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actualbird · 4 years

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nobody asked but here is every unraveled episode (as of may 2020) as how they’d be as a lover | a 2.5k word long post written in the style of an unraveled about unraveled and also love

Ah. Unraveled. Polygon’s golden boy of a video series where Brian David Gilbert is beckoned into a suit, lured into a blackbox studio, and is only granted escape after he has explained to three cameras whatever batshit video game adjacent thesis he has been cursed with this time. Unraveled is a wonderful video series, and we all love it.

But what if it could love us?

If you’ve ever asked this question to yourself, boy, do I have some content for you, because for the past 2 days, I’ve been working on this post where, for entirely too long, I explain to you how each Unraveled episode would be as a lover. And more importantly, which ones would be the best lovers.

Before I fall deep into this unhinged hole and take you down with me, I need to explain some things.

First: I want to make it clear that I am not categorizing BDG as he portrays himself in each Unraveled. I am instead taking each Unraveled episode as a fully formed being, the story, performance, etc, and letting that shape a character of its own. This character is where I extrapolate details from to create an Unraveled episode’s qualities as a lover. What I’m basically doing is anthropomorphizing Polygon dot com video content. And then making you date them. If this doesn’t make sense, don’t worry, it will as you read along. And if it helps you to visualize the Unraveled Episode As A Lover, I invite you to just imagine whomever it is you are most attracted to---or for those who don’t experience attraction, whomever it is you find most aesthetically pleasing---and then just add in the wild personality traits I describe through the course of this post.

Second: I know what you’re thinking. “Avian, the characteristics of what makes a good lover is subjective!” And I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been through college, and I’ve witnessed my friends whom I love so dearly enter relationships with some of the most wack ass motherfuckers I’ve ever met. I know that people are into different things. But do I judge them for it? Well, kinda, yeah! Yes, what we want in a lover is subjective, but I’ve consumed a metric fuckton of romance media over the course of my life and am also in a wonderful relationship with my own girlfriend, and thus have my own personal idealized ranking for what makes a good lover. Feel free to disagree with my rankings of Unraveled Lovers, but also, I’m writing this post. I say this with as much love as I possibly can, but if you disagree with me, make your own post. If you don’t wanna make your own post, you’re just going to have to trust me for 2.1k more words.

With that out of the way, let me take you on a journey through the 23 Unraveled Lovers, from worst to best.

BAD TIER: I would probably advise you to break up with these Unraveled Lovers as soon as you are emotionally capable of doing so.

Hoo boy, we’re starting at the bottom. The perfectionists, the nitpickers, the emotionally unavailables. These Unraveled Lovers would have good intentions, but just have aspects within their personality that will wear you and your relationship together down until both of you can no longer take it.

“Ranking all 200+ Megaman robots” is a lover obsessed with the concept of “is this worth it?” They would unknowingly but inevitably rank parts of your own personality on a scale of ‘worth the trouble in this relationship’ and ‘not worth the trouble’. Any lover who deals with you with this kind of dichotomy is somebody you should not be with. You should be accepted and loved for all your parts, the beautiful and the ugly.

“How to make the perfect E3 press conference” is a lover who spent years consuming romance media and has a list of what makes the perfect relationship. So not only do they have unrealistic expectations for what a relationship is, but they will be obsessed with reaching that unreachable perfection. That will definitely put a strain on your relationship until the veneer of desired perfection crumbles away, leaving you both tired and sad.

On a less deep note, “How to tell apart all 596 Fire Emblem characters” just won’t remember any of the names of your friends or family. Sure, they’ll try, but they’ll give up in like 15 minutes and you’ll never be able to take this Unraveled Lover to a family reunion or a party with your friends. Probably not a dealbreaker, but as the Spice Girls said “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.” This Unraveled Lover will not. Next.

“No one asked but I found Mortal Kombat’s best cuddler” and “I wasted 3 weeks of my life finding Castlevania’s hottest monster” are two Unraveled Lovers with a similar problem: they both won’t shut the fuck up about their exes. Mortal Kuddler constantly brings up all the other cuddles they’ve experienced and Castlevanias Hottest Monster will tell you you’re beautiful, but also bring up like 69 other monsters they think are also beautiful. This might not be a red flag, but personally, this would tire me out, always being thought of in comparison or contrast to others.

That ends the BAD TIER and brings us to the OKAY TIER where a large chunk of the Unraveled Lovers fall into, so much so that I had to create more specific sub tiers under the OKAY TIER.

So let’s get into the OKAY TIER: These Unraveleds Lovers are alright, you’ll just have a sublimely weird relationship.

These Unraveled Lovers will treat you right but they’re also just very peculiar. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I’m here to explain to you just in what ways these okayest lovers are bizarre. Let’s start with the first sub tier.

OKAY SUB TIER: College Students who are way too into their major

There are a lot of Unraveled Lovers under this subtier, and this shouldn’t surprise you, because Unraveleds are inherently nerdy. These are lovers that will be good to you but also just never fucking shut up about what it is they’re studying.

“I read all 337 books of Skyrim so that you don’t have to” and "Understanding Kingdom Hearts (and every other story" are Creative Writing majors obsessed with analyzing every single thing they read. As a Creative Writing major myself, I would advise you to never date a Creative Writing major unless you are a Creative Writing major yourself. I think that’s the only way the relationship can be ethical. Being sent essays from the New Yorker every day would be torture if you didn’t actively enjoy it.

“We made all 78 Breath of Wild recipes in one day” is a Culinary Arts major and, score, they’re gonna wanna cook for you! A lot! Beware though, because it’ll be a hit or miss on whether or not the food will be good, but you must admit, that there is nothing quite as attractive as your lover making you food (let’s just hope the food doesn’t harm you).

“Smash Bros. owes millions of dollars in OSHA violations” is going to law school and that should be a dealbreaker in itself, but I’ll be a bit lenient because they’re always working towards the safety of everybody. This Unraveled Lover will always remind you to put your seatbelt on and also tell you exactly what laws you are violating.

“Bowser’s military hierarchy” is a Political Science major, and Political Science majors scare me. So I’ll just say they’re okay, and leave it at that.

“Which Dark Souls Boss is the best manager?” is a rare non-evil Management major because they actually truly care for the welfare of employees. They just will always talk about it, even when you guys are on a date. I know worker’s rights are important, but it’s not exactly what I want to talk about in between kisses, yknow?

“I fixed Fallout’s music by creating a totally new genre” is a Music major who keeps accidentally making Ska love songs to you. You didn’t know Ska love songs could be a thing. This Unraveled Lover makes it a thing.

“Scientifically Calculating the Game of the Year” is a Math major so you will never have to worry about calculating bills because they can do it for you.

“Calculate your pet’s HP with my 100% legitimate formula” is a Veterinary Medicine major so if you’re an animal lover, this Unraveled is the one for you! Just beware, because this Unraveled Lover will also spend a lot of time observing you from afar to quantify your health points, but both of you will inexplicably find this activity strengthens your relationship.

And last but not least for this sub tier, “When can Mario retire?” is a disillusioned Accounting and Finance major who chose this line of study to get a job and, through the years, realized what a hellscape capitalism is. You may have to deal with a lot of zoning out and staring off into the distance, with this Unraveled Lover, but a lover who hates capitalism sure is a good egg.

That brings us to our next sub tier!

OKAY SUB TIER: Cultists or Conspiracy Theorists (AKA...College Students who are way too into their extracurriculars)

These Unraveled Lovers are alright! They’re just a little bit off the shits.

“Every Sonic game is blasphemous” will get really really worked up about things and probably try to start a cult. For most, that’s a definite dealbreaker, but what makes Sonic Bible an okay lover is that they eventually calm down from the cult outburst and apologize. So this Unraveled Lover will treat you well, you just have to be ready to ground them when they get a little bit bonkers.

“Solving the Zelda Timeline in 15 minutes” is very similar to Sonic Bible, except instead of starting a cult, every once in a while they’ll just sit you down on a chair and explain to you their latest obsession while slowly and intensely stripping. Which, hey, that could make for a fun night, if you’re into that kinda stuff! Definitely okay in my book.

That brings us to our last okay sub tier.

OKAY SUB TIER: Your Unraveled Lover might need to schedule some sessions with a therapist, and that’s Okay

Listen, we all have baggage. We all have problems. These are Unraveled Lovers who want to be the best for you, but at the same time have issues of their own, and you’re going to have to support them when they pop into their local psych clinic to make themselves better people.

“Waluigi” is an Unraveled Lover who is going through some identity issues. They want to be good for you, but they don’t even know who exactly they are. They may feel as if they are tricking you into being in this relationship, that they aren’t who you think they are, and while these fears are irrational, they wholeheartedly believe it and will never feel fully secure in this relationship until they have made peace with themselves. If you love this Unraveled Lover, you’re going to have to stick with them as they learn more about who they are.

“Kirby” is an Unraveled Lover who, for some reason, is obsessed with the constant quest to make things make sense. This need of theirs bleeds into every aspect of their life and can definitely affect your relationship. This Unraveled Lover may sometimes perhaps cite that they don’t deserve you because they can’t seem to figure out a logical and objective answer for why you are with them. This issue of treating everything like a puzzle to solve is an issue they will have to work out and recover from, and they will be receptive to this process of recovery because they cherish the relationship they have with you and understand that not everything has to be solved; some things can just be felt. If you choose to stay with this Unraveled Lover, you must be prepared to support them when they take a mysterious but needed soul searching journey in the woods. You must be prepared to sit with them along the shores of the beach and reassure them that life is about living, not about answers.

And that, dear readers, ends the OKAY TIERs. Now it’s time for the tier you have all been waiting for.

Drumroll, please!

GOOD TIER: Pop open the champagne, bring out the strawberries dipped in chocolate, and let Spotify play Careless Whisper, baby, because we’re in the Ideal Lover zone.

Welcome to the Ideal Lover Zone. Here, we have three Unraveled Lovers who are just extremely good fellas.

“I used the Sims to perfect my apartment” is an Unraveled Lover who will work their hardest to be the best for you, but unlike the BAD TIER perfectionists, it will naturally dawn to them that perfection is unattainable. After this realization, they will find comfort and happiness in your romantic relationship and the other healthy relationships they have with other people. This Unraveled Lover will be sincere with you when the time calls for it, but will also not be afraid to be goofy for it. Above all, this Unraveled Lover will ask for help when they need it. They may often be shy, at first, but they understand their limits and will openly communicate to you when situations call for it. Communication is the bedrock of any good relationship, and this Unraveled Lover will never keep you guessing.

“The Perfect Pokerap” is similar to the Sims, in the sense that they will at first strive for perfection in the honeymoon phase of your relationship but then understand that that isn’t possible and then set more reasonable and realistic goals. What sets this Unraveled Lover out from the crowd though is just how much they cherish you. How devoted they are to you. The love you will feel in this relationship will be transcendental, and, even if you do break up, this Unraveled Lover will never forget you.

And finally. Who---according to me, a mildly delirious 21 year old rando on the internet---is the most ideal Unraveled Lover?

It’s “Find your Kojima name with my simple 11 page form.” Why? Because this Unraveled Lover wants to know you. They want to know everything about you, the parts you like and the parts you don’t like. This is a lover who will not shy away from any aspect of yourself, but instead, embrace you for who you are as a full fledged person.

They’ll also give you a whack ass pet name, and boy, isn’t that romantic?

Well, there you have it. All (as of May, 2020) of the Unraveled Episodes as 23 Unraveled Lovers. What did I learn from this endeavor? That romantic love is complicated, but if you’re into it, it is definitely worth the trials and tribulations.

...As long as I’m not dating the Castlevania Unraveled. Seriously, when we’re making out, I don’t wanna hear about how sexy the Hyena With Gun is. Learn how to read the room, dude.

(Thanks for reading.)

#reposting because damn it i worked too hard on this that it BETTER FUCKIN SHOW UP IN THE TAG #polygon #bdg #unraveled #brian david gilbert #nobody asked but

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frankpanioncube · 4 years

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Karaoke Night - I did this whole thing on one of my Discord Servers

So basically - it was the 7 main guys and what they’d do on Karaoke night.

I said I’d put it on my Tumblr...but it was going to be when I could do some linking to stuff: So I have put music vids, links to songs wherever they are and if nothing else - enjoy this

Lucifer: Can sing like a...well (fallen) angel. Is a lyrical baritone but can get up to some Tenor stuff.

Karaoke night is a hard thing to get him involved in because (and he recognizes it) he will be asked to do STUPID stuff.

They make him do Weird Al covers, Eminem...the lewdest crap they can imagine because...well..also - he can pull off a lot of stuff it's like 70 percent to irritate him and 30 because ....well...they all want to have him sing "Friend of the Devil" by Adam Jensen.

MC/Lucifer - they're doing Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. "Time to Say Goodbye" and mC can't keep up with him...it's his show.

Lucifer/Mammon Duet: Mammon willl make Lucifer sing X Gonna Give it To ya (specifically the Deadpool version) and Mammon does most of the work here but but he is so invested int getting Lucifer to rap it's actually quite amazing.

Lucifer/Leviathan Duet: Carameldansen - Levi will pull off all the dance moves in the background and will back up Lucifer. Who will be stock still otherwise.

Lucifer/Satan Duet: It's Shia LaBouef. Satan is no singer but pulls off those spoken word bits - and Lucifer is ...okay until he realizes what he's singing about. It's an odd vibe - it's awesome and also very strange to watch.

Lucifer/Asmo Duet: It's "Mad World" but the live version from the Adam Lambert concert. Asmo is the vocalist and Lucifer does back up and by GOD it works.

Lucifer/Beel Duet: I'd Do Anything for Love - and it doesn't go how you'd expect - Vocally it's Beel's show - Lucifer turns off the kareoke player and plays the piano. It makes everyone watching very hot. it's a dangerous combo.

Lucifer/Belphie: I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace. And BY GOD. It lands.

Karaoke Mammon:

Is the guy who figured out you can make dying whale noises in rockband to pass levels. And does it unappologetically. As a singer - not bad when he's trying. He could pull off something if he practiced. He has a good range but it's not refined. He can hit some contralto notes occasionally and some baritone stuff but very much lacks the practice.

Mammon on his own: Picks villain songs from musicals. He can do "Gaston" or "All you Wanna Do" from Six (much to Asmo's disgust).

Mammon and MC Duet: It's Tough to be a God from The Road to ElDorado. He'd love to do that and he makes a great Tulio to MC's Miguel.

Mammon and Lucifer: They do a duet of "Not a Common Man" - Mammon does a lot of musical stuff and he HATES Lucifer takes this one over. Cause the lyrics are him. Lucifer likes that he does the legwork on this.

Mammon and Leviathan: Butterfly by Crazy Town - to be fair - Levi thought it was Butterfly from the DDR game. However - between Mammon's voice and Levi's aptitudte for rhythm they manage this shockingly well.

Mammon and Satan: This duo isn't nearly as vicious to Lucifer as Belphie and Satan but - oh it's gonna get messy. Rage Unrestrained by Excessum and they're all going to the ER. Including Mammon. It's worth it.

Mammon and Asmo: THey do a duet of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. It gets chaotic. Both can't wait to be the centre of attention.

Mammon and Beel: Sex Bomb - Because even if it makes everyone feel sorta...weirdly sexual (and probably because he wants to stick it to Asmo) - Getting Beel to do some Tom Jones is a great idea.

Mammon and Belphie: The Real Slim Shady - Eminem - and they they can do it. And Belphie can pull that nasal stuff.

Karaoke Leviathan:

On his own: Does lots of anime and idol stuff of course. He's mediocre as a singer but pulls off all the dance moves well.

Levi on his own: Does exclusively stuff from his fave idol groups - not that he nails the vocals but he's not intolerable. He does nail the chorography.

