#Maybe I should have prefaced these reviews by saying its my opinion?

[rawmeknockout]

i have some thoughts about degrees of lewdity but this isn’t a review these are just my opinions and observations

i want to preface this by saying, although i like text based smut games, im not some connoisseur and i haven’t played that many. really my deepest exposure is fenoxo’s games and maybe a handful of others i haven’t played in a while.

so i totally went in blind, i have seen the names of characters floating around and ive read a fic or two about it on here if the set up or summary piqued my interest, but i already had some preconceived idea of what it was about and the general set up (i ended up so wrong lmao) so i didn’t bother looking up anything about it because i was fairly certain i knew it was about your player being in college and interacting with the town or whatever

i had the view it was like friday night funkin??? not in gameplay or story but like that generally it has a lot of hype around it and a pretty voracious community (i was already aware of mods for the game so i think that also made me think of fnf which also has a lot of mods) and that most of the appeal is the hype built up around the game. not saying that’s bad but that was my general idea/opinion of it idk why lmao

i was kind of white man jumpscared by the actual contents of the game. i didn’t find any of it triggering necessarily but i didn’t expect it to lean so hard into certain fetishes. im pretty desensitized to a lot of hardcore kinks in smut so it wasn’t a deal breaker for me bc i was still interested in checking out the game, and there’s options in the default game to turn off certain interactions, but i definitely think people should look up the trigger warnings for the game first and not just jump into it blind like i did. i had a totally different idea of the game so i didnt even think i needed to look up what it involved.

in my brief experiences of the game through the fandom, i imagined it as a college student in a sex game sorta akin to things put out by fenoxo now, but it’s more like the first Corruption of Champions (which you can only find through an internet archive these days probably because of the contents of the game idk if fenoxo has disavowed it or whatever but they’ve certainly left that project i believe because they also have a patreon that they rely on)

your character is a high schooler and i believe it’s mentioned they just turned 18? there’s a disclaimer that all characters are 18+ but i don’t think it’s ever mentioned in game or if it is its like a passing thing. not that like,, ages are ever heavily mentioned in any media but i know there are some people who would like it explicitly stated. in my opinion, going into any 18+ game, i just expect all characters to be 18+. id prefer them even older than that but ive never come across a game where i was jumpscared by a minor.

i think it’s set in a high school because that gives stricter penalties and set ups for consequences? if your in college and you skip class no one’s gonna hold it against you because you’re paying to skip school lol that’s the penalty. also high school tends to be a pretty traditional set up for a game it gives the creator the opportunity to involve a learning mechanic and sets a place for interactions and a structured time table for most of the week. another function is that, as a porn game, some people are in to being barely legal and an object of sexualization because of that. the game leans heavily on having authorities outside of the players control because as it turns out the whole town is essentially hell. we are straight up in the devils asshole right now and we don’t even know it.

one of the most stressful things going in on the first game is the need to make money, you owe money to the orphanage caretaker and you need it by the end of the week every week and this mechanic does NOT go away. it increases until it caps out at £2000. the game is in britain? so you know you’re in for a bad time.

the game is pretty hard going in i’m not gonna lie maybe im just a filthy casual when it comes to smut games but i found the penalties for repeated encounters, which are hard to escape from, racked up quickly. i was playing on normal but there is a soft mode, but i personally just wanted the regular experience of the game. i get that it’s realistic, in a sense, to have trauma and stress pile up quickly but if you let it get out of hand you get sent to the asylum!!! which is not much better!!! and when you get out you still owe money to Bailey when you haven’t been able to work 😭 very real very landlord

after playing the default game for a little bit i quickly searched for a better looking mod. part of the appeal of the game is the customizable character. i am fine with a gaia looking avatar but i just prefer the Bees mod avatar. i believe its one of the more popular mods but other than that i haven’t looked for any other, partly because i play in browser. i dont really like to download games if i can help it bc i play on ipad while im scrunched up in bed like a cozy shrimp.

my favorite named NPC is Sydney, followed by Avery. Avery gives you and has old man dick so im weak. Sydney, i haven’t played all of his content because i don’t want to lower his purity 😔 i know a lot of his content is locked behind that but he’s so sweet and cute i don’t want to. i will probably eventually. Sydney is your one bastion of normal interaction (other than Robin and even that isn’t true for long) in a sea of fucked up. Sydney also is a member of a cult. 😀 a cult that you can get involved in at your own risk. don’t do it.

the worst is probably Kylar. at least with high combat you can take care of Whitney, with Kylar he’s just a freak. he’s cute in some instances but in others he’s unbearable. he can also kidnap you and apply the stockholm syndrome status effect. 🤨

i generally, through every game i play, do the typical ‘good guy’ route. even in a game i have a hard time escaping the socially acceptable response and not doing the ‘right’ thing. this is true when i play COC or Trials in Tainted Space or really any game any genre. i’ll probably explore other routes but i wont be happy about it. idk i like to play good guy i like to be nice. my combat skills built up quick as a result because you will get into so many assault encounters but i think thats true regardless.

btw don’t bother with any other job unless you want to do sex work, just work the temp agency the entire week. it’s closed on weekends but it’s the most reliable source of money imo and doesn’t have a strict time table other than opening and closing. you can just go in and work whenever. if you get the boss to like you he’ll give you a bonus too.

i ended up looking for info on certain features and stories of the game which led me to reddit, as searches often do, and i inadvertently found out more info about that game AND the creator which dampened my idea of the game, but not necessarily in the way you would think. while i am generally enjoying playing, although it can be difficult bc it relies a lot on combat in interactions and you don’t like get to fight in a traditional sense (it can be hard to tell how ‘strong’ your character is i guess? lmao), i found out that despite the actual hardcore contents of the game, that include trafficking, there is no abortion feature. which is so funny to type out. however the creator has made it abundantly clear there will never be an abortion feature?? which okay i just have to say that’s a wild feature to have in game anyway but it makes sense!!!! because it’s a porn game where your character can get pregnant!!! but if you use the cheats version that is available in the options, you can delete a pregnancy HOWEVER it makes it very clear in the text accompanying the cheat that “this is not an abortion, this is a cheat”

look, deciding to add that is, in itself, betraying a sort of political stance no matter how much you wish to avoid it. i’ve heard through others that the creator wants to convey the actual trauma of SA, which obviously can include carrying a pregnancy you don’t want, however having an abortion you don’t want is also traumatic??? as someone with a vagina, living in a place where i cannot do as i wish with that vagina, it left me with a feeling of distaste towards the creator and the game. in a game where your creator can get SA’d BACK TO BACK you cannot then deal with the potential outcome of that??? you just have to like carry it if you don’t use the cheat version? it’s easy enough to access but the text accompanying it is blatant.

i believe that this is because the creator relies on donations on their website and because of the contents of the game they aren’t allowed to have a patreon (but don’t quote me on that because i haven’t checked the main site all i know is that certain games have had to change their contents bc patreon wouldn’t allow them to continue functioning on their site as is) which i am sympathetic to, however uuuh making a statement next to your cheat is in itself a way of signaling politics. in my opinion. as someone this actually affects. lol.

i think the creator has made a statement regarding some of the interactions as people in costume? maybe to like give plausible deniability? but like,,, the game is what it is because you made it that i would just lean in to it. they might have a hard time tho finding somewhere to platform their game or gather donations because of that, so i dont think its the weirdest thing for them to deny the contents of their game as how they appear. im sorta just shrug at this moment, i would prefer someone to just take their creation as it is but its probably more to do with the rules and stipulations of places like paypal and certain domains. i wouldn’t know. i dont mean to come off judgmental or like this is some horrible transgression, i get that collecting money online is a hassle if your main source is a smut game and i have no experience doing that so again shrug. if its what they have to do its what they have to do. again i think its like COC where its almost been wiped from the internet and remade into COC2 by the creators, and even then they’ve had to change some of the contents because patreon and paypal are pretty stringent about their rules.

i’ve skipped a lot of the contents of the game because first i think tumblr would nuke me from orbit but also a lot of it is genuinely very dark and triggering. this is not a game you should jump into without looking up the setting and gameplay prior. you should most definitely at least look through the advanced options before starting the game and look at each option you can toggle on and off because it will give you a better idea of what you’re in for.

[kira-moonrabbit]

many many years late... my big criticisms (not review!) of limbus company just from a gameplay standpoint. tl;dr... its kinda bad. this is both my opinion, and also how i explained said opinion, but i need it off my chest.

so preface: i dont play limbus anymore, but did for about one and a half cantos when it was brand-slappin' new. when i say brand new, i mean fresh out the box when there were still big server problems killing everyone's ability to play the game.

i went partially through the intro and then i had to sit through some more issues; then i had to replay the intro AGAIN when i came back. i figured skipping it would still allow me to view the in depth tutorial for how the actual game mechanics work in the same sequence; it did not give me this luxury and i had no idea how to re-find the tutorial. i had to scrape by with half-remembered fragments from watching someone else stream limbus and manage to view the whole danged thing. such is my preamble.

unfortunately i dont have the energy to find screenshots to use and i am not about to re-install limbus at 4 in the AM just to make an angry post about it. i'm opinionated, not petty.

i believe that a game should, even without a tutorial, be able to have its mechanics gauged just from looking at the UI and just generally observing. obviously tutorials are good, and not everything should be given to you this way, but as a rule of thumb you should be able to at least pick up a few rules about how things work just from watching un-commentated gameplay. lobotomy corporation has this. library of ruina has this. Limbus Company does not give you this.

the game is dogshit at explaining what the hell skills are. you are told there are coins, that are flipped, and dice are rolled. there are comparisons on the upper screen as to how two different skills will match up... and looking at these things, gave me no indication as to how the hell everything is CALCULATED! People who view with no commentary need a whole paragraph explaining the topmost UI! at least with ruina the dice math is simple. limbus needs a god damn calculator for every step.

disembodied micro-nitpick corner! the game doesnt tell you exactly where to go to uptie things, or when you unlock this ability. AND, it takes two whole cantos to unlock a way to earn major resources like, yknow... basically anything other than just more Lunacy for more gacha-ing.

defense skills are also not entirely perfectly explained. you think your "fuck shit everyone is targeting me" buttons would have a little more explanation behind them to help you use them better, but the descriptions for them completely sailed over my head and i had no idea which situations were and were not appropriate to use them. and each person has their own different defense skill so you better hope you have the right one for the situation when you need them! Else, S.O.L.

but yeah. i expected i'd have a handle on things by Canto 2. but by then, i just felt more confused, because in dungeons you just have a different combat system than in the main game for some reason??? one that i think is better executed because you actually have decent control over who's receiving what attacks. i had no idea what the hell i was doing the entire time still. i was just throwing out attacks and hoping the UI wasn't lying about matchups. my trial by fire wasnt even a trial, it was just... arson.

my other major criticism? sin. you know how one of the first things the game explains is sin resonance and absolute resonance? before the actual mechanics for how to calculate sin clashes? yeah, absolute resonance is literally just a damage boost that you can MAYBE hope is convenient. delibrately going for sin resonance was just getting my butt kicked. the game said to do this as much as possible but it just acts as a red herring for ACTUALLY learning skills that will get you further in the game.

sin in general feels like such a nothingburger of a mechanic. Cool, an elements system! to go with the last game's elements system! the two systems stack! i thought it was gonna be cool! But nnnope, its mostly just fuel for EGO. things DO have sin resistances, but they just feel like an afterthought.

what i liked about pierce, slash, and blunt is that they each had a slight archetype! Pierce was mainly status effects, Blunt was mainly damage, and Slash was something of a middle ground that focuses on power stacking (long live swordplay of the homeland with purple tear and slash power stacks).

with sin, its like... they're the colors attacks come in? and they have a status effect they're associated with. it doesnt feel like it adds an extra layer of much. i probably can't go as far as to say you can take away sin and lose nothing, because it does fuel EGO, but its... i dunno, it just feels like it's not needed.

i'll spend less time on the gacha because we all know gacha is gacha. but its like... ruina felt good, because you slowly accumulate more and better resources for the challenge ahead. you feel yourself slowly progress. In a gacha system, things have to generally remain at the same level of power as each other, give or take. And some things are just... better than others, yes. but there's very little in the way of like, teambuilding opportunities. you use the same really good units for pretty much everything. there's no progression aside from gacha, gacha, gacha over and over.

and this makes the reward for beating story missions just more gacha-ing, and lore. no feeling of getting stronger... no new toys to play with. the side resource modes, too, only serve to pump up your units. there's no customization of how you tackle things. i guess that ties in to the disconnected side bit a little, but still.

if you want my opinions on if the story is good, i cant give them to you though. i'm a gamer. i have practical opinions. to jump into the story would fall under the purviews of things like literary analysis.

but there is also a minor thing i will bring up that has to do with the story, in a way.

and there you have it, a casual gamer's opinion of limbus company as a game. a common person's opinion, in short. i'm not going to claim my opinion is the be all end all, far from it. I'm sure others have put the same ideas forth more eloquently. but sometimes you gotta hear what just a regular person who plays video games to have fun has to say about something.

