#they all had clips... they where GOOD songs with COOL visuals
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I wanna gnaw on walls I can't find one of my favourite songs anywhere on the Internet, best I can find is a low quality live (not even the whole song) and a nightcore (which... I tried ok, I tried)
#there was a CLIP at the time#almost all of this artist songs had clips and the album version online and now they're gone#some are on yt and some others can be found on spotify and i specifically created an account to listen to them but some are missing#they all had clips... they where GOOD songs with COOL visuals#and okay i buyed two of the physical albums so technically i should still have this song SOMEWHERE#that's why you buy physical media btw#that's why you download shit#(ok one hope is that this artist was extremely pro-piracy like multiple songs are explicitly pro-piracy so I GUESS i could find the clips)#(but like... i think most people must have deleted the clips they downloaded by now‚ so...)
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Did you enjoy Yibo's NYE performances?
Sure, we were all psyched for him to perform Observer, but did you like the surprise duet he did earlier in the show?
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If so, I am here to tell you about the guy he was singing with - because Yibo loves him, and so should you!
That! Is Da Zhangwei!
He wrote that song! He was one of Yibo's cohosts on Tiantian Xiang Shang (also known by the terrible translation Day Day Up), and you know Yibo's TTXS cohosts were his family. His big brothers. It's how he got his reputation as a ge collector.
This is DZW's other NYE performance, which is a bit more representative of his usual aesthetic:
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If you like either of those songs/performances, read on to learn more about why you should definitely be paying attention to this guy.
(Sorry most of these videos don't have English subs. But most are music so at least you can find the lyrics online.)
First off, DZW didn't just write this song and then perform it with Yibo (and give Han-ge a shoutout afterward). He then posted this video, basically shouting "I wrote this song because I miss my TTXS bros!" (The lyric being repeated here is "I will miss you")
I mean, I don't know for a fact that he wrote it about them. But I do know that he literally DID write a song about Yibo once. This is a thing he has done before. It's called Cool Guy:
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But the fact that he and Yibo are on each other's lists of favorite people is only the beginning, and definitely not why I became obsessed with him.
Da Zhangwei fun facts:
You'll find him on English-language sites like Spotify and iTunes under his English stage name, Wowkie Da. People also often refer to him as DLS or Da-Laoshi, showing how respected he is in the music industry.
He started a band (花兒樂隊, The Flowers), wrote all the music for said band, and had his first hit, 静止 (Static), in 1999 - when he was 16 years old. Like all his music, it's catchy as fuck. (To go back to Yibo for just a second, I'm guessing they bonded over having to deal with fame from a really young age.)
(Yes, the guy sticking his tongue out at the camera up there is 40 years old.)
Da Zhangwei is actually a stage name, too. His real name is Zhang Wei (so you'll occasionally find him as Wowkie Zhang), but that's such a common name that when he started his career he started going by "Big Zhangwei" - which is hilarious given that he was a scrawny teenager.
He continued to write pretty much all the band's music for the next decade. (Here's a whole concert from probably 2007ish). Then when they broke up in 2009 he started his solo career, also writing all his own music.
静止 was an angsty teenage anthem, but since then his aesthetic, both songwriting-wise and visually, has tended toward upbeat and cute.
I think it's safe to say he's leaned into this even more since going solo. Some of his recent hits: 撒花/Scatter Flowers, 一个Nice, ��怀可爱所向披靡 / Full of Cuteness and Invincible, and 万物盛开法则 / Law of All Things Blooming, from above.
However, don't be fooled! This just means that when he writes something sad, it's absolutely heartbreaking. Examples include 永远唱不完的歌/The Song That Doesn't End (above) and 我的深情就是个笑话/My Affection Is Just A Joke.
In addition to hosting TTXS, he has become a staple on all sorts of variety shows, both for music and comedy.
I found him via Season 3 of Our Song, where some of his accomplishments included creating a mashup of 12 different songs, from traditional Chinese folk music and opera to his own 撒花, and turning "your team will do 3 songs" into an entire 3-act musical (link is to the whole episode, since the 3 songs are alternating with the other team, but the other team is AMAZING with people you should get to know too). ETA I forgot about this compilation I did of clips from some of his Our Song performances!
He got to meet the Rolling Stones earlier this year! There's a translator but he's so excited he keeps breaking in while she's trying to ask his questions. His English is really good (if heavily accented), and he has a tendency to throw it in completely unnecessarily to both his performances and random conversation.
He's been on this show for a few seasons called Who's the Murderer? - basically, the same cast plays out a different murder mystery improv each episode. I haven't watched it yet but I've been meaning to - the latest season is on YT with English subs.
His birthday is the day after mine.
Want to see more? His tag is not very busy, but I try to reblog most things to @da-zhangwei. Feel free to contact me by any standard Tumblr method if you want more links!
Tagging people who said they'd be open to getting pulled into my Cpop fandoms, even though I don't have the edited Our Song episodes yet (consider this a preview): @json-derulo @poetry-protest-pornography @emmajanereading @percy-persephone @nuttysaladtree @thelima-aka-chickwriter @writergamermom @oneringtorulethem @trickybonmot @lovebird17 @erza155hasleftthebuilding
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Jung Wild Grenzenlos (2022) - Paul Landers (with translation)
ARD/MDR documentary from 2022 about the 1990's era with Paul Landers, with an attempt at translation by me 😊.
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Paul:
The 90's to me where the good old days in a sense that things evolved that one didn't know before. Musical directions emerged that didn't exist before. Youth movements that didn't exist. All of a sudden there was Grunge. Cool shit! Nirvana I heard on the radio and thought: Man what kind of good music is that! And one thought it would continue like that forever, and now looking back, one knows that is was a beautiful phase really, of change and of innocence and freshness.
There was this euphoria and i remember that it had a some anarchic traits, because the cops in the East could leave us, they weren't responsible for us anymore and the West cops didn't know us and didn't really know how to deal with the East-people and because of that there was a little Fool's freedom. Was a really lovely time.
<at a clip about the band Think about Mutation> 'Think about Mutation' initially were even ahead of us. They already had the principle of sequencer, machines and guitars. They already discovered that before us. At a concert we were pretty impressed by them in a musical way.
West alcohol i thought was really good, all the various variaties opened a whole new dimension.
Voice-over:
Maybe that Paul Landers pretty soon would be on stage with the band Rammstein. Forged from the wild growth of the Post reunification period, they practised at the East Berliner Knaack club and initially only play half full shows. But that changes quickly: German lyric, celebrated teutonics, Stage fire: the media foams of anger.
Paul:
The claim really was that we only do what we like, without looking in any specific direction, just "Lets go, we want to make trouble and we want to be extreme". We didn't care whether anybody liked it, at all.
VO:
Then the flame ignites, soon they fill every stadium all over the world. Six east-guys become the biggest band in the world. With thanks to the 90's.
Paul:
Rammstein is clearly a 90's band, but visually and musically. Ofcourse we think, we move, we mirror the sign of the time, but we are a 90's band, definitely.
VO:
Bobo, alias Christiane Hebold, steers the chorus of Engel
Bobo:
We were friends really. Then the idea was born for me to come in the studio and try out a few things as background. Paul sang the first parts of Engel to me and i thought "Sounds abit like 'Silly'" and he said "'Silly' is cool, sing it like that".
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Paul:
The state-supported bands had a similar experience as the 'Ost-schrippen' 1) for the first time they weren't needed.
VO:
In the year 1991 almost a third of East people were unemployed. Especially women and men over 40 could step down.
Paul:
My father was at the Academy of Science, and in the West there already was an Acadamy of Science, so they threw him out right away, whoop!, with one swipe. My mother too, whoop! Both in the party, for them initially it wasn't that great.
VO:
Paul Landers at the time plays with Feeling B, and the band creates a funny little song from the desolate situation. "Ich such' die DDR" (I'm looking for the GDR) becomes a hit in the scene in 1993. Many want to forgive the old regime and crawl back in the warm nest.
Paul:
'Ich such die DDR' was a joke, because somehow it was funny, Whoop! the GDR, the country i was born in, is gone. Daft at first, but also interesting. A country, Whoop! nothing left. And an ambassador really has to pack his bags because his country is gone. He can go home. Somehow we thought it an interesting theme.
VO:
Feeling B didn't find the GDR again, and because of that, are soon history.
Paul:
Feeling B's motive was to mess around a bit, be a bit cheeky, explore the East limits, those were very narrow, so pretty easy to explore, and when those were gone, at first i felt dumb. The main reason for our musical existance was gone somehow. It was all a bit...it felt stale, like an old beer.
In the east i liked the east, and in the west i like the west. Because of this i don't have 'Ostalgie' 2) in a sense like the others may have because maybe they noticed that is was pretty great looking back, and the West wasn't as gold as they thought it was. For that reason i never went to a 'Ostalgie' party.
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1) 'Ost-schrippen' are a kind of breadroll that was very familiar in GDR bakeries, but were quickly replaced by the treats from western bakeries (there are bakeries now that sell them again)
2) 'Ostalgie' is a wordplay that is often used, made of 'Ost' (the East) and 'Nostalgie' (Nostalgia), it describes a longing for East Germany when things in the West didn't turn out as fabulous as the seemed from East perspective before East and West Germany were reunified in 1989
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Fly Me To The Moon (2024) Review
I was super excited for this movie actually! Even though the marketing was all over the place, it was really good marketing. The poster we had was animated and I just really liked it. I'm very disappointed I couldn't find the GIF of it anywhere online. Anyway, looked funny, it was a historical piece about the Moon Landing, and it the trailer song was Hold On I'm Coming by Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown.
Roan I thought this this movie was about bugs going to the moon. ...What? What the hell are you talking about Buggnutz? Hang on let me Google some stuff....
Buggnutz you're fired. You don't pay me. I do it for the love of the craft.
What's the Movie About?
Scarlett Johansson plays an advertisement agent with a troubled past brought on by a shady Woody Harrelson to advertise/fake the Moon Landing. Channing Tatum is the landing director of NASA with a troubled past who butts heads with ScarJo before they both fall in love.
What I Like.
