#I mean I would be somewhat interested in what a music themed Legendary would be like but also

[quibbs126]

So CRKNews posted last night about leaks and said this, which reminded me of something they tweeted about some months ago, specifically one part of it

Given they say rhythm game, as well as that tweet, I’m gonna assume that this next update will be music themed

Possibly it’ll bring in Rockstar, but I don’t know. I mean, currently his design might be a bit too simple for an Epic, and Devsis doesn’t seem like they’re planning on really adding Rares. But hey, you never know. Or maybe they’ll give him a new design like they did Cream Puff?

Someone suggested the Cake Pops, but considering we already have BTS, I’m not sure we should be bringing another one in

But yeah, going back to the theme, assuming it is music based, well then one thing is that currently, we don’t have any expected Legendaries/Dragons/Ancients with a music theme (I mean Lotus kind of does, but we just got Pitaya, I doubt they’ll bring Lotus in so soon, plus they’d probably mention it if so), so as far as that goes, we might not get any new ones this update. I mean they could add in a new Super Epic or even Legendary, but I doubt they’re going to do that for music

[cherry-valentine]

Summer 2021 Anime Season

What I’m Watching:

Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid is one of the cutest, sweetest series I’ve seen in a while. The plot sounds rather dark, following a young duke who has been cursed by a witch so that anything he touches, from plants to animals to people, will die. Touching through clothes has the same effect. This naturally isolates him, to the point that his own family have shunned him and he’s forced to live in a separate home out in the woods, with only two servants who are kind (or crazy) enough to stay with him despite the danger. One is an elderly butler who takes on a fatherly role, and the other is the beautiful, busty maid named Alice. And this is where a show that could have gone really dark brightens up to an adorable romantic comedy. Alice is not the least bit afraid of the duke’s curse, and her teasing, cheerful disposition practically forces him to open up. Speaking of Alice, I really enjoy the way her character is handled. Just as the show could have gone dark, it also could have gone sexist and gross. Alice is very busty, as I mentioned, and the show does have some fanservice, but the WAY this fanservice is done makes all the difference. Alice is a flirty character who always seems to be an enthusiastic participant in whatever fanservice we see, rather than being an object to be leered at. She’s very much in control of her body and her sexuality, which I appreciated. Also, there’s a lot of restraint on display here. There are so many ways they could have ruined this by going too far, but they didn’t. The fanservice is restricted to some cleavage shots and Alice occasionally flipping up her own dress to display her stockings. It comes across more as “sexy fun times” than “male gaze oggling a woman”. Because Alice is an interesting and well-written character in her own right. On the surface, she’s unflappable, facing a dire situation with limitless patience and optimism. But we get a few small, brief glimpses of the emotional toll it all takes on her, which is refreshing. The duke himself is a fun character, forever flustered by Alice’s antics but clearly not wanting her to stop. There are some amusing side characters as well. The animation has been criticized quite a bit, as it’s CG. It’s not the best looking CG animation I’ve seen, but it’s far from the worst. For a simple, cute show like this, it’s fine. Recommended if you like romantic comedies with a somewhat dark setup.

Vanitas no Carte is based on a manga by the woman who did Pandora Hearts, so you have some basic idea of what you’re getting into: extravagant period costumes, gothic European scenery, dark and violent themes mixed with goofy humor, and a very complicated web of character relationships. This series features a vampire society that’s being plagued by “curses” which turn the vampires into mindless beasts that can only be saved by mercy killing them. That is, until a human named Vanitas shows up with the power to cure the “curse bearers” using a legendary book that most vampires doubted the existence of. He teams up with Noe, a kind and naive yet physically very strong vampire who has been tasked with finding said book and determining whether its power is real. The result is a bizarre buddy comedy with touches of gruesome violence and gorgeous art. Of the two protagonists, Noe is my favorite. He’s sweet and good-natured, naive but not stupid. He has a disturbing back story (as most of the characters do) but he can still look at the world with excitement and wonder. He also has a hilarious and adorable cat named Murr. Vanitas, on the other hand, is an insufferable asshole. And I don’t mean in the fun way. I mean he literally makes the show hard to watch when he’s onscreen. I normally like the smug bastard types in anime, but Vanitas really pushes the limits of my tolerance. In an early episode he forces a very deep, very long kiss on a woman he has rendered immobile and unable to defend herself, groping her all the while. I found the scene very troubling, and was even more troubled when I read the comments on the episode, almost all of which calling the kiss “sexy” or “hot” or, worst of all, “romantic”. It’s extremely obvious that the woman did not want or enjoy the kiss, but aw, she was all blushy and embarrassed afterward, so it was a cute scene, right? Ugh, no, gross. The woman, named Jeanne, was established as a very powerful, badass vampire. Yet she’s quickly reduced to a red-faced, crying mess by this absolute garbage character sexually assaulting her in front of several other characters. The whole scene was so bothersome I almost dropped the series entirely, because Vanitas never faces any consequences for this act. He just grins smugly after it’s over. However, I kept watching because, aside from Vanitas, the show is amazing. The art and animation are breathtaking. The plot is highly interesting. The characters, Vanitas excluded, are compelling. And then we have Noe, who is pretty much the opposite of Vanitas. Honestly, if Vanitas was the only protagonist, I would have dropped it, but he’s one of two. So... recommended, but with caution. Your mileage may vary on how much Vanitas you can stomach.

Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi is.,. not something I expected to enjoy. It has a visual style that reminds me of Kill la Kill, a show I absolutely loathed. The overall vibe of the show is a little off-putting for me, but somehow I got myself hooked on it. The basic set up is that, hundreds of years ago, giant monstrous demons roamed the earth. All the gods of the earth got together, defeated the demons, and sealed them away, leaving one young god named Rin behind to watch over the seal and train newly born gods to fight, should the seal ever be broken. Flash forward to the present day, where Rin has only been able to train a very small number of gods because most of them can’t handle Rin’s absolutely brutal training (it mostly consists of her murdering them over and over and letting them regenerate, as they’re essentially immortal). Unfortunately, some demons have come back, and they’ve taken the appearance of humans. This revelation motivates some of the younger gods to resume their training with Rin. And that’s about all I can say for the plot without getting into some bizarre subplots. There’s a lot I don’t like about the show. I’m not crazy about its cartoony look given the subject matter. I don’t like that there’s basically a whole subplot that revolves around human women being repeatedly raped (side note: rape is never graphically shown, though it is made extremely clear what is happening and we see the lead up to it, also this is a rather small subplot that gets little attention after the first episode). And I absolutely hate that a character involved in this subplot, who encourages it, is presented as a character we should actually like. But! There are some things I really enjoy about it as well. I think the setup is really cool. The gods, and their role in the world of the story, are super interesting. They’re practically indifferent to humans, not even taking the slightest bit of interest when one country invades another and slaughters innocent civilians, because to them, it’s like a human intervening when one animal fights and kills another in the woods. So long as humans aren’t completely wiped out, they don’t get involved. Which is a neat concept. I also like the battles, which are frenetic and a blast to watch. And I totally love Rin, who is just a straight up badass in every single way. She’s one of those ridiculously overpowered characters we sometimes get in anime, most of which are usually male. Rin is so absurdly powerful that other absurdly powerful characters are terrified of her to the point that the mere mention of her name triggers panic attacks. Watching her fight is pure joy. Also the music is great, with an absolute banger of an opening theme. Recommended if you like wild, imaginative action anime and aren’t triggered by rape.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

To Your Eternity Boku no Hero Academia Shaman King

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid

Best Opening Theme: Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi

Best Ending Theme: Vanitas no Carte

Best New Male Character: Noe (Vanitas no Carte)

Best New Female Character: Alice (Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid)

[passionate-reply]

This week on Great Albums: a fresh look at quite possibly the 80s’ most hated band, A Flock of Seagulls! Spoiler: their music is good, people in the 90s and 00s were just mean. If you want to find out more about how having the absolute best hair in the business ended up backfiring on these poor sods, look no further than my latest video. Or the transcript of it, which follows below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’m going to be diving into a discussion of quite possibly the most derided and lambasted music group of the 1980s: A Flock of Seagulls. With a strange name, a perhaps painfully stylish aesthetic, and equally trendy and of-the-moment music, that was, for a time, inescapable in popular culture, their legacy forms a perfect target for the ridicule all popular things must face in due time. But even moreso than that, I think A Flock of Seagulls have become not only a punchline in and of themselves, but also a summation of everything that was dreadful and excessive about the early 1980s, with its “Second British Invasion” of synthesiser-driven New Wave. I can think of no better example of this kind of abuse than a famous line from the 1999 comedy film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The film is largely a love letter to the 1960s and its Mod aesthetics, and the protagonist, a super-spy unfrozen from this era in time, dismisses the history and culture of the 1970s and 80s as nothing more than “a gas shortage, and A Flock of Seagulls.” But at the time of this writing, we’re about as far away from Austin Powers as the film was from the release of this album, the band’s 1982 debut LP, so I think it’s been long enough that we can start to re-evaluate A Flock of Seagulls’ rightful place in music history.

While this self-titled album was the group’s first long-player, their first release was the 1981 single “It’s Not Me Talking.” Notably, this track was actually produced by the legendary Bill Nelson, who also released it on their behalf via his personal label, Cocteau Records. Ever since discovering this for myself, I’ve found the connection between Nelson and A Flock of Seagulls fascinating, and also satisfying. Despite the gulf between their respective reputations, I do think their work has a lot in common, at the end of the day: swirling washes of synth disrupted by screaming guitars, not to mention that shared interest in Midcentury rock and roll aesthetics.

Music: “It’s Not Me Talking”

These two acts would, of course, go their separate ways shortly after, and they ended up in completely opposite camps, with Nelson becoming a cult favourite with little crossover success, and A Flock of Seagulls going on to create what is, undoubtedly, one of the most iconic songs of the entire decade.

Music: “I Ran”

What does one even say about a song like “I Ran”? Over the years, it’s certainly gotten somewhat overplayed, but I can’t really hold that against it. It’s just a damn good song. Both ethereally menacing as well as catchy and rather accessible, “I Ran” takes the atmosphere suggested by “It’s Not Me Talking” and kicks it into another gear, with a harder-hitting hook and the introduction of that highly distinctive and of-the-moment echoing guitar effect. Some will hear it as little more than evidence that the song is hopelessly dated, but I’ve never thought of it as anything other than satisfying to listen to. If you ask me, I figure all art that exists is essentially “a product of its time”--nobody ever said Michelangelo Buonarroti’s David was a lousy sculpture, just because you can easily tell it was made during the Italian Renaissance. At any rate, I’d encourage everyone reading to go back and listen to it again, trying to maintain a little neutrality. I’d recommend the album cut of it, which is significantly longer than the single version, and features a rich intro that sets the scene before that famous guitar ever makes an appearance, which I think really adds to the experience. By some reckonings, A Flock of Seagulls are sometimes considered a “one-hit wonder,” but while they certainly are remembered chiefly for “I Ran,” this album’s other singles were moderately successful as well.

Music: “Space Age Love Song”

“Space Age Love Song” is perhaps the band’s second best-remembered single, and takes their sound in a markedly different direction than that of “I Ran.” “I Ran” won popular acclaim by finding a new home for the guitar, in the midst of a sea of synth, and pushed A Flock of Seagulls into a similar space as acts like the Cars and Duran Duran, who had enough mainstream rock sensibilities to sneak a lot of synthesiser usage onto American rock radio...much as one might sneak spinach into tomato sauce when feeding picky children. But I think “Space Age Love Song” is much more palatable to listeners of pop, synth- or otherwise. It’s softer in texture, and really almost dreamy, capturing the hazy, buoyant feeling of limerence as well as any pop song ever has. I’m tempted to compare it to another synth-driven classic, whose influence towers over this period in electronic music: the great Giorgio Moroder’s “I Feel Love.” Much like “I Feel Love,” “Space Age Love Song” combines simple, almost banal love lyrics with an evocative electronic soundscape, painting a picture of an enchanting, high-tech future where human feelings like love have remained comfortably recognizable across centuries or millennia. A similar theme of futuristic love pervades the album’s second single, “Modern Love Is Automatic.”

Music: “Modern Love Is Automatic”

While “Space Age Love Song” uses simplistic lyricism to portray the relatable universality of falling in love, “Modern Love Is Automatic” gives us the album’s most complex narrative. In a world where “young love’s forbidden,” we meet a pair of star-crossed lovers prevented from being together by some sort of dystopian authority. The male member of this union, introduced as the “cosmic man,” is apparently imprisoned for the crime of loving, but the text suggests that he may escape from this prison--or, perhaps, even be freed from it. The title, repeated quite frequently throughout the track, is perhaps the mantra of this anti-love society, a piece of propaganda being drilled into us as thoroughly as it is into these subjects: Modern love is automatic, with no need for messy, unpredictable human input.

It’s also worth noting that the song is consciously set in “old Japan,” deliberately locating it in the “exotic” East. While East Asia was strongly associated with refined, perhaps futuristic culture, I can’t help but think there’s a more pejorative sentiment operating here, rooted in stereotypes of Asian cultures unduly policing sexual freedom, and other forms of personal expression and self-determination. Ultimately, despite its futuristic trappings, “Modern Love Is Automatic” isn’t really a song about technology at all, but rather authoritarianism. “Telecommunication,” on the other hand, engages more directly with that theme.

Music: “Telecommunication”

“Telecommunication” was also released prior to the self-titled album proper, and was also produced by Bill Nelson. While structurally similar to “Modern Love Is Automatic,” with an oft-repeated title, brief verses, and a generally repetitive musical structure full of meandering guitar, its text quite plainly discusses the titular field of technology, in a seemingly non-judgmental fashion--though it could be argued that the fairly upbeat music suggests a positive outlook on things like radio and TV. The one hitch in all of it is the very end of the last verse, which sets the song in the “nuclear age”--a nod, perhaps, to the darker applications of 20th Century technology. “Telecommunication” is perhaps indebted less to figures like Moroder, and moreso to Kraftwerk, who first solidified the rich tradition of stoic synth thumpers about everyday machines like cars, trains, and, of course, nuclear energy. I’m also tempted to compare it to an earlier work of Bill Nelson’s group Be-Bop Deluxe, “Electrical Language,” another bubbly number that playfully bats this concept back and forth.

The theme of “quotidian technology” is also present on the cover of this album, which features an interior shot of a living room, centered around a television set. The TV displays a figure playing guitar--perhaps one of those heroic rock pioneers of the Midcentury like Buddy Holly, whom Nelson was so keen to imitate. But what’s most immediately striking about this cover is its beautiful colour palette, full of deep, saturated jewel tones, treated softly with an “airbrush” style effect. Despite being a somewhat mundane scene, the image also features fanciful, imaginative touches: the floor of this room is actually a miniature beach landscape, with the “floor” beneath the TV actually being the surface of the ocean, and the TV appears to be surrounded by a colourful, glowing group of birds. Given the beachy surroundings, we could perhaps interpret them as the titular seagulls. It’s tempting to think of this scene as a representation of how technology can sweep us away, out of our everyday existence and into something richer and more exciting.

But perhaps it’s not so simple--note also the open window in the top left, whose curtain appears to be agitated by some sort of motion in the air. Perhaps these birds are not the products of television fantasy, but rather have flown in from the window, and hence hail from the “real world?” Given how tracks like “Space Age Love Song” and “Modern Love Is Automatic” tackle the theme of the mundane meeting the fantastical, I think this complex and arresting image is a great fit for the album.

While their self-titled debut spawned multiple recognizable hits, A Flock of Seagulls never came anywhere close to recapturing its success. For the most part, they struggled to remain relevant as time wore on, largely abandoning the sonic footprint of their first album, and chasing after new trends in music technology such as digital synthesisers. They would eventually break up during the mid-1980s, and though they’ve reunited in order to perform live several times, the book is probably closed on A Flock of Seagulls. Personally, I can’t help but wonder what might have been if they had stuck to their musical roots a bit more. You get a bit of that on their third LP, 1984’s The Story of a Young Heart, which thankfully brings back that iconic echoing guitar, and does so without sounding too much like a simple retread of “I Ran.” Out of all their other work, it’s the album I would most recommend to admirers of this debut LP.

Music: “Remember David”

My favourite track on A Flock of Seagulls’ debut LP is “Messages”--not to be confused with the track of the same name by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark! Moreso than anything else on the album, “Messages” has this aggressive, insistent, driving quality, and feels less like yacht rock, and more like punk rock. Despite not being released as a single, I think it’s a very strong track that’s quite easy to get into. That’s everything for today--thanks for listening!

Music: “Messages”

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Revolution Theme, Part 2: War of 1812

READ PART 1 HERE

Wow! Thanks @wdway! Love all this!

You’re right that that the Crossing of the Delaware painting makes a lot more sense, now. It also made me think of the more recent pilgrim paintings we’ve seen the past few years. I think we can work those in as well. The pilgrims were somewhat revolutionary in their actions. Not so much in a massive war or battle sort of way, but they left England (yes, Britain) to find freedoms their mother country wasn’t willing to give them. Which is revolutionary in its way.

But more to the point, that was the first step that would eventually lead to a war for freedom between Britain and the American colonies. So, you could see them as the precursor to the revolution. So, it makes sense to use that painting for TF and TWD right now, because what’s been happening the last season or 2 is the precursor to the final, big revolution.

When you got into talking about 2 revolutions, that makes tons of sense as well, and I totally agree.

When you talked about the white house and library of congress being burnt in 1812, about six things came to mind, lol.

When Eugene was at the Sanctuary (which I 100% believe foreshadows the final revolution, Beth, and what Eugene’s role will be in it) he played the 1812 Overture when he did the science experiment for Negan’s wives. (Including Amber, who looked like Beth and Tanya, who had a lot of Beth’s dialogue with Eugene). I’ve kind of low-key obsessed over that song and why they used it, but other than foreshadowing a final battle with Eugene as I’ve already said, it was hard to connect anything more specific.

The 1812 Overture was not actually written about the War of 1812. It was written in celebration of Napoleon’s retreat from Russia. Basically, he tried to invade Moscow early in 1812 but failed miserably and eventually had to retreat. Not so much because of being out-fought, but more because of weather, illness, lack of supplies for the army, etc.

Now, that’s not the same thing you mentioned in the British fighting Napoleon before turning their attention to the American colonists, but the link is still there. Napoleon/Russia>1812 Overture>Napolean/Britain>Britain/American Colonies. See what I mean? So, the idea of two wars or a war on two fronts really makes sense.

I’ve been trying to find out if the 1812 Overture has a d.c. al coda in it. I don’t think it does, but I’m having a hard time finding the sheet music online. You can find it, of course, but often it’s blurry or watermarked in such a way that it’s hard to read, and that’s because they want you to buy it to remove the watermark. I’ll keep looking.

But I do know it has a coda. Maybe not a d.c. al coda, but a coda of some kind. In fact, while I’m still not sure until I can clearly see the sheet music, from what I’ve read others saying, the final, super-loud, exuberant part of the song that’s often used in U.S. Independence Day celebrations IS the coda. And it represents Russia winning the war over Napoleon. Coincidence?

So, Napoleon fought many wars on many fronts. There’s that. But as you said, the British first fought Napoleon (perhaps that will be the Commonwealth) and then turned to the American colonists. And given what was said in 5x09 about a rebel group fighting against the “republic” using what amounts to guerilla tactics, that does line up with how the American colonists fought the British during the revolution. So clearly that’s the one that will involve Beth and TF (though of course they will probably be involved, at least to some extent, in the Commonwealth bit as well).

Also, also. You talked about the LIBRARY of congress being burned. I’m not sure how, but suddenly I feel sure all the books and librarian stuff must be connected to this. To the revolution theme. I still remember watching the beginning of 6x16 and thinking it was SO significant, but I had no idea why. It’s where we see Carl lock Enid in the closet to keep her safe, and she’s yelling at him things like, “what if you don’t come back?” And he tells her, “just survive somehow.”

Meanwhile, that scene is intercut with Negan’s guys chasing the librarian they end up hanging over the bridge with an X spray painted on his chest. And then he gets…burned?

I remember thinking that just FELT like a big war that was coming, but back then, I really didn’t know how to interpret it. Of course, AOW started soon after, but the librarian group wasn’t a big part of that. If we’re honest, they really were just random side characters, which was odd because that sequence FELT so important. So, I’m betting we ought to be connecting them to this as well.

The Native American Symbols

For the record, a couple of things I’ve been trying to look into and haven’t found much (mostly because I haven’t had much time to do so yet) include what role Native American tribes played in the American revolution. Some were loyal to the British, others to colonists. As I said, I need to do more research, but little tidbits like this one are interesting:

“Their biggest contribution was as spies going to Canada and returning with news of the English plans, and attacking English coastal shipping. The Indians played a leading role in preventing an English attack on Machias by sea from being successful. “

(AL’s voice coming out of the radio in 5x09: “At least 68 citizens of the Republic have been killed in four deadly attacks along the main coastal district. The group has continued their campaign of random violence, moving across the countryside unfettered, with the Republic’s military forces in disarray.” Just saying.)

The other thing I’ve looked into is Francis Marion’s (Swamp Fox’s) connection to Native Americans of the time. During the revolution itself, I’m not finding much. But we do know that he learned a lot of his battle prowess from fighting the Cherokee Indians as a young man.

What he learned there is what made him so effective against the British. So, I’m wondering if that will translate with Beth in that she’ll fight the CRM or perhaps even in battles with the Commonwealth early on and that will give her what she needs to triumph much later in bigger battles. Or maybe they’ll connect it even earlier back to early battles with TF and what Daryl taught her. The possibilities are endless. ;D

@wdway:

If you do a search, it's quite fascinating and well worth the time to do two searches. One on the burning of the White House and then the other one on Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans.

There are things that I just did not go into like the connection with Napoleon that we've seen hints of in the past couple of seasons and didn't know why. The Cherokee Rose, which has been a symbol for so long and I do not think it was their intention in the beginning but what most people do not understand is that the Cherokee Rose has a strong connection to Andrew Jackson.

Andrew Jackson had a singular focus on driving the Native Americans (mostly the Cherokee Nation) to the West. Lightbulb moment here, but maybe that might be same of the meaning of Indian symbolism.

