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canarymemories · 9 months ago

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hi finally compiling the thread i made the other day on twt abt the first chapter of recital so. welcome to me having far too much to say about my big bang fic skgh

chapter titling is similar to symphony (leo day fic) but instead of music terms, it's ballet terms. i'm nowhere near as used to ballet terms as i am w music terms so they won't have a deeper meaning (at least not on purpose lmao) like some of the symphony chapter titles do, but that's part of why there's nine chapters

a small aside: there is a specific structure i have in mind for the fic. there will be three arcs (if u want to call them that), the first three chapters is the first arc and then there will be an intermission chapter (up to this point is as far as i've confidently planned out so past this point, i can't guarantee anything but. nine chapters is the goal adkgsh). so then chapter 4 and 5 are arc two followed up by another intermission, then the final arc will be chapters 8 and 9. the plan is to stay mostly canon compliant until i don't agree w akira (or kinosei aslkhg), so i'll pretty much be sticking to the canon timeline

please listen to the playlist akdhg most of the songs do correspond to specific things/chapters so it's tied to the story itself plus i've listened to it too many times so. please tell me i'm so right about it 😔 the song i used in the summary of the first chapter is more of a chapter 2 song but i felt like it fit for the first chapter so adkgh (i have. So Many songs for checkmate so. can't wait for that one lmao) (chapter 1 songs are the first four in the playlist, the 5th one could go either way between ch 1 and 2) once more is posted, then i might actually sit here and go on abt why each of these songs is specifically here

writing choices 🎉 the one i want to talk about so so so so bad is the using nicknames in the narration bc if you've read literally anything else i've posted, you'd see that i don't do that, but bc recital is so close to izumi as the narrator, and this chapter is focused on his childhood, i thought it was fitting. there are a few instances of this changing throughout the chapter, such as makoto going from yuukun to makoto in the one flashback section and then staying as makoto when izumi is older, naru eventually changes to arashi.

and the one i really want to bring up,,, izumi's parents are always referred to as mama and papa but there is one singular instance where that's changed and that's during the argument at the end of the chapter.

and then she's referred to as mama again a few paragraphs later and this just goes into the point that i think izumi has a very complicated relationship with his parents. on one hand, they don't support him as an idol and have quite literally told him to his face that he's not successful enough to make it on his own as a model (next door), have treated him more like a doll than their child and they couldn't be bothered to actually ask him what he was interested in, but he still cares about them. he gets offended on their behalf more than once (in ! era at least), but it's just,, complicated. i feel like i can't really properly explain my thoughts here but i have Thoughts. but this is where the vaguely toxic parenting warning comes in from this chapter because the thing is, i don't think his parents were planning for him to feel the way he does about their parenting, they do love him and they do want to have him succeed just. maybe not for the right reasons, yk? ofc that doesn't justify their treatment of him or anything like that, there's just more to it than outright toxic parenting hence why it's subtle here.

what's a little less subtle is izumi's mom living vicariously through him, it's a bit more obvious with the modeling bit than the dance classes but idk it makes sense to me for her to have done them as a child too

baby modelgumi,,, they get their own point here bc i think those might've been my favorite bits to write and genuinely, the baby arashi bit is my favorite part of the whole chapter. they're just so alsdkgh oeugh cute i want to squeeze them in my hands 🥺🥺🥺. my note for this on my list of things to talk about is literally "baby modelgumi :pleading:" they hold a special place in my head and i hope in urs too

i was going to list stories reference but i might wait until i have more done and posted for that (plus i can't remember what story it is that arashi mentions izumi pushed her mouth into a smile as kids) but. portrait and canary hall mentions 🎉🎉

the argument. it's implied a few times in ! that izumi's parents don't really agree with him being an idol (leo says izumi was having isses at home around checkmate/war era). given that they put so much time and effort into having izumi model, i suppose that wouldn't be too surprising, but i think it's important to have some kind of breaking point like the argument scene bc in next door, izumi talks about how his parents treated him growing up and that just makes me think that he probably didn't have much say in his own life and there's just something about being an idol being his first big decision that idk hits a little different and there is more to an extent on this concept in the next chapter in comparing himself to leo and just kind of being like ,, huh...

last thing, so aside from the ending of the beginning section of the chapter, i feel so smart about the ending line of this chapter bc mama's pancakes come up in portrait and there's even a baby izumi homescreen line about it and it's meant to serve as an apology rather than her actually apologizing but i feel like u could take it a few ways but akhg felt so smart when i came up w the ending of the chapter. and i felt the same way when i thought of the first chapter ending and u guys will not like me for that one btu aksdgh <33

baby's first friendship next time 🎉🎉🎉🎉

#recitcal rambling #i have. a little too much to say about this thing i fear #it's a little scary seeing it written out like this rather than a twt thread where things are more spaced out like aklsdhg #this is actually a slightly condensed version from what i posted there 😔#anyway. see u all again when the next recital chapter drops

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dippydippycritiques · 2 months ago

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In Defense of The Film "Mama Mia!" Nostalgia Critic's Worst Review of All Time.

Remember when Doug reviewed Atlantis: The Lost Empire a while back and for his closing argument he said "Fuck you, I like it."

That statement applies to me when it comes to my feelings involving the 2008 film, Mama Mia! Not because the film is flawless, because it's not, but because Rob Walker on many occasions has said that Mama Mia is (and I believe still is) his second least favorite film of all time. That's..ridiculous and just plain absurd after all the films he and his brother reviewed in the past fifteen-ish years.

You're telling me that Mamma Mia is worse than many of the live action remakes? Worse than The Nutcracker that had offensive, WWII themes? Worse than Freddie Got Fingered? Worse than Bio-Dome? Worst than Battle Field Earth? WORSE THAN THE LAST AIR BENDER??? A LITERAL 1/10 FILM THAT GETS NOTHING RIGHT???

So yeah, out of all the films NC has ever reviewed, this film specifically triggers me the most because it is very clear to me that Doug and Rob did not grow up with the music. If they had, they would see the connection the songs have to the plot of the film along with the other many great things about it.

Ok, so here's my argument when it comes to Dougs criticisms of this film. I'll start with the connection of the songs and how they correspond to the films plot. I have been listening to ABBA for all my life (over twenty-ish years), so if there is an ABBA expert that can connect the dots, it's me.

"I Have A Dream" (The Opening song) - Sophie describes her dream to have her father at her wedding to feel like her life is complete. Hence the "I have a dream" song connecting with her desire to have the perfect family, even if she fails. "If you see the wonder, of a fairy tail," (Her wedding), "we can take the future, even if we fail," (the risk she's taking to find her father.)

2. "Honey Honey" (Track 2) - Has Sophie singing (and switching between) her desire to know who her father is and how Donna, Sophie's mother, felt about each of the men she dated at the time. The song "Honey Honey," as someone who has listened to all of ABBA's music is one of their most basic and, admittedly, most forgetful songs during the time the band was still active, but in this context of the film, it works. This song is written in a particular way to describe the persons desire and longing for excitement through someone important to them. This is one of the more controversial song choices in the film due to it's obscurity, but again, it still fits the the theme of the scene despite how unpopular the track is.

Ok, since I have made two, long analyzes of the opening two songs, I am going to start skipping around and talk about the tracks I feel Doug has the most shit towards when they did overall have meaning to the plot. I'm hoping that, after these first two entries, you'll just take my word for it because I can, in theory, write how every song fit the themes of the film, but I not's gonna do that cause, you know, I unfortunately can't be here all day.

3. "Mama Mia" - Donna sings about how she was cheated by the three men who showed up randomly one day and has not seen in years. The "Mama Mia, here I go again" line is suppose to represent Donna reliving her past and how it not only thrills her, but also makes her remember how sad she was when she "learned they were through," like the song suggests.

4. "Super Trooper" - A song that describes how "beams are going to find me, but I won't feel blue, like I always do, cause somewhere in the crowd there's you." Donna's song is suppose to represent the relationship she has with her daughter and how she will always be there for her and will be subconsciously looking for her daughter through the "beams" (Donna being on a stage singing also ties into this nicely.) even when she is not there anymore. If your a mother who had their daughter move out for the first time, but you feel like she is somehow still there, this can definitely be relatable to you.

5. "Does Your Mother Know" - Tanya has a conversation with this kid (an adult who is a kid to her) who might or might not have had a one night stand with Tanya the previous night. Tanya sings and asks if "his mother knows that she's out." Implying that his mother would be extremely upset by his endeavors to seduce a woman who is much older than him...Doug, this is basic shit man, come on.

Last one. Again, another easy one to decipher if you grew up with the songs.

6. "Take A Chance On Me" - Two writers, Rosie and Bill who are written to be lone wolves "take a chance" on each other and fall in love. Done, easy.

