#i love you you funky musical theater fan

[vonlipvig]

THAT'S MY GIRL!

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Fan Fiction: Part Two

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.3k

Warnings: canon angst and violence, extra angst

Summary: Not only did Chuck write books about your lives, but a damn musical theater is putting a play on about your goddamn lives. You try to let them handle this one on their own but they're not letting you go, and it's time to bring insurance to make sure you never leave them.

Season Ten Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. I love seeing any and all comments <3

x

You roll your eyes but do as you're told, and Dean grabs your arm when you join his side. He practically drags you outside and back to the car with his brother following.

"You need to be on better behavior. You came here to do a job, so do your damn job."

"No, you came here to do a job," you say and yank your arm out of Dean's grasp. "I just tagged along to see what kind of mess you two would get yourselves into and right now, I'm not impressed."

Sam steps in as the mediator before you and Dean get into a physical fight.

"Help me understand something. Shouldn't it be Deastiel?" Sam asks.

"Really? That's your issue with all this?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" you ask.

"Dean and Cas' lover's name," Sam smirks.

"Thanks for telling her. Because I don't already have enough shit to deal with."

"How about Sastiel?" you grin and look at Sam.

"I think it would be Samstiel."

"Okay, you two are gonna do that thing where you shut the hell up forever."

"Look, man, there are no EMF or hex bags," Sam chuckles. "None of the props are even remotely funky. Other than the Charlie Kaufman of it all, I got nothing. What about you?"

"In Ms. Chandler's office, there's just a pile of empty bottles and regret. She's just probably face-down in a bar, somewhere. So, what? This whole musical thing and everything is a coincidence? That there is no case?"

"Unless you're seeing something I'm not, no, Dean. There isn't a case here."

"Okay."

"What about CasDean?"

"Shut the fuck up and get in the car!" Dean barks.

You and Sam snicker before following suit. Sam thinks this isn't a case while you and Dean aren't too sure and tomorrow morning, you get your answer. There has been another disappearance, and it's the girl who plays Sam. She didn't want to do the play in the first place, and she just disappeared according to Marie. You and the brothers head back to the auditorium to talk to her. Dean talks to the principal while Sam talks to the police while you just stand off to the side with a bored look on your face.

"So, I checked with the principal. There's nothing on the surveillance tapes," Dean says when he regroups. "What did the cops say?"

"The only clue they found was a flower by the dumpster. The same flower that was found near Ms. Chandler's phone." He shows you and Dean the flower. "Do you recognize it?"

"No."

"Yeah, me either."

You three walk to the back where Marie and Maeve are. Marie is shaken up from what she saw last night.

"Hey," Sam says.

"Let me guess. Did you guys come here to laugh at me, too?"

"Probably," you shrug and Dean shoves you away.

"Why don't you tell us what happened to your friend."

"Maggie quit the show. She was trying to get it shut down, so we were fighting. Then, she left and I heard her scream. I ran outside to help and I saw a scarecrow. It looked just like the one from our show but alive."

"What happened next?"

"It wrapped her in vines and took her behind the dumpster. Then, they were both just gone. I called the cops and a bunch of adults just told me I have an overactive imagination. It's all real. Ghosts, angels, and demons."

You laugh at her statement and Sam slaps your arm to get you to stop.

"I wanna believe," Maeve shrugs.

Sam and Dean look at each other in thought. Dean nods once and Sam turns to the girls.

"You should believe. You both should because it is all real and so are we. I'm Sam Winchester, that's Dean, and that's Y/N."

Marie and Maeve look at each other to process the news before they both bust out laughing as if they don't believe you.

"If I had my magic, I'd really give you something to laugh about," you glare.

"Okay, I'm willing to accept that monsters are real but those books are works of fiction."

"Plus, you three are way too old to be Sam, Dean, and Y/N. Maybe a Jody/Bobby/Rufus combo," Maeve says.

"I'm gonna kill them," you say and Dean immediately shuts that down.

"Alright, Little Miss Sunshine. We are what the books call hunters."

"You guys are X-Files?"

"Sure, you can say that. So, this scarecrow from your musical is based on something from the book?"

"No, I changed it. I got scared of a local legend when I was a kid. There was this old creepy scarecrow on an abandoned farm outside of town. Kids used to say that if it caught you, it would take you away."

"Okay, if this scarecrow is based on your version, then Ms. Chandler and Maggie might still be alive."

"You think the scarecrow was created by the play?" Maeve asks.

"You think it's a Tulpa?" Marie gasps.

"Where's the library?" Dean asks.

Marie and Maeve take you and the brothers to the library so they can do research on what a Tulpa is. There is a section for the weird and freaky that Sam heads to. You're so fucking bored so you're not invested in whatever they're doing. You're looking at the books on the shelves as the four of them sit at one of the library tables to read Sam's book.

"Tulpas are monsters that are created by an intense, focused energy on an idea or a story," Sam explains.

"Ugh, I want to go home," you groan loudly.

"How do you kill an idea?" Maeve asks.

"Well, in Hell House, Sam, Dean, and Y/N burnt the house down to take out the one tulpa they hunted," Marie explains.

"Yeah, if you kill the symbol, you kill the tulpa. It's a pretty good place to start. Is this scarecrow of yours a person or a prop?"

"Prop, and it's terrifying. We keep it in the boiler room."

"Can you guys give us a second? Just read up on this." Sam and Dean join your side by the bookshelf while the two girls read about the monster. "Okay, this doesn't add up. Tulpas require a ton of psychic energy to juice up. It's not like the Supernatural books are tearing up the New York Times best-seller list. I seriously doubt this play has even sold out."

"I hope not," Dean shudders.

"You know what?" Sam digs for the picture of the flower from his jacket pocket. "I've seen this flower in the lore somewhere. There's gotta be a connection."

"Or," you drawl out, "we can leave and let them fend for themselves."

"Watch it," Dean growls.

"Fine, I am more than happy to let you handle this while I go off to the nearest beach to get a tan."

"No, you're staying here with us. Come on." Dean drags you to Marie who looks up at you two. "Can you show us the boiler room?"

"Sure."

Marie does as she's told and brings you to the boiler room. There isn't much inside here except for something small underneath a drop cloth. Marie looks as if the thing will come to life and bite her, she's that terrified.

"Prepare yourselves. It's horrifying," Marie shudders.

Dean grabs the end of the cloth and yanks it off the scarecrow. You expected to see something horrifying with sharp teeth, blood, and guts over it. Instead, it's a fucking joke. Both eyes are buttons that have been poorly sewn on, one red and one blue. The mouth is just a thread that's been criss-crossed over one another.

"Are you fucking kidding me? This is the scarecrow you're so fucking scared of? What, is the Easter Bunny gonna come out and attack us?" you ask sarcastically.

"Y/N," Dean warns.

"No, this is fucking dumb! This whole play is fucking dumb. Books should have never been written about our lives because of dumb shit like this." You look at Marie with an unapologetic look on your face. "No offense, but this play fucking sucks."

"Excuse us," Dean says nervously. He grabs your arm tightly and drags you out of the boiler room. When the door closes, you yank your arm away from him. "You need to cut this shit right now."

"Or what?" You step closer to Dean in defiance. "What power do you have over me? You're not a demon anymore. You're weak as shit. Don't think for one second that you can control what I do. I'm not your bitch anymore."

Dean takes a step closer to you so your toes are touching.

"I will not hesitate to lock you up in the dungeon and keep you there until your soul is restored."

You tip your head back and laugh loudly.

"It's about fucking time you figured it out."

"You knew?"

"Of course, I knew. I knew the second I woke up."

"It doesn't matter because you need to put a cork in it. Don't speak unless spoken to."

Dean turns on his heels and walks back into the boiler room alone. Don't speak unless spoken to. Who the fuck does he think he's talking to? Once Dean and Marie are done in the boiler room, the three of you head back to the library where Sam and Maeve are. Marie is so happy that she pulls Dean in for a hug whether he wants one or not.

"Thank you!"

"It's not a Tulpa," Sam halts the celebration.

"What?"

"It's Calliope, the goddess of epic poetry. She's associated with the borage or starflower. That's the picture."

Sam shows a picture of the flower which resembles the flower that was at both disappearances.

"Wait, if this is a God thing, what's with the scarecrow?"

"According to the lore, Calliope manifests creatures from the story she's tuned into."

"So, the scarecrow is alive, and we burned my prop for nothing?" Marie asks Dean.

"Oh, that thing needed to burn."

"The only way to destroy the scarecrow is to kill Calliope. She uses these manifestations, like the scarecrow, to inspire the author and protect them until their vision is realized."

"Then what?"

"She eats the author," Sam winces.

"Okay, that's bad," Marie gasps.

"Is it?" you ask. "Something interesting should happen because it's not this play."

"Were you spoken to?" Dean glares at you. "If not, shut the hell up. Go sit in time out."

If looks could kill, Dean would be dead. Still, you leave the group and sit down in an uncomfortable library chair.

"Well, you get your wish," Marie says to you. "Let's cancel the show."

"That's what your teacher and your classmate did. They tried to shut you down, and the scarecrow took them. She was protecting you and the show."

"So the scarecrow is the boogeyman? We need to take our shot with Calliope, but she won't come out until your vision is realized."

"What are you saying?" Marie asks.

"The show must go on!"

"Okay," you say and stand up, "I'm not staying here anymore. You two have fun."

You turn and leave the library. You're not sure where you're going to go but you need to get the hell out of here. You'll take a cab or an Uber to somewhere that's not here. Sam and Dean excuse themselves and immediately follow you outside to the desolate parking lot.

"You're not leaving!" Dean barks.

You immediately stop and turn to him, which causes Sam and Dean to stop in their tracks.

"What are you going to do about it? Why should I care about hunting something and saving people when I don't give a fuck about their lives? Seriously, I'd rather watch this play burn down to the ground with everyone in it. In fact, I might just grab a box of matches and light the place up myself." Dean and Sam look at each other to have a silent conversation with their eyes. "That's what I thought."

You turn and walk away from them, not hearing the light steps of Dean. He grabs you from around the waist and sticks something into your neck. You feel a sharp pinch underneath your ear and hiss in pain. You shove Dean off you and turn to him while touching the side of your neck. There is something metal sticking into your skin, and no matter how much you pick at it, it's not coming out.

"What the fuck did you do to me?"

