#it’s truly my magnum opus and something I’m so passionate about

[ghostyv]

I saw the tags - I wanna know about your ocs! 👀 how many you got? Which ones your fav? Got a specific pairing (romantic or platonic)?

*deep breath* THANK YOU AAAAAA-

Okay. So. For starters, there’s Lauren Caster. She’s gone through many names bc she’s basically my self insert and I can’t seem to pick a name for myself so she’s been cycled through the name box—but she started out as Lauren caster so we stick with that(she’s also a character for a book my best friend and I are writing called Purple War, so)

Then we have Nes and Noah Caster(from the same book) They’re twin brothers who while still in the womb were cursed. Basically long story short, Lauren Caster was cursed by this woman with the intention of harming the children but it didn’t work. The boys ended up with purple(see what I did there?) splotches on their faces. Well—Nes ended up with large splotches somewhat mimicking vitiligo, and Noah ended up with millions of tiny freckles all over his face and neck and shoulders/arms(Nes is still bitter about it💀). They reside in a world where two sisters, the red queen and the blue queen, were at odds. The red queen was defeated years ago and her spirit was magically entombed in the ceiling above her throne. To summarize the book, Nes goes to steal from the royal vault, meets princess Atari(my bestie’s character. yes their names are a play on the game systems, that’s an even longer story if you wanna hear that too. It’s really really funny.) after being thrown in the dungeon, was let out and they begin to fall in love but while the two were snooping around the blue and red connected castles meant for the two queens to rule a purple kingdom together, they found the red queen’s throne room. Atari sat on it and was possessed. Where Noah comes in is he was the royal cook and helps Nes with pulling the red queen’s spirit out of atari(we haven’t completely ironed out the details of how).

The next character is also from the Purple War universe as well, and I actually have a picture of her if you scroll down to a tag game I was in, it’s on my blog. Her name is Aisling Bohdi. She’s a Dragonborn woman who’s parents were killed by a town they used to live on the outskirts on. Aisling was about 14ish when it happened, and she’d been out running errands and such in the next town over. When she returned she was chased by the townsfolk up a mountain trail and into a cave, where she lost the mob and resided for another roughly 7ish years. When she finally exited the cave, she met a man named Malek Bruce, the son of a lawyer and he actually practiced law as well, but in a falling out with his father, quit. He acts dumber than he is, and he’s got some major detective skills. Together the two end up going on a few adventures and wind up teaming up with nes, Noah and Atari to ultimately defeat the red queen in(get ready to come full circle) the Purple War(whoaaa!)

Now for someone not from purple war. Honeybee Vega. I’m extremely proud of her—and I had some art somewhere but apparently I deleted it in my desperately needed camera roll purge(I had over 65k in there dude, my storage was begging for it’s life constantly). Honeybee came from my dream smp phase(I’m aware of how cringe it is, but it got me through the hardest year of my life). She’s a humanoid honeybee with one human eye and one giant complex eye(the eyes visible on the sides of bees heads. Quick detour for a bee anatomy lesson bc they’re my favorite animals—they have two large complex eyes on the sides of their heads which humans who aren’t insane like me and love bees perceive to be their only eyes but depending on the type of bee, they can have more eyes on the top of their heads called simple eyes that are used to assist bees with sun orientation so they can navigate during the day.) anyway, she has a complex eye as well as a human one so her eyesight is very bad, bless her. I adore her, she’s one of my more visually complex characters. She also has wings, and used to be able to fly but during a war one of those wings were slashed and she was stabbed and almost died, had it not been for a friend saving her.

And that’s it! Those are my major ocs :) if I think of more I’ll add onto it.

[rebellionbeach]

Since I made a top 5 Rainbow songs, I wanna make a top 5 Deep Purple songs for myself.  This one is definitely harder with the sheer amount of music they’ve released over the time and it heavily panders towards the albums I’ve listened to more often but here we go.

5. Mandrake Root - starting off with the first original Purple song actually produced, Mandrake Root really does have that hard rock shine that would soon encapsulate the band’s sound.  Mark 1 Deep Purple can sometimes be a mess but it’s an exciting mess and just watching any live performance of them where the virtuoso expectations of the time make them give these almost inhuman 10-minute + improvisational pieces to audiences.  It’s spectacular to say the least and really shows the heights that these musicians could reach with their instruments, each a master of their own craft.  Wring That Neck is also a close competitor but Mandrake Root has that signature sound that’s undeniably Deep Purple, the start of a great legacy.

4. Mistreated - Mistreated is a beast of a song mainly due to Ritchie’s spellbinding performance throughout the entire song.  His guitar solo near the end of the song is probably one of my favorite solos from him just because of how emotional it is, it just screams that hurt emotion that they’re trying to convey throughout the song.  David’s vocals are also phenomenal of course and even with the relatively simple lyrics, it’s able to invoke such a haunting emotion of loss and anguish into the listener each time that it definitely deserves a spot as one of the top Purple tunes.

3. Fools - This is a personal favorite from a personal favorite album, Fireball.  Fireball is my favorite all-together album but Fools is my favorite piece from the album for more of the same reasons as the last.  Instead about heartbreak from a loved one, this song seems to be a more general misfortune of life that they’re trying to express, especially through Gillan’s lyrics and performance which always has that air of mysteriousness so that what each song truly means is up to the listener.  Except, this song is able to invoke a certain emotion if either through the 2+ minute instrumental section diving straight into Gillan’s passionate performance or the overall shift in melody throughout the entire song.  Either way, all these factors makes Fools more of an emotional release or experience that I’m always eager to go through.

2. Child In Time - There is really little explanation needed for this one but I think the general consensus is that Child In Time is Purple’s magnum opus, at least in my opinion.  Yes, Smoke on the Water is their most popular song but it’s Child In Time that truly cements them, no pun intended, as something entirely else.  In Rock is already a phenomenal album from the sheer energy each member had to show their new hard rock image but Child In Time is a labor of love that could have only been made within a certain time and by certain people.  It’s magnificent and one of the greatest pieces of music ever created.

1. Perfect Strangers - Okay, in all reality Child In Time is a better song but Perfect Strangers has something very special about it.  I see it as basically an anthem for the band itself, all their struggles and changes throughout the years cumulating to the present time.  Despite it being based off an actual novel series, I think unintentionally they made a song that resonated with themselves, a ballad to what they were and what they’d eventually become.  For that reason, every time I listen to the song I can’t help but think that this is THE Deep Purple song.  

[passionate-reply]

Passionate Reply is back, and taking a look at one of the best known and most influential albums in industrial history: Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine! Transcript of the video below the break.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, it’s finally time to discuss arguably the best known industrial musician of all time, and his debut album: this is Pretty Hate Machine, by Nine Inch Nails. Released in 1989, it is, technically, an “80s album,” but given how stylistically influential it would become on the music of the 1990s, it’s hard to think of it as a product of the preceding decade. Still, it’s worth remembering that this album came out almost fifteen years into the history of industrial, and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor has never denied his indebtedness to, and appreciation of, the genre’s 80s pioneers, like Coil and Skinny Puppy. Pretty Hate Machine didn’t go down in history for being the very first industrial album, but rather for being the first one that most people actually heard--particularly, in Reznor’s native America. What really set Nine Inch Nails apart, then and now, is Reznor’s ability to marry those harsh textures and machine beats with a real knack for that most elusive of songwriting goals: the pop hook.

Music: “Head Like a Hole”

Pretty Hate Machine’s unforgettable opener, “Head Like a Hole,” is the track on the album that you’re most likely to have encountered before, and sits just behind “Hurt” and “Closer” in the ranking of the best-known Nine Inch Nails songs. There’s not a whole lot to say about it, musically, that hasn’t already been said--each of its three parts have that devilishly catchy quality about them, and despite its underlying electronic structure, inspired by European EBM, it’s got just enough rock credibility to appeal to American audiences. It wasn’t a huge pop hit, of course, but I think it’s easy to hear how and why it earned its acclaim, and high rotation on MTV.

As far as the lyrics are concerned, I’m always happy to listen to an anti-capitalist jam, especially when it comes to industrial, but I feel like that lends a weird tension to “Head Like a Hole.” Reznor wants to sell us his denouncement of “God Money” and the relentless hunger of capital, but using such an approachable, or marketable, pop formula forces us to question its sincerity. Despite industrial music’s deep roots in counter-cultural values, the sociopolitical commentary of the album doesn’t dig any deeper than “Head Like a Hole”’s vague indignance at being controlled by something-or-other. While I won’t argue that artists ever “owe” anybody more political art, Trent Reznor popularized a style of music that began as an expression of working-class struggles on another continent, partly by stripping away most of the truly subversive commentary, so I can’t say I don’t understand why many die-hard industrial listeners see him as something of a profiteering poseur. So, if Pretty Hate Machine isn’t about class struggle, what is it about? The short answer is, atomized personal struggles, particularly in unhealthy relationships.

Music: “Sanctified”

While a track like “Sanctified” isn’t quite as explosively hooky as “Head Like a Hole,” it’s made of the same basic stuff: tight mechanical rhythms, shouty vocals, and distorted guitars that offer just the right amount of edge. As the title implies, it deals with themes of religious purity, darkly inverted--a common enough subject for traditional goth music, though a bit less so for industrial. Still, it’s not unheard of, and seems like a good fit for this particularly American take on industrial. The sort of push-and-pull, love-and-hate dynamic on display here is a consistent one throughout the album, though at times, it feels a bit more low-brow.

Music: “Kinda I Want To”

“Kinda I Want To” is certainly a catchy song, which is once again cut from that same dominant songwriting formula, but I find it’s one that I have my own love-hate relationship with. Whether or not I like a given song is rarely determined chiefly by its lyricism, but in this case, I find “Kinda I Want To” to be almost insufferably puerile and crass. For as much as the critical consensus has really turned around on Nine Inch Nails, with Oscars, Emmys, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame smiling at Reznor’s artistic achievements, I still remember growing up in a world where this was panned as music for angsty teenage boys. While I obviously think *Pretty Hate Machine* has more value than that, it’s moments like “Kinda I Want To” that make me see the argument. It’s always struck me as a track that takes itself very seriously, and yet fails to convince me. On the other hand, you’ve got a track like “Down In It,” which feels unashamed of being slightly lighter fare.

Music: “Down In It”

In fairness, “Down In It” isn’t entirely “light” material, with its lyrical theme of addiction and its delightfully scratchy soundscape, but it’s danceable and club-friendly in a way that really sets it apart from the rest of *Pretty Hate Machine.* It’s even got a bit of hip-hop influence, with its pseudo-rap verses, and that distortion that sounds vaguely like record scratching--calling back to the early days of hip-hop when it was chiefly employed as party music. Reznor and company famously mimed “Down In It” on the TV program *Dance Party USA,* which a lot of Nine Inch Nails fans see as incongruously absurd, but I think this track genuinely does fit in just fine in that milieu. I don’t look down upon dance music, and I don’t think it’s insulting to suggest that “Down In It” is some great dance music. It was actually the album’s lead single, and a fairly successful one in its own time, so clearly, people were moving to it.

Pretty Hate Machine’s iconic cover is somewhat abstract, featuring this tightly framed streak of lurid magenta and teal that’s boxed in by oppressive walls of black. While that artificial colour palette makes it difficult to ascertain exactly what we’re looking at, it appears to be some sort of large machine with a symmetrical row of spokes, though it’s possible to interpret it as something more organic as well--perhaps a ribcage, or a row of teeth.

The album title “Pretty Hate Machine” strikes me as almost pithy with how straightforward it is. Yes, you can put this album on and expect to find some electronic, machine music, with a fair amount of spite and vitriol, but covered over in that “pretty” pop sheen. Like a lot of the album, it’s on the nose, and perhaps a bit simplistic, but functional enough that I don’t overtly dislike it, even if it isn’t exactly clever.

Reznor’s follow-up to Pretty Hate Machine, 1994’s The Downward Spiral, would go on to even greater acclaim than his debut, and it’s considered by many to be his magnum opus.

Music: “Reptile”

Given its greater emphasis on guitar-driven noise-scapes, and its concept album style narrative, chronicling its protagonist’s descent into madness, I completely understand why the rock criticism establishment is high on this album. In what will probably go down as one of my most controversial opinions, I really don’t care for The Downward Spiral very much at all, precisely because it fits the “rock album” mould so much more than albums like Pretty Hate Machine. Give me the EBM beats any day of the week.

My favourite track on Pretty Hate Machine is its closing track, “Ringfinger.” While “Ringfinger” is yet another toxic relationship-themed number, I like the emphasis on work or labour in its lyrics. The context is quite different, but I’d like to think it has a hint of that working-class consciousness of industrial’s European forebears. Musically, I think this song’s outro is to die for. It closes out the album with some impressively cacophonous rhythm, almost ridiculous in the density of how many loops are playing at once--and yet it works! Overall, I think the percussion tracks throughout the whole album are really remarkable, despite often being overlooked by critics. That’s all I have for today--thanks for watching!

Music: “Ringfinger”

[minijenn]

Universe Falls turns 5 years old this week

I was 19 when I started it and still in college, in the throes of depression bc I hated college and wanted out even during the start of my sophomore year. I was homesick and had only a handful of friends bc I was shy as fuck back then and terrified of rejection (and had gone from a small pond back in high school where I was fairly popular to being an absolute nobody in college). I really, really fucking hated it during my freshman year and in particular and begged my dad to let me come home and go to college there instead of thousands of miles away. But for better or worse he made me stick it out even though I was absolutely miserable. But if there was anything that got me through that horrible freshman year it was my discovery of two shows: 

Steven Universe and Gravity Falls

I binged SU first, having seen it when it first aired back in 2013 but then got back on the bandwagon for it around the time its first season ended, which was when I became a devout fan. GF was something I discovered through tumblr, I watched it not long after Not What He Seems premiered and fell in love hard and fast. I would spend hours watching and rewatching these episodes, reading fics and fan theories, speculating on what was going to happen next. Never before in my life had I ever discovered two shows that brought be so much joy and comfort until these two came into my life. I loved these characters, felt like they were the friends I knew I was lacking even though they were fictional. But they felt real, they felt alive to me. 