These are just six examples as to how all of the songs from ABBA fit into the film. Again, it is very clear to me that Doug does not understand the songs or what they mean in context. I don't remember if he ever said he listened to the band at all during his life...but to me it felt like he hadn't. If he did, I felt like he would have connected to the songs more. I say this because when my mom and I went to go see this film in theaters three times when it came out. The whole audience (for me anyway) was laughing their asses off because of the jokes that correlated with the songs. Dancing Queen is one such example.

Anyways, one of my biggest complaints about Dougs review of Mama Mia is that he never really complements anything that I felt is really good about the film. There are many actors and actresses in Mama Mia that can sing extremely well. Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranki, Julie Walters...and you know what, I'm just gonna say it. I think Meryl Streep can sing well too! The song "The Winner Takes It All" was the song Doug though Streep was really reaching to get right and did not work at all.

Something about that feels hypocritical to me, only because I have seen Doug sing and, well, let's just say it's one thing to critique someone for their singing when a reviewer has no experience or training and can only tell if a song is bad through reference (aka, listening to other songs though many forms of media), and yet. For Doug to suggest that Streep struggled during the song when, oh, I don't know, I felt that Doug's singing in the review of "The Wall" and "Les Miserables" were not even close to what Streep could pull off just makes him look bad to me. She probably trained with singing coaches despite her setbacks. Doug, more than likely, did not have that training or talent to perform in a movie/tv setting, let alone a review, and that's why this comes off as hypocritical to me. When Doug can perform the song "The Winner Takes It All" perfectly just like ABBA did, then we'll talk.

To make matters worse. One of the things I loved about this movie was the style and cinematography. It is, to me anyway, a very pretty movie to look at with really beautiful shots and scenery and Doug, as far as I could recall, rarely brought that up and was very much heavily focusing on how poorly the songs connected to the story when that very much was a none issue.

One of the other things I thought was really great about the film was the chemistry the characters had with each other. Especially the relationship between Sophie, Donna, and the three male leads (Sam, Bill and Harry.) When the jokes hit, they hit really well, and I know comedy is subjective. I totally get that, but because everyone on the set felt like they worked so well off of each other, it made the movie more entertaining overall, which I felt is important to this argument.

There are other things I could pick apart with Dougs review, but these are the main issues. The only things I do agree with during his critique on the film were the actors, mostly the male ones, who clearly couldn't sing well but were forced to in the end. Honestly, I just thought that made the movie funnier! I wondered for a time if Pierce Brosnan's bad singing was intentional along with Stellan Skarsgar. But honestly? I don't think Dominic Cooper and Colin Firth get enough credit for their singing capabilities. Even though their not trying to hold long notes and perform ballads like the females actresses are, I still felt like their songs were really well done.

And I will also agree with Doug that the cheap tricks (like the green screen) and the pacing, specifically with how quickly the film jumps from song to song can ruin the tone sometimes...and yeah. The ending is pretty bad too, that I can't deny either, though I thought the comedic timing was still spot on.

So yeah, that's my argument defending the film Mama Mia. I don't know if Rob's views on the film has changed eight years later...but if it hasn't I just...I don't know what to say. They reviewed hundreds of films and many musicals (Disney!) that are clearly worse than this one and it just...happens to be Rob's second least favorite film of all time? I just can't under any circumstances believe that when I know both Rob and Doug have seen worse.

Anyways that's it.

I will now add Dougs Mama Mia! review to his other list of film reviews I categorize under "Fuck you, I like it." This list includes Bridge To Terribithia, Halloweentown 1 and 2, Zatheria, Jumanji, and Disney's Secretariat. A film Doug has neglected to review for DisneyCember for many years and, during a live stream recently, said the movie was only "ok." Dude, did we even watch the same film? I don't even want Doug to review it now if he only "heard" it was ok when it is his job to review all of the Disney films, especially the ones that are live action originals which he did many years ago, and continues to forget about Secretariat.

However, I can't say anything good about Mama Mia Here We Go Again! That movie is complete dog shit and to this day, I can't understand why audiences and critics thought the second movie was better. Please enlighten me if you have thoughts...but it didn't need to exist. There was no reason for it too when the Broadway musical is still active. If Hairspray or Les Miserables got a sequel to their films. I guarantee you fans of these musicals would lose there shit, and not in a good way I think...

#nostalgia critic #nostalgia critic mama mia #mama mia #mama mia musical #abba #film review #musicals #movie review #movie critique #doug walker #rob walker #channel awesome #2008 mama mia

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wanderer-on-the-steppe · 1 year ago

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Songs about the Khmelnytsky uprising, part 4: Ой Морозе, Морозенку

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Insufficient language skills have been starting to make things difficult for me with these music posts, but it’s high time that I finally post one of the most famous and at the same time mysterious folk songs related to the Khmelnytsky uprising. Unlike some of the others, this one still gets performed a lot, so there are lots of versions on Youtube – both traditional and operatic ones – and I’ve chosen this one by Vasyl Kyrylych (Василь Кирилич) entirely based on its musical beauty. It’s worth mentioning however that the lyrics don’t correspond exactly to one of the most widespread versions and are even missing some stanzas – but that's the case for many of them, and the story itself is essentially the same.

What makes the song so mysterious – or, to say it more bluntly: confusing ;) – is that its plot and its hero don’t seem to fit together. Because the hero, Станіслав Мрозовицький / Stanisław Mrozowicki, called Морозенко, is supposed to have fought on Khmelnytsky’s side in the uprising and have died in the battle at Zbarazh (Збараж) in 1649 – but the song, at least the way it is sung today, states that he was killed by Tatars, and his corpse placed on the famous kurgan of Savur-Mohyla (Савур-могила), which is… a very long way from Zbarazh.

So the question is: Who is this really about? The Cossack who died at Zbarazh, but then the identity of his enemies (and so the place of his death) got changed later on? Or someone else who really got killed by Tatars at Savur-Mohyla but, maybe because of a similar name or some other coincidence, was confused with the Morozenko from the Khmelnytsky uprising? A mixture of both, because the fates of two people got merged together in one song to form one half-fictional character, representative of many Cossack heroes from the past?

The frustrating thing is: I don’t know. And it’s extra frustrating because I do know where the answer can probably be found, but, because of aforementioned bad language skills, I’m unable to properly make use of that source. There’s a whole series of videos by Pavlo Nechitailo (Павло Нечитайло) and Taras Kompanichenko (Тарас Компаніченко) dedicated to songs from Khmelnytsky’s time, and one of the videos is specifically about the history of this particular song – and I… don’t understand more than some widely scattered words here and there.

But even if I don’t understand it myself, I can still post it for those who can and might be interested. Just as a warning: what I did learn from it (because it’s in the video description) is that today, the song is only a lament, but in the past, it was much more detailed as far as the horrible death of the hero is concerned. So… I suppose whoever is interested in the Khmelnytsky uprising and/or has made it to the end of Sienkiewicz’s Trylogia isn’t that easily surprised by gory lyrics, but, as I don’t know how bad it gets, I thought I’d warn for it.

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#songs about the khmelnytsky uprising #станіслав мрозовицький #stanisław mrozowicki #ukrainian music #василь кирилич #vasyl kyrylych #тарас компаніченко #taras kompanichenko #павло нечитайло #pavlo nechitailo #Youtube

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psygull · 7 months ago

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11, 12, and 13 for artist asks !

11. do you listen to anything while drawing?

most of the time, yeah! if it's related to a specific project or character i'll listen to my corresponding playlist if it exists. if i don't have one i have a giant playlist i shuffle lol. sometimes i'll listen to podcasts, but that doesn't happen very often, e.g. my memento piece i did while i was listening to the film reroll podcast episode about it. if i'm feeling REALLY manic i'll put one song on repeat the entire time i'm working. i finished a commission on exclusively hotel california once

12. describe your process while drawing

pretty basic, i think? i'll usually start with a scanned traditional sketch. not many of my pieces have been fully digital recently, which is fun. lately i've been skipping lineart entirely and either cleaning up the sketch or painting over it once i've got some colors down. i've also been enjoying throwing paper textures and noise on at the end

13. talk about a wip you like!

i actually fully inked a drawing recently and i think i've got an interesting direction to do the coloring in. it's a donovan and red thing image #3572129834 but I think it's cool at least

for this artist ask game!

#thank you!#ask game

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randomvarious · 2 years ago

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Today’s mix:

Sessions Twelve (The Magic Sessions) by "Little" Louie Vega, Tony Humphries and Tedd Patterson 2001 House / Garage House / Deep House / Tribal House

A little history before getting into this overlooked double-disc triple mix from 2001 that features sets from three of the greatest DJs that house music has ever had the pleasure of bearing witness to...

