#actually something by alt-j fits better but this Is the song that’s on all three of my related writing playlists

[sforzesco]

I guess it's time to feel /something/ about Crassus asking Pompey to help him control the crowds so he could leave Rome to Parthia, essentially having Pompey walking Crassus to his death.

HELL YEAH @garland-on-thy-brow has an extremely fun post about this

[moonlit-imagines]

A Bug’s Life

Peter Parker x Lang!reader

warnings:

a/n: i love this concept and also anon u r sweet and i just found out theres a marvel supervillainess named dragonfly but since i havent heard of her until today im using that name!

prompt: anonymous: “Can you please write a Tom Holland!Peter Parker x Female!Reader where the reader is the older sister of Cassie Lang (Antman’s daughter) and her and Peter fall in love with each other. ✨ Thanks so much! 😘”

Okay, so when you were a kid, you had always dreamed of being a superhero. You never thought you’d know your idols personally, though. You see, when your dad, Scott Lang, came back from prison, a lot changed. Suddenly, he was a superhero and no matter how much he didn’t like it, you wanted to be apart of it.

“Y/N, no, please. You’re just a kid!” You dad argued with you in the presence of your “uncles.”

“Scotty, I think it’d be good for her, you know? Like, she’s so smart and she’s got a lot of talent! I think she could learn a thing or two from Hope and Dr. Pym, right?” Uncle Luis egged on.

“Yeah, dad! Me and Hope have already been experimenting with some stuff and, I mean, Mom’s been bugging me over getting into some extracurriculars...” You reasoned with him.

“Yeah, y/n, like photography club or soccer, not being a crime-fighting bug!” Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, but when he looked back up, you were giving him puppy eyes. “Don’t...don’t do that.”

“Please, dad? I just wanna follow in your footsteps. You’re my hero.” You pouted your lip and didn’t break eye contact with him until he let out a load groan.

“Your mom is going to kill me.” He mumbled while you celebrated with Luis.

You became known as Dragonfly, Ant-Man and Wasp’s sidekick partner. It wasn’t long before you were affiliated with the Avengers and other heroes from across the galaxy.

The first time you stepped foot into the Avengers Compound was unbelievable.

“If only I could tell eight-year-old me how cool she’d grow up to be...” You whispered as your dad led you through the place. You were specifically requested for recruitment following a backround check that proved that you were qualified to train as a junior scientist! The program had just been started thanks to the young Spider-Man, one of the many heroes you had met before and would actually get to know after today.

“Alright, kiddo, it’s not too late to back out.” Your dad told you.

“It’s gonna be fine, dad! You know you can visit me anytime and I’ll come to see you and Cassie every chance I can get.” You gave him a warm smile to let him know it’s alright.

“I know...I’m just gonna miss you, you know?” He shrugged, but before the conversation could continue, you were greeted by Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk.

“Welcome! Nice to see you again, Scott.” Bruce shook your dad’s hand, then turned to you. “And it’s wonderful to finally meet the girl behind the mask.” He shook your hand.

“Nice to meet you, too, Doctor Banner.” You fit your small hand into his abnormally large (and green) hand.

“I’ve heard great things about you, Y/N. I’m excited to see your talent up close.” Dr. Banner chuckled. “I told Peter to meet us here, he probably forgot.” He walked to the wall and pressed the speaker button to the intercom. “Peter, can you meet us at the South Entrance?”

Moments later, a teenage boy came barrelling towards the three of you.

“Sorry! Sorry I’m late.” He apologized profusely. You giggled at the disheveled appearance of him. His hair was sticking up in the back and his flannel was half-tucked into his pants. “I’m Peter!” He stuck his hand out for you to shake. “Peter Parker. Spider-Man.” You took his hand gladly and shook it.

“Y/N Lang. Dragonfly.” You introduced yourself. “It’s been a while since we’ve fought together.” You pointed out. “Maybe that’s a good thing.” Peter’s eyes furrowed at that comment. “You know, not fighting.” You added.

“Oh, yeah, definitely!” Peter agreed.

“So, let me guess: you overslept?” You referenced Peter’s bold look and he quickly fixed anything noticeably wrong to him. Bruce and your dad were just observing the chemistry between you and Peter, exchanging entertained glances.

“Hi! I’m y/n’s dad, Scott. Ant-Man.” Scott interrupted as he waved to Peter.

“Oh! I remember you. You got really big in Germany and I had to web your knees until you fell down.” Peter brought up old memories and you covered your mouth to stop from laughing.

“Yep! That’s me.” Scott eyes got slightly wider. “So, I really wish I could stay, but I have a meeting with a client tomorrow morning that I can’t miss. Alarm company doesn’t run itself, you know?” Silence. “Anyways, uh, y/n.” He motioned you a bit closer so you could say goodbye. He crouched down and grabbed both your shoulders. “I love you so much and I am super proud of you. This is an awesome opportunity, kiddo!”

“Yeah, I know.” You said in a sort of disappointed tone.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked.

“I’m just gonna miss you.” You frowned.

“Come here.” Your dad pulled you into a tight hug. “I’m gonna miss you, too.” The hug lasted at least sixty seconds before he pulled away and kissed your forehead. “Okay, now here’s your bag, go do some science!” He gave you your suitcase. “I love you, Pumkin.”

“Love you, too, dad.” You smiled, almost holding back tears. You really didn’t want to say goodbye to him, but it’s apart of life. Scott watched as you, Peter, and Banner walked down the halls of the Compound. Bruce and Peter were showing you your new room!

“What’s crime like on the West Coast?” Peter asked you. “I’ve only fought crime on the East Coast. And Europe. And Space.”

“Crime is the same coast to coast. It’s crime.” You shrugged.

“Well, that’s cool. Sorry, I’m not good at small talk.” He chuckled.

“Peter, you’ll be able to show y/n her room and give her a little tour, right?” Bruce asked as he slowed down.

“Yeah, no problem.” Peter nodded.

“Alright, great. I’ll be in the lab if anyone needs me.” Bruce walked away and left the two of you to it.

“Okie doke.” Peter clapped his hands together. “Well, this is the hallway.” Is exactly how he just began the tour. The Compound was actually, surprisingly, bigger than you expected. “And that’s the training room, there’s the kitchen, your room has it’s own bathroom, but there are other bathrooms all over the place. There’s a shopping list on the fridge if you ever have any requests, but fruit snacks are banned since I ate two full boxes in one day and threw up.” Peter gave that wonderful anecdote.

“Wow, that’s...impressive?” You tried to come up with something.

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘disgusting.’” Peter and you shared a laugh as you approached your new room. He opened the door up and you stepped into the biggest bedroom you’d ever seen. “It’s taken some getting used to, you know, the big room, the big bed, the huge bathroom, all of it.”

“This is amazing.” You mumbled.

“Yeah! And Bruce said we can go shopping and decorate the room any way you’d like. I just got my license, so I’d be cool with driving.” Peter proposed.

“Yeah, I think that’d be pretty cool.” You agreed as you threw your suitcase onto the bed and started unpacking. “Uh, I’m kind of hungry...know any places to eat around here?” You started putting shirts on hangers and filling up your huge closet. You noticed Peter hadn’t answered your question yet, so you turned around to see what he was stalling for. He was just watching you. “Am I really that interesting?” You joked.

“What?” Peter blinked. “Oh! Yeah, sorry, yeah, there’s a few places around that we can go to. Assuming you’d want my company, of course. It’s your choice, really.” Peter rambled and you approached him.

“Duh, I gotta get to know my housemate better!” You pulled Peter out of the room and in a random direction. “Am I going the right way to the garage?”

“No.” He answered and you quickly changed directions. You were oddly comfortable with Peter already, and he wasn’t exactly against it. You were super sweet to him and you two have a lot of shared experience. Teen heroes trying to make a difference. And bug-themed.

Peter drove you to his favorite (and closest) restaurant for dinner, and on the way, he played his music on the playlist. Left Hand Free by Alt-J played through the speakers as you sang along.

“You like this song?” He asked and you nodded without a pause in singing. “Good, so do I. You have a really good voice.” He complimented, which definitely made you blush.

