#(and there’s some more lyrical songs in the finales for campaign 1/2)

[stone-stars]

Wanted to say thank you for unintentionally starting me on listening to naddpod.

I played a clip you posted some time ago (the home is where the hearth is song) and couldn't stop thinking about it for days and I started listening to the show from the beginning, I'm now nearly at ep 30 of season 1 and I absolutely love it.

yo!!! hell yeah!! home is where the hearth is is SO good (admittedly you’ve got a Bit to go before you get there lol, it was new when i posted it)

i’m glad i could get you into this podcast it’s very very dear to me!!! and damn you’re moving fast, the songs only been out for like three weeks! enjoy all the adventures ahead of you, they rule :3

[rune-chaser]

OC question time!

Are there any songs that you strongly associate with any of your OCs?

OC(s) of your choice has been given 50 of their world’s monies. What are they spending it on? (If their world has different tiers of money, i.e. gold and silver coins, go with the higher value currency)

Do any of your OCs have pets?

And finally, just anything you would like to share about them in general :)

1)

There are a few actually! I'll try and grab some from an array of folks!

Marin: You all know her I've shared I think Fight Song by The Stanfields before, as well as Bad Influence by P!nk SO I'm gonna share another one that inspired the Icon I made for her playlist after like 4 years of having no icon Pink Panther by Scene Queen: https://open.spotify.com/track/32ljWqOxw3ckyuaUc882F6?si=ce75c6f7bc8946be

Sunita: You also Know Her I'm actually gonna share a song for her that is very very early on in her playlist! the 4th one added, because it's a song that I so heavily associate it with her I have a very hard time putting it to other characters. I Found by Amber Run: https://open.spotify.com/track/5zT5cMnMKoyruPj13TQXGx?si=f408015ff7a64533

Lake: THE NARRATIVE'S (my) FAVORITE I like her so much and she is so special to me and I plan on putting her through the wringer because I love her. THAT BEING SAID! bet you'll get off on this by Xana: https://open.spotify.com/track/73RMaD9aBr66HauQdertbc?si=2528b5cdc9f948de

Lord Huron: They are the big bad of my dnd campaign! Based on The Most Dangerous Game! This song I actually thumbnailed a good 40 seconds of an animatic to hehe Go Get Your Gun by The Dear Hunter: https://open.spotify.com/track/3JdJIrVP3QBSA8L1RSdUho?si=012dfef3ff89487d

Alani: The Captain that got them all into the mess of my dnd campaign! She's the captain of the ship that sunk getting to Tiamat's Maw (where Lord Huron resides, not that anyone knew that at the time) And I just really like it for her : ) Save Ship, Harbored by The Crane Wives: https://open.spotify.com/track/7EX8XCuQF5YlozMjNedoez?si=33fa94bd896b4f90

AND THE REST UNDER A READ MORE CAUSE WE ALREADY GOT LONG

2) We'll go with Alani again! Since the Alazarian world is about the only story place I have the money really matters, Song of Blood may also but I haven't developed it enough to be mindful about it.

50 gold can sometimes be a drop in the bucket with things, so I'll go with Platinum! which would be a higher value of things. But that can go a LONG way when supplying for a ship! Food Rations and even pay for her crew! But she would more than likely use it for supplies to keep her crew happy and safe, And should she see that there is enough left over after that to distribute, well should she be so fortunate to have the extra, why not share it around and pay the crew a bit more?

3) Lyric does! Huron too by a technicality.

Lyric however is a ranger, so they have an animal companion! A Hunter's Griffon that they named Cross! He's a lil guy a bit larger than the average cat! He's a very good tracker as well and helps Lyric out a lot on scouting around home and other places!

Huron has a bunch of Hounds! if you've read the story there's hunting dogs and Huron has those too! Like, A lot. Too many I think but A LOT. She's curated what's been desired of her hunting dogs to bite bite kill kill or maybe just be really really fast! He also has Guard Drakes that are, by a technicality, pets.

4) Wildcard

I actually wanna talk about Song of Blood a bit because I'm currently taking a nail file to it. and trying to slap some clay on it to mold it to what I want.

Specifically I wanna talk about this guy a tad : ) It's Naomi's dad!!!! When it wants to walk around looking a lil more human, because it's dragon form is a bit more fucked up. Series of images below of the most recent pass at its design : )

[tekabecca114]

I'm sorry but I have to gush over the new PSO2NGS Dark Falz Aegis fight. Specifically its music but I do have to give credit to the fight itself as well. Full thoughts under the cut. Warning: Very Long

It's super fun throughout the whole thing. The fight opens with the standard enemy gauntlet as you approach the boss itself, which is massive and wholly visible in the distance. As you finally close in, phase 1 begins. The music is a remix of the Dark Falz theme from your first battle with it in NGS. Aegis blends in with the darkened skies in a way that sells how powerful and insurmountable it is. You scramble around to kill more adds and dodge incoming lasers as you summon your own firepower, a portable cannon. The retaliation begins as you fire barrage after barrage at Aegis' barrier of guns.

It's fun as hell, but after enough damage is done, the Central Cannon fires a huge blast, weakening Aegis and beginning phase 2.

And holy shit-

The song opens with vocalist Anya Floris reprising the opening melody to Song of Mourning as the boss reveals its true form. Its attacks are easily called but devastating, prompting you to quickly learn its patterns for efficiency and to prevent a low rank. This somehow creates a battle that feels rewarding to master as you dodge perfectly while also maximizing damage done, which will be important as there are multiple DPS checks throughout the fight.

Anyways, the music.

I haven't found an official title for the song yet but I will add it here via edit when it is released. After the opening, the song Our Life, Our Scars properly begins with some anxious, doubtful lyrics.

Official Lyrics

Thought I knew what I struggled for Thought my future would bring me more The beginning, so enchanting, seemed so right before I've seen death and what goes with it Numbing childish dreams for justice and whatever flows with it I admit, I am lost

Given the themes and context, it's not hard to see who this song is about;

It's Aina, your companion.

Despite what you may or may not think about NGS' story as a whole, Aina has been through a LOT of shit, with her father Garoa and hometown getting nuked by the very thing you are fighting and her being thrust into battle alongside you to try and carry Garoa's legacy despite her lack of experience. You've seen her grow and learn where her skills lie and how she can help and not feel like a burden to her team.

The intensity dies down a bit to allow you to focus on a chance for some big damage. Platforms raise up and you find debris to launch back at Aegis to chip off some more HP.

And then another voice joins the song.

What's your story? Where's your heartache? Hold out your hands to me In the dark times when you feel alone, let's find what we're here for What's the reason? Who's the target? Where is our tomorrow? (What's the reason? Who's the target? Where is our tomorrow?) I will find the answers (You can find the will to fight to follow the sun) The battle is ours, our life, our scars! (The battle is ours, our life, our scars!)

There's a bit of speculation over what character this voice (EN: Aimee Blackschleger) is meant to represent but there's two main theories. It could be the Player Character, although personally, I'm pretty sure they are represented through a male vocalist (ex. PSO2's Dark to Light).

The other, more straightforward answer is that it's Manon, your other companion.

While Manon's story is still very much open, leaving a lot of her past and motives unknown, she certainly fits the bill to be supporting Aina's vocals here. She's very serious and "no-nonsense" when it comes to her job as an ARKS Defender, but she is still somewhat empathetic towards others. You finally see some of her emotional cracks show during the Stia campaign as being unable to save some of the fellow ARKS soldiers weighs on her mind heavily.

The song is more optimistic, but there's still an air of anxiety to it. Lots of questions, but they're slowly replaced by certainty and confidence. Nearing the end of this long encounter, you hear your allies sing with hope as you near the final DPS check.

I am here on a mission. "Purpose," I have gained it from you (There's a mission. There's a purpose. I'm at your side) Taken out of my darkest hour, and leading the way (In the dark times, when you feel afraid, the way will become clearer) There's an answer. Life is with us. There is our beginning (There's an answer. Life is with us. There is our beginning) We have seen the sun (We can find the will to fight to follow the sun) The battle is ours, our life, our scars! (The battle is ours, our life, our scars!)

The final DPS check begins as you have to stop Aegis from absorbing enough energy to wipe you out. Dashing from meteor to meteor, you smash each rock as the music swells to begin finally playing the main theme, A World Beyond The Sky. This is notable because this is the first time this has happened in PSO2NGS, despite it being a staple for Urgent Quest bosses in PSO2 with its main theme.

As Aegis' final attack of desperation backfires, it lies limp, fully allowing you to finish the job. And I'm just gonna let you watch the finale cutscene because... wow.

There is so much to go over here.

Crawford firing multiple volleys from the Central Cannon, making damn sure it does not escape this time

All the comrades you met through the regional campaigns giving you the power of a goddamn Spirit Bomb

GAROA???? pushing you to advance

Your character becoming a fucking METEOR as you focus all that Friendship Energy into a single punch that blows CLEAN THROUGH AEGIS

And then finally dropping you off in a field of flowers, a tradition I hope they keep going with future Final Bosses.

