#fall of fall is the best track out of the entire ost and it's not bc I'm biased towards wolf girls

[thatoneunknowncognitohazard]

My first Touhou game

[marshvlovestv]

In honor of me having so much video game music downloaded on my phone that I ran out of storage and had to buy a new phone. My favorite track from each video game OST I have!

Bastion: Brusher Patrol (Such a bizarre clash of styles, I can't help but love this one. Shout-out to the part that sounds like Darren quietly scatting in the background.) (Also special shout-out to Build That Wall, probably my favorite vocal track in any Supergiant game)

Celeste: Scattered and Lost (I am such a normie for this choice but face it this track absolutely slaps.)

Chicory: A Colorful Tale: Song of the Wielders (I love how this song has actual lyrics but I still prefer to sing along with the Simlish version that Pizza and Chicory sing.)

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood: Illusion (First of all I love how every character in this game has their own theme I go feral for that kind of thing. Kurielle is probably one of the characters who stood out to me the least but by god is her theme gorgeous. I love the vocals and how a later track includes a sneaky reprise.)

Cuphead: Dramatic Fanatic (Tap dancing :D)

There are literally thirty of these so I'm doing a read more

Death's Door: The Grey Crow (A heartbreaking boss fight scored with the appropriate amount of anguish)

Deltarune: Cyber Battle (This melody is so underrated and ya know what, so are the characters associated with it. Sweet Cap'n Cakes forever.)

Elsinore: Donne, The Boat Boy (I love this song because it's associated with Lady Guildenstern, aka the best character in gaming full stop, but it's also just a fun little sea shanty that I think they made up for this game so I love that. Also has a lyrical version.)

Evergate: Police (Okay so the level with the police drones is one of the more frustrating ones in the game but the music is hauntingly beautiful so I give it a pass)

Going Under: trust fall (Marv is easily one of the most hateable video game antagonists of all time but damn if his boss theme doesn't slap)

Hades: Last Words (The rolling and the tolling of the bells bells bells bells bells)

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie: Reverie Ascendant (Lena Raine does these medley tracks so good man)

Hollow Knight: Dung Defender (By far the catchiest song about poop on my entire phone)

Ikenfell: Rose Thorns (So the insanely long final boss fight against Oxley overshadowed Aeldra's boss fight in my memory for a long time, but when I watched another playthrough and bought the OST I realized "Oh her theme bops SO much harder than his ever could")

Inscryption: A Final Duel (A hardcore remix of The Scrybe of Magicks, aka one of the only melodic tracks on the album and therefore the one every YouTube video about Inscryption uses in the background. I prefer the epic version just a bit more because honestly that Magnificus setpiece is the best moment in the game)

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass: Fun, Sunny Day (A fun and silly track as the title suggests, elevated even more by the context in which it plays in the game. The area music alternates between this and the more somber Rainy Sunday to illustrate that Jimmy mother is bipolar [very cute and silly game])

Omori: Bready Steady Go (Like the absolute dipshit I am I actually completely missed the optional Orange Oasis when I played this game myself. Every Let's Player finds it somehow, though, and when they fight the Unbread Twins I invariably stand up and dance along to the boss music.)

One Step from Eden: Perpetual Motion (It's just a good-ass track y'all)

Ori and the Blind Forest: Conundrum (In a soundtrack of sweeping orchestral pieces, this more subdued version of theme that only plays during one small puzzle section might seem a weird choice. But I've always really liked it)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps: Kwolok's Malaise (Kwolok's leitmotif is perfect for a giant frog and the boss remix takes it to it's logical conclusion)

Paradise Killer: Go! Go! Style (This track makes me feel like I'm having a sugar rush. The whole OST does actually but this one especially)

Pyre: Path to Glory (It's just got a really unique vibe to it. I like it)

Scarlet Hollow: Avery (Chill and really beautiful. Avery themself is kind of a sleeper character at this point but I can't wait for Brandon to remix their theme when they get assimilated into a giant plant monster)

Slay the Princess: The Princess (Okay full disclosure I've only played this game once so I don't have the full context for a lot of the tracks on this OST. Maybe hearing them alongside their respective princesses will make me like them more, but for now the title theme is too iconic to beat.)

Sounds of Sympathy (the OST for the game anthology Essays on Empathy): Zen and the Art of Transhumanism (In the Essays on Empathy documentary, fingerspit talked about how she prefers writing obscenely long tracks so the loop doesn't get annoying. Unfortunately for her my favorite track on this album is only three minutes long. It's a lovely little bop.)

Spiritfarer: Mind Palace (I played Spiritfarer before any of the character updates were released, so I didn't get Daria's mind palace sequences in my game. And I mean, they look very platforming-heavy so I'm okay with that, but god this is a gorgeous piece.)

Transistor: Impossible (I think this is Royce Bracket's boss theme? I don't know when any of the tracks on this OST specifically play in game. Regardless of all that this one gets me pumped.)

Unavowed: One Man's Power (I couldn't find a video of this one, but it's gentle saxophone solo that plays when Logan Brown is introduced. I think it fits is character really well and just sounds really nice)

Undertale: Death by Glamour (Best song for best character, enough said)

Wandersong: Moonscape (God knows this game gave me a lot of great options to pick from, but I settled on this one because it's so uplifting.)

[bestgameostcrownduel]

Round 1, Side A: Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (2019) vs Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019)

FFXIV | Kingdom Hearts

Campaigns under the cut!

Campaign for FFXIV:

oh my god where do I start. Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) is an MMORPG that's been going on 2013, or 2010 if you count the trainwreck that the current FFXIV replaced (the 2010 version's music was composed mainly by Uematsu, 2013 onwards is mostly Soken). Thus its OST is FUCKING HUGE and spans a whole lot of genres. If you like any kind of music at all you can probably find at least one track that speaks to you in this game. FFXIV has a category of incredibly difficult fights called Ultimate, comprised of multiple short phases that each have their own music. Because of the nature of how Ultimates are structured, they're the only fights in FFXIV where the music can actually be timed to the mechanics. If you're not afraid of story spoilers, look up any ultimate's BGM and you can see how cool this effect is. (I can't listen to Under the Weight without also hearing the sound of every mechanic and tankbuster.) (My personal favorite ultimate, music-wise, is The Epic of Alexander. Back when I was progging the fight I used to fall asleep listening to the BGM.) To The Edge is so so special to everyone who loves FFXIV. It's the theme of a boss in Shadowbringers; I can't give details without also giving major spoilers, but I will say that the story and this song deal with the themes of death and loss. If you look up the lyrics, which aren't too spoilery without context, you'll get what I mean. What makes this extra emotional is that FFXIV's main composer, Soken, was in the hospital fighting cancer when he composed this song. (To be clear: he kept working because it provided him with a desperately needed sense of normalcy, not because he needed to.) No one on the dev team knew aside from Yoshi P, FFXIV's producer + director as well as Soken's personal friend; the rest of the team found out the same time the fans did, months after the fact when Soken was in full remission, at the 2021 FFXIV Fan Festival (FanFest). To The Edge was already widely beloved prior to this because it's an incredible banger tied to an incredible story moment, but knowing what was going on behind the scenes during its composition, in addition to the story and song's own themes surrounding death, turns it into a piece that no one can listen to without getting wildly emotional about it. At the same FanFest, before Soken announced that he fought cancer and won, he performed this live: https://youtu.be/aBt4zT_PBmw?si=SgzTV9BvINfA0b-U Absolute king shit. With Hearts Aligned is also so so so special to me because it's the song that plays in the 'victory lap' second phase against the final boss that caps off a nine year long story arc. It features a leitmotif from The Maker's Ruin, a song from 2013, that represents the player and is often used when we overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. There are no words that can describe the sheer fucking emotion of fighting the final boss of a nine year long story arc while listening to the leitmotif that represents YOU, a leitmotif that you first heard however many weeks or months or years ago when you first started playing this game. The ultimate triumph, and the ultimate song of hope. Also if you like leitmotifs, FFXIV has /so many leitmotifs/. Have a spreadsheet of them: https://x.com/EENlX/status/1686043012353396736?s=20 Also also, Alex Moukala on youtube does more in-depth analysis of some of the best tracks in FFXIV! Great videos, I highly recommend checking them out.

I would put the entire game's soundtrack if I could but there's a LOT. The album I listed is for the "postgame" of Shadowbringers. Of particular note is the song "To The Edge" which was written while the composer, Masayoshi Soken, was battling with cancer.

Campaign for KH3:

yoko shimomura, the GODDESS, the LEGEND, her composing skills never fail to amaze! kh music is so so goodddddd

I’m not good with propagandizing but the OST for this series is so good. For KH3, I love so much of the soundtrack. The Disney worlds have some great tracks, but the endgame and dlc has almost nothing but bangers.

