#indie music ™���

[welcometogrouchland]

Sips juice box. I like to think the hexsquad start a garage band (goreage band on the boiling isles) briefly post-canon.

Raine taught all of them how to play (Amity on bass and usually vocals, Luz and Hunter on lead and rhythm guitar respectively, Gus on keys/synths and Willow on drums) and shows up to all their practices and the small shows they get to do (things like classmates' birthdays, big festivals/town parties celebrating Belos and the Collector's defeats after the fact, left-hand relief effort fundraisers and dubiously legal music festivals held in the backwoods of latissa).

Raine hypes each and every one of them the FUCK up and spends hours giving them all pointers on their individual instruments and how to play as a unit and, like, listen. Raine is not a parental figure to any of them, really. They just don't have that kind of connection to anyone but King as their step son. But the kids all think Raine is cool as fuck and they crave positive encouragement in their lives. They love Raine. They'd die for Raine. Kill for Raine. Try new tunings and time signatures for Raine (VERY scary). They like being in a band cause it's an excuse to goof off together, express themselves and experiment with a different type of magic, but most of all, they love being in a band bc the middle aged political dissident fucking their friend's adoptive mom is just really goddamn supportive of them.

Nothing particularly noteworthy comes from the band (you guys can suggest fun names for them that are more creative than "the hexsquad"). It truly is just a thing on the side they do for fun and they all have individual careers and hobbies they're far more interested in (Gus is a teaching assistant at Eda's school (qualified to be full time but not allowed to bc of his age, has to wait a few more years), Amity is a field researcher and budding archeologist, Willow is going pro with sports, Hunter is carving and Luz is pursuing higher education).

The most that happens with it is they record a low quality CD (or magic CD equivalent) of demos and covers they put together (Luz and Willow are the main song writers for the group. Both had a lot of angsty pre-teen poetry they work shopped and repurposed for lyrics) that ended up being sold out of the back of Steve's motorcycle (his main career besides burger flipping and baby sitting, all of which makes him infinitely more happy than the emperor's coven ever did).

Raine not only bought a copy of the CD (despite having already heard them play every song before and having been the one to help them record it in the first place) they purchase a copy for ALL of their parents/extended family (Eda, King, Perry, the Parks, Darius, Camila, Gwen and Dell- everyone). Years after the band unofficially dissolves (re: the kids got actual jobs and started having to deal w/ life as adults), Raine still listens to that CD bc they're just so damn proud of their kids.

[calilili]

Music Review ; Cali Lili debut album “ this female is not yet rated “

Thank you so much to whomever wrote this latest ! We hadn’t seen it till yesterday ! Now working on my Next album & movie All in the works right now — In the meantime We SO appreciate ALL your support ! Please share & fave favorite & addmorecool reviews &ratings on all platforms for BOTHmy film 🍿🎬 eVe N’ god This Female Is Not Yet Rated ™️ & #debutalbum 🎶 On all…

[hehimhorror]

no one cares if you don't like chappell roan but comparing her sound to taylor swift is just fucking baffling

[timetravellingkitty]

SAPPHIC ARTISTS TO LISTEN TO

(instead of writing your 69th essay about how Taylor Swift is a closet lesbian)

Starting off with my holy trinity:

Rina Sawayama (she/her, bi/pan): if you follow me you're probably aware of what a huge Rina fan I am. Lots of pop and rock, with a chunk of her earlier songs being R&B. Her debut album SAWAYAMA (my favourite album of all time!!) was her major breakthrough moment as it received critical acclaim and her sophomore album Hold the Girl made her the highest charting Japanese artist in the history of the UK. Known for her musical versatility, she made her acting debut in John Wick 4. I recommend: Cherry, Frankenstein and Bad Friend

Janelle Monáe (she/they, bi/pan): pop, funk, neo-soul and psychedelic. They have an entire series of concept albums about an android named Cindy Mayweather (her ALTER EGO?!) as she commits the crime of falling in love with a human. Lots of social commentary. Her album Dirty Computer comes along with a narrative film and a book taking place in its world. She's starred in movies like Antebellum, Glass Onion and Moonlight. I recommend: Electric Lady, Django Jane and Pynk

Raveena Aurora (she/her, bi): Experimental pop, R&B and soul. Her second album Asha's Awakening is a concept album following the journey of Asha, a Punjabi space princess, as it explores Aurora's South Asian identity and past relationships. Such a beautiful and soft voice to die for. I recommend: Headaches, If Only and Kathy Left 4 Kathmandu

Moving onto some other artists I like:

Boygenius: a band comprising of three sapphic women- Phoebe Bridgers (indie darling™), Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker (the first two are bi while the third is a lesbian). Indie, folk and alternative rock. Very melancholic. I urge you to check out their individual projects too (especially Phoebe's, I love her Punisher album). I recommend: Emily I'm Sorry, Satanist and True Blue

