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thepolymathexcuse · 1 month ago

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Weeklies: Stronger

Happy Monday to everyone!

Last week's new learnings:

Here's some general overview of what we learned this week. I'll be making separate articles on some of them once I've actually finished them, so be sure to check them out! In the mean time, here's the gist of this week's new knowledge:

A. Online Courses

We finished three courses of an ongoing project titled "Dr. Mendoza Series" which involves finishing four special courses in the DOST-PALMS website taught by Balik Scientist Dr. Guillermo Mendoza. Each course has its own certificate, and we've acquired three already! The first seminar introduced the basic principles of the Geographic Information System, which we finished a week earlier, but still had remaining activities for strengthening the learned principles. Last week, we finished two more, which delved into more specific applications of GIS in agriculture, and an introductory course on remote sensing and satellites. It was fun re-learning about the functional capabilities of GIS and which career tracks suit you if you decide to become an expert in geospatial technologies. Don't forget to check them out in case you're interested! [1, 2, 3]

We watched the first six videos of the Rhetoric and Composition course from YouTube, taught by Dr. Emily Zarka, in the hopes of improving my writing and composition skills. There's already been a long list of principles that we could use to enhance our writing skills and habits, including learning about the writing process, and introducing writing as a literacy which allows even the good writers to hone their craft deeper. I'm basically taking this course to pave way for a more structured and in-depth learning of an MIT OCW course I'll be taking next month. [4]

B. Scientific Articles

I'm currently trying to understand the concept of tipping elements in the Earth's climate system through a research by Lenton et al. (2008), and it discusses what particular subsystems of the Earth system as a whole could improve policy making in the field of climate science and in hopefully mitigating the effects of climate change. So far, I've learned how the tipping elements are small things that could affect big changes in the processes that happen in our planet. The team had devised a special mathematical criteria on how they consider a system to be a tipping element, and three more criteria to consider if they could potentially drive policy. I'm still in the early stages of understanding this topic, but I do hope I could talk about it more simply soon. [5]

I read about a scientific article that could potentially change our current science textbooks! A team by Dr. Joanne Stephenson (a geophysicist) from the Australian National University confirmed in a 2021 study the presence of an innermost inner layer of the Earth's inner core—it's a handful to say, I know. They used a search algorithm to "trawl through" previously-made models of the inner core and matched these models with decades-worth of observed data on seismic waves. Simply put, seismic waves are basically just vibrations that happen in the earth that transmit energy in waves caused either naturally by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, or artificially by man-made explosions. Here I also learned a new word, anisotropy, which in this context is how the differences in a material's composition affect certain properties of these seismic waves. The team found out that there were several "more likely" models that matched with the seismic wave activities and it could be due to the different structural configurations of iron crystals within the inner core (anisotropy of iron, whoosh). Although I still have to read the paper to fully understand this, the team concluded that their research might have revealed two separate cooling events in the Earth's formation and proved the inconsistencies in our current planetary models. Knowing full well during my younger schooling that the Earth only has three layers (the crust, the mantle, and the core), this discovery is shockingly awesome, since it means we're still learning a whole lot more about our own planet and it's exciting that the knowledge taught in schools is still evolving! Fun times! [6, 7]

A more recent study (published just this year) by Michinobu Kuwae and his colleagues from Ehime University in Osaka, Japan, have shed some light on the ongoing debate within the scientific community: are we already in the Anthropocene? Basically, the Anthropocene is a proposed geological epoch characterized by how human impacts significantly changes the way Earth systems work. There was an earlier article from the New York Times that I could not read because it needs a subscription, but the headline says that some scientists do not believe we're already in the Anthropocene. The study, however, suggested that we may actually be in this epoch since the 1950s! Through their research, they listed three candidate points when the Anthropocene began, but concluded that the huge increase in the rates of human impacts between 1948 to 1953 may hold the greatest evidence to establish the 1950s as the origin point. During this brief time period, organic pollutants, microplastics, and byproducts of the nuclear age (i.e. plutonium and carbon-14) were first spotted. Moreover, these increased rates in 'anthropogenic fingerprints' uncovered in rock layers were found to be simultaneously occurring across the globe, which is indicative of a global scale shift. How is this finding relevant? Well, to this day, there still is no final agreement within the scientific community whether we're currently living in the Anthropocene, and this discovery clearly changes our perspective on the relationship between humans and the planet in the context of the long history of the Earth. With this knowledge, we can hopefully spread increased awareness to the public so we can develop policies that could reduce the impacts of human activities on the Earth system in order for the future generations to thrive in a safer environment. [8, 9]

Finally, the last article I've read was actually related to one of the training courses I took this week (Dr. Mendoza's Introduction to Satellites and Remote Sensing). Dr. Olly Bartlett, a remote sensing specialist from the University of Hertfordshire, together with his colleagues, used satellite imagery taken by Landsat from 1986-2021 to reveal a rapid change in land cover across the Antarctic peninsula. From less than a square kilometer of vegetal cover in 1986 to almost 12 km^2 in 2021, the region experienced an alarming rate of plant growth, particularly moss, during the four-decade time frame used in the study. What's more surprising is that the rate is significantly higher between the years 2016 and 2021. Further spread of moss would actually lead to a buildup of a soil layer that would provide a habitat for non-native (and potentially invasive) species of more complex plant life that would compete with the native species that are more adapted to the colder conditions of the region. It is to be emphasized that higher amounts of vegetation was caused potentially by the increasing global temperatures, with the Antarctic region experiencing the biggest increase in temperature (3°C) compared to what was observed across other parts of the planet since 1950 (which is oddly related to the previous article suggesting that the Anthropocene might have started during this time period). As native and non-native species compete for space and resources, most of the native plants would eventually be lost due to rapid changes in the Antarctic ecosystem, thereby implying species and biodiversity loss in the region. The authors suggested that the main driver of this landscape shift is most definitely the changes in the Antarctic climate. There are several opportunities for this research area, as this was actually the first study that looks at a regional scale. This study provides a 'baseline data' to further investigate the land cover change across the Antarctic region. It must be an exciting time for polar scientists! [10, 11]

C. Other areas of learning

I just finished last Monday (October 7) my I-don't-know-how-many-times-already re-watching of the Haikyuu!! anime, and I am still in awe with the many values portrayed within the different episodes. Values are generally the core principles by which we should live by, and the anime holds in its episodes values of passion, perseverance, determination, teamwork, and even how healthy competition could lead to immense growth (which is actually a concept of Darwinian evolution). I can't even begin to list down all the notes I took because of the shocking facets of my life that I see within the series.

I bought a secondhand MacBook Air (2015 model) from a friend and it's my first week of familiarizing myself with the Apple ecosystem. It was fun, and a little bit challenging in the first night and the next day, but eventually I got the hang of it. There are still several features I haven't encountered, but when I switched to a Windows platform yesterday (Sunday), my fingers were trying to adjust again due to some small differences in the positioning of keys. Switching between environments is one thing I have to get used to, but at least now we get to practice in case we decide to buy a newer model of the Mac in the near future.

Although this did not happen last week, but rather last October 6, I still would like to include how a friend who literally ghosted the entire friend group for five long years taught me about the true meaning of independence and how she actually embodied the word. I mean, she still had other groups of friends, but she was one of my closest friend during college (and I'd like to believe she considers us that way, too—hi Mai!), so I just got really shocked that that Sunday was her last day in the country! She moved to Japan the following day and I'm glad we've been in contact since. Talk about surprises, though, but really her story during the past five years really taught me a lot about independent life, and how you shouldn't really depend on others for your decisions, really. It's inspiring how she was just really set on doing things, and she accomplished it. I hope she's having a fun time there, though. She got a nice view of her apartment, after all!

I won't elaborate on this one but there is this video by Stephen Antonioni in YouTube about how the world is in the middle of something big, like a major global event (yes, the pandemic is just the beginning). Using three books, he discussed how the Earth in general is just stuck in cycles of 80-year periods, if I remember correctly, whereafter a major shift occurs, in the form of wars or economic depression. It was mind-boggling to say the least. [12]

Finally, one of the highlights of this week: the Nobel Prize [13] announced this year's winners! A lot of really well-deserved wins. Here's a succinct list:

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine: Viktor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of the micro-RNA, a type of RNA involved in the regulation of gene expression.

Nobel Prize in Physics: John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks"

Nobel Prize in Chemistry: divided into 2, first to David Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half to both Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for their research on protein folding which has its applications in the medical field!

South Korea gets their first Nobel Prize in Literature as Han Kang bags the award for her poetic prose that "confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life." I'll be sure to add her to my reading list!

Finally, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo for their advocacy on completely ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

Here are some of the music that kept me sane throughout the week:

Alat & Tupa, both by Munimuni

Nang Makita Kang Muli, a really short song by Unniko Ijo but got me thinking about the moon

The Fray's comeback EP! I mean, the entire EP is fire!

Multo by Cup of Joe

Kung Sino Man by Benj Pangilinan

Soup by Amiel Sol (I'm blushing!)

Hirap Kalimutan, a recent release from a new therapy artist: Jan Roberts

Satisfy Me by Anderson East: This was in my liked songs since college and the instrumentals and East's gritty voice still impresses me to this day!

Crying Season by UDD, just because! Note: I might release playlists soon in this blog!

Lastly, here are some realizations I've had this week from my captured thoughts:

You are capable of change—simple words that hold significant weight in my life right now. My gratitude journal entry last Tuesday read: "new day, new opportunities, new challenges, new you." Although the idea of novelty might scare some people, I am instead kept excited by it. Every day gives you a chance to live a completely different life than before if only you choose to, not that it requires you to (that would be exhausting!), and create a life you really want for yourself. There's this notion that because you were previously known by people around you as this and that, it means that you're eventually going to be like that all your life, unless of course, you leave the place or the people. But that, to me, is a lie. Everyday, new circumstances arise and you're being asked to respond differently depending on what that particular circumstance requires you to. But it's also a choice. You are capable of change, but you have to choose to change. Being aware of this allows you to explore opportunities you never thought possible, and plants within you an idea of how you are infinite, boundless; that you are capable of accomplishing great things regardless of your past. This eventually destroys the notion that you have to be perfect on the first try; it rejects perfectionism in such a way that you can actually revise your life over and over again, if you think that the current situation is not working. Yes, it is absolutely helpful to have a vision and values to guide how you live your life, but that doesn't mean that you can't adjust along the way. Our current circumstances require different things, and it is completely okay to modify your life track along the way, because simply, you are capable of it. It's scary and comforting and nerve-wracking all at once, but if you do not resist these changes, it might lead you to heights you never thought possible.

I am still in a healing phase, and that involves learning new things, re-learning old ways, and unlearning bad habits. Last Tuesday, I wasn't productive, really, so I assessed myself what was the primary reason for this reduced interest in doing productive work. What stood out was that I was so sleepy which points out to my lack of sleep the night before and the fact that I opened social media first thing that morning which added to more energy lost in things I do not enjoy. So I listened to myself that day, and actually took an afternoon nap, because what else can I do but rest? It's really important to find the right balance between being stern to yourself about the things you need to improve and being gentle when the situation requires you to. It doesn't hurt that a day wasn't spent on productive activities, but it certainly helps that you listen to how you feel when you're in a stage of transition within your life, especially coming from a place of burnout.

I wrote this last Friday, but I thought I was becoming too comfortable with the idea of platonic relationships and maybe I was losing the feeling of magic of romantic relationships. I don't know if it's a bad thing or a good thing, but it might be stemming from the fact that romance isn't in my list of priorities right now. It might be, in the future, but as of now, I am more entranced by the beauty I find in nature and the banal moments of daily living. That doesn't mean I don't get infatuated; in fact, I still do--the simplest thing could make my heart skip a beat. Like a reaction from an Instagram story, or a common ground in music taste, or the tiniest bit of attention given to me at the right moment. I'm not a robot, it's just dating might not be a central tenet of my life right now, and it's okay.

Lots of novel realizations with the Building a Second Brain (BASB) book, which I'll be making multiple separate articles soon! [14]

Finally, I started building my career portfolio through compiling my previous records, and systematizing an inbox of non-digital files which reflects my current PARA setup introduced by Tiago Forte in his BASB book to maintain uniformity with my workflow.

It's a long read, I know, but I'll try to keep it succinct in the future entries, or maybe I won't. This is basically my way of keeping track of my weeks in my life, summarized in journal-like entries.

That's it for the previous week, and this might just be my tagline: keep wandering and chase what excites you!

---

Footnotes

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (Link)

GIS and Its Application to Agriculture (Link)

Introduction to Satellite and Remote Sensing: Basic Concepts and Applications (Link)

Rhetoric and Composition: College Foundations (Link)

Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system by Lenton et al. (2008) (Link)

Scientists detected signs of a hidden structure inside Earth's core (Link)

Innermost inner core from the ANU website (Link)

Toward defining the Anthropocene onset using a rapid increase in anthropogenic fingerprints in global geological archives (Link)

Geological Fingerprints Suggest The Anthropocene Started In The 1950s (Link)

Believe it or not, this lush landscape is Antarctica (Link)

Sustained greening of the Antarctic Peninsula observed from satellites (Link)

Does Anyone Else Feel Like Everything Has Changed? - Stephen Antonioni (Link)

The Nobel Prize YouTube channel

Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential (Tiago Forte, 2022)

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ask-thebrothers-kaiba · 2 months ago

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"My name's Jobua." The Matoran answered as he followed the CEO into the elevator.

It was obvious that Kaiba wanted something from the mechanoid if he was making him go through some hoops, but what was it that he really wanted? Seeing no other option, the Matoran began to relate his tale. "I come from a planet called Spherus Magna..." Jobua explained how he was dragged along to explore some ancient ruins before accidently triggering a device that transported him to Middle Age Earth where he was taken in by a kindly human and his tribe for some time before setting off to explore the world. "So up until now, I've spent centuries searching for a way back home."

((Aaaaa!!! It's always good to know that there's someone who appreciates Bionicle because I was kinda worried that I'd confuse you or something since it's a very niche franchise. Though I gotta be honest, I don't interact with the wider fandom as they can be pretty overwhelming at times.)

