#listening to the same phantom of the opera song on repeat the whole time i was drawing

[soulofamy]

super rough sketch but im already very excited about how this is turning out

[biscuitboxpink]

Thanks for tagging me @brookezilla!

Post 10 GIFs of movies you loved as a child, then tag people. Optional: Tell us why you love(d) the films you picked.

In no particular order:

1. The Sound of Music (1965)

I’ve loved this movie since I was like 2. My grandma used to take me grocery shopping with her and make me sing the songs. And of course two year old me sang them all in an English accent, which according to my grandma made me sound like an actual British child. Probably the start of my love for theatre.

2. Ever After (1998)

Honestly, this is still my all time favourite movie. If anyone asks me what my favourite movie is, my mind automatically goes here. Like many of the movies on my list, this one was introduced to be by my mum and is very special to me.

3. The Harry Potter Series (2001-2011)

Harry Potter has always been a massive love for me, and always will. It’s helped me through so much. Honestly, so disappointed in JKR (I in no way support her or her actions).

4. The Anne of Green Gables Trilogy (1985, 1987, 2000)

I have loved Anne of Green Gables my whole life. It’s another one my mum introduced me to (and it’s her all time favourite). Took me a long time to watch Anne with an E because I love this one so much, but I quite like that now as well.

5. Annie (1982)

This movie is so funny, honestly. I used to watch this when I was sick (and Anne of Green Gables), and listen to the soundtrack on repeat and never get bored. There is going to be a theme to my favourite movies. Many are musicals lol.

6. Peter Pan (2003)

So I have such a love for this movie, and so many things to say about it (so much so that I will be teaching it in the fall alongside the original book and play). It does so many things so well, and I will always argue with people that it’s the best (and only) Peter Pan in my mind. Also, Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook 😮‍💨

7. Finding Neverland (2004)

On the same note as Peter Pan, Finding Neverland was one I found when I was quite young and fell in love with. I loved the story behind it. And the musical that came out about 10 years ago is absolutely perfect. Kate Winslet is so wonderfully tragic in it too.

8. Pride & Prejudice (2005)

This one is a bit of a controversial opinion in the Jane Austen fandom, but I love this version of Pride & Prejudice. It was my introduction to Jane Austen, and it’s just gotten larger from there. I’m now an English Lit professor focusing in the 18th century (and I very often teach Austen), so I think that tells you the impact this movie had on me.

9. Pollyanna (1960)

This movie is just so pure and sweet and lovely. Yet another my mum introduced me to haha.

10. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

So there is a whole story around my love for Phantom, and the musical will always be massively special to me. This was the first version I got to see, and I was too young to see it when it came out but I begged my mum until she let me. Obviously by then I had already known the soundtrack so well. I no longer like the movie as much now that I’ve seen the stage show (and the Royal Albert Hall production which is my all time favourite), but it was my favourite as a kid.

And I guess honourable mention to the Royal Albert Hall Phantom because that came out just as I was finishing high school.

Tagging @mexicangela @deardarlingthings @roamwithahungryheart @mtfunkzoo and anyone else who wants to do this!

[dk-wren]

ALW’s Cinderella Musical Review

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen the actual show, this is only about/covers the album released on July 9, 2021. These are my opinions-you don’t have to agree with them, and that is completely okay.

The first thing I want to mention is how I am genuinely impressed with how different in style and genre Cinderella is compared to some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s previous works, such as Evita or most notably, Phantom of the Opera. That being said, while I definitely enjoyed listening to Cinderella, I don’t know how much I’ll continue listening to it in the future as a whole. What exactly I mean by “as a whole” is that I do not feel this cast recording is one I would listen to from beginning to end on repeat like I can with other musicals.

There are definitely some stand out numbers that I have been listening to on repeat, most notably “Bad Cinderella” and “Beauty Has A Price,” which from my understanding the latter is the Act 1 finale. Since I knew this musical was going to release a cast recording pretty quickly or close to its targeted opening date, I tried to hold off from listening to song previews or early releases. However, “Bad Cinderella” seems to be the main marketing song and, at least for me, it was hard to avoid (in a good way though). Several times before I listened to the song in full, I kept hearing the same little snippet from the beginning of the chorus, and I could already tell that that song was going to be a bop. And in my opinion, it totally is. I love just cranking my volume up and jamming out to this song when it starts playing.

As for “Beauty Has A Price,” I can’t say why exactly I like this song as much as I do. It could be potentially because of how this song reveals the difference between the Fairy Godmother from say the Disney animated film or even Rodger and Hammerstein’s musical to the Fairy Godmother in this adaptation. Or maybe I’m just a cynic and I like the whole meaning/message behind this song as summed up by its title. Either way, this song in particular is one I would love to see performed live and I think ends in a very fitting way for it to serve as the Act 1 finale.

My first impression of this musical (a.k.a. when it was originally announced) was kinda disinterested since I didn’t feel like another adaptation of Cinderella was necessary. But after listening to the cast recording and hearing more about the plot, I love how this musical is not just another straight adaptation of Cinderella, more or less. Yes it follows similar beats to the classic fairy tale so many people are familiar with, yet at the same time it feels like a new story and not just another version with new music or set in modern times or the real world. If I had to quickly describe the plot of this musical to somebody, I would say it’s like if the entire plot of Cinderella happened twice and this musical focuses on the second time the story is being told, but with a few twists. These include (SPOILERS!!! Skip down to next paragraph if you want to avoid) the new prince or love interest, the townspeople’s attitude towards Cinderella, and from what I could gather, the complete omission of what I call the shoe hunt (in other words, when, in other adaptations, every women who attended the ball has the chance to try on the slipper left behind at the palace to prove she’s the mysterious girl Prince Charming was smitten by and will marry).

Every now and then when I was listening to the cast recording on YouTube I would scroll through the comments, and I was happy to see several people seeming to really enjoy the song/album. I have no idea if they were like me and only knew the show by listening to it online or actually had the chance to see this show live. Regardless, as one of the first musical cast recordings to be released simultaneously with its show opening in well over a year, it sure was a treat to get to listen to a musical that was only just starting its journey, and a nice change from listening to musicals that have been closed for some time as I had been doing for the past several months. Like I said in the beginning, while I don't know how much I will continue to listen to this musical in its entirety in the future, I sure do hope it is a success in the West End and will hopefully make it over to Broadway. Who knows, this may be a musical I’ll come to love after some time passes or I get the chance to see this performed live!

- DK W

[fairytales-magic]

Hiya! So I’m just getting into musicals after my friend sent me two songs that were absolute bangers from Heathers and I’m pretty sure you like musicals so do you have any recommendations? 👀 if not that’s totally fine!

Oh. HOney.

Do i know musicals?!?! (i’m so sorry in advance, but you’ve opened pandora’s box)

Strap in, i’m your humble tour guide!

A Beginner’s Guide to Musicals

Now, its hard to organize these all but i’ll do my best. I orignally had MANY others on the list, but it seemed smarter not to overwhelm you with too many different genres, so i kept it simple. I also will recommend some songs out of order before listening to the show from the beginning, but that’s just

Some are gonna be movie musicals, so just bear in mind, but if you want the broadway version i can oblige! A couple personal favorites i highly suggest are:

Wicked

The backstory of the Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good, before the events of the Wizard of Oz.

 Listen, if i had to choose one show to see on Broadway, its this one. When the u.s. tour came to my city, i was beyond excited. And when my in-laws got orchestra seats for us to see it in, i all but cried. :D I could quite literally write an entire essay about the show deep diving into the costumes, the set and stage design, the tech and lights, the script adaptation, etc...

The music is iconic in its own right, and its just so much fun and full of heart! Start right at the beginning with No One Mourns The Wicked and The Wizard and I are brilliant places, but legit with any of these songs you can’t go wrong. There are even reprises in the show they didn’t put on the soundtrack but 1000% should be there, its just that good!

Full soundtrack available here!

