#when will i finish the last 200 eps of one piece

[4law]

this me staring at you telling you to start bleach when you have time 😋😋 butttt thank you for the lil comments 😭 i just woke up and giggled so loudly outside at 5am while taking my dog out 🥹🥹

5AM??!😭😭 i shouldnt be complaining about waking up at 7

[fuckyeahaudiodrama]

☀️JUNE LISTENS☀️

i still don’t have a brain! ah!!!! but i do have ears for listening! i actually listened to a lot of stuff that i ended up not liking as much, last month, but i still have plenty to rec.

Remnants — (ep1-2 early access) a dark fantasy mystery anthology. hard to describe without giving anything away. i love everything by Hanging Sloth (creator of SBR, NQD and Clockwork Bird), so i knew that i was very likely to enjoy this regardless of the premise… but my god, absolutely surreal vibes. the sound design is breathtaking! feeling very grateful to be a HS patron right now. keep an eye out for this one coming 15th july! subscribe now and don’t miss it.

Mockery Manor — (3 seasons, 37 eps + miniseries, between seasons) a murder mystery set at a theme park with a comedic twist. i didn’t think this was going to be my thing and i was so wrong. the protags are twin sisters with plenty of baggage between them. their shenanigans and banter keep the tone light even when the plot takes dark turns. looking forward to s4!

Limelight: The Specialist — (5 eps, complete) self-described as a “dark medical thriller” set in rural wales. Limelight series are generally good but satisfying endings are hit or miss; this one was VERY well-paced, with a satisfying payoff, and gave me hope for a series 2 in future. i loved the execution of the gruesome mystery and i loved the protagonist to pieces.

Close Your Eyes — (1 season, 9 eps, s2 in production) having recently listened to RQ’s Neon Inkwell: The Pit Below Paradise, which also centers around cult dynamics, i found this to be a very fun contrast. here we see how someone can be immersed and isolated by a cult, regardless of their personal skepticism or strength of will. the suspense was so delicious i had to listen to all nine episodes in a row. ends on an incredible cliffhanger — can’t WAIT for season 2.

The Silt Verses — (44 eps, finale soon) a grim religious fantasy dystopia. some of the most intricate and fascinating worldbuilding i’ve ever seen. huge cast. i know that everyone in the AD space has rec’d this pod a hundred times over, but i can’t stress enough how it’s one of my very favorite stories in the medium. the penultimate ep left off on an absolutely deranged note and i have no idea what’s coming! so exciting, if you’ve been waiting to check this one out — now might be the time!

Dice Shame — (2 seasons, 200+ eps, ongoing) classic dnd actual play ft. Harlan Guthrie of Malevolent fame, and his equally charismatic friends and family. i don’t listen to a lot of APs bc i have trouble focusing on such long episodes but i just love the chemistry of this party. slapping it on the rec list bc the current storyline has me hooked!!

Bridgewater — (1 season, 22 eps, ???) supernatural mystery, notably starring Misha Collins as the protagonist. this one has a lot of complicated family dynamics read: mommy AND daddy issues. the length of the series is just enough to let you spawn several of your own theories, which is fun, and i was really pleased that i was able to predict the true conflict and identify the antagonist. excellent use of foreshadowing etc, biggest props to Lauren Shippen of The Bright Sessions fame.

Consumed — (12 episodes) small town horror/mystery through the eyes of a stranded newcomer. this one did NOT go where i expected it to, because i started it before i listened to Bridgewater; they’re set in the same universe, so the same worldbuilding applies. i would honestly recommend listening to this one FIRST because if you do listen to the end of Bridgewater, it will kind of spoil the twist in Consumed.

The Penumbra Podcast — (5 seasons, 2 storylines, both ending this summer) still barreling toward the finish line for both Second Citadel and Juno Steel. as a patron, i was notified of early release for the SC finale this morning, which i know is gonna wreck me. just wanted to feature this because i don’t see it recced as often anymore and that’s a fucking crime. one of my top AD recs for sure.

Red Valley — (While You Were Hypersleeping 3) three ep miniseries featuring our main best boy, warren, who has been notably absent from most of this season! so nice to hear from him and to get a glimpse of what might be coming in the next part of the season.

Observable Radio — (11 eps, ongoing) my favorite recent sci-fi/horror anthology by far, tied up in a terrifically dreadful meta narrative. afaik this is a limited series but i’m really savoring each and every episode; the most recent, “Earworm”, was one of my favorites. very dark and dystopian. mind the content warnings!

The Network Defenders — (ep1) the debut of a new Planet Arcana miniseries, featuring some new voices and a fresh new tarot-based system (crowdfunding this year!) has all of the appeal of PA in terms of prod. quality, vibes and emotional depth, just new mechanics. 2nd ep is out now so i’m hopping right on that as i post this!

Waterlogged — (ep1) a new indie horror that i’ve been waiting to drop for a while now, and i really enjoyed the soft-spoken eerie vibe of the pilot. there’s a couple more things in the feed now so i’ll have to go catch up.

[jazzmckay]

i finally finished the fallout show, so here are my thoughts. i will talk about both things i enjoyed and things i didn't enjoy. be aware that i'm one of Those west coast fallout fans so this will be bethesda-critical, although it's never my goal to be a hater or make fans of bethesda games feel bad for enjoying them.

spoilers for not only the show, but most fallout games ive played, which includes: fallout, fallout 2, fallout 3, and fallout: new vegas

lets start with the positive!

things i enjoyed:

the aesthetics: it just plain looks good. it matches the games pretty accurately, it brought the world of fallout to this new medium very well. visually, it definitely looks like fallout, and i thought it had some nice cinematography and shot framing. i like that it was never too dark to see what was going on, i like that it was fairly vibrant even with the unavoidable Brown Wasteland, Metal Grey Vault palettes. the costumes were great. i liked how the people looked realistic for the world they're living in. i would have liked cooper to be more standard ghouly, but after having seen the full show, i'm fine with it. the ghouls have a lot of range, physically, and it does make sense for cooper to be more human-like because he's actively preserving himself, and probably did so pre-war as well. all in all it was visually great

the main characters: lucy is a fantastic main character. i love how shaped she is from living in vault 33 specifically, with her moral compass, view of the world, social uniqueness, and relationship with sex. i adore that she's such a positive person, always wanting to see the best in others and make the best of any situation, but that doesn't mean she can't get hurt and angry, can't fight when she has to. she's fun and badass, i really like her. maximus is just as complex, shaped by the brotherhood instead of the vault--again, moral compass, view of the world etc all coloured by where he's spent most of his life, just in a different way from lucy. more grey, more skewed, more manipulated, in my opinion, even though of course vault 33 was quite manipulated as well. his struggle with identity is awesome. i like how both of them are a little weird, a little socially unhinged, and majorly biased about the world. i enjoyed maximus' struggle and journey with coming into his own. i'll be eager to see that continue in s2. cooper took me almost the ENTIRE season to warm up to. at first he was the kind of character i found interesting, but difficult to like. right from the start, you know he wasn't always like this, and 200 years in the wasteland has understandably changed him, but i was still very "fuck this guy, hes a prick and he annoys me" for most of the show. the final episode finally tipped me over onto the "okay yeah im properly into this character now" side. he's definitely layered, just takes a bit to see more than the outer one that makes him just look like... a major piece of shit. i love a dark character as much as the next guy, but i prefer if it Makes Sense, and i didn't fully get him until the last ep. eager to see how he develops going forward as well. don't have a lot to say about norm, i just really like him. hell yeah fuck shit up, little bro

the side characters: betty and stephanie fascinate me, especially after learning who they really are. moldaver is SO COOL and a milf for real oh my god i'm a little obsessed. thaddeus surprised me with his depth. ma june was really cool and felt sort of quintessential fallout to me. even just the one-off people of the wasteland were really interesting to me. they were real people with a place in this world, no matter how small. (you'll notice i havent mentioned dane, even though being nb myself, a nb character should be a big deal to me. well. i still dont entirely know how i feel about dane, unfortunately)

the vault lore: from start to finish, i was HOOKED on everything to do with the vaults. the concept of 3 vaults being connected and able to trade with each other when necessary was interesting. i liked the concept of vault 33 and how it gave the characters a different culture about relationships and sex. then i enjoyed the suspense of the lie unravelling, of following norm's arc of defying what he'd been raised with to figure everything out. it was very tense and mysterious.

vault lore part 2: historically, i've not been a fan of pre-war society actually being shown. didn't like that they did that in fo4, though part of that could be that i just massively dislike the choices they made for it, including how it locked the player too much into an unchangeable (heterosexual) backstory. i guess i'm not fully against the pre-bomb time being shown as long as it's lore-friendly, and i'm pleasantly surprised that the show was pretty lore-friendly indeed. not entirely. i have some major gripes that i will get into later, but i liked the tension and intrigue of the big corporations doing their gross capitalism shit, and cooper finding out just how fucked up they are. the idea of the vault ownership being split up between different companies and therefore different ideals so "the best ideas of how to continue civilization can win" was interesting! i think it's more grounded to say that most vaults were trying to make something viable for the future, not just fucked up experiments for the sake of it, but the ideas were extreme and many doomed to failure. i wouldn't even say this is a retconn, a lot of the vaults, even the ones that got really messed up, can be viewed as an attempt at making something good, just with amoral methods

how the brotherhood was portrayed: FINALLY bethesda has written the brotherhood in a way more reflective of what they're supposed to be. the brotherhood are not the ultimate heroic knights in shining armour. they're not just a grandstanding military faction. caveat that i don't know the fo4 brotherhood personally, but fo3!brotherhood was so incomprehensible. in fo1, the brotherhood is reclusive and focused on technological / scientific information. they are a force to be reckoned with when convinced to take good action, but they're on the insular side. in fo2, they're a destroyed shadow of what they were, with barely any presence. in fnv they're even more reclusive, entirely xenophobic to anyone outside of the brotherhood and further stuck in their ways. you can help them improve, but there are cult vibes. and the show? i am impressed by how they focused on those cult vibes! the brotherhood doesn't have to be 100% the same every time when there's a lot of geography between chapters and different points in the last 200 have different needs, different goals and enemies, but the brotherhood should, imo, always be a grey area. when lucy asked "this is good right, the brotherhood are the good guys?" and maximus and thaddeus were like....... eh... it's. a complicated organization. THATS THE REAL SHIT. complex. a bit uncomfortable because they're reclusive and teach their people biased ideas of the wasteland. an ideology that makes sense in-verse, but isn't a simple dichotomy of good or bad. some parts of it were uncomfortable for me in a "well thats an odd writing choice" but most of it was uncomfortable in the way the brotherhood is SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable, and i am here for that

the scene where maximus comes clean to lucy and she accepts him, because she's learned how complicated the surface world is, and she has been travelling with him enough to see who he really is

the fnv theme cue when the ncr flag was shown. got me emotional fr

lucy is down to fuck and i LOVE that for her. it's great to see a female main character be so into sex without it being for any reason other than... she thinks sex is good and fun

the lucy/maximus ship. im officially on team "people who say its boring and lacking in chemistry might be not giving the black character the consideration he deserves because of internalized racism" sorry

i can ALSO get behind the lucy/cooper ship, after the last episode. it feels like theyre on somewhat even ground now. i can go for a begrudging allies pair. they should have rough, angry sex and remind each other it doesn't mean anything after and then they both go and pine and/or brood about the people they wish they were with, or wish they were with but in a happier story

the music in general

cx404 my beloved <3

things i did not enjoy:

the biggest issue is, of course, the way the show completely fucked with and/or retconned fallout: new vegas. in my opinion, it was very disrespectful, to the point where it's hard to see it as anything but maliciously intentional for mr. todd 'liar' howard to literally nuke the center of west coast fallout's world. it feels scummy. it feels tone deaf. it feels like a kid stomping on another kids sand castle at the beach because all they understand is destruction and coming out on top. and it also makes NO sense. the show says shady sands was bombed in 2277, which is the year of the first battle of hoover dam, and 4 years before the start of fnv. it renders everything in fnv void. the thing is that shady sands is just one small part of the ncr--in fo1, its a small farming village just getting started and a couple generations later in fo2, it isnt even recognizable as shady sands anymore, its just. The New California Republic. it's huge! it's sprawling! bombing a single city wouldn't have wiped out the ncr--and even the show acknowledges this with vault 4 and moldaver's people--but it's still too significant a calamity that fnv could have happened the way it did proceeding it. you can't just add an event like this and think it'll work when no one in fnv mentions it, when it can't retroactively impact the ncr's future that is already shown. and even though the show does allow that remnants of the ncr have survived, they didn't do it in the way that makes sense, in my opinion. what would make sense is having an entire nation losing its capitol, but the rest being able to continue on. it doesnt make sense for them to become what they did in the show, nor having it be a non-issue during fnv. the ncr could not have had a continued presence in the mojave if that nuke really happened. ive seen pieces of articles and such about how they were careful to follow the timeline and "dont worry, fnv still happened!" but.... they most certainly did not follow the timeline, and what they did utterly fucks up fnv's narrative

the answering of the question "who fired the first bomb". while i enjoyed the backstory, i did not enjoy this question being answered. the point of fallout is not who was right and who was wrong. the point isnt about there being a good side, a bad side, a justification for anything. the point is that nuclear bombs are horrific and what happened to the world is the ultimate tragedy. and it's about communities still being able to rise from the ashes and make something real. it's about people being able to survive and thrive. yes, conflict persists, but the world has not ended, and in west coast fallout, entire cities have grown up from nothing to take on a way of life all on their own, different from the pre-war days, but no longer weighed down by the tragedy, either. east coast fallout is post-apocalypse. west coast fallout is post-post-apocalypse. it's supposed to be post-post-apocalypse, and who dropped the bombs does not matter. the point is that war never changes--but people do. the old world is gone, what happened happened, and society has to move on. answering the question of who dropped the bombs serves no narrative purpose

and if america dropped the bombs on themselves--what does that mean for the rest of the world? of course, we have never known if the rest of the world is still out there continuing as normal, but making the bombs in america an inside job has new implications for china's part in everything. i do wonder if the shift away from the american-chinese conflict is a sensitivity issue. i'm not knowledgeable enough on the topic to speak on it further

robert house's potential/likely character assassination: the best way i could possibly read it is that house was being reticent about his true feelings because it wouldn't have been very tactful to oppose an entire room of capitalism moguls. but his part in planning the bombs is, if taken at face value, utterly opposed to his actual goals as stated in fnv. i want to believe he was just flying under the radar to get information. but it either doesnt make sense, or we dont have the full story yet, because house's intentions were to save new vegas from the bombs, and he wasn't able to save the entire area, which he should have been able to do if in the know, and he also would have been able to get the platinum chip on a better timeline if he was in the know. i'm trying to reserve judgement in case they elaborate on him in s2, but s1!house is.... not fnv!house

needed more pre-existing rad creatures. i'm guessing the bear was supposed to be a yao guai even though they didn't name it, but the gulper was new, and i wouldve liked to see geckos, maybe nightstalkers or cazadors if possible, just... anything properly reminiscent of west coast fallout. based on the final scenes, i'd like to think we'll see deathclaws in s2. please.

