#also the last audio bit i kept it in there. it has the same vibe of hawke stepped in the poopy

[voiceemporium]

Lucanis Dellamorte in Dragon Age Veilguard voiced by Zach Mendez

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Digging thru ur blog to reach this response because I forgot I sent oops (I passed by a lot of pokemon though??? Omg pokemon revival on tumblr time??? The impact of pursuit…..)

Anyways I’m FINALLY FULLY BACK TO CHRONICALLY ONLINE but FR get used to the fame it only goes up from here you’re about to become a household name for karasu nation being perceived truly is so weird though but as a proud miraverse citizen (??) I love seeing you in the tags of stuff or mentioned because I’m like “YOOO I KNOW HER YEAH SHES FAMOUS GO READ” anyways

OOOH ok duly noted I’ll listen to it every time you change it LMAO

NIKO AS THE TICKET SELLER SOOOOO REAL im crying Niko is too hilarious it’s amazing how I’ve actually grown fond of him (in an oaeu way) via our chats the emo haircut is perfect for scaring the shit out of Karasu OAEU FOR LIFEEE it’s everywhere and adds that dash of humor and goofiness for a perfect world building balance

Oh yeah!! They named them in the first volume too iirc they left them out in this volume of the egoist bible which is why I was shocked to find they didn’t bother naming ANYONE NEW HSHDJDOSKA atp with kaneshiro stalking you Karasu’s sister WILL be yayoi also I love the name akane for chigiris sister….(also yes the red thing is correct!!) something about it feels so strong like vibe wise it’s giving girlboss

NO FR they popped off with the Reo animation (where was karasus moment…) also PLEASE the old people cafes im crying maybe you’ll find one of their grandsons soon….

FRRR kaneshiro reveal yourself right now….i urge you to take notes from our convos too can i make a wishlist and slap it here to get kaneshiro to see it

I swear i press on one once daily and I don’t even realize it until im thrown out of the app and into my browser like ok you did not need to do that let me scroll in peace….

OH YEAH I SAW CLIPS def a lot better than the end clip of s1!!! Actually pretty happy with it i agree im not the biggest fan of otoyas though but on that note im begging you to listen to hioris because I got flooded with it and I can’t with the accent this isn’t even because I generally like him as a character the accent has me ROLLING (also to note his va is deku/midoriya from mha im sure you’ve seen his face before so I’ll let you process that….and Karasu being bakugo too has me crying like this cast)

But ALL GOOD tbh even if you sent doubles I’ll enjoy it just the same because I’ll see it again and be like “omg I forgot about this glorious edit thank you Mira”

OMGGG THE DUB VOICE EDIT?? Side note I actually love the diva audio they used all the edits that use it SLAP also at least otoyas sound effect sounds really funny LMFAOOO

I SAW THIS ONE BUT FRRR ugh his voice there >>>>> I love Karasu thank you blue lock

IM CRYING I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT MEME AUDIO ITS SO FUNNY I was lowk trying to think about who in bllk but YUKI AND TABIEITA SO REAL

LMAOAAO the timing is perfect yes Isagi get your fish lens face out of the way I’ve had enough of you

Why would you send me itoshism content…but that account put too much effort into that edit omg…

Omg nagi truly majestic….im really glad we got some good nagi content in his interactions with yuki last ep it’s been awhile!!!

UGHH FR nagi scoring the first goal of u20 was insane work someone get this man a new motivator he was unstoppable then

Wait unrelated but the subtitle for this one saying Liam when it’s supposed to be Rin had me laughing so hard also the way the dub actors say their names also always has me laughing a bit I feel like it’d sound more natural if they just kept it localized to the eng pronunciation but I admire their attempt at keeping it #authentic LMAOOO also wait why did I think nagi was bald when he turned into a puzzle piece LMFAOOO

THE ACCOUNT BEING AIKUS SOCKS LFMSOSODOSHAIAPAOAO IM CRYING ALL THE PEOPLE WITH INSANE NAMES ARE ALWAYS AIKU FANS I SWEAR but I have in fact not seen this one!!!! KARASUUUUUUUU I need more Karasu scenes asap lowk a little worried cause he doesn’t get that much spotlight in the u20 despite being top 3 (still gets more than yuki and otoya though) im still never getting over how the whole top6 thing kinda just went out the window but WHATEVER (kaneshiro if you’re reading…) if only fwtkac Karasu bfb Karasu pursuit Karasu oaeu Karasu existed irl man

KARASUUUUU x2 I love this man also PLEASEEE NOT THE FANON SHIDOU EX FRIEND REFERENCE it’s so funny how that’s become her little nickname now wait YOU WERE AN EDITOR??? Time to get back on that grind…/j LMAOA the fear of being outed to irls is so valid too ok but also so real for the ldr though I used to listen to her more but at some point just kinda stopped for idk why maybe I should go on a binge listen session

MEEE also the way I alr knew the audio from that line before I even pressed play LMAOO Karasu what a magnificent man someone get me a Karasu right now

Ok pause I can’t even lie you truly put me on the Barou agenda I appreciated him as a character before but now (esp after that one edit you showed me) plus that one convo we had about the snow shoveling idea and also oaeu Barou…..Barou <3333 anyways

TW KAISER LMFAOOOO this better not get my fyp on the Kaiser algorithm /j ok that edit was a little too good to be a Kaiser edit can this account swerve to Karasu next wtf

OTOYA AND THE PITBULL AUDIO otoya just serving s2 era is truly otoyas era he’s thriving now

IVE SEEN THESE the way they’re drawing it fully traditionally too with a pencil is insane I can’t imagine how long that takes!!! “Hey god it’s me again” PLEASEEE THIS COMMENT HAS ME HOWLING so real

The caption on this last one might be me also this audio too…karasu the loml…ok that was a great scrolling tiktok session I NEEDED THAT TY

- Karasu anon

LMAOOO lowkey i figured you did but i needed you to watch the tik toks so i had to remind you rq LSKFJHSD anyways yeah i think all of the pokémon is my mutual suo he’s been going through some of the games and updating me as he does!! truly we began a pokémon renaissance on here though

OMG YAYYY I’M GLAD YOU’RE BACK I MISSED HAVING OUR DAILY CONVOS even though now i’m the one taking a sec to respond but that’s temporary trust i will be back to the typical crazy response time by like sunday at the latest LMAOOO omg yeah it’s so weird when i see people actually reading my work on here…in a sense i’m used to it?? before i deleted everything off of wattpad one of my aot fics was at like 200k reads and pomegranate ink was at like 80-90k or something so this isn’t like the FIRST time i’ve had large amounts of people reading my stuff but for some reason maybe because the bllk fandom is smaller it feels more intimate when people recommend my work 😭 whereas with like pomegranate ink for example i was literally just one of the first people to write a yuta x reader EVER and definitely the first/only one to write something that long for him (if you go on ao3 and go in the jjk manga fandom, filter by works tagged as “reader-insert”, and sort by word count, pomegranate ink is like ninth or tenth and it’s def the first that isn’t for gojo or nanami LMAOAOA) so it makes sense that it gets recommended a lot (i think it’s at almost 30k reads on ao3?? and same with my one aot fic which isn’t a lot by wattpad standards but is by ao3 standards i think)

AHAHAH you’ll have to lmk what you think every time i change it…sometimes i put songs that are just relatable to me personally and sometimes they’re songs that fit the dynamic of a fic i’m thinking of (feels like we only go backwards isn’t a particular fic but it’s somehow very karasu coded to me idk why)

I LOVE OAEU NIKO HE’S THE GOAT FR he’s sooo funny omg him selling tickets with his emo haircut and scaring the shit out of karasu cracks me up especially because he wouldn’t even be trying to do so…omg oaeu fr makes every au sm more elevated they even pulled up in the one kaiser fic (well only niko but aiku was probably there too in the background somewhere) and added more angst and drama like they are my go to side characters atp

LMAOAOAO if we ever find out that her name is fr yayoi or otoya’s younger sister is seiko i’m taking that as my final proof that he’s onto me SKDFJHSD and yeah i really like akane for her!! i wanted a name that didn’t end with “i” because it would feel too staccato with her last name being chigiri but many feminine names in japanese tend to end with “i” i think?? and i wanted something with either a prominent “a” or “o” sound because of hyoma…akane has the “a” while following a diff structure than hyoma’s name so it flows well with his name without sounding too similar!! plus i feel like it’s such a manga thing to name your characters and then base their design on it kinda like how karasu has the crow vibe going on (i’m sure there’s more examples but i can’t think of any off the top of my head it’s def a popular thing) so her name being based on the word for red and her having red hair (maybe her hair is more red than pink like chigiri’s too??) makes sense in my mind LKSDHFSDK okay another akane chigiri is another established certified miraverse canon fact now we just have to have her cameo in something…maybe her and yayoi can be besties they’re probably around the same age (at least in the miraverse they are because in bfb yayoi and reader are two years older than karasu?? and if chigiri’s sister is 21 rn and karasu is 18, then yayoi would be 20 so depending on the cutoff of their birthdays and whatnot they could even be in the same grade)

LKDSJFHLSDK that’s so real i need to become besties with all of the elderly people so they can enter their aiku eras and set me up with their grandchildren…HAHA i know kaneshiro is out there somewhere he’s been too inspired by me especially lately it’s uncanny

HIORI’S ACCENT CRACKS ME UP especially because aren’t he and karasu supposed to have the same accent lowkey?? i don’t know enough about the region to say for sure but if so why is it only hiori who’s been texas-ified (not that i’m complaining LKDHFSLK I WOULD’VE CRIED IF THEY GAVE THAT ACCENT TO KARASU TOO)

I LOVE THE DIVA AUDIO but yeahhhh omg karasu’s dub is so good this season like i went on an entire rant in the ask before this describing why i like it sm but ugh it’s truly amazing def one of my favs besides shidou’s (his fits him really well imo), barou’s (also fits SUPER well and sounds rlly good), and anri’s (i love how much stronger and more confident the dub makes her sound compared to the sub)

LMAOOO just smth about the way he’s like “go look in a mirror 😒” is sooo attractive and also the way he’s not afraid to sass shidou despite seeing him try to beat the shit out of rin mere minutes earlier SLDKFHSHJD shidou do everyone a favor and get in a fight with karasu so we can see him sweaty and with messy hair…bonus points if you somehow manage to rip his shirt off or smth…haha…shidou please…

wait speaking of which i forgot we get the scene of them in the locker room during the u20 match where they’re all shirtless and there’s that panel of karasu smirking deviously and high fiving otoya or smth LET’S GOOO SHIRTLESS KARASU THEY BETTER NOT FUMBLE (they probably won’t for some reason 8bit always goes insane with the shirtless scenes)

HAHAHA IT’S LITERALLY YUKIMIYA AFTER SECOND SELECTION bro got a new partner and IMMEDIATELY dipped omg i have a meme idea for this i’m going to post it after i finish responding to asks

FACTS ISAGI GET OUT OF HERE bro isagi fans are so funny they always get so pressed defending him like i’m sorry not everyone likes your fav??? TRY LIKING NAGI IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE 😭 i think the most unproblematic fans by far are the barou fans because barou himself is such an elite pick…like yeah they may be a bit cocky at times but it’s DESERVED like barou truly IS that guy almost every other character has kinda annoying fanbases 😩

THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING like the rin editors always put their hearts and SOULS into those edits there are sooo many good ones i need the nagi editors to get on that type of timing because in terms of season 1 clips nagi and rin are about equal and i think team z vs team v is probably peak blue lock animation so there’s definitely enough material to edit nagi like that (PLUS the epinagi movie…come on now y’all) okay wait also something that cracks me up is that in the first popularity nagi won second and rin got sixth or smth (presumably because he was still a newer character atp) how times have changed…😓💔

HELP NOT BALD NAGI the thought is cursed…ngl sometimes i try to imagine my favs when they’re older grandpa vibes and idt any of them could pull off the bald look KSLJDHF KARASU AND BAROU WOULD LOOK RIDICULOUS i think reo could pull it off maybe?? and yukimiya but idk about anyone else 😭

LMAOOO PLEASE IT TRULY IS ALWAYS THE AIKU FANS they’re the next generation of toji fans who are the next generation of levi/chrollo stans SKDJFHS but yesss KARASU i was talking to jeirin (also maybe you in the other ask i don’t even remember) and i really do think karasu otoya and yuki are giving baddie of the week vibes rn (both in terms of being opponents and also baddies because they’re hot) like as soon as the u20 game starts everyone is going to jump to aiku and sae then once we get to nel it’s going to be kaiser and the master strikers (probably also barou and nagi in their respective matches) so this really is the peak of it i think…sigh…i’ll still be here though

i was in fact an editor i have lived many lives LSKDJFH but yeah i am so scared of being outed to irls so i had to delete especially since tik tok is such an OPP like it’s always sending your business to everyone else and suggesting accounts and stuff HAHA anyways yess i think my favorite ldr songs (in no specific order) are california, white mustang, ultraviolence, chemtrails over the country club, sad girl, pretty when you cry, black beauty, swan song, did you know there’s a tunnel under ocean blvd, venice bitch (also taco truck x vb which is basically a remix of venice bitch), tomorrow never came, summer bummer, and honestly way more but those are a few i can think of off the top of my head!!

barou <333 i never talk about him but he’s so beloved and dear to me he just has the misfortune of being third to nagi and karasu

WASN’T IT LOWKEY FIRE come onnn if we can make these kind of edits for KAISER (who’s manga only) WHY CAN’T WE GET THIS KIND OF HEAT FOR KARASU AND YUKIMIYA????

