#I struggle with slower songs in general so the ending always throws me (and the five shot ughhh)

[bird-bureau]

Someday I will get S+ on Unsustainable Inconsolable... someday...

[professorrw]

Study Break, a Peter Parker One-Shot

Pairing: gn reader x Peter Parker

Warnings: fluff, swearing

A/N: Happy birthday to Tom Holland! This was a request I got on AO3! I’ve only watched Spider-Man Homecoming once and it was when it first came out so I don’t remember much but I tried my best! My requests are open! Please like, comment, and reblog! If you want to be tagged in my works let me know!

“Ugh. I’m going to fail. I’m going to fail, that’s what’s going to happen. I’m not going to get the credits. All that time in class was wasted.” You huff and lay your head on the library desk.

“You won’t fail Y/N. You’re doing pretty well, we just have a few more things to go over.” Your boyfriend Peter puts his hand on your back and pats it in an attempt to make you feel better. Although his touch was comforting it wasn’t going to help you on exams.

“We’ve been sitting here for hours. My head is full of all this stuff I need to know and it feels like it’s about to explode.”

“I have an idea. How about we go roller skating and then get milkshakes? We can take a little break, let your brain rest, and then get back to it.”

You roll your head over to look at him. His eyebrows are raised and his hands are out to the side making a gesture that says, “how about it?”

“That actually sounds fun. I haven’t skated in forever though, I’ll probably fall on my face.” You were just about ready to give up, to throw in the towel but Peter wasn’t going to rest until you were sure you would get a good grade.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine. Now get up and stretch those legs.” Peter lightly jumps on the balls of his feet, making him look like a kid that just got told he was going to get ice cream.

You pack up your stuff and shove it into your backpack before you leave. It was seven o’clock at night and the sky was getting gradually darker. You really had been studying for hours. You left right after lunch and had been at the library ever since.

You walk to the roller rink that’s a few blocks down. As you got closer you saw on the retro-style sign that it was 80’s night. You stepped into the carpeted building and went to the front desk. The cashier was an older woman and she was dressed perfectly in the 80’s style. Her hair was teased and she was wearing huge neon hoops.

The rink was designed to be like a disco, the lights were turned off and pink, blue, and green lights shining on the walls and wooden floor. Cyndi Lauper played over the speakers, completing the atmosphere.

You both laced up your skates and entered the rink together. You were definitely rusty and nearly fell as soon as you stood. Peter struggled to suppress his laughter as he glided ahead of you. You gripped the side of the divider as you found your footing and followed Peter.

There weren’t many other people there, a few kids and their parents and some couples skating together. Peter skated in a circle back to you and grabbed your hand. The song changed to a slower song and Peter pulled you a little bit closer.

You skated side by side around the dimly lit rink. “This is pretty fun, I have to admit.”

“I know right? I’m glad we got the chance to come. I’ve wanted to take you on a date here for a while but couldn’t find the right time to ask.” He rubbed the back of his neck and a shy smile appeared on his face. He was such a cutie no matter what.

You felt confident enough to try to do a spin. You picked up a little speed and started turning. You really thought you were going to do it but not a second later your feet seem to slip out from under you and you fall. You lie on the ground on your back dying from laughter. You weren’t even embarrassed, you were genuinely having a good time. 

Peter was quick to rush to your side and as soon as he knew you were okay he dissolved into a fit of laughter. You were both laughing so hard you were wheezing and clutching your sides. 

“Oh-Oh! Help me- Help me up!” Tears were forming in the corners of your eyes and Peter was not doing any better. He grabbed onto your arm in an effort to pull you up but ended up on his butt too. That just made both of you laugh even harder, making you look like fools. You were having too much fun to even care that people were staring at you.

You stayed for a while longer, gaining a bruised ass but having a great time in general. There was a retro diner joined with the roller rink so you headed next door to get milkshakes and fries. You slid into the red booth in the corner and ordered your food.

“Thank you Peter. I really needed this break.” You reached across the table to hold his hand. 

He gave it a squeeze, “I thought you might. I’m glad you liked it.” He leaned forward and kissed you across the table. You were interrupted by your waitress setting down your plate of fries right between you and putting your milkshakes to the side. 

You dug into the comfort food, dipping your fries into your milkshake, which was your favorite flavor. You and Peter continued to joke and talk, avoiding the subject of exams. Once your glasses and plate were empty you left.

It was around nine so Peter walked you home. You arrived on the doorsteps of your apartment complex in a few minutes. 

“Goodnight handsome.” You pressed a kiss to Peter’s red cheeks. He always got flustered when you complimented him like that.

“G-goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You turned to go in but Peter stood rooted in his spot. He wasn’t going to leave until you properly kissed him. You rolled your eyes and pressed your lips to his before finally waving goodbye. He grinned once more and then headed home.

Taglist: @bellamy1998​ 

[rwbyconversations]

RWBY Volume 6 Vocal Songs review

Well, we finally have it people- the Volume 6 soundtrack is out. And hopefully this time Spotify mains won’t feel left in the corner like the Ladybug fandom does during the inter-RWBY shipping discussions.

I’ll say overall I adored the songs this year and there weren’t any duds- in fact this is probably my new overall favorite lyric soundtrack since Volume 4, which was just overflowing with bangers. This year was similarly jam-packed, with every new song being the usual outstanding fare that RWBY has become known for.

... and then there’s the remixes which continue to be absolutely awful and will never go onto my playlists but this is the token mention of the remixes. Why do they keep doing them, the only good one’s been Sacrifice.

But regardless, this is my review of all the vocal songs in Volume 6. Enjoy! (forward warning I’m not a music critic so don’t expect anything too deep here)

All GIFs were made by @edelblume​, someone actually proficient in talking musical theory.

1) Rising

Rising was already one of my favorite openings to date for RWBY, if for no other reason than the superb opening animation itself. But fortunately, the song itself more than met my expectations. Featuring an incredibly strong riff from Jeff from Alex along with a surprising synth appearance in places, Rising kicks off the soundtrack with gusto, a defiant acknowledgement that their road is faced with a permeating darkness, but it won’t last, and much as nature simply knows how to be, they were born with the knowledge to do the right thing and stand against evil. For they are paragons, and death can’t hold them down for long. After years of ranking Time To Say Goodbye as my favorite opening of the show, Rising supplants it and takes its new spot on the throne.

2) Miracle

Miracle was a surprise- for the first time since Volume 3 and It’s My Turn, we got a new song in the premiere alongside the opening itself, capping off RWBY, Oscar and Qrow’s desperate struggle to buy the Argus Limited time to escape with its civilian cargo. It’s a much bleaker song than Rising, coming right as the heroes are about to have their senses of morality tested by the truths that Ozpin had been hiding from them for years. Miracle laments how they’re running out of time and that their own triumphs don’t matter- a reckoning is near and they have to answer the question of whether or not the path they’ve been walking was the right one, or just one made of lies. As the heroes scramble for a miracle, they’re dismayed to find that none’s in sight, but as they realize they’re fighting on the sight of light and all that’s good in the world, they’re determined to stand and fight until their miracle arrives.

Miracle can be seen as a proper theme song for the first half of Volume 6, as it more deeply examines the themes of the volume, especially the team’s inner conflict. The final verse especially can be seen as almost an abridging of the Brunswick arc, as the team reach their lowest points and despair at how nothing they do is worth anything before they take a breather and decide that even if the end time are coming, they’ll face it head on and give it a bloody nose before it consumes everything, still hoping for that miracle to arrive- just like a young silver eyed girl arrived in Brunswick to cleanse its tainted halls of apathy. 

Miracle was a surprising song back in October last year, and now that it’s out in full it’s honestly my favorite song lyrically on the track. It’s a perfect assessment of the situation the heroes wind up in this volume, capping off with their blunt refusal to let the end take them quietly. 

3) Lionized

I know they spell it Lionize but I don’t care, they say Lionized in the song for Christ’s sake! 

I’ve been waiting for this song for nearly an entire year since RTX and the short that won me back onto RWBY, and fortunately Lionized didn’t disappoint. Adam finally got his solo song to bow out his character after sharing From Shadows with Blake, and much like his character short, it offers a compelling, if truncated, account of his rise and fall into darkness. 

While Amity Arena’s bio had already revealed Adam’s early life to be horrific- born into slavery in an SDC dust mine, dreaming of looking up at the sky with his own two eyes one day- Lionized also makes no point of hiding the details, having the lyrics open with Adam reflecting on how he was “Insulted and reviled, Enthralled by human overlords since I was a child” (which gives off serious vibes of Adam being a sex abuse victim as a child to me and Jesus Christ). That punishment broke Adam and drove him mad in his desire to make humanity pay for what it had done to him and the hundreds of thousands of Faunus in those mines. 