Kelela (she/her, queer): R&G, electronic and alternative R&B. Her debut EP Hallucinogen covers the beginning, middle and end of a relationship in reverse chronological order. Her second album Raven showcases Black futuristic art, which I fuck with. I recommend: Contact, The High and Bluff

Zolita (she/her, lesbian): dark-pop, R&B and electropop. She incorporates witchcraft into her music and mvs. She literally has an EP called Sappho what more could you want? I recommend: Holy, Ashley (the sapphic Speak Now) and Bedspell

Victoria Monét (she/her, bi): pop and R&B. She's written songs for artists like Ariana Grande (7 Rings) and Chloe x Halle (Do It). Go stream her Jaguar EP you will thank me later. I recommend: Touch Me (erotic sapphic song), Cupid and Love U Better

And finally some honourable mentions (can't make this post too long now can I): mxmtoon, Michelle Zauner, Arooj Aftab, Sir Babygirl, Dodie, Chloe Moriondo, Lauren Jauregui, Baby Queen, Sara and Teagan, The Butchies, Sofya Wang and Melissa Etheridge

[wip]

just how many official tumblr blogs are there? i just recently found out that this one and changes exists which seems less than ideal

Hey, @limelocked!

Great question! We have, we hope, a great answer for you. First up is a comprehensive list of all of current active staff blogs.

You can find ’em by simply searching each name, + @, in the search bar. (i.e., @action)

@action: Highlighting Tumblr’s long-standing social justice priorities of racial justice, mental health, equality, and beyond.

@art Exploring and featuring original artists on Tumblr.

@artistalley: Supporting local artists on Tumblr by buying directly from their storefronts.

@artistpicks: Monthly curated experience by artists and creators on Tumblr.

@best-of-reblogs: A curated collection of some of the best reblog threads on Tumblr.

@bigweekon: Tumblr’s beloved podcast highlighting recent trends, memes, and more.

@blackexcellence: A showcase of things all Black, all excellent, past and present—literature, fashion, music, historical spotlights, and beyond.

@books: Exclusive interviews and curated content from authors, publishers, and book fans.

@changes: Your go-to for new Tumblr launches, bug fixes, and updates on platform.

@creatrs: A network that connects artists, makers, and builders with brands.

@emporium: The Official Blog of the Tumblr Shop™, run by Brick Whartley back from the Island.

@entertainment: Exclusive content and features from across TV, film, and streaming.

@engineering: Behind-the-scenes work on how Tumblr engineers build Tumblr.

@fandom: Home of Fandometrics, Tumblr’s weekly ranking of entertainment properties.

@fashion: Runways to streetwear and every style in between.

@featured: Featuring exclusive content from Tumblr’s many good, good blogs.

@gaming: Exclusive and curated content across mainstream and indie games.

@getloudr An in-kind ad donation program dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices.

@happytuesday: A blog dedicated to all our Tumblr Tuesdays, posts featuring users based on a weekly theme.

@humans: A blog we use so we can reply in the notes of various posts.

@kpop: Exclusive content and a curated experience of K-Pop on Tumblr.

@labs: A way for engineers at Tumblr to experiment in public.

@music: Exclusive content and features on all your favorite musical artists.

@postitforward: Supporting the community with resources for mental health, self-care, and wellness.

@prideplus: Your home for all things LGBTQIA+ on Tumblr.

@radar: Sharing four pieces of original posts from Tumblr artists per day, hand-curated by our team from across the globe.

@staff: The ultimate source for big news, platform updates, and everything that makes Tumblr, Tumblr.

@support: News, tips, and nerdy details from Tumblr Support.

@tee: A blog from your friendly neighborhood Tumblr user, Tee.

@todayontumblr: Daily curated content around trending topics on Tumblr.

@wip: Dedicated to feedback and questions from Tumblr users to Tumblr staff.

There’s more. For our global audiences, you can find all the localized Staff blogs. They’re linked here!

We also have a carousel in the feed somewhere called “Official Blogs,” but it might be that we need to make that more obvious or provide a dedicated feed or page somewhere.

Leave that last point with us, but we hope that helps! Thanks for your question, and have a good day.

(And a tip of the hat to you, @lizzieonka! Consider them tagged)

Best,

—Caragh, Cates, and Cyle

[okimnerdy]

Trolls Headcannons

(BROZONE Edition)

[Hi yes. Welcome to another fixation.]

•The brothers got out of the troll tree BEFORE it got caged in by the Bergens. They only heard about the outer trolls being hunted, but never thought it would make it to the main settlement. All of them believed that Branch and Grandma were still alive.

•The brothers knew of other genres of music, even dabbling into a few of them. JD and Clay enjoyed techno and funk. Bruce enjoyed classical. Floyd enjoyed rock. No one really fancied country music.

John Dory

°JD felt like the group had to be perfect and loved due to their parents. Their parents (before they got "chosen" or before leaving after the last kid was born) had a wish-wash way of parenting, only giving positive attention when the boys did something of merit.

°JD acted more like a parent than a brother, assigning roles he felt fit his brothers in order to give them a better foothold in their life and career in the group. He blamed himself if they didn't seem to succeed.

