#tenor talks

[infernaltenor]

one more niki analysis.

for now.

ok this one technically i've had in mind for MONTHS but couldn't figure out how to word it until just now because i a) read hot limit about three months ago and it hasn't left my head since b) the idol exploration event.

anyway. the actual crux of this is: niki's character is specifically written to be content, not happy. these often get confused imo. the second part of this is his contentedness isn't natural, it's forced. the third part of this is no one fucking notices, except for one rinne amagi, because of course he does. by no one, i'm talking specifically character-wise here; niki in game tends to get written off as childish or otherwise doing well, and that comes directly from his other unit members.

side note: i'm fairly confident in my own reading of "niki will pretend to not be bothered by anything, ever" and this is bolstered by a few different things; a) the honeycomb summer lyrics in my last post where there's a part of the intro, "hidden the true feelings out of habit / and now you're regretting it" (rinne amagi you slick bastard) b) hot limit. like the entire story. mostly because he was being troubled by multiple different things throughout it (work, idol activities, and his family last name/father's scandal) and the only person who noticed was rinne, and that's probably because he knew the damn guy for five years c) also in hot limit, the exploration into niki seeing himself as a burden because of his illness. why did they add this into his character and then not elaborate further? i don't know. if it never gets elaboration, i'll implode. anyway, it's a part of his character that he usually doesn't show, but he references it as "not wanting to inconvenience the people around him" REGARDLESS of if the people in question don't mind him inconveniencing them (rinne). in general, the only thing he makes a fuss about is food, likely because of his metabolism and the fact that he does become more of a danger to people when extremely hungry (he has bitten hiiro before.); i.e. the inconvenience for everyone else is a 19-20yro trying to bite them, not complaining that he's hungry.

i digress.

niki has referenced himself as being content with certain things before. for instance, in hot limit, it's phrased distinctly as "just getting to eat every day is a bliss to me - i need to be satisfied with that", which comes up again in his letter from the idol exploration:

"it feels like happiness is there to fill my stomach, too!" oh, is it? is it niki? is it now?

basically, what i'm getting at is niki's expectations for life are so incredibly low, so he's satisfied with getting to eat every day. that's it. just satisfied. side note: this is why i went insane when survival was added to his profile; the way he lives/talks about living, he's been surviving more than living. this is also why i think rinne and niki work so well as a pair, rinne's into living and niki's busy surviving. though, to be fair, rinne and niki's relationship is built on this crux anyway. rinne intends (hopes, maybe? his goal?) is to help niki with what he has identified as a problem. thank you rinne amagi.

(for the record, right after i read this, my live reaction was "WHAT IF I KILLED MYSELF". that's quite dramatic, and i won't, but i figured someone might get a laugh out of that.)

this isn't the first time that rinne has referred to niki (well, more so implied) as "not happy", as it happens in hot limit, too.

"that's why i'll grant his wish and make him happy" oh ok i see.

anyway. niki's fascinating, because this forced contentedness vs happiness is so interesting to me, because beyond rinne's own read of niki, it's easily bought by everyone else he knows. most notably, kohaku and himeru, as their impressions come off of reading niki quite differently to rinne's:

(i grabbed these screenshots after i finished the event for the time being. rinne's i grabbed before LMAO)

both of them appreciate and even look up to niki in certain ways, and they both like his focus on food. but what's interesting is how both of them see him vastly different from rinne; where rinne focuses on his low self impression, himeru thinks niki's perspective of the world is interesting, as well as i think he gives credence to niki being selfless, which kohaku sees him as both childish and reckless. i'm pretty sure both himeru and kohaku see him as more naive than themselves, which is a fair read. this also does line up with what happens in hot limit; while rinne is aware of the troubles niki's going through, himeru and kohaku are both surprised at the end.

niki's own effort, i think, to convince himself of being satisfied and content pays off, because the only person who notices otherwise is rinne. which, imo, is a whole other source of depth to their relationship; rinne probably saw niki working that out. he was 14 when they met, and likely the shiina parents leaving was recent (side note: i'm a certified niki's parents hater. i know we don't have much info on them, but i don't trust them after that burden thing), which is something i've mostly extrapolated by the contact he seems to have at 14 vs at 19, where they're pretty much never mentioned. yes, i know, niki chose to stay in japan. i just don't think you get through your parents leaving you in your native country at 14 while they gallivant around the globe and your communication with them steadily dwindles results in anything good.

ok. i'm sorry for the parent hating.

but unless proven otherwise i'm expecting them to be the source of these problems.

[coquelicoq]

what i like especially about the pronouns in the goblin emperor is that this language doesn't just have the T-V distinction (aka informal vs. formal second-person pronouns, in this case 'thou' vs. 'you'), it also has informal and formal first-person pronouns. having BOTH of these distinctions in the same language lets you fine-tune your tone by mixing and matching. with only one axis of formality, when you use informal pronouns, are you being familiar in an intimate way, or in an insolent or dismissive way? when you use formal pronouns, are you being polite or standoffish? you can't tell just from the pronouns; there's ambiguity. but a language where you can use a formal first-person pronoun in the same sentence as an informal second-person pronoun allows you to distance yourself (via the formal first) while also being familiar (via the informal second), thereby achieving the conversational tenor known to linguists as Fuck Thee Specifically.

