#sometimes the classics are that for a reason

[acesw]

Book Recommendations to various R1999 Characters

To celebrate the China release of Reverse: 1999's Artbook, Bluepoch decided to host an offline event where they'll sell the books + hold a book club event. Thus, they've set out book recommendations for various characters here, let's get to know them. :)

Vertin: How to Build a Shed

We hope that Ms. Vertin will enjoy this detailed guide to building a shed. When she's free in the suitcase, she can sit down with a cup of coffee and build a small shed to shelter her friends from the wind and rain in this chaotic era... We're all very much looking forward to Ms. Vertin's woodworking debut!

Lilya: How the Steel was Tempered

The cruelty of the battlefield, the torturous illness, the unyielding bones, the iron will—and the ideals and beliefs that have never been abandoned. The pilot girl from Zeno flew across the white land, and her alcohol jug contained many bitter and glorious stories.

6: The Myth of Sisyphus

Even if the boulder will eventually roll down, even if the end of the truth is to be questioned and overturned, at the moment of leaving the philosopher's cave, they've all transcended into their own destinies. Experience the absurd, fight against the absurd, and choose realism in the absurd. Perhaps the hermit watching from the sidelines will choose to nod his head. Sometimes, silence requires more courage than speaking.

37: Peter Pan

We have chosen this wonderful and interesting novel for Ms. 37: Even if she chooses to face this complicated world, we hope that when she turns the pages of the book, her clear mind will be able to return to the "Neverland" in her dreams once more.

Isolde: The Nightingale and The Rose

On a starry night, the nightingale wept blood for the rose under the moonlight. This romantic opera was brought about by death. We chose this masterpiece made by Oscar Wilde and gave it to Ms. Isolde, who has been pursuing art and love, to add color in her dreamland.

Kakania: Selected Stories from O. Henry

We recommend O. Henry's classic to Ms. Kakania, who is keen on interpreting the characters' inner thoughts. The intriguing coincidences, the suspenseful and ingenious structure, the twists and turns of the plot—within reason and beyond expectation, what kind of ending will sincerity and true love usher in?

Tooth Fairy: Doctor Zhivago

In the torrents of time, a doctor went against these tides alone, and composed a profound and moving song of freedom. He never gave up the life of any patient and never hesitated to resist every injustice faced. We believe our Ms. Tooth Fairy would also agree: above the absolute truth, there is the purest humanity.

Ezra: Let's Go Gardening (by Zhang Chenliang)

There's no doubt that every friend that likes planting will have fun in this book and learn more interesting knowledge about nature. We invite you to feel their every breath, observe their growth in every moment, and stay with these silent companions for a long time.

They give out these silly bookmarks when you buy some of the recommended books and depending on how much you spend. :')

[batsplat]

thought of a prompt that might be fun for you:) assign any motogp riders of your choice (or maybe even entire rivalries if you want) a classical piece of music

ahaha anon not only would this be fun for me - this is something I have put enough thought into that I already have notes for several of these and like... an entire quite long spotify playlist for classical music that reminds me of casey specifically. I'm going to go for quality over quantity here and give you one pick each for three rivalries. none of these picks are... the height of originality and I'm sure they might feel a bit hackneyed to the connoisseur lol. but well, sometimes pieces are popular for a reason

first off, the sete/valentino rivalry. this pick also works for valentino's arc in general 2003-04, but it fits particularly well to this rivalry

berlioz! the unorthodox rebel, the ambitious and controversial revolutionary. a delightful curiosity to his experimentation, an eccentricity and willingness to push the bounds of what was acceptable in his music - as well as a certain enjoyment of the macabre

berlioz as a composer gives me valentino vibes in general and I could have gone for another work here ('damnation of faust' has obvious relevancy to the sete/valentino situation) - but here I've opted for one of berlioz's most well-known works. his symphonie fantastique. the video above should start at the fifth and last movement, 'dream of a witches' sabbath', which is the most weird and fun and works so well for the sete/vale rivalry. however, I'd definitely encourage you to listen to the whole thing - if nothing else, to hear the innocent version of the melody that eventually is so perverted

the symphonie fantastique is a piece of program music, which means it uses solely instrumental music to tell the listener a story. in this case, it's a (loosely autobiographical) story of a bloke who falls desperately in love with a woman and does some opium before eventually ending up at a witches' orgy, where the woman he's in love with is having a lovely time. here's a slightly better summary:

