#with tracks being combined or mixed rather than just being the show-versions | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bopinion · 3 years ago

Text

Album of the month / 2021 / 08 August

I love listening to music - gladly, all the time, everywhere. That's why I would like to share which music (or which album, after all I'm still from the vinyl generation ;-) I enjoy, accompanies me, slides up my playlists again and again...

The Beatles & George Martin

LOVE

Rock-Remix / 2006 / Parlophone, Apple, EMI (Universal Music Group)

When you hear the term "remix," it's usually a DJ putting a danceable techno beat under a pop or rock song. And often enough, this leaves the original performer or composer turning in his grave to the same frantic beat. But there are also exceptions. And one of them this time is my album of the month.

34 years ago in Québec I visited a kind of circus performance that was new to me. There were no animals, but excellent artistry. The whole thing was embedded in an almost psychedelic production of sounds and music and light effects and projections. Although individual acts, the whole was dramaturgically staged like an opera or a musical in one piece. The name of the circus was "Cirque du Soleil". A concept that in the following years and decades went from French Canada around the world and celebrated legendary successes everywhere - including artists in residence in Las Vegas. The visionary founder Guy Laliberté also became known worldwide as an impresario and, incidentally, a billionaire.

There are bands I really regret never having seen live. For example, The Queen with Freddie Mercury, although at least I met the latter once in a club in Munich - well, we were in the same room for a few hours. But there is also the opposite, for example The Beatles. As much as I appreciate these musical titans, a concert seems rather witless to me: film footage shows four musicians on stage, initially even dressed alike, operating their instruments without notable movements or show effects and trying to permanently drown out screaming young ladies. But maybe I only comfort myself with this assessment, because I was and am simply too young to be able to experience John, Paul, George and Ringo in their active time on stage. Anyway.

Guy Laliberté and George Harrison were friends. And at some point - I imagine the two of them over a cup of yogi tea after meditative yoga, one handing the other the joint "You, I have an idea..." - the idea was born to bring together the two cultural phenomena Cirque du Soleil and The Beatles. As a composition for all senses, new and timeless, ecstatic and colorful. After all, it was Harrison who was always eager to experiment. He converted to Hinduism in the 60s, gained experience with psychedelics and transcendental meditation and introduced oriental instruments, first and foremost the sitar, into Western music and is thus considered one of the most important pioneers of world music. A development that goes hand in hand with my personal taste: the longer their hair got, the more I liked their music.

It was only after Harrison's death that Laliberté was able to close the deal with the rights holders of the music (Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison), which can thus probably be considered a kind of Harrison's legacy. For the show was not to simply put together a soundtrack of the old familiar hits, nor were the compositions to be reinterpreted by other musicians. No, the original multi-track recordings were to be used to create new adaptations of the original songs. And who would be better qualified for this than George Martin, who had already produced groundbreaking albums with the Beatles themselves. In the process, he advanced from mere producer to arranger and idea generator, who also revolutionized recording technology by using overdubbing, for example. It's hardly surprising that he is often referred to as the "fifth Beatle".

In general, Sir George Henry Martin, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, is a man of musical superlatives. He is recorded as the producer of 4,836 titles, but one assumes considerably more. And that includes not only The Beatles, but also a wide variety of works for Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Manfred Mann, Little River Band, Ultravox and many more. His 30th number one hit was "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John. Martin founded the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts with McCartney, was one of a handful of producers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the BRIT Award for "Best British Producer of the Past 25 Years" in 1977, among countless other honors.

So George Martin went into the studio with his son Giles Martin, who had produced INXS and Kate Bush, among others, following in his father's footsteps. And not just any studio - of course it had to be Abbey Road Studios (again). With the original recordings, the team not only created new variations of the original pieces, as they could have been created alternatively with the Beatles themselves. For example, they enriched the acoustic version of "While my Guitar gently weeps" with an orchestral accompaniment and combined the rhythm of "Tomorrow never knows" with the vocals of "Within You without You". Thus, a soundtrack project for a circus stage show ultimately became a new album by the Beatles. No wonder that Sir Paul himself described "Love" like this: "This album puts The Beatles back together again. It's kind of magical." And Ringo added "George and Giles did such a great job combining these tracks. It's really powerful for me and I even heard things I'd forgotten we'd recorded."

The documentary "All together now - A Documentary Film" by Adrian Wills (director) and Heidi Haines (screenplay), which won a Grammy in the category "Best long form Music Video", also fits the project's ambition. It tells the entire story of LOVE's creation, from the first meetings of the creative team around Martin and Laliberté to interviews with, among others, McCartney, Starr, Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow, and Neil Aspinall, the Beatles' longtime road manager and event technician, to the first rehearsals of the stage show in Montréal.

LOVE is more than a medley of hits by the mushroom heads, but rather a kind of rock opera that is a first-class listening experience even without the accompanying show. Says George Martin: "The Beatles always looked for other ways of expressing themselves and this is another step forward for them." And father and son succeeded with remarkable creativity. The new version of "Because" is still directly harmless, since it uses the birdsong of "Across the Universe" as well as the final chord of "A Day in the Life" played backwards. "Glass Onion," on the other hand, became a grandiose collage with elements of the songs "Things We Said Today," "Hello, Goodbye" (background vocals), "I Am the Walrus" (background vocals), "Penny Lane" (flute), "A Day in the Life" (orchestra), "Magical Mystery Tour" (effects) and "Only a Northern Song" (effects). State-of-the-art technology in digitization, mixing and mastering also ensure the finest sound quality.

Speaking of sound quality: a show that relies so heavily on music must of course also rely on a perfect acoustic performance. Created by French designer Jean Rabasse, the LOVE theater at The Mirage / Las Vegas houses 2,013 seats set around a central stage. Each seat is fitted with three speakers, which sums up to a spectacular sound system with 6,351 speakers designed by Jonathan Deans. The stage includes 11 lifts, 4 traps, and 13 automated tracks and trolleys. The theater features 32 digital projectors creating very large high definition digital 100' wide panoramic images, even on four translucent screens that can be unfurled to divide the auditorium. That's what I call "being in the middle of the action".

Reportedly, the theater cost more than $100 million - which doesn't even include the development of the show. And unfortunately, it also means LOVE can never go on tour. So I won't be able to avoid traveling to Las Vegas one day for that reason alone. Which I trust will be on the event calendar for a few more years to recoup its costs. And so the circle closes: Decades later, I would once again enjoy Cirque du Soleil in North America - and thus also experience The Beatles live in a somewhat different way.

Here's a trailer for the Las Vegas Show LOVE from the Cirque du Soleil:

https://youtu.be/hIJZAfyRlD4

youtube

8 notes · View notes

not-xpr-art · 4 years ago

Photo

Unprecedented ~

A bog of filth piled high with coins

A clang of chains twists fear in your loins

A fire burns high as all sit and stare

A rust corroded man tries to tell you it's not there

A ripple of water reflects something not real

A dust covered track boasts of nothing left to kill

A fan of feathers each as blind as the last

A world so corrupted; a world dying fast.

(04/2021)

(digital painting of an apocalyptic/hell-scape version of our current world inspired by the seven deadly sins... as you can probably expect, there is a lottt of symbolism in this piece, which I’ll go more into below, along with some detail shots!)

This piece has kind of been a 6 month long labour of love, starting with a vague idea I had of a piece that is going to reflect the strange and scary times we’ve all lived in over the last year or so, and then slowly begun to take shape into a kinda apocalyptic/hell-scape piece based on the seven deadly sins representing our current world...

(also the poem above is something I wrote too, but couldn’t fit it anywhere in the actual piece itself)

The piece itself took roughly 60 hours of painting over almost an entire month. I originally planned for it to be a big mixed media piece, but instead decided I would try to keep it as purely a painting. Surrealist art was one of my biggest inspirations, purely because I thought the style would fit this piece the best. I also like how as a style it combines things that are familiar with things that are strange, which is exactly what I wanted for this piece!

The piece is split into 3 major sections, and 7 individual sections (to reflect the 7 deadly sins, which I’ve wanted to do my own version of for ages now). I had thought at first I would stick to creating demonic ‘characters’ for each sin, but then found this illustration on Wikipedia depicting the 7 sins as animals which I thought could both be an interesting challenge for me, and would visually be more interesting too!

I also decided pretty early on that I didn’t want any humans actually in the piece, but rather the imprint of humans. Our actions, our feelings, what we leave behind, etc...

First is the section is dedicated to Greed, Gluttony and Lust, known as the ‘lustful appetite’ sins.

At the top is Greed, which is symbolised by a toad. I wanted this to be representative of capitalism, the toad looming over piles of gold, surrounded by a cardboard box (a not-so-subtle dig at people like Jeff Bezos lol), as it is surrounded by a bubbling dirty bog. The toad is ‘crying’ the same sludge, which I wanted to act as ‘crocodile tears’, showing their falsity. (I feel like it’s also important to note here that in my notes for this part I originally wrote ‘won’t someone think of the economy :(’ lol, which was something I heard a lot of in the news last year...).

Below that, and in direct correlation with Greed, is Gluttony. Gluttony is depicted as a pig, which is why I painted a pig skeleton. This is supposed to represent our overconsumption and over-production, and how that has impacted the planet. Plastic hidden in plain sight, increase of forest fires, etc, all under the ‘watchful’ gaze of mother nature (the trees were inspired by a post I saw about ‘Quaking Aspens’) I wanted the ‘overlord’ of this section to be dead to symbolise how humanity’s gluttony has lead to complete destruction, even in hell itself...

The final in this section is Lust, represented as a goat. This one is arguably a lot darker than the previous 2, and is reflecting the violence performed against women over the last year (Sarah Everand’s murder in the UK and the 6 Asian women shot in Atlanta, just to name a few, not to mention the various hate-crimes against trans women which have been helped with the rise of transphobic rhetoric). Lust is often depicted as someone attractive trying to lure you to sleeping with them. But I feel like that misinterprets what lust really is. Someone with lust is described as being a ‘slave to the devil’ (hence the chains in my art), and I wanted to showcase lust as a quest for power over someone else’s body, particularly women’s bodies. The eyes in the darkness are representing the fear that so many people feel about going out at night, and the goat being in the light also shows how danger can come at any time of day, in any place. The design of the goat was inspired by this medieval artwork of a seven eyed lamb.

The central section is Irascibility, and includes the sin Wrath.

Wrath is represented by a Lion. I wanted this section to be dedicated to how racial injustice against black people has been truly highlighted in the last year, particularly in the case of George Floyd’s murder. Angry people are described to being slaves to themselves, a selfishness that is both reflected in wrath and in racism, and is why the lion has it’s paw rested on a ball and chain. I wanted the lion in this section to be a statue, both because of the Edward Colston (a slave owner who lived in Bristol) statue that was pulled down by protestors last year, and also how statues of lions are a significant symbol of Britishness in general (for example, Trafalgar square) and therefore in turn a symbol of the institutional racism that still permeates so much of the UK. This is also reflected in the rust covering the statue and the trees surrounding it, showing how old and well rooted racism is woven into the fabric of our world. The colours surrounding the trees, and the trees themselves, were based on these photographs of Sulphur lakes in Indonesia.

The lightning is a suggestion of change in the air, and a reflection of the Black Lives Matter movement. Although this whole piece is of course a critical look at our current world, I also wanted to have an air of ‘it’s not too late’ to it. That we CAN make this world a better place to live if we’re willing to fight for it!

The final part is the 3 final sins grouped into the ‘corruption of the mind’ section.

The snake represents Envy, which is also a sin that is associated with vanity, which is what I decided to focus on for this. The snake is completely absorbed in it’s own reflection, very much like narcissus. My idea was the concept of the envy of things that aren’t real, much like how social media has created a world where we strive to be something that we are not, something that we will never be. So to us, the outsider, all we see is an abstract shape of a snake, something that’s intangible. Whereas the snake is so distracted by it that they can’t see the rest of the world. The reflection of the water was based on a photo I took of some reeds in water, which I also thought looked a bit like wires or computer circuit boards.

Above the snake, and taking advantage of it’s distraction, is Pride. Pride is shown as a peacock, obnoxious in it’s wings covered in glowing eyes. Pride is described as something that ‘blinds’, hence why some of the feather-eyes are closed. The peacock is wrapped in a snare wire and is partially behind bars. This is to depict how pride causes people to play the victim, suggesting their intentions are pure, only to stab you in the back, so to speak... The ideas behind this one are more general and vague than the others, more of a commentary on humanities general hubris rather than any specific event. And perhaps speaking of how if we’re not careful, pride will sneak up on all of us, and will ultimately be our downfall.

The final section is above Pride and represents Sloth, depicted by a pile of snail shells. I had originally planned for this whole piece to be dedicated to the pandemic, but realised there were a lot of other issues I wanted to talk about aside from that. So Sloth is the dedicated ‘virus section’, representing how slow my country’s government (and many like it) were in bringing in precautions to stop the spread and save lives. Sloth is often described as a failure to love God, negligence at it’s very core. Both Pride and Sloth are partially covered in bars to critique our current justice system, which suffers from being overly prideful and negligent itself...

This piece is in effect my way of trying to deal with a year that has really fucking sucked lol... It includes a lot of bitterness and anger, feelings I think many of my generation will relate to.

But despite this, I don’t think it’s hopeless... I believe in humanity, in the goodness and beauty of it. Perhaps a naïve notion, but one I will cling on. For if we delve into despair, then it will truly be too late...

I hope people like this piece since it took a really long time and effort!

Other inspirations for this piece:

various images & quotes about car crashes, various surrealist artists’ work, Evgeny Sedukhin’s symphony of the 6th blast furnace, paintings by David Mensing, this creepy lad and this lil snake lying in a chalice.

#artists on tumblr #apocalyptic painting #original art #seven deadly sins #hell #digital painting #painting #animal art #unprecedented #surrealist art #i know i usually put the descriptions and what not in a reblog #but i figured it made more sense to keep this all together since this piece is so tied to the symbolism lol #please give this some love it took over 60 hours to finish lol

22 notes · View notes

drivingsideways · 4 years ago

Text

k-drama rec list

Prior to 2020 I’d maybe watched 2 k-dramas in my entire life, but this year I got sucked in, thanks to some great recs, and y’know, *gestures * everything.

I think I’d held off watching kdramas because my impression of them was limited to romances that I didn’t enjoy at all. But this was the year I discovered the equivalent of “gen fic” kdrama- dramas that had wonderful ensemble casts, strong story lines that weren’t entirely romance focused and also a variety in terms of themes and styles. A big plus was that I found so many of these dramas had women leading the writers’ room, and seeing the effect of that in the story telling. (Notable exceptions: a certain “star” writer who should please stop inflicting her badly written, formulaic crap on the world, yes Kim Eun-Sook, I mean you, and whoever wrote that trashfire Flower of Evil)

So here I am with my own rec list! Caveat- these are mostly not the dramas released in 2020, I’m still playing catch up! :)

Under the cut for length

My Mister/ My Ahjussi (2018, Written by Park Hae-Young, Directed by Kim Won-Seok, starring Lee Sun-kyun and Lee Ji-eun aka IU)

This was definitely my absolute favourite of the shows I watched this year across western/ asian media. It’s a story about the thread that binds us all and the ineffability of human connection. It’s also a story that deconstructs ideas of masculinity and honour and shame in a non-western context, but with an extremely compassionate touch. It’s a story that doesn’t shy away from showing the consequences of material and spiritual poverty; and how one can so easily feed into the other. It’s a love story that isn’t a romance, except that it’s a Romance. It’s about finding salvation in one another and in the kindness of strangers. It’s about choosing life, and picking yourself up off the floor to take that one last step and then the next and then the next. The one quibble I have with the series is that it could have been better paced, it does get extremely slow after the half way mark. But god, do they land the ending. Both Lee Sun-kyun and IU turn in absolutely heartbreaking performances, and fair warning, be prepared to go through an entire box of tissues watching this series.

Life (2018, written by Lee Soo-yeon and directed by Hong Jong-chan, starring Lee Dong-wook, Cho Seung-woo, Won Jin-ah, Lee Kyu-hyung, Yoo Jae-myung and Moon So-ri.)

Medical dramas are very much not my thing, and I wouldn’t have taken a chance on it except that @michyeosseo said I should, and she was right! It’s a medical drama in the sense that it’s set in a hospital, but rather than a “case-fic” format, this is actually a sharp commentary on the corporatization of health care, and the business of mixing, well, money and what should be a fundamental human right. Writer Lee Soo-yeon was coming off the global success of Stranger/Secret Forest S1 when this aired, so I understand that expectations were probably sky-high, and people were disappointed when this show didn’t give them the adrenaline rush that they wanted. On the other hand, I thought that this outing was really much more nuanced in terms of the politics and also how the ending doesn’t allow you the luxury of easy-fixes. This show has a great ensemble cast, and while it took me a while to get used to Lee Dong-wook’s woodenness (i ended up calling him mr.cadaver after watching this and was surprised to learn that he’s very popular?), in the end I was quite sold on his version of angry angst-bucket elder-sibling Dr.Ye Jin-woo. His best scenes were with Lee Kyu-hyung who turns in a lovely, achy performance as the paraplegic Dr. Ye Seon-woo who just wants to live a normal life. The love story between the two brothers is actually the emotional backbone of the story, and I think they landed that perfectly.

My one quibble with writer-nim is that she ended up writing in a forgettable and somewhat (for me at least) uncomfortable romance between the characters played by Won Jin-ah and Cho Seung-Woo. I think part of my uncomfortable-feeling was that I got the strong sense that the writer herself didn’t want to write this romance, it was as if she was being made to shoe-horn it in for Studio Reasons, and she basically grit her teeth and did the worst possible job of it. I do wish we could have absolutely had the OT3 of my dreams: Moon So-ri/Cho Seung-woo/Yoo Jae-myung like, c’mon TV gods MAKE IT HAPPEN, just...look at them!!!!

Anyway, that apart, I think this was a very engaging series, and by engaging, I also mean thirst-enabling, see below.

Stranger (aka Secret Forest or Forest of Secrets) S1 & 2 : (2017-, Written by Lee Soo-yeon, directed by

2017′s smash hit aired a much anticipated second season in 2020, and I managed to catch up just in time to watch that live, so that was thrilling :D . Writer Lee Soo-yeon mixes up thriller/office comedy/political commentary in an ambitious series. I think S1 is more “exciting” than S2 in terms of the mystery and pacing, but S2 is far more dense and interesting in terms of political commentary because it takes a long hard look at institutional corruption and in true writer-nim fashion doesn’t prescribe any easy solutions. Anyway, please enjoy public prosecutor Cho Seung-woo and police officer Bae Doona as partners/soulmates kicking ass and taking names in pursuit of Truth, Justice and just a goddamn peaceful meal, along with a stunningly competent ensemble cast. Also yes, Han Yeo Jin is a lesbian, sorry, I don’t make the rules.

Search: WWW (2019, Written by Kwon Do-Eun, directed by Jung Ji-hyun & Kwon Young-il, starring Im Soo-jung, Lee Da-hee, Jeon Hye-jin)

GOD. Where do I start? +1000 for writer Kwon Do-Eun saying “fuck the patriarchy” in the most grandiose way possible, i.e. absolutely refusing to acknowledge that it exists. Yes, this is that power fantasy, and it’s also a fun, slice-of-life tale about three women navigating their way through work, romance, national politics and everything in between. It’s true that I wasn’t entirely sold on the amount of time spent on the romance, and I really wish they’d actually had a textual wlw romance, though the subtext through the entire series is PRACTICALLY TEXT. But still, it maintains that veneer of plausible deniability and I think queer fans who are sick of that kind of treatment in media have a very valid grouse against the show. On the other hand, personally I felt that the queer-platonic vibe of the show is very wonderful and true to real life, and it was only reinforced by the ending. This is a show written by a woman for women (like me), and it shows.

Hyena (2020, Written by Kim Roo-Ri, directed by Jang Tae-yoo & Lee Chang Woo, starring Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon )

Those of you who’ve been watching hit zombie epic Kingdom are probably familiar with Ju Ji-hoon’s brand of sexiness already. I had not watched Kingdom and got hit in the face by Mr.Sexy McSexyPants’ turn as a brash, privileged-by-birth, up and coming lawyer who gets completely runover by the smoking hot and incredibly dangerous fellow lawyer/competitor from the other side of the tracks in the person of Kim Hye-Soo. When I say they set the room on fire, I mean it, ok. Every single scene between these two is an actual bonfire of sexual attraction and emotional hand grenades, and they’re both absolutely riveting to watch. “Flower of Evil” wishes they had what this show has- an actual grown up romance as opposed to a thirteen year old twilight fan’s idea of an adult romance.

The “lawyer” shenanigans and the “cases” are hit or miss, and I think the occasional comedy fell flat for me. But that’s not why I mainlined like 6 episodes of this series overnight like a coke addict, and that’s not why you’re going to do it either. It’s so RARE, even in these enlightened days to find a female character like Jung Geum-ja: hard as nails, unapologetic about it, and not punished by the narrative for it. The best part for me is that she feels like a woman’s woman, not a man’s idea of what a Strong Female Character should be. Anyways, when I grow up I want to have what Kim Hye-soo has ok?

