#it's great made. there's so much variety in it yet all songs have the same pmore vibe

[brltpop]

Lads, gents and others.... i get it. I understand the -very valid- resentment that paramore's self titled album holds, but i think you're taking it waaaay too far by saying it's the worst paramore album made so far.

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

In celebration of Animaniacs' 30th Anniversary...

I'm gonna list some of my favourite segments/episodes from the franchise and explain why they're my favourites! The segments/episodes will be listed in order of their debut in their respective series.

I'll start with my favourite episodes from the original Animaniacs:

Taming of the Screwy

I see this episode as the turning point of Warners' and Scratchy's relationship. Before they'd drive him crazy and he'd want nothing to do with them, but because of his job he's forced to deal with them. This episode was the start of Scratchansniff realizing that the Warners' aren't all bad, which eventually leads to them to getting along a bit better later on. The Warners still mess with Scratchy a lot because, as they say in this episode, it's their way of showing affection, but he genuinely tries to tolerate them (key word being "try"), and they even help him a bit ("La La Law"), until eventually he starts acting somewhat like a guardian to them and he's even willingly choosing to hang out with them (like in "I'm Mad", "Fake", "The Party", etc).

This episode also puts the Warners' characters in a new perspective, being the first that tries to get the audience to genuinely sympathize with them. We knew about them being locked in the water tower, but that wasn't taken too seriously and (because of how "Newsreel of the Stars" presented their origin) you could argue the studio's treatment of the Warners was just a reaction to the Warners' antics. Here the Warners kept their end of the deal and were well behaved, yet were betrayed anyway. They had gone up against a "special friend" before this episode, but this episode was pretty much the first to firmly establish that the Warners are capable of behaving if treated fairly (although they'd rather mess about, not out of maliciousness, but because they just wanna have fun), but if not they're not afraid to fight back and wreak havoc.

A big reason why I like the Warners so much is that they seem like simple characters on the surface, but there is nuance to how they act, and this episode is a good example of that ("The Sound of Warners" also being a good example). It would've been easy to write the Warners as one-dimensional characters who all act the same, are completely incapable and/or unwilling to behave and do nothing but make anyone and everyone's lives worse for no reason, especially since it's a variety show, but they didn't and I appreciate that. I also think the way they're drawn in this episode is adorable! They don't look how they usually do when animated by TMS, but I still like it.

The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special

This episode gives a more detailed retelling of the Warners' origin story. This time it is presented as a "live" TV special, which is a unique premise for this show that helps this episode stand out. I like how "Newsreel of the Stars" tries to make the studio look as good and reasonable as possible, only for that to be flipped on its head in this episode which makes it clear that really the problem was that Memlo and Plotz were the unreasonable ones. The Warners' backstory itself expertly manages to be both comedic yet sad at the same time in a way that doesn't feel tonally inconsistent at all. I still find it hilarious that they took an actual Looney Tunes character and made them into a twist villain just because they were unpopular in real life (let it be known that Animaniacs did that joke before the 2002 Scooby Doo movie did). Combine all that with some fun cameos and beautiful TMS animation, and you've got one of the show's best episodes.

Episode 92

Yup-the whole episode. This episodes is a great summary of Animaniacs' strengths, because each segment is a perfect example of an aspect (or multiple) of Animaniacs that the show does expertly well. "It" has some of the best animation in the whole show, "Dot-The Macadamia Nut" is one of the best parody songs in the show, and "Bully for Skippy" provides some of the best meta humour, political satire, slapstick, and irreverent humour in the show. It's one of my favourite Slappy segments, and although I think the message isn't supposed to be taken seriously...I legitimately think it's a good moral? After seeing other shows/movies/etc (particularly since the 2010's) have their protagonists easily talk down and redeem multiple incredibly vile villains, or sometimes just outright let the villain get away for the sake of keeping them passive/non-violent, this episode's conclusion was incredibly satisfying.

Children's media will often tell kids to just ignore bullies or to constantly try to "get through to them" no matter what, because if they don't that makes them "just as bad" and I'm sorry but that's not something we should be teaching kids, and I'd argue they're not just bad but straight up dangerous messages. Ignoring bullies doesn't work most of the time, it just makes them try harder to get your attention, which often means acting more aggressive and malicious. I do think teaching kids to try and make peace with people non-violently is very important, but if the bully keeps harassing them, at some point you have to draw the line and stand up for yourself. Sometimes you have to yell. Sometimes you have to fight. It sucks but that's life...so anyway, back to Animaniacs. Duke seemingly does learn his lesson in the end, because he's seen helping Slappy, but only after getting his butt kicked, and it's not like him and Skippy are BFFs or anything.

I think this is one of the most well-balanced non-singular story episode of the show, quality wise that is. Most Animaniacs episodes with multiple segments have at least one that is mediocre or straight up bad in comparison to the other(s), but that's not the case here. They're all great.

Honourable Mentions: The Sound of Warners, La La Law, Meatballs or Consequences, A Christmas Plotz, Super Strong Warner Siblings, Morning Malaise, Season 3's Finale (Episode 82), Win Big, Puppet Rulers, Bubba Bo Bob Brain, Yes, Always, Bumbie's Mom, ...And Justice for Slappy, One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock, Critical Condition, Woodstock Slappy, When Rita Met Runt, Smitten With Kittens, Phranken-Runt

Best Songs: Yakko's World, Wakko's America, I'm Cute, Yakko's Universe, The Ballad of Magellan, Variety Speak, I'm Nobody's Mama, Let's Try for Two, Humans Ain't What They Seem to Be, A Quake! A Quake!, The Senses Song, There's Only One of You

Now on to Pinky and the Brain:

A Pinky and the Brain Christmas

Yeah, yeah. I'm just gonna get this one out of the way now. You love it, I love it, and we all know why...but I'll explain anyway!

For one, this is the only episode TMS animated for the spin off, and it looks gorgeous. The writing's as good as ever. I'd like to point out the Donner Party joke for being clever; but Bill Clinton being unable to open the window is the joke that gets me to chuckle when I think about it. Although let's be honest, people mostly like this episode because of the ending. I get it though, it's touching! It shows just how much Pinky loves Brain and how selfless he can be, dedicating what was supposed to be his Christmas list to Brain. Then the smashing, the keychain, the credits, blah blah blah we know how it goes.

I mean if you're reading this then chances are I don't need to convince you; it's the show's most well-known episode, and it's really good.

Welcome to the Jungle

This episodes flipped Pinky and Brain's dynamic on it's head. Brain was out of his element, meanwhile Pinky took charge. This is the main reason it's one of the most memorable episodes of the show, although another is that Snowball makes his grand return in this episode, and is even more antagonistic this time by trying to get Pinky and the Brain killed, whereas last time he was really only trying to one-up Brain. I find it interesting that Brain’s more sympathetic towards Snowball this time around, insisting that he needs help and attempting to save his life. Perhaps he always missed Snowball as a friend (and still cares about him deep down), perhaps being so out of his element softened him, maybe both? And when Brain defeated Snowball towards the end, after what he went through in the episode that genuinely felt triumphant and deserved.

This episode really shows off how Pinky and the Brain is distinct from Animaniacs. The Warners don't take serious situations seriously, they're always on top of things and are ultimately winners. Pinky and the Brain are kind of the inverse; mice wanting to take over the world is ridiculous, but they take it completely seriously, and fail every time. Though it is exactly that that allows the protagonists to be vulnerable and struggle more often, hence allowing the characters and their stories to often times be slightly less zany and a bit more sincere.

Star Warners

This episode was just fun, what more can I say? It was nice to see many of the Animaniacs characters again, especially the Warners and Slappy, but we even got to see the more obscure characters like Pip, Zalgar, the aliens from “Space-Probed”, Sid the Squid and Beanie the Braindead Bison. Some Looney Tunes characters and Freakazoid appear too. I also like a lot of the "castings": in particular Yakko as Han, Wakko as Luke and Dot as Leia are perfect choices.

There's more to this episode than cameos though, like the interactions between characters who pretty much never interact. Dot and Brain, Wakko and Mindy, etc. My absolute favourite aspect of this episode is that the Warners, Pinky, Brain and Slappy all got to star alongside each other throughout the episode! The Warners have interacted with Slappy a few times, they've also interacted with Pinky and the Brain too, as has Slappy (very briefly in "Spell-Bound"), but they've never all interacted as a group for an extended period of time. I haven't kept it a secret they're my favourite Animaniacs characters (and also have pretty much the only segments I truly care about aside from maybe also Rita and Runt), so to see them interact as a group was great!

Also, the final credits gag was “Nympholepsy - To have a desire for an unattainable idea”. That's a perfect Brain’s Word to end the show on, and this episode was a pretty good way to end the show. Sure, something with higher stakes that takes place in the main setting of PatB (as in an episode where Pinky and the Brain live in Acme Labs in the modern day) like the "Brainwashed" trilogy would've made for a good finale too, but honestly having the final episode of the show essentially be a crossover between it and its parent series is cute. In fact it's probably...eh screw it, it IS the best Animaniacs-related series finale there is.

Honourable Mentions: TV or not TV, Snowball, The Pink Candidate, Pinky and the Brain…and Larry, This Old Mouse, A Pinky and the Brain Halloween, You’ll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again, The Family That Poits Together, Narfs Together

Best Songs: Brainstem, Cheese Roll Call, Just Say Narf!, A Meticulous Analysis of History

And now, because I haven't seen "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain" and don't plan to, the Animaniacs reboot:

Fear and Laughter in Burbank

I love that the Warners' Halloween costumes were the Marx brothers, it's a cute reference to the fact that Yakko and Wakko were partially inspired by Groucho and Harpo respectfully. That and I really like segments where the Warners torment some evil supernatural being. The fact that these literal children can not only hold their own against but outright best beings like a soul-sucking clown, the Devil or even Death himself is both hilarious and admirable. They're not just pests, they're powerful pests.

It's pretty interesting that Yakko is the only one of the siblings who falls victim to Nickelwise, before being narrowly saved by Dot. His encounter with Nickelwise reveals a few things about him: that he hates being alone, fears losing his voice, and is at least a little insecure about his comedic skills whilst seeking validation via comedy. It also implies that despite the fact that he acts as the most mature, experienced and the de facto leader, he may be the most anxious and have the most self-worth issues of the three. This would make sense since he's the eldest, and therefore presumably has a lot more worries on his mind than Wakko and Dot. I do like this segment overall, but this moment is what made it one of my favourites. It provides depth to Yakko's character like never before, which I appreciate given that he's my favourite.

Rome Sweet Rome

This segment had a lot of good gags, solid satire, a fun song, and each Warner shows off their skillset pretty well: Yakko using his words and not his fists in a fight, Dot weaponizes cuteness to blindside an opponent, Wakko has an endless appetite and is really destructive. Titmouse animated this one so of course the animation was great. Pretty much everything I like about the Warners' segments is here and in top form. Not much more to say other than that, it's just...really good!

The Island of Dr. Warneau

Titmouse animated so once again there's great animation (Jurgen's lab was wonderfully creepy), and I really liked how the Warners were written in this one. I like that Yakko has a picture of Scratchy in his wallet (I'll take all the "Scratchansniff is their dad" crumbs that I can get), the clones are adorable, and of course the comedy was as good as ever ("You're living beings, not unpaid interns!" in particular got me).

