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starlost-andfound · 3 years

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we’re still okay // d.j.s

Inspired by the song ‘Track 9’ by Alexander 23

Summary: Daniel loves making music. The lyrics, melodies and harmonies are all like a language to him. When he was with you, all he wrote about was you. Now that you’re gone , the language that was once native to him has suddenly become foreign.

W/C: 2.077 K (Approximately)

Warning : Angst, implications of death of a loved one

A/N: Hi hello, please listen to ‘Oh No, Not Again!’ the EP by Alexander 23 because it’s a masterpiece, please and thank you.

Hey

It's been a while since we've talked

Daniel sighed quietly, staring at the wall across him in his room. The dark room, illuminated by a soft glow of the sunlight peeking through the blinds. He cuddled her pillow close to him, the remains of her scent, barely there. Recently he had been spending a lot of time in his room, in the dark. His sight had begun to adjust and he immediately picked on the form of the picture frame on his desk, an image of him and his lover looking back at him.

He sighed shakily. He turned away from the picture he loved and hated with a burning passion, as the sound of the door opening caught his attention. He turned to see his visitor. His brother, Christian shuffled into the room.

“Hey buddy,” he smiled softly. Daniel turned back around, facing the wall again. His lips trembled and he shut his eyes tightly, holding in his tears.

“I made breakfast, if you want to come out and eat.”

Silence.

Christian cleared his throat, “You haven’t eaten, Daniel. I know you're hurting but-Please, just eat something. Do it for me, at least.”

When he got no response, Christian sighed. He picked up the dinner plate on Daniel’s bedside table, the food untouched and cold. When the door finally shut, Daniel sighed in relief, a quiet cry leaving his lips. He pressed his face into the pillow, the cloth, absorbing the stream of salty water as it fell.

His fist gripped the pillow as he tried to quieten down, muffling his soft whimpers. He gasped for a breath in between his cries, his hands furiously brushing away his tears. Daniel cursed under his breath, pulling himself out of bed and shuffling to his bathroom where he splashed his face with cold water. He stared at his reflection, pain and sorrow etched in the bags under his eyes and red cheeks.

I see you made it all the way to "Track 9"

So thanks

For listening to all my thoughts

I used to give 'em to you straight

But now you wait for the release date

Recently, Daniel spent a lot of time in his room, so when he stepped out of his room that afternoon, the surprised looks from his brothers didn’t go unnoticed. He ignored their failed attempts at subtle stares and headed for the kitchen. He rummaged through the fridge, searching for something to eat.

His appetite sparked at the sight of an apple and he picked it up, snatching a bite of it as he closed the door and walked back to his room.

“You wanna watch with us?”

He stopped and turned to his brothers who sat and watched The Office on the TV. He gulped, looking at the screen and back at his brothers. The Office was her favourite show. He swallowed the bite of the apple he had taken, the piece hurting to swallow with the growing lump in his throat.

Daniel stormed back to his room as tears pricked his eyes and he slammed the door shut, resting his head against the cold wood. He took a deep breath in and exhaled. You should have just stayed in your room.

He didn’t come out for dinner that night, just like the previous few nights. Just like the last few nights, Christian or Tyler always passed by his room to give him his dinner. His head perked up from his bed as the door shut behind him and he craned his neck to see what was on his plate that night. Mac and cheese and nuggets, his favourite.

“Why is that the only thing you eat?”

Daniel looked up from his plate with a smirk on his face, “What do you mean?”

Y/n grinned, “Baby, you practically live off mac and cheese and chicken strips!”

Daniel giggled, “Nuggets, babe, gotta get it right if you’re going to call me out.”

Daniel sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head back onto his pillow. His hand reached out for the pillow next to him, tugging it closer. He rested his head against it, cuddling it close to him. He inhaled, smelling her fading scent. He almost finished using the perfume in her perfume bottle. The shop didn’t have any more in stock.

And you're probably wondering where are all the songs about us?

I hear 'em in my head, but I can't write 'em down 'cause

Once the pen's to paper, then it's really, really over

And I'd much rather pretend that maybe we'rе still okay

Daniel tiptoed across the hallway and into the living room. He walked past a sleeping Kobe with a soft smile and opened the backdoor, shuffling to the studio. His nose tingled at the stuffy air as he turned on the lights in the room. His finger swiped across his table where his music equipment was laid out, picking up a layer of dust.

He pulled out his chair and sat on it with a sigh. Daniel reached behind his computer, pulling out a journal, his song book. His hands delicately flipped through the pages, stopping at his last song in progress, the unfinished lyrics singing back to him in his mind.

“What you working on, baby?”, two arms wrapped around Daniel’s shoulders from behind and he turned his head to see y/n.

He pecked her cheek, “Just a lil something.”

Y/n smiled and kissed his shoulder before resting her head on it, “Can I see?”

Daniel nodded, passing his journal to her. Y/n skimmed the contents of the page as Daniel briefly explained he had yet to finish some parts. He noticed the soft blush which tinted her cheeks when she looked up at him again. “Is this….about me?”

Daniel smiled bashfully, “Maybe?”

“You wrote a song...about me?”, y/n repeated.

Daniel nodded and scratched his head, “Everything i write is practically about you….do you um..like it?”

Y/n looked up at him , frozen for a second before wrapping her arms around him tightly. “I love it so much, and I love you.” She looked up, a lovestruck smile on her face, “I love you so so much.”

Daniel pressed his forehead against hers, their noses brushing together, “I love you too, my love, forever and always.”

She never got to hear the song. The lyrics, melodies and harmonies remained unseen, unheard. A song meant for his lover, that was so abruptly cut off by a sudden loss. It didn’t seem right to finish a song for someone who would never get to hear it. Daniel’s vision grew blurry and he wiped his eyes. His fingers brushed across the lyrics on the page, and he closed his eyes, imagining she was here.

I really hopе that by the fall

We'll find the peace we're missing in the missing pieces

Oh yeah

And I hope we look back at this song

As the beginning of the rest

And not the ending of the mess

Days when they had picnics at the park in their hidden spot, were always Daniel’s favourite. He would rest his head on her lap, y/n talking about her day while brushing her fingers through his hair. He loved the tranquility and the warmth of th emoment.

“You’re so pretty, did you know that?”, y/n whispered, her fingers playing with his hair.

Daniel looked up with a small blush on his cheeks, “Thank you baby. You’re absolutely beautiful.”

Y/n smiled, kissing his forehead, “Thank you, bubs.”

Daniel smiled, reaching up his hand to caress her cheek, “Can you read to me?”

Y/n giggled, “Since when have you enjoyed reading?”

“Since you’ve read to me, your voice is soothing.

Y/n smiled and picked up the novel she had been reading recently, flipping to the page she left off. “Should I start from the beginning?”

Daniel shook his head, “No, it’s alright. I just want to hear your voice, I like to hear you talk.”

Y/n pressed another kiss to his cheek before starting to read, flipping past the pages as Daniel listened attentively. As she read, he plucked a daisy on the grass, stretching his hand to lace in her hair, behind her ear.

Y/n shot him a smile before continuing to read, her hands going down to play with his hair. Every now and then, after a couple of pages she would lean forward to place a kiss on Daniel’s forehead.

After a while, Daniel said, “You missed a spot.”

Y/n looked down at him, putting the book to the side, “Oh?”, she smirked, “And where’s that, hmm?”

Daniel smirked, sitting up before pulling her in for a kiss.

“Right there.”

Y/n rolled her eyes, “You’re so cheesy”

“But you love it,” Daniel grinned.

Y/n shugged playfully, “Eh”.

“Hey!” Daniel’s fingers poked her side, causing her to giggle. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and tickling her.

“Daniel!”, y/n shrieked with laughter, “Stop it!”

Daniel laughed, “Just admit it!”

Y/n struggled against his grip before giving up, “Fine! Fine!” She gasped for a breath as Daniel halted, waiting for her to speak.

“I love it.”

“Love what?”, Daniel asked.