The time is February 1986 and the place is, strangely enough, a Marriott in Fort Lauderdale. This is where the first annual electronic music convention of any kind, the Winter Music Conference, is set to take place. It's an event in which dance industry insiders, musicians, and DJs can all rub elbows, plan, and build a future for their music and culture.

And of course, alongside the business of dance music at WMC, are also the parties. And after moving the conference to a much more club-hospitable city in nearby Miami, both the WMC and its corresponding parties flourished.

The most important party for a number of years—until the advent of the Ultra Music Festival—was one that started in 1991 called Magic Sessions. And the three DJs whose mixes feature on this release—Louie Vega of Masters at Work, Tony Humphries, and Tedd Patterson—were all fixtures of that annual event, which became a must-attend affair for DJs, because these guys would load up each of their sets with plenty of tracks that had yet to have actually been broken. The way we've come to define the word 'influencer' over the past decade or so wasn't around in those pre-social media days, but these particular parties played a role in shaping dance music history, because previously unheard bangers that got played in those sets would get their official release afterwards and then manifest themselves into their own underground successes. So, DJs of this caliber were some of dance music's biggest influencers at the time, and one of their domains was this event that took place during the Winter Music Conference every year.

Now, coincidentally, there was a DJ mix series that was put out by gargantuan dance labels Ministry of Sound and Defected from the early 90s to early 2000s called Sessions. And even though the first installment was by Tony Humphries himself, and another one from '95 was by Masters at Work, it doesn't appear that this series had anything to do with the similarly named Magic Sessions party. That is, until 2001, with Sessions Twelve, when the series and the event appear to have converged.

None of these three sets, of course, are live recordings, though; a Magic Sessions night was known to have gone on for seven hours or so and this album packs three short mixes onto two separate discs, with Tony Humphries' portion split between both of them (I actually don't think I've ever seen something like that before??). But what it does seem to offer is some of what a specific Magic Sessions event during the WMC at Miami's Crobar club in March of 2001 might have sounded like, because all three of these DJs played there on that very same night. In fact, here's a *very* 2001 flyer for the exact event!

So, this release, all in all, is sublime. It's lined with a whole grip of contemporaneously spectacular garage house tracks—the New York-derived, largely vocally female-fronted, more rooted in the traditions of gospel, soul, and R&B type of stuff that originated at legendary DJ Larry Levan's Paradise Garage in Manhattan. Each DJ on here supplies their own fill of that garage style, and two of them lace it with other sonically different types of house music too. Louie Vega, who, I think, delivers the best mix of the three on here, starts with some Afro-Latin and Caribbean fare, and Tedd Patterson initiates with a blend of some tribal and deep stuff. Tony Humphries, on the other hand, hews to the garage theme pretty closely, but he also kicks off his set with a piece of just straight-up gospel-house.

And while most of these songs appear to have seen their official light of day by now, there's at least one on here that I don't think ever has, and that's DJ Spen's "Unreleased Mix" of Warren Clarke's "Over You," from Tedd Patterson's mix, which dispenses itself of most of its lead vocals from the great Kathy Brown (who gets her chance to shine on Louie Vega's mix), and replaces them with this highly satisfying, perpetually wandering and whining lead synth instead. Basically, what I'm saying is, if ever there were a reason to listen to this particular release, it's that song. And also, the way Frankie Knuckles unleashes this wobbly synth a couple times on the track that precedes it, "Keep On Movin (Dub)," hits *so* much deeper than any version I've run into on YouTube.

A sampling of what it probably sounded like on the night of March 27, 2001 at Miami Beach's Crobar for the highly anticipated annual Magic Sessions party during the Winter Music Conference, with three of the greatest house DJs to ever do it providing miniature sets chock-full of exquisite garage goodies. Just an excellent and underappreciated early 2000s house music time capsule right here. It doesn't get more ephemeral than this one, folks 😊.

Listen to the full album here: CD1 // CD2

Highlights:

CD1:

"Little" Louie Vega mix:

Gypsy Men - "Babarabitiri (Tee's Inhouse Mix)" Africanism - "Bisou Sauce" Julien Jabre - "Voo Dance" KOT feat. Julie McKnight - "Finally (Little Louie Vega Main Mix)" Urban Magic Presents The Slammin' Boys - "Dreams" Kathy Brown - "Give It Up" James Ingram - "Lean On Me (MAW Mix)" Nathan Haines feat. Verna Francis - "Earth Is the Place (Album Version FK Edit)" Erro - "Don't Change" Tony Humphries mix: Mysterious People - "Fly Away (Jason Jinx Disco Jam)" 4:20 feat. Farid Unique - "Let the Past Rest"

CD2:

Crystal Clear - "Live Your Life" Photek feat. Robert Owens - "Mine to Give (David Morales Happy Mix)" Lisa Millett - "Runaway" The Rooster Presents Funk Deluxe Feat. Mintzy Berry - "Music is Everywhere (Rooster's Bangin' Vox Mix)"

Tedd Patterson mix:

Deep Swing feat. Xavier - "Takin' Me Higher (Bini & Martini Mix)" Frankie Knuckles feat. Nikki - "Keep On Movin (Dub)" Warren Clarke feat. Kathy Brown - "Over You (Spen's Unreleased Mix)" Arnold Jarvis - "Spread Love (Vocal Mix)"

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acacia-may · 2 years ago

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Kaito momota

Hello there! I so rarely get any Danganronpa asks, so this is very exciting! Thank you so much for sending this in! 🥰

I apologize for the confusion on my part, as I realize now that I currently have two games going: the "bye bye writer's block headcanons" and the "penny for your thoughts asks," so I'm not entirely sure which one your ask is intended for. Sorry about that! 🙈😅 Since you don't have any heart emojis accompanying Kaito's name, I'm going to assume that it's for the ask game rather than a request for headcanons. That said, if you would like me to write some headcanons about Kaito for you, I am more than happy to give it a try (though I think I should let you know that I haven't actually played V3 before so most of what I know about Kaito is from Danganronpa S as well as some videos I've seen and the wiki). If you still do want headcanons, please just send in another ask or reply to this one with some heart emojiis that correspond to the type of headcanons you'd like (i.e. childhood, angst, friendship, alternate unvierse ect.) as, at the moment, I'm only taking headcanon requests specific to this game that I made. Thanks! 💕

Now onward to my thoughts on Kaito...

ROCKET MAN!!! 🚀I love him, seriously!! He just has this absolutely wonderful golden retriever energy. Though he might be a little exuberant and might have some more wild and impulsive ideas at times, at the end of the day, he seems so incredibly devoted to his friends and willing to do whatever it takes to protect and take care of them. I do want to be upfront with you again, and let you know that I actually haven't played through V3 myself (yet?) (A/N: I've seen videos and read the wiki so I know the basic plot points (and all the plot twists so I'm not worried about spoilers), but I don't have the game myself, so I haven't played it) so I am not super confident that my perceptions and interpretations of his character are entirely accurate (at least outside of Danganronpa S). That said, Kaito is one of my favorite characters in Danganronpa S! I, honestly, wasn't expecting that, but I got super attached to him and his upbeat, optimistic, and encouraging attitude as well as his friendship with Shuichi and Maki! It's all just so wholesome, and I really love their interactions with each other. They make such a wonderful trio! Friendship for the win!!💛

[A/N: As much as I love platonic relationships and usually tend to/prefer to interpret most relationships between fictional characters in a platonic sense, I will admit (in the interest of full candor) that I was definitely picking up some more romantic vibes between Kaito and Maki in Danganronpa S. I've heard that's a sort-of popular(?) ship, and I can definitely get behind it, at least from what I've seen of them. (I'll admit I've even read a fluffy fanfiction about them getting their happy ending because I want all the good things for them, even though I know how it all works out in V3 *cries* They deserved better! 😭). But I still think I love their friendship with each other most of all! 💛 Really Kaito's friendships with everyone are just so, so wonderful!].

Anyway, Kaito is great! I really enjoy all of his appearances in the Danganronpa S game, and his character makes me actually really curious about V3 (and I kind of want to play it one day, thanks to him). He's just such a fun guy and seems like a genuinely good-hearted person--very devoted and very encouraging to his friends. I want to be his friend. Forget about being an astronaut, he should be "The Ultimate Friend" in my opinion! 🥰 I'm (partially) kidding, but really, there's something just inherently wholesome and incredibly likable about Kaito, and he's a really interesting character.

When I saw this ask come in, the song "Cecilia and The Satellite" by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness instantly came to mind as a Kaito song (and not just because of all the space references though those are an added bonus 😁). I think the more adventurous and impulsive spirit of the singer are very fitting for Kaito, and, ultimately, the song really speaks to how deeply he cares about others (like his friends) and wants to take protect and look after them.