Dean holds up an old-looking remote that he no doubt got from the Bunker. Sam walks behind you but your eyes are glued onto the remote in his hand.

"If you misbehave, talk shit, or do anything that isn't helping, I'm going to shock you into behaving. Trust me, I got this from the Bunker. It hurts like a fucking bitch."

"You're bluffing," you call him out. "I bet that thing isn't even turned on."

Dean shrugs and presses the button. Almost immediately, shocks stem from the device to your entire body. Your body goes rigid and you fall back into Sam who catches you easily. You clench your jaw in pain and stare at Dean who walks closer to you with a smirk. The shock is so painful that you can't even speak. He waits three seconds before turning it off, and your body goes limp. You find whatever strength you have left and shove yourself off Sam who steps back from you.

"I'm more than happy to press this all day long if you want. Or you can march your ass back inside and help us kill this thing. Your choice, sweetheart." You walk closer to Dean with a death glare on your face. With lightning speed, you reach up to grab the remote, but he's quicker than you are. He tosses the remote to Sam who catches it easily. "You might be able to take one of us on but not both. Go ahead and try. All it takes is one press of the button and you're done."

You have no choice but to do as they say... for now. You storm back inside the building but the brothers stay outside.

"What kind of trouble is waiting for us when we take that thing off her neck?" Sam asks and hands the remote back to Dean.

"It's only until her soul is pure so we can shove it back inside her. Come on," Dean sighs.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[mimymomo]

My ideas for a future Precure season

Okay since Toei just announced the trademark for the new Precure season (which as a Love Live fan I’m very excited for) but I had come up with some of my own ideas for season themes/cure designs/character dynamics that I think would be fun for Precure to one day do and I have no one to talk to about this so it’s going on tumblr into the void

Season Themes:

Art Season!

Each cure is based off of a different visual art medium (this is the idea I have the most fleshed out idea of including character designs, cure names and even a title: Pop Mosaic Precure! The cures are based of of painting/drawing, photography, pottery, glass art, and needlework)

Travel/Treasure Hunter Season!

A season all about exploration and traveling to different places in search of treasure (the macguffin of the season) basically like Precure Indiana Jones. (Once again I do have character designs, cure names and a placeholder title picked out: Go Explore Precure! And each cure is inspired by a different mode of transportation: ship, airplane, carriage and train. Except the MC who’s named after the world)

Musical Theater!

This now might be too similar to Kimipre but I just think a theater season would be fun and could focus on different aspects of being in theater (acting, writing, set/costume design, front and back of house work, collaboration and being a part of a group, etc)

Pirates!

I have nothing. I just think pirates are cool

Character Design:

(basically just things I want)

Pink cure with red hair!!! (Seriously why hasn’t there been a pink cure with red hair yet?! This seems so obvious)

White haired cure (preferably a green cure so they don’t have to keep giving the green cures pink hair…)

BRING BACK USING BLACK/SILVER IN THE CURE DESIGNS!

An actual green cure that’s not teal

Another non-pink leader (maybe purple or orange? Or even rainbow but pink isn’t the main color they use)

A season with no blue cure (if you can’t tell I just really want more funky and random color variations for the cures/their teams)

Character Dynamics:

SIBLING/RELATED CURES!

Why hasn’t Precure had cures who are family members on the same main team?! This feels like such a missed opportunity! Imagine cures who are new step siblings and have to learn to about and to care for each other via working together? Or maybe there’s an older sister cure who doesn’t want their younger sibling to be a cure and that causes conflict initially? Or a cure who moves into their cousins house? The possibilities are technically not endless but I just feel like this is a untapped well the Precure writers haven’t truly dug into yet

More non-genki/energetic leaders

I want another bookish, shy, quiet lead (think Tsubomi from Heartcatch)

[petrichoraline]

Petri!!! You saw the SVT Follow concert in theaters?? 😃 how was it? I’m going tomorrow, I’m so excited!! 😁

aaa i did!! we had very limited projections and i caught the last one in the nearest theatre (was running late, got there on time but still missed the beginning cause i went to the toilet lmaoo)

it was very nice!!! (genuinely no pun intended hahah) my impression is that it's made to cater to non-fans at least partially since there not only were crowd shots and funky editing choices (you'll laught at the camera spins over halfway through, im sure) but also the inside jokes weren't that many; a part of it is the encore stage and you know they love to fuck around then. i feel like the actual concert was longer than what the movie shows? then again i might be comparing the things we get during the duration of a song when im used to multiple angles from fancams online, you simply cant catch all the shenanigans that happen at once hahah

lil spoiler, dude kisser moments had solid screentime lmaoo

there was a part where i cried and then was laughing a few minutes later :') it was emotional

as for the cinema experience, there werent many people at all but i had to go and ask two girls to shush after 30 minutes of nonstop talking (during songs and ments alike and when it was all so loud too, idk how they were this easy to hear)

there were also these other kids who came in late and clapped and yelled and i was very happy to listen to them since if we werent all shy i think we all wouldve been doing that lmao

the music will really have you pumped, i started off just tapping my foot but at some points i was lip syncing, bopping my head, doing choreos with my hands and shaking in my seat hahah, i even forgot to look at the screen at times

my little advice is to bring earplugs if ou cant handle loud noises cause in our theatre they did selective boosting of the volume at times and it was overwhelming esp since the songs are so heavy instrumental wise (there are some rock arrangements!! youll love it)

all in all a very fun experience even with quite the empty room, i hope the fellow carats in your theatre are fun and you have an amazing time!!!!!!! you have gottt to let me know how it goes, okay? okay!!

ps yes they all look stunning its insane but if youre anything like me jun and wonwoo will floor you

[tamashii--0--naturanimae]

Some music I just love. :)

Hi everyone. :) Some time ago I shared with you some music that fits well to my identity as soul, but I wrote in that post that my music taste is quite wide, so today I want to show you some music I discovered when this body was 11 years old and it's fascinating for me to this day.

It's music from japanese movement called Visual Kei, it's as music, fashion and subculture, as music you can find there almost all music genres and different styles, and artists just love experiments with music, but also many rock and metal bands are there. Whole movement started from metal band X Japan in early 80s, they wanted to show japanese people that being different, looking different, showing your true emotions, saying what you really thing and talking about difficult topics is ok, there's nothing wrong with it. Japanese people are known of being very closed and not talking what they think and not showing what they really feel, and in past japanese society was even more grey than now, then being different than others was associated with something really bad... As first Visual Kei became very popular, but in 90s it started to be kinda niche and is like that since these days, but also because of western fans it's more and more popular. So lyrics and emotions are very important in Visual Kei music (of course origins of this movement were 40 years ago and now there are maaanyy subgenres, so not all have such deep lyrich, and it really depends on bands, even in the same subgenre).

Visual Kei have some connections with traditional japanese theater kabuki, so there are some theatrical elements especially in clean vocals and behavior. Everything is art there, I mean, musicians are amazing, visual side of band changes all the time when they releasing something new (in japanese music industry artists releasing more often that western artists), also music videos and live performances are amazing.

Most of Visual Kei musicians are guys, there are not many woman (i'm telling from physical perspective, it's not common in Japan to telling about being LGBTQ+, so maybe some of them are, but I don't know...), even if someone looks like girl, it probably guy. :P From my list only band Ganglion had only female members, bassist from The Sound Bee HD is female and also singer of Kuroyoubi.

My list is mix of many genres and styles, some are really heavy like metalcore, there are some symphonic metal songs, some more like folk metal (japanese folk), rock, ballads, some funky etc.

In some songs I chose there are english subs in videos, I will also add links to english translations of some, to some there are japanese lyrics, because I can't find any english translation, I'm sorry. :( You can translate then with some translator, maybe it's not ideal, but you will have some idea what song is about. And to some I don't have even japanese lyrics... Just enjoy music!

Oh, and one more note. In Visual Kei many songs sounds "happy", but in reality lyrics are deep, heavy, depressive... I think it's amazing contrast and it showing emotions from lyrics even more. And Visual Kei isn't for everyone, it's really different, and unfortunately many people think bad about guys who wearing make up etc... So if you don't like such things, probably it's not for you, just warning. ;)

I hope you will like this. :)

・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・

As first few songs I really love, they means a lot to me:

・First is The Gazette - Dim Scene live (english subs in video), it's my favourite band ever, all their songs are amazing and have deep and heavy lyrics. Sorry about live performance, I just love that one. :D

・Second is Deadman - Follow the Night Light PV (english subs in video), one of my favourite bands from more dark and gloomy subgenre of Visual Kei called Nagoya Kei.

・Another is D'espairsRay - Paradox 5 audio (english translation of lyrics), this song is just amazing, it's about someone who's beloved died, but lyrics are like thoughts about journey to next incarnation and hopes that beloved won't suffer because of they were separated... I love it soo much!

・Next is Girugämesh - Kowarete Iku Sekai PV (english subs in video), this song is about what humans doing to each other and to Mother Earth... People are talking about "The Seed" by Aurora, but I think more people should hear this song, it squeezing my heart every time I'm listen to it...

・Another song is Kaya - Villain MV (english translation of lyrics), Kaya is one of a few openly gay people in Japan, he's bisexual and crossdresser, and this song is about being different.

・Next, Luna Sea - Another audio (english translation of lyrics), it's song from late 90s, by one of the first Visual Kei bands, I just love this song so much.

・Another is Xaa-Xaa - Mazarenai MV (english subs in video), song about people who can't be together because of many different reasons, differences in character, skin color, origin, gender, etc, I love how it's shown in MV.

・ Next is Kizu - 0 MV (english subs in video), song about stupid japanese TV shows and what people can do to be famous... Warning, some drastic scenes in this MV.

・Next song is Chanty - Anata Dake wo Kowashite Kazatte Mitai MV (japanese lyrics in comment section), song without english subs (sorry), but this band often making songs about that dark side of personality, you will know what song is about while watching this MV. Warning, also some drastic scenes, not like in "0" by Kizu, but still someone can be sensitive...

・And last from this section is The Sound Bee HD - Endless Dead MV, without any lyrics, I'm sorry... But this song just is perfect for me when I'm depressed, works soo well to fill my emotions...