[goombasinastack]

splatoon 3 hot take turned impromptu essay

was stuck offline in splatoon 3 because internet was actin up and i realized how pretty the photomode splatoon 3 filters are compared to the actual game

i was taking photos on brinewater and thought. damn. this game looks fine but i miss how VIBRANT splatoon 1 was! i wish i could play sploon 3 with this photomode filter on all the time. and brinewater is the best map for this because of the sunset lighting! so i went to one of the worst offenders mapwise for general color—undertow spillway. it is a warm gray mess:

for someplace underground, it’s WAY too warm of a tone—even if there are skylights, they aren’t very well defined, as they’re off in the background—they’d be better with some light shafts to pop out more, imo.

so here’s undertow with photomode filter #6 (this would’ve been a video but tumblr limits to 1 video per post):

and i think this looks a lot nicer, colorwise! the icky warm gray is shifted to a soft pink—and while that’s still not in keeping with the lack of obvious skylights, it works better than warm gray.

so then i opened ibis x paint and got to work on a filter that would hopefully help elevate the entire game’s look:

on top is photomode filter #6, in the middle is the original screenshot, and on the bottom is my proposed filter.

i upped the contrast, brightness, and saturation a bit, then added a 5% pure magenta (#FF00FF) overlay layer on top of that. then i added a slight gaussian blur to emulate antialiasing, which nintendo refuses to do for some reason!

and i wanna play splatoon like that! i miss the vibrancy and intricacy of splatoon 1…

incoming splatoon 1 essay‼️

not only were the colors eye-bleachingly bright, but the overall game feel was much more immersive—especially in ink physics. you could paint trees, and the ink would drip down through leaves as if it were rain… ink splatter would respond to the movements of platforms, keeping its intertia as it dripped! you could see the textures of surfaces through the ink, as if it were an actual liquid instead of a layer of thick oil. 3 doesn’t have any of those special touches.

there’s also the music… 1’s ost feels so much more WEIRD and experimental than the later games, and that really helps cement that this is not human society—this is a new thing—which tracks for splatoon 1, as it was so zany nobody had ever seen anything quite like it before! splatoon 2 follows this sheer melting-pot of brashness and creativity with evolving and varied styles—where once was punk and weird samples in Squid Squad is now groovy rock in Wet Floor, jazz in Ink Theory, and also whatever Sashi-Mori was. also i <3 chirpy chips. splatoon 3’s music goes back to that punk, but i feel that it loses some of the charm and creativity of the first two games. C-side is pure metal, and hardly uses any weird instruments. there have sparsely been other splatbands involved with regular battle music—Yoko&tgb call back to the jazz of Ink Theory which i love! Off the Hook’s new tracks delve into a new style in piano rock. but the main band kind of falls flat to me. :(

let’s talk stages. in splatoon 1, stages were wildly different from each other, including skateparks, construction sites, underpasses, malls, sewage plants, and other locals that are culturally underground. the rest of the trilogy moves away from this in a story standpoint, as ink battles evolve from punky, diy competitions into full-fledged championships in 2 and 3, with advancing battle infrastructure as time progresses. that’s fine, and honestly it’s cool to see that kind of worldbuilding! but in 1, each stage was designed about and influenced by the area it represented. Arowana Mall is a straight line with high vantage points on the second/third story because it’s a mall. Pirahna Pit features convenyor belts that shuffle refuse around because it’s a trash plant. Blackbelly Skatepark has so many hills and valleys because it’s a skatepark, for goodness sake. splatoon 3’s original stages have some of this charm, but it feels lost in ambiguity. why doesn’t Mincemeat Metalworks have small moving platforms on cranes or other heavy machinery? Idk, have some grates and one-way drops, and a car on a post. why isn’t there any water incorporated into the stage design of Brinewater Springs? Idk, have 2 paintable walls and a tetris piece. 3’s original stages have little to no connection between their locals and the geometry, which make it feel same-y compared to previous games.

maybe this is because of the inflexible philosophy of the designers—or their corporate oversight, maybe. for stages, you need to make a straight line or tetris piece with few routes to push, in an effort to promote the game’s main premise of Chaos. for music, you need to make punk songs that aren’t too weird so they don’t drive away the parents. maybe the little ink touches could have been missing because development was rushed?

i honestly dont know why it happened out this way—perhaps the splatoon team just needed more time to cook, in order to squeeze out that extra 20% of game feel? or maybe it was that speculated corporate oversight, i dunno. things WERE missing on launch—notable exceptions being X rank, online tableturf lobbies, and no more than three salmon run maps. i know we’ve yet to even get the DLC but for being about 75% of the way through the game’s content lifespan, but splatoon 3 feels incomplete. there have been improvements, yeah! i just wish there could’ve been more. i would rather have waited another year for splatoon 3 if it were polished that much better, y’know?

i honestly feel like splatoon 1 captured that creative, no-holds-barred mantle of Chaos better than 3 does. 3 feels… flanderized, in a way. the curse of trilogies, perhaps? writing about it more, it feels like not only have the in-game sports of turf war been ripped out of its seedy home and thrust into the spotlight, and gone “mainstream” (see: massive squidsport companies investing in multimillion battle lobbies with holograms and lockers [sunken scroll about that!], flying coffee machines that grant you brief invincibility, new rules and techniques that allow squid surges and rolls, etc.), but also the Real Life Physical Video Game Cartridge of Splatoon has been popularized massively with the sequels on the Switch. maybe i’m not missing the “vibrancy” of splatoon 1 when i look at the colors and photomode filters of splatoon 3, but instead the inherent punkiness and counterculture inspiration that i see in the original.

fuck capitalism, i guess!

[sable-skies]

the totk ost has changed me as a person and im never gonna get over it. here's a rant about it

spoilers for track names that allude to major parts of the game's plot btw!!

okay so i'm just gotta state this right now: i think totk's ost is the best out of the entire series. don't get me wrong, i still love the old game's soundtracks and they definitely all have qualities i adore, but i feel like totk's overall theme and soundtrack has just. MAN. it punches me in the gut

i'm not really a musical person despite taking band for a few years, i don't remember notes at all unless i do that old sayings like "FACE" and "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" [let me know if thats just small town things or not, i've never heard anyone else say those] but the themes within totk's ost are IMMACULATE

the earlier tracks all have the zonai themed backwards bits, the first tracks you hear underneath hyrule castle are full of them next to the ambient doom that awaits you. this remains consistent throughout the entire ost until the end i feel. i think this symbolizes how hyrule has been stagnant, stuck in the past with events that happened eons ago that we literally don't even have a timeframe for them anymore. the calamity that the sheikah worked against was 10,000 years ago, rauru's battle with ganon is even older, which I think is fascinating.

as the story progresses and the reversed bits become less, i think this symbolizes link pushing hyrule forward again. because of mistakes made in the past, hyrule has been haunted by the same demons all this time later.

if you wanna hear it, here's the beginning area's tracks put together seamlessly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrkHFDEbzIo

now lets compare it to the end, namely the demon dragon theme, and "the final fall"

alongside the demon dragon battle starting with zelda's lullaby, the entire theme is composed of both the new totk theme, and botw's calamity ganon boss fight theme. its a perfect combination of the two alongside motifs from the dragon theme's we've heard in both games. it's a fucking excellent theme and has to be my favorite by far, something about it just gets so much emotion out of me personally, seeing how far link and zelda have come.

demon dragon theme here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmT8hl2O2m0

now lets talk about the final fall. it's entirely missing any backwards bits, the ultimate symbol of being in the present, ganon and the sins of the past being utterly destroyed through the efforts of link and zelda, and even I'll admit I think is a symbolism of their love for each other and the land they swore to protect. it is a perfect follow up to the demon dragon theme, as it focuses more on the current totk theme as well as zelda's lullaby, pushing you forward so you can finally catch and save her after all this time. i think it really is the perfect "warm, loving embrace"

the final fall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtOjWXlFhmk

i just. man. even though botw ost didn't always hit the same as previous zelda games, and totk definitely continues the "ambient piano with some more detailed bits here and there" that a lot of people didn't enjoy, the story focused tracks are easily the strongest out of the entire game, and I think sometimes overshadow the previous games ost's as well.

if this is going to be the standard for legend of zelda music from now on, i'm so excited to see what comes in the future for these games.

[byfurries4furries]

Remember the Flowers (Sci-Fi Visual Novel)

So most visual novels I've talked about on this blog have been from Echo Project, a development studio that is famous in the furry visual novel scene for making some of the most acclaimed VNs in the furry fandom and for actually completing some of them. Remember the Flowers isn't made by them though. Its creator, primary writer, and artist are all Jericho. The only connection it has to Echo Project is that its music is done by Anthemics, who's a regular OST composer for Echo Project games like Arches, Khemia, Interea, and a few tracks on the Smoke Room. Because of that, the soundtrack to this VN is really stellar, as most of Anthemics' work is.

Now I will warn you that it is really hard to not spoil this game as the story contains two really major twists that precede some of the best parts of the entire game. I will try though. With that out of the way, the game starts with the protagonist having a nightmare before waking up in the middle of class. He's a college student who's sort of coasting by on his journey to become a doctor. After correcting his teacher on his lesson after he was caught napping in class, he soon gets dismissed and makes some plans for a date with his boyfriend before taking a nap in his dorm room. When he wakes up, he's in the middle of a dark alley with long white hair, a bloody headwound, medical scrubs, and the inability to remember basic details about himself. Fortunately, he's found by Cooper, whose job it is to find humans like the protagonist and take them to a safe haven called Resoom where he can get help once he's safe. It's only now that you find out this world the protagonist is waking up in is a futuristic scifi dystopian world, unlike the more or less regular modern setting the story started in, but with some characters who are anthropomorphic characters, because furry.