sometimes there were bouts of confusing / weird writing. episode 6 in particular had me a bit "what the fuck is going on and why are certain characters acting like this????". the scene where maximus reveals himself to thaddeus was also lackluster in my opinion. i think it should have been drawn out at least a bit. maximus trying to explain, thaddeus being conflicted--not just an immediate flip. it's hard to believe maximus would injure thaddeus THAT badly without trying something else first. whiplash for real. maximus was a little weird in vault 4 and i genuinely don't know what vibe they were going for. at first i thought he'd been drugged and the people there were going to experiment on him. (also how did cooper NOT SEE the "test subjects" over the door when he was doing the vault-tec ad? i dont remember if the name plate was shown in the commercial itself but i sure hope not or, uhhh... people would have known something bad was up). it was just a bit ??? for me, that whole damn episode. what was with the ncr remnants acting Like That? i don't get it and it was never addressed again? am i just supposed to believe that a couple decades or whatever separated from the ncr society has turned them into a cult? what association do they even have with moldaver anymore? its all so weird and unexplained. and if moldaver opposed vault-tec, how did she end up in cryo with them? i guess she didn't actively walk away from it? maybe im missing something here

on that note, the portrayal of the ncr: moldaver and her people end up being ncr but they were played the whole time like raiders. only for the end of the show to have moldaver's settlement be totally normal people just living their lives. what the hell? and the vault 4 people, again, were unsettling and confusing, i don't understand what i'm supposed to take away from this. i suppose the point is that time has changed both groups, and moldaver's been pushed to extremes, but the framing was just.... weird and iffy for me. it's a far cry from the ncr i'm used to

final thoughts:

i did overall enjoy the show, but i suppose, as they say about games like fo4, "it was a good show, but it wasn't a good fallout show". i was pleasantly surprised in a lot of ways, but the fact remains that bethesda misses, or disregards, the whole point of fallout. often they go directly against the original message of fallout. most modern fallout just isn't what it was when it started or what it is when created by people who were there at the beginning. it's painful being a west coast fan specifically, sometimes, because todd is always finding new ways to massacre my boy. but if i pretend this isn't canon and that it has no bearing on one of my favourite games, if i look at it just as it is instead of something that hinges with a bunch of other stories... it was surprisingly enjoyable. i just have to turn off the part of my brain that wants to fight mr howard in the dennys parking lot at 4am

[the-kestrels-feather]

So I posted this on Twitter but i wanted to drop it here too:

Whoo boy so I haven't listened to MAG 200 yet bc of classes, but I saw everyone else sharing their Magnus memories and so I'm gonna share mine:

So my TMA journey actually didn't start *with* Magnus. I had found the Mechanisms on accident one day and had really enjoyed their stuff. I followed them on twitter and Jonny popped in the You May Also Want to Follow and so I went to his page and learned 2 things:

1. His name *was* actually Jonny

2. He wrote a horror podcast

Now, horror was NOT my thing but I was curious. I found it and listened to the first Few eps., took a break because of Finals, and binged the rest in the 2 weeks in between the S4 trailer and the S4 first ep drop. I was hooked, I couldn't get enough. It had also hit at possibly the best time for me. I had just left my first school and was starting at community College where I didn't really know anyone, so it gave me something to listen to when I looking for an escape. And then there was me having the wild idea to make memes about TMA that everyone loved? I really wasnt expecting it to blow up on tumblr but I decided to make it a weekly Thing. I loved doing them and keeping up on them. I met the incredible @nightmaremagnet, @humanisation, @elfgrunge, @awkwardproducktions, @revolutionnaire-e, @dansnotavampire, @demiboy-martin-blackwood, the rest of the Cowards server, and so many more awesome people through TMA, people I wouldn't have met if I hadn't Stumbled across this spooky podcast by complete accident one day, it's honestly so wild to me that one (1) accidental Twitter following led to friendships that helped me through a *really* tough time, the fanbase was so welcoming and talented and I truly love it, even if there are some things that have come with it growing in popularity that I don't love. TMA got me writing again and exploring my ability to write in the horror genre, it's the reason I get to work with all the incredibly talented folks at @pitchlibrary got my first published piece in the Context of Fear Zine. It's been my ""comfort"" podcast, but not in the way that People usually think. I don't find TMA comforting plot-wise, but listening to episodes gave me a brief rest. As someone with GAD who's perpetually afraid of the real world, having somewhere to project that fear and excitement has helped me deal with it. The entire idea of the Entities helped me with my OCD and Anxiety triggers, as well as my depression- I know that Jonny said in a Q and A that he didn't want to compartmentalize Fears too much because categorizing makes things less scary, but it also helped me make sense of my triggers. Things are less Scary to me when I can go 'oh, this is the Corruption' or 'oh, this is some weird Flesh bullshittery' or when my depression acts up there's a very quiet 'Fuck you Peter Lukas'. Giving it something to blame I guess has helped me deal with things. I don't have much else to say beyond thank you to Jonny, @Alex, and everyone else at RQ for creating this podcast that lead to so much for me, I'm sad TMA proper is ending, but I'm so glad I've got so many things that will live on even after I Finish the last episode. It's truly wild how much has come from one stumbled across piece of media, and another later. It's been a wild ride, and an amazing story that's had an incredible impact on my life.

[amphtaminedreams]

The Eras of Lana Del Rey: Lookbook no.9

Hi to anyone reading,

Hope you’re okay! AND that you didn’t end up here because you searched the Lana Del Rey tag so you could see people ranting about her-you’re about to be very disappointed. Sorry. This is not about to be some Question for the Culture discourse because the world is bleak enough right now and the last thing we all need is to be reminded of that saga. 

Being a Lana Del Rey fan is easy, they said. She’s not a controversial artist, they said. And yet 2020 had to do what it does best and fuck everything up. 

Whether people like her or not, it’s made me so angry reading all the abuse she’s been getting about her appearance for the last couple of weeks, because I really thought that if we could agree on anything it was that attacking individuals for the way they look because you dislike something they’ve done (with the exception of shit like racist tattoos and blackfishing) is, you know, awful and judgemental as fuck? Like you do realise when you treat the word fat as a pejorative that the fat people you don’t have a problem with understood that you meant it as an insult too? I think what all those people tweeting about Lana’s weight, and that includes some of her fans, are forgetting is that she was in her early 20s when she was thrust into the limelight. As much as there’s this conspiracy that her dad bought her a career in the music industry, she’d made the decision to go it alone and had lived in a trailer park as a struggling musician for years. On top of that, we have the unreleased tracks with lyrics seemingly referencing an eating disorder in her younger years. OF COURSE her body is going to look different. Why is it that we treat weight gain as an inherently bad thing without any insight into the other factors that constitute a person’s “health”? It’s fucking insane that so many feel they have the right to comment on other’s bodies in the first place and it breaks my heart that she might be reading these comments. This wasn’t intended to necessarily be a rant about how much I love this woman but all the shit I’ve read about her on the internet these past few months have pushed me to it. You'll respect your queen of alternative music or I shall stan twice as hard on your behalf. You can thank me later when you come to your senses xoxo

I’d love to say it was intentional that I finally finished this post the week Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass was released but that would imply I have my shit way more together than I actually do. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve only heard L.A Who am I to Love You so far 1). because I want to wait for the hard copy for the rest and that doesn’t turn up til September and 2). because I do not have my shit together, lol. That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that I am going to love it-one thing I have always loved about Lana’s lyrics is how well they paint a picture and this is something that poetry only more freely allows for the exploration of. That ability to create such a strong narrative voice and atmosphere is a talent that extends to her visuals and the production of her records too, and is something I really missed when it comes to the Norman Fucking Rockwell era. I’m just going to say it: a strong aesthetic is to NFR as memorable songs are to Lust for Life. Lacking. Am I allowed to say that as a fan? The collaborations don’t do it for me, okay, and as as NFR is concerned, aside from The Greatest/Fuck It I Love You video which went down the whole neon surfer girl route, it’s hard to identify a cohesive theme. It’s understandable that at this point, she would want to just focus purely on the music, and it goes without saying that NFR will stand the test of time in that regard but I don’t think we can deny that when people think of Lana in the future, it’s not gonna be a green windbreaker that comes into their heads.

^Illustration credit to Filip Kozak (https://filipkozaksart.tumblr.com/?fbclid=IwAR3vwLX2pNxoFNhTPD1ky14LllPqlLtL1GxGlD79xuHxdtzcHLw-6aNBZWo)

And here’s where this Filip Kozak illustration comes into it; after years of it sitting in my camera roll for years, it finally has a use. There’s really nothing better to illustrate how mundane life has become this year than the disproportionate level of excitement my photo-hoarding-self experienced realising it would fit perfectly into this post and is thus eligible for deletion. Up there with being able to fit a whole box of biscuits onto the shelf at work rather than having to individually take out as many as I can and then shove them on top of the existing box of biscuits one by one. Truly riveting content on this Tumblr page. Back to the point-by using this as my stimulus for the post rather than the Lana Del Rey albums as outfits tag that went round on Twitter, I can conveniently exclude NFR as an outfit inspiration category, and that saves me from having to buy a charity shop windbreaker with its price bumped up 150% by some upper middle class Depop e-girl or boy who uses the word peng as a descriptor like it’s a nervous tic. To make up for leaving out NFR, I’ve tried to branch out a bit and do the outfits not just based on the music videos or album covers but also from street style and stage looks and photoshoots from around the same period too. It was hard not to be influenced by the general “vibe” and sound of the albums either when I was planning outfits, whether it’s the grand, orchestral instrumentals of Born to Die or the 70s psychedelic rock inspired riffs of Ultraviolence and hopefully that’ll show as well! Enjoy:D

Born to Die (Release Date: 27th January 2012)

It’s been 8 years, and when you ask most people what they think of when they hear the name Lana Del Rey, they’ll probably dismiss her as the one who sings about being sad and doing coke and sleeping with older men. That’s the Born to Die impact. Say what you want but it’s one of only a handful of albums released by a female artist to have spent more than 300 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and it really established the mythos of “Lana Del Rey” because before all this, before all the think pieces from other women claiming she’d set feminism back hundreds of years with her music, before she ousted grayscale Effy Stonem as the queen of angsty teen Tumblr (which as you can probably guess was a subsection of the internet I was very much engulfed by, lmao), she was just Lizzie Grant, a relatively normal aspiring singer songwriter in her early twenties. But as Lana Del Rey, she was someone else-some beautiful, mystical being that personified the sentiment of being born in the wrong era. Whilst every other singer’s record labels seemed to be trying desperately to thrust them into the future and keep them on top of all the musical and stylistic trends, it was refreshing to hear someone whose music and visuals captured all the most glamorous elements of the past. Part Priscilla Presley/Jackie O reincarnation (the National Anthem video really illustrated how Lana is just as much a storyteller as she is a musician), part high level mobster’s wayward wife à la Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface, she was the good girl by day and the bad girl by night, and I think that’s a duality we can all relate to or would like to think we’re interesting enough to relate to deep down.

Her style from around this period was EVERYTHING. She had those grungy Tumblr girl elements, the camo jacket and the oversized pieces and the leather jackets, but she also heavily drew on the styles and silhouettes of the 50s and 60s with the beehives and the new look Dior inspired cinched waist dresses. Even now in 2020, I think this period is what most people would think if they were asked to describe Lana’s style. I made sure I got the grungy pieces in there with the chunky boots and the vinyl and the oversized leather but the foundation of her looks back then were usually these daintier throwback pieces like the white silk dress and the corset and the mint fur trimmed coat (House of Sunny’s Penny Pistachio coat).

Favourite lyrics from the album? “Now my life is sweet like cinnamon, like a fucking dream I'm living in” from Radio. Nobody asked but I’m gonna give it to you anyway.

Born to Die: The Paradise Edition (Release Date: 9th November 2012)

Lana’s Paradise EP contains probably my absolute favourite song of her’s, Ride, and with that, the beautiful opening monologue that will stay in my mind forever. This era was of course ushered in by Tropico, the short film that included the premiere of the songs Bel Air, Body Electric and Gods and Monsters, which established the ethereal tone of this period-it’s in the name, after all. Both the album and the videos were other-worldly and leaned heavily on religious symbolism which I’m sure pissed off many a middle-aged bible basher at the time. Most prominent in her lyrics were reflections on the freedom of the open road which corresponded with visuals of biker gangs and desert dwellers and modern interpretations of the Wild West, as was an attempt to capture the nature of the so-called “American spirit” which as Lana portrayed it shared more qualities with a kind of celestial, transient being than any kind of solid concept or identity. She played an emotionally detached stripper and a haunted saloon-style-bar singer (almost looking like a runaway bride) and Eve the “first woman” all in the same album and honestly, if that’s not iconic, I don’t know what is. We saw SO many incredible red carpet looks in this period too which built upon this idea of her as the fallen angel tempted by original sin that Tropico established; I feel like this era was all about laying bare the soul of the character she played, this broken, delicate but ultimately liberated being that was so dangerous to the idea of the strong, stable modern feminist ideal. She went about it in COMPLETELY the wrong way in a post that betrayed the ignorance of the privilege she has as a white female performer, but I think this is what she was getting at in it and Ultraviolence only went on to bolster her critics.

