#this was a GREAT episode. i really really loved the music track!!!

[medlilove]

(Edited to add headshots because tumblr hates detail) I've etched away at this is a lovely few weeks, so click for full res and all the little details, okay? It's my love letter to the journey I've found myself on

This is long-ish, so its under the cut (but worth reading...)

I had been thinking a lot recently about that double feature episode, you know the one? I half remembered it then, when they chased a bunch of alien spies so fast through the solar system they all got thrown back in time. Half the crew went on a little undercover adventure in Toronto in 2024. It was great because they got completely cut off from the Enterprise, so half of them, well mostly Uhura and Spock if I recall correctly, spent their time collecting as many radios as possible and worked on building their own communications. Uhura and Spock were basically taking turns constantly tweaking radios by the window with wires everywhere. Oh yeah, their base of operations was the whole top floor of a worn out old building looking over a big square. They ended up in the really arty/queer part of town full of art galleries and thrift stores.....??

Chapel and Chekov were sent out to those shops to find disguises for everyone. I loved the joke that Chekov was puzzled and slightly alarmed that Christine just knew everyone's clothes sizes and measurements with no explanation. Later on, they ended up getting separated from the rest of the group and getting held up by B story shenanigans, mostly getting lost and running into culture shocks. It was fun to see them having their own adventures and made for a pretty interesting combo. Spock and Uhura spent most of their time with the tech, accidentally listening to the times most popular music while changing frequencies. Jim and Sulu paired off to search for clues, and getting supplies and spent a lot of time talking to the locals setting up for a Pride parade. McCoy, feeling paranoid and irritable that he had practically no equipment, wandered around with Dr Alfred Nahdi, the Botanist, who kept picking random weeds and talking about how extraordinary the little dandelions were. Oh and together they stole a whole medical bag out of an ambulance?? It was pretty funny.  Anyway, the main issue was they couldn’t risk leaving the area because all these alien spies had assimilated into the population and they had to track them all down and bring them back with them so as not to disrupt the timeline or something. They had to track down the aliens while making sure the aliens didn't pick up on who they were or that they were also out of place. They ended up being there for around two whole ass months, I think. The spies were spread out all over and there were about 30 of them, but it ended up being the Botanist, Alfred (Alfie) Nahdi who found the enemy base of operations by complete accident. Alfred, who had spent most of the time studying all the common flowers and weeds that were so ordinary at that time but were extinct in their time, figured out where the aliens' base of operations was because the big plant shop at the end of the square had a few succulents that could not have existed in 2024. It was a big "woah" moment. And there was this whole thing where he had to act like he hadn’t just figured it out because the florist, who was almost certainly a spy, was watching him and McCoy. But soon after, it all went to hell anyway when a fight broke out and Sulu was straight up shot with the aliens' weapon that had bullets made from alien metal. So then Bones had to perform old school surgery on him in their HQ, with only 2024 equipment. Jim, Spock, and Uhura were out fighting and ran into Chapel and Chekov and were able to finish them off, but it got really crazy because there was a Pride parade in the square at the same time so they had to make sure no one noticed them. While Bones was pulling bullets out of Sulu, with the botanist assisting him until Chapel (who had been sent by Jim) appeared and took over. McCoy said something like, “Christine, I’ve never been so glad to see you in my life,” and they sewed him up all old school. And it worked out! But Bones was a mess because he had to do messy surgery with none of his kit, and so much pressure, and more blood than he was used to... Chapel stayed with Sulu, and Bones and Nahdi went to sit on the fire escape stairwell and had a sweet scene of Bones just full of adrenaline, his hands couldn't stop shaking. They sat hand in hand for a while listening to all the people on the streets below. Then Spock, Jim, Uhura, and Chekov appeared at the stairwell and they all had a happy, albeit exhausted reunion. After a day of everyone recovering from all the excitement, Uhura and Spock used some extra tech they got from the aliens and finally made contact with poor Scotty who was up on the Enterprise losing the will to live. Anyway, their outfits were iconic tbh.

I invented this whole thing to draw Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in a sweater. I lost control of the situation. I spent a lovely two weeks etching away at this with the support of my lovely ST server, I love you guys. This ones for you.

[ballowvalence]

finished jentry chau last night and i have a lot of thoughts. SPOILERS AHEAD.

the good (broad strokes because there's so much to like in general!):

production quality is off the charts: fantastic animation, beautiful fight scenes, lovely character and world design, music perfectly complements the whole vibe. great style as well!

satisfying narrative arc: no cliffhangers, we get an A to B story line with character growth and progress. jentry ends the series as emotionally more mature than she starts.

interesting characters and engaging exchange and dialogue between them that mostly felt believable and realistic for teens this day and age.

the bad (my gripe in a nutshell):

the showrunners' decided to favor making the show work to what they'd prefer over cohesive character choices. (like they were trying to manipulate jentry's character around hitting plot points, instead of vice versa.)

jentry's forgiveness isn't consistent for her character.

the showrunners decided that the narrative would be more dramatic when/if she didn't forgive others.

gugu lied to her all her life about SO many things. we're given her reasoning, which we're meant to understand and relate to (she didn't want jentry to hate her/her parents), and because jentry loves gugu, she forgives her. i do not forgive gugu! she lied to jentry for 16 years about EVERYTHING.

this ties into how moonie is still alive as well. gugu knew! she could've EASILY have tracked her down. so she CHOSE to never try and reunite them. and MOONIE knew she was jentry's mother. how could you do that to your daughter? and jentry forgives moonie because she loves the POTENTIAL of her mother. what the fuck! i do not forgive moonie! she CHOSE not to be part of her life.

then we come to the only other person who begged for forgiveness for their secrets hurting her.

kit. he lied about who he was and his intentions. however, out of the him, gugu, and moonie, kit is the only one who does not intentionally obscure jentry's ability to figure out his secret, as in jentry is not forced to act for him to confess his truth. with gugu's secrets, she had to work to uncover them, and with moonie, jentry had to work to find her.

he is the only one who comes clean to her after putting his life in danger to save hers, and there's no way he doesn't know how fragile his painted skin is. he KNOWINGLY went to save her from the fire and risked his identity being blown because she was that important to him. (i remind you his death words started with "everything i did was for me." LIKE SAVING HER THEN??? THAT WAS FOR YOU???)

and how does jentry react? poorly, yes, because she hates lies (because of gugu).

but even after that, kit is never actually forgiven. in fact, jentry uses him, and then abandons him when she achieves her goal. it felt so drastically out of whack for her character that i wondered what was happening. then he is ostracized by her, and she rejects even his friendship and acts cold to him. she cuts him off.

it really doesn't make sense for her to not even want to be his friend. she bonded with him during the doppelganger experience. they WERE friends then. then she says she wants to be normal and pursues michael even when he admits to her HE isn't normal. so that's not it either.

only the narrative is what forces her not to forgive him because the showrunners need to hit the plot points of him betraying her and him needing to sacrifice himself later. (which i would argue his sacrifice really doesn't make sense at all. if you watch that scene when kit dies in her place, WHY would he even pretend to be her? if jentry had just worn the robes instead, she would've been able to defend herself as quickly she donned them as is shown after kit-jentry is attacked. it was a needless sacrifice!)

gugu is forgiven in this same episode for her lies. why can jentry forgive gugu and not kit (prior to the betrayal)? it just doesn't fit for her character.

jentry then goes on to immediately forgive moonie for never getting into contact with her. moonie ALSO lied to her her entire life. but somehow this is forgiveable now because it works with the narrative and the plot points.

anyway. that's my biggest gripe with the show.

instead of building the narrative around jentry's character, the show built a narrative and manipulated jentry's character to make it work.

also...

the mogai-human-form design was weirdly sexist?

when possessing mr. cheng, the mogai-cheng form is ugly and malformed and disproportionate. he is not conventionally appealing or attractive. he is not the same size or shape as cheng appeared. he is wearing clothes.

when posessing jentry, the mogai-jentry form is curvaceous and slim and appealing to look at. this form is conventionally attractive. she is the same size and shape as jentry appeared. she is not wearing clothes.

all of these are choices the showrunners made. they could've made mogai-jentry much more unappealing, but they didn't. for some reason, keeping her "attractive/cool" was the choice over what the design could mean. they did make her look dangerous, i guess?

[bndingover]

SONNY ANGEL

SUMMARY :: you going on a podcast and talking about your life, career, music, and Chris

it’d been a few seconds into the podcast episode when you were asked to introduce yourself “hey! I’m y/n. Im 21 years old and I do music!” Right after you finished speaking you were bombarded with questions like “and how long have you been doing music” “what’s going on in your life right now” and “any new music updates” after taking a second to figure out how you would answer those questions you started speaking “I’ve been doing music since I was 19! Not much is going on! And I’m dropping an album soon!” You ended the sentence with your usual smile that your fans have come to love over the years “so you have two albums out? Correct?” “Yes sir! Cinna and rose gardens in my mind!” “Do you still find interest in those two albums?” “Yes! I think that they are still very good and they’re both very important to my life and my career!”

