#starlight express the tumblr production

[princeelectra]

For now, that is our cast!

There's a lot more characters to be added, and a lot of help needed for more cast! You won't show your face - it's an audio production! Join us! 🥺💜

https://discord.com/invite/wNwE5wnwHq

[princeelectra]

This is making me want to redo my StEx project that died in 2022 ( where people in Tumblr would make StEx characters at home and then we would unite everything in a "zoom call like" video, that would be our Tumblr production X3

I cancelled it in 2022 because I was really mentally ill to do anything, but now I'm feeling great! What do you guys think? 👀

question !!! : if you could play anyone in starlight express , who would you want to play ?

[thedandelion-writer]

❝brittle heart❞

Word count: 952

Summary: Birthday fic inspired by his message!

Pairing: Xiao x gn!reader

A/N: Um, warning, unedited. A thunderbolt of inspo hit me right before bed and this is the product. Happy Birthday to my favourite complex emo. I love you so much <3

P.s This is a repost because the last did not appear in tags. Thanks a lot tumblr

Xiao seemed like the type to not care for birthdays. 

Maybe he chose not to remember, or simply disliked having people congratulate him for being born. 

So you were caught in a dilemma. To give, or not to give? A birthday gift, of course. Was it selfish to thank the archons for creating this being, if Xiao himself thought that to live was to shoulder a burden, to repay debts.

Because to you, his existence was the complete opposite. 

Surely if you gave him something small...he wouldn't notice? He hates things that are over-the-top anyways.

You spent half a day mulling it over, and by the time you decided on what you'd give him, the sky was already coated in a wash of dark ink. Which was exactly what you needed.

It shouldn't be so hard to get him a piece of crystalfly core, right? You could make it so he'd hang it by his waist. That way, he'd have something to remember you by whenever you weren't by his side.

The dark made spotting the glimmering, green specks way easier. What you underestimated, though, was how fast they flew away. Every time you thought you had one in your grasp, they skittered away like starlight.

Frustrated, you resigned to try again tomorrow. No matter how long it takes, you will have on by the end of tomorrow!

"Just you wait!" You shouted, to one that was already flying high above your head. "I'll get as many as it takes for my Xiao and that's a promise!"

Huffing indignantly to seemingly no one, you trudged back in defeat. 

You woke up the next day, bright and early to catch the pesky things, only to almost have a heart attack. Right beside your bed, by the window, was the birthday boy himself. He had his mask on which just made the shock factor worse.

"What the hell- Xiao? What are you doing here? And why...why didn't you just go through the door?" 

"It was locked," he simply stated as if that was a good enough reason to climb onto your windowsill and stayed there for who knows how long.

"Ah...aha...I see," you laughed nervously, opening the glass panes so he could safely come inside.

"So what brings you to casa de Y/N when the sun's barely even up?" 

Xiao's mask disintegrated, reappearing on the side of his hip. The backdrop of the rising sun made his sides and hair glow a fiery amber, matching his eyes. You felt your heart race familiarly. Every time, he never failed to make you feel this way.

"I had nothing to do today," you notice his gaze dropped to the floor as he rummaged his pockets.

But the day's barely begun though? You almost said aloud, but you had a feeling he was about to continue, so you shut your mouth.

"So, I've decided to bring these crystalflies for you. To put in your hair." In his hand lay about 10 cores. "I thought it would look--nice. But I caught more than I intended."

Your jaw dropped a little. Coincidence much? Now what were you supposed to get him?! Although, looking at the amount he had (that he caught for fun, mind you), made you think. 

This man could catch all the crystalflies in the world if he wanted to.

"I hope you do not mind," Xiao continued, oblivious to your expression. He slid them into your palm, the cores still warm from being kept so close to his body.

And how could you not be touched? Xiao was not the type to regularly give you gifts. But when he did, you always treasured them dearly.

"Aww, thank you so much my love," you picked one up, lifting it up against the now-bright sky, it's translucent, crystalline surface refracting light onto your face. "I love them!"

"You know...I was actually planning on giving you one of these for your--I mean, today. But I guess you beat me to it haha!"

Xiao cleared his throat, as if about to confess to a crime. 

"The truth is, I heard you call out my name yesterday. Seeing you struggle with such a simple task, I took it upon myself to get them for you," his voice was gruff, cheeks tinged a light pink that you always found irresistable. "I also thought they would look good on you. Since humans like decoration."

"Pffff." You almost burst out laughing at his last statement. "I think you mean accessories, dear."

"Whatever you call them," he crossed his arms to turn away a bit. Clearly embarrassed.

"Still though, I wanted to give you something. I know you don't really like celebrating it but...I just wanted to give you something."

The yaksha's face, that was usually ever indifferent to the point of being cold, softened the tiniest bit. 

"Don't I always tell you, that spending time with you is a gift in itself."

"Are you implying that you want to spend the whole day with me?" You gave him a cheeky smile, to which he scoffed at. 

"Interpret as you wish." 

He was so easy to read.

"Hey Xiao?" You called out to him once more, before you two would head into the kitchen to make lots of almond tofu. 

"I'm really really glad you're here."

You hoped that you covered your "Happy Birthday, thank you for being alive" well enough.

"Do not say...such ridiculous things."

He didn't turn around, so you couldn't really see his expression, but the tips of his ears that were burning a bright pink were a dead giveaway.

For a man so stoic, when with you, he had such a brittle heart. 

[electricfied-wolf]

My propaganda for why woo woo (Rusty the Steam Engine) should win: -Charming personality -Has canonically talked to what may or may not be a deity in his universe, if not an actual deity it was at the very least cool to witness, and if it WAS a deity...he literally talked to train god how cool is that -His musical KICKS ASS, seriously every song from any production of Starlight Express is a banger -He's a cringefail normal ass guy with main character status, c'mon tumblr loves those -He's quite literally rusting, as in, this guy is actively deteriorating, and yet he's very positive about this alarming fact about himself. In his song he even calls attention to it. Like that's admirable right there. -HE GETS BITCHES! HE HAS A GIRLFRINED! Can the Phantom Express get bitches??? I think not. -Just look at that smile. You can't let some ghost train beat that smile.

Poll: Rusty the Steam Engine from Starlight Express vs the Phantom Express from Cuphead

(image descriptions in alt text)

[ikkos]

#VICTORY !   We finally made it, huh ?   Take two !

hello everyone !  it’s ‘ya girl, bonnie (she/her, 21+) comin’ in with that very delayed intro post since tumblr is a bully. i hope you’re excited, because i am - for jeon komi, i mean.. your resident * secret * heir looking to uncover mysteries buried deep in her families’ past; all while looking like a complete princess for her online blog and influencer life. she’s brand spankin’ new to this small town & looking for lovelies to call her own. so, why don’t you check out some pages or click the read more ?  i know it’ll also be really fun if you drop down a hex code or color name in the replies for a wonderful little surprise, hm ? 

