#but its less annoying than spotify

[flynnriderishot]

reader not feeling safe at night alone outside and calling Chris and js wants to talk to him for comfort and he gets all protective and wants to come pick her up but she says no and he keeps worrying and reader just thinks it's super cute and tells him and idk anymore

12 am - c.s

a/n: let’s thank spotify premium for getting me through this and the next few fics 😔🙏

the air was oddly cold as you walked the quiet streets back to your apartment after working a little later that you usually do.

normally, you wouldn’t have worked an extra shift due to how irritating your job was, but the extra money meant a lot to you at the moment, especially because your car was currently in the shop.

the neighborhood you lived in wasn’t too dangerous, but the silence and random dark corners you’d find yourself looking at sent chills down your spine.

taking out your phone, your hands subconsciously pulled up a very familiar contact and called before you could stop yourself.

less than four rings later, a soft,

“hello?” filled your ears.

“chris.” you winced to yourself, a little annoyed by the enthusiasm that you had.

“hey, what’s going on?” you weren’t given the chance to respond before he cut in again, “you okay?”

“yeah, no, i’m fine.” you brushed off his concern, “i just didn’t feel comfortable walking home in silence.”

a beat went by.

“walking home? you’re taking late night walks at twelve am? what the hell are you talking about? you should’ve been home three hours ago.”

“it’s not a purposeful late night walk, when’s the last time i did that without you?” at your question, chris get his cheeks heat up. it was true. anytime you thought about going out late, chris was immediately by your side, “i stayed a few hours later to help you.”

“yn, it’s twelve am and you’re walking home. i get that your cars in the shop but if you were gonna stay late you should’ve told me. i would’ve made matt pick you up.”

your shoulders fell.

you knew he wasn’t mad at you, but more so upset that you risked putting yourself in danger for the sake of not forcing matt out of his comfortable position in bed.

“i didn’t wanna be a bother.”

you could hear shuffling on the other side of the phone before he scoffed, “you’re never a bother, you know that. even when i want you to be.”

knowing he’d be embarrassed if you pointed it out, you didn’t respond to the last part, instead trying to reassure him,

“i’m almost home—”

“too late. we’re picking you up.”

you heard the car door shut and the engine start.

“chris—”

“you know what? you have to pass our house to get to yours, right? you can just spend the night.”

“i promise you, i’m fine.”

“i don’t care.”

you could practically see the shrug he gave just as headlights of car filled your vision.

chris hung up as soon as he spotted you looking at the car with a look of faux annoyance.

he wasted no time in hopping out the vehicle and trudging over to you.

“i just wanted to hear your voice while i walked home.”

“you can’t call me at twelve in the morning while you’re walking home by yourself and expect me to just give you words of encouragement for your journey.”

knowing he was right, but refusing to admit it, your cross you arms over your chest, “it’s twelve thirty.”

“that’s not helping your case.” he snorted, watching a smile make its way onto your face.

he pressed a hand to the small of your back, the feeling sending a rush of warmth throughout your body, “get in the car. we can watch movies and cuddle.”

the giddy look on his face made you selfishly happy for calling him at twelve am.

taglist: @hearts4chris @timmyandsturniolo @mayhem-72 @luvsturns @knowingnothingnoel @mrsmattyb @itzdarling @julliaaaaaaaaaaaaa @dracoflaco @heartsforchrisandmatt @lily-strnlo @alliehansson @stinkytwinkwinky @mstarniolo @mxqdii

[delicatebarness]

i cant read your mind | chapter eight

Summary: Flashback to Wakanda.

Warnings: MCU Spoilers. Major The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Spoilers. Smut. Fluffy Smut. A hint of Angst at the end. Sergeant kink.

Word Count: 927

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A/N: Onto episode 4 now, most likely gonna be 3 parts for this one. I've had the idea of this chapter in my head forever and was so excited to finally write it. But, I am also excited to go back to annoyed Bucky next chapter when John's back in the picture.

Tags: @blackhawkfanatic | @cjand10 | @wintrsoldrluvr | @missvelvetsstuff | @buckys-metal-arm | @matchat3a | @shadowzena43 | @torntaltos | @honeydew3064 | @scott-loki-barnes

Wakanda. Six Years Ago.

The Wakandan sun had set hours ago, around the same time Bucky left to meet with Ayo for another session. You stood by the window of his hut, staring out into the evening waiting for his return. Ayo had contacted you when they had finished for the night, explaining to you that he was free. Finally free from the brainwashing that had haunted him for so long. You immediately left the room that the Wakandans had prepared for you and made your way to Bucky’s hut. 

As Bucky approached the hut, he saw you waiting for him. He entered without a word, closing the space between you in a few quick strides. He cupped your face, kissing you deeply, passionately. It was filled with a mix of relief, gratitude, a raw desire. 

You responded immediately, your arms wrapping around his neck, trying to pull him closer. Your bodies pressed together as Bucky's hand dropped from your face, roaming your back. 

Bucky broke the kiss for less than a second, his lips finding your body again as he trailed down your neck. His breath was hot against your skin, as your fingers tangled in his hair. A soft moan escaped your lips as he placed a soft kiss against a sensitive spot below your ear. His hand found its way to the gem of your shift, lifting it effortlessly over your head and tossing it aside before finding your lips with his again. 

Undressing each other in haste, your clothes were discarded carelessly onto the hut floor. His eyes filled with hunger as his gaze met yours for a moment, taking in the image of you standing bare before him. 

His voice was husky as he murmured, “You’re amazing, Baby Girl,” 

You smiled, sliding your hand up and down his chest, tracing the lines of his muscles and the scars on his shoulder. “And, you’re finally free, Sergeant,” you replied, your voice breathless with anticipation. 

Without another word, he lifted you and carried you to the makeshift bed. Laying you down, his eyes danced over your body, taking in every inch of you. His lips captured yours in a hungry kiss and he positioned himself above you. You arched into his touch as his hand explored your body, your nails digging into him. 

Your kisses grew more desperate as his fingers found their way to your inner thigh, teasing his way up to your entrance with gentle strokes. The stokes continued as he reached it. You moaned into his mouth, hips moving in rhythm with his touch. 

Unable to wait any longer, he positioned himself where his fingers previously were, his gaze stayed locked with yours. And, with a single thrust, he buried himself deep inside you. You gasped at the sensation. 

Once he began to move, his hips rocked against yours in a slow steady rhythm. Your back arched off the bed as the pleasure consumed you. His name fell from your lips, driving him to push harder. 

Each movement was deliberate, every touch ignited the desire and longing for one another that neither of your minds let you admit. His thrusts were measured, driving deeper into your core. A chorus of moans and sighs from both your lips filled the hut. 

The sensation of him filling you caused you to wrap your legs around his waist as a wave of pleasure coursed through you. 

The tension within you grew, the pleasure building, it was almost unbearable. You were teetering on the edge, Bucky’s movement grew more urgent as your mumbled begs strained from your voice. “Please, Sergeant, please.” 

“Please what, baby?” his voice whispered against your ear, his lips finding your neck again. 

“Please can I finish, Sergeant?” you pleaded, your voice thick with need and desperation. 

You felt his lips curl into a smirk against your skin, and he continued with his steady, hard thrusts. Each one pushed you closer and closer. He knew exactly what you needed, he could feel the tension within you reaching its breaking point. 