So fast forward to August/September 2015. I had just started my sophomore year and so far wasn’t having any better of a time than I had when I was a freshman. I still clung onto GF and SU as new, very exciting episodes were airing for both (that was the month we got the Last Mabelcorn and Catch and Release, for reference’s sake). And then, one night, while I was falling asleep in my cramp dorm room I shared with a roommate I couldn’t stand, the thought occurred to me: 

What if you brought these two things you loved so much... together?

It was a random thought, almost insignificant, but in the days that followed, I just couldn’t shake it. And the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to see these characters interact, the more I wanted to see their plots intertwine, the more I knew I was the one who had to write this since GF and SU crossovers were pretty scarce back then (unlike they are now in the new wave of SUF and GF crossovers that I don’t much care for). 

I was in the midst of a writing funk at the time, my ongoing Zelda fics all on hitaus while I began a new year at college. I had more or less lost passion for most of them, with the majority of them except my HW fic receiving low numbers of reviews and feedback (back then I didn’t really know how to promote my fics like I do now). Even so, I started planning on this new project, but not without a bit of hesitation since I’d never really worked with GF or SU characters before. But I began plotting out a chapter list (the original UF chapter list has been lost to the ages, I wrote it in an old homework planner during class), and I had decided that I wanted to try my hand at making this thing a comic. A hand drawn comic. And given that my drawing abilities were... subpar at best, yeaaaaah it wasn’t the best idea....

Still, I got through two parts of UF’s “first chapter” and posted them on here (they’re still up somewhere if you wanna go back and cringe hardcore at my bad old art). Still, it had taken me a loooooong ass time to draw them and even more crazy was the fact that my laptop had crashed during that span of time, leaving me with only my shitty iPad to work with. Frustrated, I decided to forego the stupid comic altogether and write the damn thing as a fanfic, knowing I could get chapters out way faster than I ever would have by drawing it. 

So I wrote the prologue and posted it on September 29, 2015. And let’s just say right off the bat people were excited. I’d never seen so many reviews on the first chapter of one of my fics before and those numbers only started to go up the more I posted. I was jazzed up to work on this fic, pushed on by this encouragement as I decided to build my relatively reblogging-heavy blog up around it. Toward the end of the year, when I was nearing the end of arc 1, I decided to get myself a drawing tablet and download Sai so I could begin drawing my own art for the fic, leading to me first passes of character designs and UF’s old fugly cover lol

Still, I kept going with it into 2016, getting through both arcs 2 and 3 as the fic only began to grow more and more with more engagement from its fans. AUs were made, fanfics and fanarts of my fic were created, it was a glorious time to be alive, even going into 2017, 2018, 2019, and now. And all the while I kept at it, coming up with sequel plans, taking breaks every now and then to refresh and recoup, and to give the new pet project I started in 2019 (Keys to the Kingdom) some time to shine. But I’ve still never truly lost passion for UF. It’s something I tend to see through to completion, no matter how long it takes.

Fast forward again and now its 2020. I’m 24 years old and still going strong with it, having just completed RMD, an arc ender that I always hoped would be my magnum opus for this fic (and I’m so incredibly proud of how it turned out). Both GF and SU have ended, their stories both told and their endings inspiring me in so many different ways. And while those stories are over, I still strive to keep these characters, or perhaps, my own unique takes on them, living on to tell new stories, to have new adventures right alongside the canon ones. To keep their flames going in the same spirit and hopefully try to follow, even in some small way, in the footsteps of Rebecca Sugar and Alex Hirsch, two of my absolute heroes in the animation world. 

So UF turns 5 this week. It’s half a decade old and it’s nearing its 100th chapter. Its passed the 1 million word mark quite some time ago and I’m sure it’ll pass 2 million before its all said and done. It’s accumulated thousands of reviews, hundreds of followers/favorites, plenty of incredible fan interactions across the board. It’s 9th arc is about to begin, leading the way into 2 more before its all said and done. And from there it’ll only grow when I eventually write UF2 and UFF sometime way down the line. All things I could have never imagined doing as a lonely college sophomore back in 2015 when I was just starting this fun little experiment off. But as for where we are with it no, well, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

So here we are in the future. And, well, for UF at least, I’d say it’s pretty bright. 

[sweetjekyll]

Writerly contemplation tag!

tagged by the lovely @j-pping; thank you for the tag!

this might end up being long so I’ll add a read more cut ☺️

2020

what was the most challenging part of writing this year?

I guess the most challenging part of writing this year was tuning out the real world. I’ve always used reading and writing as a form of coping and escapism from all the things that were troubling me. Unfortunately there were times when simply reading and writing weren’t helping me and I took so many breaks, postponed so many WIPs I was excited about... I ended up beating myself down for not being able to keep up with an expectation I had for myself and my writing. Considering 2020 was hell for everyone, I came to terms with myself that it cannot be always my fault, I can’t blame myself for not being able to do things I set my mind to do, sometimes there are obstacles that take time for you to cross.

I’m just going to quickly mention stressful anons and hopefully get a point across for all fan fictions writers. WE ARE NOT ROBOTS. WE ARE HUMAN. All of us write for many personal reasons, mine are that I just love writing things which I wish to read! Simple as that. What I wish for some rude people to understand is that the least you could do for us creators is be thankful and be kind to us, give feedback and constructive criticism, share our work. I don’t understand why you are scared of the reblog button. When I go through my notes and take a look at some blogs, they are empty. No one is paying us to contribute creatively to the fandom, you are enjoying our content for free while we put hard work and our free time into it, so why should we “hurry up”, “update faster” and “write more/this/that”? Please, remember that we are people too, and the toxicity some people spread on anonymous asks is just incredibly baffling and hurtful to me. If you, as a reader, believe that my request is nonsense and my words are too harsh, then perhaps you should reconsider how you’re viewing content creators before disagreeing without a valid reason.

what was the most enjoyable/rewarding part of writing this year?

The happiness that came from writing something which I enjoyed reading as well! I have been a writer for years on another platform until I had to take a long hiatus because of writer’s block and depression. For how cheesy this may sound, the most enjoyable and rewarding part of writing is in fact writing something that makes me happy even if I’m torturing my characters and traumatizing them. There is truly no point for me to write things that I don’t feel I am enjoying. As I have said other times before on the blog, I would much rather post something that makes me happy, than post something just to get notes from silent readers.

what piece has left the most impact on you and why?

Given the fact that I have not written a lot because of my constant mental health breaks (yes 2020 had me on rollercoaster mental breakdowns more often than usual), I have to say that Damaged is what really kept me entertained with myself and perhaps sane. It has been way too long since I’ve taken on something so creative as building an entire universe from just a dream, but it’s what reminded me why I love writing so much, it reignited my passion. With this story I really wanted to challenge myself to write something unique, something I’ve never done before with any other work... And I admit it’s quite difficult; the easiest part was taking inspiration from EXO’s lore, but the hardest was incorporating it in a universe and storyline completely different to the original concept. It’s something I’m set on finishing as a complete multi-chapter story no matter how long it takes.

what have you learned about yourself through the process of writing in the past year?

To be completely honest, I learned that I can push myself out of my comfort zone when writing, because every piece is a fictional world of its own, every character can be more than a copy and paste personality. What do I truly learn about myself if I don’t explore things I have not thought about before? I learned that I should not be afraid to write of things that I don’t know or fully understand, specifically about things that I didn’t post but tried for just for fun. It is a good way of finding out whether a certain subjects interests me or doesn’t. I love doing lots of research and gather information for the stories I’m writing, you get to learn about stuff you usually would never think about.

how has your writing changed in the past year? how have you grown?

Well, I don’t really have anything to compare my writing to except my older fan fictions for movies and tv shows. I guess I have changed quite a lot since 2018; my writing style has become more fluid, at least I think it has. I’m also able to write longer chapters without feeling as if I am dragging it out for the sake of the word count, yet now I have to literally stop myself from just writing too much! It pleases me, to be honest. I remember struggling to sometimes put ideas into words and balance narrative, dialogue and descriptions.

2021

ignoring your wips for a second, if you had all the time and energy in the world to write your magnum opus piece, what would it be about? why is that the dream story you’d write, all other things controlled for?

This can go back to Damaged, honestly! It’s something that I haven’t finished writing and it will be a long story. It’s the fan fiction which has gotten me out of a 2-year-long writer’s block with such strength, I feel truly attached to it. As I mentioned in one of my first answers for 2020, this is the WIP I want to focus on the most and be proud of it.

how do you want to grow in your writing this year?

I mentioned this is my first 2021 post after I took a short break, but one of my resolutions for this year is to work on self acceptance when it comes to my projects. (I’ll copy and paste what I wrote there so I don’t repeat myself with other words) One of my resolutions for 2021 is to write more, to not be afraid of beginning something and even if I end up setting the story aside, at least I will have gotten it out on (digital) paper. I punish myself way too much when I’m not able to finish something, and that is truly one of the worst things a content creators can go through, in my opinion. I have many drafted works that may or may never be published and I wish to appreciate them more instead of dwelling on the fact of what they could have been.

what’s one thing you’d wish to see in the fan-writing community this year?

I wish for more love and recognition of the amazing and talented writers that share their content with everyone on tumblr. We are a community, or at least we are supposed to be. I would absolutely love to see more readers actively interacting with writers, share ideas, share art inspired by what you read! As readers, you can contribute as well by sharing moodboards, song recommendations and/or playlists! You are more than welcome to join us in the community as writers too! 

As for myself, I have mentioned this towards last year but I still want to compile a list of all the writers I am currently following and read their works. I haven’t been in a good mindset to do that for a long time and I wish to get to know them. I’m a pretty shy person who struggles to start up a conversation, so I hope I get to make some friends on tumblr this year!

name one new thing you want to try doing in your writing this year.

I would like to make a list of aus and experiment with them for either one shots or some short series! I have so many creative ideas and thoughts but I always forget to take a note or maybe I’m doing something else and I end up getting caught up in a stream of consciousness, until I lose the initial spark. Also mentioned plenty of times, I would love to write for other groups, like nct, but for now I’ll focus on exo.

✨✨✨

anyway, that was it for my writerly contemplation tag!

I’m tagging a few fellow writers, but feel free to ignore for any reason! sorry if I forgot someone but feel free to do this even if I didn’t tag you!! @pororodks @velvetsehun @yeoldontknow @yeagerluvr @soos-goddess @shaalk @mooneylooney1 @dewbebe

[sepublic]

Does anyone ever have this happen to them, where... You start writing a fanfic based off of another series, or whatever.

But this fanfic... You end up making a bunch of OCs for it. You take a character who admittedly doesn’t have too much of a personality in the original canon content, and expand on them- Expand on them wildly, or outright reimagine them completely. And you do this to multiple other obscure characters from that series that barely anybody remembers, not even the creators and writers. 

You establish an intricate network of lore, world building, and in-universe systems. You have a deep, complex plot with plenty of character interaction and development, themes and narratives, and so forth, ALL within this one fanfic that was just meant to be a spin-off story, with enough room left so it could be hypothetically canon, or at least not contradict the current canon too much.

Eventually, what started off as this small, short little story you did for fun becomes its own thing. Its own world, with its own diverse cast of characters, factions, and so forth. There’s an intricate timeline of events, of increasing scale and relevance. One-off characters who were barely even named in the original series are suddenly reinvented into complex, fully three-dimensional people with their own backstories, motivations, and desires. They’re practically your own OCs at this point, if it weren’t for the names and appearance; And sometimes only one of the two!

You have your own fully-intricate storyline and premise laid out, with a beginning, middle, and conclusion. It’s all in place...

And then you remember this was supposed to be a one-off, spin-off fanfic that doesn’t directly contradict the canon of the series you were a fan of. At which point, seeing how other people make OCs, and considering the potential of total creative freedom...

...Why not just make it your own thing?

Sure, a few characters may have to be renamed, slightly redesigned, and so on and so forth. You’d probably have to change the lore a bit to not so blatantly mirror the original series you wrote about. But otherwise, this is basically your own original creation, right? So why not embrace the newfound independence for your WIP, let it be its own thing and establish its own name? And, since you’ve got a few other bare-bones WIPs, why not incorporate them in the new lore to fill out the gaps left by the original canon of the series you were a fan of?

That... That’s basically what’s happening with my Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon Trilogy.

For context; I like Lego Ninjago. Loved the theme growing up as a kid, and it was SUPER influential in making me the story-teller and artist I am today. It’s what initially inspired me to write, honestly, and it was by writing fanfics that I was able to complete a story of my own for the first time in my entire life! My first completed story was the first ‘installment’ in this trilogy, ~The Adventures of Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon~!

(Yeah, I was trying to be pretentious as a kid in adding those squiggles. Ordinarily I wouldn’t include them now, but they’re so nostalgic and something I’m so used to that I’ve decided to keep them in anyway. Sue me.)

And then my second completed story; The next installment of this trilogy, ~The Tales of Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon~! tToLMG is special to me in that it was supposed to be about the length of the first story... But then somewhere along the way, it became a little over 1,900 pages.

I don’t mean to brag, but at the same time... It IS something I’m proud of, and honestly, I’d say tToLMG is my Magnum Opus of sorts. It’s the story with the most time, character, emotion, planning, pain, and sweat and tears put into it. I’ve had my fingers ache typing that story, planning things out... I truly felt the thrill of writing with this one. I was triumphant when I finally finished it, and boy was I excited for ~The Chronicles of Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon~, the bigger and badder final installment, the conclusion to the prequel trilogy! And even THAT was nothing compared to the plans I had for hypothetical future waves and enemies for Ninjago, all tying back to previously-established lore and characters!

But then...

...WELL, things didn’t turn out so well. I guess I just lost my passion, my spark for writing, or something like that. I lost my flow and touch, I became frustrated, and I’ve since taken a multiple-year hiatus on it that’s lasted since late 2015. If we want to be technical, I did try rewriting tCoLMG from scratch, but I haven’t quite been satisfied with those attempts. I won’t deny that I came across my limits as a writer, and while I feel like I’ve improved, I’m still not quite ready to go back. I don’t think I’ll ever be, to be honest; The fact of the matter is, amidst me reimagining the story and characters, there’s just way too much to account for. PLUS, I already have other WIPs, like Bionicle: RaE.

