#the brilliant songs were left off for other reasons imo

[midnightsslut]

as much as I like some of the vault songs, I think she made the right choice with the original tracklist (which isn’t necessarily how I felt with red)

[orionsangel86]

“I Think It’s Time For Me To Move On”

...And Other Things That Have Destroyed Me This Weekend...

So there is this common trope within love stories which generally happens at the end of the second act in which everything goes wrong and we all think that the lovers are doomed to failure. Its pretty much standard in every Jane Austen novel, every romantic film every made, every single bloody love story. Go ahead, name one. I guarantee you the break up moment is there.

Within the epic love story of Dean and Cas, there have been many break up moments, and all have had their emotionally devastating impact on the relationship and the show...

But THIS was a different level. 

(For a nice summary of Destiel break up moments and understanding of this trope, @tinkdw​ wrote about it here.)

I didn’t think that there would be another moment within Dean and Cas’s relationship that could hit me this hard. The mixtape in 12x19, the wrapping of Cas’s body in 13x01, and the return of Cas in 13x05 are moments that I consider to be the very top of the scale in making this pairing undeniably romantic. Moments that pushed it beyond a platonic interpretation. These three moments have been the things I cling to when the show has otherwise made me doubt any conclusion to the DeanCas story, and since there hasn’t been another one of those moments since 13x05, until now I have been somewhat nervous that the story was dropped, or being forced back behind a platonic screen. 

15x03 has ripped that screen away. 

Emotional meta under cut...

This entire episode was an emotion fuelled dramatic roller-coaster that killed off three characters including our beloved witch queen in a scene that almost stole the show and practically canonised the SamWitch ship. Rowena’s death should have been by far the most torturous moment for viewers to endure, and it was extremely torturous and had me sobbing on a plane 3 hours into a 7 hour flight. That incredibly heartfelt moment between Sam and Rowena will probably go down as one of the top tear-jerking moments on this show. It was tragic in the best way - the way Supernatural is famous for.

But lets not gloss over the fact that in an episode where THAT should have been the climax, where THAT should have been the emotional highlight and end point, instead we get a further MORE dramatic stand off between Dean and Cas that pulled focus and ripped all of our hearts out just as violently as poor Ketch in the first act (a very clever and smug piece of meta foreshadowing there Mr Berens).

On a meta level, this is HUGE as a writing choice because they MUST know how this looks. This was the climax of the third episode of the finale season. The way Supernatural has always structured itself since Carver era is that the first three mytharc episodes of each season establish the direction of the story and set the foundations for the character level focal points and dramatic key notes to come. 

That the writers have chosen to end the foundation episodes with a DeanCas break up moment that was more dramatic than a Spanish Telenovela has just stunned me and left me reeling because I just can’t see how else this can go. This break up scene absolutely DEMANDS a huge reconciliation of the sort that will be part of the A plot of the season - the FINAL SEASON. Guys. Part of the reason I have been so quiet and so disillusioned with the show during late season 13 and season 14 was because they pushed any Destiel plot into non existent territory - it became kinda irrelevant and Dean and Cas just acted like friends (homoerotic friends yes, and sometimes like an old married couple, but it was mostly played as an afterthought imo), so for this to suddenly be brought to the forefront of the emotional story again is excellent news for us. 

The thing is, like with those huge moments I listed above, the break up scene is basically undeniably romantic when you break it down to its components:

1. It’s only Dean and Cas. 

Once again we have another scene of high stake emotions that excludes Sam. In a platonic reading of the show, it makes zero sense for there to be such a hugely disjointed relationship between Cas and Dean and Cas and Sam given he has known them both for so long now that if they were all “just friends” then surely Sam would also feel the impact of Cas’s choices as heavily as Dean. In a platonic reading, Dean comes across as an asshole, Sam comes across as being weirdly uncaring about his friend of 10 years, and Cas comes across as not even bothering to get Sam’s opinion before leaving. A romantic reading makes sense because quite literally THIS IS A ROMANTIC BREAK UP.

2. The words spoken. 

“Well I don’t think there is anything left to say.”

“I think it’s time for me to move on”

From Cas’s perspective at least, name one time in a piece of media where such language has been used for a platonic breakup sincerely? There have been heartfelt break up songs that use these exact words. (I should know I’ve spent the last 24 hours listening to them all).

That last line in particular is so heavy. It’s the last line of the episode and nothing about it is platonic. This is relationship terminology my dudes. “I need to move on, and get over you.” This is Cas’s bloody Adele song. My heart breaks for him, but if I was his sassy and fabulous best girlfriend right now I’d be sitting him down, sipping a cocktail, flipping my hair and telling him “Babe, you’re too good for him. Good Riddance. Let’s go out, have some cocktails, something pink and fruity. No dive bars for us darling. I’ll take you to Heaven... the fun one in London.”

In all seriousness though, from Cas’s perspective, this was him admitting defeat and giving up the fight for love. How anyone can possibly say Cas isn’t in love with Dean after this, well I just don’t know what show you are watching. This is the face of a heartbroken man who has just accepted that his love is unrequited. 

3. The many faces of Dean Winchester

On the other end of the scale, Dean was mostly silent after his poisonous words “And why does that something always seem to be you?”

Forgive the terrible gif quality I’ve no time for fancy gif work!

Look at his face here. He knows what he said was fucked up and he immediately regrets it. The way he swallows around that regret and then turns away.

and after Cas says that devastating final line and walks away? We get THIS reaction from him:

The jaw clench as he looks down. The sorrow on his face as he realises he has well and truly fucked this up. LOOK

Finally, he looks up, makes himself look up and watch Cas leave. If that isn’t the face of a broken man I dunno what to tell you. Anyone who thinks Dean is totally heartless and uncaring right now needs to reassess because this is NOT the face of someone uncaring. This is the face of someone who has just lost everything. Again. 

4. The FUCKING MUSIC

Seriously. The sweeping heavy drama of the low strings that come in right after Dean says that horrid line, that carry the weight of the look of horror and heartbreak on Cas’s face as they amplify the emotion there. As they blend seamlessly into the slow and subtle version of the Winchester family theme behind Cas’s heartbreaking speech and Dean’s stubborn stoic face hiding a multitude of emotion, until the violin dominates as Cas says “I think it’s time for me to move on” and the Winchester Theme swells to its climax, ripping all our hearts out just like poor Ketch as Dean watches Cas walk out of his life surrounded by darkness. 

I MEAN.

A friend on Twitter reminded us all of this point about the importance of this theme via @justanotheridijiton​ here which is essentially:

“The Winchester theme is not simply an aural marker to let the audience know when and how Sam and Dean love each other (any Supernatural fan knows that is the baseline of their relationship), but to provide narrative information, especially when the image and dialogue are incomplete or inconsistent with the true situation...  Seasoned fans will recognize the theme and its history of being paired with images indicating deep emotional bonding and a desire to do the right thing by the Winchester code. Here we trust our ears over our eyes to reveal the truth.”

So here is yet another key indicator that any surface read that this is actually an ending between Dean and Cas and that Dean really is just an angry asshole is utter bullshit. 

Honestly, this was PAINFUL, but it was painful in the best way. It was 13x01 levels of pain, but this time it was Cas choosing to walk away which makes all the difference. Dean’s greatest fear isn’t his loved ones dying on him after all, but of his loved ones choosing to leave him. This was exactly the kick up the ass Dean needs in order to win Cas back, classic love trope style. 

Hence my excitement at what is to come. Yes we won’t see Cas again until 15x06, but in the meantime I fully expect a good helping of angst and wallowing from a depressed Dean who has to deal with the fact that he has just lost the love of his life and it is all his fault. That he just pushed away the one person who promised they would always stay by his side. That has got to hurt. 

So yeah, this episode emotionally destroyed me, and I’ve only really covered the primary reason, let alone all my feels over SamWitch, Rowena’s death, Belphegor’s taunting of Cas over his deepest fears and then having to suffer through smiting a creature wearing the face of his son until his body was nothing but a burnt corpse... I wonder if Bobo had a bet going in the office over how much he could hurt us all? He was certainly enjoying scrolling through the Supernatural tag on Twitter and liking everyone’s reaction tweets including some brilliant Destiel related ones. I do love Bobo. Our Angst Goblin King. 

If anyone had asked me a few weeks ago what my thoughts were on the chances of getting explicit canon Destiel by series end, I would have said somewhere in the realms of 30-40%, considering it a battle of wills between DabbBerens and CW studio execs who I still feel are against it in general. I would have considered everything that happened after 13x06 as the writers getting a big NO on Destiel from the network and therefore having to pull back on any Destiel related plot points (purely my own speculation on BTS matters of course).

Now I am wondering if Dabb kept fighting the network? If he managed to wear them down into begrudging acceptance? I’m currently up to around an 80% chance of textual canon DeanCas if we continue on this path. If Dean is clearly shown to be mourning and hating himself over Cas next episode, and if this DeanCas dramatic plot line continues to be a focal point of the emotional story arcs... well...

I’m side eyeing 15x07 a lot right now. Only in my wildest dreams would I think that they might actually introduce an old boyfriend for Dean in a “coming out” episode, but the placement, timing, and potential is all there and I’m kind of once again donning the clown mask because I’m just in awe at everything that they are doing. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I’m gonna paint my face in red and white and wear my rainbow wig and listen to break up songs on Spotify whilst trying to shove my heart back into my chest where Bobo Beren’s gleefully ripped it out with his hands like the demonic angst goblin he is. Wish me luck, I’m not sure I’m gonna get through this season with my emotions intact.

[borisbubbles]

28. ITALY

Diodato - “Fai Rumore”

And we’re back to our usual disconnect, where everyone pretends to love Italy and I don’t. I cannot wait for all the Italian crazies to be OUTRAGED by this ranking (28/41 is fine for an entry I don’t care about...?) and reblog this all over the tumblrverse and inflate my reader stats. 😈 but first, let’s discuss what we have on our hands here. 

Song Analysis

There’s no way this post *won’t* end up offensive to every Fai Rumore fan, so I will resort to brutal honesty. I never, ever, *ever* cared about “Fai rumore”. In fact, I’d even say it’s strongly overrated by the gross of the Eurovision fandom? 

Okay so here’s the deal. I will not deny that “Fai Rumore” has several things going for it. The song has emotional gravitas, Diodato has a great voice and acts very well. It’s technically precise and well produced. It is very competent at what it sets out to be, which is a very standard HQ Sanremo Power Ballad. 

But here’s where I feel like I deviate from the norm: You may think “wow Fai Rumore! How brilliant, meticulous and poised”, but I think “how expected, overtly earnest and unfun?” 

The problem is, this is Boris’s Bubble and Boris doesn’t enjoy songs that feel like they belong inside a trophy cupboard, and “Fai rumore” is exactly one of those songs, don’t lie. So “meticulous, poised and brilliant” you say, well *I* say “how overtly earnest, unfun and aloof”? I have a Spotify - if I wanted to listen to good music, I’d just use that? Or one of my like 15 Youtube Playlists containing non-ESC entries? Why would I watch Eurovision, or Sanremo for that matter, for the good music when there are so many other (and easier) options available for me that align better to my tastes?

