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beewritesposts · 2 years

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hey!! my main interests right now are the sims 4 and monster high, so naturally i decided to combine them and make a sims 4 monster high legacy challenge!! here are the rules, if anyone wants to participate i would love if you posted your heirs/families/builds on the gallery with the hashtag #fr0gemo!!

monster high legacy challenge

inspired by lilsimsie’s not so berry challenge, this challenge is based off of the monster high characters. it is meant to give you new storyline ideas you haven’t used before, while also satisfying your childhood nostalgia!

basic rules:

1. you have the option to play with berry sim colours, to make sure your heirs the same as the character they’re based off of, or to make a humanized version of the character. you have full creative freedom, as long as you reference the character somehow!

2. ideally, you should also base each generations spouse on the character’s significant other in the monster high series, but this is optional

3. money cheats are allowed in moderation, but i don’t recommend them. struggling is fun in the sims

4. you can live wherever you want, i recommend forgotten hollow or glimmerbrook for the full spooky monster high effect

5. you must complete the career and aspiration for each generation

6. play on normal lifespan

gen 1: frankie stein

you were an only child who was homeschooled and is finally moving out on her own. you took an interest in biology in your high school years and you’re fascinated by life. that’s why you want to create your own. outside of your scientific endeavours, you also love knitting and using your newfound social life to make as many friends as you can.

traits: cheerful, clumsy, foodie

aspiration: friend of the world

requirements:

- join the doctor career

- master the robotics and knitting skills

- create 2 servos in your lifetime and keep them for the rest of the legacy

- have one daughter

- have 2 best friends that you go on weekly outings with

- optional: if you make her spouse jackson jekyll, give him the erratic trait

gen 2: draculaura

you love your parents, but they didn’t exactly pay much attention to you as a child. you were basically raised by servos. you want to give your children a more tight knit family experience, so you take up a career that allows you to work from home. you’re also a bit of a gossip, wanting to know what’s going on in everyone’s lives.

traits: ambitious, vegetarian, romantic

aspiration: neighbourhood confidante

requirements:

- become a vampire as a teenager (optional if you hate occult sims that much, if you do choose to do it then gen 3 starts when the next heir becomes a young adult)

- be closer with your father than you are with your mother

- join the social media career

- master the gardening, charisma and vampire lore skills

- marry someone, divorce them, and marry someone else

- have a vegetable garden

- have a high relationship with all your children

gen 3: clawdeen wolf

growing up, you never really experienced romantic love. not for lack of opportunity, you had many suitors in your teenage years, you just were never interested in having a partner. you’re more of a lone wolf. you do, however, have an interest in parenting. your dream was to adopt children to get them out of the foster care system, and you did just that. you can’t spend all your time home when you’re a single parent, so in order to pay the bills you took a fashion photographer job, and actually ended up really liking it.

traits: glutton, unflirty, family-oriented

aspiration: super parent

requirements:

- if you chose to become a vampire in the last generation, make this heir turn back into a regular sim.

- you can go on dates, but don’t have an official romantic relationship

- join the fashion photographer career

- adopt 3 kids and 3 dogs

- don’t leave the house at night (when it’s dark out)

- master parenting and pet training skills

- be best friends with your mother

gen 4: lagoona blue

you’re a simple sim. you have one goal: help save the ocean to the best of your ability. you’re just one sim, so you can’t singlehandedly clean the entire ocean, but you just want to make a difference. in order to do this, you moved to sulani to get closer to the sea, and in your adulthood you realized being able to breathe underwater is much more efficient than using diving gear, so you became a mermaid. your other passion is fitness, making frequent gym visits to keep in shape for your job.

traits: child of the ocean, bro, active

aspiration: bodybuilder

requirements:

- go to university for environmental science (biology?) and play soccer in university

- join the conservationist career

- live in sulani

- marry someone who also has the child of the ocean trait

- complete the fish collection

- eat mermaidic kelp after you have your children (once again optional if you don’t like occult sims)

- master fishing and fitness skills

gen 5: cleo denile

you’re a popular it girl. you’re hot, everyone wants you, and for lack of a better way to put it, you’re kind of a bitch. when you graduated, you decided to join the style influencer career. you were already criticizing people’s outfits, may as well get paid to do it. you also have a deep belief in self care, so you make sure you bring yourself to the spa every week. working and spa trips aren’t your true ambition though, what you really want to do is find the love of your life.

traits: snob, high maintenance, self absorbed

aspiration: soulmate

requirements:

- join style influencer career

- master photography and wellness skills

- complete the crystal collection and display them in your house

- go to the spa weekly

- go on dates with 5 different people before getting married

- have triplet daughters (you can use cheats for this)

- have 100k simoleons in your bank account at some point

gen 6: abbey bominable

your mother was a bit of a priss growing up, and you are nothing like her. you moved away from home as soon as you could to the snowy mountain ranges of mt. komorebi so you could live your dream of participating in winter sports. you’re a loner and not the greatest at communication, but in order to combat that you practice comedy. weirdly, you also have an affinity for growing flowers to counteract your more tough side.

traits: adventurous, dog lover, loves outdoors

aspiration: extreme sports enthusiast

requirements:

- join the bodybuilder career

- move to the yukimatsu district of mt. komorebi

- climb mt. komorebi

- marry someone with the outgoing trait (heath burns)

- master snowboarding and comedy skills

- have a greenhouse with a flower garden

- have a pet samoyed named shiver

gen 7: operetta

your parents are a bit old fashioned. they wanted you to find a nice man, get married and give them grandchildren. you aren’t against having a family, but first you want to make it big in the music business. unfortunately, you have stage fright and refuse to perform live, so you want to be a mysterious musician who only gains fame through your records. you’re also a bit of a rebellious loner who isn’t afraid to cause mischief in the lives of people who wrong you.

traits: music lover, loner, mean

aspiration: villainous valentine, musical genius (not necessary to complete)

requirements:

- master the guitar, organ and mischief skills

- join the entertainer career in the musician branch

- publish songs and become famous, but never perform live

- be best friends with 2 guys who you previously had romantic relationships with

- don’t get married until you reach fame star level 3

- live in the basement of an abandoned house

gen 8: venus mcflytrap

you were raised by a rebel and a musician, and as a result you found yourself immersed in punk culture, specifically eco punk. you want to break out of society’s industrialization and make the world a more eco friendly place by doing your part personally and professionally, which is why you joined the civil designer career in order to help develop green infrastructure. outside of your environmental passions, you also love gardening and partying.

traits: freegan, dance machine, green fiend

aspiration: master maker

requirements:

- live in a house in a green neighbourhood with only recycled furniture (to the best of your ability)

- join the civil designer career in the green technician branch

- master the fabrication, gardening and dance skills

- vote on NAPs every week

- have a flower garden on your lot

- be the leader of an environmental club

- attend parties/social outings whenever you’re asked

gen 9: ghoulia yelps

from a young age, you were a genius. you spent most of your childhood studying and developing your intellect, as well as indulging yourself in “geek” type hobbies like video games. while doing your university degree in physics to become a doctor, you gained an interest in rocket science and decided you wanted to use your income once you graduated to build your own rocket ship.

traits: genius, bookworm, geek

aspiration: nerd brain

requirements:

- go to university and do a distinguished degree in physics

- join the brainiacs organization

- join the scientist career

- master logic and rocket science skills

- attend geekcon every time it occurs

- have one best friend

- complete the mysims trophy collection

gen 10: rochelle goyle

your mother raised you with knowledge of the sciences, in hopes that you would grow up to follow in her footsteps. instead, though, you want to learn all there is to know about everything. you’re a jack of all trades. namely, you have an interest in the culinary arts, painting and fitness.

traits: foodie, hot-headed, non-committal

aspiration: renaissance sim

requirements:

- complete the whiz kid aspiration

- reach level 3 in a part time career of your choice as a teen

- reach level 5 logic skill as a teen and move out

- join the culinary career when you become a young adult

- quit your job and become a food critic when you become an adult

- go rollerskating whenever you come across a rink

- master the cooking, painting and fitness skills

- reach level 8 in 3 other skills of your choice

- cheat on your high school partner as a young adult, you can choose if you end up with your first partner or your second one

- optional: live in a house with gothic style architecture (gargoyles!!!)

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d-criss-news · 3 years

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Nine Songs: Darren Criss

When Disney, Phantom Planet and Mr Hudson collide: Glee star, Emmy and Golden Globe winner and musician Darren Criss talks Andrew Wright through the pivotal songs in his life and the unexpected ways they found him.

“When we are younger, our gateway drugs to a lot of popular things don’t come from the sexiest of places. It’s up to you how proactive you want to be with your curiosity from there, and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, if you go down at all.”

Choosing the songs that define you is a tricky business to say the least, especially when the power of song has provided an ongoing soundtrack to your life. “When you’re as avid a music consumer as musical artists are, trying to pin down Nine Songs is difficult,” Darren Criss laughs. So much so, his final choices only really crystallise as our conversation draws to its close. “It’s hard for me not to see the value and joy in literally everything,” he explains. “The curse of the creative person is that your ideas and your interests always move way faster than your body can execute.”

Criss is a creative par excellence. As well as his Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, where he played serial killer Andrew Cunanan, to his upcoming role in Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween special as The Caretaker, he’s also a prolific musician. Criss enjoyed a decadent musical consumption since childhood, so “this was a bit of an archaeological dig,” he admits. As such, everything from jazz standards, to 808s, punk rock, ‘90s teen pop, and musical numbers are excavated in the course of our extemporaneous journey through the music he loves.

Equally on his mind is how to go about approaching the task of creating his Nine Songs, full stop. “The interesting social experiment is: Are my answers going to be songs that actually shaped my life and were formative to me as an artist? Are they songs that were formative to me as a human being? Or am I picking songs that I think represent who I am to people that do not know me? All three of those things aren’t necessarily the same thing.”

He reaches a conclusion of sorts. “For the purposes of making some kind of decision, I’m gonna lean less into trying to look cool to your very cool readership, and more into the literal, ‘What made me think about music in a different way? And hit me in a very emotional way?’ I think that’s probably the healthiest route.”

Embracing the accessibility that characterises Criss’ picks - or at times the initial touchpoints that led him to them - are something he vacillates over during our chat. “I’ve seen a lot of other people’s Nine Songs and they’re super cool. It’s like Leonard Cohen B-sides and old opera records and stuff. I’m gonna be pretty honest with the pop culture zeitgeist of how I grew up but explain why there is so much value in those moments.” His contemplation continues into the next day, Criss’s publicist passes on his regrets at being tentative to admit how he encountered one of his song choices via the Shrek soundtrack.

A yearning to reinterpret accessibility and the value attached to it drives Criss, however. He tells me that a festival performance that applied the anarchic verve of punk rock to a more refined Great American Songbook number remoulded his perception of music entirely. His love of the fusion of these two genres in particular symbolises the salient musical backdrops of his childhood - the guitar bands he played in with friends, and his musical theatre endeavours that led him to Broadway and multiple Ryan Murphy juggernauts, including his breakthrough playing Blaine Anderson in Glee.

Criss employs these contrasting musical lexicons, and other areas in between, on Masquerade, his new EP. Comprising five stand-alone “character-driven” singles, it sees Criss donning different musical personas. “I’m leaning into people that might know me as an actor,” he explains. “Because if actors can do Shakespeare, romantic comedy, and then do a horror movie and wear a prosthetic nose and a wig, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just do that with music.” The song “walk of shame” draws on jazz-standard chords interlaced with hip-hop production, “i can’t dance” looks to new-wave, and “for a night like this” is the product of Criss’ goal to create the ultimate end-of-the-night crowd-pleaser for a new-year bash, wedding or bar mitzvah. “This is all of the parts of me as a lifelong fan of these genres, trying my hand at servicing the pieces of them that I love.”

“I really love all styles of music and understanding what makes them unique and special and what makes them really pop. There are so many things that really make things sing - for lack of a better verb - and I like acknowledging those things and celebrating those things.”

“So, let’s begin. I have runners up and shit, and I have artists, I don’t just have the songs, so we might have to pick them as we go.”

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“Part of Your World” by Jodi Benson

“When people read this, they’ll go ‘That’s cute, he likes Disney songs’, but it’s more profound than that. Some of the most formative pieces of music to hit me at a very early age would have been any of the songs that were coming from ‘The Disney renaissance.’ The early-mid ‘90s explosion of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast.

"One of the through lines between the three of those musicals was Howard Ashman, who is one of my all-time heroes. Dramaturg, songwriter - he really was the voice behind what made those songs great. I have always loved Howard’s lyrical sensibility and also Alan Menken, his partner who wrote these songs with him. There was a musical structure to a lot of the songs which I would unconsciously pick up in my own songwriting, not just musically, but the idea that not only did somebody make these songs, but they wrote them for a story.

“There’s a clip of Howard Ashman vocal directing Jodi Benson, who was the original voice of Ariel. It’s a wonderful example of his genius, where not only was he songwriting but he was storytelling in the way he would tell her how to perform it, and you can really see the song coming to life in that clip. That’s when you cross the street from ‘It’s a song’ to ‘This is an experience.’

"There are certain ingredients that are required to elevate music that goes beyond just a nice melody, a beautiful orchestration and a good voice. There are things that are required to really give a performance a characterisation, context and a vulnerability, that he architects in real-time with Jodi Benson. You see that what he’s doing is what makes the record so special, and that’s something that’s always been inspiring to me.”

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“MMMBop” by Hanson

“I think my love of Hanson was because some people didn’t like it, so I was like ‘Fuck you, I like this, how do you feel about it?’ But this is difficult for me, because you know, I’m speaking to The Line of Best Fit and we’re trying to be cool! Although, do you know what’s cool? Being accessible! Writing a pop hit when you are 10 years old. Being in a band with your brothers and you’re all below the age of 15, you have a record contract where you are writing, producing and performing songs that are doing well.