"If I could fly, then I would know What life looks like from up above and down below I’d keep you safe, I’d keep you dry Don’t be afraid, Cecilia, I’m the satellite And you’re the sky"

Cecilia And The Satellite - YouTube

#kaito momota #he's a good boy #penny for your thoughts asks #thanks for the ask!

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tharizdun-03 · 1 year ago

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Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 1: EP 1-7 Watchthrough

i dunno why i decided 2023 to be my idol year, but anyway, we're on Sunshine!!

#1: "I Want to Shine!!"

okay, so unlike the original, sunshine wants to throw all these characters at us at once, and honestly, nice? i feel like these characters are even more immediately gripping and distinct. also, the show looks even better i think? i am liking.

these two share one braincell

#2: "Catch the Transfer Student!"

sunshine is so good, man

best girl

i'm like way more into this than the original love live already and i'm not quite sure why cause nothing it dramatically better, i just think everything is slightly better and that builds up. it's slightly prettier, it has slightly more interesting characters and dynamics, etc.

also, chika is straight up reading the love live wiki right there

the love live songs i have on my spotify so far btw

i love how when i started the franchise i kept reiterating how the idol style and its songs isn't really for me, and look at me now

i mean, still not an idol fan, but bangers are bangers

#3: "First Step!"

oh my god i love how sunshine subverted it!!

the original love live's corresponding scene always stood out to me as its most emotionally effective one, but I think sunshine did almost just as good here, having chika tear up a bit but then bringing the crescendo back with, an all time favourite trope, THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

there's a definite weird sense when watching this show, cause you're aware that it's a franchise very specifically hand-crafted to appeal to its otaku audience that makes it feel a bit grossly commercialized, but that doesn't mean there's only commercial value and no artistic.

artists still make these shows, and i think they emanate a lot of genuine warmth. i think it's telling that they could've continued milking μ's but instead they allowed them to retire and took the risk of focusing on a new set of girls.

#4: "Two Girls' Feelings"

i love how sunshine!! is using μ's as a direct inspiration for our characters here, and how we've tied very specific characters and why they motivate our new cast specifically (the rin one was especially sweet, cause it was one of the cutest scenes in the OG series)

sunshine!! has just done such a great job. i don't think the original ever really shone when focusing on its side cast they way this episode did, so i'm glad to see this new iteration just improving on the franchise's core strengths

#5: "Yohane Descends"

It is very nice for Yohane to be self aware of her chuunibyo stage and her struggle being trying to grow out of it. It makes for a lot of layered comedy, those two clashing sides, but also makes it even more sweet when the others accept her anyway.

Honestly, you don't need to grow out of it. My advice? Channel that creative spirit into something that fits it the best, where you get the most positive feedback from it and the least negative. You can always put the persona on, but it'll impact your ability to make friends. If your IDOL persona is your outlet instead, then that’s the best of both worlds, right?

#6: "Let's Make a PV"

That's it, right there. Community. What makes your town special is not the town itself nor its locations, it is the people. The relationships you forge with those around you, the support networks you can rely on in need, the way everyone cleans the beach together. That's special.

Also, yes, Sunshine!! is kinda bound by the shackles of its predecessor. I think it's fine so far, cause Sunshine is basically the original concept executed to perfection, but any future series is gonna have to do something a bit different.

#7: "Tokyo"

doesn't say word. does a spinning flip over them to assert dominance. queen.

i love how in the meantime there's this tragic shakespearean drama brewing with the seniors lol

late night talks? they are so in love.

I love You's outfits lol. She went through a dozen this episode, but even just her regular hat has her name on it. Like, imagine if mine just said "Theodor." Granted, her name is You, so it's probably easier to find a hat with that already on.

yohane just casually practicing dark chants in the background always cracks me up

i said it before (or maybe i didn't actually) but i went into sunshine!! with expectations of it surpassing the original love live cause from what i've peeked sunshine!! seems to have the best character designs. so far, i am being proven right.

I'd like for our "antagonists" maybe to sometime also be a full on team, and not just two or three people. i understand why they don't do it, cause it's not a show about the rivalry, but if we ever wanted to do that variation, it'd be down.

ALSO IF WE DON'T GET A MUSE CAMEO IN THE SUNSHINE MOVIE I WILL RIOT

EP 8-13 watchthrough: https://www.tumblr.com/tharizdun-03/721261502412324864/love-live-sunshine-season-1-ep-8-13?source=share

#Love Live! Sunshine!!#Kanan Matsuura #Mari Ohara #Dia Kurosawa #Ruby Kurosawa #Hanamaru Kunikida #Yoshiko Yohane Tsushima #yoshiko tsushima #yohane #You Watanabe #Riko Sakurauchi #Chika Takami #watchthrough #8/10

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xautunno · 1 month ago

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Quick Links for Convenience

Archive of our Own - AutumJolene

Fanfiction (no longer in use) - Autunno

Fics for Naruto, Maid-Sama, Noragami, Munto, Aliens/Predator can be found on Fanfiction.net, but not all are on AO3.

** denotes suggestive/smut

Open-ended series denotes the possibility to return and add more but can be read as is.

I won't say abandoned to any of my series, simply unfinished, as there is always a sliver of hope for me to return and finish it!

Always read tags and notes before venturing into a fic!

Munto

Branching Paths

Majority of Munto one-shots can be found here. Those not included are placed below.

Princess Ichiko (one-shot)

Ichiko is begrudgingly at this ridiculous ball that the ridiculous king decided on.

Stardust (one-shot)

His mother's shawl. The only thing to remain. The only thing not turned to dust.

King & Queen** (one-shot series, open-ended)

Moments between the beloved king and queen, Munto and Yumemi.

Munto's Plight (one-shot series, unfinished) - Munto x Yumemi

Physically, Munto is doing pretty good. Mentally? He's struggling.

Haunted (one-shot)

Yumemi wakes in the middle of the night, unsure what woke her.

One Last Heart Left (series, finished)

Gntarl has had the Girl of Destiny hidden right under Munto's nose for eleven years. Shaping her. Testing her. Pushing her to the limit. He's concluded that she's a waste of resources. But Munto can't bring himself to accept that fact, even if the evidence has begun to pile up in front of him. The Girl of Destiny must have one spark left, just one, to save his world.

Superhero (one-shot, but maybe future series?) - Munto x Yumemi

Superheroes weren't uncommon. At least, not anymore.

Star Wars

Noble (series, unfinished)

A healer from the Temple has joined the 212th battalion. Many are eager to meet her, but doubts stir at the sight of their newest and shortest member. Kenobi seems unbothered by this and slowly, the rest come to see exactly what she can do. But such gifts are a double-edged sword and her blessing comes with an unfortunate curse.

Temple Time (series, unfinished) - Cody x Obi-wan

Boga accompanies the 212th battalion as they make their way back to Coruscant. She's in need of a new prosthetic and a gentle introduction to the younglings that call the Temple home.

Rarity (series, finished) - Cody x Obi-wan

Despite a beard in desperate need of a trim, his lips pushed at his sunburnt cheeks to form a soft smile. Eyes, holding the ocean’s depth and sky’s infinity, glowed in quiet happiness.

Master Commander and His AI (one-shot, but maybe future series?)

A Halo Inspired AU with Cody as the Master Commander and Kenobi as an AI.

Cobalt and Periwinkle (one-shot)

Fox admires Riyo in the morning light.

A Father, He is (one-shot) - Mandalorian & Baby Yoda

Someone wanted to check-in.

Witcher

Shit (one-shot, inspired by NovemberWings)

A small scene following the cliffhanger of My Empanicapted Heart.

Brotherly Bonds (one-shot, inspired by inexplicifics)

Mikolaj ventures to Kaer Morhen to see his brother, Aleksander.

A New Idea** (one-shot, inspired by inexplicifics)

Milena has a new idea for Lambert that. She hopes he would be happy to indulge her. He is, of course!

Fairy Tail

Nameless Couple One-Shots (series, open-ended)

Just some one-shots of couples I enjoy from Fairy Tail. Lots of these are based on songs that may be attached to an amv of said couple on Youtube. The titles are usually in correspondence to the song used - if a song is used, but the title can be referencing something else entirely. But, most importantly, I don't use any names but give clues as to which couple I'm talking about hence the "nameless" part of the title. Hope you enjoy!

Quite the Plan (series, unfinished)

An old friend of Makarov and Mirajane's comes by to visit. After only a day spent in the guild and long conversations with Mira, she's got a plan. Something to bring members of the guild together. Specific members of the guild. And she's been working for several weeks now to make sure it comes full circle. It might just be quiet the plan after all. NaLu; GruVia; GaLe

Noragami

A Stack of Wishes (one-shot)

To make a wish, only one ever needed was a single coin of five yen. One coin per wish.