Jackson had a major part in the Trail of Tears, which is basically the story that Daryl tells Carol after walker Sophia was discovered. Jackson was a brilliant military soldier, but he was not known as a compassionate person. His nickname was Old Hickory (a tree reference) because the hickory tree's wood is known for its hardness.

A few years back, tptb did a promotion showing nuts that had a hard outer shell. People didn't understand what that was, but I knew because it was a hickory nut. A very hard outer shell and then inside is the actual nut. Hickory wood was the favored source for making baseball bats back in the day because they would not easily break.

The other interesting fact about Andrew Jackson was his love for his wife, Rachel. It was a legendary love. He might have been an asshole to the entire world, but Rachel was the love of his life. When she died, he did not simply bury her. He entombed her in her own little Mausoleum at his home, The Hermitage, just outside of Nashville.

Jackson fought both in the Revolutionary War and the 1812 war, in the Battle of New Orleans. He apparently had been imprisoned by the British for a time during the Revolutionary War, which fired his hatred for them.

Am I the only one thinking about the connections between him and Negan? I'm thinking of the two wars, the Commonwealth and the war against the CRM. I want to think that the Commonwealth conflict is represented by the War of 1812. The larger, more overall important conflict with a CRM will be the American Revolutionary War, with Rick replacing Washington as the leader.

I was freaking out when you mentioned the Overture of 1812. I don't care if it was written for the war led by Napoleon with Russia. If anything, that makes it even as stronger clue that we're on the right track because of the Russian satellite and Russian dictionary that little Judith got from (wait for it) the library, for Eugene.

One other thing, @twdmusicboxmystery. I thought about this earlier today when I was reading about the 1812 Overture, but I wanted to do a check before I mentioned it to you. 

Two very famous pieces of music came out of the 1812 wars. The 1812 Overture about Napoleon and Russia, and The Star-Spangled Banner, our U.S. national anthem written by Francis Scott Key about The Battle of Fort Henry. Both Fort Henry and The Battle of New Orleans were fought in 1814 but were known as being part of the War of 1812.

Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Definitely very interesting! Thanks for all this research @wdway! 

[citizen-l]

03. Dinner

Despite everything being white, the food was delicious. Apparently it was tradition that every weekend, if there were no other engagements, they would all gather in one of their places, usually it was Chen and Minseok's apartment since it was away from campus. 

"Why does it have to be outside campus?" Chanyeol asked while biting into white asparagus. 

"Baek, you wanna explain?" Minseok laughed.

"Loud music," Baekhyun said quickly and took a sip of water. The music in the background was some mild trap beats, pretty chill.

"You mean loud moaning," Jongin mumbled from the side and Baekhyun choked on water, which earned Jongin an upside on the head.

"Let's not make our new guest think we're savages!" exclaimed Poe's wife, Chanyeol couldn't remember her name. 

"Well, now that you've mentioned, it'd be more awkward if we didn't explain it," Chen laughed. 

"We tend to go a little wild, Chanyeol," Poe said. "Especially after a sufficient amount of drinks."

"I need a drink for this," Baekhyun sighed and got up. 

"Have some wine," another ghost smirked. 

"Not that," Baekhyun said, going into the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the fridge. 

"It was probably our second or third gathering, and back then we had some...entertaining ideas," Chen explained. 

"We thought it'd be fun to have a BDSM themed party," Minseok said bluntly. "And someone had the brilliant idea to get me drunk."

"How were we supposed to know you could down a keg without feeling tipsy?" Chen whined. 

"Long story short, everyone ended up drunk except Minseok, and we took our theme a bit too seriously...in Baekhyun's apartment."

"Wait," Chanyeol didn't know if he wanted to laugh or be horrified. "Where was Sehun?"

Baekhyun was still in the kitchen with his back to everyone, his ears redder than his pink hair. 

"The roommate?" Chen asked. "Probably at some party. It was during Halloween, I think."

"Aren't you gonna tell him the worst part?" Baekhyun returned with his beer. "How the neighbors called the cops and we had to explain why we were dressed in harness and handcuffs?"

Chanyeol choked on the potato. 

"It was Halloween," Chen said innocently. 

"Or why someone was bound to the bed," Minseok raised a brow at Chen. 

"Role play."

"Yeah, it didn't end well, and I'm never going through that again," Baekhyun said. "You wanna have your sexcapades, you can have it in your own apartment."

"If I remember correctly," Chen started, but was soon silenced with a kick under the table by Baekhyun.

Well, that was...interesting.

“Don’t worry, we try not to go overboard after that incident,” Chen reassured Chanyeol.

“Sure,” Jongin grumbled, and everyone laughed.

“Oh, that was all your fault,” Poe said. “Jongin’s initiation was legendary.”

“Initiation?” Chanyeol was confused, they sounded like a cult.

“Yeah, Jongin wasn’t part of our original friend circle,” Minseok explained. “Some of them left after the first few parties, but we loved this, so we thought why not invite more people who’d like this.”

“And,” Chen added. “We just wanted to make more friends who are like us.”

“I was nothing like you lot,” Jongin said in the most dramatic way possible, which only proved Chen’s point.

“Well, we thought differently,” Baekhyun said. “And he was already friends with us in class so he was the perfect candidate.”

“It feels like you wanted him to join your cult,” Chanyeol said and Baekhyun’s cheeks lit up with a smile.

“That’s exactly what it was!” Jongin said exasperatedly. “They lured me in, invited me to a party telling me they wanted to get to know me more, and I thought I was this special guy who caught the eyes of his seniors.”

“Jongin, you are a special guy!” Chen lifted his glass.

“Well, turns out,” Jongin ignored the interruption. “They thought it’d be fun to have a horror themed party, for a guy who can’t even tolerate the idea of ghosts.”

“Oh man, I still remember your screams,” Medusa laughed.

“And remember how he thought Taemin was a real ghost because of his long hair and make up,” the brunette, Soyeon, wiped a tear.

“I was kinda proud of that performance,” Lucifer, Taemin, smiled. “I just wish we recorded it all.”

“Thank god, nobody thought of it,” Jongin gulped down his wine.

They went on with their banters and laughter, Chanyeol honestly felt special that they were willing to share this with him. He genuinely enjoyed being there among this eccentric group of people. None of his other friends were like this, this wasn’t the usual crowd he hung out with. His usual friends were music people, and they were usually busy mixing tapes, participating in recitals, or playing a gig at some quaint bar on weekends. He occasionally saw them at parties on campus outside of class, or at times when they had group projects. None as close enough to call them up for a weekend get together.

Or maybe Chanyeol wasn’t the type of person who got close to people.

It wasn’t a lie that he usually avoided people and large gatherings. Sehun usually took matters into his own hands to get Chanyeol out of his room and into the world. But lately, Sehun was too preoccupied with Junmyeon to have time for his best friend. And it wasn’t that Chanyeol minded, per se. It was just that, he now realized he never felt like he actually enjoyed the company of others as much as he was enjoying this dinner party.

“Alright, time for cake,” Baekhyun said.

“I’ll get them,” Chanyeol said before Baekhyun got up. The cakes were heavy after all the decorating was done. And even though Baekhyun made sure to hide his bandage under the frills of his shirt, Chanyeol hadn’t forgotten.

“I’ll help,” Chen said and came with Chanyeol to the kitchen. “You having fun?”

Chanyeol at first didn’t realize Chen was talking to him until he saw Peter Pan waiting for him to answer. “Oh yeah, not what I was expecting when I was invited, but this is really nice.”

“I’m glad,” Chen brought out small plates.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Chanyeol waited as Chen started to cut the cakes. “Why did you guys invite me?”

“Why do you ask?” Chen laughed.

“Well, because, from what I gathered, you guys don’t invite just anyone on a whim to this party,” Chanyeol said. “This is, I think, very important to all of you. And I’m a stranger, practically.”

“The fact that you understand is reason enough to think inviting you was a great decision,” Chen said. “Yes, this is important. But we’re not a cult, despite how we might act sometimes. And we like making new friends.”

Chanyeol can understand that, but it still felt like a weak explanation.

“There is also the fact that you saved Baek, and he wouldn’t shut up about you,” Chen laughed.

Chanyeol stopped and stared. Okay?

“Half of us actually thought he was making shit up after what happened yesterday,” Chen said. “So when you showed up, we just couldn’t contain our curiosity about you, I guess.”

“What happened yesterday? You mean me showing up at Baekhyun’s place and scaring him half to death which led to everything else?” Chanyeol said while gathering the plates and forks.

“Uh, yeah, crazy chain of events,” Chen laughed after a while. “Let’s go.”

“You didn’t think it was going to be over so soon, did you?” 

Of course he did. Chanyeol didn’t think this dinner party would be anything more than a dinner party. Apparently, he was wrong.

They got on their coats and decided to walk a few blocks down to another place. Chanyeol kind of enjoyed the procession, people staring while trying to be discreet about it but failing. A group of people in white clothes, white coats, walking down the sidewalk without a care, laughing and talking as if nobody else is on the street. Chanyeol was somewhat jealous, that kinda confidence only came with being surrounded by supportive and like-minded people.

“You okay? Enjoying yourself?” Baekhyun lightly jabbed an elbow to his side.

“Yeah, you?” Chanyeol asked. “How’s your hand?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I hope my friends didn’t scare you or anything. They can be a bit much sometimes.”

“Nah, they’re pretty amazing people. You have cool friends,” Chanyeol said and watched Baekhyun’s cheeks redden as he smiled. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Baekhyun laughed. “Wait till the night is over, I’d feel lucky if you don’t run away embarrassed.”

“Why would I be embarrassed?” 

The place they arrived at was some kind of a club. Rainbow lights hung under an open space, the bar at one end seemed too well stocked and overcrowded. Chanyeol didn’t know what this was, but he loved it. The music was upbeat, but not too loud or annoying, he appreciated good music. People danced, some sat in garden chairs around small tables. This felt like a backyard turned into a nightclub, but Chanyeol loved the relaxed vibe.

“Hey! How was the party?” The bartender asked before Soyeon practically jumped over the bar to kiss him.

“Ugh get a room,” Jongin scrunched his nose and moved over to the dance floor.

There was definitely something in his voice, Chanyeol would have to be deaf to not notice.

“They used to date,” Baekhyun whispered beside him. “Jongin and Lay, didn’t work out.”

Judging by the blissed out smile Lay the bartender was giving Soyeon, he was pretty okay with things not working out with Jongin. Jongin, evidently, was not. But he didn’t linger, laughing and pulling the Medusa, Jessi, into a spin towards the dance floor. Jessi in turn grabbed Baekhyun and before Chanyeol knew it, he was sitting with Poe and his bride at a table nursing a beer and watching people laugh and dance in all their white glory.

“So, how did you like our party?” Poe’s wife, Lisa, asked in conversation.

“Not what I expected,” Chanyeol said. “But it was very enjoyable, thank you for having me.”

“I was a bit skeptical about you, not gonna lie,” Poe asked, Chanyeol couldn’t remember his name, he wasn’t at the rehearsal earlier that day. “The last time Baekhyun brought someone, it was a bit of a disaster.”

“We don’t talk about it,” Lisa joked. “And after Baekhyun told us what happened with you last night, we were sort of too eager to know who you were. Minseok legit thought Baek made you up.”

“Yeah, he does that a lot,” Poe said. “Bit of a drama queen. So how long have you two been dating?”

Chanyeol spat out his beer, coughing ridiculously. He genuinely did not see that coming.

“Uh, we’re not, we’re not together, or dating, or anything like that,” Chanyeol said once he drank some water from the bottle Lisa gave him.

“But, you were at his place, I thought…”

“No, nothing like that,” Chanyeol said. “His roommate is my friend, Sehun, he’s dating my roommate. And...yeah.”

How to say you got kicked out of your own place because two people wanted to bang without being embarrassed? You couldn’t. Chanyeol hoped he didn’t have to elaborate further.

“Oh! So that’s why Baek said he got scared when you showed up out of the blue,” Lisa laughed. “We just thought you surprised him after your date tomorrow.”

“Nah, I wasn’t his date. I was told he would be out so I would spend the night alone in Sehun’s room. Didn’t think he’d be home.”

Poe and Lisa exchanged some worried glances but they didn’t say anything further. Chanyeol sipped his beer and tried not to be too obvious about watching two Victorian ghosts dancing with Medusa.

“You don’t dance?” Baekhyun asked as he sat down beside Chanyeol.

“Not if I can help it,” Chanyeol said.

“Alright, Darcy,” Baekhyun laughed.

“Who?”

“So what have you been doing sitting here all alone?”

It had been a while since Poe and Lisa went on to dance, asking Chanyeol to join a few times but leaving eventually when he wasn’t budging.

“Just enjoying the scene, vibing. This place is pretty cool, I like the music,” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah, Lay makes music like you, he’s older though, maybe two years your senior. He’d have joined the dinner if he didn’t have to take up an emergency shift tonight.”

“So how many are part of the cult?” Chanyeol asked jokingly, getting a giggle out of Baekhyun. Worth it.

“There’s me, Minseok, and Jongdae, I mean Chen. We’re the originals,” Baekhyun giggled again. “Then Jessi, Lisa, Taemin, Lay. We brought in Jongin, Lisa brought in her boyfriend Justin. And Lay invited Soyeon.”

“And you invited me,” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah. There were a few more, they didn’t quite vibe with us much, left after a while.”

“Justin said you brought someone else long ago,” Chanyeol said before he could stop himself. He really didn’t plan to ask, he didn’t want to overstep, especially after Lisa said they don’t talk about it. But he couldn’t help it. And judging by the stiffness of Baekhyun’s shoulders, he made a mistake. He tried to lessen the damage. “Did they leave as well?”

“Uh, yeah, we didn’t really have...he had a falling out with us. So we sort of stopped interacting.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be, he was a little bitch.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything afterward, so Chanyeol decided to change the subject.

“So, you guys come here every week?”

“No, not really. Depends. If we decide to drink too much, we usually stay over and don’t go out. If there is something special going on, like the carnival a few weeks back, we usually go for a visit. Tonight was a special occasion, your initiation, and also, Lay missed the dinner, so Minseok wanted to bring him some food and cake.”

“My initiation,” the words finally registered. “Does that mean I’m part of the cult now?”

“It’s not a cult, don’t be dramatic,” Baekhyun laughed. “But yes, you’re part of it, which means you’ll be invited to all future dinners, unless you don’t want to be a participant, which is cool too. No pressure. But if you do decide to join, you might want to be more serious about the themes. Chen said Minseok is planning something big for the winter solstice, maybe a Greek Mythology theme. Dibs on Apollo, if that happens.”

“Okay.”

“You think we’re crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Chanyeol said honestly. Eccentric, yes. Not crazy, though. It was actually kinda interesting, fun too. And every one of these people that Chanyeol got to talk to seemed very intelligent so far. They had arguments about Euripides and Bernard Shaw while eating cake, and Chanyeol enjoyed it even though he couldn’t understand one bit what was going on.

“It’s a getaway,” Baekhyun asked as he watched his friends dance and laugh and make fun of each other. “This started as a sort of intervention, a gathering to talk out problems and be civil about it, have dinner, talk things out, have fun. And now it’s like we’re committed. I missed maybe two dinners since we started this last year, and both times I felt like crap afterwards. It’s become a confort.”

It reminded Chanyeol of family brunches on weekends, except there usually weren’t much comfort these days. But he understood the sentiment. And to be invited to be a part of it was a huge deal. To be invited by Baekhyun at that, who has not invited anyone except him and one other person, that person turning out to be not the friend they hoped for, Chanyeol felt some pressure about making a good impression just so Baekhyun won’t have a hard time with his friends.

“I hope you friends didn’t dislike me,” Chanyeol said.

“Oh, trust me, they liked you,” Baekhyun said. “They threatened to not let me in without you next time. It’s an empty threat, don’t worry. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Right. Well, now, Chanyeol sort of wanted to attend dinner next week. Maybe he can bring some of his famous savory dishes.

It should alarm Chanyeol that he was thinking about cooking for a dozen people just to attend a dinner so Baekhyun didn’t look bad to his friends. It should alarm him, but he liked spending time with them, with Baekhyun. Enough to dress up again and cook food.

Either something was definitely wrong with him, or that one kiss was getting to his head.

Ask him, a voice in his head screamed at him. Ask him!

But what would Baekhyun answer? 

It was just to thank him for taking care of Baekhyun?

The kiss wasn’t that heated, if Chanyeol was being honest with himself. A chaste goodbye kiss. That tasted like strawberries.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked, and it looked like he’d been calling his name for a while now. “How much did you drink?” He laughed.

“Not much,” Chanyeol said.

“Your face looks pretty red, you sure you’re not drunk?”

“I’m sure,” Chanyeol wasn’t even tipsy. He’d just been daydreaming about a stupid kiss.

“Well, it’s pretty late. Everyone else is staying over so they’ll probably be here another hour or so. Do you want to stay?”

“Are you leaving?” Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun nodded. “You’re not staying over. Because of me?”

“No, I just like my bed,” Baekhyun said. “I can drop you off if you don’t want to stay here anymore.”

“Okay.”

Maybe Chanyeol was a tiny bit tipsy, that was the only reason he could come up with to explain why he was thinking about Baekhyun’s bed.

“Are you sure you’re sober enough to drive though?” Chanyeol asked when he could think straight again.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I just had one beer tonight, I don’t drink much. Lightweight.”

They said their goodbyes and walked over to the apartment to get the car. They were on the road when Chanyeol got a text from Sehun. 

“Stay over at my place, Baek will let you in.”

For some reason, the text made Chanyeol incredibly angry. The nerve! Sehun barely responded to any of Chanyeol’s texts or calls the whole day, and then, he had the nerve to tell Chanyeol that he couldn’t stay at his own home because… 

“Uh, not to sound rude, but would it be okay if I stayed over at your place tonight?”

“Your roommate and Sehun at it again?” Baekhyun laughed.

Chanyeol just sighed. He was getting too tired of Junmyeon and Sehun acting like teenagers. If they wanted to spend every night together, they might as well move in together and leave Chanyeol his meager place.

“Don’t worry, you can stay over.”

Chanyeol sighed again, for a different reason.

[portals-to-a-new-world]

A Bad Boy

*gif not mine*

Who?: Leonard “Bones” McCoy x Reader

What?: Bones doesn’t want to go to a random 1920s themed party, so Y/n offers him a challenge. Smut ensues.

Series?: Yes! Sequel to A Good Suit

Word Count: 5.3k+ (TRUST ME I KNOW I’M SCREAMING TOO)

Warnings: Listen. We all know I’m a slut for suits. So you can bet your ass this is as smutty as all hell. That being said, semi public almost smut, language, being tied up, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it yall), oral (male receiving), mild choking, dom!reader, listen it’s straight filth kay? Kay,

A/n: Okay so. Surprise? Lol I had been toying with this idea since I wrote Suit but it only came around thanks to @bakerstreethound​ mentioning having a 1920s themed party and well. This just spat itself out 😂 As always, thank you so much to Ace for everything she does. She’s an angel and I love her. 

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“There is no way in hell-”

“Aw, come on, Leo! You haven’t even seen my dress yet!” You called out the open door. You could hear him scoff and grumble a reply from the bedroom. Shaking your head, you resumed the somewhat tricky task of styling your hair in the period-accurate style you’d picked out. Once finished, you wrapped your robe tighter around you and walked back into the bedroom, grinning at the sight that greeted you. You’d been planning both Leonard’s and your outfits since the party was announced, and you couldn’t have been happier with the results. You’d picked out a blue pinstriped suit, complete with a black vest and royal blue silk tie for Len. And damn if he didn’t make you want to forget the whole thing and just drag him back to bed. He raised an eyebrow as he turned when you entered the room.

“I don’t think that robe constitutes as a dress, let alone being period-accurate, darlin’” You rolled your eyes and ignored him as you walked to the closet. You grabbed the dress you’d picked out, a classic flapper style that was solid black with gold accents, and laid it on the bed. Leonard whistled as you shrugged out of the robe, and you couldn’t keep a grin from forming as he walked over. “Now, I know for a fact that ain’t accurate.” He said, reaching up to play with the strap of your bra. In fairness, he was right. The lingerie you’d picked out would have never passed for accurate, but you’d known that when you chose it. You’d also predicted that it would absolutely drive Leonard mad. You winked at him as you replied.

“Just have to be our little secret.” He scoffed, moving to kiss you, but you turned away before he could. “Besides, they had garter belts towards the end of the decade.” You grabbed the dress and slid it on. “Zip me?” You asked, and he happily obliged. You smoothed the dress out before turning back to face him. “Whatcha think?” You asked, holding your arms out. He offered his hand, and you giggled as he twirled you and pulled you against his chest.

“Gorgeous as ever.” He said softly. “Let me tear it off and show my appreciation?” His lips were ghosting yours, and you leaned forward into the kiss. Clearly thinking he’d won, his hands reached down and began to pull your dress up, but you pulled away and grabbed his wrists.

“After.” You said with a grin. He huffed and swung his head in annoyed resignation. Suddenly something occurred to him, and he turned back.

“I seem to recall you sayin that you’d never be able to be around me in a suit without jumping me.” You took a step back to admire his form and nodded.

“And I fully intend to, after we get back.” You said, stepping around him to grab your bag. He spoke up a few moments later.

“What do you say to a compromise?” He asked. You turned back to look at him.

“I’m listening.” You said with a bemused smile on your face.

“We go, but we leave early.” You considered his proposition for a moment when an idea struck you. You grinned mischievously as you walked towards the door.

“I’ll tell you what, McCoy. How about a challenge instead?” He raised an eyebrow in question. “If you can manage to get this,” You pulled your dress up to point at the garter resting on your thigh. “Off of me, I’ll leave early with you.” You slid your skirt back down as he scoffed.

“And just how the hell am I supposed to do that?” He asked, accent twanging slightly. You shrugged with a smirk.

“You’re the one with the legendary hands. That’s the offer, though. Take it or leave it.” He stood still for a few moments, thinking it through. You beamed when he finally nodded his head.

“Fine, but when I-”

“If.” You cut him off, but he just gave you a look before continuing.

“When I get these legendary hands on you, you’re gonna regret it.” The smirk was still plastered on your face as you replied.

“We’ll see about that, Doctor.”

The rules were simple. Leonard couldn’t just blatantly reach up your dress, and you couldn’t refasten any straps once he’d got them undone. His first few attempts consisted of him trying to cheat and just force the garter down by running his hands down your thigh. He finally gave up that notion after nearly being busted by Jim.

