#the title as sung in the chorus

[michyeosseo]

why do you keep losing yourself?

why can’t we feel the same way?

Can Love Be Fair by G.Soul feat. Ben

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: February 17

“DYWTYLM” by Sleep Token

[voltas-do-mar]

bring me home / bring me home thoughts of you will bring me home as the sun may rise with crashing tides oh, you will bring me home

oh, at home there's my darling [The name here is muffled. Two syllables.] and i miss him all day long he has strange style / but he makes me smile and for him i will stay strong

[bloop-bl00p]

“Fîls de joie” What Poison could have been.

TW: Mention of Sexual Assault, Sexual Abuse, Rape, Drugs, Addiction, Manipulation, Mention of Fetish and sex in general, mention of Sex works, Raphielle II don’t go harras him and respect his pronouns

I’m trying to be a writer and I understand writing about taboos and controversial things is difficult. I only write about what I know which is the effect of emotional and physical abuse and religious traumas. Notheless if I’m trying to do something out of my domain of expertise I’ll research it to respect the concerned part of the audience.

Vivienne Medrano said that people who’ve been sexually abused helped write episode 4. Part of me wants to believe it, it’s most likely true, it’s the best thing a writer can do, let knowledgeable people help and not just rely on sites about psychology. But, with how rape and assault are presented sometimes it really feels like she’s lying.

Angel Dust is the only character whose abuse is presented as serious.

Stolas kept belittling Bliztø and kept talking dirty even when the Man was in danger

You cannot tell me that he couldn't hear the gunshot through the phone, in this scene, he keeps making his disgusting speech. Blitzø was practically forced to make the deal as he wasn't in a situation where he could process his thoughts clearly since he was trying to survive

And it was a joke.

Angels Dusk kept harassing Husk throughout the series but he never once apologized. Yes, it stopped after Looser Baby but he should have a mindful conversation with Husk and genuinely say sorry about his behavior.

“It starts with sowwy����” What’s the point of having this song if the characters don’t follow through with the lesson?

Those scenes were mostly jokes.

And I haven’t mentioned Sir Pentious getting dragged while being drunk in a sex room, or Moxie being kissed by Succubus despite mentioning he didn't want any of that.

AAaaAaaaAh look at these men, being uncomfortable because they are touched and talked down despite verbally addressing their discomfort! That hilarious!

I want to believe she cares, I’m a fan of these shows, I know it doesn't look like it but I’ve been hooked since the Pilots. Not only was I disappointed at the final result but I was also shocked to learn Medrano is simply just an asshole with too much money in her bag.

Poison failed where Fîls de Joie succeeded:

Before reading any of what I wrote you should listen to it, there are English subtitles. And honestly, it's a good song on its own.

What’s the context of Fîls de Joie?

A sex worker died and her son is holding funerals for her. You can guess it with the wordplay in the title, Fille de Joie (Girl of Joy) is one of the many ways to say prostitute in French. Fîls (son) de Joie is a way to say that he’s the son of a sex worker.

While sung by the same man, you can notice that Stromae gives us four POVs in the song, the son in the chorus, a client, the pimp, and a policeman.

Everyone besides the son is a hypocrite and relatively an asshole. But even if those verses are self-centered and a pathetic attempt from these men to bring sympathy to themselves, despite never hearing the story directly from the Woman, you can guess exactly how her life was and you sympathize with her. It tells us a story, her story.

This woman was a good mother, and it shows how much the son insisted on leaving her alone, speaking proudly of her despite acknowledging her flaws, and even repeatedly calling her a hero.

But HEY! (But HEY!) Leave my mom alone Yes I know, she’s not perfect, it’s true She’s a hero (She’s a hero) And I will always speak of her with pride

The client is trying to be excused from his actions by stating he’s lonely and addicted to it.

Being alone is not easy And it’s been years since my last time

The hardest part, well, it’s the first time And now what’s hard is to decide when the last time will be

But he’s also verbally violent even stating that as long as he got the money he could pretty much do everything to her.

Maybe this time around we can do it with me insulting her. Yeah everything is negotiablе in life, if you got the money And after all, I’m probably her best customer

With that alone, you can probably guess that it’s not the only violent client she had but she has to endure it because she needs money. Considering that she has a son it’s probably to support his education or something related to her well-being and his.

Then comes the pimp, he brushed off all of his misdeeds by saying he gives them shelter and food and should be grateful for it.

Why does everyone hate me? I’m the one feeding them Their lives would be way more mediocre. Without me, their lives would be shitty

Not only that but his good actions are not for the sake of it, he should have his part of the deals. He doesn't want them to feel like princesses eventually calling them hookers in a very dehumanizing way.

That has a price, Missy. Well duh, in this life, everything comes at a price. Nobody ever told you? They say I’m guilty of human trafficking But 50, 40, 30 or 20% is not nothing

They better not delude themselves and think they’re models Ladies—or should I say: hookers!

Not only does this woman have to endure constant violent behavior from her clients she barely gets enough money despite being the one at work, receiving either 50% or even 20% of what she actually gained. The rest goes to an egocentric pimp that only sees her as merchandise.

While we can technically understand where the policeman is coming from, he’s just doing his job, he’s making a mistake apparent in the other’s verse but much more evident in his.

He doesn't see her as a human.

I know that it’s your job But I gotta do mine, don’t I?

Take back your ID and what’s left of your dignity You’re pathetic, pfft Find yourself a real job!

This song doesn't tell us the story of a prostitute but the story of a financially struggling Mother who juggles between abusing clients and a society that only focuses on the top of the iceberg, the fact that she’s selling her body.

Stromae tries to appeal to our compassion and teach us that it’s important to understand why someone will go their way to sell sex for a few pennies. And rather than rejecting them, we should help them.

Another thing I like about the clip as a whole is the Military. They don’t have a Belgian or French uniform but they wear multiple of them to show that this dehumanization isn’t linked to one country but it’s global, every countries and cultures take part in it, and it needs to be fixed.

What does Poison tell us?

Angel got stuck in an abusive situation and was forced to do sex work for his pimps, it focuses more on the sexual assault rather than his life.

He obliviously regrets his choice resulting in him blaming himself for getting into such a messy situation. A situation he’s seemingly addicted to despite himself, he knows it’s bad but he can’t help it.

What's the worst part of this hell? I can only blame myself

You're feedin' me poison Addicted to this feelin', I can't help but swallow. Up your poison

The poison can also be a metaphor for the drugs he seems to take directly from Valentino’s brand. A drug he either takes himself or is forced to inhale.

He uses the same substance to forget his situation and numbs the pain while also putting on a false Sex-addicted mask to convey that he’s fine and stay on Valentino’s good side. A direct consequence of his abuse is his addiction and his hypersexuality.

