#it's a BAD COVER I JUST WANTED TO DO DIFFERENT VOICES AND THE ORIGINAL VERSION WAS SO SHIT

[hairasuntouchedaspartoftheamazon]

So here's my rendition of "It's Called 'Helena and Gerard, a Vampire Tragedy in Unmetered Limrick', Mom" by The Forgetmenauts. Enjoy.

@rusalkaandtheshepherdgirl

[yaymiyas]

THE HUSBAND

warning: female reader, saer being….saer, yan!isekai!crown prince

a/n: i was so burnt out so lets see what i come up with ….its short ik and yes im cooking up something w cynthia LET ME COOK 🫡🙄🔥🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯💯

the idea of divorce was swimming in the mist of your mind hours before you regained most of the movement in your body. you knew you had to get out of this situation in a peaceful but quick manner. in your mind, leaving saer should have been easy since he hated edina more than the devil himself. he saw her as a shit stain satan left on earth to torture him for all of his days. so why are tears running down his face…thats odd? from all of the tweets, forums, and blogs saer had close to no emotions for edina. he hated her through and through. in the original story, he would’ve cheered of joy if she simply asked to part ways. so why was he sitting in front of you crying? was the bacon too salty? was he remembering the good ol’ times with his late father? ever since you’ve transmigrated into this story, everything has been so weird. aside from you being close to perfectly fine after being fed poison, saer has became more careful.

in the book, saer was close to a bubbling idiot. every single assassination attempt was stopped by a maid because he was stupid. he always played it as cynthia and amanda favoring edina but that wasnt the full truth. he was just too obvious with everything he was doing. you actually kind of felt back for the dummy, no wonder gracie wants nothing to do with him. regardless of any of that, you actually started to feel a bit bad for him. it was obvious saer didnt know why he was crying or how to stop it by the way his face was balled up in red confusion. maybe it was out of guilt or for the plot, either way you wanted to help him. maybe he wanted to kill you but seeing a grown man cry really did break your heart.

“now, saer..”

gently pushing your hand out to cover his larger ones, you put on a voice of concern. you want to help the poor idiot but you also want to get out of this house alive. maybe playing the sweet docile wife could do you some good, maybe—

“ugh, stupid bitch get off of me.”

slapping your hand off of his, saer attempted to keep a face of pure disgust plastered for you to see. why on earth was he crying, and why on earth are you being so off-putting? at first, your new actions didnt really bother him. were they different? yes, but they weren’t unpleasant. but now...it was as if the poison made you utterly indifferent to his presence, which he told himself he loved, but the lord knows thats a lie. you quietly sitting there, dry-face, with a slight frown and uninterested body language, angered him. saer was crying purely for reactions. he thought that crying would help him close this conversation and make you jump up and beg for his forgiveness, but no. all you did was lift your grimly, beastly fingers to ‘comfort’ him. what a joke of a woman.

“im finished with my breakfast”

the scream of the chair was louder than your own thoughts, kicking you out of your own subconscious. what even was that about? you were TRYING to be the version of edina you thought he would like, second from you killing yourself right there and then. so why was he acting like you were trying to jump his bones? he is such a wicked man….such a sad excuse of a person. its such a shame his attitude is so sour, you were going to try to soften his walls to see if he would lighten up on the poisoning situation. how did he get it? who did he get it from?

“madam,”

lightly placing her hand on your shoulder, cynthia appeared. scaring you out of your thoughts, you straightened your back and put on the best fake smile you could. you knew cynthia didnt really care for you, as demonstrated by the bath she gave you earlier, but you thought that maybe you could melt this ice queen. her soft ginger coils shaped her face in all the right places, giving her olive skin the type of glow women in the real world would kill for. she had green eyes to match alone with it, making it easy to find yourself lost in them. cynthia was a beautiful woman; just how did she become a maid for this jackass?

“his royal highness has ordered for you to be sent to your room.”

[accio-victuuri]

one thing i learned as a stan of xz and wyb is that they really can’t please everyone. those who already have a bad impression of them or are antis will always twist things the wrong way. they can literally be saving a drowning man and an anti will still accuse them of showing off or it’s fake. lol. having said that, it won’t stop me from speaking out. i expected people to be in panic cause xz is gonna release an album so antis are hard at work. there are talks of this album being a cash grab and that allegedly, there is only 1 original song and the rest are covers so it seems “lazy”.

huh?

if he wanted the cash he wouldn’t have made the songs available free online. if he wanted to make money, every single song release will be paid. then another digital album paid. different online version of the albums paid. physical album paid. but he did not, only the physical would be and from what i heard, it’s as good as a xzs care package considering what’s gonna be in it aside from the CD. and what’s wrong with making money from your work? it’s his voice. it’s his team’s efforts. i’m thinking of taylor swift and all the ways she is making money from her work and it’s totally fine.

the moment this project was confirmed ( well sort of ) i just knew it was a personal one and a passion project. cause the truth is, he doesn’t need this. he already has too much going on from filming dramas/movies and other engagements. he is an actor. he is establishing himself as an actor. if anything, releasing this album is a 50/50 decision for him cause if he wants to be known as “xz the actor”, this move is not in that track. but he still continued. because he wants to. being a singer has always been his dream. i saw fans saying it must have been hard for him to do this in between work but i disagree in a way. as i said, it’s a passion project — i doubt he felt the fatigue. he loves what he’s doing so sneaking in the time to finish it must have been exciting rather than tiring.

i would love to see people see this side of xz. i hope more people will appreciate this version of him. singer xz is so special. 🫶🏼 all the antis can choke! lol. but feel free to listen to his songs you might enjoy it!

[beauty-and-passion]

And finally... the Ithaca Saga

We did it. We reached the end.

And we did it this year, in 2024! I suppose the moral of the story is: if you're truly passionate about something (and have big plans), you can do anything.

And by "anything", I don't mean just "finishing the concept album": I mean fighting against weather, bad luck and probably the gods themselves, to do what you planned.

I imagined everything, except that Mr. Jorge's plan for the final stream of his entire album, was to go to the goddamn island of Ithaca and stream there.

But, you know, it was right. It felt right. It was a very poetic choice, to bring a modern version of the Odyssey back home. To let the musical reach its artistic birthplace. And it's even more impactful that it wasn't just Odysseus' voice to (figuratively) return home: it was the entire story, through the voices of all artists involved.

However, since it's the Odyssey we're talking about, the trip to Ithaca couldn't have been simple either: what kind of boring story would it be, if everything went smoothly from start to end?

Greece's weather is overall warm, even in winter. However, there are the occasional storms/typhoons/rainfalls that last for a couple days and drown or destroy parts of the cities. And Jorge faced them not at the end of his trip, not in the middle: at the beginning, just in time to stop him from reaching Ithaca too easily.

And I believe this is all Ithaca's influence, because something similar happened to my father and brother. Last summer, they were supposed to visit Ithaca as well, but first found no available ferries, then the rain started to pour down, their car died on the nearby island, there was no available mechanic and when they finally found one, their car got fixed just in time for my brother to go to Athens and get his flight back home.

Sooo... it looks like Ithaca doesn't want visitors at all, no matter if it's summer or winter, and it does everything to keep people away - or at least, to make them have a small personal Odyssey before reaching it. Also because, according to the last shorts from Jorge, it looks like the weather changed into the usual warm, greek temperatures now. And he seems to enjoy his stay too, so I suppose the true obstacle is just reaching the island.

But enough about Ithaca, let's talk about Ithaca: there were huge expectations for this Saga. This is the final one, this is supposed to wrap up Odysseus' story and the last loose threads.

And it does. It takes its time to wrap up the last characters and it does it organically and coherently. There are no OOC moments - and this is a huge point for me, because my main complaint in the last Saga was that Odysseus moved too quickly from "let's try to discuss" to "stabbing time": here you can see and understand why he gets so angry and he even takes a few lines to further clarify his emotions.

The pace of this Saga is good too: there are no dead moments and the songs move smoothly from one event to the next. It surely helps that they cover a period of 24 hours more or less, but still.

__________________

The Challenge: this is the first time we actually hear Penelope. Not the one from Odysseus' memories, not a siren, not a vision, but the real one.

And the real one is truly the perfect woman for a clever man like Odysseus: she's intelligent, she's resourceful, she reads the signs and does the right things to buy more time. That's what she did in the Odyssey too, so it's nice to see this trait of her character here as well.

And even though the events here happen for slightly different reasons (in the Odyssey, the bow challenge was just another attempt to buy more time, while here it's something Penelope proposes right after the storm, as if she feels things are going to change very soon and her husband is coming back), it still doesn't sound forced or unnatural. It fits Epic's narrative, without damaging or going against the spirit of the original work. That's how you do a good rewrite.

