#fun fact: while i don't think the song itself fits as a whole

[bipherpol]

Nice songs! I like the way you think! I wish Kaku can rejoin Galley-La in the future, provided he apologizes, and Galley-La forgives him, of course. Who realizes that Franky and Lucci are going to be in-laws first? I just realized that I sent the Alice in Chains songs twice, so you get six songs this time! "Pictures of You" by The Cure, "One Thing" by Finger Eleven, "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver, "Whirring" by The Joy Formidable, "Tongue Tied" by Grouplove, and "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men.

oh kaku is absolutely joining galley-la. they try to make him stay after enies lobby and he's like "no let's go be proper government traitors and give everything we know to the revs and then i'll consider it" this argument ends with the other six deciding that they'll do that and then promptly dump kaku on the next ship to water 7 regardless of whether or not he agrees. if necessary, they are not above tying him up to get him there. if that doesn't work, they could always ask kuma.

(kaku absolutely wants to go back but he also, y'know, doesn't want to just ditch the rest of them. meanwhile, the rest of them are like "oh my god please just ditch us and go. live ur childhood dream. pls. at least one of us gets to.")

honestly, the first one to realize the in-laws is probably one of cp9. or nami. actually no wait it's probably nami. she catches onto the whole franky/robin thing quick and then just kind of has a moment where she just mentally points between them and starts laughing her ass off because oh god. it's funny on so many levels, at least partially because the former government assassin is going to be in-laws with the head of water seven's big gang.

songs!! a: i love "pictures of you" it's so good. (the emo kid loves the cure, who's surprised) also oh god "tongue tied" i haven't heard that song since glee. (it is a good song though)

"toxic" by britney spears (who saw that one coming), "don't hold your breath" by nicole scherzinger aaand "unkind" by sloan

[bapple117]

Some RadioCotton Trivia 📻🐰❤️

Now that my first fic "If You Can't Say Somethin' Nice, Don't Say Nothin' At All" is finished, I thought I would share some behind-the-scenes trivia!

Some of this will contain minor spoilers for the plot, so read with caution if you've not finished the story - there will be no spoilers for part two (All That Grace). Okay let's go! This list is LONG so hold on y'all

The Bambi Thing

The name is a direct quote from Bambi; there's actually a LOT of Bambi references in the whole fic. The quote was actually the entire inspiration for the whole premise. Bambi is one of my favourite Disney movies and I couldn't help but notice a lot of shared themes between it and Alastor - and then I thought, what if a cute, wholesome rabbit demon came to Hell and taught him to be sweeter?

There's another direct script lift from Bambi later in the fic - when Alastor has the dream about his mother. 'Mother? MOTHER? Mother where are you?' Oh the pain.

Adam also calls Alastor "Bambi" and Verity "Thumper" at points, AND one of the chapters is called "Drip Drip Drop Little April Showers". The themes of them being a deer and a rabbit also crop up a lot, obviously.

The Music Thing

There are a LOT of references to songs, both when I put lyrics at the start of chapters and within the story itself. I am aggressively inspired by music and song lyrics, and have immensely eclectic taste, and can't help myself. Some songs would be the thematic influence for a chapter and I would literally listen to the song on repeat as I either planned or wrote the chapter. Something I'm still doing now while I write Bluest Monday!

At one point I spent about an hour trying to find the name of a music scale just so I could accurately describe it when Alastor and Verity play the piano. I am very meticulous with my research, I was determined to find it 😂

The Alastor Thing

The way I chose to write Alastor was influenced by a number of things. One, that "What just happened? Ffffffuck" line from the finale of Season 1 did a LOT of heavy lifting for me. It showed that he has a version of himself that's less guarded and raw - and I don't care what anyone says, it's NOT because his staff broke. He goes right back to the filter and accent immediately afterwards and the staff is still broken, so.

Two, I just really wanted to write him as someone that uses violence and a covered-up personalty as a coping mechanism for grief, which I don't think is too far from the canon. His eventual softening and ability to love was influenced by things like Mr Darcy, Kylo Ren (LOL), Astarion from BG3, etc etc. Traumatised bad boy is healed by the sunshine girl - we love to see it.

I also did a LOT of research on the canonical information thus far known about Alastor, including things Viv has said in streams. The only thing I got dead wrong was a chapter where he drinks tea - apparently he hates it. Everything else is either based on canon or a speculation based on lore that's been teased.

Other Random Facts

I chose to include Adam as a fleshed out character for a few reasons. One, he's hella fun to write. Two, I had the Vox-jealous-kidnap-and-rescue planned since the start, and I knew I needed a character who could help them. Adam is unknown to the Vees as a hotel resident at that point, and so he became a great choice. I needed to lay the ground work so it would be convincing that he'd help them, so he's there from the start. I ended up loving him so much that he's now one of the main characters in the sequel and is getting his own development arc. Go Adam!

Adam also breaks the fourth wall in the show (Ugly people? *looks at camera*) and so I felt inspired to make him quippy with pop culture references a la Deadpool. It was great fun and very helpful when I wanted to squeeze in a fitting reference.

There is a LOT of foreshadowing and wordplay in the fic. A LOT, so much I don't have time to list it all. For example, Verity drunkenly talks (in Chap 4) about how deer are territorial momma's boys - if that ain't Alastor idk what is. That info becomes very important in Chap 21.

There are references to stuff from Helluva Boss; Fizzerolli Cola, a Verosika music video plays, etc. A sign of more to come in P2 👀

Dramatic irony (where the audience knows something the character doesn't and it's either funny or tragic) is my absolute FAVOURITE Shakespearian trope, and I use it all the time.

I made myself laugh a lot coming up with the names for fake booze LOL

Husk was one of my favourite characters to write, as well as Alastor (ofc), Rosie and Adam.

My personal favourite chapters are 13 (Al drunk with Rosie) 19 (dream scene, fluff & first smut) and 23 (final chapter). I loved the image of Alastor laughing into his drink like a normal young man being silly and chapter 19 has a bit of everything - angst, fluff, smut, comedy. I loved writing that one so much.

The scene where Verity uses Alastor's power to manifest them away from the group cheekily and then Alastor likes it a lot and goes crazy kissing her is very inspired by this scene in Titanic (one of my all time fave movies) - especially where Rose swears and laughs as the lift is going up.

I myself have lost a parent, so I understand that loss very well. I poured a lot of that feeling into this fic, it was something I could actually inject into the story from my own experience.

I'm pretty sure we got the comments turned off on a video on youtube LOL. I linked this song at the end of Chap 19 (I listened to it on repeat while writing the love scene) and the next day the comments were disabled LMAO. That track will ALWAYS remind me of this fic now, arugh my heart

Verity

As much as Verity started as just a way for me to avoid using (Y/N) in a reader-insert fic (something I personally don't like) and a way for me to do the rabbit and deer theme, she became her own character over the course of the story. I made it reader-insert cause I figured no one would read it otherwise, but now the sequel is third person bc she's her own person.

Her name was also a deliberate choice - a V name meaning truth. She makes Alastor face his truth, yadda yadda blah blah blah you get it you get it 😂 Plus it just sounds like a rabbit name doesn't it?

Verity has a lot of traits from myself, but she is NOT self-insert for me, I'd hasten to add. I'm not completely delulu guys okay? ....Not entirely But she does have a lot of overlap with myself. You gotta write what you know, after all. I won't go into detail about the similarities between us - some of them are obvious, I think. But I'll leave that all ambiguous, more fun that way :)

Final Thoughts

There are honestly so many more things I could say but this is already veering into narcissistic self-indulgence land LOL so I feel compelled to stop here, but if anyone has any questions or things they'd like to know, pop them in my inbox!

That's all, folks!

[titleknown]

KAIJUNE NEO: NEON TYGER

My name isn't really important. Well, not important to anyone reading this anyway.

Just know I was a homeless girl, and it was still better than the house I ran from. I once lived in a place that literally fell apart the moment I had to run from a police sweep. One time I got bitten by a water moccasin and had to bite the flesh of the wound out to keep it from spreading.

Not fun. But, then it happened. Like a Star of Bethlehem I saw it and like a falling star it hit me, and it... spoke to me. And it changed me, on the inside.

The men in the green suits took me right after. Compound was nicer than the streets. MREs were better than dumpster-burgers. Could have done without the interrogations. Or the tests. Or the fact that I couldn't leave. Or that they didn't treat me like a human being. I think they never asked my name. There's a lot of things I could've done without, really.

But it was there inside me. Speaking without words. It showed me things. Things beyond our mortal ken, from spaces before and beyond, only now beginning to show their face.

I'd seen inklings, bits of those things emerging, but that big picture, that huge, cosmic scope. It talked to me. It didn't want to talk to them. Said their hearts were too tainted or something. It's hard to paraphrase something that doesn't talk in words.

And then, one day, I got out. I think the men in the green coats said something about vivisection before it happened, something about "failure to co-operate." and the It didn't like that.

So for the first time, it changed me. I don't know how to describe it. Like, its that speaking-without-words thing, I think it'd sound like a porno if I tried. It was... visceral, powerful, amazing. I'll say that much.

And wouldn't you know it, something else broke out too when I did. Poor thing. there's a lot of pain in there. I'd feel sorry for it if it didn't want me and everyone else dead. Still kinda do, can't blame 'em.

I suppose I'm now some kind of messiah-thing, it calls itself a Space Queen, though it says it's a rough translation. Oh yeah, it's learning to talk with words. Given some time. It's not good at it, but it's nice to have a friend in my life.

It lets me wander around the globe, doing what I can, which is more than I thought but less than it'd hope, changing back to me-me to keep my head down. You can kinda tell it's changging me on the outside a bit, I think it called it "syncopation," it's mostly in the eyes.

I don't really need to eat anymore at least, so that helps if I'm getting the folks around me a burger I don't need. There's a lot of bad amongst the street-folk I'll admit, but there's a lot of good, and that's what keeps me going, I think that's what keeps it going too.

It's taught me to broadcast too. So, if you got lucky enough to see this before the men in the green suits come, now you know about the giant lady you keep seeing on the news punching bugs n such. Don't worry, they ain't got shit to track me. They ain't got shit to cage me.

If you see me up close, know I see you. I like you, mostly. But then run because you don't want to get in the middle of what I'm trying to pulsar at, or whatever the hell it calls it...

-Unknown radio/television broadcast, recieved by 50 million listeners in the area of Las Vegas, Nevada

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

So, we have our Ultraman stand-in, Neon Tyger, named after the song by The Killers, which again, did inspire a lot of the tone of the story as well as the name.

I will add, while calling her a "space messiah" was meant as a bit of glibness on her part, akin to calling Superman Space Moses, friend of the blog @partlysmith did point out that does fit really well with Tsuburaya's whole thing of Christian symbolism with Ultraman, and I kinda realized after that the additional idea of her living amongst the homeless and marginalized while doing good is another parallel to good ol Oily Josh.

So yay, I was accidentally more clever than I thought!

Ability Notes: You know Ultraman? Basically, she does Ultraman stuff, albeit more Jack Kirby/70s psychedelic genre fiction + neon-related of course.

Bonus Trivia: The species of the "it" has different names depending on what gender of lifeform they're bonded with, Cosmic Men for male, Space Queens for female, and a whole host of esoteric ones for the other genders.

Also, the Cosmic Men have in fact shown up briefly once before in my work, and they're meant to be inspired by spacesuits, in the same way Ultraman is inspired by Grey Aliens!

And, in that grand (exceedingly late) Kaijune tradition, this character and all related narrative elements are under a CC-BY 4.0 license, as long as I, Thomas F Johnson, am credited as their creator.  