the movements are tied together by an idée fixe - this recurring musical motif used as a way of representing the woman the artist is in love with, the object of obsession... a melody he hears everywhere he goes. the first movement starts so gently, with so much promise - daydreams, passions as the artist first lays eyes on his love. which is how, after a long slow build-up, the idée fixe is introduced: sweet and brightly romantic. light and breezy - but also with a real passion injected in its wake. it livens up the music with its presence. the next movement, a waltz, followed by a third gentle pastoral movement. and then, the dream is transformed into a nightmare with the fourth movement's 'march to the scaffold' as the artist poisons himself and suffers from hallucinations. has he killed his lover? perhaps by being responsible for her receiving a back-of-the-grid penalty? or was it all just an illusion? and then, finally, comes the infamous witches' sabbath. here is berlioz's description of the fifth movement:

in a way, it's almost cheating using a piece of music that directly tells a story. but, well, how can you resist! the story of sete and valentino is the story of a friendship twisted by rivalry, of an innocent camaraderie turned sour - until from one day to the next, sete turned around to look at someone he was so insistent was a 'good man' and could no longer see his friend at all. perhaps a monster. perhaps a witch

the whole thing is fittingly gothic for sete/vale. who doesn't love a good witch's curse, right. again, I would recommend the whole thing - in particular the fourth movement where the artist is marched to his grave - but for now we're focusing on the fifth movement. by this point, the 'beloved melody' of the previous movements (the idée fixe) has been twisted, perverted. no longer is it 'noble' or 'shy'... it enters the movement as a silly, jaunty tune that almost immediately manages to summon the entire orchestral hordes of hell upon the listener's head. silly, yes, but capable of remarkable feats of malice - as it cheerily ushers in the funeral bells. valentino's journey from 2003 to 2004 is a form of self-actualisation, leaving honda to strike his own path and control his destiny. to sete, by the end he has been transformed - gone is the cheerful friend, now sete has to deal with the monster. valentino had already shown prior to 2004 that he was capable of both joy and cruelty, but here he marries the two: he uses his silly little celebrations to directly mock and humiliate sete. the face of the artist's lover might remain the same, but now she joins the diabolical orgy to roars of delight. maybe she even leads it

listen to the music, to its whimsy - the imitation of laughter, the 'strange sounds', disjointed, until the idée fixe comes through. in all its energy, that jaunty jig... you can hear something a little mocking in that, how it cannot even take its macabre surroundings seriously. cheerily chaotic, wild in its unrestrained swing. brimming with malice. the ominous chime of the funeral bells... and yet you never quite lose the frenetic, silly energy that keeps the piece moving. the curse strikes, sete's career dies a painful death and the music keeps flowing. the crescendo to reach the depths of hell is both violent and triumphant... depending on whether you are the artist or the witch. there is a pleasing surrealism to this musical landscape that suits the sete/vale rivalry. like that rivalry, it starts in what feels like a normal place but becomes far more bizarre, more cruel - strange and sudden enough it really must have felt to sete like he had suddenly been trapped in a nightmare. he thought he had known the rules of engagement. he had been wrong

berlioz was hardly a universally beloved composer - with one contemporary describing his music as 'the work of a tipsy chimpanzee'. some other remarks:

isn't there something compelling about that willingness to dispense with self-seriousness? berlioz might have been clownish but at least he was doing something interesting. this is a pick that suits valentino because berlioz suits valentino. there is a power to whimsy that berlioz embraced - and sometimes, genius is more important than talent. berlioz's idée fixe becomes no less beautiful for the corruption it undergoes over the course of the symphonie fantastique. and what's so wrong about witches' orgies anyway?

moving on to valentino/casey. I do feel like this is a. very basic pick. but I'm SORRY I do associate it with them, sue me

you can't go wrong with beethoven, can you. and for these two... a proper duet is only right. so we're going for beethoven's ninth violin sonata, the famous kreutzer sonata. specifically the first movement, and if you only listen to one movement then make it that one - but as above, of course I'd recommend listening to the whole work

said first movement starts out gently enough, two voices testing each other out before they lock horns. soon enough the music develops into a ferocious competition between the violin and the piano, both vying for supremacy. you may note that this piece is called a violin sonata and you'd really expect the piano to have more of an accompanying role - but instead the two parts are unusually well-balanced, both giving as good as they get. fitting! whichever way round you want to play it... perhaps it's all about casey refusing to accept his role as a background character in motogp, as anything other than the protagonist. announcing his arrival to the top of the sport in fiercely determined fashion at the start of 2007 and refusing to budge since then. or perhaps it's about valentino not accepting the role of second fiddle to his hungry young challenger - he will not countenance being replaced just yet. this is a rivalry about defiance. this piece is plenty defiant

the kreutzer sonata also happens to have a troubled composition history, which adds rather nicely to how well this piece fits the pair of them on a meta-level. here's a piece on the topic that details how beethoven initially composed the piece for a lovely new violinist friend who he then fell out with --