The comedy of this movie is amazing. I love quick-witted humor and when jokes are told back-to-back-to-back. It encourages multiple watches and when the jokes are funny and the story is good, that's a great thing. Yeah, script's great. I like all the characters and the pace is mostly on on par with the jokes. Channing Tatum made my celebrity crush list with this movie, who can a man so handsome be so awkward and still so charming. It's witchcraft. I also like the Moe character, Woody really rocks the G-Man look and attitude. Also ScarJo is hot, but I don't think I needed to tell you that. Her character has a really good arc in the story though, I think her and Channing Tatum stood out in that regard. Ray Romano has most of the emotional moments and my god is he so good at making it work. It is kinda crazy actually. I like the visual elements of the story. For whatever reason, shots with a foreground moving slower than the background is very visually appealing to me. They did it at the beginning of Deadpool 2, and they do it for a montage in this movie. The montages are pretty cool looking period. They do a bunch of split screen with animated news clippings and play news segments from the time. I love the jazz soundtrack as well. My final praise is how they do the moon landing. It is so amazing how the movie makes you hope an event you know has happened, happens. One half of the story is the NASA engineers trying to make sure that Neil, Buzz, and the other guy can land and return from the Moon. Y'know, the most famous event that happened in Space and the coolest thing the US government ever did? We all know how it ends. But while I knew that intellectually, my limbs were tingling when they counted down to liftoff, and the was on the edge of my seat when they landed. It helps that this is also where all the various plot threads and schemes in the movie are converging, so it's like a firecracker going off. The best heist movies do this, and this movie is basically a heist movie but instead of stealing something, they're going to space. Fly Me To The Moon is awesome.
What I Didn't Like.
Despite the comedy being so tight, the movie is a little shaggy in places. They only really introduce the faking the Moon Landing part of the story over halfway through the movie. Speaking of which, I don't know if it was good idea to court the "Moon Landing was fake" conspiracy theory for a plot. Like the jokes are funny and the story is interesting, but you know some loons are gonna use this movie as evidence that the Moon Landing was faked. But it was. All I have to say to you, Buggnutz, is Rooster Tails.
Final Summation.
I may or may not have mentioned this before, but my favorite show of all time is Leverage. It's about a bunch of con artists using their skills to scam rich people to help regular people. It's super good. What does this have to do with Fly Me To The Moon? Well the movies is basically a long episode that takes place in the 60s. Seriously, the crew in this movie is an older guy with a tragic backstory that haunts him, a older sexy grifter, a smart black guy, a short guy, and a young lady who's used for out-of-water comic relief. That's Nate, Sophie, Hardison, Eliot, and Parker! And I love it. It's a lot of fun and it made me, someone very critical of nationalism and the US, swell with patriotic pride. Why can't we do more space stuff? I know being pro-NASA yet anti-military industrial complex makes me a hypocrite, but... You wanna meet an alien. I wanna meet an alien.
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Glee Rewatch 1x15, Faberry and good lighting
Becky deserves a much better haircut, what is this atrocity?
(Are you wondering what's up with this post? Here's an explanation!)
You can see Sue's obsession with Madonna in two ways: the first idea is that it's earnest. She explains it herself: Madonna is an important part of her.
Or you can go the cynical way: "oh. this show is actually popular. we need to sell music and so far we've had quite a few bad numbers for comedy and also a bunch of unremarkable ones. we need to speed up the sales. By the power of Grayskull... Madonna has the power!"
Quinn seems eager to make fun of Rachel, but she also insists on drawing a lot of hearts... Yeah okay that's it, I'm convinced! Faberry shippers, rejoice! You have one more faithful in your ranks!
I completely forgot how much of a jerk Artie could be! That flashback is harrowing.
The cheerleaders's act is incredible but so outlandish that it becomes ridiculous, as I'm sure is the intended reaction. But I've never actually seen IRL cheerleading; do numbers ever get this complicated and audacious?
Loving their outfits (+ Rachel and Tina's faces). Those hearts on Mercedes's shirt? Rachel's tartan and green? Puck's effortlessly fitted shirt? Artie's cardigan? Quinn's bright red with blue/purple outfit? Quinn should wear red more often (note from later: oh boy just you wait!), it fits her skintone and hair color really well I think. And Kurt's odd yet charming getup is a beast of its own.
A scene between Sue and Emma! And this time, Emma looks much more submissive and breedable gosh don't make that joke than previous times, where she seemed ready to fight her. Was it because she felt safe with Will, whereas now they're not together anymore so her insecurities are partying big time?
FINN WHY DID YOU PUSH THOSE BOOKS AND MADE THEM FALL ON THE FLOOR? I understand the Finn hate now.
"Mercedes is Black. I'm gay. We make culture." is such a fun line but I'm biased
"Vogue" is one of the multiple covers I added to my playlist after finishing the show and watching a +2hours Youtube video where somebody ranked every Glee performance. It's a strong performance and the clip is absolutely hypnotizing, very satisfying to watch. It just makes sense.
"Like a Virgin" is also a nice performance and I particularly appreciate the beautiful lighting in the Finn/Santana section. The other two sections are nothing special, but this one? Hypnotizing too. I also like all the couples seem to worship each other's body. It's beautiful to look at. With that said, I find it weird how much importance is given to losing one's virginity. It's very ceremonial in the Gleeverse, apparently! I wouldn't say losing it didn't change anything for me, but it was just... something. It happened. End of story. Finn regrets that it didn't mean anything whereas I rejoyce in the fact that *it doesn't mean anything*.
Meanwhile Emma keeps on cosplaying Daphne from Scooby-Doo and while it's a very fine color scheme, it perplexes me.
I also added "4 Minutes" to my playlist, but the original version. I think if Blaine had replaced Kurt in this song, it would actually be great!
...Damnit, he's still not here yet. At least Mercedes's performance is good. And visually the choreography is nice.
This is a gratuitous screencap of Quinn smiling because she's a ray of sunshine.
Matt's sweat refers to the fact that he only has 48 seconds of screentime left on the show.
Tina absolutely losing her cool when Artie is an asshole to her is one of her finest moments. You go, Tina!
Don't you love it when the local church choir suddenly sings alongside you?
Overall I think it's one of the best episodes of S1. It's a fun watch!
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Good afternoon everyone,
Last night's stream of Bayonetta certainly drove home the point that the plot of the game makes no sense what so ever. Between apparent time travel shenanigans, the resurrection of a 'god' to destroy and remake the universe, lost memories and more plot holes than an Ed Wood film, it makes my head hurt trying to have it all make sense. Also didn't help with the number of long cut scenes in Chapters 14, 15 & 16 that tried to justify everything.
Still, it was a lot of fun, the boss battles got more over the top, and the reuse of earlier bosses made for a great call back, even if that is a bit cliche. The music in the later half of the game certainly was awesome to listen to, and this certainly was a game that justified my usual 'watch through the credits' because of the 'extra fights' that take place during it, and the dance video at the very end.
Now will I play Bayonetta again? More than likely yes, as there is the Xbox One version, so if and when I play this game again, it'll be that version, just to play it with superior visuals! Real question is, do I feel like I could handle the game on normal difficulty.... I'm not sure, I got dodging down pretty good, but combos could be a pain to pull off.
Question is, what will be the next Monday-Tuesday game, at this time I'm not completely sure as of yet, as I do have plenty of options!
For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbZ while they were playing Prey over on twitch.tv/PowerThumbz!
Bayonetta (Xbox 360) Achievements
Commander Of Magic: Purchase all techniques.
Treasure Collector: Discover half of all the Umbra Witches' final resting places.
Iustitia, Giver Of Life: Defeat Iustitia on any difficulty.
Feels Good, Doesn't It?: Execute 50 Torture Attacks.
Sapientia, Controller Of Seas: Defeat Sapientia on any difficulty.
Double, Double, Toil And Trouble: Create 20 Concoctions.
Master Of The Heavens: Defeat Father Balder on any difficulty.
Taste Of The Witching Hour: Complete all Chapters on any difficulty.
Stream Clip Links
Stylishly Cool!
So sorry!
We just punched it in the face!
Mom had an okay first day at the nursing / rehab facility, she is getting along with her room mate. She had her first session of physical therapy, they had her walking a little bit, which is good. If anyone would like to donate to her gofundme dedicated to covering medical related costs, please visit: https://gofund.me/6adf8354
Had a 45-minute telephone conference that could probably help resolve a few worries I've had since mid-December, fingers crossed!
I've been really working on knocking out these series of Mass Effect short story commissions, and now gradually working to where things can reach the Mass Effect 3 era of the franchise, but there are some lingering tales the client wants based on Mass Effect 2.
Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Advanced Combo #1, Beginner Combo #2 and Uppercut Combo #1 for 34 minutes.
What did the drummer call his two twin daughters? Anna one, Anna two.
Song of the Day: Malibu by Miley Cyrus
For tonight's stream, we're playing Fall Guys and Fallout 76, if Iceman joins in, we'll be wrapping up his run of the Brotherhood of Steel story arc!
So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!
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Holy crap Sparrow this was so freaking cool!!! I haven't played FE Heroes so admittedly I have no idea what was going on (lol), but I assure you that I was intrigued throughout! Some of the visuals mixed with the song were just so good. Here's some of my ignorant thoughts:
1:13 really caught my attention. Like what's going on there? Is this like, a villain duo of mother and daughter? I'm already so interested in their story 👀 The daughter seems kind of innocent and carefree, while the mother seems like the "I will do anything to protect you" type of person. And then later the daughter seems to betray the mother??? Ooh, please tell me more about them! (And feel free to let me know if I'm way off with any of this lol.)
2:19 also had me shook!!! Did this dude's gf just die right in front of him??? 😭 And then that shot! Where he reaches up to the sky and all the black tar stuff shoots into the air too!!! What a beautiful yet horrifying visual, and it synced with the music so well too. I am in awe.
Also it's a small note, but I love how you allowed their voices to slip in during the final clips of their battle. I was like "Oh snap, they're talking over the music, this is getting serious!!!" 😂
I've honestly been interested in Fire Emblem Heroes for a long time now but I've never taken the plunge. You'll have to let me know if I should! This video has certainly...influenced me haha :)
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I fell down a hole that leads to my soul and I don't seem to know where I am...SHUT DOWN MY MIND MACHINE! After three days...it's finally finished! 🖤 After beating Book III of Fire Emblem Heroes, I was so, so, so pumped. I had to make this AMV and show off the character arc of Líf and Alphonse especially because WOW Nintendo you really made such cinematic storyboarding for those two. This video will have spoilers for the cutscenes, so keep that in mind. If you have a favorite clip in this AMV, I'd love to hear why! Reblog with the timestamp and I'll scream about it with you :D
#fire emblem#amv#fire emblem heroes#I have no idea what's going on#but it's so cool though#sparrow try not to impress me challenge#difficulty: impossible lol
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how is your workfow when you're making an edit? (the thought process behind it, etc!)