A Crane and A Cat (one-shot)

He always kept an origami crane in his right pocket and a cat talisman in his left.

Baldur's Gate 3

Kitty Curse (one-shot, inspired by Randomfanner)

Tav finds herself as small feline with no memory of how she changed or who changed her. She needs to reach camp and seek help.

Batman

Sorry (one-shot)

What has he done? What is he about to do?

Unanswered Calls (one-shot)

His friend won't pick up. No matter how much he calls or how hard he tries, he can't seem to find them. Not for months. No word on them for almost an entire year. Then... no, there might be more, but none of its happy. (Consists of Voicemails)

Merlin (BBC)

Thoughts of a Warlock (series, finished)

He had written many letters over the years, brimming with emotion. Some were finished, others were left open-ended. Some made their way to the lake's gentle waters, while others were left to gather dust.

Love and Deep Space

Paranoia (two-shot, finished) - Sylus x OC

Roni doesn't know how it got to this point. What did she do to deserve this?

Last Updated 10/27/24

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jujumedia · 5 months ago

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Independent Project: The Importance of the Album Cover

Imagine you're looking for a new piece of music, whether you're shopping for a vinyl record or a CD, or even scrolling on Spotify. What's often the first thing that gets you interested before you hear even a single note? The album cover.

Other than the band's name, the album cover is the only thing outside of the music itself that draws you in to a piece of music. It's meant to give the listener an idea of what the album or band is like, before they even listen to it. The way I imagine it, an album cover is like a movie in a single frame, and the album is the soundtrack.

A great album cover is what you picture to go alongside it's album. When you look at a good album cover, you should immediately get a sense of what it's music is like. It should also work in reverse: when you listen to a song, you should be able to picture the corresponding cover for it.

This is the cover for Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side Of The Moon". Pink Floyd's album covers often feature surreal imagery and photos, giving the listener the sense that the music they're about to listen to sounds surreal and almost otherworldly. I would describe a lot of Pink Floyd's music to be surreal, or at the very least experimental, as they experimented a lot with different ideas and sounds.

This is the cover for the album "Reign In Blood" by Slayer. As a metal band, this album cover doesn't come as a surprise. It depicts demons, blood, and decapitated heads. Of course what you'd imagine this album sounds like is some pretty heavy, hardcore stuff, it only fits with the imagery. In fact, here's an example:

youtube

Pretty heavy stuff I'd say.

In an article by Metal Hammer, Kerry King from Slayer states this about the "Reign In Blood" cover:

"We’ve always tried to make sure that what you saw on the sleeve reflected the music. It had to be extreme."

The band's frontman Tom Araya also says this:

"For me, an album is a whole concept. When I pick up a record, it’s obviously the cover that I see first and it should tell you something about the music. There are too many bands who concentrate solely on the songs and don’t pay enough attention to the packaging."

To add on to Araya's point, I don't see many artists putting much effort into album art anymore. I believe that as we move more into promoting music through streaming and social media, the importance of the album cover is becoming more and more obsolete.

As platforms like TikTok and Instagram have become the dominant place for an artist to promote their music, they do so through short videos or by using one of their songs in one of their videos. When a song of theirs blows up, it usually does so on one of these platforms, and it's where we often hear it most, without associating it with the cover and rather with videos used by creators and users on the platform.

This song "Karma" by Jojo Siwa recently blew up on the internet, through sites like TikTok. You may have heard it before, but try to remember if you've seen a cover for it anywhere online.

youtube

While yes this is technically a single, you'd think that a song that has 43 million views on YouTube, 18 million streams on Spotify, and 200k posts on TikTok would have a cover that you could remember.

But this isn’t always the case with artists today. Plenty of artists and bands view the album cover as an essential part of the music, and they use some very effective album covers for their music.

To me the album cover represents an artist’s mind, or at least a small part of it. The album cover is what the artist wants to say about themselves or their music, or the message they want to promote in the specific piece of art they make. The album cover traditionally is what we’re meant to see before anything else, and it gets us interested into the artist we’re about to listen to. I hope album covers stay a staple of music forever, and that we don’t lose them along the way as we become more connected to social media and streaming. Some of the greatest pieces of art out there are album covers, and connected to them some of the greatest pieces of music ever made.

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thelenazavaroniarchive · 8 months ago

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13th April 2024.

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒. GO, - a Swedish magazine devoted one and a half pages to Lena.

Translation;

“𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐬… 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐙𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢”

A sonic boom reverberated throughout the whole of English show business when a hoarse girl’s voice belted out “Ma! He’s Making Eyes at Me” on a television show, with professionalism and get-up-and-go seldom seen in her peer group. Lena Zavaroni happens to be a scant ten years old. Now, this Scots lass - a weenybopper, as they call those yet to reach thirteen years of age - has plied her trade in Denmark, and whatever opinion one may have about the vagaries of child stardom, it’s hard to deny that she is a phenomenon. GO met with her. And in so doing, encountered–for the first time–a problem. We have interviewed some of the most outrageous and impossible people under the most impossible circumstances about the most absurd subjects… but what do you ask a girl of ten years who could pass for one just celebrating her seventh? You can hardly ask her views on the subject of women’s liberation. And it may prove a little too daunting to ask if she plays with Legos, or whether her father is the one to handle her earnings. So, we opt for a more casual approach as Lena darts about the room, while her father and English manager help her sort out practicalities.

GO: “How much weekly pocket money are you allotted?” Things grow quiet for a bit before her manager interjects: “One pound.”

And Lena says: “One pound (roughly 10 SEK).”

GO: “Are you planning to go on singing?”

Lena: “Oh yes, even until I am 150 years old.”

GO: “What do you do when not at school or singing?”

Lena: “I play with my mates.”

To illustrate the nature of said play, she unleashes a torrent of unintelligible Scottish phrases emphasized by a litany of expressive arm movements. Rough-and-tumble proceedings, in no uncertain terms.

GO: “Do you attend private school?”

Lena: “Yes.”

Her manager, Dorothy Solomon, adds: “But only in conventional subjects, like English. Lena has never received lessons in song.”

GO: “The songs on your LP are almost without exception old ‘schlagers.’ Will there be any new material on your next LP?”

Her manager replies again: “Most of the songs are new to Lena, given her young age. But the next LP will contain several numbers written for her specifically.”

GO: “Which are your favourites?”

Lena: “Lulu and Shirley Bassey. I would love to make a TV show, and have them as guests.” GO: “Do you get many fan letters?”

Lena: “Absolutely lots.”

Dorothy Solomon: “Almost a hundred a day.”

Lena: “My mother answers them. Most people tell me they really love me, and that they want my picture.”

Dorothy Solomon: “They come from people of all ages.”

GO: “You’re probably aware many people don’t care for child stars. Do you think it’s too early to start at ten?”

Lena: “I don’t think so. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I also know a song in Italian, but I don’t know what the words mean.”

This marks the end of our series of questions, lest we embark on discussions on which is better: liquorice, bubble gum, or popcorn.

“Kindly say goodbye,” says Lena Zavaroni’s manager as I leave. She is a markedly obedient girl, and obligingly says farewell, and extends her hand. What more is there to add? Perhaps that she does seem to stand a fair chance of outlasting your average child star - at least, she need not worry until the onset of puberty! GO’s overseas correspondent has started a class in modern child-rearing, as he is convinced that the next weenybopper idol should be recruited from Bagarmossen day care center! The fact that Lena Zavaroni’s records are selling like hotcakes does not speak to their quality so much as it does the public’s astonishment at the preternatural singing ability of this ten year old girl. Nor was it Jimi Hendrix’s talent that brought him to the fore in his time. Rather, it was his ability to play guitar with his teeth. And, like a wise man once said: The most famous musician in the world will be the one who can play “Summer Night on Gotland” on the trumpet, with the help of the world’s longest and loudest fart! Alas, it’s all about

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒. In Record Mirror, Lena was 38 in the singles chart and 24 in the album charts.

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒. The Glasgow Herald mentioned Lena on it's television listings page for her appearance in Junior Showtime the following day.

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒. In America, Cash Box reviewed Lena's single - Ma!...

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒. Billboard mentioned Lena in it's international news section and she also appeared on the international charts page.

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟓. The Sunday Mirror reported that Lena would be driven into tax exile.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟗. The Llanelli Star ran an article about Anorexia and Bulimia, which included a photograph of Lena.

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑. In Ireland, the Sunday Tribune spoke to Andrew O'Hagen.