Evidently it was story time in the elevator. Seto stood up straight as the doors closed behind them, staring down at the Matoran with no discernible expression; although in reality, his mind was alight with this new information. Extraterrestrial life did exist? Now that was something. He had an inkling this was true, and now the proof was standing right there before him. Seto wondered briefly how no one thought to stop this Jobua in the building, but if he were honest, the quality of his build most likely exuded "Kaiba Corporation Property, Do Not Touch" energy. The doors had opened to them, after a brief few minutes, and the two continued on down a corridor leading just outside the main building. As he listened, Seto found himself far more engaged with the tale than he let on. The details of the mech's story were not lost on him in the slightest, even during his own train of thought. Yes, Jobua would make a fitting test subject indeed.

"I'll be," he began, somewhat incredulously. "You've been on this planet for quite some time, then. I'll admit, you have me intrigued." Cool as a cucumber in spite of this exciting revelation. Though, if he were truly being honest with himself, the engineer in him felt drawn to poke, prod, experiment, break him down - but this creature was proving himself intelligent enough to delay Seto's idea of scientific exploration, for now. That could come later, most assuredly, if Jobua failed to prove himself.

"But make no mistake: You're not getting anything out of me with that sob story. I've heard worse. If you want to get back home so badly, you're going to have to try much harder than that to convince me. Or you could try NASA, but I doubt you'd get anything out of them but missing parts." Seto chuckled.

"I'll give you a shot, Jobua, if you think you're up to the task. You and I are going to duel. If you don't know how, don't fret. You'll get a crash course before we begin."

[ Nah I remember Bionicle! I never got into the lore or fandom but I remember finding the entire concept really cool. That's valid. Also this is kind of the only way I see Seto continuing to give Jobua the respect he deserves but we're obviously not writing out a whole duel. 'Twould be too much. ]

#asks #seto kaiba #yugioh

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valtsv · 3 years ago

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wait hi you made the magic post so yes what is your opinion on eragon if you’ve read it?

i think that it's a very decent fantasy novel with a lot of potential considering that the first book was written when the author was 16 years old. it does fall victim to a lot of fantasy cliches and does at times feel derivative of existing popular scifi and fantasy stories like star wars, the lord of the rings, etc. which is a shame because it has a lot of really good and interesting worldbuilding, characters and plotlines and that can be overlooked as a result. eragon is unfortunately overshadowed by pretty much every other character, too, which can make it difficult to read at times because literally everyone is more interesting than our protagonist and i want to read more about them and less about him. also the amount of doctor who references felt... unnecessary at times. and there are some plot threads and implications of further lore behind certain characters, things and events that get brought up but never really given any sort of satisfying conclusion or explanation (angela the herbalist's entire character in particular falls victim to being too mysterious and unexplained to the point that it felt like paolini just let her do things because it was cool and never intended to explain them. which isn't the end of the world, but past a certain point it stops being funny and gets really frustrating). there were also some pacing issues at times, especially in the later books it felt like sometimes there was a lot of filler being used to pad out chapters so they didn't get to the final battle too quickly, and then the final confrontation ended up feeling a bit rushed and video-gamey.

all that being said, i absolutely love so many things about eragon. as i said, there are SO many interesting supporting characters i really enjoyed - nasuada was one of my absolute favorites; a black woman in a position of leadership with a well developed character and story and relationships and goals was really really nice to see, especially in a fantasy novel, and her pov chapters were probably some of the best in the book in my opinion. murtagh, arya, elva and roran were all really compelling characters too. and i found the magic system absolutely fantastic, it's probably one of my favorites of all time. i could write an entire essay on how interesting the concept of drawing on life energy to produce magic is and the ethical implications of it, not to mention the whole concept of the ancient language. i really loved how the books explored the consequences of misusing magic so thoroughly and answered a lot of questions in that regard (especially with elva; the idea of a child being forced to grow up too fast because they received a misworded blessing that, instead of shielding them from pain, caused them to experience everyone's agony simultaneously was SO fucked up and horrifying and absolutely delightful to read about as a result). the descriptions of different settings were also really cool; i always enjoyed reading the sections that introduced you to a new setting, especially those of the dwarven kingdom. and although it was far from being the next tolkien, it was nice to see consistent attempts at creating a fantasy language.

and then, of course, there's the dragons. i don't really have any complaints there. they're magnificent beasts and i really enjoyed that they had individual characters and weren't just dumb animals but an intelligent fantasy species with their own culture and history. my only issue is that the books never really seems able to decide how much agency they should have and how dependent on their riders they should be, but. eh. i can live with it i guess.

tl;dr it's a fun fantasy series with a LOT of good ideas that get a bit lost in the sauce sometimes but overall worth reading if you enjoy your fantasy with a heavy serving of cheese and surprisingly excellent worldbuilding.

#long post

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macbeth-n-cheese · 2 years ago

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Early Synth HCs and Thoughts, pt. 3

Alas, the grasp of life's sorrows eases on me. Onto the rambling!

(Poe AI from Altered Carbon, my beloved)

Liquid and Food intake:

For liquids, the explanation is simple: almost anything can be used as a coolant, as long as it has good heat transfer properties, adequate viscosity (isn't too thick) and electrical conductivity, is not dangerous to use and doesn't harm the machine through debris, corrosion, obstructions, etc.

Water would be the first choice for a coolant in a situation where Coolant™ is unavailable, but it wouldn't be recommended that a Gen. ≤II synth used alternative substances too often, because they will eventually damage it. If water isn't available, distilled alcoholic beverages would be the second best thing; beer, wine and soft drinks the third; and anything else after that. The synth would need to rinse off the stuff that's neither water not distilled as soon as possible, to avoid further issues.

As for food, I have no idea!

At first, I thought they could have something like a biomass energy generator as backup to the nuclear one, producing power through either decomposition or burning of organic matter. The issue with this is that it simply wouldn't fit in their frame, at least not in a realistic-ish way (mind you, we're dealing with suspension of disbelief here), and having a straight up furnace inside them wouldn't be practical at all, mainly because of the heat and proximity to the core —we all know what happens when it gets too warm in there.

So, the way I see it is that they probably wouldn't be able to ingest solids (I am still debating if soup could be used as a decent coolant, and how liquid can food get after chewing, but I'm afraid those questions will remain unanswered for now), and because I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't consider this, the "piping" from the synth's mouth would have to lead to a coolant reservoir, and pass through some filters on the way there. It would have to be either a significantly thick tube, or a thinner, more flexible one that used the movement of the rubber lung I mentioned on the previous text to pump the liquid to said reservoir.

Ports, or The Age-Old Question of Where in the World do They Stick Those Holo Tapes:

There is no visual indication of any port anywhere on them, which leads me to believe that those are hidden by a sort of lid, and located somewhere accessible like the forearm or chest.

If on the forearm, the ports would be more prone to damage because of their distance from the CPU and the articulations of the arm, but they would be more convenient to use, as the synth wouldn't need to, say, unbutton his shirt to read a tape.

On that topic, I believe the holotapes would be inserted horizontally, like a tape recorder proper, instead of vertically, and a synth's voice box could definitely be used to play audio. I'm not sure if they would be able to record tapes as well, but it'd be both useful and super cool!

Synths can be plugged into computers, as proven by DiMA's and Faraday's shenanigans, so why is it that Nick doesn't do this for hacking? Maybe this would've needed specific cables that he doesn't have, or maybe he just doesn't like to keep being reminded of the fact that he's a robot, and tries to do things as a human would whenever he can. Both of those seem very plausible to me, but I really can't imagine him going R2D2 on a terminal lol, so it's for the best.

Bonus concept that I might write about in the future: Nick having poems (The Raven!) and books stored on his database. The Raven would be especially meaningful to him, I think, because of the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore, nameless here forevermore :"))

And that's it, folks!

Although this was the shorter one, it kinda was the most difficult of them. I had to do some serious thinking and reading about bloody coolant types, and even then I'm not 100% satisfied with what I got. It will have to do, for now!

Thank you kindly for reading. Do share your thoughts on this as well, if you want to!

#fallout headcanons #fallout 4 #nick valentine #synths #my weird rambling #fallout

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freezethebeez · 2 years ago

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Did you base the catalyst vampires off of other vampires in the media? Or, whats some catalyst universe specific vampire “quirks” or design choices? Lol sorry, got brain rot

the vampires in catalyst aren't really based off of any particular piece of media. they're sort of a strange amalgamation of every vampire au i've ever read, any tv shows or movies (aka twilight and first kill), plus my own little quirky details for the sake of plot.

any of the details i'm going to list below are catalyst specific according to me, but if anyone else has ever done them that's cool, i just didn't know.

vampires can go 2 years without drinking a drop of blood before they die of starvation, similar to how humans can go 2 weeks without food, just elongated to match a vampire's lifespan

most vampires feed once every month, which is less than twilight (i think) and most other vampire au's i've read, although i don't think many of them had specific hunger schedules. oh yeah it's also less than in the sims 4, if the vampire pack counts as vampire media lol

vampires aren't immortal. i gave them an age limit of 1000 because immortality is overrated anyway plus death is kinda nice sometimes. gives you a time limit. idk there was vsauce video about it that i watched once and haven't really stopped thinking about.

humans cannot be turned into vampires. if i were to implement that, though, the turning process would be drain all human blood, replace with a bit of vampire blood, yipee ur dead but also not, which just wasn't conventional and wouldn't be used in plot so i threw that whole concept out the window

vampires sleep during the day and wake up when the sun sets. i've read this in another vampire au, but am including it in this list anyway because twilight went "yeah vampires can chill during the day." however, if catalyst vampires could go out in the sun, i think all the sun would do is drain their energy and make them tired lol

for the first 40 years of a full vampire's life (20 for half-vamps), they can't fully see. i have another ask somewhere on here explaining how the process works, as well as other details.

fangs showing up only when needed isn't super original i don't think, but the whole warming of the skin when hungry thing is just a catalyst thing, i'm pretty sure.

also, like, vampires with eating disorders. i've never seen that anywhere else lol.

vampires being able to give birth (technically, minus all the issues that come with it) is also a catalyst thing i think??? idk i've only seen the first twilight movie so if vampire birth is in there.... whoops

vampires being entirely dead pretty much. no working organs, breathing isn't necessary, can't eat human food (unless the specific food holds essentially zero nutritional value), are also things i haven't seen in au's or media

vampires are just straight up a completely different species; they're not a subspecies of human. now, this would be a little weird for vampire-human... uh... breeding (i'm so sorry) but since vampires look so much like humans it's not really a big deal i guess

long story short i pretty much just went "what if we had humans and gave them fangs and a really long lifespan and then we gave one of them a shit ton of mental illness" and ran with that.

as for design choices, they're very similar to the typical vampire: pale skin, human-looking, fangs sometimes. eye colour doesn't really change if they're hungry, their pupils just get a little wider. skin tones can range from white as white can be to a dark grey, and eye colour can be anything, it just depends on the vampire and their genes, however the fuck genes work (i didn't take biology lol)

i've been meaning to write all this vampire lore out for a while, so i may be missing a few things in my list. catalyst (just like syzygy, another c!beeduo au of mine) was supposed to be a 2k one shot containing a silly little idea i had. instead, it bursted into this big, multi-chapter story, which isn't something i do often, so little things like specific details about the setting and all that other stuff aren't really thought out, because initially they really didn't need to be and i was too busy working out the plot to go back over and add those things. i'm a bit of a mess when it comes to writing longer pieces tbh.

now while catalyst may be my magnum opus, i am still– at my very core– just a silly little guy writing about minecraft men.

all the love and support has been insane, though, and i have appreciated it more than anything. it's the thing that keeps me going honestly. all the asks have helped me develop the world just a little bit more, and the insight i've been able to get, like how well my foreshadowing worked and how suspenseful i made each chapter, has helped tons as well.

the mere concept of people actively perceiving the things i put out onto the internet is crazy enough to me, so to have people thinking about my silly little fic and brainrotting about it makes me feel a little less silly (dw anon, i am also heavily brainrotting).

ty for the ask, and sorry for the essay of a response. the only vampire media i've consumed is twilight, first kill, and about 2 or 3 other fics, all from different fandoms (i'm not a big media consumer tbh), but i hope this suffices :]

#people asking me things #catalyst #i was writing a little bit of cbeeduo fluff (not catalyst related just a funny idea i got) when i got this ask #might write a little bit of chapter 10 today #i'm almost done this one scene i've been struggling with for a bit #one more scene after this one and then we're done ^_^#then i can start chapter 11 #i think updates will slow down a bit once i start school again #my workload is gonna be lots and my motivation is going to be GONE #it's okay. i will cope.#hoping to get it done by january possibly.#if not then i'd say june at the latest #that would mean a full year of working on the same au oh god #idk if i can brainrot that long who knows #i'll push through tho dw i have lots of love in my heart for catalyst

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m-y-fandoms · 4 years ago

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1 Thing I Love & 1 Thing I Hate About EVERY Danganronpa Character Part 1

Part 2

SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE MAIN GAMES

I’d love to hear our opinions as well in the comments or my inbox or DM’s! If you try this trend with DR characters, tag me!

Sayaka Maizono

♡ Her passion for her career and friends.

✘ The way she tries to screw over Makoto when the game had just begun. Like wait and see what happens before screwing over such a great guy? Leon didn’t deserve it either.

Leon Kuwata

♡ His voice actor (English), and how real and human his execution was in that we all would be so scared and irrational. It was just so iconic and sad as it’s our first introduction to the death in this series and we all think: “shit, this is real... they are really killing these kids.” I didn’t think it would be that brutal, just seeing his body limp at the end with the haunting music.

✘ His design is disgusting. I hate how he looks.

Chihiro Fujisaki

♡ So innocent, so kind, so intelligent

✘ Shouldn’t have been killed for such a stupid reason, also they did Mondo dirty with that motive for killing as well. Just a mess. As for the actual character, Chihiro cries right off the bat when you do your introductions and that was kind of annoying to me personally.

Mondo Oowada

♡ He has a lot of respect, understanding and emotions for someone I thought would be a hard-ass douche biker.