I got so good at bein' untrue I got so good at tellin' you what you wanna hear I disassociate, disappear

At the end of the song he’s waisted, traumatized, and finally breaks down as he finally has a short time to process everything that happened. Because here’s the thing, Poison is a fantasy, it’s a mask he puts in to forget the emotional and physical weight that was put on him, hence why it’s so flashy and pretty. The few glimpses of Angel being visibly distraught show that all the parts where he isn't are him disassociating.

See I can analyze stuff and I totally understand what they were trying to do with it but the difference with Fîls de Joie is, that we didn't know the life or personality of The Mother and we learn it through the song.

Angel Dust and Valentino’s relationship is highlighted throughout the shows and Poison doesn't add anything new to the table. The song is POINTLESS. Husk already looked at us and told us that Angel Dust being sexual was a whole persona he puts in.

You can say that the song humanized him since he was basically the “AaahaAH SEX” character but the locker scene already did and… I don’t like the story behind the making of it, why you ask?

Because Vivienne let Raphielle’s work affect her writing.

Visually speaking I believe you can present a disturbing concept with equally disturbing imagery, I understand that the point was to make you uncomfortable and the Dance sequence was Angel Dust disassociating while what was happening was displayed on the screen.

But… can someone explain why they let the work of someone blatantly fetishizing Angel and Valentino's relationship leak into the final product? I don’t even care that Raphielle or Vivienne have a nonconsensual fetish but we can all agree that his content depicting the two men will be inrentently for gooning purposes right? Or am I crazy for saying that?!

Okay, I wanna be clear, Raphielle can do everything he wants what I care about is that his fetishistic content was referenced in the shows.

→ Here’s one of his works. Go at 2:45 if you wanna skip the sexual stuff

→ Click here for more proof

The idea of Angels Dust being “sexy” while his image is projected on screens is from Raphielle II, his work is for sexual gratification but Medrano still referenced it despite Raph being pretty vocal about it.

And that’s not all.

Yes, Vivienne, it’s great marketing to make a cum joke about visuals displaying rape. Because in case y’all forgot all of the sex scenes in the clip are non-consensual from Angel Dust's perspective.

Am I supposed to believe that this woman cares when not only she has a double standard only showing rape and sexual assault as a whole in a bad way when it comes to her favorite character?

Am I supposed to believe that she cares when she associates herself with a fetishizer and references his work in her show?

Why did Stromae managed to make me care about an unnamed fictional dead woman in the spam of 3:57 when she just irked me in 20 minutes with her so-called “well done” representation of sex workers?

Is that really what people call a realistic presentation? How does someone manage to fumble so hard on every aspect of the series, I’m starting to believe that Hazbin Hotel is just rage-bait with the lack of respect she puts into it.

That’s all for me if anyone wants to add anything, the comments are there.

[ensemblewithsenpai]

Nov 11th: The sixth song in the Ultimate 9 Songs campaign has been announced. The song is titled Kazehaya-senpai no Zangeshitsu! ~Mayoeru ES Idol-ban~ (Kazehaya-senpai's Confessional! ~Astray ES Idol Version~) sung by Tatsumi and Chorus of Astray Guests. It will be released on Nov 26th at 12AM JST.

[cyberbrained]

Schwein Interview: Part 1 — Atsushi Sakurai / Rockin'F (June 2001)

There were different troubles, this time it was a fight with myself

Part 1 — Atsushi Sakurai interview Interviewer: Yoshiyuki Oono scans: tigerpal @ dreamwidth/livejournal

I thought everything would work out if I let my natural flavor spill freely in Japanese

Did you write the lyrics based on the compositions? Sakurai: That’s right. First, around last autumn, six compositions written by Sascha and Raymond were completed. The songs’ structure was well done, vocals and chorus were added. Although there were also vocals by Lucia [Cifarelli] in the song Porno, I was told “Please, Atsushi, add melodies and lyrics however you like here.” Generally that was the feeling. So, regarding the recording itself, from starting work on the songs, ideas came in more and more; times when we were told, “I’m entrusting you with everything,” increased. Hence, being given freedom in working, this became a collaboration.

Did you discuss the content of the lyrics with Raymond and co.? Sakurai: I did. Although I was told, “Please do whatever you like,” too many mental images were off so talking about the title and Raymond’s connotations gave me a hint for the lyrics.

This time unusual alcohol and women came up in the lyrics. Are those motifs Raymond held? Sakurai: Perhaps I should say it was simultaneous [between us]…

Like you recorded while drinking? Sakurai: There was that too (laugh). What Raymond said and the things I myself hold were rather close. “What can I do, I wonder?” When it was time to talk seriously, if I thought about what’s coming to mind, it was all things I like. Alcohol and women (laugh). But even though I liked the words that came first, I wondered what my specialty is. When there is time I would sugarcoat [my ideas] but this time around that kind of thing wasn’t needed. Working in a band up to now, sometimes I’d add things to myself that weren’t necessarily there [in me], so returning to myself like this allowed me to be myself.

Has there been an opinion among the members of Buck-Tick that “This Acchan now is very relaxed,” recently? Sakurai: This time, participating in this album, even though third parties could look at me closely, I was never aware of that. Regarding everyday life, I wasn’t thinking stuff like, “Let’s proceed calmly.”

This time there are lyrics coexisting in Japanese, English, and German. Were you worried about the distinction between each word? Sakurai: Frankly, I thought Japanese would be hard to fit in. I sang after Raymond did and there were times when things felt out of place. But if we’d stopped there nothing would have even started. Based on what I'm capable of doing, I thought everything would work out if I let my natural flavor spill freely in Japanese. My own singing, Sascha, Lucia, and Raymond’s vocals too, everyone’s sound would be captured. But it was definitely complicated because Japanese, which comes across direct, appeared suddenly.

What about the parts sung in German and English? Sakurai: Isn’t it brief really? I just did chorus and unison. Initially I didn’t think I’d be doing chorus in English, since there were a lot of people who could be entrusted with it. Symbolically, there were three people who could sing in English.

In Schwein there’s rap-like Japanese, German vocals have entered, that great sense of language is interesting, right? Sakurai: Sascha sang those. Basically, the lyrics he’d written were translated and then fitting lyrics were created [in addition]. I couldn’t get a precise conclusion from the translation, so I asked, “What atmosphere would it be?” and after that I started getting more mental images. That kind of feeling.

I had the conviction to work since “I’ve been given the other members’ compositions”

Isn’t it interesting how Schwein is reaping your style and everything you’ve done with Buck-Tick until now, like with Crown’s equalizing, Spank the Monkey’s part with the stacked double vocals? Sakurai: The engineers were first-timers; I could only give my abilities as a raw ingredient. There was an engineer called Russel [Kearney]; I told him, “Russel, you’re the chef. Handle it as you like[1].” After that we tried out many things, it was fun. There weren’t misses.