“Speaking of your life! How did all of this become?” You accidentally let out a nervous laugh before answering the question “umm I’m not sure! It’s really all just a blur in my honest opinion! I went from a 4 year old listening to my moms car ride playlist to now being in my 20s and now being on my moms car ride playlist!”

— —

“So you’re in a relationship with the very well know rapper Chris sturniolo right?” “Yes! I am!” “How did that happen” “I don’t know! It’s crazy! But umm basically apparently he’d heard one of my songs on his umm daily mix playlist and ended up reaching out to me! And now we’re a couple!” “Have you ever regretted answering his dm?” “Nope! Never! He’s great!” “Would you ever collab with him on a track or two?” “Yeah 100 percent!” “Do you often listen to his music?” “Yeah! Sometimes!” “Do you think his music is worth the listen” “uh. Yeah! Definitely!”

[rachelamberish]

Comprehensive Veilguard Review (FULL SPOILERS)

What They Got Right:

-The environments. My God, seeing some of these locations that we’ve only read about for a decade had me getting legitimately choked up just looking at them. I cried entering the Grand Necropolis. I cried at Weisshaupt. I cried at Kal Sharok. The Ossuary. The Crossroads 2 Electric Boogaloo. Just all absolutely stunning, and so lovingly crafted.

-The art direction, on top of that. They kind of go hand in hand, but genuinely, it’s great. I think the art director deserves a raise for the candlehops alone.

-The music. I love it. I know it’s not what it has been, but I think it’s fucking great. The Blight theme is far and away the best, but so many of the other tracks really fully commit to the fantasy-futurism aesthetic that has been crafted by the art direction and I think it’s so fucking cool that the music has evolved as we travel to new locations and the world of Thedas really opens up.

-Companions. I’ve spoken a little about this already. But yes, the companions are incredible. The pacing of getting to know each of them is so well executed. (It feels unfortunate that the same cannot be said about the story as a whole, really). They are each truly so memorable and I think BioWare knocking it out of the park with its companions is nothing new.

-Vocal Performances. Gareth David Lloyd should be lauded for his work as Solas. You can hear how that performance has evolved and matured over the years like a fine wine. His vicelike grasp on the nuance of that character transcends even the game’s often questionable writing. Truly incredible stuff. I also have to mention Jee Young Han for Bellara, and Bryony Corrigan and Alex Jordan for two versions of Rook. The rest of the cast is fantastic as well, those four are just so incredibly standout to me.

-This feels very specific but The Siege of Weisshaupt. That quest. Is. *chefs kiss emoji*. It’s giving game of thrones season 8 episode 4 the long night where i cant see anything but also i have existential dread!!!! Love that

-Codex entries are as well written as they ever have been, so no dip in quality of the writing there. Particularly a huge fan of the passive aggressive emails sent between Solas and the Evanuris like they were all shitty coworkers. Elgar’nan screaming “i’m the ELDEST BOY!!!” at the top of his lungs à la Kendall Roy while he and solas bicker about who was conceived of by the Fade first. Very good stuff

-Ghilan’nain is an eldritch horror lesbian witch and that is so so cool. Thank you bioware

-Maevaris Tilani

-Combat and performance. Because neither of these are story stuff, I’ll throw these together. The game performs like a fucking dream and is incredibly optimized. The combat feels amazing and I genuinely look forward to combat encounters rather than dreading them. No notes.

….The Rest, in No Particular Order:

- Morrigan forgiving her mother and the game erasing Flemeth’s nastiness was truly vomit-inducing so thanks for that one bioware

- Is Mythal good or bad bioware please answer the question and you CAN’T look at your notes

- They do get Solas mostly spot-on but Mythal is so inconceivably bad and it’s hard to divorce the two. Ironic, considering that they should be the most divorced couple that ever lived

-"Flemeth's piece of Mythal was the good version actually and was completely uncorrupted" bitch HOW?!!??!??!!?! FUCKING HOW?!?!? Literally A GAME AGO she screams at Morrigan and Lavellan about "a reckoning that will shake the heavens" promising vengeance for her betrayal because she's done nothing but stew ALONE in her anger for 2,000 years, ALSO piling on the rage and betrayals of Flemeth and (I think it's safe to presume at this point) Andraste and EVERY OTHER host she's had. If we have learned ANYTHING about spirits and "abominations" through four games it is that the spirit becomes corrupted "against its original purpose" when fused with the negative emotions of its host. What was the point of Anders, if not to foreshadow what Flemeth truly was? A spirit of justice corrupted against her purpose by living inside righteously angry women for millennia? If anything the Dagger-version of Mythal would be the uncorrupted one. Sure, she'd be lonely and pissed too but that would be the truest version to who Mythal ACTUALLY was from before. A mixed bag of grief and anger and hurt and pride. But the rage inside Flemeth's Mythal would be wild and unfettered. She would be almost unrecognizable.

-I'm moving on from Mythal now because ranting any more about her in this game is actually going to give me an aneurysm.

- Yeah this game suffers from lack of roleplay and choice carryover. It’s impossible to avoid. It was okay to suspend roleplay in a game like, say, Dragon Age 2, because Hawke as the game wrote her was such a strong personality and memorable protagonist. Rook is…. not that. Which is okay for a blank slate protagonist, but they’re also not that either. And i think they didnt commit, fully, to the idea of less roleplay. Because they *tried* to give you origin stories, but they don’t end up feeling like they truly inform the character in the way that they do in Origins, or even in Inquisition. Say what you will about Inquisition’s roleplay options, but Lavellan being Dalish DEFINES her character.

- And what do you know. Yeah. It was bad that they only let us carry over three choices. Who could have seen that one coming. It’s almost like everyone ever was like “wow. That sucks. Please reconsider.” And then they didn’t.

- And it also gets extra confusing when you realize that the three choices they said were going to matter a LOT literally don’t. At all. So that was a lie. I guess. Even Solas romancers who were being PANDERED to apparently get…like two mentions of something that feels like it should be so pervasive throughout the whole story. And one ending.

- Solavellan writing failure gets its own bullet point actually. There was so much ample opportunity for Lavellan’s presence in this story to be amplified. For the Lighthouse to contain more traces of her. In codex entries, in murals. I get that Solas probably wouldn’t talk about her to Rook much. But the fact of his yearning is downplayed when it should be overplayed. He yearns for this woman who made him think he was worth something for the first time since he took a physical body, while clouded by regret for his feelings for a long-dead woman who made him hate himself. That’s the saddest fucking story ever. Why does this game not lean into it more? I don’t know. You don’t know. None of us know.

- BioWare kind of forgot that fifty percent of the Tevinter population is slaves. What do the shadow dragons even do? There are apparently no slaves left to free!!

- BioWare kind of forgot that the Crows are very cool and yes very Italian!! 🤌🤌🤌 but also buy child slaves and turn them into soldiers by systematically weeding empathy out of them. So where was any of that.(*where is Zevran or someone who fills the role of that character. He is so desperately needed to portray the Crows with any nuance.*)

- The depiction of the Qunari/kossith, outside of Taash’s storyline (which I actually think was a very thoughtful examination of the intersection of gender and Qunari ideology), is actually the craziest most stereotypical one-note racist bullshit i’ve ever seen and i am shocked any writer allowed that to be the final product.

- You know what yes i also noticed that you couldn’t ever be mean in this game and also Rook smiles so much. She smiles when saying things she should not smile about. Idk why but that bothers me. And why are her hands always on her hips? What is she hiding

- The exposition-heavy dialogue is terrible at the start, gets way better around the first act break, then turns dangerously close back around to Avengers-style “Well, that just happened!” and it’s a mixed bag that I don’t know what to do with. I can’t blame bioware for the exposition, I’m sure that’s an EA directive of “pander to the people that want to come into the fourth installment of a series knowing nothing and not be completely lost”. But the rest…..let’s just say I can feel how many people had their hands in writing this. And I can feel it because the quality swings back and forth so wildly it gives me whiplash.

- Because of no choice carryover cameos feel like cardboard cutouts of characters. Dorian worked for me because he was doing things he would be doing anyway and it is passively mentioned that he and the Inquisitor are in close contact. Isabela is skinny like a twig now i guess (??? Hate that) and i’m happy for her whole lords of fortune thing but she is made lesser by being completely divorced from Hawke. Same for Varric, although at least he has more to do. Morrigan…………………………………………………………………anyway moving on.

- The Dalish.

- BioWare kind of forgot that Solas doesn’t hate blood magic. Doesn’t use it personally. But doesn’t hate it. Also what he does to gain a connection to Rook is LITERALLY blood magic. I don’t fucking know WHY he/the game insists that it’s not. I’m beside myself with that one.

- BioWare kind of forgot about the brewing elven uprising led by Solas that they set up at the end of Trespasser and instead now he’s a lone actor and everyone hates him. Like no. No actually some elves would have found what he was doing very cool and a great alternative to the terrible hand the world has dealt them. Perhaps all those elven Tevinter slaves you forgot to put in the game.

- BioWare kind of forgot about Briala in their rush to say “but nothing in southern thedas matters!!!”