In response to the criticism she still receives about the choice to wear a Native American war bonnet in her Ride music video, I’d like to say that it really seems like she’s learnt from that-actions speak louder than words and so though it’s not my place to say whether this makes up for that error, the work she’s done with Native American reparations-focussed foundations since and the money she’s donated to the cause says a lot about her intentions. Again, I want to stress that it’s not my place to say! But it’s a detail that is often overlooked so I thought I’d mention it here. 

“I was a singer, not a very popular one. I once had dreams of becoming a beautiful poet. But upon an unfortunate series of events saw those dreams dashed and divided like a million stars in the night sky, that I wished on over and over again, sparkling and broken. But I didn’t really mind because I knew that it takes getting everything you ever wanted and then losing it to know what true freedom is.”

Ultraviolence (Release Date: 13th June 2014)

AH, Ultraviolence. My favourite of Lana’s albums and imo, a masterpiece. ONE skip. ONE. Sorry Guns and Roses. I got stoned in my back garden and listened to this (for research purposes ofc, heh) and ended up deciding that this is what I want to listen to when I die (also whilst stoned). It sounds dramatic but listening to this album in that state of mind is such a heavenly experience that I’d be too zen to notice myself slipping away into nothingness on the basis that if I didn’t as long as I could stay in that bubble of awe, nothingness forever wouldn’t be so scary after all. I know, I know, that sentence has big Jaden Smith’s old tweets energy. But if an album is what helps me get over an existential crisis, I beg you allow me the nonsensical ramblings about how I felt like I was ascending into the stars.

Though in terms of the lyrical content the public perception is probably correct, I think the reputation Ultraviolence has as Lana’s darkest, most gothic album (which is something I’ve in incorporated into the outfits I put together) is mistaken; instrumentally and visually it drew more on 70s psychedelic rock and the bohemian counter culture of the period than anything, and her stage looks are a clear reflection of that, and also the outfits I was most excited to channel. It seems counter-intuitive to the moody atmosphere I associate the tracklist with but it’s my go-to summer album; it’s raw (probably her most stripped back work along with NFR, lots of the songs are barely edited) and it’s gloomy but let’s be real, hot as fuck-don’t bother making a sex playlist, just put Ultraviolence on shuffle, and you’re good to go. This was the album where Lana debuted some of her most criticised lyrics and where the notion that she glamourises abuse comes from, one of the points she also seemed to be getting at in the Instagram post, but imo it’s fair to say that she sang truthfully about the initial allure of a dangerous relationship and the nature of the mindset that facilitates staying with somebody poisonous where you do feel like you’re nothing without them. Turning horrific experiences into romantic tragedies is how Lana has always made her music and yeah, out of context there are some fucked up lyrics on the album, but policing how a woman expresses her trauma and complaining that she glorifies weakness because she wrote honestly about the reality of a complicated partnership is hardly any more “feminist” than the lyrics themselves. I can only guess that the reason Lana felt the need to bring up this criticism in 2020 is because these darker themes are going to be revisited in her upcoming album and that in spite of the issues with the way she expressed herself, this time critics will be more accepting of how she chooses to address these themes. 

On a lighter note “yeah my boyfriend's pretty cool, but he's not as cool as me” will always be a great line. Simple but effective. If my boyfriend ever is cooler than me it’ll be doing Lana a disservice.

Honeymoon (Release Date: 18th September 2015)

Considering that a lot of other Lana fans are of the opinion that this is her best album, I find it weird that I really don’t remember all that much about this period, other than High by the Beach being released and then hearing Salvatore and Freak for the first time. I guess because she didn’t do a Honeymoon specific tour and didn’t make that many public appearances in this period? It was definitely harder for me to find visual reference points beyond the HbtB music video and the cover art, so I mostly drew on the general vibe of the album, a cinematic accompaniment to a summer in Italy or the South of France, filled with exotic instrumentals and the sense of impending romantic doom that Lana does so well. I suppose if I associate the visuals of this era with anything it’s idyllic florals and warm tones, bygone country club pool days, a rich American’s vacation in Southern Europe, long walks on the beach (and as our Lord and Saviour Jujubee once said, big dicks and fried chicken). Apparently inspired by Lana’s relationship with Francesco Carrozini, it’s a hazy story of some ultra-feminine, submissive archetype becoming unhealthily enchanted by a mysterious “foreign man” who’s ultimately not all that good for her, which as the story goes turned out to be quite prophetic. Going against the grain, it’s my least favourite of her albums after Lust for Life, but in spite of that, I will always remember how obsessed I was with the sax riffs (I think? I don’t know my instruments all that well so forgive me, lol) on Freak and I definitely understand why it’s a firm favourite for so many.

“You could be a bad motherfucker, but that don’t make you a man.” was truly a cultural reset of a line.

-on an unrelated note, OMG, I never realised how I have my mouth open in literally every fucking photo I take, somebody tell me how to pose, please and thank you-

Lust for Life (Release Date: 21 July 2017)

Lust for Life is a controversial one. On the one hand, I appreciate that this album was the victory cry of a happier, more independent, politically-aware Lana in spite of it apparently being a far more optimistic sounding album than the one she wanted to release, but on the other there were way too many collaborations for me and this meant that the album lacked a sense of cohesion and the characteristic narrative thread that usually runs throughout her tracklist. Aside from Love, Cherry, Get Free and Tomorrow Never Came, most of the songs on the album aren’t hugely memorable and it’s a crying shame that a collaboration with STEVIE FUCKING NICKS of all people left so much to be desired. Coming from two witchy icons, I expected something absolutely magical so maybe I was setting myself up for failure, but come on. We could’ve had a real anthem there.

Aesthetically speaking however, this is one of my favourite eras for Lana, which is unsurprising when you consider the tracklist contains references to both Woodstock and Coachella. I’m not gonna lie, I think seeing Coachella fashion in my early teens was my style awakening-I remember seeing Vanessa Hudgens’ outfits and being like, wow, I want to be her (oh, what a fall from grace)-so the late 60s/early 70s flower power groupie style Lana adopted in this period really spoke to me. It was all long hair and dreamy pastels, and this era included some of the most head-to-toe coordinated looks we’ve ever seen from her. Of course I couldn’t completely abandon the grungy touches that I love, that I tend to associate with the early Lana street style days and the Paradise and Ultraviolence music videos rather than with this album, but I’m never gonna pass up an opportunity to whack out a good floral two piece and putting together Lust for Life inspired looks is the perfect excuse to do that.

So, that marks the end of this post! If you made it to the end, thank you so much for reading! I have a Yesstyle lookbook and review to edit but now that I’ve finished that, I’m trying to go down more of a style inspiration focussed  route with my lookbooks rather than just putting together outfits from clothes I’ve just bought (though I might still do one every so often to bring in a new season-let’s just ignore the fact that they’re all blending into one bc climate change for now, one catastrophe at a time please universe). I find that if you have a specific idea in mind of what you want, it’s super easy to find something similar on Depop and Ebay and that way you avoid buying new things and also take old things off a person’s hands that might otherwise end up being thrown out by a charity shop and then dumped into a landfill from there. Something I’d LOVE to do before this year is out is put together a lookbook based on the most stylish TV shows of the last decade, but that probably won’t be for a while-even so, if you have any recommendations of series to watch which could fit into this category, let me know! 

To finish, I need to go a little bit off-topic so forgive me, but I truly don’t know why this even needs to be said: WEAR A FUCKING MASK. IT IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE. IT IS A BASIC HYGIENIC PRACTICE THAT HELPS SPREAD THE STOP OF A HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS DISEASE! RUDIMENTAL SCIENCE! NOT A CHANCE TO PROVE HOW “EDGY” YOU ARE! SERIOUSLY, STOP MAKING A FUCKING PANDEMIC ABOUT YOURSELF! NOBODY ENJOYS WEARING THEM BUT THEY HELP PROTECT OTHERS! SO UNLESS YOU HAVE A VALID MEDICAL REASON NOT TO BE WEARING ONE, DON’T BE A SELFISH PRICK! 

Sorry to sign off on a rant-y note with something that has nothing to do with Lana, lol, but all the stupidity has been grinding me gears lately and I had to let it out on behalf of all retail workers: if we can wear a mask for 9 hours at a time, YOU can tolerate the mild discomfort of wearing one for 10 minutes. I know this doesn’t apply to the majority of people but there’s always a couple of arseholes, isn’t there!?

Stay safe,

Lauren x

[spookyspemilyreid]

Happy Anniversary “Meteora”! (March 25, 2003)❤️

Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on their 2000 debut studio album Hybrid Theory. The album was produced by the band alongside Don Gilmore. The title Meteora is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries sharing the same name. Meteora has a similar sound to Hybrid Theory, as described by critics, and the album took almost a year to be recorded. It is the first Linkin Park studio album to feature Dave Farrell after he rejoined the band in 2000.

Meteora debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 810,000 copies in its first week. Linkin Park released singles from Meteora for over a year, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", "From the Inside", and "Breaking the Habit". The song "Lying from You" was released as a promotional single. Meteora received generally positive reviews, although critics noted that the album's musical style was similar to its predecessor Hybrid Theory .

Meteora has sold over 27 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is certified 7x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was ranked number 36 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. Some songs from the album were remixed with some of Jay-Z's songs for the EP Collision Course (2004). "Session" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards.

Initial writing for a second album dated back to early 2001, while still touring in support of Hybrid Theory. The band had written around eighty different demos during their Hybrid Theory World Tour and LP Underground Tour, within the span of just eight months. Rough song ideas written then would find its way to the final album; notably the intro for "Somewhere I Belong". Bennington recorded guitar notes for it, but found it too folk rock sounding. However, Shinoda and Joe Hahn reworked it, adding effects to it, and then played it backwards, molding it into something the band was happy with. As explained by Shinoda: "Since I reversed it, it was playing 4-3-2-1. The chord progression was reversed. Then I cut it into four pieces, and I played it 1-2-3-4. And that's why it has that sweeping sound.

In early 2002, after the touring, the writing continued in Mike's home studio, pre-production of the album began there. The band worked in pairs during the writing process, whereas Shinoda was always involved in all the songs. The recording of the songs mainly used Pro Tools, whereas the band used the traditional method of writing, in main studio. In June, pre-production terminated and the band headed for main production. The band finalized Don Gilmore as their producer. When Reanimation was released, the band had started to write the main content. Rob Bourdon spent eight hours a day in the studio for the recording of the album. By August, the band entered NRG Studios as Bennington also began writing songs with the band.

Linkin Park had finished versions of many songs before the actual recording process had begun, but they majorly wrote the finalized songs included in the track list in the studio. By October the drums were finalized and guitar parts were introduced by Brad in the control room of the studio. By the end of October, the bass parts were introduced. Don Gilmore himself being a bass player helped Farrell in his recording. The sampling part by Hahn was introduced just a month before the deadline, thereby Mike finished the recording of "Breaking the Habit" with strings arrangement by David Campbell; the song had been worked on by Shinoda for five or six years. The vocal production started in November. The mixing process as well as the album itself was finished in New York City.

Lyrically the album contains elements including depressing emotions, anger, and recovery. Explaining to MTV, Bennington said: "We don't talk about situations, we talk about the emotions behind the situations. Mike and I are two different people, so we can't sing about the same things, but we both know about frustration and anger and loneliness and love and happiness, and we can relate on that level." In the same interview, Shinoda explained it as: "What we really wanted to do was just push ourselves and push each other to really find new ways to be creative." He continued: "We wanted each sample that was in each song to be something that might perk your ear – something that you might not have ever heard before." In a promotional interview, Rob Bourdon stated: "We wanted a group of songs that would sit well together because we wanted to make a record that you could pop into your CD player and, from beginning to end, there would never be a spot where you start daydreaming." In titling the album, Mike said that "Meteora was a word that caught my attention because it sounded huge." Dave, Joe, and Chester elaborated that just like how Meteora, the rock formations in Greece, is very epic, dramatic, and has great energy, the band wanted the album to have that same feeling.

Genre-wise, the album is categorized as nu metal, rap metal, rap rock, and alternative rock.

The promotion for the album began well ahead before its release, as pictures of the band recording were distributed to the media. To support the album, there were many photo shoots of the band on October 29 at the Ambassador Hotel, where the band took a break from recording the album for two days, for designing the cover art of the album. "The Flem" and "Delta" helped the band for the art works, for the album as well as for the singles spawned by it. A TV commercial for the album was premiered on January 1, 2003. "Somewhere I Belong" was released as the first single, premiering on US radio on March 18, 2003. Being released only nine days before the album release, it influenced the album sales performance worldwide. The second single off the album was "Faint", released before the band started its world tour. The third single "Numb" was released when Linkin Park performed it live in Madrid. "From the Inside" was released as the fourth single off the album before the North American leg of the world tour. "Breaking the Habit" was released while the band was in Indonesia. The album was released with various limited edition content for promotional purposes.

There is a special edition of Meteora, which includes the "Making of Meteora" DVD documentary. The special-edition package was packaged in a blue tinted case with the blue Meteora cover that can be found in some parts of Asia, United States, and more commonly in India. An alternate Indian version contains an alternate DVD and alternative cover that is packaged in a slimline case with the disc in original packaging. The "Tour Edition" of Meteora is packaged in a two disc set. The second disc, which is a Video CD, has the music videos for "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", and "Breaking the Habit". The tour edition is packaged in a standard Compact Disc case, rather than their trademark digipak case. The album was also released on a very limited quantity of vinyl records (spread across two LPs) under Warner Brothers. These are coveted by collectors and fetch high prices at auction. In 2014, Linkin Park released a demo version of Shinoda singing the song, on their 14th annual fan club CD, LPU XIV. 