[sapphicblight]

20 and 27 for ao3 wrapped! (and your tags? v relatable. something very lgbt also happened to me last summer 😂)

when i say none of me saw kp coming, nvm vegaspete in particular. part of me still thinks i hallucinated the whole thing 🙃

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

i don't really reread my own work once published because i'll just find things i want to change and then i'll never leave. but when it comes to the ones i reread the most while editing, i think that's gonna have to be either your body's a tether or intrinsically simply because they're the two i struggled with the most.

'your body is a tether’ was my very first attempt at writing smut at all, never mind actually publishing it. i ended up doing a billion editing passes to see if the smut was well paced, wasn't too cringy, was still emotional enough, did it have enough dialogue, not enough dialogue, etc. it was also my first time having to pick what word i wanted to use for genitals which i hadn't anticipated to be the biggest hurdle of them all 🥲 so i reread it a ridiculous amount during editing

with 'intrinsically' i specifically struggled with the chronology. it's a collection of different moments in pete's life, and i ended up putting them in a non-chronological order for the sake of pacing and tension, and it just worked better that way narratively; but as i edited i ended up going back and putting it in chronological order, then putting it back in non-chronological order, then in an entirely different non-chronological order, and back again, so on and so forth, resulting in me rereading every single part in every possible order 78398238 times. in the end, i trusted my beta reader on what order worked best since she was still able to take in the work, unlike me, who had read it so often i barely even registered the words on my screen. havent reread it since posting it because i think i'd get stuck back in the time-loop if i did. but im not a perfectionist at all why do you ask??

27. What do you listen to while writing?

usually i just put my liked songs on spotify on shuffle. which is a bit of a wildcard move because i have like 3000 songs on there with various vibes, and a chaotic mix of western music, kpop, and eurodance (mostly owed to eurovision tbh). only when i'm struggling, i'll really seek out a specific song or playlist. i do have a handful of writing playlists related to my original stories or just specific moods that fit what i tend to write.

for vegaspete my roommate and i actually made a playlist together that i'll turn to sometimes for the canon compliant / canon divergent fics, which is where i'll also scalp the lyric i use for my titles. fun fact; intrinsically was originally gonna have the title 'tell me lies when i'm all truth' from a song i heavily associate w vegaspete -- 'playmate' by olive.

oh right and for boy in blue i actually used a song called 'girl in blue' and used lyrics in the work itself as well that i rewrote for narrative purposes. this resulted in me listening to the song over and over and over again while writing boy in blue, to the point that it actually made my top 5 in spotify wrapped 🧍‍♂️

[twelvedaysinaugust]

https://twitter.com/damnifoundaname/status/1524495876319764480?t=TXQW-lIU3E8pM2Bb9uc2sA&s=19

There's so many things to unpack here.

He looks happy which is amazing. I'm glad we're getting a Zane Lowe interview and I'd much rather it just be this than some of the other interviews he's going on.

He's wearing his rings, which he hasn't been wearing a lot lately. In fact I can pin point a timeline to when he stopped wearing these often but people won't understand anyway. But I know his Zane Lowe interviews are usually a really nice and comfortable place for him so I'm glad he's wearing his rings.

The thing that keeps nagging me is that he's saying about Harry's house, "this is everything I've wanted to make"

And frankly I'm just confused about the nature of this album if it's something he's so passionate about. Let's forget that the promo makes no sense and that everything off late has been chaotic and not in a good way.

I still don't understand the residency tour. I still don't get why he's rushing touring an album that he feels so strongly about. Especially when he loves touring so much. He's gonna be exhausted from HSLOT and immediately for the rest of the year, he's so overworked. Why would he put himself or even his band in that position when he just stated how he's got clarity on what matters and how he's going to do things that make him happy? I just don't get it.

But I'm really looking forward to this interview. The last one was a breath of fresh air and it was happy. He's also wearing the two hearts in one home sweatshirt which I find adorable.

Link

I completely agree with you, anon.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really feel like everything about HS3 is like the Emperor's new clothes. The promo is disjointed and lazy. It relies on fans Larries making connections that probably aren't really there. I'm convinced that most of the YAH doors and tweets are completely random and meaningless. If there was some objective meaning, it has not been conveyed properly and most fans seem really bored and uninterested in YAH at this point.

The album itself is decent. It's a little weird, but it's vibey. On the whole, I think it works. But it's not profound. "Cinema" is repetitive. "Late Night Talking" is fun, but it's pretty generic. I think "Boyfriends," "Matilda," and "Love of My Life" are some of the strongest songs on HS3, but they don't really fit with most of the album I feel. And I'm not going to say that the lyrics in "Keep Driving" make sense. They do not. If they are meaningful to Harry, the listener is none the wiser. The drug references come across as really cringey, in my opinion. "Carolina" worked. "You were just doing coke in my kitchen / You never listen" does not work. It seems really juvenile and try-hard.

Harry is saying the album is exactly the kind of magnum opus he always dreamed of making and I just do not see it. Musically, lyrically, and conceptually, I thought HS1 and FL were far superior. I don't know why he went on the Coachella mainstage and talked in great detail about a song that isn't even on the tracklist. Again, this album is fun to listen to. It's vibey. I listened to it while doing homework. I listened to it while I went for a run. I enjoy it. But I'm not going to treat it like something it's not. Objectively, I do not think it's profound - especially when you compare it to Harry's previous work.

Does anyone remember when Joaquin Phoenix pretended to leave acting for a rap career and it was basically a very elaborate social experiment and set up for the mockumentary I'm Still Here? Yeah, the HS3 era is feeling a little bit like that.

I am curious about how this Zane Lowe interview is going to play out.

[frigidfries]

how about chara for the ask game!!

chara. chara chara chara

favorite thing about them:

so. you see one of my FAVORITE tropes in media is that the narrator was a character all along. partially because- especially when i was younger- i would pay super close attention to narration and choices and diction in a game to glean anything like a canon personality to a silent protagonist. and the narrator being a person in the story itself was basically a 'you were right to pay attention! it is that deep!' to me. and my fondness for this predates undertale!

i know narrachara isnt canon-canon, but... man! if it is, then chara is easily one of the most complex characters in undertale by the fact they have the most "screentime"(?) to work with!

it means they're funny and bitingly sarcastic when they want to be, it means they have opinions on anime debates, that they like plants and fun facts, they're impatient, they have a deep sense of right and wrong, they think a heroine who can save the underground is the coolest thing ever, they know some DEEP CUT old video game references, they like obscure japanese novels about tea and kitchens and loss...

its just so cool to me that a character that barely exists in the narrative- only known through second hand stories and footage, even less than we know about asriel- is revealed to be the narrative. and so many emotional beats get to hit so much harder. its just... a nice idea, you know? that we get to meet something like the real them at all.

least favorite thing about them:

ah hmmm. hm. i have reached the point of "they obviously have some pretty severe issues i don't think were helped by the unknowing, well-intentioned pressure of their loved ones and the entire underground as one of the two only 'hopes' of an entire group of people, and they did and can do some really jacked up things, but also think about them as a catholic 12 year old and everything makes sense."

tldr; i love chara discussions but i think we can all move past totally black or white reads of them because that doesn't fit in at all with the themes and style of toby's writing. utdr simply doesn't have pure evil or perfect good

favorite line:

brotp:

sighs. sighs. i talked about them and asriel in his post but. augh. they were so important to each other. making edgy ocs- chara remembered the name of every single attack. they gagged over their parents PDA together. they... man. man. objectively not great for each other, but i think they desperately needed each other in their lives.

frisk and chara are also. just! man!!!! they get impatient over repeated checking but its impossible for me to not read so much of it as... painfully fond. it's you! you won! hey, you're not made of money. that's called a 'water sausage'. ...there's a lot there, i think.

otp/notp:

same digs with asriel i dont ship them with anyone, really!

random headcanon:

they knew dr. gaster when they were both alive/whole and they liked that he treated them as a Peer. An Intellectual Equal. (read: dr. gaster did actually treat them like a child he just did it in a way that made chara feel respected lol)

golden flowers are weeds. they choke out any garden they're in and are incredibly tenacious. chara likes them so much because have spent hours wistfully relating to them while looking out of their original city's library windows

fell in 2012 and has all the baggage and trappings of being a 11-12 y/o closeted nonbinary kid who was too online in 2012

songs i associate with them:

some excerpts from the playlist i made for them when i was 16

The Scary Jokes - Catabolic Seed

My Chemical Romance - The End

Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things

..... Panic! At the Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is The Press Coverage

favorite image:

of course, offical and my own LMAO

[isagisyoichi]

PICKY PICKY!

synopsis: icks they do

characters included: isagi, bachira, nagi, kunigami, chigiri, igaguri, raichi, gagamaru, reo, naruhaya, shidou, rin, sae, niko, barou, nanase, imamura

warnings: none? i think lol

a/n: this was all in good fun lol and smth ive had in my drafts for awhile. also inspired by tiktoks and conversations i've had with isys 🥸 anyways #keep men humble all 2021

isagi: he hits the woah at parties bro. it’s the only dance move he knows how to do and the worst part is, it's not even done well cause he’s never on beat. please do him, and everyone else, a solid and teach isagi how to dance. please.

bachira: when he drinks gatorade, he gets the lil juice mustache stain and doesn’t notice so he just walks around like that for hours. also, i feel like he goes shopping with his mom so, imagining him going out of a fitting room and doing a spin to show his mom his outfit is so funny to me dkdkdkdm

nagi: he only ever orders chicken tenders and fries at restaurants. your waiter always gives you a look because they’re so bewildered that a 6’2, second year in high school, is still ordering off the kids menu. omg, and nagi gets pissy when the place doesn't offer them. first of all, you're at olive garden what did you expect, you bozo

reo: ok there’s no real reasoning for this one but i seriously feel like reo’s the kind of boy to try to sing or rap to songs when it’s so obvious he doesn’t know any of the words please djdkdkdk. nagi always calls him out, and he gets so pissy and is always like “i do know this song shut up 😒” (no he doesn't, he's lying!!!!)

raichi: posts “depressed” bart simpson edits on his "boys only😈‼️💥" priv story when you guys are in a fight. the fact that he has a boys only priv is an ick in itself, but the fact that he genuinely thinks that the edits are deep is what really does it in. (nagi swipes up w “keep up your head up king 🤕” to mess with him 😭😭)

chigiri: ok this one isn’t technically his fault, but it’s still funny to imagine his hairdresser spinning him around in the chair after a haircut and chigiri just has to sit there looking like this 😐 the whole time fjidkrkkds. chigiri just wants to pay and go, please dndkdkemd

kunigami: i really feel like his mom is the kind of person to be like “try this on!” and makes him fit clothes in the middle of the store while he stands there awkwardly and everyone just looks at them weird rjdkkrk. if you ever happen to bump into him during this, he will be mortified. he knows how to use a fitting room, he swears!!!!