YAYYY HAPPY TO PROVIDE trust i will always be ready with edits to send SDKJHFS like at the SLIGHTEST provocation i’ll send you 50 /hj

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Fall for Him by Andie Burke

3/5. Releases (in audio) 9/3/24.

The Vibes: dislike for Secret Reasons, family baggage, and serious home renos

Heat Index: 6/10

The Basics:

Derek Chang and Dylan Gallagher have disliked each other from the start. Or rather, Derek has disliked Dylan and Dylan has responded in kind. But when Dylan falls through the floor and into Derek's bed, they're thrown together in a big way. Dylan wants to fix the damage himself—and Derek wants to avoid being caught with the dog he's really not supposed to have there (thanks to a breed ban). So... they're stuck in the same one-bedroom apartment for now. And can't seem to keep their eyes off each other.

The Review:

This was going super well for me in a lot of ways. I really love the premise, the meet cute is adorable, Dylan and Derek have great chemistry off the bat, and I appreciate their respective backstories receiving an equal amount of attention. Something I critiqued regarding Burke's last book, Fly with Me, was the fact that the story felt like it belonged significantly more to one heroine than the other. Here, we got POVs from Dylan and Derek, and they came to the table with their own baggage.

Derek is dealing with the long ago death of his father and the impact it still has, having been thrown into this "man of the house" role far too young. Especially with regards to his freewheeling younger sister, as we discover. Although I have some mixed feelings about how this ended up coming to a head, I really appreciated Derek as a character. He was my favorite of the two, and I totally got where he came from, even if he didn't always make the best choices. He was refreshingly real in that sense.

There was a point towards the end wherein I kind of felt like... a lot of things got pushed onto Derek in a way that he didn't really deserve? And it felt like the story wanted me to agree that this was an important part of his development, he deserved this critique, so on. I just wasn't really there. Team Derek.

Dylan, on the other hand, has ADHD and sort of... struggles to be taken seriously by his family. Which was really touching to me, as someone who received an ADHD diagnosis not super long ago. While I wasn't as drawn in to Dylan, I still liked him, wanted to read more about him, appreciated his bond with Derek. Did it sometimes feel like Derek had to step up to the plate for Dylan when Dylan kind of should have taken care of his own shit as an adult? Yeah, at points. But that could be my own inherent oldest sibling energy coming into play.

There were some pacing issues, for sure. While I liked that these two started falling for each other fairly quickly, we kind of went from "was physically into" to "using pet names" a bit too son. It's not that we needed to brake on the physical intimacy—the emotional component was where I got confused.

More troubling for me was a scene in which a neighbor calls the cops on Derek and Dylan. This... was handled in a way I found really tone deaf. Jokes about cops dunking on a wrongful call just don't play correctly to me—not when people die due to how poorly cops handle wrongful calls. And this whole time, the cops are being antagonized by Dylan's sister (who I just didn't like—she took up way too much space in general). It just left a bad taste in my mouth.

So while this was in some ways a step forward from Fly with Me, the issues just made it less enjoyable for me overall.

The Sex:

I did love the sex in this one! It's not a super sex-heavy book, but you get several good scenes, including a particularly excellent incident with knee pads. I mean, they're renovating a house, right? I also really liked the discussion surrounding why one character could be more hesitant about sex.

That said... we taper off left in the middle of a major scene, and I didn't love that. FINISH HIM!

Fall for Him had a strong start, and I wish it didn't have the problems that kept it from hitting the finish line in the same shape. There is a lot of good stuff here. But the flaws are pretty distracting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[castle-dominion]

c3x20 a slice of death

I love this episode already. I've worked in family owned diners with rivalries, I love stories about italian new yorkers & I've definitely seen goncharov (tho that also had russian mafia).

Poor alexis, that is humiliating! This is so sad! Who has a live band playing? She's 17 cool. She was 15 in s1e1 & she's 17 near the end of s3. Cool

I love all the nicks & their names this is the life. It reminds me of that steven universe episode with the fry shop & pizza shop.

Not super funny, either of you. Nick Jr. Uh, authentic, not terrific. I love the new york pizza scene & how everyone knows who is whom but it's so confusing & I loved this episode so much when I first watched it

Oh but I kept her number! I don't think there's going to be a second date. So new york. So italian. This Is The Best Episode Ever. Exactly! Who wrote this episode??? It is amazing!

Maybe they did get it from a medical school, you don't know beckett!

They used the same audio already. I mean it's not a big deal.

Costumes: Rick: brown coat (gasp browncoat?) & violet/blue shirt Ryan: tbh he looks like he did in s1 a bit. idk why. So what looks like an aviator jacket, nice dark brown, leather looking, has the fuzz in the hood/collar, no lapels, dark brown tie, actually a good brown, & a plaid-type dress shirt (purple, maybe another shade of purple idk, probs black & white in there too, maybe grey & blue & pink... idk I'm not good with this... I think it's brown actually) Espt: Leather jacket & normal collared shirt underneath. It's like, safari style almost. Collared so it is fancy enough for work, but the put-together of the blocks is odd. Beckett: Detective coat. (double breasted light grey trench coat looking thing)

Castle: We should talk to the other Nicks. Ryan: He's right. Pizza is serious business in this town. (Remember that mafia family who used the pizza shop as a front but then became legitimate bc the pizza was so good?) Beckett: Ok you can talk to them. Ryan: wait; Me? no; why? (why is he upset at this...? I'm also rly sad castle didn't go with him)

Pottery kiln? Like Joy from the The Cat Who series! She made red ceramics & when I say she MADE red ceramics...

RM: I heard you found a body in the oven at terrific nick's KB: Authentic nick's RM: OH THANK GOD, the wife loves terrific nick's lmao full bodied flavour (btw yes I do indeed love his jacket)

Castle that's a heck of a leap & the audio reflecting the mood XD Gordon BURNS??? b'y the pic would have also been melted.

Oh. Poor man. Hugs to him. Oh not the pizza wars XD.

Terrific, authentic, & otherwise.

Sounds like u'r talking from experience espt. Did you survive firefights with gangbangers & then got killed doing a speeding ticket? & then came back to life to join homicide so u could investigat ur own death?

Nice handkerchief, murdoch vibes. KB: U ok? RC: Yeah no yeah... I wonder if he ever did that with alexis, had her colouring while he was signing books. Espt had that much information thrown at him in that short amount of time he was gone? Poor ryan, exiled to work talking to all the other nicks, & then exiled again to work computer stuff Wrong nick bro XD I thought he meant nick jr.

Hold the extra cheese wasn't funny.

Oh def steal the oven. Ah yes italian new york mobster money laundering in a pizza place? So the captions are willing to put nada in the captions here but put "speaking spanish" last episode when esposito said it? Seriously? Seriously?? You couldn't write "nada"? Like at this point it's a loanword & everyone knows what it means, but even so you should still write down everything that is said. Not translated, not "speaking [language]" but the actual words.

Like how he says "luds" for L.U.D.s I love his fake little accent he does "i'll kill ye"

True. You can't threaten to kill someone, it is not covered in free speech. It's the fat isn't it.

You can find out where things are from a phone call on a cell? That's sus af.

Tips the concierge even tho u'r not really here. Love it. Rick speedreading moments. Who would write nicely like that & then spend an entire page of notebook on two lines of writing? RC: *sees a cool new app* KB: no RC: Fine but you don't get to play my angry birds! Ok that was the funny one, the only funny one. I wonder if they had pizza!

Still do! (he's literally an author)

So WHEN were u in a relationship? fate <3 (except he withheld the information abt the story he was working on for a reason, if you've seen it before like me u can see why.)

Ryan with the financials! How big are new york blocks?

Woah a nice transition! Cool!

Nice heck yeah party crasher!

Woah language but martha is right. She's totally allowed to swear in this situation. It's like the kitchen. No swears at my catholic school unless you were working an event with the culinary program & physically in the kitchen. RC: Bitch! *realizes what he said & covers mouth*

Aw cyberbullying...

RC: Where's beckett? KR: Uh, Hall of Records. Tracking down what Burns was looking for. (Pink shirt : ) & also a vest, he looks pretty) RC: Great. *hands Beckett's coffee to Ryan* (we know time that ryan & esposito stole castle & beckett's coffee & then switched after one sip that ryan like beckett flavoured coffee & espt likes castle flavoured coffee) RC: Listen, if I gave you a website, could you have your friends at Tech hack into it and take some pictures down? (bribing ryan & not his friends at tech?) KR, taking the paper from castle with a little smile: Did someone find naked pictures of you again? (HOLD ON WHAT? & HAS RICK ASKED RYAN TO DO THIS BEFORE?) KR: *unfolds paper with a lighthearted little smile at castle's antics* RC: No. Not me. It's Alexis. KR: *stops* KR: *thinking someone posted castle's daughter's nudes & now castle is asking him to take them down* KR: *looks up at him with fear in his eyes* (also bc she is 17 her pics would technically be CP & this would be a bigger issue so maybe that's what ryan was thinking. He was thinking they needed to take this to Vice or smth.) RC: This is for Alexis KR: *eyes searching* KR: Uh, this just got awkward. What's this about? (his voice suddenly got hella squeaky) RC: Okay. Mean girl at school kiss ambushed Alexis's boyfriend (ryan nods & makes faces in sympathetic outrage) then posted the photographic proof on her website. Alexis is very upset. KR: Mmm. I-- I could have my friend Tony take care of it. You know, off the record. (Love a good "tony") RC: Thanks. And, uh, no need to mention this to Beckett. You know how she gets with these things (Castle and Ryan smile & start to laugh & go to sip their coffees. Beckett appears and grabs her cup from Ryan.) KB: Things like abusing police resources for your own personal agenda? RC: Whaat? That's ridi-- No, you don-- No. That's-- that's--- (Castle gives Ryan the OK sign as he follows Beckett to her desk. Ryan slips the slip of paper into his vest meaning he's still willing to help out rick & his daughter even w/o the coffee bribery) Yes yes yes castle yes ryan this is an abuse of power but that is so valid & I think it's funny & great & I love it Ryan, trying to act casual after this little thing: Yep?

Espt has a denim-looking dress shirt on what & then beckett has a nice green scarf & longsleeve

Yo the guy's alive??

Ooh I love a good noire film but why say noowahr instead of nwar. RC: I haven't heard the story... Oh... that sucks.. he couldn't even crawl over to hold her. That's got to be traumatic.

Neat, learning abt history. Cool. So Ryan was in narcotics back in '03, he went into homicide in '06 maybe, & then three years later (I might be mixing this up with Ike Thornton's (fake) death tho) as mentioned in I think that very episode, castle shows up: '09. 03 narco, 09 castle shows up & there is a mention of "three years ago" so, 06 ike dies ryan goes into homicide. idk I'm just trying to get a timeline. Anyway, I always love it when they bring back character's pasts before we knew them. & during this Ryan is also fidgeting with his file, point for the adhd ryan headcanon.

Castle never specified HOW to flip it so he could follow the movements. Glad he said to slow it down tho. Is the man left handed?

Alexis got into a fight? Good for her. Oh no castle & ryan & tony got alexis in trouble : ( but also XD Heck yeah girl! Tho yeah rick you're right violence is not the answer "& then one of you ends up dead in a pizza oven" & then he quotes beckett & hugs her. RC: Did u kick her ass? AC: I kind of did RC: Good girl. Good. Even when he tells her retaliation is not the way, he still lets her know.

Bro teenagers ARE criminal masterminds. High school bullies are NOT some dumb-as-bricks doorknob who beats you & but can't chew gum & walk at the same time, they really can be evil geniuses.

Costumes: Castle & beckett are normal, tho I don't like beckett's shirt. Esposito is wearing a boring not-fancy long-sleeve with jeans & ryan is wearing a typical dark blue dress shirt & dress pants, no tie this time, nice grey coat. Really fancy coat too. I like it.

How can you tell someone dialed the numbers for a call but never hit send...? Unless it was already on the phone & they didn't get erased for some reason. Mine closes every time I switch apps.

Esposito, breakin down the doors! Music is great rn! The boys just run out the window

Oh so she IS in with the drug dealers.

She's good. She's really good. I'm speaking from the perspective of having seen this before. It's obvious that he CANNOT be cavallo pretending to be his own right-hand-one. Poor R+E, out of breath from the chase So she DID know those names when castle asked her the first time!

OH MY GOODNESS HOLY CRAP THAT'S A LOT OF FIGHTING & POOR RYAN IN THE MIDDLE TRYING TO GET THEM TO STOP

Castle u really just went back on what u & beckett put ur money on? Whose tab? Whose tab did they put it on? What? Winner winner pizza dinner & wow that's a lot of smack.

He's a pizza man! He would never disrespect his oven like that! It is SO not his speed castle! Oh so you wanted to burn down authentic nick's? Girl if you can call him then that's helping!