I listened to your vocals and there wasn’t anything out of place at all. Sakurai: I wondered if I could deliver in the gaps between the other vocals, but I wasn’t worried at all.

Then, what was your approach with Schwein? Sakurai: I had the conviction to work since “I’ve been given the other members’ compositions,” so there wasn’t any holding back. Raymond and Sascha’s experience and strengths brought out the best in me.

Who created the melody lines? Sakurai: Raymond and Sascha were in charge, Imai’s compositions are his own. With four people the melodies were well considered.

Conversely, how many songs did you devise the melody for?[2] Sakurai: Well, the one where I did things selfishly however I liked was Fantasia. I did the verse my way and the chorus’ melody came to me too… Then, Spank The Monkey’s chorus, Lard, Lips, Liquor’s melody, and for Organzola’s[3] duet part I was free to do whatever I liked.

How is your approach with Schwein different from that with Buck-Tick? Sakurai: Until now, although the composer had created the melody perfectly, this time whether it was the songs or the album as a whole, I couldn't easily imagine. Also, I wondered how far it would be good to go, how far I could go, but there wasn’t hesitation. That’s why, honestly, the feeling of collaborating and being free to do as I pleased with the melodies were first [in importance]. The singing itself was the same as always but regarding feelings I was able to keep the high tension for a month. There were different troubles and, thinking about it deeply, this time it was a fight with myself.

—

Notes:

[1]He called him コック, which means chef (in this case), because he did a pun on cooking in Japanese. I didn’t keep it in English out of fear it would sound unserious (of me). “Cook it up however you like” is what I would’ve gone with and in that case this note would read “Yes, he really said that.” Also...that word's other meaning had me loling hard at that bit at first glance.

[2]Sakurai isn’t credited with any compositions for Schwein. I suppose what they mean here is more along the lines of where his input was heavier.

[3]Re: Organzola as a title word (because idk when I’ll make it there with my speed): later in this interview (under Sascha’s part, which is the fourth and final part), it’s explained it’s a mashup of Organ, the English word + Gorgonzola, the Italian cheese, which apparently equals...g3n1tal organs. ...well, idk about you but I'm glad to learn this so many years later lmao

[sleepy-as-a-song]

Now playing: Ethan’s intro

Verse 1 - the basics

Ethan Lukas, 17 year old, he/him

Son of Hypnos, champion of Athena

Self titled ‘Hypnos’ most energetic son’

Has dated in the past, is single

Pre chorus - a bit more info

Adores pet names and nicknames

Is called eff/eef by close friends

Loves writing about his friends

Huge cuddle bug

Has pica, adhd, dyslexia and fatigue

Ate the chess pieces to become Athena’s champion

Chorus - powers 

The ability to put anyone to sleep

The ability to sleep for long periods

He can heal himself and other during sleep (like how a medical coma works)

He can influence others dreams

Main weapon is a flamethrower

Verse 2 - tags

Ethan’s playlist - asks

My melodies - moots / friends

A song for you - open starters

A song not sung - Ethan’s past

Pre-Outro - friends / taglists

@ren-has-wings - ren! My favorite moth boy

@that-girl-cupid - rosie! Pinkie pie

@ravensonofdionysus - raven and Damien, my chaos duo

@vicious-daughter-of-zeus - Elektra, grumpy but loves me

@im-always-highhhh - Kluas, needs to drink more water

@thathypnoskid - bee, my sister

@creature-under-ur-bed - Ozzy, my brother

@athena-greek-goddess - lady Athena

Outro - faceclaim and aesthetic 

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

Ok 30 sec content is enough to activate me, so here is a little extra coming from the sheet capture of the video.

This is actually a vocal part sheets. And this is the end of the song. We can see the long held notes next to the hand with the pen.

There are some interesting notation here. First C4. I am gonna ignore the a and the b. Maybe it is augmented and flat - I don't know - the notation is weird to me lol. Anyway, C4 is the middle C on the piano. That I am sure.

Then I am not a specialist in vocal ranges, american notation, pitches etc, so I am just gonna say that, I read notes over C5, reaching B5. But I hear kinda one octave below when Joey sings. I never understood how that translates. I leave the schematic here for comparison.

Anyway, if I consider what I hear being one octave below of the music notation, then we reach B4 to the highest point, flirting to the limit of the Tenor register (so yep Joey is a Tenor 😅).

Then I can barely read the power chords. I guess C and D for sure but I can't get the small characters. For those with good eyes, let's go !

Then, I am gonna go on the only part I feel confident with - the rhythm - as it is given by the actual music notation that I can read. This is a bit blurry but things can be deduced mathematically.

I remember saying that the Ride of the Witcher had an odd 5 beat rhythm, the first time I heard it. I was wrong. It is on 4 beats BUT the melody falls on five beats from what I am reading here 😅. Hence my confusion.

I am not gonna try to give the correct names of the notes in English - as there are the american way, the "european" way, the french way... 😅. Let keep it mathematical.

A basic 4 beats means that between two |, you will always have a total of 4 beats. So the addition of all your notes and silence between the bars is always 4.

The rhythmic I read here is :

1(+½) ½-½ ½ 1 | 1 (1) (1) ½ ½ |

Then we have the second motif that is a bit easier

1 ½ ½-½ ½ 1 | 1 (1) (2) |

Both first parts ends on the first beat on the second block thanks to the liaison. The second motif sounds a bit like 6 beats because the lyrics begin on the last beat of the preceding part, after the silences.

The two same motifs are repeated after with the same breathing part until we arrive at the end of the chorus, where the silence are now sung.

So the whole thing seems turning on a square wheel. Love it 🥰😅.

Now, I find it very interesting to have the actual music notation. I found a piano score - probably ear deciphered - and see how they tried to fits the notes in a strange way to go with the feeling it doesn't fall where it should 🙂. There are suddenly, 1 beat or 5 beats bars to make the count right.

The voice is on the lower part here.

Now for the long notes, they are held 8 beats with this notation.

This is all I have to say about this screenshot 😅.

Oh and one last little thing. We can see a v4 under the title of the song. So there was 3 other versions before this one 😏.

[seancekitsch]

Can you do Jaskier catching you singing while doing something domestic?

it’s been a while but here it finally is!

For Jaskier, hearing his own songs being sung to him isn’t out of the blue. Plenty of people sing along in taverns or forget the titles of his songs and sing a chorus or a verse or two to explain themselves to him. However he’s never heard a voice so lovely, with a tone so clear and timbre so sweet. And really, it’s not like he’s used to hearing any of this outside of a town.