Leviathan and MC - gets as many people invovled as he can and they do TRI-ANGLE feat BOA and the TRAX - They know if they flatter Mammon enough he'll do the break down.

Leviathan and Lucifer - Real Emotion - The idol song from FFX-2 - but Lucifer doesn't find the song that offensive and Levi can do the background dance stuff.

Leviathan and Mammon: X Japan's Rusty Nail. And if you haven't seen the music video to that - it's the epitome of 80ies/mid 90ies anime music vids. (plus I am in love with Hide and cried my eyes out over his suicide.) - they'd manage this one. Not without Mammon remembering the music video and SOBBING.

Leviathan and Asmo: Hey, they do this one song: Sinful Indulgence. It's from a popular Otome game. It's Asmo's show but Levi can keep up.

Leviathan and Satan: THey do the Local Butterfly Guy rap from Devilman Crybaby. It's best not to have Satan sing but he can get away with spoken word and raps quite well.

Leviathan and Beel: Has him doing Evil Food Eater Conchita from mothy. It's hard outside of his range but actually Levi pulls off the background vocals really well. He does some higher vocals well. Beel feels bad for the subject of the song...but sympathizes.

Leviathan and Belphie: Lizzy Hale and Lindsey Sterling's Shatter Me - Belphie can be convinced to do the ballet here and it's BEAUTIFUL. Neither Belphie nor Levi are the best of singers but they manage it together.And Belphie doing ballet is something to behold.

Karaoke Satan

He's just NOT a singer - It doesn't matter that much - He know it drives Lucifer nuts because Lucifer is lovely to listen to. But he's in two minds. He's either sober and refuses to embarrass himself or is three sheets to the wind and WILL embarrass not himself but Lucifer rather.

Satan on his Own: Will do William Shatner's spoken word version of Rocket Man. Can be convinced to rap but doesn't get into it too much.

Satan and MC: David Bowie's 'Space Oddity’. He's off key the whole time but no one cares - they manage to do the acting for it.

Satan and Lucifer : Here Comes the Snake by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies - It's rough but but Lucifer does the hard notes and Satan isn't pretty by any means but he does it a tad more spoken word. Lucifer does this like champ however. It winds up being way more attractive than it should be.

Satan and Mammon: Mammon does 'Every Last Motherfu*cker should Go Down' from Jerry Springer the Opera...and lets Satan choose if he wants to actually play Satan. He usually plays Jerry as a matter of fact. Up to the second half. After that Satan chokes it out. Because he'd love to stick it to Lucifer like that

Satan and Leviathan: An odd one - "Hell" By the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Levi would groove to it but everyone would enjoy joining in.

Satan and Asmo: (And everyone) Somebody to Love - Queen - and everyone shrieks it along. Cause Asmo would simply get in every one all in and that'd be that. Asmo's gonna hit that high note but Satan doing the song on his own isn't fabulous but he's backed by the whole group in the end.

Satan and Beel: Royal Oil by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Ska stuff works with Satan and Beel's rumble works with this song - it...didn't hurt that Satan explained what the song was about sometime LATER.

Satan and Belphie: Dark Personality by The Planet Smashers. Mammon gets to join in on this one - this is dedicated by that trio PERSONALLY to Lucifer. It's VICIOUS. Mammon is DEFINITELY in on skanking. He dances like a true rudeboy. Oh and so does Satan.

Karaoke Asmo

Is quite possibly the best Kareoke singer out there. It STINGS with him that he loses out to some of his brothers - Asmo's got charisma and sex appeal and a great voice...and well, that's actually where he loses. He's got this record quality voice and it tend to miss out on some of the kareoke appeal. Like that's the one place you're not supposed to be PERFECT singing and he IS. No fair!

Asmo on his own: Quite apart from this little ditty you may or may not of heard of "Sinful Indulgence" Asmo would do Marina Diamandos' alter Ego Electra Heart's "How to Be a Heartbreaker"

Asmo with MC: The Devil's Son by The Creepshow. It'd be verrry sexual. Asmo would however take over the song and be the singer - because it'd be right up his street.

Asmo and Lucifer: Nobody's Side - from CHESS. Lucifer does the intro to it just to get to get out of it - He plays the American (and does a fair job of it - he is after all quite vocally gifted) with Asmo as Florence.. Asmo is content to do the rest of the song. He's got the whole dramatic prodouction going on with it

Asmo and Mammon: If Mammon goes for Bowie, Asmo goes for Lady Gaga. They are going to do Applause and it's just as messy. They step all over eachother. Asmo's got the vocals to do it, Mammon's just simply not going to sit down for it and really won't outdo him on stage. It's a miracle they can throw it together.

Asmo and Leviathan: They're doing Pinball Wizard by the Who. They are actually a great team up for this song. Levi's got the moves and also digs the subject matter but Asmo gets to shine doing the lead singing on it

Asmo and Satan: Shut Me Up by Mindless Self Indulgence - Asmo is well aware that Satan can't carry a tune in a basket but is shockingly good at tempering him - Asmo is a great singer and can work with a lot. Satan's shrieking is actually quite awesome when paired with Asmo doing a sort of screechy emo/goth/metal thing himself. Asmo's the one you WANT paired with Satan should you not want to visit the emergency room later.

Asmo and Beel: They are doing Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher and Oh GOD is it fun. Beel's still a little stiff as a performer but Asmo gets everyone into it - he covers (and gets everyone to do) the scatting...but absolutely lets Beel do the low notes at the end. Even he makes happy noises when he can get into those low registers and it turns out to be fun for all involved.

Asmo and Belphie: Funnily enough - it's Belphie who pulls this one off. And of all songs? It's Wonderboy by Tenacious D. (Seriously just imagine "How about the power of flight, that do anything for you? and Belphie just doing a straight up "That's levitation, Holmes." It's not Asmo's style but he's got the chops to back Belphie up on this one so it turns out fun.

Karaoke Beelzebub

Beel on his own: Can't be bothered much but bribe him with food and he's got this incredible baritone, and can get down to a bass. He sings what other people want him to so there's a bit of a dichotomy about the fact that people want him to do the Beast Song from "Over the Garden Wall" - it’s not Beel’s style to sing that but god he could do it if you asked. and also Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of your Love"

Beel and MC: Dearly Departed by the Creep Show. It's MC's show and Beel does the backups but there's a lot of onstage chemistry. Everyone feels a ...way afterwards.

Beel and Lucifer: Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie - and yeah - Lucifer does the female part. It was sort of a joke that went in a really wildly sexual direction, but also it is capable of shutting down the whole night. Thankfully it was done at the end of the night.

Beel and Mammon: Mammon's got a bit of a penchant for musicals so he kinda is into doing a lil' bit of Little Shop of Horror's "Feed Me/Git It" Especially because he knows he could explain the concept and well yeah. Beel gets a LITTLE into it. "just pretend I ate your custard" And it's a done deal. Mammon also does a great Seymor. Beel and Leviathan: They're doing Zu Ende from Dracula Musical (Incidentally: if you want to know what my own voice is like - Wao Yoka is very close to me - if Wao was wite chick) - but Levi is doing Wao/Drac's part and Van Helsing's part is Beel's.

Beel and Satan: Poe - Control - Satan lets Beel do this - but it's not melodic enough that he can pull some weight here. Beel backs down if Satan's managing it. But he more or less just lets Satan do the second verse.

Beel and Asmo: Sweet Tooth by Scott Helman - It's Asmo's song really but Beel doesn't over take Asmo and they really pull this off. Beel joins real hard at the end and it gets very good.

Beel and Belphie: Slumber by Bad Religion. This really is a duet. They both sing this together. Beel does the bridge however. Belphie does air guitar occasionally. It’s rather potent - they are twins and they use this distinctly to their advantage.

Karaoke Belphegor

Belphegor isn't much for this whole kareoke thing but can be convinced into it. Hey - his twin's great, why does he have to put in the effort? However - when the situation calls for it - hes got a variety of tricks up his sleeve.

Belphegor on his own: Picks the classics. Just whatever the place has in the book mostly. But paired up then this guy is a little shit. As a singer he's not the strongest but he's not bad either. When he's trying he's quite interesting when he's bored he's just...meh, knows it and does not care. I want Candy? These Boots were Made for Walkin? Yeah those are Belphie's stuff

Belphie and MC: Belphegor's still trying too hard with MC and so they're doing Strange Disease by Prozzak. He thinks it'll help. He's not bad at doing the recieved pronounciation accent either though at that.

Belphie and Lucifer: Belphie ain't letting Lucifer get away with SHIT. Belphie is making him full on do Aqua's Barbie Girl and that's that. It's...ridiculously funny as a matter of fact. Belphie's plan may have backfired a little given that everyone really likes singing along. On the other hand, he DID make Lucifer say "Come on Barbie, let's go party."

Belphie and Mammon: Corey Hart's Sunglasses at Night - with Mammon indeed wearing his sunglasses at night for maximum effect. Mammon's way more into it than Belphie but it's an entertaining performance nonetheless.

Belphie and Leviathan: The ODDEST combo but - Dionysos (F. Olivia Ruiz)' 'Tais Toi Mon Couer' - Levi likes the animation in the video and Belphie can pull off the french and the vibe. it's actually much more effective than Belphie's attempts to do anything with MC (and if you haven't seen the vid and don't speak French there's some vids with subtitles - see above!) Belphie and Satan: (with Mammon) When You're Evil by Voltaire - Dedicated FULLLY to Lucifer. And they all get into it. Mammon's particularly good at this - but while Satan isn't much of a singer he's just willing to keep up. Mammon carries this but it's this lot very much singing directly to Lucifer. It's honestly terrifying but man the Anti-Lucifer Club pulls this one off like champs.

Belphie and Asmo: They do Four Chord Song by Asis of Awesome - it Belphie's brain of 'easy' with Asmo's need to show off. They can do this very well. Asmo does wonderful masterful work but Belphie does the stuff that Asmo can't reach. They just do a medley.

Belphie and Beel: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeplin - and oh - Belphie will turn off the kareoke machine and bust out his accoustic and put in the effort - So it's Rodrigo Y Gabriela's cover. Beel is all in for it. But it's really Belphie's talent with the guitar. In almost any other story Beel's voice is the thing but here? No it's him.

#obey me #obey me head canons #what else #if tagged everything we'd be in for one wild ride #I have linked to official music and performances

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fatter-in-real-life · 4 years

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Mid-2000s, Early 20s Emo

I think the thing most people don’t understand about depression is that there’s a fine line between nostalgia and, for lack of a better word, relapse. Someone reminded me of Less Than Jake’s song “She’s Gonna Break Soon” the other day. I ended up opening up iTunes tonight and listening to it again. It’s been about 10 years since this song hit me so hard.

Nostalgia is dangerous for me, because sometimes, rather than looking back in a fond, if somewhat detached, manner, I end up right back where I was when I first discovered whatever is prompting the nostalgia. These flashbacks sometimes lead to a brand new depressive episode. The circumstances may have changed, but the song or book or whatever speaks to me in all the same ways.

That’s what’s happening now. It’s 2:30 in the morning and, rather than sleeping, I’m listening to a playlist of mid-2000s ska hits that remind me of all the reasons I wanted to disappear back then. The only thing keeping me here and sane right now is the knowledge that my dog needs me. That is not ideal, but hey, any reason to keep going is good in my books.

As I sit here, in my undies and oversized lilac tee, listening to Less Than Jake, bile in my throat and tears on my cheeks... all I can think about is how, despite being 10 years older, having gone through years of therapy and DBT training, and being on meds that (seem to) work so much better, I’m still that nihilistic, massively depressed, 22-year-old who wants nothing more than to just cease to exist.

I actively battle that mindset every goddamn day. People don’t realize that. Neurotypicals don’t understand that even in the good times, depression is a battle, and taking even one hit can undo years of growth and experience.

I have creative outlets. I have friends and family. I have hobbies and interests and “things to do”. But still... I think I’ll always have that little voice in the back of my mind that whispers so seductively: “End it. Leave. Run away. Do something drastic.” That voice gives me the worst advice, but it’s the advice my depression appreciates.

The funny thing about all of this is that in the good times, things are REALLY good. But nothing feels good when depression kicks in. And don’t even get me started on what anxiety contributes to this shit show.

Not to mention that inconvenient paranoia that tells me no one likes me or wants me around. I’m useless. Worthless. Unoriginal, graceless, uninteresting. My misery is a team effort amongst my many mental health issues.

So here I sit, still a mess, contemplating cleaning if only to distract my wired mind. My thoughts tell me to walk across town and explore the night. My heart tells me to give up on everything. But what I really want is to live. To have a life worth waking up to. So many movies and shows and books and songs talk about amazing and eventful lives. Stories of remarkable people with so much promise.

The only promise I’ve got is that, if I make it through the night, I’ll spend the next one in the same predicament for at least a week. It’s never just one bad night. It’s always a series. One I wish was cancelled.

I apologize for the stream-of-consciousness style post. I didn’t have any idea of where I was going when I started and I think that it’s pretty obvious I didn’t find one along the way.

All I’ve gotta say is, I am in crisis. It’s not fun, it’s not pretty. And it happens a lot more than I’d like to admit. But what I want you to know is that even in your darkest moments, if you keep going, keep moving, if only second by second, you’ll escape the darkness. And I need to remind myself of that every 5 minutes to keep from losing it. So if you find yourself in a similar situation, just know that you’re not alone. Things can and will get better. Maybe not all at once, but little by little, the light will break through.

Much love, friends. If you’re currently sitting in the dark, like me, feel free to hit me up. I may not be much help, but I can commiserate.

#mental health #depression #anxiety #paranoia #crisis #less than jake #emo #ska #be weird babes and theybes

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monkey-network · 6 years

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Good Stuff’s Best of 2018

WARNING: I just want to say cheers to you for making it through another year. I send you best wishes for next year to be fruitful. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

Dedicated to Stan Lee, Stefán Karl and Stephen Hillenburg, the number ones of children entertainment

Bow Whacka Wow, playas and players. 2018 gave us quite a lot to consume while society continues to fumble like a Tumblr update. While hopefully the chaos has died down for the final weeks of the year, I’m counting down the best cartoons/animations I’ve seen and loved this year in no particular order. Only two rules, no sneak previews of future projects (sorry 101 Dalmatian Street and MP100) and no potential entries from last year’s list (sorry True). With that said, roll it....

10. UNIKITTY!

I love the Lego Movie. I’ll potentially like the sequel. I like Unikitty. She got a show, and it was a great show to start off the year. Upbeat, colorful, off the walls sometimes, perfectly capturing the spirit of the eponymous character. I’m glad the other characters are just as enjoyable, I never get tired of the theme song, every episode had me smilin’ one way or another, it’s just a quality bottle of positivity juice. Don’t know how else to explain it, Unikitty, the show and character, just makes and continues to make me smile.

9. POP TEA-- SIKE!

This anime ain’t nothing but unfunny randomness and skits with a forgetful arc in the first and final episode. I don’t get it, never gonna get it, so I don’t want to get it! MORE LIKE POOP TEAM EPIC, ‘nuff said. Which is why the actual number nine is....

9. BOB EPIC TEAM

Honestly, there is something endearing about the way Bob Epic Team presents itself. The simplicity and variety of its animation is remarkably good and makes it feel timeless sometimes. The comedy works in a way that gives you a clear grasp on the two characters while letting them do whatever they want. The surrealism of this is fun to think about, showcasing a hedonistic philosophy that rivals that of Epicurus. The duo’s chemistry is what especially got me, as they felt like the best of friends, potentially love birds *wink wink*. This anime was just creative in every sense of the word and, like Unikitty, it was a great anime to start of the year.