See like this is what got my eyes on ryan in the first place, his movements are so weird, like he's walking too big for his body. Oh & again unassuming middleman is dumb

Is she limping? why is she in homicide? I thought she was in narco. also I can't use my question mark button on tumblr anymore for some reason & so it reloaded the page & got rid of a mini fanfictioin I wrote & I am fucking upset. I had added some notes to my liveblog. What the hell tumblr^/ why won't you let me use a proper question mark^/ at least my french é&É still work. Ηοwever, my greek keyboard does not.

Ok sweetheart, just Don't Use Easy-to-Catch Names Calls ryan & esposito the best detectives. Ooh une femme fatale

Love the music & oh no please don't be nick's pizza Oh thank goodness it's stephano's So mature of Alexis OH THAT IS A GOOD LOOKING PIZZA

& it seems like all the bonus features are deleted scenes which I have seen. Yuck tho I don't need to see this.

[the-teddy-bear-butch]

Hi Пчёлка!

It's literally fine, I have an ask in my inbox from November that I haven't touched since last year (so weird it's 2023 now. I hope you have an amazing new year that is uneventful and you're loved ones stay in good health <- coined phrase over the last couple day lol)

AS FOR THE LITTLE BIT OF SNOW I TALKED ABOUT it kept on coming then there was like a foot and a half, which wouldn't be too bad except it stayed like -23 for like a week and a half (arctic outflows my beloathed) and never melted the entire time.

tbh the weather's not bad anymore, it's still pretty cold but all the snow is gone and it was sunny today!!! I made pancakes an moved my plants to the big window so they could get sun to celebrate.

once again risking it all for some whipped cream.

tuque is such a fun word to say! it also has a bunch of different spellings.

The new job is going pretty good! I've discovered that kid's under the age of 7 think my fake and very bad for that matter Russian accent is hysterical, which I think is hysterical.

December was actually pretty good! An stubbornly optimistic is definitely the vibe for this year. I don't really have any new years resolutions except for maybe treating myself as kindly as I hope this year teats me. How about you?

Alas, Priory is still sitting rejected on my bookshelf. I got a really cool copy of The Hobbit at my favourite book store so now i'm doing a re-read 😂 While I was there I met the new bookstore cat and not to be dramatic but I'd die and kill for her.

I hope you're staying warm! I am so glad that weather passed and I hope it leaves you alone soon!

Gender fuckery my beloved <3

Literally so glad we don't live in a world where J*ke G*llenhall is Frodo. I do love Nicolas Cage but Viggo Mortensen is literally the perfect Aragorn.

alhdgskhf my family makes the best garlic powder and it goes on everything.

SPEAKING of Ronanceifying a song, I am about to send you the most rambly au idea.

I would literally kill for Paramore tickets. The News has been stuck in my head since it came out. It's totally storm cloud grey and reminds be of.. storms. Devil Is A Woman is totally dark magenta and you know that feeling when you're walking around and feel kinda like a villain in a movie, but in a good way? yeah that. (having thoughts of starting a side blog where people can send in music and I can do the colour/vibes thing. thought?)

oh it was 3 am for you too?

Quite possibly the last time I sign off like this, not because i'm going anywhere but because I think i'll ✨reveal my identity✨ tomorrow

-el

Hello hello! <33

I have some asks as old as September in reference to an ask game I’m not sure I could find again if I tried LMAO. The same to you! I hope the year treats you and your family with kindness and is chill!

WOW, that’s a lot! I hope it was at least fun to play in or something! Glad it all melted and it’s sunny now! Those pancakes look INCREDIBLE, and I bet that’s some damn good maple syrup ;)

Fake and very bad Russian accents are indeed hysterical! I love kids, honestly, they’re so fun. I worked a summer “camp” for a two week period and my best friend was a 5 year old who drew me a picture because I hung out with her when she was sad. What sort of job are you working, if you don’t mind me asking? :O are you teaching?

That’s a pretty damn good one! We all deserve to be treated with kindness, especially by ourselves!! Besides that, I just want to keep working on my silly novel(s), see my friends more, that kind of thing!!

Poor Priory, rejected by the both of us LMAO. Yay for The Hobbit! That was one of my favorite books for years, honestly you may be inspiring a reread for me now lol. Bookstores are my favorite ever, but they’re even better with animals! My irl bestie took me to one locally that I didn’t know existed and they had a dog and he was so cute.

Definitely staying warm! It’s actually warm enough yo be mildly concerned about it (insert TikTok audio “the weather outside is warm, the planet is dying). I wouldn’t mind it being slightly colder because I am gay and I must wear LAYERS. I hope you’re staying warm as well!

J*ke G*llenhall Frodo is literally the darkest timeline. Gotta say, Nick Cage as Aragorn does sound interesting tho. But for some reason this man is solidified in my brain as National Treasure Man. I’ve seen National Treasure once???

I saw you sent it! Gonna check that out right after this 🫡

I was about ready to kill for tickets! They randomly added a second OK location after the first one sold out, so I LUCKED OUT. They’re definitely nose bleed seats, but IDC, I GET TO SEE PARAMORE AND IM GOING INSANE. I’m normal about them. Truly. I think the side blog idea is AMAZING, that would be so cool! I have a silly music side blog too, but mine is much less interesting than that lmao. If you do it, let me know because I will absolutely follow it 👀

When I responded to that other one, yeah! Time zones are funky

AYO? I’m excited! I think I have a theory, but I will wait to see if I’m right hehe

Eagerly awaiting your next not anon message,

- Max/Lo <33

[sprinklesandshatters]

A Review on NCT 127′s 3rd Album <Sticker>

So NCT 127 just came back with their 3rd Full Album <Sticker> and this is my first 127 comeback since I became a fan last year! Neozone is such a special album for me as it was their first album that I explored entirely. I've known NCT as the group who never fails any expectations so I've kept mine up although I know they'll exceed it anyway. And guess what, they did! I absolutely love their new album hence this review~

This isn't a technical music review—as I am not a musician myself—but rather a listener's honest takes, goofy notes, and interpretation on each of the tracks in the album. I admit I've also struggled to build my own opinions on some of the tracks until I listened to them over and over again.

I have also heard there are mixed opinions on the title track <Sticker> and a lot says it's another acquired taste. But I think it's not just that, as it can be a grower, just like how most of NCT's songs were for me. Maybe after a few listens and a right passage of time, it will grow on those people. The bottom line here is, I like it a lot! 😛

So I listed down the songs according to their respective track numbers and followed each with a bulleted list of my opinions and interpretations.

(Viewer/reader discretion: before you continue, minors, do not interact as there are few 18+ contents under the cut. Thank you.)

1. Sticker

THEY DIDN'T JUST PUNCH A NEW NOTCH ON THE BELT LIKE THAT

THIS SONG SLAPS, LITERALLY SLAPS… AND WHIPS 

The recorder at the intro boyyyy I thought something was wrong but then I remember it’s NCT lmao

It already stuck in my head from my first listen from the Instagram audio.

With Taeyong opening the verse with his divine rapping, I knew I'm in for a new ride.

STICK-UH STICK-UGH STICK-UGHGHGH

To those complaining it sounding like noise music, imagine it sounding generic. I don't think it would fit as the title track. Not a b-track or in their repertoire, even. They are called NCT because they define the NEO in the music culture and music technology!

It honestly was an unorthodox, just like all of their title tracks, which I’m inherently here for.

Literally, no one does it like them!

The growls and the vocal flexes and adlibs! (You can tell it has Yoo Youngjin's brand.)

The crisp metronome sound that’s consistently ticking except for the pre-chorus and the dance break adds depth to the soundscape. I love how it’s used instead of the usual snaps.

The production quality blew my mind. Like how can someone think those melodies would sound so exquisite? CAN I CALL THEM GENIUS?

The piano at the back, oh my God—Yes! It adds this mystifying element to the song.

I'm not sure if it's a midi violin at the pre-chorus, but it added thrill to the song. It was a great transition from the bass line in the verses to the combination of the flawless harmony with the same instrumental.

"You treat me like a boy, like a grown-up child chasing a dream" JUNGWOO BABY NO MORE HUH

Taeil, Doyoung, and Haechan—the bridge vocal trinity!

But why the heck are they cowboys? I dig the concept, but why? LMAO

BTW GUNSLINGER MARK I’M ON MY KNEES YEEHAW

This is easily one of my favorite tracks from NCT 127's entire discography 💚

2. Lemonade

(⌐■_■)

Jaehyun starting off this song with his deep voice eee

The song opens to a verse oozing with chill confidence. They're like, yeah you're lurking because we’re cool.

This is such a huge slap to their haters. NCT's not chillin' like a villain, nah they're the main characters!

Well maybe they’re villains, but still ya not cooler than them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Funny enough how they could have just referred haters as simply lemons whose sour/bitter to the taste, but 127 squad's success is sweeter than all the haters' spiteful remarks so yeah, SIPPY SIPPY LEMONADE 🧃

"WOOF"

I might have just barked too wOW

Yuta’s vocals hooooO his voice just sounds so glamorous mhmm

Also Mark referencing their previous title tracks such as: Firetruck, Cherry Bomb, and Regular (it's Irregular in the lyrics) in his rap part 👌💅

I just love Mark's energy when he raps. HE RESOLUTELY BITES AND STRAIGHT UP EATS EVERY TIME HE DOES.

3. Breakfast

Now breakfast time, oh jeez!

AAAHAHFU—

Summer 127's bestie!

If Summer 127 talks about dancing all night long, Breakfast is the morning after.

You know what it is.

"Even if I gulp and drink you, it's not enough for me." oho Taeyong no you ha—STOP

Sexual innuendos aside, isn't it just sweet if someone tells you they'd want to have breakfast with you every day?  Okay maybe I'm melting at the thought 😩🙈💞

And I can see myself dancing to this song as I make breakfast (in the afternoon or at midnight bc I’m crazy)

This was an okay b-track for me at the first skim on the album, but boy it grew on me wildly.

Honestly one of my favorite tracks in this album.

4. Focus

Did I just invade a private call? LMAO

The analog voice filters make it like so.

Dude, this feels intimate in the level of eavesdropping a phone call between seasoned lovers. Then you realize you hear them whispering their kinks over the line and you're ooh, that's sexy! hfgklhfhf

My first listen to this, I almost went feral because,

"I can't wait to eat you…" when it's actually "I can't wait 'til we chill…" aahaha

"Baby call me when you want me." OKAY!

This sounds relaxing and chill. I'd love to play this on a late night drive or just before bed time along with Fly Away With Me, Sun & Moon, My Youth, and Long Flight.

Belongs to ‘make out session’ playlist  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

That was lowkey a playlist recommendation, huh?

I'd be kidding if I don't say I could touch myself while listening to this song AHAHAFGHFJFJ

I didn't know this would grow on me this much lol I love love LOVE THIS!

5. The Rainy Night

Ooh, the holy melancholy!

Piano at the intro—I knew I'd cry to this.

This song isn't just about break-up, but the heartbreak after one.

The yearning; the remnant pieces from the shattering of what was once there.

I think I crumbled from this one.

This hit so hard I felt like I fit in the shoes with the lyrics throughout the entire song.

What’s fascinating is I clearly forgot the title when I mentally said this sounds like a sad rainy day song from the first listen.

Something I’d turn up when it suddenly rains, just because I want to feel the blues.

Taeil and Haechan singing in lower register? I wanna cry :( they’re just one of the best vocalists in K-music industry right now.

Could have been also nice if they added Yuta to the vocals.

"My selfish heart who waits for you to come back," OKAY WHO HURT THEM?

And the fact that they sang it so good that it translated every ounce of the emotions well even before I looked up for English translations is the reason why I love this song too.

6. Far

Hmm… What the hell?! Do I like this? Wait...

Alright!

The jumpy vibe from the first verse to the pre-chorus set the mood for this song. It sounds merry and heavy. It was honestly too much to take until I’ve reached the chorus part.

Honestly, I think this song could fit NCT Dream better, as it gives off a vibe similar to Hello Future's b-tracks. If some credible source say this could have made HF’s track list, I might believe you too fast.

Also Dream’s Deja Vu where they go na nananananana na na na~

Playful yet confident! That’s what I mean!

As usual, the vocals are insane! Vocal flex from left to right!

I swear Jungwoo sounded a bit like Taemin at the second verse that I had to replay it hahaha

I love hearing Johnny as a vocalist! SM, how many signs do you need until you utilize his vocal talent???

Taeil's part where he sings, "go nuts, go nuts, 'til we go bust, go bust" IDEK BUT I SNORTED A LAUGH AT FIRST LISTEN HFCAHKFHK

Not my favorite, but still great though!

But wait it’s actually stuck in my head???

7. Bring The Noize

Yes, they never beat those noise music allegations

HERE'S SOME NOIZE, BITCHES

I love me some noisy percussions. AND THE BASS YO

This screams so much confidence!

The build up from the pre-chorus to the chorus—FIRE!

This song reminds me a lot of SuperM's Super Car, especially with the engine roar samples and the battle cry-like singing at the chorus.