Oh, this is such an interesting question! 👀
Honestly, it depends. The 'simple' gifs are just clips I've seen around that I thought were kind of interesting and worth giffing. It's so funny, because it's always the stuff you giffed randomly, the silly stuff, that ends up exploding and getting like 700-1k notes completely unexpectedly 🙈 Case in point: my top two gifsets on this blog are literally Charles complaining about being called French and Charles struggling with a pen in Bahrain ajsdjedjf
Then for the more complex edits... Not gonna lie, I draw a lot of inspiration from bigger fandoms, usually media-focused (TV show, film fandoms.) They obviously have an advantage over us with the quality and quantity of footage available to them, which lets them do really crazy, insanely creative things. So sometimes I'll pick up on trends that are popular across other fandoms - the colours, the typography, the blending - and try to bring that over to F1blr. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it definitely pushes me to challenge myself and try things that I wouldn't normally do.
Other times it's just a quote or song lyric I saw somewhere that I figured would be cool to use. Then I try to use clips that convey the emotion/message behind that quote or lyric. This is still one of my favourite gifsets that I've made.
Oh, also, I find it helps to find some kind of focal point or "anchor" of sorts for a gifset. For example, I've watched probably hundreds of hours of F1 footage at this point, so I really like picking up on parallels across those clips and recurring themes and things like that. It helps you to focus on something specific - say, Seb interrupting Charles's interviews and Charles saying hello mate to him, or every time they reference a conversation they've had in private or something - and then you just need to find clips that meet that criteria. I'm kind of meh on DTS and the way the editing is kind of disingenuous and designed to create ~drama that seems believable if you weren't there to actually watch the season, BUT for us humble gifmakers on F1blr it can be a good source of footage and/or gifset ideas. Again, I find it helps to focus in on some aspect that will tie the gifset together and then build from there. For example, I made one gifset that showcases all of Seb and Charles's DTS appearances (together) and used a layout to make it look a bit more fun and visually interesting. I also like this one, playing on a similar concept.
And sometimes...I just like having a bit of fun asjdjf Even things like ao3 tags or TV Tropes or Tumblr tags or Tweets or whatever can be used for a more ~lighthearted/funny gifset.
I keep a list of potential gifset ideas on the notes app on my phone as well. Not all of my ideas are documented on there, but sometimes I just jot something down when I get a lightbulb moment of "oh, that could be a cool idea!" before I forget.
As for the actual creation process, it helps to know where your footage is/have some kind of organisation system. I definitely have a few go-to clips that I know are applicable in most gifsets, I know exactly where they are on my computer, I know I can colour them/tweak them relatively easily, etc. There's definitely a lot of trial and error involved ajsdj Sometimes you think a certain clip will work really, really well with your idea and then you just can't get it to work the way you imagined at all. I've had moments where I just DNF on a gifset because I get so frustrated that it's not working out the way I imagined. Sometimes I'll step back from a project, go back to it later with a different idea/angle and then find something that works for me even if it's not exactly like I'd imagined in the beginning.
#replies#anonymous#i'm SO sorry this got away from me 🙈🙈🙈#do not give me attention because i *will* go off the rails and write you an essay ajsdjf#anyway yeah i hope that's... kind of what you were asking about at least 🙈🙈#it's super interesting to Have all these thoughts somewhere in the back of your head and then someone actually asks you about it#and it just opens up the flood gates for a whole essay ajsdjf#anyway thank you so so much for asking <3 super interesting question i had so much fun answering ❤��❤️#.longpost
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I think the first problem is that I went in way too hype about it, what we had been shown of it before it aired looked so cool and I was really excited - it seemed like we were going to get a really good follow up to season 1, which doesn't always happen with shows. The pictures they showed us, and then the clip of the first two minutes of episode 1, were really promising but it ended up giving like.. the wrong impression of what the season was going to be like. It was like a mislead. Which was disappointing.
The opening scene was so badass and ultimately nothing in season 2 was anything like it. Not even the big finale fight scene we DID get.
So those things threw me off and it was a little hard to get past it.
And then.. lets see...
1. They didn't even try with Klaus's hair, short or long, though it looks alright in later episodes
2. The cult idea wasn't awful but something about it was uncomfortable. Visually. Something about it visually made me uncomfortable.
3. Everything about Ben and Klaus throughout the season; their relationship. Especially the possession bullshit. If I could beat up a ghost I would
4. Once again Klaus not being listened to or taken seriously no matter how sober he is. It brought back s1 klaus looking for drugs around his room bc it doesn't matter what he does nothing ever changes so what's the point (which - cool callback, but could've done without that) Plus all the other shit treatment of Klaus and nobody really giving a fuck aside from Allison on her kitchen floor
5. Klaus mostly being comedic relief for the season, and not in the quirky endearing way he was in s1. I found myself getting annoyed at him which was new
6. Klaus's comic powers being divided up and given to Diego and Viktor instead of letting him keep them. For no reason (the telekinesis and levitation) And then his one regular power - he barely even used it. The whole season. Which would've been disappointing on its own anyway but after that intro where he was commanding a ghost army it was EXTRA disappointing
7. The Luther / Allison plot.. i get they needed a way out of that but it could've been done in a way that was less embarrassing to watch
8. Claire, most important person to Allison, is never mentioned
9. Ben in general was just a shit. The way he talked about dave and talked to klaus surrounding the encounter in the paint store was disrespectful and infuriating
10. Viktor was op as FUCK at the end. And going from not remembering he has powers, to remembering and not knowing how to use them, to being in control and having extra powers in a short amount of time did not check out
11. The general vibe of the entire season just missed the mark for me. It didn't really feel like The Umbrella Academy, it felt like they tried way too hard with the song choices - like fitting in songs that were more along the lines of what fans said they enjoyed about the s1 soundtrack and less songs that actually fit where they were placed, the coloring (i get it. it was the 60s. but it felt like too much. especially in the oranges and blues)
12. While I did like seeing baby!Dave i didn't really like his scenes. Not bc of him, but bc they were awkward and uncomfortable.
13. I also hated that despite Klaus's efforts Dave still went and still died (even earlier this time i think)
14. There were a lot of secondhand embarrassment moments and I don't do well with those
15. Viktor being the cause of the end of the world again. Not sure if it was bc I was hoping to see someone else lose their shit or what but i was kind of annoyed by this.
and linking a vent post i made in 2021 about s2, just to cover hopefully all the bases lol
TUA S1 - BEST 1000/10
TUA S2 - WORST 0/10
TUA S3 - Better than s2 but not on level with s1
TUA S4 - Better than s2 but on level with / worse than s3
#trying to put my thoughts together even tho i havent watched s2 since the year it aired#i did watch it more than once#mostly through reaction channels but at least one other time was just me and netflix#it was not the easy rewatch of s1#replies
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oh no... i heard that there would be a new the man who fell to earth movie or series (can't remember which it was) and got really excited because i love the novel as well and it would be so cool to see an accurate adaption. i haven't seen the trailer but i take your word for it not looking great in terms of sticking to the original plot.
don't get me wrong tho i do appreciate the 1976 movie. i mean i guess it has some artistic value (and bowie) 😅 but like i said i'd love to see an accurate adaption because the novel is so great and because it is quite short there would be no need to leave things out like in most book to movie adaptions.
btw have you heard of the man who fell to earth series they did in the 80's? the entire pilot episode is on youtube and i tried to watch it but didn't get too far because it was so bad. i'm still planning to watch the whole thing some day but i need to gather some strength first. 😂😂
It is so nice to finally find someone who's read the book. Also, this is gonna be like an essay length response because I can talk forever on this topic
I think the new movie/series/whatever definitely has a lot of potential but only if you view it without trying to compare it to the original movie and/or novel and just see it as a piece of stand alone media (which is impossible for me to do so I probably won't watch it cause it'll just make me mad ). I thought the design for the Antheans looked really cool, even though it wasn't totally accurate. And I'm sure the visuals will be rad the actors will probably do a decent job. For the plot it seems like it's going to be more about saving Earth from political drama and less about building a spacecraft to save the remaining Antheans (that might not be right but it's the impression I got from the trailer). And it seemed like they combined Nathan Bryce and Betty-Jo's characters into one... like why? And she has a daughter for some reason... also why? I know you can't really judge anything based off of two minutes of clips but from what I saw I don't have a high hopes for it.
Now when it comes to the Bowie version, the thing that disappoints me most about it is that they literally got The David Bowie - the best possible role for Thomas Jerome Newton (other than the hair color and height, the descriptions of him in the book fit Bowie EXACTLY) - and yet they STILL managed to ruin it. If the script had been decent it could have been an excellent film but no they had to change the story line up, add a pointless romance (despite the fact that Newton literally has a wife), and like five unnecessary sex scenes that add absolutely nothing. They made Nathan Bryce into an asshole perv, they made Betty Jo into Mary Lou, who is arguably the most insufferable character I've ever had the displeasure of encountering in a movie. However, that being said there are quite a few good parts. The scene where Newton smacks the tray of cookies is hilarious even though it's probably not meant to be. The Anthean costume design is absolutely rad as fuck. The scene where Newton reveals his alien form to Mary Lou is great and the one time where I can compliment Candy Clark's acting. The scene where the song Try To Remember plays is my favorite part of the whole thing. But all in all I honestly hate that movie.
And I have heard of the 80s one! But I didn't know it was a series, I thought it was a film. When I looked for it a few years ago I could never find anything but I looked up the plot on wikipedia, saw that they changed all of the characters names for no reason, and decided it probably wasn't worth finding to watch.
