#overthinking is also horrible

[artunderwraps]

y’all istg i am so bored rn

[fishyartist]

[doodle17]

BORN to AU rp FORCED to crippling embarrassment and easily overwhelmed

[defeateddetectives]

more panels circa miharu arc i couldnt stop thinking about and love of him being So Tiny vs. these MASSIVE yokai which paints such a brutally gorgeous picture (figuratively and literally) of the size of responsibility on his shoulders especially in the context of this specific arc or something!!!

[tswwwit]

Bill being forced to say the truth is such a fun concept though. I imagine Ford's the most likely candidate to hit Bill with a truth spell. Now he can expose Bill's nature once and for all! And find out what secret evil plans the demon has involving his nephew. 😠

Only it completely backfires because Bill acts the exact same as he usually does? After all, Bill usually doesn't have a reason to lie to the Pines family. Will he omit the truth? Totally! But rarely does he outright lie.

(But anyway, the plan backfires and Stan and Mabel are not convinced. "Yeah Bill's a jerk but he's not actually harmful", they say, with no knowledge of the countless atrocities he's committed.)

So Bill continues to act like his usual asshole self, completely unaware that he's under the influence of a truth spell. Until he sees his husband do something smart/cute/whatever. Before Bill even realizes, he's saying the sappiest, most gooey sedimental shit any demon has ever heard. Like "You're perfect, I love you so much". Completely unfiltered thoughts. The stuff he even lies to himself about. "You make me so happy. I'm so glad I met you".

The best part is that the situation is even worse (for Bill) the angrier he gets. "I hate you" comes out as "I love you". "You're the worst thing that ever happened to me" comes out as "The best thing". At one point, he accidentally says you're lucky I love you when he meant to be threatening. Everything is terrible. Dippers trying to figure out a cure and Bill can't help because he's to busy throwing up his organs. All the sedimental bullshit is making him sick.

[naturallyexcessive]

pride, arrogance, and a melody (or four, actually)

This is a given considering that the franchise started from and is - in most of its mediums - a musical at heart, but DAMN, I’ll say this over and over, Revue Starlight has incredible music. Bangers everywhere. 

Hokori to Ogori (Pride and Arrogance) is probably one of RevStar’s staple songs. It’s one of the most listened-to revue songs and is practically iconic. It’s also a perfect example of RevStar’s usage of motifs within the franchise. I’m not great at essays but dear GOD do I badly want to talk about it. So, why not?

(Heads Up 1: I am NOT a professional when it comes to music theory!! I’m definitely using some terms incorrectly here and there so please take them with a grain of salt)

Hokori to Ogori has four main musical ideas that make up the song. For simplicity, let’s just call them Pride, Swansong, This Is Tendo Maya, and Arrogance.

(Heads Up 2: In this word dump I use the term “motif” as a sort of general term for separate musical ideas. To be honest, it’s possible these are actually themes and I’m getting the two terms mixed up, but honestly both have similar definitions and I feel like as long as I’m carrying across the general idea of what they represent I’d hope the distinction between the terms isn’t too important.)

"Pride” is the motif. You know the one. This motif is the song’s main melody of sorts and technically introduced in the very first verse, where Karen and Maya are singing together. The verse that follows, where Karen is seemingly getting the upper hand on Maya, features a higher-energy variation of this motif. This motif eventually comes back, full force and dramatic, with Maya’s iconic YORIIIII TAKAKU YORI KAGAYAKU and etcetera.

“Swansong” is the more menacing motif that plays after Karen’s verse, when Maya comes in after questioning Karen’s motivations. Maya’s next verse follows with a more intense variation of this same motif. This motif is darker and intimidating; simply, it acts almost like a bad omen, a warning about what’s to come. In the context of this song, it’s about the thrashing Karen is about to receive (hence the name Swansong). 

“This is Tendo Maya” is what I’d argue to be just as iconic to Maya musically as the Pride motif is. A simple motif of three orchestral stings, it’s heard right before Maya steps up her game. It comes back fittingly at the end of the revue, when Maya reaches Position Zero and declares that she is Tendo Maya; while albeit varied, it still features that iconic three-sting cadence. Simply put, this motif serves as an announcement of who she is, her declaration of war, a sort of “You’ve Done Goofed” in the eyes of those facing her.