Phantom of the Opera

 Ah yes! An oldie but a goodie. Its almost all singing, but boy is it worth it! I actually recommend watching this, cause it’d end up being the same runtime and you get the added benefit of seeing everything going on. But the whole movie soundtrack is available on YouTube, of course (the prologue is super slow, just fair warning, its a lot more for visuals than musical). The Phantom of the Opera title song is a great starting place. Music of the Night (immediately following POTO) and Think of Me are some of my top favorites, but really this whole soundtrack is just *chefs kiss*. Oh! And All I Ask of You just melts my heart! Also, of you want a great stage production soundtrack, the 25th Anniversary at Albert Hall starring Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo is fantastic as well!

Also also, i know where to watch both movie and stage performances, so just lemme know if you’d like that. :D

Hamilton

 Ok now hear me out! I honestly also didn’t like Hamilton when it first came out. And i didn’t for a long time. I’m a more traditional broadway connoisseur, plus the only rap i really listened to was Eminem. But even there i’m super selective, and i made the mistake of listening to the intro song first.

Don’t be me.

Sometimes you need the familiar first before you get to the place where they branch off (in this case, throwing in some rap verses).  

Hamilton in 7 Minutes is an amazing a cappella compilation of the entire soundtrack, plus the animatic someone drew for it is phenomenal. After that i highly HIGHLY recommend Helpless and then You’ll Be Back, oh and The Schuyler Sisters! This show is just as quirky and sweet as it is emotional. And i get its not for everyone, but i’d be remiss if i didn’t at least mention it.

Newsies

Inspired by the real-life happening of the Newsboys going on strike in 1899 New York.

Oh man, how do profess my love to thee? Mainly an all boys cast (but the ladies who have songs in it are *chefs kiss*), the choreography is as incredible as the music itself, and boy howdy is the music great! Jeremy Jordan is the butter on my bread and as Jack Kelly, just lives rent free in my head on repeat. If he sang to me every night, sleep would never be an issue. xD Carrying the Banner, King of New York, and Watch What Happens are great ways to start off this party. And here i shall grace you with the whole Live soundtrack (i didn’t like the audio quality for the regular recorded one i found, but its still the same cast so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).  

The whole stage show was professionally filmed and lives on Disney+ currently btw! (so go watch it! The tap numbers and spoon playing in it give me LIFE)

Heathers the Musical

The darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerburg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized ass…but J.D. has another plan for that bullet.

 I’m so glad you already like this! The music really is a great banger and the story surprisingly manages to be both edgy humor-wise and serious when the moments call for it. Its a lot of fun and i’m surprised by how much i like it. If you haven’t already listened to them, Beautiful is the intro and is really good, and also Candy Store & Big Fun!

The Little Mermaid Musical

 The movie and musical that need no introduction! I was really surprised by how much i liked Broadways soundtrack for the show, and how short-lived its time on stage was. It really doesn’t get enough credit for how much creativity went into everything. And what an all-star cast too! All the original songs from the movie are there, and i think they did a really good job expanding them even more, especially Under the Sea. Her Voice (10/10 just melts my heart) i’ll also recommend beforehand but honestly you don’t need too much. Just go straight from the start and head onward, you’ll really enjoy it!

The Sound of Music

 Man i’m getting nostalgic. Another oldie but goodie! My mom, sisters and I loved watching this movie growing up (along with Oklahoma, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Singin’ In the Rain, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, and just...every musical in our collection ;P). Funny, sweet, romantic, heartwarming, its got it all! The Sound of Music kicks everything off, and from there you can’t go wrong, but this is another movie musical i highly encourage watching! Also i just wanna throw in The Lonely Goatherd now cause its so much fun, so why wait?! ~~

Ok whew! I think that’s it (for now). It took a while to find links for everything, but we did it! Please holla at me if you have any questions or concerns. :)

Oh yes, and if you would like to see any of these masterpieces via recording, i may or may not have such knowledge for your viewing and/or audio entertainment.

[papenniesandbentoboxes]

Favorite ND Soundtracks

Alright. I am a huge music nerd. For some time, I was a music major at college (I changed majors after having to take nine classes a semester because of all my ensembles). One of my hobbies is listening to movie and game scores. Some of the Nancy Drew games have some pretty great music. I don’t really know how I’d rank my favorites, but I’m going to list them in no particular order.

Shadow at Water’s Edge

Lovely traditional Japanese sound. Very calming yet it just sounds like someone is watching you. 

The scenes in the city have some great music. Honestly? They are bops.

The music fits perfectly with the ambiance and mood. The music at the ryokan is haunting and beautiful and the music in the city is fun and carefree.

“Kasumi” is so wonderfully haunting and beautiful and horrifying at the same time. It’s beautiful and peaceful, and it makes me feel both sad and like I’m gonna die from being attacked by the yurei.

Some of the tracks in this don’t sound like they’re from a Nancy Drew game. They sound like they came straight out of a horror film.

Secret of Shadow Ranch

Western. Soooo western. A stereotypical cowboy movie score. I love it.

It makes me feel like I’m a cowboy in the wild west.

The guitar picking is perfect in “Dirk”. I love it so much that I listened and taught myself on the guitar and I played it too much because my sister was sick of it for a long time.

The ghost town music fits so well. A perfect combination of suspense and yeehaw.

The drums in “Lands”... Perfect. And the trombones in “Danger”... Great.

Curse of Blackmoor Manor

This score. It’s amazing. It makes me feel like I’m in an old English mansion poking around and searching through hidden passages. Oh wait...

This score seems like it should be the background music for a BBC show about royalty.

Some of the music is downright terrifying. Also, the dulcimer?! That instrument is underrated and used amazingly!

The piano and strings parts are just beautiful. “Memoirs” is one of my favorites. The use of dynamics in that piece is lovely.

This is probably the only music where a recorder sounds good.

Brigitte. I still know that song so well.

Legend of the Crystal Skull

Okay. As a jazz singer, this soundtrack spoke to my soul. 

They mix horror and jazz and that makes me love it sooooo much.

I just really like jazz, okay?

“Bruno” hits different. It feels like you just walked into a 1930s New Orleans nightclub holding a cigarette and wearing a fur coat.

“Bayou” give me “Gonna Take You There” vibes.

Haunting of Castle Malloy

Say what you want about the game, but the music is beautiful.

“Nursery” still gives me chills. “Map” makes me feel like I should always be watching my back. “Grand” is rightly named. 

The music in the pub are bangers. 

As a Celtic music fan, this soundtrack is truly wonderful.

Warnings at Waverly Academy

This one fits the environment so well. Both suspenseful and youthful.

The cello. Ooooh, the cello. *chef’s kiss*

The violin solo... It’s so beautifully creepy and unsettling with the resonance and the reverb. 

It just feels like late autumn/early winter. It has that vibe and it’s wonderful.

The Captive Curse

Again, as a musician, I’ve been exposed to lots of music, and some of that is traditional Bavarian music. This one combined the mystery of Nancy Drew games with the traditional music and it was done well.

“Girls” is both beautiful and slightly tragic. The piano, the violin, the cello, the everything. It feels like I should be out there wearing a dirndl with Nancy and remember all the girls before that have died at this castle.

Speaking of castle, “Castle” is so wonderfully mysterious. So is “Mystery”, of course. And the violin in “Legend”? It makes me feel curious.

The choir in “Creature” brings a whole new vibe to the game. Kinda gave me “Duel of Fates” vibes, if you know what I mean.

The Deadly Device

It sounds like it came straight out of a sci-fi film. It also gives me Doctor Who and Thor: Ragnarok vibes.

The repeated motif in “Research” sounds like “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas”, don’t hate me.

It fits the techie nerd vibe as well as the “hello, this is murder” vibe.

Ghost of Thornton Hall

This one. Oooh ho ho, this one. It still gives me chills. The music adds so much to the game. It’s creepy enough already, but add this amazing music and you get one of the most creepy Nancy Drew games.

Oh, did I also mention that this music will bring you to tears? Yeah.

That little bit of background choir in some of the tracks?

