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official-wonho · 3 years ago

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[INTERVIEW] Wonho And The Infinite Blue

If you grew up in India, during the ’90s or in decades preceding that time, there’s a good chance you’ve come across a blue inland letter. It might be an almost forgotten form of communication now, but that humble one-sheet, foldable form flew across every part of the country, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages. This writer was in boarding school, high up in the Himalayas, aged 10, and would curl up every week to write home. That blue letter was always filled with the love and longing that came from a very young, wistful heart, sitting far away from family. Wonho was told this story, as we sat down across time zones on Zoom to discuss his latest E.P, Blue Letter — a name that triggered these bittersweet memories. As he listened, intently, his expression was a mixture of sincerity, understanding and endearment. It’s very clear that this is someone who really gets the poignancy of emotion. “Woah! Thank you so much for sharing that story,” Wonho smiled. “It actually makes me really glad that I have this album coming out.”

Sincerity is an adjective that is so particular to Wonho — something his loyal fanbase WeNee (short for We Are New Ending) will attest to. It’s evident in the music he makes; he’s deeply committed to production, lyrics and performance in equal parts. Wonho is an acclaimed artiste in a musical landscape that isn’t just confined to South Korea — the artistes who dominate that industry are bonafide global stars, and for good reason. He’s been solo since departing from Monsta X in 2019 for reasons that have been amply and unequivocally cleared and put to rest. Wonho’s debut EP, Love Synonym Pt. 1: Right For Me released in September 2020, with the sexy, crisp title track, Open Mind. It also featured Losing You, which is an intimate, heartfelt missive to his fans. The E.P’s second half, Love Synonym Pt. 2: Right For Us arrived in February this year — a triumph, arranged across genres. There was a fantastic, audacious collaboration with singer-songwriter Kiiara called Ain’t About You, and Lose, the opener, had Wonho flexing his abilities as a singer and producer in an entirely new light. Each offering provided a new definition of love — freedom, hope, new beginnings.

Blue Letter provides deeper insight into Wonho’s heart and mind. This isn’t a new era for him, though. He has an entirely different take on the K-industry definition of a comeback — where both image and style follow a particular concept. “Instead of me coming into a new era, I think it's like my endless story. It's my music. My music is my endless story. So, instead of me establishing an era per se, I think it's just a continuous process,” he explains, sitting comfortably, breaking often into an easy smile, dressed in a simple black shirt and leather jacket, blonde hair highlighting his almost poreless skin. His album art also hints at the episodic nature of his sonic voyage. Both parts of Love Synonym had blue sleeves, all in different shades, as does this mini album. “When I look at my fans, they remind me of the colour blue. I just see the colour when I look at them. So that has become kind of like my signature colour. So, I've been using blue in my albums as well. And, for this album, I want it to convey my genuine feelings and I thought blue was the perfect colour to do so,” he states, describing blue as the personification of his current state of mind; ruminations he’s arrived at, through the last two years.

Think of a blue ocean, connecting every single one of us, across continents. It separates us, echoing a sense of isolation and loneliness. But the ocean also symbolises a need to dive into adventure, into experiences — the great, infinite blue. That, in a nutshell, is the sense Wonho wants to convey with Blue Letter. It’s a grateful letter, of sorts, to life, music and his fans, linking all these beautiful metaphors and ideas together, like a cypher. “Being thankful and loving my fans are just the basics of my state of mind. But then, again, through the album, I want to show a more genuine side of me by talking about my feelings and my thoughts. I hope that it could both encourage my fans and give them courage,” he says, summarising the central message. Consider the introduction — Seasons and Patterns. It sets the tone, illustrating waves of time, through piano keys that swell up and wash over the listener. “I think through my Intro: Seasons and Patterns, I can really show different feelings such as when I wrote the songs for Love Synonym Pt. 1 and Pt. 2. I wanted to convey that there's an expression … like patterns in love,” he muses. “Like if there were patterns in love, how would that sound in music? I wanted to express that in the Intro. And the overarching theme of the whole album is love, so I thought it was the right start to start the album.”

Blue, the focus track, asks the question, “Can you feel, feel the blue?” When people usually talk about “feeling blue”, they’re usually referring to feeling low, sad or depressed, linking to the sense of isolation mentioned above. In Wonho’s world though, the lyrics take on a more hopeful tone, opening with, “Diving into the blindingly bright blue. Don’t stop me. I’m fine, enjoying this feeling...:” Providing context, he says, “So yes, feeling blue means feeling depressed, right? I wanted to talk about feeling depressed and how it's important to accept it as is and then seize it, when you can. I want to talk about that attitude through my title track, Blue. I want to say that you're not alone if you ever feel blue or depressed.” It’s a beautiful thought; a way to honour dreams and rise above negativity.

Read full interview on femina.in

#wonho #210914 #t: interview #femina #era: blue letter

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miserablesme · 3 years ago

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The Les Miserables Changelog Part 2: 1985-1986 West End

Hello, everyone! This is the latest edition in my attempt to chronicle all of the musical and lyrical changes which the show Les Miserables has undergone over the years. Today, we look at the differences between the later of the two available Barbican preview audios (more on that in Part 1) and the West End variant of the musical as it existed in 1986. Only one rather poor quality audio is available of the show's pre-Broadway, post-Barbican form (though a friend of a friend has multiple masters from the era that she apparently keeps meaning to digitize). It is known to come from 1986, but the exact date remains a mystery. As such we cannot know when exactly most of the changes might have been made.

Reportedly (according to The Complete Book of Les Miserables) the majority of these refinements were made between the closing of the Barbican show and the opening of the West End one. However, some further refinements were doubtless made during the Barbican previews, and some likely were made between the opening of the West End production and whenever the audio was recorded. With all that cleared up, let's get started!

As I mentioned in Part 1, the very early Barbican previews of the opening "Work Song" featured this chain of lyrics (no pun intended):

I’ve done no wrong

Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer

Look down, look down

Sweet Jesus doesn’t care

I killed a man

He tried to steal my wife

Look down, look down

She wasn’t worth your life

I know she’ll wait

I know that she’ll be true

Look down, look down

She’s long forgotten you

As has also been established, later previews removed one sequence of lines to create the following exchange:

I’ve done no wrong

Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer

Look down, look down

Sweet Jesus doesn’t care

I killed a man

He tried to steal my wife

Look down, look down

She wasn’t worth your life

However, by 1986 another sequence was removed and the originally removed one was added back then. Thus, the still-current lyrics as of today are as follows:

I’ve done no wrong

Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer

Look down, look down

Sweet Jesus doesn’t care

I know she’ll wait

I know that she’ll be true

Look down, look down

She’s long forgotten you

A much better choice of cuts in my opinion. The point of the opening scene is to present the prisoners sympathetically, as comparatively innocent victims of an overly brutal and elitist police system. Establishing a member of the chain gang as literally being a murderer doesn't really help send that message!

Everything stays the same until "Fantine's Arrest". The Barbican previews feature this sequence:

(FANTINE)

There's a child who sorely needs me

Please monsieur, she's but that high

Holy God! Is there no mercy?

If I go to jail she'll die

(TOWNSPEOPLE[?])

Take this harlot now this minute

Let there be a full report

Let her go back in the morning

Let her answer to the court

(FANTINE)

Gentle Jesus! Won't you save me?

Are there tears enough to cry?

(JAVERT)

It's the same pathetic story

Please monsieur, my child will die!

I have heard such protestations...

By the 1986 recording, everything between "Take this harlot" and "Please monsieur, my child will die!" has been totally removed. I have a bit of a soft spot for that sequence, though I can't earnestly say the musical lost anything by removing it. Indeed Javert comes across as unbelievably heartless there!

As Part 1 pointed out, the earlier Barbican preview had Valjean shout "You know where to find me!" at the end of "Who Am I?", while the later preview did not. The 1986 recording interestingly reinserts that line, but now Valjean speaks it much more casually, without the slightly cheesy passion of the first recording. This makes me wonder whether or not it was initially removed because it was hard to take seriously, and a calmer rendition was reinstated as a compromise? Who knows.

A subtle change occurs at the beginning of the "Confrontation" sequence. During the Barbican previews, the number opens with a few notes being played and then repeated. However, by the 1986 recording the notes do not repeat. It goes straight into Javert's announcement (which Roger Allam has now learned to sing on time!) after the notes play the first time. The sequence would stay this way for quite awhile before being further shortened - more on that in a later edition!

We now go to the subsequent number, Little Cosette's famous "Castle on a Cloud" song. The Barbican previews give her a few lines before the main number starts (sung in a similar tune to her remarks about Mme. Thenardier's arrival at the end of the song):

They’ll come back any minute

And I’m nowhere near finished

Sweeping and scrubbing and polishing the floor

It’s the same every day, oh please!

Don’t let Madame hit me again

I should be used to it, but then

I know a place where nobody has to work too hard

And where I won’t be lonely again

These lines, taken closely from the original French concept album, don't really add much to the number plot-wise that won't be stated later except for more explicit confirmation that Mme. Thenardier is abusive. Perhaps partly for this reason, by the 1986 recording these lines are removed, and after the opening instrumentals it goes straight into the number we all know.

As I previously mentioned in Part 1, the later recording I have of the Barbican previews cut out the following lines during the preamble to Master of the House. I originally mistakenly claimed that the cuts occured after Thenardier's verse, but in actuality that verse too is removed.

(THENARDIER)

My band of soaks, my den of disollutes

My dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts

My sons of whores spend their lives in my inn

Homing pigeons homing in

They fly through my doors

And their money's good as yours

(CUSTOMERS)

Ain’t got a clue what he put into his stew

Must’ve scraped it off the street

Hell, what a wine

Châteauneuf de Turpentine

Must’ve pressed it with his feet

Landlord over here

Where’s the bloody man

One more for the road

One more slug of gin

Just one more or my old man is gonna do me in

By the 1986 recording, they are back in all their glory. Indeed, as you can read in Part 1 of this series Trevor Nunn himself has confirmed that the crew decided the number didn't work as well without the full preamble (an exception being, shockingly enough, Cameron Mackintosh).

During the Barbican previews, "Master of the House" was followed by a beautiful Well Scene between Valjean and Little Cosette:

(LITTLE COSETTE)

There is a castle on a cloud

I like to go there in my sleep

Aren’t any floors for me to sweep

(A FEW SECONDS OF INSTRUMENTALS)

(VALJEAN)

Don’t be afraid of me, my dear

Tell me your name and have no fear

How cold it grows when the sun has set

(LITTLE COSETTE)

I’m not afraid

Monsieur, my name’s Cosette

(VALJEAN)

Nor will you be afraid again

I come to take you from this place

There is a better world, you’ll see

(LITTLE COSETTE)

Give me your hand, and walk with me.

This leads into the humming duet between Valjean and Cosette. However, in what I consider the biggest mistake of this era's adjustments, the Well Scene was totally excised from the West End version and "Master of the House" is following directly by the humming duet. Trevor Nunn remarked a degree of regret about this in 1990's The Complete Book of Les Miserables. I don't have the book on hand right now, but I'll put down the exact quote later.

Of course, the Well Scene would later return in a much different form, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Perhaps to compensate for the deleted scene, another scene is added after the "Waltz of Treachery" number. During the Barbican previews, Valjean's "It won't take you too long to forget" is followed by a lot of vamping and eventually a reprise of Valjean and Cosette's humming duet. The West End production slightly reduces the vamping from about one minute to about forty-five seconds, and adds a scene (sung in the tune of "Castle on a Cloud", specifically the "there is a lady all in white" part at first and the main chorus for "Nor will you be afraid again" onwards):

(LITTLE COSETTE)

We're going home right now, monsieur

What is your name

(VALJEAN)

Now my dear

I've names enough, I've got names to spare

But where I go, you always will be there

Nor will you be afraid again

There is a sun that's shining yet

(LITTLE COSETTE)

I'm going to call you my Papa

(VALJEAN)

I'm going to call you my Cosette

The normal humming duet follows. This is a fascinating scene which seems to be exclusive to the brief era after the Barbican previews but before Broadway. It's interesting how it incorporates elements both of the opening Well Scene and of the more well-known later closing scene to the "Waltz of Treachery". It's also intriguing how it incorporates elements not really touched upon this directly in any other version of the musical, specifically just how mysterious and secretive Valjean is to the world in general as well as the fact that Cosette, in fact, is not truly Cosette's given name.

Everything seems to be the same from this point until "The Attack on Rue Plumet". In the Barbican previews, this is how the opening goes:

(EPONINE)

'Parnasse, what are you doing

So far out of our patch?

(MONTPARNASSE)

This house, we're gonna do it!

Rich man, plenty of scratch

You remember he's the bloke wot got away the other day

Got a number on his chest, perhaps a fortune put away

Took off like a guilty man, why would he want to disappear?

Now we're gonna do him right, this time no one will interfere

Everything from "Took off like a guilty man" onwards is removed from the West End version. Later in the number, we hear approximately the following exchange in the Barbican show. Fans have debated what exactly some of the lyrics are, but this is how I hear them:

(CLAQUESOUS)

What a palaver, what an absolute treat

To watch a cat and his father pick a bone in the street

(THENARDIER)

Not a sound out of you

(EPONINE)

What do you care if things scare me

(THENARDIER)

Listen 'Ponine, there might be jewels inside

There could be something for all

There could be bruises enough

You will have your share

(EPONINE)

Well I told you I'd do it, I told you I'd do it

The West End production reduces the vamping prior to this scene. Additionally, everything between "What do you care" and "You will have your share" is removed, meaning the "I told you I'd do it" is a direct remark to "Not a sound out of you". This is a much more linear and succinct way of moving the plot in my humble opinion!

That's it for act one! Act two begins largely the same, up until the scene where Gavroche reveals Javert to be a traitor. First off, Javert's original claim that they will "play their games" is changed to "spoil their games".

Next is probably this version's biggest change in the entire musical up to this point. Originally Gavroche sung approximately the following lines (once again, the recordings aren't as clear as would be desirable) in a unique tune heard nowhere else in the musical:

Good evening, dear inspector, lovely evening my dear!

A charlie for a copper who pays a call

I know who you’re supposed to be, Inspector Javert

Who never showed no mercy to no one at all

So don’t believe a word, none of it will wash

This time you’re reckoned without Gavroche!

The West End version scrapped this sequence and replaced it with "Little People" (which originally appeared in a much longer form later in the musical). This is how it went:

Good evening dear inspector, lovely evening my dear

I know this man, my friends, his name's Inspector Javert

So don't believe a word he says 'cause none of it's true

It only goes to show what little people can do

And little people know, when little people fight

We may look easy picking but we've got some bite

So never kick a dog because he's just a pup

You'd better run for cover when the pup grows up!

This edited placement of "Little People" is often attributed to the original Broadway production, but in fact it made its debut in the West End show. I'm not sure when exactly this was, given that the original cast album uses the long version. However, by the 1986 recording this is how it goes. It should be noted that it's not quite in its Broadway form, however; most notably, "We'll fight like twenty armies and we won't give up!" is not present.

A minor difference occurs during the First Attack sequence. In the Barbican production, this is how the students respond to their victory:

(GRANTAIRE)

By God, we've won the day

(LESGLES)

See how they run away

The West End production swaps the two students' lines, allowing Grantaire's slightly incredulous spirit to have a more poignant and/or amusing effect depending on your perspective.

Consequently given the new placement of the song, the show obviously had to be edited to remove the original "Little People" number. Originally, this is the way the show transitioned between the First Attack and "Little People":

(ENJOLRAS)

Courfeyrac, you take the watch

They won't attack until it's light

Everybody stay awake

We must be ready for the fight

For the final fight

Let no one sleep tonight

(GRANTAIRE)

Only little boys may sleep

For little people need their rest

Little tucks are quickly drained

And little grapes are quickly pressed

Come on little mite

It's time to say goodnight

Cue the original "Little People" number in all of its long, silly glory (in case you somehow don't know it, here are the lyrics). The West End production (and everything afterwards) cuts Grantaire's verse, so that the scene transitions straight from Enjolras' announcement to "Drink with Me". As much as I love the full-length "Little People" number (and I really do love it), I admit removing it was definitely the right choice. It's just so sweet and optimistic, it feels out of place in a musical as tragic and cynical as Les Miserables. It doesn't help that its placement is between a high-stakes action scene and a somber, slightly drunk reflection on the nature of friendships, sex, and romance. It's a wonderful song but a terrible Les Mis song. I do love it, though, and I also love how Grantaire manages to make his pre-song metaphors alcohol-related.

