#but i do feel like with other ff soundtracks at least theres MUCH more of a focus on female choirs and vocalists

[dayasan]

Listening to the FFXVI soundtrack and it occurs to me that they have a prominent focus on mostly male choirs where a lot of composers would opt for the higher ranges of soprano and alto vocalists.

This makes a lot of sense in songs like Away, which is largely Clive's theme and therefore has a lot to say about masculinity, brotherhood, etc.

But the soundtrack has a LOT of focus on the lowend of the orchestral and choral palette which is quite interesting. Probably well suited for the action genre. They have female soloists like in Land Of Eikons (which Im pretty sure is a vocaloid anyways) but otherwise the high end is mostly reserved for harp, strings, piano...

I may have to dig in and post some annotations on Genius or something

[hazeweald]

harsh new horizons rant

- the soundtrack is the worst in the series (i get this is highly subjective bc well its music, but i have seen a lot of ppl unsatisfied w this ost) & i wish there was some way we could change soundtracks to ones from older games. hell, id even be willing to fork out a few dollars for that. ive been playing since launch day & off the top of my head the only song i remember is the title song, i havent played ww/cf in years & i still remember basically all of the ost

- as an og fan it is frustrating to have to wait for all the same old stuff to get added back, it feels much more beneficial to new players than people who have been longtime fans. for a new player, who has never seen katrina or jack before, they will feel new & unique, for me its just something that should've been there all along, "finally at last they added this" rather than "oh cool this is new" for me. i dont care if this is "just how games are now", "but you would've had to wait longer for a full game", & "at least it isnt like sword & shield", it still sucks, plain and simple

- the villagers in terms of dialogue somehow have less personality than new leaf. we desperately need a QOL & villager update before anything else imo, the relationships & bonds u make are supposed to be a core part of this game but it feels so empty rn

- bc of how watered down the dialogue is, & how little there is to do, it honestly feels like the game was designed to be a decorating game above all else now, like you're *supposed* to share on social media. its kind of sad how the instagram trend of having the prettiest x has infected even animal crossing now, it was definitely there from the new leaf days but the community has definitely gotten worse due to how much of a global phenomenon new horizons has become. not saying this is a fixable issue, its just something suck-y that happened, not like the devs can do anything abt it, this is just how i feel

- it sucks we have had no new animal species & only like 5 something new villagers, i was hoping for something big, more personality types, hell maybe even an overhaul of the personality types so they're more individualistic, but nope. the villagers, the bonds u make, r supposed to be a key part of this game. making friends is like, the opening sequence of the original game ffs but they dont feel at all like friends... if u have a pink island u have cookie, if u have a goth island u have muffy.. villagers r just decoration, there to fit the themes now :( they always were, to some extent, but it feels amplified now that u can design ur whole island

- the lack of furniture & weird clothes from prior games have made the game lose more charm. people laugh at u for using the same furniture but its like, we dont have much to work with if we arent going for a cOtTaGeCoRe island 🤷‍♀️

- i dont like how much it feels like you have to buy the online to get stuff you want, just make it so they're customisable but only with lots of kits or smth. you can call me a cheapskate all u like but i aint paying for a garbage online when it was free in the other games 👀 at the very least qr code reading shouldnt require online, bc it was free in the last game. everyone complains abt pkmn being guilty of this but apparently acnh gets a free pass??? making me pay 20 dollars just to get a lamppost in a different colour is dumb as hell nintendo, smart for u bc u know ppl will give u money, but its still dumb

- replacing npcs with menus may be convenient but it also loses more charm the series has, i was honestly hoping for more backstory dialogue like in wild world for the npcs but nope i guess i just have to wait for them to get added back for their usual functions. "whats that? u wanna hear abt katrina? where shes from? well u cant do that but you can wait for anywhere inbetween the *3 years* we said we'd update the game for just for her to be the exact same as she was in new leaf, enjoy :)"

- the fact that it took fan outrage to get save backups is pathetic, i cant believe nintendo didnt think that a game that ur designed to spend YEARS playing would need backup lol