-- except kreutzer, the guy beethoven then dedicated the sonata to, fucking HATED the piece and never played it (hey, look, there's berlioz again) --

-- and I'm sorry. I'm not assigning anyone specific characters here, but this story just has a vale/casey vibe somehow. the pettiness of it all... there's something of casey in beethoven's temper - a heartfelt dedication removed after a quarrel, a championship shirt that bears valentino's name before casey furiously disavows him. but you can also find hints of casey in kreutzer's unimpressed dismissal... a man who saw one of beethoven's most beloved works as amateurish and didn't deign to play it himself. except now he's stuck forevermore with his name associated with that piece - something poetic about that, isn't there? we've got some proper characters here

another thing that works on a meta level: the first movement really is the best. I like the other movements just fine - but (as the piece I linked to details) the three movements feel disconnected, with beethoven semi-plagiarising himself for the third and using a half-finished sketch for the second because he was rushing for a deadline. the casey/vale rivalry peters out pretty sharpish after 2008 for various reasons - which gives you that slightly frustrated feel that the narrative arc which reached its climax at laguna 2008 was never quite completed. there's still a loping grace to the latter two movements... the gentle, near playful ribbing of the second - not absent of tension - that meanders delicately to a conclusion... the manic energy of the third, neither party willing to relent as they continue to trade blows - vivacious in its chaos. just like the abysmal bickering of vale/casey's 2010-12 dynamic, it lacks the narrative genius of the first act... but it's not without its merits. at the very least, it's plenty of fun

one more bit of the work's history worth bringing up - the tolstoy short story about a guy who kills his wife because of how she performed the kreutzer sonata with another man

so, as you see, it's so powerful a piece you could kill someone over it. that's how closely the work connects the two duellists - it's a passion and an intimacy formed in close combat. a unique bond between the two performers... if they are perfectly matched, there's nothing quite like the magic they can produce

and it's that daring, suspenseful beauty to the first movement that so evokes this specific rivalry. two voices testing each other every step of the way - the broiling tension of the first few exchanges preceding the explosion of bright noise and colour. when the music builds into a furious contest, think about laguna in valentino's determination and casey's rage and their mutual refusal to yield to the other. this is stubborn music. neither party can ever back down. and the thing about violins, they sure can yearn. for all its antagonism, perhaps the voice of the violin is longing for something unattainable... something impossible. casey never entirely got over his early hero worship of valentino - he might have hated valentino, but he never could quite stop himself from liking him. even as the violin challenges the piano - the pluck of the strings in feisty counterpoint to the voice that should have been its accompaniment - it would be impossible to conceal the emotional depths of the violin's cry. it's a duet that mixes aggression and melancholy and hope... it wouldn't be anywhere close to as compelling if it were just one thing

this duet needs true equals who manage to both compete and compliment each other. both parts play fully realised melodies beautiful in isolation that together still manage to be more than the sum of their parts - because sometimes, rivalry makes both sides better. sometimes it is only by hearing both voices that their brilliance can be truly appreciated. sometimes both sides push each other to new heights because that's the only way they can keep up with each other. the kreutzer is defiant - but it is also endlessly demanding. and it will not allow either side to let up

last but not least, a piece for the marc/valentino rivalry

here, we go to sibelius and his violin concerto in d minor - the only concerto he ever composed, one of a kind and thus impossible to take for granted. again, my recommendation for the purposes of this post is the first movement - and again I'd encourage you to listen to the complete piece. hey, did you know that sibelius had to give up on his dreams to be a violinist in his twenties due to a shoulder injury? perhaps that explains why he wanted to compose a piece for a true virtuoso... a piece that throws the hardest stuff you can possibly demand at the violinist and then some. it requires a dazzling technical mastery of the violinist - one voice that stands out clearly against the full might of the orchestra