Jürgen seems to be depiction of what an abusive family member might act like (although obviously exaggerated, since this show is a zany cartoon and all). In addition to forcing them to do whatever he wants whilst giving no love in return, Jürgen makes the clones call him "brother" to condition them into thinking he's family so they'll feel obligated to associate with him, has convinced them that he's their "protector" so they'll feel helpless without him (unfortunately that worked because Ratto straight up says they're helpless in his first line), and when the clones finally do stand up for themselves he tries to bribe Ditto towards the end by offering her a strawberry, whilst claiming she was always the "sensible one". The ending was very satisfying, with Ditto refusing to call Jürgen "brother" anymore and switching to using his first name (basically disowning him) and calling the Warners her real family. The six of them hug and just before things get a bit too cute-Jürgen gets eaten by a whale. The ending, like the whole segment really, is a perfect mix of both wholesomeness and dark humour.

This segment essentially emphasizes the importance of who the Warners are as characters. It explored the idea of what the Warners would be like if instead of being chaotic and rebellious, they were meek and well behaved, essentially the opposite of themselves, and it made for an interesting watch! It shows the importance of being assertive, and why being "perfectly behaved" and "obedient" isn't always a good thing. In hindsight, had Scratchansniff actually managed to successfully "de-zanitize" the Warners, it might've been the worst thing to have happened to them.

The Warners aren't perfectly behaved. They're snarky. They're chaotic. They're insane(-y). They're a lot of things, BUT when they see something wrong they don't stand aside, they fight back and make it right, just in a comedic way (they're like the embodiment of karma). Their backbone is one of their biggest redeeming qualities, and although people in-universe give them a hard time over their chaotic and irreverent nature, they'll always be better than the corrupt authority figures (like Jürgen, or many of their "special friends") they tend to take down.

Honourable Mentions: Suspended Animation Part 1, Ralph Cam, That's Not the Issue, Future Brain, Roadent Trip, Yakko Amakko, Christopher Columbusted, Reichenbrain Falls, 23 and WB, Planet Warner, Talladega Mice: The Ballad of Pinky Brainy, Fantasy, Teeniacs, Animaliens, Global Warnering, Slappy's Return

Best Songs: Suffragette Song, The Cutening, Be Like Me, A Zit!, I Am The Very Model of an Ancient Roman Emperor, Yakko's Big Idea (Yakko's Big Song), Magna Cartoon, Warner's Ark, D.I.WHY?, Here Comes the Sea!, Some of Humanity's Wins

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.

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Before Animaniacs, many syndicated cartoons (specifically ones from the 60's to the 80's) had either a) good writing but cheap animation or b) more expensive and impressive looking animation but were essentially over glorified toy commercials. Animaniacs had both witty, intelligent writing and downright beautiful animation (seriously, the segments animated by TMS are some of the best hand drawn animation I've ever seen in a TV show). This wasn't unheard of by the early 90's, but only a handful of other cartoons could claim the same at the time. It's higher budget compared to a lot of other contemporary cartoons also meant it could afford a 25-to-40-piece orchestra, and that (along with the extremely talented staff) allowed Animaniacs to have one of the best soundtracks from any cartoon ever. Not to mention it was one of the first TV shows to garner an interactive online audience. Animaniacs was one of the first examples of internet fandom culture. Think about that. That is huge.

The Warners, Pinky and the Brain and Slappy are unironically some of my favourite characters of all time. I love that that the Warners are chaotic, nigh-omnipotent beings who can do anything, but also non-conforming outcasts who look out for each other because no one else will, but also well-meaning rebels, but also cute silly little children all at the same time. And that's just what they have in common, that's not even getting into their individual personalities. To put it very briefly (because I literally already wrote an essay about Dot so if you've read that you know how long I can go on about them but this post is long enough already and I'm still not done) I admire Yakko's wit, Wakko's optimism, and Dot's confidence.

I love that Pinky and The Brain are complete opposites in every sense of the word yet still manage to have an unbreakable bond. I love Slappy's unapologetically violent but never too meanspirited sense of humour (even though she's only one in-universe I genuinely think she makes for a better female Looney Tunes character than most of the actual female Looney Tunes characters) and how despite how bitter and cranky she is, she never lets that get in the way of her bond with Skippy.

Both the original Animaniacs and the reboot are some of my favourite shows of all time. I love their sense of humour, I love the main characters, I love that they never hold back and go places/accomplish things that a lot of other kids shows wouldn't even dare to. Not only was Animaniacs heavily influenced by Looney Tunes but it (and a series of Looney Tunes television spin-offs) helped bring Looney Tunes back from a period of stagnation by popularising its sense of humour (particularly its type of snark, wordplay, slapstick and visual gags). I feel like not enough people talk about just how influential the original show was; not only did it have more pop culture references and social commentary than pretty much any children's cartoon had before it, it played a big part in popularising those two things as well as sharp satire, cynical irony, meta humour, self awareness, and just witty humour in general being in children's cartoons, if not TV as a whole.

And above all else...it was fun. It was a fun show that just wanted to make you laugh above all else. It knew what it wanted to do and was good at it, and sometimes that's all you need for success.

I love this franchise, and I can't wait to see what it does next.

[archivalofsins]

In a funnier turn of events after getting that Mikoto post out I am feeling more comfortable discussing his character. It was really bugging me that I was perceiving the fandom as an unsafe space to discuss plurality on a two alter system basis. It never seemed appropriate to gush about it given the things I'd been shown being said.

Yet, I was really happy with Double and the Neoplasm voice drama. Because it showed how diverse dissociative identity disorder can be with just two alters. Instead of just doing the same old hi I'm the totally good one and I'd never hurt a fly and I'm sin incarnate sometimes I just do bad shit for the lols you know.

The thing that most media does when discussing that presentation. I don't know how to really tackle my own feelings on it. It's like most my life I grew up seeing it represented as oh no, the evil one is out. As though the person had been possessed almost. So, it was very refreshing to see it be like, "Oh well, they're both just people. No one is as simple as just good or bad. They both have a variety of behavior."

It's something that should by now rightfully be expected when it comes to that sort of representation of it. Yet when it comes to two people always focus on the duality. The light and the dark the good and the evil. They try to separate all nice in neat like that without really focusing on the individuals. So, I was ultimately really pleased by Milgram. Though it could be because I'm more on the older side or just I gave up on looking for good representation and started avoiding anything thar covered it in middle school.

Honestly, I still avoid things that deal with it outside of Milgram. Simply out of habit of thinking, man, is it gonna be this shit again? How do I know it's not that shit again? Oh well, you gotta watch it, of course. I'm not doing that. I don't trust it. Yet with Double, there were just so many great things about it that really made me go.

Yeah, they get it. This is actually great. I couod harp on the lyrics all day.

Like favorite lines were,

1. That'd be good.

With the lyrics before it and how it's enunciated with so much longing paired with the visuals of him wiping the blood to look down into the other end of the train. It really fucking goes hard as a line. Really embodying the whole come on praise me for helping you I did good right I saved you right so hey where's my thank you it'd be good if you said it energy.

2. Doesn't matter if you didn't wish for it, can't get rid of me now. Just the two of us, relieved, aren't you? I'll protect you (us).

Just the enunciation the growl. It's just really good as if going oh you want to push me down well I'm not going anywhere.

3. "He's a liar," you said and made me out to be a scoundrel, why?

The fucking double meaning if this one line is just so got damn amazing. It's not only calling back to the ridiculous accusations lines in Double but discussing the audiences response to Mikoto. Calling him a liar claiming he was faking. But the second half is referring to the audiences reaction to John making him out to be a scoundrel immediately blaming the murders on him. Labeling him as the bad one without even a second thought. Only leaving him to ask why? Putting more meaning behind the line

4. Hey, I just wanted to save you, so why did it come to this? Cling to me hoist me up as your savior stand up and sing out your gratitude- So, why?

As though Mikoto is their asking why is your song like this you should be praising me. You should be grateful so why?

5. I don't remember a thing it couldn't be helped I'm Double (MeMe).

This line is super great because it's like John and Mikoto both claiming onus of their own songs. And John answering Mikoto's question about why his song is like this. Basically going it couldn't be helped I'm Double. Basically saying it was bound to turn out like this because I'm like this.

6. Why, why? If only I were never born, if only-

To me, this came off as John going. If only I had never been born at all, then neither of us would have existed, and this wouldn't have happened. Expanding on the idea that Es and Kotoko both bring up that his existence is the problem. Which most wouldn't immediately go they mean because of my disorder but go yeah fuck it you're right if I never even lived to begin with this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't even be here for this to happen and then the apology after these lines as if apologizing for having been born at its sooo good.

It has no right to be sooooo good. So, yes despite the incredible detriment that this week has been to my mental health and my anxiety literally being on a fucking hundred. Double has been the best fucking thing to ever happen to me personally. And it's so fucking amazing.

I love it so much.

[brutal-nemesis]

Goretober X: Don't Be Vein

This one very short I've been super busy the past week and also I'm very tired last actual gore piece for @coyotehusk goretober tho so yee haw go me

←Previous - Castys Masterlist - Goretober Masterlist - Next→

Ingredients: body horror of the surreal variety, gore, fun with delicate lil blood vessels, emeto mention

Castys had absolutely zero idea what Kuro was doing. Not that he usually did, but he could at least guess most of the time. Now, she was just rooting around inside his arm, digging deep into the muscle as he bit down hard on the gag in his mouth and tried not to wiggle too much.

“There it is!” Castys could feel Kuro’s smile as she looked down at the gaping wound she’d been probing around in. “I finally found one of your larger blood vessels. I want to see if it’ll do the same thing your intestines do.” Castys raised an eyebrow. They probably would, but he wasn’t exactly eager to find out. Unfortunately, he was about to.

Kuro was gentle as she freed the vein from inside of his muscle, most likely trying not to break it and make him bleed to death before she was ready. It was a lot smaller than Castys expected, just sort of pink and stringy, like a…worm. Too soon. He had to think about something other than worms. His leg started hurting anyway, as if this leg could even remember pain that it never fucking felt in the first place since the one that did got chopped off. But his scars on his torso and face ached sometimes, too, and those were from so long ago that he doubted any of them had never been replaced. 

After a long time of careful cutting and pulling, a small number of his blood vessels were totally free of his muscle, laid out limply on his exposed bone. Castys’s view of them wasn’t great, but he was very much okay with that. Oh, and now he was going to get to die, so hopefully things wouldn’t be fucked up when he came back.

Things were fucked up. 

He looked down at his arm almost immediately after coming back to life, and the sight was…surreal, to say the least. The thin vessels laid on top of the skin of his inner forearm, sort of fused to it at the bottom, their ends leading back down into his flesh. They pulsated weirdly as his blood flowed through them, and the sight wasn’t something Castys wanted to get used to. 

“That was fun! I haven’t done delicate work like that in a while. Do you mind if I do that to your other limbs?” Kuro asked as she removed the gag, excitement in her voice.

“I do in fact mind, but I don’t think you care, so why are you asking?”