One last thing about Penelope: I love how, with one single song, we can see her pride, her strength, her cleverness... and her love too. She herself says she didn't expect to end up like this, but for love, she's ready to do anything. Even waiting 20 years for a husband she doesn't even know if he's still alive, buying him time in every possible way and keeping on hold 108 dangerous, younger men who need just an excuse to rise against her and her family.

__________________

Hold Them Down: what did I say about that excuse?

Jokes aside, this is some powerful villain song and I ADORE it. The rhythm? Great, majestic, terrifying. The drums and the chorus are chilling.

But even more than them, it's the entire song, to be terrifying. And not because of its themes: it's because of the details.

Antinous doesn't just say "We will kill Telemachus and rape Penelope": he describes step by step what he wants to do. He presents a clear, precise plan of what he wants to do and how he wants to do it.

That's what makes it so chilling: how careful he is with the details. How he pondered about everything. His willingness to do all the things he says, without an ounce of doubt or fear.

And what's even more terrifying, is how Antinous' words are welcomed by the chorus of the other Suitors. There is no coldness, no shock, no fear: there is this palpable, growing excitement, that grows stronger the more he describes his plan. The chorus accompanies his words, anticipates them eagerly: they cannot wait to hear what he wants to do next.

And when Antinous says Penelope will be at their mercy after Telemachus' death, silence drops for a moment and the line: "And then we'll" is welcomed by pure silence. This perfectly shows how all Suitors held their breath, for one second, waiting for Antinous to say it out loud, to push his plan further and say what they were all thinking: without a man in the house, they could've had access to the queen's bedroom and body. They were waiting to hear it. They wanted, needed to hear more.

This is how you make a great villain song. This is how you build a terrifying villain: it's not just Antinous, who can stir up an entire crowd, by pushing on their primordial instincts. But it's the crowd itself, that welcomes the terrible images he proposes, because they were already in their minds. They were already thinking all of that: all they needed was someone to propose it out loud.

Of course Odysseus goes into full rampage mode after that: who wouldn't?

One last detail I appreciated a lot: the allusion about how the prince was on a diplomatic mission. Sure he was, that's how Odyssey starts: Telemachus leaves Ithaca to search for more news about his father, visits Sparta, Menelaus tells him about the Troyan horse and so on. It was a nice reference.

__________________

Odysseus: a song better known as "Odysseus cleans his house from 20 years of filth".

I've already talked about the first lines and I appreciate them a lot, not just because they further clarify Odysseus' thoughts and actions, but also because they imply he spent some time in Ithaca before this moment, enough to see how the Suitors treated his palace. There's a huge lack of Argo, the only dog who lived something like 20+ years and died right after seeing his owner one last time, but I suppose that his dog's death would've sent him into ultraviolence mode instantly.

I lovelovelove the ensemble chanting Odysseus' name. It's solemn, it's ineluctable, it reminds me of old church hymns and I am a sucker for that stuff.

But I am also a very bad person, so when I listen to Eurymachus saying "hey, what if you spare us and welcome the world with open arms instead" and he gets slaughtered with a "no" as a reply, I laugh.

Yes, I am a bad person.

Okay, fine, we can acknowledge how this wasn't what Polites meant with open arms and how no one has been able to fully understand his mentality... but also, it works perfectly to show how Odysseus changed. In the past, he would've been tricked by these words - and it would've led to him losing more people he loves.

But after going through so much shit, he's not willing to trust others anymore. The time of open arms is gone forever. As he says, "And as long as you're around / My family's fate is left unknown".

And so, it's ruthlessness time. Because, as Poseidon told him, ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves. And Odysseus would find peace, only if he gets rid of all the dangers around.

Because come on, we know the Suitors would've found a way to still try to kill or hurt him and/or his family. They don't play fair, they said themselves. Sparing them would've only hurt Odysseus in the long run.

And if we consider the time period, killing all the opponents was all Odysseus could do, to regain control over Ithaca.

Think about it: he has been away for 20 years, leaving the island without an adult male ruler. Of course this led all other, younger men to become restless and prideful and do things they would never do, without a strong leader: like trashing the leader's palace or trying to hurt his family.

Odysseus' only way to regain control was to show everyone he was still the strongest. And the only way he could do it, was to get rid of all the people who were undermining his authority. This way, he got rid of the dangerous ones and taught everyone else a lesson: do not even try to oppose my authority again, because I am still the strongest man of this land - and therefore, the only leader.

__________________

I Can't Help but Wonder: so, right after showing everyone he was still the ruler and the stronger and so ruthless, Odysseus takes his time to softly listen to his son and tell him how much he loves him.

No, I am not crying, I got this song stuck in my eye.

But seriously: the softness, the love, the affection he holds for his son. And how this is all beautifully portrayed through Jorge's voice.

I know others already said it, but the way he modulates his voice is incredible. He really sounds older here, an old man talking to this young boy who is so confused and full of doubts about his own strength... and like the father figure Telemachus always wanted, Odysseus reassures him: he's sure his son is strong, he understands his pain and the troubles he experienced. And he loves him, with the unconditional love a father has for his child.

I said I am not crying.

The Athena part has been a surprise: honestly, I feared Jorge forgot and we would never see a closure for them, but we actually got it!

And it was a very good one: Athena asks if there is a world where empathy is stronger than fighting. A world where people can understand each other more and not always resort to violence and ruthlessness.

There's an implicit invitation in her words: would Odysseus help her pursue this world? Would he still be her warrior and work for this new, greater tomorrow?

And Odysseus refuses. He's too old, too tired. This world is too far beyond his reach. We are still trying to reach it and we are getting glimpses of it in our everyday lives.

Athena, thanks to her immortality, can live long enough to see this far-away future, but Odysseus? Maybe in the past, when he was younger, he would've loved to see it. Now he's had enough of adventures. All he wants is to finally see his wife again.

And Athena proves her growth, by that simple "very well". You can hear a smile in her tone. She's not angry at him, she's not resentful: Odysseus made his choice and she's okay with it. Their paths divide forever, not with bitterness but with understanding.

__________________

Would You Fall in Love with Me Again: better known as "I am not crying, I said I am not, I just got the Odyssey stuck in my eye".

Odysseus reveals his wife all the awful things he did, he insists he's not the same man - Tiresias told him too, he's not the same kind and gentle husband he was and he will never be anymore: he's a man marked by hardships, by the war, by the world.

By saying it, he reminds me of the war veterans, the people who faced horrors and survived, to come back as changed people. Odysseus is one of them: the war left a mark on him and the following 20 years deepened that mark, made new ones, scars and terrors that will haunt him forever.

So of course he's not the same and he will never be: life and its hardships changed him too much to come back to the naive, younger man he was.

And yet, despite everything, Odysseus is still the same man. And Penelope proves it, through the bed trial. Again, I love how it has been used here: in the Odyssey, it was Penelope's way to be sure the weird beggar-looking guy who just killed everyone truly was her husband. Here it's her way to prove to him first that yes, he still is her husband. He may be rougher, more ruthless, filled with more regrets and anger than before... but he's still him. And she doesn't care what he did: all she cares about is that he's finally back.

Does that make Penelope a bad person too? Personally, I think it makes her more human. She spent 20 years imprisoned in her own house, with 108 possible predators trashing her place, desperately trying to buy more time for a husband she didn't even know if he was still alive, all while trying to hold the predators down as long as possible, so they wouldn't hurt her or Telemachus. Can we really blame her, if she doesn't care about what her husband did to come back, as long as he's finally back?

__________________

A truly passionate project

Epic the musical is a project overflowing with love. Every artist, every voice, every song is filled with passions and emotions and they shine here, in the final Saga, more than ever. Jorge's voice has been incredible, the way he went from sounding like an old father, to a younger man again. How we shifted from love and affection, to anger.

Penelope? Amazing, brilliant, incredible. All female voices are A+ and she's no exception.

The instrumentals? Always on point, they highlight the emotions and the mood of every song perfectly.

All the artists? Incredibly fitting, superb voices. Each of them did an amazing job with their characters, each of them brought their own spin to it and made them iconic. I don't think we'll easily forget characters like Hermes, Circe, Calypso, Athena, Scylla, Tiresias or Zeus. I know I won't.

And yes, I will fondly keep this version of the Odyssey close to my chest. It's so hard to find good modern versions, now that I found one, I won't forget it so easily.

__________________

The end?

The concept album is done, but that doesn't mean Epic is over. Jorge already said he wants to make videogames and, hopefully, give the musical some live adaptation.

So it's now right to say this is the end: this is the first step of a bright future for this series. And I personally can't wait for what it will bring.

In the meantime, as always, do not forget to stream the Ithaca Saga (and the whole musical for that matter), support Jorge and show love to all the people involved: they deserve it. Every last bit of love. It would be only fair, considering how much love and commitment they poured into this project.

That's why I would like to thank them all again for their hard job. It has been a truly wonderful journey and I can't wait for what 2025 will bring them - and us.