Now before I threaten to spoil the game, let's go over some positives. The biggest one I have is the serialization. One problem a lot of unfinished visual novels have is that they have a hard time finding a place to pause the story before the next update. Arches does this pretty well while 9:22 does this really poorly. Remember the Flowers, thankfully, not only has chapters that begin and end in pretty good places but it also has groups of chapters called "Arcs". Each Arc could be a visual novel in its own right and it makes RtF feel like a compilation of a VN series rather than one long VN. This is especially good because the creator is not working on this game as their main job, so they can't afford to do frequent releases. However, the structure makes it so you can just read to the end of the last completed arc and be satisfied with waiting until the next arc is completed. Each arc is bookended by a major twist or a major character revelation that sets the new status quo of the next arc. The first arc is definitely the weakest one, as the only major character besides the protagonist is Cooper and it provides a lot more mysteries than answers. However, the second one is my favorite, but the third and so far last completed one is really a great contender if not for the fact there's not a lot to do except hang out, but the character exploration is really fantastically done.

Now for other positives, the protagonist, Cyrus, is probably the most well-written human protagonist in a furry VN. Human protagonists have a very terrible reputation in furry VNs for being extremely bland player-insert characters whose self-identity is so non-existent that you usually get to pick their names. It's such a negative stereotype in fact that Furry VN databases usually include "Human Protagonist" as a tag to filter out. Even Adastra falls into this trap to an extent. But Cyrus is not a bland character. For a few things, he's asexual and has a pre-established boyfriend, childhood friends, and his own career path and interests. Although he still has about as much personality as Marco in Adastra at the beginning of the game, as the plot progresses and he finds out more about himself and the world around him, he slowly has more and more personality and development to his character and the fact he sorta fills the role of a player-insert early on makes the dramatic beats hit that much harder, because then the progression to what he's like later on makes so much more sense, because you can't help but imagine that if you were in his place, you would probably end up the exact same way. This is exemplified in the text. In the first arc, he's just wide-eyed and curious. In the second, he's maintaining a much more critical outlook, trying to assess everyone he meets and every piece of information he gets carefully. In the third, he's robotic and describes everything very matter-of-factly. He feels like he's talking in the third-person for how bluntly he describes everything. But he does start to get back in touch with his humanity as the arc goes on. However, in the fourth arc, while he's almost back to his old self, there's a distinct lack of self-regard or care for his own well-being. And each step from the beginning of the game to the last update feels natural.

Now I did make it clear that the first arc has some problems. It's unfortunately very slow and not a lot happens. Most of it is used for some broader establishing information, but the actual plot is boringly simple. Cyrus goes home with Cooper and spends a day or two at his house, he then goes with Cooper to get some supplies, and they hop on a train to the pickup spot. Until the arc-ending twist, that's most of what happens. And because Cooper and Cyrus are the only major characters of that arc, there's not a lot of dynamic to play off of and because Cooper is very secretive, there's also not a lot of information to find out. In the second arc, you get introduced to 4 major characters, 3 of which have their own dynamics with each other who are also a lot less stingy with information and a lot more open about their backgrounds and who they are. And any information they do withold, they make sure to explain why they are witholding it and that in itself can give you something to mull over, or it can inform their characters, such as Axel who withholds the absolute minimum information he's been commanded to, Ring who is very stingy with what he reveals and rarely reveals basic information except on accident, and Rose who barely conceals any information if she can manage to remember it. Also, they do reveal most of what they are witholding anyways by the end of the arc. So by contrast, the 2nd and 3rd arcs are very entertaining and well-paced even if it does get a little slice-of-life-ish by the third arc. I wouldn't recommend skipping the first arc though. It still has its moments and there's a lot of important information in it you can't miss.

I'd say Remember the Flowers is definitely a great visual novel even in its unfinished state, especially since it's more like a game series anyways. I highly recommend it and I would do that even for first time players. If you want your first furry visual novel to not feel like a dating sim, then RtF is a really good choice. I would recommend it over Adastra only to people who really don't need visual novels to be completed to like them. With that said, until next time, keep on yiffing

Links

itch.io

[dimonds456]

OKAY LISTEN. LITERALLY. LEND ME YOUR EARS.

Cuphead's OST is some of the BEST swing in the business, composed by Kristofer Maddigan. Over 120 bandmembers, as well as a barbershop quartet and the stunning vocals of Alana Bridgewater all lend themselves to making this one of the BEST OSTs in recent memory.

Don't believe me?

Let's start with Murine Corps, which places you in a fight against a giant rat (that's the games whole thing, it's a boss rush with a couple of run-and-gun sections as well, plus a DLC that I am going to refrain from talking about here since we're just focusing on the OG game's OST). The melody is extremely memorable, paired with high-octane verses that make this song unskippable in the playlist.

The main instrument is a baritone sax, which imitates the sound of a small rodent. Starts kinda low, but the rest of the brass section (with the occasional clarinet) elevate this song into a high-intensity song that just makes you wanna dance to it. Almost the entire soundtrack functions similarly, and you'll definitely be at least tapping your toes along to the beat if nothing else.

One of my personal favorites is Dramatic Fanatic, which mimics that of a stageplay. Allison Toffan tap dances in several moments throughout the song, really giving you the feel that you're fighting a performer and separating this song from the rest of the track. The melody is also suuper catchy, and easy to get stuck in your head.

And that finale, where the music literally falls and slows down? Allison's tap dancing really gets a chance to shine all over this track, but the ending just brings the whole thing together. Not to mention, there's a moment about halfway in where it sounds like there's two people having a dance-off with each other, which comes back full-force at 2:54. Just- man, if you love tap dancing, you'll fucking love this song.

When I say "vibraphone," what is the first thing you think of? Rain? Children's music? Try Threatenin' Zepplin, which completely changed how I look at the instrument ENTIRELY. The vibraphone solos in this song are some of the best in the whole soundtrack, and paired with the clarinet solos and piano solos throughout the piece and you've got yourself a banger. The thing is, though, is that this song plays for a boss that pulls a Yue and turns into the moon by the end. It's a really fun piece that if you've never heard before, you're missing out on.

I could go on, but there are a couple more special songs I wanna bring up and we don't have all day.

Next, I wanna talk about the barbershop quartet in these games, who get two numbers throughout the game. They sing when the game first boots up and get the first song you hear in the game, which once it's done, transitions into a beautiful, peaceful piano piece (fitting, considering how rage-inducing this game is). The second song they get is all about putting down the controller and going outside, cuz they know you're probably getting a bit angry. Their harmonies in both songs are just really fun, and if you've ever heard this style of music before, it's sure to throw you right back a couple years.

Next, one of the fandom's favorites, is Die House. Singer Alana Bridgewater absolutely KILLS this track, where the Devil's right-hand man, King Dice, tells you to shove it basically. Her vocals, considering how deep-voiced the character is, are INSANE. Everyone is always taken aback whenever they hear that King Dice is voiced by a woman, which I think is an atestment to Alana's incredible voicework. The rest of the track is smooth and simple, but that doesn't detract from it whatsoever. There's an instrumental version where the King's vocals are replaced with a saxophone, and it manages to keep the energy and evilness of the original pretty faithfully.

Last but not least, I wouldn't be a Cuphead fan if I didn't bring up THE fan-favorite song, Floral Fury. Floral Fury shows you facing down a giant flower named Cagney Carnation, and while this boss isn't too difficult, THE MUSIC ABSOLUTELY SLAYS. It takes inspiration from a mixture of Duke Ellington and older Mexican fiesta tunes and mixes them together into one big epic where the trumpets are blaring, the bongos just don't cease, and someone brought their McDonalds into recording one day and they kept the foley in there /j.

The weird instrument is actually a cuica, which is a stick of bamboo that sticks out of a drum. I'd never even heard of the instrument before, but the way it's utilized in the song makes it even more insane.

Bonus recording of for Floral Fury!

If you listen to any of these songs for even a second, you can appreciate the sheer effort and skill that went into composing them. Kris M absolutely knocked this soundtrack out of the PARK.

And, I've mentioned a tiny fraction of this OST. Sure, yes, there are calmer songs. Some of them aren't as up-there as the rest are. But dammit, I do not care. The Cuphead OST is just one of those gems that you've never heard from video games before in terms of composition, and it deserves to be acknowledged.

Give it a listen!

[wickedcriminal]

Pspsppspspsppspspps scriminal bestie what's your favorite zelink in any of the zelda games 👀

AHSJSJFOGOGLXJUSFJVK I HAVE TO CHOOSE,??? impossible, all the zelink flavors are so magnificent in their own ways. There's so many ways to interpret them, they're all so good in their own contexts, different in every incarnation of Goddess and Chosen Hero.

There's no POSSIBLE WAY I could--

Who am I kidding.

Okay, maybe it's the nostalgia factor; or maybe it's because this is probably the real-est, sweetest, cutest, most GENUINE relationship I've seen develop between Link and Zelda in any Zelda game I can think of-- even Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, which all but confirmed a romantic relationship, just doesn't hit the same. Not for me. I don't think anything can top Spirit Tracks zelink.