- turn the waterfall noises down nintendo i beg of you

the game definitely feels the most charmless out of all the animal crossing games bc of all of these combined reasons, not to say the devs didnt work hard on it bc they clearly did... but everything just feels so.. idk, clean? like the dialogue is safe & clean & lacks a lot of weirdness & whimsy the dialogue in the older games could have. the graphics are pretty & clean... most of the furniture & clothes are pretty & clean, generic wooden furniture & plants & plain couches... the music is v clean & pretty... in the older games the ost was not afraid to sound sad, even spooky sometimes at night, but theres none of that in new horizons. it just feels... stripped of personality & uniqueness that made the games so charming to me? end rant anyway lol

[cheekbites-moved]

ok so i watched love simon for the first time last night & i was too tired to make a ‘final thoughts’ post then, so here it is now! lol

obviously this is gonna be long as hell so im putting it under a read more for ur convenience lmfao

im actually gonna start with what i didnt like bc it was just one thing.

obviously, if uve seen the movie (as many ppl hated this too), or read my liveblogging posts, u know what it is lol 

ill be honest, as a gay person, im incredibly biased towards simon. ill admit that. that being said, how his friends treated him after he got outed was fucking disgusting.

here’s the thing: the actions simon did that his friends got upset over were motivated by the threat of him being outed. now, if this movie was just some fluffy, fantastical movie, the threat would just be ppl knowing he’s gay and that’s it. no repercussions, just ppl gaining the knowledge that he’s not straight. not that big a deal.

however, since this movie tries its best to be accurate and realistic to things, it’s not that simple in the movie, and it’s not the simple in real life.

the risk of being outed is not just ‘ppl knowing ur gay’ and that’s it.

the risk of being outed involves the risk of getting bullied (which does happen in the movie, twice. once to ethan on screen, once to simon after he comes out.), getting abandoned by ur friends (which also does happen in the movie), getting expelled from school or fired from ur job if either of them find out & are lgbtphobic, getting kicked out of ur house if ur parents/whoever u live w find out & theyre lgbtphobic, and, at worst, it can come with the risk of getting beaten or even killed.

and no, this isnt me blowing this up to be more serious than it should be. bc unfortunately, in the world we live in, these things can happen as a result of someone being lgbt, whether they came out themselves or were outed by someone else. 

the worst thing simon did was hurt his friends’ feelings a bit. 

he didnt notice leah’s feelings for him (which. why would he? he’s not interested in her, or any girl for that matter, so obviously he’s not looking for the signs of interest. why would he notice that, and why was it his responsibility to know anyway??). he tried to set nick up with her because he genuinely thought she had feelings for nick, and that’s the main reason why he didn’t realize that she liked him.

yes, part of the motive was trying to get nick out the way so he could set abby up with martin, but ffs. let me reiterate that his life, and potential future, were on the line. having the possibility of all the aforementioned things potentially happening to him should make his actions at least understandable.

like falling for someone that doesnt like u back bc theyre not attracted to ur gender (which like.. hello. gay ppl fucking experience that shit all the time too & we have to learn to deal w it.), or being put in a game of matchmaker bc ur friend was trying to save their own fucking life is rly not that big a deal compared to said friend’s situation of trying to save their own fucking life. 

one situation hurts, but can eventually be healed from (which clearly they do in the movie since abby and nick got together anyway in spite of simon’s actions, and leah’s fine). the other situation has the chance of resulting in a fucking future/life being ruined or taken. i think that one is much more fucking important.

all in all, i just wish they wouldve fucking apologized. bc they screamed at him after he got outed. 

abby saw how fucking terrified he was when he came out to her, but she’s not gonna have a single ounce of sympathy when he was outed to the entire school against his will?? like what the fuck! 

also wish they wouldve stood up for him when he got bullied. they just sat there with guilty expressions, but none of them did anything. it was really rough to watch.

as much as all this seriously pissed me off, though, especially as a person who has been outed against my will so all of simon’s heartache as a result rly resonated with me.. 

i appreciate that they put that shit in. 

bc u know what unfortunately that is how cishet ppl react sometimes. guilting u for being lgbt, guilting u for not coming out to them despite knowing how scary it can be, etc etc etc. 

and getting apologizes from cishet ppl for that kinda shit is rare. so, as much as i was annoyed that they didnt apologize, that is unfortunately realistic. as much as i wish they wouldve stood up for him, that was also unfortunately realistic. so im still glad it’s in there even if it did piss me off. 

simon’s speech to martin was nice at least, and i hope that it taught some cishet ppl that have outed ppl, or threatened to out ppl, or wanted to out ppl, why u just dont fucking do that shit.