In the sewers, the Barbican recordings feature a unique tune not heard anywhere elsewhere in the musical (it can be heard here) before transitioning to the final Valjean-Javert confrontation. Apparently, this music was accompanied by a short chase scene. However, by the time of the 1986 recording there is instead what is essentially one repeated note which then transitions into an instrumental version of "Look Down". This is followed by the same Valjean-Javert confrontation as before.

And that just about sums this part up! If I missed anything feel free to let me know, as my goal is to create a changelog as thorough and complete as possible. I plan on making more parts in the near future covering all the changes that have been made in the show up until this day (discounting concerts). Any feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

As a side note, both for this project and my own enjoyment, I want as complete a collection of Les Miserables audios as possible. I already have most of what’s commonly circulated, but if you have any audios or videos you know are rare, I’d love it if you DMed me!

Until the turntable puts me at the forefront again, good-bye…

#les mierables #les mis #les miz #barbican #west end #changelog #history #1985 #1986 #comparison #the les miserables changelog #changes #theatre #musical #part 2

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whattodowithkpop · 4 years ago

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Salted Caramel (Woozi)

Title: Salted Caramel

Pairing: Reader x Woozi of Seventeen

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 1148

Writer: Whattodowithkpop [Lio]

Prompt: I saved a piece for you.

A/N: This is for @justhao in the valentine’s event! I hope you love it 🥺. And now whenever I eat salted caramel I’ll think of you. 💚

*****

She was part of the design team. She worked with Seventeen in creating their album covers and even helping in the production of the MV's. She was the team leader and had been with Seventeen since the beginning. She knew the boys personally and was close to quite a few with them. She worked hard and the boys appreciated her help.

She worked very closely with Jihoon. They often would discuss the concept of the album, that way she could get an idea for the design and he could bounce off some ideas with some that had her expertise. They didn't talk much outside of those little meetings and that was okay. They still exchanged greetings in the hallway and would message each other to express their admiration for the other's work, but nothing much beyond that.

She had days where she thought about him, deeply loving their conversations. The group's concepts would sometimes be deep, giving her the chance to glance into the mind of Jihoon and hear his ideas and thoughts on certain things. It's hard to not fall for him when he talks about his passion. She could listen to him talk all day and never once get bored. The way his deep voice carries through the room as his eyes light up, showing his excitement for the topic in question.

She was professional and therefore would never make a move, especially if she wasn't that sure he saw her as more than a friend. However she would still enjoy his company and let her thoughts with him wonder a bit just to occupy her mind occasionally. He never gave her indication that he viewed her more than a designer for his company, treating her well, but like everyone else.

Seventeen had won first place again! It was always very exciting and the CEO always treated it like their first. He always held a big party for the whole company, celebrating their wins. It was always nice to have these parties, it was a chance to see Seventeen let loose and be themselves without worry of schedule or songs. However, Jihoon could never stop thinking about music, he of course enjoyed himself but his mind was always thinking about the next beat.

Seventeen always arrived at the party first, they worked the hardest so they got to enjoy themselves the longest and got to enjoy the party amongst themselves for awhile before others joined in.

She was usually one of the last to arrive. She would wrap things up for everyone, meaning she worked the latest on party nights. She enjoyed it and was okay with being late seeing how the party usually went on until AM's in the morning, she knew she would get plenty of partying in.

She takes the elevator up to the roof, checking the time her phone reads '10:45'. The elevator opens, revealing the party happening on the roof. It was per usual, most of Seventeen occupied the dance floor while the others made a circle around them along with the others from Pledis. Mingyu and Wonwoo were near the food table while Seungkwan and Seokmin were planted to the DJ station. Others were scattered about such as Jihoon and Jeonghan.

She steps out of the elevator, immediately being greeted by the CEO who seemed to be a bit tipsy from the way he swayed about slightly. He congratulated her on her hard work and gave her a hug which he always did when he was in this state. She just laughs and thanks him and congratulates him on his hard work as well. He didn't stay with her long as he scrambled to the next employee to do the same to them, making her laugh as she shook her head.

She made her way to the dessert table, exchanging greeting and such as she walked passed. She reached the table, he expectations high as she knew the CEO always ordered them for parties. Since she was one of the lasts to arrive she usually missed them, but her hopes were high this time cause it was early into the night, so she suspected that they would still have a few. As she scanned the plates full of different sweets her eyes meet the tag that read salted caramel.

Her face drops as she sees the empty plate, only small grains of salt left behind from the once full plater. She sighs as she walks away, her annoyance choking out her hunger as she goes to the ledge that overlooks the city, standing next to Soonyoung who had come from the dance floor. His hair was sticking to his forehead as beads of sweat could be plainly seen across his face. She giggles, thinking about how much fun he had dancing.

"Congratulations, Soonyoung." She tells him as she rests her arms across the railing, looking out at the lights of the darkened city.

"Thank you." He smiles his famous eye smile. "Congratulations to you too, you've worked hard as well."

"I hope you guys will rest for awhile."

"We will to an extent, but you know Jihoon is always in the studio even on days off."

"I know, I wish he would spend some time outside."

"Oh!" Soonyoung exclaims suddenly. "Jihoon has something for you!"

"For me?"

"Yea, he was asking where you were earlier cause he had something for you."

She turns around quickly, her heart speeding up in anticipation as she sans the crowd, looking for the vocal team leader. She spots him. His eyes meet hers in an instant and she feels her face warm up. Jihoon smiles at her, making his way over to her as he walks through the crowds. She wants to run away in that moment as he approaches her, her nerves making her feel as if a stone was caught in her throat and a knot was formed in her stomach.

Jihoon reaches her before she realizes and bows in greeting, her doing the same.

"Good evening."

"Hello, Jihoon."

"I believe congratulations are in order."

"You guys do the hard work, you deserve it the most." She smiles, him returning it.

"Here." He holds out a napkin that was folded neatly. It was placed in her hand when she outreached them towards him. "There was only one left, so I saved a piece for you."

Her hands shook slightly as she unwrapped the napkin, revealing a salted caramel candy. She gasps as she looks between Jihoon and the sweet treat not believing the current moment.

"You saved it for me?"

Jihoon blushes slightly, nerves finally getting to him as she stared at him with admiration. "I know you never get any cause they're usually gone and I know they're your favorite... And there was just the one left...

Her heart fills with warmth that spread throughout her chest. "Thank you Jihoon."

#caratwritersclub #cwcvg2021 #seventeen #seventeen x reader #seventeen woozi #seventeen woozi x reader #seventeen imagines #seventeen fanficiton #woozi x reader #kpop #kpop fanfictio #whattodowithkpop writings #for a friend :)

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flooffybits · 4 years ago

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How Are You?

Idol: Kim Jisoo (Blackpink)

Forced into facing her past, Jisoo knows she promised to let you breathe. But fate had other plans for both of you that it just wouldn’t let her rest until it was satisfied with what it wanted.

A sequel to Hope Not

☕buy me a coffee☕

Jisoo sat stiffly at the side, watching as her members happily spoke to the production team and listened to the presentation when it began, each girls showing looks of determination and excitement as the time passed by.

But the eldest of the four couldn’t seem to relax or tear her eyes away from the person that sat a few seats ahead of her. The same person who currently had the maknae’s hand in their own and explaining the draft of the concept they had for the girls' new album.

After two long years of no communication, she found herself sitting in the same practice room, the exact practice room where she had broken your heart without remorse and lost all the love and support that she’s ever wanted and needed.

“So, if you girls have any questions or suggestions, Y/n and I are available whenever you need us.” Teddy explained after he wrapped up the presentation. “You already know my rules, but since Y/n is new to the team, I want you to get used to her when working. I know you’re friends but during work hours, be professional, got it?”

“We know, oppa. No need to tell us that.“ You waved the man off with a playful roll of your eyes, causing Jennie to giggle and Lisa to grin while Chaeyoung gave you an amused look.

Being someone who worked in the company for so long, it made sense that you were well acquainted with most of the people working in YG, and those who were new would eventually learn about you and, one way or another, you would befriend them as well.

It was the reason you had gotten so popular despite being a new producer. Artists and producers who have worked with you have nothing but nice words when it came to you that everyone eventually learned your name a little after your breakup with Jisoo.

When news of you finally becoming an official producer came out, people were ecstatic and many artist have shared the same sentiments in wanting to get the chance to work with you.

“I was just saying. I know you girls get into a lot of trouble when you want to.” Teddy stated and Lisa gasped in mock offense. “What are you looking at me like that for?” She yelled, making you all laugh and Jisoo can’t help the way the sound makes her heart flutter.

“We’ll behave. Don’t worry.”

“Be sure of that, L/n. This is your first big project, so be serious.” Jisoo catches the slight twitch of your lips before you were forcing a smile and nodding your head. “You got it, boss.”

When they’re done for the day and back at the dorm, Jisoo heads to her room and collapses on the bed, exhausted after the mental rollercoaster she had been on.

Seeing you again, all smiles and carefree as ever had sent her back to when you were happy together. She remembers waking up to your sleeping face or a cute little message when you didn’t spend the night together. Being able to be so close yet so far was such a torturous thing, she thinks.

She had to work with you despite your past, but it looked like her presence no longer bothered you, so she’s unsure how to approach because it was clear that she really wasn’t over you.

“You okay, unnie?” Jennie’s voice reached her ears, and as she looked over, she spots the younger girl standing at her doorway. When she’s allowed further into the room, Jennie makes her way to the bed and lays next to her, hugging Jisoo in a comforting manner whilst the older girl let out a sigh.

They’re quiet for a moment until Jisoo’s voice penetrates the silence. “She looked great today.” Jennie hums in agreement, knowing full well that this was something the other needed to let out. “She seemed happier. I’m glad her and Lisa are able to talk like they used to.”

Another round of silence before Jennie hears the hesitant question falling from the older woman’s lips.

“Do you think we could ever be friends again?”

And with the past they’ve had, Jennie answers her the only way she knows without lying. “I don’t think it’s impossible, but you’re going to have to show some effort.”

Effort.

The word rings in Jisoo’s head time and again when she sees you at work or in the company in general.

It was the one thing she lacked when it came to you and the sole reason of why she had lost you in the first place. While she put effort in everything else that she did, it seemed that her work put her personal life aside.

But with this new album and having you as their producer, she wants to think that she could make it work this time around, even if the outcome of it is different compared to when she first approached you.

“Jisoo?”

The call of her name snaps her out of her thoughts and she looks up to meet your kind eyes directed at her and her heart skips a beat since this has been the first time she was able to make direct eye contact with you over the past years.

You offer her a small smile, almost as if you never resented her in the first place, which you never really did. Even with all the heartache, she’s been a part of your life and you were still thankful for her.

“Sorry, what was that?” She asks carefully, embarrassed that she had been caught spacing out, but you shake your head in assurance before gesturing to the recording booth. “It’s your turn.” You inform her and the woman nodded her head before scrambling to her feet and making her way over.

Chaeyoung casts her a worried look, but she merely smiles before shutting the door behind her.

Setting the papers on the stand, she goes through it one more time before she hears your voice from the speakers. “Just give me the signal once you’re ready, alright?” Sucking in a deep breath, the woman shuts her eyes for a brief moment before she opened them again and gave you the thumbs up.

Working with you wasn’t as awkward as she thought it would be. The only awkward thing was on her part, because she often stumbles over her words when she’s around you and she realizes how distracted she is when you’re in her peripherals.

But you’re patient enough in doing this with her and the girls.

When Teddy said to separate your personal life with your professional life, she’s envious on how well you can detach yourself from everything when you’re working.

But then again, she realizes that she’s the cause of that as well.

This was her firsthand experience of the change she’s instilled in you from the breakup and she feels her stomach churn as she watches you work. So, she tries to do the same in hopes of distracting herself from that guilt and focuses on the album instead.

“You need to let up. They’re a Kpop group, Teddy, in case you’ve forgotten.” Jisoo pauses right outside the room when she hears your voice coming from inside. “I know that, but the girls’ popularity is bigger outside of Korea. It’s going to help boost that.”

“I know, but to only give them english songs?”

“Look, I know that you’re worried about Jisoo, but she can handle it.”

The sound of her name causes her brows to pinch together as she listens to the two of you continue. “I know that she can handle it, but you have to understand that she still struggles with it, too! And then what? You’re barely going to let her sing?”

“What we can’t give Jisoo in lines, we can always make up in the video.” Teddy tells you, but it wasn’t enough to calm you down. “Jisoo is a part of Blackpink, Teddy! She isn’t there just for display! You’re wasting her talents because all you think about is making your selfish vision instead of letting them properly grow!”

“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m in charge of this project. If you step out of line, I can have you out of here and you can forget about working with any big artist out there.” Jisoo’s heart sinks as she holds her breath, fists clenched tightly as she hears what’s going on.

“If getting rid of me is what it takes to give her proper recognition, then by all means.” She hears footsteps coming closer and Jisoo quickly straightens before she took a few more steps back. But she was still close enough to hear your voice just as the door opened.

“And by the way, I don’t need your help to work with other artists, Teddy. You were the one who asked me because you wanted people to see you with a good image.”

Slamming the door shut, you let out a huff before moving to leave, only for your eyes to land on the woman standing only five feet away from where you stood.

“Jisoo, what are y- did you just get here?” You ask her and she sees the anxiety and frustration swimming in your eyes after what just transpired.

“Are you leaving?” She asks softly and your face falls when you realize that she’s heard your conversation with the other producer. “No. I’ve been working here for god knows how long. I’m not going to let someone, who has a stick up their ass, drive me out.” You say with a nonchalant shrug of your shoulders.

Her eyes dart from your face to the door before she closed the distance between you and grabbed your hand, catching you off guard when she runs to the opposite direction of the recording room.

"Hey! Jisoo, wait!"

But your words fall upon deaf ears as the woman leads you all the way up to the company's roof, not at all stopping until you both arrived and the door closed, leaving the two of you alone and away from anyone who could possibly see or hear you.

"Why did you... what was that for?" You panted out while hunching over, gasping as you try to catch your breath and Jisoo does the same.

Truthfully, she wasn't sure why she dragged you all the way up here. All of her thoughts just told her that she should get you as far away from Teddy as possible, even for just that moment. So the first place that came to mind was the roof.

"You were..." She shakes her head before lifting her head to look at you. "Why did you do that?" She asked, and you know what she means already just by looking at her.

You knew her enough to understand what she was asking you, so clearing your throat, you stood properly before looking away. "I just think that you deserve to be treated properly in the group." You admit quietly.

"But you didn't have to."

"I know, but I wanted to. Everyone is asking for you, and they're right. They haven't been giving you the spotlight like they should be, and if-"

"And what about you?"

Her heart was beating a mile a minute as the words came out of her mouth. She wasn't thinking, but it was just her longing to find out that maybe, in some weird way, you still thought about her like she did you.

You're quiet as you refuse to look at her face, your thoughts being a mess as you cross your arms over your chest in an attempt to make yourself seem small that Jisoo absolutely hates it.

"What about me?"

She sucks in a deep breath because it was now or never - make or break. "What do you think about me?"

Again, you take a while to properly gather your thoughts and Jisoo stays watching you, waiting for you to finally talk to her outside of work.

"I think you deserve more."

Jisoo doesn't speak when she sees that there's more you want to say. Running your fingers through your hair, you let out a deep breath. "They're working you to the bone, but they don't give you enough credit. You have talent oozing out of you, but they're keeping it under wraps for reasons I don't know!"

While you were so busy letting everything out, you don't notice as Jisoo takes small and slow steps toward you.

"It's just... it baffles me. They talk about giving you everything, but they don't give you everything. And it just hurts to see you be pushed aside and-"

With a gentle hand, Jisoo caresses your cheek when you choke up. Tears of frustration had subconsciously fallen from your eyes and she takes you into her arms when you release a shaky breath.

