#like the whole song fits them so seamlessly

[paintedlady-bluespirit]

Can someone pretty please point me in the direction of a zutara edit that uses ‘the great war’ by taylor swift???

[neil-perrys-reincarnation]

Star Trek AMV Masterpost (ongoing)

I feel like amvs are so often forgotten in fandom culture, so here's a list of my favourites! All are on YouTube, and all credit goes to the original creators. the links should take you straight there. (the majority of these are spirk, but there's definitely variety!!) some of these are pretty popular, others obscure, but they're all amazing and you should totally check them out. My all time fav ones are marked with a 💙.

Spirk:

Star Trek || A Thousand Years - [Kirk/Spock] -- this one is super well known, incredibly crafted, a beautiful homage to TOS Spirk and their journey that fades seamlessly into AOS through Spock Prime's memories 💙

Kirk/Spock - If I Were Gay -- absolutely hilarious TOS amv that feels like a parody, I laughed my ass off. all the suggestive scenes and hella funny lyrics to accompany it

Kirk & Spock │Renegades -- amazing x ambassadors song, the lyrics fit them so well and the colouring was spot on. TOS going through the original series and the movies!! 💙

Kirk & Spock │ Come right back to you -- exploration of TOS spirk's bond interspersed with show quotes and the most melancholic soundtrack. shed a tear at this one

Spock and Kirk Feel Again - A Star Trek Music Video -- absolute BANGER of a One Republic song, a TOS amv focusing on Spock and Kirk (with some stunning song parallels to Spock's emotions and the lyrics!)

Star Trek TOS | Two Slow Dancers - [Kirk + Spock] -- would you like to cry today? do you want to sob into your pillow? then this is the video for you. Mitski and TOS Spirk together is a gorgeous combo, and the editing is /on point/

Star Trek - Can't Help Falling In Love (Kirk/Spock) -- an oldie but a goodie, Jim and Spock's ballad of love all throughout TOS and the movies

Keep Holding On (Kirk/Spock) -- its the combo you never knew you needed! glee and Star Trek!! show tunes, glitter, and a completely TOS movie based amv about the events of Search For Spock and The Voyage Home

Running Up That Hill (Kirk/Spock) -- Kate Bush cover and Star Trek TOS? yes fucking please. don't diss the Kate Bush, people. ITS NOT CRINGE HERE. all your swoon-worthy, love-for-the-ages spirk content, some suggestive scenes spliced in the middle, a lot of amok time hehe

K/S (Kirk/Spock) - FUN -- adrenaline inducing AOS spirk fighting amv set to Troye Sivan!! some seriously talented editing and a very pretty AOS colouring

Spirk 'Blank Space' -- christ, this video was what got me to actually watch AOS. One of the only AOS amvs I cherish with my whole heart. the song is a cover of Taylor Swift's Blank Space - and imo it's even better than the original. I've ranted about the editing on a lot of these but this one just about takes the cake. fucking gorgeous 💙

Spock/Kirk - Blue (Star Trek TOS/AOS) -- angsty af and set to Halsey's 'Colors', this one'll get you sobbing. more slow-paced. also, both TOS and AOS!!

Spock / Kirk - Stay {TOS/AOS} -- Hurts is such an underrated artist but so many of their songs are spirk coded!! Very pretty edit, lots of parallels

Kirk/Spock - Landslide -- Fleetwood Mac and some lovely melancholic TOS movie reminiscing about Kirk and Spock's relationship as they're growing older and losing their youth

Kirk/Spock - Wait for It -- calling all Hamilton fans, this one'll be right up your alley. TOS fading into AOS and focusing primarily on Kirk and Spock's dynamic through Spock's perspective. fast paced and fucking wicked

Star Trek: Kirk/Spock || Hold on -- the obligatory Hold On amv (I feel like every fandom has one lol). AOS, spirk, some great angst here!

James T. Kirk:

James T. Kirk | I'll Be Good -- absolutely STUNNING exploration of AOS Kirk's character and psyche, done with gorgeous editing and colours and scene selection. I'm not a huge AOS fan but I played this on repeat for a week. Song is I'll Be Good by Jaymes Young, which is incredibly Jim Kirk coded. so so amazing 💙

Icarus | Jim Kirk [HD] -- snappy cuts and a great portrayal of AOS Kirk. Spirky undertones but nothing explicit. super poignant lyrics

Little Talks - Captain Kirk Tribute: A Star Trek Music Video -- captivating, beautifully edited amv by First Officer Nims (who make some of the best amvs I've watched), one of the most meaningful TOS Kirk videos I've had the pleasure of finding. It's constantly in my head, in my heart, in my soul. 10/10 💙

{James T. Kirk} BI BI BI -- all y'all bi Jim truthers, this one's for you. all of Jim's fruitiest moments from TOS (and behind the scenes) gathered into one camp edit and set to the glorious sounds of NSYNC!! featuring "are there men on this planet", "they seem to be bisexual" and Jim nearly kissing McCoy ;) 💙

jim kirk's babiest moments | fanvid -- not exactly an amv but it's close enough!! exactly what it says on the tin - TOS Jim being the most babygirl ever, pouting, flirting with spock and bones, fighting people by throwing himself at them, and much more. go watch it, you'll thank me

Spones:

What's On Your Mind | Spones || Star Trek [TOS] -- a masterfully put together and downright hilarious eighties-themed spock/bones TOS amv!! (featuring both Nimoy and Kelley's voices in the actual song recording)

Spock & Bones • Hopeless place -- two words: RIHANNA COVER. it's short, its AOS, it's fuckin Rihanna. what is there not to love? I have nothing more to say. go listen to Rihanna

The Night We Met || Spones -- Lord Huron and TOS Spones amv, it's just a general lovely video, great editing and the lyrics fit them so well. I felt Lots of Emotions watching this, and so will you

[Star Trek] Spock/McCoy - Please Don't Leave Me -- beautifully put-together video for TOS' Spock and Bones. It's giving so much 'we're divorced but still in love' energy. painful and funny and the bridge of the song is just *screams incoherently* 💙

You Had A Bad Day -Spock/McCoy *Slash* -- sobbing at this one, TOS and absolutely chefs kiss. scene selection is on point, it tells a full story. creator has found what I consider to be the holy grail of Bones' best angsty moments

Star Trek In General:

Star Trek - This Is Me -- I will be preaching about this video for the rest of my fucking life. think of every positive adjective you can; they all do nothing to describe how wonderful this amv is. Greatest Showman is good on its own... when you add Star Trek into the mix something beautiful happens. an absolute anthem of positivity and inclusivity and everything Star Trek is at its heart. Clips taken from every show, but especially DS9, Discovery and the AOS movies!!! probably my favourite on the whole list 💙

Star Trek || I'll keep coming -- very very well done HD AOS amv about the whole cast. feels like a movie. the creator has put so much effort into this and it pays off!! great homage to AOs as a whole

Star Trek | You Are Loved -- AOS tribute to the soundtrack of Lights by Sleeping At Last. Perfect cuts, great lyrics, big fan

[Star Trek: TOS] Party Rock Anthem -- the video for those who want to bust their ass laughing. superb chaos, you will have no idea what's happening and it will be fabulous

Star Trek DS9 - Last Friday Night -- the DS9 group bullshitting around and having a whale of a time for almost four minutes straight. ever wanna show a friend just how weird Star Trek really is? this'll do it. it's like if three hundred punch drunk aliens threw a queer party! wahoo!