“I was 10 years old when their first album Middle of Nowhere came out, and I remember reading somewhere that there were these kids that had a record. At the time, I was playing guitar and I was writing songs, but in my mind I was a kid, and that was it. I couldn’t be on the radio; you had to be a grown up to do this.

"This was the first time where I realised ‘Holy shit, kids can do stuff!’ It’s the value of seeing yourself in the media - that’s a whole other conversation to talk about - but there’s an immense value in feeling like there’s a piece of you out in the zeitgeist and doing well because it’s encouraging. You go, ‘Holy shit, maybe I can do this as well.'

“When you see children doing things, you’re ‘Wow, this is so cute and fabulous’, but then when you actually look at it you go, ‘This is miles above what most people in this age group are capable of,’ and that’s all I saw, because I was in the same age group and I was so inspired by that. This whole album was really a turning point for me, where I was like, ‘I can do this, I can do music too, because these guys can.'

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“Ooh La La” by Faces

“This song really blew my mind. It became my own theme. It’s that ‘Make your heart sing’, nostalgic moment when you’re a teenager, driving in the car listening to it, playing guitar with your friends and you’re singing “I wish that I knew what I know now / When I was younger.” You’re like, ‘because I’m an adult now, I’m 15-years-old. If I only knew what I know now.’

“I was doing theatre from a young age and I was part of a young conservatory called A.C.T. in San Francisco. By way of somebody who knew somebody, I had an audition for a movie. As a kid not being near New York or Los Angeles it was really exciting, and this audition was for a film called ‘Max Fischer’, which would become the movie Rushmore, which would become one of my favourite movies of all time by the now very distinguished Wes Anderson.

“Separate from my own objective love of Wes Anderson, when this movie came out I was just around the age of getting into my own sort of identity with music, but also movies - indie movies - and trying to assert who I was. So, I see this movie Rushmore and I love it. I love the soundtrack, I love it so much, it’s one of my favourite albums ever. This song is the end sequence, and the way it made me feel - the vocals on it, I could play it on guitar and it was part of a cool movie - it really represented a lot in my life.

“And because of the acting thing, and Rushmore being great - it’s about this kid in high-school who's misunderstood but has his own agenda - everything about it was just so fucking cool to me. To this day, I cite that song as one of my favourite records of all time.”

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“Recently Distressed” by Phantom Planet

“A guy that really formed the way I would sing and write songs is Alex Greenwald, the frontman of Phantom Planet. I went to see Phantom Planet because I loved Rushmore and I found out that Jason Schwartzman [who had been cast as Max Fischer] was also the drummer for a band called Phantom Planet.

"So, when I saw their name on the bill I went, but I didn't know their music. I was barely 14, but their set blew my mind. It was Rock and Roll, but I loved Alex Greenwald’s voice. I loved everything, and I would follow their career from there. I always tell people that my voice is a combination of me trying to be Alex Greenwald, Paul McCartney and Rufus Wainwright, but failing. Alex was incredibly formative for me.

“One of their biggest records was a little while after I first saw them, which was the song for The O.C., "California." That was more of an Elvis Costello thing, and they employed a lot of stuff that sounded to me like The Beatles and a lot of ‘60s mod/pop-rock. But later they would employ things from Fugazi, Radiohead and harder shit, and that eclecticism, again, only accelerated my love for Phantom Planet.

“Recently Distressed” is from their 1998 album Phantom Planet Is Missing. This was a cool rock song that employed these George [Harrison] and Paul [McCartney] background vocals and included all of the things that I loved. It was harder but melodic and employed minor 4th chords and more complicated chords than I was used to. I had grown up with power chords - which are very Gregorian - on a lot of alt. punk rock, like Green Day or Nirvana, and if Kurt Cobain was using power chords then that’s how I was playing guitar. Hearing this music was like ‘Oh, I’m using full chords, not sevenths, minor 4th chords, diminished chords’, shit that I would learn to use more and more.

“When you haven’t experienced much, anything that gives a hint towards possibility, even though it’s probably always been there, you’re like, ‘I like this, I’ve always kind of liked this, but it’s very encouraging to hear somebody else do it and it’s gonna make me reconsider my possibilities.’ That was literally the moment that my power chords turned into full barre chords.”

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“Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright

“I forgot the other day how I got into Rufus Wainwright, because all of this stuff I was getting into quite young. It’s like when I talk to 11-13 year olds, it’s funny to think that this was when I was really starting to build my musical identity. But then I remembered, and I didn’t want to say because I didn’t want to sound uncool, because he is such a revered artist who exists in a much cooler place than what I’m about to say.

“I loved soundtracks and I would always buy soundtracks for movies that had cool playlists. I had the Shrek soundtrack, and there’s a cover of Leonard Cohen’s seminal “Hallelujah” that Rufus does and he smashes it, and I’m like, ‘Who the fuck is Rufus Wainwright? What a beautiful voice.’ Then I saw that he was going to be at the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco one week, so I go and he’s there promoting his new album Poses. I remember I didn’t have enough money to buy the album that day, so I had him sign my sneaker and I saved that shoe.

“The first song on Poses was “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, which is a very dark and reflective song about his own battles with addiction, but he’s singing it over this really beautiful, whimsical song that has a lot of really great wordplay. I always love when artists, especially lyricists, can encapsulate an idea with not exactly what they’re talking about. The song’s called “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, it’s not called “Addiction”. Its talking about things that he craved and how that’s representative of other things that he’s gone through. There was a sophistication and elegance to that that I really gravitated towards, that I didn’t possess but wanted to shoot for. So when I saw him, that was a big one for me and he would also continue to influence me later in my life.

“I’ve become friends with Rufus since. I’ve performed with him and we’ve made records together, which is crazy. His songwriting was very complex and punk-rock, but he had this classic cabaret voice, the kind of voice that I don’t have. I was fascinated that there was somebody that could write this really dark material but have such elegance on top of it. He was virtuosic on the piano, which I thought was very cool because musicianship is always the thing that gets me going the most about artists.

“You know what? People say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.' I completely disagree. Chase the living fuck out of your heroes. I’ve spent a lifetime doing so, it’s made me a better artist, and I’ve sometimes got to meet them and work with them. I’ve worked on music with Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet. I’ve performed with Hanson. I’ve performed those Disney songs with Alan Menken at The Hollywood Bowl.

"This is all because there are people that I love who I have put on my vision board, and the things that they have done are the things that are bringing me to them. So it is nuts, but at the same time you’re like, ‘Well, what else did you think would happen?’ They did stuff that some part of me connected with, so obviously there’s a magnetic pull towards that person.

“Rufus Wainwright is one of my absolute favourite artists of all time and like I said, me trying to sing like him and failing is a big part of my own journey as an artist.”

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“3x5” by John Mayer

“John Mayer’s another guy that came around when I was 15. I heard a song of his on a middle-of-the-night, singer/songwriter college radio show. This is where I used to get music. You would listen to these carefully curated playlists that you wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else, and the host played “No Such Thing”, a new song by this young kid who had just dropped out of Berklee College of Music - John Mayer.

“I’m listening to this song and I’m like, ‘Not only is this guitar playing really interesting, but the lyrical value and everything that is going on here ticks all the boxes.' It was jazz, but it was pop. And he did something that all these other guys and girls I’ve mentioned did. They made something very unique and very accessible.

“I immediately went out to buy this album, Room For Squares, and I listened to it over and over again. It was an album that was really formative for me. "3x5” is a really beautiful song that employs a lot of chord structures and melodies that blew my fucking mind at the time, and it made me wish that I could write songs like that.

“That album was a huge turning point in the way I played the guitar, because it was the first time in my life where I would look up tabs. Up until this point in my life, if I heard a song I could play it instantly. It was like a party trick, I would get how it worked if I heard it, because most of the songs I would hear on the radio - especially those that involved a guitar - were [centred around] power chords. And now I’m hearing all of these ninth chords and thirteenths, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ So I’d have to look up tabs.

“I think any young artist can attest to this - when you try and learn other people’s shit, it’s the best tool for educating yourself. Playing other people’s music really helps you lock in what your own style is. Trying to learn these songs - and sometimes pulling it off and sometimes not - really changed the way that my hands moved around the guitar and considered chords and voicings that I’d never really thought of.

“There’s another tie to musical theatre here, where I remember seeing Audra McDonald, who is a very venerated theatre actor, and she did a cabaret. If you’re familiar with cabaret culture, it’s more about performing the story of the songs – ‘Life is a cabaret’. She did a John Mayer song because she thought it was from a musical theatre show, and I was so tickled by this, because I was like ‘Yeah, if you really think about it, I don’t think he knows this and I don’t think his fan base even thinks about this, but there’s a number of his songs that feel very theatrical in the way that the lyrics play with each other and the way the chords move’.

"When I saw this I thought, ‘That is why I like John Mayer’, because yes, he’s an amazing guitar player, but he’s also a really strong songwriter.”

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“Cabaret” by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

“Also, around this time growing up in San Francisco, as a guitar player playing music with your buddies, the number one thing that you play is punk rock. There are different parts of the spectrum of punk rock, there's the NOFX, Swingin’ Utters, like real punk, punk. And then there’s the pop-punk thing that was happening at the same time, which was also equally influential - blink-182 and Green Day.

“Fat Mike was the frontman of NOFX. I loved NOFX, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were a supergroup of different members from different punk bands, of which Fat Mike was one of the main architects. They would cover songs and turn them into punk rock songs. They have an album of hits from the ‘60s, and they also have an album called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: Are a Drag, and that record is just a tonne of musical theatre covers that are done through punk rock.

“That was completely in line with everything I loved at this time of my life but didn’t really know how to articulate. I loved punk rock but I also really loved musical theatre. Not only the performative element of it, but there was a real musicality to musical theatre that wasn’t as present in some of the other shit that was popular at the time, just harmonically, or where chords would go. There was a sophistication I loved that seemed to not exist in punk rock.

“Then hearing Fat Mike at The Warped Tour going ‘Alright, which one of you Motherfuckers loves Julie Andrews?’ and hearing a mixed bag of reactions, because people were ‘What? I was not expecting that from you, sir?’ And then they start playing “My Favourite Things”, a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song which is very accessible, but sophisticated nonetheless. And I am just living. I’m like, ‘This has got the attitude and simplicity of punk rock, but the sophistication of a beautiful song.’

“That was the first time in my life where I went, ‘It’s just all music. All these categories and boxes are completely arbitrary.’ So I thought, ‘I can do that.' I was playing power chords in punk bands but I realised that you can take chords and make them into other rhythms and voicings and have the same song. I could take a punk song and make it jazz. I could take a jazz song and make it country. So, quite providentially, I would end up on Glee, where they took popular songs and would sometimes do their own versions.

“By that point, I had been doing this my whole life. The first time this ever became a possibility for me was seeing Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and that way of thinking about music and genre. I’ve put that into Masquerade, and it’s all born from that moment of ‘Oh my God, nothing has to be one thing. It’s just about how you look at it.'

“Cabaret” is from a pretty famous musical that I would’ve probably heard about later in life, but I first heard that song as a punk song and then I went back and heard the original. It doesn’t matter how these things happen, the inspiration happens and then you can go from there. But Me First and The Gimme Gimmes were a huge gateway drug and I play “Cabaret” now every year at my festival. That’s why the festival is called Elsie Fest, because it covers the song.”

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“Modern Nature” by Sondre Lerche

“One of the great joys of being a younger brother is that you get to inherit the music of your elders. My brother and I were both really proactive consumers of music, so we would share stuff with each other all the time. But then he would come home from college, which is like coming home from a music festival essentially, right? He was in a new time zone with new people, so he’d bring home these mix CDs that he’d made from people that he’d heard about, and he brings home this guy named Sondre Lerche.

“Hearing this guy blew my mind, because he also was using jazz chords and drawing on musical theatre. Musical theatre’s a massive category, so I can’t just say that musical theatre sounds like one thing, but when I say this, I’m referring to The American Songbook, the jazz standard songbook. “Modern Nature” was a duet that I would go on to play many times with one of my oldest musical collaborators, Charlene Kaye. When we got to college and we both found out that we loved this guy.

“There was a much more whimsical way to how he wrote these songs. And what’s crazy is that loving this guy meant that we also loved Rufus Wainwright, that we also loved these other artists. But Sondre was the first time I considered that I loved that type of music, but I didn’t know that you could be a singer/songwriter and put out music that sounded like it.

“I don’t know if ‘twee’ is the right word to use, but with “Modern Nature” there was a playfulness about it, and again, a musicality that I really gravitated towards. There is a through line - there was a sophistication that was accessible, and me trying to learn those songs did make me rethink the way that I was writing music. The structures were weird and different and I liked that.

“To this day, I find myself writing songs that I think might be difficult for people to ingest, because they’re a little too left of centre, and I realise that I’m trying to write like Sondre Lerche, or I’m unconsciously just copying him.”

youtube

“Everything Happens to Me” by Mr Hudson & The Library

“I was in an H&M in Stockholm when I was 21, and I heard this really cool groove and the lyric was “Why must I always play the clown?” It was sung with a really thick British accent, had an 808 feel on it, and lyrically it had an attitude. Who would say something that sounds so like you’re in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, but it feels hard? It was cool.

“I went home and looked this up and it was off the record A Tale of Two Cities by Mr Hudson and the Library, which would really, really fuck me up. I bought the album immediately because I loved this song. I had to order it on the internet because I couldn’t find it. It was doing well in England and he was on the festival circuit in the early-mid 2000s, but the first song on the album was a musical theatre cover with 808s.