It gives you somewhere calm and beautiful to reflect on everything that happened (while also sorting through your presumably low-tier loot).

This fight proved to me that PSO2NGS is still worth playing despite the lackluster launch and basic story and I hope this at least convinces a couple people to give the game a proper shot.

[customsonggift]

What Factors Influence the Cost of a Songfinch Song?

Songfinch is known for creating personalized songs that capture special moments and memories, making it an increasingly popular gift option. But before diving into the process of ordering a custom song, many people wonder: what factors influence the cost of a Songfinch song? Several elements impact the price of these unique songs, ranging from customization options to the artists involved. Here’s a breakdown of the key factors that determine the cost.

1. Base Price for Standard Songs

The starting point for any Songfinch creation is the base price, which typically includes a custom song of about 2-3 minutes in length. This price covers the creation of lyrics tailored to the details you provide, professional composition, and a performance by one of Songfinch’s featured artists. The base price is relatively standard, but as you add more features, the cost can rise. As of 2024, a basic personalized song from Songfinch starts at around $249.

songfinch cost

2. Choice of Artist

Songfinch collaborates with a variety of independent artists, each with a unique style and genre. While the base price includes access to a pool of artists selected by Songfinch, you can opt to choose a specific artist if their style resonates with you. If you decide to handpick an artist from Songfinch's roster, the price may increase. This customization option allows you to align the song more closely with your musical preferences but comes with an additional cost.

3. Additional Customization Options

Songfinch offers several customization options that can enhance the song but also raise the price. For instance, you can add specific instrumental arrangements or request a longer song beyond the standard 2-3 minutes. Some customers opt for custom add-ons such as additional verses or personalized messages within the song, which can make the final product even more tailored to the recipient. These extra features typically come at an added expense.

4. License for Commercial Use

The price of a Songfinch song is intended for personal use, such as giving it as a gift or playing it at special events. However, if you wish to use the song commercially — for example, in a marketing campaign or as part of a business promotion — you will need to purchase additional licenses. Commercial use licenses allow you to use the song for business purposes but significantly increase the overall cost, as this compensates the artists and Songfinch for the broader exposure and potential revenue generation.

personal song gift

5. Rush Orders and Expedited Delivery

For those who need a song on short notice, Songfinch offers rush delivery options. The standard turnaround time for a song is 7 days, but if you require the song sooner, you can expedite the process for an additional fee. Rush orders typically deliver the song within 3-5 days, and the faster you need it, the higher the surcharge.

Conclusion

The cost of a Songfinch song depends on several factors, from the base price to the specific artist you choose, added customization options, licensing for commercial use, and delivery time. While the base price offers a high-quality personalized product, additional features allow for even more customization — at an increased cost. Understanding these factors can help you better plan your budget and create a personalized song that meets your needs.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update April 12, 2024

This week was awful. I’ve been bogged down with homework, surgery sickness briefly returned, my congenial illness was flaring up the worst I’ve seen in since my 2022 surgery, and to top it all off I still have 3 lab reports and a paper and presentation to do this weekend. It’s fine but it does mean I am a bit limited with my art stuff. I’m still doing what I can though.

Comic progress: page 1 is completely done, page 2 needs some backgrounds and lettering and it’s good to go. I probably could do those tonight and maybe if my mood improves I will but for now I’m taking it slowly. The third page will probably also be pretty quick, as from what I remember it didn’t have a lot of panels. Progress is going as fast as I can handle with my situation. I’d like to think it’ll pick up once I graduate but I’m anticipating I’ll need a break. When I graduated high school I slept for 25 hours straight (unless my clocks were wrong or I misinterpreted, which is possible), I anticipate doing the same again for Uni. After that I’m hoping I’ll pick up the pace.

Animation: my limited time has put the animation in a weird spot because I don’t have enough time to draw storyboards, but I have had time in waiting rooms and waiting for things to cook in lab, and I’ve been writing out a plan for what shots I want where and when, so I’m still making progress. I just need there to be a span of time where I have the free time and my body is in a state where I can draw well enough for the storyboards. Admittedly I’m really bad at storyboards and everything gets cleaned up with animation after, but I haven’t decided yet if there’s enough shots with the type of movement to justify making a puppet rig. I anticipate one for a profile view but am unsure if it needs to be a complete rig or if I’ll need the other angles. Again I’m not as worried about it right now, since that’ll be dictated by the storyboards.

Other songs: In addition to the cover I’m sitting on right now I’m also close to done with another, plus almost done with that instrumental medley. Also got more lyric work done for the two originals I’ve been sitting on. Last night I tried some piano to try to relax, and to practice melody writing. On a good night I can write a single melody line in 20 minutes, which I think is pretty good, and now I have a couple more I’m sitting on, which I’ll likely turn into OC themes, but only after everything else is finished. I’ll try to time myself on the rest of the music making process so I can be more consistent, but again I’m waiting on free time.

The other thing I did this week was writing. A bit of OC story writing, and a bit of TTRPG writing. I’m still a little stuck with the third chapter but I got through the worst of it, just need to come up with some thematic encounters and on to chapters 4 and 5. I’ve been back on a low level of epithet erased Brainrot since I’m finally trying to read Prison of Plastic, so I’m hoping I can channel that into writing, but it’s mostly been theorycrafting about the future of the OG series. The more I think about it the more sure I am that Sylvie is going to join Bliss Ocean and be a villain. Anyway I’m writing that campaign, good chance it’s a ways off yet but it’ll presumably be done during a time where I have more free time anyway, so I’ll just write it up proper then. Other writing thing I’d want to put more effort into would be a pitch comic for my secondary OC story since people really seem to be interested in those characters, but outlining the overall story will come naturally and from there I’ll find the most natural starting point. I’m not thinking too hard, I’m very bad at thinking.

Next week my objective is going to be to survive. My body is having a lot of problems and schoolwork is piling up (two events that are probably related but it’s fine that means they’ll go away around the same time) and anything else I can do will be comic, finish second cover song, and storyboards, in that order of priority, while lower effort projects will be storyboard planning, lyric writing, and story/TTRPG writing, in that order of priority. I’ll still try to have enough small drawings to post but looks like you guys are getting tired of those so I’ll try to space them out a bit better. Thank you for being so patient, I promise it’ll be three more weeks most of this slump before I pick up and really get working again!

[xxnashiraxx]

BG3 TAG GAME ✨⚔️

Thank you thank you @verbenaa for tagging me in this!! I have been away from tumblr for a bit so my apologies for the delay!! 👉👈

Favorite Romance: It's the vampire. It's always gonna be the vampire. Funny thing about me- so I knew of Astarion before playing the game this January. One of our friends tried to convince my husband and I to play with him when it first came out in August but I was deep in my Fairy Tail writing project/multichapter story (of which has now been indefinitely postponed because of this game, 💔, but come July I will be insufferable when 100 Year Quest comes out, so stay tuned). I saw that there was a vampire elf in the game (cue my Thranduil crush and my Twilight/vamp obsession since childhood) and I instantly fell in love but didn't get fully immersed until my husband got the game in late December and seeing him interacting with the characters completely sold me.

Favorite Class to Play: I am still on my first playthrough! Going 5 months strong, thank you patch 6 for destroying my two playthroughs 💖 But I selected Durge first and went with the default Sorcerer and I absolutely LOVE it. I have a few Act 1 and 2 side campaigns with my husband playing cleric, rogue, and ranger, but by far Sorcerer is my favorite as well as Fighter. Planning on playing that class at some point because Lae'zel is just *chefs kiss*. 🤏

Favorite NPC: I love Alfira and all the tieflings so much, but specifically I love Rolan and Bex. I felt genuinely sad when meeting Bex again in Act 2, and I had to help her no matter what. Rolan started off as really nothing but a self centered jerk in my mind, but once I found him in Act 3, I just absolutely fell for him. 💗 I would also like to make a mention of Dame Aylin- she's the most beautiful angel I've ever seen and I would die for her.

Favorite Song Off the Soundtrack: The Power with lyrics. It is so surreal. My other frequently played are I Want to Live (obvi), Raphael's Final Act, and Song of Balduran (the one that ruined the only secret I hadn't managed to spoil for myself most likely hours before I discovered it on my own!). They all go so hard.

Tell Us a Little About Your Tav: My first and only so far is my Durge, the original Ofelia (not associated with my WIP fic). 💗 Once I finally started my own campaign (a few days after getting the game and starting to play with my group) I immediately chose that as one of my friend's chose Durge in our shared campaign and the character really interested me. She's a human storm sorcerer- I know sorcerer is the default for Durge and I kinda went with it, but I specifically chose this set up partly because of one of my favorite fic's main characters! Her backstory is super muddy, but she fiercely loves her friends and Astarion. 💗 She'd die for any of them, wishes she and Orin weren't enemies, and resists her father's influence as hard as she can. She's hot headed and wont take shit from anyone.