⠀

﹅ ​  ✩     一     PROFILE  /  PAST   /  PLOTS

⠀

Death TW.

February 1998 would be something many claim as a.. tragedy, or, better yet, a curse. Starlight Bay claimed their first major event that had flooded a decent portion of the city - introducing the beginning of an ancient ghost story, ‘The Jeon Family Disappearance’. It just deems bad luck that the next following heir, Jeon Jaejoon, had birthed his first child exactly a year later on February 18th when the missing family was officially announced as deceased.

Jeon Komi was born beautiful. She radiated the idealistic traits from her mother and could easily squish her way into anything she wanted. The girl lived a quite normal life, well, as normal as one could be living within the high class capital of Gangnam. From golden spoons to titlements, everything was easy.

From a young age Komi had always been more on the creative side - even to the point she scribbled on walls, tore and restitched clothing, honestly creating some trouble for her parents as she had to always add something of herself to anything she did. The only way they found to ease her impulsive outbursts were stories of fairytales and happy endings like it was some therapy session to become the perfect princess. (This alone later drilled into her head extreme unrealistic romantic realities, becoming the sole reason for failed relationships or her being able to express emotions in a healthy way).

It wasn’t until her entry in middle school did she begin makeup, something her mother decided to share with her over Komi’s natural creativity. This, of course, easily became a stress output for the girl. She wasn’t just good, she was professional. It came so naturally for her. She could utilize makeup products like they were brushes - what a boost in popularity this was for her as beauty was her norm.

Barbie? No. Mean Girls? Maybe. Stereotypical popular pretty girl? Yes!

@BAEMI! Such a cute idea. A combination of her mother’s maiden name and Komi’s generation name. It was, quirky? Easy to remember. Easy to search. Easy to trend. Naver blog, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter; followers blew up with her unique fashion and makeup ideas - thoughts and fans full of wanting to be alike to such an outspoken rich girl. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read on how BAEMI does her morning routines or the aesthetics of her phone? This quickly became her dream and something she worked hard at most. The only next thing is to finally create her own brand as a professional business.

Perhaps that smile’s a little fake, the one printed all over her bursting instagram? Yeah. Perhaps this life of feeling as the ‘perfect princess’ or the school’s local queen, isn’t all that it’s worked up to be. At home her father continued to stress day after day, lashing out in verbal violence. She could never understand why; she could never figure out where he’d go or disappear to for weeks. Why’d mother always lock away certain rooms or prevent Komi from listening in on some phone conversations. It didn’t matter after a little, she stopped caring. She allowed the secrecy and continued to live her life the best she could despite a bubbling curiosity.

Oh no.

No.

What?

“Komi, darling.. Your father he-” Her world shattered. 2020. Her first major life experience that wasn’t a glossed up storybook. Things changed so quickly, so fast. Her mother pushed and shoved lawyers towards her way. At first the girl couldn’t comprehend what was going on. Then it clicked like a heavy weight. 

Komi already knew she was destined to claim the heir of the Jeon Group, something previously owned by her uncle and aunt, which she’s never met. She only remembers faded photos and videos via her father, the yearly ceremonies of those praying for the mysterious return. Was she ready? Could she handle it? How does this even work?

The year went by quickly as she adjusted to such a change and extreme case of responsibility. Lots of paperwork and court cases. Even.. arguments with her mother. A mother who wanted to take claim on the Jeon Group and destroy a home she’s spent a summer with her father at. Why would she want to do that?

To say the least, today, Komi made her way to the small town which claimed the very home her aunt and uncle used to reside. She’s trying her best to fight for ownership, to reclaim that land and start a new chapter of her life before her mother demolishes something so important to her father.

Exchanging mini skirts and printed thigh highs to formal suits and responsibilities. It’s harder than it looks given that everything was always handed to her like it came out of a story book. It’s time to grow up, it’s time to stop treating life like we’re still in high school. Yet her mindset bounces back and forth with uncertainty of were she’s going.

I guess you could call it quite the redemption story..

[marastriker]

How did you fell in the Starlight Express rabbit hole? I'm curious.

So a childhood favorite musical of mine is actually Cats, and I got back into it slowly but surely after the 2019 movie came out - definitely not because I like the movie version all that much, but I always LOVED the 1998 filmed production. I got into all different kinds of versions of the show from all different countries, I have about 10 different cosplays from the show and it was all grand until-

May 2021. Duh duh duh!

Where I saw a lot of Cats fans here on tumblr reblogging StEx stuff. And I had heard of the musical, heard Light at the End of the Tunnel for certain, and I thought well why not look into this?

So I went down the tumblr tag and I all went downhill from there. 🤣

I actually think I love StEx even more than Cats - I went to Germany to go see the damn thing so I figure.....my true passion has finally been unlocked lmao

[hilli98215]

I posted 12,794 times in 2021

862 posts created (7%)

11932 posts reblogged (93%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 13.8 posts.

I added 758 tags in 2021

#live blogging - 166 posts

#personal - 140 posts

#disney - 110 posts

#into the woods - 55 posts

#fandom - 51 posts

#musicals - 50 posts

#cats the musical - 49 posts

#kingdom hearts - 47 posts

#starlight express - 46 posts

#random - 44 posts

Longest Tag: 132 characters

#as a teacher i hate it when i hear studebts talk about how they got punishment for bad grades when they try so hard to get good ones

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

One doesn't know how much materials a teacher has until they have to move from a classroom to a house.

Not only is it very depressing, it is also crazy at how much a teacher use their own money on materials, treasure box items, cleaning products, art materials, birthday materials, materials for holidays, posters, and more.

How does one dare to organize all these materials?

54 notes • Posted 2021-11-26 16:10:47 GMT

#4

And now an updated picture of all the musicals I have on CD. What should I get next?

57 notes • Posted 2021-06-29 01:35:36 GMT

#3

Alright. So today I went with my sister and her friend to Disney Springs to get some 50th anniversary merchandise (which I did) but I also had another goal in mind. Last time I went to Disney I saw some Kingdom Hearts merchandise in the D-Tech shop and I got a magnet. I also mentioned that they have Kingdom Hearts magic bands.

So guess what I got! I have an official Disney Parks Sora magic band! I could have gotten this customized with my name on it but that would have covered the design.

I also got the other magnet it saw the last time I was there. And this time Kairi and Riku are on it.

Now I did see something the surprised me so much that I almost bought them. Disney (and most places) sell pins. In Disney Springs, there's a store that specifically sells pins from all the parks, resorts, attractions, shows, film, and animation.

But guess what I saw! I saw not 1 but 2 Kingdom Hearts pins with the official Disney Parks logo and Disney Collection logo! I feel bad that I didn't get them but I quickly took a photo for everyone to see.

Now this sudden influx of merchandise at the parks could be because of it being Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary next year but as a fan of the series and a self proclaimed Disney fanatic, this is huge amazing, and overall really cool.