“It was a pared-down, sort of a hip-hop version of “On The Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady, and I’m like ‘No fucking way, this guy gets where my head is.’ I’d thought about punk rock musical theatre, but I never thought about 808s and 909s scoring these beautiful songs. I go down the track list and he has “Everything Happens to Me”, which is another very famous standard, and he had this really cool, what we would now call chill-hop, ‘study beats’ version of this song. I was like, ‘This is it. This guy gets that good music is good music and you can reinterpret it to offer it as a new song.’

“I would later become great friends with Mr Hudson. I got to meet him years later when I was with Columbia Records, and they said to me ‘Who do you want to meet?’ He was at the top of my list. I went to London and we’ve been friends ever since and have created all kinds of music together.

“He told me a story where Tyler the Creator went up to him once at Coachella and said, ‘Oh man, “Everything Happens To Me”, that’s like my song.’ We both wondered if Tyler the Creator knew that it was a Chet Baker cover. And we were thinking how cool it is that you can offer these songs to a new audience through a different lens. Tyler’s a smart guy, he’s very cultured, and I’m sure he did know. But it’s more the idea that if someone experienced this song and didn’t know that it was a cover, and this is like the first time they ever get to experience it.

“Mr Hudson would go on to do his own thing with Kanye and was on 808s & Heartbreak and has had his own career. I think “Supernova” was a hit in the UK, it didn’t really cross over here to The States, but before that moment for him, that Mr Hudson and The Library album changed my life. People use that phrase willy-nilly, but this literally was a turning point in my life. It all had to do with the same thing that happened with these other songs, where I saw someone do what I always wanted to do but didn’t really know how to pull off. Where he had this fusing of old songs delivered through a contemporary lens, but also laced it with his own original material that also employed the things that made that old songwriting interesting.

“It’s like changing the font of a great essay but finding the font and figuring out that that font is its own art form. He really displayed that marvellously on this.”

The Masquerade EP is out now

#darren criss #the line of best fit #press #sept 2021

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solomonish · 3 years

Note

Hii I saw astrology and divination talk and got curious! If you are into it, do you have any even vague headcanon of what Solomon's relevant(?) placements could be? This topic always makes me go 👀 and its funny that even ancient demons got their lil sun sign listed on their profiles lmao.

Completely disregard this if u dont like astrology though oh 🙈😳 and also !!! hope you're having a nice day~💌

HELLLLLLLOOO my love I hope you meant big three signs because that's what I did lol! And no I did not BUT the moment I got the ask that prompted this I did wonder "hmmm what would Solomon's big three be?" and then this ask came in SO...I looked it up lol

I will warn you though that I don't know a lot about astrology other than my own sun sign (Aries) so this is all from a quick little search!! My descriptions of what they're about come from here so if it's wrong.........I tried <3

Solomon's Big Three

Explaining his Sun Sign - Sagittarius

starslikeyou describes Sagittarius like so:

"Born with the Sun in Sagittarius, you are gifted with an abundance of warmth, energy and positivity. Your sign is noted for a willingness to transcend the everyday by pushing boundaries, demanding freedom and seeking to explore unchartered horizons whenever possible. Your journey involves discovering all that is possible.

At a deeper level, your sign is also concerned with the cultural, philosophical and metaphysical frameworks which make life meaningful. Your life path involves searching for truth and then sharing that with others."

Honestly, I think this works for Solomon!! I think his energy and positivity are more calm, but he's very playful and welcoming just in general. Obviously he's all about exploring the unknown [gestures @ immortality] and I definitely headcanon that Solomon knows a little bit about everything. A true renaissance man...

IDK this was short I just wanted to address it lol. Onto the good stuff!

Guessing Solomon's Moon Sign - Scorpio

According to starslikeyou...

"Born with the Moon in Scorpio, you are likely to be sensitive and loyal, but have intense emotional needs...You are likely to give the impression of being perceptive, powerful, and transformational.

Scorpio is also a Fixed sign, suggesting that when you align your emotions with something you desire – be that a friend/lover or an anticipated outcome – you will be constant, enduring and unwilling to let go."

In terms of the emotional needs, I think this might be the weakest part of my argument - but hear me out. The website describes emotional extremes that may swing back and forth, as well as intense reactions to emotions. I could argue that Solomon does experience this - although I think he's gotten good at hiding it.

I wouldn't describe him as having mood swings, but I can think of a few instances where he has shown them. I think this would mainly take place in his anticipation of rejection. We've seen multiple times how he's willing to indulge in being with MC, only for a moment - happy, satisfied - but then he quickly realizes that they could reject him, that they might not want him, and he backs off and retreats again. This isn't exactly a mood swing, but it fits for my argument. He easily flips from accepting and eager to show affection whenever he has the chance to reserved and pulling away. From confident to almost insecure. Additionally, his emotional reaction to the possibility of rejection - or of returned feelings, like in the Threads of Fate devilgram - could also help my case. The website also argues that people with a moon in scorpio are self-aware, introspective, and private individuals, which definitely sounds like Solomon to me.

In terms of intimacy, the website accents a need for emotional honesty, and finding an inner transformation as you share more parts of yourself and expose your vulnerabilities. I've talked about this for long periods of time, but I really, really think that this is the type of beneficial relationship Solomon needs. He needs someone he can trust completely, someone who can get him to open himself up and be a little more free because they accept his past and the parts of him that are messy.

Also the website says this:

"Finally, the Moon here often also brings highly developed intuitive and psychic gifts. You may find yourself drawn to explore the mysteries of life, wanting to know more about magic, alchemy or anything occult."

And if this isn't Solomon, idk what is.

Honorable mentions i also considered: Moon in Gemini for emphasis on communication / knowledge exchange and intuition, Moon in Sagittarius for passion / creativity and a call to freedom, and a tentative Moon in Cancer for intuition and need for connections.

Guessing Solomon's Rising Sign - Aquarius

As starslikeyou says...

"Born with Aquarius on your Ascendant (or Rising), you will find a clearer sense of individuality is gained by stepping back to look at life from an objective perspective. A detached point of view allows for a logical assessment of the circumstances around you, giving you the ability to find, at times, lightning fast resolution to key issues.

This is the sign of the collective over the individual, the group over the singular. You are likely to have an especially broad view on society that allows you to mix with a great variety of people. Your awareness of group and social dynamics is paramount for your overall self-expression. Putting group endeavours first may override purely personal concerns.

There is likely to be a pronounced tendency to act in ways that will benefit the collective, rather than provide personal gain. This then is the rising sign of the true humanitarian, who gets what they need in ways that are socially responsible and considerate.

...You may also be drawn to arenas such as science, politics, communications or human resources, and have a strong social conscience. Usually open to scientific innovation, you can be an early-adopter or work with advances in technology."

This one really hit me as correct because of the whole collective over the individual part. Solomon acts as a sort of guardian for humanity, and he spares no expense to ensure the continued safety of humans. I understand that Solomon formed pacts beforehand and maybe for selfish reasons, but at least now he's put himself in the affairs of demons to make sure humans have some sort of voice. Now that he's in a position of power, he uses his leverage and makes his loyalties known. Demons probably wouldn't eye him so warily if they weren't suspicious of him turning on them or using them - and if he did so, it'd probably be for humans. Whether or not it's a side effect of his warped view on his own humanity, I definitely think he'd put himself in "harm's way" (though with him, the goalposts for that kind of shift compared to other humans) in order for the greater human good.

The sign also highlights intellect and the ability to make specific and well-thought out decisions with complicated information, as well as an impressive intuition. It describes those with this rising sign as idealistic yet practical, somewhat unorthodox or seen as eccentric (and paying the price for this perception), and a somewhat isolated and aloof front. Honestly, the further I read into the page, the more it reads like just an explanation of Solomon.

Honorable mentions i also considered: Rising Virgo for being humble yet sometimes self-effacing, critical and practical tendencies, and and urge to be useful over recognition. Also Rising Scorpio for transformation, charisma and perception, and insight.

ANWAY...I hope this is what you meant with this ask because if not I will feel SO dumb. But either way I hope you enjoyed, maybe even agreed, and I sure hope this information was correct!! And also....I hope your day was/is great too 😘

#obey me #obey me solomon #obey me swd #obey me shall we date #swd solomon #swd obey me #solomon #asked and answered #baalism

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pip-n-flinx · 3 years

Text

On Creativity

So I’ll probably be updating this a couple of times, but I spent nearly 2 hours with a friend debating the nature or definition of creativity. It’ll be difficult to get all this in text, but I’m going to do my best because I think thinking is so important my lord. I promise, if you follow along you’ll find that some beans, and some beans, is four.

Old Blackadder jokes aside, I recently participated in a survey on creativity. I was so angry about the methods and assumptions that after spending maybe 2-3 minutes on this online survey I ranted at length to one of my best friends.

The Impetus:

The TL;DR for the survey was input 10 nouns, and get a score. The score measures how ‘creative’ you were in thinking of your nouns. It’s a word association game, where the fewer associations the study could draw between the nouns, the higher your score and the more ‘creative’ a participant was judged as being. But see, here’s where I think that breaks down - ignoring the hidden algorithm and apparent data-set of connections the survey claimed when calculating this inverse relationship - I don’t think creativity has anything to do with originality.

What do you think of when you think about creativity? What is creative? What does a creative person do? According to Merriam Webster: the ability to create. Most people might lean more towards the Oxford definition which reads as : the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. Or perhaps you prefer the dictionary.com version: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. Truth be told, I think MW is the closest. And I vehemently disagree with the following two.

Allow me to explain - creativity and productivity are two sides of the same coin. You don’t have to be original or unique to be creative, and anything you do that is purposed or fashioned to aid in your survival - here extended to include any activity that you get paid for - is productive. An artist who carves out time to write a novel they’ll never publish, a musician who wants nothing more than to jam in the basement with a friend, these people are being creative whether or not their work is original. Artists who sell their art or their time or their expertise are not inherently less original, or less artistic. Indeed, they aren’t even necessarily less creative than an artist whose art never earns a penny. They do however, spend time and energy making their art specifically for a market. They have to take time to carve out space in whatever market they inhabit. So they are spending more of their art-time being productive.

Let me be clear here: this isn’t a call against productivity, or art as a means to support oneself, or a condemnation of ‘selling out.’ If you enjoy doing something, I can scarcely fault you for seeking out ways to spend more time doing it. That can be hard when you also have to secure the basic necessities of life. Furthermore, I don’t want to lionize either productivity or creativity. I think wanting to better yourself, or secure food or safety for yourself or a loved one, is a laudable goal. I think this very human urge is the seat of productivity. On the other hand, to do things for no other goal than the pleasure of doing them, the hedonism and joy of simply being, should not be demonized. Surely if were to be purely ascetic we would never know soul food, or barbeque, or sushi, or coffee or tea, beer or wine, cake or pie.... Rarely do we do anything for purely creative or purely productive ends. For as sure as bread brings nourishment it warms the heart.

So when a hipster tells you their favorite artist sold out to the record label, or a critique calls a piece gauche and derivative, they are commenting on a real change in behaviour. Usually, the reasons they give are rationalizations or worse baseless attacks on a stranger’s character. Rarely are we actually upset that our favourite band is releasing music with more time and effort and polish in it’s production or recording, for instance. It’s impossible to pin down, but if you go from being a creative artist to trying to make a career of your art, or even just trying to earn some money freelancing, you are allocating time and energy to the productive part of the process - talking to patrons and commissioners, managing social media, networking, etc. - and that time and energy both must come from somewhere. This doesn’t necessarily mean you spend less time on creative endeavours, but if you aren’t then you must be pulling the time/energy for productivity from other productive behaviours.

This is the shift that I think young artists/musicians/actors struggle most with. ‘Get a job doing what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ What a load of BS. You will absolutely be working. And some of the freedom of the creative process will have to be turned over. Transitioning from loving music to studying music in college was one of the most heart-breaking things I ever had to do. The harder my professors pushed me to be better, the more time I spent practicing things I myself didn’t discover, the less I enjoyed my music.

I chose to study Jazz, out of all the fields of music, because I had this sense that jazz improvisation was more creative than playing in an orchestra. That the originality of inventing a melody on the fly was somehow more creative than playing a written part in an orchestra. This is simply not true. They are both acts of creation, of creativity. One takes marginally more originality, and one takes marginally more cooperation and teamwork.

Originality still relies on the constraints of the environment. You can’t break the mold if you can’t recognize it. You can’t bend the rules if you don’t understand the rules. As per the infamous Shakespeare quote “nothing new under the sun.” In any act of originality we still stand on the shoulders of those before us. When I was younger, it was always tempting to conflate originality or inspiration with creativity. I think it’s important now to move beyond that. They are different words, they mean different things, they might even influence one another, but they are not the same.

Take, for example, one of my college roommates. They worked all through highschool and college, trying to help support their family after an ugly divorce and then trying to move out and make their own way in the world. The weight of being constantly productive wore on them, and while they had been an honor student in a college prep program they simply dropped out of college before two years were up. For those formative years between the ages of about 14 and 20, Jess did not have time to be creative. All their energy was spent trying to ensure they had enough money for food or rent or utilities or whatever other mundane cost can be associated with living. I was by all measures a more creative person for 6+ years. Then Jess made time to do things for themself. Cosplay, the convention circuit, nights out at the bar or club. Jess was never less original than I was. Only ever less creative, and only then by force of habit. This does mean that people in marginalized groups are going to - on average - look less creative than those of us with privilege and the advantage of even minor inherited wealth.

Remember that, the next time someone tries to tell you you’re creativity is average.