Kuro shrugged. “So you can feel like you have a little bit of control for a moment.”

“It’s not helping.”

“Aw, too bad,” she said as she tied the gag over his mouth again.

Back to disregarding his opinion, Kuro started on his other arm, and once that was done she moved on to his legs. The whole process took hours, intense pain and cold and dripping blood, and he was hardly aware of anything else by the time she was done. Once again, she made him look, and once again, it wasn’t something he wanted to see, all of the pink squiggles running up and down his arms and legs, pulsing along to his heartbeat. It sort of made him feel sick for some reason, so he did his best not to puke into the gag.

He didn’t know how much more of this he could take, and that scared him.

Next→

Castys Cult: @as-a-matter-of-whump​ @blackrosesandwhump​ @fanmanga1357-blog​​ @thehopelessopus​ @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi​ @hearse-song​ @muddy-swamp-bitch @whumpasaurus101 @yet-another-heathen​​ @galaxywhump​ @starnight-whump​ @his-unspoken-words​ @misspelledwitch​ @suspicious-whumping-egg​ @pumpkin-spice-whump​ @painsandconfusion​ @i-can-even-burn-salad​​ @befuddled-calico-whump​ @whumpinggrounds​ @whump-queen​ @whumpedydump

[platinumrosetail]

So are you ok with very dark themes and a bit of Gore? I really enjoy horror and I want you to be ok first. If not then skip this request! I'll make a more safer one. Tw: Gore, blood and yandere mentions

Yan! Swk/ Macaque, Traffic light trio x "Gardener" reader?

(This reader is based off rin and the song fear garden)

The reader is such a sweet heart! Or is he? You see [NAME] is very vengeful Person, they were heavily bullied as a child because of some random shit. [NAME] also had a love for flowers and hands so they decided to add those two together. They eliminated their bullies for their so called flowers. This became a habit of them so the habit grew with them. In the present she has an amazing reputation due to her flower shop having different variety of flowers. A certain visitor keeps visiting... Surely they don't know her secret.. Right? (Spoilers they do)

I’ll try my best! I haven’t done a gore or blood related request like this that much so I don’t really know if I can do it, hopefully I won’t have to cut it out but if I do then I’m sorry 😞. And I never heard of the song fear garden, and I don’t really do female x reader so I’m sadly going to have to only do spicynoodles so I hope you’re ok with that; again so sorry for doing that 😭.

Warning: mood author, gore and blood, gender neutral, yandere romantic characters, and others.

Characters: shadowpeach, spicynoodles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadowpeach:

Sun met you first when he went to visit his adopted son and daughter; mk and Bai he, but smelled the aroma of your flower and garden shop and decided to get some later for his mate.

When he was done with the things he need for his travel back to flower fruit mountain he suddenly remembered about the smell of flowers that seem to be well taken care and decided to go to that smell finding your shop which you had made from when you were in high school.

Macaque met you next as he been eyeing for a while even before his mate gave him those flowers from your shop; he was playing on making you their mate sooner or later and was making sure you were safe.

They haven’t figured it out yet but you had used from hospital blood donation to help grow your flowers so they can be healthy as they kept on visiting you; though sometimes when you can’t get those hospital blood donations you use your blood which made it sweeter to smell from what they noticed without figuring out that you use blood.

When you started this it was in high school which made other kids bully you but you got your revenge sooner or later with the help and guidance of your parents since it’s in all of the family on (parents) side.

(Hope you don’t mind me adding that bit, I thought it would make it more interesting 😅😁)

You spend time with them outside of work as time go on and even met their son and daughter which you got along great with. It wasn’t until two years later did they pop the question of asking if you’d like to be their mate; you said yes!

Plus with them on your side, no one would possibly ever mess with you again; and you noticed that you, your mates and the kids all seem to share the same overprotectiveness over each other, wether it’s romantic or platonic.

Spicynoodles:

You met redson first when he was first going to ask mk out on a date. You two didn’t really hit it off at first and only see each other as acquaintance.

You met mk next as he was doing the same thing as redson did but this time it’s been a few months since then so it’s a anniversary rather than a first date.

Mk was such a sweetheart that made you jealous of redson not noticing that they both now have crushes on you and would like to share after a year and a month of knowing you.

Redson knew you past about the blood and plant combination first and wasn’t going to tell mk unless you’re completely comfortable but would probably use it as a sort of blackmail of telling mk. Though what both of you don’t know is that mk already knew from spying on you just to make sure you’re safe and cause it’s his duty to make sure everyone in the city is safe.

Mk was glad that you could get along with his little sister and family while for redson family it was kind of hard as they are overprotective of their son and almost didn’t allow mk to date him if it wasn’t for their past meetings with him and getting to know him; but they soon cave in seeing how attached redson and mk was with you but still threatened you about if you broke their hearts then you be dead meat.

You agreed to being their significant other when they asked cause you had to admit you did fall for them and a added bonus is that if anyone decided to mess with you then the two would deal with the culprit so win-win.

You would try to teach them on how to garden but they didn’t have the patience or would overthink about it; mk would be excited but either forget to take care of the plant or accidentally overwater it while redson would over analyze things or burn out of patience plus forgetting it as well with how busy he would be with both you and mk, and his work so it would soon die.

(A/n: i decided to do another post as this one didn’t have too many characters that would lead me to doing it later so Tada! And hope you don’t mind me adding a few things and such, hope you like what I did with it and hope y’all have a wonderful day/evening/night!!!😁)

[liquidisedfrogs]

EUROVISION ABSOLUTE FUCKING BRAIN DUMP

Tonight, the night where... some... of Europe comes together and sings in an ..... something way, is the night I am willing to barf my brain out onto a page and commentate on the entire thing start to finish. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION!! Strap in motherfuckers....

We started the evening with the performance of last year's winner Ukraine (MWAH) starring Kate Middleton for some reason and Sam Ryder stood on top of some building in Liverpool. I had totally forgotten how earwormy that song was. I literally can't get it out of my head even now. We saw the countries come out onto stage to a very random compilation it seemed. I think Australia stole Germany's flag though.

PERFORMANCE 1 : ALBANIA- WHO THE HELL IS EDGAR? - TEYA & SALENA I'm not lying here when I say I LOVED this song. I loved how it took so much inspiration from Michael Jackson in the dance moves. The girl with the black hair was mind-blowing. Like, she was unbelievably gorgeous. I'm not saying the other one wasn't- they were both incredible. I loved how much colour and enthusiasm they seemed to have. IT WAS SO RANDOM AND I FREAKING LOVED IT. Rank no.5

PERFORMANCE 2 : PORTUGAL- AI CORAÇÃO- MIMICAT The dress. Oh my god that dress was DIVINE. I loved how like bright it was to be honest. It was just so dramatic and it felt like it had a lot of variety. I don't really know why it just really appealed to me. Her voice is DIVINE too. Rank no.6

PERFORMANCE 3 : SWITZERLAND- WATERGUN- REMO FORRER I'm not lying when I say that this song brought a tear to my eye. It was so moving but god, that guy needed to put a few more clothes on. I really liked it. Remo Forrer can sing so beatifully and yet I didn't know who he was before tonight. That low note made my jaw drop. Powerful. All I can say really. The guy also reminded me of Noah Schnapp for some goddamn insane reason. Rank no.7

PERFORMANCE 4 : POLAND- SOLO- BLANKA I had to rewatch it cause it was kind of forgettable. Felt like it had been done so much before. I don't mean any hate by this but I just didn't like it. I wasn't as WOW as other songs have been. It gave me the vibe of the Stuck In The Middle theme mixed with Despacito. It just didn't feel if you know what I mean. Rank no.23

PERFORMANCE 5 : SERBIA- SAMO MI SE SPAVA- LUKE BLACK Perfection. It was so.... I don't have words for it. It was just fantastic. It showed so much talent and I loved the Graham Norton description of the nerdiness and that definitely came across so incredibly in the performance. It was just like smoke sweat and tears. I LOVED THE VIDEO GAME BIT. It's a great song, it's a wonderful performance. It's the best. Also, take a moment to consider how fit the guy was. This was no doubt the best act in my opinion but I know not many people have the same opinions as me so I'm accepting the fact that he's probably not gonna win. Rank no.1

PERFORMANCE 6 : FRANCE- LA ZARRA- Évidement It had such a french vibe to it for some reason. It's stuck in my head. I really enjoyed it to be honest. The outfit was genuinely on point and the vocals were stunning. The chorus kinda gave me Dua Lipa vibes but there's nothing wrong with that is there. The lyrics were kinda dramatic. Overall, I ate it up. Freaking glorious song there was just a lot of good competition. Rank no.10

PERFORMANCE 7 : CYPRUS- BREAK A BROKEN HEART- ANDREW LAMBROU Not memorable. It was quite sad. He's got a good voice, there were just better songs to be honest. It was quite repetetitive. I didn't enjoy it particularly it was just there. A few more layers would be nice. He sung quite high and it wasn't necessarilly appealing. THE FIRE THO. That arena must have been so hot. His voice at the end was beautiful, fight me. Rank no.16

PERFORMANCE 8 : SPAIN- EAEA- BLANCA PALOMA The bit at the beginning with the vocalisations (I think that's what they're called) was incredible. It gave off quite a middle eastern movie vibe which I wasn't expecting from Spain. Her top genuinely looked like it had been melted by heat which made me laugh. It gave off a Satanic ritual vibe. I liked the song but the electronic parts really didn't fit her talented and gorgeous voice. Rank no.22

PERFORMANCE 9 : SWEDEN- TATTOO- LOREEN I loved the vibes she gave off espescially in the introduction bit to the song, she looked like a batty pintrest witch which is a look I adore. Her hair was just stunning but for some reason it didn't look real, I don't know. THE NAILS!! God, they were so long. Her whole set was just tattooine(hmm maybe she thought about that) to me. It gave Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. I really liked it. The whole song was so nice. There's not really any other way to say it than that. I really liked it though. I'm happy it was her that won. Rank no.12

PERFORMANCE 10 : ALBANIA- DUJE- ALBINA & FAMILJA KELMENDI I really looked forward to this one because it was a family quite like me and my siblings but I felt quite sorry because only one of the girls really got to sing in it. You could tell who was the favourite child. I loved the sister's outfits and the bit where it basically turned into the parents' love song was great. It was a good performance but it wasn't anything special. Rank no.15

10 down, 16 to go!