#lena zavaroni

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afklancelot · 2 years ago

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yknow i made a promise with myself that i'd make a post bout Luther and jingjing and a (possible) relationship between the two, and it's bout time i started on it

if you can't tell, i have nothing better to do.

bla bla spoilers for The Familiar below insane theoryposting bla

to start off, i'll introduce who the two actually are. Luther is a Mexican-American gang member living in Los Angeles, with black being associated with him. He's violent, has been into dog fighting in the past and has a habit of killing cats, and he is usually misogynistic, especially to women he sleeps with. jingjing is a Singaporean man living in Singapore who acts as a translator for tian li, an old woman and healer jingjing lives with, and blue is his associated color. in general, he's rude, a former drug addict who ends up going cold turkey, will steal from someone if given the chance, and he slapped a child.

somehow these two ended up being my favorite characters in the whole series.

so here's the real question: why the fuck does blue show up semi-regularly in Luther's sections?

now, when after i finished the whole series, i started rereading specific sections more thoroughly, most notably Luther's. this was when I started seeing the color blue being mentioned throughout his chapters, but at the time i dismissed that as coincidence and me overreaching (i was still kinda reeling over the Luther encountering jingjing back in vol4).

well, if you have not figured it out, i realized it was not really a coincidence, or at least, it wouldn't have been if the series went on.

here's a (semi) cohesive list of instances of the color blue showing up in Luther's sections:

The blue pencil in volume 1. this is probably the most significant one. It belonged to Hopi, and Luther has mixed feelings about Hopi, given that the former killed the latter. In vol5, Luther asks Juarez for the blue pencil, and at the very end of Luther's last section he's even described as elated when he gets the pencil as if the pencil will tell him "todos los secretos del tiempo" (all the secrets of time).

The pale blue balloon drugs, usually just abbreviated as "pale blue". pale blue is a perfect descriptor for jingjing's tag color. really it's no surprise these show up, given that Luther's gang is one of the cogs in the balloon parades. notably, Luther is tempted to smoke a pale blue in vol4, in the very same chapter that he encounters jingjing.

the jacket Luther chooses at the Hawaiian hotel in vol2 is specifically stated to be "pale blue" with clouds. it's worth noting he ends up losing the jacket at Hula Hoops after he has sex with Dice, Destiny, and Dawn.

when Luther is about to smoke the black balloon, he sees blue and wonders if it’s from the powder or the moon.

Luther hears the next song played is Mr. Blue. when i checked the wikia annotations, it only showed a question mark regarding that line.

Bonus:

Özgur describes Luther with blue-black tattoos in vol4. worth noting blue and black are colors corresponding to the house.

a total of five instances. and the former two show up regularly (or Hopi appears at least once in every book). not enough to be completely confirmed, but definetely sus.

now to part 2: when Luther and jingjing actually meet. it’s only two chapters, and it only starts at the very end of Luther’s and ends at the beginning of jingjing’s. how Luther describes jingjing is interesting; he senses something weird, and when jingjing speaks, Luther describes jj’s words as “not his and never will be”. and when Luther finally allows the handoff for the pale blue, he can’t stop watching jingjing leave, and then he suddenly gives chase. even Luther can’t give a reason atm for why. jingjing starts his chapter right after Luther’s, and when he finally gets Luther off his trail, the Narcons wonder what would’ve happened if Luther had reached jingjing.

admittedly part 2 is about as short as their interaction. two more things tho: Luther and jingjing’s titles reference one another, and Luther’s splash page has jingjing’s splash page’s elements as well. comparison below:

part three is speculation bullshit, mainly referencing how important pink, blue, and black are. Xanther has black as the second most important color, what with her wearing pink and black and her slowly becoming more confrontational, like Luther. jingjing has pink as his second most important color, referencing his desire for pink balloons, and his disdain for Xanther and jealousy that Xanther got to “keep” the cat. to complete this cycle, Luther would have blue as his second important color, referencing the blue pencil (aka Hopi), and the fact that Luther was the one to give chase to jingjing.

it’s rather simple: Luther would fall in love with jingjing. call it a reach, but that “why would Luther use a man like a woman” line that he had in vol1 makes me think he is bisexual but is hard repressing it. it would be even better if he is in denial but slowly accepts he’s in love AND the love is one-sided on Luther’s end at first.

side note: with 98% certainty jingjing is attracted to men; calling those two guys in vol1 jude (pretty) boys, him sleeping with other men (tho that was so he could get cash to buy drugs), and he described patience and wisdom in male terms when he wonders why he should court and marry them (misunderstanding tian li’s teachings). but this is not about assigning sexualities of fictional characters.

it’s cyclical, really. Xanther would have become obsessed in “killing” Luther since he has “red eyes” (maybe he has eyes of flames that tian li warns her of?), jingjing would be resentful of Xanther for stealing “his” cat, and Luther would start longing for jingjing.

#the familiar #mark z danielewski #in an ideal world season 2 wouldve been released and i would at least be half right #also: isandorno would’ve been sent to cali to Luther in season 2 according to orbit #and it would be funny that isandorno realizes Luther knows little spanish #so jj would have to translate for Luther #may clean up this post a lil seeing as im writing near midnight in bed lol

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princessshikky · 2 years ago

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Great episode, as always! Love the easy banter between the hosts, and it's always nice to hear people who share my loathing for the chantry.

However, I have to respectfully disagree on Howe being solely responsible for recruiting Uldred. Back in Ostagar Loghain tried to insist that they didn't need a warden to light the beacon, a mage could do that, and Uldred conveniently interjects trying to offer his services. Uldred and Loghain were both in Ostagar and had ample time to speak and conspire together. Besides, the Chantry is Orlesian, so it fits Loghain's style to try and limit their power by freeing the Circle (and to remove their private army aka the templars out of the country, which... is a good choice, actually; just look at what happened to Kirkwall's previous vicount and what role the templars played in it).

Now, I might believe that Loghain didn't know the specifics of the plan with hiring Jowan... we do meet the templar who was tasked to capture Jowan tortured to insanity in Howe's dungeons later in the game (btw, the alienage only triggers before Landsmeet, if you still need that answer). It's perfectly plausible that Loghain just said "I need Eamon out of the picture " and left Howe to figure out the specifics.

Speaking of Eamon... his poisoning and the Couslands' murder are clear signs that Loghain has prepared his little coup a long time ago. Like, Howe clearly expected to get away with murdering one of the most influential noble families in Ferelden, which would only be possible with Cailan out of the picture and Loghain covering for Howe. It's like the situation with Roose Bolton in "Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire": he only lets Jaime Lannister go free because he knows about Tywin Lannister's plan aka the Red Wedding and has already written off Robb Stark. Also, Howe would need time to a) find out about the situation with Connor, b) find and recruit a runaway mage, c) plant this mage in the Redcliff castle to poison Eamon, d) plant a spy in Redcliffe village. And Isolde needed time to send the knights and Genitivi on their quest for the sacred ashes. I think it's safe to say Loghain and Howe prepared in advance. Not that I judge them in this particular case: we know from the "Return to Ostagar" DLC that Eamon tried to convince Cailan to divorce Loghain's daughter, Anora, and to marry the Orlesian empress, Celene, and that Cailan at the very least secretly corresponded with Celene, which... BAD idea. Loghain may be wrong about a lot of things (imo, his point of no return is revealed in the alienage quest line... you know which one I'm talking about, and that was absolutely inexcusable and unforgivable), but everything he says about Orlais is right. They are that bad. I actually wouldn't put it past Orlais to try and stage a coup to reconquer Ferelden by sending their army to "help fight against the Blight".

Episode #5.06 - Lake Calenhad - Make The Tower ADA Accessible

When we arrive at Lake Calenhad, of course there is something wrong in the tower. Turns out blood mages have done some bad shit and there are now demons everywhere and the Templars are too scared to do their jobs. Greg wants to call for the right of Annulment which would kill EVERYONE including innocent mages and children. The warden decides to go through and find First Enchanter Irving and bring him back. Fuck the circle, fuck the templars, fuck the chantry, fuck this entire fucking building! Special thanks to Redd Spinks for our new amazing logo as well as to Radek Wade and Echoes of Oblivion for the song World of Thedas, which we use as our theme music.

You can find the show on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

Please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!

Wanna join the Certain POV Discord? Click here!

Check out this episode!

#dragon age #da #dao #fuck orlais #and fuck the chantry

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adrimayplays · 2 years ago

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Eras Legacy Challenge

Inspiration

Story and rule based legacy challenges like Not So Berry, Disney Princess, crybaby whims, etc. are some of my favorite ways to play and watch the Sims. When I saw crybaby whims, which is inspired by Melanie Martinez songs, I had this idea for a Taylor Swift legacy where every generation is an album and each song has a corresponding objective to complete.

Rules

Your goal each generation is to complete your aspiration, max the selected skills, and complete all listed objectives.

I recommend playing on Normal lifespan. If you have MCCC, I specifically recommend going in and setting the adult length to 50 days and elder to 42 days as the game’s natural lengths make these life states unrealistically short. That’s not particularly relevant to this challenge specifically other than that the in game adult and elder lengths break my immersion in legacy style gameplay.