But for now, I think it’s more or less official- The Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon trilogy, and my planned stories beyond those prequel fics, are now going to be their own independent series, separate from Ninjago. I still love Ninjago, don’t get me wrong, but clearly I have a different vision than Lego, and that’s perfectly fine. I mean, my version of Lloyd himself is a completely different character than the Lego version at this point, and HE’s the main character!

So, yeah- Just as a heads-up, for anyone who remembers or is curious about those last few art-pieces I posted, about T, Yelatem, and Arakchos... They were all originally part of a spin-off fanfic, but now they’re part of their own, separate, original series. I’m a little excited to how I’ll reimagine and restructure what I’ve planned, especially now that I feel like I’ve matured as a writer and person, and been exposed to other forms of media that have helped inspire me on a creative level!

As for what this new ‘series’ of mine will be called, I’m still figuring that out. I’ve got a few prototype names, such as Goldenchigo; What that means, I still don’t know, but it sounds cool and distinct so I like it! There’s also Golden Dream... or alternatively, Golden-Heart Dream. 

One thing is certain; I’ll probably, finally get back to exploring the concept of this original story I made for myself. And, hey, with plans sort of changing now that the LMG Trilogy is its own thing in its own universe, maybe I can talk about the plans I had for tCoLMG, even reveal some characters I never got to post or write about properly! I’ll probably do that AFTER I finish transcribing tToLMG to Ao3, though, and THAT’s going to take a while; And I don’t intend to do that until quite a while later, whenever that is!

[iturbide]

@cianidix replied to your post:

That would-be Ace Attorney fic sounds awesome :o                             

You know, despite the fact that I was mostly a non-presence in the AA fandom back in its heyday, the series is still very near and dear to my heart.  I actually wrote a ton of fic for the series once upon a time (recently I went digging through a lot of it while looking through other old writing; I even posted the old intro to Crime of Passion while I was looking through that stuff -- it’s the last chunk in this particular post), and part of me really does want to go back and pick up some of those old ideas someday -- but this one in particular has a special place in my heart.  When I think about this series and my engagement with it, that’s the fic that always comes immediately to mind, and barring the unexpected I really do think that’ll be my magnum opus for Ace Attorney on the whole.

Of course, there’s no telling when I’m actually going to get it written, or even get it completely planned out -- so there’s no harm in talking about it a little.

To start: it is canon-compliant up through AA3, at which point I just omit the case that would lead to AA4 because Phoenix needs to keep his badge.  He’s a good man and a good defense attorney and I’m not putting him through that if I don’t have to.  So he keeps his career, which is good, and Edgeworth decides to stick around rather than heading off to parts unknown again.

As is expected with an Ace Attorney case, everything is convoluted.  That’s just the Nature of the Series.  And a lot of things hinge on seemingly inconsequential bits and pieces of information -- apparent mistakes or oversights, little things that get overlooked, information that changes context once new evidence comes to light.  But, as is maybe expected of me by this point, character relationships are the backbone of everything, and the relationships here run deep.

I’ve always felt a very strong sibling connection between Nick and Maya.  They banter and biker and tease each other in a way that feels so much like family; there’s a kindness to the fact that even though Maya loses so much over the course of those three games, she still has family in the form of Pearl and Nick.  Despite the fact that she’s going through her Spirit Medium training, I’ve always loved the idea that she wanted to honor her big sister’s memory, too, and applied herself in her spare time to studying for the bar exam so that she could become a defense attorney, too.

Meanwhile, for all that I love Phoenix and Miles as a couple, I can’t help but imagine that things would be...difficult, at first.  Despite his marked improvement over the course of three games, Edgeworth still tends to keep people at arm’s length, avoiding emotional attachments to a fairly significant degree -- let’s not forget, this is the man who feigned his own death and then ran off almost immediately after his return to more parts unknown, returning only when he got word that Phoenix was in dire straits.  He seems to have trouble understanding some of his own emotions (not unreasonable, honestly, given how he was raised), and therefore tries to keep them out of everything he does, personal and professional; not only that, he struggles with a need for control (again, this is very much a product of his upbringing where perfection was a requirement), and doesn’t deal well with losing it.  And all of this plays into his personal life, as much as the professional one: for all that he and Phoenix are spending more time together, in and out of the courtroom, and for all that Phoenix cares deeply about Miles, Edgeworth keeps him emotionally at arm’s length, willing to broach something like friendship but never more.

Phoenix doesn’t deal well with that.  If the games have shown us anything, it’s that Nick holds nothing back when it comes to his heart.  He puts his all into every case, believing with everything he is in his clients’ innocence -- which is why finding that one is truly guilty of the crime they’ve been accused of comes as such a crushing blow.  Even if it was mostly a puppy crush, Phoenix still put his very life on the line to try and keep Dahlia from being charged with murder, and his devastation and heartbreak when he thought that Edgeworth really had died led him to lash out at the man when he found out that it was just a ruse.  Phoenix loves wholeheartedly: he’s just not capable of doing anything less.  It means he has some pretty steep emotional needs, though, and with Edgeworth maintaining that distance...it wears on him.  Badly.

Relationships are not easy things.  They require time, care, understanding, and effort to maintain.  And if only one side is putting in that labor, things are bound to crumble and fail eventually.  And that’s where Crim of Passion starts: with Phoenix reaching the very limits of his ability to endure and starting to fail.  He and Miles routinely face one another in court, and though private matters should stay private, it’s difficult to entirely displace private feelings in public settings.  Things get...tense in court: barbs are cast in the halls outside, implications made toward the prosecution’s ill conduct toward the defense, and low blows dealt against the defense’s capabilities.  The bad feelings linger through the case, simmering away on both sides...and Phoenix realizes that there won’t be reconciliation this time.  He’s too tired of putting in all the work, of always being the one to accept and forgive, and getting nothing back in exchange.

So when Miles calls him to make amends, Phoenix intends to tell him that this is the end.  That he can’t go on this way anymore.

But before he can, someone arrives at the office.  And the last thing Edgeworth hears before the line goes dead are shots fired.

Despite his best efforts, Miles is by no means immune to his emotions.  Without ever meaning to, Phoenix has gotten so much closer to him than he ever intended, slipping past his guard without the prosecutor noticing.  The sound of gunshots sends him racing to the defense attorney’s office, where he finds bullet holes in the window and a blood trail on the floor, ending at the street...but when he calls the police to report a crime, he’s the one taken into custody as a suspect, a decision motivated by the known enmity between prosecution and defense.  So once again, Miles finds himself behind bars -- only this time, Phoenix isn’t there to defend him; and once again, Maya has to confront the death of someone she loves, and her internal conflict as she tries to provide Edgeworth the defense counsel he deserves is enough to tear her apart.

[theonceoverthinker]

"Can You Deny Us the Triumph in Store?" (Rumbelle) (1/?)

Summary: The lifeblood of Belle’s very existence is the opera. Since her mother introduced it to her at five years old, she’s loved it with all her heart. Now, as a grown woman with dreams of writing the Paris Opera House’s next great success and a magnum opus nearing its completion, she’ll need to contend with obstacles almost more dramatic than the work of fiction she pens. Things take a turn when two men take an interest in her work, and suddenly, Belle finds herself on a journey of trust, forgiveness, and perhaps even love. 

AO3           Fanfiction.net

A/N: Hi! This is my first ever Rumbelle fic -- happy to be here with all you lovely folks!

I started this idea from the jumping off point of “Could a Rumbelle ‘Phantom of the Opera’ AU work in a scenario where Rumple was Raoul?” As a longtime Phantom of the Opera fan (All versions), I feel like over the years, I’ve grown to not only like, but really respect and admire the Christine/Raoul pairing and that’s something I wanted to play around with here. And what I came up with ended up feeling pretty true to Rumple and Belle’s characters as well as a fun mix of OUAT, Beauty and the Beast, and of course, The Phantom of the Opera, all alongside a different, more shorthand-based writing style that I’m really excited to try out here. I hope you feel the same way about it too!

Tagging @mrs-stiltskin! If you want to be tagged in future installments as well, please let me know!

()()()()()()()()()()

CHAPTER ONE: MELODIE DE PARIS

The year 1890 exists within an age of discoveries, an epoch that sheds light on all manners of beauty. From walks of human life across the world’s surface, possibilities of exactly what people can create with their hands, minds, and hearts are explored in a way they’ve never been before. And of all the lands that this age touches, few places capture the modern ideals of this time better than the city of lights. Paris is experiencing a renaissance of art, music, vibrancy, and knowledge, and the epitome of the city’s progress and lust for life and love is the Paris Opera House. What lays inside the doors of this majestic theatre is a bustling community in itself with all manner of singers, dancers, designers of every kind, stagehands, business people, and others who rush across halls, stages, and balconies as they go about living their lives. 

It is in this palace of music -- where the creative people of Paris come to make magic a reality -- a woman, underestimated in all that she does, but exceptional in what she brings life into spends her days.

Her name is Belle Ébréché.

Belle Ébréché, a woman of twenty-three years, is a dancer at the Paris Opera House. For hours upon hours every day, whether at the behest of an audience or not, she and ten other girls work their feet to the bone as they further strive to perfect their craft. However, her dream is not fulfilled -- not completely in any event. While talented on her feet, definitely enough to earn her keep in the ballet, her ambitions don’t lie with her toes to the floor of a stage. Instead, they reside with a quill that’s as much a part of her body as her lungs to a sheet of parchment...for you see, Belle wishes to write an opera.

Belle’s love of the opera began relatively early, though not through her eventual chosen avenue of expression itself at first. No, the seeds of her love of stories and storytelling were originally planted by her mother, Colette. Night after night starting from her first evening wails, Belle was sent off to the realm of dreams with passages from books that soothed and lulled her to sleep just as well as the very cradle that held her form. And as she grew, Belle’s love of books created an equal love for the imaginations of men and women and their many artistic achievements. Finally, when she was five, as if the heavens themselves arranged it to forever cement that love, Belle was introduced to something that would forever change her life -- The Opera.

While Belle had always loved stories, operas were stories taken to a new level. They were windows to lives she could never dream of that not only painted vivid visions in her mind of stories, characters, and lines, but allowed those visions to exist in a way even her imagination couldn’t accomplish. As Belle took in all the opera had to offer, she was entranced by the sets that took her to foreign lands, the sweeping tales of romance, history, and adventure, and the music that made her heart swell and unlock emotions never before known to her. By the time her first opera, “Béatrice et Bénédict” was through, Belle knew she wanted nothing more in life than to be a part of the experience that opened her world to new possibilities.

However, such happiness, as happiness tends to be, was too good to last. After two years of bi-annual trips to the opera, following the death of the very source of that happiness, they stopped. Collette’s passing left Belle crushed and while grief overtook most of her headspace, her determination to become part of the opera was still as present as ever. Now, it was her deepest wish -- no, more than that. Now, it was her destiny, one Belle knew her mother would want for her.

But Belle found herself quite alone in that mindset. 

As her convictions and desires for a life in the opera grew ever stronger, her father, Maurice’s patience for her passions only weakened. In truth, complications between Maurice and Belle weren’t uncommon even when Colette was still alive, but with a mother and a wife taken from them, a crucial part of their bond went with her.

And part of that waning bond was a disregard for Belle’s passion for the arts, which he deemed as ‘flights of fantasy.’ Maurice was never won over by operas to begin with, but grief turned his indifference into a means to mock his daughter. For years, that misery is how they went about their days, and while Maurice had fully succumbed to feelings of bitterness, Belle fought them off in the name of achieving her life’s purpose.

But even the strongest of resolves could grow weary under the constant duress of those without faith in them. Eventually, after years of enduring such constant belittling, Belle understood that her only hope for peace and a true chance at following her dream was to leave home. So, with only some scant essentials and a few mementos of her mother, Belle took off for where she knew her calling would be: The Paris Opera House. 

The night Belle arrived at the Opera House was cold and damp, the product of a miserable storm. With wet clothes and shoes that plopped against the charcoal-colored rain, she stepped towards the building. It was only than a feeling of unease set in Belle’s heart. Apart from a love of opera, she had no experience in performance -- just a few pages of ideas for operas. 

What would The Paris Opera House of all places want with her?

Had she made a mistake running from home?

Struck by fear, Belle drifted towards a curb by the eastern side of the building, huddling her shoulders close to her for the first time since the rain fell, but for reasons she knew had nothing to do with the trickling water. She sat down on the curb and looked ahead at the dream that was now so close to her, but quite possibly impossible to ask for.

As Belle started shaking in fear, a door opened, glowing Belle and the curb she sat on with a hue of oak. And from out of that door stepped a girl, no older than Belle, holding a bag of what looked to be garbage as she looked towards a disposal bin not far from where Belle sat. The girl wore a rose-colored dress and upon seeing Belle, concern overtook her features. 

She came over to Belle, and offered her hand, introducing herself as Ruby. With a gentleness Belle hadn’t truly felt since she last saw her mother, Ruby asked what she was doing in the rain. Upon hearing Belle’s story, Ruby took Belle’s shoulder into her hand and invited her inside The Opera House, saying that she would take care of her.

And take care of her is exactly what Ruby did. 

Ruby was a young dancer-in-training, and her grandmother Madame Lucas, a dance instructor. And she just happened to know of an opening that needed filling for another new dancer.

It was late at night when Belle met Madame Lucas. While originally grouchy at the prospect of a spontaneous visitor, Madame Lucas quickly came around upon seeing Belle’s fragile and wet form, welcoming her into the room where the ballet dancers slept. The following morning, after Belle had the chance to explain what brought her to the Paris Opera House, Madame Lucas invited her to train alongside Ruby and the other dancers. There, she would live, train, and work under her care. Madame Lucas warned Belle that it would be hard work, but it seemed that even her attempts to appear tough on Belle seemed to only be a facade, she seemed to immediately know that Belle would be up to the challenge. 