“Thanks, now sing with me!” You nudged his arm leaning on the console and resumed your singing.

“I don’t really sing.” Peter chuckled and saw you roll your eyes, then sighed. “Fine. You win.” He began to join you in song.

Well your left hand’s free, and your right’s in grip. With another left hand watch his right hand slip towards his gun, woah woah woah...

“You’re not too bad, yourself, Peter.” You told him as he pulled into a parking spot at the restaurant. The two of you walked in together and the waitress immediately recognized Peter.

“Hey there, Peter! Good to see you!” She greeted and grabbed two menus. “I see you’ve brought a date.” She raised her eyebrows and smirked.

“Oh, uh, she’s not—” Peter stuttered before you took over.

“Yep, it’s our first date! I’m y/n.” You introduced yourself.

“Well, it’s nice to see him with someone. Follow me, you two.” She let you over to a table and told you she’d be back for drinks in a minute. As soon as she left, Peter turned to you.

“When were you going to tell me this was a date?” Peter cocked an eyebrow with a crooked smile to match it.

“I’m sorry! I hope it’s okay I told her that.” You innocently replied.

“It’s more than okay.” Peter leaned forward. “I’m happy to be your date. We are moving a bit fast, though.”

“Are you sure? This is actually pretty slow for people our age. By now, they’d probably be confessing their love for one another.” You joked and he rolled his eyes.

“You are so right!” He snorted. “Jeez, it’s been so long since I’ve talked to someone my own age!” He sighed. “What about you?”

“I hang out with adults all day long. The only kid I hang out with is my little sister. Do you have any siblings?” You asked him.

“Only child.” Peter answered. “What’s your sister’s name?”

“Cassie. She’s sweet but it’s kind of weird coming back after the Blip and seeing her all big and everything.” You made random hand gestures to demonstrate that she was bigger.

“I know, right! I have classmates that I saw as infants that are now bigger than me!” He explained. The waitress came back and got you your drinks and took each of your orders. Back to the chit-chat. “Okay, now tell me, what got you into the hero-game?”

“Okay, well, my dad had just gotten out of prison, right?” That sentence itself made Peter choke on his drink. “Oh, calm down, it was a non-violent offense. He actually exposed corruption, that’s why I look up to him.” You explained.

“That’s good, that’s good. I’m glad. Go on.” He took another sip from his drink.

“Yeah, so then he robbed Hank Pym, who actually wanted my dad to rob him, then a bunch of ants broke my dad out of jail after he got arrested again for stealing from Dr. Pym, then my dad became the new Ant-Man and took down some bad guys, his new girlfriend, Hope, who is Dr. Pym’s daughter, took a liking to me and started showing me the ropes, so me and my Uncle Luis convinced my dad to let me make my own suit. Then Dragonfly was born.” You explained in full detail. “What about you?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I got bit by a radioactive spider that was being experimented on in a lab, then I had a short-lived wrestling career, then my uncle who raised me died and I became Spider-Man.” He smiled and your jaw dropped.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” You asked.

“Oh, yeah, I’m good.” He admitted as you guys recieved your food. “So, anything else I should know about you?”

“I dunno.” You shrugged. “I like Star Wars.” You told him.

“Me too!” Peter exclaimed.

“No, you don’t. My dad told me Spider-Man called AT-AT’s ‘walking-thingies.’” You shook your head and laughed at the thought of that.

“Okay, so I’m not a huge fan, but our next date can be a Star Wars marathon?” Peter proposed.

“Yes!” You agreed a bit too enthusiastically. Peter smiled and the waitress brought an ice cream sundae with two spoons to the table.

“It’s on the house.” She told you two with a wink.

“Looks like we’re sharing.” You grabbed a spoon and got to work. Peter got chocolate all over his chin. He was kind of a messy eater. “You’ve got a little something...” You grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin clean.

“Thanks.” Peter picked his spoon up and moved it towards you. “Have you tried any of the brownie yet?” You took a bite of what he offered.

“Wow, that’s amazing.” You spoke through your mouthful.

“I hate to brag, but I make a pretty mean batch of brownies.” Peter bragged.

“You’re gonna have to prove it, Pete.” You wiped your face off and cleaned up your spot a bit. “You ready to get back to the Compound?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get going.” Peter left some cash on the table to pay the bill and walked you out to the car. The car ride back was filled with jokes and even more stories about your super-adventures. “So, you’re telling me that the first time you shrank, you cried?”

“Yes! Dude, it was an emotional experience. I’m telling you, I was not prepared for something so cool.” You defended yourself. “Now tell me something embarrassing about your powers.”

“I got stuck to a bathroom stall at school and they thought I was skipping class so they sent an aide and I was crying out of fear.” He admitted with pity in his voice.

“Oh, my god. That’s awful.” You giggled and grabbed his hand. “Have you recovered yet?”

“No, unfortunately not, but the handholding sure does help.” Peter squeezed your hand tighter.

“I’m glad.” You smugly replied and closed your eyes to listen to the music. You were kind of exhausted from traveling, so you knew you’d pass out the moment you hit your bed. Soon, you arrived at the Compound and Peter kissed your cheek to get you up.

“We’re hoooome.” He said in a singsong voice as your eyes fluttered open. “Sorry, that was weird.” He apologized, but you grabbed his face and pulled him in for a long kiss. More like a brief makeout, but potato, poe-tah-toe.

“You’re really cute, you know?”

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Texan-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and TikTok personality Allison Ponthier makes a splash with 'Cowboy' – it's the enthralling first taste of her upcoming EP. Finding a path away from her conservative upbringing, queer singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier is another artist making country music her own. Taking references from Kacey Musgraves and Orville Peck, Ponthier's take on the genre is high camp and features a kaleidoscopic visual world too. Growing a huge following on TikTok, 'Cowboy' marks the start of a whole new chapter for Ponthier with her debut release with Interscope and Polydor. The track itself references her move from the bible belt to New York City and her journey accepting her sexuality. Warm and inviting 'Cowboy' is cinematic pop with some real heart-on-sleeve confessional songwriting. Complete with a masterful music video that runs like a mini-movie complete with impressive special effects, on reflection, cinematic is an understatement. The video itself is a striking and exciting introduction to this new artist, “I probably watch movies more than I listen to music,” Ponthier says of the video. The clip, directed by Jordan Bahat (Christine and the Queens) adds a whole new cosmic energy to the track and aims to amplify the lyrics' detailed storytelling. As she unveils more of her forthcoming debut EP, Ponthier explains what we can expect from her; “a lot of my songs are about being uncomfortable in your own skin but getting to know yourself better, figuring out who you really are.” [via the Line Of Best Fit]

Miley Cyrus has shared the full video for 'Angels Like You'. The pop rebel returned in 2020 with her excellent album Plastic Hearts, a series of superb empowerment anthems. Album highlight 'Angels Like You' has received the video treatment, shot at the Superbowl in front of an audience of fully vaccinated healthcare workers. Miley has also provided a note for the video describing her feelings of gratitude to these workers. [via Clash]

LA punk four-piece The Paranoyds have dropped a new video for track 'Egg Salad', taken from their album Carnage Bargain which is out now on Suicide Squeeze. The video's director Nicole Stunwyck comments "The video presents the glitzy & glamorous world of a teenage girl who, after accidentally catching a beauty pageant on TV, dreams of her rise to stardom & subsequent downfall... It’s not a commentary on anything but an experimental depiction of my own personal fascination for young tragic starlets alà Valley of The Dolls."

Noga Erez and collaborative partner ROUSSO have shared a fifth compelling new single from forthcoming album KIDS which is set for release on March 26 via City Slang. 'Story' is a snappy, addictive song about how couples relationships are always a relationship between two people’s past and present. "Everyone brings their past experiences to the relationship even if things are great" Erez comments. "Sometimes past situations come in and take over." As with the album's previous singles 'Story' is brought to life with a captivating video, starring Erez and ROUSSO, who also provides vocals on the track. "ROUSSO is my partner in music as well as my partner in life" she explains. "This is the first time we tell a story about our relationship in a song and video. It’s a song about a couple fighting and how, in that situation, sometimes what you hear the other person say is not what they actually said. The making of this video was a 10-day couples therapy session for us. As we rehearsed the pretend fighting and martial arts moves we knew that, at times, one of us would get punched just a little too hard. It was so intense and interesting to live in this world, where our relationship comes alive in the most physical way."

