#original music would be a whole different category though

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Eisteddfod Chairs: Pick Your Winner!

It's almost June! Nearly time to reveal the 2023 Chair! So come, gather round Tumblrs, let me tell you of the furniture-based customs of my people

So Wales has been celebrating Eisteddfodau (festivals of poetry, music, and disco dancing), in some form or another, since at least the 1100s, when Lord Rhys of Dinefwr had one all formal-like and made it into a big fun party and that. The word basically means 'sitting place', and probably refers to the way people in summer would gather round the twmpath in the village to listen to bards that passed through and drink mead and shout 'hurrah!' a lot. Amazingly, this is not where the Chair Thing comes from.

Part of Welsh history is the Bardic Age, and it was custom for bards to travel the country and visit the courts of assorted gentry types (also normal people's houses and taverns and twmpaths but let's stay on topic) and play for them. If the lord paid well, great; if not, the bard would write a Super Mean Song about them and sing it everywhere, so they were pretty well treated.

But if they were particularly good, rather than making them play for the WHOLE meal, the lord would offer them a chair at the table to join in the feast as a guest, rather than a worker, and THAT is where the Chair Thing comes from.

Anyway that's preamble to say that every year in the biggest Eisteddfod of all - the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol - the highest honour awarded goes to the Prifardd - the bard who writes the winning cywydd (super complex Welsh poetry WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN ALL OF THIS). And the prize for writing the winning cywydd is that you are awarded, you guessed it, the Chair.

Now these Chairs (capital C, please, we like a bit of Fantasy Novel Capitalisation and for this cultural reason I will never understand people who complain about it) are unique. They are thrones. They are carved each year by one chosen carpenter, who crafts a one-of-a-kind Chair with symbolism and that, never to be replicated. They usually have the year carved on, but otherwise, they vary wildly in aesthetic and symbolism. In a No Award year (because Eisteddfod judges don't subscribe to the Western idea that there HAS to be a first, second and third place; if no one is good enough there is no award, and I have seen choir competitions for seven year olds where there was no first or third place but there were two choirs in joint second), the Chair is sent back to the carpenter who carved it, and they get to keep it. In a year where the bard died before the ceremony, it is draped in black, and given to next of kin.

(That has only happened once. RIP Hedd Wyn, 1887-1917. Also the only reproduced Chair; the original, known as the Gadair Ddu (the Black Chair) is on display in his family home, but a 3D printed replica has been made for display by Amgueddfa Cymru)

BUT THEREFORE a big part of Eisteddfod fun is seeing what the Chair will look like this year. Traditional ones, see, we tend to think look like variants of this:

(Apologies for the substandard attempts at alt-text; I have no clue how to describe these properly)

This one is from 1896. The phrase "Y gwir yn erbyn y byd" means "The truth against the world", and was included in a lot of old ones. Modern ones tend to incorporate the druidic symbol for awen ("poetic inspriation") instead. Some of these incidentally turn up in lil' chapels and that about the country.

But actually even the old ones were mad different, look; clockwise from top left, these are y Gadair Ddu (1917), 1876, 1926 (when the carpenter was Chinese and enjoyed the cultural fusion), and 1908.

Still the same theme, though, but in the modern day the carpenters are all off the shits! They're all over the place! Fuck the rules! And I have Opinions.

Category: I See What You Did There

SYMBOLISM!!! 2011 is a pit wheel from Wrexham's mining past! 2013 is the head of a harp, from Denbighshire's cultural harp-making past! 2017 is fish, from Anglesey's maritime present! Fantastic. Love it.

Best in category: 2017. Why does Anglesey's have so many eyes on the fish? We don't know. Wylfa B protestors reportedly furious.

Category: The Modern Throne

TALL!!! That silhouette! That height!! They have the range, darling! Christ knows 2016 doesn't have anything else going for it! Shout out to the Conwy river on 2019, the different woods from the forests of Maldwyn for 2015, and the red kite symbolism for Ceredigion in 2022 (the spiritual home of the bird, where the species was first saved).

Best in category: 2019, Conwy. I like the bridge and the river lines and the water effect on the front of the seat it's just so pretty.

Category: That's Just A Chair

(I am actually friends with the Prifardd who won 2018 at the bottom there :D )

WHAT ARE RULES WE JUST WANT FUNCTIONAL CHAIRS. Man even so 2014 was fucking ugly. You could have 2018 in your house. Around your table, like. Even 2012 has a sort of IKEA vibe that's boring but palatable. 2014 is only coming in the house under sufferance.

Best in Category: 2018, easy, and not just because it's the one I'm most likely to get to sit in one day. It's pretty.

Category: NO GODS NO CHAIRS NO MASTERS

WHAT

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN 2010

BRO I DO NOT THINK YOU TRIED

Best in Category: OBVIOUSLY 2021 I COULD PHYSICALLY MAKE 2010 MYSELF

[cornercadet]

The Human Capacity for Language

Hello. Been a while hasn’t it?

Anywho, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but the way that (spoken) language just comes naturally to humans is wild.

I was going to do a whole ramble about how language could be unique to humans, but I don’t think that makes much sense. I mean, for a species to become advanced enough to leave their planet, they’d have to communicate with others from their species somehow. The aliens might consider the way that they communicate to be different than a human language, but humans would still classify any advanced form of communication like that as a language.

Which could be a very interesting relationship to develop with humans and this fictional alien species. Human linguists might study and compare this alien language to our own, but the aliens would consider the two concepts so different that they don’t understand why humans are putting them in the same category.

Moving on, I find it so interesting how spoken language is like a natural human thing, but written language isn’t (at least not to the degree that spoken language is. I’m not a linguist. Don’t quote me on this.) Written language implies that something needs to be preserved. Protected so that someone, somewhere, later on might understand it. Idk. Can you tell I like philosophy LMAO.

I think this ties into music as well. I believe I’ve heard that we have records of an ancient musical notation that has been lost to time, so we don’t actually know what it would’ve sounded like.

I HAVE DONE SOME GOOGLING. I think what I heard about was the Hurrian songs (very interesting, look it up if you’re interested.) Which are in a language that we only partially understand, so we’ll never fully know what it sounded like.

That’s fascinating to me. Some ancient person could’ve made a song that is almost identical to something that exists today and we’d never know because there’s no records of it.

I’ve lost my original topic. OOPS. Hah. I tricked you into listening to me ramble about songs.

I will tie it back to HASO though. Maybe the ability for human languages to evolve so quickly that we loose the ability to properly speak and read ancient languages is not normal, and very strange. Maybe linguistic studies (not sure if there’s a proper term for this) and other related sciences aren’t a thing in the societies of aliens because their languages have remained largely stagnant. Or the language evolved so slowly that they still have good records of what it used to sound like (or however they communicate if it’s not through sound.)

Will make another post about music sometime in the future because I think that’s an interesting topic as well.

[andy-wm]

Andy, I dont think JM is queer, coz in WHO he is singing about a her, not a they.

She/her pronouns leave no scope for ambiguity.

Anon, that's like me saying 'Anonymous' must be your real name because that's who the ask came from.

Makes sense?

No.

No it does not.

If the pronouns were THEY, Jimin would be

a) slammed for being woke

and

b) not clearly telling you that he lives in a society that makes him think his love MUST be a she/her. And he can't find love, he can't find it anywhere.

If he had grown up thinking he could find love with (he/she/they... any pronouns) don't you think he would have found it by now? I mean, look at him, he's so beautiful and kind and smart. How could he not find someone?

Would he be singing songs about how he can't find love?

The way he specifically says HER tells you THAT'S WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES.

Please, Anon (not your real name, yeah?)

Please, for your future self, for you to navigate the information you encounter every day, don't just grab the first thing you see and run with it. Sure, consider your immediate reaction, but also consider what else might be happening.

Because theres always more than one way to look at a situation.

(Thats why we have a jury of 12 and courts of law, and we don't just let people claim revenge for perceived wrongs by vigilante justice. Because there's two sides to a story, and you need different perspecives to see all the angles.)

Critical thinking skills are important because often messages are hidden.

Sometimes it's because the author wants you to misunderstand at first, because their real meaning will have more impact when you discover it later.

Sometimes there are two different messages directed at two different types of audience (like kids movies with adult jokes hidden in them)

Sometimes it's because they actually cannot say what they really want to say because they aren't allowed to or because it'snot safe or because they simply don't want to be upfront.

In the case of this song, it's all three of those reasons.

Context clues tell us that this album is very queer themed. There are rainbows and smeraldo flowers everywhere.

Smeraldo flowers LITERALLY mean a hidden truth/ truth untold/ I couldn’t tell the truth.