° JD hasn't truly showered in like 10 years. Man is a "water's clean" kind of guy, and was promptly held down by his brothers for a cleaning. Rhonda helped by essentially being a pressure washer.

°JD found Rhonda as a baby pill bug and didn't expect her to get so big. He felt a little bad decorating her once she was big enough to house him, fearing that he was hurting her.

Bruce

°Bruce let go of his ripped image because of Brandi's cooking. This man fell in love with her food THEN her. He felt at ease with her, especially since she didn't know Brozone.

°Bruce grew his hair out for his little girl to play with since her brothers won't. He lets her put little braids and clips in from time to time, and he wears them proudly.

Clay

°Clay tried to go back for Branch during the escape, but got caught in a wave of escaping trolls. After seeing the collapsed tunnels, he believed that his family got out safely even though he never truly knew for nearly 20 years.

°Clay made it to other Troll settlements and became a CPA after leaving Brozone and before he attempted to go back.

°Clay bonded with Viva over the loss of family due to the split™. He would share all these stories about Branch and she would try to do the same for Poppy, even though she was barely a year old when they got separated.

°Clay's little admin hut actually is bigger on the inside. He dug out a little living space underneath to hold his bed, desk, and a small kitchenette. Its like his own little bunker.

Floyd

°Floyd did a self-discovery journey through the other genres. He hung around the rock and country trolls the longest due to them being more land-based tribes, even though country trolls don't particularly like visitors.

°Floyd made a name for himself in the indie scene, eventually making his way to Mount Rageous where he had a new contract in the works. He had hoped this small push would bring his family back.

°Floyd suffers from muscle spasms and PTSD after his time in the bottle. Branch was kind enough to help develop a wheelchair and other mobility aids for him to use in the jungle gym called Pop Village.

°Floyd experiences fatigue easier. One of the brothers is always ready to be a pillow or a helping hand when he needs to rest. Poppy goes to him when she wants to know what else the village can do for others like him.

Branch

°Branch's muted color is due to his many years in the gray. He still feels the effects of the fight™ and grandma's capture, and personally blames himself from time to time. He leans on Poppy and his brothers who assure him that things are okay. No one really knows if he'll fully get back to his bright blue.

°Branch kept an item from each brother, even if they don't know it. They're buried somewhere in storage. He only wears Floyd's vest cause he missed him the most and held no animosity to him.

°Branch knows exactly how to deal with his nephews and niece when their energy gets too high because of Poppy. Sometimes, he'll ask her to help since she already teaches the younger trolls in the village.

<<prev || next>>

[starsofarda]

Christmas with the Feanorians

I would like to thank @erendur for giving me enough rope for my shenanigans.

Tolkien, ILU but sometimes I need to take everything less seriously.

Of course TIS THE SEASON and I am in my transformation in a Christmas Elf, whilst my SO is becoming the Grinch.

Anyway, possible modern AU, the Feanorians and Christmas, stemming directly from this post.

So, we know how Feanor could be ©Extra™, but what would he be like during the Christmas holidays in a modern AU? Well, LOOK NO FURTHER.

I am basically copypasting my brainstorming session and expanding on it.

Unfortunately Feanor is a "go big or go home" guy when it comes to decorating for Xmas, figure the outside plastered in luminous deers, trees, elves, santas and all the works. You can spot his house from at least two miles afar. He will dress up as Santa*, show up with like all sorts of trinkets, hand-write "Santa's response letters" to his children. The inside of his house is cobered in holly decorations, Yule logs, xmas trees, xmas music all over the place. the guy is extra.

*or Father Christmas, your choice, regardless of who he dresses like he's gonna look like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, he is very tall, very lanky and he's not gonna be a fat old man delivering gifts.

this also prompts several arguments over the xmas dinner with Fingolfin, cue Finarfin trying to be the peacemaker, all the "not in front of the kids", the "language" and all. In the meantime every single one of the kids, regardless of who's the father, is a different flavour of terror. Nerdanel is with her SILs and nieces, at a certain point Aredhel just starts a treasure hunt with Celegorm and his dog Huan. It's chaos. Maedhros is with Fingon and maybe Maglor, if Maglor and Finrod are not playing Guitar Hero. And so on. Also did someone mention "ugly sweaters"? Yep. All of them lovingly crafted by grandma Miriel (in this AU she is alive, just very divorced from Finwe, but alive). Grandma Indis supplies the wreaths. Grandpa Finwe is sitting by the porch and enjoying some eggnog.

All is good. Feanor and Fingolfin will keep arguing till the end of time. As it was pointed out, this definitely looks like National Lampoon's Christmas holiday.

Now, some clarifications.