And Belle, to this day, makes her living at The Paris Opera House, practicing and performing alongside Ruby and some of Paris’ finest dancers, a population that now includes them. Belle and the others work Madame Lucas’ regimen as if it were second nature. And through years upon years spent perfecting her craft and furthering her studies, she’s grown far more experienced in the ways of The Opera House. She now knows what it’s like to work from dawn to dusk and retire for the evening with barely the ability to speak. She now knows what it’s like to repeat the same moves dozens upon dozens of times and still see Madame Lucas unsatisfied. She now knows what it’s like to wait in anticipation of the latest reviews of the newest operas, understanding that her very way of life could be on the line should things go sour.

But Belle still loves all things having to do with the opera. In fact, she loves it even more than she did when she first heard those opening orchestral notes all those years ago. 

Now though, her dream is more focused. She’s not about to give up her work in the ballet so soon, but Belle knows her destiny is to not dance in operas, but to pen them. 

She’s the only one who thinks so either. Ruby and Madame Lucas know she’s talented, too. Whether intentional or not, Belle’s made it rather easy for them to follow her work. They hear her comment on the stories and compositions of the operas they perform with the intelligence of Paris’ most talented writers. It’s impossible for either of them to not notice Belle stay up well past curfew most every night scribbling and tossing away pages of filled sheets of music and scripts, and ones that are already pretty good at that. The way Belle hums invisible notes only to excuse herself from dinner and rush to write them down in one of her notebooks is predictable to the point of mundanity. 

And she’s only getting better.

Lately, fewer and fewer pieces of paper are being thrown away. Complete lyrics and melodies are being muttered, hummed, and sung under Belle’s breath. Story threads are finally starting to come together and make sense. One night, Madame Lucas sneaks a peek at the notebook Belle’s been frequenting the most lately as an excited Ruby -- who may or may not have told her where it was -- waits just outside for details. 

Yes, Belle’s shaping up to be quite the talented composer -- a stand out creator of her era.

However, nothing’s that simple.

No matter the year nor all the undiscovered wonders of this world that entice those who yearn for them, the brilliant ideas of women are fought every step of the way for their day in the sun, if they’re even listened to at all. Belle’s works, unfortunately, are no exception. She’s regularly brushed off by the managers every time she requests that they so much as look at or listen to one of her songs.

But fuel is only added to the fires of Belle’s difficulties as she’s forced to not only compete for the management’s attention with the operatic composers of the past who haunt her like ghosts with their established renown, but with a modern composer who haunts her present. For all she knows -- nor cares -- he knows not of her existence, but she’s more than familiar of his. His operas have been performed four times in as many years. He oversees each and every one of them, combing over details and punishing anyone he finds to be subpar and vulnerable, like a hawk waiting to snatch up his prey. Those who toil to meet his almost impossible demands consider him a manager in his own right, one to be avoided and feared beyond either of the two actual yielders of the title. But for as utterly charmless as he is to all beneath him, nothing is done to hinder his merciless mission for perfection at any cost. This is because in addition to being the Opera House’s rising star, he’s also its most generous patron.

So despite Belle’s talents with a quill, through no fault of her own, this game of patriarchal superiority and wealth leaves her outmatched to the point of making her naught but an obscurity in the grander scope of the Opera House.

After all, just how can she compete with the likes of Bertrand, the Vicomte de Friper?

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Bertrand de Friper isn’t a people person. 

His personality is often deemed as “testy” at best, his appearance is rather unconventional, and his ancestry leaves a lot to be desired.

It’s a multi-layered problem.

That’s not to say that there exist no advantages to being him. After all, what does a Vicomte have if not money, and all the power, influence, and sometimes freedom that money can grant?

An Opera House isn’t an easy place to spend one’s days when they’re not a people person. However, when one’s chosen to dedicate their life to creating operas, where else could they go?

Composing operas does something for Bertrand that nothing else finds itself able to do -- it gives him something that’s all his own. It gives him something clean of his family’s influence — apart from the money used to finance it — and a chance at a legacy that might not be as tarnished as it would be without it. 

Opera speaks to Bertrand -- its blending of performances, sets, design, and musical numbers allows room for complexity. His works aim for that same complexity, as it’s a complexity he sees in himself, and because of that, he acts as if it’s a mirror of the very person he wishes he could be. And that inspires his every flick of the quill.

He’s more hands on than most other composers. Bertrand knows that to be true. In his own defense though, most other composers are no longer around to see their work come to life. 

So why should he waste his time as nothing more than a silent creator when he can do so much more to make them as majestic as he knows they could be? He’s written and paid for these operas and damnit, he’s going to make sure his vision sees the light of day in the exact way he wants it to! And if that means he’s gonna sit in on every rehearsal and talk the managers’ ears off and nitpick the lighting whenever he finds the slightest flaw, then he’ll do it with all the gusto of a late December’s snowstorm. And he’ll fire anyone who refuses to meet his demands without the backbone to tell him why they can’t be so.

But understandably, it also does no good for Bertrand because that work is the closest thing he’s got to any manner of a real social life, and that cruelty does little to better himself as something even resembling a people person. And his family is of little help in breeding any genetic social charisma, whether through genetics or renown. His parents are rather cutthroat and it’s given them a bit of a reputation that’s followed Bertrand socially. 

Things have never been easy with his family. They’re rich and have a status of nobility, but that status has come from means that were...less than admirable. There are rumors -- some true, some not -- of deals made under the table with much of the city’s criminal underbelly, raises in savings at their bank that line up just too closely with news of a robbery at a bank not two miles down the road, and price gouging at legal firms that the patriarch of the Friper family just happens to own. But money is money. Their titles were granted more out of obligation because of their wealth than any interest in making them part of high society, and it shows to this day. They’re often shunned, but never directly -- kind of in that indirect way that the upper class tend to do. They’ll always be invited to a party, but tables had a way of never having enough space for one of them and invites for other gathering to elude their grasps.

However, Bertrand’s parents liked to show that right back in the most passive aggressive and manipulative ways.

...And maybe he did too.

Okay, he definitely did.

And that’s why, for all his success in business and art, Bertrand de Friper is not a people person.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

The Paris Opera House is often bustling, but never has it been as bustling than the week following the managers’ abruptly announced retirement. 

What kind of long-standing managers only give a week’s notice before retiring?

Well, they’ve never been the greatest communicators -- that’s what Belle’s grasped at least over her tenure here -- and so now, thanks to their rash decision, the entire Opera House drops everything and scrambles to arrange some sort of send off for them. Madame Lucas has them up early every day practicing to put on a dance from one of their favorite operas. The breaks aren’t plentiful and by the end of the day, Belle has to find the strength to eat dinner before she falls asleep. Outside of their space, Belle can hear stringing and tuning of instruments most everywhere she goes and stagehands arguing with each other and gossiping about who's taking over. It’s all quite hectic. 

Everyone’s relieved when the change is finally made and the new managers take up their posts. Those not forced by their positions to socialize with the new management take off for desperately needed breaks and those unfortunate enough to need look like they’re in need of a nap as they push themselves towards their new bosses.

The new managers seem okay. Belle’s not overly optimistic that this management team will be any more receptive to her ideas than the old ones were, but she’ll take a gamble on that in due time. For now, though, it seems like everyone and their mother who holds a higher position than a dancer, a chorus girl, or a stagehand wants to talk to them, so Belle’s content waiting. 

As a matter of fact, Belle’s more than content waiting. In all the business of the past week, she’s had to neglect her opera. But now, there’s time to work on it, and Belle’s not about to waste even a second of her newly recovered free time.

Melodies swim through her mind like guppies in a school. Things have been coming together on one of her final uncompleted pieces so nicely. She almost can’t stand how proud she is of her own work.  

In her excitement, Belle allows a few bars to escape her lips and movements leave her feet as she casually makes her way back to her room.

But all the while as she lightly sings and moves through her trip, Belle, for the briefest of moments, finds herself unaware of the fact that she’s not the only member of her impromptu performance’s audience.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Bertrand’s not sure what to make of the new managers. They don’t seem too different than the old ones, but appearances are nothing but deceiving -- though if he’s to believe the opinions of most everyone he’s ever known, he’d likely believe that to be a lie.

He tries not to believe it himself.

Not one to give himself an air of brown nosing, Bertrand watches the new managers’ introductions from afar. While in truth, he’d wanted to wait a few days to further acquaint himself with his latest opera’s opening night on the horizon and nagging at him with the force of the sunlight on a hot summer’s day, Betrand knows he doesn’t have the luxury of delaying his introductions. So as soon as the company at large is dismissed for the day, Bertrand moves past stagehands, chorus girls, and ballet dancers alike as he sets out towards his new coworkers. At the very least, he wishes to find a later time when they can talk further, but he imagines that his status as The Opera House’s biggest patron will immediately garner himself the lion’s share of their attention. 

It’s by no means a fun way to spend an afternoon, but Bertrand focuses on how after today, he’ll be able to work to further perfect his opera once more.

And that is what’s going to get him through the day.

As Bertrand passes through the groups of gossiping men and women, something catches his ear -- something that makes him stop dead in his tracks. It’s a lone voice, within yet at the same time somehow distant from the crowd of dancers. Bertrand’s hearing is strong. It has to be for him to do his job as well as he does, but right now, the talent is being used to hone in on strings of notes and lyrics.

The melody he hears from that voice...Bertrand’s utterly captivated by it.

It’s exciting. 

It’s memorable.

But most of all, it’s different from everything he’s ever heard before.

Bertrand knows how rare compliments like that are. While he’s personally been no stranger to them, he’s well aware that so few composers in this age of discoveries have but only longed for words even close to them to be directed their way. 

And Bertrand himself -- by his own admission -- is a man of few compliments to spare on a good day. 

So for him to describe naught but a scant number of bars and lines in such a way, they are bars and lines that are truly something to behold.

He needs to know where the voice that produces such notes is yesterday.

Bertrand follows his ears like a leaf follows an autumn breeze’s path until he’s able to latch onto one woman. Her back is turned, but the fact that it’s her voice making such music is unmistakable by the way her feet move in time with her bursts of singing.

There’s no hesitation in Bertrand -- not an oddity, but also not a regularity by any means -- as he taps on the woman’s shoulder. She practically jumps in her spot, surprised, before turning around to face him.

If Bertrand is to describe his initial impression of the woman who stands before him during those first few seconds before they’ve exchanged a single word, it would be ‘soft.’ She seems surprised, but a residual happiness from her music is as clear as day on her face, creating a soft sense of contentment all around her. Soft dark brown curls cascade just below her soft shoulders deprived of nearly all manner of tension. A dress of a soft pink shade -- one that matches those worn by the other women of the ballet -- covers her form, giving her something of a heavenly air about her. Even as her sky-shaded eyes turn curious and almost dark whilst she takes him in, there’s still an unexplained softness to them.

And just like that, before he’s even talked to this woman, Bertrand de Friper’s absolutely smitten with her.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

If there’s anything that can absolutely ruin Belle’s day, it’s a reminder that Bertrand de Friper exists.

That said, seeing him appear before her, smiling of all things...is strange. 

Belle’s been lucky to have never had direct contact with him thus far in her opera career. Most of his critiques towards the ballet have been made through Madame Lucas. Belle, Ruby, and the rest of the ballet have seen many a heated debate between them over choreography, schedules, and positions. Yes, Madame Lucas may answer to him on some level, but he does not by any means control her and she’s not at all afraid to stand up for herself. Belle admires that.

Bertrand de Friper, however, is someone that she does not admire.

“Can I help you, Monsieur le Vicomte?” she asks, her tone perfectly even as to not show fear, but also to keep any sass on her end at bay. 

Scenarios play in her mind over what brings his attention to her of all people. Was her dancing off during the old manager’s send off performance? Is there an issue with her costume?

There’s an interesting glint in Bertrand’s eyes. He looks almost bewildered by her.

Belle can only hazard a guess at what that could possibly mean.

But if she’s honest, she’s beyond curious to find out.

“That music -- what you were singing and humming to -- what was that from?”

Out of all the questions Belle expects him to ask, that’s just about the last one on this Earth that she can think of.

She’s speechless. There have been times, she’ll admit, where she’s fantasized about what it would be like to be approached about her opera. Usually, they involve the managers, sometimes, it’s a singer, and rarely, it’s a director of another Opera House who then takes her to a far off exotic land where she can spend the rest of the days writing masterpieces with all the creative control she could ever ask for.

Never though have a single one of those fantasies involved Bertrand.

...Well, apart from a bit of gloating at him whilst reveling in her success, that is.

Despite preparing speeches and pitches in her mind right before she’s gone to sleep every night since she was twelve, she’s not sure how to answer now that a similar inquiry’s been thrown at her feet by the very last person she would expect it to come from.

It’s mostly a fear of a response, she reasons. Apart from the family she’s made with the Lucas’, most everyone involved in her life has mocked her dream in some way, shape, or form. She has a hard skin for it these days, but laughter still hurts and with the new managers having just started, it could be detrimental to her hopes of her work ever being heard out. 

But Bertrand has asked her a question and he’s just persnickety enough to bother her to the point of insanity if she lies or tries to dodge it.

Belle takes a sigh and speaks.

“I wrote it,” she says carefully. “It’s part of an opera I’m writing.”

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

An opera. 

This woman, a woman whose name he hasn’t even learned, is writing an opera.

It’s as if God above hasn’t already given Bertrand enough of a reason to fall for her.

She truly is a woman after his own heart.

And dammit, she’s succeeding in the endeavor. 

Bertrand feels himself smile. It’s been a while since he’s done that for a reason outside of his own success in quite some time. His face crinkles to reflect his bewilderment.

He’s simply amazed.

She’s written an opera, and by those bits of music he’s been blessed enough to hear, it’s one that may very well have no rival.

“I can’t believe it.” An innocent laughter bubbles under his throat. “Th-” 

The words he’s about to say die on his lips.

Her expression has changed from skeptical to enraged in a single heartbeat.

Crap. 

Bertrand’s never been the most straightforward man when it comes to communicating his approval of others and their works -- a rarity in its own right. 

And unfortunately, the meaning behind his words has been once more betrayed as a result of that.

He rushes to elaborate on his intentions, but he’s not offered the chance.

“Excuse me!” the woman interrupts, a fire in her speech that matches the flames that burn behind her ice-colored eyes as she all but shouts her protest. “How DARE you imply that it’s somehow unbelievable for me to write an opera?” A finger points directly in the direction of Bertrand’s nose, unwavering and menacing. 