Jaskier stares up at the trees that make his canopy, at the trees that shield the hansa from the elements and you all have slept more or less in a pile under for almost two days now.

“But the story is this: she’ll destroy with her sweet kiss,” the voice sings, and Jaskier sits up with a start, untangling the arms of Geralt, Regis, Milva, Angouleme, and Cahir off of him in their cold little huddle for warmth as they push further into the winter.

He looks about him, and counts. The only one missing… you.

He follows the sound of the voice, now correctly matched to you, the typically silent member of the Hansa; only loud when you argue with Angouleme over who gets the last bit of cheeseboard when you all can afford a tavern. More often thought you are silent, observing, and using it to your advantage when you can.

Jaskier rises from his spot and follows the sound of your voice like a siren’s song.

Your voice, your song- HIS song, leads him to nearest body of water, a small lake still ebbing and flowing before the cold sets in for the season. You’ve taken it upon yourself to grab everyone’s extra clothing from their bags and do some washing.

“I’m weak, my love, and I am wanting,” you sing, your tone growing… sad? as Jaskier approaches, he starts to hum along.

“If this is the path I must trudge-“

“I’ll welcome my sentence, give you my penance,” Jaskier finishes the line, and you jump, practically throwing yourself into the water.

“Sorry!” He grabs your shoulders gently, bracing you.

“Butchered that worse than Geralt would, I reckon,” you joke, peering up at him not shyly, but in that quiet defiance that sometimes shakes him to his core.

“No,” he responds, breathy and stunted like the song took the words from him, “Beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

Your lips ease into a smirk, your whole face softening at his words… the ones he realizes he just spoke.

“I mean- the song, your voice.”

“I’ll take those compliments, all of them,” you joke, and rise to stand with the finished laundry in your hands.

“But can you take these back to camp for me? I only have yours left to finish.”

Even his? He didn’t even notice his own clothing in a pile next to you,

“Why do you do this for us?”

“Easy, I don’t like when you all smell like horse and I don’t want to argue to make you do your own washing,” you answer, shrugging as you turn back to his clothes.

“I like this shirt on you,” you comment, pulling one from his pile.

“And the singing?” He asks, not at all wanting to move from his spot next to you.

“Favorite song of yours,” you respond, dunking the shirt into the water.

Jaskier looks back to the camp, noticing that finally the rest of the Hansa has begun to stir.

“Will you duet with me next time, then?” He asks, hopeful to get another chance to hear that rare voice.

“Maybe if you help me with the washing,” you retort, your smile telling him all he needs to know.

[nanomooselet]

On Narrators

You know what, fuck it.

I've seen a lot of references to Trigun Stampede having an unreliable narrator, and unfortunately it's activated my media analyst trap card. While there's always a degree of interpretation to these things, there is a difference between interpretation and declaring a banana skin to be orange zest. It makes a difference, especially if you're trying to bake a cake.

That isn't at all what Trigun Stampede is doing. Among other things, it doesn't have a narrator.

Narration, loosely defined, is text (or spoken lines etc) that directly addresses an assumed audience, which may or may not be the actual audience (it depends on the needs of the story). Think voice-overs, think Kuzco in The Emperor's New Groove, think the text panels in a comic or manga that list time and location, or describe the situation. The song of humanity continues to be sung is narration. A narrator is the character who performs narration; sometimes from with the story, sometimes from a position adjacent to it.

Honestly one of the most interesting things about Stampede, in my opinion, is that it makes a point of having neither.

There's no framing device, no presenter, no announcer, no chorus, no soliloquy, not even an internal monologue. There's no direct line to the writers, giving away their intentions. Indeed, the imposition of any text at all is almost entirely absent, save some pointed timing on the title cards, and no character's voice is objective. Zazie or Roberto, who come the closest, can definitely still be wrong - Roberto says Vash is "not long for this world" when Vash is longer for the world than almost anyone else; the man he says would kill with a smile was in fact coerced into becoming a killer. Zazie knows much and is always truthful, but isn't all-knowing, nor operating with complete understanding. And on the other end of the scale you have characters like Dr. Conrad or Knives, where the easiest way to tell they're mistaken or lying is if their mouths are moving. (Outside of brain fuckery. Then you're on your own.) Then there's Vash, who doesn't lie, necessarily, so much as he doesn't volunteer the truth, and tends to dodge giving answers when asked outright.

Now, an unreliable narrator is metafictional, taking advantage of the narrator being a character, and therefore capable of having an agenda.

What makes them unreliable is that they exert motivated influence over what we see - even accidental influence like distorted recollection or misconception. But before declaring such influence is occurring, we need a solid reason to doubt. You don't dismiss an account as unreliable just because it doesn't line up with your own expectations or desires - not without something like a clear contradiction, perhaps, or some conspicuous omission. *

We simply have no reason to believe what we see in Trigun Stampede is anything other than the truth (inasmuch as it's obviously fictional of course). We see some events from multiple viewpoints - here is what Vash experienced, here is what Knives saw, here is what other characters are doing - and what one character sees isn't different from what any other character sees when the perspectives swap. It's just from different distances and angles. The same words are said, the same events play out, and the same reactions are demonstrated by the characters, according to their established values and motivations.

The narrative itself is unadorned and unchanged by their viewpoints. Whether a character is being truthful is simply a judgement you're given to make as the events that occur and their actions reveal more about them.

The term for this isn't narration; it's focalisation, and it's hardly some avant-garde artistic statement. It's intrinsic to telling even the most simple story.

For instance, the way Knives evolves from his initial presentation. His introduction as an adult is as a wrathful would-be god and a merciless killer before his more nuanced motivations and origins are slowly revealed. It would have been different if he'd been introduced first, discovered Tesla and was then depicted destroying Jeneora Rock. He'd come across as more of a protagonist. Instead, because the central character is Vash, we see him first, the humanising struggles of Jeneora Rock's people and Vash's efforts to help them, his anguish when it's rendered moot, and all the ways he suffers as a result of Knives's actions. This is focalisation that makes Knives the antagonist, representing what Vash must overcome. A complex, compelling and perhaps tragic antagonist, but still - not the guy the story is about.

Oh, and that has nothing to do with their respective moral positions, good or evil. It's structural. A protagonist attempts to achieve while an antagonist obstructs, and both by nature will transgress.

Stampede isn't exactly free of ways to manipulate sympathy, and exerts strict control over the perspectives it presents. You could argue it misdirects, or lies by omission - but that's not the same as an unreliable narrator. A narrative is always going to impose some kind of order on events to produce a specific effect, and that does come with bias. But it's the nature of storytelling never to be entirely objective.