8. CRAIG OF THE CREEK

The ska is RAH. I honestly find this to be the loose spiritual successor to Hey Arnold and Recess. Like the playground, the creek is a well fleshed out setting with the many characters that hang there, from the TAZ trio to the loving witches of the creek. Though I will say the best episodes are when we get insight on the main three’s personal lives with their families and when the characters themselves go through a personal trial to understand themselves a little better. The shows thrives in the theme that the creek is a place where you can enjoy getting your hands dirty and work towards something you want, even if it doesn’t add to any concrete long term benefit beyond learning a thing or two about yourself and others. And I say for somebody that relates to Craig as a character, that’s a welcoming thought that the show has yet to perish. And the ska is a welcome choice of music, IMO.

7. THE EPIC TALES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS

It’s funny in how a little over a year of getting a movie, Captain Underpants gets an animated series with not only original stories in lieu of just animating the already printed stories, but puts it all in a format similar to reading a book with a sardonic narrator and separating the plot of the episode into chapters with subtitle cards; one of the first I’ve seen do this. But really, a “Captain Underpants cartoon” is something I can’t say would turn out bad, and I’m right as this is a show that revels in what made CU great in the first place. George, Harold, Melvin, and Mr. Krupp/Captain Underpants are all great characters with the additional supporting cast providing welcome life to the world. Every Incredible Violence Chapter is brilliant in their own right, and while I wasn’t a fan of the ending they had for the season, it’s great that almost every episode is self-contained, boosting its replay value. Honestly, any compliment I have for this was already said in my review of this and the movie, so I’ll just say this too was faithful to its source material and benefited heavily for it.

6. GARY AND HIS DEMONS

Rick and Morty done better. BOOM, send tweet! It is safe to say that this was quite the sleeper hit and I can’t help but say it’s lowkey one of the best adult cartoons this year next to Ballmastrz and Final Space. And while I certainly appreciate the other two *hint hint* this one got a step above on the grounds that it works as a comedy and a solemn tale of a chosen hero that stumbles through years in the office life. It’s improv humor feels natural and it can be as melancholic as Bojack Horseman without making it all too deep like so; has a great balance of both. Main man Gary, unlike Rick for the most part, is a guy that’s both reasonably reprehensible yet pretty relatable. Not to mention, while it was bittersweet, it had a very satisfying finale to where I feel like this was a complete series all together. With a rough art style that compliments it’s tone, this was a series that surprised me in its sharp quality.

5. APPLE & ONION

I’ll admit. Initially wasn’t a fan of it as it felt like a knock-off to Regular Show (may it rest). Just had a duo of bros living together, doing mundane labor while coming up with impromptu tunes along the way. Then again, I was gladly proven wrong because the charm of it generally being a simple show, even with every person being food, somehow more regular than Regular Show. Every song they make is upbeat and catchy, all of the characters are endearing, and with only 10 episodes, each one was well paced and had quality writing to the point where I teared up a couple times. It stinks that this and Summer Camp Island have generally been receiving the shaft this year after their premieres, but I'm just glad that they haven’t been truly forgotten by CN and are getting more episodes next year. Plus, I love food and this show is about food. Debate over.

4. LEGEND OF THE THREE CABALLEROS

I was familiar yet never saw The Three Caballeros, ironic since Donald is one of my favorite Disney characters. But then, out of the blue, I found this and I was stunned, amazed, confused, nonetheless invested. It has a bumpy start, but it’s a joyous adventure from that start to end. The look of it is something I’ve rarely seen in animation since... freakin’ Wakfu. I love Xandra and I was glad to see her be an active player on the team. The villains are such a hammy delight. And Jose and Panchito were very lively and entertaining foils to Donald’s cynic nature while all three work as well together like the 3 stooges. Donald himself gets a great arc of his own throughout the season. And the theme, HO MY GOD I LOVE THIS THEME! It’s a damn shame Disney hasn’t released this already (since it’s all online already) because this series is much better than it has any right to be.

3. GOLDEN WIND/VENTO AUREO

I say, the beauty of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is that regardless of what part you start from, you’re enthralled into its world and ya feel compelled to dig into it more. Parts 3 was what got me into Jojo, like most I bet, but it was part 5 that got me “Oh yeah, this series [just] works on more than level”. The characters are what keep me hooked, regardless of Crunchyroll refusing to give their stands proper English names [Zipper Man, CR?], Fighting Gold and Freak ‘n You will never get old, and David Productions putting great effort into the small details and giving life and style to the original manga. I’ll just say, as one who’s read and loved the manga, this anime has not ceased to keep me impressed and guessing for more.

2. INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Funking superb, you afro having web-slinger. I hate to say it, but 2018 didn’t have the most impressive line-up of western animated features. Most were average, entertaining sure, but nothing felt like 110% was given. Until Spidah-Man came on the scene and I was like “WIG...

The only major problem I have with this film, besides a bit of slow pacing, is more of a missed opportunity where the stakes of getting the Spidermen back to their dimensions before dying felt like an afterthought. Then again, that’s ALL I have for problems. It looks fantastic. The action is smooth, coherent, and satisfying to see. The tiny details and comic book aesthetic of it was a blessed touch. I loved almost every character here. Nick Cage and John Mulaney. The fact that it has so much yet was able to juggle it all blew my mind. Even the post credits scene made this such a love letter to the wall-crawler. This film was refreshing to say the least and the central theme behind the idea of Spider-Man made this as great of a superhero movie as Infinity War and Lego Batman. Just saying, this better make its budget back and THEN SOME. It deserves it.

1. HILDA

Netflix, we’re not on good terms mind you, but ya done did it again. This is honestly one of the few shows that I genuinely took my time with as opposed to binging it, because binge watching is a devil in itself. Like the Spider-verse movie, it got the style of its source material down to cozy colored T with its autumn color palette and etched lining in the characters. Like the Captain Underpants series, while having a grounded arc of Hilda journeying through the city life and her colliding wildlife, each episode can be generally be enjoyed on their own. Like Gary and His Demons, it felt like a complete season and the fact it’s getting a season two made things all the better. But above all, it was a generally peaceful yet captivating fantasy cartoon to watch with incredible animation, an endearing main character, amazing looking folk creatures of all sizes and powers, and a cuddly deerfox for a pet. I say this is to the fall what Harvey Beaks was to the spring, and if I can compare a show to Harvey Beaks you know you’ve achieved greatness. Like True and the Rainbow Kingdom, gives you a moment of honest bliss and happiness that can influence your outlook on looking forward to better things because like Hilda herself, you push forward and have some fun exploring.

Just saying, I cannot stress this enough this is NOT my number one favorite show of the year, hell of all time. THAT goes to....

1. 👏TEEN 👏TITANS 👏GO, BABEEEEEEY!!

ONCE AGAIN, Teen Titans GO reigns supre-- Huh, what’s that? Oh my god, you’re serious?! The Number One is

TOTAL DRAMARAMA OUT OF NOWHERE! IT IS NOW CARTOON NETWORK’S ‘NEW FAVORITE SHOW’.

THE STREAK *DING DING DING* IS OVER

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so-shiny-so-chrome · 6 years

Text

Witness: KirkyPet

Creator name (AO3): KirkyPet

Creator name (Tumblr): kirkypet

Link to creator works: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirkyPet/works

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: I was actually quite fixated on Fury Road after watching it on DVD. I didn’t expect to particularly like it - I’d never seen the previous Mad Max movies (I finally have!) - but I was transfixed. And I didn’t particularly ship Furiosa and Max until the haemothorax/transfusion scene (although then I very much did). There were just so many layers of detail and backstory there waiting to be explored, because so little was actually said or explained. It’s like a neutron star of fic-fodder. And I didn’t discover ao3 til summer 2016 so I spent a full year wandering around like a lost soul. So, yeah. Quite a huge deal for me really.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: Music. Minor characters looking on and commenting on the protagonists (big fan of Thomas Hardy’s more comedic efforts, where this happens a lot). Reasonably happy endings.

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: Maybe the small town modern AU (Ordinary People), because it was a nice change from the Wasteland setting. I’m not very Wasteland-minded at all. But the Bladerunner AU (Do Androids Dream etc) and the new Firefly AU are lots of fun because the two sets of movie worlds mesh together way better than I’d expected.

The most difficult? - My Wasteland headcanon stuff. It’s too fluffy and not remotely violent which doesn’t really ring true. I’m very aware that my Furiosa is hardly ever violent, or my Max particularly mad. But that’s the great thing about fanfiction - the infinite versions of characters and scenarios. Surprisingly the Blues Brothers AU is quite tricky. I can’t quite make Jake Blues and Furiosa the same person. But it’s an excuse to listen to great tunes. And Jessie will make a comeback in that one though (she’s not dead, I should make that clear).

On the old kudos-to-hits ratio, the Firefly AU is taking off surprisingly well, but it’s quite smut-focused so that might well account for it ;) early days yet. Bladerunner AU is doing well for a multi-chapter. Up Around The Bend (an oldie, the escape from the Citadel) is hanging in there.

Most successful? I’m happy enough with all of them, except maybe I Kissed A Girl. Please don’t read that. Favourite overall - It’s a toss-up between Ordinary People (a chance to explore my headcanon in a modern small town setting) and the Bladerunner AU (it makes me weep).

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?

A: Hopeful and silly and everyone has access to a record player somehow. This is why I stick to writing AUs these days. But I’ll happily read all of the above!!! And entirely intend to!

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: Watch a film, browse tumblr, listen to music, get an idea. Have a good think about it, think about it some more, find a starting point, write it down, go from there. Maybe stick a draft on tumblr if I’m not sure if it’s going to fly. Write it anyway.

For OCs, figure out what someone looks like. That’s weirdly essential for me. Zal (Furiosa’s Dad) is Ed Harris, Young Val (Furiosa and Max’s grownup daughter) is Alicia Vikander and Toots (rescued-kid-turned-Wasteland-son-in-law) is Didier Drogba (bit of a blast from the past but hey). I was getting nowhere with Blues Mothers Jessie until I recast her as Sofia Boutella (because if Max is getting a generational update, she needs one too). And Firefly AU’s Mister Jobassa is Jakob Oftebro. All very pretty people, but what are you gonna do? But they’re only these people in MY head - they can be whoever the reader wants them to be. Oh, and Pin from Ordinary People was 100% an actual real tour guide I met on holiday once.

Preferred environment? Usually while half asleep in bed, or walking, or In the gym, or watching tv - world building seems to be something that happens away from the keyboard. Writing itself is exclusively on my phone so can and does happen anywhere at all. Rough patches are usually caused by guilt that I’m not spending enough time on the day job :P

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: I listen to music all the time anyway, mainly upbeat pre-90s tunes. Disco, funk, ska, motown, anything like that. And it always find its way into the writing. Sometimes artificially (where I’m on a song-lyrics-as-title theme - it took ages for some of the Wasteland fics) but most times it can help shape the story in a BIG way. I can’t listen to certain songs now without reliving a chapter or a whole fic - Dionne Warwick’s Do You Know The Way To San José is Bladerunner!Furiosa’s Green Place song, and Ash’s Angel Interceptor is StarTrek!Max’s flying music - it’s noisy enough but also speaks to me about a longing to not be alone in the universe. Concrete and Clay is smalltown!Max’s bittersweet lament for Jessie and Twistin’ The Night Away is the final party scene in Cheedo’s update of The Rivals. Some fics wouldn’t have been written at all if it wasn’t for a particular song. The Black Keys’ Heavy Soul was my original Wasteland Furiosa/Max ship theme back in 2015, before I’d even heard of ao3 - that’s the closest I’ve come to a song fic. Caleb was only Caleb because of a line in Symarip’s Skinhead Moonstomp, and I was so desperate to write a fic with Leo Sayer’s You Make Me Feel Like Dancing In it that it was the final excuse for a whole modern mirrorverse to my Wasteland headcanon series. Bet you’re sorry you asked now. But I’ll have to go and put together a Kirkyverse OST list.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: To put the damn thing down and walk away. To not assume it’s awful if I don’t get a kudos in the first thirty hits. Thumb cramp from phone-typing.

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: I didn’t write at all before the Mad Max fandom. Apart from a ghost story when I was about seven (it did win a prize tbh) and a truly god awful Stephen King rip-off when I was fourteen (which makes me nauseous from embarrassment when I think of it). So a fair bit, it’d probably be fair to say. It would be impossible not to, you know, from zero :) My work has changed from spinoffs of inspirational fics (thanks Squid!) to ‘well, I suppose I’ve got a head canon, let’s see if I can make this work’ to ‘goddammit I’ll finish this if it kills me’. Then I missed my exit on the Roundabout of Fic Endings and had to go round again in a modern AU mirror verse. Now it’s all movie mashups, which is lots of fun and probably never-ending. During which time I have learned that crossovers are my favourite to write. And that writing fanfic is probably not a temporary fad :)

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: I don’t really have a favourite tbh. They’re all their own people and do their own thing. Writing them is very dependent on their environment, and it’s often surprising how they behave and where they end up. It feels a bit like they’re on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: Hah yes. The first one was Zephyr the annoying visitor in Witches and Ogres. Young Val’s social awkwardness in As was very much on loan from me.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?Furiosa and Max are pretty much always there - sometimes it’s probably platonic, and sometimes there’s a third person involved (nothing posted yet but but but). It depends on the fic.

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: One big long chronology for the headcanon series (childhood to old age), then a whole bunch of little universes for everything else.

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: Not to break, as much as I can. But it depends.

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: Furiosa was never actually a wife - she was captured but dodged the whole Vault experience. Max is the original Max, of Jessie and Sprog fame. Toecutter was Joe’s younger self - he scooted around on motorbikes and raised hell before deciding to settle down and take the Citadel. AU Toast and Dag are twins (from a shady mob family). Furiosa’s Dad is a friendly Wasteland bandit.

Q: If you work with OCs walk us through your process for creating them. Who are some of your favourites?

A: They’re supplementary characters who make the plots fit together, and sources of conflict or humour (usually both). I think I like Ordinary People’s Alexa and Mallory best. Although the Irish War Boy crew in Beyond the Pale were fun to write. Ace’s trio of love interests (Brick, Big Dave and Caleb/Pin) are a consistent theme. Sometimes I steal characters from other sources (stand up Christopher Brookmyre) when it’s convenient.

Q: What sparks your many wonderful AUs?

A: Movies, tv, gifs, tumblr prompts and general chitchat (thankyou btw!!!)

Q: A lot of your fics are light-hearted and hopeful, which is great to see for the apocalyptic Mad Max world. Your thoughts on that? What is it about the characters that inspires you to reframe them?

A: I just really like comedy and am committed to winkling it into every fictional scenario whether it’s appropriate or not. Glad people don’t hate it!

Q: Who are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: Well, it was Squid’s ( @sacrificethemtothesquid )Length and Breadth of Fury Road that got me out of the starting blocks! Christopher Brookmyre’s The Sacred Art of Stealing was a big influence on my headcanon series, as was a particular Coronation Street storyline from some years back :)

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.

A: Blues Brothers AU series (Sweet Home Chicago) -Wasteland Star Trek First Contact AU (Angel Interceptor) -Firefly AU (Our Mister Jobassa) -His Dark Materials AU (unnamed as yet, just brewing in my head, hope it just stays there for the meantime) -Will combine all the headcanon works into one long fic sometime. That’s everything from Witches and Ogres through to Ordinary People. Probably be called ‘All the Things that I’ve Done’ (basically the two lives of Furiosa: Wasteland and mirrorverse).

