#a great little dance AND some incredible like transitions

[crehador]

ok i know i just put forth my current top op and ed of the season like a day ago but there has already been a change in the rankings

SENTAI DAISHIKKAKU OP AND ED OF THE SEASON!!!

[blurglesmurfklaine]

I saw TUTS Newsies last night and here are some little things I noticed and also thoughts and opinions because I have them!

The *second* the actor stepped on stage, @jlmjlmjlm leans over to me and says “He is SO Davey” and I 1000% agree. Costume, acting, the way he held himself? Perfection. THE Davey of all time

((Davey was the show stealer for me honestly. He was so fucking good. Put his whole Davussy into everything. Probably the best tenor in the show and also a great dancer))

PULITZER HAS A RUSSAIN/EUROPEAN ACCENT??

In the first circulation gate scene where Davey is introduced, Race sits on a stack of newspapers and continuously drums on them, kind of in his own little world, incredible ADHD coded

In the transition after the “That’s disgusting/that’s business” scene, Les spits on his hand and shoves it in Davey’s face. Davey moves out of the was but cracks the fuck up. It’s so siblings and so damn cute

Davey tries to follow Jack when he goes up to the box to speak with Katherine, but Jack stops him

The scene before TWWK shows Davey as MUCH more conflicted than livesies. He’s not standing with the newsies, he’s in the middle of the stage and keeps looking back between the circulation gate and them and finally goes with the newsies to strike and it’s SO GOOD

Honestly this whole scene Davey is SUCH A FUCKING LEADER and it’s amazing! Not only Jack, but the rest of the newsies keep looking for to him for guidance on the strike and it’s very funny but also so good. I think this might be my favorite Davey yet.

In the Seize the Day fight scene, one of the goons picks up Les and Davey and a few other newsies go to help him and then use him as a battering ram

“The woild is… *dramatic pause, looks off into distance* ya erster!” “Ya what?” 😒 “*redoes dramatic pause* Ya erster!”

No tap break for KONY :(

But Katherine and Davey are BESTIESSSSS! She stands on the table and says “Alright Davey!”

Davey also ate during this dance scene and left not a single crumb

“Is that a real place? Is that—”*Davey takes off his hat and holds it to his heart and looks up to the sky like he’s swooning* “Santa Fe?”

The way they hid Katherine from Jack in Pulitzer’s office was SO FUCKING FUNNY. Pulitzer tells her to sit before Jack comes in and she does, but as soon as the door opens she makes the shrek meme face and spins the chair around and slides her back down the chair to hide and it was SO GOOD that actress was so fantastic!

When Davey is speaking at the rally before Jack gets there, one of the newsies shouts “YOU TELL EM DAVEY!” And it’s very cute and funny, these newsies looooove Davey

Oh my god the POST RALLY TRANSITION??? Is fucking amazing. Jack takes the money off to the side and disappears. Spotlight on Davey and the Manhattan newsies all forming a line on the apron. They all start looking for Jack, calling for him and no one can find him so they all look to DAVEY and start crowding him like “what do we do?” And Davey has no idea what to do, gets overwhelmed and runs offstage, all of the newsies following him

Before Once And For All, Katherine and Davey have an off to the side moment and give each other little hi-fives

*thick Russian accent* “It’s a compromise we can all live with”

“What’s Santa Fe got that New York ain’t? Sandstorms?”

When Jack and Katherine kiss at the very end of the show, all the newsies lose their shit and Davey is the ONLY one who doesn’t clap for them akdhsjsj

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with and looooved how Davey-centric it was! One of my favorite Davey’s ever. He and Kath totally stole the show. Great experience and probably the best birthday present ever in the history 💞💞

[transathenacykes]

TOP TEN GAMES I BEAT THIS YEAR

In 2023, I completed 34 games, from Final Fantasy VII to Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion to PaRappa the Rapper. These are my ten favorite, in order, and a little writeup of each I had a LOT of fun doing. Enjoy!

10. DARK SOULS

It’s a game I had to want to like, and maybe more than any of the others on the list, I had to meet it halfway. I’m a fan of challenging games, and - stop me if you’ve heard this one before - Dark Souls is pretty hard. But it’s not bullshit. Mostly. I ran into some hard walls here and there, but those walls turned into my favorite fights in the game once I finally mastered them. The reason it’s so low on the list is because the back half is… Well, it’s not very good, folks. Of the four bosses you need to defeat to open the door to the final area, I could call two of them good fights, and I could only do one of those without hesitating. 

9. THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN IDOL

I love a detective game, and what makes Golden Idol really stand out is its incredible format and mechanics. Given a series of still* images, and the contents of a bunch of random people’s pockets, can you determine what happened? It feels cheap to compare games and not just speak about what I enjoyed of a game of its own merits, but I can’t talk about this game without talking about Return of the Obra Dinn, which had a similar sort of ‘fill in the blank’ approach to its mysteries. Golden Idol’s supernatural elements, twists and reveals, and charmingly off-putting art style lend themselves well to one of the most unique games I played this year.

8. SIFU

This is the best rhythm game I played this year. Finding the flow of Sifu’s combat felt like a dance, going from a steady beat to a frenetic scramble in the span of a single missed step. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a massive sucker for good movement in games, and Sifu’s jives extraordinarily well with its combat and environments. Really, the only problem I had with Sifu was that it felt a bit short - well, and it didn’t quite deliver the challenge I was looking for, but that’s the fault of whoever described it to me as a Soulslike first just because it has, like… a revival mechanic? Also, the first time it transitioned to a side view for a hallway fight, it basically secured a spot on this list.

7. GHOST TRICK

I tried to play through this game in high school, but got stalled out on some puzzle or another. I honestly don’t remember which, but I’m SO glad I came back to it. I’ve always loved Shu Takumi’s writing and character work in the Ace Attorney series; Ghost Trick is just as good, if not better than any individual AA game in that regard. Really, the characters feel like the ones in the AA spinoffs like Investigations, Great Ace Attorney, or the Layton crossover, which are some of the best characters in the series - but with none of the self-defeating energy of having to be largely unimportant to the mainline games. Also, Missile might be the greatest character in video games ever.

6. PARADISE KILLER

Some games make you fervently pitch their merits to friends, hoping that they’ll play it so you can chat with someone who gets it. This is the fate of many detective games, which live and die in the territory of spoilers. There are detective games that try to get around this by having procedurally generated cases or multiple endings with multiple ‘real’ culprits, which can often be antithetical to what makes a detective game truly sing. Paradise Killer’s answer is that not only is it never going to tell you what the truth is, but that ambiguity is the point. The clues never change, and the only objective is to find a truth that satisfies you. All that is made even better by the premise being steeped in synths and neon, with a vibrantly occult cast who are all just the absolute fucking worst.

5. TEARS OF THE KINGDOM

I mean, come on. It’s Tears of the Kingdom. While I’d really hoped for playable Zelda, what we did get of the character was far more moving than whatever her deal usually is. The chasm was an incredible surprise, and since Skyward Sword is one of my favorite Zelda games, I had a ton of fun with the skydive mechanics. There’s also the building system, which managed the near impossible feat of having things control basically how you’d expect them to once you slapped a steering wheel on them. It felt like there was just so much love for the previous games in the series, without being overly reliant on them. If I had to pick a favorite moment in the game, it would have to be during the Wind Temple’s boss fight, when the Dragon Roost Island theme from Wind Waker cut through the track and made me feel like I could have taken on Ganondorf with a tree branch in that moment.