Fear isn’t an emotion unfamiliar to Bertrand. He’s afraid of many a thing, but never would he have imagined that a pointed finger of all things would halt a mouth he’s seldom ever bereft of a voice when one has been wanted.

While Bertrand wants nothing more than to stop this rant before it can continue, the words refuse to come out.

And unfortunately for him, the woman’s words are more than happy to compensate for his silence.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve been studying opera since I was five years old! I’ve worked here for over ten years, read dozens of operatic pieces ranging from Shakespearean adaptations to “Ghiselle,” talked with most every person in this Opera House at length about their jobs -- probably to the point where I could do any of them upon request -- and personally tested out every bit of my opera too many times to count.”

“Bu-”

Bertrand’s cut off before more than even one more syllable can escape him, only stopping out of fear that his intrusion will only make things worse. 

“I am MORE than qualified to write an opera and I won’t have yet ANOTHER aristocratic man whose likely worked HALF as hard as me for double the accolades telling me that I can’t out of some chauvinistic mindset! So instead of believing those ideals of the past, start believing that I’ll be the one selling out this theatre instead of you soon enough. I promise you, I won’t be the only person happy to see you overthrown.”

The woman then turns away and starts walking in the opposite direction for him.

Bertrand follows her, keeping at somewhat of a distance to prevent bringing her fury to a head once more.

“Please, wait!” he half cries, though only to prevent a scene. “I didn’t mean it that way. I-I’m sorry! Your work’s good -- better than good, great!”

She doesn’t seem to spare him a thought as she retreats back to the ballet’s quarters. Bertrand stops as she goes beyond where he could respectfully follow. 

In an Opera House full of people -- even those that don’t particularly like him -- never has Bertrand felt so alone.

But right before she escapes his vision, Bertrand sees her hesitate. She almost looks like she’s about to turn back, like she’s accepted his apology and corrections as truth, but she seems to decide against it, walking through and closing the door closest to her.

Bertrand’s about to throw respect to the wind and go after her when suddenly, he hears a scream. It’s blood curdling and sounds like it’s coming from the stage.

Though somewhat reluctant due to the woman now running through his thoughts like a wolf in a forest, Bertrand does go to the stage to investigate. A girl who Bertrand can tell by her costume is part of the chorus lays on the floor. Her foot is crushed underneath and mangled by a sandbag that’s at least twenty-five pounds in weight. According to her cries as two stagehands attempt to remove the obtrusive menace, she heard a snap upon the sandbag’s contact with her foot. The cries are given evidence by an unnatural appearance her ankle presents as it once more meets the lights of the stage. Whispers emerge with the ankle, and there’s an all-to present fear amongst those who’ve responded to her wails that she may never walk wholly again.

A rope suddenly falls from atop the rafters, clearly one that once held up the sandbag. Most present on the stage not helping the chorus girl look up to the apparent scene of the crime for some semblance of a clue as to what happened. There’s no one above there, but light specks of dust fall like snow.

While the ‘why’ of the matter remains unsolved, the ‘who’ is as clear as day, for this is not a crime that’s new to The Paris Opera House.

Over the past few months, things like this have had a tendency to occur. Sandbags untouched for years as evidenced by the dust they’ve accumulated have been falling around and now on unsuspecting workers. Costumes have been mangled with scissors practically starving for fabric. Grand set pieces have been made hazards by artificially faulty support beams.

And just as with any dangerous oddity, they find themselves the subject of rumors, and The Paris Opera House has taken all of these incidents and made a demon of their own. 

This latest of crimes is the work of the culprit that those in The Paris Opera House have dubbed as “The Phantom of the Opera.”

[snackhobi]

🖊WRITERLY CONVERSATION TAG 

I was tagged by the incredible @yeoldontknow; my answers aren’t as long or well thought out as hers but! this was really interesting to do! I have to admit it’s not often I sit down and do an active introspection on my writing so I feel like it’s been nice to do that

2020

what was the most challenging part of writing this year?

I only started publishing on tumblr around june/august so I guess the most challenging part was actually having the confidence to post in the first place, and then to keep that momentum up and keep posting - I didn’t know anyone in the tumblrsphere (or whatever you’d like to call it) so I only had myself to rely on for motivation. since then I’ve been blessed with lovely friends and lovely readers, but to start with it was scary! feeling like I was yelling into the void and only getting a few whispers back at best.

what was the most enjoyable/rewarding part of writing this year?

all of it, honestly? I’ve not written fic in literal years, and even then it was mostly series I never finished/incredibly short drabbles. to have completed multiple longer fics is… incredibly rewarding. and enjoyable. to have met other amazing writers and beautiful people is… so much more than I ever expected to find, and I find myself grateful daily to have taken the leap and put my writing out there.

what piece has left the most impact on you and why?

probably a human touch. I try to stick with writing one-part stories, as I’m worried about starting series and not finishing them (refer to my past fic writing experiences above), but the amount of support and genuine interest I got bowled me over. I never thought I’d have people so invested in finding out how one of my stories ended! and even more beyond that! I’ve also never written an android au, either.

what have you learned about yourself through the process of writing in the past year?

that I’m better than I thought I was, but I still have so much more to learn. that I’m capable of more than I give myself credit for. that I still love writing and have a real passion for it and that I love creating things. 

how has your writing changed in the past year? how have you grown?

my flow has changed, as has my voice. I think my sentences are less simplistic and I’m prone towards more metaphor. I think I’m also realising that I don’t have to pack in as much detail as I feel like I have to, so I’ve dropped unnecessary explanations of things, although this is something I’m still trying to focus on; readers don’t need to be spoon fed all the time, some scenes can be painted in broad strokes and that’s okay.

2021

ignoring your wips for a second, if you had all the time and energy in the world to write your magnum opus piece, what would it be about? why is that the dream story you’d write, all other things controlled for?

I’ve always been a lover of fantasy. ever since I was a kid. I’ve got an entire world I’ve created in my head and mapped out with characters and places and politics and history and geography - I just. don’t have a specific plot in mind for it. if I had all the time and energy in the world I’d find that thread of a plot and write it, build it up, create something I truly love and care about.

that would be my dream story because it would be the culmination of a lot of things, I think. my life long love of fantasy, my life long love of writing, all under my control, in something I’ve built from the world up.

how do you want to grow in your writing this year?

I’d like to learn how to be concise. how to be punchy and brief without losing any of the emotion a longer fic might invoke. maybe this is just a hand wave but I’d like to be better, I guess, in a way where I feel more personally confident in my own writing. I’m not sure what that exactly looks like but I’d like to find it this year, if possible.

what’s one thing you’d wish to see in the fan-writing community this year?

oh wow, gosh. I’ve barely been around honestly so I don’t know? I honestly keep to myself, for the most part; any interaction I’ve had within the community normally comes from people on the other side, rather than from my end! which is bad, I know, but I hate stretching myself too thinly. I guess in general I’d like to keep up this spirit of mutual support and positivity that I’ve seen writers and readers give each other!

name one new thing you want to try doing in your writing this year.

maybe I’ll dip my toe into smaus? although I’d have to think a plot up first OOF. I consider writing a bit of fun, really; a craft, yes, something to get invested in and pour your heart into, yes, but I’ve not really sat down and had a hard think about what I want to necessarily achieve with it. I think I’d just like to keep writing and going forwards. 

these answers aren’t especially long or interesting but!! thank you for tagging me miss kat 💖

[rieshon]

Best of 2019

It wouldn't be a best of the year post if it wasn't hopelessly late.

10: Shinchou Yuusha ~Kono Yuusha ga Ore TUEEE Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru~ ∥ White Fox ∥ Dir. Sakoi Masayuki: The title makes this sound like it could be terrible but this series has a Konosuba-like aplomb that makes it one of the best comedies of the year. Toyosaki Aki is absolutely brilliant as the shithead damegami Listarte and the animation consistently matches her over-the-top comedic masterclass. The show even has a real ending; opinion is split but I found it surprisingly satisfying.

9: Babylon ∥ Revoroot ∥ Dir. Suzuki Kiyotaka: This is the first Strand-type anime. Babylon is incredibly hard to describe and, having only seen it once, I'm not even fully confident in saying what it's about. It is a wild ride that meditates on some serious themes and seems to come to conclusions that won't be entirely comfortable for a lot of readers. This is one you really have to experience for yourself.

8: Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari ∥ Kinema Citrus ∥ Dir. Abo Takao: The most discoursed-about series of 2019 ends up being a surprisingly mature take on the isekai tensei genre. Like the best entries in the genre it features a protagonist who is deeply flawed and Naofumi's journey to learning to trust and love again is genuinely moving. It definitely does come off a bit like an incel fantasy at first but it is ultimately way more nuanced than that could ever suggest. Also, Raphtalia is best wife.

7: Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai ∥ Gemba ∥ Dir. Mizushima Tsutomu: Tsutomu, you son of a bitch, you did it again. While Kotobuki doesn't reach the rareified air of Garupan (pun not intended) it is very much in the same vein, and offers unending joy to any nerd who loves warplanes or just aviation in general. The script from the always-excellent Yokote Michiko is tight and compelling and gives a genuinely interesting backdrop to the frenetic plane action. Kotobuki is an excellent example of the power of showing rather than telling, something anime is woefully bad at: the fact that Kotobuki's isekai setting is never really expounded on makes it that much more interesting.

6: Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu ∥ C2C ∥ Dir. Anzai Takefumi: If Katsuwo's other work to be adapted into anime, Mitsuboshi Colors, is about being a child, then Bocchi is about the fraught transition from childhood into early adulthood. The titular Hitori Bocchi will be a frighteningly relatable character (my comment for the first episode on my blog was 'We Are All Bocchi') but unlike other series clearly aimed at alienated nerds, the show never feels sorry for Bocchi and most importantly, Bocchi doesn't feel sorry for herself. The show is explicitly about the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone and although it's hard for Bocchi to do this, with the help of her friends she's able to work up the courage necessary to grow from a scared child into a functioning young adult. Also she's cute as fuck.

5: Machikado Mazoku ∥ J.C. Staff ∥ Dir. Sakurai Hiroaki: This is one of the best Kirara anime in ages. Kohara Konomi and Kitou Akari are a wonderful comedic combination, and Shamiko is probably the cutest girl of the whole year. She's pretty much the definition of the phrase "moe through helplessness" which makes her quest to be an evil demon truly hilarious. Like all the best Kirara anime, Machikado Mazoku slowly becomes a yuri anime as Momo's character develops and it becomes increasingly clear that she's just hard gay for Shamiko. I could watch these two be tsundere for each other forever.

4: Joshikousei no Mudazukai ∥ Passione ∥ Dir. Takahashi Takeo: There were a lot of excellent comedies this year and I always find them hard to review. Where Mudazukai particularly excels is the crassness of its characters: like the title suggests these aren't your typical cutesy anime JKs. They crack dirty jokes, take the piss out of each other, and feel more genuinely like friends than a lot of high school girls in anime. Akasaki Chinatsu in particular is pitch-perfect as 'Baka,'  its like she was born to be stupid. Probably the funniest show of the year, even though I have one comedy ranked above it.

3: Senkizesshou Symphogear XV ∥ Satelight ∥ Dir. Ono Katsumi: The fact that a Symphogear series could end up this high on the rankings is something like a miracle. After years of me shitting all over it for incomprehensible plotlines and disposable characters, they somehow not only fixed it in the last season, but even retroactively redeemed some of the elements from those shitty third and fourth seasons and created some of the most thrilling moments of the year in the process. It even goes as far as to reach back to the first season and address the latent themes of Japanese nationalism that have always hung over the show in resolving Tsubasa's character arc. XV delivers such a satisfying conclusion that it fully justifies the past six years spent on developing the Symphogear series in a way I never thought possible. It's a beautiful thing to behold.

2: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ ∥ A-1 Pictures ∥ Dir. Hatakeyama Mamoru: The romantic comedy is probably the most prolific genre in late night anime, and Kaguya-sama stands shoulder to shoulder with the greats. Everything from the voice acting (Koga Aoi should be a superstar, and Kohara Konomi is already on her way to being a household name) to the animation to the direction to the writing is superb. Kaguya even delivers in spades in the "romantic" side of "romantic comedy" which isn't something every rabukome can say. The number of series that I can say have made me cry from laughing and from emotion is pretty small, but Kaguya is proudly among them.

1: Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo ∥ Lay-duce ∥ Dir. Andou Masahiro & Tsukada Takurou: After all these years, Okada Mari has finally delivered her magnum opus. There has perhaps never been a more frank discussion of female adolescent sexuality than Araoto, drawing heavily as it does from Okada's own lived experience as a confused and bullied teenager. These girls are fragile people who are walking a knife's edge between childhood and adulthood, and they don't always keep their balance. As someone who didn't grow up as a girl, it's not something I can intrinsically understand, but it's a testament to Okada's writing that Araoto MAKES you understand what it's like to be a teenage girl going through puberty. It's ugly, it's dangerous, it's scary, and... it's something every woman goes through. Araoto deftly tackles themes of discovering ones sexuality, homosexuality, and the pressure put on young women by a society that both sexualizes them against their will but also demands that they remain chaste and pure. It is unlike almost anything else that's ever been made in this medium, and that's why it's my anime of the year.

Honorable mentions... Like I said above, this was a strong year for comedy so some good series didn't make the cut. Ueno-san wa Bukiyou was a great showcase for Serizawa Yuu's comedic chops (which us Pripara fans have known about for years) and featured some of the most memorable gags of the year... Kemurikusa saw Tatsuki triumphantly return to television with his first full length work since Kemono Friends, and I frankly found it to be better than Kemofure; a truly enjoyable work of post-apocalyptic science fiction... Speaking of science fiction, I also feel compelled to mention Kanata no Astra, which seemed underappreciated but ended up being an extremely well-written SF series. Of course, we also have to mention Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO if we're talking about science fiction; I didn't particularly like YU-NO's second half that much, but it's worth watching if only to understand where so much of modern anime comes from in the first place.

The awards go to...

