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ereana · 10 months

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Neuvillette x Furina - Sleep doesn’t come that easy without you

Furina will never forget how it started.

That first night when she’d found her new Iudex—

Not hers. Not really. A dragon could never belong to a human, but she could pretend. She was very good at it.

—stood alone in the hallway, looking out of the towering palais window to the rest of the city below with those mesmerizing eyes of his. She’d been so cautious around him at first, terrified that he would easily see through her facade that still felt shaky in those early years. But that night he’d looked so…lost that it had struck a chord in her heart. It was the first time in their partnership that she’d been able to understand him in a single glance, it wouldn’t be the last.

How strange this must all be for him; to be summoned to a city full of humans by an archon and given such an important role at the very heart of a society he had scant understanding of. Strange and lonely.

Furina had joined him at the window. She’d been wrapped up in some fancy silk nightgown, the mask of Focalors not yet eclipsing Furina entirely, and offered him a smile. Not a glamorous, shining grin that adorned her face when she sat in the courtroom and laughed majestically at the trials on display before her as gifts. No, her smile had been softer than that, it didn’t feel painful as it stretched across her face from ear to ear.

A tentative expression that would be used with decreasing frequency as the years wore on until she could no longer remember how it felt to curl her lips in any manner that wasn’t for show.

Neuvillette had simply blinked at her, neither turning her away or welcoming her, and that had been enough for her to start talking.

Furina hated silence. She wanted the air to be full of music and song and applause and laughter and anything but the coldness of quiet. So she’d babbled at him, the mighty Hydro Sovereign himself; going on tangents about the best shops to visit, the most delicious cakes, the newest trends and the theatre. She’d spoken about the theatre quite a bit. There had been a new play opening at the opera house ‘Finding Cleverland’ about the life of one of Sumeru’s greatest playwrights that she’d been dying to see since.

It was only after about fifteen minutes that she’d realized how rude she must have seemed; intruding on his solitude with useless talk that he would have no interest in without even letting him get a word in edgewise. Her cheeks had burned in shame but when she’d turned to him to apologize she’d been struck quiet by the look on his face.

Neuvillette was listening to her every word, every silly little word that spilled forth from her mouth without heed or caution. He gave them the same level of attention that he had given the words of a condemned man in one of their trials earlier that day as if they were of equal importance.

Furina was used to being obeyed, not heard.

Which didn’t really make any sense at all but there was a difference! She felt it in the rush of warmth that washed over her when he continued to wait expectantly for her to continue.

The rest of the conversation was admittedly a bit of a blur but she’d never forget that happy warm feeling that bloomed to life in her chest at his sincere attention. They’d sat down on one of the opulent couches in the hall and she’d fallen asleep against his side.

It had been quite a shock to wake up beside him the next day. She’d nearly clobbered him with her bedside lamp before remembering that he wouldn’t know the social implications of such an act. When she asked why he hadn’t left for his own room after bringing her back he said that he enjoyed being near her and that she’d refused to let him go in her sleep.

Once she’d finished dealing with her humiliation she'd given him a lesson on sleeping on a lady’s bed if she hadn’t invited you in. That should have been the end of it.

Except Neuvillette had nodded and asked if he could sleep with her again.

Hearing him ask such a thing in that deep voice of his had sent her into another spiral of blushing embarrassment and she should have said no. He didn’t know any better. He was still learning. It was her responsibility as the one teaching him about humanity to explain why that wasn’t a good idea.

Furina should have said no.

But she didn’t.

She couldn’t.

Not after learning how good it felt to wake up in his arms, not after the overwhelming sense of safety she’d felt as she curled up against his massive form and the protective way he’d held her close.

It was a weakness.

One that she’d allowed back then when she was still young and learning. Not that those were excuses for her sin. She’d taken advantage of Neuvillette’s inexperience for her own selfish need for companionship and continued to do so for five hundred years.

They didn’t spend every night together but it was still a regular occurrence. No matter what happened during the day or what they said to each other he would show up outside her door. Furina would strain her ears listening for that polite knock before striding across the room to allow him entry.

Striding with power, authority and not bolting across the floor to fling open the door and drag him inside like she always wanted to.

They would lay down on her massive bed — which always felt too big when he wasn’t there — and he would reach for her after asking permission to do so.

Silly dragon, as if she would ever refuse him.

She needed him too much, needed to feel the coldness of his skin against her human warmth, needed the relief of being held by him, tangible proof that she wasn’t completely alone. Nights in Neuvillette’s arms had been one of the few things that had kept her sane during those long years and she’d clung to the comfort he offered her even though he didn’t know what he was giving her.

Then the traveler came.

Then the waters rose.

Then Poisson was flooded.

Then came the trial and the climax of the grand masquerade.

Then Furina left the palais and its grand hallways and beautiful rooms for a medium sized townhouse in the city.

She should have been happy. She was happy, the weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders and the truth revealed. Furina knew that she needed time to heal after everything, she knew she needed time away from the people involved in the grand trial so that she could learn who Furina truly was.

But the nights were hard. She would lie awake in her much smaller bed listening to rain pelt the window and grip her new vision tightly in her hand, as tightly as Neuvillette used to grip her. Sleep didn’t come to her as easily anymore and her traitorous soft heart yearned for the presence of another to soothe her soul.

Her fingers would tighten on the brilliant blue stone, another reminder of him, and she would bury her head into her pillow unaware of the dragon in the Palais Mermonia standing by a window looking down at one particular building in the city with a familiar lost look on his face.

#genshin impact #neuvillette #furina #neuvifuri #focallette #my writing

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amarimeta · 2 months

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The Television Academy watching Carrie Coon deliver one of the greatest performances of the decade: No

The Television Academy watching Carrie Coon act cunty in a soap opera: Yes

no because literally WHAT GOES ON.

gilded age mutuals look away if you must but COME ON. LETS BE SERIOUS. i looooooove gilded age i love nothing television i love this stupid soapy show about my beautiful princess with a disorder and the entire town who hates her. HOWEVER. you (the academy) need to look me in the EYE and tell me carrie’s performance as bertha russell is the best she’s ever done. WHAT ARE YOU SAYING. i LOVE bertha. but she is NOT the crazy girl of all time. she is NOT the bravest girl on earth. she is NOT nora durst.

“ace you have to think about the strength of schedule” THE LEFTOVERS WAS ONLY EVER NOMINATED FOR ONE EMMY. AND IT WAS FOR ANN DOWD GUEST ACTRESS IN THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD (and his identical twin brother). LIKE THATS A WHOLE OTHER CAN OF WORMS. the show was never nominated. the writing was never nominated. the directing was never nominated. i have no love for the man but justin theroux was never nominated?? CARRIE?!?! WAS ?!?! NEVER ?!?!? NOMINATED ??!?!,!?!?! after the performance of HER lifetime, MY lifetime, every single person who ever has or ever will live’s lifetime???

do not click the read more unless you want me to complain about strength of schedule for each season. i get very specific i’m sorry.

SEASON 1 - 67th primetime emmy awards

BEST DRAMA

game of thrones season 5 (WINNER)

better call saul season 1

downton abbey season 5

homeland season 4

house of cards season 3

mad men season 7 part 2

orange is the new black season 2

haven’t watched house of cards or homeland (to be fair i DID watch homeland s5 for miranda otto like five years ago), haven’t watched oitnb in YEARS, haven’t gotten to mad men season 7 OR downton season 5 yet. HOWEVER. i do not care. take downton s5 off from there. mind u i bought the downton collectors boxset two weeks ago i have all the dvds i have a stupid ass bell TAKE IT OFF AND PUT THE LEFTOVERS ON THERE!!!! or take homeland season 4 off idc what happened on it but why is tracy letts a main character on a show nominated YOUR WIFE IS BEING ROBBED TRACY!!! DEFEND HER!!! wait i just realized i hadn’t even mentioned game of thrones season 5 being the winner. i can’t say anything at this point i just have to laugh.

lead actor jon hamm won for mad men again idk what happens in s7 i haven’t even finished season 1. as a newsroom and better call saul enjoyer i will not advocate for either of them to be removed so get rid of kevin spacey and put theroux up there. would carrie have been nominated as lead for s1? i think she’d be supporting no? in which case take emilia clarke off for game of thrones I’M SORRY I’M NOT HATING BUT WE NEED TO BE REALISTIC HERE. IT IS SEASON 5 GAME OF THRONES. YOU ARE NOT OUTDOING NORA DURST. supporting actor christopher get your ass up there!! jonathan banks get your ass down here. i will sound like a jonathan banks hater in the rest of this post and i’m not we just need to be serious here as a collective. mike ehrmantraut could never do the leftovers. sorry. (jim carter nom for carson on downton is actually for me personally which i think is beautiful).

mother’s mercy winning for best directing AND best writing is insane. game of thrones we will never forgive you for many things. (unrelated how did bcs five-o get a best writing nom and not any other episode of season 1. mike lovers have too much power in our society. we need to kill them.)

SEASON 2 AKA THE STRONGEST SEASON OF TELEVISION YOU CAN EVER WATCH IN YOUR LIFE - 68th primetime emmy awards

BEST DRAMA

game of thrones season 6 (winner)

the americans season 4

better call saul season 2

downton abbey season 6

homeland season 5

house of cards season 4

mr. robot season 1

AGAIN. GAME OF THRONES WINNING BEST DRAMA LIKE YOU ARE NOOOOT SERIOUS PEOPLE. YOU ARE JOKING. americans and bcs <33 downton season 6 i’ve heard awful things about you. homeland season 5 HEY that’s the season i watched!! yea get rid of game of thrones and put the leftovers in there and MAKE THE LEFTOVERS WIN. IMMEDIATELY.

lead actor idk get rid of kevin spacey again. lead actress tatiana maslany i know you were working overtime im so sorry unfortunately i’m taking this away from you. please understand i’ll give it back to you for a different year but this one is carrie’s. btw im replacing claire danes on homeland in terms of nominations. supporting actress i cannot believe i am taking this away from maggie smith but we are giving this to either ann dowd, regina king, or amy brenneman. MIND YOU REGINA KING WON FOR SUPPORTING IN A LIMITED SERIES SO I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE HER THE DOUBLE WHAMMY but if you want to argue its ann dowd i will not fight you. also get maura tierney off of that nominations list NOT HATING ON MAURA simply hating on the affair. we need to be serious. supporting actor i’m taking down jonathan banks and kit harrington sorry putting up christopher eccelston and kevin carroll. i’ll let the academy decide who wins but it IS between them two. no one else. sorry.

battle of the bastards winning both writing and directing again hey guys not sure if i’ve mentioned this before but i hate game of thrones the television show that cannot hurt me and isn’t real!!! and also THAT SEASON WAS NOT GOOD. directing wise we’re getting rid of the door for game of thrones and writing wise we’re getting rid of battle of the bastards CONGRATULATIONS THE LEFTOVERS SEASON TWO EPISODE EIGHT INTERNATIONAL ASSASSIN YOU ARE THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!! THE BEST EPISODE OF TELEVISION EVER!!!! YOU DID IT!!! YOU HAVE NOW WON BEST DIRECTING AND BEST WRITING YIPPEE!!!!