Jeff kills it in this song- it’s easily my new favorite solo from him as we get a deep dive into what drove Adam past the brink of madness, as his revenge dovetails into building him up and making him more of a figurehead than an actual hero- “Watch them fall as I am glorified,” “You’ll see, I’m their hero/I’m here, I’m your savior, I’ll be lionized!” And the guitars are something else, a constantly churning ripping and shredding beat that combines with Jeff’s voice sounds like a feral animal about to attack. And if there’s one way to get me hype for a villain in anime, grab some guitars and start shredding. 

While Miracle might be my favorite song of the OST on a lyrical level, Lionized just knows how to get me hyped and this’ll probably be the one that gets the most replays on my playlist. It captures the old spirit of RWBY’s original music and delivers with a rip-roaring track that matches its narrators madness with shredding gusto.

4) Big Metal Shoe

I had no expectations for Big Metal Shoe. In fact I figured this would be the weak link of the soundtrack. Surely what seemed to just be a diss track at a villain I wasn’t especially fond of wouldn’t make for a good song, right?

And then we got Caffeine 2.0 and... it was actually kinda good. Again, I’m a simple man- throw some guitars at me and I’ll smile and nod like a kid watching fireworks. This sound wound up being a fun little darkhorse for the soundtrack, alongside a seeming self-imposed challenge by Williams and Abraham to make as many fairytale references in two and 3/4 minutes as physically possible. 

There is one downside though- this song’s actually incomprehensible. I don’t understand half of it. Jeff and Casey have this problem a lot of the time where it’s hard to understand them but this is just peak “Are you even speaking English anymore?” And then Lamar shows up for the Token Lamar Rap Verse that every RWBY OST includes and then it gets even worse.

While I wasn’t expecting much from Big Metal Shoe, it still made for a fun few minutes. Now I can’t wait for Flynt’s lyric video so I understand most of the song! 

5) Forever Fall

RWBY’s track record with ballads can be generously described as “hit or miss.” For every Cold or Home, we have Wings or All That Matters. Forever Fall has a crucial advantage over those weaker examples in that I actually like most of the characters featured in the song. Being about Pyrrha encouraging Jaune from beyond the veil while Jaune struggles to press on, much as she did in the Boundless Jaune Amity Arena bio, it’s a somber tune, and easily one of the better attempts Jeff and Casey have made at a slower, more quiet song. I’m not the biggest fan of how RWBY has handled Pyrrha’s death since Volume 3, sometimes it feels a little like they keep JNR around just to more easily have access to angst fuel for it, but Forever Fall definitely helped set the bitter stage for the statue scene, which does still stand as one of the better scenes of Volume 6 (even if it does lose some of its weight once you realize Pyrrha probably wouldn’t have actually liked the statue due to her hatred of being put on a pedestal). Casey knocks it out of the park with her voice and the piano plays a beat on many a fan’s heart. 

I’m especially fond of the theory that this isn’t so much a Pyrrha singing to Jaune song as it’s a song that can symbolise both of them at the same time. Credit to the crew for that.

6) One Thing

Neo’s far from my favorite character in RWBY, and I’ve made no secret of how I think she’s dreadfully overhyped outside of being a good luck charm for well animated fights. Luckily for her and fans then, her charm status made it into Maya unscathed, and Neo was protected by the universal rule of soundtracks.

The villain songs are always really fucking good.

Casey finally lives out her dream of voicing Neo in One Thing, a bitter revenge fantasy where Neo makes no reservations about how much she’ll love putting down anyone and everyone responsible for Roman’s death. She talks (heh) of how she had nothing before Roman came- not a voice, not a home, maybe not even a name if I’m hearing that one line right. “Then a brand new flame brought a brand new name.” 

Add in a badass as all hell chorus and Neo jumped up a few places in my personal RWBY polls thanks to the presentation of her musical debut alone, to say nothing of her fantasies about killing Cinder (can relate). One Thing shows just how effective a great song can be, setting the scene for a fantastic fight scene, a solid return for a fandom-beloved character and then even making someone who considered her the Boba Fett of RWBY start to like her. I’m eager to learn more of Neo’s past before she met Roman, whenever that day comes.

(btw is it bad if I kinda ship Neo and Roman now?)

7) Nevermore

I don’t have a lot to add that hasn’t been said since the finale aired- it’s a pretty great song and a fantastic closer for the volume, I hope Atlas means we finally stop getting Blake or Yang-focused credit songs because this was the third in a row and it’s getting tiring, the disconnect between the writers and actors calling Adam “the worst” while the songs and bios paint a far more complex picture is a bit of an odd disconnect that I hope doesn’t repeat if they ever remember that Cinder’s an abuser too. 

8) Armed and Ready Acoustic

Nice song, shame it’s gonna get ruined by all the fucking Beehaw/Yorse jokes. You weren’t funny in February, you’re not funny now. You’re not even worth a comment about beating a dead horse. Not sure I like the acoustic going full country but whatever. Wake me up when I’m The One gets the acoustic treatment.

9) Indomitable

Indomitable was the song I was probably the most hyped for in the V6 OST alongside or even surpassing Lionized. Ruby’s Silver Eyes scene was a strong contender for the best scene of the season and single-handedly made up for what otherwise could have been a Breach-level anticlimax of a finale, and part of what made it work was Indomitable, the short but powerful song that played as Ruby gave Bubbles The Leviathan both ocular barrels. Ruby finally getting a song after five straight albums was ambrosia to my soul, after years of having to make due with “Maybe Ruby’s song is meant to be the OP?” as Weiss, Blake and Yang got song after song after song, oftentimes getting multiple songs in a single year (Hi Yang. Stop hogging the jukebox. Please.). Finally, I thought, she’d get a track, and one that appeared to be about her accepting her role as the light standing against the darkness, all capped off with a beautiful quiet tribute to Monty in the form of his old blog quotes about the human spirit.

So I must admit, when I listened to Indomitable proper, I was... disappointed on the first listen. It’s still a lovely song, but it wasn’t what I hoped and wanted it to be and it took a little while to appreciate it in spite of that.

Indomitable is a tribute song to Monty, a la Cold from Volume 3. But while Cold had a double meaning that made it work in and out of universe (being a song from CRWBY mourning Monty that could also reflect on Jaune mourning Pyrrha), Indomitable is far less connected to RWBY in-universe unless Ruby had a dream offscreen where she met a tired looking guy who made worlds based off his ketchup stains then woke up and made a Christian Rock song out of it. 

Rather sadly for me at least, this also hurts the original Indomitable scene in question as well. It doesn’t truly fit the original scene now, as much as it did when we thought the song was about Ruby recognizing her spirit. It was a great way to cap off a volume that was overall great for Ruby. As she finally got to take center stage as protagonist in her own show, we finally got a new song about her standing unyielding against the darkness. What was a great character moment for Ruby has now rather sadly been hurt by the song. Not terribly, I still love the climax of Volume 6. But now the song just feels a touch out of place.

I know some people have already been rather critical of anyone who didn’t like the song because it wasn’t what they wanted (I’ve seen a fair few people express disappointment that the song wasn’t the Ruby-focused song the chorus and placement in the show led us to believe) and that tired old “subverting expectations” argument came up. To which I must reply that “What did you expect me to take from a song showing up during Ruby’s most powerful moment, that the song was actually about Port?” While what we got was still a powerful song that makes for an interesting trilogy of songs of RWBY dealing with Monty’s death in Cold, Let’s Just Live and Indomitable, I think Ruby’s fanbase especially are very fairly allowed to be disappointed that they were stripped of the chance to finally get her first focus song in half a decade. Instead we get another Ruby song where she’s not even the real focus (much like Blake’s trailers get hijacked by her supporting cast, Ruby’s songs get hijacked by anyone within a mile of the recording booth),  

I still liked Indomitable, and it does become a stellar song after the first chorus.. It still has Ruby’s overall attitude and the lyrics do still allow one to reflect on Ruby and her growth over Volumes 1-3 and 6. It’s a lovely, touching and very emotional tribute to Monty and a rousing anthem to celebrate his legacy (wait does this mean Indomitable breaks the Monty Rule? ;) ) and had it been a simple bonus track that we only learned about when the OST dropped a la BMBLB or Dream Come True it would have been a lot better in my opinion. We still got a lovely song and in the heat of the moment, it worked really well for Ruby. But at this point, I really just want a new inarguable Ruby song above all else, and this probably should have been kept as a bonus song instead of being used in-show. Still good, but I’m just a bitter bitch and wanted something else

Conclusion and ranking

Volume 6′s vocal tracks were a near-perfect selection this year. After Volume 5′s tracklist was more comparatively disappointing (Smile and This Time are the only ones I’d really go back to at this point), the V6 tracklist was far more impressive and a near constant streak of home runs. While Indomitable wasn’t what I hoped and wanted it to be, it was still a touching tribute to Monty and proof that his soul lives on in RWBY. If Jeff, Alex and Casey are as on fire next year as they were this year, the wait for the Volume 7 OST will be even more painful. Round of applause for the music team this year, they did a stellar job and I wish them all the best for Volume 7. 

