#It’s not a problem but the rise in popularity of country music is making me gatekeepy

[ryoukio]

see the problem is that I just genuinely enjoy older country music.

[angstics]

on my chemical romance's history of racism:

(edit: i wont rewrite anything since that will create discrepancies in reblogs. however, i will include these important additions: post 1 and post 2)

cultural appropriation is a neutral term that turns negative when people co-opt a culture without consideration to its people and history, or their prejudices and privileges. the rising sun japanese flag is an imperialist symbol used during japan's occupation of other countries from 1870 to 1945 (the guardian 2019). unlike other symbols of terror, the rising sun is normalized because of the japanese government's refusal to acknowledge its history. the symbol's meaning was popularized a few years ago when people from south korea protested its legality in the 2020 tokyo olympics (bbc 2020). aware or unaware of its history, americans have long appropriated the rising sun. in part because of their fascination with japanese art, in part because of orientalism -- a fixation on asian cultures that centers "exoticism".

my chemical romance has been associated with the rising sun symbol a couple of times. frank iero used to have a tattoo of it. gerard way designed frank's killjoys outfit to include it (seen in concept art and music videos). it is often used in mcr fanart.

tokenism is when something contains limited diversity to divert criticisms for the lack of it. my chemical romance has had a very white cast of characters in their music videos and stories. in the "i dont love you" music video, a main character is in black body paint. in the casting call, they specifically asked for a white man (there is 100% an online source -- please let me know if you have it). even casting a black person for this role would place him in a video that appropriated his skin color to mark his "difference" from the light-skin female character.

the female character points to the band's main problem with tokenism. if they arent casting a white woman, theyre casting a light-skin asian woman. the woman in the "i dont love you" mv is fetishized for physical traits stereotypically attributed to east asian women: big eyes, daintiness. east asian women feature most prominently aside from the band and main characters in the "welcome to the black parade" music video and photo shoot. the photoshoot is the only place where an ashy-faced black man and ambiguously tribal? brown man are seen (brought in by photographer chris anthony per the "making of the black parade" book). the director antagonist of the danger days music videos (shown in "sing") is a japanese woman. she is the only main character of color in the music videos and the killjoys: california comics. the focus of this post is on my chemical romance, but the comics are important to showcase that the reality is never "color-blind casting" or "limited roles". it's mostly white creatives (band members and directors and artists) who ignore non-white people when they cant use them, reflected as much by gerard way years later (nyt 2019).

"japan takes over the world" is a media trope that is built on the late 20th century fear of the return of imperial japan. this trope frames japanese people as unique aggressors, feeding into "yellow peril" fears of asian people "taking over" the white race. this trope is suggested all over the danger days universe, where the corporation BL/ind overthrows the US government. the appropriation of the japanese modern flag and lettering on the killjoys outfits, the primary BL/ind villain being a japanese person who only speaks japanese in videos, the official BL/ind website having a ".jp" domain and english-japanese translations. japanese people and culture only exist in this universe to decorate and threaten.

the point of this post is not to punish my chemical romance. in the decade+ since, they have made meaningful changes -- the sing it for japan project to aid japan during the 2011 earthquake-tsunami, developing diversity in gerard's comics / tv show, a mexican-american main character in the 2020 summoning video. people of color treated as real goddamn people.

however. all these faults exist in frozen time. there is no discussion attached to the work. so anyone, fan or casual, may come across it and not notice or care for these important issues. i know all this shit and i still fail to see instances of what i highlighted. it's difficult locating not only your own prejudices but those of others. those you look up to.

"my chemical romance" is the product of many people from 2001 to 2013. many of these people were male, white, american, and/or, most radically, liberal. clearly laying out what they did wrong is important. being careful with history and culture and personhood is important. prioritizing growth is important. constantly. forever.

[ramlionbam]

watched the sam mendes production of cabaret today.

what gets to us about it is that the story is told from the perspective of those who are not jewish. it is about the gentile scared to marry a jew and be discriminated against. the population of germany who are ignoring the nazis' rise. the outsider who is horrified.

and schultz gets to speak, sometimes. but so much of what is focused on is schneider, trying to reassure her that it's okay for her to marry a jew. sure, cliff punches a nazi for being antisemitic, but what is that in comparison to schneider singing about how there's nothing she could possibly do except distance herself from the jew because of how dangerous it is for her.

and in a way i think this is the point of cabaret. the point is that the majority just don't... care enough about jews to want to stop the nazis, to stop tolerating them. and they become nazis and become radicalized because they don't care. but it's also frustrating, disgusting. it's infuriating to listen to schneider sing for three minutes straight about how aligning with jewish people is dangerous for her and she's not really "at war with anyone".

but there's also some scenes in cabaret that really worked for me. when the emcee pauses the nazi anthem and says that tomorrow is his, it speaks to the idea that the audience, too, is part of nazi germany. that they too are complicit in this. when there's an offhand remark that the jews have all the money, and the nazi at the engagement party turns the entire thing into a singing of a nazi anthem. when the emcee dances with a gorilla as the audience laughs (incredibly fucking uncomfortable) and then he says, "she wouldn't look jewish at all" (if they could see her as he did) as the audience goes silent. the way it speaks to how marginalized groups are othered and dehumanized and laughed at as unattractive and ugly and beastial. the way the audience was complicit in this, just now.

maybe the jewish voice is that jewish writers made this musical? or even that, in this particular production, the emcee is revealed to be jewish at the end? but that actually comes off as something dara horn spoke about: this idea that the holocaust is bad because those dead jews could have been you. and i think maybe it will get some kind of point across to the gentile audiences. it's a popular production, so i think it did. but when the emcee is a nazi, i think it speaks much more to the truth: you are not a hidden secret victim of the evil nazis. you are a hidden nazi: you have the potential to be a fascist. you have the potential to be just like schneider, and in your self-centered 'survival', your 'woe is me', you will allow so many others to be hurt and persecuted.

(not even getting into how the emcee being very gender-nonconforming still causes problems with making him a nazi, as the nazis were very homophobic. cabaret has... a lot of issues.)

edit to add: also there's a very certain kind of american patriotism/saviorism to the way that the one guy portrayed as 'righteous' and against the nazis is an outsider american. both germany and the US had righteous gentiles. both countries also had nazi sympathizers, supporters, and collaborators.

[vanhelsingapologist]

I am requesting goth country music recs!

You got it! Now, obviously goth is its own thing. Has its own sound. In my post, I meant more than there are gothic themes in country music, so you won’t find like, Sisters of Mercy wearing cowboy hats. Some of this is Southern Gothic, some of this is simply alt-country music with dark themes. You’ll also get bluegrass and Americana (which is sort of where rock and country meet). I tried to keep this mostly country since that’s what you asked, but I overlapped a lot and I tried to keep the sound diverse!

• Old Number Seven by The Devil Makes Three. The Devil Makes Three is a band based out of California but Bluegrass and Country make up a majority of their discography. They also have I Am The Man Thomas.

• Decoration Day by The Drive By Truckers. They’ve also got a great one called Where The Devil Don’t Stay. This is alt-country and rock. This particular one is sung by Jason Isbell, who’s my favorite country/americana artist. He’s from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and has a song that got pretty popular called If We Were Vampires.

• Hypothermic by Goodnight, Texas. I wasn’t sure if I should put this on because they verge on folk, but I’ll be real, there’s so much stylistic overlap that folk, Americana, and country are like triplet sisters by this point. A better example would be Jesse Got Trapped In The Coal Mine, and Tucumcari on account of their twang. They’re from North Carolina.

• E. Watson by the Decemberists. The Decemberists are from Portland, Oregon and are pretty well-known for their indie folk. That being said, E. Watson is a murder ballad and is sort of undeniably a country song.

• Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars. They’re a group out of Nashville, famously collaborated with Taylor Swift. Nice balance of male and female vocals.

• Appalachian Witch by Gallows Bound. Virginia band known for using punk influence to play bluegrass. It’s pretty sick.

• Highwomen by the Highwomen. They’re supergroup of country music singers, all of which have some kickass discography, but this one is darker. My personal favorite in the group is Amanda Shires, who has a great song called Hawk for the Dove. She and Jason Isbell also did a cover of the song I Follow Rivers and made it pretty country!

• Ain’t No Grave by anyone. I like the Johnny Cash version, but I also like Crooked Still. I think it works best with female vocals, I don’t know! It’s an OLD gospel-blues folk song.

• While we’re on the topic of old folk songs, House of the Rising Sun and all its covers. Gothic as bats. Wayfaring Stranger by Rhiannon Giddens is also fantastic.

• Graves by Whiskey Shivers. They call themselves a ‘trashgrass’ band and they’re based out of Texas. One of the best country bands out there in my opinion. Real dark material, sometimes, too.

• Magnolia Blues by Adia Victoria. Honestly, her entire discography fits that dark gothic country style. She’s one of the more talented artists I’ve heard in a while. You Was Born To Die is great too.

• Up The Devil’s Pay by the Old 97’s. This is an alt-country song by an alt-country band from Texas. They also have a song called Am I Too Late? which is a song about being in love with a corpse. I Don’t Wanna Die In This Town and I’m Good With God is a great contender for this list too.

• Bury Me In Georgia by Kane Brown. Some people miiight categorize this as bro country. I disagree, but it’s definitely more in line with what you’ll hear on the radio. Kane Brown is from Tennessee and he honestly kicks the hell out of any song he’s in.

• Alabama by Bishop Gunn. I think they’re from Natchez, Mississippi. More death, more problems, more religion, more rotting in the South.

I hope this is helpful! It’s mostly modern stuff, but if you want older, I have that too.

[lyriquette]

Old RWBY AU from the Frosen Steel chat server 11/30/2020 <headcanons-and-aus> channel -

Ozpin is the Frosen Steel pop-star group's promoter. And the bandname is Frosen Steel.

----

lilac — 11/30/2020 7:42 PM

I want Ozpin to be a genius promoter like you have all these pop-stars vying for these high end promotions like sing on a stage to get your name out.

And then you have the frosen steel trio who is like "why are we at a retirement home" - a local pet store, a pre-k school, a grocery store, a laundromat, the middle of a train station. But though they're sure Mr. Ozpin is trolling them, they do it wholeheartedly.

And people notice them. And they get popular because both of their spontaneity and versatility. Somehow their popularity goes up, even more so those pop stars that put good money or favors or connections into getting a vaunted concert hall. And that's when they realize his mad genius. Those tiny shows, throughout the country/state/area, kept them in the public eye. Their uniqueness in doing all this attracted people's attention and soon it's people offering them advert offers and other things.

When they go to thank ozpin (and also someone probably needed to apologize at one point cause blow up on ozpin doing seemingly useless activities), ozpin simply smiles and tells them that none of this would've happened without their sincerity- despite how useless it seemed in doing these things, they still put their all from the planning, to the lyrics,, to the costumes, and to the music.

lilac — 11/30/2020 7:53 PM

It was probably Weiss that blew up. I'd imagine Penny does music for the love and Ruby's too noob in the industry to understand that Ozpin's thinking is unconventional. Weiss however has a bone to pick with the company she quit from, but after she blows up, ozpin simply asks "do you trust me?" And surprisingly deep inside her heart, the answer was yes - because before frosen steel she'd seen Ozpin wait for hours in sun, rain, and snow trying to get -her- an opportunity to be on stage, even if it's as simple as a one hour session at a Cafe.

After all done Ruby probably asks why he didn't tell them soon. And he simply answers, "never underestimate people's ability to know who's sincere to them. Had you knew about what I was planning, people would've seen it in your actions - the ulterior motive."

"Besides."

"Didn't you all have fun?"

lilac — 11/30/2020 8:35 PM

Aaaaaah xD okay so.

...so, I've been pondering Ozpin's backstory and hating it. So Ozpin used to be a producer for a big company, and he had a good eye for finding talent.

Problem is the people up top didn't like him that much. He protected his kids like a lion - might not seem that way (he had his singers go to a biker rally once to sing love songs. P.s. the gang belonged to Qrow and Raven - qrow: "c'mon all these guys and gals professing their love to you. Do you still dare to lose?!"). And when it came to the seedier side of the industry, he put his foot down hard. It did not make people up top happy but they couldn't exactly fire him for protecting his charges. So they took 'em away instead. They had other managers offer better deals and benefits, and many were charmed away. The ones who stayed got blocked from promotion, and eventually for their sake, ozpin told them to seek people he trusted because the company was blatantly freezing him.

So that's how a fairly competent producer ended up on the streets. He didn't really hold a grudge. It was business, he understood. He didn't blame the kids that left him either; it was natural for people to want to rise. Still, that left him fairly penniless: since he wasn't the type to loan his charges out willynilly.

That's around the time Weiss left the Schnee Dust Albums. Their first meeting outside the talent agency that Weiss wanted to join.(edited)

"Hey." "Uh hey. Is this Junior's Talent Agency?" "Yup. Right behind me." "Oh okay. What are you doing?" "I got let go. Fired's probably a better word for it -cue ozpin's launched you into a forest amused face-" "Uhh. Sorry about that." "No. No. None of that now, Miss..." "Weis Sch-. Uhh yeah Weiss." "I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors."

I didn't say their meeting would be particularly profound, okay? 8l

But as Weiss worked for the talent agency, she found it's nothing like the preferential treatment she had at Schnee Dust Albums. She had to compete for resources and some of the ways they competed involved creepy crap like skinship. Around this time is when she finally went to Penny's school, having run out with her assets to her penpal? whom she now lives with.

-----------

lilac — 11/30/2020 9:16 PM

So Penny.

Pietro Polendina adopted Penny when she was five. Her mom and dad died due to an industrial accident. It was kept hush hush, but there was a large settlement involved. Penny's relatives naturally wanted a slice and offered to adopt her to get at the money. But pietro polendina, a normally jovial man, told these folk to screw off when he arrived to the whole lawyer meeting place to decide on Penny's custody.

He knew his cousins; he knew their greed. If he left his brother's daughter with them, she would not get a good childhood, far from the one she deserved.

Though he knew he was unprepared to care for a child, he still offered to adopt her too.

Naturally harsh words came out from greedy family including the accusation of what can a cripple offer to a young child. And Polendina stared them in the eyes and said he could provide a loving home and a good future. He wouldn't even touch the money that came with Penny. It's all hers when she becomes the age of majority.