Oh and fuck that survey it was garbage and what little they disclosed of their methods made fuck-all sense I sincerely hope that was a student project and the creator(s) have a chance to learn to do better later.

#long post #rant #creativity #linguisitics #I'm being pedantic but I swear the way we use and understand language is important

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passionate-reply · 3 years

Video

youtube

Great Albums is kicking off Pride Month with a special feature on one of the weirdest and wildest queer artists of the New Wave era: the one and only Klaus Nomi! Combining glam, synth-pop, and opera, of all things, Nomi’s tragically short career is nothing short of mystifying. Check out the video or read the full transcript, below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! In this installment, I’ll be looking at the self-titled debut album of one of the most unique, incomparable, and unforgettable artists in music history: the one and only Klaus Nomi. What is it that makes Nomi so noteworthy? Perhaps the most obvious thing is his background as a classically trained opera singer. While a lot of pop vocalists have some degree of classical training, it’s rare to find one who worked so hard to bring ultra-mannered, literally operatic lead vocals into an otherwise pop context.

The other thing I should mention is that Nomi’s voice part was the “countertenor,” giving his vocals an even more unusual dimension. Countertenors are men who sing in a high range usually covered by women, and even in the operatic tradition, they weren’t necessarily all that common, particularly since the rise of opera coincided with that of the infamous castrati--male singers who were castrated to preserve their prepubescent voices. The combination of partially electronic, New Wave compositions with these bizarre, but ultimately “traditional” vocals results in something that sounds simply otherworldly.

Music: “Total Eclipse”

“Total Eclipse” is probably Nomi’s best known track, due in part to being featured in the seminal concert film Urgh! A Music War, which sought to capture the diversity of the early 80s New Wave scene. Like a lot of classic songs of this era, it tackles the subject of nuclear annihilation, albeit with a nearly depraved, gleeful tone, that makes it feel like more of a party. For the verses, Nomi adopts a sort of rhythmic speak-singing, which was much more par for the course for “New Wave” music, only to shockingly explode into a powerful operatic rendition of the refrain. It reminds me a bit of how, in musical theatre, tension builds through spoken dialogue, before characters are so emotional they feel compelled to burst into song--or, of course, how recitative blossoms into arias in opera. In the context of this particular track, it’s easy to interpret it as an embodiment of how “cold wars” can suddenly burst into flame. While “Total Eclipse” was a new composition, written specifically for Nomi by Kristian Hoffman, this album also features several covers of past hits, such as “You Don’t Own Me.”

Music: “You Don’t Own Me”

Nomi’s covers of the Midcentury pop ditties “Lightning Strikes” and “You Don’t Own Me” repeat the structure of “Total Eclipse,” showing that this signature pattern of increasing tension leading to increasingly mannered vocals is just as effective when retroactively applied to pre-existing compositions. What’s also significant about “You Don’t Own Me” is that it was originally written for a woman, Lesley Gore, and its defiant assertion of self-confidence has long been associated with women’s liberation. Being openly gay, Nomi sees fit to leave the lyric “play with other boys” just as it is, and could be interpreted to be deliberately emphasizing that last word, intentionally queering his rendition of the song. Nomi’s ability to sing in a traditionally female voice range, combined with his eccentric, gender-bending personal aesthetic, makes the interrogation of traditional concepts of gender an integral part of his art. Some of the other covers on the album are even older than the Midcentury, coming from the golden age of opera, such as “The Cold Song.”

Music: “The Cold Song”

Also known by its opening lyrics, “What power art thou?”, “The Cold Song” is a rare operatic aria that was actually designed for the countertenor voice part. It was written by the English composer William Purcell, a noted fan of countertenors who lived outside the influence of the Italian castrati, for his 1691 opera King Arthur. Well, King Arthur is actually what’s sometimes called a “semi-opera”: not all characters sing, and those who do often tend to be supernatural entities. “The Cold Song” is sung by a winter spirit called the Cold Genius, when reluctantly awakened from icy slumber by Cupid. His lines are sung so as to stutter, as he shivers from the freezing cold of his surrounds. Unlike the pop covers on the album, the arias are actually played pretty straight, almost as if they serve as evidence of Nomi’s actual chops doing traditional opera the old-fashioned way. “The Cold Song” is certainly a great fit for Nomi’s unique stage persona, which presented him as a fey or elfin non-human visitor from some mythical Otherworld, or perhaps an extraterrestrial from outer space. This theme is addressed most directly by the one track on this album composed entirely by Nomi himself: “Keys of Life.”

Music: “Keys of Life”

“Keys of Life” is the album’s opening track, and perhaps serves as Nomi’s personal introduction to the people of our realm--a sort of musical “we come in peace” message. Its lyrics seem to portray Nomi as a benevolent visitor, but one with a dire warning for mankind: we need to get our act together soon, for our actions now are of great import, as we humans “hold the keys of life.” Perhaps Nomi’s mission is to prevent climate catastrophe on Earth, or, given the context of “Total Eclipse,” a nuclear apocalypse. With its warbling synthesiser backdrop, and Nomi singing fully in the operatic style throughout, “Keys of Life” is arguably the most experimental piece to be had on the album, and putting it as the very first track certainly pulls no punches.

It is, of course, difficult to fully address the significance of Nomi’s persona without getting into his visual identity. The cover of Nomi’s self-titled debut features his most iconic outfit: an oversized plastic tuxedo, with hugely exaggerated shoulders, and a pointed hairstyle with a bit of Streamline Moderne flair. I mentioned earlier that Nomi’s work seems concerned with gender, and in that context, I’ve often interpreted this look as a sort of caricature of masculinity, parodying men’s formalwear and calling attention to Nomi’s receding hairline. There is certainly something absurd about a high-pitched, perhaps feminine-coded voice emerging from a ludicrously masculine sort of character. The use of thin, shiny, reflective plastic, and the aforementioned Midcentury feel of the hairstyle, make me also consider interpreting it as less of a parody, and more of an alien’s bad attempt at adopting the appearance of an “ordinary,” upstanding, conservative human male in attire, using space-age materials to cobble it together.

The oversized, geometric appearance of Nomi’s garb reminds me of the great Dada poet, Hugo Ball, founder of the legendary Cabaret Voltaire. Ball was the inventor of what he called “sound poetry,” and enacted lively readings of poetry that consisted of entirely nonsensical words. He did this while wearing a strange, cylindrical-shaped cardboard suit, said to restrict his movements so much that Ball needed to be ceremoniously carried off stage when he was finished reciting. Given their shared German heritage and cabaret avant-gardism, I can’t help but wonder if Ball’s striking costume was something of an influence on Nomi here.

This album is, of course, self-titled, but that, too, is an artistic choice that can be analyzed. The artist was born Klaus Sperber, but adopted the stage name “Nomi” for his creative endeavours. In the context of the track “The Nomi Song,” the name is often used punningly in comparison with the English phrase “know me.” Nomi’s choice of stage name is almost a dare or a challenge, a request for us to attempt to know and understand this seemingly inscrutable being before us. As with many other portrayals of queerness as alien or otherworldly, the messaging here seems to be that Nomi may seem different at first, but his intent is ultimately benign, should mere mortals like ourselves be kind enough to give him a chance.

Nomi’s follow-up to this debut album was 1982’s Simple Man, an album which is much more similar to its predecessor than different. It has a wider variety of contributing musicians and different instruments employed, but it’s got a similar overall feel, and mix of tracks. You’ll find more covers, like “Falling In Love Again” and even “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead,” more original compositions, like the Hoffman-penned sequel to “Total Eclipse,” entitled “After the Fall,” and even some more arias, like this stunning rendition of another work of Purcell’s. Referred to here as simply “Death,” it comes from Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, and is sung by the titular Carthaginian queen, Dido, as she prepares to commit suicide. Also called “Dido’s Lament” or “Thy hand, Belinda,” its darkly descending melody is as captivatingly ominous today as it was when it was written, over three centuries ago.

Music: “Death”

Sadly, Nomi became gravely ill at around this time, and his own untimely death was just around the corner. He died of complications of AIDS in 1983, at the age of just 44, leaving behind an unfinished opera of his own creation, Za Bakdaz, which would go unreleased until 2008. That, and a posthumous live album released in 1986, would be the only other works under Nomi’s name. As with all artists who die tragically young, we will always be left wondering what else Klaus Nomi might’ve accomplished in the ensuing decades. I find it hard to imagine a timeline in which this sound ever became particularly mainstream, but anything else Nomi came up with would have undoubtedly been fascinating.

My favourite track on Nomi’s debut is “The Twist.” Yes, this is indeed Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” another one of those Midcentury covers that Nomi was so fond of. But compared to the rest of Nomi’s covers, this one is much more of a deconstruction, perhaps even a “piss take,” featuring a sparse instrumentation, centered around a lethargic bass guitar, and the overall pace is slowed to a crawl. Add in Nomi’s piercing vocals and some nearly demonic, chittering laughter, and you’ve got a track that turns a fun, light-hearted dance craze into a surreal nightmare. As difficult as it is to be the strangest track on an album like this, I have to give that honour to “The Twist.” That’s all for today--thanks for watching!

Music: “The Twist”

#music #great albums #album review #album reviews #klaus nomi #new wave

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rays-of-fire-and-ice · 3 years

Text

Breaking the Block - Hitsuhina Artists AU

Two Weeks of Hitsuhina: Day 9 - AU / Ghost

I wasn’t originally going to make this a Hitsuhina Week submission, but this post became so long and it relates to another submission I made for the Week years ago, so I thought ‘why not?’

I recently got an ask about this AU I did for Hitsuhina Week 2017. I did have a story planned out for it years ago but never got around to writing it. I’m not normally a fan of AUs that are outside of the BLEACH universe, but I must admit this was a fun one to create. Although mostly hitsuhina, there was also a bit of renruki thrown in there too. I have a few sketches lying around and if I find them I’ll add them to here.

The story was meant to be taken as either a straight up modern day artists AU that has nothing to do with the BLEACH storyline or a reincarnation AU (ie Toshiro and Momo died as Shinigami and were reincarnated as two humans - Momo reincarnated as Hitomi and Toshiro reincarnated as Ren). The original post is more geared towards the latter, but the only differences between the two is that the reincarnation AU involves 1) them being able to sense/see ghosts, feeling as if they know each other somehow, and maybe having brief flashbacks to the past, and 2) they meet as adults as opposed to being childhood friends, which is a brief friendship in the modern day AU, and 3) have slightly different appearance (specifically the colors of their hair and eyes), while in modern day AU their appearances are basically the same as how we know them.

The short and sweet version of the story: modern day, ice sculptor!Toshiro x artist!Momo. They connect over creative endeavours and help each other through their artist blocks. On the side there’s a dash of street artist!Renji x sculptor!Rukia.

The modern day AU story (which I'm calling 'Breaking the Block') would have been something like this:

CHARACTERS

Momo: a 25 year-old university student who loves drawing, painting, and baking. She’s two years into her librarian course, and although she works hard towards it, it’s not her true passion. She would love nothing more than to focus on her art, but recognizes how competitive the art world is and has tried to think of drawing and painting as a hobby. She has recently started to experience an artist block, and is depressed that she can’t seem to shake it off. She is an only child and was raised in a loving family. Her parents run and own a tea shop, so she knows her teas very well. She also has an extensive book collection, and sometimes has trouble saving because she often buys too many books. In high school she deeply admired a student who strung her along until he spurned her, and although she’s mostly moved on, there are times where it comes back to bite her. She had a brief childhood friendship with Toshiro before he moved away, but remembers him because of his hair color.

Toshiro: a 22 year-old ice sculptor who’s experiencing a prolonged artists block. He has a very distant relationship with his father but adores his grandmother, who he’d lived with for most of his life until he moved. He’s had an affinity for ice sculpting since a young age, and his parents were quick to start his training in his teen, moving closer to the colder parts of Japan. He became known in the sculpting world at age 18, when he won a contest with his ice dragon sculpture. He’s considered a prodigy in ice sculpting. He doesn’t have many friends and believes he lacks social skills, making him come off as stoic and cold. He’s had an artist block for over a year, and has lost some of his passion for sculpting by the beginning of the story. He’d hoped a change of scenery would help get his inspiration back, but it hasn’t. He has only allowed a few to watch him while sculpting, but those who have described him as being bother ‘fierce’ and ‘in his element’. His sculptures are known for their meticulous detail and scale, and he’s known to be a perfectionist, not wanting to public to see the sculpture until it’s just how he wants it. In this regard he’s inflexible and temperamental. He had a small crush on Momo in childhood before he moved; it faded away as time went on, but he still fondly remembers their time together. Eventually, this crush comes back when he gets to know Momo again. He allows Momo to watch him work – with drawing concepts, making wax models and then sculpting, a show of his deep trust in her.

Rangiku: the self-proclaimed ‘agent’ of Toshiro. She looks out for upcoming competitions or opportunities, and knowing he isn’t good with talking to most people, will enter him into whatever she thinks he’s up for. Her family created a well-known brand of sculpting tools and machinery, but she has no interest pursuing the same path. Her parents are on good terms with Toshiro’s family, so she’s known Toshiro since he was a teen. She sees him as a younger brother, teasing him at any opportunity and supporting him during his artists block by getting him commissions. She becomes quick friends with Momo when she sees the effect she has on Toshiro, believing she could help break him out of his funk, and eventually comes to view her as a younger sister.

Nanao: Momo’s best friend since high school. She and Momo are studying the same librarian course, but it clear Nanao is more passionate about it. She works for Momo parents as a cashier in their tea shop. She doesn’t approve of Toshiro at first, finding his cold attitude off-putting, but comes around when she sees how he acts around Momo.