4. PERSONA 5 ROYAL/PERSONA 5 STRIKERS/PERSONA Q2

Is this cheating? Yes. But hear me out. I knew Royal was going to be on the list, and then it turned out that I liked Strikers and Q2 as much, if not more than Royal. While Royal has higher highs, it also has much lower lows - Strikers and Q2 don’t engage in nearly as much of the weak parts of Royal. But they also don’t function even a little bit without it. Strikers dragged in the gameplay department a little bit, but I loved being able to play as every Phantom Thief - and Q2 was such a vast improvement over Q1 in pretty much every department. So my number four spot on my top ten games of the year is ‘every game I played this year that has Akira Kurusu in it.’ So, since I started Tactica, maybe that counts too… and if you want to be technical, I think I played a few rounds of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in June, so I guess that has the number four spot too.

3. ARMORED CORE 6

In 2023, I really and truly entered my mech era. I built Gunpla this year, I started playing in a really fun new Lancer campaign, and I played the shit out of Armored Core 6. I’d never played one before, but I was hooked from the tutorial boss alone. I beat the game once and, at the advice of a few friends, started a new game plus run - and before I knew it, I’d already beaten it again. I’ll do a third run too, at some point. Once I learned the all-consuming power of the pile bunker, I was out there decimating the arena foes like nothing else - and, once I figured out how to time out my missile strikes, I managed to slam through 75% of the final boss’ health in a single blow. That was the single most satisfying hit of this year across any game. Oh, and - keep an eye out, because I have a hankering to write some Maeterlinck-focused fic at some point. Because I sure do love me my one-off characters.

2. SCARLET NEXUS

Up until the final entry swung through and claimed the top spot, Scarlet Nexus seemed like a complete and total shoo-in for number one. Very few games have ever motivated me to complete them to the degree I did this one, including getting all Steam achievements and a ton of the optional content in game you don’t need for that. Kasane and Yuito are endearing protagonists with cool powers, genuine flaws, and vastly different outlooks. There were some plot threads from chapter one I thought had been dropped, but as it turns out they were only really dropped in Kasane’s story, and were far more focused on in Yuito’s, while he didn’t engage with most of her whole deal until the endgame. She spends most of her story dealing with causality and time travel, and he doesn’t even know time travel is a thing at all until there’s maybe 25% of the game left. And at the end, it still manages to feel complete coming from either side. The supporting cast is extremely strong, too, and the way powers flow together make the fights feel dynamic, fun, and tie to the themes of combining disparate people to make things better for everyone - to stop holding onto the past and strive for a better future, no matter how much work it takes.

1. 13 SENTINELS: AEGIS RIM

You should play this game. There’s no two ways about it. It’s a severely underrated title with incredible art, writing, gameplay, voice acting - 13 Sentinels fires on all cylinders. It’s half visual novel walkarounds with the occasional puzzle, exploring the individual stories of the thirteen protagonists across a variety of genres. One character is doing 80s high school movie hijinks with his exposition-loving best friend, while another is trying to solve the disappearance of her best friend. Said best friend is engaging in escapades with a small alien just like her favorite UFO movies, and a fourth guy entirely is doing Blade Runner shit. At one point, there’s a character who has appeared fairly infrequently and finally becomes available to play, and when he appears on the select screen, he’s standing in front of a sea of flames while the other characters typically appear in front of schoolrooms, city streets, their own homes. The emotional beat when you click through and hear him start talking about how he’s proud to be enlisting as a Japanese soldier in 1944 is one of the strongest in the game. Each story weaves around another and provides further depth to events you’ve already seen, while the entire chronological story is combined into a single timeline of events you’re free to look at whenever. But then, on the other side of the game from the character stories, you have the fights - or, rather, the fight. Because the combat side of things all takes place within  pretty much a single day - a grueling, nonstop battle where the characters must drive away wave after wave after wave of invaders without letting even a single one through. Each has their own mechs and certain special abilities that gear them for different scenarios, and if you want to experience everything, you have to bounce back and forth between the stories and the fighting, constantly unlocking aspects of the other. The biggest problem with the game is just choice paralysis - there’s so much to do, it’s hard to know where to start. But once you’re able to bite into it, chipping away at the Gordian plot rewards you with a deeply moving story about the plight of a generation thrust into a ceaseless strife, burdened by the heavy expectations of their predecessors to finally solve it and the even heavier feeling that there just are no answers to find in the first place. And also, there are sick as fuck giant mechs. I told you I was in my mech era this year.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

As most people know by now, I am a huge fan of superhero movies and have been since I was a kid. I grew up with Batman, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and even Ghost Rider, and I loved the transition into the MCU and the huge leap in care and respect towards the source material.

Still, I don’t think it was really until 2014 that I really came to love the genre like I do now. I sat down in a theater for a little movie called Guardians of the Galaxy, not knowing what to expect since this was a pretty obscure superhero team comprised of characters I’d never heard of, directed by a guy whose work I wasn’t familiar with at the time (aside from Scooby-Doo, of course). The opening scene, in which Peter “Star-Lord” Quill watches his mother die before being abducted by aliens had me intrigued. But when the next scene began and Chris Pratt began dancing through the ruins of an alien world to the sound of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” I knew I was watching something special, something extraordinary. I left the theater that day with a new all-time favorite film.

Fast forward nine years. The superhero movie landscape has changed a lot in that time, but there are only two things really relevant to the topic at hand. The first is that people have grown incredibly tired of Marvel’s brand of humor and witty banter, something that really defined the first two Guardians movies. It doesn’t help that so many superhero films, even outside of Marvel, tried to crib their style without understanding why people liked it there (looking at you, Suicide Squad). People don’t mind some humor to lighten things up, but they also want dramatic moments and genuine emotion to let them connect to the characters.

The second is that the MCU wrapped up its decade-long overarching plot and gave a few characters the satisfying conclusions they deserved while leaving some threads dangling for the future. It was a truly massive event that felt like the end of an era… and it was immediately followed by Disney churning out dozens of movies and shows in only a couple of years, inundating the market and pushing out products that feel incredibly half-baked and underwritten. Even the ones I’d call great like Wakanda Forever or No Way Home suffer from the sort of wonkiness that the home runs of Phase 3 didn’t have, while the ones I didn’t like exacerbated all the problems people have with Marvel. Now I don’t believe in “superhero fatigue,” because people still want superheroes. What they don’t want is bad movies, and too many of the films lately are falling short of audience expectations.

And that brings us to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Despite James Gunn having hit it out of the park with Marvel twice before and hopping over to DC to redeem their cinematic universe with two of their best entries, the aforementioned points weighed heavily on everyone’s minds. That’s not even getting into the film’s tumultuous development, with Gunn being fired and then rehired, which only further had people worried about the gang of intergalactic goofballs. Even from a man so known for quality superhero cinema that DC put him in charge of their own cinematic universe, the odds seemed stacked against this film delivering.

But in spite of all that, even with all these things against the film, Gunn managed to pull off one of the rarest feats imaginable: He went three for three and delivered an amazing finale to a perfect trilogy.

Now, when I say “perfect” I don’t mean the films are without flaw, because a movie without flaw does not exist. What I mean is that the trilogy consistently builds on core themes while maintaining its identity throughout, as well as maintaining a high level of quality throughout. Think of the original three Star Wars films or The Lord of the Rings to see what I mean. The key is to start strong, keep building through the middle, and then conclude on a strong note that wraps everything up nicely. In short: Be a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Vol. 3 manages to pull off being that satisfying endpoint that no other superhero third movie has been able to so far.

The big way the film does that is by recontextualizing the series in a big way: It establishes that, rather than Peter Quill, the trilogy’s true protagonist has been Rocket. It makes sense when you look back on the movies and see how he has had the most development (which is even more pronounced when you remember he and Nebula were the only Guardians to survive the Snap), and this film is no exception other than taking this to the logical conclusion by making him the focus character and the one who drives the plot. It’s frankly amazing how a character who spends two acts in a coma dreaming of his heartbreaking backstory still manages to feel relevant even when he’s not actively participating in the plot, and when he is Bradley Cooper makes a case for being one of the single greatest actors in the MCU.