JAEHYUN RAPPING? You mean Jaehyun the visual, the vocalist, the actor, the model, the funny dude, aka my everything?! (markie bb look pls look away for a moment)

THEY DELIVERED IT STRAIGHT FROM NEOCITY THAT'S SOME NCT MUSIC RIGHT THERE NO ONE DOES IT LIKE THEM

When I said I'd play Focus on a late night drive, and if I add this in the playlist, VROOM VROOM SPEED LIMIT WHAT

OUTTA MY WAY

“We got no shame” ouh TAEYONG’S FLOW IS JUST VERY HIM AND HE’S IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

You know what's so clever about this song? It's how it ended with Mark's final rap without any instrumental, leaving you  standing there with a doppler effect-like post experience.

A super car on a super speed just whooshed past you and you look its way as it zips through the road. It's gone in an instant but you're floored dumbfounded at a sidewalk. That's how I describe this song.

8. Magic Carpet Ride

This song… Wow. Oh gosh it's so beautiful.

Their harmony in the chorus—it makes me want to kiss someone so passionately that I'd cry.

This makes me want to feel love that transcends the universe. Literally, just please take me on a magic carpet ride :(

The background harmonies too oh my goodness—HEAVENLY.

Jaehyun's voice is so warm and soulful it fits perfectly with songs of this genre.

Okay alright Doyoung Grande!

And Taeil makes me feel like I'm listening to old school R&B.

The first time I heard this from the track video, I can't stop replaying because it's just that great.

This makes me want to love. I think that sums it up.

9. Road Trip

This is such a soothing song for me, especially how I easily become nostalgic thinking about the road trips I've had.

Whenever I listen to this, my brain immediately conjures up thoughts of my ideal getaways. Gazing at the sky through the car window, stirring up from a nap in the middle of the ride, and   eventually reaching your destination.

Oh, to travel around anywhere... (curse you covid-19)

Okay that's it. I'M PACKING UP.

But where do I go—

I could also imagine Mark playing this on the guitar and the other members sing along together, something like that.

Just Wholesome™ vibes.

I love how it evokes such a nice emotion within me effortlessly.

This isn't my favorite, but I still love this.

10. Dreamer

Eyyyy such a refreshing song!

This song is so bright it makes me want to dance. I play this first in the shower!

It reminds me so much of Elevator (from Neozone)

The horns make it more lively I think!

Yuta and Jungwoo's voice suits lively songs like this.

The background vocal in low register in Taeyong's part in the first verse is so good ahhfhf

Taeil, the R&B vocal king you are...

There's this part where Doyoung and Johnny harmonized, that at first listen they seemed to clash, but it sounded actually fine after a few listens. Maybe it's just that I've never heard them do it before.

And I think it's Doyoung's laugh at the end of the bridge? Oh my goodness I really love this too!

11. Promise You

MY FIRST LOVE AND MOST FAVORITE SONG IN THE ALBUM!!!

The first time I heard this from their NCIT Sharehouse Sitcom, I fell in love with the song already.

It sounds like something you'd feel from a warm, welcoming hug.

The lyrics are so beautiful and endearing. It's definitely a be-there-for-you type of song that will touch your heart.

It definitely sounds like a promise.

A song about platonic intimacy.

This really fits to be the closing song of the album. It's like the end of it but holds a promise that says “see you soon.”

Because they cherish their fans like that.

It's also like I've watched a movie with a happy ending, where the camera pans up to the clear sky and this song starts playing.

Speaking of ending, I would love to hear them sing this as an encore stage in their concert. You know, that moment just before the stage lights die down at the end of the concert where they send final blows of flying kisses to NCTzens. Then you come home smiling and crying.

This wasn't supposed to be this long since I originally planned to write this with just simple phrases and emojis but I got too engrossed lol. I also meant to include my own ratings but I figured it’s pointless since I can’t really decide about them hahaha

I really enjoyed the whole album and I love how they're progressively defining what NEO means by breaking through standards. It's not NCT music if it doesn't make you say "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?" But then you realize it’s stuck in your head and you’re enjoying it already.

✨ OVERALL RATING: 127/10 💚

if you’ve reached until here, thank you for letting me share you a braincell or two 💞

[atalana]

[copied over from my cr blog, also this is gonna get long, i’d apologise but im not sorry]

okay, so

this is a rant probably about 7 years in the making, bc when i first watched lok i had not done any music study, i had not done any composing of my own, my knowledge of music theory was at a primary school level and i still thought tv soundtracks were just made by one person composing a whole cache of music and then the audio editors pick and choose what track to place where

(spoiler alert that’s not how film and tv scoring works, i have now done a music composition course where we had to score a short film, among other things, and i have so much more respect for tv composers jesus christ)

but this one stuck out to me even way back then, bc me barely knowing what a leitmotif was was like “hey this one little refrain keeps popping up whenever bolin does lavabending, and i like it, i’m gonna see if it’s on the soundtrack”

it was not, and that’s sort of where i left it back in 2014, but i actually did a rewatch of lok pretty recently out of nostalgia, and then noticed it even more

and to explain why (and this is also a little bit why five’s stuck out to me in tua, i’ll get to that in another ask), let’s cover, leitmotifs, and tv scoring in general

so a leitmotif is basically just a short musical idea that represents something in a piece of music. when i studied motivic development we were encouraged to make that motif four notes or less, and then develop it into something longer (aka a theme), because if you can constantly come back to a really short idea while keeping the piece moving, that’s what makes a piece of music memorable

(you can ignore those rules on purpose but that’s a different essay)

so the most common way that a leitmotif shows up in soundtracks is to represent a character or a location - you play the motif when that character shows up or when you’re in that location and boom, the audience associates that motif with that person place or thing, and you can then use this to tell the audience things without actually telling them. for example, star wars playing the imperial march whenever someone does something darth vader related - darth vader isn’t on screen, but you can feel his presence, because his music is playing

and if we were a film score, where we have two hours to show one particular character’s development, great! we give them a simple motif, and then as they grow as a person we change their motif to reflect what is happening to them, until we end up with something that communicates on a subconscious level how much they’ve grown. we toss in as much symbolism as we can, and we have a really great soundtrack that’s instantly memorable

tv scoring, is harder. partially because of time constraints (have you ever composed half an hour of original music a week, and had to make sure it fits perfectly with every beat of what’s happening on screen? these guys have), partially because there’s a much larger focus on ensemble casts

so what atla and lok do, for the most part, is not score individual character motifs for everyone. this is fairly common in tv soundtracks, instead we score ideas, concepts, and feelings - these’ll come up a lot more and give you more information than just “oh hey this character’s on screen”

the avatar state, for example, has the strongest and most recognisable theme across both shows. i’m linking an atla track in here because it has the best example but you’ll know this shows up with korra too - and with particularly important moments for wan, for kyoshi, etc. they also appear in the opening of both shows, four strong notes that start and end on the same note (in the case of what i’m linking, it’s an F#)

the first part of this track is the more uncertain, pensive theme that comes up when both avatars are feeling doubt/worry/sadness, but then it transitions into the more recognisable four. worth noting though, those are both basically the same motif. if i write them out back to back, you’ll notice they both have four notes and start and end on F#. if i had to guess, four notes four elements, and it comes back to the start because the avatar is a cycle.

korra has a theme for when she’s fighting, but not an individual character theme. the airbenders as a concept have a theme, republic city has thematic instruments, as do some big name characters, like iroh and his tsungi horn (this is also a cross-series thing, he’s always playing it in atla, it shows up when zuko has to make big moral decisions, and when we first meet iroh in the spirit world in lok, it shows up there too, to let the audience know who this is before we properly see him)

so, if korra doesn’t get a single theme and instead has several for different aspects of her life, and mako and asami follow along with the mood of the story like all the other characters, the fact that bolin has a personal leitmotif at all, let alone a solid, developing one, is pretty remarkable!

now, granted, it mostly starts with book 3, before then he was like every other character, but it has clear symbolism through those last two books! and, initially i thought it was related only to his lavabending, since that’s most of when it shows up, but since my rewatch, i’ve started calling it his hero theme

see, when people wanna criticise mako and bolin, usually the comments they get are that bolin’s too immature and mako’s too serious/uptight. but like, that’s how they work, you can’t analyse either of them without the context of the other. since they were little kids on the streets, bolin chases his heart and mako makes sure they don’t die from it, that is their entire childhood. and neither would have got here on their own because mako wouldn’t take the necessary risks and bolin wouldn’t take the necessary precautions. (like. remove either one from the equation and they’d still be working for the triple threats bc s1 and their flashback miniseries make pretty clear that bolin got them out and mako kept them out)

and then book 2 proves it! because it splits team avatar up, and what happens? bolin is totally taken advantage of by varrick and used as a pawn in his evil plan and mako ends up in jail

so what’s book 3, to them? it’s, being able to find themselves without having that codependency. mako no longer has someone to protect, which is what he’s based his whole life around so far - bolin’s doing fine and he’s no longer dating either korra or asami. and bolin’s trying his hand at some of that responsibility (look at how he immediately adopts kai who is explicitly them but younger because he wants to be the older brother for once). most importantly, they find the rest of their family, and stop being defined by being orphans. they don’t have to be that singular piece of a puzzle, they can just be themselves. and that’s where bolin’s character really starts to shine, because that’s when they bring in the bending plot, and bending, perhaps more than any other character, really gets to the heart of who bolin is

if you want more of my thoughts on that i have an essay here, but tl;dr: bolin’s an extremely powerful earthbender, but he’s not a metalbender because metalbending requires you to double down on the earth characteristics and think like an earthbender, and bolin doesn’t, he’s too fluid for that, which is one of his major strengths, so of course he can lavabend

and finally - to his motif itself! (as a note, i’ve put all of these in the same key to show where it repeats, but there’s a variety of keys used in the show)

as far as i can find, it first shows up in s3e8, when bolin stuns p’li with this well placed shot

[Edit: it first showed up in the s2 finale, but again in a simplified version and again with him doing something heroic with earthbending, so we can still start the analysis here]

mako volunteers bolin for that job, because he knew bolin was capable of it. why? because bolin landed an identical shot earlier in the episode, after trying to metalbend, getting frustrated he can’t, and cheating with some extremely well aimed earthbending. it’s just a short refrain and you barely notice it, but it’s the first connection of this motif with the theme of bolin’s bending

it looks like this, and it’s always played on a trumpet, which is part of why i call it the hero theme, because, if you’re looking at music from a western perspective, trumpets were used to herald kings, and then used to represent military glory, and then when superhero themes started happening, they used trumpets too - it’s basically western music shorthand for hero these days

(it’s also symmetrical so that helps with the good vibes)

and he’s saving everyone here, so it’s linked to his bending, but it’s also linked to his heroism

it ties the two together, and they are tied together.

when’s the next time it shows up? episode 10, when the brothers are in prison in ba sing se, and bolin tries to metalbend them out. again, he’s doing this to save people, and this motif gets a few notes added on to the end in a raising pattern - they’re inspiring, but they don’t go anywhere. which is exactly what happens in the scene, because he’s trying to go about this in the wrong way. mako believes in him, but it won’t (and doesn’t) work

it appears in episode 12 when bolin saves everyone from ghazan destroying the temple, in a more fancy orchestral remake of the first version - it’s impressive, but it hasn’t actually developed yet, it’s just his discovery of it

the book 3 finale already has its own fucking amazing soundtrack, i love that entire episode’s score, but it gets its own moment there too, and the first real development!

because what we hear is not what we’ve heard before. we know it’s the same theme, because it’s using those signature trumpets, but it’s the second part of this phrase, the answer to the question supplied by the first one. why? because bolin’s figured out who he is and he’s starting to use it. it still hasn’t settled yet though, it’s early days and he’s still just turning ghazan’s lava back on him, so again, it raises, leaving it on a question mark

it doesn’t appear in s4e7 when he lavabends as a warning against the escaped prisoners, because he’s using it as a threat, not to help people. but it does later in the episode when he uses lavabending to save them from kuvira. and that’s when we get the first full phrase, question and answer

it keeps the first motif identical, takes out the first note of the second, and ties them together - except now it’s not open ended, now it knows where it’s going - it’s been three years, at this point bolin is confident in both himself and his bending

and then that phrase appears all over the place in the finale, because all bolin does is save people - everyone from the exploding building, he slows the giant mecha with lavabending, he saves opal, he slows the giant mecha again by collapsing a building on it, and most importantly, he’s the one rescuing his brother this time, instead of the other way around (though that one doesn’t get a motif appearance bc admittedly a fuck ton of other things are happening in the soundtrack at the time)

so to that question asked in book three - who is bolin when not next to someone else? well, funnily enough, we saw it in book two as well, just in a warped way, playing nuktuk. it just wasn’t truly him because it was created by varrick, and he needed to get away from varrick too. the question put forward by the narrative is who is bolin, and the answer given by the music is, he is a hero. and i don’t know why bolin is the only one to get a theme like this, but i think it may have something to do with the fact that, while everyone in team avatar has been a hero and saved people, he is the only one who has, from the start, solely been motivated by wanting to help people. he follows his heart, and his heart cares, about everyone. it’s been the driving force behind almost everything he’s ever done. and i love him so much

[putschki1969]

「KEIKO First Live K001 ～I'm home～ 」First Impression

1.Be Yourself: Live instruments sound so much better here than in the studio version but Keiko is quite shouty and out-of-tune during some parts (mostly the chorus). Maybe not the best start but hey, I still enjoyed it. 2. 始まりは | Hajimari wa (Beginning): Better than the studio version imo but overall pretty similar. 3. Ray: Definitely better than the studio version. A lot more ooomph if you ask me. By now KEIKO is really into it and not as shouty as she was for “Be Yourself”. Unfortuantely they kept those weird electronic sounds from the studio version in the live back-up track. I had hoped they would get rid of those.