1) Miracle 2) Lionized 3 One Thing 4) Rising 5) Forever Fall 6) Nevermore 7) Indomitable 8) Acoustic Armed and Ready  9) Big Metal Shoe 10) The music that played during Merc and Em’s scene in Lost.  10) The godawful Triumph and Path to Isolation remixes. Please. Leave the songs alone, I hate Volume 5 but even it didn’t deserve that torture. 

Thank you for reading. 

[asianjeremyheere]

happy one month anniversary to the bmc obcr!!! to celebrate, im gonna put my track-by-track commentary under the cut and split into two parts (act 2 here) because god it got so long and i am. very sorry. read at ur own risk. and it really is just rambling commentary because i had a gdoc out and the whole soundtrack playing, alternating obcr and ocr tracks SO! tada! act 1!

JEREMY'S THEME

Okay the orchestrations are great on both BUT I do prefer how much more sudden the end is on the ocr? Obcr Jeremy's theme kind of has that echoey quality at the end and I'm pretty sure it's just a recording thing but. Recording-wise I do kind of prefer the ocr. That said, I don't listen to Jeremy's theme THAT much.

MORE THAN SURVIVE

90% of this is going to be me preferring the obcr and this is no exception BUT I do like the ocr tempo a little more? It's faster and feels like it captures the whole day-at-school rush a little better, which works in most of the song except during the "Christiiiiine" portions because those are absolutely KILLER when they're a little slower. They sound more romantic, in a way?? Like it goes from Jeremy seeing her, a girl whom he likes and wants to point out to Michawl, to Jeremy seeing her and being totally enraptured/distracted by her, hence the slower/more drawn out Christiiiiine's working in its favor. Also would have like Michael's verse to be faster? I've always imagined him to be, like. A fast talker. I don't really care about how much George changed his voice for it, I just wish it was faster. But overall, I like it better on the obcr because Will R is waaay more emotive and I'm in love with his falsetto and his runs.

I LOVE PLAY REHEARSAL

I know I said I was terrible at recognizing tempo but ILPR feels so fast on the ocr??? Anyway I like the obcr version better and Stephanie is adorable in both but MORE so in the obcr. Her inflections have so much more character and she paints a much clearer picture of Christine as a whole just in that one song. ALSO the added dialogue!!!! Love that. It's also got a less consistent tempo (I think????) which works for a song like this and a character like Christine

MORE THAN SURVIVE REPRISE

This isnt on the ocr but it was in the original show and I got it stuck in my head all the fucking time so I'm just glad it got recorded!! I don't have a Two River audio on hand rn but I like the bway version better anyway because Will R is, again, more emotive and I think it works better with this specific iteration of Jeremy anyways? Like. His whole character is sadder so this song fits a little better.

THE SQUIP SONG

Ngl I can't really tell the difference between the two but Gerard's voice has only had time to improve (I hope? He seems to do a lot of stuff when he's not doing a show and I wonder if he's like. Taking care of his voice. I hope so?) and I love the new glitchy stuff at the end. But like rip the "picture this" verse :( I think I just. Like them both pretty equally??

TWO PLAYER GAME

Obcr babey!!! I like the way a bunch of the instruments cut out and it's just the 8-bit stuff right at the start? That's fun as fuck. Also Will R's "ah! gah!" noises are 💜💙💜❤💖💙🧡💙. The orchestrations in the obcr are also just. God tier. And the tech-y fade out sound at the end is one of my favorite things. Also George's voice is the same pitch but he sounds younger in the obcr and that's not good or bad because he still sounds convincing enough to be a high school either way.

THE SQUIP ENTERS

Okay I like the obcr for this better too just because there's more in it. It isn't just Jeremy screaming for a minute and a half, they also added the dialogue which makes it better. I don't actually really like this song as much on the ocr just because I did. Not enjoy listening to a song that was basically just screaming? It's too loud and I was always worried about people hearing it through my headphones skdjks. The obcr version isn't much better screaming-wise but I can't just straight up skip it anymore because there's stuff at the end. Plus they have a bigger budget for effects and the transition from the startup-Squip voice to Jason Tam's voice where they're doubled up? God. I love him.

BE MORE CHILL, PT. 1

Obcr wins this just for the 'outdated' riff alone. Also, Jeremy sounds more intimidated/impressionable?? WPC Jeremy doesn't sound scared of the Squip/sounds borderline rebellious right off the bat, which is weird considering EWM is allegedly the 'more evil one' 🤔🤔🤔🤔. Plus I think the obcr has more harmonies and Will R's comedic timing during the Squip Tango is spot-on. AND KATLYN!! Yeah. Love her. She's so much more intense in the obcr and it works for Chloe??? She just sounds more passive in the ocr. That said, Jason should have sung more because his voice…… pwetty

DO YOU WANNA RIDE

The obcr ending has my heart…. the pinkberry riff….. the giggle and "au revoir"........ I am in love with Brooke Lohst. I don't really mind that it's slower either? But I can't hear the trombone shot notes as well on the obcr and that makes me sad :( Charlie Rosen ur orchestrations are gold but dont drown out the trombone that was my favorite part of ocr dywr!!!!!

BE MORE CHILL, PT. 2

Jason Tam's Squip voice is good you guys are just mean and don't understand nuance!!!!!!! I love the obcr version of this because a) Jason!!!!!! b) Will!!!!!!!! and c) Tiffany's high note at the end!!!!!!!!! Also the gong!!!!!

For real though? Will R. is much more expressive in the repeat-after-me section and Jason Tam's cooler, more laid-back tone works. I'm more inclined to trust that he can actually help me because he sounds more guiding than demanding and I, personally, don't respond well to people exercising their authority over me! I do much better when things are phrased like "I'm going to help you! Here are some suggestions. Do them. Look, it's working!" vs "Do what I say, it's the only way you'll succeed" and to have the Squip start out sounding more like the former before getting more outwardly controlling works better and makes more sense imo!

MORE THAN SURVIVE REPRISE/SYNC UP

Okay I can't really compare these two because they're totally different songs at this point but I love Sync Up and I can compare that end portion because it's the same! 'Head to play rehearsal' > 'drama practice' because it's not a huge difference but he's parroting Christine's terminology and it shows that he's listening to her, which Mr. Will Roland himself said was a huge part of Jeremy's journey! (Learning to listen.) Also, Will R just sounds more eager and excited to actually be included? Will C just sounds like he's relieved that he's not being shoved around. Will R!Jeremy sounds more excited in general, even at the beginning before he gets shocked. And then his “ghughgh” noise. Mood, Will. The Squip at this part is kind of. Hmm. I don’t really like it in the recorder version ngl but I know Jason talked about like. Struggling a little more to get into the Squip mindset during the recording process because the costumes are so integral to his characterization and he didn’t have said costumes for the obcr recording so I’ll give him a pass. It doesn’t faze me as much in audios so??? Jason Tam u get a pass.

A GUY THAT I'D KINDA BE INTO

The obcr recorders make me ❤💗💖💕💖💕💙💘🧡💘🧡❤💕❤💕💙💜💖❤!!!! Also I prefer the new ending where she goes "Who kneeeeeeeeeew?" and how surprised/thrilled Will R!Jeremy sounds when he says "Is she talking about me?" but like…. Jason Tam, I will defend your Squip voice to my dying day but why did you have to say "pheromones" like that. Okay also I'm listening to each song's versions back-to-back and the tempo changes keep throwing me off. But I do appreciate the lack of clapping in the ocr.

THE SQUIP LURKS/THE SQUIP STALKS

Obcr wins because its an instrumental and I love the bway instrumental. Also, it's longer and spookier. Thank you, Charlie Rosen. You deserved a Tony nom for this shit.

UPGRADE

I'm gonna say right off the bat that I love obcr Upgrade so much because of the additional depth given to Brooke and Jake, and I love the new ending because like woah chills. That's all. It's not a disclaimer or anything, I just love it. Also, Stephanie's "oh wow"? Cute as fuck!!! Britton's voice??? God tier!!!!!! Brooke's french at the start and the way Lauren's voice breaks on "I just want someone to see me first"??? God!!!!!!!! Tiffany coming in by herself before everyone else joins in during that layered section??? I am deceased. I love trying to pick out every individual person's voice in that section. Usually Gerard, Lauren, and Will are easiest for me to pinpoint? Idk. Ocr Upgrade still fucking slaps though. Steph's "oh wow" is a little more underwhelming but I'm like. In love with the tempo right before the "Christiiiine"s? Also uhhh wish they'd included Jeremy and Michael's conversation somewhere in the obcr.