Can anyone else offer that? Naturally they couldn't. But that didn't stop them from blustering about how he's unsuitable on the basis of his ableness.

Things get heated. Penny gets brought into the picture to help a decision be made; she herself is not in a good place given that her mom and dad died not even a month ago and now all these relatives, most of which she never met, are fighting over her. She sees all these men and women wearing fake smiles and telling her excitedly that their home will be great and she'll love it there, but it's the man in the wheelchair who catches her five year-old eyes - who looked kindly at her but also had sorrow. When she asked why he looked sad, he said.

-

"I can never replace your mom and dad, but I promise you I'll take care of you." In that moment,, she knew she could trust this man out of all the others because she could see that he missed her mom and dad too. She hugged him, and he her - mourning the family they lost.

The other relatives still put up a fight: greed has no bounds. But given Pietro's clean record and promises and Penny's approval, after a long hard fight, Pietro got custody.

----

lilac — 11/30/2020 10:30 PM

Okay. Penny and Weiss.

So Penny grew up in a loving home, and her adoptive father made sure she grew up being able to experience any path she had interest in. Robots? Yes. Baseball? Wow not for me. Art? Yes. And then some. Eventually, she settled on music. Instruments such as piano, violin, drums, and woodwinds filled their home along with tutors to teach her, and Penny absorbed everything like a sponge. To her, music was a means to express herself when words failed her - and being a shy girl at heart, it often did.

It was ironic that Weiss, for the Atlas and Vale letter exchange, became her penpal. Unlike Penny, Weiss was taught that music was a tool - a tool to make money. And she never liked music for its sake, mostly because of her father who saw her and the other artists in the Schnee Dust Albums as his cash cows. She grew up hating music but continued on because she was good at it and saw no other path than the one her father laid out for her.

So the idealist and the pessimist began exchanging letters. Weiss didn't really look highly on Penny's comment that she could sing and play instruments - Penny mentioned she did music as a hobby and how good could a hobbyist really get? Still, she continued sending letters back, and eventually those letters turned into text messages and phone calls, because they somehow got along well. And to Weiss, Penny was a kind person which was a rarity in the backstabbing music industry that she found herself immersed in.

Still, they'd get into fights every couple of days. And the subject was usually the subject of doing music for the sake of doing it. Eventually, Penny got tired of Weiss's shit about referring to music as a tool and disappeared for several days. When Weiss started getting worried about if she pushed her friend too far (...she is my friend? -gasp-), Penny sent her a music file as an attachment. Wondering what it could be, she played it. Even after it ended, she was quiet for a very long time.

It took her a while to realize she was crying - crying from the music she so disliked - something she thought impossible because of how burdensome and tiring music was to her. But the results didn't lie. Penny's music spoke out to something deep within her heart. Her loneliness. Her unease. Her desire to be free.

It was unlike the songs her father demand she sing or write lyrics for. Her father just ordered her to sing or write for what's popular, most of them being love songs and which she didn't feel particular resonance for. She never had fallen in love after all.

Minutes ago, she thought the whole "music speaks to the soul" to be a bunch of nonsense, but Penny's song came and proved her wrong. One that made her cry when she played it over and over. With determination, she took out a pen and paper. A couple days later, Weiss sent back a music file back to Penny (amidst a bunch of text messages going "Weiss are you okay?") with the filename of "Mirror Mirror"(edited)

[10:31 PM]- leaves that here, now time for bed.- XD

[10:31 PM]- no wonder my phone crashed. >_>;; -

-----

lilac — 12/01/2020 5:51 PM

[5:51 PM]Also here comes part 1 and 2 of my ravings D8

[5:54 PM]This thing now has a dedicated word file on my phone. So how did weiss get to vale? Her mother. So Schnee family dynamics are similar. Winter went off to join the military. Willow is still a drinker and has separated herself from everyone else after Jacques reveal that he did everything for control of the company. Everyone in the family has been a victim of his drunken temper or just in general when he doesn’t get what he wants. Winter is the only one that’ll stand up to him and that’s because if he did anything to her, she'll break his nose. She is not taking the man's shit.

So ever since Winter's joined the Atlasian military, she's been a protective charm. Can’t be there all the time though, but her presence curtains most of the physical domestic violence. howeverit doesn't stop Jacques from verbally abusing the rest of their family. Issue is that Winter can ignore that. Mostly because of her nature - she's lived with this poor excuse for a human being for most of her life – she can't be wounded by words – she treats jacques rants as background noise. Problem is that because of that ability, she is unable to see the effect of the verbal abuse on the rest of her family; that is not to say she won’t come coming if her siblings said it hurts them, but it's also that her siblings try to put up a strong front to stop their big sis from getting worried when she's working and training. The fact that he doesn’t hit them anymore except on really rare occasions, for them, is a big improvement.

[5:54 PM]-- Jacques got worse after Winter left and turned into a real asshole when Whitley was 7 and Weiss 10. That was around the time the man had total control of Schnee Dust Albums, and pretty much he just let it out there that the only reason why he married her. Willow had always been in love with Jacques, had three kids with him, and they've had their ups and downs, but she never suspected all of it was a ploy. Only when the company was his in all but name did he reveal his greedy side. And that destroyed their mother completely. Whitley still remembers his mom being happy a long time ago. He's tried, but after Willow gets into the bottle, she just ignores everyone to drown her sorrows. Eventually, her kids stopped trying. They still love her, but after years of trying, somethings gotta give, and dealing with their dad is a full time thing.

As for Whitley, he's seen all these things happen to his family. Though he likes Winter, he still can’t help but resent her for leaving. He hates his mother for ignoring them and drowning herself in alcohol. So the only person in the family he feels close to is Weiss. And she him.

Though Weiss wanted to get away, she wasn't going to leave her younger brother alone with his father. So she devises a plan to get free and discovers emancipation. The problem is that emancipation requires a hearing , and her father despite everything looked like the perfect, albeit strict father. Unless she can get both her parents signatures and have the emancipation okayed by all parties.(edited)

[5:56 PM]-- Ironically, her father was easy to trick out of a signature. Just ask him to sign papers involving schoolwork and he'll just blow past anything. Not to mention she's always been obedient- grudgingly – but never actually disobeyed him.

It was his mother that was the issue because despite her drunkenness you couldn't fool her in getting her signature because Weiss's never needed to ask her for anything before. And Willow was resistant. Asking questions like why. This is their home. If they emancipate themselves, they won’t have anything. Life might suck but at least they have food on the table and shelter. How could she find a good marriage prospect if she got disowned (old-fashioned patriarchial family, old-fashioned rules: probably why Jacques became president of the company instead of she) Not to mention if her father found out… at this point, Weiss realizes how genuinely afraid her mother is of her father but still presses on because she had to escape, and she needed to make sure Whitley escaped to. So this line eventually gets said: “If you ever considered Whitley and I your children, if you ever considered yourself our mother, you will sign this emancipation.”

After more discussion, the papers get signed. “good luck Weiss,” Weiss hears before leaving. Weiss nods her head but chooses not to look back. ----

And still thinking of the execution and aftermath of that plan. All I can tell is that it has to be so troublesome enough that it keeps Jacques unable to bother Weiss and Whitley lol

------------

lilac — 12/05/2020 6:41 PM

So going back to the #musicAU for a moment, I think I left off when Weiss and Whitley just convinced their mother on giving a signature for emancipation while tricking Jacques for the other one.

The plan doesn't get executed until a couple months later when she has a shoot planned at Vale. The papers were processed in secret with only a few knowing the truth. Weiss talks to Penny about schooling and apartments in the area while dealing with every penalty clause in her contract- luckily Jacques believed he had her under her thumb because of their familial relations and only had a standard contract under the company.

Whitley wanted to come to Vale too, but given that Weiss barely had the funds to take care of herself much less another person, he was going to go over to Winter instead. Winter actually doesn't know of this plan before both of them left the home, mostly because Atlas had sent her out on patrolling duty as part of her training. Both Whitley and Weiss sent messages to their eldest sister, but she hadn't actually checked her scroll until she went home.

So it was a massive surprise when Whitley showed up on her doorstep on her week off, barely dressed with her apartment in shambles. "My apartment's not normally like this. I swear." /blatantlies. Seems like without Klein Winter is really bad at self upkeep - rip. So Whitley earns his keep by actually keeping Winter's home clean - Winter compares him to a wizard because with him around, the dishes are all clean, the strange object in he refrigerator is gone, and there's always food in the house - which are mostly things he wants to do because he can't stand his living space being that dirty. Winter does pitch in....but...well Whitley has to do it over again half the time. Or in the case of food, barely survived the aftermath.

While they're getting situated, Jacques notices very quickly in only a couple of days, which is bad because the plan was accounting that he wouldn't notice for weeks.

---

lilac — 12/05/2020 6:55 PM

- The only reason why he notices so soon because he requires Weiss to put on a performance to get a connection with another firm. However, he fails in getting on contact with her or Whitley. However, by calling upon his connections, he discovers the emancipation papers. He confronts Willow on that day.

Time skip a week later. Winter gets a phone call from a distressed Klein who hurriedly says that he hasn't seen the Mistress of the house for a week. And her room is being guarded by bodyguards who won't let anyone in except for the new hires the man brought.

Winter gets this phone call on her scroll during the middle of training - and in attempt to embarrass by her instructor as punishment, the instructor puts it on speakerphone. Everyone in her class becomes silent. Winter quickly gets distressed because unlike her siblings she knows how her dad was like back when she was just a single child - and also thought her own threats of bodily harm - and his self-preservation- were enough to keep everyone safe.

She runs out of training but not before the instructor tells her to come back right now and that what she's doing is insubordination. Her reply was to throw her recruit badge right into the man's face.

So Winter arrives back to the Schnee Mansion in half a day, the servants let the girl through despite her disowned status, and it's the bodyguards surrounding Winter's room who discover her. Her father is alerted to her presence around this time. She opens the door and discovers her battered mother, face and body bruised - her mother asks guiltily what she was doing here and to not worry about her. Her training allows her to recognize that some of these injuries aren't new - they've been going on for at least months. Winter asks why she hadn't said anything - and Willow just tells her that she said nothing so her kids would be safe - she was a bad mother, it was the least she could do for them.

---

lilac — 12/05/2020 7:00 PM

Winter remembers the mother in her memories that helped guide her for sixteen years and now this broken, defeated woman before her. And she just snaps. She's angry at her mother for being so selfless, angry at her siblings for not noticing, angry at herself most of all for that and leaving home for her own dreams, but most of all angry at the man who caused all this.

So when Jacuqes appears yelling "You're not a Schnee anymore, Winter! You're breaking and ente-", Winter decks him with a punch to the nose.

-----

The resulting scandal with Jacques trying to protect his image ties up Jacques quite nicely and prevents him from doing anything to Weiss and Whitley in the mean time.

Winter naturally gets in trouble, but Ironwood is protecting her. And public sentiment is in her favor.

Which returns us to the present where Ruby is enchanted by two girls, one playing and one singing, in a small classroom.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

When the Waves rise

Category: Short Film Country: South Korea Where to watch: GagaOOLala Year: 2020 Duration: 39 min Finished: 14.05.2023

The story is about two best friends who couldn't be more different. Kyung-jun, popular and athletic, class president and part of the cool-boy gang, and Hwi-young, pale, unathletic and unpopular. It's Kyung-jun's birthday and Hwi-young actually has a present for him, but doesn't dare give it to him because it would reveal too much of his emotions, and he's unsure if his best friend would reciprocate those feelings or at least understand him.

Big spoilers under the cut!

A rumor begins to make its rounds and Kyung-jun turns away from his best friend, not understanding his own feelings and those of his friend. All he understands is that he should stay away from Hwi-young if he wants to continue to have a quiet and comfortable life.

And then Hwi-young's birthday is coming up. One week after Kyung-jun's. And they were supposed to have gone to the sea together, but Kyung-jun doesn't show up at the bus station. So Hwi-young goes alone. And this is where the room for interpretation starts to get huge. My interpretation, shaped by the basic mood of this short film, is that Hwi-young ended his own life, and in his paradise Kyung-jun comes to visit him. It was a long way to get there, after all. It's the way Hwi-young left his room, the way he neatly laid everything out once more, and the way he said goodbye with a last look. And it's the way Kyung-jun looks sadly back at the place where his friend used to sit before. It's the way the waves crash and how peaceful everything is at the end and how Hwi-young turns to the camera and how Kyung-jun opens the box and reads the letter. How everything doesn't seem real anymore and is covered with a layer of pure despair and peacefulness at the same time. It's the way the ending is left open and that after everything I've seen, I can't believe there's a happy ending.

Rarely have I seen such a sad film. Yet the sadness is almost barely shown. But everything about this film screams sorrow, despair and hopelessness. The scenery, the colors, the music, the acting, the long shots. Everything. The basic mood is so melancholic that it's hard to get back to the colors of everyday life afterwards.

And yet I give 10 out of 10 points, because the story touched me, because I was involved with emotions, because it gripped me and because everything just fit. And it is not a problem if some things were not said directly, because they scream at you between the lines.

[citronsucre]

retournement de veste !

     All the kpop idols being invited to fashion events and becoming houses ambassadors made me think about how fashion luxury houses are so fast to turn around and try to seduce a public they used to turn their backs to. In fact, these companies have always wanted to dissociate themselves with certain groups and figures. The Kardashians are a great example of this phenomenon, luxury houses didn’t really want anything to do with them until Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing took an interest in the family.

   In France, owning luxury items is popular in urban areas leading to a love and hate relationship between fashion houses and these populations that don’t fit the image of said houses. The derogatory, racist and classist term “Lacoste TN” designate young black and north African men living in urban areas dressing in Lacoste tracksuits with AirMax TN sneakers. The term is widely known and shows the popularity of this style mixing streetwear and luxury. Unfortunately for these houses, this is not the lifestyle and outdoor activities they are trying to promote :(  The luxury tennis outfit oriented brand Lacoste especially, whose popularity in the suburbs is incredible, has been vocal about not wanting to associate with this group. Eventually, with them playing quite a large part in Lacoste’s sales in France, the house ended collaborating with french rapper Moha La Squale. 