The brass section in “Dark” has a feel of urgency.

The OPERA in the background. UGH, IT’S AMAZING. This is coming from a person who has sang opera before and DAMN is this stuff beautiful. The vocalese is amazing.

The rhyme... The rhyme.

“Past” is so beautiful and tragic and truly captivates the sadness of the entire situation.

That one time where the drums are pretty much a heartbeat? Freaks me out. Every time. I love it.

The Silent Spy

This one has amazing music and it’s also one of the plot points in the mystery.

The link between Kate and the piano is amazing. Every time I hear the piano, it’s a reminder of Kate and her presence. 

Kate’s Theme is so simple, yet so beautiful. 

The bagpipes in the background add a whole new layer of sadness. I am one of those people who actually loves the bagpipes.

It feels like a FRICKIN SPY/HEIST MOVIE.

At the same time, SCOTLAND.

The use of the electric guitar is very lovely.

Labyrinth of Lies

I love it. I love it. The music belongs there.

The use of traditional Greek inspired music is wonderful and really helps with the entire ambiance. 

“Souls” sounds like it belongs in the underworld.

Sea of Darkness

Hoooooly moly, I love this music. The strings, the choir, the woodwinds, the brass? Everything.

This music makes me want to go sailing.

“The Word I Couldn’t Keep” is still an amazing, beautiful song and no one can tell me otherwise because I am right.

The music in the ice caves, “Waiting” is absolutely amazing. The reverb makes it sound like it’s actually coming from inside the caves.

Midnight in Salem

Again, say what you want about the game, but the music was amazing.

Okay, they had some bops and bangers in this game. I was grooving to these tunes.

It sounds so Halloweeny. It’s so delightfully creepy. It sounds like a Danny Elfman soundtrack and I am HERE for it.

The use of the harp in these tracks is wonderful. It sounds like they also used chimes in here, which fits well.

“Feelings” is so beautiful. Another one of those hauntingly beautiful tracks that hits you in the feels.

“Family” instantly transports me from wherever I am to a small town in the mid-autumn with a little creepy vibe.

I got GTH vibes from some of these. I loved it.

The Phantom of Venice music during Ned’s phone call was superb. I heard it and instantly had flashbacks to Nancy’s not-quite-stripper days.

Seriously. Danny Elfman vibes.

Feel free to add on!! I’d love to hear more about what other people think of the soundtracks. 

[sundance201]

Top 5 songs from musicals 🎶

Oh, @forthegenuine, this is so hard! But I will do my best. :p

1. “The Phantom of the Opera” from....The Phantom of the Opera. This should go without saying for me.

2. “Nobody’s Side” from Chess. Had a hard time picking a song from Chess because I love most of them so much, but this one won out.

3. “The Next Ten Minutes” from The Last Five Years. Who doesn’t love this song? The one time that Cathy and Jamie are on the same page the whole show and I love it.

4. “Wait for Me (Reprise)” from Hadestown. This cast is so wildly talented and I cry every time I listen to this cast recording. I have had this song on repeat for days at a time and have never gotten sick of it.

5. “Before the Performance” from Love Never Dies - specifically the Phantom’s part. Especially when Ramin Karimloo is singing it. 😍

Honorable mentions to “Beneath a Moonless Sky” from LND because I love to hear about the Phantom and Christine banging all night, “Being Alive” from Company and specifically sung by Rosalie Craig, “Satisfied” from Hamilton, “Getting Married Today” from Company, “Easy as Life” from Aida, and “Bathing Beauty” from LND.

J/K on that last one. 😝

[fgodestinyawakenings]

EOR Shinjuku Singularity: Section 7~Section 9

Halfway done, you guys! And another 1 or 2 more weeks before Chaldea Boys Collection! That’s going to need more than the usual SQs to bring back the husbando... Thank god for Shinjuku to top up more SQs for it!

Section 7

A narration of trapping one person starts the chapter... Both Jeanne Alter and Artoria Alter concluded to tell Archer of Shinjuku they can’t trust him. Gudas still trust him more or less, an answer that made the Servant happy.

Revealing more information about Phantom of Opera to gain more trust, 200 in Kabukicho for an army and another hundred for patrolling... A song by the leader doll Christine, the machine doll listens and applauded to her song everyday

Aside from the issue above, both Alters and Archer of Shinjuku got previous combat experience against them before their arrival. The people kidnapping confirms on what we saw in the previous chapters

Using Excalibur Morgan is out of the option thanks to the magical energy surrounding Shinjuku... Aside from their cat fight, Archer of Shinjuku suggested to bring one of the machine dolls back alive to modify for our own use. So Gudas went off with Artoria Alter to bring one back

Going into the streets, Artoria Alter repeated the message Edmond told them. As expected, 3 machine doll showed up again to kill abduct innocent people! 

With two killed and one captured, we got one of the machine dolls with us. Artoria Alter again recalled Edmond’s words to them in enduring their trials and tribulations in this Singularity.

Bringing back the machine doll to Archer, and... Guess we know what the hell they are made of. Instead of taking human skin, they... Took human brains and nerves?! What the fuck, Phantom?!! Yeah, something to not look at it so long, Artoria Alter... The sight will be nauseating to see...

I’m not sure of saving if there’s magecraft to restore back to their former body... His goal otherwise was from hating actual living beings and turning them into non-living beings that he considered beautiful... Then again, this isn’t the normal Assassin Phantom, so madness enhancement already destroyed his mind

As it confirm we can’t save those turned into puppets... Time to do a Trojan horse style to attack Kabukicho! But, they should brought Hektor in since he’ll be an expert of this area. And, Mash has a point... Despite it being dead, that was still a human once before being stripped of

The Gudas headed into the street to ponder their decision to play fire with fire. Mash encourage them that they’ll always be her Master that saved her from that day. Gaining the motivation a little, they received the detonator from Archer and head out to Kabukicho!

Section 8

At Kabukicho, Christine orders her minions to kill and abduct more humans while they sang their praises to her. Phantom more than willing to do so... Killed the two humans they captured... Damn it!!

Back at the crew, Archer made one last adjusment into the modified doll. The modified doll sent and accompanied towards the enemy into their base. After both Artoria and Jeanne left... Archer pressed it himself? ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE NOT THE EVIL ONE?!

One kind way or another, he managed to protect Gudas’s hand to be sullied in blood. Inside the base, the remaining machine dolls fight against Artoria and Jeanne. Both Gudas and Archer faced off the remaining 9 machine dolls before facing the boss of this territory!

All 9 done! Both Phantom and Christine arrived as expected after killing their minions. Enraged that his creation were all destroyed, Archer pressed further to remind that Christine is just a doll... Or supposedly a Servant but because the lack of Spirit Origin, she’s sealed into a puppet for a body substitute

Even if Phantom is the Berserker, both still are sort of! Anyway, for the crime of killing hundred of innocent lives, we’ll stop you here!

Nearly slipped up here, because... I forgot and didn’t think that Christine will still remain as a Berserker class instead changing to an Assassin. So, I ended up casting Merlin’s invincibility early than needed OTL. Thankfully, Ishtar with Kiyohime’s CE killed Phantom after Christine died first

Finishing both Christine and Phantom... Phantom let Christine’s soul be in peace her soul as she returned back into the Throne of Heroes. Phantom laments of his own aversion of the truth while drowning further into the Singuarity’s madness. He then tells Gudas further about the League members, and about our Archer of Shinjuku--

Emiya Alter shots him from the back and exploded inside out! Shocking the Gudas, despite it’s an Alter, that’s the same Mama Emiya they know before! Emiya Alter points out coldly they’re still his target to kill

Archer demands his reason for killing Phantom, receiving reply that Phantom didn’t deserve pity for his coming death. Emiya Alter knows and definitely refused to give us the True Name of our Archer of Shinjuku.