LOSER GEEK WHATEVER

I love LGW and I'll stand by this forever. I'm gonna compare this to the end of ocr Upgrade because that's technically where it goes and I think it does a better job of showing Jeremy's motivations and his worries about taking the Squip! Also it makes sense story-wise that he would take time to slow it down and think/process considering he just…. asked the Squip for time to process….. but like the original ending is still a bop and it's super good for like. Hyping urself up. I just think LGW does better for Jeremy's character and it's a good song!!! It sums up a lot of what I feel/the ways I relate to Jeremy, too, so it's. Emotional hearing it in audios skdjsj but not as much with the recording anymore!!

[koreanstudentiseul]

My Language Learning Experience (2006-2019)

Hello~ as requested, here is my language journey/experience post. So fair warning this is a very long post. Way longer than I meant it to be, but I did warn this when you guys asked for it so I’m sorry in advance.

For this, I’m going chronologically, but I’ll mark it clearly if you wanna just read specific bits, I don’t blame anyone who wants to skip sections it is a lot of text. With that said, let’s begin~

1st: Spanish.

My first experience learning language was in Primary school, at aged 10 (due to a late birthday) when we were surprised by a sparkly new class that wasn’t offered in the school before. Spanish. I don’t remember much from this point being nearly 14 years ago but I remember finding the class difficult because the teacher wasn’t very approachable and seemed to play favourites. At least in the context of only helping certain pupils rather than all the pupils. I picked up a few things, like 1-10 and some animal names but that was about it.

I continued Spanish in High school as it was a mandatory subject in the first 2 years, I learned more from these classes mostly I think because they were more used to teaching the subject but I can’t say that with any certainty. I have mixed memories from this time as we were forced to endless exercises that didn’t explain anything, yes/no style corrections which don’t help anyone, and my teacher told me off for knowing the answer (I still remember this clearly, she asked what the word for fish was, I said pez. Then she asked what the plural was, I said peces and she scolded me for knowing that. To this day, I don’t know why) so that was traumatising for me and meant I didn’t speak up in class again for well over a year.

At this point I’m 4 years-ish into Spanish and I think I’m doing okay, I can do the homework and the exercises with minimal issue (not always correct, but was done in a reasonable time) and we get to picking our subjects for our exams. At which point, my teacher who was talking to everyone about their choices as most did (this was to explain the exam courses and what to expect so you know what you’re choosing, which I think was a nice thing but they stopped doing this sadly) and when it was my turn, it was “implied” that if I picked the subject I wouldn’t be allowed to take the class. I was told that I wasn’t smart enough to pass so I couldn’t take either language course and that I’d to pick another department.

This knocked any confidence I had with languages, I thought I’d been doing okay, at parents night I always had good comments so I don’t know what prompted this delightful comment. And with it being their word against mine I couldn’t prove it was said, but I knew the school would have sided with them anyway. This is also the reason I have Spanish as a want to learn rather than can speak because aside from my fish trauma, I can count to 99 and do basic insa chitchat and that’s all I retained. Oh and the words for library and sharpener, because my favourite place is a library and un sacapuntas is just something that’s always amused me for reasons unknown.

2nd: Korean

So, fun fact, I’m surprised that Korean’s here because I actually had been counting it as 3rd until I actually thought about it for this. My derpiness aside, Korean comes in at the beginning of my 5th year so would be late 2011 (Our school year starts mid-August) when my friend introduced me to K-Pop and oh boy my mp3 player has never looked the same since. It was a serious exam year, so no great progress was possible, especially with trying to get into college. I didn’t find TTMIK till much later than this but for this point in time, I found the lyrics on live performances really intriguing. I mean it’s nothing I was used to seeing on our equivalent shows, they never had the lyrics up for songs, in fact I don’t remember them telling you the artist half the time was towards the end of their broadcasting time. That tangent aside, the words just looked really beautiful and by September that year I was enamoured by the sound of the language, so I started looking up things about Korean in between the onslaught of homework and assessments. Also according to old social media I was subconsciously singing it from the December onwards, so good to know that that was always a thing I did. It took me until March to be able to read enough to write and even then it crude as anything. There’s very little trace of anything from that time but I struggle to read what there is.

Sadly this is where things end here for now, exams and getting into college and having space to breathe after years of being up till 2am trying to get all my work done and not having weekends cause I had to study too kind of pushed it to the back burner. What can I say, it was the first actually free summer I’d had in 5 years and I wanted it to be a detox before college started just in case it was the same set up of no sleep. And then I bumped into the aforementioned Spanish teacher again over the summer who made a comment to the effect of “Bet you’re glad you didn’t take Spanish, otherwise you’d have a nasty fail on your results.” Which for one annoyed me because it implied I had any say in the matter, but also removed any confidence I had regained since our last encounter.

3rd: Japanese

Now this is going to be really underwhelming, you’ve been warned. So I picked up Japanese in exam season 2012 (’cause I clearly didn’t have enough going on) and if I recall correctly used Japanesepod101 for it. I just followed their podcasts so I never learned to read just speaking/listening really. I suppose the 3 alphabets scared me off some, still kinda does scare me but I have a plan of action now so it’s a long term goal rather than wishful/fearful thinking. Still not sure what prompted this though, maybe an anime revival, or just finally caving since I’d wanted to for years.

Anyway, I got through the most basic level on JP101, and a little into the next one when as previous stated getting into college/return of the Spanish teacher caused a little bit of a crisis and I fell away from languages. I also have retained basically no Japanese, and this bothers me so I look forward to getting back to where I was.

2nd (again): Korean

Oh hi, Korean’s back again. Okay this time it’s gonna be a little longer, this goes up until the day I’m posting this. So I picked Korean back up in 2013. At this point I found TTMIK (through yahoo answers would you believe, they hadn’t come up in my search for learning Korean back then). I did level 1 and then I think only got to lesson 4 of level 2 before college hit like a tonne of bricks. And then we have another gap.

We come back in yet again in 2017. I never stopped listening to K-pop, sorta dipped in and out of dramas in that time very lazily, but didn’t really learn anything between 2013-2017. I had to reteach myself to read because it was really hazy and only half remembered, no surprise though it had been more than 5 years since I’d really touched on it at that point.

So once I could comfortably read again, I was confident to go ahead and redo level 1. I did all 25 lessons in 2 weeks. Level 2 however, that caused more trouble. Admittedly I was really ill at this point, I actually had to stop working because of it so level 2 was a lot slower than I wanted or even expected. I knew it was basically new ground in level 2 but even so it was difficult to see the time between lessons, and how much work it was to understand lessons progressively increasing.

I had hoped to get it done in 6 weeks, but it took about a year. Even now some things I still struggle with and get muddled, though it’s getting better with time which is reassuring. At this point my motivation was crippled. I wasn’t progressing, I was barely looking at Korean and I honestly thought about quitting. It also wasn’t helping that the studygram that had once been an ally turned foe showing me all the work everyone else was doing while I was doing nothing at all.

I have now since learned that it doesn’t have to be something demotivating. If someone wants to study 13 hours a day, fantastic! But that’s not for me. Some days are easier than others, I am still in recovery and that’s okay. Some days I can do 4 hours no trouble, others 5 minutes seems impossible. But I should have days off, I shouldn’t make myself ill worrying about studying. I should have time for games, and painting, and wandering round the woods with my camera, and general self care things.

In saying this, I’m guilty of saying this then ignoring it. Especially since I started using italki, where I’d have to learn 100 words, write a presentation and answer 30 questions in a week. I should push myself to try and do the homework, but at the same time, I have other things to do too and I shouldn’t torture myself with cramming homework and nothing else cause it takes so long to try and do the stuff that’s physically handed in let alone anything else.

Don’t get me wrong I love my tutor, she’s the only person who has me laughing at my mistakes, has me trying to use the language because I was terrified of doing that before. Well, I still somewhat am, but it’s getting better. Sometimes the workload is a little crazy, funny how I wanted homework now I just want to throw it all away and just do what I feel I need with the language between lessons. Not sure if it’s a phase or the initial excitement’s wore off and it’s not like wading quicksand.

So, before I start rambling I’m going to have a tl;dr summery here in regards to Korean this year.

The good from this year is hands down the studygram/studyblr community. Before I was annoying people talking about or posting about studying Korean, and these communities offered me a safe welcoming place to be where I could discuss what I was learning, and even get help when needed. I will always be eternally grateful to those who answer my questions in relation to anything, be it being unable to read handwriting, or grammar, or vocab confusion or something as simple as recommendations.