・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・

Here are some other songs with english translations of lyrics:

・Dexcore - Red Eye MV (english lyrics, in description box)

・Matenrou Opera - Helios PV (english subs in video)

・D - Draconids audio (english translation of lyrics)

・Dimlim - Vanitas MV (english translation of lyrics)

・-Shintenchi Kaibyaku Shudan- ZigZag - Boukyaku no Kanata MV (english translation of lyrics)

・Umbrella - Haiki audio (english translation of lyrics)

・Jiluka - Venфm (english lyrics, in video)

・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・

Songs with only japanese lyrics, and one have chinese translation in comment section:

・Shiva - Sugari MV (japanese lyrics)

・Dezert - The Walker MV (japanese lyrics)

・Ashmaze. - Jidai audio (japanese lyrics)

・Creature Creature - Yume Kagami audio (japanese lyrics)

・3470.mon - Kyuuo-san MV (japanese lyrics)

・Archemi. - Suuhai MV (japanese lyrics)

・Fukuro - BitterChoco MV (japanese lyrics in comment section)

・Xanvala - Yura Yura audio (japanese lyrics)

・Rorschach.inc - Watchmen MV (japanese lyrics in description box)

・Raymei - Hyakka Ryouran MV (chinese translation in comment section)

・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・

And last section, songs without any lyrics:

・Zera - Shangri La audio

・Houts - Enter audio

・Ganglion - Heart of Ripley audio

・Sakashimana Haguruma wo Kamen ga Warau。- Round and Round audio

・Damned - Thanatosis MV

・Kuroyoubi - Fukanzen'na Sekai MV

・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・'・,・

Hmm... I don't know why some links are underlined in black and some in green... Just ignore it!

I know it's a lot, sorry. :D But I'm listen to like... 150 Visual Kei artists? So it's not many compares to all bands I'm listen to. :D

If you listened to some songs from my list, I'm really happy! Let me know what you think. ;)

[drawthething]

Hey! It's me again :D

I wanted to come up with a fun ask (you can definitely take your time on this one, especially because I've seen you've gotten quite a few asks lately). I don't know, I was hoping we could maybe do that ask trade you brought up during my last one! (Am I doing it right??) Especially because I'd love to talk about this topic, I do have a few thoughts of my own on it that I don't want to flood here.

What are your thoughts on the Bob's Burgers Movie?? I was actually lucky enough to catch it in theaters, so that might've affected my perception of it a bit. Did you enjoy it? Did you really dislike it? Are you somewhere in between? What are some things you liked, or things you would change?

Ahhhh heyyyyy!! Back at it again with your glorious asks! Thank you 🥺♥️ And you ask about the movie 😭 lemme grab my notes real quick

I LOVE the movie! Honestly I'm so grateful we get a murder mystery instead of... whatever they give us in s12. It wasn't too far away from the show itself either and felt like it's made for the fans which I appreciate. I laughed a lot too, my favourite parts've gotta be Tina's reaction looking back and forth at Grover during the car chase. Like, precious awkward girl 😭. Also the way she tries to throw away her barrecklace but it keeps sticking pffft, same energy! Overall the storyline's super fun I love it

And the SONGS. I listened to Sunny side up summer on loop for weeeeeks it's not funny! Bobs music is always superb so it's not too surprising the movie's full of total bops, but damn did they deliver 🤌 The animation is obviously glorious, I kept rewatching the dancing gigs cuz, like, look at those muppets wiggling and bouncing 😭

I definitely love that Louise gets to be the center of the film, they finally let our girl use her infinite brain's grey matter to solve a murder case and her character arc is so so good. Bob & Linda are obviously super mega sweet. Like, like we get a flashback scene 🥺? And, and the hole scene 🥺? "punch droopy Bob in the nuts" scene? Pffft. Plus a whole lots of fun moments between them and Teddy (living for Teddy & his oliver bar/food cart 🤌) Tina's arc is cuuuute, her little scenes with Jimmy Jr just bless my heart :] Gene's done dirty though 😐 boy barely gets to shine. But he's himself and that's also enough to appreciate him I guess :/

I do want more of the side characters tbh. Most of them pass by like a funky little cameo and that's it (them precious Wagstaff kids are barely there and where on earth is Gayle??) But it's a movie so maybe focusing on a limited number of them would be... better 😐? One last thought, like, this one haunts me in my sleep every. single. night: what were they thinking not including Jimmy Jr in the credits aka, you know, the dance sequence??! The DANCE SEQUENCE??!

[tenaciouspostfun]



1



Three Dog Night

A Simple But Great Band.



By Robert M Massimi.Published about a minute ago • 3 min read

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Robert M. Massimi.

Starting out in Los Angeles California, Three Dog Night is considered to be one of the real great pop bands. Starting at Whiskey A Go-Go, Three Dog Night hit it big with the song "One". The band, which started in 1967 with three original members (only one remains in the band today), had many hits and has an album coming out later this year.

The band last night at the beautiful Morristown Performing Arts Center was surprisingly excellent. When you factor in age (most in their mid 70's), they had great energy, great rhythm blends and were in synche all evening.

Opening with "The Family of Man", you got the sense that the band was there to make a statement about their accomplishments; as well as show off their talents as musicians.

The second song was "Black and White", a fan favorite. Like so many songs, Three Dog Night produced so many commercially successful songs. All were sung tonight and the packed, sold out audience ate them up!

After the third and forth songs "Never Been to Spain" and "Shambala", you are reminded just how great this band really was, especially in its song writing. A simple but efficient band, Three Dog Night delivered an hour and a half of entertainment.

In its fifth song "Easy to Be Hard" was a once considered a psychedelic song, a funky soulful song. This song was played consistently on radio in the early 70's and was one of the bands best. It was at this time that Three Dog Night was considered one of the most formidable bands. It was also at this time that Rock and Roll was in full swing with many great bands that still play today.

Under tremendous lighting all evening with the purples, blues and multi colors, Three Dog Night at times seemed larger than life. A tribute to their accomplishments, the audience loved reminiscing with them going down memory lane.

In the evenings eith song, "One", the band hit home how this song was the bands signature song. Not as famous as "Joy to the World" ( the evenings last song), this song introduced them to the world and it made them an international success. Out of all the great songs that they wrote and played, people identify Three Dog Night with the song "One".

"I Will Serenade You" came after "One". A great follow through song and was played both strong and deeply, it hit a melodic range that really showed the musicians talents. "Liar" was not their best but was still entertaining and fun.

The band brought the evening home with four great songs and a perfect end to a great evening. Another funky soulful song (much like "Easy to Be Hard") "Mama Told Me Not to Come" was performed brilliantly, kept steadfast to the original release, it was raspy, bohemian and captured the 60's spirit in depth. "Celebrate" was ended with an organ solo, innovative and provocative, this "Celebrate" had a different take on how the song was sung at first and commercially.

The evenings second to last song "Prayer of the Children" brought a standing ovation. Sung as a choir, the five musicians (sans the organist) stood and sung this song about the children who are victims to adults who bring their countries to war. As the band stated before the song, they are not a political band but that they wanted to write this because of the alarming rates of war in the world. Rightfully stated, the children are the ones who suffer in war, more than anyone else.

"Joy to the World", the bands most popular song comercially had the crowd still standing as we bid farewell to a staple in the Rock and Roll world.

Three Dog Night, Morristown Performing Arts Center, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "One", "Joy To The World", "Mama Told Me Not to Come", Morristown, NJ.

70S MUSIC

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About the Creator



Robert M Massimi.

I have been writing on theater since 1982. A graduate from Manhattan College B.S. A member of Alpha Sigma Lambda, which recognizes excellence in both English and Science. I have produced 12 shows on and off Broadway. I've seen over700 shows

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[sinceileftyoublog]

GoGo Penguin Interview: Opening Up and a Leap of Faith

Photo credit: Veil Projects, Emily Dennison

BY JORDAN MAINZER

You can take GoGo Penguin’s latest album Everything Is Going to Be OK (Sony/XXIM) at face value, and it’ll appear like a continuation of the spirit of their previous material. Moody, abstract, and expressive, songs like “You’re Stronger Than You Think”, “Glow”, “An Unbroken Thread of Awareness”, and “Sanctuary” have a blissful vibe, whether arpeggiated or gentle, free or groovy, affected or minimal. In reality, the circumstances surrounding the record give it a life-affirming quality that’s never been stronger for the Manchester trio. Everything Is Going to Be OK was recorded during a time when Nick Blacka lost both his mother and brother to cancer months apart, and Chris Illingworth lost his grandmother. In the meantime, drummer Rob Turner left amicably, and was replaced by Jon Scott. Yet, the sound of the album doesn’t reflect any tension or upheaval; though times were tough, the very act of writing, making, and recording acted as a refuge for GoGo Penguin. 

That is, with the album’s story in mind, you can appreciate its gracious looseness. “Saturnine” is straight up funky, a mix of bass, piano trills, and pattering drums. The warbling synth in the background of “Friday Film Special” perfectly perches beside its slow pace, like the very birds on a wire that make up the record’s visual palate. The Steve Reich-like peaks and valleys of the title track render it the album’s emotional centerpiece, the complex time signatures of “Parasite” its emotional climax, but even those two tracks exist within a defined world of echoes and familiarity, just like the very studio that acted as a safe space for Blacka and Illingworth during tough times.

Earlier this month, I spoke over Zoom with Illingworth as GoGo Penguin were in the middle of a U.S. tour, that night in Portland. We talked about playing live, both in general and the songs from the new album, what Scott brings as a drummer and band member, and being open about sharing the stories behind music. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: How are you finding adapting the Everything Is Going to Be OK songs to a live performance?

Chris Illingworth: It sort of feels like something the audience should answer, really. [laughs] To us, it feels great. We’re really enjoying playing the music. It’s nice to be in a position where not only do we have new music but a back catalog to draw from, where we can pick and choose things that support the new music. It’s been fun developing the technology side of [the new album], making sure things translate to the stage and work as a show. Like we try to do with the album, we want to make [the live show] a journey from beginning to end, having people leave the theater feeling like they’ve experienced something pretty cool. It’s been great fun. The response to the new stuff has been really positive. It’s nice to see that because we had to take that leap of faith with this album, where we didn’t want to lose our character or core, but it felt like we needed to do something different. That can go any way possible: People could love it, people could hate it, it could attract a new audience, it could push the old one away. But it seems like fans have stuck with us and enjoy it. It’s hopefully getting some new people interested, as well.

SILY: Do you improvise when playing live?