Thank you @kirkypet

#Mad Max Fandom Creator Spotlight #Mad Max Fandom Spotlight #mad max fanfic #mad max fanfic author spotlight #fury road fandom #fury road fanfic #kirkypet

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taeguboi · 6 years

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BTS as... Punks

So hahahahaha idk why it posted my extremely incomplete draft earlier (bug with the app?) So consider that now deleted post as a preview hahaha

Requested: “BTS as Punks please!”

activist

anything that's for a good cause

he's behind it

probably makes his own charity

for something close to his heart

and puts on punk events a few times a week

music

poetry

all kinds of food stalls

suitable for everyone’s dietary needs

the occasional street protest

quite laid back though

but the things he has done have had a huge impact on people’s lives

he feeds the poor at his music events

he takes in donations from people to aid the homeless

basically against those unfair imbalances you get in society

he wants to be in a punk band

but at the same time it isn’t really for him

so sometimes he just grabs a guitar

and busks with improvised lyrics

things that are on his mind

things about the world at present

and the things the talks and posts about to people inspire writers of bands

kind of like a journalist

he knows everyone on the local punk scne

he’s been involved ever since he was a kid

smokes a fair amount like

“cool mate, cool beans... right, I’m just off out for a fag”

not many piercings as you might expect

like mostly his ears

and a few intimate areas...

always has colourful punk hair

probably a low key mohawk

several meaningful tattoos

because his family is everything

so is this one person in his life

some drunken tattoos also hahaha

couple of face tatts

always a gentleman to girls

if there’s a creep on the scene

just tell him

that guy will be exposed

and gone for good from this local punk scene

and beyond as far as his contacts can take him

he just wants a safe scene

will fend for anyone though really

has a local watering hole

go down to that pub on any afternoon

and there’s 90% chance he is there

mostly just for the people

maybe buys only 2 drinks the whole time usually

but if he gets drunk

get your notepad and pen

he’s gonna throw 196489 contacts your way

so if your band are ever in need of a gig

you know who to call

Jin

at first, doing punk music is merely a hobby

but then it turns into something more

his pleasure in busking turns into a passion

a dream to make it with a band

so he gets together the best people he knows

and they fucking rock

no one can say a bad thing about Jin’s punk band

they rehearsed diligently for so long

so they sound so tight

he rocks the denim jacket

with all the patches

some badges too

a ton of badges are on his bag though instead

and stickers on his guitar case

a fan of every band he performs with

his guitar case is choc a bloc with local band stickers

so he doesn’t have a mohawk

but his bangs progressively get messier

occasionally he dyes them [example, like V’s green bangs in hyyh era]

he changes loads in little ways

like you leave school and he’s this ‘ordinary’ lad

but then you bump into him like 7 years later

and wtf he’s stunning

like his aura changed

you thought maybe he’d go into like a business job

but he’s rocking the stage most nights a week

you can’t help but go support him more

and maybe something happens from there but that can be a story for another time

and so maybe he doesn’t get BIG with this band

but he earns a sustainable income

and that’s more than good enough

life is good

music, booze and girls

no drugs tho

wise in that sense, contrary to some punk stereotypes

kind of fluffy actually

some say he’s a poser

but he just likes to look good

and is aware how certain rougher looks just really don’t suit him

so that’s all there is to that

actually that’s all there is to this

the end :P

Suga

probably a performer too

maybe more into the dub / ska kind of genre

full of stage presence and hype

when he has a message

he fucking gets it across

because he’s so assertive

as well as those catchy melodies

just messy af hair

doesn’t care for it to be any particular length or style

just keep it natural

in fact, fuck visuals

no dress sense whatsoever

like he has a green shirt on with pink jeans and yellow converse

sound is all that matters

so what else?

solitary

like he could be backed up by a band

but fuck that

if he has the equipment that can do it all then why not?

it’s easier to work alone

so he supports like 876 charity events

and has a big share of festivals

headline material

especially at the proper hippie festivals

great for people high af

great for drunkards

great for sober peeps too

you get it, great for everyone

apart from perhaps kids

cos swearing

sometimes you need that bit of aggression in lyrics, right?

he’s not as aggressive as he might seem on stage

but something is pent up in there

and he is one rough boy

actually, a lot like badboy!suga

can handle anything

but can you handle him?

J-Hope

idk why I always imagine him as a skater

but here we go

in a skate punk band

bass player

can also do drums tho

backwards caps for life

that one band member you think is shy af

cos he seems so quiet

but the moment you say ‘hey’ and congratulate him on a good show

he can talk your ear off for hours

again no drugs

but plenty of beer

cos getting drunk is funnier

the world is a more enjoyable place with skate punk and alcohol

seriously it really is, take that from me hahah

graffiti projects

either for promotion

or to help like restless kids as a distraction or something

let’s just say that’s something he can relate to

may or may not be how he got into this whole skate punk stuff

so yeah will take any charity gig

doesn’t mind if venues pay him in beer

he would have spent the dollar on that anyways

all about living it up with his mates

bros before hoes

has a side band that’s like party punk

any excuse to get bros together

for a good old knees up

only bands of his close friends get played in the car

girls are quite interested in him

but lmao he’s having none of it

he just wants to embrace life

don’t need anything more than mates and family

but he writes really cool songs on the topic of love

you know without being too soppy with it being punk and all

but it’s fucking amazing

but no one knows where he gets the ideas from

no one knows where he gets his energy from either

will jump off everything and anything

on certain days, he’ll climb everything and anything too

just a fun loving cool punk

Jimin

more or less that one guy you see everywhere on the scene

he’s not in a band

doesn’t really do his own music

but he’s a fan of his scene

every weekend, he’s somewhere to see punk music

be it the local pub for one of his faves

or a town centre for a punk charity thing

or even miles away to see someone he knows getting bigger

leather

with a few patches

piercings

all the ear piercings you could imagine

lips and tongue

used to have an eyebrow one

but decided he looked too generic

or like a chav

something or other

he knows he doesn’t have the most original look

but he can’t stand being too similar to someone else

if anyone in this room tonight is wearing a leather jacket and completely black clothing

he might just tear it off himself and / or burn it

abs and tatts are a good look anyone so doesn’t matter

probably works out to punk music

high school drop out

because he started to realize how useless it is

so he’s generally clever where it’s more relevant in life

saves money well

good paying job

can fund his love for punk basically

and each and every band he supports fully appreciates it

I’m sorry guys I swear there isn’t a not fluffy Jimin gif for me to use hahaha

so yeah I’m sorry if this turns out too similar to

badboy!V

because I literally made him a punk in that hc

I’m thinking he’s a lead singer of a punk band

that raspy voice works to his advantage

capable of hardcore punk genres

but prefers and sticks to a more rock n roll kind of punk

long hair

whatever colour he feels like this month

piercings galore

tatts galore

will put a needle anywhere on his body

lives on the edge

lives in the moment

yolo

arrests

protests

he’s done it all

cos fuck the law man

if something about society bothers him

he will speak up

fearless boy

will get his band a gig anywhere in the country

he has things he needs to say

thoughts to spread

only uses social media for punk

his profile is just of gig pictures of his own and sharing events

not your typical singer

kind of writes everything

the band just copy / pick up what he shows them

busks alone sometimes too

may or may not make extra dollar from sneaky acoustic gigs

but it’s not out of selfishness, no

he will always have a goal in mind

and good intentions

like he wants to band to afford professional recordings

or he wants to set up and event

that kind of thing

pay attention

to the things he talks about in his music

you’ll learn a lot

Jungkook

drummer

just needs to hit something

so as long as it isn’t people then great

basically the world screwed him over in some way at some point

and it made him rethink his views about the world

for ages it was restless frustration about it all

but then he discovered punk

the day he discovered his local scene

he wrote random poetry for days

the words had flow to them

but they were unconventional

and then a mate sees it

and he’s like “dude this is sick”

and a band is formed

likes a bit of everything

has friends he can go to the skate park with

has mates to mosh with at hardcore gigs

has friends he can chill with for ska

quite a late learner with the drums

but he must have a natural talent for it

because he becomes amazing in just under 2 years

can do any genre of punk

everyone wants him in their new projects

he’s the guy everyone needs if their guy quits

you know, the demand for Jungkook’s drumming is insance

fortunately he’s wise enough to just stick with the first 3 bands

cos like I say not only does he drum for them

but his creative input for lyrics is huge

just sit him down, give him a topic and bam

he’s just written you a verse and chorus

what else?

50% backwards caps

25% forwards cap

25% lost his cap

somewhat forgetful in areas other than drumming

maybe a bit of a stoner like

“oh yeah man! I forgot about that!

the way his cap is on does often depend on level of alcohol in his blood

forwards for business

backwards for sloshed party animal

breaks a lot of drum sticks by accident

breaks a few hearts by accident welp

I guess girls and guys just notice the muscle

which he never hides well

cos of course as a drummer, you’re gonna wear a vest really

yeah, that’s pretty much it

51 notes · View notes

kimonobeat · 6 years

Photo

aiko bon: “Yume no Naka no Massugu na Michi” liner notes

aiko’s 6th studio album, released March 2, 2005.

Aoi Hikari (青い光; Blue Light)

Koibito Doushi (恋人同士; Couples)

Energy (エナジー)

Ashita mo Itsumodoori ni (明日もいつも通りに; The Same as Always Again Tomorrow)

Kaban (かばん; Bag) ★not translated by me

Koi no Namida (恋の涙; Tears of Love)

Vidro no Yoru (ビードロの夜; Night of Glass)

Ai no Shigusa (愛のしぐさ; Acts of Love)

Zutto Chikaku ni (ずっと近くに; Always Closeby)

Smooch!

Hana Kaze (花風; Flower Wind)

Mikuni Eki (三国駅; Mikuni Station) ★not translated by me

Hoshi Monogatari (星物語; Star Story)

(Thank you tbgxbdg for the commission!)

☑ The album as a whole

It’s a very deep and heavy album. And yet as I was writing it, I feel like I just wanted to look on the bright side. Each song is so heavy, so deep, but then I pull myself together… I was able to do all the things I wanted to do: “Smooch!” is the sort of song I only would’ve been able to pull off right now, there’s lyrics I wrote more politely, and I feel like there’s a lot of ‘brand new aiko’ on it. It’s like the different parts of aiko that used to be on the right and the left and in the middle before are all one now. There were moments on the day I debuted where I braced myself for the good and the bad. I thought, “This is all I have.” Writing my 6th album sort of made me realize I’d forgotten how that felt. I almost feel as if I’ve had to accept that about myself all over again. Whether it’s a sad song, a happy song, or a heartbreaking song, in the end I just write about whatever compels me at the time. I hope you can tell.

☑ Aoi Hikari (Blue Light)

Once I finished this song I was like, “This album’s gonna be alright. I can do this.” I finished it sometime in October or September last year. It was between that and “Mikuni Eki” for a single. I ended up putting it on this album instead because I really, really wanted it to be the first track representing the whole thing. It honestly just popped into my head all at once when I wrote it. The chorus came to me first, then I added the first and second verses, and then the bridge. The melody of the second verse is pretty crucial. In the lyrics I was able to write about things I’d been thinking about but couldn’t put into wordsーlike, I was able to express the painful, innocent parts of me, the ones that are very, very precious to me. I’m really happy about that. It’s also one of the few songs where I use the masculine pronoun ‘boku’. I normally use the pronoun ‘watashi’, but when I use ‘boku’ every now and then I find that I can be a lot more honest. I think using the word ‘boku’ helped me find the words I’d been searching and searching for all this time. Of all the songs I’ve written so far, this song has a very wide, open image to it. It always makes me feel like I’m floating high in the sky, personally. That’s why I gave it that title.

☑ Koibito Doushi (Couples)

Working on this song was quite the struggle for the musicians because of the weird time signature, but it’s a lot of fun for me to sing. The song goes in every directionーit goes here and thereーand when I was singing it, I was like, “Okay, next I’m going to sing it like THIS!” The tempo never changes; it just sounds like it is because of the arrangement, which I find interesting. The way the musicians perform it and the way they change the rhythm makes it sound like the tempo is changing, but it’s all the same tempo. Singing those parts is a lot of fun, too. I have a lot of songs where there’s a bunch of string players performing. There weren’t very many people in this song, though, which is a good thing when you listen to it. The violins in this song make it nice and lively. Although guys might listen to this song and say, “I don’t get girls!”, when I wrote the song I was thinking the oppositeーmaybe the things we think about are pure and straightforward.

☑ Energy

This one’s a rock song. On this album I communicate through nuancesーwell, I do all kinds of things, like getting my point across with the vibe rather than the melody. Like on this song. Once I get into the second half I’m singing with a big ‘Oh, I see!’ grin on my face. There’s also a section halfway through the song, at the chorus, where the guitars start playing ska. I played it on my piano as ska in the original demo tape for the song, and they picked up on that when they did the arrangement. That makes it aiko’s one and only novice ‘ska’ song. Or I guess, ska-like song? (laughs) It’s a mutual love song, but also the first song in a while where I’m telling them what to do. You see it pop up in the lyrics: “Do this, do that.”

☑ Ashita mo Itsumodoori ni (The Same as Always Again Tomorrow)

This one’s a medium-tempo ballad. I feel a lot of regret in the lyrics. No matter how many times I experience love, I never seem to learn anything from it, you know? I understand but always end being unprepared for it, and because of that I think of every single person as a once-in-a-lifetime romance. I took those feelings and wrote about them in the lyrics. Somebody told me, “As big as the world may be, I think you may be the first singer in the J-POP world to ever use the words ‘leaky faucet’ in your lyrics.” (laughs) I think the ordinary things in life are the ones that pull at your heartstrings the most. All it takes is something small and insignificant like a leaky faucet to open the floodgates for me, you know? I suddenly just felt SO sad and then wrote this song. I personally love triplets as a rhythm because they feel so good to sing. I really belted this one out though. Likeーand I mean this in a very positive wayーI sang this song with a lot more fullness than I usually do. Writing this song was like, “Whew, I need to take a little break after singing so passionately!”

☑ Kaban (Bag)

Wow, this really takes me back. I hadn’t ever written a song like it at the time so to this day, I’m really glad I wrote it. I’m not sure when I’ll encounter another song quite like this again. I’m really glad I was able to write it when I did.

☑ Koi no Namida (Tears of Love)

I love the pizzicato in the beginning. They worked so hard in it. At first they told me it might be a bit difficult to make the phrase pizzicato when it reappears. But they made it happen, which I’m very happy about. This song was more of a medium tempo in the actual demo tape, but I was like, “Hey, why not bring the tempo up a bit?” and it gave the song a bit of a rock feel. The melody’s really cute when you listen to it by itself. We decided to go with the approach of making it more of a rock song instead of piling on the cute. Because of that, I feel like this song changed the most from the demo stage. The lyrics are about getting dumped but in the song, the girl still hasn’t given up hope that they’ll get back together. When I finished the melody it felt like I’d come full circle. It almost feels like something I would’ve written a long time ago. I really feel like I came up with an honest, straightforward melody here. A little bit ago I probably would’ve added in some ad-libbing or something like that. I think I’ve sorta come full circle just playing the melody straight, as-is.

☑ Vidro no Yoru (Night of Glass)

The word ‘vidro (’glass’ in Italian)’ has such a lonely vibe to it, don’t you think? It sounds like you’re all by yourself. That’s the image I had in mind when I wrote it, even though it’s got a rock sound to it. Osada [Susumu] arranged this song for me. Isn’t he just amazing? The guitars stand out in this song which made it a little bit hard to like, find a balance within the flow of the album for it, but I think it really ties the whole thing together. I was actually stuck trying to decide whether to make “Kotori Kouen” or “Vidro” the B-side to “Mikuni Eki”. I thought “Vidro” had a more solid, lingering afterimage to it though, so I held onto it with the hope of including it on something else. I decided to put it on this album because of its flow. I was really glad to see Mr. Osada get caught up in the lyrics while we were recording, too. He seemed to really enjoy the “Whether you can really hear the sound of my heart wearing thin” part. “I’m always surrounded by old guys. If they ever ask me why I listen to your music, aiko, I’ll tell ‘em: THIS!” he said, then he went home. (laughs) I always say, “Thank you so much for that very normal reaction!” Deep down, that made me super happy thoughーI was ecstatic!