That’s not to say the other characters are bad, though! Every single one of the Guardians’ actors brings their A-game here, especially the ones for whom this is definitively their last rodeo (Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana). Bautista is finally given his due, getting to play Drax as more than just dumb muscle, while Saldana gets to play a more brutal and vicious Gamora than we’ve seen before. Outside of them, the very best performance is probably from Karen Gillan as Nebula who, while still as crabby as ever, genuinely feels like a part of the family for the first time and gets to play the straight man to a lot of antics.

I think it’s also worth pointing out how good Chris Pratt is here, especially after Quill was something of a joke in the Avengers films. Here, Quill is back to his proper characterization and gets a great character arc that plays to Pratt’s strengths, unlike many of his modern roles. I know there’s been a bit of a Pratt fatigue lately, but he’s in his element under Gunn and delivers one of his strongest performances yet. And with all that said, no matter how minor (Cosmo) or out of focus (Groot) a Guardian is compared to the core cast, they all get their time to shine in the third act with a finale that makes use of all their skills in unique and creative ways. No one really feels underutilized here, even if they don’t get as much spotlight as others.

I think one of the more divisive new additions is going to be Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, though I think most of that will hinge on how familiar you are with his established character in the comics. As I’m not super familiar with Warlock, but do love Poulter even in films I hate like Midsommar, I thoroughly enjoyed him here. He feels like Age of Ultron Vision done right, a powerful being only recently born but forced into dramatic conflict. He is a bit underplayed unfortunately, but you know we’ll be seeing more of him soon enough, and at the very least he gets a handful of really funny moments and some cool scenes to build him up. They could have done more with him, but I certainly loved him.

This movie certainly ends up being one of the darkest films in the entire MCU, and nearly all that darkness is the result of the film’s villain, the High Evolutionary, who is quite possibly the most evil villains in comic book movie history, if not necessarily the very best (though I certainly think he’s up there). His entire character revolves around his insane god complex, and to satisfy it he abuses animals, cruelly experiments on living beings, and commits genocide with an unnerving casualness. On top of that, he’s just incredibly petty, never missing an opportunity to either figuratively or literally kick the dog. Chukwudi Iwuji is clearly relishing every moment he has playing a guy who can switch from classy visionary villain to frothing lunatic at the drop of a hat. If nothing else, it’s just so refreshing to see a villain without a tragic backstory or sympathetic motivations and who is just an asshole, plain and simple. This might not work for everyone because it does leave him as a rather simple character, but sometimes it’s just nice to see a villain who’s just a massive cunt that you want to watch die with every fiber of your being. He’s pretty easily the best villain of the entire trilogy, and considering how good Ego was and how fantastic Kurt Russell is as an actor, that’s really saying something.

You will not be surprised to hear that the soundtrack is good, because Gunn has not missed once when it comes to these soundtracks. It’s not quite as good as Vol. 2’s soundtrack—how could it be when there’s no Fleetwood Mac?—but the variety of decades the Zune brings beyond the 70s and 80s tunes of the first couple of movies really help set the scenes. It’s never bad to hear Faith No More’s “We Care a Lot,” and the movie has the best use of the Beastie Boys in a movie starring Chris Pratt that you’ll see this year.

What is surprising, though, is that the CGI isn’t dogshit. We’re not talking Avatar levels of quality, but it’s still a damn pretty movie, and this is supported by some fantastic practical effects and costumes. The only real complaints I’ve got are that the humor doesn’t always land and there are some rather weird editing choices, but aside from that you can tell everyone working on this was given the time to make sure this was the sendoff these heroes deserve.

And I think that’s the movie’s ultimate strength: It’s a true sendoff, and not just setup for the future. The characters conclude their arcs, and unlike with Endgame all of the endings our heroes get feel fitting, satisfying, and well-earned. We may see some of these characters again someday, but for certain members of the Guardians you can tell they’ve finally ended up where they need to be. And this is a good thing! All stories need an ending, and as far as endings go this is one of the best.

At the very end of the film, the audience gets to experience something the other characters have throughout these films: We get to clearly and without translation understand what Groot is saying, symbolizing how we as an audience have become as close to him as his friends have. In essence, we are all Guardians of the Galaxy now. Our journey, too, has come to its logical conclusion; we’ve seen these characters we’ve followed for so long complete their arcs and end up where they need to be. Isn’t it nice to reach a conclusion, however bittersweet it is?

This is one of the best superhero movies out there, and easily one of the top 5 MCU films. If you like superhero movies and are tired of the same old slop being shoveled out, you need to go see this movie, because it shows a bright future where creative control goes to the filmmakers so they can make films with heart and soul. The future of DC is definitely in good hands, that’s for sure. And if this is ultimately where you get off the superhero rollercoaster, I can’t blame you when this is the best stopping point we’re likely to get. For me, my days of obsessively making sure I see every Marvel project are over; I’ll stick to checking out what interests me, ignoring what doesn’t, and being at peace knowing my favorite heroes got a satisfying conclusion.

[adultswim2021]

Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job #47: “Stuntmen” | April 12, 2010 - 12:30AM | S05E07

Stuntmen features a fairly ambitious (by Tim & Eric standards) wraparound, in which Tim & Eric play dual roles: a pair of stuntmen and a pair of female talk show hosts. Do their efforts pay off? Stay tune to fine out. 

The cold open to this one features a strange sequence where two aliens pettily squabble and take turns jack hammering their small planets. It gives the impression of some kind of foreign art, with the incredibly simplistic insult of “mouse man” feeling like something is lost in translation. This one seems to be chasing a mood, but isn’t particularly inspired. It’s sorta neat that it transitions into the opening, though. 

The most infamous sketch on here is a pair of Mahanahan Child Clown outlet sketches. These ignited a firestorm of controversy when QAnon was popping off. For reasons that I’m not entirely sure of, I covered most of this in another episode’s write-up.

At the time of airing I sorta recall thinking these sketches went a little far with the creepiness. Steve Mahanahan saying he’s going to jail because he “touched a clown” felt like they were officially crossing the line that these sketches always sorta danced around. Steve hopes they’ll let him keep his beard in jail, punctuated by Eric doing a weird mugging while opening and closing his mouth. If this were an experiment in being as off-putting as possible, then I’d say the experiment was a success. It is simply too stupid.

Will Ferrell shows up as Donald Mahanahan, Steve’s father. Ferrell is fairly game, and he goes to some disgusting places. He scolds his son and says “Never touch the clowns. Let the clowns touch you”. Okay, so I don’t think that they’re trying to normalize child trafficking or whatever it is that the QAnon people allege. But this is a fairly tasteless bit of comedy, and it makes all the sense in the world that people who weren't used to Tim & Eric's sensibilities were put off by it.

I don’t mind it too much, and I’d rather watch smart, funny people feel free to indulge in stuff like that rather than be piled on by Trump-worshiping Barstool Sports morons. This also features an actual crying baby dressed as a child clown, yikes! My favorite bit from these is father Mahanahan bringing up the death of his other Son (played by Tim), including a tasteless photo-based animation of him being shot in the face. Could you imagine if a father expressed himself in this particular way while discussing the murder of his own son? Pretty rude, but that's the kind of nastiness that makes me laugh.

The second All Dolled Up appears in this episode, which is the one I actually remembered, because the one guy mentions being friends with Elliott Gould and then moans about there not being pizza at the shoot. Nice stuff, but it’s basically more of the same. There’s also one of those reflective Brule segments that as tepid as the other one they did earlier in the season. There’s also a thing called Amateur Pipes where a guy who has never played bagpipes tries to play bagpipes. There, that’s all the short ones. 