- Cole should be in this game and the fact that he is not is actually fucking baffling.

- VERY BIG SPOILER Varric dying is fine actually and the one thing i’m literally perfectly okay with so idk why i put it down here other than it feels wrong putting this spoiler at the top lmao. But yeah that’s fine. We knew it was coming and Peepaw needed rest anyway. Good reveal, no issue there.

- Lucanis’ bugged romance ruined my life

- I made a separate post about this but Veilguard has single handedly eradicated mystery in the Dragon Age series without creating any new mystery and it’s what I’m legitimately the most sad about.

All in all, a mixed bag. I enjoyed my time with it, but it left me sad at times and not in the good way. The idea I have of Dragon Age in my head will always be more true to Dragon Age to me than this was, and I can live with that, I was just hoping for better on a lot of writing fronts.

[byoldervine]

Writing Tips - Overarching Themes

A lot of stories like to have overarching themes, such as themes of redemption, acceptance, ruthlessness, love, etc. But how do you come up with the themes for your story?

1. Don’t lose the plot. What kind of journey does your plot take your characters on? What do they achieve and what do they learn along the way? Off the top of my head Miraculous Ladybug doesn’t do a great job at portraying an overarching theme of ‘love conquers all’ when love repeatedly causes problems for the heroes (to the point of “It was our love that destroyed the world” being one of the most memorable lines) and only seems to benefit the villains. Let the plot help keep you on the right track

2. Ask a question. There are tons of themes that rely on asking a question and pitting two different virtues against each other; traditional vs modern, redemption vs damnation, nature vs nurture, etc. The theme of the story is then watching one conquer the other, or finding out where the balance lies between the two if that’s more applicable. ATLA was, of course, very good at handling the nuances in redemption and damnation; it showed people learning they need to change, people wanting to change, people choosing not to change, people trying and failing to change, and even people with the capacity to change only if they take it. The episode The Southern Raiders is also a masterclass in nuance in revenge vs forgiveness, and ultimately allows the audience to form their own conclusions

3. Add a twist. One thing that really intrigues me about EPIC: The Musical is how the overarching theme is ruthlessness vs mercy - with the lesson being that main character Odysseus needs to be more ruthless. You don’t get a lot of stories that teach ruthlessness as the good and correct answer over mercy, that you should kill a defeated opponent rather than letting them live, and that makes the story so much more interesting and unique. If you can think of a way to intentionally twist the expected outcome of your overarching theme, see if you can make it work within the story

4. It’s overarching for a reason. Make sure your overarching themes are evident in the story and impact the characters and their decisions, as well as the consequences for such. Hazbin Hotel has an obvious overarching theme of redemption, and you can see it in the way each episode plays out that redemption comes into it, whether it’s Vaggie regaining her wings when learning to fight for love rather than vengeance, Charlie giving Alastor the chance to work in the hotel despite knowing he doesn’t believe in her goals, Husk encouraging Angel’s character growth and his true nature, etc. Almost everything the characters do relates back to the theme of redemption and betterment

5. Reward the theme. Maybe in the past characters have been burned before and no longer believe in your overarching theme, but the course of the story changes their perspective. The Owl House has overarching themes of non-conformity and individualism and acceptance of those who are ‘weird’ or different, and they all culminate in Luz finally feeling understood for the first time in her life after never feeling that way. Attempts in the past to be understood have often been met with people labelling her as the weird kid or her being punished, and then throughout the story there’s a lot of people that accept Luz, but in more of an “I don’t get what you’re saying, but I get what you’re trying to say” kind of way; acceptance and understanding aren’t quite the same. And lacking acceptance has negative impacts in the story for good and bad characters alike; Luz is at her most powerful when she accepts both the human and witch side of her rather than comparing herself to Azura, Amity’s potential for redemption comes only when she accepts Luz as a witch, Belos loses his power when he’s no longer accepted by others, etc. Characters are rewarded for following the overarching theme and punished for straying

[piracytheorist]

Spy x Family 30 Day Challenge

Day 6: Favourite Soundtrack

This is actually such a freaking hard question for me to answer, exactly because I've spent so much time listening and analyzing the soundtrack that every piece I listen to I go like "Oh this has great instrumentation" or "This ties in to that moment or that other song really well" and combined with the use of themes and leitmotifs in the soundtrack, I'm just... kinda at a loss to pick one? 😅 So I guess I'll settle for three pieces I like, in no particular order!

I think I would be remiss if I didn't mention "子守唄" (Lullaby).

I mean, aside from the whole context that this song was used in...

like excuse me but how dare they

I have a confession to make: although being anime-only and avoiding manga spoilers, I had actually gotten a spoiler about that episode, that Yor would sing a song to Loid because he for some reason was sleeping or unconscious. I had no idea it would be that impactful for him, but at that point I had already listened to the available soundtrack enough times to remember the "As a mother. As a wife" song so, with the idea of a spoiler like that, I was like Damn. If the song Yor sings has this melody. If they do that. IF THEY DO THAT...

And then they did do that. Yor kicked Loid, I burst out in laughter because I hadn't expected that at all, Loid dropped unconscious and I was both shocked and a little excited because yay whump, the screen went black...

AND THEN I RECOGNIZED THE FUCKING NOTES. For half a second I was like, is it now? Is the song coming now? And from the first notes I was like YES THEY DID IT. THEY WROTE YOR'S SONG INTO A LULLABY.

Of course, I didn't have a lot of time to react to that because baby Loid was shown immediately after and I quite lost my cool at that point. Even more so when he said that he recognized the song.

But yeah, this was an absolutely brilliant way to incorporate Endo's idea of the lullaby into the anime, especially if you've paid enough attention to the soundtrack already. They prepare you with the soft tune that plays in some of Yor's moments, and then they just HIT YOU SMACK ON THE FACE with that scene. Absolutely fantastic, 10/10 would lose my entire mind again.

Next, I will have to go with the "main theme", aka STRIX.

I am in love with this piece. It's fast-paced, it's exciting, it's rich, it sets a magnificent theme, it introduces the "spy leitmotif" that we next hear in "serious" mode with Loid and "playful" mode with Anya, the part at 1:30 is just... MY GOD. TERRIFIC. And all just in less than two minutes and thirty seconds. Absolute banger of a main theme.

Last but certainly not least, I'll pick the "little by little" piece.

FAMILY THEME MY BELOVED.

No but for real the fact that the composers created a leitmotif that centers around family, and specifically the Forgers?? My musician heart swells and melts with it. And they made it into a soft theme, because for this family the main theme is that they make each other feel at home, feel safe, feel welcomed and protected, and so the music mirrors that.

Also, important video to watch regarding the soundtrack 👀👀 (so that all that stuff I say about leitmotifs makes sense to y'all)

Finally, I'll add some honourable mentions because they really nailed that jazz (jazz noir sometimes!) feel, and I hope they add more tracks like these as the seasons go on: WISE, Liar, Disguise, Ponder, Berlint, Gorgeous step, Try again, and The Forgers.

[insomniac-djmm]

Omg I saw that you accepted my request! Thank you so much :3. Soo I have another BATIM ask for sammy x reader (he’s my favorite) Sammy x artist reader? They can just draw casually or be an art department person or anything else I don’t mind

(btw I love your writing style so much!)

A Musical Muse: Sammy Lawrence X Artist! Reader

Summary: Sammy's lover has always had a knack for creating things, especially pictures. After a while of art block, they find inspiration in the man closest to them.

Character: Sammy Lawrence - Bendy and the Ink Machine franchise

Warnings: None! :)

Genre: Fluff

Author's Note: Thank you so much for your request, I really appreciate it! I absolutely LOVE writing for Sammy, he's got to be one of my all-time favorite characters! Thank you so, so, so much for the compliment on my writing style, by the way! It means so much to me! I hate to say it, but I did put this off until two days ago and did it during an all-nighter, so it's gonna be short and sweet, sorry :( I wanted it to be a bit longer, but I wrote the last sentence and thought that was a sweet way to end it :)Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Word Count: 509 words

"Uugghhh..." Y/N groaned, falling back onto their bed, holding their sketchbook and pencil in the air. For almost a month now, they would sit down with snacks and their art supplies, ready to draw, but the moment they picked up their pencil...

Nothing.

Their brain came up with nothing.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't think of a single thing they wanted to or felt like drawing. Either that, or they got side-tracked. "Curse you, art block..." They groaned, letting their arms flop down beside them.

"Art block?" Sammy spoke up, having just then walked into their room. It was one of those rare occasions when Joey let him actually leave the studio instead of staying in the Artists' Rest, which was a good thing because he hardly got any sleep in there anyways, and it gave him more time with his darling.

"Goodness, it's a horrible thing." Sammy winced, recalling his own episodes of experiencing art block. When you do creative work for a living, art block is the last thing you want to experience, and Sammy had his fair share of scuffs with the involuntary lack of creativity.

"Yeah... Got it right now." Y/N sighed, sitting up now as their legs dangled off of the edge of their bed. "That was rather apparent." Sammy chuckled, making his observation clear.