Other dramas that I watched this year, quickly rated:

The King: Eternal Monarch (3/10 and those 3 points are only for the combined goodness of second leads who deserved better- Jung Eun Chae, Woo Do Hwan and Kim Kyung Nam. Please head over to my AO3 and read my attempts to fix this garbage fire and rescue their characters from canon)

Flower of Evil (-10/100, dont @ me)

Tale of the Nine Tailed (5/10, I think it succeeds at what it set out to do, which is a light hearted, sweet fantasy-romance-melodrama, plus “second lead” Kim Beom will make you cry as the hot mess of a half human/ half fox spirit ALL TEARS character. I think if you’re into kdrama romances as a genre, this is probably a good bet?)

Signal (7/10, This was the first full kdrama I watched this year and would definitely recommend. It’s a police procedural with time travel shenanigans and has an engaging plot, good pacing, texture and compelling performances. My one disappointment with it was the way they wrote Kim Hye-soo’s character. As literally the only female character to survive in any way, she was given short shrift, and toward the end it really began to grate on me.)

Six Flying Dragons - (7/10, also would recommend if you’re interested in Korean historicals. It definitely already feels a bit dated in terms of styling and production values, and even scripting and acting choices. But it has a good balance of fantasy and history and political commentary. I was not a fan of Yoo In-Ah’s performance in this series, but it’s not anything that would make you want to nope out of the series. It’s GoT , if GoT was thoughtful about politics and characters and not the misogynist, racist trashfire that it became.)

My Country: The New Age - (3.5/10, and that’s 3 points to Jang Hyuk’s fan and 0.5.points to Woo Do Hwan’s heaving bosom. If you like your historical drama/fantasy with very pretty men, very gay subtext -seriously RIP to show makers who thought they could hetero it but didn’t account for Woo Do Hwan’s Tragic Face- lots of blood and tears and very nonsense plot, this is right up your alley. I probably would have enjoyed it more in other circumstances, I think? But this one just annoyed me too much at the time!

I have a couple of more dramas to watch on my list, that’ll probably carry me over into 2021, so see ya on the other side! :D

#k-drama #kdrama rec list #2020: A YEAR #i'm a queue for you

34 notes · View notes

monochromeofficial · 4 years ago

Text

COPYCAT it’s the debut single by c-pop group MONOCHROME. It was released on September 28, 2018 for streaming services and digital download. In September, 30 a physical version was released. Despite all the controversy surrounding the lyrics of the songs, the single was a major success in sales, selling out after two days of its release and topping numerous local charts.

— TRACKLIST

♡. copycat ( inspo. ) ♡. miss trouble ( inspo. ) ♡. gentlewoman ( inspo. )

MV VISUALS / PHOTOCARDS

— WRITING AND PRODUCTION

“Showtime isn't over so you better keep playing, copycat.”

The title track “Copycat” its full rap song rich with trap beat and dubstep breakdown. Produced by Starr Chen and Monochrome members Phoebe, Miran, and Hyesung, and also written by the same members in collaboration with Alex Ni and “golden melody award winner for best lyrics” Hsia Yu. The song described a witty conception on how modern society it’s so obsessed with presenting an unrealistic persona just to be more appealing to others, while also focusing the attention on the constant pressure that’s put into idols to act a certain way instead of letting them show their real personalities. The lyrics are full of satirical remarks that combined with the beat, gives a happier atmosphere to the song, in contrast to the more heavy criticisms hidden on its meaning.

“Believe me, you're no trouble. goddess or girl, there's always someone who will love you.”

The track "Miss trouble" was written and produced by Miran, Phoebe, Hyesung, and Starr Chen. It’s a rap song with a trap influenced verses and slightly operatic choruses. In the words of Phoebe, the song talks about how it’s so easy to lose yourself in the blinding lights of fame.

“This girl (miss trouble) seems like a glamorous superstar in front of the cameras. but in reality she’s reality insecure and doesn’t seem to be able to put her life in order because she believes that this idolized image it’s her real self...when reality hits her she prefers to ignore it instead of facing it.” Explains the singer in an interview included in the deluxe version of the single. Members of Monochrome mentioned that they want to use this song as a reminder to keep true to themselves so they won’t become a Miss trouble in the future.

“I am 1, not a lonely individual. Write to imitations, and also write to loss. I am the truth, the farthest extremity.”

"Gentlewomen" was written by Cheer Chan, Miran, Hyesung, Phoebe and Olivia, and produced by Tiger Chung, Hyesung, Phoebe, and Miran. It was inspired by Simone de Beauvoir's book “The second sex”, which talks about the existentialism and feminism. The song merges the genres of noise rock and alternative dance, and it combines with distorted guitar riffs as it progresses.

— ALBUM CONTENT

Regular ver. : disc + photobook (twenty photos) + one random photocard + two poster + stickers

Deluxe ver . : disc + photobook (fifty photos ) + two random photocards + two posters + video interview of the making process of the single + stickers

— ACHIEVEMENTS AND SALES INFO

The single received generally received favorable reviews from music critics, but mixed reactions of the general public. People considered it something new and bold or too disrespectful and noisy.

Copycat was a commercial success with every song topping Chinese music charts, and selling a total of 15 million digital copies and 4 million physical copies, becoming the bestselling single of that year.

“Copycat” broke 12 records and peaked at number 1 on four of QQ Music's charts as well as ranking first on Billboard China's V Chart for 8 consecutive weeks, the song stayed in the top 10 for the rest of the year. As for “Miss trouble” and “Gentlewomen” both peaked at number 2 and 3 respectfully and stayed in the top 20 for the rest of the year.

The music video for “Copycat” had over 10 million views on YouTube and 97 million views on Weibo.

The song received several awards for “Best song of the year” and Monochrome as a group won eight awards including “Best newcomer”, “Best female group”, “Most popular group of the year” and “Best producer of the year”.

— STYLING

( from left to right. phoebe, hyesung, stella, miran, olivia, kiseki )

— ERA HIGHLIGHTS

They didn’t have lots of stage performances, they performed in a few award shows, music festivals and some variety shows. Their most-viewed performance was in 2018 MAMA’s.

Styling this era was very hip-hop inspired and colorful. The stylist allowed the members to give their opinions on some outfits, and made sure they were comfortable on stage.

On November 12 they had their first showcase where they performed all their songs, included original songs from “Pick! Pick! Girls”, and every member had a special solo stage.

They released two dance practices, a normal one and a pajama ver.

The girls also did a live stream to thank the fans for all their support.

A fancam of the girls performing in the rain during a music festival and looking ethereal became viral on Twitter and Weibo.

Another fancam, this time a Miran fancam performing “No company”, went viral on stan twitter, ad kpop stans started calling her chinese short haired goddess.

They also have a bunch of appearances on variety show where they had some funny moments. Like when they asked Stella what’s something she had that her members didn’t and she answered “bobs”, or when Kiseki did a small gymnastic performance and then Olivia tried to recreate a move and her back cracked so hard everybody stopped the filming to make sure she didn’t break a bone, or when they had to recreate a drama scene and everybody started clowning Phoebe because she got her dialogues wrong. And the list goes on and on. What can i said? My girls were happy to be out of the dungeon.

Talking of the dungeon… the happiness’ didn’t last long. After the showcase, they went back to being more of an endorsement group rather than an idol group.

That’s all for now. Overall they had a great debut and all the girls were happy and healthy during this era. Highly overworked? Yes, but happy that they could release their music at the end.

65 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

Text

Simpsons Review: Simpsons Comics #102 “Uncle Burn$” or Homercore Nudity!

Whelp out of all the commissions Kev has thrown me this one’s kind of a curveball. I mean it makes sense why cover it: It’s a pastiche of Donald Duck Comics done in the pages of the Simpsons long running comics. I cover duck stuff on here, and not only do I love the Simpsons but I tend to reference it for jokes a LOT. I just genuinely never thought of reviewing it till now, likely because earlier on in my new career of reviewing animated shows, I wasn’t really convinced I could do pure comedies. With my regular reviews of Darkwing Duck and as it comes out coverage of the Loud House (I still need to get around to Band Together), that’s no longer a real issue and I should consider doing the show in the future, especially since I have an unabashed love for the first 10 seasons and a few episodes beyond that.

As you can tell, I love the Simpsons. While I do genuinely wish it would end and have no real intrest in the current seasons, though if you’d like me to take a look i’d be willing to. The show in it’s prime was funny, witty and each episode was crammed with jokes. And refreshingly for an adult cartoon show of it’s time, the show genuinely wasn’t afraid to mix things up: Milhouse’s parents divorced and stayed that way for so long that them apparently getting back together decades later is itself a huge status quo shake up. Lisa went Vegetarian which stuck thanks to sir paul mcartney, and then went Buddhist, both of which have never wavered since and both fit her well. Skinner and Krabbable started dating. Barney went sober for a few seasons. Apu got married. These are minor changes but the show does have things happen occasionally and doesn’t just snap everything back and it adds genuine tension to plots knowing they might stay the status quo They usually don’t but the occasional change gives things stakes. I could go on for days, but I couldn’t go on for 8 weeks, point is the Simpsons are awesome, and deserve the praise they get early on I just wish they’d stop as by this point people really have stopped carring and it’s time to pass the torch and Let Bob’s burgers be the wholesome family comedy that runs forever.. and even then that one should stop at 10 seasons. Or if not at least let the kids age dammit. But that aside, while many of you simpsons fans looking at this probably have at least seen the comics, or a collection of them over the decades, many of you like me are wondering what the hell Bongo Comics is and how they managed to last so long. Bongo was founded by Simpsons Creator Matt Groening in 1993. Matt Groening had noticed that at the time there just weren’t any funny books on the shelves, funny books being comedy based comics primarily targeted for kids, with Archie and Disney being really the only ones left at the time. So he founded Bongo to rectify that, and given Fox naturally liked the sound of more merchandising dollars, the publisher was primarily used to produce simpsons comics, though looking at wikipedia there were one or two that weren’t including, of all things, a Coldplay comic tying into their album. Why did Coldplay publish a comic book at a primarily simpsons comic book company?

Though most series seem to be either short lived or one shots, there were a few exceptions: Naturally the company put out an annual Treehouse of Horror issue, there was a Bart Simpson ongoing focusing on him and the other kids of Springfield, I had a trade for that one once, and once Futurama premiered it too got a comic book that held through both cancelations. But standing above them all was Simpsons Comics, a 245 issue long runner that ran all the way up to the company’s closing, likely due to a combination of a lack of profits and the then upcoming Disney-Fox merger depriving them of the very heart and soul of the company.

Naturally being a Simpsons fan I have a connection to these comics having gotten the trades out of the library multiple times as well as the collection of Bartman’s solo series, which was my favorite and I might cover some day. In addition to the Free Comic Book Day issues i also picked up scattered issues over my life since, much like Archie, Simpsons comics were a mainstay of bookstores and super markets and the decline of both comic markets is likely why the Simpsons comics started to peter out in the first place. The quality and memorability of the stories varied but they were a fun thing to have around and it’s sad to see them go, as well as see Disney not even make a remote attempt to bring them back or at the very least republish the vast library they now have access to. Also finally if your wondering yes, there indeed was a Simpsons/Futurama crossover. And no I have not read it. So with that history, most of which I just learned some of which I already knew, in mind, it is very fitting the comic’s did a tribute to the Uncle Scrooge comics. Though it does feel very weird that I have yet to cover any Donald Duck or Scrooge comics.. yet i’ve already covered one of the Ducktales tie in comics and a Simpsons homage to it. I’m going to have to correct that but until then, join me under the cut as I dive into adventure with the Simpsons.

This issue was written by Ian Boothby and drawn by John Delaney, I feel mentiong the writers and artists should be important in comic reviews and I kick myself for not having done that or gone into them as much before. Boothby was apparently the Ian Flynn of these comics, writing more simpsons comics than any other writer according to wikipedia and winning an Eisner for his work on the comic if sadly not this issue. He was nominated for an outstanding Canadian Writer award for it though so that’s good. Point is the guy is a decorated vetran of this series and it shows in how good this issue is and I felt he deserved some recognition as most Comic Book Readers, myself included up till now, likely weren’t aware he even existed nor took over the comic in the 2000′s.

We open with Burns getting attacked by a mummy! Gotta say wasn’t expecting this as where we started out but the simpsons have started with wonkier premises to end up somewhere. I mean there was the time a bag boy strike ended up with them in Africa. Also i’d say Burns should call the police, being the kind of privileged white guy they actually care about protecting and all, but frankly the Springfield Cops don’t have the best track records with Mummies:

But no it’s just Smithers, who dove in heroically to save the company 15 dollars after Homer took a bet to see how many fire crackers he could jam in his computer’s disk drive. Lenny said 20 but he proved him wrong. And yes those are all actual jokes from the comic, this issue is very funny and feels very much like a Golden Age Simpsons episode. They also all gather to sign Smither’s cast.. which naturally is a legally binding contract. Burns takes his loyal minion to get some quality medical care only to find an arcade because he traded the Medical Bay in for one during an outbreak of Pac Man Fever... again I really can’t top that and there may be a good reason why I haven’t covered the Simpsons till now. But yeah as Buns gives Smithers a roll of Pennies, he wonders who to have replace Smither’s on their annual summer treasure hunt.. which would come out of nowhere but we genuinely don’t know what they do most summers. I assumed Burns just road Smithers like a horse to play cricket while Smithers enjoyed it way too much. But a stray comment from Homer getting a Krusty Doll from a crane machine about being king of the treasure hunters leads to this.

I mean it’s an easy joke but damn if it didn’t get a laugh out of me. So later at the old Simpsons place, because this comic is fantastic, Marge and Homer talk things over, but Homer insists Burns said he’d split the treasure, and Lisa wishes she could come along. And Marge says he should, especially for his own saftey.. and when Bart complains, says all the kids should go, she already packed their bags, she’s heading to Rancho Relaxo byyyyeeeeeee. Once again, this comic is amazing, and I would say this is out of character for Marge, but frankly that’s the whole point. Plus it really isn’t when she has to deal with 4 children on a regular basis, and her sisters, and a town gone mad.. yeah can’t blame her here.

The next day at Burns Office, Homer is wearing his navy outfit.. or rather Donald’s Navy outfit. But given I did a quick google and found him having at least 4 different outfits during his time in the Naval Reserves, it’s not a stretch to assume the Simpsons Version of the Navy gave these out too. Seriously Ian Boothby has put more thought into continuity than most writers on the show proper. Also Simpsons Tide, season 9 episode, still very memorable and hilarious and not due to childhood nostalgia. Just looking up this bit had me laughing hard.

youtube

I now want to watch that episode sometime soon so thanks Kev. Anyway Homer seems to have misplaced his plants. Now I could spare you the image since I don’t do things panel by panel anymore and only use panels from a comic when relevant. Buttttt

This traumatizing of my audience brings me to a point about this issue and why it works. While there are tons of nods to the Donald Duck comics and what their homaging is very clear, the issue doesn’t REQUIRE you know them to enjoy it. Knowing them I obviously enjoy it more, but most of the jokes aren’t reliant on you knowing anything about the barks comics and even someone with a passing knowledge of the Original Ducktales can still get the reference if not why Donald is here. It helps this is less of a parody, with the exception of some jokes, and more of an homage, using stylistic elements of those comics while telling i’ts own story as a loving tribute to it’s predecessors. Speaking of one of those jokes poking fun at the source material, Burns is delighted Homer brought child labor, which kept me laughing for a good minute, and when the kids introduce themselves we get this bit.

Not only am I 100% sure every version of Donald or Della did this to make sure they could tell them apart, very much including the reboot with Donald, but it’s a genuine hilarious bit. Donald’s response as they head off is “there’s somehting hooey Dewey and screwy about this. “ Also I will criticize the fact Bart isn’t the one wearing a blue outfit. For those wondering why, after all Maggie wears blue shouldn’t she get it, who haven’t seen this a LOT of merchandise early on had Bart in a blue shirt, due to early Merch being rushed out pre-show and since he wore one in some earlier concept art, he got to wear blue. He also wore it late into the 90′s.

Sidebar: I just found this and while it isn’t a bad joke given his character it is questionable to have a fourth grade boy tell you to buy him. Just saying. But the reason I bring it up is partly because the show itself referenced it at one point.

As well as it’s sister show Futurama

And you remeber that Bart Simpson solo I mentioned? That one frequently, both in and out of story, had Blue Shirt bart show up for some variety.

Also why yes each issue does have it’s own fun “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Oleson” Esque subtitle. And I love it so. Point is Blue Bart is part of the series legacy and this very comic company, so it’s VERY weird to not have that here. That being said there were a few Green Shirt barts apparently as a printing error, so he could just as easily be 80 steps ahead of me. I just don’t know.

Back at the plot Burns and the Simpsons show up at Frink’s lab, Frink rather obviously filling in for Gyro, with his own version of little bulb named F.L.O. who gladly shakes Lisa’s hand.. and releases a Pterodactyl but hey you can’t win em all. It’s a nice nod, though one only fans of the source matieral will really get, but the pterodactyl bit right after helps distract from it. Frink slotts into the roll well, as Frink has no reall affiliation with anyone and is basically, much like Gyro, there for various characters to go too when the story or joke needs him. Frink has two gadgets for them: Some Scuba suits that can go to any depth and a grappling claw that accidently gets him gripped to the pterodactyl. Also homer accidently switches suits with maggie, so we get an adorable shot of her serenely sleeping in a diving helmet while her daddy chokes to death.

So the next day it’s out to the open seas where The Simpsons are doing all the work while Burns lounges.. which yeah this is a typical uncle scrooge adventure all right. While the man unlike Burns does work hard and do things for himself, he spent most voyages talking about the destination while putting all the hard work on Donald, in case you thought there was at least one universe where Donald isn’t miserable most of the time. Lisa wonders what he’s doing and we get this lovely bit.

I just.. can’t stop finding that hilarious or a nice way to get the Uncle Scrooge bit in there while still fitting the Simpsons, and it at least explains what happened to Herb, whose been mentioned all of once in the 30 seasons since he last showed up. I checked. And yes for those unaware, which is fair, or who just now remembered Homer does indeed have a brother, one his dad had out of an affair who showed up twice, once with Homer unintentionally, and largely due to Herb’s own foolishness, ruining his life, the other time with Maggie helping him get back on top and him and Homer reconciling. He’s also voiced by comedic legend and your friend and mine, Danny Devito, whose still making us all laugh to this day and is a wonderful person from all accounts. Rock on Danny, here’s the only way I can think to honor you.

But yeah it’s a good gag. Burns claims to be watching for a Giant Squid.. and turns out to be right. So it’s up to the simpsons to fight the giant squid, a sentence I genuinely didn’t expect.. I thought like the Griffins they’d just ignore it.

I miss that show.. oh i’m aware Family Guy is still running but much like the Simpsons the show it USED to be is long gone. Anyways Bart tells a worried homer octopus suck out the innards and drink it first quipping “It’s not like you haven’t been drunk in the morning before homer. Homer chokes bart only for the squid to choke him which is easily the second best “Homer getting choked after Choking bart” gag i’ve seen.. the best being this one I found on youtube.

youtube

Though personally my faviorite part of that whole bit is Bart’s proud “THAT’S BECAUSE I SOAKED HIM IN SLIME!” Anyways Lisa figures out a way to beat the squid, painting the likeness of each of them on it’s tentacles and letting the thing devour itself. Lisa lampshades it making no sense PHysics wise but with that she reluctantly accepts calling Mr. Burns, Uncle Burns and we’re off to our next location. Next up is Mt. Donrosa, a very clear nod to Uncle Scrooge maestro Keno “Don” Rosa, an avid fan of Barks work who expanded on it and turned it into a solid continuity, most famously, and what got me into the ducks in the first place, with the epic “Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck” which I proudly own and.. well I did say watch this space didn’t I? Enough hinting at the future as the Simpsons scale the mountain with Homer carrying burns up on a rickshaw. Burns however looses his lucky #1 penny, SUBTLE, and cuts Bart down to get it. We then get the best line of the issue:

Bart thankfully survives and we find out the Penny, much like Scrooge’s Dime is how Burns started his fortune.. for this issue and nowhere else but that’s standard for the Simpsons. Specifically loading it into a gun and threatning to kill Jasper’s grandfather with it during the gold rush, a nice twist. At the top of the mountain they find the fabled key of Strobl, which comes from the Taliaferro tribe.. more refrenes this time though I didn’t know them and had to google. Tony Strobl was an artist on the Duck Comics at one ponit and Al Taliforino id forgotten about. He did the Donald Duck comic strip which I had heard of and weirdly hasn’t been collected yet despite Fantagraphics covering mickey, as well as reprinting barks and rosa’s respective works.

The key is suspended in the air by what Lisa suspects to be magnetics, and while Burns plan is naturally “Have Bart swim in it and see if he surivives”, Bart, still pissed from the penny and not wanting to die today, grabs the Penny and uses his slingshot to fire it at the Key. The bad luck from the penny casues an erruption, but Bart once again saves the day and has them surf down, with naturally tons more great jokes. The family enjoys some steamed Seafood, except Lisa whose eating Seaweed, while Homer enjoys a sting ray “It tastes as good as it stings, Ow, Ow.” ON to Goddfrodson Trench, an odd choice given Floyd Goddfrodson was barks equivalent for the Mickey Mouse Comics and not really a duck writer, but he still deserves the honor regardless. Under the Sea, no accusations just friendly crustaceans here.. our heroes are close to the treasure but loose the map to the Jailbird Boys, aka Snake and his cousins, who found out due to Lisa’s blog. She didn’t want to loose any more readers to Sheri and Teri’s Olson Twin’s Fan Page.. which.. it’s 2004.. weren’t they dead by this point? Nope still alive? Still are today in fact? Alrighty then. Also this bit, and some of the other references are a bit heavy handed, I will admit that, but the jokes are high quality enough otherwise that it just comes off as a bit of an adorable wink more than laziness.

