#listen I’ve watched so many animatics

[sleepyartmajor]

I’ve started drawing blob!youtubers in my class notes, this is a pretty notable addition from geology today 😂

[jivvie]

happy one week of me discovering EPIC!

so far in one week, I’ve listened to the whole musical 200 million times, watched way too many animatics, printed the wisdom saga album cover and posted it on my wall, discovered that epic and Greek mythology is leaking into the real world where my orchestra music and teacher are referencing mythology, created my own designs for the characters, had to tell my brain that investing in an Epic costume for Halloween would take too much work,

and have had Epic injected into my blood and brain.

Can’t wait to see what week two has to offer 😁

[yourpalmickeymouse]

Hi Mickey! Oh gosh I haven’t been in this blog for a little while now, how have ya been? (I’ve been busy with things but I’m mangling them okay I suppose) ✨

I have a question to ask, how do you deal with burnouts (or how do you deal with being unmotivated)? Because I have been quite unmotivated lately, with not doing many drawings as I used to and I’m stuck doing this animatic about…. Uhhh actually best if I don’t mention it 😅 (it’s a bit complicated for you probably ehe), so I wanna know how ya deal with them and maybe I could get tips from you…😅 thanks that’s all I got (for now ), sorry if this was awkward 🥲

Anyway I’ll be signing off now, see ya Mick!

-Sunny☀️

(Also! I wanna give you this cause I can :D hope it isn’t too bad)

Hiya Sunny1927!

It's so great to see ya again! I'm swell, thanks for askin'. Also thanks a bunch for the drawing! I love it!!! 🥰

I'm gonna put it with my other one.

Now for your question.

Ah, burnouts. Those are not fun at all 😔. I definitely can relate to wantin' to start a bunch of new projects, but yet not feelin' the energy to actually start on any of 'em. It's like your body's just not listenin' to what your mind wants. I actually was talkin' to Clarabelle 'bout this and she had some interestin' advice.

She said that sometimes if a project feels too big, we can sometimes feel unmotivated to get started. In that case we could either try and start smaller with tiny things we feel we can do quickly and without much effort. For example when I wanted to work on this giant complex plane model 🛩, I found it was easier to just focus on completin' a single piece each time instead of the whole plane. It took while, but I ended up finishin' the whole model.

She also said that even doin' something that seems unrelated at first, can help inspire you. For example I was really wantin' to get some sketchin' done for a project, but just couldn't get started. So I took a break to watch some TV 📺 and ended up watchin' a really unique show that inspired me with some sketch ideas and I ended up motivated enough to work on the project again.

But I think what she said that really stood out is that we should listen to our bodies. Sometimes our bodies just want to rest, and even though we might see it as bein' lazy or not gettin' what we want done, it's actually more like rechargin' batteries. The time we spend just existin' isn't exactly wasted time.

Clarabelle is one of the wisest friends I have and her advice definitely helped me out. I hope it helps you out too! 😊

- M.M.

[ashbeanss]

I’d never heard of precious jewel armor before reading your post talking about c!wilbur songs and now I’m listening to these songs and doing a thousand yard stare into the distance coping with all these emotions, GREAT artist thank you for the inadvertent recommendation!

ofc man! there are a few other dsmp musicians that i always think about: (this will be long check under the cut)

amanda fagan made some of the very first songs for a few characters, most notably her ‘take you down’ for quackity, ‘bittersweet’ for jack manifold, and ‘promises you couldn’t keep’ for niki. i will be very blunt, i do not like how she writes wilbur, and i would not recommend her wilbur songs, but ‘take you down’ is still the best written quackity song out there, and ‘bittersweet’ is incredible. do check out her work.

kanaya is a name most people have heard before but i need you all to listen to a song that is not marionettes or violence because guys. guys my god. yeah ‘i’ll let it burn’ is alright whatever have you heard ‘november 16th’? have you heard ‘us against the world’? please. i love her work. she did a collab with precious jewel amor where she wrote tommy’s song and precious wrote tubbo’s, they’re both great. ‘little hero’ is gorgeous. if i don’t think about ‘no reprise’ it can’t hurt me.

kroh made the ranboo song of all time and i will forever be greatful for that. go listen to ‘typical me’, amazing song, ‘hush’ is cool too. oh yeah kroh also made ‘mr bones’. i guess. but who gives a shit about ‘mr bones’ when ‘typical me’ is so good, you have to believe me. ‘home’ is also really good and way more underrated than ‘typical me’ so you should listen to it as well, more even.

candlebard only made two dream smp songs. and one of them is a dream song. that i haven’t listened to. but i would be fucking wrong if i didn’t tell you about ‘disappear’. oh my god ‘disappear’. i could write essays on this song. i love it so much. it is the c!wilbur song of all time, nothing will ever get him like ‘disappear’. it has everything, seasonal metaphors, an empathetic perspective on wilbur’s fall into destruction, incredible music. that’s all you need to make me happy really. this song has less than 200k views and that’s a crime. go listen to it please.

cjack, like candlebard, only made two dream smp songs, and i have only listened to one of them, but i physically couldn’t not bring up ‘phantom feelings’. it’s so important to me. no ghostbur song is like ‘phantom feelings’ i’m telling you. go listen to it, every other ghostbur song will be ruined for you forever. you will never be able to appreciate ‘blue’ by derivakat again because you will know there is better. and you have heard it.

hatorbee is a musician i’ve literally never seen anybody talk about but i needed to bring them up because they’ve made? so many songs? and to be very frank with you, are they all great? no. like musically some of these songs are not the best, but fuck damnit they should write poetry. also they get these characters more than some songs that sound amazing so. you win some you lose some. ‘one more dance’ was a core part of my dsmp phase and also the only skephalo song i’ve ever heard and the only reason i gave a shit about them. the timing is weird, the vocal performance isn’t perfect and is mixed strangely, but you can feel the passion oozing out of it. they also made the only karlnapity song with precious jewel amor and winks, and it’s kind of incredible? i might cry? also lies in the letters is very good wilbur characterisation. i’m giving it a strong stamp of approval.

bonus: ‘the mad king wilbur’ was deleted in it’s original video form recently but the topic reupload and an animatic still exist. watch one of them, the song is incredible and gorgeous. also not fansongs but cyborg blood’s crimeboys animatics make me very emotional and you should watch them specifically their ‘by your hand’ wilbur animatic.

thanks for reading my essay. have a good day. listen to los campesinos!