Someone with a better grasp on music can probably explain this better than I can (perhaps identifying the exact chords and tonal degrees), but what’s really neat is how this motif actually doesn’t resolve until the end of the song, at the second time we hear it. It’s like one huge release of tension that started from the moment we first hear this motif.

Finally, “Arrogance.” In Hokori to Ogori, you can hear it before Maya’s final verse (from “mikansei no kakugo...” to “...sono manazashi” and right before said final verse), as well as immediately afterwards at the final breakdown before Maya claims her victory. The fanfare and delicious rhythm of 16ths followed by the simple cadence of three solid quarter notes? Ugh. Love it.

Now, this revue is ALL about pride. It’s in the name. And other people have done much better analysis on this revue as a whole in much more precise terms than I ever could and have talked about its themes precisely. But in summary, this revue is very much about Karen and Maya’s clashing skill (or more specifically the gap in between Karen’s and Maya’s skill), and this pacing of the Pride motif reflects it.

It’s introduced with Karen and Maya on supposedly equal footing, both standing proud in their ability and determination. Yet it’s Karen who attacks first, confident (perhaps arrogant) in her abilities, and therefore she’s the first to get a verse.

However, while she’s able to put up a fair fight at first, able to carry her pride (and sing the same song) against Maya for a brief moment, Karen is ultimately seen as naive and arrogant for even thinking she can win against Maya, and is quickly overpowered (it should be noted Karen doesn’t get to sing any more lines after this). Maya goes above and beyond Karen; in fact, she literally sings the Pride motif at a higher key than Karen does. This is her stage, this is her victory, this is her song. This revue is about pride? Pride is exactly who she IS. This motif IS her. Which is why it’s no wonder she takes absolute control of this song and owns it, so much so that these motifs become associated with her to the point of being leitmotifs instead. 

I’d say it’s almost universally agreed upon that Hokori to Ogori is very much Maya’s theme, as a result. You hear any of the tunes from Hokori to Ogori and your mind just flicks to her immediately. While she technically has an official leitmotif in the form of her section in PRE-CALL as part of the stageplays, I’d say at least the Pride or This is Tendo Maya motifs could outright be considered her leitmotifs. 

So, yeah! Hokori to Ogori features incredible and equally memorable and iconic musical ideas that make for one hell of a godly song, one that perfectly encompasses all of Maya’s dramatics, sheer skill, and motivations.

The best thing, though? You can hear these respective motifs beyond this song alone.

Probably the most blatant example of this is the finale of Utsukushiki Hito Aruiwa Sorewa, aka the Mayakuro Revue of Souls. The entire final section is just one big rearrangement of Hokori to Ogori; with all the previous motifs coming into play, yet having varied and changed in the face of this new context; Maya has changed - Claudine has changed her, in fact, having revealed her “true” self - therefore so does the music.

Even better, even BEFORE the rearrangement kicks in, when Claudine goes to lob off the head of Maya’s bird-soul-vessel-thing, when she sings “Right now, the stage belongs to me,” she’s actually just singing the Pride motif!

Which is PERFECT given how right before this, she was mocking Maya’s revue intro. It really emphasizes how Claudine at this moment is really stealing Maya’s thunder, how it’s HER pride that’s contesting Maya’s.

Another detail I really love is how in Hokori to Ogori, the song ends with the Arrogance motif before closing off with Maya’s self-declaration. However, in UHAS, it simply ends on the new, varied version of the Pride motif as the two declare their rivalry/love for each other. There is no arrogance, they are made for each other, there is only pride in themselves and in their rival.

What’s more is that the song ends with one final variation of the Swansong motif, before closing for good and effectively ending Maya’s (and Claudine’s) final performance within the Revstar as an anime. Again, fitting, given Swansong’s definition.

But wait, there’s more! We also hear one of Hokori to Ogori’s motifs in a very different song, and that’s during the Revue of Astral Sins, in Starlight.

That’s right, we hear it in the final revue song of the anime, long after Maya has been defeated; it’s not the first of other songs we hear in Starlight, as the song also features parts from the tracks Karen to Hikari and Elle est belle: Utsukushii Hito. It’s present at the very beginning, but the motif especially becomes prominent once Hikari starts singing. You don’t hear it past the beginning of the song/revue but it’s very much there!