"You're getting so worked up over nothing, Y/n. This isn't anything new." But you shake your head roughly when you pull away to look at her. "That's my point! It shouldn't even be normal, because they should have been fair to you from the very start."

The idol fixes you with a stare before she asks, “Why do you care?”

Your stare right back at the girl for a few seconds before you let out a scoff. “Just because we broke up doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you.” You tell her while wiping your cheeks. “Yeah, I was hurt and it sucked, but you were dealing with things completely different from me. The way you cope is completely different from mine.”

“But the way I love you has always been the same way you loved me back.” She counters, and this time you’re stunned while she licks her lips and inhales sharply.

“I know I never showed it, but Y/n, I have never once stopped loving you. You mean the absolute world to me-”

“Stop.”

“No. I want you to hear this.” She’s firm with the way she speaks, eyes hard and you can tell that she would not be backing out of this. “Yes, I said everything in present tense because... goddamit, I’m still in love with you! I thought I could leave everything behind because you obviously did, but then we started working together and I get to see you every day and I just... I’m sorry.”

“I’m so sorry that I never showed you enough how much I love you. I’m sorry I took you for granted. And I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

Your expression softens as the woman before you crumbles into a vulnerable mess. You know that Jisoo was never one to cry, but seeing her now with tears freely streaming down her cheeks, you can’t help but feel sad at seeing the usually peppy woman in such a state.

“Jisoo... I already forgave you, even before I left that night. It hurt, it really did, but I understood and you made me understand that not everyone is going to give the same treatment we all give. In the world we live in, people are selfish, but I know deep down that you aren’t.”

You lift your hand up to her face, pausing to get a proper look at her, before sighing as you wipe her tears away. “I’m not telling you that we can pick up where we left off, but we could always start again.”

Your words cause her ears to perk up and her eyes widen. “W-What?”

With a smile, you pull back after making sure her face is free of tears. “I guess if time isn’t such a bitch, we could do things right, don’t you think?”

“I could work with that.” She breathes out, a smile finally beginning on her face when you offer her a hand. “So, how about we start by getting to work?” You ask teasingly and Jisoo rolls her eyes after giving you a shove, but she takes your hand afterwards.

“Am I supposed to watch out for Lisa though?” She asks playfully and you look at her from the corner of your eyes, chuckling as you shrug your shoulders. “I mean, who knows? She is cute and has a great sense of humor.”

“You’re such a player!” She laughs while you walk down the halls and back to the recording room, your own laughter joining in at the little joke.

But even with how everything went, Jisoo could tell that she put a lot more effort, both in this album and the relationship she’s trying to recover, whether it was just a friendship or more.

Because at the end of it all, you were alright. And that was what mattered.

#girl group #girl group scenarios #girl group imagines #blackpink #blackpink jisoo #blackpink lisa #blackpink jennie #blackpink rosé #jisoo #Kim Jisoo #jisoo scenarios #jisoo imagines #bp jisoo #blackpink scenarios #blackpink imagines

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plasticnightmaredoll · 4 years ago

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(art commission by the lovely and talented @curious-menace)

It is a time where I would like to see what my followers think about various concepts I have in mind pertaining to alternate versions of one my fics. It may take some time to write out any alternate versions since I've been busy and stressed out so much lately, but I am very curious as to what others would find intriguing to read.

But first, some backstory so be patient. We'll get to the voting at the end of this post.

I've been having a lot of bad days lately, and my mood has plummeted to a major low. This includes my self-esteem, which has always been in the dumps but is now basically a dumpster fire.

However, I don't want to be entirely cruel to myself. I deserve some sort of happiness, some sort of reprieve, and writing can be a good coping mechanism. I put a lot of my own thoughts, emotions, struggles, opinions, etc. into my works, as they serve as a way for me to get things off my chest. Sometimes, it's just cute and funny stuff, other times angsty but eventually fluffy stuff, and other times it's quite depressing and dark.

One fic, in particular, stands out, and that is the Mortal Kombat/Batman Arkhamverse crossover, "Volunteer," (trigger warnings: mentions psychological torture and suicide...more about this fic in a bit for those who would rather not read it because of those triggers) which features Arkham Knight Edward Nigma and Jonathan Crane, as well as a lady friend for Edward named Sara. It also features Erron Black and Cassie Cage from Mortal Kombat (Cassie is only mentioned in the story a few times).

If you read the blog intro/self-introduction post pinned at the top of my Tumblr, you know very well how I feel about Cassie Cage (particularly in MK11) and the Erron Black x Cassie Cage (BlackCage) pairing. Those negative feelings are mostly due to a very bad experience with a pushy BlackCage fan who just wouldn't relent one bit on their stance and it was emotionally and mentally draining to try and talk to them, including providing counter-arguments.

I've come up with alternate versions for "Volunteer" recently due to the spike in stress, depression, anxiety, and insecurities I've been dealing with as of late. This is where my followers come in!

I would like people to vote on which alternate take on "Volunteer" they would be interested in reading. Now, I can't guarantee when I'd get to it because, as I mentioned already, I've got a lot going on. However, I really want to try and write at least one alternate version of that fic, just to get some insecurities and negative thoughts off my chest.

Now, for those who are wary of reading "Volunteer" because of the trigger warnings, here's my advice: Just read the first chapter, if you want to. Chapter 2 deals directly with the sensitive subject matter, although, you can probably guess what happens anyway just by reading Chapter 1 and if you know anything about Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow...well, he likes to mess with people...mentally. To put it very mildly.

Now it's time for the voting. I have three different scenarios I've come up with that are variations/alternate versions of the current "Volunteer" fic's concept/storyline. I'd like followers to select 1 (one) alternate telling of the fic. I will open anonymous asks again, so if you are shy or just want your vote to remain a secret for some other reason, then that's fine by me. Otherwise, you can reply to this post with your choice.

Edit: if you are turned off by the idea of a Mortal Kombat/Batman Arkhamverse crossover, I get it. I don't read crossover fics myself, and that's usually because the crossovers either make no sense or do make sense but the ideas are poorly executed.

This crossover I'm talking about, though, isn't a full-on crossover of MK and Batman. There's no world-building, no larger plot, and no other characters in MK even appear or are mentioned except Erron Black and Cassie Cage.

If anything, it's more of a Batman Arkhamverse standard AU with Riddler and a female oc, and Erron and Cassie are the only concrete elements of MK brought in. I mean, yes, the other MK characters exist, I guess, but they have no purpose in this crossover I've written, and won't make any appearances.

So, if you had any concerns about the crossover aspect, I hope this clears things up

Choices below the cut!

A) "Don't You Wish"

This version is inspired by a song from Pink, called, "There You Go." In this alternate telling, Erron manages to survive Scarecrow's fear toxin, and escape (most likely because Erron is out of his mind and panicking, thus not a threat, and he has no one to help him, so Scarecrow doesn't give a damn what happens to the dude). The first thing Erron does is go to Sara's place, having already broken up with Cassie after realizing dating her was a mistake, and Sara means more to him than he thought.

Well, it's been several months since Sara basically pushed Erron out of her life for his poor choice in women, and (Arkham Knight) Edward Nigma has proven to be a much better (and, wiser and more sensible -- yes, I know, but he's not a skirt chaser, Guys) friend to Sara. While Erron ran off with a blonde selfie princess, Edward offered genuine comfort and companionship, and now Sara has been in the process of moving on from Erron even further.

Sara humors Erron and lets him tell her -- while sounding terrified, confused, and conflicted beyond belief thanks to the fear toxin -- what happened to him. Now, Sara doesn't know Edward asked Scarecrow to take care of Erron as a means of getting revenge for her. Doesn't matter anyway. She's unsympathetic towards Erron's plight, feeling as if he didn't even give her a chance to confess her feelings towards him, nor did he even seem to notice how she felt; it was like he was too busy with thinking with his privates to realize he had someone in front of him who would have treated him better.

Sara tells Erron -- in a flat, disinterested tone -- that his situation is tragic and all but wtf is she supposed to do? Why not go to his dumb blonde gf? Oh, they broke up? Well, how predictable. And Crane is also a (sort of) friend to Sara, which shocks Erron and leaves him feeling worse than before.

Sara sends Erron on his way, and he wanders off in a daze, unsure of what to do with his life now.

Sara and Edward meet the next day, and they have a pleasant time, obviously moving towards becoming a couple. She chooses not to mention Erron as she is completely severing the cowboy from her life.

B) "I Don't Even Miss You"

This alternate telling is similar to the previous one, but this time it's inspired by a Miley Cyrus song, "WTF Do I Know" (Hey, her Plastic Hearts album is actually fantastic!), and Edward is with Sara when Erron arrives at her place in a distressed state. At first, Sara deals with Erron in the hall of her apartment building, unsympathetic to his plight and basically telling him, "I told you so," and "too bad." Erron is getting more and more upset, even angry at Sara's callous tone, and starts to raise his voice, demanding to know why she is being so cold at a time like this?

Edward overhears Erron raising his voice to Sara, giving her a difficult time, and he gets pissed. Edward steps out into the hall and not only mocks Erron in various ways, but demands that he leave immediately, or what Scarecrow did will seem like a trip to Disney Land. Erron has caused Sara -- who is currently moving on and growing closer to Edward -- enough problems and heartache.

Edward reveals he set up Erron, and while Sara is stunned to find this out, she handles it better than expected. Edward said it was his way of getting revenge for her, and he'd do it again if need be. Erron is sent away feeling so much worse, feeling lost, hopeless, and betrayed.

Sara and Edward talk and she admits she's upset that he did something like this without speaking about it to her first. However, he explains that he genuinely did it for her and he doesn't want her to feel pain at the hands of some "idiotic cowman," who doesn't consider the feelings of others and who behaves like a greedy, violent Neanderthal. (And yes, Edward does care for Sara, and he didn't send Scarecrow after Erron out of jealousy -- maybe a little jealousy but it was mostly rage over Erron causing Sara so much emotional pain)

Sara means more to Edward than he can express, and he may not be the best when it comes to emotions, but he does care about her and wants her to be safe.

Sara forgives Edward, understanding that, through his heartfelt but very nervous and shy confession that he is sincere about his feelings for her, and they make amends. She of course tells him to never do something so extreme without consulting her first, though, because what happened to Erron -- while she doesn't care what happens to him in the slightest -- was a bit too much.

C) "Listen When the Devil's Calling"

Another title inspired by a Miley Cyrus song, "Night Crawling," and this alternate telling involves Telltale Riddler and no Scarecrow. Almost a year has passed since Erron went with Cassie and Sara, out of bitterness and heartache, refused to speak or see him. This didn't sit well with him as she was his only friend, and his relationship with Cassie dies within a few months.

He goes looking for Sara, realizing she has moved out of her apartment. It doesn't take him long to find out where she is, and she's with The Riddler, a notorious criminal genius and one of Gotham's elite villains. Erron is worried for Sara and seeks her out.

Turns out, Sara's just fine. This isn't one of those scenarios where the girl is with a guy who just using her and taking advantage of her vulnerability. No, Edward does actually love her and takes good care of her. He finds people like reckless, selfish, and ignorant people like Erron to be a disgrace but also amusing because of how pathetically primitive they are.

Edward also doesn't appreciate how Erron pushed aside a good thing in Sara to pursue a girl who is a social media brat and has more selfies on her phone than brain cells in her, well, brain. It defies all logic to Edward, but he's also not surprised because of how much of a disappointment Erron is as a human being (hey, this is Riddler we're talking about, and he's not one to be sweet and gentle to those he can't stand). Edward doesn't say these things out loud, though, as it's a bit too vulnerable and personal for him to do such a thing with someone he doesn't know or trust.

Sara is upset that Erron has resurfaced and she remembers how heartbroken she was when he went after Cassie Cage. She wants Erron to leave her alone like she asked, so she can move on. She can't trust him anymore, because he's just a skirt chaser in her eyes.

Erron tries to plead his case, tries to apologize to Sara, and expresses how he really feels, but this just distresses her further. Edward steps in and tells Erron he's done enough to Sara, she clearly doesn't want to see him, and he needs to take his leave.

This isn't a request.

Edward pulls Erron aside, telling the cowboy that the only reason he's going to walk away from this alive is that Sara hasn't asked for him to be killed. Should she tell Edward to take care of Erron, well, you all know what Telltale Riddler is like.

And those are the three variations on "Volunteer."

If you could be so kind as to:

leave a comment with your choice or

send an ask (even an anon ask) with your choice or

suggest your take on this story.

I'd appreciate it immensely!

Thank you all so much for supporting me and my writing and being patient with my sluggish publishing schedule!

#edward nigma #riddler #arkham knight riddler #edward nigma x oc #riddler x oc #edward nygma #edward nygma x oc #crossover fic #arkhamverse #arkham riddler #telltale riddler

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p1harmonyofficial · 3 years ago

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[📰] 20 Questions With P1Harmony: K-Pop Rookies on the High Energy of 'Disharmony: Break Out' Mini-Album

By Heran Mamo

Plus: See a full, translated video interview with the sextet exclusively on Billboard.

P1Harmony explore a wide range of topics and genres on their high-intensity mini-album Disharmony: Break Out, which was released April 20 as the follow-up to their first EP, Disharmony: Stand Out.

Named one of the rookie K-pop groups to watch in 2021 by Time, members Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob had a unique experience stepping into the spotlight for the first time: The sextet debuted in the Korean film P1H: The Beginning of a New World on Oct. 8, 2020, before releasing their debut EP, Disharmony: Stand Out, on Oct. 28. Starring in a film prior to releasing their own music allowed P1Harmony to be more comfortable and confident enhancing their choreography (their Billie Eilish medley choreography has amassed more than 1 million YouTube views) and even coming up with their own music video concepts.

To commemorate the release of Disharmony: Break Out, the members of P1Harmony answered Billboard’s 20 questions about how Korea shaped who they are, how their evolving sound shines through on their latest mini-album, and the meanings they've taken away from this project as well as what they hope their fans will too.

1. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

Keeho: 5 Seconds of Summer, CD

Theo: BIGBANG’s MADE, CD

Jiung: Lee Moon Sae, cassette tape

Intak: Teen Top's "Miss Right," mp3

Soul: G-Dragon, CD

Jongseob: B.A.P’s "1004," CD

2. What was the first concert you saw?

Keeho: Ariana Grande’s The Listening Session

Theo: BIGBANG’s MADE Concert

Jiung: Lee Sun Hee’s Concert

Intak: Open Concert by KBS when I was 7!

Soul: Teen Top’s Japan Concert

Jongseob: B.A.P Concert

3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid?

Keeho: [My mom] used to do work related to music, she was a musician. My dad used to work at a university as a counselor.

Theo: My mom is a hairstylist.

Jiung: My mom used to be a banker and my dad used to work at National Tax Service.

Intak: My mom is a [yoga] trainer or coach and my dad is a businessman.

Soul: I’m not sure.

Jongseob: My mom used to be a jazz dancer as well as an instructor and my dad used to work at National Dance Company of Korea.

4. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

Keeho: Myself and acquaintances

Theo: Myself

Jiung: My rap and my vocal coach

Intak: My parents. They gave me full support, as well as the confidence to be able to pursue my dream.

Soul: Teen Top

Jongseob: B.A.P and my parents

5. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

Keeho: The Grammys!

Theo: Our own world tour!

Jiung: To perform in front of a million people

Intak: To become a respected musician

Soul: To perform at a big music festival or a stadium, like Coachella

Jongseob: To perform until I can’t

6. How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

Keeho: It’s a place where I was able to gain my own confidence and learn the importance of being friendly [manners]. It’s also where I was able to experience a wide range of vocalists and their styles, which ultimately helped me shape and find my own vocal style.

Theo: It’s a place where I was able to live without any pressure or concerns.

Jiung: For me, my hometown is currently a place where I can find mental stability and state of relaxation. I reminiscence about my hometown quite frequently when I need to recoup and find mental stability.