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Screw it, I know I'm never gonna actually have time to make this into an animatic, so let me brain dump for a minute about an animatic I would make about f!Pac and f!Cell if I had the time and energy.

Alright. So let's preface this with a little meta, and a very brief discussion about Fuga Impossível and QSMP.

For starters, we know that the lore of Fuga Impossível is (more or less) a canon backstory for Tazercraft and Cellbit (and, to a certain extent, Felps). We also know from multiple instances of him talking about it that q!Pac is still very afraid of Cell.

Cell. Not Cellbit. This is an important distinction.

Cellbit is no longer Cell— he's one of Richarlyson's other parents, he's one of the Favela Five, and despite the lingering fear Pac has, he still trusts Cellbit and has repeatedly shown it throughout the series. Very recently, we've also seen their relationship heal a little bit in the aftermath of the Federation drug arc.

(I don't have the clips on hand, but there's a moment before Pac gets drugged where he's talking with Cellbit about the plan, and Cellbit offers him a handshake and Pac gives him a hug instead. After the arc and after Pac is cured, Cellbit initiates a hug and hugs him. This, however, is a topic that I want to expand on another day, but TLDR they both got some hangups they're working on.)

Anyways, about the animatic.

I Know I'm A Wolf by Young Heretics is a pretty old song, and I've seen it get misinterpreted so many times that it left a bitter taste in my mouth and a negative association with the song for a long while. That being said, I remembered it out of the blue a few minutes ago and had a "Wait, actually—" moment about it. Like I said before, I don't think I'll ever get around to making this animatic (especially since I'm still hopelessly chipping away at that Bobby Jaiden and Roier animatic with a broken tablet pen and a dream), so despite my usual reluctance to share this stuff, I want to walk folks through my thought process and why I think this song is a fitting choice for Tazercraft (but mostly Pac) and Cell / Cellbit's past and present relationship.

I'd recommend listening to the song since just reading the lyrics doesn't capture the tone of the song as well.

The lyrics for the first part go:

Dear rabbit, my legs are getting weak chasing you The snow fields wouldn't seem so big if you knew That this blood on my teeth it is far beyond dry And I've captured you once but I wasn't quite right So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

In my mind, I'm imagining this part exhibiting the tension between Tazercraft and Cell in the prison. Tazercraft know Cell is dangerous, but they ultimately make an alliance with him.

Can they trust Cell?

Hell no.

"So I'm telling you, that you'll be safe with me" is the moment they strike the deal (ominous piano music and all). Yes, the blood on his teeth may be dry (for the moment) but the blood is still there. Pac and Mike know better to trust Cell, no matter how charismatic he may try to be, but the situation they're in in Alcatraz leaves them with few options.

The line "I've captured you once, but I wasn't quite right" could refer to Cell taking Pac's leg (though I'm still iffy on where I personally would fit that into the Fuga Impossível timeline, but regardless, it's a fitting line for that part of their history).

The next lines are:

Oh rabbit, my claws are dull now so don't be afraid I could keep you warm as long as you can just try to be brave

In this section, I imagine Tazercraft witnessing all the terrible things Cell does in Alcatraz, and their reluctance to maintain the deal (though there's nothing they can do to get out of it now) so they just try and watch out for each other. The "don't be afraid" and "just try to be brave" lines I see being directed to Pac, who's already been hurt by the "wolf" that continues to offer them reassurances with blood still dripping down his chin.

The next section is a doozy:

Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

With this section, we move to Cell's perspective, and here's where we tweak the story a little. We know the ending of Fuga Impossível isn't 100% canon to the QSMP timeline, and we also know that Cell eventually was able to make the (frankly miraculous) transition from Cell -> Cellbit. But what was the catalyst?

Well, why not the Island, and the isolation he had to deal with after getting stranded there? Being alone with your own thoughts can really change a person... and sometimes drive them to the brink of insanity, but Cell was already well along his way to that.

Cell has done horrible, horrible things, and based on what CC Cellbit has said about his character and the things he's made canon, his crimes started long before he ever got to Alcatraz. According to Cellbit, his character fought in a war alongside Bad in his youth, and that was where he first began indulging in his fun new hobby: cannibalism. (Hence the line: And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill). We could argue that this originated as a survival response (hell, who knows what kind of conditions he lived in during that war, and q!Bad himself said he's eaten people, so Cell might've picked that up from him), but regardless of it's origin, it still happened.

I want to emphasize that I'm not bringing this up so we can say "Oh poor baby!" and excuse Cell's actions; I just think it’s interesting to think about his past and his perspective on this whole situation. But regardless of the circumstances that set him on the path he was on, he did some wildly messed up stuff, and if I were to actually do this darn animatic, I wouldn't want to sugarcoat anything.

Now let's contrast all of that with these lines:

"Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite / But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind"

It's human nature to crave companionship, and no matter how many people Cell's killed or how many atrocities he's committed, it's hard to unlearn that instinct. At the line "But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill" I think of that moment on the Island where Cell offers Pac an apple. Regardless of how you read that moment, it's an interaction that really stands out to me. Is it a power-play? An olive branch? An offer of friendship? (COPIUM, it's not). The contrast between “fresh meat” and the apple is very appealing to me though, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. I've got a lot of thoughts about that moment, but I'll save that analysis for another day when I'm not so tired, and when I have more reliable translations to base my analysis on. For now, let's leave that open-ended.

And then there's the line "So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me."

Here, the perspective is split between Cell and Pac & Mike, who are safe now. Not because of Cell — but because of each other. They leave Cell stranded on the Island, and survive the narrative of Fuga Impossível as well as the narrative of the song (where the "predator" is implied to eventually catch its prey). At the extended "me" part of the song, I imagine Cell sitting there in shock, alone on the island, realizing that even with all his threats and all his (imagined) authority, he still couldn't get what he wanted. (And what did he want? Well, he's certainly got a lot of time to think about that!)