gagamaru: he wears flip flops and you can see his toes hang out over the shoes, which gagamaru truly sees no problem with. put the dogs away bro, i promise no one wants to see them 😕

rin: when he goes to the pool he goes all out. he wears a swim cap, those goggles that cover his nose, swim shoes, and one of those one piece swimsuits that cover his whole body. rin has no idea why you giggle every time you go to the pool together. it’s cause you look like you’re about to partake in a deep sea expedition rin rin 🤕

niko: does not know how to take a compliment AT ALL FNJDKDKD. before you guys were dating, you tried to shoot your shot and call him cute, to which he responded with "thank you." but it was so monotone and kind of hostile, that you thought he was MAD😭 so you were like ??? okay damn my bad bro 😐 but the thing is, niko wasn't mad. he was just rly nervous bc he's had a crush on you for a while. but still, a smile wouldn't have killed him. anyways, niko's so confused when you don't talk to him for another week bc you're convinced he hates you LOL

nanase: you guys ever see that one episode of icarly where carly goes to griffin’s room and it’s a bunch of peewee babies in there? yeah, that’s what happening here except his entire room is themed like the cars franchise. hard to kiss your boyfriend when lightning mcqueen is staring you dead in the face.

igaguri: y'all cannot tell me he wouldn't be the cousin that falls down on the trampoline and can't get back up because everyone's jumping 😭😭😭 and he just keeps trying but he just can't get back up and it's so sad to look at djdkdkemdkdkd

naruhaya: bye when he gets that little patch of facial hair for the first time, he refuses to shave it off because he thinks it makes him look "mature." like no baby, you look like you have dirt on your face, SHAVE IT OFF

barou: first time he came over to your house, he started cleaning YOUR room. didn't even tell you anything like, "hey what's this picture on the wall of?" or "your bed sheets are a nice color." he just asked you where your broom was and started sweeping like WHAT THE HELL 😭

imamura: you asked him what time he was born for astrology purposes and he already knew. like he didn't even have to ask his mom or anything 😕 he's done this before, he’s for the streets, i can’t breathe y'all!!!!!

sae: omfgg once, sae was arguing with rin and sae got so mad he started breathing in and out really heavily with his fist clenched like people do in movies 💀💀 it was so hard to not laugh and make him more mad but like rhiddkrnrjdk omg you didn't know people did that irl💀

shidou: noooo he comments on kylie jenners and ig models pics with stuff with heart eyes and compliments nfidkfjdidkr dudeee she doesn’t know you give it up 😭😭😭

[turnaroundroundround]

Morimyu in Classical reference

So, as for the fact that music in Morimyu Op. 3 resembles classical music in both progression and musical technicality, it's interesting how it's possible to keep coming up with different interpretations after re-watching the musical again and again.

I've made a thread on twitter about this before, but 1) word limitations and thread will never be enough to list all that I have to say lol 2) I'd prefer to have a fuller version noted down, especially one that I can edit and keep coming back over and over again when ever I come up with something new.

Either way, I am still (lol) not a pro in music theory and music history as well. All that is written here are based on my very very basic knowledge on music as well as something that I've picked up (and discussed) with my friends after watching Op. 3.

What's the point of this?

Why is it important? Lol I always need this to keep myself from writing off-topic but anyways. Why do the music sound good (except for the fact that because it does lol), and what do they represent? Surely there must be, and there always are, other things that are implied not only through the lyrics but also the music, and the flow in general.

Apart from the lyrics and the lines, it's also quite interesting to have a close look at the music - melody and harmony itself - to see how they portray the stories.

Most importantly, the continuality. How did Morimyu manage to insert so many songs and still managing to connect them as a whole? And how did they use music to go beyond what's on the pages? That's the most important thing about musicals - beyond the pages. We don't see stage or anime doing so very often, as they mainly focus on what's already there, bringing them to life as close as possible to how we imagine things might happen.

As for musical, they have the music. They have the arias and the songs. At some point, a character starts singing, and other characters followed suit. They have their very unique way of expressing the plot, and they have the orchestra, the arias where characters get their solo song, and the duets between characters with strong relationships, and the ensemble which emphasizes the plot, and so on.

A funny thing about duets in classical opera, they're often meant to show lovers' relationship because of the harmony but can also use opposition and all to show enemies' relationship. And in SherLiam's duet it's just both of them at the same time - thoughts connected while engaging in a chase, a hide and seek game of mystery. We'll go into that later.

Back to the topic. Morimyu follows the main plot strictly, but also uses their advantage with music to add all the side details that wasn't told in the manga to create a "complete" view of the plot. It is always available for musicals to do something unexpected (like how we never expected Lestrade's puppet show to be a whole 5 mins long piece lol). And where they did that they added arias and duets, they allowed moments where characters express and developed their emotions as well as going with the plan (yes Albert yessss). Of course there's both a good and bad side to this all the while.

💛 The good thing is they went all the way to show us sides of emotions that we don't see much in the manga or stage, the sides of the story that all of them have kept hidden while focusing on their grand plan. 💛 But then it does get too emotional at some point, especially those who came for the plot and the mind games behind all of it (like me - although I won't deny that I had a lot of fun picking out all the emotions behind the music here lol).

Musicals can always go beyond what we knew. As for Morimyu, their music is heavily influenced by opera and classical music, and it's shown quite clear. There is live music playing (instead of the entire orchestra we have a violin and piano duet), and they have distinctive arias and recitatives throughout.

So thanks to that, it's also possible to use a reference from classical music to interpret their songs.

A Sonata formation - The Narrative Series of SherLiam

Yes, songs arranged and analysed with reference to a Sonata formation, especially in the way they progress through the play.

Some notes before getting into the point

1 - Sonata = a piece of music consisting of several movements - very often 3, sometimes 4. First movement-Allegro: With the quick tempo, introducing the theme of the entire Sonata Second movement-Adagio/Largo: Slow tempo, can be emotional sometimes, as well as leading more towards the final movement Third movement-Rondo Vivace: The ending, quick-paced and vigorous, leading the Sonata to a close. A Sonata always has a general theme, a topic. The theme that I chose to write about is Mystery - the Hide and Seek game between the Detective and Lord of Crime

2 - Aria and Recitative = different types of songs used in an opera Recitative: Lines within a song that happens like a real conversation, as the characters sing they are also talking to each other Aria: A solo section where everything else is a freeze frame, while one actor remains and sing their own song about their thoughts, feelings, etc. In this post we're mainly discussing the arias of Sherlock and Liam, and the duet between them. But there's also some mention of recitatives here and there.

3 - Videos used To make it easier to understand which songs I'm talking about, I also arranged them in piano. And also to have a listen at how they might connect. Just in case the videos beneath don't work (they didn't work on my phone), the three songs discussed are Nazo, Liam's solo, Kokoro no Rondo, all piano arrangements.

All of the songs noted in this section are arias and duets from Op. 3 - the Ghost of the Whitechapel. The additional "series" that Morimyu has added spreading throughout the play, Sherlock and Liam's narratives, which portrays both their emotions and the chase between the detective and the Lord of Crime.

First Movement - Allegro: Nazo(謎) song

Starting from Lestrade's exit after his puppetshow and proceed to the scene, Sherlock's aria introduces the theme of the imaginary hide and seek game that the Lord of Crime has started. The song repeats the word (mystery) over and over again with a continuous rhythm.

Ends with Sherlock just mumbling the word Nazo (mystery) and exiting the stage - no conclusions, just like a mystery that leads into further mysteries with no answer.

♛♛♛ In regards to a Sonata formation, this is the beginning of the entire piece. Quick in tempo, written in 3/4 time and introduces the theme of the entire piece - Mystery.

Uso ka Shinjitsu ka - Lie or Truth song

Starting after Sherlock learns the truth behind Jack the Ripper, wondering if Lord of Crime is a good person after all.

Now I had a really hard time thinking whether this piece should be included or not. For one, it's not an aria. It can be viewed as a Da capo Aria, a development section of the Nazo song, repeating the theme that is introduced, coming and going rather quickly. So, for continuality.

It also does not fit into the series as a whole, being 1) a recitative. The lyrics focus entirely on Sherlock's deduction and whether he should expose the truth or not, etc. so on. 2) The lines in here, unlike the other arias, are taken directly from the manga, so it's not entirely an 'added' element to this chase. 3) Also because if we compare this to a Sonata form, this doesn't really fit anywhere

However, among Sherlock's arias, this song can also be seen as an interesting development as I have mentioned above, so I've decided to have it here, still.

There's another thing about almost all of Sherlock's arias throughout the 2 stages - they never have a conclusive end. The detective's mind is always running, mysteries after mysteries.

Most of the other characters' songs ends with some kind of closing lines, and piano continues to conclude the piece with a strong end, and then goes on to start another piece. All of their problems in the songs are concluded. They made up their minds in some ways.

But Sherlock, his songs always end with him repeating the melody, a capella, and exiting the stage. Piano waits for him to exit, then starts a new song. Or in Op. 2's Mindgame case going straight into the next conversation. We never get to know how Sherlock's songs end, because they didn't really end at those points. There's a hanging sense of waiting for a resolution, a conclusion. Sherlock never seems to have his problems solved within the songs, they just go on and on.

An idea initiates, then something happens and he is once again in the dark. And he spins around within his own mind.

Screenshot from Op. 2. Even if we look back to his aria Mindgames from Op. 2, this song doesn't really have a conclusive ending as well. He just starts singing, the music stops and he starts shooting and going on, resuming the play. It kind of has been a thing for Sherlock's arias?

Second Movement - Adagio/Largo: Liam's solo

♛♛♛ The "second movement" - the 'slower' piece - of the series, Liam's aria lol but actually the piano part of this song isn't slow at all but ok. The other side of this hide and seek game. The "development" section of the sonata series, where we see things in a much more emotional way.

This aria is much richer in harmony and melody. Not only Liam's melody, but also the piano's part which plays a beautiful melody in harmony.

I recall an interview where the stage director mentions how the "orchestra" - piano and violin are representations for Liam and Sherlock. It kind of applies here, where his music is created mostly by piano.

There is modulation, emotions rising and elevating quickly and strongly. But the harmony is beautiful, overflowing and rich with emotions. The song repeats certain lines, emphasizing aspects within Liam's thoughts.

Unlike Sherlock's train of thoughts that circles with no destination, Liam's solo has a definite ending in harmony -> Even with all his emotions in mind, Liam still has a goal already set before him. He has a brief moment of slowing down, pausing and sung about his feeling, before resuming the story.

Leading us to the final stage - Kokoro no Rondo.

Third Movement - Rondo Vivace: Kokoro no Rondo

Rondo formation: Rondo is a type of dance that revolves around a pattern, often ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA - where A is the ritournello ("meguri - kimi ni omou - meguru kokoro no rondo" section) that is repeated over and over with B, C parts in between. Rondo can also be combined with sonata form - this case applies to this song which begins with a key other than the tonic (Fm) before resolving to the tonic key (Fm) to put an end to the entire sonata series. For reference purposes, the last movement of Beethoven's Pathetique or the very typical Fur Elise is also written in a similar format. I also referred to Pathetique quite a lot when brainstorming this post.

♛♛♛ The "final movement" of this Sonata, the final scene of their "Hide and Seek" game. The song's tempo is vibrant and rapid, combining with the dancing sense, all the while strictly following the structure of a Rondo as mentioned above.

This is the stage where Liam and Sherlock's line interacts and reply to each other, as if in a real conversation - just like how the connection between them are now much stronger than what they had before.

In the ritournello, we have Liam and Sherlock's lines intertwining and chasing after one another, emphasizing the "Hide and Seek" element between the two of them.

The song comes to a definite ending, concluding with a strong tonic (Fm) chord. At this stage, there is no more question to be left open, for Sherlock at this point has already made up his mind to take the next step into solving the mysteries regarding the Lord of Crime.

Their imaginary game of Hide and Seek is coming to an end, as Sherlock came to a decision to take the next step - going to Durham.

That's the end of my first draft.

So far that is some of my thoughts noted down right after watching Op. 3 stream a while ago, with some edition made just now.