Y/n hesitated a moment before speaking, “I’m in love with you.”

Daniel froze, processing her words, “You are?”

She nodded, cupping his cheek, “I am in love with you, Daniel James, so much.”

Daniel’s face broke into a grin and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down to lay down on the mat as he peppered her face with kisses. Y/n giggled, “Dani!”

Daniel lifted his face, looking at her with nothing more than admiration in his eyes, “I’m in love with you too, so so much.”

But now you're

Probably wondering where are all the songs about us?

I hear 'em in my head, but I can't write 'em down 'cause

Once the pen's to paper, then it's really, really over

And I'd much rather pretend that maybe we're still okay

Daniel tapped his pen against the page, small flicks of ink replacing the absence of ideas. Write it for her. He dropped his pen and turned to his keyboard, his fingers dancing across the keys. A mismatched tune echoed in the room after Daniel played the wrong chord and he started again. When he couldn’t find his rhythm, he huffed in frustration, trying a different scale of chords.

He slammed his hands onto the keys, a violent note resonating through the room. Daniel tugged at his hair, trying to calm himself down. He turned and picked up his ukulele, tuning the strings, hoping that this would bring him somewhere.

It was like déja vu as Daniel couldn’t find his rhythm. He set the small instrument aside and picked up his journal. He browsed the pages, searching for any unfinished songs he could work on. Maybe that can get you somewhere. He turned a page, reading the title of the song, Love Song. He immediately flipped it over, ignoring the pang in his heart. Yet, the next page held another name which hurt to read, Fallin’ Into You.

It was as though everything was against him, trying to haunt him. Every page he turned had her name written all over it in melodies and drabbles of chords written in the margins. Every song was about her. Daniel turned to the last used page, the last song he wrote about her.

The one he never finished.

The one that slipped like y/n, through his hands.

He glared at the crossed out words and angry scribbles on the page, pulling the last straw. A sudden anger filled his veins and Daniel yelled, ripping out the page and throwing it to the ground. His hands gripped the sheets in his notebook, yanking them out. His knuckles turned white as held each page, tearing them out. He threw his notebook across the room. It hit the wall with a slam.

Daniel threw his hands on the table, pushing the stationary off the edge. The containers clattered across the floor as he raged across the room. He kicked the couch, a strangled cry leaving his mouth as he fell to the floor. Daniel gripped onto the couch cushion, pulling it down with him as sobs wracked his body.

He hid his face in his hands, clutching onto the pillow tightly as he broke down. He was tired and hurting. Everything ached and the weight of it all was too much to bear. Daniel leaned his head back against the arm rest, crying silently as he looked at the wreckage he caused.

A soft ping from his phone took his attention away as he weakly reached for the device in his pocket. He lifted the screen, seeing a pop up notification from his Photos App.

[Photos : Memories - 1 Year Ago Today]

Curious, Daniel unlocked his phone, clicking on the banner to direct him to the app. The application opened to an image of him and y/n with the scenery of the pier behind them. They wore the biggest smiles on their faces as they stared at the camera. While Daniel’s gaze was focused on the camera, y/n’s was looking directly at Daniel, a huge smile on her face.

Daniel whimpered, wiping his eyes to clear his vision and zooming in on the picture. He looked at y/n one more time before hugging his phone and the cushion close to his chest.

We're still okay

#Daniel seavey #why dont we #why dont we imagine #Daniel seavey imagine

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elocinting · 3 years

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REVIEW: “Ghost” (EP) by Julia Klot

Written by: Nicole Ting

Dominated by poignant piano melodies and powerful vocals, “Ghost” by singer-songwriter and pianist Julia Klot is an EP featuring intimate songs woven together into a larger coming-of-age story, with its nonlinear storytelling that explores different facets of love. What’s unique about Klot’s newest EP is that rather than just acting as accompaniment, instrumental sound plays an enormous, major part in directing and shaping emotion, and every movement of sound is just as crucial as every word that she sings. Reminiscent of the emotive, powerful honesty of Orla Gartland, Birdy, and 2007 Sara Bareilles, the musicality of her stylistic choices, both instrumental and vocal arrangements, is intentional and mesmerizing in the way they bring out the bone-deep lyricism of each song.

The EP begins with its titular track, “ghost,” which is backed by a fast-paced string arrangement conveying just how alive and present memory can be, with the piano melodies driving nostalgia itself forward. The instrumental intro reminds me of wintertime, like flurries of snowflakes falling into the shape of the vocals and forming something ghostly in the beginning image of feeling like “an old house carved right into my empty heart.” The interlude after second chorus of a brief fugue settling into a conversation between strings, back and forth of the past and present melting, melding, together is masterful, and is one of my favorite parts of this song. There is something to be said about the poetic, interlocked lyricism and sound of being haunted by memory despite loss, with the person you thought was “the one” continuing to live on inside your head – lingering like a ghost. This synesthetic image leads into the next track, “temporary tattoo,” which is a heavy piano ballad with a fuller sound. Klot’s strong, mature vocals and raw emotion soaring and diving throughout the chord progressions, throughout the motions of not knowing how to trust love in its entirety. The lyrical and vocal dynamics parallel the motion of anxiety, also mirroring the soundscape of impermanence, which is something that we all fear and learn to live with. I am particularly struck by the vivid image of worries being inked on our bodies and the line “I’m scared to the core that I’ll never have a love that lasts” in the chorus because I believe that’s something that we all question and fear, that I still question and fear, when we’re becoming ourselves and learning to navigate love that lasts and love that doesn’t.

“picture in a frame” is a whimsical and tender rearrangement of a Tom Waits original thematically juxtaposing the angst in previous tracks, as it pulls back sonically. The organ and harp set a mood of something holy and divine and eternal, which conceptually marks a matured love that stays in the lyrics “I love you, baby, and I always will,” as visualized by the permanence of placing someone’s picture in a frame. A metaphor of staying put. The whimsicality birthed by the brass, the comforting warmth of these vocals and soft piano, they add layers to the unconditional nature of this love. As the midpoint of the EP, it is wonderfully framed by the intermittent swelling of the organ and the repetition of “ever since I put your picture in a frame” through different vocal iterations towards the end of the song. In “time to miss you,” harmonies shine through the repetition of “give me time” in the chorus of this lighter piano ballad. It is clever, how the cyclical pacing and phrasing of instrumentals after the final words are sung mimic the abstract yet fluid ticking motion of time spent apart from the one you love. The final track “i’ve cried for you” is jarring, but that may be the point. Its slight, slow-moving dissonance through the way the words collide with eerie atmospheric synth pad harmonies is drawn-out, barely fluctuating in contrast to all the songs before it. It is darker in mood and in imagery, in lyrics like “don’t you know how many times i’ve cried for you? / strike me where it hurts most / to cover up your bruises.” This is an unsettling yet intriguing track to end this story on. Sonically, it circles back a bit to the minor tones and spectral blueness of “ghost” and “temporary tattoo” and thematically, it showcases the trauma of losing yourself in giving your all to someone who takes and losing that person anyway. It begs the question: is this a ghost story or a love story? This final track embodies the fallout of loss affecting how we love the loves that follow, leaving this story open-ended.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Julia Klot stuns with this EP centered on her vulnerable narrative of love and a relatable human desire to understand its unpredictability. To be so exposed in the light, to be dissected in a manner that is devastating and captivating in its piano-heavy truthfulness, to translate love and its ghosts, is an art form. Vulnerability is terrifying yet necessary, and Klot demonstrates that her truths are worth every note through her thought-provoking songwriting and meticulous musical arrangements in this EP. You can now listen to the EP “Ghost” by Julia Klot on all streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

Photo by Vic Bongiovanni

#music review #new music #music blog #julia klot #independent artist #indie music #up and coming #indie pop #pop #soul pop #pop music #pls check julia's new ep out!#music recommendation #music playlist #music post #music lyrics #good music #musicreview

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papers4me · 4 years

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Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep22

I was pleasantly surprised that this was one of the best balanced eps concerning tohru as of yet!! They touched upon her being mom-figure in the first half but proceeded to humanize her afterward, depicting her as normal girl!, frustrated, vulnerable & somewhat silently struggling. I was right in my prediction that the moment yuki lets go of mom-tohru image, the show will too!! I’m happy!! finally, No more angels in the sky. But only real tohru with flaws, ugliness & humanity.