THE ELVES They are indeed Feanor's apprentices dressed as Father Christmas's elves. They take turns. They are low key enjoying the attention. Speaking of. I rectify myself, it's not Santa, but Father Christmas and his assistant polar bear - reference to Tolkien's "Letters from Father Christmas". I know Tolkien would have hated it, but this is a modern au. Whatever floats my boat. As for the ugly jumpers: Ofc Feanor has the Silmarils surrounded by snowflakes, deers and red robins. His jumper is red. Maedhros has got a green one with winter gnomes and a "happy yuletide" in elegant lettering. Fingon has a blue one with an icy mountain and penguins with silver scarves and hats.

So. The apprentices don't really mind being hired as Christmas Elves, Feanor pays well and it's all fun and games. They basically get to be up to any shenanigans they can conjure up, because in Feanor's forge not only he is Extra, but his apprentices are the Least Chill on Arda. They will cause problems on purpose, only rule is "be nice to the children" and "don't damage property in a significant way", but everything else is game. They get to dress in fun outfits as a plus.

Miriel and Indis are both there, mostly ignoring Finwe and doting on their daughters in law.

As for the jumpers.

Grandma Miriel lovingly embroidered and knitted them all. Any bad look has been met by Feanor's death glare of "accept my beloved mother's gift or die painfully" and every year they are a must have, especially if the party is at Feanor's house.

So far this is what I have.

Ofc Feanor has the Silmarils surrounded by snowflakes, deers and red robins. His jumper is red. Maedhros has got a green one with winter gnomes and a "happy yuletide" in elegant lettering. Fingon has a blue one with an icy mountain and penguins with silver scarves and hats. Also if Mae has a green one with gnomes, then I envision Fingon with the same but in yellow/golden, but do feel free to envision whatever :p Celegorm has one with like a poodle with a christmas hat and scarf, the poodle looking very much like Huan. Maglor has one with like hollys and singing red robins. Caranthir has one with xmas trees all over. A&A have matching ones, both with snowmen wearing sunglasses and like a cheeky line. Curufin has one designed to show the jacket of a xmas elf and celebrimbor has one with the design of the ribbon of a xmas present.

There will be more as soon as I think of something else.

[iolite-moodboards]

scooby gang vibes

things i associate with the scooby gang!!

requests for these are open if you're interested!

fred jones~♡

diners in the middle of nowhere

late-night drives to think

coffee with cream and sugar

butterscotch

his playlist is either motivational 80s or 2000s music

saturday morning cartoons

diner pancakes

fresh, clean smell

geo guesser

lends his jacket if someone is cold

early mornings

always buying new accessories (steering wheel covers, fuzzy dice, little pine trees) for the mystery machine

attempting to read a map while driving

blue jeans

history books

interviewing priests for answers about hauntings in the area

camping

forgets to drink water

messy bedroom

daphne blake~♡

aliens and anything outer space

iced matcha

fun cereal

scrunchies

always offering to pay

binge watching tv

going to the planetarium

girly music

boxing

sneaking in past curfew

peaches

freckles

dragging friends out to stargaze

sheet masks

strawberry ice cream

taking notes with glitter gel pens

conspiracy theories

grwm tiktoks filmed in the back of the mystery machine

pinkpantheress

almond nails

velma dinkley~♡

library trips

hydro flasks

pasta

conspiracy theories pt 2

mothman

freshly brewed coffee

ballpoint pens

falling asleep on the bus

staying up until 4am reading

oversized sweaters

rock collection

digging on reddit to find their next cryptid spot

cinnamon

sunscreen always in her bag

jack stauber

lip oil

doodling stars in her notebook

sitting by the coast

gummy worms

charcoal stained fingers

shaggy rogers~♡

pizza

indie music

skating

beanies

naps

cd collection

stopping for snacks at shady convenience stores

track

skipping stones

keychains

bubble gum

an old mp3 player he won't get rid of

plants in his room

baja blast

rocky road ice cream

stealing daph's sunglasses

afraid of the dark

french fries

always smells both like he just got done grilling and like dog

superstitious

scooby-doo~♡

fancy dog shampoo (literally titled "le ham")

loves going to the beach

fetch

stealing the gang's french fries

sleeping in the back of the mystery machine

oreos

Big Stretch™

unreliable guard dog but he tries his best

hiding behind shaggy

scooby snacks

[moonysprettypoison]

about me!🧸🍒

@moonysprettypoison /moony/riri! 🧸🍒🔐

Hii this is my blog, where I post anything from my poetry, moodboards, vent, books, my own pictures, I’m literally just a girl!! I like writing so you can always request things!

do not: copy my poetry or post them as yours! do not repost my pictures without giving me credit

dni: nsfw accounts, copycats, men, racists, homophobes, transphobes, fascists, pedos

#intj, aquarius, slytherclaw, moon lover, reader, wannabe writer, poetry, tt editor, music, cinematography, being alone, blood red!

#cas & the nbhd coded #notfromthisworld #inmythoughts #ihateppl #opinionatedgirl #biggestintrovert #anti-ppl

#writings/poetry

me in another universe; {my tattered soul} #Emory Scott 💔🔐—

{my exiled poet & loner} #Jude Sinclair🔏🚬

Sage Donahue, Jude Sinclair, Remus lupin, regulus black, coraline Whittaker, Silas Hawthorne, Kai mori, Spencer Hastings, Hope Mikaelson, teal van doren, Jasmine santos, Elsa (frozen), Beth harmon!