The band promoted the album with their Meteora World Tour and various other supporting tours. The world tour was supported by Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year. The band played shows at Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre on the day before the album release and on the release date. The shows were called "'Meteora' Release Show". The European leg was cancelled because Chester was having severe back and abdominal pains. As a result, half of the music video of "Numb" was shot in Los Angeles and the Czech Republic. The album was also promoted by the Projekt Revolution festival. A live album was released in support of the album titled Live in Texas. Linkin Park played various special shows worldwide, including "Reading Ireland", as well as performing during the Kerrang! Awards, "Livid", "X-103's Not So Silent Night", "The End's Deck The Hall Ball" and "KROQ Almost Acoustic X-Mas", in promotion of the album.

Meteora received generally positive reviews, although critics noted that the album's musical style was similar to its predecessor, Hybrid Theory (2000). The overall Metacritic score is 62. E! Online rated it A, and expected it to "shoot straight for the stars". Entertainment Weekly described it as "radio-friendly perfection". Dot Music described it as a "guaranteed source of ubiquitous radio hits". Rolling Stone said the band "squeezed the last remaining life out of this nearly extinct formula". Billboard Magazine described Meteora as "a ready-made crowdpleaser". The New Musical Express said it had "massive commercial appeal" but left the reviewer "underwhelmed". 

AllMusic described the album as "nothing more and nothing less than a Hybrid Theory part 2.", but added that the band "has discipline and editing skills, keeping this record at a tight 36 minutes and 41 seconds, a move that makes it considerably more listenable than its peers... since they know where to focus their energy, something that many nu-metal bands simply do not." Sputnikmusic writer Damrod criticized the album as being too similar to Hybrid Theory, but praised the album's production quality and catchiness, stating "the songs just invade your brain".  

Blender described it as "harder, denser, uglier", while Q described it as "less an artistic endeavor than an exercise in target marketing." Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, calling it a "thunderously hooky album that seamlessly blends the group's disparate sonic elements into radio-friendly perfection".  

The song "Session" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2004.

In its first week, Meteora debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album sold at least 810,000 copies its first week of release. As of June 2014, the album has sold 6.2 million copies in the US, and over 27 million copies worldwide. The album was ranked number 36 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade.

[docholligay]

BITS FROM THE SURVEYS

For the optional question on the surveys, where I get a ton of enjoyment reading, I asked for all of them “Tell me why you picked what you picked” I loved reading all of them so thank you to those who filled it out, but I’m going to share a few favorites: 

Miscellaneous:

Real talk - I'd love more Bob Ross, but those supplies ain't cheap, either. I may not vote for it in further rounds, because I do not want you to be in financial hurting by trying to provide this for us. (And second real talk - I desperately want to hear you talk about history and formal manners. You make topics come alive in wonderful ways.)

It’s true it is NOT CHEAP, but I do have more of the stuff now so it won’t be QUITE AS MUCH OF A BOMB as last year where we totally lost money on the whole deal ahaha. And thank you! I love history and manners and all of that good goofy stuff. 

JUST FINISH THE WALKING DEAD GAME FOR THE LOVE OF JEW GOD IT'S BEEN YEARS

LIKE THREE I THINK BUT NO ONE VOTED FOR IT

Can’t get enough of your writing

There is no way I COULDN'T choose fix/writing day because your writing is phenomenal and I will never pass up an opportunity for more.

I basically kept these because they made me feel good and I wanted an easy place to get to them, I am bought cheaply.

Utena:

I used a random number generator to pick these! (Because every episode of Utena is wonderful when you're talking about it.)

This absolutely delighted me

Deeper... Go deeper. (Seriously though I’d love to see your thoughts on the Nemuro flashbacks now that you’ve finished the show.)

There are so many things I want to revisit in Utena now that I’m finished but I don’t know that anyone would think it was cute for me just to start the anime again ahaha. 

Sailor Moon: 

 I picked pretty much all of the episodes featuring Michiru and Haruka because IM GAY

Idk any of the episodes, I just picked the ones that sounded the most gay

THESE ARE BOTH THE MOST VALID TAKES. 

CALL IT "MICHIRU BULLIES A TEENAGER AT A PUBLIC POOL" YOU COWARD

WE ALL KNOW THAT IS THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE

You don't normally do inners-only things (for obvious reasons), but I think there's a lot to dig into in EP 45 and it would be really interesting to hear your take!

I pretty much NEVER do anything before S, because if there aren’t my lesbians why is the show even around, but 45 got through! 

Clocks are stupid. 

L O L 

Livestream: 

I am legit shocked you have not seen The Last Unicorn, but it could be that I'm remembering you've read the book instead? I swear I read a post of yours that talked about it…

I swear I haven’t! I’ve seen like 15 minutes of it when Jetty livestreamed it and it was like right at the end so honestly the credits and Jet not being impressed are the only things I know! I have heard great things about the book, and considered picking it up, but never have! 

If I had fuck-you-money, I'd visit every time Ari Aster released a new movie and just goddamn scream about it PLEASE consider the director's cut if possible!!

I am low key obsessed with Ari Aster and approve of you gaining fuck you money. 

Doc talks about class romance YES PLEASE.

ALWAYS CLASS ROMANCIN’ IN MY SENSHI HEART

You made freaks sound very interesting!

IT WAS SO GOOD. It didn’t get through this round, I imagine because it’s not well known, but it was basically the sort of thing I always wanted Xmen to be, and also it was a very Jewish movie on a number of levels. 

Non-Animated:

Doctor Who is my favorite show ever, but the original run is just, well, ummmmm.... Great characters, great stories, wow bad effects. I think this would be more fun for you than the New Who eps starting in 200?

I have seen a handful of Doctor Who episodes: The angry baldish one and the inescapable David Tennant. I LOVED Torchwood though, watched it like wild once it was recommended to me, so we’ll see! 

I thought Twilight Zone was nominated! I thought I had nominated it! A great disservice upon us all! I really love reading your commentary on the Haunting of Hill House, even though I haven't watched it. It's just so fascinating, especially the mentions on camera work and the like.

I was a little surprised no one went for TZ either! But not in a bummed way, just a surprised way, everyone seemed to really really enjoy the TZ liveblog last year. Thank you! I LOVED hill house, and it’s such a treat to me to get to liveblog it. 

I need to see you intensely on your shit, and feel that will happen with most of what I picked.

JEWS ON THEIR SHIT, NEWS AT 11. 

Bc Leverage is the best show in the entire world and it’s so good everyone should watch it

I know almost NOTHING about Leverage except that people want me and Jet both to watch it (And I’m going to have her report back to me when she streams it for Patreon on the 26th, either way) but from what little I know it’s a heist procedural? So I’m sort of surprised people look at it for me, but maybe I have the wrong idea about the show PLEASE NO SPOILERS 

YOU DESERVE SUE PERKINS

WE ALL DO, REALLY. 

Animated:

To quote Regalli in your discord: "make someone liveblog A Place Further Than The Universe, I need well-articulated screaming about spite as a motivator and friendship and loss!"

I know nothing about this show but I have to say this was a magnificent pitch and my ears are officially perked. 

Psycho Pass because I really love your non-fiction pieces and the tidbits of morals and ethics that you dole out and I would love to see your take on the morals/ethics of the ending of the series. <--which is 500 years away until I win a liveblog, but that is my goal for next year, to pay patron and get one of those positions!

Thank you! I feel like I see so much shit just because I started running the patreon liveblog contest, which gives people a chance they might not have had. 

I want to see you talk about the murder cupcake forever? Is that a good reason?

I LOVE THE MURDER CUPCAKE. 

[acetokens]

All hail Doom! My thoughts on the new story mode in MUA3

‘The Shadow of Doom’ released recently for MUA3, and I’ve had so much fun playing it I haven’t had time to talk about the expansion until now! I was gonna make a ‘first impressions’ post of all the new features, but I think I’ll save my thoughts for the review. In the meantime, I want to talk about the new story content, because that’s absolutely the highlight of the expansion.

Spoilers ahead!

The Shadow of Doom is an epilogue to the storyline of MUA3, unlocked after you clear story mode for the first time. It begins with the heroes discussing how they’ve hidden the Infinity Stones across the galaxy in places where no one will find them, only for a villain to immediately find one. Wakanda is under siege yet again, so the heroes make their way to the necropolis to find Dr Doom stealing the Soul Stone. They defeat him, but the plot disagrees and Doom banishes the heroes to the Negative Zone. Luckily, they encounter the Fantastic Four there, who reveal they’ve been chasing Doom across dimensions to stop him from collecting the remains of a fallen Celestial (which explains why none of them have been in a video game since 2009). The heroes escape the Negative Zone by beating up its ruler, Annihilus, and stealing his cosmic control rod to power a giant portal, transporting them to Doom’s kingdom of Latveria. The alliance storms Castle Doomstadt and discovers the metal-masked monarch has already found all the pieces of the Celestial. Using the Soul Stone and the souls of his own citizens, Doom revives the Celestial! Although that doesn’t last long as the heroes dismantle it with some missiles and funky rocks. Doom isn’t finished quite yet and absorbs the Soul Stone’s power, but he too is eventually defeated. The epilogue concludes with Doom joining the alliance to combat an unknown threat from across the universe, setting up for a possible sequel or another expansion pass.

Apparently you can befriend anyone if you punch them enough. Note taken!

Overall, the epilogue is just as goofy and contrived as the game’s original story mode, but I loved every second of it (well, almost every second. But we’ll get into that later)! Aside from re-using part of the Wakanda level at the beginning, everything else in the epilogue is completely original, including two new locations, three new bosses, two new enemy types and a host of new cutscenes, dialogue and music to enjoy. It brought me back to when I first played MUA3 and I didn’t know who or what was going to appear next. Only a handful of characters get speaking roles, but everyone in the alliance appears at least once, and the game even makes an effort to tie in the DLC characters from the previous two expansions, explaining why they were absent from the original story. It’s a flimsy excuse (something to do with getting trapped in an alternate reality), but a neat touch. The epilogue takes around two hours to complete, so it’s a decent length of time, and the Fantastic Four takes center stage throughout most of it. I think their fans will really enjoy how the characters are portrayed here (a lot more than in the movies, that’s for sure). I especially enjoyed Doom’s lines, you can tell the voice actor had a ton of fun in that role.

On Mighty difficulty, the epilogue starts at Level 50, roughly the level your team will be after clearing story mode once. After beating the epilogue, you can challenge it again on Superior, where the difficulty ramps up considerably to Level 110, and if you beat that you can challenge the epilogue a third time, where it starts at Level 200. Enemies in the epilogue include Doombots (that launch missiles and endlessly spawn from teleportals until the machines are destroyed), Insectoids (huge bugs that feed on nearby nectar to heal themselves) and the dreaded Celestial. This is easily the most frustrating part of the epilogue. The boss battle itself is fine, once you work out that throwing the anti-matter that spawns from defeating Insectoids will reverse the Celestial’s healing so it hurts itself instead. But as the golden giant begins rebuilding itself, you’re faced with not one, not two, but three stages with more ‘bullet hell’ than a Touhou game. One incorrectly timed dodge and you can be juggled all the way back to the start by a barrage of explosions and paralyze-inducing lightning strikes. Unless you’re playing a character who can teleport, like Nightcrawler, or one who can shield themselves whilst moving forward, like Colossus, these parts are extremely frustrating. Aside from that though, the epilogue is challenging in a very enjoyable way, especially the boss battles.

Normally, I would end the post here. But there’s one last secret in the epilogue that I just have to talk about! When you beat it, the game shows an ominous clip of Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, claiming ‘’I will be waiting here, for you’’. If you check the Hero Select screen afterwards, you’ll see an empty slot on the top left.

There’s a secret unlockable character to discover!

Don’t get your hopes up too high, however. The secret character is Thanos. That might sound confusing, considering Thanos is already playable, but it’s true. You can unlock a second Thanos by beating the epilogue on Ultimate difficulty, this one wielding the Infinity Gauntlet.

And yes, you can have both on the same team. Its just as dumb as it sounds.

What the bloody hell am I even looking at here.

Thanos Infinite may look identical to his bare handed counterpart, but his attacks are all unique. In fact, he’s the strongest character in the entire game, hands down. Thanos Infinite boasts extremely high stats, immunity to all status effects, as well as being one of the few characters in the game who can teleport. Thanos Infinite’s abilities are similarly very powerful, combining the Infinity Stones for a number of devastating attacks, which can be charged up to make them even stronger! Such as freezing enemies in place with the Space Stone, absorbing their HP and EP with the Soul Stone or tripling his attacks by cloning himself with the Reality Stone. Even the Mad Titan’s basic attacks are obnoxiously strong. The fact he joins your team at Level 230 helps too.

Despite wanting to ‘restore balance’ to the universe, Thanos Infinite is hilariously overpowered.

That being said, Thanos Infinite does have some drawbacks. Since he’s holding the Infinity Stones, he can’t equip items, and he can’t perform Synergies either. But overall, he’s so good that playing as him almost feels like cheating. They definitely did the Mad Titan justice with this version of him. Despite how strong Thanos Infinite is, I did feel a little disappointed when I unlocked him, because I was expecting a brand new character. But I appreciate that the devs included a secret character at all, and as a reward for beating the epilogue on Ultimate difficulty, its certainly a lot better than a costume recolour.

I tried not to ramble too much in this post but it looks like I did it anyway, judging by the word count. Whoops. But I loved the story content in this expansion so much, I just had to talk about it for a while! I’ll end the post here, but I’m not done with this expansion just yet! There’s a lot more in the Shadow of Doom to explore, and we’ve barely scratched the surface!