The wraparounds are pretty mid, and are sort of a mix of funny, committed acting and nonsensical horseplay. Eric goes to the well of female masturbation while dressed up as the talk show host. What is this, Stella? Tim is fairly funny as the stuntman. He does a convincing “guy who doesn’t like talking in front of a camera very much”. I like Tim’s takes to the camera as one of the female hosts. I don’t know. I wasn’t impressed, but I appreciate them *sorta* trying. This is one of the weaker episodes, overall.

[team-enigma-official]

Heyyy T-Squad! I know, I know, I kept you all waiting on a fresh new Mewtube upload but HERE we go!

[VIDEO UPLOAD TITLED: "My New IMPROVED Team Enigma Squad" The thumbnail is a picture of a fierce looking Gyarados/Fearow Hybrid with wild, unsettling eyes and a snout that looks like it has half formed into a beak. Yellow text reads "NEW HYBRIDS"

The Video opens on Taylor, filming from his desk in front of his PC. The background lighting consists of some vibrant blues and pinks that illuminate a well kept bookshelf with several local Competitive Pokemon Battle tournament trophies at the top.

Taylor opens up with a wide, self assured grin at the camera.

"Hey there T-Squad its Taaaaylor! Coming at you with more Top Tier Pokemon content! Real quick before we start I just wanted to thank you guys for all the support on my last video about Hybrids. That video absolutely BLEW UP and it's all thanks to you guys so here's a little shout out to all of you for making that happen!"

"Anyway I know you all came here to see some Hybrids so Leeets go!"

There is a quick, snappy transition to a shot taken outside. Taylor is in front of the camera with three Pokeballs on his belt.

"Now, I kinda lied to you guys! The first Pokemon I'm showing off today? Not actually a Hybrid. Instead it's an Ultra Beast!"

The pokemon that bursts from the Pokeball is a gigantic Guzzlord. It lets out a long trilling scream as it's beady cyan eyes immediately begin looking for something to consume. "This guy is absolutely wild. Eats everything in its path and can pack a HUGE punch. I've been sure to keep it bulked up so it can take attacks even better. Good thing this guy eats any trash you give it"

The Guzzlord looks ready to break away from Taylor at any moment, and its great arms are starting to come far too close for comfort to Taylor himself.

"Okay, that's enough, big guy, lets get you back in your Pokeball!"

He recalls the pokemon and pulls out a second pokeball from his belt, this time a Dive Ball.

"So for this next guy, my patrons already got a sneak peak of this one but for the REST of you here we go!"

A larger than normal Gyarados bursts from the Pokeball with absolutely wild looking eyes. It looks as if it has the expression of a Dodrio, and its face has been slightly warped to have what resembles a beak. It's head is sprouting with thick brown plumage. When it roars, it sounds like the voices of three pokemon attempting to cry in unison.

"Gyarados here is already a great Pokemon, but with hybridization it can FINALLY take advantage of its flying type skills with attacks like Drill Peck and Brave Bird. AND with a Dragon dance set nothing is outspeeding this absolute Sea Monster."

A few close up shots show the Gyarados preforming a Drill Peck move with its "Beak". It seems to hold an incredible, frenzied, unnatural kind of power. After a moment he recalls that one as well.

"Aand of course I'm saving the best one for last! This guy is TOTALLY brand new and one I'm super excited to show you!"

The pokemon that emerges from the last ball, this one a net ball, is a Kingdra. This one seems to have deeply cyan eyes as well, and a pattern around its face that resembles a Glalie. Frost seems to be billowing from its snout.

"Kingdra here gets to take full advantage of its sniper ability combined with the Frost Breath technique of a Glalie. Not only are we talking criticals EVERYWHERE but now they pack way more of a punch. Not to mention taunt access. This is one King you don't want to mess with." The video then cuts back to the shot from inside Taylor's house, in front of his PC.

"So that's about all the time I have for today. Make sure you guys like, comment, and subscribe and be sure to check out my Patreon for more EXCLUSIVE T-Squad content. Laterrr!!"

END OF MEWTUBE VIDEO]

[stepffan]

nhk thoughts

i'm sooo happy to see sota on the podium -- i do wish for better, more original packaging from his team for next season.

kaori's skates always make me cry. i love how large and open her movements are, and how fast she skates across the ice. she is just different, so powerful. kaori always seems so nervous before she goes on the ice, that it makes me nervous ... but then when she gets on the ice i just forget everything. the running edge on some of her jumps is just incredible. i hope she recovers from her illness soon and gets her confidence back. her ex gala was wonderful.

kazuki's skating is so fun. really whimsical. i would like to see him skate to a more serious, minimalist program, too.

idk i just feel very neutral about jun. beautiful jumps, ina bauer.

idk how i feel about adam. I think he has great quality of movement, but i didn't like the programs or choreo themselves all that much ... it just felt a little maximalist/inflated? that's just my onion idk. very fun ex, more skaters hsould use swords/lightsabers/props.

ted shut up dude. but i thought it was really funny how he kept trying to make sota's name rhyme. soto yamamoto. sota yamamota.

shoma

i rly liked this gravity -- a major improvement from SCI gravity, with the musical timing. not sure why people don't like this program -- at the beginning when it was still very messy, yes, but now? his performance is just so incredibly intense, intensely human and raw. it's what i wanted from dancing on my own, but didn't feel like i got 100% -- i just feel like he's so sensitive to movement here, to the timing and performance and emotionality. so much tension in that ending pose, like there's a real sense of emotional turbulence and ...gravity... here, that just wasn't as present in DOMO, a similarly melancholic program. i just love it. love it so much.

ok one major issue i have with shormenta is the transition between bach and orlinski -- it seems very hard for shoma to get the timing right, to do the little hop right as tormenta comes in, b/c of the ritardando at the end of the bach. maybe he just needs to practice it more, but if he can't get it perfectly timed maybe they should change the choreo so that it doesn' t look like he's off time every time the music starts?

padam padam gets better every time. exquisite cantilever. thank you to whoever was in charge of the lights.

[randomvarious]

Today’s mix:

MTV Party to Go, Volume 8 by Chris Walsh 1995 Hip Hop / G-Funk / R&B

Before Tommy Boy Records went on to define a piece of the 90s by way of a partnership with ESPN to deliver us the stadium dance anthems of Jock Jams, they initially launched into a partnership with MTV in the early 90s to give us a different series called Party to Go. The conceit of it was that each CD or cassette had a ready-made mix that you could just pop in to your player to instantly get a party going. And this is its eighth installment, a DJ mix by an in-house guy at Tommy Boy named Chris Walsh who's also responsible for other mixes in the series.

I reviewed Volume 1 of this series a few months ago and that mix happened to represent what was then a totally confused hodgepodge of what a lot of mainstream American dance music was like back in 1991: hip-house, new jack swing, synthpop, party rap, dance-pop, and some R&B. This volume, though, from late 1995, appears to cast its scope much more narrowly. Besides its incredibly inexplicable inclusion of one of Sheryl Crow's weakest ever singles in the middle (I mean, seriously, what in the fuck?!) and an even more Italian remix of the classic Italo-dance banger, "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona, this album is more or less just a mid-90s top-40 hip hop-oriented mix.

But even though I said that the scope that was cast for this was narrow, it was also, in a way, kind of broad as well, because there's actually hip hop tunes here for different kinds of party atmospheres. Like, I'd say the universal party rap tunes on this mix are undoubtedly Skee-Lo's "I Wish" and Naughty by Nature's "Feel Me Flow." Things like sunshine, cookouts, and swimming pools just immediately come to mind when either of those two songs come on. But then there's songs on here that go with a much chiller type of vibe. Like, you could easily slow-grind on someone with The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa," the Puff Daddy mix of Method Man and Mary J. Blige's "I'll Be There for You / You're All I Need to Get By," and the Sting International remix of Shaggy's "Boombastic." Bone Thugs' "1st of tha Month" fits this theme too, even though it's not lyrically sexy or romantic like those other three.