MC:She greets everyone at the venue and watching at home. She hopes we will all have a great time. Next up is a song that hasn’t been revealed yet.

4. 溜め息の消える街 |Tameiki no Kieru Machi (A Town Where Sighs Disappear): New song for the album. I like it but it’s not my favourite. From what I can make out, the lyrics are lovely though. Love the rainy vibe

MC:Keiko loves how the following song opens up wide sceneries. She has always liked that about songs so after consulting with all kinds of people, she decided to pick this song for herself even though it’s quite different from all her other songs. It’s actually the oldest song among all her pieces.

5. 茜 | Akane (Madder Red): A very traditional sound with some Chinese elements I think. Kinda like Wakana’s Kinmokusei but not quite as good imo. But still, I am blown away, such a beautiful ballad. Fits Keiko’s voice perfectly. LOVE IT (just a few tiny little off-key moments but nothing too bad)

MC: Self Introduction. 10 years of Kalafina and vocalist at YK’s lives. Some promotion for YK’s upcoming live. For the next section she wants to cover some songs that she has sung during YK lives in the past.

6. 宝石 | Houseki (Jewel): The musicians don’t do a good job here, the drums in particular sound quite out of place and borderline grating to my ears. Or is it just me? Keiko is providing lovely and solid vocals but imo they aren’t quite on par with the FJ performances I have seen in the past. 7. 風の街へ | Kaze no Machi he (Towards the Town of Wind): This one on the other hand is absolutely FLAWLESS imo, KEIKO hits every note and I just love how she chooses to sing her lines. It’s different from her old style so I don’t think you can compare it to those FJ performances from the past. But it does remind me of the more recent performance I saw during the YK live in Taiwan. The musicians also sound much more balanced here.

MC: Keiko talks about the venue being in Shibuya which is a very important place for her. She would come here weekly during her time in school since she took voice training lessons here. At one point she heard a song by Yutaka Ozaki at Shibuya Scramble Square and immediately fell in love. During her time in Kalafina she would always name him as the artist that has influenced her most. So of course she has to cover one of his songs for this live.

8. I LOVE YOU (Yutaka Ozaki Cover): This made me cr even though I have never heard this song before. You can tell KEIKO feels strongly about his music.

MC: Introduction of musicians & reading some comments Bass.目黒郁也 Ikuya Meguro (she loves his solo in Kaze no Machi he) Key.ミトカツユキ Katsuyuki Mito (he sings a bit in Hajimari wa) Gt.和田建一郎 Kenichiro Wada (Hajimari wa, Tameiki no Kieru Machi) Dr.北村望 Nozomu Kitamura (she met him at the PrincessPrincipal live)

Everyone is going crazy about Kacchan (the pianist) in the comments. She shows off her haribo gummies and M&Ms in the clear bottle. Lots of fans are having dinner while watching the live which Keiko finds super cool. She had steamed buns for breakfast. I love that she is wearing her super old boots that she used to wear back in her Kalafina-days (during live-house encores in particular). She chose an outfit in which she feels relaxed. Keiko wanted some up-beat songs for her live so the following two were chosen quite quickly.

9. エンドロール (End roll) : So the bracketed lyrics are backing vocals provided by herself. No guest vocal unfortunately. Either way, a really good song that gets everyone hyped just as promised in the tweets. Reminds me of a song but I don’t know which one. I guess this is Keiko’s “Ongaku”, maybe it even reminds me of that? 10. Change the World’s Colour: Her deep voice is back!!! Combined with a super high vibrato voice during the bridge (just wow - that singing style is gorgeous, reminds me of her singing in Sans Toi M’amie). Btw, for a second there I thought she was gonna sing “Mata Kaze ga Tsuyoku Natta”

MC: She talks about her countdown tweets where she wrote down some lyrics of the previous two songs and was teasing everyone with some hints. Keiko probably wouldn’t have chosen those two songs if it hand’t been for this live stream concert. She thanks everyone for waiting so long for her return. She is super grateful to be able to hold this live.

11. 命の花 | Inochi no Hana (Flower of Life): Stunning! As gorgeous as the studio version but much more impactful.

ENCORE: Album Release =>  December 2; It was planned for autumn but it ended up being winter. She apologises for letting us wait. Her excitement when she mentions that YK has written a song for her album and Kore-chan has provided the guitar playing is so freaking cute. She is the most precious human-being on this planet.

12. 七色のフィナーレ | Nanairo no Finale (Finale of Seven Colours): my first thought was that it sounded kinda futuristic XD Also, you can definitely tell it’s a YK song but it really fits Keiko’s solo style. Love it, a super catchy tune, the chorus in particular. And those lalalas!!! *is dead* 13.& 14 Double Encore Synchronicity & Nohara  (Venue ONLY): Wish I had been there T_T

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Can’t wait to rewatch the archived version. My faves (in no particular order) were probably Ray, Akane, Kaze no Machi he, I LOVE YOU, End Roll, Change the World's Color, Inochi no Hana and Nanairo no Finale.

You CAN STILL BUY tickets so be sure to SUPPORT KEIKO! It’s totally worth the money. The live lasted about 1 1/2 hours, pretty short but an okay length for a first solo live I would say. The audio and video quality are great and now that the live is archived till September 13 you won’t have to deal with any streaming issues. Find my TUTORIAL here. Keiko sounded fine for the most part but occassionally she was a bit out-of-tune. She is really straining her voice with this new singing style. It’s a bit of a hit and miss I feel. But I think she will eventually figure out how to sing her songs in the best way possible. Wakana did the same thing.

Now I am gonna try to order the live goods. Will let you know whether it works or not. EDIT: Okay, I couldn’t do it since the payment needs to take place on delivery...Stupid methods from the dark ages...Need to find another way to get my hands on the goods.

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Based on her past experiences, an original album which expresses a "new KEIKO" with various sounds will be released on December 2nd!! A special song written for KEIKO by Yuki Kajiura - a legend within the world of anisong - will be included in this album. It’s titled "七色のフィナーレ | Finale of Seven Colours" and the lyrics are written by KEIKO!! Release date： 2020/12/2  Title：to be decided 【CD Contents】 ・命の花 ・Be Yourself ・Ray ・始まりは ・七色のフィナーレ and others (a total of 10 songs)

https://avex.jp/keiko-singer/news/detail.php?id=1085854

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Hikaru’s reaction tweet after watching KEIKO’s live stream concert.

I had a great time filled with lots of fun and happiness. Looking forward to the album!

[razorblade180]

So I finished Age of Calamity

[spoilers]

Thanks to the beauty of holiday time off I have logged in 40 plus hours into this game and just beaten it, so naturally I’m gonna talk about it a bit. I’ll save the spoiler stuff for a little later though.

The game

This game might be my favorite game of 2020, or at least top three. Not just because of the world, but because everything is over the top! So far I’ve done 131 missions and 90% has the consistent energy of “we are fucking under attack” and it’s almost overwhelming in the best way possible. It really felt like you were on a battlefield field. Your map is just a sea of red and it’s your job to clean it up. What kept me engaged in the fights was all of the character’s different uses runes. I found myself constantly ordering my teammates to face certain enemy types that match best with how they fight.

Originally, I really wanted to be fair and rotate between characters. That didn’t last long. Mipha and Link in my opinion don’t have a single bad move. The bias only got worse whenever the master sword is obtained. Before that, my Link had a spear most of the time but that sword is just handy. Especially with item drop rate and attack range on it. In the end, my strongest characters were Link 74, Mipha 70, Impa 60, and Zelda 60. It’s been awhile since I played the first hyrule warriors so I can’t remember if they had the level up system were you can pay for experience but or definitely came in handy. Combine that with how many guardians were in this game and I quickly found out I needed Link with a shield on a regular bases. I also learned I didn’t forget how to time a vase amount of blocks and dodges.

The amount of characters you get to play quickly became too massive for me to juggle, but they all had their own merits for the most part, though I did find a few of the gimmick characters a bit of a hassle. My opinion on who was viable was constantly changing as I unlocked more combos. Originally, wasn’t the biggest fan of Urbosa. That second and fifth combo modifier changed everything.

The real portion of the game that really kept me wanting to play more was not only the ability to order other people, but seeing them fight along side you. I’m a softie for things like this, but genuinely felt relieved or hyped whenever I was fighting something crazy and I can see Impa rushing over towards me while text from soldiers scream “Just keep pushing!!!!” The AI wasn’t dumb either! There’s plenty of moments that controllable and NPC characters will just go where they’re supposed to, or kill targeted enemies. I remember not wanting to switch over to Link because he had low health, so as I’m running over to him as Mipha to heal him, the madman kills the Lynel. Ran all the way over there to watch him flex. That combined with elemental reactions you can cause in a fight, and the entire spectacle just felt elevated. The feeling of fighting three Lynel’s at once becomes a little less scary when you have a lightning rod and puddles everywhere.

The only negative I found in a gameplay perspective is some of the resource gathering. Gaining the trophy notes for killing a type of enemy isn’t too much of a hassle, but I found getting the materials they drop to be a bit harder, even with increased drop rate statuses. Most of this I find irritating for two reasons. One, specialized enemies show up in relatively small groups in a majority of missions, so getting things from them could be a flop altogether. Number two, a fair amount of these missions take a decent chunk of time if you’re being thorough and killing as much as possible. So grinding is a pain. Fortunately most missions a majority of what you need . If the game wanted chu chu jelly, I knew one of the missions coming up had chu chu as an enemy. You could also keep track of what you needed with material sensor that told you when you had enough.

The story

I’ll be honest, I was upset with this game for a hot second. It was advertised as a prequel to BoTW and while sad, I was truly invested to playing the events that lead to the fall of the champions. What this game didn’t tell you is it’s like most LoZ games, on its own separate part of the timeline. This isn’t the story of they lost. It’s the story of how they win, thanks to the little adorable robot mascot that has the ability to not only show the future, but bring people from the future; the champion’s descendants. At first I was upset with this. Mainly because I’m a little tired of time travel plots and it felt really out of place here. However, time travel gave way more to this game than what I expected this game to have in the first place. It allowed at least six more playable characters that wouldn’t have been possible in the other timeline, and a wellspring of interactions through missions. Every time Mipha was with Sidon, I smiled. Having Urbosa being this super encouraging role model to Riju was so nice since BoTW had expressed just how much those two admired and missed those people. Revali was nice to Teba! They were vibing. Even the soldier commentary on the new champions were a treat. So I got over the time travel issue pretty quick. It made things sad as well when the new generation leaves because they’re going back to a time where they lost it all. There was no great union that took place across hyrule to fight Ganon and their beloved champions failed. I do appreciate that the diverge in the timeline really takes place on the day they’re supposed to die, moments before the final blow. It still lets the player see the definitive moment where good was supposed to lose.

The “new” villain is meh. I wouldn’t really say he stands out. His entire thing is thinking he’s gonna win because he doesn’t realize that he isn’t seeing hyrule’s future. He’s seeing another hyrule’s future. What comes out of his character is cool though because it gives a different, yet same finale boss. I wasn’t expecting to basically fight a giant Ganondorf. Honestly, you can kinda say you fought Demise. At least aesthetically speaking. Or Yuga. This game has also made me care about robot. Something I haven’t done in awhile. A few scenes near the end felt hammy, but also amazingly realistic to how a lot of people would feel when someone breaks your favorite thing. The war was already personal, but now it’s really personal. Quests open up after the game that plays on those emotions too. It’s very clever.

Overall, Age of Calamities story felt like a love letter to everyone who loves this rendition of hyrule and the characters in it. They even another one named Sooga, who just might be my favorite. That man has no choice but to be the brain and muscle of the Yiga. It kinda makes me sad he’s introduced here because you can assume he didn’t make it in the other timeline, so he has no descendents. The amount of serotonin I felt just seeing all of these characters fighting together as the absolutely conquer the battlefield was more than satisfying. Definitely worth the money. I don’t know if they can, but Nintendo might wanna consider some sort of audio patch. The mixing is bad in certain parts. Voice lines get really quiet. Other than that, this game is real solid. I’d give it an 8.5/10

Side note

The music is really good. Especially the Zoe’s demain track. Also, I never noticed frame rate dropping or lag, except on two occasions. Both of these happened to be me pushing the game to its limits. The first is being surrounded by enemies in a small space as Mipha. Creating the water vortex and raining down bombs makes the game wanna cry a little. The second one is a similar case. Sidon’s fifth or sixth combo made the made the game drop frames because it’s incredibly fast, involves timing, makes a vortex, and i was in a small space with tons of enemies. Other than that, not even Urbosa’s or Riju’s lightning made the game freak out from what I noticed. That may have something to do with me never using them in a place where there’s constant rain. That might actually be the cause of the drop in combination of everything else.

[beanmaster-pika]

So, if someone wanted to get into MDZS, where would they... start?

Well!!!!!!