I could go on forever about this but I'll stop. Thank you for giving me an excuse to rant about it though 😂
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would love to hear ur thoughts re. these street woman fighter's performances and who you would personally vote as the "better dance crew" in how they interpreted each other choreos and the song.
this was for their first elimination round (ep4) and it was interesting to hear from the judges + why they gave the points they did. (i'm not entirely sure if you're watching the show's episodes. they are roughly 2 hours long. so if you would like more context, pls let me know! i wrote brief comments underneath each one as well as the winners [spoilers ahead!]. assuming you are not: for this mission, each crew is paired with another crew and they have to choreograph one of the soloist songs. songs were "split" into two parts: part one [would be one song] and part two [another song]; one crew would choreograph one part and follow the other's crew choreograph for the other part.)
1. boa - eat you up (want choreo) + better (ygx choreo). dance crews: ygx vs want
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCfK_qWAhM0&ab_channel=MnetTV
winner: ygx. boa gave 151 pts to ygx and 49 pts to want (the biggest gap in points between crews), sharing that although want choreographed eat you up, ygx was more cohesive (pointing to how want wore hats and it was messy). additionally, ygx had better stage presence and was able to capture the camera more. also, because ygx is the only crew to have a b-girl and use it in their routine, the judges applauded want for doing the best they can.
2. cl - doctor pepper (wayb) + hello bitches (prowdmon). dance crews: prowdmon vs wayb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEEpZ9SrvaE&ab_channel=MnetTV
winner: prowdmon. judges shared that doctor pepper's routine is a trademark of wayb and that they should have been the standout. however, they felt like prowdmon did it better.
3. hyuna - crazy (4minute) (coca n butter) + i'm not cool (hook) + lip and hip (hook). dance crews: hook vs coca n butter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ikpPKEA30&ab_channel=MnetTV
winner: hook. the two dance crews are VERY different in terms of style. coca n butter is described to be more hip-hop while hook is definitely more reflective of the current/newer trends. (when hook was first introduced in the show, they were known as the crew who was famous only for tiktok dances.) the judges shared that hook was more fun and interesting, given their stylistic choice of wearing the pink wigs. whereas it seemed for coca n butter, they felt like something was lacking (they showed something but it didn't feel they did.)
4. jessi - what type of xx (lachica) + nununa (holybang) + gucci (holybang). dance crews: holybang vs lachica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtZzI11oyqc&ab_channel=MnetTV
winner: lachica. (this was the only battle where both crews came in v close pts. whereas for the other crews, there were huge point-gaps.) judges had a hard time choosing, sharing that for lachica they were more detail-oriented while holybang had better teamwork.
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imo, i agree with the judges' choices. though i would have to say i think wayb did their routine (doctor pepper) better than prowdmon. they stood out to me then, but when it came to the second part (hello bitches), prowdmon was better. i loved lachica's performance - it was v clean + reminded me of something a kpop group would do (which like, the crew largely works with kpop acts like chungha, boa's better, etc. so it makes sense).
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this was LONG. thank u if u do read it and post! i miss the kingdom "era" when u would post weekly reviews. the two are v different but this new mnet competition show is the only one i'm invested in. i'm not sure if it's big internationally? i know it is v popular in korea right now. while i've only seen i-fans talk about the show as it relates to chaeyeon (want) because she's an idol. - swf (streetwomanfighter) anon :]
omg this is so long and well organized, forget me writing reviews anon you should do it!! i'm not currently watching the full episodes but i've been catching the few clips that pop up in my youtube recommended occasionally, so i definitely don't have all the context but i'll take a crack at it!
ok so my assumption/from what i can tell, they have a bit of leeway to alter the competing group's choreo as needed to better suit numbers and formations. i also went and found the individual versions of these because why did they make them so small on the split screen, don't they know i'm old and wear glasses. also: MNET FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY STOP MOVING THE FUCKING CAMERA. WE DO NOT NEED SCROLLING VERTICAL BOOM SHOTS OF THIS. just keep the same lens at eye level it's really not that hard. this is like, one of the worst possible ways to shoot dance it is SO annoying. ok i'm done bitching about that let's go.
1. boa - ygx vs want i agree with the big point gap on this one, and i think want made a couple of choices that were not cohesive enough, and obviously they also got set up to fail by ygx. actually i think both groups made choices that were not particularly good, but ygx had more of the skills to back up what they were doing than want did. breaking is very difficult and requires a lot of upper body strength and a higher centre of gravity, which are two physical traits that are less common in women. personally i wouldn't have tried to break to better because although boa songs do have more of a beat than other idol music, it's still not at all the right type of music for breaking. it's gotta be fast, breakers rely on speed, because it's all about momentum; they're literally throwing themselves around the stage. here's the final from battle pro 2019 for example. the music is basically beats only; heavily lyric based music, like idol music, is bad for battling in general because there isn't a lot of consistency. i have more to say about this but i'm getting off track. basically by choosing to handicap the other team (because they don't have a bgirl at all) they shot their own bgirl in the foot because the song is too slow to properly show off her skills. i applaud want for making bold choices, like the hatwork and attempting the breaking, but ultimately when combined with their styling the performance looks disjointed. also they have some formation cohesion issues that make it look a bit like they'e struggling to keep up, even with their own choreo.
2. cl - prowdmon vs wayb i agree with the judges, i think prowdmon bodied the wayb choreo. i actually thought that was their choreo at first. they have the best presence that i've seen of all the groups and the performative "hard bitch" attitude fit in with their genre setting. wayb had several mistakes and synchronization issues that in my opinion made them look sloppy in comparision to prowdmon, who were sharper and had two more people to put into formations. 3. hyuna - hook vs coca n butter ok personally i don't like either of these choreos, but i'm agreeing with the judges here, i think hook's was the mildly more engaging. i can tell that they're very young and do mostly short form tiktok content because i see a lot of eye catching moves, but i don't see a lot of strong connective tissue between those moves. they have good ideas but they also really struggle with putting people into formation and balancing it out well. it doesn't help that they're a seven member crew going up against a four member one, so they have three extra people to figure out what to do with. there's a lot of empty space where there are members waiting in position for a group formation. it also doesn't help at all that they (mnet) appear to just be rawdogging the songs together without any kind of mixing, which is a huge detriment to groups that have to choreograph for two in their section. i'm not cool and lip and hip have two totally different feels and kudos to hook for at least trying to get them to at least visually be cohesive when mnet is go girl giving us nothing sonically. coca n butter has much more of an old school hip hop style, so putting these two up against each other was (probably a random lot draw) an interesting choice. personally i would have been more interested to see hook against want with the boa tracks and ygx against coca n butter with the hyuna tracks. however, i think the reason why coca n butter's stage felt like it was lacking is because they tried to emulate hyuna, without having the stage presence or the weirdness of hyuna. it feels like they're trying too hard and there isn't really any personal character in the piece, versus with hook, who embodied hyuna's weirdness a little more authentically and took a completely different direction. 4. jessi - lachica vs holybang lachica took this one easily, although their formations were a bit wonky for nununana, they covered it fairly well and i think they managed the best transition between songs (between nununana and gucci). they were sharper with good stage pictures and had a good gimmick with the double fringe on the gloves and hats. holy bang had some issues fitting their extra person into the what type of x choreo, but they did well with their own choreo. however, like with coca n butter and hook, because lachica took a new visual spin, this felt too derivative of jessi, so it wasn't that interesting for me to watch. i do think they are one of the groups on the stronger end of skills and presence. --- as far as visually what performances i liked the best, since would this even be a writeup by me if i didn't talk about design, here's a quick breakdown:
prowdmon - got some rudimentary setpieces, got a theme, got some fun variations on a uniform look; excellent for what i assume was limited budget capacity and also it's a dance crew show.
lachica - great continuity of effect in costuming with the fringe, and using the gloves as a mouth/lip effect was one of the most interesting choices of these routines.
hook - the pink wigs and the black latex on the checkered floor was a nice gimmick that was a bit of a nod to hyuna's weird without being too derivative. i'm not expecting a whole lot because these are dance crews but i think this was a decent amount of styling effort.
want - they made a bold choice with the hats and even though it didn't quite pay off for them i still respect it.
coca n butter/ygx/holybang/wayb - ygx and wayb did basic hip hop type styling and while it's absolutely fine, it's just boring. holybang went for a directly inspired jessi look, and although yes bodysuits, overall it wasn't that interesting either. coca n butter get props for doing a costume change and actually incorporating that into the choreo but it feels too much like it's trying to be hyuna weird with the caution tape strapped over their tits and asses.
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as a final note/question to you, my lovely invested swf anon, what's the format of the show? are there stages like this every episode to review? if these were from the fourth one only, is there anything worth me reviewing in the first three? i'm not particularly interested in the aggressive competitive nature of the show and editing so i don't particularly want to watch the full two hour episodes, but if you think it's worthwhile for me to review stuff then i will. otherwise if there's a set structure (like with kingdom) i can seek out the stages specifically and review them if i know what i'm looking for.
#street woman fighter#swf#swf reviews#i dont really know what the international reception is. the very few people ive seen talking about it on twt#have been insane kpoppies disrespecting boa. so not the best ifan showing so far#am i back in my review era already???? we shall see#(while i still have like EIGHT different asks left. if you wonder why im taking so long to get to some of them. that is why)#(OH plus the first half of the stylings post. and the fabled fave choreos post. so many things in my drafts rn)#(but also please dont stop sending me questions it makes me very happy. the gerbil in my brain is just slow)#dear anon who just asked me about red lights and kink. mwah you are welcome to slide into my dms anytime you like#wait by putting kink in the tags did i just invite a bunch of pornbots onto this#whatever lmao#might need to start a new organizational tag for this because it's only kpop adjacent. thoughts for later#text#answers#ngl these group names are gonna drive me insane. why are all dance crew names so fucking weird
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On November 18, 2019, a website promoting a mysterious place called Eroda (“No Land Quite Like It”) arrived on the internet. Two days later, the official Twitter account for this fictional frown-shaped island began teasing local seaside attractions. You may have missed it, depending on which corners of the internet you choose to lurk, but not if you were a Harry Styles fan, a group that went into pure overdrive trying to figure out what it all meant.
I, for one, missed it at the time. I was unaware this account was cryptically quote tweeting fans as they tried to piece together what was happening, what it meant, and what it could be connected to (Greek Mythology and Lostwere a couple of theories posed in comments, Twitter threads, and Reddit). Meanwhile, the Columbia Records marketing department had been hard at work for months, devising this specific and highly-detailed campaign around the music video for Styles’ second single, “Adore You” from his second solo album, Fine Line, ever since he shot the video in Scotland in August 2019 (Eroda = Adore backwards — clever!).