   France is not the first country encountering this behavior. Actually, the popularization of streetwear, monogram, sneakers and chunky jewelry in luxury is due to the African American community in neighborhoods of New York and Hip Hop music. Dapper Dan was an amazing designer from Harlem, is influence on black music and the style associated with it is huge. His work at first consisted of creating knock-offs of luxury items and playing around with logos. That is how the monogram print was popularized. Luxury houses which excluded black people, did not want to be associated with them or their music, called their style tacky, ghetto or ratchet started reappropriating these creations and selling them to white rich people in the suburbs. 

   When European luxury houses first made their first steps into Asia, whiteness and the Parisian style was the goal. Boarding school uniform inspired preppy was in vogue in Japan starting from the 1960′s. I have always found it odd how 30 years later, with the rise of Harajuku fashion and the popularity of streetstyle photography magazine FRUiTS, these brands never tried to collaborate or work with young Japanese artists. It was maybe too tacky for them, too out of pocket or too “street” since it seems like it is a global problem. So it is funny now to see how Heavn by Marc Jacobs collaborated with FRUiTS Magazine’s photographer Shoichi Aoki and tried to mimic an aesthetic by watering down alternative asian fashion culture and manufacturing it to sell it to the mass while the whole purpose of the movement was to protest against social norms by being unique and creating unique in the world pieces mixing traditional and modern clothing. I am not trying to say i hate the brand, I actually liked it at first, I am juste a girl in my twenties who likes asian fashion so of course I liked it. But when thinking about it, nothing new has been created, everything they sell is already available on the market. It just caters down to mass consumerism and the “weird girl aesthetic” that for some reason makes me think of the manic pixie dream girl except it is fashion. 

   Now with the influence of Korean culture you know they had to ! Houses will go out of their way to have at least one Korean celebrity sit at their show, idols being the golden ticket. Even if this is not new and even if I am glad artists get this opportunity, I find it sad and sometimes reducing to invite pretty faces instead of actually working with them on interesting projects, especially since South Korea is a buzzing spot for emerging designers and small artists. It is like non white people have two options: be excluded or be a totem. 

(if you want to know more about Heavn i suggest you watch this video ! it is really interesting and i agree with everything being said)

[brandybradyrandyandyndy]

Mark Forster's role in the Ace Attorney franchise

Okay, first off:

I'm not a fan of Mark Forster's music, please don't take this post the wrong way

There might be some aa trilogy spoilers

Also, I admit this title is pretty bold for what I'm going to say on this topic, but I watch The Voice of Germany with my sister every week and one of the coaches is Mark Forster who I only know like five songs of in total, but his song "Au Revoir" (which is actually a terrible song btw. It's so catchy, I've had it stuck in my head since I woke up this morning and it ruined my day.) kind of reminded me of the whole "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death." thing, because the only thing I knew about this song was the refrain:

which would be roughly translated to:

"There is nothing that's holding me back, au revoir / Forget who I was / Forget my name / It will never be the way it was before / I'm off / Au revoir"

But as I looked further into the lyrics I found out there is a "rap part" which tells you about the places the lyrical I will go to when they're away and it contains a passage that adds a beautiful twist to my theory/headcanon (I'm not sure what to call this yet).

"I'm sitting on the Mayan throne in the jungle / [...] / The phoenix is taking off now"

You see where I'm going with this? I know, it's not Phoenix who's leaving and I know the lyrics refer to the Maya Civilization from Mesoamerica, but I thought it was a funny coincidence, that not only does the word "Phoenix" appear in the lyrics of this song, but so does "Maya".

So when I first saw this part of "Au Revoir", I started imagining how Miles Edgeworth would listen to this song and like dramatically sing along to it and start crying or something, but this only posed another question:

How could this scenario happen? How and why would he even come in contact with this song?

My first guess was, Miles probably went to Germany after he left his note, because he grew up there (I think), when he had been adopted by Manfred von Karma as a child, and he heard the song somewhere in the radio because in Germany they blast Mark Forster's music in almost every public space, so there is no escape from it ever. I tried to find out, during which timespan Miles left America, just to make sure if there was a chance that he actually could have heard it on the radio.

In the Ace Attorney wiki this timespan isn't clearly mentioned, but since the last case (Rise from the Ashes) from the first game is set in February 2017 and Edgeworth returns to America in March 2018 I'm guessing, this is exactly the time window in which he's in Germany* (minus some days/weeks of course, because I don't think he'd just leave on the exact same day he had his last trial in America). *to make this easier for me I'm just assuming he spends the entirety of his travels in Germany

But this brings me to my problem, the German Charts of 2017/2018.

As you can see, the only songs by Mark Forster that were in the charts while Miles would be in Germany are the ones above. This means that it is highly unlikely that he knew of "Au Revoir" from the radio, because why would they play this old song if they could also play Mark Forster's more recent songs that are popular right now?

But when exactly was "Au Revoir" popular enough to be in the German Charts?

During my research I looked up these years, too, and it came down to 2014 (the year "Au Revoir" was released) and even a year later in 2015. So there is no way he could have known of this song if his most recent stay in Germany was in 2017, right? (I mean, unless the German people he met then, had literally no taste and forced him to listen to it.)

But I have a pretty simple and logical explanation on how he could have still known of this song, even though he probably wouldn't have heard it in Germany in 2017.

I tried really hard, but I couldn't for my life find real data on Mark Forster's demographic, so just believe me if I tell you that his demographic is mostly preteen and teenage girls. Also, it's worth mentioning that Mark Forster's music is pretty much only known in German speaking countries like Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Now, let's take a closer look at the years, in which Au Revoir was most popular: 2014 and 2015

Who could Miles Edgeworth possibly know, who in 2014/2015 is 1. German, 2. a teenager and 3. a girl? The answer is quite obvious:

His younger sister Franziska von Karma.

Considering that she was either 14 or 15 when "Au Revoir" was released, she fits Mark Forster's demographic perfectly and although I'm not 100% sure if she was in Germany then, I still believe, she must have had at least some connection to Germany in some way, maybe a German friend who she still was in contact with or maybe she had access to German tv, maybe German YouTube channels or social media. And don't get me wrong, I love Franziska von Karma and I wouldn't wish anything bad on her, but at the same time I strongly believe that she'd be the kind of girl who'd have gone through a Mark Forster phase as a teen.

Now remember that I, myself, have a sister. I know what siblings do to annoy each other and I just know from the bottom of my heart that if Franziska really was a fan of Mark Forster's music, she would blast it on any opportunity she'd get. Or she would at least talk about him and his songs with her brother. Believe me. If Franziska really listened to Mark Forster, Miles would have known of him, too. There is literally no other way. (For reference, I know every 1D member's name, birthday and relationship status, although I literally do not care about any of them at all, only because my sister is obsessed with them and talks about them 24/7. Meanwhile the only MCR member I know, is Gerard Way, even though I listen to their music on the daily.)

So here is my conclusion.

Miles Edgeworth definitely listened to "Au Revoir" by Mark Forster on the plane from Japanifornia to Germany and he also definitely cried, after he made sure nobody could see him (especially during the part "Der Phönix macht jetz 'n Abflug"/"The phoenix is taking off now"). Also, he probably listened to the song multiple times during his stay in Germany and you literally can't prove me wrong on this. I mean you could try, but I invested way too much of my time in this to actually care about another person's opinion on my shitty headcanon.

Also, the moment Franziska met Phoenix and Maya, her memories vaulted her right back to her Mark Forster phase and her hatred against Phoenix wasn't solely based on the fact that he was accountable for the conviction of her father Manfred von Karma, her hatred was also ignited by the fact that she probably had "Au Revoir" stuck in her head because of these two for the rest of the day and I just know that this must have completely ruined it for her.

Also, unrelated to anything I've said prior:

Klavier Gavin would definitely collaborate with Mark Forster on at least one song and however severe Franziska's Mark Forster phase might have been, I am convinced Klavier would have outdone her by far. I haven't played AJAA yet, but as much as I've gathered from the fandom, he's like a weeaboo but with Germany, I think? I'm absolutely sure, he wouldn't ever miss a chance like this.

Finally, here is the song this whole post is about:

[thr-333]

Mismatch- Part 17

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

“Push me off the roof you coward!”

First< Previous > Next

------

“So do you want to be Batman or should I?” Marion brings out the two outfits identical in every way except size.

“It’s not actually dressing up,” Marinette scolds fixing her hair.

“Well then you single handedly ruined halloween,” Marion grins coming up behind her, “Everyone wears them for it,”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Marinette watches him warily in the mirror, prepared to defend if-when he makes a move to mess up her hair.

“So Batman or Robin?” Marion holds the outfits up, dangerous close to her head.

“I don’t care,” Marinette stands up, spinning around, using the chair as a shield.

“Coin flip then,” Marion drapes them over the chair, “Oooh foreshadowing!”

“Please tell me you're going to take this marginally seriously?” Marinette leans back on the dresser as he fishes for a coin.

“You’re starting to sound like our manager,” Marion flips the coin with extra flare, “Heads,”

“You should thank Kate for setting this up,” Marinette catches the coin before he can, “Tails,”

She takes the Robin outfit from the chair, ducking Marion as she passes.

“You know I don’t think Kate wants to see me,” Marion takes his outfit behind the opposite curtain, “She's pretty stressed something will go wrong,”

“In Gotham?” Marinette pokes her head out the curtain on the other side of the room.

“I know, crazy right,” Marion also peaks through the curtain, “Where would she get that idea?”

“Who knows?” Marinette cheekily grins before ducking back behind the curtain.

“If we get attacked again I think we might give aunt- I mean,” Marion pauses pulling on his grey turtleneck, “ugh, this is hard,”

“Mari, the outfits are designed for easy use,” Marinette teases, tone sounding half hearted even from this distance.

“What are you calling her in your head?” Marion pulls the turtle neck down all the way.

“Selina,” Marinette answers, as he shrugs on his hooded crop top over the turtleneck, split into two colours to make a vague bat-shape. “Although I just avoid saying it out loud,”

“Great minds think alike,” Marion pulls on his grey leggings, that Marinette had thankfully made into thermals.

“I’m the only great mind here,” Marinette teases, Marion lets out fake gasp as he pulls a pair of shorts over his leggings, “You just like to copy,”

“How dare you!” Marion pulls the curtains aside dramatically, Marinette doesn't even look up from where she's putting on bracelets, “Dishonour! Dishonour on you, Dishonour on your kwami! Dis-”

“Hey!” Tikki flies out of the backpack.

“Sorry Tikki,” Marion looks away from the fuming Kwami, trying to avoid her by pulling on his black and blue boots.

“It’s ok Tikki,” Marinette finishes putting green and gold bracelets up to her elbows, “He’s just trying to be funny,”

“And succeeding!” Marion corrects, smoothing a mask over his eyes.

“Ah-ha,” Marinette stands, black and yellow scarf flaring out at the back.

“You know I don’t think she agrees,” Marion stage whispers to Plagg from his bag.

“Ah-ha,” Plagg says in the same tone, as Marion is pulling on his black gloves.

“Traitors, all of you,”

“Hey look,” Marinette bumps his shoulder, nodding towards someone.

“It’s Jason,” Marion whispers back excitedly, moving to wave.

“MCD doesn't know him,” Marinette grabs his arm, “Let’s hope this isn’t as awkward as it was with Chloe,”

“I thought that was fun,”

“Of course you did,”

"Hi," Jason approaches nervously, completely different to how Marion's met him before, it's cute.

"Oh hello, stranger," Marion grins, ignoring the kick from Marinette, he'll be careful, it's fine he's got this, "Whats your name?"

"Jason," Oh my God he's blushing!

"Jasin," Marion repeats pretending to write on what he was handed.

"Um…." Jason looks like he's about to correct Marion, this will be perfect- "yep,"

Fuck fuck fuck i though he would correct me fuck, Marinette help!  Marinette rolls her eyes at his pleading look.

"Jason, CD," Pointing to the page without writing, "son,"

"Ohhhh Jason,” Marion says, as if he had come to some amazing realisation, Marinette looks like she wants to slap him, “haha, sorry, of course, I just didn’t hear you right, because I don’t know your name, why would I know your name? It's-"

Marinette rightfully cuts off his rambling with a swift kick, that both knew would never actually hurt him. At least Jason looks just as embarrassed as him, neither quite knowing how to start the conversation back up,"

"How about we take a picture?" Marinette says, their saving grace.

"Yeah, that would be great," Jason fumbles for his phone, Marion hopes his mask will cover his blush, as he remembers what Jason had said about him at dinner, the only reason he was blushing.

They take a nice picture together. Then one where Marion throws bunny ears behind MDC. She swats his hand away and he pushes her out of frame. The next picture is one of him and Jason with Marinette rising up, like a threatening blur in the background.

"Aw thats a nice picture" Marion looks over Jason shoulder, they were meant to be with the next person already but they were a design hopeful, babbling to MDC about her designs, "You should send it to me,"

"Of course," Jason seems flustered with his proximity, enough so that he didn't see Marion's trap.

"Great heres my number," Marion quickly writes it down on blank piece of paper, a picture seeming a bit too narcissistic at that point.

"...Waut,"

"Well you have to send it to me someway," Marion shrugs, conveniently ignori-forgetting that pictures were sent through his social media all the time.

"Right... right," Jason seems to be in a bit of a daze when Marion sends him off, standing next to Marinette as the fan leaves.

They watch Jason leave. Marinette starts giggling when he almost runs into a wall.

“Are you ok?" Marion asks, partly for the security guard who was waiting for their ok to send the next person up.

“You are such a dork,” She breaths through her upcoming laughter, “I think I need a minute,”

“Fine but if I get a hopeful fashion designer I’m telling them your new direction is crocs,” Marion huffs, not really insulted, but if he didn't act it she would only up the anti.

“Do it and your casket will be made out of crocs,” Marinette threatens ineffectively, walking to the backstage door.

“I kinda want to see that,”

“You’d be dead,” Marinette calls from the door.

“Minor issue,”

Marinette waves him off, which could have been an aborted swat. He watches as the crowd nearby begin whispering, some offering others to go first to stall for time. Marion plans to shove this in her face next time Marinette claims she isn’t popular. He’s about to take a camera out for evidence when one of the groups, fast tracked but the crowd, approaches.