The fact that “Fai Rumore” is *too* perfect for me (and therefore very hard to empathize with imo) is one thing, which leads to other thing I need to point out. I’ll let my friend Matthew take over here, who wrote this paragraph on ESCUnited right after Diodato’s selection: 

That final sentences is bone-chilling because it’s so, so true. “I AM A SOPHISTICATED MUSIC FAN BECAUSE I FOLLOW ~FESTIVALE DI SANREMO~” is such a common trope of elistism (like, replace “San Remo” with any quality newspaper, nobel prize winning author or classical music composer and you’ll find to be nearly universally applicable to snobs across the globe), but I find it specifically ugly in Eurovision.

You see, would the same courtesy be extended to a country of lower prestige if they got a Fai Rumore? Would the same courtesy be extended to a person of colour? or a woman? How about others songs that, like Fai Rumore, emulate their country’s musical traditions (Fai Rumore is SO italian you can smell the basil), except those traditions fall outside of the western European bubble? See, it doesn’t bother me that Italians like Fai Rumore and are proud of it. They’re Italians. Of course they are! I don’t judge them for it. I don’t rly care if the odd introvert finds solace in a song of this calibre. But as soon as Matthew made the aforementioned post, people who had previously rated Diodato as a 5/6 already started adjusting their scores to 10s and 12s and, well...

It bothers me that the same fanbase that DEMANDS cultural diversity (Diodato) and/or MOAR ETHNOBOPS (Efendi) refuse to accept a Solovey or an Origo -which are a thousandfold more layered, sophisticated and daring- as an equal. 

It bothers *even more* me that people are willing to immediately give Italy a plethora of chances (especially when they choose men! fuck institutionalised sexism!), while not doing the same for a Belarus. Belarus HAS no clear musical scene or funds to really produce good music, yet produced a ridiculously good NF (with a VERY righteous winner - yes, Chakras, but also: Chakras) I’ve seen snobs SLAM VAL, mercilessly despite being an excellent left-field pick (god imagine if Yan had won Eurofest for a sec. What a nightmare). Italy, otoh, also delivered a sterling NF, have *a VERY* rich musical tradition, tons of talent and money and production value... and they still went the lowest common denominator available, and yet they receive praise, without so much as a whisper of protest from our so-called “value seekers”. This level of hypocrisy and double standard wielding, all in the name of wishing to be taken seriously delivers *such* a toxic undercurrent to Eurovision and has absolutely soured me on Diodato. This isn’t his fault, but sadly he’s become a weapon of mass misconstruction and well just because I hate the guy who pressed the big red button more doesn’t mean I automatically like ICBMs. As we come near the songs I actually give a damn’ about, I will start calling the shitpociries out. Brace yourself for it, when I rank Solovey and Da Vidna inside my top five.

Want some examples specifically pertaining to the Diodato fandom? Sure, I’ll give you some:

EJEMPLO UNO: 

Diodato fanboys openly coddling him on social media post-lockdown all “PROTECT OUR POOR MUNCHKIN FROM THE CORONAVIRUS”. Like... he’s a *thirty-eight year old adult* he can take care of himself, BACK UP OFF HIM you freaks. 

EJEMPLO DOS: 

The relevant media having baptized Diodato as THE SAVING GRACE OF THE LOCKDOWN, ITALIANS SINGING ‘FAI RUMORE’ FROM THEIR BALCONIES IN DEFIANCE OF COVID-19, which is such a bullshit narrative it’s turned my hair from black to brown.  Yes, the Italians sang “Fai Rumore”. What they don’t tell you is that they also sang many other Italian and non-Italian songs, including humanitarian anthem “Roar” by Kety Perr (cue to Katy Perry being like “OMG I’M SO HONORED TO INSPIRE SO MANY ITALIANS ::hungarianflagemoji::” on twitter.). CNN Like, Eurovision related media LOVE portraying it as a ~life-chaning confort anthem~ - the reality is that “Fai rumore”, while playing its part, was merely a tiny spoke in a giant wheel. 

EJEMPLO QUATRO:

Well take a look at how many people will reblog this post and slam it for daring to point out, what I think are really obvious truths to anyone who doesn’t suffer from musical myopia. 

In the end, the song is okay and it’s okay to love it. But if you ‘love’ it because you’ve convinced yourself that you must, and not because it genuinely means something to you, I don’t think you have grounds to criticise to criticise anyone but yourself.

NF Corner

As I said, I didn’t follow San Remo live (I never do! *gasp* blasphemy, I know), but I did plan to check it for this write-up except RAI deleted every live performance? And they won’t let me embed the few remaining vids either? 

Anyway, this happened so right-click-open this a new tab and then return once you’ve finished it. 

Backstage feuds being fought out LIVE on the stage in front of millions of viewers 😍 Apparently Morgan and Bugo were at loggerheads for a while, and had a massive row RIGHT before their performance on the second night, which caused Morgan to stray from the script and sing all the insulting things Bugo told him *to Bugo* instead of the actual lyrics of their duet. 😍 😍 😍 Bugo IMMEDIATELY stormed off the stage to the point where Amadeus had to like... literally tell the gobsmacked audience that Bugo had left the building 😍 😍 😍. This is some god-tier pettiness and I’m completely in awe of it. DEITIES. 😍

aside from Sincerogate, I would’ve embedded vidoes that contained the DRAMA (Rancore), CAMP (Achille) and UNABASHED WEIRDNESS (Levante) of this year’s line-up, but I guess RAI really doesn’t like for people to have fun. Oh well. 

Italy 2020 vs Italy 2021

Diodato is male and Italian, so yeah, guaranteed top 10 in Rotterdam, no matter what happens. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Cynicism aside, televoters WOULD have flocked to it without thinking twice (for exactly those two reasons), passing over many better entries in the process and well... I’m tired and exhausted and I think you can guess I am not very impressed by this likely outcome. 

Not sure what RAI’s strategy for 2021 is (lol it’s RAI - they don’t have a strategy. besides Italy have bigger fish to fry than the Eurovision Song Contest as you know), but I’m not very invested either way. I could imagine them internally selecting Diodato if he’s willing to do ESC in 2021, but if this was a one-off deal (which I think it was), they will probably select another plain white bloke for you to obsess over, so no worries :-) #TuttoVaPene

FREAKY! FRIDAY! FACTOR!

I’m sort of conflicted? On one hand, god Fai Ru*snore* is SO typical of “Italy in Eurovision”, not just from a musical perspective but from a point of reverence as well. On to the other hand, when are the fanbases *not* acting insane w/r/t Italy?

San Remo was  really crazy this year, enough for me to award Italy a couple Senheads. However... if I wanted to see nice and inoffensive triumph over a bunch of deranged, gimmicky, ott masterpieces, I’d just rewatch #London1977? (offensive take #16: “people that like Marie Myriam the most in 1977 do not understand Eurovision”) Ehhhh whatevs.

Score: 2 Senhits out of 5. 

[mad-madam-m]

Can you tell us your favourite romance books? While I'm at it I want to ask your favourite fantasy books too =)

Romance

Literally anything by Courtney Milan - No, I’m not exaggerating. She’s one of the few authors on my “oh hey you have a new book coming out score let me go buy it on Amazon immediately” list. I don’t read them immediately because I save them for when I know I need a really good book, because I’ve never hated a book of hers. Some of them I like better than others, but they’ve all been great. Personal favorites include The Governess Affair, The Heiress Effect and The Suffragette Scandal. She writes both contemporary (the Cyclone series) and historical (the Turner series, the Brothers Sinister series, and currently the Worth Saga). Seriously I could probably go on about her books all day long, so I’ll stop there. They’re amazing and I love them all.

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie - This book is hilarious and kept me up until 1 in the morning so I could finish it. The bet was great, the side characters were just as fun as the main couple, and I really liked how the happy ending showed that different people have different definitions of a happy ending: one couple had kids, one couple didn’t, and one woman never got married because she didn’t want to. In Romancelandia, where the happy ending almost always involves the hero and heroine getting pregnant, that was a really refreshing change.

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase - I know a lot of people are put off by the asshole alpha hero trope, and Sebastian…definitely fits it, but oh man, Jessica is more than up to the task of putting him in his place and it’s an absolute delight to read about. (SHE SHOOTS HIM BECAUSE HE’S A DICK. IT’S SO SATISFYING.) I flipping adore this novel, and I adore Loretta Chase’s work in general. If you’d prefer one of her books with a hero who’s not quite as much of a complete jerk, I’d suggest Miss Wonderful, Mr. Impossible, or Last Night’s Scandal (all of which rank just as high for me).

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare - Tessa Dare writes what I like to call “historical romantic comedies,” because her stuff always ends up making me laugh out loud. This one is basically a road trip AND a fake elopement as the hero (a notorious rake) and heroine (a bookish nerd) head to Scotland so that she can present her findings at a geological symposium and potentially win a prize of 500 pounds. It’s…so good, especially watching them fall for each other as they travel and how into it he gets because he sees how important it is to her, even if he knows nothing about geology. (I...actually ended up rereading this book as I was answering this ask because I picked it up just to remind myself of where they were going and...didn’t stop. >.>)

The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin - I’ll be honest, I read the first book in this series and I liked it, but I didn’t love it. In fact, I almost didn’t pick up this book because I was so meh on the first one. But boy howdy, I’m glad I did, because The Jade Temptress? Holy monkeys this book was fantastic. The heroine is a courtesan accused of murder, and the hero is the constable investigating the crime. It’s set in ancient China, the mystery plot is so, so good, and the tension between the two leads was delicious.

(Yes, these are mostly historical romances. What can I say, I like historical romances. XD)

Romance/Fantasy

The His Fair Assassin series by Robin LaFevers - This is a YA series and a little more alternate history than true fantasy, but the series is just so rich and fascinating. The characters are amazing, the political intrigue is just *kisses fingers*, and the way the stories weave together is just brilliant. The first two, Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph, are my personal favorites, but the final one is very, very good as well.

The Iron Seas series by Meljean Brook - Okay, this is steampunk more than fantasy, but I absolutely adored the worldbuilding in this series. Like. Wow. The steampunk world and the history she’s built out is just fascinating, and I’ve loved every glimpse I’ve gotten of it. The third book in the series, Riveted, is my favorite, but I haven’t yet read the fourth book or most of the accompanying novellas.

Fantasy

The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett - Pratchett’s satire is on point and he’s one of the rare male authors who can actually write female characters well. Personal favorites in this particular series include Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, and Witches Abroad. But honestly, just pick up a Discworld book and give it a go. The Night Watch series and the Witches series are the best places to get started, IMO, but I’ve yet to read a single Discworld novel that I straight-up didn’t like.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin - Oh man, first-person POV fantasy isn’t often something I’m into, but Yeine’s narration is just glorious to read. I ended up bingeing the last 60% of the book all in one morning because I just couldn’t get enough of it. I’ve also read the next book in the series, The Broken Kingdoms, and it was just as good. The only reason I’m not reccing the entire series is because I haven’t read the final book yet. But if it’s as good as the others, the whole series will be one of my favorite fantasy series ever.