SEASON 3 (my beloved) - 69th primetime emmy awards

BEST DRAMA

the handmaid’s tale season 1 (winner)

better call saul season 3

the crown season 1

house of cards season 5

stranger things season 1

this is us season 1

westward season 1

sorry handmaid’s tale you are not keeping the win. you can keep the nom i guess. get rid of stranger things for me. anyways the leftovers season three you ARE THE FATHER!!! (but also hiii better call saul season 3)

lead actor i like sterling k brown so he’s keeping the win but once again goodbye spacey and theroux enjoy your nomination. lead actress elisabeth not only are you not getting the win i might take the nomination from you too. sorry. carrie coon needs it more. we need to be on the right side of history. supporting actress ann dowd won which i can’t BE TOO UPSET ABOUT but im taking millie bobby brown’s nomination away and giving it to amy brenneman like i’m sorry but we need to be serious here. supporting actor i’m taking jonathan banks and mandy patinkin down and putting up christopher eccelston and kevin carroll. OBVIOUSLY.

AND OF COURSE ANN DOWD IS WINNING FOR BEST GUEST ACTRESS LIKE. alexis bledel sweetie i’m sorry but that award is not yours. but please take a picture with alison wright for me i would enjoy that.

best directing went to handmaid’s tale offred. i’m sure it was a good ep. anyways taking that down and taking stranger things ep 1 down and putting both most powerful man in the world and book of nora. book of nora is winning probably. (also taking down bcs witness and putting up chicanary. like come on here folks). best writing ALSO went to offred yea sorry. it can stay up i guess i’m just taking down stranger things ep 1 and putting up book of nora which will be winning. (notice how chicanery was properly nominated here).

well that’s all from me!!! so happy that everything i just wrote actually happened!! i can’t believe the leftovers won so many emmys BUT IT WAS WELL DESERVED!!

#answered #Anonymous #sorry for taking a week and a half to reply and then answering with over a thousand words of ranting. do you still think i'm funny <333 #guys it's ok. read what i wrote again and manipulate yourself into believing it really happened and everything is good and hurray!!#WEWON!!!!#the leftovers #carrie coon

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spookfished · 8 months

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media roundup jan 2024

hey whats up!!! its me again!!! happy valentines day :3 finally caught up to patch. and by patch i mean "talking about things that i remember reading." finally got around to reading/playing a bunch of things that were really hyped up!! that ive been really looking forward to :3 yippee also, one of my new years resolutions was to play all of umineko? which according to most people ive seen, does in fact take An Entire Year due to being 1. fully voice acted 2. a little over 1 million words. so uh, please look forward to that.

books:

camp damascus by chuck tingle: horror ya. a girl on the cusp of adulthood belongs to a strict and isolated christian sect, living in the town with the us' most famous conversion camp. things get weird quickly.um ok i was really hyped about this! its the first chuck tingle thing that ive actually read (lol) but ive been following his stuff for a while. its an interesting look into what its like to be uh, really christian and also (SPOILERS) gay, but the whole time i was like man i wish i was playing [we know the devil]. which is a really good game please play wktd :3 there were some really cool and chilling body horror parts!! which i liked a lot!! but overall it was more inspiring (?) than scary, which wasnt really what i was looking for personally

the way spring arrives and other stories: translated chinese scifi/fantasy anthology, written and translated by a team of women + nb writers. really solid!!! took me a while to get through, but theres such a wonderful variety of stories here--some are creepy, some are heartwarming, some are silly, some are elegant. i particularly enjoyed some of the essays about translation itself, as well as the titular stories and A Brief History of Beinakan Disasters as Told in a Sinitic Language. definitely check it out!!

spark joy by marie kondo: an appendix of sorts to marie kondos super big book the life changing magic of tidying up, with a couple more practical tips and some anecdotes. ok to get kinda personal, konmari stuff appeals to me bc i grew up surrounded by detritus. from where i sit in my childhood bedroom, i can see a stack of floppy disks, old checkbooks, and a copy of The Lost Treasures of Infocom--a game from 1991. almost none of it is ever touched. so the idea of having a space full of only joyful things is really appealing.. honestly i think the best bit of advice from the book was that if you have things that are necessary but dont necessarily elicit joy (eg screwdrivers, coffee makers, whatever) that you try and take a bit to appreciate/praise those items and what they do for you? and they may become more beloved :3 anyways probably not worth reading unless youre already into the whole konmari thing

ninefox gambit by yoon ha lee: space opera. kel cheris, a freshly promoted general, has been sent to suppress a rebellion lodged in a fortress. but her greatest enemy is also her greatest asset: the implanted consciousness of the prodigy traitor-general, shuos jedao. famous for winning impossible battles--and infamous for killing his entire fleet. its kind of in a trio of "lesbian sff about empires and stuff" with machineries of empire and traitor baru cormorant. well for one i really liked it. i do have a lot of hours in um games like civ 5 and starcraft but i usually dont like Reading books about military stuff. this is obstacle number 1. obstacle number 2 is that ninefox gambit has some really intricate worldbuilding, and unlike some other lesbian bodysharing scifi novels out there, our protagonist is not a newcomer. you dont get the assist of getting to learn about the world as the same time as her. but the thing is that ninefox gambit makes you Want to pick apart everything thats going on and get into it, and once you have a good idea of all the factions and stereotypes and tensions, etc it feels really rewarding :3 and the world is grounded in how you get to see what feels like every single level of this one infiltration/siege, from the general at the top to the infantry at the bottom even to the servant robots who clean! yay robots :3 when youre jumping to someone completely different, doing something totally unrelated, its pretty easy for that to be… super jarring? (hi sanderson) but it was not that <3 although it took a bit for me to get it, i also liked the intermittent correspondence that we get to see from the enemy side as well. how humanizing! it also balances a large cast of characters very well. characters with bit parts still feel memorable to the extent they need to be? idk how to say that correctly. obviously between cheris and jedao, jedao has the upper hand conversationally pretty much always but they have a good dynamic and its cool to see her strengths come through in other ways i think one of its strengths/weaknesses is that its very focused on this One siege in One point in time. i would love to hear about the anden in the sequels for example. also like does everyone have to be in a section or are there real (non conquered) civilians. how do yall grow food. also yeah sorry democracy beign the ultimate heresy made me laugh ninefox gambit is kind of a tricky read; its probably not a good idea to try reading without a stretch of uninterrupted time + brain energy but i liked it 👍 i thought it was good 👍

raven strategem by yoon ha lee: sequel to ninefox gambit! yoon ha lees ability to balance lots of different povs works really well for this book :3 it really ratchets up the tension! i also really liked seeing all of the exotics lol (magic wepaons that do crazy stuff). unfortunately the tension didnt pay off in a way that was really satisfying to me personally, however.. it didnt really help that i didnt like one of the main pov characters (brezan.) the first book is still worth reading though as a standalone!

comics/manga:

mitsuya sensei no keikakuteiki na edzuke: m/m series about a cooking writer (older man) and his editor. ok i talked about this last time but im a big fan of romance with older people in it. the baggage comes preattached!! also the protag in this kinda looks really similar to shinji from kamen rider ryuki?? has some Extremely Delicious looking food art, as well as some really nice like. food + desire + eroticism type thing going on. (i started reading it bc tumblr user stella obstinaterixatrix was talking about it as an example of non explicit eroticism!) yay i love food manga :]

sonna me de mitekure: aka look at me with those eyes. m/m romcom that parodies a lot of common BL tropes (overbearing prince of the school falls in love with some rando!) but also has a lot of heart :3 definitely only worth reading if youre like. already sort of in the soup of romance manga though lol

ouji-chan no sukina hito: suuuper cute f/f oneshot about baby prince idolization

catch you catch me: another cute f/f oneshot :3

botticelli drawings exhibit: ok i just thought this was neat. it was an exhibit about some of the preliminary sketches that were made for some of botticellis famous pieces (he was a famous painter during the florentine renaissance in italy) i like how you got to learn more about how the Workshop Style worked like how a lot of paintings were actually made by lots and lots of apprentices.. also how botticelli apparently got really into this one super duper intense monk type guy and started making some kinda weird shit

movies/tv shows:

pokemon concierge: lighthearted family show about a stressed office lady who quits her job to work at a pokemon hotel. super cute!! very short!! you can watch it with your parents or kids or whatever its really not that deep but the stop motion was just soooo cute. slightly concerning in like idk the level of 'escapism from office culture' but you know how it is

dear ex: slice of life/drama? taiwanese movie. after his father's sudden death, song chengxi and his mother meet his fathers hidden male lover. dudee this movie is so fucking pretty and so sad. i almost cried and blew up and died. all 3 main parts of the cast are such good actors and the way it does grief and like the seamless sliding between memory and the present AUGH. so good

sousou no frieren anime: also known as frieren of the funerals! a slice of life/fantasy anime about what happens after you save the world. frieren is a long-lived elf who saved the world with her companions--but many decades afterwards, she still wanders the world the same as ever. bro this show is so freaking gorgeous and well made. it really makes me wish going outside was real. has a really nice sense of melancholy too.. its just a really solid adaptation :3

dungeon meshi/delicious in dungeon anime: cooking/slice of life/adventure anime set in a dnd-like setting that digs into a lot of fantasy worldbuilding. mainly about: can you eat the monsters!!!! i finished the manga a couple months ago so i was really hyped (and a little bit nervous) about this anime but studio trigger is doing a really good job!! its just a really good show ok please watch it

marry my dead body: straight police guy gets ghost-married to a dead man, and then is tasked with solving his murder. um ok so i watched this bc i misread neils text and thought it was by the same director as dear ex. spoilers this is very much not true lmfao its more lighthearted with a side of feelings about death and stuff. very silly! i think the gulf of expectation was so wide that i couldnt enjoy it that much.. also cops. why. some of the jokes didnt really hit for me esp the whole like ahhhh slag straight guy doesnt understand anything type thing? but its like not a bad light movie

percy jackson and the olympians: remake of the first percy jackson book. yeah this was fine i watched it with my mom while playing solitaire the whole time. the actors are very charming and the show is solid, but i think it really deserved to be like. a 20-episode series with 20 minute episodes, or something like that. like its oestensibly for kids but its Really trying to make that nostalgia cash grab so it exists in a slightly uncomfortable middle (writing is very basic and friendship-y which isnt necessarily bad but its not like That Deep, but also who is making a kids show 40 MINUTES LONG). anyways i think a longer pacing like that would have given more time for filler and replicating the road-trippy vibe that the original books had. its still solid though!