Marion goes to do his more basic greetings when a gun is shoved in his face. The group made up of armed men surrounding him, one holding a camera.

“Smile for the camera,” The figure pulls his coat back, revealing the frankly disturbing face of the Joker.

“Oh it’s you,” Marion keeps a blank face, evidently confusing him, “Any chance two-face will show up?”

“.... No?” Marion fights to keep his composure as the crowd are threatened by the remaining thugs, pushing them to the ground.

“Pity, what a waste of good foreshadowing,” Marion shrugs casually, that camera is probably filming.

“What,” Marion supposes its a rare thing to see the Joker taken aback, but watching a group of armed men storm backstage distracts him from the sight.

“Nothing, I just made a brilliant joke earlier and you're sort of ruining it,” Marion makes exaggerated gestures, testing his limits, the guns follow him but don’t shoot. “Anyway are you here for an autograph or what?”

“I’m not-” He watches the Joker's face twist in gruesome realisation, “you’re trying to stall me,”

“Stall you from what?” Marion tries not to make his scan of the crowd obvious, “Please go in depth,”

“How about on the way up to the roof?” Chilling smile, but Marion is too used to fear to let it get to him.

“Oh goodie, I hear it has wonderful views,” Marion claps his hands, probably getting weird looks from the goons hiding behind masks, but who are they to judge?

He’s guided to the elevator. The Joker making the mistake of not tying his hands, or gagging him. He feels Kaalki and Plagg tense in his pocket.

“Huh, no elevator music,” Marion observes as the elevator starts to rise, “I just kind of expected it at this point,”

“You are strange,” Marion makes the mistake of glancing over, the Joker does not seem perturbed by that fact.

“You’re telling me that?” Marion tilts his head, “Actually that's quite the achievement,”

The Joker starts to go on about his plan, something about throwing MCD off the roof in front of the crowd for whatever reason, he’s not really listening. No, instead he’s made his own plan. There's no way Marinette was caught, not when she has no one to look after. She must be somewhere in the building, probably as Sparrow. It’s best if Sparrow and Songbird are seen near their other identities as little as possible, so he had to deal with the camera. If she saw the footage, which was probably being broadcast (a brilliant idea, really, no problems with that) she would intercept them. The best position would be on the elevator, but he had to buy time.

The cameras closest so he strikes, hitting it out of the goons hand, mid sentence. In the split second confusion he hits the number panel, lighting up all but a few.

“Huh, that was easy,” Marion says with genuine surprise.

“And here I thought you were being a good hostage,” Marion feels several guns press against him, but it’s only the pistol with the Joker at the end that worries him.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Marion smirks cockily, the threats turning more violent.

No, not threats, promises. Marion debates calling on Kaalki, while he’s still able too. It wouldn’t be great for a miraculous to be seen in a different country, but better than the one that can teleport than Ladybug. If Marinette couldn’t stop them in time she would surely turn to Ladybug and pick him up as he falls, right in front of the crowd and cameras. Not great.

There were other heroes in Gotham, they both knew. And if it was just him at stake he would put faith in them. But it’s not. He’s Chat Noir and there's not enough time to train a new Black Cat, not anymore.

The elevator finally reaches the top. Marion braces to help Marinette fight on the other side of the door. It opens. There’s no one. Great, great, great .

“Well, well, well why don’t we see what's behind that mask and carve up your pretty face, hm?” Joker leads him close enough to the edge of the building that anyone else should be scared.

“That sounds counter productive,” Might as well try plan b, he should have come up with one, but as is he’ll have to wing it, “Weren’t you going to throw me off the roof?”

“Eager aren't you?” Not really  “After, promise,”

That grin paired with the knife inching closer should scare him, but honestly the only thing that truly scares him anymore is someone going for his ring, or Ladybug’s.

“What's the point? I’d be dead soon anyway, sounds like a waste of time,” Marion debates adding a yawn to match the tone, but it seems like overkill.

“A few screams are never a waste of time,” Marion is backed up further to the edge of the roof, able to see the fretting crowd below.

“Sounds to me like you just don’t have any confidence,” Marion says with all the sass he can muster, which is a lot.

“Oh, do explain,” The knife inching closer to the edge of his mask encourages the opposite, but he was never much good with warnings.

“If you really believe your plan will work and I wouldn’t be saved by I-don’t-know, Batman?” Yep that strikes a cord, probably not the best cord to strike with a knife in your face, oh well his wounds will heal soon anyway, “Then you’d throw me over the roof, a few cuts doesn't matter much when your dead,”

He can see the gears turning, debating if there's merit to his bullshit or if it’s just that. Honestly Marion doesn't know either.

“Revealing my identity and stuff is just a way for you to feel like you’ve won when Batman beats you,” He carefully doesn't emphasise the ‘when’, making it sound casual, like a given fact, “Cutting my face is just admitting you think the heroes will win,”

Just a little bit more. He’s almost pulled off plan ‘b’ for bat-shit crazy. He has the horse miraculous in his grip, Kaalki won’t like it but it's hard to put glasses on in mid air.

“Besides, won’t the mask leave a bit more impact?”

Hook. Line. Sinker.

“You really think the Bats going to save you huh?” The grin is unnerving, so Marion matches it with one of his own.

“I do,” He challenges, chin tilted up, “do you,”

He hears a cackle that would have surely appeared in his fear toxin dream if he heard it before. He’s pushed, vest twisted in the jokers grip, trying to stay balanced on the very edge.

“I like you kid,” And yeah, by that smile it’s not a good thing.

“Goodie,” Marion says sardonically, ignoring the shouting below, probably because his torso is all the way off the edge.

“Make sure to scream,” He feels the grip loosen, not having the natural response to grab onto something.

“I won’t,” he sends one last smirk as he’s dropped, weight sending him off balance and off the edge.

He’s in free fall and knows the screaming is not his own. He’s too busy debating the right time to transform. The street is getting closer and closer, no staff or grappling hook to save him.

“Klakki!-”

The air gets knocked out of him at the sudden change in directions. He can feel the arm and hears the glass shattering. For all the speed of a few seconds ago he is not expecting the quiet that follows. He’s leaning forward against someone's chest, both crouched down inside the building he just fell from. He recognises the shade of red first, Marinette had spent weeks with it pinned up all over their room and Marion has been wearing it ever since. He relaxes.

“Are you ok?” He gets pulled back from the chest, his complaints are cut off, a gloved hand tracing over his cheek, he feels the sting so it must be cut.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Probably not convincing, since his crush is the closest he’s ever been and Marion is almost the same shade of red.

“You’re fine?” The disbelief is clear and it takes Marion a second to realise why.

“I mean… Oh no! Trauma!” Marion tries to fall dramatically but the arm still on his back catches him.

“Good thing you’re a popstar not an actor,” Marion feels relief at the stiff atmosphere relaxing.

“Excuse you,” He snaps back up, poking Red Hood’s chest, smirking, “I’d make a wonderful actor,”

“Yeah, yeah,” Red Hood looks away, as far as Marion can tell with the helmet, “You sure you’re ok?”

“Yes, are you?” Marion stresses, remembering that he broke through the glass.

“... what?” Red Hood's full attention comes back to him.

“Are you ok?” Marion tries not to get annoyed at the answer, humour then, “After all breaking through a window isn’t much fun,”

You idiot you can't use his line on him ! Not in different identities! What if he figures it out?!

“Yeah.. yeah," He looks away again, "I’m… great,”

Marion smiles, guess things did turn out great in the end.

“CD!” Marion jumps out his skin, both suddenly realising how they looked and stand, Marinette runs right up to him, “Are you ok!?”

“Yep I’m… great,” Marion exchanges a private glance with Red Hood as Marinette frets over him.

“Thank goodness,” She sighs, shoulders sagging, then coming back up to hit him over the head, “Then why are you such an idiot!”

“Natural talent?” Marion rubs the spot, she put some Ladybug strength in that one.

“At least you’re good at something,” She sighs, brushing her hand over the spot.

“Rude,” Marion pouts, even as his head feels better, and his cut is startling to close up.

“If every things ok then,” Red Hood says awkwardly, “I’ve got a clown to go beat up,”

I Forgot!! How do you forget that! Marion yells at himself When your crush saves you from falling to your death…. Less romantic than it seemed in the moment.

“Have fun….” Marion waves, increasing the awkwardness ten fold, “dear god, I am an idiot!”

He groans into Marinette's shoulder after Red Hood left.

“Yes, but blush later, we need to be ready to provide backup,” Marinette pulls him out of the room stepping over broken glass.

“Uh- yeah! Right! lets go,” Marion snaps out of it, running after her.

“You are such a mess,” She insults as they jog, or with their speed, sprint up the stairs.

“Of all people you don’t get to call me that,” Marion needn't remind her of how she spilt orange juice all over herself at breakfast.

“... You just fell off a building, I was talking about your clothes,” Marinette has on her, ‘you’re an idiot’ face, well practiced that one.

“Oh,”

“But yeah you are a walking disaster,” She speeds up.

“Hey!” Marion sprints after her.

They reach the roof, not as out of breath as they should be.

“I thought I told you to stay put?” Red Hood snaps, alone on the roof.

“You didn’t,” They chorus coincidentally.

“I thought you had common sense,”

“We don’t,” They chorus on purpose.

Red Hood just shakes his head, probably smiling under the helmet.

“So the Joker escaped?” Marinette is the first to wipe the grin off her face.

“He was gone when I got up here,” Red Hood shrugs, “Waiting on intel,”

Probably from oracle.

“I didn’t say thank you!” Marion realises, not used to being the one saved.

“You don’t have to,” He looks away again, “Just doing my job,”

“But I want to,” Marion walks into his line of sight “So thank you,”

“Yeah well… thanks too I guess,” He looks away again and it's starting to get annoying.

“For what,” Marion leans over enough that he should be in sight, but he can't see his eye to confirm.

“I like the outfit you designed off me,” Marion freezes, almost stumbling over, “The interview was… entertaining,”

With that killing blow, a grappling hook is sent out and Red Hook is whisked away.

“.... Hey, can I borrow your miraculous?” Marion says blankly when Marinette comes to stand by him, “I need to wish myself out of existence real quick,”

----------------

Taglist:

@technicallyburninggarden @fusser90  @misslenamooney @superbwhispersconnoisseur @biodad-bruce-month @nalu-ismyjam

[misssophiachase]

Can’t Fight the Moonlight

For @klarolinefallbingo “Harvest Moon”

He’s her professor and she’s his student but can they resist each other on a university field trip unsupervised?

September 24 - University of Texas, Austin TX

“Is it wrong to want to inspect the professor more than the actual event?” 

“That’s not appropriate,” Caroline swatted away her best friend while attempting to keep her attention trained on his lecture. 

But it was incredibly hard to concentrate. 

Katherine was right. He was infinitely explorable given his crimson lips, sexy stubble and crisp accent that made her tingle in all the right places but she was madly trying to focus on the assignment at hand. 

Camping in rural Texas to see the harvest moon with her class was manageable. But sleeping so close to the hottie, astronomy professor in question was a whole other problem.

“Caroline?” She looked up distractedly into the gaze of their professor. She could only manage a robotic nod by way of response. “I was hoping you’d be our student representative for the excursion to Somerville next week?” 

His blue eyes were equally imposing and imploring and his gentle tone hypnotising. Caroline didn’t have much choice but to nod stupidly again. He sent her a brief smile with those extremely kissable-looking lips then effortlessly continued his lecture. Caroline could hear her friend chuckling by her side. 

“What’s appropriate again?”  

October 1 - Somerville, TX

“You’re no slacker in the tent department,” he whistled appreciatively. They had arrived a few hours earlier and she’d gotten straight to work as the student representative making sure their sleeping arrangements were in order. 

Until he decided to come over and distract her. Caroline felt her temperature rise just from being in such close proximity to her professor. 

She knew it was wrong. 

Very wrong. 

But it was difficult not to react when his heady scent, a mixture of sandalwood and vanilla, was so enticing not to mention that navy henley he wore like a second skin over a rather fitted pair of dark, denim jeans.    

Caroline closed her eyes momentarily, silently repeating the same mantra. 

“He’s your professor and it’s not appropriate to drool over him. Repeat.” 

“I, uh, meant that as a compliment,” he added, Caroline realising she hadn’t responded because she was too  busy trying to regain some semblance of composure. 

“Thank you, professor,” she managed to get out, but only just. 

“I assume this isn’t your first rodeo then?” Caroline felt a blush creep across her cheeks wishing he hadn’t made a riding reference when all she could think about was doing that very thing to him. 

Caroline was ashamed. It was as if Katherine had entered her mind and was walking around while subsequently making herself at home.  

“Caroline, are you okay?” He asked, his concerned look not lost on her. She really needed to calm down. 

“Yes, uh, fine,” she replied quickly. “No, I’ve been camping with my parents since I could walk. My father would be absolutely mortified with me if I couldn’t pitch a tent after all that practice.”

“And your mother?” He asked curiously. 

“She, uh, died seven years ago,” Caroline stumbled, not expecting him to ask such a personal question. He was her professor, after all. His expression changed, sympathy she was used to, although there was something else intermingled with it she couldn’t quite identify.  

“But I’m sure she’d be just as proud,” he smiled, making her stomach flip. “Given your vast, outdoor experience, I’m hoping you can teach me how to make a s’more this trip? My younger brother tells me there’s nothing better.”

“Your brother has good taste.”

“Well, don’t get too excited. Kol has taste but I think the jury is still out on how good it is,” he drawled. “My brother is a bit of a nomad. He’s been travelling the globe ever since he turned eighteen. You name any country and he’s probably already been there and made himself at home.”

“But yet you live here full-time and haven’t sampled our finest campfire cuisine yet?”

“Unlike my brother, whose work ethic is virtually non-existent, I tend to burn the candle at both ends.”

“Well, you know what they say,” Caroline teased. “All work and no play…” He held her gaze as the words tumbled from her mouth. It was not like her at all but her professor brought it out in her, or it was Katherine still playing with her mind? 

It was his turn not to respond, his blue eyes reflecting exactly how she felt. 

Needy.  

Intense. 

Imploring. 

“Are you saying I’m a dull boy?” She couldn’t miss the husky tone in his voice. 