The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger - Okay so this is steampunk, which probably falls more into science fiction, but holy shit I love this series so much. The writing style is like a more accessible Jane Austen’s and it’s hilarious (there’s a line in the second book that’s “Tea was a medicinal necessity at this juncture” and let me tell you, I quote that shit on a daily basis), and it’s a really interesting steampunk world with fantastic characters (including several queer characters). There are vampires and werewolves and Alexia, our main character, is curious in that she’s soulless—that is, she nullifies any supernatural creature’s powers as long as she’s touching them.

The first book would be classified as a steampunk paranormal romance, but the rest are more adventure/mystery. I’ve been slowly making my way through the YA prequel series (The Finishing School series; I’ve only got the last book left to read) and I have the first book of the sequel series sitting on my TBR shelf. Gail Carriger probably ties with Courtney Milan for my favorite author.

The Immortals quartet by Tamora Pierce - Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series (serieses?) was absolutely formative for me, but the two that stand out are The Immortals and The Song of the Lioness. Daine and Alanna are some of my favorite female fantasy characters ever, and they have fantastic stories and powers and lovely romances (some of which work out and some of which don’t). I can definitely see more of the seams in the series now that I’m older and I’ve reread them, but 15-year-old M does not care and 15-year-old M loved the shit out of these books. (Also let’s be real, the Immortals series is at least 50% responsible for my “I have no shame” with regards to age difference in OTPs. XD)

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson - The magic system in these books is absolutely fantastic, and I love how he uses it and ties it into not just the world and the fight scenes, but the actual plot. The first book is actually a fantasy heist, and I loved the concept that this is set a thousand years after the chosen one failed to save the world. All the characters were so great and the story went in directions I didn’t expect. Also, there was a romance! And it was a good romance! (I’m…fairly used to male authors falling down on romance, and tbh that’s a solid part of the reason both Mistborn and Discworld are on here.)

One caveat: the series has a satisfying ending, but it’s not a trope I normally read, write, or rec, and this is probably the only exception to that rule I’ve found thus far.

God knows I’m probably forgetting some books---I’ve read a lot in these two genres---but these are probably the ones that have stuck with me the longest.

[luckycheesefoodie321]

OK!!! So Coco... (major spoilers)

It took me longer than I thought but I finally watched Coco, and right off the bat, would give it a 9/10... (this is gonna be a long one if anyone cares to check out my irrelevant opinion) Explaining the 1/10 is quicker so that can go first:

How ridiculously obstinate the grandmother was and then the family just automatically following her lead. I thought, yes ok, I can understand why Mama Imelda didn’t want any association with music (despite having loved it so dearly and loving the man with whom she associated it with so dearly), and wanted her daughter to forget about her father who seemingly abandoned them. I can only assume Miguel’s abuelita (is this the correct term or is it abuela?) was taught to have a sorta second-hand hate of music because of Imelda being so bitter and heartbroken about Hector leaving. But because it was a second-hand hate and the fact that Miguel’s abuelita never even met the man whom her own abuelita - Mama Imelda - despised (but not really) makes her ironfist enforcement and hatred a bit over the top to me. And then even the blind following of their family. Like, music is a very difficult thing to avoid and did none of them enjoy a lil jingle or beat in their life?? I can buy that each of them went into the shoe business because it seems like a small town and it’s very family-centric so the tradition gets passed on, and I can buy them being distrustful of “mariachi” because of this seemingly mariachi stranger that abandoned their great-grandmother but to never question the hatred of music itself?? That was a little far-fetched.

There might be tidbits here and there but that was my main “critique”...

OK SO ONTO THE 9/10:

Definitely the best Pixar movie since Inside Out (would agree on the SuperCarlinBrothers on that point - they have a full review here) but it’s also paired with some FANTASTIC animation. I really wanna emphasise how strong the animation is in this movie. I mean, no doubt The Good Dinosaur is probably Pixar’s most visually stunning, and well animated movie to date but that said, the plot and message isn’t as captivating (though I still enjoyed it and when the Dad died I was super shook) but compared to how rich in themes and messages Coco is PLUS the animation is outstanding makes it far and away the better original Pixar movie (which btw is the last before 2020!!!). Finding Dory and Cars 3 CANNOT compare to a Pixar original. Back to the animation, it is so freaking gorgeous like:

source

and the marigold bridges!

source

But not just the imagery, the animation boundaries that Pixar is eternally attempting to break were actually mind-blowing. The big one people would be aware of and particularly musicians might catch onto first would be the fact that Miguel’s finger placing while strumming the guitar in front of the tv in his De la Cruz shrine are note for note correct and accurately synced to the music that you hear as he strums. WHICH IS INSANE. And something never done before. And I legitimately got chills watching with this knowledge in mind.

source

Props to Chris Chua who had to do the animation for this particular scene!!! And just note that apparently every time you see a person playing a guitar, it is the exact same situation! SCB also talks about it here until about 6:41 mins.

Onto the actual plot and let me tell you there is a plot TWIST and a message switch.

Well for those who have seen it, the plot twist is obviously that Ernesto de la Cruz is NOT Miguel’s great-great-grandfather and that it is Hector. I think if you know how these sorta movies go, you would clock in pretty early that this would be the situation - I think I clued in when Hector is talking about not liking musicians and such and Miguel is all “what would you know?” and I just knew then that Hector was gonna be some sort of musician and therefore probably his great-great-grandfather.  But what I wasn’t prepared for (and maybe this is because Pixar doesn’t usually have a villain and more so a “big picture” dilemma for the MC to overcome) was the fact that Ernesto de la Cruz was the “bad guy” AND a straight up murderer and murdered Hector when he was trying to get back to his family. That bit broke me a little because this whole time we were led to believe that Hector or Miguel’s “Papa” went out seeking fame and fortune and I just assumed that Hector never found it and died with his regrets but no! He got murdered by the man Miguel has been admiring most of his life! While trying to get back to his family!

The “Remember Me” song got 100x more poignant and sad and heartbreaking with this knowledge. And that, I thought, was some brilliant writing on Pixar’s part. Because now you can see why Hector is so desperate to cross the bridge. This ahole murdering peacock MURDERED HIM, keeping him from his family, stealing all his songs and raking in the rewards while leaving his family to believe he’d abandoned them and thus attempting to ERASE HIM from their memories and thus leave him to be forgotten!!! WHICH PIXAR COULD’VE DONE!! They could’ve done an Ellie and then some in obliterating your heart by killing someone who is already dead. I kinda wanna see what that movie would’ve been like if they had Hector die and thus have Hector and Coco just miss each other “on their way out” and that’s just horrendous to think about but would’ve clocked Coco as a real Pixar heavyweight (not that it isn’t top 6 material already).

Speaking of Coco, when hearing the main character is Miguel, it had me confused but the naming of the movie is actually brilliant. Because Coco is absolutely the most pivotal character in the entire movie and that makes the introducing monologue about Miguel and his relationship with his great-grandmother even more interesting. Because Coco is all that is left of memories of Hector and without her remembering him, he would cease to exist and meet her again in the after life like he’d been wanting for like four generations of Riveras and the reason he died in the first place!

Secondly the change of direction in the message Pixar was sending out. Initially, it was very clearly a movie about shedding the constraints of the naysayers and even if it is your family telling you, you can’t, you should follow your heart and do whatever you can to achieve your dreams. BUT Miguel was gradually going down a path we don’t often see in both Pixar and Disney protagonists. Where ultimately we the audience know they’re doing the right thing and following their heart even if their family disagreed (Moana is a good recent example), Miguel did things like saying he doesn’t wanna be a part of his family, and sneaking into Ernesto’s mausoleum and stealing his guitar simply because he believed he was Ernesto’s grandson, and then when returned immediately back to the land of the living, he ignores all the conditions given to him and steals the guitar again which rightly returns him back to the land of the dead. I mean granted, his family (dead and alive) and particularly his abuelita are over the top in discouraging him from his pursuing music BUT they are constantly reiterating why they are saying what they’re saying and doing what they’re doing, and he just refused to listen out of a stubborn desire to be different from his family. So he’s a character that it takes a longer time to like (imo) because of how dismissive and ignorant he is of why his family wants to keep him from pursuing music.

But then comes Miguel’s redemption and the change in direction the movie’s message takes. Because of how they have set out Miguel’s character and not taking him down that “guilty but noble” path, the “ultimately follow your heart” message can’t be swallowed well (kinda how I feel about The Little Mermaid). Instead they are saying that while following your dreams and your heart are great, if you don’t have people you care about to share in your success and support you in your dreams, then your existence can only ring hollow and the way you are remembered will always be toeing a fine line - as shown with Ernesto de la Cruz and how in the end, he got shunned by both the living and the dead when his actions came to light and his motivations behind those actions. And I think the powerful message of family and taking your past to push you forward to your best self is a really great message to send out.

Overall fantastic, feel good, tear-worthy movie. Hector’s almost-”death” and that final song with Mama Coco killed me gently and I loved this movie. 100/100 would recommend everyone see.

[furederiko]

Countdown Counter: 10. Kyuranger 39 is calling for a Hero, in order to save a 'Princess' in need! It's my first post for December 2017 too...