[sugar-petals]

Wow! Your analyses are amazing and so well thought out - each post I read is so full of passion and care! Unfortunately, when I hit the ‘keep reading’ bar for your hogwarts sorting post, I couldn’t find the rest of it. Do you think you could share what their houses are again? I’d love to know what you think about their sorting!

Someone finally says something about the sorting I—

Jimin - Slytherin | ♦ Charming

“What will you be like in 10 years?” - “I’ll be on the world news, what else… I’ll be a man that the whole world wants.” That’s Slytherin aspiring to greatness. Like he wanted to be the #1 swordsman after watching One Piece as a kid and picked up fencing. That easily excludes cautious Hufflepuff who wants to be loved but only in their frugal sphere without bold ambitions. And Ravenclaw who’d be in analysis paralysis before they even thought of going global. Jimin lacks most aquiline traits in particular. Like he made fun of RM’s convoluted existential philosophy in AHL. Doesn’t mean he has intellectual disdain, consider how much of an ace in math/chemistry he was. But it wasn’t for curiosity. More like Jimin’s trademark goal-orientation, concealed behind this planet’s most charming smile. He hides a lot of fraternity bias, too, with a mask of Hufflepuff’s altruism. But inside, he is motivated by praise for personal gains. He goes about it in a perfectionistic way and won’t bother with Gryffindor’s cowardice issues… which points to Slytherin. Career comes first at all cost. He wants power over the audience, the applause. Not much adventure or savior complex going on. While daredevils Tae and Hobi always say after practice/filming how fun it was despite the challenge (Gryffindor heroism focus), pragmatic Jimin - just like JK and Suga - sees the shortcomings to work on (Slytherin competency focus). He wants to avoid public humiliation, see weight and voice struggles. Gryffindor would boldly say: suck it up, haters. But Jimin is different, too dark and vulnerable below the surface. He can’t handle malicious critique or being overshadowed. I was born in Busan first! Greed to dance center! Look at me only, or else I get angry. Slytherin claiming the top spot there, not afraid to threaten. He will change his manners, looks, or complete objective to achieve. No other house is that adaptable. And with his level of smooth like a snake flirting, without a doubt he has plenty of sexy cunning.

Taehyung - Gryffindor | ♦ Daring

Power or wisdom he does not crave. It’s a decision between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and I argue for the former. His goal when he was young and couldn’t afford things was to have a “fabulous” life, to provide for himself and everything his relatives lacked. HP translation: chivalry and fighting for the underdog. He said he admired the heroism of his dad, or the sacrifice of the protagonist in one of his favorite movies, “A Wolf’s Temptation”. V wanted to become a singer because of the positive feedback from his peers when he was on stage. Disclosing his core values, he states wanting to be confident and not giving up. That’s Gryffindor’s will, social adventure spirit, and valor. Consider the wild things he does on live television in general. He eats things he shouldn’t eat, endlessly teased his pet dog by blowing on it, nae nae’d for KBS and the entire world, danced in stilettos, and once left in the middle of broadcast to go to the toilet walking through the entire venue. For me as a Slytherin: unfathomable, and Yoongi thinks the same since Tae’s Cypher performance. You probably spotted a Gryffindor when the Slytherins are not having it. It’s boldness mixed with a lax attitude that rubs snakes the wrong way: ”Grades are not that important”. I don’t see a hard-working, decency-loving Hufflepuff. It’s the impulse of Gryffindor that will not micro-manage or conform. There are some other few moments that made me think Gryff. In Run BTS Ep.32 he did not play fair at all, first protected Jungkook, then bluffed to betray him for the fun of it. Too much hilarity for consistent and just Hufflepuff. “Rescuer house” Gryffindor is a lot less focused on loyalty even in jest. Last but not least: Last time I checked, the “V” sign stands for victory so we really have a lion here.

Yoongi - Slytherin | ♦ Goal-oriented

No doubts about this old soul. The day Agust D finished everyone, the minute Min Yoonji entered the room, the moment Suga broke down receiving the 2016 daesang, his house was set. Need more evidence? “You need people like me to point your fuxxin’ fingers and say ‘that’s the bad guy’”. Verbatim from the mixtape cover. No Ravenclaw nor Hufflepuff would EVER promote that. Gryffindor is eliminated, too. He rather cares about the power behind the throne, the respect, the skills and resources that he will keep secret if he has to. He’d even want being feared which practically no other house desires or has use for. Yoongi operates in the shadows, literally at night. Slytherin loves the dark, the common room would be so perfect for him. 200+ songs a year? That’s what I call ambition. He knew what his purpose was ever since, too. No surprise he loves trophies, it was all in his past vision. His sharp tongue, “I’m a genius” antics, and stance of observation signify Slytherin’s cunning braggadocio style. All mixed with shrewdness, as does his fixation on the past. If you go through the house traits, yeah. He does have them all. He gets along with actual living snakes just fine as well, just like Jimin. I mean, Suga is so Slytherin he could straight up hang out with Merlin himself to talk about what it means to be at the top. If he wasn’t busy producing - read: goal-orientedness and self-preservation -  he’d be a leader candidate. Suga has a lot of boss qualities and can guide things to success without disclosing everything. Confer his Festa hosting, he keeps the members on track. Most clear-cut Slytherin in Bangtan.  

Jin - Hufflepuff | ♦ Caring

Loyal, hardworking, practical, cheerful, family-oriented, traditional, anti-competition, friendly, slept on. Jin meets each criterium to a T. He always seems like he just came to chill with his favorite people. Hufflepuff is often compared to the homely Hobbit culture, I find it absolutely dead-on and reminiscent of Jin’s mentality. He once stated that he envied his father’s “well-regulated life” and complained about such an ordinary lifestyle being difficult as he grew up. If that doesn’t ring a bell. Hufflepuff does not fit into the KPop industry at all, but they are the ones who really keep it running. Huff takes out the competition from Gryffindor/Slytherin social structures. Look at EatJin (Helga Hufflepuff also introduced food enthusiasm to Hogwarts). “252,031 people are watching me eat. Great. It can’t get any more uncomfortable than this.” Not much risk-taking or fame-seeking involved there. Worldwide handsome you say, he’s really digging it and shows all that confidence? I say that’s Jin getting with the program of what others say about him and projecting it outward to get their support - Hufflepuff first and foremost wants love. Yet it’s in a tug-of-war, it wants to be heard but also politely restrains itself so when they get a chance to self-advocate, of course, they take it! It’s to feel secure and to adapt, not because he’s arrogant or not modest. And Namjoon put him in Gryffindor. The rule-breakers and fighters. You had one job. But I bet it was to be in the same house with him or to give him some credit. If someone does not get the lines they deserve it’s Hufflepuff, because unlike Slytherin or Gryffindor, they don’t push their talents forward because they value a cozy and less eventful life much more.

J-Hope - Gryffindor | ♦ Passionate  

Q: “How does it feel to be having this global success?” - JH: “Woo! It’s nice!” Gryffindor loves fame. Our Hobi did not hesitate to answer one bit there. He has a whole lot of nerve and boldness, fits perfectly into America’s very Gryffindor culture, did you notice? Don’t let the flinch game or horror clip reaction fool you. What he values is daring. The rest is just exercising what he is good at - expressing emotions, and you can be sure he amps it up for the entertainment. If there is one house who likes an uproar, it’s the lions. They’re just not into snakes, that’s all. Also, Gryff heroism - “I was so afraid, but I survived!” style. At the beginning, he was confident since he wanted to test himself. And then it backfired. Like on Corden he exclaimed “Wow!” and danced toward the glass when it was his turn, then got caught by surprise. Classic: Gryff’s volition overriding all planning or foresight. It lacks Slytherin’s or Ravenclaw’s consideration and cautious Hufflepuff’s comfort mentality. He always goes straight ahead to combat boredom for everybody while the other members would be too embarrassed or slow. His room apparently is the noisiest. Is it a Gryffindor trait that they are very loud? I do think so. Partly because it ties to their traits of being people-oriented, temperamental, and talkative, which definitely applies to Hobi. It’s a good point to attach similar Hufflepuff values to him. But he still has that one edge of chivalry and glee in winning that makes him a lion, while he is neither very grounded nor unafraid of toil. In fact, he’s not into the sturdy badgers’ extra hard work, Slytherin’s ruthless pursuit, or Ravenclaw’s intellectual experiments and projects. Guess why Suga (S) and Joon ® have their mixtapes out while he doesn’t. J-Hope excels more using a whim and scattered energy to charge into the situation at hand.

Namjoon - Ravenclaw | ♦ Intelligent

So he sorted himself into Gryffindor. Technically, you can’t say anything against that. You go where you want to go since it shows what traits you like the most. But in his case, come on. He has no Gryffindor qualities nor do his choices in life effectively show Gryffindor values. There is a reason why he always envies Suga’s trivia knowledge. Why he’s the only one in BTS who likes to spend time in the bookstore. Why he had his “Problematic Men” show. Why Namjoon raises the LGBT+ flag so high. Why his rap and puns show great wit and second thought. Why he goes on a galaxy-level tangent any time a deep topic comes up. Why ignorance is vitriol to him. He values Ravenclaw traits. Not that his high IQ would place him there, but rather how he expresses it. All for knowledge’s sake. He prefers to be in his intellectual sphere like a scholar which clearly distinguishes him from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. He’s formal, well-conceived, caught off guard when confronted with his fame. What’s quite interesting is that he represents the humanitarian slant of his house, Ravenclaw isn’t all books and no heart, “callous” as its main flaw is described. It’s about acceptance and conscientiousness for Namjoon. He’s an iconoclastic, wise romantic who loves to learn, and sophisticated as this house suggests. It shows whenever he writes letters for SNS. Yeah I’m all for going into the house you want to be the most - RM wants to be a Gryffindor - but if he has not one reckless bone in him and effectively does not choose courage by all means, it’s Ravenclaw which reflects him perfectly.

Jungkook - Slytherin | ♦ Self-Preserving

Typical Slytherin introvert. Shy, but determined. That sets him apart from Gryffindor in particular. If he had to choose between asking IU for her number or impressing her with his skills indirectly, he chooses the latter. Gryffindor wouldn’t even think about that and dive in head first even if the odds of rejection are high. Slytherin estimates their chances instead, looks for the best way to use their resources successfully. He’s tactical, economical, but doesn’t want to accumulate knowledge like Ravenclaws who can be equally calculating. Look at his shrugged-off responses to math questions on air. The only book he’ll ever pick up is a comic or manga. Given how much self-preservation he demonstrated so far, how much he emphasizes ambition, Slytherin is a no-brainer. Social house Hufflepuff would reach out to bond, meanwhile, Jungkook: showered alone in the early days, stays in his room, goes to Hongdae by himself, few tweets, mutes the group chat… On the other hand: Piano Tiles, wrestling, bowling, working out: JK comes out of his shell and gives it his all when he knows his efforts will be valued. He’s hypercompetitive even with small things, was not above shoving J-Hope aside mid-air to claim his title as #TheBunny in Run BTS Ep.33. If he’s forcibly pigeonholed as the baby maknae, then he’ll make it a freaking success. Delegate Slytherin an assignment that they are sure of tackling and they get active. Without a goal, what’s the use? Finally, there’s a pretty salient reason behind why he loves G-Dragon and was inspired by him to become a star in the first place. GD is the King of serpents. Slytherin family allegiance and aristocracy much? It also ties to how he treats his parents, this guy is on another level.

“♦” indicates a core quality for that specific house. 

I wrote this ages ago oh my 😂Updated the link. 

[zzpopzz]

Really long rant about how I made Vanilla Twilight, I typed it at 2am so it’s kinda crappy and boring, just skip through this post.