“This is impossible.” He grouched when Jim had walked away. You laughed and took his hand to drag him over to one of the tables that had been set up around the room. “What-” You cut off his question by placing his hand over the front clasp of the belt.

“The dress is loose, Leonard.” You guided his fingers, keeping close as to not draw attention. “It’s like using a towel to pick something up.” He finally caught on, and the strap was unhooked a few seconds later. His hand started to move around to the back of your thigh, but you caught his wrist and pulled it away. “I ain’t letting you win that easy, cowboy.” You said, earning a huff. “I will let it count, though, so that means you’re a third of the way there.” You leaned up as you spoke and trapped his hand against his chest. He leaned down to meet you, then rolled his eyes when you pulled away at the last second. “I’m gonna go get a drink.”

“Fine. Bring me a bourbon?” He asked as you walked away, and you threw him a thumbs up over your shoulder.

“Sure thing, pretty boy.” You swayed in time to the music as you made your way over to the bar. It took you a moment to get the frazzled bartender’s attention, and once you told him your order, you turned to face the crowd. As your eyes slid over the throng, you spotted your best friend in a secluded corner with a handsome stranger clad in a dark tux. You grinned, it had taken you hours to convince her to come at all, and judging by the way the man was whispering in her ear, it was more than worth the effort. She caught your eye and smirked, but before you could wave, she nodded her head back in your direction. Following her gaze, your heart skipped a beat as your eyes found Leonard. He was looking at you like a slice of Ma’s peach cobbler, and he smirked as you began to blush. Damn that man. Despite the heat in your cheeks, you held his gaze, almost silently conversing across the room. Your lips began to turn up in a smirk as well as you realized what he was attempting to do.

“Your drinks, ma’am.” The bartender spoke behind you, and you spun and flashed him a grin.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He smiled back, and you grabbed the drinks and turned back to face Leonard. Still smirking, he lifted a hand and pulled his classic ‘come hither’ gesture. Oh, that’s it. You turned back in the direction of your friend, finding her being led towards the balcony. She happened to look over right at that moment, and you waved her down and started towards her. She leaned up to speak to her mysterious new friend, and they seemed to argue for a moment before he finally walked away right as you approached. She smiled as you wrapped her in a hug.

“Someone’s having an interesting evening, huh?” She asked when you broke apart. You snorted and gave her a playful shove.

“Look who’s talking!” She flushed and glanced over at the man, now standing at the bar. You giggled and set the drinks down.

“I wouldn’t bother setting those down.” She said, tilting her head to point over your shoulder. “Here comes trouble.” You looked behind you and groaned. Leonard was attempting to make his way through the crowd to you.

“What am I gonna do with that man, Sparky?” You said, earning a small squeak. You laughed and turned back to her.

“You know I hate it when you call me that.”

“Mhm, but you love it when he does.” She huffed and crossed her arms.

“He’s not here, though, is he?” She quipped. You shrugged, still laughing. “You know, that’s a real nice tie your husband is wearing.” It took you a moment to process the conversational left turn, but once you realized what she meant, you couldn’t keep the evil grin from emerging.

“You’re a genius, yknow that?” She winked at you, but before she could respond, a hand landed on your back.

“Good evening, Ensign.” You turned your head to find Leonard smiling politely.

“Doctor McCoy. You look rather lovely tonight.” Your friend said. Leonard smiled a little wider and nodded at her.

“Thank you, and so do you.” He turned his head to look down at you for a moment before looking back at her. “Do you mind if I borrow our (YN)?” She looked at you, and you rolled your eyes before nodding.

“Not at all! I believe my new friend wants my attention anyway.” She said, turning her attention towards the man in question. You looked over at the bar where he stood staring. “(Yn), let me know how that project goes, okay?” She asked pointedly. You grinned and shot her a wink.

“Of course, Sparky.” You said. She rolled her eyes, but her grin gave her away as she turned to leave. “Something I can help you with, Doctor?” You asked, turning your attention once again to the man beside you. He said nothing and instead pulled you out onto the deserted balcony. The door barely closed behind you before his lips were on yours, and you were suddenly grateful for the railing behind you. His hand began to slowly drift down your waist as he kissed you, almost reaching its destination before you once again grabbed his wrist to stop him. He broke away from your lips to lean down and start kissing at your neck. “Can we just skip to the part where you give in and leave already?” He rumbled as he nipped at the spot beneath your ear that never failed to make you gasp.

“And what makes you think I’ll give in, Leo?” You asked, slightly breathless. He pulled back with a smirk.

“Cause you can’t resist me.” Your own lips curled up into a smirk at his response.

“If you’re so confident, how about we up the stakes?” You asked. He took a step back and crossed his arms across his chest, gesturing with one hand to indicate he was listening. “I’ll give you one hour to unfasten the remaining three straps.”

“Just unfasten, not remove the garters?” He asked, his hand moving up to sit beneath his chin in his signature thinking pose. You nodded and closed the distance between the two of you.

“Correct. But if you fail,” You reached up to straighten his tie before giving it a sharp tug. “I’m afraid your hands are tied.” He looked down at his chest, his eyes lighting up at your implication.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sugar.” He said with a cocky grin. You chuckled and offered him a hand.

“Do we have a deal then?” You asked. He grabbed your hand and pulled you into a kiss.

“Game on, sweetheart.”

=============================================================

If you thought Leonard was handsy before, it was nothing compared to his renewed determination. His hands scarcely left your body for more than a minute or two, much to the chagrin of everyone you tried to speak to. Impressively, he managed to get one strap unhooked within the first ten minutes, catching you off guard from behind. The second one took him much longer, nearly forty minutes into the challenge. He pulled it off while sitting at one of the tables out on the balcony with Jim and Spock. He had slipped his hand subtly beneath the table, and your dress, while arguing with them over the nuances of 1920s culture. You had been so impressed with his composure that he’d had the strap unhooked before you could even attempt to stop him. The only visible hint of a reaction at his success was a slight twitch of his lips, and you struggled to maintain your own composure as he slipped his hand further up your dress. He continued speaking as he began to stroke the sensitive flesh on your inner thigh, slowly dragging his fingers higher until he was brushing up against your panty covered core. Right as you began to think he was going to finger you right there in front of God and everybody, Spock turned his attention to you. 

“Lieutenant, what is your opinion on the matter?” Heat flooded your cheeks as you tried to subtly shove Leonard’s hand away.

“I’m sorry, I must have zoned out. What are we discussing?” You said, hoping your voice didn’t betray your racing heart rate. If Spock noticed anything about your husband having his fingers damn near inside you a few seconds prior, he gave no indication as he replied.

“The role that women commonly referred to as ‘flappers’ played in the rapid changes following the passing of the 19th amendment.” Jim was the next to speak, his eyebrows raised at the way Leonard was trying to hide his smirk behind his drink.

“I don’t think they had that big of an influence. Suffragettes were the true feminists of the early 20th century.” He said. Deciding to get a little payback, you shifted in your seat, disguising your movement as you placed your hand on Leonard’s knee. The man himself tensed, and his eyes darted over to you as he realized what you were doing. 

“Well, now, I disagree, Kirk. While the suffragettes did lay the groundwork for feminism as a whole, flappers were the first to advocate for de facto equality.” You said. Leonard sat his glass back on the table and twitched in his seat as you lifted your hand a little higher to squeeze his thigh. “They represented a whole new woman, one who was strong, independent, and liberated from society’s views on sexuality and ‘proper’ behavior.” You slowly slid your hand higher as you spoke until you were grasping Leonard’s half-hard cock through his pants. You turned your head to look at him as you continued. “Absolute queens, wouldn’t you agree, Len?” He inhaled sharply as you began to stroke him, your movements still subtle enough to go unnoticed. Seemingly unable to speak without giving himself away, he simply nodded, and you grinned and released him. 

“Well spoken, Lieutenant (YLN).” Spock said, still oblivious to what was happening just across the table. Jim, on the other hand, seemed to have picked up on your little game, and he was looking at you in a mix of shock, amusement, and mild disgust. You shrugged slightly and shot him a subtle wink.

“Thank you, Commander.” You said. Jim stood to his feet and walked over to clap a hand on the Vulcan’s shoulder.

“Come on, Spock. I think Bones isn’t feeling too well.” Jim said, and Leonard shot him a glare. Spock turned to look at Len in concern.

“Is everything alright, Doctor?” He asked. Leonard nodded, avoiding his gaze.

“Yeah, must have eaten something bad,” Len mumbled. “I’ll be fine.” You suppressed the smirk threatening to emerge as he shifted slightly. Mercifully for him, Spock simply nodded and followed Kirk away to another table where Chekov and Sulu were laughing. The moment the two were out of earshot, Leonard was turning to glare at you. “Are you out of your mind?!” He demanded.

“You started it, McCoy.” You stood as he looked around, making sure no one was watching as he adjusted himself. You walked behind him and leaned down to press your lips against his ear. “Oh, and you’ve got less than fifteen minutes to go. I’m starting to think you want to be my little plaything for the night.” You could feel him shudder at your words, bringing a smug smirk to your lips. 

“Darlin’,” He groaned as he reached around to grab your wrist. You tugged it loose, reaching up to run your fingers through his hair instead. 

“Tick tock, Doctor.” His eyes closed as you dragged your nails along his scalp, a shuddering sigh escaping him. 

“If I win, I’m gonna make you scream until the sun comes up.” He said darkly. You huffed out a laugh and tilted his head to kiss him.

“And when I win, I’ll make those pretty lips of yours beg for me, and maybe, if you’re really,” You kissed him again, hard. “Really good for me, I might even say yes.” He growled and leaned back in to kiss you, but you stood up straight and walked away. Going by your estimates, it would take him around five minutes to get himself back into a state where he could walk around comfortably, and then another two to locate you in the crowd. You wandered the room, speaking to various crewmates and keeping an eye on the clock as you did. Five minutes passed uneventfully, and you were grinning as you continued moving about the room. When another five passed with no sign of him, though, you began to worry. Surely he should have found me by now? You began to search the crowd, looking for him. I hope he’s not actually upset. Suddenly you spotted him, his tall form retreating towards the door. You headed towards him, challenge forgotten as you rushed to catch up. “Leonard!” You called out as he stepped through the door, but he either didn’t hear you or ignored you as he kept going. You picked up the pace, dodging through other people until you finally made it to the door. You swung it open and stepped out, snapping your head left and right to look for him. A yelp escaped you as hands grabbed you and pulled you out the door before slamming you against the wall. You barely had a moment to recognize who it was before a pair of familiar lips crashed into yours, and some part of you registered the sound of your watch beeping as you melted into the kiss. You didn’t bother stopping him as he reached to yank the final strap loose before pulling back with a triumphant smirk. 

“I win.” You laughed and let your head fall back against the wall. His face fell as you continued to laugh. “What, damn it!” You swiped at your eyes before holding up your still beeping watch. 

“About 3 seconds too late, darlin.” You said, and he glared at the watch before tilting his head and groaning in frustration. 

“Fu-.” He looked back at you and sighed. “I guess I’m all yours then, sugar.” You grinned and kissed him once again.

“As if there was ever any doubt.”

=============================================================

Despite grumbling and scowling all the way home, the moment you walked through the door to your shared apartment, Leonard’s enthusiasm began to shine through. 

“So, what does the lady have planned?” He asked, a hint of darkened lust underlying his flippant tone. You glanced at him over your shoulder as you reached down to undo your shoes. 

“Lose the jacket, the vest, and the shoes. Socks too, if you want. All the rest can stay. Go wait on the bed while I get this makeup off.” You said.

“Aye, Captain.” He gave a dramatic bow and a wink before disappearing into the bedroom. A rush of anticipation hit you, leaving you almost giddy as you sped through removing your makeup and taking your hair down. Leonard was lying back on the bed as you walked in, arm over his eyes.

“Do you know what I ought to do to you for all the trouble you’ve caused tonight, McCoy?” You asked as you approached the bed. He sat up, cocky smirk out in full force.

“Not exactly, but a man can dream.” He said. Keeping your expression neutral, you walked over to the bed and turned your back to him. 

“Let’s put those sinful hands of yours to use while you still have the chance. Unzip me.” He stood and dragged his hand up your side before grabbing the zipper. His lips found your neck as he slowly pulled the zipper down, ghosting his fingers along every inch of skin that was revealed. You let him have his fill for a few moments, but he was gonna have to learn that his hands could be more trouble than good. You spun, relishing in the look of surprise on his face as you pushed him back down on the bed. He licked his lips as you slid the dress off. “I gave you one task tonight.” His eyes found yours, curiosity alight in the hazel orbs. You gestured down at the two garters that remained tied around your legs. “Since you couldn’t manage it with your hands, you’re gonna have to find some other way to get them off.” He raised an eyebrow, thinking it through before a solution presented itself to him. He reached out and pulled your leg up, leaning forward to grab ahold of the article with his teeth. You inhaled sharply as his lips dragged along your thigh, and his eyes never left yours as he repeated the action on the other leg. 

“I’ve always wanted to do that.” He murmured against your skin, having moved to pepper kisses along your thighs. You smiled, running your fingers through his soft hair. He started to move higher, and you took the opportunity to grab ahold of the roots gently and pull him back. Leonard looked up at you, eyes widened and mouth agape. 

“Give me your tie.” You commanded quietly. He closed his mouth with a snap and swallowed thickly as he reached up to loosen and hand you the silken tie. “Stand up,” You said, offering him a hand to help him up. Once on his feet, you took a step back and wrapped the tie around your wrist for the time being. “Strip for me. Then lay down and put your hands over your head, wrists crossed.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” His voice was low, almost breathless as he followed your orders, and already his accent was beginning to thicken deliciously. Your eyes drank in his form as he slipped off his shirt, and you smirked as he kicked off his pants, the visible tent in his boxers revealing just how much he was enjoying this. As he lay down, you busied yourself with removing your own remaining garments. A groan from the bed drew your attention, and you looked back up to see Leonard leaning back on his elbows as he watched you. You raised an eyebrow, and he looked you up and down before responding. “You’re so gorgeous, darlin’.” You walked over to the bed, unraveling the tie before crawling over top of him. 

“What did I say?” You asked, reaching down to grab his wrists as you straddled his midsection. You guided him to place them over his head. You leaned over him to expertly loop the tie through the headboard and around his wrists. You gave it a quick tug to make sure it was secure and gasped in surprise as you felt his lips close around one of your nipples. You quickly pulled back, fighting a moan at the way your sensitive bud was tugged from between his now smirking lips.

“Guess I’m just bad tonight.” He said, shifting beneath you as he adjusted to his new position. You dropped your hand to push it up his chest, stopping to wrap around his throat as you leaned in. His eyes glinted with mischief as you tightened your grip.

“Do you want me to fuck you anytime in the near future, Leonard McCoy?” You asked, glaring down at him. He tried to nod, but you raised your hand higher on his throat and gave it a squeeze. “Use your words.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He rumbled, and his jaw clenched as you released his throat before leaning down, so your face was barely an inch from his. 

“Then you better check yourself. This is your last warning. Behave, or I will leave you tied to this bed and go handle myself in the living room. Understand?” You said. He inhaled sharply and shifted beneath you once again.

“I understand.” He said, his eyes dropping to your lips for a moment before returning to yours. “Can I please have a kiss?” You pretended to think about it for a moment before leaning in to give a quick kiss. You smiled as he tried to chase you, groaning softly as you pulled away. You smirked down at him as he dropped his head back in resignation before you leaned down to claim his lips in a searing kiss. He matched your pace, wanting to have as much of you as he could before you’d inevitably pull away once again. He took a shaky breath as your tongue darted out to swipe against his lips, and your hands slid down his sides. He silently opened his mouth to you, letting you dominate the kiss as you trailed your fingers over every inch of skin you could reach. Finally, though, you had to break apart for air, and you moved to kiss down his neck. You shifted to where you were straddling his legs as you continued to kiss down his body. He groaned and struggled beneath you as you slid your hand down his front, almost reaching his leaking member before darting off to slide down his thigh instead. You lifted your head to look at him with a smirk as you dragged your nails carefully up his leg.

“You want me to touch you, doctor?” You asked as you brushed by the crook of his thigh. “Want me to kiss you all better?” You leaned down to suck a mark above his hipbone, relishing the way his hips jumped up involuntarily. You looked back up to see him tugging against the restraints and nodding. You tsked and moved to trail just the back of your fingers along his shaft. “Come on, I want to hear you say it.” You said.

“Sugar,” He threw his head back and groaned as he tried to yank the restraints free. You brushed against him again, and he finally gave in, saying the words you wanted to hear. “Yes, please.” You hummed in satisfaction, and he looked down right as you dropped your head to lick him from base to tip. He hissed as you sucked him into your mouth, slowly working him until he was brushing against the back of your throat. “Oh, fuck, darlin’,” He moaned as you pumped what little you couldn’t fit with your hand, matching in rhythm as you bobbed your head. “Aw hell- yes, god just like that,” He was still struggling against his restraints, yanking harder as you pulled back to swipe your tongue around his tip before taking him as deep as you could. You slowly began to pick up the pace, using different tricks to see what sounds you could get the good doctor to make, and your arousal growing with each one with that escaped him. “(Y/n),” He gasped. “I’m-” You pulled off him, earning a frustrated shout. “Goddam-” You cut him off with a finger pressed to his lips, and once he was silent, dropped it down to rest on his heaving chest. 

“You still with me?” You asked, making sure he was okay and still comfortable in the roles. He took a couple deep breaths and nodded. You grinned and moved up to kiss him. “Good.” You said against his lips. “Cause I want you to fuck me properly,” You spoke in between increasingly desperate kisses. “You think you can do that?” You asked, kissing a path to whisper in his ear. He once again nodded.

“Untie me, and I’ll make sure you can’t walk straight tomorrow, sweetheart.” He growled, voice rough from the gasping he was doing only a minute prior. You smirked widely, moving back to his lips to give him a questioning nod. 

“Yeah?” You asked and reached up to play with the bindings for a moment. “Then show me what you got, cowboy.” You barely got the tie loose before his hands were wrapping around you, and his lips were crashing into yours. He paid you back for every moment of exploration your own hands had done, sliding over your skin without aim. You moaned against him as his fingers dipped between your legs, finding your clit with ease and rubbing tight circles around it. He flipped the two of you, so you were beneath him as he slid two fingers inside you and buried his face in your neck. “Leo-” You gasped as he curled them perfectly, earning a smug grin that you could feel against your skin. Fortunately, he hadn’t the patience for anymore teasing. He quickly slipped his fingers out of you and replaced it with his cock, sliding into you inch by delicious inch until he was buried inside you to the hilt. He moved to kiss you once again, giving you a moment to adjust to the stretch before pulling his hips back and slamming into you. “Oh, fuck! Leonard-” He didn’t give you a chance to finish, going straight into a fast and hard rhythm that had you scratching and clinging at his shoulders. His lips found yours, swallowing your moans and whines as he hit impossibly deep within you. His hands slid down your sides, one moving between your bodies to resume stroking your clit while the other gripped your ass for leverage to adjust his angle. You cried out as the fire began to build in your lower abdomen, and Leonard broke away from your lips to growl in your ear. 

“Am I being good enough for you now?” You couldn’t help but laugh at his question, earning a breathless chuckle from him as well. 

“I’m so close, Leo.” You whined as he continued his relentless pace. He dropped his head to suck a mark at your pulse point right as he brushed your g-spot and stroked your sensitive clit perfectly, and you screamed out his name as the blinding pleasure overwhelmed your senses. Leonard’s hips lost all sense of rhythm as he chased his own release, and it wasn’t long before he was crying out as well, emptying his seed deep inside you. He dropped his head to rest on your shoulder as he caught his breath until you finally had to gently prod him. “Len, cmon. Let me up, and I’ll get a towel.” He slid out of you but made no move to let you go. “Leonard-”

“Wait, just wait a second.” He said, wrapping his arms around you and laying his head on your chest. “We’ve both got to shower anyway, just let me hold you for a bit.” You sighed, lifting your hand to run your fingers through his hair. 

“Sounds like you’re just looking for an excuse for round two, McCoy.” You said, amusement robbing your voice of any sternness. He chuckled slightly.

“Maybe. Or maybe I just want to hold my stunning wife and tell her that I love her.” He said, releasing you to push up and cup your face in his hand. You instantly melted, and he smiled and leaned in to press his lips to yours softly. He was still smiling when you broke apart, and you couldn’t help but match it. “Then again, I could kill two birds with one stone and do that while I’m fucking her in the shower.” You rolled your eyes and grinned before shoving him off you with a dramatic sigh. 

“Well, when you put it that way, how can I resist?” 

Tags: (as always, please feel free to let me know if you’d like to be added or removed) @bakerstreethound​ @bookscoffeeandracoons​ @lt-trick​ @ladyideal @brideofedoras @billybutchersbabe 

[alanlicht]

Alan Licht’s Minimal Top Ten List #4

A few weeks ago, near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, my friend Mats Gustafsson sent out a mass email encouraging people to send him record lists to post on the “Discaholics” section of his website--top tens, favorite covers, anything. I immediately thought of the first 3 Minimal Top Ten lists I did (now found online here) back in 1995, 1997, and 2007 respectively, for the fanzine Halana (the first two) and Volcanic Tongue’s website (the third), and sent them to him. Those articles have sort of taken on a life of their own, and I still see them referenced as the albums get reissued and so on. Occasionally people ask me if I’d ever do another one, and looking at all three again made me think now is the hour. I started writing this in the midst of the lockdown, and the drastic reductions in people’s way of life—the restriction of any activity outside the home to the bare essentials, the relative stasis of life in quarantine, even the visual stasis of a Zoom meeting—make revisiting Minimal music, with its aesthetic of working within limitations and hallmarks of repetition and drones, somehow timely as well.

The original lists were never meant to represent “the best” Minimal albums: they were ones that were rare and in some cases surpass, in my opinion, more widely available releases by the same artist and/or better known examples of the genre. Some were records that hadn’t been classified as Minimalist but warranted consideration through that lens. Likewise, the lists aren’t meant to be ranked within themselves, or in comparison to each other; the first record on any of the lists isn’t necessarily vastly preferable to the last, and this fourth list is not the bottom of the barrel, by any stretch. In some cases the present list has records I’ve discovered since 2007; others are records I’ve known for quite a while but haven’t included before for one reason or another. I’ve also made an addendum to selected entries on the first three lists, which have become fairly dated in terms of what is currently available by many of the artists, and to account for some of the significant archival releases in the 25 years since I first compiled them.