And then there's Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," the biggest song in the world in 1995 that won so many accolades and also plaudits from critics across the board despite the, uh, lackluster quality of its rapping. It's still a great song that I also happen to love too, but it was funny to see Weird Al take it down a few pegs with "Amish Paradise" and then see Coolio get all huffy about it like some kind of proto-Kanye by saying his beautiful masterpiece had been 'desecrated.' It's a great, classic song, dude, but come on now. For what it's worth, though, Coolio eventually saw the light and cooled off, and his relationship with Weird Al appears to have been cordial for years now.

Anyway, that's more of a party song simply because everyone in the world knows it. It's a big production, but it doesn't really have much of a party vibe to it. It was intended to be a serious song, despite how corny it sounds today. Fool.

Two more things before I sign off here. There's an awesome R&B song on this mix by a female group called Brownstone that appears to have been relatively lost in the sands of time. It went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was even nominated for a Grammy, but I feel like "If You Love Me" is a pretty big forgotten hit. Other thing is that the back cover of this release comes with a note that says, in kind of big lettering, "*includes exclusive mixes not available on any album." And that actually turns out to be a bit of a reach. What it really sounds like is that Chris Walsh couldn't figure out a way to mix this crop of songs together all that well, so he or someone else just simply constructed little passages of their own to make the transitions as seamless as possible. And those passages are sort of just, like, these little, feeble bridges that were hastily made in order to link each track together. And I definitely wouldn't then advertise this mix as having "exclusive mixes" because of those small, unique sections; I mean, that actually feels like a pretty big sleight of hand to me. But the change from that Brownstone song to the Method Man and Mary J. Blige one is actually *really* smooth.

Anyway, despite its faults, this is still a fun trip down memory lane. Can't really complain about a CD that has Biggie, Naughty by Nature, Skee-Lo, Method Man, Mary J., Coolio, Shaggy, and Bone Thugs on it. It's just not really the type of tunes I think of when I hear the words "party to go." However, if my music diet was restricted to just MTV videos that had been in rotation by 1995, then this might actually be what I'd expect the party to sound like too, since you couldn't really find much in the way of actual dance music on MTV back then, or really ever 🤷‍♂️.

This is a pretty good CD to reach for if you just wanna party with some mid-90s hip hop classics though. I mean, it's a bad DJ mix for sure, but the songs are good, and plenty of people love to get down to 90s hip hop tunes. So, this should do the trick, as long as you immediately hit next when that Sheryl Crow song comes on! 😅

Listen to the full mix here.

Highlights:

The Notorious B.I.G. - "Big Poppa" Naughty by Nature - "Feel Me Flow" Brownstone - "If You Love Me" Method Man and Mary J. Blige - "I'll Be There for You / You're All I Need to Get By (Puff Daddy mix)" Skee-Lo - "I Wish" Corona - "Rhythm of the Night (R.B.X. Euro mix)" Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - "1st of tha Month" Coolio feat. L.V. - "Gangsta's Paradise" Shaggy - "Boombastic (Sting remix)"

[seawitchkaraoke]

went to see Cats last night (christmas gift from my parents) and it was very funny (duh, cats is always fun unless it’s the 2019 movie).

They made some really fun/smart/interesting choices which I hugely enjoyed such as:

-Old Deutoronomy took a much more active role than he often does moving around the stage a lot more, singing the first few lines of a few songs such as Skimbleshanks, which worked really well, he was actually leading the jellicles instead of just watching their antics

- on that note though the one and only thing I didn’t like about this was that Old Deutoronomy hugged both Gus and Grizzabella and also misto after getting rescued by him. Idk. Hugging just feels? Not cat like? I didn’t like it  but it was literally just 3 hugs so i’ll forgive it

- they made the VERY clever choice of moving Pekes and the Pollicles after Gus the theatre cat and having Gus play the great Rumpus Cat. I loved that bc it gave pekes and pollcles more weight (instead of just being ‘’the cats put on a play inside the play’’ it’s now ‘’Gus is old and kind of sad and wants to reprise his old role so the cats encourage him to do just that and they all put on a play together’’ it gave Gus more room while still cutting  Growltiger’s last stand (which let’s be real is always cut. Like. I’ve seen cats 3 times and they all cut that song which is..... sad).

- just in general the songs all connected really well, the transitions between them always felt really natural and good which you don’t always get with Cats. The flow was really good.

- they made Tugger and misto somehow even gayer by having misto not just magic the rainbow banner out of a hat and dancing around on stage with it but also then linking arms with tugger and skipping over said rainbow banner and just adding a lot of misto/tugger arm in arm dancing to the song in general

- they also replaced Tugger’s ‘’ladies and gentlemen...’’ with ‘’felines and friends’’ which is a small touch, but I am nonbinary so it made me happy

- just. Tugger. He’s always so fun but this one had SUCH gremlin energy it was incredible, he was shorter than other Tuggers I’ve seen which didn’t make him any less hot (judging by my mom’s reaction to him lol) but it just. idk it added something that he was shorter than both misto and munkustrap and also was constantly climbing onto tall things when he needed to just exist in the background, like he’s hot and he’s absolutely one of the leaders and yes he’s respected but also he’s a little gremlin cat who wants to be tall

- munkustrap who’s always been one of my faves was incredible as always and he was very annoyed at tugger the faces he made in the background of tugger’s introduction song were hilarious, he took great care of the kittens as always and his fight with macavity was?? so good? idk if they made it longer or what but it somehow hit me more than it usually does, the way once he went down all the other cats who’d been scared ganged up on macavity? they love him so much this is so cute

[hisreunion]

[ slow dance ] a type of hug where both partners are incredibly close to one another and sway to some music // maybe they're dressed up for something as well yk yk

DIFFERENTS WAYS TO HUG SOMEONE

It had been more difficult than Cloud expected to get his tie done but Aerith was his saving grace, swooping in to do it for him while he patiently stood there. Trying not to focus too much on how her fingers would brush against his neck. He'd only worn a suit once before in his life but at least being fitted by a tailor was an easy process. Maybe the fashion was a little too rich for his blood but he'd wanted to look his best that night, for Aerith. He'd seen her all glammed up in Wall Market so it was only fair she got to see him in proper men's wear, right? His ribs had ached for two days from that damn corset Andrea had squeezed him into. How the hell did women willingly wear shit like that? He preferred to block out most of that night, honestly.

The effort of dressing up nice was well worth it when he and Aerith laid eyes on each other again and she giddily exclaimed that he looked great. They ate some food and talked for a while and by then Cloud had relaxed some. He didn't think he'd overcome his nerves but Aerith's gentle reassurances helped a great deal. At some point they came together in an embrace that transitioned into them slow-dancing. Other couples danced around them, swaying to the music. Her arms were looped around his neck and his encircled her waist and it was halfway through the song when he finally spoke. His tone was soft and shy. "You look beautiful, by the way." He let his cheek rest against hers. "Actually forgot to breathe for a sec when I saw you."

[kirkoid-music]

Arthur's Heart - February 2016

I took a bit of a break from making music in 2015, I'd gotten married the year before, then we moved house and had a baby. Old habits die hard though, so while waiting in the hospital for 52 hours listening to my unborn baby's heartbeat on a monitor, I eventually decided to record a snippet on my phone for later use.

And eight months later, use it I did. It had a BPM of around 130, so, looping it up in Audition, I began to build a track around it. As usual, the samples guided the direction of the music, but when I came to look for some vocals, I quickly stumbled on Mr Yesterday's 30 seconds of spoken word on ccMixter.