Why? Thinking back to the Revue of Pride sequence, during the sections where the Arrogance motif is playing is when we’re shown shots of Hikari rushing to save Karen.

In a way, this can be compared to as being reminiscent of that, representative of Karen being here to save Hikari; their back and forth of rescuing each other.

You could also see it as being representative of the arrogance of Hikari and Karen; Karen’s supposed arrogance in her efforts to defy fate itself and save Hikari, or Hikari’s own arrogance at her efforts of keeping herself isolated and fending off Karen’s love. Perhaps to keep things simple you could also read the Arrogance motif as simply a “rush” or “desperation” motif of sorts instead, something that the two of them definitely are whenever this motif is used for them.

Yet, we can still hear Hokori to Ogori in one more piece: Bridge no Ue De (On The Bridge). It’s technically a part of the OST and not explicitly a revue song, but it’s actually the first time we hear the motif, since the first (and the only, if I recall correctly,) time we hear this play is in the sequence right before the Revue of Pride itself.

In this sequence, Karen has just freed herself from Hikari’s attempt to lock her away from participating in the revues again, arrogantly rushing off in spite of Hikari’s efforts to chase her down and get her to stop. It makes sense that we hear the variation of that Arrogance motif here, and also further supports why we hear this motif again during the Revue of Astral Sins, especially if you also attribute this motif to the theme of desperation.

But then the main Arrogance motif kicks in, and guess what’s happening?

It’s Maya having a flashback to after their first performance of Starlight, when Claudine declares her rivalry to Maya in incredible homoerotic fashion. Proud and perhaps, well, arrogant.

It’s just brilliant.

I will say though as another additional point: contrary to this entire word dump, the soundtrack doesn’t lean into leitmotif usage too extensively, compared to other pieces of media that heavily utilize it (games like Undertale and Hollow Knight come to mind). Not including Hikari and Karen, almost none of the other girls’ revue songs are referenced musically beyond their respective revues and as such they don’t really have leitmotifs unique to each of them. Maya appears to be an exception here (unless we also include Nana, who I actually do like to believe has her own theme in the form of Rondo Rondo Rondo, but that’s for another write-up).

But to be honest, I’m glad for it. Unlike the other girls where their revues focus on certain issues they have, ultimately such themes that surround their revues don’t make up their entire personalities. Meanwhile, as stated earlier, pride is almost everything Maya is, it’s paramount to her character. So it only makes sense that she gets this exception, that she gets this piece of grandiose music dedicated to her ideals, especially given how said ideals are important/parallel to the supposed ideals of stage girls; Maya isn’t just prideful because she’s a top stage girl, she’s a top stage girl BECAUSE she’s prideful, after all.

So, yeah. Revue Starlight is a musical masterpiece as we all know and its usage of (leit)motif here as a means of supporting its method of telling its story is not only handled in perfect moderation, it’s executed beautifully when it is used. It’s able to take these memorable and iconic melodies and assign meaning to them to make what’s happening in the story hit just that extra bit more. This is just one of many examples of brilliance regarding Revue Starlight’s music and one of many reasons I’m in love with it.

(Though I will say this is only one of many ways of interpreting things! Things change if you consider Hokori to Ogori actually featuring the Bridge no Ue De motif instead of the other way around I’ve interpreted it as here.)

Basically? TLDR: wow the funny yori takaku this is tendo maya melody cool and epic

[honeyboyfelix]

playing a lying liar who lies in dnd is all fun and games until someone wants something from u that you lied about knowing but dont know anything about and its like well.... guess ill go fake my death while im at it

[girl-bateman]

Rodeo bull rider gay short story LETS GOOOO 🦅🦅🦅💪

[aggravatedanarchy]

I fucking love video games that are buggy as fuck

Fucking around in Vault 3, helping those guys escape- I come back with the key and two of them are outside the cage and one of the Fiends is inside it instead. I'm like "wow okay," move on, unlock the cage.

And then I just. Get to watch them all crouch and "sneak" out of the cage, pushing up against and stopping in front of Fiends the whole way.

