#A Christmas Record

[blueflipflops]

Reblog for bigger sample size!

[science-bastard]

on the twelfth day of sciencemas, my lab-mate gave to me- twelve stolen organs, eleven noxious gases, ten lab rats testing, nine klaxons blaring, eight geiger counters, seven petri dishes, six pairs of goggles, five circuitboards! four glowing goos, three henchmen, two laser beams, and a lab coat that’s tailored to me!

[samarajoysings]

hey y’all! we wrapped up the holiday tour this week with our final show last night in Maryland! Here’s a little bit about what my travel routine has been like this month ✨

[peachesofteal]

Poor Melania just wanted to spend a rich guy’s money for the rest of her life and now she has to decorate the White House for Christmas again.

[coolnonsenseworld]

Samurai and Ninja in crappy pics because December here is under a constant cloud and I just want y'all to see them all golden and cute without learning how to take aesthetic pictures 🥴 💙❤️😆🥰

linktr.ee/Mezzy

[agisleepy]

Oh my gosh this is so cute!😭❤

[fungusqueen]

I took a 2-part online Seaweed Class through Backcountry Press, and our instructor sent us a class resource page. I revisited it for the book recommendations but I saw that she included some websites of small business that sell ethically harvested seaweed products.

This Sea Vegetable Sample Kit from Main Coast Sea Vegetables is quite charming! I've been searching for dried seaweeds at my local Korean market but the packaging rarely lists the species type, so the scientific names give me reference for my own culinary research.

Ugh! And this Kelp Krunch bar is kind of adorable. I have no idea how it would taste but I think I might like it. I also feel like this is the type of snack that would scare the wrong people away, if that was your goal. Like if someone is in your space or won't leave you alone, you can pull out the Kelp Krunch and start crunching and say, "sorry, I hope my seaweed breath doesn't bother you!" and they'll promptly leave and think it was their idea. I am super curious about the kit/this snack and I might want to get it for myself for Christmas.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt (1953)

[pngjamie]

yeah okay you may be pretty cool, but

are you cool enough to have GHOULINFUSCHIA use your art as her pfp?

I DONT THINK SOOOOOOOOOOOO

[thornescratch]

The Caps going back to that well of "yes they sing like shit but we will put them in silly holiday hats for you to make it extra funny" for their commercials is a winning formula.

[bewitchedmold]

Autism be damned, my they/them can work a grill

[greatsaladavenue]

Just love that they played Happy Xmas and Wonderful Christmastime right after in the store today. Twice. Always tied together.

[oneshotgremlin]

OH BOY DEBUGGING I SURE LOVE DEBUGGING (CUTELY EXPERIENCES THREE STRAIGHT HOURS OF SISYPHEAN SUFFERING AS I BEG FOR THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH ❤️❤️❤️)

[choosingwhatmatters]

Music in The Loyal Pin, Episode 4

Welcome back to my music rambles. Buckle up, creampuffs, this is going to be a long one. Luckily, it was very easy to structure. Let me tell you about four different types of kisses.

Handkiss – Big emotions

Last week I talked about a piece I call “Big emotions.” It is connected to situations in which our princesses (Pin is the princess of my heart, and nobody can take that title away from her) have a lot of feelings. Snake bites. Tears on letters. Happy reunions. And, in this episode, giddy memories of a kiss to the cheek, as well as the angry chuckage of rocks into a pond.

Although this piece sounds relatively tame, there’s a lot going on in the music, especially the harmonies. A harmony consists of all the notes that accompany the melody at any given time of a piece, plus the notes of the melody itself. Harmonies are the melody’s clothing. They are the bed in which the melody stretches and writhes.

Usually, there is one harmony that everything comes back to. Some call it first chord; some call it tonic. I call it home. Our piece starts out at home in D major. So far, so snug. But then, suddenly, there’s a c in the accompaniment and the first music theorists are already raising their eyebrows: there’s no c in the D major scale. The music is trying to throw us off balance. The whole phrase is repeated and then there’s even more shenanigans in the harmonies. First we greet a chord that is a welcome guest in the house of D major: B minor, its sad little sibling. But suddenly, B flat major appears. A foreigner! Not one, but two notes that do not belong to the D major scale. B flat major waves through the open door before the melody comes to rest in A major, another regular in the household, and there it stays without ever going back to D major.