Best Actress: Koga Aoi as Shinomiya Kaguya, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai. I mentioned above that this girl should be a superstar, and it's frankly absurd that she hasn't gotten more leading roles considering the considerable talent she shows off as Kaguya. She's a one-woman wrecking crew in this series, with her ability to effortlessly straddle the range between "cold and detached psychopath" and "petulant 8 year old throwing a tantrum" being the lynchpin of a lot of the series fundamental humor.

(Honorable mention: Akasaki Chinatsu as "Baka," Joshikousei no Mudazukai; Yukino Satsuki as Magase Ai, Babylon)

Newcomer Seiyuu of the Year: Kohara Konomi. It's a sweep for Kaguya-sama, and the voice acting is a big part of the reason that show was so exceptional. It kind of feels like cheating to give this to someone who's already played a Precure, but Toei were just really ahead of the curve on this one. 'Koko-chan' exploded onto the scene in 2019 between her roles as Fujiwara-shoki and Shamiko in Machikado Mazoku, with a distinctive vocal style and a knack for comedic delivery. Several of the most memetic lines of the year, like Fujiwara's "Don da yo!" and Shamiko's "Kore de katta to omou nayo!" come courtesy of her, and I feel like that ability to stick in people's minds is a testament to her level of talent. Though I gave Koga the nod overall for her performance as Kaguya, it's clear that Kohara is the one the industry has earmarked for future success with the level of prominence she's had over the past year or so, so she gets this award.

(Honorable mention: Fairouz Ai. "Fai-chan" made a splash thanks to her unusual background, but she's also proven to be a talented actress after appearing from seemingly out of nowhere to play Hibiki in the Onegai Muscle anime. It's out of the scope of this post, but she really made an impression in Oshibudo as Eripiyo, but her body of work is still too thin for her to win this award outright. She's shown she has a knack for the funny with her brusque and aggressive delivery, but I'd really like to hear her as a dramatic lead sometime soon.)

[fanfictionlive]

I feel like I just wrote a Magnum Opus

Not literally, mind you. What I have planned as a whole would be considered the Magnum Opus.

Celebration/Venting

Last Night, I finally finished writing Chapter 9 of my Elder Scrolls-Game of Throne fic. And I pretty much spent all day today, making minor revisions and proofreading. I had been writing that since February! And I had posted Chapter 8 on October 19th of LAST YEAR! And the connected One-Shot January 30th of this year.

Hiatus after hiatus. Distraction after distraction. There were times where I became so unmotivated that I considered abandoning my fic altogether. But then, just a few weeks ago. After several months of nothing, I finally picked it back up. But then last weekend, I got a new review to my story that made my blood boil. And I felt like I was back to square one. But then, last Monday, I found this subreddit. And made my first post:

"Including something in your fic that's controversial and you don't understand why it is."

Yeah, I'm the guy that posted about stupid controversies, the support I got from you guys. I needed that so much. I had hoped to finish Chapter 9 back on Friday to accompany the Weekly Fic Showcase. But, *As Tony Soprano* whadaya gonna do?

I strongly feel that with this series I have planned, I can't walk this path alone. I never had a passion for writing until I was out of High School. I graduated in 2017. And then there was the fucking mistake that was the 1.2 school years at a damnable career center. Bye bye potential career revolving around horses. (I'm a dude, shut up)

So that didn't do me any favors with this either. The writing I only ever did before then I did because my schools said I had to, and I wasn't very passionate about it. And yet, I had been planning this for years, long before I was ever a fan of Game of Thrones or The Elder Scrolls. So that should tell you that past Book 1 of 5, there's going to be more in this universe than just The Elder Scrolls and Game of Thrones. One of these other things that will be a part of it was always the plan. What is that, you may ask? Well, that's for me to know, and for you to find out and make guesses at from the overall title of the series.

And perhaps... a cowriter. My overall plan is rather overwhelming for me, and I feel I can't execute it alone. And in case I didn't make myself, this fic is my first time truly writing anything. And that's why I also ask... for a cowriter.

With that being said, I leave you with that. I will be posting Chapter 9 of my fic in moments. And as I punctuate the end of nearly every chapter with:

Until next time,stay spoopy, my friends!

submitted by /u/VarnusJulius [link] [comments] from FanFiction: Where Magical Ponies battle Imperial Titans https://ift.tt/3kCuCoV

[jakelace]

2017 IN FILM - FINALE (TOP 10)

10. Molly’s Game

“I was raised to be a champion. My goal was to win. At what and against whom, those were just details.”

Let’s not beat around the bush on this one. My love for this film comes almost exclusively from my love for Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue. Sorkin’s quick-witted way of writing is certainly not realistic by any stretch of the imagination, but allows for great lines and a thrilling way of telling a true to life story that might otherwise come off as a bit bland. Molly’s Game follows Molly Bloom (expertly portrayed by Jessica Chastain) who became a target of the FBI after running an underground poker game for years. It’s a truly larger than life story, which, knowing Sorkin’s penchant for twisting facts for a better story, probably is. But in the moment that doesn’t matter. I was fully engrossed by the fast paced dialogue, the top-notch performances, and the thrilling pacing of this outstanding story.

9. The Disaster Artist

“Greg, you have to be the best. You have to be the best you can be. And never give up.”

When I first heard that a film was being made all about the making of one of the best so-bad-it’s-good films ever made, I was on board. Although I would have never predicted the end product would be something so inspirational. The Disaster Artist follows Greg Sestero who, after meeting the infamous Tommy Wiseau, moves to Los Angeles to star in The Room. While the comedy and performances surrounding this retelling of a cinema-changing event are certainly very well done, it’s the inspiration I found in Wiseau that made me love this film. It’s easy to laugh along at The Room for its utter incompetence as an example of the entire medium, but when I took a step back to look at the passion and love for this story that Wiseau so obviously had, and his uncompromising dedication to making sure his directorial vision shone through, I began to see the man behind the film in a much different light, and one that inspired me to ‘be the best I can be. And never give up.’ ‘What a story, Mark!’...okay, I’m done now.

8. The Big Sick

“I’m guessing it’s a young, single Pakistani woman who just happened to be driving by our house, which is on a cul-de-sac.”

I shouldn’t have waited to watch The Big Sick as long as I did. It became instantly clear as soon as the credits began to roll that this would become the new standard that all romantic comedies are held to. Kumail Nanjiani’s performance is one of the most hilarious and heart-breaking of the year as he plays himself in a dramatization of the time Emily V. Gordon, Nanjiani’s girlfriend at the time, went into a medically induced coma with a mysterious disease. The writing is what really stands out here, with the entirety of it being written by Gordon and Nanjiani themselves. The laugh-out-loud moments mixed with the emotionally moving plot, affected me in a way few films have, making this one of the greatest rom-coms to ever exist. Oh, also, Holly Hunter is hilarious in this.

7. Get Out

“Now you’re in the sunken place.”

Get Out’s position has fluctuated the most out of any other film this year. Unsurprisingly though, it has always stayed quite high. Jordan Peele’s debut film is one that even veteran directors would be proud to have made, considering there are so few movies that even come close to how clever this film is in both its horror and social commentary. Every frame is so jam-packed with details that, though they may feel arbitrary at the time, provide us with a deeper look at characters, their motivations, and even their deeper psychology. Every moment is important with no time being wasted. Every performance (especially Daniel Kaluuya’s) is layered and nuanced with excellent characterizations. Get Out is a horror masterpiece that I am certain will be looked back on with the highest regards in years to come.

6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

“Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.”

I would have never guessed that putting a Star Wars film this high on an end of the year list would warrant so much controversy, but here we are. While I can understand a few of the complaints surrounding a few moments in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I honestly cannot wrap my head around calling this an objectively bad film. It is quite possibly the most expertly shot and cleverly written film in the entire franchise, and the directions Rian Johnson decided to steer the franchise are some of the most exciting yet. It takes everything we thought we wanted out of a follow up to The Force Awakens and turns it on its head. It delivers wonderful characters to us, both new like Rose Tico, and old like Luke Skywalker. Most importantly, it gives me a story that makes me proud to be such a fan of a galaxy far, far away. Also, I’m now a huge fan of the space battles. I’m not really sure when or how that happened.

5. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

“A surgeon never kills a patient. An anesthesiologist can kill a patient, but a surgeon never can.”

Once again this year, we have another Colin Farrell led Yorgos Lanthimos film as my number five film of the year. While The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a different genre than last year’s The Lobster, his truly unique style of direction and dialogue remains. Lanthimos is a master at creating the cinematic feeling of an idyllic utopia, whilst making nearly every moving part feel off at the same time. His style is very ‘uncanny valley’ in that way, and while that may turn people off from his films, I can’t help but be glued to the screen. I was riveted by his off-kilter method of storytelling and his purposefully wooden dialogue. Farrell gives another great performance here, with Nicole Kidman stealing the show as she injects a small amount of actual emotion and fear into the picture. For those looking for something unconventional and disconcerting out of their cinema, I can’t recommend The Killing of a Sacred Deer enough.  

4. Dunkirk

“If we go there we’ll die.”

Dunkirk is, without a doubt, Christopher Nolan’s most masterfully crafted film. Inception may still stand as my favorite, but when it comes to the sheer skill and effort on display, it’s nearly impossible to see this as anything less than a technical masterpiece. Nolan’s knack for creating emotional moments, intense heart-pounding action sequences, and non-linear stories perfectly works its way into the setting of World War 2, while also introducing me to an inspiring story I had never heard before. And yes, I still like to call this Anxiety: The Movie. If you’d like to read more of my thoughts on Nolan’s magnum opus, you can do so here.

3. Baby Driver

“The moment you catch feelings is the moment you catch a bullet.”

Though I don’t normally set up my rankings with subcategories in mind, if I did, Baby Driver would win Best Soundtrack without a single hesitation. Edgar Wright’s creative vision for this music-based heist film is absolutely stellar. Each scene is interwoven with music of all different sorts of genres and time-periods, with each of the heists and action sequences in the film playing out in-time with each song. It’s honestly a marvel that it was done this expertly. From the very opening scene I was smiling ear-to-ear and tapping my foot along with every backbeat and wheel-screech I could hear. Baby Driver, though fairly played-out in its story, survives and even thrives on the style that is oozing out of every frame. Edgar Wright is a directorial genius, and I can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve next. Oh, and it you didn’t want to drive around listening to John Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms” directly after listening to this...you’re lying.

2. A Ghost Story

“I don’t think they’re coming.”

Rooney Mara eats an entire pie for four and half minutes in this film, and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t bawling with every bite she took. That’s just A Ghost Story for you though. By the time the credits began to roll my face hurt because of how long I had been ugly crying. Though I’m certain not everyone will have this strong of a reaction to the film, David Lowery’s deeply introspective film about loss and the inability to stop time from slipping through our fingers struck a massive chord with me. Every small motion, every flashback to happier times, and every major life event that flashes by left me emotionally devastated. It tapped into my own personal fears about love and legacy and whether or not we’ll be remembered when we pass, all the while providing one of the most compelling stories about the supernatural using barely any dialogue at all. A Ghost Story is a fantastically made and deliberately paced film that will haunt me for years to come...sorry, that pun was just too easy.

1. Lady Bird

“Don't you think maybe they are the same thing? Love and attention?”

Here we are, my number one favorite film of 2017. It’s been a long time coming, and we’ve discussed many other great films from the year, but in the end it could have only been Lady Bird, couldn’t it? There’s a certain undeniable love and connection I feel to coming of age films, and Greta Gerwig’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece is no exception to that. Lady Bird follows a young woman (Saoirse Ronan) in her last year of high-school as she struggles to make a place for herself in the world. Ronan is an absolute delight as Lady Bird and has a chance to show her range as one of the greatest up-and-coming actresses through outstanding comedy and emotionally heartfelt moments. It’s honestly hard for me to describe what it is I love about this film so much though. Like most coming of age films, everything I took from Lady Bird feels so personal to me. Gerwig’s writing is so uncannily realistic and resonant in my life because she is able to capture the wild absurdity of growing up while also handling complex issues and relationships in such interesting ways and through her weaving of nostalgia and comedy, she creates one of the greatest films about growing up that I have ever seen. I don’t want to spoil any larger character moments or fantastically written emotional climaxes, so I will leave you all with something I can say with the utmost confidence. Lady Bird is one of the few film experiences that everyone should have. 

[rebellionbeach]

HELLO apparently July 28th is the release date for Down to Earth therefore in honor of its 42nd birthday I wanna do a ranking of all the songs based on my personal preference of course. 