The original posts about Smeraldo flowers are translated here:

You'll find this here: https://cafearmy.wordpress.com/category/flower-smeraldo-blog-post-translations/page/2

There are also clues in the WHO music video - the extended metaphor of the weather, and the rainbows and colour flares. These tell us THERE'S MORE GOING ON HERE.

Read the lyrics and also watch the mv and think about what you are hearing and seeing.

Follow the story and think about WHY everything is happening the way it happens.

The director didn't just randomly yell "ok dance! Now run a bit, now look at the camera, now sing!"

There's a plan. The plan is based on a story they're telling. The story has an ending that THEY ALREADY KNOW, but that we don't.

Until we've seen the whole thing and thought about it, and then gone back to see what we missed the first time around, we dont know.

Like Spring Day isn’t REALLY about the seasons, and Bapsae isnt about birds, and The Truth Untold isn't about growing flowers.

Go back and watch the MV with the audio muted and think about the story thr MV tells without the music.

Read the lyrics as though you are reading a poem.

Genuinely, i care about this (i am a school librarian Anon, i wouldn’t be one if i didn't care about how people interact with information) so listen and think about it.

Then come back and tell me if you still think he's not queer because the pronouns in this song are she.

Borahae 💜

[lynzishell]

The Past 💛 Atlas

I’ve finally reached a point where I can sit down and do some work on Ash’s game on my own. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. Not only because his workflow is incredibly chaotic, but also his design is incredibly complex, far more complex than anything we work on at Rainy Day, but it’s fun to feel challenged again.

I’ve spent every night this week in Ash’s living room while he walks me through everything he has so far, sorting out the design and the mechanics, his ideas for the worlds, characters, storylines, objectives, and so on. Yet, it feels like we’ve only scratched the surface.

We work well together, but we’re also easily distracted, often going off on random tangents and talking about everything from our families to school years and childhood friends to experiences we’ve had or want to have; we talk about how fun it would be to have our own indie gaming company one day, if only we could focus on the actual game for longer than an hour at a time.

Last night a song came on that inspired a whole conversation about music and all the songs we used to sing the wrong lyrics to, and some he still sings wrong just to annoy Lex. We started playing a game where we’d give each other a random word or category and the other would have to play a song they liked that fit. At one point I asked him what his guilty pleasure song is.

“Oh, I have dozens of those,” he said, “uh, but the first one that comes to mind is The Boys of Summer.”

“Your guilty pleasure song is an 80’s song?” I was shocked considering the amount of shit he gives me for the majority of my playlist.

“No no no no,” he shook his head, “I should clarify. The original sucks.”

“Of course you think so.”

“Obviously. Okay, but the one I’m talking about is the cover of The Boys of Summer by The Ataris.

“I like the name, but I have no idea who that is,” I admitted.

He laughed as he pulled up the song and told me, “You’re either going to love this or hate it. I’m not sure which.” When he pressed play, all I could do was watch in awe as he shamelessly enjoyed the song, complete with hand motions, air guitar and lip syncing. At one point he leaned in and sang directly to me, “But I don’t understand what happened to our love. But baby when I get you back, I’m gonna show you what I’m made of!” And then he spun away and started dancing to the chorus.  

Before I had a chance to think too hard about whether he was trying to tell me something through the lyrics, he pulled me off the couch to join him. We sang and danced with everything we had until we collapsed onto the couch, out of breath and wiping tears from our eyes.

When we finally calmed down, he pointed at me, “Your turn. What’s your guilty pleasure song?”

“Oh god,” I covered my face, “I can’t believe I’m going to tell you this.”

“Tell me.” He demanded.

“Dancing With Myself by Generation X. I can’t hear it and not sing and dance around my apartment like an idiot.”

“Oh, I have got to see this!” He sat up excitedly to find the song and turn it on… and then cheered when I began clapping my hands to the beat… and then completely lost it and fell over laughing when I sang along with my eerily accurate Billy Idol impersonation.

It’s become one of my favorite things, making him laugh. He has about a dozen different laughs from a rush of air through his teeth, to an infectious giggle, to a loud belly laugh… but my favorite is when he’s laughing so hard that no sound comes out aside from a series of clicks until he finally catches his breath.

It’s so easy with him, to get out of my head, to just relax and be myself.

Not everything is easy, though. I keep telling myself that eventually my feelings will fade, that it will get easier to just be his friend and nothing more, but if anything, it’s getting more difficult. Sometimes when we’re together, all I can think about is sliding my hand over to rest it on his leg, or to pick up his hand and interlace our fingers, or to reach up and hold his face, turning it toward me so I can kiss him. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about kissing him, his lips, his neck, that inch skin above his waistband that sometimes shows when his shirt rides up just enough, every part of him. Sometimes I let my eye contact linger just a little, desperate for him to give me a sign that he still feels the same way, but he never does. On some level, I’m grateful. It’s better this way. I’d only end up hurting him again.

I hear the front door open and close, bringing me out of my daydream and back to my computer screen. I look over what I’ve done so far to make sure I didn’t screw anything up while I drifted away.

A second later, I hear Dawn enter the room and flop onto my bed behind me and I glance at the clock, it’s only two.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Finished early. What are you doing? I thought you weren’t working on Fridays anymore.”

“I’m not. It’s just a side project I’m working on with Ash.”

“Ooooh I see.”

I roll my eyes and change the subject before she can inquire further. “So, why are you on my bed? What do you want?” As I say the words, I’m overcome by the feeling that we’ve done this before.

“For you to take a break and go do something with me." I'm antsy. "I’m antsy.” Her words come out like an echo from my own mind and my whole body feels fuzzy for a moment.

“Have we had this conversation before?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Hm. I’m having the weirdest déjà vu.”

“Maybe you’ve been staring at that screen too long. We should get out and do something.”

“What do you have in mind?”

I’m open to suggestions. “I’m open to suggestions.”

Weird. This conversation, the song playing through my speaker, Dawn laying on my bed, me at my computer… everything feels so familiar. “Where’s your boyfriend? Why aren’t you dragging him out?” Even as I ask the question, I know I’ve asked it before.

“He’s busy…” Having coffee with his ex-girlfriend. “Having coffee with his ex-girlfriend.”

Okay, I clearly need some fresh air, and she clearly needs my support right now, so I save my work, lock my computer, and spin around to face her. “Oh, that’s why you’re antsy. Okay, I can take a break, but let’s go outside. We can go for a jog, that’ll get your energy out.”

“Fine, I’ll go change.”

Prev // Deja vu // Next

[statementlou]

hi it's just me being nosy and asking a follow up to your vinyl anon--what are some of your non-1DCU favorites? collection tour please 😇

hiiii gosh and look you even put the link on for me to make it easy! The question itself is NOT EASY though I was like BUT WHAT IF I FORGET ONE?? Like what CATEGORY of favorite?! But the timing couldn't be better, I am currently as previously mentioned in the process of moving all of my stuff around, a huge project that 1) is perfect for listening to records while I do things like move books from one shelf to another and 2) means I just today moved my record player to a far better place where I am actually using it again for the first time in ages (for one thing onto an actual properly non wobbly surface) so I listened to records today and picked a few that will do sorry to all the others I forgot and love even more I'm sure

I picked first up Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth not just because it's so good (IT IS THOUGH) but also because it's an album that having it on vinyl feels SO right and it makes me happy just to handle; the pretty Gerhard Richter painting cover, a little crackle and pop with the music, the aesthetic of it all! I mean Sonic Youth probably literally birthed the indie hipster luddite aesthetic, it seems Right™ Second is The Bonny by Gerry Cinnamon, because being able to listen to the songs The Bonny and Ghost specifically on vinyl feeds my soul in deep and important ways. Also the 4th side is blank and etched with lyrics, like the JHO single, very cool. And last the record/album I've almost certainly played the most times in my life, even though the copy I have has skips now (to be loved is to changed and all that yk) and I haven't to date been able to bring myself to buy a reissue or pay $$$ for another original: 24 Hour Revenge Therapy by Jawbreaker. It's just important in like 15 different ways okay? Tip, if anyone is like huh! I will go listen to this album I've never heard it (DO!! also then tweet it at Louis a lot, he would REALLY LIKE IT) I think the best way to do this is to skip the first song the first time, it's a whole different vibe than the rest. Also right now my fave is LTLIVE on vinyl 😭 playing records makes me want to put it on SO BAD :((( also bonus content, one of my favorite things about records for some reason is seeing who goes next to who idk I just find it fun and if I were naming a band it would totally be a big consideration... so for extra tour of the shelf, Gerry Cinnamon is between the Germs and The Gits (listen the Cs are crowded, it's my shelf I can do what I want), Sonic Youth was between The Snuts and Social Distortion- which the astute may notice is not correct, she will be going back other side of Social D- and Jawbreaker nestle cozily between Japandroids and Jerk With A Bomb. Louis, for the record, lives between very twee girl band Tiger Trap and very fast hardcore band Tragatello, lol. A weird bill, that, but they do have one thing in common- all feature queer musicians

[fitzrove]

2, 9, 12 for the musical asks!