But it was all leading up to the morning of Friday, December 6 when the video was released, one week before the full-length album arrived. Up until that point, I had never seen an entire Harry Styles music video, but what happened next was inevitable. Somehow, as a self-proclaimed boy band scholar, I had never paid much attention to One Direction. I kept a distant eye on Styles since they disbanded, intrigued by the decisions he was making in his solo career. But I hadn’t yet realized I’d been in the ring all throughout the fall of 2019, fighting to resist the inevitable fascination that awaited. First came the jab of Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stoneprofile, followed by the cross of “Lights Up”, a song that cracked my Top 20 most listened to songs of the year despite being released just two months before Spotify so thoughtfully compiled that personalized playlist. Then there was the hook of his SNL hosting stint in November (and bless you Bowen Yang for that Sara Lee sketch), which then leads us to the “Adore You” video, the uppercut and ultimate TKO. I surrendered in what felt like a near instant. I was now a Harry Styles fan. (If we’re following this analogy, I sat up to spit out some blood after seeing that cover of “Juice” before my head quickly hit the mat again with a loud thud).
Maybe it’s not quite remarkable that I took time out of a Friday morning to watch a music video, but that I sat at my desk, in an office, with other people around (back when we did those kinds of things) and proceeded to wipe away a few tiny tears from under my eyes by the end of it, was an experience I had not been through… maybe ever? In a world of lyric videos and TikToks, actual, thoughtful, impactful music videos with a full (and sweet!) story are about as rare as a glowing and growing fish these days.
Ultimately, “Adore You” does everything a music video should do. In nearly eight minutes, this video uses excellent visual effects in a cool and interesting way, tells a compelling and heartfelt story, is anchored by an irresistible leading man and an adorable sidekick, is backed up by the catchiest song you could ever dream of, and culminates with a touching and hopeful ending. It’s a treat for the eyes and the ears and the soul. It’s innovative and the kind of thing that begs you to watch it more than once to catch all the details (and yes, I do tear up every time).
So one would think that an award show with the specific purpose of celebrating this type of creativity would be extra sure to nominate such a charming and effective clip, but alas, “Adore You” was overlooked in the MTV Video Music Awards main categories this year. Of course, some could argue that that fact only adds to the video’s credibility but I’ll do my best to not be that petty as I’m still rooting for it to win in the three technical categories where it picked up nominations: Best Visual Effects by Mathematic, Best Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks, and Best Direction by Dave Meyers, who remains one of the most inventive and influential directors of all time and whose videos with artists such as Missy Elliot, Pink, and Kendrick Lamar have been racking up nominations for nearly 20 years now. He also saw four other videos he directed get recognized this year: Normani’s “Motivation” (Best Chorography), Travis Scott’s “Highest in the Room” (Best Hop Hop and Best Visual Effects), Anderson .Paak’s “Lockdown” (Video For Good), and Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby’s “My Oh My” (Best Cinematography).
But I reached out to Meyers to specifically ask about the intricate details of “Adore You” and how it all came to be; how he captured such a vibe with the overcast and dreary weather, mixed so wonderfully with the charming oddities of the people that make up this world of Eroda. In addition to directing the video, he also co-wrote the story with Chris Shafer and said, “It’s the first idea that popped to mind after the first listen to the song, and the first idea I pitched to Harry. It was a story that underscored my understanding of what Harry stood for and felt it was necessary to tell it as a narrative to convey his optimism.”
The extended version of the video starts with a two-and-a-half-minute introduction to the world of Eroda, narrated by Rosalia. This includes the “peculiar” people and their professions on the island, meeting The Boy (Styles) and his glowing smile that most people try to avoid, and the quirky superstitions these people continue to live by. “It all served a purpose,” Meyers said of the details. “The superstitions were a set up for how society generally reacts to different things. They fear change or oddity, even if it’s what’s best for them.”
Meyers, however, did not share in that fear, as much of this video provided for interesting and new opportunities he had yet to experience throughout his decades-long career, which he listed off: ”Compelling narrative, CG character, remote location, Scottish crew (nothing fazed them),” also noting that all of the other characters in the video were locals as well. So perhaps they were less fazed by the atmosphere across the four-day shoot in Scotland, but as Meyers recalled, the “weather was nuts. It rained every 20 minutes, then the sun, then cloud over.”
However, it’s likely that Mother Nature is also a Styles fan, as Meyers recalled, “I seem to remember going up on the hill for Harry’s picnic with the fish and being worried that it was so gloomy. By the time we came to shoot, the sun came out. And then the sun went away as soon as the scene was over. Similarly, we had the worst storm when Harry was contemplating suicide at the start. Pouring rain, drenching him. So I guess in that sense it was fun watching how Scotland provided a backdrop for the emotions we were after.”
And hey, at least they had the weather on their side to add to the mood while shooting the video, as one of their main characters, well, didn’t exist. “It was very odd shooting with no fish,” Meyers admitted. “But was quite rewarding later seeing it dropped in and making empathic sense to the story we were after.”
Of course, the main character they did have on hand is an awfully useful and appealing one at that. Fans became enamored with the moment Styles uses the back of his hand to check the temperature of a coffee pot before dumping the fish inside the water so it could stay alive. I asked Meyers about this particular moment and he said, “The problem we had was apparent when Harry ran in and threw the fish in the pot. We all sorta felt — well, what if it was hot? So I believe Harry improvised that as a solution and we felt it was perfect for the character’s sensitivity and consideration for this poor fish.” And that’s not the only nice thing he does for his fish friend — he also serves him a tiny taco! “The taco was a whimsical way to express friendship between Harry and the fish,” Meyers offered. It looked pretty tasty, too.
The entire video serves as a showcase for what Styles does best and what makes him such a unique artist: his music, his acting, and his charisma, which Meyers knew would offer him a lot to work with. “Harry is a leading man. I felt that from my first meeting and wanted to play with his wonderful range of emotions. So finding a story with a real character arc was part of my focus in building this world.” Meyers described working on “Adore You” as an “all-around memorable shoot: awesome location, lovely Harry, compelling story, great effects, and… it worked.”
It did. And it was a risk: a video this complex and detailed (and one has to assume, costly), attached to a marketing campaign that proved to be even more involved, still came with no guarantee that the fans wouldn’t shrug it off. But as Manos Xanthogeorgis, SVP of Digital Marketing & Media at Columbia Records told Billboard last year, “When you have a video and a piece of art at such a level, it’s an incredible challenge for the rest of the team to build a campaign at that same level of artistry and creativity.” Oh, and that was only step one, as the marketing team engaged in “real-time marketing” with fans online, ensuring they would continue to remain engaged by dropping clues and clips in the lead-up to the video premiere and subsequently the album. “This whole campaign was around mystery and sometimes mystery is more powerful than knowledge,” Xanthogeorgis said. The Twitter handle has remained active throughout 2020, used as a continual marketing tool for Styles’ next videos including the Meyers-directed “Falling” and this summer’s hit, “Watermelon Sugar.”
With that kind of fan engagement, “Adore You” seemed like a no-brainer for the fan-voted categories of the VMAs this year, as they surely would’ve turned out to vote just as feverishly for this video as they did when searching for clues (about a made-up island, at that!). But hey, maybe MTV was just not interested in massive fan engagement this year — after all, it’s not like everything Styles does, including growing freakin’ facial hair, has the internet in a tizzy for weeks. Ultimately, as the impact of music videos (and certainly the ceremony celebrating them) continues to lose relevance, the disregard of this specific project simply feels like a missed opportunity to acknowledge a rare achievement in the art form.
While Meyers was sure to describe his inclusion in the VMA nominations this year as “lovely and flattering” (and he better have a moonperson in his possession this time next week, MTV!) it’s still puzzling why “Adore You” wouldn’t be included in the big categories, considering Styles is squarely within their demo, at the very least. That “Adore You” is also a technical and storytelling masterpiece, as well as a full moment that was used as inspiration both for the experience online and in-person at the Fine Line Spotify listening party last December, that also comes packed with one of the most enthusiastic groups of fans around, well, that should have had the entire network drooling.
Of course, some of this can simply be chalked up to a perfect storm. As far as his singles go, “Lights Up” was a nice appetizer, but “Adore You” remains the delicious entree (you already know what’s for dessert). “Adore You” is a perfect pop record if I’ve ever heard one (and I have) and deserved a special video. A Chris Isaak “Wicked Game” sexy vibe wasn’t going to work here. The song tells the story of such passionate, pure, and heartachingly naive and innocent love that it almost had to be directed toward a non-human being. Instead, Styles chose to inject those same carefree, sweaty, sticky, delicious, whimsical beach vibes into the “Watermelon Sugar” clip, which was the right choice, and not just for the summertime season (MTV has since added the Song of Summer category to the VMAs and included “Watermelon Sugar”).
But it’s “Adore You” that has melodies that bring a smile to the faces of babies, get your toes tapping even when you hear it in the dentist’s chair, and likely has my neighbors rolling their eyes when I sing along to it in the shower. The song is so simple it’s deep, a theme reflected in the video, as is the central reminder to help and care for others, a thoroughly 2020 message.
However, not all is lost. Both “Adore You” and “Watermelon Sugar” continue to rack up major spins at radio with the latter hitting number one on the Billboard charts earlier this month. Grammy voting kicks off at the end of September and Academy members should take note. Not only is Fine Line more than worthy of being acknowledged, but having Styles on hand to potentially collect trophies and perform is in your best interest when it comes to viewers and online chatter. Do not wait to take him seriously. This is the album, this is the time. Prove that you aren’t a bunch of stodgy old white men who think he’s just for teen (and um, thirty-something) girls, but that you understand the music he enjoys, is inspired by, and subsequently makes, is the same rock music you appreciate as well. An artist like Styles can be both of those things at the same time, and really, the best of both worlds. Give the album a listen, and then one more to let it all sink in. If you have not yet succumbed to the force that is Harry Styles fandom, I truly can’t recommend it enough — and please know that it will get you eventually.
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insert those coins babey! no point in holding onto them if they aren't used !