this is another work with a troubled history. its composition followed a difficult period for sibelius (who suffered from depression and alcoholism for much of his life) - he composed this concerto once he'd picked himself up from rock bottom

the concerto was originally dedicated to violinist burmester who was supposed to play it for the premiere in berlin... but in the end, the premier was in helsinki - making use of a violin teacher instead who supposedly played the piece poorly, and the first performance was not a success. sibelius heavily revised the piece. when the berlin premiere eventually happened, burmester apparently got offended by them using someone else (from andrew barnett's book about sibelius):

in danger of over-exposure, eh

speaking of that young hungarian violinist: he wasn't just 'young' he was really young. a proper child prodigy

so then, a piece sibelius was himself not able to perform, with the leading role granted to a child prodigy. you see where I'm going with this... perhaps there's something appropriate to marc following the notes that valentino had already penned, right. the marc/valentino rivalry is inevitably heavily preoccupied with the frailties of ageing, with the existential agony caused by loss of youth, yearning after what was once possible and will never be again. it is a rivalry of sliding doors - an age gap that should have been to immense to allow for competition at all, its very existence was improbable. the sliding doors just about made it possible for them to fight but also made that fight limited... it was too late for valentino to compete fully against marc. but sibelius never lost his love for the violin and found new ways of expressing that love - and valentino, too, can never walk away entirely from motogp

the first movement starts off with an achingly romantic violin melody. it has such heart and such vigour, it captures the attention, it is alone at the top - but eventually the second melody sets in, darker, brooding, as the tension builds. the music is caught between the soaring heights of what could be and the creeping horror of what will come to pass. the orchestra heralds the storm clouds as they begin to encroach upon the scene... eventually, the movement reaches its climax as the violin cries out, by itself, in the cadenza. even as the violinist recaptures the initial romantic melody in the midst of a frenzied display of technical mastery and excess, the melancholy of the movement's ending feels inevitable

the marc/vale rivalry is narratively structured like a tragedy - one that feels both inevitable on a grand scale but deeply avoidable in its specifics. a conflict that both felt like it had to happen but didn't need to happen like that. this music is uncompromising as it reaches that very same conclusion... it never loses its heart even as it descends into fury. the second movement that follows it is slower, sad and poignant, the aftermath of the sorrow - while the third is warmer, more energetic, a flurry of the violinist to show off every virtuoso skill imaginable in service of some chance at emotional release. blindingly brilliant

one thing about sibelius - he's very effective at establishing a mood. at setting the tone. he's got the drama, he's got the terseness, he knows how to stress you out and make you sit with that tension. and really, that's what the marc/valentino rivalry is all about... something that lingers. an open wound. the genius of the composer and the virtuosity of the violinist come together to provide a way of expressing that lasting pain. the result is uncompromising from start to finish

[diyasgarden]

i’m rewatching 101 dalmations (1961) with my little brother, and am on my knees for this animation:

[thanatika]

is there ever any text implying that artemy spent his time away from town-on-gorkhon in the capital, in either game? a good portion of fanwork or discussion about pre-canon artemy puts him in the capital, but i don't think that's intended to be the case.

the narrated introduction at the beginning of his route in classic states that "Artemy has been travelling from town to town learning theoretical and practical surgery for several years". i can't recall if specifics of where he's been are ever stated in pathologic 2, aside from the dialogue options which imply his studies were interrupted by being conscripted as a soldier.

but i can't think of anything he says ever implying that he's been to the capital, so i'm inclined to believe that he hasn't. i imagine he's probably been to medical schools in smaller cities, though, as well as some hands-on apprenticeships. i think the implied itinerant lifestyle in his years prior to returning is worth emphasizing more, too. it gives the impression that he never really had the chance to put roots down anywhere while he was away, while also not feeling fully connected to his hometown either due to leaving at a relatively young age.

(the first game hits the idea that he's disconnected from the town especially hard, with virtually everyone but big vlad and rubin acting like he's an outsider who they've never met before. i think on some level this works, 10 years is a long time, but patho2's attempts to make it feel like he has at least distant familiarity with the town's older residents is one of the better moves it makes.)

[thedreadvampy]

Mme de Beauvoir, if you think this conversation is tedious in 1949 you have no IDEA how many volumes of idiocies on this specific topic we're dealing with 75 years later.

and every decade it gets more played out.