games:

umineko episode 1: its the classic murder mystery setup: a wealthy man on his deathbed still hasnt resolved the issue of his inheritance. he, his hateful children, and their own children are cut off from the world on a remote island. but the man still has unsettled debts….and something is deeply wrong on the island of rokkenjima 🤯ok umineko is infamous for 1. having fans who wont shut up about it 2. something something metatextual? 3. a very high bar for entry, featuring near-required modding, several hours of expository setup, and the fact that. well. its a visual novel. that aside, i enjoyed the first episode way more than i thought i would :3 the uroshimiya family is so rich and alive and shitty it felt like i was watching succession again lmfao. battler is a very endearing (if slightly stupid) main character, and there are some really strong characters laid down that make you excited to get into All That in the future. plus, once i got to the murder part it was genuinely so hair-raising? theres some phenomenal voice acting.. the scene with maria was so memorable i thought i was going to dream about it. also i loooove beatrice <3 anyways i would recommend but its not for the faint of heart. 99% of umineko-ers stop reading right before the love lets them see it, and so on.

off game: wow im so happy to have finally beat off. i mean. hey whats up. off is a weird, abstract game about a 4th-wall breaking "Batter" whos self proclaimed goal is to purify the world. its often viewed as a spiritual predecessor to games like undertale :3 …actually, i played off a long time ago and then got stuck/intimidated by the very last set of puzzles so i Just Now gave up on actually finishing and just watched a letsplay lol. honestly one thing that ive figured out over time is that actually?? im really not that much of a fan of pokemon-style rpgs like this 0_0 i mean, the gameplay is just. not that fun? and the typical random encounter type thing is just not that nice. i think this is something that a lot of jrpgs/rpgs have figured out recently, but off is an older game without those QOL improvements lol. (also random encounter is easier to code probably) anyways!! the writing in off is so compelling…its so weird in a way that invites you to pick apart that weirdness, but also makes you feel like some mysteries might remain unresolved forever. its a video game that actually Has Writing In It. its one of those (free!) indie classics thats definitely worth checking out. also i love drawing the judge and valerie. weird cats for the win ok now im just going to talk about my theories about the game. so we know that the only real humans in the world are sugar, zacharie and the baby. however, the queen and the batter are parental figures for the baby. the wardens of each of the levels were created for the baby as it (in the absence of its parents?) longed for companionship, but they warped over time. whats healthy becomes sick and whats sickening becomes necessary etc. possibly mimicking how the baby, sick and alone in the hospital, also warped over time? becoming warped caricaturizes the babys creations and makes them cruel and so the batter becomes the ultimate heroic figure, who purges whats evil and rotten. but if it lives where i live then i guess the whole world has to go?? well idk

music:

take my hand by zerobaseone: ok whenever i listen to this imlike this is one of gods perfect songs. the production is like chefs kiss and theres just some really beautiful sounds in here? its so warmly dreamy and delicate feeling.. just like first loves… or whatever lmfao the fluttering hook-y thing at the beginning is just too good i ended up looking up a bunch of the producers. also big pop is nice bc you can tell they mixed it so it sounds good in a car OR in headphones lmfao

1,000,000 by nine inch nails: i forgot what genre nin is supposed to be ok this song came up when i was playing hifi rush (rhythm based action game!! so cool so stylish) and me and neil were like NINE INCH NAILS?! it was like that one comic you know. anyways i like this song its very adrenaline feeling. i looked up the real lyrics recently but to ME its about trying to escape emptiness thru adrenaline and danger and sex and stuff :P not that i do that but its still a fun song!! yippee

dark red by steve lacy: ok i found this song bc of a tumblr post i did not know he was the "i wish i knew" guy lmfao. honestly if people only knew like a 5 second songbite from my works id be so mad. but anyways its progressive rnb apparently? i just like this song :3 when you are kind of pathetic but basically chill with it but what if.

anyways if youre reading this: hi!!! ive been spending a lot of time recently doing the hard fisher quests in final fantasy 14. guys never do beast of brewers beacon ok the school year is just starting up but having to wake up early is kind of doing a number on me…… other than that i actually totally have my shit together! yay :3 if you read to the end (or even skimmed) thanks <3

#txt #yippee!

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minhosimthings · 11 months

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Hold me Without Hurting Me

Chapter 5: Marigold and Maladies

A/N: In which an old friend fills your life with flowers again, along a bumpy sided road.

Pairings: Ceo!Jay × Ceo!fem!reader, includes rest of Enhypen and certain other groups

Warnings: angst-fluff, hurt/comfort, friends to enemies to fake dating to enemies to lovers, Mentions of food and alcohol, swearing, nothing much but it's a bumpy story., Reader kinda has a breakdown in this cause she has a fear of thunderstorms

Story prompt: If I had a flower for every time I fell in love with you, I would walk in my garden forever. (This story is based on the language of flowers.)

SERIES MASTERLIST

Anemoia is a word which means to have nostalgia for a home. And that's how you felt right now, going through the streets of Washington DC. You never realised how beautiful Seattle actually was, before now. How could you though? Having spent all of your time in America stuck in your hotel room, not having a chance to escape, thanks to your workaholic mind. But as you looked out the window of the car you were riding in, you realised how serene it felt. You had read earlier from a Wikipedia page, that Seattle had been one of the fastest growing cities in all of America and you had expected it to be the normal grey city, filled with sweaty office workers will dull faces, and the usual cranky old people moving here and there. What you didn't expect to see however, were bright New York-esque signs, kids and adults skateboarding all over the streets, laughing as they tripped and fell down, bright farmer's markets, sports centres, from where you could hear the noises of balls bouncing, and most importantly, the numerous flower shops littering the streets, making them light up like the stars light up the night sky, with aster and marigold in every single corner.

"Admiring the view, my yarrow?" Jay spoke up, not looking up from the magazine he was reading, sitting next to you in the car. You frowned at him and didn't say anything, not wanting to cause a fight, which you knew you would lose. "Are you not talking to me now, babe?" Jay looked up at you and inched closer. "We're supposed to be a couple, Y/N. Act like it." He whispered into your ear, making sure the driver of the limo didn't hear anything. You froze up on your seat, feeling his husky voice near your ear, and his hot breath hit your skin like an avalanche. "I'm sorry babe." You immediately got into character, "Where are we going by the way?" Jay smiled at your question. "You'll see." He winked at you, making you internally gag. He had forced you to come out with him on a 'date', so as to make your relationship more believable, the reason being to tempt the paps. You figured that out from the very vague answer he gave which consisted of the words, 'news', 'paps' and 'lawyer'.

"Jay just tell me where we're going you know I'm impatient." You whined, crossing your arms, "I swear to God if you're taking me to an opera house-" "We're not going to an opera house." Jay stated, looking out the window. You took a second to admire his sharp jawline, as he raised his chin. "We're going to a museum. And before you interrupt-" he turned his head back to your opening mouth, "-yes we're going to The Seattle Art Museum." Your mouth dropped at his words. Going to an art museum in America was one of the major things on your bucket list. And going to The Seattle Art Museum, which consisted of some of the greatest American works of art?

"Oh wow." You said, yawning, "great place for a date Jay, very romantic." You tempted him, making your tone sarcastic. In reality you were over the moon to go to the museum, but you wanted to see whether Jay actually remembered anything from your teenage years. "Oh shut up." Jay said, checking his watch, "We all know you're obsessed with art history. You wouldn't stop talking about it when we were kids remember? The meaning of The Girl With The Pearl Earring is still etched in my brain Y/N." Your heart slightly jumped a bit at his sentence but you barely had time to say anything in return, as the car had stopped in front of a magnificent building, with a painting of a man in black on it.

Your car door opened, and you stepped out, still staring open mouthed at the building. Jay looked at you from behind, taking note of the fact that you didn't notice him opening the car door for you. "My lady." He extended his arm to you, which you took, while internally cringing. "Jay can we stick to one nickname please?" You asked, entering the gate of the museum and immediately being hit with the smell of perfume. "Why should I?" Jay laughed, "Cause your single ass can't handle all the love?" You rolled your eyes and went to the front counter, to pay for the tickets. "Two tickets please." You said to the smiling lady, clad in uniform, "And put it on this card." "Baby I'll pay this time." Jay slapped away your hand which was extending your credit card. The lady at the counter looked at your with curious eyes, as she slowly took Jay's black card, inserting it into card machine and handing you two blue coloured tickets with a robotised, 'enjoy your visit'.