“Let go for me,” he murmured as his grip on your hips tightened. “Let me feel you come apart, baby.” 

His permission pushed you over the edge, and with a ragged cry, you shattered beneath him. Wave after wave of pleasure rushed through you as he continued his rhythm. 

He buried his face in the crook of your neck, his teeth bored into your skin as his high followed closely behind yours. His body began to tremble with the aftershock of his climax. 

~

Bucky collapsed beside you, and then for a long while, neither of you spoke. The air was thick with the scent of sweat and sex and the only sound was your ragged breaths. 

A realization washed over you like a wave crashing. For the first time, he had been gentle and tender. It was filled with emotion and connection. Something that was a stark contrast to the aggressive, rough encounters that would normally leave your body looking like you just came back from an intense mission. 

The weight became too much to bear, you began to gather your clothes from the floor. The simple act of dressing provided you with a sense of normalcy. 

You felt his intense gaze watching you silently.

“I… I think I should go,” you murmured, unable to turn to face him. 

Without a word from him, you slipped out of the hut, leaving behind the warmth and intimacy. Instead, enveloping yourself with cool night air as tears stung at the corners of your eyes. 

---

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[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 2/6/2024

some weeks it's really hard to come up with a snappy little bon mot to put here

listening

Barbarella, by a fuck of a lot of people. yes i DID watch this movie this week! this is the single catchiest theme song i have ever heard. i cannot link the actual opening credits scene bc tumblr will censor that shit SO fast. spotify

-

reading

Rebecca Roanhorse's Tread of Angels novella. this is an urban magic old west religious fantasy novella. VERY sangfielle friendsatthetable vibes, there's an old west mining town centered around the body of the demon Abbadon, which is being mined for its powerful properties. demons and angels have sort of interbred throughout the human population. there is some deeply nerdy catholic bullshit and i say that as someone who was in catholic school for fifteen years. actually let's just take Roanhorse's explanation

the setting and premise are not where the novella bites off way more than it can chew. the main character, a cardsharp, has a chanteuse sister being held accused of a murder and she's got 48hrs to prove her innocence. the time limit and general structure is good, and it uses its side characters wisely, there's just a fuck of a lot of them.

in general, this novella does not have the emotional room to make its emotional beats really count. for example, there was a second breakup with an ex after a night of passion that mostly just left me confused. more broadly, the main character has an oldest sister's selfsacrificing nature that has twisted into utter ruthlessness with regards to her sister, and i'm both impressed Roanhorse managed to convey that in so few pages and annoyed bc i really wanted to see more of that in way more detail. due to the nature of it being a novella, the series of escalating decisions she takes feel very jagged in their escalation. i hope that makes sense.

it's got really interesting ideas! i want to know more about the ideas! i wish this was a full book instead of a novella, so the ending hits a little better instead of a Well That Just Happened way. from this interview it seems Roanhorse also wanted it to be a full book, but it was sort of a "i need something short and sweet so i don't go insane while adapting my other book for TV" (which is very exciting!!!)

-

watching

really a bizarre set of films. extremely unemployed energy in this watchlist this week. largely composed of "what's on my letterboxed watchlist and also available for free on tubi, with brief forays into hulu"

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013, dir. Chow). loved the overall visual design of the antagonists and the monsters, did not overall love this movie. it is a solid martial arts showcase and the first twenty minutes with freshwater JAWS are the most tightly plotted. it kind of flounders (lol) after that. can't find a gif i like.

INU-OH (2021, dir. Yuasa) genuinely healed my heart a little i think. queer (complimentary, not queer in the western massachusetts housing coop way) feudal anime glam rock opera. i am sooooooo picky about bad dads in movies as a driving force but this really soothed my daddy issues. stuck the landing on both storytelling and visuals.

Barbarella (1968, dir. Vadim) WOW Jane Fonda was hot. this was both sillier and less porny than i was led to believe (if we ignore the softcore porn opening credits). however horny this movie was it was not brave enough to have some girl-on-girl action with barbarella and the evil empress, even though the evil empress never seems to actually learn her name and just calls her “pretty” or “pretty-pretty”. shoutout to the one fic on ao3 that rectifies this situation. certainly a piece of scifi history, i wish modern scifi was as brave with its theatrical set dressing, i think one viewing is good enough for me bc i cannot stop thinking about how all the women on set might have been treated.

john philip law popped up and i said out loud to my cat “hey i know him from cowboys”

Flower Drum Song (1961, dir. Koster) got conned into watching this by the hotvintagemen poll bc i wanted to see what james shigeta’s deal was, and if he did have a sort of ratpack sensibility as the propaganda described. he does! however this movie is unrelentingly awful. it is so so so slow. all of its comedy is racism-based. it feels like a three and a half hour two-VHS set instead of two hours. i like to think i have a stronger stomach for older media and am able to consider things as products of their times but this is my upper limit i think. one brief fleeting moment of cool production with this triple mirror effect

Dirty Dancing (1987, dir. Ardolino). we were trying to find something to watch on either peacock or hbo max, and when i said "oh i've never seen that" out loud my my best friend said "that's insane we're watching it". i did not hate this movie, but i feel like i missed some critical window of development in which i would have had to see this movie to really love it. i had sort of an abnormal high school experience and i am a smidge too old to relate to bildungsroman any more. but it was cute! it was fine! i think patrick swayze’s jawline could cut glass. this film was made after Roe v Wade (1973) and i feel like the backstreet abortion b-plot has done this interesting 180 from sort of a historical novelty to a real threat and terror again. fun!

that’s it for the watching section i promise

-

playing

im doing the thing where i play a game for ten minutes, put it down, and then pick it back up again, which is probably not terrific for the health of my elderly switch. but whatever. what have i been up to in breath of the wild?

not a ton of progress map-wise, but did make it up to zora’s domain.

i was planning on the camel being the first divine beast, to get that over with bc i had such a devil of a time in my last playthrough, but the thing about the desert is it’s really far away.

dicked around the dueling peaks stables for a while without managing to defeat that guardian and unlock that shrine. so it goes. i think i really need an actual guardian shield from one of the minor tests of strength shrines instead of a normie shield. this line and sidequest made me laugh— it wasn’t terribly hard to find this little cache but it was a tricky bit of gliding.

didn’t realize the horses don’t have that much vertical threat perception, just like real horses. this little band walked right under me and i failed to glide down and land perfectly on someone’s back, which did freak them all out.

i think my new favorite place in a game is this little grove clinging to the side of the dueling peaks. it felt very peaceful and cozy. nothing can get me up there and there’s more than enough room to make a little campfire and cook dinner and not roll off the mountain in a sleeping bag the middle of the night.

also fully kitted out my house bc i had a very successful mining expedition along dueling peaks. EXTREMELY forgiving and generous secondary opening area imo, thanks game

-

making

i started this glitch sampler pattern by tumblr's own mathysphere (not @'d bc this is a fuck of a long post) at the beginning of the pandemic, june 2020, while thinking "eh let's give this friends at the table counterweight thing a shot" got most of the way through both counterweight and this piece, put it down bc i was so annoyed with all the confetti stitches (random one-off stitches of colors that aren't anywhere near other stitches of the same color. i think i resorted to fraychek at several points in the rover square) and then put it down so long i had to throw it out during the great moth debacle, bc it was partly eaten.

here's what it will look like finished, and a link to buy the pattern

i think this time around i am a much better technical stitcher (the first crack at this i didn't know the loop method of starting, or pin stitches, or really any alternate endings except running the tail under the last few stitches). i usually stitch with three strands bc i like the look, but i think the loop method with three strands is overly fiddly. i have not picked up cross stitch since mmmm 2021, but any mistakes or unevenness in this will simply contribute to the glitch effect. i'm going to go back and backstitch the four "frames" and key portions of the sampler to highlight portions of the glitches (eg the yellow and blue centers of the spiral galaxy, the interior of the eclipse, perhaps add an antenna to the rover).

still not my tidiest back, but hey. it's going to sit in a frame and not have any sort of friction or extra force applied to it ever

i am really looking forward to framing this in a deep shadowbox, i have an idea about how to mat it with little melty cutouts for the drips at the bottom.