Before they could engage in combat... Hassan Cursed Arm summoned in this Singularity saved us! Cursed arm managed to get Emiya Alter to retreat. Cursed Arm joins the crew as they immediately make haste to leave Kabukicho

Section 9

At the Leagues, the Other Archer discussed about Phantom’s death and his unknown plans of this Singularity. So next up is the Assassin, who was the one that told Emiya Alter to retreat. The Assassin has a knack in disguising as other of those he showed interest to... But a price that his doppelganger nature as a Phantom Spirit currently confused his own thoughts and identity

Emiya Alter then ordered by Other Archer to check the progress of Shakespeare’s King Lear while he continues his own plan. Seems like Other Archer already noticed his rival here? Sherlock Holmes is here, but where??

Anyway back at the roost, there’s a mini celebration of sort since we defeated Berserker, or not. Or after our Archer and Hassan has their own mini celebration, we got a very interesting drunken Archer of Shinjuku with us... And got knocked out *shrugs*

Hassan then asked and shared his own mistrust against Archer here, but praised Gudas for coming down to this Singularity to restore it. Hassan then reveals more of the motives from Leagues is to create utter devastation, that decided to destroy this whole planet... But it’s still impossible considering the theories and possible facts with us

As they discussed, there’s an eavesdropper sneaking around in hearing our conversation. Both Hassan and Gudas went outside to check... And...  Wait.. That’s not Hassan... WHO ARE YOU?!

The Gudas were then attacked by the Assassin of Shinjuku! Da Vinci still can’t find out Assassin’s real identity. He took the Gudas with them after Jeanne and Artoria both showed up to attack.

While chasing after them, Assassin called up the Hornets to stall time for him. Gudas still managed to give orders to Artoria while being held hostage.

After clearing the 5 hornets, Assassin complimented at the Guda’s Will in commanding Artoria. But... Looks like the King Lear... Or a modified Spriggan is here!

One King Lear down with Artoria’s Excalibur Morgan... It’s a trap! Ensuring Artoria exhausted out of energy, Assassin kidnapped the Gudas with them! Mash, everyone, Artoria!!!

And going to end it here! I’m taking it slow... Especially for EOR since they aren’t really the main requirement for majority of the events. I’ll still try to complete nevertheles since the main story is here at last! Going to rest and do my other stuff before coming back here

[archive-moodybmood]

11, 16, 32 !

11. What song makes you cry every time?

Okay, so here’s the thing: I have a deep, semi-irrational hatred of Andrew Lloyd Weber despite having seen more than one touring production in my life and listening to songs from various Phantom productions even though my favorite hobby is making fun of that musical .  I hate his face.  I hate that I can’t buy a Halloween-themed CD without it having a knockoff version of the riff from The Phantom of the Opera.  I hate that I was particularly sleep-deprived once after two days of not sleeping and watched the entirety of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at 2 AM because it was there and the whole experience felt like a confusing fever dream except Donny Osmond was there.  I hate literally every character in The Phantom of the Opera except Carlotta.  I’m pretty sure Andrew Lloyd Weber made a dark deal sometime in the 70s to have several hit musicals but at a terrible cost.  I strongly believe that a lot of his work has misogynistic overtones.  I know it’s almost passé at this point to make fun of Cats because it was passé in the 80s, but what even is Cats?  What the hell is Cats?  Why is it so weirdly horny?  Why does the costume design fill me with existential dread?  I have never seen Cats because I am terrified of Cats.

And yet sometimes when I have the need to feel an emotion and cry a bit (if I don’t schedule some time every few weeks to cry, my emotions get stuck inside my body and get backed up), I listen to “Memory” from that stupid musical and I hate that it does the trick.  Go to hell, Andrew Lloyd Weber.

16. What song do you have on repeat right now? 

When I write have a tendency to listen to songs on repeat, sometimes for hours at a time.  For awhile, my writing song was the Arctic Monkeys cover of “Red Right Hand,” and then it was “Breathless” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.  For a bit, it was “Long Way Home” by Tom Waits and then it was the Norah Jones cover.  A few chapters of Death Is Not the End were fueled by me listening to “Barrett’s Privateers,” mostly the Stan Rogers version but also Alestorm.  I definitely went through a period of listening to one Ramones song but I’m not sure which one because most of their songs are variations on the same three tunes.  I listened to “Sympathique” by Pink Martini for awhile and Grace Jones singing “La Vie en rose.”

Lately, I’ve been listening to a live version of “The Bitch Is Back” by Elton John.  It makes me want to wear ten inch heels and get into a fight.

32. What’s the oldest song you have?

I like folk music and the blues but I have very few records.  A lot of my music listening is through Pandora and Spotify because music’s expensive.  I have a record player but the records I own are mostly new wave, so while I do listen to old music, I don’t have old music.  I recently bought a CD from my city’s blues society, but it’s modern, local artists doing versions of old blues songs, so I’m not so sure if that counts or not.  I haven’t listened to it yet but I will soon.

I have a Johnny Cash album with “Cry! Cry! Cry!” on it, so that’s probably the oldest song that I can think of off hand on physical media that I own and can touch.  When it comes to non-physical media, I’ve been listening to a lot of Josephine Baker lately.

[ilovemybarricadebabies]

My incredibly personal story of how I fell in love with Les Mis, and by extension, Enjoltaire.

I was first introduced to Les Mis through singing “Castle on a Cloud” when I was an 8th grader in my junior/high school choir. At this time, the film of the musical had just been released. After hearing my choir director talk about it, I had an interest in seeing it in the movie theatre, but was never able too. However, that summer, on either July 12th or 13th, 2013 (I only remember the date because I distinctly remember watching it, and then learning about Cory Monteith’s death (despite never watching Glee), my mother came home with the DVD of the film, and we watched it. At first, I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I ended up falling in love with “Do You Hear The People Sing?” and I listened to that song on repeat for days following. Apart from “Castle on a Cloud”, “DYHTPS?” was the first song that I truly knew from the musical.

Then, my freshmen year of high school, we sang “Bring Him Home” at our Fall Festival concert, and then, in the weeks following leading up to Christmas/holiday break, we watched the film in choir class. But that still wasn’t what made me fall in love. I enjoyed the music, but at this point, I wasn’t big on musical theatre. But that all changed that holiday break.

When holiday break came around, I sat down with my laptop, and pulled up The Phantom of the Opera from my iTunes account (now, I know this my LM story, but we need to go through my POTO phase first), and I absolutely fell in love with POTO. It was like a switch flipped and my whole world had came into focus. POTO was my segue into the world of musical theatre. Everything revolved around POTO for weeks. As I went through my POTO phase, I introduced myself to more musicals. I started first with the more mainstream (POTO, Wicked, Les Mis, and so many more that are considered mainstream) and then, I found the musicals that weren’t as popular. And I went through a time were I felt that my love for theatre needed to remain a secret because there was another girl in my school who was obsessed with musical theatre and I felt somewhat intimidated by her, so I kept it secret from everyone except my family. There wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t checking the Playbill website or reading about musicals on Google. I followed all the musical accounts on social media that I could. During this time, I had listened to the entirety of Les Mis and I had also understood the story better thanks to Google. Les Mis quickly became my second favorite musical, but nothing was going to take POTO from this spot.

But as I entered my sophomore year, my POTO phase had pretty much ended, and my Once Upon a Time phase began, but that only lasted for about six months. I was still obsessed with musicals, but my main focus was know OUaT. Then, I was in between phases for a while. Finally, that spring, after begging my parents for months and months, they gifted me with a trip to New York City in May 2015 (my second time going to that city, my first was in June 2013 with my mother on a mother/daughter bonding trip, where we saw the musical, and my first Broadway musical, Once), and I was able to see POTO on Broadway.

However, nearing the end of my sophomore year, my entire world turned upside down when my parent’s divorced and everything that I knew had changed.

But then, on Saturday, June 6th, 2015, I found my way to FanFiction.net (I had been reading Wicked fanfiction, but I was getting tired of it), and I found my way into the Les Mis category on FFN.net, and I found my way to reading Enjoltaire fanfiction. Granted, I soon learned that most of the fanfiction on there was Enjolras/Éponine, and that wasn’t at all what I wanted.