Now, we have the final stanza: So rabbit please stop looking the other way It's cold out there so why not stay here Under my tail.

We're back to the present. No more Cell, no more Alcatraz, just Pac and Cellbit dealing with the aftermath of Richarlyson and Mike vanishing and Forever being drugged.

Because I'm changing the narrative of the song, I'm also changing the tone. This time, the offer of safety in the presence of an old enemy isn't an empty promise. Time has changed both of them, and now Cellbit and Pac are both prey and predators (if we continue the analogy of the song). They're at the mercy of the Federation, but they know they can rely on one another in a way they weren't able to before, and together they can somehow find a way to overcome this latest hardship. I like the idea of leaving things on a hopeful / positive note, especially since we know these characters eventually become good friends and even family in the QSMP universe.

ANYWAYS! Those are my thoughts. There's a lot more I could say about this (and a lot lot more I could say about Pac and Cell / Cellbit) but I'm very tired and I think this covers the jist of things (though I may go back and edit things tomorrow). Obligatory disclaimer that I'm trying my best out here vis-a-vis the Fuga Impossível lore, but if I missed the mark on any of that, please know it is solely because I can't speak a lick of Portuguese lmao. I'm always reevaluating and updating my interpretation of characters and stories based on every new bit of information I get, so I might revisit this thought again some time in the future. Cheers.

[shizunitis]

@miaoqing hath taggeth me and thus. i answer

why did you choose your url?

so people would mistake me for @shizunstits

any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

@mark--er for anything unrelated to shizun/fandom, and a secret third one for. well. that’s my business.

how long have you been on tumblr?

since 2012, approximately? 2011, maybe?

do you have a queue tag?

i can’t figure out how to make it automatic…

why did you start your blog in the first place?

good question!

why did you choose your icon/pfp?

self-portrait

why did you choose your header?

shizun deserves support, love, respect, and to be handled with gentleness and care. he has old man hips.

what's your post with the most notes?

i’m not sure how i could check that, but it’s either one of my au’s from when i was young and excited, or the loyal ghost story? i’m sorry, i really don’t know 😞

how many mutuals do you have?

enough to make me sit and think about how much i love the world every now and then. every one of them, i respect and cherish dearly

how many followers do you have?

enough to intimidate me 😞 i’m used to yapping to myself, so this is. uh. overwhelming? but the warm and good kind. it’s fitting that it happened because of shizun… he truly is a treasure…

how many people do you follow?

226

have you ever made a shitpost?

what i do is speak my mind, not shitpost. i bless and curse people with my joy and sorrow. my funny shizun thoughts. write that down. but yeah, i suppose most of my posts are either shitposts or sad/melancholy/yearning shizun musings

how often do you use tumblr each day?

once. like my thinking of shizun, it never ends, so.

did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

no. but i got very close, once. i respect what danmei-confessions is trying to do but. GOD. god leave my boy and my shizun alone. please

how do you feel about 'you need to reblog this' posts?

useless, condescending, annoying, does nothing, reeks of self-righteousness. shame does not work the way some people think it does

do you like tag games?

sometimes. i love seeing others’, i’m very lazy.

do you like ask games?

i do! a lot!

which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

odd question, mefears

do you have a crush on a mutual?

yes. i giggle every time they interact with my posts. it’s very embarrassing

what is the last song you listened to?

stars by tai verdes, it’s almost depressions season

what are you currently watching?

jerma vods, if that counts? i’ve been meaning to re-watch, you guessed it, the svsss donghua

sweet/savoury/spicy?

any and all flavours are good <3 depends on my mood.

what is your current relationship status?

courting two characters that are married to each other and one of them has two alternate universe counterparts that i’m also attempting to woo. it’s complicated.

what is your current obsession?

…guess? you’ll never get it, i promise.

what are nine albums/songs you've been listening to lately?

steve lacy’s dark red, hozier’s unreal unearth, some of taylor swift’s songs, syml’s the bird and the boy, radiohead’s amnesiac, epic: the musical, conan gray’s lonely dancers (but the album as well) and unlike pluto’s we’re screwed (PEAK. BINGQIU. also the orv animatic with this song? OUGH)

tagging anyone who would like to join in <3 (i’m insecure but mostly i want everyone to have fun so i can watch like a benevolent guardian)

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 166 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: cutting the Kolkwitzia amabilis in my garden.

MARTIN: "What happened back there? What you did to Sa–" [HE CUTS HIMSELF OFF.] [A PAUSE.] JON: "Go on. Say it." Oh no. Oh god, does Jon think that Martin thinks it was his fault that Sasha died?

HELEN: "Oh, goodness. You see what you’ve done to the poor boy, John? He’s coming to me for clear answers." Oh Helen really knows how to get under one's skin.

HELEN: (giggle) "It’s very satisfying though, isn’t it? Teasing out vague information? You see why Elias got a kick out of it." Oh fuuuck, and now she's comparing him to Elias? Jon really is straight up not having a good time..

TMA usually is super vague, but I'm actually happy we got an explanation how the smiting works. Does sound plausible, I’d say. But also, this explanation about there only being watcher and watched should have got Martin's gears to turn. They are not victims of a domain. So they have to be watchers.

MARTIN: "Sure. Okay, that’s – I mean, that’s really not that complicated, John; I don’t see why you were being so coy about it –" JON: (overlapping) "Because I’m ashamed, Martin." [SLIGHT PAUSE.] MARTIN: "Ashamed?!" JON: "Yes! Ashamed of the fact that I just – destroyed the world and have been rewarded for it, the fact that – I can walk safe through all this horror I’ve created like a… fucking tourist, destroying whoever I please. The fact that I… enjoyed it, and… the fact that there are so many others that I want to revenge myself on!" Why does everything in TMA feel so natural!! There is so much bad and boring writing out there, every time something very logical happens it makes me super excited xD  So yap. It's super understandable that he's ashamed of all of this. Especially since we know how he actually feels about this revenging stuff. His anger says “do it!”, but his logic says “It’s not gonna do anything”..