[autisticclownfromhell]

Do you ever just become down bad for a character? Imagine the havoc that would wreak in SAGAU... This is mortifying to admit but I legitimately put on my favorite love song for Kaeya as I was playing him. Listen I'm blushing like crazy disclosing this information, so please, how do you think Kaeya (and sagau tbh) would react?

(If nothing else, at least Xinyan would appreciate my music tastes.)

yes omg I do the same thing w/ Xiao 😭 literally have a playlist for him on Spotify lol. also that song is GOOD, its on my playlist now :)

Kaeya hmm....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of the SAGAU characters consider you to be kind. You say positive things towards them when they do a good job, and you even compliment them often!

But, you seem to do those things more often with certain people. You act as if you adore some characters, they think you just like to exaggerate in your words when talking about them. But some start to think that maybe you favor certain people.

I mean, its hard to ignore the music's change in mood whenever a certain somebody comes on screen. Or your incomprehensible, fangirl-like squeals into the nearby pillow whenever he comes on screen.

Kaeya is one with some of the least visible reaction. Don't get him wrong, he's mentally jumping for joy right now. It's just with his attitude, people being attracted to him isn't a very new thing. Though, he'll gloat to others you favor less as if he had won the world cup. He doesn't mean to brag, but he is the optimal choice for one of your favorites. (he is indeed bragging, bragging to Diluc and getting kicked out of the tavern.)

Has a very small period of a flustered reaction when realization dawns on him, before all those feelings go right back to his flirty personality and ego. Everybody in Mondstadt is currently aware of your "subtle" feelings towards him. He tells himself that he's simple proud of this new revelation, but it's just an excuse for him to slyly brag about it even more. The man's become an absolute menace. He's managed to somewhat annoy almost all of the other characters with his bragging, this man will NOT quit.

He has to secure his place in your favor, of course. You'll notice that in battle, he's significantly better than before, even though you didn't even change his build. (in which I mean he actually crits)

If you go over his voicelines, he'll start being brutally honest. Will absolutely start throwing shade at characters you dislike. He feels more open to you now that he's aware you "favor" him. May or may not let one or two dirty secrets come from his mouth at one point. He just wants you to know that he dislikes them too. His own way of trying to make you like him more... by hating on people.

Sly mf suddenly has the charm of a god. Will try his absolute hardest to get you with a very dumb pickup line. He starts randomly appearing during commissions just to talk to you, and you think it's just a new game mechanism. Nope. It's him slowly ending up down bad for you. Oh how those tables have turned. But he'll never actually admit that. He'll just say its his "appreciation" for you. It's a bit more than that. Just a tad though, according to him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

yeaaaaa uh take this thingy before i go back into my depression hole of no creative return and throw a meteor at my sleep schedule lol

[quonka]

The Lasting Effects on Writing Concentration That an Aggressive, Near Insatiable Childhood Obsession with Neopets: The Darkest Faerie Can Inflict on a Man

The first console that I ever owned was the PlayStation 2, and while we had many games, most of them were nearly and completely unplayable. Mostly because I was like, eight.

That's why I made my sister play them.

Maybe "made" is a strong word, it was technically her console-- her games-- but I definitely begged her to play certain games more than others, just so I could sit and watch on the teeny tiny little box television, its frame decorated with neon orange and white acrylic paint, and SpongeBob stickers.

I had a couple favorites I liked to cycle through, Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa -- but no game was I more annoying about than Neopets: The Darkest Faerie.

Just a Bit of Background Research

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie is a third person, single player action-adventure game released in 2005 and developed by Idol Minds Digital Entertainment for publishment on the PlayStation®2 system.

The console game is based off Neopets.com, which was an extremely popular fantastical pet collection and care browser game published to the internet all the way back in 1999. While still active today, it has gone through multiple dubious changes and similarly perhaps questionable owners. However, the current owner of the site, Dominic Law, is looking to really dig in and overhaul the site for a modern era, with a budget of four million dollars.

I did play on the Neopets website when I was younger, but not as much, or as well as my sister knew how to. I more just played the minigames to earn Neopoints for my sister's account-- Neopoints being the sites currency.

Nostalgia Brained

despite my lack of relative interest to the site, I was completely enamored as a child with Neopets: The Darkest Faerie.

The game was, and still is, fantastic.

The graphics are... well. PlayStation®2 graphics, with the console's technological limitations making for a better experience when played on a much smaller, less detail-oriented television screen in the early 2000's than the ones we have today.

But despite the game generally being a little blurry, in my nostalgia-coated opinion, it still holds up pretty well. With its characters and semi-open world all being taken and expanded on directly from the Neopets website and put into 3D; there's a lot of gorgeous design and color and creativity given to the environments and the anthropomorphic Neopets inhabiting them.

You can even switch between the two main characters, a knight named Tor and a sorceress named Roberta whenever you want, only having to press two buttons at the same time once you get to the third act of the game where they meet. This allows you to instantly be able to change between their respective brute melee sword attacks and ranged magic attacks.

There's magic, and monsters, and multiple heroes and villains, all thrown into a medieval fantasy setting-- and despite how many video games I've either played myself or watched others play over the years, I really can't think of a single other game like it, in both gameplay and soundtrack.

"I'll Do it Myself"

Being a game made in 2005, there is nowhere to buy the official Neopets: The Darkest Faerie soundtrack like you can with many modern-day games. The cinematic scoring producer of the game, Jack Wall, doesn't even have the soundtrack listed on his website with his other projects, or on his Spotify. The In-Game music producer Keith Leary doesn't even appear to have a website or Spotify.

This has left the creatives of YouTube to render their own easily accessible versions of the music.

In 2019, user monster860 uploaded their three-hour seven-minute render of the OST to YouTube, "This music was rendered using the tool I wrote, so it might not be totally accurate."

Then, in 2021, they uploaded an eight-hour five-minute render of the soundtrack, "This is the new and improved Neopets: TDF soundtrack video! Now featuring all of the variations, adding up to 8 hours, and also in stereo. In addition, certain issues are fixed, such as the flute part in the Bazaar District music not having the trills."

While not being technically official, it sounds very much like how it does in-game, and the inclusion of all the minor variants, as well as any cut and discarded tracks make this cataloguing of the game's OST perfect to study to for me.