Limbus Company all but demands you to have played Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina before playing it. the loading screen explanations do shit to tell you the kind of world you're getting into. some concepts don't quite go fully explained. and the things in the prior games are essential to the understanding of limbus company, such as the reasoning behind why L-corp fell, just what the Smoke War even was, and just what caused the Distortion and EGOism phenomenon. Anyone jumping in because "ooo, nice gacha!" is going to write off the prior games as useless, when they're actually incredibly important for understanding the story and why certain things are the way they are, and for understanding the whole game's themes!!! as to WHY they're important, I'll leave that to the more wordsy folk. [EDIT: it was brought to my attention by a kindhearted anon that i was wrong about how much story you need to be able to understand limbus. this is why i wanted to keep my story-related opinions to a minimum, as i havent played much past canto 1 myself. i admit this paragraph is a little bit brought on by me being grumpy that many players who play limbus just because its a gacha completely disregard the previous two games. all in all this paragraph isnt very fair.]

and before anyone says anything... i will not be arguing over this post. if i said something wrong, i said something wrong, such is life, pobody's nerfect. i am also not asking for tutorials about how to play the game, either. i feel like the game itself should be able to give me a satisfactory one for me to want to play it.

and lastly? i will ESPECIALLY not be arguing with people who have spent money on a gacha, any gacha. i feel like this should explain itself.

[chiffonlime643]

(i very tragically lost the first draft of this to the void by misclicking and i cried for around 10 minutes. it was like 5,000 words in. hopefully I can bring back the same energy from the first one.)

I AM SOOOO PISSED ABOUT THIS POST I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT.

To preface this, hello! My name is Chiffon or Neil, and I am a writer, currently working on writing a YA fiction novel. I have been writing for many years, and have taken a multitude of classes both in and out of school. Once I am a legal adult, I plan on publishing a poetry compilation and hopefully multiple fiction books in the future. This is technically an opinion piece, but I will be delving deep into why you cannot try to ignore this issue by just saying "thats just ur opinion let ppl believe what they wanna believe". If you want a similar opinion piece, check out YouTuber/animator Noodle's popular video on AI-generated in-between frames on already finished animation.

ALSO PLEASE DON’T HARASS THE OP IF THIS GETS NOTES

Now, time for the "opinion piece". In this essay, when I am talking about fanfiction, I am more specifically talking about fics that are not breaking the boundaries of who it is being written about, and is 10,000 words or more. However, all writing (excluding certain circumstances) is art in my opinion.

I am very frustrated by people constantly trying to state that "fanfictions are not real books," because... it's not that simple.

Fanfiction is a type of writing, and therefore, even if it’s unpublished or even not directly called a "book", and instead a "long-form writing" or a similar title, it falls directly in the same category.

Fanfiction typically can have hundreds of thousands, even millions of words, so that is the first box it checks; many professional, published novels can have 50,000 words or less.

Another box it checks is: if the fanfiction could be easily published professionally by just changing the characters' names and maybe their personalities a bit (see; 50 Shades of Gray), it should most definitely fall under the category of 'book'.

Before you say "well, most fanfiction is romance and smut so that makes it not a type of book," one, that is demeaning the art of writing, and two... Have you never heard of published romance novels? Have you not seen BookTok (I cannot believe I'm mentioning them) ranting and raving over books like Icebreaker? Currently, Icebreaker, written by Hannah Grace, which has multiple circumstances of sexual scenes and intimacy between the characters, has sold over a million copies. It's frequently seen in bookstores nation-wide and has thousands of five-star reviews. So, that disproves another argument.

Another issue with this opinion is, often, fanfiction is much more influential than published books (although more on the emotional and individual side of things due to less publicity than professionally-published books).

Also, the OP is not the sole decider of what is and what is not designated as an 'important' form of writing. And, from what I can tell, she has no obvious experience as a fiction writer from first glance. Admittedly, she could be an experienced writer, and if she is, I apologise for the assumption, but from my perspective, she seems to only read writings, not write them. I am writing this piece as though she is only a reader.

This is an issue because, yes, this opinion of "fanfiction isn't book" is just an opinion... But it's a harmful one, because it very clearly implies "fanfiction isn't real writing"... which is the most dreadful concept I have personally ever heard related to writing as an art form.

The OP, alongside many other Tumblr users (including me in the past) are or was a part of the DSMP fanbase (don't scroll I'm going somewhere with this). The fandom was especially popular during the years of 2020 - early 2022. A primary part of its fanbase was made up of fanfiction writers; great ones at that.

While there are thousands of well-written fanfics involving characters from the popular Minecraft server, for this specific situation, I will focus on one of the most well-known ones (no it's not heatwaves).

Passerine, by AO3 user blujamas.

Passerine is a seven-chapter fanfic that has exactly 76,373 words (for context, The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway has 67,707 words). It was extremely popular in the fandom for its gorgeous writing, its complex plot, and most importantly; the way it impacted readers.

While those who were a fan of the DSMP were heavily affected by it, anyone, no matter if they had or had not heard of the media it was based off of, could feel very strongly about the characters and the trials and triumphs (though triumphs may be few and far between) they go through.

The fic guided readers through a simple, yet content life between a family of royals in a happy kingdom in the distant past. It showed the children and the adults both as they grew up, though bringing a slight taste of grief to the readers, almost in preparation for what was to come.

As both parents would leave, though one was out of her control, it left the children to fend for themselves.

They stuck together, despite everything.

But as you read through the story, it consistently brings you hope, a chance for happiness, before stabbing it to death directly in front of you, leaving you almost numb with the pain you feel for these fictional protagonists.

Due to the beautiful, clever writing and the way it brought severe emotions to the reader with every word, it gained serious traction in the fandom, and it currently stands with 3,248,752 views (known as 'hits' on AO3) and 88,251 likes (known as 'kudos' on AO3).

Now, as you think about the popularity, impact, and talent within the fanfic itself; do you still think it does not count as "real" fiction? If Passerine could potentially be published just by changing characters around a bit- would you think the same?

Now, imagine a Shakespearian work; let's say... Romeo and Juliet, for example. If that never existed as a published work, and was instead a fanfic on AO3 that was exactly the same, save for it being written with modern language and terms.

Would it still count as the masterpiece the world sees it as now? Or would it be cast aside as a "wannabe-book" that only fake readers take a glance at? (also, fake readers aren't real??)

To put fanfiction, a popular outlet for writers to put their heart and soul into, into a box that reads on the outside "NOT REAL" and "NOT VALID"... well, that sounds more negative than positive, to say the least.

I believe that only those who have tried writing a fanfic or book before can give a genuine, serious opinion on this, because from the looks of it... some readers don't realise how much effort goes into the pages and the fics they read everyday.

Fanfictions are books. Trying to say otherwise is undermining and demeaning the time and effort put into those works.

[zetalial]

BH rewatch episode 16

Previous Episode         Next Episode

Hey, here’s another FMA Brotherhood rewatch. This one is called Footsteps of a Comrade-in-arms and it’s all about Maes Hughes. Honestly not too much really happens in this episode.

So, it begins with Ed and co. arriving in Central and Ling quickly disappears to the dismay of Lan Fan and Fuu. He muses that something feels off about the country. Lan Fan is especially worried that he’s in trouble. Next time we see him he’s collapsed again and gets picked up by some soldiers who decide to arrest him as some sort of illegal immigrant. Yeah. Ling, prince of Xing, gets himself arrested because he was being an idiot. Still waiting for his character to improve. 

Barry the chopper isn’t even being restrained anymore, just watched over by Falman. Why does he put up with this? It seems like he’s helping them now! It’s sort of ridiculous. 

Envy is spying on the military, specifically Mustang through use of his shapeshifting powers. Lust is using Havoc to get info on Mustang. They are worried about him though I’m not sure what they think he might do. 

But the main part of this episode is on Ed, Al and Winry finding out the Hughes is dead. I love how no one is able to tell them. Armstrong’s been quiet, Mustang actually lies to them about it and Ross ends up revealing it quite accidentally but then fills them in. Winry finds out from Gracia. 

So, we go through them feeling sad and, in Ed’s case, guilty. He blames himself for sharing about the Homunculi with him. Gracia reassures him that she doesn’t hold Ed responsible when he opens up to her. She and her daughter are still grieving as well though. Winry actually bursts into tears towards the end though Ed stays dry-eyed. 

This stuff is all okay, I guess. It’s a bit of downtime the three of them needed though its all how you’d expect. (I feel like 03 would have tried to crush its characters with feelings at this sort of scene. I imagine it would have had Ed only find out about Hughes when he hears about Maria Ross’s arrest and then his grief would be mixed with more anger and confusion as he tried to deal with his emotions while the plot forces him into action. If Ross had kept Hughes fate a secret from Ed too then maybe Ed would even begin doubting her. Meanwhile his anger at Mustang would be a little fiercer even before the events of the next episode.)

Sorry for the digression but eh, I might as well attempt to express why 03 works for me so well where I care less about Brotherhood. Truth is, I love its angst and abilities to push its character emotionally while the plot progresses unrelentingly. In Brotherhood, I find it gives its characters a lot more breathing room and can focus on its plot without character emotions taking precedence. It’s a personal preference, I hope you realise. I’ll try to keep any comparisons infrequent though!

So, after reminiscing about Hughes, we switch to the Homunculi who come up with their plan to distract Mustang from their plots. They get Maria Ross arrested on suspicion of his murder. The episode ends on this note.

My overall thoughts? I liked this episode more than the last. Humour is much more restrained and some seriously good plot points are being set up. Envy is one of my favourites and seeing him cause mischief is delightful. That said, it’s still essentially a breather, resolving some of the emotional baggage from Hughes death before leading into real action. 

[zarathelonewolf]

OK OK OK IT'S HAPPENINGGGGG

Everybody stAY CALM!

BNHA CHAPTER 326 PREVIEW

Let's preface this by saying that I absolutely didn't expect... like... Stain becoming some sort of therapist, or even ensuing his wake up call like this. But I am very pleased with it.

Now... I don't agree with Stain, at all. His ideology may seem interestingly righteous in the beginning, but the more you dive into it, the more evident it becomes that it holds Heroes to a standard that is excessive... It's not just the fact he's killing people; Uraraka's talk has, by now, cemented a fact that Stain's ideology was ignoring: Heroes are human, and while they may have some flaws, not all of them are the epitome of professionality or prudence, and I do agree some of them see their work as too much of a competition... they still do their best on a daily basis to save people. Stain's ideology also doesn't see Heroes as capable of changing modus operandi when faced with the fact that their methods may not be the best; he doesn't give them the chance to overcome their flaws, because he considers their flaws the end of the line.

I did like that Stain helped All Might in this case. Really liked it. I was waiting for an interaction between the two of them foreverrrr.

And now, I can finally see it unfold.

From what I understand from the spoilers,it kind of went like this...

All Might was approaching his statue, which still held the sign "I am not here" around its neck, and reminds himself of what he talked about with Aizawa before the war. Aizawa clearly explained that, while Toshinori couldn't be an active Hero anymore, he was already helping people by being alive and well.

All Might, now, thinks that he's being just a liability... He probably feels like the worse mentor, because he wasn't able to help his hurting disciple.

But, Stain doesn't agree, because he appears and tells him that those words and thought are insulting to the memory of All Might.

Their interaction starts with All Might informing Stain of his failed projects to talk to him before the war, in Tartarus, and shows Stain that his thin form is, in fact, all that is left of All Might and belongs to the same person.

Stain... doesn't like this, either, and thinks Toshinori in his thin form is an impostor.

All Might keeps reasoning that maybe he had always been lying, so that he could create an image to use in order to bring peace in a dark age,for he couldn't stand the injustices around him. Staring at the desolate, destroyed state of things in the war's aftermath, he says that the destruction is all that came out from his efforts.