MARTIN: "…No; No, I actually think you’re good on that front." JON: "What?" MARTIN: "Yeah, I, I, I think we should go for it, get our murder on!" Martin, when he only remotely tastes power xD

MARTIN: "f you want to stop them and have the power to, then – then, then yeah, let’s do it, let’s go full Kill Bill!" JON: "I – I, I haven’t seen it." Laughed so hard at this xD Of course he is deflecting.

HELEN: "Oh, Martin, I am so proud of you. Can I come?" JON & MARTIN: (in unison) "No." HELEN: "So that’s a strong “maybe” then?" Asgdsdfjkdf, Helen can also be so funny! One of those characters I hate and love!

MARTIN: "Do you need anything?" [JON EXHALES.] JON: "No." Love that Martin checks in with him there. He has been a bit dismissive of Jon's feelings about this whole situation.

Yeah, that statement does nothing to me, neither terror nor excitement. As far as I understand it, it's more about the financial part of the Buried. About the pressure of the society we live in, ever trapped in bullshit jobs with only ever a glint of the prospect of escape and there is no use in fighting others like us (that second worm part) cause if we win against them, we’re stuck exactly where we were before.

"The rains fall here as they do so many places in this new world. Thick and oily drops that taste of bitter salt, torrential tears plummeting from the watching sky, thumping and squelching onto the thirsty soil in which the worms writhe painfully towards a surface that does not want them." That is a gross image!

"How do you fight, when you cannot move beyond the slowest inching crawl, without limbs or weapons or the kinetic force of violence? You do it slowly, pressing, biting, tearing gradually through each other until at the very end, one of you is still." There is a very horrifying animatic of this part of the statement, it's called "The Worms (Magnus Archives Fan Animation)”.

JON: "God, I hate the Buried." Mh, he was there once...

That phone's got to be a Nokia 3310, right? XD It is the Nokia ringtone after all!

ANNABELLE: "He’s more powerful here than he’s ever been, isn’t he? And you’re not sure what that means for you." [THE BRIEFEST OF PAUSES. MARTIN INHALES SHAKILY.] MARTIN: "I’m hanging up now." ANNABELLE: "Does he even need you at all?" That part about "you're not sure what that means for you" is actually something I could relate to. Especially in a relationship this young and under extremely high stress levels. Shared trauma and being in the same life-threatening situation can create incredibly strong bonds. Being in that same boat. But how life-threatening is it actually for them? Aside from his guilt and post trauma, Jon is very much fine in this new world. Still, not sure what Annabelle wanted to achieve with this, she does mention it to have been "clumsy", so yeah.

[THE PREVIOUSLY-HOWLING THINGS IN THE BURIED – LIKELY THE WORMS FAR BELOW – HOWL AGAIN, INSISTENTLY.] MARTIN: "I know, right?" Adflkdhfs, this episode has some great comedy!

@a-mag-a-day

[pulim-v]

I finished the fern and via playlists! Sorry it took me so long I forgot I could listen to music while doing other things 🙃 here are my random thoughts while listening :]

Im not used to listening to vocoliod music or music in other languages (apart from K-Pop but I feel like maybe that doesn’t encapsulate the genre lmao) I liked a lot of it tho!

I was not expecting 20 songs when I clicked on ferns playlist lmao

Idk the story of Percy Jackson but good kid is very anger issues core

I very much relate to Mrs green apple I really liked that one

These songs are very upbeat (most of them at least) and the lyrics are mostly pretty … non upbeat in many ways (shoutout to lost umbrella for breaking my brain with this) which feels like seems okay on the outside is actually a mess inside. Maybe I’m right or maybe I’m projecting lmao

Istg Renai Circulation sounds like Sofia the first theme song. I mean I haven’t heard it in years but my sister used to watch it and that’s what it sounds like to me

World’s smallest violin!!! I love this song

I really like the bits of Steven universe music in these playlists

Also I’m so mad at you I’ve listened to karma like 6 times since yesterday 

Overall these were good playlists I liked jumping in the minds of your characters. Sorry if these seem a little jumbled! My favorite is sparks or ferns :3

SORRY I FORGOT ABOUT THIS FOR A BIT KASJDHKAJSHDJKAH

Anyways honestly I kinda went overboard w the Vocaloid songs with Fern LMAO I'm a huge fan of them (been getting into Hatsune Miku lately) and a lot of songs speak on similar things to what's on Fern's story

Songs in different languages in general is something I'm just used to since at least half the stuff I listen to is in English lmao (used to be worse when I wasn't fluent in it)

INFERNO (the Mrs Green Apple one) IS SO FUCKING COOL ASKJDHAKSJHD I put it there mainly for coolness points but iirc the actual substance does relate to Fern quite a bit lol (also the title)

Yeah I think Fern is probably the most outwardly fucked up FGCC character but even she hides a lot of stuff (it's just not to the same extent as Mist and Rowan)

Lost Umbrella (and Inabakumori in general) just fucks severely I love how he makes really swaggy music with great animations and then you check the lyrics and it's Distilled Depression

Okay I'll need to get back on you on that about Renai Circulation

WSV IS SO GREAT I WANT TO MAKE AN ANIMATIC ABT IT!!!! Regarding Via's role in That Arc

Oh SU was highly influential for me lmao both my writing and my taste in art are heavily related to stuff in it (like how Fern is Really Lapis-coded)

Do you want me to make the Karma brainrot worse? I can make it worse. (ask me about the Rowan animatic please ask me about the Rowan animatic)

Thanks a lot! I was kinda nervous since a lot of the playlists are Really Short but I'm glad you liked them aksjhdaksjhd

(have you checked the Agate playlist too?? It has a similar amount of songs to Via's iirc)

[talenlee]

Decemberween ’23 — The New Music From This Year

New Post has been published on PRESS.exe: Decemberween ’23 — The New Music From This Year

How do you listen to new music?

I understand it’s really common for most people to listen to music in their cars or using systems like Spotify, which I don’t like and don’t drive. That’s right, I don’t like cars and I don’t drive Spotify. I listen to podcasts when I travel, usually, and I listen to music while I work at my computer, because I want something that affects my mood while I’m doing, like, this work.