✘ The worst motive to kill ever in a game where you know you’re getting executed if you’re found out. Like you’d be extra careful and that’s his reason to kill? Lazy writing.

Celestia Ludenberg

♡ Bad bitch energy and her goth lolita design.

✘ Manipulation and double murder. Bad bitch energy only goes so far. Confidence is different then selfishness. Also, of all the chapter 3 triple murders... the worst motive to kill.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru

♡ Emotions: secure in his masculinity, able to cry, show emotions, and apologize when he’s wrong. He’s funny and likable.

✘ The Ishimondo white hair thing was stupid. Taka was fine on his own.

Hifumi Yamada

♡ Writing takes talent, fan fiction as much as any other style or genre. Also the talent of his voice actor (who also voices Kiibo/K1-B0).

✘ Literally everything else about him.

Sakura Oogami

♡ I love everything about her. I love her wisdom, loyalty, design, voice etc. Just step on me, mother.

✘ Why the hell would she ever agree to be a spy even if it meant the end of her dojo? I just don’t think she would do that rationally because she isn’t selfish. The others would suffer for her spying. She remedies this with redemption in her letter in chapter 4 but still she should’ve said no off the bat. Everyone had something to lose. The dojo wasn’t worth spying for monokuma. Also I just don’t think she would commit suicide. She can’t help the remaining students survive and redeem herself truly if she’s dead.

Kyoko Kirigiri

♡ Bad bitch energy, calm and collected when I could never be.

✘ Especially in future arc of the anime, damn can you show some emotion please? Through your words and expressions not just your actions. Sure she was willing to “die” for Makoto but like I just want more emotion from her sometimes, even in THH.

Makoto Naegi

♡ So pure. I Love Bryce Papenbrook. Makoto reminds me of Sora and I love his design.

✘ In THH I didn’t mind his innocence but in the Danganronpa 3 future arc anime, when people started straight up abusing him and accusing him, he needed to grow a little backbone.

Byakuya Togami

♡ Love my dad, king shit, also love how over the progression of the games and animes he becomes a little more kind to his friends.

✘ Why the fuck did he mess with Chihiro’s body? Just so cruel and disrespectful.

Yasuhiro Hagakure

♡ Funny magic man. Sexy voice.

✘ Please. Please Hiro use your brain just once. Why do we have to prove Kyoko isn’t a ghost?!

Toko Fukawa

♡ Character development in UDG and I love Genocider.

✘ Putting down herself and others constantly gets old in THH.

Aoi Asahina

♡ Love her voice actress and her personality

✘ We really just gonna get everyone killed in chapter 4 huh? Surely you know they don’t all deserve that.

Junko Enoshima

♡ A very memorable villain with great hair and design.

✘ I just can’t stand her. I hate her so much.

Mukuro Ikusaba

♡ Her mercenary background is super cool as a concept.

✘ Too bad it wasn’t explored nearly enough.

Hajime Hinata

♡ Seeing the protagonist be a little less naive, innocent and positive than Makoto was a refreshing change, although I loved Makoto. I liked Hajime’s cynicism and expressions that sometimes just screamed “this shit again, huh?”

✘ I enjoy the way Izuru looks but I hate him as a character. He is sexy to look at but Hajime is just a better character overall

Teruteru Hanamura

♡ His love for his family and mother especially is so cute and heart breaking if you know the full story.

✘ He needs to know when to dial it back and quit with the perversions. And no it’s not just how he looks, Miu needs to chill at times, too.

Twogami

♡ I feel like he genuinely cares about his friends, just hides it well

✘ His death felt like a cop out and poorly written. It just didn’t sit right with me. Also his design is disgusting to me, his outfit and such.

Mahiru Koizumi

♡ Loyal to her close friends.

✘ I just have no interest in her as a character and I find her boring.

Peko Pekoyama

♡ Loyalty. Loyalty is something I value very highly in every form of relationship. Peko is also very hot.

✘ Come on girl... I know how you were raised but you should’ve known Fuyuhiko didn’t think of you as just a tool and you two should’ve expressed your true feelings long ago. Like even in secret. How do you live like this? Also I feel like killing Mahiru could’ve been avoided with a calm talk.

Ibuki Mioda

♡ Cute design, positive vibes.

✘ Cringe sometimes in the way she talks.

Hiyoko Saionji

♡ Beautiful character design and some very good insults and snarky remarks at times.

✘ Just irredeemably mean and annoying. Even when you do her free time events she is just so annoying.

Mikan Tsumiki

♡ I like her design as well as her hair, expressions, sprites and clothing.

✘ I hate her. I just hate her whether she’s in her true psycho form or timid stuttering form. She’s just annoying in my opinion.

Nekomaru Nidai

♡ So supportive, can hold my drink at a party. Respects everyone and wants the best for them.

✘ Bro Mechamaru was a stupid plot point. I just couldn’t stand looking at him and couldn’t take it seriously. Still sad when he died though.

Chiaki Nanami

♡ From chapter 5 of sdr2 on she is impossible not to love if you didn’t already. Just the selflessness, the sadness of the reveal and execution, how she returns to help Hajime at the end???? I love her. I love her hair design, color palette, her personality, everything.

✘ I’m bitter and miserable about her being the only class member to actually die (the despair arc anime) also her falling asleep at random times is kind of odd and she doesn’t seem to be like that later on in the game??? Like it seemed like a cheap joke but not actually who she is? Hard for me to explain.

Gundham Tanaka

♡ King shit, couldn’t praise him enough. He’s sexy, loves animals, and is funny as hell sometimes. His voice actor is a saint and a cool dude and I named my guinea pigs after the Dark Devas (yes I know they are hamsters in the games.)

✘ Come on dude. I get that being from Hell and magic and having evil powers is your shtick, but we all know that you and Nekomaru sacrificed yourselves so the others wouldn’t starve. We know you care about your classmates. There comes a time when it’s time to let personas and facades fade and be true to your heart. I just feel like him denying he cared at the end hurt. We all know he cared. I didn’t like how he was haughty until the end. He deserved better. I love him.

Nagito Komaeda

♡ I love him so much. So cunning and intelligent, always a step ahead. And he’s big sexy.

✘ Him killing himself in chapter 5 hurt me so bad I was like in denial for days. Also hate how Bryce Papenbrook gives him a raspy stoner psycho voice in the game then a light airy higher-pitched voice in the despair arc anime. It just bothers me. I love his voice still but the inconsistency just hurts my OCD

Sonia Nevermind

♡ I love that she’s so interested in her passions and love her feelings for Gundham

✘ Her outfit and bow are atrocious. Also why didn’t she start liking and talking to Gundham sooner on? Their romance bloomed late and it would’ve made for a better chapter 4 ending if they were a bit closer.

Kazuichi Souda

♡ Cool design and outfit, love his voice (also voices Kaito in V3) and his backstory is relatable at times. He’s also very human in that he’s scared a lot of the time or insecure or blames others in panicked situations. It’s not always a good thing but it’s human and realistic.

✘ Gosh he can be so annoying. Sometimes flirting or whining too much is well... too much.

Akane Owari

♡ Strong-willed and definitely someone I would be friends with

✘ What the hell is her outfit? Gymnasts and athletes don’t wear that shit. Stop objectifying her when it doesn’t even make the product or plot better. Like there’s absolutely no point to making her dress that way. I was a gymnast for 15 years. Even those who do parkour (which Akane seems to do more often than actual gymnastics in the anime and game) don’t wear what she wears. Also she’s underrated.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

♡ I love him. He’s the DR character I’m most like out of all the games and anime. Tenko is a close second. I think he’s adorable, love his character arc, development, redemption, and love his voice.

✘ In the anime/despair arc, Fuyuhiko is not done justice. He doesn’t get enough lines, has a different voice actor, just doesn’t give off the same vibes.

Izuru Kamakura

♡ Sexy man long hair good.

✘ Boring character. I wish he were just Hajime.

Kaede Akamatsu

♡ Loyalty and leadership are such attractive qualities in her. Also she faced her death with such class and dignity and I respect her because I could never.

✘ Some of the voice lines Erika does for her are just weird and cringe. Just random moans or grunts... I don’t know it’s like when Ann Takamaki from Persona 5 (also voiced by Erika) makes suggestive noises as well. Just grinds my gears. Also hate her outfit down to the hair pins.

Shuichi Saihara

♡ I love his nasally voice. I love his design and he’s so adorable. I love how emotional and compassionate he can be. He ties with Makoto for favorite protag of mine.

✘ That sprite where he sniffs his hand. And his ugly ass hat.

Rantarou Amami

♡ Sexy man, sexy voice, sexy piercings

✘ Ugly outfit, and wasted potential

Ryoma Hoshi

♡ I respect him and feel bad for his outlook on life and for how poorly he views himself. I love his little hat as well and he’s the first “different styled” character (Hifumi, Bandai, Teruteru) that I liked the design of.

✘ I hate when he says “got a long ways to go,” it’s overused and annoying, and wish he gave himself more credit. Also hate that when you first meet him he warns you that he’s killed people and is dangerous to be around. Come on buddy, you know you wouldn’t hurt your friends. Stop pushing them away.

Kirumi Tojo

♡ Competence, well rounded, skillful

✘ Boring as hell. I wouldn’t waste one free time event on her.

Angie Yonaga

♡ Dark skin, super cute, love her talent as an artist myself.

✘ Gives religious people a bad name and is super manipulative which I hate.

Tenko Chabashira

♡ I relate to her and feel bad when she’s misunderstood. She’s a good person deep down. Also love her sprites.

✘ There’s more cunning, funny and clever ways to write her digs at men.

Korekiyo Shunguuji

♡ I’m in love with this man. Long hair, voice, mystery, mask, intelligence, passion, talent.

✘ He definitely was a victim of abuse and a lot of people refuse to see that and just hate him. Team Danganronpa should’ve given him a redemption arc where he realized his sister abused him and changed.

Gonta Gokuhara

♡ I love his design except for his suit. Also he’s so cute and naive. I cried for his trail.

✘ No need talk like caveman. Better way to do this.

Kokichi Ouma

♡ Like Nagito, I value his intelligence and crazy cunning.

✘ Shouldn't have died. Also shouldn’t have manipulated Gonta. That was just cruel.

Miu Iruma

♡ She has her hilarious moments and her death surprised me and was sad.

✘ Sometimes she lacks basic empathy, i.e. calling Tenko “Tencrotch” when she just fucking died.

Maki Harukawa

♡ Amazing character development. Didn’t see her surviving until the end at the start. Also her love and passion for Kaito.

✘ “Do you wanna die?” gets old.

Kaito Momota

♡ Just the overall best bro you could ever have.

✘ Has some toxic masculinity issues and anger issues.

K1-B0

♡ Pretty much everything about him. His design, his attitude and personality, especially how amazing and cool he is chapter 5 onward, his execution made me so sad. He’s so innocent and funny without trying.

✘ When you do his free time events he’s very arrogant and just talks about himself a lot... it seems odd and not similar to the Kiibo we see throughout the game.

Himiko Yumeno

♡ Super cute design, love her voice and “Nyeh...” and her sprites. Her character development is great as well.

✘ Why did they take so long to make her important and likable?

Tsumugi Shirogane

♡ An excellent and well hidden reveal

✘ I hate her. So annoying, from the voice to the references and her personality.

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sugar-petals · 4 years ago

Note

So Caro how do you like "butter"?? 😳🤔

i’ll be cranking out my media major, let's review butter stylistically. ✍️ in four aspects — sonically, visually, lyrically, and concept-wise.

sonically: 9/10. here’s an interesting comparison i found, this can be calculated by looking at the stats of a musical piece. if you want to do harmonic mixing with another bts song, seesaw (!) is the most similar to it. with the exception that it’s written in f minor but other than that, the bpm/energy/danceability is uncanny. mindboggling. in other words, two bts songs can have the same anatomy and be entirely different worlds. that’s seriously hard to pull off. talking genre, recalling that namjoon said it's a "super retro disco pop new age acoustic ballad", that description is right on 😂it gets very daft punk after 1:38, groovy, the production is quite proper. especially in the second half, it’s a firework and all transitions VERY well. what i liked less, the voices are quite meddled with and as last time, the pitch gets higher and higher so the baritones need more pressure on the voice to be heard (i salute taehyung, my mezzo would be breaking apart). it’s a miracle that rapline can handle these songs. they put a heavier bassline under yoongi’s and rm’s bars, and separated hoseok toward the end since his tone is higher so, i hear you, someone knows what they’re doing. as for the tenors, looking forward to the live rendition of the mixed register bits and the vocal runs. bts are stable like that and jk’s timbre carries the song effortlessly (as is everyone’s great english pronunciation, these guys work so hard) so they wouldn't need autotune, figure it's been added for artistic effect, the retro vibes. a bonus on the other hand, jin getting his lines, hell yes, the spotlight for him. and the arrangement of their parts in general is quite ingeniously done, that looks like the workings of namjoon’s giant brain.

visually: 9/10. the dancebreak being the highlight — this is the sexiest thing i've ever seen — we get to see some really fancy moves from everybody and the hairstyles are quite a feast. jimin and jk have been much-talked-about so i'll emphasize the extravagance of hobi's 2013 MAMA g-dragonesque neon yellow here. he’s the smooth like butter guy they’re talking about indeed, butter hair, butter attitude, butter on his plat! 😂it’s seriously good thinking to have one member embody the concept with a color so, pretty clever. making him stand out as the ending fairy and then blending in the butter logo is equally smart. they wanted to catch our eye, they achieved it. the couture: yep, fashion youtube will have a good time going through all the outfits. from tae's chanel earrings, jin’s skirt, to white suits to jackets over the shoulder. very stylish. someone put a lot of thought into it, and i'm a sucker for some gnc undertones so very cool stuff. the only (very trivial) minus i noticed, a lot of the tailoring does not exactl fit the boys’ bodies to a t, see jungkook’s or jin’s sleeves, though you can’t expect bts to have a tailor come in and fix so many outfits with so many comebacks at once. the dance, it's a compilation of many classic bts moves. i feel like it could be tiny bit more distinguished with a whopping new complex signature formation that bts is famous for in creating, then again the full dance practice isn't out and the head nodding part is quite a visual anchor. also: i noticed they put yoongi in front row a lot. someone’s shoulder is finally better again, we can prepare for some good stuff.