Assorted Others:

Garak x Bashir - Hooked -- sexy, dangerous, catchy garashir amv with perfect beat drops and lyrics to die for. fucking sweet, I have this on repeat

Undisclosed Desires | Deep Space Nine -- DS9 Bashir/Garak slash, amazing editing and a sick ass song. Really shows off their - again - dangerous dynamic and the 'I can make him better' 'I can accept his violence' aspects of their relationship

King of Shadow ★ Garashir -- a more intimate, kind-hearted look into Bashir/Garak's relationship, less fast-paced and on-edge. Superb and filled with lies and whispers. love this one!

ϟ twenty years || Jim|Spock|Bones [TOS] -- melancholic but still quick-paced TOS McSpirk exploration. goes through the original series and the movies

Scotty/Uhura- "Hey Soul Sister" -- sweet and utterly adorable lil scotty/uhura amv. fluff fluff and more fluff!! big fan, I am such a simp for the cuteness omg

Garak/Bashir | ST: DS9 | Some Boys -- back on the dangerous garashir shit, this is the stuff of my best nightmares. amazing editing and the song choice is spot on. I've had the single by Death Cab For Cutie on Spotify repeating for a week *heart eyes*

Kathryn Janeway || Soldier -- I'm a big Voyager fan, and this is the perfect tribute to Janeway. It shows exactly how her character works, getting right into her head, and the whole thing is action packed. Paced spectacularly and argh just amazing

Those are some of my favourites!! Please go check some of them out! There are so many more, and the list is growing every day. AMV creators are amazing and I'm kissing you all on the forehead. thank you for your service 💙. I'm in the process of making a public YouTube playlist with all of these on it, so if you want to have that I'll probably link it eventually!!

[desomniis]

to ask for your hand (I just pray that its mine) | Chapter 3 excerpt

After clinching his third career win at the Vegas GP, Carlos wakes up to a wedding band on his finger and his teammate, Charles, wearing the exact match.

WIP | 3/5 | 18,130 words | Accidental Drunk Marriage in Vegas AU | Fluff | Angst | Drama

‼️WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD‼️

“No! I will set the music,” Carlos argued, keeping Charles at arm's length so he could scroll through Spotify, looking for the perfect song for their first dance as newlyweds. They were in his suite’s living room, just the two of them. Lando and Pierre already back in their own hotel rooms, shit-faced drunk.

“I think I will choose a better music, please.” Charles plead.

“Ah, so you think you have better taste than me.”

“I definitely have better taste than you. I play the piano.”

“And my theme song is Smooth Operator. The best song ever.”

Charles laughed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Carlos laughed along. “Yours does not make sense either.”

“Baby, come on, please. I want to pick our song.”

Carlos considered it for a moment. “Okay, but no sad music. I know you.”

“I’ll choose something nice, I promise.”

“And you won’t argue with me when I teach you how to dance,” Carlos added.

Charles nose scrunched ever so slightly. “You make it seem like I’m so bad at dancing.”

“You are. I can already feel you stepping on my toes. So, do you agree or no?”

“Okay. I won't argue.”

Carlos handed Charles the phone, a pleasant ache settling in Carlos’ chest as he watched Charles excitedly pick their song. After a moment of scrolling, the soft strums of guitar filled the room. Lover of Mine by John Vincent III, the screen showed.

“Okay, Professor Sainz, show me how to dance.” Charles stood stiff, hands on his sides like a soldier.

“Professor Sainz-Leclerc,” Carlos corrected, emphasising on Leclerc.

Charles giggled. “Oh, I’m sorry, Professor Sainz-Leclerc.”

“Corretto! Such a good student. Now, let’s see how you do. So, first, you go like this,” he took one of Charles’ hands and placed it on his shoulder, resting his own on Charles' hips. “Then, give me your other hand.” Their hands aligned, palms open. Their fingers interlaced with each other, fitting together as seamlessly like two pieces of a puzzle. Charles' hands were cold, just like the gold of his ring, glinting under the light. Carlos remembered the words etched underneath: Finchè no ci separi. ‘Till death do us part.

Carlos continued, “And then—watch my feet—you move like, ta, ta, ta, ta and ta, ta, ta, ta. Simple.” He moved his feet just like how Mama taught her.

“Ohhh, Easy! I got this,” Charles said, mimicking Carlos’ movement, focusing on his feet. It went well the first few steps before he managed to step on Carlos' toe. Charles’ head shot up, wide eyes, lips pursed and dimples out—guilty as a deer caught in the headlights. He burst into a fit of giggles—music to Carlos’ ears—his head instinctively falling on Carlos’ shoulder, making him stumble a little.

It would've made Carlos’ heart flutter if he wasn't trying to stomach the pain. “You got this, you say,” he chided.

“I’m sorry. I swear, I won’t do it again,” he promised, looking back at his feet to make another attempt.

“Uhuh, you say, but then you’ll step on my— Agh!” Charles stepped on his toes again, as predicted. “Now you’re just doing it on purpose.”

“No, I promise, I’m not. I thought I got this.” He was still giggling. “Show me again, please. I want to get it right.”

“You have to move together with me, just follow my steps.”

"Okay. Together," Charles repeated, shuffling his feet, trying to get it right. "So, we either move together or nothing.”

“That’s right. Together or nothing.”

Carlos showed him again. And again. And again. Until Charles stopped stepping on his toes, until he finally found the rhythm, until they were actually dancing, swaying slowly around the room. Just the two of them in each other's arms, hands intertwined, together in their own world.

Read the whole chapter here. Ask me questions!

[yusiyomogi]

outer wilds ending SPOILERS

i love dlc with my whole heart, because it expands the game and the main story seamlessly, while also giving us a lot of new stuff to figure out. but not enough people talk about how nicely it complements the thematic component of the game. i've said before that i don't believe that death, as some people say, is the game's main theme. basically i don't think that outer wilds should be called a game about death, because there're more important and powerful themes in the game's narrative and gameplay. that said, death plays a major role in outer wilds and we're supposed to interact with it constantly in some interesting and unique ways.

when you think about it, the travellers you meet in the original game's ending all represent some important theme for the game (and all of them also connect to the core gameplay). feldspar represents the undying spirit of exploration and adventure, esker represents bittersweet loneliness of space, chert represents scientific discovery and all the existential dread that comes with it, gabbro represents somewhat spiritual serenity in the face of unfathomable cosmic forces, riebeck represents the importance of history and archeology that connects us to the past, but also endless anxiety that outer space gives us. finally, solanum represents pure curiosity and endless desire for new knowledge - and of course, the collective historical effort it takes to build a path to that knowledge.

each of those elements are important for the game, all of those feelings we can empathize with while we're playing outer wilds. but in the original game, one traveller was missing, as you can see, and it's someone who'd represent last major theme, the acceptance of death. you could say, that role'd be fulfilled by hatchling, but i think it's better to say that they have connection to all of those themes in some ways.

but holy hell, dlc gave us exactly what was missing. one final note, one final theme that was missing in the campfire song, you may say. a person, who was stuck living in the virtual prison for thosands of years, chained by the ignorance and fear and grief of their people, unable to move on. just like "we" are stuck in the time loop, chained only by either own ignorance or unwillingness to end our journey. prisoner accepts death easily, as soon as they learn that the eye of the universe was discovered thanks to their action - and they invite us to that final journey with them, because we can only move on and get true ending by letting go of our fear of death. and it fits so well, so nicely with the rest of the story, it almost feels like we were always supposed to look for that final theme just to end the game properly.

