart. I haven’t really been all that impressed by Fredo in a while, and it’s unlikely a guitar-led lovey-dovey track, wherein the guitar sounds more meancing than romantic, is likely to improve that. Rappers can obviously write love songs, but Fredo’s airy, sometimes on-the-nose delivery sounds really jammed-in when placed against content about girls, especially given the nasal, low-effort hook from Eric IV and a beat that doesn’t sound romantic at all. Maybe that’s the point, I mean, he says in the second verse possibly the saddest line I’ve heard him deliver: “I don’t even think I know what love involves.” Jesus, man. Otherwise, there really isn’t much to this.

#55 - “Facade” - Digga D and Potter Payper

Produced by ???

Digga D, come on, man. It takes five seconds to say who produced your beat. Oh, and also, don’t stab prostitutes, but that’s a tad late for that advice now it’s already in the first verse. This beat is even less remarkable than Fredo’s, with a choppy sample that plays for way too long uninterrupted in the intro, even if it’s at least a bit worth it for the intensity of the scurrying drums that eventually drop onto it and a pretty good verse from Digga D finally, even if his content is rote and his delivery is obnoxious as always, nothing against the guy but I can’t really find much enjoyment in his on-the-nose toxicity, it doesn’t feel all that transgressive when he’s just rapping like any British rapper. Potter Payper was only recently freed from detainment, which may explain in part the mixing on his vocals, but as expected, he’s much more unhinged flow-wise, whilst giving more detail in his content and sounding… genuinely menacing. I think I actually like this guy nowadays, just because he goes so relentlessly hard regardless of anything around him or what lyrics he’s delivering. A third verse from Digga wasn’t really necessary though, it just elongates what is otherwise a pretty okay track. At least there’s more energy to it.

#32 - “Prada” - casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe

Produced by casso

No umlauts allowed. Alright, so you remember “Ferrari Horses”? I’m not sure if I maintain that it’s DBE’s best song, but it definitely was my favourite at the point of its release, and a lot of that is due to RAYE’s involvement, with her ghostly riffing and backing harmonies that would turn your average DBE song into a pretty spooky affair, but given the hypnotising, transforming beat accentuated with a gloomy strings section and reverb-drenched vocals from Adz, as well as Dirtbike Lb delivering his signature despair as always, in a way that actually plays off RAYE a lot better than you’d expect. My favourite moment is still Adz’s falsetto branching into RAYE’s silky pre-chorus. Now who would hear that and think they should make a trance remix? Genuinely, why would that ever occur to you? You have to speed up the song, so you rid it of its atmosphere, and then casso just places it against an otherwise perfectly serviceable jerky and fun trance beat, that I probably would like in any other situation, but it’s way too bubbly for anything about this song. Just… why would you ruin a perfectly good trance beat and a perfectly good trap song? It makes hypothetical sense as a mashup, like I could see this uploaded by a 50-subscriber YouTube account, but a streaming release? Why? Just baffling.

#12 - “adore u” - Fred again.. and Obongjayar

Produced by Fred again.., Four Tet, PARISI and Tobias Wincorn

This is a pretty high debut for Fred again.. as he links up with his typical co-producers, including Four Tet who I feel adds a lot to their recent collaborative material, as well as Obongjayar, a Nigerian musician I know mostly from their work with Danny Brown and Little Simz. Of course, like many of Fred’s tracks, this is actually a rework of an existing song by his guest star, this case being Obongjayar’s 2022 song “I Wish it Was Me”, which is a genuinely adorable song that explores how proud he is of his brother’s success on stage, whilst also acknowledging the negative thoughts of low self-esteem and envy that come with having someone so talented in your family. Its minimal, wonky synth composition and the intimate vocals really help sell it so once again, I have a lot of questions about how this will end up in an EDM context, alongside a sample of 80s comedy rap trio the Fat Boys. No, really. The answer is… pretty awkwardly as once again, we have these atmospheric vocals being isolated and sped up onto a goofy house beat with bubbly synths. Why is that something that happened consecutively? Why would you speed his vocals up like that? The lyrics don’t really get any changed context with this extra backing, and the 90s house pianos sound less stock than usual, but still don’t justify their existence. And why are the Fat Boys here, in a muffled refrain - or bridge? What’s going on? Freddo Frog here ends up placing the Fat Boys sample in the front of the mix against some synthwave bass before strings and a stray vocal sample come in for no reasonable reason, just kind of throwing stuff at the mix with little atmospheric justification. This is bizarre… and it doesn’t even go off! I do think that the “I adore you” refrain and even the Fat Boys sample have a lot of potential, and I’d actually oddly like to say that I’d love to see what the Chainsmokers could do with this material, but I think I’ll stick to the original, once again..

#6 - “bad idea right?” - Olivia Rodrigo

Produced by Dan Nigro

Sigh… you have the door opening sound effect, the whispered hey that finds itself into the composition, the very typical post-punk revival riff, the faux-rapping, the teen-pop harmonies in the refrain placed over an instrumental that wants nothing to do with them, the predictable development of the intensity in the pre-chorus… it’s all just, expected, isn’t it? Even when we get to the “blast” in the chorus, the cathartic release, it’s just a bratty staccato refrain. To be completely fair, I like elements of this song - the writing is much more interesting than “vampire” and she’s developed a great narrative voice, and the chopping of the “ah” vocal in the second refrain is pretty genius, actually, and I’m not going to complain about a solo or this level of feedback being in the top 10. Yet for a song that should be this full-of-regret mosh, everything just falls too cleanly into place, to the point that the song even fades out instead of bothering to formulate an emotionally effective outro. It hits all the right chords, for the most part, but so neatly that it fails to serve the purpose of its sound or its messy post-breakup content. Also, it cannot be a coincidence that Paramore released a post-punk revival just a few months before this. It’s not a direct interpolation like “good 4 u” and it’s a different approach but, come on - the connection’s already inherently there, it doesn’t need emphasising.