Never would I have thought that this video game series would be represented at Disney in 2021. NEVER.

Let's just hope it keeps going cause I know a lot of fans would love it!

@roxycake @storyweaverofgondor

this is real omg!

128 notes • Posted 2021-10-10 00:17:03 GMT

#2

So this has happened. Stephen Sondheim is one of the first names one thinks of when it comes to musical theater. He wrote many of the great musicals such as Gypsy, Company, A Little Night Music, and Sweeny Todd.

It was really hard to find an article that thoroughly talks about Sonheims career without it being limited to a paragraph. PLAYBILL's article gives everyone the need to fully understand the scope, influence, and how his music and stories shaped musical theater, pop culture, and art.

162 notes • Posted 2021-11-26 22:25:26 GMT

#1

This is so precious, I swear! 😭

263 notes • Posted 2021-10-21 23:05:18 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[kiffenart]

Since Tumblr has allowed me to pin post, I think I’ll pin one here so you guys could see what you’ll find in my blog. You can find me on some other platforms like Twitter and Instagram where I usually post my artworks, and on AO3 under the name Kiffen where I post my writings (mostly fanfictions).

I’m not in many fandoms, and most of them are musical fandoms so... basically this is a musical theatre blog ^_^ I’m a fan of Tanz der Vampire, Elisabeth das Musical, Roméo et Juliette (especially the two productions with Zoli and John), Cats, and recently Starlight Express, just to name a few. Please feel free to talk with me about these musicals I’m so desperate.

This blog initially is intended to post arts and reblogs only, but I’m thinking of posting some of my writings as well. Well, it’s not gonna hurt anyone, is it? :>

p.s: hehe, that picture is me, created by Picrew. Pls don’t ask me for the exact link because I forgot it TvT

[decepti-thots]

📓

in my heart, there exists a community theatre AU. nobody on this tumblr has any reason to know this so ftr: my true love, it's theatre, all day every day. i am a horrific shakespeare nerd, specifically. before this pandemic nerfed me i spent all my goddamn money on getting down to London and watching plays. i was not a theatre kid, but i am a theatre adult ig, and I love. it.

and in my head there is the AU where rodimus and megatron are both forced to share space in some tiny amateur dramatics no-name community theatre somewhere and spend all their time arguing a) that yes, rodimus CAN put on a community theatre production of Starlight Express without putting anyone in the hospital, shut up, also yes andrew lloyd webber on rollerskates IS good theatre thank you, and b) yes Megatron DOES think the 50-70 year old tories in this tiny village WILL come out to see amateurs try and put on Mother Courage as envisioned by the only revolutionary marxist in a 200 mile radius who also really, really will NOT shut up about brecht'.

they hate each other so much. everyone hates them both so much.

absolutely everyone else wants to put on aggressively mediocre amateur productions of like, cut down shakespeare and some noel coward stuff. unfortunately, they are now watching these two grandiose idiots screaming at each other about this bullshit. nobody is enjoying this. except me. thinking about a fic i'll never write, but consider writing every time i rewatch slings & arrows.

[princeelectra]

Train people! I'm thinking if I'll bring back an old project of mine - A StEx production entirely made by you, Tumblr people, as the characters! All virtually

And I wanted to know: Would you like to participate as any character or help me to organize the production at all? ^^)"

[dragonstoravens]

Babylon Vol. 1: I’m an Idiot but At Least I’m Fun

[ID: a blue patterned banner with text reading “BABYLON.” End ID.]

BIG CW for this one: Blood, mild body horror.

(Totally ran out of time to post this yesterday, so here we are a day late again! For the 2/3 people that actually see this on tumblr lol. Just one chapter, and not a mega long one, but be safe while reading and feel free to message me for a summary or sections to skip if you’re worried about the content warnings. Hope you enjoy!)

Taglist (ask to be added or removed!): @charlottedotexe @glitterandstarshine @rainbowcoloreddays @the-starlight-chills @erased-in-stone

General: @elywritesbydarkness @residentofthedisc @humour-and-hyperfocus @skyfirewrites @viawrites-andacts

16. I’m An Idiot But At Least I’m Fun 

    There was a steady dripping from the edge of the table she sat on. Azure sighed and then held her breath, digging the scalpel into her arm once more. She’d missed the intended node once already, and this was getting a little dicey. It crossed her mind that she really should consider an assistant for when she did her more complex updates, but then she’d have to deal with their concern for her wellbeing and that really only ever did more harm than good for her efficiency. A twinge of pain shot up from her elbow, and she reached behind her to carelessly flip a switch on a box wired to her ankle by about four yards of copper wire. The pain subsided, and she set the scalpel down in exchange for a pair of forceps. Time to dig. The dripping continued, blood running onto the ground and towards her workshop drain. She paid it no mind. She’d eat a cookie later. 

    But still, something burned at the back of her mind. She looked at the clock on her monitor, brow furrowed as she wiped a bloody gloved hand on her shirt. She was forgetting something. The faulty node was still blinking beneath all the blood, taunting her. Suddenly, a spurt of blood crossed the room, and some wiring escaped her arm, snaking slowly out of her open incision. She grit her teeth. That was never a fun feeling, blood-warmed metal exiting her body. “Fuck, oh, goddamn it-” Another spurt of blood, this one dripping down her arm and to the ground even though she had her free hand clamped around it. She grumbled low in her throat, words coming through the forceps she now held between her teeth. “Sonofabitch, I swear everytime I try-”

    “Bluemom, You have a visitor.” Her floating personal assistant bot, Bean, hovered over to her, his front display reading out her current rate of blood loss and the time. “He had an appointment.”

    “I don’t recall my brother or Turq or even Smalls needin’ appointments to see me. Just send ‘im in, whoever he is he’s seen worse I’m sure.” She waved the bot off and he hovered away, whistling his customary exit tune. She used the hand on her currently bleeding arm to open a drawer and rummage through its contents. “Gauze, gauze, gauze….”

    The door slid open, and a voice, not that of any of her shipmates and yet all too familiar, said, “Jesus.” 

    “Your Three O’Clock is here!” Chirped Bean. “Trinity Jericho has arrived.”

    She looked up to see Trinity standing in the doorway, hands on his hips. She could practically see the loading screen behind his eyes as his brain searched its databanks for an appropriate reaction or facial expression in response to the bizarre scene in front of him.

    She was a mess, blood running down her arm and all over her white tank top, a spare coil of fine wire hanging around the shell of her ear. A strange contraption was slithering its way out of her wound, the inside of her elbow flayed open. She’d have blushed in embarrassment, but she couldn’t really spare the blood, so she settled on smiling sheepishly. “Oh, uh, hey?”  More blood, this time escaping her fingers and splattering weakly at her feet. “...I’ve got gloves in that drawer right there behind you, would you mind helpin’ me for a quick sec? My hands are occupied right now.” Her tone was conversational, as though she was asking him to grab something from a fridge as opposed to putting on gloves to shove wires back up into her bicep. She continued using her lacerated arm to dig for gauze, blood dripping from her elbow and onto her bare feet.