"I just... Ugh! I wanna draw something, but I can't think of anything at all!" They exclaimed, the frustration clear in their voice.

"I'm sure you just need to give it some time." Their lover offered a smile. "It usually clears up on its own." "Sammy, it's been a month now-"

"Oh-"

He took a moment, pausing. "Well, my dear, have you not yet come across something, perhaps... Particularly inspiring? Something that would get your mind going again?" He asked. "Perhaps revisiting a source of media you enjoy could get you back into it." Y/N paused, nodding. "Yeah, maybe." They glanced to their sketchbook before looking back to Sammy.

Maybe it was the way the artificial light from the overhead lamp hit his eyes, his patient smile, his soft hair. Maybe it was what he said about finding a source of inspiration.

Either way, they'd just found their source of inspiration, and it was him.

They smiled, and Sammy gave them a curious sort of expression.

"Actually... Would you mind if I drew you?" They asked, picking up their paper and pencil. "I wouldn't mind at all, dear." Sammy chuckled, feeling a bit flattered that his darling would project such creativity onto a piece of his likeness.

"That's great because you're gonna be there for a bit." They laughed.

"Oh!" He chuckled, shaking his head with amusement.

And for about 30 minutes he sat there as Y/N sketched his likeness onto their paper. The curve of his smile, the glow of his eyes, and the warmth he made them feel - they projected it all into their work.

After all, you know what they say.

Drawings are the love language of an artist.

[spaceorphan18]

The Lady Whistledown Papers : 1x01 - A Diamond of the First Water (Part 3)

Hi! Welcome back to The Lady Whistledown Papers, where I'm taking an in-depth look at Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton's character arcs and romance within the show Bridgerton!

For previous issues, follow tag : The Lady Whistledown Papers

Girls Like You

Jumping back in, we start off with a montage of suitors for both Daphne and Marina set to Maroon 5's Girls Like You. Usually, I have some great thoughts on the use of music within shows but this one feels... just like a fun little pop song to put to a montage? Most of the lyrics involve -- needing a girl like you -- and -- yeah yeah yeah. It's not the most profound song, but it works nicely for the montage.

Also, I love when they match the Featherington girls' dresses. I'd love the backstory as to why Portia is obsessed with citrus fruits.

As a nice touch, when the LW voice over starts, the camera pushes in on Penelope. I kind of love all the hints they give that LW is Pen -- it's incredibly obvious once you start looking for them. Anyway, Penelope is so devilish here. She loves the attention Marina is getting - not only because she finds Marina a nice person, but because it's pissing her mother off. I love that the LW narration is Pen's way of throwing salt in her mothers' wound. It's a bit wicked. And delicious.

What's somewhat wild, though, is that LW goes after the Queen about her choice of Daphne as a diamond. THE QUEEN! Like, that is bold, Pen. Incredibly bold. She even throws shade at King George, like wow. It's no wonder the Queen is obsessed to track her down. Pen's playing with fire here. But I wonder if she doesn't realize, yet, that there can be consequences to her words? I mean - right now, LW is almost like her journaled words being published -- unedited thoughts that aren't necessarily filtered, but are done so anonymously. The only reactions she's really getting are her mother's frustrations -- which she delights in.

It'll be interesting to watch the LW development as the show continues...

Courting I

Awww, it's our first real Polin scene of the show! And it's... like ten seconds long. But! Still plenty to dig through.

Colin's decided to call on Marina - I'm assuming he's the one (or one of the ones really) who brought her flowers. And during one of the suitor's atrocious poems, Colin's throwing Pen (and you could argue Eloise) looks. Like, can you believe this guy? Seriously?

But, no, I love that there's this layer of non-verbal communication right off the bat. Colin isn't just some random dude Pen has had a crush on from afar. They have an established relationship from the onset (which I'll talk about more in a sec) and how many times -- cutting through the ridiculous nature of the society they live in, do they shoot each other knowing looks.

They grew up together, and while Colin probably very much thinks of her as an additional sister at this point -- there's a comfort there that he can express how he's feeling over the situation to her.

A quick second about the dog - it took me a sad amount of times to realize that one of the suitors had brought it as a gift. It also doesn't show up after this episode (I think) so I really hope it's safely living at a neighbor's house after Portia decides to get rid of it.

Anyway... I was thinking about Eloise in this scene. Why is she even in this scene, she doesn't need to be. Well, actually, in a way, she does! First of all - we can appreciate Claudia Jessie's fantastic comedic skills (Btw - anyone else up for a buddy comedy with Claudie Jessie and Nicola Coughlan? Because I sure am here for it).

Secondly, it helps reestablish that Pen and Eloise are bffs. Which helps establish why Colin would otherwise randomly come up to talk to her after calling hour is over. This is the first episode of the series, and all of these relationships are being established. And it can be done without dialogue having to confirm it. It's all subtle, but it's better than the trap of over explaining things in expository dialogue.

Anyway, I want some backstory... How often do Eloise and Pen sneak over to each other's houses? They were children when they met - how often did Pen play over at the Bridgerton house? It's interesting that children are allowed some freedoms that once you get older, aren't allowed anymore. I have to wonder - if one reason that Pen and Colin are so free with each other later on is that because they they were children together, and probably played together as kids, they don't feel as bound by society's rules because they didn't have to when they were younger.

And now I just have all of these headcanons about a much younger Colin chasing his sister(s) and Pen who is visiting around the house in the way siblings do. And Eloise deciding she wants to take revenge, and she and Pen coming up with plots to play pranks on her brother(s). Think of Gregory and Hyacinth at the beginning of the episode, running around causing havoc. And I can just imagine that Eloise and Colin are a lot like that, too. And of course, Pen, who wanted to be away from her own family, from her own sisters who treated her like a disease, would want to be a part of it as much as she could.

Before I get into their exchange, a small, but important detail is what Portia says a moment before -- she encourages the young men to acknowledge her other daughters in hopes that someone will notice Prudence or Phillipa. But the way she includes Penelope's name -- "or even Penelope" -- it's an after thought. It's like, oh yeah, I have a third child I guess if you really want to acknowledge her, go ahead, but meh, who cares. It's so sad, really that Portia thinks so little of her at this point in time.

But then here's the kicker -- not one of these suitors even takes a glance over in Prudence or Phillipa's direction. But Colin takes a moment to full on have a short aside with Penelope. He makes it a point to go over to her to share a laugh -- because they'd probably been rolling their eyes at each other during all of this suitor business, and now that the official courting moment is over, they can have an exchange.

The fact that Portia is so blind to what goes on with her youngest daughter is the reason LW works. Penelope is left to really be on her own - and while that's devastatingly lonely, it also allows her a freedom that other women her age and place in society don't get.

Anyway, back to Colin -- and the fact that the first thing he does is seek out Penelope. He could address his own sister, who is sitting right there, but he doesn't. Because Eloise probably usually ignores him. Penelope doesn't. She latches on to pretty much everything he says, and that's gonna be a big deal for Colin (but we'll get there...)

Their exchange is only a couple of lines, but they're able to be witty with each other. Penelope mentions that the suitor is no Lord Byron (and -- guys, as an aside, if you want a wild time, look up the life and times of Lord Byron and the Shelleys. It's just... a good time...) Anyway, Colin's face subtly shifts in this moment. Her wit and intelligence is impressive, and he clocks that. It's why he keeps coming back to her - because they can share similar thoughts - but also she's deeply amusing on top of that.

And, oh, dear Penelope... Her eyes never leave him. She is just so, so gone. Not only is she just over the moon that he comes to stop to talk to her, not only is she gazing adoringly up at him during the quick exchange, her look lingers as he leaves. Of course, part of this is visual storytelling to show the depths of her feelings. But, we're beyond crush stuff here -- this girl has got it bad.

Seriously -- how does Eloise not notice all of this? I mean, plot purposes, yes, and the fact that Eloise is usually caught up in her own drama to really notice other things. But you'd think you'd notice your best friend being moony for brother after a while. Because, Pen, girl, you wear your heart on your sleeve...

Courting II

Before we get into the meat of this short, little moment - I have to mention the transition. In the scene before, Simon and Anthony were talking, and Anthony mentions that he's not worried about taking a wife because he has brothers... And we cut to this scene where Colin is courting Marina. And, I think it's a neat little transition because - we see Colin doing something that Anthony is actively not doing. Looking for a wife. (Or at least a romantic partner)

That's the thing about Colin -- he is a romantic. Unlike Anthony, whose position is different because he is the oldest and therefore there's more responsibility there, and therefore he'd rather not deal with it at all (and who has a ton of trauma going on in addition) and unlike Benedict, who is kind of caught up in finding himself more than anything, Colin (who is young still at this point) likes the idea of a wife and a partner and a domestic home.

It's one (of many - I'll get to it) reason he is so quick to propose to Marina. It's why he doesn't fuck around ages later when he figures out his feelings for Penelope. It's actually something Colin and Penelope have in common -- they both have a shared love of romance.