☑ Ai no Shigusa (Acts of Love)

The way I pumped this one out, it was kinda like it’d possessed me. I usually write a chorus first, then go home and write the rest cooped up at my place. But this one I finished writing in no time at the studio. The lyrics are worded a little bit more politely―a bit of distance has formed between me and the person I like, so I’m being extra polite to them on purpose to get them to notice me. There’s almost like, a despicableness to it. (laughs) Or like, a meanness to it I guess. I do that sometimes. If I get into a fight with someone I’m friends with, I’ll change my tone and start speaking super politely to them. I do it to get them to realize just how mad they made me. Some people don’t, though. (laughs) I really like the way the rhythm changes like, halfway through the song. And I love some of the ballads I came up with on this album even though they’re really heavy.

☑ Zutto Chikaku ni (Forever Close)

I wrote this one 2 or 3 years ago. It’s got a jazzy arrangement to it. We mixed it so that it felt small in scaleーto make it sound like everything is really close. We did the horn section for cheap because there weren’t very many of them, too. That also gives it a really nice vibe, I think. I really love this song. It’s finally on a CD now. This one’s in three-four time too. I really must love three-four time, huh? This is the first time I’ve ever ad-libbed with horns in the back. So like… a collaboration? (laughs) It just feels nice. This is a song I’d really like to do live sometime on a small scale. I’d like that someday. The lyrics make me imagine a dried-up riverbed. I wrote them 2 or 3 years ago but wrote the second chorus recently after being reminded of the same exact feelings I was having then. It brought back so many memories for me.

☑ Smooch!

“Smooch!” refers to the sound you make when you kiss. It’s been a while since I had a title in English, hasn’t it? I named the song “feed us” after a sticker that just happened to catch my eye when I wrote it and put it on the demo tape. Once we’d recorded the vocals and finished up everything including the arrangement, I decided that because that sticker was what inspired me, I ought to make the title in English too. And “Smooch!” was what I found. The first line of this song has a lot of impact, I think. That was what was on the demo tape I made at home. I thought for sure they wouldn’t like it when I brought it with me [to the studio], but they seemed to think it was neat. I was like, “Okiedokie then!” (laughs) I was so excited when I finished the melody, I just wanted to record it as soon as possible! They managed to arrange it exactly the way I wanted it too, so I’m really glad I wrote this song, and that I finished it when I did. Oh, and I’m the one doing the whistling at the end. I’m totally hopeless at it though. (laughs) I actually forgot we’d added in the whistling and was like, “There’s some kind of weird noise in the song.” So then I said, “Um, excuse me…” and found out it was me. Kinda feels like I want you guys to check out how bad my whistling is. (laughs)

☑ Hanakaze (Flower Wind)

Oh man, I had tons of opportunities to sing this song on TV at the end of year, like on “Kouhaku”. The people in the audience come to see all the different artists during specials… and then there was my fans, shouting, “aiko, we’re over here!” when I sang “Hana Kaze”. It was really encouraging. I remember thinking to myself, “I’m nervous, but I’m going to give it my best shot,” and just singing with everything I had in me. We did a lot of things with this song: it was a baseball theme song, and we shot 2 music videos for it too. I feel like I’ve been wanting to look on the bright side ever since, and that I was able to create this album because that feeling took root then. And of course, that positivity really comes through in this song.

☑ Mikuni Eki (Mikuni Station)

Writing this song and releasing it as a single makes me sort of excited to go back home to Mikuni, now. It’s become an even more sacred place for me. It’s like I made my own song commemorating it. I really makes me feel like I got to reflect on all the things that’ve happened, with the friends I made when I was just a student, people who have supported me. Apparently people in Kansai are like, “Why Mikuni?” It’s that much of a local thing. So why Mikuni of all place? Well, because towns like those shine so bright to me.

☑ Hoshi Monogatari (Star Story)

With this song, I was able to express the kind of person I am now. It’s genuinely who i am nowーI mean, like, I really want to be the kind of person who goes home after recording and still is super positive even though I’m beat. But I think that is who I am now. I do fun stuff, and I’m recording music, so even when I’m tired I’m always looking on the bright side. I think that’s important. I feel like the person I am now really comes through in this song. When I get home to my apartment building and into my room, the moon’s always super bright in the sky somewhere over here, right around the time I get off the elevator and walk down the hallway. I look at it and go, “Ah, the weather was nice today, wonder what it’s gonna be like tomorrow.” And then I look at the stars and go, “Ah, it’s almost (month) so this star won’t be up there anymore.” I look at them for a moment and just have a nice, relaxing moment to myself. It’s just for a few seconds, three or so. This song came to be by doing that every single day. The apartment building I’m living in right now, and the things I think and feel in the rhythm of my daily life became a song. And it’s got the perfect sound. It’s exactly what I wanted. It used to just be the first half, actually. I added another verse A to it because I wanted to make just a little bit bigger, and then it was the absolutely perfect size for the version of myself depicted in the song. This song really only could’ve come together right at this moment in time.

#aiko #yanai aiko #aiko yanai #yume no naka no massugu na michi #translation

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steve0discusses · 6 years

Text

Yugioh S2 Ep4: How to Go on a Date Without Actually Going on a Date

Ah, summertime! Love is in the air, can’t you feel it?

Well uh...thunderclouds. I guess. It’s ominously pouring rain. It’s as if the show has turned in it’s squeaky swivel chair said to us “look, we’re giving you a date episode...but don’t you be gettin’ any ideas!” and then swiveled right back around to face a blank wall.

I’m sure that they will put in some sort of cute backdrop...eventually.

While mopping the gross purple floor and talking about Joey’s nuts soap opera family.

Y’all did they get reference for this shot? I sure hope so. I sure hope that in some animation studio in Japan, two dudes fumbled together to assemble this particular formation, and then a third dude was like “Perrrrfect, now can you hold that for five minutes for me so I can draw it out?”

(read more under the cut)

So here and now, suddenly inspired by the very romantic tableau of threatening rain and thunder, Yugi sees an opportunity to fill out that bucket list, as it is the end of the world and all. So, he cracks his knuckles, remembers the advice from his Grandfather, wisely decides to forget that advice, and stumbles through the absolute weirdest way to officially ask out the girl you’ve been unofficially dating since you were like 10:

...

Start over.

So...he goes up to Tea...starts asking her out--but then makes it into a blind date with the ghost in his body? Because he’s...concerned about Pharaoh?

OK kid.

It’s just very Muto in that not only does he ask this girl out in the pouring rain, probably hoping for a lightning cue that thankfully never came, but this date can only be done through the medium of a very sad dead guy.

And even Tea wonders “I talk to Pharaoh kind of a lot, what the hell are you going on about?”

But what do you do, girl? Looks like you got stuck on a date trap with a dead dude! At least he has the better butt!

Now, you might say “Rach, he didn’t use the word “date” so this isn’t a date.” but y’all must’ve had a very different high school experience than I, because, unless forced to go to a socially obligatory dance, High Schoolers generally never say “lets go on a date,” they make sneaky date traps.

This is universal, the classic “I REALLY need your help with something I can easily accomplish myself. Meet me at the mall, although we could do this probably right now at school. Don’t bring Joey.”

So, Yugi either has a lot of trust in Pharaoh, or he’s seeing this as a clever way to avoid the actual dating part of dating Tea.

Dude...he’s on to something here. This is an ascended level of friend-zoning. Here I was thinking Yugi was pretty worthless with that puzzle, and then he just BAM unlocks it’s actual, true potential with the ultimate dating dodge. Like, Tea can’t even be mad. He’s on the date even. But also--*not on the date*--gets to enjoy the fun stupid stuff-- *doesn’t have to do any boring stuff*--Goes on a date--*but can’t call it a relationship if it wasn’t hypothetically with yourself* like this actually a pretty great set up and at first I was like wow, what an idiot, and now I’m like 5 paragraphs later and low key jealous I can’t do this Schrödinger's Date nonsense myself.

Anyway, despite how awkward he made it, Yugi is SUPER excited about this date. It’s ALMOST as if he’s going on it himself--which again, he is not. He’s just fretting in a mirror going all “Pharaoh’s gonna freakin love this. I love setting up my friends! Especially when they share the same body as me! Hahaha don’t think about it!”

But apparently Pharaoh was totally sleeping when Yugi was talking to Tea (and probably is whenever Tea shows up, lets be real) because he has no idea that Yugi has done this.

First off--Yugi’s art on the wall.

Ok, glad we all saw it together.

Second off, I love the motif of “kid is going on a date, so he throws everything he owns onto his bed and throws on the other half his closet to make the most ridiculous joke combo” because here it means Pharaoh has to wear the same weird ass outfit.

Y’all I cannot believe this anime is doing this three-way I just cannot. It’s been like a full season building up to it but it still feels VERY sudden.

And, as you know, I have a superpower that makes me immune to shipping, I dunno...maybe it’s because I grew up with the nuts Harry Potter era of ships (freakin Snape/Lily)? Or maybe that I come from the era of Kingdom Hearts-style romance twists (whooo will he eat ice cream with)? I feel like I can’t throw too many rocks at this ship because I know when my house is glass. Especially since I enjoy shows that are bonkers, I’ve seen some weird ass dating stuff that didn’t make me bat an eyelash. I watched Season 2 of Seaquest where at least 2 people accidentally ask out their own Mother. I would double check, but it was so awful Netflix pulled it (or trust me I’d be recapping that show, too)

Personally, I have never wanted to date a ghost but I guarantee other people have thought about it. And, youknow, if it’ll make the 2002-era tweens that were super excited about this ship happy, lets get these kids on a date and get this over with. With the Pharaoh that died at hell knows what age, was reborn so hypothetically you could also argue he’s only like a couple years old, and was mind wiping up until basically a couple weeks ago. Whatever, it’s a new season, he’s a new boy, just, don’t think about it, sit back and enjoy it for what it -- HOLY CRAP

What fake-goth funeral date are you going to here!? Wow. This is...This is a bad choice of clothes! It’s the middle of the day! Other people are in shorts. He is wearing so many chains from his neck, to his bracelets...also he still has that massive bike lock chain on - the one that went through a FIRE.

And does his shoes have freakin studs?

At least neck belt is still here.

I’d say he doubles as a stage tech but with those 7 bangles he’s got on, he would make too much noise. He’d sound like a freakin wind chime.

Anyways, Yugi switches places and Pharaoh freaks the Hell out like he’s been pranked. I wish it were a prank, y’all, I wish it were. But this is actually happening on this television show where the only other legit romance we saw was Pegasus macking a ghost.

MAN ghosts gets a lot of action in this show.

Now, this anime gets a lot of flack, but it does do one thing, and that’s make me appreciate something I forget a lot of the time when I see character designs in pictures rather than in motion. And it’s that that character design’s aesthetic includes physics. Sometimes--like very often in Yugioh--the aesthetic is mostly about those physics and what all these separate pieces do when they move.

In Yugioh, the designs are a hot mess. I can’t say they aren’t. But, there is a reason why he has all those moving bangles--it’s because he holds cards a lot and that’s where is camera is. I guarantee, when jacket comes back it’ll be flowing in the wind 100% of the time. Every single one of Yugi’s weird bangs can sway around like a weather vane.

So, while this looks not great from the get go, by the time you’ve watched Yugioh for a while, it all comes back together somehow. That’s the thing--that’s what Yugioh proves, it’s that no matter how freakin weird and abstract your design is, if it has the right physics, you’ll have a good time, and that’s an aesthetic all in itself that can’t be described in photo caps.

BUT

but

but, it’s still hella fun to roast Yugi for it because like--look what he’s wearing.

First stop on their date: a diner of lies that gave us no anime food. Just some nondescript milkshake. Every time we see a diner and I don’t get to see anime food my heart shrivels a little smaller like the Grinch.

Yo I assumed the neck belt was attached to the belt-shirt before--but I guess not. Oh man was belt shirt a turtleneck the whole time??? A belt TURTLENECK?

Tea decides to pull out her idea. The idea that Yugi asked her to give Pharaoh--that she could have just...given...straight to Yugi...but here it is. Here’s the big Tea idea.

Tea suggests “Listen, you don’t know who you’re going to be, but that’s true of everyone” which kind of ignores destiny and prophecies and the end of the world, but she’s gonna be a dancer, OK? And because Pharaoh hasn’t seen very much of the world, and is as impressionable as a newborn lamb, he just soaks it right up.

And so they decide not to go to the Museum because Pharaoh’s not feeling it. Probably also has a sixth sense that the museum is currently staffed by the most boring Millennium Item.

FYI this is exactly what my local Dave & Busters looks like floor to ceiling. It’s a real disappointment. It has only 1 DDR machine and one off brand DDR machine, unlike this place.

Yugioh has more diversity than most Anime I’ve seen, but it’s still a work in progress. Also, it’s hard to spot but keep an eye out for this guy’s fringe moccasins.

...Someone brought their briefcase to the arcade? Wh...why?

This whole episode is a whole lot of why.

WHAT?

Everyone just kinda watched this go down?

Again, I’ve never actually played DDR at an arcade because it’s always taken by two sweaty high schoolers who are sweating like ALL OVER the handlebars, and I’m just like...I could ask them to move or...I could not touch their sweat? So, long story short, if DDR involves elbowing each other in the face, this is news to me, and I have been missing out.

Long story short, she wins. We actually get to see Tea use her one and only useful skill--dance fighting. We’ll probably never see it again. Glad they gave us a very long narcissistic Tea dancing montage while they were there. Wish it was done to ska, but you can’t have everything.

And right when this settles into a romantic sunset I start to worry because we’re getting VERY close to a non-vague situation. The show senses this too and just, out of no where, pulls any distraction to get them away from said sunset.

Y’all how do you even manage to draw a spike mullet with dreads?

And here we all thought we’d get through this episode without cards!

JK, you were absolutely right for thinking that.

In her defense, he did try to elbow jab her in the head.

Anyways, after seeing Tea tear through Johnny Steps, Pharaoh feels like maybe he can handle whatever crazy thing happened to him 5000 years ago. He decides “Lets go recklessly open that Pandora’s box!”

I just noticed his second belt has a fanny pack on the butt for his cards.

Well, that was...still vague somehow. Good. Got me worried there for a second.

Next week, on Yugioh:

Bets on how long it takes for the show to never mention this date again and immediately forget these two were an item, I’m betting at the very beginning of the next episode? Are we going to get the same exposition but for the second time--will I even have anything to recap? In the dark is Yugi just a pair of swinging arms?

#yugioh #yugioh recap #s2 ep4 #yugi muto #tea gardner #johnny steps #so many belts #so many bangles #the other day it came to my attention that the tag for yugioh is ygo #and that is the most 00's thing I've ever heard #hell did that happen #obligatory date episode #would you even date a ghost #if the ghost shared the same body #as your most awkward freind

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unusual-ly · 6 years

Text

Zombie-tongue translations AKA Ly is once again way too invested in fictional things

Don't judge me

I wasn't gonna trust my own bad hearing on his rap so I found that in the YouTube comments on the My Year video, idk if that person wrote it by ear or copied it from somewhere, so that may or may not be official lyrics. It did look copy/pasted so there's a chance? The rest I just played over and over again and wrote down whatever I thought it sounded like, sometimes I couldn't quite tell exactly what it was so I put down a few possibilities and that's where there's /'s. Anyway, here's some notes on how I figured some of these out, just in case it's not obvious. If anyone has some suggestions for what I couldn't translate or alternate translations to what I could, go ahead and share 'em~!

Notes/explanations:

I'm sure we all got "grusic", "za" and "gar-garziga" down straight away. And probably "zagrabage" too, so there's no need to go into them. I'm not feeling too ambitious so all I'll say on the rap is that I think "ziggy" could be "hungry", if only cuz it's the most similar sounding word there? And evidently, you add "-ka" or "-ska" to the end of a name, I'd guess which one you use depends on what flows better with the last syllable of the name. Alternatively, "-ka" could be used for zombie names and "-ska" for human names...?