Now, when I first watched Les Mis way back in June 2013, I didn’t really care for the characters, yet. I watched it for the entertainment reasons. However, once I entered the world of musical theatre, and I watched Les Mis again (this time it was the 25th anniversary concert), my eye caught on to the dynamic that Enjolras and Grantaire had and what Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo did with said dynamic in the 25th anniversary. That was when I started shipping it, and it became my Les Mis OTP.

After making my way through the Enjoltaire category on FFN.net, I made my way over to Ao3, and that was where the rabbit hole began. Every spare moment of my time was spent either reading Enjoltaire fanfiction on Ao3 or in the Enjoltaire tag on Tumblr. If my phone was in my hand and my eyes were to my phone chances it was Enjoltaire fanfiction that I was reading. I went to the lake with my mom’s side of the family at the end of June 2015, and while I did chat with my family, most of the time my phone was in my hand while I continued to read Enjoltaire fanfiction. I had also shown my cousin the 25th, someone who had never seen it, and even she started to low key ship it. Also, at this time, I had watched the movie more times than I could count, and I had also gone down the rabbit hole that is loving Aaron Kyle Tveit. I had learned everything that I could and I had watched everything that I could get my hands on that had him in it. I also discovered that while the dynamic that Hadley and Ramin had in the 25th was nothing compared to what the movie portrayed, or I should say what George Blagden portrayed, in the movie. My Tumblr account was covered in all things Enjoltaire, it was wonderful. My life revolved around Enjoltaire. I started writing and gaining many, many, many ideas for Enjoltaire fanfiction (I have 8 stories on Ao3. One in the process of being published, seven are complete and available for reading). I loved both Enjolras and Grantaire, separately (Enjolras I loved just a little bit more because he was my favorite character, still is and will always be my favorite character of the musical and of all-time, but nevertheless I loved them both) and I loved them as a couple. They were, and still are, my babies and OTP of OTP’s. They are the couple that I have stayed with the longest. When I’ve entered my fandom phases in the past, I usually lasted with the couple that I shipped for about six months. I still loved them after that, but not to the extent of what I had. My love for Enjoltaire has stayed for over four years and is still going strong. These two will probably stay with me forever.

Now, by this point, I still hadn’t seen it live. It had been revived on Broadway in March 2014, with Ramin as Valjean. At this point, the show in London didn’t hold any of my attention because I had had no hope of ever seeing it there. I did my best to keep up to date with it, but I failed miserably at that. Most of what I knew about the London production came from Tumblr or Google. I did follow the London actors and the Les Mis London account on Twitter. I was also aware that it was the original production in London, but like I said, I had no hope whatsoever that I would be able to see it there. I would have loved to see it, but living in the U.S., I doubted that I would ever see it. The only version that I wanted to see and could afford to see at the time was the one on Broadway, and I wanted to see that version BECAUSE of the fact that Ramin was Valjean, and I had already loved and adored him because of POTO and the 25th anniversary. I followed this production as much as I could. I was rooting for it during the 2014 Tony Awards and was absolutely pissed when it didn’t win. I had had the opportunity to see Ramin as Valjean at the same time that I saw POTO in May 2015, but instead, I decided that the other show that we would see during that NYC trip would be Wicked because Matt Shingledecker (the Fiyero (who is my favorite Fiyero) at the time was someone that had caught my attention through Kara Lindsay’s Broadway.com Wicked vlog, “Think Pink”) and I just wanted and was desperate to see and meet him, so I chose Wicked, a decision to this day that I still don’t regret. And overall, to me, I didn’t care that it wasn’t the original version, to me it was a story that I loved and adored.

Now, we are getting into the personal part of the story. My junior year of high school, my parent’s divorce had grown to the point where I think the best word to describe it would be bitter. My dad was butting in to my mom’s business, and my mom wanted nothing to do with my dad unless it had to do with me and my two siblings or my two nephews. My dad would drag me into the middle of all of it because I was the only one of my siblings still at home. My parent’s divorce was a mess. Some of my teachers knew about the divorce, but they didn’t know that I felt like I was drowning. I had kept up with my schoolwork and still had good grades, but I didn’t talk about the divorce because I didn’t want to drag people in to something that they had no reason to be part of. I was clearly in pain and I felt so alone, but I was good at hiding it, that no one knew. The one thing that I clutched to, the thing that was my absolute fucking lifeline was Les Mis/Enjoltaire.

Whenever I needed it, Les Mis was the thing that was there for me. To be honest, it felt like it was the only thing that was there for me. The story, the music, and of course, boatloads of Enjoltaire fanfiction. The only thing that got me through the day was repeating the line: “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise”, every minute of every day. If I was having a bad day or cheering up, the only thing that would pull me out of it was either Les Mis or Enjoltaire.

It was because of this that Les Mis became my absolutely favorite musical of all-time because it was the reason that I was still living. The story and music gave me hope and it was because of those two things that I knew that everything was going to be okay.

All while I was feeling like I was drowning, it was announced on December 2nd, 2015, that the Broadway revival was closing (by this time, Ramin bad left the production, Alfie Boe was Valjean, and John-Owen Jones has been announced as the replacement for Alfie once he left and would continue with the production until it closed) on September 4th, 2016. After this was announced, I told my father that he had nine months to take me to see the show, and he did because on May 14, 2016 at the Imperial Theatre, I was witnessing for the first time ever the story and hearing the music that I loved so much live. I was absolutely in awe of what I was seeing. To me, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t the original production, all that mattered was that I was seeing the story and the characters that I loved so much play out 100 feet in front of me. I was sobbing and my breath was taken away. My eyes didn’t leave the stage, once. I loved and adored every moment of it. On the day, the revival closed, I was working, and I was taking my lunch break when they live streamed the curtain call for the final performance on Facebook. I was sobbing as I watched it.

Then, I started my senior year of high school, and unlike my junior year, it was so much better. My junior year was my worst year of high school. Part of what helped me make it through my senior year was that my sister (who hadn’t been talking to my family for over 12 years) came back to the family. I now had someone to talk to about what had happened, and it made me feel so much better.

Now for the last year or so, I knew that my father had been planning to gift me with a trip to anywhere in Europe that I wanted to go for my graduation present. It was originally that I wanted to go to Italy, but then I changed my mind and decided on Paris and London. I chose Paris mostly because it’s one of my favorite cities in the world and it’s the settling of my favorite time period in Les Mis. Then, I chose London because I had always wanted to go there too, plus like Paris and NYC, it’s one of my favorite cities in the world. While we were planning the trip, my dad asked me what shows I wanted to see. The only shows that I knew for sure were Les Mis, POTO, and Wicked. Now, like I said earlier, I knew that Les Mis was the original production, but while that was part of the reason why I wanted to see it. The other reason, the much, much, much bigger reason, was because I knew that I would be once again witnessing the story and characters that I loved so much come alive 100 feet in front of me. And I got those three shows, as well as seven more, on the trip itinerary.

On June 5th, 2017 at the Queen’s Theatre, I was able to witness, my favorite show and characters that meant so much come alive, once again, 100 feet in front of me. While I was amazed with the revolving stage and how the original production was put together, it wasn’t what made the story special for me. Like the Broadway revival and every version of the story that I have listened to/watched, I was sobbing by the end and my breath was taken away. At the end of it, I didn’t care that what I was seeing was the the original production. All that mattered to me was that it just my favorite musical. On the plane ride home from London, I needed to experience it again, that I watched the movie on my iPad through Amazon Prime. Like with Broadway, I had been in a Les Mis slump, that all I wanted was too watch/listen to anything regarding my favorite show.

As the next year went on, I started college and I had to deal with people asking me why such a mainstream musical was my favorite, I didn’t know what to say. They had no business in knowing why it meant so much to me. Before I started college, the announcement of the U.S. tour cast was announced, and while I had already been hoping to see it if it came anywhere near me, once I discovered that Matt Shingledecker would be playing Enjolras, I was more determined than ever to see the tour.