Okay, so onto this moment, I want to note the blocking of the scene. Notice how Penelope is on the floor, playing with the dog? It's purposeful! It positions her to reflect that she's still a child, or at least a child when compared to Colin and Marina on the couch, deep in their courting moment. It highlights the chasm currently between them -- something Marina will bring up later, that Penelope is still a child, a younger sister, not serious marriage prospect in Colin's eyes.

There's Lady Whistledown narration going over this scene -- where LW proclaims that Colin might be rewarded with the prize of Marina. And we see Penelope watching with a mix of emotion.

Penelope was having fun with all the suitors back when there were a ton of them and they were spouting bad poetry. But now that it's just Colin and Marina, the knife twists a bit in Pen's heart. She's playing with the puppy, as a way to pretend she's not that interested, but she's dutifully watching. And yes, a small part of it is her LW ways. A bigger part of it is to watch the development of this particular courtship. And, a third part of it is that there's a twisted sense of -- I may hate every thing about what's happening, but we're still in the same room together. She doesn't miss opportunities to be near Colin whenever she can.

The LW narration is somewhat brutal and almost petty. Pen is mocking Marina through the guise of carefully placed compliments. (Note - Julie Andrews doesn't oversell it the narration, but the hint of sarcasm is there.) Again, they did a great job at layering the narration over Pen's face, so we literally are hearing what she's thinking.

Here's the other thing about the narration :: 'It has come to my ears that Mr. Colin Bridgerton will win the grand prize when he sweeps Miss Thompson off her pretty, little, slippered feet.'

There's a lot in that little sentence. Pen is watching Colin and Marina laugh together. And that is hard for Pen -- because we saw it even in the first scene they have together. They laugh, have in-jokes, seek each other out and share cute, sweet little moments. Sure -- we know (or will be told) that Colin is flirty in general, he cracks jokes, makes people seem at ease, and is genuinely kind to everyone. But Pen has taken a lot of those interactions for herself, has buried them away as something special between the two of them.

Colin flirting out during promenades (or whenever) is kind of a distant thing. Pen having a front row seat to watch Colin lay his natural charm at a serious romantic partner is something else entirely. She hates it. And that's why she turns away, because it's a bit too much. And yet, she doesn't leave -- because she can't.

Also, ALSO! The - sweep her off her feet - comment in the narration. Marina will find Colin a bit fun, but it's a nice connection. And I do think she likes Colin. But she's not really swept off her feet. Pen was the one who got swept off her feet. I just... think they did a great job keeping up the duality of having LW be her own thing and having it really reflect Pen's inner thoughts.

So on that angsty note... one more post about the first episode to wrap it up, then we can move on!! See -- I told you there's a lot in this first episode!

[g0g0at]

Malevolent part 48 spoilers live blog

Oooooh I’ve heard good things about this episode

Starting off strong with Arthur coughing his lungs up

BLOOD?! TUBERCULOSIS

Spooky hallwayyyyy

John is gonna take the lead this episode it seems

Ooooh more people?

Oh someone is speaking!

Kinda thought they would all have sewn lips

Who’s that?

This is more characters in one space at a time

Moreeeeeeee voicessss

Bro just straight up dying and these guys don’t bat an eye

Oooh ok so they’re all waiting

“Speaking of sick, who are you?”

Gerard? A vin- a what?

A WEEK??

So much for being late

Oooh I’m liking these voices

He sounds like s1 Arthur

Friendly Friar

I am gonna lose track of these characters so quick

Forgotten all their names already

Oh my god Arthur

There’s so much talking this is really different (not in a bad way)

Get a snack Arthur PLEASE

The witch?

Oh wait that guy is French

Spooky lady at the bottom of the stairs…

Slay the princess reference omg

I love this music

Who is this

This is making me think of the green knight

I actually do kinda need this layout refresher it’s hard to keep track

Hmmmm many characters to ask

Lengwood does not like him BHAHAHAH

EWWW

John is in support mode hehe

I do kinda like this character he’s interesting

Are they gonna get picked off one by one

“It’s only death” Arthur like “yes indeed, I died just the other day!”

I’m very curious about this Everard now

Hmmm well John and Arthur are seeking answers

Ah he knows… maybe

Ooh that’s ominous

Oooh someone is coming……….

Everard?

Modern… interesting

Oooh this is so ominous I’m loving this

“No issue navigating” interesting…

Something about the way he says consonants scratches my brain

Seems Arthur fits the Warren role well

Mmm an architect

“Short while” BEHHAHAHS that feels like a roast ngl

So we have a friar, warren, architect, doctor (?), anstronomer

These guys are gonna be a big help me thinks…

“Visions the others cannot comprehend” want a bet

Ooooh what will it be

Black stone teehee

“I am not affiliated with the order?” Order of the fallen star?

Yep

Arthur accidentally getting himself drawn into a cult smh

Tomorrow night… well that’ll be next episode I assume

Arthur is probably gonna try take it… maybe

Uh they can’t give him the ring from the order hmmm

Loving that they’re working with non verbal communication as apposed to IGNORING EACHOTHER

Uh oh…

Making note of the scars

Ngl Arthur that’s not the BEST excuse

Ah they’re stuck with eachother for a bit

Hope those walls are soundproof…

John was doing a description!

Mmm yeah I wonder what getting evolved with great ones would do to your faith…

Calling him a heathen HAHA

Arthur is back in the game YEAAAAH

Well maybe…

One of these guys is gonna get murdered FOR SURE

They’re going to pick eachother off

John needs to NOT sleep tonight he’s gonna need to play watch dog

Arthur admitting he’s not ok? Wow who’da thought. Character development!

Who’s moving around

“Sit” “it helps me think” I liked that little exchange idk

Why are you talking about football

He’s trying to get them to fight for it?

Mmmmm so it’s a test?

CALLLLLLLED IT

Murder mystery!!!

Who got murdered?

You think John suspects the power won’t work anymore?

It didn’t with the witch…

Or maybe he’s just nervous to go through it

Man they’re all pointing fingers smh

Ooooh it’s a who done it heheheh

RIP Lengwood

Friar might have done it but he could be a red herring

Well that’s a bloody murder you would get a little blood on you for that

These guys would not solve shit without Arthur

Common interest…

Ah ok order stuff

Devious devious

Ah the ring!!

Arthur can use their’s if necessary

Well shouldn’t you look at Lengwood’s corpse?

Yes yes

OH FUCK

You two need to get rid of that ring

ARTHUR YOU’RE MAKING YOURSELF LOOK SUSPICIOUS

AURGHHHHHH

Arthur has an alibi but you lot can’t hear him!

Friar answered way too quick

“Don’t you mean again” BHAHAHHAHA

John is reluctant to touch the body… does the power not work anymore..?

Ditch the ring!!! Ditch it!! You don’t need it!! Or hide it in your shoe or some shit

SHOE PUT IT IN YOUR SHOE

WHY DID HE JUST DUMP IT

Barnabus jumpscare

Why you grabbing him like that stop that

This guys is a bit creepy

These guys have a guilty before innocent thing

“He studies your face with a cleverness. It’s hidden slightly, behind the veneer of alcohol” nice line I like that

They’re gonna buddy up?

There’s gonna be a brawl or something

Arthur you’re toeing a dangerous line

Everard WANTS you guys to be picked off, he’s not a good alibi

“I’m excited for you to see” the dead body????

Cool chapel? Sounds like it could be?

Oh Lengword woods

“His body is sprawled upon the steps, face to the side in grotesque tableau of agony. His face wears a horrible scream.” Great imagery goddamn

No ring… damn

You guys are bad at investigating stuff

Yeah they’re gonna wanna check your bag probably

How would they explain away Yorick?? “Hey sorry yeah that’s just my severed head, he’s chill dw”

Why is Elia on body disposal duty

Bro is poking at Baranabus BHAHAHAH get FUCKED

Loving the non-verbal communication between these two

What IS Arthur doing

HE’S GONNA PLANT IT. Or something similar

Oh Arthur you sneaky SNEAKY bastard

Clever clever

Everard just dipped BAHHAHHA

I know this is just how Arthur is in his element but also he fits the Warren role

So much for touching the body…

Why do people keep asking him if he’s a good person

Kayne? Horig? Or maybe the KiY??

Omg wait maybe is it Horig…

He was taken to the dreamlands?? Maybe…

OH WHAT THE FUCK

Why’d he do that?

Horrifying imagery, love it

BAHAHA HE’S JUST FLOATING

Well you missed your opportunity

“All you worship the way I do” ehhh Arthur not so much

Dang Everard is a horrid host

So someone else might die overnight

Your alibi really ditched you BAHHAHA

So Barnabus did do it? Maybe

Oooooh black stone next episode!!