Something You Wish Was in the Game: I would actually love more voiced dialogue for Tav/Durge! I know it makes the game more immersive, but it would be super cool to see 💗

Do You Create Fanworks? Share Something With Us: I do! I like to draw and write, I've not created a ton of content so far, but I really like this Astarion art I've done

and I'm creating a multi-chapter story for my original character: it's an isekai where a woman from Earth/the modern world gets transported to BG3! The game isn't a thing on her Earth, so Faerun is canon in that universe lol. I'm actually really excited for it! I hope to start posting it soon- once I've hit Act 2 I will definitely start. I suffer from the condition of "not finishing fics" or at least I did years ago, but I am putting that behind me now and I'm going to trust myself and begin to post once I've cleared the first act 💕 Here's a little teaser for the opening of the first chapter!

An eerie quiet moves through the streets, cars fewer and farther between than normal. An unsettling feeling crawls over Ofelia’s skin and she shrugs her coat closer to her body, warding the night air off as she turns down a familiar alley. Her tiny apartment’s window glints at the end of the shadowed corridor and she grins, reaching into her pack to step back into her roller blades. This last stretch has always been the most fun, and perhaps it’s the trepidation hanging in the night, but a smile and some exhilaration seems like the perfect medicine. She just has to get home, kick start her weekend with a cocktail and a good book, and tomorrow she’ll finally be able to adopt the cat of her dreams.

With the last lace tied, she secures her skirt and hunches over, preparing to rocket down the alleyway. She feels her muscles tense, sets her jaw- prepares to beat her personal best. She can taste the moisture in the air and the warning of the impending storm approaching, feels it in her bones as she mentally counts down.

3… 2… 1…

She never moves. Something flickers out of the corner of her eye, large and black and hulking in the night. It roils and undulates in the sky above the city, sweeping over the buildings like a dark tidal wave. She doesn’t have time to scream when the mass careens towards her, doesn’t have time to raise her arms in defense of a hit that never comes. She’s only greeted with total black as her world spins out of control and she falls unconscious.

No pressure tag! @preciouslittlebhaalbae (if you haven't done one already!)

BG3 TAG GAME ✨⚔️

thank you so much to my wonderful and talented friend @khywren for tagging me in this 💖💞! I had so much fun doing this, even if it took me like three days to get to 😅

Favorite romance: in my Astarion era 💅 but in all seriousness, Astarion's character arc is very important to me in a variety of ways and has been a very cathartic to experience as someone who was lucky enough to escape an abusive relationship in my past.

Favorite class to play: I love bards because of the versatility! But on my next run I'm going to do a druid 🍃

Favorite NPC: This is soooo tough because I think there is so many amazing characters in this game, but I really like all the wild shit that Raphael AND Gortash have going on. There's a lot to dig into with both of those guys, they're so fucked lol

Favorite song off the soundtrack: ooooh this is so hard, there's so many good ones but I really love 'I Want To Live', both versions! Also props to Raphael's Final Act for obvious reasons.

Tell us a little about your Tav: Rin is my chaotic sword bard baby who isn't actually that great a being a bard and better instead with stabbing things (we love a relatable queen?). She's a little flippant, a little silly, sometimes clever, and lives in my head rent free.

Something you wish was in the game: I am echoing many other people when I say that I wish there was more content for Wyll. I think it's such a crime that he was deprived of a full character arc! I am also endlessly frustrated that he is not given an option to decide for himself (like Shadowheart was) regarding whether to break his pact with Mizora. I spent a full 30 minutes in debate with my husband over this choice in my first run and was so frustrated with this fact and honestly either decision feels like a raw deal.

Do you create fanworks? Share something with us: I do! I am currently busy writing Astarion/Tav and Astarion/Reader fanfiction. to eden is my current baby, and one I've poured a lot of time into and that I'm proud of. I'll also never stop being proud of my very first fic air so deep and sweet, as I really leapt off the ledge and dove headfirst into something I was so deeply insecure about but ended up paying off in the end and has literally changed my life in regards to how I now see myself 💖

no pressure tags: @elinorbard @ladyduellist and @xxnashiraxx if you want to join in, no worries if not 💞!

[mychemicalraymance]

I’m I’m not saying it’s not true but how is cancer about aids?

omfgjsh. i should have realized i would get a bunch of asks abt this. ok never confirmed. but the lyrics are like. things that are about having aids but not explicitly. like ok they sound like they COULD be about being gay and dying from aids but like youre not sure. but like also i think theyre specific enough that they cannot be about anything else. like they are 60% about aids. not enough that people will a) notice or b) understand if you’re not gay/ thinking about gay ppl. but enough that when you take the lines out and close read them they logically don’t really make sense if you say no this CAN NOT be about aids. 

Call my aunt Marie

Help her gather all my things

And bury me

In all my favorite colors

My sisters and my brothers, stillI will not kiss you

'Cause the hardest part of this

Is leaving you

1. aunt marie. having an aunt who is the inheritor of your estate instead of your parents. gay estranged family narrative. 

2. bury me in all my favorite colors:

3. my sisters and my brothers - more common in the 90′s gay liberation political slang. i.e. calling each other lesbian sisters trans sisters gay brothers etc when referencing another group to show solidarity within the lgbtq community.

4. i will not kiss you - a popular stigma during the rise of aids was the idea that you can get it from kissing (and hugging, spit, etc) and it was super harmful and created this image of gay people as villainous deliberate spreaders of deadly disease. info about aids was so mystified and unknown in the beginning that many gay people thought this too. there’s a graphic going around rn that’s popular that was part of a campaign to de stigmatize kissing :

All my agony

Know that I will never marry

...

I'd ask you to be true (I'd ask you to be true)

'Cause the hardest part of this

Is leaving you 

5. know that i will never marry - less obvious, makes sense within the context of aids / gay liberation, but plausibly deniable as a lyric about dying too young to marry (but like. also something that happened to aids victims. dying too young to see the possibility of marriage). the right to marry which was a bigger deal than some of us give it credit for (not that it should be number 1 top priority BUT within the context of aids....  the idea of like. not being able to see your partner when they die in the hospital. not being the person who gets their ashes or decides if/where theyre buried. basically no spousal rights when your longterm partner dies, it was amplified when so many gay people were dying) 

6. cause the hardest part of this is leaving you - very ephemeral evidence here but sort of what i was talking about before. the context of seeing you partner die was especially amplified by aids, moreso than any other terminal illness i would posit. it was just a matrix of things that created this especially tragic outcome where young people were seeing their partners die quickly with nothing being done about it and no solution. so you have this whole community of people who just saw their friends (but especially partners) die within a few months. and the whole politicized magnified idea of who you loved being the crux of their illness - gayness being the elephant in the room, a political sentiment that is based ENTIRELY around who you love. 

the final touch is calling it CANCER and not AIDS. a song coming out called AIDS esp in 2006 would be literally a joke, like laughed off of the cultural stage. and so calling it CANCER makes it less of a joke, less about the highly agitated and political gay experience and making it about cancer, the ultimate equalizer, the person killer, not the f-g killer. basically reframing aids in a way that makes it more human (even though it is. human. ). leveling the playing field. etc. (more to say abt this but i’m running out of patience) and like i said having it be coded and signalling - gay experience. 

ok! that’s a lot i know but i’m like writing something for my gender and sexuality class about this song el oh el. 

[definitelynotdamiano]

Masterlist of my Måneskin posts, I will update it when necessary. Dates are in the YMD format, the newest additions are purple. Red are things you might want to look at.

This list was getting too long, so I decided that if there are 4 or more vids/pics from a certain event, there will be the date, name/place of the event and a link to all the posts I've made about it.

Sometimes some links don't work - in that case you can search for the date or go through the tag "mine".

Tags I frequently use.

Photos (including screenshots, press scans etc.)

2018.01.15 - Milan Fashion Week

2021.01 - TV Sorrisi e Canzoni

2021.01 - TV Sorrisi e Canzoni part II

2021.01 - RaiPlay

2021.08 - Teraz Rock cover

2021.08.19 - Måneskin in Poland - Poland smashed everything (including Damiano's hand)

2021.08.19 - Måneskin in Poland - more of Damiano's injured hand

Videos (lives, MVs, interviews etc.)

2017.12.14 - X Factor Italy (finale) - Medley: Beggin, Take Me Out, Somebody Told Me

2018.01.07 - Che tempo che fa - Chosen

2018.03.25 - Che tempo che fa - Morirò da Re + interview

2018.10.28 - X Factor Italy - Torna a casa

2019.01.20 - Che tempo che fa - Torna a casa and Fear for nobody

2019.10.31 - X Factor Italy - Le parole lontane

2020.03.29 - making of Stato di natura

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - Vent'anni (part 1)

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - interview (part 2)

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - backstage

2020.11.05 - X Factor Italy - Vent'anni (and talking)

2020.12.17 - Sanremo Giovani finale

2021.01 - RaiPlay

2021.01 - TV Sorrisi e Canzoni

2021.03.02 - 2021.03.06 - Sanremo 2021

2021.03.06 - Zitti e buoni after winning Sanremo

2021.03.07 - Che tempo che fa - intro + Zitti e buoni

2021.03.07 - Che tempo che fa - interview, Orietta Berti

2021.03.08 - Soliti Ignoti - Zitti e buoni (and they talk here for about 30 sec)

2021.03.22 - Le parole lontane

2021.05 - Måneskin for Crudelia (Cruella) 2021

2021.06.18 - Humberto (Dutch show)

2021.06.25 - newonce.radio - interview with Måneskin

2021.07.15 - BlickTV - Måneskin playing the Never have I Ever game

2021.08.06 - I Wanna Be Your Slave with Iggy Pop

2021.08.11 (published) - 1LIVE SESSION - live from Cologne, Germany

2021.08.15 - Damiano and Legolas

2021.08.15 - Interview in Belgium

2021.08.15 - Golden record for Zitti e buoni in Belgium

2021.08.19 - Lividi sui gomiti Thomas remix

2021.09.10 - Gucci Aria Advertising Campaign

2021.09.23 - Genius Verified: I wanna be your slave lyrics & meaning

Damiano singing IWBYS a cappella

Concerts, tours (photos, videos etc.)