After announcing Detritus with lead outing 'Stories' last month, Sarah Neufeld has unveiled the album's second single 'With Love and Blindness'. Neufeld says of the song and Jason Last-directed video, "The video for 'With Love and Blindness' came together through a long-time collaboration between myself and videographer Jason Last. I knew that Jason and I would work together again on some visual aspect for my third solo release, and it so happened that before I even began recording the album, we were presented with the opportunity to do a mini residence on Corsica with Providenza; an amazing collective with a farm, cultural laboratory, festival and residency program." She continues, "I was doing a short solo tour in Europe in the summer of 2019 in order to re-work some of the pieces from the dance collaboration to begin to find a shape for the album that was to be recorded in the Fall. In the middle of that tour, Jason and I travelled to Corsica for several days (graced once again with a suitcase containing Esteban Cortazar’s unique and beautiful creations). Besides performing in Providenza’s outdoor amphitheater, we were immersed in nature, literally staying in a treehouse perched on the side of a mountain, overlooking the dramatic coastline." Neufeld adds, "I found that the pulse of the landscape resonated with the essence of the music, especially "With Love and Blindness"; a sense of rawness, of sensuality, of a strange gravity intensified by the hypnotic summer heat and the general otherworldliness of the place." [via the Line Of Best Fit]

Molly Burman was brought up around music. At every family event, every party, the soundtrack would resonate with her, providing an education in itself. Both parents were gigging musicians, and she always wanted to follow in their footsteps, to use performance as a means of self-expression. Lockdown brought the time and space to bring these ideas into focus, and she's working to unveil a series of one off singles. Her debut single proper 'Fool Me With Flattery' is out now, a blissfully melodic piece of indie pop with some whip-smart lyricism. There's a tongue in cheek element to her sound that is fantastically endearing, matched by the subtle lo-fi elements of her bedroom pop confection. She comments: "I wrote the song after a long day of feeling overlooked and ignored by some of the guys in my life. I was fed up, angry and used the stereotype of a mansplaining misogynist to let it all out. This song is for anyone who feels belittled and like they’re being made to shrink themselves; be as big as you possibly can, and don’t let anyone fool you with flattery." The video is a hilarious showcase for Molly's offbeat sense of humour. [via Clash]

Punk provocateurs Pussy Riot have unveiled their latest song 'Panic Attack', as well as a music video that features a hologram of singer Nadya Tolokonnikova. This is the final release from Pussy Riot’s new Panic Attack EP, a collection of three linked songs that, for now, can only be streamed as separate singles. The title track features punk guitars underneath a tinkling music box melody, as Tolokonnikova turns anxiety into a sports cheer. “Gimme an A,” she says, “Gimme a T/ Gimme a T/ Gimme an A/ Gimme a C/ Gimme a K/ Okay? Okay.” While upbeat and seemingly cheerful, the synth-punk song comes out of the trauma she experienced in a Russian prison camp. As she explained in a statement, “After serving 2 years in a labor camp, I’m still struggling with mental health issues. Trauma, fear and insecurity never fully go away, causing depression episodes and deep anxiety. ‘PANIC ATTACK’ was born as the result of me staring at the wall for 24 hours in the middle of the pandemic, feeling 100% helpless. I was trying to write something uplifting to encourage people to get through the tough times. But I was just failing and failing. Magically, at the second I allowed myself to be honest and write about despair I was experiencing, I wrote the track in like a half an hour. Depression is a plague of the 21st century, and it tells me that there’s something broken in the way we treat each other. The video ‘PANIC ATTACK’ reflects on objectification of human beings, loneliness, disconnection from the environment that causes us to feel small and powerless. And it’s us who caused it with our own hands – that’s why in the end of the video I’m fighting with my own clone.” The music video for 'Panic Attack' was directed by  Asad J. Malik. He used 106 cameras to capture all angles of Tolokonnikova, then converted that information into a photoreal hologram. Afterwards, Tokyo-based creative technologist Ruben Fro built out landscapes reminiscent of video games through which the virtual Tolokonnikova could frolic. But as the visuals progress, those idyllic settings give way to a hellscape, and the singer faces off against a clone of herself. [via Consequence of Sound]

The wait is finally over. BLACKPINK’s Rosé shines like the star she is with her official solo debut. On Friday, she released two solo songs on her debut single album titled R, 'On the Ground' and 'Gone.' With its deep lyrics, angelic bridge, and Rosé’s high note at the end, 'On the Ground' is an exemplary song for her solo debut. Add the fact that Rosé is credited as a writer for the song, and one can really tell how much time she spent perfecting it for release. The accompanying music video, meanwhile, expands the story of life and growth. Rosé starts off looking lost and trying to find herself amidst all the wildness of life; she eventually encounters past and present versions of herself while searching for answers and purpose. By the end, she finds herself and her path forward, and one can’t help but smile as she sings an explosive outro. [via Teen Vogue]

On Ellise's latest alt-pop concoction the rising pop star gets gothic as 'Feeling Something Bad...' transforms a crush into an obsession. An expert at catastrophising everyday experiences, the LA-based artist has arrived fully formed with not only a consistent and cohesive sound but a striking visual identity too. That's even more clear when you press play on the accompanying video for her latest infectiously catchy track. With the clip directed by Joakim Carlsson we get to see Ellise in her absolute element as she brings "Feeling Something Bad..." to life in a macabre world of its own. “I just love dramatising little everyday feelings in life, so this is my big dramatic ‘I have a crush on you’ song,” Ellise explains – it's a song she wrote about a boy she barely knew. [via the Line Of Best Fit]

With President Biden determined to get the majority of American adults vaccinated by summer, bands are earnestly beginning to look forward to the return of live music. Purity Ring are the latest to announce 2021 tour dates, which they’ve shared alongside the video for their track 'sinew'. The song comes from WOMB, the synth-pop duo’s first album in five years that was released just before the pandemic struck. Directed by Toby Stretch, the clip brings back the abstract graphics and costumes that featured in the 'stardew' music video, continuing the enigmatic story of the domed bicyclist and their sun-headed sidecar companion. [via Consequence of Sound]

Australian Pop Princess, Peach PRC releases the official music video for her debut single 'Josh'. Peach PRC comments on the official 'Josh' visuals, “The music video was inspired by growing up watching the same five infomercials, morning news channels and old movies on my little pink box tv when I was a kid and couldn’t sleep on a school night. The idea was to have “josh” feel just as harassed the more he tries to call. Every creative step along the way was entirely my vision, from writing the music video script, to the lyrics and everything in between. I’m so happy and hope all the girls, gays and theys who dated “josh” will sing along.”

[nyadversary]

30 questions meme thingie... tagged by @autumnalserenade sort of ehehehe

(1.) name / nickname:

kester / kes

(2.) gender:

oh haha no thank you :)

sometimes i think about how im both a transgender bisexual and a bigender transsexual and how thats so epic of me

(3.) star sign:

aries but i think astrology is stoopid i don’t like it. watch as that turns out to be an aries stereotype or something though

(4.) height:

5′9

(5.) time:

6:37 am EST

(6.) birthday:

04/17

(7.) favorite bands/groups:

oh fuck i’m definitely going to forget something important but

mother mother, metric, the decemberists, alt-j, echo & the bunnymen, x, pixies, hole, nirvana, clipping., my chemical romance, blondie, mindless self indulgence, studio killers

(8.) favorite solo artist:

again i’m definitely gonna forget someone important here

emilie autumn, amanda palmer, fiona apple, patti smith, marina & the diamonds, yungblud, poppy, slayyyter, hozier, mika

(9.) song stuck in my head:

i’m so sorry to have to say this but. dr3 despair arc ending theme

(10.) last movie:

genuinely no idea. i try not to watch movies if i can help it

(11.) last show:

it was either hannibal or better call saul, i don’t remember which of those i watched most recently