I genuinely don't know if they're supposed to just be fine once you open the cage? So like maybe that last bit is par for the course. But coming back to two of them just wandering that room, chillin with the captors? Incredible. 10/10 I recommend this game to everyone.

[graniteknight]

Season 1 variants of the knights were so sily, because they show how much they’ve all matured.

Comparing S1 - S3 clay is such a random comparison I can make, but his maturity from being uninterested in his teammates, and focusing on the main mission, changing to making sure his teammates are his top priority is probably such a big difference, making sure his teammates are prepared for him to turn to stone, and even having (questionable) humour, really shows how he’s genuinely warmed up to them all.

His willingness to take up a sort of acting role in, “in his majesty’s secret service”compared to “the golden castle” also says something about how he’s slowly learnt how to cooperate outside of battle too, (even if his acting still sucks lmao).

I get that in s1 he was quite pushy because he had lost his mentor / uncle and his best friend in the same time frame etc, but his change from this to someone trying to be there for his teammates no matter what says a lot to me. (heck even in ep 17 when he joined the others in making stupid faces was kinda cute too, makes you remember they’re all just “teenagers”sometimes.)

He may be stubborn and stuck up sometimes, but he really does care for his teammates ALOT.

[dandyshucks]

starting to think maybe i should turn rbs off on that post actually bc im having heart palpitations now fdsjgjkl why is this happening to meeee

[bluesidedown]

sigh

[kazz-brekker]

it’s interesting to me that for a series that promises an unflinching look at the reality of a world where the wealthy have access to magic and don’t care about the negative impact that it has on other people (and i think does largely do a good job of showing that!), the ninth house series seems to sort of … pull its punches when it comes to the suffering the characters endure at the climax of each story? recently reread ninth house for the first time in years followed by hell bent, and the scene where the souls that marguerite belbalm consumed then consuming her felt sort of. ikd. optimistic? after all the emphasis on “consumption of souls” heavily implying the idea that those people had totally ceased to exist and had only become fuel for belbalm to draw upon it was a bit confusing to learn they were actually all still around and could take vengeance on belbalm. and then in hell bent tripp turns into a demon instead of completely dying which is probably not, like, a super fun experience, but he seems to almost completely maintain his personality from before so it almost feels like nothing major really happened to him, as opposed to linus reiter, who seemingly was utterly eradicated by the demon who took his place. idk. both of those things kind of made me go “this feels like it is breaking the established rules of the universe in order to make things not be as bad as they would actually be.” i don’t know if there’s a bigger conclusion from this, i’m just thinking about it since i recently finished hell bent.

[m1d-45]

Honey, your INSPIRATION is making them longer.

Its like this; we send you an OUTLINE, meaning the letter, and you fill the OUTLINE (/letter) with COLORS and DETAILS.

Colors and Details = imagination and perspective*.

*perspective = your understanding and opinions of how a character acts and/or would act when/if this scenario happens.

And to me, it seems your INSPIRATION is overfull, or your gears have SLOWLY switched from "short and sweet" to- "MAXIMUM OVERDRIVEEEEE!"

Basically, your inspiration is making your fics longer. Better keep a steady heart cuz your gonna miss this feeling when it, your inspiration, plummets.

Because EVERYONE, not just artists and actors etc, has fucking random inspirations. Some just know them as random bursts of energy. And these bursts can last for a long time before ghosting you for the next 3 years before coming back like; wassup bitches, GET READY TO BE ✨INSPIRED✨~!

-🥘Stew

you know stew you’re probably right at least a little bit, if only in the “overfull” department, but i know for a fact part of it is still “i have no idea how to start writing this. quick what’s an average place for diluc to be.” i may not know how to write diluc receiving a letter just yet but goddamn it i sure can write him walking through the vineyards.

[phoutube]

hey guys! how do i repay the debt that must be paid

[yavoid]

SCREAMING RN Worst night of my life

I was successful for almost 2 years from prevening my brain from being a piece of shit and splitting but I guess this weekend we're getting 2 fictives because Fuck me Ig

Tbh could care less about Shadow bc yk what he's fine. I don't have to worry about his ass being feral and being completely reckless

Spamton Fucking NEO on the other hand I- I hate this I hate everything rn I wish system hoping was real GET ME OUT OF HERE