- Can't believe it's December already! As in, there are only 2 months left for us to enjoy a rollercoaster ride with Kyuranger. Aaaaawww... -_-. This recap-view was initially planned to be the final post of November, but evidently so, that's not the case. Well, things tend to run off track every now and then, and delaying this one eventually became a conscious decision. I DID watch the episode when it aired last week on November 26th, but I've decided to wait for the fansub in order to get a more accurate view. And I have only been able to catch the subbed version this morning, due to health and internet. - Last we saw the Space Rebellion, the team was divided into two. Tsurugi/Xiao led one half to clear out the wacky Cepheus trials, while Lucky's unit went to Planet Ghem to locate the Perseus Kyu Globe. In case the name and shape of the planet (with joystick and directional pads) aren't obvious enough, it's clearly a pun for the word 'GAME'. - Madako has been converted into Mecha-Madako, and become the Menaster of Perseus System. She wastes no time to trigger Champ's berserk. Worse, she and a Bovine All Purpose Weapon Unit-00 deactivate Champ and snatch him away. How can she accomplish all of these? With the help of one not-that-surprising figure: Professor Anton. Yes, as has been speculated by many and later rumored and reported, Champ's creator is NOT dead. The creepy mad scientist is still very much at large, and has been the brain behind the Vice-Shoguns 'revivals' and continuous modifications. Fun fact: In the mythology, the tale of Perseus is famously connected to the Greek monster Medusa. Madako might be an octopus, but her head design does resemble a woman with snakey hair, am I right? So her being the Perseus Menaster sort of fits the bill. - The world around the team is then altered, and Lucky, Stinger, Spada, and Kotarou suddenly find themselves turned into... RPG characters. Well, duh? Planet GAME, anyone? Kotarou gets to be the 'Hero', Spada gets to be this unit's fan-service master as the shirtless 'Warrior' (he's skinny, but IMO in better shape than Tsurugi LOL), Lucky is entrusted to be the episode's crossdressing master... a magical gir- I mean female 'Mage', while Stinger also uncharacteristically becomes the 'Jester'. Of course, we also know how melancholic Stinger could have been. Prof. Anton created this alternate space with the Alternate World Projection Machine so he can trap them for good. - With the Kyu Globes being rendered powerless, their personalities are also slowly altered to fit their new... ugh 'Jobs'. Wait... WHAT?! Yep, this is... as Hammy notes it perfectly, HILARIOUS. Singing and dancing Musical-Stinger totally steals every attention with his performance outbursts (seriously TOEI, make a Kyuranger Musical already!!!). Macho-Spada allows his actor to play a dumb brute jock (those blank expressions! LOL), while Brave-Kotarou gets to be the COOL leader. And surely I'm not the only one who thinks Feminine-Lucky actually looks pretty convincing as a girl, right? His inner-Eris, perhaps? *wink-wink* - Their mission, should they choose to accept it or else, is to rescue... beautiful Black Cow Princess, from the evil clutches of Demon King. Ouch, so Champ's the 'Damsel in Distress' in this situation, huh? LOL. Demon King is obviously Prof. Anton. He used to be gentle and kind in Champ's memory, so this time his actor gains the chance to ham up his performance into a twisted maniac intent on turning the fighting robot into a weapon of destruction. Sure, it looks campy and exaggerated, but unlike that other show this level of weirdness feels natural and makes sense. And surprise, surprise! Prof. Anton... isn't really 'alive' in the flesh. Great goodness, creepy Anton is CREEPY. He has become the Super Sentai version of Marvel's Arnim Zola!!! That scene with the TV head is a great proof of this homage. Just like Zola, he had uploaded his consciousness to a machine to gain immortality. - But it gets better! The professor was NEVER good, and has been Jark Matter's devotee for hundreds of years. Good-Anton was merely the undesirable benevolent 'residue' left behind in his mortal body when the real one decided to go full-pledged machine. Problem is, Good-Anton acted selflessly by taking Champ away, turning him into a robot of justice. That means the one Champ knew was indeed good, eventhough that was merely a 'defect version'. That's the reason why Scorpio was sent to eliminate Good-Anton. How I love this twist! Did you see this coming? I sure DON'T. Again, Kyuranger keeps on surprising us. - Champ has always been a weapon of destruction, and the 'Berserker Circuit' located next to his heart is the key to all this. Dang it, the Rebellion technicians must have done a FINE job rebuilding him to NOT have noticed this utter crucial thing. This chip explains why Champ occasionally gets out of control. Anton has unlocked its function now, reverting Champ back to his natural purpose. So the team needs to destroy it if they ever want to bring their friend back. But can they do it without blowing away his heart in the process? Do they need to sacrifice one of their own to protect the universe? - That's where Musical-Stinger plays a vital part. Unable to transform, he is defeated very easily by Champ. But following Feminine-Lucky's advice, Musical-Stinger uses the thing he does best to revert Champ's missing heart: SING! And goodness grace, what a tearjerking moment it becomes. Sure, the silly flamenco dance bit at the start made me rolled my eyes, but halfway through the performance turns into very melancholic and deeply emotional. Don't be surprised if out of the blue, smoke gets in your eyes! Fun fact: The song Stinger is singing is none other than his image song that could be heard during Scorpio's death, and was also featured prominently in his V-Cinema. But he deliberately alters the lyric to Champ's condition, that it's no longer about the loneliness of the Scorpius System warrior. This one is about his bromanc... I mean, partnership with the Taurus System hero. Similar to the Dark-Naga conclusion, we get to see glimpses of Stinger and Champ's moment together. A perfect touch for an already strong scene. - Champ partially wakes up from his berserk, and asks Stinger to do whatever it takes. There's a faint glimpse of Good-Anton in a neat metaphor of 'Angel vs Devil', as Stinger succeeds in liberating Champ's heart. Gotta love how the partners play it cool afterwards, with Champ teasing how 'bad' the song sounds. Just hug it out already! We all know you both want it. LOL. - Stinger's strike also short-circuits the lab, causing Digital-Anton to lose his hold. Alternate World no more (which is sad, because I want to see more role-playing... -_-), it's time to duke it out in battle. We get really cool action sequence too! Leo Red Orion, Dorado Yellow, and UrsaMinor SkyBlue take on Mecha-Madako, while the duo of Scorpius Orange and Taurus Black deals with a pair of Unit-00s. Scorpius Orange utilizes his special power up using the #27 Monoceros Kyu Globe, and Taurus Black can send his fist flying now! Being freed from the Berserker trigger seems to have granted him some kind of power up. Meanwhile, Leo Red Orion uses his 'Gate of Babylon' attack to summon projectile weapons for him and the other two. Neat move! - In the end, Mecha-Madako retreats alongside Digital-Anton (along with his mechanical brain, of course). She had sacrificed her regenerative ability so her days is pretty much numbered, while the mad scientist must have forgotten that becoming a machine isn't any better than having a mortal body. Looks like these two will play important roles ahead. Could it be, Digital-Anton is behind Don Armage's secret of long lasting life? Highly likely. But that's the story for the final arc in the remaining 9 episodes. For now, the other Kyuranger's unit arrive just in time during the mecha battle, reuniting the team to goof off locate the prize in the 'palace'. Naturally, it's the BN Thieves who discover one... in a treasure chest: the #36 Perseus Kyu Globe. Only one more left! Next stop, Cassiopeia System...

Overall: This episode was another solid example of how brilliant Kyuranger handles the tone shift. What started out as humorous and ridiculous comical-fest, eventually evolved into a dark emotional turn, while still able to slip in exciting action sequences. Eventhough many including yours truly expected this would be a Kotarou's focus episode, it ended up becoming an excellent conclusion to Champ's story arc instead. In that case, it confirmed that both "Episode of Stinger" and its coupling web-series "High School Wars" took place after episode 34 and before 35. Admittedly, those separate features were rather inconsistent with this fact (the V-Cinema's ending, among others), but I guess we'll just have to take it as is. It's the only plausible and logical placement anyway... *sigh* Nevertheless, the show continues to pull off all kinds of sci-fi plots in general. And that is nothing short of impressive! The Mecha-Anton twist might not be original, but it was also unexpected. And those RPG-nods, they instantly reminded me of the crazy fun "Yuusha Yoshihiko", to the point that I was disappointed we didn't get to see more. And I'm not kidding. Two episodes in a row, and the show has left me wanting more. So just the thought that the series is going to conclude pretty soon, is giving me all kinds of mixed feeling... Next week: Aim for the Big League! Baseball Spada strikes!!!

Episode 39 Score: 8,1 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: December 2nd, 2017 - Version 3.07. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[taww]

PS Audio Redcloud  OS for DirectStream Junior DAC

Ted Smith’s latest upgrade of PS Audio’s DAC software fixes an audible performance issue and makes the DSJ a more musically complete and enjoyable package - for free!

Full disclosure: I’ve had the DirectStream Junior (DSJ) in-house for a couple months now, but have held off writing about it. Redcloud is the reason why.

When I received the DSJ it was running Huron, the latest version of their operating system software for the FPGA-based DirectStream DACs. The DirectStreams utilize a fully reprogrammable chip for D/A conversion, which means you can reconfigure most any aspect of the DAC chip on the fly through software. First introduced in 2014, the DirectStream line has already received several software updates, and Huron was met with a lot of critical and customer fanfare. Thus I had high hopes for the DSJ, and my initial impressions were quite positive. But after giving the unit a few weeks of break-in, I picked up on a pretty significant issue with its sound quality that gave me pause...

Huron, we have a problem.

A few weeks into auditioning the DSJ with Huron, I zeroed in on an issue: noise. Not of the constant-hiss noise floor variety, but a much more subtle, nonlinear sort - a hash around low level signals, particularly as they fade in and out. Compared to a more traditional DAC, particular of the ladder variety (e.g. the PCM1704-based Monarchy NM24), the DSJ just didn’t sound very clean. 

The noise isn’t plainly obvious at first listen, and none of the reviews I’ve read mentioned it. But it’s one of those distractions that once you pick up, it’s impossible to un-hear. It’s especially pronounced when using the DSJ’s built-in attenuator, as the noise level basically stays constant at all volume settings.  But it’s also noticeable with classical music that’s wide in dynamic range and requires cranking up the volume. E.g. a typical pop album will be plenty loud when my Ayre AX-7e integrated is set to about -30dB attenuation, but most of my symphonic tracks require -20dB or -15dB to approach realistic levels. Listen to something like the opening of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances (Tidal) on Huron, and you’ll hear the noise quite clearly around the opening violin staccato notes.

I posted my findings in the excellent PS Audio forum, where chief digital designer Ted Smith as well as founder Paul McGowan devote a lot of time communicating directly with customers. This led to a conversation with Ted about some software design decisions in Huron which he was re-evaluating. Ted, ever the perfectionist, was extremely receptive to my feedback, and expressed some annoyance that they hadn’t caught this issue in development. After some discussion with the PS Audio crew, I decided to hold off on my full evaluation until a software patch could be released. My work has been crazy busy and I wasn't deep enough into the listening process to write up the review anyway, so I decided to hang tight while Ted did his thing.

Redcloud to the rescue

Redcloud, released by PS Audio on December 8 as a free upgrade to the DirectStream DACs ($29 if you request a SD card), comes exactly 6 months after the release of Huron. To cut to the chase, the improvement over Huron is not subtle. The noise issue has been effectively suppressed, and previously problematic passages now sound very nearly as clean as my ladder DAC. But the improvements extend to many other aspects of the DSJ’s performance. There’s a clarity, ease, engagement, and tunefulness that Huron suggested, but never quite fully conveyed. DSJ with Huron always left me with a nagging feeling that the sound was 80 or 90% there, but something was holding it back. My initial concern was that it was hardware-related - the DSJ is after all a DirectStream “Senior” with some cost saving measures to meet a price point - but Redcloud proves the beauty and effectiveness of the DirectStream software-based architecture. 

I’ll save detailed impressions for the full review, but what’s most exciting about DSJ with Redcloud is how much more direct and analog-like it sounds. Not in the sense of having the euphonic colorations of vinyl, but rather stripping away a layer of distortions and distractions typically associated with digital playback. A few highlights:

Lack of harshness. While it can’t (yet) match the natural ease of the best analog playback, Redcloud brings the DSJ a couple steps closer than Huron. Aggressive pop tracks played at the same listening levels sound more controlled and less abrasive, without any loss of clarity or energy. With digital playback, loud chorus sections of a song often yell in your face and send you reaching for the volume control; with Redcloud, everything stays more composed while being up-front and powerful, and you can listen at levels 2dB to 3dB higher with less fatigue. 