CI: It’s a mixture. We’ve ended up chatting about this with people quite a lot, because we get labelled as jazz. It’s a tricky one. [Jazz] only describes us to a certain degree. There’s a jazz influence in there, but equal rock, drum and bass, electronica, and classical influences. We just use what we need for the music. [Some songs] we play note for note every single show, if it’s what the track needs. Other times, there are spaces for us to improvise. Tracks like “Break” have a framework, but I’m pretty much improvising from start to finish, and there’s an ending where I’m playing the head at the end of the tune and everything before that is improvisation on the themes that lead to that. It’s different every show. Improvisation is just one of the tools we can use when we need it.

SILY: There’s an obvious undercurrent of loss surrounding this album, and there are aspects of it that are certainly contemplative and mournful. But reading about the context before I dove in for the first time, I was surprised that there’s quite a groove to a lot of songs. It’d be intriguing to hear that live. How do you find occupying the same headspace on stage as you were writing and recording the record? Or do you occupy a different headspace?

CI: Good question. It’s something we think a lot about when recording, how we feel and how the music comes across when we play live and how we can capture that energy on record. That’s been the biggest challenge. We know that when we get out and play it live, we immediately have that physical connection with a crowd. It’s the same space, and everyone is sharing the same energy. On record, it’s quite a personal thing for us. We’ve written the music and try to be honest and dig deep into our experiences to put them into the music. What we try to do is think about it in a more abstract way: What feelings are we trying to convey? We’re not trying to tell a specific story [even though] there are a lot of ideas and experiences behind these tracks. There were a lot of difficult and good things, and we put all of it into the record. Some of it is quite dark and heavy, and some of it is brighter and has hope behind it. That’s where the album title comes in. 

When we get into the recording, it’s very personal. We’re in the space as a band, and there’s no one else there to bounce anything off of. You put your face in it and make the record. When we give it to people to listen to, it becomes a personal thing to them. I can’t think of a situation where you get 200-300 people in a room and everybody sits and listens to the CD. [laughs] You sit on your own with your headphones and listen to a record, and it’s a difficult thing to think of how to convey it. We have to treat [recording and live performance] separately, but we always have to think about how we’re going to play [our songs] live. We make the record the best we can make it, in whatever format serves the music best. Live, the consideration is made early on, but we explore how to do it best when [actually] on the stage.

SILY: One of the “good things” that went into this new record is your new drummer, Jon Scott. Sonically, it seems like his work is at the forefront of the record. What does Jon bring to the table different than what you’ve had before?

CI: I think the main difference has been the fact that he recognizes we think about what we’re trying to do sonically with the music, as well. There’s the emotional content and ideas we try to convey, and then there’s how we want it to sound. How do we want the piano to sound? Do we want to adapt the treatment of the piano and do things in post-production to change certain characteristics? Jon has a really good ear for that. A lot of the writing was done by me and Nick for this record--Jon had just joined us. It’s hard for someone to join so new and be an equal contributor in terms of composition, but he had a lot of ideas to bring and a very collaborative way of thinking. “Here’s this music, here’s what I can do as a drummer, but also with these instruments and sounds I’ve got.” One of the best examples is “You’re Stronger Than You Think”. When we play that tune, and there’s an 808-like beat that we play, it’s about treating the drums to make that sound, being able to create things that sound electronic without being electronic, while accompanying the other sounds that are going on. He’s very much a team player that thinks about what he can bring as an individual to serve the band and music. You can tell the record something we all made together. We always think of the band as 3 individuals--4 if you count [Joseph Reiser], our sound engineer--bringing their individual personalities to make something bigger than any of them individually. That collaborative thing, Jon’s fit really well with.

SILY: Are there any older songs he wasn’t a part of that he’s brought something unexpected to?

CI: Yeah! We’ve been playing “Protest” on this show quite a lot. It’s one of our favorites and goes down quite well with fans. It’s a good closer to a show. The type of drums and tuning of the drums that he’s got going on, the original beat just didn’t feel like it was working. It was great to see him adapt while keeping the character and the elements of it that belong to the original. He tidied and cleaned it up, and he let it breathe again even though it’s a heavy tune. He was wary that just plowing in there with loads of floor and loads of kick, it would take up a lot of space. Being the kind of drummer he is, it was interesting to [watch him] listen to it and think, “Let’s take the core of what makes this ‘Protest’ and adapt it.” He’s done that with quite a few tracks. That’s what we wanted. We made it clear right from the beginning that we didn’t want someone to come in and be a copy of Rob. We wanted to someone to be themselves. It’s quite a challenge to join a band that’s got a history, the character we’ve built, the personality people think of when they think of GoGo Penguin’s music. The ability for him to fit in and be a part of the band, he’s really nailed it.

SILY: The record has a lot of emotional peaks and valleys. The title track is the centerpiece for me, and it ends with an acceptance phase with “Sanctuary”. Do you try to do the same thing with the setlist?

CI: Absolutely. We started off with a setlist we thought was pretty solid, and then after a couple shows, we started realizing it wasn’t quite doing exactly what we wanted it to do. It’s about having a start and a finish with the journey in between and how each track should lead to the next. There are a lot of good examples in different genres, but in classical music, it’s about preparation. The element of the particular bit of the music you’re in, in one moment in time, is serving its function and saying something but also preparing you for what’s next. If you think about really good collections of music, like some of the Debussy preludes, you can look at them individually, but as a whole, each one sets the scene for what comes next. It’s like a play, drama, theater, or good films. You can really feel when it’s trying to do something in the moment and then jarringly switches to something else with no preparation or progression. It’s something we’re really keen about when playing live. It’s important for people to feel like they have that journey from the first note to the finish.

SILY: You revealed that “We May Not Stay” was inspired by sundials. When I listen to instrumental music, I like learning about context or a particular item or moment or idea that inspired something that by itself is abstract. Not everyone agrees. Do you like to reveal the more specific inspirations behind songs? How do you pick and choose when to do it?

CI: It’s been strange. This time, it feels like we’ve been a lot more open, which felt like the right time to do it. When Nick first came to me with [the inspiration], it felt relevant to what we were going through, the awareness of time passing, where it feels like the people you love you once felt were invincible or indestructible, will somebody no longer be there. The other side of that, new life appears. I had a son before COVID kicked in. He’s nearly four already, which is crazy. You only recognize that the older you get, and we’ve very much become aware of it, and have had to deal with it in a visceral way when writing. It made sense to be more open about it. There are things very personal to us, but at the end of the day, the things that are relevant to everybody, people can relate to. Everybody is going to experience life and death. It’s something we wanted to convey and chat with people about. You want to have that connection through the music. People can still take what they want through it and interpret the songs their own way, but a lot of the themes are understandable by everyone.

SILY: The album title was taken from a sticker your monitor engineer put on a bass amplifier. It obviously turned into a much bigger mantra that’s also somewhat futile: Of course, not everything will be okay all the time. But you’ve found a balance between the mantra and the reality. Did making the record help you achieve that balance?

CI: It did, definitely. It was challenging and really rewarding. It was almost like therapy at times, being able to make the record. It was amazing to be back in the studio after COVID, with the changes in the lineup, to get in there and be as close as we were as friends and musicians. Nick and I have known each other for a very long time, and it’s been amazing to see him really grow as well. He’s always been a part of the process, but he really found his feet and was able to open up on this record. It felt great to be in a position where I had more to react to. “I love the idea you brought, here’s where I think we can go with it,” rather than being the person with the original idea. 

It was incredible to feel how much was going on outside the door of the studio but to be able to have that space and concentrate on music and have a laugh. There’d be days we’d go in with the intention of writing and working and we’d end up having some nice food and chilling out together, chatting and listening to tunes. That’s what we needed sometimes. We’re lucky we’ve got that space we built ourselves that we can retreat to. I’ve talked with a lot of people about what they had to go through over COVID, isolated from family and friends. It’s heavy to hear some of those stories where it was an awful, terrible experience for people. It’s important to remember the beautiful things going on as well and to be there for the people who can’t see that, because we’ve been there. We were there in COVID and a long while after, wondering, “Is it ever going to be okay?” To have the people by you say, “Everything is going to be okay,” you know it’s not, but it reminds you that people are there for you in those moments. To have that support is a big thing.

SILY: As a side-note, it’s cool to hear that some days in the studio, you just hung out, because if there’s anything this record is not, it’s rushed sounding. It feels loose and natural.

CI: That’s good to hear. I don’t think we’ve had that in the past.

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art and general visual identity of the record?

CI: I’ve done a few of the covers for the band over the last few years. It’s always been something I’ve really enjoyed as a hobby. I like design and art and being creative other than playing the piano. On this album, we wanted to make sure we were reflecting the music and in a way where it feels like a change. We wanted to do the same thing with the [Between Two Waves] EP, moving away from the minimalistic, illustration-based stuff to something different, that felt different as soon as you saw it. The saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is nonsense because everybody does it. You go to a bookshop, and the ones with the beautiful covers stand out unless you’re looking for something specific. It’s the same with a record. It’s the first thing you see before you put the vinyl or CD on or put it on on Spotify. 

We also wanted something to reflect the character of the record. We did a lot of things musically that were new, trying new ideas and taking a leap in the direction of new instruments, technologies, composition ideas, and approaches to writing. We had to do the same with the artwork. Using different photographic elements and processing them heavily, which is what we do with the music, taking something acoustic like the piano and running it through different effects and techniques and mangling it up. The inlay of the record, we have birds on a wire, which is an image everyone can relate to. We didn’t want something too abstract. We wanted something everyone can feel at home with. It took a while to keep chipping away at it. It’s a good thing that I can do the covers and the guys are cool with it, because I’d keep chipping away. [laughs] If we had a designer, we’d have to go back to them so many times. We’d be paying more money than we’ve got to try to get a cover designed.

SILY: Are you the type of band that’s always tinkering and writing, coming up with new songs in between tours?

CI: We’ve been very busy, but ideas are brewing already when we’re in the studio. We kept pushing and working hard with all this new energy. COVID and changes with the band put everything on hold. Not only is it great to get out and do things again, but we had a rest. That was the benefit of having forced time off. We hadn’t done that for years. The creative energy is there again. I sat at the hotel bar last night chatting about ideas we want to try when we get back home. There’s a change in mindset. We’re far more in the place of, “Let’s give it a go.” What’s the worst that’ll happen if it doesn’t work? It’s not the end of the world. There are far bigger things people are having to deal with, and if people don’t like it, we’ll just move on and do something else.