When it was announced that the tour would be coming at the Orpheum Theatre in December 2018 in Minnesota which was the closest that it’s come to me, it took quite a lot of convincing from me for my father to get me tickets to see it for my birthday in December. He was reluctant because I had already seen it twice already, but all I needed to say was that it was my favorite musical and he got me the tickets.

And on December 29th, 2018, I saw my favorite musical for the third time, and once again, not caring what production it was, I was seeing my favorite characters and story come alive in front of me. I was sobbing and breath was taken away. After the curtain call and the lights came up, I cried for like another five minutes. And once again was in a Les Mis slump for days afterward.

Now, not to bring up a bad subject, but with the change that is occurring in London, while I am heartbroken over it, I also don’t really care. The staging of the show doesn’t hold any sentimental value for me, not like I know it does for some people. What part of Les Mis that holds the sentimental value for me is the story, the characters, the music, and of course, Enjoltaire. Without the story, without Enjoltaire, I wouldn’t be on this Earth anymore. This story had already meant so much to me that when I saw it live, it was just the cherry on top of a beautiful, wonderful, delicious ice cream sundae. I have/will watch/listen to the musical no matter what staging it’s given, or even lack of.

Now, while I am slowly, like snail’s pace slow, making my way through the book. I am determined to finish it one day. All of my knowledge that I know from the book is from the people that I follow on Tumblr, who have read it. While I’m slowly making my way through the book, I have read other passages in it, and from just those I know that I will love the book, and it will give me even more reason to love it more than I already do.

This musical has meant to so much to me that when I finally get the money for my first tattoo, it will be “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise” on my upper arm between my shoulder and elbow, written in the logo’s font. That quote is my favorite in the musical and it’s the quote that has meant the most to me. It was my mantra my junior year. And after that tattoo, I want to get another Les Mis related one, but I want that one centered on Enjoltaire, but I’m not sure. Either way, I know that I will get the first one for sure.

And I think that pretty much covers why this musical means so much to me. And this story is obviously incredibly personal, just like I’m sure everyone else’s story regarding this musical is. But this one is unique to me because it’s my story.

[measuringlife]

Measuring Me: An Ode to My Love of Music

This Bob Marley quote has always resonated with me: “One good thing about music. When it hits you, you feel no pain.”

I must confess I am not musical. I can’t carry a tune, play an instrument, or read music of any sort. I think because I am not personally musical, I deeply appreciate music. I feel music with every fiber of my being. Music is my drug of choice.

It calms me down.

It picks me up.

It comforts me.

It’s something I can lose myself in.

I really started my love affair with music during my tween years, but those were all the years of the end of my parent’s marriage and my Dad moving out. Music was a good escape. I then turned to music to help ease the heartbreak of unrequited love in college. Music to help calm the stress of grad school. Music is where I turned for comfort after my Dad died. Music kept me going when I first running and continued to motivate me through thousands of miles over the years. Music helps me focus on work in the office or make a tedious task more enjoyable. Music drives the choreography of BODYPUMP and other Les Mills workouts.

I both hate and love how accessible music is in this day and age. I’m actually listening to the best of Broadway from Amazon Music as I type this thanks to yelling for Alexa to play “showtunes” for me. I remember creating my Pandora account in August 2005 and thinking WOW! Actually at one point in my life just after grad school circa 2008 the most expensive thing I owned (aside from my car) was my iTunes library. I would argue in my early high school years the most expensive thing I owned was my cd collection. For the record I still have all my CDs - I’ve just removed almost all the jewel cases and keep them in books or on a spindle. I also have ALL my early iTunes music saved to 2 different iPods.

Thinking back I remember certain songs from my childhood like “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys or “I would do anything for love” by Meatloaf or “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen or various broadway showtunes ranging from Jesus Christ Superstar to Phantom on the Opera to Grease and Rocky Horror. My Dad and my Aunt who were my stronger early musical influences had a penchant for Andrew Loyd Webber and campy shows! I also remember one of the first CDs our family purchased as a “hits of the 50s-60s” two-disc collection - it has a sad song I loved called “Tell Laura I love her” by Ray Peterson that I particularly loved. Spoiler alert the more heartbreaking the song the more I tend to like it.

CDs gained widespread popularity when I was in junior high school which was perfect for an angsty teen. Some early teen year CDs of the late 90s I loved were Eve6, Bush, Hootie and the Blowfish, Limp Bizkit, Third Eye Blind, and Matchbox 20. I really REALLY loved “Outside” by Staind and Fred Durst, I remember listening to that track from the 1999 Family Values Tour CD on REPEAT. However I also was a total teeny bopper with an eternal flame for Hanson, but also loved all things boys bands like Nsync, BSB, 98 degrees, 5ive, O-Town, and the “fake” boy band 2gether.

I went to my first concert in 2nd grade to see teen pop sensation Debbie Gibson! I didn’t go to another concert until 9th grade when I saw Backstreet Boys. From there I went to concerts as much as my mom would let me. Once I got my license my concert going really picked up. Jones Beach Outdoor Amphitheater was THE venue as a teenager, so many amazing summer concert memories there.

My love of music took another turn in college. Right away I joined the college radio station and all of a sudden had access to all these new artists on the rise. I remember my first semester of college in Fall 2001 getting a cd and small-time merch from this up and coming singer-songwriter who had Connecticut roots. You may have heard of him, his name is John Mayer. I honestly have COUNTLESS bands that I discovered through my college radio days (shout out WQAQ - the soundtrack of Quinnipiac). There is so much music I associate with college that it’s hard to recall when I was first introduced to them - like Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World, Something Corporate, Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard, Jack Johnson, and Ben Harper to name a few. I also recall listening to quite a bit of “screamo” back then like The Used and Hawthorne Heights. The band I will forever associate with QAQ is the Spill Canvas and they are still of my favorite bands. In fact, I’m seeing them in concert later this month!

I also went to a ton of concerts in college, one band I haven’t mentioned is Incubus. They are also one of my all-time favorites. I saw Incubus a number of times in college, most memorable were two tour stops in 2002. One at the Garden in NYC and one at the Hartford Civic Center. They started the shows playing full blast electric then they changed the vibe of the stage and did a couple of acoustic songs before switching back to full electric. The crazy thing is that so many of their songs work just all acoustic as they do full blast.

Going to concerts was also a great way to discover music through opening acts. I’ve always been a person to get to a show to see the opening act. The all-time best chain of introduction to music was when I went to my first John Mayer show in November 2002. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and we all arrived back to college that afternoon with the concert that night. The drive up we listened to John Mayer the whole ride. The venue, the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford CT was small (I just looked it up the capacity was 4,800) and so intimate. Everyone there were passionate John Mayer fans, the opening act had their work cut out for them. Enter: Maroon 5 as the opening act. They melted my face off. They had the most unbelievable energy and hot damn could they shred on guitar. John Mayer even came out before his set to shred with them on one song. My best memory of that set was when Adam Levine covered Nine In Nails “Closer.” Holy hell, still one of the best performances I’ve seen. Ever. Just to be clear the John Mayer show was also amazing, the best one of his I’ve ever gone too because of how small it was I think. However, I walk away from a stellar John Mayer show still buzzing from Maroon 5. I could write a whole blog post of my Maroon 5 fandom in their early days (like how I was part of their “street team” and was invited by their management to go to their first Total Request Live performance because they wanted fans who could sing along to every word in the audience). Anyway back to the chain of amazing artist introduction. October 2003 I was going to NYC for the night to see Maroon 5 and low and behold their opening act was a newcomer named Gavin DeGraw who stole the show, his cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get in On” is yet another top concert memory. I should also note 30 Seconds to Mars opened for Incubus when I saw them in Hartford in 2002. 

Another note from the early 2000s history books, during my college years Kazaa and Limewire were at their height. Plus being on a college ethernet that was not yet “wireless” we were able to log into a campus-wide music portal some smart computer programming major kid set up where you essentially made you music public for others to copy and you were able to search and copy other people’s music. SO MUCH MUSIC. I was particularly obsessed with ripped live versions of songs.