[originemesis]

Spill it! Are you in love with Lute?

There's a furrowing of brows followed by a testy click of talons along a desk and finished with a derisive little snort. Just why everyone is so emotionally invested in his and his lieutenant's affairs is beyond his understanding- and technically his pay grade to prattle pretty about. Plus, it's not like anything he could regurgitate in regards to the matter would ever suffice as an acceptable answer to anyone whom would ask him such a question other than her that made up the subject of its inquiry. Perhaps that was why he was apt to play his word games, because at least if he could undermine the overall intelligence of a third party, he'd get something out of the exchange that wasn't the rolled eyes and rancor of someone who had already decided the answer for him as seamlessly as creation had decided his past partners with an unspoken but settling sentiment of 'suck it up'. Such engagements had always been with an end goal in mind- and he'd be dishonest if he didn't enter into most- if not all manner of relations under the premises of progress pistoned out of a need demanded of the first few to forge- that twit angels would glamorize and see as some pristine privilege they could but pine over and wonder the lot of mortals to be so miserable to shoulder it's cause.

Perhaps that was why he and his ever the sanctimonious superior seemed so at odds at times. He was so often given women that were to be of some service to his role that would have been retired by now had it not been for the whole extermination business that it seemed he was incapable of a deeper level of care that extended past provider...later teacher in the case of his lieutenant.

But what good was a right hand if it didn't align with what actions he needed take? What good was a rib that did not shelter a heart so easily dismantled were it not for his own ruthlessness aimed toward combative interception? When there was no need for the latter thanks to the curated deeds of his right hand in cutting down the obstacles that would impede his designs, then his hand was not only concerned with how it clasped the axe in it, but also the strings attached to the instrument that his weapon also served purpose, even if it was one barely understood by those that heard the sharp edge of a soul used to shatter so many in a singular strum.

Sometimes it just sounded like music- because that was really all it ever was- brought to life by a song in the garden in the same amount of days it took to create the fucking world. A right hand would know that along with every chord and trembled wrist. And she did.

"For the record, no one is ever 'in' love with anything. It's not a damned Olympic sized pool you just topple in one day because you didn't see on the horizon and it's not something you claw your way out of and leave whoever else fell in to drown. Sure, some would love to spin it that way so they can claim you're only 'in' love with a process. Maybe an idea someone becomes instead of themselves. But that's because seraphim exist in a vacuum where you 'live, laugh, love' without any semblance of why. Without the hard shit. Gravel on bare feet's a hard concept for those with wings. I might have them now, but I don't hold my approval at a jumping height because I have the wherewith-fuck-all to recognize you don't just love what you're given and stop at any sustained faults. You get those together ~ until your edges fit so finite that anything set to pry them apart can get fucked." Talons fan ever so briefly enough to intertwine and steeple as if ending the prayer of his own musings with culpable if not condescending smile.

"I am."

[letters-adressed-to-the-fire]

Okay let me decode that one line in fortnight

Move to Florida, buy the car you want But it won't start up 'til you touch, touch, touch me.

So, this verse took me a moment to grasp, but essentially, it conveys the sentiment that “you can have everything you desire, but without me, it won’t be the same”. But how?

Well, the opening line “Move to Florida, buy the car you want” conveys the notion that they could get whatever they want, they could buy whatever they believe brings them happiness, but when followed by “but it won’t start till you touch me”, it’s establishing that all of that stuff won’t matter if they are not together.

In the context of the song, which explores a “what if” scenario where Taylor is pondering what they could have had, albeit in a very melancholic way where she envisions a bleak future without him, this part of the outro tries to depict both the anger and the dreading longing of both people. This is even more evident in the shift in perspective, from “It won’t start till I touch you”, indicating the person's need for their lost partner to be whole again, to “It won’t start till you touch me”, where the person acknowledges that their ex-lover needs them in the same way and is somewhat challenging them to choose, they could try to go on without them even though they know they won’t be happy, or they could come back.

Besides the fact that this verse is in my favorite part of the song while also blending Taylor and Post Malone’s vocals seamlessly, it just FITS perfectly the experience of harboring resentment towards someone you still love or need. Like, you can still recall and acknowledge how dire the situation was, yet it cannot erase the depth of emotions and shared history you had with that person. Mundane activities start to lose their significance as you are now haunted by the void left by that person in your day-to-day life. Naturally, you miss them, and you can’t help but wonder that perhaps, in some twisted manner, it was and it still is, all worth it.

(+ We must stan how they referenced the other collaboration in the album)

[clark-reviews]

Album Review: 👍🏼Recommend

Lana Del Rey, Incense, The #1 Male Sex Toy in the World, and the Auto Play feature on YouTube Music?

The secret recipe for turning people into Taylor Swift fans isn't once size fits all, in fact, when it comes to the moment a talented artist grabs your attention for the first time, I think of it more like a meet cute. Cupid doesn't care who you're with either, he's sneaky like that. I had no intention of listening to "Midnights". In fact, Taylor Swift wasn't even on my Pop music radar until she infiltrated my bedroom solo act, with Lana's masterpiece, "Born To Die", as the sonic backdrop I had consented to.

As though Lana had lovingly snuck Taylor into the room and revealed her as a surprise birthday gift, "Snow On The Beach" auto played right after Lana's album ending track, "Lucky Ones". I have to admit, as though I was audibly blindfolded, when Taylor's track started, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I couldn't tell them apart! "Snow On The Beach" has Lana's red lipstick-stained cigarette butts all over it. She seamlessly weaves in and out of Taylor's (surprisingly) sultry vocal delivery, never taking control of the song. But she's there in the room, the whole time, making sure I'm still okay with this cunning sleight of hand.

My second order of business for the night was to check and see if Lana had just silently dropped an album on me without telling me first. One that included this new song. To my surprise, it's on Taylor Swift's new album!? As a man who appreciates a good musical rabbit hole, I delved further and started "Midnights" from the top. Because "What's the big idea?" and whatnot.

To be perfectly honest, I chuckled at the title of the first track "Lavender Haze". My mind immediately connected it to "Purple Rain" and well... It was a cute moment. I've since read that this album contains Easter eggs, albeit, this may not be one of them. I hit play though and I got smacked in the face with the most uncannily Dua Lipa sounding song on the whole album. This is a good thing though, we like Dua Lipa. And it's refreshing to know that Taylor might have taken some influence from her, and chose to give her a lovely nod to begin the album.

"Maroon" is an interesting track as well, because it's always the second track that sets the pace of an album, in my opinion. Just as a single note isn't a melody until there's a second note to compliment it. In music theory this is called an interval. And in this case, the previous track was in B-flat Major, and "Maroon' is in G Major. Not to get too technical, but this interval the first two tracks created is called a "minor 3rd" (m3). For reference, the first two notes of Moonlight Sonata form a minor 3rd. I already know this album is going to be a little bit sad. And boy did it deliver! Because "Anti-Hero" is in E Major, and we now have a descending diminished arpeggio taking us into the third song. Taylor is building suspence with this track order!