Soundstaging. The feel of the stage is more cohesive and focused. It might seem a tad less spacious than Huron, but IMO Huron's spaciousness was the result of an artificial mist layered over the soundstage. Again, Redcloud reminds me more of good analog playback in this respect by having denser images on a stage of more intimate and stable proportions.

Transients and dynamics. While triangles and cymbals on DSJ with Huron had terrific brilliance and shimmer, they could pop a bit out and sound a bit splashy. Redcloud gives the impression of cleaner impulse response, with less overshoot and ringing. Percussion instruments are still brilliant, but better balanced and properly placed in the back of the orchestra. Dynamics, both macro and micro, are wider and more agile, particularly with vocals - e.g. you can more clearly make out the ups and downs and undulations of a coloratura soprano.

Bass. It’s just better - cleaner, deeper, rounder, tighter. It sounds like the type of improvement afforded by a reduction of jitter - tone and rhythm are both conveyed more convincingly, and instruments like cello have more realistic body.

With Redcloud, I finally feel like the DSJ has come into its own and is realizing its potential of being a world-beater. Ted Smith’s brilliant work to solve the Achilles heel of Huron has paid off, and the distracting noise issue seems all but solved. But more importantly, in my system, Redcloud makes the DSJ a much more musically complete and enjoyable package. 

More to come in a forthcoming full review!

[byeoltan]

Did You Know?

that in BTS ‘봄날 (spring day)’ MV, the train station that showed taehyung waiting in the beginning is actually a real train station, iryeong station in yangju city, gyeonggi-do, albeit an abandoned one, since they only transport cargo now.

and that the music video is one helluva train ride to a place where there stood a tall tree, the place where they got together and come in terms with grief and hardships in life because the cold winter does end at some point, and spring comes. but let’s talk about that later :) lets, lets talk about the very first lines namjoon uttered so carefully, such vulnerable words

i miss you saying it like this makes me miss you even more even looking at your photos, i miss you ain’t time so heartless i..hated us the us who now can’t even look at each other’s face even once

보고 싶어/bogoshippeo means ‘i miss you’, an informal, casual tone that you can use freely to significant others, friends, families, it literally means ‘i want to see you’ but essentially, it means, ‘i miss you’, here, though, namjoon used 보고 싶다/bogoshipda, which is also an informal word, but a non-conjugated form of 보고 싶어/bogoshippeo, it holds a slightly different meaning than just ‘i miss you’ because it’s not a verb. 보고 싶다/bogoshipda for lack of better words, is an expression of longing, and carries a deeper emotion than just i miss you, kinda like a monologue (?) cos he’s not saying it to someone in particular, the expression feels a bit colder, which is ironic cos then he went on about how cold time is for making him missing someone.

this place is all winter, even in august winter comes it’s like my heart/mind races with time the lonely ‘snowpiercer’ who travelled to the south (i want to) while holding your hands, go all the way to the other side of the earth i wish i could end this winter, i wonder, friend, how much does the longing should fall like snow for spring day to come?

설국열차 is the korean title for the movie ‘snowpiercer’, also the name of the train in the movie that holds the last remnants of humanity after an attempt at climate engineering in order to stop global warming has unintentionally created a new ice age. essentially, ppl in the train thought no life can exist outside of the train, not knowing there is (a polar bear), which showed up at the end of the movie. i thought it was brilliant how namjoon referenced this movie, it’s like he’s saying no matter how hard circumstances can be, no matter how hard you think you have it, there is always hope, there is always a way out, there’s always spring after a cold cold winter, even when it seems impossible, you can have your cake and eat it

(or not ;p) 

the lyrics in this song isn’t that hard to comprehend tbh it’s quite straightforward but the way they express it is both poetry and cynicism at its best, and despite the repetitive chorus the song is atcually quick and full, leaving nothing short of amazement. 

like the tiny dust that floats/flies in the air if i’m the snow that flies in the air  i would’ve reached you a little faster 

my heart swells a little here, because they are reiterating what namjoon says about wanting to hold hands so we can end this winter together, that they want to, if only they’re with us, doesn’t it soothe your heart a little? knowing there are people out there who knows how cold life can be, and wants to get to us quickly so we could the end it together 

and when some of the members lament

the snowflakes are falling little by little bit more, they fall i miss you (i miss you) how much longer do i have to wait and how many more nights do i have to stay up, to see you? will i ever get to meet you?

the others be consoling like, well,

after we pass by the end of cold winter until spring day comes once again until the flowers blossom at that place (even when it’s cold/even when you have to wait long), for a little while, please stay please stay

but then yoongi’s part came and i sobbed a little because it’s so??

i wonder if you have changed, or if i have changed. perhaps, i’ve changed. i hate the time that’s flowing at this very moment  i guess we have changed, huh i guess everyone does that, huh yeah, okay, i hated you but even when you left, there was never a day that i’ve forgotten about you and even though i actually miss you, i’m gonna erase you now cos that’ll hurt way less than blaming you

and it doesn’t help when both seokjin and jimin go on to say

i try to blow away the cold you who is like smoke, like white smoke even when i say i’m going to erase you the truth is i still can’t let you go

 /crieS/ which is why the ending gets me because

you know it all you’re my best friend the morning will come again no matter what kind of darkness or (bad) seasons  they can’t last forever

(and) it looks like cherry blossoms are blooming (now) and this winter too, is coming to an end i miss you  if i wait just a little bit longer if i stay up just a few more nights i will come to see you i will come to take you (away)

after we pass by the end of cold winter until spring day comes once again until the flowers blossom at that place (even when it’s cold/even when you have to wait long), for a little while, please stay please stay

i want to mention here that omelas referenced in the mv as we are all prob aware of by now, tells a story of how a child was kept hidden in a secluded place in the omelas city, with horrible conditions, in exchange of happiness of the entire city. and that the same tragedy also shares with children in the movie snowpiercer itself, where they were enslaved and used as replacement parts to keep the train functioning. to put it simply, children depicted in both stories were convinced to give their life for the continuation of a way of life that was totally oppressive to their own circumstances, which is extremely radical in a way that has deep resonance for our real world, like how can you stand being together in a society that is built from abuse and discrimination, entrenched inequality, and do nothing?

and it is precisely because of this, bangtan continues to voice out their opinions as they did in previous albums, and call out the perpetrators as well as the bystanders for everyhting that has gone wrong, that could go wrong, and that is going wrong in the society, especially in the events relating to their home country south korea

let me bring you back to the music video where jimin picked up the white shoes from the winter sea

the white shoes that middle-school/high school students wear in south korea

and how he carries the shoes all through out the mv

before he brought them to a tree after they all got off the train 

and hang them

these scenes imo is very much referenced to the sewol ferry tragedy that took place in april, 2014, the incident that had resulted in more than 300 deaths, including 250 second-year high school students and their teachers from danwon high school who were on a field trip that day, and is recognized as one of the most devastating maritime disaster in decades, and it’s not just because of a sinking ferry itself but because of willfull negligence and corruption.

fyi when the ferry was sinking, the captain of the ship and a number of cabin crew made announcement for the passengers to stay where they were when they themselves chose to abandon the ship while hundreds of people were still trapped inside. and being good citizens they all remained at their cabin, where they waited for further orders, which never came 

the members of crew who stayed to help passengers were among those who died. 

and the disaster doesn’t end there. it was found out later that the ship itself was illegally modified and was carrying almost double its legal limit with inexperienced crew and a questionable relationship between the ship operators and state regulators. the investigation was also conducted behind closed doors where the families are not permitted to observe the recovery operation, these allegations as well as  the way the government lacked transparency adds more to the lengthy laundry list of grievances souht koreans have against park geun hye’s administration. there were questions raised as to where she was when it happened that morning and why wasn’t the issue addressed publicly even 7 hours afterwards.

the yellow ribbons symbolize hope and solidarity with the families victims and i think it’s genius how they incorporate this knowing very well that they can be blacklisted from the government which is ridiculous at every level. the government was highly blamed for many lives lost that day, what with the lack of safety standards in the country, the families were also mostly left out of the investigation, there’s just so many dissatisfaction ppl have over park geunhye’s administration, and that itself is an understatement. and with bangtan and bighit donating 100 million won (approximately $85,000) to the sewol ferry disaster 416 family council, they are probably blacklisted already :/ 

the pile of clothing could also be a metaphor to ppl who left this world as exhibited by french artist christian boltanski’s work entitled ‘personnes’ as part of monumenta in 2010. i quote, “These grouped clothes may represent mass graves, or corpses arrayed for identification in the school gym, but they also constitute a kind of cemetery. For the experience is just the same: that there is nobody here and yet the place is crowded. Personnes, the piece is called: people, but at the same time no one.”

which is why even though tying shoes high on a tree branch or power lines have variation in meanings for different country and culture, there is one famous belief taht i think is what is meant here; that tying shoes high on a tree branch signifies someone has died and that the shoes belong to the dead person. that the reason they are hanging, is so when the dead person’s spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heaven 

and it would’ve been fineeeee to just reference spring day like this as a remembrance to the passing of the passengers and the beautiful children because the song DOES talk about grief and hardships in life, and that no matter what kind of darkness or (bad) seasons they can’t last forever 

but then bangtan had these lines that are repeatedly voiced melancholically all throughout the chorus until the very end of the song and i just–

after we pass by the end of cold winter until spring day comes once again until the flowers blossom at that place (even when it’s cold/even when you have to wait long), for a little while, please stay please stay

it’s as if bangtan is throwing shade at the captain and his crew for being dishonorable, asking the children to stay where they were ‘until the rescue boats arrive’ when they themselves were up and about ready to get out of the ship, 

it’s just. 

when the boys say these last lines it’s as if, it’s as if the boys are saying to the children that they know it’s hard to wait, but just stay there. it’s okay to stay there, i’ll come to you instead, yeah? just you wait there till i come to you so we can end this suffering together

[comicteaparty]

November 5th-11th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 5th, 2018 to November 11th, 2018.  The chat focused on Cloverlines by Wednesday Ash, asteRiesling, Nachocobana, and Nadikusmo.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Cloverlines by Wednesday Ash, asteRiesling, Nachocobana, and Nadikusmo~! (https://tapas.io/series/Cloverlines)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until November 11th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. What do you think happened between Damon and Karen that caused such a rift in their relationship? Will Karen sign the divorce papers or is she going to continue to cling to Damon? How will this affect Damon’s future?

QUESTION 4. Several characters mentioned that Aimi is a “failed idol.” What do you think happened that caused Aimi to fail as an idol? Do you think this will have consequences for Aimi and/or the band at some point?