“Well…”

“Professor Mikaelson, can you help me with my tent?” Hayley Marshall was batting her long eyelashes and brown, doe eyes in his direction. 

She’d forgotten they were standing in a campful of other people. Caroline knew he had a fan club but she hated that her nemesis was one of them. Hayley had flirted with her ex boyfriend for months before dating him straight after their break-up. 

“Uh, of course, Hayley,” he responded officially, finally tearing his eyes away from hers.  “I’ll be right there.”

Caroline should have been pleased given whatever just happened between them was against the rules but all she felt was a dull ache of disappointment. 

“So, all that eye sex was for naught I see,” Katherine offered, breaking Caroline from her professor-induced trance. 

“There was no eye sex and, even if there was, I don’t think rolling around in a tent with our entire class present is the best look.”

“I’m sure our sexy professor would see it a different way,” she insisted. “He was ready to devour you whole and I, for one, wouldn’t have cared as long as you finally got laid after that poor excuse for an ex-boyfriend.”

“Shhhh,” Caroline growled. “Talk about indiscreet, Kat, I think they heard you in Australia.”

“You know how much I hate learning so please give me something good to bring back from this trip,” Katherine pleaded. “Someone has to get laid if I can’t.”

8 hours later...

A hush had settled over the camp as they succumbed to sleep in the early hours of the morning. 

Caroline was wide awake. Her mind taking her back to his vivid description of the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. Not that he needed words given the view. 

Katherine was MIA as she attempted to get some sleep but was failing miserably. Caroline figured it was due partially to the gorgeous, French exchange student and her hopes of hot professor-student sex. 

Caroline was so not going there. 

She had an impressive GPA and no one was going to meddle with her grades. Or her plans for the future. 

She took astronomy as an elective to compliment her medicine degree. Caroline had always been interested in space and the solar system so couldn’t resist.

Now, it seemed she couldn’t resist her professor either. 

She pushed off the covers impatiently, deciding that some fresh air might help settle her insomnia. She was dressed in her plaid, flannel pyjamas but figured no one was around to care. 

The first thing she noticed was the brilliant, harvest moon that they’d been studying earlier. It was something Caroline couldn’t deny given just how impressive it looked from this vantage point. 

She made her way towards the fire, the embers glowing in the distance. 

“And here I took you for stripes, not plaid.” She recognised his voice straight away and it unnerved her completely. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“You clearly shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” she shot back, trying to ignore how good he looked in sweats and a black, Beatles t-shirt in the glow emanating from the fire. ”Much like I shouldn’t judge you for that Beatles shirt.”

“And what exactly is wrong with the Beatles?”

“They weren’t the Rolling Stones,” she offered, shrugging her shoulders. “But it’s okay if you want to hold onto that.”

“Here I was thinking that I needed to teach you about astronomy but clearly popular culture is lacking too.”

It was at that point that the playful banter ceased and they were just two people who shouldn’t be standing so close together.

“I should go to bed,” he insisted, his expression telling her anything but that. 

“Me too,” she agreed but her feet felt cemented to the ground.  They continued their stand off in the firelight, every fiber of their being saying they needed to part ways.   

“We can’t do this.” He bit out but it was barely a strangled whisper. 

“I know,” she murmured, glad that he held the same view about their untoward connection. “But I finish this subject in a month and then we won’t need to coexist in the same lecture hall anymore.”

“I could be persuaded,” he replied, eyeing her closely. “But, just so you know, I won’t be seen in the company of a Beatles hater. Although, there is something you could help me with.”

“Which is?”

“How about that s’more lesson?”

“Fine. As long as you don’t insult my Rolling Stones.”

She taught him how to make the perfect campfire snack that night. But after she finished his class they experimented much more than that. Their musical tastes never changed but their feelings and sexual appetite changed for the better.

Dr Forbes and Dr Mikaelson married five years later but the playlist was still a contentious issue. 

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Hey, i really like minecraft and used to watch mcyt's back when i was younger. I was wondering if you could maybe guide me into the dream smp series. I have no idea where to start or what people are partaking in it. It seems so active rn and you seem to be invested in the plotlines and such so i thought maybe you can help me?

Okay!

The Dream SMP: A History

Warnings for drugs, the selling of drugs, drinking, war, death, explosions, and human/fish relationships

So, once upon a time, there was a Minecraft server.

It didn't have much of a plot or drama, everyone was just kind of playing the game

Then Wilbur showed up.

An important thing to remember about this server: It’s all Wilbur’s fault, except when it’s Dream’s.

Anyway, Wilbur decided to start a Minecraft drug empire (re: potions) out of a hto dog van (I did not misspell that. It’s called the hto dog van).

But they all lived in Dream’s server (Dream is the main Ruler/God/Inconceivable Green Dude of the SMP) and under Dream’s rule. 

He interfered with their “drug” business, so Wilbur did the only logical thing: Declared independence and formed his own nation to sell more “drugs”!

The nation was called L’Manburg, but Dream wasn’t a fan of any of this

And so the Revolution began!!

Part One: The Disc Wars

The main players were Wilbur (the most theater kid of them all), Tommy (The closest thing to a shonen protagonist this thing has), Tubbo (sunshine personified, likes bees, can lie though), and Eret (fuck Eret /j) (In all seriousness, they're awesome)

It was a hard battle.

Dream had way more people. The revolutionaries were outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, and out planned. And that was before Eret betrayed them.

Eret killed off all of their fellow revolutionaries in exchange for Dream giving them a kingdom.

All seemed lost (Tommy even tried to duel Dream despite being 16 and not the best at combat. He got killed quickly.)

Tommy hadn’t really cared about the revolution in the beginning, but at the end he gave up his most prized possessions (his music discs) to get Dream to leave them alone.

And L’Manburg was an independent nation!

Everyone celebrated in the ways they knew best

In Wilbur’s case, that was sleeping with a fish (yes. a fish. it was a salmon, if that clears anything up) named Sally and having a son: Fundy, furry extraordinaire!

Somehow the middle ground between Salmon and Human is Fox, as Fundy is an anthropomorphic fox.

He was the first person born in L’Manburg, and it seemed like there was to be peace throughout the land once more.

Take one flying guess who screwed that up.

Part Two: The Election

If you guessed Wilbur, we have a winner!

He decided that he needed to win an election to rule the country, and ran as POG 2020, or Wilbur for President.

But he wasn’t unopposed.

Enter Quackity (yes, this is the guy Trump vague tweeted), wanting power but being chill about it, as usual. He decided to throw his beanie into the political ring as Quackity 2020.

It seemed like an easy race, since Wilbur had liberated the nation and Quackity was just Some Guy at this point.

Then, Fundy and Nikki decided to run as Coconut 2020 in a third party bid for the presidency.

THEN, when Schlatt (senile old goat, the corrupt businessman archetype, often drunk) came up to the stage to endorse a candidate, he instead rambled into the mic that he was running for president too.

Like the senile old man they all thought he was.

Little did they know.

Wilbur still could have easily won this election. He was popular and everything. Then, he made a decision.

(Wilbur didn't need to do this, but like all tragic heroes and/or theater kids, he had hubris and was going to make it Everyone's Problem)

He went up to Quackity and suggested that they combine their votes. Quackity wasn't going to win either way, but this way he'd get to be vice president.

Quackity saw that it made sense, but decided that he wanted to be petty that day, and decided to combine votes with Schlatt instead.

And then the votes were counted

Team Coconut came in fourth because they cheated

Team Schlatt came in third because no one wanted the drunken, senile goat to be president

Team Quackity came in second

And Team Wilbur won in a landslide, taking 45% of the votes! 

Tommy ran out of the video to tell his mom they won. And then Wilbur revealed the deal Quackity and Schlatt struck. 

Quackity+Schlatt got 46% of the votes. Schlatt was president of L’Manburg. 

Schlatt immediately takes the podium and starts giving a dramatic speech that sounds less Senile Goat more Dangerous Dictator Goat. He orders that Team Wilbur leave the nation of L'Manburg Manburg (he renamed the country) under threat of death.

Part Three: The Festival

Team Wilbur became Pogtopia, Schlatt and crew became Manburg, and L'Manburg became a nostalgic dream.

The Pogtopians hope to reclaim their nation, and get this absolute madman on their team.

The dude spent a year just farming potatoes to beat someone in a contest. He regularly quotes The Art Of War. He's a die-hard anarchist.

Behold: Technoblade.

So Manburg is a dictatorship at this point in the tale, and Pogtopia is trying its best. 

They have Technoblade, Tommy, Wilbur, probably someone I'm forgetting, and Tubbo. 

Tubbo is their spy on the inside (so is Fundy, but he hasn't even told Pogtopia he's spying for them, so he's regarded as a traitor)

Then the Festival rolls around

Wilbur has been spiraling, and having a little corruption arc because of course the theater kid decides to kin Hamlet (or is it Macbeth in this situation?) 

A day before the festival, he reveals that he's planning on blowing up L'Manburg, because if he can't have it no one can.

The festival comes around, and surprise! Tubbo is publicly executed in front of a crowd!

Schlatt figured out he was a traitor, so he ordered that Techno execute him.

Techno did, but because he was peer pressured. 

Then Techno killed pretty much everyone at the festival with fireworks!

Wilbur tried to blow up the place, but lost the button to detonate the TNT (Side note: The TNT was given to him by Dream. Because of course.)

Part Four: The Revolution 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

By the time the true war for L’Manburg rolls around, next to no one is on Schlatt’s side.

Quackity betrays him, Fundy betrays him, even Eret is back on the side of Pogtopia.

The war went by fast, and Schlatt was surrounded by former allies and enemies alike.

Schlatt had a heart attack before anyone could actually kill him, and died as pathetically as he’d lived. Anti-climactic, but everyone was happy.

Wilbur declared Tommy, our protagonist, president.

Tommy declined the presidency, saying that he needed to search for his discs first. He declared Wilbur president of L’Manburg once more.

Wilbur declined the presidency and declared Tubbo president

Tubbo accepted and gave a lovely speech

And then it all goes to shit. "Surely not all of it?" Yeah. All of it.

Wilbur (yes. it was wilbur.) explodes L’Manburg, finally pressing the button to destroy his nation despite his dad trying to stop him.

His own father, Philza, kills him

Stabs the Wilbur

Everyone panicks

And that's when Techno decided it was Chaos Time.

He stands on the ashes of L'Manburg, and said that no government will be allowed to rise in the entire SMP. Tommy objects, and Techno gives this speech:

do you think you’re a hero, tommy?

the thing about this world tommy, is that good things don’t happen to heroes. let me tell you a story, tommy. a story about a man called theseus. his country—well his city-state technically—was in danger. and he sent himself forward into enemy lines. he slayed the minotaur and saved his city.

and you know what they did to him, tommy?

they exiled him. he died in disgrace, despised by his people. that’s what happens to heroes, tommy. the greeks knew the score. but if you want to be a hero, tommy. that’s fine.

do you want to be a hero tommy?

THEN DIE LIKE ONE.

And then he spawns two withers (one of which is named Subscribe To Technoblade) and all hell breaks loose.

Part Five: The Aftermath (aka Where Are They Now?)

Since then, Tubbo has been trying to rebuild L’Manburg. It’s a canal town now, and it looks lovely. He’s a good President.

Tommy isn’t the best Vice President, but once he stops banning people from the country he should be good.

Nikki has left the fox Wilbur gave her in Pogtopia.

Speaking of abandoned foxes, Fundy’s dealing with the death/betrayal of his dad, as well as not getting on that well with the others. He’s also engaged to Dream.

Yes, you read that right. Dream and Fundy are getting married. Fundy met their eldritch overlord on what was pretty much a blind date, and they just clicked.

Eret is adopting Fundy! She has no kingdom any more, but she’s recovered some honor and now has a son.

Philza is dealing with the fact that he killed his son, and may try to resurrect him.

Schlatt is still dead (but is he really gone?)

Quackity is....doing some worrisome things, getting vague tweeted at by Trump, ate Schlatt’s heart, and might be possessed by him??

Technoblade is still doing his own thing, I think

And Wilbur? Wilbur is an amnesiac ghost, blocking out the memories of when he was hurt or a bad person.

There’s way more to say on the subject of the Dream SMP, but this is the basics! Hope this helped!

[rmichaelwahlquist]

Juilliard is the tip of the iceberg. If Juilliard grads are struggling to find work – coming from one of the the most prestigious and well funded programs in the country, with some of the most high profile instructors – imagine the job prospects of all the state school grads. It's hard to imagine any scenarios where potential employers are going to take a ***** State University candidate over someone from Juilliard.

What follows may be my longest tumblr essay ever, buckle up for a ride through the perils of music education and a few ideas and solutions along the way!

And yet music programs around the country continue to expand the number of students in their programs – more students is after all in best interest of the institution (more students=more funding) – somehow without much regard to the hard numbers of how well these graduates will do in their careers.

Now, I work in music education and I readily acknowledge that changing this system is like changing the course of a glacier. For over two hundred years the higher education system in music has focused on a relatively narrow range of topics and techniques to train musicians. Berlioz's irreverent send-up of scholastic fugues during the finale of his 1830 Symphonie Fantastique is just one early example of students rankling at the limits of what was taught in school.

And for the first hundred or so years of the conservatory system (the 1800s), especially when it came to orchestral musicians, the product generally matched the demand - well trained musicians to play the music of the times.

On the other hand, I defend the traditional idea that not everything about a music education in a university has to be about job preparedness. For example, whether or not a musician teaches music history or theory for their career, I believe they should be well rounded and have a knowledge of those things. I tell my students: you want to be the whole package. And no matter what innovations come in music education, it would seem unquestionable that certainly the program should train musicians in excellent technique and performance.

I don't have the answers. I wish I did. I wish every person who wants to make music for a living could go to college and leave prepared to have an enjoyable, reliably profitable career in making the music that makes them happy. But right off the bat if you want to make pop (or any popular genre of) music or video game music or movie music – most university programs can hardly begin to help you with that. While some few specialized programs exist, you've really got to be the cream of the crop in the first place to even get your foot in those doors.

But where are the musicians making the money today? What skills do they have that enable them to make this living? And why does a music education have so little to do with either of those answers?