Unlike the mid-90s, most if not all of these records can be heard and/or purchased online, whether they’re up on YouTube or available for sale on Discogs. So finding them will be easier than before (although I haven’t included links to any of the titles as a small tribute to the legwork involved in tracking records down in olden tymes), but hopefully the spirit of sharing knowledge and passions that drove my previous efforts, forged in the pre-internet fanzine world, hasn’t been rendered totally redundant by the 24/7 onslaught of virtual note-comparing in social media.

1. Simeon ten Holt Canto Ostinato (various recordings): This was the most significant discovery for me in the last decade, a piece with over one hundred modules to be played on any instrument but mostly realized over the years with two to four pianos. I first encountered a YouTube live video of four pianists tackling it over the course of 90 minutes or so, then bought a double CD on Brilliant Classics from 2005, also for four pianos, that runs about 2 and half hours. The original 3LP recording on Donemus, from 1984, lasts close to 3 hours. It’s addictively listenable, very hypnotic in that pulsed, Steve Reich “Piano Phase”/”Six Pianos” kind of way, with lots of recurring themes (which differentiates it from Terry Riley’s “In C,” its most obvious structural antecedent). Composed over the span of the 70s, as with Roberto Cacciapaglia’s Sei Note in Logica, it’s an  example of someone contemporaneously taking the ball from Reich or Riley and running with it. Every recording I’ve heard has been enjoyable, I’ve yet to pick a favorite.

2. David Borden Music for Amplified Keyboard Instruments (Red Music, 1981) 3. Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. Like a Duck to Water (Earthquack, 1976): These were some of my most cherished Minimal recordings when I was a teenager in the mid-80s, and are still not particularly well-known; they’re probably the biggest omission in the previous lists (at least from my perspective). Borden formed Mother Mallard, supposedly the first all-synthesizer ensemble, as a trio in the late 60s, although there’s electric piano on the records too. He went on to do music under his own name that hinged on the multi-keyboard Minimalism-meets-Renaissance classical concept he first explored with Mother Mallard, as exemplified by his 12-part series “The Continuing Story of Counterpoint” (a title inspired by both Philip Glass’ “Music in Twelve Parts” and the Beatles’ “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”). I first heard Parts 6 & 9 of “Continuing Story” (from Music for Amplified Keyboard Instruments) on Tim Page’s 1980s afternoon radio show on WNYC, and bought the Mother Mallard LPs (Like A Duck is the second, the first is self-titled) from New Music Distribution Service soon after. I mail-ordered the Borden album  from Wayside Music, which had cut-out copies, maybe a year later (c. 1986). I wasn’t much of a synth guy, but I loved the propulsive, rapid-fire counterpoint and fast-changing, lyrical melodies found on these records. “C-A-G-E Part 2,” which occupies side 2 of the Mother Mallard album and utilizes only those pitches, has to be a pinnacle of the Minimal genre. Interestingly, Borden claims to not really be able to “hear” harmony and composes each part of these (generally) three-part inventions individually, all the way through. The two-piano “Continuing Story of Counterpoint Part Two” on the 1985 album Anatidae is also beloved by me, and there was an archival Mother Mallard CD called Music by David Borden (Arbiter, 2003) that’s worth hearing.

4. Charles Curtis/Charles Curtis Trio: Ultra White Violet Light/Sleep (Beau Rivage, 1997): Full disclosure: Charles is a long-time friend, but this record seems forgotten and deserves another look, especially in light of the long-overdue 3CD survey of his performances of other composers’ material that Saltern released last year. This was a double album of four side-long tracks, conceived with the intent that two sides could be played simultaneously, in several different configurations; two of them are Charles solo on cello and sine tones, the others are with a trio and have spoken vocals and rock instrumentation, with cello and the sine tones also thrown into the mix. (I’ve never heard any of the sides combined, although now it would probably be easily achieved with digital mixing software.) The instrumental stuff is the closest you can come to hearing Charles’ beautiful arrangement of Terry Jennings’ legendary “Piece for Cello and Saxophone,” at least until his own recording of it sees the light of day; the same deeply felt cello playing against a sine tone drone. And it would be interesting to see what Slint fans thought of the trio material. Originally packaged in a nifty all-white uni-pak sleeve with a photo print pasted into the gatefold, it was reissued with a different cover on the now-defunct Squealer label on LP and CD but has disappeared since then. Stellar.

5. Arthur Russell Instrumentals 1974 Vol. 2 (Another Side/Crepuscule, 1984) 6. Peter Zummo Zummo with an X (Loris, 1985):  Arthur Russell has posthumously developed a somewhat surprising indie rock audience, mostly for his unique songs and singing as well as his outré disco tracks. But he was also a modern classical composer, with serious Minimal cred—he’s on Jon Gibson’s Songs & Melodies 1973-1977 (see addendum), and played with Henry Flynt and Christer Hennix at one point; his indelible album of vocal and cello sparseness, World of Echo, was partially recorded at Phill Niblock’s loft and of course his Tower of Meaning LP was released on Glass’s Chatham Square label. He’s the one guy in the 70s and 80s (or after, for that matter) who connected the dots between Ali Akbar Khan, the Modern Lovers, Minimalism, and disco as different forms of trance music (taken together, both sides of his disco 12” “In the Light of the Miracle,” which total nearly a half-hour, could arguably be considered one of his Minimalist compositions). Recorded in 1977 & 1978, Instrumentals is an important signpost of the incipient Pop Minimalism impulse, and the first track is a pre-punk precursor to Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca’s appropriations of the rock band format to pursue Minimal pathways (Chatham is one of the performers in that first piece). The rest, culled from a concert at the Kitchen, features long held tones from horns and strings and is quite graceful, if slightly undercut by Arthur’s own slightly jarring, apparently random edits. [Audika’s 2006 reissue, as part of the double CD First Thought Best Thought, includes a 1975 concert that was slated to be Instrumentals Vol. 1, which shows an even more specific pop/rock/Minimal intersection]. Zummo was a long-term collaborator of Russell’s and his album, which Arthur plays on, is a must for Russell aficionados. The first side is made up of short, plain pieces that repeat various simple intervals and are fairly hard-core Minimalism, but “Song IV,” which occupies all of side two, is like an extended, jammy take on Russell’s disco 12” “Treehouse” and has Bill Ruyle on bongos, who also played on Instrumentals as well as with Steve Reich and Jon Gibson. A recently unearthed concert at Roulette from 1985 is a further, and especially intriguing, example of Russell’s blending of Minimalism and song form. (That same year Arthur played on Elodie Lauten’s The Death of Don Juan--another record I first encountered via Tim Page’s radio show--which I included on Top Ten #3; Lauten as well as Zummo played on the Russell Roulette concert, as their website alleges).

7. Horacio Vaggione La Maquina de Cantar (Cramps, 1978): Another one-off from the late 70s, and yet more evidence of how Minimalism had really caught on as a trend among European composers of the time. Vaggione had a previous duo album with Eduardo Polonio under the name It called Viaje that was noisier electronics, and he went on to do computer music that was likewise more traditionally abstract. But on this sole effort for the Italian label Cramps, as part of their legendary Nova Musicha series, he went for full-on tonality. The title track is like the synth part of “Who Are You” extended for more than fifteen minutes and made a bit squishier; but side 2, “Ending”--already mentioned in the entry on David Rosenboom’s Brainwave Music in Top Ten #3--is my favorite. Kind of a bridge between Minimalism and prog, and a little reminiscent of David Borden’s multiple-synth counterpoint pieces, for the first ten minutes he lingers on one vaguely foreboding arpeggiated chord, then introduces a fanfare melody that repeats and builds in harmonies and countermelodies for the remainder of the piece. Great stuff, as Johnny Carson used to say.

8. Costin Miereanu Derives (Poly-Art, 1984): Miereanu is French composer coming out of musique concrete. Unlike some of the albums on these lists, both sides/pieces on Derives are superb, comprised of long drones with flurries of skittering electronic activity popping up here and there. Also notable is the presence of engineers Philip Besomes and Jean-Louis Rizet, responsible for Pôle, the great mid-70s prog double album that formed the basis of Graham Lambkin’s meta-meisterwork Amateur Doubles. I discovered this record via the old Continuo blog; Miereanu has lots of albums out, most of which I haven’t heard, but his 1975 debut Luna Cinese, another Cramps Nova Musicha item, is also estimable, although less Minimal.

9. Mikel Rouse Broken Consort Jade Tiger (Les Disques du Crepuscule, 1984): Rouse was a major New Music name in the 80s, as was Microscopic Septet saxist Philip Johnston, who plays here. Dominated by Reichian repeated fills that accentuate the odd time signatures as opposed to an underlying pulse, this will sound very familiar to anyone acquainted with Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin albums on ECM, which use the same general idea but brand it “zen funk” and cater more to the progressive jazz crowd rather than New Music fans, if we can be that anachronistic in our terminology. Jade Tiger also contrasts nicely with Wim Mertens’ more neo-Romantic contemporaneous excursions on Crepuscule. Rouse later performed the admirable (and daunting) task of cataloging Arthur Russell’s extensive tape archive for the preparation of Another Thought (Point Music, 1994)

10. Michael Nyman Decay Music (Obscure, 1976): Known for his soundtracks to Peter Greenaway films, and his still-peerless 1974 book Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond (where I, Jim O’Rourke, and doubtless many other intrepid teenage library goers learned of the Minimalists, Fluxus, AMM, and lots of other eternal avant heroes), Nyman is sometimes credited with coining the term “Minimal music” as well, in an early 70s article in The Spectator. Decay Music was produced by Brian Eno for his short-lived but wonderful Obscure label. The first side, “1-100,” was also composed for a Greenaway film, and has one hundred chords played one after another on piano, each advancing to the next once the sound has decayed from the previous chord (hence the album title). For all its delicacy and silences, you’re actually hearing three renditions superimposed on one another, which occasionally makes for some charming chordal collisions (reminiscent of the cheerfully clumsy, subversive “variations” of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D major” on Eno’s own Discreet Music, the most celebrated Obscure release). This is process music at its most fragile and incandescent. In hindsight it may have also been an unconscious influence on the structure of my piece “A New York Minute,” which lines up a month’s worth of weather reports from news radio, edited so that one day’s forecast follows its prediction from the previous day. I’ve never found the album’s other piece, “Bell Set No. 1,” to be quite as compelling, and Nyman’s other soundtrack work doesn’t hold much interest for me, but I’ve often returned to this album.

11. J Dilla Donuts (Stones Throw, 2006): One more for the road. Rightfully acclaimed as a masterpiece of instrumental hip hop, I have to confess I only discovered Donuts while reading Questlove’s 2013 book Mo’ Meta Blues, where he compared it to Terry Riley. The brevity of the tracks (31of ‘em in 44 minutes) and the lack of single-mindedness make categorizing Donuts as a Minimal album a bit of a stretch, but Questlove’s namecheck makes a whole lot of sense if you play “Don’t Cry” back to back with Riley’s proto-Plunderphonic “You’re Nogood,” and “Glazed” is the only hip hop track to ever remind me of Philip Glass. Plus the infinite-loop sequencing of the opening “Outro” and concluding “Intro” make this a statement of Eternal Music that outstrips La Monte Young and leaves any locked groove release in the proverbial dust. There isn’t the space here to really explore how extended mixes, all night disco DJ sets, etc. could be encountered in alignment with Minimalism, although I would steer the curious towards Pete Rock’s Petestrumentals (BBE, 2001), Larry Levan’s Live at the Paradise Garage (Strut, 2000), and, at the risk of being immodest, my own “The Old Victrola” from Plays Well (Crank Automotive, 2001). On a (somewhat) related note I’d also point out Rupie Edwards’ Ire Feelings Chapter and Version (Trojan, 1990) which collects 16 of the producer/performer’s 70s dub reggae tracks, all built from the exact same same rhythm track--mesmerizing, even by dub’s trippy standards. 

Addendum:

Tony Conrad: “Maybe someday Tony’s blistering late 80s piece ‘Early Minimalism’ will be released, or his fabulous harmonium soundtrack to Piero Heliczer’s early 60s film The New Jerusalem.” That was the last line of my entry on Tony’s Outside the Dream Syndicate in the first Top Ten list in 1995, and sure enough, Table of the Elements issued “Early Minimalism” as a monumental CD box set in 1997 and released that soundtrack as Joan of Arc in 2006 (it’s the same film; I saw it screened c. 1990 under the name The New Jerusalem but it’s more commonly known as Joan of Arc).  Tony releases proliferated in the last twenty years of his life, which was heartening to see; I’d particularly single out Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain (Superior Viaduct, 2017), which rescues a 1972 live recording of what is essentially a prototype for Outside played by Tony, Rhys Chatham, and Laurie Spiegel (Rhys has mentioned his initial disgruntlement upon hearing Outside, as it was the same piece that he had played with Tony, i.e. “Ten Years Alive,” but he found himself and Laurie replaced by Faust!) and an obscure compilation track, “DAGADAG for La Monte” (on Avanto 2006, Avanto, 2006), where he plays the pitches d, a, and g on violin, loops them over and over , and continually re-harmonizes them electronically--really one of his best pieces.

Terry Riley: The archival Riley CDs that Cortical Foundation issued in the 90s and early 00s don’t seem to be in print, but I feel they eclipse Reed Streams (reissued by Cortical as part of that series) and are crucial for fans of his early work, especially the live Poppy Nogood’s Phantom Band All Night Flight Vol. 1, an important variant on the studio take, and You’re Nogood (see Dilla entry above). These days I would also recommend Descending Moonshine Dervishes (Kuckuck, 1982/recorded 1975) over  Persian Surgery Dervishes (Shandar, 1975), which I mentioned in the original entry on Reed Streams in the first Top Ten; a lot of the harmonic material in Descending can also be heard in Terry’s dream-team 1975 meeting with Don Cherry in Köln, which has been bootlegged several times in the last few years. Finally, Steffen Schleiermacher recorded the elusive “Keyboard Study #1” (as well as “#2,” which had already seen release in a version by Germ on the BYG label and as “Untitled Organ” on Reed Streams), albeit on a programmed electronic keyboard, on the CD Keyboard Studies (MDG, 2002). As you might expect it’s a little synthetic-sounding, but it also has a weird kinetic edge (imagine the “Baba O’Riley” intro being played on a Conlon Nancarrow player piano) that’s lacking in later acoustic piano renditions recorded by Gregor Schwellenbach and Fabrizio Ottaviucci. But any of these versions is rewarding for those interested in Riley’s early output.

Henry Flynt, Charlemagne Palestine: A few of the artists on that first Top Ten list went from being sorely under-documented to having a plethora of material on the market, and Henry and Charlemagne are at the top of the heap. I stand by You Are My Everlovin, finally reissued on CD by Recorded in 2001, as Henry’s peak achievement, but I’m also partial to “Glissando,” a tense, feverish raga drone from 1979 that Recorded put out on the Glissando No. 1 CD in 2011. Charlemagne’s Four Manifestations On Six Elements double album still holds up well, as does an album of material initially recorded for it, Arpeggiated Bösendorfer and Falsetto Voice (Algha Marghen, 2017). The Strumming Music LP on Shandar is a definitive performance, and best heard as an unbroken piece on the New Tone CD reissue from 1995. Godbear (CD on Barooni, vinyl on Black Truffle), originally recorded for Glenn Branca’s Neutral label (which had also scheduled a Phill Niblock release before going belly-up), has 1987 takes of “Strumming Music” and two other massive pieces that date from the late 70s, “Timbral Assault” and “The Lower Depths”; Algha Marghen released a vintage full-length concert of the latter as a triple CD.

Steve Reich: Not a particularly rare record, but his “Variations on Winds, Strings and Keyboards,” a 1979 piece for orchestra on a 1984 LP issued by Phillips (paired with an orchestral arrangement of John Adams’ “Shaker Loops”), is often overlooked among the works from his “golden era” and I’d frankly rate it as his best orchestral piece.

Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue: As with Henry and Charlemagne, after a slow start as “recording artists” loads of CDs by these two have appeared over the last twenty years. Phill and Eliane’s music was never best served by the vinyl format anyway—you won’t find a lackluster release by either composer, go to it.

Jon Gibson: I called “Cycles,” from Gibson’s Two Solo Pieces, “one of the ultimate organ drones on record” in the first Top Ten list, and it remains so, but Phill Niblock’s”Unmounted/Muted Noun” from 2019′s Music for Organ ought to sit right beside it. Meanwhile, Superior Viaduct’s recent Gibson double album Songs & Melodies 1973-1977 collects some great pieces from the same era as Two Solo Pieces, with players including Arthur Russell, Peter Zummo, Barbara Benary, and Julius Eastman. 

John Stevens: In Top Ten #2 I mentioned John Stevens’ presence on the first side of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Life With the Lions; the Stevens-led Spontaneous Music Orchestra’s For You To Share (1973) documents his performance pieces “Sustained Piece” and “If You Want to See A Vision,” where musicians and vocalists sustain tones until they run out of breath and then begin again, which result in a highly meditative and organic drone/sound environment. In my early 00′s Digger Choir performances at Issue Project Room  we did “Sustained Piece,” and Stevens’ work was a big influence on conceptualizing those concerts, where the only performers were the audience themselves. The CD reissue on Emanem from 1998 added “Peace Music,” an unreleased studio half-hour studio cut with a similar Gagaku--meets--free/modal jazz vibe. I also mentioned “Sustained Piece” in my liner notes to Natural Information Society’s Mandatory Reality too, if that helps as a point of reference.

Anthony Moore: Back in ’97 I wondered “How and why Polydor was convinced to release these albums [Pieces from the Cloudland Ballroom and Scenes from the Blue Bag] is beyond me (anyone know the story)?” That mystery was ultimately solved by Benjamin Piekut in his fascinating-even-if-you-never-listen-to-these-guys book Henry Cow: The World is A Problem (Duke University Press, 2019)—it turns out it was all Deutsche Gramophone’s idea!

Terry Jennings, Maryanne Amacher, Julius Eastman--“Three Great Minimalists With No Commercially Available Recordings” (sidebar from Minimal Top Ten list #2): Happily this no longer applies to these three, although Terry and Maryanne are still under-represented. One archival recording of Jennings and Charlotte Moorman playing a short version of “Piece for Cello and Saxophone” appeared on Moorman’s 2006 Cello Anthology CD box set on Alga Marghen, and he’s on “Terry’s Cha Cha” on that 2004 John Cale New York in the 60s Table of the Elements box too. John Tilbury recorded five of his piano pieces on Lost Daylight (Another Timbre, 2010) and Charles Curtis’ version of “Song” appears on the aforementioned Performances and Recordings 1998-2018 triple CD.

Whether or not Maryanne should really be considered a Minimalist (or a sound artist, for that matter) is, I guess, debatable, but I primarily see her as the unqualified genius of the generation of composers who emerged in the post-Cage era, and the classifications ultimately don’t matter—remember she was on those Swarm of Drones/ Throne of Drones/ Storm of Drones ambient techno comps in the 90s, and I’d call her music Gothic Industrial if it would get more people to check it out (and that might be fun to try, come to think of it). She made a belated debut with the release of the Sound Characters CD on Tzadik in 1998, an event I found significant enough to warrant pitching an interview with her to the WIRE, who agreed—it was my first piece for them. Her music was/is best experienced live (the Amacher concert I saw at the Performing Garage in 1993 is still, almost three decades later, the greatest concert I’ve ever witnessed) but that Tzadik CD is reasonably representative, and there was a sequel CD on Tzadik in 2008. More recently Blank Forms issued a live recording of her two-piano piece “Petra” (a concert I also attended, realizing when I got there that it was in the same Chelsea church where Connie Burg, Melissa Weaver and I recorded with Keiji Haino for the Gerry Miles with Keiji Haino CD).  While it’s somewhat anomalous in Amacher’s canon, making a piece for acoustic instruments available for home consumption would doubtless have been more palatable to the composer herself, who rightly felt that CDs and LPs didn’t do justice to the extraordinary psychoacoustic phenomena intrinsic to her electronic music. “Petra” is more reminiscent of Morton Feldman than anything else, with a few passages that could be deemed “minimal.” Some joker posted a 26-minute, ancient lo-fi “bootleg” (their term) recording of her “Living Sound, Patent Pending” piece from her Music for Sound-Joined Rooms installation/performance series on SoundCloud, which is a little like looking at a Xerox of a Xerox of a photo of the Taj Mahal; but you can still visit the Taj Mahal more easily than hearing this or any of Maryanne’s work in concert or in situ, so sadly, it’s better than nothing (and longer than the 7 minute edit of the piece on the Ohm: Early Gurus of Electronic Music CD from 2000).

A few years after Top Ten #2 I was on the phone with an acquaintance at New World Records, who told me he was listening to a Julius Eastman tape that they were releasing as part of a 3CD set. Say what?!?!? Unjust Malaise appeared shortly thereafter and was a revelation. Arnold Dreyblatt had sent me a live tape some time before then of an Eastman piece labeled “Gangrila”—that turned out to be “Gay Guerrilla,” and is surely one of my five favorite pieces of music in existence (the tape Arnold sent was from the 1980 Kitchen European tour and I consider it to be a more moving performance than the Chicago concert that appears on the CD, although it’s an inferior recording). The other multiple piano pieces on Unjust Malaise more than lived up to the descriptions of Eastman performances that I’d read. The somewhat berserk piano concert I mentioned in that entry seems similar to another live tape issued as The Zurich Concert (New World, 2017), and “Femenine,” a piece performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble, came out on Frozen Reeds in 2016. Eastman’s rediscovery is among the most vital and gratifying developments of recent music history--kudos must be given to Mary Jane Leach, herself a Minimalist composer, for diligently and doggedly tracking down Eastman’s recordings and archival materials and bringing them to the light of day.

The Lost Jockey—I was unaware of any releases by this group besides their Crepuscule LP until I stumbled onto a self-titled cassette from 1983 on YouTube. Like the album, the highlight is a piece by Orlando Gaugh--an all-time great Philip Glass rip-off, “Buzz Buzz Buzz Went the Honeybee,” which has the amusing added bonus of having the singers intoning the rather bizarre title phrase as opposed to Glassian solfège. Also like the album, he rest of the cassette is so-so Pop Minimalism.