In most albums, you'll find that the third track is almost always a single. "Anti-Hero" comes in loud and clear. Taylor's voice is now front and center with that gorgeous verse melody. The starting lyric is "I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser" and her command of that falsetto on the word "thing" sells the lyric to me at full-price every time. What a mature delivery, to attach to such a doubtful line about oneself, but sing it so confidently. There's something special about this song. It's a song about insecurities, and I'm humbled to hear it sung so proudly. Whatever she was going through, seems now resolved. We enjoy those moments, don't we.

After "Snow On The Beach" we have a few more tracks that seem to explore even further -Taylor's latest pop sensibilities, with "Bejeweled" being the bubbliest one of all. For my personal preference, I wasn't too impressed with it. The song seems a bit crowded with too many lyrics and Taylor seems to breathe between words at odd moments. It's probably more suitable for fans of her previous bodies of work. Let's just say that if "Bejeweled" had played after "Lucky Ones", I wouldn't be writing this review, and I would have never heard one of the most hauntingly beautiful pop songs I've ever listened to, and it's been on repeat since 11:47pm last night...

*Song Spotlight*

That song is "Labyrinth", and it has the honor of a spotlight. Let's listen together.

If Labyrinth doesn't successfully heal any emotional wounds of yours, then it'll proceed to inflict one, clean it, dress it, and kiss it for you.

This song took me back to 2012. I'd met a beautiful young lady at an airport terminal in Copenhagen on my way back from visiting my mother in Norway. We had a meet cute that led to us spending the next 32 hours holding hands, loitering the airport, waiting for her to tell me to smile again and again, and wishing to never go home. As I finally boarded the flight that separated us, she kissed me on the lips for the first time since we'd met. It was at that moment that "Labyrinth" should have started playing over the loudspeakers. Because in my mind, when I think of that moment, this song belongs to it. This song gave me closure, and I'm grateful.

To close out the album, we have the cleverly celebratory lyrics of "Karma", the rich and sweet nostalgia-inducing "Sweet Nothings", and "Mastermind" could have very well been the first song on the album, because it perfectly encapsulates the lyrical pretenses of every song on this album. She's acknowledging that she's in control of every rushing memory she penned to the sheet, every winding road she willingly drove while sitting in the driver's seat.

Taylor Swift took me on a ride with this album, and I'm inspired to take her up on her next foray into the throws of adult womanhood. I have trust in her now.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 15/05/2024

Mallstep‼️

Season 8 No Album Release (Read More)

Ripped by BluLuigi7

Can I just say: I am SO happy to see that Jay Eazy posting is still going so strong past January 7th? Like, we pretty firmly established back with Hella Pummel that venula is the champion of Jay Eazy posting, but we've had tons of other talented rippers take their own crack at it - there's circunflexo back with You Are Book Smart, of course, but also the focus of today's rip - BluLuigi7. After making the first-ever Jay Eazy Raft Ride with She Gon Make Me Ride On Her Raft Like I'm Link‼️, he's finally ready for the main stage with perhaps one of my favorite Jay Eazy rips to date - or, if nothing else, one of the most creative ones.

See, a lot of people still only really know Jay Eazy as the funny Mega Man rapper, and fair enough - it is a very funny video, and a lot of his music sounds rather...homogeneous, for lack of a better word. But there is a silver lining to his songs sounding so similar, in that rips like Mallstep‼️ are able to leverage different ones at the same time without it clashing. Indeed, Mega Man is only one part of the rip, the part that introduces the rip with the iconic "Yo bro, why are you doing that??" - but after the most iconic bars of said song drop, it changes seamlessly to using Respect Your Elders without missing a beat. And honestly, that's absolutely the right call for a song like Pigstep, I think Respect Your Elder's flow fits the track far better - but I love that Mega Man still gets incorporated AT THE SAME TIME as the former song, with it being used as a backing layer to the whole thing.

It's just a very clever rip all around, tons of small touches you'd otherwise find unneeded but just make the rip funnier in the long run - small uses of sound effects call to mind rips like Locked In The Underground except here done explicitly for comedic purposes, playing a sudden Nutshack sample when Jay Eazy says "nuts" or a reverb fart SFX far in the distance when the lyrics mention "shittin' on 'em". It's primarily a mashup at first, but with tons of these small additions throughout, little edits to how Respect Your Elders flows through Pigstep's ebb-and-flow lead melody, all of course culminating in a fully pitch shifted section at the rip's melody. The Jamminest Of All is a recent example of it, but these kinds of surprise pitch-shifting rips are always a favorite - it can be overbearing at times if done for an entire rip, yet it adds just enough variety when used as spice to an already fantastic rip like it is here.

The point is - a rip like Mallstep‼️ is at once very funny through its concept alone, but elevated even more through how prominently BluLuigi7's own character shines through it. It feels like a flex in the best ways possible, a big grab-bag of additional notes onto an already super-solid rip. The star of the show, fittingly enough, is the short little nod to Starboy near the rips end, which was the joke in one of the first-ever Pigstep rips on the channel in I'm a motherh*cking Starpig, a rip that's evidently still remembered fondly even four years later. I received a comment a while back noting that nobody loves SiIvaGunner as much as the team itself, and it's the stuff like what Mallstep‼️ pulls that keeps reminding me of that: the rips made by people like BluLuigi7 who just love having fun with their ideas althewhile paying small tributes to past rips on the channel. Hugely popular rips like Stickerbrush Queen are far from the only ones to get references like this, and it always makes me so happy to see, to be reminded that each individual ripper has their internal web of rips that means more to them than I've ever considere that they could.

Back to the rip as a whole, though - it just kind of bangs in that very particular Jay Eazy way. For as stupid as his music may be to some, it's difficult not to love with everything that the meme of his music has wrought. So much passion from the side of the internet that just loves to have fun spawned purely from a guy promoting his music in a bizarre way on TikTok, and Mallstep‼️ is just one of many examples - a rip that has fun with its concept, fun with the very channel its on, but most crucially of all exudes the fun energy of its very ripper in spades. To say that I'm happy that Jay Eazy is a reoccurring gag on the channel would be a grave understatement: I'm looking forward to just how many fun ways his music will be reinterpreted with next with far too much excitement, and thus far SiIvaGunner has not yet failed to deliver in regards to fresh ways to go about it.

[petitmimosa]

SO.

Let’s start with what I didn’t enjoy so I can gush about the rest. 

The leading up to them kissing was too fast paced for me. I understand the struggle of having to make their written conversations into actual scenes and how long it would be to have it follow the natural pace I’d imagined but it lasts about 20 minutes and it’s too quick. The fact that they didn’t include the Christmas phone call, even if rearranged to fit the movie plot, was truly a negative for me. It has Alex be that much vulnerable which would have been the perfect door to the NYE buildup. Maybe it had all the funny banter and not the vulnerable/deep details I needed? I can’t fault them too much for that because the format is to judge here. I know amazon only agreed to a movie but UGH a mini series would have been so good. Hulu why on earth did you not jump at the chance?