The whole thing happens in the span of seconds, but it leaves us with several instances of startled surprise and a quality of unfinished-ness. Much like a character grappling with a big emotion, our ears must come to terms with what we’ve just heard.

We hear the melody of the piece one last time at the end of the episode, when Anil is kissing Pin’s hand. It’s only the beginning of the melody, and there’s hardly any accompaniment. No harmonies to throw us off guard. The piece only lasts for a few seconds, hinting at big emotions to come before it floats away.

Butterfly kiss – Anil’s theme

Anil’s theme has undergone a lot of changes in the course of the first four episode. It starts out as a sweet, playful melody that matches Pin’s wistful one. It is often played by a glockenspiel but is fully orchestrated in moments in which Anil twirls for her family. Or sneakily returns from the UK without anyone knowing.

Anil brings back with her a new version of her motif. This one we can hear when she is plotting against the men in Pin’s life or manipulating those around her. Instead of the usual, cheery major scale we’re used to, we can hear the melody in a minor scale. Minor scales tend to sound melancholic or sad. In the piece at hand, the melody sounds sinister which, again, goes back to the harmonies underneath. Harmonies are powerful allies and even more formidable foes.

In episode 4, we can hear the minor version of Anil’s motif when she schemes against Kuea, shortly after being interrupted at the pond with Pin. We hear it again when Pin remembers Pranot trying to kiss Anil’s hand.

And then there’s a brand-new version of the motif when Pin learns about the butterfly kiss.

The time signature is different now. Instead of our usual 4/4 time, we are in 3/4 time. This time measure often has a waltz-y, swaying quality to it. Together with an airy keyboard sound I cannot identify, the whole thing sounds whimsical and innocent. Anil’s theme glistens in silvery glockenspiel notes above this soundscape in a high octave. We are putting a pin (heh) in this fact, namely the use of the glockenspiel and the high pitch.

Lip kiss – Pin’s theme

Pin’s theme is a constant in the first four episodes. Sometimes we can hear the whole piece, sometimes it’s just the first three notes, but it’s everywhere. It hardly changes.

Up until that fateful moment in episode 3, when Pin becomes aware of her heartbeat when she is massaging Anil. The melody evolves. There are more notes and shorter note values. The same thing happens when Anil kisses Pin’s lips.

Y’all, I don’t even know where to start gushing because this is so beautiful. As Pin has these life-changing experiences, her melody expands. It’s played by a glockenspiel now, the same instrument that has been mostly Anil’s up until that point. The tempo is off, restless. It doesn’t fit the accompaniment. Yet. Something shook Pin’s world, and she has yet to regain balance.

French kiss – Pentatonic flourish

In my last post, I promised to take a look at the pentatonic shenanigans that happen every time Anil and Pin are close. When Pin massages Anil. When Anil smells Pin’s hair. When Anil draws Pin close at the pond. When Anil kisses Pin in a way from which there is no return. Semi-quavers are drizzling on our eardrums, the measure is almost undeterminable.

Pin’s theme is back to its usual piano, but it's off beat now. Accomplished, less tame. Then Anil explains the French kiss to her and leans in a second time. The accompaniment narrows to one sequence that is repeated time and again, and once more there's Pin's theme, off beat. She has found her confidence. She is part of the music, and part of something even more beautiful.

Remember the other pin I was talking about earlier? How, during the butterfly kiss, Anil’s theme is played on the glockenspiel in a high octave? Well, during the French kiss, we can hear the first three notes of Anil’s theme, on the piano. Just as Pin has borrowed Anil’s instrument, Anil is now borrowing Pin’s, and even more importantly: they're on the same instrument now. Both of their themes are reduced to the first few notes, Anil's in a low octave that we haven't heard before. The low pitch has a calming quality. It provides the foundation for the last two high piano notes: the first note of Pin's theme, played twice. In my head, Pin is saying "I ... I ...," without even knowing how to finish that sentence, and instead giving up. Giving in.

Dear friends ... this show is so bloody beautiful! I don’t even know what to do with myself. I’ve spent way too much time revelling in the soundscape of this episode, and I regret nothing. If the show ended now, there would still be heaps of things to talk about. But it's not ending. It's just starting out and that is making my undescribably happy.