First of all I can’t in good conscience recommend the novel itself to a minor because it explicit, but if you’re an adult just ignore this warning! If you’re not, save the novel until you’re older!

I started with the donghua (animation) then went manhua —> novel —> live action drama. You can go through them in any order you’d like, but if I had the chance to do it over again I think it’d be best to start with the novel if possible since that contains the original plot through which lens you can view the adaptations. There are consent issues in some scenes that you can probably find warnings of if you ask around (unfortunately one of them is tied with the relationship development which is. 😬) and I would recommend skipping the incense burner extras like I did, but the main plot is interesting and most of the other extras are delightful from what I recall. For me it felt like the flashback sequences dragged on (they’re long) but they provide very important backstory and also make up a lot of the plot, so I hope you enjoy them! They’re really good even if I was impatient. However, the novel is also around 450k words, and if you don’t wanna read it obviously you don’t have to! And it’s not absolutely necessary if you want to understand what people in the fandom are talking about which I will explain a little more with the donghua.

AGAIN, PLEASE SKIP THE NOVEL FOR NOW IF YOU ARE UNDERAGE!!

From there, I would recommend the donghua next, or first. It more or less keeps the plot of the novel while superficially embellishing on some bits (they added a whole extra scene when the mc’s senior sister’s kid got cursed and when I tell you I cried) and cutting out some others because of censorship, but between it and the drama it’s a more faithful adaptation, and it keeps a lot of the important parts! It’s only two seasons long so it shouldn’t take too long to finish watching, and the third will be airing next year! You can find everything that’s out subtitled in various languages on YouTube for free under Tencent Video, but any anime streaming site will probably have a better English subbed version if you prefer that. The donghua is a perfectly good starting point if you can’t/don’t start with the novel, and though it fudges details the flashback follows the same story beats as the novel. The story that it’s covered + the upcoming season should cover most of where the live action deviates from the novel, and what remain are just a few differences you can piece together from people’s fics and salt posts OR this handy post someone wrote that explains the differences between the novel and the live action. 

Last I’d put the live action drama! It takes way more liberties with the plot during the flashback, and I feel like it makes some changes to characterization, so I think it’s best to have knowledge of the original before going into it. It’s much more loosely adapted and they changed up a major plot point, expanded a few characters’ roles (one more than the others, though their casting also changed the vibe/characterization I got from her in a way that wasn’t necessarily bad, but different), and what could be written in/said/the ending of the show because Censorship Doesn’t Like Gray Morality And Queer People, but the actors did an incredible job and the character dynamics felt very vivid to me. I’m still only on episode 16, but I’ve seen clips floating around and I assume it’s still good! Would’ve been better without the censorship, but on its own I think it still stands as a good show! I think the key is to treat it as something separate, but I do love to mishmash canons and it’s interesting to see how people choose to blend them! The flashback sequences are one long chunk at the beginning, so after the first two eps it’s told in chronological order instead of being intercut. It’s on YouTube (also under Tencent), Netflix, and viki; YouTube also has a special edition or something? Idk. There’s also two spin-off movies that I haven’t watched but people have been going feral over “Fatal Journey”, so by all means try to find the movies after you’re done!

The other two adaptations are the manhua and the audio drama. As far as I know they’re the most faithful to the novel in terms of pacing and plot, but the most I’ve seen from the audio drama are subtitled clips on YouTube. The manhua scanlation can probably be found on whichever manga site you use, but the initial scanlating group kept putting extra shit at the start and end which a) pisses me off and b) used nsfw images. It got picked up at chapter 106 by other groups on the site I use, though, so there’s that! There’s also the ongoing chibi donghua on Tencent called “founder of diabolism q” which compiles a lot of lighthearted shorts. I wish you all the best for your mdzs journey; you’re in for an adventure!

[maxsmusicmacrology]

Album Analysis: Best of Crush 40

Halfway through the 90s, everything changed. The PlayStation came out in 94, allowing games with 3D graphics and high-fidelity (for the time, that is) audio. Big Red came hopping onto the scene with Super Mario 64 in 96, and Sonic Adventure came onto the scene at the very end of 98. As a latecomer to the 3D party, arriving over 2 years after Mario had such a successful romp, they needed something special. They needed…

Children’s media! I’m of the opinion that there are two main categories that children’s media can fall into: there’s media that is specifically made for children, like Blue’s Clues or Peppa Pig or those licensed Sesame Street games. Then there’s kid-friendly media that, while made for and marketed towards children, can still appeal to adults. This would be most Pixar movies, shows like Phineas and Ferb, and the object of today’s article, the Sonic franchise.

While there’s some pretty huge differences between children’s media and kid-friendly media, one thing they both have in common is the goal of teaching children a moral lesson. With varying degrees of success. This can be something simple like “stealing is bad”, but oftentimes there’s some greater nuance, like how the protagonist of Inside Out learns to value sadness and other “negative” emotions. But when working with hardware that has some intense limitations, like the NES or Sega Genesis, telling a complex story isn’t easy, which is why Save the Princess plots (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, the opening to Final Fantasy) were so common: it allowed for a moral hero without requiring any deeper discussion. Sonic the Hedgehog went with a bit more of an environmentalist message- saving animals from an evil scientist- which was easy enough to portray in only 16 bits.

Halfway through the 90s, everything changed. The PlayStation came out in 94, allowing games with 3D graphics and high-fidelity (for the time, that is) audio. Big Red came hopping onto the scene with Super Mario 64 in 96, and Sonic Adventure came onto the scene at the very end of 98. As a latecomer to the 3D party, arriving over 2 years after Mario had such a successful romp, they needed something special. They needed…

I’m going to review this album out of order. This is a “Best of” album, so rather than being a picture of the band’s musical vision at any given time, it contains some of their best work from over a decade-long span. What I’m especially interested in is how the music interacts with its respective game and how it evolves with the franchise, so let’s take a look at song #15 first.

Open Your Heart kicks off Sonic Adventure with a bang. It’s the first thing you hear when you boot the game up and it accompanies the final battle. Well, most of it, anyway- part 1 of the battle gets Open Your Heart and part 2 gets generic “tense orchestral music”, which is a flat-out awful decision, but I digress. Tonally, it’s perfect- it starts out tense, preparing you for the fight ahead, and then the guitars kick in to pull you forward. But more importantly… this is why I brought up the moral conflict earlier. The story is simple, so the game leans on the song to deliver its message.

Much of the lyrics are as relevant today as they probably were for most of human history: the quieter intro bit describes various catastrophes, and describes the fear and confusion that follows (much like the one we’ve been living in for the past few months). The song’s chorus is built around a dialectic: Can’t hold on much longer/but I will never let go, but then ends with Open your heart, it’s gonna be alright. Together, these components combine the fear of catastrophe with the innate desire to make things better. It instills the idea that it’s okay to have conflicting feelings about a course of action, then promises that your heart will make the right choice.

Live and Learn is the main theme of the direct sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, and fills the same roles as Open Your Heart. The opening riff plays when the game is launched, the full song plays over the final battle, and it delivers the moral lesson of the game. If Open Your Heart introduces a lesson about conflict, then Live and Learn teaches you what to do when you’ve made the wrong choice. What happens if you trust the wrong people, stay when you should’ve run or run when you should’ve stayed, let something important fall into the wrong hands?

The very title of the song hints at its message- you learn from your mistakes and do better- but to me the line that really hits comes in the second verse. But you can’t save your sorrows/you’ve paid in trade. It recontextualizes all the regret someone feels from a mistake as a sort of currency: it’s not to be saved, kept in your mind and dwelled on- you’ve exchanged it, traded it for valuable life experience. If you focus on the mistake instead of the lesson, you’ll never grow, and it’ll all have been a waste. Not only is it a natural progression from the last song, it’s an absolute banger of a track.

Next up is Sonic Heroes, the intro track to… Sonic Heroes. That won’t be confusing. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one, it’s not the big moral apex of the game and it’s much more of a title theme than the song the game wants you to walk away from. It’s goofy as hell to listen to, but it always puts a smile on my face.

What I’m Made of is the final battle theme to Sonic Heroes and is, in my opinion, the finale of the Open Your Heart trilogy. Looking at the three songs is a sort of rudimentary 3-act structure: you have the introduction and first conflict, the dark part at the end of act 2, and the triumphant closer. The protagonist takes the lesson they learned through the story and uses it to defeat their opponent. What I have in my two hands is enough to set me free. Use the lessons you’ve learned through hardship to better yourself. The songs form a very nice trilogy when viewed like this that parallels the games quite nicely, and I’m confused as to why they’re all out of order on the album.

That finishes off the Adventure and Heroes saga, and now onto… Shadow the Hedgehog… god. I Am… All of Me is the opening track to the game and also the first song on the album, and it’s so goofy. It tries to be all dark and intimidating because Shadow is the dark and edgy character, who has guns and says “damn” because he has a tragic backstory, and the character isn’t edgy because he’s a cartoon hedgehog and and the song isn’t edgy because it’s a song about a cartoon hedgehog.

That doesn’t mean it’s bad, mind you. I enjoy it, and in a way it’s a perfect fit for the game. It’s like a kid wearing a vampire costume on halloween: they can try to scare you all they want, but the worst they can do is make you smile.

All Hail Shadow is the next Shadow the Hedgehog piece. This one was originally by a group called Magna-Fi, and was covered by Crush 40 for use in later games when the band broke up. Shadow the Hedgehog features multiple paths and multiple endings, and this is the “true hero” ending when the player makes all the heroic choices. This song does a good job painting Shadow as Sonic’s foil: both of them are heroes from this point forward, but while Sonic is more of a classical hero, Shadow is an anti-hero. Somewhere in chaos we all find ourselves/this destruction is the only tale we tell. The game features Shadow trying to recover his memories and find his true self, figure out who he really is, and this is the song that has him rediscover himself as a hero.

Finally, Never Turn Back is the true ending theme for the game, and the last Shadow the Hedgehog song in the album. This is the “moral lesson” song I’ve been on about so much, and it’s a damn good one. It starts with a slow cover that samples I am… All of Me, then it gets a powerful kick that rings in the rest of the song. The message in the song is similar to Live and Learn about not repeating mistakes, but Never Turn Back gives a sense of a much more arduous period in one’s life. If Live and Learn is about recovering from a mistake, Never Turn Back is about recovering from a long series of them. It’s been a long rough road but I’m finally here/Move an inch forward, feels like a year. It’s very much about cutting yourself free of a bad period in your life and how difficult it can be to even stay put, but the positive vibe of the song reminds us to celebrate the small victories. It’s a bit more mature of a message for a game that… at least tried to be more mature.

I haven’t talked a whole lot about how the music interacts with the events of the game partially because this is a music review, but partially because it’s gone perfectly hand and hand with the music so far. There hasn’t been much dissonance between “rock music that gives life advice” and “young-ish hedgehog learning how to live life”. That’s about to change, though, because it’s time for Sonic 06. At the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic declared that he was no one special, “just a guy who loves adventure”. This is when that ceased to be true.

The first three songs we discussed weren’t about Sonic. The singer was a nameless narrator occasionally fighting a nameless opponent. They were relevant to the series, but they could be about anyone. That’s what made them so versatile. His World is the main theme of Sonic 06, and where the other 2 versions of the song existed more to hype up Sonic as a character, the Crush 40 cover was more about the events of the game. As a song, it’s pretty good: it’s a more intense version of the original song, and it’s got a slower but steadier pace to it. But here’s what sets it apart from the other main themes: it’s about Sonic. It’s not a lesson about facing conflict and overcoming adversity wrapped up in an upbeat rock song, it’s about the events of the game and how awesome Sonic is. He isn’t the everyman anymore, he’s an important figure, a chosen one to save the world from this point forward. The music reflects that.

To really drive home this new direction they were going, Sega released two games for the Wii called “Sonic Storybook” games, where Sonic would become the main character of two classic stories: Arabian Nights and the legend of King Arthur. They’re both terrible in… just about every aspect, but the first entry Sonic and the Secret Rings is godawful. The main theme Seven Rings in Hand wasn’t written or originally performed by Crush 40, but for some reason they decided to cover it for their album, so I have to talk about it: it’s trash. It’s a bunch of empty lyrics about nothing with some pretty subpar mixing.

While Sonic and the Black Knight isn’t much better, it at least has a killer main theme. Knight of the Wind as a song is pretty badass, but it suffers the same issues as His World. There’s no more important meaning, it’s just about Sonic being a knight and saving people. It has a few familiar “never give up” themes, but it doesn’t do anything as well as Open Your Heart or Live and Learn. It falls into the Sonic Heroes mold where it’s fun to listen to and less fun to really take apart and analyze. The ending theme (which strangely precedes Knight of the Wind) Live Life samples Knight of the Wind, but that’s pretty much the coolest thing it does. It’s slow and pensive, making a sense of faux-thoughtfulness to cover mostly shallow lyrics.

With Me (Massive Power Mix) is the last Sonic and the Black Knight theme here, and was originally written by Crush 40 and performed by singers from the band “All Ends”. The album features a version performed by the band itself, and the song is unique in that it’s sung from the POV of the game’s villain. As a result, it features a look into a character who walked a “dark path”, weighed down by the mistakes they made. Don’t blame [me] for what I have become. It’s an ideological clash against the values in the other songs, arguing that anyone can be tempted to become evil. It’s deeper than anything in the game, but it’s shockingly good considering its source material.