Frustratingly, just because it’s usually there and ad-free, I let Youtube throw mixes at me. Then when I’ve noticed I’ve done that enough that some songs are part of my personal lexicon, I go and acquire those songs some other way, whether bandcamp (in the case of small bands) or

I want to nakedly recommend an mp3 collection to you. You don’t need special software to manage it. You can just dump all your music in a great big heap and use the search function on any mp3 player you like to find the songs you want. You have paid for music, you have paid for the right to use it in different forms, spotify subscriptions are not paying artists and they are rent-seeking on things you can buy directly, or in many cases have already bought.

Anyway, here’s the stuff that I added to my mp3 collection this year.

The Lads are a Christian band from New Zealand I listened to as a kid. I re-found them on Youtube this year. They’d had a song that stuck in my head, an idea that I’ve been trying to stick to, which is if you need a reason to make a change in your life, anything will do. Why not make a big change on Arbor Day, a day you probably had no idea was a day on your calendar?

Arbor Day - The Lads // Arbor Day

Watch this video on YouTube

I mean this isn’t amazing music, but I like having it on hand, you know? The detritus of what we are. Not all of us were influenced by absolute bangers. Sometimes the idea that ‘you can make changes to your life for any given arbitary reason’ is a good thing and it doesn’t matter that much that I got it from a band of dorks who moved to Nashville to sing songs to megachurch kids (which is their spot now).

Sub-Radio - Stacy's Dad (Full Video)

Watch this video on YouTube

Next up, a parody song. Stacy’s Mom is a banger of a song about having a crush on an older woman (and the song doesn’t, like, go anywhere with it). Then we get a delightful genderswapped version here, which I hesitate to call a ‘parody’? It’s the same song, basically, it’s just a different orientation with the same comedy bent.

One thing I do find a little awkward is, now I’m starting on being ‘in my forties’ (man that feels weird to say), hearing someone talk about ‘is he learning about the Civil War’ like – so what?! So what if that’s a thing that interests me!? How did I get read like that?

AJJ - "Brave As A Noun & Survival Song" (KVRX Library Session)

Watch this video on YouTube

The band Andrew Jackson Jihad, for, perhaps sensibly obvious reasons, changed their name recently. This meant they made an announcement on Youtube at some point and I noticed that (‘AJJ on their name announcement?’ what did AJJ mean?) and that meant I listened to some of their music, annnnnd I like it! I’m told they make Folk Punk, which sounds to me like nonsense but I also am firmly of the opinion that there’s nothing quite so punk as making very specific categorisations that everyone around you must adhere to, right?

BANG! - Last Life AMV

Watch this video on YouTube

Thanks to the Last Life Youtube series of Minecraft Hardcore Lets Plays –

What are you laughing at –

I wound up listening to some cool music that was made as part of animatics by cool fans of the series, too. And while sometimes that meant learning about something cool like the band AJR (who are not the same thing as AJJ, thanks file sorting),

Curses - Last Life Animation

Watch this video on YouTube

Or something interestingly indie and creepily jazzy, like The Crane Wives (and I’m sure I’ve shared this before, surely it was in my list of new music last year),

W.I.T.C.H | Double Life SMP

Watch this video on YouTube

Or maybe even something else normal people like like Devon Cole’s WITCH, it did also mean I wound up appreciating a song…

Sharks | Life Series Animatic

Watch this video on YouTube

By Imagine Dragons of all people.

Animatics are great. They recontextualise songs and the recontextualisation means that now I have a story for these songs to be about and not just, like, Imagine Dragons’ latest car ad.

The Killers - A Pirate Looks At Forty (Jimmy Buffett Cover) HQ

Watch this video on YouTube

I think I shared this earlier this year too, but it’s the Killers cover of A Pirate Looks At Forty. I may be a bit overly maudlin about anything to do with Jimmy Buffett this year, since this is now the point at which I know that he’s had to leave the party.

Yofukashino Uta

Watch this video on YouTube

Also, this year I listened to a bunch of Anime OPs, because I was watching more anime this year. And the anime this year that I liked just happened to have OPs that I think are great, so I added them to my list. In the vein of ‘sounds like just cool music you might seem international and interesting for listening to,’ there’s the band Creepy Nuts! They do Japanese hiphop and, in addition to the songs from the Call of the Night anime soundtrack, you should also check out Song for the Prodigies.

Summer Time Render - Opening | FULL HD [1080p]

Watch this video on YouTube

The opening of Summer Time Render sounds to me like jangly folk rock? I think people call it College Rock? Problem here is I don’t even know this song’s name. It’s just The Opening To Summer Time Render, which is my favourite anime of the year, like it just absolutely whips ass, so I hear this song and I remember how that show makes me feel, from its first embarrassing opening of boobs and butts to its astoundingly sweet conclusion.

"Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury" Textless version of opening "The Blessing" by YOASOBI

Watch this video on YouTube

The opening to Witch from Mercury has a similar effect, but I really like the way it has this, like, descending step effect? The staggering of it, it sings like dancing, and I love the way it feels like it’s responding to its own anxieties.

I have no idea what this song is saying.

TVアニメ『リコリス・リコイル』ノンテロップOPムービー｜ClariS「ALIVE」

Watch this video on YouTube

I think that the opening and ending of Lycoris Recoil whip ass. There’s this thing the opening does which I think anime openings love doing, which is this sort of crooning that turns into a high, wide arc and then abruptly stops and regathers its footing?

Paripi Koumei Ep5 ED

Watch this video on YouTube

Perhaps obviously, Ya Boy Kongming, an anime about music in Shibuya District, has nothing but bangers in its soundtrack. Everything, even the song by the Evil Bad Band That Sucks are good, but I especially like this cover of Kibun Jojo for the ending that adds instrumentation and a rap verse as the series progresses.

Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie - Opening | Honey Jet Coaster

Watch this video on YouTube

On the other hand, Honey Jet Coaster is just… like, energetic sugary pop music, it feels completely artificial and I have no reason to recommend it. Much like everything to do with Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie you kinda have to get something out of it on a very superficial level, because there is nothing going on here.