I don’t miss June so much it turns out, but I missed Luna. I didn’t care much for Miguel even if they tied his character to the plot nicely.

I’m tired of seeing that damn rue de l’abreuvoir in every movie/show that shows Paris. And those tablecloths? Don’t mind me, it’s my parisian ass being a snob. 

Henry’s fashion style OH MY GOD. And it’s not even a cliché because we’ve all seen the royals for years, looking like high strung puppets with ancient jumpers as they’re called.

The King and Philip scene was too quick as well. The whole I'm gonna take this to Parliament in the book was so strong it spoiled any other ending for me.

That’s about it I think. 

First and foremost, and I don’t see how anyone can disagree: the chemistry is ON POINT. It flows seamlessly yet is palpable the whole time. I love how Nick and Taylor played Henry and Alex as people. As men yes, but I have the feeling they’d have played them the same had it been a het love story. And I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy that. You know when an actor is thinking “it’s another man opposite me”. You see it plain as day. Not here. They cared a lot about these characters and this story and it shows and it is beautiful. They have crazy sexy chemistry as well which doesn't hurt. I was either grinning like an idiot or trying not to advert my eyes from the screen because there were moments I felt like I shouldn't be watching. They saw the no chemistry allegations and said not today satan, not today.

They casted Henry and Alex so right. Nick has such a vulnerable and open acting, the doubts, the pain, the heartbreak just jump at you and bring you down with him. The NYE countdown part? Where he sees Alex kissing two women and it's not jealousy over them but over the fact that Alex has a freedom he'll never have? Love.

And Taylor... Taylor is the perfect Alex. The bright, exhuberant, confident man who’ll stop at nothing for those he loves. Perfect cast, which you need when the whole movie revolves about two human beings falling in love and fighting for it.

Nora! That’s why I didn’t miss June so much, I guess. Nora and the place they gave her do it all. And with the movie being 2h, you can’t have a billion characters jumping in and out of the story, she’d have been like Bea and she deserves better, more. So I’m glad they decided to cut her off instead of having be a poor adaptation.

While I didn't enjoy the rhythm and lack of depth, the way they brought their messages to life is genius.

Oh and that might get me in trouble but I’m so glad they didn’t keep Your song for the museum scene. 

Uma Thurman's talking about bottoming was never on my bingo card but it was hilarious.

And last but not least: ZAHRA IS A GODDESS. “Touch me and die.” That’s it.

[thisworldisablackhole]

Listening Log, May 2024

May has been a good month so far. Some highlights that I've already discussed have been One Step Closer, Like Moths To Flames, and Knocked Loose. I've been getting out of my comfort zone and listening to some different kinds of metal lately, so this roundup is gonna be a bit more varied than normal. Yay.

FFO: SOULFUL INDIE, FOLK ROCK

This has been one of the biggest announcements of the year for me personally. Clairo dropped a new song on thursday accompanying the announcement of her new album, which comes out in less than two months! It's refreshing to see an artist not drag out an album release for half a year. "Sexy to Someone" is such a promising first single. We still get the same lush arrangements of instruments that were utilized on Sling, just with a little more snap from the rhythm section which keeps the song grooving at all times. I was a little surprised to see her move away from working with producer Jack Antonoff, because I think what they accomplished together on Sling was a home run, but Leon Michels seems like a fitting choice to push Clairo's sound in a more soulful direction. I am just so excited for this one, I pre ordered the album as soon as I saw the announcement.

FFO: WIERD DISSONANT POST PUNK AND BLACK METAL

Time for a jarring u-turn. First off, this might be my favourite album cover of the year. The sci fi dork in me make me think it looks like someone standing on the moon and gazing through some kind of portal, which is dope (even though that's probably not what it is). This was my first exposure to Inter Arma, and the turn this album took was so unexpected and fascinating to me. New Heaven starts off with some insanely dissonant guitars before turning into a full on blackened death pummel fest that lasts for the first three songs. Guitars are sharp like razor wire, vocals are low and evil, and thanks to the killer production job, the whole thing just thunders with an atmospheric, dark energy. Fourth track "Endless Grey" begins to slowly transition us to the dark side of the moon with an epic instrumental passage of soulfully dueling guitar leads and plodding, funeral-esque drums. Then the second half begins to get really experimental with it's blend of gothic post punk, post metal and neo-folk. It's truly a journey of an album and one that's most likely gonna make it onto my year end list.

FFO: BLACK METAL, ATMOSPHERIC SLUDGE

Glassing were introduced to me as "similar to Hopesfall and Portrayal of Guilt", which was a description that immediately sold me. Two of my favourite bands which both occupy pretty different ranges of the energy spectrum, with Hopesfall being brighter and more atmospheric, and Portrayal of Guilt being downright dystopian and crushing. The crazy thing is, Glassing actually delivers on both of these promises. A sludgy, blackened low end with dismal, sometimes spooky clean/sometimes shrieking vocals topped by atmospheric, "glassy" yet crunchy lead guitars. Unfortunately, I didn't love the album as much as I love those two bands separately. Some of the songs are a bit too plodding and focus intensive for me, and I was a little disappointed by it's lack of flow in the track list. Some of the songs shift seamlessly into each other, while many others have like 5-6 seconds of silence in between them, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but it throws some speed bumps into the listening experience which remind you that you're about to go through another long tunnel of misery.

FFO: DEATH METAL, HARDCORE, MELODEATH

Gatecreeper, Gatecreeper, Gatecreeper. The black sheep of the modern death metal scene. This band has been criticized for their formulaic take on hardcore infused death metal, but Dark Superstition is a welcome surprise which shakes up the band's meta in the best way possible. This album not only features their absolute crunchiest, chunkiest production to date, but it's also their most melodic. Dark Superstition still packs some blistering heaters, but it also quite often veers into pure melodeath territory with harmonized guitar leads and tonally conscious grooves. I wish they went even further with this sound though, because as much as 50% of this album rules, the other 50% just makes me want to listen the The Black Dahlia Murder to get an even more concentrated dose of melodic guitar work.

FFO: PROGRESSIVE METAL WITH ADVENTUROUS MELODIC PARTS

Hijacking The Zeitgeist is another album that I mostly checked due to the album art, but Exist quickly caught me off guard and captured my heart with this one. Metal which is progressive and whimsical while still firmly rooted in traditions of rock n' roll is always a winning recipe for me. This album is just very focused on sick grooves and even sicker riffs. The songs are memorable and structurally familiar with just enough melodic curveballs thrown in to evoke an emotional connection that will keep you coming back.

FFO: POST HARDCORE, EMOTIVE DISSONANCE

Oberst are a band from Norway who make some very tasteful post hardcore that balances melody and dissonance with a masters hand. Toil is a brilliant array of angular, emotive hardcore riffs, and moody rhythms that will leave you gripping your chest. I haven't spent enough time with this album yet, but I think fans of bands like Birds In Row and Loma Prieta should absolutely adore this. Seems like an album with enough depth and subtle ear worms to really reward repeated listens.

FFO: SLUDGE METAL, ROCK N' ROLL I've known that this band is extremely prolific and successful for years, but I've just never been into sludgy stoner metal enough to check them out. Bands like Electric Wizard and Sleep have always bored the shit out of me, call the cops. Fortunately for High on Fire, they fucking rock. Slowed down Motörhead riffs, killer solos and a gruff yet melodically sensible vocalist who commands absolute control over the mid tempo serpent of the metal world.