Intak: I was raised in the rural part of Korea, so I was always close to nature and grew up playing in the valleys or riding gunny sacks in the mountains. I think that’s what helped me be at leisure.

Soul: It’s a place where I grew up without any hardships.

Jongseob: It was one of the most comfortable places in Korea with positive vibes and clean, refreshing air, which helped me find peace and ease.

7. What’s the last song you listened to?

Keeho: Ariana Grande’s "POV"

Theo: P1Harmony’s "End It"

Jiung: DPR IAN’s MITO

Soul: P1Harmony’s "Reset"

Jongseob: Penomeco’s Dry Flower

8. What’s your karaoke go-to?

Keeho: Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You"

Theo: BIGBANG’s "BANG BANG BANG"

Intak: Bobby’s "YGGR"

Soul: I don’t go to karaoke haha

Jongseob: Beenzino’s "Dali, Van, Picasso"

9. If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

Keeho: Beyoncé

Theo: G-Dragon and Huh Gak

Jiung: Lee Sun Hee

Intak: Michael Jackson

Soul: Beyoncé

Jongseob: Post Malone

10. How has the pandemic affected your creative process?

Keeho: My source of inspiration has become very limited, as I don’t get to go to new places or meet new people.

Theo: I think because I couldn’t really go out, I was able to focus more on my craft.

Jiung: I was able to really dig deep into my work, writing lyrics and composing.

Intak: I didn't have a lot of ideas, but I also thought writing about COVID-19 could be a source of new ideas.

Soul: It was hard because I couldn’t really go to places that would usually help me get inspiration.

Jongseob: It was a bit difficult because I lacked having new experiences and meeting new people. My source of inspiration was also very limited, because I would just go to the same places.

11. How did starring in the film P1H: The Beginning of a New World prepare you for your debut as a K-pop boy band?

Keeho: I think it was a good opportunity for me to learn how to be more comfortable in front of the cameras.

Theo: I was able to gain confidence and felt a sense of pride knowing that we were the first ones to debut in a unique way with a full-length movie.

Jiung: I think it was a unique way of introducing us to the world and gave us the opportunity to learn how to be more focused and theatrical onstage.

Soul: It was a great experience, because it allowed me to learn the basic manners of the industry and the importance of staff members.

Jongseob: I think it helped us build a strong storyline and composition for our music. It will be easier to understand our music and its message if you watch the movie.

12. What do you want fans to take away from your mini-album Disharmony: Break Out?

Keeho: I believe it would depend and vary on how you interpret it, but we hope our listeners really enjoy our music.

Theo: I hope our fans and listeners gain confidence through our music, which is one of our strongest messages.

Jiung: I would like for our fans P1ece to really understand, take and gain everything from what we are trying to deliver in our message.

Intak: I would like for our fans to find the courage to speak up and have their own voice.

Soul: I just want our fans to be happy when they're listening to our music!

Jongseob: I think it depends on who is listening, but I hope our fans can take away anything and everything they can in a positive way and earn confidence as well.

13. Which song from Disharmony: Break Out is the most meaningful to you and why?

Keeho: I think it’s "If You Call Me" because it's a song that all six of us worked on together

Theo: I would like to pick "Reset," because I did so well in the studio while recording this song, so it means a lot to me.

Jiung: I’d say "Pyramid" because the lyrics "I’m on the top of the pyramid" helps me feel like I’m really the best and makes me want to live by that mindset. It definitely has become one of my favorite tracks.

Intak: I would pick "If You Call Me" for the same reason Keeho picked it. It’s a meaningful song to me because we all worked on it together as a team.

Soul: I think every single track on the album has a special meaning for me and because it’s all our songs, it’s a super difficult question to answer.

Jongseob: I think for me, our title track "Scared" is the most meaningful. The message of the song, which is not to be afraid to voice your own opinions and to live the life you want to live, is what I strongly believe in and that’s the kind of attitude I want to have.

14. Your debut EP Disharmony: Stand Out is much more hip-hop leaning, while your second features more R&B harmonies and EDM production while still refining the rap verses. What made you want to switch up your sound in only a manner of six months?

Keeho: I think we wanted to really make sure our message is being delivered clearly and strongly, so I think that’s why we picked tracks that were as strong with aggressive sounds.

Jiung: I don’t think we had a special moment or particular reason as to why we decided to do what. We just wanted to portray our feelings and thoughts that we felt at that moment while making music, and the time that we spent in between our albums, is what probably contributed to the change of sound as well.

Intak: As Keeho mentioned, I think we wanted to stand out a bit more with more clarity and distinct characteristics, which is what drove the aggressiveness and the slight change of sounds for this album.

15. Since you help choreograph and conceptualize your videos, what do you hope to convey in the accompanying visuals for Disharmony: Break Out?

Keeho: As you can see in our choreography for "Scared," we incorporated football into our routine. Football is a sport that is very aggressive and requires a lot of energy so we thought it was a good fit with our song. With these specific key points, we tried to really emphasize our message as well as our energy.

Jiung: I think our choreography, stage outfits, and concept all adds up and helps level up the intensity of the song as well as the message that we want to deliver. Our music video and choreography really turned out well, so I hope our fans appreciate and enjoy it!

16. Which artist is on your bucket list to collaborate with?

Keeho: Ariana Grande

Theo: BIGBANG, Taeyang, G.Soul, Dean

Jiung: Ty Dolla $ign

Intak: Justin Timberlake, A$AP Rocky

Soul: Les Twins

Jongseob: Penomeco, Smino

17. What’s one thing that even your most devoted fans don’t know about you?

Keeho: I really don’t like long nails. I just can’t stand it, so I tend to always keep my nails short.

Theo: I don’t really sweat. I don’t think I sweat at all.

Jiung: I have a habit of chewing the inside of my mouth, unintentionally.

Intak: My lips are naturally moisturized so I don’t need to use a lip balm to make them glossy!

Soul: I have dermographism, so even the slightest irritation like a scratch will leave a mark/scar for a while.

Jongseob: I have a slim waist and biggest feet of all members.

18. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

Keeho: I don’t really cry, so I don’t think there’s a movie that ever made me cry.

Theo: The Korean movie Miracle in Cell No. 7 makes me cry every single time I watch it.

Jiung: Korean traditional children’s song "Daddy Cheer Up" makes me tear up.

Intak: I have a couple, but if I had to just pick one, it’d be the movie Forrest Gump.

Soul: I don’t cry like Keeho so I have never cried watching something and I just don’t like to watch sad movies.

Jongseob: "Falling Slowly"

19. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your pre-debut self?

Keeho: Don’t worry too much and work harder.

Theo: Think 100 times before acting on it.

Jiung: Are you truly sincere?

Intak: Enjoy life a bit more.

Soul: Be more emotionally stable.

Jongseob: It's never too late.

20. What does a successful 2021 look like for you?

Keeho: I hope to release as much music as we can!

Theo: I wish we can make at least 3 comebacks.

Jiung: I hope to gain more emotional peace and stability.

Intak: "Rookie of the Year" award!

Soul: There’s a necklace I really want to buy and I hope to buy it by the end of this year!

#p1harmony #ot6 #t:news #era:disharmony : break out #210514

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eyeodyssey · 3 years ago

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The opening track from my new industrial album in progress, which currently goes under the title “The Living Dead”. The album focuses on frozen subconscious states, its description on Bandcamp aside from the lyrics for each track will state “The living dead are preserved in forensic facial reconstructions”. The first song, Empathy Proxy, is inspired by the concept of thoutography and the images that were linked with Ted Serios, a bellhop who was the frontman of a hoax where he claimed to have the ability to burn images from his mind onto film. For the lyrics of the song, click read more to see the full post. The album has taken some time to make in comparison with my other projects, early versions of the instrumentals were recorded in 2020 and this year I’ve started conceiving and recording original lyrics. The album will be available on my Bandcamp when released: https://aaronkearns.bandcamp.com/

Images Captured in x-rays Black and white shadows Inverted x-rays Filled with white shadows Shadows painted on the walls The walls of unfamiliar buildings Thoughts are projected Thoughts are projected Thoughts are projected Thoughts are projected until they’re gone

I see something familiar Whose signature is that I think I know you from somewhere I want to bleach it out I want to bleach you out I want to forget

Is it burning Is it an office Is it in Rome Is it burning Is it an office Is it in Rome

There’s something at the stairs There’s something at the stairs I want to bleach it out I want to bleach you out I want to forget

#industrial music #industrial #experimental music #experimental rock #Experimental #post-punk #post punk #music

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angelthefirst1 · 4 years ago

Text

Beth repeats everywhere.

Okay so I'm back and excited about the upcoming episodes and while bummed we didn't see Beth in 1016. I am super excited about where this is heading...

Even the title names are in your face Bethyl at this point, I mean... Home sweet home?

If the spoilers are accurate-it's actually a good thing...

*Ducks for cover (please don't throw things at me) 🥴🤕

So after a long but very needed break (The world falling apart kinda made analyzing TWD seem very unimportant) I have decided to climb out of my cave to weigh in on the current spoilers that have everyone acting like they just sat on a cactus. 🌵

If correct, these spoilers confirm to me that Beth is just about to be reintroduced and also confirm what i have been saying about how the story is told in TWD for years.

Season 9 and 10 especially has been repeating, major Beth season 4 and 5 plot. And, there is a reason it's getting more and more blatant. It's coming to a head...

We've seen Beth's story on repeat using other characters to remind us of the past, and show us the future to a degree too.

It's called predicative programming, showing a shadow of what's coming before it actually does.

So this Leah...even if she is "real" (more on this a little later) IS BETH showing aspects of the past to subconsciously remind us of past Beth, and aspects of what's to come for future Beth.

On the topic of what's real and what's not, there is a very good case to be made, that this is all in Mr Dixon's (And ultimately Rick's) head.

A bit further on I will go through some of the blatant repeats in the story to remind you just how 'in your face' the repeats from season 4/5 have become in season 9,10.

But first I want to talk through what I think is most likely happening with these potential spoilers.

I see a few possibilities out of this, but none of them are actually bad.

Scenario 1. Leah is real and her and Daryl have a relationship in that cabin.

Why isn't this bad?

This maybe a difficult concept for some to grasp as they see all the characters separately, but...the writers make the characters all one, by moving them in and out of repeating rolls.

So as I stated above, Leah is a Beth fill in and the reason we most likely won't actually see a full Leah and Daryl love scene on screen, is because it's shadowing the real love scene to come which will be with the main fulfillment, Beth.

Leah is the shadow reminding us of Alone and Still, but Daryl's memory, desire and hope are all about Beth, not Leah.

I mean come on... A Cabin? A Dog? Them not getting along to start but then hints of romance? They eat together? She leaves and is never mentioned until years later? and a note? In your face Bethyl.

And this leads into scenario number two...

I've often wondered if all these characters actually originate out of the 'real' Rick's mind (yes i know the comics don't end that way, but that doesn't mean the TV show isn't going down that road potentially)

While unconscious in his hospital bed, the character of Rick comes alive in his mind.

Some might not like this concept, but It does make sense of the constant repeats in story. Which can be likened to a dream state and inception.

If we have been in the character Rick's mind all this time, then once Rick's character "left" in the helicopter season 9, it became "Daryl's" mind we entered (He became the last man standing) and that's when the story shifted and became extremely Beth heavy.

We possibly entered into Daryl's subconscious instead of Rick's and instantly started getting HUGE Beth symbolism.

Why would Daryl's mind/subconscious be showing him in an almost identical setting to what we saw him and Beth in season 4, in Still and Alone but with someone else instead?

Because it seems he has suppressed her memory as much as possible to cope (Leah not being mentioned all this time is another clue that this is actually about Beth), but it's building and building to a climax, which should soon end in the truth exploding from his subconscious and finally revealing that Daryl loved and desires Beth.

Rick's story started and ended with "finding his family"-that was his repeating story.

And until he left and handed the reins over to "Daryl's mind" we were never going to access Daryl's subconscious enough for the truth about Beth to be revealed.

As soon as it becomes Daryl's characters mind in control, we immediately start seeing major Beth repeats beginning.

I'm going back over some major repeats from 9/10 to show you how obvious the repeating story has become.

This became long and it's only the really obvious stuff that I'll cover, there is way more that could be included, and it will become extremely obvious by the time we reach the end, that this IS Beth’s story, just remixed.

Further down i will also explain scenario number 3.

Repeats: Starting with season 9

As soon as Rick's helicopter files away over a barn (which is very similar to the barn Daryl weeps over Beth next to)

We see Magna who has been a major Beth fill-in with her blond hair and prison tattoo, and in a relationship with a dark haired archer.

We then meet grown up Judith with her braid and sheriffs hat.

We first see Daryl in season 9, as he comes across Carol and Henry in the woods

And he suddenly has a dog.

The camp site is a repeat of Beth and Daryl's "Suck-ass camp" from Still.

But having Dog there shows Daryl's desire to have Beth there. He desperately wanted to get her that dog in Alone.

Daryl kills a snake in suck-ass camp number 2 (it’s black and hanging around his neck)

Just like in Still...

Carol asks Daryl to take Henry to Hilltop because he wants to learn blacksmithing.

Daryl says he doesn't want to babysit. Repeating the sarcastic line Beth says to Daryl about being her chaperone.

Beth going to get something she wants (get alcohol)

Is Henry going to learn at the Hilltop blacksmith. In both cases Daryl does go with them even tho he initially protests.

Before they leave Henry hurts his ankle in a trap and Daryl provides an ointment to help it heal, a repeat of Beth's ankle in Alone and Daryl bandaging it for her.

Soon after we see Jesus get killed in a dark misty graveyard, Daryl's the one to immediately kill Jesus's murder. This was a combination of the Alone graveyard and Beth/Dawn at Grady.

We then see Henry get drunk on moonshine at Hilltop, and when Gage says they should have some more fun, his idea of fun is showing disrespect to the dead walker they trap in a pit. Henry kills it- just like Beth killing the walker in Still that Daryl was "having fun with".

Because of the moonshine Henry gets stuck in the cell block with Lydia (think Daryl saying "home sweet home") and in Still and Beth says "if we are going to be trapped (prisoners) again, might as well make the best of it".

We find out Lydia was abused like Daryl, and Henry keeps saying Lydia is a good person. Just like Beth and Daryl.

Henry and Lydia are young Beth and Daryl, who bond during this time in the cell block, they get separated due to the prisoner exchange with Alden and Luke.

The introduction of Alpha (An evil twisted Beth) who looks like she is dead. Same with Beta being Daryl with his double knives and who would follow Alpha anywhere. Their roles are reserved in that he is the musical one with a singing career and has released albums (sounds familiar to Emily right?).

Alpha is referred to as Mother by Lydia, and the whisperers refer to themselves as a pack (symbolic of wolf's) which is fulfillment of the song at the end of Still about 'Mother being absent' and a 'party when the Wolf comes home'.

We see the prisoner exchange (Luke and Alden for Lydia) from a nomad group and a fixed community. A repeat of Grady

We then see a Henry, Lydia rescue mission from Connie and Daryl in a building with a elevator shaft that Daryl pushes Beta into (Grady) repeating Beth pushing the officer down the elevator.

As Daryl and Beta fight, Daryl stabs him where Beth stabs Dawn.

Beta keeps yelling at Daryl "Where is she?" Daryl then stabs Beta in the same spot as Beth stabs Dawn. Repeating Daryl's desperate search for Beth from season 5 and how it ends.

Just before Beta gets pushed into the elevator he says "All I want is the girl", referring to Lydia but it shows Daryl's subconscious desire when going to Grady was just wanting the girl too (Beth).

The song at the beginning of 914 when pregnant Michonne is looking for Rick, is about dream catchers and dreaming. Which could be a hint at this being a dream state.

The episode also repeats the theme from the Grove, messed up children (Lizzy) willing and even happy about killing (Mica). The episode focuses on children killing dear just like The Grove and Josalin teaches them they must be strong, not weak just like Carol taught the kids in season 4. The timeline in this episode includes Henry getting his leg patched up at Alexandria with Lydia (another repeat of Beth's ankle injury) which would have happened around the same time as the events in the Grove.