This is a story based challenge, so cheats are fine if they are within the confines of the story (though if you cheat up skills and aspirations, what’s really the point?)

You must complete the goals in each generation, but you’re free to complete the goals of multiple generations simultaneously.

Any traits not specified by the rules are up to you, and traits specified by the rules can be replaced by modded traits that have similar vibes. If you have child or teen specific traits, feel free to use those and add the generation specific traits as a young adult

If the challenge specifies traits for love interests or other non-legacy sims, feel free to modify traits of in game sims or create your own sims accordingly or wait until you find a sim with the correct traits in the world.

You’re free to develop any skills, create any drama, do any careers or aspirations not included in the rules as long as you also complete the goals of the generation.

For storylines where non-legacy sims’ actions are important, use mods or cheats to control them, switch households temporarily, or pretend in your brain.

Use whatever mods bring you joy. A few are suggested in the rules, but there are so many great ones out there that will enhance your gameplay. Or, if you don’t want to use mods, don’t, and for objectives that rely on mods, skip them, or modify them however works best for you

If a plot line may be triggering for you, it’s totally fine to skip that objective or objectives.

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Gen 1: Debut

“And I don't try to hide my tears/ My secrets or my deepest fears / Through it all, nobody gets me like you do”

TW: One of the objectives of this generation relates to eating disorders

Overview

Unlike most legacy challenges, you start this first generation as a child. Your family can take any form you’d like.

Colors: Blue, Green, Teal

Traits: Loner and Romantic (or similar modded traits)

Aspiration: Soulmate

Skills: Guitar, Charisma, Romance (lumpinou’s Road to Romance mod)

Story

You’ve never quite fit in, and maybe that’s why you seek love so desperately. Your child, teen, and young adult years are a series of unsuccessful romantic entanglements (at least 3). Some explode, some fizzle, and some never manage to burn, but all are guiding you in the end to the one (oops, wrong album). Your best friend has been by your side all along, through your lonely childhood, through your turbulent teen years, figuring young adulthood out alongside you as you become roommates. They shine so brightly that you’ve never considered them an option (or maybe you have, but the timing’s never been right, or something else has been in the way), but you know them well enough to know they struggle a lot behind closed doors. Eventually, something changes, and your feelings for each other, growing under the surface for all these years, bloom. You fall in love, get married, live happily ever after. (Or have a lovely platonic life partnership until you die).

Objectives

I’m Only Me When I’m With You - Have a best friend you meet as a child, move in together as soon as you become young adults (or go to university together)

A Place in this World, The Outside - Your only friend other than family members and romantic interests during your child and teen years is your best friend

Tied Together with a Smile - Your best friend has an eating disorder, start playing this storyline from when you move in together. How it is handled and resolved is up to you. (recommend Kuttoe’s Lifetime Quirks mod or adeepindigo’s sim image mod)

Tim McGraw - Take a vacation to any world (ideally during summer if you have seasons), meet someone there, have a brief romance, and never talk to them after the vacation ends. (If you have the First Love mod by littlemssam, this can also be as a child)

Invisible, Teardrops On My Guitar - Maintain low level romance (is it unrequited love or are they leading you on) with someone with a partner. You can allow this to fade with time if you marry someone else, develop into a real relationship if the sim is your best friend, or blow up into one of the other impermanent relationships

Cold As You - Have a relationship with (achieve boyfriend or girlfriend status) someone with the mean or evil trait

Stay Beautiful - Have a relationship with (achieve boyfriend or girlfriend status) someone with the outgoing or charming (KiaraSims mod) trait

Our Song - As a teen, keep a relationship secret from your parents, sneak out past curfew to go on dates with them

A Perfectly Good Heart - Be dumped by first partner

Should’ve Said No - Be cheated on and find out about it from someone else, or by catching them in the act

Picture To Burn - Achieve enemy status with one ex

Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) - Marry your childhood best friend and stay together for the rest of your lives (or don’t marry them and live in a platonic life partnership together)

Beautiful Eyes Bonus

Beautiful Eyes - There is something distinct or unique about your best friend/eventual partner’s eyes (odd color, heterochromia, etc.)

I Heart ? - Get a tattoo after one of your breakups

I’d Lie - Best friend’s favorite color is green, they must reach research and debate level 6 and guitar level 6

*note: any of the relationship rules can overlap (e.g. having a partner who’s both mean and outgoing) as long as you have three different failed romances/romantic entanglements (including romances using littlemisssam’s First Love mod and flirtations that never reach the level of girlfriend/boyfriend)

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Gen 2: Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

“This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town / I was a dreamer before you went and let me down”

Overview

Colors: Gold, Beige, Tan

Traits: Brave (by KiaraSims), Ambitious

Aspiration: Choose any other than romance or family

Skills: Choose any one 10-level skill (or two 5-level skills)

Story

You have big dreams, clear goals, neat plans, but for some reason, you keep letting romance get in the way. You love and idolize your parents, especially your mother (or parent of choice if you have a number of mothers that does not equal one), and is it really so bad to want the fairytale they had? Probably, because you keep dropping everything you’re working for when you think you’ve found the one (still wrong album, I promise this isn’t an intentional running joke; it just keeps coming up), first for your high school love, which sweet as it is, comes to its natural end when high school is over, and then for a spouse whose love is intoxicating and chaotic and as thrilling as it is painful. Your separation and eventual divorce are as messy as the relationship, and in the aftermath, you have to learn what it is you want, and how to find a love that doesn’t hurt you, someone who believes you shine as brightly as they do (and as a celebrity, they shine pretty brightly unless you Turn Off Fame Shine). With all this kissing in the rain and leaving in the fog and reuniting in the thunderstorm, it’s time you become the sun.

Objectives

The Best Day - You and your mom (or parent of choice if you don’t have a mother) are best friends. You go out together just the two of you once a week starting when you become a toddler and continuing until your mother (or parent) dies

You Belong With Me - As a teen, you’re a band geek. I recommend using a mod like KiaraSims’ that adds band as an after school activity, but you can also just have band geek vibes. Reach level 3 of an instrument by the time you age up to young adult

Fearless, Hey Stephen - Have all your first kisses in the rain

Fifteen - You have big dreams (choose a skill, a career, and an aspiration), but you also have a romance, and as a teen, love takes precedent. Do not make any move toward your dreams (by working on the skill, by working hard in school or applying to university, or by completing aspiration milestones) from the time you get into a relationship until you break up with your high school love as you age from teen to young adult

Tell Me Why - Marry someone with the hot headed or mean trait

Love Story - Your parents do not originally like your to-be spouse (cheat this so the relationship is at -50 upon meeting), and before you can get married, your partner must win your parents’ approval (at least +25 friendship with all living parents) and successfully ask permission to propose (I recommend MissyHissy’s Ask For Blessing To Marry Overhaul for this)

White Horse - Give up your dream (a career, skill of choice, and aspiration) for your spouse and your children (by quitting the career, not working on the skill at all, and by switching to either the soulmate aspiration or any family aspiration while you are married)

Forever and Always - Your spouse leaves you shortly after you become an adult (not divorcing or breaking up. If you have lumpinou’s RPO mod, have them request a separation. If not, just have them move out)

Come In With The Rain, You’re Not Sorry, The Other Side of the Door - After the separation, your spouse wants to work on your marriage, and you agree (recommend lumpinou’s RPO and Road to Romance mod for this), but the distance has made you realize the way your spouse’s behavior is unacceptable, and after your spouse cheats on you, you ultimately decide to get a divorce

Breathe - Rebuild your life after getting divorced from the person you thought was your soulmate. You can pick up the skill, career, and aspiration that were your dream when you were a young adult, or you can pick a new dream (change any or all of the skill, career, aspiration). Reach level 6 of the career, max the skill, and complete the aspiration

Change - After all your children are teens or older, you take up activism. Switch into or join the politics career and level up to at least the charity organizer branch. Work this job until you choose to retire

The Way I Loved You - After all the turbulence of your marriage and divorce, all you want is stability. The next person you have romance with needs to have the Neat trait or the Good trait

Today Was A Fairytale - Get married as an elder to the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with

Jump Then Fall - Your final love, the person you’ll marry as an elder and be with for the rest of your life, must have freckles

Untouchable, Superstar - Your final love, the person you’ll marry as an elder and be with for the rest of your life, must be a celebrity

From the Vault Bonus

We Were Happy - The person you date as a teen lives on a farm

Bye Bye Baby - When your spouse leaves you or asks for a separation, it is cloudy out, but not raining

That’s When - Talk to your spouse in person for the first time after you separate while it’s storming (rainstorm or blizzard)

You All Over Me - Change one positive trait to a negative one (e.g. gloomy, hot headed, mean, loner, etc.) after your divorce

Mr. Perfectly Fine - After your divorce, your spouse gets into a new relationship before you do

Don’t You - You bump into your ex-spouse while you’re out, and at the end of the encounter, your friendship is between -10 and 10 (regardless of what it was before)

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Gen 3: Speak Now

“I was a flight risk, with a fear of falling / Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts”

Overview

The objectives of this generation have much less of a fixed chronology than the previous two. If you want convince a guy to leave his fiancé at the alter, just to leave him again for your passionate one night stand, that’s a choice you can make. If you want to find your forever person early and only break up your ex’s wedding because you don’t trust the vibes, that’s also fine. You don’t even have to have a forever person this generation if you don’t want to. Also, remember one person can fulfill multiple requirements. The passionate one night stand can be the unhealthy relationship with an adult if that’s how you set it up, and that goes for any requirements. If you can find a way to overlap them, then they’re allowed to be overlapped.