Tysm for asking!!!! Already did 9 hehe, but:

2. Who is your current favourite musical theatre actor, and does this differ from last year?

Omg this is so hard, it's like picking between your children...

2022 was 100% Máté Kamarás' year. It's a year I spent 61 euros altogether on his mediocre hiphop and musical music lol I couldn't not pick him... But this year I haven't had as much time for him!! Still think he's awesome obviously, but I've been on a major tdv kick (I always listen to his part attentively though) and then after that a whole variety of different shows.

I've seen many super awesome performers live this year (favourites: Aris Sas, Lisa-Anne Wood, Miiko Toiviainen, Vanessa Heinz, Milica Jovanovic), some of them multiple times, but I do think I have to say that my current favourite is Lukas Permanschlager... never saw him live but nobody screams like him in Vater.... why do I always like the people who are out to take my money and why do I always end up giving them the money too... I know why. It's the screaming and crawling. Or maybe Miiko Toiviainen, but I tend to hold him in a separate category because he's Finnish (and now that I've seen him in like 5 different things I feel like I'm getting biased hajdjgkg - like I end up liking him more because I've seen more of him and he's very charismatic live)

12. Did you get into any musicals for the first time this year? Did they meet your expectations?

Hmmm... 2022 was a big year for getting into new shows hajfjg (Thrill Me, kinda Chess, Rebecca, Eierwurf von Halle...) but this year it's been quieter :'D As a theatregoer I'm strongly a creature of habit, after being displeased by Something Rotten in 2019 I haven't gone to see a Broadway-type piece that I didn't already know I'd like xD (Usually it hinges on me liking the music enough to not get bored. I'm more flexible with "artsy" music+theatre and straight plays, but even then I will have to like the plot, music or musical style, or feel some sort of connection to the themes).

Ooh, I did listen to Sunday in the Park with George for the first time!!!!! Which I really enjoyed, contrary to my initial assumptions (= I've been scared of Sondheim because of his reputation aodhgkdkd and I was always afraid he'd be boring and stuffy because of how some people talk about his work online - I mean I liked Sweeney Todd from before already but I still had Reservations) xD It's very aesthetic and pleasant musically, and I really like the performances on the original album (which was the one I listened to). I would definitely go see a prod if one happens near me sometime :') Though one of the songs makes me a bit sad/wistful for personal reasons ahdfgjkdfgk

[rocketturtle4]

On Repeat tag game

In the unlikely event anyone saw the original version of this post that was up for 12 minutes before I realised I'd done it wrong and panic-deleted it only to realise 12 seconds later that no one would KNOW I'd done it wrong...

...no you didn't

It's Friday evening, I'm blaming weekend brain.

ANYWAY

Tagged by @visualtaehyun @sorry-bonebag and @thegalwhorants I feel so popular! Thankyou!✨

The game: Put your Spotify On Repeat playlist on shuffle and post the first 10 songs! (don't forget the shuffle like I definitely didn't)

Let's see what happens, I was very relieved to realise this is like RECENT on repeats lol, if it had been for the whole year...who knows what would have appeared. My music get's updated very rarely but recent joining of a spotify blend has dragged my music tastes kicking and screaming towards a little bit of variance lol.

Also this On Repeat thing is very cool so TY for the new feature!

Unsteady by X Ambassadors

ahhh what an opener. As some of you may know my bestie @plantsarepeopletoo has been breaking down the Only Friends music on the regular (it's so interesting, the music is almost predictive of the character arcs!!) and occasionally sharing the feeeeeels with me and @shouldiusemyname as they work through it. As part of this we have regularly discussed other songs that remind us of different characters and relationships in OF and this song put me deeeep in my Ray feels after Ep...5? or maybe 6 and yep I've been playing it A LOT ever since.

2. Mad love - Sped Up Version by Mabel, Speed Radio

I don't even remember how I found this one but it's a vibe

3. SPARK by A.C.E

Ooooh interesting, I recently finished a rewatch of Light On Me where I was reminded how much I love the ending song hence this!

4. Don't Blame Me by Taylor Swift

I'm with you @thegalwhorants, I'm a swifty, not a big one, but her voice and music are excellent. Plus Reputation yk?

5. Free Fall by Slot Machine

Lol is commentary even necessary? I'm not even a huge KP fan but this song kills

6. I do not know how to write/copy Thai sorry but its by Selina and Sirin

The Only Friends feels are everywhere it seems. But this is SUCH a beautiful song.

7. betty by Taylor Swift

Same swifty disclaimer as before, this is one of my all time fav T Swift songs and I will take no judgement.

8. Belly Dancer by Imanbek, BYOR

Now here's a throwback I'm surprised to see on my repeat playlist, I guess I listened to it enough that it's lasted lol, for a while I studied to this song on repeat for hoooooours. Don't know why but the repetition is non-distracting, Mad Love above falls into that category too.

9. Pretend by Nanon

Ahhh now this is no surprise, I am currently on ep 13 of the Jungle, hoping to finish it this weekend and this song is gorgeous. Love it, love Nanon, love The Jungle.

10. Bad Habits (feat. Bring Me The Horizon) by Ed Sheeran

oooh finishing off with Ed that rounds it out nicely. Ed Sheeran's concert came to my state in little old down under in March of this year and it was my first ever concert. Love his music and the concert was AMAZING. Though this version of the song can actually be blamed on a recent blend I've joined to drag my music kicking and screaming into any sort of variance as my personal playlists have the original.

I have NO Idea who has already played cause my PhD has suddenly dumped three projects which need immediate attention in my lap all at once so my tumblr time has vanished into the ether.

Of course I COULD stop watching 15 shows at once but they'd have to STOP AIRING first

[Image of Ayan from The Eclipse saying "I don't get myself either"]

Soooo @grapejuicegay @wanderlust-in-my-soul @pandasmagorica play if you want and if you already have feel free to tag me retroactively! I basically only see stuff if I'm tagged these days... or if they happen to appear in the 20 random posts I see at some point through my day.

[ridley-was-a-cat]

What I Watched This Week – 1/28 – 2/3

Akuma-kun (ONA) – This appears to be a sequel to a 60-year-old series that I haven’t seen or read, so I hadn’t planned to watch it. I saw it got nominated in the backgrounds category, though, and I figured I’d give it a go. I might have been missing some stuff from the earlier series, but if I was, it didn’t really feel like it, as the story stood alone just fine. It follows a paranormal investigator named Ichirou Umoregi, who operates out of a dingy office cluttered with books alongside his half-human/half-demon assistant, Mephisto III. Most episodes have the characters encounter some supernatural situation involving wayward demons where Ichirou unravels the mystery behind the incident, and Mephisto forces the demon to go back home. It wouldn’t be my top pick in the category, but it definitely has excellent background art, which fits the cartoony style just about perfectly. Yuuki Kaji does an excellent job voicing Ichirou/Akuma-kun, giving him the right mix of dispassionate rational thinker and young man still working through childhood abandonment. The cases were suitably creepy, and the ending caught me by surprise. Definitely a good show to keep on tap for spooky season. 7/10

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3 – Having completed this entry in the series, I can confidently say that it’s an awful pick for the slice of life shortlist in the r/anime awards. Not only is it not very good, it is categorically not a slice of life in the slightest. If I asked people to recommend me a slice of life anime, and they suggested an action-heavy racing drama full of screaming horse girls, I would think they were trolling me. Maybe it has some connection to the real life horse she’s based on, I don’t care enough about the show to look it up, but the constant screaming while Kitasan was running was unbelievably annoying, and I adore the screaming boys of Haikyuu. Combining this irritating noise with the lousy way the story introduced and then just sort of forgot about her rivals, there wasn’t a whole lot to recommend here. I can’t help but feel it’s stealing a spot from shows that were both much more enjoyable and actual slice of life stories. 5/10

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – The way all the marketing for this emphasized that they were bringing back the cast of the movie left me uninterested in watching it, as I figured it was just going to be a nostalgia grab. It kept showing up on different best of fall lists, and it got nominated in the adventure and animation categories, so I figured I’d take a look. As I had figured, the English version was not super good. Actors do not always make very good voice actors, and a few of them were pretty wooden-sounding. It was weird to have Japanese voices in this very North American/Canadian story full of English language pop music, but switching it to Japanese was the right decision, I think. Once I did that, I got an extremely fun adventure centered on Ramona Flowers that imagined a story where Scott lost the first fight against her seven evil exes. The character designs were charmingly creative, the color palette was great, and the animation went hard when it needed to. Most importantly, the soundtrack was as good as I hoped it would be, with songs from the Dead Kennedys, Vampire Weekend, and Metric alongside an original score. 8/10

[idletype]

six recent song favorites!

thank you for the tag @sillsif. i listen to music that exclusively falls into either one of two categories: (a) silly or (b) devastating. i think my selection here pretty accurately reflects that. also i have bad taste but it's perfect to me. ok in no particular order:

ditto - newjeans: my brother is trying to indoctrinate me to newjeansism and it's working. this music video is SUPER well-done and interesting, a lot of thought is put into their concepts and videos. and they're just the cutest girls in the world! also i like this more than omg but omg IS iconic.