We see Miles and Hilda running from walkers through the woods, him wearing plaid and her a cardigan just like Beth and Daryl in Still/Alone

They just happen to come across somewhere safe (Hilltop) but that eventually leads to her being scalped and Miles gets his face turned into a whisperer mask so he effectively ends up "walking around like a dead man" which is a reminder of what Len says to Daryl in season 4 referring to Daryl being miserable due to losing Beth.

Connie and Kelly fight about Connie not saying goodbye when she leaves with Daryl to rescue Henry. A reminder of Beth and Daryl's conversation about not saying goodbye at the prison.

When next we see Beta and Daryl realises he survived being pushed into the elevator shaft.

Beta says to Daryl "You just had to give me the girl, no one else had to die, now that deal is done".

Same theme and mentality of Daryl when planning to rescue Beth from Grady.

He wanted everyone to go home and no one to die so he rejected Rick's plan of quietly slitting everyone's throats and hoped for a peaceful trade . But once Beth was lost to him, that deal was done and he instantly opens fire on Dawn.

The whisperers then kill Henry and the other's by quietly sneaking into Kingdom, taking them, and eventually slitting their throats and cutting their heads off.

All because they couldn't get Lydia back. The tactics were reversed. And in both situations the main Dr was not killed (Edwards and Siddiq)

Henry is killed and Lydia is miserable enough to almost commit suicide while the group is traveling through a snow storm from Kingdom to Alexandria. This is a repeat and reverse of the group traveling from Alexander in a heat wave and drought while Daryl was miserable.

Season 10

We see Siddiq keep having flashbacks about those that were killed at the fair.

Negan in prison at Alexandria is a repeat of Beth as a prisoner in Grady.

In 10.02 (1010) we get Alpha and Beta's back story from 7 years earlier. They are both in a addiction treatment Facility with hallways reminiscent of Grady, Beta has written on the walls 'Why am I STILL ALONE'. hint much?

Alpha tells Beta that she doesn't die easily. A repeat of Beth telling Daryl that even tho he looks at her like just another dead girl, she isn't.

Alpha starts singing/humming when she hears Beta humming and he tells her to stop singing and never do it again. Repeating Daryl yelling at/mocking Beth about her singing in Still, and a reverse of Alone when he tells her to keep on singing.

Beta asks for Alpha's name and she responds with "The dead don't have names". Reinforcing the theme from Still of Beth telling Daryl that she knows he sees her as just another dead girl, and that's why he's afraid to get too close to her.

We see the introduction of the whisperer sisters (twisted versions of Maggie and Beth from season 4/5) one of which-a blond, has just lost a baby (Beth and Judith) and she eventually dies.

Beta and Alpha talk about what the dead feel, Alpha says "nothing" repeating Beth yelling at Daryl "Do you feel anything?"

Later we find out Beta's brother was being treated in that facility for addiction, repeating Daryl telling Beth about Merle and how he was always high. Alpha is the one to kill Beta's brother, repeating Beth telling Daryl "You got away from it" meaning Merle and his influence, and Beth's insistence on him staying who he is, kept him from becoming his brother.

The very next scene is current time and shows Beta telling Alpha (Just after the satellite hits) that he saw smoke at the boarder. Insinuating the fire from the satellite also represents the fire from the cabin in Still which was also right after Beth and Daryl's talk about Merle and how he got away from him.

Alpha and Beta then interlock fingers just like Beth and Daryl in Alone.

The Whisperer sisters also have a conversation about how Alpha killed Lydia (which she lied about) and Alpha told them that she didn't shed one tear when Lydia died. One of the whisperer sisters says "She is Alpha, she doesn't cry." repeating Beth's "I don't cry anymore Daryl".

Beta finds out Alpha lied about Lydia being dead and yells at her "she is never coming back, she is GONE! Alpha." Repeating Daryl and Rick's conversation about Beth being just gone.

The beginning of 1003 shows Alexandria get wave after wave of walkers because of the fire from the Satellite (Sill cabin) which is a repeat of the walkers being drawn to the cabin while Beth and Daryl are still watching it burn. 413 opens with Maggie, Sasha and Bob fighting waves of walkers in the fog, and the Grove episode which happened on the same timeline showed burned walkers coming to the cabin Carol, Ty and the girls were in.

It's repeating that era.

The fighters at Alexandria are exhausted and Gabriel tells Aaron he has to use Negan to fight because they are low on fighters, he says pointing to Negan then Aaron "Peanut butter meet jelly" repeating the peanut butter Beth eats in Alone and Jelly Daryl eats.

Carol, Daryl and Michonne stay the night at Barnett academy home of the foxhound. Repeating the dog theme from Alone.

The description of the episode says "The group stays at the academy but Carol falls into a trap." Once again Repeating the Alone/foot trap/dog/Grady/trap theme.

Carol calls for Daryl to help her once she steps in the trap.

This trap causes Carol to fall and hurt her arm badly repeating Beth's arm injury from season 5 when she wakes up with her arm in a cast.

Rosita and Eugene have an argument about how he loves her, and he says that he wished she would would re-zone him into love town, and hoped she'd changed her mind. (Changed your mind? Love? Yeah not spelling this one out for you)

This same episode Carol "wakes up" smiling but actually dreaming of domestic bliss with Daryl preparing her food, they have run out of jam/jelly. Probably because Daryl ate it all lol (once again Alone on repeat)

1006 Carol and Daryl go looking for Negan (the missing prisoner) a repeat of consumed 506 with Daryl and Carol searching for Beth.

At the same time we see a focus on the doctors/medical ward of Alexandria due to the contaminated water making everyone sick. A reminder of Grady.

We also have Eugene on the radio broadcasting to try and reach a new community, which eventually leads to him and the others in 1016 ending up at the end of the train tracks with train cars and the meeting of a new group.

Which is repeating terminus, who were broadcasting on the radio too.

He is on a mission to meet the new potential love of his life (Stephanie) at the same time Daryl and Carol are out on their search for the missing prisoner.

We see the whisperer doctor (Dante) plant himself into Alexandria and he eventually kills the second doctor (Siddiq) repeating but twisting the Grady story of Dr Edwards using Beth to kill the new doctor that comes into Grady.

Before he kills Siddiq however, Dante uses poison and kill another whisperer who gets put in the jail cell at Alexandria, he then blames the mistaken medication that killed the whisperer on Siddiq. Repeating Dr Edwards poisoning the new Dr that came into Grady while blaming Beth.

Lydia runs away from Alexandria during the time Dante kills Siddiq.

While Lydia (the girl) is missing and no one knows where she is, father Gabriel oversees Siddiqs funeral. Repeating Ty's funeral from season 5 while no one knew what became of Beth. The funeral scene emphasizes the sprinkling of dirt into the grave just like we saw with Ty.

Next we see a father Gabriel watching a video log of Dante when he first arrived at Alexandria

repeating the groups from seasons 4/5 arriving at Alexandria and doing video logs with Diana.

Aaron and Gracie are seen taking about vehicle registration plates and the different states, repeating Aaron and Eric's obsession with collecting them all in season 4/5

While searching for Alpha, Carol almost steps in an animal trap and Daryl saves her. Another repeat of Beth's animal trap.

Soon after the animal trap, Carol then runs after Alpha leading the group into a trap in the cave, repeating her running into the trap at Grady and being hit by the car and the leading of the group to Grady.

While in the cave we see a bird cage, like we see in Beth's cell back at the prison, the bird cage representing her at Grady.

Carol is rash wanting revenge and stupidly drops the explosive causing the group to think Connie and Magna are dead. Beth at Grady rashly stabs Dawn, causing the group to think she is dead.

We next see a depiction of resurrection when Beta comes out the grave while sneaking into Alexandria.

Daryl and Alpha fight, Alpha after fighting with Daryl wakes up from passing out, she is reborn stronger.

Eugene takes to Rosita about the probability of never seeing Father Gabriel and the others from Alexandria again because Alpha's horde is coming to Hilltop. Rosita tells Eugene to stop, repeating Beth and Daryl's argument in Still about never seeing Maggie again and Beth yelling at him to stop.

Eugene and Rosita then share some alcohol (moonshine) depicting Beth and Daryl doing the same.

Rosita tells Eugene he has no romantic game which we all know applies to Daryl too.

Before the fight/fire at Hilltop, Daryl tells Judith that he is afraid a little bit. With Beth he wouldn't admit he was afraid of losing people, he cared about.

We then see Hilltop get drenched in a clear flammable liquid (tree sap) and set on fire (The Hilltop fire represents the cabin Daryl and Beth Burn)

The episode with Virgil and Michonne is fascinating and aspects in it, could well be repeated with Daryl and Leah. This episode could be a foreshadow of: Scenario number 3. It's in part a hallucination.

In the Virgil/Michonne episode we see Michonne get drugged and she sees what the past would have been like if she'd chosen a different road. She describes what she saw in her hallucinations to Virgil, as losing her family and that it was Hell to see.

Virgil has taken the drugged tea before and he describes it as heaven because it reunited him with his family and he hoped it would do that for her. After coming out of the hallucination, Michonne spares Virgil's life and that act, ends up leading her to Rick's boots

And the phone with the picture of her and Judith on it.

The end of the episode ends in Michonne going to "Find him."

So the theme at play is: a Hallucination, then having mercy could lead to clue of a lost loved one finding the other. Interesting...

The note Daryl apparently leaves Leah says "Find me".

If Daryl is in some kind of drugged state during this episode, it could combine his immediate situation (Leah actually being there) and his memory and desire of Beth in a similar setting (Alone). If this scenario plays out Leah could take something of Daryl's and the follow on effect may well lead Beth to a clue about Daryl, leading to her finding him.

Just putting this idea out there as the hallucination theme is reinforced in season 10 with Siddiq and in the very next episode when Carol hallucinates Alpha, just after Alpha has been killed. Princess also mentions not being sure if she is hallucinating or not when she meets Eugene, Ezekiel and Yumiko, and wonders if they are real. And Beta hallucinates the walkers all looking to him and saying "this is the end of the world".

So the Leah events maybe half true, half hallucination and this might be what leads to a clue and eventual reunion just as we assume Michonne's clues will eventually lead to a reunion with Rick.

After this episode the repeats in Bethyl themes get even more obvious.

Beta takes Alpha's head and goes off on his own to listen to music (Emily's song, a love song with lyrics about going to Hell to find your missing girl) Beta makes a mask of half her face. She's with him even when she's gone.

The last words Beta says to Alpha are "Thank you, I see now, thank you". Repeating the thank you note and how she taught Daryl to believe there are still good people.

Eugene's group going into the city and then on to meet the new group at the train yard, is a mix of the group traveling to Atlanta to get Beth and also traveling to Terminus. Both times at the train tracks with train cars and the group ends up surrounded and with weapons pointed at them.

The hospital location in 1015 and 16 or "Tower" as they call it, and what happens especially with Judith and Daryl, is in my opinion the biggest clue we are close to her return.

The hospital is in your face Grady and it's meant to remind you of that time.

In the hospital we see Lydia patting cats

A reminder of the claimers and Joe the claimer leader asking Daryl if he was a cat person, just after losing Beth at the funeral home, but before Grady.

Lydia has just lost Henry, repeating that time. Also if you recall in season 4 just before the Daryl meets the Claimers, Michonne and Rick were separated he was injured and she eventually finds a clue to him and Carl. Michonne is currently looking for Rick again due to the clues she finds with Virgil.

Luke is working on fixing up a speaker system to play music. Music/Beth inside the hospital.

Outside the hospital, in the woods Judith finds Daryl and tells him she doesn't like it inside it smells like cat pee (another reminder of the claimers era) she then tells Daryl she wants to learn what he does.

Just like Beth learning to track, we even get Judith tracking and identifying what she tracks as a walker while Daryl looks on proudly.

The group's whole plan for 1016 is to safely get "The music" speaker system out of the tower/hospital, to lead the huge horde of walkers surrounds them away.

Exactly what we didn't get to see in the aftermath of Grady. Getting Beth (music) out of the hospital.

Carol putting the knife up her sleeve is repeating Beth putting the scissors in her cast.

Carol ends up getting her revenge without getting killed (Unlike Beth with Dawn) but ultimately it's Negan and Daryl that do the revenge killing for Carol and Beth. Carol says to Negan regarding killing Alpha" What took you so long", where as Daryl's reaction was instantaneous, in a split second and he had put a bullet in Dawn's head.

We also see Negan go down the elevator shaft with a rope, just like Beth did.

The music they play to get the walkers away from the hospital is "Burning down the house", another repeat of the Still cabin.

When Negan comes across Beta, Beta runs at him immediately to kill him. Pushing him down he pulls out his knife and is about to kill Negan as he say "For Alpha". Beta Repeating Daryl's instant revenge on Dawn.

The title of 1016 is A Certain Doom, which is actually what Coda should have been called, considering this episode actually went to plan (mostly) for our group. Hardly anyone dies, only Beatrice from Oceanside and they get rid of Beta and Alpha's horde.

Beta dies as Daryl kills him before he can kill Negan. As Beta dies we see Alpha flashbacks of her telling him, he is not broken, that they love nothing, fear nothing, feel nothing and it makes them free. This is the exact opposite of what Beth taught Daryl. She called him out on being afraid of feeling and loving/caring about others.

Season 9 and 10 culminates with Lydia (Daryl) saving Carol (Beth) from certain death, by not letting her go over the cliff with all the walkers.

And standing on the edge of the cliff watching the horde fall down-along with Alpha's mask, Lydia and Carol interlink hands, just like Daryl and Beth in front of the grave. The Grave Beth and Daryl stand in front of says Father, while Lydia and Carol are looking at the end of Mother (Alpha)

Hopefully soon we get to see the original version of all this, and not just a repeated shadow of Daryl unknowingly doing something that helped Beth survive in the aftermath of Grady.

The upcoming episodes have me itching to see, I'm already seeing more repeats from Alone, Coda and 510 to name a few.

Beth is absolutely spilling out of the story right now through all these parallels, I haven't even covered them all here but just the main standouts of season 9 and 10.

So no matter what happens with this Leah character, Beth is still coming back and it's going to be massive

#team delusional #team defiance #team beth lives #bethyl #beth greene

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manjuhitorie · 4 years ago

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Hitorie Interview - Skream! Magazine - Feb. 2021 Issue

First and foremost, I'd like to address REAMP as a whole. I couldn't help but pick up on signs inner turmoil and sorrow over wowaka's unfortunate passing, among a brand new resolve. What's your opinion on this such take?

Shinoda: We voluntarily chose to vent those feelings without any beating around the bush. This band has taken a huge twist in terms of the one who sings, writes, and produces the music, after all. There’s no point in hiding that, we felt. To be completely honest, even after all this time we still haven’t exactly regained our balance at all. Sad is sad. In order to express our choice to push onwards, the cards we had in our hands are.... -Actually the word “cards” was a poor choice. We merely had no other option but to express our feelings outright. ygarshy: We weren’t in the place to put together a theme or concept for the album or anything like that either. We felt baffled and confused by the very fact that we were making songs at all, but nevertheless I felt we had to do it, we just have to. We were wishy-washy so, we decided to hold the times we 4 made songs together close to our hearts, and use that as our foothold: to just try and write as we always do. Shinoda: Squeezing a song out was our one and only objective. Yumao: Yeah. The universe wowaka alone had created and his structures and all that.. To be honest, this new album is cut off from it... We chose to not agonize over trying to recreate it, and to rather let whatever we could just flow out of us.

I have a question about the timeline. After wowaka’s passing, when did you make the concrete decision to keep Hitorie alive?

Shinoda: To be real, we still haven’t even made that decision. Yumao: We haven’t concretely said “Let’s keep this up.” or anything. Our mixed emotions are still churning, or how to say it... When we wrote the music we become immersed and even excited about it but, once our songs were laid out on the table we came back to our senses, like “Uhm? Is this okay?” ygarshy: Even now I’ll have sudden thoughts like “Hm? What am I doing here?”, even when we toured as a trio for the Hitori-Escape Tour 2019, I never thought ‘Let’s keep going on like this’ as well, owing to the circumstances. Just, if we didn’t do it we would’ve lost out minds is all. Shinoda: He speaks the truth alright. ygarshy: If we had to make a thoughtful commitment, I think it would’ve taken us hundreds upon hundreds of years until we finally made a move.