-Yuki’s acceptance of past feelings & change towards new ones:

The show is aware that they’ve been using the fake love-triangle initially but it actually has an explanation within the story. Yuki is attracted to tohru, so much, but it isn’t romantic at all. his attempts in “correcting” how he perceived her didn’t set right with him & he felt weirded out more! The show brilliantly depicted these “flirty scenes” with a hint of uneasiness. Yuki’s lines/ moves felt cringey & artificial “do you like my act, princess”,”I’ll kidnap you”, being encouraged by Aya to compliment tohru as a boy should. The signs are all there except not in your face, & the writer deserves praise!! Yuki, being perceptive, was able to reach such conclusion, not only by looking into himself, but by also at looking how kyo interacted with her, differently from him. Kyo sees tohru as a woman & is attracted to her romantically & altho kyo’s words & interactions with tohru lacks princely smoothness & have a hint of awkwardness, it was natural, genuine & spontaneous. Kyo didn’t put on an act or forced himself to flirt or deliberately chose words to impress tohru. Yuki was able to notice tohru only looked romantically towards kyo. Yuki used all his observations to reach another conclusion abt himself too!!! What he wants in a relationship is sth similar to kyo/tohru!! Mutual & equal relationship. He won’t be satisfied by one-sidedly giving or taking.

-The Author’s brilliance in writing traumatic-based behavior ( Kyo/yuki’s best interaction!! ) :

-an anon cryptically warned me that I’ll be disappointed in kyo this ep cuz of a certain scene with yuki. After watching it, I can tell you without a doubt I’m not disappointed at all!! Rather I’m beyond satisfied that I’ve decided to trust the author. Ms. Takya is genius in depicting traumatic-based behavior! Any other writer, would write the scene less raw, yuki would still shine defeating his inner demos, but kyo would only grunt, or say sth mild. cuz the writer might fear that it might risk showing kyo as the stupid guy behind in his growth compared to the successful yuki ,or annoy the readers/viewers who are so eager for these boys to reach mutual ground. Only a great writer will be brave enough to write kyo as his trauma/ faulty copying mechanism logically dictates!

-We spent an entire season with yuki, saw him yell at kakeru’s insensitive hurtful remarks, cry knowing he was saved cuz a friend risked freeing him, it took a locked dark room, paint fumes, PTSD, tons of monologues before yuki finally let it all out! & you want such brilliant writer to make kyo turn around & be nice to yuki all of a sudden after episodes of fights & no perspective insight? You bet such amazing writer will give kyo’s perspective its time & his development the logical progress he needs. This writer is all abt logical & realistic progression! whether positive or even negative, the characters will come across human, raw, realistic & real during & after their journey.

- Going through kyo/yuki’s dialogue, it will tell you that furuba is NOT abt friendship saving the day, or abt successful growth. It is abt the journey these traumatized children are undergoing now that they are nearly becoming young adults. Yuki’s journey was amazing not cuz he succeeded (as amazingly as this is) but cuz it made sense from his perspective, was realistic, logical, matched his coping mechanism & character traits & it took the needed time. Now for kyo, all his reactions should match his perspective, & make sense giving his coping mechanism. He wasn’t given time yet. so, he won’t grow much yet. “Making a fool of me?” kyo didn’t see yuki’s perspective abt the hat. he thinks yuki did it on purpose to taunt him.That HE saved tohru while kyo fails as always. “Praised by others, needed by them” Kyo like everybody in school, always thought yuki is a prince, loved, & admired. Kyo is not the audience, he didn’t see yuki’s struggle.”surpass me easily while I struggle” kyo may train for years with tears & blood, but the rat will beat him always cuz he is superiors. “an idiot that never gets anything, wants an idiotic impossible thing” “if only I gave birth to the rat, I’d ve been happier” kyo’s mom wished or the impossible. So did kyo. He wished that he’d prove to her that he can be the rat’s equal. She shouldn't have died becuz of him. An impossible wish.

-I personally think that kyo’s journey will take a different path from yuki’s. Unlike yuki, kyo’s been accused & proved to harm others somehow, intentionally or unintentionally. Some not even in this world anymore. So there are things in kyo’s journey that can’t be fixed. Nothing will bring his mom or kyoko back to life. He can’t apologize to them. There is NO forgiveness here as kyoko said!. Hence, the writer will brilliantly make kyo fall so hard & reach rock bottom so bad before he stands up again!! It matches his personality too!! He’s a person who struggles in expressing himself verbally, gets overwhelmed with emotions, stubborn, hard on himself & fiery in nature. Moreover, due to his trauma, he harbors very low self-esteem & due to his guilt, he is drenched in self-loath.

-The addiction of destructive coping mechanism ( Writing Brilliancy):

Kyo has one of the most destructive coping mechanism in the show. Similarly to what his father did by illogically dumping all the blame of the mom’s suicide on 4 year old child, which resulted in hurting kyo, kyo adopted his dad’s ways & dumped it all on yuki. Illogical. wrong. but it works!! it numbs this tingling sense of guilt, it puts the voice that goes “ you’re unforgivable” temporarily to sleep. All the hate is on someone else. not me. I’m not a monster. does it work all the time? NO. cuz NO drug does! All drugs has this temporary effect, that unless you break away from, will end up destroying you. “don’t you want it that way? you wouldn’t want to have anyone to hate?“ I’m still confused if this is kyoko or his mom. It has kyoko’s hair, the words are very harsh. Kyoko from kyo’s perspective shifts between extremely kind & cruelly harsh! but regardless, the truth has been spoken. Kyo’s eyes are opened. He can’t force blind himself anymore. he does NOT hate yuki. he “ acts like hating yuki is sth you needs to do”, as shigure said! hating yuki is his way to escape from his destructive self-loath. He hasn’t been hating or fighting yuki for a long while, he tries now, one more fight, one more dose of the drug, let the pain go away! Nope. Yuki is not participating, yuki is in the light now. You are drenched in the darkness, as unforgivable as you are. Monster eyes & all. Kyo breaks the window to break away from the memory. from this point on, it escalates to rock bottom as the drug is no longer working & hating himself with no escape is all he’s left with.

-Protecting leading to hurting:

yuki brings kyo attention that while he’s been hard on himself & resisting change, he is hurting tohru. Sth kyo chose confinement in oder to NOT do. Kyo being distant from class activities “life” is his choice. Tohru suffering is a consequence to that choice. Kyo, once again, overwhelmed by tohru’s desire to include him in their activities “ life”. Helplessly & painfully looking at her & acknowledging yuki’s words. Kyo in one of his most vulnerable moments, matched only by true form hug scene, is desperate for a hug. Not only cuz he loves her, but cuz he needs her, cuz he’s so tried of himself, cuz she’s so endearingly stupid waiting for him all by herself when she could’ve easily caught him home!! Ugh! tohru! T_T. Except this time, kyo is aware of his surroundings, it’s school, no place for transformation. As kyo decides to change his position from hug to head rest, he stares so intently in her eyes. Embracing her with his presence. For a moment there I felt weird. Like I was intruding on a personal moment between two ppl. XD. This moment was this excellently weird mix of tenderly romantic, bittersweet cuz they cant be together hug, & sexually tensed! one of the most successful kyoru moment that truly depicted emotions visually without needing much dialogue!

Side Notes:

kyo/yuki interaction was their most honest, filter-free & raw moment! each said what he really felt. yuki’s directly telling kyo to complain to him, which kyo did. yuki urging kyo to see that punishing himself hurts tohru.