You Now Own:
001 - Mineral Water (x2)
Drawn from the ocean depths and rigorously purified. Ideal for a modern on-the-go public unsatisfied with tap water.
002 - Sea Salt
A basic seasoning produced from the evaporation of seawater. It also sees use as a preservative.
003 - Ration
A set of canned and vacuum-sealed foodstuffs. The taste isn't bad, and a certain snake that wants to play hide-and-go-seek is just crazy abou- wait, what?
005 - Ramune
A sweet, lemon-flavored carbonated drink. A marble plugs the opening of the uniquely designed bottle. The bottle can also be reused if you bring it to the ramune store.
010 - Ship In a Bottle
A intricate creation, a model ship within a bottle. Made with time, love and care.
012 - Envy-Enducing Envy CD
A CD of songs by Japanese band Envy. Full of unreleased tracks/first recordings.
014 - Children's Book
A children's book about family and forgiveness! The plot is about a sister who can't get along with her younger brother, but they find common ground and bond over causing trouble for their parents.
016 - Sour Soda (x2)
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017 - Gentleman's Guide
A book that's meant to help shape you into the perfect gentleman. However, it's rather demeaning towards the reader, which doesn't feel very gentleman-ly.
018 - Masculine Cologne
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019 - Fancy Sword
True to it’s name, it looks very fancy, and very intimidating. However, it's only for show, and rather blunt- perhaps inexpensive?
022 - ??? Alcohol
It's something alcoholic. This is a school, it should be confiscated, and you won't be receiving any more information.
024 - Hair Cutting Scissors
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030 - Bottled Tea
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031 - Alarm Clock
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039 - Reminder Booklet
A small pamphlet that gives reminders for daily things, such as eating, drinking, taking meds, etc. Also has room for you to add in unique personalized reminders.
041 - Tiovita
A Japanese energy drink sold at most convenience stores. Pretty inexpensive, and with a nice fruity flavor- but hey, only one per day!
044 - Lie Detector (x2)
Fun for the whole family! Though not incredibly accurate... wait, how do you know that?
045 - Evidence Encylopedia
A book focusing on evidence found in crime scenes. From most overlooked to most common, this book talks about it all.
049 - Track Award
A award from a middle school track and field award. The recipient of the trophy seems to have come in second in two events, and first in one.
050 - Plane Tickets (x2)
Anywhere, anytime, round trip tickets. Probably given as some sort of thank you for volunteering to get off of a accidentally over-booked flight.
051 - Therapy Advertisement (x2)
Some therapist endorsing themselves. Upon looking at the services they offer, I don't feel very inspired to go there.
056 - Soulmate Sweatshirt
A sweatshirt that supposedly brings the most comfort not when you wear it, but when holding someone wearing it. Currently smells strongly of... lavender?
057 - Scrap Metal x3
Seems to be broken bits and pieces of some sort of engine. Could be repurposed, or simply a cool trinket.
059 - Old Journal
It seems to be from the late 80s, and kept being written in up to the early 90s. There's a entry on the last page, synopsizing the birth of the owners son, and how proud the owner is of his now five year old.
060 - Paper Boat
A piece of paper that's been folded into a boat. Apparently you can fold and tear it as you tell a story to provide a visual aid for the story, but no one here knows how.
061 - Calendar
It's got pictures of internationally famous towns on it! This particular one has been written on with a note on almost every day.
064 - Face-paint Kit.
A professional face-painting kit. However, it’s missing it’s red, yellow, blue and white paint- those colors have been all used up.
065 - Life Quote Sign (x3)
A sign with some stereotypical life quote written on it in flowery lettering. Most likely to be seen hanging in a kitchen.
066 - Throwing Rings (x2)
Meant for fair games. If you have good enough aim, maybe you'll win a prize!
067 - Pleasant Savior
Seemingly a CD filled with various performances by the same person. I haven't played the CD, so I don't know what kind of performances he does though, and the name is off-putting.
069 - “Fresh” Bouquet (x3)
Somehow still smells sweet with flowers that look flawless. It's comprised of roses that have been dyed rainbow, all of them.
070 - Hair Ribbons (x3)
They come in a variety of colors, but the Monomono Machine only dispenses yellow. Guaranteed to make the wearer feel a certain sense of self-satisfaction.
071 - Girls Profile
A student profile from a all-girls academy. The paper is water-stained and some of the ink has run, so it's hard to make out what's on the paper.
073 - Baby Doll
It seems to be from around the 90s and... not quite well-loved, but well-played-with. Doesn't come with the original clothes... or hair.
075 - Dream Catcher
Made by a past SHSL. It's actually been pretty effective, and is part of the reason they got scouted.
080 - Retro Game
It's handheld, old, and extremely broken. The screen has been shattered so it displays wrong, all cracked and distorted.
081 - Blackout Curtains (x2)
Completely block out any and all light. Strong enough to plunge a room into darkness.
084 - Noise-cancelling Headphones
They completely block out all sound! Also come with the ability to adjust the size of the band, and will stay on your ears even if you pull the band down to your neck.
086 - Wall Decals
Stickers you can put on your wall. They do a decent job of covering up holes in said walls.
087 - Antique Stuffed Animal (x2)
It seems to be bunny themed, and dressed in clothes you'd see on babies in the 1930s. It's in pretty good shape, other than a few tears where the lace trim at the end has had it’s stitches removed.
088 - Embroidery Kit
Or rather, a needle and thread to be used for embroidery. There's only one needle, and one spool of thread, but hey, it’s something.
090 - Scented Markers (x2)
A full rainbow set, all with their own unique smell! Be careful though - it's hard to get these out of clothes.
092 - Fake Christmas Tree (x2)
Too plastic to be a real tree. It's also incredibly small, but real trees can be small too, so that doesn’t really mess with the realism.
093 - Hair Gel
Top of the line hair gel, and completely unopened! Helps you style your hair and keep it in place, but doesn’t give it the nicest texture.
095 - Instant Noodles
Just add water to get something hot, salty, and/or spicy! A nice meal if you're looking for something that's quick and easy, you can dress it up some too.
097 - Drink Mix
A powder used for ??? warm drink, made with milk, tastes like... something? You try it and tell me, but it smells good at the least.
099 - The DSM-I
Self-explanatory, it's the original version of the DSM, from 1952. Index cards have been slipped in-between most of the pages, talking about what happened with the information listed there.
100 - Collection Of Old Ads
Dating back to the 1920s. A magazine full of ads from a different time, it’s somewhat of a miracle the paper held up while the ideas in it didn’t.
101 - Wooden Ruler
It's a wooden ruler. Used for measuring things, nothing else- why do you ask?
102 - Building Blocks (x3)
Stacking and stacking, and sending it all crumbling down. And then you rinse and repeat.
104 - Cutesy Hair Clips
Snap clips in pastel colors and covered in designs. Oddly enough, there isn't any non-pastels, unless you count the few white clips.
106 - Newspaper Collage
Seems to be a collection of snippets from newspaper articles. There must be hundreds in here... it's a big collage.
107 - Cropped Sweatshirt
Cropped specifically due to a parent saying not to. The sweatshirt seems to be related to some organization, with the big fancy emblem on it.
109 - Pins And Patches
A mix-and-match bag full of enamel pins, buttons, and iron-on patches. Good luck finding something to do with them all.
110 - Origami Paper (x2)
Simple origami paper, in a variety of colors and patterns! Comes easy to tear out of a book, which includes instructions on basic origami types.
112 - Colorful Band-Aids.
They come in many colors, designs, even different sizes. Some seem to be made to cover up paper cuts, others meant to help skinned knees and scraped elbows.
Thank you for visiting the Monomono Machine!
~*~
Maeda, narrating - And I thought the coins were kinda heavy...
Maeda - What now?
[Free Time Event - Uehara]
{Head to Your Room}
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On November 18, 2019, a website promoting a mysterious place called Eroda (“No Land Quite Like It”) arrived on the internet. Two days later, the official Twitter account for this fictional frown-shaped island began teasing local seaside attractions. You may have missed it, depending on which corners of the internet you choose to lurk, but not if you were a Harry Styles fan, a group that went into pure overdrive trying to figure out what it all meant.
I, for one, missed it at the time. I was unaware this account was cryptically quote tweeting fans as they tried to piece together what was happening, what it meant, and what it could be connected to (Greek Mythology and Lost were a couple of theories posed in comments, Twitter threads, and Reddit). Meanwhile, the Columbia Records marketing department had been hard at work for months, devising this specific and highly-detailed campaign around the music video for Styles’ second single, “Adore You” from his second solo album, Fine Line, ever since he shot the video in Scotland in August 2019 (Eroda = Adore backwards — clever!).
But it was all leading up to the morning of Friday, December 6 when the video was released, one week before the full-length album arrived. Up until that point, I had never seen an entire Harry Styles music video, but what happened next was inevitable. Somehow, as a self-proclaimed boy band scholar, I had never paid much attention to One Direction. I kept a distant eye on Styles since they disbanded, intrigued by the decisions he was making in his solo career. But I hadn’t yet realized I’d been in the ring all throughout the fall of 2019, fighting to resist the inevitable fascination that awaited. First came the jab of Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stone profile, followed by the cross of “Lights Up”, a song that cracked my Top 20 most listened to songs of the year despite being released just two months before Spotify so thoughtfully compiled that personalized playlist. Then there was the hook of his SNL hosting stint in November (and bless you Bowen Yang for that Sara Lee sketch), which then leads us to the “Adore You” video, the uppercut and ultimate TKO. I surrendered in what felt like a near instant. I was now a Harry Styles fan. (If we’re following this analogy, I sat up to spit out some blood after seeing that cover of “Juice” before my head quickly hit the mat again with a loud thud).
Maybe it’s not quite remarkable that I took time out of a Friday morning to watch a music video, but that I sat at my desk, in an office, with other people around (back when we did those kinds of things) and proceeded to wipe away a few tiny tears from under my eyes by the end of it, was an experience I had not been through… maybe ever? In a world of lyric videos and TikToks, actual, thoughtful, impactful music videos with a full (and sweet!) story are about as rare as a glowing and growing fish these days.