Maybe it's because they start out barely knowing each other- but then again, most zeldas do. At most she sees him as a means of transportation and he sees her as the high class VIP passenger that she is, but after the plot kicks off and suddenly they're stuck with each other, you see their walls finally fall. Zelda is distinguished and composed; that is, until she's a ghost. It falls away, showing a sassy, naive, jumpy young girl who at first didn't even want to get involved in her own rescue mission-- though eventually, she starts to shoulder that responsibility, there with Link every step of the way until she eventually saves herself. And Link-- he's a typical young guy, sleeps in late, loves his vehicle, gets flustered over the pretty girl inviting him to sneak into her room where no one would see them-- still, he doesn't automatically try to save her when she's attacked the first time (she has to yell at him) and he suffers and sighs at her dramatics; clearly he's bitten off more than he can chew.

But they work together, and Zelda is learning new things, and Link is guiding her through the Tower of Spirits in a suit of armor. What do you know, they make a good team! And then Zelda is dancing to Link's flute music, and cheering "ALLL ABOOAARD" when Link boards the train, and excitedly rushing to tell him all the new cool things she can do in a suit of armor. And then they're genuinely hanging out, catching bunnies, complaining about Linebeck, even making plans to come back to Papuchia Village after they get Zelda's body back so that they can go swimming together. So on and so on and so on you watch them interact, getting more and more friendly and causal and kind, until at the top of the Tower of Spirits, Link and Zelda get so caught up in the crescendo of their friendship that they nearly let the bad guy sneak away. They goof off, they high five, they smile and laugh and there even comes a point at the end where Link does step in front of Zelda protectively, even though he doesn't even need to, because she's a ghost, but it doesn't even seem to occur to him.

When Zelda finally gets back into her body, Link jumps to catch her, and when they hug, it feels so earned. She doesn't even wait for him to get up.

And that entire ending. There's just too much to say about it-- it's OVERFLOWING with the genuine affection of two now best friends, singing the prettiest song in the ost together in the most beautiful cinematic cutscene, then fighting and defeating the final boss together, THE HAND HOLDING SCENE AT THE END,,

LOOK AT THE WAY HE SQUEEZES HER HAND. Gets me every single time.

Even the credits. Zelda has a picture of him and her and the train FRAMED on her desk and she's looking at it with the sweetest smile before she hears him outside the window and RUSHES to go see him. Either he's riding his train and blowing the horn for her to hear as he passes by, or he's in the courtyard training with the other knights, getting knocked over because he wanted to stop for a minute just to smile back at her.

It's. Positively. Precious.

All in all, as much as I love and WORSHIP the complete adoration of Skyward Sword zelink, and the humble loyalty of Breath of the Wild zelink, and the fated destiny of the Skyward Sword manga's hylink, and the playful energy of Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass's telink, and the utter tragedy of Ocarina of Time's zelink... gosh, you just don't see any of them grow and evolve in real time the way Spirit Tracks zelink does. The way it doesn't even have to try, feeling natural and developed because it was allowed to stretch throughout the whole game, and it didn't straight up tell you they were in love, it simply let you watch it happen.

[myponderingstate]

🍃❄️ our beloved summer 🌤️🌸

my watching experience

Should you watch it? ABSOLUTELY!

This was given a romcom genre and I ought to believe it. Given the trailers, promotional shoots and it's general atmosphere. I can't say that the production lied but you'll be in for a ride, a breathtaking one. A true definition of push and pull and a rollercoaster of emotions. It has depths that can really resonate and tug at your heartstrings. Each of the characters have something either you can have in common or disagree with. There's something to learn and to view in a different perspective.

This easily became my fave kdrama. I love it to bits and it also has one of the best ost line-up. I listened to the entire playlist on repeat, multiple times. Hence, the release of a whole track felt as if I'm receiving a present I looked forward too. The anticipation of each is worthwhile.

This has been the first drama I patiently and eagerly kept track from its release date, penultimate until its final episode. That for the first four weeks of it's airing, I can't bring myself to watch other dramas in between. I was so focused on this and just kept on rewatching my favorite parts. I scoured all related stuff. Refreshing Tumblr and YouTube every once in a while to see if there are updates or reviews or just anything new affiliated to the show or casts.

During the tough parts, I resort to watching all behind the scenes and interviews. It didn't help that I was more inclined for Wooshik and Dami, rather than Woong and Yeonsoo, to get together whenever I see those. They, and I won't believe otherwise, are the co/assistant directors for this show. Their cooperative collaboration is top-tier, it transpired to how I see their characters. I, for the most part, forget that they're acting because of how comfortably natural they look. You'll really fall in love with them.

Also, Wooshik and Dami posting in their Instagram feed or stories every Mondays and Tuesdays. I can't leave out Wooshik hyping every upcoming episode and Dami posting a photo of them together after such heart aching scene. It was so precious.

This was such a beautifully written script and a well executed story. I can't help but give the casts and the whole production team a big round of applause.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 16 part one

(Masterpost of All the Recaps)  (Canary’s Pinboard)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes

All righty, this one is going to be a laff riot...not. Let's do it.

The first half of this episode is like a beautifully executed standalone tragedy, while also threading together all sorts of themes and paying off all sorts of relationship building that's happened in the previous episodes. My hat is off to the writers, while I also shake a fist at them for making me cry an unreasonable amount.

We’re Sailing on a Strange Boat

The episode starts right off absolutely DESTROYING me with the Yunmeng brothers holding hands, fingers interlaced, in the first of many hand-touching moments that punctuate the episode.

Jiang Cheng has to be pretty far gone to accept this degree of comfort and tenderness. I think, from their positions, he is also holding Yanli's hand out of the camera's view. 

Zidian finally lets the trio go, and they immediately turn the boat around and head back to Lotus Pier. Wei Wuxian gets the clever idea to turn the benches into makeshift oars but nobody gets the clever idea to use magic to push the boat like they do literally every other time they are in a boat. 

Their emotional need to go back to Lotus Pier is understandable, but they are being disobedient and irresponsible by doing it. Jiang Cheng is the future of the clan, and should not risk his life, particularly after his mother chose to sacrifice herself to protect him and after both of his parents told him to go hide with his sister and personal bodyguard brother. 

On the other hand, Jiang Fengmian, as clan leader, probably had a duty to go into hiding himself rather than go home to die romantically, so his authority is questionable at this point. Anyway, this is the Jiang Clan, they get to kind of do what they want, except when that pisses Jiang Cheng off.

Lotus Pier Massacre

Back at Lotus Pier, the Wens are kicking Jiang ass. The fight choreography is pretty good, taking full advantage of walkways, railings, pools, and other features of the environment. 

Using the set this way always makes fights feel more kinetic and real, as opposed to simply sparring in an open area. 

(more after the cut)

Yu Ziyuan is fighting adequately with a sword, having given her preferred weapon to her son.  She's clearly been at it for a while, and is tiring; the Wen soldiers are starting to land more and more sword blows but no critical hits yet.

Wen Zhuliu is kicking ass and possibly melting cores, although we don't see him do it to anybody yet. Later we'll hear from Jiang Cheng that he crushed the cores of his parents, but it's not clear when that happens.

Sixth young master replays Jiang Fengmian's entire archery lesson in his head while he waits, and waits, for Wen Zhuliu to finish strangling a dude the right moment to shoot an arrow at Wen Zhuliu. 

Homicidal tart Wang Lingjiao notices him lining up a shot, strolls over, and stabs him in the back while he's still thinking about what Jiang Fengmian said. One could wish that JFM's archery lessons weren't quite so wordy. 

Wang Linjao normally doesn't carry a sword because of her low spiritual power, but apparently can use one just fine when she's killing kids.

If you start feeling like this episode is unreasonably painful, just think of it as building up calluses so you can handle Yi City when the time comes.

Jiang Fengmian to the Rescue

Jiang Fengmian shows up very far past the nick of time, although he is not actually useful, so it's questionable whether arriving earlier would have helped. But his wife is glad to see him.

Netflix subtitles say that Jiang Fengmian calls Yu Ziyuan "My Lady!" which sounds courtly and romantic in English. His actual words are "San Niangzi" which hunxi-gullai breaks out here.  I might render this as "lady wife!" rather than "my lady" but I don't think English really has a perfect equivalent.

Jiang Fengmian sails across the courtyard, knocking down a few Wen soldiers and becoming a young, slender man in the process.

I mean, come on, that stunt double does not look like a boxy middle-aged man from any angle.

The Dying Bit

The episode splits up the big death scene for dramatic effect but I'm recapping it all together to keep things simple.

Within moments of arriving, Jiang Fengmian gets shanked by Wen Zhuliu like Scatman Crothers in The Shining (or Groundskeeper Willie in The Shinning).

Wen Zhuliu stops a Wen soldier from finishing JFM off, just so that a different Wen soldier can deliver the killing blow from the back, which is kinda harsh. With all this spin-fighting there is probably not an implication of cowardice when someone dies from a stab in the back, but still. Too rude, Wen Zhuliu.

Yu Ziyuan sees Jiang Fengmian fall, and after having a moment of sorrow and despair, she stabs herself in the heart, falls down, crawls to him and interlaces her hand with his. He revives just enough to give her hand a squeeze and say "San Niangzi" one last time before dying. 

She dies next, with a smile on her face at the end. The soundtrack plays that amazing "horribly emotional death scene" music that isn't one of the tracks available on the OST, argh. This same music appears at the end of Xue Yang's story.  

Of the many things I love about the Untamed, the complexity of all the minor characters is possibly my favorite. These two people suck at parenting, and suck at being married, and ultimately suck at protecting and leading their clan, making stupid, selfish choices at every step of the building conflict. 