Stay in the middle Like you a little, don't want no riddle Say it, say it back, oh, say it ditto

i need u - tnx: i got into tnx last year in a 3-day long frenzy when i had covid and was in quarantine, i really like them! i think they're very talented and have an appealing overall group dynamic. this song is very different from their debut song but i like the sound of it a lot, it feels very boyband-y. some of the lyrics are kind of silly lol

Waking up and falling asleep to your warmth that still remains We were meant to be We had the right chemistry Hope this wasn't a one-sided story of a hopeless romantic

devil by the window - tomorrow x together: my fav off the new album <3 my brother described it as evil dove cameron-esque tiktok music and i'm okay with that. overall, i really like this album and their concept for this era. with every new album i get a new favorite txt b-side (though i think opening sequence still remains on top for me).

I met the devil by the window Traded my life Temptation touched my tongue Spread the wings of desire

animal - jinyoung: PARK JINYOUNG I AM YOUR FAN FOREVER! i really love this album and i'm grateful that jinyoung decided to continue making music because i lowkey expected him to just go full-time acting. i like that this song is a sad balland, jinyoung has such a pretty and emotive voice.

Close the curtains and come back to bed Close your eyes and ask for a dream Sins grow and become thorns No matter how much I hid it, I couldn't hide it

waiting room - phoebe bridgers: it's my villain origin story that they took this off of spotify. the structure of this song is pretty simplistic and there's minimal lyrics, but god. it's just raw yearning in this bittersweet and haunting way. this is on my palmnueng playlist.

I wanna be the broken love song that feeds your misery And I can wish all that I want, but it won't bring us together Plus I know whatever happens to me, I know it's for the better

when - dodie: specifically, the version she performed during her tiny desk set (which i linked and would highly recommend watching the whole thing). she first released this song through youtube when i was around 14, now i'm almost 21. dodie is one of those artists who has gotten me through a very specific part of my youth. the way this song and the arrangement has evolved over the years is really beautiful. i'm glad she continues to perform it.

I'm sick of faking diary entries Got to get it in my head I’ll never be sixteen again I'm waiting to live, and waiting to love Oh it'll be over, and I'll still be asking when

tagging: @petrichoraline @soundgun @chinzhillababy @ashedddaisy and anyone else who'd like to do it! thank you for reading if you did.

[sunderedandundone]

Teaser (UrSkek edition)

Y'all, SilSol was one of the ones just resolutely refusing to give up their origin story to me, but lately they've begun HINTING in its direction and it's just.........kinda fucking weird so far, and I'm trying to make sense out of it.

I mean yeah they were a Musician, because of course they were a Musician. And given that pretty much all UrSkeks can make lovely music just by saying "Good morning, I see your tomatoes are flourishing"...and given that all the magic/high tech among that species makes prolific use of sound and music...and given that the Crystal itself is held to communicate with UrSkek primarily by Singing...well, being a pro Musician among UrSkek IS kind of a big deal. Not just from an artistic or a renown standpoint, but also from a power standpoint. (Really all the professions the Twice-Nine followed had some element of specialized magic/tech skill, but if a Musician were ever to go to the Dark Side -- I HC -- they could do a lot of damage.)

And you'd think that me being a musician too (also pro, but alas, doubtless well short of UrSkek standards), what would naturally spurt out of my brain would be any of a zillion plot arcs I know musicians tend to fall into? But no, no, of course not. Instead, this UrSkek goob is trying to get all boutique with my ass. All boutique with my booty. Telling me that their whole problem with society was they had *too much* insight into it for their own good. And they'd started using that insight to try to actually improve it, suns forbid -- and BY THE WAY the Homeworld Eldest are the biggest bunch of fucking hypocrites to be found in any Realm of the Crystal, and you're looking at a MINIMUM 2 million realms there with over 16 quadrillion sentients, at least within the known vortex network. -_-

This puts SilSol *mostly* into the category of UrSkeks whose Deviance is entirely intentional and freely-chosen, rather than inborn or shaped by some great misfortune. Though I'd have to guess they were always at least a *bit* beyond the norm...perhaps, though, in the way that, had they made other choices, would have brought them to great honor. (UrSkek society tends to be distrustful even of benevolent outliers because of their extremely conformist/communitarian ethos, but they also recognize the social necessity of having the *occasional* benevolent outlier, and when one who unquestionably does do great good comes along, credit will be given as due. At least in retrospect.) Or perhaps they'd just have been put down as an acceptably mild case, what UrSkeks might call an 'eccentric' by their innocent lights. ^^

It's still fuzzy, but I think what happened is that SilSol gradually came to a realization that even though UrSkek society isn't *supposed* to really have power dynamics -- AT ALL -- as in, sure there are ranks and roles and responsibilities and privileges that go with rank and role, but those things are *absolutely not* to have *anything* to do with the occupant's personality or their personal needs -- it totally does have power dynamics. They're just very subtle and deniable, a hidden undercurrent, to the point that most UrSkeks have no trouble rationalizing it away (and indeed, largely not even letting it into frontal consciousness).

SilSol chose not to explain it away, but to investigate it. It's possible this originally arose out of something to do with their work, some 'artistic differences' shit? :-D -- or some ongoing disharmony with a superior. Or they might have taken an interest simply because they also served as conductor sometimes -- and a conductor definitely has to use a combination of technical and people skills to successfully bend an ensemble to their vision for a piece.

It could even be just...something they noticed over time; that hey, there *are* certain UrSkeks who just -- seem to have things go their way more often than other UrSkeks. And it could be they then felt a driving need to understand why such a baseline contradiction should lie at the foundation of their 'perfected' society.

In other words, they...kinda discovered manipulation and hypocrisy? And therein lay their doom.

I think SilSol knew from education or past experience that other, 'lesser' civilizations and worlds have much more visible power relations (both hard and soft). Accordingly, they began consuming a lot of ::lowers voice:: *foreign media* -- just to see more clearly how these "intentional persuasion" and "charisma" and "selective reporting" kind of things work.

...As in, they literally took notes watching other peoples' comedy-dramas/reality shows/election coverage. O_o

Which any UrSkek should know is treacherous ground. There totally ARE UrSkek scholars of foreign things, on Homeworld and in the colonies. There are even, perforce, scholars of conflict. But after all, *they* have the training, the professional practices, the long trine of reflection and self-purification that are considered necessary to undertake that work. It's not supposed to be the kind of thing that Homeworld's angelic master Musicians would expose themselves to -- even Musicians who've consciously figured out that they too exercise 'soft power' whenever they use their art to move an audience. Or a mountain. :-) And who've now resolved that while they're not at all against being moved per se (I mean -- MUSIC), they *would* like to know when it's going on, thank you very much, and *why*. And whether it's always really the right course to go along, and by the way, how do you even decide what's right in a case where you suspect a lot of other people are just going along?? If not by the easiest consensus, how does one judge?

(Side note: Such foreign media is, of course, also kind of exciting. That's another of the many dodgy things about it. Really unwise, especially without proper hazmat so to speak.)

Then things get foggy again. But I know for sure that Professor SoSu -- who was definitely already teaching their Heresy, though it hadn't quiiiiite crossed the bright line over into criminality yet -- would've struck the newly woke SilSol as a superbly charismatic figure exercising a powerful, if often subconscious, influence over others. They also would've noticed that the (often young) UrSkeks who most closely flocked to SoSu were the ones who seemed a little bit.........*sus*. As in, poooossible closet Deviants.

This was no longer necessarily a bad thing, though. In fact, SilSol probably came to fervently believe that UrSkek society *needed* to have a conscious, revolutionary reckoning with all this over-conformity and hypocrisy...whatever growing pains that might cause in the meantime. And that ironically, what amplifying SoSu's message of radical honesty and acceptance really required was an advisor who could wield and explain these arcane 'persuasive' arts -- this 'primitive' wisdom that even the best, most illustrious people of other worlds were not ashamed to use in bringing people to a good cause.