{my brand 🔐❤️}; ™lyraabbott🍒, ™Emory Scott🧸🔐💔 ™Silas Hawthorne!💍 ™Jude Sinclair🔐 ™TealRonan

🎧: the nbhd, cas, ca, the weeknd, Jhene aiko, Hozier, maggie lindemann! rnb, pop, indie, all music genres!

🎞️; tvdu, Sherlock Holmes bbc, m.d house, Brooklyn 99, law and order SVU, the rookie, divergent, the darkest minds, the alienist (so underrated), dead poets society, the perks of being a wallflower, good will hunting, derry girls, ondskan {evil}

📖; the folk of the air, from lukov with love, vicious prince, the hollow boys series {literally my number #1}, archers voice, and the picture of Dorian gray!

💌; dps, marauders era, Harry Potter, golden trio era, tvdu, Sherlock Holmes, devils night series, the hollow boys series, ondskan {evil} and I’m probably in more fandoms but I can’t let come up with them rn!

🧸; vanilla candles, editing, books/reading, writing, criminology, psychology, fashion, music, deep conversations, watching series n movies, poetry, metaphors, the moon, the ocean, misunderstood mean characters, leather jackets, being alone,

{ a little rant }

I love and read classic literature,poetry, romance, fantasy, and literally every genre of books!

{if you judge ppl based on what they read then get the fuck away from me!}

I also read dark romance! yes I can read books without smut! no I’m not a 🌽 addict, and no I don’t Stan books like haunting Adeline who romanticizes abuse and grape!

{abuse/grape ≠ dark romance}

On socials I’m judesinclairsgf or moonysprettypoison so search that up! I use wp, letterboxd, goodreads, tiktok (2 acc), Pinterest, Spotify

{moonysprettypoison 🍒🧸🔐💌}

[papermint-airplane]

I felt a bizarre and troubling urge today to play a horsegirl. Honestly, I found this hair retexture by Mels Sims (my new favorite hair supplier 😘) and I was like "THAT IS FUCKING HORSEGIRL HAIR!" And so, we were off to the proverbial races.

Meet Savannah Colter

Only a CAS shot for now because I'm still loading into Appaloosa Plains. I should have made her a teen living with her wizened uncle who owns a horse ranch but hindsight is 20/20.

When I was a tween, I was a voracious reader like nothing else. I absolutely bodied every summer reading contest like it was my calling in life. I want to make it abundantly clear that I was not a horsegirl in any way shape or form. I had some hand-me-down gen 1 My Little Ponys from my sister and I had a singular horse and horse trailer for my Barbies, but that was the extent of it. I guess I've never really understood the appeal of horse culture. Like, yeah, horses are cute and I guess riding is pretty cool in theory but, Idk man, they're just horses. If it had not been for my self-appointed mission to read every single mid-grade chapter book in the library, I would not have touched horsegirl literature with a ten foot pole. But I read every single horsegirl book written for 8-12 year olds that existed by the late 90s/early 00s and do you know what I remember? The tropes. Not a single specific godforsaken storyline, but those tropes are etched into my brain wrinkles.

So I aimed to make this Sim as true to my tweendom as I could muster. Her name is Savannah because of course it is. Her surname is Colter because nominative determinism was always big in tween books. "My name is Pizzalisamaria so pizza is my entire life," you know, that sort of thing. It's a thing, I promise. She likes blue because she's basic as fuck, indie music because she's deep as fuck, and hamburgers because she's NoT LiKe tHe oThEr gIrLs wHo oNlY EaT SaLaD. 🤪 The locket she wears is your classic Orphan Trinket™ because her parents died saving her in a mysterious fire because it's always a mysterious fire. Always.

And the traits? Did I keep up with the horsegirl theming in the traits?

You bet your *Googles horse terms* Martingale I did.

Shit that would have been a better surname. Oh well. Hindsight again. *dismissive handwave*

She is an equestrian (obviously). She loves the outdoors, so much so, she's hardly ever indoors. She's lucky because how else does she escape all of those horse-related trials like getting caught in brambles or discovering a rattlesnake on the riding trail? And she's brave as a result, because there's no need to fear any obstacle in life when you just shimmy out of trouble like an oiled up hog. And the pièce de résistance, clumsy. Because every horsegirl novel heroine needs one single flaw and it has to be the quirky endearing one.

Her horse's name is Casserole because I'm still me.

[greed-the-dorkalicious]

All the discussion around AI lately got me thinking about an incident recently in which a guy got his ass sorely beat by the vocal synth community

For those of you not familiar, “vocal synths” in the electronic music sense typically refers to programs like Vocaloid, SynthV, UTAU, Alter/Ego, DeepVocal, etc., digital instruments that allow composers to create, as the name implies, synthesized vocal tracks. The way they work is that they draw from libraries (referred to as “voicebanks” or VB for short) of special studio recorded* vocal samples from singers singing different syllables at a consistent pitch. The program then splices these together and adjusts the pitch to match whatever notes you put in- You want to do All Star, it’s gonna string together “[suh][m] [buh][di] [wuh][n][s] [tO][ld] [mi]” or something like that. Basically it’s an extremely complicated sampler.