SILY: Do you have to shield yourself off from other media when writing? Or do you let the media you’re experiencing subconsciously make its way into your writing?

CI: There are moments where I have [shielded myself off] that because it feels like you need that clarity and focus. I was watching Chef’s Table, which has some episodes with great advice about being creative. There was one where someone said, “There comes a day when you have to be your master.” You have to think about what you want to say and do. Sometimes, you can let influences in, other times, you need to listen to your own trains of thought.

[just-a-plain-old-bitch]

Ok, I just saw someone do this and I just did it to my friend...

So here are the Les Amis and Co. As described by me :)

Enjolras: oh boy, gay. Very gay. Also blonde. He has a big forehead. (This is the guy Joe Quinn played). He likes red a lot. Sings a whole damn song about it. He dies

Combeferre: what a funky man. He likes moths. Also, like the ENTIRE fandom has decided he's a medical student. Pretty sure it's not canon tho. He's played by that guy I was on about the other day who I thought was like 40. He also dies

Courfeyrac: gay. Short king. Defo likes theater. Literally everyone's friend. Either dating Jehan or Combeferre depending on the fanfic you read. I've met the guy that played him in the film. Also dead

Grantaire: Cynic. Has a crush on Enjolras. The fandom has decided he's a cat person and he does art. Bi. He's an asshole. But a loveable one. Honestly I can talk about the different characterisation of him for DAYS. My boy Vicky Hugo did him so dirty tho. Also dead

Feuilly: Orphan. Bless him. Sweetest boy. Honestly so slept on. Wants to adopt the whole world. Enjolras has had a crush on him. He also makes fans (how funky is that!). He's ginger. Most people Headcanon him as Polish (same tbf). An icon. I can talk about him for days. Oh he's also tall. And dead

Jean "Jehan" Prouvaire: Monarch of "what the fuck is gender?" No fashion sense whatsoever. Also another favourite of mine. Gay. Or queer. Something along those likes. They also speak like 10 languages (canon) I find that so freaking cool. He also plays the flute. And he does poems. Alistair Brammer plays him beautifully. They are the youngest of the barricade boys. They were kidnapped on the barricade and died alone. (I can talk about them for months)

Bahorel: Sometimes queer. Sometimes straight as fuck. I can't decide. Sports a stunning moustache. Boxer. Very muscley. I don't think about this guy enough. I should. He's a funky guy. Very loud. Also dead

Bossuet: B A L D. Big part of his character. Oh he's also bi. And polyamorous. Dating Joly and Musichetta. Very clumsy. Vicky Hugo makes this VERY obvious in the book. It's like he has 2 personality traits. Bald and Clumsy. He's also rad. Best buds with Grantaire. Dead

Joly: Med student. Also a hypochondriac. And germaphobe. This man.. please help him. He's very extravagant. Has a cane. And a top hat. Dating Bossuet and Musichetta (as said earlier). Also short king. Also Chinese. What an icon. And he's dead.

Marius: poor soul. Help him. Constant state of confusion. But somehow he pulls 2 bitches? Idk how either. Bless him, he's trying his best. Courfeyrac is his comfort extrovert. He is also afraid of Enjolras and Combeferre. Don't blame him tbf. Noodle boy. He's so tall.. like 6"5 or something. He actually survived.

Eponine: Has a crush on Marius in canon. But my Headcanon.. she's bi. She's also a bitch. But in the best way. I love her. Feminist. Marius is probably also scared of her. Shitty childhood. But y'know, she vibes. She also reminds me of you. And I've seen the person that plays her perform live. HOLY SHIT I cried. (For the record, the show was Frozen). Also dead

Cosette: Marius' main girl. In canon. Headcanon she's defo queer. Cottagecore goth. Adopted. Listens to Taylor Swift (so does Eponine, I forgot to mention that) she's probably Eponines girlfriend, let's be fair. She needs a hug. Trauma central. Bless her. I love her so much. I'm still deciding weather I like her with Blonde hair or Brown hair. Her and Jehan are besties. She also survived.

Musichetta: Icon. Ginger. Suuuper curly hair.. like wild. Pansexual. Also poly. As said earlier, dating Joly and Bossuet. Don't know much about her.. but she defo loves musicals. Watches bootlegs with R (grantaire) when bored. Indie/grunge style. Girl boss. I believe she survived.. idk tho

[oooo-leanderies]

Whoops my finger slipped here's the lore for the swap au (I like to call it the Date with Destiny au lmao):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ONCE UPON A WONDER:

- Clown Tenma siblings but its Saki this time

- Kohane clown because in canon she's a fan of Phoenix Wonderland so I thought it would funny

- And the Mizurui duo 🤡 🤡

- Mizooks and Rui get permission from Emu and her family to use the stage

- And they become a super cool clown duo fulfilling Rui's middle school dreams

- They're like Percival and Jackson the Cost and Ho-Host 😍😍😍😍 (inside joke lmao)

- Kohane stumbles upon the stage while hanging out in the theme park

- Saki also finds out while hanging out at the park, bcs she wants to do lots of cool things now thats she's out of the hospital

- They literally all have one of those rotation schedules on the wall or smth on who has to test Rui's inventions next 💀

- But I know for a fact the first time they had to Saki volunteered first and she like nearly died or smth

- And then they found out she was recently in the hospital and they're like "WHY TF DIDN'T YOU TELL US" "AAAAA I NEARLY KILLED SAKI"

-And she's like "I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN!!!"

-Its canon now I don't make the rules

- A lot of their shows center more fairytale-like themes of magic and hope and whatever bcs I love fairytales and their designs just turned out that way

- Princess Saki real I love her

- Tsukasa comes to all their shows bcs he's a good brother

- This is where he meets Rui it all works out in the end see

- Ruikasa nation is fed but only bcs I ship it more than I do Mizurui whoops 

- When Kohane first joins she's literally so nervous

- But hey she's the cool ringleader now also bcs I designed her outfit that way

- Also bcs I love Kohane

- Slay queen be confident keep all the clowns in check

- Ringleader Kohane real she keeps track of all the technical stuff and writes their plays like Tsukasa except less crazy <3

- Ans then Mizuki is literally like Rarity or smth all their cool costumes come from them

- Mizuki so talented

-Rui is still the cool director with all his cool robots

- Tobey from Wordgirl who? William Afton who?

- And then I hear Saki gets into composing and whatnot I think but even tho it might not be actually canon it is now

- Slay Saki music piano queen don't let the piano man get you

• • •

STARS LOST TO TIME:

- Discord gang woohoo

- Tsukasa emo Tenma sibling 😔

- Mafuyu is. Mafuyu.

- Shizuku sad arc

- An chills with them of course

- They've each got their own stories to relay when they're with each other

- Shizuku talks about anything and everything really, but sometimes tells them about when she was an idol

- Tsukasa goes on and on about theater bcs he's still a theater kid how could he not be

- An tells stories of these funky group of kids who come by the cafe every so often and seem to be great friends (guess who)

- And Mafuyu doesn't really like to talk at all

- Before their main story, they all think the sekai is theirs alone

- Tsukasa would gift plushies to the virtual singers

- Shizuku had books to bring

- An brought cool music for them to listen to

- And Mafuyu was the one who would visit the most, having many conversations with the virtual singers and just spending time with them in general

- When they saw what new gifts the others would bring they would be like "oh cool where'd you guys get that"

- "idk it probably manifested from ur feelings?"

- Miku and Luka don't snitch 🤪

- They would all visit often at their own times and somewhere never came across each other

- Until one of them sent the wrong music file on the server and they all clicked on it and ya yeeted themselves in

- They all collectively thought "OH NO THEY'RE IN MY SEKAI"

- "wait"

- It became the Spiderman pointing meme

- An: "bruh Hoshi guess who I met at the Cafe today

- "who"

- "ur childhood friend"

- tenma tsukasa takes about a few minutes to rember who. He has the worst memory ever bcs this is how it rolls around here.

- "OH WAIT U MEAN TOUYA-"

- ok so within lore of how they all got to here

- mafuyu is still mafuyu

- tsukasa is well.

- cmon u guys he's perfectly angsted up as is he just needs a little... shaping

- he takes a few moments to have a brain instead of going "HAAHA UN A STAR OF COURSE IM MENTALLY OK"

- horse man. ARE you ok?

- Shizuku is also perfect she's just her but sadder and on Discord here

- even if she's horrible with tech

- she always has the worst call quality of the four

- ans then an is like. Idk actually this shall be figured out someday

- but today is not that day

[outer-andromeda]

Whats beejs favorite food to eat after he becomes human and does he have to get a job? Does he learn to do all these human things that includes shopping sometimes accompanied by his kids for stuff they need? can he drive a car? Does he like to collect stuff like he probably did when he was bored before the whole maitland thing? theres a lot of questions to be asked sorry about that but i forgot the other ones. maybe one was about him liking clothes he can hide in or if he misses making clones?

Alright alright- before we dive into all of these I should warn you- the way I see that version of Beej is very much due to how my partner writes him! She's the one behind most of his character in this AU (and others) so perhaps he might be a bit different than what you could be expecting. Hope you understand!

Now, to les questions !!

1. What's Beej's favorite food to eat after he turns human? Does he have to get a job?

Gosh where to start. That man loves everything food-related now that he can ACTUALLY taste stuff. So he pretty much loves everything. I do think my partner and I agreed his favorite foods would involve meat and sometimes spices.

As for a job, yes, and not just one! Being human meant that him and the girls needed money to sustain their needs. Which... They had not at first. For the first few months after they turned alive they had to live in a tent and then move into a shelter center for a while.

Then they met a young theater group from downtown who found Beej's voice absolutely fantastic. Which got all three of them in. And from then on they did many fan productions of musicals. Pfff.

That went on for a few years. Then some technical members of the group left and the rest of them formed a music group. Focusing on Beej and the girls ghost personas. They were known as the Spirits!

Beej would also do voice work on stuff. Like cartoons and animated movies. Mostly for money though. Then... Years later again (but that would be out of the AU timeline), he became a kindergarten caretaker.

Yeah. You read it right.

(My partner thinks this idea is cracked. Meanwhile I absolutely love it. I mean COME ON- He's like a freaking chaotic uncle to all of these kids and he loves it.)

2. Does he learn to do all these human things that include shopping sometimes accompanied by his kids for stuff they need?