I appreciate that Yuki won’t tell tohru now, cuz it will ruin their progress towards a better balanced relationship. Tohru’s lid hasn’t even been touched, so she would be cautious interacting with him. But once she opens her lid, her self-worth increase & her desire to focus on herself more is ignited!, she’ll listen to him without taking his burden as hers. just like kakeru did. Equal friends.

I wanted to talk deeper abt machi & yuki, but didn’t want it to be overshadowed by kyo’s analysis. Next time for sure!

I love how the writer included the most spontaneous flirting moment between kyo & tohru right after yuki explained that he saw her non-romantically. The writer wants the comparison to be clear cutting ties to any love-triangle misunderstanding that might linger from previous scenes. Moreover, it showed yuki fully & genuinely accepting kyoru!!

I’ll never be over tohru acting like normal teenager & chasing kyo, trying to catch the script!!!! These small moments while having not much effect on the grand plot, help depict tohru with her own feisty style of stubbornness beyond the one-sided kind image we always see.

This ep has well-written & visually appealing scenes. Visual imagery were well-implemented in kyo/yuki scene & kyo/tohru last scene.

Thank you anime for drawing tohru older, pretty & more mature in the final scene. She looked like a woman in love & silently in pain. My baby is growing!

Why is kyoko holding the hat in KYO’s flashback!!!! she’s wearing the same white dress from yuki’s memory?? What the heck is the hat’s story?!!!

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #satisfied paper

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prandstg · 3 years

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Third Year of University

The third and final year of university was quite the handful. With Covid-19 forcing us all to stay at home we lacked many of the resources and had to make due with what we had at home. Originally this blog post was supposed to be on a personal website, but for reasons currently unknown to me, my website just doe snot work anymore, so here we are!

Advanced Project

One of our tasks we had to do is create an Advanced Project. Due to current circumstances. and the aforementioned lack of physical resources that were all at the university, I decided to recreate sound for a retro style game, since it did not directly involve creating music and/or sound by physical means. Furthermore, I decided to go with a video game instead of say, a music album, or an EP, or something like that, since my focus is on the video games industry.

So I set out to find a video game I would want to recreate the sound for. It took me a while to find something I would be content with. I ended up using “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” as my source material. So I began to acquire a video clip of this video game, and proceeded to create a list of all the sound effects I would need to recreate in order for this to work. Some sound effects that would work nicely I had already in my possession, saved to my hard drive in my sound library. Those are sound effects from a previous project with similar intent, giving me a nice head start already as I acquired a few sounds from that.

Following that I then proceeded to create new sound effects. The digital audio workspace, or DAW for short, that I use is Ableton Live 10. Using the in-built synthesizer I set out to create new sound effects fitting a retro game from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or SNES for short) era. Whilst I had great success with some sound effects, I had troubles with others. Specifically, I had troubles with the sounds for the swinging of a sword, a door unlocking, and footsteps going up and down a flight of stairs.

I was not sure how I would be able to circumvent these troubles, and therefor decided to review the methods I was using. After looking into other games. to be precise video games that have retro style, but are in fact modern era video games, I realized that due to lacking the knowledge and skill for the time being, to create such very specific sounds and effects, that I had to use a different approach. So, I ended up dropping my attempt at re-creating sound effects from the SNES era, and rather focus on the here and now. For the sound of the sword swinging I ended up using the sound of a knife sliding across a hard surface, and then manipulated the sound. I first lowered the pitch of the sound sample, and then proceeded to reduce the bit-depth, which more or less means reducing the quality of the sound itself, until it sounded like something that would in in a retro-style game of the modern era. I proceeded to do the very same for the footsteps going up and down a flight of stairs. In the case of the footsteps, I got my hands on a sample of a pair of boots walking on a stone surface, which I gave the same treatment as the sword. As for the sound of a door unlocking I acquired a sound effect of two pieces of metal banging and sliding against each other, once more giving it the same treatment as mentioned before.

The only thing that was left to do was create music. I was unsure at first how I wanted to approach the music for the game. I wanted to give it my own style, but still at the same time I wanted to make it fit at least somewhat, so I did not want to make it too contemporary. What I ended up using in the end was simply three built in instruments from Ableton Live 10. The first was a drum rack, the second one a nasal voice that sinds “Aahs” and “Oohs”, and the third one being a brass ensemble. The way I made those all sound like they belong in a retro/retro-style game was by giving them all the same treatment as my sound effects previously mentioned. I decreased the bit-depth of each one of those virtual instruments, and I also used an equalizer to remove all the low-end, aka all the bass from the each of the instruments, since making the instruments lower quality they can drone quite a lot if there is base within them.

Finally it was time to edit it all and that was quite the chore for multiple reasons. Firstly there were a lot of small sound effects very quickly one after another in quick succession, taking a long time to line all the sound effects up correctly for them to fit perfectly where they are supposed to be. Another issue was that for some reason some times the video would not load from certain spots so I had to scroll back far enough so that the video would play again so that I then could place the sounds where they belong. Overall it was a very arduous task to do, that proofed less difficult, but more so extremely tedious, but in the end I managed to do it.

It was quite some long and hard work, but in the end it paid off, as I got to see a full five minute video of my hard work, being able to admire what I did, and finding it to be a job well done. I look back at the work now, happy that I did it, and happy about the way I did it, enjoying the fact that such hard work made a final product that I like myself for once as well.

Research Project

Sticking with my theme of “The Legend of Zelda” I decided that for the research paper that we were supposed to create I would look into the aspect of how the original “The Legend of Zeda: Link’s Awakening” and the remake that was released in 2019 differ. To do so I decided that it would be first prudent to take a look at each game. I decided to first start off with a general overview of both games, having a bit of a closer look at the limitations of the original console the game was released on, namely the Game Boy. Having studied it a bit it turns out that the Game Boy has massive limitations especially in regard to music and sound, having only 4 different channels available at any given time, meaning the game boy can only produce 4 different sounds at the same time.

Realizing that I had a closer look at the music that Link’s Awakening has, and realized that indeed it only ever has two “instruments” playing at the same. One giving rhythm and also doubling as the bass, and one that is the leading melody of each song. It turns out that most sound effects do not interrupt the music, but mostly each other, if too much is going on at once sound wise, then sounds will cut out, not so the music however except for a few examples which I found quite interesting.

Another aspect I ended up looking into was nostalgia. I realized that nostalgia is another big aspect that I should look into when it comes to comparing two games that are the same. In essence I realized that nostalgia is an important feeling when looking at the remake of a game, especially a game that is originally as old as this one. After all there are around 18 years difference between the original game and the remake, leaving a huge gap between the two. And as somebody who played the original on their Game Boy Color all happy and excited, because it was just such an extremely magical and wonderful journey as a child. As such it was important to me on a personal level that the remake felt just as magical.

Therefor I decided to do some research into the nostalgia, which turned out the be quite insightful, finding some interesting sources talking about different forms of nostalgia, something I had not even considered. Within was explained that there are different forms of nostalgia, created and experiences in different ways, depending on what kind of game it is. It ended up giving me a more detailed and clearer insight into what exactly is going on in regard to the nostalgia within the new version, the remake. of the game, and how it ties the two games together.

I then proceeded to pick the two games apart in detail, especially when it comes to the sound design, having a specifically close look at the bosses and mini bosses within the games, as they offer the most characteristics of the game, being the most imposing but at the same time most unique beings, so much so that even with the limit sound capacity of the Game Boy, they all have their very own special sounds they make, giving a great opportunity to cross reference the two to have a closer look at how the new version of the game handles all of these things. In the end it felt like sound wise the remake was essentially taking the original game and using it as a foundation to build upon to make it something contemporary.

This task was by far the hardest, having to do a ton of research and taking a deep dive into both games, taking in everything and then in detail write about it. It took a long time and a lot of effort and patience, but I am happy with the end result I achieved with it.