Besides, was SilSol really doing anything in this that they hadn't always done, less directly, with their music? Trying to inspire imagination and compassion in their kith; trying to remind them that even their immortal kind couldn't stay completely untouched by time, joy, and loss, and that very fact might be the ineffable will of the Uni-Verse itself?

And everyone thought THAT was all right. Well, within certain bounds...though now that we bring it up, about those bounds --

SoSu, for their part, was not averse to studying this obscure branch of sociology/psychology, especially not from the academic standpoint -- though they always did caution SilSol against bringing more than the tiniest particle of it into real public discourse. UrSkeks as a species were certainly NOT ready for the full Monty on these things...nor was it probably wise for them to ever become so.

Well, obviously the both of them ended up coloring wayyy outside the lines in spite of the Professor's warning. :-) And I have a pretty good idea of the final 'trigger' incident that got the Twice-Nine banished (it really *was* done with the best of intentions, but an outside, less naive perspective would have no trouble foreseeing why the planet's authorities considered it an absolute deal-breaker). But I still need to work out a few more general things about the trine preceding that incident.

So anyway. Maybe it's not all THAT weird, but it's definitely not what I would have *expected* the likes of SilSol to start dictating to me about their Ages of UrSkekery? Hope to get it more filled out and cleaned up soon, opinions are of course always welcome in the meantime. ^^

***

PS: I've always had some trouble with SilSol just in basic concept. Not with UrSol...not with SkekSil...just with SilSol. :-P This is also very silly, because I've actually lived *some* of their slightly contradictory duality. I'm a lifelong musician who has also spent a bit of (way too much) time in politics. It's been almost all activist politics, but yanno, that IS probably the most comparable to any kind of politics SilSol would've been able to get involved with as an UrSkek anyhow. And as noted above, there is a common element of *persuasion* to the two fields. Not manipulation as it's usually thought of, although it can also be that -- but there is a certain deliberate pushing of audience's emotional buttons when you're a musician or any other kind of creative. You're trying to entertain people or show them meaning, give them happy release or sad catharsis or sweet love-thoughts or buzzing energy, all mostly for its own sake. In politics, at its best, you're trying to inspire people to cooperate towards some shared good goal -- and at worst, you're trying to convince them to uncritically hand you power. Some labor under the delusion (or the unfortunate factual knowledge) that getting the former to happen is going to require the latter. But OTOH sometimes there are people that just, you know, want to be handed power because they like it.

That last wasn't within SilSol's personality, even if it's since taken up a place within SkekSil's -- that's just a little too far outside the UrSkek spectrum for me to consider plausible. But even there, despite some life-history similarities and the fact that I really *can* relate to SilSol on a lot of stuff, there's still just a LOT I really find it hard to get into their head on. Because me personally? I only got into activist politics because I perceived an all-hands-on-deck emergency and didn't see anybody else leaping up to help. I mostly hate the work itself. Mostly. Even in semi-retirement/sabbatical/whatever this is, I still desperately want to just hand the whole damn thing over to someone else who IS personally into this shit, someone who IS a Deviant UrSkek for Great Justice. :-P

But I do think *SilSol* does need to be a bit more naturally curious about and interested in the workings of power, particularly 'soft' power, than I've ever been. Despite the fact that they were doing it all for what they thought a magnificent cause. AND despite the fact that even old SkekSil -- as smug a smipp as they've turned out to be -- still always has Reasons why they want the power they seek, and a fairly clear plan of what they're going to do with it.

(Which is more than can be said for preeeeetty much all the other Skeksis by the period of AoE. Not least, the increasingly decrepit/unhinged/paranoid Emperor. Indeed, petty preening Skeksis do NOT appreciate Chamberlain! ^^ )

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 9 April 1953

Hooray! We're back to the realm of multiple songs - and it's two songs I didn't know, by two artists I also did not know. How exciting! Let's get into it!

Oh Happy Day - The Johnston Brothers (peaked at No. 4)

This is not the song I thought it was when I saw the title. I was imagining the gospel number - but no, this is a completely different song.

As seems to be the case with many songs in this era, the version that becomes a hit in the UK isn't actually the original. That honour goes to a version by Don Howard, a high school student who initially stole the song off a classmate, and made it a surprise hit. Lots of people seem to have then covered it - and the group whose version took off in the UK was apparently the Johnston Brothers, a trio of British singers who weren't actually brothers.

It's got a very repetitive bassline, played on the lower register of a piano, but that just helps the song worm itself into your brain - I think I could sing this one in my sleep, after a few listens, the chord structure is so repetitive.

I can't quite tell if there's something a bit rock and roll/doo-wop about it, or if that's just my imagination (and/or wishful thinking). Leaning towards the latter, but I know rock and roll will see a lot of these repetitive chord structures, so it's nice to see the foundations laid for that.

It's overall quite slow and low-pitched, and the singers just seem to be singing along in unison, as a female set of backing singers chip in with breathy "love you, love you, love you, I love you, I do" bits. It's simple, but it does the job.

Lyrically, it's also very simple. The singer feels lucky and happy because his girl has told him that she loves him - and now it's blue skies and contentment all round. Exactly the sort of thing you'd maybe expect a high-schooler to write, nothing groundbreaking, but it's nice.

Little Red Monkey - Frank Chacksfield (10)

Well, this was an unexpected turnup for the books. What a weird, tricksy piece of music! It sounds like music from the haunted house level of a Mario game.

It's an instrumental piece, and I guess falls into the "easy listening" category, except I don't know how easily people would have listened to this, as it's just... weird?

We begin with a scream. It's not a person, though, it's an instrument. This is our introduction to the clavioline, which is our first properly electronic instrument to feature. It was an early synthesiser, with a keyboard and various effects buttons, including some to add vibrato, and the sound that comes out is quite similar to the square waves that you hear in 90s video game music. Deliciously weird.

And then, underneath the clavioline, what sounds like a janky, vaguely out-of-tune piano, and occasionally an electric guitar, for good measure. It's nice, in a slinky, devious way.

The clavioline mostly plays the tune in a higher register, but occasionally the instruments take over, at which point the clavioline comes in at a lower pitch, playing some chromatic chords that sound for all the world like the James Bond chord progression.

The rhythm of the tune also spells out "Little red monkey". I can only assume that's deliberate, otherwise I can't see any other reason for the title. There's nothing inherently very red or monkey-like about the song, otherwise.

The whole thing also gives me the same vibe as Pink Elephants on Parade from Dumbo, musically. Not sure if that's deliberate, just interesting to hear the similarities and see how both songs conjure up a similarly trippy atmosphere.

And then the clavioline screams again at the end, just to bookend the thing. Weird, in a good way. I'm listening to this very near to Halloween, and it just feels right at this time of year - very spooky!

It's really nice to be back to having multiple songs to pick from, but my favourite here is clear. It's just too weird and spooky and odd not to pick, deliciously experimental and strange. What were the record-buying public thinking?

Favourite song of the bunch: Little Red Monkey

[dimemasazucar]

This time around I want to focus on an idea that became more sentient as we continued to read and watch these documentaries of history shared with mambo. What became a passing focus that was intended to receive idle time mentioning is now at the forefront of my thoughts because of how influential it is to the rest of the genre within Latin music. What's so cool is how recognizable similar ideas of expression by necessity and congregation lead to cultural evolution through time, and that was within the world of dance. See, as somebody who would consider dance a large aspect of his life, I learned transitively through an early age both the importance of keeping a rhythm and the transformative power of music. Powerful movements and a confident fluidity could both capture an audience and send the dancers to another space amongst their peers while harmonizing with live instrumentation in a way that has since evolved but can easily be traced back to the heart of our roots. While it is the beauty of blended cultures from Africa and Cuba that are the most obvious representations of mambo's original forms, it was the ingenuity of releasing the tempo over time that lead to the genre becoming as prolific as it was. The irony is not lost on me that it was a Nuyorican and a large part of the cultural transition between the community was adapted by the African Americans and the local Jewish & Italian communities freely participating in the evolution of a new tempo together. While the world may have experienced Bad Bunny's Después de la Playa at the end of the first week of Coachella, the song itself represents very clear connections to the roots BB pays homage to in their opening on Latin music. What do I mean? Well, it's kind of like getting a multi-course meal so I'll break it down into a few categories. In no particular order we'll start with the savory part, those drums. - that tamablle, there's something about the evolution of traditionally African sounds translated through Cuban culture and then sped up capturing the New York essence and the spirit of a Latin people both from the heart of Cuba translating their sound into a New York atmosphere and the Puerto Ricans of The Bronx (and Brooklyn) that contributed to the essence the genre is known for today and its eventual translation into hip-hop (and beyond). There's something about a good drum beat alongside the clave that keep us moving. While I could attempt to explain it using sociocultural terms and psychology buzzwords I'd be doing the experience a disservice. The essence of salsa, and mambo (as well as guaguachero, cha cha, and any of the contemporaries) is the essence, the spirit. That is held up by the drums, it is no secret that they are the heart of many genres, but to be in syncopation with the drum is to be in a different level of rhythmic understanding. That's a whole lot of savory though, let's get to the sweet part, those horns. Man, the influence of jazz on the latin people (and vice versa) is something else. Once the cultural Mecca became the rhythm Mecca it was all over. Having the horns not only getting their own time to shine but also acting as a percussive link between the dancers and the drummers? Truly something special to experience. Rounding everything out I want to focus on the seasoning of this rhythmic dish, because without this anything you have is going to be bland. It may seem funny to speak about it in this way, but much like how you may cook at home, dance and rhythm is expressed on an incredibly personal level. While we could wax poetic on a Tale of Two Titos all day I will instead keep it brief and make a suggestion on how to listen to their music.