"Jay I could have paid you know? I'm rich too." You scoffed as you entered the main hall. Jay didn't say anything instead choosing to stare at the map of the building which he had gotten at the front desk. "Should we head to the libraries first?" He squinted at the map. Struggling to keep your laughter in, you reached into your bag and pulled out something, giving it to Jay. "Here dumbass." You gave him the glasses, "Still haven't left the habit of leaving your glasses at home, Mr Four Eyes?" Jay blinked at you slowly and took the glasses, swiftly putting them on. "How the fuck did you get my glasses?" He quizzed you, once he out the map back into his pocket and climbed up the escalator. "Your assistant gave them to me, right before we left." You stated simply to which Jay replied with a simple 'Ah'.

"Woah Jay look!" You excitedly pointed towards a painting, and rushed towards it. The museum was fairly empty today, so no one saw you rushing up to a painting like a child going up to his mother. "Jay oh my god is this an original?" You read the marking below the painting, which read, 'Judgement of Paris'.

You stared up at the magnificent painting. Three naked people along with a knight and his squire stood in a gloomy scene, with a tiny cupid peaking in from the far left of the scene. Quite a chaotic painting, you thought, even though you had analysed this painting atleast more than a thousand times. "Isn't that by that man- what's his name." Jay came up to you, also looking at the painting. He snapped his fingers suddenly. "Lucas Chranach The Elder? That's his painting." You looked at him with widened eyes. "Since when do you know so much about paintings?" Jay shrugged his shoulders and instead moved on to the next painting, with you following behind, still looking intently at The Judgement Of Paris.

"Ma'am please save me this girl is so pretty what do I say." You were sitting on the rooftop of the museum, sipping some cool wine and enjoying the flowing breeze as Jay sat in front of you, immersed in a pamphlet of the museum. You tried not to stare at his adorable face, the way he scrunched his face up and read the information written on the green piece of paper. As if to provide a miracle, Jungwon had called you, panicking about talking to Jay's apparently amazing secretary, who he was currently eating ice cream with. "Jungwon calm down." You tried hard not to giggle, "Hand the phone to Jay's secretary once." Jay looked up at the sound of his name. "Hey Kayla, it's Kayla right?" You spoke into the phone with a smile on your face, which Jay couldn't help but adore (although he tried very hard). The way your eyes lit up at every word you said to Kayla, the way you mischievously giggled when you told her what Jungwon was allergic to, the way you absent-mindedly brushed your hair behind your ears, it was like April coming early.

"Expect your secretary to be absent for a few days Jay." You put the phone down and put on a proud face. "Is she going to date your secretary?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. You shrugged your shoulders, with a little "Maybe!" "Good." Jay stated, looking at the skyline, "I've been telling her to take a break. She works too hard."

"Oh shit." You gasped out. The sky had been cloudy all day, but you never expected it to burst out this suddenly. "Come on." Jay got up from his seat, "let's get inside." The rain started pouring faster and harder as you rushed to the metal door, and tried to open it. "Fuck." You cursed under your breath, "Fuck Jay it's stuck." Jay bumped you aside gently and tried to open it, but his efforts went to vain. "Did-" he looked at you, "Did they lock it?" You glanced at the stuck doorknob. There had been no one on the rooftop except for you two, so it was a very plausible explanation for them to have locked it. "Maybe they-" "Mr Park! Miss Yang!" You heard a voice call out from the other side of the door. "Yes we're here!" Jay shouted back, putting his hand on the door. "Sir, Ma'am please hold on! The doorknob is stuck! We'll get you out in no time!"

"Great!" You threw your hand up, shouting your words so as to be heard under the pitter patterof the rain. "Now what do we- AH!" Thunder had just erupted across the atmosphere bringing with it, lightning which painted the sky with dandelions. "Oh shit." You mumbled under your breath, covering up your ears tightly, keeping the tears in your eyes. "Oh no no no this can't be happening." Heavy breaths started to engulf you, and you felt suffocated as your vision starting to blur. "Y/N?" Jay said, uneasily, "Y/N hey hey hey look at me. It's just thunder." He rubbed circled onto your back and whispered calming words into your ear as you tried hard to ignore the booming sound of the earth. "Jay-" "Yeah I'm here I'm here calm down shh."

Thankfully, before you could collapse onto the ground and melt into a puddle, you heard a clicking sound. The door had opened up to reveal two workers of the museum clad in black suits, quickly ushering you and Jay in, and handing you both towels. "Thank you." Jah thanked them absent-mindedly, his attention still on your shivering body. "Sir we apologise deeply for this." One of the workers bowed deeply. Jay brushed the apology aside however. "Forget about that. Where can we sit her down please?" He supported you onto him, and you accepted the favour, putting your weight onto his. "This way Sir."

"That was the worst thing I've done in my entire life." You sighed out, with Jay's jacket tightly wrapped around you. The rain was still pouring hard, and as you were halfway to your hotel, you noticed that all the flower shops were still open, the owners getting drenched in the rain, with tarpaulin covering their flowers. "Worse than breaking up with Ricky on graduation day?" Jay chuckled. You slapped his arm tightly and scoffed. "His ass couldn't handle this beautiful body." "So you did fuck him! Bitch, you told me you were a virgin!" Jay pointed a finger at you accusingly. "You actually believed that? Damn you're gullible." You snorted. "Oh we're here." Jay panted through a fit of laughter as you arrived at the hotel, to find Jungwon and Kayla waiting and looking very worried, and fiddling with their fingers.

"Miss Yang!" "Mr Park!" Both of them called out at the same time, running up to you and Jay, as you got out of the car and swiftly moved into the hotel, not wanting to get more wet. "Ma'am do you want to head up to your room or do you have any more discussions with Mr Park?" Jungwon meekly asked, trotting behind you. "Jay, darling, do you have anything else to say?" You asked Jay, throwing him off guard. He stared at you with a puzzling look, before quickly realising why, as he looked over your right shoulder. Camera men. News reporters. Hell even anchors were there. "No baby." He quickly came up to you, and wrapped his hand around your waist, "You should go up and rest babe, you're gonna catch a cold." You simply hummed and smiled and were about to go when- "Y/N kiss me." Jay whispered into your ear, making you freeze. Of course you wanted to sell the notion that you were actually dating Jay and this wasn't just some deal, but you didn't think that Jay would take it to the level of kissing each other in public.

Hesitant, you came forward and quickly pecked him on his lips, feeling the soft touch of them, which was rightly shown by the pinkness. You swore you could taste your own lipbalm. "See you tomorrow babe!" You shouted loudly as you went into the elevator, with a very confused Jungwon following you.

"Ma'am so you're dating Mr Park now." Jungwon asked shyly as you stepped out the bathroom in your robe. You sighed heavily and reached forward for your glass of wine. "Yep." You swirled the blood red contents in the glass around. "Unfortunately for me I am and this stupid first date just had to go wrong didn't it?" You leaned back on the sofa, "Jungwon I have the worst luck in the world." To your surprise Jungwon chuckled and leant back too. "Kayla told me she likes cat today. And I am literally allergic to cats. I don't think this entire dating thing is for me, Ma'am. And quite frankly I don't think it's for you either." You smiled widely and laughed out loud with Jungwon, both of you basking in the glory of non existent love lives, wondering only what Cupid would bring next.

#jay #enha jay #Enhypen jay #enha jay fic #enhypen jay fic #enha #Enhypen #jay fluff #jay angst #jay hirt comfort #park jay #enhypen park jongsoeng #enha fic #jay fic #park jay fic #jay fics #jay series #enhypen series #bye bye now

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the-perfect-wagnerite-again · 1 month

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What is your favorite opera? Do you have a favorite composer?

My favorite opera would have to be Die Walküre. The duet between Sieglinde and Siegmund, Brünhilde's war song, Wotan's confession to his daughter, the Ride of the Valkyries, Wotan's exiling of Brünhilde and his subsequent farewell. It's one slam-dunk after from start to finish, and that's just accounting for the music. Dramatically, it's the most engaging and the most human of all of Wagner's operas, and I still can't listen to the third act without crying.

As for my favorite composer, despite my Wagner fixation, it's actually Bach that I consider my favorite. Bach is probably the only composer that I can truly never be tired of, and he's my contender for the greatest composer of all time. He's the kind of composer whose genius produced a bottomless well of appreciation, such that every single time you revisit one of his works, you can find something new in it.

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twistedtummies2 · 1 year

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Top 15 Phantoms from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera”

Tomorrow, “The Phantom of the Opera” closes on Broadway. I’ve covered two of the major characters from the show already, with description-less lists of my favorite actors to play the beautiful Christine Daae, as well as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny. I have saved the best for last. Today, it’s time for me to share my favorite versions of The Phantom himself.

In the book, the Phantom’s real name is revealed to be “Erik,” although I don’t think that name is ever actually uttered aloud in the musical. Whatever you like to call him, the Opera Ghost is typically regarded as one of musical theatre’s most coveted and applauded roles. Playing the Phantom of the Opera is considered one of the single most prestigious roles any performer can add to their resume, and it seems like just about every person to play the Phantom - no matter how popular or how obscure - has their fair share of fans. Part of the reason for this is simply the enormous popularity and longevity of the musical itself; another part is the iconography of the character, in general, as the Phantom is considered one of the most well-known Gothic horror characters in fiction, in the same ranks as Dracula and Frankenstein’s Creature. But I think another big part of it is simply that the Phantom is, without a doubt, the most interesting and fascinating character in the play. The Phantom is the villain in the original musical. There can be no mistake about that. He is NOT the good guy, and I think he, himself, on some level or another, actually recognizes that. However, he is one of those great, recognizable, and much-applauded types of Sympathetic Villains: the ones who, despite being completely in the wrong in everything they do, you can relate to and even feel sorry for. He’s lived a hard life, and a myriad of personal traumas have led to him becoming a mad genius, desperate for love and vengeful towards the world around him. He is a mystery in the Lloyd Webber show, in many ways, but everything we know about him only makes him more fascinating and more pitiable. It doesn’t change the fact he does things like hang people from the flies for no good reason at all, or attempt to brainwash the supposed love of his life and force her to marry him by threatening her fiance, but you can understand WHY he acts the way he does, and somewhere, deep down, you almost wish he could win. All of the greatest Phantoms know how to juggle the many intricate parts of the characters personality: he has to be deranged and completely unhinged, yet he also has to be refined and sophisticated. He is an artist and an intellectual, but he is also a hopeless and desperate romantic. He is a killer and a lover, a dream and a nightmare…an angel and a demon, all wrapped into one. Choosing for this list was harder than either of the other two, but I think I’ve made good choices overall. Here are My Top 15 Favorite Portrayals of the Phantom, from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera!