He says that he put his life on the line, but that he still couldn't adequately support Midoriya nor talk to him at UA.

Stain jumps ahead, in All Might's direction... but doesn't strike him. He pulls him away from the front of the statue, and they both hide as a woman approaches the statue and Stain invites All Might to watch.

This... is one of my favorite moments. Really, it is.

The woman starts cleaning the statue, after taking the sign off of its neck...the same civilian All Might had saved during his last clash with AFO.

Stain then becomes, even if just for a moment, All Might's therapist/motivator: he reasons that the destruction isn't the end at all, that things can change. He also says that the only version of All Might he can accept, the true All Might, was defined by his smile and courage, and that not even the strongest winds have blown away the embers he left, because a group of people was still cultivating them and keeping them ablaze.

As All Might cries, Stain tells him that he really doesn't recognize All Might in who he sees now, but if he still is the admirable hero, than he should end Stain and use the information he had gathered from Tartarus. So he throws the former Symbol of Peace a knife with the info, and tells him that all of this is for the sake of a better society.

All Might cries... and the lady, while watching the sky, concludes that the rain has finally stopped.

...

...

This chapter... I already love it, just from the spoilers. I like how the characters approached each other, the dialogue, the scene with the girl... Stunning, really.

The title seems to be a question: who are you?

Who do you guys think is the receiving end of this question?

I think it's All Might... It's definitely Toshinori.

He's being asked this by Stain, and by his subconscious too.

And while his subconscious keeps torturing itself with thoughts of not being enough, his efforts going to waste, his achievements and the symbol he poses being all a lie, destruction being all that's left... Stain, and another part of his mind tell him that despite everything, his efforts are still there: he's clearly still a hero to the people, like the woman's behavior is showing; there are still people willing to uphold is values and that see him as an inspiration. The destruction WILL end, somehow, because the people are working for peace to finally prevail.

The rain has finally stopped: this phrase is super important. It doesn't really make the situation less dangerous, because who knows what AFO is planning or how the final showdown may go. It does, however, mean that the mood, the resolve of the Heroes, is changing. It's getting better. They're finally seeing the sun. This means that there is finally hope. These last chapters where all building up to this: the end of the rain, of the despair...

After a hurricane comes a rainbow... but for now we have the end of the rain and the reappearance of the sun.

The real hurricane will come with the final battle... After which, a new society could emerge. A new, better society. Like Stain wanted, as misguided as he may have been. Like All Might has always wanted, as disillusioned as he has been as of late.

So, let's look forward to the end. The final battle, we all feel it, is every day nearer... But this time, the sun is on our side.

A stronger, renewed resolve and hope, are on our side.

We'll be taking it all back, people!

Like Midoriya said... We'll take it all back,and AFO will be defeated.

EDIT: Thank you for all the likes and the reblogs, guys! I really hope I can bring other interesting reviews and opinions to the fandom, though as always you are free to disagree with them. See ya in the next BNHA manga chapter!

[quasisengineeringcorner]

iPhone 11, One Month Review (from a Samsung User)

Now I know what y’all are thinking:  OH BOY! Look at this Samsung user about to gloat about how great Samsung is and how shitty iPhones are! Hurr durr....

Yeah, we don’t do that here.

No, this is intended to be an honest review of the iPhone (the iPhone 11 specifically) from someone who has had a Galaxy S5 and S9 Plus and, in all honesty, would still prefer Samsung (or at least Android) phones over Apple phones.  I’ll break this up into a few sections and keep it relatively short:  Interface, Usability, Compatibility, and Performance.  I’ll wrap things up with a general discussion about what I personally like/dislike about the platform and what I think can be done to improve it (if you are a fan of Louis Rossmann like I am, you can probably guess what my thoughts are).

Interface:

I will say as a first-time iPhone user, the interface...was a jumbling mess.  Once I got used to how it worked and the layout, I can now use it like I would any other phone.  It’s actually pretty intuitive to a certain point.  Apple definitely is unique in a lot of it’s interface preferences.  You get a standard home screen, and screens get added automatically when too many apps take up the space.  You can also force more screens to be added but that takes a bit of finger trickery I found.  If I really need an app that I don’t have on any of my personal screens, I have to scroll all the way to the right to the app list where I can search what I need. 

Customizing the interface isn’t really an option given the limited number of widgets (I may be missing something so I’ll probably need to look into that further).  You can create folders to simplify your screens, but that’s about it.  Apple really seems to like basic interfaces and minimalism.

Usability:

Again, here I struggled a bit trying to figure out how to actually use the phone.  A lot of things about how you interact with the phone seem “unique” for the sake of uniqueness rather than having an actual purpose.  First things, how do you access notifications and the phone’s “toolbar”? I was quite surprised that you have to swipe in two different areas of the phone to access each one individually (on Android devices, you swipe the top of the screen and you have access to both in a single interface).  Closing apps is about the same with the exception of how you open your app history.  I will say I like that rather than make it a software switch, Apple provides a hardware switch for silent mode (which has saved me many times during meetings). 

Probably the most frustrating usability item about the phone is navigating apps.  Why the ‘back’ button is on the top of the screen is beyond me.  You can get used to it like many things, but its one of those things where you really shouldn’t have to.

Compatibility:

I can’t really say much here.  I think a lot of the app/software compatibility issues Apple has had in the past with platforms like Google have been rectified.  That being said, I do appreciate the seamless experience within the Apple ecosystem.  They really do a good job of making sure everything works together.  (This is more third-hand experience as I have friends who are long-time Apple users who have discussed this and showed me.)

Performance:

I think this section needs a small preface:  I am comparing the performance of a newer-ish generation phone (iPhone 11) to one that is a few years older (S9 Plus).  That being said, I have not noticed any significant performance issues that couldn’t have already been attributed to something else (damage, battery age, etc.).  For general use, I haven’t noticed any difference in performance quality between either of the platforms.  It’s a phone, and if you use it like a phone, it’s gonna work just fine.

Opinions  and Suggestions:

Right out of the gate, I’m gonna say this:  I think the iPhone and Apple products in general are designed for a specific type of person.  I personally don’t like that I pretty much had to devote a month to learning new habits just to be able to use the iPhone like I would any other phone.  Maybe the interface makes more sense to that type of person, but it doesn’t to me.  That being said, I don’t hate the phone.  It’s a phone, and I treat it as such.  Would I buy an iPhone again? Perhaps.  But my preference still leans strongly towards Android.

My first suggestion is something I hope iPhone users can agree with me on:  GIVE THE DAMN THING AN OPTION FOR EXTERNAL MEMORY.  Do I appreciate that Apple provides their iCloud service? Yes, BUT I do not want to have to wonder whether my files are in there or not, and I definitely don’t want to have to pay for memory recovery on the off chance something happens to my phone. Give us an option for a removable SD card...please. 

My second suggestion (and this is pure personal preference, but maybe someone will agree with me) is to put the ‘back’ button on the bottom of the screen.  I don’t know who at Apple thought that was a good idea, but I really don’t like having to stretch my hand all the way across the screen to go back to a previous page.  Honestly, ergonomically speaking, it just makes sense.

My last suggestion is to add a ‘close all open apps’ button in the app history screen.  This is another thing where I’m not sure what the hell they were thinking and it would certainly make things easier on the users (since Apple likes to advertise their products’ simplicity). 

Closing Remarks:

As I have already said, ultimately, the iPhone is just that:  a phone.  You don’t really gain or lose much in terms of it just being a phone.  The same thing can be said of Android phones.  If you are just comparing the devices, there’s nothing really that elevates one over the other.  There’s something to be said about fanboy-ism in tech, and while I’m not going to talk at lengths about it here I think it really should be noted.  Overall, I’m neither impressed or disappointed with the iPhone.  It’s a good phone and it does its job.  And I think if you can say that about a product, any product, that should be more than enough.

[monkey-network]

My Problems with Mr. Enter

This one’s gonna be a first for the channel. As much as I’m not the type to be talking about other people in detail, permit me if you will, to go on a rant about one of the most infamous youtubers in the cartoon analytical community.

To preface this, yes, I was a fan of Mr. Enter. Even after this post, I’ll say that I at least still have some respect for Enter regardless of his personal viewpoints. Honestly if it weren’t for him, probably wouldn’t have become an analyst myself. Then again, even as a fan, I can say that Enter wasn’t the greatest of youtuber both production wise and his critiques. Also, I understand that most of what I point out is that of his opinions, I’m just pointing out patterns from him that I’ve noticed from him and people’s ire towards him. Less to say, this has been a longtime coming, so let’s not beat around the bush

Negative to Nothing New

I think my biggest gripe with Enter’s philosophy of reviews is that he fell into this annoying well of believing that almost everything in a cartoon needs to be unique, having typical writing cliches and typical writing conventions down-trots the show’s quality for him. And I don’t have a problem with this in theory, I’m not a fan of conventional shows like family sitcoms and I’m only interested if they’re able to put a clever spin on the dynamic like with Bob’s Burgers. But the problem arises when he conveys what a majority can consider an average show as not great over simple tropes. His reviews nowadays feel more like Cinemasins and Lily Orchard where going to twitter and TV tropes is all you need to break down why a show or episode isn’t great.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with this on paper, but it gives off a “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all” mentality that many are no doubt not gonna vibe with because yeah, 100% originality isn’t gonna happen with every show you watch but even then, it always feels like any overused cliches/tropes are a bane to his experience, regardless of context, and has to accentuate that these shows aren’t great because they’re cliched. Like the Mighty B! is annoyingly bad because Bessie is the zany, clumsy goof like Spongebob and many like him or that it’s flash animated. Or the Rise of the TMNT ain’t great because Splinter’s the pathetic slob of a dad like FamGuy. Or 12 Oz. Mouse is bad because of it’s “lazy” style. Of course people aren’t gonna like that you bog ideas down to basics if they’ve seen that there’s more to them. 

If there’s one thought I had since his Hey Arnold review, it’s that Enter basically wants every cartoon to be like Hey Arnold or shows he finds on par with it. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, I say he shouldn’t be so hard on his tastes to expect every show to not be any derivative of others. I’ve had my doubts on the Owl House and Victor & Valentino, thinking they’re Gravity Falls wannabes, but I’ve come to see them individually and judge them as they are, and I’ve come to like them as they are after a few episodes because reviews should be about seeing where a show finds its own footing. Not everything can live up to the best shows and that’s fine. 

Negative to Nothing Admirable

I say he needs to produce more Admirable Animations. Not because I’m sick of him shitting on shows, but I feel he needs to give people more of what he wants from the animation industry. People are slowly turning on him because his negativity outweighs the positivity. Not saying he needs to force it, but I think people have gotten tired of him being spiteful towards things they like while not giving a better perspective on what he likes. Dude only has around 60 videos sharing what he thinks are truly great in his eyes, the 58th and the 57th Admirable video he made are almost a whole year apart. It’s clear he can see the good in some things, his review on ‘The Shell’ from Gumball is one of my favorites from him, but he does it so rarely that people will often overlook it in favor of only seeing him as the pissy cartoon critic. 

And yeah, this is coming from a critical nobody that’s mostly tries to review things positively but it’s because I want to see the good of what I’m seeing while acknowledging personal or objective setbacks. When I created ‘The Best’ series, I did it because while I mostly review stuff I enjoyed, I try to share with people what I consider to be universally valuable to me. 

Enter needs to take a break from diving into the Atrocities and if it’s difficult exploring the truly good stuff, that is the point. Finding the greatest works imaginable can take plenty of time, especially if you’re not ankle-beez levels of impressionable, but if he’s genuinely serious about being a critic while making his own show as a creator, he needs to make time.

Negative to Nothing Special

I’m not a fan of the idea of a “cartoon community” because I’m alone and evil, but I can see where things have changed since the cartoon community has grown past dogpiling on Teen Titans GO! and thinking The Emoji Movie is worst than the Emu war. In this era, I’d say the community wants to celebrate the good things that are coming out while giving people some insight on obscure media. Enter does the latter, but at the same time you get the feeling unless it’s something he wants to do, he won’t be as into it as we’d believe. I’d say if there’s anything about his whole Nick-O-Ramen marathon it’s that you could see him getting burnt out with it in the latter half during the 2010s era, especially when some of his takes on certain cartoons were not up to code and people were calling him out on it.