Snake and co cut their air with Starfish used as throwing stars.

The gang tie their air suplies to avoid dying, and Maggie, in a clever bit, talks with the starfish, since they communicate via sucking, to attack the Jailbird Boys. Again..

I genuinely don’t know, but our heroes find the fabled vault of Barks Billion.. named after Bark Barks, that polar bear from the sonic games.. no of course it’s named after Disney Duck God Carl Barks, who created the Duck’s share of Donald and Scrooge’s supporting cast: Uncle Scrooge himself, Daisy Duck, a fact I just learned but given he created her first short “Mr Duck Steps Out, shouldn’t of surprised me, The Beagle Boys, Magica DeSpell, Goldie O Gilt, Flintheart Glomgold, Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, The Junior Woodchucks as a whole, Neighbor Jones, John D. Rockerduck, The Number One Dime, Gus Goose, April, May, June and Whitewater Duck. Just the sheer impact he’s had on the comics on all continents cannot be overstated. He is also the one who refined Huey Dewey and Louie from hellraising little shits to the good little boys they are today.. well okay they were, thankfully the reboot has created much better versions. Point is what a man, what a man what a mighty good man, he is truly missed. We get two great homer gags in the same page, one where somehow he’s put the giant key on a key ring and still can’t find it.. with Bart helpfully taking it from him, and then we get this, which I missed on my first read through.

Naturally Burns betrays them, using a Gold Magnet, kay, to suck up all the gold and naturally planning to leave the Simpsons for dead to no one’s surprise. But thanks to Bart teaching Maggie how to use the spittoons, Homer gets one stuck on his head.. and starts getting sucked up with the Simpsons using them to escape. Naturally Lisa’s first instinct is obvious.

But Burns weasels his way out by promising them free gold after their free lunch. Naturally the next day this turns out ot be a trick as their lunch came from frinks and thus, for now, their weightless.. but Karma gets Burns when he tries swimming in his new gold vault... only for the natural result of what happens when am an who never exercises and who doctors once described as having so many diseases packed into his body at once they tripped each other off and that a strong wind could kill him, trying to do with a similarly aged but still physically fit and well trained at swimming in money man does on a daily basis.

We then close on a quick gag of weightless homer getting caught on fire and we’re out.

Final Thoughts: This was a really excellent comic. It captured the tone of the Simpsons at their best and while stiff in a place here or there, it’s mostly just really funny, entertaining and a nice and warm tribute to Donald and Scrooge’s long comics history, not really mocking it but instead just homaging it, while still throughly feeling like the Simpsons. It honestly feels like the Treehouse of Horor Segement on the shining, a bit that parodies something, but for the most part the jokes still feel firmly rooted in the simpsons and their cast. This was a treat to review and i’m glad Kev comissoned it and I may take a look at more Simpsons in the future. If you guys like this review, you can follow me on patreon at patreon.com/popculturebuffet, or if there’s a specific simpsons or ducktales episode or a specific comic you want me to review, you can comission your own review for just five bucks. Just send me a direct message on here through Tumblr, or take a look at my ask box or submit. However you want to do it. I take payments through paypal and until next time: Happy Days are Here Again.

#scrooge mcduck #the simpsons #carl barks #simpsons comics #montgomery burns #homer simpson #bart simpson #lisa simpson #maggie simpson #don rosa #professor frink #bongo comics #waylond smithers #reviews #ducktales

20 notes · View notes

vito-mendoza · 3 years ago

Text

Task: Character Playlist Deep Dive

Playlist: Vito Mendoza’s Character Playlist

Number of Songs: 15 (as of July 2021)

Length: 57:42 (as of July 2021)

Triggers: N/A

Track 1: When I Grow Up- The Pussycat Dolls

Even though the song isn’t an exact fit for his life, it sums up his childhood hopes and dreams of being a famous actor pretty well. He’s been dreaming big ever since he saw his fist trip to the movie theater to see Mission: Impossible. He’s had the drive to make it big for a long time, but the question of the hour is whether he has the skill.

Track 2: Miami- Will Smith

Despite the fact that he was born in the Philippines, Vito considers Miami to be his true hometown in many respects. It was the place where he spent most of his childhood, the place where he fostered his love of acting, and the place where he first started falling in love with life. Even though he hasn’t lived in Miami since he left for college in 2008, every time he returns to visit his family, he feels like he never left.

Track 3: Hello, Brooklyn- All Time Low

Vito moved to Brooklyn with one of his college roommates after graduating college in 2012. It was in Brooklyn that he really got into DJing and started to do it for money. Vito has always been the type to live life to the fullest, and this song is an expression of that sentiment. He made Brooklyn his second home and partied it up while he lived there.

Track 4: Beverly Hills- Weezer

Even though Vito has wanted to be an actor since he was 7 years old, he still has his insecurities about it. Specifically, he worries that he won’t fit in with actors who came from money. Vito wants to be amongst the elite, but comes from a completely different world, one without any glitz or glamor. This is part of the reason why it took him until 2020 to make his big move.

Track 5: Best Day Of My Life- American Authors

Vito considers the day he officially made his move out west to be one of the best days of his life. As much as he liked Brooklyn and the friends he made there, acting in student films and off-Broadway shows wasn’t where he wanted to be in life. He didn’t know anyone in California except his roommate, who he had only met in person once. Moving was his chance to start anew and fully realize his dreams.

Track 6: I Gotta Feeling- Black Eyed Peas

Once he decided to make the move out west, Vito fell in love with Santa Monica. The palm trees and beach reminded him of Miami, and it was close enough to L.A. that he could get to auditions with relative ease. From the first day, he had a feeling that he was going to like California. This song is meant to be an expression of Vito having a good time and making new memories.

Track 7: Go DJ- Lil Wayne

Vito has yet to land a full-time acting gig, so DJing has been his primary source of income. This is a song he’ll play to himself when he needs motivation. It’s a reminder to himself that if all else fails, people still think he’s good at DJing. After all, he wouldn’t be working at a club 4 nights per week if people didn’t like his mixes.

Track 8: Don’t Stop The Music- Rihanna

This song is one of Vito’s favorite songs to play in the club. It’s one of those songs that gets the crowd up and dancing; no one can resist a good Rihanna song. Acting is his first passion, but he relates to the message of this song: leaving the stress of life behind you and dancing to good music. It’s songs like this that remind him what got him into music in the first place.

Track 9: Club Can’t Handle Me- Flo Rida & David Guetta

This song is a combination of a pep-talk and a song to amp up the club. This is one of those songs that makes Vito feel like he’s on top of the world. Playing this song at Circle Bar makes him feel invincible. Even though he doesn’t live a lavish lifestyle like Flo Rida and David Guetta, Vito knows how to party and how to liven up a party through music.

Track 10: Sorry for Party Rocking- LMFAO

As a DJ, Vito goes hard and goes loud. His neighbors over the years, in both Brooklyn and Santa Monica, have had to put up with a lot of his musical antics. All he can ever really say form himself is “Sorry!” because he’s not going to stop anytime soon. Even though he doesn’t drink as excessively as LMFAO, nor does he hook up with women like they do, this song makes for another fun song to amp up the club.

Track 11: Sour Patch Kids- Bryce Vine

Being an adult is hard. Since moving to California, Vito has started to notice how much he struggles with money. Sometimes he needs to get money off his mind and just kick back and relax like he did when he was a kid. He feels very nostalgic for his childhood, especially the parts when he didn’t have any responsibilities or cares in the world.

Track 12: Crush- David Archuleta

Vito felt himself crushing on Verity shortly after their blind date. As time went on, these feelings only grew stronger. He spent the first two months of knowing her wondering if she shared his feelings or if this was all one-sided and hopeless. Despite these worries, his feelings didn’t wane. His crush wasn’t going away any time soon.

Track 13: What A Man Gotta Do- The Jonas Brothers

After a few months of hanging out and having little dates with Verity, Vito realized that he didn’t want to be just friends with her. Her kiss had him hooked, and he wanted more. He wanted to be with her, labels and all, and if she wanted him, he was all hers. Turns out all he had to do to make this a reality was ask.

Track 14: Only Wanna Be With You- Post Malone

This is another song that isn’t an exact fit but has an overall relatable message: wanting to be with one person and one person only. Even though he and Verity have led very different lives, they’re still able to get along and make their relationship work. He doesn’t care if he’s foolish for becoming this attached to her so soon into the relationship, because he’s happy and that’s all that matters to him. The reason this version is on the playlist rather than the original is because Vito is a bigger fan of Post Malone (he says “no disrespect to Hootie, though”).

Track 15: Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)- Ne-Yo

Verity struggles with insecurity. She was in two relationships before she began dating Vito, and neither of them ended on a great note. Vito feels very strongly towards her, and not only does he want to show her that he loves and cares about her, but he also wants her to love herself. He wants her to see herself as the kind, caring, and beautiful woman he sees her as. He’ll gladly put his own insecurities aside if it means lifting her up.

#smrp:task

2 notes · View notes

auspiciousinformant · 4 years ago

Text

Core Character Ranking - No Straight Roads

At this point with the game having been out for well over four and a half months, I figure that with having a small piece of fiction under my belt, and with the fandom having cooled down from the initial release but still hot enough for content to steadily be coming out from the fanbase, now is a good time for me to share my thoughts on No Straight Roads - rather, what I call the Core Characters of No Straight Roads.

I call them this because they are the collective protagonist main characters and antagonistic bosses - not filling up one bucket or another quite satisfactory. I might even make this into a series if anyone cares enough to hear my thoughts on other pieces of fiction. If you’re interested, continue below the line.

Oh, also, spoilers for No Straight Roads if you still care about that.

Disclaimer before continuing onwards - I’ve never actually played No Straight Roads! I’m not exactly a person with enough wealth to throw at my own interests and hobbies, but I feel I’ve absorbed enough through culture osmosis, 100% walkthroughs of the game, and other people’s interpretations of the game to be able to make my own informed opinions on the characters.

Also, this isn’t a “bosses” ranking list - this is a character ranking list. Meaning that individuals are going to be ranked rather than the whole. For example, Sayu will be divided into the four members behind Sayu (hereafter refered to as “Team Sayu”) as well as Sayu herself. This also means I won’t fully go on the gameplay mechanics as I don’t have enough experience with it to make a fully informed decision. I will talk about what I’ve seen though.

With that in mind, we’ll be starting as all of these lists usually do, from the bottom ranking to the top: ________________________________________________________________ 20. Eve

Now, this may come as a shock, but I absolutely despise divas. Eve was entertaining enough, but through her videos she was only relatable and likable to me before she and Zuke broke up. Mostly because I could relate with her self-loathing and her found happiness.

Still... setting someone’s hair on fire? And then being confused as to why that happened? Then completely blaming the victim and using that mistake as fuel to shut out any other potential kindred relationship for the future? I’ve seen people who do that; it’s pathetic at best and annoying to see at worst. Thankfully, due to Zuke, she does eventually come around.

Her music and boss fight are interesting enough I suppose. I like how the perspective changes and I adore when you have to switch over to Mayday and it becomes a fully chaotic mess of limbs, doubt, hatred, and rage. I live for that chaotic aesthetic.

Otherwise, she’s just... the weakest character to me in No Straight Roads.

Maybe she’ll Eve-ntually earn my respect in supplementary materials. ________________________________________________________________ 19. Sofa

The first member of Team Sayu I’m mentioning and he’s this low on the list. Ouch. Not to say that I hate him, the hate started and ended with Eve - he, along with the others don’t really have much of a personality canonically that I can see to judge him on. But in terms of his design, I’ve never been much of a fan of “overweight and silly” outside of Doctor Eggman/

Do not take this the wrong way. I am in NO way fatshaming ANYONE.

I just have never liked that design in fictional characters. See Hifumi Yamada from “Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc” for more on what I mean

Still, he’s a core member of Team Sayu and from the fanfiction I’ve read he’s one of the better characters to write with. Maybe if we got a spinoff or other related materials, he’d go up a few numbers in rank, but as it stands, he’s the weakest of the group.

Sofa-r so good, let’s move on before these puns go too far. ________________________________________________________________ 18. Mayday Yeah. I’m not a huge fan of Mayday herself. Hotheaded protagonists are fine here and there, but she’s so hot-headed I’m surprised that she didn’t have the fire aesthetic as well. I guess with it all being taken by Tatiana, they could only give her a warm color scheme so it wasn’t redundant.

Her gameplay seems fine, if a bit basic. The heavy hitter is also a hothead, who could guess. I kinda like how someone as scrawny and small as her also has the biggest heart and temper. Also the gags that come from her relating to the other bosses are hysterical and make for good protagonist material. Still, outside of her interaction with DK West, Zuke, and Team Sayu, as well as the very end of the game, there’s a lack of enough “heroic” traits that makes Mayday fall flat from just shy of ranking higher.

I don’t have a clever pun, joke, or one-liner for Mayday, so let’s go to the next person in my list. ________________________________________________________________ 17. DJ Subatomic Supernova I have never really liked disco or dance music at the best of times, but I love space. So what happens when you mix something I feel lukewarm to, something I absolutely adore, and combine it with a trait about a person I absolutely also despise?

You get space helmet man who likes fresh ice cream and goes on for minutes about how great he is and how everyone else around him are plebeians - not knowing how pretentious the stage name “Subatomic Supernova” is.

If I had made this list when I had first seen No Straight Roads, he’d be only just ahead of Eve just because I dislike her so much more than I hate egotism of DJ Subatomic Supernova. But he’s now gone higher on the list since he’s grown on me thanks to the fandom and me realizing the game is parodying the stereotypes and the industry of music. Also, Zuke’s drum solo is AMAZING with the EDM version of DJ SS’s theme. He’s even gone so far as to become half of my second favorite paring in the NSR fandom!

Shine on, you funky space man. ________________________________________________________________

16. DK West Ewah! Older of the two brothers by age, younger of the two by maturity. I absolutely love this goofball. His shadow powers are absolutely amazing to watch and while I normally don’t like rap outside of Eminem (and even then only select tracks), he grew on me a lot. He’s so unique and the culture he’s based on from what I understand was researched with a lot of respect and care.

I’ve heard (and seen) that the third fight ramps up the difficulty way too much, but considering that Mayday is attempting to repair a broken household, it makes sense it’d be such a heavy undertaking from a gameplay and story point.

Also DK West Encounter 1 is a smash hit, telling us everything we really need to know between DK West and Zuke while being an absolutely great song that reminds me of Epic Rap Battles of History for anyone that remembers that.

He overshadows his previous competition by a large margin, and I can’t wait to see more of him if that’s possible. ________________________________________________________________ 15. Yinu’s Mom As the real mastermind behind Yinu’s position in NSR, it suddenly makes so much sense as to why a literal child is in such a strict EDM hierarchy like NSR. What keeps her from going above and beyond this ranking isn’t anything more than just the pressure she puts on Yinu to perform. During the fight, and what I can only presume also happens outside of concerts in the universe of No Straight Roads, it seems like she entirely forgets the reason Yinu keeps playing the piano in the first place.

However, I am a huge sucker for family dynamics, and her stopping her assault due to the memories that Yinu was able to drag out of her through the broken piano by playing Heart of the Prodigy is enough to almost enough for me to reach the level of emotional catharsis as the ending of Pixar’s “Inside Out” did for me. And the way she shielded Yinu when they were falling, the gasp of fear that she might not survive the fall - just pure, amazing storytelling through “show, don’t tell”.

I will say, the more morbid part of me that enjoys things like Danganronpa, Your Turn To Die, and Nonary Games, had the thought of “if it weren’t for the fact that Mayday and Zuke also fell from that height and survived (and that this game is meant for younger audiences), Yinu would have became an orphan.”

Mother of the Year award goes to Yinu’s mom for being the most realistic, sympathetic, non-dead mom in fiction. ________________________________________________________________ 14. Yinu I love classical music, but I don’t really like children. Yinu is an exception to my general dislike of children. The promotion that was released before the game was a little eye-rolling, but it was also funny. Fortunately, in the game, Yinu is so much more mature and interesting than the promotional material lead us to believe. The way the piano plays plays in the base version of VS Yinu conveys just how talented she is at nine years old. It’s a shame that it slowly gets covered up by the EDM version as the battle goes on.

But her reasoning for playing the piano, through the photos you get from Yinu’s backstory is all the more reason to respect this literal child. She turned the loss of her music teacher and father into a shining passion for music. The piano being the very memento of her deceased dad - looking at the photos and then realizing what you did in shattering her piano creates a fantastic retroactive look at just how destructive Bunkbed Junction’s revolution really is to people.

We’re not even half-way down the list, and yet we already have great characters like this, so let’s keep looking. ________________________________________________________________ 13. Dodo There’s been a huge gap since the last Team Sayu member. So what makes Dodo so great compared to Sofa? Well, the deep voice that comes from the scrawny, blue man is funny to me. It caught me off-guard the first time I heard it and had me giggling for hours afterwards after I paused the video to regain my composure.

That, and mocap work is hard work. On top of that, though he’s mostly not the face everyone remembers when fans think of Sayu, it takes a lot of talent and self-confidence to dance like a cutesy mermaid despite being a male, at least in my opinion. So I see him as having high confidence, but also being like Zuke in the “chill and mostly quiet” department.

There’s not much else for me to say, since most of Team Sayu doesn’t have blatantly obvious character traits. So let’s move on. ________________________________________________________________ 12. Sayu Sayu herself is... well, not real. It’s like trying to judge any number of the Vocaloid/UTAU voice banks. Sure you can place any number of personalities and messages into it, but in reality she’s just been built as a “cutsie, wootsie, pink mermaid” idol.

Still, the personality that Team Sayu gives her is fantastic. Her fight is annoying, and lackluster even to watch, but her song is amazing in all of its forms, even if for me the vaporwave version is the least effective of all of them - and Analog Aquatics is the BEST lead-up song to it, even ahead of Heart of the Prodigy.

Hatsune Miku? Who’s that? I only see Sayu as the best Vocaloid. ________________________________________________________________ 11. Remi Technically the creator of Sayu in the first place and her designer, Remi seems to be the “all according to plan” type. To think that his passion for art would lead to a career such as NSR, and a close-knit friend group like Team Sayu. It’s something that I’m sure that every artist has had as their goal at one point or another.

I highly respect anyone with the ability to put their artwork out in public, both in real life and as a character. Even so, there are characters I like even beyond Remi, and once again, we don’t have much to go off of for him outside of the very few times we see him in Sayu’s battle.

Almost all of Team Sayu has been covered at this point - heck, even Sayu herself has already been covered. So where’s Tila you ask? Well, we’ll get to that, but not for a while. ________________________________________________________________ 10. Tatiana “Kul Fyra” Qwartz From the very moment we first hear her voice, we can tell she’s all business and order. When we watch all of NSR reject the rock music outright and listen to Tatiana’s speech afterwards? How she seems to disregard her artists own safety and prioritizing undermining Bunkbed Junction’s efforts just because she can’t bear to remember her old bandmates? Wonderfully selfish for a heartbroken character.

Also, for those who hate her time-oriented powers and how weakly linked they are to Tatiana herself? Consider this: She’s almost 50 years old by the time Bunkbed Junction starts their revolution. She’s lived long enough to be anyone in the cast’s mom - probably even old enough to be Team Sayu and Yinu’s grandma. She has only seen a progressive march of time erode at everything she ever loved and cared about.

The blazing passion within her is brought back to her through Bunkbed Junction’s actions, but through a reversal of time and a reflection of her memories. Bunkbed Junction literally shatters the world view that she constructed for herself to ignore the regret and pain that had been slowly eating her up inside without her ever even having fully realized it in the first phase. By the time Tatiana reverts back to using her Kul Fyra form, she’s trying so hard to list any number of reasons to ignore her past and focus on what little time she actually has left to work on the future.

This was a bit of a longer explanation and reasoning, but for a character as amazing and symbolically complex as Tatiana, she absolutely deserves it. And as you’ll see for the next character, this is only a fraction of my love for the characters of No Straight Roads. ________________________________________________________________9. Neon J And here we start with my absolutely favorite characters, the ones I not only enjoy reading and writing about, but that in canon I can wholeheartedly accept them for who they are, flaws and all.

My grandpa was in the navy, and to make a long story short there were some complicated things that happened that required me to live with both him and my grandma when I was really little. So already there’s something that I can latch onto and adore. Even with how cringy Neon J is at the end with him attempting to try to give an epic war hero speech, my grandpa can be the same way sometimes, and that’s okay. They kind of act similarly outside of that as well.

His design is so sleek and smooth, and sometimes I forget that he’s actually a cyborg, unlike his sons boyband creations. Normally I hate the military, war, and what it all represents at a cynical level, but when it’s portrayed in a way like No Straight Roads did for Neon J and 1010, it reminds me of the people who actually join to serve their country and the people in it, despite how few in their countries actually deserve their respect.