15. Colm Wilkinson.

14. Howard McGillin.

13. Scott Davies.

12. Peter Karrie.

11. James Barbour.

10. Ben Lewis.

9. Ben Crawford.

8. Gerard Butler. (I don’t care if it’s an unpopular opinion, I’m sorry, I unironically really like his Phantom!)

7. John Cudia.

6. Michael Crawford.

5. Hugh Panaro.

4. Anthony Crivello.

3. Anthony Warlow.

2. Ramin Karimloo.

1. John Owen Jones.

Tomorrow: My Top 10 Favorite Songs from “Phantom of the Opera!”

#list #countdown #best #favorites #top 15 #actors #acting #theatre #musical theatre #musicals #broadway #west end #andrew lloyd webber #phantom of the opera #phantom #erik #rip phantom on broadway

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heavenboy09 · 2 years

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Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To 1 Of The Most Incredible & Greatest Actors Of Our Times & Has Been Hailed The Face Of Versatility In Acting & 1 Of The Greatest Actora Of His Generation.

Hailing all the way from New Cross, England 🇬🇧

He is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Film Awards. His films have grossed over $11 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

Born On March 21st, 1958 In New Cross, London.

the son of Leonard Bertram (1921–1985), a former sailor who also worked as a welder, and Kathleen (née Cheriton; 1919–2018). He said his father was an alcoholic who left the family when He was seven years old. His older sister, Maureen, is an actress better known as Laila Morse; she performed in His directorial debut Nil by Mouth (1997), before taking on her most famous role of Mo Harris in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

He attended West Greenwich School in Deptford, leaving at the age of 16 to work in a sports shop. He played piano as a child, but he gave up his musical aspirations to pursue an acting career after seeing Malcolm McDowell's performance in the film The Raging Moon (1971). In a 1995 interview with Charlie Rose, he said, "Something about Malcolm just arrested me, and I connected, and I said, 'I wanna do that.'"

He began acting in theatre in 1979 and made his film debut in Remembrance (1982). He continued to follow a stage career in London's Royal Court and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with credits including Cabaret, Romeo and Juliet, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Saved, The Country Wife and Hamlet. He rose to prominence in British film with his portrayals of Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), while also attracting attention as the leader of a gang of football hooligans in the television film The Firm (1989). Regarded as a member of the "Brit Pack", he achieved greater recognition as a New York gangster in State of Grace (1990), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) and

He would have gained the greatest recognition of all when he starred in the Most Important Role of a Lifetime

As The Infamous Vampire 🧛‍♂️ In All Of History & Based On The Actual Person In Life but Fictionalised In Novels

Count Dracula

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

He portrayed the villains in films such as True Romance (1993), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997) and The Contender (2000); corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield, whom he played in Léon: The Professional (1994), was called one of cinema's best villains. He also played Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved (1994) and later appeared in franchise roles such as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series,

Lieutenant / Commissioner James Gordon in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012)

Critics never fail to single Him out... he is one of a few truly great living actors—arguably, even, the best." Of his diversity, Yahoo! Movies noted that he had "gained a well-earned reputation as a brilliant chameleon"; the Houston Chronicle dubbed He Is "the face of versatility".He was regarded as one of the greatest actors never nominated for the award.

Please Wish This Distinguished & Devoted Actor Of English 🇬🇧 Filmmaking a Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

You Know Him & You Already Love Him

The 1

& The Only

MR. GARY LEONARD OLDMAN 🇬🇧

HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 TO YOU MR. OLDMAN & HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS TO COME.

#Gary Oldman #Spotify

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yashkarolia · 2 years

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Taylor Alison Swift (born on December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple generations, and her narrative songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and media coverage. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville at age of 14 to become a country artist. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording contract with Big Machine Records in 2005. Her 2006 self-titled debut album made her the first female country singer to write or co-write a U.S. platinum-certified album entirely.

Swift's next albums, Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010) explored country pop. The former's "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" were the first country songs to top the U.S. pop and all-genre charts, respectively. She experimented with rock and electronic styles on Red (2012), which featured her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one song, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", and eschew Off Shake It Offffd her country image in her synth-pop album, 1989 (2014), supported by chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood". Media scrutiny inspired the urban-flavored Reputation (2017) and its number-one single "Look What You Made Me Do".

Exiting Big Machine, Swift signed with Republic Records in 2018 and released her seventh studio album, Lover (2019), followed by the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020). She ventured into indie folk and alternative rock in her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, whose singles "Cardigan" and "Willow" topped the Hot 100. Swift began re-recording her first six albums after a dispute over their masters, re-releasing two in 2021—Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version). The latter's "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" became the longest song to top the Hot 100. Her tenth album Midnights (2022) and it's lead single "Anti-Hero" broke numerous streaming records. Swift has self-directed music videos and films, such as All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), and had supporting roles in others.

Having sold over 200 million records globally, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. She is the only act to have five albums open with over one million copies sold in the US. Among her accolades are 11 Grammy Awards, including three Album of the Year wins; an Emmy Award; 40 American Music Awards; 29 Billboard Music Awards; and 84 Guinness World Records. Swift has been featured in rankings such as Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists, the Time 100, and Forbes Celebrity 100. Honored with titles such as Artist of the Decade and Woman of the Decade, Swift is an advocate for artists' rights and women's empowerment. Her music is credited witinfluenceen cing a generation of singer-songwriters.

Life and career

1989–2003: Early life and education Taylor Alison Swift were born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Swift's father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father had purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School. During her childhood, Swift spent summers at the beach in Stone Harbor, NJ, and performed in a local coffee shop.

At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chick's karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."

When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother. To help Swift enter the country music scene, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School[32] before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which better suited her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated one year early.

2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album

In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14 due to the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people's stuff". She was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists, and recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."

1989–2003: Early life and education

the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Swift's father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor,and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father had purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School. During her childhood, Swift spent summers at the beach in Stone Harbor, NJ, and performed in a local coffee shop.

#taylor swift

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obsessivelollipoplalala · 8 months

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Longtime follower here. You’ve gotten me curious about musicals but I don’t think I’ve ever watched one. Only thing close to a musical I’ve seen is ABBA (the film)? I did like that one (I do love ABBA) Does that count? Any recommendations for a newbie?

Oh, dear follower, you’ve unknowingly set me off.

The ABBA musical is Mamma Mia, a jukebox musical. I hate jukebox musicals. They’re cheap and lazy and appeal to the average person already knowing and liking the pre-written songs. I was just talking to one of my friends recently and he said he liked Mamma Mia, and I said, “No you don’t, you like ABBA.”

He thought about it and said, “…Oh yeah, you’re right. I thought the story was really stupid.”

The reason why jukebox musicals fail is because they’re pretty much antithetical to how a musical is supposed to work. In a good musical, each song is supposed to reveal something new about a character, move the plot forward, or both. A musical is an album telling a single story. Jukebox musicals inherently cannot do this, or at least not do it well, because the songs weren’t originally written to tell a larger story or be part of a character’s larger arc! Pop songs are always written to be standalone, so they cannot be squished together to tell a larger story in a coherent, well-thought-out way. The songs just weren’t designed for that. That’s why the stories of jukebox musicals are typically so threadbare and the songs are really forced.

I’m saying all of this to explain why I hate them lol, instead of giving a simplistic, “they’re not real musicals.” But they’re not, and that’s^ why. Even Queen has a jukebox musical, and I have no interest in it lol

So let’s talk about real musicals!

If you’ve never really sat down and watched one before, there are some I wouldn’t recommend right away, so let me see:

Sweeney Todd. It’s my favorite show of all time and one of the most complex musical scores in American theater. It’s dark, it’s sometimes comedic, it’s screwed up and presents everything in a very matter of fact way instead of an edgelord way. There are a lot of differences between the film and stage show—in summary, the film actually adapted the show into a movie while the stage show works as a Broadway show!—but I’m not going to go into all of that in this post. If it’s your first musical, watch the movie. It’s played much more straight and with faster pacing that makes it more accessible to a non-theater-going audience. This is a film about a man who returns to London after being wrongly imprisoned for 15 years and seeks revenge on the man who ruined his life, raped his wife, and stole his baby daughter, all the while his former landlady is in love with him and an accomplice to his serial killing, so be warned that the film is rated R. Bonus points for eventual implied cannibalism. Sweeney Todd is insane to talk about out of context lmao but trust me, give it a chance. It was written as a horror movie for the stage

Into the Woods. This is also by American theater god Stephen Sondheim, and yes there’s a movie, but it got the tone completely wrong. The entire Broadway production with the original cast is right on YouTube! It’s a satire on fairy tales, and it’s what happens when multiple fairy tale characters collide in pursuit of their wishes. Act One ends with happily ever after—and Act Two is when everything goes wrong and multiple people die! It’s a really funny show, but it’s genuinely moving and sad by the end. Like any good fairy tale, there’s a moral of the story. It’s among Sondheim’s greatest work.

Jesus Christ Superstar. This is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It’s a 1970s rock opera about the last week of Jesus’ life, heavily featuring Judas as a sympathetic character, a tortured soul. The 1973 film is the best version out there and there are many clips on YouTube. Listen: it’s a period piece. It’s hilariously, amazingly 1970s, but the music is genuinely great, it presents Christ as a troubled man and not a god, and Judas is a compelling character. Start with the song “Heaven on Their Minds” at the beginning of the show to see if you’re interested

Fiddler on the Roof. Oh man, this one gets me. The entire film is also on YouTube right now. It’s about a small, traditional Jewish village in Czarist Russia in about 1910, and centers around Tevye, a loud, devoutly religious man who believes in the Jewish traditions of his village, but has his ways directly challenged when his daughters each gradually step away from tradition with who they want to marry. There’s also political tensions with the Russian government growing gradually hostile to Jews, so the story is about a lot of things, a lot of different ways a person’s way of life, beliefs, and traditions are challenged in life. It’s another show that’s kind of hard to describe, but trust me, it’s a funny, beautiful, and well-written show and it makes me cry.