Professional Practice

One of the main things I had to do for professional practice was to create a show reel/demo reel. At first I thought I would have to create a bunch of new mini projects to get something together for it, but I decided not to do so. Instead, I decided I would take all the projects from the past three years of university and compile them into a three minute video. I wanted to give a full and true image of th spectrum of things I am currently capable and incapable off, not only to be true to whomever is seeing it, but also to be true to myself, to have a reminder just what exactly my errors are, so I can work on them, so by the time I release my next demo/show reel, I can show off just how much I have improved, not just to others, but myself as well.

Doing a 5-year plan right afterwards was a massive help in that regard, making me realize just what kind of goals I should aim for, giving me a nice step-by-step guide fully created by myself to have a view into the future what I could and should do to further myself. It was a fun and interesting task, opening my eyes to the possibilities.

Lastly I had to do an assessment, not only explaining my demo reel in depth, but also forcing me to do some research into the current state of the games industry, which gave me quite a lot of insight into just how much the games industry has grown, and how much more important it has becoming, opening my eyes to how big the challenges ahead of me are, but also giving me confidence that I can do it if I just work hard on it.

Overall, it has been extremely stressful with everything that has been going on, but I am also extremely grateful for having gotten the opportunity to go and study at a university, and given the opportunity to learn all the things I have.

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colde0channel · 4 years

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[ENG] 180530 COLDE - DAZED INTERVIEW

Q. I was hesitant right before I came to see you. I wasn’t sure what questions to ask. I assumed ‘music’ was the only clue that explained your name ‘Colde’.

Colde: That’s absolutely right. I never had the intention of creating a visual stereotype of the work I’ve been doing so far. I’ve rejected using other elements besides music. It’s the same reason why I wear a hat/cap when I sing. That’s why I’m reluctant to be exposed in the media and I hardly do interviews very often. I’ve been doing that for the past two years, I’m now working as a solo artist as of this year. I thought this time, I’d have to brand myself differently. This is my first magazine interview with Dazed. (t/n: He feels more confident performing on stage. He explained in previous interviews that he’s in fact a ‘timid’ person. This interview took place in 2018. Colde officially debuted with 0channel as ‘offonoff’ in 2016.)

Q. That sounds great. So let’s start this with, what’s the meaning behind the name ‘Colde’ ?

Colde: There are certain words that I love, and one of them is ‘Cold’ . When I visualised it as an image, I thought it fit well with my voice and appearance. I’m naturally not a bright person but the name ‘Cold’ goes well with a calm feeling. There are lots of meaningless typography (names) so that’s why I put an ‘e’ at the end of ‘Cold’. (Cold + e= Colde) (t/n: He mentioned on Red & Yella, that he got the name using a word generator. Although his name is Colde and with a voice that sounds ‘cold’ too, he wishes to bring warmth with his music.)

Q. What type of person is ‘Colde’ aka ‘Kim Heesoo’ like in real life? Are you as quiet and calm as when you sing?

Colde: I like to think positively, and I’m usually quiet. However once you get to know me, I like to joke around. I tend to discuss deeply about what I love; like collecting vintage items, old books and I love taking film photos that I can directly connect to music. Which I then keep in a stack of archives. Also riding an old car. I write songs with that kind of inspiration. I know a lot of people have been curious. (t/n: In fact he has a tattoo of an ‘old car’ on his right arm. Also the film photos he took in Texas (2019) were used for his LOVE PART 01 EP cover)

Q. What other things do you do, when you’re not doing music?

Colde: Talking (to friends)? Or watching a movie. I enjoy drinking tea peacefully while reading books. I like going to clubs but only when it’s for work, like planning a performance or parties. (laughs)

Q. Don’t you sometimes dream of escaping in a fit of anger?

Colde: Hmmmm, well I would take a walk on the Han River Bridge and just sing. Then sing loudly until I can’t hear my voice and the sound of cars.

Q. When you know you have enough control of yourself, it’s not as easy as it looks. So far, do you think you’ve been able to compete only with music rather than revealing yourself (into the public).

Colde: When me and 0channel moved together as a team, we solely focused on ‘offonoff’ as opposed to individuality. Our concept was not to let anyone know about us, like Margiela (brand). It was difficult to continue with that kind of concept as a crew (team). But with that, it’s constructed well in its own way. I would express it as ‘branding’.

(t/n: It’s almost saying as if ‘offonoff’ is a brand of its own. Martin Margiela who owns the brand, remains to be a private person. “Constantly challenging people’s expectations, the label persistently presents the idea of anonymity within their collections, and often sends models down the catwalk with their faces concealed so the concentration is on the clothes.” source: vogue )

Q. I agree. Nowadays, we do the branding ourselves. Offonoff and Colde’s music reminds me of the phrase you either ‘like it’ or you ‘crave for more’ . Without a doubt, both of you have different opinions. When you work on an album, how much do you or both express your own preference(s)?

Colde: For my solo music, they’re all centered around me so everything is decided by my opinion. Whereas in comparison to teamwork (offonoff), our opinions are half and half. We combine both of our ideas, well enough to make it work. That’s why it takes longer to work on the album. Which is the same for other things besides music. From a month before the album was released, we gathered every week to have visual meetings. Discussing ideas on how we would like the music video(s) to turn out. So I think we have good teamwork and synergy based on that.

Q. I heard that your first solo single ‘Your Dog Loves You’, from song writing to music video and album promotion was done without any label.

Colde: When we were still promoting as ‘offonoff’, our previous label (HIGHGRND) positively reflected the opinions of artists. So there weren't any conflicting issues. When I wrote this song (YDLY), I told myself “I’ll pursue this, there’s no one stopping me.” I started working on the album (YDLY) thinking about my dog; Samna. Even though we’ve been apart for a while, I still feel a sense of happiness. I realised that love is truly incredible. I wanted to express the meaning of my love and gratitude (for her), so that’s why I wrote about Samna as my first single. ‘Your Dog Loves You’ is a song that conveys my honest self and emotions with sincerity. Thus recording (the song) is important when doing music.

Q. What type of branding will be added to this song?

Colde: For this song, I think my real name ‘Kim Heesoo’ best represents me than Colde. To Samna, I live as ‘Kim Heesoo’ (laughs). We will be selling T-shirts with the release of this album. Some of the proceeds (from selling the shirts) will be donated to ‘CARE’, an animal shelter organisation. They also helped with the music video shoot.

Q. Is Wavy a type of movement?

Colde: That is correct. It's not just a concept or a crew but it's going to turn into a ‘brand’. Essentially it will then form as an ‘official label’. I'm still thinking about how I'm going to make it interesting, once it's unveiled. I can't tell you any more details, please keep an eye out . (laughs)

Q. It seems that promoting the song strategically is as important as good music.

Colde: I guess you could say that. When me and 0channel made our first song (Mood. mixtape [2015]) as ‘offonoff’, we tried to complete it with a high quality visual. With that, we started a website for it. The goal was to make the site accessible for everyone to access, and I paid attention to the small details. (offonoffart.tumblr.com) Which I think played a part of the promotion. It’s the same process for my solo music. I’m not only good at making music, but I should get the most out of using webzine, youtube channel and SNS websites (instagram etc). I also like to observe and explore how people use these websites.

Q. Are there any public figures (eg. actors, writers, artists) or anything that you are interested in nowadays?

Colde: Vintage shopping. In my spare time, I would make a trip looking for only vintage items.

Q. In your opinion, is nostalgia for old (things) any special?

Colde: Without them (old things) what would be left after the person passes away? Money? I don’t think so. If I leave something that is special (to me) I’d regard it as if it’s my child. I believe that whoever is influenced by me, will be greatly inspired. If you have a distinctive preference, the meaning of life will look even more different. Then I’ll be able to explain that clearly to someone, before I die.

Q. What’s the latest thing you’ve purchased?

Colde: Yesterday I bought a candlestick decorated with crystals on it. There’s a favourite shop that I like, whenever a new item comes in the owner would always contact me first. I also bought postcards and old magazines.