Ash

Hey guys, I'm looking forward to reading all your thoughts about Cloverlines

snuffysam

1. Aimi pulling the strings to get Yuuki into the band was my favorite. Just how she goes from being some spoiled brat who uses her charms (aka the PHEROMONES she puts on for her live performances!!!) to get free meals to being surprisingly sweet towards Yuuki.

2. Commenter "TrAsh" said it best - Damon truly is "daddy material". In all seriousness, it was hard to pick between him and Aimi, just due to how much I love Aimi's surprisingly brilliant trickster personality but... I just feel so bad for Damon, I want to give him a hug

3. Have you met Karen? Hmm... I suppose it could be some major argument, or Damon wanting to focus more on the band, but it may just be that they grew further apart as people...

4. (has anyone besides Monica actually said this? i don't recall) Anyway, I think Aimi failed as an idol because she sabotages every piece of equipment in sight if she doesn't like some aspect of the performance/recording session (the songs, the people she's working with, etc). Was she justified in ruining a bunch of careers (including her own) like that? Well... idol industries in the real world are pretty exploitative, so probably.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Do you think Yuuki will adjust to his new life on Earth and the band in general? Will his addition to the band be good in the long run, or will Yuuki continue to cause problems in his own way? Also, do you think Yuuki will become homesick?

ShaRose49

I read the first two chapter so far lol. I thought Aimi was the cutest thing

I doubt Yūko will become homesick cause earth is the best

Yūko

AAHG, YUKII DANGIT

Oh wait is it yuuki? Sonuva...

RebelVampire

its okay names are hard. i look them up a lot to make sure im spelling them right XD

ShaRose49

Haha yeah but it was also dang AUTO CORRECT lol

Japanese names are hard but here so cool I have a few in my comic. Is this comic cloverlines what you would describe as a sci-fi comedy or rom-com?

snuffysam

there's not really much romance in comic

there's a divorce, does that count?

ShaRose49

Nope! That’s just drama

And no worries I don’t mind romance unless it’s super sassy or steamy and non-stop

I looooooooove scifi

BTW snuffy I think I recognize your name from Comic Fury hi!!

snuffysam

hi! yes, I recognize you too!

ShaRose49

Awesome which comic did you do again? (Or are you a reader whups)

snuffysam

that's something we should probably talk about in #general ha ha

ShaRose49

Oh yeah okay tell me there!

snuffysam

i think yuuki has already adjusted pretty well to the band. though aimi might be a bit of a bad influence, given that he wasn't exactly nice to monica...

ShaRose49

I love the art in Cloverlines it was so cute. Maybe this is random but the face she made when she said she spent all her money on delicious meat was to die for SO CUTE

I’ll take a peek at another chapter before I fall asleep lol

snuffysam

how far have you gotten so far? just the first two chapters?

ShaRose49

Just read the third

Man they beat the crap outta poor yuuki

I love that it’s set in Tokyo and starts at kind of a rock-bottom thing. Nowhere to go but up!!

snuffysam

you say that, but they seem to have trouble with that regard

constantly getting negative press

ShaRose49

Who? I don’t follow but maybe it’s cause I’m tired it’s late where I am

snuffysam

the band

brought in a new guy who played super weird

then played a near-blasphemous song on live tv

ShaRose49

Oh yeah. They were just about to bring him in probably where I left off

snuffysam

oh, I thought you said you read through chapter 3?

ShaRose49

Blasphemous?!

Yeah I did...hang on lemme check

The third chapter just has those two band guys arguing over a solo career and then they find Yuuki getting beat up outside

snuffysam

ah i see what you're saying. you're talking about the third update on line

ShaRose49

Yup.

Webtoons

I forgot it’s on other places too

Why was the song blasphemous was it really inappropriate or something?

snuffysam

well, that's a bit spoilers for the real third chapter, ha ha

which is two chapters away from where you are

ShaRose49

Well I don’t wanna read something super dirty or anything not my style

snuffysam

oh no, it's not dirty

religious blasphemy

ShaRose49

?! Like they make fun of a religion?

RebelVampire

fictional religious blasphemy

snuffysam

^

ShaRose49

Aww-has-has okay gotcha

That’s probably not so bad then

snuffysam

not for us it isn't

for the fictional people it's a bit of an issue ha ha

ShaRose49

🤭yeah poor them lol. It’s nice to have things that don’t exist IRL sometimes so that nobody’s bothered . I’m usually a sucker for real stuff though along with cartoony tropes

Anywho I gotta get to bed, thanks for chatting I will return!

snuffysam

yeah me too, talk to you later!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. Cloverlines has suffered several changes in band line-ups. Do you think Aussie might try to return to the band? Alternatively, how might his solo career affect the group? What about Monica? Will she manage to stick with the band despite tension?

Ash

would like to chime in for a bit above: having it be a fictional religion allows for less baggage when depicting its effects i feel, cause I wanna show what are the effects of it, without any risk of offending reasonable people otherwise

it's good to have an objective view on something inherently subjective, and fictionalizing the aesthetic elements allows a way for that

ShaRose49

Yeah for sure, things are safer with fictional concepts but I think real ones can be good to depends I guess. It’s super fun to make up stuff though

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Despite the band focus, the world in the story keeps turning. How might the recent terrorist events affect Cloverlines or other bands? Who do you think Mirai was? What others aspects of the world caught your attention?

RebelVampire

okay time to answer some questions. 1) My favorite scene so far is the one where Damon and Karen have dinner. I really liked all the subtle and not so subtle ways it showcased the state of their relationship. this is not to mention that i liked it wasnt even technically about their relationship, it was about Rinne. the fact it became about their relationship felt both very realistic and very revealing. 2) Damon. I think he has the most compelling of the conflicts and hes the most sensible of the group. He provides an essential grounding influence in the fact of everyone else being a bit more exaggerated, and if anyone is gonna make the band succeed, its damon. also, he has great hair. 3) I assume what happened is exactly what we saw at dinner: they have a personality clAsh. In the end though, I'm gonna theorize that Karen probably pushed Damon a bit too hard..maybe to succeed in music, and Damon just bailed because it wasn't the way he wanted to do it. overall, though, i think the route of their problems stems from the fact that damon is ambitious and laid back while karen is ambitious and aggressive. i think karen will sign the divorce papers eventually. but she's definitely going to cling for a while. however, i think shell slowly ease off as stuff with rinne starts to happen and changes some of the dynamic of the story. 4) Have you met Aimi? XD That is what happened. Aimi is 1000% not the type to follow orders and will do whatever she wants. Thus, this would make her a poor idol since shed be told constantly where to go and what to wear for her image. Damon is a saint for not having fired her. XD Overall, though, the fact she might be a "failed idol" is irrelevant i think. at the end what will have consequences is aimi continuing to do as aimi do.

5) Yuuki seems pretty well-adjusted as is, so he'll probably be fine. I do think there's gonna be more issues with Yuuki as part of the band though. Cause they basically hired him out of desperation and of the two gigs weve seen, we got weird guitar sound one and blasphemy one. so i think as a whole we havent gotten to see a good demonstration of whether yuuki is good or not. so it might take a while for him to fit in with the band. but to be fair, id say this about most of the members. they really need to work on their synergy as a band imo XD. i think yuuki will only become homesick if his fleet comes near enough he could viably go home. cause then its a tangible goal versus some theoretical could do it thing. 6) Idk if will, but I do think it'd be interesting to see Aussie go "i want to come back." Create some drama where the group has to pick between Aussie and Yuuki and test the limits. Solo career wise I think it might actually help the group. If Aussie is successful and is like "i was in that band" others might take more of an interest. As far as Monica goes, she'll probably stick around. I think the worst of the tension already came and went. 7) I assume the terrorist attacks will keep up and they will inadvertantly expose Rinne and cause all the scandal. Though given the comic's tone I can't really forsee any serious consequences. As for Mirai, IDK. Good question. I assume it was a real person who did something significant which is somewhat interesting to consider. For the world in general I'm really curious about how spread out the population is. Cause the galaxy is a big place. And the astronomy nerd in me wonders what the travel technology is like.

ShaRose49

I didn’t get to the terrorists yet I can’t wait!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. Rinne, a robot, has a strange vision and keeps asking if Monica is Mirai. What do you think is happening to Rinne? Is Karen right to be worried about Rinne’s sentience? What is Rinne supposed to “create?”

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Do you think Cloverlines will manage to succeed as a band in general? What do you think has to happen for that to be the case? Alternatively, what other hiccups might they face as they aim for stardom?

snuffysam

step 1: fire aimi

question. does it say anywhere that this civilization spans the whole galaxy? or just the solar system? because the furthest from Earth I remember being mentioned is Pluto

RebelVampire

i think its somewhat implied

because in the opening earth is described as the entertainment of the galaxy

not to mention theres aliens

snuffysam

ah yes

RebelVampire

and last i checked there are not aliens in the rest of the solar system

snuffysam

it's been a while

since i've checked, that is

RebelVampire

but tbf how much of the galaxy is colonized is up for debate. i think its at least implied it goes beyond the solar system tho

so it might not be the whole galaxy. cause i mean galaxies are pretty huge

snuffysam

the nearest habitable planets we've found so far are like 30 light years away? and the milky way is over 100k light years across

anyway my guess is that Mirai is just some robot's rights revolutionary dude, and any surviving sentient robots seem to treat them like some sort of deity. don't think Monica is Mirai though. Rinne just gets confused easily.

also what does Rinne create? sick beats! next question!

RebelVampire

omg XD sick beats is a good answer

cause that does seem the direction its gonna go

Ash

well be exploring the larger space in coming eps

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

snuffysam

i want to see them do more shows! yuuki doesn't have all that much experience under his belt and... honestly, I just want to see a performance where he isn't playing a song ten seconds after finding out about it

RebelVampire

i second that. id also like to see him do a show that isnt buried up to its knees in controversy

RebelVampire

8) I definitely don't think Monica is Mirai. I'm starting to think Mirai is an artifical intelligence maybe. Or was a person who made artificial intelligence which is kind of a big deal. but this is what's happening to rinne. she's tapping into some sort of programming that expresses mirai's ultimate desires for her creations. that being said, i do think karen is right to be concenred. not because rinne is dangerous, but because shes right. if its illegal, their band is gonna be screwed if they get discovered. 9) i somewhat agree with the joke answer that they gotta do something about aimi. i feel they wont succeed as long as they continue to tolerate her impulsive willfulness. not to say theyll have no success, but theres a diff levels of success and theyll never become top tier if her shenanigans continue to bury them in controversy. 10) as i said before, i really would like to see more concerts with the band in general. cause i think its an important experience for them to bond as a band and as characters. i also look forward to karen moving past damon because i think itll be interesting to see how she finally matures enough to reach the conclusion.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Cloverlines this week! Please also give a special thank you to Wednesday Ash, asteRiesling, Nachocobana, and Nadikusmo for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Cloverlines, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below! Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/Cloverlines Cloverlines’ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wednesdayAsh

[butterflygalatic-blog]

Spring Day

Did You Know?

that in BTS ‘봄날 (spring day)’ MV, the train station that showed taehyung waiting in the beginning is actually a real train station, iryeong station in yangju city, gyeonggi-do, albeit an abandoned one, since they only transport cargo now.

and that the music video is one helluva train ride to a place where there stood a tall tree, the place where they got together and come in terms with grief and hardships in life because the cold winter does end at some point, and spring comes. but let’s talk about that later lets, lets talk about the very first lines namjoon uttered so carefully, such vulnerable words

i miss you saying it like this makes me miss you even more even looking at your photos, i miss you ain’t time so heartless i..hated us the us who now can’t even look at each other’s face even once

보고 싶어/bogoshippeo means ‘i miss you’, an informal, casual tone that you can use freely to significant others, friends, families, it literally means ‘i want to see you’ but essentially, it means, ‘i miss you’, here, though, namjoon used 보고 싶다/bogoshipda, which is also an informal word, but a non-conjugated form of 보고 싶어/bogoshippeo, it holds a slightly different meaning than just ‘i miss you’ because it’s not a verb. 