Hamilton. Yes, it really is that good. No, don’t listen to this insane website about it. It’s well-written, engaging, entertaining, and does highlight an important figure on American history while sending the message through the music and diverse casting that the story and founding “myth” of America is for everyone, even people who look very different from the way the actual Founding Fathers did, because one of the messages is that you have no control over who tells your story.

Les Misérables. It’s just a great story with a lot of universal themes, like oppression, poverty, faith, misery, unrequited love, rising up against corruption (and failing 🙃). It’s a long story in post-revolutionary France, but I think the movie tells it pretty coherently. The movie does have problems though, like Russel Crowe as Javert was a huge disappointment because that’s such a great part, but it might be the most accessible version of the show. I like the 10th anniversary concert a lot, but yeah, it’s in concert and not staged out like in an actual production

I’d say start with those and then get back to me if you want any more lol. If you have any questions, come back here

#thanks for the ask #I love talking about this lol #musicals #replies #Anonymous

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infinitelytheheartexpands · 2 years

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Jenůfa (Berlin, 2021): Reactions, Part II

✨emotional damage emotional damage✨ @beckmessering

this music is SO foreboding. once again: janacek you GENIUS

(mostly) same furniture, new place

something something the theatre of life something something

what the fuck do you think

✨emotional manipulation emotional manipulation✨

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

conductor (simon rattle) is wringing some MAGIC from this

this is a PSA to not drug people

careful…

on second thought you are not the title character of a verdi opera, so you shouldn’t need to worry about poisoned water i guess

you can READ the conflict on her face *chef’s kiss*

deadbeat dad alert

self-flagellation

her FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

oh look deadbeat dad actually showed up

seriously she is slaying

“i mean i can pay child support but i am NOT gonna have anyone know that’s my kid”

…given that the kid looks exactly like you and is named števa, i feel like people will figure that one out

she may be short but she is DOMINATING the scene

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF

uh, RUDE

STOP THREATENING TO HIT WOMEN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck yoooooooooooooou

uh oh

“well, guess you’re here and guess you’ll do”

“she WHAT NOW??????????? with WHOM????????”

you little BITCH

WELL THAT’S A LIE

“oops now i have to figure out how to make sure no one will discover that lie”

ONE OF THE GREATEST FUCKING SOPRANO SCENES IN THE HISTORY OF OPERA LADS

seriously i will never be over these opening tremolos in my life

*dramatic cut over to baby and crib*

DON’T EVEN FUCKING THINK ABOUT IT

orchestra RAMPING up the intensity in the BEST way

religious guilt time!

and now Exceptionally Dubious Religious Justification time!

um…that’s not gonna work like you think it will…

she is giving it her ALL and it is MARVELOUS

NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

DRAMATIC CHORD AND WRENCHING VIOLIN SOLO

you missed her by like TEN SECONDS

uh, i’ve got some bad news about where she is…

aggggggggggggh she deserves SO MUCH BETTER

so gorg

UH OH

THE WAY SHE BLAMES IT ALL ON HERSELF (and števa) OH NO OH HONEY

it hurts how accurate that is

i legit had to go back and watch this little snippet like five times because of the way she just SCREAMS this line *agony*

also: ice

these moments of total commitment, where even the singers’ heavy breathing in the silence hits like a ton of bricks…these are the moments i LIVE for

this is BEAUTIFUL

THE RED STRING FROM THE BABY CLOTHES *cries*

SHE’S PRAYING FOR HER BABY TO BE PROTECTED AND HER BABY JUST GOT MURDERED I CANNOT

well that’s one way to have frozen hands

“WHY IS MY BABY NOT ON THE OTHER END OF THE STRING”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

the way she just lets the string drop to the floor… *sobs*

also: GOD TIER music right here

she’s trying to look on the bright side of a situation that has NO bright side at ALL, just to not fall into despair…

she just sounds totally emotionally drained in the best way possible

ma’am you are not in a good emotional state to handle pointy objects

agggggggggggggggggggh

LACA THIS IS NOT THE FUCKING TIME

she’s just totally broken 😭😭😭

also: camilla nylund here is killing it

SHE’S DESTROYING THE PLANT THAT WAS THE SYMBOL OF HER HOPES AND DREAMS

“hey uh i tried to put it back together”

“I DID NOT FUCKING ASK LACA”

someone is (understandably) not doing well

it may be heavy-handed but by golly it works

GOD FUCKING TIER TAKE ON ONE OF THE SINGLE GREATEST ACTS OF OPERA EVER WRITTEN

#opera #opera tag #jenufa #opera liveblog #leos janacek #janacek #i said what i said this is one of the greatest acts of opera ever written

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bartramcat · 3 years

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CSI Vegas and the Myth of Marriage

For any number of reasons, marriage has always been considered among the least interesting subjects for fiction. Fiction loves getting to the marriage or showing a marriage in trouble or ending a marriage, but the actual day to day relationship? Nah. No drama there.

A perusal of TV sitcoms reinforces this idea. While kids are considered a great source of comedic fodder, married parents are not. Beginning in the early 1960s, Andy Griffith, Fred McMurray, Lucille Ball and Shirley Jones all played single parents. Of course, they were all widowed, since divorce was verboten.

I have never been a big fan of love stories. Most of my favorite films are about something other than love; if there is a love story within it, so be it, but love stories per se tend in film to be better shot soap opera. To tell you the truth, soaps actually did a better job with the subject. It has always seemed to me to take a long time to understand why two people love one another. It takes a novel.

One of the problems is that I think that, far too often, sex is seen as the driving force behind love. In many cases, the only force. And perhaps therein lies the problem with marriage. The standard trope is that once the initial sexual excitement fades that the dull drudgery settles in. Marriage limits everything. It is a routine. It is a trap. While characters may grow outside of a marriage, rarely do they grow within it. It is the dead end.

All of which brings me to Grissom and Sara. First of all, I suppose it should be mentioned that TIIC decided in Season 13 to follow the standard playbook. They decided, in their infinite idiocy, that they couldn't "grow" Sara while she remained tethered to her offscreen husband. So both characters began acting out of character. What the first 9 seasons of CSI made abundantly clear is that these two needed each other; they were compelled to each other like magnets, like moths to the eternally alluring flame.

So, yeah, they would go months at a time barely speaking and avoiding each other. Uh, no.

I think the greatest fear that many of us had when the reboot was announced was that the show would continue to follow the conventional playbook. That, after sailing off into the sunset, they would have found some way to break up again, and whatever lured them back to Vegas would be yet another opportunity for an angst-fest.

One of the most tired tropes in soap opera is the couple who can't live together, can't live apart, so their whole arc is a series of attenuated breakups and make-ups. It is this circle of hell that is really the dead end. They never learn; they never change; they never grow.

Instead of being presented with a couple whose relationship is stagnant or broken, we have been treated to a pair who have grown together, by virtue of being together. Grissom is still Grissom, and Sara is still Sara, and, yes, they can take different sides of an issue and bicker about it, but that in no way diminishes their connection. Rather, it is indicative of the strength of the bond between them. They are comfortable and secure with each other: they may see things differently, but they do so knowing they love and are loved.

Far from being dull, their interplay has been delightful. Beyond the banter, Billy and Jorja can literally make us see the invisible thread between them. Every word, every gesture, every glance underscores the existential bond between them. Their relationship has become as much a part of each of them as breathing.

Of course, I write this knowing full well that there are 4 episodes remaining in which the possibility looms that they can still be fucked up; that this show will bow to convention and find a way to divide them. Should they go down that path will be an unbelievable disservice to the characters and the audience, as well as fly in the face of what has been established thus far in the series.

Simply put, Gil and Sara know where they belong, on land or on sea, and that is together.

To deny that would be an indefensible assault on the truth.

#csi vegas #csi #gil grissom #sara sidle #sara x grissom #married couple #william petersen #jorja fox #gsr

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amostexcellentblog · 2 years

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Every Judy Movie-#34

Way, way back in High School I set out to watch every single one of Judy Garland’s movies. Several I’ve rewatched many times since, others I had no desire to see again. Now, in honor of the centennial of her birth, I thought I’d do something with this knowledge and make a quick write up of my thoughts on all of them...

Title: I Could Go On Singing

Release Year: 1963

Plot Summary: Jenny Bowman (Garland), a famous singer, arrives in London for a series of sold-out concerts. Her true motive for the extended stay is revealed when she visits the recently widowed surgeon David Donne (Dirk Bogarde) intending to see their son. The product of a brief affair, Matt (Gregory Phillips) has been raised by his father and never told the truth about his parentage. Soap opera set up leads to inevitable heartbreak when Matt chooses his father over her. Heartbroken, she declares she’s giving up her career, but ultimately can’t resist the pull of the stage.

Thoughts: Well, here we are, the end of the yellow brick road. Garland’s final film is neither the triumphant send off she deserved, nor as embarrassing a later-career entry as those you’ll find on some of her contemporaries’ IMDB pages. It’s an awkward mix of music and melodrama, that’s somehow both the most contrived and autobiographical movie she ever made.

The movie’s biggest flaw is that the son, who should be at the center of the drama, never feels like a fully realized character so we the audience never get truly invested in his tentative bond with his mother. The saving grace of the film, in addition to the songs and Garland’s committed performance, is the final 20 minutes or so when David has to convince Jenny to honor her commitment to perform that evening. Bogarde and Garland rewrote the scene themselves, and several of Garland’s lines parallel statements she later made in tape recordings intended for a never-written autobiography. It’s a stunning, powerfully acted scene that feels raw and honest in a way everything that happened prior to it doesn’t. The follow-up scene where she returns to the stage was also deliberately autobiographical, modeled on the real bond she had with her loyal audiences, whom she would often joke with as if they were old friends.

It’s a very flawed film, but beneath the character and storyline, it’s also a fascinating portrait of what Judy Garland was like in the last years of her life. And maybe that’s all the final film of one of the greatest entertainers in history needs to be.

Can Be Enjoyed By: Diehard Fans Only | Casual Fans/Fans of Musicals in General | Essential Viewing for Everyone... Honestly, a case can be made for each of these categories.