[greensaplinggrace]

sorry but like, as someone who doesn't vibe with fem!sub stuff and always ends up dislking fandom obsession with the man in any relationship being a Dominant Daddy Top containing more macho tendencies than personality . . i do also think that framing people liking violence in their sexual fantasies as worrying is um. worrying in and of itself.

like yeah logan being Like That in 'x reader' Old Man Logan stuff seems very ooc to me, too. but i also like animalism and brutality and violence in sex as well, and these things are not inherently abusive or "near rapist" by themselves in fictional portrayals of kink.

i don't hc logan as the macho dom! a lot of fandom for some reason considers "common consensus fanon" lmfao, but i also think that the fine line of fighting and fucking and violence and animalism is something viscerally satisfying to explore in fiction and especially kink. and characters like logan - who do actually have some solid connections to such themes - are some of the best outlets for that.

[setyourfireonme]

for @wincestwednesdays week two: favorite episode(s)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

OH MY GOD YHIS IS SO LATE BUT I JUST SAW YOUR MDZS X BRAZIL COMIC AND IM SCREAMING I HAVE NEVER KNOWN PEACE SINCE I HAD TO WATCH YHAT IN HIGHSCHOOL AND I NEVER REALIZED HOW FUNNY THAT IS WITH WEI WUXIAN AS JILL.

I’m casting everything in my head now. Jin Guangyao could be a fit for Jack Lint 🤔

SO GLAD SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE KNOWS AND UNDERSTANDS MY VISION.

Jack Lint and Jin Guangyao in either kind of swap is terrifying and well fitting...I think I might need to make another Brazil (1985) crossover comic...

[il3x]

gotta admit i'm not sure that "i'm a kid & there's a monster in my room in the dark that i hide under the blanket to get away from" counts as niche though

[the-everqueen]

you can't understand how crazy-making the academic job market is for me until you know that 90% of the music depts hiring are all white (despite the dept's stated "commitment to diversity") or else have one (1) Black male prof who teaches jazz (alternatively one [1] Black woman who is non-TT and shared among two other depts). if the directory includes more than two people of color it's a miracle.

[bmpmp3]

vocal synths and winter designs

[finalset]

im not gonna lie the serenity prayer actually kinda goes off lol, I heard it a lot when I was in inpatient and then my outpatient program and it actually clicked something in my brain fr

[magnusedom]

the way people view the catcher in the rye says a lot about their media literacy cause why are you describing the plot as "suburban white boy problems"

[clawsextended]

a note: i tend to make memes their own thread for the sake of if the other person would like to continue it. memes are far more efficient than starter calls and tend to spark ideas much easier. beyond that, as a person with adhd, i know sometimes the additional step of making a new thread discourages me from continuing memes and i tend to lose motivation just because of that extra button-click. me making a meme its own thread is literally just me trying to give the other person the opportunity to make it a thread if they want to without having to go through the linking and creating step.

[oneminutefiftysixseconds]

was tagged by both @fcktaken and @cavsthighs so here we go <3 5 songs i've been listening to recently:

goldfrapp are incapable of making a song that isn't a banger (entire Supernature album is just 🤌)

depeche mode i love youuu. more atmospheric/darker than their usual fare (though so is the rest of Playing the Angel). once the opening synth risers are done it's full of slinky rhythms and is at the perfect tempo for strutting around to. also a vague basis for one of my WIPs at the moment...

180° pivot from electronica to incredibly cheesey 1970s James Bond theme. campy ridiculous lyrics, sexy bassline, powerful horn section, and most of all Lulu!

okay since romain bardet came second at LBL the other day (bonus 6th song: On a Ragga Tip by SL2, his unofficial theme song assigned by ITV highlights shows in 2015) i've been listening to some rave/techno classics again and genuinely Groove Armada/The Prodigy/The Shamen are my go-to early morning music to hype me up for the day

this song simply fucks in every way imaginable! thank you Beastie Boys! thank you bass!! thank you distortion pedals!!

okay <333 if you want to: @alpinelogy, @mundanememory, @crowsandtrinkets, @in-the-mists, @paris-roubaix and anyone else who wants to do it :)

[dravidious]

I really do appreciate the idea behind DeArrow but I really wish it had a block button because some of these people should not be writing titles. Like,

Is it really that bad to phrase a title as a question?

Putting more details in the title doesn't actually improve it

Jesus fucking christ your hyper-descriptive title doesn't even FIT!!