woo now that that’s outta my system lmfao onto all the good stuff! in bullet list form bc theres a l o t lmfao

the soundtrack ESP for the emotional moments wOw

‘i wanna dance with somebody’ gay musical addition

simon’s subtle annoyed looks whenever straight nonsense™  happens

simon’s terrible attempts at being straight

simon’s extremely subtle, but still noticeable if ur lgbt, panic whenever the potential chance of him being outed/discovered arises 

the dog

simon’s parents’ speeches to him after he comes out to them

seriously as gay, nb person w lgbtphobic parents that shit meant a lot to hear. 

the fact that this is not only a mainstream lgbt rom-com, but also a mainstream movie abt a gay kid learning to love himself and be confident with himself and his sexuality

simon’s journey to being able to proudly proclaim that he’s gay.

the speech he has near the end is so fucking powerful bc we see him struggle throughout the movie to say it. 

first he cant say it at all, then he can only say it quietly, but by the end of the movie, he’s proclaiming to the entire school, loud and proud, that yes. he is gay. and he’s not going to feel wrong for that anymore. 

i feel like that entire journey is one that can really resonate with a lot of ppl, including myself. so im so fucking happy that this movie included that progression, and ended it with him having such an exuberant amount of confidence. it was honestly really beautiful, and im glad i got to witness it.

simon practicing pickup lines in the mirror

“hey barack its me jacques”

abby trying to teach simon how to flirt

simon googling “how to dress like a gay guy”

simon not having martin’s bullshit and telling him off for how fucked up blackmailing him was from the start, but especially his speech about how important/personal coming out is to ppl and how shitty it was that he took that away from him

MRS ALBRIGHT IN GENERAL BUT ESPECIALLY HER ICONICALLY STICKING UP FOR SIMON IN THE CAFETERIA I STAN HER SO HARD!!

ethan in general, but especially his speech to simon in the office, and super especially the line “one gay’s a snnooze, two’s a hilarious hate crime”

like i seriously appreciate how real this movie is. and it doesnt have lines like this, or plots like the blackmailing/outing just for drama. 

it’s to show that this is how being lgbt can be sometimes, this shit rly happens. and i just rly appreciated seeing all that in a way that didnt even try to pull any punches. it was so clear they seriously cared abt making this an accurate movie, and that meant a lot

GETTING TO SEE TWO BOYS KISSING ON SCREEN MULTIPLE TIMES, AND NOT JUST THAT, BUT GETTING TO SEE THEM GET A HAPPY ENDING!!!!! 

i seriously cried for like 20 minutes starting from when bram showed up at the ferris wheel to well after the credits had ended. 

i cannot even begin to express how fucking incredible it was to get to see two boys kissing, getting cheered on, and getting to be happy.

especially in the scene where simon picks up everyone, and leah moves so bram can get in the front seat and he kisses simon when he gets in. IT WAS SO SWEET.. AND BEAUTIFUL I LOVED/APPRECIATED IT SO MUCH IT MEANT SOOOO FUCKING MUCH TO ME GOSH

my thoughts of the movie can be boiled down to this: im so fucking happy this movie exists. 

im so fucking happy that a movie abt a gay kid learning to be confident in his sexuality, falling in love and getting to have a happy ending with his boyfriend exists.

ive never cried more at a movie than i did at this movie, and ive especially never cried harder out of sheer happiness for a movie. 

knowing that this movie was in theaters, and that gay kids/teens have a movie that lets them know early on that not only is gonna be ok, but they do have a chance at a happy ending, and they deserve it, was so goddamn amazing.

this movie is so, so important. and im so happy that it, and the book its based off of, exist. 

and it’s a prime example of why representation matters so much. it was so fucking amazing to see myself, as a gay person, represented so well, so thoughtfully, so respectfully. 

i just... i love this movie so much. and im so glad it exists. and im so happy i finally got to see it.

i hope it inspires more movies/stories like it to be made. 

i hope that it results in lgbt stories being happy, uplifting stories. 

i hope that it results in lgbt characters getting to be the main characters. 

i hope it results in coming out stories being about the lgbt characters, and not how them coming out affects the cishet characters around them. 

and i hope it results in less tragic endings for lgbt characters, and more happy endings for lgbt characters.

for a long time, a future where we get the stories just mentioned has seemed bleak. but this movie changed that. and im excited for the road i hope it’s started us on.