So I'd been thinking about it for a long time now, even before finishing Vanilla Twilight that I'd talk about it if someone asked, well that never happened so I was just thinking that I'd let it go but that post is so important to me so well fuck it I'll just talk about it anyway. I did it completely on a wimp like how cool would it be if I make a lyricstuck for Toumaki like I'd be the first (if anyone did this before me im sorry). The first song I intended to do wasn't VT, it was a much shorter and easier song. I saw the music video first time after a while and the lyrics gave me some scenes to draw right away, like the tones, the atmosphere, the lyrics all fit them very well, made me wanted to draw something happy but sad. The ending for it was a happy one instead of a sad one like other songs I did (I didn't post the ending for any of them, just let the viewers decide what it's gonna be) I was very scared like what if it won't turn out ok and people gonna hate me for it or no one even gonna look at it. Also what I visualized are mostly illustrations with backgrounds, what I never done before so high chance it won't go anywhere. I thought well let's just see how far will I get and won't talk about it at all until I post it so at least I won't be all barks no bite. I was very traumatized that someone might know about what I did so I locked all the files when I shut down my PC in case someone hack into it lmao. I started with making a storyboard(kinda) for it, this is where I first got trouble because there was some part I didn't think of when I visualized what I'd draw at first ( 'I don't feel so alone' part mostly and some in between) and it's only at this point that I realized how many I'd have to draw (over 40 images total) and it's mind blowing for someone who rarely finish a painting like me at that time, that number is more than what I'd draw in a year. VT doesn't have choruses that meant I can't do tricks like repeat some panels (I don't like this anyway). I usually painted on small canvas before that but I wanna make sure I can fix things later and some idea I had was pretty big so I used 3000x5000px canvas then trimmed them down ( I didn't know how big it was and it's huge). The idea was to make a tumblr scroll-post like a lyricstuck (my favorites are by paperseverywhere and toastyhat/emptyfeet , they made really cool tutorials about these) so I tried to drew out compositions that would look good scrolling down panel by panel and have some connections between them (this didn't turn out so good in the end because I wasn't good lol) Since I was scared that people might point out that I draw something wrong, it took me almost a week or something searching for references (check my pinterest board) like the streets, sky, houses, roads, outfits, poses,... I was going to draw. I got some knowledge about bikes by this too, like I can tell the differences between road bike, mtb, touring bikes,... I also see and captured bunches of screenshots and reread ywpd trivia countless time to make sure I won't get anything wrong. If you take notice, every outfit Toumaki wear in there are all canon, from anime or promos. The first few panels was really exciting because I had never painted so many with backgrounds before, I was really happy when I almost finished the first verse even compared to the full 3:50 of the song it was only 20 seconds and I thought maybe I can pull this after all. The last panel was intended to be Makichan standing infront of his house looking at the sky but I wanted to show the sky at the end of the panel and that wouldn't work on scroll-down post so I had to leave it for later, I repainted this panel for about 3 times and finished it just 30' before posting. The first panel of the second verse wasn't turning out alright too because that was my first time doing a 3 points perspective drawing and the colors didn't turn out as I wanted either (my intention was a green/gold dawn scene). Things kinda worked well despite that until the scene when Toudou sits in his ink, gdi I didn't know why I was so caught up in that and painted every piece of that wooden floor, it took me almost a week but turned out better than I expected so I was ok with it. I was going to make sketchy paintings for all of the panel but I did too much details on that one so it gave me the impression that I'll have to do just as much for every others. Now I still had school to go and that semester my uni got me pretty crappy schedule that made me have to wait for classes at school frequently, I was frustrated because I didn't get to paint during that time and I might finish it too late (even though I didn't set a deadline) and when I got home I just spent so much time checking twitter and just can't pick myself up to draw and ended up feeling shitty about it. *Side story*  I was so mad because I didn't get anything done and there's still more than half of the whole thing to do and the worst part is that I had no one that I can talk to because I didn't have any friend who ship Toumaki and I also don't want to publicly talk about what I was doing, I wanted to surprise people when I'm done, I didn't wanna give people the expectation then screw it up (I literally thought I'd drop a bomb not a grenade lmao) I can't remember how long was that shitty phase but I felt like it was so long, I barely finished verse 2 at that point. I was so mad at myself and my progress so I spent a few days to look at time management threads and this helped a lot, I changed my habits completely  by this and I still apply those methods now, like I used to stay up til 3am to read fics (bless you writers you fueled me with your writings bless you all) then I switch to bed before 12 and get up early for a good start or reduce working time while increasing quality* After that I kinda got things together,I just went ahead with painting tho it's still kinda tiring, I had to work on 5 essays during this time too. At this point I was like screw all, I give no shit about what everyone thinks I'm just gonna finish this and get some good nap (I practiced power nap to get more focus time for painting but dude everyone wants a good long nap) 10 days before uploading I found out that there's a Toumaki day (I'm so sorry), I was going to posted on the first sunday of June (I did researched on which was the best time to post on social medias so I randomly picked a sunday) and Toumaki day is the last sunday of May, that meant I had 10 days left and 15 panels to paint! I was going to ignore that but I already made it big I should make it right too so I shit my pants going through those last panels. I purposely hiding Toudou's face till the last verse to emphasize the feelz and got so relieved that I finally got to paint him (I read some tags that some viewers got emotional at this part so I'm so glad it worked). The whole things was put under Makichan's perspective so I was so sick of painting him at that point, he showed up in every panel and I can't paint him ugly because he's beautiful (especially his hair, I spent shitload of time painting them). I can talk lots about why I picked to do so but that's headcanon shit and it's embarrassing so let's just skip that. The last day I had only 3 panels left and I was hell confident that I've got this and somehow spent the whole evening rewatch Toumaki pingpong ep (end me). Of course that didn't end well, I managed to finish those by midnight but I still had like 3 panels that needed  repaint completely and all 43 needed retouch and edits. My plan was to post at 9am sunday (thats 9pm saturday est) so I had to get up at 5am and finish all that, I ended up cutting down 2 panels and simplified the instrumental panel (some tags said that was nice so I was at least relieved). Unlike other songs I did, the length of every line's quite different and the original sizes I did would make viewers have to scroll slower or faster at different parts. I didn't plan this beforehand and had to trim down some panels even the parts that I really liked and spent lots of time on. I also found out that people outside the homestuck fandom might not familiar with this type of post so I made a video too (I’m sorry I have zero skill in editing). After posting I was terrified of people's reactions or worse, there won't be any reaction so I turned everything off and went to sleep and woke up with an unimaginable number of notes I'd got, I set the target of 500 notes and I really didn't think that I'd get past that number like maybe 2-300 (well my other songs didnt even get 200), at the end I got 5000. I spent the next week reading and screencap tags given in reblogs, I put them on desktop and they're still my motivation til now. Vanilla Twilight is the thing I'm proud of the most even until now, when I've done other songs and projects that look somewhat better. If I have to recommend one thing on my blog I'd recommend it despite its' unskilled paneling, poor composition and muddy colors. It was the first time in my life that I'd put so much effort into something and went through such emotional roller coaster, the feelings I put into it was raw and the idea was very original compared to other songs, I improved and changed a lot during the 2 months I spent on it and never once regret doing it. ***Anyway, you sure have much free time to read it this far, here's a little game for you: I put random things in VT and HF like some characters/stuff from other series, my ocs,... (there wasn't anything purposeless in there even the logo on their cups or the bags they wear) just send me anything you find and I'll draw you something in return**

[btskive]

Meet BTS, the K-Pop Group Loved By Wale and Charlie Puth and it's well-deserved.

In 2017, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to good pop music. But what if you could have dancefloor bangers, socially-conscious hip hop, emotive ballads, and killer choreography all in one group? Look no further than K-Pop group BTS, who bring all of the above together in their recent genre-defying album, Wings.

The seven members — Rap Monster (rapper), Jin (vocalist), Suga (rapper), J-Hope (rapper/choreographer), Jimin (vocalist/choreographer), V (vocalist), and Jungkook (vocalist/choreographer) — dropped their first EP back in 2013, which totally went against K-Pop’s general manufactured dynamic by taking a major role in writing (and later, producing) their own songs. However, it was their 2015 Youth concept albums, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Part 1/...Part 2, that turned them into K-Pop superstars, with songs like “I Need U” and “Run” filled with their hopes and dreams, pointed jabs about society, and the pressure of being young and the hell that comes with it — from heartbreak to haters.

This month, BTS return to America for a sold-out arena tour, armed with the accolade of being the only Korean group to have cracked the U.S. iTunes Top 10 with the recent single “Spring Day." And with Charlie Puth as a fan, a brand new collaboration between Rap Monster and rapper Wale, and hundreds of millions of YouTube views — we have no doubt they'll become a huge sensation stateside. As such, we talked to them about making music, fame, and, if you're new to BTS, which tracks will have you joining their fandom (called A.R.M.Y) in no time. Teen Vogue: How did you feel about landing in the U.S. iTunes Top 10 in February? Rap Monster: Reaching the top of any music chart is a thrill, but this was a shock. We were on [a strict TV appearance] schedule at that time, so it wasn’t like I could scream or anything (laughs). Jin: It was ‘Wow. Are you serious? Really?’ It was similar to what I thought when I first heard that Wings charted at 26 on the Billboard 200 last year. How cool is that! TV: For those new to BTS, what song and which video should they check out? RM: Hmmm, it’s like choosing between your mom and your dad, who do you like better! “Fire” was loved by so many, so that’s the song. Jin: I’d recommend “Blood Sweat & Tears” because I got the lead role and I kind of lead the whole story of video! And, of course, it’s beautifully designed and choreographed. V: I, too, think it’s “Blood Sweat & Tears.” It had so many metaphors and I had to make a lot of guesses to understand the relationship between characters. And there’s a scene where I make a strange smile to give you a chill, which I love! Teen Vogue: Rap Monster, K-Pop groups usually have designated roles for the members and yours is BTS’s leader, but what does that mean to you? RM: It’s my official role to represent BTS to the world and it’s been a chance for me to mature as a person, but, behind the scenes, I’m just one of seven members and I’m inspired by the others all the time. I get free life lessons from J-Hope and Jimin, sometimes it’s like they’re 10 years older than me. TV: OK, let’s play a little game. You’re now at the mercy of another member describing you. Jungkook: Jin used to be an ordinary guy in the team, but he’s the mood maker now. He’s the most wicked and funniest of all. No one in BTS is normal though, come to think of it. Jin: Jungkook’s delicate voice always mesmerizes our ears and that’s definitely his role in BTS. V: Jimin is a real piece of cuteness, like the youngest in the family. Jimin: V’s specialty is getting all the attention from others onto him! J-Hope: Suga is a true caretaker. He’s kind of a hidden leader who takes care of everyone. Suga: J-Hope’s a real hope-maker. He’s such a ‘hope-generator.’ TV: BTS have become highly respected for penning their own tracks. When you’re on tour, do you make time to write? RM: Mostly we’re in the hotel when we’re not on [our promotional] schedule so I bring all my equipment. I wake up, if I have a rehearsal, I go do that and when I come back to the hotel, I sit down and turn on the laptop, cause I’ve got nothing to do without that! TV: When you’ve got a new demo, such as the rough guide to Wings, do you take it to another member and play it and ask for feedback? Suga: I usually have as many people listen to it as possible because I think it really helps make it a better track. I always get great feedback from the rest of the band. RM: Firstly, I take it to (BTS’s executive producer) P.Dogg. If he likes it, he sometimes puts it into the album. I really trust him, he’s got the eye for it. TV: If P.Dogg says no, will you fight for it? RM: Yeah, of course, I really fight for it! I’m like, ‘Hey, this is the thing I gotta do right now. If you won’t do it, I’ll put it into my mixtape!’ The last one I fought for was ‘Reflection’ — there’s an original version, a whole different song. He didn’t not like it, it just didn’t fit the Wings concept, so I’ll release it myself someday. Suga: I think I kind of did for my mixtape, because I felt I should as AgustD [my solo moniker], and I’m glad I did. TV: Speaking of mixtapes, J-Hope, we’ve been looking forward to hearing yours. What can you tell us about it? J-Hope: I’m working on it as we speak and my inspiration really depends on my daily mood swing; sometimes I like to go strong and sometimes I make softer sounds. Since it’s a mixtape, I’m trying to experiment with various genres to test myself. TV: Jungkook, you recently covered Charlie Puth's “We Don't Talk Anymore” — you teased it in January but didn’t release it until the end of February. Were you making changes? And will we hear your own songwriting any time soon? Jungkook: I recorded it several times until I was sure that it felt and sounded perfect. I was more than ready to share it because I knew fans had been waiting, but we had You Never Walk Alone being released and I thought I’d better wait until BTS wraps up the official activities for it. I don’t feel confident about writing any of my own [material] yet, but if I ever write a song, I’d like to work on a very soft and sweet vibe. TV: The bigger an artist gets, the more people will try and bring them down. How does BTS deal with that side of fame? Jimin: I’m a very positive person and I don’t easily get intimidated by people who try to bring me or BTS down. Besides, my family is always there for me. RM: These days, I try to take everything as my fate and respond with dignity. I accept it, it’s like a shadow, it’s just there. J-Hope: I had a firm belief that I was going to be a successful artist, and that led me to what I am. I draw all the strength I need from that belief and try to share my energy with other members as much as I can. TV: Rap Monster, you’ve just released a collaboration with rapper Wale, which came about through a BTS fan helping bring you guys together over Twitter. What can you tell us about working together? RM: When he suggested the collaboration, that was a real shock. I thought about it, [and was] like, should we do a party song? But I wanted to do something different. The title is “Change” — in America. They’ve got their situations and we’ve got ours in Seoul, the problems are everywhere and the song is like a prayer for change. He talks about the police, and problems he’s faced since he was a child. For me, I talked about Korea, my problems, and about those on Twitter who kill people by keyboards. TV: Let’s do a finishing quickfire round! BTS experiments with a lot of genres, which one has been a challenge? V: I always find rock difficult. RM: I’m always ready to be challenged, like, “Wings: Outro,” it was hip-house, that was the first time I’d ever listened to that genre... but I liked it. TV: What do you want do while you’re in America? RM: I want to go to Barneys and Supreme! I want to see buildings and people on the street, their faces, what they talk about, how they walk. I do that in Korea. I go to somewhere I haven’t been and just watch people and colors, that’s my inspiration. Jimin: I really want to go on a day trip with the members. Or a picnic to Central Park on a sunny day would be nice.

[anthony-kate]

This is the My Shadowhunters Blog tag! Answer all the questions, then tag 5 of your followers. Thanks for tagging me @malecisright!