Shinji: the 40-something-year-old owner of a modern izakaya on the same street as Momo’s parents’ tea shop. Momo calls him ‘Captain’ because she works for him as a waitress. In his restaurant are Kensei (the head chef), Mashiro(chef), Shuhei (Kensei’s apprentice and a waiter), Hiyori(waitress and unofficial courier), and Love (bartender). He’s friends with Rose, Hachi (a doctor who runs a clinic down the road) and Lisa (former waitress, now the owner of an adult store). He opened his izakaya 10 years ago and is celebrating its anniversary when the story starts. As part of the anniversary he wants to have a decorative piece, and upon Momo’s suggestion, commissions Toshiro to do an ice sculpture. He sees Momo as a daughter figure, always helping her through life’s troubles in an often-frivolous manner, and admits her hard-working attitude has helped everyone in the izakaya.

Byakuya: a famous sand sculptor known for his stoicism and dedication. He has won multiple sculpting contests, with his most well-known entry being that of Wakame Ambassador’s palace. He mentors his sister-in-law, Rukia, who he sees as a younger sister figure. He is a widower, once married to Hisana before she passed away. Toshiro admires Byakuya for his manner and skills, and towards the end gets to speak with him. Byakuya thinks Toshiro has a promising career if he can overcome his immaturity.

Rukia: an emerging sculptor and someone Toshiro views as a friendly-rival. Rukia is caught between being a sculptor for sand or ice, feeling she must go with the former because it 's what Byakuya would want, but preferring the latter. By the story’s end, she chooses ice, and Byakuya supports her. She’s known for sculpting cartoonish characters, that critics love but the general public have no idea what to make of. She’s friendly with Toshiro but only sees him at sculpting conventions or competitions; by the story’s end the two are in talks to work together in an upcoming international ice sculpting contest. She’s met Momo through Renji and gets along well with her, coming to consider her a friend.

Renji: a street-artist and one of Momo’s old friends. He grew up rough and has known Rukia since childhood. After she was taken under Byakuya tutelage, Renji decided to make a name for himself to feel worthy of her. Although not good a sculpting, but found he loved street art. He met Momo and Izuru in high school, and has been friends with both ever since. He eventually realised Rukia didn’t need him to make a name for himself and finally got together with her. He has been zealously supportive of her sculpting endeavours and she inspires some of his street art when he gets commissioned. She encouraged him to try sculpting again and he does metal sculpting as a hobby. He’s also the captain of a futsal team and has extensive tattoos on his forehead, arms, back, and legs, which get him barred from entering certain places.

Izuru: a published and award-winning haiku poet and author. He met Momo in high school and the two briefly dated, but it didn’t work out. They still consider each other friends and meet up with Renji whenever they’re free. He’s often travelling the world and brings back the latest stories of his travels.

MAIN STORY POINTS

Toshiro and Momo go to the same art exhibition of Rose Otoribashi – Momo to see the works of one of her favorite artists, Toshiro to find inspirations for his next project. Momo bumps into Toshiro while coming out of an elevator, and after he excuses himself, she sees he dropped a fancy fountain pen. Seeing that he’d gone into the same exhibition she was, she decides to return it to him if she finds him.

While with a tour group, she sees and approaches him. The two recognize each other from childhood, but realize they've become very different how they were as children and Toshiro doesn’t say anything about his life after moving away.

Regardless, Momo is intrigued by Toshiro and starts making small talk about one of the paintings they look at. When he doesn’t emote much (being his usual stoic, cold self) she worries she’s annoying him. In reality, Toshiro can’t believe she isn’t put off by him and doesn’t know how to react.

He notices she’s carrying a sketchbook, to which she says she brought along in case she gets inspired. He eventually reveals he’s an ice sculptor.

Momo, knowing that Shinji was looking for a decoration for the upcoming 10thanniversary of his izakaya, asks Toshiro for his business details in case her boss would be interested in commissioning him for an ice sculpture. He gives her a business card.

A few days later, she’s studying with Nanano for an upcoming exam. When they take a break, Momo tells Nanao about the exhibition and Toshiro. Her description of the him puts Nanao off, who thinks he was rude to her.

Nanao’s shift with Momo’s parents’ teashop starts, and Momo has plans to meet up with Renji and Izuru. On her way out her parents give her a gift to pass on to Shinji, who is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his izakaya - where Momo works, but is currently on leave from due to her studies. She drops by and gives him the gift, and then Toshiro’s business card.

Meeting up with Renji and Izuru, she tells them what she’s been up to for the last month, including the exhibition and seeing Toshiro. The latter makes Renji do a double take; with Rukia being a sculptor, he knows how prolific Toshiro is becoming in the sculpting world and tells Momo. He happens to have a sculpting magazine on hand from Rukia and shows Momo his work; she's amazed and wishes she could see them up close.

Momo next sees Toshiro when he goes to Shinji's izakaya for the commission. She was out sketching a landscape, but didn't feel particularly inspired. After Toshiro is done with Shinji, Momo offers him a tea at the tea shop. He's accepts and the two talk about the past over tea and sweets. Toshiro notes how Momo has her sketchbook on her again, and she shows him what she was working on.

While flipping to the page, he notices another one of her older drawings. He asks to see it and she shows him: a colored drawing of a flying plum tree from a year ago. It was based on a dream she had. Compared to the landscape drawing she did today it's more abstract and has more 'character'.

Toshiro, feeling a spark of creativity, asks if he could make a sculpture based on it. Surprised, Momo wonders how he'd make the sculpture. She says she'll allow him to if she can visit his studio; she reveals that she saw a few of his works and wants to his sculpture up close. Toshiro isn't comfortable with showing her his current works, but agrees to let her visit so he can get a copy of her drawing. They arrange a date and time and exchange numbers.

Momo shows up at his studio a few days later, sketchbook in hand. He leads her up to his planning room, where he makes concepts for the sculptures. She sees the concept for Shinji's commission, jokingly saying she won't tell her boss what it looks like. Toshiro is bewildered by Shinji's request: an upside-down kanji character of the number 10 with small engravings of music notes, plates of food, and drinks. This doesn't surprise Momo, who knows Shinji's antics.

While Toshiro makes a photocopy of her drawing, Momo takes in the atmosphere of his studio; it's just a bit below average temperature, but it's quiet and looking at his concepts has her slightly inspired.

She asks Toshiro if can visit again, wanting to see how the sculpture progresses. Toshiro hesitates, admitting he doesn't allow people to see him work beyond the drawing concepts stage. Momo then admits she had been experiencing artist's block and likes the 'feel' of his studio and would like to try drawing or painting while in the room. Although it doesn't show on the outside, Toshiro softens hearing this, understanding how she feels and what he would give to have his passion and inspiration back. He allowed her to come over, and Momo, knowing she has to study for the upcoming exams, says she'll stay for no more than three hours at a time.

Momo goes to leave, but bumps into Rangiku on the way out. They introduce themselves, but Momo needs to get back home to study. Once she's gone, Rangiku races up to Toshiro and, shocked that he allowed someone into his studio, get excited that her friend let someone else in. Toshiro calms her excitement by saying they only just reunited less than a month ago and that after her sculpture is done, she'll likely stop coming to his studio.

For the next week, Momo texts Toshiro the days before she plans to come to his studio. They each work on their projects - Toshiro on concepts, Momo on whatever comes to mind for her to draw. They start to talk about the people in their lives and their lives during their teen years. Some of details Toshiro lets slip about the pressure from his family gets Momo's sympathy, and Momo hints at the person she admired spurning her. They also share issues with becoming adults, finding they have similar thoughts about transitioning from teenhood to adulthood.

During this week of visits, Rangiku visits the teashop and gets to know Momo, wanting to see who she is and if she was somehow involved in the sculpting world. Rangiku, seeing Toshiro as a younger brother and knowing he's going through a hard time, is looking out for him. She concludes Momo would be a good influence for Toshiro. She wishes to go shopping with Momo.

The day before Shinji's izakaya's 10th anniversary, Momo comes to the studio but Toshiro is in the ice room making Shinji's sculpture. He leaves a note for Momo saying she can use his concepts room, but will likely not see him until tomorrow. She doesn't spend as long in the studio, missing Toshiro company. She had brought along a pastry she baked for him and leaves it with a note. She leaves.

Toshiro comes out of the ice room and finds her gift. As he eats it and starts on a wax model of her sculpture, he realizes he missed her company.

The anniversary comes, and Shinji has invited Toshiro to attend the big celebration he's having. Toshiro goes to decline but Rangiku (having come along as she got workers from her family's company to move Toshiro's sculpture to the izakaya) says they'll both be there.

Momo shows up to the celebration with Nanao and points out to Toshiro everyone's reactions to his sculpture. He isn't happy with it, but upon seeing people's reactions - ranging from bemusement to awe - he's inwardly pleased that it seems to be well received overall. Rukia and Renji show up here as well, with Rukia wishing him luck in upcoming contest.

Rangiku has already made preparations for Toshiro to enter the contest, which is a five months away. Toshiro doesn't want to. At the end of the night, he asks Momo if she'll be swinging by his studio. She won't be able to because of exams, but says she will once they're done.

While studying with Nanao, Momo is unfocused. She worries the night before her first exam, trying to understand why she just can't concentrate. Toshiro texts her good luck.

She gets through her exams a week later, but is completely drained. She bumps into Toshiro at a book store, where he's buying sculpting magazines and books. Seeing her so drained, he asks if she's okay. Momo goes to cover up how she feels, but finds herself admitting she thought she didn't do well on her exams. They two go out to dinner, and Momo manages to coax a smile out of Toshiro for the first time. She promises to come by the studio tomorrow after she's gone shopping with Nanao.

The two continue to meet at Toshiro's studio, drawing and making concepts. Sometimes they go out to eat lunch together, and at one point Momo gathers the courage to ask Toshiro if she could draw a portrait of him. He hesitates at first, but wanting to help her break her artists block as he thinks her drawings are really good and his old crush on her is reemerging, he gives her permission. While drawing this portrait, Momo realizes she's developing feelings for him.

The day comes when Toshiro makes Momo's drawing into a sculpture. He doesn't allow her to see him work again, but when he's done, he texts her to wear thick winter clothes when she visits tomorrow (it's only the beginning of autumn). Momo gets her exam results; she just passed, much to her parents' and Nanao's surprise.

The next day he takes her into the ice room and shows her the sculpture. Momo almost cries, she can't believe how well he translated her drawing into a 3-dimensional artwork.

Toshiro admits this the first time in a while he's done a sculpture for fun. He too is suffering from artist's block. Momo is shocked by this, believing Toshiro to be constantly inspired based on the concepts he drew up. He admits to looking in sculpture magazines to see what others had done and making similar sculptures to them; he almost feels like a fraud.

Momo opens up, telling him about her results and how she has loved coming to his studio. She wants to help him find inspiration again, before the contest. Toshiro asks why she wants to help him, and Momo says "We're friends, aren't we?"

They go out on trips about town, seeking inspiration and growing closer. Toshiro meets all of Momo's friends, with all of them having varying opinions. Momo buys painting supplies and starts painting again; she gives her first paintings to Nanao and Toshiro. She learns about Toshiro's Granny, who she remembers from childhood, and his distant relationship with his father. She tells him about the person she once admired, and how they used one of her artworks to pass off as their own. She confronted this person about it, but they spurned her, no longer interested in her.

They each come to realize what is blocking them and what is blocking the other: Momo is blocked by her fear of how competitive the art world is and of her artwork being taking, and the expectations of her parents to lead an ordinary life in society; Toshiro has had to put the requests of what others want in their commissions above his own creativity, and his impatient to improve his skills, believing he should be better at sculpting at this point.

Momo helps Toshiro be more flexible in his creativity and thinking, while Toshiro encourages Momo to think about what she wants rather than what those around her want her to do with her life. Rangiku tells Momo about a local painting contest she heard about down the pipeline and encourages Momo to enter it.

Toshiro decides to enter the ice sculpture contest, with an idea to use Momo's flying tree and combine it with another idea that came to mind while they went on one of their trips. With feelings deepening for Momo, he realizes what he feels for her as he tells her his idea and she enthusiastically approves. For the first time since Rangiku and Granny, he allows someone to watch his whole working process.

Momo tells her parents of her troubles with wanting to take her artistic side more seriously, but they don't understand. This leaves her depressed when she goes to see Toshiro.

He isn't sure how to cheer her up; she always managed to cheer him up, so what can he do for her? He lends her one of his jackets and a pair of thick gloves he takes her into the ice room, where he allows her to watch him sculpt. With no plan to look to, he creates a small rose and gives it to her.

Momo almost confesses to him while watching him sculpt. She thanks him for the rose and kisses his cheek, admitting it's a shame she can't take it outside of this room with her. Toshiro sees it as a secret gift, one that only she can have.

The day comes when Toshro starts his sculpture for the contest. This inspires Momo to enter the painting contest. They work hard over the next month, with Momo sitting in on Toshiro sculpting in the ice room along with Rangiku, and Toshiro taking breaks and watching Momo paint on a large canvas. At some point during all of this, Momo confesses her feelings, and Toshiro is shocked she feels that way about him. It takes him a whole day to admit he feels the same way, and they two agree to start dating after their contests are over. They share their first kiss.

The ice sculpture contest comes, with Renji, Kira, Rukia, Rangiku, and Byakuya also attending. Toshiro, for the first time in years, is proud of what he accomplished. He comes second place, but he's happy with the result.

Momo's contest sees her not get placed but her artwork does get notices. She's content with this, because like Toshiro, she found her inspiration again.