lyrically: 4/10. the song fulfills its function, it creates the mood, but i’m hard to please in that regard as mentioned before. why: time and again i realize that yoongi, rm, and pdogg spoil us with comforting or on-fire lyrics that hit home and are on brand. same idea as in dynamite here, we're hit with a lotta english catchphrases that we usually wouldn't hear from bangtan. it's party mode, it's the summer hit kinda writing, so yeah it does what it’s supposed to do anyway and anybody can sing along. it’s catchy and solid for sure. the 'smooth criminal/superstar/heartbreaker' idea is carried through as a red string so thematically, it's coherent at least. a lot of lines are downright hilarious with random analogies and i don't know if the writers are serious or not. they could go all the way to make it clearer that humor and braggadocio is the concept here, exaggerate it even more. you can’t always tell if it’s a parody of a ‘yeah i’m the man you all fall for me’ sentiment or if it’s 100% business. in some parts of the song it works, in others it makes less sense. where i’ve seen bts execute this well with their own writing is converse high, that’s the bar. it’s also a personal lesson for me since i write crack often, butter tells you where to put the punchlines and where to keep it neutral. a lot of it is all over the place. on the other hand, it fits right on the beat. and perfectly executed pop so i'm a bit torn. i like the ‘got that heat’ part they gave jimin. 'side step right left to my beat' is a good chorus entry as well. making light of it, every lyric works as a witty gif or tweet tagline and we'll be circulating these phrases to eternity. every line works as a good comeback in any situation of life. yoongi's verse legit made me giggle. TLDR: the lyrics are partially confusing but they blend with the music well.

conceptually: 8/10. hit the bell for that black and white intro, that was a good idea, same with the latest teaser. and: range, darling. only in a bts video could a cotton candy jimin go from a mugshot to being the president to a basket ball court hero to going full saturday night fever to flexing his legs in less than three minutes. jokes aside: it all fits in the universe of boy with luv and dynamite so points for consistency. bts's directors have outlined a new style for sure. the worldbuilding could go even deeper, but lumpens did a good job giving us many different eye candy serves and an innovative theme that hasn’t been tackled before, k-pop and pancakes why not! there are less actual film sets (and the difference shows, e.g. in Fire or Daechwita it really gave it some oomph), but it's not really needed. butter has no requirement for an agust d-ish plotline with historical buildings and the members' looks are in the center of attention. then again, i like those details of hoseok sitting in a retro apartment at the end — cozy, i love — with a radio. once again, they could exaggerate the vintage even more, it wouldn’t take away from the idea and visuals. i wish they would’ve expanded even more on the melting butter aesthetic shots as well, although it’s neatly tied into the song so it makes sense. the lyrics really have been blended with the choreograpy theme (the side step as a central move) so i’m thinking the art direction and choreographer had quite an in-depth discussion how to create a bigger picture. as for my weakness: cuteness melts me like butter, extra points for jungkook and yoongi being adorable in their seats.

#bts #butter #butter review #bts meta #bts comeback #bangtan #butter era

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shefanispeculator · 3 years ago

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Blake Shelton was worried about the headline.

Following the first 10 songs of his final "Friends & Heroes" tour stop at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Saturday, Shelton stepped offstage, and country music veteran John Anderson emerged from below it. There was an instant surge of energy from the near-capacity crowd, as Anderson, with Shelton's seven-piece backing band, crooned through a soft "Seminole Wind," followed by a boisterous "Money in the Bank" and the boot-scootin' "Swingin'," all huge country hits in the '80s and '90s.

And Shelton, half-jokingly, was just a touch jealous.

"Why do you all act so different for John Anderson?" Shelton asked. "I've been out here for 40 minutes, and all of a sudden John Anderson comes out here and the whole damn crowd … is line-dancing and (expletive). How do you line-dance in your seats?"

"The last thing I need is to wake up tomorrow morning and read the Wisconsin Post or whatever you have here, and the headline says something like 'John Anderson steals the show,'" Shelton continued.

Here at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we don't take headline suggestions from people we're writing about. But that wouldn't have been an appropriate headline anyway — because Anderson wasn't the only one to steal the spotlight from Shelton.

And that's the beauty of the concept of Shelton's "Friends & Heroes" tour, which has been around for a few years but stopped in Milwaukee for the first time Saturday.

It gives Shelton a chance to share his sharp band and packed houses with veteran country stars who prove they've still got the goods, and are still beloved.

On Saturday, that included Martina McBride, who with her sparkling voice, brightened the night with the self-assuring gems "My Baby Loves Me" and "This One's for the Girls," before closing out with the shattering, and soaring, "A Broken Wing."

And the show also included Tracy Byrd, who actually got the strongest reaction of the three "Friends & Heroes" Saturday. He took full advantage of the runway, tipping his black cowboy hat and high-fiving any fans he could reach, hyping up the crowd with his magnetic stage presence and '90s and early-aughts party-starters "Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo," "I'm From the Country" and "Watermelon Crawl."

"Over and over again tonight, I have had my ass handed to me by these other singers coming," Shelton said near the show's end.

Shelton was, of course, selling himself short.

While the three guests were indisputable highlights Saturday, they performed for only 10 minutes each. Shelton, on the other hand, was on stage for the show's remaining two hours and 30 minutes, striving to fulfill an early evening promise to play "the longest country concert." (Eric Church routinely does three-hour sets, but this was an impressive marathon nonetheless.)

With the charm and charisma that's made him such a winning personality on NBC's "The Voice" for 21 seasons, Shelton handily slipped into various personas Saturday night, for the raucous "Boys 'Round Here," the moon-eyed duet "Nobody But You" (which he sang facing footage of his new wife Gwen Stefani singing back to him), or the outlaw-flavored "God's Country" and the George Jones classic "Ol' Red."

There were plenty of fun interactions with the crowd, too. Locking eyes with a guy in the front row for the love ballad "Sure Be Cool If You Did," Shelton chuckled mid-song, telling him, "Sing to her, not to me," gesturing to the man's date. And for "Hillbilly Bone," Shelton let himself get upstaged yet again, this time for a fiery duel between guitarist Beau Tackett and fiddle player Jenee Fleenor, the first woman to win the CMA Award for musician of the year.

Shelton was happy to share the spotlight, but after the performance, he feigned a bruised ego, and for the night's greatest moment, invited Anderson, Byrd and McBride to join him for a songwriter's circle session to see which of them had the greatest country song. (He also suggested George Strait, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan and Luke Combs were going to be the judges … although they were going to stay backstage.)

"How many of y'all think if this was the 'Who talks the most (expletive) of the Friends & Heroes' tour competition, we'd already have our winner?" Byrd said, gesturing to Shelton, another case of the headliner being upstaged Saturday, for funniest line of the night.

Shelton did his rendition of "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" solo on acoustic guitar, suggesting the lines "When you undress, do you leave a path/Then sink to your nose in a bubble bath" were about Anderson.

After the performance, Shelton did a little moonwalk victory dance, then playfully suggested they end the competition. But Byrd wouldn't have it, sparking a big singalong for a beaming "The Keeper of the Stars," followed by Anderson performing "Straight Tequila Night" (both with support from Shelton's band members). But it was clear, from fans and musicians alike, that McBride won this little competition with "Independence Day."

As they all left the stage, Shelton put an end to the jealousy act, saying some kind words about how much those three musicians inspired Shelton as he made his own ascent in the country music world.

"Those are Hall of Famers … you're never going to see something like that ever again," Shelton said. "My heroes, man, your heroes, man. Those are country music icons, all of them."

And Saturday's show suggested there was one headline Shelton will wake up to one day: "Blake Shelton inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

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fyeah-bangtan7 · 3 years ago

Text

V: “I have a desire to perfect one cool thing about myself”

As he’s being interviewed, V speaks his mind at a relaxed pace. But there was one moment where he kept on speaking without taking a breath. Look for that moment in the interview below. You listen to a lot of old music on vinyl. Has any particular artist’s music excited you since your last interview with Weverse Magazine? V: I was listening to Louis Armstrong’s music again. And I picked up some albums with a pretty jacket that’s also got a lot of really good hits on it.

How do you feel when you’re listening to those classics? V: I feel like I’m beginning to relax a bit. If I listen to a song when I’m feeling depressed and then really get thinking, the things that are frustrating me disappear, and I can feel myself becoming more peaceful. And it makes me picture things in my head. For example, some songs might make me think of seeing something in front of me while walking down the road somewhere at night when I listen to them. I think setting the mood for listeners is the most important thing. The mood will presumably be different for everyone, but for me, those songs are the ones that are good at setting a really beautiful mood in the moment.

You said that you got inspiration from artists of the past like Sammy Davis Jr. for your performance in “Dynamite.” Was there any artist who inspired you for “Butter”? V: Well, there was Billy Joel. When I shoot a music video, I think of a movie more than any one artist. And when I perform on stage, for some songs I think of the way movies like Reservoir Dogs look. For “Butter,” I watched a lot of teen movies. And musicals. After that I randomly ended up seeing a video on YouTube of some scenes from an old teen movie Johnny Depp did [which turned out to be the movie Cry-Baby]. The image I got from that was really intense. That’s the look I used in “Butter.”

“Butter” felt like a teen musical to me and now I know why. V: I did it like a teen musical, just like you say. When we shot the “Butter” music video, I really, really tried to shoot the part in the elevator so it would feel like a teen movie. Although a lot of takes were edited, so not all of it’s there. (laughs)

What kind of feeling do you get from that kind of teen movie that you find so charming? V: For me, teen movies show a youthfulness that’s appropriate for the age. I think there’s an appropriate mix of emotion, energy, and a completely different and peculiar mood that everyone necessarily experiences at that age. If you watch teen movies, they’re overflowing with energy and full of sunny emotion, but behind it all they’re not as bright as they seem. They are really bright, but the color itself almost feels like some kind of filter. They feel like they have a different filter than other movies, so I tried thinking of teen movies when we shot the music video and put on performances.

That teen movie feeling seems to be divided in two between “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.” By the looks of the thumbnails for the fancam focus videos uploaded to the BANGTANTV YouTube channel, “Butter” seems to showcase a really cool character, while “Permission to Dance” is more teenagers smiling brightly for children. V: The teen movie vibe in “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” are different from one another. We showed the sunny image people usually think of when they think of teen movies in “Permission to Dance.”

Do you think that going with the teen movie vibe influenced your vocals to be the new style that you used? In “Butter,” you still had your signature vocals but without the deep notes, giving them a new feeling. V: That’s because, when we’re given a concept, we have to come up with vocals that fit with the concept. I think my singing style matched up with the concept, so I feel relatively satisfied. There was nothing majorly difficult about actually changing the style itself, since unlike changing your voice, you only have to change your vocal technique. Having said that, even though the notes in “Butter” were high for me, I still hit them! (laughs)

I guess hitting the high notes was your assignment this time around as a vocalist. V: I’ve been working a long time to make up for my weak points. For example, I thought I was weak when it comes to high notes because I sing low parts a lot and I tend to sing in a flowing way. But I had trouble when we were recording “Dynamite” and I had to sing the high notes during the chorus. I got so mad (laughs) so I practiced a lot.

How does it feel to see the results you’re seeing with “Butter” now after all that effort? V: I’m just trying not to rest on my laurels. Like instead of savoring the feeling, I feel like I should go to bed early for everything I have to do the next day? Getting back in tiptop shape quickly is what’s important, so I haven’t really had time to bask in the joy very much. I’m just working hard at the work I had like I always do.In your

New Year’s greeting on YouTube, you said you regretted not being able to put on the show for ARMY you wanted, and that your 2021 resolution is to “follow my own pace and pattern” when you work on music. Do you think your personal pace and your professional pace are in step this year? V: No. [My professional pace is] fast, so fast. (laughs) We have a lot we have to get ready for since we’re always promoting. It can be challenging sometimes, but in a way, I think it’s also given me a good opportunity to become a little stronger.

I imagine it’s meaningful to do the work for your own songs, because you can slip into your own world. You also made “Blue & Grey” when you were having a hard time, and it consequently became a song that allowed you to empathize with many people and vice versa. Looking back now, what kind of song do you think “Blue & Grey” will be remembered as? V: I think with “Blue & Grey” I just wanted the song to let people know how I was feeling, and how we were feeling, at that time a little better. Obviously everyone was having a hard time, but I think I wanted to share those emotions with ARMY as-is, including the pains we went through in our growth process. And, to put it another way, I think I just felt like making it obvious. (laughs) I thought it was okay to be that obvious, seeing as I couldn’t put those feelings into words. I just hope people could understand how I was feeling; it’s okay if it becomes forgotten later on.

In the “BE-hind Story” interview on YouTube, you talked about the first line of “Blue & Grey”: “Where is my angel?” You explained how, when you have any kind of issue, you close your eyes and wish for your angel to come and think. Are there times when it seems like your angel understands your feelings, as you just mentioned? V: I get a ton of answers by doing it. I’m not religious, but whenever I have some kind of issue, I close my eyes and think about it. Is this right, the way I’m thinking about this, or not? They’re just yes or no questions, like, Does my outfit look good today? Instead of just worrying about what you should do, if you tackle it in the form of a question, you get a response with the answer.

I guess it could work when you’re looking for inspiration in your life, but what about for your music? In your previous Weverse Magazine interview, you said you make a note whenever you feel something. V: I write in my diary in hopes that it’ll help with writing lyrics and so I don’t forget those feelings. I do it constantly—I open up my diary whenever something comes up. I copy melodies that pop up in my mind, lyrics, and other things from my diary to my notes app temporarily, and when I’m taking a break or I get the urge to work, I open my notes and say, Let’s try this out today, and run over to the studio.

You released “Snow Flower,” featuring Peakboy by V, on Christmas Day. Is that another song you ran to the studio to work on after the feeling came to you? V: For that song, when I was drinking with some older musicians, we were talking about doing a song together, and then we were like, Well, do you think we’ll have time to do that? So we decided to do it right then since everyone was available. My mixtape was delayed, so I at least wanted to play a different song for ARMY, and I thought, since I’m a bit tipsy (laughs) I thought I should try writing something. So I made the song really quickly. In maybe three hours.