The fact that the premise of the show seems designed for me (sapphic, historical, South-East Asian) tells me that The Loyal Pin is not the most lucrative story to tell. To have hundreds of people dedicating time, work and skill into telling this story, supported by the Ministry of Commerce, no less, leaves me in tears. What a journey! Thank you for travelling with me!

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Christmas special Eri x RoR please? (This might be a bit scary)

Reader was told about not just Santa but also about Krampus and feels sad for him

So she tries to stay up the whole night to meet Krampus because she wants to give him something

She falls asleep only to wake up to the sound of hooves and is shocked to see Krampus in her home! (He came for Loki to punish him for being naughty again this year)

Rather than be afraid of Krampus, Eri runs over to him and gifts him the scarf she wanted to give him so he can stay warm as well as some cookies she made with the help of Mama Eve (Krampus is touched by her generosity as he simply pats her head and leaves, sparring Loki for being punished this year)

This is not based off the Krampus movie but Krampus from German Mythology (I want to think of Krampus as a sort of Demon that only comes around Christmas)

Krampus mostly comes to punish Loki for constantly being naughty (No one helps Loki because they don’t want to be on Krampus’ ‘Shit List’)

Krampus is the son of Hel from Norse Mythology

Please get plenty of rest and take your time!

-You were still learning about Christmas, being with your new family, and that it was celebrated differently all over the world, with some things being the same, like presents and pretty decorations.

-It was Nikola who told you about someone named Krampus. Some, like Adam, were worried that you might get scared hearing about the scarier spirit of Christmas, who would come to teach naughty children a lesson alongside Santa, beating them with birch branches.

-You learned of the Krampus parades, seeing people dressing up to walk the streets, scaring children into behaving, and that even many adults, like Loki, were scared of him.

-You learned Loki was a repeat offender causing Krampus to visit almost every year to punish Loki, but instead of feeling scared, you shocked Nikola, Loki, and Adam by bursting into tears, feeling sorry for Krampus, as he was just doing his job.

-It took almost a half an hour and some fresh baked cookies from Eve to calm you down, but she thought it was sweet that you were so sympathetic towards Krampus, showing your kind heart.

-When you told your family you were going to stay up to meet Krampus, they were amused, thinking you were going to try to wait up to see Santa. You begged Brunnhilde to take you out so you could go shopping, finding a long scarf, using your allowance money to buy a scarf and you did your best in wrapping it, but it didn’t look pretty compared to the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree, but you were determined to make Krampus know that he was loved just as much as Santa!

-When the night finally arrived, you had two plates of cookies, one for Santa and one for Krampus, and carrots for the reindeer, as well as your present for Krampus, a blanket wrapped around you as you were determined to meet him!

-You made it about forty minutes before you tipped over, fast asleep.

-Thankfully, that night you were a light sleeper, and you awoke to the sound of footsteps and what sounded like hooves as you saw up, looking a bit delirious as both Santa and Krampus froze, seeing you awake.

-You froze, your eyes going wide and Santa was going to play interference, not wanting you to get scared of Krampus, only for you to leap off the couch and rush towards Krampus, leaping into his arms.

-They both froze, Krampus looking at Santa with a ‘what do I do’ look on his face as he was panicking as you pulled back, your eyes sparkling brightly, “You really came! I’m so happy!” what the what?

-You scurried back to the couch, grabbing your present, handing it to him, “Here, this is for you!” Krampus was stunned as he kneeled, seeing the gift for him, and he opened it, finding a scarf and he looked at you, seeing your beaming face before he lifted a clawed hand and patted your head.

-Santa chuckled warmly, coming over and patted your head as well, “What a sweet child you are Y/N- you have such a big heart.” You looked a bit sheepish, apologizing to Santa that you didn’t have a gift for him, which made him pat your head even more, “Silly Y/N- you already gave me your gift, you showed me an example of the true meaning of the season, helping and being kind to others.”

-You beamed, happy that you managed to give him a gift too, as they both enjoyed your cookies. Krampus agreed to let Loki go this year but left him a letter with a hoofprint on it, a warning, while Santa took you outside, letting you feed and pet his reindeer before they returned you to the couch where you quickly knocked out again.

-The following morning Loki was hugging you, tears streaming down his face as he thanked you for saving him this year while Odin couldn’t help but laugh, seeing the threatening letter Krampus had left for him, but he knew Loki wouldn’t behave, it wasn’t in his nature.

[puellamagiholyquintet]

Soon, soon