Earth: Dylan Carlson keeps on keepin’ on, and while I can’t say I’ve kept up with him every step of the way, usually when I check in I’m glad I did. However I’d like to take this opportunity to humbly disavow the snarky comments about Sunn 0))) I made in this entry in Top Ten list #3. Those were a reflection of my general aversion to hype, which was surrounding them at the time, and of seeing two shows that in retrospect were unrepresentative (I was thunderstruck by a later show I saw in Mexico City in 2009). Stephen O’Malley has proven to be as genuinely curious, dedicated and passionate about drone and other experimental music as they come, and the reissue of the mind-blowing Sacred Flute Music from New Guinea on his Ideologic Organ label is a good reminder of how rooted Minimalism is in ethnic music, and how almost interchangeable certain examples of both can be. 

And while we’re in revisionist mode, let’s go full circle all the way back to the very first sentence of the introduction to the first Minimal Top Ten: “I know what you’re thinking: ECM Records, New Age, Eno ambients, NPR, Tangerine Dream. Well forget all that shit.” Hey, that stuff’s not so bad! I was probably directing that more at the experimental-phobic indie rock folks I encountered at the time, and expressing a lingering resentment towards the genre-confusion of the 80s (i.e. having dig through a bunch of Kitaro records in the New Age bins in hopes of finding Reich, Riley, or Glass; even Loren Mazzacane got tagged New Age once in a while back then, believe it or not), which probably hindered my own discovery of Minimalism. What can I say, I’m over it!

Copyright © 2020 Alan Licht. All rights reserved. Do not repost without permission.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Yzma

I feel like there’s no sense in introducing this one. You know her. I’ve seen all the gif sets, the quotes, the images, the memes… it’s safe to say most every person on the internet is intimately acquainted with The Emperor’s New Groove’s geriatric villainess, Yzma. So, let’s just cut to the chase and talk about why Yzma is a fantastic villain, shall we?

Motivation/Goals: Yzma’s goal is pretty simple and yet also infinitely understandable. She wants to take over the kingdom from Kuzco because, after years of being treated like garbage by the snotty little emperor she likely helped raise, he’s just firing her because she’s old and ugly. Like, it is TRUE, but it’s still incredibly tacky and rude. It’s not hard to empathize with her at least a little bit as she goes to poison the snotty, miserable emperor, though it really does become harder to side with her as the movie goes on and she continues to berate her poor manservant Kronk.

Performance: The legendary Eartha Kitt of Adam West’s Batman and My Life as a Teenage Robot fame gave Yzma exactly the voice she needed to instantly ingrain herself in your memory forever. Kitt was absolutely not afraid to ham it up, and combined with the character design and animation, it makes Yzma a delightfully over-the-top figure that is easy to love to hate. Even better, she has insanely good chemistry with Patrick Warburton as Kronk, and the two play off each other extremely well, leading to Yzma being part of a good 95% of the movie’s funniest scenes. It helps that, while she is definitely very funny, she is more often the straight man reacting to the insanity her compatriot brings to the table, a dark mirror to Kuzco and Pacha’s relationship… well, comparatively dark. These two are a couple of goobers after all. What I think really helps is that, despite being the straight man in a general sense, Yzma is still probably one of the most insane villains in Disney’s filmography, as in literally unhinged, so she is as able to generate laughs as anyone else.

Final Fate: Yzma’s attempts to kill Kuzco backfire spectacularly, and instead of succeeding in any way, shape, or form, she ends up turning herself into a cute little kitty. It’s a marked improvement, honestly. How she changed back to normal for the TV series, who can say? By all accounts it doesn’t make sense. Just don’t think too hard about it, it’s a comedy after all.

Best Scene: Considering how the entire climax of the film is an absolute cavalcade of comedy, we could go with that. Or we could go with her attempts to poison Kuzco at dinner. Or we could go with her interactions with Pacha’s family. The “problem” with Yzma that every scene with her is so great that it’s hard to single out any single one moment as outstanding, because all of them are pretty much on the same level. She’s remarkably consistent with how great she is.

Best Quote: It’s really hard for me to pick just one line (which is something I tend to say a lot, but I mostly talk about good villains on here, so cut me some slack), but I think the combination of the delivery and just how great Kitt’s voice was really helps make her brainstorming ways to kill Kuzco a legendary moment:

“Ah, how should I do it? Oh, I know. I'll turn him into a flea. A harmless little flea. And then I'll put that flea in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself! And when it arrives, AH HA HA HA! I'LL SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!! It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT, I tell you! Genius, I say!”

The laugh is really what sells it, honestly.

Final Thoughts & Score: Yzma is probably the single greatest Disney villain who doesn’t totally follow the Renaissance villain format post-Renaissance, with only Turbo really being a contender for the crown. What I mean is this: the Renaissance set a serious precedent for animated movie villains going forward. They had to be hammy, have huge personalities, and get their own song. Ratigan was something of a prototype, and then Ursula went and set the standard. Sure, there were exceptions in the Renaissance – Hades is great but got no song, and Ratcliffe is… Ratcliffe, and he has a song – but for the most part the best Disney villains had a clear style. Ursula, Gaston, Frollo, Scar, all of them are some of Disney’s best and all of them stick to these rules.

Yzma came early in the post-Renaissance era so it would make sense for her to fit the bill entirely while they were still experimenting with new styles, but because of the tumultuous production of The Emperor’s New Groove, she ended up keeping the ham while having her villain song cut. And yes, this is a damn shame, since Eartha Kitt was a fantastic singer and the song’s not half bad, but I think the movie as a whole and Yzma herself work better without music. She’s just so funny with how she reacts to and interacts with things throughout the movie, I just don’t think she really NEEDS music to really push her over the top in terms of quality. Like, let me put it this way: I think, without “Be Prepared,” Scar would probably not be quite as impressive. I think with a villain song, Jafar would have been even cooler. Yzma? She’s pretty much perfect the way she is.

I debated a long time on what score to give her, but I frankly think she does deserve a 10/10. I almost gave her a 9 on the basis that she didn’t have a song, but her overall performance combined with my realization she didn’t need her song to be great made me decide to reward her with the highest marks. However, there is one criticism I have that I think stands: she would not nearly be s funny if not for the presence of her faithful lackey. So let’s talk about him, shall we?

Psycho Analysis: Kronk

I put this one to a vote, and it turns out that a lot of people consider Kronk a villain. I guess if we’re being technical he is an antagonist, but a villain? Kronk is pretty much the least evil villain out there. Still, it’s pretty impossible to deny that he’s not exactly a good guy when he’s complicit in an assassination attempt. Kronk’s a bit of a morally gray figure for much of the film.

He’s also, without a doubt, the funniest character in the film.

Motivation/Goals: See Yzma above. He’s just her lackey, so he doesn’t have much in terms of goals of his own. He does, however, have a conscience, as well as numerous skills including some serious culinary skills, including knowledge of fry cook lingo.

Performance: This is one of the roles that really put Patrick Warburton on the map, alongside Joe Swanson in Family Guy. And if I’m being honest, this is the definitive Patrick Warburton role in animation. Kronk is just an absolute delight to watch, since he’s basically the lovable idiot character perfected. He’s a ditz, but he does have a lot of skill in some interesting niche areas, he’s not truly good or evil and has a moral code, he’s very quotable and funny in a pretty natural way… Kronk has got it all! And it’s all thanks to Warburton injecting that Patrick Warbuton-ness we’ve all come to love from his performances. 

Final Fate: Of course Kronk gets redeemed in the end. The dude is the biggest softie on the planet. Maybe Yzma should have thought twice before insulting his spinach puffs.

Best Scene: Kronk has a similar problem to Yzma, where every single scene he’s in is incredibly perfect, but unlike Yzma, there is one scene that really narrows things down and gives you the perfect summation of Kronk as a character: the scene where he is attempting to dispose of Kuzco’s body, does his own theme music, argues with his shoulder angel and shoulder devil, and then ends up saving Kuzco, thus allowing the rest of the plot to happen.

Best Quote: Unlike Yzma, there is no way I could possibly narrow down Kronk’s best quote. Whichever one is your favorite, you’re right. That’s the best one. Everything out of his mouth is gold.

Final Thoughts & Score: Kronk is a very interesting lesson when it comes to Psycho Analysis because, while he is certainly antagonistic, and certainly is a great character, he’s not a great villain, which is what these reviews are for. Like, he is easily the best part of the movie, he is hilarious, his chemistry with Yzma is undeniable, and this is Warburton’s definitive vocal performance in animation… but it doesn’t make Kronk a good villain so much as it makes him a good character. Like there’s no way I can give him below an 8/10, because again, still an antagonistic role, but he can’t score much higher because his personality is just so legitimately NICE that calling him a villain seems really weird (which is why I put it to a vote in the first place).

I really can’t stress enough how much I love Kronk; he’s like in my top 10 favorite Disney characters. But when it comes to villains, I really don’t think he’d make the cut, because even when he is doing something bad it comes off more as misguided loyalty to Yzma than an actual desire to do bad. It’s really telling that it’s the most petty of things that makes him drop Yzma like a hot potato: Kronk was never really a villain, he was a good guy who made poor life choices and had a toxic friend influence. He didn’t really have a character arc where he became a better person like Kuzco did, although Kronk’s ultimate turn to the side of good does somewhat mirror Kuzco’s; he simply realized that the friend in his life he devoted his time to was an awful person and decided to leave her behind, and when all is said and done, that just leaves a big, buff nice guy who likes to cook. And that makes Kronk a truly great, funny, and lovable character.

It just doesn’t make him a great villain.

[juleswolverton-hyde]

The Sword and Shield (BC x Reader)

Genre: Fluff, Idol AU, Quarantine fiction

Pairing: Bangchan x Reader

Warnings: Innuendos, nerdy Pokémon talk.

Summary: Every warrior needs a sword and shield to defend themselves against enemies. However, two nerds take up weapons in a vastly different fight. 

Masterlist

Credits for the banner art go to Satzzz Art.

Life between the sheets does not always have to be characterized by Sensuality because there is more to be found among the pillows and blankets. It is amiable comfort, dozing off together to the sunrays streaming in through the light bedroom curtains or listening to music while sharing earbuds to kill the boredom of quarantine by means of occupying oneself with whatever is at hand. After all, it is yet unknown for how long the global population is forbidden to leave their homes safe for retrieving necessities at the supermarket or drugstore.

A blessing in disguise, however, is being able to spend the period of restriction with a bunch of lively lads which includes the lover of little more than a year. The moment it became known countries were hauling in their own residents a foolhardy decision was made to remain in South-Korea and leave the life in the place of origin behind for a while. The choice did not sit well with Chan at first, not too subtly asking to reconsider it though soon finding a secret delight in finally being able to wake up every day in the same bed.

No thousands of kilometres distance.

No time to be taken away by management and time zone differences.

The pandemic has at least given us this.

A taste of life as a real couple.

 Just before IKEA closed as well, the lovable human kangaroo insisted on going there for the last shopping spree so personal taste could be added to the bedroom that would be shared. The well-meant idea was rejected at first, saying it was not needed and that the interior was fine as it was. However, once bleached locks have set their mind to something, it is barely possible to change the focus of determination and thus the private shared space has been decorated with a few candles alongside a new bookcase to house whichever books were already taken from home as well as a few pieces of art and a collection of postcards that have been pinned on a metal grate.

Our perfect little nest.

A haven of comfort for songs and nerdy thoughts.

‘Hey, babygirl.’ The mattress dips as the human koala joins the small kingdom in the sheets of sweatpants and loose tops that are somehow still deemed charming. Even the surface beneath the minimal layer of makeup is apparently preferred by the strong arm wrapping around the waist as platinum locks rest on the head and watch the screen held between hands. ‘What’re you playing?’

‘Pokémon Sword. It’s really good thus far and- Oh my god, it’s so cute!’ In an instance, the screen is lifted to show the six adorable balls clad in armor, a new creature which is called a Falinks. ‘Look at these little buddies!’

A wide smile breaks out on plush lips, wavy locks shaking in closed-eyed amusement before looking up again with the wonder of a new discovery. ‘So that’s why you’ve been kicking the air or screaming something is cute. I didn’t know you were a Pokémon fan?’

‘I have been since I was little, but it’s not something I tell others about.’ The true meaning of the grin no longer passes under the radar, igniting an ember of shame for harbouring a geeky side when it comes to the Japanese creatures. ‘Yes, I know, I am a mega nerd. Bite me.’

The jaw clenched in timidity relaxes when slender fingers tickle the sides as a big nose presses into the side of the neck to nuzzle it. The comment was not meant to provoke although the lowered voice suggests otherwise as it speaks against skin, teeth even cheekily nibbling. ‘Watch your words, Y/N, or I just might.’

However, the sensuous attitude fades as fast as it appeared as irises the colour of pure chocolate wander back to the device. ‘Can I see your Pokémon?’

Because the girl in the sheets is not the only trainer beneath the roof. 

‘Sure.’ With the same nonchalance that denies the suggestiveness from a second ago, the index of the creatures which are currently being trained is opened. The current team consists of a Corviknight, Obstagoon, Thievul, Drapion, Boltund and Cinderace. ‘I’m currently training these though I mostly specialize in Dark Types.’

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ To get more comfortable, Chan slouches further down the bed to rest more properly on a beloved narrow shoulder. Nevertheless, the all-knowing grin from before remains plastered onto plush lips. ‘I suppose you’re also interested in training Ghost and Psychic types as well?’

‘I’m an open book, aren’t I?’

‘Just a little bit.’ The teasing is made up for with a chaste peck on the nose followed by one on the forehead. Just the way it is preferred and done whenever apologizing for something or to simply gain a smile. Withal, now, judging by the twinkle in mischievous eyes, it is definitely to say sorry in advance for what is to come. ‘Can you guess what my type is?’

‘Me?’

The witty response evokes the bubbly boyish laughter that has been loved ever since the first time it was heard. ‘You’re not wrong.’

‘Okay, okay, let me think.’ The scanning for clues on the face results in nothing except a brighter devilish glimmer in a loving look. Henceforth, the answer will have to based on personality and all the little things that have been discovered since being in a relationship and now prematurely living together. ‘Electric? Although, no, wait. Fire. Something tells me you at least have a Growlith or had but it has transformed into Arcanine. Then again, judging by that splendid performance of the theme song in your VLive, I’d also wager you have a Pikachu. However, you’re very sporty so maybe you specialize in Fighting types?’

‘You’re on the right track. The answer is somewhere in there.’ Instead of one mocking eyebrow, two rise in a failed attempt to exaggerate coyness while looking cool. ‘Or is it?’

‘Very helpful, Chris.’ Sarcastically disregarding the useless remark and lopsided smirk, the former ramble is composed into a somewhat solid answer. Anywhere close to the truth is better than nothing. ‘You’re a Fire trainer who is also interested in Fighting types.’

‘Almost. I’m a Dragon trainer who always starts out as a Fire trainer. I am, however, also interested in Fighting types too. I do have an Arcanine and Pikachu is an exception to the rule because it’s Pikachu. Every trainer should have one.’

‘I have one too, but it doesn’t have a name since it’s a female and I only name my male Pokémon.’

Focus shifts back to the screen, Chan reading the names of the amiable creatures that form the company on the journey to becoming the best. It started as a fun idea and the names matched fairly well. ‘So I’ve noticed. Are you associating everyone in the industry with a Pokémon?’

But nothing ever runs smoothly. 

‘I’m trying, but it’s bloody hard at times. I made Jackson a Pidove. Don’t laugh! I don’t know why I did it, but his name was the first to pop up when I caught it. Baekhyun is an Applin. Wait, he’s transformed already so now he’s a Flapple. Han is a Greedent because, let’s be honest, he’s a squirrel. Changbin, well, Bin is a Corviknight. I gave his full name to a Rufflet. Minho is a Sneasel, Felix a Thievul and I have yet to decide on the rest of the boys.’

‘Which one would be me?’ Judging by the suggestive tone of curious eyes and barely noticeable pout, there is the clear hope of a comparison with an awesome creature. The tightened grip on the hips betrays it too, blatantly so. Almost forcing the unknown comparison to one’s personal preference. 

‘Without a doubt, you are Zacian, the giant warrior wolf with a sword in its mouth.’ A deep sigh cannot be helped at the thought of the game’s challenge which does absolutely not allow for failure. ‘The legendary Pokémon of the Galar region. Dammit, Channie! Why do you have to be so elusive and exclusive?’

‘Because I’m an amazing catch.’ The cheek is turned by slender fingers, compelling lips to join in a playful giggly kiss which is broken up by a smug remark. ‘And warriors are not so easily bound to a master. You told me even Beowulf reluctantly helped a king, only to settle his father’s debt. 

‘Although,’ the train of thought is easily altered by hooking a digit under the silver necklace that was given as a birthday present, pulling the tease in yet holding off from melting into another kiss by backing away to continue the battle of wits and enjoy the small adorable whine of disagreement, ‘with the right trainer, I suppose I could make a deal.’

‘I plan on winning all gym badges and make myself worthy of the wolf.’

‘You will still have to win in that final fight. Until then, think you can take me on?’ Brows furrow in a suddenly hard-fought battle for concentrated control. Funnily contradicting oneself, the domestic koala shifts positions to hover over the coy soul who was able to tame the beast beneath the roof, faces inches apart and the Switch tucked in the small space between bodies.  

Which becomes noticeably narrower when transforming Innocence into Sensuality by creating the image of what might be given after testing out the waters of victory and win in a Pokémon battle. ‘I have more than enough times in this bed.’

To make up for the victory and erase any negative unspoken feelings. 

Though the soft growling suggests impatience, unwilling to be kept on a leash any longer. ‘Don’t change the subject. You’re fighting unfairly.’

‘Am I?’ The device is put aside on the bedside table, ankles hooking behind the waist to coax a hard shape into the warmth between the thighs as hands rest on broad shoulders. A much-appreciated action evidently, breath taken away by the friction between two concealed forms of wanting and nails digging into the skin beneath the comfy black printed fleece vest.

And the chest now making escape entirely impossible, hearts racing in harmony. ‘Yes. You’re distracting me.’

‘Says the person who’s distracting me from gaining those badges.’ Enough coherency lingers to remain cheeky. Bashful enough to lean in and utter a final double-sided statement of defiance. ‘I bet I can easily best you.’

But two can play that game, apparently. 

‘I think you’re wrong, babygirl. Or do I need to remind you of how good I am?’

‘Grab your Switch and bring it on.’ The challenge is accepted with a scoff which clearly started having different expectations in regards to the order of events. Fortunately, a sweet quick peck cures most of the shallow grumpiness as Chris is dismissed from the sheets. ‘And give me all you’ve got.’

‘Oh, I will. I always do.’

As became apparent in the few battles between teams.

The wolfish actions that followed unspoken hard feelings unhappy with the outcomes of the fights.

And a broken headboard in the morning.

[reblogthiscrapkay]

The Myth of Persephone in “Mythic” The Musical

Most of these Persephone Project posts are for books or chapters of books so it’s always exciting and mildly anxiety-inducing to encounter a visual medium to write about. I’ve only done one musical in these Persephone Project write-ups and that was for my favorite musical, Hadestown. Now the myth of Persephone is underlying in that musical, which is part of what made writing about it a unique experience and I eventually expanded and edited my original write-up for the Hadestown Zine. But then my buddy Suzi told me about this musical. It took me a while to work up the nerve to listen to it as it’s a teen pop rock musical version of the myth of Persephone. If you couldn’t tell from me saying Hadestown is my favorite musical, I should say that teen musicals are not really my thing. I think “Heathers” is the only one I would cite as really liking. I wasn’t even into teen musicals when I was a teen. But in the interest of post consistency, I’m going to divide this into two parts: one where I specifically talk about the way the myth is done and one where I just talk about the show. The Myth In this version of the myth we get a lot of interesting character development for Persephone and Demeter that is happening concurrently throughout the show. Because of the “teen musical” concept the main theme is heavy on the ideas of growing up, finding one’s place in the world, and accepting your children’s adulthood.

To zero in on Persephone first, we find out somewhat repeatedly throughout the first three songs that she has lived her whole life on Earth and hasn’t really met the other gods but is motivated by a desire to find a place where she feels like she belongs. We get the sense that she feels smothered by her mother, a bit superfluous next her mother, and that while she’s okay with her life she hasn’t seen enough of the world to feel like she’s sure she wants to stay where she is. She wants her own purpose basically. The idea of shifting a focus to Persephone and giving her these motivations gets an A+ from me and is obviously a common feature of modern adaptions of the myth (I think this is most comparable to George O’Connor’s Hades comic).

She bumps into Aphrodite and convinces her to take her to a party Zeus is throwing for Athena (Aphrodite and Zeus are main characters numbers 4 and 5, by the way, and have their own motivations that I will get to). Seph says some not at all nice things to her mother before she leaves when Demeter tries to stop her. At the party Persephone doesn’t really have much fun and bumps into Hades who has come to yell at Zeus about a surplus of virgins in the Underworld. They chit chat a bit, she tells him he’s nice and he denies it, but this is an establishing of their chemistry. Another common trope in modern retellings: having them meet before going under.

Aphrodite then decides she wants to “stir shit up” and plans to do that by getting Hades to hook up with her. He shoots her down and as revenge she curses him to kiss Persephone (who I think is also cursed because she goes from “wow, my first kiss” to “take me to bed” in literally twenty seconds). Now the idea of their relationship starting from a love god’s influence is an interesting detail that is uncommon but certainly not unheard of. Ovid did it as was the case with Allison Shaw’s Persephone comic but I think both of those used Eros instead of Aphrodite. Either way, the force of their passion (or like, the force of Hades’ horniness at this point) leads to them going underground and Aphrodite is immediately sorry for what she did. We get this unique detail about how spells are broken underground which I’ve never heard before but kind of organically makes sense. Like, why would earth/sky god magic have any effect in the land of the dead? It works.