FFO: METALCORE, HYPER POP, DEFTONES, ZOOMER BRAINROT-CORE

Last but not least, this new BMTH album was just sprung on us with less than a day's notice. It's no secret that this album has been in the works for a really long time, with some of these singles dating back to 2021, but I don't think anyone was expecting for it to drop like that without warning. It's very on brand though, because this album defies a lot of odds. I'll be honest, I haven't cared about this band since 2010, and I thought amo and That's The Spirit were incredibly boring, so I was not expecting this album to be so much damn fun. The mish mash of genres here just works so well for me, combining hyper pop with metalcore and grungy alt metal. It's like BMTH had a baby with underscores and Deftones. This album is 55 minutes long, but the variety keeps it so engaging. It almost feels more like listening to a playlist as opposed to a cohesive album, which I think was an intentional move to capture the attention of todays society of instant gratification induced brain death. I admit, there's some stinkers on this album. In particular I don't looove the way this band does it's Deftones rip off as it feels more like an unoriginal imitation than a fresh spin. Loathe does that type of stuff so much better. Some of the straight up pop songs were a bit lackluster as well, but when the band hits that sweet spot mixing chaotic blasts of electronic pop with metalcore, it just lights up all the right neurons in my brain. I can see why so many people despise this shit, but I think not being a BMTH fan prior, and thus having zero expectations of what they should or should not sound like really made it easy for me to get into this. Going to be spinning this one for a while.

[selfieignite]

July 9, 2023

Excerpt:

The Many Talents of John Cho

While John Cho has managed to deftly go back and forth between comedy and drama his entire career, Ulysses is still quite a wild new type of character for the actor. Grandiose in every way, he makes his entrance on horseback – indoors! – and soon is revealed to have quite the long list of skills and affectations, with his spotlight episode including an intense romance… and a lot of dancing.

King said Cho was always their pick for Ulysses, explaining, “We had him in mind from the beginning. He was the dream cast for that part. And he is very unique in that he is so funny and we met him in comedy, but he is one of the most handsome men on the planet. And then he also has so much charisma, and we threw so many things at him. We were like ‘You have to dance,’ ‘No problem.’ He had to ride a horse. And then we’re like ‘Maybe you can ride it bareback?’ And he’s like ‘No problem.’ He just can do literally anything.”

For his part, Cho said he enjoyed the challenges The Afterparty threw at him, though he suggested perhaps it wasn’t as simple as it looked actually pulling them off. “I love riding horses but I haven’t done it a whole lot. It was just fun to be on a horse though it’s less fun, I guess, to do it indoors, to be on a horse indoors. I had to dismount the horse and go up on stage and sing a song all in one take. And I was like, ‘What am I doing??’ I think I use the rope to dismount the horse and then I was going up on stage singing a tune and doing a little little stepping. It was a lot to do but it was delightful.”

A notable thing about The Afterparty’s format is that the cast need to both create a distinct character and yet also make that character fit into the many genres they appear in throughout the season, since even as one character takes the spotlight for the week, you’ll often see the others appear in their version of events we previously saw. Cho said that was an interesting challenge, remarking. “That’s where you really depend on the showrunners and the creators and the director to guide you, like, ‘How do I modulate this?’ I found myself needing direction more than ever, just going, ‘What am I doing here? How do we do this?’ And the other thing about popping into one of these episodes is you want to do it economically, because it’s not your episode, and you want to be able to fit in briefly and seamlessly. So, you’re looking for help, and you’re looking for clues. It was a needle to thread.”

The Afterparty Season 2 premieres July 12 on Apple TV+.

[toomuchracket]

Matty using slang you use in a song. Like for you, it could be a Scottish phrase.

spent my entire journey home from work just trying to imagine scottish phrases/slang/scots (it's its own dialect!) words in matty's accent... most of them are ridiculous lol (although there's a few that he'd know from his parents, because there's a bit of crossover with us and geordie phrases). i think "belter" (which means, like, something of note, i.e. "he's a belter" would mean he's worth noticing, or "belter of a tune" would mean a good song) is the only single word phrase i think he could use without it being incongruous. or something longer like "hell mend them" (which you'd say if people made questionable decisions, very "well you'll have to live with the consequences if this goes badly") or my personal favourite "i'll no miss him and hit the wa' [pronounced w-aw] (trans. i won't miss him and hit the wall, probably the way matty would say it)", which means you won't mince your words to someone. and thus concludes our scottish linguistics lesson lmao

but in a more general sense, it's fun to imagine him writing it into a song without even really realising it, like whatever phrase has just become part of his vocabulary through the amount of time matty's spent around you. and nobody really questions it during writing/recording because it fits so seamlessly, but it comes up during interviews after the song is released and matty's like "it's a phrase i picked up from my girlfriend, she says it sometimes and it just ended up in the song because it worked perfectly". and then he goes off on an excited tangent about all the words and phrases you say that he loves (i imagine this would be really especially cute if it was another language that you were speaking and matty was learning it!), and everyone's like "awww this is so sweet it's so clear he loves her so much". and you joke with him like "where the fuck is my writing credit and my royalty earnings" but you're so unserious, you find the whole thing adorable <3

[oblivions-arts-culture]

ENVY'S TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2022 -part 1

No one asked and none of you know who I am but I made SO MANY spreadsheets and lists about this, so!!!!!

10

Wet Leg’s breakout single Chaise Longue could have been their whole legacy, a novelty-adjacent one hit wonder who never captured that magic again. Except they did; and I actually think they did it better on a lot of the tracks on their debut album. The excitement around the Isle of Wight’s premier indie rock act is well warranted, and their debut LP delivers on the promise of their viral hit. The humour never runs dry, the energy persists through to the last note, and the fun never stops. It’s been a long time since a debut album made me so excited for the next one.

10

(yeah I couldn't choose. This is a top 11 xoxox)

It’s hard to pin down exactly what’s so captivating about this album. It’s enchanting on a surface level, a gorgeously written and utterly unique post-rock project filled with alluring idiosyncrasies. But I don’t have words for the beautiful, ethereal something in the heart of the album that keeps me coming back. Maybe I’m entranced by the swirling mix of guitars and brass. Maybe it’s the vivid but abstract tapestry of Isaac Wood’s lyrics, enthralling in their oddness but relatable in a way I don’t know how to describe. Maybe I’m trying too hard to make sense of my love for this album, but we all know snow globes don’t shake on their own.

9

I have very little to add to the discussion of this album, save to add to the chorus of people singing its praises. Though I can understand why Kendrick Lamar’s latest record has been somewhat divisive; it’s certainly not an easy listen, but it’s a deeply rewarding one. The strength of Lamar’s conceptual vision runs like a rich vein throughout, adding a theatrical element to even the musical arrangements that elevates the work without taking away its sting. Lyrically, the album touches on every touchy topic under the sun. It’s challenging, at times deeply uncomfortable, but also truthful, and nuanced in a way that so many attempts to diagnose our age have lacked. He’s also getting bonus points for the best song about Being Trans a cis person has ever written. Same Love by Macklemore this is not.