Shinji holds a celebration. While there, Momo decides to continue her studies, but will not neglect her true passion from now on; she will get a job but she will balance it with her drawing and painting. Her parents come to an understanding, wanting to support their daughter, and her friends all support her. She and Toshiro become a couple, already planning to go on a date.

If you got to the end, thank you so much for taking the time to read all of this!! :D

#hitsuhina #hitsuhina week #toshiro hitsugaya #momo hinamori #renruki #renji abarai #rukia kuchiki #bleach #AU

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naturepointstheway · 3 years

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Two Outer Wilds Fic Authors recommendations!

There are some absolutely stellar quality fanfictions in the Outer Wilds fandom on Archive of Our Own and one or two where it’s practically criminal how few kudoses/bookmarks they have (what is coming to this world smh). I would even say I have favourite authors among them as well, and there are fics there that Kelsey Beaucham (the writer for OW) would be proud of (if I were in their shoes!) Basically, if I had to choose someone to write the writing for the next OW thing (be it DLC or otherwise), these are the amazing human beings I’d pick. And yes, I am one of those who will gush in a manner that Cassava would find “gelatinous”. I don’t care. Because I am full of love for their writing.

Author Rec: BlackBlood1872

Normally I hesitate to read fics with second person points of views, BUT they do their fics with absolute finesse and flawlessness that it doesn’t matter. In a way it fits, because when one plays Outer Wilds, they are the character. What you experience in emotions is perfectly valid to project upon the Hatchling. It’s your experience and your game and no one else’s. All three of their fics on AO3′s OW section are absolutely worth it, especially,, ESPECIALLY “The Day Riebeck Forgot” (though not in 2nd pov) which warmed and broke (and then warmed and broke at least three times over) my heart from start to finish. Let’s say Riebeck finally gets to meet a Certain Friend on a Certain Moon and it’s as amazing, exhilarating, beautiful, and heart-breaking as you’d expect. If I were stranded on, like, Mars or something, and I could only have one fic with me from each of my fave fandoms, THIS would be my pick for OW. Honestly, for me, it’s hard to top “The Day Riebeck Forgot” and...I can only gush about it because I have no more words for how amazing it is. It’s a 12/10 rating for me.

“Neither Benign nor Hostile” - based on a line from Gabbro about dying a few loops ago - is a small fic, one that can be read in the space of time it takes to roast a marshmallow over the campfire, but it smacks you in the feels (much harder than your average marshmallow) and leaves you reeling (at least it did for me.) The mark of a truly gifted and skilled writer is one who can effortlessly break a reader’s heart and tell a whole story in under 1000 words. It is a very maturely written fic, touching upon grief, loneliness, the deep need for the company of the only one other Traveler who knows about the loop, and it really changed my view on the game as well.

“like the sun and moon, they end only to begin again” - in a similar vein to the previous fic, this explores the many ways you can die in the game, and how it affects the Hatchling and their relationships with life, death, other characters, and the universe. The dialogue is absolutely top notch as in their other fics, and flows with natural ease and symphony. Honestly, if Kelsey Beaucham asked me to pick someone to take over the writing for a DLC or whatever of OW, I’d pick this author, no hesitation. There are no waffles or fluff in their dialogue nor narration, whittled to the finest instrument of storytelling it can be. You get the sense of the Hatchling having had to grow up so fast and consider the preciousness and fragility of life while aware of being trapped in a time loop, especially considering it’s literally their first day of launch again and again, experiencing death so many times in various agonising ways that it has “become routine”.

Author Rec: PartlyCloudySkies

‘monument’ - This exquisitely narrated piece with its flawless, natural, mature dialogue follows a conversation among the Nomai in the statue workshop, touching on science and art, and how they blend together. To Phlox, the creation of the statues wasn’t just a scientific endeavour, it was also an artistic, creative project that drew on a passion for the art. Daz provides an alluring contrast in their views as an engineer, where to them, it was all science and little to do with artistic endeavour, generating a deep conversation between the two characters.

“You don’t suspend art, Daz. It happens.”

The second chapter is enriched in the same finely-tuned narration and dialogue between Hornfels and Esker, touching on nostalgia for the old days, especially for when they used to all sit around the campfire and tell stories and play music. I also loved their discussion on past astronauts of the space programme, and their different personalities and approaches and views on space and spaceflight (yes, Slate, I’m looking at you). I love that Feldspar was essentially the Hermione of the group during Hornfels’ lectures, waking everyone up after they fell asleep. This is well worth a re-read (and another re-re-re-read...)

‘orbits’ - Longfic oneshots, this one clocking just shy of 10K words, are my favourite things in fandoms and I always love getting stuck in one (and also writing them, depending on the fandom (read: Life is Strange), and when one is as well written as this, it’s perfect. This follows both Hatchling and Solanum on not just their inaugural journeys to space and the Quantum Moon, respectively, but also their character development through time. We see Solanum go from a little child scared of the Eye to one who is absolutely passionate about their coming of age pilgrimage. Each are imbued with individual personalities and views on the world and people around them, as well as insatiable desire for knowledge and exploration.

#(still love ya Cassava)#Outer Wilds #fanfic recs

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barricadebops · 3 years

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Lol why do so many people love mocking people for their "cringy" poetry? I don't even write poetry myself but it's incredibly disheartening to see the way some people relentlessly go after people's passions and put them down. That's exactly how you destroy people's passions and interests, sense of confidence, willingness to share, and any future aspirations they may have had for that interest. In the creative arts, it's even more dangerous to do so; how are you going to keep the arts (painting, fiction, poetry, etc) thriving if you keep putting down the people who will make its future because you think their content is "cringy?" People wonder why so many choose not to invest themselves in the creative arts now, and a lot of the times it's these same people who mock artists that wonder why people don't want to fund the arts. When those in the arts are saying younger artists' works aren't worth the time or don't hold merit, how do you think those who hold even less an opinion about the arts is going to perceive funding an initiative they were already skeptical about? And once more, art is subjective and ever changing; it's about perception and growth. Besides, who even are you to put down—not refrain from criticizing, because that is different—but put down, artists? Last I checked, they were creating while a lot of you were sitting to the side bitching about their work. You think they're writing a topic wrong? Write your own poetry or fiction with your thoughts. Wasn't that what the creative arts was anyways? A means of self expression? Yes, it's open to criticism, but criticism is more than just "lol cringy tumblr poetry this is cursed I lost three braincells reading this." And maybe one last final thought—have you ever stopped to ponder the fact that maybe people write for fun? Not everything people create has to be for a deeper meaning. It can absolutely hold deeper meaning! But if you're making fun of people because their art isn't "meaningful" and that the poetry or writing or art or whatever of the young today isn't worth merit because it doesn't hold some deeper truth about the morality of man, you must have missed the entire point of art and human tendency. We create because we desire to express our feelings, and a lot of the damn time, those feelings are silly or fun or completely light hearted, and putting down their work is entirely a move to say that all of our endeavours have to be of a serious nature, which erases a good part of human expression in art, and you assert that art should only cater to your most "high-brow" taste. So if someone wants to write about goddamn Icarus, maybe you should just shut the fuck up and go write a poem of your own in which you convey why you don't like that or what the moral of the story of Icarus was instead of dousing the flame of creativity in someone else as you sit high and mighty on your throne and think "ha! I just saved the world from another cringy poet who was in some of their most vulnerable years where they just started sharing their work to others, and I've made them feel so embarassed about what they've created that now we won't have to bear their nonesense again! Just another day in making the creative arts an even smaller, less appealing place to seek refuge in for those who wish to find some sort of a safe space to express themselves! All in a day's work!"

#I have more thoughts I just don't know how to put them into words #and please don't get me wrong I'm not saying you can't dislike a poem or a certain kind of poetry #you can of course you can and you can criticize too #the arts is about different perceptions and interpretations #but it's the fact that some people put themselves on such high and mighty pedestals and think they're superior for--#making fun of an entire litany of people #poetry #writing #arts #creative arts

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peepspersonalperspective · 4 years

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DASH & LILY: A Dash of Warmth with the onset of Winter

4/5

Dash and Lily is the latest Netflix mini-series, that has accomplished the feat of giving me the warm fuzzies in a span of 8 episodes. Now, I’m not usually a fan of christmas themed content (except Love Actually) because they’re usually quite standardized; most of them excessively emphasizing and exploiting the miracle of Christmas and what not. I’m a romantic but even those are too much for me.

However, that’s not the case with Dash & Lily. I was intrigued by the premise but I went into it with lukewarm expectations. Perhaps because I kinda feel guilty for still gobbling up YA shit like a giddy high school girl. Nevertheless, I’m glad I gave Dash & Lily a chance.

So Lily is a homebody who immerses herself in books and believes the world is all rainbows and roses, including the magic of christmas. Dash is well, reserved, often described as “finicky”, overcoming heartbreak, with a disdain for the holiday season. I know this is pretty much the set up for most christmas movie protagonists, but stay with me here. Lily very soon realizes that reality is not as lovely as fiction, when her family disperses for their own christmas endeavours, leaving a disappointed Lily to spend her first christmas by herself. That’s when her brother and his boyfriend come up with this crazy idea of indulging her faith in romance, by orchestrating a bookstore treasure hunt with a diary. They call it “real-life tinder.” Hence, Lily hides the diary next to her favourite book at the Strand, hoping that some decent teenage boy would take the bait. Lo and behold, Dash does. And so their pen-friendship begins, as they exchange messages through the diary, without physically interacting with one another.

Now, my first thought was obviously “Stranger danger!” but when you see it, it’s all explained, and supervised. ;-)

You’d think that Lily would go onto convince Dash that Christmas is stupendo-fantabulous-fantasmagorically-magical like them good old christmas movies, but it’s really not like that. This is not a show about restoring faith in christmas. It’s more about restoring faith in oneself, learning to overcome inhibitions, taking risks, and finding comfort in who you are. Dash and Lily help each other through their series of creative dares and it’s actually fun to see them grow as they go through each and every one of them.

More than Dash though, I really have to hand it to Lily’s character. I really liked her. I saw her come out of her shell, accept herself, and own the fact that yeah she’s weird and amazing. She’s like a more rational version of Phoebe. I can’t think of anyone else who would pull off a christmas tree dress with that kinda confidence. Yet she’s not unnaturally incognizant of her surroundings. She does feel awkward at first, and you can see that, but she just decides to accept and move on. I have to mention the slam poetry monologue, which was so genuine. Kudos to the writers, editors and director Fred Savage for not making it gimicky, but really an honest confession, that doesn’t sound like a rehearsed rap, but more like an untethered flow of thoughts vocalized. My favourite quote:

“I’m tired of boys pulling our pigtails and getting called cute.....I wish I could’ve stood up to all the bullies who made me feel too weird, too different, too Asian...”

For all the merits of the show, there were a few shortcomings. The Cinderella episode made me roll my eyes hard. I’m really tired of Cinderella parallelism in movies and TV. It was great when Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray sported that, but five other spiritual sequels later and a million other references, I'm exhausted. I must say the finale was not up to the mark, either. The forceful Jonas Brothers plug in was rather unnecessary I mean I get it Nick Jonas produced and all, but nah. Also it seemed too rushed. And I’m not sure where I stand on the end scene. Cute? Or Cheesy? Well I don’t want to give any spoiler away, but the last scene kinda reminded me of a cheesy moment with one of my exes *shudders*

Personal Anecdote: So my college boyfriend had mentioned that he’d never kissed before (like Lily lol) and he’d said he’d imagined fireworks when he’d have his first kiss. When we had our first kiss, which was incidentally his first kiss ever, there was a brief awkward moment right after, so I broke the silence by saying “I’m sorry there were no fireworks” and smiled. And he’d said, “There were for me.” *Cringe* Anyway this is not relevant. Sorry.

So, Dash and Lily is a hot cup of coco on a cold winter night. I didn’t think that with such a cheesy premise you could encompass so much more about human sentiments, and within reason. It also displays the true color and diversity of New York without brandishing token representation.

Austin Abrams and Midori Francis do a great job, as do every other character in this series.Every character is like a misshapen puzzle piece that simply fits into the bigger beautiful picture. It wasn’t difficult to finish this series in one fell swoop.

Also, I loved the rendition of Auld Lang Syne at the end of the movie. Is it just me or am I hearing that song everywhere these days?!

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traumaqueenie · 3 years

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RE8 Info about Maddy

So, I have an RE8 verse for Maddy where she's one of the lords Mother Miranda controls. She's a minor lord compared to the others, but still strong due to the cadou. She's the youngest in terms of seniority, meaning she's one of the newest lords. This means she’s kind of low in the social hierarchy, compared to the other lords.

Her family, the Kaisers, have a long and proud history of arts and crafts under their belt. Their golden age was during the German renaissance where the family name was known to many. They were skilful masters of the arts, delving into anything that could turn intangible beauty into physical form. Art was their life in whatever way it presented itself to them, there was no limit.

They became famous, well known and created masterpieces for those who had the money to spend. Art was in their blood. They lived and breathed it. Their crest is a lyre with the face of Apollo on each side. A patron God of arts and crafts with the Lyre as his symbol. Through the ages the Kaiser family continued their artistic endeavours, delving into new media's and outlets as time progressed and the art world evolved and shifted.

Up and til now, where Maddy continues her work as a master artist. Her passion lies in painting and sculpting, but in general, she loves to be creative. She'd produced pieces for the Demiztresqu family. Much art seen of Mother Miranda is produced by Maddy. She's fond of her garden that's covered in statues. Upon further it's evident that the statues are decayed or dying humans, who became victims of Maddy's power.

She despises the work she'd made and only do it per order from Mother Miranda.