And yeah, I can already hear the “blah blah fiction is poorly portraying law enforcement/the military because ect ect”. I disagree. Think of it this way: Neon J is a fun example of what a leader in a military unit is. Not only that, he’s extremely loyal and willing to do what it takes to get the job done - including having a program inside 1010 that makes them explode when they fail to generate the requisite fan praise that’s likely required to keep 1010 merchandise flying off of the shelves and thus prove to the other NSR artists that even robot boybands can be used to help Vinyl City; AND use said robot boyband as weapons to fight off any threats - internal or external.

Also think about what he had to go through to become a cyborg. That means he likely had to replace everything that’s on the surface - imagine what he needed to replace underneath all of that metal. How much of his original body is left? How badly did the war he was involved in hurt him? How many comrades did he lose to try to recreate that feel in a boyband? Aren’t the implications of that so much more grand than the surface level “radar head man is bad representation of military people because he’s silly and ineffective at his job”. Furthermore, tell me of a person in the real world who lost so much of their body they literally had to become a cyborg that has a literal radar for a head.

On top of all of that he’s the second half of my second favorite pairing. Not that is has any major bearing on how great Neon J already is. Is it silly that Neon J tries to give a huge speech at the end when we know Bunkbed Junction is just trying to get to Tatiana? Yes. But it’s fun.

I salute the No Straight Roads team for creating such an amazing character . ________________________________________________________________8. Blue 1010 Robot | Purl-Hew Ah yes, now we start getting to what’s taking up most of the top 10 slots. Kind of funny that not all of the 1010 members are going into the top 5 slots with how much I ranted and raved about Neon J. But I have characters I like way more than most of the 1010 band members.

And yes, I’ll bring this up now since we’re actually talking about 1010, that will apply to all the members of 1010 so I don’t have to repeat myself: I already know that they’re meant to parody boy bands, pop bands, and how similar all of them are and ect ect ect. That doesn’t stop me from going “hee hoo pretty boys” at fictional characters. And, yes, I know they don’t canonically have names, but I’m going with what’s been accepted across the fandom. Also all of their body types are the same: I like them alot. They’re tall, in monochrome (hah, chrome), and the way they bob to the beat in their battle is fantastic and shows they are powered by music as much as any machine is in the universe of No Straight Roads.

Starting off with my least favorite of them, Purl-Hew just reminds me of Garnet from “Steven Universe”, which is not a bad thing. It’s just that outside of what we learn of Garnet, she’s a character I often forget exists. I think it’s honestly the shades and the blue, more square-like hair that makes me draw the comparison. Purl-Hew strikes me as the “cool” one. The one that recites his poetry in coffee shops and is the sensitive boy with a cold exterior. You know the kind of person I’m talking about.

Other than that, I like the 1010 branding on the side of his head. I normally don’t like hairstyles like that, but somehow with how it flows and how non-obnoxious it is, I actually find myself liking the hairstyle. Also coupled with the fact that I see him as the second eldest of all five of them, who likely cemented an identity for himself before the others, makes me like his entirety even more.

A cool dude deserves a cool transition, but since this isn’t a video, a line break will have to do. ________________________________________________________________7. Red 1010 Robot | Zimelu Zimelu is one of the ones that strikes me as the one that’s borderline trying to break free from the rest of the band and become his own artist. The mowhawk, the color red, even to what he’s likely supposed to represent in-universe. Many see him as having anger issues, and considering what 1010 is about coupled with, again the hair style and his color, yeah I can see why.

But I also see him having a somewhat tsundere side. Not overtly fully tusndere as “I-It’s not like I like you or anything!” but more of a “Hey, I got you [insert favorite food] to eat. Don’t read too much into it.” while looking off to the side to avoid seeing your reaction just because he’s not sure if he can handle the thought of him possibly being wrong and then seeing you be disappointed kind of tsundere.

I don’t see a lot of peices of work exploring this concept, and I’d love to see more of it - or heck, even other personality traits that could be lying under the rebellious design of him.

I see him as the middle child of the group, which could also add to the rebellious personality and anger issues. Not sure if anyone agrees with me on this though. ________________________________________________________________6. Yellow 1010 Robot | Haym Okay, so this is a bit weird. Haym is my second least favorite in terms of design, but third favorite because he’s supposed to be the sunny, shy, and sweet one. I see him as the second youngest of all of the 1010 members. Old enough to have experience and understand his purpose, but young enough to retain that childhood-like innocence and sweetness.

I think he’s content about his place in 1010. It’s not that he would slack off or anything, but he’d be the most comfortable with his identity out of all five of them, even years down the line. Where Purl-Hew has to upkeep his identity, Haym is fine just being who he is and happy that the crowd accepts him for who he is.

Also him saying “even your lips, which form that raaaaadiant smile~” made me smile like an idiot and my heart flutter when I first saw him - and don’t even get me started on his pose when he was saying that. So that probably has at least some bearing on his placement in this list. ________________________________________________________________5. Green 1010 Robot | Eloni Haym was weird for me to admit I still don’t fully like his design, but Eloni’s design is actually worse for me. I still don’t like the fact he looks like you could hang him on a Christmas tree or a keychain and not be out of place there. But as I learned more - especially the part where in-universe he’s the least-liked because he’s the prankster type, my heart melted for the guy.

While I myself am not a prankster or a fan of prankster types, sympathetic characters that are generally unliked in-universe for something minor or not their fault is something that will always get me to love a character. There’s also a lot of great fanfiction out there for Eloni, playing with the idea of jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and the resulting love and support that inevitably follows from a strong supporting family.

Also, I see him as the youngest, and likely the one who thought it’d be a good idea to give everyone reindeer heads for the Christmas event instead of whatever was originally planned. The fans probably loved it anyways, even better than what was originally planned, but never knew it was Eloni’s messing around that gave them the toy-soldier-with-reindeer-heads 1010.

Second best 1010 boy deserves to be in the top 5 for all of this and more. ________________________________________________________________4. Tila Tila? You mean the one girl who only goes “pyun” a few times? The only one of Team Sayu that has any voice lines that are more than sobs, grunts, tremoring fear, and sounds of triumph?

Yes. That character. You want to know why?

First, lets start with her design. She wears an oversized hoodie and glasses - already two things I can relate to. The color contrast is just perfect between her hair, skin, and hoodie. Her design alone to me screams “high-functioning introvert”.

Her one line? Going “pyun” a few times? Absolutely adorable. I wanted to hear her say more lines, and the delivery of them being so uncertain filtered through a microphone to not come out that way as Sayu? She is definitely the shy one of the four of them. Also let’s not forget she’s Sayu’s voice actress in universe. Meaning that VS Sayu is something that Tila is singing.

Also, in the background material for Sayu, she’s the one that apologizes for using Remi’s art for one of her songs, and starts the collaboration with all four members of Team Sayu. It’s her story we follow. Not any of the other four members, though Remi does actually say something.

Though we don’t get much else of her, which prevents her from taking a spot in my top 3 picks, if we got just a little bit more from her, I’d definitely bump her to 3rd, maybe even let her take 1st. As it stands, compared to the rest of Team Sayu and Sayu herself, top 5 is nothing to sneeze at. ________________________________________________________________3. Kliff “No one like’s Kliff! He’s evil and bad!”

I mostly disagree with that statement, politely of course. Does no one like him? Seems that way in the fandom, but I like him. Is he evil? Yes, most certainly. Is he “bad”? Well, what’s the context of bad in this case? A bad plot-twist? A bad character? A bad guide? Not really. Well, except for the last part, possibly, but even then he’s still serviceable.

I mean take into context that Tatiana is Kul Fyra. On a first viewing, after having fought so many people after first meeting Kliff, most people would have forgotten that he, like Mayday, also likes Kul Fyra and was even there for her concerts. People who have insane memory would remember it, but for the rest of us, it probably came as a shock that Kliff would send a satellite into the NSR tower.

But he’s a fan that put Kul Fyra on a pillar, just like Mayday. He’d hoped that rock artists would get her back into rock music, to reignite the fire in her, so that he could enjoy her music again. He even says that he’s still her fan. He questions Tatiana “did my loyalty mean nothing to you?”.

And while yes, she didn’t technically owe him anything, the way that Tatiana shoots Kliff down so coldly after all of his attempts and his waiting - after she shut herself away from any potential future differing opinions and banning rock so she couldn’t remember the heartache - he snaps.

I’m not saying that Kliff was right, or that his reaction was fully justified. But imagine him saying he’ll be the strategic planner of NSR - after all, it was thanks to him that Mayday and Zuke got as far as they did. They knew what was coming ahead of time due to his advice. Mayday and Zuke would just be figureheads. It would be entirely realistic, and not make Kliff entirely evil.

Still, with all the hypotheticals out of the way, having an entirely selfish twist villain like Kliff was amazing. When you go through the entire story knowing how it will end on a second playthrough, suddenly his motives and what he says makes so much more sense.

I want to see (or maybe someday I’ll write) a redemption arc for Kliff. He’s not so fargone that I’d write him off as another villain for the sake of evil, but it would take actual work and effort. It’s something I look forwards to seeing in the far future.

Though he is also fun to see as an antagonist in all of these stories I read about him. ________________________________________________________________2. Zuke On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rank Zuke an 11. From his design, to his animations, to his background, his voice, his lines - everything is an 11/10 for me.

Starting with design again, normally I’d dislike the major contrast such a saturated green against a saturated blue. But there’s other bits in Zuke’s design - his red eyes, the fact that his clothing is a good neutral base to draw away from the chaos of colors of his head - only to lead back into what looks like ultra-comfortable blue-and-green flannel with dark blue flats? It all screams the perfect chill dude to hang out with.

His personality matches too. He’s laid-back, wise, rational, humble, and kind. Almost the perfect man in every way. Though he has his limits, especially when it comes to DK West, and he’s not always the most intelligent at times. Sometimes he takes a minute to put two-and-two together, especially when he’s under pressure and nervous.

And his drumsticks being used as a walking cane when he’s not battling, admitting that it’s NSR property - recognizing that NSR itself is not bad, it just needs change. He doesn’t generally talk smack unless, again, it’s DK West. He probably says less than Mayday does out of the two, but I wasn’t counting. I was just thankful that he was talking at all, attempting to be the voice of reason in situations, telling Eve he was wrong for leaving so suddenly (even though he’s not at fault for his hair being set on fire), reconciling with DK West after Mayday gets them to talk about their feelings to each other - he experiences the most growth over the longest period of time.

In fact, it feels like we’re witnessing Zuke’s entire story through the eyes of Mayday. Sure, Mayday has a stake in the conflict, and a small bit of growth, but none nearly so much as the jolly green giant between them. Heck, he’s so good that he made DJ Subatomic Supernova’s music actually sound good.

If this wasn’t enough, he’s also one half of my favorite pairing. Where’s the other half? Where he belongs of course. ________________________________________________________________1. White 1010 Robot | Rin Look guys, my favorite character of No Straight Roads is finally here. Let me be the ideal fan and give him my utmost attention.

ATTENTION!

Hoo boy have I been waiting to talk about Rin! His design is the one that I love the most despite how simple and obviously pandering it is. I mean come on, he’s got the kind of hairstyle that just screams “typical emo/scene/goth/pop leader” without the sweeping bit of hair in front of the eye like Haym’s or other emo/scene/goth hair styles. He has no unique colors to himself (white and black are technically not colors). Heck, as a robot meant to parody pop/boybands, he technically should be the most bland and uninteresting part of 1010.

But that’s where you’d be wrong. Rin is the one who leads the flirting attempt against Mayday. Rin is the one who is focused on the most of all the 1010 members when the cutscenes play. Rin is the one who’s talking the most in the promotional video for 1010 and No Straight Roads. Even though Zimelu takes up most of the spot in the in-game photo op, Rin is the second most noticable. In the “wefies” the 1010 members make in the promotional video, Rin is front and center.

Rin is the poster child. Meaning he has the most mounting on him of all the members of 1010. And this can manifest in any number of interesting character traits. I’ve already written an (as of posting this review) three chapter fanfic on Rin and his dynamic with not only the other half of my favorite pairing, but also his dynamic with Neon J, and how both Zuke and Neon J view Rin - through what I perceive how Rin actually feels and acts when he’s not on stage.

I could probably do an entire 20 minute review on why Rin is the single-best character of No Straight Roads, both in and out of canon, but I don’t have the tools for it. And as a side note, the guitar solo that Mayday can play over the song is the single-best of all the guitar solos, the second being the one against Yinu - and that deep passion for 1010 is reflected well in the guitar solo.

Zuke may be an 11/10, but Rin is a perfect 10/10 - and I wouldn’t have it any other way . ________________________________________________________________Afterwords Finally, after an entire 4 hours of writing, I’d like to hear your thoughts on all of this, if you’ve made it this far.

What did you agree and disagree with? Feel free to comment if you want.

As for me, I think I’ll continue to browse the work of the fandom, keep an ear out for any future updates or sequels, and rock on with the amazing soundtrack of No Straight Roads jamming loudly in my ears.

Rock on fellow No Straight Roads fans! Or whatever genre you prefer to listen to.

10 notes · View notes

droneseco · 4 years ago

Text

Elecrow Crowbits: The Ultimate LEGO-Compatible STEM Learning System That Grows With Your Child

Elecrow Crowbits

9.00 / 10

Read Reviews

Read More Reviews

Shop Now

Brick builds, combined with magnetic electronics blocks, and programmable micro-controllers. Does it get any better than this? I think my long search for the perfect STEM learning kit is complete. If you have young children just coming up to the right age for it, the Crowbits system can accompany them throughout their primary education and beyond.

Key Features

Magnetic blocks build circuits

Kits to suit various levels

Specifications

Brand: Elecrow

Development Platform: Scratch and MicroPython

Pros

LEGO-compatible to customize your builds

Full range of components planned

Level up with your child with more complex projects and programmable microcontroller

Familiar Scratch-based programming software

Cons

It's a Kickstarter

Instructions need work expanding on the principles and explanations

Buy This Product

Elecrow Crowbits other

Shop

// Bottom var galleryThumbs1 = new Swiper('.gallery-thumbs-1', { spaceBetween: 10, slidesPerView: 10, freeMode: true, watchSlidesVisibility: true, watchSlidesProgress: true, centerInsufficientSlides: true, allowTouchMove: false, preventClicks: false, breakpoints: { 1024: { slidesPerView: 6, } }, }); // Top var galleryTop1 = new Swiper('.gallery-top-1', { spaceBetween: 10, allowTouchMove: false, loop: true, preventClicks: false, breakpoints: { 1024: { allowTouchMove: true, } }, navigation: { nextEl: '.swiper-button-next', prevEl: '.swiper-button-prev', }, thumbs: { swiper: galleryThumbs1 } });

Take a moment to imagine the perfect electronics and engineering learning kit. It would be so simple even a child could use it: magnetic blocks, perhaps? Modular, so you could swap bits in and out to modify projects. It would scale up, so you could start with simple circuits and move on to programmable hardware, catering to all levels of the curriculum. Lastly, I'd throw in LEGO-compatible, because LEGO bricks are the best tool for creativity and engineering ever made.

That's exactly everything the Elecrow Crowbits system is, and it's crowdfunding now.

youtube

Disclaimer: This is a Kickstarter

Four of the five available Crowbits kits were sent to us for evaluation during the Kickstarter, however, they are still very much in the prototype stage, and we've evaluated them on that basis. Some bits were missing, some were non-functional, and the software is still a work-in-progress. This is to be expected at this stage, but the core system is solid.

Also, the usual Kickstarter caveat applies: your money is at risk, and there's no legal obligation with any crowdfunding campaign to actually deliver a product. That said, this isn't Elecrow's first campaign (the CrowPi 1 and CrowPi 2 were a huge success). It's a well-established company with a reputation to maintain and a good track record, so we think the risk is minimal.

What Are Crowbits?

Crowbits modules are magnetic electronics blocks with LEGO-compatible pin holes on the side and stud holes underneath. The 4-pin pogo connections are either male or female, and have a small protrusion on the bottom to prevent wiring them the wrong way around.

Extension cables enable you to place a module elsewhere, and these too feature the same magnetic connection and can't be plugged in the wrong way. The whole system operates on a safe, low voltage, and with rechargeable battery blocks that charge over micro-USB.

Each Microbits module is color-coded for ease of understanding:

Blue modules are power and logic. In the basic sets, these are simple battery modules that don't require programming. In more advanced sets, these are programmable microcontrollers with pin numbers on the connections for addressing modules directly.

Yellow modules are inputs: buttons, basics sensors and such.

Green modules are outputs: LEDs, motors, buzzers, relays.

Orange modules are special and require serial communication lines to the programmable hub. These include things like color sensors, joysticks, or 2G communications hub.

A large range of Crowbits modules are planned, though these will be available separately at a later date. For now, you can only purchase the full Crowbits kits with their included module selections.

No Programming Required!

Since the first two Crowbit kits require no programming, how does that work? Simple, as long as you follow some basic rules:

Yellow input modules must be placed on the left of green output modules (when viewed with the module name being on the top, and symbol in the bottom right).

One input module can control a chain of output modules.

A new input-output chain will be created if you add another input module to the right.

Blue battery modules can go anywhere in the circuit, and their orientation doesn't matter as long as the pins are compatible.

With this, kids can create basic circuits. For more complex circuits (that still don't need programming), a series of bitwise logic operator modules are planned. A "NOT" logic gate is included in the Hello kit, and more will be available later.

This enables you to reverse an input, such that a button that would normally turn on an LED, would now function as a button to turn the LED off.

Crowbits Kits

The Crowbits Kits are divided into five stages of increasing complexity, but all share a common system and are compatible with each other. Some modules are duplicated between kits. Let's take a look at the contents and direction of each kit.

Hello Kit

The most basic of kits is also the cheapest, available for $30. It includes seven modules, one of which is a small battery module. Five project builds are included along with pre-cut cardboard parts to stick together. No programming is required, and the Hello kit is suitable for ages 5-6.

Explorer Kit

The Explorer Kit continues the no-programming theme, but adds movement through the use of a motor module and pack of technic pieces for some basic engineering. A total of eight modules are included, one of which is a medium-sized battery pack. The build guide contains a mix of brick-based and cardboard projects. With a little adult supervision on the trickier mechanical elements, 7-8-year-olds should be able to handle this kit. The Kickstarter price is $80, rising to $130 RRP.

Inventor Kit

The Inventor Kit is a big step up that introduces programming concepts and more complex mechanical engineering. The main module of this kit requires a BBC Micro:bit (v1) to function. This is not included, though it may be available as an add-on if you don't already own one.

For those not familiar, the BBC Micro:bit is an all-in-one programmable microcontroller specifically designed for use in the school curriculum. It's widely used in UK schools, and gaining ground in the US.

Related: 10 Beginner Projects for the BBC Micro:bit

Ten modules are included as well as a large pack of technic bricks, suitable for building projects such as an obstacle avoidance car or color-sorting robot.

Given the use of BBC Micro:bit and Scratch programming in schools from around age 8, this kit would be suitable for 8-12 year-olds. It's available during the Kickstarter for $90, RRP $130.

Creator Kit

This was not yet ready for review at the time of writing, but the core of the Creator kit is an Arduino-based board, and includes 11 modules more suited to smart home projects and more complex interaction programming, along with a small selection of technic blocks. There are no movement motors. The Creator kit is available for $100 now, or RRP $150 later.

Master Kit

The most advanced kit in the range, the Master Kit uses an ESP32-based board at its core, featuring a TFT color screen. Also in the kit are some joystick modules, a small keyboard, laser ranging sensor, and 2G connection.

The Master Kit has a small number of technic bricks, and as well two silicone cases for a working phone, and a retro game console. It's designed to show the modules coming together to create a finished product. However, programming the firmware is quite complex, so I'd rate this kit as suitable for 14 and up. The early pricing is $100 for the Master kit, rising to $150 RRP.

LEGO-Compatible, not Actual LEGO

I should note that the Crowbits kits are not an officially endorsed nor licensed LEGO group product, and do not contain actual LEGO bricks. Instead, the LEGO-compatible technical bricks carry the brand name "CaDA", which I've not come across before.

That said, the bricks are well made and connect simply and securely, which is always a worry with off-brand construction bricks. For context, you can buy a set of at least 500 CaDA technic bricks on AliExpress for under $30.

You can of course decorate the builds with your own real LEGO, should you wish.

As a nerdy side-note, be warned that the instruction for the brick builds are read left-to-right, rather than top-to-bottom. If you're a LEGO family, this is mildly infuriating and means your child might skip steps!

Programming with LetsCode

Programming your Crowbits kits is done using Elecrow's new LetsCode (currently only for Windows, but support is promised for Mac OS and Raspberry Pi later).

LetsCode is a customized version of Microsoft MakeCode, which is itself based on the graphical block programming language, Scratch 3.0. As such, it'll be immediately familiar to anyone with experience of Scratch programming. It's widely used for introductory programming classes all over the world, and includes graphics blocks for all common concepts like loops, branching, and functions.

Pin numbers are printed directly on the blue modules, so it's easy to see which component is attached where.

If you outgrow graphical programming, you will also be able to program in MicroPython or Java, though this was not supported at the time of testing.

Should You Back the Elecrow Crowbits?

The Crowbits magnetic circuit system is easy to use and scales well for different ages and user levels. You can start with simple circuits, and move on to programmable logic controllers, and still reuse all the bits. It's a system that will grow with your child throughout their learning journey from age 6 to 14. Very few educational toys can make that sort of claim.