2021.08.13 - Rock for People Hope (Czech Republic)

2021.08.14 - Ronquière Festival (Belgium)

2021.08.19 - Open'er Park (Poland)

2021.08.19 - Open'er Park (Poland) - Damiano explaining what happened to his hand

2021.08.19 - Open'er Park (Poland) - Damiano and Ethan with fans, Damiano showing what happened to his hand

2021.08.30 - Russia

2021.09.01 - Radio Europa Plus

2021.09.11 - Austria

2021.09.25 - France, Global Citizen Live

2021.10.06 - Germany

2021.10.28 - NME: Måneskin on their first ever gig, first tattoos & their first jobs

2021.10.29 - Ed Sheeran talking about Måneskin

2021.10 - Mammamia promo tour (Italy, France, Sweden, Netherlands, UK...)

2021.10-? - Mammamia promo tour in the US

2021.10.26 - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

2021.10.27 - New York show (not every post is tagged, check the main tag for the US trip, search for "new york" or "27.10.2021")

Halloween 2021

2021.11.01 - Z100 New York interview

2021.11.01 - DC101, Mike Jones interview

2021.11.01 - LA show (not every post is tagged, check the main tag for the US trip)

2021.11.02 - Gucci Love Parade

2021.11.04 - 106.7 KROQ Private Concert

2022.02.06-2022.03.24 - Loud kids on tour

Text (translations, how-tos etc.)

putting Amandoti (and any other song) on your Spotify playlist

2021.06.25 - naTemat - translated interview with Måneskin

Other

2021.09/2021.10 - Mammamia promo

[huanglaoshu]

Bandroid for Dummies

Based on combing through the #bandroid tag, thanks to: @theleakypen, @zylaa, @iamwestiec, @scarlettohairdye, @paintchipblue, @lesbianjinzixuan, @shadaras and @garage-bandroid, @drumbotlovebot, @bandroidfandroid

Summary:

“Bandroid” is a live-action TV show featuring the adventures of a 5-man band, including their robot/android drummer Drumbot. There are currently 5 seasons. The special effects are very basic, reminiscent of Star Trek TOS. Though in Season 1 it started out with such plots as trying to get small time gigs and “The Battle of the Bands” arc, later seasons include more and more dramatic spy-thriller-like adventures, including an entire time-travel arc. The show went on a hiatus between Seasons 2 and 3, when during which, “Bandroid: The Animated Series” aired, filling in some of the time skips in Seasons 1 & 2.

Notable episodes include:

“Bet Your Bottom” – where producer Zhu Ming has to fix Drumbot when it’s glitching right before a performance

“Arnarson is Not the Arsonist” (Season 2) where Jon and Paul went into hiding and Jesse had to figure out how to clear Jon’s name, causing a rift between Jesse and Jon

The Time Travel Arc, where Paul and Drumbot go to 2000BCE with the help of Professor Hayashi

“May You Please” – a May Wen-centric episode with much keytar drama. Fans posit that there may have been two sets of hands on the keytar, fuelling a May/Jesse ship

“Drumbot Alone” – a two-part episode where Drumbot leaves the band behind temporarily to develop and grow as its own individual. Notable for the hilarious mini-golf scene and the lady who mistook Drumbot for her dog walker

The band consists of:

Jon Arnarson (he/him) – the gay lead singer, who writes soulful and inspiring lyrics

Paul Ahmed (he/him) – the guitarist, Jon’s platonic life partner, and the most popular person to ship with the main character, Drumbot

Bailey Kane (she/her) – the bisexual bass player, center of fan's "Get Bailey a girlfriend" campaign

Drumbot (it/it) – the drummer, an undercover android hiding from the government. It traveled the universe for 500 years before crash-landing on earth in the 1600s and has the sum total of human knowledge downloaded into its neural net – Drumbot is played by a 35 year old woman in a costume

Jesse Washington (they/them) – (seasons 1 & 2 and the animated series) the ace, nonbinary keytarist – played by a nonbinary actor who uses xie/xem/xir pronouns.

May Wen (she/her) – (seasons 3, 4 & 5) keytarist

Other characters include:

Zhu Ming (she/her) – the band’s producer who pointed Jon and Paul to the storage unit where Drumbot was in season 1 – played by an in-demand actor with many other commitments, so only appears intermittently.

Vivian Wen – (season 4) May’s sibling, a genderfluid antagonist character

Eolus – an android

Professor Hayashi – The person who helped with the time travel shenanigans in season (5?)

Babylonian Fig Seller – during the Babylonian time travel arc, the Fig Seller teaches Drumbot how to identify ripe, unspoiled produce – sings a duet with Drumbot before Drumbot returns to the present time. The duet later becomes the band’s song “Tower of Babel”

Jodie McKee – shows up in the Battle of the Bands Arc, member of a rival band who had chemistry with Bailey

The Spirit of Music – not a character per se, but a palpable presence throughout the show when the band is performing

Some Song Titles:

“Binary Heart” – the band’s most famous song, also the name of their first album, they played this song during the season 1 finale while the government agents were converging on the stage

“Tower of Babel” – a song developed during the Babylonian Time Travel Arc

“Vanilla Chinchilla” – inspired by Bailey’s chinchilla adventure in season 3

“Baby broke my circuits” – a song simultaneously heartbreaking & an awesome dance tune

“The hemoelectric slide” – a darkwave remix of the electric slide

“Reuse recycle” – a very sad song

“Beep You’re It”

“Motherboard Motherboard”

[jasminesgardens]

Preparation

Set Up

Musical Episode Mechanics

Conclusions and Links

Heavily inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Musical Episode: Once More, With Feeling, I put together a Musical Episode for my own players that went down beautifully and here’s how you can too!

Preparation: 

1. Have your players (whether subtly asked or not, up to you) send you a playlist of songs that relate to their character, their relationships and scenarios they’ve been through in the past. Sort through these songs into “Main Plot” and “Scenarios That Could Happen”. 

Prompt Examples from my Musical Episode:

Main Plot: Prologue/Opening Narration, First Song (Morning Sequence), The Whole City is Singing, Figuring Out What is Happening, NPC Karaoke Songs, Player Karaoke Songs, A Call to BBEG, Battle Songs, Reveal of BBEG, Revealing Deepest Darkest Secret, Aftermath, End Credits and After Credits.

Scenarios That Could Happen: Dream Sequences (What Ifs, Foreshadowing or Nightmares), Reflection on their Pasts/Families/Homes, Attraction/First Kiss/Getting Together/Examining the Relationship/WooHoo Moments, How the Party is Seen, Arguments/Make Ups, Praying to their Gods, Positivity/Negativity, Stress/Learning to Relax, Fight Training, Opening Up/Confessing Feelings (Romantic, Friendly, Truthful), Cheering Up, Anger/Protests, Celebration/Drunken Songs, Death Saving Throws and Continuing the Fight.

The playlist is public so just search up DND: The Musical Episode by Princess Jasmine Flies Away.

2. Ask your players, if you haven’t already, for their deepest, darkest secret. The secret they would take to their grave. A secret about their lives or a fear they have could be the prompt. (This is what will be revealed later to the whole Party!)

As I was heavily inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Musical Episode, I used the episode to dive board my idea of what my “Main Plot” would be and explore the themes of secrets, speaking your truth and aftermaths. So even after my Musical Episode, my players and their characters were still thinking of what was revealed and what to do going forward with their relationships and themselves. That’s what will make your Musical Episode fun but also thought-provoking and memorable.

Examples from my Musical Episode:

“I’m going to die in six months.”

“I fear I’m on the path to becoming my step-father.”

“I fear my mission from my Goddess is to simply be the sidekick.”

Set Up:

1. Curse your Party. 

Example (taken from DNDSpeak and tweaked, warning a little gruesome): I sent my party on a mission to rid the City’s Sewers of the Oozes and Slimes that lived down there as the previous adventurers sent had not returned. While giving hint, and a child NPC who asked them to look, that recently a lot of pets had gone missing in the area around the Sewers. 

With every Ooze and Slime encounter, a voice would call out asking the adventurers to leave, getting more and more angry, desperate and threatening as they approached their hiding place. 