Looking back at the top 10 performances/shows I’ve seen - not including festivals - because that could be its own category. If there is a particularly noteworthy song I’ll note it.

Incubus - 11am acoustic (2002 - Hartford Civic Center)

John Mayer (2002 - Oakdale Theatre)

Maroon 5 - Closer (2002 - Oakdale Theatre)

Third Eye Blind - (2003 - SPB Concert at Quinnipiac - Josh Kelley opened and was awesome)

Gavin DeGraw - Let’s Get it On (2003/2004 - NYC and Hartford - both were amazing)

Spill Canvas - All Hail The Heartbreaker (2004 - The Attic, Hamden CT)

Maroon 5 (2004/2005 at two tiny Long Island venues)

David Cook - Permanent (Night for Hope 2012 - State Theatre, Falls Church VA)

Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus (2017 - Bristow VA)

Hanson - (2017 - The Fillmore - Silver Spring - also 2018 - Wolf Trap they played Yearbook for the first time ever on tour during their String Theory shows)

Top 10 influential albums by a single artist/band listed chronologically - not including any soundtracks, showtunes, or festival albums which each could be its own categories. You may notice there are some artists where I can’t choose one either due to both being amazing or discovering them around the same time and listening to them digitally in a shuffled mix. 

Hanson - Middle of Nowhere (1997)

Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind (1997 self-titled debut)

Eve 6  - Eve 6 (1998 self-titled debut)

Incubus - Make Yourself (1999)/Morning View (2001)

John Mayer - Room for Squares (2001)/Any Given Thursday (2003)

Dashboard Confessional - The Swiss Army Romance (2000)/The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (2001)

Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (2002)

Gavin DeGraw - Chariot (2003) / Chariot: Stripped (2004)

Spill Canvas - Sunsets and Car Crashes (2004)/One Fell Swoop (2005)

David Cook - Analog Heart (2006)

Honorable mention all of David Cook’s albums from his old band Axium

[yeoldontknow]

Hey! I really enjoy your work and I’ve always wanted to write a story myself but I don’t know where to start! How do you plan out a story and come up with an ide for one?

hi anon

but before i start - please know that outlining, planning, or developing a story is a very subjective and personal experience. my method might not be the one you like, it might not work for you, it might even be confusing or too loose. many people on here like to use the JK rowling method (which you can find on google) but that, in my opinion, makes me feel like i dont give my characters room to breathe or have control of minor plot points.

putting the rest under a cut because it can get lengthy ~~

heres how the process goes for me:

COMING UP WITH AN IDEAtruly, and i mean this with so much emphasis i cannot stress it enough, my ideas for stories come from literally everywhere. im inspired by books, shows, music - mostly music. i find engaging with creative media inspires my overactive imagination and makes me start building worlds. here are some examples of where my story ideas came from:

HERO - down in china town in NYC, theres this complex of abandoned buildings that have antiques scattered around the front. no one touches them, and the entry to the buildings is gated off. between the two buildings is a courtyard that looks like a seating area. when i walked by it last year, there were empty crates, food wrappers, wetness that looked a bit like blood (might not have been, but in NYC mystery liquid could be anything). i walked by and immediately started imagining gang activity (specifically the triad), horror, etc. the setting came first, then came the plot.

AS STILL AS SOUND - i was listening to music on my computer while writing hero and there was a brief moment of fuzz or static that sounded like breathing. i was reminded of land line phones that had cords when i was a kid, and every now and then there would be transistor interference and youd hear other people talking. this happened a lot with dial up too. i had a brief moment of, what if this was someone listening to the same song as me?

IT WAS THE NIGHT - its based on phantom of the opera, which is a book from the 1800s and later adapted into a musical, but its my spin on the story without Stockholm Syndrome and facial burns. 

PLANNING A STORYfor me, developing a story goes two ways. its based on the following:

- is it a one shot- is it a mini/series

if its a one shot, planning tends to be pretty brief. depending on what inspires me first, i dont actually make a google doc for the plot. i make a sticky note on my computer where i bullet point the major things i want to happen from start to finish. i stick that as the top floating window and i write everything out in google docs. even long one shots like currents (16K words) or my smut pieces (troque = 9K; body through time = 10K) are plotted this way - just using bullet points. this isnt to say one shots dont have depth or action - a lot of them do. its just that the action in the one shot isnt being carried forward far enough that id need to outline it deeply. also, doing it with bullet points means my dialogue is open to shift and change small things as needed without interfering with major events.

if its a series, thats a whole other ball game. i dont even know how to explain my outlining method. usually, i start with characters and their descriptions, facts about them i want to move forward in various chapters or bring up through dialogue. the character outlines for wyrm tamer are a good example:

once i have characters, i will usually draft some of the first inspirational things i want to include in the story. going back above to ‘where do you get ideas,’ sometimes im inspired by sentences that emerge in my head. ill write those down, and then ill get quotes from other sources that inspire me. in hero, that meant bible verses.

as you can see in the above, i plot out sentences at random. theyre disjointed and i dont know when or if ill use them, but if i do i highlight them in green so i know not to repeat them. you can see, with a small spoiler, i havent used the black line yet. when or if i do, it will be highlighted.

once i have those things, i plot out major events i want happening in the chapters in bullet points. almost exactly how i do the one shot plotting, except more in depth. i break out every chapter, fill in characters, create minor plots and develop the action that way - but in a very drafty style. this is because for a series, i take giving my characters room to breathe seriously. a good example of change is hero. hero OC says A LOT of shit i never planned on her saying, which changes the directions of many chapters and makes me move stuff around. the major events never change. i wont let them, but how we get there has to be up to the characters. 

as you can see in the above, the whole length of this draft was meant to be in chapter 11 a or b. both a and b became wayyyy too long to include them, and by the end, the conversation didnt fit. so i moved it to 12. 

lastly, i go to pinterest or google and i look up pictures that inspire me lmao i put them in the bottom of the doc and look back at them when im tired of being in the world lmao they remind me how great the space is and im inspired again. 

i hope all this helped!

[emilyslifeinlondon]

Monday April 24-Monday May 8

Some highlights over these 2 weeks:

-The Parent Trap House (23 eggerton terrace aka 7 Pembroke Lane) 🏠 -Phantom of the Opera 🎭 -Hackney 5.5K 👟🏅 -Wicked 🌵 -Prime Meridian ⏱ -Arsenal Stadium Tour ⚽️ -Maltby Market round II 🍩🎂

I finally made it to Hyde park and the Kensington Palace area! We saw the palace gardens and walked around the park exploring South Kensington a bit. After, Brooke, Delaney, and I made our way to The Parent Trap House! This was something on the London to do list, since I love the movie and the house was just in London! After we spotted 23 Eggerton Terrace, I exclaimed how happy I was that the gate was open. There was a man in a black suit standing nearby outside a car and I assumed that he might be a driver since this area was extremely wealthy. He chuckled with a friendly smile and said to take as many pictures as I wanted. I was going on and on about how much I knew about the house (I had stumbled upon an article when looking up the address) until Delaney or Brooke asked if he lived there; and of course, he smiled and said yes. I literally died laughing/out of embarrassment. The man was extremely friendly and I’m so glad I finally got to see the house!

We (Brooke, Amanda, Christine, Sitong, and I) booked tickets to see Phantom of the Opera on Tuesday the 25th and went to an Italian place for dinner. Instead of getting pizza, I chicken and potato fish with a mushroom sauce. It was fantastic!!! We had to rush through dinner in order to get to the theatre in time, but we made it. I had known the basic storyline of Phantom, but didn’t know any of the music and had heard it was beautiful. I was blown away by the whole experience. The set was amazing and the actors were incredible! I listened to the album on repeat for the next two days. It was nice to see a play that I hadn’t already seen/known since I had no expectations.