"Born in the middle" it starts, wow, could it be more perfect? He talks about being at a crossroads, "you could go any which way". I knew I had found my vocal.

So the track starts off with the heart beat, the lyrics, then the music slowly comes in. This is how it was on the day, hours of just that heart beat, then, slowly but surely, signs of increased activity, tension building. The hours of anticipation, the birth, then, it's all over. You are left alone, just the two of you, now three, suddenly holding the ultimate responsibility, it's real.

Reviews for Arthur's Heart on ccMixter and Looperman:

Well, congratulations! Actually seven months to bounce back isn’t so long…. I enjoyed the field recording aspect a lot.

Very cool. The precision blend of beat and heartbeat is impressive and the build is joyous. (And the sound is excellent in my headphones.)

Fantastic dance music this.

Nice work on the track.

its funny but i can sing were on the rode to no where by talking heads to this lol and it works kinda

Hello Kirkoid,

what a great idea!?! This is a fantastic track to welcome a new Baby (Human). Greetings, Matthias.

There is something exciting when the sound created by nature merges with the electronic sound and they complement each other perfectly.

Beautiful work my friend - lilting gentle beats and a warm pulse with soft melodic elements woven in and just a little bit triumphant and nostalgic sounding which is all absolutely fitting : )

The sound of the heartbeat with the spoken word gave me goosebumps man. That's awesome.

I like the idea of the track with the panned keys mimicking the heartbeat. Great idea. I do think the transition from the original heartbeat to the high notes (the C-F-C...C-G-C bit) is a bit sudden - I would consider to fade that in softer. You don't want to startle the baby, right? :) And... congrats!!! Lovely track and I'm sure a lovely baby! (even if that's now 5, 15 or 25 years ago ;) )

The first time I heard my Daughter's heartbeat I thought 174BPM! What's going on in there? LOL... This is an incredibly creative idea. Sounds great. I wish I would have thought of that. Great track. Faved. PEACE...

After my son was born I distinctly remember looking up at the sky and stars and knowing for sure that Love was the principle that held the universe together and that without it nothing would work. This is a sweet wee track that somehow mirrors that.

[ener-chi]

Hi! I hope this ask finds you well and safe. I saw your post on free readings and if there are still any slots left, I'd like to request one please. I'm Maryel P. (she/her/hers). I have a mole on the top part of my forehead and a dimple on my left cheek. I don't have one specific favorite memory, but my good ones are when we travel and when I eat sumptuous meals.

Question: What does my future husband's higher self want me to know right now?

Thank you so much! Please be well and safe 🌼

Hi Maryel!

Alright, let's take a look...

I really like the "fav memory" that you described... I know that it isn't any one specific one, but... For you... There is... A comfort to the meals while on the road. I see you in like a diner on the road somewhere... Older décor, a little bit rundown, but it's part of the appeal. The food isn't anything unique or special, but it is... Comfort. It's... Being out, exploring... Living... And having some good food with good people... It warms your heart center... Resonates deeply...

I see you... Brown curly hair a little bit past your shoulders... For some reason I've felt drawn to your energy... But I'm not entirely sure why... I'm having a hard time putting it into words... You look at me curiously...

Your energy feels... Familiar... Almost... A kind warm smile... You have both introvert and extrovert tendencies... Kind of depends on what you're feeling... But you really like rainy days... Nothing better than taking your blanket and favorite socks, getting cozy, maybe watching a show or comfort movie...

Transition...

I see you... In void space... Eyes closed... Kneeling... Hands on your thighs... Zooming in... I see... Someone else... Kneeling across from you... In a similar manner... Masculine energy... Brown hair... Smooth skin... There is a connection... Energy coming from your crown chakras...

Channeling... This... Cosmic dance... That we all... Get to experience... You bring... Light... And warmth... To this world... And... I am... Honored... Excited... To be able to share this incarnation with you... We have... Much to learn from and teach each other... It will not be easy... It will... Provide... Incredible growth and great catalysts for change... But... It will be good...

There is a joy here... This is me... No more channeling... There is a joy here... That I've only experienced  few other times... So hard to put into words or describe but... Pure joy...

What else... Shakes head...

Transition...

Back to her... Smiles... Again cocks head... Interested... Curious...

I have a feeling that... I will be hearing from you again...

Alright! That was fun. I don't think I really have any commentary to add here. Your energy is lovely, though (:

Thanks for the ask and the well wishes!

Blessings!

[theghostpinesmusic]

As I've written about before, one of my favorite fun things about Goose is that they have a variety of arrangements for some of their songs ("Slow Ready" and "So Ready," four (?!) versions of "Indian River," and so on). So, when their first set at this year's Goosemas turned out to be "mirror-themed" - involving versions of both "All I Need" and "Tumble" played in their slow arrangements initially before seguing into their fast versions - it immediately became one of my favorite sets I've heard the band play. And, since there's a great video of the "Tumble" on YouTube, I'm going to write about that today.

Some very quick background on "Tumble": in its original, "fast" arrangement, it was one of the first Goose songs that really hooked me back in 2019, mostly because, to my mind at least, it's one of their most Phish-adjacent songs. It reminds me of something like "Stash" while still being its own thing. It's hooky while also having some compelling composed sections, and the lyrics are catchy and simple while also hinting at deeper meaning if you want to dig for it. In short, it's got all the things that make most great Goose songs great.

The fast version has been a great-to-incredible jam vehicle pretty consistently since 2019: if the band plays "Tumble," you are going to get a jam. Odds are it'll be a more straightforward funk/rock exploration instead of a freak-out journey amongst the stars, but don't rule the latter out by any means.

The slow version debuted on 5/9/21, a show I watched live from the couch, and absolutely lost my mind when I heard it. It's got a Vintage Vibe/reverb-heavy tone that hits a sweet spot that I really love (see "Red Bird" for another song that sort of sits in the same place sonically). Though this version isn't jammed very often, I'm always happy to hear it pop up and listen to the band play around in its sonic environment for a few minutes each time.

So, as I said above, the Goosemas version starts as the "slow" arrangement. I should share for posterity that I, once again, absolutely lost it as I heard the drumbeat that introduces this version, watching live from the couch, even before Rick started hitting the opening chords. I just love how they introduce this version slowly before all the instruments hit together at 1:11. I could listen to that opening minute all day.

Trevor really makes the composed part of this tune. I'm glad he's a bit more audible here than on the Euro tour videos (my last complaint about the Euro mix!).

Pete has a little mic trouble at 3:13.

After the chorus, everyone dives into an absolutely great, Vibe-y jam (around 4:10). This isn't particularly complex playing, but I could happily live in the "Vibey Tumble" groove for at least an hour.

Right around 5:45, the percussion becomes a bit more driving than is usual for "Tumble"'s slow arrangement, which is neat. From there, the jam builds in intensity (and, it seems, in tempo?) for a bit until Rick starts teasing the instrumental bridge from the "fast" version of "Tumble" at 8:15. This causes the band to make a (planned, I assume) transition into the fast version of the song proper at 8:36.

Incidentally, the part of this arrangement that always makes me think of "Stash" starts around 9:15. Everything up through 11:05 is part of the composition, and from there on, along with some dancing from Peter, we're in jam mode.

This version, like a lot of recent versions of the "fast" "Tumble," starts off with some great two-guitar interplay between Rick and Peter. I love that this bit is both of them playing (basically) rhythm guitar instead of one soloing while the other holds down the rhythm. They layer over each other really well so it's interesting and driving without sounding crowded (if you really like this section, I'd recommend the Manchester version of "Tumble," which I described in my notes as "The best Talking Heads jam of 2023"). Then, there's a great, smooth transition at 13:30 into a new jam space (how did Peter get from guitar to piano so quickly here?!).