[immortalmint]

Comfort movies / shows

@childlikegoblinqueen, thanks for the tag! Original thread above (I can't bring myself to reblog chain that many layers - I'm long-winded enough on my own! :D)

My top "Movie" is a show episode... you're just gonna have to deal. "Comfort" is an odd looking category for me. Short list above the cut, spoilers below. The Owl House would swamp the whole list, so we'll just put that aside for now.

What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (2021)

2. Labyrinth (1986)

3. Encanto (2021)

4. The Little Mermaid (1989)

5. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

6. Spirited Away (2001)

7. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (2021) - A non-narcissistic version of Dr. Strange loses his love and turns himself into a Lovecraftian horror to break the rules of space time in a bid to save her. He ends up destroying his whole universe in the process, losing her anyway, and is trapped alone, immortal and inhuman. <3 this self-made monster with a soul. I watch this whenever I feel like I've really screwed things up (or just feel like I did). Cuz, at least I didn't end the universe, right?

2. Labyrinth (1986) - Or how I first realized I was going to grow up to be weird. Pretty sure David Bowie in sparkly makeup has that effect on people. (Thank you David Bowie, for being awesomely weird! One of those artists I wish was still with us.)

3. Encanto (2021) - All the psychological flaws of overachievers! Luisa my girl, I get you. "Under the surface, I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service." "Watch as she buckles and bends but never breaks. No mistakes." Isabela, we're in different spheres, but oh did this resonate, "What could I do if I just knew it didn’t need to be perfect? It just needed to be? And they let me be?"

4. The Little Mermaid (1989) - All the songs are just sooo good in the original. Ursula is a fantastically drawn villain with one of the best songs! Ariel and King Triton's relationship is complex and beautifully accepting in the end, and it's the guy (prince Eric) getting pestered to marry! :D I also thought it was fantastic to see a character put away his obsession for some "dream girl" (when he throws his flute into the sea) to acknowledge he loves the curious, adventurous, and fun mute gal he's actually gotten to know. Then Ursula has to go and play dirty...

5. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - Only non-cartoon musical I've actively liked. Seymour and Audrey are precious to me (no surprise I'm a fan of Huntlow, huh?). And that plant... wow that plant is the perfect example of why practical effects should still be used in film!

6. Spirited Away (2001) - The Studio Ghibli film I want to hug the most. Though I love them all so much.

7. Interview with the Vampire (1994) - Sometimes just not being human... I'll stop there.

Anyone and everyone, be tagged if you wanna? Movies are fun.

[notebookmusical]

Hi! Ya I was curious about the extra bonus track..but some people said it might just be a remix so I wasn't too sure about it. I like the color though and how it also matches one of her 1989 outfits on tour like people were saying. But I kinda wonder why she is doing so much for 1989..similar to Midnights with the extra bonus track and different covers..but I think she just wants it to be really successful over the original version. I may buy one for the car eventually but it also won't have the bonus song so idk. I loved her VMAS look and after-party look..and how she wore a dress similar to Sabrina's and hung out with Selena! I love that they're still close.

Ooh that concert should be fun and I'm happy you got tickets! Hopefully she works on stage presence too. The whole album has grown on me more..especially Get him back, but i have the same favorites. Ooh yes I am hoping to listen to Laufey, Mitski and Madison Beer soon. They all kinda have a slow style and almost old fashioned sound which I like. I would say it was true for Billie's other album as well if you listen to it. But Olivia's was actually more rockish lol...so I really just like it all.

I never saw Ride the Cyclone but have heard good things about it. I guess I'm not as familiar with some off Broadway stuff for the most part but that's cool. I hope we can both like Broadway again soon. But I see you watched the Little Mermaid movie and so did I! It's nice thinking we both did the same thing near each other like with the Eras tour..and hopefully with seeing the tour movie too. Anyway I thought it was mostly fine..but also good. But I mostly enjoy all the remakes..cuz I already know what I'm getting so I can't be too disappointed. But anyway..ya new songs sometimes always feel unnecessary anyway. I knew it was Lin beforehand but also you can always kinda hear Lin's style too so it's interesting you didn't know. But it was more obvious in Encanto than here. I'm still a fan of his though! But I will watch any musical movie and at least somewhat enjoy it lol. I am also using it as an opportunity to watch the Cinderella with Brandy and Bernadette Peters finally..and hoping to watch the new Theater Camp movie that's now on Hulu. I'm also looking forward to seeing her in the Color Purple movie when it comes out, since I thought she was a pretty good Ariel. What were your thoughts? I get the idea that ya it doesn't really need to be remade cuz we have stage versions too so sometimes it's just kinda okay..I think they're all pretty equal to me.

I'm glad you're feeling better! I wasn't feeling as well either which is why I didn't reply right away. But I've also more offline and trying to read more too. I will hopefully be done with Some Mistakes Were Made by the end of this week..maybe. since I am now trying to read more books in the readathon and focus on that. I will probably put The Night Circus in cozy fantasy then, and finishing up picking for the other categories. I don't really listen to audiobooks cuz I get too distracted or can't focus on it. It would have to be a good one too..a lot of the ones I'm familiar with is just like reading out loud so I don't usually listen to them..but i could see how it might make you enjoy the book more if the audio was good. I'm glad you are reading more books you enjoy and getting more done for the readathon. I will definitely look into any book you love or recommend! Have a good week!

hi hello!! i'm definitely curious to see what she ends up doing in terms of remixes for 1989 tv! and i've seen some theories about her alternating between not a lot of promo and then a lot of promo, which is cool — and would make sense with rep being an album with not a lot of promo which means (in my delusional brain) that debut would have a lotttt of promo !! i do not think that's true, but i would love it if debut finally got paid its dues. unfortunately, the different covers is just the norm now; i think sour & guts both had ~ 15/16 variants, most artists have at least 3 but a lot of them usually have more, it's just a marketing/sales thing, unfortunately. and yes!! i think it's so cute how close they are <3

i listened to the new laufey last week but haven't had time to relisten and so i do not have favorites for you yet! i've actually never listened to madison beer, but tiktok keeps pushing her on me so i might give her album a go soon! and the new mitski — i am just very behind on music lately (been listening to audiobooks instead) but i am very excited to give the new mitski a go! one of my best friends got to go to an early listening party in a planetarium for the new mitski, and that experience sounded SO cool. guts has definitely grown on me a lot more; i think i like it more than sour, but that might be recency bias.

i saw ride the cyclone twice in seattle, and it is just such a weird little musical that i love with my entire heart! i love odd little shows that just make me think, and ride the cyclone definitely is one of those shows. i'm seeing the national tour of hadestown in a few weeks which i'm super excited for; i've seen it on broadway twice, but missed the tour last year when they were in seattle (got into seattle and then found out they cancelled my performance twenty minutes before doors opened). and i just got tickets to go see a regional performance of the band's visit when i'm in boston this fall, so i'm super stoked! i hope you're also able to love broadway again soon 🤍

and yes!! i love that! 🥺 i think i was a little disappointed by the remake? i don't usually like remakes though (aside from live action cinderella). i really loved halle bailey as ariel, but was a bit let down by jonah h-k as eric (and sent my friend caitlyn several voice memos about how his eric reminds me of how he plays laurie in PBS little women) vocally but also just wasn't the biggest fan of his characterization/interpretation! i think the remake also just didn't do a whole lot for me, which is fine! the pacing felt very drawn out, i wish the costumes were a bit brighter in color, and i think some of the casting was interesting, but i really loved daveed diggs as sebastian! i haven't actually wanted encanto but i keep meaning to!

i'm SO excited for theatre camp! i think i'm watching it on friday with a friend; i love molly gordon, and will watch anything for her haha. the color purple remake looks so good, i saw a trailer of it when i watched barbie and it looks amazing!! in general though, i really have mixed feelings because i don't think everything needs to be a remake — i think some things work better as proshots vs. remakes, and sometimes i just get sad because there are perfectly good actors who can sing well that we can cast in musicals and a lot of remakes/movie musicals don't do that (this isn't about any cast/movie in particular, just an overarching generalization).

i hope you're feeling better!! i feel like everyone is getting sick/ill lately :( take care of yourself, friend! i haven't really been doing the readathon as much as i want to either — jamie and i were briefly talking about doing an october / nov / dec one instead (i have some prompt ideas, might just post them to encourage the besties to read more if people are interested)! do you have anything fun planned for this weekend? what are you currently reading/watching/listening? 🤍

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 3,695

[S] Seer: Descend.