[milkzoro]

MY BABY GURL-

May you offer some more zombie Luffy please? I desire more of him-

I don’t mind him nibbling on my while he fucks my brains out- :3

sum more zombie!lu for yew ����

version 2 ! (original post)

⋆.✧̣̇˚.⚝𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪★ ✧˖°˗ˏˋ

a fever you can’t sweat out

luffy whined in bed all day, he laid there covered in sweat while tears stained his cheeks, he felt hopeless. this was something completely different for him, he wished he would feel better soon so that he would be the one taking care of you, even though you were completely fine.

after going over all the possibilities of the causes of his sickness, we were both stumped, “are you sure you didn’t eat something bad, lu?” he shook his aching head before a thought crossed his mind.

“we’ll now that you mention it… i did get bit by something… don’t worry peach, ‘m strong.” just as he said that his head started to throb. you rubbed from his shoulder to his chest to try and comfort him, he still had an insane fever, his skin was scorching hot.

“that’s not how that works baby, i’m worried about you.” saddness filled you emotions, you knew he wanted to be okay for you but he physically couldn’t.

“a kiss to make me feel better? then i’ll tell you what happened, promise!” he reached out for you, pulling on the back of your neck to get you close, he looked deep into your soft eyes and smiled. you rolled your eyes and mumbled, ‘fine’ as if you weren’t going to give him a lil smooch anyways.

his lips were warm as he kissed you, his tongue begged for entrance as he tried to push past your plush lips. you allowed it, the growing ache in your tummy wanted him so bad.

you ignored your aches and pulled back, making him growl in annoyance. “you said you’d tell me, luffy. so spill.” you held your ground, despite wanting to give in to his needs.

“muyggffgghhhhh fine— was playing with my bugs… but there was one i didn’t recognize, mm had like human teeth? and, well no it wasn’t a beetle… you think it was a zombie y/n? sheheiiuhihihih kidding! but it did have teeth.”

he showed you the bight mark on his right hand and you audibly gasped. the mark looked so fresh, how could you not have noticed? the teeth indents were red and it definitely looked infected, there was slight swelling and discoloration… poor baby, he was shivering now. the unknown illnesses seemed to be getting worse.

“please don’t worry y/n! ‘m fine! see look!” he shuffled out of bed and stretched out his arms to the best of his ability. “can you kiss me again?” he put on his best puppy dog face for you. how could you say no to him?

you playfully pushed him back on the bed and layed on top of him carefully, kissing his cheeks before meeting his mouth again. “only if you stay in bed and rest baby, that’s the deal if you want me to keep going.” you teased and he wholeheartedly agreed.

luffy ignored the aching feeling flowing through his veins, he loved your pretty lips. he hoped that kissing you would distract the other thoughts that were in his mind. but he sucked, and pulled, and finally bit.

“ouch! luffyyyyy why did you do that?” it stung, you’re pretty sure he broke skin, you tasted a faint trace of metallic in your mouth. he didn’t look okay, he was apologizing as if it wasn’t in his control, he aslo didn’t look like himself. his fever was worsening, he writhed around in bed, clutching his ears because they were becoming hypersensitive.

“baby, listen. it’s okay. i’m here.” you touched him again but he begged for you to back away, he didn’t want to accidentally snap at you and regret it later.

his voice deepened as he explained to you, he growled and moaned. “no, y/n! please, get the ropes, i need you to listed to me and tie me down, i feel something happening, get them now!”

you tied him to the bed and waited for further instructions, biting your lip as a nervous tick. he was unresponsive and still for a moment and you worried even more, you rushed to see if he still had a pulse and he surprisingly did. but he was ice cold. he shuffled in his ropes a bit when he felt your fingers touch his ice neck. you could’ve been mistaken but you thought you heard whimpers?

you boyfriend looked different. his eyes met your own but they didn’t give you that warm feeling anymore, they were hazy white and the color from his skin was gone. you reached out to touch him again.

“y/nnnnn seeeeee mm ohhuuuukayyyy, t-touch mmme” with the groans mixed in, his words were almost inaudible, but you could understand him

you were hesitant at first but you still had the aches in your tummy, luffy laid restless under the ties of the ropes, his soft rustles and pants made your cunt do flips at the sight before you.

“you want me to touch you, lu? i-is this okay to do?

“uh huuhh… i need you now… get on top mughhhhhhhrzz now…please.”

the ropes you placed on him were secure, so you felt safe moving forward. each limb was tied down to every post of the bed, he was sprawled out like a starfish. you knelt between his legs and eyed the tent in his shorts, he looked bigger than usual. the zipper opened easily as you freed huge cock from the fabric, eyes wide from the sight of him.

his growls ushered you to remove your panties and t-shirt. “let me feel you peach, get on.” his raspy voice controlled you, he couldn’t use his hands so he needed to improvise, he begged for you.

“tell me if you want me to stop. okay, lu?”

his eyes turned sinister and a slight grin crept on his face like he has just got the last piece of some monster plan. his voice was more clear now, but it was just a little bit off. it was now deep and demonic. “think before you speak y/n. look at me.” his pale eyes gestured down to his enlarged cock. “shouldn’t i be the one saying that to you? now get on.”

you nodded your head and swallowed your nerves— how were you going to fit it all? waiting around wasn’t going to solve you problem. you hurried to straddle him, lining him up with the drips of your entrance. his growing tip kissed along your slick, you held your breath until you finally sunk all the way down his length. he hissed at the contrast of your warmth swallowing him whole.

more groans fled his mouth, annoyed with how he couldn’t grasp you and move you himself. you needed time though. as you rest at the base of his thick cock, you held your hands to your mouth. silencing your yelps from the pain of being stretched so soon. you shifted your hips a little, the pressure in your cunt finally adjusted to his insane width.

slowly, you began to rock yourself on him, pushing up on his chest for support. “ahhh shit! too big luffy. feels so good—”

he whined and shifted beneath you, bucking up his hips to get you to move faster. “be a good girl and move. please, fucking move peach—” he continued to hit your g-spot repeatedly, even if your weren’t fully ready for it. tears pooled in the corners of your eyes, both from the pain and the pleasure. slick sounds filled your ears as you felt yourself start to unravel around him, you started to bounce faster.

“ahh luffy!! sss too muchh— t-think i’m gonna cum!” your cunt clenched around him, hugging around his thick base perfectly. your words fueled him more, he took it as a sign to fill you up on the spot. the ropes tugged on his flesh as he jolted beneath you, you were surprised they managed to hold down your monster of a boyfriend. but those thoughts soon left as he thrusted deep inside you over and over again. you could barely sit upright as he did so, you were blissed out and so sensitive.

“c-coming lu!!! i’m gonna— fuck! cum so hard!” you felt your legs begin to shake on either sides of him, his deep stokes making your mind go numb as you unravel around him. he wasn’t done yet, but he was close.

“fuck, y/n stay right there for me, gonna fill your pretty cunt all the way up. shit— you can do that for me, can’t ya?” you cried out as he overstimulated your weeping pussy, making a mess of the both of you. he stroked up a few more times before you felt his cold liquid flooding your cunt, there was so much of it.

with his final stoke before he came, he moaned deeply. you cried with him, feeling your second orgasm come with his own. “so tight for me y/n, shittttt— such a perfect pussy.” his chest heaved in unison with yours as you both started to come down from your highs.

⋆.✧̣̇˚.⚝𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪★ ✧˖°˗ˏˋ

@anemptypuddingcup what do we do next ???? do we untie him? yes or yes 🙈

[frostwing213]

SO. I JUST LISTENED TO THE ITHACA SAGA

First of all, insert screams. I am screaming.

Second

THAT WAS AMAZING. (More screams)

My personal top to songs have to be Hold them down and WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AGAIN.

I mostly like Hold Them down because of how the song sounds, I love the "Hold ___ down, blah blah blah blah blah blah" part. It sounds REALLY GOOD TO ME.

NOW ONTO WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AGAIN

IM DYING. IM DEAD. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

NOW IM GONNA ANALYZE IT

So we start the song with Penelope asking if it's really him. She seems to know, but doesn't believe it.

Ody then says he's done horrible things, that he's not the same man. To me, this is kinda a recall to No longer you, because I imagine Ody’s looking back at that and going "Oh". Remember his rage when he heard a man with a trail of blood would stand with his wife? Now be realizes that man is him, but as Tiresias said, that man is no longer him. He has changed. He has changed so deeply, the man from the end of the second act is no longer the man from the first. Ody wonders if his wife can fall in love with this new version of him after all this time and change

Penelope asks, what kind of things. Reasonable question. She's wondering what her husband could have done to make him so different from when he left. She already knows he just killed a crap ton of suitors, and Ody’s crew is nowhere to be seen, so she can probably guess, but she still asks, still wants to hear what Ody has to say.