I guessed "zu ru" pretty quickly because it seems pretty obvious to say "for you" when giving someone something like that, and it fits the kind of syllable count/near-rhyming pattern I'm seeing (side note, this is the most precious moment, his voice is so soft and his tiny smile...!!!)

"Hug-ga ru, za?", again, has a pretty obvious meaning but it's more how it's written/punctuated that I wanted to get down. Since "za" is "yes", it could easily be used for, like, asking for confirmation/permission and I had picked up that "ru" is "you", I could put all that together and that would make "-ga" a sort of signifier or something? It's been a while since I took English language so I don't remember if that's the right word but I'll just hope you know what I mean (you could always just ask me if you don't)

I'm not too sure about his response to "no more classes in a dingy basement!". He might be saying his own name, I can't tell if there's a 'B' there or not, which could mean zombies refer to themselves in third person, or it could just be a habit Bonzo has (more fuel for my autism headcanon!). If not, I don't know what he could mean. "Gu reh"/"greh", I think could mean "go in"? Just "let's go in"? Seems like it could be something a bit more than that, but it's a possibility. Thoughts on this one...?

Then as Zed, Eliza and Bonzo are walking past the "no zombies" graffiti and Zed is talking about Addison, Bonzo makes a comment "zabaya/zabala greeska". If "-ska" is like an honorific/signifier-type thing for a person, and, as in a later line, "gree( r )" means "cheer", "greeska" could be "cheerleader", which fits nicely into the context. He's making some comment about Addison which Zed pretends to laugh at and snaps "very funny". So "zabaya" or "zabala" is something Zed would be annoyed at him for saying

Ah, "gazar nutty garzain garstick". Oh, Addy. You tried. Might not seem obvious at first, aside from "nutty", but it does really make sense. Pretty much explained in the table. But what's interesting about this one is we can pick up something about the grammar/syntax/structure of Zombie-tongue from it. The phrase only seems to have "thanks", "peanut butter" (or just "peanut", I guess) and "umbrella", which would mean the "rubbing" part would have to be implied. So Zombie doesn't really structure its sentences like English does, which kind of brings us back to the idea that the language was made to be easier for zombies to articulate. Dropping particles of speech and mostly unnecessary words would help as well. I think a more direct translation would be "thanks for the peanut-butter-y umbrella". That's a thing I just typed. Let's move on

WHATEVER THE HELL BONZO SAYS TO ZED AFTER BAMM. I DON'T KNOW. BUT IT MEANS "WHAT'S UP?" BASICALLY. At first I thought it ended with "-zo" but with the context, "what's up?" or "something up?" made sense and the pattern tells me it should be "-zup", plus it had to be something that Zed could respond to with "I don't know". I just can't tell if that was a 'B' or a 'G'. Can anyone tell? Then "zorog" or "zoro", to which Zed says "don't worry". Just saying "worry" or "worried" to show concern, again, could just be a way of simplifying speech for zombies... or it could be even more fuel for the autism headcanon. Still, any other ideas what it could mean?

"Agraza"/"agaraza". I have no idea. I wonder if Bonzo knows what they're actually doing with the Z-bands? Maybe he was asking what she was talking about? Is he suggesting an actual answer? This one just completely eludes me

And finally, "deh gree( r ) jadganook" gets directly translated by Zed! And I have no clue how to spell the Zombie for "championship", or if there's an 'R' in the Zombie for "cheer" but it's coming up to 1am and I have spent almost an hour on this already

... This was fun. I kinda wish there was more *^* Please, Disney, give us either a sequel or, better yet, a series, if for no other reason than for me to translate Zombie-tongue

#zombies dcom #Disney zombies #Disney's zombies #z o m b i e s #ZOMBIES #huggy boy #zombie tongue

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dentalrecordsmusic · 6 years

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Starry-Eyed Curiosity: An Interview with Curtis Cooper

Photo courtesy of Catherine Dempsey

"Every time Rancid puts out a new single, I feel like I've heard it so many times,” says Curtis Cooper. "They don't even care anymore. I think there's a limit to good creativity if you stick to the same genre, but if you're flexible you can write forever.”

Cooper is seated in a porch chair playing with their blond locks. Their Choking Victim t-shirt is a noticeable reflection of their roots, but not the end-all-be-all. Cooper lists their influences all over the musical map, from Elliot Smith to The Unseen, Amy Winehouse to Bright Eyes — wherever they find their home in the world of noise and sound is simply whatever strikes them with surprise and beatific style.

Cooper began playing music when they were four, learning Elvis melodies “because [they] couldn’t physically play chords yet.” After finding themselves in the midst of Beatles worship, Cooper discovered Nirvana when they were 12. “I just learned Nirvana songs for years and I got really into punk in high school when I was 16, and I started playing in bands but it was more like, ‘Let's get as drunk as we can.’ No one was paying attention to what was going on.”

Cooper’s first ever band was called Don’t Get Caught! when they were 17, an obvious nod at an Against Me! reference complete with an exclamation point for emphasis. "A lot of the songs were just about getting fucked up and drinking and drugs and they were nonsensicle and we didn't put in the time and we were just getting fucked up,” Cooper says. "That was just that point in time. At the time for me, music was secondary and drinking and drugs were the priority. It's a bit more focused these days,” they say with a laugh.

The 29-year-old Philly native has dipped their toe into genres and sounds that are scattered and yet oddly fitting. They first came to DRM’s attention back when they were fronting the punk outfit Community Service. The band released J-a.w/n< in August 2013 and found that they quickly became a staple of the Philadelphia punk scene. The band was fun, upbeat, no-frills punk rock with a silly sly smile and an undertone of ska.

"When I started Community Service it was a demo thing and it was just me playing dumb demo shit and then I started trying to focus more, and it wasn't just punk,” they say. "It was sad boy songs and punk and I remember when I got back to Philly [from Boston] and was playing with this nasty drummer Luke Dillon, after we graduated and moved back home I kept playing with Miles and Will and we did that for a couple years. We got all the stupid out of our system."

Touring was no easy feat for Cooper and their bandmates. Most baby bands tend to take any show they can get their hands on — Community Service was no different. "We would start in Baltimore and then we'd take a show in Rockhill, South Carolina which is like an 8-hour drive and sometimes the routes would take us close to home [in Philly] and that's what would fuck us up,” they say. "If we passed through Philly and had a day off, you'd be like, 'I wish I could be home now, why am I playing these stupid shows?’”

The band had a habit of playing hard in more ways than simply playing their instruments. "I was always fine mentally but you could see the others where slipping, after two and a half weeks in a car, we were just drinking [alcohol] and Red Bull, drinking and Red Bull,” they say. "I would get home and be like, ‘What did I do to myself?’ Some people would be in the van freaking out like, ‘What the fuck are we doing?!'"

Around the same time Cooper was playing with Community Service, they went on to write and perform solo acoustic-based music, releasing their first solo record, Laughing In Line in January 2016. "Right after I started doing my acoustic stuff I was like, ‘Ehh I'm kind of done with punk,’” they say. "I still go to punk shows every once in a while but the scene isn't as rewarding to me but it depends on the kind of punk. It was really into rewarding stupid behavior like how much can you drink? That makes you cool. How many studs are on your jacket? So stupid. Are you kidding me? Fuck you.”

Cooper’s disillusionment in the punk scene sent them on a path towards more expressive and sensitive songwriting. "I feel like I was faking it in the punk scene,” they say. "I'm not hardcore at all. Dip my toe in kind of thing. I have a bunch of songs I wrote for my friend Morgan [Ganou] to sing and in my head I'm writing for Amy Winehouse. I like the energy of punk, but that energy could come from all kinds of music."

An album as colorfully composed as its accompanying artwork, Laughing In Line was Cooper’s introduction to their more sultry, creative, and quietly shocking approach to music. With songs featuring another talented voice, such as Ganou on track three “Happy and Sane,” Cooper was able to reach for influences, sounds, textures, and stark silences to create an atmosphere fit for indie-pop-acoustic dreams made reality. "When you play loud people talk over you,” Cooper says. "When you play quiet people will shut up and then they talk right over you. But I've learned that if I play loud and then I just shut up really fast it grabs people's attention. When I was playing house shows that was my trick. Then I started writing songs around those tricks which I definitely did for Laughing.”

Then along came Messy, a noisy, turbulent, and dingy journey through one’s own insecurities and bouts with self-destruction which Cooper reluctantly dropped in November 2017 and largely written on electric guitar in stark contrast to the last release, Laughing In Line. "I was so suicidal and I hope I'm never there in my life again,” they say. "I don't wanna do that. I was drinking a ton during that record. I go to sobriety meetings every now and then these days. I would just get drunk, wake up the next morning, and I'm suicidal. There's real addicts and they're struggling to survive. I don't have that problem but it's just like a mental instability problem. I guess the big thing I've learned is I say ‘no' to a lot of things. I can't hang out with everyone I used to hang out with.”

Messy was a hugely intimate portrayal of Cooper, who was uncertain the record would be too intense for listeners to digest. "Messy was way too personal and I went way too far,” they say. "I've never been one to shy away from sharing personal stuff but it was just way too honest. Some of the songs I did change the lyrics too and it was still way too honest. I would've gone back and changed the lyrics and made them more convoluted and not so direct. Buried the vocals more in the mix."

Being a non-binary artist plays a role in how Cooper is able to create their art, often avoiding people and things that don’t stick out as enjoyable or pleasant for them. "I wanna hang out with people who are cool with me being non-binary and know how to use my pronouns properly and don't care what I'm wearing. Those are the people I wanna hang out with,” they say. "People get stuck in saying they'll hang out with certain people and then I'm like, ‘Why the fuck did I say yes to this?' That's another side. Saying ‘no' doesn't mean you're a dick and people could interpret that as being a dick, but that's on them. There are people who don't like you, that's fine, fuck them.”

Cooper is noticeably thrilled to have completed their latest record, which currently has no working title. After starting with 15 tracks, they wrote it down to ten. They say there will be two instrumentals and claim it’s "weird and fun to play." This one is slated to be acoustic-based but it's built on some "Elliot Smith worship" and "a million double vocals.” "I recorded it in my room and it's not very clean,” they say. "It's definitely gonna be like a 'bedroom pop’ record.”

Cooper has extensive plans to tour this summer, joining Thin Lips who will be opening for Hop Along for a month, then Slaughter Beach Dog immediately after. Thin Lips just released their new single "A Song For Those Who Miss You All The Time.” "I gotta learn these Thin Lips songs and it's way harder than I thought it would be,” Cooper says. "I really did not think it would take me so long. They're fucking tough! The chords are so fucking weird so I have to do that, and we get back from tour September 5 and then I have an Amy Winehouse set on September 14th which is an hour long. I have to learn all these Amy Winehouse songs which is so much fun. It's in Germantown on her birthday. It's gonna be sick.”

Cooper has always had a ton of love for Amy Winehouse — when they first heard her prominent single, “Rehab,” they quickly went out and bought her sophomore record Back to Black. "I feel like I'm the weak link in the Amy Winehouse band so I gotta get my shit together,” they say. "It's gonna be difficult but so worth it. I feel like learning someone's songs gets you into their mindset. You're getting better and diving deeper. This is what its like to be depressed and going through addiction and also being so talented and making something so beautiful out of it. Amy sounds like a horn and she can just wail."

The future looks as though it’s painted in gold for Cooper, though it’s uncertain and constantly changing. However, their persistent hold on creativity and artistry leads one to believe that they aren’t done yet, and they won’t be done for some time. "I'm gonna be doing this forever so you can only write for yourself and if you don't like what you're doing then you're not gonna have fun,” they say. "I wanna be in a Primus cover band and an Amy Winehouse cover band and that would be insane,” Cooper says with a laugh.

Cooper will be playing with their full band (Jack Zaferes on Bass, Scott Stitzer on Drums) on June 28 at Space 1026 with Mal Blum and the Blums, Teenage Halloween and Ramona. They will also be playing with Thin Lips on July 24 opening for The Japandroids at Boot and Saddle, and August 25 at Philamoca opening for Slaughter Beach, Dog. Thin Lips with be on tour with Hop Along from July 28 - August 21 on a full US Tour, and then will be touring with Slaughter Beach, Dog from August 23 - September 2.

Keep up with Curtis Cooper on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

Catherine Dempsey has been laughing in line. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

#curtis cooper #community service #laughing in line #messy #punk rock #philadelphia #philly #acoustic #indie #music #interview #catherine dempsey #thin lips #hop along #teenage halloween #slaughter beach dog #the japandroids

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drawn-to-space · 7 years

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New Year, New Discoveries (part 1)

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It was new Year’s Eve, Yumi decided to spend some time with Ren and G for the occasion. She knew her brother and the rest of his band wouldn’t be able to come as they usually never were available and threw special concerts for the occasion to try to get themselves better known, as well as getting more money. But, it was fine. Since she hasn’t spent Christmas with Ren, though, she thought it was a great idea to have some activities during the Eve and the New Year.

G didn’t know much about Ren, as much as Yumi talks about her. He only hoped she wasn’t as odd as her brother of his odd group. But, then again, it wouldn’t be too bad. They were pretty nice, after all, and she also seemed pretty nice, as far as Yumi told him.

However, Yumi had too many ideas, what could she choose from?

“Hmmm... maybe we could go ice skating? I haven’t a while... and ramen? I wanted to go to that monster place... Oooh! We could even go to the Japanese festival nearby! I should wear a kimono...-” she thought out loud *Hey, you know I’m starting to wonder if you remembered that I’m here too. he said, cutting her, jokingly. “Aaah! I-I forgot y-you were... u-um...”

She flushed, she hates it when she talks to herself like that. At least, he didn’t seem to mind that much as he was chuckling.

*Eheheh, it’s fine. But, y’know you can just ask her, which things she’d be okay in doing. I’m good with everything, though. You come up with pretty fun stuff to do. he gave her a thumbs up. “Y-yeah, I’ll do that. A-and... thanks.” she bows her head, shyly. *Oh, and one more thing. What’s a... “kimono”? he askes, tilting his head. “... Y-You don’t know??” she asks, surprised. *No...? “W-well, it’s kind of- it’s- like a... aah, fuck, just- here.”

She gave him her phone, showing a picture and definition of a kimono.

*Ooooh! That’s what that’s called. Y’know you could’ve said that it’s “a Japanese dress” and I would’ve gotten that. he chuckles. “W-well, I’m really bad at explaining things so...” *Heh, it’s okay. But... you’re gonna buy something that expensive?? “W-what? No! I already have one! It was a gift from... my grandfather... w-when he passed away.”she explained, with a saddened tone in her voice.

Fuck, he didn’t mean to bring the mood down. She was really happy too. Dammit, he fucked it up.

*Shit, sorry, I-I didn’t mean to- “N-no, it’s fine. It’s not like you knew. Besides… it was a long time ago.”

Despite her trying to reassure him, her sad expression remained, looking at the ground and possibly thinking about her grandfather. To top it off, although G does not know this, Yumi considered her grandfather as her only real family, besides her brother, Yoru.

The few seconds of silence felt like an eternity. It’s not often that G saw her this sad, it broke his soul. He really wanted to give her a hug or… some sort of comfort. He hesitated for a bit, he isn’t usually very comfortable with initiating physical affection and he didn’t know if she would be. In the end, though, he decided to go through with it anyway. He just couldn’t leave her like that.

“U-um!?”

She didn’t exactly know how to react, her arm was reflexively placed between the two of them. She was so shocked that he hugged her that her cheeks turned a deep red. She was glad that he was comforting her, but it was still very VERY embarrassing. Hugging a skeleton was… very strange. The feeling was mutual. Well, maybe it’s a little unfair, considering he’s never hugged anyone before.