Song used: Black Rose / Green Sun by Malcom Brown

song commentary:

Malcolm Brown:

So it's the music forum discussion, and there's talk about albums representing each of the kids and discussions on what the styles would be. Some are obvious (like say, Dave) and some are offering a bit more discussion. It comes to Rose and there's a degree of uncertainty, and I suggest that it'd be veering into classical, offering up Saint-Saëns "Dance Macabre" as an example of the sort of thing I'd expect, and then set out to whip something up.

And at this point in the story Rose's set on flying her dream self with the tumor into the green sun to destroy it (Ah remember those days). In a tried and true effort of "trying to predict where Hussie will take the story and make music for it" BR/GS was scribed as a "very sad, yet hopeful, song about Rose's eventual sacrifice" - Hence why it all builds up to a big creshendo and then fades away (and why it's called Black Rose / Green Sun , although there's another reason for that as explained below)

The whole thing is based on yet another piece I made years ago and drafted it out of retirement and made it into something new and useful. The music box was one of the key elements, representing a kind of creepy childlike innocence, and then Rose's signature instrument (the violin, although the sample used is actually a viola and the notes it plays are closer to a cello) begins to kind of build up. Eventually we see the majesty of the green sun, and the rest of the song builds up to the tumors destruction. (All of which never happened even remotely in this way but that's what the song was supposed to be about anyway). The overall style is a kind of very sinister attempt at representing something small vs something huge - Original inspiration was taken from the style of music from Xenogears (Yasunori Mitsuda, being very celtic and awesome).

The scratchy-sfx were my attempt at auralising the green sun's "scratch" effect. I'm not 100% convinced they work but Andrew kept 'em in so whatever.

When Andrew asked to use it, it was going to be for a walkaround, so I needed to make some adjustments to make it loopable for the flash. For the album, I added a second section with a keytar solo (I was mucking about with it at the time) to make it a bit more interesting. Ultimatly it ended up being used for something completely different than originally intended, and oddly the name ("Black Rose") became oddly apt once she went all grimdark and tried to fight Jack ("Green Sun").

The name was also a reference to a Sonata Arctica song, similarly titled involving colours, except it was called "White Pearl, Black Oceans".

Author commentary: Here's a neat trick I played on everybody. [S] Seer: Descend began like an an ordinary animation, leaving you no reason to expect otherwise. It opens with this heavy mood-setting piece of Rose dropping from the storm clouds, all hopped up on revenge from her recent orphaning, and looking for trouble. But the moment she touches down, it switches to become another playable RPG game. Suddenly you realize you have to control Rose yourself to see the rest of the action.

If I recall, this was also the final RPG game of the story, until deep into Act 6 when we start seeing Meenahbound games (which, despite being RPG games technically, still feel like they're in a different category from these). Maybe this was the last one of these games I did because this one felt like the peak usage of the format in a lot of ways. The integration with a Flash intro, its use as a narrative-advancing tool, and the way it puts the reader in a position that feels kind of complicit in marching your heroes right into what you already know will be a traumatic outcome. There's a lot going on with this one, and I think the emotional beats it hits, the mood, and the general sense of anticipation are all unusually sharp by any Flash page's standard. Even though I never fully saw this story through a reader's eye, I remember after making this that I stopped to reflect on how this whole sequence really "felt" like something.

I would make some remark about how this is an unusually melodramatic entrance Rose is making on account of her grimdarkness, except the truth is this is probably pretty close to how she came downstairs to have breakfast with her mom every morning.

Due to the abstract format of the RPG mode, and the fact that you're in control now, you don't get to see how Rose actually reacts to this horrific murder scene. You just have to imagine it. Or you could take what you're seeing here literally, which also works. As if Rose were regarding all this very stoically, too focused on revenge to do anything but Terminator-style march through this castle looking for Jack.

This game also seems to involve more walking than usual. Hey, castles are big! Now let's get ready to enjoy the epic fight Rose is about to have with Sans Undertale.

Wait, Sans isn't in this game. Not sure what I was thinking. Pretty much the only thing in this castle is a bunch of chess guys, who are all either dead or scared. An unseen Jack lurks through the castle, taking care of the latter group. And not by offering them comforting reassurance, if you know what I mean. ;-) (He kills them all with his sword.) ;-)

Hey, just because I ripped those stained glass window assets specifically for use in the stupid Zillyhoo Flash a few pages ago doesn't mean I can't repurpose those exact assets in a much more serious Flash which uses a completely different rendering style. Did you know this is mainly how all this stuff got made so fast? Just constantly opening up some recent garbage, grabbing some garbage inside the garbage, and pasting the old garbage into the new garbage. And it pretty much always works fine, if not quite well. It may be the ultimate strength of my process. My sense is that many other people would get hung up for hours on little creative decisions that often took me seconds to solve.

This Flash probably does more than any page before it to begin framing (mostly through subtext like this) the greater structure of Homestuck's remaining narrative. These banners include little excerpts we recognize from earlier for each of the four kids. The title "They Wait" begs the question, who is "They"? That would be the four Alpha Kids in the post-Scratch session, waiting for our four heroes. The emphasis placed on "waiting" is a nod to the way a significant part of Act 6 plays out—the Alphas enter their void session and have to spend a lot of time waiting around for these four legendary heroes who will be able to bring their session to life. There's a sense of waiting on both sides though, as the Beta Kids have to complete a long journey to the new session. So we see that the inevitable session scratch has been woven into carapacian lore from the start, as is hinted at with these banners. Similarly, all the lore inside the Alpha session seems to totally revolve around the fact that its heroes (nobles) are waiting around for their counterparts before they can do anything significant. These two sessions each seem to have a kind of symbiotic mythos. They relate to and depend on each other to make sense.

The lines for each banner are just reprisals of the false quotation segments each kid got much earlier. The "pimp's in the crib" line comes across as a pretty good punchline. But since we've gradually been learning more about Lord English, and in particular the way Dave will continue to be portrayed as being destined to clash with him, it starts becoming tempting to associate this phrase with English himself. Could the pimp be LE? It's not far off from how he operates. He uses a variety of women as slaves in his service. What's the crib? Could it be Cal? A cradle of sorts for the soul of LE to incubate until he's finally ready to emerge? Damn, this really adds up. Kinda spooking myself here.

This guy thanking goodness for pillars is just a dark setup for a punchline later where you come back here to find him dead and the pillar sliced through.

Even the dang yellow yard is stitched into their legends. Unbelievable. This brief riddle hints at the solution to the looming scratched session problem and how it involves my shitty ruler. It says they need to "cross" the yellow yard, suggesting it is a physical distance which must be traversed. Hmm. At the other side of that traversal "He" (the genesis frog) finds the pond in which He's meant to squat (a new Skaia in a different session). And this destination existing "through broken glass"… I'm not sure what else that could make you think of except the 4th wall. Yo, I'm sitting here thinking, like, you can figure this out??? This was a totally crackable mystery pretty well in advance of when all this stuff finally happens.

It's kind of funny that this carapacian tome considers the idea of more than four orbs to be preposterous. It acknowledges the theoretical possibility, but beyond that they just think it's silly. Sburb is a flexible game that can go in infinite different ways, but once a session is locked into specific conditions, the inhabitants all seem to believe those conditions are totally normal, and any other conditions sound insane to them. It's kind of like how we have the ability to imagine different laws of physics in our universe, but actually picturing them put into practice and how that would affect life seems insane and completely fantastical. Yet perhaps there are different universes with different physical laws regardless. How would we know?

There's no way Rose didn't just pocket that queen porn.

Okay, what aisle of the library did Rose just wander down?! There sure is a lot of problematic trash on these shelves.

Turns out WV has a fandom. He should be very proud. Unfortunately his fandom is rapidly shrinking.

Looks like the Rose x WV ship has just SET SAIL! (Dozens of lively sailors manning the S.S. Rosemayor spring into a delightful choreography in celebration of their romance.) Good work, boys, I love the energy I'm seeing. Why does Rose always seem to get the best crack ships? There is nothing to do but accept this fact about her completely, and update your grids accordingly.