(That’s a lie, the song is voiced as if it’s a boyfriend singing about Shikimori, but the vocalist is a woman who sounds like Shikimori, and it describes how Shikimori is a ‘better boyfriend than him’ but you know, so what.)

The Truck Got Stuck - Corb Lund

Watch this video on YouTube

Now a hard swerve from songs I absolutely cannot sing to songs I absolutely can. I learned about Corb Lund this year! He’s a Canadian country musician, who I learned about after a comedian who appeared on Behind The Bastards told a story about how one time, a racist on a neo nazi website reviewed his set he did opening for Corb Lund, and was so upset he realised that Corb Lund might not be racist enough for him.

Anyway, truck got stuck.

Roll Northumbria (Loud Version)

Watch this video on YouTube

Continuing Canadian songs I can sing along to, The Dreadnoughts dropped an album late last year, lot of good songs but especially good is this version of Roll Northumbria, which is a song I already liked, but this time rendered as a big loud stomping song.

Sidle Up

Watch this video on YouTube

Also, something that a lot of bands I like have in common is how good they get when they say, turn forty and stop carrying around a focus on high school. That’s what happened to the Littlest Man Band, which is actually a spinoff band from Reel Big Fish, a 90s Ska Band One And A Half Hit Wonder. I have liked Reel Big Fish all through the years, but on a few tracks, as a gag, they let their member Scott Klopfenstein just do a wholly soulful rendition of a totally different style.

And uh, then he went and made his own band that just does those songs and they’re great.

blink-182 - ONE MORE TIME (Official Video)

Watch this video on YouTube

Talking about things from the 90s that got better as they matured, Blink 182 have a single this year. Apparently it’s part of an album I have no interest in listening to, but this single, on its own, phew. Just fantastic vibes and a real improvement on their baseline sound. It’s Blink 182, but with just a lot more musical competence and fewer mangled half-rhymes.

I thought after I was done with single paragraph summaries I’d go back through the article and bulk it out with more details, to get up to the word count I wanted. Turns out I’m at one and a half times my word count, oops!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Decemberween2023

[linklethehistorian]

You know, being around Tumblr for like…5 years now, I’ve seen a lot of silly, goofy posts from fandom peeps making jokes and memes about themselves having to pretend to be ‘normal’ about a certain topic or thing they’re passionate about when around their friends, or wishing that someone else cared about their fics or OCs or whatever-else-have-you as much as they do themselves, so that they’d have a reason to share their trivia and go all out on the subject without being labeled as ‘cringe’, and like…yeah, they’re kinda funny, and don’t get me wrong, they’re definitely relatable to an extent, but…most of all, I just find them sad.

I know there are a lot of people — especially when making posts aimed towards fic writers — that’ll be like, “just do it for yourself!”, or “write/draw/create like no one’s watching!”, and that is genuinely good advice; I’m glad that it’s out there, because it is a very important step in being able to enjoy your hobby and/or your passion.

…But at the same time, something I never hear being said that I think really should is: while yeah, you should be able to create for yourself like no one is watching — in the sense that you should try to tune out the naysayers and just do what you love above all else — you should also allow yourself to be free enough to create like everyone is watching, in a good way.

Yes, realistically speaking, most people in the world right now probably don’t care that much about that super niche fic you wrote, or that OC you made, or whatever else it is you created or saw that you’re so excited about, but…so what? Who cares if not that many people have noticed it and given it the attention it deserves in your eyes? Why are you letting that stop you?

Go out there and make that ‘official blog’ dedicated to that creation you love, build that music playlist of perfect vibes for your OC or your favorite character, create hundreds of drawings and drabbles and fics and edits and posts and whatever else that you so want to do, talk like the whole world is listening with bated breath for your next statement about an update or interesting tidbit about that thing you made!

What is anyone going to do about it? Call you cringe? Send you hateful messages or make nasty comments? Delete them. Block them. Cut them off. They’re just a bunch of losers who have never learned a better way of coping with their own personal misery and unhappiness besides trying to drain the joy out of other people’s lives. And if you’re afraid your friends would do that to you — guess what? They’re not really your friends. There is a time and place for everything, sure, and there are going to be some people who enjoy doing different things with you more than others, but if you genuinely can’t just be yourself and have fun around the people you love without fear of being judged over something fictional or otherwise harmless, then you’re not in a very healthy situation.

And I’ll tell you something else, too.

When I started writing my most beloved fic of all, I had no idea that it would ever possibly get more than maybe one reader at best — if that — because of how extremely specific and niche the plot and the main pairing (and even the secondary pairing) was. I thought that it would at best sit on AO3 in silence forever and at worst receive massive backlash from a certain part of its primary fandom.

And I’m not gonna lie; it has received a few nasty comments over the years — but you know what it has mostly received? Love. Love, and appreciation, and support, and all of the things that in the beginning I never would’ve thought was possible.

I made an official blog for my fic, and it actually has a few dedicated followers that aren’t all just my close friends. I have playlists for it, I’ve made art, animatics, development notes on each chapter, I celebrate milestones with actual polls and events! I talk like people are listening, even when I’m not always really sure that they are, just for the fun of it, and you know…I’m happy.

And personally, I think that kind of obvious love and joy and dedication for what you do sells itself more than any type of attempt to appeal to the so-called ‘critics’ ever could.

Do what you love like others already love it just as much as you, and the rest will eventually fall into place.