(12.) when did i create this blog:

sometime in late 2019, i think? don’t remember exactly. i know i announced i remade in early 2020, but i’d been active on this blog for maybe about six months beforehand

(13.) what do i post:

all kinds of stupid and gay shit

(14.) last thing googled:

“in a world where clowns are real” (i was trying to find a particular tumblr post)

(15.) other blogs:

@catboyebooks (liveblogging; we’re playing dr1 right now) @sexytesting (portal sideblog)

also. i did hoard a url the other day to use as like, a danganronpa sideblog maybe? so i don’t have to be unhinged on main maybe? so i can turn search engine indexing off and hide from the fandom at large maybe? it will probably be like some percentage shitposting some percentage sloppily written meta posts i don’t really know. might drop the url if i do anything with it

(16.) do i get asks:

not often, but from time to time! i think most of my followers are mutuals so when we talk it’s mostly through DMs or something rather than asks

(17.) why did i choose this url:

no deep reasons, it’s just nya + adversary although my lovely mutual litzo junkheaded did point out it could be read as “NY adversary” which also fits, i like that too

(18.) following:

92. i’ve never been one to follow a lot of blogs, as long as my dash isn’t super slow i prefer to keep my following count low — i think most of the blogs i follow are mutuals actually

(19.) followers:

116. again i think the majority of these i’m in mutuals with

(20.) average hours of sleep:

i have bipolar disorder so no

(21.) lucky number:

1, 4, 9, 11, 17, 55, 69 (nice), 93, 95, 101, 417, 420 (nice), 428, 666 (nice), 4673

(22.) instruments:

i’m mainly a singer but i used to play fiddle (would like to pick it up again sometime), i know some very rudimentary piano/keyboard (i can do basic chords), i’m trying to learn ukulele and i’d also like to try learning guitar

also my school did force us to play the recorder but we got sort of hardcore with it, broke out the alto/tenor/bass recorders and all that. i used to play alto and tenor mainly but i’ve played like every type of recorder probably lmao

(23.) what am i wearing:

shrieking shack t-shirt with a really deep fried image of harry holding dead dobby on it

black and white checkered pants

boxered shorts

(24.) dream job:

i don’t dream about having jobs simply <3

but no ideally i wind up being some sort of author i guess?

(25.) dream trip:

anywhere. ahaha. let me out <3

(26.) favorite food:

some favorites no order: soft pretzels, like all pasta but my fave is tortellini, virtually all seafood honestly but especially crab, mussels, salmon, and anchovies, udon, ramen but not instant ramen i’ve had enough of that for one lifetime probably but will continue to eat it bc money, cheesecake, pizza but specifically like really good italian style pizza (new york style is also pretty good), garlic bread, really anything with garlic, salty foods in general

(27.) nationality:

american 😔

in terms of more specific cultural background, just for funsies: mom’s side is irish catholic mainly, her dad’s family is from county tipperary, i’m 3rd gen. she grew up on staten island and most of her family lives (or did live) in the tristate area. dad’s side is scots-irish with left welsh and has been here a while, since i think the mid or late 1600s? my paternal grandparents ended up settling and raising their family in socal (san diego) but both their families are from the southern appalachian region (grandfather on that side grew up in rural northern alabama, F to pay respects, and i don’t remember specifically about my grandmother)

(28.) favorite song:

i cannot pick. uh. the most played song in my itunes library is infinitesimal by mother mother, so, whatever that says about me

(29.) last book read:

does... does the komaeda manga count

(30.) three fictional universes you’d like to live in:

Three??? most of the fictional universes i like / am invested in are horrible nightmare realms. the only one i can think of that seems like an overall good time is pokemon and i don’t think i need to explain why that would whip ass

i tag: the girl reading this <3 or, like, whoever, you can do this if you want and say i tagged you, no obligation

[dropsofandromeda]

1-30 for the identity ask or is that too many?

Not too many :)

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to? Honestly there’s so many that I could list but I’ll settle for this: read Kurt Vonnegut, The Book Thief, Terry Pratchett, watch Star Trek, Mad Men, and Bones, and listen to Lana Del Rey and alt-J (this list is so short and I had a mega hard time picking it)

2. have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who? No idea. There’s lots of writers that I *like* but idk if that means they think like me...

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with. Oh man you’re gonna out me like that? I have too many to name. I guess rn I’ll say Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Edmund Pevensie (Narnia), Temperence Brennan (Bones), uhhhh idk I have so many things I’m a fan of (also fun fact I don’t like the word “fandom”)

4. do you like your name? is there another name you think would fit you better? I guess I’ve never really thought about it. I like the name Emily but it seems so “me” that it kind of bores me now, especially since so many people have my name. I have a lot of names that I like for girls but I think I’ll just save them for when I have kids

5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do? sorry what? This question confuses me...but I guess I’d say I identify as a “human being” since there’s much more to a person than what they do

6. are you religious/spiritual? Yes. I was baptized as a Methodist but my family never went to church growing up, so I’m kind of figuring out the whole Christianity thing on my own as of late

7. do you care about your ethnicity? Why you gotta make it about race? To answer, it’s not really my ~identity~ to be white, but I do care about my family’s history and such, so I guess so?

8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime? In no particular order: Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears, Marina & The Diamonds, The Oh Hellos. There’s more but I would say these stand out

9. are you an artist? Not a particularly good one, but yeah. In terms of being creative, I do a lot of creative things, but I’d say I’m more of a writer than an artist

10. do you have a creed? This makes it seem like I’m part of some secret organization. Basically, it’s just “always treat others with respect, do what you can to help people.”

11. describe your ideal day. Wake up around 7-8, naturally, with no alarm. Lounge around with my dogs for most of the morning, maybe read a bit or watch some TV. Spend some time outside. Bake something warm, share it with the family. Talk to my friends, physically or digitally. Cuddle with my dogs in the evening with some hot chocolate, watch a movie or some television. Homework and other daunting tasks wouldn’t be in my mind at all because in my ideal day, they wouldn’t exist.

12. dog person or cat person? I hate this question because I’ve known lovely dogs and lovely cats so saying I only like one or the other seems wrong. But, I do own two dogs, and I love them with all of my heart, so I guess that makes me a dog person.

13. inside or outdoors? Both places are wonderful. I love the outdoors, but I also love being indoors. Whether I’m happy in a place often depends on what’s going on around me, and who’s with me, I guess.

14. are you a musician? Only in the shower.

15. five most influential books over your lifetime. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

16. if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same? Absolutely not. I think about this constantly. If I’d grown up in a different household, I’d probably be way more outgoing than I actually am. Nothing against my parents, I just wasn’t really socialized as much as other people my age. I might have the same interests and stuff, but that’s about it

17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”? Since I don’t really write my own posts on it, only partially. But a lot of my interests that my IRL friends wouldn’t care about are on here. It’s a pretty good representation of my sense of humor and my interests

18. what’s your patronus? I think it was a fox or something I don’t really remember

19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle? I think I’m more Hufflepuff, but the test I just took said Ravenclaw

20. would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else? Narnia!!!

21. do you love easily? Too easily, maybe. I tend to only spend my time with people I adore, everyone else is kind of just an “acquaintance” or someone I tolerate. Life’s a lot happier that way. But anyway, I find it easy to love the people around me, so yeah.

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order. Sleeping (though I am an early riser), being on my phone, playing with my dogs, homework, and...reading? I guess? I don’t really have a good gauge of how much time I spend doing things

23. how often would you want to see your family every year? All day every day baby, I’m a family kind of gal

24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone? Yeah. With my best friends, I often feel like that

25. could you live as a hermit? I think I could do it, but I don’t know if I’d be happy. I’m an introvert, but you can only go so long without getting human interaction before you start to go insane.

26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality? Straight

27. do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”? I’ve been told I look younger than I am, so I guess so. I’m 19 but I feel like I’m younger than my peers. As for my looks, I’ve never been crazy about them, but I’m learning to just accept what I have and realize that if people are going to judge a person’s character entirely based on things they can’t change about themselves, I don’t need to listen to a word they say.

28. on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin? I guess pretty easily, but I don’t show it. I’m pretty patient with other people, since I assume they’re doing the best they can.