Slightly less good, no fault of Korean admittedly, probably is the difficulty in understanding and retaining information. Most of it is down to being ill. The rest, just generally me being confused because the way our schools teach English, so I don’t really know the different word classes and the rules for each. I can’t look at a word and be like, that’s an adverb, or even if I’m told ‘oh this is and adjective’ I really don’t know what to do with that information. I can do noun, and verb that’s about it. Not for lack of trying though, I have since tried to teach myself, and I have a cheat sheet but I can’t use that in a conversation so hardly a great use. It also means forming sentences is quite tricky, since if one type of word must follow another to be grammatically correct, or even make sense I have no clue about it.

Even further from good, and not something I like to dwell on too long, I feel like I’m cheating with Korean 95% of the time. With Spanish, I never had to double check anything, I could form sentences, and say what I wanted with what I knew and it was fine, but with Korean, it’s like the exactly opposite. I don’t trust myself to write anything without quadruple checking it. I wish I could just write sentences and just look up words/grammar as I need them but no every word of every sentence and even then it’s still flooded with mistakes which doesn’t help me try and wean bad habits.

So yeah I think that about wraps up Korean, but it doesn’t sound particularly good in this explanation. Hopefully next year it’s better.

4th: Turkish

Langjam number 1 (for me), and I had Turkish. Delightful experience, granted I was very ill. I had the flu that weekend because of course it had to hit that weekend, I’m not allowed to have plans apparently. But it was fun, I learned how much of a time sink grammatical concepts are. I feel like all I did was learn grammar that weekend, and I don’t remember any of it, but I still have the sentence I made at the end of the weekend:

“Merhaba, adım Rosie. Hastayım bu yüzden fazla çalışmadım. Ama, Türkçe çalışmaktan mutluyum.”

Not going to lie, all I remember clearly is Merhaba, but that’s better than nothing. I would love to go back and do it properly, or at least without the flu. One of my best friends, a very sweet bean is from Turkey and I’d love to be able to try and speak to them in Turkish a little since they speak English every day for me and yeah I’d love to be able to chat to them a little (though I still can’t type it on my laptop properly so that should perhaps be task one on returning to it).

I don’t know when I’ll go back to Turkish, but I kept all my resources and my notebook so it should be good when I do. Perhaps when I get to an intermediate level in Korean Turkish can resurface, though don’t hold me to that I may just wanna do it randomly. 

That’s it for now! Bet you’re glad you don’t have to read anymore of my boring language past ;) If I missed anything, or didn’t entirely answer the question you asked, just let me know and I’ll try and get back to you as soon as possible.  Thank you for reading, have some cookies and happy learning~ ♡

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 9/11/20 – I AM WOMAN, BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY, RENT-A-PAL, UNPREGNANT AND MORE!

Thankfully, we’re getting a slower week this week after the past few weeks of absolute insanity with so many new releases. This week, we also get a nice string of movies about women that are mostly made by women directors, so hopefully these won’t get lost in the shuffle of theaters reopening.

To be perfectly honest, I went into Unjoo Moon’s I AM WOMAN (Quiver Distribution) – this week’s “Featured Flick” -- thinking it was a doc about ‘70s pop sensation Helen Reddy. Imagine my surprise to discover that it actually was a narrative film with Tilda Cobham-Hervey playing the Australian singer who moved to New York in 1966 after winning a contest, expecting a record deal but only winding up with disappointment.  Once there, she’d meet journalist Lilian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald, being able to use her real Australian accent for once) and Jeff Weld (Evan Peters), the man who would become her manager and then husband. Once the couple move to L.A. with Helen’s daughter Traci (from her previous marriage), things began to pick up at the same time as Reddy starts dealing with issues in her marriage and friendship with Roxon.

Listen, I get it. To some (or maybe all) younger people, including film critics, Helen Reddy represents the cheesier side of ‘70s music. I only know her music, since I was a young kid who listened to AM Top 40 radio for much of the ‘70s, but by the end of the decade, I had already switched to metal, punk and noisier rock. As you can tell from watching I Am Woman, Reddy is a particularly interesting music personality, particularly once you realize how hard she struggled to get into the business with a husband who only feigned to support her after dragging her to L.A. for “her career.”

There were many takeaways from watching Moon’s film, but one of the bigger ones is how amazing Cobham-Hervey is at portraying a woman that few of us may have actually seen perform even on television. I’m not sure if Cobham-Hervey did any of her own singing or is lip-syncing the whole time, but it doesn’t matter because she instills so much joy into the performances, especially the two times she sings the highly-inspirational title song live.

Although there isn’t a ton of major drama in Reddy’s life, most that does exist revolves around her relationship with Wald, who is depicted by Peters as an out-of-control coke-sniffing monster. Those in Hollywood may have dealt with Wald as a movie producer or during his stint as Sylvester Stallone’s manager, and only they will know how exaggerated this performance is. Far more interesting is Helen’s friendship with Macdonald’s Roxon which would inspire her to perform the song “You and Me Against the World.”  (Seriously, if you want a good cry, throw that song on after watching I Am Woman.)

Moon does a great job with the material, whether it’s recreating New York in the ‘60s – often using music to set the tone of the period -- or by framing Reddy’s story with Phyllis Schlaffly’s fight against the ERA, as depicted in FX’s mini-series Mrs. America.  Still, it never loses track of Reddy’s journey and her role as a mother to Traci and slightly less to Wald’s son, Jordan. The movie ends with a wonderful and tearful epilogue, and I will not lie that I was tearing up more than once while watching this movie.

I Am Woman may be relatively uncomplicated, but it’s still a compelling relaying of Reddy's amazing story bolstered by an incredible knock-em-dead performance by Tilda Cobham-Hervey. It’s also one of the most female-empowering film I’ve seen since the Ruth Bader Ginsburg movie On the Basis of Sex, starring Felicity Jones.

This week’s primary theatrical release is Natalie Krinsky’s THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY (Stage 6/Sony), starring Geraldine Viswanathan as Lucy, a young woman who works at a gallery who is still obsessed with her ex-coworker/boyfriend Max. On the night of her  disastrous break-up, Lucy meets-cute Nick (Dacre Montgomery from Stranger Things), who later inspires her to rid of her hoarding issues by creating the “Broken Hearts Gallery.” This is a place where people who have broken up can bring the remnants of said relationship by donating the mementos they’ve maintained from their partners as sentimental value.

I’m a big fan of Viswanathan from her appearance in Blockers and TBS’ “Miracle Workers” series, as she’s clearly very talented as a comic actress, but I couldn’t help but go into this with more than a little cynicism, because it does follow a very well-worn rom-com formula that can be traced right back to When Harry Met Sally. Yup, another one.  Much of this movie comes across like a bigger budget version of a movie that might play Tribeca Film Festival, and I wish I could say that was a compliment because I’ve seen a lot of good movies at Tribeca. But also just as many bad ones.

The problem is that The Broken Hearts Gallery isn’t very original, and its roots are especially obvious when it starts interspersing the recently-heartbroken giving testimonials. It’s also a little pretentious, because rather than the real New York City that would be recognizable to anyone who lives there, it’s more of a Millennial woke fantasy where everyone is a 20-something LGBTQ+ of color.  Even so, the main trio of Lucy, Nick and Nick’s business partner Marcos (Arturo Castro from Broad City) do keep things fun even when things are getting predictable.

To be honest, I’ll be perfectly happy to see Viswanathan become the next Meg Ryan, because part of the reason why I warmed up to the movie is because I thought she was quite great in it. (I hate to say it but she’ll definitely need a simple name to remember to make that happen. I’d like to suggest G-Vis… as in G-Vis, she’s awesome!) There’s no question she’s the best part of the movie, but it also thrives from some of the other women cast around her, including Molly Gordon, Phillipa Soo and (surprise, surprise!) Bernadette Peters. (At times, I was worried Lucy’s friends would get particularly annoying, but you’ll warm up to them as well.)

Krinsky’s movie is cute, and while it certainly gets a little overly sentimental at times, there are also moments that are quite heartfelt, so basically, it’s a tolerable addition to the rom-com genre. The fact that the characters are so likeable kept me from outright hating the movie, especially once it gets to its corny and somewhat predictable ending. Another thing I like about Broken Hearts Gallery is that at least it’s making an effort to have some sort of theatrical presence, including drive-in theaters.