(I’m only doing songs from the original studio release sorry no Bad Girl or Weiss Heim but they’re both sexy ;))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCsMQWkN3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7YOM4gx3RE (spark don’t mean a fire aka the alternate version don’t worry it’s beautiful)

8. No Time To Lose:  Starting off this list we’ve got the second song off this record and it isn’t bad in anyway.  In fact, it’s very upbeat and energetic, especially with Graham’s absolutely stunning vocals.  However, compared to the rest of the list I feel it falls just a bit short.  The lyrics themselves are actually pretty dark looking at them with examples such as, “It ain’t no lie, you’re hurting and you don’t know why.”  Don’t know what Roger or Ritchie were going through but damn, anyway, musically the song is also very strong.  The guitar riff is addicting but I feel it’s the combination of, again, Graham’s vocals and Cozy’s monstrous drumming that gives this song so much energy.  Not bad at all from a song that’s at the bottom of a list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P17ct4e5OE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v0bDfZytwk (Russ Ballard version, it’s really good)

7. Since You’ve Been Gone: Listen, I know many may judge this choice but I didn’t put this song at the bottom because of one, the sentimental value it has, and two, it’s not a bad song at all.  Okay, it’s not the best as well but Russ Ballard made a beautiful song about heartbreak that is only made greater by this glorious lineup.  I’ve actually listened to Ballard’s originally version and while it isn’t bad, I feel that Graham really helped cement this song and really put Rainbow on the charts.  I especially enjoy the interlude section that drops into a sweet ballad type tone before dropping back into the chorus.  Graham’s versatile vocals are well-equipped to amplify this song to a new level and not only that but without this song I probably would have never started listening to Rainbow.  Although very commercialized and maybe too light to many, this song holds a special place in my heart and I do love it dearly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2XDORONuuY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmQBKq0d_-I (Cozy Powell mix, yes it’s exactly what you’d think it would sound like if the drummer was the producer)

6. All Night Long: The second real commercialized song on this album and honestly the last.  However, where it differs from the other is that this song still has big traces of that hard rock attitude that Rainbow had emerged into.  That simple yet beautiful riff that gets stuck in your head, Cozy’s powerful drumming, Graham’s powerhouse vocals, I mean what else do you really want from a song.  Just from that opening riff you feel that rush of just pure hard rock energy shiver through your body.  It really is just a fun hard rock song that, although may not be anything too complex, isn’t bad at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeVFTeXs1o8

5. Danger Zone: Danger Zone always stood out to me as a very interesting and different song.  Don is absolutely phenomenal in this song, especially his keyboard solo which Ritchie follows up upon to make a beautiful instrumental section.  I’d be remiss to not mention Graham who hits at some of his highest parts here.  This song really showed off the prowess of his full vocal abilities, hitting high notes with all the strength you’d expect from a hard rock singer.  The actual lyrics of the song are quite beautiful as well I believe.  Parts such as, “Don’t understand when you’re looking for a dame but it’s only a heartbreak away.  And you’ll learn, faking has no return.”  Really suspecting some mental instability from either Roger or Ritchie at this point...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8FcrH1lDeY

4. Eyes of the World:  Many may be surprised why this song isn’t higher up the list but trust me, I have good reasons.  Eyes of the World is definitely a highlight piece in this album and really is a final goodbye to the Dio era of Rainbow.  The subject manner is very of that era and really feels like it could have been sung by Ronnie.  I think to many this song helped alleviate the fears that Rainbow had gone fully vapid with it’s material (though we’ll see how that sentiment drags on throughout the next few years)  Don Airey truly deserves the limelight here for that incredible keyboard intro that just sucks you into that dark world of evil.  He really makes this song something truly special.  Cozy Powell is phenomenal throughout all these tracks but especially in this track where he’s at his home environment and just listen to the interludes between the chorus and verse, just incredible.  Then to our man of the hour, Graham Bonnet, he just absolutely kills it here.  He puts so much passion and emotion into the vocals that I find it strange how anyone could possibly still doubt him as a suitable vocalist for the band.  Ritchie’s solo here as well is probably one of my favorites off of this album just really makes this song something truly special.  I often like to compare this piece to the Gates of Babylon or Tarot Woman to Down to Earth with an incredible keyboard intro and other-wordly themes of evil and darkness that make it a classic Rainbow tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU__fm6QFvk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzQZoOvzzNo (Ain’t A Lot of Love In the Heart of Me, it’s brilliant and honestly parts are somewhat better than the final version lol)

3. Love’s No Friend:  I remember reading an article that talked about this song being Rainbow’s Mistreated.  That description always had stayed with me and while I partially agree with the statement, I also think this song is very different from the former.  Yes, both deal with heartbreak and emanates a grandiose sense of grievance from that sentiment however it differs in how that sentiment is delivered.  Mistreated, as stated by Blackmore, is really just a guitar song.  The relies both on David’s great bluesy voice that can conceive that anguish in his voice like no other vocalist can (love ya Dave) and Blackmore’s just heart-wrenching solo at the end which is probably one of the most emotional guitar solos I’ve ever heard.  With Love’s No Friend I find that it’s more of a complete package having all elements of the band contribute to the piece.  Not that but the lyrics are much more refined in this song.  I often find Mistreated’s lyrics very stale and boring since they’re basically just “I’ve been mistreated, I’ve been abused,” and the only reason they get away with that is because of David’s incredible vocal performances.  Trust me, Graham’s an incredible performer as well but these lyrics have much more substance to them and I feel just stands taller as a complete song.  Speaking of Graham, this is probably his strongest performance in the album.  You know what part I’m talking about if you’ve listened to this song but THAT part is just wow, that solidified him as one of my favorite vocalists of all time.  The entire song is really just a masterpiece and really just stands as one of the best Rainbow tunes in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1LvViMLKNo

2. Makin’ Love - Oh this song, how can I express my love for this song in ways that I haven’t already before.  Well if you didn’t know before, I put this as #5 on my top 5 Rainbow tunes and I still stick to it.  Let me just say, this is one of my favorite intros to any songs ever.  Don Airey is just magical in this entire album (and his entire career) but he especially shines here.  The simple yet beautiful little touches he adds throughout this song really makes it so much more profound.  That, once again, addicting Blackmore riff that just goes on throughout the song making the listener feel as if they’re going through a lonely yet sentimental walk down memory lane.  It kind of almost reminds me of one of my favorite Rick Springfield songs, Written In Rock, in that manner.  I guess I’m just a sucker for a pretty love ballad but man does Graham make it even better.  The man just had the perfect voice for these types of songs (please listen to Will You Be Home Tonight as an example) and he’s able to convey those vulnerable tones in his voice while maintaining that strong hard rock attitude like I’ve seen no other singer be able to.  I didn’t even mention the sudden shift during the pre-chorus that’s complimented with Cozy’s ferocious cymbal playing.  Overall, I’m just a sucker for a nice love song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRLHHftZEJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eRLQyXzZ1Y (the live Alcatrazz version because Yngwie is a cocky little piece of work and gets his guitar unplugged for 1 minute of the song, Graham is a beast here)

1. Lost In Hollywood - The magnum opus, probably not only the greatest Rainbow song but one of the greatest songs ever written and produced.  I’ve already gone into detail about this song in my overall album review but just on first listening you can definitely tell that this song is something else.  The energy, the tempo, is almost seems rushing like they’re running out of time on the record to give everything they wanted to show to the listener.  The lyrics sort of remind me of Super Trouper (the Deep Purple one okay) if Super Trouper was an overdramatic and grandiose love ballad.  It’s obvious that the song is talking about the overbearing nature of becoming famous and the sacrifices one has to make to get to the mantle.  One of my favorite song lyrics of all time perfectly exemplify this through, “I’m gonna lose control, if I’ve been losing you to pay for rock and roll.”  They’re lost in Hollywood, not just the actual place but the lifestyle that befits every star.  I still think that Super Trouper as a song is a more profound piece on the effects of stardom as a whole but this song as well is beautifully written to talk about those themes in maybe not so personal manners.  The song really is just a beautiful showcase of the talents that were the Mark 4 lineup of Rainbow and stands in my eyes as one of the finest pieces of music ever created.

Yeah, I’ve probably over exaggerated enough.  Once again, I’m very biased here but I’m also speaking with my own tastes and experiences in mind.  Despite the constant lineup changes, Blackmore always seems to find the most top-notch musicians and I believe this lineup truly exemplified that.  It’s a shame that they couldn’t continue on but at least we got this album as a glorious reminder of what 5 musicians can do with enough talent and probably alcohol.

Also, the hallmark of all live performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5VPzJlUKVc

[passionate-reply]

This week on Great Albums, we talk about something a little more recent, but still old enough to be a classic. Can you believe that John Maus’s We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves, is turning ten years old already? Yes, 2011 was that long ago...and so were my high school years. Come check out this lo-fi synthwave masterpiece! Transcript below the break.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! So far in this series, we’ve looked at a lot of older albums, and that’s by design. While I listen to, and love, plenty of more recent music and younger artists, I’ve decided to focus Great Albums on works that are at least ten years old. That’s partly because I think that having some distance from when albums were released lets us situate them in fuller context, and take their legacy into consideration. It’s also partly because so much of the music criticism that’s out there is focused, somewhat myopically, on only the newest and hottest releases, when there’s so much amazing music to be discovered outside of that purview.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on to discussing today’s album: John Maus’s We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves, which was released in 2011, one decade prior to this video. It’s an album that was very significant to me as a teenager, when it was new, and one that I think will go on to be seen as one of the most important electronic albums of this decade.

Before releasing his arguable magnum opus, John Maus had two LPs under his belt, Songs and Love Is Real. They earned him some cult followers, but also attracted substantial derision and disdain. While many elements of Maus’s signature sound are present, such as lo-fi production, atmospheric washes of synth, and lyrics that straddle the line between pithy and biting, I’d characterize these releases as being very...rough around the edges.

Music: “Too Much Money”

“Too Much Money,” off of Love Is Real, is tantalizingly close to a pop song, but its truly shocking bridge seems almost deliberately crafted to shatter our ability to enjoy it as such. Maus had initially set out to be an experimental, outsider musician, but he soon became more interested in the tradition of pop, particularly after meeting his longtime friend and artistic collaborator, Ariel Pink. It was in that pop spirit that Maus created We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves, and the resultant increase in accessibility is what made his third album so different--and so much more successful. There’s a certain charm that only comes from an outsider attempting to do pop, a fusion of intuitive mass appeal, and an intuitive, unschooled process of creation. This album has that in abundance.

Music: “Hey Moon”

While “Hey Moon” is one of Maus’s best-known tracks, it’s actually a cover, and was originally penned by singer-songwriter Molly Nilsson. It’s a very simple, and very pop, composition, and it’s easy to see how it embodies the sort of straightforward songwriting Maus had in the back of his mind while creating the album. But it fundamentally lacks the signature oddness of Maus, and I think that leaves it as the least interesting track here. With everything else going on, “Hey Moon” feels all the more plain and banal in comparison.

Music: “...And the Rain”

Listening to “...And the Rain,” it’s easy to hear how strongly Maus was also influenced by Classical and Medieval composers. Besides those organ-like synth textures, Maus is also inspired by the Medieval modes, and pre-tonal ideas about melody. Whenever contemporary music uses slightly older synthesiser technology, and/or that lo-fi production, many people become preoccupied with using ideas of 80s nostalgia and retro chic to understand it. I think this album has less to do with “old school cool” and more to do with the spectre of the past as something faded and ineffable, accessible only through the dim consolations of memory. Consider “Quantum Leap,” which presents us with a hazy dream of time travel, contrasted with the “dead zone” of the present.

Music: “Quantum Leap”

In “Quantum Leap”’s more strident moments, I like to think that a whiff of the in-your-face abrasiveness of “Too Much Money” remains. But rather than scornful and vitriolic, it comes across as the overwhelming splendour of divine mystery, thanks to its appropriation of Medieval church music. There are many antecedents of what Maus is doing with it, from the tradition of goth to the work of other electronic musicians like John Foxx, but what Maus really excels at is weaving together the sacred and the profane, and getting us to forget which is supposed to be which. For a more splendid example of that, look no further than “Matter of Fact”:

Music: “Matter of Fact”

Yes, you heard that correctly--this song’s only lyrics are, “pussy is not a matter of fact.” I’m tempted to compare this laconic number to some of Maus’s earlier pieces that seem to satirize easily spouted slogans of social change, such as “Rights For Gays.” The core assertion here could be interpreted as a rebuttal of essentialism with regards to gender and sex, or perhaps of toxic masculinity, and the idea of a man feeling entitled to a woman’s body and sexuality. But its ambiguity, and possible meaninglessness, are, I think, part of what makes it so effective. Still, as far as transgressive lyricism goes, the use of the term “pussy” here pales in comparison to the preceding track, “Cop Killer.”  

Music: “Cop Killer”

Maus has described himself as extremely left-wing, but he’s also consistently maintained that his music isn’t meant to be interpreted through a strictly political lens. But however much Maus insists that “Cop Killer” is “really” about metaphorical cops, its seemingly blatant call for violence feels obscene. Ten years ago, “Cop Killer” was shock art, and an expression of the unsayable. But in the past year, more and more people have opened up to criticism of police brutality, and police as an institution. “Cop Killer” has been re-evaluated and re-contextualized, and interest in the track has surged. It’s had a degree of vindication that most provocative and challenging art will never see, no matter how powerful.

Given Maus’s frequent emphasis on ideas of criminality, justice, and the punitive arm of the government, I’m tempted to interpret the lighthouse featured on the cover of We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves as a reference to the “panopticon” prisons designed by the Enlightenment thinker Jeremy Bentham. Bentham proposed prisons, and other state buildings, in which a single observation tower stood watch over people to be controlled. Prisoners cannot tell when, and if, they are being observed, and thus are forced to live as though they are under constant surveillance, and internalize the structures of social control. The panopticon has often been used as a symbol of how structures of discipline and punishment affect the psyche of those who live within them, most famously by the 20th Century philosopher Michel Foucault.

But this is, of course, me using political theory to try and pin Maus down! We can also set this aside and appreciate the cover design for its aesthetic ambiance. Its fog and tumultuous sea evoke the wild or unrefined qualities of the music, but the bright and piercing light of the lighthouse suggest a firm and directed focus, not unlike Maus’s stated goal of creating bona fide pop.

The album’s ponderous title doesn’t actually appear on the associated artwork. This isn’t so uncommon nowadays, but when physical media was more central to music consumption, it was a self-sabotaging move that few but New Order ever got away with. Maus was one of the first artists I became aware of who chose to omit text from album art, and it struck me as a very bold and forward-thinking adaptation to an increasingly digital world. Maus nicked the title “We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves” from the work of the philosopher Alain Badou, under whom he studied at university. Like that piercing ray of light, it seems to suggest a pruning away of impurities, and a recalibration or refocusing of one’s energies. It applies equally well to the idea of becoming sanctified or purified in the presence of the holy, or, more prosaically, to Maus’s newly pop-oriented artistic direction.

After the success of We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves, Maus’s follow-up was, essentially, the 2012 compilation, A Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material, which featured assorted tracks he had written throughout the preceding decade. Over the next few years, Maus chose to isolate himself from the public eye, claiming to not see himself continuing a career in music, and instead pursuing a Ph.D. in political science. He eventually returned, however, and released a fourth LP in 2017, entitled Screen Memories. Screen Memories would continue the focus on hooky and accessible melodies, while also increasing the use of guitar and bass to bring Maus’s sound a bit closer to rock.