- What is the title of your blog? Don’t push me away. - What is your age? too old to even be on this site lol - What is your gender? female - How many followers does your blog have? 4172 <33 (and I am thankful for every single one, just saying!) - What Shadowhunters character(s), ship(s), or actor(s) does your blog focus on? Wow, I don’t know. I guess it is really hard to tell with my url. Well, yeah, okay, I am 100% Malec trash. <3 - What post(s) got your blog noticed? I think it’s because of my gif sets foremost. Well, I hope that is the reason at least. Then again, I actually gain a lot of notes and even followers whenever I talk and be a bitter and salty person doing that. lol - Have you read any of the books in the Shadowhunters universe? Yup, I have. And I even own all of them. I knoooooow... - If so, which one(s)? I have read book 1-3 of TMI years ago (and barely remember a thing tbh) and skimmed through book 5+6. And I’ve read TID (except the last 200 pages of the last book lmao). I also read the Malec related short stories from “The Bane Chronicles” and “Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy”. - Which book/series was your favourite? Hard to answer. TMI has Malec which I love to pieces even though CC wrote so much BS when it comes to them and I wanna burn book 5 because of all the nonsense and problematic shit. SIiiigh. TID was surprisingly better written and has a better story in my eyes. And I also love Will Herondale. <3 Tessa was awesome. And Jem.... awwww. So yeah, I guess I will go with TID. - Who are your favourite characters from Shadowhunters? Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane, hands down. I also adored Isabelle until they gave her that fucking yin fen plot. Please give me back my kickass!Izzy. And Maia is simply awesome in general. - Who are your LEAST favourite characters? Sebastian 😤; and I think it is no secret that Clary is annoying me a lot - What is your favorite thing about the cast? That they are like this big family who just enjoy each other’s company a lot. They are a bunch of dorks who just seem to have such a blast doing their jobs. They are all amazing people who constantly make me smile. - Who are your BROtps in the cast? Shumdario but also the parabatri because when will we get that damn cooking show?! I need. And Sherdario is just plain hilarious. Dorks, all of them. - What are your top 3 favourite episodes so far from both seasons? From both season? That is hard. Hmmmm... Well, 1x12 will probably always be my absolute fave ep. <3 2x10, for reasons. lol And ... I think I will go with 2x03 because I love the parabatai bond so much and I would love to see them explore this more and see them fighting and simply being there for each other in 2b. (Honorable mention to 2x01 because....that balcony scene is one of the best scenes ever, hands down!) - What is your favourite fan event that the cast has attended so far? I dunno. I am happy whenever the cast appears somewhere because that means new stuff like pictures and infos and such. But maybe NYCC? I really enjoyed both appearences so far. - Do you write Shadowhunters fanfictions? I actually do. But I am terrible at updating or getting fics finished. *facepalm* - If so, what is your name on ao3, ff.net, etc? I am “sweetautumnleaves” over at ao3. :)

Tagging: @daddarios, @patronusmagnus, @thirstyalec, @alecsplushpillow, @harry-daddario, @softshumjr, @softdaddario, @shadowrld, @madzie-bane, @darquebane, @sweetillusionketz, @alec-magnvs, @magswoods, @malecshappiness, @magnusizzy (feel free to ignore)

[skip-to-my-boo]

TEEN VOGUE - Meet BTS, the K-Pop Group Loved By Wale and Charlie Puth

And it's well-deserved. By Taylor Glasby MARCH 21, 2017 1:33 pm In 2017, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to good pop music. But what if you could have dancefloor bangers, socially-conscious hip hop, emotive ballads, and killer choreography all in one group? Look no further than K-Pop group BTS, who bring all of the above together in their recent genre-defying album, Wings. The seven members — Rap Monster (rapper), Jin (vocalist), Suga (rapper), J-Hope (rapper/choreographer), Jimin (vocalist/choreographer), V (vocalist), and Jungkook (vocalist/choreographer) — dropped their first EP back in 2013, which totally went against K-Pop’s general manufactured dynamic by taking a major role in writing (and later, producing) their own songs. However, it was their 2015 Youth concept albums, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Part 1/...Part 2, that turned them into K-Pop superstars, with songs like “I Need U” and “Run” filled with their hopes and dreams, pointed jabs about society, and the pressure of being young and the hell that comes with it — from heartbreak to haters. This month, BTS return to America for a sold-out arena tour, armed with the accolade of being the only Korean group to have cracked the U.S. iTunes Top 10 with the recent single “Spring Day." And with Charlie Puth as a fan, a brand new collaboration between Rap Monster and rapper Wale, and hundreds of millions of YouTube views — we have no doubt they'll become a huge sensation stateside. As such, we talked to them about making music, fame, and, if you're new to BTS, which tracks will have you joining their fandom (called A.R.M.Y) in no time. Teen Vogue: How did you feel about landing in the U.S. iTunes Top 10 in February? Rap Monster: Reaching the top of any music chart is a thrill, but this was a shock. We were on [a strict TV appearance] schedule at that time, so it wasn’t like I could scream or anything (laughs). Jin: It was ‘Wow. Are you serious? Really?’ It was similar to what I thought when I first heard that Wings charted at 26 on the Billboard 200 last year. How cool is that! TV: For those new to BTS, what song and which video should they check out? RM: Hmmm, it’s like choosing between your mom and your dad, who do you like better! “Fire” was loved by so many, so that’s the song. Jin: I’d recommend “Blood Sweat & Tears” because I got the lead role and I kind of lead the whole story of video! And, of course, it’s beautifully designed and choreographed. V: I, too, think it’s “Blood Sweat & Tears.” It had so many metaphors and I had to make a lot of guesses to understand the relationship between characters. And there’s a scene where I make a strange smile to give you a chill, which I love! Teen Vogue: Rap Monster, K-Pop groups usually have designated roles for the members and yours is BTS’s leader, but what does that mean to you? RM: It’s my official role to represent BTS to the world and it’s been a chance for me to mature as a person, but, behind the scenes, I’m just one of seven members and I’m inspired by the others all the time. I get free life lessons from J-Hope and Jimin, sometimes it’s like they’re 10 years older than me. TV: OK, let’s play a little game. You’re now at the mercy of another member describing you. Jungkook: Jin used to be an ordinary guy in the team, but he’s the mood maker now. He’s the most wicked and funniest of all. No one in BTS is normal though, come to think of it. Jin: Jungkook’s delicate voice always mesmerizes our ears and that’s definitely his role in BTS. V: Jimin is a real piece of cuteness, like the youngest in the family. Jimin: V’s specialty is getting all the attention from others onto him! J-Hope: Suga is a true caretaker. He’s kind of a hidden leader who takes care of everyone. Suga: J-Hope’s a real hope-maker. He’s such a ‘hope-generator.’ TV: BTS have become highly respected for penning their own tracks. When you’re on tour, do you make time to write? RM: Mostly we’re in the hotel when we’re not on [our promotional] schedule so I bring all my equipment. I wake up, if I have a rehearsal, I go do that and when I come back to the hotel, I sit down and turn on the laptop, cause I’ve got nothing to do without that! TV: When you’ve got a new demo, such as the rough guide to Wings, do you take it to another member and play it and ask for feedback? Suga: I usually have as many people listen to it as possible because I think it really helps make it a better track. I always get great feedback from the rest of the band. RM: Firstly, I take it to (BTS’s executive producer) P.Dogg. If he likes it, he sometimes puts it into the album. I really trust him, he’s got the eye for it. TV: If P.Dogg says no, will you fight for it? RM: Yeah, of course, I really fight for it! I’m like, ‘Hey, this is the thing I gotta do right now. If you won’t do it, I’ll put it into my mixtape!’ The last one I fought for was ‘Reflection’ — there’s an original version, a whole different song. He didn’t not like it, it just didn’t fit the Wings concept, so I’ll release it myself someday. Suga: I think I kind of did for my mixtape, because I felt I should as AgustD [my solo moniker], and I’m glad I did. TV: Speaking of mixtapes, J-Hope, we’ve been looking forward to hearing yours. What can you tell us about it? J-Hope: I’m working on it as we speak and my inspiration really depends on my daily mood swing; sometimes I like to go strong and sometimes I make softer sounds. Since it’s a mixtape, I’m trying to experiment with various genres to test myself. TV: Jungkook, you recently covered Charlie Puth's “We Don't Talk Anymore” — you teased it in January but didn’t release it until the end of February. Were you making changes? And will we hear your own songwriting any time soon? Jungkook: I recorded it several times until I was sure that it felt and sounded perfect. I was more than ready to share it because I knew fans had been waiting, but we had You Never Walk Alone being released and I thought I’d better wait until BTS wraps up the official activities for it. I don’t feel confident about writing any of my own [material] yet, but if I ever write a song, I’d like to work on a very soft and sweet vibe. TV: The bigger an artist gets, the more people will try and bring them down. How does BTS deal with that side of fame? Jimin: I’m a very positive person and I don’t easily get intimidated by people who try to bring me or BTS down. Besides, my family is always there for me. RM: These days, I try to take everything as my fate and respond with dignity. I accept it, it’s like a shadow, it’s just there. J-Hope: I had a firm belief that I was going to be a successful artist, and that led me to what I am. I draw all the strength I need from that belief and try to share my energy with other members as much as I can. TV: Rap Monster, you’ve just released a collaboration with rapper Wale, which came about through a BTS fan helping bring you guys together over Twitter. What can you tell us about working together? RM: When he suggested the collaboration, that was a real shock. I thought about it, [and was] like, should we do a party song? But I wanted to do something different. The title is “Change” — in America. They’ve got their situations and we’ve got ours in Seoul, the problems are everywhere and the song is like a prayer for change. He talks about the police, and problems he’s faced since he was a child. For me, I talked about Korea, my problems, and about those on Twitter who kill people by keyboards. TV: Let’s do a finishing quickfire round! BTS experiments with a lot of genres, which one has been a challenge? V: I always find rock difficult. RM: I’m always ready to be challenged, like, “Wings: Outro,” it was hip-house, that was the first time I’d ever listened to that genre... but I liked it. TV: What do you want do while you’re in America? RM: I want to go to Barneys and Supreme! I want to see buildings and people on the street, their faces, what they talk about, how they walk. I do that in Korea. I go to somewhere I haven’t been and just watch people and colors, that’s my inspiration. Jimin: I really want to go on a day trip with the members. Or a picnic to Central Park on a sunny day would be nice.

[the-ultimate-nobody]

tagged by: @replica-the-rice-cooker !! Thanks friend!!

Rules: Answer the questions in a new post and tag blogs you would like to get to know better

Nickname: Hmm...Nobody...?? (Does that count...)

Star Sign: Libra

Height: Around 5′4

Time right now: As of in this question, 5:58 PM

Last thing i googled: tetrisi am the man who arranges the blocks 

Fave music artist: Fck... Panic! at the Disco is one of many. Ryosuke Miura is also the best music artist.

Song stuck in my head: My head is too filled with gay thoughts to listen to music. 

Last movie i watched: That one Kyoryuger 100 years after movie

Last tv show watched: Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Ep 31 RIGHT NOW

What are you wearing right now: My black and white Flannel with jeans.

When did you create your blog: 2014, on December, (Probly) 

What kind of stuff do i post: Mostly Kamen Rider and Super Sentai stuff as of late. But I try my best to post art and Youtube related things. (Which will be never I guess...)

Do i have any other blogs: I do, but I never got to finish them, so they’re standing around

Do i get asks regularly: Hmm... On special days...

Why did i choose my url: I LOVED Dangan Roupa back then, the second game showed the title of talent ‘The Ultimate’ I need a special Talent so...being a NOBODY is what I’m talented about!!... *Distant cheers*

Gender: I’m whatever you want me to be, baby *Winks*

Hogwarts house: Slytherin (I wear too many green things...)

Pokemon team: *DABS* TEAM INSTINCT

Favorite color: Shades of blue are nice, along with soft colors ^w^

Average hours of sleep: C-Can I skip this question...

Favorite character(s): FCK AGAIN!! SFHSDK- Misao Mondou (zyuohger), Utchy (Kyoryger) EIJI AND ANKH (OOO), TOMOKI AND REI (PIECE), Uhm...That’s All I could think of on to of my head <33

How many blankets do i sleep with: Just one :33

Dream job: Being an amazing Animator and Actor... That’s a nice dream to think of...

Following: Last time I checked, it was 200 something 

People to tag: Nobody, If you wanna do it, THEN BY ALL MEANS JOIN IN!! <33

[thephotopitmagazine]

The Amway Center in downtown Orlando has been the host to some major musical acts such as Daryl Hall and John Oates, Stevie Nicks, and most recently Billy Joel. And they’ve even hosted some rock acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers. But, on December 14th, rock and metal fans were in for a treat with three great bands of Halestorm, In This Moment, and New Years Day. There was a huge buzz for this show and the media was out in full force that night, including The Photo Pit, to cover the event. There were so many photographers that they split us up into two groups to photograph the bands.

The Amway Center had a large crowd that evening on the floor and in the seats surrounding the arena. First on stage was New Years Day. The rock band from Anaheim, CA formed back in 2005 and released two EPs in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 they released their first studio album ‘My Dear’. The band went on the road to support the album and became very well known for their great live performances. The band continued to release studio albums and EPs as their popularity grew including getting multiple appearances on The Vans Warped Tour. Their latest studio album, ‘Malevolence’ was released in 2015 with great success. It debuted at #8 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart. It also peaked at #45 on the Billboard 200. Their latest EP ‘Diary of a Creep’ was released in 2018. It features one original song while the rest are covers, with one of them featuring Lzzy Hale the vocalist for Halestorm. And now Ash Costello (vocals), Nikki Misery (rhythm guitar), Frankie Sil (bass), James Renshaw (drums), Austin Ingerman (lead guitar) were touring with both In This Moment and Halestorm ready to rock the Orlando crowd.

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

They opened up with “Kill or Be Killed” from ‘Malevolence’ with Ash showcasing her amazing vocal talent. Nikki, Franki, and Austin were bouncing all over the stage playing hard and enjoying themselves. James was smiling from behind the drumkit having fun and enjoying it all. They followed up with “Fucking Hostile” by Pantera, which appears on ‘Diary of a Creep’. Ash spoke to the crowd to get them more animated telling them to throw their hands up high and put up their horns. Ash with her bright colored hair had no qualms showing off her headbanging skills, easily whipping her head and hair about during their songs. New Years Day finished their set with “Epidemic”, “Skeletons”, “Scream”, and “Defame Me”. The Orlando crowd gave them a solid round of applause and cheers when they finished their set.

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Next up to the stage was In This Moment the metal band from Los Angeles, CA. Forming in 2005 the band worked on their own to form a fanbase through MySpace and caught the attention of Century Media Records who signed them to a record deal. In 2007 they released their first studio album ‘Beautiful Tragedy’. The band started touring with artists such as Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Mudvayne, and even was invited to the Ozzfest tour with Megadeth, Rob Zombie, and Ozzy Osbourne. When they released their fourth album, ‘Blood’, the band decided to record a show live at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, WI and changed this up from their regular performances. Their set included choreography, set props, and dancers, which is one of the things they are so well known for today. In 2014 the band signed with Atlantic Records and released their fifth studio album ‘Black Widow’. On July 21, 2017, the band released their sixth and most current studio album ‘Ritual’. The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Album chart. In This Moment are Maria Brink (vocals), Chris Howorth (lead guitar), Randy Weitzel (rhythm guitar), Travis Johnson (bass), and Kent Diimmel (drums).