29. three songs that you connect with right now. Karma (Marina), Swan Song (Lana Del Rey), Float (The Neighbourhood)

30. pick one of your favorite quotes. “One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one’s capacity.” Renoir

Sorry it took me all day to answer this, I’ve been pretty busy lately. Also sorry for how long winded all of my answers were :)

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Small World: Abra-Disaster” (Part 1)

Written by: Haley Mancini, Jake Goldman

Written & Storyboarded by: John West, Angela Zhang

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

Like this reboot was a world of laughter before...

This special begins with Penguin Pete's, complete with their theme song: "Penguin Pete's, Penguin Pete's, yum yum yum yum yum." It's certainly no Cookie Cat jingle. This special will really focus on each of their personalities, at least early on, and this starts right from the beginning in this scene.

Buttercup has a brownie chocolate fudge that is so extreme, it's banned in six countries. Blossom, on the other hand, has gelato made of wheatgrass and soy. Because only nerds would want to be healthy. Bubbles has all 42 flavors, because, fitting to her character in more than the ways that they intended, she couldn't decide on which one to get.

However, this all gets interrupted by a bunch of minor villains starting crime. The Gnat is also swatting some poor sap with a giant fly swatter. And all of this is happening at the same time.

When the original Puffs had to do something like this, it ended with them getting exhausted to the point where they had to consider creating another sister. The Reboot Puffs can barely take on one crime at a time, so I highly doubt they're just going to beat up all of these villains and then eat their ice cream.

Except, that’s exactly what they do in this episode! In fact, they don’t even let go of their ice cream while they’re easily trouncing these villains. They even beat up some villains that didn't make it into that intro, like Pot-Head, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and even the Amoeba Boys.

Discount Jojo shows up with his Baggy Jeans Bot. Apparently, he's very conscious about being with the latest trends in fashion when he's committing his crimes. He even confirms to some random hipster passing by that it is acid-washed. With real acid, as he almost douses that hipster with it from a hose. At least it's because Jojo missed, and we can't use this as proof that the regular Townsville population have better reaction time than the Reboot Puffs.

With this powerful jeans robot that seems to fit the Fashionistas more than him, nobody can stop Jojo now...

...until Blossom pops him right in the kisser. Another big surprise: we actually see Blossom punch Jojo in the face without a hit flash! They just bash him left and right. Bubbles even takes over the jeans robot, and kicks his butt with its giant butt.

Unfortunately, before the Powerpuff Girls can punch him repeatedly and take him to jail just like the old days, with Buttercup even threatening to actually "lock him up for good", he suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke. The Powerpuff Girls say "huh" at this, but don't seem to pay it any mind. After all, maybe they were just so strong that Jojo ran out of HP!

However, that turns out to not be the case, as we see where Discount Jojo ended up. He has a decent theory just after waking up in this overly fancy place.

Discount Jojo: Oh no! Those Powerpuffs punched Mojo so hard, he landed in another dimension!

Didn't think this reboot would steal from the old Dragon Ball Z dub. Discount Jojo does seem like an infinite loser to me. No, not really, as the owner of this "another dimension" turns out to be a villain of legend! The Archduke of Anarchy! The King of Coiffures!

Lester Van Luster!

Don't worry if you never heard of him before, because it turns out this is his first appearance. However, we're supposed to see this guy as this legendary villain who managed to shrink the Eiffel Tower. I think this guy is supposed to be like some sort of Siegfried and Roy parody, but he looks more like some overly sugary cupcake to me. A Cupcake Shrinky Boy, if you will. I wish I came up with that.

But none of that matters to Discount Jojo, who is this guy's biggest fan. He kept a scrapbook of him, and even asks him to sign his brain when he shows off the shrunken Eiffel Tower. Yeah, in a way far too similar to Gru from Dispicable Me, this guy's gimmick is that he likes to shrink things.

Would the real Mojo Jojo look up to anyone, never mind someone like Cupcake Shrinky Boy here? Even this Jojo was angry over someone being better than him in previous episodes, but now we're supposed to believe he's a total fangirl of someone who we never seen before. That's one of the many reasons why we call him Discount.

Speaking of Not So Secret Service, the Powerpuff Girls are celebrating their victory by playing another violent fighting game. The Professor's strategy from keeping them from those has been replacing One Must Fall 2041 with Brutal: Paws of Fury. Nobody would want to play a fighting game ever again after playing that, but sadly for him, it didn't work.

As they're beating each other up in the game, they talk about how everything is just so easy for them. I understand that it was a general problem that the Reboot Puffs get beaten up, but this is really overcompensating that. In other episodes, they could get beaten by glitter, the Dewey Decimal System, and air, but not this time. Here, they can beat anyone, anywhere...

Bubbles: ...with any hair!

Ah, a running gag that even the other characters are annoyed by, as Buttercup tells her to stop doing that the very first time she does it. This running gag is supposed to be bad, guys! Laugh!

This episode goes in the complete opposite direction of most reboot episodes, which usually sees the Powerpuff Girls getting defeated rather easily so someone else can save them. It does not even try to ease us into it. Do not give us 90+ episodes of Monster Punch, Girls Down, and then tell us “these girls are invincible! Anytime, anywhere, any hair!”

Suddenly, their video game gets interrupted with a message from Discount Jojo. How did he get on the moon? How can he breathe in space without any kind of space suit? How did he hijack a video game like it was a late night Doctor Who rerun? He'll give us the answer in just a minute!

Blossom is, of course, worried. Via a bunch of stock images with some decent amount of work to make them a little more animated. Bubbles adds that if the moon blows up, the cow wouldn't have anything to jump over!

Cow: (scare chord) Mooooo!

Yes, that's a cow. The reboot needed to let us know what a cow is, just in case we didn't know. They were even helpful enough to make it moo. Who said this show wasn't educational for your toddler?

Much like the last beatings they dished out, they’re not even going to focus 100% of their energy on beating him. They bring their video game with them, which manages to still work even though there’s no electricity around. Maybe this is one of their other rare superpowers: the ability to give out electricity to video game consoles.

While speculating on how many seconds it would take to take Jojo down for what is supposed to be the umpteenth time, they’re suddenly whacked in the face with a magician's top hat. Discount Jojo the Not-So-Magnificent shows his face to these Puny-Puffs, and Blossom can't help but point out something I already pointed out.

Blossom: Hey, how can you even breathe in space?

Discount Jojo: MAGIC!

Oh, hush, Discount. Even Buttercup calls this a lame excuse. They rush in, and I'm sure they're going to beat this monkey up again and finish their video game just like they said they would do.

Magic Punch, Girls Down, womp womp. In several different "magic" ways, too. He's really taking his new gimmicks very seriously. He uses playing cards to stick Bubbles to a rock. He bashes down Blossom and Buttercup with a hammer after doing a disappearing trick. Bubbles then gets distracted by the classic "pulling a rabbit out of a hat" trick. Despite what Rocky says, that trick may work after all! The last one's a bit slow, but the others are okay.

It seems like it's another "Powerpuff Girls get beaten up until some magic being shows up to save them in the end" scene. Thankfully, that doesn't happen, as they do manage to get up and do a few parlor tricks of their own. Just like a certain episode of the original, really.

Specifically, Abra-Cadaver. It is one of the episodes they definitely have seen, since they referenced it in Memory Lane of Pain. In that episode, Abra-Cadaver, not Memory Lane of Pain, a magician is thwarted by the Powerpuff Girls learning a few magic tricks of their own. That's essentially what they do here, even combining it with their own aura powers for good measure. Fighting fire with fire, and there's some good gags here, too.

It all ends with Blossom doing a grand finale: putting him in a coffin. Thankfully for Jojo, Blossom decided not to use an iron maiden this time. Jojo gets put in iron chains instead. Probably not as strong as ordinary rope, but that probably terrifies them.

But, uh oh, they spent all of this time beating up Jojo the Not-So-Magnificent, they forgot all about the bomb! The Powerpuff Girls decide to stay in one place and do a big no, knowing that even if they tried, they would just fail anyway.