Ody gives her a short explanation without details. I wanna call attention to his first line in this section: "Left a trail of red on every island" (I'm sure there's a musical motif, but I'm not good at catching those) This reminds me, again, of No longer you with Tiresias's line: "I see your palace covered in red...A man with a trail of bodies" That second part combined with this bit in Would you fall in love with me again, shows that the trail of bodies isn't just the suitors. It's the crew. It's all the enemies Ody had to face, it's everyone he's hurt and killed. Ody looks back and sees that, he regrets it somewhat, regrets how it changed him. He then turns back to his wife, the reason hes done all that, caused all that bloodshed and asks, 'Would you fall in love with this new me? After everything I've done to get back, would you still love me? I'm not the same man'

Now, I want us to remember, while Ody is famous for being tricky and smart, Penelope is just like him. She's kept suitors from doing anything too bad for 20 years. Penelope listens to what her husband says, then essentially says "If you're not my husband, move our marriage bed and leave." Now! In the original Odyssey, she asks Ody to do that to prove he is Odysseus becase he was still disguised by Athena at that point. It serves only a slighty different purpose now. She knows he is her husband, but this request is still to prove it.

But instead of proving it to her, it's proving it to him.

Ody doesn't fully get the question at first and gets a little mad, that bed is quite literally a tree, rooted into the ground. He cannot move it without completely destroying it. How could she ask this?

Then Penelope sings again, you can hear anger in her voice as she tells him that he is still the man she loves, he is still her husband. If he was a different man now, he wouldn't have known the bed cannot be moved. This is when it sets into Ody. Penelope continues to sing, going 'Of course I still love you!' I specifically love the line: "Don’t tell me you’re not the same person. You’re always my husband" Becase that enforces the point I just made. She knows it's him, and he is her husband, don't tell any different.

And then I die, becase AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

When Penelope is asking how long it's been, she's not asking literally, because we know this girl has been counting the freaking seconds. She's saying that however long it's been, he's still the same and she loves him.

I AM DYING FOR THIS SONG

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Bluey's episode "Surprise" and a discussion on the surprise

One of the first things I did when I woke up this morning was watch the Bluey episode "Surprise". I had three thoughts for most of it 1.) Yeah two kids and two different games is gonna get chaotic. 2.) I feel sorry for Bandit. All my man wanted to do was watch the race. Poor guy will definitely wake up tomorrow covered in bruises. 3.) This feels like a generic episode... why air it after "The Sign"? Like what makes it the better season finale. Then I got to the end.

Spoilers below the line

Adult Bluey. She looks great! I am not gonna lie though she maybe looks a little to young. Someone said she was older now because she has grey in her fur. Maybe I am just bad at guessing dog ages but I thought that was just texture to show her fur had gotten longer/thicker over time. I would have honestly believed that she was 18 and visiting home for the first time after going away to college.; particularly since Chili says Bingo is still at home. Then i remembered Bingo is hinted to have an intrest in the medical field/want to be a doctor, so maybe she stays at home longer to save money while working on her degree. But there is one thing to hint Bluey must actually be in her mid to late 20's at this point....

Her little child. Again I am not the best guess of the characters ages... I am going to guess this kid is around 5 based on them only being about a head smaller than Bluey was when she was 7 and played this trick on Bandit (also I just do not think you give a ball shooter to a toddler. Imagine Muffin with one).

The main topic surrounding this little pup right now seems to be who is the father. I understand the shippers want to know, But I am an adult viewer who really does not have that much interest in ships in a children's show. And there are other things I think people should be asking. First do we think this is Bluey's son or her daughter. They look a lot like Bluey, but also a lot different from her. Plus this show is pretty good at not necessarily making all the girls look exactly like their moms: both Bluey and Socks resemble their fathers and Bingo looks as much like her aunt as she does her mom. Other than that the dogs do not wear cloths and we do not hear a name or voice to help us guess. So really they could be either.

That drives me to my next point. I really want this pup to have a name. I definetly believe that Bluey's child would have a name that starts with "B" to carry on the little tradition from her childhood house. Since we do not know if they are a boy or a girl I have decided to christian them by the gender neutral animal name: "Bean". "Beanie" and "Little Bean" are affectionate names family members will call them. Their favorite breakfast food is biscuits with jelly, because then they will be asked "Jelly Bean?" which makes them laugh so hard they almost roll off their chair

Edit

here is a picture of Bluey's child ("Bean") , that I took off the official wiki, without the toy gear.

They have less jet black fur and more purple/dark blue than it originally looked like they did when they were wearing the toy. Personally I think they look like a blue/grey version of Brandy. Genetics are fun. It is much harder to say looking at this picture if they are a Blue Heeler/Border Collie mix or a Blue Heeler/ Black lab mix. Wiki says this is on purpose as both mixed breed dogs can look fairly alike and that the pup has traits that could come from either Bluey's friend Mackenzie or her Friend Jean Luc. So you heard it here. The creators intentionally left the breed/father of this pup ambiguous, and you are not wrong for believing either one of them is Bluey's husband/ the father.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

If you could pick any song for each individual Beatle to cover when their voices were at their peak, what would they be? Can be from any time period. :)

(You’re great btw ❤️.)

Hi thank you so much for this ask it's delighted me to no end to think about this.

I'm going to assume they're doing a cover in a similar style to the original, even though I find that kind of boring for covers, just cause it makes it easier to decide. I'm also zeroing in on finding a song that fits, because if I focus too much on songs I like it'll be kind of boring I think lol.

For Ringo, I was thinking country because he loves the genre so much and because the talk-y vibe of a lot of the melodies fits his vocals. I also think at his vocal peak he sounded very soft and sweet so I decided on a song I've long loved:

Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver

For George, I think he was capable of some super cool growls in the early 60s. ("Three Cool Cats" anyone?????) This isn't an all-time fave of mine, but thinking of his "Roll Over Beethoven" cover, I feel like he'd do a great job with this:

Bad Reputation – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

For John, I wanted something that lets him reach for those slightly screechy higher notes he was so good at on songs like "This Boy".

(Sidenote: while I think 1980 John was on crack thinking he could have done a better job than Paul on "Oh! Darling" in 1969, I'm super curious how he would've performed it in 1963)

While I was perusing for a song for George, I was reminded of this song, which I also think would fit John really well content-wise, and he'd be able to infuse with all the emotion and frustration it needs:

Sober – P!nk

For Paul, I have two answers, neither of which I'm completely happy with lol.

First I was thinking of taking advantage of his many voices. The first song I thought of was actually "all-american bitch" by Olivia Rodrigo, but that's a pretty weird song for a man to do, although in some ways it also works really well for Paul. ("I don't get angry when I'm pissed / I'm the eternal optimist / I scream inside to deal with it")

So instead I thought of "happier than ever" by Billie Eilish as this song with many different energies and also a suite of sorts, but the original version really doesn't fit Paul. Something more like this version though, more sarcastic than angry, I could see:

But I felt that song wouldn't be taking full advantage of Paul's range.

So my second option is this, because it would let him show off a little more I think:

Don't Look Back In Anger – Oasis (I know, lol)

[mayordea]

aaaaaa. i like this one now so i am going to post it

so. for about five days i've committed to getting back into attempting to Do Music and i wanted to do bad apple since it's a very repetitive song which means i can spend more energy getting silly with the inst. this marked many firsts for my musical journeys that sort of reinvigorated my motivation for making covers. first time using utau for vocals, first time actually mixing the vocals w the inst (it's not perfect but the fact i actually mixed at all makes it a significant cut better than my past covers), also using a different program for the final inst to make the instruments sound better which i think paid off. more rambles under the cut.

i originally had this big ambitious plan of making four versions, 2 in english 2 in japanese done in utau and synthv. but well my frankenstein'd english lyrics from three different sources didn't end up lining up with the original length of the japanese and also after the emotional rollercoaster that was trying to tune milk in openutau i just wanted to settle with one version.

the vocalist is milk whom i discovered recently. she has her rough spots that i'm not fully used to ironing out yet but i really fell in love with her voice (and design). i originally planned for hoshino hanami to be my main vocalist (another utau i've come to love) but she didn't have that range i needed. i would like to make a cover with her though--i've got my eye on meltdown (though that may take a while ough).

i switched vocalists midway through and had to figure out milk's different quirks on the fly--like she had a completely different phonemizer and more options to pick from for voice colors and sound variants and i was still VERY new to utau and finding help online was tough. figuring out how to use her vocal fry was really frustrating even though i didn't end up using it cuz i didn't know how to make it sound good lol..... AND i was having a crisis about how i couldn't make her sound good no matter what i did and how i felt like such a fraud before i realized mixing it really is the secret sauce to making a vsynth vocal sound good. like i know i can improve on both areas but the difference really is night and day. it is because of that that i want to go back and remake some of my other older covers with this extra processing applied and actually have them reach closer to their potential.

but despite the lows i ventured i walked out of this cover more proud of myself than past projects, and that's why i want to keep trying my hand at more song covers since the process is pretty fun!! may spring back and forth between synthv and utau vocalists, both have their perks ofc but i do get a bit of a kick out of manually tuning in utau (even tho it takes forever)