Colors: Red, Purple

Traits: Jealous, Restless (by Kuttoe) or Impulsive (by Vicky Sims)

Aspiration: Bestselling Author

Skills: Writing

Story

Your parents’ toxic relationship has soured you toward love, and while some might call you flighty, you’d say cautious. After all, it’s always safest to be the first to leave. Sometimes, though, leaving leaves you with regrets. And sometimes, those regrets lead you to interrupt your ex’s wedding to your childhood bully. Ultimately, no matter what you do to protect yourself, you cannot avoid pain just like you cannot avoid love, and all the little heartbreaks you endure and cause are testament to both. When you lose the greatest love of your life, you give up on romance all together. At least all the melodrama is good inspiration, and you write romance novels, one for each love affair, winning a starlight accolade for one of them.

Objectives

Mean - As a child and teen, you have a bully

Mine - You are very cautious in love. You can only become officially boyfriend or girlfriend with someone after you’ve achieved soulmate status, and if you notice a want to ask someone to be a boyfriend or girlfriend before then (and try to pay attention to the wants), you must immediately stop talking to that person and cheat the relationship to the negative of what it is (so if the relationship was 50 friendship and 30 romance, you would cheat it to be -50 friendship and -30 romance). If anyone asks you to be boyfriend/girlfriend before you’re soulmates, you must say no. You must have and leave at least one romantic interest in such a way. If neither situation occurs, find another justification for leaving

Enchanted - Using WonderfulWhims and lumpinou’s First Impressions mod, you meet a person that you consider attractive with positive first impressions on both sides. You talk briefly, and then you go your separate ways. If you bump into each other again, this person is exempt from the “Mine” rule. This can happen at any point in the story and be a healthy or unhealthy relationship (after all, some relationships are better to leave)

Dear John - When you are newly a young adult (within a week of aging up), have an unhealthy relationship with an adult sim (how it is unhealthy is up to you)

Sparks Fly - Have a passionate one night stand with someone with the noncommittal trait resulting in a child

Back to December - You must make amends with one of the people you left and return the relationship to at least good friends status

Better Than Revenge - Your child/teen bully is dating an ex. Get revenge for it, by playing pranks, by being mean or fighting, by performing voodoo, by talking down about them to people, or any other means of making their life miserable that you can think of

Speak Now - As your ex is preparing to marry your child/teen bully, you realize you still love that ex and want to be with them (alternatively, you just don’t think the wedding is a good match and are trying to help). Interrupt the wedding by revealing your feelings before any vows are exchanged (this does not necessarily have to be successful)

Innocent - Make up with your child/teen bully and achieve at least friend status with them

Ours - Your most serious relationship is with someone somehow deemed unacceptable by society (perhaps a criminal, perhaps someone poor, perhaps someone punk or otherwise counterculture, perhaps someone visibly queer)

Superman - You do not have a traditional career. You stay home and look after your children and write books while your partner, if you have one, works a standard job

The Story of Us - You write romance novels, one for each failed relationship

Long Live - You must win a starlight accolade for one of your books

Never Grow Up - You are overprotective of your children. They have the earliest set curfew, but you don’ t actually discipline them when they break rules, only praise them when they’re good

Haunted, Last Kiss, If This Was a Movie - If you’re looking for a little classic sims chaos, either your spouse, or, if you never get married, your most serious adult relationship, becomes a vampire or werewolf during adulthood and leaves you after some aspect of their supernatural life hurts or scares you. If you’re looking for more realistic gameplay or you don’t have those packs, that sim dies unexpectedly during adulthood. Either way, you never move on and don’t pursue romance again.

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Gen 4: Red (Taylor’s Version)

“There is something to be said for being young and needing someone so badly, you jump in head first without looking. And there’s something to be learned from waiting all day for a train that’s never coming. And there’s something to be proud of about moving on and realizing that real love shines golden like starlight.”

TW: One of the objectives of this generation relates to mental illness, specifically depression and addiction

Overview

Colors: Red

Traits: Romantic, Dance Machine, modded zodiac trait

Aspiration: Party Animal

Skills: Dancing, Any fame granting skill

Story

After a relatively sheltered childhood with a parent spurning love, you’re ready to take on the big, scary, exciting world and feel whatever’s out there to feel. Naive and eager, it’s no wonder you get pulled into a whirlwind romance of fame and adventure and dancing in the kitchen then fighting in the hall then making up in the bedroom. Even when it ends, you can’t bring yourself to regret it because now you know what real, solid love is meant to look like, and you find it, stepping out of the spotlight for a glow that doesn’t burn or blind.

Objectives

Girl at Home - Never flirt with anyone before confirming that they are single

Starlight - Sneak into a yacht club party (visit Club Calico in Brindleton Bay at night past curfew or build an exclusive yacht club party venue) as a teen

The Lucky One - Move to Del Sol Valley when you become a young adult and reach at least level 3 fame

22 - During young adulthood, go out dancing with a group of friends once a week

Red - For most of your young adulthood, you have a red lover. As Taylor Swift describes in the liner notes for Red, red relationships are “The ones that went from zero to a hundred miles per hour and then hit a wall and exploded. And it was awful. And ridiculous. And desperate. And thrilling. And when the dust settled, it was something I’d never take back.”

State of Grace - Using any zodiac mod or traits, you and your red lover are both fire signs (Aries, Leo, or Sagittarius)

Holy Ground - Meet your red lover in San Myshuno at the Stargazer lounge or another penthouse community lot (and spend the night dancing together if you want, maybe with some of Mercuryfoam’s mods)

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, The Last Time - Break up and get back together with your red lover at least once

I Knew You Were Trouble - Take a vacation with your red lover at least once every two weeks

Treacherous - Go on a mountain climbing excursion with your red lover and woohoo in the cave or a tent while on the journey (you do not have to reach the summit, but you can)

All to Well - Go on a camping trip with your red lover in the fall

The Moment I Knew - Your red lover forgets your birthday from young adult to adult, age up naturally without a cake or celebration

Sad Beautiful Tragic - You wait all night for your red lover to return home after your forgotten birthday, and when they never do, you end it

I Almost Do - Leave your red lover for good after you become an adult

Everything Has Changed - Meet a lifelong (gold) lover through your child (perhaps their friend’s parent or a teacher). You can have a child by any means you want: with your red lover, through another relationship, with a donor or surrogate, through adoption, etc.

Begin Again - Have the first date with your gold lover at a cafe

Come Back…Be Here - After your first date with your gold lover, do not see them for a week (send them on vacation or just pretend that travel is what’s keeping them away)

Stay Stay Stay - Do something so that your golden lover has a negative sentiment towards you and then resolve it

From the Vault Bonus

Better Man - your red lover has the jealous trait

Nothing New - as an adult or elder, assist a younger sim (perhaps your child) in gaining fame (by introducing them to other famous sims, mentoring them in skills, taking photos of them to post on social media, etc.) until they become more famous than you (either due to their rapidly rising fame or your dwindling spotlight)

Babe - your red lover has an affair with their coworker

Message In A Bottle - during the period away from your gold lover, write them a love email every night (requires writing level 4, if you don’t have high enough writing skill, send them flirty text or DM instead)

I Bet You Think About Me - your red lover lives in one of the lots in the Pinnacles in Del Sol Valley. If you have it, they have KiaraSims’ Silver Spoon trait.

Forever Winter - you have someone important in your life (a friend, family member, lover, etc.) with the gloomy trait. (If you have Zero’s mental health mod, they have depression, and if you have Basemental, they may also struggle with addiction)

Run - run away with your gold lover by retiring somewhere rural and quitting the spotlight as an elder

The Very First Night - with your red lover, have a night out in Del Sol Valley and dance in the kitchen

All To Well (10 minute version) - your red lover is significantly older than you

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Gen 5: 1989 TBD

#sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 legacy #taylor swift

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