(*unless you’re using UTAU or another build-your-own-vocal program in which the “studio” is only metaphorical, and is sometimes somebody’s basement with a Rockband mic plugged into a laptop.)

Now, there is no threat of vocal synths putting actual singers out of a job. Even the best vocal synths always have a bit of a robotic sound to them, and the voicebanks take hundreds of hours of recording time from you know, actual singers. Any piece made with vocal synths has to be worked by a human hand in a process called “tuning” in order to sound any good, whether you’re trying to make it sound human or leaning into the robotic sound. This isn’t something that’s being done on a corporate scale to cut costs- This is something pretty much exclusively being done by small scale indie music hobbyists because we fucking love Hatsune Miku and her weird buddies. Most folks are less interested in doing something that sounds 1:1 like a human voice and more in going beyond what humans can do to make shit like this

One of the leading vocal synths right now is Synthesizer V (SynthV), created by a company called Dreamtonics. SynthV offers fancier versions of some of its voicebanks, which are called “AI” voicebanks. These use machine learning trained on, again, professionally recorded and legally licensed vocal samples to help make songs sound a little bit more smooth, a little bit more in line with whatever singing style you’re aiming for. Everything else previously mentioned still applies: They’re still painstakingly recorded and programmed, you still need to tweak it yourself to get it to sound just right, and it’s still never going to sound 100% like a human. And that’s fine!

For this next bit y’all are gonna have to trust me because the tweets all got deleted, though if anyone wants I’m happy to pull up screencaps of talking shit about it with other vocal synth folks when it happened lmfao

So basically. Since ChatGPT type grifters have convinced people that “AI” means “magic plagiarism button”, back in April some dipshit NFT guy on Twitter started complaining on an official SynthV update post that SynthV (which he apparently believed to be called “Dreamtonics”, the name of the company that makes it) should allow people to make voicebanks from “their own voice”, insisting that it would be easy and PROFITABLE!™ to do so. He also clearly did not actually mean “their own voice” but rather “the voices of celebrity singers shamelessly lifted without their consent”, which was made extra obvious from a tweet on his own page that was like “Teehee people in monitored Twitter spaces don’t realize their voices are being recorded and fed into AI!” which he then deleted after I linked it on the thread about SynthV. lol.

Dude proceeded to get whupped by actual vocal synth people basically saying shit along the lines of “Yeah we can all tell you just want to commit cheap plagiarism, jackass” and “Dude why are you here when you clearly don’t understand the very very basics of what this software even is” and “Go make an UTAU voicebank if it’s so easy then”. (UTAU being a Japanese freeware program that hasn’t been updated since 2013. Creating an UTAU voicebank is complicated and takes a lot of time and technical knowledge.) He still refused to learn the basics of how vocal synths work, and proceeded to ask if “UTAU or Diff is most compatible with Dreamtonics”, a question absolutely no one could make any sense of? Lol.

Anyway, I don’t have anywhere in particular I’m going with this, I just think AI grifters are morons, and it’s obnoxious how the vague and misleading term “AI” has gotten nigh-mythologized by shady tech companies to the point that people can’t tell the difference between perfectly reasonable assistive technology and magic plagiarism.

Btw, fun fact for anyone who’s wondering, there do in fact exist legally/morally questionable UTAU voicebanks spliced from outside vocals. These are called “jinriki” voicebanks and not only do they take the same amount (if not more) of hard work as any other voicebank, they’re far from the insta-Beyoncé this dude was aiming for, and instead they sound um. like this

[calilili]

Music Review ; Cali Lili debut album “ this female is not yet rated “

Thank you so much to whomever wrote this latest ! We hadn’t seen it till yesterday ! Now working on my Next album & movie All in the works right now — In the meantime We SO appreciate ALL your support ! Please share & fave favorite & addmorecool reviews &ratings on all platforms for BOTHmy film 🍿🎬 eVe N’ god This Female Is Not Yet Rated ™️ & #debutalbum 🎶 On all…

[soullust]

my hcs as to dead poets after graduating welton (college&job-wise)

neil took half a semester of pre-med in harvard before switching majors to acting/theatre arts. changed colleges after a year to a acting/theatre specific one. started acting full-time during his fourth semester but still graduated . once his roles started waning he started managing a high school theatre department

todd was a english major and an indie journalist. later became a part-time english teacher in the same high school neil later worked in, and a writer (he's mostly indie except for depressed teenagers who are obssesed with his writing)

charlie switched his major aprox. 83972 times. after trying MANY jobs he settled on bartending + making/producing music. prob joined a few bands and got a small-ish cult following. 50 years after he died he got crowned musical genius n also a Bad Person™ and people die arguing about death of the author in debates abt him to this day

knox finished some fancy law school but only really worked as a lawyer for maybe ? 2 years ??. before getting married (doesn't matter to who btw) and became a househusband (not a stay-at-home-dad tho bc he should NOT reproduce)

meeks was a computer enineering major lingustics minor but got burnout and barely graduated . became a journalist that makes weird engineeringesque avant-garde art on the side.