[arizonaaaaaa]

Glee cast sings Born This Way by Lady Gaga

Marry the Night sung by Elliot ‘Starchild’ Gilbert in “A Katy or a Gaga”

-I’ll say it right away, I think this cover is better than the original, I’m not ashamed to say it, maybe just a bit, Elliot’s version of the song is just so good you can’t love, would be better if he was in drag but that was too woke for Ryan Murphy

Born This Way sung by Kurt, Mercedes and Tina in “Born This Way”

-this is one isn’t better than the original but it’s also very good, I couldn’t imagine someone other than Kurt to say the little monologue at the start, Mercedes and Tina also kill in this song, however I’m still pissed they cut the “no matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgender life” from the episode when Kurt just came back and Santana is dealing with her sexuality, it just fits so much, I also don’t like the shirts, I’d do something like Wanna be Startin’ Something and have all of them dance while wearing a Gaga outfit

Government Hooker sung by Puck and Rachel in “The First Time”

-I imagine this as Rachel trying to prove to Artie that she can be sexy while being a virgin, she would ask Puck to help, and while he does great with his bad boy charm she would once again rock the “sad clown hooker” look, I’m not sure if Puck could do a Dutch accent but it’s worth to try

Judas sung by Joe Hart in season 4

-two words, Kitty Wilde, Joe had no storylines this season, and if I’m being honest I think they were trying to push a romance between these two before deciding to create that random romance between Kitty and Artie, either way it could be interesting seeing Joe singing this, as if “Judas” was tempting him into sinning, and I mean, what is Kitty if not a little satanic version of Quinn Fabray?

Americano sung by Cassandra July in “The New Rachel”

-I don’t like this mash-up🫣, I would either stick with Americano or Dance Again, since this is a Gaga post that’s what I’m sticking with, it’s not all that spectacular but it gets the job done, Santana could do the song justice but I rather not have the only Latina sing this

Hair sung by Unique Adams

-this whole song is a big transgender allegory, how it makes a connection between hair and identity, especially given Unique’s family, her parents send her to a conversion camp, which didn’t work because Unique is stronger than that. The line “I scream “Mom and Dad, why can’t I be who I wanna be?”” hits very hard

Scheiße sung by Brittany, Quinn and Santana

-honestly I just want Quinn and Santana singing a feminist anthem, their voices would work a lot, and it kind of matches their season 4 selves, just throw Brittany singing the “German” parts and there, you have an amazing trio

Bloody Mary sung by Tina Cohen-Chang in “The Sue Sylvester Shuffle”

-this would be PEAK goth Tina, she and the girls would be in their zombie make up on stage teaching the glee guys and the football players how to be scary and zombie-y, Mr Schue and the gluys would hype them up while the football guys would be confused and a little scared, Tina was really robbed of solos on the show and I think she deserved this one since her only actual solo in season 2 was cut less than halfway through

Black Jesus † Amen Fashion sung by Mercedes and Quinn

-this was hard to choose, but after analyzing the lyrics as well as the background of the song I think these two would fit quite well, Black Jesus represent a different view on both religion and life in general, which for me fits Quinn’s character, while Amen Fashion represent how easy it is to change just like your fashion, which after thinking really represents Mercedes personality change from season 3 to 4, she obviously became more mature and a better friend for me, they’re also Christian which was another reason to assign them this song

Bad Kids sung by Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman in season 3

-this song is very Puck coded, especially his “Lima loser era”, the song starts with a heavy guitar solo but the guitar is barely used after that, if Puck would sing it, I would make the song way more rock n’ roll to fit his vibe during the end of the season, also the song is about embracing yourself for however you are, and I guess Puck would embrace his bad kid side

Fashion of His Love sung by Mercedes Jones in season 5

-this song was made for Mercedes Jones in her adult phase, being a tribute to Alexander McQueen and Whitney Houston, it fuses elements from McQueen’s fashion, Whitney’s inspired beats and several references to religion and god, this had so much potential on being a church choir song

Highway Unicorn (Road to Love) sung by Brittany and Kurt in “I am Unicorn”

-I was actually dumbfounded when this song wasn’t featured at all in the episode, like, the episode is named after unicorns what do you mean, this could be one instance where a character just starts singing, which would be Brittany and another one joins in after being confused with the sudden singing, which would be Kurt

Heavy Metal Lover sung by Kitty Wilde in season 4

-this would be the song Kitty would choose to confess her love for Ryder, which would be actually very funny since this song is so kinky and bdsm-y and Ryder is objectively the most vanilla guy ever, I can totally picture him being all 😃 during the whole song, sadly for Kitty, Ryder doesn’t reciprocate her feelings

Electric Chapel sung by Elliot and Santana

-I actually don’t have idea for an episode or season where this song would fit, the only reason I chose this two is because I think their voices would fit the song, also because this is my favorite song from Gaga ever, and I think they would do it’s justice

The Queen sung by Blaine and Marley in “Diva”

-this song represents gay men and how they can be queens despite not being woman, i think this storyline also fits the one Blaine was pushing on how guys can be divas. Analogously, Marley would be singing to prove that despite her shy demeanor and quiet personality, she can still be a queen for the night

Yoü and I sung by Shelby and Will in “Mash Off”

-I’m not a hater or this mash-up but I am a fan of this song, so no mash-up, Will does sound really good but he sings more of the other You and I so I’d distribute the lines a little more equally between the two, Shelby does a decent job, the song originally talks about a past relationship of Gaga, but I guess lyrics wise it can also be a song of Will wishing the New Directions could be together again, it was never shown but I know he was sad over the girls leaving, they were kind of his daughters, Shelby is just giving support, hate this woman

The Edge of Glory sung by Mercedes, Quinn, Santana and Tina with the Trouble Tones in “Nationals”

-this song was done great, I have no complaints, Santana sing in the start is the best part for me, Quinntina slay their verse and Mercedes does excellent as usual

And that’s it, this was really fun to write, I absolutely love this album, it’s by far my favorite, the next one is ARTPOP, and I’ll admit I didn’t like this album at first, but upon re-listening to it opened my eyes to its perfection, see you next week or so :)

[sweetmariihs2]

A headcanon-like thing I would like to share about Queen Lorelei

Tw: death during childbirth and some light mentions of suicide and grieving

I love Queen Lorelei (King Roland's deceased wife). She barely appears or it's mentioned in the show? Yes. But oh well. Fandom.

We believe she's that genuinely kind deceased character, that everyone remembers as sweet and beautiful, always more gentle than the world was to her, like a ray of sunshine. She's absolutely adored by everyone and her beauty and kindness always brought all the eyes in the room to her and her sweet laughs and smiles.

But unfortunately she died some time after she got married, during the childbirth of the princes that her body wasn't made to support, because the only reason she got pregnant in the first place was the wishing well, and that action had consequences, which means, she got pregnant indeed but that didn't changed the fact her body wasn't capable of enduring this.

And well, she died because of that. I usually feel really bad about childbirth deaths, because I feel like that could have been avoided months earlier. She was well and healthy but trying to have children took her life, and that just happened because she wanted to have a family and live a happy life.

But well, despite being something that lacks information, her story and character fascinates me, and we try to suppress that desire to see her story through fanfiction and fanmade content.

In my case, I have a constant habit of relating characters to songs, in some cases to whole artists if their whole discography match this character or fandom. For example I can't hear some of Aurora's songs without thinking of Cedric.

In Lorelei's case, it was something I never spoke about, but since we're in a fandom and in constant search for STF related stuff and fan content to keep enjoying our favorite show, I decided to share this.

Basically, I'm a HUGE Lana Del Rey fan since around 2019. I know 90% of her released songs and I also listen to some of her unreleaseds (that despite me knowing a ton of unreleaseds there are more than 200 wandering through the internet so there's no way I know all of them)

During the start of her carreer (actually, her first albums, since her career started years before the debut album) Lana's songs told us stories. Some key words that I would like to relate to her songs are: girlhood, nostalgia and melancholy (+or tragedy if you think about it)

In her first albums (Born to Die + The Paradise Version which is a deluxe of BTD) her songs were centered around nostalgic stories and feelings surrounding girls' experiences. Because she is so beautiful and often delicate while singing about darker topics, it's like her voice and lyric choice just interconnect. She sang about girls who lost their lovers, about beautiful girls that felt unhappy or/because they wasted their youth, about tragic endings, like being taken away from your friends during your teenage years because you guys were doing all kinds of crazy stuff at that time (this song is called This Is What Makes Us Girls), all of this surrounded by a feeling of nostalgia, as if those stories had happened a long time ago.

(Her songs weren't made to romanticize anything, like some people say they were; in fact, a huge part of these songs were inspired by her own life and feelings, and Lana is just telling us stories.)

So, going back to Lorelei, some of Lana's songs remind me of her. Based on what I said you can understand why. But not only that, Lana has some very specific songs that kinds match the fandom's headcanons of how Lorelei would be like (since we have no official info about her character).