Said this before at the time, but he shouldn’t just treat a show as bad because everything about it didn’t click with him, especially when it seems he was making these reviews up as he gone on. He’s entitled to his opinions, but when his takes don’t add up they can either rile up viewers that saw more than what he did or fool people into believing his word. I don’t think all of his reviews were terrible, I honestly found his reviews on Catdog, MvA, and Mr. Meaty to be alright even if the 7 people that like Catdog might disagree. But with his takes on El Tigre, Rise of the TMNT, Tuff Puppy, and Welcome to the Wayne, it mostly sums to trying to blame the show for not being to his liking. Either that or condescendingly trying to say the show was alright, but doesn’t hold up as well. It doesn’t help that he essentially deflected the criticisms down to pure apathy. So when all is said and done, what were we to take away from all those reviews? Basically gave us pencils with no point beyond their existence. Compare this to his critique on Extra Credits, where it honestly felt like he was passionate in those videos. Or again, his Admirable Animation videos where he actually puts effort into sharing why he liked that stuff in particular.

As many I’ve seen said, stuff like his Nick marathon was a little more than he could chew and exposed how much he himself will insincerely generalize for the viewer base, all in bad faith. As a result, it’s tiring. He’s kinda the textbook example of “your face will stick if you frown too long.” You see one angry review from Enter, you practically have seen them all soon enough. Back then, it was alright. Now it’s cliched.

Conclusion

To put this into perspective, I don’t think Mr. Enter is the worst of Youtube; I’ve seen Moviebob and The Unknown Otaku. I don’t agree with some of his views both with fiction and reality, but I’m a big boy that can tolerate other people who aren’t actively terrible. When I get down to it, I feel Mr. Enter is shrouded in negativity and bitterness. Not just from his detractors or the shows he watches, but from a perceived outlook. Maybe it’s because while I’m evil and tired, I’m more optimistic, but I feel Enter needs a change in his critique game. He should put his grounding more into what he enjoys and less of what he needs to dislike because the hate he tries to preach has gotten tired and old at this point. I looked at his vid on Thundercats Roar and I just clicked off after a few minutes. Not because it was terrible, but it honestly was just parroting what other people have said on twitter as it came out. John has put more than enough time into screaming about how bad cartoons and society can be, I just believe showcasing more positive things can not only balance things out, but show people that there’s more to him than his bitching.

I know he won’t see this, but I just wanted to get this off the chest after seeing a 2 hour video on why he sucked a few months ago. And I felt rather than just calling him an erectile atrocity, I’d share my thoughts on Enter as a whole because I feel like he can do better with his content. Again, it’s not that he’s the worst out here, but he needs to stop retreading his old ruts. Dude needs to get out of his shadows.

[starstruckteacup]

Cottagecore Films (pt. 11)

A Little Princess (1995)

starring Liesel Matthews, Liam Cunningham, Vanessa Chester, Eleanor Bron

synopsis

I was extremely disappointed in this film, to put it lightly. The story itself was beautiful, but that is thanks exclusively to the novel on which it was based. The movie itself utterly failed to convey the magic and timelessness of the book. The acting was flat, emotionless, and forced at every point, from every actor (except for maybe Cunningham, but he was absent for half of it). One would think a gaggle of girls would have some form of natural chemistry, whether pulling them together or apart, but not a single child actor portrayed even the remotest semblance of a relationship to another. (Note: I describe in my review of Pan’s Labyrinth what quality acting from a child looks like, for reference.) Even Matthews and Cunningham could not pass a believable father-daughter relationship, despite the story being about that. As far as emotional acting, the adults were just as bad as the children. They couldn’t even feign a single moment of joy, sadness, or anger, regardless of the context. I actually laughed for the entire scene during which Sara nearly died because of how bad the acting from the adults was. At least Chester seemed somewhat worried; Bron and the nameless police officers stood around so vacantly it looked like they forgot what was happening. I really was appalled by the abysmal acting, especially when so much was handed to them in the story. I want to preface my next point by saying that yes, I know computer animation was still a work in progress in the 90s. But this was horrifyingly awful. I have never once, not in my entire life, seen CGI as terrible as the monster in Sara’s stories. I nearly gave up on the entire movie within the first five minutes because of that monster. And it kept showing up, which absolutely ruined whatever favor I tried to hold for this movie. If you don’t have the budget, which this film clearly didn’t, don’t try to animate a monster. It’s that simple. I wish I had more words for it but it was truly so atrocious that I’m at a loss. Any good will I hold for this movie is due to my fondness for the story (no credit to the film), the settings (while not exceptional, they were fairly pretty), and Liam Cunningham’s acting. 2/10

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

TW: blood, mild gore, torture, racism against indigenous people

starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Jordi Mollà, Samantha Morton

This film is the sequel to Elizabeth (1998) (see part 10 of my film reviews), which continues the story of Queen Elizabeth I as her rule progresses. Tensions between Catholic Spain and Protestant England grow ever greater, escalating to treasonous plots and assassination attempts. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and King Philip II of Spain conspire to depose Elizabeth and place Mary on the throne, restoring Catholicism as the national religion. Even as these events lead to war between the two superpowers, the court provides no sense of stability as new faces and new stresses surround the Virgin Queen. She forms a strong friendship with the pirate Walter Raleigh upon his return trip from the New World, where he seeks to establish colonies under the English flag. However, his stay is extended greatly when Elizabeth’s selfishness and pride take over, and are only broken down in the face of battle when she puts him at the forefront of the British navy. Outnumbered, Elizabeth will need Raleigh’s loyalty and cunning, along with the unwavering loyalty of her people, if they wish to survive the Spanish onslaught.

While still a drama, this film proved to be much more war-oriented than its predecessor, but I’m not sure it did either as well. I liked the deeper look this film gave us into the Elizabeth’s mind, especially with her social and emotional conflicts. They remind us that she is still human, despite the somewhat cold appearance the first film gave her at the end. She is more mature, and even more prideful, but there’s still a limit to what she can take as a person. I think the first film gave a better portrayal of her complicated mind, but this was a solid continuation of what years of ruling can do. I also liked how much detail they put into Raleigh’s character, which the first film didn’t do as well with its secondary characters. We got to know more about him, even if he did still feel somewhat surface-level. I think the dramatic aspects could have felt more high-stakes than they did, especially for the characters who were actually in danger. Even though so many characters were actively committing treason, I only felt that level of tension with one: Mary Stuart. Her death was particularly elegant and laden with symbolism, and even though I knew the outcome historically the scene still delivered the anxiety it was meant to. The others simply didn’t have the same delivery. Even the assassination attempt didn’t project any kind of concern, regardless of one’s historical knowledge. The war focus was a fairly different take than the first had, which I appreciated. The film established a strong balance between the tensions in England, Scotland, and Spain, and did a good job making the stakes very clear for each group. Given the uncritically positive stance on England that this film takes, I would have expected the film to villainize Spain a little more to form a stronger dichotomy between the two rulers, but Spain was presented rather neutrally to the audience. The Spanish ruler and nobles didn’t have much character, despite being the antagonist. As for that uncritical positivity regarding England, I do have a bit more to say. Although to an extent it makes sense that the film would lean in favor of England, given its content and the point of view from which the story is told, it became overbearing at times. England could do no wrong in this film, despite children dying in battle, indigenous people being humiliated and dehumanized for show, talk about slavery, and a complete disregard for the suffering of non-white and non-Protestant groups. In contrast, the first film heavily criticized England, from Mary of Guise shaming Elizabeth for sending young children to war, to Elizabeth frowning upon Walsingham’s torture methods (granted she never stopped them, but she didn’t approve as readily as she did in this film), and so on. Although England in truth did all of these things without rebuke, the film could have handled it more gracefully and came across less like propaganda, at the very least. 5/10

Loving Vincent (2017)

TW: suicide (action offscreen, death onscreen)

Sensory Warning: movement of the impressionistic paintings can be very disorienting for those with sensory processing difficulties. I had to break from watching multiple times so as not to become ill.

starring Douglas Booth, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jerome Flynn, Robert Gulaczyk

This fully hand-painted animated film follows Armand Roulin, a young man with a severe temper, on his way to deliver Vincent Van Gogh’s last letter to a living recipient. When he reaches the town where Vincent died, he begins speaking to a variety of villagers with their own stories about the artist, and their own theories about how he died. Armand tries to piece the puzzle together, wondering if the death was not a suicide as claimed, but rather something more sinister.

This film was spectacularly breathtaking. The amount of work that went into painting every scene was awe-inspiring, and definitely sets the bar high for any other films of its kind. The team of artists that created this film represented Van Gogh’s unique art style exquisitely through their loving application of oil-based paints, and truly brought to life the emotion he put into his works. I wish I hadn’t struggled so much with the constant movement, as I feel I would have been able to appreciate the film in its entirety better, but as it was I struggled to pay attention to the story because the art style consumed too much of my sensory processing capabilities. As for the story, I thought it was interesting, but I found it lacking despite the incredible artwork. Foremost, after some cursory research, I discovered that the homicide theory on which this film was based was only acknowledge by one individual, and spurned by hundreds of others. Although the film leaves the verdict open-ended, both to Roulin and to the audience, the story itself seemed to lean into the homicide theory, then completely give up on it with no resolution, so it came across as fairly noncommittal. I won’t argue for or against the theory, as I don’t know nearly enough about Van Gogh to assert an opinion, but I’m somewhat unsettled by the amount of weight it gave to it without any kind of evidentiary support, only to dump it as if the writers changed their mind themselves. The pacing was also slow for a murder mystery, which is basically what the story turned out to be. I would much have preferred the film to cover Vincent’s life, or even the days/weeks leading up to his death, instead of only featuring him in other people’s flashbacks. This kind of existential impressionism should capture the life of its creator, not the mundane views of people who didn’t understand him or even hated him. There wasn’t anything wrong with the film, per se, but I wish the writing was given as much love as the art was. 7/10

Part 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10

[unibrowzz]

My Personal Eurovision Winners (and then some) Part II- 1960 - 1969

Yeah I’m resigning myself early to the fact this is probably going to be 90% me rambling about the year and 10% me talking about the actual song LMAO 

I’ll try and talk as little about the actual winners as possible, I’m still working on my main reviews for them and I’ll try to get them posted before next year’s contest at least.

... By this point I’m sure a lot of you already know my opinions on some of them pffft. 

But let’s go! 

1960- Norway- Nora Brockstedt- “Voi voi”

You have no idea how much I wanted to put the UK for this. But I wanted to limit myself to only one double victory, and since I put the UK down for 1959, I had to go with my second-favourite from this year. Not that I’m mad or anything, especially as this is one of the only times Norway actually shows up on this list . This is a very perky, playful song, cute premise, cute lyrics, it sounds different and has it’s own mood, like yeah this is a solid entry from Norway and one I wish would’ve taken the crown instead of Frances entry.

1961- France- Jean-Paul Mauric- “Printemps, avril carillonne”

I’m trying to keep the number of winners down, so I’ll just start off by saying that I love Nous les Amoureux. Is it one of my favourite winners? No, but it’s still a very unique and bold entry for its time. I’d say it fully deserved its victory, if I’m honest. But screw it, let’s try and keep the number of real winners down, shall we? I’ll hold my hands up and say that I only went for this since I don’t remember anything else from 1961, because I probably should rip into this one since it has a lot of tropes I hate. And by that I mean it’s repetitive and feels twice as long as it actually is. Like it’s only three minutes but it feels about five.  But... it’s charming. It’s extremely charming. I don’t really have much to say, it’s just a very fun, charming song. I like it, even though you definitely feel every second of the runtime.

1962- United Kingdom- Ronnie Carroll- “Ring-a-Ding Girl”

I will preface this and say that 1962 sucked as a year and the winner itself also sucks. I’ve seen a lot of people put Un Premier Amour in their top favourite French entries of all time and I just do not get it, it’s an absolute chore to listen to in my opinion and one of my least favourite winners of all time.  So let’s move on. I went into 1962 actively looking for another song I preferred, and though I initially preferred Finland’s entry, I eventually settled on this one. This is another purely British entry, simple yet extremely effective, innocent yet charming, and will probably threaten to hang around in your head all day. This is UK fluff at it’s best.

1963- Germany- Heidi Bruhl- “Marcel”

Yanno, I really didn’t want to include any real winners on this but fuck me, I almost did for this one. 1963 sucked. Like it really sucked. I can barely remember any other song aside from this one and the winner Dansevise, and though this song is a joy to listen to, the lyrics are a bit...