In this evil Bard’s hidden lair, they discovered the Bard had been stealing pets and using them to make into instruments. Not allowing the Party to leave, they fought and the Bard lost but just before he did, the Bard cursed my party. 

The players killed the Bard with fire so all the set up and hints in his lair burnt with him but if they hadn’t, they would have gotten hints of his worship to a certain demon and how he was planning to give his instruments as a gift to them.

I let my party spend the rest of the day doing whatever they liked and waited until the next day for the curse to take affect (which I recommend).

2. Setting Up Music

As I DM on Skype, I used JQBX for everyone to be able to hear the songs at the same time live but you might find other platforms or just be able to bluetooth to the speakers and use Spotify as you play in person (lucky sod).

Then completely shock your friends by awakening them to a performance. Start with a dream sequence or a morning montage or a title sequence! Have fun!

Musical Episode Mechanics:

1. When to Sing:

After the initial shock of the Opening of the Musical Episode, the party will believe the Musical Episode is a curse inflicted on just them (If you’re like me, it isn’t. It’s the whole city because that’s hilarious.) but unaware of when they will start to sing again.

I recommend it every time a party member gets emotional, reaches a perfect opportunity for a scenario song or simply plot development. These songs hint towards characters’ feelings for themselves, other characters, certain scenarios and maybe even their deepest, darkest secret so every time it happens, play the song that incredibly reads them to filth and ask them to roll a constitution saving roll, needing to beat 13. If they fail, write a tally mark for which player and wait for your finale to reveal what for.

I rewarded my players with 10XP each song as it gave them confidence to perform, improv and just get silly!

2. BBEG:

Through researching into what this curse could possibly be, introduce the demon Kacophony the Musical. They’re dramatic, crave entertainment and force people to sing for them with fiery magic, which can lead some of their victims to become Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in Star Wars: A New Hope. The party will know Kacophony is responsible as you’ll sprinkle in the hints of burnt victims after each Musical Number, the same amount of bodies as the tally marks you’ve been collecting.

Now in my Musical Episode, I put Kacophony the Musical in the place they were cursed. My players went earlier than I would have liked so don’t be afraid to say “not the right time” for Act 3 and help them circle back to there later, after a full day of singing and dancing.

Example: I had a singing woman lead the party back to the Sewers ominously after quite a hearty song.

When discovered, Kacophony is waiting there with their goons for the “cast of today’s musical”, revealing that the person who cursed them gave a huge sacrifice to troll the city with this ridiculous curse, give Kacophony a few souls and to embarrass the party.

Example: My Evil Bard offered all his gruesome instruments and his own life to Kacophony. 

Kacophony the Musical will reveal two things.

First, what all the constitution saving rolls have been for. Every failure (a roll under 13) has led to someone’s end aka the burnt victims they have seen throughout the day. Tell your players how many people they have each ended with their rolls and if your party is as morally good as mine, you will have people ready to fight. If not, embarrassing them through song is enough for one.

Which brings me to the second reveal, Kacophony the Musical is a Musical Demon (obviously). Musicals reveal what characters are really thinking to their audience; their hopes, their dreams, their deepest, darkest secret. 

Have your party fight this demon only to be unable to not say their deepest, darkest secret to one another (it’s up to you if its based on roll or unescapable), causing a ton of big reveals, suspense and tension, which Kacophony can use as a getaway. 

It’s up to you if you want the party to defeat Kacophony the Musical. I didn’t as I preferred the idea of Kacophony being a showman who hides behind their spells and goons, reads the party to filth and then just leaves when it gets boring, leaving them on the mind of the party long afterwards but if you do want your party to defeat them, then make it so. 

Kacophony the Musical’s Character Sheet: Inspiration from Rahadin from Curse of Strahd and Cantus by u/Jacknerik

3. The Curse and Aftermath:

Finally, the curse lasts for 24 hours, so when your players awaken the next morning, the curse will be gone but no one will forget how yesterday changed their lives and how flipping awesome your session was. 

In the aftermath, my players had a lot of role-play heavy conversations which led them to build up their relationships and their own storylines and a city of people who either were trying to remember the awesome lyrics they sang yesterday or are now afraid of music (possible Footloose inspired sequel adventure).

Conclusion:

Either way it was a lot of fun and certainly went down as one of my best sessions as a DM.

Thank you so much for reading, my name is PrincessJasmineFliesAway on everything else and my credentials in DMing can be described as Wizarding World 2.0, Shifting into the Star Wars Sequels and Barbie Mermaida the Campaign. Goodbye.

[highwarlockkareena]

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES: When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you ali for the tag on this collaboration with @nyx4, ali! @wendashanren

tagging: (I mostly talk about collaboration for this one but if you check #showyourprocess most people talk about how they made their creations or check my first post about giffing here!)

@elysean for this set @timothyolyphant for this set @sugardaddyahxu for this set @jun-hee for this set @bloominflowers​ for this art

I wanted to collaborate with Jackie on a set. We’d talked about it anyway, and thought about what we could work on. So when I saw this request on mdzsnet, i knew this was the one for us.

wei wuxian, black/red, cql, yp!wwx/sunshot campaign scenes/nightless city scenes, the lyrics from "the war" by syml

I knew Jackie loved Syml, so she’d want to make this request, so I put both our names down to claim it, then when Jackie was online checked if she’d prefer to do this one solo, or shared. She loved the idea of a collab, so we got to work.

First we listened to the song a couple of times, thinking about how it worked for wei wuxian. then we broke down which lyrics we wanted to use and the general scenes for them.

We split them out across a number of gifs (originally it was 4 but I don’t have a screenshot of that) with a general idea of scenes we’d work from for each. As you can see, I do plan but my notes tend to be sparse reminders rather than detailed. jackie wanted to dig the angst knife in deep and wanted the ‘my war is over’ to coincide with wei wuxian falling off the cliff, so we worked back from that for our scene choices. 

Jackie:

Originally it was going to be 4 gifs, all of them with the lyrics that made it to the final set, but it would have been too much text on each gif so first we decided on a gif without text in the middle before deciding on spreading out the song a bit more which led to the 7 gif set.

We started making gifs 1 and 3. in my usual fashion i made about 10 gifs to pick which scenes i wanted to work with & jackie made 1 because she isn’t an idiot. 

Jackie:

Kareena does make a ton of gifs just to choose one or two, which is both amusing and amazing. I have proof!

Luckily we’re both admins on WoHDaily, so we used the drafts in there to share a post we could both edit gifs in & out of. 

I’d wanted to do a silhouette edit similar to one in @lan-xichens lovely overlay tutorial, but it wasn’t coming out the way i’d liked, so I had to keep trying different things until it worked as I’d envisioned. 

I finished a touch before Jackie who had taken time to pick emotionally devastating scenes for her gif, so we used my red throughout both, but then  tweaked each gif with feedback from each other. 

Jackie:

When we first decided on the scenes, I waited for her to do the first gif so I could match her colors. Once she made the first one, I showed her this template I made so we could visualize how it’d look.

Then we moved on to the next gifs. This was harder, because we didn’t want to overload the set by making every single gif super fancy, so we tried out a variety of things to see what would hang together nicely. 

Above is an example of one idea of mine that got discarded. I think i had 3 iterations before we got to the gif below. 

Jackie:

I then moved on to gif #6 and I made a gif which Kareena completely shut down. She said, Jackie, this is really ugly. I accepted it, because she is the one with the skills here, and because she was right. (KAREENA: this is a lie - the gif is *gorgeous* but it just has a lot going on in an already busy gifset.)

There was too much going on in that gif and it didn’t really fit with the set we were making. The gif we ended up with fit much better and I’m glad she said something. For the last gif, I showed her a few shots and we both agreed on those two (wwx crying, walking backwards on the cliff). I made a couple of gifs that Kareena was nice enough to say were gorgeous, but I thought they sucked. Third one is what we ended up with.

For me, most of the work was in getting the scenes to fit the lyrics and to work with the color scheme that the requester gave us.

We continued to work this way, making ideas and sharing them, tweaking or discarding or remaking as necessary until we were both happy with the gifs. It wasn’t too hard to get them to work as a set, it was mostly about communication and honesty. jackie and i get on well enough to crit each others gifs without worry, so we both liked what was created. We pushed each other, Jackie knows I’m very lazy & she didn’t let me slack. I pushed her in other areas so that we both tried out new skills. 

Once the seven gifs were made, it was time for typography! We spent a little time discussing our love of simple fonts, sharing a few examples, before I handed over to jackie as the typography queen.  

Now, fonts:

Yup, I like simple fonts and for the typography not to take over the whole set. Luckily, Kareena feels the same way, so early on we decided on two fonts, one of them to highlight a word here or there. I showered her some fonts samples, we agreed on a style, and then I got to work.

The fonts used were:

Ostrich Sans  https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/ostrich-sans

Memories  https://www.dafont.com/memories-2.font

I kept it simple, just looking where the text would look best. I didn’t know how to wrap text around a shape before, which is what I wanted for gif #3. Turns out it’s very easy and people probably know this already but I’m a ps noob (lie). Still putting this here just in case anyone wants to know.