Even though you made it quickly, the composition is somewhat complex and it has the same unique atmosphere that “Blue & Grey” did. V: There’s times when I’m, like, in the zone (laughs) and can make a song all in one sitting, but when I’m not feeling it, I end up revising it more and more. And I don’t want the composition to be too obvious, so I try to change up the way the melody flows. With that kind of sharp image coming to you almost immediately, what were you imagining for that song? V: You might think “Snow Flower” is about a type of snowflake, but I was actually thinking about snow and flowers separately. I started hoping that flowers wouldn’t wither away and just keep on blooming on snowy days. But in reality, when it snowed, all the flowers were crushed, the world became blanketed in snow, and I felt like the flower buds turned into snow flowers. I wrote that song about how I felt after watching that happen.

It must be important to feel things intuitively when you’re trying to express yourself through song. V: If it sounds pretty to me: approved. (laughs)

On the other hand, as a member of BTS, you have a job where you have to deal with a packed schedule and keep various situations in mind. How does that make you feel? When you celebrated your Billboard Hot 100 win on V LIVE and the topic of your clothes came up, you joked that you wore them to give off an idol vibe. V: It’s fun. It’s fun, but I could also say it’s hard. The performances are fun. I think idols should shine in a way that’s suitable for their age, and it’s important to do lots of things for fans like ARMY. Not just performances, but also posting pictures, having conversations on social media, making content. We’re artists and idols, so we think each and every one of those things is important. That sentiment won’t change just because we’ve achieved so much success.

You recently held an impromptu event on Weverse for ARMY. V: I’m sure there’s lots of ARMY out there who are tired of not being able to see us in person. But since the only thing we can do for them is to be on stage and stuff, I was worried that we’re not doing enough for them. And I love being able to talk with ARMY so much that now it’s like a habit that I read their posts. I have a thing today. I have a test today. I’m moving today. Somehow I feel better when I hear their stories. When I end up reading things like about how ARMY are living or what kind of lives ARMY have, I can’t help but write a response, and because of that ARMY respond, so I try to become friendlier in a more fun way, too. I want us to be more than the Billboard number one Bangtanies—I want to be ARMY’s partner, their best friend, the friend who’s always by their side when we’re not on stage. It feels like business when I talk about communicating with ARMY. (laughs) I just want to talk with a close friend. I wanna talk with a close friend—that’s exactly how I feel. It’s been a long time since I could see my friend, ARMY. Usually when friends can’t see each other they keep in touch all the time. I can talk about all kinds of things like that with ARMY thanks to the Weverse platform, and because I can hear all about their lives, I think I was able to go on Weverse and hold that kind of event.

You’ve been talking about ARMY nonstop for a few minutes. I was going to ask you how you feel about ARMY, but I think you already answered the question. (laughs) V: They’re just, well, friends I would hate to lose. Friends who seriously give me strength whenever they’re around. Sometimes you find friends like that in life. It’s like that with the other members, and I have other friends who I can share my feelings with. And I have ARMY. So I can’t help but do whatever I can do to make those people smile and make them feel happy.

Well then, is there a song you’ve heard that you want to let ARMY know about? A song that shares your feelings. V: Umm, recently … “No. 1 Party Anthem” by Arctic Monkeys. When I hear that song … I get emotional, somehow. I don’t usually listen to a lot of rock music, but I can instantly feel the band’s emotions with that song. I seriously get goosebumps listening to it, and emotional, and just all kinds of feelings. It’s to the point that, as soon as I hear that song, I think about how I really want to live well.

That song really means a lot to you. V: Actually, I don’t really know what’s up with that song. I don’t even know the lyrics, but I’m quite clear on what sort of emotions the melody and the band’s performance give me.

Don’t you feel like that’s an emotion you want to express to people, as an artist? Like you don’t have to explain your messages in detail? V: I don’t know. I just want to exchange the good, and be the one to embrace the bad. So I have a desire to perfect one cool thing about myself.

So how close do you think you are right now to becoming an artist who has perfected something cool? V: I’ll say 2%. It’ll go up someday later. (laughs)

#bangtan #v #m:weverse magazine #210729

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the-lightning-strikes-again · 3 years ago

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A Review of Voltron DDP Comic: A Legend Forged (2008)

I knew the old Devil’s Due Publishing (DDP) comics for Voltron were lit…but the sequel, A Legend Forged, really resonated with me! This 5-issue comic series is DDP’s interpretation of the history behind the Voltron robot itself, and it wraps this lore within an adventure plot featuring our main pilots (Allura, Keith, Hunk, Lance, Pidge) in an alliance with Lotor.

I’ve meant to write a review about A Legend Forged for a while because I know that older Voltron comics aren’t always accessible. I think this one deserves some attention because it does things that I find just really refreshing after watching the 2016 Legendary Defender show. It also has some fun details that could have been source material for the world building and events in the 2016 VLD show.

The basic summary of this comic is that Team Voltron and Lotor are accidentally transported 1,200 years in the past after some classified time travel tech destabilizes in the middle of a fight. Powerless from the blast, they crash-land on a nearby planet, and they’re soon captured by people on the planet who have exceptionally advanced technology. Lotor agrees to a truce with Team Voltron to help find a way out of their prison, and back to their own time.

In arriving through the wormhole, however, they catch the attention of a very powerful group who are missing an important piece to complete their special defense project (the Voltron robot). The robot is being built in part by King Altarus, Allura’s ancestor, to fight off the villain in that ancient past—Empress Jain IX, Lotor’s evil great great (10X) grandmother, who is a sorceress hellbent on intergalactic domination.

Ultimately, Team Voltron and Lotor get caught up in the efforts to stop Empress Jain and assist King Altarus’s Council…and they discover some interesting things about themselves and about Voltron along the way!

I found A Legend Forged to be one entertaining, snarky shenanigan after another. Although it does source the 1984 character designs and backgrounds along with some references to Vehicle Voltron (which may be alienating to fans familiar only with VLD), I love that this comic deeply and openly explores what makes the Voltron franchise so identifiable and unique—its Arthurian legends/magic in the midst of an expansive space opera.

The comic is meant for slightly older audiences compared to VLD—it includes several instances of adult cursing, frightening images, some brief images of romance/non-graphic sensuality, and occasional graphic violence showing blood. I couldn’t find a publisher-recommended age for this comic on the book covers, but I think it might be T for ages 12 and older.

If you’re interested, a deeper overview of A Legend Forged is included under the cut!

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At a high level, there’s certain things that just really attracted me to this comic, even though I’m usually not much of a comic reader:

THE WORLD BUILDING

The whole timeline distortion that takes them back 1,200 years is a direct consequence of humans attempting to back-engineer the mysterious Voltron robot. Within that back-engineering, they’d stumbled into creating a time machine:

(Photo Description: The city of Toronto in the future. Someone asks, “Time travel?” Coran replies, “Devised using reverse engineered technology from Lion Voltron, no doubt.” An alliance official responds, “Come on now, how would that be possible?” A second official responses, “Coran’s right. The way that Lion Voltron summons energy and weaponry is a mystery. We learned how to mimic the ability with the vehicle units, without really understanding it.”)

So there’s a lot of undertow here about just what exactly all these different parties (Earth/Galaxy Alliance, space pirates, Lotor) were planning to do with a time machine to begin with before it gets blown up in a battle over it. But there’s also something interesting happening here involving Fate/Destiny and plasticity of time itself.

At the very heart of this comic is the concept that the Voltron robot could not have been completed 1,200 years ago if Team Voltron and Lotor were not accidentally tossed back in time to help complete the project. And idk, I think that’s just pretty cool. It ties these lives of these characters together in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen in any other Voltron iteration—that they were meant to pilot Voltron, because their presence helped to unlock the final missing piece to bring it to life.

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In addition, we get a really interesting look into the ancient past of the Voltron universe, back to the beginning of the first space empire. The comic’s big bad, Empress Jain IX, is an incredibly powerful and heartless sorceress of Drule heritage, from the planet Doon:

(Photo description: Empress Jain standing before the leader of a world she’s conquered, declaring, “And thus, the mighty fall! The powerful kneel at my feet! Behold the grandeur of your empress, and witness what happens to those who stand in her way!”)

But there’s always been this larger question in the Voltron franchise around King Zarkon’s unique, fish-like features compared to other Drule characters like Jain, and this comic answers that.

This is what the OG Zarkon looked like:

Compared to the ancient people of Korrinoth, who have similar ears and coloring as he does:

(Description: Keith says to the team, “I think we may be witnessing the beginning of King Zarkon’s people’s assimilation into the Drule Empire.”)

The planet that our protagonists crash-land on 1,200 years in the past is called Korrinoth. The people here had been recently conquered by Jain and share many similarities with the visual features of Zarkon. So this comic establishes that Zarkon has both Drule and Korrinite heritage. Unfortunately for Lotor, the Korrinites of the planet don’t acknowledge his Korrinite blood because he looks too Drule in comparison. So this comic reaches back on the hints that Lotor struggles to fit in with his own people…and it helps to explain why he’s captured along with Team Voltron:

(Photo description: Team Voltron and Lotor stand together, having been captured in a purple energy field functioning like jail bars.)

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There’s also the concept that Voltron—just like the surrounding environment in Voltron franchise—is an amalgamation of science and magic. The comic’s big bad, Empress Jain, had discovered that her own dark sorcery arts could be challenged by the “lion gods,” who were demanding an increasing price be paid for her horrific conquering. In order to negate the lion gods’ power, Jain explicitly banned religious worship around them and any lion god iconography from her empire.

(Photo description: The dark entity Sarga says, “It is coming, and soon, that which may be your downfall. A twisted abomination of science and technology. The might of the Lion-Gods with the heart and mind of Man.” Jain says, “But I have banned worship of the Lions through the empire.”)

So the Voltron builders were reaching back to a very ancient, lost power that they were risking their lives to resurrect. The connection to a pantheon of lion gods helps to provide some logic around why the Voltron robot itself splits into lions—because it’s literally the symbol of these lost gods.

The visual design of Voltron is also reflected in the armor worn specifically by warriors fighting in the name of these banned gods:

(Photo description: A humanoid warrior wearing Voltron-based armor, coming to Team Voltron’s rescue at the command of the Council.)

So Voltron as a machine metaphorically stands as the Ultimate Warrior in humanoid form, supported by the individual lion gods.

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Within the comic, it hints at some pretty intense religious discrimination—that Empress Jain was willing to arrest and torment even her own daughter, Azakhi for becoming a Lion Priestess:

(Photo description: Jain’s daughter, Azahki, is revealed to be a dirtied prisoner captured by Jain’s forces. She tells Team Voltron, “Do not fear my Drule appearance. I am a devout follower of your ways.”)

This background battle supports why Team Voltron and Lotor are instantly targeted by Jain’s forces when they crash-land on Korrinoth, bearing the banner of the lion gods in the form of Voltron.

Later on in the comic, we also see that the colors themselves represented the various domains of these lion gods:

(Photo description: An image of Voltron as it’s being built, with King Altarus narrating in the background, ““Yellow for win, red for fire, green for earth, blue for water, and at the center…the might blackness of space which houses all of reality.”)

So we really see Voltron pick up a lot more backstory to explain the robot itself.

We do get a deeper look as well into King Altarus and his Council.

King Altarus, Princess Allura’s ancestor, is the leader of the group. But the work involved in building Voltron doesn’t just rest with him like it did with Alfor in VLD. His council is just as equally if not more powerful than him in other ways.

In this panel, King Altarus introduces his four other team members as the most powerful scientists or sorcerers of their respective planet:

(Photo description: An introduction of the five council members of Altarus: “Cybrus hails from a world of sentient machines…More than a computer, he is also sorcerer to rival any other. The striking beauty to my right is Heket. Born of a nomadic race who travels the galaxy bestowing gifts of knowledge to primitive worlds. She is also the most brilliant scientist of her people. Phelos is a brilliant sci-mage from the neighboring solar system. If you are truly who you say, you may already know legends of our final ally. From a primitive world, but master of the most advance wizardry in the galazy: Merlin.”)

The combination of Altarus, Cybrus, Heket, Phelos, and Merlin all echo the 2016 Legendary Defender’s backstory—in which leaders of various people united together for the greater good of their galaxy. Once again, we have five unique planets represented in the Voltron effort—but in this case, it even includes Earth. This helps to explain part of why Voltron’s original design had very medieval attributes.

Maybe some would think it’s a bit hokey that the OG builders included the actual Arthurian figure of Merlin, the wizard? Idk, I think it’s kind of a fun way to connect Voltron’s ancient, magical past to Earth as well, and it suggests that Merlin was preparing or called by the others to help prepare for a future of advanced warfare. I’ve always wondered why the OG Voltron looked so medieval with the crests and the swords and such—and actually, it being built in part by a medieval human wizard would help to explain that!

We also see in the DDP comics a very heavy evolution to Allura’s character and to the world building within the Voltron franchise itself. She’s no longer just a princess who knows how to fight—she’s actively a Clairvoyant, with untapped power. King Altarus acknowledges, and the other Council members sense it, that Princess Allura has way more internal magic than she even knows about herself:

(Photo description: Council member Heket says to King Altarus, “I have a feeling about the girl [Allura]. Her aura is oddly similar to your own.”)

We also see that the dark entity Sarga recognizes this in her as well:

(Photo description: The dark entity Sarga says to Empress Jain, “The visitors…they each have a link to this monstrosity. However, the blood of only one of them pulses with the magic of Arus. The one called Allura! She is the one! She must be—” Jain cuts in, “The host!” And Sarga confirms, “Yes, with Princess Allura, Sarga will live in this realm once more. With her, we can control Voltron.”)

I feel like this magic probably helped to set the tone for the Princess Allura we meet in the 2016 Legendary Defender reboot, who ultimately got the opportunity to grow into the powers that are hinted at here in this previous iteration.

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I do also like this comic because the protagonists (with the exception of Pidge who is 16) are adults, and they’re a little more mature in their decisions and interests.