Was there not any type of critical moment during the tour wherein you realized “We can do this?”

Shinoda: Truthfully, during the tour I was so deep into it that I barely even the foggiest memory as to what was going through my brain back then. What I can say for sure is that 2 years ago on June 1st at the Memorial Concert (At Shinkiba Studio Coast), before that day I hadn’t stood on the stage in months. For the past 10 years of my life I haven’t gone that long without the stage. So when I got up for the Memorial Concert, despite it being a tragic event, I felt that when I’m up on stage with this band my mental state is the most stable it ever is. We even all went out for Chinese food after that.

The three of you did?

Shinoda: Yep. We drank our heads off and talked about how “We could totally manage a tour too, eh?” Yumao: Since our HOWLS tour (Hitorie Tour 2019 “Coyote Howling”) was cancelled, we felt we owed something, that we had to do something. We may be sad but, even more important than that was the urgency of the situation.

So there was no resolve or concrete decision to tour and make an album then.

Shinoda: Yep, looking back, I think that’s right.

Were you writing songs while touring?

Shinoda: We started writing around March of 2020? Yumao: Due to COVID-19 we had a lot of free time on our hands, so we took the oppurtunity. Though it wasn’t as if we said “Alright, let’s get going!”, we just all knew it was imminent, and that we had to do it at some point. That point was then.

Which was the first song you wrote?

Among the ones which made the cut, “Marshall A” was the first one consummated at the studio. Though “Utsutsu” was the first one made in my head. Around the end of the tour in 2019 the idea for the phrases took form. I felt that if I was to ever write for Hitorie again, this would be it.

”Utsutsu” stresses sorrow way thicker and heavier than any of the other songs in the album, so it makes sense that it came first.

Shinoda: It gets my feelings across, doesn’t it... The lyric and sung melody of “Utsutsu da ne” were around since the beginning.

Did you each make a song voluntarily?

Yumao: Yessiree. It was like “I’m’ere writing, so you'd better pick it up too." Shinoda: We had the slogan "Let's make 10 songs in one month". Yumao: Even if it was one chorus of a song, that would be okay. Shinoda: In the end, the ratio of songs I, ygarshy and Yumao completed was 8:1:1 (Though in the album itself it became 6:2:2). It might seem unbalanced, but this is perfectly balanced for us. ygarshy: Shinoda just makes a heap ton of songs. Shinoda: From there we picked and chose.

Did you have any standards for which would make the cut? Such as befitting of the current Hitorie or not?

Shinoda: That too was all over the place. Personally when I write, I place importance in how it will pan out with Hitorie as a whole but, I also contemplated what would fit our band's current climate. "Should the guitar not be too distorted?" "Should it not sound too 'rock band-ish'?", my mind was going crazy, I thought it would be best if it was entirely chilled out and mellow. There was a moment when a switch flipped.

It is true that songs such as 'tat' do take that direction, but after listening to the complete album I have to say, the rock band-ish style is in full bloom. There's a lot of distortion too.

Shinoda: Yep, it's distorted. Yumao: And it's rock (giggling). ygarshy: Listening to Shinoda say that just now made me upset.

Why is that?

ygarshy: Because I had purposefully intended for it to be distorted. Everyone: Ahahaha!

So you like distortion (laughing). To push this point further, would it be true to say that those are core aspects of Hitorie's style? Shinoda: Ahh, there’s definitely truth in that.

Yumao: The one most mindful of that had to have been ygarshy. Whatever we release next can’t be too distant from classic Hitorie, he was the one who secured how best to keep the string in tact.

Where was the poster song ’curved edge’ made in the creative process timeline? Shinoda: We upheld the slogan of 10 songs a month for about 2 months, and ‘curved edge’ was the final one. I wanted to make a classic Hitorie style riff-based song, but I didn’t want high-tempos. ‘curved edge’ was where I finally found the perfect balance between my wishes and Hitorie’s standards.

Hitorie never made songs with unwavering low tempos that take off into an uplifting dance breakdown at the chorus up until now after all.

Shinoda: Yeah. We all made the silent agreement to absolutely not try and make songs like wowaka’s.

I can definitely detect wowaka’s influence on your music, which is natural after being in a band together for so long. So, you kept it at.

ygarshy: We’ve each grown a keen sense for this. Suppose we were to show wowaka a song we wrote that mimics his style... He would make a really disgusted face. We just know, we just have a sense for it.

Shinoda: That’s the thing he despises the most after all.

ygarshy: That’s right. It would be but as a parody. And we wouldn’t want to do that.

ygarshy, you wrote the songs ‘Image’ and ‘dirty, correct. The melody of them feel nostalgic and longing, yet simultaneously evoke a rush and shivers.

ygarshy: In my current state letting the music flow out of me is all I’m capable of. Last spring, or summer was it, where we were showing each other our songs I.... Felt sad. So sad. Like “Why am I writing songs for Hitorie? Why is this what it’s come to?”

Yumao: Yep yep.

ygarshy: That’s why “dirty” and “Image” both are not very elaborate pieces. There’s much room to mix up chords or arrange it to be complex but, I just really had no heart to do that. Whatever popped out of my head wasn’t tinkered in the slightest, my wish was to keep in its organic simple form.

So when you handled the arrangement of music as a band, did you change as little as possible?

ygarshy: For the two songs I brought in, they were nice and stayed as close to demo version as they possibly could. “dirty” especially has a garage-style melody and tone which clicks immediately, so the lyrics and singing were molded to follow suit. Shinoda: Him (ygarshy) and I are the same age and all, so I pretty much can grasp whatever he goes for. Like he was probably going for those late 1990’s declining vibes. ygarshy: Exactly. I had thought to myself that I wanted dirty lyrics, and he actually delivered just that. I’d like to hear the story behind the two songs Yumao wrote as well, “YUBIKIRI” and “faceless enemy”. Both melodies are pop.

Yumao: That just kind of happens with me. Shinoda: He makes my contemplating and agonizing look stupid, because those songs are just as clear as fresh water. Yumao: All I did was squeeze out whatever I could (laughing). To be honest, I think my songs will be the most unacceptable to Hitorie’s listeners. I may be a member of Hitorie, and understand Hitorie like the back of my hand but, from the start I knew I’m incapable of writing songs to Hitorie’s standards. I took a realistic approach. ygarshy: Though I really enjoy the music Yumao wrote before Hitorie. So when he brought it those genuine honest pieces, I was so happy. I think I like the songs more than he himself does.

The fact that you chose to keep Yumao’s songs in the album despite them not being perfectly Hitorie fashioned, sounds like proof that you’ve found your answer for this album.

Yumao: Pedaling to the mettle is what I have to do, it’s all I can do. No matter if it’s acceptable or not, I’m doing what I can. That’s one message behind my songs.

Your song “YUBIKIRI” as the final track of the album has a lot of impact as well. It’s a bright and cheery song yet somehow it brings a tear to the eye.

Shinoda: Doesn’t it?

Yumao: It’s very cheery and it’s the brightest of the mix, isn’t it. When I wrote I was riding the groove in over my head, so I asked Shinoda to make the lyrics sound immature, like something a teenager would click with. I felt knotted up inside, and I needed something to break the chains for me. Completely divert from what Hitorie should or shouldn’t do, I alone needed to express and vent myself. And that’s how this song happened.

Shinoda: Yumao made that direct request of me, so I steered my word choices far away from any purple-prose. The keyboard was played by NariHane of Passpied, and when those 3 were off recording the music without me, I finished the lyrics. That’s how quickly they were zipped out.

After completing a whole album, how do you feel, do you think you will be able to continue on like this?

Shinoda: I don’t know yet. We’ll have to hear the people’s opinions. ygarshy: And what are we going to do after hearing them? After performing all these concerts? is one apprehension I have but,.. everything feels so up in the air.

Yumao: I know we haven’t said anything conclusive but! I want people to know we have a mountain of hypotheses on how we could move forward, on how we could keep Hitorie going, on how we could keep wowaka alive but, for now this album was just a do-or-die for us!

Shinoda: We made it, that’s all we needed.

Yumao: Yep. It was an absolute for us. I want to get that point across. This album is our declaration: that “We’ve taken one step forward”!

#Hitorie #interview #ヒトリエ #REAMP

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fmdminaharchive · 3 years ago

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❧ can’t i spit out my heart?

date(s): mid/late july 2021 mentions of: n/a word count: 1440 words (783 words without lyrics on songwriting, 572 words on composition) warnings: n/a details: full lyrics and partial compostion verification for ‘whoo’ off of minah’s upcoming album. minah sets out to write a song to comfort herself and tell her to keep her chin up and somehow... she horribly derails from that. it turns a lot more introspective than that, shining light on parts of herself she’s not exactly proud of and exploring why exactly she wants to write songs to comfort everyone in the world (including herself) so bad.

at the point she wrote ‘whoo’, the album had already significantly begun to take shape, most songs either already written and confirmed or their concepts mapped out.

‘where the wind blows’ would cover a much broader range of topics than she previously had been able to explore at once, a little bit of everything, love, heartache, friends, family, self-perception, sexuality, the pursuit of happiness, it had everything.

almost everything.

bc was very fond of using the image of comfort artist on her, healing ballads delivered by an idol to lean on, to put your trust and faith in.

after comforting everyone else with her songs, telling her fans they would be okay, her girlfriend that she loved her, her siblings that it was okay to catch their breaths, wasn’t it about time she wrote herself a song as well? didn’t she deserve to be comforted for a bit as well?

as it turned out, minah was very bad at telling herself that.

almost immediately into attempting to write a song for herself, minah is quick to run into a wall, realizing that maybe it’s not so easy to turn her kind words against herself.

i can’t comfort you console your overtaken heart

because if minah knew these things she wouldn’t have to write them down right? if she knew she didn’t have to remind herself. then she’d be happy and at peace, not plagued by worries and fears and insecurities. if she knew how to take care of herself and love herself and show herself the kindness and understanding she was so proud to claim she could give others, there would be no need for a song like this.

there are many things i can say among them is there anything useful to you?

it was a paradox really. if she knew how to write this song, she wouldn’t need it and if she needed it, she wouldn’t know how to write it. minah didn’t know which notion scared her more, the implication that being unable to take her own advice was misguided as she tried to instill it on others like some universal truth or that maybe, she wasn’t the strong, unwavering force for others to rely on that she always pretended to be. either option indicated a certain arrogance, who was she to pretend she knew better when in reality she didn’t do any better?

like the breath that i spit out can’t i spit out my heart? a heart that is heavy and cannot be taken out

sometimes, minah seemed to choke on her sense of selflessness, her insistence to look after everyone. and for what? for them? or was it for herself? it was ironic really, how inherently self-serving her altruism could be. did minah want to give until there was nothing left to gift or did she want to solely in an attempt to silence the guilt swallowing her whole. what was any of this but a desperate attempt to make up for her past wrongdoings? and if it was the latter did that diminish her efforts? did that take away any value they had?

perhaps that was exactly why minah’s heart felt so heavy, why no matter how much she tried, how much she gave and gave until she felt empty, she couldn’t quite soothe that guilt. because as long as she was desperately attempting, she was doing it for herself. and as long as she felt like she was doing it for herself, she wouldn’t grant herself the forgiveness she was looking for.

even if other people had long since granted her that.

let’s just cry it out it’s okay if you don’t pour it out tell me if it hurts let’s not force yourself to smile

minah was tired of fighting a losing battle, of shouldering everything because she felt like she had to, of trying to combat this guilt only to end up feeling more guilty about wanting this feeling to go. she had no solution, not yet, no way to break the cycle and grow past it. but she could pause the cycle at least, even if only for a bit, let it all crumble and allow herself to cry it all out before picking herself back up again. even if she didn’t know how to make it better just yet, she could get away from it for a bit.

i’ll be listening just like the day you did until the gentle wind blows on each wound

maybe it had been foolish to assume she could write a song to comfort herself. maybe it was foolish to assume she could comfort everyone, herself included. perhaps this wasn’t the kind of thing she could give herself and perhaps, trying to shoulder everything herself was exactly where it went wrong to begin with.

as it turned out, this wasn’t a song to remind her to comfort herself. it was a song to remind her to ask for comfort when she needed it, to find someone to share the load with rather than to carry the weight of the world on her own shoulder. minah didn’t need to comfort herself, she needed to let her guard down to let someone else comfort her for once.

➽───────────────❥

minah didn’t often compose her own music. with only the piano and the guitar mastered, she didn’t quite trust herself to piece together an entire instrumental and most of the time, the lyrics were what she felt the most deeply about after all, as long as she wrote those, she usually didn’t mind giving the rest of the creative process out of hand.

no, minah’s composing was something that was reserved for a select few songs that she felt so passionate about that she wanted to be as involved in it as she could, steer it in the direction she had envisioned and while she lacked the skill to create an entire song from the ground up, she could get a decent way into building a solid structure the bare bones of what would become the song she had in mind but couldn’t bring entirely to fruition with her own hands.

‘whoo’ was one of those songs, something much more personal and hitting close to home than she had initially expected as she had started working on the song, while it had ben meant as a message of comfort, minah had instead touched upon very deeply rooted insecurities, parts of herself that she knew to be uglier than they appeared to be from a distance. a song like that was far too important to entirely put outside of her own control.

she started with the piano melody, the opening of the song. initially, a soft, whimsical tune spilled from her fingertips, akin to gentle moonlight, much like a lullaby or goodnight story. the kind of comfort that one could suspect from the kind of healing ballad the song had initially meant to be.

but that alone didn’t cover the load, didn’t capture all there was to the song. so underneath the soft melody, minah added in deeper, gloomier tones, giving it an overall heavier vibe. the song wasn’t slow because it was meant to be comforting like a lullaby, it was because it was being dragged down by its own weight.

though, minah was quick to realize that the piano melody by itself would be too overpowering, taking away from the intent of being subtle. there was no room for a double meaning when she was so blatantly obvious about her true intentions and motives with the song.

so minah scaled down on piano parts, instead having them slowly blend out into the background before disappearing as a whole for the chorus, only returning with the start of every verse and kickstarting the same cycle all over again. instead, she replaced the space where the piano parts had previously rested with soft guitar chords, gentle strums that were much less conspicuous than her piano arrangement had been, almost as if creating a false sense of security for the listener, maybe for herself.

it wasn’t much, nowhere near a full song, small bells and whistles would undoubtedly still be added to make the song sound more appealing, more interesting than its current state. but for the time being, with the lyrics, the guitar and the piano parts written out and ready to be handed over to one of bc’s in-house producers, minah knew she had shaped the song she wanted to shape, had included all the elements she knew she wanted in there no matter what. no matter what they changed, they couldn't take away from that core that was so intrinsically hers.

#fmdverification #*:･ﾟ♔– «am i the only one who remembers» // solos.#«where the wind blows // era.»#//ngl this took a Turn at some point and im not even sure what im trying to say w this at this point #//bUT THAT WAS THE LAST ONE!!! IM FREE FROM VERIFICATION HELL!#//(for now)

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shadyb00ts · 4 years ago

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A Chromatica Review

So I never really use Tumblr, but when I do go on here, it’s pretty much to review something long-form. As you can tell from my profile picture here, and from my glowing review of ARTPOP from 7 years ago, I am and have always been a Gaga stan. Just read the melodramatic first paragraph of my ARTPOP review and you’ll get the gist of how much I idolize this woman. Well, idolized. Past tense.

That’s not to say I suddenly hate Gaga–I’m still going to follow her career and listen to whatever she puts out. There have just been several factors this past year that have changed my perspective on how I view her, this album being one of those factors. But I’ll get to those later. First I just need to lay out all my issues with this album.

Yes, this is going to be that type of review, so if you’re a fellow Gaga stan that isn’t able to criticize her work, this probably isn’t for you. Otherwise please read to the end if you can, because this is honestly about more than just the album.