PERFORMANCE 11 : ITALY- DUE VITA- MARCO MENGONI I liked the top, make me one. He has a gorgeous voice. It was quite moving in some ways but I did get distracted by the trampoline guys in the back. I LOVED THEM. The lyrics were a bit random, I had it on translating subtitles. It was okay, I didn't think it was anything special though. It was a sway with your arms in the air type of song. He's such a good singer, I swear, I just didn't love the song. Rank no.19

PERFORMANCE 12 : ESTONIA- BRIDGES- ALIKA It was a magical song. I really enjoyed how it gave off fairy Elsa vibes for some reason. I don't really have many words it was just lovely. She has such an incredible voice. I loved her outfit as well it was fabulous. It was just a gorgeous song, I really liked it. She has such a powerful voice. It was divine. Rank no.8

PERFORMANCE 13 : FINLAND- CHA CHA CHA- KÄÄRIJÄ If you're here for a specific song, it's probably gonna be this one. The hulk forgets to put on his chestpiece and he's on the stage at Eurovision singing a heavy-metal-techno-pop number. I still can't understand what the fuck this song was about. It's really confusing but it's a bop. I'm just blasting out CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA in my brain the whole time. I really liked it. It was a proper random Eurovision song and I LIVE for em. The guy's got a good voice on him though, the prolonged shouting must have been hard. Rank no.9

PERFORMANCE 14 : CZECHIA- MY SISTER'S CROWN- VESNA It gave ballet recital gone wrong for me. It sounded a bit too like the winning song from last year for my liking but it was incredible with the harmonies. I didn't really get the hair message. They were doing feminism stuff but sticking directly to the gender roles traditionally set which I didn't understand. It was powerful and I did like it. Rank no.18

PERFORMANCE 15 : AUSTRALIA- PROMISE- VOYAGER I love watching forty odd year olds dance around on stage like they're twenty one. It felt like someone had gone through my playlist, taken the best bits from each song and melted them into a pot together. It is an anthem and I adore that. I loved the woman on guitar. She was so good. I loved the vibes it sounded like it could be in a video game and honest to god it was one of my favourites of the night. Rank no.3

PERFORMANCE 16 : BELGIUM- BECAUSE OF YOU- GUSTAPH The Boy George vibes were real. His outfit gave rich man goes on safari but there's been an incident with a red sock. It was a BOP like literally. I just wanted to do the macerena the whole time. The start bit reminded me of a musical I can't remember the name of. It was kind of repetetive which I didn't like. It was okay to be honest. Shoutout to the guy who was willing to be a furry stripper for this. Rank no.17

PERFORMANCE 17 : ARMENIA- FUTURE LOVER- BRUNETTE The singer gave me Ariana Grande vibes. It was average. It was a bit like an I'm not like other girls. She has a lovely voice but it did get quite lost in the other countries amazingnesses. It didn't really stick in my head so I had to rewatch the full thing whereas with most of the others I either don't have to watch it or I only need a memory jog. The getup was stunning. The boots should have had black laces though, it would've fit do much better. She's incredibly talented but there were better songs. Rank no.21

PERFORMANCE 18 : MOLDOVA- SOARELE ŞI LUNA- PASHA PARFENI Welcome to the stage... satanic yoga teacher. I liked it. It was so European. It was a great watch. It reminded me of the Mandolorian theme which is a massive compliment in my book. The horny women were great. (They had horns in their hair.) It was very Eurovision esque and I really liked it. It was quite funny and my little brother voted for it. Great song. Rank no.13

PERFORMANCE 19 : UKRAINE- HEART OF STEEL- TVORCHI After last year, I had very high hopes for Ukraine. I enjoyed it. I really liked all the staging it was stunning but it didn't stand out to me very much. The phantom of the opera guy got the night off though! It was a great song. It would be great at a festival, I can see it now. I don't have a ton to say about it. It was good but not mind-blowing. Rank no.14

PERFORMANCE 20 : NORWAY- QUEEN OF THE KINGS- ALESSANDRA This whole song makes make me want to yell with happiness. It just like scratches my brain for some reason. It was the only song this year that I had heard before and even though I had, it did not disappoint. I swear it was a whole vibe. Her outfit was literally straight from SIX, bite me. I loved it. I loved every second of it but there were better songs. The high note showed talent. I mean, I can do it but, but it still shows years of effort and training. Rank no.11

Only 6 left!

PERFORMANCE 21 : GERMANY- BLOOD & GLITTER- LORD OF THE LOST HUGE SLAY. I loved it. In my honest opinion, I would've loved it to be in German but I do speak German so it wouldn't be that hard to understand. They really reminded me of Ghost with the whole red satan type vibe and the song itself. The makeup was FINE! I mean that in an attractive way. The start was so INCREDIBLE. He looked and sounded quite like Bowie and if you know me, you know I love Bowie. The heavy metal singing was on point. I'm suprised that they came last because they were pretty much tied with Serbia in my book I decided the ranks at like 1 am and my 1 am thoughts are always the best. Rank no.2

PERFORMANCE 22 : LITHUANIA- STAY- MONIKA LINKYTÉ The start made me think of the Lion King- just getting that off my chest before I dive into this one. It was lovely, it was beautiful but that's not really the winning characteristics. It was incredible. It gave off the sort of 2014 'Fight Song' vibe which I feel has been done so much already. I want to be able to mark this one higher but I feel I can't because of how high rated the other songs are. Rank no.20

PERFORMANCE 23 : ISRAEL- UNICORN- NOA KIREL Before I say anything, this is just me putting my opinions out there to get them off my head. I really didn't like this song. It was weird and it wasn't a song that I enjoyed watching. It's started off okay with a slight Melanie Martinez vibe but honestly shit hit the fan pretty quickly. It turned into a feminine anthem and, to me, all those songs sound the same. The worst bit was the bit where she said watch me dance and stripped off and basically became a stripper in her dance moves. There were children watching. You can't do that. Rank no.26

PERFORMANCE 24 : SLOVENIA- CARPE DIEM- JOKER OUT This was one of my favourite songs of the night. I adored the whole performance. It was like a step back into the past when Eurovision wasn't as big of an event and they didn't have all the feathers and glitter. It felt quite wholesome to me for an unknown reason. Personally, I don't think it was Eurovision standard. It was a lot more indie than all the other songs and it popped out of the page because of that. It had a very different view and appearance to the viewers. I have listened to this song about five times this morning I like it so much. Special mention to the guitarist because you look fantabulous. Like, you're so good-looking I can't understand wether it's gender envy or attraction. I loved the fits by the way. Rank no.4

PERFORMANCE 25 : CROATIA- MAMA ŠČ- Let 3 This performance made me really uncomfortable. They looked like a rip off of the YMCA and the song wasn't that good to be honest. It was just a bunch of people's grandads singing a dumb army style song and then stripping off. It wasn't enjoyable, it was very mildly funny and I just really didn't like it. It wasn't as bad as Israel or the UK though. Rank no.24

PERFORMANCE 26 : UK- I WROTE A SONG- MAE MULLER It was really just a mid song. She doesn't have the nicest voice and the song choice emphasised that. It was really repetetive and definately deserved the ranking it got. I do feel sorry for Mae though, she must have tried so hard. The staging wasn't that appealing and her outfit didn't fit the set. I would probably rate it 5/10 if I was doing that but I'm not. There was a lot of good competition and it simply wasn't as good. Rank no.25

AND THAT'S A WRAP MY DUDES!!

I think Tattoo winning was a great descision. It isn't one I would've made but it really stood out. I do think Germany deserved a lot more than it was given and I feel extremely sorry for Spain who only got 5 points for the public because that must've hurt.

Shoutout to Sam Ryder with his really nice song at the end, I though it was great. Also, they managed to get ROGER TAYLOR for it. FREAKING ROGER TAYLOR!!!

Have a nice day/night reader and I hope you return next year for another unnecessarily long Eurovision rant.

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm Gonna Play: Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

I've seen Ys pop up often as people's top JRPGs. I've never played them before, so I jumped into the latest entry blind to what this series offers.

Talking of combat first, the first thing this game reminded me of was Tales of Arise; having skills by pressing button combinations, dodging, on screen encounters, and having a party based system where you could switch characters. It felt extremely snappy and satisfying, and I loved unlocking new skills be it from getting them as I fight, or from shops. It's an easy system that's fast-paced which is also great when you want to play something simple and shut your brain off for a bit.

There are also raids included, which have a tower defense mechanism to ensure you survive hordes of enemies while protecting a crystal, or to collect X number of item in a time limit. It gets quite chaotic but is manageable with the use of upgrades. This adds a nice variety to combat so that it does not get monotonous. Aside from that, the game seems to have a superpower motif going on, allowing you to traverse in different ways such as parkouring or gliding, or accessing hard to get places, as well as some combat abilities. It was an unexpected but fun touch.

The best qualities I've seen in this game are more finer details that add to the overall Quality of Life. One being how the map system functions. You're able to get a view of your current area AND look at the region map, in which you can look at other area maps because why not, all with the press of a button or two. . The game really encourages exploration in a great way by rewarding you with fast travel unlocks, and new shops or quests. What surprised me the most was that the minimap leaves a decently sized trail as you move around, making backtracking easy as well as marking where you've already been in case the dungeons or areas look the same-ish (or if you're feeling a bit forgetful at the time of playing). It's spoiled the way I see maps for JRPGs in a good way, and I'd love to see more games like this. The second detail I loved was the amount of customization in settings, ranging from gameplay to HUDs, giving the player freedom to truly explore or to be guided. And lastly, being able to save at anytime is quite a game-changer. It's not always easy to find time to game, and priorities are there to handle in real life, so having this feature came in super handy.

The story seems somewhat simple and straightforward. It's quite innocent and doesn't get too deep until the latter half of the game. I'm actually quite surprised how deep the game gets into its lore and politics, and it was simple enough to understand without playing the previous games. There's a nice variety in cast, and side quests actually add lore to them rather than being usual fetch or escort quests.

I also find the character designs to be a plus, most of them are designed quite well without the reliance of fanservice. It was a breath of fresh air! However I did find Renegade's design to be underwhelming with such a muted colour palette. It does fit his personality a bit, perhaps.

Some negatives are the graphical quality of this game. It's the latest entry released just a few years ago, yet it looks much older, and very bland in terms of colour. I had fun exploring the city of Balduq and was amazed at the size and depth of the place, but it definitely lacked some colour or variety that made the place truly interesting. Midway I stopped to look at previous entries' graphics and felt that Ys 8 somehow looked better, but I also read a bit about the developer and didn't realize their impact towards the genre, and that they seem to make more budgeted titles, so I can give this a pass.

Another negative is the music, most songs fit, but only about 2 tracks truly caught my ears, while the rest sound quite generic and akin to typical melodies I would hear in budget JRPGs.

Overall, the game was truly an enjoyable adventure to experience, and I even felt a little sad as I reached the end, bonding with the cast and the city. I'm looking forward to future titles and may check out 8!

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

I'm here to once again complain about kpop redditors. Does kpop reddit suck? Yes. Have I found a better place to read kpop opinions? No. Twitter is a mess, Army Twitter isn't generally very critical of BTS, in any way, and tumblr still isn't the best place for kpop discourse. So, since I don't know many kpop fans, reddit it is.

Now, on this specific occasion I want to comment on the discourse surrounding BTS's solo careers. There are several bad takes I keep seeing that make me question if those people even know BTS.

V is more interested in an acting career / V is not interested in music. He did one (1) drama and has only in passing mentioned acting again, so why are people fixated on him acting and why do people think he doesn't want to do music? He has the most solo songs out of the vocal line, almost all of them self-written, and he's always recc'ing songs and sharing snippets of stuff he wrote. Does that seem like something a person with no interest in music would do?? On the same vein...