Once underground, they break apart and get awkward. I haven’t really addressed it yet but the interpretation of Hades in this one has elements I have never seen. First of all, his primary motivation in this one is just to be left alone. Persephone asks him to take her home and he tells her he can only go above ground once every six months. This six months rule I have really never heard of but I guess it does set the audience up for six months being an important concept later on and provides a reason for him to not help her. I mean, that reason could have been a lot of other things but it’s a reason. He then tells her to just go away and stay out of trouble and when they meet up later he apologizes for getting her stuck down there but basically says there’s nothing he can do. Overall, his characterization at this point reads as someone who is trying very hard to be perceived a certain way (a “deep, dark damaged soul”) but is actually just kind of socially awkward and not in any way bad.

Alone Persephone basically decides to go around sprucing up the Underworld through interactions with Charon, Ascalaphus, and Minos. Hades gets annoyed about it (annoyance is kind of his primary emotion) and after he thinks about locking her up over it, they have a heart-to-heart about his daddy issues and this reputation he never wanted. It’s kind of their starting to fall in love moment. Persephone then gets attacked by furies and Hades saves her. They have another actually falling in love moment where Persephone convinces him that the Underworld is actually kind of great and he believes her.

This should clinch things for their relationship but then Aphrodite shows up in the Underworld to try to fix things (a thing that definitely never happens and also kind of can’t) and Hades tells Persephone to go with her because he seems convinced that his feelings are still a part of the spell or something. Persephone refuses and basically tells him off that she likes it here and runs away. Then she chooses to eat the pomegranate mostly for personal reasons but one seed is definitely for “the guy I love”. The whole interaction is curiously hostile. It leaves me in this weird place of wondering if I should even be supporting this relationship.

After eating, Demeter shows up (again, a thing she probably can’t do) and she and Persephone make up and offer some tearful goodbyes since Persephone can’t leave now. Hades comes after hearing about the seeds, apologizes, offers to make her Queen of the Dead, and they kiss or something. Then Aphrodite and Zeus show up (WTF) for some Zeus Ex Machina that doesn’t work. Persephone gives Demeter back her powers since she’s Queen, which she lost going underground I guess because of the established curse rule but it’s kind of flimsy, and Demeter sets the six months rule since she is the maker of fruit anyway. While this ending feels sloppy in a lot of ways, I like the idea that Persephone and Demeter did these things for each other. I just wish Demeter’s decision didn’t come off so self serving and this probably could have been solved with a tip from, of all things, the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys interpretation where Persephone says outright that she doesn’t want to be forced to chose between them. At least it’s better than Zeus setting the rule, which is how it is in basically every other telling (except like, Hadestown). 

In Demeter’s concurrent plot, her primary motivation is find Persephone, of course, but to do this she has to get over this fact that everyone thinks of her as a lesser goddess without any real power. This was really strange to me, but that set up does pay off. She takes down a cyclops, confronts Zeus (a thing from most myths!), and then destroys the crops on hearing what happened to Persephone (also good). So her story is actually fairly in line with a lot of myth retellings except for this inferiority thing. Where does this come from? Well, that’s where her plot rubs up against Zeus (and also Aphrodite and implicitly Hades). Zeus’ primary motivation is to stay in charge and part of how he does this is by belittling everyone else. The Act 2 reveal for Demeter is that Zeus was lying about her weakness, and she’s only been operating on half a tank forever. Effectively, Zeus is the antagonist of the story. Kind of interesting since in a lot of versions of this myth, Zeus approving Hades suit of Persephone or alternatively offering Persephone to him, is the catalyst to the rest of the story, but this is seen as a neutral thing.

Overall, there were some interesting choices in adapting this myth to a musical for a teen audience. I feel like the Demeter plot works really well and that the Persephone plot works pretty well too. The problem I have is with how the Hades and Persephone aspect of this story is handled. It has a lot of great notes to it, but it doesn’t really come together because of the need for frequent denials and a sort of uncomfortableness with Hades character. From a strict story perspective, the concept of Hades and how his relationship to Seph develops is one of the weakest things about the book.

So that leads me to... The Musical

This musical is, uh, kind of a mess. 

As I said before, the ending is really sloppy and the book handles Hades’ character and his relationship with Persephone really poorly. Aside from eliminating or reframing some of those million times he denies her, I think the musical could have really benefited from a song or a dialogue scene where Hades is the main character. Persephone and Demeter have really well developed motivations and personalities because they have a lot of moments where they are speaking more to themselves than anyone else and we can see what they really think and feel. Aphrodite gets a few moments of this in act one and a whole song (that I dislike so much I can’t even listen to it) in act two. Zeus has a whole song explaining his drive. But every Hades song is in the context of him speaking to Persephone with the exception of a very brief moment in “Summer All The Time” where we get an initial vibe for who he is. A moment in act two when we can actually see his real thoughts and feelings towards Persephone would do a lot for making their relationship (and maybe even his denials of her) make sense. I really like the two songs they have together but the utility of those songs is different from actually showing what Hades really feels.

There are other weird book issues, the relationships between Zeus, Hades, and their father springs to mind, but I gotta move on.

To talk a bit more about the music and lyrics, this musical has a lot of cringe. Like, a lot. I have a whole document of the cringiest lines in it and it’s much longer than my lists of “ridiculous but great” lines and “just great” lines. There are so many failed attempts at being hip that I physically cringe when I listen to the soundtrack and after 20+ times I’m still cringing. I get that it’s directed at a teen audience, but I work with teenagers. I know they would cringe with me. The lyrics that aren’t cringe have a tendency to be kind of trite or unmemorable. I think Demeter’s songs are the least cringe, but they’re also some of the least interesting musically. The music overall is kind of blandly enjoyable really. The songs are fun mostly and I do really like some of them (”My Own Place In The Pantheon” is cute, “Mess Around” makes me want to dance, “Dark, Damaged Soul” is so cringe that it loops back around to fun pop punk, “Rebellious Children” makes me laugh, and both “Not A Chance In Hell” and “Beauty In The Darkness” give me some feelings) but none are a brilliant work that I would send to my non-musical friends as purely a good song. 

So about the acting and singing. Well, let me be clear that I did not see either the London or the Montreal productions (although tragically I think the London production was running at a time I was in London and Montreal is a long but not in any way unreasonable drive from my house so I’m not pleased to discover this musical so late). My opinion is based on the London soundtrack and an audio bootleg of the Montreal show (which is how I know all the dialogue bits too). 

I think London Persephone has a better voice but Montreal Persephone makes better acting choices (pitches her voice down a bit so she sounds a bit more mature, reads lines in much more reasonable ways, etc).

Both Demeters are good singers but I think Montreal Demeter makes better acting choices. She feels more authentically Demeter to me by mitigating the coward aspects of London Demeter.

Between Hadeses there is no contest. I love London Hades’ voice. As a Hadestown fan I was skeptical of a tenor Hades but his voice has this very beautiful sound in the lower notes (he doesn’t sound like Michael Arden but Michael Arden’s voice also has this quality and I love it) and it’s very powerful and he has just the right vibe to sell it. Montreal Hades has a very reedy voice and overall gives off a distinct whiny teen vibe that is just all wrong. Young Hades I am totally fine with in a story like this but he has to be mature to compensate.

Both Aphrodites are great. The character of Aphrodite is a type, and I’m fairly certain you will always be able to find a good Aphrodite.

The Zeus situation is weird because the interpretations of Zeus are wildly different in both productions. London Zeus has a nasally voice and a kind of guido look and vibe that I think works great. He’s really slimy. I feel like he’s going to pull out a wad of cash to make someone sleep with the fishes. Montreal Zeus is more big personality gospel singer and is styled accordingly. It doesn’t feel right for the character as written but it’s a fully integrated performance.

For our minor Underworld characters, they were all male in London but Montreal made Ascalaphus and Minos women, which I wholly cosign but I think Minos should have been an alto. Also Alecto is in it but male which is weird because Alecto is female. She’s a fury. Basically they genderbent everyone but Charon, I guess. Okay.

If you’ve got a choice of which to listen to (like if you have a Montreal hook-up) I still say go with London overall. It’s on YouTube.

So finally, I’m going to talk about the aesthetic. Both shows seemed to have really minimalist sets, which I’d kind of have to see in action to understand. It seems like an odd choice but it might just be a cost effective one. Every image from London looks more like a concert than a show (by product of the success of Six, maybe?) but the Montreal shots look a bit more “acting-y.”

As for costumes, oh boy. Let me present an image of our mains from London:

So let me ignore the obvious for a second to say that Demeter in both shows is very hippie and Aphrodite is always blonde and wearing some kind of shiny silver thing. Both of these things work. The Zeus’ as I said before are very different but tailored to the performance being given.

Now, um

A list of responses from my musical-going and myth-aware friends about this picture: * That is NOT THEM. * Oh no. * Looks like the costume designer was really inspired by American Idiot. * This takes me right back to high school in 2003. For the reference this is Persephone’s underworld look specifically but since her above ground look is a black t-shirt, jean shorts, fishnet tights, and Converse it’s not much of a change. I think both shows adopt this idea that the Underworld changes your wardrobe.

This mid-2000s pop punk styling is just a weird choice all around (although you could argue that Hades is actually more classic punk while Persephone is very specifically mid-2000s but still). On a more minor note, what’s with the hair? I mean there’s nothing saying you can’t have a blonde Persephone but why do this when you already have two other blondes in the main cast? Usually Persephone is a redhead or has brown hair and that would have been nice. With Hades hair I don’t even know what to say aside from why? I’m not going to say that Hades should only have dark, grey, or white hair depending on age (I’m gonna think it though) but this was a really curious choice. Also, the facial hair. Is that a John Waters mustache or am I losing my mind?

Montreal did a lot better here.

Hades’ look is solid. I like the warlock coat and how it’s kind of a fast track to intimidating. I like how without it he’s kind of at an intersection of art student and goth. It’s all good. I don’t even mind the hair because at least it’s not silly.

Persephone’s look is fine. I’m a little ruined by my friend pointing out that her above ground outfit is really 70s, but I’m trying to forget it. It’s better; I didn’t say it was the best they could do. Her underworld look is a great idea but that dress looks really unflattering to me. Maybe something like a black leather-y obi belt would really improve the shape and bring a bit more underworld to the look. Not sure what’s going on in the middle picture unless she has two underworld outfits but it looks fine. The barrettes were definitely a choice. Was flowers too obvious? Flowers would be better.

Also, Ascalaphus is adorable.

So in conclusion, someone hire me to red pen this musical so it can be good enough to continue its life after covid. I have a special place in my heart for flawed musicals that need a good red penning. 

[danbevanwriting]

The Ranking of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV was the second officially English translated FF game to come to the West, renamed to Final Fantasy II so as 'not to confuse the market', leading to years of confusion ever since! The version that the Americans got was also heavily dumbed down to the point where abilities are stripped from certain characters to better suit the Western audience, who were considered to be a lot less capable of handling a more complex game by the Japanese developers. This has since been rectified in the remakes since then, with the version I played, the Nintendo DS remake (which I played on PC through Steam... which is a port of the mobile version... which is a port of the DS version...) being harder than any other version released. Honestly, I didn't have a great time with this version of the game. The 3D models look a bit tacky when blown up to 1080p, the battles run at 15fps which makes the bad menus unresponsive too, I wasn't a fan of the voiced cutscenes, and during gameplay the camera is zoomed way too far in meaning that most of the time in dungeons you spend having the map overlay on your screen. I would advise playing basically any other version: the PSP remake is incredible with beautiful sprite work, or failing that get a hold of the GBA version or if you have the means a translation patch of the SNES Japanese edition. Avoid the US Final Fantasy II release on SNES! With that all out of the way, let's review the actual game!

Gameplay in FFIV is so good, they used this battle system in Final Fantasy games for the next 5 in the series! The ATB battle system was revolutionary: it took the slow and static turn-based combat from the first 3 games and made it instantly more exciting by making time a key factor. Each character has a timer before their turn to take an action, which means faster characters can attack more often as their ATB gauge fills up faster. This makes even random encounters exciting as the goal is to get as many attacks in as you can while also navigating the menus as fast as you can to get spells out. The rushing aspect can be lessened somewhat by setting the game to wait while choosing a spell, but before you start choosing a spell the timers are still ticking, and the enemies won't hesitate if you don't choose anything. In some ways you can use this to your advantage, such as not choosing an action for the healer, switching to your other characters to do attacks, and only using the healer to quickly patch up your party. Spells are learned through levels now too rather than bought or found in the world like before, so as your characters grow stronger so too does their arsenal of spells and abilities. This has a lot to do with a new concept of character based progression in the series.

The job system from Final Fantasy III is gone here and instead each character has their own built in 'job' or role within the party. This ties in to the other major change with this game: each character is actually a character this time. The story is a lot more character focused, with each character having their own stake in the events that unfold. It's a shame then that the story falls so flat about a quarter to halfway in. The first quarter of this story is fantastic. Cecil, a dark knight in Baron's Red Wings military unit, starts questioning his leaders and his place in the world when he's sent on a mission to basically slaughter a defenceless village for their crystal. What unfolds is a tale of redemption for Cecil, culminating in him climbing Mount Ordeals to shed himself of the darkness and become a paladin of light! But this crescendo occurs a quarter of the way through the game, and now Cecil's character has no growth left. It's a real shame. The story in general gets really stupid after the halfway mark too, with characters heroically sacrificing themselves only for them to not actually die, even when they really should have. Cid exploding in to a ball of flame to stop people chasing you comes to mind, it's a great moment ruined by a cowardly reversal of the consequences. Or stupid sacrifices are made, like Yang staying in an exploding control room to... let the others escape? It doesn't really make sense. But even then Yang survives and comes back in to the story by the end. The story also has all sorts of people double crossing you, Kain most of all, with it all being down to mind control. Contrived doesn't cut it. Speaking of which, the ending is similar to Final Fantasy III in that the main villain, who was totally behind everything, is revealed close to the end of the game. It's not as bad as the Cloud of Darkness reveal, but the evil alien on the moon being behind everything was a bit dumb (although not a terrible concept if the story was better overall). I won't knock the story too much though, I'd argue that at least this time I actually have a story to criticise here which was certainly not the case in the previous games, and this was still more of a story than most games of the time were accomplishing.

Characterisations are certainly where FFIV separates itself form its predecessors. Cecil, Rosa, and Rydia are my favourites as they have good strong personalities; Cecil is a reflective person which ties in to his sub-plot, Rosa is caring which ties in to her being a white mage, and Rydia's empathy allows her to be a master summoner. These aren't amazingly fleshed out characters but, again, at least there's something to talk about here when previously there was almost none of this. I will say I absolutely hate Edge though, he has an extremely irritating personality which means he brags in an annoying manner (as he's a prince) but also falls instantly in love with Rydia, which would be fine if it wasn't done in such an annoying fashion. Luckily Rydia doesn't really respond and it's mostly played for laughs, but I just found it irritating to be honest...

The music in this is legendary at least, the game kicks off with one of its best tracks (The Red Wings) and stays consistently good for the whole game. The overworld theme (Main These of Final Fantasy IV) is truly iconic, as is the battle and boss themes. Even the prelude, a series staple at this point, got a beautiful new melody which makes the track even better. With the power of Spotify you can now even listen to these tracks to hear for yourself, other highlights I would recommend listening to include 'Theme of Love', 'Into The Darkness', 'Battle with the Four Fiends', and 'The Final Battle'. All the tracks fit the context or the environment very well and is a memorable OST in general.

The gameplay which is supported by the music is equally excellent. Dungeon design is great, with most dead end diversions resulting in a decent reward, a concept that is used to great effect in the final dungeon. The final dungeon is surprisingly short, but with all the diversions which lead to optional bosses guarding the most powerful equipment it's worth exploring every nook and cranny. The new battle system also leads to more interesting boss fights too as some have their own unique mechanics. The ATB system means that bosses can go in to retaliation phases that you can wait out by not doing actions, or other bosses like Bahamut turning the fight in to a damage race to defeat him before he casts Mega Flare. It's all very fun and is a positive change from the turn based system.

I touched on the graphics briefly above, but I figure it's worth reiterating how gosh-darn ugly the 3D models are in the remake of the game. The sprites from the SNES or PSP version are practically timeless which ooze personality despite their relative simplicity. Bosses look great in the SNES version where they look a bit dorky in 3D, the final boss being a good example of this. The environments in the 3D version are nice though, but like I said before the camera is so zoomed in it's hard at times to appreciate that. The SNES version takes full advantage of the hardware leap from the original NES to make the graphics far and away better looking than what came before, truly demonstrating the capabilities of the SNES and cementing Square as the top dog in RPG graphics (and this will only get better in time during this console generation).

So, in conclusion, this game is regarded as a true classic, and I think that's with a good reason. The story is engaging despite how stupid it gets and how it falls short in places. The gameplay is great even today, with history demonstrating just how good the ATB battle system is due to it being in a further five Final Fantasy titles, and the fact that so much of this battle system was done so right the first time around really demonstrates how successful Final Fantasy IV is. I would definitely advise people to play this game if they can, even if it's just for curiosity's sake to see where the series has come from. I would be much quicker to recommend this game over the older titles too as it certainly has aged better than any of the NES titles.

Current Rankings:

Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy II

[theoretical-tactician]

sirlucina replied to your post: Nintendo: Releases English version of Three Houses...

bruh what are ur theories

I’ve been waiting for someone to ask and I have a lot to say, so I’m shoving this under a read more.

So, I’m gonna go under the assumption that y’all have watched both trailers and listened to the English version of the main theme (though I’ll be shoving the lyrics here, no need to worry).

When the time the first trailer came out, Byleth didn’t stand out much. They kinda were just there and all we knew about them was that (1) their name is Byleth, (2) they’re likely the MU, (3) they wield swords, and (4) they’re probably a teacher.

Among this information, the one thing that was pretty interesting was Byleth’s name. Pulling up a wikipedia page on Beleth, the first thing you’ll note is this:

“In demonology, Beleth also spelled Bilet, Bileth, Byleth and Bilith is a mighty and terrible king of Hell, who has eighty-five legions of demons under his command. He rides a pale horse, and all kinds of music is heard before him, according to most authors on demonology and the most known grimoires.”

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think much of this the first time it came across my radar since you can’t take all information at face value, but I felt there had to be some reason to why the name was chosen for Byleth, considering names for characters (especially main characters) tend to be chosen for a reason. So I noticed something later in the wikipedia article (which is rather short) that caught my interest.

“The conjurer must be brave, and holding a hazel wand in his hand must draw a triangle by striking towards the South, East, and upwards, then commanding Beleth into it by means of some conjurations.”

What’s so interesting about this is when you reference it with the map of Fodlan.

It’s known that the academy is in the center of the map, but then draw your attention to the placement of the kingdoms. Adrastea is to the south, Leicester is to the east, and Faerghus is to the north aka upwards. This strengthens Byleth’s relation to the king of Hell.

But there wasn’t much I could do with this information. Not until the most recent trailer and the full English version of the main theme dropped. It makes things...interesting and has made me think of where the game could possibly go, though knowing what IS did to my hopes for Conquest, I could be extremely wrong in all of my ideas and as such, anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt.

So, we saw a few interesting things in the most recent trailer, namely Sothis and Byleth’s ability to manipulate time. I’ll start with Sothis since she’s more of a wild card to me and ties into Byleth’s abilities.

Sothis’s name is the Greek name of the Egyptian goddess Sopdet. I’m unsure of how much I can obtain from her name other than that Sopdet is the personification of the star Sirius, and nothing we’ve seen about her character really strikes me as relating to her name. But what is interesting about her is the fact that only Byleth sees her, likely within their mind since their meeting with Sothis is very similar to when Robin sees Grima and Validar talking to each other in his dreams back in Awakening.

This then ties into Byleth’s time manipulation abilities, which may sound like a stretch to say, but all the information exists for it. Towards the end of the trailer, we have the bit with a negative filter over it playing a scene in reverse. But before it plays in reverse, we see this:

A bandit clearly shoving his axe head directly into Byleth’s back as they protect Edelgard, which I would most definitely consider a killing--if not disabling--blow. What’s extra interesting is that Byleth is in this exact same position earlier on in the trailer when they first meet Sothis:

Which is extra interesting when right before this moment earlier on in the trailer, it’s stated that:

“After an unexpected incident reveals an unknown power hidden within [...] around that same time, you alone begin to see a mysterious girl named Sothis who appears within your mind.”

I would expect being ambushed and stabbed in the back by a bandit to be an unexpected incident and if that truly leads to Byleth meeting Sothis and gaining their powers, then it would suggest that their abilities are to manipulate time in a similar fashion to Mila’s Turnwheel in Echoes. I think it’s time manipulation considering the whole ambush plays out in reverse, shattering when reaching to the moment of Edelgard’s surprise (negative filter over this gif for easy viewing).

And then immediately afterwards showing the same scene play normally, except Byleth parries the blow and is completely untouched.

This couldn’t have happened if Byleth had an axe sticking out of their back, but the previous scene definitely happened and with how it was shown, it was definitely before Byleth parried the blow. So the only way it could’ve happened this way is if Byleth suddenly obtained the power to manipulate time after an unexpected incident.

There’s one last thing I want to show from the newer trailer before I move onto my theories for the game based off of the main theme’s lyrics. That would be this specific image from the trailer:

Byleth is surrounded by darkness and completely unfazed by it, and the way it dances around them suggests it might be coming from Byleth. They also wield what is probably the all important legendary sword of this game (considering it’s been shown multiple times in the trailers), but that’s as far as I’ll go with this information for now since the lyrics of the main theme will tie up this information into my theories (yes, this information was just going over info so people know what I’m thinking).

If y’all have noticed, I’ve solely been focusing on Byleth while going over the information we have before I go into the main theme. There’s a good reason for that and it’s because when I first listened--and I mean really listened--to the song, I started to read the lyrics as if it were Byleth’s point of view, which I ask y’all to do now.

Reach for my hand, I’ll soar away into the dawn, oh, I wish I could stay. Here in cherished halls, in peaceful days I fear the edge of dawn knowing time betrays.

Daylight’s passed through colored glass, in this beloved place. Silver shines, the world dines, a smile on each face.

As choice surrounds, come out of bounds and I can feel them breaking free. For just this moment lost in time, I am finally me.

Yet still I hide, behind this mask that I have become. My blackened heart, scorched by flames of force I can’t run from.

I look to you, like a red rose seeking the sun no matter where it goes. I long to stay, where the light dwells to guard against the cold that I know so well.