[sunbloomdew]

beach episode spoilers below cut a collection of random thoughts :]

kudos to roxie and rob for being great friends to eva, reaching out to her and taking her on that vacation. we don't know who was calling eva in the starting screen but it was probably one of them or members of her family. it could have also been quincy! i've been thinking how they could help each other out while grieving :( i'm glad she has people she can count on in her life

also i really like that the beach episode gave us more roxie and rob moments, showing us more of their characters!! i love that they got more chances to be goofy <3 rob especially since in previous games, when he had lines of dialogue he was stoic and serious, and here we get to see that he matches roxie's freak kshfskfhskj

im wondering if eva left her job at sigmund after neil's death, since she'd had to get a new partner. plus this whole thing going down would definitely change how she feels about her job... i wonder if she ever briefly considered signing up with sigmund for a life where neil lived.

and last but not least: what the hell did angus mean by "... who's still alive, that is..." what is the fate of sigcorp

and i gotta say, while im a tinyyyyy bit disappointed over there not being a lot of new music tracks in the game, i really enjoyed hearing music from the previous games. and the title theme GOES HARD

thank you for reading this assortment of thoughts

[girlstuffnorp]

Julie and the Phantoms Song Recs: McFly Songs that are Sunset Curve/JATP Coded

So, McFly are a big British pop/rock band that have been around since 2003, and are still releasing music and touring at the time of writing in 2024. I saw them perform live in 2023, and loved it. 💖 That tour was to celebrate the release of the most recent album (at the time of writing) - Power To Play - and listening to that album immediately gave me Sunset Curve vibes, and then I subsequently realised that they had been making Sunset Curve/JATP-coded songs throughout their whole career. 🥺💖

Edit: So, McFly are really popular in Brazil, and they released a song with popular Brazilian band Fresno in 2023 as part of the Power To Play album - Broken By You... and I've just discovered that Fresno actually had a cameo in Julie e os Fantasmas (the original Brazilian show that Julie and the Phantoms was adapted from) in episode 3, so this whole post has gained a lot more validity in a '6 degrees of separation' kind of way 😍👏

I wanted to make a list of songs that I could see Sunset Curve/JATP performing/recording for their potential albums, some that just remind me of the boys, and some fun gems in between - these are all my personal preferences/opinions, so you may think differently, but here is the current tracklist in no particular order. (All with YouTube links of varying quality since a lot of the music videos/live performances give Sunset Curve/JATP vibes too IMO. All [except one] of these songs are also on Spotify etc.):

🎶 God of Rock & Roll (link here) (Screams Sunset Curve for me)

🎶 Where Did All The Guitars Go? (link here) (Also screams Sunset Curve for me)

🎶 Air Guitar (as McBusted with Busted) (link here) (Always reminded me of when the boys realised that people could see them play with Julie)

🎶 Ghostbusters (Live cover of song by Ray Parker Jr.) (link here) (On Youtube, but sadly not on streaming) (Maybe a bonus/hidden track on the album or they would exclusively play live at the gigs - I couldn't not share it because it's awesome from start to finish, and the boys would totally cover it as a joke 👻Also, imagine the boys getting the crowd to do call-and-response with them - iconic 😍)

🎶 I'll Be Ok (link here) (Gives me vibes of the boys helping each other through their crappy family lives in the 90s 🥺)

🎶 Five Colours In Her Hair (link here) (The song written during a jam session - the boys just having a laugh)

🎶 Make It Out Alive (link here) (As soon as I first heard this, the angst and melodrama of the song gave me vibes of the boys being cursed and under Caleb's control at the HGC 🥺)

🎶 Route 55 (link here) (A song all about friends having a great time together during an endless summer)

🎶 Don't Stop Me Now (Charity single cover of Queen) (link here) (They would have totally covered Queen during their jam sessions - respecting some of the best but putting their own fun spin on things 😂)

🎶 Transylvania (link here) (This song always gives me HGC vibes - so gothic and melodramatic, and Dougie's vocals in the chorus?? 😍)

🎶 Party Girl (link here) (Such a guilty pleasure song of mine~ This music video is slightly NSFW since it contains clips of the band's infamous vampire-themed short film that they all starred in 2010 to promote their album at the time [which even the band realise was a bad idea in hindsight, since it was clearly riding the Twilight wave]... but! Listening to this song also gives me ideas for a possible evil Julie possessed/controlled by Caleb - maybe sometime I will write them down~ 👀)

🎶Tonight Is The Night (link here) (A spiritual sequel to I'll Be Ok in my mind - when the boys realise that they're not really okay and need to ask for help to process all the shit that has happened to them - think what Luke went through in Unsaid Emily [and what we presume Alex and Reggie would go through in subsequent seasons] and the boys helping each other through it 🥺)

🎶 Too Close For Comfort (link here) (The obligatory break-up song on an album, and this performed live is everything - just heartbreaking 🥺)

🎶 Umbrella (Live cover of song by Rihanna) (link here) (Julie gives the boys a lesson in popular music during the 25 years that they've been dead, and they decide to surprise her with a fun rock cover of Umbrella to cheer her up one day)

🎶 The Heart Never Lies (link here) (The dramatic love song on an album that is really about the band's bond and sticking together through thick and thin)

🎶 Falling In Love (link here) (The love song that has a music video full of tour footage, which always make me think of the boys in Sunset Curve absolutely loving playing for a crowd, and the bridge/quiet part of the song giving the vibe of Julie, Luke, Alex and Reggie cherishing the moment at the end of Stand Tall before the boys cross over 🥺)

🎶 One For The Radio (link here) (The defiant song for everyone who dismissed Sunset Curve and JATP - I could imagine this as a song written in response to either record companies who wouldn't sign Sunset Curve/JATP, Bobby/Trevor or Caleb. It also gives me vibes of the boys appearing back onto the stage of the Orpheum to perform Stand Tall with Julie - defiant celebration)

🎶 Lies (link here) (The break-up song that gives me vibes of the boys standing up to Caleb. Also is it just me, or does Tom [you can see him at around 0:43 in the video] give Luke vibes in his styling? 😍)

🎶 Forever's Not Enough (link here) (The true love song that Luke writes for Julie, but will never admit that it's for her because he makes the lyrics vague enough 💖)

Tagging @ri-jane @phantomwriter95 @hemeraomara @1mnobodywhoareyou @legolasghosty

@floating-in-the-blue @60sec400

[warningsine]

We Are Lady Parts, a British series about an introverted engineering Ph.D. student who is roped into playing the guitar for a local all-women Muslim punk band known as Lady Parts, was one of the most delightful and original television debuts of 2021. Its absence these past three years has been deeply felt—but luckily, Lady Parts is now back onstage, returning with a second season of antics and self-discovery, streaming on Peacock (in the U.S.) and Channel 4 (in the U.K.).

Music has always played a major role in the series thanks to Nida Manzoor, We Are Lady Parts’ showrunner and creator, who, alongside her siblings, also writes and supervises the music for the show. Season 1 blessed us with original songs like “Bashir With the Good Beard” and “Voldemort Under My Headscarf.” Not only are there some great new additions in the second season—from “Malala Made Me Do It” to “Villain Era”—but the music this time around boasts both a tighter sound and a stronger voice. There are even some standout covers, like a stunning punk take on Britney Spears in Episode 3. Slate chatted with Manzoor to discuss We Are Lady Parts’ musical evolution, a surprise (and instantly iconic) cameo, and how we can pay homage to the trailblazers who came before us. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Slate: While music has always been the central impetus of the show, it seems to drive even more of the plot this season. After establishing themselves and growing a fan base, the members of Lady Parts are trying to make the band a real deal by recording a debut record. This means that you got to play with the music a bit more this season. For example, there are a few more cheeky covers in there. What was your intention with writing and supervising the music this season?

Nida Manzoor: Music is at the heart of the show. It’s the heart of Season 1, and I had such a joyful experience writing the songs with my brother and sister. For Season 2, I wanted to challenge us, and thereby challenge the band. I wanted the songs to be more complex. I brought in my collaborators more on a ground level. All I came with were song titles and styles. I wanted to do a Western-sounding song called “Malala Made Me Do It” because I wanted to see the band just be silly and go different places. With the song “Glass Ceiling Feeling,” which comes later on in the show, I wanted to see the band feel like they’ve evolved from Season 1. Moving away from their traditional punk songs and seeing them explore different ways of expressing themselves was really exciting to me.

Let’s talk about “Malala Made Me Do It.” The sentiment sort of reads as an alternative to the mantra “What would Jesus do?” in so many clever ways. How did this idea come about? What does “Malala made me do it” mean to you?

“Malala Made Me Do It” was one of the first ideas I even had for Season 2, before I had any other deeper story ideas. And then, as I was writing the script with Bisma’s story arc, where we see her being challenged as a mother with her daughter moving into adolescence, I wanted to explore this idea of motherhood and her tension through the song. But with the song itself, I was like, “It’s just going to be a Malala hype track. I want it to celebrate this incredible woman who’s done so much real, meaningful work for girls and women.”

I must spoil this moment for readers because I have to ask about Malala’s cameo in the show during the fantasized music video for “Malala Made Me Do It.” What was your pitch to Malala to get her on the show? 

Initially, I had no intention to reach out to Malala. I was like, “She’s not going to want to be in the show. She’s a very serious person in the world.” But then I went to a talk of hers, and she was expressing her love of comedy, and she had this incredible dark sense of humor, this great wit. And I’m like, “Maybe I have a chance for Malala to be in the show.” So I wrote her a long letter of why I’d love her to be in the show and how I think she’s an inspiration, and sensing her love of comedy really emboldened me to do that.