Uh, up for interpretation? Also the song repeats the second and first verses word for word, which is just lazy. I don’t really need to say much about Dansevise, since I know it’s a very popular winner that’s in a lot of people’s favourites list, which is why I’ve defaulted to this one. Like I said, it’s an absolute blast to listen to, it’s very cheery and upbeat and the singer certainly sounds like she’s having a good time singing it, so even if the lyrics are a bit off at least she doesn’t sound uncomfortable performing them. Unlike, yanno, other female-led songs from the 60s. So yeah, go give this a listen.

I uh... I guess I’m not doing actual winners in this thing, am I? Oh boy. 

1964- Germany- Nora Nova- “Mann Gewohnt sich zu Schnell an das Schone”

I’m very sorry I couldn’t include the umlauts, my keyboard is British. But everyone knows by this point that the real winner of 1964 gives me hives, so naturally I went into the contest looking for a alternative winner. And it was between Germany and Norway for this year, and I eventually settled on Germany after realising I could hum it about one minute after the song ended. This is a very sharp, snappy sounding song, it has a bite to it that reminds me a lot of “Ne Crois Pas” from 1956. I suppose that’s why I like it so much, I just have a fondness for sharper, snappier sounding songs with a lot of rhythm and punch to them. Expect to see more, and hey if you like punchy songs too then maybe you’ll find some favourites too.

1965- The Netherlands- Conny Vandenbos- “’t is Genoeg”

So just like with the above contest, I cannot fucking stand the song that won in 1965, I think it’s an absolute abomination of a song that doesn’t deserve an iota of the credit people think it’s due.  So, needless to say, just like with 1964 and 1962, I went into this actively looking for something, anything, that stood out to me after one listen. And thank fucking God the Netherlands pulled this out of the bag on the first entry to save me from having to listen to the rest of the year.  Which I still did but it wasn’t worth it at all. Anyways, for our “”first ever uptempo winner””, why the absolute fuck couldn’t we have this? This is better in every way. It’s sharp, it’s snappy, it’s staccato in all the right ways, there’s no teenager being tricked into singing something insulting, like it’s just... better. And doesn’t have any creepy backstory.

1966- Italy- Domenico Modugno- “Dio, come ti amo”

Yeah I know I ranted about this one ages ago because he wanted to serenade an 18 year old or something, but he didn’t do that at Eurovision so it’s fair game as far as I’m concerned. Anyways, this is a weird song. Unlike any old Eurovision entry I’ve heard before. I swear I always misremember this song as using a theremin in its instrumental, it just has such a weird, eerie, otherworldly sound to it, like it’s a song from a horror movie or something. And I love it! As you can probably tell, I’m not big into older Eurovision, most of the years just end up sounding the bloody same after a while, so of course I’m going to take note of a song that sounds this out of place. Especially in a year where I can barely remember the song that actually won half the time.

1967- Portugal- Eduardo Nascimento- “O vento mudou”

And today on “how the Hell did it take Portugal until 20-fucking-17 to even reach the top five”... Now 1967 wasn’t actually that shitty in terms of 60s contests, I can actually remember more than one song this time. I don’t really care for many of them, winner included, but it at least had more variety than some of the other mush I’ve sat through. This song stood out to me overall; it’s very dramatic with its intro, yet infectiously groovy once the actual singing starts. You just wanna snap your fingers along and groove your shoulders with it, it’s awesome. Also did you know this song was covered by Portugal’s 1989 entrants?

1968- Norway- Odd Borre- “Stress”

I know I said Germany should’ve won this year but I’ve since developed an allergy to Wencke Myrhe’s music. And it took me a while to get into this one because after my first listen I just found it kind of repetitive and boring. But then, suddenly, I found myself enjoying it again. And then it was on my playlist. And then I’d say it’s probably my favourite Norwegian entry out of everything they’ve sent. ... Come to think of it, nobody’s ever asked me for my favourite Norwegian entries. Huh. But this song just goes for it. It’s cute, it’s charming, it’s staccato and rhythmic which I like, the lyrics are clever, yeah I just... really like this song, no other way to say it.

1969- Monaco- Jean Jacques- “Maman, maman”

I said I didn’t want to include any child singers on here but Monaco just HAD to ruin it. How dare they send a song so charming and innocent, yet with lyrics which aren’t insultingly bland and overly childish. How dare they send a performer with more charisma than half the adults competing. How dare they make it catchy. How dare you Monaco, why couldn’t you have sent a song of this calibre with an adult at the mic so I wouldn’t feel bad about picking a song sung by a child star >:( (On the other hand, thank you Monaco for sending a child star and apparently not bullying or pressuring them into performing. At least, not from what I could find.)

[the-sappho-of-lesbos]

Lesbians And Gays Of The Past #6: Book Review of Shadowdance by Robin Wayne Bailey

Favourite Quote:

While reading Shadowdance I wasn’t sure if I should post a review for it. Because my reviews are pretty much a recommendation. After finishing it though I truly believe this is a novel more people should read, but I will preface this by saying PLEASE read the trigger warning list I’ll have at the end. Because this novel deals with a lot of graphic and sensitive subject matters that maybe very triggering and disturbing to a lot of people. Also while I have you here I also want to say I’m unaware of what this authors sexuality is, but it is written by a man. So this might be an Own Voices story as well.But with that said please enjoy the review~!

This is the first gay male story I’m reviewing on here and I’m excited to share such a rich and magical story with you all. Shadowdance is set in the time of witches, curses and kings. It follows the story of Innowen (Innocent). As a young child he was abandoned on the side of the road because of his physical disabilities. There he was saved and rescued by a woodcutter of the name Drushen , who raises him as his own. One night Drushen falls ill and with no way to help him Innowen crawls along the old dirt road in hopes of finding someone who can save this guardian. Here he meets a powerful witch who ends up granting him the ability to walk again. But at a great cost. He is only able to walk at night while the rest of the world is asleep, and every night he must dance in order to appease the witch’s God and keep his ability to walk at night. But a terrible curse ends up befalling any who see him dance.

Innowen makes it his quest to find the witch once again and find out more of his past. This is where he meets Razkili (Rascal) who ends up befriending him and together they try to find the witch.

I think what struck me most about Shadowdance is the beautiful poetic language and almost fairy tale way of presenting its themes and characters. If any of you have read The Iliad it gave me very similar vibes to that. And the focus is never on Innowen’s sexuality. It’s not something he struggles with. It just is. Romance isn’t even the main point of this novel. It is about finding oneself and accepting yourself for who you are. Accepting your past and your lineage without letting it define you. It many ways it also reads as a Greek or Shakespearean play. There are many twists and turns that all come together to explore this tragedy and make sense of all the characters actions towards the end. It truly is one of those stories that only fully makes sense once you have finished it. The emotive imaginary and motifs throughout this novel are often breathtaking. The relationship between Innowen and Razkili is one of the most tender portrayals of a gay male relationship I have seen in a long time. You never get to see how they meet, you only get to hear about it. But you can feel their love and devotion to each other. Their love feels very equal and real. They help to carry each other through their short comings and shape each other into better men. Their love is very apparent from the beginning, however, their romantic love for each other is something that slowly builds throughout the story, like heated embers.

There is a female character in Shadowdance named Dyan who Innowen develops a semi relationship with, however, the way the author handles her is remarkable in my opinion and I was happy to see how it played out. She feels envy and jealousy for his relationship with Razkili but never once does she act poorly towards either of them. If anything she is one of the reasons the two are even able to be together. She isn’t “getting in the way” of the gay dynamics of the novel nor is she just there to spark tension. Both her and Innowen genuinely love and care about each other, and it was really beautiful to see.

Innowen’s sexuality is never stated, but just based on how he acts and what he has done I would think he is bisexual, which is also some nice rep there. The country they are in isn’t stated either, but it is most likely something akin to ancient Greece and from the way he described Razkili sounds like he would be a gay MOC.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fantasy, slow burn romance, Greek history and poetic writing. It is honestly a very moving and emotional read.

Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of r*pe, sexual assault, consensual incest, insect via r*pe, graphic battle scenes, war, slight homophobia, sexism, graphic death scenes, HEAVY ableism

Spoilers: Has a HEA ending for the couple

[playernumberv]

An introduction!

Hello to my likely-imaginary audience! If you’ve somehow stumbled upon this tumblr blog and are wondering what this place is all about, this post should get you all settled in. :)

Where the hell is this?

The short answer is that it’s a personal gaming blog, where I write about gaming to my heart’s content. The long answer is... well, the rest of this post. 

Who the hell am I?

I’m a random Internet person who really loves video-games, who has a strong passion about gaming, and who loves talking about games and sharing his views about games. That about sums it up. I’m a very private person in my personal life (which is why I opted for a blog and not a YouTube channel), so I won’t be talking about myself much, if at all. This is a blog purely dedicated to gaming, so I’d primarily focus on talking about gaming. :)

Let me share a little bit about who I am as a gamer. In general, my favourite genre of gaming is JRPGs (e.g. Final Fantasy, Tales of, Persona) - the recent Persona 5 Royal is my personal favourite JRPG. I also have a strong preference for narrative-focused games, which is why The Last Of Us is my absolute favourite video-game ever. I own a PS4 Pro and a Nintendo Switch, and these are the consoles on which I actively play games on at the moment. I also own a PS3, a PS Vita, a PSP, and all the Nintendo handhelds in existence all the way back to the Game Boy, but these have been retired for some time now. I also intend to buy a PS5 at launch, or shortly after launch. Hence, the gaming content on this blog will overwhelmingly be focused on these consoles - it’s difficult for me to have an informed opinion of games or consoles that I don’t own or have no interest in (such as the Xbox), after all.

I’ve got a Twitter account too (@PlayerNumberV).

At this point, I haven’t decided if I’d be actively using the Twitter account, but tentatively, properly-thought out and longer text posts go here, while immediate short reactions and thoughts will go on Twitter. I’ll work out the specifics along the way.

How did this blog come about?

I’ve been playing video-games for about two decades now (I’m currently in my late 20s), and I’ve always enjoyed writing about games and talking about games, but never really had a proper platform to do so with. I sometimes imagine that I should have pursued a career in the gaming industry, for example as a games’ journalist or even as a games’ writer, but I wasn’t gutsy enough to do so (at least in my country, it’s a pretty risky career to go for). I still enjoy writing about games as a hobby, either way, so why not do it as a hobby? I don’t know why it took me so long to actually make myself a platform, but here it is. 

Also, an interesting bit of trivia: what finally triggered the action of actually making this blog was The Last Of Us Part II. Of the hundreds of games I’ve played in my life, I’ve never loved a game as much as I loved The Last Of Us (2013). Needless to say, I was intensely and incredulously passionate about its sequel. To put things lightly, I was so thoroughly disappointed by The Last Of Us Part II that I felt an overwhelming urge to air my views somewhere, which led me to decide to finally create a gaming blog. That said, I’ve ended up talking about TLOU2 on Reddit (note: click this link at your own risk, I spoil major story details here) instead, so I’ve decided that I do not wish to start off this blog with the kind of negativity I’d inevitably have when talking about TLOU2.

Why Player Number Five? Why not 1, 2 or 3? WHY NOT 69????

I’ve got terrible naming sense, so when I had to come up with an alias, I couldn’t be bothered to give it too much thought. My name starts with ‘V’ (that’s as much as I’d be saying about my personal life here). ‘V’ in roman numerals is the number 5. Hence, PlayerNumberV gives me a convenient alias that incorporates the fact that this is a gaming blog with my own name. It also kind of makes sense that I’m player “five” and not “one” or “two”, because I’m not a professional games’ journalist or some important bigwig who is directly involved with the gaming industry. I’m just a person who really loves games, and I’m writing this blog purely to indulge in my own interests.

Maybe PlayerNumberLXIX (nice) would have been better though (please indulge my terrible sense of humor for a bit, will ya?). 

What kind of content will be posted here?

I’m a text kinda person, so most of my own original content will come in the form of text posts, such as opinion pieces, game reviews, and the like. Full-length posts will likely be in the minority - I haven’t written a full-length game review in 3 years; it’s simply too much effort, and as a working adult, it’s difficult to find the time. Similarly, full-length opinion pieces will probably be written only if there’s a subject I feel extremely strongly about. I will, however, commit to posting mini-reviews (i.e. of length around 200 words or so, where I summarize my overall opinions) of all the games I play, complete with review scores too - if it matters, I generally rate games on a 0 to 100 scale (PSA: all review scores are inevitably subjective, and mine will be too, so don’t get mad if you don’t agree with my rating). 