And then they have this incredibly romantic death scene, in which they both face the inevitability of failure, and find comfort in failing together. Yet their death scene is totally in keeping with who we know them to be, and who they are to each other; the drama doesn't cheat by making them ideal lovers or great people at the end. But they have a great, great moment.

Jiang Yanli, waiting in the woods while her brothers are presumably running toward Lotus Pier, drops her lotus pendant, which is made of the loudest jade ever discovered, and it breaks with a crash.  

Yanli, who is a well educated young lady, knows a moment of doomy symbolism when she sees it.

Jiang Yanli: Who put a giant rock out here in the woods? What are the odds I’d drop my pendant directly on it? 

It’s all Over Except for the Crying, Running and Choking

The brothers climb up on the roof and are shocked to see nothing but Wen soldiers and piled up Jiang corpses... 

...including one child who is either about to become a zombie or who is being played by a young actor who can't control their curiosity, judging by the way this eye is sneakily opened while the camera is running.

There's a moment where Jiang Cheng is saying they must have spared his parents, they must be okay, where Wei Wuxian's face is just...wow. You can see right here the gulf in life experience between these two. 

Wen Zhuliu roams around looking troubled while searching for more people to kill. He’s an interesting villain; someone who believes his loyalty to his boss makes him a good guy, but knows his boss is a bad guy. 

Then we are treated to a hell of a camera move, where it tracks over Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian together on the floor, heroic in death and still holding hands, and then sweeps up to show their killers sitting on the lotus throne. 

The dead couple were at odds for their whole lives together, while the evil people who killed them are acting like devoted lovebirds. It's a stunning shot and a terrific thematic contrast. When Wei Wuxian eventually comes to take his vengeance, he will spend some time turning Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao against each other, before ending them. 

The camera shows us JC's reaction, then shows his mother, then WWX’s reaction, then JF; each reacting to the death of the person who loved them. Some folks may feel that Jiang Fengmian actually did love Jiang Cheng but was just bad at showing it. But Jiang Cheng doesn't think so, and I don't think it's a given that parents love their children.

Side note: Macroexpression king Wang Zhuocheng is able to open his eyes so far that a giant strip of white shows above his irises, and keep them like that, which is quite a trick. Try it yourself.

Meanwhile Wang Lingjiao and Wen Chao gossip about YZY and JFM's bad marriage. Wen Chao admires YZY's beauty, and Wang Lingjiao insults her character, and announces that she's going to stab YZY's body a few extra times. Jiang Cheng briefly faints at this, taking a page from Wei Wuxian's book, and rolls off the roof. 

Run Run Away

Both young men run, and run, and run away from Lotus Pier while Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao mistreat the bodies of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan 

The stabbing happens off camera, because it's ok to stab a live child on camera, but not a dead adult. (As always, there are cultural reasons for "what's ok" in any country, and I'm not saying anybody's wrong about these choices). 

Wen Chao follows this up with pouring a cup of wine across their faces. He does this in the style of a libation for the dead, but as a desecration, combining mistreatment of bodies with profaning a ceremonial rite. In a world where ghosts are real and have sharp fingernails, this is deeply, deeply stupid.

Yu Ziyuan’s actress Zhang Jingtong is able to have liquid poured INTO HER EAR without flinching. Mad props.

The brothers eventually finish running and arrive in a field with an extreme purple photo filter on it. Which I've done my best to remove for these gifs, with variable results. 

Jiang Cheng wants to turn around and go back to Lotus Pier. He says he wants to retrieve his parents’ bodies and to take revenge, but he's devastated and it seems likely he just wants to die with everyone else.  

Wei Wuxian pleads with Jiang Cheng to calm down and stay safe, while Jiang Cheng gives himself over to anger and shock as the brothers shout at each other.

Punching and running ensues, and Wei Wuxian tries to hold his brother back, grabbing him around the shoulders him in a gesture that painfully echoes the many hugs he's given over the years. 

This time Jiang Cheng doesn't just push him off. He turns around and chokes his brother for nearly a full minute, while screaming at him and blaming him. 

Just as when Madame Yu beat him, Wei Wuxian doesn't fight back; he pulls on Jiang Cheng's wrists but doesn't hit him or try to break his hold.

Finally Jiang Cheng lets him go, and cries out for everyone he's lost, while Wei Wuxian weeps silently next to him. Eventually they fall asleep in the grass together, their bodies curled up in the form of a heart. 

Damn, this episode really brings it.

Side Note: during their argument, Wei Wuxian says, among other things, that "revenge is a dish best served cold," according to subtitles. It's a French saying from the 1800s so it's probably not precisely what Wei Wuxian is saying. More importantly, as a longtime Star Trek fan I can't help but hear James Kirk yelling "KHAN!!!!!" whenever I encounter that phrase.

There’s Got To Be A Morning After

When they wake up in the morning, Jiang Cheng is still in his feelings, but now his feelings have moved along to despair, from anger.

I feel bad for noticing how handsome they both look in this scene. Let's all feel bad about this together.

Jiang Cheng is free to have this level of emotional breakdown because Wei Wuxian is there keeping his own shit together and focusing on what matters.

When Jiang Cheng refuses to get up, Wei Wuxian reminds him, very, very gently, that they have a sister, who has waited all night to know what happened.

At this, Jiang Cheng gets up, but won't look at Wei Wuxian, continuing to blame him for everybody else's actions, as he walks onward to find Yanli.

Wei Wuxian follows, hurt and bereft, as he gets to work internalizing everything that he's being accused of. This is good practice for his future as a widely reviled bogeyman.

Part two will be slightly less awful! Coming soon!

[nightswithkookmin]

RE HOW BIGHIT MARKETS BTS

Thanks for the question dear.

Marketing is for a lot of things but in BTS's case, I'd say the primary goal of marketing them is to expose the entire group and or the individual members to an audience, a particular audience at a time, to brand them in a way that makes them appealing to that target market- to put it simply.

During one of the recent run episodes, when Jimin performed his dance from Serendipity- which I must say, God he is breathtakingly beautiful when he dances. Serendipity and the choreo is my weakness. If I see anything better than that- hold on, there's filter too. Ayayaya.

Stream Serendipity and Filter🔪

Oh and did y'all see JM's bit in Film out? Omg! I'm afraid I'd have to fly to South K to kiss his talented ass morning, afternoon, evening.

Who's coming?

Anywho, when Jimin performed Serendipity on Run and suggested that was the dance the staff was performing, the members- cough RM, quickly pointed out how he was plugging, self promoting (to Run's target audience)

Run has a different demographic.

When Suga talked about them not being funny on their Let's BTS show on KBS the Host pointed out how they were actually funny in their Run episodes.

A lot of Army(who are already fans of BTS or each individual member) watch Run but not all who watch Run are Army or even listen to BTS songs. So any performance of an individual's music or choreo would attract such a 'unique' viewer who might go on to become that member's stan or bias etc.

Similarly, when a member embarks on a solo project they are exposed to a new or unique audience. That's where most of the solo stans come from.

For V, his fanbase are not just made up of people who enjoy him as a musician but as an actor as well.

He has a strong fanbase in SK outside of 'Army' because of his exposure to the Korean market beyond BTS and this comprises of his musical collaborations with Korean Artists and film companies such as his OST Sweet Night on the series Itaewon class.

It's the same with Suga and IU, his Agust D mixtapes which draws in audiences that are not necessarily into boybands, RM's Mono whixh attracts strong hiphop fans, Jimin's dance collaborations with Taemin for example and his contemporary dance performance which attracts people in the world of contemporary dance and ballet- point in case the black swan performance at the end of the year, Jin and Hobi's MCing etc.

All these projects exposes them to unique audiences and markets outside of Army or BTS's own fanbase.

And I think the best way to understand how this is important or how this affects BigHit's marketing approach is to look at their recent YouQuiz interviews.

Jimin, Jhope and JK were paired to attract aspiring dancers or persons who want to be dancers and learn from these three dance leaders of BTS- or at least they were paired to appeal to them in my opinion.

Tae and RM were equally paired to appeal to creatives and creative minds and persons who are more into composing and writing lyrics and are full of passion and musical geniuses.

Jin and Suga were paired to appeal to mature audiences.

Ten out of ten when any pair is paired in BTS it is for marketing reasons to appeal to certain fanbase or audiences and are often strategic moves unless of course it's to balance things out to not create the impression they are promoting subunits within the group in furtherance of the BTS kumbaya agenda- Team over units or solos.

So Jikook are not gonna be allowed to sit together all the time even if they want to, neither would JinKook, or Sope.

They shake and reshuffle sometimes.

And like Tae said in his 2018 VLive, the company decides who they collaborate in or what market to promote them in.

Tae was allowed to collaborate with Adora on his Chrismas song but not Jimin- which to me is very homophobic but it goes to show the company has a say in who they work with and most importantly which market they work in.

For JK, he's been working his way within the American marke and building a strong fanbase internationally from his English covers of Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan, to his collaboration with Charlie Puth, and most recently Jason Derulo in Savage love- that's a lot of English speaking fanbase he's attracting and appealing to outside of Army.

Tae's English mixtape would achieve a similar feat and draw in a lot of English speaking fans.

Bts did the same with dynamite and coldplay's Fix you.

So by allowing JK to work with renowned Japanese Artists and film companies, collaborating and composing original sound tracks for them such as his Your eyes tell OST, Film out, etc. he is appealing to and drawing in a Japanese audience.