Rather than figure out how to react, it looked like Trinity had decided not to react at all. His face was exceedingly casual, save for his slightly raised eyebrows, as he went over to the desk and removed the gloves, pulling them on. “Should I even ask?”

Something between a human laugh and a pig snort left her mouth. “Only if it’s necessary. I think I just nicked a vein. I’m more concerned with these connectors, they’re not supposed to be connected this loosely, which means they really shouldn’t be hangin’ out my arm like a hound dog out a pickup truck window.”

“Just nicked a vein,” Trinity mimicked, affecting a higher pitched southern drawl that combined with the slight disbelieving tone to his voice. “Ok. Ok, you’re completely insane, and probably only partially from blood loss. Now, tell me what to do.” He turned his attention to the wires, examining them closely with an expression that rivaled his focus when looking at a particularly interesting problem in one of his own production lines. “I think I see the basics of what’s going on here, but you’d know best.”

“It’s just the coolin’ lines, they kinda just gotta be-Oh!” She pulled a roll of gauze and some medigel from the drawer she’d been digging in. “Found ‘em.” She looked back up at him, arm stretched out, still applying pressure. “I’m not insane until I lose a full liter, by the way. We’re not even a quarter of the way there. They’re just coolin’ lines, you can just shove ‘em back in. I’d have done it already if I didn’t need to keep my blood in my body.” The cooling lines glowed a faint purple and continued to slowly snake their way out. She beheld her own mess with interest for a moment, puzzling something out. “Wonder if I could…”

“Let’s save that little curiosity journey for later, yes?” he interrupted, just the slightest hint of panic creeping into his tone that stopped short whatever she’d been about to come up with. “Maybe best to explore all the other experiments you could run on yourself when you’re not already bleeding all over the floor.” He started pushing the wires back into her arm, probably more gently than she would have done herself. “And, for the record, you’re insane with all your blood in your body. But I’m sure you know that already.”

“It’s what makes me fun!” Her irreverence for her own safety could almost be seen as endearing, if it wasn’t so dangerous. She grabbed a spray bottle marked ‘alcohol’ in big red letters, a roll of duct tape on her wrist. “Here, put pressure on it once it’s all in there, I’ll secure it back down later. Musculature will hold it for now.” She put the spray top of the bottle of alcohol between her teeth and bit down, twisting to remove it and dumping some of the contents over the open wound, no sign of a grimace. “Quickly dude, or we’re gonna be covered in blood. My heart’s still beatin’. God this would be so much easier if my limbs were detachable.”

Trinity almost said wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been covered in blood, or detachable limbs are another thing we don’t want to explore right now, but he was a little too busy to worry about snappy comebacks. He got some disinfectant a little more directly to the wound by covering a bandage in medigel, and set to work sealing the edges together temporarily with glue that he knew should work like stitches. The alcohol had luckily done the double job of cleaning away the excess blood, so all he had to do was swipe away the fresh blood that had just welled from it with a piece of gauze and apply the bandage. On top of it he folded a few more pieces of gauze for extra pressure, and he secured the whole thing with medical tape. It was quick, but rather well done for a rush job nonetheless. Azzy blinked at the result.

“Oh, I was gonna slam some gauze and medigel in there and throw some duct tape over it but that works too.”

“I know that’s what you were going to do, which is exactly why I didn’t do it. Might as well make use of an extra pair of hands.” Said hands, though gloved, were a bit of a bloody mess now, and he walked over to a sink with a bin for biohazard disposal to clean up. “Luckily I know something about cybernetics and first aid. I know you do too.” Unspoken was the implication that not everyone did-- that most people would probably freeze up or panic at such a sight. Beneath even that lay certainty that she did this often. Despite his jokes about her being insane, she’d been perfectly calm. This maybe wasn’t how all her repairs went, with the blood and all, but it wasn’t a surprise, either. He thought maybe that should scare him, but instead he simply accepted it as fact. What else could he do?

“Can’t see how it matters too much, can’t avoid the scarrin’ anyway. Thanks, though.” she looked up at him with that same lopsided smile before bending her arm a couple times. “I forgot you were comin’, lemme get this shit cleaned up and we’ll get that maintenance outta the way.”

He shrugged as he finished washing his own hands and disposing of the gloves, and started to help her clean up. “Scars, those don’t matter. Everyone has them, visible or not, you don’t make it far in life without them. But in this kind of world… I think you might as well save yourself a little pain and danger any time you have the chance.” There was an honesty in his voice that drew her attention, but he was facing away from her. He cleared his throat awkwardly and turned with a crooked grin. “So, what nefarious plans do you have for my eye today?”

She was already across the room in front of a pair of doors, arms crossed over her front to pull her shirt up and over her head. She was facing away from him, her back tan and striped with thin white scars all the way up her spine, ending in one final splintering burst at the base of her neck. Barely visible at this distance was the white ink tattooed across her back to make the whole mess look like a dandelion puff. The shirt fell to the ground with a wet flop as she hit a button to open a closet full of more white tank tops, these ones pristine. Her hands were clean already. “S’not like I feel it anyway, that’s what the ankle wire’s for.” She grabbed a shirt and tugged it over her head, fixing her beanie as she turned to face him again and grabbed a mop from the corner. 

“Ankle wire?” He glanced down, mechanical pieces fitting together behind his eyes. “Of course. You electrocute your nerve endings to suppress pain. Makes perfect sense.” Was she imagining the tiny edge to his voice? “And to think you lectured me before about the external charging I was doing. Don’t you ever worry you’ll fry them, go numb permanently? Although…” He shook his head, the joking tone back to his voice. “Never mind, you could probably fix that if it happened, anyway.” 

Azzy began cleaning, ignoring the edge to his voice. This was why she never let anyone assist with her cybernetic self experimentation. This, and the process of the reset. She let herself sound cocky. "Of course I could fix it. Anyway, I have an update for the cooler, so it'll adjust with your body temp, like a real eye. Good for if someone's lookin' atcha with thermal imagin'." She hit a button and hopped onto a counter, the edges of the floor beginning to flood slightly with water. "I also thought maybe I'd upload this real spicy book I read last week to it, in case you get bored. You’ll love it." She snorted, unable to keep a straight face.

He laughed quietly along as he lifted himself onto the counter next to her. It was odd-- even through genuine humor he was looking at her like he was considering something, searching her for the answer to some unspoken puzzle. He let his gaze wander again just before the point where consideration became outright staring. “Feel free. That thermal imaging sounds like a great idea.”