8

Don’t let the minimalist album cover or the lofi, rough-around-the-edges production fool you: Adrienne Lenneker has fit the entire universe into this double LP. Big Thief step well beyond their comfort zone on this record, and out into the cosmos beyond with swirling, almost shoegazey guitars that blend seamlessly into more straightforward folk and country without missing a beat. This is an album about finding the small, mundane joys in life, and filling them with love until they expand into the celestial. But in spite of the grand scope, the album art still sells the vibe; it’s the whole universe, but it’s about the view of it all from beside a warm campfire, surrounded by friends. It’s sweet, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s at times bizarre, and it’s in a league all of its own.

7

If Big Thief takes the beauty of the mundane and makes it celestial, Friendship has chosen to preserve the mundanity in its retelling. That may sound like a criticism – and certainly more cynical listeners may write the album off as boring – but I promise you it isn’t. Appreciating the little things is not always about finding a life-affirming revelation in every cup of coffee. Sometimes it’s about taking things as they are, no matter how boring or unglamorous. There’s something deeply comforting about Friendship’s expression of this reality through stark, alt-country instrumentation and the blue-collar emotional truths in the blunt imagery of their lyricism. As the year went on I found myself returning more and more to this album’s down-to-earth roots.

6

From the year’s least-flashy album to perhaps the year’s boldest stylistic statement. The quality and creativity of the production alone on Death’s Dynamic Shroud’s latest LP would have been enough to land Darklife a spot on this list; there really is nothing like the sound of this sprawling tapestry of experimental electronica. But what keeps me coming back is the strength of the songwriting that production is draped around; each track is its own world, with multiple ideas bouncing off of each other in ways that at times sew mesmerising chaos and in others offer striking, impossible moments of cathartic clarity. This is an LP that is begging to be experienced as an LP, a project even grander than the sum of its parts. If you want just a taste though, Judgment Bolt is the year’s biggest banger.

[meadow-dusk]

Rocktober Challenge 👻 Day 15 - favorite drum harmonica part

>> disclaimer I am doing absolutely whatever I want 🙃

I didn't want to do this whole challenge and never have a chance to talk about this element of Neil's music character. It's a part that didn't appeal to me on its own immediately, but when it did, I felt it take root somewhere in the base of my heart, crawl up the sides, and start to form cracks in it, like vines in the side of an old building. His playing is so incredibly emotive, evocative of nearly as much expression as his voice alone. I can almost see him in my mind when I hear him play this instrument, along with whatever other imagery the tone carries...which, in this case, is a lot.

The comfortingly repetitive musical backdrop of this song transports me to somewhere quiet, safe, untouched. In this version especially, the harmonica is the unadulterated sound of longing for that place, that sense of serenity, oneness with nature, respect for life. It seems like nearly every second that Neil isn't singing here, he's playing it, and it carries all the emotion in the lyrics seamlessly into wordless sound. The dynamics of the entire song seem to be almost at its mercy when it cries out like the lonesome howl of a wolf, or bobs on the air like the sweet melody of a songbird. The way he changes the strum pattern during the harmonica breaks gives them a sense of patient urgency, like a careful predator stalking its prey in a steady run through the woods. But it all fits together, as perfectly as the cycles of all life in nature. That gorgeous yet desperate sustain during the break before the last verse is everything. His whole self (heart, soul, and lung capacity) is poured out in that moment. If you listen with your eyes closed and hold your breath for as long as he's blowing and you somehow don't feel a catch in your throat, congratulations. I have never been able to do that.

[cimeret]

So, I'm a die-hard Cyan fan. Myst has been very influential to me as a child and kinda defined my whole idea of what a good game should be able to achieve in terms of immersion and atmosphere. I've been hyped for Firmament ever since I heard Rand say the words "callbacks to Myst" and "steampunk magic vibe" and "cool machinery". But now that I've spent a sleepless weekend playing the game, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Because the Cyan fan in me really, really wants to love this game and there's so much good stuff, but some of the decisions in gameplay and storytelling don't work for me and I just know Cyan can do better.

Spoilers for the game under the cut. Also, this post is going be image-heavy because, yeah, it's a Cyan game.

And first of all, YES, there's no absolutely doubt that this game was made by Cyan. Everything feels very Cyan. They just know how to build worlds. Beautiful abandoned places that fill you with a sense of melancholy and nostalgia and spark your imagination. Even on my old potato laptop with abysmal frame rates, I felt like I WAS in the world of Firmament. Sometimes I just stood there and looked around, enjoying the view. All buildings and machines are designed in Cyan's typical style between slightly fantastic and nitty-gritty steampunk realism, and fit seamlessly into the beautiful nature. For the architecture, this time they've opted for a heavily Art Decor inspired style. It makes everything seem very epic and grand, but also a bit austere, and goes very well with the many old and deserted factories we explore in the game. Where Obduction had worlds that felt like a small, close-knit community where people used literal junk to craft their homes and environments, in Firmament everything feels monumental and larger-than-life. The giant arches that span the skies of the worlds are visible from almost everywhere. You handle huge blocks of ice, dump tons of red acid into the sea (yuck), and raise large towers from the ground and open them. This feels like the stuff the D'ni might have constructed at the height of their power. And all of that fits right in with the theme and backstory of Firmament, that megalomaniac multi-generational plan to set off for a new world.

Much of what you would expect from a Cyan game is there. Three very different, atmospheric worlds + a smaller hub world. Epic maglev rides. Turn-on-the-power puzzles. A great visionary tale of hubris and enslavement. An underwater area that is the reincarnation of the selentic maze puzzle. Yeah, even the last one made me roll my eyes in fondness.

(The way the frozen waterfall reflects in the ice ... so gorgeous ...)

(You know it‘s a Cyan game if a puzzle looks like a something out of an amusement park)

(Look at the pretty! I was blown away by the beauty of the whole conservatory area. Just wanted to grab my things and move in.)

The great sound design also does so much to immerse you in the worlds. Headphones recommended! The crunching of ice, the singing of birds, the hissing when you open doors, the grinding of machine parts — I'm quite an auditory person and a big part of the charm of the Myst series for me were the very realistic noises when you turn rusty valves or some heavy door closes and locks behind you. The soundtrack itself left me a bit disappointed. It's mostly ambient and rather unobtrusive, creating a suitable atmosphere, but there were few pieces that stood out for me. One can certainly argue that this should be the point of an immersive soundtrack. Personally, I prefer Robyn Miller's haunting, simple melodies. Still, there were a few songs that I liked, such as Batteries Casting Shadows or Power Station.

(The most beautiful chill disco)

(Firmament also has its own "linking books". Never change, Cyan. <3)

The puzzles were integrated well into the environment. I found them all quite easy. For the most part, I figured out what I needed to do fairly quickly, and it was just a matter of getting it done.  A lot of the puzzles dealt with finding your way through an area and navigating the space, so they were puzzles that challenged spatial intelligence. And I love that kind of stuff so I was never really bored, but still a little more variety would have been nice. I would have liked to see some puzzles where you have to take notes or collect clues at different locations in the worlds.

The best puzzles were the ones where you had to learn how to first power and then operate huge machines that required multiple steps. Those kind of puzzles are a staple of Cyan games and always a lot of fun. My favorite puzzle in that regard was the sulfur processing factory. Just staring at the schematics of the huge mixer and the pipelines and figuring out what to do, then moving machinery parts and twiddling with them until it finally clicked — easily the best part of the gameplay for me. I just wish we could have had a bit more of this.