Music: “Touchdown”

While Maus hasn’t put down any new material since Screen Memories, he has made himself substantially more notorious quite recently, by having been present at the attempted coup at the United States Capitol Building in January of 2021. Given Maus’s aforementioned radical leftism, and his cryptic, but seemingly anti-fascist oriented tweets afterward, it seems unlikely that Maus actually supported the insurrection, but the incident continues to cast a shadow over his reputation, at least for the time being. Whether Maus is ever truly rehabilitated or not, and wherever his true intentions and sympathies lay, his music has certainly left an indelible mark. We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves was a watershed moment for this idea of lo-fi, electronic pop, with a gothic and mysterious aura to it, and I don’t think this sound would be so commonplace in today’s musical landscape without what John Maus had accomplished, ten years ago.

My favourite track on We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves is “Head For the Country.” Its stirring and anthemic refrain is one of the most emotionally powerful moments on the album, particularly when juxtaposed with its lyrical themes of feeling confined by society’s rules, and its return to the idea of criminality or deviance. It's probably too intense and overbearing to ever pass for an ordinary pop hit...but who’s keeping score? That’s everything for today--thanks for listening!

Music: “Head For the Country”

[aesirfalling]

A: How did you come up with the title to all of your fics (seriously your titles are so good)? H: How would you describe your style (don't say acid ok)? K: What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with? R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist? okay I must stop or I might as well cut and paste the entire thing here and there's a word limi

RII NO

A: How did you come up with the title to all of your fics (seriously your titles are so good)?

Like the wannabe poet and symbolism addict that I am, I collect quotes and words on tumblr and in the things that I listen to or read. Some quotes and words just stay with me, and I keep track of them in various ways (including naming stupidly expensive fictional dragons after them - you should see my horde of dragons named after things like Eve, Rapture, Insomnia and Asterion). Some fics were written around their titles since the idea in the title was what inspired the fic in the first place (see: Zhi Yin, Oblique Asymptote, And the Sky Tonight is Luminous). Other fics take their names from the central ideas explored by said fics (see: Black Poppy, Episteme). Some fics reference a fitting emotion or line (Together We Brought the Moon Down, From What We Cannot Hold).

… And then some fics just were titled on the fly (And Light be the Path to Home, Ubuntu).

H: How would you describe your style (don’t say acid ok)?

BUT ACID LACED WITH RAW EMOTIONS IS SO ACCURATE

… Stylistically, I’m heavy on symbolism, metaphors, loooooong sentences, fragmented sentences, and short scenes. I like stream of consciousness/internal monologue stuff and feel the most at home in second person. I try to focus on character emotions and motivations before all else, and that often leads to botched plots and acid-y meandering.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

FWWCH’s sad ending? .w. or FWWCH’s premise in general?

My OC writing is heavy, heavy angst, although I rarely post it up here so no one except @voceanic will get it haha. Out of the things that I have posted… Euterpe is very angsty for a very simple premise (terminal illness) if just because I dissect it very thoroughly, my League Asylum AU with @sheriff-caitlyn is hyper angsty by virtue of how utterly broken Jayce becomes (I once called the writing process for that “taking a hammer to my own brain and trying to pick up the largest pieces”), and the Hope chapter in Together We Brought the Moon Down hurts me a lot even though it’s not the most meticulously crafted thing and also probably requires a reading of my Ark!Hope theory to even understand.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? 

Oh man. A lot of writers have influenced me super heavily. My parents once owned a small book full of… scripts of famous movie scenes, English and Chinese side by side. I got bored as a child and read that book a lot. I got into Wuthering Heights. I read Wuthering Heights when I was like, 8 years old. And it’s never left me. All my obsession with irrational passionate characters and acid trip prose can be traced back to Emily Bronte.

My mother kept a subscription to a popular Chinese magazine when I was young, and it’s really influenced my writing style as well as general outlook. It was something in between Reader’s Digest or Chicken Soup for the Soul, and there were some seriously touching short stories in it. Those stories painted things like human pain and joy in truly meticulous and reverent ways and now I always strive to do the same.

东方骏真 was a Chinese writer in the Digimon fandom in the mid 2000s that I really admired. His Takari work referenced things from Greek myth to The Water Margin and included truly impressive ensemble casts, and showed me just how cool fanfiction could be. I started writing my first fic because of him and even now FWWCH heavily echoes his magnum opus. His depiction of things like loyalty, chivalry and love floored me when I was 12 and continues to floor me when I’m 23.

@voceanic is a blessing and I’m still so glad that we encountered each other and have become great friends. Their work (in the League fandom or original) has a Celtic myth quality that I simply adore, a storytelling mood that means I can sit and listen to them for hours and days, a heart that I want to just reach and hold, and… so many words.

I wrote this about her work a while ago so let me just copy it over now

“When she breathes she fills the air with broken winged doves and fiercely brilliant auroras.”

Dellaluce wrote briefly in the Homestuck fandom and their FFX crossover If the Sun Won’t Rise remains one of my favorite things ever. If you’ve read that you can probably catch glimpses of references littered everywhere in my work. The ending to that fic just blows me away every time and I just. I cry ok. That fic also got me interested in FF before I’ve played any of the games or read anything on the series…

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I don’t know if they are “fandom tropes” (I tend to think of them as just “tropes” because I love them in everything) but:

Artists/poets falling in love, especially if it crashes and burns in spectacularly melodramatic fashion

Hope and Light as a symbolic pair, especially when some kind of divinity is involved

Trauma, Hurt-Comfort, and Survival (faith and a wish to survive are musts. I don’t like angst just for the sake of angst, it’s always about hope and a burning, living desperation for me)

Carpe Diem

The idealistic child (or adult acting like a child) with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, truth, and wonder

Abandoned people trusting and believing in love, and desperately seeking it at all costs

Idealistic self-sacrifice, especially when foiled (see: Yuna)

Self-fulfilling prophecies

Alternatively, just look at Hope Estheim because he probably embodies everything I’ve ever loved in a fandom character LOL

[quietdaysco]

Primrose Path - Devlog #011

It's a brand new year and a brand new milestone! We've really missed you. Have you missed us? It's so great to be back!

Last devlog we said we were taking a break for the holidays. And we did, but between new jobs, family, college, and festivities, you couldn’t fully keep us away from the dream! All of December and January, we wrote. And now? 

The common route first draft is finished!

For such a wide and important aspect of our project, this is no small feat. We've been at the script for six months counting, and it felt so good to get another step closer every single day. 

Check the facts for yourself:

Main Game Progress

Writing

Common Route: 

Rough Outline: 100% ✓

Revised Outline: 100% ✓

Draft Script: 100% ✓ 

Words: 128,164 

Scenes: 99* / 99 

*Scenes are counted when they are ready for internal review, qualifying them as complete for the first draft.

Did you see that number? Yes, it's not a mistake. The common route is over 128,000 words! We love every part of it and we're very proud, but the journey isn't over yet. 

You might be thinking: “All that and you've only done the common route?!”

Yeah—it's a long journey, but one that we're happy to share with you! 

Since this is a major milestone, we wanted to share a few words of our experience until now:

Elm says...

I feel simultaneously relieved, proud and dead inside and, like all creatives and developers, I hope I get to keep feeling like this as we continue to hit milestones. Primrose is definitely something I consider to be too big a project, but I also refuse to let it go. It is a learning experience and a proud moment. As someone who has written things, but never really considered themselves a writer, this is a surprising feat and one that fills me with a great sense of calm. If I knew one day, I'd be working a full-time industry job with the typical hours and somehow managing to write over 65,000 words in just under half a year in my scarce free time, I would have said that's nice, but unrealistic. (If you told me I was going to work with someone else and double that, I might have told you to politely close the door on your way out.)

Nonetheless, I think I finally found my calling as the child who wrote manuals and to do lists before approaching middle school. Developing baselines are important for any project, and without it, I don't know where we would be. I remember saying, rather casually, we should be tracking our progress to establish a baseline as this is a first for us. I didn't realise it would be such an integral part of our process and leading to an understanding of what we can achieve. It started off as a nice thing to have, but without it I strongly believe I wouldn't be able to finish a project. That's not so uncommon, I think. We all have that pile of unfinished things that we don't expect. Except this time, I'll see it coming a mile away and work around it.

How much did data help us? I don't know. Our current average is 21,000 words a month between us. That's including a very low December, and a very high (39,000-word) January. I don't know if that's because our goals averaged at 20,000 more words a month, or if that's genuinely our limit, but it seems to be a healthy rate to allow us to do other things with our time.

I've always had an interest in production and management, a change in self has come over over the past year. One that is more confident, positive, understanding and encouraging towards myself and others. Creating a project is less like tending a well-oiled machine and more like cultivating a garden. Cogs wear down and get replaced, but people don't work like that. We need space and understanding, time to reflect, encouragement and the ability to know when we've had enough. I'm sure that shift of thought is just me developing a stronger sense of self, but it's one that I welcome and I hope will be reflected in the work I produce with Coda.

In the past, I've adamantly liked to work alone. I've wanted to push myself to the high standards I hold myself to, and I do feel it's unfair to treat anyone but myself like that. I still think this is true, but there is also pleasure in sharing work with others. When you're tired, someone else can carry the project forward. When you split the work, the other brings in an interesting and exciting twist you hadn't yourself considered. I truly believe, some of the best work isn't created alone.  With everything we do, we bring a little of ourselves into it and we make it personal. This story is significant in size for two people to attempt, but there are bigger, emergent narratives out there and maybe one day we can be a part of that too.

Until then, I'm happy to just make the kind of games that you load up on a quiet day.

Coda says...

This is the first time I’ve ever written this much content for a story in my life. 57,000 words in half a year. As much as I’ve entertained trying out hypernarrative models in personal projects, this is the first time I’ve actually done so. This is also the first time I’ve ever worked with Elm, and if I didn’t have such a competent, versed, and approachable partner, this passion project would have quickly become an untamed chore, much farther behind in progress than where we are today.

I’ve learned a lot over the past six months. I’ve been learning how I reframe my motivation to work so that I’m not chasing whims but developing a self-disciplined ethic. For me, that heavily involves pre-planning and tracking explicit goals. Elm operates similarly having such a strong interest in project management, so building up our workflow this way was to both of our benefits.

I’ve learned that I have a growing interest in narrative design. I’m spending more and more of my free time listening to lectures on theories and models to leverage player interactivity and agency, reading materials on mapping consequence, utilizing channels other than dialogue to exposit information, and learning new ways to breathe life into a scene.

And in deconstructing these concepts and figuring how to incorporate them, I find myself growing more and more with the characters. These characters are all stitched together from personal experiences—some as recent as these past couple months. They’re also those of friends and family, of passersby, of vocal strangers. They’re things I love, things I tolerate, and things I could do without yet exist. They’re research of facts, opinions I might share or reject, and trivia. These characters are points to make, and those points evolve and refine as we do.

My final thoughts are, whatever this project ends up becoming, I’ve enjoyed it so much. There are times when Elm and I have glanced at each other’s scenes and for me at least, I’ve had genuine reactions that’ve run the gamut. I have honestly gasped at these words before. I’ve laughed a great deal. I’ve nodded along and I’ve shaken my head. I’ve felt something. Whoever you are, reader, I hope you will too.

We hope these words mean something to you. If they don’t resonate, then at least they give you an idea of who we are as individuals and as a team!

So, what are our next steps?

We’re reconvening to address any pressing concerns.

The next few weeks will focus on a review pass for consistency and game flow.

Afterwards, we’ll move onto the final revision of the common route, assess, and then mark it “Done” once and for all! We'll have something else to offer once we do!

Oh, before we forget...

Here’s the last of our favorite unrevised snippets from these final two months:

RAFAEL: You've done me a wonderful favour. RAFAEL: And maybe saved my life. MC: Does it have something to do with the two over there? He glances over woefully. RAFAEL: No, they'll definitely try to kill me.

PRIYA: Someone is spreading a rumour that you had to meet with two extremely questionable kids in a trench coat. MC: God, is that what people are saying? PRIYA: No, that's what I'm saying, and if you don't fess up the rumour will only grow.

HARPER: It's a restraining order. HARPER: Been a while since I've seen one of those. This branding is nice, don't you think?

One of the pheasants stops and stares at us. It spreads its wings, revealing the second pair beneath them in a captivating display.

He buttons up his blazer. JUN LAU: (squint) Stop staring. MC: Literally, are you one to talk? JUN LAU: I’m not staring at your tits though, so don’t stare at mine. MC: Oh my God, I wasn’t even looking! It’s a lie because I totally was and I look so dumb for lying because he can read it all over my face, oh crap. Walk right past him, just walk, go go go go.

A light flurry falls from the night sky. The moon gazes through a break in the clouds, just enough to line them and every drifting snowflake in silver. A few flakes land on my nose and eyelashes.

I hum for brown paper packages tied up with strings. He recognizes the tune and smiles at me.

If this is the kind of content you like to see, we’d love for you to jump into our Discord server! We occasionally share much longer unrevised excerpts and discuss the game in much more depth with our community.

Behind The Scenes

Greyson Update

We’ve finally nursed Greyson back to health from a nasty bug, and upgraded him to the newest OS (as it goes with tech these days). He seems ready to get back out there on Twitter and help in March! 

One thing we noticed about the old Greyson is despite being cheerful, he spent nearly all of his time talking to himself, not utilizing the tools available to him to increase his presence. With his recent bug fixes, the new Greyson is now going to be out there actively searching for folks in need of some encouragement, widening his reach! If you get a message from Greyson, feel free to reply back! After all, he’s always there for you!

Side Projects

Clearly, Primrose Path is a large project and one that means a lot to us. We're under no illusion that this project will take a few more years. It's a little like our magnum opus in that regard and we're giving it everything we've got.

However, we're not the type who can sit in the dark for years on end. At Quiet Days, we recognize the benefits and importance of personal projects, and that is something the two of us will be doing more often. Whether it's game jams or comics, we hope to share them with you!

We’re focusing on monthly devlogs for our Tumblr, but we have to ask: Are there other kinds of content and updates you folks would like to see here? We want to know! Shoot us a message in our Ask the Devs inbox here on Tumblr, or hit us up on Twitter, Discord, and Lemma Soft!

Socials

• Micro-updates on Twitter!  ♦ Factoids with Greyson! • Writing Progress on GitScrum! • Live art development on Twitch! • Art logging on Instagram! • Ask us anything here! • Continue the discussion on Discord! • Master thread on Lemma Soft!