How do they manage to get rid of this bomb without making that poor cow angry? Turns out, they didn't need to, in a twist that even I couldn't expect. If you read this far, I'm sorry to say I do not do the ellipsis any more because I now assume you read these after you watch the episode. Right?

The bomb "explodes", with confetti and a big sign that says "BOOM". The bomb turned out to be a fake, and it was all just a distraction; an "opening act" for the real act. Besides, with his brains, Discount Jojo knows the dangers of blowing up the moon. I mean, what would the cow jump over?

Cow: (scare chord) Mooooo!

Just in case you missed it, kids. This is a cow. She goes "moo". He then uses his magic hat to show a projection of said "real act": Sparkly Sprinkles is about to do his biggest magic trick yet from his sky-high Secret Lair. Pretty sure you can't really be that secret if you're up in the sky, but that's beyond the point.

Blossom gets a call from the Mayor on her smartphone, which apparently gets really good reception on the moon. She hears the Mayor is adoring this big shiny light in the sky that is getting ever so closer. They fly all the way down to the place they called home for so long, only to find that...

Blossom: It's...it's gone.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Wow. I mean, that's actually a very powerful end for this first part. No unneeded random quips, no farting, no fancy dream catchers, just "oops, Townsville's now a giant crater, and it's all our fault!" It made me anxious to see the next part, and that is something I didn't expect.

Does this part’s title fit?

Yeah, this is the one that really plays up the magic angle.

How does this part stack up?

The “we’re invincible” gag got really old, especially considering this reboot tends to go against that far too often for me to take that seriously. That’s really the only problem with this particular part. The whole special has its own issues, which I’ll detail when I’m done with this.

Some decent magic trick jokes, some good cameos in the beginning, and an ending that actually hooks you in for the rest of the special. All in all, a pretty good opener.

With a relatively good opener, it could only go downhill from here, right? See you tomorrow for Part 2.

← Salamander ☆ Small World: Stone Cold Spider (Part 2) →

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

What's your favorite and least favorite persona battle theme?

Only including Mainline Persona games and their remakes and PQ. Not including Fighting/Dance games, the anime/movies, or P5′s DLC (I’ll have you know that I have the dancing one equip tho, both cause I like Anne and MC’s costumes and cause I like the song, even if that version of the song is slow to the hook).

Side note: these are listed mostly in order of series rather than which I like most of the favs, cause it really depends on the mood a lot of the songs are really good but have their own feel so depending on the situation I might want to listen to one instead of the other.

Regular battle theme:

Fav: Mass Destruction (any ver), Wiping All Out, and Reach Out To The Truth (I like how both P3′s are just “we’re gonna annihilate them” and we do and fits the mood of exploring a kill or be killed dungeon, and I like how P4 sticks to its theme)

Least Fav: Time to Make History.....sigh.....do I really have to explain it?

Side note: Both ver Light the Fire Up in the Night get honorable mention (I prefer the female singer on the P4 ver and the rapping on the P3 ver tho). I like Last Surprise a lot, but the hook comes in too late for me. And not a fan of Life Will Change, well like...I’m not a fan of how it overrides LS or any DLC song, LWC gets you pumped but....eh.....only really pumps me up for some of the bosses (1, 6, and maybe 7) the rest I feel like I’m going through the motions and rather have a different song.

Boss Battle (regular/bonus/special bosses) Theme:

Fav: Knights of the Holy Lance (any ver), Additional Boss Battle (P2EP PSP), Danger Zone, I’ll Face Myself, Disturbances - The One Called from Beyond 

Least Fav: Will Power and Blooming Villain

Side note: “what no rivers in the desert?!” I do like that one, but tbh it feels like they overused it....esp since it was supposed to be a one boss battle song?? AND NOT the final boss????(kinda restarting each phase with Shido, and then again for the Holy Grail....like? Really? Couldn’t give the Holy Grail it’s own theme? Well I shouldn’t be surprised since you shoved Beneath the Mask down my throat with it’s overplay so whatever >.>)

Final Boss battle Theme:

Fav: Burn My Dread -last battle-, The Genesis, The Infinite. (BMD-lb- is a great call back to the OP, Genesis has the despair that wears you down and then that uplifting melody with the orchestra oh my god so beautiful, and then Infinite iirc had a nice melody that rang a similar tune to P3 and P4). 

Least Fav: Both phases of Jaldabaoth, yes even the uplifting phase 2 portion, (never liked P5′s melody, at least I think that’s what it was in phase 2, cause tbh....it’s....not the most consistent melody nor is it very good imo). But I like the 2nd phase more than the 1st. 

I just.....really hate P5′s OST ok? I hate it’s melody (tbh I feel like it has like.....more than one melody, but they’re pretty forgettable regardless), all the slow acid jazz all sounds the same, even some of the rock boss battles do too. P5 has the most tracks to work with, it has twice or three times as P3/4 had, and yet it still sounds like they’re only using 2/3 songs all the time. And I know all those tracks didn’t go to the dungeons, and it’s not like they’re all really good on their own (Sae’s is the only one that really stands out and felt like there was effort put into it, the rest feel like general dungeon music), and this also doesn’t include Mementos (which is a whole other just....god what were they thinking). Say what you want about Tartarus and the TV World. Sure they might not have all been amazing, but Tartarus at least slowly evolved as you went up (and if you didn’t care then ask Fuuka to change the tunes then), and the TV World were all different from each other, might’ve only been one song but they were all different and all planted themselves firmly into my brain. Yeah Palaces were all different from each other, but tbh I barely recall when they changed songs within the dungeon, and the Mementos had one freaking song and didn’t even evolve like Tartarus did (Mementos is a poor man’s Tartarus fight me).

 Like....P3/4 had a lot of variety in their OSTs, to say one is only j-rap and the other is only j-pop is doing both P3/4 a disservice. Both have pop, both have rock, P4′s rocking that violin, P3′s I think rocking a synthesizer and rap, both have sad tracks that make you feel sad in different ways (P3′s “Living with Determination” is sad but is still oddly hopeful it’s almost bittersweet....it really feels like someone who is experiencing something bad and is willing to keep going with their sheer determination, while P4′s “Reverie” not only lives up to it’s musical piece’s name’s definition, being dreamlike, it also sounds like the embodiment of it’s other definition which is someone who is lost in thought/daydream....a really sad daydream but it just hits you, it feels like someone who experiencing depression and is trying to remember the happy times before breaking down. P5′s alleycat tho? Sounds like someone who is just licking their wounds, not in a sad sense, just “wow this is pitiful” on top of the fact it kinda sounds like a P4 reject song....I feel no sadness or sympathy when I hear Alleycat). Both had ominous songs for their own game. P4 also actually sounded like a detective show. 

The only thing I could think about for P3/4 is that, sometimes they didn’t.....really fit the scene (mostly happened with P3 from what I remember). Like sometimes Living with Determination is great for a lot of the sad scenes, but sometimes Reverie would’ve fit better (or vice versa). Or like iirc P3′s one scene with Star the MC gets a phone call with Mamoru saying “Yo man my mom collapsed” or something, and the happy event song is still....just playing, instead of a an intense or worried or sad song (which P4 would do). XP Or like when you max out your female love interests on the male side of P3, the dorm or hangout song is playing instead of a.....more tender song choice (and I checked Tender Feelings isn’t on the male side in P3P). I mean, FeMC only changed 6-8 songs from Minato (like 2 battle songs, and 4 after school songs, with maybe 2 more school related songs), the rest of her OST is exactly the same as Minato’s....with the exception of one song. They ADDED one more song to her list and it was Tender Feelings and, it was used for....you know....tender moments, and boy did it help with the atmosphere. Just one song helped P3. And so....P3/4′s issue isn’t that it doesn’t have variety, it HAS variety, but a few extra alt songs would still work/help it out but they do pretty good for having less. P5 however, has so many songs but even less variety which....boggles my mind. 

Another thing, not a point against P5 just....something I find that’s really strong in P3/4, is that P3/4′s melodies are so iconic and.....memorable, and they way they’re used.....I just find P3/4 are the kings of nostalgia. There’s just something about their songs that invoke nostalgia even if it’s not one that has one of those melody influences. Their call back game is amazing. 