I'm not sure that I really have a point, honestly, except that Trigun Stampede is a show that's exceedingly careful to show the characters exactly as they are. It doesn't lie. Personally, I find that more interesting to contemplate than the alternative. We have everything we need to know why the characters do as they do. Certainly far more than some would rather have us know.

* There are two times I think something like this is happening. One is Wolfwood's flashbacks to the orphanage, which are coloured as memories of the softness the Eye ripped away from him. Hence the different art style, and the title of the episode they occur in: once upon a time. It's a fairy tale, more emotionally true than literal to highlight the harshness of his life since then by contrast. There's likely more to that story than Wolfwood is recalling at that moment.

The other, big surprise, is within the memory world. It has manipulative editing, clips taken out of context, video noise, ADR, everything. All you'd need to make it more obvious it can't be trusted is a disclaimer in the corner or inconsistent timestamps or something.

[iamvercnika]

₊‧⁺˖ ⠀⠀⠀ THE SOUND OF VERONIKA  ! 

stepping  into  the  music  scene  with  a  self-titled  mini  album,  VERONIKA  released  an  eccentric  title  track,  entirely  sung  in  slovenian.  unfortunately,  even  after  troubling  herself  to  learn  how  to  pronounce  each  word  in  a  different  language,  the  artist's  career  didn't  pick  up  until  she  released  a  korean  version  only  two  months  later.  quite  fast  when  it  comes  to  getting  any  kind  of  recognition  in  the  music  industry,  but  knowing  that  VERONIKA  debuted  in  GLASSHOUSE  makes  sense  as  to  how  quick  she  became  famous.  the  music  video  for  VERONIKA  barely  received  six  million  views  in  the  first  twenty-four  hours,  which  was  a  shock,  considering  she's  under  a  popular  company. 

this  didn't  stop  the  singer  because  at  the  beginning  of  2021,  VERONIKA  released  MIDNIGHT  DREARY,  and  its  title  track,  THE  WITCH  LIVES,  became  one  of  the  most  talked-about  songs  in  the  months  that  she  was  promoting  it.  the  title  track  delves  into  the  undying  spirit  of  the  witch,  symbolising  resilience  and  eternal  power.  it  narrates  how  VERONIKA's  essence  transcends  time,  haunting  and  guiding  those  who  encounter  her  legacy.  the  song  received  high  praise  from  critics,  and  it  accumulated  twenty  million  views  in  the  first  twenty-four  hours,  as  well  as  three  music  show  wins.  up  until  now,  fans  have  thought  of  this  song  as  VERONIKA's  best-released  one. 

BUMP IN THE NIGHT  captures  the  fear  and  thrill  of  nocturnal  encounters  with  the  unknown.  it  evokes  a  sense  of  dread  and  excitement,  reflecting  the  spine-chilling  moments  when  the  veil  between  worlds  is  thinnest.  it  was  early  in  her  career  that  VERONIKA  admitted  that  she  thinks  of  the  album's  concept,  as  well  as  the  production  of  it.  "i  have  at  least  fifteen  unreleased  songs  that  i  plan  on  using  for  my  future  albums,"  the  singer  revealed,  which  started  the  whole  talk  of  "raiding  her  hidden  laptop"  debate  on  twitter.  GOOSEBUMPS  was  the  song  where  VERONIKA  exposed  the  range  her  voice  could  go  to,  and  the  most  watched  parts  were  the  surprising  high  note  in  the  beginning,  as  well  as  in  the  chorus.  the  song  won  only  two  awards,  but  it  definitely  deserved  them. 

AS  ABOVE  is  the  first  part  of  the  twin  albums  the  soloist  revealed  she  worked  on  simultaneously.  its  title  track,  SHE  KNOWS  THE  TRUTH,  talks  about  the  witch's  profound  understanding  of  the  universe's  mysteries.  it  highlights  VERONIKA's  role  as  a  keeper  of  arcane  knowledge,  exploring  themes  of  insight,  revelation,  and  hidden  truths.  the  song  received  a  seven-point-five  score  on  pitchfork,  making  it  VERONIKA's  first  album  to  be  ranked  on  that  website.  SHE  KNOWS  THE  TRUTH  received  four  wins,  and  the  music  video  racked  up  seventeen  million  views  in  the  first  day,  and  has  been  gradually  climbing  up.

SO  BELOW  is  a  continuation  and  the  second  part  of  the  twin  albums.  the  title  track,  I  KNOW  BETTER,  emphasizes  the  witch's  practical  wisdom  and  strength  in  navigating  the  physical  world.  it  underscores  VERONIKA's  confidence  and  mastery  over  the  mystical  and  mundane  aspects  of  life.  the  song  wasn't  as  much  of  a  hit  as  the  previous  one,  but  it  still  received  a  nice  win  on  the  music  show  and  at  least  seven  million  views.  the  concept  for  this  album  focused  on  earthly  manifestations  of  the  witch's  power,  which  was  a  bit  mundane  compared  to  AS  ABOVE's,  which  was  about  the  higher  knowledge  and  wisdom  possessed  by  the  witch. 

the  soloist's  first  ep  album,  KILLING  MR.  STRANGER  is  about  confronting  and  overcoming  external  and  internal  threats.  STRANGENESS  IN  US  explores  the  duality  of  human  nature  and  the  inner  battles  that  parallel  external  conflicts.  it  portrays  VERONIKA's  struggle  against  societal  fears  and  prejudices  while  embracing  her  unique  identity.  the  album  is  raw  and  showcases  VERONIKA's  inner  feelings,  which  resonates  with  her  fans  who  share  the  same  feelings.  however,  many  fans  deemed  this  song  lacklustre  and  said  it  became  boring  after  a  couple  of  listens.  it  didn't  receive  any  wins,  and  the  music  video  had  only  six  million  views.  even  the  artist  herself  admitted  it  felt  empty,  but  that  was  the  point  of  it.  no  one  believed  her,  though,  because  this  was  the  only  track  that  she  didn't  produce  by  herself,  and  the  fans  felt  like  she  was  forced  to  say  that. 