Q. Does that kind of preference also similar with fashion?

Colde: I love anything vintage in Japan and the UK. When I talk to my friends, ‘vintage’ is always the subject of the conversation. (t/n: He visited both countries before.)

Q. It is evident that cool musicians like you dress well. I think that’s why we’re able to film Eli’den Men with you today.

Colde: I’ve been offered a lot of fashion photoshoots and I’ve disappointed many, even though it’s a great opportunity. I had to decline them. I’d rather make a proposal for myself first, planning to do projects which connect music and fashion. Having the chance to work on Eli’den Men, I was so excited that I knew it would be fun. Even wearing eleven outfits was a challenge for me.

Q. How do you feel after filming it?

Colde: I feel great because I got to wear many pretty clothes. (laughs)

Q. What is the relationship between fashion and music for you?

Colde: I think my own criteria of fashion determines whether I'm an artist or not. Anyone can identify if an artist’s identity is connected to fashion. It doesn’t necessarily mean an artist has to dress well. I don’t think I can look my best, without that connection between work and clothing. It’s very important to show your personality through fashion. For example, when performing as offonoff’s Colde, I would wear my cap pretty low. Because that’s the character I set up for myself. I’m the type of person who doesn’t want to make eye contact with people, who’s also timid, passive and a reserved person. But in reality I’m gloomy and an introvert. After becoming a solo artist it’s getting better, now that I’ve started to open myself up to the world. Hence why I decided to appear on the show ‘BREAKERS’. The process of opening myself is revealed through fashion.

Q. I can feel the sincerity from your honesty. From now onwards I have high hopes of what’s going to happen next (for his next music release).

Colde: For my next second single; the keyword is ‘Fashion’. (Colde - WAVE [EP]) These days, I’ve been so immersed in my work. I’ve been planning this (album) since last year. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m planning to get a head start on this around June to July.

Q. So will we meet again next month?

Colde: I’d love that (smiles). I think it’s more meaningful if it’s with DAZED. Please look forward to my new music and upcoming projects.

✧ original source here

Translated by @colde0channel. Please credit when reposting. Thank you!

#offonoff #colde #interview #kim heesoo

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ramblefang · 4 years

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Rabbit Town; BNA ep 2

“Previous Post

Preface

My previous (and first) post of these BNA first impressions ended up being more rambly than even I want to be. Most of that was due to me retelling events, which I was actually doing to help me remember what happened in the episode. So instead, I’m going to try just going through the episode again in another tab and using timestamps (which I think is the norm for this sort of thing anyway.) This technically means I’ll be writing down my second impressions, but I’d really prefer my first watch of episodes to not be interrupted every minute by me needing to tab out and write something. I’ll still try to remember and write out my first impressions anyway.

(Hmm, Netflix doesn’t seem to provide a precise timestamp. Guess I’ll just approximate things by mousing over the...runtime...bar thing.)

Cold Open

0:15 Starting off right where the last episode ended: Michiru saying that she’s human.

0:22 Shirou says she’s a tanuki, based on the appearance of her tail. She seems offended by the idea. My best guess is that her reaction has to do with what tanuki are famous for: having huge balls. (Also they’re magical spirits, which may or may not have something to do with the powers Michiru has.)

0:45 The police arrive and it seems Shirou is a known entity. Gives me Batman vibes. Is Shirou a vigilante? And in that way where the police are just used to it by now?

Opening

0:50 The OP starts and I notice the strands of DNA. Makes me think of how Michiru apparently changed species, and also the way there is some pharmaceutical company behind the very existence of Anima-City. Oh, and I just got that “BNA” is basically a pun on DNA.

1:30 Last time I had recalled something about shadowy feral transformations, but it looks like Michiru transforms into something more equine than anything else. (With what I know from later in the episode, she definitely seems to be a shapeshifter, which I think is appropriate for a tanuki.)

1:40 Oh, and there’s still totally something about this vocal melody that reminds me of “Bad Apple.” Admittedly, it’s been years since I actually listened to that song, so maybe I’ll have to go compare them later.

Forms

2:00 A detail spoiled by the OP: apparently beastmen have human forms that they can switch to, yet Michiru can’t. Honestly, it sort of looks like she’s stuck in a halfway state—a kemonomimi for the most part, though with the nose and “mask”

2:10 Shirou appears surprised, and possibly skeptical, about Michiru being unable to switch forms, indicating that it is by far the norm to be able to do so

2:35 Ah, by the way Michiru speaks about it, switching forms seems to be common knowledge even among humans. Shirou says “Quit talking like a human” in response to the idea that they’re always in beast form, which means this is a common human misconception (and this comes up later as well, illustrating how Michiru really comes across as human in little ways).

2:45 Bystanders seem to be paying special attention to Michiru, likely to her form. (This sets up what happens later over her inability to assume a human form)

Cooperative

3:00 A lot about this scene speaks to me as a trans person: someone running tests that “prove” someone’s identity and insisting that what they see on the surface is all there is to the truth

3:35 Michiru says she must be afflicted with a “disease”, reminding me of the worries I had about a pharmaceutical company being behind the city and how there may be a darker purpose involving a “cure.” Unsettlingly, Michiru also isn’t far off from saying that being a beastman—the very existence of beastmen—is itself a disease. (Mind, she doesn’t literally say that, but based on things she says at the end of the episode, it may not be too far off from how she actually feels—right now.)

4:00 Back to trans stuff, this reminds me of how being trans was, as a whole, labeled as “Gender Identity Disorder”, categorized as a mental illness rather than a natural state of being. (Also, I’m currently building a headcanon of Michiru being a trans girl. Not only because of this stuff, but also due to how she reacted to being called a tanuki: I can interpret her as feeling gender incongruence/dysphoria over the big balls thing.)

4:30 Interesting that this is a “cooperative”. Are they technically not part of the government and are more independent than that? Or maybe the term means something else in Japan.

4:40 Again with trans feels. Filling out forms and needing to identify as something you don’t actually see yourself as

4:50 (Didn’t catch that my first time around: different blood types? Wonder if blood harvesting and blood mixing will be a thing. Remembering the kids that were about to be sold off... Might these things be connected?)

(Rather than making things shorter, this is just resulting in me going even more in-depth. Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to deal with it.)

5:10 Probably a bit of an exaggeration that you can’t get back anything stolen from you: says more about how this is a seedier place than the video in episode 1 let on. We sort of got that from Michiru being pickpocketed in the first place, but this lets us know that that wasn’t an irregular occurrence

5:30 (Also didn’t really absorb this my first watch, but it does make sense that Michiru has been sleeping outside while on the run. Doesn’t feel good to think about how she had to spend that time being scared of the humans around her.)

5:40 Kuro is a wonderfully round birb.

6:10 Michiru making the same connected that I made (and that the audience in general is probably expected to make) about Shirou potentially being that big wolf who was up on the rooftops

6:25 Michiru probably expected Anima-City to be the end of her struggles where everything would just be better and easier. Indeed, she is young and naive.

The Next Morning

7:20 While Michiru may be surprised by the “rule of the strong” here, it does work effectively in parallel with the focus that has been put on money (between these two episodes). The powerful get to do what they want, whether it comes from physical strength or financial power. When it comes down to it, the human world, under a capitalist framework, doesn’t behave all that differently

7:45 Oh, Shirou has some sort of direction connection with the mayor and/or the government. Is this what they meant by “social worker”? Is he some sort of government agent? Does he have the extrajudicial authority to just beat people up (and even kill them?) the way he did with those terrorists?

9:00 (Considering Marie’s apparent connection to Rabbit Town, she probably does have some connection to the pickpocket. But now that I’m making this connection... Did Marie bring those kids to Rabbit Town after they were separated from their parents by beastman hunters?)

Rabbit Town

9:25 My very first expectation with a place called “Rabbit Town” was something akin to “Little China Town”

9:35 Then it struck me as something of a red light district

10:00 And we learn what Michiru might have to deal with in the future for being unable to switch to a human form: more people may think she’s trying to pick a fight.