The floor was done flooding, washing the remaining blood down a drain in the center of the room. She hopped back down, crossing the room and grabbing her boots off a shelf. Can't mess with people's eyes with your bare feet just out and around. She looked up from her feet with a curious expression, like he'd given her a brain teaser. "What was that look? You were thinkin' about somethin', and it's almost definitely not the alien erotica I'm puttin' in your peeper as soon as the standard tune up is done."

He shrugged. “I’ll tell you later. There’s some research I want to do first.” He slid off the counter. “First things first, heat regulation and alien erotica.”

"Don't have to tell me twice. Get on the table, I'll get the hookups. Pop that sucker out too, I need to check the retina." She pulled a clean pair of gloves on, snapping the cuff against her wrist. The sensation ricocheted up her arm. Her elbow and wound sparked. Her freshly patched arm swung out of its own volition, landing squarely on Trinity’s backside. Azure blinked, tips of her ears turning bright scarlet as her mouth twitched. “Oops.”

Trinity turned to look at her and blinked bemusedly. “...Getting an early start on the erotica part?” he quipped, but his already pink cheeks flushed darker as he spoke.

Azure giggled in response, pulling her arm back the moment she realized she’d left it there in shock. “Sorry. The node’s been misfirin’, if I hadn’t missed the incision point I’d have replaced and calibrated it by now, my bad.” Her eyes flickered briefly downwards and then immediately to her desk, smirking as she rolled her shoulder and shook her hand to get out any further bursts. “...Glad to know you don’t skip your squats. It’s a nice ass, now that I’m lookin’ at it instead of the wires in my arm.”

“A misfire, sure.” Trinity smirked back. It was easy to tell she was being serious about the misfire-- a lie would have come with a lot more stammering and awkward pauses-- but it was a prime opportunity to tease his friend that he wasn’t about to miss. “Your powers of observation are astonishing. Here.” He popped out the cybernetic eye, deceptively simple looking detached from its complex inner workings. He grinned, and tossed it lightly in one hand, waiting for her to turn back to face him. “Catch.”

She held a jar of fluid for his eye in her hand already as she turned, brow raised. As she faced him, he smirked and tossed the eye towards her, an easy to intercept underhand throw. “Ohfuck-” Snatching it out of the air and setting it gently in the jar, she pouted at him. “Dude, I’m not makin’ you another one if that one breaks.”

“You didn’t make the first one.” He smiled. “It’s fine, I knew you’d catch my eye.”

She stared at him blankly for a moment, then set the jar down and cracked a smile, some small hint of a blush on her cheeks. “Very funny Hotshot, well done. Don’t throw your fuckin’ organs.” Digging out a small monitor and some wires, she glanced over her shoulder with a smirk. “I’m sure all the girls tell you that though, right?”

He scoffed, amused at the idea of the women at the events he attended saying anything about organs out loud. “Just you. It’s a bit of an honor, really.” 

“Flatterer. Don’t think I don’t know about your eight illicit rendezvous with five women in the last two days. Sara Mitchell told me all about them last time.” She rolled her eyes and stood, handing him the bundle of tech and tugging at his shirt collar to plug something into his port. “They’re tryin’ harder every time, I swear. I can see why you wanted the backup more ‘n more, I can’t imagine how you got anythin’ done at those things.”

“Mostly by ignoring anyone I didn’t want something from,” Trinity replied casually, opening his shirt a few more buttons to let her access his port more easily. The motion revealed those tattoos she’d already noticed a few times before when doing repairs-- the birds in flight, the trinity knot, the wall, the crumbling tower. Again she considered that their placement, so close to bone in most places and with so many heavy black lines and detailed patterns, must’ve really hurt. A phantom pain shot down her own spine in sympathy at the thought.

“Well, I guess that explains it just fine.” She flipped a few switches, monitors whirring to life. “Not very nice, but then again neither is listenin’ to them gripin’ because I won’t tell ‘em your-” She stopped herself, face reddening as she dropped a heartbeat sensor in his lap. A nasal feminine voice replayed in her ear, begging the question how big is it, really? She picked her sentence back up with a rambling vigor, trying her absolute best to drown her own thoughts out. “-current plans. Nasty, all of ‘em. Super nosy. Can’t blame you for ignorin’ it. Wanna put that on your finger? Don’t matter which, any of ‘em are fine, I gotta make sure the readin’s are accurate.” 

He gave her a look like he wanted to question her about the hesitation, though she was certain he had a pretty good idea what the ladies had actually been asking her about. However, he simply quirked an eyebrow in her direction as he slipped the sensor onto his pointer finger.

Face still red, she hooked the eye up to a different wire. Something hummed and buzzed, and she heaved a dramatic sigh. “Sorry, you don’t have enough space for the porn. You have all of it allocated for images and text files made by the unit itself.” She made a few keystrokes and turned, looking at everything but him. “Okay, that’s updatin’. Lemme see your empty eye socket, your nerve is registerin’ some weird readings.”

Trinity turned his face up to hers, exposing the scarred inner socket of his eye. He’d never said what had happened to it, but it didn’t look pleasant. “The optic nerve? It should be fine, it’s totally cybernetic. It’s not degrading again, is it?” There was a hint of nervousness in his voice at the thought.

“It’s probably just one busted cell. It’s still machinery, sometimes parts need to be replaced.” She grabbed a pair of foreceps and clicked them together where he could see with his good eye. “Tell me if you feel this, because you’re definitely not supposed to.” She poked around at the back of his socket. “Anythin’?”

“No. I think your mother poked around in there enough when she was installing it that it won’t feel much ever again.”

“Then your actual nerve past the cybernetic and into your brain is fine, its just a couple of cones tryin’ to be data transmitters.” She poked at something else and made a small noise of triumph. “I’ll have it replaced, shouldn’t be hard. I think I made a couple extras when I was up all night last week.” The foreceps went back to the table and her face reappeared in his line of sight, beaming. “Your whole business is just as busted, but it’s no worse than when you came the first time. Matter of fact, some of the burns from when your eye wasn’t cooled properly have healed pretty well, like they weren’t even there.”

“Oh,” Trinity responded, pleasantly surprised. “Yes, I tried to do some first aid to keep it from scarring the way my leg did when I used to charge my taser externally.” He didn’t meet her eyes, even though he’d only done it a half dozen times, and all long before he’d met her. The second reminder of his own carelessness with his remaining nerves made him feel a bit guilty for sniping at her about her own. “I took the eye out when I could, used some burn creams and medigel, that kind of thing. Anyway, I’m glad to hear that there’s nothing wrong with the organic nerves.”

“Yep, if nerves had feelin’s they’d be happy as hell. Strong impulses, not too much overtime. Whatever took ‘em out the first time, you’re recoverin’ pretty well given that you lost your whole ass eye.” She returned to her computers, hands flying deftly across the keys and screens as she looked for more anomalies. 

“Well, it’s been a couple years at this point. I let it degrade for a while before I sought out your mom, but… it’s good to hear that damage didn’t last.” At least those nerves had recovered. Others hadn’t, but that was going to be the subject of his research for the next few days. Despite what he’d seen earlier when Azzy had been working on her own cybernetics, he trusted her implicitly with his. If anyone could fix his problem, she could.