Ultimately, “Adore You” does everything a music video should do. In nearly eight minutes, this video uses excellent visual effects in a cool and interesting way, tells a compelling and heartfelt story, is anchored by an irresistible leading man and an adorable sidekick, is backed up by the catchiest song you could ever dream of, and culminates with a touching and hopeful ending. It’s a treat for the eyes and the ears and the soul. It’s innovative and the kind of thing that begs you to watch it more than once to catch all the details (and yes, I do tear up every time).
So one would think that an award show with the specific purpose of celebrating this type of creativity would be extra sure to nominate such a charming and effective clip, but alas, “Adore You” was overlooked in the MTV Video Music Awards main categories this year. Of course, some could argue that that fact only adds to the video’s credibility but I’ll do my best to not be that petty as I’m still rooting for it to win in the three technical categories where it picked up nominations: Best Visual Effects by Mathematic, Best Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks, and Best Direction by Dave Meyers, who remains one of the most inventive and influential directors of all time and whose videos with artists such as Missy Elliot, Pink, and Kendrick Lamar have been racking up nominations for nearly 20 years now. He also saw four other videos he directed get recognized this year: Normani’s “Motivation” (Best Chorography), Travis Scott’s “Highest in the Room” (Best Hop Hop and Best Visual Effects), Anderson .Paak’s “Lockdown” (Video For Good), and Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby’s “My Oh My” (Best Cinematography).
But I reached out to Meyers to specifically ask about the intricate details of “Adore You” and how it all came to be; how he captured such a vibe with the overcast and dreary weather, mixed so wonderfully with the charming oddities of the people that make up this world of Eroda. In addition to directing the video, he also co-wrote the story with Chris Shafer and said, “It’s the first idea that popped to mind after the first listen to the song, and the first idea I pitched to Harry. It was a story that underscored my understanding of what Harry stood for and felt it was necessary to tell it as a narrative to convey his optimism.”
The extended version of the video starts with a two-and-a-half-minute introduction to the world of Eroda, narrated by Rosalia. This includes the “peculiar” people and their professions on the island, meeting The Boy (Styles) and his glowing smile that most people try to avoid, and the quirky superstitions these people continue to live by. “It all served a purpose,” Meyers said of the details. “The superstitions were a set up for how society generally reacts to different things. They fear change or oddity, even if it’s what’s best for them.”
Meyers, however, did not share in that fear, as much of this video provided for interesting and new opportunities he had yet to experience throughout his decades-long career, which he listed off: ”Compelling narrative, CG character, remote location, Scottish crew (nothing fazed them),” also noting that all of the other characters in the video were locals as well. So perhaps they were less fazed by the atmosphere across the four-day shoot in Scotland, but as Meyers recalled, the “weather was nuts. It rained every 20 minutes, then the sun, then cloud over.”
However, it’s likely that Mother Nature is also a Styles fan, as Meyers recalled, “I seem to remember going up on the hill for Harry’s picnic with the fish and being worried that it was so gloomy. By the time we came to shoot, the sun came out. And then the sun went away as soon as the scene was over. Similarly, we had the worst storm when Harry was contemplating suicide at the start. Pouring rain, drenching him. So I guess in that sense it was fun watching how Scotland provided a backdrop for the emotions we were after.”
And hey, at least they had the weather on their side to add to the mood while shooting the video, as one of their main characters, well, didn’t exist. “It was very odd shooting with no fish,” Meyers admitted. “But was quite rewarding later seeing it dropped in and making empathic sense to the story we were after.”
Of course, the main character they did have on hand is an awfully useful and appealing one at that. Fans became enamored with the moment Styles uses the back of his hand to check the temperature of a coffee pot before dumping the fish inside the water so it could stay alive. I asked Meyers about this particular moment and he said, “The problem we had was apparent when Harry ran in and threw the fish in the pot. We all sorta felt — well, what if it was hot? So I believe Harry improvised that as a solution and we felt it was perfect for the character’s sensitivity and consideration for this poor fish.” And that’s not the only nice thing he does for his fish friend — he also serves him a tiny taco! “The taco was a whimsical way to express friendship between Harry and the fish,” Meyers offered. It looked pretty tasty, too.
The entire video serves as a showcase for what Styles does best and what makes him such a unique artist: his music, his acting, and his charisma, which Meyers knew would offer him a lot to work with. “Harry is a leading man. I felt that from my first meeting and wanted to play with his wonderful range of emotions. So finding a story with a real character arc was part of my focus in building this world.” Meyers described working on “Adore You” as an “all-around memorable shoot: awesome location, lovely Harry, compelling story, great effects, and… it worked.”
It did. And it was a risk: a video this complex and detailed (and one has to assume, costly), attached to a marketing campaign that proved to be even more involved, still came with no guarantee that the fans wouldn’t shrug it off. But as Manos Xanthogeorgis, SVP of Digital Marketing & Media at Columbia Records told Billboard last year, “When you have a video and a piece of art at such a level, it’s an incredible challenge for the rest of the team to build a campaign at that same level of artistry and creativity.” Oh, and that was only step one, as the marketing team engaged in “real-time marketing” with fans online, ensuring they would continue to remain engaged by dropping clues and clips in the lead-up to the video premiere and subsequently the album. “This whole campaign was around mystery and sometimes mystery is more powerful than knowledge,” Xanthogeorgis said. The Twitter handle has remained active throughout 2020, used as a continual marketing tool for Styles’ next videos including the Meyers-directed “Falling” and this summer’s hit, “Watermelon Sugar.”
With that kind of fan engagement, “Adore You” seemed like a no-brainer for the fan-voted categories of the VMAs this year, as they surely would’ve turned out to vote just as feverishly for this video as they did when searching for clues (about a made-up island, at that!). But hey, maybe MTV was just not interested in massive fan engagement this year — after all, it’s not like everything Styles does, including growing freakin’ facial hair, has the internet in a tizzy for weeks. Ultimately, as the impact of music videos (and certainly the ceremony celebrating them) continues to lose relevance, the disregard of this specific project simply feels like a missed opportunity to acknowledge a rare achievement in the art form.
While Meyers was sure to describe his inclusion in the VMA nominations this year as “lovely and flattering” (and he better have a moonperson in his possession this time next week, MTV!) it’s still puzzling why “Adore You” wouldn’t be included in the big categories, considering Styles is squarely within their demo, at the very least. That “Adore You” is also a technical and storytelling masterpiece, as well as a full moment that was used as inspiration both for the experience online and in-person at the Fine Line Spotify listening party last December, that also comes packed with one of the most enthusiastic groups of fans around, well, that should have had the entire network drooling.
Of course, some of this can simply be chalked up to a perfect storm. As far as his singles go, “Lights Up” was a nice appetizer, but “Adore You” remains the delicious entree (you already know what’s for dessert). “Adore You” is a perfect pop record if I’ve ever heard one (and I have) and deserved a special video. A Chris Isaak “Wicked Game” sexy vibe wasn’t going to work here. The song tells the story of such passionate, pure, and heartachingly naive and innocent love that it almost had to be directed toward a non-human being. Instead, Styles chose to inject those same carefree, sweaty, sticky, delicious, whimsical beach vibes into the “Watermelon Sugar” clip, which was the right choice, and not just for the summertime season (MTV has since added the Song of Summer category to the VMAs and included “Watermelon Sugar”).
But it’s “Adore You” that has melodies that bring a smile to the faces of babies, get your toes tapping even when you hear it in the dentist’s chair, and likely has my neighbors rolling their eyes when I sing along to it in the shower. The song is so simple it’s deep, a theme reflected in the video, as is the central reminder to help and care for others, a thoroughly 2020 message.
However, not all is lost. Both “Adore You” and “Watermelon Sugar” continue to rack up major spins at radio with the latter hitting number one on the Billboard charts earlier this month. Grammy voting kicks off at the end of September and Academy members should take note. Not only is Fine Line more than worthy of being acknowledged, but having Styles on hand to potentially collect trophies and perform is in your best interest when it comes to viewers and online chatter. Do not wait to take him seriously. This is the album, this is the time. Prove that you aren’t a bunch of stodgy old white men who think he’s just for teen (and um, thirty-something) girls, but that you understand the music he enjoys, is inspired by, and subsequently makes, is the same rock music you appreciate as well. An artist like Styles can be both of those things at the same time, and really, the best of both worlds. Give the album a listen, and then one more to let it all sink in. If you have not yet succumbed to the force that is Harry Styles fandom, I truly can’t recommend it enough — and please know that it will get you eventually.
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Visions Of Bodies Being Burned clipping.
clipping.'s second entry in their horror anthology collection follows up 2019's There Existed an Addiction to Blood by conjuring up an atmosphere that rarely allows a moment to catch your breath. Here the Los Angeles-based trio takes Apple Music through the record's many horrors.
Say the Name William Hutson: “I had always wanted to make a track using that phrase from the Geto Boys, and we had talked about doing a Dance Mania Chicago ghetto house track about Candyman. I always liked that idea of a slow, plodding, more dance-oriented track, using that line repeated as a hook.” Daveed Diggs: “We had always talked about how that line is one of the scariest lines in rap music, it's just really good writing. Scarface does that better than anybody. What we had was this very Chicago, these really specific reference points, to me, that I had to connect. That's how I saw the challenge in my head, was like there's this very Texas lyric and this very Chicago concept. Fortunately, Candyman already does that for you. It's already about the legacy of slavery in this country. So I just got to lean into those things.”
’96 Neve Campbell (feat. Cam & China) Jonathan Snipes: “This was actually the second thing we sent them—we made an earlier beat that had a sample that we couldn't clear. We wanted to make something that sounds a little more like jerk music and something that's a little bit more tailored for them.” WH: "We didn't have our Halloween, Friday the 13th slasher song. The idea was to not have Daveed on it at all, except to rap the hooks, and just to have female rappers basically standing in for the final girl in a slasher movie. But then we liked Daveed's lines, we wanted him to keep rapping on it.” DD: “It felt too short with just two verses. We were like, ‘Well, put me on the phone and make me be the killer.’” WH: “There's a Benny the Butcher song called '’97 Hov,' this idea of referring to a song by a date and a person that's the vibe you're going for. So some of the suggestions were like, '’79 Jamie Lee Curtis' or '’82 Heather Langenkamp.' But then with Daveed on the phone and making a Scream reference, '’96 Neve Campbell' made more sense.”