On the side note, at some point during my discussion with a friend, we also came up with the idea that a Suite may be a better reference. A Suite consists of 4 parts and a prelude, each of them having their specific characteristic. But we didn't go all the way analysing that idea, as 1) we couldn't find a 5th piece that can be added into the series. 2) Even if we did, the Truth or Lie song still would not really fit into the "aria" vibe of this series, as mentioned above.

But then quite interestingly, after a while, I've found another interesting fact that should have been quite obvious but I've missed for (lol) like ages.

The game of Hide and Seek between the detective and the Lord of Crime has begun ever since after Hope's case - that being said, ever since the end of Op. 1

And what is it that we have in Op. 2? "The Mind games of the Lord of Crime". The one where Sherlock went maniac rapping about all the thoughts he has and end up shooting randomly into the wall.

At first it begins like another recitative, but in the later half, the harmony starts to become more harmonious, written in 3/4 time flowing like a dance.

In that section, the melody of the piano and violin part resembles the one we have in Kokoro no Rondo, the Ritournello section, only that the melody of the violin in Op. 2 and the melody that SherLiam sung in Op. 3 are kind of reversed.

Coincidence much?

So now we have a collection of songs from both Opus, it becomes tricky. How do we connect them? And what's the story?

At this point, all these recitatives, aria and duets all in the theme of the Hide and Seek game. And they all connect to each other through harmony, progressions in harmony.

We know that the Mind games of the Lord of Crime has begun from ever since the end of Op. 1. We know that Sherlock keeps wondering about that in Op. 2, and then he wonders even further after he has been tested by the Lord of Crime. "また俺だけのメッセージなのか?" - Is this a message just for me?, as he wondered in the Truth or Lie song. We knew all of that. But Morimyu didn't let that stop them from emphasizing on this subplot even further.

They didn't let the gap between Op. 2 and Op. 3 stop them from making a smooth flow in plot either.

Correction, they didn't simply create a flow. They established a connection, all the while showing a strong progression of Sherlock's thoughts that goes on from Op. 2 straight onto Op. 3.

Very often, what makes a good plot is how their plots and sub-plots intertwine with each other. Morimyu has a main plot that follows Moriarty gang in the plan of changing society. And they have a smaller plot told from Sherlock's side of things. And they have this sub-plot told by harmony of how Sherlock is connected to Liam, or the Lord of Crime, by an invisible thread. A connection that is only expressed that clearly in Morimyu.

We have so many things going on, so many songs throughout the play. But each of those elements are all connected to something else, creating a sub-plot that enriches the main plot.

There is no loose connections. For everything that connects to the main plot, they're also linked to other elements. Each scene and every song has their own meaning not only in regards to other songs, but also to the plot as a whole.

Also, did I mention how Morimyu feels like a grand piece of music?

Opus -> What classical songs had that basically shows the order in which they are written. Morimyu - a title piece itself - has 3 Opus, 3 different parts with the same theme.

Classical music very often had all the different elements in it -> Morimyu had an overture, the song they sing just before the main theme song, just before introducing the stage. Then arias, ensembles and choruses. All of them are connected by similar harmony.

Classical music always had a big general theme, with each section having a smaller sequence connecting to each other. Subplots within a big plots. A Sonata piece has 3 movements, each having their own "sections" of development - expositions, development, recapitulation. -> Morimyu does the same to their plot and subplots, as discussed above.

Also, Opera reference

While Opus 2 used an opera reference to tell the story, I feel like Opus 3 has become an Opera itself. During Op. 2 the arias were mostly very loyal to the manga, taking their lines from the original work, like the Mind Games song. Their story progresses steadily but logically.

However starting from Op. 3, the aria became more independent. They developed and expressed even further what wasn't said in the manga. For instance, the 3 songs mentioned in the "Sonata" above. And there's also Albert's solo, and Patterson's solo and Milverton, which I haven't got the chance to discuss all.

But either way, they spring out of the original story, adding more emotions and "colours" to the characters. The aria became more original, all the while also much more expressive. We get to see new sides of the characters that we haven't seen anywhere before.

Anyways, it's probably time to go back to the main question: How Morimyu used music to go beyond what's on the pages.

-> Musicals aren't simply about music added to acting. The characters on stage don't just simply starts singing for no reason. All the songs are meant to express something, and while they do they also establish various connections to the plot's progression.

We don't get to see much of the characters' emotions in the manga. And we don't see much of the side story, the finer details behind each arc. Every time, Morimyu adds something original to enrich their plot. They express and develop what's already known to all the viewers, especially regarding the emotional and motivational side of the characters.

-> The manga shows us the entire plot, with details related, back stories that lead to the present, and all. But it doesn't give a lot of hint into how characters might feel. Surely, reading between the lines, it's up to the readers to interpret them.

But Morimyu gives us all of that, and they leave it to us to read between the music.

And even if we didn't, that's fine. Then the purpose of all of them linking together would be to create a performance where everything is connected harmoniously, allowing us to be emerged in the world of Yuumori.

-> The purpose of having a stage, primarily, is to allow the audience to engage in, experience and feel the emotions along with the characters they see on stage. The point of having a live stage, a plot, and the music, are all to let us emphasize with the characters on stage.

In Morimyu, we aren't just watching a plot between our favourite characters happening as we know it from the manga. We see a combination of mysteries unveiling slowly, the stories on the side of each characters as they slowly progress forward, as well as emphasising with their emotions in the story.

That's what I really like about Morimyu.

So, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS?

So I had to scroll back to the top (lol) to quote this and make sure I haven't gone too far from the main theme.

Regarding musical Yuumori, there's always so many things I'd like to talk about. And if I start going on about it then it only gets harder to focus on one single topic.

Since the topic here is Morimyu and their music, especially in classical reference, I've tried to keep everything I've discussed relevant. But whenever I start on something, there would always be something that comes to mind. Like how other songs might also have certain connections, or how they used stage directions and lightings, etc. I really want to look more into stage directions in Morimyu as well, but that would have to wait...

Anyways, I tried to keep this as simple as possible. When I sent the first version of this to my friends, I keep having the feeling that I got too technical with all the theories about harmony and structure lol

And once again, this is only some of my own interpretation of the series that I've picked up.

If something else came to mind... well. Either way, for the purpose of engaging in their wonderful music or for the purpose of watching a beautiful stage just for enjoyment, Morimyu definitely is worth watching. And to watch over and over again. I've said this for Op. 2 but I'll say this ten times as much for Op. 3. Truly magnificent.

And, that's pretty much it that I have for today, I guess.

Thanks a lot to all my friends who gave me lots of inspiration and motivation to complete this ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ Lots of love to @rikaaki as well ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

[moons-and-stars-and-shit]

It worked! Sorry to bug you with a message! But I'd like to request a cake now!

So, about me. I have an actual name but I don't think I've heard it in months😃, instead I have a bunch of nicknames! (Rion, ri, oreo, onion, o, etc), I'm actually nb so I chose that name, however I 100% consider naming myself Arson💀My pronouns are they/them and I'm about 5'5, I have short, fluffy brown hair that I usually dye the front blue. I'm Asian hispanic, but I really don't look like either- my favorite foods are either really spicy and salty or sweet. Not the overwhelming chemical sweet tho, like a natural sweet flavor. My personality type is infp, and ig when I first meet people I can be shy (that's an understatement, I was mute for the first week of school🕳🏃‍♂️) but once I get to know people I can be pretty chaotic (once again, arson). I'm not a 100% demon spawn though, I don't really like making scenes in public and I probably will cry if I do- but I still have fun lol. I'm also the person who copes with severe mental health issues using humor, to an alarming degree 😔 I'm the therapist friend when really I'm the one who needs therapy. I also have a social battery that can die at random times, so I really like/need friends who can handle random mood changes of me going from energetic to silent in seconds. Academically, I'm really book smart, I'm a tutor, but my grades don't reflect it. I tend to procrastinate a lot and avoid studying, usually I catch myself last minute or trust memory on tests, but every now and then there's something that tanks my grades. I'm not very athletic, but I still try to play sports. I enjoy the feeling when I do something right, but the rest of the time I usually beat myself up for messing up.

And now just random facts 😃👍

My favorite color is yellow, not the bright eye sore shade that makes you want to throw up, but the nice softer, light shade. And I like anything that comes with that color! (Sunflowers, flowy sundresses and flip flops, summer activities, burning concrete, warm rain, etc). Nobody knows my music taste, it changes weekly, however I usually come back to mitski/cavetown or summer themed songs a lot! I enjoy playing music, but I have the curse of being a fast learner so that usually leads to be being bored and learning a new instrument at any given chance. And my birthday is a weird date that fucks with zodiacs so I can be considered either a leo or cancer, my personality changes a bunch, so take your pick lol. (Though emotionally I tend to be cancerous, I just express it and show it in a way a leo would) And someday I wanna be a long term traveler, or a florist. Just a job that makes me happy :). And I guess if I had to classify my aesthetic it would be bloomcore or soft grunge. I like wearing big sweaters and if I could I would wear a bunch of butterfly clips in my hair and wear mom jeans. (I would also wear man crushers, I mean, platforms if I was confident)

Aaaannnnd that was really long sorry!

To sum up, I'm just a bipolar bitch with depression and anxiety 👍

Thanks a bunch for just taking the time to read this!

@oririon

Romantic Matchup

Bokuto Koutarou

How Y’all Met

IERJNDJS

I’m getting a classic summer love vibe from this matchup 👀

Ok so I just Hc that Bokuto LOVES flowers

So he would always just go to the local flower shop to look at them

Pls hes to precious I cant-

But anyways you we’re working a summer job at the flower shop

And you grew fond of our little owl boy

You would always talk to him whenever he visited

He just made your job that much more enjoyable :)

So one day you stopped him right before he left and told him he could pick a bouquet of flowers if he wanted

He BEAMED at you and picked a bouquet of flowers he always looked at whenever he came

But what shocked you was instead of walking out with them

He gave them to you!

He then went on talking about how he really liked you but didn’t know how to tell you

At this point he was just rambling

So you laughed and asked him if he would like to go to the ocean with you after your shift

He agreed and you swear you saw stars in his eyes

After your shift you met up with Bokuto and went to the beach

You guys literally spent ALL day there!

And even some of the night 👀

Being the gentleman he is offered to walk you home

And when you two got to your house he asked you to be his s/o

What They Love About You

Ok starting off with a strange one

He loves the fact that your favorite color is yellow 💛

He just thinks it fits you so well 😊

He loves that you have to ability to turn your trauma into humor

Now I’m ngl...

Ye found it extremely concerning at first 🥲

But once you explained it was like a coping mechanism for you

He was super supportive!

AAAAAAAA

He LOVES your aesthetic!

He thinks it’s so cute

And once again he thinks it fits you 👀

He appreciates the fact that your smart

If he doesn’t understand something in class

He’ll just go to you!

And honesty going over the material with him has helped your understanding as well 👀

Bokuto s grades:📈

Your grades: 📈

Favorite Things To Do Together

Oml he loves summers with you

Any summer activity

Beaches

Ice cream

Flower meadows 👀

Summer night drives

The whole shtick

But when it’s not summer

He loves doing classic seasonal activities

Examples:

Fall - Jumping in leaf piles, coffee dates, preparing for Halloween, etc

Winter - Snowball fights/Making Snowmen, Christmas movie marathons, hot cocoa/ baking, etc

Spring - Dancing in the rain, picnics, gardening etc

It’s a vibe year round with bf Bokuto

Random Hc

His favorite season is summer

And his second is winter

Ik...polar opposites

Oof

He TOTALLY gets your mood swings

Although they may not be the same as his

He still understands them and respects them

Every year on your anniversary he buys you the exact same bouquet he gave you at the flower shop

Speaking of the flower shop 👀

He got a job there with you the following summer

So you guys basically spent most of your days together

Bokuto is REALLY bad at dark humor

But for some reason he still tries 😭

It’s either TOO dark

Or not dark at all 💀

Astrology

(We’re gonna go with your cancer zodiac 😂)

When Cancer and Virgo make a love match, a strong, down-to-earth relationship with staying power is the happy result.