Jin wants to be an actor. / Jin isn't interested in music. He would rather shoot variety content. He literally said in the 2022 Festa that what had interested him in acting in the first place was the opportunity to try different things, but since he's already doing that as an idol he doesn't have an interest in acting anymore (he didn't say it couldn't happen though). Also, Jin did variety to make Army happy and to promote his music. He's too shy and loves to perform on stage so I doubt he's going to ditch music to become a full-time variety entertainer. He's also written several songs. Just because he's not as full of passion for music as some of the other members, or because he also likes food, alcohol and gaming, that does not mean he wishes to quit being an idol. He's worked too hard and come too far for kpop stans to say he'd rather just act.

J-Hope will be the most successful long-term. / J-Hope has the most solo potential. I know redditors love to hype up the least popular members in a group, but this is bullshit. So far, there is nothing that indicates J-Hope will be the most popular member. People used to say this because he released fun songs like CNS, but JITB is not GP-friendly. Yes Hobi is a great dancer, has great stage presence, is a good rapper, is charismatic, etc. but every member has qualities and if J-Hope isn't the most popular member among Army is it really likely that he will become the most popular member worldwide? Imo, apart from CNS, he hasn't made a lot of music that would appeal to a very broad audience, he hasn't even danced much as a solo artist, and his personality isn't any better than the other members. I don't know the future, but the amount of people who even now say J-Hope will be the most successful member long-term makes me think this is another case for over-hyping the "underdog" and undervaluing the "overrated" members.

Suga is only successful in SK. / Suga will only be successful as a producer. That That was a hit and Suga didn't just produce the song, he featured in it and is one of the reasons why the MV and song are so great. He also featured in Girl of My Dreams which did well internationally and has been receiving international coverage by attending NBA games and now the Valentino collab. Plus, D2 was really successful considering it's a pre-Dynamite release and is not pop. Suga has amazing stage presence, many people love his fast and aggressive rapping the most among the rap line, he's real, honest, and straight-forward in a relatable way, he talks about real issues in a relatable way, he's great at promoting their sponsors, he's charismatic and masculine yet cute, he knows how to make exciting yet accessible music, etc.. Stans often say he will be the most successful of the rap line but since popular takes are frowned upon they also say he will only be popular in Korea or that he might just become a producer. In how many different ways must the man tell you he wants to be on stage and making music for a really long time for you to get it?

JK may become the most successful soloist but only because he makes generic pop music. / He works better in a group and only his collabs were successful. / He's boring, shy and doesn't know how to promote himself. I know Jungkook is so popular no one wants to give him proper credit, but he only makes generic music, really? I agree that some of his music is generic, but in the end that is what people like (tons of legends made generic music but it's not considered generic anymore because it's old) and stans seem to conveniently forget all the other songs he's done: Euphoria? A bit generic, yet very successful and pretty timeless, but Begin and My Time? Not generic, that's 2 to 1. Still With You? Not generic, very popular all things considered. Magic Shop? A bit generic, but one of the most popular bsides that BTS themselves love to perform, with nice lyrics and concept. Stay? A bit like Magic Shop but it's the only unit song they still perform and imo one of the songs in BE that aged the best. My You? Aanother fan song. Fan songs tend to be a bit generic and sentimental but he only wrote the lyrics; My You wasn't supposed to become a real song and he was only given 3 instrumentals to choose from. Left & Right? As generic as Bad Decisions and Vibe, and not a solo or self-composed track, but no one calls Jimin generic for those songs. Film Out and Your Eyes Tell? Fans literally rave about those songs, but often seem to forget that it was Jungkook who wrote them for his mixtape. Love is Not Over? Beautiful, not generic, written by Jungkook, and he also wrote parts in Run BTS, Telepathy, Autumn Leaves, Run, No More Dream. Stay Alive? One of the least generic OSTs ever, but I guess it doesn't count because he didn't write it? Dreamers? Sounds like a FIFA song but grows on you like crazy. People love Waka Waka and no one calls it generic. Dreamers is like the new Waka Waka so why is it generic instead of a bop? Because Jungkook has great pop vocals, admires Westen pop artists and has some generic songs and song covers (mostly collabs or unofficial releases), he's being pigeonholed. It's not that I disagree that his current style, or image, is mostly pop and very GP-friendly, but the same could be said of BTS in general, yet we know they have range and aren't just basic or whatever. Saying Jungkook will only become successful because he writes generic music as if he doesn't have the ability to write different styles or as if BTS aren't popular because they also appeal to the GP is just condescending. Also, JK isn't the only shy artist out there and he's had to represent BTS by himself many times; he can do it. Left&Right wouldn't have broken any kind of records if not for JK and Dreamers and Still Alive did pretty well under the circumstances (one being the soundtrack of a boycotted WC with almost no promo and the other being a webtoon OST). Lastly, JK not promoting himself is also a weak argument since that's mostly Hybe's responsibility and he hasn't even debuted yet. Anyway, I just think there are too many double standards when it comes to Jungkook.

[mandssisters]

Brizzle innit 22.11.22

“By any means possible” A train taking the strain today. Across two counties. Wiltshire into Avon. Bristol. Love Brizzle.

After the storms of yesterday today we got lucky with the skies, they were blue again. Whilst waiting for the train at Salisbury on a cold but sunny platform I got the step count up for the day to 3,500 before boarding. Result. And didn’t buy a hot chocolate to compensate for the cold. Joe Wicks would be proud of me.

An easy 78 mins on the train. A short walk from the station to the des res Ho e clearly the Ibis budget doesn’t stretch to T’s and L’s.

I needed chips. What better way to enjoy them than in a Wetherspoons! Living the dream. Now I had a real fan girl moment, I got right up close and personal with …….. a real life pair of Gromit and Shaun the sheep sculptures. Trip already made! #suchafan Bristol been the home of Aardman animations.

Right let’s cut to the chase. The venue. Google maps did show me what to expect. And it didn’t disappoint. WOW. An idiot could have walked past quite easily and thought it was a disused warehouse….. I mean idiot. 😉

The marble factory. ((Stone cut marble not the glass ball variety.)) Back in the day I bet this place was amazing? But right now it was opposite a building site which was once an industrial estate and even the ATS Tyre shop google maps had promised me had closed!! The only location highlight was a Vegan Cafe called Future in the railway arches which sold the best donuts in town. £10 for 3 well spent.

#homersimpsoneatyourheartout

Met the very lovely Evie in the queue. from Wales…… saw Marcus at Cardiff last night so was still buzzing. Queue time passed quickly.

Motion as I’m going to give it its proper name (the marble factory) is a night club and hanger warehouse. It was pretty cool inside capacity around 1200. All standing but some balcony standing. A real hidden gem.

Monica was back. She gave a very honest set against all the odds. She was so funny. I think one too many strepsils, lemsips, paracetamols may have been taken! There was so much rambling it was fun to watch. Great work Monica. You pulled it off.

To the show.

Ooooooooh new shirt. Tweed shirt and are they called “baggies” where is seeing bees 🐝 Patrick Grant when you need him!

Opening with Awake my soul, the cave.

Banter:

Came in the form of Football.

Last nights gig in Wales not being able to announce the score as 2 blokes had “saved” the game to watch later!!

I would appear that we had “Miss Wales” in the audience as at various times ramblings were shouted! And Marcus joked at the end that for “I will wait “ Miss Wales needed to keep quiet.

Every song is about footy…

From the balcony gods came a very sweet “shout” of “it’s coming home”!!

Marcus even joked that

“Exeter being a shit show” quiet literally!! He recapped how he got a stripping down about his use of bad potty mouth language from a friends dad. Who questioned the need of the word FUCK? It’s only a good job he didn’t get carried away with “c*nt”.

Post shows, Taylor Mackall ace musician, comments about the performance of Only Child most nights and critiques the 50% of cords Marcus gets right during the average performance of only child! Harsh.

Sadly we didn’t get to see the wonderful Monica onstage for Go in Light, as he insisted she gets well for her main performance. As she isn’t in TIP TOP form!!

After the fake end of show, and encore, another fab rendition of Cowboy, with added burp slurp! Apparently within the tea cup was tonic water most nights, but tonight it’s tea but has the same effect.

Then off piste from the set list we were in for a treat. 6 mins of bliss. Marcus’s favourite song “not dark yet” by the one and only Bob Dylan. Loved this. What a real treat. At the end the slight boast that the next one was written with Bob, although he wasn’t actually there!! WIGMHOY.

Too soon it was off mic I will wait. The crowd very respectful. Miss Wales did wales proud.

I waved a sad goodbye to band as they won’t be with Marcus for leg 3 in stores next week. Going to miss them they are so tight. Marcus’s voice just gets better and better each night. Vs mine which can barely speak atm without coughing!!! What a total joy these dates have been. Over too soon.

Today. Enjoying life with a walking tour of Banksy street art and a trip on the S S Great Britain in the dry dock. Well worth a trip, fascinating engineering and fantastic recreation of sea travels circa 1840s. What a visionary Isambard Kingdom Brundel was. And a great Ambassador of the top hat.

X

[chromatoghosts]

okay since i finally beat side order half a year late in the span of a day, here is my personal thoughts on it, and what i liked vs what i didnt like:

it was. okay. but nowhere near as good as octo expansion. my main problem is that i feel like they didnt do enough with it. like the story is so minimal. it's like…. that's it?

i was hoping they would go more into eight's history and trauma and all that. and they did reference that a little bit, but only ever in hints. but then again i havent beaten the post-game yet so i could be wrong

also i kept hearing people talking about how hard it was, but for me personally it didnt feel nearly as hard as octo expansion but maybe thats just because ive been playing splatoon for a long time so i've gotten better at the game since i played octo expansion

i did love the visuals though. so pretty. and ngl one of my fave parts of the game was asynchronous rondo. because it seems that that boss is supposed to represent tartar. and also its design and song that plays during it was SO fucking cool

i just think the game has a great concept, but the story did not deliver. also the gameplay is too repetitive after a while. maybe im just biased and have too high expectations though because octo expansion is my favorite game of all time (yes im counting it as its own standalone game because it basically is)

at least this made me appreciate splatoon 3's main campaign better. because at least that one had fun story, lore, and banter, even if the ending and villain being a blatant octo expansion ripoff was disappointing

what i liked about the game: -the visuals -the concept -the designs of the enemies and bosses (especially asynchronous rondo; i love the callbacks to tartar in its design. it feels like the closest we're getting in the game to addressing 8's trauma) -def1sh finally appearing in the games wahoo -pearldrone is so cute -pearl and marina flirting lol -is fun the first few tries, before it starts to get boring and repetitive

what i disliked about the game: -poor writing, not enough story -it just feels so… hollow. there isn't the emotional investment in it that was present in octo expansion -wished it delved more into 8's and marina's psychology instead of only doing that in hints and implications -while there is some funny and unique dialougue like in octo expansion, it feels like there isn't that much. i kinda ended up skipping through most conversations because they were pretty bland, and weren't nearly as entertaining as the banter in octo expansion -it kinds gets really repetitive and boring after a while, especially compared to octo expansion where every level is super different. it needs more level variety and types of objectives imo -the ones where you gotta kill all those sunfish things are WAY too easy. all you need to do is speedrun getting enough points for a special and then you can just one-shot them all lol -i wish there were more bosses, because going against the same ones over and over gets tedious really quickly -why isn't there an infinite mode? i want to challenge myself to see how high a floor i can get :{ -wish it went more into dedf1sh, because it feels like they're just kinda. there. doing nothing. for the entire story. kinda wasted potential. you could remove them from the game and nothing would change -when will tartar (my fave character) return from the war it's one of my fave villains of all time oughhh.. the closest we got was asynchronous rondo. and also the main villain which is yet again an obvious tartar expy

[kickdownthewalls]

TOP 20 METAL/HARD ROCK ALBUMS OF 2023

Hey, it is Dan here from The Plague. Let me start with apologies for the lateness of posting this, but I have been using my YouTube platform to highlight my top albums for the past few years. If you are curious, you can check out my top albums for 2022 and 2021. This year, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide if I wanted to continue the channel and eventually decided to put it to rest. But I did want to post this list somewhere to do what I can to help promote these amazing bands and albums, so I decided to get back to my roots here on tumblr. Anyway, enough rambling, let me jump into my top hard rock and metal albums for 2023. Of course, these are just the ones that I have heard and have resonated with me the most, so your mileage may vary. My tastes in recent years has skewed toward the traditional heavy metal revival, but there a few here that fall outside those boundaries, too. Let’s kick it off with #20…

20. WITCHTOWER – Voyeur

Almost missed this one even though it was released back in March of 2023. I’ve been a fan of this Spanish four-piece for a while now and this one is very much in the same vein as previous releases, combining a mature brand of classic heavy metal with some speedy moments and that touch of Mercyful Fate that bands like In Solitude and Portrait explored in the early 2000s. Some really great and effective bass playing here, too.