Something Underneath DD: “There's a whole batch of songs we recorded in New York while I was also doing a play, and so we'd work all day and then I'd go do this show at night. For a long time, there was a version of this one that I couldn't stand the vocal performance on. It's obviously a pretty technical song, and I just never nailed it and I sound tired and all of this. So it ended up being the last thing we finished.”
Make Them Dead WH: “We did ‘Body & Blood’ and ‘Wriggle,’ which both take literal samples from power electronic artists and turned them into dance songs. The idea for this was, let's do a song that instead of borrows from power electronics and makes it into a dance song, let's try to just make a heavy, slow, plodding thing that feels like real power electronics.” DD: “When we finally settled on how this song should be lyrically, it was actually hard to write. Just trying to capture that same feel. There's something about power electronics that feels instructional, feels like it's ordering you to do something. The politics around it are varied, depending on who is making the stuff. But in order to sit within that, it had to feel political and instructional, but then that had to agree with us.”
She Bad WH: “That's our witchcraft track.” JS: “Obviously, this ended up having some melodies in it, but it started as those, but it really is just field recordings and modular synths, and there isn't a beat so much and the melody is very obtuse in the hooks. It's mostly just looped and cut field recordings.” DD: “I've been moving away from something that we did in a lot of our previous records, like really super visual, like precise visual storytelling that feels really cinematic, where I'm just actually pointing the camera at things, so that was fun to try that again.”
Invocation (Interlude) (with Greg Stuart) WH: “It's a joke about Alvin Lucier's beat pattern music, his wave songs and things like that, but done as if it was trying to summon the devil.”
Pain Everyday (with Michael Esposito) DD: “I love this song so much. Also, I definitely learned while writing it why people don't write whole rap songs in 7/8. It's not easy. The math, the hidden math in those verses is intense. It kept breaking my brain, but now that it's all down, I can't hear it any other way, it sounds fine. But getting there was such a mindfuck.” WH: “So then the idea was it's in 7/8, it's about a lynched ghost, so the idea we had was a chase scene of the ghost of murdered victims of lynching.”
Check the Lock WH: “This was conceived as a sequel to a song by Seagram and Scarface called ‘Sleepin in My Nikes.’ That was a rap song about extreme paranoia that I always thought was cool and felt like a horror, like an aspect of horror.” JS: “This is the one time on this album that we let ourselves do that like John Carpenter-y, creepy synth thing.”
Looking Like Meat (feat Ho99o9) DD: “I think they reached out wanting to do a song, and this had always felt, we always wanted this to be like a posse track, kind of. This was another one that I wasn't going to write a voice for actually, we were going to try to find a better verse.” JS: “Which is why the hooks are all different—we were going to fill them in specifically with features, but sometimes features don't work out. This is like our attempt at making the more sort of aggressive, like a thing that sounds more like noise rap than we usually do.” WH: “The first thing on this beat was I bought 20 little music boxes that all played different songs, and I stuck them all to a sounding board and put contact microphones on it, and just cranked them each at the same time.”
Eaten Alive (with Jeff Parker & Ted Byrnes) DD: “I had been in this phase of listening to Nipsey [Hussle] all day, every day, and all I wanted to do was figure out how to rap like that. So from his cadence perspective, it's like my best Nipsey impression, which we didn't know was going to turn into a posthumous tribute.” WH: “And the rapping was also partly a tribute, just spiritually a tribute to No Limit Records. That's why it's called 'Eaten Alive,' which is named after a Tobe Hooper horror movie about a swamp.”
Body for the Pile (with Sickness) WH: “It already came out [in 2016]. It ended up being on an Adult Swim compilation called NOISE. We did it with Chris Goudreau, our friend who is just a legendary noise artist called Sickness.” JS: “We always thought that would be a great song to save for a horror record, and then years went by and we weren't going to include it, because we thought, ‘Well, it's out and it's done.’ We looked around and I don't know, that comp isn't really anywhere and that track is hard to find, and we really like it and we thought it fit really nice. When we started putting it in the lineup of tracks and listening to it as an album, we realized it fit really nicely.”
Enlacing WH: “The cosmic pessimism of H.P. Lovecraft is all about the horror of discovering how small you are in the universe and how uncaring the universe is. So this song was about accessing that fear by getting way too high on Molly and ketamine at the same time, then discovering Cthulhu or Azathoth as a result of getting way too fucking high.” JS: “My memory is that this was never intended to be a clipping. song, that you and I made this beat as an example of, ‘Hey, we can make normal beats.’” DD: “That Lovecraftian idea was something that we played in opposition to a lot on Splendor & Misery, so it was good to revisit in a way where we were actually playing into it, and also it definitely feels to me like just being way too high.”
Secret Piece WH: “We wanted to really tie the two albums together, so the idea was to get everyone who played on any of the albums to contribute their one note. So we assembled the recordings of dawn and forests, and then almost everyone who played on either of these two albums contributed one note.” JS: “We have a habit of ending our albums with a piece of processed music or contemporary music. We ended midcity with a take on a Steve Reich phased loop idea, and we ended CLPPNG with a John Cage piece, and then There Existed ends with Annea Lockwood's 'Piano Burning.' So we wanted something that felt like the sun was coming up at the end of the horror movie, a little bit.” WH: “That was the idea was that we were exiting, it's dawn in a forest. So dawn in a forest in a slasher movie or a horror movie usually means you're safe, right? The end of Friday the 13th one, the sun comes up and she's in the little boat, but that doesn't end well for her either. We did not have the jump scare at the end like Friday the 13th.” DD: “I pushed for it a little bit, but some people thought it was too corny.”
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Maybe we have talked about this before, but what do you imagine the promo of Ambition to be like? Like a drama show mainly? And also do you imagine billboards for it being put up? I know you have big things like that in the US. And would the preview for the next episode come out immediately after the show?
i think we may have talked about it at length at some point, but it is an interesting question... there’s definitely a ton of stuff i wish we could have even now but isn’t feasible. like i know for a fact the preview for ambition’s next ep would be after the episode like you said, and i wish we could do that now honestly but there’s really just no way to... effectively translate that to text the way we do the episodes. but it’s like i would love to have that same effect of like “teasing” all these small moments from the coming episode that maybe are out of context and so it sets all the viewers chattering for a week. i also think we would release a teaser clip or two (as we sometimes do here) leading up to the episode each week. i also would want the opening of each episode to have the like “previously on ambition” thing where it pulls specific moments from the prior episode together to summarize what info you’ll need to remember going into the ep, i know a lot of people skip those but sometimes they can be helpful and it’s cool to imagine what information would be considered pertinent for each week... i tried doing that going into s3 but again it just like wasn’t working so i scrapped it lol.
also, i would release one song from the episode ahead of time on spotify / youtube / itunes etc earlier in the week, so its like oooh where will this fit into the episode... but obviously with no visuals or context.
in terms of active advertising, obviously there’d be ads on whatever network (unless we’re on streaming, which honestly would make more sense considering the amount of f bombs we have + our episode length being erratic LMAO but it is what it is). the idea of billboards is cute... we definitely have those in los angeles predominantly since it’s TV town, i think if we were gonna do that we’d probably do it like... segmented into trios? at least by s3, i’d have a billboard design for maya, farkle, and isa; riley, zay, and charlie; and lucas, dylan, and asher. but the designs would probably be totally different depending on the season -- like season 1 would be more general aesthetic + faceless promo potentially since everyone would be lesser known stars (except perhaps sab), whereas after s2 and s3 we could just rely on the cast for visual imagery bc it would be well-known enough by that point. we could maybe do something to glee’s billboards for season six:
but yeah, it’s really hard to imagine what it might be like without all the tools at my disposal to envision it... but it could be fun. it would definitely be colorful for s1 / s3 -- s2 is a different story. s2 i think would rely more on the tagline for advertising (i.e. “in real life, there are no rehearsals”) and probably would play on the ghost light staging we had in the episode materials for that season. in fact, this isn’t a bad set up for the base of a billboard type advert:
i also would be very strategic about how our professional social media is used -- i.e. i would want the ambitionwriters twitter to be very active and share a lot of fun stuff, but we’d also be smart and careful about how we interact with people and what content we share, because i have watched many, many writers rooms get themselves into shit for saying the wrong thing or saying too much on social media -- or honestly, just writers + showrunners cant mind their own business and resist engaging with trolls / haters (rookie mistake on social media). i would be big on posting behind the scenes little easter eggs leading up to an episode, like for 309 i would post a picture of yindra and charlie in their matching-but-not-matching featherduster costumes and just kinda be like eye emoji... just to get people talking about why those two would possibly be wearing the same thing... and savvy beauty and the beast stans might be able to elaborate further, but it would take truly imaginative fans to jump to the zay dream sequence vs reality split idea that actually occurs in episode.
i’d also want cast members to do takeovers of the ambition socials like some shows do, like probably on wednesday before an ep airs. different cast member each time, and i’d extend it to people in the a class as well so its not just us rotating the main 9 all the time. i’d also i think encourage us having writer q&a every thursday (maybe with a cast member or two sometimes) to continue that fan engagement but still in a strategic way. i also think things like those youtube type game interviews with buzzfeed or vanity fair or whatever are cute and fun, so id encourage our cast to do those sort of things in different combinations (if they want to). id also be... as helpful and insistent as possible without being overbearing to my cast about using social media wisely bc the last thing we need is a PR crisis because one of them does something dumbass on social media they couldve avoided by just. using their brains. i think some shows actually have social media clauses with guidance so maybe id be that kind of showrunner and have that LMAO. its just... for the best if we all use our noggins when online...
definitely would also have cast photoshoots which used to be one of my fave things about watching shows. also we’d be BIG at comic con. one of my dreams as a writer is to attend comic con as a creator (whether for a show or a novel or what have you), just that like convention energy. i want to be on a panel for my creation so bad and answer fan questions and just have that personable and fun engagement from creators to consumer. esp bc we have an ensemble show, i think a panel would be really fun with lots to potentially discuss, and good promo between seasons.
-- Maggie
#thats what ive got mainly at the moment... god this hurt#i wish we lived in aaa verse... im so sick of living here!!!!!!!!!!!#WITHOUT AMBITION!!!!!#answered#charliezay#ask and you shall receive#have i ever talked about the design choices behind the s2 image there before#bc... thought went into that#like speaking of easter eggs / hints...
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