That does it for the main series themes, but there’s a few others on here- a couple tracks for the racing games, an oddly placed cover of Fire Woman, and a too-slow ballad-sounding original song called Is It You. However, I think I’ve gone on long enough, and I’ve discussed everything I wanted to: how the songs showcased on this album elevate the messages given in the games.

Ultimately, all these songs are mirrors of the game they’re in, for better or worse. For that, I have to applaud the band’s versatility- even if most of the songs are the same genre, they cover a wide range of moods and messages depending on what the game demands. They can write a kick-ass guide to getting over failure or a fun little romp to introduce a game. Even divorced from their source material, many of the songs stand well on their own, and there’s a very good reason why fans of the franchise want Crush 40 to return for future installments.

Videos cited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJYxYzxFyZw Peppa Pig - Caddicarus (warning: weird shit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWYDUYqhlc&list=PL5F29F0909BF08B56&index=15 - Best of Crush 40 Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voI-9TdS0Jw - Seven Rings in Hand (Crush 40 Ver)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrOjyltyEM - With Me (Massive Power Mix)

[these-are-the-first-steps]

JUST SEEN THE TRAILER- TIME TO BREAK IT DOWN!!

So my brain refused to pay attention to both audio and visual at once with this, so my break-down is first with the dialogue we hear (which is the first thing that kept drawing my attention), and then with what we actually see.

DIALOGUE:

-Ok, who the fuck is that talking at the front end?? I *think* it might be Poe? Because it matches the pitch and tone of Oscar’s voice when he’s talking to 3PO, HOWEVER--- -”Good people will fight if we lead them!” jesus fuck that sounds like Adam??? It sounds like Adam. His voice DOES pitch up quite a bit in passionate moments- see TFA’s forest fight. It sounds like his same voice there here.

-”People keep telling me they know me. No one does.” SAME, GIRL, SAME. “But I do,” a very SOAKED Kylo Ren says as he emerges from the wave to confront this off-the-rails prodigal! GO GET HER, BBY!!!

-”And now, your coming together....is your undoing.” You know what’s fuckin weird here? Palpy doesn’t even really sound happy about it?? Like he’s almost...sad??? What even??? What is going on here???

-heart-string pulling like from 3PO was UNCALLED FOR, JJ. )X

-”Confronting fear...it’s the destiny of a Jedi!” says the guy who came from a LONG LINE of Jedi who ran away lmfao. Ok, Luke, ok....

-Carrie’s voice as the last voice in the trailer? Yes, thank you, I have been fed.

VISUAL:

-Rey tossing down Luke’s old training visor- so, we’re training. Rey’s working hard, but her training transitions right into what she’s done her entire life- scaling derelict ships for parts. Why do all new things always lead back to the old, I’m sure she wonders? The look on her face reads exasperation. She’s DONE this before- wasn’t that old life supposed to stop?

-Lando seems to become a rallying point for the fractured and beaten resistance. <3

-The kids (Finn, Poe, and Rose) go on adventures, through jungles and deserts! The old sand yacht seems to make a reappearance- do we go back to Tatooine? The fuckin...shitty epicenter of the whole skywalker lineage? What are they there to look for, I wonder, if so?

-Rey looks....downright angry on the downed death star (are we agreeing that’s what it is?) when Kylo appears, and Kylo, as the last trailer snippet showed us, really seems to have his head on straighter this time- he’s serious, but he looks VERY collected- he knows what his business with Rey is, and he is (deathly) calm about fulfilling it- whatever that might be!

-The iceberg island looks like something out of Farscape’s “Unrealized Realities” episode. In that episode, the iceberg was an ephemeral construct created by dimension-jumping beings to steady and sustain the show’s hero to figure out just *why* he wanted to go home so bad- and why he wanted to use something that could easily be turned into a galaxy-destroying super weapon to do it. So that iceberg, which was a stepping stone not just through TIME but DIMENSIONS (unrealized realities- the what-could-have-beens in every single instance of every being’s existence) is giving me serious “Unrealized Realities” vibes, which....well, it might fit into the theme of all this. If you want some crazy science-philosophy downloaded into your brain, please check out that episode.

-that’s the fucking game of thrones throne- JJ whyyyyyyyyy

-that imperial star destroyer looks like it is LITERALLY coming out of the ice- has it been hiding all this time?!!!

-The falcon clearly has plenty of friends- I think the resistance is probably OK.

-Kylo and Rey’s clash in the splash looks more passioned than deadly. It’s like when you’re really REALLY upset and you smack a pillow a bunch- are you really out to damage your fluff or are you just hitting it because you don’t know what else to do? That’s what those sword swipes look like to me.

-ALSO ALL THOSE STRIKES ARE ON REY- THAT’S KYLO ON THE DEFENSIVE, HE’S NOT ATTACKING HE’S BLOCKING HER STRIKES.

-At least the resistance friends look to be on a First Order ship as they shoot down troopers and not some haunted imperial one.

-Carrie, I cry.

-I....is that a pod racing homage? I’m even more convinced it’s tatooine.

-Who is flying that...A-wing? Is that like a resistance A-wing?

-I don’t get the horses. Stop trying to put horses in star wars ok. At least make them slime aliens or something.

-The room where Palpy and Luke and Vader had their infamous showdown and our two children are just standing in it *staring at each other*  I really really cANNOT.

-Finn is suddenly at the clash ‘n splash now, too? Looks like he’s yelling “REY!” like when Kylo carried her off in TFA? In fact that whole scene looks like an echo of that. I wonder what Rey’s reaction will be to it this time- she knows both men much, much better now, and I get the feeling that Finn’s not gonna be the type to understand aggressive courtships.

-Rey and Kylo are destroying things together. This is good. But it almost looks like they’re in some weird Cloud City?? I slowed down the trailer to stop on that frame and the thing they’re destroying looks almost like some sort of decoy puppet- it’s got a head and the shape of a body under a cloak. Could it just be some avatar of Palpy or something? Or actually him himself? Would that be too much to give away in a trailer? lol. What kind of Jedi/Sith tech can we find that might fit the description of an animated avatar to work on one’s behalf at a safe distance? I’m super into this idea now. Also, Rey is holding a knife now- a new weapon!! It doesn’t seem like destroying that thing was much of a challenge for them either, and Kylo still has his mask on, so perhaps this is at an early part of the movie before he loosens up a bit more?

-fuuuuuuckin star destroyer o’clock!! D:

-Something’s reflecting off of Kylo’s face here. Is some sort of old holovid playing? What is he watching? What is he being shown?? He looks almost...hurt. Caught off guard by whatever it is he sees!! :O

-This bit with Rey almost looks like the item in the top left corner could be Vader’s mask, but I think it’s just that fuckin discount iron throne palpy bought at the wrap auction. Because standing in front of it in a black cloak is probably whatever husk of the former Emperor is left...

-Rey looks emotional in this closeup. Is this where she sees her darksider self? She seems sadly accepting of whatever it is she’s looking at, and that would fit the bill- “Nobody really knows me” and here she is confronted with the Dark truth she’s never actually vocalized. Niiiiice. This is why Kylo knows you, baby!! <3

-The last three shots of this trailer are of Kylo and Rey, and AT LEAST TWICE this was edited to show Kylo and Rey pointed towards each other shot-wise. None of it was aggressive, all of it was weepy begrudging. And I, personally, can work with that.

God speed, Space Babies!!!! I am SO ready for December!!!!

[eight-edges]

Evgenia Medvedeva: Program Review (All Senior Competition Programs)

Soooo I haven't seen a post like this yet that breaks down all of Zhenya's (or anyone's) competitive programs, and it's midnight so I have no impulse control. So what have I done? Broken down all of Zhenya's competitive programs from her senior career.

Let's go!

2015-16 (Her Breakout Season)

Short Program: "Melodies of the White Night" (Choreo. By Alexander Zhulin)

I can't say I was ever a fan of this program. It wasn't particularly bad, nor was it memorable. If you played the music for me, I would never be able to recall any stand out elements or choreography to go with it. It is also the program that I watched the least from her, mostly just because I couldn't keep my interest for the entire thing (and it was only 2 minutes so that is saying something). It also featured, in my opinion, Evgenia's worst dress from her Tutberidze days (burgundy is not her colour).

Long Program: W. E. (Choreo by Ilia Averbukh)

I believe that this is the beginning of Evgenia's 'pantomime' phase. This program tells the story of a girl who suffers from hearing loss (a reference to Diana Davis, Tutberidze's daughter), and while Evgenia took a lot of slack for the story element of the program, I actually quite enjoyed the choreo and setup of it. There were tons of little moments and tiny choreography choices displayed that caught my interest and helped me to get past the pantomime. It was probably the most subtle and layered her choreography would by under Tutberidze. Her jumps were spot on for most of her preformances of this program, and it was just pleasing to watch. Her dress was lovely, as well. The music is beautiful, too!

2016-17 (Zhenya's Golden Year)

Short Program: "River Flows in You" (Choreo. by Ilia Averbukh)

I LOVED this program!! Maybe it's just my personal sentimental connection to the music (I stayed with a family in Japan who would play this song on car rides), or maybe it's the fact that this was the first of Evgenia's programs I watched (and fell in love immediately), but this program moved me to tears almost every time I watched it! It's "story" is about maturing from a child into a woman, which was very relvant to Evgenia that season. Yes, the pantomime was annoying at times, but Evgenia brought personality to it apart from that. It moved me so much that I used the same music as my own program music last year lmao. It's still not my fave from her, but it's up there for sure!

Long Program: "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (Choreo. by Ilia Averbukh)

This was, to say the least, a MESSY idea. A program about 9/11 with audio from news reports and ambulance sirens? Skated by a Russian?? What was Ilia thinking??? Zhenya has stated herself that she didn't like this program and only tolerated it because she won with it! Needless to say she took a ton of hate for this program (even though she had 0 say in it) and it was just a bad idea.

However, the choreography was simply beautiful to me, and Zhenya was able to interpret it beautifully (pantomime aside)! Her dress was one of my favorites, too! And it didn't hurt that she was incredibly consistant this season, so it was always secure and relaxing to watch events with her.

2017-18 (Olympics!!)

Short Program: "Nocturne" (Choreo. by Ilia Averbukh)

I liked this program okay. It was Zhenya's only warhorse program, so some instant iffy vibes, but she skated it well every time and it had very minimal pantomime. Yes the creepy breathes and heartbeat sounds were a bit Much, but overall, it didn't really feel like your typical annoyingly, extra Averbukh program. Her dress was simply gorgeous! My favorite SP dress from her Tutberidze days (second overall to Rhinestone Suspenders but oh well)! It felt like an Olympic program to me, and she sold it like one!

Long Program: "Anna Karenina" (Choreo. by Danill Gleichengauz)

This was the perfect program to round out Zhenya’s career with Tutberidze. I thought it was definitely the most subtle choreographically and although she went through about three dresses for it, all were lovely. It’s not my favorite, but Zhenya clearly enjoyed skating to it (which I cannot say for most of her Tutberidze programs) and made it her own! Just like her SP, this program was perfect for the Olympics, and her finishing off the entire competition with it and all of the emotion she left in the ice, moved me in so many ways. She wasn’t clean with it for a long time, mostly due to her injury, so it could get frustrating to watch at times, but this is ultimately one of my favorite Zhenya programs!

2018-19 (New Coach, New Zhenya)

Short Program #1: “Orange Colored Sky” (Choreo. by David Wilson)

I had so much hope for this program. She performed it spectacularly at AIC, but could never really grasp it during the Grand Prix. The theme was just so different from anything we had seen from Zhenya before. She was sassy, she was energetic, she had spunk! But when she couldn’t deliver a performance, it just seemed out of place. Murderface Medvedeva murdered this program, unfortunately. It featured my all time favorite dress (RHINESTONE SUSPENDERS!!!!!), too. It was just too much change too soon. If she brings this back in a few years I will be ecstatic! But until then (and I think Zhenya realized this too) she needs to just focus on bettering what she can already do.

Short Program #2: “Tosca” (Choreo. by Misha Ge)

Tosca was a much more “Zhenya” choice of music. She only performed this program three times (it was made as an emergency backup program halfway through the season), but it was just leaps better than OCS in terms of how she performed it and the amount of comfort she exuded when skating to it. A great SP to round out her season with! And while I’m not always a fan of Misha’s choreography (it tends to be pretty bland), he worked really well with Zhenya and created a really captivating program! I wish she would have kept it for next season, tbh.

Long Program: “Libertango” (Choreo. by David Wilson)

Well, it would be false advertising to call this a “tango”, but it’s a great program nonetheless. It also got much better as the season progressed. While more classically “Zhenya”, I think it offered enough challenges that she really was able to push herself. Evgenia has said that she wanted to do a Libertango program for a long time, and you can tell that she actually liked skating to this! Not my favorite choreography wise, but it’s a mile better than what she might have gotten with Danill has she stayed in Russia (but that’s a post for another day...). Also, all three dresses were very pretty!