Using the Ellipse Tool/Custom Shape Tool, I made a circle 2px bigger than the bw gif i wanted to wrap the text around. I didn’t want the shape to be visible, so I chose Path there. (If you choose shape, the actual shape will be visible in whatever color you have chosen)

With the Type Tool, just hover over the line of the shape and a squiggly thing will appear. Click and start typing. I then dragged the text and fit it over the bw gif. I made the shape on the side so I could see it clearly, but you can make it over the actual shape you want the text to wrap around. Listen, this is the best I can describe it ✌

We discussed how to post the set. Since it was a group effort, should one of us post it or should we post it via the net? Since we’ve also got another request lined up to collaborate on, we decided that I would post this set & Jackie would post the next one. 

TLDR: 

It was fun, it was about communication and compromise. Pushing each other in our weak spots, nitpicking at each gif to make them the best we could, agreeing why one gif might not work in this set. It was about mixing two styles but still creating something we both liked! It was enough fun we have two more collaborations planned, just to keep having fun and to keep learning.

[ohnobjyx]

To the snowy summit side by side

红尘中毁誉得失如何去量?

Part 7: And now... what?

This is a post long overdue. I must admit, this is the most difficult one, so I was putting it off, reading again and again what I had already written and browsing through the internet to try and get the most complete picture.

Disclaimer: in this case, almost all of the post is my personal opinion (I tried to keep the previous post objective). I’m biased because of the XZ friendly content I’m usually exposed to and by my own views of their situation. Open to discussion, but please make sure you’ve enough information to do so.

Let’s go back to anon’s original ask:

Hello could you give us an update on xz's situation? I know we*bo and his studio has taken some steps recently but how has this affected public opinion on xz? Has it improved/ are more people favoring him or has it gotten worse?

I think I have been answering your first question in the past posts. However, about the next two:

When I was compiling information and writing the previous posts, a song kept coming back again and again to my head, specifically, this part of the lyrics:

红尘中毁誉得失如何去量?

In the mortal world, how can praise or condemnation, success and failure be measured?

(Yes, it’s from WuJi-无羁)

Innocence

What happened to XZ was a combination of incredibly bad luck, strenuous social circumstances (the pandemic), high stress in the public and a set of underlying issues that had been festering for a long time.

From being a celebrity on the way up, he suddenly became a scapegoat for a conflict he hadn’t caused and the receiver of a lot of senseless hate. He didn’t do anything from start to finish in the 2/27, but ended up the most affected from it, as the consequences reverberated all the way from March to July.

Because XZ didn’t ask the author to write such a fanfic. He didn’t request for it to be taken down. He didn’t ask his fans to report anything. And he didn’t have anything to do with ao3 being banned in the country as a response. From start to finish, he didn’t participate in any of it.

Many of the analysis I’ve watched/read determine that the cause of the problem  were his fans. One of the bloggers even said that “his fans are the ones that have hindered his career the most”.

But, from my point of view, the saying of “two people can’t have an argument if one of them doesn’t want to” also applies here. From start to finish, the issue was filled with overreactions and exaggerated responses from both XZ’s fans and the rest of the people that engaged in this ridiculous fan war with them.

However, let’s keep in mind that “XZ’s fans” is also a huge generalization. Most of the people don’t have the necessary time, resources and mental energy to engage in ridiculous crusades in the name of their favoured celebrity.

Part of the reasoning of the anti-XZ faction is that he should have taken measures and steps to make sure that his fans didn’t cross the line. However, even if the people leading all of this are only a small % of his fans, they are still a lot of people. Being the receiver of their fans’ love and admiration doesn’t make him and his team able to discern who is a reasonable, sensible fan, and who is a crazed troublemaker. And being famous and admired shouldn’t make him the responsible of all of his fans actions (in my opinion). I think this is also how Western society would view the situation.

I was surprised to discover that c-society did expect him to “guide” his fans, because he has a huge influence on them and he’s supposed to guide them towards more civilized behaviour. It’s not of course what everyone thinks, but the stance his studio has taken also points in recognizing that they should have done that (there are more reasons to their stance, of course, explained in the part 5+6).

However, people did realize (I think) that most of the people that follows him gives him support silently. There are of course ardent and fervent people who jump to defend him, but even that kind of behaviour is discouraged by XZ’s studio (applying that ignoring the antis is the greatest way to defeat them).

So here it came the lyrics from WuJi. It’s true that a fraction of his fans have caused him a lot of trouble. But this kind of fans (there is a fine line between very invested and obsessed) are also the ones who push forward a lot of events, who create things like “XZ’s fans Association” and who promote his works the most. His studio did call them out in the end, and said that everyone should relax in their support, but it’s also true that this fans also had a great hand in pushing him to the top of the charts. There’s a very fine line between gain and loss here, so how can one measure the value?

(But the antis who disguise as his fans and create trouble just for the sake of ruining his reputation are a whole other issue. No excuses for them).

Finally, the answers

To answer (I know we*bo and his studio has taken some steps recently but how has this affected public opinion on xz? Has it improved/ are more people favoring him or has it gotten worse?) more exactly:

When we are talking about public opinion, it can actually be divided into 3 factions: his fans, the antis, and the actual general public who is neutral by default.

1. His fans stayed the same, supporting him through the storm. The opinion of the fans isn’t so easily swayed (though he has lost some in this process, he has also gained new followers), and the main feeling they have towards him now can be summarized in 心疼 (”xin teng”, a feeling that, in this case, can be described as “I’m really sorry that all of this has happened to you because I know that you were innocent in this”). I’ll explain a little bit more about his fans support in the last part of the post.

2. The antis can also be divided into 2 groups: “regular” antis and “professional” antis. The 2/27 Great Union community still exists, but it’s a closed off community and to enter it, the new member has to be approved by a moderator. I’ve seen public comments with the 2/27 Great Union tag, that after his interviews have morphed into “I’m a commoner and I hate XZ”, but they are a lot less active these days. Even if they still have hate after everything that happened, the average anti has gone back to their usual life after quarantine was lifted, so it’s less active.

Some of the “regular” antis will stay active, but that’s to be expected. For example, some of WYB’s solo fans were all exploding over the new vlog XZ’s Studio updated three days ago. While it’s ridiculous for the rest of us, these people will continue their “XZ is using WYB to further his own fame” campaign.

However, it’s different with the “professional” anti. As we said in previous posts, people like “B” has a lot of time, energy and resources to invest in a smear campaign against XZ. Where does all of that come from? I don’t know. What I do know is that once XZ’s topic cools down enough and another scandal of another idol, no matter how small, appears, they’ll shift to hate content about the other idol. What matters to them is to produce content that people will engage with, so they get more views and followers, and profit with it.

3. And now, the “neutral-by-default general public”. There is a problem in how we, as netizens, manage the information. In the previous post, I talked about a hater who had written an assessment because “XZ’s fans” had insulted her parents. While the main objective of the document wasn’t to see how the general public views him, I took the data she had extracted.

The general public isn’t so neutral anymore. While it’s true that XZ keeps gaining fans (he’s still riding on CQL’s success train), what general public, the average passerby, has heard from him is:

A XZ fan has stolen a deceased person’s account to keep promoting him

“XZ’s fans” attack a user’s parents on Father’s Day.

A primary school teacher promotes her favourite idol in her class.

These are bound to create a bad image and reputation in people’s mind. We know (I explained all of those incidents in previous posts) that only the teacher incident was truly caused by a XZ fan. There’s no proof that the person who insulted that user’s parents was a XZ fan, and w/ibo has proved that the “stolen” account incident was a scheme from start to finish.

However, the headache in all of those incidents is that the initial issue (“a XZ fan stole a deceased person account to continue to promote him!”) is announced widely and loudly, attracting people’s attention to it. However, people won’t dig up more information. Less than half will actually read the article or investigate more about it. W/ibo actually investigating it and discovering that it was all a plot to frame XZ isn’t given importance, nor does it go on the hot search chart. People only know what happened at first, but don’t know how the story ended. And this is a huge problem for him, because people accuse him but don’t care to know if he was actually the culprit.

(Wow, just like WWX in CQL).

So I found this to describe it.

There are still neutral people: those who couldn’t care less about the tabloids, and that never read gossip sites. These are still a great part of the general public. Anon was asking about the public opinion: the fact is that previously neutral people have only heared bad things about him for half a year, so that’s bound to affect their image of someone they’re not invested in.

If XZ were defeated, and retired, I’m sure a lot of articles like “framing the innocent” would appear. We people just like to have something to talk about.

His fans’ support

XZ ended 2019 with his followers on w/ibo numbering on 21,690,000. The exact number of his w/ibo followers right now is 26,458,877 (26,459,350 two hours later, by the time I’m editing this to post it). He continues to be liked by more people, and antis may try to reduce his popularity, but it’s a fact that his talent and effort are appreciated by people with no hidden agenda. 