This is bread-and-butter Goose territory. Rick leads the jam with a nice solo, taking through bliss jam territory. I don't mean this is a derogatory way: I really like what starts happening at 17:00 in particular. If you've read previous entries in this series and/or are a big fan of Goose already, the band's not exactly exploring new ground here. But, usually, this is what "fast" "Tumble" is for: bringing a huge dance party. And this version definitely delivers on that front.

20:05 has us absolutely crashing into the composed ending of the song...and that's the Goosemas "Tumble"!

There were a lot of amazing jams and fun debut covers that came up during this two-show run, and I'd love to have/take the time to talk about them all, but as usual I'm going to go with the songs that have pro-shot footage on YouTube, which means next time I'll be writing about the time Goose covered...Justin Timberlake.

[qazastra]

hi look at qaz’s (my) top album releases of 2022!!! in no particular order. some of my fav tracks like this. lyrics below. i probably forgot a few? don’t worry about it

AMERICAN GURL - kilo kish     american gurl, on the outside (justin’s song)

in a locked box / in a locked drawer / will i find me an american girl?

this is a capital-A Album. kilo kish has been on the periphery of artists i keep tabs on for like 8 years now and im so glad i sat down and listened to this release all the way through. talks about/around being, well, an American Gurl, but in a much more realistic and relatable way than lana. v cool. u must hear it in order (at least the first time)!!!!!

CHASE - minho    prove it, heartbreak

i haven’t sat with this one as long as the others but i already know these songs are gonna stick with me!! waterfall has recently been on my mind :-)

Sweet Home - no buses    stopstopstop, i’m with you, rubbish:)

if i can’t come to you, take me to the place where you are

albums that singlehandedly make you excited about indie rock again i’m not even exaggerating. a little downbeat overall, but cozy. i’m 90% sure their band name comes from the arctic monkeys song and that they are also influenced by early phoenix, if that gives you an idea of their sound. but don’t misunderstand, i don’t think it’s derivative! just gives me similar feelings of being emotionally affected by guitars that listening to is this it for the first time did.

The Car - arctic monkeys    sculptures of anything goes, mr. schwartz, big ideas

i had big ideas, the band were so excited / the kind you'd rather not share over the phone

i’ve been on band tumblr since i think right before the AM era and this is quite a departure from that stadium rock vibe but it feels like a natural progression from their previous (excellent) sprawling concept album. each song has a real charm to it, i’ve been really into most of them in turns.

2 Baddies - nct 127    gold dust, designer, crash landing, time lapse

HI HELLO. NEED I SAY MORE. i will though. FASTER INTO 2 BADDIES?? HI. that transition is so good. are you kidding me!!! on first listen i really thought faster should’ve been the title track lol. the first seven tracks are PERFECT. a couple of the other songs inspire ummm. mirth. let’s put it that way. and the closer is fine. but the great parts balance out the mid and even the mid parts have their merits. plus i really like that this album makes sense sonically as a cohesive whole, i think the vaguely cyberpunk promo imagery from the album teaser actually pays off!

Instinct Part 2 - onlyoneof    skinz, gaslighting

what can i say??? this was my first comeback with onlyoneof and it cemented their spot as one of my favorite bands/groups of all time. i know many people took issue with the tt skinz but i love its nails-on-a-chalkboard moments with my whole heart. on first listen gaslighting held my attention and it never let me go. suit dance, once i got past the kind of silly lyrics, is just so pleasant to listen to. and ultimate bliss. what can i say. peak onlyoneof. incredible.

Face The Sun - seventeen    domino, shadow, hot

to be honest this has got to be the first straight pop album that i ever listened to that was genuinely no skips. and that would earn it a spot on here even if the songs were aggressively mid. bUT THEY AREN’T. 

LP3 - hippo campus    ashtray, semi-pro

i’ve been bad but i’m only getting better

i’ll be real i forgot this came out this year till i was recently reminded that i saw them live for it and it was so so good... hippo campus’ lyricism blends really well with their production in this album in a way i haven’t seen before!! i might call it a coming of age album for the twentysomething lost in a city. something like that maybe.

CYBERKISS* - blackstarkids    pink stars, sex appeal

gotta stay fresh as fuck inside this user interface / even when i’m feelin down, i know that i’ll be up again

so very fun!! same label as the 1975 which makes a lot of sense looking back on it but like, in a good way i think. i love how they all share the vocals, i love the hyperpop and bubblegum influence, love the genuine lyrics and the silly ones. just a joy to listen to.

undergrOund idOl series - onlyoneof    begin, because

begin was my top played song of 2022. it’s really something. i wasn’t sure what to expect when they announced a solo for each member, but i think their creative freedom was really put to good use here!! each song stands alone and together and they all have a recognizable onlyoneof-ness, they all feel very unique to each other and suited to their respective members. that’s not to mention the b-sides that come with every new song-- remixes of old bsides, all great (even if the company is doing it so they have versions of bsides without love on them :/ ). and that’s not even mentioning the music videos!! they all tell stories about gay relationships :] i’m very much looking forward to nine’s solo in a few days to close out the series!! <3

[launching-a-thousand-ships]

Kurt Glee Rewatch: Showmance

Episode 2! Not much Kurt this ep, but won’t stop me from ranting about everything else. I swear this is Kurt centric, i just have a lot of thoughts lol. Also yay, we get the incredible acapella transition music. Love it

Omg why is Will so dumb, ugh. And this opening sequence....

Like, Rachel appears and has Finn offering help. Mercedes, Artie, and Tina are hanging together, having fun.

And then Kurt, exactly the same as the pilot. Nothing has changed for him. And he’s still defiant with the ‘One day you will all work for me’ I just. This kid...

Side note, Chris has mentioned injuries during the dumpster toss (that poor guy spent so much of the run in the emergency room legit). So Kurt has prob come home with broken toes etc, how the hell does he explain to his dad.

And gee, no wonder kurt hates ppl touching him/being close so much bc. Oof.

Omg, as if we didn’t have enough of Will reliving glory days. Choosing the song they sang back in the day. It’s a ‘crowd pleaser’ yeah, not anymore. If you want the kids to have the right attitude, maybe let them choose the song? Don’t Stop was the best performance so far and hm, Will had nothing to do with it. Interesting.

And omg Kurt saying ‘It’s really gay’ like is it him saying that as snark bc if he thinks it’s gay then damn it’s really cringe. But also he’s prob trying to fit in, bc gay means bad right? So he can totally use gay as an insult. Bc he’s totally not gay. Oh, Kurt.

Kurtcedes already strong. I love the little exchange “You look like a technicolour zebra” “If you’re hair were longer it would have curls” like... their chemistry is everything.

Wow, Will offers Finn solo, he says no, so Will just doesn’t ask anyone else?? Isn’t he a teacher????

And so begins Kurt being unimpressed with Will’s teaching. Notice, they never really have a connection/heart to heart convo? Kurt seems closer with Sue, tbh. And omg, Will, what are you doing to Artie’s glasses?? And oof, the wrapping.

Liked the hint of a single ladies hand at the start... I saw that, Kurt

Kurt with that deadpan delivery “Blood?”. Chris is so great with comedy, I wonder how much input he had with lines lol. 

No but this whole sequence is so much. Amazing how they can be so inappropriate and so unsexy I just... omg, the discomfort, the horror.

But also Kurt is so chill with this. We will get to the whole ‘baby penguin’ thing, but here, Kurt’s a performer. He’s going along with this. He freaking slaps Finn’s butt (I wonder if he did that impulsively or if it was part of the choreo?? Finn wasn’t surprised so had to be planned???)