She was immediately like, “Yeah, let’s do this,” and was so chill, so kind and gracious on the day. So full of love, so easy to work with. I feel like there’s a lot of reverence around her, but she’s a woman in her 20s—she contains multitudes. She does a lot of meaningful, serious work, but she’s also a really fun, joyful person. I really wanted to celebrate that.

Speaking of celebrating women, one of the focal storylines in the season, with the character of Sister Squire, explores what it means to pay homage to those who have come before you by doing something meaningful with the space that they’ve created. Who are some of your inspirations that you tried to honor with this show, particularly with Season 2?

One person for me is the actor who plays Sister Squire, Meera Syal. She is a comedy legend and hero of mine. She co-created a sketch show called Goodness Gracious Me, which is all about the South Asian experience. It was so witty. The show was so inspiring because it was impressive, it was cool, it was edgy. It made me, as a young brown girl, feel cool. To get to have her play Saira’s hero in the show was honestly a dream come true. Between working with her and Malala, I was like, “I can retire now.”

In terms of women in punk specifically, there’s the singer of the band X-Ray Spex, Poly Styrene. She was a woman of color in punk in the ’70s. It was just so rare. Her music really talks about identity, self-expression, these really meaningful feminist themes. It’s so contemporary, yet she was writing this stuff in the ’70s with such a playful tongue-in-cheek vibe. She’s been a hero and inspiration as well, making the show.

I want to talk about the covers this season. You cover three of my favorite songs: “The Reason,” by Hoobastank; “More Than Words,” by Extreme; and then, of course, “Oops!…I Did It Again,” by Britney Spears. How did you decide what songs to cover? 

I knew I wanted to do a Britney cover. I am a millennial, I came up at a time when Britney was just everything and a goddess and a queen and so much a part of my childhood. Getting to do a cover of her song, but in a punk way, was just joyful. I think it was one of the most fun days to shoot on set because we felt like we were getting to perform such a brilliant and iconic song, but also making it Lady Parts, in those iconic costumes with their suits. Even now, when I rewatch the show and when I was working in the edit, just watching the Britney performance was my favorite thing. It was everything.

Hoobastank, “The Reason,” it’s just that classic early 2000s, very cheesy, but still such a great tune. It was so fun to get to honor that song and that band because they were such a formative part of my childhood. It was something my sister suggested. We were initially going to write an original that Amina sings to Ahsan. She’s like, “Oh, it should sound like Hoobastank’s ‘The Reason.’ ” I’m like, “Wait, Hoobastank’s ‘The Reason’ is perfect. Why don’t we just try and get that song?” Because it’s nostalgic and brilliantly cheesy and it’s perfect for the rom-com storyline. So that was a no-brainer.

Oh my God, do you remember the music video for “More Than Words”? Black and white and the two of those guys with their long hair and guitar. Again, such an iconic moment growing up. That song was so phenomenal. So much of making Lady Parts is an excuse to just bring in all the music I loved growing up, and that was one of those songs that I would watch the music video for and just sing along to. Me and my siblings would sing those harmonies. So, again, it was like, “Oh, I love this song. Can I have it in my show?” It’s such a romantic song, and having Amina and Billy play that and sing that to each other was perfect for the story.

Throughout Season 1, music was a way for the members of Lady Parts to get what they really wanted, whether it was control or creative agency or freedom from self-imposed religious ideals and traditions. Would you say that it still serves the same purpose this season, or does it function slightly differently?

I hadn’t thought of that. I definitely wanted the music of Season 2 to feel like an evolution. I still think music is a way that we see the characters express themselves and express their frustration with how they feel they’re boxed in and limited. With a song like “Glass Ceiling Feeling” or “Villain Era,” it’s that traditional pop-punk sound, but what was new and different was that it was Amina leading that song, so you got to see her really enter her villain era and lead it. “Malala Made Made Me Do It,” for me, was a big move away from Season 1. I was like, “What if Lady Parts did a Western?” It was just trying to push and evolve the music from Season 1, but, in much the same way, I wanted the songs to feel organic, coming out of the storyline and the truth of the characters and grounding it in their experiences.

We wanted the songs to be fun, but we wanted them to also evolve from Season 1 in terms of style and complexity. All the songs are much more difficult to play in Season 2. The actors really upped their game because the songs are faster, they’re more intricate, there were more harmonies in them, so there was a level of difficulty that was much higher this season. But I think, in many ways, the songs operate in a similar vein of allowing the characters to express themselves through music.

[ducktracy]

What's your favorite SpongeBob episode/track?

GOOD QUESTION!!! my favorite episode as of right now is probably Texas! i think it has such a great balance of everything i love about the show, i absolutely adore the way it is drawn/looks, the humor is sharp and memorable, it really places such a big emphasis on character and their motivations and conflicts, and i ESPECIALLY love the novelty of it being scored with Junior Brown’s music!! they brought a guest musician in to do the soundtrack!! HOW COOL!! i’m a big fan of steel guitars, particularly in Hawaiian music and old (‘30s-‘60s) country music and this episode combines both so charmingly. and, of course, the episode has such a great heart to it :’) just look at this and tell me your heart doesn’t swell immediately

other episodes i particularly love are Ripped Pants, Jellyfishing, Plankton!, Walking Small, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II, Bubble Buddy, Christmas Who?, The Algae’s Always Greener, Plankton's Army, Have You Seen This Snail?, Mimic Madness, Bunny Hunt and Mind the Gap. THIS IS ALL A VERY SELECT FEW THOUGH and there are a lot of episodes i haven't seen in many years that i bet i love just as fervently and forgot to mention. i also can't think of an episode that i truly, genuinely dislike or can't watch. i need to catch up with a bunch of post-sequel episodes since that's around when i stopped consistently watching the show (which isn't the show's fault necessarily, there was just a hiatus for a bit and i was finally becoming a teenager who didn't spend every waking hour watching SpongeBob when that was happening). but realistically you could throw every episode from s1-3 up there as a favorite. and more beyond that! i love the Sponge unconditionally and always have

AS FOR TRACKS. OHOHOHO. SpongeBob production music was one of my first online hyperfixations as a young'un and so i can, have, and maybe one day will talk about the music in this show for hours. it's so hard for me to narrow it down. but i'll say two overwhelming favorites are this:

and this one:

BOTH VERY NOSTALGIC TRACKS FOR ME.. i think the first one maybe wins out since it's more prominent and thusly associated with more "widespread" nostalgia, but i have a very special love of the second one because i remember it being impossible to find. the only copy available once upon a time (like, 12 years ago) was a very garbled and Bad mix of it cut up from various episodes, and even then, it was revolutionary to have THAT since i remember when it was still an "unknown track". so the fact that we can listen to it cleanly now still kinda blows my mind HAHA

here are some others i love that i would feel bad for excluding, SOOO:

[masterj]

i'm kinda new to the chuggington fandom. i used to own the episodes on dvd but idk where they went. anyway! I figured it'd be cool to hear the thoughts of someone invested in the show, to get a new perspective on it, so i myself could become more invested! do you have any thoughts you'd share to an amateur train appreciator??

OMGOSH 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀WELCOME ABOARD!!!!! 🚅🚄🚈🚃🚂🚂🚂😄😄😄

I've been into the show since 2011-2012 I think... pretty sure before Cars 2 came out- or maybe after... memory's a bit rough in that area. I was first exposed to the show by my younger cousin who watched it on Disney Junior, or at the time, Playhouse Disney, and also had the DVD Let's Ride The Rails, which I now own, playing in my auntie's van one morning on our way to school. I would later track down Disney Junior myself to find the show.

It was pretty much the main reason I've hung around Disney Junior. As a kid who loved trains because of already being a Thomas The Tank Engine fan, it just to captured my interest so quickly and I was hooked.

I'd say the characters and designs are mostly what I love about Chuggington. While there aren't really antagonists in the show they all have their own quirks and distinction from each other which balances it out well.

Wilson is both my favorite to draw and favorite overall. While I haven't gotten to making my own scripts for my planned fanseries yet, his ADHD personality is just pure spirit animal energy when I look at how he's characterized by the show and by myself. I also relate to him to an extent in some areas. He's practically my son lol

The episodes are mostly well written, and miles better than Thomas was at the time... (*COUGH* SHARON MILLER *COUGH*)

Chris McHale's music for the show some of the most unique I've ever heard and the fact we don't have more of the show's score available in high quality than we do is a crime.

Production slowly went to hell since Season 3 onwards, due to investors pulling out for unknown reasons, resulting in S3 being cut from 26 to 14 episodes, Season 4 being rushed and strictly formulated towards the advanced training agenda, (but the episodes were not by any means terrible) and S5, while better than S4, was entirely funded by TOMY resulting in only 10 episodes. After that, Ludorum Entertainment was on the verge of bankruptcy resulting in the show being on hiatus for five years until Herschend Entertainment purchased them, but things weren't that much better.