Occasionally, I may post other types of gaming-related content, such as concepts and ideas I have for video-games, personal wishes for an upcoming video-game, and other such content. I also do enjoy memes (seriously, memes helped me cope with my disappointment in TLOU2 so much), so if I come across a gaming-related meme which I particularly enjoy, I may post them here too! Hell, if I have a great meme idea, I may even make my own memes and post them occasionally. Some images would probably help break the monotony of a text-only blog, after all. :D

Since this is a gaming blog, I will overwhelmingly post only about gaming. I do enjoy movies and animes very much as well, however, though it is less common for me to have anything passionate or important to say about these. Still, on the rare occasion that I do have something to say about an anime or movie I watched, it’s entirely possible that I may post about them here too. 

How will I handle spoilers in my posts?

Tumblr is a public platform, and while I’m no professional writer and I don’t expect much traffic on this blog, if at all, there’s always a chance that someone may randomly stumble upon this blog. I’d hate to be the guy who posts a spoiler for a game that someone is still halfway through. In general, my policy is that reviews will be completely spoiler-free, save for information already divulged in pre-release official marketing. Other text posts, if they include spoilers, will be prefaced with spoiler warnings. As for image posts, that’s a little more difficult, but I’d generally try to avoid images with spoilers for recently-released games. At this point I haven’t decided if there’s an embargo period before I start posting freely about spoilers on this blog, but the above will be my general policy for now. I’ve gotten spoiled by the Internet before, so I absolutely understand how frustrating it is and I’d like to be a good denizen of the gaming community by not spoiling games unnecessarily.

Should you care about my opinion?

Honestly? Probably not. I’m quite literally a random Internet stranger, and as should be common wisdom by now, the words of an Internet rando don’t mean much. Still, it’s up to you, really. If you read something here that you agree with, or that helps you with thinking about games or making a decision about games, good for you! If you read something you don’t agree with, that’s fine too - as I’ve said, I’m just a random person on the Internet, and my opinion isn’t important. I’ve listed (or intend to list) my favourite games on various pages of this blog - if you find that my tastes in games coincide well with yours, by all means heed my opinion if it helps. If you think I have terrible taste in games and you disagree with almost everything I say, then clearly my opinions are not going to be of much value to you. That’s fine too - to each their own! I’m sure there’s no need to get mad at the opinions of an Internet rando, is there? ;)

Upcoming Posts

As a start, I have two posts I intend to work on in the coming week(s) or so.

First is a list of ‘upcoming games’ that I’m personally interested in. These may include games that I’m actively excited for and intend to pre-order, or may simply be games that I find intriguing and am looking out for more information on before I decide if I’d play them. I think there’s no better way to start a gaming blog than a joyful discussion of the games that I’m excited for. :)

Second is a more formal discussion I’d like to embark on in some detail: Are Metacritic scores accurate or useful? As a hobby, I’ve kept a log of subjective review scores I’ve given to many of the games I’ve played over the past 10 years or so (unfortunately, I didn’t properly keep track of scores for every single game, so I’ve lost the records for quite a number). Still, this gives me the opportunity to actually do statistical comparisons between the scores I’ve given and review scores based on Metacritic (with some caveats that I’d discuss more about in the post itself). I think it’d be quite an interesting and informative discussion of a pretty relevant topic in gaming.

More distantly, I’d likely write mini-reviews of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Nintendo Switch) and Ghosts of Tsushima (PS4) when I play them in July! Looking forward to these!

That’ll be all for my first post! 

-V

[treethymes]

quick review of some books on taiwanese film i read last year:

Taiwan Film Directors: A Treasure Island by Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh & Darrell William Davis — this gives a nice, very useful overview of the history of film in taiwan and has chapters dedicated to hou hsiao-hsien, edward yang, ang lee, and tsai ming-liang, each of which give a good balance of background info and film analysis

Staging Memories: Hou Hsiao-hsien's A City of Sadness by Abé Mark Nornes & Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh — this is an in-depth analysis of City of Sadness and it's available for free online. if you're interested, i recommend downloading the iBook and reading that version if you can bc it includes color stills and little interactive modules illustrating scenes

No Man an Island: The Cinema of Hou Hsiao-hsien by James Udden — gives (interesting!) background info and analysis on each of hou's movies. udden is thorough and strongly opinionated, which is refreshing. you can clearly see what he values and doesn't value in film. for example, in a parenthetical on millennium mambo, he writes, "To [Vicky's] credit, she does eventually leave Hao-hao for someone who genuinely cares for her, yet one wonders what took her so long." maybe he should watch less movies and go out more lol

Hou Hsiao-hsien, edited by Richard I. Suchenski — this is a collection of essays produced in 2014 for a big international hhh retrospective. it's printed on very nice paper and the pictures are in color. the bulk of it consists of critical essays, including ones by the previously mentioned James Udden (on Dust in the Wind, different from the entry on the film in his book) and Abé Mark Nornes (an essay on calligraphy in east asian film which i posted about on here before lol), but there are also essays by and interviews with a selection of hou's closest collaborators and a bit of production material from Three Times

Tsai Ming-liang and a Cinema of Slowness by Song Hwee Lim — this is all theorizing about "slow cinema" and analyzing tsai's work (overall; not each and every movie) through that lens. honestly, my aim in reading any of these books was more for background info and interesting anecdotes than for film analysis, which at this point rarely excites me. this book didn't have any of the former so it didn't really interest me lol but at least it was nice to see how passionate the author is about tsai

Edward Yang by John Anderson — this is the only book-length study on yang in english that i know of and it is awful. a complete waste of time. (for me its only value was that i made a couple of erasure poems out of it.) like udden's book, anderson walks us through each of yang's films, but there is no interesting behind-the-scenes information (in fact, it doesn't seem like much research was done at all; in a casual ie clumsily conducted interview with yang at the end of the book, yang mentions he used to teach film at a university in taiwan and anderson literally says he had no idea yang was a teacher) and the analysis itself is tantamount to plot synopsis. in the preface anderson gives us a disclaimer: "This book is written strictly from an American viewpoint; I am not Asian, nor can I claim particular scholarship in Asian cinema. But in approaching the work of Edward Yang, I think this may be an asset." the audacity. the absolute clownery.

Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers by Michael Berry — michael berry conducts great interviews and gets the filmmakers to touch on everything from their early lives to their future projects. of the books listed here this was probably the most enjoyable and useful to me (along with the james udden one)

The River of Shadow and Light: 100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films — this book was created by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee during the time Hou Hsiao-hsien was chairman (2009-2013). a selection of prominent chinese filmmakers, actors, critics, and artists were asked to list what they considered the "best" chinese films and a ranking was developed based on which films were mentioned most often. people from around the world were surveyed but as you can imagine there is a slight bias toward taiwanese films lol. the book itself is ordered chronologically with short introductory essays on each film presented bilingually in chinese and english (the translation into english is so-so). each film gets one still blown up across two pages. the paper and binding quality is so-so. thanks to this book i was familiar with all but one of the filmmakers who were interviewed in michael berry's book

[miraculousmidnightreviews]

There will definitely be an explanation for my review of reputation

Album: reputation 

Artist: Taylor Swift Rating: 5/5 stars

I would first like to preface this review with one fact: reputation is my favorite album by Taylor Swift. It should be noted that I did not rate this album based on the average of each individual song rating. (If I did, the actual album rating would be 4.5 stars.) But I felt that this album deserved more. So much more.

What I admire most about reputation is its honest introspectiveness. I think it’s safe to say that no one predicted this album to be The Next Taylor Swift Album. The lead single is distinctly not like previous Swift singles, providing an unexpectedly darker side to Swift. And the album cover is devoid of Swift’s usual bright or pastel colors. Yet what people brushed off as a risky and failed move designed to turn around Swift’s career, her reputation, became the most truthful album of her discography. 

At this point, whether you’re a fan of Swift or not, you can’t doubt her abilities. She knows how to create chart-topping hits; she knows how to pen heart-wrenching ballads; she’s done it before. And she’ll continue to do so for the rest of her career. But reputation was never meant to be the next 1989, the next record-breaking financial success (although it was to some extent). This album was meant to be something else entirely: an admittedly risky exploration that only Swift could pull off. 

And I respect that immensely. This album is honest, and it’s brave. It might not be her most sonically cohesive or lyrically complex album, but it wins anyways. I love that the songs are in chronological order as they pertain to Swift’s life, and while that means it can be hard to listen to the songs without skipping around, the album itself is a journey through Swift’s year of solitude, through her mind space and blossoming relationship, through her life away from the eyes of the public and the media. To me, it’s clear Swift wrote reputation not because she needed to stick to her schedule of releasing an album every other year, but because she just needed to cope with events in her life. I appreciate that maybe even more than the honesty: that Swift wrote this album because she needed it; she wrote it for herself and no one else.

In anticipation of Lover coming out on Aug. 23, I will be reviewing each of Swift’s albums up until the forthcoming album’s release. I can’t wait to listen to new TS music, and I hope these reviews will provide a wistful and refreshing glance at past eras as we look forward to a brand new one.

Continue reading below for my review of each individual song.

1) ...Ready For it?

Rating: 4/5 stars

*clears throat*

At first listen, I was unsure of the mix of rap and singing. But it’s now one of the songs from this album that I play when I’m in That Mood™.

Did I mention Taylor raps?!?

The pre-chorus is so “Wildest Dreams”-esque that I can’t. I just can’t. (Also, sexy!)

That Elizabeth Taylor reference!!! I love it when artists make pop culture references in their works. It gives me a dopamine rush.

As always, it’s nice to hear Swift play with the perception of herself. She’s just so great at turning her reputation as portrayed by the media into a clever and witty line or song.

i’M So vERy TAme nOW (Sarcasm on point. She did that.)

2) End Game (feat. Future & Ed Sheeran)

4/5 stars

Taylor raps! Pt. 2

BIG REPUTATION

I love the features on this one, and I’m very surprised by Future. But that’s Taylor Swift, keeping us on our toes.

This song includes the first of many references to alcohol from this album. A first for Swift, but all those who are surprised need to grow the fuck up. Because Swift certainly did.

Also, notice “End Game” has the first mention of gold, a motif that will continue throughout the album.

3) I Did Something Bad

Rating: 5/5 stars

Probably my favorite song from this album. The live performance was also my favorite of hers. 

badass vibes all the way

IF A MAN TALKS SHIT THEN I OWE HIM NOTHING

I am absolutely in love with the feminist-y witch metaphor in the bridge. Iconic.

Also cool that Swift was inspired by Game of Thrones for this and other songs from this album.

4) Don’t Blame Me

Rating: 5/5 stars

All the gospel feels

TAKE ME TO CHURCH, TAYLOR!!!

THAT high note

Once again, the honesty

5) Delicate

Rating: 5/5 stars

When the album first came out, this was the song that I immediately played the most and connected to. I just adore how she was able to take these universal feelings and put them into a song that anyone just starting a relationship can relate to.

The music video is so underrated. It’s so cute and happy and I just love it and her so much.

1 2 3, LET’S GO BITCH!!!!!!

The repetition of “isn’t it?” to reflect anxiety is, once again, an example of Swift’s lyrical genius.

6) Look What You Made Me Do

Rating: 4/5 stars

YOU’LL ALL GET YOURS

A lot of people did not like this song when it first came out and some still don’t. I happen to like it a lot. While the chorus is not my favorite, the verses bite with amazing zingers and that’s what hooks me.

I think when everyone first heard this song, we assumed the rest of the album would sound similarly: dark and filled with vengeance. But with the exception of a few songs, I would consider reputation to be one of Swift’s happiest albums. There are certainly dark overtones, but at its heart, reputation is an album about love and acceptance in the aftermath of Swift’s metaphorical death. If you consider 1989 for comparison, the composition of its songs (and even the album cover) present a romantic and hopeful facade, when actually, many songs have depressing lyrics about the fate of romantic relationships.

The bridge is so reminiscent of the bridge from Blank Space in a way. They give me similar vibes, except LWYMMD’s is the follow-up to that of Blank Space.

This song has one of my favorite music videos ever. I love when artists tell stories through their music videos, and Swift never fails at storytelling. (Also, a fantastic lyric video!)