(Also I know Iwai and Tae’s store songs are pretty good and different but they’re wasted as store songs in all honesty, and Encounter Lovers is great but it’s used like once which is a shame....and ngl it Encounter song like if P4′s Corner of Memories, P3′s Because I will Protect you, and Catherine’s OST had a baby....which I’m fine with). 

Sorry for the rant, felt like I needed to explain at least partially why I didn’t like P5′s OST. It’s not that “I don’t like Jazz” I do, but I don’t like how P5 songs like only one half-hearted Jazz song (and the other time a rock song). P3/4 have had jazz or jazz influences in their OST, and I do like Jazz in general....but P5 doesn’t sound like it’s playing Jazz, it’s just one song over and over for me. 

I know I talked about P3-5, but what about P1/2 (I know I did mention a few in the boss battle portion)? I either like it or I’m neutral. A lot of songs I’m neutral on tbh, they fit but they aren’t earworms to me (a lot of P3/4′s special boss themes are like this for me). Only P5 do I get annoyed tbh. 

[house-for-musicians-blog]

RAW HOUSE #4: Timothy Charles - In the Middle of the Picture

“Raw House” is a series of interviews exploring, discovering and presenting new and unknown artist on the Bandcamp platform. Each interview is an insight and deep-dive into one particular artist chosen randomly though the selection of members of the House for /Mu/sicians Facebook group. Consider joining if you’re an artist yourself! Enjoy this interview!

Plenty of singer-songwriters appear on the Bandcamp scene, almost too many in fact. The number of which doesn't create anything specific, interesting or engaging in any way, shape or form. So it's always pleasant to find musicians in this field doing something new and fresh, creating their alternative soundscapes and shaping their inner identity with their music. One of them being Perth-based Timothy Charles. In this Raw House installment we'll explore his life, creative process, (fanatic?) love for Radiohead and garage delay, track by track.

Listen while reading to the Timothy’s first EP entitled „Anchor” 

Anchor EP by Timothy Charles

I. “SEND THEM HOME, THEY’VE NO BUSINESS BEING HAPPY”

RAW HOUSE: You've released „Anchor EP” early December 2016. Now was this your first ever project? How did you come to start your own music project? Was it hard for you?

TIMOTHY: Yes, that was my first ever project - it actually features the first song I ever 'put to tape', though I mean it was digital because I'm not clever enough to use tape. I'd been messing around for a while and “Relief Anecdotal”, the first track, was pastiched together from samples of vocals and guitars I had recorded earlier, all very late at night. It only took about two days. The other songs took similar amounts of time - the recording mostly consisted of happy accidents, with the production being the most difficult part, mostly because I had no clue what I was doing. So yeah, it was difficult, even if I kinda fluked my way through some of it. I was still in school at the time and I actually came to start the project because I'd never had a microphone to record with before (besides my iPod/iPhone) and with the one I borrowed from the media room I was free to record.

RAW HOUSE: This release starts out with a very beautiful „Relief Anecdotal” track which presents your music very well. We have baritone voice, a very mellow sound, darkness which is visible on the cover art. What would you say are your inspirations? What shaped your sound?

TIMOTHY: Thank you for the kind words. Around the time that I came up with Relief I was basically completely submerged in a Radiohead obsession, and, in some way, the way that they play around with dissonance and jazz chords influenced the guitar and the ambiance (actually the very slowed sounds of the lights flickering at my local library) that comes in at the halfway point, definitely influenced me. I was (and still am) very into Alt-J, particularly into their use of bass synths, which is what made me want to include one for the climax of my own song. As well as this, my sound was shaped by my limited knowledge of production, recording, and my own voice - at that point, vocally, I honestly struggled to hold a note, and only had limited instrumentation, so I supposed I modeled my sound around that subconsciously.

RAW HOUSE:  Now „Queer” is really short but it tells a lot, especially telling of your sexuality. Now it's no surprise for me that you're gay and that lead me to some thoughts regarding the place that you live. Is it hard to be of the different sexual interests in the place where you are right now? Why do you find the topic of different sexualities worth exploring?

TIMOTHY:  „Queer” is actually interesting in that it wasn't consciously about homsexuality at all. Growing up I read a lot of Enid Blyton, a British author, who used the word queer in a more old-fashioned sense to mean „strange”. I had recently come out of a relationship with a girl at that point (I'm actually bisexual, but effectively gay right now but same difference) and Queer captured more a sense of a very sudden change about to occur than LGBT issues. I do think that LGBT issues are important, though, as, often, the romantic aspects of them aren't often addressed in music - like, „I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry isn't exactly romantic, it's entirely physical. I believe that making music about the loving, pure side of homosexual relationships is important in helping normalize it. So, on that note, the single I released called 5:AM is actually a love song to my boyfriend, and I have several other songs on the topic in the works. And to answer your question on the difficulty of it... it's not easy. But I just feel lucky not to be in Russia or other such places right now. My heart goes out to the people being effected there.

RAW HOUSE: „Mistakes” is a track which really got me hooked to your stuff and I can't really tell you why. It feels sparse yet that looseness feels like a part of a deeper concepts, especially through the incorporation of the lyrics on this track. How does your lyrical process starts? Do you only take themes from your personal experiences?

TIMOTHY: Oh yeah, definitely. „Mistakes” was written, entirely while I was still in my last relationship. That relationship went very, very sour, and for a long time it contributed to a sort of dark cloud over my life. The idea of mistakes being made for me in heaven is a reference to the biblical idea of original sin - you are predestined to be impure and imperfect and make mistakes. From my viewpoint, though, I think that in retrospect I felt trapped and so that I felt that I had no choice but to stay in the situation and live out the mistakes that had been predestined for me. That track definitely took the most planning, lyrically and musically - the outro actually came to me when I was asleep, chord names and all, and the rest of the track was built around that.

RAW HOUSE: „Iconoclast” feels eerie. The baroque voice and pretty much this dire emptiness pulls a lot of connections towards religion, especially those of the Abrahamic religions. What's your stance on the religion itself, from your experience? Is that iconoclastic view point a part of your life?

TIMOTHY: „Iconoclast” is very much about religion, good call. It also ties into LGBT issues a bit, but not really in an obvious way. The use of the word 'iconoclast' is a double meaning because it has two rough meanings. One of these is 'a person who attacks or criticizes cherished beliefs or institutions.' In this case, this is me - I am criticizing the bigoted nature of the Christian church. The other meaning of the word is 'a destroyer of religious images.' This is the church's perception of me - that I am doing something wrong. This is reinforced by the line 'send them home, they've no business being happy', which is how it seems like religious organisations feel about LGBT people most of the time. This one was also recorded in my garage on my iPod using the natural reverb there, which is... nifty.

RAW HOUSE: Nifty, you say? Are you a fan of recording music in a very specific environments to fit the sound you're trying to show or is it just a good lack on your part?

TIMOTHY: I think that it fit for that track - I'd like to go some other places for natural reverb, but background noise is a factor - Iconoclast is only two minutes long but birds singing, sticks hitting the roof and cars driving past can all be heard. It adds a nice effect, sort of a song about society occurring in a space noticeably affected by suburban life, but it wouldn't work for all of my tracks. Since Christmas I've gotten an SM57, which I cherish, and though I plan on getting into some grittier sounds in the near-ish future, I feel like the microphone and a controlled indoor environment will take precedence.

RAW HOUSE: „5​:​AM” was a very weird track, released in early February this year. It has some of that Bon Iver vibe to it and yet it feels very similar to stuff presented on „Anchor EP”. How do feel you want to expand your music horizons with your music?

TIMOTHY: „5​:​AM” is very close to my heart - it's the only real straight up love song I've recorded, and, yes, I was going through a big Bon Iver phase when I made that so the influence is pretty obvious in the auto-tune and vocal layering and stuff. That's another track I put together on my iPod, actually - there's an app called 'multi track song recorder' which allows you to record up to 4 tracks, and email them to yourself. So, I recorded a guitar track, mostly improvised, and then three voice tracks, the lyrics completely improvised minus the main line, 'dissociating at 5 in the morning in my arms, singing All I Need.' All I Need is my favorite song of all time, from Radiohead's In Rainbows. The funny thing is my future music isn't likely to sound much like this - I mean, I have better equipment now - but the vocal artifacting was actually used so that I could hide the lyrical content from my family, with whom I share my music. I am not openly gay to my extended family, and by muffling my pronunciation I felt safe releasing the song.