(That whole area gave me so many flashback to the original Myst .)

(YES just give me some huge, unnecessarily complicated, creaking machinery I can rotate and break!)

All the interaction happened via the adjunct only, so you just searched for sockets and operated them. In fact, everything was operated via the adjunct: doors, elevators, the maglevs, everything. And while handling the adjunct itself was very intuitive and the gameplay felt engaging and satisfactory, it did feel a bit monotonous in the long run. I miss my levers and buttons and valves. Interacting only via a blue glowing string that connects to the same socket model all the time made me feel very detached from the environment. As a direct consequence of the adjunct-focused gameplay, there were also no items outside of puzzles to interact with (aside from the few lore documents). No small, seemingly pointless toys that secretly taught you the mechanics of a larger puzzle. No drawers that you could pull open. I remember the creepy little projector in Achenar's room in Myst where a rose turned into a skull. All of this helped so much to make the worlds feel alive but there wasn't anything like this in Firmament. The decision for the adjunct was probably influenced a lot by the fact that the game is designed for VR, I get that. But when I look at the old kickstarter vids for Firmament where the little floating device is combined with "manual" actions like pulling a lever or pushing a button, I can't help but think the gameplay could have could have been more diverse and still applicable for VR.

(I loved taking a bath in sulfuric acid. But even the suit mechanic was getting a bit repetitive by the second time ...)

Speaking of worlds that feel alive ... here, too, I would have liked to see a bit more scenic storytelling to support the plot, which is largely carried by the monologues of the mentor. This is definitely something I know Cyan do better! The worlds they design are always very special in that they are deserted and contain hardly any NPCs, but at the same time so much life and story is conveyed through the setting. And I'm not just talking about the countless journals Myst is infamous for. The characters in Obduction, for example, had personalities — C.W., Caroline Farley, Mayor Josef, they felt real. Walking into the classroom in Riven, or Gehn's temple, you learned so much about him and how he presented himself. You slowly put together a picture of what had happened, of who these people were and who you could trust. And Firmament also makes some promising approaches in this direction. The constant unsettling brainwashing of the Keepers on the one hand. But on the other hand, everything we see presents a picture of a small community that lived very much in peace and simple happiness. There are things that don't add up, vaguely foreshadowing the twist at the end. All of those little bits and pieces are really great and inspire so much intrigue and mystery.

(Totally normal to have all those banners and doctrines on the walls of your workplace. Not creepy at all.)

(Who were those people? Wish we could've get to know them more ...)

But ultimately, at some point, the mentor decides to just tell you the truth and that's it. Most of the plot is covered in fifteen minutes of gameplay at the very end, through her monologues and the newspaper clippings and documents in the spaceship's control room. But at this point the game is already over, because there are no more puzzles to solve, no more decisions to make. The ending plays out like a visual novel. A beautiful one, no doubt — I loved the resolution and the kinda open, but hopeful ending. But I still I think the game would have worked better if Cyan hadn't been so bent on the spectacular effect of that plot twist at the very end. During the game I had already considered whether the mentor would turn out to be Turner, or maybe me? I was coming up with theories on where Turner really came from, and what he did to those people. And what the real purpose of this cycle of Sleeping and Awakening might be. I don't know, I think it would have been so much more exciting to discover clues for theories while exploring the worlds (via lore documents and setting), and not just through the mentor's monologues. The big twist at the end would have been less surprising, but I think the plot would have unfolded more organically and it would have felt more rewarding to come up with the truth on your own.

I am definitely going to replay the game (after buying a new laptop) and I'm curious to see if it changes my opinion. I've heard that Firmament runs very buggy for a lot of people and apparently, VR is broken. I'm not going to talk about bugs, because yes, while the game crashed numerous times during my playthrough and some parts played really janky, I'm not sure how much of that was due to my hopelessly outdated hardware. But all these things — buggy gameplay (I wonder how much playtesting was done?), poor VR implementation, a story that feels a bit lackluster in its presentation, lack of all those little loving details in the scenery that I usually appreciate Cyan for — all of it feels like some things were rushed during the development of this game. It might have needed just another round of polishing.

The basis for another Cyan classic is definitely there, but I'm afraid Firmament won't leave the same long-lasting impression on me as Obduction and certainly not the Myst series. And I'm a bit scared of what that might mean for the future of Cyan Worlds.      

[concrete-the-cat]

The Evolution of Music in a Game the Majority of the Internet thinks is Cringe

okay so, tumblr friends, i know what you're thinking -

"this is going to be an essay? with a title like that?"

NO

It's not going to be

It could be but I don't have the willpower to go all out on Where We Lore Droppin' Boys

So for now I'm just marking down weirdly good songs that were made for/by Epic Games and Fortnite that I've found. Because??? For some reason??? They went from making the Silly Clappy Dance (DU DU DU DOO DU) to music that sounds like it belongs in an AMV/PMV?? And yes that's because they got enough money to hire capable musicians but STILL

And I needed the internet to hear this because i KNOW tumblr is the one place that wouldn't hear fortnite and turn away because you guys are COOL and would probably actually dare to listen to music from an FFA BR Game

OKAY LET'S NOT WASTE ANYMORE TIME

(i am ranking these by order they come to mind and how good they are not by release, there's only 5 best ones but there ARE even more good ones than this i just have other stuff to do rn)

Brace for Chaos - seriously this is amv/pmv materiel here i mean there's specific things but "storm" can be interpreted in so many different ways and yes some notes are painfully off but I mean HOW is that so GOOD for FORTNITE???? Really went from Rock-Pop-EDM-Rap seamlessly in like 2 minutes

Butter Barn Hoedown - Funny as hell, literally on par with most modern country music I've heard with the same comedic energy as your average American Applebee's advertisement, this one's less because it's good and more because the singer sounds like he's having the time of his life singing 'GOT THE BEST DANG SLURP ON THE WHOLE DANG MAP' in the best generic Texan Twang ever

Vital - Egotistical and not honestly my favorite but still sounds like it'd fit into some PMV somewhere... also had to look it up to make sure that wasn't Derivakat singing, which it wasn't, but I mean-- it's CLOSE, okay?? The song's not bad and plus on Epic's part it was literally the same thing as an average fic writer making a character and deciding to write them a song before explaining their lore since the character the song is for (Highwire) doesn't even have a story or character on the map, but still manages to get this not-half-bad tune

Subterfuge - I never said they had to be with lyrics right? Anyways this sounds like James Bond x Block Rockin' Beats, and honestly it's one of my favorites regardless

Redline Cruise - Okay if you forgive the initial cheesy forced laughter and the repetitive chorus, the bass and melody is honestly pretty good and could hold it's own with a fair few independently released EDM artists, I think. It lines up pretty good with ZHU, at least.

Honorable Mentions!! No explanations for these, I just think they're good but not top tier - Crashed In (instrumental is an option), Falling Stars, The Syndicate, Thunder Roll, High Stakes Club (regrettably, I don't speak Japanese - I think that's what it's in, anyways, judging by the language on the cover - but the melodies are nice), Merry Mix, Pop It

What do you all think??? Are they good?? Are there better songs from FN I could've put here??