If you want your child to have a competitive edge in the programming, electronics, and engineering aspect of the STEM curriculum, then supplementing schoolwork is a great idea.

Even though many schools have now returned, it's possible you've opted to fully homeschool or just want to supplement their existing classwork. Over the next few years, schools will inevitably be different. There'll be a lot less practical work going on because of the aspect of touching shared equipment, so having this sort of kit available at home with software that's familiar will be of great benefit.

That said, the Crowbits kits vary greatly. If you're a completionist, you can grab a bargain bundle during the Kickstarter of every Crowbits kit available, for a cool $400 (rising to $600 RRP after the campaign).

But I think the best value comes from the Explorer, Inventor, and Master Kit bundle for $270. This includes a ton of mechanical bricks and plenty of movement modules. The BBC Micro:bit compatibility ties in perfectly to the existing curriculum (in the UK, anyway), while the ESP32 board is a good step up once they're old enough.

If you're only going to purchase one kit, I'd recommend skipping the Hello kit and going straight to Explorer or Inventor, depending on whether you want programming introduced yet. The cardboard projects in the Hello kit just felt a little too contrived and didn't engage my 6-year-old son in the same way LEGO does.

While the mechanical elements of the Explorer kit may need a little adult supervision, he was quite capable of the bulk of construction and able to use the LetsCode software thanks to previous experience with Scratch.

On the other end of the scale, I wasn't overly impressed with the Master kit either. The game console project, while it produces a cool end product, consists of simply the main board and two joystick modules on the side.

There is no construction, and the hardest part is loading on firmware, which tedious at best. The phone project is also impressive but limited to a 2G network, many of which will be disabled by the time the Crowbit kits ship. The ESP32 mainboard is technically impressive, but once your teenage child is ready to program this thing, the magnetic block system may not be appropriate anymore. It's a good addition to your collection if you're purchasing the earlier sets too, but I wouldn't purchase it alone.

Overall though, I think my long search for the perfect STEM learning kit is complete. If you have young children just coming up to the right age for it, the Crowbits system can accompany them throughout their primary education and beyond. And when they're done with it in a decade, we'll probably all be learning in VR anyway.

Alternatives to Crowbits

Crowbits isn't the only STEM kit around. The closest competitor is the littleBits STEAM kit, which retails at around $400, doesn't include any technic bricks, and has a limited selection of magnetic modules. It's more closely aligned to the US curriculum though with more extensive teaching materials, and already in use in many schools.

The LEGO groups' own Robot Inventor MindStorms kit is also worth considering, retailing at $350. It's focused more on robotics than basic electronics, and isn't suited to younger children, but the software is also based on Scratch. It would make a great step once your child reaches 14, and has outgrown the magnetic Crowbits system.

Elecrow Crowbits: The Ultimate LEGO-Compatible STEM Learning System That Grows With Your Child published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

2 notes · View notes

shinygoku · 4 years ago

Text

Thunderbirds (2004)

A review by me, CutCat! This is 8-ish pages long!

Spoiler for the end of the film warning: Alan is in International Rescue. What a twist!

Totally Turbulent

Soooo, Tbirds ‘04 is one of those Infamous Adaptations, at least among those who enjoyed Thunderbirds (’65) and of more recent times, Thunderbirds are Go (’15). It’s one of those Bad Live Action Adaptations to a near sacred property, making it dubious contemporaries with Dragon Ball [Evolution], Avatar [The Last Airbender] and suchlike.

But wait, is it really That Bad?? Why is it as divisive as it is? What caused the film to be the way it is, and quite unpopular at that?

First I’m gonna make a long story very short by saying that a Live Action Thunderbirds movie was on and off production for many years, and that the script we ended up with is apparently better than another one that was pitched... but there are reports of cooler scripts further back that never made it, for various reasons. It’s almost a story of it’s own right but I’m only going by 2nd hand information at best, so I’d rather just link them at the end for Additional Reading if y’all felt so inclined.

With that out of the way, we have the Takes from the Andersons to look at. Sylvia had a very favourable reception to it:

"I felt that I'd been on a wonderful Thunderbirds adventure. You, the fans, will I'm sure, appreciate the sensitive adaptation and I'm personally thrilled that the production team have paid us the great compliment of bringing to life our original concept for the big screen. If we had made it ourselves (and we have had over 30 years to do it!) we could not have improved on this new version. It is a great tribute to the original creative team who inspired the movie all those years ago. It was a personal thrill for me to see my characters come to life on the big screen."

Whereas Gerry had a considerably blunter response at the opposite end of the scale:

"the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my entire life."

As for me, a mere fan of predominantly the TAG series with limited but fond memories of the 90’s TOS reruns, I’d been inclined to ignore it and write it off as a DBE or TLA lost cause. But the combined effect of me deciding to check out unpopular media for myself, namely Dragon Ball GT and the live action Super Mario Bros. movie, and thoroughly enjoying both; and the other effect of TAG finishing but my fixation reawakening with the need to consume More, I dived deeper into the fan base than I had dared to before, in which I found more reasons to watch it and make up my own mind fairly.

Find out what I thought, and a review of the movie itself, below the Cut! ✂

Stormy Story

Ok, enough teasing, I see good things in the movie but not enough for it to be a secret masterpiece, not by a long shot.

1/3 Stars from Me. That’s Poor. (Compare with 2/3 being Good, and 3/3 being Excellent)

My main beef is unfortunately kinda the crux of the whole story, so while there were aspects I really liked, it had permanently set the bar low, and other issues were not helping matters. I’ll go into the problems after I sum up the plot.

[sitcom harp music]

14 Year Old Alan Tracy is stuck in a stuffy school with only his nerd friend to confide in. Something’s eating him up, and it’s jealousy over how his family are International Rescue, the secret rescue workers whole pilot the Thunderbirds, impossibly cool craft with capabilities vastly exceeding standard technology. Even when he’s allowed out of school and back to the Island, his envy and barely repressed resentment over not being a member himself causes him to go off and sulk and to try taking Thunderbird 1, the hypersonic jet plane, for a joyride.

His father and the leader of International Rescue, Jeff Tracy chews Alan out for almost compromising the need for the organisation to remain secret, lest their advanced technology falling into the wrong hands. Alas, said wrong hands are already working against IR: The Hood, a diabolical, cold blooded criminal with psychic powers and a grudge against Jeff. After successfully tracking the location of Tracy Island, he launches a missile towards Thunderbird 5, the Space Station where IR monitor potential disasters to prevent as much damage as possible, manned by John Tracy.

With TB5 crippled and John injured, Jeff and his other three older sons all scramble to the disaster zone via Thunderbird 3, the Rocket Ship. But with Tracy Island largely unmanned, The Hood moves in and aims to use the Thunderbirds to rob bank vaults while simultaneously smearing International Rescue’s good name. As the only Tracy brother left on Earth, it’s up to Alan and his 2 friends, Fermat and Tin-Tin, to foil the Hood and save his family, proving himself worthy in the process. He is also assisted by IR’s London Agent, Lady Penelope, and her driver/butler/lockpicker, Parker.

...

Ok, so that’s a summary you may read on the back of a DVD box, maybe it’s a bit long but whatever. Do you see what’s wrong with the story? The massive rift in the formula that should be within a template set by the hugely popular TV Series?

Critical Crux

For me, the main issue with the movie is that the Tracy family are thrown under a bus, or perhaps it’s more like being locked in a closet, in order for Alan to rise up and be The Hero. A show that was about each of them having different roles and personalities to the others, and the movie sees the best way to adapt the premise is to reduce 3 of them to cardboard cutouts who aren’t allowed to do or say anything meaningful, with the exception to this getting the dubious honour of getting a missile and exploding space station to the face.

I can’t clearly express how much this pisses me off! It’s downright insulting and baffling as well. They had pre established characters right there for the taking but go NO! Let’s make OCs to fill this newly created void instead and make the main Message of the film Friendship Teamwork.

Why does every child-skewed media hafta have the Friendship message? It’s a good one, sure, but nothing said in this film about it was fresh or original. Y’know what I see far, far less? Not just in Kid Flavoured Media, but all sorts? The importance of Brotherly Bonds between actual brothers!! I don’t subscribe to the massively misunderstood message version of ‘Blood is thicker than water’, but a story with the siblings actually pushed and stressed and coming out stronger at the end would have ruled!!

[For what it’s worth, the actual saying is “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb”, i.e. the bonds you choose to forge are more important than happening to be born to certain people. This correct message is still compatible with literal siblings though!]

The other, somewhat lesser Large Issue with the movie is simply that we don’t see much in the way of Rescues with the titular Thunderbirds. We only get the tail end of the Oil Rig in Act 1, and then the ‘Birds are used predominantly to get to London and save 1 Monorail Car with TB4.

Watsonian Woes & Doylist Dilemma

When looking at Media, there’s 2 main angles to consider; Doylist and Watsonian. Doylist is the “real life / meta” angle, the structure of the story or interests of the author being in the plot, that kinda thing. Watsonian is the reason given within the story.

All stories have Watsonian and Doylist reasonings, the trick is to blend them in and not use a weedy Watsonian reason for something stupid happening.

Why bring this up? Because it’s still part of the Huge Problem I have with the film; the Doylist reason for all of IR being incapacitated so easily is so Alan can shine without fighting for focus in a large group. I don’t like it, but let’s go along with it for now.

Believe it or not, but I can accept that a Movie format isn’t going to be the same as an ongoing series. There’s way less time and you gotta hit certain beats. Ideally you also condense the essence of the show into the film while being more than just a long episode. They didn’t hit this note in my opinion...

But other than ‘It has to happen for he story to work’, there’s no damn reason for all the Non-Alan Tracys to be cooped up in the crippled TB5! They put all their eggs into one basket when a considerably more sensible choice woulda been to have a small crew, and the others remain on base. Because even without factoring in a worst case scenario where another missile hits them while in space, killing them all, which totally could have happened for all they know, there’s also the part about them being International Rescue! They gotta be ready to respond to other disasters should those develop. TB1, 2 and 4 were still available for use!

If I was Jeff making the boneheaded decision, I would have taken a second to think about it and have 1 of the Bros come up in 3 with me. Seeing to John shouldn’t be something 4 people are needed for, it would just get more crowded and the oxygen would be used way faster! Considering they all come close to asphyxiating, 2 less people would mean things weren’t so damn close to the wire! (Granted, the movie also has them falling into Earth’s atmosphere and burning up as a hazard, but the whole crew being there doesn’t affect that.)

Jeff! You’re the patriarch and supposedly most experienced dude in the whole movie! Why didja run into that trap with both eyes open? Stressful situation, sure, but in the Rescue Business you need to be able to listen to the cold, clinical angle. You’re risking more of your sons’ lives making such a rash judgement!!

Character Conundrums

This is the part of the review where I begin to really emphasise the differences between TOS and this movie. I’ll hold off TAG for now in the interest of fairness.

The movie is a mixed bag when it comes to the individuals within it. Some have been refreshing updates to stuffy 60′s tropes, but several draw the short straw, feeling even stiffer than their marionette precursors.

Alan - Hoo, boy. The plot follows Alan.... for the third time if you’re factoring in the Supermarionation movies, which was quite the baffling choice as Puppet!Alan is quite the obnoxious jerk. But whatever, new movie, new canon, new Alan. While the Alan of the 60′s was a bizarrely whiny brat of a character considering he was supposed to at least be in his early 20′s this Alan at least makes more sense to be annoying. But yes, he starts off as a sullen jerk with unclearly defined jealousy towards his own brothers and seemingly a lack of grasping the stakes behind International Rescue, viewing being one of the crew as a Cool Job rather than a gruelling, life-risking ordeal. Over the course of the movie (mostly Act 3) he becomes less of a berk and a better team player, even going as far as to save the Hood personally.

Jeff - One of the stronger characters in the movie, even with this poor choice I’ve gone on about already, haha. You get the real impression the job means the world to him, but still secondary to his sons. An update and improvement to the sometimes stodgy and holier-than-thou character from the 60′s, plus his proactive role makes him way less of a backseat driver.

Lady Penelope - Best character and a splendid update to the 60′s Socialite. This Penny is always a delight to see, although her ability to change clothes offscreen sometimes pushes plausibility, haha. She and Jeff also have very natural and endearing chemistry, so for this iteration at least, I’m up for shipping them, something I can’t say for TOS.

Parker - Remarkably true to the beloved puppet version and another highlight. His interplay with Penelope is some of the best dialogue in the whole movie, and was written by Richard Curtis in an uncredited role, or so I’ve read.

The Hood - A shockingly sadistic and cold blooded so-and-so. His Psychic powers have been given a huge boost, and the depths of his spite generates all the tense scenes the movie has to offer. His performance may be the best in the whole film, simultaneously over the top while also completely deadly.

Tin-Tin - Y’know, Tin-Tin is a funny character, in how she’s very different in all versions. I enjoy her in TOS, but her potential as an engineering assistant, mathematician and member of IR are quickly discarded to make her a secretary, which is further demoted to bringing coffee. Ahh, The Sixties! One of her other defining features was the sometimes bickering sexual tension with Alan. Movie!Tin-Tin is still the implied love interest [and the same age] with him, but she’s also an Action Girl extraordinaire, with abilities bordering on metahuman. She can trek through the jungle without slowing down, she can dive underwater for prolonged sequences, and has a variation of her Evil Uncle’s Psychic capabilities, but used for good. Notably, the Kayo of TAG takes significantly more from this Tin-Tin to the original, sadly sans Telekinesis.

Fermat - The only OC I’m gonna dignify with a section here lol. He’s basically mini-Brains, complete with the way he t-ta-tal- -distinctive speech patterns. But yeah, as the hypersmart and nerdy pal, I feel that his role is pretty superfluous, though his performance in the movie got me to soften up, he’s a good kid. Just one who, like, is part of the deal breaking issue I have with the whole film. In a way I think he’d have made a better lead than Alan lmao

Brains - Not much to say here, he’s also a dude in distress for a majority of his screentime. Seems to be older than his TOS self and a bit less subservient to Jeff, but also a father ....or Fermat is his clone. They never make that clear. He’s hit on by the Hood’s Female Scientist and it’s played for comedy, more on that later.

John - In TOS, his role was infamously minimal, as Gerry Anderson took such a strong disliking to the John puppet and the TB5 model that he exiled both into space with a few token shots per episode. So in comparison, this movie is far kinder to John! He has a nice, genuine chat with Jeff, without any mission to initiate said videocall. The movie is also quite mean to John in how he gets bombed by the Hood, his space station in tatters, his arm hurt and then near suffocation with Jeff and most of his brothers. Ahh, the conundrum of being John.

Scott, Virgil and Gordon - No, they don’t even get their own paragraphs in my review. Their lack of presence and importance in the movie is my giant gripe (have you noticed yet?) and it got to the extent that I feel they could have been combined into one character to save casting money. They get maybe 5 lines each, if that. I literally can’t tell Scott and Virgil apart (I know they have name tags on their uniforms, but in most scenes I couldn’t even read that) other than knowing 1 of them is taller. Which that one is, is a mystery.

The only one with a slightly distinctive appearance and air is Gordon, which is another can of worms because he seems to be the designated Doubtful Jerk Brother and that drives me mad!! In TOS he wasn’t as main a character as Scott, Virgil or Alan, but he was still a defined person with his own abilities. And his personality was as a slightly mouthy but the most lighthearted character! Why didn’t they carry that over?!

And yeah, Scott and Virgil are pretty much the Main Two of the brothers in TOS, so their roles being reduced to 1 token act during the oil rig rescue each [Gordon didn’t even get that!] is all the more mind boggling.

Hood’s Minions - Can’t be assed to write their names out, I refer to them as Heavy Dude and Science Woman. Heavy Dude is the Heavy, and his character consists of Dumb and somewhat Sadistic Muscle. Science Woman is first objectified (we see her ass first. Yes, really.) but then it’s ‘revealed’ that as she has Austin Powers level teeth, she’s uuuuuglyyyyy and her otherwise genuine attraction towards Brains is played for laughs with this angle. And that’s still female on male sexual harassment, which doesn’t fly with me. Eeeesh. Bad writing! She does Science Things for Hood.

The Rest - Kyrano and his wife are in this. Wife is Original but basically Grandma’s role, though she doesn’t even get a single word to say. Rip. Also the Hood has a few more generic mooks from somewhere, but seemingly only for part of the movie. Kyrano didn’t do much in the show except get bullied by the Hood and little has changed.

Tone Trouble

I feel like the movie has a bit of an issue with balancing a consistent Tone. Again, let’s look back at TOS. It was a Family Show, designed to not just appeal to little kids, but to also keep their parent and other adult amused. Maybe some of it was also the result of the times, but striking to me is that they allowed the characters to get pretty hurt, complete with red paint being applied to look like realistic blood. Some of the criminals, including the Hood himself, would be very vicious, how he treats Brains in Desperate Intruder comes to mind. There was even firefights resulting in death, like the memorable climax of Operation Crash-Dive, where Gordon has to shoot a saboteur in the back, into the open sea below the compromised plane. He then proceeds to hold the cut wires together with his bare hands. Don’t try this at home, kids!

So while I can understand some of that being removed from the Movie (and TAG), there’s still the irritating going down to a perceived kid’s level for the majority of the film, which is probably also a large reason for the massive structural change. But then, there’s shockingly dark implications here and there, and the haunting sight of the crew trapped on TB5 floating lifelessly in the dark, asphyxiating. But then, again, we have goofy choreographed fight scenes with juvenile stock cartoon sounds. And then, we have Hood force choking Alan?! It has been mostly consistent until Act 3, then the tone goes up and down more than the flying machines.

Revamped Rockets

I’m mostly talking about the main craft here, though I know the Pod vehicles got modified too, I’m not sufficiently a TOS Pod Buff to go over them.

TB1 - Looks real nice! Maintains and even enhances the sleekness, and the idea of a glass cockpit is much better than having 1 tiny window and a dinky TV screen to see by. Oddly dark inside the cockpit considering how much glass there is, though. Probably my fav of the Movie Fleet.

TB2 - Oof. Looks bad, man. Like, really ugly. What have they done to the glorious design that was the Original Big Green? The unofficial mascot from her importance and unorthodox style? They turned her into a stubby, too glossy, chunky bar of green soap. The thick ass legs are a good idea but it sure ain’t enough. Also, she carries 3 smaller pods insteada 1 big one.

TB3 - Like TB1, pretty much the same design but streamlined a little. Docks with 5 sidewise instead of like pen going into its lid.

TB4 - I’m mixed. I like the idea of giving her a glass canopy and extendable arms, but the movie’s version is so boxy she looks more like a small yellow Greenhouse with the rear half of the old Four, haha. The arms also look a little stiff, can they bend? Now, if there was a sleek, glass hulled, variable armed, demolition charges-loaded Four, that would be my favourite possible version ;3 Four is my fav craft in TOS and TAG, for what it’s worth.

TB5 - I say it’s quite a visual improvement over TOS and the odds and ends jumbled look that had, though I do appreciate a bit of Chunkiness. This one really needs to have better defence too, TOS 5 may’ve been able to tank that missile lmao

FAB1 - I know that she would have been a Rolls Royce in the film, but BMW said no, so that’s not a point against the movie. And failing the classic image, it’s cute that it’s a Ford Thunderbird, though I’d have preferred one with those 50′s/60′s stylish fins personally lol. Her ability to fly is new here unless you count the Dream Sequence in Are Go (’66) and the water mode was also seen in that before this, and she gets the job done, though we don’t get to see as many gadgets and gizmos in the course of the film.

Unlikely Uniforms

I really don’t understand these. Why are they off white with minimal accent colours? What was wrong with the blueness of their suits and the broad stripe of a secondary colour? I sure ain’t saying the 60’s costumes were practical or even that fashionable, but they were very distinctive and striking!

Not only that, but for some strange unexplained reason, their uniforms all correspond not to their own speciality, but to which craft they’re currently piloting. Even if they’re all in the same Bird...! So like, four out of five are wearing identical looking red accented suits while locked in TB5. I already find the elder brothers to be the Similar Squad, and their microscopic name tags don’t help!

Why don’t they wear their own coloured uniforms all the time? Then ya don’t need the name tag at all! And the silly implication from the way there’s apparently a whole set of Craft Specific uniforms is that there’s piles of clothes that ain’t getting used in all of them, like the tiny TB4 probably having 6 whole sets on board at the end of the film.

Between that, no blue and the outfits looking like Generic Sports Wear, the only nice thing to say is the THUNDERBIRDS down the sleeve is a cool touch. Which should really say International Rescue or IR...

Mingled Misc.

Yeah, The conflation of Thunderbirds and International Rescue is a tad irritating but it’s actually something I can overlook. It’s not a dealbreaker and it makes sense the Dumbass Public would misunderstand and call them the wrong thing.

Jeff refuses Alan early access into IR and cites “No shortcuts”. Then at the end he echoes this when he is making Alan an official member, saying he did it with no shortcuts. The whole faffing scenario was a giant shortcut!!! Fuck training and being a suitable age, am I right?!