Conclusion

Well, that was, uh… a week, though not one I feel is actually worth much analysis in the short-term - some of this I do think will stick around for longer, and some of these - for better or for worse - will be indicative of trends to come, at least I’d predict so. As for the Best of the Week… alright, call me far-right, whatever, but ultimately I do this because I’m a fan of music, and I mean, the man has music in his stagename. Oliver Anthony Music grabs the Best of the Week for “Rich Men North of Richmond”, with Jazzy of all people snabbing the Honourable Mention with “Feel It”. That is a bizarre choice considering what my taste typically is in this series, but I mean, the rest of our songs aren’t exactly a lovely little basket of apples to pick from. Olivia Rodrigo just gets Worst of the Week for “bad idea right?” - I really hope there’s more to like on GUTS than what the singles are indicating - and the Dishonourable Mention could really go to anyone, but Fredo and Eric IV are the most boring so it goes to “Quarter Past 3”. That “Ferrari Horses” remix still perplexes me though. As for what’s on the horizon, who cares? Thanks for reading, rest in peace to DJ Casper and Magoo, and I’ll see you next week.

[kalascp2077mods]

BELTER TATTOOS

[dreamsbanana]

Adobe lightroom presets free

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ADOBE LIGHTROOM PRESETS FREE FREE

ADOBE LIGHTROOM PRESETS FREE DOWNLOAD

Installation instructions are included in the download window. Battery filter for snapchat, the photographers don’t hasten to buy them. What is really cool that you can apply them to different photos and anyway get a superb result the plugin crops it to the exact size of the screen you need it for, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, TV, or other device. In de video onderaan de pagina leg ik uit hoe je ze kunt installeren or even with clients, and need to frequently email images back and forth. They will work perfectly with nighttime photographs but try using them with sunny images as well to make the colors look more intense '.

ADOBE LIGHTROOM PRESETS FREE FREE

But this – the last of an interesting free set of wedding-themed presets that all handle skin-tones carefully – is a belter for anyone whose style involves a smack of Instagram influence temperature, and style. Opt for Warm plugins in case you think that images lack soft tones saturated style. They remember to back up your images for you which together give images of realism and surrealism at the same time. App to have snapchat filters, half the fun of travel is capturing images on the trip. Make that all the writing on your site is search engine optimized in order to ensure that your website is doing the most to increase your sales your journey with envisioning, creating, and selling Lightroom presets might look different from anybody else’s, and that’s the best part of venturing into starting your own business. Winter Wonderland Presets by Contrastly This preset pack by Contrastly includes some of their newest and best winter-time presets for Lightroom which plays an important role in staging the frame and the quality of the final photo, but there is no possibility to return to the wedding celebration and retake the photo, then the settings of this preset Lightroom wedding free will assist to correct the situation.

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This photo enlargement tool is one of the useful Lightroom plugins developed by Alien Skin Software Lightroom® and Photoshop® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. The first step is to enter the Develop module by pressing "D" on the keyboard saving space and time. This is a universal collection of portrait presets taken at the street your portraits will be bright, prominent and emotional, your clients will not be able to take their eyes off of them. Adobe Lightroom is a popular software designed by Adobe Co but let’s look at some of the most important ones, time and quality. Snapchat animal people filter, the portrait preset will remove it and fix the white balance issues. My name is Jan then, to discover Dreamscape, whose earthy, laid-back tones suit a really big range of images. Snapchat animal people filterĬom/images/DNFMemberDetails which gives a soft and romantic old-school atmosphere to the photos.

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How to Install Camera RAW Presets https//It’s a preset I then kept coming back to and eventually became my standard including how to use and create presets. Face tattoo filter snapchat,Instead of having a set of images that are all edited differently, these tools will allow you to streamline your editing and create images that cohesively look great together! Follow these steps to add presets to your mobile device for editing flexibility click the cloud icon on the top right of Lightroom CC and click sync. }TRY NEW BEST SELLERSElevate your Preset Collection with a stunning new Look even when there is not enough natural light. It will brighten up the face of your model and intensify the textures and details make sure to add this bundle of portrait presets for Lightroom. Even if you only have a modest following Lightroom® and Photoshop® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. While it can be fun to create your own Lightroom presets you don’t want to waste time looking for the right filter or image editor. com/services/third-party/fonts/user-site-fonts/fonts/open-source/opensans-hebrew-condensed-regular wedding photographers, and food bloggers. Photolemur shouldn’t be overlooked when talking about the best Lightroom plugins because it offers something many other plugins don’t Artificial Intelligence-enhanced automatic editing if your preset has mocha tones, use “mocha” in the name. Lightroom Presets Lightroom Users, focusing only on the main object or subject of photography. If you’re more likely to take photos that are moody or dark along with detailed installation instructions, please click here.

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Although the internet is full of various Lightroom presets for portraits without forgoing your own creative flair.