Yup! He has to. The girls kind of make him go grocery shopping alone sometimes when they're not able to due to school or other activities they do. Zeda is usually the one in charge for that kind of stuff (as in she's the only braincell in this family).

3. Can he drive a car?

He cannoT. Not in the AU timeline atleast.

Maybe after. Who knows.

4. Does he like to collect stuff like he probably did when he was bored before the whole Maitlands thing?

Well... When push comes to shove and it's necessary, I'd call what he does more like stealing than collecting.

And if he still does collect stuff, it's mostly strange junk they find in antique shops. In that case I guess he does! That and the stuff the girls give him obviously.

5. I'm not sure what you meant by clothes he can hide in but uh- we gave that man a clothing style!

That's an old art example, but pretty much that. Funky shirts, rings, tattoos, and usually black pants and shoes. Shoes vary between sorta combat boots or pointy costume shoes. He funky.

Either that or he settles on simple tees. Or hoodies and sweatpants.

6. Does he miss his clones?

I'd guess, yeah. I do believe he misses his powers in general too.

Something else he gotta get used to.

[project-paranoia]

Let’s Watch: Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

I have watched this movie 85 Whole Entire Times and I do not regret.  The only thing wrong with this movie is that it wasn't a fifty episode series.  I cried, I laughed, I fell in love.  The cinematography is on point, the acting is amazing, the crew member who put snow on people's eyebrows did an amazing job, and the acting!  The subtlety, the gentleness, the love and affection, the discussion of race is one of the best I've ever seen.

As people have pointed out before in series like X-Men that fear of mutant's is practically if not thematically justified due to the laser eyes in a way that fear of ethnic minorities just isn't in real life.  In Dream of Eternity however humans are equally if not sometimes more super powered than the yao they hunt.  Demons - very much not in the Christian sense - are a mixture of spirits, resentful souls, and animals and plants who cultivated to human form.  They often appear human at first glance and in some cases the extent of their power seems to be the limited to turning into a smaller more vulnerable animal.  Qingming's deliberate care and gentleness not only reflects his upbringing as a Yin Yang Master, but parallels the experience of racial minorities labelled as aggressive.

The movie takes particular care as well in the way it looks at trauma, grief, and love.  The three of which haunt the main characters and send out ripple effects into the world around them.  In the world of Dream of Eternity no loss is purely private, it spools out into the world around the person effected until they make an effect to acknowledge and deal with their experiences.  Qingming's warmth and gentleness isn't just marked by his behaviour but by the orange light he's lit by and his variety of shishen - but he is also separate, standing alone in frame and facing away from the people around him.  Boya's loss has made him unforgiving and as cold as the blue light he's lit in, and yet he is open and instinctive, talking and acting as soon as the thought enters his head.  The Empress is lost and drifting, trapped and grief stricken, vulnerable to those who profess to love her.  The film is simple, it says and shows what it means when it means it - but it is also as complex as the very human characters it depicts.  

The movie is made even more complex by its pull from theaters.  Claims of plagiarism drench the edges of the movie, which as true as the assertion that Fan BingBing went on a spa vacation in 2018.  Although this blog is about Chinese censorship dealing specifically with BL content, Chinese censorship also effects those who criticize governmental policy.  I hope that supporters of this blog will also support Chinese media threatened by censorship for many reasons so that artists and others involved in film making can continue to make meaningful content.

Doing a watchthrough of a movie is not feasible, but please enjoy a few thousand words - with spoilers on Yin Yang Master included:

* That gentle chiming and rain soundscaping is so soothing, what a great way to calm and lull the audience before the movie even starts * Qingming is so small and isolated in the frame - cinema! * The lighting and cinematography is just so good * Shifu, soft gentle teacher * So much love stored in the Shifu * Instant grow * This boy is Sassy * This theme of deflection in Qingming's character is established early * Deflection with a teleportation portal and then immediately deflection verbally * Shifu is certainly an attractive man aged up, but his face is also soft and gentle, something to note when his double pops up later * Also the awkward question of don't you have someone you want to protect, maybe part of the problem is that shifu is just really bad at wording things * The answer that yes he does has several meanings, one of which is immediately apparent when Shifu acts out one of those Father Saves Child By Yeeting them youtube videos * ACtion MuSIC * I love them your honour * The spirit guardian's design is so specific and elegant, absolutely superb you funky little shishen * I wonder if Qingming ever thinks about that if he didn't come back with all his fellow disciples that Shifu would have been fine * Maybe it's not that he doesn't have someone he wants to protect and more that he believes that he's not capable of protecting those he wants to * subtle indication Shifu's qi is corrupted * Precious Magic Childe ;-; * The framing, I'm living for it * The Serpent graphic is lovely * Also the way they set things up * Qingming cares so much about his shifu * Mark Chao just has the ability to crumple his face like paper * Sad Time exposition involving the corrupting influence of desires * "When you're gone I'll be all alone" in just about all you need to know about Qingming at this point in the story * Also like, sympathy for Shifu in raising this lonely child.  By all accounts he was an absolutely superb father figure, and Qingming I'm sure was not an easy child to raise.  He's the sort of kid that would take a lot of calm and patience. * Slumber party! * It's kind of interesting that this is an activity Fangyue and He Shouyue are doing together.  He's definitely obsessed and in love with her and she's just doing friends and family activities with him * Also yellow/gold lighting is kind of their thing * It's interesting how they do the make up for He Shouyue.  The actor is very attractive, but they make him up to look doll like, a little too pretty, a little too shiny.  Like a porcelain doll. * Cool lit Boya and warm lit Qingming appear! * Camels! * The framing is so good, they're careful to be sure he's shown as obviously isolated as much as possible * And it should go without saying that I adore the City * The matte painting is outstanding * But there's also the lighting, the vignettes, the clusters, the foliage * It is a supremely beautiful set * The irony that Killing Stone is playing along with Boya's music and then it's Boya who kicks him around * A small note, but one I appreciate - even when Boya has warm highlight's they're red instead of orange * "It's Jason Bourne!" * I hope Qingming paid for that water taxi * It's interesting how Killing Stone goes from the safety of Qingming's orange light to the danger of Qingming's blue * Colour related foreshadowing! * Look at this poor sweet man, how could anyone suspect him of anything.  He's just a sad man who loves his dead wife * Qingming's use of a fan is interesting - battle fans show up all over wuxia and xianxia, but it feels like it also ties into the way he's so very careful in how he presents himself.  There's that quote that a sword can only be a sword but other weapons are also able to serve other purposes - not a perfect quote but the point is got across. * The way Qingming just knocks Boya back, like get An Clue, my dude * The way that Killing Stone curls around the pipa ;-; * So the movie is based on the book series 'Onmyoji' by Yumemakura Baku.  The books start with Seimei (Qingming) and Hiromasa (Boya) already in a relationship talking about various cases Seimei has recently experienced.  Plotwise, obviously the stories are different, however thematically Seimei and Hiromasa discuss why some yao stick around and solutions to the difficulties and dangers they might cause - which is generally from Seimei's very successful perspective to listen and treat them like humans.  So in that way the plots of the books and the movie are quite different, but the themes are just about identical. * Boya says Don't Talk Me I Angy and also that demons don't have feelings and Qingming's face takes out a billboard that's just like Ah, Another Fantasy Racist, Excellent * Qingming also does what should be done in this situation, taking care of the victim not the racist * Fight scene!  Fight scene! * Qingming's first few moves aren't to attack, they're to distract and just hold his fan up to block Boya's way and his view - it's only when Boya persists in attacking that Qingming fights back * Qingming's sassy smile, he is very much deliberately irritating Boya as much as he's refocusing his attention and distracting him * "nICE sWORD" * I've sighed that sigh before * This boy is taking great pleasure from teasing Boya, but also he makes a really good point * I understand and relate to what Qingming did, but also I can understand why Boya was ready to throw rocks at Qingming when he saw him again * Killing Stone lit in Qingming's orange light again * Killing Stone, my beloved * A good gauge to the state of the world for yao is no one has told this sweet boy before that demons have feelings too * There are several lines like this in the movie that just drop kick you with Implications * The same way Qingming clung to Zhongxing, Killing Stone wants to join up with Qingming to have some compassion in his life * The way he asks to be a spirit guardian is so formal too, and Qingming is so gentle with him, I cry ;-; * The warm orange light of Qingming's love ;-; * He heals the wounds * It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise it's the actual imperial degree speaking and not one the of Jingyun Temple Masters * The mutual this guy again is delicious * "Is it because of your pretty face" * Boya draws his sword so fast and Qingming is so amused by it * Longye!  Queen!  I love her! * The two of them seem to understand each other instantly * Those sassy little smiles * He Shouyue looks even more like a doll than before * Longye has her head on a swivel from second one, she plays the Maiden so well like she's not a skilled master * And her customer service smile * Qingming is shooketh

* What happens next?  You'll have to watch and find out!

[simeonisalesbian]

The Brothers and Dance

I noticed that in the dance battles Belphie’s sprite looks like he’s doing a couple of ballet moves and I just spiraled from there. I haven’t actually taken a dance class in a few years and the last few I did were only theater, lyrical, and ballet so don’t quote me on some of this stuff lmao. 

And as always enjoy :3

Lucifer:

You’d think the classical man would like ballet but he is actually really fond of Jazz. 

Specifically the Fosse style of jazz. It is actually extremely hard to hit the poses just right to get those clean motions and Lucifer definitely likes the challenge.

I do think he enjoys most dance forms. I can’t see him doing any sort of hip hop number though.

Mammon:

Boy loves tap dancing.

He doesn't know any of the moves by name but one of the fun things about tap dancing is that it is more focused on the sounds your feet make. 

So despite all logic Mammon is somehow able to mimic choreography by sound alone. No one understands how no even him.

He’s really also a big fan of hip hop since it's more of a freestyle dance.

He hates ballet. There are too many words he doesn’t understand. It's slow and boring. Puts him right to sleep honestly.

Leviathan:

K-Pop dances. Thats it.

Jk he’s hard simply because he probably doesn’t like dancing to normie songs. 

However from experience you can have a solo from music from a video game and it would be considered a musical theater solo.

So jot him now for musical theater and let him go hog wild with his little vocaloid dances lmao.

 (Now that I’ve said this please note that he knows the whole dance to Luka Luka Night Fever)

He just doesn’t want to dance to any normie songs. If anime has a style of dance he will learn that style. So he really doesn’t hate any sort of style.