This is a relationship with great potential to get better and better over the passing years.

Both Cancer and Virgo are goal-oriented and disciplined.

They are sincere and devoted to one another and share a strong sense of purpose.

No lightweight love here: These two were not really built for flings!

Cancer and Virgo deeply admire one another: Virgo respects Cancer’s quiet strength and dedication while Cancer appreciates Virgo’s keen adaptability and intelligence.

These lovers may get off to a slow start, but over time, bonds will only grow stronger.

The Cancer-Virgo love match prides itself on common sense and strong principles over fluff and inconsequential or fleeting connections.

They enjoy the material comforts of life, but they will only feel good about their bounty if it has come as a result of honest hard work.

There could be tiffs if Virgo becomes too critical for Cancer’s easily bruised feelings; Cancer needs to understand that it’s just Virgo’s nature to point out what they observe, that it’s not a personal attack.

A Virgo may bristle at their Cancer mate’s stubborn streak, but it’s a trait that a patient and understanding love partner like Virgo could come to appreciate.

Also, Virgo’s urge to serve suits Cancer’s affectionate, nurturing nature well.

Their dedication to working toward the same goals.

Both partners in this love match enjoy a stable home life and nice things, and Virgo truly enjoys helping Cancer along the way to achieving their goals.

Their shared goals and desires make theirs a highly compatible love match.

Overall Aesthetic

Bloomcore 🌸

Bloom - Jesse

This Side of Paradise - Coyote Theory

Flaming Hot Cheetos - Claire

Mystery of Love - Sufjan Stevens

[cuddly-t0y]

Tunes Tuesday Mega Post

This is like version two of this post, so I'll keep it brief. I got a Davy song, a Micky song, and a Mike song, so this is a three for one.

Davy's Song:

Unique Song Features

Look, it's White Christmas, it's not that groundbreaking of a song itself. But what is interesting about it is that while I did link the solo version of just Davy's vocals, there exists a second version where Davy's daughter Annabell sings with him. I haven't seen for example, Peter's children or grandchildren interact with his music like this. This to me is part of why I chose this song to feature in particular from this album. I've seen some discussion in certain places about what feels like a meaningful way to honor musicians passing and still releasing music, and I would point to this being a great way to do it.

My Opinion:

I admit, I'm not a Christmas music person. Even with Christmas for me being really close, I just don't care for the majority of it. Luckily for me though, I really bought into this album and this song is one of the stronger ones. Davy's bright, positive tone to his voice feels like a good fit for the song and it gets me hoping for a snowy Christmas. Will I listen to it year round? No, and to me that's not the intention of the song.

Final Rating:

I'm going to say this is a 7.7/10 for me. A well done Christmas song, but again, it's White Christmas. There's not a whole lot that can really be done that makes it a year round song for me. There's definitely more solo work from him that I would play again and again.

Micky's Song:

Unique Song Features:

Well this song actually has some interesting things about it specifically, which I didn't exactly expect. Apparently the synthesizer on it was quite literally the third of it's kind, and this song has the first mainstream use of it. The lyrics are supposedly in connection with the LA Riots, but I don't know that for sure.

My Opinion:

I really enjoy this song honestly. The lyrics and synthesizer work together well to give a listener a feeling of being in a '60's weed den and lost in the sauce and you're having a conversation with someone about aliens. The beat is easy to follow, and the instrumentals are great on this. It feels like a precursor to the Porpoise Song, and one I like slightly better. Also Micky has such a good voice and I just--ugh. Seeing it on the Monkees made me interested to listen to the whole thing.

Final Rating:

It's abstract and weird, with charm and a lightness to make it accessable to a listener. You want something psychedelic and fun to let your mind wander in its imagination? This is for you.

9/10

Mike's Song:

Unique Song Features:

Finding data on this song is quite hard, oddly enough. But I think even the fact that Mike Nesmith didn't make Elephant Parts (and by extension TV Parts) albums when they were released is definitely not helping this song data wise. It got released with Infinite Tuesday which is great, but most metrics with this song are influenced by that fact.

My Opinion:

I think this song is quite beautiful, Mike's vocals carry this song well and it is in general a sweet song. The thing with this song for me, and definitely not everyone is going to agree with me on this is the music video for it isn't exactly what I would do personally. It was definitely innovative for it's time and I did like parts of it, but I think it could lose the girl and maybe be more spiritual in feeling. Mike's parts where he was chilling in the forest were great and I wish they had that be the video. Overall though, it's a great song that I don't think people talk about enough.

Final Rating:

I really like this song, I do, but I don't think in the way it was released and what it was made with exactly worked in it's favor to let it shine like it should. For those reasons I couldn't rank it as high as Daily Nightly. This gives it a final score of...

8/10

If you made it this far, thank you. I put quite a bit of consideration into each one, and I enjoy writing out reviews like this and generally discuss the music these guys made.

Here's a pic of the three to make it a little more worth your time.

[dercolaris]

Eleonora

Here you go, @temarcia - already done and translated. Scriddler of course. It’s extremly sad, but welp, I can’t help it. Sort of my style tbh. 

Thanks again to @shin-arei for helping me with the translation <3

The fitting song:

https://youtu.be/ZzqTGTAuzLw

Uhm, yeah.. Have fun everyone.. 

The faint rustling of the wind slipped through the leaks in the dirty window, filling the small room with an unusual background noise. Jonathan lay completely motionless on the soft mattress, just listened to the fascinating sounds around him and registered slightly light-headed how the environment around him slowly changed. He blinked a few times against the persistent darkness, then smiled dejectedly. Basically, those noises were all he had left. As much as the former psychiatrist wished, his eyesight would never return. Hoping for it was a waste of time. The thin man turned on his side and ran his right hand over the velvety fabric of the bedspread. It tickled slightly, leaving an almost pleasant tingling sensation on his demolished skin. The brown-haired man mumbled to himself: "One would think that I would have got used to this eternal darkness, but to say this would be a bold lie." The Master of Fear sighed softly. Speaking his thoughts out loud at least gave him the deceptive impression that someone was right by his side and would give a meaningful answer after a while.

The reality was of course different. That longed-for answer would probably never come. He was a prisoner of his own nightmare and every attempt to break out of it failed miserably due to the fact that no one could turn back time. There was no hope. No light. Just darkness. Jonathan dug his fingers deeply into the warming fabric, burying his face in the comfortable pillow under his head. His body began to tremble by itself. The former psychiatrist didn't really mind the chilling temperature around him, but that evening the coldness held him in her icy hands. A stranglehold he couldn't really escape. The thin man suddenly felt a single tear find its way over a multitude of scars on his cheek and slowly slide down. He wiped his cool skin quickly. This whiny behavior was more than unacceptable for a seasoned academic like him. A thickening lump in his throat, however, indicated that all his efforts to stand against his feelings would fail at some point that night. You could ignore the sadness, banish it, deny it, curse it - in the end it would surface and lead to a downright collapse. With this in mind wasn't it actually wiser to give in to this inner urge to show emotional weakness? Now that he was alone?

The brown-haired man sat on the edge of the bed and put his hands on his knees. A few seconds passed without anything happening, brought a frightening realization for the criminal. He couldn't cry. Jonathan clenched his knees. No more tears would come. He couldn't really give his feelings the needed space, even if it would give him some relief in his troubled soul. It just didn't work. The spiral of thoughts in his mind was spinning again without ceasing. His left hand slid sideways into his straw-like hair and held the heavy head uncertainly on his thin fingers. He chewed his lower lip almost helplessly, staring at the floor with his blind eyes. The Master of Fear was about to rise from the bed when he heard a suspicious noise from the corridor. Out of habit, his opals looked at the door, or at least roughly in its direction. His brain still pretended to recognize shadows and outlines that he had seen sometime before the incident. Well-known places were impressively reconstructed from his memory. It doesn't matter whether these have changed drastically in the meantime.

This often led to unexpected difficulties in his orientation. In general, the familiar gave him security, and every novelty around him immediately stumbled him. The former psychiatrist listened into the darkness. Was it possible that he had just misheard? Quiet steps in the hallway quickly ruled out this possibility. Despite the noises, the gaunt man felt no fear or discomfort. He didn't own anything of value in his apartment and if a homeless person was content to use his nearly empty refrigerator, it shouldn't matter to him anymore. The brown-haired man had stopped eating two weeks ago. His hunger had long since passed and this circumstance made it at least possible for him to stay in his home. Nothing would be worse than wandering around outside Gotham in his wrecked condition to the amusement of all the gleeful people on the streets. The former psychiatrist pressed a hand to his cramping stomach. Even if the stomach occasionally rebelled, in the end it gave up constantly crying out for food. Most likely, the organ knew that this would remain just a wish and that nutrients would no longer force their way into the esophagus.

The pain slowly subsided. A cold wind played around his bony figure. The Master of Fear had long since decided on a quick way out of life and it was only a matter of time before death would knock on his door. It wasn't the plan to actually go the long road of starvation, but as long as he didn't know exactly how to do it, there was at least the hope of not waking up one morning due to lack of energy. The steps in the corridor came slowly closer and suddenly fell silent on the other side of the door. The thin man waited cautiously. The screeching of the hinges snuggled painfully against his ears, signaling that someone was entering the room. There was a thud, and then - silence. Suddenly it had become so quiet. Where was the wind? Where were the cracking branches? Where were the ravens in the tree tops? Jonathan looked around, disoriented, looking in the dark for the unannounced visitor.

After a while he heard the unusually low voice of an old friend: “Hey John. Don't worry, yeah. It's just me.” The former psychiatrist tried to fake a smile. Slight goose bumps crept down his back and gradually spread over his skin. He looked in the direction of the visitor and spoke in an alarming weak voice: "Edward. What a pleasant surprise. I'm very happy to see you again.” Those words hurt more than he expected. The former psychiatrist closed his eyes and heavily swallowed his emerging emotions. He heard the quiet steps again. Suddenly the tinkerer sat down next to him, the mattress gave way under the weight of the black-haired man. The Riddler breathed evenly, a long-forgotten warmth emanating from his body. The younger one finally spoke calmly: “You can hardly talk about seeing me again, right? I heard what happened and, yeah, how should I say that. I'm sorry, John.” The Master of Fear shrugged his shoulders slightly. Before he could reply, the other went on quietly: “I wasn't sure whether I should really come over or not. I mean, after the whole Waylon thing, you suddenly distanced yourself from everything and everyone and stopped showing yourself in public. Fuck, the underground has already made bets on whether you are dead or not."

The lean man laughed dryly at this message. He shuddered from the surrounding cold and had the strong impulse to take refuge in the warm embrace of the inventor. Contrary to his wishes, he replied exhausted: “I hope you were right with your bet. As you can see, I'm still alive.” To his astonishment, Edward didn't react calmly as usual. He didn't seem to be particularly amused by the statement. As if to confirm, the black-haired man hissed under clenched teeth: “It's not funny at all, John. Seriously. I just got half a shock when I walked in the door. You got so damn thin. Is there anything left at all? Only skin and bones it seems. When was the last time you ate something?” The former psychiatrist pressed his lips tightly together and stared at the floor in dismay. There was an awkward silence. Suddenly the older man felt the hand of the inventor on his. The Riddler slowly put his fingers around his, warmed his chilled skin. Even without his eyesight, the Master of Fear knew that the other was staring at him, waiting for answers.