보고 싶다/bogoshipda for lack of better words, is an expression of longing, and carries a deeper emotion than just i miss you, kinda like a monologue (?) cos he’s not saying it to someone in particular, the expression feels a bit colder, which is ironic cos then he went on about how cold time is for making him missing someone.

this place is all winter, even in august winter comes it’s like my heart/mind races with time the lonely ‘snowpiercer’ who travelled to the south (i want to) while holding your hands, go all the way to the other side of the earth i wish i could end this winter, i wonder, friend, how much does the longing should fall like snow for spring day to come?

설국열차 is the korean title for the movie ‘snowpiercer’, also the name of the train in the movie that holds the last remnants of humanity after an attempt at climate engineering in order to stop global warming has unintentionally created a new ice age. 

essentially, people in the train thought no life can exist outside of the train, not knowing there is (a polar bear), which showed up at the end of the movie. i thought it was brilliant how namjoon referenced this movie, it’s like he’s saying no matter how hard circumstances can be, no matter how hard you think you have it, there is always hope, there is always a way out, there’s always spring after a cold cold winter, even when it seems impossible, you can have your cake and eat it

(or not ;p)

the lyrics in this song isn’t that hard to comprehend tbh it’s quite straightforward but the way they express it is both poetry and cynicism at its best, and despite the repetitive chorus the song is atcually quick and full, leaving nothing short of amazement.

like the tiny dust that floats/flies in the air if i’m the snow that flies in the air i would’ve reached you a little faster

my heart swells a little here, because they are reiterating what namjoon says about wanting to hold hands so we can end this winter together, that they want to, if only they’re with us, doesn’t it soothe your heart a little? 

knowing there are people out there who knows how cold life can be, and wants to get to us quickly so we could the end it together

and when some of the members lament

the snowflakes are falling little by little bit more, they fall i miss you (i miss you) how much longer do i have to wait and how many more nights do i have to stay up, to see you? will i ever get to meet you?

the others be consoling like, well,

after we pass by the end of cold winter until spring day comes once again until the flowers blossom at that place (even when it’s cold/even when you have to waited long), for a little while, please stay please stay

but then yoongi’s part came and i sobbed a little because it’s so??

i wonder if you have changed, or if i have changed. perhaps, i’ve changed. i hate the time that’s flowing at this very moment i guess we have changed, huh i guess everyone does that, huh yeah, okay, i hated you but even when you left, there was never a day that i’ve forgotten about you and even though i actually miss you, i’m gonna erase you now cos that’ll hurt way less than blaming you

and it doesn’t help when both seokjin and jimin go on to say

i try to blow away the cold you who is like smoke, like white smoke even when i say i’m going to erase you the truth is i still can’t let you go

/crieS/ which is why the ending gets me because

you know it all you’re my best friend the morning will come again no matter what kind of darkness or (bad) seasons they can’t last forever

(and) it looks like cherry blossoms are blooming (now) and this winter too, is coming to an end i miss you if i wait just a little bit longer if i stay up just a few more nights i will come to see you i will come to take you (away)

after we pass by the end of cold winter until spring day comes once again until the flowers blossom at that place (even when it’s cold/even when you have to waited long), for a little while, please stay please stay

i want to mention here that omelas referenced in the mv as we are all prob aware of by now, tells a story of how a child was kept hidden in a secluded place in the omelas city, with horrible conditions, in exchange of happiness of the entire city. 

and that the same tragedy also shares with children in the movie snowpiercer itself, where they were enslaved and used as replacement parts to keep the train functioning. to put it simply, children depicted in both stories were convinced to give their life for the continuation of a way of life that was totally oppressive to their own circumstances, which is extremely radical in a way that has deep resonance for our real world, like how can you stand being together in a society that is built from abuse and discrimination, entrenched inequality, and do nothing?

and it is precisely because of this, bangtan continues to voice out their opinions as they did in previous albums, and call out the perpetrators as well as the bystanders for everyhting that has gone wrong, that could go wrong, and that is going wrong in the society, especially in the events relating to their home country south korea

let me bring you back to the music video where jimin picked up the white shoes from the winter sea

the white shoes that middle-school/high school students wear in south korea

and how he carries the shoes all through out the mv

before he brought them to a tree after they all got off the train

and hang them

these scenes imo is very much referenced to the sewol ferry tragedy that took place in april, 2014, the incident that had resulted in more than 300 deaths, including 250 second-year high school students and their teachers from danwon high school who were on a field trip that day, and is recognized as one of the most devastating maritime disaster in decades, and it’s not just because of a sinking ferry itself but because of willfull negligence and corruption.

fyi when the ferry was sinking, the captain of the ship and a number of cabin crew made announcement for the passengers to stay where they were when they themselves chose to abandon the ship while hundreds of people were still trapped inside. and being good citizens they all remained at their cabin, where they waited for further orders, which never came

the members of crew who stayed to help passengers were among those who died.

and the disaster doesn’t end there. it was found out later that the ship itself was illegally modified and was carrying almost double its legal limit with inexperienced crew and a questionable relationship between the ship operators and state regulators. 

the investigation was also conducted behind closed doors where the families are not permitted to observe the recovery operation, these allegations as well as  the way the government lacked transparency adds more to the lengthy laundry list of grievances souht koreans have against park geun hye’s administration. there were questions raised as to where she was when it happened that morning and why wasn’t the issue addressed publicly even 7 hours afterwards.

the yellow ribbons symbolize hope and solidarity with the families victims and i think it’s genius how they incorporate this knowing very well that they can be blacklisted from the government which is ridiculous at every level. 

the government was highly blamed for many lives lost that day, what with the lack of safety standards in the country, the families were also mostly left out of the investigation, there’s just so many dissatisfaction ppl have over park geunhye’s administration, and that itself is an understatement. 

and with bangtan and bighit donating 100 million won (approximately $85,000) to the sewol ferry disaster 416 family council, they are probably blacklisted already

the pile of clothing could also be a metaphor to ppl who left this world as exhibited by french artist christian boltanski’s work entitled ‘personnes’ as part of monumenta in 2010. 

i quote, “These grouped clothes may represent mass graves, or corpses arrayed for identification in the school gym, but they also constitute a kind of cemetery. For the experience is just the same: that there is nobody here and yet the place is crowded. Personnes, the piece is called: people, but at the same time no one.”

which is why even though tying shoes high on a tree branch or power lines have variation in meanings for different country and culture, there is one famous belief taht i think is what is meant here; that tying shoes high on a tree branch signifies someone has died and that the shoes belong to the dead person. that the reason they are hanging, is so when the dead person’s spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heaven

and it would’ve been fine to just reference spring day like this as a remembrance to the passing of the passengers and the beautiful children because the song DOES talk about grief and hardships in life, and that no matter what kind of darkness or (bad) seasons they can’t last forever

but then bangtan had these lines that are repeatedly voiced melancholically all throughout the chorus until the very end of the song and i just–

after we pass by the end of cold winter until spring day comes once again until the flowers blossom at that place (even when it’s cold/even when you have to waited long), for a little while, please stay please stay

it’s as if bangtan is throwing shade at the captain and his crew for being dishonorable, asking the children to stay where they were ‘until the rescue boats arrive’ when they themselves were up and about ready to get out of the ship,

it’s just.

when the boys say these last lines it’s as if, it’s as if the boys are saying to the children that they know it’s hard to wait, but just stay there. it’s okay to stay there, i’ll come to you instead, yeah? just you wait there till i come to you so we can end this suffering together

[poppedmusic]

Bluedot 2017

Words & Photos: Elena Katrina

I’m not into science, or space, – my science teacher at school was mean and didn’t engage me in the slightest with the subject. I wasn’t really all that interested in Bluedot at first because of the large science aspect, however, it’s not all about science and so I gave it a go and I have to say if this had been on when I was a kid that I’d be an all out science geek right now – in fact there still might be time yet! What an incredible event this is!

I have to say, that as press I felt truly welcomed and looked after from the moment I confirmed to every moment all the way through – from security, volunteers, production team the whole way through the event. There really is no better way to get me on side than to provide a nice and welcoming environment but it wasn’t just reserved for me – oh no, it was for all. Smiles all round from staff and customers is all you can really ask for to know that you are doing a good job, and smiles is all I could see, Cheshire cat anyone?

I have never been to Jodrell Bank before and I can’t wait to go again but in particular for Bluedot. From the moment I walked into the site I felt transported to a wonderland of sights, smells and sounds. People were wandering around care free, some lounging alone under trees with a book, some people were strewn on patches of grass that was peppered with bushes and flowers. I could hear the hum of chitter-chatter, the bass of live music and high pitched giggles from children. Was I really only 50 minutes from home? Yes, yes I was. A full walk around the site was in order to get our bearings and explore what was on offer for the weekend. The science area was very kid friendly, experiments galore and things to make and do (which is exactly what would have rocked my tiny little mind when I was a kid). There was plenty for the adult science lover too with talks galore  – I didn’t actually go to any of these – I still think I’m in need of my inner child to fall in love with science first.

The food and drink on offer was brilliant too – as usual for festivals it was a little on the pricey side but that being said I don’t mind so much when it’s lovely food – and it was. One thing I would change though is swapping out all those horrible Mr Whippy vans for some authentic ice-cream sellers – especially seeing as the county has one of the best (imo) ice cream makers on its doorstep. I won’t lie though – I did have one of those Mr W’s but felt a bit grubby for it, my wish list for next year really is as small as proper ice cream please.