It didn’t take long before the hug was stopped. It seemed like G was also blushing a little but, seeing Yumi completely red made him even more embarrassed about it. They fell into another awkward silence.

“U-u-um… I-I’m going to call Ren.” she finally said, embarrassed. *O-okay. he replied, awkwardly. “A-and, um… t-thanks.” *Uh-… it’s no problem.

After another short awkward silence, she headed to her room to start getting ready and also call Ren back. Fucking hell, why does it always have to be so awkward? Damn the both of them for being socially awkward.

Ren accepted all of the activities, except the ice-skating. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know how to skate. It didn’t help that G had told Yumi, last minute, that he didn’t know how to either. Even if he didn’t mind still going, neither of the two women wanted to risk Ren or G getting hurt. So, I’m the afternoon they all met up at a popular Monster-owned Japanese restaurant that was both a sushi and ramen bar. Thus, they ordered a stack of sushi and they each had a ramen bowl. Even though Yumi wasn’t sure if they should order that much food because they may not be able to afford it, Ren insisted on paying the entirety of their meal.

“You’re way too nice, Ren… let me, at least, pay half!” Yumi insists. //“No, no, there’s no way I’m gonna let ye do tha’. This is just a repayment for not bein’ able to go ice-ska-in’. Besides, I’m way olda then ye, ye need yer cash! “B-but, it’s fine! I can-” //“I’m no’ takin’ no fer an answa. I’m payin’. An’ don’t even think abou’ repayin’ me.” she says, commandingly. “… O-okay.” she gave up. //“Good… Anywho, it’s nice ta meet ya, lad. What was ye name again?” she asks, turning to G. *… Uh-it’s ‘G’. //“Aaah, yes. I remember now. So yer the one makin’ Yumi’s lunches fer work, aye?” *Well, yeah, sometimes. he admits. //“Good, good, ye know it’s not often men cook for their ladies, y'know?” she smiles. *T-their ladies?? he asks, shyly. “Reeen!! How many times do I have to tell you! It’s not like that!” she scolds, embarrassed. //“Keeeheeheeheheheh! I know, I know. Just let me tease the lad a little, will ya?”

Their attention was cut off from the conversation to the waiter who brought their food. They thanked the waiter and immediately started to eat. It was unbelievably good. However, it seemed like Ren had one more comment to say about their previous conversation.

//“But, y'know… I really am grateful you’re helpin’ with the cookin’, since she’s no’ exactly the best chef out there.” she giggles. “Heeey!” Yumi pouts, despite knowing the truth. *Eheh, well… it’s the least I could do, really. Since she’s letting me stay for free and all. //“You’re right abou’ tha’, keeheeheh. Oh! Tha’ reminds me. I really should thank ya fer takin’ care of her when she was sick the other day! That was so kind of ya. But, ya should’ve told me, I would’ve done it and ya wouldn’t lose yer job!” she scolds him a little. *It’s really not a problem. The job was shit anyway. Uh- sorry. //“Kehhheeheeha! No problem lad, I don’t mind. But, then. I should treat you!”she smiles, enthusiastic. *N-no, that’s not- “Ren, NO! You’re already paying for all of our meals!” protests Yumi. //“Oh, come on, Yumi, it won’t kill me! I’ll buy you some crepes! I know a good place near where we’re headin’ too!” she insists. “THOSE ARE EXPENSIVE, REN.” she rejects, louder. //“Oh, shush, ye! I’m talkin’ to the lad. So, what do ye say?” she turns around towards G.

This wasn’t exactly a comfortable situation he was put in. On one hand, a woman he didn’t really know was tempting him into buying sweets for him. On the other, his friend was begging him with threatening eyes not to accept the offer for a good reason. However, he couldn’t resist, damn him for being a sweet tooth, despite not buying any very often. He could really go for a crepe, right now, and the woman did not seem like the type to let it go if ever he refuses. Besides, this will be the only time he lets someone do this.

*… Well… alright. he gives in. //“Yesss!” shouts Ren, cheerfully. “Goddammit, G!” *Sorry! I can’t resist… besides, I have a feeling she won’t leave me alone for this. “… Yeah, you’re right. Ren gets pretty intense for stuff like this.” sighs Yumi. //“Heey! I’m only being nice.” “ Ren, we both know you just want some crepes AND be nice.” she grins. //“Keheeheehaha! Ya got me there.” she laughs, caught in her act.

Seeing that he looked confused about what they were talking about, Yumi decided to briefly explain. It seemed like he wasn’t the only horrible sweet tooth in the group. Ren had a bad habit of, whenever a friend did something good she would treat them and herself some expensive sweets. Even though it doesn’t happen often, it does worry Yumi, sometimes, as she knows how hard it is for a monster to make money. Even though the Planetarium they work at thankfully doesn’t do that sort of thing and pays everyone equally, she still worries.

After their meal and crepes, it was finally time to head to the festival. By the time they walked towards the park the festival was located in, G had the time to be a little less awkward with Yumi’s friend. They had a strange dynamic, like sisters or mother and daughter, maybe a mix of the two. It was nice to see them interact, however, he was always caught off guard when they wanted him to join in their conversation. He should be used to it by now since it was the same with her brother’s band, yet, he couldn’t help but be stumped every time.

Despite joining a little in the giggling fit Ren was having, whenever that happened, Yumi was still a little confused as to why he always reacted that way. He was her friend, wouldn’t it be normal if she wanted him to be friends with her friends? Then again, maybe he was shy, which seems, sort of, out of character but, not impossible. She didn’t completely know him, after all, since it’s only been a month that they’ve known each other. However, he didn’t seem to mind her gesture, which made her happy that she could help him make more friends, after whatever happened to him before he was homeless.

As they approached the park, they stopped at a nearby small building where were public bathrooms inside. Yumi decided it was a good idea to change herself now, as she has forgotten to do so after they ate. Ren accompanied her to help her with her kimono, which is understandably hard to put on with one arm. However, G had waited for ten minutes and they still haven’t come out of the bathroom. He was starting to get impatient, shaking his leg as he sat down on a nearby bench and his soul, for some strange reason, was beating harder than usual. Was he excited? Worried? Frustrated for waiting for so long? He wasn’t sure and that bothered him. Finally, five minutes later Ren had come outside, looking apologetic. At least nothing bad happened. He walked up to her and wanted to ask where was Yumi, but she cut him off before he had the chance.

//“Hey, sorry, lad. I took so look because I wanted ta make a few tweaks with her outfit.” she chuckles awkwardly. *Tweaks? Well, where is- “R-Ren, I really don’t think this is nece-”

There she was. Her hair neatly tied in two small buns with a flower brooch on one side, a magnolia. She wore a royal blue kimono, simple, with magnolias growing from the bottom to her knees, some on the top of her sleeves, and a white obi. She didn’t even wear any makeup, other than a transparent gloss that seemed to have been forced on her by Ren, considering he knew how much she hated wearing any. It wasn’t that much of a change and yet… it hit him… hard. Not like a punch in the gut, more like a truck. Like a truck filled with butterflies crashed directly into his ribs. Painful, fluttery, ticklish and, most of all, sudden. He stiffed his entire body and reflexively gripped his shirt to try to ease it. But, he has no time to stop himself from blushing furiously, fixated on her, eyes widened. He’s had fluttery feelings before but, not to this extent. Why did he have such a strong reaction to this? He didn’t get it and before he could think further, he was brought back to reality by Ren’s laughter.

//“Kehheeheehehehahaha! Oh Asgore, I didn’t think ye’d react so strongly! Keheh, what’s the matter, lad? Too pretty to speak?” she teased him.

However, technically, she wasn’t wrong. He kept his mouth half opened and closing it multiple times, about to speak up, but never doing so. In reality, he just didn’t know what to say or what to do about this, still shocked by his own reaction. It didn’t help that Yumi didn’t seem very happy about this. While still blushing and looking down, she looked almost… angry? Or, something similar, at least. He wasn’t sure if he should even say or do anything, with her face like that. After he fully decided to not say a word, she spoke up, a few seconds afterwards.

“I’m going to take this off…” //“Wha-?? But why? Ye look so pretty with yer hair like that!” she asked, confused “I don’t care… I can’t.”

She stormed back in the bathroom with Ren following behind her, begging not to change back or undo whatever she did. However, Yumi did not listen, untying her hair and vigorously rubbing her lips with the sink’s water to remove the gloss. She wasn’t going to take off her kimono or hair brooch, but she didn’t want any of the extra pamperings.

//“Yumi, why!? This doesn’t make any sense, what yer doin’! Ye were really-” “I don’t care! I don’t want to be pretty… it doesn’t matter.” she cut her off, almost shouting. //“I don’t understand…” “I don’t want to be pretty! It’s useless! Being pretty… only brings bad things. I don’t want it to be the only thing I’m good for…” she explains. //“Wha?? Yumi, what are you-!?” “I’d rather just be normal, just average, nothing particular… just me. My mother, she only thought I was- I was only…” she started sobbing. //“Okay, okay, ssshhhhhh… it’s okay. I’m sorry, I completely forgot about that. I’m so sorry, Yumi.” she hugged her, comforting her.

They stayed like that for a little bit. G could only hear the muffled ruckus and sobs from the building, but it broke his soul nonetheless, despite not understanding the situation nor hearing what they were talking about.

Thankfully, it didn’t take too long afterward for her Yumi to calm down and come out of the bathroom with Ren by her side. She apologized to G, whom he immediately stopped her from doing so and apologized. Everyone was apologizing to each other and denying the other’s fault, it was strange. However, all was forgiven and they went back to enjoying their time at the festival. Strangely enough, her “un-pampering” herself didn’t change a thing. He still caught himself glancing at her, from time to time. Soul, still fluttery but, at least, at a normal pace.

They managed to lighten up the mood by doing some of the activities like fish bouncing, shooting targets with a toy gun and prize games, there were also shows such as plays and parasol juggling. They had a great time for hours. Gill even managed to win a cat-shaped body pillow, while Yumi won a few small Japanese ornaments. Ren, however, didn’t win anything, as she is pretty bad at games and not very lucky, but it still didn’t stop her from enjoying her time. They also enjoyed the strange form of play that Yumi explained it was called “Rakujo”, a one-person play where every character was played by one person. Her grandfather did this form of play, which she enjoyed very much.

Gill was happy to learn a little more about the Japanese culture, so was Ren, but she knew a lot more than Gill, who didn’t know much more past their clothes, food and anime. It was a great experience and it was one of those times where he honestly was thankful that he could exist to see this. Even “they” were awed by it. In fact, he didn’t even realize, until now, that he hasn’t smoked at all, today, probably because they were having too much fun.

However their time was cut short, or so it seemed. Soon, it was the countdown and they headed by the small lake in the huge park to see the fireworks. After heading to some drinks in a vending machine nearby, Ren left them to go take some snacks in a stand, further away, before it started. It gave them a moment to talk a little, without being interrupted or teased on by Ren.

“So… this is your first time, right? Celebrating the new years, I mean.” she asks, smiling warmly. *Yeah. I mean, especially a Japanese style one. he smiled back, turning to her. “Was it… fun? I hope my sudden break down didn’t ruin the mood.” her smile falls a little *No, no. It’s fine, Yumi. Besides… “… besides??” she repeats for him to continue. *I still had a ton of fun with you and… anyways, you still look cute.” she chuckles shyly a little.

In an instant, she was completely red, turning away and trying to hide her face with her hand. She didn’t expect him to say that at all, she didn’t even understand why would he even say that. She had nothing special other than the brooch and her kimono. She looked just as usual, right? She doesn’t get it. Him, despite chuckling earlier, he became a ball of embarrassment when she became so red. If course, he expected her to be a little embarrassed, but not this much. They didn’t say anything to each other for a good minute, until G finally spoke up, again.

*U-uhh… s-sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you that much. I just meant it as a friendly way, y-y'know? he scratches his face nervously. “I-It’s f-fine. A-and… u-u-ummm thanks… f-for the compliment.” she stutters, still not looking at him. *N-no, problem. he chuckles, embarrassed. //“Ooooo, gettin’ lovey-dovey behind my back so I don’t tease ye ‘till the end of time, I see?”

Awful timing for Ren to appear, right now. However, neither of them said anything, they only glanced at each other while G simply quietly scratched his face and Yumi sighed, annoyed. It seemed like not saying did the trick, considering Ren immediately tried to take a non-serious tone.

//“Come on, now. I was only jokin’! Ye two are no fun.” she pouted jokingly.

Despite looking annoyed, a few seconds ago, Yumi raised a brow and had a small grin on her face, despite still looking a little embarrassed. Although he was confused for a moment, he did eventually understand that they were joking and even started chuckling himself. Right now, that sister-motherly relationship they had shown even more, but before he could comment on it, their intention was elsewhere. The countdown was starting.

They all shouted, with everyone else, the last ten seconds of the countdown. When they reached “one”, fireworks started shooting up in the sky, exploding in different shapes, sized and colors, people around them screaming “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” as loud as they could. Yumi and Ren were ecstatic, cheering and laughing as fireworks lit up the sky. G was in awe in front of this amazing show of lights, mouth gaping open and eye sockets wide. When Yumi turned around to make a “cheer” for the New Year, she was surprised to see him so amazed by this but, a warm and gleeful smile beamed across her face.l, she poked him with her can. When he turned around a flutter flashed across his ribs, as he saw the smile she had.

“Never seen fireworks before?” she asks, still smiling. *What?? he couldn’t hear her with all the noise.

She approached him closer to where his ear would be. She could not see this, but a hint of blue had formed on his cheekbones at the gesture.

“I said: Never seen fireworks before??” she spoke a little louder. *N-no. he shook his head. “Well, I can see that you like them!” she laughs, moving away. *Y-Yeah! This is really cool. he smiled a bit awkwardly. //“Sweet Prince Asriel, KISS ALREADY!” *“WHAT?” they both shouted, not hearing what Ren said. //“Nevermind!” she giggles. “Anyway, let’s do a toast! For the New Year!” she says, turning back to G, enthusiastic. //“Good idea!” *Uh, sure. Uhh… happy New Year?? //“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!”Ren screams even louder. “H-Yeah! Ching, ching!” she laughs, clinging her can on G’s. //“Ching, ching!” Ren repeats, doing the same thing.

Confused, he still followed their motion, he guessed that it was simply what they said before cheering. It was odd, but it made him laugh. Honestly, they were happy that it turned out so well, minus the small issue in the beginning. They were having so much fun. However, it did not last long.

Ren had to leave as she was supposed to work, the day after, albeit, it was in the afternoon, she still wanted to get as much sleep as possible. It was fine for them, however, Yumi had one more stop to go to, before they head home. G had asked her multiple times where were they going, but she insisted to keep it a secret. His brow would’ve raised if he had any and her mischievous grin only made him more curious.

Once they arrived at destination, which wasn’t more than five minutes away by walking, they stopped at stairs that leads to… somewhere. Where? G didn’t know, but by Yumi’s gesture, he could guess that she was about to answer.

“Here we are!” she says, waving her hand towards the stairs. *And here is…? “Wakaba Temple!” *Huh. Sooo... why are we at a temple?he asks, curious. “Well- it’s tradition to go wish for something after the New Year! Well… normally, it’s the morning after, but I got a shift tomorrow too.” she chuckles awkwardly. *… I see. “I-Is that okay? If we go I mean.” she says, worried and unconfident about herself. *Yeah, sure. I was just wondering why didn’t you just do it another day but… I guess that’s your tradition, so I didn’t see the point of asking why. Sorry if I sounded like i was… disinterested? I was just thinking. he reassures her. “O-oh, ok! I was a little worried.” she sighs a little, relieved. *Ah, my bad. But, no, I’m actually pretty uh… happy, that you’re showin’ me all your traditions and stuff. It’s pretty cool. he smiles. “No problem! I’m really glad.” she smiles back brightly. *A-anyway, let’s go.