He finally replied hesitantly: "I'm fine Edward. I don't need any help.” Both knew that this claim was nothing more than a lie. The younger one tightened the grip on his hand and didn't seem to let go of it again. Jonathan only shivered harder. The contrast between the inviting warmth of the black-haired man and his dying body increased with every passing second. He really wanted to be close, but at the same time there was a nagging fear of rejection. A monster like him was no longer allowed to receive affection. The tinkerer grumbled sourly: “You can fool the rest of the world, John, but not me. Should I put a funnel in your mouth and stuff you with food until you have some meat on your ribs again? Or would you prefer a cursed feeding tube? Your fucking decision.” The brown-haired man winced noticeably. He knew that he had always meant a lot to the younger man. Probably more than he wanted to admit.

There was a deeply hidden passion between them that had grown with each meeting in the past and almost exploded before his imprisonment. Only their worthless pride had prevented them from giving in to their lust in the end. But this was once upon a time. Jonathan was more than certain that the inventor had only come to him out of pity and would now look around for a more handsome partner. After all, the inventor wasn't exactly unattractive. Edward suddenly sighed softly and seemed to be reaching for something on the floor. Probably his shoulder bag. The black-haired man spoke calmly: “I brought you something. You have told me often enough that you love Edgar Allan Poe and that I should read something from him when I got the chance. I followed your advice.” With these words he put an arm around the older man and pulled him closer to his chest. He gasped in surprise, but did not evade the embrace.

He could hear the Riddler open a book and slowly turn the pages. Jonathan's heart suddenly began to beat faster. A few seconds passed before the younger one finally started reading aloud: "Eleonora by Edgar Allan Poe from 1842. I am come of a race noted for vigor of fancy and ardor of passion." The inventor's voice lit up the room with its soft sound, penetrating like a light through the darkness. The Master of Fear listened carefully. An indefinable feeling spread in his soul, touched him at points that he believed he had lost for a long time. Each additional line of the short story carried the gaunt man on, taking him to places he had avoided out of fear. Places of memories. Mostly memories of better times.

Tears pooled in his gray eyes, slowly running down his cheeks and falling unchecked off his chin. Edward, however, just read on, bravely struggled through the sometimes difficult formulations. "… for the Spirit of Love reigneth and ruleth, and, in taking to thy passionate heart her who is Ermengarde, thou art absolved, for reasons which shall be made known to thee in Heaven, of thy vows unto Eleonora.” The Riddler finished the short story, carefully closed the book. He apparently put it aside and finally wrapped his other arm tightly around the trembling figure beside him. The former psychiatrist cried silently, his weak fingers clutching the black-haired man's shoulders tightly. Edward whispered hoarsely: "John, I ask you, whatever you do, do not give up. I can really take a lot of your bullshit. Your hatred, your scorn, your rejection. If you scream in my ear right away that I should please get the fuck out of your life, that's okay too, just please don't die. I would not stand that. Your death is also my end and I'm afraid of dying so early in my life.”

The brown-haired man pressed his eyes tighter together and only held on to the younger man even more. The tinkerer slowly put the blanket around their body, giving the former psychiatrist the long-awaited warmth. The silence this time was extraordinarily beautiful. Reassuring. Balm for a broken soul. The younger one finally pulled him onto his lap and closed his arms around his narrow hips, pressing his fingertips into the worn clothes. Jonathan's lips quivered when he breathed softly: "Don't let go of me, Edward. Please, don't go. Stay."

[allsassnoclass]

15, 18 (specifically for the tie me down 'verse ending since i KNOW you were talking about that but if you don't want to disclose then that's cool i just think about it a lot), and 20 go crazy love you a lot xoxo bella

Thank you bella :)

okay these are going under a read more because they got ridiculously long. I really enjoy talking about my writing lol

also some spoilers ahead....

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)? I think this really depends!  On occasion, I’ll have a title while I’m writing a piece, but otherwise titles are pretty difficult for me because I really want them to have some sort of meaning. I don’t like just plucking song lyrics for them unless the song has some sort of significance to the fic, but sometimes I have to because I can’t think of anything else and that’s the accepted way to name fics.  Something like All I Really Want Is You is okay because I referenced slsp in the fic.  Something like Puzzle Pieces was taken from a running metaphor in the fic, which I feel better about because it’s something that is more specific to the fic itself.  Summaries are also difficult because sometimes I don’t have a few lines that I feel properly introduce the fic and hook the reader without giving things away, but I feel like people are less likely to read if there isn’t an excerpt??? idk.  tags are pretty easy though even though I’m always guessing a little and worried that someone will say I should have tagged it with something else or that it doesn’t fit a tag I added.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them. For the most part, I don’t have alternate versions unless it’s a prompt fic that I started out going one direction then deleted and flipped it around.  HOWEVER the Tie Me Down trilogy DID have a possible different third installment (spoilers ahead)

If I had written the epilogue from Jack’s perspective, it would’ve been a little bit of a different ending.  Something I mentioned in both of the first parts was Jack’s restlessness and Alex’s desire for something more settled, and one day I was listening to peace by Taylor swift and was like “wow this is Jack from the tie me down verse,” and that song could’ve very easily been the inspiration behind the third part.  Alex’s epilogue was based on best years because he recognized that he hadn’t treated Jack the best but resolved to then make up for it by giving Jack the best years possible ahead with all of his love.  peace as an epilogue song would’ve pushed the story away from a crystal-clear resolution.  that would’ve focused a bit more on the struggle of making it work with two people who want/need fundamentally different things.  It would’ve had much more to do with the compromise of Jack being able to give Alex infinite love and devotion, but not the peace that he craves.  Inevitably, something would go wrong.  “The rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me.”  The epilogue would’ve then been about Jack living with that knowledge and trusting that Alex would stay anyway and that their relationship would be enough, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty of an imperfect relationship in that song, and it inevitably would’ve ended up in the fic.  that’s why the Alex epilogue was the one I went with: I needed a strong, conclusive, and positive ending for them, and Jack’s epilogue would not have given that

otherwise though I don’t think my fics shift too terribly much between when I think of them and when they get published.  nothing is coming to mind, at least not for things that I have completed.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?) Okayyyyyy a lot of my symbolism is in the short angsty fics and when I talk about it I feel like I didn’t do it well lol but for my unrequited lashton (I was done but you undid me) (spoiler) the buckling of the seatbelt was something I thought about a lot and ending the fic with that action was important to me because it was Luke making the conscious decision to protect himself in this situation.  there’s a lot of symbolism in the lie to me music vid in general but back seat of the car/no seatbelt is very significant because 1. he can’t swerve, he just has to take the crash and 2. he isn’t doing the bare minimum to protect himself from the hit, he’s letting himself take maximum damage from it.  while Luke may be in the passenger seat in the fic, he can still take that little step to protect himself metaphorically, which goes along with the decision to protect himself by not trying to pursue something with Ashton or try to get the validation from him that he wants but that would ultimately be a lie.

also fun fact! my angsty Luke song is putting the dog to sleep by the antlers, which partially inspired the bear-trap metaphor despite bear traps not being mentioned in the song at all.  when I wasn’t listening to a version of lie to me while writing that, I was listening to that song.

the tie me down trilogy also included a whole bunch of metaphors that first appeared in tie me down and I hate that for you.  when I do song fics, I really look at the songs for inspiration, so a lot of the figurative language and images in the songs were incorporated into the fics, then I combined stuff for the third installment.  best years arguably had the least amount of influence over the installment out of that trilogy.

I have had a few people ask if the cocktail chats reference in off-screen was intentional.  it was.  that moment in cocktail chats inspired the entire fic.  it all stemmed from a desire to put that one little moment into a fic.  also my personal thought is that off-screen Ashton pretends to dislike petunia but he actually adores her and calls her darling all the time when they’re alone.  Luke heard him do it once and teased him mercilessly.

now for puzzle pieces!!!! sorry bella I know that you asked this question and haven’t read this one yet but I want to talk about it so you can stop reading now because that’s what the rest of this ask is.

I talked about this briefly once, but the colors for puzzle pieces were chosen specifically!  there was thought behind it! 

Michael got red not just because of the iconic red hair, which is how I almost think of younger Michael, but because it’s a pretty loud and brash color.  Michael (especially when he was younger) doesn’t really filter things and wears a decent amount of his personality on his sleeve. that’s red to me, baby!

Calum has always been forest green to be.  This is partially influenced by the empathy hoodie (even though that’s a bit brighter than forest green), but it’s more because my associations with green have always said it’s a very dependable, stable color.  It reminds me of pine trees, and I think Calum can give off that same sense of reliability in weathering the seasons.  It’s a quieter color but can really pop next to another one.  It also worked out nicely that Calum and Michael’s colors were compliments

Luke gets gold because he is a sunshine boy!  Luke actually was the person I had the most trouble with, because I was flipping between gold, a lighter blue, or pink.  Pink ultimately was too close to red to make me be able to visualize what the marks looked like on each boy to my satisfaction like it just looked ugly.  I went with gold because there is a lot of outward brightness in Luke.  He’s the kind of person where if he’s happy everyone else gets a bit happier, and gold also seemed fitting for the eventual shift into a rockstar and the amount of talent he has

Ashton gets purple, but a deeper purple.  Dynamic but still relatively stable, has a lot of depth.  Purple is a secret color, but it’s still beautiful and it draws people in.  When I visualize it it ends up being a really dark shade, but in reality he’s probably more of a royal purple than a plum purple

I have a lot of favorite moments in that fic but one that’s standing out now is right when Ashton and Michael do their first touch: “The dark purple reminds him of spilling grape juice on his clothes as a kid, and when he collapses into Ashton he feels like they could have known each other at that age, too.”  There is something so charming about meeting someone later and feeling like you’ve known them your whole life, and that was significant here because Michael has known Calum and Luke since they were younger (although Luke did come in the picture when they were tweens/young teens instead of kids).  I wanted to be sure that although Michael, Calum, and Luke are the triangle, Ashton is an equal part of their soulmate group.  He doesn’t have the same history, but that doesn’t matter because it feels like he does.

also pretty early on in the fic (I think it’s when Calum is in Brazil) I say that Michael is always touch-starved for Calum, and I brought that line back in the hair dye scene because baby seasons change but people don’t!  one thing is consistent about Michael and that is his love for Calum, expressed here through the love language of physical touch

As for clues for future scenes... :)

anyway! ask me some fun meta writer asks!

[issaxcharlie]

Story: Messing with the stars

Chapter 1

Bobby

I always end up here. It is as if her voice drags me back. It’s a miracle that no one has noticed how often I sit here to see her.

She finishes rehearsing, I grab my backpack and race to the parking lot to catch up with my friends.

Lottie, Gary, Lucas and Hope are waiting for me in front of Lottie's car.

"Bobbycakes, where were you?" Lottie looks annoyed, the others just get in the car.

“Sorry, Lottie. Mr. Hughes wanted to talk to me about my homework.”

My eyes move like magnets to her, like every single day. She has her dark brown hair tied up in a beautiful braid. Her green crop top matches her beautiful eyes perfectly. She laughs as she walks home with her best friend, Kassam. The two quickly bonded over their love for music and had being inseparable ever since.