Amazingly I didn’t cover this already, but when Alan shortcuts his way onto the team he’s made pilot of ... TB4. That’s why he’s in yellow accents in the pic. Gordon is seemingly the main pilot of TB3 instead, but the movie doesn’t deign to make that clear. While I appreciate that the 14 year old with no Astronaut training isn’t put in charge of 3 instantly, I resent the careless removal of characterisation. Obviously movie Gordon never served with WASP or won the gold medal in swimming or had a massive hydrofoil crash to nearly kill him but ggggghgggaaahhhhhhhhh

Also what’s with the implication that Four is the Babby’s First Machine? She’s a highly specialised craft that would require different training to flying or Space shit! How dare you?! The most charitable link is that Alan stood around in 4 as Tin-Tin did most of the work herself, but I guess it coulda as some level of experience.

Ford Sponsorship - Gets a bit much! It’s one thing for all the cars to be Ford, but them seemingly owning the News is like an unpleasant look into a world where corporations run everything.... hahahaahaaaaaa........

Marvellous Music

Something the movie really excells at is the tunes! The remix of the Thunderbirds March is good in it’s own right and very welcome, and the new music is all solid. Special mention to Busted’s outro song for slapping so hard even people who hate the movie leave warm youtube comments about the song. I have a habit of listening to it set to TAG footage myself, haha

Sincere Summation

Look, I’ve come off negative in this, but I honestly have a lot of respect for a lot of the parts of this picture. Hood, Penelope, Parker and Jeff are fantastic, the physical models and sets have a lot of care and loving detail poured in, the music is all bangers and other little nods and homages to the show shine brightly. The director got a lot of good work in and I hold him no ill will.

I think the problem is in the Writing and probably Studio Mandates, I’m not 100% sure, but things often get snaggy when the studio you’re working under gets bought out by a bigger company partway through. Again, I’ll refer to the info I’ve seen instead of trying to relay it in my own words.

And they made a real bad call snubbing Gerry as a Creative Consultant. Some of his venom towards the film may be from that, as well as his alleged preference to Team America: World Police as a theatrical homage. And I’ve seen that before and wouldn’t really say that’s true to the spirit of Thunderbirds, but yeah...

I’d be interested in any future Thunderbirds Movies, if that’s ever on the cards again. I’d probably be even more up for continuation of the TAG series, or newer new Captain Scarlet with International Rescue involved. Either way, I want new footage of the Birds taking off again, be it puppet, people, CGI, or something new~

Extra Reading

https://securityhazard.net/2017/05/19/thunderbirds-2004/ Full movie review, warm reception. Contains photos of set pieces and costumes.

http://groovyfokker.blogspot.com/2013/02/thunderbirds-arent-go-unfilmed-versions.html Insight into some of the past issues developing a Movie, but gets some basic information wrong (Since when is Gordon the youngest and TB3 orange??)

Thanks if ya’ve been reading the whole thing! <3

#Thunderbirds 2004 #Thunderbirds #Thunderbirds TOS #Thunderbirds Movie #Movie Review #can't really tag it with TAG because I deliberately kept that minimal lol #I care so much about Tbirds so I had much to say #I hope the links don't mess up it appearing in the tags :v

3 notes · View notes

pathogenic · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 8: The Swine God

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Necromancer

Chapter 2: The Prophet

Chapter 3: The Hag

Chapter 4: The Brigand Vvulf

Chapter 5: The Brigand’s Cannon

Chapter 6: The Drowned Crew

Chapter 7: The Siren

Chapter 8: The Swine God

Chapter 9: The Formless Flesh

Chapter 10: The Ancestor

Epilogue

Warning for Violent Character Death

Credits to the Darkest Dungeon Wiki page for piecing together the Ancestor’s backstory.

It was an awful idea. I shouldn’t have entered the room I found, and yet I couldn’t pull myself away.

The immediate area was a study. This was were it seemed my ancestor did the rest of his studies into magic and forbidden arcane arts. There was a bloodied table and a bucket of something foul I didn’t wish to investigate any further. There were books on spells, rituals, and herbalism, but most importantly, there were journals. These were different than the ones I had found before. While they had much of the same dates, it was like these journals never aged. The pages were still pristine and perfectly legible.

I sat in his old chair in front of his desk, journal in hand, and I started to read, and oh the things I discovered. I learned of how he met a noblewoman who was far too beautiful and of lavish parties held in the courtyard. I learned of how he realized how cruel this woman was but played into her sport. He killed her and mixed her blood with wine and had the corrupt nobles of the land drink it. He had but a drop himself and it taught him about something ancient and truly powerful. He locked the nobles in the courtyard and let them kill each other in a frenzy as he started upon his work.

It started off simple enough. There was a woman in the Hamlet who already dabbled in magic. She used herbs and mushrooms in order to understand and use her craft. My ancestor described it as a rudimentary introduction to magic, but a good place as any to start. However, his thirst for knowledge caused him to reach overseas and to employ people who dabbled in the more extreme versions of the magic he desired. Around this time, he also started to make dealings with a pirate crew to secure the supplies he would need for his studies. What he needed was best not seen by the public eye, after all. There were also mentions of a woman who started to follow him along the Hamlet. At first, he appreciated the attention, but eventually it began to wear on him.

From there, my ancestor started to change into something inhuman. The witch started to rely more and more upon the mushrooms and the herbs she used for magic to try and understand the power that my ancestor was touched by, which warped her appearance severely. In his disgust, he sent her away and deep into the Wealds. He justified this by saying he had no further use of such a crude practice.

The scholars he called upon bored him, so he killed them and raised them to see if he could. The story from there was one I knew already – the dead started to raise the dead. He found this amusing.

The pirate crew started to grow bold and charged him more and more for the supplies he needed. So one night, after the pirates ran amuck in the Hamlet, drinking and raising hell, he cursed their anchor. He said he gave it every curse he knew so it would drag them to the bottom of the sea and drown them all. It was no wonder it took Alhazred so long to remove the curse, or rather, curses.

At this point, my ancestor went beyond being simply inhuman and started to become only what I can describe as a tyrant and a monster. There is no shortage of bodies in the Hamlet. Even in the more peaceful times, there was plenty of plague and strife to help fill a graveyard. This meant that he had plenty to work with for his forbidden arts. He combined pig flesh and human flesh and raised them, just to see what would happen. He called these twisted creatures the Swinefolk. More often than not, he wasn’t pleased with the results and would dispose of them, though he didn’t detail how.

He continued with this vile craft until funds ran low. At this point he discovered a ritual that he could perform to secure more resources. He tied the woman who followed him to an idol and pushed her into the sea. The next day he found many beautiful jewels that helped fund his monstrous research.

He also detailed how a man approached him, speaking of things he shouldn’t know. He warned my ancestor that his ambitions would destroy him and the Hamlet. My ancestor didn’t wish to hear it, so he tortured the man in broad daylight. The townsfolk turned against him, so he hired brigands to keep them in line. The man then approached him once again, offering his warning a final time. Apparently from there, my ancestor showed him something so awful that the man tore out his own eyes and fled into the dungeon.

There is nothing much beyond that, just further accounts of his experiments with the Swinefolk. At that point I felt far too disgusted to continue. I slammed the journal shut and shoved it away from me. The loud clap caused something on the other side of another set of locked doors to squeal. It did not escape me that it was a very odd pig-like squeal. At that point I realized where he was disposing of those failed experiments. At that point I rushed back to the top floor of the Estate.

By then, the sun was just starting to rise, and the Hamlet was starting to wake up. I was quick to gather my heroes, demanding they prepare for battle. Naturally they were confused, there didn’t seem to be any immediate danger, but I insisted, promising them answers later. I told them to gather their gear and then head for my Estate.

Slowly they filtered in, exchanging confused and concerned looks. It seemed that they thought I finally had lost it from the stress of managing the Hamlet and trying to undo what my Ancestor had done, but I knew I was in my right mind. I could not help but pace as we waited for the last of the heroes to arrive, which I’m certain did nothing to disprove of their theories about me.

Once they were all assembled, I explained what I had found within the basement. I lead them down to the locked doors and tapped the door with the pommel of my sword, but nothing squealed this time. There were looks exchanged before they went back to the previous lock to grab the key from it. The key was then placed within this lock and it sprung open. If the smell was bad before, it was almost unbearable now. We recoiled and prepared for whatever we would find on the other side, but there was nothing that can prepare you for the sight of humans melted together with pig flesh, making malformed creatures that only knew violence.

The first of the Swinefolk we had encountered gave a blood curling scream before charging. Thankfully, these creatures were not particularly strong and fell to our blades within moments. It seemed that not all of them were this brazen, however. The sound of someone gurgling caught our attention as we realized that while we were charged by one group, another had snuck around to ambush us. Audrey didn’t stand a chance with a knife in her throat. It dawned on us that we could be attacked from anywhere if they were capable of such tactics. We stood close as a group, watching each other’s backs as we pushed further and further into the halls beneath my home and beneath the Hamlet.

It was a long and tiresome journey. My ancestor certainly had kept himself busy with this nightmarish craft. I did not want to think about how many people it took to make something of this size, not that I even had a chance to in all honesty. The attacks were enough to keep my mind busy.

At some point we became aware of a scream that drowned the rest out. Whatever made it had to be a creature of immense size. It echoed down the halls and we stopped dead in our tracks to try and figure out where it came from. Then it screamed again, and we strained our ears. We could hear the sound of something scraping and then the sound of something dragging. Whatever it was, it was heading our way.

Cautiously, we moved forward, towards the sound. It wasn’t like we had much of a choice – there was only one way forward after all. We couldn’t just go back. If this was the source of our troubles, then the sooner it was dead, the sooner the Hamlet could recover.

What we found I can barely describe. It was a member of the Swinefolk that nearly scrapped his head on the top of the ceiling. It had no lower half. It was nothing more than a pile of viscera that made up its torso and head. It slowly pulled itself along the floor with one hand, the other clutching a giant blade. Upon its head was a crown formed of iron, so I could call the beast a Swine King, but with its horrible size and impossible form, it seemed more fitting to call it a Swine God.

Beside it was a far smaller member of its species. The smaller one locked its eyes onto us and then emitted a terrible little screech. The Swine God raised its head and looked straight at us and then the giant blade was raised. It came down with a loud crash and I felt fortunate that the attack was so obvious we could easily move out of the way.

The smaller one then squealed again, and the attack fell once more. At this point, Fergus ripped away from William’s grip, lunging straight for the smaller one. He bit down hard on the creature as it gave an earsplitting scream. The Swine God immediately turned as William started to dash towards his hound. The blade moved fast this time. William defended Fergus, and because of this, the blade imbedded itself deep within him. The hound howled for his lost master, but fled the fight, not seeing any reason to risk his life any further without his master. With his tail tucked between his legs, he dashed for the door.

With his little friend now safe, the large, monstrous creature started to aim for us again. We split apart from each other, hoping to make it difficult for the small beast to determine who needed to be attacked. The swing from the Swine God were less accurate and more telegraphed, but that wasn’t always a promise, especially the more we injured the larger beast. He became more panicked and would start to ignore the barks of the smaller one. The Swine God would swing at whatever he thought was near by with no care as to the damage it caused.

With a few more strikes, it fell back into the pile of viscera it likely once was. The small beast, now panicked and alone, started to lash out. He attempted to swing and bite at as he pulled away to try and make an escape. It only took one shot from Missandei to stop his infernal screams.

Thinking that we were victorious, we started to leave. It was at this moment we heard the sounds of something dragging closer to us once more. We realized that our fight with the Swine God and his small friend likely covered up the sound of another enemy approaching, and now here it was, entering the room we were in.

If what we fought was horrific, then I lack to words to describe what entered the room next. What we were met with was a being that had no solid form. It was nothing more than viscera loosely bound together. As it moved, we could see flashes of faces, of bone, of innards, or anything you can possible imagine that was once human or swine. We found ourselves rooted in place with out fear and our disgust, allowing the hideous abomination a chance to fire a tendril with a mouth forward into our group.

#Darkest Dungeon

6 notes · View notes

rpf-bat · 5 years ago

Text

Against The Tide And Undertow

Pairing: Ray Toro x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Written for Inktober 2019, Day 3. Prompt: “Bait”. You didn’t know what to expect, when Ray suddenly suggested a weekend fishing trip. But, what happens on the boat, in the middle of the lake, is even more unexpected.

You weren’t quite sure, what had possessed Ray, to drive an hour and a half, from Los Angeles, to San Bernardino. But, despite your bafflement, you found yourself sitting beside him in a canoe, in the middle of Silverwood Lake. Your friend had been so busy lately, working on recording his band’s latest album. So, if a fishing trip, was the only way you and Ray could spend time together, you supposed you would take it.

“I never pegged you for a fisherman,” you confessed, looking over at him.

“I used to go a lot, when I was a little kid,” Ray revealed. “With my abuelo. But, it’s been years, since the last time.”

“So, why go now?” you asked curiously.

“Being in the studio all week was starting to get on my nerves,” Ray replied. “All these guys in suits, asking us which track is going to be the first single, which one we think is most marketable. Like, I don’t know! I don’t compose music, because I want to sell records. I can tell I’m getting on Frank’s nerves, too, because I want to get the guitar melody just right.”

“He thinks that what you recorded already, is fine the way it is?” you guessed.

“Yeah,” Ray nodded. “But, I know we can both do better.”

“Sounds like this is starting to stress you out,” you frowned.

“It is,” Ray admitted. “That’s why I wanted to come out here, and get away from it all, just for the weekend.”

“To be honest,” you confessed, “I’ve never fished before.”

“Oh, let me help you get the bait on your hook, then!” Ray offered.

You traced your fishing line with your finger until you found the hooked end. Ray fished a worm out of a small bucket, and dropped it into your palm. It squirmed energetically.

“If I have to stick it on a hook, then it’s going to die,” you frowned.

“It’s just a worm, Y/N,” Ray chuckled.

“I know,” you nodded, “But, I would still feel bad for killing it.”

“You’re such a kind person,” Ray smiled fondly. “Alright, if you insist, I can give you a plastic lure, instead.”

He took the worm back from you, and rummaged through his bag until he found something that resembled a thin, green fish.

“The big fish thinks it’s a little fish,” Ray explained, “and tries to nibble on it.”

“And then we reel him in?” you guessed.

“That’s right,” Ray grinned. “Go on and cast your line.”

You waved your fishing rod, sending the line beneath the surface of the water. Ray did the same, and for several moments, it was silent, as you waited for the fish to bite. You had to admit it was peaceful, though - a far cry from the hustle and bustle of LA.

“I almost forgot,” Ray sat up suddenly, “there was something that I wanted to show you, while we were out here.”

He pulled out a boom box, and popped a CD into the slot.

“It’s just something me and the guys have been working on,” he shrugged. “It’s still a demo - I definitely want to clean it up more, in the final version. But, it’ll at least give you an idea, of how it’s going to sound, when it’s done.”

“Brendan isn’t going to be mad at you, for bringing the disc all the way out here?”

You were referring, of course, to Brendan O’Brien, the producer who was working on the new record with MCR. He’d worked with some big name artists in the past - Pearl Jam, for instance. And Bruce Springsteen. But, from the way Ray described him, you weren’t quite sure, if his style, really meshed well with what the guys were trying to do.

“Forget Brendan,” Ray scoffed. “You’re my friend, and your opinion is important to me. So, I want you to hear this.”

He pressed play, and a killer guitar riff boomed across the empty lake. You listened as Gerard’s voice kicked in with the first verse.

You fell in love with a vampire

You wanna get it for free

Then say hello to the brush fire, baby

You gonna take it from me

I'm gonna take it from you

The melody that Ray had written, sounded amazing. But, you kinda thought that, about everything he composed.

Say hello to the good times

And burning up in the sun

You're sitting back on an empire

While the world lays back

Puts a kid behind that gun

If we crash this time

They got machines to keep us alive

When the mix tape lies

Choke down the words with no meaning

I stopped bleeding three years ago

While you keep screaming for revolution

Me and my surgeons and my street-walking friends

We got no heroes 'cause our heroes are dead!

“Gerard sounds angry,” you commented with a frown.

“I bet he is,” Ray shrugged. “I mean, I get it. Ever since we moved out here, to California, stuff’s gotten….complicated.”

That’s an understatement, you thought, remembering how Warped Tour had almost put the band’s frontman in an early grave.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Ray continued, “I’m grateful for the success that the band has had. I’m happy that I can afford a nice house, and I don’t have to worry about how I’ll pay for my kids’ college someday. But….I dunno. I don’t like the stress we’re under, to sell as many records, as many tickets, as many T-shirts, as possible. We used to be doing this, just because we loved it. Now, it’s a job.”

The final line of the song, underscored Ray’s point:

Because rebellion’s not a T-shirt you sell

So keep your money, and I’ll see you in Hell!

“So….that’s the mood in the studio right now, huh?” you sighed.

“You don’t like the song?” Ray asked, a troubled expression on his face.

“I love the song,” you assured him. “It fucking slaps.”

“I could do better,” Ray shook his head, sending his curls flying everywhere. “It’s not where it needs to be yet.”

“Don’t be too perfectionist about it,” you advised. “You’re just going to make yourself more stressed out.”

“But, what if the critics hate it?” Ray fretted.

“They loved your last album, didn’t they?” you reminded.

“That’s part of the problem,” Ray confessed. “Black Parade was such a smash hit. Now I have to top that. Or at least, make something as good.”

“You can do it, Ray,” you said with certainty. “You’re the best composer I know.”

“You….you really think so?”

You looked over at Ray, and noticed he was blushing furiously. For some reason, this made you turn red, too.

“Y-Yeah, Ray. Yeah, I do.”

For a moment, there was an awkward silence. But then, you felt a tug on your line.

“I think I got one!” you gasped.

“Reel it in!” Ray cried.

“I’m trying!” You pulled hard, but the fish was pulling hard, too, in the opposite direction.

“Let me help you!” Ray decided, and put his arms around you, so that his hands were on top of your hands, which were holding onto the fishing pole.

“C’mon!” Ray encouraged. “Pull, Y/N!”

Both of you pulled as hard as you could, and, by your powers combined, you pulled a massive trout up into the canoe.

“You did it!” Ray grinned, his arms tightening around you, in a congratulatory hug. He lingered longer than you expected, then pulled away awkwardly, as if he thought he might be bothering you. He wasn’t.

“I’ll, uh, build a campfire when we get back to shore,” he offered. “Cook up the trout, so we can have it for supper. Unless you’d rather I spare it’s life, like you did with the worm?”

“I am pretty hungry,” you admitted. Fresh, grilled trout sounded delicious.

“Cool,” Ray smiled shyly.

“So, are you going to start rowing back to shore now?” you wondered. He was just standing there.

“Not yet,” Ray said softly. “The truth is, there’s another reason, that I wanted you to come out here with me today.”

“What is it?” you blinked, curious.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while,” Ray said nervously. “But every time I almost get up the courage, I always lose my nerve, and end up walking away from you. I figured, in the middle of a lake, there’s nowhere for me to walk.”

“That’s true,” you nodded. Where was he going with this?

“The thing is, Y/N….,” Ray took a deep breath. “I...I want to be more than friends. I want to date you.”

For a moment, you simply stared at him, stunned.

“O-only if you want to!” Ray sputtered, his face turning even redder. “And if you don’t want to, I understand, and I’m sorry to spring this on you, I just…”

“I do want to,” you said quietly.

“Wha….What?” Ray stopped, like he hadn’t been expecting this.

“I do want to date you, Ray Toro,” you said, more confidently this time. “The truth is, I’ve been meaning to ask you the same thing for a while. I just couldn’t find the nerve, either. I’m glad you did.”

“So….we’re dating now?” Ray asked uncertainly.

“Yes,” you smirked, using the fishing line he still held in his hand, to pull him in, so that you could kiss him on the mouth. He accepted your lips on his, hesitantly, but then eagerly.

“You’re the best catch I could’ve asked for.”

#ray toro x reader #ray toro imagine #inktober

55 notes · View notes

turquoisewave · 5 years ago

Note

hey sira ..... about that post with the time periods with sinbad and treasure planet and all that ..... WHAT WAS GOING ON? you said you wouldn't rant about it in the tags so i sent this ....... i need answers ..... TT_TT

Alrighty so the main way I know about it is because I learned about the decline of mainstream 2d animated films in the US so I’m gonna be covering both, partially using a copy/paste of a rant I made months back. All info under the readmore:

HOKAY SO, this isn’t all the factors and it’s not everything it’s just what I remember. I tried to fact check this mess and I think I changed any inaccuracies but I COULD BE WRONG.

So, animation in the 2000s, why it was the way it was and why a lot of films went under-appreciated. One thing you gotta remember is that while animation is a creative field, the companies in charge of them are businesses. And businesses will almost always go for low risk/high reward shit. This means, if there’s something tried and true they’ll stick with it. This is why studios often modeled works after other studios (funny talking animals, white gloves, black eyes with that lil white slit, musical shorts like Silly Symphonies, Happy Harmonies, and Merrie Melodies which yes were all by different studios), or in direct opposition of other studios (don bluth going darker with themes to contrast disney’s cuteness, bugs bunny’s trickster personality to contrast mickey’s nondescript Good personality, etc).

But there’s only so long you can do the same stuff before people get tired of it. Most animated feature length films had the same formula: a retelling of an old tale with musical numbers and cute sidekicks. And they started not doing so good.

However, animation at this time had grown in leaps and bounds. Digital coloring and compositing, merging of 3d effects, big studios run by huge companies, and a track record for being profitable as fuck. At the time the companies didn’t want them to go under so they decided to try to get Innovative. Cause that’s how they’d stayed afloat when things went bad before.