Cause and Effect

In last week's post about Darkwood, I talked about how the horror game's OST was such an essential part to the horror atmosphere, that the intense focus I carried in-game, transferred out of the game when simply just listening to the soundtrack, and that it helped me with concentrating on my work.

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie OST has a similar effect, but in a different manner.

I have kept my PlayStation®2 specifically for the purpose of playing this game every couple years or so, with my oldest save on the disc being from 2014, and my newest being just from last month, 2024. I have beaten the game in entirety at least three or four times, and created a new save file much more than that.

Because I have played the game so incredibly often since childhood, whenever I have the soundtrack on, I can remember exactly where each song plays in the game.

It of course helps that monster860's video has its chapters titled with song currently playing, which is where it is found in the game-- but most of the time as I'm writing in a different tab, just through memory I am able to recognize the specific area, what its main color palette is and what character is available to play, and how far that specific song is in the game.

Instead of the soundtrack promoting a bit of healthy fear in order to get me working, the Darkest Faerie OST is calming, comforting really.

Don't get me wrong though, there are a lot of really fun and intense tracks in the game, my favorite specifically being "Brightvale Battle" at 4:39:32. Just starting off with that call and response melody at the beginning, on what I assume to be some sort of keyboard, is immediately effective at grabbing one's attention, which is apt for fight music. Then a little later into the song at 4:40:05, when the flute comes in on top of all the lower instruments, it sounds pretty and adds a bit of contrast while still feeling just as powerful as the heavier drums.

My absolute favorite piece of that song, however, is when the piccolo comes in at 4:40:41. It immediately pierces through the other instruments, sharp and passionate, and extremely impactful for how little time it actually stays in the song.

There are so many songs on the soundtrack just like this one that definitely don't inspire the horror that Darkwood's does but are comparably exciting-- and I think this drive that I get from more of the battle tracks, in combination with the calmer, atmospheric tracks-- in further combination with the nostalgic familiarity I have with the game and its idiosyncrasies-- leads to the Darkest Faerie OST promoting a similar concentration on the direct task at hand for me.

Recommendations

Honestly, I definitely would recommend for anyone struggling with concentrating when writing to try listening to the soundtrack of a beloved childhood videogame, or one that just meant a lot to you at some point. I'm not certain it will work like it does for me, but it'd be interesting to see more people talk about what their specific "work music" is and the story behind it.

Unfortunately, with the game being so old and so niche, the only way to play Neopets: The Darkest Faerie legally now is through buying a PlayStation®2 that works, and then also the disc. This is a lot to ask, I recognize.

If anyone is interested though, there are countless playthroughs on YouTube, so just find a commentator that doesn't annoy you and enjoy!

With the 25th anniversary of Neopets coming up, along with Dominic Law's aforementioned four-million-dollar plan to renovate the site, hopefully there is at least a miniscule possibility for a remaster of the game. I realize this is incredibly unlikely but considering both Spyro and SpongeBob: Battle For Bikini Bottom got their remasters semi-recently, maybe it's not completely out of the cards.

[spotsupstuff]

HOW are you so good at finding voice claims..give me ur power

JLKSDJSKLGJKCMK I LISTEN TO SHIT TON OF MUSIC I SUPPOSE? the more varied the better! from all over the world and as far into the years as possible and then the usual stuff like watching some videos, remembering shows that i used to like...

the Main thing i try to do when looking for voice claims is have an idea of what the characters main theme is. Disdain is an interesting case cuz i've gone thru three voices for her before settling on The One!

the key ideas with Disdain are: ghosts, england, tragedy, drowned victim, that specific ghostly blue/green which all come originally from This one. the song came first, character later

made Disdain a design and listened to this song while intensely looking at her face. figured out that this voice is too soft and too... royal, i suppose

so i focused at the song itself. it carries the specific Disdain™ vibes that i wish to respect and heed. the song is the foundation so i went on spotify and looked through the different covers of it. the Second version i landed on was this one

not bad but mmm.... lets look through some more versions. so i came to the Acapella Onion one

it was a comparison game between the two for a bit, staring into Disdain's face for like ten more minutes and then went with the Onion one because i like that it's more Brisk. a part of Disdain's thing is that she is very decisive. she wants Yes or No to her yes or no questions, she rarely uses words like "maybe" or "probably". when she Says something, she says it with Conviction. it's like a verbal karate chop to the throat. a karate chop is a fast, brisk thing, so the Onion version fits much better because of that

another reason why it's better is that it's less fancy, it's just voice and white noise, the way of speaking is more stripped/direct. interesting thing about Disdain's clothes design is that it's rather simple- her dress looks like a peasant one rather than something more worthy for a God. googling "england folk dress", you're gonna see some detailed glorious things, i could've taken inspiration There, but chose not to

so my voice claim choosing includes consideration of the personality, main theme of the design/character's story and the finalized design itself

i showed this new voice claim vid to my partner Just Now basically and he told me "you know, i feel like i would accept any voice that you would put on them" and like yeah, voice claims aren't really much of a rigid thing, you can be rather free with them. whether they fit to the character's face or not is a -so so gesture- way of going about it

so i quickly put together Zephyr's old (MALINDA) and updated (Zdenka Tichotová) voice claim

said he liked the old claim better! the thing is though that he doesn't really know Zephyr as a person

Zephyr didn't originate from a song like Disdain did. Zephyr originated from a historical religiously important person and bravery itself. she has a freer range of places to choose from compared to Disdain's tunnel vision of My Jolly Sailor Bold covers

originally i chose Malinda because Zephyr is supposed to be a mix of French and Irish inspired and the singer covers and knows a lot about Irish tunes. the protion of song chosen Feels like freedom, from singing in Irish to just belting out a single tone straight from the heart. it sounds like defiance. that's what Zephyr is about

the thing is that i listened to some more Malinda stuff later, trying to imagine Zephyr singing it and well... Malinda is originally an American person. the curse of successful Americans rears its head again in the form of superficiality/faked Booming emotions and annoying pride (not sayin that every American has this but... the successful ones especially are so so likely to fall to it) and my Gods Zephyr can't have something like that stapled to her. she's supposed to be genuine and simple

so i went searching for something that is more anchored in humanity/the earth. when i want something like That i usually head either to my childhood or my czechoslovak spotify playlist jgslkgjklsd

Zdenka Tichotová has worked with Nedvedovci in folk-gospel band Spirituál Kvintent in the 70s and 80s. Nedvedovci often sung and wrote songs mourning not enough love in the world. or about freedom of the people here back when we had Lords here but also for example about freedom from the censorship of the Soviets. they are incredibly grounded and covered in the humane and miss Tichotová was bound to follow along with them

THAT's what i wanted for Zephyr more than anything. the fact that one could argue miss Tichotová's voice is "imperfect", not smooth, has traces of age in it makes it *even* better. because it sounds genuine. it's not some studio's idea of mechanical perfect, the One Good Take that then goes through editing and autotune and what not, it's Real and Honest

so that is also what i consider when choosing voice claims for my guys- some history of the voice, what the character symbolizes...

hope this helps at least a lil!!!