On to the music then… a lineup that was something to rival the BBC 6 Music Festival and perhaps an audience that was largely made up of that radio station’s listeners. We decided that because the weather was so untypically British that we would spend a good portion of our time sat on a blanket in front of the main stage soaking up rays. With main stage acts including Shura, Alt-J, Oribital and Warpaint it was hardly a chore. We also spent time roaming the site dipping our head in and out of various tents people watching more than DJ watching – so couldn’t really tell you who we enjoyed on that front I’m afraid but suffice to say that we spotted Iron Man having a whale of a time…

Orbital, name and all, was a perfect fit for Bluedot festival and while we might have mainly been screaming along to the punk tinged delights of our faves Dream Wife for the majority of the Orbital set we did catch the end and it was simply fabulous. High energy euphoria and that was just the music, if you add in the light show that lit up not only the stage and the sky above but also adding lighting onto the giant Lovell telescope, creating a scene I’ve never seen before.

I loved the fact that I got to see Shura grace the main stage too. Her set was a perfect accompaniment for a sunny afternoon and she reminded us too that it was a special day for her and her band as it was  “a year ago today I released my debut album  – happy birthday to my first born”. How fast that year has gone too and a it had been almost a year too then since I last saw her perform and I wasn’t disappointed either. It can be hard sometimes for bands whose singer is stuck behind a keyboard/piano to be seen as really engaging but Shura just doesn’t have this problem, taking opportunities to step away and when she is there she has the most wonderfully expressive face. It was a pleasure to share the special day with her, even if I was in the field and she was on a stage. I definitely have a bit of a blog crush going on this act, and like many of her songs suggest, I’m fairly sure it’s unrequited but that’s just fine with me.

Warpaint on Sunday was an opportunity for me to take in something new, albeit a band that have been around for sometime, I’ve never really got into them and so relished this opportunity to find out what it was I had been missing. And missing things I really have been. Their live set crystal clear and well a range of movement in songs, their overall vibe though felt very relaxed. Again it was a performance aspect that I was looking for and a connection with the crowd and we certainly got this. “What a beautiful day. You deserve it… you get dumped on a lot!” now while I’m reasonably sure singer Emily Kokal was talking about the rain, I’m going with something altogether more political, and let’s face it, either way she’d be right. My favourite track by them is New Song and was probably the most poppiest of their set too, the remainder of which was hugely atmospheric and often epic in its soundscape in comparison. It would be unfair to say they were a warm up for penultimate act Goldfrapp even though technically on paper that is what they were, but they were far better than that.

Goldfrapp put me in somewhat of a grump before they even took to the stage. Having been told no photos could be taken in the pit is one thing but having the first two rows of people in the crowd told the same thing and that anyone spotted would be ejected from the entire event was, well quite frankly, un-sportsmanship-like behaviour. I sang along half-heartedly but luckily they didn’t put a total dampener on my day.

Moving swiftly on and back to to the massive happy smile moments – Alt-J. I first wrote about Alt-J back in 2010 and have seen them play a handful of times but it’s been years since I saw them, due, in part to the fact that they are now humongous. The fact I got to shoot a Glasto headline band a few weeks after Glasto was a massive thrill, the fact that it was Alt J was even more so. Their set a collection of tracks from their albums, including the big singles, created an opportunity for a mass sing-along and boy did the crowd get involved. Even from the start, while down in the pit adults and kids alike, adorned the barrier and chanted along. A stage that separated the members from each other, as though they were in brilliantly lit up prison cells meant that there wasn’t much opportunity for the band to interact, yet this somehow felt fitting to the often off kilter sounds that they produce.  A stand out moment was when Joe Newman encouraged the crowd to fill in the silence he left for us to shout “this is for Matilda” not that I wouldn’t have shouted along and hadn’t done, for the entire set anyway, and I wasn’t alone.

As if Alt-J wasn’t enough to end our Bluedot spectacular on, as we wondered back toward the car we were greeted with the most incredible fire displays which lit up the atmosphere. A short stumble around and we found some sort of robot wars taking place, kids and adults both enthralled in the dark smokey atmosphere, lit up only by some laser-like beams of light. Next to that delight we found another beautiful and peaceful area of battery powered tea lights and small fires. This created a small twinkling dreamland where we found parents settling their little ones off to sleep with tales of lightbugs and fairies.

This really was such a well thought out and beautifully executed festival with every little detail put together with care. As far as a family friendly festivals go this one seemed on the money.

  Popped Music at Bluedot photo gallery:

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Festival Review: Bluedot 2017 Bluedot 2017 Words & Photos: Elena Katrina I'm not into science, or space, - my science teacher at school was mean and didn't engage me in the slightest with the subject.

[borisbubbles]

14. Cyprus

Eleni Foureira - “Fuego” Runner-up

What is happiness? The feeling that power is growing and that resistance is overcome. --Friedrich Nietzsche

Judging by that quote, Eleni must be a very happy woman because she has overcome a LOT. She entered Eurovision with a slew of drawbacks: As a sexually confident woman with a sultry song, she was always going to inspire contempt. As a fugitive Albanian, the Greek support other Cypriot entries had would be only conditional for Eleni at best. Her voice (or apparent lack thereof), of course, was a major point of discussion, among Greeks and Eurovision Tumblr Bloggers alike (ahem). As someone who was hyped and pimped by her Loud Obnoxious Fanbase as someone better than she actually was, she was always going to alienate neutrals by proxy.

So going into this year, Eleni faced a fairly uphill battle. Guess what?

She fucking slayed it.

From the moment this woman, no, this GAZELLE, serenly glided onto the stage, unfazed, confident and battle-ready, she was snatching weaves left, right and centre. Any man would pay the price of sweet surrender, for the promise in her eyes it was so tender. She provided a action-pumped show that was captivating, mesmerizing even, for a full three minutes. My God, did “Fuego” look good. 

Out of all the acts that could’ve won the Sasha Jean-Baptiste Raffle, I’m glad “Fuego” did because Eleni absolutely was the one whom I felt needed it the most. Partially because Eleni is an utter gem of a person. She’s the epitome of the Lovable Dimwit Archetype (”Eleni what does your song mean?” “it means... yeah yeah, fire ^__^”) Mostly because Eleni had two pretty big problems: She has a fairly crappy voice and she has a fairly crappy song.

The voice I don’t mind though. Yeah, it’s not as crisp as the rest of the top five (literally crisp if we count Moro’s, whose voice sounds like someone crushing doritos with their bare hands), but Eleni’s vocals being shit was telegraphed way in advance so idek how you could be shocked at this fucking stage. For all the buzz it generated, I expected way worse? Eleni’s vocals don’t detract from the experience and at times even enhance it. Her voice just... withers at the funniest of moments:

And then the disaster note gets echoed around the Altice Arena TWICE <3 (also “Yeah Eyes of a Linus <3)

The song, however, I mind significantly more. Surely Cyprus made the most out of what they were given and “Fuego” was an excellent frame for that brilliant act, but Dear God. I’ve said it several times before, but “Fuego” would make an excellent winner in two-thousand-and-EIGHT, but not two-thousand-and-fucking-EIGHTEEN. Even by Eurovision’s hopelessly antiquated Musical standards (”Hey guys we found out about this CRAZE that’s sweeping the musical scene we should add it to all our entries” “what’s it called?” “Dubstep” -- Eurovision in 2013), “Fuego” is hopelessly dated. It’s a nice throwback to the halcyon days of the Eastern Miniskirted Goddess (and “Fuego” is better than, say, “Secret Combination” and “Düm Tek Tek”), but this is not even remotely near “My Number One”, “Qele Qele” or “Shady Lady” levels of glorious hip-shaking femdom imo. 

“Fuego”’s utter lack of originality also came to the attention of the Eurosnobs who began disliking Eleni for... the fucking wrongest, stupidest reasons why am I not surprised? “UM SHE’S LIKE BEYONCE HOW AWFUL” First of all, Beyoncé doesn’t fucking have a monopoly on this type of music, Second of all, you’re making it sound as if being like Queen Bay is a bad thing??? Third of all,  STFUUUU!!! WHY EVEN WATCH EUROVISION IF YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO BASK IN THE GLORY OF THIS DESPERATE SLUTPOP ANTHEM

At the end of the gay, I really like “Fuego”. Well, that is to say, I like what it became on the Eurovision stage, but that’s ultimately what matters most. Despite the hate she got, Eleni absolutely deserved to finish as high as she did based on her live performances. On the flipside, if I were to never listen to “Fuego” again, I wouldn’t miss it, at all. Now that we’re ready to fully move on to the next tier, I do have *higher* “spam replay button on Youtube” standards that “Fuego” sadly, does not meet. STILL A BETTER UNDERDOG STORY THAN NETTA THO

RANKING SO FAR:

14. Cyprus (Eleni Foureira - “Fuego”)

15. United Kingdom (SuRie - “Storm”)

16. Serbia (Balkanika - “Nova Deca”)

17. Portugal (Cláudia Pascoal - “O jardim”)

18. The Netherlands (Waylon - “Outlaw in ‘em”)

19. Ukraine (MÉLOVIN - “Under the ladder”)

20. Macedonia (Eye Cue - “Lost and Found”)

21. San Marino (Jessika ft. Jenifer Brening - “Who We Are”)

22. Sweden (Benjamin Ingrosso - “Dance You Off”)

23. Austria (Cesár Sampson - “Nobody but you”)

24. Latvia (Laura Rizzotto - “Funny girl”)

25. Azerbaijan (AISEL - “X my heart”)

26. Israel (Netta - “Toy”)

27. Norway (Alexander Rybak  - “That’s how you write a song”)

28. Montenegro (Vanja Radovanovic - “Inje”)

29. Armenia (Sevak Khanagyan - “Qami”)

30. Poland (Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer - “Light me up”)

31. Greece (Yianna Terzi - “Oniro mou”)

32. Georgia (Iriao - “For you”)

33. Belgium (Sennek - “A matter of time”)

34. Italy (Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro - “Non mi avete fatto niente)

35. Romania (The Humans - “Goodbye”)

36. Ireland (Ryan O'Shaughnessy - “Together”)

37. Croatia (Franka - “Crazy”)

38. Belarus (ALEKSEEV - “Forever”)

39. Russia (Julia Samoylova - “I Won’t Break”)

40. Spain (Amaia & Alfred - “Tu canción”)

41. Iceland (Ari Ólafsson - “Our choice”)

42. Australia (Jessica Mauboy - “We Got Love”)

43. Czech Republic (Mikolas Josef - “Lie to me”)

FOOTNOTES

1) I would argue that Eleni probably had the best underdog story out of everyone this year. This year had plenty of them, many of which are still in this ranking (Ieva, Eugent, DoReDoS, etc), but there really is something to be said about the constant barrage of persecution, xenophobia and mockery Eleni had to deal with and overcome in both LIFE and this contest. Pity she wasn’t a chicken woman or it would’ve won her the contest.

2) In case anyone wonders, I was pretty much “France or Estonia or DIE” for pretty much the entire season, so as you can imagine, I wasn’t too impressed with the top five we got (um, yeah not like I didn’t already boot 4/5 of them lul) Out of the DIRE top five we were given, Eleni probably should have won? (I loved Germany -obviousspoiler- but moreso because they didn’t win) Ugh I can’t with this year sometimes.