“Bobby, are you listening?” Lottie brings me back to the real world, she looks angry. But decides to just get on the wheel. I walk into the passenger seat and turn to see her beautiful face one more time.

“Did you hear that this time it will be obligatory for us to participate in the school play this semester? It will directly impact our Drama class. ”

Everyone sighs in frustration.

“Why are we taking Drama again?” Asked Gary, clearly annoyed.

"Is mandatory this semester, an attempt by the school to make us more creative and versatile, or something like that." Says Hope, somewhat disinterested. After all, she is known for being good at whatever she does. She doesn't mind leaving her advanced math class for a semester in order to recite some lines.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing if I had to kiss that beautiful theater freak." Gary is smiling, definitely imagining himself in that situation. Gross.

“Alison Light?” Wow, Lucas seems to have been paying attention to her too.

"Hell yeah mate, she’s gorgeous." Lottie rolls her eyes, and Hope dramatically changes the conversation.

Alison Light, aka Sunny or Sunlight. (Or at least that's how I would call her if I had the guts to speak to her.) Everyone else calls her Ally, and I'm embarrassed to say that my friends call her theater freak.

There is a rumor, that Sunny's dad passed away 5 years ago. Her mom found a job in London, so they had to move from Scotland. Alison took refuge in music, which has always been what she loved the most, entered the choir, the school band, each play, whatever was involved with music, she did it. That's how she earned the ‘theater freak’ nickname from everyone else, especially, Lottie and Gary. Unfortunately, everyone listens to Lottie and Gary.

I came to school a year later. Lottie immediately thought I had the potential to belong to her group, to this day I have no idea why. She told me that if I wanted to belong, I had to be around people with potential, and when Sunny approached with vibrant eyes and a huge smile to introduce herself, Lottie pushed her to the side, and made fun of her for having a 'crush' on the new kid and behaving ‘desperate’.

I didn’t defend her. I followed Lottie down the hall, and didn't turn to see her even once.

Every day when I see her in the hallway I wonder why I chose a scary stranger instead of the girl with the most beautiful smile I have ever seen, and the conclusion makes me quite embarrassed.

I chose Lottie because I was tired of being the kid everyone made fun of regardless of the consequences, the one who was just a joke. The boy Caitlin Evans cheated on by pretending she wanted me to be her boyfriend just to humiliate me in front of the whole school. I saw the opportunity to be someone different, and I took it. Letting go not only poor and humiliated Bobby, but also the opportunity to meet Alison in the process.

The next day I walk with the boys to the auditorium. Most of the students are already there. The music is quite loud, and her perfect voice immediately reaches my ears. As we get closer I can finally see what's going on. Kassam and Alison are doing a duet of the song "Into the Unknown" which in my opinion is not easy to sing. I’m annoyed to admit that they sound perfect together. Their harmonies are beautiful and their notes are totally clean and well placed. All of us who do not normally belong to this class, have our mouths open.

“As you could hear, this class has talent to spare. I will not accept less than what I know you can give. Everyone will sing a part of the song you wrote me yesterday on the list.” Mr. Hudson loves music as much as Alison, and has been an important person in her life for the past few years. He has always been kind to me, and has invited me multiple times to participate in his plays due to my and i quote ‘charming personality ’.

Auditions started. Surprisingly my friends did a pretty decent job. I would not choose them as the protagonists but they were not bad.

I always wanted to try theater. I've been watching it for years, since I've never missed a play by Alison, no matter how delusional it sounds. And I always liked singing, but believe me or not, I have stage fright. Also, even if I sang, the chances of me beating Kassam in the lead are microscopic.

"McKenzie, let's go. I have a feeling you will do a good job, I am excited to hear you.” Mr. Hudson, I honestly hope I don't fall off the stage while I go up, for me that will already be a victory.

The music starts playing, but I am unable to open my mouth. I turn to meet her green eyes, which for the first time in years seem to speak to me. She tries to tell me to focus on her, and I do. The song starts again, and this time I manage to start singing the words, which sound more whispered than anything else.

"Of your kiss, your touch, your love" Sunny starts singing with me, everyone turns to see her, but she seems determined to help me sing this song. I remain somewhat fearful during the chorus, and she takes the second verse like a queen. Focusing on making me feel comfortable, still staring at my eyes and taking my hand.

Suddenly, she is the only thing I can see.

The connection I felt the first time I saw her feels stronger than ever as we dance together across the stage, our voices sounding perfect next to each other, like they're meant to fit together.

I'm definitely not half as good as Kassam is, but without a doubt my connection and chemistry with Sunny is much stronger, or at least that's what I want to believe. A man has to have hope. It was a magical moment, like when Troy and Gabriella meet and sing 'Start Of Something New' together. Don't judge me, I saw her with my sister Gemma.

The song ends and everyone is shocked. Lottie seems about to pass out, and Lucas looks at me in disbelief.

"I've found my stars." Mr. Hudson whispers, his eyes lit up.

"What? No way! They were supposed to be solos, not duets ” Lottie yells, clearly about to lose her patience.

"My decision is final. I've never seen so much chemistry, it's like they were meant to be together. ” Seems like I'm not the only one who thinks so. I knew Mr. Hudson was a smart guy.

"This work is going to be the best we have ever done, I assure you." Sunny blushes slightly, we are still holding hands, and I honestly don't feel like letting her go, but she starts to pull apart gently.

"Thank you, Sunny." I whisper, she looks at me with mischief in her green eyes. That's when I realize what I said. WE ARE NOT NEAR THE STAGE OF NICKNAMES, GOOD ONE IDIOT.

"Omg, I'm so sorry, Alison. I, You probably don’t even know my name and I’m calling you by a nickname, this is so embarrasing.” I start to mumble things that I don't understand myself.

She smiles at me, trying to calm me down. "It's okay, Bobby McKenzie. Professional joker, awesome baker, beautiful eyes. From Scotland, just like me.” She emphasizes my name, so I have no doubts that she knows who I am. And I almost passed out with the beautiful eyes thing. Fuck, she's so sweet.

“Sunny sounds adorable, I was getting tired of theater freak anyway. And like Mr. Hudson, I could see your full potential. You just needed a hand.”

I blush, hard. She likes it. Both the nickname and the fact that she made me blush. I can see it on her face.

Lottie grabs my arm and starts dragging me toward Hope to leave.

This time I don't let history repeat itself.

"I'll see you tomorrow... Sunny." I wink at her, trying to sound and look as cool as possible.

She smiles. "See you tomorrow, partner."

[seaofserenitysubs]

Oh my, @landofanimes where to even begin? xD

Personally, I thought the whole cast was great. The main 5 were super adorable and Riona as Tuxedo Mask was 👌👌👌

The show itself (the "plot" part) is quite short and everything moves quickly through song and dance. There was little to no dialogue and in fact, less singing than I expected. It's very focused on the dancing and the choreography was well done. This is my first time experiencing something by Takahiro and I was extremely impressed!!

The lack of dialogue makes the show work well for international audiences and while there were subtitles, I didn't really feel they were necessary.

The few songs that they do were pretty catchy! I absolutely loved how they fit Otome no Policy in there. I was tearing up.😭 After the plot, there is a concert which consisted of Heart Moving, A Single Rose, a Dark Kingdom song (don't know the name), La Soldier, We are Sailor Guardians and Moonlight Densetu (acting as more a curtain call). The main 5 and Tux run into the audience (just like previous curtain calls) and it's just super fun.

Couple other things to note was the use of the projection for special effects. I was really impressed with it! I love the "opening" sequence they made that uses the manga, making it kind of like animated manga. The use of a few props.and costume changes were great. There's a really hilarious scene with Usagi daydreaming about Tuxedo Mask that uses props. I don't wanna spoil it so I won't give any details. The NY fans going def need to go in blind because it makes for a great time.

One I guess somewhat negative point about the actual show is that neither Beryl nor Kunzite get speaking or singing roles during the plot part of the show. I felt like there needed to be a DK song fit in there somewhere, something to express Beryl's motivations beyond what you were interpreting from the dancing and knowledge of the series.

Another kinda sorta but not really "negative" was how loud the crowd was with cheering. Kinda felt at times everyone was over doing it and couldn't hear some stuff but overall it wasn't a huge deal. I was just as excited as everyone else so I won't really fault anyone for that. xD I think the cast loved all the cheering, though I imagine might have been a slight culture shock? I dunno how loud Paris was compared to us. xD

On a more personal note, I just so happened to sit a row in front of a bunch of Japanese people, mainly the ambassador of Japan and Takahiro himself! I was really surprised!! I also got VIP tickets and it was totally worth it. The girls were so cute and loved that I thanked them all in Japanese. The Jupiter and Venus especially so. xD

Lastly, a few tips for the NYC attendees.

-If you purchased VIP tickets, be sure to read any emails sent from the venue explaining the process. I saw someone mention on social media that they were unable to actually do the high five because they had not been informed properly. :(

-The VIP gift was a fan.

-Bring CASH for the merch. There will be a t-shirt in sizes M or L, a poster and the light pen/lanyard. Prices below.

-Be prepared for crowds! I dunno how big the NYC venue is but the Warner Theater felt like it had been turned into a mini SM convention. It was chaotic but also really cool seeing everyone's outfits and cosplay.

I think that covers it. xD I have a few pics from the nigh but photos were restricted during the show and the high five so unfortunately I didn't get anything from that. :<

-Have FUN! the most important thing. ;)

[marshmallowgoop]

Don't have such a self destructing attitude goop. I enjoy your essays and fanfics and even your art. Don't care too much about likes and followers. Do what you want to do. You have more than enough people that enjoy your stuff. How many more people do you need? Not everyone can get popular or make a living from writing. It's not only about skill, the market is also too oversaturated for that. Thanks to the internet you have an easier time publishing your stuff, but it's harder to get noticed.

So, my uncle has this story about a girl named Heather.

Heather was the Hottest Shit. You know that Calvin Harris/Rihanna song that’s all, “Lightning strikes every time she moves/And everybody’s watching her”? Well, that was 100% Heather. She was gorgeous and amazing and everyone was all over her.

But when my uncle talked to her? All she could say was that she didn’t have enough love.

Now, I don’t know if this story is actually true or not. My uncle is kind of a character. But I’ve thought about Heather a lot. Every time I feel unloved and unappreciated, I wonder if I’ll ever be satisfied. I get mad at myself for being unhappy. 

“You ungrateful bitch,” I think. “Do you know how many people would be thrilled to have what you have?”

Here’s the thing, though. Telling yourself that you’ve got it so good and should be happy… doesn’t actually make you happy. It just makes you even more miserable that you’re not.

And I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with wanting your art to reach more people. Sure, I create art for me, but I don’t want it to just be for me. I want to share it. And when I’ve felt that writing is practically the only thing I’m good at for my entire life, and when I’ve written well over a million words and drafted more than a dozen novels, and even earned a college degree in the craft… well. Let’s just say that it really, really stings when I spend ages working on fanfiction—which is bound to garner more attention than any original work I’d post online because I’m dealing with already established characters—and I only get a handful of “likes” for my effort. It feels absolutely, totally horrible to spend hours researching for a fic, and even more outlining and drafting and writing and rewriting it line by line… only to receive 13 notes and not a single reblog. It hurts so bad to have thought so hard about a story to have literally written an entire essay about it, and yet… the piece itself just isn’t of interest to a good chunk of the fandom or even my followers.

And there are so many more examples than the one I linked here.