#i could go on singing #Judy Garland #Every Judy Movie

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ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is · 4 years

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How do you think INTP being the most intelligent stereotype even came to be? every INTP I’ve met is quite literally Not Great. Or maybe why Ti is seen as one of the top functions to have in terms of intelligence rather...?

As per usual, I blame Keirsey, who was an INTP and who had, shall we say, an INTP’s eye for seeing intelligence in others. The bias in his descriptions is both palpable and hilarious. I believe we can also blame the term “the rationals” for the NTs on him, so like, this is what we’re working with.

There are examples of very smart INTPs (Einstein probably was one) and I’ve know some smart INTPs but yeah on average they’re...average (this is not an insult, most people of most types are average), and I don’t know your type but as an ISTJ this brings up all my seven-kinds-of-smart/”okay so you’re a genius but can you submit your work by the deadline” feelings. I’d rather work with someone who’s smart but not brilliant, but who actually makes progress on their ideas.

I think that’s the key: my personal take is that intuitive leaps are indeed responsible for a certain amount of genius ideas. Making previously unheard of connections is the sort of thing that when you get it right, gets you called a genius. On the other hand, it also leads to things like Einstein rejecting quantum theory, and the average INTP is not discovering relativity. Meanwhile a sensor is possibly less likely to come up with a groundbreaking new theory out of nowhere (this doesn’t mean they can’t be geniuses, I just suspect sensors are more geniuses of persistence) but also is probably going to be far more observant and make fewer complete mistakes. The highs and lows of an INTP are I suspect much more extreme than those of, say, an ISTJ, and if you happen to catch a low, or even a middle, you’re not going to be impressed.

As for Ti: I joke around a lot about Ti being the worst function and like, it’s probably my least favorite to work with (hang out with, fine, work with, please give me some goddamn Te or at least high Fe) but I suspect the stereotype comes from a certain “absent-minded professor” idea of genius (which is a very narrow definition of genius but I do know extremely smart people who fit that mold) and there’s probably some overlap with enneagram 5 as well. I haven’t gone off on this for a while (also I just woke up and am only half a coffee cup in, sorry for how incoherent this is) but I feel there’s a real problem on the internet and typology Tumblr that confuses reading a lot of random Wikipedia articles with being a smart person. A certain amount of curiosity is an important element of being smart, but you know what’s invaluable? Knowing what you don’t know. You know what else is valuable? Seeing your work through even when it sucks. Curiosity and even insight are only the first parts and a lot of average high Ti users and 5s stall out there. I mean you can have the greatest idea on earth, but we call Einstein a genius because he also proved that he was right and did the work.

Part of why I am also pretty unimpressed with internet INTPs who scream about how smart they are is they always bring up loving quantum physics but have, well, read the random Wikipedia articles and that’s it and sure, the concepts are pretty great but can you do the math, and can you apply it in ways where it’s actually useful, or do you want to sit in an armchair and be like “wow, quantum physics, man”? Because that’s not genius, that’s just liking things, and you can like things but it doesn’t make you smarter to spend your time liking quantum physics vs. liking prime time soap operas or baseball. You have to do the work too, not just enjoy the fun concepts.

I should note after this giant ramble: I don’t know why people got on the idea that reading Wikipedia articles makes you smart (it doesn’t make you dumb, but thinking this alone will make you smart is pretty dumb), and this is a much bigger question than MBTI. I suspect it has to do with a pop-culture idea of intelligence, that winning on Jeopardy=intelligence rather than knowing a lot of random things. It’s why science PhDs on TV shows always know like 17 scattered fields instead of you know, acting like someone who dedicated five years in their 20s to studying a single highly specific thing and writing a couple hundred pages on it. The INTP stereotype looks the part but there’s nothing below the surface; actual INTPs (and high Ti users, and 5s) can be extremely intelligent people but there are also definitely plenty who just know some trivia and are loud and insufferable about it.

#mbti #intp #Anonymous

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renatogpadilla · 3 years

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FFVI as a D&D Campaign:

OK, so I've been watching "Critical Role" (Campaign 1, Episode 31, no spoilers!) a LOT lately and it got me thinking how FFVI (arguably the BEST "Final Fantasy" game out there) is essentialy that. The biggest moments could be atributted to CRAZY rolls! I can see each of the characters being played by one of the people at the table! * Marisha as Terra Branford: Would be phenomenal. Her mentality is kinda in-line with Keyleth's. The "Kill Their Own Emotions" moment in the boat shakes the table as a whole. And when it's time to run an orphanage and protect her kids from Humbaba, the emotion in her voice destroys everyone in the Party. The "Mama?" moment becomes the most fan-arted moment for her character until the final fight. Her Trance ability is agreed to be the coolest looking skill at the table. To say nothing of the way she'd react to the whole Slave Crown bussiness!

Matt: "She killed 50 imperial soldiers in a few minutes." Marisha, and the whole table: *S H A K I N G*

* Taliesin as Locke Cole: "Treasure Hunter!" every single time somebody calls him a thief or a rogue. The "Rachel" story would be absolutely heartbreaking with Taliesin's expressions. The solo-sneak through the town while meeting Celes would be one of the highlights of the Campaign... That and his frienship with Terra would only be accentuated by Taliesin's and Marisha's irl friendship. Not to mention him puking on the ship would serve as some comedic timing straight out of "Critical Role"! Also, "That bow looks good on you" LAUNCHES the ship to heights undreamt of.

* Sam as Edgar Figaro: I mean, COME ON! IT WRITES ITSELF! Besides, it would be enjoyable to see him use his -Artificer- Machinist abilities as creatively as he does! Can you IMAGINE him rolling high enough one day and then he just creates the Noiseblaster? And with that he pulls out the microphone every time he uses it and proceeds to shout some thing Scanlan would be proud of... Not to mention his friendship with Sabin would be amazing if played by Sam! "The little shrimp has become a mighty Lobster!" You can HEAR Sam Riegel's voice come out of that! And the two headed coin? Now THAT's a Scanlan! This without mentioning the violations of the Geneva Convention that the Bioblaster would certainly entail...

* Laura as Celes Chere: I mean, OBVIOUSLY. Meeting Locke in the dungeon? The apparent betrayal? THE OPERA HOUSE?! "I'm a former General, not some... Opera floozy!" TELL ME you don't hear Laura Bailey saying that! And then she rolls a Natural 20 on performance and EVERYONE looses their shit! Her Runic ability is the target of MANY close saves. Also, the way Locke and Celes' interactions happen, she'd be perfect opposite Taliesin. The chat on the bridge in Albrook? HEARTSTOPPING. The attempted suicide? You KNOW Matt would call the sesion there!

* Travis as Sabin Figaro: This one was obvious. Monk/Barb that gets mistaken for a bear, and acts like an absolute teddy bear around Terra? Yes. Gods above, YES. "You think a tiny thing like the end of the world was going to be enough to keep me down?" You heard Grog too, right? The moments would be worth MILLIONS. The Opera house and Travis going "Why is everyone singing?" and then getting more and more into it! Him holding up the house for Celes! "MISTER THOU"... But best of all, and probably the single most famous Sabin moment EVER, The Phantom Train:

Matt: The train tracks suddenly lurch to the side. Even after this long and hard-fought battle it seems *chukles* it seems this train isn't letting you get away with your lives. That brings us to you, Travis! Travis, on his 5000 IQ shit: I grapple the train.

Entire Table: ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?!?!

Matt: No way in hell are you gonna- You know what? Roll for it. *Picks up dice for the Train* Taliesin: He's dead. He's so fucking dea-

Travis: NATURAL 20.

Entire Table: *Silent disbelief, everyone looks at Matt*.

Matt: *Also in disbelief* ...Rolled a 1.

Entire Table: *Inintelligeble gasping and hyperventilating*

Travis: I'm going to use my last Blitz as Meteor Strike and suplex the Train!

Matt: *Looking at the sheet, knowing damn well what's about to happen* Go ahead and roll for damage...

Travis: *Rolls for damage*

Matt: *Braces for impact* How do you wanna do this?

Entire Table and the Internet: *EXPLODES*

The Fanart keeps coming, even YEARS after the Campaign is done...

* Liam as Setzer Gabbiani: Since he's LITERALY "Mister Steal Your Girl", I think Liam would be PERFECT. Just imagine him getting set up as this suave and smooth rougue who wanted to kidnap a beautiful singer and then gets Laura instead! (Which isn't entirely wrong...) IMAGINE his expresions and his dissapearing under the table laughing as the others barely climb aboard The Blackjack. THE ENTIRE PARTY giving him shit for a low roll on a Wisdom Check (the double-headed coin) and him segwaying that into joining the party, only to find out that he actually knew all along... Priceless. The total and undistilled heartbreak as his ship falls apart, him trying to reach out for Terra and everyone falling on different places. And then meeting Celes a year later and doing the whole Daryll story... Liam would be the one to steal the audience every time he takes the spotlight! Though he would be a little like Percy in the sense that he doesn't get much to do until his arc happens.

"Money, Money, Money!" every time he throws coins to attack, the loaded dice (in character, not at the table?) and the card throws would make him so stylish in a D&D setting I'll be surprised if somebody hasn't done it already.

* Ashley as Relm Arrowny: She takes forever to join because of her constantly being away for filming, but once she's here? HOO BOY, does the fun keep coming! Her paintings coming alive and helping them fight? Her giving Sam shit for Edgar's love life? "Fuddy-Duddy!" becoming A Thing? All of those moments would be hilarious... But probably her most notorious moment comes when they find her a year later, serving a posessed brush, telling her to paint, paint, paint under the Magic House... "Keep painting until I'm complete..." The party snaps her out of it before she finishes the greatest painting she's ever done, her Magnum Opus, and then the painting coming alive prematurely in order to force her to finish... To give her form. And then the Lakshmi boss fight happens... Matt: And with the last of her strength gone, the banshee-like apparition dissipates into mist, and before any of you can react, Relm's magic brush begins to glow, like it had when you first came in here. The glow slowly creeps off the hairs and darts! Off towards the mistified form of it's mistress, enveloping itself into a thicc layer on top of the mist, swirling around... and around and around.