As Hobi explained in his 2019 January Vlive, their mixtapes, solo projects, collaborations with Artists outside of BTS are all ways for them to expand their fanbase individually and build their portfolio.

And these new fans are mostly going to be solo stans who stan him for his music composing abilities but of course some may fall in love with BTS as well and go on to become Army so it's a win win situation.

WOULDN'T THE OTHERS OBJECT

Yes and no.

As long as the company isn't pushing him as a soloist outside of BTS and creating a separate brand with him outside of BTS's own brand I don't think the boys would object to it.

That was the problem they had/have with Jikook. In my opinion.

The company branding Jikook, distinctifying them from the group as a 'couple' subunit, selling their chemistry to fans and advertisers really doesn't and didn't sit well with the group. AT ALL.

In my opinion of course.

You can't create a brand within a brand.

It goes against Bang PD's own objective of prioritizing the team over all else which is what sold the members in the first place.

I just think in JK's case, since 2020, they are just trying to help him find himself and his bearing and his purpose.

He's been trying to find himself since 2020 and he'd talked about losing his passion and had had his passion hijacked and commercialized by the company.

He used to say he didn't know what he was going to do with himself and his life and career after BTS- having him work on music videos, directing, composing, reading these are all ways that they are doing right by him if you ask me.

They are helping him not trying to push their own agendas- which is not to say they might not change their minds about it in the future.

JK is an artist being managed by the company and they owe a duty to him to make the right business decisions for him with his consent- can't stress on the consent bit enough.

Personally, I'm happy about Japan because they are and are shaping out to be queer friendly and have a bit of progressive laws and conducive environments for queer artists to flourish in- if coming out would ruin their careers that's one less worry.

Which by the way I hate anyone who peddles this 'coming out will ruin their careers' nonsense because I can tell you one hundred percent that that is rooted in homophobia and it's not OK.

Don't tell that to no queer people shut up. You are not helping.

I know some say that out of genuine concerns for the boys but PLEASE DON'T. Don't use fear to keep queer people hidden and out of sight. Don't promote closet safety. Rhetorics like that only perpetuate queer invisibility and homophobia- do I need to spell it out to your liberal homophobic ass?!

Coming out is entirely up to them regardless of the risk you think is involved. If they want to take it. They'll take it. It's their choice to make regardless of whatever consequence.

That there are or should be consequences is a problem in of itself.

I don't want to hear 'if JK comes out he's been stupid and reckless and putting Jimin's career at risk'

'If he loves Jimin he wouldn't come out'

Go ahead kiss it😌

If he wants to stay closested respect it. If he wants to come out RESPECT IT TOO.

Support him either ways goddammit!

Y'all gone get me bothered like that huh.

JK POTENTIALLY WITHOUT JIMIN

They both have different career objectives.

I know Jimin says JK is imitating him but chilee JK is his own person. Lol.

Jimin plays too much.

He has his own aspirations.

In 2014 Jimin posted this Christmas song he did with JK. In 2020 he posted his own Christmas song without Jk.

It's not hard to see where his interests in music lie as a musician.

JK covered We don't talk anymore by himself and later did a collaboration with Jimin on the same song. He's done Fools with RM- see where I'm going with this?

Suga said he was more likely to write pop songs for JK but write dance songs for Jimin.

Jk said in the Be interviews bang PD advised him to consider dance performances when writing songs as he himself is a dancer too and need to incorporate in his compositions.

They are two distinct artists and at some point it would become necessary to brand, promote and encourage their uniqueness in their professional lives. They don't got to be tethered to each other all the time.

Personally, I don't think BigHit would want to push official subunits within BTS- yet and it's inclination towards Jikook have always been because of their marketing appeal rather than to further a career objective for both of them.

This goes back to the pairing objectives I talked about earlier. If they are going to pair Jikook professionally as an official subunit within the group it wouldn't be because they are a couple and ought to be together all the time but because it is smart for them to do so business wise.

If their pairing isn't commercially profitable they won't be paired at all- unless of course Jikook themselves want and request to be paired in that way. Know what I mean?

They each signed separate contracts with the company from day dot. They didn't sign on as a unit.

Whether or not they've decided they are a package deal I cannot say- yet, as their new contract just came into effect.

We would have to observe how they are being handled by the company going forward.

HE'D NEVER DO IT WOULD HE

Come now sis...

It's not like he's leaving Jimin😅

Jimin and Jhope were equally sent to Japan for promotion purposes without JK.

Out of all seven, Namjoon is the most promoted member in the international Market not just because he speaks English but because he is often made the spokes person for the group in interviews, at awards straight up to the UN.

Look how happy they all were and how chatty they were at the KBS Let's BTS interview.

I mean they all talked about it. About how they can't say much on foreign forums and often step into Namjoon's shadows.

RM is the most recognized and dare I say the most liked member out of all seven in the international market outside Army and their music profession.

In Japan they all have a chance to be front and center at interviews etc.

It just so happens that JK as it stands is the one member pushing to build a portfolio within that market.

Let's pray he gets mainstream and build a strong presence within the music industry there because we all know he's gonna drag Jimin up there with him😏

Just pay attention to the songs he's written and the parts Jimin sings in them- he makes Jimin shine on those songs.

They have so much potential my God.

Let's support them individually and as a unit.

I purple you and sorry I had to respond here.

Stay gold. Let's keep supporting and rooting for our guys.

Signed,

GOLDY

[beevean]

Ok so let me ask you this once again: which has the better OST: The Advance trilogy or the Zero series? >:)

Mhhhh.

I'm going to do something odd and time consuming, but bear with me :P

4th place: Advance 1 vs. Zero 1

Ah, early GBA games didn't have a good time when it came to music, understandably so.

Advance 1 wins by a landslide. Its quality doesn't compare to its sequels, but I can hum its tracks any time (especially my beloved Egg Rocket), while Zero 1's OST only gave me three tracks that I wholly enjoy.

3rd place: Battle vs. Zero 4

Sonic Battle is basically Advance 2.5 in spirit so I can count it :P

Battle's OST is severely underrated and I love its grungy soundfont, with an outstanding final boss theme in my opinion, while Zero 4 suffers a lot from repetition and an "okay" soundfont for how late in the console lifespan it came out. However, Zero 4 wins for the higher amount of standouts... and because, as much praise I can give to Battle's final boss theme, Falling Down wipes the floor with the rest of the series and even the Advance series. Not fair, but hey :P

2nd place: Advance 2 vs. Zero 3

Sonic Advance 2's music is fresh and fun and it has a brilliant soundfont, with my favorite tracks being Boss 7th and the severely neglected True Area 53. However, some tracks are just okay. Zero 3's worst is still good, and its best is of course great, with by far the best variety in the series. Zero 3 wins.

1st place: Advance 3 vs. Zero 2

Oh man. Oh this hurts. It hurts so much D:

Advance 3 has some of my favorite tracks in the entire Sonic series: Sunset Hill Act 1, Ocean Base Act 1, Twinkle Snow Map, Cyber Track Act 2, the boss theme, everything about Chaos Angel, the brilliant credits theme... Hideaki Kobayashi is the GOAT and I wish he came back.

But it's bogged down by less memorable tracks, a problem Zero 2 doesn't have. The only Z2 track that didn't impress me was Strong Will. This is the OST that has Departure, Crash II, Ice Brain, Platinum, Power Born, Cool Water, Meltdown, Cool Hearted Fellow, Silver Wolf, and I could go on.

*sigh* Zero 2 wins, and in turn, the Zero series wins.

Look what you made me do :(

[technomaestro]

Top 5 Video Game Soundtracks

Ok. Let's try this *again*. I had a whole thing written up and I accidentally refreshed the page, so tumblr ate the entire thing, and I lost it.

Destiny 2 There's a reason D2 is one of my all time favorite games, and the music for it is one of those reasons. Destiny 2's sweeping orchestral soundtrack is full of songs that encapsulate that grand, epic nature of the world and conflict you find yourself in as the Guardian. From the mission tracks like 1AU/Forge Ahead , Valkyrie, and Guns Blazin which provide this cinematic backdrop as you fight for your victories, to the epic swelling of the raid bosses where the tension in their first phases is replaced with triumphant moments where the tide turns as seen in Riven of a Thousand Voices or Insurrection Prime (even the most hated boss in Destiny has a pretty baller theme with tons of brass in it as you get ready to put him in his grave one last time after fighting him multiple times throughout the raid). Locations such as the Dreaming City have tracks that manage to encapsulate the mystery and history behind each location. No matter my feelings and critiques on the gameplay or the story, the music in Destiny 2 is just an absolute gift of musical genius. Michael Salvatori (yes, that same Michael Salvatori from Halo) is one of my favorite composers for the work he's put into that series. Favorite track: Journey ft. Kronos Quartet. This is the song that plays after the deafening silence that comes from escaping the city during the initial Red War campaign, where you montage your way through an unforgiving wilderness, powerless, as the city fades into the distance behind you. You've been beaten, your home taken from you, but the music swells with hope as you follow a sign from the Traveler - and you know you'll return to reclaim your city. I highly recommend taking a peek at the mission, as you can't play it anymore, to see what I mean as to how the track absolutely enhances the experience.