Next up is Jon Stevenson’s RENT-A-PAL (IFC Midnight), a rather strange and very dark horror-comedy. It stars Brian Landis Folkins as David, a lonely 40-year-old living with his elderly mother suffering from dementia, who has been using the services of a dating service called Video Rendezvous. This is the ‘80s after all, so it involves getting VHS testimonials from various women. One day, David finds a tape labelled “Rent a Pal” and he decides to check it out. It turns out to be a video of a guy named Andy (Wil Wheaton aka Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation) who David begins having conversations with, but once David gets his chance to have a real relationship with a nice woman named Lisa (Amy Rutledge), he’s been dragged too far down the rabbit hole with Andy’s evil urgings.

This was recommended to me by my own personal rent-a-pal, Erick Weber of Awards Ace, who saw it weeks ago. I totally could understand why he would have liked it, because it’s pretty good in terms of coming up with an original idea using elements that at least us older guys can relate to (especially the living with your Mom part which I had to do a few years ago).  I wasn’t sure but I generally thought I knew where it was going, because David’s trajectory always seemed to be heading towards My Friend Dahmer or Maniac territory. What I liked about Folkins’ performance is that you generally feel for him right up until he gets to that point. I also really liked his innocent relationship with Lisa and was hoping things that wouldn’t get as dark as where they eventually end up. I also have to draw attention to Wheaton’s performance, because as one might expect if you only know him from the “Star Trek” show he did as a kid, this is a very different role for him similar to Seann Michael Scott in last year’s Bloodline.

Either way, Stevenson is a decent writer and director who really pushes the boundaries with where Andy takes his new friend, and it’s especially great for its synth-heavy soundtrack that reminds me of some of John Carpenter’s best scores, as we watch David’s inevitable descent into madness. You’ll frequently wonder where it’s going, but for me, it just got too dark, so I only really could enjoy it up to a point.

A little cheerier is UNPREGNANT (HBO Max), the new film from Rachel Lee Goldberg, who directed the recent Valley Girl remake, although this time she’s adapting a book written by Jenni Hendricks. It stars Haley Lu Richardson (from Split and Support the Girls) as 17-year-old Veronica who discovers that her dopey boyfriend Kevin has gotten her pregnant. Since women under 18 can’t get an abortion in Missouri without a parents’ consent, she goes on a road trip with her estranged childhood friend Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) to New Mexico to get the job done.

It’s more than  little weird seeing this movie come out in the same year as a much more serious version of the same movie in Elyza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometime Always. That aside, Goldberg and her cast do their best to make this something more in the vein of last year’s Book Smart, although that’s also a fairly high watermark for any movie.

Because this is a road trip comedy, it tends to follow a fairly similar path as other movies where they meet a lot of strange characters along the way, as they try to get a ride after being busted cause Bailey stole her mother’s boyfriend’s car for the trip. For instance, they meet a friendly couple who tend to be pro-lifers who want to change Veronica’s mind, and the best side character is Giancarlo Esposito as a conspiracy theorist named Bob.

I guess my biggest problem with the movie is that it just isn’t that funny and feels fairly standard, but at least it has a decent ending to make up for the predictability of the rest of the movie.

Now streaming on Netflix is Maimouna Doucouré’s French coming-of-age film Mignonnes aka CUTIES, a film that premiered at Sundance and then stirred up quite a bit of controversy last month due to its marketing campaign, but is actually not the pervy male gaze movie which it may have been sold as. It’s about an 11-year-old Sengalese girl named Amy Diop (Fathia Youssouf) who wants to join the school’s “cool girl” dance group, known as the “Cuties,” even though it goes against her family’s Muslim beliefs.  Amy learns to dance so she can be part of the dance team and take part in a dance competition, but you know that this decision will led to trouble.s

Cuties got a lot of backlash from for the trailer and Netflix’s decision to release Doucouré’s movie, which is about a young girl discovering her sexuality, although it isn’t really something lurid or gross but actually a very strong coming-of-age film. I haven’t seen the trailer, but I can only imagine what scene it focused on that got people so riled up, since there are dance scenes that felt a little creepy to me. Other than that aspect of the film, Cuties is as innocent as a Judy Blume book. I mean, how else do you expect kids to learn about real life than movies like this? (Unfortunately, the movie is TV-MA so young teens won’t be able to watch it.)

The big problem with the Cuties is that they’re actually kind of bratty and bullies, almost like a younger “Mean Girls” girl gang, so it’s very hard to like any of them. They’re also trying to act way older than they really are, and you can only imagine what dark places that might led, as you worry about Amy getting dragged down with them, just because she wants to have friends and feel popular.

Despite my issues with Cuties, Maimouna Doucouré is a fantastic filmmaker, and this is a pretty amazing debut, especially notable for how she’s able to work with the young cast but also make a movie that looks amazing. That said, Cuties is a decent coming-of-age film, although I feel like I’ve seen better versions of this movie in films like Mustang and The Fits.

Also from France comes Justine Triet’s SYBIL (Music Box Films), starring Virgine Efira (who appeared in Triet’s earlier film, In Bed with Victoria) as the title character, a jaded psychotherapist who decides to return to her passion of writing, getting her inspiration from an actress patient named Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos), who she becomes obsessed with. I don’t have a lot to say about this movie other than it wasn’t really for me. As far as French films go, a movie really has to stand out from the usual talkie drama filled with exposition, and though I thought the performances by the two women were great, I didn’t really care for the script or the pacing on this one. After playing at last year’s Cannes, Toronto and the New York Film Festival, Sybil will be available via Virtual Cinema through Film at Lincoln Center and the Laemmle in L.A. as well as other cities. You can watch the trailer and find out how to watch it through your local arthouse at the official site.

Now seems like as good a time as any to get into some docs…

 Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés’ doc ALL-IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY (Amazon) follows Stacey Abrams through her run for Atlanta Governor in 2018, but it also deals with the laws that had been put in place to try to keep black voters from taking part in their right as Americans to be able to vote. I’m not sure what’s going on with me right now, but I generally just don’t have much interest in political docs right now, maybe because there’s so much politics on TV and in the news. I also have very little interest in Abrams or even having the racist history of the American South drilled into my head by another movie. I was born in 1965, my family didn’t even live in this country until 1960, and I’ve spent my life trying to treat everyone equally, so watching a movie like this and being preached to about how awful African-Americans have been treated in parts of the South for hundreds of years, I’m just not really sure what I’m supposed to do about it here in New York. I guess my biggest problem with All-In, which is a perfectly fine and well-made doc – as would be expected from Garbus – is that it lacks focus, and it seems to be all over the place in terms of what it’s trying to say… and I’m not even sure what it is trying to say, nor did I have the patience to find out. I thought Slay the Dragon handled the issues with gerrymandering far better, and I think I would have preferred a movie that ONLY focused on Abrams and her life and political career than trying to make a bigger statement. All-In will open at a few drive-ins (tonight!) and then will be on Amazon Prime on September 18.

I was similarly mixed on Jeff Orlwosky’s doc, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA, which debuted on Netflix this week. This one looks at the addiction people have for social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, and how the information of what people watch and click on is collected into a database that’s sold to the highest bidder. Basically, it’s your worst fears about social media come to life, but my issue with this one is that the filmmaker decided to hire actors to dramatize parts of the movie, showing one family dealing with social media and phone addiction, which seemed like an odd but probably necessary decision other than the fact that the topic is so nerdy and so over my head that maybe it was necessary to illustrate what’s being explained by programmers. Again, not a terrible doc, just not something I had very little interest in even if it is an important subject (and I’m probably spending too much on social media and essentially more of the problem than the solution).

I saw S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun’s doc OUR TIME MACHINE at Tribeca last year, and I quite liked it. It follows influential Chinese artist Ma Liang (Maleonn) who collaborates with his Peking Opera director father Ma Ke, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, on an elaborate and ambitious project called “Papa’s Time Machine” using life-sized mechanical puppets. I don’t have a ton to say about the movie but it’s a nice look into the Chinese culture and traditions and how the country and art itself has changed between two generations.

One doc I missed last week but will be available digitally this week is Michael Paszt’s Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro about semi-retired professional wrestler Ian Hodgkinson aka Vampiro, who is a Lucha Libre legend.

There’s a lot of other stuff on Netflix this week, including THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN, the sequel to the Samara Weaving-starring horror-thriller, again co-written and directed by McG (Charlies Angels: Full Throttle). This one stars Bella Thorne, Leslie Bibb and Ken Marino, as it follows Judah Lewis’ Cole after surviving the satanic blood cult from the first movie.

I don’t know nearly as much about the British comedy series The Duchess, other than it stars comedian Katherine Ryan as a single mother juggling a bunch of things. Julie and the Phantoms is Netflix’s latest attempt to be the Disney channel with a movie about a young girl named Julie (Madison Reyes) who decides to start a band with a group of ghosts (hence the title). It’s even from Kenny Laguna, who is best known for the Disney Channel’s biggest hits High School Musical and The Descendants.