Like, for example, the Lance in this comic has a much more extensive sensitivity to and interest in culture. Instead of it being Hunk bonding with aliens through food, we see Lance as the diplomat, bonding with Jain’s daughter Azahki, just by asking her questions:

(Photo description: Lance and Jain’s daughter, Azahki, sitting at a table and eating. Lance says, “That hit the sport. I was frickin’ starving.” Azahki says, “After being held prisoner for so long, I had forgotten what real food tastes like. So much time was wasted…so much life. Just sitting in a cell because of my beliefs. I…I’m sorry, Lance. This should be a nice evening, and I’m bringing the mood down.”)

(Photo description: Lance replies, “Actually, I’m fascinated to learn more about the followers of the Lions, and about you. Like, where you come from. You feel free to talk about whatever comes to mind.” Azahki responds then, “You’re too kind.”)

I think along with this, we see a more nuanced view into the Drule themselves. Azahki, as both a Drule and as Empress Jain’s daughter, has turned away from the evil deeds of the empire and has suffered dearly for trying to do the right thing. This falls in line with DDP’s dedication in the worldbuilding to show that not all Drule are bad.

We also see some very interesting, Honervian backstory relating to Empress Jain’s dark powers. Like VLD Honerva, Jain is in part backed by an ancient spirit/power she likes to “talk” to. She calls on it as the “Mother of Power.” This creepy creature is named Sarga in the comics:

(Photo description: Jain summons Sarga: “Mother of Power, Great Spirit, I summon thee.” The dark entity Sarga manifests and says, “Yesss, sweet Jain! You know my name! Feel free to speak it. Have you found the Host?” Jain replies, “Not yet, great Sarga. But the search continues. To date, my body is the only one that could sustain you in our realm.” Sarga says, “Jain. Do not be so simple-minded. It’s only your mortal shell.” Jain retorts, “One that I rather like, thank you.”)

Sarga is pushing for Jain to give up her mortal body entirely so that Sarga can walk the mortal plane, but they don’t see eye to eye on this. Jain likes having her own body. Even so, Sarga knows that she has to protect her investment in Jain, and so she’s the one who plants a devious idea in Jain’s head—that she could potentially use the Voltron from the future to destroy the Voltron of the past, and therefore reestablish her supremacy over the lion gods and their legacy.

Tbh, I visually get a LOT of vibes from Jain relating to VLD’s Honerva character? Down to the long stringy hair and gold eyes…and she really does look like a female version of Lotor, tbh, lol.

(Photo description: Jain leaning in a circle of candles, exhausted from summoning Sarga, who has referred to Voltron. Jain murmurs to herself, “Pow..power. There is power in that name.”)

I think what I like about Jain as a big bad, though, is that she’s legit just an evil person. She doesn’t have an abuse backstory, like what so many content creators like to reference as the reason for someone going insane/evil. She’s clearly very talented and very powerful and very in control, and she’s using those abilities in all the wrong ways just because she can.

Given DDP’s contributions to the Voltron franchise with its female villains (Merla, Jain), I almost can’t believe that the 2016 VLD show didn’t carry these characters forward but instead raised up the all-new Honerva as “needed female villain rep.” But I can definitely see the echoes of Jain in the Honerva that we see throughout VLD.

I also really, really see similarities in how Jain is willing to use her own daughter, Azahki, as a pawn for her own aims. And by the end of the comic, Jain eventually accomplishes bringing Sarga into the mortal plane by sacrificing her own daughter’s body. This pretty hauntingly echoes the lack of maternal instinct seen in Honerva in VLD and Honerva’s malicious interest in and use of Lotor, even post-death in s8.

I feel like I relived Honerva’s interactions with Lotor in s8 when I saw how Jain acts with her own daughter, Azahki:

(Photo description: Azahki has been shot in the battle. Jain kneels down to her and cries, “Daughter. My only daughter.” Azahki says, “Mother...you…you’re crying? I…I’m sorry…you didn’t give me… a choice.” Jain pleads, “You can’t do this, Azahki, not now. After being gone for so long and now…” But then Jain has a complete switch of demeanor. She stands up and declares, “Now you’ve ruined everything! Everything!” Azahki, bewildered, says, “What?” And Jain yells, “I should have killed you in your crib!”)

Another association with Honerva is that Honerva/Haggar killed the original paladins. Likewise, it is Jain who takes down the Council one by one:

(Photo description: Jain breaks into the Council, hand glowing with power and fallen warriors around her, saying, “How could someone with such feeble defenses have eluded me for so long, Altarus? I give you credit for that, at least.”)

(Photo description: Jane is surrounded by the dead bodies of Merlin and Heket. She says, “Now, to finish this.”)

So I guess I’m just fascinated by Jain as a villain and find her similarities with Honerva interesting. In Jain’s case, however, there’s absolutely nothing to be sympathetic with her on, lol.

In terms of Lotor’s part:

I think this comic represents probably the most actively hopeful iteration of him that I’ve seen in the Voltron franchise? Like, Dynamite Comics had Lotor moving to ally with Team Voltron to bring down the rift creatures in a massive alliance, but those comics were canceled before we could see the whole story that Brandon Thomas intended. Here, we have a whole, complete story in which Lotor actively does good deeds and lives, wow.

(I didn’t think that was, like, allowed in this franchise, lol?)

I do think it’s really interesting that here, Lotor comes face-to-face with just pure, unadulterated evil—and it scares him. Just like in VLD, this Lotor is forced to watch Jain decimate an entire planet and enslave its people. Despite being canonically “evil,” Lotor does not take this level of destruction very well:

(Photo description: Empress Jain speaking to an underling, saying, “For now, rid this planet of its luscious environment and warp home.”)

(Photo description: The planet is set ablaze by Jain’s forces. Lotor is looking on from a different ship. He is unsettled by Jain’s power and says, “My god.” His prisoner that he’s watching on Team Voltron’s request (the space pirate Captain Stride), teases, “Nothing like a little global decimation to build character, eh, Lotor?” And Lotor warns, “Stride,” with an upset look on this face.)

His motivations for helping out and connecting with both Team Voltron and King Altarus’s council do start with just wanting to save his own neck. But as the comic progresses, we see him taking larger and larger risks to help protect the team, and he responds more emotionally to the stakes being faced by other allies.

Jain’s level of evil, and her later attempts to target Princess Allura as a host body for the dark entity Sarga, are what really push Lotor out of the antagonist/villain role into the position of antihero. And I like this exploration of him because Lotor is a really fascinating character in the franchise and usually always a wild card. Like, he has the capacity to play both sides and be unpredictable.

And it’s interesting too that this comic even opens up by acknowledging that. In the beginning, King Altarus and his council are watching Team Voltron and Lotor recalibrate from their crash-landing on Korrinoth. King Altarus notes that Lotor is evil, but that he’s capable of doing good…because of his love for Allura:

(Photo description: King Altarus judging the team: “The girl has a clairvoyance about her, but doesn’t even realize it. I sense something noble about all of them…save for the Drule who should not be trusted. Although his apparent fondness for the woman may cause him to fight his true evil nature at least for a while.”)

Later in the comic, it’s King Altarus himself who leans on Lotor when he thinks all hope is lost. And it’s Lotor who holds him up and tries to take down Jain:

(Photo description: King Altarus leans upon Lotor and mourns, “She’s…she’s done it, Lotor. She’s ruined our chances. Five generations…for nothing.” Lotor has raised a blaster and replies, “Not without going through me first.”)

So we really see this comic actively allow Lotor’s character to do things outside of the typical bounds of a villain. The very person who called him inherently evil is the one wailing to him and counting on him to save the day, lol.

We also see echoes of VLD Lotor’s pride in this comic. The DDP Lotor is also a man of mixed heritage and is very proud of who and what he is.

(Photo description: Lotor is on the battlefield, having slain an enemy who’d called them pathetic. Lotor responds, “Pathetic? My noble blood begs to differ.”)

So I liked that once again, Lotor is actually proud of who he is even though the world around him actively tries to devalue him. I think that’s been something meaningful about the Lotor character that a lot of people have connected to.

In his efforts to assist Team Voltron in reclaiming their own recharged Voltron lions (so that Jain can’t get them), Lotor is actually a very helpful ally as well, and a skilled warrior. So it was fun to see panels of Team Voltron and Lotor fighting together, side by side.

THE CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION

Ultimately, the evil Empress Jain tries to take over the Voltron from the future, in realizing that Allura has deep, spiritual connections to the machine. She agrees that this makes Allura the perfect host body for the dark entity Sarga, and as their way to control the robot. And so she enacts the rituals to possess Allura:

(Photo description: Allura’s features are mutating unnaturally as Sarga begins to posses her. In the background, Jain calls, “Don’t fight it, child. Don’t fight the honor of becoming a god.” Someone in the background, revealed later to be Lotor, calls out, “No! You can’t do this!”)

With Jain threatening Allura’s life, Lotor steps up to defend her, still holding up the battered King Altarus:

(Photo description: Lotor yells, “No! Not Allura!” And he shoots Jain through the shoulder.)

(Photo description: Jain snaps, “Lotor! How dare you attack your own kind! I’ll smite my own daughter, let alone a pissant distant grandson!”)

Ultimately, Lotor’s decision to shoot his grandma (what is it with this franchise and matricide/patricide lol) results in Jain being distracted long enough for the combined spiritual/soul energies of Allura, the previous Council members, and Altarus to bring “life” to Voltron.

This completes Voltron as a spiritual being as well—that it’s sentient and not just a robot, but imbued with the hopes and impulses for a defender against the evil attacking them.

(Photo description: Voltron awakens as a sentient robot and stands to move against Jain.)

Realizing that she has lost, Jain flees in a poof of magic—with her daughter, Azahki, oddly disappearing too. The comic ends for them on an unsettling note that Sarga has in fact slipped through to the mortal realm…by choosing Azahki instead of Allura as her host body:

(Photo description: Jain kneels and cries, “Oh mighty Sarga, I humbly beseech thee. Forgive my failures. Forgive my ability to bring you into our world. I beg you to be given a second chance! I vow to you we will see this through.” From behind, someone says, “Don’t be so harsh, mother.” Jain turns around and asks, “Who dares?” A woman in a cloak appears and says, “You may have failed to give me Voltron’s power, my child. But do not fear.” The woman is revealed to be the possessed body of Azahki, Jain’s daughter. Through her body, Sarga says, “I found a body that will do just fine for now.”)

However, we don’t see this thread explored any further. Shortly after the battle, the Galaxy Alliance manages to rebuild a temporal manipulation device to lock in on the missing Team Voltron and Lotor, and pull them back through time.

(Photo description: A strange flying machine appears. Someone asks, “What…what is it?” Allura echoes, “What’s it doing?” Lotor peers at it curiously and says, “I believe it’s scanning us.” The comic panels show the device scanning and identifying people to send back to modern times.)

And so, eventually, this wayward team makes it back home, with the final panels suggesting the Garrison had to complete a couple of temporal jumps to do it.

FUN LITTLE PIECES ALONG THE WAY

The comic itself had some interesting and funny scenes in it, including the following:

Please enjoy this image of a boi having tamed a dinosaur in the middle of an active battle:

(Photo description: Prince Lotor sitting atop a large, dinosaur-like creature that he’s tamed, calling joyfully to the paladins, “You can put your toy away, Pidge. I know where to find the lions.”)

Pidge jokes about Hunk and Lance:

(Photo description: Hunk had saved Lance from a shot. In running past them, Pidge calls, “Keep moving, guys! There’ll be time for spooning later.”)

Some time-traveling paradox humor:

(Photo description: Lotor shooting an ancient Drule, “Hope you’re not one of my forefathers.”)

Some Keith and Lance badgering:

(Photo description: Lance complains, “Keith Kogane seriously isn’t going to lecture me about battlefield romance, is he?”)

Did VLD get the name Kaltor from this comic??? Because Kalthor sounds pretty darn similar to Kaltor from VLD:

(Photo description: Jain calling out for an underling, “Kalthor! Sigh. Kalthor, this effort is beneath me. Extract the information I seek.”)

ALSO BLESS, THIS COMIC LETS ALLURA CUSS:

(Photo description: Princess Allura raises a blaster to use, but it doesn’t work. She says, “What the--? Damn! Now is not the time for you to malfunction! And I do not know how to fix a 1,200-year-old—”)

This comic probably is also the singular place in the DDP comics that offers any evidence whatsoever that Lotor and Allura actually did have positive childhood experiences together prior to his father decimating Arus, helping to explain Lotor’s curious loyalty to Allura throughout:

(Photo description: Lotor standing before Allura and saying, “I knew you’d pull through, Allura. Speaking of treehouses, do you remember climbing the Arusion orchids in the royal gardens when we were children?” Allura responds, “Yes…of course I do. I…”)

And finally, this comic has no issues whatsoever with making fun of itself or the concept of robotic lions:

(Photo description: A space pirate complains to Lotor, “Think about it! How you think this place ends up looking like it does in our time? Looking like Planet Doom?! Meanwhile, the Kitty Cat Club up there gets out without a scratch!”)

VOLTRON IS THE KITTY CAT CLUB, 2008 CONFIRMED

CONCLUSION

The 5-part comic A Legend Forged (2008) adds an incredible amount of history and lore to the Voltron franchise. It gave me some things that I personally was really craving out of this franchise—including some logic behind the lion imagery, a legit alliance between previously warring groups that doesn’t just end in catastrophe, some adult snark and some good-old fashioned silliness, some deeper exploration into dark entities/spirits, and also just a really powerful villainess that you can love to hate.

I think the comic ultimately took on the theme of Strength in Unity and fulfilled the concept that people really can work together. Even if the Team Voltron and Lotor and Council alliance was all just temporary, it was still nice to see that alliance come through for the greater good of the universe, instead of leading to more mass insanity like it did in VLD….

I liked that in this iteration, Voltron stood as a collective effort on the part of various worlds who were oppressed by Empress Jain. That helps to tone down the savior complex inherent in the franchise, that at least here, Voltron wasn’t one nation’s attempt to play police for all other people.