THE  DEVIL  WITHIN  is  a  significantly  better  album.  containing  ten  songs,  this  full  album  talks  about  the  internal  demons  and  darker  aspects  of  the  witch's  persona.  LITTLE  MONSTER  delves  into  the  inner  turmoil  and  darker  impulses  that  reside  within  VERONIKA.  it  reflects  the  constant  battle  with  her  own  darker  nature  and  the  acceptance  of  these  shadowy  facets  as  part  of  her  power.  a  lot  of  fans  commented  how  the  song  reminded  them  of  THE  WITCH  LIVES  and  were  happy  that  despite  the  hiccup  that  was  KILLING  MR.  STRANGER,  VERONIKA  found  a  way  out  of  the  slumps  and  came  back  with  a  much  better  sound.  so  far,  this  is  her  most  streamed  album,  and  it  received  twenty-five  million  views  on  the  first  day,  breaking  her  previous  record  of  twenty  million  views.  it  also  gave  her  six  music  show  wins  and  stayed  on  the  top  five  charts  for  a  good  couple  of  weeks. 

critics  say  that  "the  burden  and  sacrifice  of  wielding  great  power"  symbolizes  VERONIKA's  second  ep  album,  HEAVY  IS  THEE.  the  title  track  symbolizes  the  heavy  responsibility  and  suffering  that  come  with  VERONIKA's  extraordinary  abilities.  CROWN  OF  THORNS  touches  on  themes  of  martyrdom,  endurance,  and  the  pain  intertwined  with  her  gifts.  trap  hip-hop  was  the  main  genre  for  this  album,  and  VERONIKA  explains  it  in  her  own  words:  "the  song  stands  on  a  fine  line  between  desperation  and  obsession,  so  i  feel  like  it’ll  be  a  good  song  for  people  to  relate  to  and  get  immersed  in".  the  song  reached  the  international  fandom  more,  mainly  because  of  the  different  genre  the  song's  stepped  in.  no  music  show  wins,  but  the  international  fandom  will  always  praise  the  song. 

VERONIKA's  most  recent  mini-album,  TOUCH  OF  EVIL,  shows  the  witch's  destructive  potential  and  deadly  allure.  SONG  OF  DEATH  is  carefully  constructed  to  embody  the  lethal  enchantment  and  peril  that  VERONIKA  represents.  it  speaks  to  the  seductive  and  fatal  charm  of  her  powers,  warning  of  the  dangers  of  succumbing  to  her  influence.  fans  were  surprised  by  the  different  approach  to  her  story  as  a  witch.  lowkey  inspired  by  the  1945  novel,  ANIMAL  FARM,  VERONIKA  went  all  in  when  it  came  to  the  music  video.  in  the  end,  the  video  had  to  be  banned  from  certain  channels,  as  it  was  "too  gore-y"  for  viewers.  despite  that,  international  fans  seemed  to  love  it  because  they  helped it  reach  forty  million  views. 

VERONIKA's  most  recent  release  is  a  single,  SPIDERWEB,  which  illustrates  how  her  presence  ensnares  and  captivates  those  around  her.  it  metaphorically  depicts  the  complex,  interwoven  connections  and  the  inescapable  pull  of  her  supernatural  allure.  the  music  video  for  this  song  focused  more  on  her  performance  rather  than  the  concept.  the  reason  why  is  explained  by  the  artist:  "SPIDERWEB  is  a  complicated  song,  and  planning  an  actual  story  for  it  would  be  hard  to  express  in  the  right  way."  VERONIKA  also  comments:  "at  the  end  of  the  day,  i'm  a  performer,  and  i  want  to  show  that  through  my  first  single.  sometimes  all  you  need  is  an  intense  stage,  a  couple  of  props  and  passion  to  show  the  story."  this  single  was  released  only  digitally  and  as  a  poca  album,  but  the  song  managed  to  reach  twenty-nine  million  views  in  the  first  day.

[autumnwhistles]

To those who don't know – I'm currently writing a Last Life musical (first song here!). This is an excerpt from Song 2 (Corners of the World), which establishes the world, some alliances, and Martyn's worldview, as he's the central figure of this. Some lyrics will be below.

As said, more audition info will be coming later this week (I just need to iron a few things out in terms of describing the atmosphere for the soloist's songs), along with the audition form. In the meantime, here's an excerpt of Song 2 (up to the first half of the first chorus), played back on NotePerformer. This song is mainly sung by Martyn – Lizzie, Bdubs, Etho, Joel, Scott and Pearl do show up later, but in the parts you hear they haven't yet.

This is the second main atmosphere I'm going for for songs – more dramatic, important, server-wide or Watcher-related events will be more in the style of Middle of Nowhere (the first, posted, song), but while exploring and delving into the players' lives this will be more prevalent (the exceptions to this are some members of Team BEST, mainly Tango but to some extent Bdubs, whose songs can be more jazzy). I headcanon the state of development of the Last Life world as late medieval, so with the music here (especially the intro) I've tried to evoke a similar atmosphere to the background soundtrack of a typical 'peasant' village.

As said, I don't have the full lyrics yet but here's verse 2 and the chorus (the second half which isn't included in the extract because it's not orchestrated yet):

Walls, corners, edges, I’ve been this way before. You’ll be cornered in the corners, and on edge in many more; And walls you’ll build and walls you’ll raise and walls will fall in war, And in the end, it’ll be a void you’re fighting for. So corner to corner, I’ll keep wandering on, Border to border, through woods, through caves, through spawn, The seasons shift and the people change, there’s night for every dawn Don’t place your faith in fleeting snows*, and keep on wandering (wandering, wandering) on.

(And yep a lot of this – namely title and the second verse – was inspired by Martyn's speech to Ren after he beheaded him in 3rd Life ("You took me in when I was a lowly traveller, going across the lands, searching the four corners of this world. I learned there was nothing in this world for me. Nothing but walls, corners, edges. But you know what, you showed me life. As much as I've taken it from you, you gave it back to me in bucketsfulls") hehehe... except now it's back to being Walls Corners and Edges again because of 3rd Life turning out the way it did and them starting anew (and also 'Ren's death made c!Martyn permanently more selfish' my beloved).)

*I may change this if it's too on the nose/sounds too unnatural, but that's how it is for now.

[that-ari-blogger]

Inciting Incident (Thank Goodness)

One of the most popular songs in Wicked is sung by Galinda, and centres around the idea that the society she lives in is corrupt and that she is the only one who knows how it really works. But is she right about that? Does she actually know as much as she thinks?

I think the answer is complicated, and that's the fun of it. I think that Glinda has intellectually grasped that the system is flawed, but I don't think she's emotionally wrapped her head around it. Case and point, the complete and utter cognitive dissonance that is Thank Goodness.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (Wicked, The Trekkie's Tale)

Thank Goodness is actually two songs. Thank Goodness itself, and a reprise of No-one Mourns The Wicked. So, it's a rehashing of the first act, opening with Glinda conversing with the crowd, the difference is whether or not she is appearing to agree with it.

In the first Glinda tries to argue for Elphaba's morality, and it frames the entire story. But now, Glinda stands idly by and goes along with all that the chorus says while they get more and more worked up by lies that she knows to be untrue.