Issue #1: The Mismatch Between Music & Aesthetic

When the cover of the album came out, I was so gagged. Like, just look at it! It’s striking, and Gaga has rarely ever disappointed me when it came to visuals. Actually, I can’t even think of any visual choices she made in previous eras that disappointed me. Even in the Joanne era, the pink cowboy hat became iconic and all of her aesthetic choices fit with the overall vibe of that album cycle.

So naturally, when she revealed to us the new visual direction she was taking for Chromatica, I assumed it would give us some insight into how the music would sound. The aesthetic of this era always gave me grungy cyberpunk and heavy machinery tease. When I look at the album cover for example, I can hear a song produced by SOPHIE in my head, the clink-clank queen herself. (There were rumors that Gaga was going to or did work with SOPHIE but that was never confirmed, unfortunately for us.)

For those unfamiliar with SOPHIE, here’s Ponyboy, which was most recently used in the ad campaign for Beyoncé’s Ivy Park clothing line.

youtube

That was the kind of production I was more or less expecting when taking the visuals into account; dark, metallic, basically similar to ARTPOP’s production (to be honest ARTPOP sonically fits better with the Chromatica aesthetic; think about it).

But what did we get? Light, garden variety dance pop, a stark contrast to what the album cover and the promo images teased us with.

In the album, we get these orchestral interludes that are beautiful but don't really mesh that well with the actual tracks. The songs don't have any orchestral elements by themselves, so the interludes felt a bit misplaced to me. I wish they'd incorporated more of that into the individual songs, so that there could be an orchestral through-line to give more cohesion, like what Ariana did in her album positions by using strings. However I will say, the transition from Chromatica II into 911 remains unmatched.

I get that the album is supposed to sound happy, that it was her returning to her “dance pop roots” and singing about serious topics like mental health over happy-sounding beats, because it’s supposed to reflect her current mental state. I get all that. But if that was the case, I think she should’ve gone with a different visual direction to match. Personally I wish she went a different direction musically instead, but even if it was just the other way around and she changed the aesthetic of this era, my opinion of the album would probably improve slightly, cause at least there would be cohesion between the visuals and the sonics.

I look at that album cover, and promo images like the one below, and then I listen to songs like Fun Tonight or Plastic Doll for example, and there’s a noticeable dissonance there.

You might be thinking “why are you so hard on her for this?” and I guess it’s because I’ve always held Gaga to a high standard when it comes to how she links those two elements. Think of every era she’s had in the past, and you remember how the visuals always just worked with their respective albums.

And that’s before I’ve even talked about the videos. Oh lord, the videos.

Issue #2: The Videos Are Lackluster (Except For 911)

It started with Stupid Love, the lead single. I had mixed feelings about that song in the beginning, but because I was so thirsty for new music from Gaga at the time, I played that song like hell when it leaked and it was on rotation for a good while. But when Gaga premiered the Stupid Love video, I’m not going to lie; I really didn’t like it.

The whole “shot entirely on iPhone” schtick really did the video a disservice. I’m sorry but it had to be said. If I imagined the video with a higher budget and more of a plotline as opposed to just being a dance video, I think it could’ve worked a lot better and been a decent introduction to not only Chromatica the album, but this fictional world/planet that she’s created. Which by the way, she didn’t really deliver in that regard either.

The concept of Chromatica being a fictional world could have been expanded on further; she could’ve showcased all of the different factions (I know they were called “tribes” at first but that’s appropriative so I’ll call them factions) and perhaps had an overarching storyline about how these factions are at war, and it’s Gaga’s job as one of the “Kindness Punks”, as she calls it, to bring everyone together for a rave.

This is why I will always say it: Chromatica needed to be a visual album. Just imagine the storyline I mentioned just now being turned into a full-length feature, and now imagine the album’s orchestral intro playing as they’re essentially opening the gates to Chromatica and Gaga discovers this world for the first time, and then it goes into the first song Alice where she’s meeting all the factions and getting acclimated to her surroundings.

Honestly I could go on and on cause I have thought about this for SO LONG now and I’ll never shut up about it. It’s just such a missed opportunity cause the concept was just begging for a visual album. Anyway sorry for my tangent: back to the Stupid Love video.

The whole “shot on iPhone” gimmick really was unfortunate. Like she really ruined the quality of a music video because she wanted that Apple check??? Come on, Gaga, there could’ve been some other way to secure that check.

And then there was the Rain On Me video, which definitely have visuals that are a massive improvement from Stupid Love because it was professionally shot and cinematic. But even that was another purely dance video with not much in the way of storyline. Not that storyline is always required for music videos, but I think specifically when it comes to Chromatica, not having storylines in the M/Vs does a disservice to the overall concept.

I guess my issue with these two music videos, but mostly Stupid Love, is that Gaga isn't fully utilizing her COIN. Like she's successful enough to the point where she has budgets for these videos and can go all out, but doesn't. She has the capacity for extremely high production value, but up until 911, the last video she did that had that level of extraness was G.U.Y. I miss the days when her music videos were an event. I still remember where I was and what I was doing the exact moment the Telephone video came out. That's impact.

Taylor Swift I think is somebody who really knows how to blow her budget on a video. Look What You Made Me Do may have been a terrible song, but I always thought the video was sickening.

Anyway, I have no notes on 911. She's a masterpiece. If there was a music video category at the Oscars, I'd be campaigning for it right now.

Issue #3: Any Other Girly Can Do This

The thing I always loved the most about Gaga's music was that nobody was doing it like her. Everything she put out always felt like it was distinctly hers and hers alone, it's unmistakable. Even in Joanne, despite that album being a major departure from what she normally did.

I know Joanne is a very polarizing album, even for Little Monsters, but personally I've always loved it. Joanne was an album that I always knew she would make and I thought was essential to her career and body of work. Despite her straying away from pop for a more earthy, grass roots sound, it still sounded very much like her music. Even from the first track, Diamond Heart, her DNA is all over that.

It's difficult to explain what exactly I mean when I say there's a certain signature "Gaga-ness" or that she has a very specific DNA injected into her songs. If you've been a fan of hers for a long time or followed her career, you probably understand what I'm referring to. It's the way she laughs maniacally in the beginning of ARTPOP on Aura, how she says "I don't speak German but I can if you like, OW!" and proceeds to recite broken German on Scheiße, how she invented the phrase "disco stick", literally the ENTIRETY of The Fame Monster.

These examples probably give you the gist of what I'm trying to convey. Gaga is fucking weird. She has always been fucking weird and I love that so much about her. And her brand of weirdness was so specific that if any of the other pop girls tried to do what she did, it would have been cringey as hell. To me, the most disappointing thing of all with this album was that this weirdness that was so uniquely hers was missing.

It's there in brief moments, in tracks like Sour Candy, 911 and Babylon, but most of the album doesn't really sound like her music. It sounds like songs that she wrote for other people, like her old unreleased stuff. OG Little Monsters probably remember songs like Second Time Around and No Way. These were leaked unreleased songs that Gaga had written for other artists, and even though they were absolute bops, they didn't sound like her. They weren't supposed to.

A similar feeling I had was when her song The Cure came out a few years ago. I genuinely thought that was something she wrote for someone else, cause even though it was a solid pop song, it absolutely had zero Gaga-ness and any current pop girl could sing it. This pretty much encapsulates how I feel about the majority of Chromatica.

I was gonna say it sounded like songs that were written for Ally, her Star is Born character, but I think even those pop songs from the soundtrack sounded more Gaga than Chromatica does. 💀 I can easily imagine Hair Body Face being on The Fame.

Final Thoughts

It's funny that the last review I had posted on here before this was my review of Kingdom Hearts III. The Kingdom Hearts game series is something that's very near and dear to my heart, and I waited a wholeass decade for the third game to come out. And then it did, and I was so disappointed.

So you know what happened after that? What helped me deal with my disappointment of that game was my anticipation for Chromatica, or at the time it was still called LG6. I had no idea I would feel the same exact way about this album the way I do about KH3. Now when I think of both of these things, I'm mostly frustrated by all of the potential and the missed opportunities, but I also look at them with a certain fondness. I had fun playing KH3, and I also had fun listening to Chromatica, despite both of them disappointing me overall.

In the beginning of this review I said that there were certain factors that have stopped me from idealizing Gaga too much. Firstly it's because I'm much older now, and secondly it's due to the sheer state of the world this past year. The pandemic really precipitated the fall of celebrity culture, and all of that made me really examine how putting someone on such a high pedestal can be damaging in the long run.

Gaga is a human being and I haven't agreed with everything she's done, particularly how she handled the whole R. Kelly situation back in 2013. And also the simple fact that she's a white woman, we know how a lot of the time they can't help but show their asses and are bound to disappoint us in some way. I'm forever grateful for her artistry and how she saved my life when I was a suicidal little eighth grader, but I'm also going to hold her accountable for any of her mistakes, and I'd be ready to stop supporting her entirely if anything she does ever goes too far.

Now I stan artists for fun. It's not healthy to idolize them to the point of revering them. I mean, I like to make jokes like that about Beyoncé, like "no way on Beyoncé's green earth", etc. But even she is just a person that we shouldn't deify for real.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Chromatica being a lackluster album and era ended up being a good thing, because it helped me grow out of idolizing celebrities too intensely. Chromatica was pretty much the best disappointment I've ever listened to.

If you've read all the way to the end, thank you! Writing this was very therapeutic but also stressful; this is a second draft cause Tumblr fucked up my first post. 😭

Anyway, SAWAYAMA & Ungodly Hour are albums of the year. Argue with the wall.

#album review #gaga #lady gaga #chromatica #pop music #review #music

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concerthopperblog · 4 years ago

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Concert Hopper Chris' Favorite Metal Albums of 2020

With most of 2020 lost to fans of live music, we have had to make do with new album releases to get our fix. To that end, Concert Hopper's three resident metalheads (Editor in Chief Xerxes Tzolis, Album Review Editor Chris Griffy, and Metal Prophet Richard Davenport) have each compiled their list of favorite releases, which will be released over the next few days. The lists show just how diverse the “metal” umbrella is, with each bringing a different sub-genre preference to their list. Chris’ list leans heavily into his love of progressive, power, and symphonic metal.

Ad Infinitum- Chapter I- Monarchy When we released our mid-year list of favorites, this album was #5, the last on my list. 6 months later it has been the album I've found myself returning to more than any other. This is as strong a debut as I've seen in years, led by the pure power of vocalist Melissa Bonny, who can hit symphonic high notes as well as Simone Simons and growl like Angela Gossow. I hope the “Chapter 1” in the album's title means there is a Chapter 2 coming in 2021, because I need more of what Ad Infinitum is serving up.

Demons & Wizards- III It's been a decade since Demons & Wizards released game-changing power metal album Touched by the Crimson King. Since then, the band's two founders, Hansi Kursch and Jon Schaffer, have focused on their primary bands, Blind Guardian and Iced Earth, but never completely forgot about Demons & Wizards. Lucky us. While not the generational album Crimson King was, their new release III will tick every box their fans want. There is a brutality on III beyond either of their other albums, with Schaffer finally going full-force on the guitar and Kursch matching him with the vocal power that's made him one of the best in the business.

Nightwish- Human:II:Nature For their second studio album with vocalist Floor Jansen (the best female vocalist in metal today and arguably ever), Nightwish continues the themes explored on 2015's Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Band leader and primary songwriter Tuomas Halopainen's exploration of the balance (or more accurately imbalance) between nature and technology, best exemplified in “Noise”, which highlights how the fake reality of social media taints our reality.

Conception- State of Deception Damn, is it nice to hear Roy Khan back in the metal saddle. After leaving Kamelot in 2011, he retired from music until 2017 when he reformed his pre-Kamelot band Conception, which released their first full-length album State of Deception this year. Any worries that a half decade of retirement might have dulled Khan's soaring vocals is banished from the first note.

Archon Angel- Fallen 2020 must be the year of the return because, unless you have been lucky enough to get the “East” version of Trans-Siberian Orchestra in your city, former Savatage and CircleIICircle vocalist Zak Stevens has been missing from the music world. That changed in 2020 when he formed Archon Angel with Secret Sphere guitarist Aldo Lonobile. Unfortunately, they picked a bad time to form a new band, playing exactly one concert (on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise) before COVID-19 shut down touring. But if Fallen is any indication, when the concert world finally returns, Archon Angel is a band you should be willing to travel to see. Khemmis- Doomed Heavy Metal Colorado doom metal revivalists Khemmis are as fearless as a band gets, and that fearlessness is on display with their new EP Doomed Heavy Metal. A mix of covers and live cuts, Khemmis gives a Black Sabbath-esque makeover to a bluegrass standard (“A Conversation With Death”) and manages to make the usually bad idea of trying to cover metal god Ronnie James Dio work with a cover of “Rainbow in the Dark” that retains their style but shows a respect to the source material that was not present in the hipster “ironic” idiocy that was Killswitch Engage's “Holy Diver.”

Ensiferum- Thalassic One of the things I most love about folk metal is the ability to learn the lore and stories of other countries while I rock out to great music. Ensiferum brings me that ability on Thalassic with songs like “The Defence of the Sampo” while utilizing the addition of clean vocalist/keyboardist Pekka Montin to delve into a less silly than Alestorm but no less fun bit of pirate metal with songs like “Run From the Crushing Tide.” Even the goofiness of “Rum, Women, Victory” is mitigated by crushing riffs and thundering double bass drums.

Unleash the Archers- Abyss While they tend to be lumped into the “power metal” camp because of their lyrical content, at their heart Canada's Unleash the Archers are as pure an old school NWOBHM band in the vein of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden as has come along in decades. Driven by the insane vocal range of Brittany Slayes, Abyss continues the concept storyline begun on their last album Apex. It's a fun sci-fi/fantasy story for those who want to read up on it, but you can walk in with no knowledge of or interest in the story and just revel in the unabashed homage to true heavy metal that is Unleash the Archers.

Live Albums:

Dee Snider- For the Love of Metal Live If you only know Dee Snider from the cartoonish MTV video for Twisted Sister's “We're Not Gonna Take It”, you are missing out on one of the best kept secrets in metal. Twisted Sister (and all of Dee's subsequent bands and solo projects) approach thrash in their intensity. His influence can be seen on his 2018 release For the Love of Metal, which featured everyone from Jamey Jasta to Alissa White-Gluz. But Dee is best appreciated in a live environment, where his boundless energy is on full display. For the Love of Metal Live is taken from a Bloodstock performance and mixes new songs with Twisted Sister classics and even one song (“Ready to Fall”) from his tragically underrated post-Twisted Sister band with Savatage's Al Pitrelli, Widowmaker (the inclusion of which alone would make it my favorite live album of the year). Kamelot- I Am the Empire Live I mentioned earlier how nice it was to see Roy Khan back in the music world, but that doesn't mean his former band Kamelot is dead. Current vocalist Tommy Karevik has perfectly walked the “replacement vocalist” tightrope of respecting the original material while leaving his mark on the band's new albums. Proof is in the band's I Am the Empire Live, which may be the most perfectly produced live album I've ever heard. Every note is crystal clear and highlights not only the vocals of Karevik but also those of guests Charlotte Wessels (Delain), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Lauren Hart (Once Human), and frequent Kamelot collaborator Elize Ryd (Amaranthe). Right now, Kamelot is as consistently great as any band on the power metal scene and I Am the Empire Live shows why.

#ad infinitum #kamelot #nightwish #dee snider #khemmis #best of 2020 #concerthopper #heavy metal #metal #music

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frenchibi · 4 years ago

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hey, so i thought maybe you could tell us a little what you're currently interested in? ♥ like, what have you been doing during quarantine, are there any new shows you watched that you enjoyed a lot, did you maybe take up a new hobby or something? :)

Hello!! I did not forget this lovely message, I was just in no state to answer (who’d have thought that recovery from surgery is, y’know, taxing) BUT I’M BACK NOW and ohhhh do you know what you’ve unlocked by asking me this question...?? I cannot give you a comprehensive list but I can tell you a couple of the things that I got into during quarantine, and the things I am currently super passionate about! My memory is, uh, not great but thankfully I do journal and write down things so I am confident I can answer this for you :D (plus I do always love recommending things so - aaa??? Thank you for this ask????)