Satan: 

He gives off modern/contemporary vibes. 

Specifically the kind that’s very expressive and deep in some sort of weird way that goes right over my head. 

No I do not understand why you’re trying to be a funky dying tree but go off I guess. 

He also prefers more modern style jazz so he doesn’t like Lucifer's classy jazz movements. They will both fight over which one is better.

Asmodeus:

He has two moods. Pretty graceful lyrical style of fun club hip hop style. He can fuckin slay at lyrical simply because the beauty and grace almost matches his own. 

But he’s also a fun sexy party boy ya know. You know.

Would never dare try pointe dancing because that shit can actually damage your feet so despite it being a really pretty style he is not touching those shoes.

Beelzebub:

My gut instinct says he’d like Hip hop but I have no idea why. It might be type casting tbh he looks like he’d dance hip hop the big boy he his.

So probably like a jazzy hip hop mix. 

Soft boy would also probably do ballet with his twin though. He’s just really supportive since his twin is finally doing something active ^.^

 It’s also a really good workout.

He’d have a hard time with styles like lyrical. He doesn’t have anything against it he just has a hard time doing the pretty fluid movements like asmo does.

Belphegor:

Ballet with a bit of lyrical mixed in simply cus sometimes the structure is too much. 

He does like doing bar work for some sort of exercise when he can't sleep. 

Going through the repetitive motions in each of the five positions is calming. 

He is also really good at Fouettés and has done so many in one point that he made mammon dizzy. (which was definitely the intent.)

He doesn’t like Tap or Clog simply because the noises are too loud and too much and he can't focus.

[pochiperpe90]

Trust your instinct. Interview with Luca Marinelli

“Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes” wrote Brecht. Let alone superheroes. The vices and problems of the characters, however, are extraordinarily human.

There are people enthusiastic about the film and others who have seen it and have told me: "You know, it's not my genre, actually I wouldn't have gone to see it, but I would have been wrong because it's special, it thrilled me". Because it's about something real. There is the suburban boy who lives for his own sake, who only thinks about how to turn the day, then the superpowers arrive and he wonders what to do, and it’s like if the question was addressed to the public. After will comes the love, that will change him, will makes him go further. Love is the greatest superpower. I don't know, maybe I’m too romantic but the superpower of love is a very strong one, that we all own and that changes the movie as well.

Is Lo Zingaro one of the many young people "sick" of social networks?

He uses the modern roads to arrive at what for him can be the success, to be seen by anyone, so he uses the channels of social networks. As a kid he had tried to become someone and they closed the door in his face, so now that the world is moving in this direction he wants respect, he wants his greatness recognized. In my opinion he has never really been seen, maybe this is the problem.

Is this why he loves to perform?

The character has always been like that and that's the thing that drove me crazy: his histrionic side. It was also for this reason that when I went to the auditions I greatly exalted this theatrical part of lo Zingaro, but Gabriele planted my feet on the ground saying to always remember his paranoia, his strong pain, his great and real need. Then we gradually looked for these things, to enhance his desire to be recognized by everyone on the street.

Cesare from Don’t Be Bad and Lo Zingaro: two outcasts, two fragile characters who harbor anger.

I loved them both but I find it hard to put them side by side, but the fact that there is this suburbs background is certainly the common starting point of the two. And I like how Gabriele wanted to respect this place and its inhabitants, without ever labeling, without representing Tor Bella Monaca as the den of pirates, the place of bad guys.

Ostia for Cesare represented a prison from which to escape, does Lo Zingaro want to escape from Tor Bella Monaca as well?

There is this desire to go out, it’s true, to succeed in something, to escape, to at least try to escape. The watershed of the suburbs is different, if one never grow up there, they will never understand it. It’s a question of sensitivity. Cesare chooses one thing or the other, he sees his friend taking a path but doesn’t believe it completely, perhaps because he finds the other much more concrete. There is a basic desperation there, there is the world that crumbles under his feet little by little, here instead there is something different: it’s the nature of lo Zingaro, the nature of wanting to be, he is there. It must be. Lo Zingaro wants to escape from there, but even if he had been born in the Parioli it would have been the same.

For his androgynous look, Lo Zingaro resemble David Bowie. When building a character, do you start from an external characterization?

As for me, when I approach the character I try to mimesis with the text, with the director's ideas, with my visions. This changes everything, from the physical to the attitude. The character becomes a robe. When you put on the character's clothes, you are him, then you take them off and really slowly you separate yourself from him, then he comes back the next day when you get dressed, and maybe you just keep him as a memory in your head in the evening, at home, when you want to do something with it.

How important is instinct instead?

Fundamental. Many times things have happened, that I don't know how to explain. You have to trust your instincts, always. It’s a bit of a form of self-respect. Many times when preparing a character you don't have to think about it too much. You need to think about it first, then you have to make a blank page, because what you need is permeated inside.

“Una parola detta piano basta già ed io non vedo più la realtà” (A word said slowly is already enough and I no longer see reality), reads the lyrics of “Un’emozione da poco”, the song you sing in the movie.

We were looking for a song that could catch the eye of lo Zingaro during his adolescence. And if you go to re-watch Anna Oxa's performance at Sanremo, her first festival at the age of sixteen, here, putting myself in the role of the character, but also in mine, I thought: "Wow! Look at that woman. Look at that force." From this comes the fact that this is his song, which it’s also his cell phone’s ringtone. What I also like is that all his explosive strength comes from our wonderful singers of those years: Loredana Bertè, Nada, Gianna Nannini and Anna Oxa. And it's nice that it comes from there: it‘s the strength of women.

I remember your featuring in a song by the hip-hop’s crew “Jagermasterz”. Do you also have a passion for music?

A friend, Dj Demis, asked me about it many years ago, and I enjoyed it a lot. I've always had a passion for rock music, when we were kids we had a band, we played funky: we covered Red Hot Chili Peppers, but mostly our songs, good times.

Did you imitate Anthony Kiedis?

I was a little more in tune (laughs). No, I actually played the guitar. I was the second guitar of the group. I still keep playing for me, though. Every now and then I tell some friends to get together and make a small group, but it's just moments where we get together and play some covers. An artist with a folk guitar is something that drives me crazy, I really like everything acoustic.

I know you used to watch a lot of movies with your grandmother as a kid.

With my grandmother I saw all the great classics of our past, but as a kid one of the first films I saw alone was “The Silence of the Lambs”: I found this videotape and I watched it, my parents thought I was playing and instead … But I wasn't scared, I saw the fun of those people and I liked that. That's what I find in my work right now. I feel like I could make a movie for a year, because waking up in the morning and knowing I can go to the set is a great luck, it’s never a burden to me.

Now that the journey of Don’t be Bad is over, how do you remember the journey with the Caligari’s band?

For me it's not finished, tomorrow I will have to meet some guys in Rebibbia because there will be a screening of the film. I still feel it intensely. We are still a strong group, I still like what Don't be Bad means. The Caligari’s band is always there, it's in the heart.

Don't you have the impression that with his death, Caligari was "canonized"?

It’s sad. A person who was only allowed to make three films and now people cry it a miracle, when he could have made many more. This is the greatest sin. But I say “always and in any case, cheers to Claudio!”. I have never lived an experience like this: a person who is dying and wants to give something to others. Seeing a person who isn’t afraid in this way, who wants to give but without knowing what he will receive back. Indeed, knowing how many doors in the face he had received. A crazy life lesson. In the end, it’s an attitude that does not surprise me, it gives me a little stomach ache but that's okay. The film remains, this is the important thing, what a whole crew carries in their hearts remains, Claudio and the Caligari’s band remain.

For sentimental reasons you have lived in Berlin for years. How is our cinema perceived from abroad?

We are always a great cinema. All our movies that were in Cannes last year are now in theaters in Germany, in short, we are there, we are always there. I am really convinced that last year some great Italian films were released, not many, not distributed at their best, but all films that make me proud. The thing I like least about our cinema is the lack of courage of the producers, if I think that Don’t be Bad risked not being realized, I get goosebumps: a film that took us to Los Angeles risked not being made. And the same story goes for They Call Me Jeeg. The truth is that only comfortable things are done.

Money, glory, passion, desire to recover from shyness: Luca Marinelli for what reason is acting?

It seems a simple question, but it’s not. Passion in the end means nothing. I would tell you out of necessity, but maybe that doesn't mean anything either. So I'd tell you why I like it so much. Just like the Roman say: me piace (I like it). I think I'm lucky to have chosen what I love to do in life, and to be able to do it. Because I can't imagine being able to do anything else. Of course, if in five years I can't do it anymore, I will have to invent something.

What?

I don’t know. Before this I thought I was an archaeologist, unfortunately with little success. I was making a mess, I even got the lesson times wrong.

minima&moralia

Just wanted to translate this old interview for the non-italian’s fans ^^ (sorry for my English)

[nobody-knose--archive]

i’ve been aching to commentate spirit phone’s commentary for ages. glad i finally got around to it, this was an ejoyable experience. liveblog below the cut

-i'm like half certain i've heard this commentary before. maybe not the whole way through & it was probably actual years ago

-nice hearing stuff like this. in-depth personal view of the album-making process. makes it seem like more of a real thing i could do myself someday

-neil cicierega real person momence

-i could probably go real in depth about neil cicierega/tally hall parallels specifically concerning like. the arc of their musical careers. but i won't, here

-wild how i legitimately don't care much about micheal jackson

-didnt we get a bunch of spirit phone stems from the needlejuice release/his patreon? we could probably hear the funny track he speaks of here in that

-i love hearing musical artists, especially neil cicierega, talking about the meanings of their songs. like, not only has this song been claimed to hell & back by the tumblr gays, but with later ones i just can't see where he gets these ideas from. also, claiming there's any one meaning or plot to a song just seems silly to me

-shoutout to neil reusing a midi from like, 1998, that he made at 12 years old, whose entire melody was reused for the main verses of everybody loves raymond. loved finding that out on my own 2 years ago. now it's common trivia in this fandom. not bad times

-it'd be neat if neil did individual trans tracks here like he did with view monstel, those things are half of why i consider it my favorite album

-it's a lot easier to ignore the creator's intended meaning behind a song when he can't even remember it. thanks neil

-seesaw effect

-and there's my joke all but 1 of my followers wont get. moving on

-what kinds of movie theater lobbies has neil been to where there are arcade machines. i mean im not one to talk but that does sound rather strange

-why do songs' titles even need to be taken from the lyrics. ive never seen that as any sort of requisite. it's like titling any form of prose you can just give it whatever name ya like

-"this part sounds pretty cool right"

-is neil's vocal range only mildly better than mine? with training i could change that

-oh i haven't processed any of the last 25 seconds hold on

-god. a shit ton of vocal modification in this song. it's like neil returned to his roots but with quality this time

-i, as an ace/aro, have never related more to an allohet guy in my life. what is the point of eyes!