[welovelofi]

Loves Me / Loves Me Not

New Years approaching, time for one last 2019 share, we hope you’ll enjoy <3

We also started adding the tracks from our LMLMN posts in a spotify playlist for further enjoyment, you can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0cgvx8cRMUii4ZSNkdennc?si=iHduei6CQI6Fgtt6qfEKGQ

Onwards>>

Safari - Are’s Daughter + Spoken

https://soundcloud.com/bandsafari/ares-daughter

Safari were spending so much time in the bush that they forgot to let us know they released a bunch of lovely tunes 2 months back - much luck however, we’re gonna cover 2 of the tunes for your pleasure this time!

The first one ‘Are’s Daughter’ is personally one of my favourite tunes in some time as it connects a nice big array of solid influences and manages to somehow pack them all into a solid 4min package. It’s lofi, it’s certain diy, there’s some dorky The Frogs vibes that merges into the lofi slackery early Built to Spill which then goes full Pixies aka ‘Break My Body’ from Surfer Rosa - I’m fucking loving the screams around the 2 min part. It’s just a beautiful chill, noise and quite pleasant 4 min of your time, I’d recommend going twice.

https://soundcloud.com/bandsafari/spoken

‘Spoken’ is the second track we got sent off of the ‘Draw’ release from earlier this year. It’s a little less ‘full on’ than Are’s Daughter, but still quite a pleasant company. The vocal melodies show one of the major strengths of ‘Safari’, it’s kept really simple, often repetitive but the melodies keep it all floating extremely well - and then I have to say - that their singer has the same tone as Black Francis is just an amazing plus - for someone who still loves to go back an listen to Surfer Rosa, Trompe Le Monde, Doolittle and other old Pixies albums, this gives me hope that there’s new blood coming! I look forward to what the time will bring for Safari if they end up in the right hands.

Yaehsun - Show Me How You Love

https://soundcloud.com/user-282851032/show-me-how-to-love

Like a soothing bedroom version of early Tame Impala, Yaehsun gets away with copying all the nice things of TI without coming across as a silly ripoff - many have gone that way and never delivered - It’s not the case here. It’s damn smooth and I would be very inclined to put this tune on a sunday chill playlist - something I would most likely never do with a Tame Impala track. I look very much forward to seeing what else will come from this outfit! 

Mouthbreather - Modern Girl

This is about as “folky” as it gets for us, but it’s not really folk - it’s got way too much of something else that I’m not quite sure how to pin down. Somehow I feel like I’m hearing this mix of Oasis and the National, but I’m not sure - I am sure though that that’s only a good thing. Lyrics tells a pretty straight ahead and nice story, the video has some really nice cartoon-parts that was a pleasure to spend time with. It’s a pretty simple song but I have a feeling that a lot of work and love went into this, it’s definitely worth a listen and a watch, just to take a quiet breather while everyones passing by around you in highspeed. You don’t always need to go fast, remember to enjoy the things and people around you <3

I, Doris - Just Some Doris

https://soundcloud.com/user-60096052/just-some-doris-1/s-kR6sc

Oh another home-run from Britain before they exit EU, if anything I hope that the whole thing will bring a ton of great music built on anger and frustration. This lovely little tune by Doris is rather comical, not in the annoying way of course, it’s more dorky - Dorky Doris, fuck I’d love to have a friend who called herself that. Now I love dorky, although naming yourself dorky is probably more ballsy than dorky, anyhow enough of this - the tune is cosy, you’ll enjoy it! I for one hope I get to see I, Doris live sometime! 

Pink Soup - Epiphany

https://pinksoup.bandcamp.com/track/epiphany

Loads of lofi bedroom-electro vibes in this sleepy slacker tune from Pink Soup, it’s a perfect soundtrack for a delirious sunday stroll to the local grocery store still halfway gone from last nights escapades. I have absolutely no idea what’s really being sung about, but it doesn’t matter, I feel whats going on and thats exactly what the track’s supposed to do - switch your mind off and just let go for a little while, we’ll be okay, this boat is gonna dock on the other side somewhere.

The Oxen - Glass Pastures

https://soundcloud.com/theoxen/glass-pastures

Damn perfect tune for getting completely lost - this track makes me want to get a garden, somewhere I can just lie down on grass and have butterflies and bumblebees flying around above my head. I’m going to need some sunflowers too - I can already see them swaying in tune to this song with the wind, it’s going to be fucking magical!

The tune evolves beautifully also - it’s smooth sailing with the change-up of a c-part where it gets a bit more rocky, but you’ll be back - it’s like a pretty nice guided audio-meditation - letting you ride their magical rollercoaster safely back to the docking bay. I’d love to try some of the other rides in this delicious theme park <3

Royal Target - By My Side

https://soundcloud.com/smiths1967/by-my-side

This tune reminds me of the first albums by bands like Beat Happening and the Vaselines. There’s some sort of “puppy like” thing about songs on those albums as there is with this tune by Royal Target. It’s kinda tumbling ahead in the most charming of ways. This song gets some extra vibe by the thick german “english” accent, it just really works. 

I know from conversation that the tune itself holds enormous meaning to the artist and is quite personal, which is always a nice thing to know that something was created with a lot of emotion - that’s why songs like this works out, you don’t to drown in technical skills or have equipment more expensive than your house, you just need integrity and emotion. I hope 2020 will bring plenty of more songs down this road.

Modesta - Ode to the Peculiar

https://open.spotify.com/track/2KrbjD9t31ZpBKUocd7M5c

This is about as ‘poppy’ as it gets for us, but it’s so damn good this here. It’s like cutting hot butter with a sharp knife or watching someone squeeze silly putty in slow motion, I mean come one - that stuff is trance-like! Why do you think ASMR is so popular these days - I'm pretty sure Modesta is the true link between music and asmr. You should give it a try, it will make your day better, promise!

Take care everyone and have a good new years.

See you in 2020

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: May 2019

Here’s how I spent the month of May!

……….FILM……….

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) I don’t think I was mentally prepared to get right into the violence and the film doesn’t ease you into any of it. If anything, I found this chapter to rely on the combat more than the previous two and by the end, I was a little numb. Still a great film and perhaps I’ll feel differently on a second viewing. For now, I’d say it’s very good and has like...10 minutes too much fighting.

Bridesmaids (2011) Always great but in watching this I realized what makes the improv stand out from other films: the underlying storytelling. While there’s lots of back and forth between characters that are funny, it’s usually doing something else at the same time (showing characters competing and in conflict with each other, showing the casual report between friends, etc.) The humour never feels like it’s there because the movie is a comedy, but that we’re watching funny people live their lives. It really works.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) So I admit that I know only a surface level of info about Ted Bundy and what he did. With that in mind I found it frustrating that the movie took the perspective of “did he or didn’t he?” I get that the film’s perspective was that of Liz Kendall but then I wanted more concrete proof that he did it (not seeing the crimes, but through evidence in the courtroom). The one bit they did show (the teeth marks) felt flimsy and was undercut by Bundy’s rebuttal. I just didn’t vibe with the coy approach.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Magicians (Episode 1.01 to 1.09) Having read the books, I had no interest watching a series that also centres around Quentin. Only after friends told me it doesn’t revolve around him did I try it out and it’s great! The casting is still a little too CW for me (you can tell if a character will eventually play a major role based on how conventionally attractive they are) but the overall dynamic works. The magic is still dangerous, the fighting is still petty, and the world is still as complex as the novels.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Episode 2.08 to 2.09) So ep 8 (with the mandrake) is peak Sabrina for me: a little horror, a little melodrama, and a fairly contained episode. Perhaps I’m longing for a different type of television but I really want this series to become something in the vein of Buffy where there’s a monster of the week and perhaps it all ties to a bigger plot. The season finale was fun and I mistook the Phantom of the Opera song for a current top 40 hit so...I’m out of touch in a whole bunch o ways.

Queer Eye (Episode 3.01 to 3.08) Ugh what a great season.

Life in PIeces (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) It’s starting to grow on me. The format works well though I’d say their consistency (even within a single episode) varies. Maybe I just need more time with the characters but so far I’m just luke warm to it.

……….READING……….

Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson (Complete) Without giving up too much of the story, this is a heart wrenching read and one that is foreshadowed by the tone and content of the first chapter (a skill I really appreciate in both literature and film). It’s dark and light and human and really left an impression after I finished it.

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction & David Aja Omnibus by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth, Chris Eliopoulos, and so many more (Complete) Seeing Avengers:Endgame made me long for a Hawkeye that I liked and in rereading this, I found what I needed. I cannot say enough kind things about this run. It’s singular and small in its focus and the art/direction is phenomenal. It at times feels gritty and grounded, and yet has a real spy thriller vibe to the overall tone. If you can get your hands on the omnibus then do it. It’s human and heroic and good-spirited and funny in a dry, world-weary way and Kate Bishop is a wonderful foil to Clint Barton (and vice versa).

Sabrina by Nick Drnaso (Complete) Oof what a read. I knew the book dealt with the aftermath of a woman’s murder, but I didn’t realize it would be such a reflection on the modern media landscape. It deals with conspiracies, allegations of fake news, death threats, and the general paranoia that victims endure after a tragedy. This video essay says it all better than I could.

Be Prepared by Vera Brogsol (Complete) Charming and personal and while I don’t have many experiences with camp, I do feel a deep connection with a protagonist that never quite succeeds at fitting in with the “in” crowd. It’s a great all-ages read and is beautifully illustrated and I can’t say enough kind things about it.

Adventures of a Japanese Businessman by Jose Domingo (Complete) Just fantastic. I picked this up after a glowing review from my friend and it didn’t disappoint. Silent and surreal, the series of unfortunate events told across each 4-panel page is a masterclass in setup and resolution. There are tiny 2-3 panel arcs happening all over and it truly rewards rereads. I loved every minute of it and can’t recommend it enough.

Ragnarök Volume 1: Last God Standing by Walt Simonson (Complete) It’s fun to read a comic about Thor and it not be the Marvel version: the mythology is a little different (closer to the myths), the tone is a little different (Thor and the gods have lost and Ragnarök has happened), and I’m sure there isn’t as much editorial influence since it’s wholly the creator’s vision. It’s fairly self-serious and the overall vibe is fairy 70s Heavy Metal, and it all works. Not necessarily my go-to tone, but it’s good at what it does and is refreshingly different.

Domu by Katsuhiro Otomo (Complete) Just fantastic. Akira was always a little overwhelmingly big (though no less impressive) so this smaller, more intimate story was right up my alley. It’s creepy and kinetic and beautiful and a really good read. It’s hard to come by in print, but if you can find it then I defo recommend.

……….AUDIO……….

Dedicated by Carly Rae Jepsen (2019) You know what? This album is a lot of fun and very good and you should check it out. I really wish it kept the energy of the first couple tracks all the way through, but I really just can’t hold every artist to the level of Andrew W. K.

……….GAMING……….

Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast) What I love about this group is they often spend so much time discussing who is in charge of the money, avoid conflict with a ghost that is trying to kill them, and yet really want to pursue the mystery creature that was rummaging around the pantry two sessions earlier. Also they’re still in a haunted house with ominous chanting and undead everywhere.

Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press) The party has started to explore other parts of the maze (now moving away from the Lich-haunted gardens) and continue to find countless unsettling beasts and creatures. A couple near death experiences but overall, they’re doing well.

And that’s it! As always, I’m keen to hear your suggestions for what the read, watch, hear, and play next!

Happy Friday.

[bakagamieru]

Live Show 5

A few notes:

I hope Louis works a bit on his hype introduction speeches for his acts because I can tell he’s sincere, but it feels like they’re lacking a lot of energy and I think that’s more needed for speeches like that.  I don’t want anything to make audience members not as familiar with Louis think he’s not giving it his all as a mentor.

I noticed this last week but forgot: It’s really nice to watch Anthony bouncing around and thanking each individual band member after all of his performances.

It’s really messed up that both Danny and Anthony’s performances were completely warped by the sound issues.  In a singing competition that the audience votes on, the sound that’s broadcast is kind of fucking important.  I assume this is why the voting has been delayed, but I’m not sure how exactly they plan to fix the situation since just posting the performances with clear audio online won’t necessarily reach the same audience.

Louis’ shirt is amazing.  It’s been a few weeks since he’s been wearing designs with no words and I wasn’t sure we’d be getting anymore messages on his shirts, but “Eyes Wide Open” is perfect.

I appreciate that Louis actually judges the performances, but he’s being framed as a little unreasonable and maybe even jealous of the other acts which is really annoying.  I think this is something Dermot always does- taking the side of the contestants against any criticism- but as a Louis fan, it irks me and concerns me a little.

There were 2 performances that had me cringing while they were in progress- United Vibe and Brendan.  I love Brendan, but his voice is rather delicate and I don’t think doing his song in the way they did was a good choice.  He also seems like he hasn’t quite learned how to perform an upbeat song since his energy didn’t come across as strongly as it should.  For United Vibe, it just hurt.  Louis is 100% right that they don’t perform like a group but like individuals.  I also can’t figure out why they kept the solos for the guy whose voice was clearly shot from being sick.  If you’ve got 5 people, you don’t need to have the sick person soloing in this type of competition.

Personally, I think Dalton, Shan, Bella, and Gio did incredibly on this performance.  Unfortunately, I can’t say for sure about Danny or Anthony because I couldn’t freaking hear them.  I also think Acacia and Aaliyah and Misunderstood are always great.