pitts started a chemical engineering major but ended up dropping out and just being a car mechanic. he's loving it tho

cameron went to some ivy league, but his heart wasn't in it. after graduating he moved to a semi-small rural town in europe where he became an english teacher . and later principal

 ! bonus ! 

ginny was an art major. was in a band with charlie but later got picked up for a role in a shitty student film, which kickstarted a successful acting career

chris took a gap year to pursue professional cheerleading but hated it and went to culinary school. became a chef in a 5 star restaurant

[wjbs-bonkle-au]

Random small-scale Bionicle AU ideas; feel free to ask what your blorboes (or canon-set OCs, provided you explain what their Thing™ is) are doing in each:

Golf (Turaga-centric AU where they all play golf; side-stuff features the Toa Mahri working at a Crazy/Mini-Golf place.)

Bowling-alley (I think I already posted about this ages ago, but I'm bringing it up again to add some context; it's set in a pseudo-80s world, but everyone's still a biomechanical thing. The Metru and Hagah are the staff, Helryx is the manager, and everybody else are the regular bowlers.)

Age of Sail (technically-a-morality-swap pirate AU; the Makuta are further towards the "lawful" edge of the morality-grid, the (non-evil) Toa are more like Robin Hood figures, and the Dark Hunters and Piraka are more traditional pirates. The Red Star is a ghost-ship crewed by the dead, and Spherus Magna is basically Atlantis.)

Superhero (Human AU offshoot where all the regions are modern-day cities and everyone wears modern clothing; the Toa, Order Of Mata Nui etc. are superheroes, and the various antagonists are supervillains.)

Battle of the Bands (another Human AU offshoot, where the Toa Teams and other factions are bands in a mundane setting, and all the major conflicts are formatted as the eponymous style of contest; the main story is set contemporarily to the respective story-arc's out-of-universe storyline, with relevant musical genres (e.g the Inika are an indie-rock band in 2006, facing off against the Piraka, who are a rap-metal band), and the Metru Nui flashbacks take place in the mid-1980s (with the Toa Metru being a New wave act).)

Reversal (AU where the Magnans live in the GSR and the MU characters live on Bara Magna.)

Broken Mirror (basically just Transformers: Shattered Glass but Bonkle,)

Steam-Age (Bionicle, but in a world where the Magnan society was in the aesthetic and technological equivalent of the mid-to-late 1800s; Bota Magna is a large industrialised city, and Bara Magna is essentially the Wild West. Metus is a literal snake-oil salesman. Some areas of the Matoran Universe has progressed past this a bit, with Metru Nui being Art Deco and having Dieselpunk technology.)

MMORPG (yet another Human-AU spinoff, this time with the characters playing characters resembling their canon selves in a popular MMORPG.)

YA Dystopia ("what if Bionicle was an early-mid 2010s Young-Adult dystopian novel?")

Detective Takua (Takua but as a Poirot-meets-Columbo detective in an early-mid 20th century-flavoured world that coincidentally happens to be shaped like a jumbled-up version of the Matoran Universe; showing up unannounced/coincidentally happening to be at the Big Isolated Mansion™, Large Isolated Boat® or Vaguely-Mediterranean Island©, being very friendly to literally everyone there while also using his... Takua-ness(?) to disarm potential subjects and try to catch them out. Also Kapura is there sometimes.)

[woodchipp]

Currently replaying OMORI because I'm a masochist with my best friends @beevean and @the-crow-binary providing emotional support lmfao. Even despite how soul-crushingly boring it is, I think we're still having some sort of fun with this clusterfuck of a game

Highlights (and the misc. problems we've managed to spot) so far include:

I already knew that this game's length was detrimental to it during my first solo playthrough, but this playthrough is helping me put into perspective just how bloated OMORI is, even when it comes to an aspect like dialogue. For example, a single conversation between Space Boyfriend and the main cast took us approximately 5 minutes to get through, and it's not like the writing is gripping enough to make us give a shit about the characters or anything they're saying

Speaking of the dialogue, you can just see how hard it tries to be witty and Quirky™ the way Earthbound and indie RPGs like Undertale were. Needless to say, it fails horribly, and the end result of that was me having to fast-track some conversations because they were unfunny and weren't relevant at all

I got unintentionally (!) stuck in White Space for 15-20 minutes because I couldn't find the map the game needed me to find to let me open the door. Beev came to hate the repetitive 8-bit BGM the area had by the time I finally found the map lol. game_design.exe