Season 6 or Tales From The Rails is sadly where Chuggington truly dropped in quality due to Herschend's low budget and their inexperience with the show. Many characters and locations were written off and a number of the voice actor recasts were not too great. Not to mention occasional mischaracterization (mostly Brewster), continuity errors and overall rather shifty writing quality. The merchandise also plummeted in quality and the pandemic caused several delays, and this whole disaster ultimately led to Season 7 being cancelled as of November last year... 😔

While Season 6 was a failed comeback and is NOT fit to be regarded as canon to the first 5 seasons, it still has a decent number of episodes that are good to okay enough at best, and I do plan on rewriting the misfires of season 6 at some point.

Despite all the hardship this show faced, production, performance, and reception-wise, Chuggington is still very much an enjoyable and mostly solid series. I commend both Ludorum and Herschend for not going down without a fair fight and I've very much grown to love the show just as much as Thomas.

To the point where Thomas content is not my top priority anymore and hasn't been for some time now, seeing as thousands of people do Thomas content already while Chuggington content is very scarce and slow going, even with more people finally appreciating and warming up to it, since there's far worse out there nowadays... media ain't what it used to be so good f---ing luck... 😑

With all the moping and mourning aside, thank you so much for joining us, you don't know how much it means to me to have another person hyperfixating on this underated and criminally disregarded series, but it's important to remember that you don't choose the hyperfixation. The hyperfixation chooses you >:3

I am an artist, editor and headcanon writer, and slowly pushing to write up my own fanseries which takes place after S5, and I even have my own roster of original characters and locations in progress, one OC I've already revealed, and another that was actually created by a Tumblr buddy of mine, @lomotunes2008.

So make sure you follow my art account, @masterjarthub - with notifications on, cuz I may pump out surprises over there!

But for until then, welcome to The Chugger Cult! 🚂🚄🚅🚈😄😄😎😎

Enjoy your stay. 😊

[nso-csi]

240819 ETERNAL 1Q1A

Q1. You reached your solo debut 10th anniversary this year. It must have felt very different, how do you feel?

Taemin: It made me realize that I have been active for a long time and I am very thankful towards the fans that have been loving me over this long period of time. I prepared this album with the intention to commemorate my 10th anniversary so I really wanted to present what I prepared as soon as I can.

Q2. There has been a huge change. You moved to a new company, BPM so is there any thing that changed or stayed the same from the usual? If there is, please share what is it.

Taemin: To be honest, there isn’t a huge difference due to the change of company. I have prepared it the way I always do regardless of where I am. But of course, I am learning how to communicate with the staff and other various things as I try to find a way to work together. I am just creating a new way of doing things but I think I have prepared it as how I have always been preparing.

Q3. We heard that you took part in all the process in producing this album, from the planning to the music, concept, music video etc. You included lots of your identity in the album introduction too so what’s the most core point when making the album?

Taemin: I have always put in lots of thoughts at what I need to do, what I want to show and I have tried to include them as they are in the album this time. However, I did not try to intentionally change anything or put any meaning to it just because there is a huge change to my situation. That’s why I am just doing it the way I usually do and connote the music and emotions I like to prepare this album.

Q4. Double title track ‘Sexy In The Air’ and ‘Horizon’ presented different color respectively. Please introduce each song.

Taemin: I think that ‘Sexy In The Air’ is a song that fits the hot weather. It has a very exciting and retro-ish sound and to dance a dance fitting to that retro-ish sound will give off a refreshing feeling. At the later part where the song atmosphere heightens, there will be drill (a music genre) where it makes the song a charming one. ‘Horizon’ is a synth pop genre with lots of energy and it’s interesting as it’s my first time trying out this genre. A passionate performance fitting for this song will be charming so it would be great if you can watch it together.

Q5. Performance is something important that Taemin cannot leave out. What’s the part that we have to keep our eyes on among the performance for this promotion?

Taemin: Choreographies that fit the flow of the music for each section has been choreographed. That’s why there will be parts that are very minimal and there will be parts that are very refreshing and then it will go to parts where it’s very conceptive. It would be great if you can keep your eyes on the performance that changes to fit the flow of the song.

Q6. Pre-promotion contents have already hyped up the anticipation. Are you able to give spoilers about ‘Sexy In The Air’ music video? We are curious of any episodes happening to.

Taemin: I shot the music video of ‘Sexy In The Air’ with director ‘SEGAJI’ who I worked with for ‘The Rizzness’ performance video. As we have previously worked together before, the director has a high level of understanding of me and pondered over many things with me. The mood of the song, which expresses the desire and confidence to move forward, is embodied in the image, and is expressed with a sense of speed transitioned with a huge scale set and the performance. There will be sensational moments delivered through water, light, wind etc. in a totally different space so if you look into parts like these deeper, you will be able to understand ‘Sexy In The Air’ better.

Q7. You did a listening session where you introduced the song to fans before the release and since that’s the first time the songs are being revealed, is there any interesting question or episode? Do share how it feels to do a listening session.

Taemin: I am always nervous when I release a new album so to be able to be in a space where I can be with my fans that are like my forces at the listening session made me feel at ease. It was meaningful to be able to share the stories from my recollection working on each and every song and it was nice to be able to see the various reactions of my fans myself. Rather than saying that it’s an episode, it was enjoyable to be able to talk to my fans but because it got too long, it was such a pity that the corner where I read messages from my fans got shorter at the very end.

Q8. Is there any reaction you wish to hear from your 5th mini album ‘ETERNAL’ or any goals you wish to achieve?

Taemin: I hope this ‘ETERNAL’ album can be the chance for it to be known that I have started to participate a little more in the album. Through this album, I think it’s the chance for me to slowly complete and grow more from parts of me that are still less inexperienced. It’s also for me to include the emotions of mine a little more or those that I want to express, as it is, in this album. That’s why, I would like to include the process of me being a little more of the main subject in the next album.

Q9. You have your first solo world tour ‘Ephemeral Gaze’ in schedule. You have done lots of concerts but it’s your first time doing a solo world tour so how do you feel? Do share what kind of stage are you preparing.

Taemin: I am very happy and grateful that I can finally do a tour. I have been imagining to do a tour like this right from the moment I dreamt of becoming a singer actually so to be able to finally fulfill it makes me very fluttered. I want to use this chance to meet lots of fans and make good memories with various people while going to places that I have never been to.

Q10. Please say a word to the fans that are always supporting Taemin’s path.

Taemin: It’s thanks to you guys who are by my side giving me the support that I am able to always try new challenges. I think it took very long for me to realize things like these. I feel even more grateful these days, and I want to show myself as a musician, and show it through my music so that I can always return my appreciation for this kind of support. Thank you and love you guys always.

cr. iheartshinee_

[notfernintheslighest]

Obligatory TW for discussions of racism in media

Did anyone else notice that Deadpool 3 had way fewer characters of color? I really loved the movie and all but it felt like there was none of the characters I went to watch a Deadpool movie for. Like why is Dopinder replaced with that white man? Dopinder is one of my favorites and he’s just gone, same with Colossus. They literally replaced Dopinder with Peter, which was the joke they were making in the last movie, until they killed Peter almost immediately. Dopinder literally had a whole arc going. Where is his slow descent into madness? Like none of the main characters were people of color in this movie and the side characters were also a lot of whiter. Why doesn’t Domino make another appearance, or Firefist… Wade literally sacrificed himself to save that kid and he’s gone? Didn’t we spend a whole movie caring about them? Like Blind Al’s screen time even felt cut but maybe I'm reaching. I get that they’re not in Wade’s universe anymore but only like Blade is "new" and POC, which is typical of Disney, but not of Deadpool. He also didn’t seem to have as much screen-time as everyone else. There’s also a lot fewer references to African American culture, if memory serves. Maybe I’m delusional, but like even in the references and music it seemed to PALE in comparison to previous movies. I mean I guess Disney will be Disney, white right? I’m not excited to see how the mutants will be handled by them. Especially since the Doom casting, but playing a character outside his race isn’t new for RDJ, some could even argue that it isn’t even Tropic and that he’ll bring the Thunder.

I have only really seen one person, Nikhil Clayton on tiktok, talk about this and that was only about the lack of Dopinder to make room for White Dopinder Peter. This combined with canceling Donald Glover’s Deadpool series allegedly for being too black and making fun of Taylor Swift is not a great look.

Considering what Blake Lively has been exposed for + Ryan by extension (he’s heavily involved in the This Ends With Us debacle.) I wonder how Taylor Swift found out about the episode since allegedly it was her getting upset that “broke the camel’s back.” Shows typically don’t reach out and ask celebs who are mentioned, this is entirely speculative, but I wonder if her friend, Blake Lively, found out through her husband and somehow that information made it back to Swift. I remember Donald mentioning they had to lowkey force Ryan out of the writers room (which would be on track with his wife and his behavior on the set of This Ends With Us) but maybe I misunderstood. I don’t know for sure what all is going on, and the general public may never know, but I do know that something about this seems wrong. I hope I'm just overthinking all this, but the friends I’ve talked to have all agreed.