Other stuff to look out for this week include Kevin Del Principe’s thriller Up on the Glass (Gravitas Ventures), which is now available On Demand, digital and Blu-Ray; the Russian dogs doc Space Dogs (Icarus Films) – available via Alamo on Demand; Phil Wall’s doc The Standard  (Gravitas Ventures), and Andrei Bowden-Schwartz, Gina O’Brien’s tennis comedy All-In (on Amazon Prime and VOD/Digital) and Sam B. Jones’ Red White and Wasted (Dark Star Pictures).

Next week, more movies not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[neyla9]

Cipher’s House: Fallen Star Chapters 11-13

Ao3 Version

Of all the things to happen, I hadn’t expected the floor to collapse under me. Maybe it was some kind of trapdoor? But that wouldn’t make sense given how far I’ve fallen… I should’ve landed in the hallway on the floor below, but instead I feel like I’ve fallen for… almost a full minute…

 After falling for much longer than she logically should have, Mabel finally hit the ground. The cold, stone floor hurt, but miraculously she didn’t seem to have suffered more injury than a couple of bruises.

 Getting back on her legs, Mabel looked around and examined her surroundings. It looked like this was the hotel’s basement, or using a more appropriate word, dungeon. It was structured like a hallway, about as wide as the ones in the hotel, but without any doors in sight. The walls and floors were made with stones, the entire atmosphere was cold and damp, and it was so dark that Mabel could barely see two feet in front of her.

 Mabel knew all she could do was pick a direct and hope it would lead to an exit. After a game of eeny, meeny, miney, moe to decide which way to go, she walked on with cautious steps.

 The hallway had a big echo to it, enhancing the sound of every step she took, and every shaky breath that left her body. Coupled with the overall silence, this put her on edge, feeling like every sound she made was giving away her position to some monster that lurked just out of eyesight.

 And then she heard it:

 “Do you know who I am?”

 Mabel could barely hear it, but it did make her stop in her tracks, holding her breath to listen closer.

 “They call me Judgment Boy”

 She still couldn’t make out the words, but it sounded like singing, and it sounded like it was getting closer.

 “Do you know who I am?”

 Now she could hear the words, and the song was joined by the sound of rustling chains.

 “They call me Judgment Boy”

 She began to run away from the sound, not wanting to see what kind of creature the hotel was throwing at her now.

 “Do you know who I am?”

 “I am Judgment Boy”

 Mabel froze in her tracks; not only had the voice gotten louder, but now the words had changed, and that couldn’t be good. So Mabel stood still, trying to see through the darkness what it was that was chasing her.

 “JUDGMENT!” the voice shouted, and from the ceiling descended a creature Mabel could barely comprehend. It looked vaguely human, with a head and face, but its mouth was stretched into a horrifying grin lined with long, sharp teeth. It didn’t have any legs, but seemed to be hanged from its cone-shaped hat on some kind of pulley-system. And for arms, it instead had what looked like a pair of scales, with a cage on each end. One cage held a golden dollar symbol inside, the other a pink heart.

 The creature’s mouth stretched even wider as it looked at Mabel, and it spoke: “You are thirteen years old. You have been struggling academically most of your life, but your brother has always excelled in school. This year however, your brother begins to struggle, and with time his grades get worse and worse. Now… what will you do?”

 “What?” Mabel shook her head in disbelief. She probably shouldn’t be surprised, but what the monster said sounded awfully similar to… “I help my brother of course! I would be worried about him!”

 “… I see,” the monster’s grin widened again. “So you say you’d be there for him. Well, I say we should consult the Balance of Truth.”

 The scales that made up the monster’s arms began to sway, slowly at first, but then began to built up momentum as they swung faster and faster.

 “Judgment… NOW!” the monster suddenly yelled and the floor of the cage containing the pink heart fell, letting the tiny heart fall down and shatter on the stone beneath. “While your brother is suffering, you’re too busy with friends and boys. The few times you let yourself think about his situation, you take a secret glee in his failure. It was your choice. You get to live with it.”

 And with that, the monster simply turned around and left, singing the same song he did when he first appeared.

 While the monster hadn’t physically hurt Mabel, she would have preferred if it did; it would have been better than this.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  That had been… disturbing. I only hope I don’t run into that… thing again. I’ve been walking around for a while now, but… I don’t seem to be getting anywhere. Is there even a way back to the hotel?

 Mabel was starting to think she wasn’t going anywhere. It was hard to believe, since she had been walking in a straight line all this time, but still. There was one way to find out for sure; Mabel removed her headband and placed it on the ground behind her, then she kept walking forward. If she found her headband again, it would mean she was running in a circle.

 Her eyes were starting to grow more accustomed to the dark, but that didn’t make much of a difference.

 Her feet were starting to ache, but she had to keep walking, otherwise she would surely die here. Mabel kept her pace for twenty minutes longer, before she stopped and leaned against the wall. She could feel that her feet had blisters, and she was almost about to check, when something in the distance drew her gaze.

 It was a soft, blue glow, approaching from the part of the hallway she had been walking from.

 Mabel knew she should probably try to outrun whatever was approaching, but she could barely run in this condition, and whatever that glow was, it could probably chase her down, just like the previous monster.

 As the light got closer, she could make out some voices, and she instinctively tensed, only relaxing when she realized it wasn’t a song. At least it wasn’t another of those monsters.

 The voices were echoing, and hard to make out in general. It was only when she could see where the glow was coming she realized what the voices were.

 It had the body of a skeletal, ghostly fish, swimming through the air and illuminating its surroundings with its blue glow. The head, however, looked like one of those old, rabbit-eared, box TVs, and the screen was showing a picture of her brother. It was heavily distorted by static, as were the sound coming from the TV, but it was definitely him.

 “M-bel,” her brother’s voice sounded from the TV. “I n-ed –“ the image changed and her brother looked frustrated. That was the last glance she caught before the creature passed her, and Mabel pursued behind it. “Wh- w-n- -ou -el- -e?”

 “Dipper! I’m right here!” Mabel cried out. She had no idea if her brother could hear her, but it seemed like he was speaking to her directly. “A-are you trying to guide me? You know how to get out of here? Where are you?”

 “N-ver lis-e-! Yo- -ever l-st-n!” it sounded like the static was getting worse.

 “Dipper, I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me!”

 “-o- l-te. Y-u -er- t-o -at-,” with those words, the creature flew upwards and through the ceiling, leaving Mabel behind.

 “I’ll find you, Dipper,” Mabel said, tears starting to stream down her face. “I promise.”

 Mabel kept walking, albeit at a slower pace now. She didn’t know for how long she walked; too caught up in her own thoughts. Had it been a recorded message? Was Dipper trying to contact her? She was soon broken away from her thoughts when her feet hit something; her headband.

 She picked up her headband and held it close. It seemed like there was no way out of there after all. She sat down and began to cry, both out of sadness and frustration.

 “So, have you learned your lesson?” Mabel’s attention was brought away from her tears, and she looked up to see Cipher, standing right in front of her, smirking.

 “I’m…” Mabel paused to try and regain her composure. “I’m not entirely sure what I was supposed to learn.”

 Cipher let out an audible sigh and rolled his eyes. “Let’s hope you will. Anyway, follow me; I’ll return you to your room. You’re probably tired by now.”

 Mabel reluctantly rose from the floor and followed Cipher. It was better than staying where she was.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I let Cipher lead me back to my room. I’m just too tired at this point to protest. I’ll have to continue my search after at least a couple hours of sleep…

 After escorting Mabel to her room, Cipher left, leaving her alone. Not even bothering to use the covers, Mabel just lied down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

 Her dreams were plagued by vague nightmares and intangible thoughts, ones that were difficult to grasp and recall, but nonetheless would fill anyone with dread.

 As she was brought out of her slumber, Mabel found it difficult to breathe, as if a heavy weight was placed upon her chest. She also realized that she couldn’t move, like there was a disconnect between her brain and body.

 She wanted to call for help, but found that she couldn’t say a word. Her eyes searched the room for an explanation, and she caught sight of a humanoid figure, standing in the corner of her room, staring at her.

 The figure stepped forward, revealing a young, attractive woman with red eyes. She was smiling at Mabel.

 “My, what soft skin you have~” she licked her lips, Mabel wasn’t sure if it was hungrily or sexually meant; maybe it was both. “Though, I wonder why Cipher’s alright with me eating you…” the woman frowned in thought. “Perhaps you’ll be able to shed some light on that,” she snapped her fingers, and suddenly Mabel was able to speak again.

 “W… what do you want?” Mabel asked carefully, trying to take deep breaths despite the invisible weight still on her chest.