Headspace's music is so ear-gratingly abysmal oh my god. I can only call it "dollar-store Kirby music" because that's the most appropriate description that comes to mind and I'm pretty sure Lost at a Sleepover gave Beev severe PTSD. Of course, the music of Faraway Town isn't any better: the "track" that plays in the first fight with Aubrey is less music than it is the result of an .exe file being put through an audio player. Sonic Chronicles might have some serious competition in the "worst video game soundtrack" category asdfghjkl

The plot of the Faraway Town segments is so cookie-cutter that it genuinely hurts to sit through. Character writing (or the lack thereof) aside, Sunny and Kel spend half a day loitering around the town and asking Aubrey's cronies where she is even though Kel could've easily gotten that information from Mikhael had he just indulged the latter's delusions of grandeur a little bit

Faraway Town's daytime sky is literally a scrolling JPEG of a cloudy sky. The battle backgrounds of the real world segments are edited JPEGs as well. Everyone's houses look exactly the same on the outside save for some of them being a different color. The developers spent six years and more than $200,000 on this game.

Sunny's fights against his fears are boring. You just need to wait until a particular turn when the game grants you a special skill you use to end the fight immediately. What was the point of designing these hallucinatory monsters if the player doesn't get to fight them at any point during the main route?

Aubrey (ostensibly) swinging a nail bat at Sunny is not treated with the same degree of realism as Sunny slashing her with a knife. Additionally, Aubrey rides away on her scooter just fine even though she's supposed to be bleeding

Mari's picnic baskets are inexplicably scattered all across the town and fulfill the exact same function as they do in Headspace. So much for realism!

I won two of the fights against Aubrey's goons even though I was trying to lose. gameplay.exe

Sunny is even more unpleasant than I remember. He doesn't respond to Basil - who is supposedly his best friend - when the latter talks to him, stays silent while (and after) Kel vents to him about Hero yelling at him and barges into the church despite Kel advising him to wait until the sermon ends. Why should I feel bad for him again?

Kel generally seems to treat Sunny like an actual baby, spelling out incredibly obvious things to the latter (e.g. that Sunny shouldn't be carrying a knife or walking in the road because it's dangerous) and making all of Sunny's decisions for him, to the point of not allowing Sunny to return into his own house until nighttime under the pretense of "there's so much to do! it's a brand new day!"

Finally, the "fight" against Sunny's fear of spiders comes completely out of nowhere since nothing triggered said fear during Sunny's adventures outside

Peak game, everyone.

And it's going to get way worse down the line!

[statementlou]

hi it's just me being nosy and asking a follow up to your vinyl anon--what are some of your non-1DCU favorites? collection tour please 😇

hiiii gosh and look you even put the link on for me to make it easy! The question itself is NOT EASY though I was like BUT WHAT IF I FORGET ONE?? Like what CATEGORY of favorite?! But the timing couldn't be better, I am currently as previously mentioned in the process of moving all of my stuff around, a huge project that 1) is perfect for listening to records while I do things like move books from one shelf to another and 2) means I just today moved my record player to a far better place where I am actually using it again for the first time in ages (for one thing onto an actual properly non wobbly surface) so I listened to records today and picked a few that will do sorry to all the others I forgot and love even more I'm sure

I picked first up Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth not just because it's so good (IT IS THOUGH) but also because it's an album that having it on vinyl feels SO right and it makes me happy just to handle; the pretty Gerhard Richter painting cover, a little crackle and pop with the music, the aesthetic of it all! I mean Sonic Youth probably literally birthed the indie hipster luddite aesthetic, it seems Right™ Second is The Bonny by Gerry Cinnamon, because being able to listen to the songs The Bonny and Ghost specifically on vinyl feeds my soul in deep and important ways. Also the 4th side is blank and etched with lyrics, like the JHO single, very cool. And last the record/album I've almost certainly played the most times in my life, even though the copy I have has skips now (to be loved is to changed and all that yk) and I haven't to date been able to bring myself to buy a reissue or pay $$$ for another original: 24 Hour Revenge Therapy by Jawbreaker. It's just important in like 15 different ways okay? Tip, if anyone is like huh! I will go listen to this album I've never heard it (DO!! also then tweet it at Louis a lot, he would REALLY LIKE IT) I think the best way to do this is to skip the first song the first time, it's a whole different vibe than the rest. Also right now my fave is LTLIVE on vinyl 😭 playing records makes me want to put it on SO BAD :((( also bonus content, one of my favorite things about records for some reason is seeing who goes next to who idk I just find it fun and if I were naming a band it would totally be a big consideration... so for extra tour of the shelf, Gerry Cinnamon is between the Germs and The Gits (listen the Cs are crowded, it's my shelf I can do what I want), Sonic Youth was between The Snuts and Social Distortion- which the astute may notice is not correct, she will be going back other side of Social D- and Jawbreaker nestle cozily between Japandroids and Jerk With A Bomb. Louis, for the record, lives between very twee girl band Tiger Trap and very fast hardcore band Tragatello, lol. A weird bill, that, but they do have one thing in common- all feature queer musicians