You would think that the two segments of the song being in agreement would mean that they go well together, but they really don't. Thank Goodness and No-one Mourns The Wicked do not fit with each other at all, in my opinion.

So, what does this mean?

I think that this song shows Glinda lying to herself, and finally starting to crack and realise what is happening.

Glinda spends this song deflecting from the problem, instead of confronting it head on. She relies on popularity and giving the people what they want to distract them.

My ex-girlfriend is being hunted by the masses for something she didn't do, but look over here, I'm getting married!

"Like some terrible green blizzard

Throughout the land she flies

Defaming our poor Wizard

With her calumnies and lies!"

The obvious thing here is the tense. This is happening now, as opposed to something the characters have lived through and made it out the other side of. It is more immediate.

But the other thing that I want to point out is the wall that the Ozians are putting up. The reason Elphaba can't get through to anyone is because they think she is lying, because who are you more likely to believe, someone who you trust implicitly, or someone who everyone around you says is dangerous?

The song is broken into four sections. The introduction, Glinda's two reflections, and Madame Morrible's story, which prompts her to change her mind a bit.

"When you bowed before his throne

He decreed you'd hence be known

As Glinda the Good, officially!"

The following is an excerpt from The Trekkie's Tale, a Star Trek fanfic first published in 1974.

"Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky," thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise. "Here I am, the youngest lieutenant in the fleet - only fifteen and a half years old." Captain Kirk came up to her...

"Here, take over the ship for a minute while I go get some coffee for us."

This is the archetypal Mary Sue story, a format where the protagonist gets all that they want and more. The world revolves around Mary Sue, and as a result, it isn't particularly compelling. She wins everything, then she saves the day and dies, and everyone mourns her.

Nobody online seems to be able to agree on whether this story was a satire of general fanfiction trends or not, a fact that I find rather funny.

But compare that to the story Madame Morrible is telling about Glinda. Allegedly, the wizard gave her the title for... not much actually. In Morrible's version of events, good people get things just because, and nobody is asking any questions.

Essentially, Glinda is getting all that she wants on a silver platter, with no questions asked, no strings attached. Well, one string attached.

"Then with a jealous squeal

The Wicked Witch burst from concealment

Where she had been lurking, surrpetitially!"

I mentioned in my post on Defying Gravity (maybe go check that one out) that the central conflict that ended Elphaba and Glinda's relationship was that Elphaba was prepared to sacrifice everything, and Glinda wasn't. But Glinda did have to give up something to achieve her dream, and I don't think she quite understood that until now. To get the power she craved, Glinda had to lose Elphaba.

This song is essentially bludgeoning Glinda over the head with the fact that this tradeoff was not worth it.

That is the dissonance inherent to Glinda's entire character. She recognises the flaws in the world around her but has convinced herself that it will be worth it when she gets to power.

I don't think that Galinda would have realised this, and I am making a point of differentiating Glinda and Galinda. In my mind, Glinda is the version of this character who fell in love with and was changed by Elphaba. The two characters are incredibly similar, and one is an evolution of the other, but it is the influence of Elphaba that makes the difference.

Galinda was seeking power for the sake of it, a person who got her way because she couldn't understand anything else. But Elphaba changed that and gave her a purpose for seeking to climb the ladder. I think Glinda believed she could make a difference from within the structure of Oz, probably to help Elphaba.

Glinda has got everything she theoretically wanted, but at the behest of the reason she was doing it, and now that she is here, she can't even initiate the change she wanted to change. Glinda made the wrong choice, and is only now realising it.

"We couldn't be happier

Right, dear?

Couldn't be happier

Right here

Look what we've got

A fairy-tale plot

Our very own happy ending."

If you are wondering why I've been leaving Glinda's monologues until the end, it is because they make my case for me, and make analysis rather difficult as a result. I have been saying over and over that this musical is about dreams and reality colliding, and that is explicitly stated in these verses.

The fact that there are two of these mirrors the two sides of Glinda's character. The first is the side that craves the attention and has got everything that she wants, then the song reminds her of Elphaba, and she tries again with a more nuanced perspective.

"Though it is, I admit

The tiniest bit

Unlike I anticipated

But I couldn't be happier

Simply couldn't be happier

Well - not simply

'Cause getting your dreams

It's strange, but it seems

A little, well, complicated"

This is literally what I've been saying. She's got what she wanted, but not in the way she wants. It's complicated, and that facade of hers is finally cracking.

That duality is mirrored by the time signature, which is maddening. The song oscillates between a ton of different signatures, and if someone with more musical knowledge understands anything more about this than me, please give me a hand.

From my, admittedly limited, understanding, this feels like a lack of surety. Glinda doesn't know what she wants or thinks anymore, so she can't decide what she is singing.

It also gives an incredibly informal tone, as the lack of structure matches how a person speaks, almost. There have been two characters who have distinct speech patterns in this musical, Madam Morrible, and Glinda. The script of both of whom is written in recurring patterns and rhythms, making up words to match the metre of their sentence. It's pompous and pseudointellectual.

This is most obvious in how smooth the start of Defying Gravity is. There, Glinda doesn't have to change how she talks to match the song, because she is already speaking in the right rhythm.

Cynthia Erivo's rendition of this song in PBS's Wicked In Concert is phenomenal and I highly recommend you check it out, not least of all because removing the crowd gives the song a completely different vibe.

But here, halfway through a song, she gives up with artfulness and just speaks her mind. It's still a song, so you still get the rhythms and melodies, but that is breaking down, and is gone in the script from this point forwards. That's partially why I say Glinda and Galinda are different people, they sound different to each other.

There are a few almost exceptions to this rule, and I say almost exceptions because they come really close to breaking the mould, but don't.

In this exception, Glinda is trying to convince herself that she is happy. The song is limited to one thought, the idea that Glinda should be happy, and there can't be anything wrong. She has got everything she wanted, and that would make her happy, right? Happy is what happens when all of your dreams... That's the word that throws her off, dreams.

This is no longer Glinda's dream.

This song is a microcosm of Glinda's entire arc in the musical. She follows the story laid out for her, but is changed by the journey until it no longer fits. She has changed, and now she can't do anything about it.

Ironically, Glinda has gained all the authority she could dream of, but she is more powerless and has less agency than she started with, and all of that happened without her notice.

"There's a kind of a sort of, cost

There's a couple of things get, lost

There are bridges you cross

You didn't know you crossed

Until you've crossed."

Final Thoughts

Genuinely, my favourite trope in a story is a character undergoing character development and not realising. For example, the "nobody's that heartless" line in The Emperor's New Groove.

But Glinda is my favourite example of this because of the way in which she reaches her conclusions. She is smart, possibly the most intelligent character in the entire musical, but her biases cause her to make some serious leaps of logic and ignore several things that would change her worldview until she runs headfirst into them.