 19. GIRLSCHOOL – WTFortyfive?

This one I almost didn’t bother to listen to, given the rather awkward, terrible album title, but glad I gave it a chance. Girlschool have definitely become heavier on recent albums, but they retain their solid, melodic songwriting chops and the trademark gang vocals on the choruses. I really enjoyed the variety of songs, from dark-edged metal to punky hard rock to power pop. Some of the lyrics are cringey (mainly “Bump in the Night”) but others are quite good, like “It’s a Mess” and “It Is What It Is.”

 18. ENFORCER – Nostalgia

Sweden’s purveyors of classic heavy metal with a touch of speed metal are back with their sixth album. While some were put off by the overly commercial sound on 2019’s Zenith, it is nice to hear Enforcer pretty much back on track with Nostalgia. “Coming Alive” and “Metal Supremacia” have all the fire and energy of the band’s early work, while the arena-rock elements still come through on tracks like “Unshackle Me” and “Heartbeats,” which reminds me of Def Leppard before they lost it.

 17. HIGH SPIRITS – Safe on the Other Side

Fifth album from Chicago mastermind Chris Black, who has also given us the likes of Superchrist, Pharaoh, Aktor, and Dawnbringer, among others. Another classic set of tunes that bridge the gap between hard rock and old-school heavy metal, always with a positive vibe underlying things. Not quite as memorable or heavy as 2020’s Hard to Stop and I don’t think they will ever top my absolute fave High Spirits album, Motivator, but even given that, this is an excellent album and easily one of 2023’s top 20.

 16. BURNING WITCHES – The Dark Tower

Another fifth album, this time from a Swiss five-piece, this is my favorite Burning Witches album yet. Their previous albums have been solid but usually only had one or two really memorable songs, whereas this time at least half the songs made an immediate impact and others have been growing on me. I like that they play traditional, powerful heavy metal but with a modern feel and production, much like bands like Primal Fear or Dream Evil.

 15. CIRITH UNGOL – Dark Parade

I remember coming to Cirith Ungol rather late, as they often got a bad name in the press back in the day, but when One Foot in Hell came out, the cover art was just too cool to resist and I immediately fell in love with their unique take on epic heavy metal. I was so happy to see the band reunite and still deliver that classic sound. 2020’s Forever Black was good but lacked a bit in the production department, so I am happy to say that Dark Parade sounds lot fuller and more organic, plus the songs are more memorable. If this is indeed the band’s last album, they are going out on a high note, no doubt about it.

 14. TANITH – Voyage

Another band that has a pretty unique take on classic heavy metal and hard rock. They write really good, fairly complex tunes with elements of 70s-era Scorpions and UFO, but with dueling male and female lead vocals. Both singers are excellent in their own right but they also combine their voices quite often for an even greater effect. Been following these guys since being blown away by their performance at Frost & Fire IV back in 2018 and they have yet to disappoint.

 13. OBITUARY – Dying of Everything

Always my favorite of the Florida death metal bands, it is exciting to see the band really firing on all cylinders with their past couple records. This one might be my favorite since the classic Cause of Death, with some of the band’s most memorable tunes and the perfect production to showcase the band’s raw, pounding style.

 12. THE HAXANS – The Dead and the Restless

This is one of two albums in my top 20 that is decidedly not metal, but still rocks pretty hard. The Haxans are a project by Piggy D. of Wednesday 13 and Rob Zombie fame along with vocalist Ash Costello from New Years Day and they play a really cool mix of horror punk and goth rock. Although I wasn’t as consistently engaged with this one as I was with their Party Monsters debut, it features the same elements that made that one so enjoyable. They mix catchy vocal lines with stompy riffs really well and pull off serious, atmospheric tunes just as well as the more fun, tongue-in-cheek tracks.

 11. IMMORTAL – War Against All

Despite all the drama behind the scenes and line-up changes, Immortal has somehow managed to maintain a pretty steady stream of quality albums and even though it is now just a one-man project of Demonaz, War Against All is very much another quality release. Closest comparison is obviously with Northern Chaos Gods, with a nice mix of ultra-fast and more moderate, marching riffs to be found here.

 10. CRUEL FORCE – Dawn of the Axe

Third album from Germany’s awesome speed metal powerhouse Cruel Force. These guys expertly combine early Kreator, Exodus, and any number of other speed metal and proto-thrash outfits. The ripping riffs and explosive drum fills are unapologetically old-school but still sound fresh. Some touches of subtlety, too, such as the atmospheric detour in the midst of “Devil’s Dungeon” and the 7-minute epic “Realm of Sands.”

 9. MAGICK TOUCH – Cakes & Coffins

This is Norwegian heavy metal that is really hard to classify or compare to anyone else. It is heavy and melodic with clean vocals in a traditional metal way but doesn’t sound retro. As the title might suggest, the lyrics are all a bit offbeat, which further helps distinguish the band. Great songs, interesting arrangements, and solid musicianship complete the package.

 8. MEGATON SWORD – Might & Power

Second album from this Swiss traditional metal outfit shows them already expanding their sound and exploring new ideas. Still plenty of classic heavy metal here though, such as the Into Glory Ride-era Manowar sounding “The Raving Light of Day” and the pounding “Might.” The vocals are clean but very powerful and versatile and really help the band stand out. There is a certain melancholy to the band’s sound that reminds me vaguely of Sentenced, though you would never confuse the two bands.

 7. BEYOND THE BLACK – Beyond the Black

Although I have become rather burned out on the symphonic metal scene in recent years, this album really stood out. There are so many bands that play well and have decent songs and production but they just aren’t memorable. Germany’s Beyond the Black really craft some great tunes with super infectious riffs and vocal melodies. Plus, the lyrics take a compelling look at life after death, reincarnation, and related topics, which also ties in nicely with the band’s name and, thus, perfect for this self-titled release.

 6. GOATEN – Midnight Conjuring

This amazing trio from Brazil has been around for a few years and released a couple of excellent EPs, but this is their debut full-length and it is a killer. The band combines heavy riffs with some unique, melodic vocals and absolutely infectious choruses. The band’s top-notch musicianship is used very judiciously to aid in creating atmosphere rather than showing off and it perfectly sets off the creepy, unsettling lyrics

 5. SAVAGE – Glory Riders

German band that takes the very best of early W.A.S.P. and delivers it in a heavier fashion while retaining the energy and catchiness. Some nods to other 80s bands like Quiet Riot can be found, too, but the vocals and riffing owe a great deal to Blackie Lawless and company. Sadly, they seem to have split up, according to the Metal Archives and their social media accounts are down, so if anyone has any info on what happened here, I’d love to hear about it.

 4. RAVEN - All Hell's Breaking Loose

Another great slab of energetic metal from one of the NWOBHM’s longest-running and most unique outfits. Not sure the songs are quite as memorable as the previous Metal City, but very close and they have really upped the speed to make this easily the fastest/heaviest Raven album ever. Drummer Mike Heller, who joined in 2018, is just wildly overplaying throughout the album and it is glorious.

 3. THE HIVES - The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons

This is the other non-metal album on my list but it is just as energetic and powerful as most metal albums, if not more so. If you aren’t familiar with Sweden’s The Hives, they are a truly demented mix of punk, garage rock, dry humor and Rolling Stones’ swagger. Considering they haven’t released an album in over a decade, it is amazing they came back with one this absolutely powerful and it might well be their best one yet.

 2. ANTHEM – Crimson & Jet Black

One of the longest-running metal bands from Japan and one of the most consistent, Anthem continue to amaze by releasing this masterpiece, their 20th studio album. This is an instruction manual on how to create powerful, melodic, classic heavy metal songs with a modern production, stellar musicianship and the kind of diversity that keeps you glued to the speakers for the full 50+ minutes.

 1. SHADOWS – Out For Blood

Another amazing traditional heavy metal band that came out of nowhere, Shadows hails from Chile and have created the most infectious tunes of 2023. Elements of Shout-era Crue mix with early Dio and Mercyful Fate for a style that is at once familiar and unique. Although the band is the same line-up as the band Apostasy, I really hope this isn’t just a one-off album because I love it so much and really want to hear more in this vein.

 As usual, there were way more excellent albums than just 20, but this list is my personal top 20 at the moment. Honorable mentions go out to TYRANN, CENTURY, BLOOD STAR, GRAVEDANCER (Brazilian blackened speed/thrash metal), BLACKBRAID, INCULTER, METAL CHURCH, SORCERER, and DEMONIAC. Also, quite a number of EPs and singles came out this past year. ACID BLADE, INTRANCED, DRIFTER, OLD GHOUL, and BRONZE

 Of course, I also have to mention some great non-metal releases in 2023, specifically those from KYLIE MINOGUE, DEPECHE MODE, GLUME, MEG MYERS, POPPY, SPARKS, NOBRO and NICK WATERHOUSE. 2024 has already boasted a number of excellent albums, such as JUDAS PRIEST, VULTURE, KMFDM, BRONZE, SAXON, LUCIFER, MINISTRY, and SCAVENGER, to name just a few. Hopefully, I will post next year’s list in a timelier fashion but, until then - stay metal!.