7) So It Goes…

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

I feel like this song embodies what everyone expected from this album at first glance: dark, techno pop.

This one doesn’t really do much for me, but I enjoy the extended metaphor of the magician. 

Too much techno, in my opinion.

But sexyyy—“scratches down your back”

8) Gorgeous

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This song gives me old Taylor vibes, just with a new production.

“Gorgeous” does such an excellent job at conveying the thoughts and feelings surrounding first attraction between two people.

“I guess I’ll just stumble on home to my cats.” Relatable.

Give the original lyrics a listen from Swift’s the making of a song video. They’re heartbreaking.

9) Getaway Car

Rating: 5/5 stars

Now this bitch is DEFINITELY old Taylor storytelling at its finest.

That Tale of Two Cities reference!

THat BRidGE!!!

“And a circus ain’t a love story. And now we’re both sorry.”

Just the complexity of feelings portrayed in this song is utter perfection.

Bonnie & Clyde!!!

This is one of those classic Taylor songs that you turn all the way up while driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour, screaming at the top of your lungs. GO GO GO!!

(not that I’ve ever done that. I follow all speed limits :))

10) King of My Heart

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The only reason this song doesn’t get 5 stars is because I could have done without the added production (less techno plz).

The beginning always gets me. This and “Call it What You Want” have the saddest beginning lines on the album.

Overall, this is just cute af. Pure fluff.

“jAguARs”

The drums on tour were a wonderful bonus.

Also, the bridge. Swift writes some damn good bridges on this album and just in general.

11) Dancing With Our Hands Tied

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

This song, like “So it Goes…,” doesn’t really do much for me, even though it seems to be a fan favorite. I really preferred the acoustic version of this that she played on tour.

But I appreciate the versatility of her song topics as well as her voice.

12) Dress

Rating: 5/5 stars

First reaction while listening to this song: OMG TAYLOR!!! sexyyyyyy

Her voice *heart eyes*

The pre-chorus is so much fun to sing!!!

“I’m spilling wine in the bathtub” gives me high school party vibes for some reason lol

13) This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Rating: 4/5 stars

I really love everything about this song, except for the chorus. It just wasn’t as fun to sing along to as the rest of the song. (Although purposefully making it sound childish was an effective way to get her point across).

 That Gatsby reference!

love Love LOVE the tongue-in-cheek attitude

She missed the parties :(

14) Call It What You Want

Rating: 5/5 stars

so soft & pure

A recovery song is what we really deserve. I love that Taylot took this time for herself.

My heart just bursts when I hear this song. 

That feminist bridge tho—a mature and fulfilling continuation of “Love Story” in a way

15) New Year’s Day

5/5 stars

Bittersweet—the perfect closing song to this album

This song perfectly showcases Swift’s heartachingly beautiful songwriting talent. 

“please don’t ever become stranger whose laugh I recognize anywhere” really gets me.

With this conclusive song, I can say that Taylor Swift is truly happy and okay. And I’m so proud.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this review! Check out other reviews here!

[professionallyunprofessional]

The Cats Motion Picture soundtrack

Before I get into this, I want to preface it by saying the following- I have not seen the movie yet. This review is purely for the soundtrack, which I have listened to in its entirety purely for the purpose of reviewing it. I don’t like to review something unless I’ve seen/read/listened to it all the way through. Also, there will be potentially unpopular opinions. Now, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Overall, I thought that the soundtrack for the movie was interesting. Not terrible (I’ve heard way worse), not fantastic (I’ve heard way better), but interesting. There were some bright spots on it and some spots that, for me, were very ‘what were they thinking’.

The Overture

They shortened it, chopping about a minute and a half in various places. No idea why this was done, but the transitions are not nearly as smooth as they might have thought. It’s kinda jarring.

Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats

The pacing of this song (most of the songs, actually) was reminiscent of the original Broadway version. In my opinion, that’s not a good thing. I’ve always thought that the songs in the OBC felt very rushed, and this one also feels very rushed. Also, I’m not sure how I feel about the solos on the chorus at the beginning. It’s definitely different, I’ll say that.

The Old Gumbie Cat

This one started off very promising. That said, I almost didn’t finish it because it’s really rough. Robbie Fairchild as Munkustrap is actually quite nice to listen to. Not as nice, I thought, was Rebel Wilson’s Jennyanydots. Her voice sounds very shrill. Also, it’s very off-putting hearing this song and other songs in this from first-person perspective. Rather than other people singing the praises of such a well-respected character, she’s just tooting her own horn.

The Rum Tum Tugger

I actually liked this one. A lot. The guitar riffs, the brass section, it all *works* really well. There were a few spots where Jason Derulo’s Tugger sounded off to me, but overall I enjoyed this version of the song way more than I expected to.

Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town

Again, the whole ‘the character sings about themselves’ thing is a strange choice. And, again, it’s for the same reason. Like Jennyanydots, Bustopher is a very well-respected character. In this, he sounds...kind of buffoonish.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser

This one caught me off-guard at first, because I’d never heard the original London version of the song before. I have to say, though, I think it works well here. I’ve heard that Mungo and Rumple are much more devious and villainous in the movie, and something about this version feels much more like an actual villain song.

Old Deuteronomy

It’s strange not hearing the first half of this song as a duet between Munkustrap and RTT. Stranger still are the changes made to accommodate the fact that Old D is female in the movie (I think they could’ve kept the ‘buried 9 wives’ line, but....eh). Overall, though, not bad.

Beautiful Ghosts

I’m so very on-the-fence about this song. I’ve never been a fan of remakes of musicals that randomly add songs that weren’t in the original. Especially when the new song doesn’t quite fit the style of the rest of the songs. Francesca Hayward’s voice is gorgeous, though, and the song really is quite good if you ignore the fact that it’s shameless ‘Best Song’ bait thrown into a musical that didn’t really *need* a new song.

Magical Gus/Gus The Theatre Cat

Combining my thoughts about these two into one blurb, since the former is only 36 seconds long. Having not seen the movie yet, I have no idea of the context behind ‘Magical Gus’, but it’s quite pretty. As for ‘Gus the Theatre Cat’, I’m once again conflicted. The first-person POV that the movie keeps using is still very jarring here. That said, Sir Ian McKellen as Gus was possibly one of the best casting choices of this entire thing. I miss it being Jellylorum telling the other cats about his awesome and illustrious career, though.

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat

Skimble sings most of the song anyway, so it was slightly less jarring to hear him singing a few more lines than he maybe should have in this one. What threw me off, though, was the change of verb tense and the fact that they cut a few bits from this song. Being that it’s always been one of my favorites, I was sad about that. Overall, though? Not terrible.

Macavity, The Mystery Cat

Like Old Gumbie Cat, this is one that I almost didn’t finish listening to. From the moment I heard that Taylor Swift had been cast as Bombalurina, I was skeptical, and this kind of confirmed my worries. While I do like some of Swift’s songs, she was not the right person for this role. The singing was very overly breathy, which I think might have been an attempt to be sultry but just kind of sounded more like she’d sung it after running a mile and hadn’t stopped to catch her breath in between. The music was nice, though, and Macavity coming in at the end was...unexpected, but I’m into it.

Mr. Mistoffelees

While I do miss this one being primarily sung by RTT, Misto singing about himself almost works for me. Even without having seen the movie, it sounds like he’s trying to build up his courage rather than bragging about himself.

Memory

Here we go. The song that, even if you’ve never seen Cats, chances are you’ve heard it. It’s been covered over 600 times in countries all over the world. The movie’s version is, in my opinion, not bad at all. If anyone should have played Bombalurina, it’s Jennifer Hudson. She can belt, but she also knows how to dial it back for the quieter moments. Her voice does come off a bit warbly at times, but you can feel the raw emotion in it.

The Ad-dressing of Cats

Having seen various productions of the stage version throughout the years, I can say that no two Old Deuteronomys perform the role the same way, and this version is no excception. Dame Judi’s Old D felt somewhat reminiscent of Rex Harrison’s style of speak-singing as Professor Higgins. My feelings about this song are pretty much the same as my feelings about the soundtrack overall- Not terrible, not fantastic. Just...interesting.

[haniawritesthings]

Discussions about six the musical Part 1: Is six a feminist show?

I'm just going to preface this by saying these are just my options and it's okay if we have different opinions, however please don't send me hate if you disagree. Also this is less of a formal essay and more of a light analysis that I hope will open up discussion in the fandom.

One of the main criticisms I see of six is that it isn't "feminist enough" or that the feminist message falls short. Timeout reviewer Holly Williams calls six "So basic in it's feminism" and other reviewers have similar feelings. Sure, you can only look at the surface level of the show and write it off as preaching a vapid, commercial girl power version of feminism.  However, six is far from that , not only in its content , but it's format as well.

When writing the show Marlow and Moss knew they wanted to write a show full of strong, funny female leads. This itself is rare in musical theatre , where three female primary characters is usually the max. Notice I didn't say lead, because when it's three , usually they aren't all the focus of the show. Take Hamilton, where out of the three female characters,only two can really be constituted as main characters, and maybe one can be considered a lead. Six has well, six leads, all of  which have solos. Their solos are not telling a man's story, they aren't a part of a side story, they are telling their own story that is integral to the show. Now you may be thinking "but they are telling a man's story, Henry's !" However, six does far from that, the focus of these songs are the queens. When important parts of Henry's life are discussed or told, they are always in relation to one of the queens and how that affected her. Sure, the reformation of the church is something Henry VIII did , but really it involves Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon and largely impacted their lives.

The main thing that critics bring up in relation to the shows feminism, is it's plot. The queens are competing to essentially see who had the most trauma . This feels strange for a show that brands itself as feminist, but shows something many people don't consider; how the queens would interact with eachother. Many of them were each others downfall and out of the ones who did meet, few had amicable relationships. Realistically, they would have viewed each other as competition and to imagine them competing against one and other isn't far fetched. It also shines a light on  that many people experience, especially women. This is something that also happens in other marginalized communities and within society as a whole. We have a tendency to compare experiences and trauma , to see who is the most oppressed, who is the most deserving of the title of whatever group their from . Essentially six looks at the same thing, and by the end of the show, the queens realize that comparing trauma does not help them and only takes away from their stories,when in reality they all had struggles. They understand that to truly shine above Henry , they have to help each other tell their stories. The message is that to really tell the stories of women often tossed aside, we have to not compare and instead uplift and support. And that sounds pretty feminist to me.

So what do you think ? Anything I missed and should have included? I tried to discuss the show more broadly then each of the queens  as I want to write one of these things focusing on how each of these queens are portrayed. Disagree? Agree? Tell me I would love to talk about what you think and continue the discussion.

[be17forever]

My Honest Review of “An Ode”

Let me preface this by saying, I am absolutely a Carat, I’ve been a Carat since Mansae era, and I will continue to be a Carat. That said, there were a lot of things in this newest album “An Ode” that made me really think. I wanted to review and process my thoughts on the album honestly, as a fan, as a music lover, as a listener. 

1. Hit: I don’t really think I need to delve into it because a lot of my initial reactions have been blunted since I’ve been repeating it pretty non-stop for a month now. Key point: I really didn’t appreciate the song much on first listen and not even with the whole performance. I mean, the performance is definitely impressive, but it didn’t really jive with the music or wow me in a way that “Getting Closer” did. However, I blasted it on speakers, realized that’s what the song was really suited for, and really came to appreciate it a lot more. 

2. Lie Again: Hands down my favorite song on the album. It obviously cannot be a choice for title song, but the quality is really close to what I expect from a title song. Great choice for instrumentals, great catchy chorus despite it being a mellow slower song, good build up through the verses. Vernon’s part references DWC, and this self-referencing is what I love about Seventeen. It is the best part of being a long-term serious fan of their music, though I know it can be divisive because it alienates new listeners (though DWC was fairly popular, so maybe not?) This song is the follow-up song that DWC deserved instead of “Without You” (possibly my least favorite sub-song from Seventeen, ever, and definitely my least favorite on Teen, Age). The bit after the bridge is a bit of a weak point, but not super jarring to the whole song. Great mixing. I don’t look at line distribution for each song because I don’t think a measure of “how much” part a member got in a 13-member group really means anything, but nothing stood out as a particular problem. Overall, a very well-rounded and well-executed song. There’s really not much to say because I think the song speaks well for itself.

3. Fear: I hate saying negative things about it because it is the title track and I have been so looking forward to it, but there were some points that made it just lackluster. Some errors were glaring, to a point that I don’t think I’ve ever felt about their songs, not even in the early days.