From a critical perspective, if you read carefully, there are some instances where you can tell that various alien races are prejudiced against each other and discriminate on the basis of appearance and religion, and even Team Voltron feeds into this at times in their initial assumption that Korrinites are a barbarian race when in fact they’re very intelligent and advanced. These aspects are just not fully reflected on within this comic, but they definitely feed into the conflict as we experience it 1,200 years in the past. Interestingly enough, the comic also makes fun of Team Voltron members who are from Earth as being “primitive” too. So I guess the DDP world does function in a “problematic” state where all of these alien races are struggling with how to interact well with one another. I’m not sure if that baseline would be a potential trigger for someone just entering this series, so I wanted to call it out here.

I do also occasionally find comics hard to read because of the all-caps print and because comics will switch back and forth between past and present, with only small visual markers to warn you. So I don’t think these comics are designed in the most accessible way. But that could just be me.

---

Overall, I think A Legend Forged ranks as one of my more favorite comic iterations of Voltron. It definitely has some differences from both the 1984 and 2016 shows, but it pulls on enough shared content to remain accessible. And while it was a quick read, it felt pretty tightly constructed. I would have liked to see more aftermath and epilogue, but I feel thankful that the story got an ending and that both Team Voltron and Lotor are shown being transported back home. The comic’s similarities and differences compared to VLD made it fun to read and analyze as well.

So yeah, if you get the chance to try reading it yourself, I recommend it! And if you’ve made it to the end of this very long post, thank you for reading!

#Comics #Voltron #Comics review #A Legend Forged #Allura #Lotor #Keith #Hunk #Lance #Pidge #Zarkon #Jain #Azahki #Coran #DDP Voltron #yay I finally finished my review piece #it actually was a pretty enjoyable read

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miscellaneous-obsession · 4 years ago

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Hi, I'm not sure if you do requests but I came across your ongoing fic about Alcina Dimitrescu and the maiden. I was wondering if you could write an angst piece about the family involving Ethan Winters and him carrying out his mission in the castle (as hinted during gameplay)? You can make it as sad and gory as you want!

Ah thank you for the ask, I really tried to go all out with the piece! Also please note this was written before canon details of the girl's weakness was revealed.

The Inevitable

Warnings: Graphic violence, death of main characters, implied suicide, details of injury and blood, use of blades and guns and not suitable for minors.

Anguish consumed her entire being as sobs were ripped from her throat, each more violent than the last. Her chest heaved, becoming more breathless as tears relentlessly trailed down her cheeks, falling only to land on the creamy expanse of Alcina's dress.

Being the last to have turned, Ethan presumed her mortal connections of humanity lingered longer than most. The emotional intensity of the scene that unfolded before him forced him to avert his gaze as guilt threatened to tear through his heart. He was the cause of such destruction; he had laid waste, bringing about the death of a family in reparation and retaliation for the loss of his own.

He called them monsters, but there was always a chance he was wrong. Was it he who was becoming the villain of the story?

Forcing himself to face the consequences of his actions, his stomach turned. Recalling the events that led him to believe that the brunette was the first he had slaughtered. She had walked into the hall unsuspecting of the company hovering above on the bannister, perched in wait, ready to leap onto her frame. Unable to swarm and seek help from her sisters, Ethan had plunged a blade through the skin and muscle of her neck with such force even the crunch of bone and cartilage echoed alongside a gurgled scream. Her eyes had widened, arms flailing helplessly as her mind continued to fight, hoping that this was not her untimely end.

"Cassandra," the cry of her name rang throughout the expansive room and with force, Ethan was flung from his position over the fading woman. The redhead looked torn; anger and sorrow clashed together like waves against a cliff. Her bottom lip trembled as tears threatened to spill over with the force she blinked, a truly futile effort to contain them.

"You can't go, Cassie; who will I bicker with?"

Ethan had recovered by then, his heart aching with a drop of adrenaline as these sisters were forced to part, separated by planes of existence by his actions. The brunette now lay lifeless in a pool of her own blood, cradled by whom he knew to be Daniela. The very same redhead remained unguarded, vulnerable, and against his better judgement, he retrieved his gun. Solely focused on Cassandra's corpse, Daniela had less than a second to react as she unsheathed her sickle, refracting the bullet, so it embedded within wooden panelling rather than her head.

"You bastard," with sloppy movements, she swung the blade that remained coated in her previous victim's blood. Advancing with ferocity, Ethan was compelled to retreat; his steps backward created a minute distance only to be quickly eliminated by Daniela's persistence. With both knife and gun in hand, Ethan continued to parry, deflecting potentially lethal blows, waiting patiently for an opening.

Two sounds followed in succession, first a second shot of the gun, then the thud of a fallen body. Not far from her elder sister lay Daniela, her body shaking as she slid across the marbled floor leaving behind an abhorrent bloody trail in her wake. Her effort was not in vain as she curled into Cassandra's now cooling body, hoping for a semblance of comfort in the absence of her mothers and only remaining sister.

Seconds later, the matriarch's wife stormed in, her fury no less palpable than her youngest’s. "No," her voice was soft as disbelief seeped in; ignoring the direct threat before her, she came to her daughter's side. The redhead forced a smile, hoping to alleviate the distress that crossed her mama's face.

"Mama," that sole word was enough for the maiden to hush the girl who she pecked on her forehead.

"Relax, Dani, you did so well, my darling. I am proud, so proud."

The slight smile, still as toothy as ever, cracked the maiden's heart, knowing it would be the last she caught from her daughter.

"Cassandra will be waiting, so do not fear, for you won't be alone."

The comfort Daniela sought was given in tenfold as always, and as she closed her two-toned eyes for the final time, she was only aware of her mama's delicate fingers carding through her hair.

Much like her daughter, who had just passed, the blonde could not contain her pain at the sight of her deceased children. Although before Ethan could act, the two remaining ladies of the house emerged, summoned by the ruckus he was responsible for.

Bela surged forward after a single glance to her younger sisters; her protective nature had not dulled even in their deaths. On the other hand, Alcina flew to her wife's side, sharing in the grief that constricted their unbeating hearts. Never had she thought that a single man could enact such damage.

Bela was relentless, her anger conforming to her will and an advantage as she slashed with precision. Her blade getting too close for comfort for Ethan's liking, but he was prepared. Blocking and countering with his own attacks saw the blonde thrown off-kilter, her movements becoming sluggish as she expended her energy far too much over the course of the evening.

Observing her daughters struggles, Alcina moved to step in, only to be too late as Ethan used Bela's momentum against her. With her sickle wedged within the hearth of the fireplace, unable to rip it out in time, both blade and bullets penetrated her unprotected abdomen. The inhuman cry from Alcina sent Ethan staggering as she pulled Bela into her embrace, coaxing and pleading for her to stay awake. Quickly cream became crimson within seconds but was ignored in favour of re-joining her wife. Held safely in her mother's arms brought Bela a semblance of peace; she desperately wanted to stay but knew there was nothing to fear anymore, for she had her sisters to join.

"I'm sorry, mother, mama," she looked to them in turn as she spoke their favoured terms of endearment, eyes fluttering with each movement.

"Nonsense dragă mea, you were perfect."

A small nod from the maiden confirmed Alcina's statement, confident that her daughter had succeeded. "Rest Bela," was the last thing the blonde heard as she slipped into an endless sleep, still held and cradled in the soothing caress that her mothers provided.

Only when they were sure did they let go, allowing Bela to lay by her sisters, placed with such delicacy it surprised Ethan. Only two to go; it was a thought that crossed his mind as both women stood, bodies stiff and ready to pounce as though they were predators and he was their prey.

Both matriarch and her wife were riddled with injuries by the end of the fight, Alcina more so as she had taken blows in an effort to save her beloved. Foolishly it was this notion, her own sentimentality, that brought about her end. Having collapsed her wife catching her with practised ease, Alcina was held against the blonde's chest. With an urgent need to convey her love, Alcina forced herself upright, seeking the lips of her maiden. Granting one of her last requests, her beloved closed the distance, savouring what would be the final kiss in which the matriarch would or could reciprocate. A hand rose to Alcina's cheek as she came to rest her head in the column of her wife's neck, fingers tracing skin with unparalleled tenderness. Ethan's own heart ached, he had lost his wife, his Mia, and he was the reason his ancestor was losing her own.

"I'll be with you soon, my love; I promise even death won't separate us."

Alcina hummed, although not in disagreement; she too did not want to be parted in the afterlife. "You are mine dragă mea."

"I am yours just as you are mine; that will never change."

Smoothing out tangled curls, the maiden pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of her wife's head. Seconds later, Alcina's chest stilled and only then did the final Dimitrescu shed her tears, leading to the scene Ethan saw before him.

"Where is my daughter?"

No success, her sobs continued to wrack her body, oblivious to the man's question as she pressed her face into the top of her wife's head.

"Where is Rose?"

He demanded louder each time, growing more frustrated with a lack of results he had hoped to achieve from this massacre. Eventually, without any patience left, he drew closer, his footfalls treading carefully across stained floors. Extending an arm, allowing a hand to come into contact with the blonde’s shoulder, snapped the maiden’s attention to the man who murdered her family, her innate fear of being removed from her beloved squashed upon meeting his bitter gaze.

"Why would I tell you anything, Ethan Winters?"

For once, he had no response, but she filled the silence with her resentful tone, despite her wavering voice and quivering lip. "You hold no more bargaining chips. You played your cards much too early. How foolish a man to have made such avoidable mistakes."

He scoffed as if to refute her statement; despite all of the stacking evidence that she was right, some small part of his mind refused to acknowledge or toy with the concept that she was wrong.

"You want a daughter you will not find; I will not divulge a secret of which I was entrusted with. For you killed my daughters, my wife, my everything. Nothing you can say or do could repair or undo the damage you have caused. You will leave here knowing you have failed."

With that said, the maiden prepared for the inevitable, for Ethan's weapons to end her life much like he had the other four Dimitrescu's at her refusal to share what information he desired. Holding her wife tighter and an arm resting across her daughters, she waited. But the blow nor bullet she anticipated came, leaving a hollow, empty sensation festering in her chest.

"I won't kill you until I leave with what I came for."

"Unfortunately for you, that is the opposite of what will happen."

Before Ethan could stop her, she grabbed her youngest’s discarded sickle, and for all to hear, she said aloud, "In life and in death, glory to Mother Miranda." The weapon was swung with force, finalising the end of the Dimitrescu household, allowing the last member to come to rest, still clutching her wife's body with a loosened grip.

Ethan had failed.

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

Only hours later, without hearing from his sister, did Heisenberg approach the castle. Lacking his lycans or other substantial back up he entered silently, aware of the games that may be ongoing. He did not want to spoil his niece's fun.

Entering the hall brought about a shock; in the light of the fires dying embers lay those who he had called his family. Untouched from the fight, Daniela was held between her sisters, flanked on either side, just as she had adored as a child. Alcina was to their right, body held by her wife, who distinctly lacked the sickle once embedded in her skin. The very weapon was strewn to the side, still marred by her blood. Those emerald eyes Alcina adored to talk of were now closed in respect, an unforeseen gesture carried out by none other than the man who wreaked such havoc before having absconded. The matriarch's wife had her arm extended, albeit stiff with rigour mortis, across the girls, forever comforting them in a maternal gesture.

Never did Karl anticipate an ending like this, although he was only thankful for their departure together, for they remained a family even in their time of death.

But for now, it was time to inform Mother Miranda of their demise.

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igarbagecannoteven · 3 years ago

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megs!! hi!! how are you? so may I ask for your list of your favourite electric guitar solos/riffs 👀 sending u positive vibes <33

myle!! hello hello! i am well, especially since i get to answer this ask (you really know the way to a girl's heart!) how are you?? i am recieving your positive vibes and sending some of my own your way :)) now, onto your question!

as i've mentioned, the opening riffs in welcome to the jungle by guns and roses (up to 0:30) is possibly one of my favorite song openings of all time. i have no idea what about it makes me so happy whenever i hear it, but it just gives me so much joy :))) fun megs fact when i was in middle school/high school i walked to school, and instead of a phone or an ipod the only thing i had to listen to was a little mp3 that could also pick up the local radio stations. i listened to a *lot* of the local oldies station, and every time welcome to the jungle started i would light up (although every single time i'd forget what song it was and i'd just be like "oh i love this song!!! i know it what is it" and then the rest of the guitars would come in and i'd be like 'ohhhhh" skldjfjsdl)

one of my all-time favorite guitar *solos* is the closing guitar solo in hotel california by the eagles (4:19 onward)! while i love guitar solos as a seperate entity unto themselves, i also think it's really cool when they build onto or expand the narrative of the song. i'm sure there are much more musically knowledgeable people who've talked about this, but i always pictured the closing guitar outro as a way of leaving the narrator's fate up in the air while still hinting at his true fate. but what is that? i have no idea! i've wanted to write something based on hotel california before i'd ever heard of the concept of a songfic, and maybe someday i'll be able to answer what i think it means!

i have no idea what is in the electric guitar in headfirst slide into cooperstown on a bad bet by fall out boy but there is no way it's legal i want to munch on it i want to put it in a blender and make a smoothie out of it i have no intellectual thoughts about it i just want to bite it

while a lot of this song's addictiviness comes from the rhythm section, the guitar riffs & solo on heart mind body & soul by the new regime really do make it the perfect song to aggressively bounce around to; it captures this wonderfully frantic energy and then the guitar solo (2:26-2:59) helps shake things up and introduces some much needed texture to the song, which is exactly what a guitar solo should do, in my opinion

hey you by pink floyd is a damaging song in basically every respect, and the the guitar solo (1:57-2:53) is no exception; it's just *chef's kiss* it just creates this beautiful arch between the first and second half of the song and it makes me wish i had a lighter to hold up in the air as i sway along

listen. i realize that Real Rock Fans™ will judge me for this opinion, but i really do think that journey is an example of a band who knows how to treat the electric guitar right. like have you listened to them??? brilliant show-stopping never-been-done before [insert rest of the lady gaga meme here] i'm going to use separate ways (worlds apart) as my example bc a) what a song b) the guitar solo (3:13-3:58) captures the yearning™ that the song's about *perfectly*

anyways i could go on for much longer but yeah this is most of my top guitar riffs/solos (altho i'm sure i'm forgetting several key songs lol)

#can you tell i love dad rock?#sdkjflskdjfklsjd #thank you so much for this ask myle i had so much fun answering it :))#answering mail #myle #electric guitar!!!