RAW HOUSE: What I've also see is a very big contrast between the covers. On one we have a very futuristic-esque vision – colorful lights, the distinct numbers on the cover itself, reminds me of cyberpunk a bit – while on the other we have a very green-ish landscape, with sea-like elements to it. How important for you are the covers that you include with your releases? How do you decide which art comes onto the cover?

TIMOTHY: Both of those images were actually taken by myself, on my phone, which has a camera that isn't fantastic, and edited by my friend Daniel, who has a god eye for these things, with input from me. I am VERY visual when it comes to music - sometimes I can't listen to an album if I really don't like the art, and it can change how I perceive the music. So, I try and match the music to the colors I see while listening to it. The „Anchor EP”'s photo was taken at the end of a jetty in a place called Busselton, in an underwater observatory where tourists can look out eight metres below the surface through thick glass at the life under the jetty. This sort of mixture of pressure, darkness and life - and the sort of symbolic weight of the anchor, feeling 'anchored' to my last relationship, etc., matched the mood of the EP. „5​:​AM”'s cover was a happy accident, as most of the songs I have released so far were (this is changing in my future work - I have been poring over everything, I'm going mad) It's actually a picture of my boyfriend happily running across a lit-up bridge that we were walking across. I thought that the colorfulness matched the romantic aspect and the gay theme, with the lighting matching the 'futuristic' element implied by the auto-tune and synthesizer use.

RAW HOUSE: Your music, so far, is very much made in the mindset of a singer-songwriter, as far as I can see. I mean, we have a guy singing and playing tunes on his guitar – pretty basic stuff it seems. But how did you decided this stylistic to be your way into the music? Why do you find yourself using eeriness, sadness, scarcity within your music?

TIMOTHY: I feel like a lot of the scarcity has come from my lack of resources - all I owned musically at the time of making „Anchor EP” and „5​:​AM” was a cheap classical guitar and an Epiphone electric, a Vox practice amp, and two effects pedals. The Radiohead influence, too, probably influenced that - they made me realize that if a song is any good, it doesn't have to be blown up and have a lot going on at once - bare bones, if they're good bones (weird metaphor there) can be just as good as a very complex track. The eeriness/sadness aspect was most likely influenced by the mental state I was in at the time and my attempts to make my music atmospheric. I think atmosphere is very important. I essentially tried to communicate a feeling in each song and for the most part those feelings weren't positive.

II. THE MUSIC OF LOVE

RAW HOUSE: I've heard you were planning to release more music soon. Could you give us a hint of what's going to come out from you in the near future?

TIMOTHY: Well, that's... there's a lot. I've had a lot of songs sort of rotating in my head for the better part of a year and a half. Most of these were conceived around the time that „Mistakes” was. Every song that I'm working on now, I am trying to pour myself into - I spend about a solid week working on one recently. Soon I plan to release an EP called „Worth Your Salt?" which will have three songs - one, called „Love I Swear It”, is a choir-y acoustic guitar song about coming out of the other side of a terrible relationship. The second song, „Ctmt”, or „Catamite”, is about how the sexualisation of gay couples is contributing to them being killed - I listened to Boards of Canada and James Blake a lot before making this. There are de-tuned vocal samples and it's mostly in falsetto, which is new for me. I wanted to communicate in a sort of less stereotypically masculine way. „Love I Swear It” and „Ctmt” are completely recorded, and mostly mixed. The final song, „He/His/Hymn”, is another love song, and is intended to be a solo acoustic piano and voice piece with no vocal overdubs. Of course, I haven't recorded that song yet and I'm already thinking into the future - I have a lot of older songs planned, arranging them in my head. They're much more rhythmic and openly political in nature, featuring more distorted guitar tones and more aggressive vocals.

RAW HOUSE: How do you feel it will differ from your previous releases?

TIMOTHY: I think it differs mostly in that it's... better. I've become a considerably better singer since I made the „Anchor EP” - my vocal range has increased and I've gained some control of my falsetto range (though it isn't incredible.) My production skills have increased, I would think, and, unlike „Anchor EP” and „5​:​AM”, which were happy accidents for the most part, I am poring over each track here until I can get it as close to perfect as possible.

RAW HOUSE: Why do you think the previous stuff were a "happy accidents"?

TIMOTHY: I don't think that I had the technical ability in performance or production to create something solid purposefully, if I'm being honest. I was working from the ground up trying to figure out how to make things sound alright, let alone how I wanted them, so it was more a series of experiments where the successes were kept, rather than pre-planned ideas.

RAW HOUSE: But you don't necessary feel like they were failures in general?

TIMOTHY: No, I don't think that they were failures. I am proud of the songs on that EP, and I am proud of „5​:​AM”. I just think that they won't really ever match up musically to what I plan to create in the future. And that's probably a good thing - I never want what I've made in the past to be as good as what I'm making now, I want to constantly improve.

RAW HOUSE: Has Perth been good for you as an artist so far?

TIMOTHY: Yes and no - it's been difficult to find other musicians to play with, for a start - i did about a month ago, but I doubt that'll happen again. That's led me to plan out my next work (AFTER what I'm soon releasing) to use drum samples and pitched-down guitar so that I can emulate a full band. I'm going to take this on on my own. However, I have been given good opportunities to play - I have only ever played one live set, of two songs (Mistakes and Love I Swear It) in late February, as part of a monthly experimental music show in my town. The experimental music scene and general local live music scene is very vibrant here and it is very positive.

RAW HOUSE: What are you listening to right now? What would you personally recommend?

TIMOTHY: Lately I've been listening to a lot of Boards of Canada, particularly „Geogaddi” - „Dawn Chorus” is an amazing song. As well as that, „Flim” by Aphex Twin. On the flipside I've also been really getting into The Strokes, which is, I think, influencing the slightly harder-edged approach i want to take in the near future - balancing the atmosphere I want and a rougher sound is something I think about quite often.

RAW HOUSE: Since you’ve started your project a few months ago – what do you feel you need to improve from your output? What are the things that you feel would make your releases even more enjoyable?

TIMOTHY: I think my production still needs to improve, and I feel that my voice still needs to improve - I hold a lot of tension in my throat, maybe cause I'm kind of anxious all the time, and this stops me from hitting higher notes easily, especially in chest voice. I wish I could pay fora singing teacher, but i recently fucked up my car and have to pay for repairs for that... But anyway. Yes. I think that better vocals and production would help. As well as this, I feel that I need to spend more time poring over the lyrical content - „Mistakes” is fun to sing because I know the words have meaning. For songs like „Queer”, it's still fun, but more vague. Honestly Hozier is one of my lyrical inspirations - the images he conjures up are very vivid.

RAW HOUSE: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

TIMOTHY: That's a tough one. What I want to be is a touring musician in a band, performing and recording songs that make people think and feel and shit, with my boyfriend coming along with me as I tour, not having to have a day job. What's more likely is me working as a primary teacher for lowish pay, living in a cheap apartment with my boyfriend, with us both working full time. I know what I'd prefer, so I'm trying to work hard at it.

RAW HOUSE: Finally - what’s in store for Timothy in the not too distant future? What should people expect from you after „Worth Your Salt?” is out ?

TIMOTHY: After „Worth Your Salt?” I'm hopefully going to advertise that a bit, maybe pay for my Facebook page to spread some awareness. I'm making a music video for Love I Swear It right now, composed of old royalty-free video clips stuck together to roughly fit the narrative of the song. I'm hoping that this will garner some interest in my music before my next release, which will probably be a full-length. As well as this, I'm flexing my experimental side a bit with Polish musician Epiglottis, so I'm excited to see how that turns out as well. I'm hoping to get a solid band together, also.

Interview conducted on 15st of April, 2017 For more Timothy’s music go to: https://tcharles.bandcamp.com/