First, some positives. I think “Fear” did really well in terms of synthesizing the R&B base with slightly Arabian/Eastern/Medieval thematic bits with EDM, hip-hop, and their usual rock elements. It sounds like something I might have heard on the radio in mid-2000′s but with contemporary elements that remind me we’re in 2019 already. This entire album is fairly consistent in keeping to the R&B genre, which is honestly a hard move for them because Seventeen has been more rock or punk-rock based for so many of their albums in the past. “Fear” has also managed to keep the HHU from pitching their lines too low. The HHU, including Wonwoo, are not naturally low deep gravelly when they rap. They can pull off that kind of sound in studio, but it’s really difficult to do when they perform live. That’s why you’ll hear them often just doing their lines in a completely different tone than the recorded line. I hope they continue this decision into future songs because it makes it less jarring to hear the rap lines during live performances. Seungkwan’s voice shines like no other in this song. The song really plays to the best qualities of his vocal style. I know lately, there have been accusations of under-utilizing the main vocalists, but no one can say that with this song because it is clear that Seungkwan was very well incorporated into the song. Jeonghan also really fit well into the style of the song. His vocals really stand out, which is a huge achievement for someone who was not utilized much at Seventeen’s debut. 

That said, there are just a lot of things that felt sloppy to me about this song. Now, I cannot tell if these are mistakes or deliberate stylistic choices. However, some of these points are not just my personal opinions, they kinda go against the rules in a meaningless way. The mixing is really clumsy with the song. The beginning line from Wonwoo sounds a lot like how Mingyu started “Getting Closer”. But the glaring difference is that there is no musical anticipation into the part, nor is there a momentum out of that part before the first drop into the verses. There are so many quick fixes they could have done to the little instrumental that comes after his part to offset this, but because of the lull, the song immediately loses impact. I’m not sure what kind of effect they were going with doubling Joshua’s part. It sounds unnecessary, but I do like that they started absolutely bare with just the voice for the verse. It creates at least a little bit of tension into the rest of the first verse, which builds up by ping-ponging between more vocally artistic lines and rhythmic rap. Everything gets wrapped up by Seungkwan’s “Someone tell me, what should I do?” And then.

Nothing.

They recover the momentum that was lost through the whole verse, and then there’s just no impact into the chorus. It’s a real shame because I think “The way I love” bit is fairly catchy, so if they had a strong start to the chorus, the whole thing could have been really catchy. Also, the chorus is just a bit too short for “The way I love” to shine. Mentally, I wanted to hear another repeat of the chorus. Now, I’ve made my peace a long time ago with the fact that Seventeen just isn’t really going to chase after trends for their title songs. They’re not going to force themselves into a catchy hook just so the song can be catchy. But “The way I love, the way I love”-- that line is just so naturally perfect as a catchy tune, so it’s a little disconcerting that this wasn’t taken an advantage of. 

I really like the idea of taking away the instrumentals and having Jeonghan just stand alone with that whispery, haunting voice to give a fresh-start feeling for the second verse and keep it from being stale. However, I do believe there was a legitimate mixing error for this part. You can barely hear his part during this section if you keep a constant healthy non-eardrum-perforating volume on the song. If it is that hard to hear his part, casual listeners won’t even pay attention to it. And the whole cessation of the instrument and how wistful Jeonghan’s voice is should have made this part the absolute high point of the song. You do not have to lower the volume so low on the vocal track to keep the atmosphere because you literally just cut away the backing instrumental and his tone is enough to give that feeling. I just have a difficult time getting past this as just a stylistic choice. The second verse is also quite boring compared to the first aside from Jeonghan’s part. Coups’s verse tries to give a little change on the rhythm, but it just doesn’t really work for me, personally. Then we move into the chorus, but it’s better this time because of the little “Oh, oh, oh” break and “The way I love” repeating.

I really feel quite neutral about the bridge. It doesn’t really stand out until it launches into “This is love”. And then there’s just a lot of overlapping elements. I’m not sure if they felt pressured into trying to use all of the members, or as many as they can, for this last bit, but there’s just a lot going on in not a particularly cohesive way. The two vocalists belting, for example, is quite impressive but feels like an afterthought. 

The reason why this song fell a little short for me were primarily the editing choices that made me keep guessing if a certain effect was there intentionally or if it was a mistake. If it was an error, that is something that should not have gone uncaught on the first full albums in 1.5 years; if it was intentional, it was poorly executed. The lyrics-- I’m going to be completely honest. I’m fairly fluent in Korean, and the lyrics are really confusing. I’m not sure what kind of message they’re trying to send-- don’t love me, I’m poison, love me, my mind is corrupted, I’m afraid... If Woozi one day said that this was a song representing a conversation between two people or like a case of DID and two personas within a person warring, that would be a plausible explanation of what’s going on in the lyrics. And Seventeen lyrics are usually not like this at all. Seventeen songs have fairly elegant and figurative lines, cohesive story that makes sense, etc.. It’s part of why the song sounds good as segments (aka the teaser bits) but doesn’t really work together when it all comes together. 

I do still really like the overall genre of the song. They were really true to incorporating all the elements they said they would use. The HHU, I felt, was more well-incorporated than they have been for the last few comebacks. Seungkwan and Jeonghan’s voices pop out like no other. And it’s really, really difficult to make a dance song that is in a minor key and using scales/progressions that are not part of the more typical, Western music and have it sound natural but sophisticated. I imagine it may even grow on me after a while. But there were just some choices that felt a little bit flat and unpolished compared to what I had anticipated from the teasers. 

4. Let Me Hear You Say: I felt very meh about this song. It’s a cutesy song, and it serves its purpose. Nothing really stands out good or bad about the song. It reminds me a little bit of “Without You”. Let Seventeen have one cutesy almost-vapid song on their album, ok?

5. 247: Definitely not my style, but it blends well with the R&B theme of the whole album. It has all of the elements of those sticky R&B bedroom anthems reminiscent of male solo artists like Taeyang, Rain, or (for those closer to my age) Brian McNight. But minus the stickiness. I do wish that they incorporated a little bit of team element to it-- this whole song could have been sung by a single male artist and I would not have felt weird about it. A group should be accomplishing something different than what a solo artist brings to the table. This is my least favorite performance unit song from Seventeen, but that is not saying much because all performance unit songs are, in my definition, glorious hits, home runs, true bangers. This one just fell a little short of legendary.

6. Second Life: I hear the “hip-hop” elements... ok, Woozi, ok. I appreciate that Seventeen’s vocal unit feels more adventurous than sticking to ballads. This is also a quite meh song for me. The weird stop in the bridge is a bit jarring... to be honest, I don’t think anyone on the vocal unit could have pulled off the effect they were trying to go for, though. I think the lyric content is really warm and appealing to a slightly older audience. 

7. Network Love: I love this song, and not just because I’m a filthy American 외퀴. I love the theme of it. I love the playfulness they have with the lyrics (“I 좋아 = 아이 좋아”). That is also another divisive element about Seventeen’s music that I love but sometimes alienates the public. The whole build up and drop into the chorus is just masterful. The lyrics are witty. If this was a group song, it could have been a decent contender for title song. The theme is very relevant and authentic. Honestly, if Lie Again was a little less perfect, this would be my favorite off the album. 

8. Back It Up: We’re starved for a good HHU song, ok? What a great addition to the HHU’s discography AND this album simultaneously. I mean, my favorite is and will always be “Un Haeng Ill Chi” and “Check In” is also just so well-polished, but “Back It Up” is a great change of pace. I like that they just went ham on the lyrics, on the song, on the mixing. It shows the versatility of the song’s creators. The only sad thing is that the lyrics are so confident and ambitious about achieving more as a group, but in real life, this kind of drive and ambition is only expressed in the 3-ish minutes they have on stage and not reflected in the aggression of their activities and artistic direction. 

9. Lucky: I wonder if Woozi is secretly on a mission to receive credit for the best use of pan flutes and bossa nova elements in a kpop song. He’s managed it once with “Fast Pace” and now he’s done it again with “Lucky”. It’s a very light song. There are a lot of things in this song that can be difficult to pull off because they’re not conventional, but it really works on the macro level. A stark contrast to how “Fear” fails to make unconventional choices sound intentional and cool. I love that the lyrics tell us to “slow down” and the whole song has that on-your-toes kind of fluttery rhythm. Light, bouncy, solid group b-side.

10. Snap Shoot: This must have been a strong contender as a title song. I’m almost mad that it’s not (even though it is completely contrary to the whole dark Seventeen/growth theme they’re trying to turn over in 2019). The choir starting the song off is perfectly whimsical. It really took advantage of many of the members. For example, Joshua and Woozi sing comparable parts in verses 1 and 2. But they sing it with their own flow and style, it almost feels like a completely different melodic line. And it works well for both of them. The chorus is super catchy. The concept of the song is really true to the times. It can really work as a summer or a winter song. Very universal, very likable. There’s absolutely no rule that Seventeen “must” do a bright, poppy song. I think that frame is something we have to keep resisting against, especially for older fans who’ve seen the peak of the carefree boyish days. But if we look at the songs that they’re really known to the public for, such as Aju Nice, Pretty U, and Mansae, they certainly have that brightness as a known group characteristic, and they’ve nailed getting a cohesive and inclusive group sound down to a science since those early days. So it naturally follows that Snap Shoot sounds almost effortlessly perfect. 

11. Happy Ending (Korean ver.): I know people really want Korean versions of the Japanese releases because the Japanese singles/titles are great, and they show off new elements of Seventeen. But I am of the camp that if a song has lyrics in it, the melodic line must accompany the natural rhythm and flow of the lyrics, not the other way around (reinforced by my one-time brief conversation with Sondheim). Have you ever seen the “Kevin may not be smart, but he’s strong” meme? That’s what the song feels like to me. And this will happen for any song you try to translate into another language. It’s so, so, so difficult to keep the fluency of the words while retaining most of the original melody. Not saying it’s impossible, but this particular version did not excel in this regard and the new version only made me want to sing “Kikasete, kikasete” every time because the original was just so catchy. 

Final thoughts: This will not be a make-or-break album for me. I still hear a lot of the Seventeen I fell in love with or grew to appreciate. Some of the b-sides from this album, like Lie Again and Network Love, were truly great songs. But this made the less stellar songs stick out even more in contrast. I did like that they’re venturing into the “dark Seventeen” territory more because as much as old fans love it and still miss it, the teenagers are no longer teenagers and Seventeen does not have to box themselves into one image. I really appreciate that they changed up the basis of their sound to the more R&B territory, undoubtably guided by Bumzu, who has quite a history in that area. And they really stuck to it through the album. Though not as cohesive as YMMDay had been, the album does play like the songs, for the most part, belong together. That is kind of a lost art in the kpop world nowadays. CD’s are for pretty packaging, the tracklist shows off the width of the group at best, and no one seems to care for how the songs work together in order. When you listen to “An Ode”, it sounds like an entire album. Seventeen is a group in kpop that is quite counter-cultural in this way. I also really appreciate the effort that went into the music video production. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but it was a lot of things that the fans had been asking for a long, long time. The visual for the music video for “Fear” is definitely striking and appealing. That’s a big part of the music in kpop, so it would be irresponsible not to mention how well the MV works with the music. 

That said, there are few disappointments and choices that seemed questionable, especially when it comes to title track “Fear”, which should be their best song from the first full length album they’re dropping in over 1.5 years. As a Carat, I cannot be afraid to speak about things that are not working for me in this album. First off, I don’t have this delusion of grandeur that because I had some suggestions about improvements to this album, Seventeen members will take my specific words to heart and be so hurt and broken over it. If they don’t get the kind of reception they were hoping for, it can be saddening. But they still have literally thousands of Carats-- including myself-- supporting their future endeavors. Second, just because the members worked on the album themselves does not mean there’s no room for constructive criticism and feedback from the fans, industry professionals, and even the general listener. I appreciate all the hard work and sleepless nights they put into the album and simultaneously have things that I wish were thought through more carefully. As a fandom, we can’t label everyone who points out a few flaws as a complete heretic. That’s how we only grow insular and never end up reaching full potential. When there is no room for criticism, no more feedback and no desire for changes from fans, that’s when a group hits stasis. And as my old chemistry teacher (perhaps erroneously) liked to say: absolute equilibrium in a living thing means death.