[loverrrworld]

its 2016.

you walk home from school listening to your spotify playlist that consists of mcr, p!atd, halsey, melanie martinez, arctic monkeys, fall out boy, and twenty-one pilots. you can't afford premium, so your listening gets interrupted by annoying adverts routinely. when you get home, you remember that the boy you like was talking to another girl today, so you open tumblr and scroll, reblogging hundreds of depressing quotes. when bored, you decide to flick through the kerrang! magazine your friend gave you - gerard way is such a smol bean! your instagram emo trinity fan page got a few comments under a tumblr textpost screenshot you reposted, so you feel validated. all the friends you made through that account are ten years older than you, but they're nice, so it doesn't matter. the people on kik are slightly less nice, but its still fun to talk to people on there. if your friends were over right now, you'd probably be on omegle. no one understands you. your teachers keep setting homework, not understanding that teenagers have so many other problems already! and you don't want to ask your parents for piercings or hair dye because you're scared they won't let you ('its not a phase, mum!'). after reading some tyler joseph x josh dun fanfiction on wattpad, you decide to binge-watch dan and phil videos on youtube. they're definitely secretly dating! somehow you end up watching vine compilations. mum makes you food - with quorn, because you recently become a vegetarian. begrudgingly, you do your maths homework that's due the next morning - it takes you hours. you stay up until 2am talking to your american friends, sending each other videos of ibfs meeting up, and promising to hug even harder when you finally meet.

[schismusic]

Redecorating

I've done some pretty stupid shit in my life but this, this whole thing (imagine I'm gesturing around indistinctly with a ghastly look on my face), totally takes the cake. Is it funny if I do the tapping-the-mic-to-check-if-it-works gag in a written post?

It started when I was about to turn fifteen and trying to bed a girl - she honestly dodged a bullet when she said no, I cannot lie to you all. Anyway I guess I absolutely had to find an outlet for being an annoying teenager and being an asshole irl simply didn't cut it sometimes, you know how it is, most of us are here for that exact same reason.

A number of things have happened since I last posted on this hellsite. The short version is as follows:

I had an identity crisis, or two, or five;

I got a driver's license, somehow;

a worldwide pandemic hit, but I guess this is another one of those things that make us equal on this postapocalyptic landscape of a microblogging platform;

just as inexplicably as my driver's license, I also got a beautiful and lovely girlfriend of almost three years now;

who knows, I might even get a degree before 2024 is over.

This is all fine and dandy, of course, but sometimes a dude just needs to scream into the void, wherein "the void" in this case is about two hundred (!!!!) strangers on the internet, which probably includes you, dear reader. Thanks for sticking with me over these troublesome years of absolutely nothing happening on this blog.

What's new then?

Number one: "what the fuck kinda name is schismusic?"

Hi, my name is schismusic. I thought of this ungodly name when I was, as mentioned, a very pretentious fourteen-year-old, and it absolutely shows. However,

one could argue it's part of the charm in a way;

it grants a bit of relative anonimity compared to my other, more beloved Internet alias (which will inevitably come crashing against my inevitable post concerning my band and the record we made a while ago - more on this later);

somehow, it stuck. You people will eat up just about fucking anything, really!

(Another thing that happened: I learned a tiny bit of HTML, because Letterboxd is yet another hellsite I'm not-quite-proudly a part of. Gotta catch 'em all. I love being annoying with HTML formatting as a matter of fact, it's quite liberating to pretend to know that you can code in front of a billion strangers on the Internet.)

Number two: "so is this asshole gonna post fake hipster music on my timeline yet again?"

Not really, or at least not just that. First order of business is that reblogging is fun, but it overstays its welcome when you do it irresponsibly. It also quite literally goes contrary to this blog's original self-appointed mission and this cannot go unchecked. Pretension is law! Bad taste is every single one of this blog's ten commandments! I hate you all more than I hate myself!

Jokes aside, my point is exactly that I want to be a bit less annoying on the Internet for once. Consequently, I have decided to extend the range of posts on this blog beyond the relatively usual songs and reach into short- and medium-form writing (fiction, nonfiction, maybe even reviews: anything goes), pictures I take (the true OGs might remember I used to post my own drawings from time to time: that's not entirely out of the question for the future, it's just that it's been a while since I've last drawn anything worthwhile) and obviously shameless self-promotion (remember me mentioning my band a couple paragraphs above? Well, here is our record on Bandcamp, Spotify and YouTube; and no, my dear OGs, this is not the same band I used to talk about back in the day! This is a whole new project for you to check out), both in Italian and English, and maybe even some Spanish if I actually take my Spanish to a functional level.

As a corollary of this final point, I will not be deleting my old content, so that the new people on here can get to enjoy a whole cornucopia of cringe circa-2014 content.

Finally, since this is primarily a music blog, the obligatory soundtrack to the writing of this post:

Shoutout to literally every single one of you people for somehow not getting tired of waiting through these years of inactivity, or maybe you just forgot that I existed. If it's the second one, I hope this post was a fun throwback, and that this time you remember to unfollow me for good like you probably wanted to do back when I was active and annoying on here.

It's good to be back.

Love, schismusic

[edwinkjayesh]

Music Player in 2023... Why Sony?

The convenience of Bluetooth streaming is great but it is constrained by how much data it can pump through its signal. Though portable music players are preferably used with wired headphones for maximal performance, wired cans have seemingly enjoyed a recent renaissance too.

Smartphones are great for convenience but they’re not necessarily great for sound. As they’re multi-taskers, able to perform a range of functions, that also means they are a product that’s a jack of all trades but master of a few. Support for higher quality music has become better in the portable space with what Qualcomm is doing with its Snapdragon Sound platform and Sony’s innovations with LDAC, but in terms of outright quality for music, you won’t find better than a portable player.

Sony’s announcement of a new and not too expensive Walkman is a sign that portable music players still have a function and a purpose, as well as reminding some they still exist. Most would assume that portable music players have (or are) going the way of the Dodo, slowly passing their way out of relevance. However, we’re still seeing specialists such as Astell & Kern launch new players every year, and just recently FiiO announced the M11S. While Apple killed off the iPod, the rest of the portable player market isn’t interested in joining the scrap heap just yet.

The NW-A306 has a battery life of up to 36 hours of continuous playback, a 3.6-inch display, and because it runs on Android, you can install your favorite streaming apps if you must, although that defeats the point of having all your music with you. You'll still need a computer to load your music onto the device, just like with the iPhone's Music app, but that somehow seems less annoying with a walkman than with a phone. It also has audiophile-level playback at up to 96KHz (more than double the sample rate of a CD), although that's probably not a difference you can hear.

But it's not all upside. For a start, you'll have to carry two devices if you still want to carry your phone. And it's possible that you kind of let your music library slip when streaming came along. I bought a used iPod a while back, and when I loaded up all my songs, there was no music from the last half-decade or so because I'd been streaming it all.

The convenience of Bluetooth streaming is great but it is constrained by how much data it can pump through its signal. Though portable music players are preferably used with wired headphones for maximal performance, wired cans have seemingly enjoyed a recent renaissance too.

In a wider sense, of this seems to have converged around a greater want for higher quality music on the go. We have for decades limited ourselves in this area as MP3 streaming and downloads were a step in the wrong direction, one that’s taken a long time to reverse. In people’s minds, the quality of what they’re listening doesn’t matter as much as having access to it. We have access to more music than we can fathom at the moment, the area that we need to beef up is the quality we listen at.