-professional humming/whistling takes skill. it's different from the recreational or casual stuff. i'd know

-there's a name for the way sound (especially music) gets distorted when moving past you and i can't remember it but it's probably what neil's referring to here in the way he recorded the intro

(- update: it's the doppler effect no need to tell me cas already did)

-as someone who hasnt seen the rugrats or take me there by blackstreet i'll just say it sounded like a bouncy music box melody. nice to hear a song that messes with the typical scales though. lydian & diatonic.

-that's a rather specific thing to be glad about, but given what he talked about in his last full audio commentary about the jew harp i suppose i'm not surprised

-i know that tmbg song now. listened to it & saw the music video too. yep they're different alright

-where the hell does neil get all these instrumence from anyway

-huh. hadnt heard this part of the commentary before making my oc concerning this song but i like to hear neil's approval concerning part of my interpretation

-i love how ive heard a billion different tellings of this mellified man story from lem dem fans talking about this song and neil's is by far the wildest

-good god that does only make it worse neil

-i love making liveblogs of lemon demon albums. with the fullerenes or tally hall i cant name a specific dude to take out my woes on generally but with lemon demon i can just say neil all the time. i like being on a casual first name basis with this dude ive never interacted with once ever

-is sweet bod the one other than cabinet man with a demo in the bonus tracks? i forget

-holy shit the boston molasses disaster someone call up soapy if it doesnt already know, it'd love this

-two thousand nine. god i miss the fiddle solo. the ver with it is truly the best one

-he pronounces it jeff? i've always read it as gef with a hard g. that's what i get for knowing words that are never spoken aloud

-that's a fun meta interpretation of this ghost story that's over a century old. i like that

-i've noticed neil generally does the same synths across a whole album. it's especially more clear in the earlier ones, and does mean i occasionally mix up songs between clown circus & live from the haunted candle shop

-ah! ancient aliens! my least favorite track on this album. i cant even claim to have the least interest in a popular one i've just generally not liked this one much from the beginning. so im curious to see what neil's got to say, i think ive been in ~new commentary zone for a while now

-anyway. newest update on the loolin not realizing a song's funky time signature front: i think this one's in 6/4. or at least switches a lot between time signatures. granted i dont listen to it very often for the reasons stated above

-see the way neil describes it. eldritch horror upon being visited by the unknown at a time when humanity'd hadn't even yet had a chance to imagine such a thing occurring. should be right up my alley. but the sound itself & many of the lyrics simply turn me away.

-must i specify i don't dislike it? spirit phone is neil's best album it not being my favorite doesn't mean i think it's bad yadda yadda nobody should be surprised by this it's not like anyone in these fandoms reads my liveblogs <3

-granted i think this is. the first bit of spirit phone content i've made on my blog ever. so who knows things can change <3

-the transitions in spirit phone are much less view-monster transition tracks & more extended outros. view-monster's were a bit more intro than outro sure but they also seemed directed upon making a 2-way rather than 1-way bridge between tracks. or something like that

-.............soft fuzzy man is an incredible nickname for a cat. i'd steal that if i werent afraid of introducing my relatives to lemon demon

-jirls

-an underlying metaphor is good enough. the literal side of the lyrics are fun. nothing but agreement here neil my good man

-the transition into as your father i expressly forbid it from soft fuzzy man is the best one in this album

-buddy you ask if a musical idea has been used before odds are the answer is yes in this day & age the question is has it been used in the way you're using it. like sure this soul jazz record from the 60s that was sold out in kansas stores for a week used this bassline that youve found yourself copying. but seeing as youre using it in some angsty garage rock ballad type tune does anybody actually care

-doesn't everybody like to say things in an unhinged manner from time to time

-imagine having a guitar dad, i say, with my dad being a folk accordion/fiddle dad, which is infinitely worse in every way

-i think he was in an actual folk band at some point. idk the 90s were weird

-iron my life?

-m-more intimate? there are a lot of ways i'd describe this song but intimate isn't one of them. granted as your father is negatively intimate so from there i guess you've got nowhere to go but up

-...still glad to see his interpretation kinda supports my oc at least

-the way he says characters in songs shouldn't worry about death really strongly makes me think this is some sort of. thematic continuation of stuck from dinosaurchestra, even if there's no real death in there. interesting. would also mean that the dad from these past 2 songs is named carlos betty (no last name)

-i literally never assumed this was a flute solo. piccolo at best. it's pretty clearly a recorder

-my mom plays the recorder. i wonder if she can play recorder better than neil cicierega

-we can throw a party in honor of the crushing weight of responsibility! i simply won't be the one throwing it because i have enough on my plate already <3

-what the hell does "a sense of intent" mean

-i've never heard rush before however i disagree with neil's understanding of 6/4. 6/4 is meant to have emphasis (onbeat or another term i can't remember) on the 1st & 4th beat of every measure, which is greatly different from a measure of 4/4 then a measure of 2/4. it's why his 5/4 always sounds weird, because while it's recognizable in sequences of 10/4, it's more 2 measures of 4/4 with one of 2/4 tacked on the end. that's also how it's different from 3/4. i don't know much music theory but what i do understand i will fight to the death about

-"canonized" that's. a very interesting term to use when referring to a former president

-from now on i will interpret every love song directed at some unseen "you" to be inviting me to marry them for tax purposes. thanks neil for being an aromantic icon

-ah hell yes hell yes man-made object is my favorite goddam song on this album

-short & sweet & good damn vibes. neil's thoughts on it all are only making it better

-wild how he uses very few vocal effects for a song that he clearly is straining his vocal range for. go off neil

-the qualifier of man-made is a wonderful thing. oldest or biggest thing? oldest or biggest man-made thing? what a incredibly important specification. a world of possibilities lie between the two. oh i love it

-just gets me thinking yknow! what we consider weird/impressive in another species, in our own species- what kind of equivalent to that would there be from an outsider looking in? are there alien versions of the significances we place upon things, that we could never imagine? the limits of the human imagination mean we could never conceive of something else in the world that isn't, in some way great or small, just like us- and are we wrong for thinking that? such a juicy topic i wish there were a name for it because it's kinda hard to explain concisely

-spiral of ants. my second favorite song from this album, in fact. a good one to experience

-the vocals are just another instrument. they really truly are. i wasn't going into this commentary expecting to feel solidarity for neil cicierega in this chili's tonight on more than one occasion but here i am.

-like, his whole stance on interpreting songs is something i agree with almost entirely. you can take it at face value, you can dig to their very depths, you can listen to songs without caring what the lyrics mean whatsoever, and those are all fun. & yeah while any of these people can be annoying as one of the types who enjoys gliding on the surface more than anything i find those who dedicate themselves to figuring out the whole meaning of a song over anything else to be both slightly scary & slightly annoying <3 keep up the good work

-i want to make songs for my siblings the way neil makes songs for his sibling(s)

-spinch

-neil really shouldn't be allowed to be this funny like this whole album youre thinking golly! he's just a normal man this neil cicierega! and then he starts listing the cat hacks jokes & you remember he's had ridiculously consistent viral success with all his humorous endeavors and holy shit it's neil cicierega in action talking about his music. god bless you neil

-you're welcome, no problem, my pleasure. good eveternoon, radio audience!

[krispyweiss]

Todd Snider at Holland Theatre, Bellefontaine, Ohio, Nov. 13, 2021

Todd Snider opened with “Big Finish” and closed his main set with Hard Working Americans’ “Opening Statement.”

Then, he encored with “Freebird.” This after earlier telling one of his trademark stories about how requests for the Lynyrd Skynyrd song once caused him to flee the stage two songs in to a show.

“These colors run like the wind at the first sign of trouble,” Snider said.

Such is the humor of Todd Snider, who played a terrific, mask-mandatory concert to a two-thirds-full house Nov. 13 in Bellefontaine’s Holland Theatre.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he said at the beginning of the 100-minute show during his first post-lockdown tour, which is being recorded for a live record.

“I’ve been getting away with this shit for so fucking long,” Snider said. “I still love it. … I did my fist tour in ’94 and never stopped until this pandemic. This is my second tour.”

Snider played free, weekly livestream concerts and recorded a new album, First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder - “always hoping for something and wondering what the fuck,” he said - during lockdown, so there was no rust. And though he copped to lamenting “new shit” when he goes to shows as a fan, Snider played several well-received tracks from the funky, full-band LP, which were much different in this solo-acoustic presentation.

This time out, there was no piano or banjo. Just Snider, a guitar, a harmonica rack, his ubiquitous red Solo cups and a bouquet of flowers on a table alongside him on the theater’s large stage.

“Sail On, My Friend” was a touching farewell to Snider’s late HWA bandmate Neil Casal. “Turn Me Loose (I’ll Never be the Same)” nodded to Col. Bruce Hampton. “Handsome John” was a sweet paean to John Prine. And “That Great Pacific Garbage Patch” was a lament of environmental degradation in the lyrical style of “Statistician’s Blues” - percentages and percentages of percentages, for example.

But Snider wasn’t all doomy and gloomy as the recalled the days when Americana “used to be called unsuccessful country music.”

He took requests for funny, older songs like “Alright Guy,” “Beer Run” and “Happy to be Here,” which turned into rambunctious, Saturday-night singalongs. He told riotous stories about traipsing - and tripping (on acid) - his way through the woods at night, looking for a song and realizing no mother would ever wish this for her child. And Snider imparted sage advice:

“When in doubt, give up.”

The simpatico Chelsea Lovitt, a self-described “broken-hearted songwriter from East Nashville,” opened with 40 minutes of similarly stripped-down - guitar, harmonica, foot percussion - often-biting songs like “Only a Pussy Runs from True Love” and “Order Me a Pizza.”

Grade card: Todd Snider at Holland Theatre - 11/13/21 - A-

11/14/21