Like in the song Blue Velvet, which is a cover from Bobby Vinton's song, but Lana brought a whole different feeling to it. Bringing it to the context of her album, her version sounds a lot more heartbreaking than the original one. The lyrics are about a male character missing his lover, singing about her blue velvet dress and how he will never forget about his love for her, even after she passed. Lana's version has a whole orchestral instrumental through the song and mostly at the end of it, making the song sound nostalgic, tragic and even sounds like some kind of anthem close to the end.

There's also the song Carmen, where there is a girl called Carmen, who attracts all eyes to her and is known for her beauty, but deep inside she's not mentally well, and people seem not to care about or notice how she's feeling. By the end of the song she even gets a love confession (in french), probably hinting at the fact that she receives many of them, but it doesn't matter because those who give them don't really know her or care about it. Despite her state "she's still shining" (in Lana's words), because even though she's suffering, she's still beautiful and loved by people.

In the song Born To Die, Lana sings about enjoying your life while it's still happening, because we're gonna die sooner or later. In the music video the scenes interwine with her sitting in a throne and spending time with a lover, who seems to give her an unhealthy relationship, judging by his aggresive behavior. At the end of the music video they're travelling together by car and her boyfriend, the driver, tries to force her to kiss him back, and because of that their car crashes and she dies in his arms, making him face his guilt because he was the one who did this to her. Tragic ending.

Dark Paradise is a song about grieving a loved one. It was made based on her feelings and her life.

These are some of the songs that match because of the lyrics, but being honest, because of the album being so concrete, the lyrics don't even need to match for me to remember her, because as I said this album is about nostalgic girlhood and melancholia, and she often sings about memories like in the song This Is What Makes Us Girls, that was also inspired by her teenage years when she was taken from her friends, but the memories she carries with them last till this day and it makes her miss those times.

Going to the unreleased, there are so many more. Like the song Angels Forever, where she's singing about memories that at her youth she never thought they were going to end: "we were angels forever, forever angels".

Or Fine China, where she is watching a friend having their first child, and remembering that at her own wedding years ago her groom left her at the wedding, depriving her of the dream life she would have liked to have had, singing "I'm going down now, with all of my fine china and fresh linen, all of my dresses with them tags still on", hinting at what was left of the wedding, of a life she couldn't have, but that she was watching others around her having it in her place. This song kinda reminds me of Roland to be honest, even thought his story with Lorelei isn't really related to their wedding, he was also deprived of a life he wish he could have had. And he had her dresses packed, her stuff still there in the castle, just like in the song the pov had her fine china and dresses with tags still on (they were never used).

It kinda fits even more with that headcanon that Cedric was in love with Lorelei. He never had the chance to live a life with her, and he's a bachelor till this day, watching all the weddings and happy lives through the years but never being a part of them, thinking about what would have happened if life wasn't so cruel.

I had these thoughts and despite being a bit niche I still felt like it should be shared. I know that not many people are fans of listening to recommended songs (at least in my case that's true), but I also made this post for those who already know some of those songs and didn't noticed these connections with Lorelei's story. Those who don't know the songs and want to listen to them now are also very welcomed.

I think about how amazing would be if I made a fanfic about this and using these songs. But I won't do it, it's just a thought. Feel free to do it though, I would absolutely love to read that.

[owlettie]

Me realizing that aside from Victorian Fashion History, Mythology is my second biggest fixation

This is just a rambling post where I talk about Greek Mythology and Epic the Musical

Ok but like fun fact I’m ND (no shit) and my current and very obvious fixation is Epic The Musical

Another fun fact; I work with Zeus and Lady Hekate as a spiritual HellenPoly type of person so working and worshiping Greek Gods has been my thing for a couple of months now but I loved learning about them since Elementary

I think it’s fun that a lot of spiritual individuals and Hellenic Polytheists are enjoying Epic the musical

Like I have sang so many of the songs to it’s entirety towards Lady Hekate and Zeus as fun offerings/devotion acts

I’m sure it’s just my own doing but I feel so intune with my gods everytime I draw myself for the group Epic Dr like it’s just so fun

Record of Ragnarok and my love for Beelzebub will never change as a place I want to go but partaking in a more active community really makes me want to create more

Record of Ragnarok is such a small community on the EN side fr so I don’t post my art related to Beelzebub

Since January, I have learned more mythos of the Greek Pantheon and read a comic book version of The Odyssey

Not only I fixated on Epic so much, I be fixating on the original source material and slowly reading Homer’s hymns - I’ve finished reading Hymn to Demeter and currently on Hermes origin hymn

One thing I can’t help but thank the community is for OdyDio and Diomedes glaze because I just love that man (as a character) where I be twirling my hair everytime I see content for him but any Hermes art and content? I be barking like a damn dog who wants that cartoonishly large bone to run around the backyard in bliss fr. Like I love Epic Hermes sooo much I was fearing for my life with Diety Hermes potentially witnessing my down bad moments where I flop around my bed like I’m a Magikarp pokemon bc I’m watching a Dangerous animatic for the millionth time.

Do you know how awkward it is to shake ass to Thunder Bringer when the deity Zeus watches you? I had to stop body rolling to that song for a while after that. I know Zeus doesn’t mind bUT I DO.

Epic has fully brainrotted me as my vocal stims is lyrics from the musical. I be walking around a bougie strip mall and my mouth blurts out “fOR EVERY COMRADE—“

I have listened to the music so keenly that I just replay songs to focus on the different instruments being used. I am no professional dancer but I choreographed No Longer You to myself and Warrior of The Mind. Why? The music felt called towards me. Suddenly I’m studying ancient greek/ myceanen fashion so I can theoretically cosplay the characters from Epic. (Mainly Tireseas so I can perform in cosplay of his song)

I think Epic Odysseus made me accept my most masculine side of the Nonbinary spectrum fr but how hard I want to sing like Jay but also Odysseus’s whole vibe. To the point that the voices in my head is telling me to post song covers bc it would eat. /pf

Anyways, I love Epic the Musical and I love the fandom on tumblr for it. I love any and every animatic artist so much and their art. You guys always makes living more bareable each day. If you guys reach a million views on your animatics, you’re welcome as it’s most definitely me./pf

I should sleep now as it’s 2:45am lmfao



[mikunology]

Mikunology Reviews: Boku wa Hatsune Miku to Kiss wo Shita (2013) (Pt.2)

Alright, here we are with Part 2, where I will chat about the album's second half! Let's get to it!

Part 1 here

Ii, Er Fanclub: I think anyone who vaguely knows of Mikito has heard this one, if it's not ROKI. XD This is another more goofy, fun track about Rin and Gumi being fans of Chinese culture. And I love it! It's a great song, the back-and-forth between Rin and Gumi is so fun to sing along to - the inclusion of actual Chinese words is really fun as well. The drums are great here too. There's not really much I can say on this one that isn't just regular praise?? I highly recommend checking out it's PV by the wonderful Yori and Ryuusee! (Actually, I do have one comment I want to make: unpopular opinion, but I like this original Rin & Gumi version a lot more over Giga's Miku & Len mix. The goofy charm of the original song just jives with me more, although Giga's tuning is stellar.)

Wednesday Blue: This is another remaster, this time of one of Mikito's much older Miki originals. This is more typical rock'n'roll-style track, and it's a bit noisier than Mikito's usual fare. Unfortunately, I do think it's my least favorite on this album: it's a bit…all-over-the-place, compared to Mikito's later work? The Miki vocals are clearer and a bit better than the original NND upload, but they're still notably clunky in some places which can kinda take me out of the song. That said, the song as a whole isn't bad or anything, and it's actually pretty catchy after a few listens - it's just kinda clear this song was written by a less experienced Mikito. (Not to poke fun - everyone starts somewhere!)

Setsuna Plus (Momentary Plus): And here we are, back to Miku Dark again. This song is a bit more abstract in terms of lyrics, I think, but I still find myself coming back to it. There's not much I can say about this one either, honestly? Other than that it's good and that I like it - it has that usual great atmosphere again. However, I do have a slight criticism, I think - as much as I love the way Miku sounds here, I think this song could have done with a bit more powerful vocal instead, after hearing a few covers with characters like Amaga Eru (who can be pretty loud in her base voicebank).

Sarishinohara (Distant Fields): I remember not being too keen on this track at first for some reason? I don't know what was up with me because this song is really lovely XD This is a rock song about the forbidden love between a boy and his best friend and classmate, who has become an idol (and since idols can't date, she can no longer see him). There's such a tragic, melancholic feel to this song that really gets across the pain the boy is in, both in that he can no longer be with the girl despite her being "everywhere", in a sense, both in the instruments and in Miku Dark's vocals. Personally, I find this to be my favorite in the "Sarishinohara" trilogy, since 1) I think the melody is a bit easier to get into compared to the others and 2) just the sheer vibes.