You write that “Not everyone can get popular or make a living from writing.” Of course I know that. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like freaking hell to get your dreams crushed. To realize that, no matter all your dedication and hard work, you’re not actually all that good at this thing that you’ve wanted to do your whole life. To share a story with a community for the first time and tell yourself, just as you did when you had that days-long field trip in middle school, that people will really like you after this, but they… don’t. Not really. Just as your field trip group forgets about you in a store, you get 15 notes for your story.

Anyway. Like I said in my last post, I’ve talked about this stuff a lot. A whole lot. I don’t want to rehash too much, especially because I know this isn’t “fun” content, and it’s clearly been obnoxious.

But I will say this: I’ve hated myself for being upset at how my work does. I’ve berated myself for my vents and called myself childish and immature. All creators go through this stuff. There are folks out there who get so much less than me for so much more work, and they don’t go around throwing fits. I’ve told myself to suck it up and stop being a selfish, bitchy, ungrateful piece of shit.

And yet, I’ve also always felt, “Why shouldn’t I express how I feel?”

In my summary of 2018, I wrote, “I’m not okay. And running away from that fact and trying to hide it won’t help me or anyone else.” And I believe that a lot.

Because all those people you might see as popular and perfect and great? They’ve got their problems, too. They’ve got doubts and insecurities. You might look at someone like Heather and be envious that she’s so adored and angry that she still wants more, but the truth is, she’s not happy with herself. And that’s sad.

Of course, I do think it’s important to be grateful to those who support and love us. I never want to make it sound like I’m not thankful for the few who do encourage me. I am. I am so much! All the nice things people have said or done or made for me absolutely warms my heart. There are so many creators out there, so I definitely recognize that the fact I get noticed at all is… well, amazing.

But just like Heather, I’m not happy with myself. And… that’s probably just something that all artists feel at one point or another. And I don’t want to hide that. I don’t want to act like everything’s hunky-dory if it’s not. I love that people enjoy my essays, but I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t hurt that my creative fiction—which is actually something I’ve worked harder at—doesn’t do as well and isn’t as good. It does hurt. It’s only slightly an exaggeration to say that I burst into tears every time I think about it.

I want to be better. And ignoring my feelings won’t help me get there.

That said, neither will moping.

So, I think I’ve had enough of these types of posts for a while! I want to actually work on my passion projects again.

[joeyvintage]

https://www.videoreligion.net/2019/01/violent-shit-2-mother-hold-my-hand-1992.html?m=1

-rev terry

I think if I were a badass, I would need a metal mask or full covering helmet of some kind. Not for the armor aspect, although head protection is always good, I'm just a fan of the look. I would wear one in my daily life now, but they are probably expensive, and people would expect me to do something cool (as I too would expect of a dude with a metal head).  All my favorite villains had one in my youth. Both Magneto and Dr. Doom from the comics commanded respect and fucked shit up while wearing some metal on their heads. They were probably my earliest examples, but honestly, that's enough to have secured my love for the style. Their helmets were both semi utilitarian but mostly just looked really awesome with their cape combo. In cartoons, GI Joe took the effects of mirrored sunglasses to the next level with Cobra Commander, as he sometimes just had a smooth piece of chrome covering his face. I can get down with that--the blank and shiny look. It’s stylish features even distracted from his shrill sounding voice. I would probably go with something a little more personalized myself, but would definitely want something metal. It just completes the whole look for me. Something about a good sturdy helmet just fits with murder and mayhem. Karl the Butcher gets it. That's why, when he died, along with his love for over-the-top murder, he passed his fancy medieval headwear down to his son, so he would be properly dressed for his own adventure in Violent Shit II (1992).

Long after the events of the first film, two makeshift drug distributing gangs meet up in an open field to engage in something nefarious with a briefcase. For whatever reason, the deal sours, and the two groups go at eliminating each other in various gusher inducing ways. The battle whittles the congregation of assorted backyard wrestles down to a one on one duel between the leaders who both happen to practice kung fu and enjoy white button-up t-shirts. After some fancy moves, one of them slays the other in combat and begins to leave the scene (sans all his dead homies, I guess) but is stopped in his tracks by the sight of a large masked man yelling at him on the horizon. Turns out Karl Butcher Jr, son of the legendary mass murderer, was out for a stroll, spotted the dealers killing each other, and, not to be left out, had rushed to join. Very quickly, Karl (Andreas Schnaas) is on top of the would-be lone brawl survivor and promptly fucks him up with a machete just before the screen goes black. Following its intro and sparse opening credits, the film takes the form of a true crime documentary in development by reporter Paul Glas. Paul believes a string of recent murders can be linked back to The Butcher massacre from twenty years before (and also, the whole thing has something to do with real-life serial killer Fritz Honka...I think?). After divulging the history of Karl senior for a bit over panning random footage of Germany, the reporter follows a tip leading to an interview with some dude in a bar who confirms his suspicions. The Deepthroat-esque “DR. X” then tells him a few stories about the original culprit’s son who, mad about a face rash or something (honestly between the bad subs and silly plot I'm still dim on some details, but it doesn't really matter), had also already done some minor rampaging of his own in the last few years . Switching formats once again, we catch up with Karl II and his (adoptive?) mother (Anke Prothmann in a lot of make-up). Turns out, Momma Butcher has been priming her young progeny to follow in her late husband's footsteps, and now that he has grown to be the spitting image of his father (complete with the heirloom medieval helmet), he is ready to do some eccentric butchery of his own. In fact, this time will be extra special, because mom is coming along too. As one could probably guess, Karl's old lady has some very peculiar parenting ideas, specifically cannibalism and incest. Also at some point, a naturally occurring body hole gets closed up with a stapler, and I think someone eats poop, so watch out for that.

The title is about as far from the old-fashioned B-movie bait and switch as you can get. Like the first film, Violent Shit is wall to wall grotesque violence, only now (in true sequel fashion), it's been turned up a few ridiculous levels. There is an increased story to it compared to the first film, that is to say, there is more than nothing tieing the insane moments of torture and dismemberment together. For the first few acts, a disjointed, random, and confusing series of events form some semblance of a point, but the film forgets about the majority of this as it moves on into plasma soaked sadism. Mostly, the additional fluff just makes room for things the series was truly missing-- like a training montage, cliche fauxumentary tropes, and Kung Fu.  Karl Jr's maternal relationship adds fucked up frosting to an already disturbing cake of sinister shit. The weird sexual thing that's going on there, combined with mom's encouraging cheers, was enough to make me glad the subtitles are wonky and that I don't speak German. At around the same runtime, it might be a little lighter on the fake entrails than the first to make room for the added story, but it wouldn't be considered lacking in most circles. The Butcher-minor is more creative than his father but also seemingly obsessed with genitals (of all genders), which is weird and takes a lot of screen time. There are a few classic machete whacks to the face for some victims. However, as the body count grows, most of the slaughter comes with long, drawn out, silly torture and bloodletting. A bare-bones opposite to the Saw-style mouse trap, instead of providing intricate setups for the deaths, the act of execution itself is long, complicated, and involves several steps. It's all sure to offend anyone who watches but is too extreme to take seriously. Even if you are of the squeamish type, by the fifteenth minute of growling testicle torture and six similar acts, the action loses any real shock and becomes either just gross or hilarious (and gross). It goes for broke, eventually just dissolving into increasing levels of carnage, capturing the essence of a drunken night between friends trying to top each other's morbid imagination. Along with its spastic rampage, the film makes several references to classic American horror films and even borrows a few plot points from the Friday the 13th series unambiguously. To its credit, it's moved forward quite a bit from the first writing-wise, although it’s not like it is casting a bigger net for an audience. It's still just random gore because that's fun sometimes, and hopefully, no one who pops in a film titled Violent Shit 2 will be worried about the level of drama involved.

Shot on tape and seemingly dumping the entirety of its finite resources into gore, Violent Shit 2 is, again, what it says on the tin. The whole thing looks like it was shot in different sections of the same public park, which it refers to as a “forest” at one point. The John Woo tribute, in the beginning, is the film’s most developed moment as far as framing and choreography go, displaying some above average movie brawling for its budget. For the film’s meat and potatoes (Karl the second, killing people), it's a lot more of the same backyard style camera work that kind of hangs around watching the action from any accessible angle. Shots seem almost placed at random, and it jumps between them with meaningless cuts. The film’s biggest draw is an overabundance of practical gore, which comes out as a step above the rest of the film quality- wise. For the lack of resources, the film utilizes some pretty gnarly effects when it comes to flesh mangling, and it doesn't skimp or pull away.  I think I counted four different consistencies of blood, and each horrible scenario is trying to top the last. Without spoiling anything, there is a range of squirtastic stabbings and stringy limb removals that, despite their amateur surrounding conditions, would give a lot of larger budget splatter flicks a run for their money.  Some of the more ambitious (for lack of a better word) moments spend a little too much time on screen and give themselves away, but all together it should more than slate any grimy blood-seekers thirst or send anyone else running. When it isn't mumbling at random volumes, the dubbing is just screaming, grunting and giggle-worthy squishing sounds with no attachment to what's on screen. Music-wise, the film is laced with an out of place, unbalanced soundtrack that sounds straight out of an RPG fantasy video game. Besides the Dungeons & Dragons mood tunes, it does have a German death metal/butt rock theme song (Violent Shit by Vice Versa) bookending it that captures the spirit nicely and almost feels critically necessary. Stick around afterward for some bonus scenes and marquee of credits that look like they are trying to sell you knock off sunglasses.

German director Andreas Schnaas has made an international name for himself with a torrent of ultra-low budget, ultra-violent gross-out splatter flicks that continues today. In 1989, he and some homies secured a tiny bit of funding to form the company Reel Gore Productions and produce their first full-length picture titled Violent Shit. Filmed over four weekends and with a rented tape recorder, the project amounted to a series of violent acts committed by a large masked man named Karl the Butcher, crafted with homemade practical effects (and little else). By the grace of the trash-gods, it saw a single midnight theater showing but received mostly negative reviews on its initial video release due to its lack of production values. However, with a little help from a to-the-point naming strategy and its unrefined grimy gusto, it found an audience worldwide over the following years in less discerning gore hounds who don't mind the homemade feel (a bunch of fucking weirdos probably). Succeeding their second feature Zombie '90: Extreme Pestilence in 1991, Andreas & Co would return to the world of Violent Shit and brewing cult following. To date, the character Karl the Butcher has appeared in six flicks, that I know of, including a reboot of sorts (Violent Shit: The Movie 2015) by Italian director Luigi Pastore, without Andreas Schnaas involvement. Schnaas himself would play the role in most outings, taking over for Karl Inger (allegedly) after the first film.

Violent Shit II: Mother Hold My Hand (aka Violent Shit 2) is a composition sketchbook of demented cartoon executions forged during an in-school suspension and realized in full-color low fidelity magnetic tape. For the right crowd, it's an awesomely inelegant, generously proportioned helping of sloppy sleaze, possibly best devoured while intoxicated. It advances from the first movie to some degree in almost every way, but it's still one for the same exclusive and fucked-up crowd. If you want tasteless acts of dismemberment, childish boundary-pushing, and obscene special effects, it's got you covered. Those seeking damn near anything outside of that, better look for their kicks elsewhere. In a way, it has the same MO as a Gallagher show, in that there are small bits of gibberish in between gags, but ultimately everyone watching is just waiting for red shit to spray, and a majority of possible viewers are not going to get the joke. I enjoy the fuck out of the unseemly mess, although I don't know what that says about me. I also really dig Karl the Butcher’s fashion sense. If only I too had been lucky enough to have inherited some cool metal headgear along with the destructive predispositions.