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nicknellie · 3 years ago

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Anonymous requested: a Juke one shot based on the song 'Lets fall in love for the night' by Finneas

I’d never heard this song before, but I was seriously excited to write from it when I listened. And Juke is absolutely perfect for it too! This is the first time I’ve written Juke in a while and I’m so happy with how it turned out, thank you for your request!

I Know Better

You need a pick me up?

I’ll be there in twenty-five,

I like to push my luck,

So take my hand, let’s take a drive.

I’ve been living in the future,

Hopin’ I might see you sooner,

I want you, riding shotgun,

I knew when I got one right.

It was a lazy late night when Luke got the text through from Julie. He hadn’t been up to much, just picking at his guitar, trying to figure out a new melody but coming up blank. Bored out of his mind, he had been desperate for something to do, somewhere to go, someone to talk to. Perhaps he had been hoping for something just like this, a message from the girl who made his heart soar very much against his will, asking to see him.

She had asked to be picked up from work – apparently she’d had a very long day and just needed someone to talk to about something that wasn’t work. This happened a lot, Luke thought with a grin as he put his guitar away and headed to his car. Julie would ask him to see her after work, say she didn’t want to talk about it, and then talk about it for at least an hour before they even thought about mentioning anything else.

He didn’t mind. He would have listened to anything as long as Julie was the one saying it.

He clambered into his car and set off, muscle memory guiding him to the office block Julie worked at. It was supposed to be a half-hour-long drive at least, and even that was only in good traffic, but Luke was determined to get there quickly. He couldn’t have denied that Julie had been on his mind all day – like she always was – and for that reason he couldn’t wait to see her.

So maybe he ran a red light or two. Maybe he cut a few corners. Maybe he did some not-so-sensible things that were maybe not-so-safe, but it was just to get to Julie as fast as he could. The thought of her made him reckless, clouded his judgement, gave him the ability to do anything.

It was lucky it was such a late hour and there was hardly anyone else on the roads, otherwise Luke was certain he wouldn’t have got to Julie as quickly as he did.

As it happened, he managed to shave five minutes off the journey, arriving outside the building in about twenty minutes. He could see Julie sat on the front steps of the building, all the lights turned off inside so she was only lit by a nearby streetlamp and the light from her phone. She was wrapped up in a thick coat, her hair spilling out over her shoulders in that way Luke thought was more beautiful than anything else. In his head, he knew he could have just texted her to say he was there, or waited for her to notice him herself seeing as his was the only car around, but instead he opened the door and climbed out, heading straight for her.

Julie only looked up from her phone when Luke was just a few paces away. The way she smiled at him – small, sweet, soft, breathtakingly beautiful – melted Luke’s heart right then and there. It was almost difficult to maintain his appearance of cool and casual when she looked at him like that, but he forced himself to keep it up.

“Hey,” he said, grinning down at her.

“Hi,” she returned, still smiling that cute little smile. “Thanks for coming to pick me up.”

“Anytime,” Luke said, waving a dismissive hand. “You know that.”

He extended a hand to her, holding it out like a gift, an offering. A prayer.

Take my hand, Julie, take it and never let go.

“Do you want to come back to my place?” he asked. There was an unspoken ‘or I could take you straight home’ but Luke didn’t want to put the idea of leaving him in her head.

But that worry was silenced as soon as it reared its ugly head because Julie slipped her hand into his and hoisted herself up. Her fingers were much smaller than his, long and delicate, a pianist’s hands. A small part of him wanted to do nothing more than just stand here with Julie, hand in hand, nothing else between them but the silence of the late hour.

He tore himself away from the thought, but not from Julie. Hands still linked between them, they headed back to Luke’s car, charged silence drifting over them.

There were times that Julie didn’t feel real to Luke. The whole concept of a person like her was too perfect to ever truly exist. What were the chances that one person could have so much talent, charm, intelligence, wit, care, love, humour, beauty, sense of adventure, trust, loyalty, and the thousands of other qualities that Julie possessed? What were the chances a person could so easily embody everything good in the world?

At times like that, he was glad he got to hold her hand. Prove that she was really here.

He had been thinking of her all day. Wanting to see her, wanting to hold her, to sing with her, to talk to her, just to be in her presence. He had briefly entertained the thought of actually doing something with Julie, going somewhere together or doing something – anything – more than just talking like they usually did. But he’d soon realised that just talking to Julie was as good as anything could ever get.

His wandering mind hadn’t stopped there thought. Regretfully, he had thought about the future. Whether he and Julie had any chance of one. Luke didn’t often think further ahead than twenty-four hours, but when it came to Julie he wanted to plan his entire life around her. He wanted to be with her forever, and when he thought about it that was all he wanted. Just to be with Julie.

When he thought about the future, she was all he saw.

Together, they got back in Luke’s car, Luke behind the steering wheel and Julie riding shotgun next to him. They had let go of each other’s hands, but Luke reached across of gently squeezed her hand one last time before resting his hands on the wheel and starting the car. His heart was beating faster than he’d ever thought possible, thrumming with some thrilled and exhilarated energy which he was sure was the only thing keeping him alive at that moment.

Whatever it was, it was coming from Julie, and he knew then that he needed her to survive. Right by her side was exactly where he belonged.

I love it when you talk that nerdy shit,

We’re in our twenties talking thirties shit,

We’re making money but we’re saving it,

‘Cause talking shit is cheap and we talk a lot of it.

You won’t stay with me, I know,

But you can have your way with me until you go,

And before your kisses turn into bruises, I’m a warning.

Like normal, they ended up in Luke’s apartment. It had been their same old routine – consider going out for a drink (coffee, at Julie’s insistence, because she had work in the morning and didn’t want to get drunk), realise there was nowhere open that wasn’t a bar, so head back to Luke’s place and use his coffee machine before inevitably ending up like this: sprawled across each other on Luke’s bed, too close to be friendly.

Luke was lying on his back, one leg arched, one hand underneath his head. Julie lay across him, her head rested on his abdomen, her hair tickling his bare skin where his top had ridden up an inch or so. One of her legs was hanging off the bed, the other tucked under it in a way that looked uncomfortable but must have worked for Julie. Luke had her hand in his, toying with her dainty little fingers, running his fingertips across the palm of her hand every now and then and delighting at the way it made her shiver. Both were staring up at the ceiling, not at each other.

As he had predicted, Julie was talking about work although she had said she didn’t want to. Truthfully, Luke didn’t really know what Julie did for a living, only that it involved ‘algorithms and science stuff’ and it seemed dreadfully boring. She clearly loved her job, as much as she complained about the hours, but Luke knew it wasn’t what she wanted to do forever. Still, listening to her talk about whatever equation she’d used that day or whatever machine she was helping create brought a smile to Luke’s face that nothing else could have summoned.

Because Julie was a girl made of passion and talent and beauty and love. And right that moment, her passion was burning like the brightest star in the sky, and Luke couldn’t make himself look away.

“It’s only temporary though,” Julie said eventually. “I won’t be there forever. It pays well enough for me to save for a bigger apartment – maybe a house if I’m lucky, or if I stay there long enough. When I’ve got the time and the space and the money, I’m going to do music. Properly, I mean, not just open mic night down at Eats and Beats. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, it’s my only real goal. Get a house, get a record deal, get my dream life. However long it takes, whatever I have to do to get there.”

“You’ll find that happiness,” Luke assured her. “If anyone can do it, you can.”

Julie hummed a laugh and instinctively curled her fingers around Luke’s where they were still rested on his palm. If Luke stopped breathing for a moment, did nothing but gaze and smile in awe at the way Julie so naturally held on to him, Julie either didn’t notice or didn’t mention it.

“What about you?” she asked quietly.

“Music,” Luke said, not missing a beat. “Same as you. I might only be busking and doing open mic nights now, but if I save all the money I make from that eventually I’ll have enough to buy some really good equipment, hopefully hire a manager, really get myself started. I know it’s not gonna be easy, but…”

“But it’s all you’ve ever dreamed of,” Julie finished for him. He felt her nod. “It’s the same for me.”

Teasingly, Luke said, “Hey, if we have the same dream why not follow it together? We could start a band.”

Julie laughed – Luke felt his heart flutter at the sound. She rolled her head to the side to face him, so Luke lifted his head a little so he could actually look her in the eye.

“You and me?” Julie said. “Starting a band?”

“It could be fun,” Luke chuckled with a shrug. He was only half-joking; if he got to chase his music dream with Julie then it would basically be like chasing two dreams at once. “We’re both talented. We could make something really special.”

She laughed again, quieter this time, something solemn about it. Luke wondered if maybe she was really considering it too.

But there was a little voice in the back of his head, something bitter that he thought might have resembled brutal honesty. Julie was too perfect to ever stay with him, in any sense of the word. She deserved someone better, someone who matched her untouchable flawlessness, someone who could really give her everything she needed. Luke didn’t think for a moment that could be him. Besides, someone like Julie would never settle for him.

And yet, when she looked at him like that, brown eyes wide and deep and sparkling, full of their own private universes, seeing Luke at that moment and nothing else, it was hard for him to convince himself that they weren’t made for each other.

It could never last, he reminded himself. He would never be able to keep something he wanted so desperately.

Instead of replying to him, Julie shifted her weight, rolling over so that her arms were crossed over Luke’s chest and her body was half on top of his. Still he looked her in the eye – he never wanted to look anywhere else.

But when she leaned down to kiss him in a way that felt forbidden but mind-blowingly right, he couldn’t help but close his eyes and melt.

It wasn’t every day that Julie Molina would kiss him. He wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Let’s fall in love for the night,

And forget in the mornin’.

Play me a song that you like,

You can bet I’ll know every line.

I’m the boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid,

Don’t waste your eyes on jealous guys, fuck that noise.

I know better than to call you mine.

The sun was rising, an amber glow mingled with red and peach and the tiniest tint of blue, peeking through Luke’s thin curtains, but he and Julie hadn’t even slept. They were awake, but admittedly tired, running only on the adrenaline that came from being in one another’s company.

They were still sat on his bed, cross-legged across from each other, Luke with his acoustic guitar in hand. Julie had asked if he had been working on any new songs recently, and who was he to refuse the most gorgeous girl in the world a solo performance? He was picking out a melody he had thought up a few days ago, one that he could get out of his head for some unknown reason. It was only notes so far – he hadn’t had the time to pull any lyrics to it – but it was still a slow, soft melody that made him feel so relaxed that he almost felt as if he’d left reality behind.

All that was pulling him back down to Earth was Julie because she was proving yet again that she was some sort of miracle. When Luke started playing, she had nodded her head, swayed a little, just enjoyed the music. But a few bars in, she had started humming along.

When Luke hit the chorus, Julie sang.

It should have been impossible. Julie had never heard the song before, and even if she had it wasn’t like there were lyrics she could have followed. But somehow she was doing it, pulling the perfect words from nowhere and fitting them to Luke’s melody with ease, like she’d sung this very song a thousand times before. Somehow, she pre-empted every rhythm, every note, every ascending pattern and every dropping dynamic and matched him effortlessly. When Luke instinctively began humming a harmony to her voice, she took it in her stride and reached for notes Luke hadn’t known anyone was capable of hitting.

When Luke hit the last chord, Julie sang a breath-taking, elegant descending run, her eyes closed, a gentle smile playing about her lips.

Not for the first time, he wondered how Julie was even real.

But then a wholly unwelcome thought came to his mind. Julie had a guy. Kind of. Not really. There was someone very interested in Julie (someone other than Luke) who she told him about sometimes. From what Luke knew, he brought her flowers sometimes, he paid her compliments, he texted her almost as much as Luke did. Julie refused to say she was dating him and Luke believed her, but the problem was that this guy clearly wanted to date Julie.

Luke wasn’t jealous. He and Julie weren’t dating and he just wanted to her be happy, so if it turned out that this guy made her happier than Luke did, he would go with it. For Julie, he would go with it.

But he also knew, since Julie had told him herself, that this guy had something against Luke.

Luke had to wonder whether he saw him as a threat.

This guy, it seemed, was jealous. He wanted Julie to himself, which really wasn’t fair on the rest of the world. Julie didn’t deserve to be kept in a box, locked away for just one guy to look at, especially a guy who would get mad when anyone else tried to look at her.

Luke didn’t want that for her.

“Julie,” he said quietly. “You deserve someone amazing. Someone as incredible as you are. They’ll love you no matter what, they’ll trust you, they’ll… they’ll really care about you. That’s what you deserve in life. Along with everything else you could ever want. And I hope you get it.”

She was silent for a moment, an unreadable expression on her face which would have been totally blank if it weren’t for the twitch of her lips and the light in her eyes. Luke wondered, suddenly panicked, if he’d been too obvious about how he felt about her. But thankfully, she just smiled that sweet smile and said, “Thank you, Luke.”

He thought his heart might explode just from those three words.

He thought it even more so when Julie leaned forward and their lips brushed yet again and he realised he was going to get to kiss her again so maybe, just maybe–

The alarm on his phone went off and snapped their moment in two.

Julie sighed heavily and pulled away. Luke immediately missed her warmth.

“This was fun, Luke,” she said, already standing up and stretching. “Really. I love being here with you. But I have work. I need to get going.”

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn’t think of anything worse than Julie leaving right then. But he didn’t tell her that. He told her, “It’s fine, you go. You’ve got to chase those dreams of yours somehow.”

Neither of them said goodbye. They just shared a bittersweet smile and Julie left his apartment.

Luke let her, watching out of his bedroom window as she walked further and further away from him down the street. He wanted to chase her, his dream, but he didn’t.

After all, he knew better than to ever call her his.

#this is more angsty than i intended and for that i am not sorry #jatp #julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #juke #jukebox #julie x luke #luke x julie #julie molina #luke patterson #jatp fic #juke fic #songfic #finneas #request #writing #my writing #friends to lovers #(but only kind of)

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