From DACs to headphone amplifiers and higher quality streaming services such as Tidal and Qobuz (we still wait for Spotify Hi-Fi to make its entrance), the issue of ‘quality’ is one of the frontiers that the music and audio industry is pushing towards. All these devices have the potential to make music sound better, so while my smartphone will still be my device of choice given how much it (rightly or wrongly) rules my day-to-day activities, when it comes to listening to music in its highest quality, I’ll be tuning in with my portable player to get the best experience possible.

On My View Point...

You may think that, there’s only a need of an audio enhancing software or a high end headphones. But on all every aspects, from nostalgic design, high end specs possible and even quality - Sony have managed to make it all happen in a capsule. And that’s it. For music lovers, this will be dream gadget for sure and so happy to see this upgrade on this formfactor which was really unexpected. And looking forward to have a glance of one of these in real. And that’s been it - Edwin K Jayesh

[diabloii]

hi eren i want to listen to more metal & im wondering where i should start. so far ive listened to like nu-metal(? idk what the correct term is) stuff like poppy and babymetal and ofc vocaloid metal like utsu-p

omg permission to be annoying 101 here i go ok im gonna cut this cause its long bleh... im like bad at talking about music really but ill try my best to make sense... mostly into black + death myself

ok so most of those are very like pop adjacent... nu-metal + electronic pop (im pretty unfamiliar im just going off of stuff ive read). so basically i tried to make a playlist where it kind of goes from uhhh.. "normal" to "extreme" for lack of a better phrase ig >__< from nu metal to black metal. theres def like... you know... a lot more genres out there than what i personally included but i figured itd do .. dont really need to go into grindcore and whatever i figured thisd work best as intro

i tried being very selective here and tried to go as short as possible.. umm like i have that whole other playlist where its pretty much all the metal i listen to minus the stuff that isnt on spotify/.... said in the playlist desc but i went with a lot of the popular songs *thumbs up*

nu metal (SOAD -> evanescence):

i somewhat actively bag on nu metal like rlly hard haha BUT im pretty into System of a Down (fun drumming and serj has a good voice), and i did include an evanescence song although thats.. i mean theyre nu-metal but my mind just says "emo moment".

sludge (melvins -> alice in chains):

sludge tends to cross a lot with grunge and just rock in general... so sometimes its a lot less metal and more rock or grunge but i thought itd be good to include anywayu

thrash + death (riffobia -> death):

merging these together cause they kinda go together sometimes... like dont get me wrong theres differences but. yep. so with thrash its like, metallica megadeth anthrax slayer etc like its the Big One but i really dont listen to any of those because idc oops. HOWEVER scythelord is absolutely one of my fave bands of all time and theyre kind of like thrash/death, i tried not to go overboard including them but... oops. yep

brutal death (cannibal corpse -> inveracity):

so brutal death is just death but some guy burps into the microphone the whole time basically andwell i love it. nonetheless i limited its addition in tge playlist because . um. because people dont like it that much and thats fair

black metal (darkthrone -> sarastus):

YAYYY sooo distortion and screeching and shitty quality and very atmospheric . and theyre not on spotify but again plugging these guys because its such a good album..

**le extra** atmospheric doom stuff (sea witch -> black tremor)

sort of a bonus in my eyes but yes my two atmospheric doom bands that i love. no vocals all instrumental and jusr vibes um sea witch is all nautical and black tremor is all dust storm feeling. you just get it if u hear it *nodding*

oh my god this is long im sorry WOW well i hope that helps like any amount even ^__^ yep

[whiskeyswifty]

In your opinion is evermore a lot less mainstream than folklore?

gonna be annoying and bifurcate the answer once again i'm SO sorry but my brain is like "hmmmmm i need stricter parameters to enact judgement."

Obviously, folklore was more mainstream in its success, that's just a numbers answer and cultural permeation answer. it was the first surprise drop and therefore had the largest impact because we were the least primed for it. the bigger release helped it along as well which allowed for more consumer engagement, as it had the extremely successful cardigan component, the multiple variant vinyls release, the whole shebang. New look, new musical style, new release strategy (not new for other pop stars, just new for her at least). as far as the general public is concerned, evermore is just like a b-side. they're not entirely wrong, if you wanna get technical. folklore is the laymen's term for the era, won the grammy, etc etc. folklore is absolutely her mainstream success of this past era compared to evermore which casual listeners likely don't even know the name of. so evermore is less of a mainstream success, yes, and that's less of my opinion and just simply numbers and impressions, which are plain as day.

but in sound I would say evermore is more "mainstream" pop sounding. songs like willow, gold rush, no body no crime, dorthea, long story short, marjorie, and rwylm are more pop-y, swingy, modern production styles that would fit in better with a top 40 playlist. even champagne problems is the standard piano ballad that popular music is accustomed to. it suits the album's purpose, which is to be a collection of disparate songs thrown together and which is also typically the structure of most modern day albums, a mix of jauntier songs thrown in with ballads, etc. Compared to the melancholy and indie folk bordering on experimental (for her) stylings of folklore, which is meant to be a complete work of cohesive songs that progress almost like a folk opera of sorts. not very mainstream sounding, hard to find singles to give it radio play, and for people who are the hit-shuffle-on-spotify-curated-playlist variety it's harder to find an entry point that gets them interested.

tldr; evermore is less of a mainstream success than folklore, absolutely, but ironically, is the album with far more of a mainstream pop sound!

[midnightpillsnacking]

[Loulou*di S3V1 L 3-2] Hana-Doll 3rd Season THINK OF ME:MONO Translation

Translation below the cut.

Google Drive link | Listen to the album on Spotify

Project Archive: L 3-2

Ageha: That will be all for now, but that is more or less the full picture of this project. Please distribute the materials I’ve given earlier to all parties involved as soon as possible.

Staff: But, Ageha-san, headquarters aren’t going to listen to reason now–

Ageha: Either way, they will come back with a strongly-worded reply. Furthermore, if we were to let this drag any longer, it would be detrimental to our schedule.

Staff: Of course, we understand where you’re coming from, but–

Ageha: There’s no need to worry. If it comes down to it, I will take responsibility.

Staff: …Understood.

Ageha: Thank you. I have some business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.

(Ageha leaves)

Ageha: (sighs) Hey, you. Why are you here?

Rui: I arrived earlier than the meeting time, so I dropped by.

Ageha: A stalker as always. Stop looking into the schedules of other people as you please.

Rui: It seems that you have time blocked out for training later.

Ageha: And?

Rui: You should be exhausted from all your other appointments. How about canceling it?

Ageha: Instructions from above are absolute.

Rui: Your condition seems to be stable at the moment, that’s why I’m asking–

Ageha: You’re annoying. Rui, are you my manager or something?

Rui: I’m not. I’m your fellow unit member.

Ageha: Again with your excuses. You should be sick of your own creepy behavior by now.

Rui: I’m telling you the truth. There’s nothing unnatural about it, just as how a loyal dog looks out for its owner.

Ageha: (scoffs) Says the one who’s enjoying themselves when they see me at my worst.

Rui: … You’re right for one half, but totally off for the other. I want to witness every facet of Ageha, but I also want to grant your desires. I bear the same commitment to both. How weak and vulnerable you are, down to the parts of yourself that you don’t accept, is something I’m more than familiar with.