Secret DVD: Ah, this one…the spicy one. A more straightforward rock track with a bit more "vanilla" Miku voice instead of Miku Dark, about doing sexy things. I actually like this one quite a bit despite the mature subject matter - it is pretty catchy, and the guitars are really good here. There's a part in the second verse where there's a harp-like strum and it's really satisfying. I also gotta say, something I always appreciated about Mikito's more sexual songs is that they're usually written in a manner that actually makes the act sound romantic rather than…well, you know. XD (*looks at REOL and Umetora*) I recommend this one for the music alone even if you're not into the song lyrically.

Salad Banya Cauda: Now for something completely different! XD This is one of the very few completely album-exclusive tracks, since I believe all of the tracks on this list have been released with PVs with the exception of this and Gariben Hirose no Shouri. This isn't really a rock track at all - it's a cute little folksy-type song with more acoustic instruments and simple Miki vocals (with the exception of some electric guitar between verses). I like it, though! It's a cute song, it makes you feel like marching through some sunny trees to find some berries or some adventure. However, I do think it can come as a surprise given the vibe of literally everything else. I think you might enjoy it, still!

Gariben Hirose no Shouri (A Geek's Huge Victory): OK, back to rock - this is the other completely album-exclusive track, and honestly? I've come to like it quite a bit. It has that signature nice Mikito J-rock vibe, with some lovely Gumi tuning to go with it. There's not much I can say about it that I haven't said for other songs on this CD, though? Just more of the same good stuff, I suppose. XD However, I really like the end part, where Gumi starts singing some "lalala"'s - something I like about Mikito's rock songs is that some of them feel like they could be played at the end of movies or as ending themes to anime episodes, and this is definitely one such song with the way it plays out.

Sayoko: Ah, this is another famous one. Sayoko is a soft J-rock track about severe depression, and once again uses Miku Dark - I think this is a really brilliant use of her, though, it really fits the song's theme since Miku sounds so melancholic and tired here. The melody is again a bit more understated, but it also really fits. I'm running out of things to say about the music itself XD I really think this song has a great calming vibe to it, despite the sad lyrics…I think someone could find it a great comfort, especially if you relate (like me!).

kiss: Finally, the last track, and the single collaboration on this CD: featuring the great Vocarock producer keeno! Together, he and Mikito form Mikeeno! (I love it when producers do that.) Predictably given their respective work, this is a slow, calm rock ballad about love. Now, I'm not the hugest fan of rock ballads? But I really love this one: the lyrics are really sweet and wistful, the lead guitar is perfect and Miku Dark returns to the gentle sound usually associated with both these producers. If you really like songs like "glow" or the slower songs I've already talked about on this album, you'll definitely love "kiss".

And that, my pals, is the whole CD! Yeah, all in all, for a first album, I think this is an amazing start for Mikito-san and an absolute must-listen if you are an enjoyer of Vocarock. Sure, he isn't the hard-rocking 164 or Utsu, but the soft and atmospheric yet fun and lively tunes by Mikito are incredibly worth hearing. Thanks for reading my first album review, please let me know if you enjoyed it ;v;

now if only I could get this album physically orz

[spotsupstuff]

HOW are you so good at finding voice claims..give me ur power

JLKSDJSKLGJKCMK I LISTEN TO SHIT TON OF MUSIC I SUPPOSE? the more varied the better! from all over the world and as far into the years as possible and then the usual stuff like watching some videos, remembering shows that i used to like...

the Main thing i try to do when looking for voice claims is have an idea of what the characters main theme is. Disdain is an interesting case cuz i've gone thru three voices for her before settling on The One!

the key ideas with Disdain are: ghosts, england, tragedy, drowned victim, that specific ghostly blue/green which all come originally from This one. the song came first, character later

made Disdain a design and listened to this song while intensely looking at her face. figured out that this voice is too soft and too... royal, i suppose

so i focused at the song itself. it carries the specific Disdain™ vibes that i wish to respect and heed. the song is the foundation so i went on spotify and looked through the different covers of it. the Second version i landed on was this one

not bad but mmm.... lets look through some more versions. so i came to the Acapella Onion one

it was a comparison game between the two for a bit, staring into Disdain's face for like ten more minutes and then went with the Onion one because i like that it's more Brisk. a part of Disdain's thing is that she is very decisive. she wants Yes or No to her yes or no questions, she rarely uses words like "maybe" or "probably". when she Says something, she says it with Conviction. it's like a verbal karate chop to the throat. a karate chop is a fast, brisk thing, so the Onion version fits much better because of that

another reason why it's better is that it's less fancy, it's just voice and white noise, the way of speaking is more stripped/direct. interesting thing about Disdain's clothes design is that it's rather simple- her dress looks like a peasant one rather than something more worthy for a God. googling "england folk dress", you're gonna see some detailed glorious things, i could've taken inspiration There, but chose not to

so my voice claim choosing includes consideration of the personality, main theme of the design/character's story and the finalized design itself

i showed this new voice claim vid to my partner Just Now basically and he told me "you know, i feel like i would accept any voice that you would put on them" and like yeah, voice claims aren't really much of a rigid thing, you can be rather free with them. whether they fit to the character's face or not is a -so so gesture- way of going about it

so i quickly put together Zephyr's old (MALINDA) and updated (Zdenka Tichotová) voice claim

said he liked the old claim better! the thing is though that he doesn't really know Zephyr as a person

Zephyr didn't originate from a song like Disdain did. Zephyr originated from a historical religiously important person and bravery itself. she has a freer range of places to choose from compared to Disdain's tunnel vision of My Jolly Sailor Bold covers

originally i chose Malinda because Zephyr is supposed to be a mix of French and Irish inspired and the singer covers and knows a lot about Irish tunes. the protion of song chosen Feels like freedom, from singing in Irish to just belting out a single tone straight from the heart. it sounds like defiance. that's what Zephyr is about

the thing is that i listened to some more Malinda stuff later, trying to imagine Zephyr singing it and well... Malinda is originally an American person. the curse of successful Americans rears its head again in the form of superficiality/faked Booming emotions and annoying pride (not sayin that every American has this but... the successful ones especially are so so likely to fall to it) and my Gods Zephyr can't have something like that stapled to her. she's supposed to be genuine and simple

so i went searching for something that is more anchored in humanity/the earth. when i want something like That i usually head either to my childhood or my czechoslovak spotify playlist jgslkgjklsd

Zdenka Tichotová has worked with Nedvedovci in folk-gospel band Spirituál Kvintent in the 70s and 80s. Nedvedovci often sung and wrote songs mourning not enough love in the world. or about freedom of the people here back when we had Lords here but also for example about freedom from the censorship of the Soviets. they are incredibly grounded and covered in the humane and miss Tichotová was bound to follow along with them

THAT's what i wanted for Zephyr more than anything. the fact that one could argue miss Tichotová's voice is "imperfect", not smooth, has traces of age in it makes it *even* better. because it sounds genuine. it's not some studio's idea of mechanical perfect, the One Good Take that then goes through editing and autotune and what not, it's Real and Honest

so that is also what i consider when choosing voice claims for my guys- some history of the voice, what the character symbolizes...

hope this helps at least a lil!!!

[mysoftboybensolo]

My Thoughts and Theories on Little Mermaid 2023

AVOID IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS

Acting- I knew Halle was going to knock it out of the park with her singing ever since I heard her cover Unforgettable by Nat King Cole, but she truly embodied Ariel and made it her own. Jonah, I had only once seen before in Masterpiece Theatre’s Little Women as Laurie, and I liked him in that, so I was very curious on how he’d do Eric. Before I go on about him, I just want to say that I feel that people are too harsh on animated Eric, because Eric was very sweet, adventurous and brave, the live action film just helped to expand on that. Jonah’s Eric was just the sweetest but also quite smart in wanting to try to open the ports again. I love that the film expanded on his character and showed how he had no prejudice against Ariel and the merfolk. His and Halle’s chemistry was just beautiful, and I really ship them so much, more so than the original version (but that’s not a criticism of the cartoon, just that a few couples superseded them). Also, let’s talk about how Jonah is Jewish, so Eric is out first Jewish prince.

Daveed Diggs’ Sebastian was so fun and cracked me and my mom up so much, his delivery on certain lines were just perfect, and he had great chemistry with Awkwafina and Jacob Trembly. I don’t think his accent was that bad, I mean I have heard worse Caribbean accents, and his is nowhere as bad as the others I’ve heard. Melissa McCarthy was so good as Ursula, she brought that same theatrical and frightening performance that Pat Carroll gave, and Javier Bardem did a really good job with Triton, though I was there was a little bit more of his character explored, but that is mostly the writing than the acting. I did really love his delivery of the line “You didn’t have to lose your voice for me to hear you,” it sounded so sincere and so apologetic that it made up for it. Awkwafina and Jaconb Trembly did a really good job in voice acting, and I didn’t expect to like Grimsby as much as I did, and it is all due to Art Malik’s wonderful performance. Overall, this was a solid cast and no one to me were a sore thumb.