Here is where I ask y’all to start being skeptical of anything I say considering I can be very, very wrong in the end (and I will bring up other possibilities that I’ve thought of what these lyrics could be instead of my initial reaction), but it’s still fun to theorize and if I’m wrong, I’ll just write my own story after I beat the game.

When I first listened to the song, the first thing I noticed to have any sort of meaning was the second verse:

Daylight’s passed through colored glass, in this beloved place. Silver shines, the world dines, a smile on each face.

What stuck out? Well, the military academy is within the monastery, correct? We’ve seen it to have stained glass windows--a common staple for some religious buildings--which is colored glass meant to look beautiful when light passes through.The smiling faces are likely the students within the academy. So this means that whoever it is that wished they could stay is likely talking about the military academy within the monastery.

Next is verse three which goes:

As choice surrounds, come out of bounds and I can feel them breaking free. For just this moment lost in time, I am finally me.

The first part I can’t really make much sense of, but the line “For just this moment lost in time, I am finally me” sticks out to me. We’ve seen Byleth lost in time once, when they connect to Sothis and gain the ability to manipulate time (it also causes “knowing time betrays” from verse one to stick out for the same reasons: times seems important to their character). I’d consider this moment Byleth finally awakening to who they truly are, finally being themself.

This then ties into the fourth verse:

Yet still I hide, behind this mask that I have become. My blackened heart, scorched by flames of force I can’t run from. 

As stated at that start, Byleth is another name for the demon Beleth, and Beleth is capable of changing the form he takes, appearing different to people, which can be considered similar to hiding behind a mask. This mask could be Byleth’s own human form, unaware of their own abilities and truths.

These bits of the song made me connect it to Byleth and think of it from Byleth’s pov in the first place. Looking at it this way makes me think that Byleth is not only a protagonist, but an antagonist as well, somewhat similar to that of Robin in Awakening.

To back up this idea, I look back at verse four, specifically the part I haven’t talked about yet:

My blackened heart, scorched by flames of force I can’t run from.

This suggests Byleth being in pain, being surrounded by darkness (sounds kinda familiar, kinda like an image from before) and unable to escape, but wishing to (especially when you combine it with what is stated in verse one with wishing to stay).

I look to you, like a red rose seeking the sun no matter where it goes. I long to stay, where the light dwells to guard against the cold that I know so well.

If this is truly Byleth, then verse five really drives in the idea that they want to be free of their dark side and be with the people that make them feel happy and free: those at the academy.

I wanna restate that I could be extremely wrong about this and maybe it’s about another character like that goddess we hear so much about. But it seems so much more interesting for the song to be about Byleth based on the information we have.

With this information in mind, it makes me think of/hope for one of the following to happen in the story:

Byleth is a demon of sorts themself and, as such, goes from being a protagonist to a villain at some point that you--as the students--need to fight

Byleth is a demon of sorts themself and, as such, you--as Byleth--end up fighting/defending yourself against the church

Sothis perhaps being an evil force that possesses Byleth and Byleth wishing to be free of her

I wouldn’t bet on any of them happening in the game since I don’t expect much of IntSys when it comes to their stories, but if it were it would make the line from Edelgard at the end of the first trailer pack a bit more of a punch.

“I will return here someday, my teacher. Promise me that you won’t forget me.”

I do enjoy my ideas though, and when the story ends up not having any of what I say, I’ll just write my own version. Though I’d be interesting in hearing what other people’s theories are now to compare with my own.

EDIT: One last theory involving Byleth of mine is that it is possible that the legendary sword they use is possessed or something. It seems pretty important to the story and the only time we see Byleth with it in the trailers is when they’re surrounded by darkness.

The only other characters we see touch it are a man who can only be assumes to be evil (using it as a whip sword in the first trailer) and a woman is is likely the goddess or some important religious figure hugging it to her face.

I kinda forgot to include this, but it would be hard to find a way to gracefully weave it into what I’ve already written. It would be interesting and perhaps make it easier to save Byleth from the dark.

[deepmappingdumfries]

Introduction to Deep Mapping Dumfries

"... the deep map attempts to record and represent the grain and patina of place through juxtapositions and interpenetrations of the historical and the contemporary, the political and the poetic, the discursive and the sensual; the conflation of oral testimony, anthology, memoir, biography, natural history and everything you might ever want to say about a place …"

Mike Pearson and Michael Shanks, Theatre/Archaeology (Routledge 2001) p. 64-65

The Deep Map

Maps can be useful, interesting, often beautiful. But any map can only ever portray a particular aspect of a place – and because they are always partial, maps are inherently biased and therefore political.

This is an experiment. An attempt to make a ‘deep map’ of Dumfries - an interdisciplinary, multi-layered, multimedia portrait of the town, from a ‘centre’ that is Oxfam Books and Music Dumfries, where I’m based as writer in residence. The eventual product will depend on how much and what kind of response I get from others. I will work on the deep map using as many other perspectives as I can and the more other voices I’m able to include, the richer the map could be – so how the map ends up shaped depends partly on you!

Are you someone who has known Dumfries your whole life? Or someone who moved here recently? Do you, like me, live outside Dumfries, but know it as the main town? Maybe you’ve only ever visited but have some particular important memory associated with it. Or do you have some expert knowledge – perhaps historical, archaeological, botanical, zoological, even mythological? Each will have quite a different perspective of the same particular places. If we could gather many of these, what could we build?

Throughout the project, I’ll be providing prompts – perhaps photos of particular places, or interesting facts about them or poems on particular themes, hoping to get people’s memories and connections to particular places reawakened. I’ll also be running some place writing workshops to help get folks’ writerly juices flowing! And I’ll be attempting a ‘Poetry Map of Dumfries’, similar to the Stanza ‘Poetry Map of Scotland.’

The project is somewhat fluid, and will be further shaped as it carries on – look out for further developments on how to get involved, here and on the Oxfam Dumfries Facebook page.

Why Dumfries?

I studied in Dumfries as a mature student, at the University of Glasgow’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies. I graduated in 2017 with an MLitt in Environment, Culture and Communication. On this taught degree, amongst other things, I learned much about how previous writers have written about place, about being in particular place and what that means for being a human and trying to live well. I also began developing a creative practice which attempts to incorporate my skills as a writer, artist and researcher, to portray particular place in a profoundly layered and multiple way - just as our experience of the world is always profoundly layered and multiple.

At the same time, I had begun to work on my own issues with anxiety and poor self-confidence by learning and practicing mindfulness meditation. This mainly consists of learning to notice – to notice what your mind is thinking and what your body is feeling, learning how to try to be really present in the world, rather than always absorbed in thoughts about the past or worries about the future, fears about how others see you. These things never fully go away, but almost like magic, the practice of noticing them (or trying to notice them as often as possible) without judgement takes away massive amounts of how damaging they are and helps you make a start at feeling at home in yourself. I didn’t believe it could happen until it did.

This practice of noticing, or remembering to keep trying to notice, also helped me to see how much our experience of the world is always filtered by what we know, or think we know. Our experience of place can be hugely affected by what we know about it and by what emotions and memories we connect with it.

My family moved to Dumfries and Galloway when I was 4. When I was a wee girl, Dumfries was the big town we’d get the bus to once a week, where my mum would get her fruit and veg at the market, where the swimming pool was and all the shops and shoppers in the High Street, the vennel – and where the fair would land twice a year, the wonderful, terrifying, sickening, money-draining fair. As a teenager Dumfries was a Saturday hang out, later a pub venue (though the lack of night buses meant this was a rare affair). It was where I went to college, later university, where I had both babies, where hospital visits good and bad take place. Now, it’s where I volunteer at Oxfam Books and Music, trying to be of some use to the world, finding I maybe can be. So even just to me, Dumfries is not a single place; it’s all of this and much more. Add in the memories and experiences of all the others connected to Dumfries and what a rich and complex picture you’d have.

But Dumfries is also all the things that ever happened to make it what it is now – how the rocks were formed that it’s built on and of, how the soil was formed, how the river flows and why, how the climate is and has been. What plants grow here, and what other creatures we share it with. Which powerful and legendary people made which things happen. And all of this is interconnected.

In recent years, all the towns I know have changed; shops have closed and charity shops, e-cig outlets and bookies are dotted about between boarded up premises. Many of us still want to visit towns but it feels as though we don’t quite know what they’re for any more. Dumfries is in the midst of finding out who it wants to be, what it can be. Many incredibly positive, innovative and community-based placemaking projects are ongoing – including, but not limited to: The Stove Network, the Midsteeple Quarter), Incredible Edible, MOOL (Massive Outpouring of Love) and of course Oxfam Books and Music Dumfries’s various projects, including the current ‘Art Beats Poverty’ summer programme. In order to add to this, I’m going to do what I can to try to build up a portrait of who Dumfries is and has been. I hope that this can be ongoing and include the voices and perspectives of as many folk as possible.

Cliff McLucas - "There are ten things that I can say about these deep maps.

First. Deep maps will be big – the issue of resolution and detail is addressed by size.

Second. Deep maps will be slow – they will naturally move at a speed of landform or weather.

Third. Deep maps will be sumptuous – they will embrace a range of different media or registers in a sophisticated and multilayered orchestration.

Fourth. Deep maps will only be achieved by the articulation of a variety of media – they will be genuinely multimedia, not as an aesthetic gesture or affectation, but as a practical necessity.

Fifth. Deep maps will have at least three basic elements – a graphic work (large, horizontal or vertical), a time-based media component (film, video, performance), and a database or archival system that remains open and unfinished.

Sixth. Deep maps will require the engagement of both the insider and outsider.

Seventh. Deep maps will bring together the amateur and the professional, the artist and the scientist, the official and the unofficial, the national and the local.

Eighth. Deep maps might only be possible and perhaps imaginable now – the digital processes at the heart of most modern media practices are allowing, for the first time, the easy combination of different orders of material – a new creative space.

Ninth. Deep maps will not seek the authority and objectivity of conventional cartography. They will be politicized, passionate, and partisan. They will involve negotiation and contestation over who and what is represented and how. They will give rise to debate about the documentation and portrayal of people and places.

Tenth. Deep maps will be unstable, fragile and temporary. They will be a conversation and not a statement."

http://cliffordmclucas.info/deep-mapping.html

Deep Mapping Dumfries on Wordpress here.

[itwas50yearsagotoday]

5/21/21:  It was 50 years ago today, May 21st, 1971, Marvin Gaye released his legendary album ‘What’s Going On.’  Hooooo-boy, this is a tough one... so Rolling Stone magazine recently declared the Top 500 Albums of All Time, and named this record #1... #1!!  I’m just going to say this now... this is very much like when they used to say (in the 1980s) the best Rock album of all time was ‘Born to Run’ by Springsteen.  How is this comparable?  Zeitgeist, baby, zeitgeist.  I’m not going to explain any further than that why I think this is FAR from the greatest album of all time.  And before anyone accuses me of being not woke enough, the woke-ness does not make a great record, no... the music makes the record great, yes!  I’ve been given shit for not understanding the blues, for example... not because I think it’s boring or it’s been vastly improved upon, or it’s been changed into something else, etc. etc... no, I just don’t get it, that’s what it is that they say.  So in not giving this record... once again, the GREATEST album of ALL time... a stellar rating, I open myself up to that kind of criticism.  Bullshit.  Is the music good?  That’s the question that should be answered.  So the answer to that question regarding this album is, yes, of course... is that an enthusiastic WOW awesome?? No.  So the record itself is definitely concept, and absolutely an interesting and compelling one... his brother returning from the Vietnam War only to once again experience the troubled Black life and livelihood of early-1970s inner city... most of the songs swirl around this theme.  It is a record that is decent to listen to all in one sitting because it is pretty short, 35 minutes, and it certainly has a serious flow to it... overall, I like it.  And there’s no doubt this was a revolutionary shift in not only Marvin Gaye’s music, but Motown’s, and heck even Soul music in general.  The record boasts three Top 10 hits on the American pop charts, with the title track that I spoke about a few months ago, ‘Mercy Mercy Me’ and ‘Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)’, both of which I’ll get to in their own separate entries.  I will say that the placement of these songs on this record are very sensible... beginning (title track), middle (’Mercy”) and end (’Holler’)... and most of the songs in between have a gentle, if somewhat yearning, tone.  Of these in-between songs, the second track is just about as good as the first ‘What’s Happening Brother’... the music is pretty close to the same, just with a slightly different melody.  But right after this track the problems start for me with the next three in a row... ‘Flyin’ High (In the Friendly Sky)’, ‘Save the Children’ and ‘God Is Love’... ‘Flyin’ just has like no melody in signt... I get it that’s a slow soulful song, and of course immaculately produced... but I can’t get into it... ‘God Is Love’ is more or less an intro to ‘Mercy Mercy Me’ as the melody is very close (closer even than between the first two tracks), so it seems kinda superfluous, but ya know, GOD and all.  But the ‘Save the Children’ song is what I would call ‘a difficult listen’... yep, it’s basically Gaye saying the words, then singing the words, saying them, singing them, over and over... I get what he is trying to do, but it comes off so awkward to me.  I think the song was ill-advised, and from what I understand not everyone at Motown (meaning Berry Gordy) cared for it... I swear I read that somewhere, but I could be full of it.  Either way, it sinks this record for me.  However, the second side is a bit better, even with only ‘Holler’ as the song anchor.  I have linked from Spotify ‘Right On’ which is definitely one of the lesser listened to tracks on this record (new Spotify is cool with that info), but I think it is one of the finer songs here.  Honestly, I think it is because the song resembles contemporary Traffic!  I’m seriously not kidding, if you took out Gaye’s voice and put in Steve Winwood’s, you wouldn’t have to change much else.  But I really like that Gaye and his Motown players made a song like this, very unorthodox for them, with a sassy flute, jazzy piano and tons of percussion... and then Gaye sings with intensity, building the seven-minute song up... a rare 7-minute song that doesn’t seem like it.  Was kind of a rediscovery for me, because I remembered liking it when I first heard it twenty-something years ago, but kinda forgot about it.  No more.  The penultimate track ‘Wholy Holy’ is much like ‘Flyin’ High’... slow, and soulful, and IMHO boring.  And then the final whopper ‘Inner City Blues’ ends the song cycle perfectly.  I did not talk much about ‘Mercy Mercy Me’ but it is my favorite song on the record, which I’ll get to in July.  Anyway, best album of all time?? No.  Good album.  Yes.  Best Motown album at least?  Nope... ‘Innervisions’ by Stevie Wonder BLOWS it away.  My blog, my opinions.  Don’t be a hater.

[laceyspencer]

Return to the Spirit of the Athens School (Raphael, 1509 – 1511) and to Humanistic Culture- Juniper Publishers

History

The School of Athens is one of a group of four main frescoes on the walls of the Stanza (those on either side centrally interrupted by windows) that depict distinct branches of knowledge. Each theme is identified above by a separate tondo containing a majestic female figure seated in the clouds, with putti bearing the phrases: “Seek Knowledge of Causes,” “Divine Inspiration,” “Knowledge of Things Divine” (Disputa), “To Each What Is Due.” Accordingly, the figures on the walls below exemplify Philosophy, Poetry (including Music), Theology, and Law. The traditional title is not Raphael’s. The subject of the “School” is actually “Philosophy,” or at least ancient Greek philosophy, and its overhead tondo-label, “Causarum Cognitio”, tells us what kind, as it appears to echo Aristotle’s emphasis on wisdom as knowing why, hence knowing the causes, in Metaphysics Book I and Physics Book II. Indeed, Plato and Aristotle appear to be the central figures in the scene. However, all the philosophers depicted sought knowledge of first causes. Many lived before Plato and Aristotle, and hardly a third were Athenians. The architecture contains Roman elements, but the general semi-circular setting having Plato and Aristotle at its centre might be alluding to Pythagoras’ circumpunct (Figure 1).

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Economy Social Science or Positive Science? The End of a Sociocultural Model

A visit to the Vatican Museums gives a chance to explore the history of humanity through its genius and works of art. The masterpieces found there illustrate the sense of aesthetic and cultural values of that history, the spirit of those who created them, the inspiration and willpower that guided their task. In short, what human beings have been capable of producing is simply amazing.Initially visitors admire the beauty of these works, often without asking themselves what the artist wanted to express, just taking in the exterior image while failing to observe the sense and spirit that breathes through their works. Among these masterpieces, a really outstanding one (and very pertinent to this book) is The School of Athens that Raphael painted starting in 1508 when, aged 25, he was called to Rome by Pope Julius II. Raphael grew up during the Italian High Renaissance and drew on legendary characters who have contributed to creating world history as we know it today, adding his own contribution [1-5].

In that extraordinary, perhaps unique period, artists, poets, intellectuals, scientists, philosophers, mathematicians and physicists met and exchanged ideas in an ongoing dialogue about the essence of man, which was the focus of their interest. A cultural scene free of dogma and intolerance was created, one open to a cross-fertilization of ideas that led to a great leap forward in creative and intuitive thought. A similar cultural scene had previously existed during the golden age of Athens and the thinking of that time can rightly be considered one of the cornerstones of our history and culture [6-8]. In his fresco Raphael portrays the characters with such masterly brush strokes that even their spirit reaches out to fire the imagination and penetrate the heart of those viewing it. The leading lights of that era are all there, gathered around the two central characters – Plato, his finger pointing skywards to indicate the world of ideas and the spirit, and Aristotle, who instead stretches out his hand palm down to indicate the real world and scientific experience [9].

The world of ideas and the spirit can never be divorced from an empirical quest for truth. So, everything must be focused on a search for what is true, for beauty, to promote the primary aim – the fulfilment of human happiness. But the world was by no means a paradise in either ancient Athens or in Raphael’s time. Both were times in which life was generally extremely hard, unrefined, times of trepidation and suffering. And yet despite these conditions human beings managed to achieve moments of sublime creativity [10].

Today we ought to be in a completely different situation from that of Plato and Raphael, thanks to the progress and power of technical knowledge. A knowledge which has become an end for the modern world, one that should have provided answers to satisfy our primary needs, releasing us from our “shackles”, reducing inequalities, freeing us, at least in part, from a life of fatigue and suffering in physical terms. Scientific knowledge should have helped to create a situation in which our free, inventive mind could once again be the driving force of life, leading us to that dimension of spiritual joy we admire in splendid works of art [11].

This is what Keynes thought would happen. In his essay Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren written in 1930 he said: ‘Thus for the first time since his creation man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem – how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, which science and compound interest will have won for him [...]. The love of money as a possession – as distinguished from the love of money to the enjoyments and realities of life – will be recognised for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity, one of those semi-criminal, semipathological propensities which one hands over with a shudder to the specialists in mental disease’. Sadly, this has not been the case, in fact, the very opposite has happened. Technical-instrumental knowledge has become moral knowledge, an indisputable truth and so in no way open to discussion [12]. It dictates the rules for everyday life to the point that humanity itself has become its instrument. The technical culture of modern times has failed to achieve the aim that was hoped for. However, it is not the culture that is at fault but the improvidence of homo sapiens.

We have failed to redistribute wealth; inequalities, famine and poverty have increased; we have not resolved major health problems afflicting most of the world’s population. Technical knowledge has separated us from our souls, made us sterile and impersonal, incapable of true human relations and the profound sentiments of love and joy. Unless, that is, these are linked to the sole satisfaction of material and fleeting pleasures. We have imprisoned thought, disintegrated family bonds and forced youngsters to roam the streets without hope. All of us have made this mistake, given that responsibilities are always personal, even if at different levels. This modern age needs rethinking if we are not to find ourselves once more facing chaos [13].

The first step we must take is to ask ourselves if all this talk about the economy being the cause of the crisis of these times is true. Can we continue to think that all the misfortunes mentioned previously are the result of the malfunctioning of rules governing the economy? Or should we admit that a cultural model which has produced the opposite results to those intended has collapsed? Our lack of a social and spiritual life, of creative and intuitive thought, the drabness of an existence in which we are no longer capable of questioning the meaning of life itself ‒ can all of this depend on a malfunctioning of the economy? Is economy social science o positive science? We urgently need to review our recent history [14]. We must question the role we have assigned to the economic sciences and methods of study these have been based on for the past thirty years. Methods effectively founded based on the fundamental idea that economic sciences and the underlying choices and decisions involved are “totally” independent from human nature. So, this means our emotions have no bearing on these choices and decisions. The assumption has therefore been that given equal conditions and information the results will always be the same, thereby endorsing a rational approach that cannot be questioned.

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The New “Leviathan” Is Finance as an Unconventional Weapon: The End of Real Economy and Human Spirit. History ‘S Evolution

Instead the technical-rational culture applied to a social science like economics has produced a non-science. Friedrich von Hayek already warned us of this in his speech on accepting the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974: ‘It seems to me that this failure of the economists to guide policy more successfully is closely connected with their propensity to imitate as closely as possible the procedures of the brilliantly successful physical sciences – an attempt which in our field may lead to outright error. […] This brings me to the crucial issue. Unlike the position that exists in the physical sciences, in economics and other disciplines that deal with essentially complex phenomena, the aspects of the events to be accounted for about which we can get quantitative data are necessarily limited and may not include the important ones.

Hayek’s warnings didn’t manage to halt the diffusion of a model that we could define as “the mirage of rationality”. Today we find ourselves having to face the failure of a model that has separated the nature of people from the results of their activity. We have ignored six thousand years of history with an arrogance that can only have been inspired by the hubris of technical science and interests that the latter ought to have legitimated. The inseparable bond between the technical culture and economics, as recognized and studied, leaves the door wide open to humanity’s ancestral greed. A limitless hunger for profit realizable only through material goods. It creates the very system we are prisoners of today and is the source of a deadly risk. The risk of a society in which we become objectivised and lose all sense of ourselves, of our life, our feelings and creative ability [15-18].