Many first year music students are surprised and disappointed to find that unless they want to be a band conductor, an orchestra musician, or a private instructor, being a music major may not be for them. And indeed it may not be! Many of the 20th century's and now 21st century's most wealthy and successful musicians became so without a formal music education behind them. Same for many of the ones who, while not wealthy, are working in studios and in live gigs with a steady income. Talent, work and creativity have always mattered a lot more in music than a piece of paper from an institution.

I have been wondering lately whether all of this really boils down to the fallout from the invention of recording technology over a century ago. Prior to the age of recordings, western musical notation had had a thousand years to develop and influence the way music was made, performed, and disseminated. Simply put, if you wanted to write, share, or perform music widely, then written music notation was pretty much the only way to do so. The accumulation of this tradition lead to the heights of late 19th century romanticism and the dawn of musical modernism. It's a staggering artistic achievement for humanity, no doubt about it, and it was all made possible because each generation could build on the written tradition of the previous one.

However, the advent of audio recordings abruptly interrupted (and/or accelerated) this progression/fragmentation. The need for creating and reading sheet music has gone from being universal to being niche - as long as the song can be performed, it can be recorded. The middle-man of notation no longer has a monopoly. This has led to the rise of new genres and commercial aspects of music that have fluctuated with the changing times and technology.

Jazz is an interesting case – an entirely new musical genre whose rise I would credit to recording and broadcast technology. Suddenly you didn't have to have tickets to an exclusive venue, training at a fancy school, or even the sheet music. You copied and learned from what you heard on the radio or recordings. You learned right from the best, right in the comfort of your home. You got playing experience doing live gigs. The genre evolved rapidly from Jelly Roll Morton to Louis Armstrong to Duke Ellington to Charlie Parker to Miles Davis to John Coltrane in just a few decades, becoming a well established and vibrant musical language – so well established that it can now retroactively enter higher music education. Those early jazzers would be quite amused, I think, that you can now (as I once did) get a degree in jazz.

Unfortunately, the same effect may be happening to Jazz education as happened to classical music education – the education becomes more about preserving the past than about keeping the music itself alive. (Have you heard some of the things the best jazz musicians are doing today? It is as far from even the wild jazz of the 60s as the earth is to the moon. Still recognizably jazz but not anything you'll learn in school!) Perhaps by its nature, a music education is only capable of teaching about the past. But I think that's an assumption worth challenging.

We may expect a trained jazz musician to be able to play big band styles and bebop with equal fluency, much the same way a violinist may be expected to play Bach and Brahms and Boulez. But is there a point at which a music education becomes too fixated on the past without adequately preparing for the right now, let alone the future, of life as a musician?

In fact, every non-notated music tradition is at risk of the same effect due to recordings. Say you recorded a native music maker from an endangered tradition in the early or mid 1900s. Now for all time, to make music in that tradition there is this temptation to calcification - hardening the whole style around a few interpretations just because they happen to be the earliest of which we have record. The reality is that no musical style ever stays the same forever. Those recorded in the 1900s were not even doing the music in the exact same as their parents, let alone 50 or a 100 years prior. The times changed, the people changed, the music changed.

It will always be that way. Music education may be a glacier set on its course but the flow of music increasingly is finding its way around and beyond it in terms of the art, the artists, the culture, and the money. Now, the times still change, the people still change, the music still changes, while the cultural and practical relevance of a formal music education wanes and wanes.

Man, I hate being so negative about this, but to fix things you have to first diagnose the problem. So let me propose a few solutions or at least work-arounds, especially for music majors.

- don't go into a music degree expecting it to do everything for you. Understand what it is and what it isn't. It will help you be a good musician. It may not prepare you for many other aspects of the career. You can do everything right in a music degree, pass with 'top marks', and still not be ready to go to work in your field.

- do look for opportunities to perform and make music outside the university. How do you expect to suddenly have music making be a money-making enterprise if you haven't already been practicing that? Why wait until you are a 'pro' to start a youtube channel, self release recordings on bandcamp or soundcloud, to self publish sheet music on sheetmusicplus.com? It takes time to build up a following and a reputation and it doesn't come automatically just when you get a diploma.

- do everything you can to learn about music business, copyright, contracts, recording, sound engineering, advertising, etc. whether or not it is required for a class. Learn what you need to know, not just the minimum for the grade or degree.

- be disciplined with your time. Give due diligence to your classes and practice but don't let those things take over the rest of your time. Balance your life and your art. If you don't learn to do that in school you'll have to learn it while trying to start your career...and why wait until that crucial period?

- you've got to be quite committed to make a music career work. It may involve participation in a combination of money-making streams - academia, private lessons, performances, recording, etc. You may even have to balance music making with other non-music income (I know of a successful composer who loves her second career as a yoga instructor). Carefully consider if all this is for you. You can have a lifelong, satisfying and fulfilling engagement with music making without ever making it the sole focus of your study or employment. There is no shame in seeking stability in a career, which music just can't promise.

- don't dismiss the value of the things in your college education that may not be "directly" relevant to the functioning of your music career. Modern college education has a foundation in the ideal that each person should have a well rounded grasp of some of the basics of the world. There's a reason all college grads are required to take classes like math or sociology or science. Practice finding that reason with each class and you'll have a happier time getting through those hoops. There can be relevance in pretty much any topic but don't expect college to spoon-feed you the application of that knowledge.

- Same goes for music topics that seem irrelevant. Just because the class is talking about music history, theory or repertoire that seems useless to you, it doesn't mean that you don't want to know those things as a musician. As I wrote above, you want to be the whole package: a well rounded musician who understands a thing or two about many aspects of life, the world, and music culture specifically.

- do take advantage of every resource that is available for your success. This may not be only within the university system. Look everywhere for mentors, professional contacts, grants, support, performance opportunities, learning opportunities and creative outlets. If you meet somebody who is making it work, pick their brain, ask for their help! If you aren't a voracious type of learner inside and outside of school, being a music major is going to be a tough road. Why suffer through four plus years just to eke out the degree that may not even lead you to a job?

- make the music of TODAY, of RIGHT NOW. Make music that matters to you and to your peers. Make music that is relevant and current and is more than a living museum. Don't be afraid of new music, be afraid of a world without new music!

- keep up with changes in the industry, especially paying attention to where the money is coming from and going. A music career doesn't have to be all about money but, you know, making a living matters unless you are 'of independent means'. Could be NFTs, could be grants, could be (as in the article above) playing your instrument with unusual ensembles. Be as creative with your income pursuits as you are in your art and I bet you can find a happy balance between making the music you like and making money in the process.

- don't give up hope that all the brokenness I mention above can be fixed. Total cultural change is possible and perhaps inevitable within a generation. Balance learning from the past with a push to make a difference in the directions you want to see.

I'll see you in a more vibrant and sonically rich world!

R. Michael Wahlquist | March 2021 | Rexburg, Idaho

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #387

“today i woke up, & i hate myself”

What common problem have you never experienced? The loss of a close family member (that doesn't include pets). Alternatively, what's an uncommon problem you have experienced? Homelessness. Do you know anyone who opposes marriage equality? I sure do. What was the last thing you got really emotional about? Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty premiering. What's the longest amount of time you've been ill for? I don't really know. I don't get sick a lot at all. Who is your closest male friend? Girt. Do you know anyone who hunts for meat? Sadly. I say "sadly" because it's not like they need it. Have you ever lived with a boyfriend/girlfriend? Yes, although I wasn't a technical resident. I was there all the time, though. What do you wash dishes with? Sponge, scrub brush, rag, something else? A sponge. Is there anything you prefer to do the old-fashioned way? There's probably something, but I can't think of anything. Do you put your glasses and mugs right side up or upside down on the cabinet shelf? Upside-down. What was the worst part of your childhood? My parents fighting. Have you ever seen a high school relationship last long-term? (like 10+yrs) Yeah. Do you know any cancer survivors? Quite a few. Leftover pizza for breakfast... yay or nay? Good shit, man. Do you personally know anyone who's a psychopath or sociopath? I don't think so. What is your most used kitchen appliance? Lately, it's been the apple slicer. I've been on a real apple slices + peanut butter kick lately. What is something that you would personally like to be remembered for? For being a caring person towards all living things. Have you ever been diagnosed as clinically depressed before? Yes. Do you like bowling? Yeah, it's fun. Do you own binoculars or nonoculars? What do you use them for? No. Do you ever wish you had a telescope on the roof or attic to stargaze? Yeah, that'd be cool. Have you ever had to deal with someone close to you going off to war? No, thankfully. Who do you feel you have the most in common with? Sara, easily. Who in your life causes you the most stress or negative feelings? My damn self lmao. Have you ever had a teacher that also taught your parents? No. My parents didn't grow up in NC. What’s one thing that people definitely CAN’T count on you for? To remember like... anything. What about something they definitely can count on you for? Someone to listen to encourage them. What’s one food that you want to try but haven’t yet? I've always thought macaroons look good. Do you have anything planned for the summer? No. Do you walk fast or slow? Slow. Would you consider yourself an adrenaline junkie? No. What is a common slang word from where you live? Plural "you" does not exist. It's "y'all," lol. What’s the scariest thing you’ve accidentally found on the internet? *shrug* Probably something as a kid, going on those sketchy websites with loads of games and stuff. Thinking of every Halloween costume you’ve had, which one was the most creative? I don't think I've had any creative costumes for Halloween. What’s one random city you want to visit? It's not exactly "random" as it's a popular location, but anyway, I would love to visit Venice. What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math. When was the last time you ate cake and what type of cake was it? That's a good question, actually. Maybe my niece's birthday in February? I don't remember what kind of cake it was. Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? No; I don't have any. Do you like snowy winter days or do you prefer rainy days? SNOWY! Name 3 things you find most beautiful in nature: Mountains, large waterfalls, and desert dunes in the wind. If you could ask one person one questions and get a completely honest answer who would it be and what would you ask? Jason. I'd ask if he thought I was emotionally abusive. What is your favorite winter activity? Building snowmen. Who is the greatest singer who is no longer living? Freddie Mercury. What is your idea of heaven? I don't know, really... I have to ask myself IS there a heaven in eternity? Living forever just... doesn't appeal to me. "Living" is an odd word to use there, but hopefully you get it. Existing on and on and on and on seems like it'd just be a drag, but at the same time I do like the thought of feeling relentlessly happy and peaceful with my loved ones. I guess that would be my definition of it, if it does exist. What’s one of the scariest things you’ve ever done? ODed. Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? Just once, on my 16th birthday because I was at Jason's place and all of his family was watching it. I had absolutely zero interest, but we wanted to hang with the family. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Canada. Do you watch American Horror Story? I haven't in years. It was Jason's and my first "show," and the first season was excellent. I lost interest in the second one, honestly. I'd be up for watching other seasons, though. How many relationships have you been in this year? None. What's your favorite cereal? Probably Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That's also the only cereal where I can happily drink the milk afterwards. Twitter or Facebook? Facebook. Do you like to paint your nails? No. What's the coolest place you've ever been to? Disney World, probably. Have you ever punched anyone? No. What's something you wish you knew how to do? Cook. :/ I really need to make an effort to learn. It'd be great to not rely on a microwave for the rest of my life. What's a celebrity that everyone likes but you don't? *shrug* What food do you eat the most? Probably bread in some form or another. That really needs to stop. Green or purple grapes? Either one, but they have to be firm. I cannooooooot with soft grapes. Have you ever cried over a text? Yeah. What's the background of your phone of? My lock screen is this pretty, simplistic periwinkle color with "work on you for you" written on it. It's one I plan on keeping for probably a long time because I connect to it so deeply with my stupid damn head frequently demanding I have to improve "for Jason" to prove him wrong. Which is a very unhealthy mindset to have, I know. My home screen is a cute lil Mark edit someone made with a very similar pale blue background, so my phone is just currently an #aesthetic. Do you have a Snapchat? No. What's your favorite sports team? (if you like sports)? I don't like sports, but I'm biased towards the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team because of my dad. Last thing you ate? I had Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast. Do you take a lot of selfies? Definitely not. I just hate how I look so much; it takes way too much effort for me to get an "acceptable" one. Do you prefer strawberries or cherries? Strawberries. I hate cherries. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Maybe like, three. -_- Our A/C is still out, and it was like, 87 in the house last night. It was impossible to sleep. Do you listen to music daily? Not EVERY day, but usually. Biggest insecurity? My weight. Do you play video games? Not as much as I used to. I'd probably play way more if I actually had a PS4 + the games I'm DYING to have. Do you consider yourself lazy? "Yes, but a lot of it is also health related for my lack of energy and motivation." <<<< This for me as well. What recently made you laugh? I was watching a bit of The Nanny with Mom yesterday. We love that show. Do you like gummy bears? Yep. What was the last song you listened to? I'm randomly hooked on "My Nocturnal Serenade" by YOHIO. Like, I've known the song for a long time, but NOW I'm bingeing it???? Describe your mom with one word. Selfless. What's the biggest turn-off? Probably being misogynistic. But being a cocky ass is definitely high up there, too. What fish scares you the most? Mfkng whale sharks terrify me. How do you feel about snails? They're cuties!!! What's your favorite app? Pokemon GO. Would you rather time travel into the past or future? The future, to see what's coming. I feel like you could come back with some pretty valuable information. What is the saddest song you've ever heard? I think "Terrible Things" by Mayday Parade has to come on top. What insect do you hate the most? I was reminded that stag beetles exist last night, and omfg those. Well, "hate" is the wrong word, really, I'm just terrified of them. Would you ever have a wild animal as a pet if possible? I 110% want to rescue an opossum, emphasis on "rescue." I'm not plucking one from the wild or anything like that. I would be in HEAVEN raising one of those angels. Are there any decorations that makes you happy? (lights, candles, plants..) I love those beds decorated with fairy lights, and just Christmas lights in general. Halloween and Christmas decor tend to give me sparks of happiness when I see 'em. Does race matter to you when it comes to dating? Not at all for me. When was the last time you painted something? Not since I was still in school and took a Painting course. When was the last time you really felt alive, and what were you doing? I have NO idea. What is one question you would like an answer to? Why the worst things tend to happen to good people. Name one favorite thing to do with kids while babysitting. I don't babysit, but if I was to be in charge of a kid, I'd love to teach them to play video games from my childhood. Playing Pokemon with my niece and nephew is always a blast, ahhhh. Name one flavor you like. Strawberry is pretty consistent. Name one thing you are hoping for. Venus' new terrarium soon... big sigh. I can't for the life of me find one that's a reasonable price and also adequately sized. I'm willing to put the rest of my cash into it, but Mom is helping, so I can't just buy the first one I see. Then I'd need more substrate, I seriously want a temperature gun and hygrometer, a cool hide, sticks and stuff for cover... It's going to be expensive, but I want Venus to have a truly proper environment she can thrive in. Write the name of one of your imaginary friends from when you were younger. Oddly enough, I can't remember the imaginary wolf that was my "friend." I say "oddly" because his whole idea was important to me as a weird-ass kid. Name one girl's name that starts with a "J" that you like. "Justine." Name one boy's name that starts with a "J" that you like. Maybe "Jaxson." Have you ever been kissed? Yeah. Have you ever feared that you would be killed? It's never been like, a fear I actively worry about. I just acknowledge it's always a possibility for anyone. What is the last great opportunity you missed? This was quite a while ago by now, but I'd say by dropping out of school, I really let photography opportunities slip since I became the newspaper photographer...