10:15 Saying that she’s “not some baby” indicates that there are people who can’t control their forms: young children. Or, perhaps, someone who hasn’t been a beastman for a long time. (Maybe she’ll figure it out when/if she gets back with the kids she helped rescue.)

10:45 (Struck by how “coincidental” it is that someone like Grand Grandma would end up with a random kid’s wallet. It’s making me think that the pickpocket and Marie actually funnel people into this person-trafficking ring)

11:15 With my early impression of Rabbit Town being some sort of red light district, I thought this was some sort of communal daycare. (But seeing it again, I’m noticing how stern these women are at seeing the children. Definitely doesn’t look like they care about the kids.)

11:20 The line about them being “women who were betrayed by men”, and the following lines, really fit in with my thinking that this was a red light district, and they probably just didn’t want to outright say these were sex workers. (And maybe some of them are, but it turns out to be far from the whole picture)

11:40 And it does seem to be the image they want to give to Michiru: that they’re a bunch of women struggling together with all of these kids to take care of. There was also a bit about “what it’s like to live as a beastman” which makes me think that it’s definitely the norm for beastmen to be poor—not a surprise since they are clearly an oppressed minority group

Literacy

12:05 Totally expected “Poop” to become the kids’ nickname for Michiru. (Glad it didn’t since it would have made it harder to really care about what happens later.)

12:50 Look at these cuties wanting to learn. (And sobering in retrospect to think how this is probably the most care and attention they’ve had in a while.)

13:10 I forgot to say something about it last episode, but the way Shirou’s sense of smell is visualized is amazing.

13:20 Again with the red light district impression, I was thinking this was the arrival of a pimp or something

13:40 I appreciate Michiru caring about what the kid is already doing instead of reprimanding them for not paying attention

14:00 So we learn about Silver Wolf, who could be the wolf Michiru saw when she arrived in the city. Since Shirou seems to be that wolf, does that mean he’s actually Silver Wolf? Is this an urban legend based on him? Or is he actually some sort of god?

Money

14:45 The demands of payment really played into my pimp impression, but then this guy mentions “letting these women be gangsters.” They could totally still be sex workers as well, but this clues us in that these women may be involved in shadier stuff

15:10 I wonder if the politics of these criminal groups will come more into play in the future. Wouldn’t be surprised if some of the villains we meet end up being allies by the end, considering the way Trigger tends to tell their stories.

15:35 “It’s all women are good for anyway” is an impressively disgusting line to tell us that they’ve been talking about selling the kids. Also, I wonder what it means for the mayor to know about the kids: that the government will be sending people to rescue the kids and shut them down...or that the mayor would be interested in buying...

15:45 The line about the kids being “snatched away” probably means the mayor, so probably not about buying the kids. Still doesn’t mean the “rescue” could end up being more nefarious than it would seem. (Look, I just don’t trust the head of a pharmaceutical company also being a mayor, especially when a video about the city was directly associated with the company instead of being its own thing.)

15:55 Given the earlier scene between Shirou and the mayor, and Shirou being here, I guess he’s something like the mayor’s enforcer? Her trusty hand that does what needs to be done? But I’d also guess that if the mayor is secretly a villain, Shirou has no idea

Trafficking

16:30 I immediately put together that these kids were probably separated from their parents due to attacks by those beastman hunters. (And earlier in this post is when I retroactively put together that Marie, or people with the same job, likely gave/sold the kids to Grand Grandma, if they don’t work for her directly.)

16:40 The rule of the powerful coming up again. This is the way this world (and our world) works. (Which I could go off on a political tangent about, but I’ll refrain for now.)

16:55 Michiru is an atheist. Or at least incredibly pragmatic. Not the most helpful thing to say to people who literally can’t do anything in this situation, but I appreciate the sentiment of actually doing what you can instead of hoping someone else does something about it

17:20 Hmm, no one seems too surprised about Michiru’s expanding tail powers. Maybe this is a relatively normal tanuki thing?

18:00 But the stretchy arms totally aren’t normal, even for a tanuki. Thinking about it, no one else has obviously shown any kind of powers yet. Shirou’s fight with the terrorists could have just been his physical prowess. Do these powers have something to do with Michiru’s transformation from human to beastman?

18:50 In case you didn’t catch on to everyone’s surprise, confirmation that what Michiru just did was very unusual.

19:25 Never a big fan of the “even if they’re women” line. They’ve been doing a very bad thing. Stopping them shouldn’t have anything to do with gender. Why even bring it up. But I guess it does play into Shirou being a masculine and “chivalrous” type of character, as well as this being a generally patriarchal society (which isn’t really any different from our world). (Thinking back to my post on the previous episode, I guess “this isn’t too different from our world” is probably the point that the pseudo-branding contributes to.)

20:00 It seems that Shirou’s relationship to the police is less like Batman, and more like he just outranks them.

20:20 “Facility” is such a cold and impersonal term that it really does make me worry about what the government is going to do with these kids. Again, pharmaceutical company. (I’ll make sure to go back to episode 1 and get a better look at the company’s actual name so I can use that. May as well if I’ll continue to make a big fuss over it.)

20:35 “Even though you’re a beastman, don’t you have a human heart?” is a horribly offensive question. I was initially going to refer to it as a microaggression, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how terrible it is. It’s heavily loaded with the ideas: 1) beastmen are expected to be bad, hence the “even though”, and 2) being human is inherently a good thing. Despite what she said to Shirou at the end of last episode, it seems that she really just has the inverse of his beliefs. And this is so clearly something that only a human would say that it convinces Grand Grandma of Michiru’s “humanity”

21:20 Shirou, needing to wait for evidence before he can do anything, kind of illustrates Michiru’s point of view of not being able to count on society—on anyone else—to be able to help you.

21:30 Shirou, representing the police and government authority to an extent, believing that he “never makes mistakes” again reminds me of the protests we’ve had throughout this year. How the police totally does make mistakes—or rather, the way they don’t even view things they’ve done as mistakes—is totally a problem. (ACAB)

21:40 Following up on what Grand Grandma mentioned earlier about being “betrayed by men”, Michiru questions why it’s only “women and children” that Shirou is protecting. Is it that men don’t need to be protected? “What makes males so special? Are men really that great?”

21:55 And Michiru outright says what she had only implied earlier. Also, she seems a bit scattered between being angry at men, being angry at beastmen, being angry at the police, bring angry at society, and being angry in general. But I get it.

And that’s the end of the episode. I’m not sure if this is how I’ll continue to do these impressions, but I guess I’ll have to see how I feel about it once I get to episode 3. Maybe I’ll try out some genuine first-impressions, even if it means interrupting the episode constantly.

#bna #first impressions

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aspiestvmusings · 4 years

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THE MASKED SINGER (US) S3

THE MASKED SINGER (USA) SPOILERS!

Here’s what we know so far.

Premiere date: Feb 2nd (02/02/2020) right after SB

Clues: There will be clues (video clips?) aired/shown during SuperBowl (commercials) on Feb 2nd

Clues/Clue packages: will be presented differently this time...to make the guessing harder.

Voiceovers: This season the clue package voice overs apparnetly won’t be done by the celebs themselves, who are in the costumes, but by their family members/relatives/friends - people, who know them. (Why not hire a VO actor to read all of the contestants clues instead of involving more people - because the more people that know the identities the harder the secret is to keep, right?)

SEASON 3 COSTUMES:

A-Z

Astronaut

Banana

Bear

Elephant

Frog

Kangaroo

Kitty (Cat)

Llama

Miss Monster

Mouse

Night Angel

Rhino

Robot

Swan

Turtle

Taco

T-Rex (EDITED TO ADD: JUST REVEALED)

White Tiger

And based on the order of the revealed masks, it looks like they are divided into three groups in the following way (these are my guesses based on the order in which each mask was revealed, but there could be mistakes in my guesses):

Edited: to correct the names/masks of the 6 contestants in group A, because it’s not the first 6 costumes revealed. Same with Groups B & C. The order of costume reveal is not the order they’re divided into groups of six.