“It makes sense, the brain doesn’t like leavin’ things so close to it busted. Optic nerve is pretty close.” Her tongue poked out at the corner of her mouth and she squinted at her screen. “....Hey, want a wider zoom on your sensor?”

“Why not? Whatever you think, I trust your judgement.” He leaned back slightly, relaxing, and let her work. She stood quietly for some minutes, occasionally humming a quiet tune that was almost familiar. 

Eventually, she was satisfied with her work. She unhooked his eye from its wires, passing him the jar. “There you go, go ahead ‘n smack that back into its place and you’re all set. Recalibrated it’s temperature sensin’ and the coolin’ system to be a little more sensitive to ambient heat. Don’t go swimmin’ in super cold water, though. Might be a little too ambient for it for now.” She had that same smug look she always did when she was done doing maintenance, eyes bright.

“Of course. Thanks, doc.” He said the last bit with a slight smirk, and popped the eye back into place. It rolled around for a few seconds before settling. “See you at the next event?”

“Only if that guy with the braid’s there, I hear he’s kinda fun.” She took her gloves off and waved him off the table. “Get outta here, I gotta reset my arm.”

“Alright.” He stood, a quick pat on her non-injured shoulder his goodbye. “Be careful of that wound. I bandaged it so well, it would be a shame if you messed up my handiwork.”

“I have three doctorates, of course I’m gonna mess it up.” She gave him a quick pat as well, her smile genuine. “I’ll go easy on it. Bean’ll take you back, careful none of my scary vigilante’s eat ya on the way out.” The small bot hovered over his shoulder, beeping a hello tune.

He grinned, and nodded. “I’ll try to steer clear. Let’s go, Bean.” He followed the little bot from the lab, with one last wave towards Azzy, not looking back. She heaved a sigh and grabbed a wire, connecting it to one of her ports once the door closed behind him. She had a limb to test and reset.

[suddenlydeer]

Do you have any place to watch StEx? I've been seeing it all over tumblr recently and I'm super interested!

Here’s a link to a few I personally like/have available!

Here’s the Broadway production: https://youtu.be/YPSwg2FOJbs

The London Production(2001): https://youtu.be/PellxdmWyjI

And the 2014 production (its in german, I’m not sure if there’s English closed captioning, but it should generally be similar to the 2001 production. It’s pre-2018, so you’re not going to have the updates to the costumes or rewrites): https://youtu.be/PGqxLF_h3PM https://youtu.be/4mbce9TgTCI

I think there’s a larger collection textpost floating around somewhere, so if anyone has that, feel free to link it down below or link any recordings you’d like to share too! Spotify also has two English cast recordings too! The New Starlight Express is my favorite musically and energy wise but it doesn’t have CB in it, so :/

[erinptah]

Super Drags review (tl;dr Show Good)

The post where I do my best to spread the Good News, that there exists a saucy gay drag-queen magical-girl animated comedy and everyone should watch it.

Okay, not everyone -- I'll give some caveats at the end -- but definitely a heck of a lot more people than Netflix has bothered to advertise it to.

Look at this! Why did nobody tell me about this??

What is Super Drags?

Fast facts:

It's a 1-season, 5-episode adult animated comedy series, released in November 2018

Here's the official page, with a free-to-view trailer

It packs more explicit, unashamed queerness into those 5 episodes than any other cartoon I can think of

The only possible competitor would be if you took the whole 5000-episode run of Steven Universe and pared it down to a supercut of Just The Gay Parts

This in spite of being produced in Brazil, which (in my broad understanding, as a total non-authority on the subject) is more oppressively, dangerously homophobic than the US

The original is in Portuguese

There is an English dub, fabulously voiced by contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race

It's wrapped in "for adults only!" warnings, not because the content is any less child-friendly than (say) your Bojacks Horsemen or your Ricks and Mortys, but because Brazilian authorities tried to get it shut down on the grounds of this much gay being Harmful For Children

It was (heartbreakingly) not renewed for a second season

Here's a promo video, in which the main characters (Portuguese, with subtitles) play Drag Race judges for Shangela, who ends up voicing Scarlet in English.

And here's a beautiful flashy music video of the big musical number! (Also Portuguese, no subtitles, but the melody and the visuals stand on their own.)

Plot and worldbuilding stuff!

The elevator pitch is "What if Charlie's Angels, but also drag queens, with superpowers, because magical-girl transformations?"

In this universe, all LGBTQ people have magical energy. The Big Bad is an evil magical-drag-queen nemesis who tries to drain our energy for her own purposes. It's like if Ursula from The Little Mermaid was a first-season Sailor Moon villain.

...sidenote, in case you were worried, the representation isn't "cis gay men and nobody else." There's a butch lesbian in the recurring cast, a genderfluid person (in that specific word!) as a one-off love interest, and all the ensemble scenes are wonderful collages of different races, body types, and gender presentations.

Our heroes also fight non-magical everyday homophobes, who get written with scathing realism.

The moment I knew the show wasn't pulling any punches was in the first episode, where a newscaster complains about being Silenced by the Law of Political Correctness, then chirps "however, we have a special guest who is thankfully above the law!"

According to the reviews I've found from Brazilian viewers, it's also pitch-perfect when it comes to local queer culture, community dynamics, slang and speech patterns, even memes. All of which flies right over my head, so here's a post (with no-context spoilers) about one viewer's favorite details.

The handful of reaction posts on Tumblr have a dramatic split between "Brazilian viewers fiercely defending the show as culturally-accurate, uplifting, and brave in a terrifying political moment" and "American viewers complaining that the show is problematic because it's a comedy about drag queens with no perfect role models and lots of sex jokes."

As the Super Drags tell their nemesis (and this is also in the first episode): "How dare you try to turn the LGBTQXYZ community against each other? We do enough of that on our own!"

In between missions, our girls work sitcom retail jobs and deal with other everyday problems. All of which are written in amazingly nuanced and thoughtful ways for a show that also features "defeating an orgy monster with a lip-sync battle."

Detailed character stuff!

Our heroes are Color Coded For Your Convenience!

The Super Drags themselves go by "she" in-uniform, and a lot of the time when out of it. Like the Sailor Starlights, only more so. I'll roll with that.

In blue: Safira Cyan, or Ralph by day, an excitable college-age kid who's built like a football player and squees like a fangirl. (She's an anime fan in the original, and for some reason all the otaku references were replaced in the dub, but you can see them in the subtitles.)

Ralph lives with her younger sister (they play video games together!) and their dad, comes out to them mid-series, and is very shippable with another young guy who starts out reciting the homophobic beliefs he was raised with but whose heart clearly isn't in it.

Safira's weapon is a classic magical-girl wand that casts protective force-fields. Which are shaped like condoms. Because of course.