[wineschool-blog]

Austrian Wine

https://j.mp/3joaM3C Austria is well known for Mozart, Schnitzel, Sacher torte, and The Sound of Music, but are you aware of its viticulture? During the 19th century, Austria’s wine industry boomed, but many setbacks in the 20th century almost eradicated it. But, like the phoenix from the ashes, it has reemerged riding on the back of its unique and popular grape: Gruner Veltliner. Over the last decade, wines produced from Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch have started to make waves in the United States, bolstering Austria’s place in viticulture. But, to take a closer look, we need to start at the beginning: a perfect place to start. Table of ContentsHistory of Austrian WinePhylloxeraEthylene GlycolRenewalWine todayWine RegionsNiederosterreichBurgenlandSteiermarkViennaVarietalsGruner VeltlinerWiener Gemischter SatzZweigeltBlaufrankischSt. LaurentAustrian Wine Regions History of Austrian Wine Wine came to Austria via the Celts in 700 BCE. The Romans further advanced winemaking in the first century BCE by improving production techniques. After the fall of the Roman Empire, however, winemaking stagnated. In the 9th century, Charlemagne encouraged winemaking and instituted new guidelines. Cistercian Monks further advanced wine production by introducing Burgundian methods in the dark ages, and by the 15th century, vineyards covered most regions of Austria. Phylloxera Austrian winemaking continued to thrive until the late 1800’s when mildew and phylloxera devastated the vines throughout the country. The further decline occurred after World War I and the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy when 30% of Austrian vines were lost when portions of Austria were annexed to other countries. The Soviets further plundered winemaking with the collapse of Nazi Germany after World War II. As a result, the wine industry started making low-quality, mass-produced wine after WW2. Ethylene Glycol The greatest embarrassment to Austrian wine culture occurred in the mid-1980s when it was found that some winemakers added ethylene glycol to their wines to increase their complexity. As a result, the Austrian industry fell into shambles, and exports dropped substantially. Renewal So, how do you solve a problem like a bad reputation? In 1986, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board was established. After that, strict wine laws were increasingly put in place, culminating in 2009 with the passage of the Austrian Wine Act. The government-guaranteed wine regulation and quality, and Austrian wines were well on their way back. Let’s take a closer look at Austrian wine today. Wine today Austrian wine is now synonymous with Gruner Veltliner, their native grape. This grape represents their most planted and exported wine. It remains the anchor of Austrian wine; however, sales of Gruner have grown stagnant. New and interesting red wines made from Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch receive rave reviews and may indicate the start of the second wave of exports from Austria. Let’s dive further into this beautiful country and the grapes they use. Wine Regions The land of Austria involves thoughts of the Alps and great skiing (primarily in the western part of the country). Austria’s east and south regions are perfect for Vitis vinifera and are where most of the country’s wine is produced. Niederosterreich Austria’s largest wine region is Niederosterreich, located in the northeast part of the country. This area lies along the Danube and contains the capital city, Vienna. It is the heart of white wine production, mainly Gruner Veltliner comprising 44% of the planted grapes. Eight specific DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) are located in this region. Six of the 8 DAC focus on white wine: Wagram, Traisental, Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, and Weinviertel. These regions focus not only on the outstanding Gruner Veltliner but other white grapes, including Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Chardonnay. In addition, reds rule in the southern regions of Carnuntum and Thermenregion. Burgenland South of Niederosterreich is Burgenland, where the red wines from Blaufrankisch, St. Laurent, and Zweigelt reign supreme. Five DAC exists in this region. The DAC of Mittelburgenland leads to full bodied dark fruit driven reds while the DAC of Neusiedlersee, Leithaberg, and Eisenberg produce more minerally and tannic wines. Within Neusiedlersee lies the special region of Seewinkel. This region has a unique humid microclimate due to its proximity to Lake Neusiedle, which leads to the development of botrytis on the grapes in the region. Called noble rot, grapes affected develop high sugar levels and give rise to the production of quality dessert wines called Ausbruch. The 5th DAC called Rosalia is aptly named given its production of rose wines. Steiermark Located just southwest of Burgenland is Steiermark (Styria) which contains 3 DAC. Vulkanland Steirmark makes spicy white wines due to its volcanic soils. (May this region live long and prosper)! Sudsteiermark is known for its Sauvignon Blanc production and Weststeiermark makes red wines from Blauer Wildbacher. Vienna As the only country capital in the world that makes high-quality wines, Vienna is known for its table wine called Wiener Gemischter Satz: a field blend of white grapes. Now that we discussed the regions let’s take a closer look into the unique grapes from Austria. Varietals Gruner Veltliner Gruner Veltliner makes the most important wine in Austria and accounts for 31% of all grapes planted in the country. This grape is believed to come from a crossing between Traminer and another unconfirmed 2nd grape. The grape is easily grown throughout the Niederosterreich and is regulated by the Austrian government to limit production and maintain quality. The Gruner grown in the region of Weinviertel are the most well-known and are of the highest quality. These wines are the spiciest and peppery, along with higher acidity than other Gruners. Gruner made in the rest of the Niederosterreich is generally riper with stone fruit notes and a bigger body. Wiener Gemischter Satz Wiener Gemischter Satz is a field blend grown in Vienna and is served in every tavern across the city as a table wine. It is made from many varietals, including Gruner Veltliner, Riesling, Traminer, and other whites. Recently, this blend has been produced for exportation, and this wine may be found in the US in the future. Other white wine varietals planted throughout Austria but mainly in the Niederosterreich and Steiermark are the international grapes Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. Zweigelt Red grapes are mainly grown in the lower Niederosterreich, throughout the Burgenland, and in the Steiermark. The Zweigelt grape was created in the 1920s by Professor Fritz Zweigelt when he crossed Blaufrankisch and St. Laurent. Zweigelt is the most widespread red grape in Austria, accounting for 14% of grapes planted. It is mainly grown in Burgenland. Wines produced from this grape are usually well structured and balanced with dark fruit notes. Consequently, these wines are sometimes compared to pinot noir. Blaufrankisch Blaufrankisch is a traditional Austrian grape mainly grown in Burgenland and southern Niederosterreich. This grape accounts for 6.5% of all vines in the country. It was first known to be produced in the 1700s and tends to make wines with high acidity and tannins characterized with cherry or berry notes. St. Laurent The additional red grape, St. Laurent, was named for St. Lawrence day, the day that grapes begin to change color. Wines made from this grape are usually dark and big-bodied with cherry notes. The final red grape, Blauer Wildbacher, is closely related to Blaufrankisch and usually made into rose wines called Schilcher-the signature wine in the Weststeiermark. Austrian Wine Regions As you can see, outstanding wines are being made in Austria from unique grapes that grow very well throughout the country. Furthermore, Austria’s wine industry is well-regulated and guarantees that wines made here are of high quality. As always, it is also important for the wines to be delicious, and as you explore them, you will agree that they truly are! So before I say so long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye, you should get your Schnitzel, play a little night music, and enjoy some truly fantastic Austrian wines. Imagine finishing your night with a Sacher torte, watching the sound of music, and enjoying amazing Ausbruch. You will agree with me that the Austrian hills are truly alive with the sound of viticulture! Wine Courses L1 Online Wine Certification Core (L2/L3) wine Courses Advanced (L4) wine Programs Wine Region Articles Major Wine Regions Wine Regions of the World Italian Wine Regions Spanish Wine Regions Portuguese Wine Regions East Coast Wine Regions The Best East Coast Wineries Terroir of East Coast Wines Best Wineries Near Philadelphia International Wine Regions Austrian Wine REgions Israeli Wine Regions Beaujolais Turkish Wine Regions Swiss Wine Regions Texas Hill Country Vinho Verde The Story of Champagne By Keith Wallace https://j.mp/3joaM3C

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Eurovision 2021 final thoughts

Well.....it’s over.

It feels great, but also kinda weird to be done with it. I mean, it took an extra year to get here! But I’d say it was worth the wait....

Holy CRAP this year was good. Oh my god, this was SO much fun to watch! The presentation, voting, and especially the songs were unbelievably strong! It made me so happy that my bad luck in the semifinals didn’t even let me down all that much, so that’s a good sign. XD

I haven’t shared this before, cuz I didn’t wanna be a downer, but.....there was a part of me that was worried. Even after listening to and loving the majority of the entries, I was still worried that, when the show started, there’d be some kind of big tell that....this wasn’t a “normal” Eurovision. Something that would bring my enjoyment of the show down to a level where....I-I’d only be able to say “at least it took place, but it wasn’t as strong as usual”. That small, pessimistic part of me that was so hurt by last year that it’d become cynical, and scared of getting hopes up.....but I hid it. I love this contest so much that....bringing down the mood for my fellow fans wouldn’t be cool at all.

And thankfully.....I came out of this with a big smile on my face like normal. I enjoyed this year just as much as previous years! In terms of the songs alone, I’d seriously call this one of my favorite years, probably just behind 2016 (my favorite year). The fact that I don’t just agree with the winner, but I LOVE the winner, was definitely the icing on the cake! But the presentation was also outstanding! It really feels like everything was put into this contest to make it as enjoyable as possible with the limitations they were given. The interval acts were great, especially getting to see so many of the winners again! The rooftop concerts in the final were a lot of fun. But, as good as everything in the final was.....When the first semifinal started, and I saw that there was a crowd, coupled with the song that Duncan sang, I legit thought I was gonna cry. That’s definitely gonna stick with me in the future when I think of the most memorable moments of watching Eurovision. I could seriously go on and on about how much I enjoyed watching this....so I will!

Oh god the voting. OH GOD THE VOTING. Tense as always, and I loved it! No clear favorite, the juries making decisions the televoters didn’t agree with, a plethora of different countries getting twelves, and an ending that proved my predictions wrong in the best way possible. It was the BEST way to end the contest, and a very good example of why I’m really loving having the jury vote and televote separated....cuz you never know what’ll happen until the very! Last! Moment!

Seriously, that moment of Finland’s televoting result making them in the lead for a brief period was AWESOME. And then it was Ukraine, and then it was Italy, and I was thinking “oh god slow down, my poor heart-” And yeah, there were SO many great songs and great performances that it really did feel like a close race! 

Even rewatching it was exhilarating! Rewatching it also made me appreciate things that I didn’t before (due to being, well....too caught up in the moment). Like, the wide range of music genres in the top five! I hope this inspires more diversity in future years! I mean, you got Italy bringing us rock (which, by the way, never dies), you got France bringing us a classic waltz, you got Switzerland bringing us a powerful modern ballad, you got Iceland bringing us disco, and you got Ukraine bringing us.....well, a friend of mine called it “folktronica”, and yeah, I don’t think there’s a word that describes them better. XD

Not only that, but there’s one more interesting thing about this top five! Can you guess what it is?

......

......Yeah, only one of them’s in English! Imagine that, entries that DON’T have to be in English to become big hits! Seriously, I’m American and even I know that having understandable lyrics is really more of a nice bonus in Eurovision. What’s most important is having a song that sounds good. And if a song sounds best in another language, you don’t have to translate it for the contest! (Especially if it results in obvious ESL that loses the song’s original meaning, but that thankfully hasn’t happened often) Don’t be afraid to send songs in your native language! I hope people learn from this...

(But then again, this has happened before.....In 2007, the winning song wasn’t in English, runner-up was in multiple languages and third place was also not in English, so....I’m probably putting too much emphasis on this, s-sorry >.<)

But enough about the top five, let’s look at the full results:

I’ll say it again.....this is my favorite winner since “Heroes”. I love the Italian entry, and I’m very happy that they proved me wrong. I didn’t think they could do it. Not only is it a rock song, which isn’t to everyone’s tastes....but it’s from Italy, who seemed to be cursed to never win even while sending fan-favorites year after year. Two second places (oneofwhichwasunserved*cough*2011*cough*butIdigress), one third place that also won the televote that year, and one very, very robbed sixth place. I thought this was gonna be another one of those cases where Italy get screwed somehow by other, more popular songs. But I still absolutely loved the song and rooted for it anyway, and......lo and behold, here we are. A rock song won Eurovision. A rock song in Italian. And it’s awesome, and I couldn’t be happier! To be specific, they were my fourth favorite in the final, but they were my favorite of the possible winners, so it still feels like the best case scenario! Woo!

Having the runner-up also from the Big Five is kinda surreal, since save for Italy they’re usually all underrated due to not having to pass through a semifinal (with exceptions like Germany 2018 and Spain 2012 and 2014). That’s a cool way of looking at this, since.....I’m sorry, but I never got the hype behind France’s song.....It was well-performed, but.....I just find it kinda boring, save for the ending. I-I feel bad that I couldn’t make myself love it, cuz I wanted to, but I just....couldn’t. I guess it’s a case of me being too stupid to get it, pffffff. But I don’t dislike it, so I’m fine with it being the runner-up.