It is artistic masterpieces that show how our most intimate being is rooted in a sense of creative spirituality as opposed to being concerned exclusively with an obtuse rationality for its own sake. So today the time has come to again make economics a tool and not an end. A process must be launched to humanize it, abandoning the absoluteness of a rational approach that repudiates history. Rethinking our role and the sense of our life is the real challenge we must face all together, for ourselves and for future generations [19]. In this context, some declarations on the non-role of the humanistic (classical) school and culture provide evidence of shallowness, a limited real culture, falling into dangerous demagoguery because in the long run, despite all the good intentions of this world, the lesson that history teaches go unlearnt. In this sense, among the “good” reforms - adjectives do not replace content and must be defined with respect to the ends (good for what?) - the purely technical school certainly has some positive aspects but the debate on the humanistic school and on the uselessness of dead languages explains better than any other argument the aforementioned perception of the incorrect understanding of the real historical moment we are living. The judgement of the futility of dead languages is a dangerous cultural drift of the debate on the best type of school in the world - the classical (in this author’s opinion) - precisely today that humanism is the path to take to overcome the era of barbarians, as Vico defined the extreme limit of the social and moral degradation that marks “the courses and recourses” of a cyclical history. The great G.B. Vico who wrote “New Science” in 1725 had had a stroke of genius on the cyclical nature of history because the nature of its actor has never changed and history is dictated by the emotional nature of man perennially struggling between the path of aggression and that of solidarity - Eros and Thanatos in ancient Greek – which the genius Freud, profound scholar of Greek and Latin, had analysed drawing on the psychic structure of human nature [20-22].

Historical periods alternate according to the prevalence of one or other social model tending to greater or lesser solidarity or aggressiveness, in this case, the conflicting socio-cultural context contributes to enhancing the aggressive part of the human soul, ending up in the pains of war. The pain of confrontation between men then leads to wisdom as the great Aeschylus and the Greek tragedians - Sophocles and Euripides - had foreseen; 2000 years passed before another great tragedian such as Shakespeare joined their ranks. Man is not naturally good, otherwise religions would not state as the first commandment “love thy neighbor Fas thyself”. Vico evidenced the changing of the time of the gods, heroes and barbarous men representing the worst period from which man must try to return to the time of the gods [23].

The long waves that run through the times of history show the drama of human life from the Greek thought whose ancient language is not commonly spoken today but the content has contributed and still contributes to the development of Western civilization and represents its cultural matrix. Is it better to have living languages but dead thought or dead languages but living thought? We are at the end of a socio-cultural model that has raised technical and instrumental knowledge to incontrovertible truth by attributing it purposeful and metaphysical value that it does not have, and so the questions we had asked of philosophy, religion and mythology, today we ask of medicine and the measurable science. The single technical-rational thought has removed from our lives the fundamental rights written in 1948 with the blood of two devastating wars, stifling creative and intuitive thinking. We have returned to a type of Alexandrian, industrious, scientific culture dedicated only to the facts but without the ability to make real and important discoveries for the profound life of man and incapable of creating a single true value [24].

The deification of technology and the principle of utility have as their “nemesis” the increasing aridity in the field of artistic, philosophical, religious and even scientific achievements. Technique becomes an end and man the means. At least since Keynes, a profound scholar of classical studies, no general theory has been produced and precisely in the “The End of Laissez-Faire” he wrote, “A study of the history of opinion is preliminary to the emancipation of the mind. I do not know which makes a man more conservative – to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past” [25]. In the end, history vindicated him and disavowed the foundations of the Chicago School who helped deify finance. After Keynes, economics and finance took on the role of the philosopher’s stone that solves the problems of life, and economics from a moral and social science has been unnaturally turned into an exact science. This is the great deception of a science devoid of scientific foundations whose deviated nature was first condemned by Aristotle in “Politica”, which students today should read, and not only those in classical schools [26].

Economics - oikia nomos - was born as and remains a social science, only the interested can consider it exact and only in order to use it as a monetary weapon with the power to destabilize social systems. Only a return to the convertibility of money into a real asset -the gold exchange standard -can remove it from the mythological context in which it was falsely issued and return it to a means of exchange and not a value. Today we are in a profound anthropological crisis, a kind of transition between the late Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, as Vico wrote, “historia se repetit”. We do not yet understand the roots of our problems, so we continue to worsen the state of things.

Every single day we see all types of devastation and continue talking about the economic crisis and not the real crisis of man as a person who has given up thinking, leaving us at the mercy of ancient ghost that seemed to have vanished after two devastating world wars but duly reappeared in a global age as the biblical damnation. “�� The educational system, which is first and foremost a training school devoted to ‘useful knowledge’ and the crafts. Its chief business is to prepare successful businessmen, craftmen, engineers and technicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, preachers and so on. Mastery is sought in such arts as amassing a fortune, farming, home cooking, barbering, the invention of machines, research work, teaching and preaching. Elementary, high-school and college education – all are oriented principally in the same direction, paying scant attention, if any, to the forgotten purpose of real knowledge and wisdom: the nature of true reality and true values” wrote Pitirim Sorokin in 1941 in his work “The Crisis of our Age”, which would seem to have been written in the future [27].

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The Role of Humanistic Culture

The humanities school (this from someone who went to a scientific school, yet with great attention to classical studies; but at the time, the school closest to home was chosen) was introduced by Giovanni Gentile in his last book “Genesis and the Structure of Society” where he theorized the humanism of work, anticipating the problems of today and noting that classical culture was crucial to develop thinking and creativity, qualities which today have withered. The history of man shows that knowledge and thought are fundamental to carry society forward over time.

The a priori forms of prevention are harmful and short-term, classical studies marked the lives of many who carried the world forward: Fermi, Rita Levi Montalcini, Maiorana, Dulbecco, only in the sciences in Italy but also Pirandello, Carducci ... But if we look at history, we have Keynes, Hayek, von Mises, Freud, Bertrand Russell, Einstein, Marx, Leibnitz, Heisenberg. Bernard Shaw said, “ Napoleon and other great men were makers of empires, but these eight men whom I am about to mention were makers of universes and their hands were not stained with the blood of their fellow men. I go back 2,500 years and how many can I count in that period? I can count them on the fingers of my two hands. Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Kepler, Copernicus, Aristotle, Galileo, Newton and Einstein -- and I still have two fingers left vacant”, all with the same classical culture as inspiration.

Humanity over centuries has sent little men to appear for us at the edge of the abyss on which the Earth travels, the suns blazes and light parades. All great politicians who extended the Commonwealth studied at Oxford and Cambridge, where the basic subjects were classical from Greek and Latin, they absorbed a more integral vision of human nature and the way in which history evolves. Since the technical-rational cultural model has prevailed, we have lost touch with the flow of history because we only look at the future as a guarantee of success. Thus, “homo sapiens”, as we presume to call ourselves, while seemingly very attentive to understanding the causes and effects of physical ills is no longer able to understand the relationship between cause and effect in his history. He behaves as if the past had never existed and as if history had never shown similar situations to those, he now finds himself before, pushed to a form of repetitive coercion.

The consequences of this historical blindness are before our eyes every day, seeing the disasters of US foreign policy dominated by the idea of technical power and unable to understand history because its ruling class has lost touch with it and has forgotten the cultural lesson of the founding fathers who were accustomed to speaking in Latin and Greek. A cultural model that is also experiencing a dramatic moment of social instability due to poverty, unemployment, inequality, devastating social pathologies, but continuously hidden and masked by the media mystifying reality.

If the principle of utility is the only principle applied, then only that which is useful or instrumental serves, and life itself becomes a means to achieving short-term material desires. If this principle is invoked to denounce classical studies as non-vocational, the ancient languages have died but the thought that lies beneath them shines more than ever, and the study of their structure helps to develop the most important thing that man can do but seems to have unlearned by only studying technical subjects, namely, “thought”. We have lost the ability to think, because thinking takes effort, time, does not pay right away and is dangerous, as Bertrand Russell said, “Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth – more than ruin, more even than death [28].

Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man …. But if the thought is to be held by many, not the privileged few, we must deal with fear. It is fear which stops the man, lest their cherished beliefs are not going to be illusions, fear that the institutions with which they live will not be harmful, fear that they themselves will not be less worthy of respect would have assumed”.

Given what has been said previously it seems we need to rethink our way of being a society. The desire to give space to humanity’s sense of omnipotence again seems to have whisked it back in history – to the myths of Prometheus, of Icarus – and force it once more to face the eternal dilemma of human destiny. A more social vision of life will be needed in order to re-pacify people with themselves, one in terms of relationships and not as single individuals, and to redefine the priorities of their needs. This doesn’t mean curtailing progress but conceiving it in a different way. In this sense the priority becomes to refocus on people’s spiritual dimension, today subordinated to the physical one, which determines choices and priorities of their needs. The spiritual and religious dimension are not closely bound to a religious belief because the ability to “feel” is within each one of us, it is innate. Today it is dormant but not lost, our task is to recover it, starting from each single moment of every day of our life, in relationships that bind us to others.

We need to return to a relationship with the natural world that the real economy can help reconstruct. Contact with this facilitates growth of the social dimension, not only considered as a series of mere chemical but also emotional reactions, which must once more become the subject of economics and other social sciences. All of this doesn’t mean renouncing the vital contribution of sciences in our life, but the acceptance of evidence that they cannot be absolute values, they cannot be considered moral knowledge to the point that we are induced to consider only the material dimension of our life. The return to a more spiritual dimension is a course to follow because it is written in the agenda of our history that, as European philosophy has attempted to describe, seems to follow a continual alternation over time of the predominance of material decadence and spiritual revival. In fact, we cannot renounce our spiritual dimension without renouncing living: we have a permanent nostalgia for our own being beyond material aspects, a nostalgia that is alive in us like embers that lie dormant under ashes.

In his work Homo creatus est written in 1986, Hans Urs von Balthasar speaks of “man’s nostalgia”, reminding us that this need for a spiritual dimension is an innate feeling, first mentioned in Greek philosophy that aimed to explain the sense of harmony of life. Starting from Plato’s Symposium, in which all the participants discuss Eros who has nostalgia and flies off towards the supreme and divine beauty, to Plotinus’ key concept of conversion (epistrophé) and of nostalgia that hastens towards the return (hormé), all of Greek philosophy only considered the issue of the true nobility of man. Man, who must not be content with fleeting pleasures and joys unless he wants to renounce satisfying his aspiration to happiness. The focus of this search for wisdom (philosophia) is always the blissful life as being man’s aim and his ultimate essential form, towards which he tends after his conversion from mere earthly captivity (think of Plato’s allegory of the cave). Given that, as we have said, the difference between the natural and supernatural was unknown in Greek philosophy, it was expressed in the fall of the human soul from the divine heights from which, however, man brings a spark that forces him to feel nostalgia for what was once his country, the paradise lost.

Go to

Conclusion

Begin Again from People, The Sense of Humanistic Culture

Sixty-five years have passed since various premonitory considerations were made by Europe’s philosophers. During this period the facts have borne out their intuitions as to the danger of relying on a technical culture alone to provide guidance for society. Today it would seem that the role of feelings is making headway in people’s hearts ‒ appropriate answers and conduct in the face of change can no longer be postponed. It is time for people to realize what happens to a society when it fails to invest in social relations and the need imposed by history to again make social capital the focus of our interests. We must understand that social capital cannot be replaced by economic capital. A good society is always the precondition for growth of economic values and empirical evidence would seem to confirm this thesis.

But the question is whether we will manage in time to dominate this current, limitless greed and aggressiveness in favour of a greater focus on a sense of fraternity and solidarity expressed by love for others. Homo sapiens really does seem to be rather stubborn as regards understanding its own errors. A species that seems to be very attentive as regards learning the causes and effects of physical ills but that has not yet managed to correlate causes and effects in its history. Conceptually, similar situations to those we find ourselves having to face today have occurred before. Perhaps this explains why history is ignored, as if by doing so erects a kind of barrier to the fear of having to face suffering. Whether Homo sapiens will manage to deserve this appellation is difficult to say, time will tell if intelligence will turn out to be a benefit or a curse. Should it turn out to be a curse, this will only be because of a failure to use a truly precious gift, namely, our “humanity”, in an intelligent way.

The past few centuries have seen revolutions, wars and other tragic events that have ended, even in recent times, with solemn declarations of peace and democracy. But unfortunately, in the brief course of one generation they seem to disappear. And so, the history of progress of civilizations continues a course filled with doubts. Answers to the needs of an increasingly global society represented by a culture that relies on a single philosophy – technical knowledge as an end in itself – is showing it has reached the end of the line with the collapse of society and the very essence of humanity.

The time has come to rethink economic studies, making a move away from the technical-rational paradigm that has proved inappropriate for the aim assigned to it, to a different one capable of broadening the field of studies to include human nature as a decisive variable. An approach that considers human beings as “individuals” in an integral sense in order to provide a complete and constructive contribution towards the development of society. Absolute faith in scientific progress has ended up by creating an exaggerated sense of omnipotence that in the end has turned against us, because our ability to govern this tumultuous growth has not kept pace with it. Humanity has become so infatuated with its conquests that people have lost sight of themselves, ending up by considering their very own lives as if they were just another consumer good. As Guardini said, people must again find the ability to bring the excess of power that has been created over their lives under control by returning to an order of things capable of restoring harmony within themselves and the world

‘In a context of uncertainty unparalleled in history, one that in no way compares to developments in our ability to dominate nature, people now aspire to a valid order that can remain under their power. An order that is both useful and promotes human progress, capable of reconciling humanity with the extent of its scientific knowledge, which today is perceived as an absolute value, placing it at the service of the search for a more widespread common good’ [9]. Now, perhaps, the boundary of the enigma and this hope seem better defined and can therefore lead to a clearer answer for everyone, while remaining fully aware, however, that responsibilities are always an individual concern. Let us hope that in the middle of all this confusion and uncertainty we manage to see the light and find the right path to follow. A path that humanity must find in order to fulfil its destiny and its unique and creative mission on this Earth (Figure 2).

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Sword of Vermilion: SEGA Genesis RPG Spotlight #4

Original Release Date: December 16, 1989

Original Hardware: SEGA Mega Drive

Developer/Publisher: SEGA-AM2/SEGA

There are a lot of interesting things to say about Sword of Vermilion. It was the first home game produced by the legendary Yu Suzuki and his team at SEGA-AM2. It was an RPG, which was decidedly outside of the developer's usual wheelhouse of thrilling arcade experiences. SEGA chose it as one of the handful of games to spotlight in its famous but ultimately unsuccessful "Genesis Does What Nintendon't" campaign. It uses four different viewpoints, which must have been an awful lot of work. In North America, it shipped with a 100+ page hintbook that basically walked you through the game. Some of the important names who worked on the game left SEGA after its release to found Genki, where they largely worked on racing games and only returned to the RPG genre once more with 1998's Jade Cocoon.

Yet for all the fascinating and unusual things happening around the game, Sword of Vermilion isn't anything particularly special. It's neither an amazing game nor a terrible one, the sort of experience that fills the belly but is forgotten by the next meal. It feels like even SEGA forgets about it now and then. The game was re-released on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, was part of the PlayStation 2 and PSP SEGA Genesis Collection, and is also available through the nearly-exhaustive Steam SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics, but somehow was left out of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. As first-party Genesis games with no rights issues go, Sword of Vermilion is a relative rarity among SEGA's many re-packagings of their 16-bit output.

As near as I can tell, nobody who worked on Sword of Vermilion had made an RPG before. The team was clearly familiar with the genre, though. I'd venture to say that they obviously knew of such hits as Wizardry, Dragon Quest, Xanadu, and Ys. The trouble is that they apparently couldn't decide which one they wanted to ape, and ended up doing a little bit of all of them. I don't mean that in a chocolate-meets-peanut butter kind of way, either. This isn't like Dragon Quest's smooth fusion of Wizardry's first-person turn-based combat and Ultima's bird's-eye overworld exploration. Instead, it's four dramatically different gameplay styles haphazardly stitched together into a bizarre Frankenstein's monster with little apparent thought or care put into making them consistent with each other.

The game starts with a somewhat lengthy cut-scene that sets up the story. Basically, some bad guys overthrew the good king. Before they arrived, he sent his infant son away with his top knight so that he could grow up safely in secret. Years pass, and the knight is on his deathbed. He summons the boy he raised, now a man, to finally reveal the truth of his origins. This is where you get control for the first time, and the game for all the world looks like a standard JRPG at this point. You can explore the town from an overhead view, talking to people, visiting homes, and going to shops. Once you reach the side of the man you believed was your father, he tells you of your royal lineage and instructs you to gather an assortment of rings that will help you take back your birthright. The first was entrusted to him, and he hid it in a cave many years before. Having told you all of that, he hands you some starting cash and then promptly kicks the bucket.

You might be tempted to just buy some gear and leave the town at this point, but that's not a good idea. Someone in the town will give you a map if you speak to them, and you'll really want to have that in hand before you step out of the town boundaries. As soon as you do head out, you'll run into the next gameplay style: first-person exploration. Both the overworld and the dungeons use this viewpoint, and while it's not quite as smooth as it was in Phantasy Star, it's convincing enough. In this mode, the main viewing area only takes up a portion of the screen. The remaining parts of the screen are dedicated to status windows and a bird's-eye map of the area you're in. If you haven't gotten your hands on a map, you'll only be able to see the square your character is occupying. You can technically map this yourself on paper if you really want to, but the NPCs are pretty good about giving you what you need when you need it.

This isn't too strange so far, though. The first few games from Richard Garriot of Ultima fame basically used a similar combination of overhead and first-person exploration. Even SEGA had already done this, in the Master System classic Phantasy Star. You start heading towards the cave that holds the ring you're looking for and suddenly a slime appears in your view. Time to battle! And also time for our third gameplay style. Yes, the game switches to another screen where you have a sort of angled overhead view of your character and a number of enemies. You have to move your guy around and swing his tiny sword at the monsters to take them out. If they touch you or hit you with an attack, you take some damage. Should you run out of HP, you'll be kicked back to the last church you saved at with half your money gone. You'll often start fights in the middle of a crowd, and the enemies are surprisingly aggressive. Once you get the hang of things it's not so bad, though, and you can always beat a hasty retreat by walking off the edge of the screen.

It takes a little while before you'll encounter the fourth and final gameplay style. After recovering the ring from the cave, the townspeople will direct you to the next town and even give you a map. Upon arriving there, you'll enter into what turns out to be the pattern for the rest of the game. The townspeople have some kind of problem. Maybe it's a wicked king. Maybe they've been transformed by evil magic. Whatever the problem is, you'll be given a map to a nearby cave and directed to retrieve something from it. You'll probably have to spend some time grinding experience and money to power up your character first, and there are some chests scattered around the overworld that give you something to do for at least part of that work. Anyway, you'll go into the cave, do the thing you're supposed to do, and that usually leads to the final gameplay style: a boss battle against a huge creature of some kind.

For these battles, you're playing from a straight-on side view. You can duck, swing your sword, and move forwards and backwards. Carefully hack away at the giant monster in front of you and you'll soon emerge victorious. You'll get one of the rings, the townspeople will hand you another map, and you'll be directed to the next town where you'll repeat the process. Lather, rinse, and repeat for 14 towns and around 20 hours, and you're all done. The number of monsters is quite limited, the game makes heavy use of palette swaps to stretch them out, and just about every location looks the same as the last. There's very little strategy in either of the battle systems, making combat somewhat dull. You'll never have any reason or cause to go backwards, with the result being that this a very linear, repetitive marathon to the finish.  

Given when it was released, Sword of Vermilion looks the part of a next-generation RPG. Everything is quite detailed, and those side-view boss battles are pure spectacle. The music, composed by Yasuhiro "Yas" Takagi, is very good. Each town gets its own theme song, covering a wide range of moods. Yet beyond those surface elements, the game is decidedly 8-bit in its design. As an example, the simple act of emptying a chest sitting in front of you requires you to bring up the menu, choose 'open', read the text box telling you the contents, bring up the menu again, and choose 'take'. Dungeons are pitch-black unless you use a candle or a lantern, and candles only last for a short amount of time. Your inventory is limited to eight items, not including equipment, so you have to make very careful decisions about what healing and utility items you want to bring.

The maps for the dungeons are hidden in the dungeons themselves, so you might need to do some physical mapping until you come across them. You also need to check every direction of each square when you're exploring, as chests and other objects might show up when you face west but not when you face east, for example. You can only save at churches in towns, so if you're playing it as it was designed you need to make sure you have time to see your outings through before embarking. Oh, and don't expect to see the stats of gear found in shops or chests. You'll have to equip them to see their effect, and some of them are cursed. For a game from 1989, none of this is particularly shocking; few games of this era broke ranks when it came to interface decisions. But many soon would, and that made Vermilion feel like something from a by-gone era within a matter of a year or two.

The strange thing is, I kind of enjoy Sword of Vermilion. The game has a really nice rhythm to it, even if it is somewhat mindless. The initial parts of each dungeon where you're operating without a map are pretty fun, and I like the basic structure of having to solve a different problem in each town before moving on. I had fun exploring each of the maps to see if I could turn up any treasure chests or special encounters. The battle systems are easily the worst parts of the game, but they're not offensively bad. At the very least, the normal battle allow you to feel your character's growing strength. The boss battles are stupid but thankfully quite painless in most cases. I'll even give a tip of the hat to the localization. It's a bit clunky in places, but it's largely coherent and correct. That was a big ask in this period.

I've seen some positively savage reviews of this game, and I guess I can understand why a person wouldn't like Sword of Vermilion. It's repetitive, old-fashioned, clunky, and some of its bits really don't work well within the overall game. It also drags on a tad longer than it should. Even though I enjoy the game, I wouldn't have shed any tears if everything wrapped up five or so hours earlier than it did. At the same time, I've played far worse RPGs that weren't nearly as ambitious. Even among the Genesis's library, I don't think I'd put Sword of Vermilion on a top RPG list, but I'm not sure I'd discourage anyone from trying it, either. I will say that if you play through to the second town's boss and aren't really getting into it at all, you're safe to cut your losses and quit. It doesn't dramatically change from there.

Of course, the aftermath is quite clear by now. Vermilion is mostly forgotten, and the few who remember it don't usually speak well of it. Its creators only made one other RPG after it, and the studio that produced it would only dip their toes into the RPG waters (in a very tentative way) a couple more times in the future. Still, for early Genesis adopters who loved RPGs, Sword of Vermilion likely kept them busy between Phantasy Star installments. That's about the best someone could ask for at that time outside of Japan. I'm not sure this was the best choice for SEGA of America's big ad campaign, though.

If you want to try Sword of Vermilion yourself, it's currently available on Steam as part of the SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics, on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, and on PSP and PlayStation Vita through the digital version of the SEGA Genesis Collection. You can also track down any of the physical versions; both the original Genesis cartridge and the PlayStation 2/PSP discs for the aforementioned Genesis Collection are relatively cheap even today.

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