Changes/Additions- I really liked the changes and additions to the story, like using a quote from the original fairytale was a really call back to the original fairytale, but also a parallel to how Ariel, being unable to properly express herself feels her suffering even more thus pushing her to make the deal with Ursula. I know some people were upset that we didn’t get the song the sisters sing, but I wasn’t too bothered by it, not when there was a very cool change to it. Pretty much, the sisters help to control the different seas from around this fantasy world, which is a nice call back to a theory people had about Ariel and her sisters representing the seven seas. My only issue with the film, and it is a small one, is that I wish we saw more of the sisters and Ariel’s relations to them, but other than that, solid. I like that we had a parent for Eric, helps to make his story broader and the idea that we was happily adopted, love that!

Small changes I liked were confirming that Ursula and Triton being siblings, and possibly hinting that the reason she was banished was because she had a hand in the death of Ariel’s mother. The change from Ariel signing a contract to taking a scale off and making a deal in blood does make sense considering they are in the water. Eric, despite being under Ursula’s spell still looking for Ariel, including his interest in collecting things just like Ariel, etc.

I liked that we had Ariel forgetting that she has to kiss Eric, not only because it helps to make the relationship a bit more genuine, but also it makes sense for Ursula to play dirty and do whatever she could to win. It also helped to show how good friends Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle are for helping. I had been worried that they were going to change the ending and be something different, namely how it was in the stage version, which works for the stage, but would have felt anti-climatic for the film, so I was grateful to see that they kept the Ursula becoming a giant and being killed by the ship, and for Ariel to know how to because she saw Eric do it, nice touch. Also, it’s a small scene, but I really liked it, but the scene where Ariel is found by the fisherman who immediately goes to help and give her clothes without ogling her, it was so refreshing to see and I know someone will say, of course they wouldn’t it’s a kids movie, that hasn’t stopped other kids movie for having similar scenarios happen and it feeling really creepy.

Songs- Halle did an amazing job of her rendition of Part of Your World, and I was one of the many who cried while listening, she seriously has the voice of an angel. Under the Sea was fun and I liked having Ariel being part of it, and Kiss the Girl was also very good, but I loved that we had Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle singing it to try and help their friend. It was crazy how well Melissa McCarthy had done with Poor Unfortunate Souls, not because I think she is a bad singer I knew she could sing beforehand, I was just surprised at how many times she sounded just like Pat Carroll. In regards to the new songs, I really liked them, I liked that we had songs with Ariel even after she lost her voice, get a glimpse of what she is thinking even if she can’t say it. 

Eric’s song Uncharted Waters was an unexpected delight and you just gotta love that he is singing about longing for a girl while getting drenched, thank you Rob Marshall for that. And I think some of you are pretty harsh on the Scuttlebutt song, because I thought it was fun and served the purpose of the story. My mom said her one small criticism is that she didn’t get Les Poissons, but even she admitted she was a little bias as she loved that song from the original and understand how it wouldn’t have worked in the remake.

Also, I think people were making a big deal over the changed lyrics for nothing. In Poor Unfortunate Souls, they removed the “body language” line and “men don’t like blabber”, but it doesn’t feel like they did it because it makes Ursula bad, but that in the context of the moment, it wouldn’t make sense for her to say that. Ariel’s big issue in the scene isn’t that she won’t be able to speak to Eric but that she isn’t sure if this is the right thing to do, so to have Ursula say those lines wouldn’t make sense. Kiss the Girl makes the tiniest change of “There is one way to ask her, It don't take a word, Not a single word, Go on and kiss the girl” to “Possible she want you too, Use your words, boy, and ask her, If the time is right and the time is tonight, Go on and kiss the girl” It is seriously not a big deal and if that is an issue for you, then you really need to reevaluate your choices.

Theories- Some people were curious as to why Sebastian said that Ariel used her siren voice to save Eric, and here is my thought. As Eric said at one point about the idea of mermaids leading sailors to their deaths with their voices, I think that he wasn’t wrong, that really it saves them. If you notice in the scene where Ariel saves Eric, he is just laying motionless even after water escapes from his lungs, but once she started to sing, he begins to move, come back from being unconscious. You know how relatives of coma patients will play audio of their favorite actors or music or whatever in hopes that it will help pull them back from the coma, I think that was what was happening in that moment. Ariel’s siren song was powerful enough it could pull someone on the brink of death back to life.

Vanessa’s voice. The other thing I’ve seen people question is why doesn’t Vanessa/Jessica sound more like Ariel/Halle when speaking, and again, I think the film set it up for us to understand why. As Ursula explained before making the deal with Ariel, she says that she didn’t want Ariel to use her “siren song” to get Eric, the emphasis being on her singing as why she wouldn’t want her to have it. Also, considering that Eric was only able to identify her through her singing voice, it makes sense that her speaking voice wouldn’t have to necessarily match as he is unaware of what she sounds like talking.

Conclusion- Overall, this remake is definitely in my top 3 favorite remakes, it had a wonderful cast, music was incredible and it truly felt like it honored the original in the best way possible. To those who hate it because of Halle, then guess what, die mad because the film’s biggest charm is her and she deserves to be our Ariel.

[liaromancewriter]

Hello there ☺️ I don’t know if you’ve already talked about this or have a fic where you address this issue, but here it goes anyways:

What do you think about the whole Mitch situation? We know that he was taking advantage of Sienna and she just couldn’t take it anymore and let it all out in front of everyone. Then, we see how the whole hospital starts to make fun of Mitch and even Sienna seems to think he deserves the treatment he is getting for being lazy, not taking his work or the patients seriously, and taking advantage of her good nature. Afterwards, we find out that Mitch left Edenbrook because of the bullying he was receiving and we see that Sienna feels bad about it.

This storyline always makes me feel conflicted. I think that there’s an option where MC can say that this isn’t high school or something and no one should be bullied and Sienna gets upset to see MC standing up for Mitch. I may be wrong about this since it’s been a while since the last time I replayed these chapters.

I know Mitch totally deserved to be called out and part of Sienna’s arc is to learn how to stand up for herself before it gets to the point where she cannot longer control her emotions. It happened with Wayne in book 1 and again with Mitch in book 2. Different types of relationship with each, but both were mistreating her for an extended period of time. But I’ll say that it was surprising to see a character that is as kind as Sienna be vindictive for a hot minute. What do you think about this? Does it align with your version of her?

Overall, it made little sense that the interns in second year performed so poorly. In book 1, everyone was a stellar intern and had to deal with complex cases alone. Sienna had to tell patients that they were terminal on her intern year. MC and Jackie used the defibrillator on a patient on their first day and were successful. We were told Edenbrook only accepted the best of the best only to have such lackluster interns on the second book 😐 I understand it was some kind of new program, but it bothered me regardless haha

Thank you and my best wishes for you 💖

Hello, Fellow Sienna Fan!

I have so many Sienna stories that I want to write. She's practically my second MC. But, the fandom is so dead now that I wonder, who even cares about those fics.

Writing about her relationship with Mitch is definitely on the list -- all the things we don't see in canon. While I haven't written a fic about it before, I included Sienna's thoughts and feelings about the situation in my original Maxenna series in Part 2 and end of Part 3.

Sienna was conflicted about what happened with Mitch. She put up with a lot because she genuinely thought she was helping him. After everything that happened with Cassie and Danny, she lost her patience with his laziness, but more than that, she found her voice.

While Cassie didn't agree with the bullying, she supported Sienna in public but let her know how she felt in private. Sienna knew she'd gone far too, but all the anger she felt, the helplessness during the poison attack, came out. I don't think it was vindictiveness from Sienna at all; rather her eyes finally opened to what was happening around her. Life was too short to put up with someone who didn't respect medicine or was willing to learn.

In my hc, it was almost 7 or 8 months into residency when the showdown with Mitch happened. (I believe the timeline in canon is likely close to that). Sienna always felt guilty about him leaving because she knew the bullying was her fault. She also felt that he didn't take his job seriously.

We know from canon that Mitch felt inadequate and covered it up with his attitude. But he didn't make that confession until after. So, as far as Sienna was concerned, he was not serious about being a doctor.

One of the lessons from each book is that medicine is hard, it's not predictable and requires fortitude to survive in that career. In book 1, all of the interns faced hard choices. In book 3, it's about adversity from within and without, and learning to compromise so that you don't lose right of the big picture.

In book 2, the residents become mentors to the next crop of interns and it's time to step up and lead. It's not that the interns were bad; the lesson we were expected to take, I believe, is that doctors are only as good as those who train them. Harper Emery tells Aurora the same thing. MC is good because they learned from Ethan Ramsey. And yet, despite everything, mistakes happen because medicine is uncertain.

Thanks for the ask. I could go on and on, but I won't lol

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