 “Huh, that’s weird,” the woman tilted her head in honest confusion. “Usually the first thing people say to me is ‘Please don’t hurt me’, or a variation of that.”

 “What can I do to make you spare me?” Mabel inquired.

 “So, you wanna make a deal?” the woman smirked and rubbed her hands together. “Very interesting… Alright. Here’s the thing, I’m a soul-eating demon. I had a tendency to gorge myself, so my mom sent me to live here, hoping my uncle, hoping he would curb my addiction. He has, because he’s a greedy asshole that hogs all the souls!” the woman shouted with fury, before forcing herself to calm down. “And I can’t eat the souls of the guests, because then he’d know. Luckily, my uncle has two chambers on the hotel’s highest floor where he keeps his soul collection. Unfortunately, I can’t enter those rooms because a magic ward he’s placed on them. If you promise to go to one of those chambers and bring me just one soul to eat, I won’t bother you again. So, do we have a deal?”

 The woman snapped her fingers again, and Mabel finally felt the weight lift from her chest, and with it she was able to move once again.

 “Can you show me where those chambers are?” Mabel asked, sitting up in bed.

 “Nope, that’s not how things work around here,” the woman shook her head. “You have to find it yourself.”

 “Well, I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Mabel sighed and nodded. “I’ll… find you a soul to eat.”

 “Great!” the woman cheered and grabbed Mabel’s hand. A small spark of light emerged from her grip, but it disappeared as fast as it came. “My name is Saki, by the way,” she laughed and spun around out of pure joy before opening the door leading to the hallway. “Oh, and our deal only apply to us; everyone else still want to get you, so try not to die before you get me my soul, okay?”

 And with that, she left Mabel alone.

[laurynkranzenglishaccount-blog]

Multimodal Media Review

Lauryn Kranz

Dr. Cicci

English

26 September 2017

     Molly’s playlist consisted of two genres--pop and folk. Molly’s Middle School Jams had an interesting and enjoyable collection of song, starting with a classic pop singer and ending with an upbeat, exhilarating tune that throws millennials back to the presumably not-so-missed middle school dances. Molly’s Middle School Jams has three basic themes throughout the songs on her playlist: romance, “the struggle” and the value of time.

     “Someone Like You” by Adele is a song following a classic love story. Unlike most love songs though, Adele doesn’t go with the typical “girl hates boy” scenario. She shows her maturity through moving on and “wishing nothing but the best” for her ex-lover. Although Adele’s song may be based around a romance that is somewhat typical, her voice is most definitely not. Adele has a unique, exceptional voice that is impossible to be copied. Her vocal range is incredibly broad and Adele is hands down the best vocalist on Molly’s Middle School Jams. Adele is so emotionally connected and bare-boned to her music, it’s difficult not to feel the same thing she is singing. Similarly, “Stubborn Love” by The Lumineers is quickly noticed as a sincere and candid song. “She’ll tear a hole in you, the one you can’t repair. But I still love her, I don’t even care.” These lyrics are touching and real to many and hard to overlook. Like a beating heart, the song has a pulsing tempo that catches and holds your attention on solely “Stubborn Love”. The Lumineers wrote this song showing that a man loves this woman, despite her flaws. “I Will Wait” by Mumford & Sons talks about a particular flaw in his woman--she’s not ready to be with him. Mumford & Sons sings “I will wait, I will wait for you” clearly meaning that he’s prepared to wait for her until she decides what she wants. Mumford & Sons’ “I Will Wait” was the most interesting combination of instruments on Molly’s Middle School Jams. It incorporates both bluegrass and folk by implementing acoustic guitar, piano, bass and banjo.  “I Will Wait” is a quick paced song that draws the audience in within seconds. Comparably, “Madness” by Muse grasps your attention but from a different approach. It describes the mystery in a relationship, feelings changing and growing. Muse sings, “Now I have finally seen the light, now I have finally realized.” He realizes loving her isn’t an option, he needs to. “Madness” is a very relatable song to most people who have been in a relationship; it’s whimsical. Muse incorporated that whimsical side into “Madness” by creating a beat that pulls you in and pushes you out in a pulsing sensation. The song feels (in a good way) out of control almost, and that might have been the point: relationships are crazy and it’s so easy to lose control when people choose to love one another.

     From the struggles of love to the everyday struggles of life; “Lighters” by Bad Meets Evil (ft. Bruno Mars) is an enticing song. It includes both pop and rap, broadening the audience. Bad Meets Evil consists of Royce da 5’9” and Eminem, two rappers from Detroit, Michigan who both struggled as adolescence trying to make it to where they are now. “You and I know what it's like to be kicked down, forced to fight, but tonight we're alright”, references to Royce da 5’9” and Eminem’s past having to fight through what they did as kids, but now they made it to the top, they showed by having Mars sing “This one's for you and me, living out our dreams. We’re all right where we should be.” Mars is able to sweep the heart of his audience by his gift of being able to connect with the lyrics, while Bad Meets Evil was able to connect with the audience by being authentic and open with their pasts to the world. With all of the passion involved in Lighters, it’s easy to say that this was a brilliant collaboration between these three artists. Almost identically, “Some Nights” by Fun is about the lead singer, Nate Russ, and his journey to where he is now in fame. Russ was previously in a band whom he broke apart from to create a new life. He left his family in Arizona and everyone he loved behind, which is easy to tell as he sings, “So this is it. I sold my soul for this? I miss my mom and dad for this?” Russ does an incredible job with expressing himself throughout the entire song. It’s hard to miss the meaning and the pain under his skin. Not all people have a similar story though; not everyone makes it to where they want to be. “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People is about a kid, Robert, who’s had a rough life of being the underdog, being abused by family and being bullied by the “kids with the pumped up kicks” and is fed up. Consequently, Robert decides to go on a killing spree. The meaning of the song is very clear and extremely repetitive. “All the other kids with the pumped up kicks. You'd better run, better run, out run my (gun/bullet).” It’s showing the audience a graphic of gun violence and a lack of parental support for this child. Robert is taunting the “kids with the pumped up kicks” by testing them to out run his gun and bullets, which clearly with Robert’s “quick hand” isn’t possible. It’s a very dark and morbid song, but easy to remember due to the fact that Foster the People sing the same lyrics for nearly 70% of “Pumped Up Kicks”. I do have to give them this, though--it was extremely unique and to the point. You definitely don’t hear a song like that every day.

     In certain songs, such as “The Phoenix” by Fall Out Boy, the uniqueness of it is the reason it’s appealing. “The Phoenix” instantly draws the audience in to get a closer listen. It’s the kind of song that will get your heart racing. Fall Out Boy is screaming a battle cry, saying our world is falling apart and that we’re running out of time to fix it. “Hey young blood, doesn't it feel like our time running out?” Fall Out Boy sings, directing to the younger generation, that something needs to be done to change our earth before time runs out. While Fall Out Boy sings that the world needs to be changed, Imagine Dragons in their song “It’s Time” is encouraging people to remain the same. “It’s Time” was an easily relatable song. “Now don’t you understand? I’m never changing who I am.” by singing this, Imagine Dragons is expressing that no matter how far in life they go, no matter how big their career gets and where it takes them, he’s still going to be the same person he was, only with new experiences. “It’s Time” is very straight forward with the meaning, saying to be proud of who you are and to never let anything change who you want to be. Imagine Dragons really hit the nail on the head with writing this fun, confident song that everyone can relate to at some point in their life. “It’s Time” was an inspirational piece of work that allows the audience to really take in the meaning of life. Likewise, “Tonight Tonight” by Hot Chelle Rae makes the listeners examine how much time we waste being upset or not having a good time due to one minor occurrence or the next. It’s a fun, upbeat song based on making a great time out of any situation, Hot Chelle Rae shows this by singing “That life can change, that you're not stuck in vain.” “Tonight Tonight” can get people’s feet tapping in the just first few moments. Hot Chelle Rae wrote a catchy, enjoyable tune that’s always amusing to listen.

     Molly’s Middle School Jams was overall an entertaining, enjoyable and fun selection of music to listen to. She did a great job keeping her music into a small variety of genres, so that it easily made sense to the audience why she selected the songs she did. Molly had some songs that were faster tempoed and catchy, while she also had some slower, more in-depth songs that many people can relate to. Molly’s Middle School Jams also did an exceptional job of using an assortment of songs to make it more interesting and on-edge for the audience so that it never got boring. She chose songs that touched on the classic theme of romance, she selected some that grabbed your emotions by sharing a story of struggle, and others were an inspirational piece about how quickly time goes and to make the most of it. No matter what song you’re listening to on Molly’s Middle School Jams, her music will keep you entertained and hooked to hear more.