In yellow: Lemon Chiffon, aka Patrick, the oldest of the group and generally the smartest/most strategic. In most cases, the other two treat her as the de facto team leader -- unless she pushes it too far.

By day she's a single guy with thick thighs and thinning hair, who has some body-image insecurities on the dating scene. And this show has Things To Say about unrealistic beauty standards within the community...not to mention, about masc guys who look down on anyone too flaming or femme because straight people disapprove.

Lemon's weapon is a fluffy boa that can be used as a whip or a lasso, especially when there's a bondage joke to be made.

In red: Scarlet Carmesim, also Donizete, the loudest and most aggressive teammate with the most cutting insults, who refuses to suppress that attitude in an attempt to appease racists. (But will give it a shot when trying not to get fired.)

Donny still lives in her religious/homophobic mom's apartment, and I'm pretty sure it's because neither of them can afford to move out. Her rock-solid sense of fierce self-confidence is the reason it doesn't bring her down.

Scarlet's weapon is a fan that she uses to throw shade. Yeah, you knew that was coming.

The Charlie to these angels is Champagne, who runs operations from a cool magitech compound and breaks the fourth wall at the end to petition for viewers' support in getting a second season.

...we let her down, folks :(

So here's a thing. The show never draws a sharp line between "people who become drag queens because it's a way they're driven to express themselves as gay men" and "people who become drag queens because they were trans women all along." That's consistent with how South American LGBT+ culture works. (Again: best of my knowledge, not personally an authority on this, etc etc.)

Many of the characters, including Champagne, never describe themselves in ways that translate to one of our sharply-defined Anglo-USian identity categories. And I'm not going to try to impose any English labels on them here.

But I can say (in contrast to Safira, Lemon, and Scarlet), Champagne never switches out of her "drag" name/voice/presentation, not even in the most candid off-duty scenes, and still has the same bustline when naked in the tub. Make of that what you will.

You Should Watch This Show

If you have a Netflix subscription, watch Super Drags!

If you ever do a Netflix free trial month in the future, make a note to yourself to watch Super Drags!

It's one of their original productions, so there's no risk of missing your chance because the license expired. But it's absolutely not getting the promotion it deserves. Which means potentially interested viewers won't find it, which means Netflix will think there's no interest, which means they'll keep not promoting it...etc etc etc.

No idea if there's any chance of getting it un-canceled, but maybe we can at least convince them to release it on DVD.

And the sheer gutsiness it took for a group of Brazilian creators to produce this show in the first place -- that deserves to be rewarded with your attention.

In spite of various anti-discrimination laws that sound good on paper, the country has serious problems with homophobia, transphobia, and anti-LGBT violence (warning, article has a violent image which is only partly blurred).

Maybe the creators could've gotten a second season if they made this one softer, less sexually-explicit, more restrained...but honestly? I bet that wouldn't have helped.

Consider Danger & Eggs, an Amazon original cartoon. It was made in the US, thoroughly child-friendly, and restricts its LGBT+ representation to things like "characters go to a Pride celebration...where nobody ever names or describes the quality they're proud of."

And it didn't get renewed past the first season either.

(Note: it had a trans woman showrunner and a queer-heavy creative staff, so I blame all that restraint on executive meddling, not the creators themselves. The showrunner even liked the tweet of my review that complains about it.)

So there's something very satisfying about how Super Drags went all-out, balls-to-the-wall (sometimes literally), all the rep explicit and unapologetic, packing every 25-minute episode with all kinds of queer content that would be censored or muted elsewhere -- but here it's exaggerated and celebrated and just keeps coming.

(...as do jokes like that, and I'm not sorry.)

Okay, there are a few legitimate reasons to not watch this show

Some caveats.

None of these things are Objectively Bad Problems that the show itself should be shamed for...but maybe they're genuinely not your cup of tea.

It does have actual Adult Content beyond "the existence of gay people." This show loves to swing barely-clothed cartoon genitalia in your face. There is, as mentioned, an orgy monster. If that kind of humor is going to bother you too much to appreciate the rest of the show, give it a pass.

I wasn't kidding about how realistic the homophobes are. Opening of the first episode has a guy trying to murder a busload of people while shouting slurs at them. If that level of hatred on-screen is gonna crush your soul, even in a show about sparkly queens flying to the rescue with dick-shaped magical weapons, don't push yourself.

Any fiction with this much crossdressing and gender-transgressing is going to hit some trans viewers in a bad way. Because trans people are such a broad group, with so many different experiences, that Every Possible Trope Involved pushes somebody's buttons. (See also: "some trans readers complain about a storyline that turns out to be drawn from a trans writer's actual life experience".) If this show goes does gender things that turn out to be personally distressing for you...or even just distressing for this specific time in your life...don't feel obligated to keep watching.

It has aggressively-sassy queer characters making jokes and calling each other things that are affectionate in-context, but would not be okay coming from straight/cis people. If you can't wrap your head around that, go watch something else.

Other Than That, Go Watch This Show

For all its big heart, big ambitions, and big gay energy, Super Drags is tiny enough that I've binged the whole show 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Thankfully, it's highly re-watchable -- lots of fun background gags and subtle foreshadowing that you don't catch on the first round.

(Pausing one last time to appreciate that a show with elements like "the high-tech robot assistant is called D.I.L.D.O." can be subtle at all, let alone be this good at it.)

I've also paged through all the fanart on Tumblr and Deviantart, looked up the single fanfic on the AO3, and started brainstorming plans to request it in Yuletide next year. Someone, please, come join me in (the English-language side of) the itty-bitty fandom for this ridiculous, glittery, over-the-top, fabulous series.

[computerkisser]

au courant, foofaraw, and serendipity for the one and only CB!!

“describe in detail or provide an image of your favorite outfit your f/o has worn. if they only have one outfit, find, draw, or make an outfit collage online of something you’d like to see them in.” ok cb only has the one outfit basically, but it varies from production to production.. but ill approach this from the only one outfit standpoint! so.... im too embarrassed to put a picture but. cb in a nice suit? now that would make my little heart short circuit

“do your chosen aesthetics line up well with your f/os? meaning, if the two of you were to say, decorate a home, would your chosen styles clash or compliment each other?” we have Very Different aesthetics gjgnfjfjdj i like soft pinks and lovey dovey stuff and cb has his whole... *gestures wildly* cb thing going on

“how did you first discover your f/o, or your f/os source material? how did you feel when you first saw your f/o in your source material?” I discovered starlight express through a tumblr post! i clearly remember reading the wikipedia synopsis, trying to find the villain, because i know i like villains and a personified train seemed like neat crush material. and when i first listened to cb’s song? i was AWESTRUCK.... i love him

[upalldown]

Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor’s Version)

Re-recording of the pop artist's fourth album - following the sale of her master recordings to American businessman Scooter Braun - includes nine unrelased songs

7/13

Just beyond the bounds of normal human awareness lies a realm governed by a benevolent blonde whose songs are sacred texts. In wormholes on Tumblr and TikTok, you’ll discover a new language of signs and symbols, and a bounty of messages waiting to be decoded. Nail polish colors hold secret meanings. Halloween costumes are harbingers. Lost scarves are mythologized like lost arks.