[quieteclipse]

more extremium yapping about OCs, this time it's my debut or die oc, celeste

been having a silly scenario with celeste run around in my head for a few days now. it's silly bc it's kind of a twist of a different scenario i've had for her with these same elements.

anyways, in this scenario, she ended up having an awkward, tense moment with testar once when she was ~18/19 (she's the same age as eugene & raebin) because they were all on this random music competition variety show, and despite being rookies themselves, they had the experience with competitions and trying to survive to be a mentor, at least for the younger competitors (like celeste).

however, celeste initially refused to have a mentor (which was an option), but she eventually got paired up with testar after some eliminations. and at one point, she ended up learning that ahyeon had some difficult times in school in the past (she didnt learn the full story obviously bc even testar havent at this point), which caused her to get a little intense about wanting to explore that with ahyeon in a musical sense.

outside of the show, celeste is always making music, and she had been thinking about making a mixtape about her feelings of anger and grief towards her school years, and she wanted ahyeon to do a duet with her and a performance.

anyways, she got way too intense to the point where moondae stepped up and said something, which made it awkward. next thing they know, celeste is dropping the show and kind of dropping off the face of the earth afterwards.

next time they meet is on a reunion/remake of the original show with the original cast. testar are kind of dreading it bc celeste was confirmed to be on the show, which would be the first time in five whole years she'd be making an appearance in the entertainment industry.

when they meet face to face, the members apologize to celeste because they think they had smth to do with her dropping the show, but she cringes so bad bc she knows that she was in the wrong at the time and it's her most embarrassing moment yet that she was hoping they would've long since forgotten about in the past five years.

in the end, celeste apologizes once again for back then and she explains the real reason she dropped the show and kind of fell off the face of the earth. she didnt go into too much detail about it since the issue was sensitive and really only had significance to her, but yeah, all's well that ends well with them.

also, this is the same scenario where i start a little....enemies (mostly nuisances) to friends to lovers thing with celeste and eugene. bc i think it's funny if he continued to have beef with celeste over that little incident. it's not the most serious beef, since it's eugene, but that incident was his first impression of her and it wasnt a great one so that really stuck to him.

plus, i like the contrast of their cute and playful banter vs. the banter her OG shitty boyfriend from her semi-canon storyline (who i guess i need to give a name at this point) tries to have with her.

anyways, i just really like silly celeste x testar interactions.

i have another scenario with her and raebin where they're going through a haunted house together on a show and raebin was terrified (i dont even remember if he's genuinely a scaredy cat like the official scaredy cat line....but i must've cooked this up for a reason???) and celeste was trying to convince him that there was something good/pretty/not scary to look at and turns out it was a mirror bc she was trying to compliment him, but he got scared by his own reflection (which absolutely made her die laughing btw) 😭😭

her interactions with ahyeon in her more canon storyline are generally more heartfelt & sweet. they're good friends in my eyes. plus they do end up making that song together in celeste's real storyline.

she hasn't had many interactions with chungwoo or lee sejin besides really old ones where i kinda shipped her with both at one point or another—especially chungwoo. he was like her main ship for a little while (bc she was intially the same age as him and he was her type, bug time). their big interactions were usually him "saving" her or making her feel safe. he princess carried her a lot.

yes, i'm very self-indulgent when it comes to my OCs. it's my quirk. silly oc scenarios that serve no purpose other than for me to have fun playing dolls, essentially 😂😂

but regardless, lee sejin is her hardcore bias in testar, so i guess there's that. but they don't really interact in my mind....

she hasn't had much interaction with baese. if you left those two in a room with each other, it would get so awkward so fast i think. 😭 which is crazy bc celeste is a supreme yapper, but she is also incredibly anxious & overthinks a lot and if baese is anxious & akward it will make her anxious & awkward too.

and then moondae.....regressor!celeste & moondae end up...kinda close? idk if close is the right word, but they do talk enough to be somewhat comfortable with one another. but non-regressor celeste....i think her and moondae are even more awkward than her and baese 💀 especially in the scenario where she was doing Too Much and moondae "snapped" at her (not really snapped, but he was annoyed ngl (especially since it was ahyeon related lol))

[zonerobotnik]

There is so much content of Varian with other roles of Jeremy Jordan.

Death Note:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Bonnie and Clyde:

Here.

Here.

Heathers:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Newsies:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Death Note -

First link: This is actually on my "watch it every time it pops up in front of me" mental list. Varian inciting a mob against the Royal Family is such an underrated concept.

Second link: Uh, this is just the same video as the first. Did you intend to put something else here?

Third link: Ohhh, nice and fluid animation!

Why are these all the same song, though? He has so many amazing songs in that musical. Are you gonna tell me that no one has done Varian and Rapunzel with the songs of Light and L? I know there's a bunch with Hugo, because people voice-claim him, but Come. On! If not Rapunzel, maybe Eugene? Someone on the side of the King to counter him? I would LOVE to see an animatic of Varian and Eugene with "Playing His Game" that takes place during Varian's villain arc.

Or, geez, let's do Moon Varian with "Hurricane"! That's literally on my playlist for "Indentured"!

Or, or, this is always an amazing video: Link

Seriously, give me some variety! Let's hope the next section has more.

Bonnie and Clyde -

First video: Soap is always so great at drawing evil smiles. XD Did you see the Piece of Cake movie she made? It's so cute! It's on YouTube, let me get you a Link. And the Genshin Impact comic she's working on on IG is so great, her art has really come a long way!

Oh, about the video, it's always fun seeing him take advantage of the Corona Guard's stupidity and failure to search him for alchemy to break out. Like, guys, did you really let him keep the apron in prison? Without searching it? DUMB! XDD

Second link: Oh, this is a picture! Yeah, that's always fun to see.

Heathers:

First Link: Uh…I can't tell if Raps faked it or not. I'm going to assume the hair around her neck is not as tight as it looks.

Second Link: Oh, I did this with Mabel and Gideon before! He was holding the Memory Gun and dressed in the Society of Blind Eye's robes! Oh, and cute art.

Third Link: Looks cute.

Fourth Link: Varian looks great in both outfits.

You know, I was kind of hoping to hear some audio of this infamous Jeremy as JD stuff, but I guess there's no videos here. I'll have to go find it on my own, I guess, without Varian being involved. Next section!

Newsies:

Note: I have not seen this show yet. I should do that, it's on Disney+.

First Link: Cute art, but I don't understand the context.

Second Link: Eugene is so supportive of his bro. XD And Cass is Cass, as usual.

Third Link: That little tip of the hat as he leaves is so cute.

Fourth Link: Cute art.

Fifth Link: Neat art!

Okay, so no videos this time, but I got something from Newsies! Also, it features Nuru actually being a sassy teenager and that's adorable. Link

[fanofbirdsflying]

sm entertainment is a bad managment company when it comes to exo.

this company has been relying on exo's fandom to carry ALL the promotion since kokobop (technically monster even).

this company releases albums quickly, gives them less then 7 music show apperances, less than a handful of variety (or radio) show appearances and expects fans to do everything.

in recent years it's become popular to show some of the recording bts of how the title tracks/album were recorded... has exo had that for obsession? or don't find the feeling? (hoping for cream soda...). exo and their producers do some actually interesting things with their songs, but we don't get to see that.

killing voice has become a great promo platform in recent years. exo went on there because fans asked for it.

exo is known for being a pretty group (vocals too)...when was the last time exo's faces were together for a magazine photoshoot?

sm doesn't understand that exo isn't as dead as they WANT them to be. they REFUSE to put exo out there and give them proper promotional cycles. they REFUSE to send them to variety shows to promote their music and the members. they give them 1 MAYBE 2 weeks of music shows to make fans shut up. they refuse to introduce exo to new audiences. there is only so much exo's old fandom can do in terms of streaming and buying albums. exols don't have the habits that other fandoms have of manipulating their own faves' numbers. if you don't make the effort to reach out to new audiences through variety shows, radio shows and online content, with barely any music show apperances, OTHER ppl/ppl who are NOT fans won't know about exo, their new song/album or their talent.

you might think it's stupid of me to want exo on music shows for a significant amount of time put it's not. the more you go on, the longer fans have sth to talk about. and maybe ppl who aren't fans will stumble upon their new performance while they were looking for sth else. (this isn't about the music, but there are instances of idols going viral for good styling (e.g. taeyeon lion heart), so even non musical things like this can do a lot.)

what's the point of of spending time on making an album if you don't go out there and promote it?

sm has the habit of releasing exo album's quickly so that they can go on an (asian) tour.

sm didn't really have much hope for exo in 2016 when they came out with their third album ex'act. sm thought (and made exo believe) their best days were over, despite exo outdoing themselves in terms of their personal best. and continued to do so with every following release.

sm actively holds them back by not properly managing them and planning schedules. i am aware that exo has individual schedules, but that's what the COMPANY is there for, to make it work somehow.

they also hold them back by not printing exo's album(s). sm, like many other companies, opens a preorder to roughly determine how much interest exists for an album, so that they have a rough number of how many copies to print. sm and exols tend to not really inflate exo's numbers. when exo released their obsession album, sm CANCELLED people's orders. to this day it is their lowest selling full album, because of sm not wanting to cater to exo (and exo's fandom). there is a DEMAND. people want to spend money on exo, but sm doesn't want that.

now, in case you haven't heard, sm has done the same with the exist album. they cancelled orders and don't want to meet demands of exo fans who want to buy exo's album and spend money on EXO. exo had over 1mio preorders, and refuses to meet demands, yet thus far (20230716) have no issues with nct dream and their 4mio copies of preorders (which have become a somewhat regular thing for bgs in the past few years, inflated numbers, to media-play with).

and you can't say it's because of sm's internal drama at the beginning of the year, because sm has been treating exo and their promotions like a joke for a long time.

sm does not like exo. sm doesn't want exo to be bigger than sm.

[ashthehermit]

Adaptation Station: House of the Dragon

I am a nerd, and I tend to watch shows purely for adaptational value.  I can't say why this is, but I enjoy the comparison.  My favourite recent example is the Boys, which makes a hefty set of changes to the source material.  I shan't open that door here, because I just finished episode ten of House of the Dragon and I need to put all of these thoughts somewhere.  I think that House of the Dragon is well worth the watch, perhaps even better than the best of Game of Thrones, but that its best qualities are adapted in.

I should say that I have a particular bias.  House of the Dragon is adapted from a variety of source material, mostly from George R.R. Martin's lore book Fire and Blood, along with two short stories, The Princess and the Queen, and the Rogue Prince.  I was no big fan of Fire and Blood when it came out. 

 It is written as a fake history from the perspective of a maester within the universe.  It is long, it is dense, and it skates over character moments as one would expect a history to.  The maester has no understanding of these characters' inner lives, and why should he?  But the reader does not get any interiority either, a deep shame, as it is one of the defining strengths of A Song of Ice and Fire.  As such, Fire and Blood is long, repetitive, and dry.  The dance of dragons (the specific events of House of the Dragon) only take up the end of the book, and a lot of it is a run through of various dragon-enhanced battles, with a few good set pieces. One of these set pieces (in my opinion the most memorable) formed the climax of House of the Dragon's season one finale.  A pair of cousins (uncle and nephew, maybe, who can tell with all this incest) get into a dragon battle during a storm, above a castle called Storm's End.  The older cousin, with a bigger dragon, kills the younger as revenge for his eye, lost in a fight when the pair were younger.  So begins the dance.  It is, as a scene, pretty rad.  It's the first of a lot of dragon battles.  It's tragic, as the victim is a sweet character.  It happens during an obvious, but effective bit of pathetic fallacy.  It happens above one of the world's coolest, but never seen, locations.  I watched with high hopes about how it would turn out.  It could be adapted from the page with little to no changes, and still made effective.  It was.  The scene was menacing, especially the shot of the larger dragon, Vhagar, appearing behind the smaller dragon, lit only by lightning.  Yet, to my surprise, there was a significant change from the source material.  In the book, Aemond kills his nephew (maybe) Lucerys out of vengeance.  In the show, he taunts his cousin (I guess), but attempts to stop his dragon from killing him.  His face after Vhagar kills Lucerys anyway tells all.  This was an accident. 