Ageha: The gall to dare say that out loud… You’re seeing through someone and toying with them.

Rui: Hmm… I don’t remember doing something like that.

Ageha: Then hurry up and get rid of that oh-so-important ampoule.

Rui: Did you forget? It’s already been used up. You were begging for it to be used–

Ageha: Stop it. It was all your fault anyway, zeroing in on every single little thing–

(Notification sound rings.)

Ageha: (sighs before accepting the call) Speaking. Yes, understood. Then please proceed as discussed earlier. (ends the call) Rui, what is Toki up to today?

Rui: He should be in the dorm.

Ageha: Then, let’s make some changes to the schedule. Head back to the dorm for now. We’ll have a meeting.

Rui: A solo live performance.

Toki: Showing nationwide next month, to boot!

Ageha: It’s just been officialized. PLANTs.

PLANTs: (beeps and moves over)

Ageha: Display the latest documents for the solo live performance project.

PLANTs: (beeps and pulls up a display)

Rui: This is… an image of the venue?

Toki: Seems like we’ll be using the boundary.

Ageha: It will be an appropriate stage for Loulou*di’s complete comeback. For the guests seating at more disadvantageous seats, we will prepare the materials to elevate the premium experience for them. It’s an efficient three-stage area that keeps the equipment usage to the minimum while utilizing the environment to its full extent.

Toki: It’s so pretty… It has so many flowers too.

Rui: It’s a stage that’s fully decked with flowers, huh…

Ageha: That’s right. Now, decide on a theme for the venue. Each choice should best portray the beauty of our performance.

Toki: But doesn’t that mean that the experience will be totally different for those watching from the seats?

Ageha: Exactly. We should take into consideration the intensity of the light coming through the windows and the possible weather conditions for that day to produce an experience that cannot be replicated. As far as the venue and the audience are concerned, we should be aiming for a uniquely grand performance.

Toki: Wow… That sounds amazing!

Rui: But to kick off a plan like this is quite sudden.

Ageha: … Do you have any problems with that?

Toki: None at all!

Ageha: That’s good. Rui, do you have something to say? If there’s something you’re not satisfied with, just come out and say it.

Rui: No, there’s nothing. If it’s decided by you, then I would do anything.

Ageha: Then how about at least acting more compliantly?

Rui: I just would like to know the reason. If this live performance was to go according to plan–

Ageha: And it will. Without a doubt.

Rui: … This performance seems special, matching the extravagance of the previous one. It is possible to come out with a venue design that utilizes the location and resources on hand to create a premium experience that’s only limited to the on-site staff and a select number of people. Even taking into account the safety measures to be put in place, it’s important to put out a quality to the standard of serendipitous. With this, being called for a grand hall tour would only be a matter of time.

Ageha: Exactly. All the more that a show like this cannot be brought to life by none other than us. There couldn’t be a more befitting stage.

Rui: But, why now?

Ageha: There are several reasons for it, but the biggest being Toki.

Toki: Me?

Ageha: When we resumed our activities, the spotlight was on you. Though you’ve already made your appearance on video programs, magazines and web media, it’s about time to reach out to Loulou*di’s dedicated fans, Loumiels, and give them a special time, a special space. All to show them the face of the new Louloud*di.

Toki: Ageha-san…!

Ageha: No other idol can pursue the true strength of Loulou*di. Loulou*di’s fortitude is nailed in the numbers and the circumstances. However, it’s all the more we cannot rest on our laurels, and aim for the top. This has always been the way Loulou*di was and is, from conception to the present, without change or hesitation. Don’t you think?

Toki: Yes, I do!

Ageha: Rui, how about you? Is there something you still want to say?

Rui: No, I understand what you mean.

Ageha: Then, that’s all I have for today. Both of you, make sure your individual condition is up to mark.

Toki:Yes!

(Ageha is about to leave)

Toki: A-Ageha-san! Are you heading somewhere else?

Ageha: The training room. It’s nothing to concern yourself with, go and rest for the day.

Toki: Take care!

(Ageha leaves)

Toki: (sighs happily) I’m so excited… A special live show in a special place, being in front of Loumiels… It means my debut is official, right?

Rui: So it seems.

Toki: For Ageha-san to take me so far into consideration… It's like a dream.

Rui: Ageha is always thinking about it.

Toki: (giggles) I’ll have to give it my all if I want to keep being in Loulou*di!

Toki: … Yeah, I have to do my best.

Rui: Toki-bou, are you alright?

Toki: Alright about what?

Rui: Did you visit the medical facility for a check-up?

Toki: Of course I did. I took the medicine like the doctor told me to. I even got a jab.

Rui: A jab?

Toki: (rolls up his clothes) Over here, there’s the mark from the injection. See, I’m not lying.

Rui: (to himself) The water again, huh…

Toki: I’m… perfect. A perfect member of the perfect Loulou*di.

Rui: Ageha.

Ageha: If it’s a complaint, I’m not hearing it. Keep your mouth shut and do as I say.

Rui: Of course I will. But…

Ageha: (sighs) But what what?

Rui: There was the reason with Toki, but what’s the true reason? The reason for you to be in such a rush.

Ageha: Is there a problem with being ahead? To transform the worth of an idol into something special as soon as possible: that is the earnest wish of Chihiro, of the president, and of myself.

Rui: I know.

Ageha: If you know then don’t ask pointless things. How many times do I have to repeat myself? I won’t stand for the fruits of my labor being robbed by an ignorant bunch!

Rui: Anthos*, huh. But they are far from Loulou*di’s standard. There’s no need for you to make an enemy out of–

Ageha: I know that! Then how did it end up like this?! (throws something on the floor)

Rui: This is… a magazine? (picks it up and flips through) “Up-and-coming Newbie Group Anthos*: Preparing for the Ambition of the Music Award”.

Ageha: (sighs) It was the president’s idea.

Rui: The president’s?

Ageha: If it wasn’t then something that tasteless would have been destroyed before it was made into an article.

Rui: In short, this means that Loulou*di and Anthos* are both competing against and improving each other as rivals.

Ageha: Loulou*di doesn’t need this to be at the top.

Rui: Yes, you’re right.

Ageha: Then, why…?! No matter how matter times he recoups, I still want to trust in Loulou*di!

Rui: Ageha, calm down. I’m going to have to touch you if you get that emotional.

Ageha: Don’t touch me! (slaps Rui’s hand away)

Rui: …

Ageha: Rui, listen to me, this is an order. From now on, do not come near me.

Rui: Why?

Ageha: If you’re that considerate, I’d rather have you die instead.

Rui: … Understood. If that’s what you wish, then I won’t do it again.

Ageha: Throw out whatever ampoules you’re still holding onto. I’m not going to choose the easy way out. I won’t rely on that again. I will succeed and overcome the flower’s self-destruction.

Rui: Don’t tell me you suddenly came to train because of that?

Ageha: I’m planning the things I can do with what limited time we have. But, there’s something else that takes first priority. Do you know what that is?

Rui: Holding a surprise live and making a performance worthy of media attention… all to completely quell the Music Awards.