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

As the lights dimmed and fog poured out onto the stage, one by one the members of In This Moment made their way on stage. Maria wearing her large pointed crowd and covered in black robes with two Blood dolls by her side as they started to perform “Blood” the title track from the 2014 album. The crowd was already excited to see them and hearing this song made them scream in delight. The followed up with “River of Fire” from ‘Ritual’. I enjoy hearing this song live as Chris, Randy, and Travis lay down some seriously heavy guitar riffs while Kent smashes away on the drums. Maria’s vocals are amazing as usual but in this song, she really shows off her range and skills. The band went back to ‘Blood’ performing “Adrenalize” and then back to ‘Ritual’ with “Roots”. Maria left the stage so the guys could play out their “Monster Jam” instrumental. The most impressive piece is Kent’s drum solo performance. The speed, strength, and sounds he produces off his drumkit are captivating. So much that my young daughter watched with amazement and played air drums along with him. They followed with their version of Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” from ‘Ritual’ and then played one of my favorites, “Big Bad Wolf” from ‘Black Widow’. The band closed with “Oh Lord” from ‘Ritual’ and took a brief break before Maria came back out on stage with the podium and dunce cap on her head reading “WHORE” to give her soliloquy before they performed “Whore” from ‘Blood’. The crowd cheered loudly for In This Moment as they wrapped up their set, which they absolutely deserved for such an amazing performance that night.

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Last and certainly not least were the headliners Halestorm. The rock band from Red Lion, PA had members Lzzy Hale and her brother Arejay Hale writing music together since 1997. It wouldn’t be until 2004 when they had the full band together and by the next year signed a deal with Atlantic Records. After releasing the ‘One and Done’ EP in 2006, by 2009 the band released their first and self-titled studio album. The album peaked at #43 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart. The album was eventually certified Gold. The band released their second studio album, ‘The Strange Case Of…..’in 2012. The band was nominated and won the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Grammy for the single “Love Bites (So Do I)” of their second album. In 2015 they released their third studio album ‘Into The Wild Life’ which grabbed the #1 spots on the US Rock Album, US Rock, and US Hard Rock Charts. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200. Now, the band is touring on their fourth studio album, ‘Vicious’, which was released on July 27, 2018. The album secured #8 on the Billboard 200 and the #1 spots on the US Top Rock Albums and US Top Hard Rock Albums charts. Halestorm is Lzzy Hale (vocals, guitar, piano), Arejay Hale (drums), Joe Hottinger (lead guitar), and Josh Smith (bass).

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

The moment the lights dimmed the Amway Center erupted knowing Halestorm was coming to the stage. They immediately jumped into “Black Vultures” from ‘Vicious’. The hard rocking song immediately had the crowd on their feet and those on the pit floor were jumping with the music. Lzzy’s vocals sounded superb hitting those long drawn out notes with the sound only she could replicate. Joe was ripping away on the guitar with Josh strumming away on bass and Arejay smashing the drums away nearly knocking his cymbals off. They followed up with “Love Bites (So Do I)” and “Mz. Hyde” both from ‘The Strange Case Of…’, which are both favorite songs of mine. The vocals Lzzy resonates in “Love Bites (So Do I)” are incredibly impressive. They followed with “Uncomfortable” from ‘Vicious’, which is different pace from their other songs. But, those vocal notes Lzzy holds out just blows you away. She is truly one of the most talented rock vocalists out there today.

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

They performed “Do Not Disturb” also from ‘Vicious’ and “Amen” from ‘Into The Wild Life’ which both slowed down the pace and each where Joe got to show his excellent guitar skills. The band stopped as Joe, Arejay, and Josh walked off stage and a grand piano was brought out for Lzzy to perform “Dear Daughter” from ‘Into The Wild Life’. The ballad resonates a wonderful and positive message for young girls and Lzzy performed it beautifully. And then we got back to rocking as Arejay got back on his drumset to perform his drum solo titled “Skulls”. The intensity, speed, and power he puts into his playing is so much fun to watch (and yes my daughter was air drumming along with him too). He sang a few notes to get the crowd to sing back and then sang a portion of The Offspring’s “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” before pulling out the oversized massive drumsticks to play.

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Halestorm was ready to rock again kicking off “Freak Like Me” from ‘The Strange Case Of…’ and “I Am The Fire” from ‘Into The Wild Life’. Joe and Lzzy then sat down on a box in front of the stage to perform “The Silence” from ‘Vicious’. Joe played an acoustic guitar for the song that was simply beautiful. I feel their live rendition is much better than the one on the album. Lzzy poured her heart out singing this song and you could absolutely feel it with every note. They followed with “I Miss The Misery” from ‘The Strange Case Of…’ which got the crowd rocking again. Halestorm wrapped up their set with “Here’s to Us”, also from ‘The Strange Case Of…’, and said farewell and thank you to the Orlando crowd, who provided them a huge round of applause.

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

Photo by Talon Kane Photography

I truly enjoyed seeing these three bands on tour together as it made a nice dynamic of a few different styles of rock and metal. Each of them performed well and made it a very fun and entertaining evening. Though we may not see these three play together again soon, I look forward to seeing any of them come back through Orlando again.

From The Pit To The Crowd – Halestorm with In This Moment and New Years Day – Amway Center – Orlando FL – December 14, 2018 The Amway Center in downtown Orlando has been the host to some major musical acts such as Daryl Hall and John Oates, Stevie Nicks, and most recently Billy Joel.

[helatherwhite]

Panasonic Massage Chair Product Line and Reviews [2017]

If you are ready to take charge of your wellbeing and overall health, both physically and mentally, you've probably done enough research to know massage is a key necessity toward that end.

To name just a few of the many health benefits, myriad scientific studies have borne out that among other things, massage is helpful for people who suffer from headaches, back and neck pain, anxiety, high blood pressure or hypertension, stress-related maladies such as insomnia and anxiety; muscle fatigue and pain, arthritis, and sports-related injuries.

Gone are the days that massage was reserved for only the rich and famous, those able to hire their own private masseuse, or afford high-end health spas and fitness clubs.

It's now more accessible than ever, with the emergence of many affordable day spas and private practitioners, as well as at the office--both work and your doctor's--pharmacies, hospitals, and even shopping malls and airports. The prevalence of massage speaks not only to their popularity but to the health benefits they afford.

The good news is you don't have to shell out a lot of money to go to a day spa once or twice a week--even an affordable one will run up the bills--or make an appointment with your doctor or physical therapist just to get a massage. And no one wants to go hang out at the airport when they don't have to! high quality, technologically advanced chairs such as Panasonic massage chair are now available to purchase for use in your own home.

There are literally thousands of styles, brands, and colors to choose from. They look sharp, will save loads of money in the long run, and the health benefits speak for themselves.

One of the best manufacturers and designers working in the industry today, and the first to be endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association for massage chairs, is Panasonic. Here's a rundown of the latest in their product line.

Top Panasonic Chairs Product Line

Urban Collection EP-1285K

While many massage chairs manufactured today offer somewhat similar features, as you can well imagine, your mileage may vary.

There's a huge range of styles, quality, materials, massage types, craftsmanship, and technology going into what's currently out there.

While most offer various types of massage like kneading, tapping, rolling, deep tissue, reflexology, Swedish, and Shiatsu, every once in a while, something new and interesting pops up.

In the Urban, one did. It offers Hawaiian massage as one of the choices in the feature list. Talk about being transported to your happy place.

If you happen to have some soft lighting and a swaying ukulele number on your MP3 player, you're on your way to bliss town. Another facet I particularly like is the fact that the three built in programs aren't just styles or types of massage strokes.

They are different types of massage aggregated into different programs that are designed for a specific purpose. In this one you can choose from instant relief delivered by way of rubbing, the way a massage therapist would; severe fatigue and stiffness relief; and relaxing and stretching muscles that are overly tired because of bad posture.

You can manually position the neck roller to fit the curvature of your neck and cervical spine just right, and you can recline to a fully flat position, taking the stress and weight of gravity off your spine.

The ottoman features an air massage system, and you get leg stretch as well as a convenient place to tuck away the remote control. Oh, and if Hawaiian massage isn't in your wheel house, of course there are other techniques you can choose from, including Swedish.

Urban Collection Full Body EP-MA10K

Panasonic sets itself apart in this genre by picking specific features, techniques, or massage styles, and then building them into each piece of furniture they offer, making every one unique.

Just like the Urban with the delivery of Hawaiian massage, the Urban Collection Full Body offers up the time-tested practice of Chinese massage techniques.

Targeting the spine, you get direct and absolute focus on delivering pressure to all of the various and critical pressure points on the neck and spine that are responsible for holding tension, muscle fatigue, and pain.

It also uses acupoint stimulation to increase circulation and increase the flow of blood and hence energy to your entire body.

The remote control screen has a back light and uses the full seven colors for easy viewing, day or night. You can choose from four different programs directed to your neck and shoulders or lower back specifically, using either the Swedish or deep tissue massage technique.

The area usage is broad as well as wide, filling up almost the entire chair, and running the gamut from leg stretching, targeted neck massage, and air compression massage for your lower legs in the built-in ottoman.

Urban Collection EP-MA03K

Often times one of the biggest complaints is that home massage chairs just don't quite work for people who are taller than average. Not so with the Urban Collection EP-MA03K.

Designed to fit a range of heights, even those over six feet, no matter how tall or short you are, you can receive the relaxing and rejuvenating whole body massage that is made to accommodate the exact contours of your neck and back.

You receive neck massage, as well as shoulder and back via a specially designed and manufactured curved body frame chassis that adapts to your own body dimensions and curves.

It also delivers massage to your calves and feet and you can not only choose the program you want, but also if you want to target just select areas on your body, like the shoulders or neck. The four different available programs allow you to choose from deep tissue or firm, and if you want to use the manual mode, you can pick tap and back roll, neck roll, or neck knead.

Real Pro Ultra Intensity Plus Massage Lounger EP-30004K

True to its form, the Panasonic builds into the Real Pro Ultra Intensity Plus a few exclusive new features: ultra-fine kneading massage known as "Junetsu," a flexible ottoman that accommodates different heights, and a new type of massage technique that emulates a closed fist and soothing grasp application for your neck and shoulders.

The automatic body scan system analyzes your tension and pain points and targets the areas you need the most.

You can choose from four different programs, each lasting fifteen minutes: arm and leg stretch, Swedish, Shiatsu, and deep tissue.

There is air massage delivered to 296 square inches of the surface area and 200 square inches of back surface area covered.

You control the speed and intensity to get the precise areas and depth you want. There are 22 air bags in total, delivering air massage to the seat, hands and arms, soles of your feet, and calves. You can create any program you want by building from the features, intensity, and styles of your choosing.

Up to six different programs can be held in the memory for up to four people. There's a voice guidance system, and if you're short on time, there's a refresher option that delivers a quick, effective, stress-relieving five-minute massage.

Real Pro Ultra Total Body with Heated Massage Rollers EP-MA70C

Like the Real Pro Intensity Plus, this features the "Junetsu" ultra-fine massage technique. And, as the name states, if heat does the trick for what ails your back, these heated rollers will melt away the fatigue and stress that's bottled up in your joints, muscles, and spine.

There are new 3D massage techniques that deliver Shiatsu, gentle or ultra kneading, tapping, and rolling.

The leg and foot rest contains multiple action capabilities, and this one features a wider shoulder and neck range area of almost five inches.

It utilizes professional stretching techniques for both the pelvis and shoulder blades, and the shoulder positioning is automatic. You can select from six programs that feature deep tissue, targeted neck and shoulder or lower back, refresh, or Shiatsu.

It offers 108 styles and techniques, which you can combine in any way you like for a customized massage that suits you and your body perfectly. You can adjust the intensity to match. It reclines to a full flat one-hundred-and-seventy-degree position for the ultimate in spine decompression.

Now newer model is available: Panasonic EP-MA73

The Panasonic EP-MA73 is the newest edition to the best selling Real Pro Ultra line. It features many of the same great features as the popular EP-MA70, but with the addition of 3D Ultra Kneading w/ Heated Massage Technology, Double Heating in the Rollers and the Soles, Ultra Air Kneading Technology, new high end wood grain finish, and a New Neckline Stretch. The all new Panasonic EP-MA73 is truly like having your own personal masseuse in your home.

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Panasonic EP-MA73 & EP-MA70 - Comparison Video:

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 EP-MAJ7K Real Pro ULTRA Prestige Total Body

You know what they say about saving the best for last? Well here it is. Panasonic calls this their "most intuitive personal luxury massage experience" for a reason.

It is all of those things. Utilizing thermal technology, this is the top of the heap. It offers professional-grade stretching techniques for your chest, legs, hips, and neck, and you get the exclusive "Junetsu" feature for ultra fine kneading massage where you need it.

There's a 3D control for intuitive or high speed digital control, or choose automatic for the intensity and let the sensor do the work.

There are multiple kneading programs, so you're not limited to a single delivery, and among the built-in programs, you can choose from neck and shoulders or low back, deep tissue, shiatsu, or Swedish.

All of this, and of course, the ability to recline to the full flat position.

Warranty

Panasonic covers all their all of their Massage Chairs with a 5 year limited warranty.

The first 3 years, parts and labor are covered and the unit will be serviced in your home with no additional cost.

The remaining 2 years are parts repair only, and you will be responsible for the labor.

This only covers the massage block and electrical components.

Many used models are available for purchase but we do not recommend to get used massage chair, unless you are really limited by your budget.

No matter which model you choose, and for which reasons--style and design, features, or price--the Panasonic massage chair line is highly advanced and will serve your body and mind for decades.

Welcome to the new, healthier you.

Learn More Here: Panasonic Massage Chair Product Line and Reviews [2017]

Panasonic Massage Chair Product Line and Reviews [2017] published first on http://wellnessgeeky.blogspot.com