[lavender-descendentheart]

Ya know I will once again come out of my little Void of nothing to talk about to talk about the thing that grinds our gears once more and also maybe write a little ready? No? Fuck it here we go

so LBD, we already know her the best villain the show had the one who got offed rather unceremoniously honestly Only one who got done as dirty as she was happened to be poor Azure poor boy now anyway I’ve been up many a night wondering with embrace your destiny how and why wukong showed that much fear when she showed up and why her motives in the end were inconsistent with her prior characterization with the whole “I will Rip the memory of you from this World” being before the special her Goal but hey I don’t write the show pretty obviously of course macaque didn’t get any proper karma but I digress pretty sure we know that show and special LBD are two different people but hey let’s try to merge the Sadistic memory eraser with the woobie sad woman who needed cuddles!

so like we know these two let’s not get into it cause this is just a random post I made after listening to a bloody animatic and is not worth that much effort when the fanbase for this bone woman is squarely in the large enough to fill a table at a restaurant level of size. Now personally I could just merge the two characters as LBD once being like any other demon perhaps even more unusually evil then others before she met people that caused her to change for the better now personally I suggest the old woman man and the young girl disguises she used as said individuals with a interaction like this.

she could connect with humans more and slowly change for the better making the inevitable blow that their deaths gave hit all the deeper especially if you assume she takes the forms they had at their time of death and that girl looked mighty young (haha I’m so clever making the bone lady probably watch a child die infront of her)

yada yada we already know the gist she tries to help people humans are innately flawed and the Jade emperor is sticking his head so far up and deep in his ass I’m pretty sure it’s making Macaque’s murderboner for wukong look Shallow in comparison blah blah she meets the fool emperor eventually loses patience and the chief of war the eventual Chaotic ghost gremlin pulls a France and Rewards the emperor as he deserves and then we have no concrete info on what happened next cause hey fuck LBD fans who want more of her actually getting screentime and genuine spotlight so all we get is the knowledge that wukong Enslaved to tripitaka(yes it is slavery he is being made to do something under threat of pain that is straight up slavery no matter how you try to spin it)

promptly found her and came into conflict now this is where it’s interesting considering LBD in the show well…she FUCKING HATES wukong so his defeat had to be pretty bad for her but she doesn’t really seem to out of character normally when seeing him hell even accounting the special which made her more panicky and less logical then she normally is still had her relatively Calm so she is obviously still ABSOLUTELY LIVID about it so what made this particular event this rage inducing as Show LBD wanted to Rip the memory of wukong from the world while special LBD wanted…well we actually had no idea what the fuck she wanted as no one said anything and possessing wukong was a Hail Mary she wasn’t expecting so that’s off the table so just gonna merge the two together right about NOW

now let’s say LBD is still very much ax crazy mega demoness but is ya know chilling out even with her going for worldwide plans insert wukong our resident traumatized beat up Golden slave boy who gets treated AWFUL by the fandom and funny enough others in the show for things that aren’t really his fault now let’s say LBD sees it as a normal occurrence a little surprised that the celestial realm is standing in her way as She expected better and more care for mortals then insert what I like to call the “Wukong Fisting Special” that everyone else in the show has experienced which obviously didn’t end well for bone lady here but hey gotta merge them together to get something better right? So let’s do that Let’s say that as Streaking Gold batters down Bones and Pierces through illusions just as he has done to those that were sworn to him a Silverish Blue struck by Grief and Fed up with endless Perdition catches a glimpse of that same Pain she swore to get rid of in the back of his Eyes as she’s struck down like all the other before and after her.

locked away in a cold desolate crypt by a Monk who knows nothing of what she has seen or done to “see” the error of her ways and repent for trying to…end pain and suffering and the last thing she sees is The Same Gold that struck her down not even looking at her as she is entombed Alive but hey there’s still the Violet Shadow she so graciously brought back in exchange for one favor after all surely he wouldn’t leave her to rot after she brought him back to life in exchange for opening a box right? RIGHT? Bing boom bam the slow realization as she Rots alive in that tomb and the inevitable desperate Panic that ensues as she tries to get out before she exhausts what little echoes of her power remain from her fight with Gold and all she can do now is lament her failure and presumably still be aware mentally of the darkness and the noises above and outside her Grave slowly going mad little by little piece by piece chipping away leaving her delirious confused and most of all ANGRY when she finally is unleashed taking cold Vengeance and merging it with Compassionate Grief until you get the Sadistic Silver of the Show tinted with the Blue Misery of the Special

yeah yeah way with words

we fucking love LBD and that’s our daily post now time to lament the lack of fanart for her and expand that damn au

[lunathequeerscientist]

when you get this ask you have to answer with 5 of ur fav songs and then send this ask to 10 of ur favourite followers :) (no pressure <3)

Ooooooooooh YES an opportunity to open THE ABSOLUTE FLOODGATES of my music preferences! Hmmmmhmhmm heheheheee *rubs hands together maliciously

Okay, so:

1.

AAEERREEEEREEEEEREEE YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE SHELTER (by Porter Robinson & Madeon)

(I’m so sorry I don’t know who this picture’s original artist is, I just found it on google, who ever it was, you are AMAZING ✨)

THE MUSIC VIDEO is just BY GOSH SO GOOD! It’s literally better than most movies I’ve watched. The story, the art, the colours… and the story! DID I MENTION THE STORY!!! AEIIIAJDJFNSNJ okay I won’t spoil it but I’ll have to literally bite my nails clean off gooo shoooo before I explodeeeee… oh… Oh… HERE IT COMES TAKE COV-

2.

Anyways, moving on

My next favourite… ooooh see this ones interesting because there are a bunch of songs here, it’s kind of like, you know when you have multiple favourites and you can’t really choose except I already have a favourite but that’s only because that favourite is relatively more favourite than my other favourites thanks to it’s possession of a feature or features that favourites it out of my other favourites… ish? Yeah? Yeah… ? *hopeful stare

Oki let me try again: i likey many song :D

This spot gets awarded tooooo.... a nightcore remix of Wake me up when September ends, uploaded by Syrex (unfortunately I cant seem to find the original video I usually listen to, the cover art on this is sliiiiightly too graphic for my liking (dw its not explicit or anything) but the original was perfect!)

This was one of my first nightcore songs, and something about it just felt so… magical 🌈 and 🌟mystical🌟… like a sort of window into another dimension? I still come back to it as my comfort song, kind of like a sonical blorbo…. A blorbo song? A slorbo? Yeeeaaah!

In a similar position but possibly not to the same extent are other nightcore remix songs like Drivers License (also uploaded by Syrex) and Fly me to the moon(also Syrex) and some others

3.