Once you find John, you can move a statue off a transportalizer and teleport back here in order to minimize the retreading you have to do through the castle. Very nice of me to offer this shortcut. Also, notice the bloody footprints scattered about. This is how you know you're on Jack's trail. I don't know how his feet got coated in that much blood though. You'd think he could only produce two or three bloody tracks before it ran out. I guess blood just really sticks to Jack for some reason. That hand sure stayed bloody a long time as well.

Way too many of these huge, majestic chess beasts are being cut down in their prime. This is easily Jack's greatest atrocity. I can barely even bring myself to look at this page.

It's kind of unclear what's going on here. You follow the footprints until you catch a glimpse of Jack, but he's in the process of vanishing just as you reach the top of the stairs. It's a shame Rose isn't also leaving a trail of bloody footprints. That way if someone later saw the two sets of prints, and saw one of them suddenly disappear, they might conclude "That was when Rose Lalonde was carrying Bec Noir." Wow, quite a sentimental moment between them. Another crack ship, anyone? You got it.

Another way this Flash begins boldly hinting at the remaining story structure is with these curtains. I almost feel like it's hitting you over the head at this point. First you go through four red curtains (Acts 1-4). -->

--> Then a blue curtain (Act 5 Act 1), then another red one (Act 5 Act 2, which is what we're reading now). -->

--> Then we get to a big record platform, allowing you to teleport. This pretty obviously symbolized the Scratch we are building to at the end of this act. The teleportation reflects the fact that we can't seamlessly proceed to the next act, that it will involve some fancy footwork to somehow shift the players from one plane of reality to another (which, thanks to the excerpts from that tome earlier, we are now guessing is a process that entails "crossing the yellow yard"). -->

--> Then we keep walking up and encounter more curtains. But this time, they aren't red, they're green. We get the sense that Act 6 will be very different terrain, just like Hivebent was, which also had non-red curtains. Also, there are a lot of them. Six in total, which we can infer to be act subdivisions, a structure we've already been introduced to with A5A1 and A5A2 but is obviously going to be taken even further now. Subdividing Act 6 into six sub-acts suggests a certain degree of recursive self-division, which maybe also hints the subdivisions will go even further than this, sending us asymptotically spiraling downward into hell (666). But will it go that far? (Yes.) Also: the first five green curtains are already open, but the final one is closed. What does this mean? It means these sub-acts will be iteratively repetitive of the story structure we have already read, starting over with new characters in an Act I-like situation and advancing similarly until we get to roughly the state of endgame complexity we're at now. The first five curtains exist because those parts of the story will exist. We will get to read those parts, but the Beta Kids won't be able to participate because they won't have arrived yet. They will arrive toward the end of the full Act 6 arc, which means in a sense that all of those curtains will already be open for them. The only one they need to open will be the final one, as they get closer to making their grand entrance near the endgame state and reunite with their estranged teen guardians. Really, this couldn't be more obvious unless I typed this entire paragraph verbatim and pasted it directly onto the final green curtain. -->

--> Finally we end up on a white Skaia platform. White, because that's the color of Act 7. Skaia, because that's the final destination of the frog containing the universe the players create. By entering Skaia, Rose has essentially traced the path of the magic tadpole and impregnated Skaia. But it turns out John was already waiting in here, looking for his dad. So did I just imply that…Rose just got John pregnant? No, wait, that makes no sense on any level. Also there's enough ship-teasey garbage in this game between these two as it is, without me stirring the ol' Grimdork Mpreg Pot.

Also note how this exchange immediately establishes that John can't understand Rose's broodfester tongues. Another brilliant ploy by me, sidestepping any real, gratifying, in-person conversation between two human kids. Her grimdark gag order serves several purposes here. First, it's just another way to milk the agonizing sense of dramatic irony this RPG game emanates. Rose can't tell John their parents are dead, so she has no choice but to lead him to the bodies while he cheerfully babbles on as if nothing's wrong. It also delays the more friendly conversation they'd have if she were normal, which would result in a lot of standard banter that just wouldn't be hitting the right note for this scene.

It also lets John seem extra-dumb, which is always a nice bonus, and it gives him enough slack to let him talk himself into some awkward corners, thus stoking the shipping fires. Not that this is actually a worthwhile objective, but the kids like it. I may have had some harsh words for this ship in the past, and I will stand by the position that it seems boring. Or maybe…it's not? What if Rose's grimdark condition salvages the ship? Okay, I can buy that. Then they get married, and have to learn sign language, because Rose keeps spewing nonsense forever. Then they have inter-grimdark kids, who speak half gibberish and half… Wait, nope. This ship still sucks actually.

John starts doing the thing where he's talking to Rose like he's trying to figure out what a dog is trying to say. Except she isn't even part-doggy like Jade. Actually it's quite possible he's still just flexing more of his internalized sexism. John Egbert: literally the worst male in Homestuck? It's likelier than you think.

The velvet pillow makes a comeback. It also resurfaces at various points in Act 6, which suggests Rose develops a long term habit of using it as a therapeutic object during her moments of psychological angst. (Then Gamzee steals it for some reason.)

Behind the white platform is a statue of the White Queen and King. I'm not really sure why this was here. Just a place to put a nice asset, I guess? The symbolic implication seems to be that once the universe is created, WK and WQ get to live their happily ever after too. But we know that can't happen. Maybe it was just a nice fantasy they entertained, and immortalized through a hidden statue. Maybe they talked about it a lot, what their peaceful lives would have been like for them if they got to live in this new universe too. Wow, that's about as sad as it gets.

Really flagrant ship tease. Pretty outrageous. Especially considering we know Rose has already been successfully crack-shipped with practically every carapacian in the story. WK (he loves her fic, remember?), WV (she was recently swayed by tales of his heroism), WQ and BQ (Rose is a lesbian, and they're both sexy queens)… I could go on. But I don't need to. We both know this all just WORKS.

John, just stop. You're starting to piss everybody off.

Jade's loyalty-based Jack armor even applies to her banner. Bad dog, best friend.

You know how sometimes you're walking up a really long staircase with someone in total silence, and to make things less awkward you just start babbling about anything at all to break the silence? John randomly starts talking about how they should get married. Pretty smooth, huh?

To be fair, Rose's pleasant expression suggests she may be receptive to the idea. Then again, her words may literally translate to "Sorry to disappoint you, John, but I'm currently in love with a gay alien."

[trans-elrond]

good question!!! adaptation is a broad term (intertext is broader but it's maybe a little too hashtag academia for tumblr dot com, idk.) i think you could argue that all fanfiction is somewhat adaptive in a sense, but the widely-used "transformative work" (linked to fanlore wiki page) is way more applicable because that's what fandom does, it transforms it into something that supersedes the original meaning and 'belongs' in fandom by virtue of being created in the specific context of online fan communities.

question, the way you've worded it implies you think it's desirable to be termed an adaptation. am i reading that right? it's really not about the elements a story contains to fall under certain categories. it's about context and purpose. a fan writing an AU to post on AO3 and share on tumblr is writing it as a transformative work. an author writing a novel to be traditionally published that is also a fairytale retelling is writing an adaptation. it's a matter of who is doing it, in what context, wearing what hat, so to speak. it is not a marker of quality to be "an adaptation" any more than a film being live-action or animated is a marker of quality; it is simply a genre.

i would therefore conclude by saying some fics are better termed 'adaptations' than others (say, I'm 'adapting' a beloved stage musical as a novel-length fic, but i'm not really 'adapting' a movie as an AU, that's really better understood as transformative work.)

the boundary is kind of blurry, but we already have a term for what fanfics are, and i like using it because it's so fandom-specific. (there are obviously other legal examples of transformative work, but for the sake of fandom discourse/analysis, it's helpful that we have this term and can use it.)

adaptation theory, the academic term, is concerned with adaptations as a whole: what an adaptation is and how it is made (novels into films, films into novels, podcasts into TV shows, idk the list goes on,) and though i imagine there may be crossover with fandom studies/media studies, adaptation theory is really focused on the media world that exists outside of transformative work.

again, i'm not saying transformative work is somehow lesser. high culture/low culture is a false binary anyway (and as people like @aadmelioraa have pointed out, people using "oh it's just fanfiction" derogatorily, despite being in fandom themselves, is so bizarre to me. it should not be derogatory! they're just different things!) i just want clarity of terminology, because if we start talking about every adaptation ever as fanfiction, the term fanfiction loses meaning and precision.

everyone who makes snide posts about rings of power being bAd fAnFiC owes me $5. congrats on not understanding what fanfic is, you're incorrect and unoriginal but hey, at least you're also deeply annoying.