[butch-chastity]

hadestown is the best orpheus/euryidice adaptation because orpheus is dressed like a butch lesbian. next question

[roseband]

sammy once again showing why the thirst tweets were too tame for them

[sare11aa11eras]

Theon is 19 in AGOT which means that yes absolutely Jon is right that he’s an ass. How many 19yo kids have you met that weren’t kind of cringe & annoying. College is full of guys exactly like Theon. I am so sorry but it’s true. 🙏🙏🙏 it’s rly not his fault!! plus. the horrors.

[richkidcityfriends]

people's absolute inability to understand the purpose of metaphor will i think be the thing that kills me

[muchadoabout]

Tosca at the Bavarian State Opera

Music Direction Andrea Battistoni Producer Kornél Mundruczó Mario Cavaradossi Jonas Kaufmann Floria Tosca Eleonora Buratto Baron Scarpia Ludovic Tézier | 27.07.2024

I attended this run with a renewed mindset, hoping that Kaufmann could rise above the distracting direction. Unfortunately, the issues were too irredeemable for even his star power to overcome. The production's best part was the Te Deum scene. Tézier was able to sing a menacing rendition of Scarpia's aria, "Tre Sbirri" free from the interference of background activities. Meanwhile, Kaufmann's Cavarodossi was preoccupied with taking photos during "Recondita armonia" or arranging film projectors while singing his lament, "E lucevan le stelle". The audience was distracted; Kaufmann appeared even more so.

The director's vision, while ambitious, was also uneven. Scarpia's den-torture room duplex was a smart design, adding more dimension to the second act. However, the production awkwardly repurposed the same torture room (minus Scarpia's den) for Tosca's leap to her death. The height could not be more a few meters tall, making what should have been a dramatic conclusion feel unconvincing and anticlimatic.

The audience's reaction that evening was more despondent compared to the first performance I attended in June. Kaufmann was in healthy vocal condition, and his acting was reliable. Tézier could play Scarpia in any circumstances; he completely owned the role. Buratto was consistent throughout the course of her performance.

[widevibratobitch]

this is what i get for logging back in. a pretentious don g aNaLySiS post on my dash. leave me alone havent i suffered enough

[pizza-feverdream]

Choir director gene reallll

[nia1sworld]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I'VE GOT A DATE WITH AN OWL!!!!!

[infernaltenor]

honeycomb summer and niki shiina

"didnt you say the last post was your last analysis" yeah, well, i lied.

hot limit is much less a story from niki and more a story about niki. this distinction will carry throughout this post, as i think it says not only a lot about niki himself, but also the relationship between niki and rinne, which i think is a vital part of both their characterizations.

i mean, oddly enough, niki doesn't even show up much in his own center event! this is because, of course, he's trying to juggle three different things (work/cooking opportunities, idol activities, and his family name), but it does show a decent amount into his characterization. namely, niki's reluctance to ask for help (rinne acts of his own accord in hot limit, not because he's prompted), his low self esteem, and the way his illness actually affects him in his day to day life. i think its worth it to note that his low self esteem is intertwined with his chronic illness, as he specifically references himself as a buden and having to be thankful he's lasted as long as he has. (side note: the new profile for niki having survival in his skills is both aggravating and justifying to me in equal measure. he would look at his 20 years of life and go "wild how i survived that huh!" and then move on.)

ultimately, though, i think the most important part of hot limit is niki and rinne. they're central to the narrative, but more than that, hot limit makes it clear what their relationship is. there's a heavy level of devotion in their relationship, but what's particularly interesting to me is rinne's perspective about niki. not only does rinne want to fundamentally "change fate", as he absolutely hates the perspective niki currently has, but he interestingly refuses to be clear about it, except for at the end of hot limit, when he outright states it to himeru and kohaku.

ive been sitting on this screenshot for months. they make me so ill.

anyway. that's not the point, my point is to talk about honeycomb summer, the song that came out with hot limit. because much in the way that hot limit is a story about niki, honeycomb summer is a song talking to niki.

there's two places in particular in the lyrics that standout as direct lines that are attempts from rinne to talk to niki. this is more than likely part of his campaign to "change fate".

niki fucking hates talking about his issues (see: hot limit) so the first part makes sense. basically, hes a master at deflecting. laugh, smile, move on, don't elaborate further. help him.

the second part is a bit more interesting, because it's both a typical crazy:b lyric and a typical rinne amagi-ism. but under the lens of honeycomb summer, and particularly the quote at the end of hot limit, this is a direct fucking plea to niki shiina. you can want more than just to survive. it's okay to be greedy.

[1976allthepresidentsmen]

in another life i am an opera singer 😔

[soupy-girl]

unrelated to anything but i would kill and die to play grace chasity

[agentsnickers]

sometimes i miss performing so bad

like, i can sing in my house but it's not the same. and i miss acting too, yknow? i get some of that feeling at work but it's not really the same, with the interactivity and the variability of our show and everything

[enderparty101]

Who's heel slam because now I am curious

Ask Tethertale #73

Fact: Tinman is one of Ranger’s favorite nicknames for Tenor!

[sp4rk-p1ug]

it’s so weird when people compliment my singing voice. the other day i was like singing good luck babe to myself and this girl heard me and went “omg…. you sound JUST like chappell roan…” and Okay post cancelled this sounds like it just didn’t fucking happen. like this sounds like a lie.