This is the Swiftiverse. Is Red (Taylor’s Version) really trying to exist anywhere else? The second of six albums that Swift is remaking from scratch to regain financial and legal control of her catalog, it’s built on the well-founded belief that her fandom will consume anything spun by her hands—even lightly retouched versions of songs that came out less than a decade ago, plus a fistful of contemporaneous unreleased tracks for good measure. Leave it to Taylor to turn a business maneuver into a sweeping mid-career retrospective; leave it to Swifties to receive the songs, the merch, and the short film as gifts, glimpses into their idol’s secret history handed down as rewards for their devotion.

Originally released in 2012, Red was the clear nexus between where Swift’s career started and where it was heading. After a three-album progression away from country, she revealed the extent of her pop ambition, calling in producers Max Martin and Shellback—Swedish heavy-hitters who had sent Britney Spears and P!nk up the charts—to cue the synths and drop the bass. (“Message in a Bottle,” the first song Swift wrote with the pair, is among Red (Taylor’s Version)’s new offerings; its abundant polish nearly makes up for its dearth of personality.) Red was also where she began to seek source material beyond her own biography; the character studies (of Ethel Kennedy on the lightly ditzy “Starlight”; of a Joni Mitchell-esque elder on “The Lucky One”; of a mother who loses her young son to cancer on vault track “Ronan”) point in the direction of folklore, where, years later, the gulf between Swift and her narrators would widen.

Like Fearless (Taylor’s Version), the first of Swift’s re-recordings to be released, Red (Taylor’s Version) stays true to the original. Hunting for subtle differences between the old and the new feels like a game of Where’s Waldo?, and sometimes just a test of headphone fidelity. Various instruments are slightly louder or quieter in the mix; a note or two might have been tweaked in the melody of “Sad Beautiful Tragic”; the “wee-ee”s on “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” are even more cloying than before. A notable exception to this trend of sameness is the bonus track “Girl at Home,” formerly a prim, strummy ode to girl code, freshly remade with producer Elvira Anderfjärd (a Max Martin signee) as a burbling, bottom-heavy synth-pop joint.

If you haven’t listened to Red, recently or ever, it’s well worth your time; in its ecstatic, expressive vocals, tart humor, vivid imagery, and tender attention to the nuances of love and loss, you’ll find everything that makes Taylor Swift great. But the real draw for her main audience, who already know Red like the back of their hands, is the new material. Some of it is new only in the sense of being newly attached to this album or newly reclaimed by Taylor: “Ronan” was a one-off charity single in 2012; Little Big Town recorded “Better Man,” a stolen rearview glance on the drive away from toxic love, in 2016; and the venom-laced air kiss “Babe” was released by the country duo Sugarland in 2018. Most anticipated is an extended cut of a classic: “All Too Well,” a Red track with an outsize presence in Swift lore.

A slow-burn account of sunsetting love, long since codified as an exemplar of Swiftian storytelling, the original version of “All Too Well” was the product of Swift and co-writer Liz Rose’s extensive edits to a 10-minute demo. Now, Swift has dug up the lost verses. Not all of them are additive; Swift’s beyond-her-years analysis in the final verse feels disconnected from the in-process pain of the version that we know, and when she opens up the song for its subject’s input (“Did the love affair maim you too?”), she undermines the definitiveness of her own account. The extra bulk dilutes the original’s walloping crescendo, making it harder to locate the emotional climax. Still, it’s surreal to see the stuff of lesser writers’ dreams—“You kept me like a secret/But I kept you like an oath”—abandoned, until now, on the cutting room floor.

Some of the vault tracks feel like they were left off of Red because they weren’t up to snuff; see the garish cheer of “The Very First Night,” the too-obvious hook of “Run” (“like you’d run from the law”). Much more compelling is “Nothing New,” a somber acoustic ballad squarely in the wheelhouse of guest star Phoebe Bridgers, which grapples with the music business’ famously fickle relationship to young women. These same anxieties—about being chewed up, spit out, and replaced—surfaced on “The Lucky One,” but here, instead of projecting them onto another character, Swift inhabits them in her own voice. “Nothing New” was written by Swift in her early 20s, a time when she was deeply scared of alienating her audience. I wonder if she withheld it out of fear that it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy—that by exposing her disillusionment, she’d dull her own shine.

Swift has an unfortunate habit of relegating female guests on her songs to the background; just ask Haim, Imogen Heap, the Chicks, or Colbie Caillat. Bridgers, meanwhile, makes off with a full verse and chorus to herself. In light of the song’s subject, this feels significant: By inviting a popular younger artist who has studied her textbook to share her stage, Swift suggests that there’s ample room for them both. But things get eerie on the bridge, when she begins waxing prophetic about the young woman who will eventually take her crown. Trading lines with Bridgers, she sings:

I know someday I’m gonna meet her, it’s a fever dream The kind of radiance you only have at 17 She’ll know the way and then she’ll say she got the map from me I’ll say I’m happy for her, then I’ll cry myself to sleep

Just this year, a 17-year-old Olivia Rodrigo released her breakout smash, then borrowed liberally enough from Swift to grant her two writing credits—one of them retroactive—on her debut. Swift is too smart not to know that some of her listeners will make this connection. Whatever; she owns it. Ownership is, after all, this project’s raison d’être—ownership of master recordings, but also of personal and artistic history. You have to admire Swift’s pluck in standing so resolutely behind hers. Red, often lauded as Swift’s best album, is not perfect; it contains some of her great masterpieces (“Holy Ground,” “22,” “All Too Well”), but also some duds (while reviewing this record, I got through “Starlight” for maybe the first time since 2012). Red (Taylor’s Version) may be a commercial endeavor first, but that doesn’t mean it lacks an underlying artistic statement: that sometimes we must revisit our past, both the flattering and the less flattering bits, in order to get to our future. Swift won’t have any trouble finding companions for the road.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-red-taylors-version/

[marshmallow-essence-blog]

Starlight Express (from icouldwritebooks . Tumblr will only let me use my main for asks)

Okay, so three things I like and one of them I don’t likeI like:1. The fact that it’s all on roller skates, it makes it so different and also really fast and cool 2. The curtain call, all the actors skate around on the tracks through the audience and give people high fives and say hi to them, it’s really cool 3. The fact that the German version uses the word Zug as all synonyms possible, be it train, a smoke, turn, or something else

What I don’t like:The ‘90’s version, they took out CB, the main villain and a driving plot source for no reason making the plot make no sense at all. I do like that production’s version of The Rap however so it’s not all bad I guess