Her home is filled with art projects, finished and unfinished pieces, scribbles of future ideas and books with doodles and sketches. She lives alone but never feels lonely became she can communicate her emotions via her art. She's very much like Heisenberg in the sense she does not show physical signs of mutation from the cadou. Her eyes glow a pale blue, but she hides them under a wedding veil (her grandmother's) that's kept in place by a broad-brimmed hat. The wedding veil is a symbolism of Maddy's view on her own innocence in all of this, that she's merely a pawn used by Mother Miranda, and that she takes distance from the horrors she's forced to perform.

She wears gloves when touching others to keep her power at bay. So she's often seen wearing leather gloves.

General info

- Her mutation abilities are fast healing and accelerated bone growth. She can do pretty much the same thing as Kimimaro from Naruto. This also includes pulling extra bone growth from her body and such.

- She's a able to affect other's bodies with her power. This means that she can rapidly turn a person's muscle-mass into bone growth, think of her powers doing the same as Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. She's used this power to defend herself against intruders, and used it on Mother Miranda's command.

- Because of her cadou her bone density is much above normal, so why she may look like she's light weight she's heavier than expected.

- She lives in a mansion styled after the Franconia timber houses, meaning it's a half timber house. This is paying respect to her German heritage. A beautiful garden is assigned to the mansion and its filled with statues. Or so it seems. Upon closer inspections many of the statues are individuals who were victims of Maddy's ability. This means that a lot of the statues are just corpses where their joints had been fused together, making them unable to move or speak. They died slow and agonising deaths, leaving only a husk behind them.

Bone Devil

- Just like Moreau and Alcina, Maddy's got a monstrous form too which I would like to think is pretty much the same look as the Bone Devil from D&D

- She's got bright blue eyes to the point they almost look like they're glowing.

And Kimimaro's ability https://youtu.be/doXfZRsghJQ?t=592

#ooc #Resident evil 8 #Resident evil village #RE8 #resident evil au #au idea #long post

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my-headcanons-academia · 3 years

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Uraraka friends + friendship hc

• Uraraka isn't "The popular girl" but everyone knows her and she knows everyone because she's soft, comforting and friendly. Also just a people-pleasing extrovert who charges by helping others. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew villains, realises it's them mid-fight and stops everything to talk them down from whatever crime they're doing. And even scarier, the villains listen. • She flirts with her friends endlessly but in a really vanilla way since it's all in good fun and it stays within boundaries, if they flirt back she will get very blushy and her forever-pink cheeks go red, but she doesn't stop, she just ups it while her whole face is blushing until she runs out of things to say and ends up shakily blowing a kiss and winking as she's processing all the nice things said.

• After the Sports Festival she asked Bakugou to spar. She wants to get better and she sees him as a goal, if she can solidly beat him in a fight then she can definitely know she's improved.

And I can easily imagine Bakugou agreeing, he wants to get better too and he respects others wanting to get better too. What he did not expect was she was learning to fight with knives and how stubborn she really is.

Well, he knew she was stubborn at the sports festival, if she could still move, even just barely, then she can still fight. He respects that even more. Both of these bitches need to learn to not push past their limits.

They goad each other so much. Uraraka can be mean when she wants to, saying things that probably aren't true but she knows she'll get a reaction out of it. She is terrified as she says it, but she knows this is what makes it challenging and the challenge is what she's here for. But usually she just says stuff like,

"How did I lose to you before? If you fight like this you have no chance of surpassing even Mineta,"

He is the only one who has seen her swear and no one believes him. It pisses him off exponentially.

• Her love language is quality time but also gift-giving which sucks because she is very poor. She actually becomes friends with Hatsune Mei from the support class as they both like to come up with creative and tailored ways to help individual people and come up with stuff they like!

After they become friends, Mei's latest inventions always have a hint of Uraraka in them, be they pink, somehow more adventurous than anything Mei could come up with on her own, or suspiciously some glitter thrown here and there.

When Mei is building stuff, Uraraka just sits there and listens to her ramble and work, she paints little hello kitty faces on desks, machines and even screws, it's basically her trademark.

• She has multiple alarms on her phone. As well as Iida's "good morning" messages at 5AM, she has alarms for 7am. 7:01am, 7:02am, 7:03am, 7:04am, 7:05am, 7:0- curse living far away so she has to take the train, or she'd be able to sleep in longer. but she always lets Iida know she does appreciate the sentiment. • She absolutely steals from the school cafeteria. Have you seen all that fancy expensive food? She won't steal much, just what she needs and it's the extra food that no one misses. Either she makes a deal with the chef about letting her have some leftovers or the chef would have no idea she's doing it. Even if they noticed some food missing, who's really going to suspect the cute pink bubbly friend-shaped Uraraka? Anyone else who's poor. That's who.

• She's not the mum friend, she's the aunt friend who will make sure everyone is safe and sound before doing something questionably illegal but since it's questionable she can plead ignorance.

• She and Iida get on very well despite being very different. They're both very nice, stubborn, emotional and passionate people yes, but Iida has no idea what the hell she is saying when she quotes memes. She's poor and a teenager, of course she goes to the internet for serotonin

"Uraraka I do not recall locating the barbeque condiment on your chest, what do you mean?"

"who is 'Deez' do I know them? You talk a lot about their nut collection, which is it almonds? peanut?"

"URARAKA THROWING ME THE PRINTER WHEN I ASKED FOR MY LOCKER KEYS IS RECKLESS AND DANGEROUS."

Poor boy went out "on the town" with her and they stopped at Mcdonalds, he looked completely out of place he had no idea what was happening, he just kept looking to Uraraka for guidance why there was a plastic figurine of a character from a recent movie among his food items. • She snorts when she laughs and she used to be really embarrassed by it but one day Mina and Tsuyu heard it while they were hanging out in her room and they found it so adorable they kept making her laugh to try to hear it again. She snorts more now, everyone is happy with this development.

• She has made plans before to mug Iida. In a friendly way of course. She would mug Momo but Momo loves gift giving and gives Uraraka pretty much anything she asks for anyways Momo is called "Sugar-Mommy in Uraraka's contacts. She was planning to mug Shouto before he joined the dekusquad and she found out he has a piece of shit dad and instead steals Enji's credit card.

She pays her bills with Endeavours money.

She also fucks around with it, like orders an entire truckload of All Might merch to be delivered to Endeavour, she changes every password she can, hires people to "re-decorate" Endeavours room to an All-Might-Stans-Fever-Dream and Endeavour was about to hound Shouto about it until he realises he's been inside nearby all day and would never have had a chance to order any of this.

Any money she doesn't spend on her family or herself, she spends on her friends.

• She probably has multiple part-time jobs. She helps her dad at his workplace, floating construction beams when the machines break down and helping where she can. But she doesn't get paid for that.

She does work at a small shop (Lidl is you're British, 7/11 if you're American) by the side of a gas station and she remembers all the employees birthdays and makes them little glittery cards.

• Eventually she works with Tsuyu at a cafe, they actually learn great communication skills there. They make secret signals that mean a certain table needs attention, "this guy is an angry customer, be careful" or someone needs a refill. All of them are of course subtle and it makes them feel like spies with secret missions it's great. These signals carry over into their training too. Everyone, even Aizawa at one point thought they somehow had a telepathic link, that let them know who was behind them or what was a threat the other couldn't have known about, where to go, how quick to go there it was madness.

They also cover each other's shifts without question when they know the other needs the day off. :3

• She makes a point to be soft, it's friendly and approachable, it helps people trust her. Don't get her wrong, she loves cute things, it makes her feel nice and safe, it's familiar and she wants to replicate that feeling, she wants to be able to walk into a room and have people smile because their hearts grow warm. She wants to laugh and giggle and joke with people, she wants to be a walking safe-space people can go to for comfort. She wants to be the hero you go to not only when you're in danger, but when you just need some comfort. She's a rare hero. She's a good one too.

• And when someone makes fun of her for being soft, she can't help but laugh. She apologises for laughing but she finds their ignorance so funny. It takes a lot to be soft and kind, it takes a special kind of person. In this world? In this world villains are a threat to everyone, heroes get corrupt, families are forced out of homes, quirk injustice and discrimination runs rampant, the kids who are too brave, dumb, stupid or desperate for their own good become child-soldiers/heroes, people, good people who try to provide for others the only way they know how, the only way left since legal society won't help them and then get called a villain for it. She's seen it. The fights, the homes destroyed, the families ignored and hushed, the horrible, horrible world. But she won't let that change her.

The world is harsh and cold, that doesn't mean she has to be. She'll be soft in spite of the world, no matter how hard the laws push to divide and destroy and make you rely on them and only them, Uraraka knows the darkness there is in society, in humanity. but more than that she knows she is too stubborn to let that win.

So she enjoys her pink fluffy pillows, enjoys the makeup that she can afford, the sparkly dresses, the cute hairpieces, the hello kitty stationary, her pink rounded hero costume, she'll be friendly to everyone, she'll be nice and kind and thoughtful to everyone, she wants to make the world a safer but also happier place to live in.

Plus when they mistake her kindness for naivety, the best catharsis she gets is when she knocks that smug look off peoples faces for underestimating her..

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srbachchan · 4 years

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DAY 4414(i)

Jalsa, Mumbai Apr 7/8, 2020 Tue/Wed 8:14 AM

Alright .. tempers cooled a bit though not entirely .. the Tumblr format has again changed and it is off putting .. but what .. an alternative is not available , so one endures ..

Please find below the social media links for the film, you can retweet this link on twitter on Facebook and can share this link, however since the duration is longer you will have to upload the video natively on IGTV on Instagram. Attached is a google drive link of the film from where you can download the video and then upload it on IGTV on Instagram.

Twitter- https://twitter.com/SonyTV/status/1247187306764619779 FB- https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=983267872088458

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-pQ_7yFW7n/?igshid=i8f5n3jua5au

Google drive link with mp4 for IGTV

SO ... these be the links that were given to me by Sony PR and when displayed at various platforms gave the enthusiasm that was written about in the previous .. yes .. appreciation came in waves upon waves .. known and unknown alike .. connected and unconnected .. all .. from and without too .. pro and anti .. those in support and those in non support .. they that cooperated , and they that distanced themselves from support and the coop .. we are all mere beings .. the universe fills itself with so many .. many of difference and different kind .. when the grains on each leaf .. when the microscopic elements .. of virus shape size and disposition exist in natures creation .. what are humans .. ?

Blessed be all .. they all contributed .. contributed in applause and in reject .. reject is most important .. gives fight a chance .. without it fight would be an imbecile .. unarmed, weak and without prepare .. unpreparedness is a curse .. prepare .. keep ready for use .. it comes in use , anytime without warning .. so eń gardè .. or whatever the correct French is .. French , yes the beauty of its rendition .. the sweetest in the world .. next valued be Bengali , the tongue .. the delicacy of its existence, its presence in the many wondrous elements ..

BUT .. I stray ..

Yes the completion of the ‘film’ was a task .. a gentle idea shared by Prasoon Pandey, Director of Ad., films and with whom I had worked several times .. with him and his elder Piyush Pandey, head of that Ad., conglomerate O&M .. and when it came across to me , the thought of its extension in the format seen finally gave incentive to bring in greater value to it .. so I thought, I worked , I reacted, I shared , I got approval and then went to each of those stratospheric stars and celebrities with the idea .. calling them several times .. connecting them all .. all over the World all over the places they lived .. and then their agree .. the designing of the Demo by Prasoon .. the passing it on to the respective and in explanation , each one , each location .. convincing them .. and then the wait for their portion to arrive and putting it together .. the creatives all being followed up by the team .. each little protocol to be put in place .. diplomatically .. politically .. egoistically .. to be CORRECT and accepted .. yes .. all .. all done in this wonder world of internet wires and the mobility of the hand phone .. the modern day invention par excellence .. oh , done and covered with suitable time difference delays .. some within the time zone some not .. some really really far away .. but their love and support impeccable ..

That done the negotiate with what to be done with it .. in times of trial it does not bode well to be seen in frivolous acts .. so consider who we are , how we are , and what we are .. and who they that make us who we are .. the workers and their plight in this locked out premise .. without a daily earning , without their normal existence , without the essentials ..

We must give back to them .. so .. worked on sponsors TV outlets , personal contribution and arrived successfully .. TV shall be Sony .. sponsor shall be Kalyan Jewellers .. and the distribution shall be pan India , pan workers of all the Industries of film in the nation .. NSEW .. and which is why NSEW in the representation of the artists .. Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannad, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi .. pan India in representation .. pan India in language .. pan India in the work force .. just a pan India film .. a film titled ‘FAMILY’ .. for we are one and we are one family .. this film Industry of the country .. !!

NOW .. then .. as the tech readiness readies itself .. the promotion ..

Promotion promotion .. back to the net and the con calls with concerned and with the GANG GANG .. gang gang .. the title given by the girls in house .. Navya Naveli and Shweta .. who find it amusing our confabulations on these con calls, hence an amusing title .. its accepted .. SO .. yes promo .. the written from the obvious sources ‘reeks of garlic from every pore’ .. it stinks .. and then a suggestion ans endeavour to do it by the self .. done and agreed upon after con calls and net issues with the masters .. no disrespect .. but yaa , it not happening people .. ok .. so do it yourself , fine .. sitting and designing it in the mind and WHAM ! .. got it .. now to shoot it in these conditions .. so Abhishek come on assist me with the camera work .. out in the back yard .. a quick shoot .. and a quick forwarding in sense first to all the concerned and then approval of it to be given final tech touches .. done ..

So then put it out .. time running ot .. get the tech right .. net mobile and every other communication in use .. and done and out on the required platforms ..