Now I do indeed enjoy a spot of classical music (mainly rather popular songs though) and what else do I say than frikin Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Oh ajsjdbdk do I love Tchaikovsky! “Canons are not instruments!” Tchaikovsky: *slow evil grin* “Your gonna love this” *starts 1812 Overture -need I say more

✨Tchaikovsky brain rot Tchaikovsky brain rot Tchaikovsky brain rot Tchaikovsky brain rot Tchaikovsky brain rot Tchaikovsky brain rot Tchaikov✨

Okay I lied actually I do enjoy more than a spot of it, I listen to it classical music sometimes obsessively, all the way from grand masterpieces while looking through my homework as a cunning super villain surveys their chaos to frilly piano pieces. Oooh speaking of, Un Sospiro by Franz Liszt, that is by far one of my favourite piano pieces… maybe close to Piano Conerto no 1 in terms of favouriteness? Maybeeee?

4.

I do also love some pop and dancey and songs. I think One Last Time by Ariana Grande definitely sticks on this list and is one of my all time favourites. The music video is amazing too! There also others like Solo Dance by Martin Jensen, Style by Taylor Swift (oooh another of my favourite artists btw) Don’t lose my number by Phil Collins and Heaven (DJ Sammy and Yanou)

5.

I (mostly) love my YouTube recommendations, and most of the time its cute (and very VERY impressive) animatics galore, and some of the music I’ve heard on them just sticks with me and lives rent free in my head. The one on this list has to be Sincerely, Me (from this animatic). Now I don’t know much about the song out of the context of this animatic, however rumour has it that it is rather twisted (again, I have actually no idea where it’s from, I never followed it up) but it’s so insanely catchy I find myself head-playing it on repeat and listen to it to scratch that very specific itch… the animation is absolutely 🌟amazing🌟 too in that video, and I keep coming back! Also I’d like to show you Think U Know by Ikson, found in this animatic by none other than cudlil :P I love her channel, and all the music she uses!

So there you go! Now I know it may seem a bit like a genre rank, but I assure you it’s not. It’s not, it’s not not ntotntotntotn noooooo

It’s just that I sort of categorise songs by the way they make me feel, and most of the time the ones listed from 2-5 can be interchanged (meaning I like them all equally)

Oooh oooh! And ofcourse, Thank you so much for the ask! 🌈🌟

[astralm00ns]

Rules: shuffle your 'on repeat' playlist and post the first ten tracks, then tag ten people.

OKAY got tagged by @tearwolfe let’s see how this goes even though i don’t use spotify

the undertale au fan tracks i listened to back in 5th grade dragged me to be a soundcloud user ok anyways let me just

1. honey i’m home - ghost (i’ve been a huge ghost fan for a really long time, this is one of the many iconic ones)

2. checker dance - toby fox (yeah no i’m a HUGE utdr enjoyer, i have had some tracks saved for a while because like,,yeah toby)

3. unfriendly hater - meddmia (GAH this song is so fun i love the little story along with it, if motivation lets me one day i might do an mv, but chances are 50/50)

4. glory steady go - kinoshita (self explanatory i love wxs)

5. miracle paint (wxs ver) - oster project (song is funky when you excuse the meaning, also probably one of my favorite early game covers it’s still a nice listen)

6. suna no wakusei - hachi (i remember trying to find the symbolism for it way back when considering how many references are in the mv, also a huge banger which slaps)

7. close to you (sans ver) - niki (i think anyone who was into utdr has seen that ONE animatic with that song,,i still love watching that video every now and then the animation and vocals are gorgeous)

8. popipo - lamaze-p (vegetal)

9. aishite aishite aishite - kikuo (i love being funny at times and hitting the high notes, which aren’t nearly as high as i remember after listening to kara kara kara no kara, which uh,,yeah, still great song though kikuo never misses)

10. scapegoat - ghost (another ghost banger that i enjoy listening to)

okay um that was a shuffle mission uhmmhhrr uh i don’t have many mutuals oopsies

[amouress16]

My 2022 Animation Overview

This last year was my first year getting into animation. While I’m not fortunate enough to be able to afford college to go the professional route of this kind of art career, I am lucky to have the support to try and push my way in as an amateur anyway. So now here I am, with eleven months of self teaching experience under my belt.

I started back in February with this one here. My first ever animation (and first ever copyright strike, yay for youtube’s auto flagger not knowing how fair use law works ;u;). I’ve been lucky that this one is only one of two of my animatics that I’ve been able to spot a mistake in post upload.

This one was a shorter one that I managed to get done in only a couple weeks, and probably the one I’m least proud of at this point from it’s lack of substance. Still, every bit helps me learn, and it was still cute.

And now to my most popular animation so far! I was very happy so many people liked this one, especially since Vincent is my favorite character in VTSoM, I got to have a lot of fun making it- I’ll definitely be making more Vincent centric ones. Like the one I have in the works right now... ;)

Ye ol classic meme animatic, The Hole. Everyone who watches meme animations for their fandoms has seen some variation of this one. This was mine. This was where I started using more repeat “assets” (read: drawings) for the sake of consistency and saving myself time, for the first time.

And another classic meme approach, vines. I plan on making two more of these for VTSoM in particular, but I will keep them spaced out since they’re a little more exhaustive to make. A lot of unrelated scenes with so many different characters being drawn out over two or three months is, well, a lot!

And finally something from a different fandom! ...listen, I am a fnaf fan on tumblr, Sun and Moon brainrot is par for the course here. This particular animatic was another short one that came after two months of bad art block and life stress and me getting sick back to back. I needed a simple thing to come back with. Not to mention, I got an art tablet as a gift during the holidays, which was a major upgrade for me, so I had to learn (and am still learning) to use a totally new animation program! Thus, this silly little thing.

And that’s all for ‘22!

If you read through this whole thing, thank you! I know I don’t really post my art as often as some folks so it’s harder to tell, but I do work hard and near constantly on creating things. Lately that’s been largely animations, so I don’t have a whole lot of time for other things. And while I’d love to do this all for free, we do live under capitalism and I have to be able to pay for vet bills and groceries. So if you’d like to and are able to yourself, please consider checking out my Patreon! I post weekly updates of my animation progress as well as occasional random WIPs and sketches. Anyway, thanks again, and happy 2023!

[boygirlctommy]

hiya artist friends so say I wanted to make an animatic? To a song? What software would be good for that?

[gender-euphowrya]

hi i’m always late at liking popular things anyway i have started listening to mbmbam