They weren’t going to stray from adapting though, too many unknown factors in original stories (which would also require more workshopping and pre-production). So, they’re still adapting old stories. However, they’re pulling from different sources, and in the case of Disney giving them a twist.

Atlantis was inspired by Journey to the Center of the Earth mixed with the myth of Atlantis, Treasure Planet was of course Treasure Island but Pirates in Space (which is one of my favorite nonsensical aesthetics), Dreamworks SKG (their 2d animation dept) went super old school with myths and legends (Sinbad, Prince of Egypt). And both studios went ham on trying to be innovative with the tech at their disposal.

There’s another reason why they went so hard, besides of course being artists. I said before that at the time companies didn’t want their 2d departments to flop, but as time progressed a new alternative began to become prevalent: 3D animation. And this became a huge threat to 2D studios.

Important to note in this regard is the advent of Pixar in the mid 1990s. 3D animation had come a long way from its clunky, surrealist roots. And with the success of movies such as Toy Story and A Bug's Life, it proved itself to be an upcoming profitable medium. It wasn't just the animation though, Pixar had amazing storytellers and directors. And this shit was new, not directly based on an old Grimm Fairy tale or something. In short their whole package was amazing. Dreamworks started being active around this time too and added fuel to the 3D animation fire. Granted Shrek was based on fairy tales, but in a way that was a subversion and became incredibly iconic for it.

At the time Pixar was independent from Disney but working in contract with them. And the success was more than welcomed. As always in capitalism, the question of profitability comes into question. Traditional 2D animation, especially at the high framerate disney was known for, is expensive af to make. Often if directors and producers are not careful, a budget can really run away from you. For example, Toy Story only cost 30 Million USD to make. Treasure Planet cost 140 Million USD. (granted that's because of the combination of 3d and 2d elements. But Lilo and Stitch was almost strictly 2D and still cost more than Toy Story at 80 million USD.) Also, Disney also kinda oversaturated their market. They released a fuckton of straight to dvd sequels (which Disney himself was avidly against) which kinda degraded the overall quality of the Disney 2d animation brand.

There was also competition from other factors. The early 2000s saw the Harry Potter boom, and Lord of the Rings came not soon after. Those of course siphoned off a lot of attention. They were part of pre-established series. The experimental stories that Disney was doing at the time, i.e. AU versions of literary classics, fell flat because the target audience was not familiar with the origin sources, and those that were weren't interested in "kids movies" They had no fucking clue how to market them, and the target audiences didn’t know to look for them.

Lilo and Stitch actually met with success, because 1) they marketed the hell out of it and capitalized on Stitch's mascot-like status and 2) it was more rooted in the kid demographic rather than that awkward kid/teen straddle the other two had. But even Lilo and Stitch couldn't save the Orlando animation studio when Disney finally decided to shut it down. They concentrated the last of their 2D animation studios in Burbank, California. Pixar's contract with Disney ended in 2004, and Disney tried to capitalize on the success of 3D with their own films, Meet the Robinsons and Chicken Little. Both were uh...the Meet the Robinsons wasn't too bad but Chicken Little was like...trying to hard to be a hacky version of a Dreamworks movie Ratatouille was released by pixar independent of Disney which is a neat thing to note. And of course met with success Meanwhile 2D kept falling behind, and whenever it flopped like with Home on the Range it was just another nail in the coffin. Disney renewed its contract with Pixar, and after the release of The Princess and The Frog they switched gears to focus solely on 3D animated feature length films, relegating their 2D staff to tv shows. Granted there's some great shows like Gravity Falls etc but, the fact that they've given up on films is disappointing. But the numbers don't lie. Tangled was its biggest success in a long time. And then Frozen came and blew it out of the water.

tl:dr - People were tired of seeing grim fairy tales stories retold with musical numbers and sometimes talking animals. - Studios tried to use different sources for adaptations and put cool spins on them and incorporate new technology.

But it didn’t end up working in their favor and 2D animation declined because:

- success of studios that were using 3D animation (though credit can also be given to their pre-production staff/writers/storyboarders) - competition from other growing franchises, in some cases Disney cannibalizing its own profits (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean) - Cost effectiveness of 3D vs 2D - Changing of fads and appeal to audience - Inability to market movies properly to target demographics - Studios actively sabotaging their 2d studios to have an excuse to tank them and focus on 3D work.

So yeah, that’s all I got. I’m definitely missing some nuances here though feel free to correct me whoever sees this.

#THERE WE GO #you can see why this wouldn't fit in tags #traumasystem

4 notes · View notes

exaltatuss · 4 years ago

Photo

“Light a fire they can’t put out. Thus, set yourself on fire, seek those who fan your flames.” -Blair

General Info:

Name: Blair Blanchimont Nickname: Xeno Blair Occupation: Time Patroller Race: Vacosian Gender: Hermaphrodite Height: 190 cm Morality Alignment: Lawful Neutral Eye Color: Silver. Turns to gold on several occasions Hair Color: Silver Semblance: Tenacious Evolution Misc: Either always wears the above, or the one below, which would be her attire as a Time Patroller

Personality;

Xeno Blair’s personality would be somewhat similar to her main counterpart, if not more laid back due to the fact that she doesn’t have to deal much with royal duties, considering her new occupation as a Time Patroller. But despite such, she’s still very much as responsible as the main timeline Blair, and thus, would take immediate, dire tasks seriously, and thus, would make sure they are done swiftly and efficiently, if possible, especially in battles. However, outside the job, her laid back personality would very much be seen, and thus, would also be someone who would enjoy spars here and there, especially with Xeno Ruby.

Backstory;

In the Xeno-Timeline, everything up to the God of Destruction Cerveze Saga remained the same, with them attaining God Ki, but never going to train with the GoD and her attendant, instead opting to raise and refine their combat power on their own. As such, several years passed, with the Ascendance Team being able to train in peace.

Five years after the fight with Cerveze, Tyrian, an old nemesis of Ruby, had gotten onto Kami’s Palace, attaining the Dragon Balls and was about to wish for immortality, but the sight of Ruby and Blair, caused him to panic. The two Vacosians had taken to training together in the Time Chamber for a bit, just recently coming out.

This panic caused Tyrian to word his wish in a bad way, with both Ruby and Blair having been reverted to their teens. With this he thought he had an easy time killing them, but had been blasted to smithereens by a heavily annoyed Blair. Ruby of course chuckled it off, telling Blair that they can just use the Dragon Balls again to become adults again.

But Blair mentioned that they had used them prior and that the Dragon Balls of Remnant would now remain inactive for a year, during which Ruby and Blair were stuck as teenagers. Going further, Blair explained that she couldn’t lead her Kingdom like this and while she really didn’t want to burden her kid again, Bianca would have to take over the mantle of King of Blanchimont Kingdom once more.

Ruby and Blair had of course informed their family and friends about it, some of which laughed at it, while the others commented that they would help find the Dragon Balls later with them, but otherwise life went on as normal. During this downtime, Ruby and Blair also kept training, not being able to do their usual jobs, due to their newly induced youth.

It was then, that they found out a lot of their abilities and skills had lost their edge. Ruby’s Instant Transmission barely worked, while her Haken had begun draining both stamina and doing damage to her body again. Worst of all, she could only use the 20 times in short bursts.

As for Blair, she had used the evolved version of her Semblance, being stuck with the basic ten times that the normal one provided. Her other techniques had lost their kicks as well, but it was a win in her books that she didn’t have to relearn as much as Ruby had to do.

Yet the final nail in the coffin was their transformations. Super Vacosian was fine and all, but Super Vacosian 2 had a strain to it once more, making the form harder to use, rather than effortlessly. For Ruby it was even more devastating, as she was the only one able to use Super Vacosian 3, yet was unable to sustain the form for even a minute, without it completely sapping her strength away.

Yet as is known in Remnant, the peace never lasts for more than a couple of years, before some new villain shows up. This time in the form of an old nemesis of the Vacosian Rage, Tsathaggua, who wished to enact for her race, by wiping out the remaining Vacosians. Yet she was to weak to do so, opting to deploy underhanded methods instead.

One of which was to assault one of the stronger Vacosians and take over her body, with Arancia falling victim to such. After a series of body-snatching and body-hopping, Tsathaggua was able to attain control over a weakened Ruby, whom she was able to push her body beyond its natural limits and attain power even beyond Super Vacosian 3.

This being was known as TsathaRuby, with Blair handily losing against an opponent like such, even while using Super Vacosian 2, with her Semblance combined. All hope seemed lost, with Blair having perished against TsathaRuby, but what really happened was Purple Sister using the Instantaneous Movement technique to teleport Blair out of harm’s way and onto the planet of Kaioshins.

There, Blair cursed her own inability to save the day, annoyed that it was always Ruby. Purple Heart in the meanwhile gave her an offer, to begin training under her, in order to nourish that God Ki within Blair some, maybe help her reach a higher plateau of power. Of course the condition was that they had to restore Blair’s tail, as the Kaioshins told that the true source of power lays within there.

After a painful procedure, that involved a lot of magic, Blair had her tail again. For the first time in several decades, she felt like a whole Vacosian once more, aside from the whole thing of being turned back into a teen, she once more was taken to TsathaRuby and fought her a new. Her newfound power allowed her to fight her possessed rival rather well, until the other revealed the fact that she had been holding back, and unleashed all of the power she had stolen from her prior hosts.

Blair once more was beaten and smashed to the ground, a large crater of 3 kilometer radius forming upon impact. Yet as luck would have it, a solar eclipse happened. The restored moon of Remnant laying over the bright shade of the sun, creating a perfect darkened circle, with an amber glow. It was this that allowed Blair to transform into a Great Voidal once more, but this time it wasn’t black like they usually were.

No, this one had a white color, being referred to as the White Voidal of legends. After running rampage for a bit and scaring TsathaRuby away, she finally was able to wrestle control back from her primal instincts, the form compacting into a humanoid form once more. Blair was back in her adult body, her prime, and yet her hair wasn’t blonde. It was wild, unruly and white, with her having gained the ears and tail of a wolf to boot.

Blair didn’t know what this form was, but it had more than enough power to overwhelm TsathaRuby and allow Blair to use her techniques fully once more. With the usage of God Ki, she was able to remove the fiend from Ruby’s body and obliterate her into nothingness. The day was saved once more, but this time it was the unlikely Blair who had done so.

Ruby now back to her normal self, had to take some rest and several senzu beans, her body having gone through quite the ordeal. Finally, the Kaioshins descended down on Remnant, purifying everyone from Tsathaggua’s control and restoring the natural order. After thanking them, Ruby decided to ask Blair what the form was, with Blair only giving her a shrug.

According to Vacosian legends of old, this could be the true Super Vacosian form, the one that is on par with the legend of the Super Vacosian God. With that, Ruby decided to coin it as Super Vacosian 4, as the whole Super Vacosian God thing was another line separately. Still, now that they had some time, Ruby also had her tail restored and with the Solar Eclipse still happening, she attained Super Vacosian 4, after a very long time of trying to control the White Voidal form.

Ruby’s case of the form was rather interesting. Her hair became more of a mix between red and black, much like her base form. Yet like Blair, she had gained wolf ears and a wolf tail, while being returned to her prime as well. With this she could use the Instant Transmission and Haken again, but for some reason was unable to really make it compatible with Super Vacosian 4, anything higher than the base Haken not working.

Enjoying a few months of peace, Ruby and Blair were able to further train with Super Vacosian 4, mastering it to a better degree. They were hyped, because the wait of a year was nearly over and they could wish themselves back to their adult body’s once more. Yet while they were asleep, the sky had darkened, a few of Cinder’s old minions having revived her.

Of course this was felt, but by the time the Ascendance Team arrived on the scene, the deed had already been done, Cinder and co having escaped off planet and back to her empire. Of course Ruby and Blair were extremely pissed, with their unfortunate realization that they were stuck to being teens much longer. Three wishes had been used in a hurry, meaning they had to wait at least 9 months, before being able to use the inactive Remnant Dragon Balls once more.

Still, they couldn’t exactly track down Cinder. Her empire’s technology was too advanced and helped her mask her ki, not even the omniscient Kaioshins were able to track her. With such, half a year had passed, the Ascendance team training in preparation for whence Cinder would strike. It was during this time that nearly all of the Ascendance team started getting back into the habit of training.

Both Osiria and Arancia trained with each other, unleashing their potential with Purple Heart’s help and discovering new forms unique to them, yet due to being hybrids, they weren’t able to attain Super Vacosian 4 themselves. It was a form seemingly limited for pureblooded Vacosians. Regardless, the rest of the team, like Chione, Aura and even Orithyia had attained newer heights of power too, yet it was nothing compared to the Super Vacosian 4 of Ruby and Blair.

Finally the Ember Empress came, and brought her entire forces with her. Remnant would have been invaded by Cinder Fall once more, but the forces were locked in battle with the Ascendance team, while the Empress was dealing with Ruby and Blair.

The two Super Vacosians 4 had a hard time against Cinder’s newly revealed Ascended Warrior form, which allowed her to fight them both on the same time. Yet Cinder wasn’t the only one with an ace up her card, as Ruby revealed that she had attained an evolution to Super Vacosian 4, known as Ascended Super Vacosian 4.

This form more than doubled the user’s Super Vacosian 4 multiplier, but in turn came with the heavy strain of sapping energy away like Super Vacosian 2. In this form bio-electricity came too, Ruby gaining a bit more arrogance and a wilder look, but was able to make quick and short-work of Cinder. Finally having avenged Pyrrha from the past, with Ruby having found some more inner peace that way too.

Blair revealed that she had the form unlocked as well, and once the entire forces of Cinder’s Empire were dealt with, Arancia questioned Ruby and Blair why they didn’t use it from the start, with the duo answering that they wanted to test themselves out a bit and hey, it made for a fun and dramatic reveal.

With that, the Ascendance Team parted ways once more, Ruby and Blair working on mastering the Ascended Super Vacosian 4 form to the best of their abilities, while waiting for the remaining 3 months of the Dragon Balls to finally return to being active. The time came, with Ruby and Blair being more hyped than ever to return to being adults.

But of course where they are, trouble comes running too. The heavy usage of the Dragon Balls over the years had let to Negative energy being accumulated, with Synron not appearing normally, but as an evil version of itself. It told them of what transpired and that they’d have to fight and get rid of seven Evil Dragons, and only get one more wish. This was told with the last bit of positive energy it had, before turning evil and leaving them to their vices, waiting for them at the ‘edge of the world.’

With that, the Ascendance Team set out to deal with the seven powerful dragons in 7 groups. Arancia and Osiria took on the third most powerful, 6-Star dragon, with Ruby and Blair taking on the second most powerful, 2-Star dragon, while Chione, Aura and co dealt with the rest. The fights were tough, each of the members being pushed to their limits. Even Ruby and Blair were forced to push past their limits, activating their semblance and the Haken in ways not meant to be.

Yet the 2-Star Dragon, known as Niji-nron, was still overwhelming them. It was in this that Ruby and Blair had both broken past the limits of their limits, Blair being able to use her Semblance Evolution once more, while Ruby had attained a higher form of being in Super Vacosian 4. The true form as it was called and known as, True Super Vacosian 4. With this, they made short-work of the 2-Star Dragon.

With the battles being over temporarily, Ruby and Blair reverted back to their base forms to recuperate for a bit. Yet only Blair returned to looking like a teenager, with Ruby being unable to revert back from the basic Super Vacosian 4. It turned out that it had become her new base form, in price of achieving the True Super Vacosian 4 form.

Ruby was a bit saddened, not because she lost her handsome bastard qualities, those still remained, but because she now permanently had wolf ears and a wolf tail, with Blair sometimes referring to her as a furry thanks to that. Still, they couldn’t mull over it for too long, as the Ascendance Team promised to gather together and face the strongest dragon, the 1-Star Synron, all together.

The dragon proved to be more than a match for everyone involved, until Ruby and Blair decided to put in the last remnants of what they could do and once more assumed True Super Vacosian 4 and Super Vacosian 4 with the Semblance Evolution, in Blair’s case. This allowed them to overwhelm Synron and as they were about to extinguish his life, something happened.

As the dragon was about to die, he absorbed the dragon balls into his body, becoming Omni-Synron and growing vastly more powerful than before. Not only that, he gained the abilities of all the deceased dragons too, allowing him to overwhelm even the mighty combination of all the Ascendance Team attacking together.

Desperate situations called for desperate measures, with Ruby and Blair putting their pride aside and doing the fusion dance. The resulting fusion was known as Rulair, a Vacosian that had the True Super Vacosian 4, but was able to use Blair’s Semblance on top of that. The fusion’s time was cut short, but ultimately allowed her to match Omni-Synron and destroy him forever.

Forever, because the fusion had put too much power into the final beam attack, cracking and shattering the Dragon Balls into pieces, meaning the Dragon Balls of Remnant were now history. Of course Kami offered to recreate them, but Ruby told her no, they had to learn from their mistakes and relying on the DBs once more, would just give birth to a being even mightier than Omni-Synron, something that not even the fusion Rulair could defeat by then.

But of course that final wish remained, with Synron’s apparition appearing once more and telling them that he was grateful for being able to be purged of his sins. Hence the Ascendance Team using the final wish to restore Remnant to how it was before all the villains attacked. Of course they offered Blair that, but she denied it, calling it a waste of a wish, when their home planet was in dire need of salvation.

It put a smile on everyone’s face, as it confirmed that Blair truly saw Remnant as her new home, even giving up the wish of becoming an adult once more, just to have everyone be revived and all the damage be restored. With that, Synron thanked them and bid them goodbye, and hoping to see them in the next world not too soon.

“A battle worth remembering, indeed. In fact, I’ll never forget this.” Was Blair’s response, before returning the Rose’s tease to her having to go through puberty a second time by calling her a furry, which shut Ruby up. With those antics back in order, all of the Ascendance Team laughed and bid each other farewell, returning back to their daily life.

Some more time had passed, with peace setting in. Yet Ruby and Blair were bored, them not being able to return to their jobs, due to their conditions, meant that they were stuck with only training, training and some more training. Luckily for them, their exploits were noticed by a Time Patroller, who called them abnormally strong for a timeline. Much things later and they were approached by Chronoa of Universe 12, their universe and offered to become Time Patrollers.

Henceforth, Ruby and Blair decided to refer to themselves as Xeno Ruby and Xeno Blair, to not confuse themselves with their main timeline counterparts. From here on out they travel time to solve problems and put things back into the right order, with Ruby becoming more mature as a result. Blair, on the other hand, still would be her usual self, albeit more laid back, but would take her job as a Time Patroller seriously.

Trivia:

-Much like Ruby, Blair is also stuck in Super Vacosian 4 permanently, that it might as well be considered as their new base form at this point. A consequence of her using Super Vacosian 4 on top of her Tenacious Evolution Semblance, in parallel to Ruby’s use of True Super Vacosian 4. Blair is very much fine with this, the wolf ears and tail are very much welcomed, really. Thus, with Ruby teasing her that she had to go through puberty again, Blair would always return the sentiment by calling the other a furry whenever she sees fit.

-Using Super Vacosian 4 on top of her Tenacious Evolution often results in massive collateral damages, with it being able to tear through the very fabric of space-time, causing unwanted phenomena, and cause its upheaval. Such permanence would be so extreme, that nothing short of the Super Dragon Balls would be able to restore the damage. Thus, Blair only uses it on situations that beg for it to be used. In other words, she’ll only use it in situations that are dire enough. Chronoa says so, too, and explained it to her, after all.

-Both Xeno Blair and Xeno Ruby are responsible for managing things across the Outerverse and will step in if a threat becomes too big. It helps that they are incredibly strong too, all in all, they’re mostly left to their own vices, free to travel or stay on Remnant as they wish, train, etc. But when they are called upon, then one knows that things are very dire.

-In terms of power, they outclass the main timeline by a good bit, but are even when Ruby and Blair use their -Dominus- and -Sign- forms each. In short, a battle between those four is forbidden, as they could cause all of existence to crumble. Something that impressed even the Demiurge and the Scarlet King.

-Super Vacosian 4 is different from what the main timeline Ruby and Blair have achieved. Their Wrathful State is not the real form of how Super Vacosian 4 looks like, the true form being what Xeno Ruby and Xeno Blair have achieved. The difference in power is quite clear too, with the basic Super Vacosian 4 heavily outclassing Super Vacosian Blue by a good margin.

-Xeno Ruby, as well as Xeno Blair, both have bonded with their own unique Keysword, which they can summon in battle whenever they wish, as well as gaining all of its abilities and resistances too.

-Naturally, Blair would have most of the main timeline Blair’s abilities and techniques up until the Cerveze Saga, along with the possession of God Ki, gained under her training with Purple Heart. Still, while she isn’t able to be like the main timeline Blair in terms of achieving Super Vacosian God, she still gets the benefits of having God Ki, with some of them being:

-Energy / Ki Absorption, Life-Force Absorption (Using "Draw", she can damage opponents by sucking out their life energy, which she can then use to heal himself) -Probability Manipulation -Dimensional Travel -Space-Time Manipulation (Those with flawless control of God Ki can open holes in space to travel to dimensions, as well as create their own space/dimension. Can also create dimension in which time is slowed, or not existing, while being unaffected by such occurrence.) -Receive reduced Damage. -Can reduce enemy’s damage reduction by 50%. -Purification (Can purify Dark Demonic Energy.)