Putting things under a cut because I physically cannot chill but if tl;dr I want you to take away one thing from this it’s that everyone should read Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Thoughts below.

(Also. I would love to go off about my interests more on here but am not sure what... shape that should ideally take? Text posts? IDK pls give me suggestions, help me out?? dfhasjkldf)

Movies

I have not seen many, but I can and will scream about The Old Guard over and over because... it was everything I never knew I needed in an action movie?? I don’t reblog many things about it anymore but I love love LOVED it!!

Also, upon recommendation by one of my friends from India, I have been delving into the world of Bollywood movies and WOW Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was so fucking good??? idk if it’s on Netflix in every country but it is in mine and I highly recommend it. It’s thoughtful, honest, emotional and shot absolutely gorgeously, and it also has that cheesiness that is just... so good... sometimes you just need the cheese y’know???

(Side note, 2020 was the year I saw Pride and Prejudice (2005) for the first time and I am a changed woman. It is now my ultimate comfort movie. Please see it if you have not, I cannot believe it took me this long. I saw it for the first time on an airplane (in january... a lifetime ago) and have seen it many, many times since.)

TV Shows

So, to everyone’s shock but especially my own, I have not really been into TV lately? I watched The Boys because my brother recommended it (it’s good, but gorey and pulls no punches, the R rating is deserved), and recently started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because my sister recommended it (I haven’t watched a new anime in like a year which is kinda wild to me? But I am enjoying this one - the opening SLAPS and what I’ve seen so far has been fun! Plus I’m watching it with my sister and I like sending her reactions xD),,, and that’s pretty much it for this category?? I am aware there is a LOT of good shit out there I just.. .don’t seem to have the attention span for multiple episodes of a Thing these days. Meh. I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually ^^

Musical Theater

One of the main reasons I think I haven’t been big into TV is because my Musical Passion is in FULL SWING (haha get it). Probably because the only thing that has remained for me during this quarantine is my singing lessons (and lemme tell you... over skype, that shit is ROUGH but still better than not singing at all) and I have been obsessing over learning new songs and finding shows through recommendations and compilation videos on youtube... So.

Shows I listen to a lot these days include Starry, Anastasia, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Come From Away (I made a post recently specifically about musicals, you should be able to find it under #French speaks) - specific songs in my range that I am currently learning and obsessing over include “Bring on the men” from Jekyll and Hyde, “The Mad Hatter” from Wonderland, “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2 (I liked it ok I DID), and “Go Tonight” from The Mad Ones (this one makes me cry... I’m making my sister duet it with me bc I can’t stop thinking about it).

Also, if you’re interested in hearing me sing things, head over to my instagram where I post covers (and also art)!!

(Musical people, I am curious to hear opinions about Great Comet, and also The Count of Monte Cristo - two shows I’ve been meaning to check out!)

Video Games

Listen. Animal Crossing New Horizons is awesome and I’m glad I have it (...give me Brewster back, Nintendo, or I WILL RIOT), but I have been branching out into other games for the Switch (might as well make this purchase worth it amirite) - current faves include Celeste (which is SO HARD but also SO FUCKING FUN) and Spiritfarer which I specifically bought to play at the hospital bc I knew I was going to be there for a few days, and let me tell you - best decision of 2020. Please watch the trailer if you haven’t heard of it, it’s GORGEOUS and beautiful and emotional and I loved every second of it. Both of these can also be purchased for PC and I think they are definitely worth the investment!!

In other news I’m back on my Stardew Valley bullshit. It’s just so calming.I revisit it a lot lmao

Books

So... I have been reading. A LOT. I read over 70 books this year, which for me is... average tbh? I have had some less productive reading months but overall I have torn through stuff and BOY do I have recommendations if you want them?? For the sake of brevity I will only mention a few here:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space”. That is all. This was my first five star fiction book of the year and I will never be done screaming about it. There is a dedicated but smallish fandom here on tumblr and it deserves SO MUCH MORE. Please, please please. Everyone should read this damn book. It’s confusing in the beginning but I promise it’s worth it IT’S SO GOOD!! And also the sequel is out and it’s also confusing and SO GOOD!!!

Educated by Tara Westover. This is an autobiography and it’s one of those books that like. Stick in your mind for months after you’ve read it. It’s about how this woman escaped an abusive household that was religiously oppressive and also like... survivalist (prepping for the apocalypse) and avidly believed in conspiracy theories - by educating herself, working her way up to going to Harvard. Nothing I say could do the emotional impact of this book justice - and also just, the perspective this book gave me?? Incredible. Education is the most powerful tool and this woman grabbed it by the hair and did not let go and I was FLOORED. Everyone should read this. I don’t even usually read biographies but DAMN.

The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden.(Book 1 is called The Bear and the Nightingale). This is a bit of a slow burn type deal - it’s a retelling of a Russian fairy tale (I think?? Or like a folk... story? Something like that) and it is just. So magical. It’s not fast paced but it works up to FANTASTIC moments, the focus is on family and magic and change and “making your own way” and all three of these books were wonderful. It reminded me of Naomi Novic’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver (both of which I also loved back in 2019 and would highly recommend) and they are PERFECT winter reads if you’re looking for something to get cozy with. I liked book 1 well enough but books 2 and 3 knocked it out of the park. Fantastic. Loved them.

I have many more recs but this will do for now hahah

Music

Gonna keep this brief too - my music taste is all over the place, but here are some songs I have been obsessed with recently!! Beware of genre whiplash though because these are Very Different from one another (and different from the musical theater stuff above)

Factories - Autoheart (that bridge gets me every time, idk why. This is one I could have on repeat for hours and not get tired of it either. Something about it just gets me!!)

History Read - The Altogether (The lyrics!! Tbh the entire Silo album is GREAT, but this one is my fave. Their music is so... mellow, in the best way??)

Weather Man - Valley of Wolves (ok this one is just a banger. I’m a sucker for a good sing-along-able hook (that’s not a word. you get me though right) and this fucking DELIVERS. I also just think “I make these dark skies blue, I make these mountains move, let the rain come down, I’m pushing through.... [pause] ... ‘cause I’m the weather man” is such good execution of a concept?? That PAUSE GETS ME it’s just SO FUN?!?! idk man I like a good upbeat banger and this is that.)

I believe (get over yourself) - Nico Vega (this one is just a callout at myself tbh?? “you’re a fool” I AM and I needed to hear it?? It’s also SO FUN to sing!!! We love a banger.)

Kiss me you animal - Burn the Ballroom (mentioning this mainly because it reminded me, lyrically, of Gideon the Ninth and I need someone to confirm this for me before I go insane?? “everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink, love” - I mean c’mon??? Also it’s a banger. I do like some rock from time to time... and this also has a killer driving bassline. This is super fun to drive to, too!!)

((If we have overlap and anyone wants to exchange playlists with me - I am SO here for it. Always looking for new music!!! I mean it!!))

Youtube

Last and certainly not least... meet my newest hyperfixation!!! I have always loved watching video essays, and booktube videos, and arttube videos - and my current niche of favorite creators is the Polygon video team!! They made videos about video games and board games and anything gaming-related and I just. I’m only peripherally a “gamer(TM)” but I love anything and everything they create. (Also you don’t have to know much about video games to enjoy all of their content!! A lot of it is still accessible to Non-Gamers(TM) or casual gamers!) BDG is my new favorite creator, the Unraveled series he does on the channel is a work of genius - but I have also started watching their streams and older series and I am enjoying myself SO MUCH! I love boardgames so their series on them, Overboard, is so fun and entertaining (and I already know a bunch of games I want to buy based on seeing the gameplay), and it also made me invested in the other creators - particularly Simone, I would die for Simone?? And Pat? And Jenna? They each have their niche and they work really well together too and their videos are my Main Serotonin Machine in these trying times(TM), thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Also. If you’re already following me here and you are familiar with Polygon things I BEG YOU TO COME AND TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM because I am like, bursting, but I also don’t want to flood my dash with stuff that 99% of my followers are unfamiliar with y’know??

...I think I’m going to leave it at this - it’s already a lot!

But thank you once again for asking and for letting me Go Off about things I am interested in!! I just... I very often wish I could do this more, but I’m not sure how to go about it? Should I just do text posts about things?? Would that be interesting to anyone?? Or is that like, annoying? Should I start a review blog or something? dhfajkldhf I just want to talk about things that excite me, but whenever I’m here I often just stick to reblogging other people’s stuff... help?? What do y’all want to see??

#French speaks #rec #media recs #book rec #thank you so much for this seriously

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23-21-12-6 · 4 years ago

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Analysis

On October 23, 1966, Chanie Wenjack, a boy taken from his family because of who he was and who they are, died trying to return home. His is a story that deserves to be told and should be told, certainly by one more skilled than me, his among many others. But can these stories be told accurately? And if so, what obstacles might stand in the way?

Within Philosophical Investigations, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein suggests that individual words, or even sentences, only have meaning because of what he called “language-games” because, similar to “normal” games, language-games have a set of rules. It is from the application of these rules that words obtain a meaning. A meaning, singular, because rules and their resulting meanings for a particular word can change between games due to communication’s constant evolution. As an example, Wittgenstein uses the word “water”. Even used in isolation from any other words, “water” could be a command to be brought some for drinking, an alert to a leak or spill, or even as a code word. Meanings aren’t even fixed within a particular language-game; they can be fluid in use, like water.

Wittgenstein didn’t limit the idea of language-games to only word-based communication by using the example of a builder instructing where their assistant should place stones via pointing. Though he applied this to only objective communication, I believe he could have with good reason.

Human communication can be split into two groups: cross-cultural and intercultural. Cross-cultural communications are methods that everyone should be able to recognize, a set of universal rules for every language-game such as weeping being recognized as emotional distress regardless of the audience. These sorts of indicators are instinctual and vague, unlike intercultural communication which is taught and precise. Intercultural communication is everything else: rules that are not seen in every culture, community, or scenario. These rules can range from widely recognized gestures such as pointing to natural languages such as English or French, to regional dialects, to slang, or to location-specific references.

This is the first problem with telling the story of Wenjack: particularly to a wide audience, using intercultural communication isn’t intrinsically more precise. Using words or interpretations that are too specific to a demographic will leave many unaccommodated. Generally, the broadest and most widely understood yet precise game is a natural language which dictionaries attempt to define and upon mediums such as encyclopedias rely. The Canadian Encyclopedia’s article for Wenjack uses no local slang and only terms that could be easily found in a dictionary. If there was any ambiguity, as for the term “Residential School”, or for a local term such as the place-name “Kenora”, then there is a link provided leading to an exposition. Though all word-based communication is intercultural, not all intercultural communication is word-based. Many cultures, including construction, have some form of “pointing”, but there can be important variations, sometimes within a single system, each form possessing its own meaning.

Wittgenstein only mentioned Intercultural communication but didn’t include all forms within: abstract symbolism was omitted. Some symbolism does only represent words, such as the octagonal “stop” sign, some also objective indicators: “x marks the spot”. The digital information particularly has worked best with icons, such as the reload, save, like, and go-back symbols that have become intuitive without being fixed to a natural language. However, abstract symbols have abstract meanings. Ravens are a popular animal for symbolism. Their scavenging habits have led many cultures to see them as representing death, not “death”, but the idea of death. Native cultures in North America instead saw their resourcefulness and intelligence as the signs of a prolific trickster; a character rather than a trait. In both the lyrical and illustrational aspects of Secret Path, a project directed by Gord Downie to tell Wenjack’s story, a raven accompanies Wenjack. As the story nears its end and Wenjack his death, the raven becomes more prominent. In the third last track of the album, the raven begins to speak to Wenjack saying “I know a way that I can help you.” Whether what follows are honest proposals with honest intentions I am still not sure.

The bases of all communication can be described by a model derived by C.E. Simmons which includes 8 steps through which information passes. In order, the steps are Inspiration, composition, encoding, transmission, noise, reception, decoding, then interpretation. However, for our purposes, we can boil it down to just encoding and decoding. As with any game (except maybe hunting and fishing) all participants should understand what game is being played and what the rules are. The presenter, the one who is encoding, needs to understand which “game”, or set of rules, the context calls for and how to effectively use those rules. The audience, those who are decoding, should also understand the set of rules that should be used and reverse engineer the meaning effectively. For anything that can be observed by both speaker and audience, perfect encoding and decoding can result in exact communication for the subject. However, this is only true for what is observable by both parties.

Language games were not Wittgenstein’s only contribution to language theory. To describe subjectivity and limitations in language, he proposed a thought experiment. Suppose everyone each had a box hovering above their head which contains… something. Importantly, only the person to whom the box belongs knows what is inside and everyone calls what is in their box a “beetle”. Wittgenstein uses this idea to show individual perceptions aren’t verifiable and how language can fail to communicate these experiences. We all experience something called pain, but we fail to know and communicate exactly how everyone else experiences pain. We all just call it “pain”. While we don’t know how others feel pain, we can still recognize the signs of cursing, crying, and holding the injured part using empathy. The reaction to pain is instinctual, while pain isn’t cross-culturally or interculturally, the reaction is.

We don’t know how Wenjack felt when he was home, confined to the school, or on the run. However, we can use empathy to make a strong guess as to what he felt. This is his story and he is at the centre of it. His perspective is integral.

The question then becomes, which reactions, similar to grasping a stubbed toe, are rooted deeply enough in the human psyche that the subjective experiences of Wenjack or anyone else can be communicated, or even better, felt. Intuition is key, shared intuition is better. The methods of communication that result are generally labelled as art. Artists hone their craft, gain and enhance their intuition as a result, and apply it to various degrees of success. I referenced Secret Path earlier. Secret Path is certainly an art project meant to convey more than objective information; whether it be through phonetic lyrics and musical key choices on the album, or through the colour scheme and movement in the graphic novel and animation. I think the colour choice for the illustrations was particularly fantastic.

What fascinates me is that while this use of colour is largely a form of cross-cultural communication it is still easy to see how it applies to the theory of language-game because right from the beginning it breaks a rule: if it isn’t only black and white, colour is to be used accurately. Secret Path uses only blue in addition to black and white; panning from the sky down to a forest without any green or brown. This breaking of the rule sets up a new rule: only blue, black, and white are used. This sets up a question; why blue?

Blue occurs relatively rarely in nature, in the sky and in large bodies of water that mostly just reflect the sky, to see blue and only blue on land is a bit disconcerting. People also usually associate blue with sadness or cold, possibly due to blues prominence during winter. This new rule of blue, black, and white also gets broken when Wenjack is remembering his home: portrayed using the full visible colour spectrum but focusing on the warmer colours of yellow and red. The final set of rules relating to colour is that blue represents foreignness, but warm colouring indicates home and security.

Downie stated that he wanted to get across “the idea of trying to get home.” Given that verbal key, it becomes easier to find that theme in the telling of the story. The last shot of the film is Wenjack’s consciousness walking away from the blue landscape towards a vibrant homestead. However, this is not what I was thinking of when I first heard Wenjack’s story. Though it has been a while since the first reception, I believe my initial thoughts are the same as my current: Wenjack’s forced choice between losing his life or personhood. I do not think that I got the wrong impression, nor do I think Downie failed. There is a dichotomy in communication: that objective encoding and decoding can be accurate, but no matter how some concepts are encoded they will never result in a message unaffected by the audience save by chance. Downie and I could have both had a beetle in our box (trying to get home), but I happen to call mine an apple (forced choice). For cases such as this, I believe there is no right answer because the answer is unknowable. Works Cited

Carley, Georgia. "Chanie Wenjack". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 01 November 2016, Historica Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/charlie-wenjack. Accessed 02 January 2021.

Cherry, Kendra. “The Color Psychology of Blue.” Verywell Mind, Verywellmind, 24 Nov. 2005, www.verywellmind.com/the-color-psychology-of-blue-2795815.

“Gord Downie’s The Secret Path - YouTube.” Www.Youtube.com, 23 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGd764YU9yc&t=2357s. Accessed 2 Jan.

2021.Ludwig Wittgenstein, and G E M Anscombe. Philosophical Investigations : The English Text of the Third Edition. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice Hall [Ca, 2000.

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