Hades Supergiant games - the people behind Bastion and Transistor, two other games with amazing soundtracks - really did knock it out of the park with Hades. This game's soundtrack is a wonderful blend of classic acoustic instruments (Check it out - it's called a Bağlama) mixed with metal and electronica to create a theme that evokes not only the aesthetics of the region, but also give it a modern twist that meshes with the dark, haunting vibes of the underworld that you reside in. Each track flows so well from one into the next, mixing perfectly with each area or character you encounter. And the two musical characters you encounter - Orpheus and Eurydice - add in plenty of musical flair to the game themselves. The motifs present in the songs are called back frequently to make it a coherent, consistent soundtrack, and it remixes so incredibly well. Favorite Track: God of the Dead - the theme for the final boss of each run, this track is incredible. Not only does it reflect the theme of Zagreus in a different key, showing the link between Hades and his son, before delving into this heavy, frantic track that perfectly encapsulates having to fight

Payday 2 There are exactly two ways to play Payday 2. The first is stealth - you won't have much in the way of music as you silently slip by cops, cameras, and civilians to reach your score. The other is the way I play, where you suit up in the heaviest body armor you can get, grab two automatic shotguns, and go to town to some of the best soundtracks in the game. Payday 2 has a unique musical cue system with it's audio during loud heists, where it amps up the tracks in time with what the cops are doing. At first, before you've been detected, you have the Stealth track which is always low and very basic to not intrude. In low points, like when you first go loud and the first responders arrive on the scene, you're in a Control track. Then, as the police gear up, it switches to a higher temp Anticipation Track, and then when the police storm your position, the Assault track. So each "song" in Payday 2 is actually 4 songs in one, that the game blends seamlessly together in order to match the audio with the gameplay. It's an incredibly clever system that keeps you immersed in the tension of the heist even as Bain, your mastermind, calls out over comms with instructions. And it helps that almost all of the tracks are exceptional bangers in their own right, with amped up electronica with great percussion and bass lines alongside rebellious hard hitting metal and rock. But during those assault tracks, there's something satisfying about hearing the build, reloading your guns, then timing you leaving cover to unleash fury with the bass drop. There's a great playlist here with links to the different types of tracks if you want to take a peek yourself. Favorite Track: I Will Give You My All - one of the few tracks with built in vocals. This particular track feels like the exact kind of music I'd see in a movie, and with the build I run in game for Loud stuff at the moment which incentivizes me running face first at bulldozers and cloakers, giving it my all is *exactly* what I intend to do in that game.

Horizon Zero Dawn HZD's soundtrack is full of the same sort of sweeping orchestral stuff that made me love Destiny 2, with tracks that serve to accentuate the world around you. The only reason it's down here at 4 and not higher is because there's a somewhat lack of variety; as a singleplayer story game, most of the music you encounter tends to be in cutscenes, rather than during gameplay. That isn't a *bad* thing however, and over the hundreds, if not thousands of games I've played, reaching #4 on the list is no small feat. The actual orchestral bits pair so well with being able to cultivate this theme of a world full of grandeur, the kind of which you'd see in nature documentaries. The various tracks illicit this feeling of a long forgotten hope, which if you know anything about the plot, ties in perfectly. The music that *does* play outside of the incredible cutscenes add to the world's aesthetic so well, pairing the sort of instruments you'd find people playing in the civilizations you encounter with the environments you find them in. Even the battle music, when there is battle music, is a tense affair; the game incentivizes you to stalk your prey, as Aloy is not a frontline fighter: she's a hunter among predators, and the music matches that tone. Favorite Track: A tie between Aloy's Journey, which provides not only natural sounds mixed with the instruments of the Nora and the underpinning of techno that permeates the story (in addition to one of my favorite musical things where you have these grand sweeping vocals that aren't actually lyrics) and Your Hand of Sun And Jewels, which gives off this sort of air of walking through city streets in golden sunlight, where people dance just a block away and you can smell the fragrant spices of the local cuisine. It makes me yearn and if I listen to it on full blast I can forget that I'm stuck at home for a moment.

Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver Pokemon OSTs hold a special place in my heart because as much as I loved games as a kid, getting started on things like Mappy for the NES (which, now that I write that, really shows how fuckin *old* I am), Pokemon was one of the first things that I basically turned into my personality as a child. Silver version especially was one of the ones that *truly* got me going, as in Blue version I always felt one step behind my brother but Silver was *my* game, my generation. I have extremely fond memories of that game, from the Lake of Rage to trying to beat a ghost gym with a Sentret and it taking four hours because normal types and ghost types are just... immune to each other. But when Soul Silver came out and remastered the soundtrack, it brought back this wave of nostalgia. The bit tunes I remember had been brought to life, in a way that was recognizably Pokemon. Hearing it again brought back the waves of wanting to journey and be a hero again that when the game came out, I was sorely missing. The music in the game is upbeat and chipper, befitting a near solarpunk world that I want to live in. Iconic tracks remain iconic but with a bit of cultural flair, showing that the Johto region hasn't lost touch with it's roots. While it isn't the almighty trumpeting of Gen 3, the nostalgic tracks that are already evocative of nostalgia brings a yearning back for a time when things were simpler and I could just play games. Also, the Rival theme is *rocking*. Favorite Track: Route 26 Theme. Route 26 is also known as Tohjo Falls, the place which connects Johto and Kanto together. And for me, this route represents having reached a triumph and the energy to explore what's next. It's a critique directly against the Hero's Journey's unfortunate end, that they can never go home - the hero here *can* go home, but they choose to set out again for new sights. It's full of the fact that when it plays, you're taking your steps into something new, something bold, and full of new challenges that await you. It is, by far, one of my favorite tracks and the orchestral version brings me to tears.

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

Fic writer asks 18!

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

You get two.

1- The line: "Firestorm, bitch." from Becoming a Legend.

I wanted badass. Pure and simple. I was inspired by "Leonard Snart, Robber of ATMs" and "Science, biach" admittedly. Lily and Jax were back together and facing someone who knew their future and somehow I thought 'hey, I should have some snazzy line in here'. And then like a lightning bolt- "Firestorm, bitch" came to me. So I tried to write the scene around that to make it happen. And people seemed to like it.

2-The scene: The Bad Batch fleeing Kamino in The World We Once Knew, Gone It Is (aka the Bad Batch role reversal where Hunter turns)

I rewatched the Batch fleeing Kamino about two times when working on this fic. Copious notes were taken- I may actually need to get a new notebook for notes alone. The challenge was how much would I need to flip this with Hunter attacking his brothers instead of Crosshair. And being the angst queen I am, I wanted to go HARD.

Hunter's a smart character- he thinks on his feet quick, he's good with strategy, he's developed battle plans with them. Not to mention he's been their, which makes it more daunting to the Batch to lose not just a brother, but the one who is in charge and usually calls the shots. I took that into account, as well as the benefits Crosshair brings to the table being with his brothers this time.

Also, I didn't realize Tech was in the ship the whole time, so it's basically 3 against 1. So I filed Tech away for major guilt (and other angst) to deal with later.

I figure, people are shooting at them and Hunter is one of those trying to take them down so the flight instinct is going to be raging. Also having a small child comes into play there too. But Wrecker and Crosshair working together made sense to me- the Bad Batch arc and the time before Crosshair went to the dark side made me infer they are the tightest.

Wrecker getting shot happens in canon. I figure- bring some more into it because Hunter is not the crack shot Crosshair is. So shoot Crosshair, Wrecker gets worried and tries to go to his aid and boom, he's down too. It's a strategy move from Hunter's twisted mind. With that, he's got half the batch down and Tech's on the ship.

They still have to get Wrecker on the ship. Originally, Crosshair was going to give Omega his blaster, but I scrapped that because they've barely gotten to know each other and that walking toothpick takes all his trust and feelings and shit and holds them tight until he's sure he can trust someone with them. He's also stubborn and cares about Wrecker, so he goes and helps Echo. That leaves Omega, and I had to watch the scene a few times to figure out that she can get a blaster from one of the crates they're trying to get on board. And then boom- lucky shot at Hunter.

Now Hunter is pissed. He's best at close combat- which is one reason why he and Crosshair are such great opposites of each other. Plus- not thinking clearly beyond the orders he'd been given. So he starts after Omega with a knife. There's an absolute shit-your-pants feeling seeing a trained commando running at you with a knife methinks.

The entire Omega running away from Hunter and jumping to get hauled up by Echo and the stubborn bastard man was very influenced by Black Widow's opening with the plane. Figured I'd add a little drama in there. And then the relief of 'we got out and we're not dead'. The rest of the mourning and drama falls into place right after the adrenaline wears off.

Actually, I listened to The Pursuit from the Black Widow OST multiple times to get that energy for the entire scene. If you're going to read that scene, slap that track on and read it to that.

(That got really long, thank you for the Ask)

[cheemerthelizard]

Can I like request all the stand alphabet for Moody Blues 😎🤙

Hghgaflkgjgdf this took way too long I’m sorry. Anyway, here you go! The entire Stand Fluff Alphabet for Moody Blues!

***

Affection: what does the Stand do to show user’s crush or s/o some affection? Moody Blues loves snuggling close to you, especially because later it can transform into you and let Abbacchio have some cuddles, as well!

Battle: does the Stand jump out in front of user’s crush or s/o in order to protect them from an attack? Absolutely! Unless it’s replaying something. Then it can’t. Oops.