Also love how they’re plan is ‘sex’ and the costumes.... with the kneepads? And Kurt, why do you have a fanny pack???? This whole sequence is just so insane and bizarre... and the school loves it?? Beginning the retcon of McKinley hating glee, but loving their performances???? I don’t... whatever

No other Kurt in the ep, sadly. We do get Say a Little Prayer for You and omg, life goal to learn the choreo to any Unholy Trinity song. It’s so amazing, I love Quinn’s voice and their dancing is so delicate and smooth just... top tier. Even tho the backing vocals are definitely not Naya or Heather...

And that’s ep2. Not much Kurt, but next ep... there’s some stuff. Yay.

[imfiguringitoutlovely]

This might be a bit goofy but I think it would be funny. I have a more serious idea I'll request after this.

Quirk name: Feline Transformation

Quirk ability: You can shape shift into a cat boy and a cat but it has the magical girl transformation scene effects every time you transform. Like you get sparkly and glow and yours clothes become cat themed.

No in work relation unless you want!

X platonic class room 1

class 1a with a catty companion

pairing: platonic!class 1a x male/masc!reader (he/him)

genre: crack, fluff

warnings: being called a catboy in public in front of adults.

author's notes: im... i love this request sm. i can't. put it into words. the magic girl effect detail im-

i also added a relationship to the Wild, Wild Pussycats bc yeah.

tHOSE ARE THE LITTLE THINGS I LIVE FOR,,, QUIRKS OF QUIRKS, YK??

god you were so grateful to have such a multi-purpose quirk. most of the time. other times you wished your parents had mixed up your genes a little more, as if they had a say in how you were built 🧍

nah bc. okok. you have a great quirk. it's very multi-use. you can shape shift into a catboy, or even a full on cat, a large one, and it makes stealth easier, provides great means of defense, the claws provide offense, amazing agility, and incredible balance.

but of course every quirk had its draw backs.

and yours was... well, you couldn't hide your transformation because

SPARKLE. FUCKING. HAVING TO TWIRL, DO A LITTLE LAD DANCE, AND HAVE SPARKLES GO ON AROUND YOUR FEET TO TRANSFORM FIXNDNS

it was great, truly, but it made the whole thing really embarrassing for you sometimes. in the heat of sudden battle, of course it was worth it. but in simple training? you made it a point to use the big bathroom stall before heading out.

that was until your class met the Wild, Wild Pussycats. youd known them beforehand already through some family connection,, and they very often encouraged you to embrace your quirk, but it wasn't until the training camp that'd gone sour that they basically forced you to embrace the anime girl power transition.

okay okay now into specifics

most of your class actually think you have a pretty cool quirk. some kind of wonder why such a "simple" quirk would be in class 1-a. it seemed more of a support quirk, not that anything was wrong with that, but it just confused them.

until they saw what you could do because kING-

YOUR CLAWS,, LIKE PURR, NO PUN INTENDED

you pack a mean scratch in your tranformed state, and your control over your tail on top of you incredibly enhanced hearing just makes you really really helpful in battle.

and outside of your transformed state, you're still very agile, have enhanced sense of smell, almost a 6th sense? of sensing wrong, and basically perfect balance. at least you always manage to land on your feet, even in your clumsiest of moments.

so you're a very strong hero, really, but... THE TRANSFORMATION NDNX

struggles not to stare and laugh a little everytime you transform but in an endearing way: denki, hagakure, mina

is mentally gassing you up 💅: aoyama, mina, momo, jirou, kirishima

stares @ you in a "what the fuck" way (not like "ew",, just always a little caught off guard): bakugou, shinsou, todoroki (he's not used to the glitter)

takes you 100% seriously: tsu, iida, koda, deku, ojiro, sato, sero, shoji, tokoyami, uraraka

BUT LIKE ANY OTHER ANIMAL QUIRK HEHEHEHE YES HERE COMES THE FLUFF AND CRACK

you're a catboy, ok? you need affection. but only on your terms, understood?

you get the urge out of nowhere to be around people. it doesn't matter if you're an introvert or extrovert normally, you need some sort of attention when that feline urge hits, ok? 😭 not overwhelming amounts of it, but just from one or two people that you're particularly close with.

and you happen to be particularly close with most people in your class.

koda knows what to do and doesn't make it a big deal because he gets it. he might be a little hesitant at first about it, just bc he's shy (i love this bb) but he's perfectly happy to let you lay down on the couch with your head touching his leg.

aoyama will pat your head and offer you cheese, sorry you can't change my mind. he doesn't confuse you for a rat or anything, he just doesn't much understand what to do other than hype you up so boom comfort cheese

mina loves platonic cuddles all times of the day, so they fs let you cuddle up to her and will give you head pats from time to time.

tsu probably isn't as comfortable? it's not about the trust between you two,, she will give you a head pat sometimes but not much else. is down to make a pillow fort w you and watch movies tho. this goes for hagakure, too.

katsuki... katsuki katsuki katsuki. 🧍 he will yell at you the first time,, but ends up feeling bad when you get all anxious and apologetic bc he was the only person available at the time. like you didn't wanna bother him and you felt so bad,, like you made him uncomfortable, so you didn't ask him again. but ome day,, eventually, he does come around and give you a head pat out of nowhere which makes you purr and wait, we're getting there-

iida and todoroki are p clueless. what the hell are they supposed to do? so you don't ask them. ever. but they don't mind having you around them, of course, though todoroki is still kind of awkward about it at first.

jirou and uraraka also enjoy platonic cuddles,, but not really as much as mina. these two will let you lean on them casually. sometimes you'll talk, other times you'll just chill, you know? it's nice :)

DENKI WILL NEVER PASS UP A CUDDLE OPPORTUNITY, OK??? he will cuddle w you and give your head pats and pets and oml they just aH yes.

kiri also enjoys cuddlesz he thinks they're vv manly! so yes, cuddles and also just spending time together. you will have your head on his lap and he will talk your ear off or let you talk his off

deku is v flustered at first. you kinda just went to him, sat on the floor next to him while he was studying in the dorm dining hall, and leaned your head on his leg (of course with a small pause to ask if it was ok). he ended up finding it p calming, though and he becomes one of your go-to ppl

ojirou, sato, and tokoyami p much all react the same. they don't mind having you around at all, but you don't ever ask for pats or cuddles and it's perfectly fine! but dark shadow will nuzzle you snd cuddle you sometimes,, can't change my mind-

SERO. my beloved. he will INITIATE platonic cuddles, do you understand? will pet and pat you,, sometimes even without thinking. you will lay your head on his lap while he plays nintendo switch.

momo. sigh... oh, momo 💕 she is not one for cuddles, but she will give you an occasional pat. and if you stim when anxious,, she will make you a lil kneeding toy thing to help you relax jfc i love her and you should, too-

and shinso? look, he's hesitant. but as your friendship grows, your trust does too, and it gets to a point where he'll initiate whether or not you need it (with consent, ofc!!). the pets take a little longer, but he loves cats and you're no exception :))

OKAY PURRING.

smiles a lil @ hearing you purr: aoyama, tusyu (these two always smilin 🧍), denki, kiri, deku, ojiro, jirou, momo

laughs a little endearingly: mina, sero, uraraka

thinks it's adorable (platonic still yall) but won't show it: katsuki, hagakure (sHE CANT BAHA-), iida, koda, mineta 🌈 (IM KIDDING), sato, shoji, todoroki, tokoyami, shinsou

purring can be kinda embarassing tbh. it's involuntary,, though you've been able to swallow them back or stifle them sometimes. it just makes you feel so weird? you've been picked on for it before so :(

you just don't wanna seem weak for it. you weren't, but those little bits and the tranformation stage made it really hard sometimes.

luckily, your class didn't hold back. they challenged you a lot. :))

and though sometimes you could be kinda snappy (as it was p much in your nature fr-)

you were their favorite catty companion