XZ is also slowly coming back to work and to his endorsements, which are very good news. We saw him recently in the R/SEONLY add for Chinese Qixi, in the event for Cao Yu’s anniversary, the vlog the studio updated.

Less directly, Kai Xiao Zao, one of the brands that didn’t stop working with him even after 2/27 (they are a smaller brand, and they must have invested a lot in their endorser, so they can’t just put him aside like other bigger brands did), recently put up little stands in malls all over China to promote their new product. In every stand there was a wall for customers to write and a couple of XZ cardboard cutouts.

In his interview in Yunnan, XZ had been seen wearing his red cord bracelet, to ward off bad luck. So fans started to add their own amulets to ward off bad luck and offerings to the cutouts.

They started off like this...

Fans came...

And they ended up like this. The funny fact it’s that people started to add plush toys, hats and even food to the cutouts, so based on what “XZ” is wearing one can guess where was the photo taken.

This was a widespread phenomenon in all of KXZ stands. So to say that XZ has lost support from his fans would be certainly false.

His dramas are also expected to be aired soon and have been confirmed to. His patience is paying off little by little, and he’s coming back to work.

The moral of the story

I hope we can all learn something from this. If anything, it has changed my own attitude on the Internet. I used to be very quick to answer with extreme words if I felt strongly about a topic. Now I try to tone down my responses. I’m not saying that you’d all do the same, but it’s a lesson I extract from other people’s experiences. History should serve to avoid mistakes others have committed as much as possible.

In the technology and communications based world we live in, to believe that what we do on Internet doesn’t affect real people’s everyday lives is a huge lie. So, now that we can see that XZ is slowly coming back, let’s all remember that this once happened: let’s all be kind on the internet and avoid engaging with people who dedicate themselves to spread hate.

It has been hard on him. But he’s going to top the snowy summit. Let’s do our best to support him rationally.

Prev: Part 5 and 6: A snowy summit

[customsonggift]

What Factors Influence the Cost of a Songfinch Song?

Songfinch is known for creating personalized songs that capture special moments and memories, making it an increasingly popular gift option. But before diving into the process of ordering a custom song, many people wonder: what factors influence the cost of a Songfinch song? Several elements impact the price of these unique songs, ranging from customization options to the artists involved. Here’s a breakdown of the key factors that determine the cost.

1. Base Price for Standard Songs

The starting point for any Songfinch creation is the base price, which typically includes a custom song of about 2-3 minutes in length. This price covers the creation of lyrics tailored to the details you provide, professional composition, and a performance by one of Songfinch’s featured artists. The base price is relatively standard, but as you add more features, the cost can rise. As of 2024, a basic personalized song from Songfinch starts at around $249.

songfinch cost

2. Choice of Artist

Songfinch collaborates with a variety of independent artists, each with a unique style and genre. While the base price includes access to a pool of artists selected by Songfinch, you can opt to choose a specific artist if their style resonates with you. If you decide to handpick an artist from Songfinch's roster, the price may increase. This customization option allows you to align the song more closely with your musical preferences but comes with an additional cost.

3. Additional Customization Options

Songfinch offers several customization options that can enhance the song but also raise the price. For instance, you can add specific instrumental arrangements or request a longer song beyond the standard 2-3 minutes. Some customers opt for custom add-ons such as additional verses or personalized messages within the song, which can make the final product even more tailored to the recipient. These extra features typically come at an added expense.

4. License for Commercial Use

The price of a Songfinch song is intended for personal use, such as giving it as a gift or playing it at special events. However, if you wish to use the song commercially — for example, in a marketing campaign or as part of a business promotion — you will need to purchase additional licenses. Commercial use licenses allow you to use the song for business purposes but significantly increase the overall cost, as this compensates the artists and Songfinch for the broader exposure and potential revenue generation.

personal song gift

5. Rush Orders and Expedited Delivery

For those who need a song on short notice, Songfinch offers rush delivery options. The standard turnaround time for a song is 7 days, but if you require the song sooner, you can expedite the process for an additional fee. Rush orders typically deliver the song within 3-5 days, and the faster you need it, the higher the surcharge.

Conclusion

The cost of a Songfinch song depends on several factors, from the base price to the specific artist you choose, added customization options, licensing for commercial use, and delivery time. While the base price offers a high-quality personalized product, additional features allow for even more customization — at an increased cost. Understanding these factors can help you better plan your budget and create a personalized song that meets your needs.

[manjuhitorie]

Hitorie - Ongaku to Hito Magazine Interview - English Translation

Since we too are shouldering so much sorrow ourselves, it was all the more reason to try and find a way to do something about it... That's when we realized it's not about supporting people, it's rather about offering comfort to them.

Interview: Usami Hiroyo Photo: Nishimaki Taichi ～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

-Tell me how the process went, how did you feel creating a whole new album by yourselves?

Shinoda: In order to keep the band Hitorie alive, forever playing the songs wowaka left behind wouldn't be enough to sustain us, we realized. So the three of us got together and each wrote about 1 chorus of a demo song. No big ordeal, we just knew it had to be done and went along with the flow almost.

-ygarshy, Yumao, did you have also have a hard time coping with the reality of making an album?

Yumao: Absolutely. Like "Are we really going to do this?"

ygarshy: I can't say I felt the same way as either of them, personally. Making an album was indeed the natural flow of things, but I'm still struggling to cope with it even now. I'm still questioning why I had to be main composer of a song, even if deep down I may understand why it had to be done..

-Was there any event that triggered you to act, despite each of your inner turmoil?

Yumao: Back in 2019 we toured as a trio for the first time, that may have been the trigger. Our emotions had burst out of us back then. We were in the midst of the HOWLS tour as a quad until it had to be cancelled right in the middle, so.. We had restarted the tour back as the three of us. Immediately after we begun though, did we begin to be filled with doubt...

Shinoda: Somehow Yumao and I both were never too nervous touring. That is, until the last day. When the question of what we were going to do next finally weighed in on us.

-ygarshy was nervous then?

ygarshy: Unlike the two of them, I was suffering so much. First of all I wasn’t even grasping the reality. Then our audience too came bearing mixed emotions as well, and it was unlike anything I had seen before. There were even people flat-out bawling their eyes out... Normally I never have stage fright, but that situation was nothing of the ordinary. Somehow the three of us pushed through until the end.

Yumao: When it finally hit us, like what the hell are the three of us doing out here! Up until then we were just telling ourselves “This is fine, this is fine.” To be honest we’re still doing that now, if we weren’t we wouldn’t be here.

Shinoda: Not to mention that Yumao had said something backstage that day which was pure cash money.

-What did he say?

Yumao: I had said something along the lones of “If we’re doing this then why don’t we go all the way? As long what we do is acceptable and civil, why don’t we just do it? Don’t you wanna bring in even bigger crowds? I wanna perform at Zepp and tour and stuff, don’t you. Then it’s simple, we gotta write some good songs.”, I think.

-You had no choice but to push forward... You have such strong feelings for the band to propel you forward. Therein lies my question, what originally spurred Shinoda to take on the vocal role?

Shinoda: After wowaka’s passing, we held a memorial event at Studio Coast. When we were discussing options on what to do for the event, ygarshy pointed at me and said “You should sing.” I have a history of singing for old bands in the past so it’s not as if I’m a stranger to singing but.. To sing under those circumstances felt like all too heavy a responsibility for me at first. That’s when even an acquaintance of mine contacted me and said “You’ve gotta sing.” While mulling over the problem before me, I went out to Family Mart, where I managed to hit the kuji lottery 7 times out of 8... That’s when I knuckled under, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

-The kuji lottery...?

Shinoda: One of those campaigns where you get one ticket for every purchase over a  certain amount. But I was serious about it that time!!

-Ahahahha!  Wait, is it okay for me to laugh at this.

Shinoda: If you don’t laugh then it will feel worse, so laugh by all means, it’s fine (laughing).

-Back to the discussion earlier, ygarshy what was your reason for endorsing Shinoda back then?

ygarshy: We were considering various options for the memorial concert, among them was inviting a substitute singer but, I really wanted to keep it as just the three of us. What was within our power was the question, and I knew of Shinoda’s singing abilities so.. I knew it would burden him further and make his load heavier, but I put that all aside and still told him “Go sing.”

-How did you feel about it Yumao?

Yumao: I understood why ygarshy ordered Shinoda, and I too wanted him to sing. But I knew Shinoda was stressing over it, I told him “If you really don’t want to then don’t do it, we’re not forcing you.” The memorial concert could just be anything and I’d be fine with it...

-Ultimately the choice was left to Shinoda.

Yumao: That way was for the best. But when he did announce that he would actually sing, I was indeed glad.

-I can sense that Shinoda, as the new vocalist, had to deal with an extraordinary amount of pressure and tribulations at times though.

Shinoda: That’s right. But there’s tons of three-man bands out there who sing while playing insane guitar pieces, and they get by just fine. We may be completely incomplete as a band but, I still desire to show an audience a good time. I was able to press on because of my standards as a performer I wanted to uphold.