Control: how hard is it for the user to maintain control of their Stand in this lovestruck state? It’s not too hard, mostly because Abbacchio is telling him to do all of this. He likes getting to pretend he’s in a relationship with you without giving away his feelings. Except for, you know, his soul extension cuddling you every chance it gets.

D’awww: what is something super adorable about the Stand? It will play around with your face! Boop your nose, squish your cheeks, pat your head! It loves doing things like this.

Enamored: how easy is it to tell that the Stand is in love? You will know as soon as it starts being around you more. Abbacchio is the best at hiding his feelings, but he lets Moody Blues give you some love so you feel appreciated.

Faint: how protective does the Stand get when crush or s/o is hurt or sick? Moody Blues doesn’t want the enemy to know that you’re in this state, so it transforms into you and uses your past self to put up a false illusion that you’re still well! That way no enemies sneak into the house and try to kill you while you’re practically helpless.

Gift: does the Stand bring gifts to crush or s/o? What types of gifts? What Moody Blues does is track whatever movements you had made that day, and if you had your eye on something for a long time, it’ll get it! It doesn’t matter if it’s a nice little trinket from a shop or a shiny rock you found on the beach, it’ll pick it up and bring it to you!

Helping hand: does the Stand try and convince its user to confess to crush? Of course! Moody Blues doesn’t just want to be the delivery boy anymore. It wants Abbacchio to finally be happy with you, and not an illusion of you!

Imaginary friend: will the Stand flirt with just crush or s/o, or will it also flirt with their Stand? Nah. It’s more of the messenger for Abba. He’s not attracted to your Stand, just you!

Joy: what does the Stand do to see crush or s/o smile? Just about anything! It can be as simple as cuddling or as underhanded as tickling them until their stomach hurts.

Keep: does the Stand get a little overprotective of crush or s/o? Just a little bit! If someone tries to interrupt a cuddling session, Moody Blues will grab onto you tightly and grunt in frustration.

Lost: what will the Stand do if its user pushes back their feelings for crush? Moody Blues won’t give up! It’ll keep turning into you, right in front of Abbacchio, so he has no choice but to keep falling for you.

Mine: does the user let their Stand give s/o affection after they’ve already gotten together? Moody Blues doesn’t want it, really. He would rather let Abbacchio do the holding and cuddling.

Noises: does the Stand make a noise while being pampered? What does it sound like? How different is it from its regular noises? It still makes the same noises, but a lot more often, and maybe even a little bit more soft.

Obvious: does the Stand keep itself and its user’s feelings hidden, or does it go all out and just absolutely pamper user’s crush or s/o? Abbacchio lets him pamper his crush.

Protection: how quickly does the Stand catch wind of user’s crush or s/o being scared, sad, or any negative emotion, and how quickly does it respond? If Abbacchio isn’t busy trying to replay a memory, then Moody Blues will instantly appear at your side, making sure you’re alright.

Quiet: does the user try and stop their Stand from giving crush or s/o affection? How well does it go? As I’ve already stated before, no. (I really didn’t do a good job at making these not repetitive, did I?)

Realization: how long does it take the user to realize that their Stand, and therefore they, are in love with crush? It didn’t take long for Abbacchio to fall head over heals for you. In fact, he was the one who discovered it first.

Sulk: how pouty is the Stand when crush or s/o doesn’t give it attention? Very pouty. Will not leave your side unless you give it some cuddles.

Tease: does the Stand save the big parts of a relationship (confessing, first kiss, etc.) for its user, or does it steal those moments for itself? Sometimes, if it’s feeling extra tempting to Abba, it’ll get close and almost kiss you, but pulls away right before. It doesn’t do this a lot, though, because you always look very disappointed afterward.

User: how does the Stand’s user react to your physical touch when cuddling their Stand (since Stand users can feel what their Stand feels)? Abbacchio is usually far away enough that you can’t see him, but he smiles from the comfort you give him.

Voice: if crush confronts the user about their Stand’s strange behavior, will they be upfront about it, or try to hide the reason behind it? At first, Abba will panic, not knowing what to say, but he eventually comes clean and tells you that he’s been doing this intentionally the whole time, and how much you mean to him.

Wild card: a random fluffy headcanon about the Stand. Sometimes it intentionally does more than Abbacchio wants it to, just to make you flustered and/or to make its user feel threatened that you might get more attracted to the Stand than the user.

X-tra special: how does the Stand use its ability to show affection for crush or s/o? Since the idea I had for this one has been used up already, I’ll go for Moody Blues’s confession of love. Abbacchio is ranting to his Stand about how he loves you so much and that he would do anything for you, then MB goes and replays it all right in front of you.

Yearning: if the Stand is out of range of crush or s/o, does it pull its user along to see them? How does the user react? Abba is always just in range, right out of sight.

Zealous: how much emotion does the user have to be feeling for their Stand to manifest by itself? Abba is very good at keeping his feelings hidden, so he can probably withstand a lot before he accidentally manifests his Stand because of his love for you.

[endofzoe]

while personally i have a soft spot for claire’s g4 track mournful pursuit, i have a lot of feelings about leon’s super tyrant fight theme. last judgment. bitchin’ title, right? right.

this is incredibly significant to leon as a character, and to all the other resident evil protagonists, but i’ll get to that part later. it’s important to put yourself in leon’s shoes to understand what i mean. first or second scenarios aside, even when you’re in the company of other characters, the game is an incredibly isolating experience. oftentimes the game mechanics don’t get across the incredible fear that anyone would be in, especially someone so inexperienced. just because leon went to the police academy doesn’t mean he’s not incredibly out of his depth. how often do you think he’s even shot at moving targets?

none of the monsters he faced are quite as significant or persistent as mr. x. while we as players are familiar with the idea of tyrants, leon is not. he doesn’t know the monster’s name, what he is, barely even what he wants except to kill, like he did to ben, and he’ll stop at nothing to hunt leon down. leon faces plenty of trials of his own during his night in raccoon city; the zombies, the lickers, the alligator, g-adults, ivies, everything that happened with ada. and the tyrant. leon is only 21 and likely barely able to even grapple the emotional gravity of what’s happening while it’s still happening. everyone he’s tried to help up until escaping the lab has died, and the tyrant is coming after him at every turn. even when you get the senior staff keycard, he destroys the glass of the greenhouse and you have to run from him and the one-hit kill ivies all at once.

the moment that he starts the lift down as the lab is self destructing and the super tyrant breaks through the wall above him is likely the most defining moment of leon’s entire life, at least up to that point. the monster that’s been chasing him the entire night, lifting him up by his head with intent to kill, and finding him even in the strangest places. as a matter of fact, i’d argue that mr. x imprints on leon the way that nemesis imprints on jill. that’s how powerful the rivalry is, and the tyrant has the clear advantage. perfectly portrayed in the scene where leon is on the lift, far far below and tiny with the massive tyrant towering above him. it’s the first time the tyrant makes noise and breaks his cold and stoic silence.

it’s quite literally a battle to the death. the entire world is falling to pieces around them, a race against the clock. last judgment on the ost is slightly changed from the in-game rendition. the one in the game has an extended intro that sets the scene incredibly well (i recommend listening to both and comparing to see what i mean). everything that leon has done in his life— by proxy, you the player, but that’s a little too meta for this analysis— has led up to this final moment. if he makes one mistake or misses one shot, it’s over. the one-shot attack the tyrant does where he winds up with a roar, only stopping by a heavy shot to his exposed heart or a stun? yeah, that, but metaphorically. (fittingly enough, the track that plays as leon boards the train is called the last moment).

every encounter, every time that he got caught vulnerable or off guard, every hit that he took led to one last confrontation. it is, in every sense, leon’s last judgment. with the tyrant as his executioner. he’s not expected to truimph. he’s not supposed to. if ada hadn’t sent down that rocket launcher, a chance encounter and the kindness of her heart, he wouldn’t have. the choir in the track matches the intensity on the level; it’s a fight of biblical proportions, and i’d argue the most important one leon has in the franchise.

every resi character has their own last judgment, in a way. jill’s is nemesis with the rail gun. claire’s is william birkin as she activates the train. it’s a character defining and ultimately devestating battle, at the end of their worst nightmare. claire’s track, mournful pursuit, personifies the devastation of birkin and g, her last stand to protect sherry. metamorphosis (in which returns the choir and is one of the best video game tracks i’ve ever heard, period) matches and nearly outdoes the biblical intensity of leon’s fight, but not in the same way. it’s a battle on the edge of the world that jill is more than capable, and furious enough, to take.

mournful pursuit fades out because it’s not truly gone; one more fight on the train is what ends birkin for the last time. metamorphosis has a soft ending, almost peaceful, and is the calm before the storm of raccoon city’s destruction. through good timing and lots of luck, leon scrapes by encounters by the skin of his teeth in every game. even ones of fate, things he shouldn’t survive. leon’s last judgment is the ultimate battle, with the most triumphant finale and a swelling choir, because it was doomed from the start.

imagine it. the heat of the fire on your face, the sweat on your back. there’s nowhere to run. time is running out. you’re not going to escape, and there’s no end in sight. you won’t even get to see the sunlight again. you made it so far, and now your relentless pursuer has cornered you. all you have is your gun and the ammo in your pocket. of course leon accepted it; to go down fighting, one last time. he made it that far.

wouldn’t you have done the same?