As well as the resistances that come with it:

-Existence Erasure -Soul Manipulation -Mind Manipulation -Magic -Law Manipulation -Physics Manipulation -Death & Life Manipulation -Gravity Manipulation -Sealing & BFR -Time Manipulation -Time Stop -Possession -Madness Manipulation -Corruption -Power Nullification -Memory Manipulation -Unholy Manipulation (Demon Magic & Demon God Magic)

-Like Xeno Ruby, Xeno Blair has also received a new style of clothing, something she had gotten due to her role as a Time Patroller now. It certainly does suit, and very much exudes her taste.

#;Xeno Blair #long post #about #Cyverse #bio #;Xeno-Timeline

2 notes · View notes

slxyangel · 5 years ago

Text

Pain and Noise (Duff x Reader)

Summary: I was fed up with just about everything that constituted my life, so I started playing.

Warnings: Unprotected sex, mentions of violence, swearing, panic attack.

Wordcount: Almost 5k

A/N: First fic I ever write, I am nervous and this was originally in Spanish, so be nice with my best try of a translation. Enjoy :)

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!!!

Masterlist: https://slxyangel.tumblr.com/post/189625800403/masterlist

The pain in the back of my hands was intense, searing, and growing worse with every minute I spent holding the drumsticks and unloading my rage over the drums in the studio. The accumulated tension stiffened my fingers, the muscles in my arms were numb and it had been a while since I started feeling my nails spiking my own skin because of the pressure I was putting on it. I didn’t care; I preferred to feel that rather than the anguish that had been threatening to rip off my chest these last few weeks. I don’t know how much time I spent like that. What I do remember is the pain. And the noise.

I also remember sitting on the stool during a little while the guys were out, I’m not sure what for, maybe to grab some food or take a break. They had been working on the album for months, and these days of polishing, re-recording, fixing and tuning everything up for the final version were being especially hard; they deserved a breather. “And so do I”, I told myself while I held Steven’s drumsticks and gave it a second thought, maybe it wasn’t a good idea. He, as any other percussionist, didn’t like it when someone else fiddled with his instrument, not to mention if it happened without him being around to control it. I could only hope that he didn’t show up in that very moment and caught me, because I don’t think I would have the strength to explain him every thought that was circling my head the moment I decided to play his drums, and even less not to drown the whole story with my tears. I mean, come on, it was only going to be a little while.

I had been working with the band practically since the recording process for Appetite for Destruction began. I was in my last year of university, and needed an internship to complete my learning agreement, and, I still can’t comprehend how, my best friend’s father got me plugged-in in Geffen Records. They were the ones who decided that the best option for an audiovisuals student was in the recordings for a young rock band’s debut album. This is how I ended up being Mike Clink’s personal assistant and hanging out with Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Steven. The chemistry had been practically automatic, I got along with them pretty quick and, even though I started being basically the coffee girl, I was always very comfortable in such a creative and carefree environment.

I remember those first days in which Mark, my boyfriend, used to drive me to the studio in his car. I could drive, of course, but my new job seemed almost more exciting for him than it did for me, so he insisted in getting me there, picking me up and making me tell him every little detail of my brand-new work life. He was thrilled when I told him how I had spent twenty minutes of my first day talking with Slash and he had shown interest about my studies, my reasons to be there and my general life. “If we’re gonna work together, we might as well be friends”, he said. The guy told me that he had a snake, that his parents were artists and that’s why he had always been so involved with music. He also said he got his first guitar when he was 15 and that he and the guys ended up together out of sheer coincidence, but they had realized they were the perfect combination, so they were really excited about their new project. It was there that I realized I was in the right place and, even if, worst case scenario, the rest of the band hated me, at least I had a new friend.

However, my worries couldn’t be any more unfounded. Once I had talked to Saul, the rest of it went smoothly. Axl was quite a character, for instance, a guy you felt like looking at. Wherever he was (because he couldn’t stand still for a second), your eyes would be glued to him. He had an enviable magnetism no matter what he did: singing one of their songs, bringing order to the mixing desk, finishing off half a liter of Jack Daniel’s… He was the kind of person who seems out of reach from every one of us mortals but, deep down, is a cinnamon roll. Our first interactions (mostly his, let’s be honest) were filled with double intentions. In any case, now that I see it in retrospective and compare it with the way he treated other girls, I came to think that this was his way to know women in general, his default mode. Actually, those anecdotes of conversations I had with the vocalist were worth a fair dose of laughing for Mark and me during our more than usual supermarket-pizza, Ben-&-Jerry’s-ice-cream dinners in the flat we shared. Over time, Axl’s phase of blatant flirting with me faded away, making room for a really close friendship between the two of us.

Izzy, on the other hand, treated me almost as if I was an experiment. Do you know the feeling when you arrive to a new school but the year has already started and everybody is curious about you? Well, that was more or less how the guitarist reacted to my incorporation. He had never been too talkative, or, at least, not as much as the rest of them, so my first days with the brunet can be summed up to him joining conversations between me and someone else, to learn a bit more about me without having to ask directly; to my hand-waving gestures and his responses raising his chin or his eyebrows; or to him offering me drags of his cigarette from time to time, while we waited for the rest of the guys to record their tracks so we could all go partying together. It was interesting. It was entertaining. It was even funny to see us unfolding, adapting to each other until we gained full trust. We could argue that his more reserved, almost wary personality and my own, more explosive and versatile, complemented each other as two puzzle pieces; one had what the other lacked.

And, while Izzy complemented me, Steven understood me. We were two peas in a pod: energetic, chaotic and jam-packed with energy. Basically the kids in the team. Like two naughty twins, we loved to terrorize the studio. We threw stuff at each other, we laughed like crazy, we yelled from one corner of the room to the other the dumbest, most absurd shit you could imagine… One of the activities I enjoyed the most was to scare away the chicks from him. Some afternoons when he was chilling on the couch, unaware and concentrated on hitting on whatever girl he had just met, I arrived, seated next to him on the couch and went full on clingy-ass-girlfriend with him: handsy and unbearable. I interrupted the groupie and put up with Steven’s deadly glares until, after a while, the girl took off, sometimes walking towards one of the other guys, sometimes straight to her house. The drummer always got mad at me when I did this to him, but his anger never lasted for more than ten minutes.

And then there was Duff. He was something else, something different. I had never had such a connection with anyone, and even less with anyone I had met for so little time. Duff had his own light, like an extremely bright star, and I was flashed by it but, at the same time, he irradiated a delightful kind of warmth, too nice for me to voluntarily step away. He was fun, he was compassionate, he was sensible, he was a little bit mad and he made everything unspeakably easy. The rest of the band spent their days saying that we should have sex or betting on whether we were or weren’t conscious of the sexual tension they assured was too obvious between us. At first, we either told them to fuck off or went along with it, but without giving it much of a second thought. At the end of the day, I was dating Mark, who I adored, and Duff knew it. We were nothing but friends, like the rest of the guys.

Weeks went by and I kept getting closer and closer with the bassist: we talked about everything and anything, we told each other countless anecdotes from our lives before arriving to L.A., and he even sometimes helped me with the paperwork. More than once, even though smoking was allowed in the studio, the two of us stepped outside to do it, and a break that was meant to last for 10 minutes ended up being one hour long. When this happened, Slash had to come out for him, wielding his guitar and threatening to smash it on his head if he wasn’t back inside in the following fifteen seconds. In fact, some of those days when it took me longer to finish my job he would stick around and offer me a ride home before he headed to the club, so that Mark didn’t have to come pick me up that far that late.

Of course, it was all being too good to be true. The first day this happened, when I arrived home in “some other dude’s car, instead of a fucking taxi”, Mark’s own words, I found a version of my boyfriend that I didn’t like one tiny bit: wary, silent and mean. When I asked what his problem was I already saw the answer coming, but I just refused to believe he was going to get all possessive over such a nonsense, he had never behave like that. That night we went from yelling at each other to the silent treatment in a matter of a few hours, and the next day, when I got to the studio in my own car for the first time since the guys knew me, that place looked like goddamn press conference. They took less than two minutes to notice I was a little bit off, and less than five to tell me “Dump him, fuck Duff”. I couldn’t help but laugh. I hadn’t broken up with Mark, we had just argued; I would speak to him and we would fix things; that’s what couples did. Bitch, you thought.

For the next few days everything seemed to have turned back to normal: my boyfriend and I were okay, he said he was sorry and begged me to let him apologize by being my chauffeur again. I didn’t quite feel like rocking the boat after that night, so the idea of not driving myself to work didn’t seem that bad, until the days Mark started arriving a little earlier each day. Five minutes, fifteen, half an hour before my cutoff time, as if he had to make sure I went back home with him, as if he had to keep an eye on me. In fact, one of the days in which he arrived with a bigger margin of time, he decided it was a good idea to wait inside the studio while the band was recording, and argued that “it would be a lot more boring to wait in the car”. Over the last days, the guys had noticed how pissed it made me the fact that he was chasing after me, behaving like an asshole and little more than tying a leash around my neck, so Axl stepped up and asked him to leave, since the guy wouldn’t listen to me. I have to admit I was surprised with how calmly the vocalist took the intrusion, taking into account his normally short temper. He told Mark that “it wasn’t his problem if he wanted to be his girlfriend’s chauffeur, but he couldn’t simply burst into a private property as if it was his house, and even less when they were working.” To be honest, that was one hell of a comeback, because if the singer had exposed the real reasons why he wanted him out, the other one would have clutched at straws to the philosophy “She is my girlfriend, you don’t get a saying on this.” But on his argument and on his turf, Axl had the upper hand.

Despite all the efforts, Mark told him to mind his own business and that, if the redhead kicked him out of the studio, he would be behaving like a total dick. Then, as if the destiny was trying its best to fix things, sarcasm be sensed, Duff showed up in the anteroom where we were. As soon as my boyfriend saw him, his eyes started blazing, and it only took the bassist telling him he had to leave and that I was still in my working hours so I wouldn’t go with him, for his fist to connect with Duff’s jaw in a nasty jab. And hell was fucking raised.

Axl pushed Mark, who was holding my arm with the same hand he had punched the blond with two seconds ago. Not letting go of me, he tackled the vocalist, mumbling something I can’t remember. Then he walked towards the front door, grabbing me with him. “Let’s go. Now”, he ordered. His fingers dug into my skin with such anger and despair that I could already feel the bruise forming underneath, and I was half shocked, half scared shitless. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to get in the car with him and I didn’t want any more punches either, but in any case my limbs were not responding to the commands my brain tried to make, whichever they were. It was then that, halfway across the room, before reaching the door, Mark stumbled and fell, finally releasing my arm. The first thing I saw when I lifted my eyes was Duff standing there, with his mouth covered in blood, shaking his right hand once and breathing heavily.

- If you ever touch her again like that, I’ll kill you.

While Mark was trying to get up, Slash stormed in from the recording room. He had seen the events of the last two minutes from his position behind the glass, and he wasn’t going to take any more of that shit. Right before the other one went ballistic attacking the bassist and blood started to hit the fan, Saul grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kicked him, literally, out of the place. Once the metal door had closed between Mark and us, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I vaguely remember I started hyperventilating, on my knees, on the floor, and the sound of punches hitting metal on the outside was all but helping me calm down. As tears streamed down my face and I frantically run my fingers through my hair, a hand started trailing my back. It was a soft touch, slow, really slow. Making its way upwards and then going back down, over again. The noise level had considerably decreased, and now all I could listen to were whispers, the sweetest whispers coming from the mouth of one single person. “Shhhh, easy. You’re having a panic attack. It’s okay, you’re okay, I’m here. Breathe.” Little by little my quick and superficial breathing became steadier, and after a few minutes I was able to stand up to sit on the couch. The beating on the door had stopped, and I realized all the guys were surrounding me, worried look on their faces, as Duff, seating beside me, still had his hand in my back.

_________________

It had been two weeks since that day. After the incident, I sure as hell wasn’t going to be under the same roof as Mark, and even less with the fight still recent. Who knows what he would do to me as soon as I crossed the threshold… The guys profusely insisted that I could stay with any of them, but they let me use their phone to call my best friend when I told them I would be in very good hands with her. Laura received me with a warm hug the moment she saw me, and that night, at her home, we cried, we ranted and we ate ice-cream until we couldn’t take any more. I have to admit that, given the circumstances, she managed pretty well to get me into bed feeling kinda happy. But of course, nothing lasts forever. I was about to graduate, with no home (the foster-bed in Laura’s house didn’t count), no boyfriend and no plans of work, projects or future in general; ahead of me there was a massive precipice with seemingly no ending. Besides, the production process for Appetite was coming to an end, and so did my internship and the months of togetherness with the band. Now was the time for press conferences, concerts and, if it all went well, the tour. To be honest I was super happy for them. I had seen the birth of that album, and I was blindly certain that with such a masterpiece they were bound to success. It was inevitable. But in any case, that meant the end of what had given me the most joys in the last four months and, if apart from all the financial and emotional stability I had gained during my college years, someone took that away from me… what did I have left?

__________________

After that much time hitting the drums, I had ultimately interiorized the beat so much now I was just reproducing it on loop, with my eyes closed and breathing heavily. I was so self-absorbed that I didn’t realize the door had opened and someone had stepped into the studio. Suddenly I felt how, behind my back, two hands softly landed on my shoulders. I didn’t stop playing. My arms moved now with less vigor to the beat I had marked from the beginning, while those fingers gently traced small circles in the back of my neck, comforting me.

Duff.

It had to be him, I was certain.

Little by little I reduced the speed of my movements, gradually, until I completely stopped playing. When I left the drumsticks on the snares and turned around in the stool I saw him. He was standing there, right in front of me, asking with his eyes, a calm and expressive look on his face. An almost imperceptible sigh escaped my lips. He was worried about me.

- Good thing it was you who entered, and not Steven – I said, half jokingly, as I stood up, hoping to relax the tension built up between us.

- Yeah – he laughed softly. – Had it been him he would have ripped the drumsticks off your hands and hit you with them.

I laughed too, quietly, bitterly. This was too much for me. The words we never said were floating around, like a thousand needles falling into a tailspin above us; eventually, they would have to land. The worst part was that I didn’t know if I craved that moment or, on the contrary, dreaded it.

It looked like he had read my mind when he slowly, almost asking for permission, held my hands. I startled a bit with the contact, but I let him go on. Duff looked at them for a second before he noticed the tiny wounds I had unconsciously inflicted on myself digging my fingernails too hard a while before, at the drums. Without saying a word, he started caressing them very softly, as if he wanted to calm, more than my physical pain, the sentimental one. He was breathing deeply and slightly frowning. He was concentrated in trying to make that feeling disappear, the confusion, the guilt, the fear… the stream of emotions that had been threatening to break me for some time now. He looked me in the eyes. In that very moment, the temperature inside the room raised a few degrees. We were really close. So close I could feel his breath on me, listen to his heartbeat accelerating with every second that went by, see how his lips lightly parted, practically not at all, only a hint of the thought that filled our minds in that place, in that moment. Then, almost involuntarily, as an instinctive reflex, I stretched my neck upwards. That was the only sign he needed to make the already scarce distance between our lips disappear, and kiss me.

The contact was slow, sweet and full of longing. Our lips moved rhythmically, perfectly fitting on each other’s. Duff was still holding my hands, and I could feel my breath accelerating progressively. I released one of my hands and placed it on his neck, stroking the hair on his nape and helping myself keep balance in my tippiest toes. He saw my struggles and moved his free hand to my waist, firmly holding me so that I wouldn’t fall. All of a sudden, I felt the urge to be closer to him, even more. Everything that I hadn’t been able to do and that had bottled up inside of me was now too overwhelming, and I didn’t want to fight it anymore. Our kiss intensified, we hungrily enjoyed each other, panting. The next thing I knew was that Duff had placed his hands on the back of my thighs and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and leaned my arms on his shoulders, so I could keep kissing him while he crossed the room and sat on the leather couch, with me straddling his lap. He ran his fingers up and down my thighs, slightly lifting the hem of my dress, as if he was testing some boundaries that I hadn’t set and, at this point, I didn’t plan to.

I was euphoric, nervous and loaded with desire. In a burst of braveness or lust, I’m not entirely sure, I started to buck my hips, back and forth, following a slow path at first, which progressively accelerated. The friction of my underwear in direct contact with his leather pants was about to drive me mad, and I couldn’t stop. His hands, which a moment ago were on my hips, guiding them, started moving over my lower stomach, tracing the edge of my panties in painfully slow motions. His breath was also heavier, somehow ragged, and I felt him hardening beneath me. His lips were stuck to the base of my neck, lightly sucking as I, with my eyes closed and lips parted into a silent “O”, gently pulled his blond hair. My core grew more sensitive by the minute, and when I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold the moan trapped in my throat anymore, his fingers touched my most sensitive spot, turning my steadily rocking hips not that steady for a moment.

In a matter of seconds, and with his hand working wonders between my legs, I got rid of the dress, which only bothered, and the perspective of my almost absolute nudity on top of his entirely dressed body made me shake with arousal. His free hand took care of my breasts, now exposed, as I dug my nails into his shoulders, underneath the sleeveless shirt he was wearing.

- Take it off – I managed to blurb between gasps.

- What? – Duff seemed confused, too concentrated on something else for having been able to follow the road of my own thoughts.

- Your shirt, take it off. I want to touch you.

A shit-eating grin lit up his face right before he separated in a quick motion from that piece of clothing and threw it somewhere else. Immediately after, in a total change of the atmosphere, he laid back on the couch and, placing his hands behind his head, said:

- Then touch me.

I didn’t hesitate for a single second. My hands flew to his shoulders, his arms, his shoulders again and went down his chest as I peppered kisses all over his lips, jaw, neck, collarbones… I took my sweet time while swinging my hips against the fabric that separated my pussy from his erection, and my nails traced a descending path down his torso, really slowly. I could notice how he was growing desperate; I felt his breath, now turned into a subtle growl, against my hair; I realized how shortly he had managed to keep his hands off me, since now he was caressing my flanks, my back and my chest. When I reached the cord of his pants with my fingers, I slowly undid the knot that tied them together and slipped my hand underneath, without stopping my hip motions. The very moment I found the base of his length, a soft grunt escaped his lips. He was driving me insane.

After a while arousing each other, we couldn’t stand the teasing any longer and Duff took the first step to getting rid of the clothes that were still around. I stood up and took off my sandals so that he could slide my panties down my legs, grazing my skin along the way. He also let go of both his pants and sneakers, tossing them on the carpet. Our moves were clumsy thanks to eagerness and anticipation. I once again sat on top of him, in our initial position, only now there were no clothes in the middle of the road. I could feel him against me. Touch. Friction. Desire. His expert fingers moved now freely over my core, as he left little love bites under my left ear. I kept on rubbing his cock, fully hard and a bit wet, while, with my other hand, I held on to his hair for dear life. We were close, really close. It felt as if every centimeter of my skin was on direct contact with Duff. He was everywhere, every corner, every goosebump, every scar… With all this overstimulation, my moans filled the room, and I didn’t have enough sanity to realize anyone could come in. I was a mess.All of a sudden, right when I was seconds away from cumming, his hands disappeared from my core. Even though I couldn’t see myself, I was sure in my eyes one would be able to read the anticipation and confusion.

- Wait – he said in a desperate whisper -. I want to feel you, I want to be inside of you.

If he hadn’t stopped touching me a moment before, I am sure that sentence would have sent me to the wildest of orgasms, but it wasn’t the time for my sweet release. Not yet. He put his hand right next to mine, on his cock, and, with an almost unbearable slowness, he brought the tip of it to my entrance. A trembling sigh fell from my lips and we looked into each other’s eyes. Then, I gently let my hips descend on his lap, and he completely slid inside of me, letting escape an unearthly growl that gave me chills. He had dropped his head back, leaving his neck and collarbones exposed to me, but I had my eyes closed as I tried to control the delightful contractions that were about to take over me. I felt him inside of me, extremely deep. As if we were two pieces of the same puzzle, as if we had been manufactured specifically to be together. Now THAT was overstimulation. Once my body had adjusted to him, I started motioning my hips up and down, holding on to his shoulders so that I didn’t lose the limited balance I had left. He once again was looking at me, with his hands on my waist as I kept the path. Close, very close. His arms slid around me and I kissed his lips eagerly. Our moans died in one another’s mouth while the movements became faster, erratic, frenetic. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep my sanity, I was almost raving with pleasure, and the moment our lips broke away to take air and we looked at each other, nose to nose, without stopping for a moment, I couldn’t hold it any longer. I came with a flashing intensity, pronouncing his name countless times, asking God knows who for this moment to last forever. I couldn’t stop screaming, and when Duff begged my name and I felt his liquid warmth filling every bit of me, I saw white.

_______________

His hand stroked tenderly my naked back while my breath came back to normal against his neck. The same as that day, but at the same time entirely different. I was still on top of him, he was still inside of me. I hadn’t yet gathered the strength to pull him apart from me, but he didn’t seem willing to get separated either, so we stood like that for a while, I don’t even know how much, but I don’t care. This felt utterly intimate, intense, extremely ours and totally apart from the rest of people, from the rest of things. It was a parallel universe inside of a crystal ball. It was the embodiment of all that was right. What we had been, without knowing or admitting it, even to ourselves, waiting for all this time.

#duff #smut #angst #guns n roses #duff mckagan #oneshot #imagine #fanfic #reader #fem reader

155 notes · View notes