Ashley: Oh god, now what?

Matt: The colors dissipate, and Lakshmi unleashes a terrible wail! *DM monster noises* As it is now joined with this colorful cloud... And it compresses, smaller and smaller... And more solid until it's not mist anymore.

Marisha: *Gets it* ¡WAIT A MINUTE!

Travis: *Exited* ¡OH SHIT, HOLD ON!

Matt: The fog dissipates... And the calm returns to Relm's senses. Ashley you are now holding an innert, ordinary paint brush. However! Floating in the air, you see a crystal with a small glowing core, the particular essence of Life embeded in the middle, Terra you *points at Marisha* feel this and recognize it instantly, as it falls to the ground, and bounces a couple times... A brand new shard of Magicite.

Party: *FERAL LOOTING*

"Lakshmi" becomes the most PAINFUL fanart to make, and it's ALWAYS the one that's valued the most among the fandom.

The rest of the Party (Strago, Umaro, Mog, Cyan, Gau and GoGo) can be the guests that come over every once in a while (I particualrly see Wil Wheaton as Strago Magus, Mary McGlynn as GoGo and Will Friedle as Clyde "Shadow" Arrowny) with Shadow coming and going with the excuse that "His contract is up" (and let's face it, after surviving/witnessing the Phantom Train? My contract would be up too...) and coming back whenever his schedule/the plot allows. Eventually, everyone comes together for one last session and the battle with God Kefka. Setting their affairs in order, the reveal of who Shadow really is during a lone chat with Strago shakes the Critters to their core. Everything makes sense! Why Interceptor went straight to Relm when they met... Why his nightmares kept showing a village of magic users, yet they never mention Shadow in Thamasa! The group is RATTLED and wether or not he survives at the end becomes a HEATED argument between everyone at the table. Only Strago knows the truth...

The sendoff on The Falcon with everyone saying goodbye and seeing what the World will bring next is regarded as one of the most emotional scenes in "Critical Role" history... But the most completely DESTRUCTIVE force in this entire cast is Matt Mercer as Kefka Palazzo:

The personality... the narrative... The absolute slime in his voice when he poisons Doma. When he kills Leo and brings forth the Light of Judgement. Matt definitely has his moments playing Ultros. He's fun! And Emperor Ghestal was more of a political "Darth Sidious" villain. But Kefka? OH, LORD. NOBODY was ready for Kefka. "Enjoy the barbicue!" gets memed to no end, while also sending a horrible shiver down people's spine whenever somebody brings it up. Truly, the villain to end all villains. I can see it happen so vividly... If anybody wants to talk about this more, PLEASE hit me up! This just feels too good! Until off course the party moves on to their next Campaign in the setting for "Final Fantasy 5" but that's a whole OTHER can of worms!

#Critical Role #FFVI #FF6 #Final Fantasy #D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Critters #CritRole #The Returners #Vox Machina #The Mighty Nein #DM

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sendmyresignation · 4 years

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alright. writing this “little” piece to exorcise the demon inside of me that wants to expand my teenagers meta further than it needs to go (if you weren't aware I'm writing a post, well an essay, wellll a short paper, about why teenagers fits on the black parade- stay tuned) BUT i cannot stop thinking about the multiple little "rockstar to kill" moments within the song/music video/live performances so... I'm self-indulgently going to write about it :)

anyway, at its most simplified, teenagers is a song about the violence within adolescents and being an adult whose afraid of that capability. that is the basic, surface-level understanding of the song. inherently, with mcr specifically, that sets up a conflict between the narrator of the song and the song’s audience. that means conflict is generational- it duplicates itself over and and over which allows for several different understandings of the narrator’s perspective. the cyclical nature means they could be speaking to a representation of what they view as the fundamental corruption of the youth, both by outside focuses and their very human nature, as the narrator become more cynical in their old age. it could be representative of them talking to their past self, reminiscing on the revenge fantasies they had in high school or the ways they were made to feel like an outcast when they were young. and they also could be speaking directly to the very literal future about their concerns as a mentoring figure (teenagers, to me, functions in layers, its interpretation can shift and change depending on the context) right now we’re preoccupied with that last perspective both within the song and the video’s contextualization, and into this wider idea of what the band’s purpose was (or how they saw their purpose).

putting the rest under a read more out of respect <333

moving into the actual text with that in mind, what becomes significant is the tonal contrast between being the seemly scathing, sarcastic indictment of Dangerous Teenagers on the surface to the actual understanding (if we’re talking about the single on its own) which is moreso criticizing the Authority figures who create and mold this violence either purposely (cog in the murder machine) or with indifference (you’ll never fit in much/they’ll leave you alone/as well as the implication of having to take matters into your own hands because the adults are absent). As a result, the song, on its own, isn’t actually blaming teenagers for the violence they perpetuate, but the narrator attempts to extend their understanding and offer advice. here is a figure looking to bring catharsis without patronizing. like this is most clearly expressed in the use of “maybe they’ll leave you alone, but not me” at the end of the chorus, which in this reading means the other adults may leave you alone, the but I am stepping in to tell you that both self-directed and outward expressions of violence are bullshit and useless and that’s what everyone else is expecting of you so fucking stop it! (this can obviously be re-figured within the context of the album- because, interestingly, the pronouns are purposely confusing with the multiple uses of they in this section) the violence is never explicitly vilified by the speaker,- its exaggerated- what you have under your shirt won’t solve anything isn’t that obvious how ridiculous it sounds, how ridiculous I sound saying it out loud? but also, the violence is implicit. the conflict is still there. the teenagers still scare the shit out of the narrator. so what gives?

well. the song is still about the gulf between generations. the speaker is still afraid and out of touch, regardless of the leadership role they’ve assumed or the perspective of the past they can offer. there is ultimately a limit to how much they can give.

which leads us right into the music video.

So first things first, Black Parade as a whole is heavily inspired by Pink Floyd’s The Wall musically, but the actual aesthetics of the wall are kind of divorced from the ww1 cabaret weimar thing that parade is drenched in (bc britian circa the 1950s is boring and the wall is purposely very ugly and grey and removed from emotion which isn’t dramatic enough for what mcr had in mind). However, teenagers exists as a sort of connecting point between the two- the music video of Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (which you can watch here if you’ve never seen it) is clearly an influence on the subject matter and the setting and the “plot” of teenagers video- it serves as a sort of a parallel to it. more specifically, there are the “running shots” of kids making their way through unlit hallways into the auditorium that evoke the children in the pink floyd video marching through the school. there’s also the line “cog in the murder machine”, which seem particularly inspired from the depiction of children as going through machines and coming out the other side stiff, wooden, and obedient. then the backdrop of the large bomb centered in my chem’s stage show mimics the shot of the headmaster standing behind the large, lit up clock- especially since that where the teenagers in the crowd of mcr’s video all begin acting in unison, similar to the children in the wall all falling into line (but, like, just the use of ww2 era bomb imagery and gas masks in general is very reminiscent of the early wartime parts of the wall anyway). so in a vague sense, there is a huge connection between teenagers and that emulation and replication of the wall.

however, the most striking similarity is that, in the same way the students destroy their school in a moment of violent inspiration after sequences of disconcerting compliance, the group of high schoolers in teenagers do the same against the band. the difference is that in the case of the teenagers, the explosion is directed at the source of their outburst (they switch from the on-beat fist-punching to wild moshing as the song devolves and ray’s solo starts) instead of in opposition to a more institutional suppressive force. they are not motivated to action because of something done to them, instead it is the actual music itself that serves as both the impetus of conformity and the fuse that destroys that same unison action and then the band. and what’s significant is the particularity of the actions the crowd takes: they steal the band’s instruments from them and they bodily remove gerard from the microphone. like contrast this violence against the band vs the desolation row video where the whole band is physically incapacitated- there, its about knocking them around and getting them to stop (ray is beat down by police, bobs drums are destroyed, etc etc). but here, its about taking their places- the act of destruction is calculated but not purposely cruel. so, in teenagers being a parallel to Another Brick, that moment of turning on the band is the moment of violence but is also the moment of freedom. the difference in the two becomes the ways in which the band is responsible for reawakening the fire within the audience and giving them a purpose. which here is “killing the rockstar” by taking over, taking their places. and that is the nature of music and the nature of the conflict implicit to becoming the “rockstars”

it brings us right back around to that generational conflict: except when your talking about mcr’s realationship with their audience, that becomes the fostering of a group of outcasts and weirdos and freaks and giving them the tools to save themselves, yes. but also giving them the opportunity to do exactly what they did. to pick instruments and take their places. its the cyclical nature of creation and destruction “because when we get old and lazy some of you guys are gonna have to eat us alive by starting your own fucking band (x), that idea of needing a “rockstar to kill” has been refigured to mean something newer, positive. we are the ones killing them, but not in the way of typical martyring where a crowd of detractors and nonbelievers burns you at the stake- but instead by continuing the natural cycle of art, true genuine art. just as mcr is built off of so many influences- creating an entirely new project out of that existing landscape of sound that reaches people and gives them an outlet, we are doing the same things. by besmirching metal and punk by mixing them together, by “selling out” so they could put together a rock opera, by adding theater into a hyper masculine culture of nu-metal and post-hardcore, by making deeply emotional music that was still violent or angry, by writing the way they did they killed the bands they loved and made something better. its the the way in which the creative cycle is a rebirth, of scavenging the good things from the people who came before you and moving forward and taking the world by storm. here, in the video, the audience redirects their violence at the band, yes. but that is the point. teenagers still scare the shit out of the narrator, but that’s not going to stop them from reaching out, from speaking to them directly, from performing until their very last moments

until they take over. until they kill the rockstar. until we eat them alive.

in the end, that is the mission of my chemical romance, isn’t it- to inspire that level of passion, to turn the music into a life-raft and then gasoline and fire in your gut and then a sense of purpose and then into freedom and endless joy? and isn’t it the greatest act of love, the truest expression of admiration to tear them apart, build ourselves creations out of the wreckage to fill the space they leave behind, and then lay them to rest when the time has come?

#my brain. is crazy :) enjoy :)#mcr assigned reading #my posts

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