  House of the Dragon as a series is faithful to its source material, in a manner that is fairly surprising considering the varying nature of the source material.  Aemond's little accident is hardly the first, or largest, alteration from Fire and Blood.  (For clarification, I have not read The Princess and the Queen or The Rogue Prince, but I have read The World of Ice and Fire, and Fire and Blood, and I'm told that they contain a lot of similar material).  For starters, the timeline is wholly different.  Alicent and Rhaenyra are the same age when the tale begins, at fourteen.  In Fire and Blood, Alicent is around nine years older than Rhaenyra, and acted as the nurse to Rhaenyra's great-grandfather.  As such, the age gap between Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon is larger.  Rhaenyra's future husband, Laenor, too, is much younger than his book counterpart.  His father Corlys Velaryon is also presumably younger.  His wife, Rhaenys, is played by an actress who is 6 years younger than the actor playing Corlys.  In the book, they are 21 years apart.  The show has a timeline that leaps and starts.  At one point there are ten years between episodes.  There is never fewer than six months.  It is really admirable that the show managed to make a coherent narrative out of a history, which at best is a sequence of events.  Usually, stories have a unity of time and space.  It's a classic of Greek tragedy.  The story should take place in a location that's familiar, or at least repeated.  It should also take place over a denoted amount of time, so the audience can stay with the characters and understand them.

Of course, like any rule of writing, this is more of a guideline than an actual rule.  Not every story takes place in one location, nor across a short time period.  It's just that the more you break these rules, the more hazardous a story can become.  Game of Thrones often broke the space part of the rule.  The story didn't take place in one location, it was ever expanding, as evidenced by the title sequence that showed us in each episode where we were headed.  For the first six seasons, it took forever for any character to make their way across the continent.  Many characters engaged in the honoured Westerosi tradition of bumming about the riverlands.  House of the Dragon keeps the characters largely in the same place.  They're within the Red Keep, and when they're not, it's because they've decamped to a family funeral on Driftmark.  There are a few exceptions, but they prove the rule.  Fire and Blood has no consideration of either unity of time or unity of space.  It presents itself as a fictional history that spans over a century.  It focuses primarily on the lives of the Targaryens, but as a family group they are sprawling (even with the incest).  The House of the Dragon title sequence visualises a family tree, and hops down four generations before a living character is even considered.  The show cannot afford to have the sprawl that the source material does.  For one thing, it is as much an adaptation of Game of Thrones as it is of Fire and Blood.  The show cannot afford to change its style greatly, lest it alienate an already disenfranchised audience.  This extends to episode count and structure.  We all know that something big will go down in episode nine, because this is what happened in Game of Thrones.  It also makes less sense to have a long timeline on television.  Changing actors reduces the coherency in characterisation, as a character is being passed off to a new performer.  The show reduces this as a problem by shortening the timeline.  We approach the beginning of the story much later, when Rhaenyra is fourteen instead of eight, so that we will not have to wait long for the real story to start.  It also allows for fewer cast changes.  The show has made it its business to leave the ages of the characters unknowable, so that Fabien Frankel can play Criston Cole from early twenties into middle age, and Matt Smith can walk around the screen in various wigs, the passage of time otherwise inscrutable.  There is one major cast change for Alicent (Emily Carey) and Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), along with two subsidary changes for Laenor and Laena.  (On a side note, Laena and Laenor are portrayed as younger than Rhaenyra in the show, when it would have been feasible to have them as the same age, therefore reducing the number of cast changes again by one).  The move was effective, as people became attached to the original cast, having enough time with them to appreciate them as performers, whilst allowing praise for the later cast and their ability to mimic their forebears. 

  House of the Dragon gives us far more intimate time with these characters than any of its source material ever could.  The source material, resembling entries on a wikia, skates over characterisation in a manner that makes it appear repetitive.  Alicent seems like a proto-Cersei, her terrible son Aegon nothing more than an older Joffrey.  Rhaenyra may as well be the Daenerys that we never got to see onscreen.  Viserys is Robert Baratheon.  Mysaria has a lot to do with Melisandre, and Fire and Blood characters Tyanna of the Tower and Alys Rivers.  Otto Hightower may as well be a less brutal Tywin Lannister.  Cregan Stark has a certain similarity to his most famous descendant.  It is part of a flaw that I perceive in the worldbuilding.  This world is repetitive.  It scarcely gets any technological advancement, and the political units are consistent and easy to understand.  It is not realistic, but often treated as such by its fans.  The great houses have personality traits that are carried down the generations.  The Starks are always honourable, the Lannisters cunning, the Baratheons tough.  House of the Dragon gives us more intimate scenes.  There are fewer battles (though I expect more are to come), and more conversations over dinner.   It is most different perhaps, in is treatment of women.  The women in Game of Thrones didn't exactly get the short shrift in comparison to the paucity of complex female characters in television, but they weren't narratively wondrous either.  Most of the more complex female characters eschewed femininity to gain character depth (such as Brienne, Arya, Lyanna Mormont, and to an extent Cersei).  This was, of course, not true for everyone.  But characters like Catelyn (who never favoured masculinity over femininity) were killed off.  Characters like Sansa and Daenerys (both women who had to grow into power, without the masculine coded swords favoured by others) were written with less and less complexity as time went on.  House of the Dragon does a little better, but also a little worse.  Alicent is a rare character whose reduction in agency from page to screen increases the complexity of the character.  Instead of being a proto-Cersei who exercises power badly in an attempt to ape the actions of her tyrant father, Alicent is the dutiful daughter and wife who emulates all the traits she is supposed to, but only suffers for it.  She is unabashedly feminine, and explicitly resents Rhaenyra's ability to be feminine and unbeaten by the patriarchy.  This theme is far from subtext.  It's pretty much text.  Rhaenyra, operating under Targaryen exceptionalism, does what she likes.  She sleeps with her uncle and her knight and the captain of the city watch.  All while Alicent is denied all possible sexual freedom.  The costumes did wonders to portray this.  Rhaenyra, who is pregnant twice more than Alicent is, wears dresses that do not emphasise said fact.  Several of her dresses she wears while not pregnant, as they have ties at the front that can be tightened or loosened to accommodate her belly.  Meanwhile Alicent, in the third episode, wears a dress that emphasises her pregnant belly.  Her power (and identity) only come from carrying the king's heirs, while Rhaenyra gets to have power under her own name.  Alicent wears red and pink in the third episode, and a hairnet that ages her.  She dresses in the colours that Viserys' first wife Aemma wears in the opening scene.  Later, Alicent wears dresses that have a similar shape to Aemma, even when she is in green.  Viserys, a far more compelling character in the series than in the book, has an arc focused on the love he has for his first wife.  He seemingly keeps Rhaenyra on as his heir to assuage his guilt for the part he had in the death of her mother (traumatic birth scenes both promoting a feminist point of view, whilst simultaneously being gratuitous).  This character trait makes Viserys more compelling, whilst also making him a worse person.  It makes Alicent more of an object to him.  A comfort he can take to make him forget what he did to his first wife.

In future, I do hope that House of the Dragon removes some of the more gratuitous details of the book.  It has thus far adapted Fire and Blood quite faithfully, while allowing that there is potential doubt, owing to the nature of the book's narrative.  I enjoyed the accidental death of Lucerys so much, because it allowed Aemond guilt.  Instead of being an evil stock character, too similar to his uncle, he is a foolish child, who now has to atone for his actions while fighting on the side of his brother.  Performances, like the one by Tom Glynn-Carney, have pulled back some of the more dire characterisations.  But as we move towards the story's cruellest and cheapest plot point (Blood and Cheese, for those in the know), I honestly hope they change it more.

[db-reviews]

#117 - Laminated Denim - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard (2022)

Who can complain about more King Gizz in their lives? A band with such a consistently good discography with works of all varieties. They never leave me bored, and they haven’t now. This is their 2nd studio release this month after their mouthful of a record Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, And Lava. In this album, we get a sequel to their once vinyl exclusive I.D.M. album, Made In Timeland, a 30-minute album with two 15-minute songs. Much like that album, we have a 30-minute record with two 15-minute songs, however, they continue their more jammy sound from Omnium Gatherum (specifically in The Dripping Tap) and Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, And Lava, combing their psychedelic progressive rock sound, with a bit of a space rock or krautrock tint to their lense. Believe it or not, this is one of the strongest and most masterfully done Gizzard records I have heard so far in their career, strangely enough.

The first of only two songs, The Land Before Timeland, introduce you into this world the band has made up and takes you on a tour through lush guitars, harmonies, drummings, and melodies that wrap you around this rather calm yet still jammy song. What I love most about this is that even with the calm demeanor you can still feel the rising action. As the song progresses things get faster, more chords are introduced, and this jovial sense of wonder gets refined more and more. It doesn’t blow down the doors at the end, but there is a clear sense of movement and change within the music. I just adore the mood this song has. It is so fun and bouncy that it just makes me get into a good mood. This applies to most King Gizzard songs but here is how they capture it and let it ride and rise through this 15-minute jam makes me, in my mind, clap with joy. This is an aspect that I dig with the original Made In Timeland album and while things felt within the same song, you can tell things changed despite the consistency. Here they also do that but even better. It doesn’t even feel like 15 minutes, it is like taking a nice long shower and getting out as if time hadn’t passed at all. It is almost spooky how a good long song does that. What a song, and it isn’t even the only one.

With the rising action of The Land Before Timeland, we jump into Hypertension, which is also fantastic. Here you can fear their energy just pouring, but still retaining the beauty and happiness the last song portrayed. I love King Gizzard due to how no matter what genre they twist and turn to they will always keep the mood up consistently. Never once in their discography, from their garage rock era to their brief ventures in synthpop did I feel their vibes and energy lose their weight. I think here they are capturing that energy into a photograph and stapling it in their photo album because I can just feel it all with this song. Fast-moving guitars, unique drum patterns, eccentric vocals, extremely satisfying bass patterns, and even some keyboards were added in for good measure. Every aspect here plays a role, and the roles they play are so well done that the band can play a game of chess blindfolded and still win. They are just that well performed. That ending too of those choir singing-like synths just raises the bar further and further until it falls apart and we get back into the fun-filled jams until that also falls apart with an immediate release of tension that builds up throughout the record. I'd say that is a great way to end this boisterous record.

Funny how one of the shortest King Gizzard albums turns out to be one of, if not the best albums they have put out. Just two songs and it’s already one of my favorite albums of this year. It is such a fun listen that does not take very long in establishing itself in my brain. It is fast, jovial, and some of the best works the band has put out in this month, if not in this year, if not in their entire careers. I recommend listening to this. Grab a pair of headphones and just let the music wash you away with those groovy grooves and those beautiful arrangements.

5/5