-ygarshy, Yumao, what was your response to Shinoda’s circumstance? Did you try to lessen his load in anyway?

ygarshy: I basically strived to keep the bass and drums steady and consistent, so that he wouldn’t stuggle at all when harmonizing with it. The only thing I could do was use my bass to try and let Shinoda know that no matter what happened it would be fine.

-So you supported him through means of performance. What about you, Yumao?

Yumao: I reached out to him directly. Not by letting him talk or vent to me but, I tried to do more idle chitchat with him and stuff. It’s important to aaaalways rehearse with a straight focused head, and I always do that because I love to anyway but, if I could be like a crash pad cushioning his singing, then I hope that would be enough.

-Your consideration for each other shows in the album as well... On to the next question. At your 7th anniversary concert yesterday, Shinoda you had said “I hope this crazy shit can be turned into something you can enjoy.” When I heard that it really stuck me how strong you are Because there’s no need for you to ever get over grief, instead you cradle that grief and comfort others with it too.

Shinoda: this may sound weird but... I was worried if there were people out there who may still keep on grieving along with us. We expressed ourselves, our grief and how we feel. In the hopes that people may empathize, or something... Since we too are shouldering so much sorrow ourselves, it was all the more reason to try and find a way to do something about it, something for others who are in true sorrow right now... That's when we realized it's not about supporting people, it's rather about offering comfort to them.

-I see. Sorrow is inescapable so long as we're human. I sense in this album the potential to draw in people who even know nothing about Hitorie. Especially the final track, YUBIKIRI, of which Shinoda wrote the lyrics while Yumao composed the music. The bubbly melody is so easy on the ears, and the strong commitment to coping with reality shines right though. This song could practically be a good luck charm, it has such energy.  So what were you thinking when you wrote it?

Yumao: For me personally, making a song that would fit Hitorie's image would be an utterly impossible feat. So I buckled up and wrote something I could.  Putting emphasis on my feelings deep down and my own self-expression. The concept for the most part was "A sense of hope, like when the sky clears up and opens wide". When I made my order to Shinoda for the lyrics, I told to keep it straight enough that even a teenager will get it.

- You did a great job at expressing such bright brilliance. How did you confront the lyrics per order Shinoda?

Shinoda: I tried to make it about, like people confirming each other's existence, people hoping to see someone again one day. You may notice that the mood of the first bit is a bit different from the second bit as well. That's because the second was written fit to Yumao's order, while the first bit is supposed to be like a letter written by me to the other 2 members.

-As in the chorus lyrics "To cry, to laugh and rage/To inhale, exhale and inhale/You'd be surprised by how little we have time for such stuff, always so busy/Well then, that's it for today/So let me hear your voice again"?

Shinoda: That's right. Like "We're all so busy writing songs and doing whatever, but this pace is nice, let's keep this up."

-When you say "Let's keep this up", is that akin to a wish for Hitorie to keep on having good songs, including the ones wowaka left behind, and for people to see the beauty in your band?

Shinoda: I'm constantly feeling like our songs still haven't gone as far out in the world as they can go, there's more people out there who would connect with the songs if they could just hear them. I want to find a way to connect with them. Performing and writing music is something I love  to do, it's who I am, and there's no one else out there who could do it with me like the amazing comrades I have here can.

Yumao: I feel the same way.

ygarshy: Yeah. Me too.

[davebuckleslefthand]

the USA makes me so upset! U.S. CITIZENS ARISE!

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[theheroheart]

New Years Meme 2020

@arqueete:  “This survey is a meme that has been passed around among my friends since back in LJ days. If you want to join in, please consider yourself tagged.”

I used to journal more, and stuff like this is really nice to look back on, because I have terrible memory for life stuff or the passage of time. So here, for future me.

1. What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before? Uhhhh wear a mask to the grocery store? This was not a groundbreaking year for new experiences.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? I didn't have any. I don't make any. I mean, sometimes I make them in the vague "I want to focus on this in the future", but I'll already have forgotten by March, like I don't really PLAN my life in such a way. I just have goals that aren't tied to specific points in time. You get there when you get there, and you choose what you want to prioritise.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No, but my brother got married, which was very exciting because he's 40 and has never had a girlfriend who he considered important enough for me to meet. (And my sister-in-law is delightful.)

4. Did anyone close to you die? My (half-)brother's dad died a few weeks ago (cancer), but I didn't really know him, so I wouldn't say he was close to me. I did spend almost a week at my brother's place to be there for him though. And honestly, I kept thinking about how my mom's dead this year, because in a way I'm glad we didn't have to deal with this year together. She already died from respitory failure, had poor impulse control and sense of safety, and I would've been CONSTANTLY worried about her.

5. What countries did you visit? I was gonna go to Malaysia (for my brother's wedding celebration), but that didn't happen. (Flatmates were gonna go to Japan.) So. Yeah. Home country all the way.

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020? A driving force to move forward in my life?

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I don't think... that there is one specific day? I guess the US election? Despite me being Norwegian, it's still fairly historic.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? /stares blankly at the wall I did do some nice art pieces? I coped? I managed to have good times and make friends despite everything else.

9. What was your biggest failure? I dropped out of two classes specifically because I couldn't do remote learning and self-structured study (BECAUSE ADHD YO), even though it wasn't even that HARD subjects, which was very frustrating. It hasn't set my study plan back, thankfully, but it still felt like a waste.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Only mental. And thankfully not as bad as it could've been, but hell yeah there was some strong anxiety in there.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I've bought some great video games this year. Animal Crossing brought 250 hours of fun, Hades brought 100 hours so far. Good investments.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? // 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Both of these are related to pandemic behavior so I think you can guess.

14. Where did most of your money go? Entertainment? Also, god, I spent so much money on theatre tickets that are now just vouchers for non-specific future performances. I'll get my money's worth eventually, but right now it's hundres of dollars worth just sitting in vouchers. OH, and, digital D&D books.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I had tickets for Chess. Several tickets, for multiple performances. STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THIS PRODUCTION THOUGH. But they're still doing it so hopefully it will still happen.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2020? Not sure I have any specific ones, actually. No iconic music.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Last year I was feeling very accomplished. I was challenging myself, had befriended lots of classmates, had gotten through some stuff I was quite proud of managing. This year has been... not that. But on the other hand, I'm not as exhausted from school stuff, and I'm ready to actually go places and try to do things, as opposed to just wanting a month long nap.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? General life maintainance stuff. Not just school work, but like, focus more on money sensibility and try to get on disability, go to the dentist, work with my doctor more... All of that got a little bit just... postponed indefinitely.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Uh, can't think of any notable negative behaviour. It's mostly stuff I didn't do. Like, I had some bad anxiety in the spring, but honestly I think I did an appropriate amount of worrying.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Had my first christmas with my flatmates (whom I love very much), and had my dad over as well. It was very lovely, and socially way less draining than usual.

22. Did you fall in love in 2020? lmao I'm aromantic

23. How many one-night stands? lmao I'm asexual

24. What was your favorite TV program? There were a few this year! Good Omens, The Queen's Gambit, Julie and the Phantoms, Avenue 5. There were more I watched and enjoyed, but I think those stand out the most. Also, does Critical Role count? OH, The Baby Sitters Club! A lot of good stuff.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah. I don't hate a lot of people.

26. What was the best book you read? Don't think I read anything notable this year. Don't read a lot of books, I prefer to consume stories in other media.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Julie and the Phantoms. Not because the music is astounding or anything, but it was very feel-good and fun. Don't think I had a lot of new music.

28. What did you want and get? D&D campaigns? Have gotten really invested in one of them in particular, it's delightful.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Hmmm. The only one that stands out was The Old Guard. I watch more series than films. 2 hours isn't long enough for me to get properly invested AND satisfied.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 33 and I don't know that I did anything special. I think I just chilled? Flatmates made me a nice breakfast!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Having the energy for essays/exams, probably. Just feeling like I actually had some accomplishments. OR LIKE. If Norway did like New Zealand and just wiped the virus out.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020? Pyjamas. Occasionally 'apocalypse chic'.

34. What kept you sane? My flatmates and my dad. Reliable social interaction with people I care about.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Matthew McNulty, which applies to every single year. But this year I started both a gallery website and a discord server for him, so it was a particularly good year for him.  (Special mention to Paul Spera, who I finally talked to face-to-face, through Zoom, but still.) Also I'm using 'fancy' platonically.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Ha aha hah all of them, oh god. BLM, probably, though. That was when I still had the energy to get invested.

37. Who did you miss? So many people. Like, come on. I don't know that it was even specific people so much just... being in a group? Like, my choir gang?

38. Who was the best new person you met? Met a guy I ended up playing a LOT of board games with. We haven't really talked in a few months now tho. And there's a friend I didn't MEET this year, but I really connected with, who's also now my DM, which was really nice.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020: It's not necessarily new knowledge, but this year has really driven home the need for both community solidarity and governmental support/leadership.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I'm alone in my apartment, that means I can do anything / I'm not wearing pants (alone in my apartment - Brian David Gilbert)

Summary: It's been a conflicted year, a lot has felt like it's been on stand-still, but there's still been some good things in there.