BUT .. within all this, setting up the personal shoot of the film continues with able help again from the children .. re takes and re shoots .. and delivered to the tech team .. they work .. the ideas continue to improve or adjust or remove .. some have come in time others delayed , time running out again the 9Pm slot has been advertised ..

FINALLY .. on air ..

BUT .. and there are so many buts .. other works continue .. domestic pre cautionary checks on sanitation and sanitising .. staff reduced , staff homed within, staff looked after in excess ..

.. and also the monitoring of the personal feeding that continues in various parts of the city .. 2000 packets of food each day .. lunch and dinner .. for the poor and needy .. and the bigger 3000 bags of essentials delivered to take care of 3000 families provisions for a month .. average of 4 per family works to the reach of approx 14,000 ..

Working then for the FAMILY out reach and devising methodology of the distribution to the mentioned workers .. the data access with the Head of the Employees Nation wide Association .. retailer sought and fixed .. gift coupons and cash to be given out to the approx 100,000 of them, with the sponsor and personal fund collected .. to last them for month ..

THEN .. back to the desk .. there is urgent need from the Capital on a campaign design and completion within urgent needs .. lat night getting that done ..

AND .. also in simultaneous work on the poem of hope from Babu ji .. rendering it here .. con calls with recordist there .. music directors in another there .. they be two in respective homes and no studio set ups .. but the ingenious working force and minds successful .. it is after 72 attempts that it looks like going on platforms .. perhaps to day .. perhaps .. apprehensive for that too .. how what where and when .. ahhhh .. just let it be say the girls in the house .. the main girl stuck away from home in Delhi .. attending Parliament when the shut happened .. so she remain where she is .. and Face Time WhatsApp .. ZINDABAD !!

OH dear forgot .. another request for the voice rendition on the conditions we are in .. at it till 4 am .. and now from 6 .. rendered in rough waiting approval .. damn the files have not gone through .. WeTransfer warns .. damnnn ..

Ok shall try resize and getting the email ID correct .. .. ahhahahahhhgggrr ..

this post is sounding like a brain damaged ‘haemoglobin of the country of the system’ devoured and entirely consumed by the chemical ChSo2 .. sorry that be a College insensitive linguaexpletiva .. !!!! Pardoń .. is the French right .. eh .. who cares ..

BUT .. I tell you .. in all this mesmerising work schedule .. the imagery of Babuji his words his thoughts his books his voice keep me company in excess .. they bring the water in the eyes ..

I must leave now .. cannot allow it to drip on the post pages ..

Amitabh Bachchan

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leviathan-dee · 3 years

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hi Dee!!! hopefully you're well and if not here's some love and good vibes to help!!!

i have a fun HC request for you: Nico and V being bros in a jazz club, with her introducing him to the world of clubbing!!!

Ahh!! CJ!! Thank you so much for the request :D I hope these bullet points paint the image you were looking for ❤️

Nico and V Attending a Jazz Club

⚬ Nico was always overly fond of Jazz clubs, being able to flaunt her nonchalant personality and kick back with a tumbler of scotch, all the while enjoying the sway of a saxophone player's melodies. Even to an accomplished gunsmith, the sound of buzzing saws and melding metal can get tiresome.

⚬ She loves anything that could act as background noise for her craftsmanship. If it fuels her creativity, then Nico CAN and WILL enthusiastically bop her head to it. And that goes especially for Jazz. The smoother the better.

⚬ This is when she noted how the newfound member of the DMC crew seemed to enjoy instrumental music just as much as she did, V humming to the sound of the jukebox in her Vengabus van.

⚬ V was practically dragged into the club by the collar as soon as he agreed to go with the gunsmith, Nico's eager nature to share her place of unwinding overtaking any composure (or lack thereof) she once held.

⚬ At first V was nervous. His dislike for crowds and loud noise was apparent when he stepped through the door of the Jazz Club.

⚬ However, with each tentative step towards Nico's chosen table and each less than gentle pat on his shoulder from the gunsmith, his anxiety waned to a mere nag in the back of his mind.

⚬ V was in love with the lowlight amber glow of the musical expanse. The laughter from the patrons, as well as the sounds of clinking glasses mingling with the harmonies of acoustics warmed his very soul.

⚬ V would definitely attempt to make conversation with people who seem beyond chilled out on the opposing tables. The atmosphere in the club is his very own version of liquid courage.

⚬ Although Nico is a tumultuous member of the DMC crew, the clubbing atmosphere seemed to quell that storm.

⚬ For V however, it had an opposite effect. His usually placid, content nature was all but gone as soon as a more lively band began their tune. If the beats pick up, so will V lift his posterior and shake it to those smooth melodies.

⚬ You can bet your ass Nico filmed the entire thing. How could she pass up the opportunity of showing Nero his dad's human side doing the boogie, following up with a sweet pirouette? Not to mention that the video spectacle would act as evidence that Vergil is more similar to Dante than he'd ever admit.

⚬ In the end, Nico tossed her whiskey aside, meaning to accompany her newfound friend on his dancing endeavours.

⚬ This became a common tradition, the two joining up on a tranquil evening, only to end their outing with complex moves to wow the crowd (including the band, which then added their own improvisations, deviating from the music sheets to accompany V and Nico).

#devil may cry #DMC #nicoletta goldstein #v dmc #nico #request #leviathan-writes

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baileyjeansthoughtdumpster · 3 years

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Perfectionism

I am not sure how one becomes a perfectionist. Although, I do know that the notion of everything just not being quite good enough has plagued my creative endeavours and my outlook on life. Relatable? Yeah, thought so.

Perfectionist thinking breeds procrastination, halts productivity and provokes feelings of inadequacy. Before I started this blog, I thought I had to become an expert writer and do all these courses but really, I just had to write more. Even though perfectionism has its place and can be beneficial, the restrictive nature is overpowering.

I often used to look at my life and compare it to unrealistic representations that have been brainwashed into my psyche through social media, cinema, the music industry and my life experiences. My reality would always fall short to my expectations. For example, my ideas of what a relationship should be when I was a teenager have drastically changed, thank God. If I still thought that a good relationship consisted of someone who was completely infatuated with me and had to be with me all the time or they’d die, I’d be alone forever. Thankfully, I have figured out enough about two humans in love, coexisting, to be in a healthy partnership, but sometimes my perfectionist thoughts arise and that poisonous ‘grass is greener’ lens comes over me.

I am currently working on letting go of this way of interpreting reality and being more present. Remembering the quote ‘it is what it is,’ paired with my faith in God’s plan has reduced my pursuit for perfection down to little niggly complaints that I have to laugh off and shoo away.

Everything is exactly as it should be.

#perfectionist #essaysforenlightenment

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blindrapture · 3 years

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a union-mandated break post

(okay, let’s see if I can type this all over again after losing the post. gotta remember how it all went.)

Hey there, the few mutuals who Like all of my posts, the lurkers who occasionally make their presence known, the lurkers who I also hope are there, and all you folks who come across this post naturally before scrolling on (that’s fine too, please have a nice day! remember to take a deep breath and unclench!). I wanted to make a post giving a casual update.

Things have been going. You know how it is. Time proceeds onwards at a pace that is a crawl to some and fleeting to others, depending on relative perspective. The average of all these observations may be Objective Truth, a hazy mythical and abstract prospect which to this day no living human has ever known (due to the nature of perspective). We still try to know it for some reason, an endeavour which may be “a good thing” or “a condemnation of our species,” but that’s relative too. See above. Still, it is possible to take an approximation of what we figure this average to be and find ourselves (mis)balanced on a knife-edge in between all perspectives. This narrow path, the knife-edge between fast and slow, between good and bad, between ecstasy and despair, seems precarious at times, yet at other times is like a garden, wide and spacious enough to sit awhile. Our perspectives cover this garden from us with the shrubbery of Can’ts and Shouldn’ts, and the way to the garden is fraught with the misty cloud of Look-Like. And yet, ultimately, these shrubs and mists are but prismatic scenery colouring our time on this Earth, a perspective which is easy to see from within the garden. The Earth is brown and grey and immortal, though wearing an impermanent coat of blue and green. One day, we will slip out of our perspectives and return to the Earth, join her mounding’s mass, and that will be death.

So that’s the weather. Sometimes cold, sometimes mild, sometimes wet, sometimes dry, sometimes bothersome and sometimes the only backdrop I could ever want. I’ve been up to the usual, cycling between interests like a bat between haunts.

- The other day I got around to playing Smile For Me, an experience which took me about three hours to more-or-less complete 100%. Really cute game, I fell in love with all the characters, and the budding horror elements made me excited to see where it’d go.

- Currently I’m playing A Monster’s Expedition Through Puzzling Exhibitions, a game often cited in the same breath as Baba Is You and Stephen’s Sausage Roll. I think those two games are puzzle masterpieces, and A Monster’s Expedition is hitting me in the right spot. It frequently fills me with awe, which is impressive considering the game is just a long series of oblong block-pushing puzzles. It has scope, though, and it has the guts to hide that scope from you until you’re able to discover it for yourself. I’ve played for about 10 hours so far, beaten over 200 islands, and yet I feel I’m only getting further away from the end goal. Hard to describe. It’s a good game.

- When I’m done with that game, next I’ll be checking out Spelunky 2. I’ve wanted to try the original for a long time but never got around to it; I picked up the sequel. I know very little about the games (with a rough idea of what gameplay is like), and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can. I like games that rely on discovery.

- Book-wise, I’m, y’know, reading Finnegans Wake as I fall asleep, occasionally inching through other books too, but my main reading focus at the moment is The Familiar. I went and picked up a new copy of Volume 5, and I found the Volume 3 I had kinda lost for a while, so now I have the full Season 1 again. And it’s been long enough since I read any of them that it’s finally time to reread them. As a unit this time. I am... so happy to be in their headspace. I’m currently in the second act of Volume 1, taking in a lot more details this time (and I do still remember a sense of where the whole plot goes), really cherishing the commitment to physicality and aesthetic. There’s not many authors out there like Danielewski. House of Leaves kickstarted my book obsession, y’know. And The Familiar is about as grand as a project can be. It’s supposed to be 27 volumes, each one 900 pages long, and the design of these books is goddamn sublime. The publisher only let him do the first 5 volumes, which is sad, but luckily those 5 volumes make up a “Season,” so they’re still a whole thing, a complete story arc for each of the nine protagonists, and plenty of secrets and details that give a good sense of the true scope. And did I mention the series is fucking scary? Profoundly so, each new volume weaving you deeper into its conspiratorial web of eldritch coincidences and patterns. The story is full of cats, immortal cats, God-cats. There’s a scientist who keeps a freaky magic orb and is known as Wizard. There’s an Armenian taxi driver who’s one of my favourite characters. And you can probably get all the volumes Used for fairly cheap on Amazon now. ........please, somebody join me in loving this series.

- Creative-wise, I’m working on music as always, putting notes next to each other until I get a result I can do something with. There is one piece that’s definitely done, a collaboration between Lindsay and I, but it’s going into Nine Is God so you won’t hear it just yet. Speaking of, that’s coming along. I haven’t even started making any codes or cool connections yet; I want to finish the... Core of this update first. Let’s be deceptive and call it the Main Blog. I have proven to myself that I definitely can do this; I keep stumbling on new mechanisms I can add, and I have a pretty vivid idea of what the whole thing will look like. It’s gonna be maybe a decent size for a Blog, all told, but it’s the form of the thing that mandates a lot of care. Luckily I have made Viceking’s Graab, so this isn’t the first time I’ve done something this mechanically ambitious. ...look, just. Of course I’m excited to Actually Talk about this thing, but like with the Graab, its nature requires me to keep it secret until players finally discover it for themselves. I like making that kind of thing, I want the sense of discovery, of climbing up a hill only to reach the summit and see an even bigger mountain looming over you that you hadn’t realized was there. Like Frog Fractions, or its sequel, even if you know there will be more than meets the eye you still get surprised and filled with delight. This concept fits neatly into an ARG format.

- Oh, also, I’m super excited for the Braid remake. It’s gonna have a comically thorough amount of developer commentary, and that’s all I want from this world. It’s even coming to Switch!

Media can be used as a tool to assist with the experience of life, and that is the way I want to approach things. I have spent time adapting myself to feel comfortable in these boring aesthetics (of understated puzzle games, thoughtful pretty books, blogs as art) because this means I am less susceptible to getting burned out during contemplation and self-examination. It may seem like a matter of taste, but taste is relative too; it’s not hard-wired, it can be adjusted, it does adjust all the time under the hood. ...I don’t know where to go with this one, other than that I should be careful not to condescend. I am not above anyone, I am confused too. I just.. like confusion and mazes, and I try to speak these aesthetics in an approximation of how I see others talk about theirs.

Right. I think that’s the bulk of it, that’s what I wanted to say today. I hope you are holding on, reader. It’s a wild and lonely world out there, and it’s our world; it’s yours just as much as it’s anyone else’s. You are important to it.

I leave you, mysteriously, with an old Genesis song. It’s called “Can-Utility and the Coastliners,” which is a silly way of saying it’s a song about the myth of King Canute. Sick of flatterers claiming he was equal to God, he went to the sea shore and said “If I truly am equal to God, then let the waves halt at my feet!” They didn’t. An astute demonstration, but it just prompted his flatterers to praise his ingenuity. “But he forced a smile, even though his hopes lay dashed where offerings fell.” I’m not really sure how the story ends. But it’s a wonderful song, starts off very folks-y but quickly takes a left turn down Mystery and Beauty. And it’s freaking Genesis.

See ya.

#rambles #at least they're not tag rambles this time #can't believe i managed to remember that whole ramble about relativity and objectivity and the garden in the middle #though amusingly i guess i really just remembered........ *an approximation* of it. :3

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