Another flutter. Honestly, he’s going to have to get that checked, he doesn’t understand this odd feeling in his ribs. Should he ask her? No, he was too hesitant to. Besides, it’s not like he felt sick or anything, although, it could be a pre-reaction to a strange sickness. It wasn’t like she would know, anyway, since she’s human and all. He decided to keep it to himself. Before he knew it, they arrived on the top of the long stares, where a small temple greeted them.

It was very dark, since there wasn’t much light in the area, but there clearly was some sort of rope with huge bells in the middle and small objects hanging from the side of some kind of wooden cabinet. Yumi approached the area where the rope was, glancing back to him to come with her. Something seemed familiar, like he’s seen this before, most probably in an anime. Upon approaching the area, he could distinguish small colored papers hanging from the nearby small trees. He felt like an idiot to think they were leaves, they are in the middle of winter. Before he could ask about them though, a loud but pleasant ring of bells cut his thoughts. Yumi was shaking the rope. She “clapped” on her shoulder, twice, then silence filled the area. He now understood that she was praying.

During their silence, the sudden urge to smoke came over him. He didn’t want to smoke near a sacred place, though. However, it seemed like there were ash dispensers nearby. In the end, he gave in and went to the smoking area, he didn’t smoke all day, anyway. As he was smoking, all he could hear was the wind and the sound of footsteps. Wait- but, there were more than one and they weren’t going for him. Before he knew it, unfamiliar grunts and hitting noises were heard but one voice stood out: Yumi’s. She screamed his name.

*FUCK!

He ran back to where she was, but it was too late. Even though some of them were beaten up by her, somehow, but a few of them got a hold of her, knife to her throat. They were monsters, probably some stupid fucking radical gang that think they’re just. Do they realize they’re just as bad as humans?

”G…!” she calls him again, as she noticed him. *Let her fucking GO!

They were surprised to see another monster, they called him a “traitor" that he “shouldn’t defend cruel disgusting humans like her”. Of course, he calls bullshit, he knows better than anyone that she’s not like that, she helped him so much, after all, more than he deserved. They laugh, question if he's “her boyfriend" even go as far as saying “She’s probably just manipulating him”. Honestly, he doesn’t even bother saying anything, they’re too far up their own ass to reason with them. But… what can he even do without risking her from getting hurt? He could use his blue magic and bones, but they risk either hurting her or his own attacks would. Thankfully, “they” have a solution.

It has been a little while since he’s heard the voices speak, this much, at least. They explained to him about “Gaster Blasters”. It was the only way. However, he’s never summoned these things before, but they did sound familiar. Just as asked, he focused his negative thoughts, his anger onto a form, to see somewhere deep in the Void, in himself, something. Something powerful.

The thugs who had Yumi hostage seemed to be bored with G simply standing there. To provoke him, they pushed the knife on her neck, even more, causing to make a small cut, bleeding out a little, she barely uttered a hiss. However, it only fueled his summon, even more, his eyes, even the blind one, was burning, flickering between yellow and blue. He didn’t even realize it, but the Blasters were already summoned. The only reason he looked at his side was because the thugs looked horrified, even Yumi was shocked. As if he’s done this before, with a snap of fingers and wave of a hand, the Blasters had followed orders to attack the group, Yumi excluded. The bastard holding Yumi, however, was Blued and violently pushed away on one of the bigger trees. The others were either tackled by or barely dodged the lasers of the Blasters. It didn’t actually matter though, his intention wasn’t to kill them.

After knocking out some more bastards, Yumi ran towards G, so they could teleport out of here. Unfortunately, one of them, who wasn’t KO’ed, threw magic needles at her, which landed on her back. She didn’t even make a sound other than a sharp "gurk”, falling to the ground, right in front of G. He froze, completely shocked, rage boiling up inside of him. The thug snickered, thinking that they were done, however, it only accentuated G’s rage.

He gripped his first firmly, the pain in his eyes were hurting, even more, especially his dead one, and the pain was growing, so much so that, at some point, he couldn’t bear it. He put his hand on his blind one and felt something kind of like liquid coming out of it, as he pulled away, his hand was smeared with red. Blood!?

No… it was… DETERMINATION.

As he looked back on the thugs, they were cowering in fear. He was confused by this. Why would they fear someone who looked like he was bleeding? Then, a light shined behind him, a big one and very hot, like a big laser was going to shoot behind him. He turned around to the ominous presence to see a giant Gaster Blaster, terrifying and just HUGE, ready to fire. Suddenly, someone grabbed him, making him stumble a bit.

“G-G, STOP!”

Strangely enough, it made the Blaster miss as well. The thugs managed to avoid the laser, as it shot. However, the damage around them was unbelievable, it passed through the trees nearby but, thankfully barely missed the shrine. He didn’t even notice who was trying to stop him. However, the Blaster was ready to shoot again.

“G, p-please! I-I dunno… w-whats going on but…ngh… s-STOP!”

This time, they tackled him to the ground. The fall made him more conscious of his surroundings, it also made the Blaster shoot in the air missing the thugs completely. He calmed down when he finally recognized who was calling out to him. Obviously, it was Yumi, he isn’t sure how he couldn’t recognize her voice or her face when he was right in front of him, well, on him now. He was conscious the whole time, but it was as if he was “seeing red” too much to even realize what he was doing.

Before he knew it, the Blasters had disappeared and the thugs had fled. Yumi was breathing painfully. The needles were gone but she was still very clearly wounded, she was bleeding.

*Y-Yumi? Yumi, are you okay!? Oh, fuck, I’m s-sorry. I-I dunno what happened! I-I just- “I-It’s okay... y-you lost control, it’s... urk... i-it’s not your fault... and I-I’ll live... I-I just... w-want to go home.” she sobbed a little. *I-I’m not sure if we can teleport you home... are you sure you’re okay? he hesitated. “I-I’m fine...! It’s the fastest way anyway...” *O-Okay.

With that, he did as he was asked. She did get hurt a little by teleporting there, but it wasn’t much, however, she did get to half her HP, mostly because she didn’t expect the attack.

*Alright, you should get changed, I’ll get the stuff to patch you up, just- “Wait- what?? No!” she refused. *W-what do you mean “no”? he asks, confused. “I-I can do this myself!” she insisted. *You- it’s on your back, Yumi! L-Look, I know it’s a little awkward that I’m going to see the back of your bra, but- “N-No! I-I mean... there’s th-that too b-but... I don’t... want you to see, my back.” she explained. *Why?? “... Just... promise you won’t say anything.” *I’m not sure I understand. “I don’t really want to talk about it... just... please, G.” she pleaded. *... O-Okay, I promise.

He wasn’t sure what other reason would she specifically not want him to see her back but, the way she was saying it, it was probably related to a bad memory. He didn’t know what he needed to prepare himself mentally for, but it worried him a little. What was he going to see on her back?

A few minutes later, after she changed into her pajamas, she came back with a health kit that had everything she could need to patch herself up. She sat on the sofa, giving him her back. He took out the stuff he needed while she took off her top and used it to cover her front. When he looked up again to start mending her wounds, he was shocked and understood why she was so reluctant to let him and insistent doing it herself.

Her back was filled with scars, varying from old bruises marks to small cuts. He promised not to say anything, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to. He wanted to ask her so many things. Why was she harmed so much? What caused this? Who did this!? It made him so angry a bit of DT leaked out of his blind eye. He let out a small pained grunt, covering his eye.

“A-are you okay?” she asked shyly, a little worried. *Yeah... just... something in my eye socket.

He calmed down a bit, his eyes feeling normal, continuing on mending her. He poured the alcohol on a small towel and rubbed it on her back. She was hissing and wincing a lot.

*I’m sorry, sorry. I have to. “I-I know, I know... i-it’s okay. It just burns.”

Still, he tried to be more gentle, despite not doing much of a difference. However, he was very quick, it barely took more then five minutes to mend her wounds and tape absorbent bandages on them. He healed her a little, but he’s shit at it, so it wasn’t much. She was still a little squirmish.

*Does it hurt? “N-no it just feels... weird.” *Ah... that’s normal. Plus, I’m not very good at healing. he admits. “H-How come? Y-You’re very good at magic, though?” she asks, confused. *Well... it’s a little different... and a long story, that I don’t want to get into either. he explains vaguely. “O-Oh... s-sorry.” *Nah, it’s fine. A-anyway, you’re all set. “O-Okay.”

She painfully but quickly put her shirt back on and gets up for the sofa turning towards him after attaching her last button. She was still a little worried about him.

“A-are you sure you’re okay, G?” she asks one more time. *I’ll be fine... I’m not the one who’s hurt, am I? he chuckled tiredly. “I-I know, b-but...” *It’s okay, Yumi... I’ll just... sleep it off... I’m really tired. “O-Oh... s-sorry.” *No, it’s fine. he shook his hand and head reassuringly. “... W-Well... Good Night, then.” she said, hesitantly, smiling warmly. *Good Night...

Even with his exhausted expression, he tried his best to smile back at her. With worry painted all over her face, she doesn’t ask for more and headed to her room. This was going to be a rough night.

#Purple Bones #new year new discoveries #chapter 7 #part 1 #two-in-one-skele #yumi kizui #g!sans #gill sans #past

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positive-stress · 7 years

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top 10 albums of 2017!!!

10. diet cig - swear I’m good at this

idk how much there is to say about diet cig. they’re just so cute and fun and good. semi-angsty indie pop for semi-angsty millennials. I should save the words anyway because these are definitely just gonna get longer as this goes. thanks, diet cig! tummy ache

9. charan-po-rantan - mirage collage

a duo of sisters, older sister koharu plays accordion while younger sister momo sings and for some reason carries around a stuffed pig. idk. charan-po-rantan’s music is a blend of all kinds of world music, from klezmer to polka to cabaret to balkan brass, and it’s good as hell. they put out two fantastic albums this year, and this is the more... traditional one, I guess. we’ll get to the other one shortly. ikku yo!

8. björk - utopia

I don’t think it’s possible to describe this album without using the word “lush” so there’s, it’s out of the way and I don’t have to say it again. described by björk as the “tinder album” to follow up her breakup album vulnicura, this album is just... fucking beautiful. the flutes, man. the FLUTES!!! it’s a dense album and I have no idea where it’ll fall in my björk rankings once I’ve spent more time with it but I have a feeling this might be top 3 for me. utopia

7. seiko oomori - MUTEKI

I feel weird putting this in my top 10 because it’s not really an album but... god damn it I love it so much. with the exception of the first two tracks, the absolutely gorgeous “ryuusei heaven” and the catchy as hell “mix juice”, everything here is a re-recording, mostly on acoustic guitar, occasionally piano, of one of her older songs, going all the way back to her 2012 EP PINK. this album is basically pure fanservice but... it’s the best fanservice. a blend of greatest hits and deep cuts, that sweet tape hiss, those voice cracks, the one song where gets too into it and has a coughing attack. who else would release this? thank you based seiko. ryuusei heaven

6. charan po rantan - toritomenashi

oh hey! good to see you again. here’s the, uh, less musically consistent one. most of these songs could easily fit in with mirage collage but then you’ve got a couple with... loud synths? what? why? why am I listening to japanese electro polka? what is HAPPENING and why is it so GOOD? unfortunately none of those songs are on youtube so here’s an incredibly good jazzy song with tokyo ska paradise orchestra which showcases momo’s good as hell voice and also that fucking stuffed pig she’s always carrying around. otakebi

5. blanck mass - world eater

benjamin power of fuck buttons solo project blanck mass takes all of the raw, heavy noise of fuck buttons and channels it into a sound that is less drone, more dynamic. it can still be as much of an assault on your ears as ever (and I mean that in the best way) but it’s more, uh. for lack of a better word I’ll say “accessible”. this album rules. rhesus negative

4. you’ll melt more! - youtopia

I first started listening to YMM! about two months ago after being vaguely aware of them for a while from ano’s collaboration with seiko oomori on kitixxxgaia (foreshadowing!) but I never really felt inclined to listen to them since, you know. idol music. gross! I just happened to come across a thing talking about their recent EP, disco psychedelica, and the album cover immediately caught my eye. what the hell, why is this idol group mimicking the cover of screamadelica by primal scream? it was too weird to not listen, and hey, it turns out that’s just YMM! in a nutshell. idol pop influenced by bands like primal scream, too weird to not listen. looking back in their discography I found a whole bunch of stuff with heavy new wave vibes, and sure enough almost immediately after I started listening to them they put out their TALKING HITS EP, this time with an album cover mimicking that of talking heads’ remain in light. (it’s not on youtopia but their song NEW WAVE STAR is very reminiscent of the great curve and I love it.) they also have collaborated with the lead dude from POLYSICS as well as mariko goto formerly of midori which if you know either of them, you should be interested. anyway tl;dr youtopia is their latest album, just out, gotta love it. a handful of tracks from those two EPs and a bunch of great new shit as well. YMM! are the fucking best. music san, yon bu de owacchimau yo ne

3. neil cicierega - mouth moods

this album was a huge hit on the online so it’s very likely you already know about it, and basically impossible that you don’t already know who neil cicierega is, so I’ll just cut to the chase. this is meme music, a mashup album full of IT’S BEENs and someBODYs and [tim allen grunt]s. it’s an album of legitimately great mashups, but it’s also a comedy album that has some moments that genuinely caught me off guard and made me laugh out loud. if you haven’t listened yet, I won’t spoil those moments, I’ll just urge you to check out mouth moods, because it really is the most 2017 album and it’s very near perfect. everything comes together so well, and there’s very often moments where I’d be listening to a song and look at the title and something would click and I’d realize the joke of the song goes even deeper than I’d originally thought. there are layers here. basically what I’m saying is, this album is like an onion. smooth

2. seiko oomori - kitixxxgaia

hey, we’re back to seiko! there’s a reason I say she’s my beyonce. in a lot of ways, this album is the biggest departure yet from her older folkier style of music (thank god she later put out MUTEKI, almost to reassure fans like me that she hasn’t forgotten). every song here is a banger. from the explosive “gutto kuru summer” (oh hey ano) to the slow and beautiful ballad “orion za” to the more straightforward j-poppy “IDOL SONG”, it’s all so fucking good, and it says a lot about seiko that I’d say this is one of my least favorite albums of hers. the star of the show though has to be the incredible “dogma magma” where seiko really shows off her most dramatic, art-poppiest side. leave it to her to put the thematic centerpiece of the album as the first track. thank god it’s all so good anyway. dogma magma

1. terror pigeon! - we will never run out of love!

terror pigeon has never been one to shy away from getting personal in his music, and this album is arguably his most personal yet. in the past his music has been mostly love songs in one way or another. songs about being in love, songs about loving your friends, songs about loving your life, whether you’re happy or sad, songs about feeling so full of love your heart could burst. as the title suggests, this is no exception, but in a lot of ways this is his darkest and saddest album yet. there is a sense of regret and loss throughout this album, but still a definite message to try to keep that feeling of love and positivity in your heart even when things are fucked up. there’s no better example of this than in the heartbreaking “arms”, where neil sings about losing a close friend: “I don't get it / I will never understand / how the good are taken from us / when I'm still only a half a man. / if there's no justice to it / and no bracing ever works / then how do I explode with love / despite all of this hurt?” if his previous releases were about the joy of love, this is a recognition of the realities of love. it doesn’t always last forever, and it can’t always protect you from pain. but even at the darkest moments, the love is still there. the final song on the album, “friends”, is one of the most heartfelt love songs I’ve ever heard, a love song dedicated not to the standard topic of romantic love but to friendship and the simple joy of hanging out with people who you care about and watching TV and eating pizza. a perfect end to a perfect album. chamber of secrets for 1 / more songs with keyboard solos

#music #best of 2017

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