Also, the stagecraft of this song is simple in order to not distract from Glinda's thoughts, but that means a lot of these photos are remarkably similar. I apologise for that.

Next week, I will be looking at Wonderful, and how it forms a neat little mirror of Sentimental Man, so stick around if that interests you.

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[the-song-of-the-day]

June 24, 2024

Song #137

Voices by Derivakat/[Project: BLADE | Chorus of 70]

It was released on March 31, 2021

Fun Fact: “Voices” is a fan made song about Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade. Sung with a fierce rock beat, the song reveals the perspective of his YouTube livestream chat during his time in the Minecraft roleplay server, the Dream SMP. The chat is canonically represented as voices in his head. “Voices” came from one of Derivikat’s personal projects titled “Project: BLADE,” which she organized along with her friends Yuki and Kiba. The song originally featured seventy-five vocalists; however, seventy different people represented Technoblade’s chat instead. It was in the works for about a month before the release date, according to the music video’s description.

[hymnsofheresy]

Truly He taught us to love one another His law is love and His gospel is peace Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother And in his name all oppression shall cease Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we With all our hearts we praise His holy name Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we His power and glory ever more proclaim!

“Since that first rendition at a small Christmas mass in 1847, "O Holy Night" has been sung millions of times in churches in every corner of the world. And since the moment a handful of people first heard it played over the radio, the carol has gone on to become one of the entertainment industry's most recorded and played spiritual songs. This incredible work--requested by a forgotten parish priest, written by a poet who would later split from the church, given soaring music by a Jewish composer, and brought to Americans to serve as much as a tool to spotlight the sinful nature of slavery as tell the story of the birth of a Savior--has become one of the most beautiful, inspired pieces of music ever created.” (x)

Learn about the abolitionist history of O Holy Night:

“Things start in 1843 or 1847—there’s some discrepancy about the year—in Roquemaure, a small town in the Rhône valley region. Placide Cappeau, who had followed his father into the wine business, was also known for the poetry he composed. Though a critic of the Catholic church, Cappeau was asked by the local priest to write a few stanzas in celebration of the town cathedral’s newly refurbished organ. He is said to have written the song’s words while in transit to Paris on business, with the biblical Gospel of Luke as inspiration. On the advice of the same clergyman who had commissioned him, Cappeau took his completed work—then titled “Minuit, Chrétiens,” or “Midnight, Christians”—to Adolphe Adams, a composer of some renown. Adams, who was of French-Jewish descent, arranged the music, and the song was newly christened as "Cantique de Noel.” The carol would make its world debut, with opera singer Emily Laurey belting lyrics, during Christmas eve midnight mass at the Roquemaure church...

Though "Cantique de Noel” would quickly become a French Christmas favorite, it was later denounced by the French Catholic church—a reported consequence of Cappeau being an avowed atheist and socialist, along with the discovery that Adams was Jewish, not Christian. One bishop reportedly dismissed the song as having a "lack of musical taste and total absence of the spirit of religion.” There was also some resistance to Cappeau’s overtly anti-slavery lyrics in the third verse, which were perhaps made more glaring by his emergent political outspokenness. In any case, the ban reveals where the French Catholic church stood on matters of abolition...

In any case, "Cantique de Noel” would make its way across the Atlantic to John Sullivan Dwight, a white American abolitionist, Unitarian minister, musician and classical music aficionado who published a magazine called Dwight's Journal of Music...

Dwight gave his translated verse the title “O Holy Night” when he published it in his music periodical in 1855. It apparently became a hit in the U.S., gaining popularity among the abolitionist crowd during the Civil War. Even as the song was being banned in its home country, it was becoming a staple of Christmas, and a song of protest, thousands of miles away, in the U.S. It’s long since become part of the broader American Christmas songbook.”

(x)

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — Don't Make Me by Malinda

In all of the fluffy animated fairy tale adaptations that have been made over the past century, it's often been glossed over that the original stories were cautionary tales. Girls were warned and prepared for dealing with potentially abusive husbands. The best case scenario would be reaching a respectful understanding, but sometimes more drastic measures might become necessary. When a girl's patience and forbearance hit their limits, she has every right to fight back in any way she can. Even if it makes others judge her for it.

Details:

title: Don't Make Me

performers: Malinda, feat. Thomas Sanders; Anna Ricks & Valerie Torres-Rosario (ladies-in-waiting); Leo Anderson & Adam Paul (guards)

written & arranged by: Malinda Reese, Hannah Tobias, & Johnny Deltoro

video by: PattyCake Productions

release date: 11 October 2019

My favorite bits:

the cheerful, lilting intro narration

Malinda's sultry humming leading into the first verse

all the visual parallels between the happy wedding flashbacks and the dark aftermath — the goblets, the dip, removing her tiara

♫ "Can I offer you a little salt for that wound?" ♫ sung with such condescension

her delicate, plaintive tone on the first instance of ♫ "Don't make me be the bad guy" ♫

the contrast of the sinister tone of the men plotting over a stick figure drawing

♫ "Your offering's empty, godless, and cold" ♫, oof

the ladies' superhero-style costume change sequence

the muffled filter on the start of the third chorus to allow more focus on the fight scene

matching the timing of the sword strikes with the beat 🤺

Malinda's fabulous descending belted run

the ladies facing down the armed guards with their bare fists

the crunchy counterpoint ♫ "Don't make me be the bad guy" ♫ as the guard is flipped onto the bed

Thomas's scream when he's tossed from the parapet

that final mirror shot showing the bride in white with her innocence stripped away opposite the unrepentant widow in black

Trivia:

This video was filmed at The Howey Mansion, a location PattyCake had used several times for their "Unexpected Musicals" series.

It was co-directed by Malinda and Tony, while Layne served as both cinematographer and editor.

The shoot day spanned about 13 hours, all of which had been carefully storyboarded in advance by Tony and Layne to ensure they got everything they needed as efficiently as possible.

Fight choreographer Danny Cackley had provided plenty of rehearsal for the combatants, as well as pre-visualization footage for the production team.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MALINDA (@missmalindakat)

The video racked up 200,000 views in just a few days, and Malinda posted a fun behind the scenes video on her Instagram to celebrate.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MALINDA (@missmalindakat)

The white gown was Malinda's mother's wedding dress, and she was a little surprised that her mom actually trusted her to bring it to Florida and run around a mansion in it.

PattyCake fans might recognize the blonde lady-in-waiting as Anna Ricks, who plays Aurora in their "Princess Academy" series.

Malinda, Hannah, and Johnny also released an acoustic version of the song, which gives it a more introspective feel.

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A post shared by MALINDA (@missmalindakat)