Becca came to visit that Friday since she had to leave the Schengen zone in order to not go over her number of days. We got to catch up over Pizza Union, of course. 😊 That night we went to Koko, a club in London that used to be a theatre. We danced the night away until 4 am when the club closed. The following afternoon, we got brunch and then explored more of Shoreditch. That night I went to bed semi-early (by midnight) since I had a 5.5K in the early afternoon. Christine and I took a train to Hackney (we were running the Hackney 5.5K) which took forever to walk to. The village was about a mile from the train station, and none of the staff seemed to know about the 5.5K since there had just been a half marathon that morning. After finally making it to the village, we checked in and stretched before our 3.4 mile run. I was excited since I had never run any type of marathon. We decided to start behind the jog line and soon enough, the run had started! I started to feel tired about a mile in, but the other runners kept me motivated. It was cool experiencing a race from the other side; I had some water about 1/3 through and was sigh every time I saw an incline coming. Before I knew it, I saw the .10 mile sign. I was so excited that I picked up my pace and ran as fast as I could until I crossed the finish line. Christine and I crossed at the same time and finished in 31:51. We ended up 214/215 out of 503 for women. We got our medals and a whole bunch of “free” snacks and drinks! The weather was perfect (cloudy with lots of wind) and I’m so glad that I challenged myself to sign up. I had a great time and hope to run a 10K within the next year.

Although my legs and feet were exhausted and in pain, we went out anyway. We only had one weekend left so why not?! Back to Koko it was. We had a lot of fun and were quite annoyed when the club closed at 3 am instead of 4 am the previous Friday.

Becca and I bought tickets on Monday morning to see Wicked. We got £125 tickets for £54! Like Phantom, I had never seen Wicked. I only knew a few of the songs, which included Dancing Through Life, Popular, and Defying Gravity. Before the play, a bunch of us went to Dishoom (a popular Indian restaurant that you have to book weeks in advance) and shared a bunch of small dishes. I know I say this about a lot of food, but it was really good! I’d only had Indian food twice before and it wasn’t my favorite. I was pleasantly surprised and as always, we were running late to the show. We made it (after making Becca run from the tube station) and were sweating profusely as the show started. We were halfway to our seats when the lights dimmed and Becca legit threw herself into her seat (I was trying not to laugh). I was a bit scatterbrained for the first few minutes of the show, but relaxed after I cooled down. I had not seen one bad play in London and I loved Wicked as well! The actress who played Elphaba was fantastic! I was blown away by Defying Gravity and enjoyed the storyline of the play as well. Next time I watch The Wizard of Oz, I’ll have some sympathy for the Witch of the West. Becca left very early the next morning, so we said our goodbyes and I passed out in bed I was so tired.

In my British Industrial Revolution class we went to some astronomy site and some garden (that ended up being closed, lol) and got to stand on the Prime Meridian. I was quite excited since I had learned about Greenwich and how to use the Prime Meridian in calculations in my Oceanography course. We took some class photos and a few of us got brunch on the way back. I opted for oatmeal with bananas which is probably the most healthy brunch I had gotten during the whole trip! Go me!

On Saturday, Christine and I had signed up for the CIEE Arsenal Stadium Tour but it turns out it had been cancelled since no one besides us had signed up. We decided to go anyway (and got a refund from the program) and I had a blast! It was cool seeing such a famous stadium where a premier league football team plays right in the heart of London. We got to see the directors box, locker rooms, press conference rooms, and field. We learned a lot about the history of the stadium as well as the fact that the Arsenal tube stop is the only stop named after a team. We definitely felt like Arsenal fans that day.

The following day Christine, Amanda, and I headed to Maltby market. I was the only one who had been before and it was by far my favorite. I had fish and chips (again) and Dhan Eggs (again as well- I really need to try new things) for dessert which were delicious! We stayed for a bit and then I went back to Chapter in order to work on my 2 final papers so that I wouldn’t have any work when Mary came!

The next blog post will be filled with all the sites/activities from Mary’s 5 day visit!

[cordure]

6. A song that reminds you of a place you've been Heaven - Los Lonely Boys reminds me of the Grand Canyon.

7. A song from a genre you don't usually listen to Either Heathens by 21 pilots, or Suicidal Thoughts by The Notorious BIG

12. A song that reminds you of someone you hate Razzle Dazzle from Chicago was Trump’s entire campaign platform.

13. A song that reminds you of your current partner/crush Well. Hm. Is it rude to say I Love Me by Meghan Trainor (and LunchMoney Lewis)

14. A song that reminds you of an ex Oh my god Ra Ra Rasputin - Boney M  reminds me of @poirsuteni, whom I love still, but no longer date.

17. A song that makes you want to slay your enemies Scumbag - Bro Safari (Party Favor remix)

18. A song that you work out to I don’t work out... Uh. If I did it might be TRNDSTTR  (Lucian remix) - Black Coast or 

19. A song that you've seen performed live Lubbock or Leave it - Dixie Chicks

20. A song that you've listened to on repeat recently Love Love Love - Of Monsters and Men

21. Your top most played song on iTunes My mom loves this song too, and we share an iTunes account... I’ll Fly Away - Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch

22. A song that motivates you to work/helps you focus

23. A song from the soundtrack of your favorite video game/movie/TV show Oh, shit. I can’t decide if I should go with Benny Benassi - Cinema from FaceOff, or Bioshock OST - Main Title - Going Up/Going Down - Beyond the Sea. (The whole thing, mind you. Not just Beyond the Sea.) and from my favorite movie, Mr. Moustafa - Alexandre Desplat, Grand Budapest Hotel OST

24. A song that you think is really overplayed I don’t really listen to the radio. I mean, I don’t avoid listening to the radio! Again, I’m not trying to be elitist or anything, I just only really listen for very brief periods of time, in other people’s cars, so I don’t really listen often enough to find any songs annoyingly overplayed?

25. A song that you listened to ironically, but now you genuinely love I mean, less ‘ironically’ and more ‘as a school assignment’ but the point still stands? From The New World - Antonín Dvořák   (This recording isn’t the best version I’ve ever heard, but they don’t have a recording of Dave Robertson conducting it anywhere that I can find.)

30. A song from a band that you've grown up loving Here There and Everywhere - The Beatles. 

31. A song that you want to cover (regardless of how much talent you have) The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd, piano and/or vocals. 32. A song that you think has an important message Pretty Hurts - Beyonce. 

33. A song whose message you don't like Blurred Lines. 

34. Your favorite song that's a cover of another song The X Files Theme - Piano Cover. Most of my other favourite ‘covers’ are remixes.

38. A song that you think is underrated s'Rothe Zäuerli - Öse Schuppel

39. Your favorite instrumental (no lyrics/singing) song Oh my sweet summer child. Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin.

42. Your favorite "old" song (pre-90s) Dear lord. I was a music major. Still Rhapsody in Blue. BUT! for the sake of variety, I could also cite American in Paris by the same, or Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland. (Appalachian Spring is better than American in Paris.)

43. A song that makes you laugh

44. A song from your favorite musical Oh dear. I’m... kind-of embarrassed to like this so much, but probably The Phantom of the Opera by ALW

45. Your favorite Disney song Uh. I’m totally going to cheat and say all of Tchaikovsky’s dances from his Nutcracker Suite, from Disney’s Fantasia. Also, Waltz of the Flowers, also from Disney’s Fantasia, also by Tchaikovsky. 

46. A song that you wish more people knew about There’s a list. I’m probably going to stick with anything by Aaron Copland, though. He’s just. Pretty great. And I’m not trying to be elitist, like “boo hoo woe is me, up here alone with my precious post-romantic composers” -sneers at all the plebs- I just honestly wish this stuff was played on the radio. 

47. A song that you love to dance to I Got No Time - FNAF 4 (Living Tombstone Remix)

48. A song that you can't help but sing along Oh honey. I sing along even if I hate the song.

49. A song whose lyrics you have memorized Oh, goodness, I memorize all song lyrics.

50. Free slot! Any song you want to share! Resistansen - Kaizer’s Orchestra