Switzerland won the jury vote and achieved their highest placement since.....*looks it up*....1993, geez.....AKA, their highest placement since I started watching. XD This is FAR from my favorite entry of theirs, but I still like it fine and I’m happy to see Switzerland do well. It was a powerful song. And, unlike other jury-pleasers like the Austrian entry in 2018 and the Macedonian entry in 2019, they actually got a triple-digit score from the televote! They were loved all around! The same goes for France, so....that makes the most obvious “jury bait”, uh....Portugal, I guess. XD

Iceland came fourth, and.....can I just say how bad I feel for those guys? From having a potential win snatched from under them by last year’s cancellation, to one of them getting Covid the day before their semifinal, making them the only act that couldn’t perform live, it felt like Iceland couldn’t catch a break. But thankfully, due to their very strong rehearsals, they were able to rise above it and come fourth PURELY based on the strength of their song. Heck YEAH, what a beautiful ending to this story. They weren’t one of my personal favorites, but it was still a very cute song, and it DESERVES its placing just so much.

Ukraine’s song was one that only got better and better for me over time, and it was also the favorite song of a friend of mine, so seeing them in the top five makes me happy too! That’s a FUN song, and it’s near universally loved, so I wasn’t too surprised. I did guess that it had a chance at pulling off the win, but the competition was too strong. In a weaker year, they probably would’ve done it.

I’m really happy to say this next one: Finland came sixth! WOOOOOO! Their first top ten result since Lordi’s win and awwwww MAN do they deserve it. Such an awesome, intense song! It was my favorite song in the final, and I wasn’t alone! They brought the roof off the place, and for good dang reason! Seeing Finland do so well after being so underrated for so long.....it makes me very happy to see that happen. Especially with a song as amazing as “Dark Side”. It’s now a permanent part of my playlist, and I love it. <3 Empire of the freaks, all drinks on ME!

(I stand by the fact that Finland should just keep sending rock songs to Eurovision. They’re clearly very good at making those)

Now, Malta coming seventh.....hmmm....I have some problems with this? I mean, pre-contest favorites not doing as well as predicted HAS happened before (oh, hello 2017), but that doesn’t mean I’m not a little surprised? I really do think they deserved to do a bit better.....I thought that was a top five-worthy song and performance.....I’m happy with the top five we got, but I didn’t think Iceland and Ukraine would place over Malta! Destiny had one of the best voices of the show! If I had to guess, it was because they performed so early? Or maybe people just overhyped the heck out of it and it got old. I dunno. Seventh is still good for Malta. So yeah, it’s not bad, just a bit surprising.

Lithuania in eighth, I pretty much called. I knew that was a top ten song. Still couldn’t beat LT United’s record though, pfffffff.....Guess Lithuania have to try even harder to do that. XD Russia was another one I knew would be in the top ten. Their song had a very strong message that sticks with you. Lithuania and Russia may not have been favorites of mine, but I can’t complain with their results at all.

And finally, rounding out the top ten is my second-favorite, Greece, tied with Bulgaria! I’m more than happy with this result for Greece - I would’ve liked to see them do a BIT better, but a top ten finish is a top ten finish, and the competition was really strong. Their entry was still fantastic! A powerful song I can’t get enough of AND the best staging of the year. You can’t say Greece didn’t try their hardest!

As for Bulgaria....not complaining. It was a fan-favorite for a while, but for me, it was a song that I loved the lyrics to, but not much else. I did think it’d do a bit better purely because of how relatable the lyrics were, but with this competition? This was the best they were gonna get. XD A slow song in a sea of high energy-performances. Makes it stand out, but not necessarily be what people wanna hear.

The same is true for Portugal, who had the other slower song. THIS was the “jury bait”. XD Seeing how many points the jury gave them compared to the televote....wasn’t all that surprising. It’s not a bad song at all. It’s actually pretty good. And twelfth is a good result for Portugal. I think they can be happy with that. “Jury bait” isn’t a bad thing at all, cuz I’ve liked plenty of songs that’ve had similar results (I’ve even loved a couple of them)

Moldova were a surprise for me. I honestly expected them to place toward the bottom. Their entry was fun, sure, but I didn’t think it....stood out all that much? I feel like it was missing something staging-wise. Moldova’s entries usually have really creative staging, so yeah, maybe I just felt a bit let down. But the song’s good. It just....was a party song in a sea of them. XD

Now Sweden, on the other hand.....I’m actually not surprised THAT much. Yeah, I did at first predict that it’d finish in the top ten, cuz....well, it’s Sweden, and the song was good and seemed to be popular. But after the first semifinal, reading comments and posts from fans really made me realize just how many people....don’t like “Voices”? It’s been called generic a lot, and.....well, I don’t agree. I think it’s a very good song. But I’m just one person and yeah, seeing the popular opinion of it just drop like that made me change my mind on calling it a top ten song. XD Not gonna act like seeing Sweden on the right side of the board (even at the top of it) isn’t still a bit weird, though....

Serbia, I thought would do better. I thought they’d be higher than Moldova at least. That was a big crowd-pleaser and a great hype song. I didn’t think it’d be a front-runner or anything, but I did think it’d be on the left side of the board. I can’t even say that it being in Serbian held it back, cuz this year proves that non-English songs can and will be fan-favorites. So.....I dunno what happened there.

After Serbia are two other party songs, Cyprus and Israel. I have nothing really to say about Israel. I thought they’d do about this well. And Cyprus, I’m kinda bummed didn’t do better, since it was a GREAT performance - it was enough to win me over, when it was a very hit-and-miss song for me before the contest - but going first when already there were a lot of party songs to compete with probably did them in. Oh, and the people who think parts of the song are annoying, like......I did for a while.....ahem. >__>

Then we come to Norway.....who were my third-favorite. At first, I was kinda....OK, very surprised at how they did, especially when it came to the juries. But after learning that they were only five points away from not qualifying for the final.....I’m just happy they were there. I’m happy I got to hear that song in the final. It’s obviously not to everyone’s tastes, so I shouldn’t have expected it to do well. I was just a bit hopeful. As it is, I love the song, and it’s currently one of my go-to songs to sing to myself. XD (Also, TIX is an icon)

Belgium getting only three points from the televote was painful, since I did like their entry a lot......but I can’t act like I didn’t at least kinda see it coming. Even though I liked them, I was still surprised they even made it to the final. XD With such strong competition, a band just standing there and singing a downbeat song? Yeah, this was as good as they were gonna do. Still a very cool song, but standing out was always gonna be an issue for them. They also performed really early on, so that probably didn’t help.

Azerbaijan....oh Azerbaijan.....how did they do you like that. Seriously, down in twentieth? What are they doing in twentieth!? They were one of the best of the upbeat songs! They stood out! I’d put them above Cyprus and Israel easily! I don’t understand that.....I do understand Albania though. They were pretty much doomed. Barely qualified for the final, and then stuck in second position. Ouch. Kinda unfortunate, since I actually like Albania’s song a bit more now after hearing it live....

I really, really, REALLY wanted San Marino to do better. I was HOPING they’d do better. They were clearly trying really hard this year. The little country that could, pffff....And if you ask me, “Adrenalina” is probably the most solid song they’ve ever sent (I say this as someone who loves “Spirit Of The Night”, for the record), so I thought it deserved to give them their best result ever. But....nah. It did worse than “Say Na Na Na” because....I dunno.....Serhat funny? That’s all I got....seriously, it’s unfortunate. The dream should’ve done better than the meme. XD

And we finally come to the flops.....the four countries that got nul from the televote, all automatic qualifiers. Seriously, why did FOUR countries get nul? At least three were saved by the juries, but if you ask me, it was still unfair.....

The Netherlands are the one I easily have the hardest time understanding. Germany, while I found their song funny, I can easily see why people would find it annoying (I DID think the televote would like them MORE than the juries though?), and I was not expecting them to do well, because it didn’t seem like they were trying to do well. They were just having fun. Spain, well.....a good singer does not a good entry make. It’s the Eurovision SONG Contest, not Singer Contest. If the song fails to stand out, you’re doomed. I was impressed by their performance, but it’s still just a ballad. It’s sad when you know the story behind it, though....And with the UK, it was a party song in a sea of party songs. It had TOUGH competition.

But....the Netherlands? Why the CRAP didn’t they get points from the televote? While not one of my absolute favorites, that was a darn good song and a great live performance. What happened? I don’t understand! There was nothing else that sounded like that! It was unique and sounded great, wh- my brain hurts....

On the UK getting nul overall though, I do have some complaints. Sure, it failed to stand out, but to score nothing? A bit unfair, isn’t it? I mean, there was nothing wrong with the song or the performance at all! It was the most fun song the UK have sent in years! I liked hearing a fun song from them! And c’mon, they’ve sent a lot worse before and still got points. “Still In Love With You” got points. That was debatably a joke song. “Love Will Set You Free” got points. That was a boring ballad. Heck, even flipping “That Sounds Good To Me” - it came last, but it at least got SOME points! And that song was CRAP.

Now, thankfully, I didn’t love this song nearly as much as I loved “Bigger Than Us”, so I’m not super salty about it or anything. I’m not gonna rant about the UK coming last again. I’m just.....a bit baffled by the nul. Geez, UK, who did you piss off? Eh, it’s not the end of the world or anything.....and I’ve been through good songs getting nul before (....”Black Smoke”....forever confused TT__TT)

It does make me a bit....hesitant....to track down the BBC commentary for this show. I usually love watching it that way, and it’s my preferred way to rewatch Eurovisions. And usually, Graham is a really good sport about the UK’s poor results (even when coming in last like 2010), but....how’d he handle a nul? XD I hope he didn’t overly praise the song....

So......yeah, that’s about it! I’ve missed rambling about Eurovision, and now.....it’s over! It was a good year, and I had a great time. It truly was a ride. Here’s hoping next year in Italy will be just as fun.

Until next year!

[paintbydiamond]

Different Ways To Relieve Stress

Stress is a common issue with a lot of people these days. It’s said to be the reaction of the body against certain changes or events. As the changes or events require a response, the body reacts to them with physical, mental, or emotional responses.

 Stress itself is not a bad phenomenon. In fact, sometimes a little amount of stress can make you work or perform better. But, an overwhelming amount of stress can cause adverse effects on your health and lifestyle. Relieving stress can be a hard task but it is not impossible. There are various simple methods to get rid of mental stress.

 We have picked some efficient ideas to make you stress-free. These stress repellent methods are listed below:

 Art therapy:

 Making art can also be very helpful in relieving stress. Make yourself busy in paint by diamond painting kits for kids, playing a musical instrument or anything artistic which could ultimately make you feel relaxed. It doesn’t matter if you are just average in doing any artistic activity, the main objective of this activity is to remove your attention from the stress factor.

 Making an art or getting busy in any art activity would help to lower the stress. This would keep you distracted from other matters and provide you a flow. The act of having a hobby would make you feel more self-balanced in your life. The sense of creativity would help you in getting out of the stressful phases.

 Making your body busy:

 A great way to get rid of stress is to get busy with physical activities. These activities may include running, jogging, walking, exercises, sports, and yoga. When you get busy with this kind of activity you will feel fresh and relaxed.

 An important way to eliminate mental stress is yoga. Yoga is becoming very popular all over the world. Yoga can be very helpful in stress relief. According to several types of research, this activity can bring improvement in your mood and lower hormone levels in your body.

Mental stress is relieved when your body is exposed to physical stress. Exercise or sports can help you in relieving stress. Doing exercise can make you more competent and confident. This sense of competence and confidence would help you in getting rid of stress. 

 Try to get busy with the physical activity which makes you happy. This would elevate your mood and take you away from the stress.

 Quality time:

 Spending time with your close ones can help you to live a stress-free life.  Spending time with people you love gives you support to cope with daily life issues and stress-producing factors. It gives you a sense of self-belonging and worth, which could be a help for you in tough times. You can even share your problems with the people you trust.

 This would help you in relieving the stress. This would also help you to get an idea about the solution of the problematic matter.  Spending time with friends, family, and children would help in releasing oxytocin. Oxytocin is a natural stress reliever. Strong social ties like friends and family can be helpful in dealing with Stressful times. They act as moral support for a person in tougher phases.

 Sometimes the biggest help for you is your family. They can provide you the hugs you need to cope with issues in your life.  Expressing your problems to your loved ones feel you a lot better and more stress-free.

 Taking rest:

 Sometimes giving yourself rest from daily hustle and bustle is the best option. Getting a sound amount of rest can also help in coping with the stress problem. If you are going through a stressful phase, you probably need to get some rest.

 Take some deep breaths. Write your problems on a notepad. Skip your noon time’s coffee. Chew gum and throw your stress away. You can get rest by quitting social media for some time. You should adjust your sleep time and regularly go for a body massage. Light some soothing scent candles.

 Listen to peaceful music or read a storybook or novel. Engage yourself in some digital gaming. These activities would provide you mental support and lower the amount of stress rising hormone levels in your body.

 Remembering happiness:

 Another way to be stress-free savoring happy times in your life. Thinking about happier moments in the past can bring freshness and happiness to your mind. You can also do creative visualization to engage yourself in imaginary happiness.

 You can also plan some vacation plans in a far country. This would help to bring happiness to yourself. You can also view your quality time snaps with your mates and family members during happy times. This would also provide you moral support to go through tough stressful phases of your life.

 You can always remind yourself of some cheerful past event that happened in your life where you achieved something. This would help you in seeking the positives in the current situation. Remember the phrase, “opportunities lie behind obstacles” and there you go, stress would be eliminated and you would surely feel more confident in yourself.

 Returning to nature:

 Nature can be a great factor in making you stress-free. There are plenty of amazing activities which involve nature. You can go to your backyard and start planting or watering the plants. Believe me, you will feel relaxed. The view of greenery can make you happy.

 You can go to the nearest park to your house. Breathing fresh air from plants and views of greenery would make you forget the stress quickly.

 Another natural way to relieve stress is by spending time with animals. Do you have any pets? If yes then go see them. Sometimes all you need is to cuddle your furry pets to relieve your stress.

 The bottom line:

 Sometimes self-help is the best help. If you are feeling stressed and broke you don’t need to suffer. There are very simple ways to relieve stress. All you need is to give yourself some time and cut off yourself from daily hustle and bustle of life.

 Engaging your mind and body in some fun activities would really be a stress relief. We have presented some easy ways to get rid of overwhelming mental stress. We hope you would be successful in relieving your stress following the above-listed methods.

 Happy stress-free life to you!