Ageha: Exactly. I have no intention of letting them have a single Category Award. We’ll make it loud and clear to them that Loulou*di is superior to them in terms of raw talent, name recognition and media attention. We won’t yield in anyone’s eyes… we’re perfect.

[mydaroga]

Hello! Since you’ve been talking about not using Spotify a little recently, I was wondering if I could ask what service to use? I respect Neil Young but it seems to me all the streaming options are hosted by shit corporations so if there’s one that isn’t, I’d like to switch to that!

Hi there! Thank you for asking. Before I answer, I want to reiterate that for what it's worth, I don't think any less of anyone for using Spotify--I actually do think it's the easiest thing to use out there and has some features I really miss! And it's entirely valid to make those considerations a priority, not that I expect anyone's too worried what I think.

So if you want to know what I'm going on about, see below the cut.*

Right now, I'm on Tidal, which claims to offer a higher percentage of profits back to the artists, but has had some issues with its numbers being questioned. The interface has also been problematic for me on the AppleTV app, which is annoying because those are louder speakers than my phone. I've tried Amazon, which was abysmal in terms of user interface AND crashed every time I left the app screen, and I find YouTube music difficult in that it makes no distinction between video and audio and has some cataloging/organization problems. I don't have an apple phone so I haven't tried iTunes or whatever it's called now. Honestly of the things I've tried, I miss Spotify, because the suggestions/generated playlists were generally better and socially it's way easier to share things with friends cuz everyone's on it.

That said, for now I'm sticking with Tidal because I'm not quite done hoping something else will present itself or the conversation will shift towards platforms being more cognizant of what they're enabling. That, and while I don't listen to a LOT of Neil, I want him to be available to me (as he is on all other major platforms, AFAIK. And yes, right-wing social media has tried to convince people he retracted instantly because of the money. Girl, Neil doesn't need it and he's a stubborn bastard.). I believe in free speech and in looking at all sides of an issue, but I don't believe that deliberate misinformation and dangerous shit-stirring when lives are at stake really count, so I personally don't believe that asking Rogan or others to be responsible citizens is "silencing" anyone.

*And for those of you wondering what on earth I'm going on about, last February Neil Young demanded his music be removed from Spotify after a series of incidents involving blockbuster podcaster Joe Rogan promoted Covid misinformation and vaccine skepticism. There's certainly an argument here to be made about what Spotify's responsibility is, and I have had that argument (mostly with middle ages white dudes while I'm driving for Uber or whatever) but the point is: Young took a stand and did not want to be included on a platform that refused to take responsibility for what it was supporting. (There have been other issues with Rogan and his guests in the past, and it comes down to what you think free speech should entail on a private/corporate platform, etc etc.)

[inz-lokisdottir]

Pass the happy! When you receive this list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications 😙✨

Ohhh? Lemme think...

My friends and family! A little stressful at times depending on which family in which universes and the situation, but they still always make me happy!

My dragon cubs, and the two big dragons. They're just like another family, I just have to be more responsible over them since they're still adapting to their new habitat, basically the place I brought them to. And Ebony, my jaguar, no need to explain why, he's one of my best friends!

Daggers, blades, magic. No further explanation needed.

Hoodies! 'specially big ones because they're more comfier, and as a jotun, big hoodies make me feel less warm. Hoodies, jumpers, whatever you call em- both the zip and the jumper hoodies though. Comfort makes Inz happy, yes yes!

Sugar! Although....quite a few people don't allow me to have too much because I either end up getting a sugar rush and hurting myself, or I get a sugar rush, then I get dizzy....then I throw up- its not great, buuut I still love sugar and sweet treats! Makes me happy as long as I don't have too much!

And for Inz mun? Under the cut :)

I dunno, there hasn't been a lot of happy for me recently though, and therefore I've been finding it easy to tell what does make me happy.

Talking to online friends. Not just through rp but in general, its great, most of the people I talk to on here or on discord are awesome.

Isolating myself from my family. Sounds sad, but I'm definitely happier that way, just vibing in my room most of the time, or going to my grandma's and being with my cousins, aunts, the kitty over there who everyone including myself calls mine, stuff like that makes me happy.

Watching videos of my favourite actors. Behind the scenes or bloopers of Marvel productions or Stranger Things, interviews, pretty much anything. Specifically Sebastian Stan, I dunno why but my brain chose to find extra serotonin from seeing him, and so he is, platonically, one of my favourite people ever. But anyways. Seeing all the actors I watch who distract me from daily problems and mental issues and whatever be happy, just makes me happy too. Can't explain it better than that unfortunately, my brain doesn't work well at 4am after no sleep.

....I can't think of any more. Spotify? My funkos? They don't necessarily make me happy as much as I like em so I don't know if I can say that. I like collecting funkos but they make me broke, and Spotify is usually to help me block things out. Maybe...I'd say, as annoying as they are, my two youngest cousins. Ages 4 months and 1 year old, as I'm the family babysitter, and since they just like me and they're chill, I like em too. The 1 y/o keeps calling me 'ammu' [mum] though and I don't know how to fix that

Uhhhhhh- I'd saaaaaay....pepsi. Not good for me, sure. But, it helps me be awake enough to function since I can't get enough sleep, and it keeps me energised enough to make people think I'm this whole other fun bubbly person and not just a tired depresso teen.

[aamethyst000]

feeling meh, now (may 10, 24 - 11:04pm)

i had to go to the store again today to pick up some extra ingredients we needed for tonights dinnwe. we are having sweet thai chille with rice and my little brother had homemade shake n bake and rice. even though its going to be very late when we finally eat. dinner is still going to be worth it. while i was waiting, i downloaded a few more games for the 64 on my laptop, so i cant wait to try them when the power goes out again. i say "when" because our power seems to go out a lot within a year. not going to lie, it is quite annoying to deal with when we go through a power outage (unplanned). oh well, what can we do when the birds constantly fly right into the pole wires and fry to death. they have a place to sit on, on every fricken pole but they never use it. so much for being so smart lmao

im almost finished watching shera again, i might rewatch it again or go back to hazbin hotel. i dont know, just something to keep me occupied for a little while. dinner will be ready in less than 20 minutes, so i am going to get ready for dinner and then relax for the rest of the night watching shra. im thinking of starting the dishes sometime tomorrow.

2:28am - im having a puff bu myself right now while listening to my spotify playlist <3 i always loved having a puff by mysekf. however, ive always imagined having bedtime puffs with my future lover, it seems nice and relaxing, it would bring me imence joy and happisness and would appreciate life again. i get the feeling id be a changed person once i fall genuinly inlove again. once i allow myself at some point. ill admit, im scared of letting myself go like that again. im afraid of letting someone else in my personal space like that again, despite me really really wanting that again. id over think every action that they have, and as ive mentioned before, my "jealousy" is doing well with coping right now. i still dont understand why, anyway, i should head to bed soon after im done having a puff. im nice and high in the clouds right now. im loving this feeling and i want to go to bed feeling like this. its really nice to feel this high, i wish i can be like this all the time, even during work hours would be awesome. id handle the day with more confidence. for now though, id just have to deal with that by taking cbd edibles and joints. which is okie, it deffinitly can get me through most of the day. it just doesnt stick like thc does. id prefer that over cbd. oh well, good night, readers!~ im going to go finish my puffs then head to bed.

[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]

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