GROUP A (1)

(Pink) Miss Monster Mask (looks female & she is short!)

Robot Mask (looks male, but he is short-ish; costume: vintage robot)

Llama mask (looks male; costume: tourist w. a camera style)

Turtle Mask (ETA: sounds male, & he is short-ish, could be a team-sports baller - athlete, but sounds like he can sing; costume: punk style leather)

White Tiger Mask (looks male & he is very tall - looks to be around/almost 2m)

Kangaroo Mask (ETA: looks & sounds female...actually...)

GROUP B (2)

Banana Mask (cannot tell if M or F, but possibly a female artist)

Mouse Mask (looks female)

Frog Mask (looks female to me, but could be male, is possible an athlete; costume: purple “Mask” suit)

Kitty (Cat) Mask (looks female, costume: LV burlesque show style)

Elephant Mask (looks male, & he is tal-ish; costume: design gives me MCU quantum realm/time travel space suit vibes)

Taco Mask (cannot tell if M or F)

GROUP C (3)

Astronaut Mask (cannot tell if M or F, most likely male, they are short-ish)

(White) Swan Mask (looks female)

Rhino Mask (looks male, costume: safari & pilot jacket)

Bear Mask (looks female, costume: purple & pink teddybear)

Night Angel Mask (looks female)

T-Rex Mask (looks male; costume: Reneissance/Shakespeare style look) PS. it seemed to be something resembling a 2-headed dragon or so.. so 2 people in one costume or like llama, who has two sets of legs... but instead...it’s a “dinosaur”)

***********************************************

This year the US show has record number of masks/celebs (18), so they are divided into 3 groups (last year it was 16 and 2 groups). And this year the show is filmed and airs differently. First the first group filmed all their episodes, then the second group, and lastly the third group (filming currently). Then only after that all remaining contestants from each group are “united” and compete against each other in the “quarter finals”.

And they also air the episodes this way: First three episodes are group A. And since each week one mask is voted out, then in the end that leaves 3 masks standing in Group A “finale”. Then next three episodes (eps 4-6) is group B. And then next three eps (eps 7 - 9) is Group C. That means that during the first 9 episodes each group competes separately.

Then all remaining 9 contestants (3 + 3 + 3 from each group) get together, and form one group...and the show continues as known from previous seasons. And still each week one (or in some weeks 2) masks are voted out. Til only 3 remain by the Finale episode. This means that S3 has most likely 15 episodes or so (depending on how many weeks have double-eliminations between episode 10 and The Finale)

************************************************

Each costume looks kinda male or female. But you cannot judge the gender of the celeb under it by the look of the costume. If the costume is pink and/or has a dress, it’s not definitely a female celeb wearing it, though they do prefer to use pink for girls & blue for boys...so far. And if the costume is dressed in a suit, it’s not definitely a male celeb wearing it.

Some costumes, which show the persons physique more, make it a lot easier to guess who is wearing it (their gender, their size - height & bodytype), but even then there could be curveballs thrown in there.

I have added guesses on who I think is wearing the costume (male or female celeb) based on how much of the person can be seen under the costume. And based on whats shown in the video clips, and promo pics...the little clues about the celebs that we’ve gotten. Some of these estimates might be off.

We know based on the little info that has come out that there is (at least) one very tall celeb in the costume (Taco, Tiger?). And we know that at least two contestants are not very tall (a bit or quite a bit shorter than the shows host, Nick C., who is 6 feet..or so = about 180cm tall).

Regarding height: When Turtle, Miss Monster, Kangaroo & White Tiger stand next to each other, then they are in order of height with Tiger the tallest & Turtle & Miss Moster the shortest. Miss Monster is quite a bit shorter than host Nick. Robot is also shorter than host Nick. Other short or short-ish contestants include: astrounaut...

IF we assume that (like in most of the time on this format) there are equal number of male & female contestants, then... that makes the guessing based on just the costumes easier...on which one each is.

EDITED OUT AFTER EP 1 HAD AIRED.

**************************************************

STATS:

The 18 celebs in the costumes, combined have:

in total: 69 Grammy nominations (so at least a one or few big(ger) names from music world) EDITED on Feb 3rd: - 25 (the number of noms that the Robot, the 1st mask voted out, has) = 44 left for the remaining 17 contestants

in total: 88 gold record (so at least one or a few big(ger) names from music world) EDITED on Feb 3rd: - 12 or more...depending on which ones count here (as far as I know all or almost all of the Robot’s albums have gone Gold and/or Platinum, and he’s released over 10 albums + mixtapes etc) = 76-ish left for the remaining 17 contestants

in total: 11 super bowl appearances (this doesn’t mean that they’ve played during SB, it also includes all apperances during SB games...like performing during half-time, ...any celeb appearance during the game/broadcast...)

in total: 3 stars in the (Hollywoood) “walk of fame” (so at least 3 big names, who have been given a star there)

in total: 160 tattoos (this means at least a few celebs, who have a lot of tattoos, because 160 divided by 18 gives us 8-9 per person, but I’m guessing some have none/max 1, and some have more than 10) EDITED on Feb 3rd: - 86 (the number of tattoos that Robot, the 1st mask voted out, has - his tattoos made up about half of all the tattoos) = 74 left for the ramaining 17 contestants

in total: 1 title in the “Guinness Book of World Records”** - this one could be easy to figure out if someone took the time to check the list of record holders in those books...

** There are quite many celebs, who have been in Quinness World Record Book. It doesn’t have to really be a “real record” - it can be something like “reached 1 million followers on IG the fastest” or “took the most selfies in a limited timeframe”. Some of the famous people, who have/had in 2019 (when they were cast) or have had titles of Guinness Records include: Eminem, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Justin Bieber, Dolly Parton, Ozzy Obbourne, The Rock, RDJ (kinda, thanks to his fans), Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lawrence, Cristiano Ronaldo (athlete), Alex Rodriguez (athlete)

***********************************************

And that is basically all theyve revealed so far. Which I personally consider a plus. And I hope that theyve really upped their game, and dont make guessing so easy. For profesisonal singers among the contestants their voice alone will give them away most times (examples: Leopard, Rottweiler last season... who have such unique, well known voices). So it’s a bit more challenging for people guessing for the clues not to be so easy. Which is why I hope they really made the clues harder...like they have promised in the previews.

***********************************************

SPOILERS: We have knows for a little while who would be eliminated first. Because weve seen the four costumes that make it to the last epsiode of Group A (ep 3x03) - Kangaroo, Monster, Tiger, Turtle. Since the Robot was unmasked first, that means Llama will be unmasked next (on Web, Feb 5th). We know this because they always miss that they’ve included soem revealing bits in their promos (or include the pictures/clips on purpose). They accidentally included an image of the last four masks for griup A. And you can also determine who stays for how longif you pay attention to the clips - you can tell how many different performances each mask has - cause for some they include just one, for some several, and the more different songs/performances the further they make.

***********************************************

How many different perdormances from each mask/contestant have they included in their promos/promo clips (this means: they persorm AT LEAST this many different songs):

Astronaut

Banana = 1

Bear

Elephant

Frog = 1

Kangaroo = 1 + 1

Kitty (Cat) 1

Llama 1

Miss Monster 1 + 1

Mouse 1

Night Angel

Rhino

Robot 1

Swan

Turtle 1 + 1

Taco 1

T-Rex

White Tiger 1 + 1

***********************************************

#THE MASKED SINGER #TMS #TMS US #TMS USA #SPOILER #TMS SPOILER #TMS SEASON 3 #THE MASKED SINGER US SEASON 3 #I HAVE HEARD TWO OF THE MASKS SINGS AND BOTH VOICES SOUND KINDA FAMILIAR #I CANNOT PUT NAMES AND FACES TO THE VOICES JUST YET. NEED TO HEAR FULL SONGS AND SEE MORE. BUT... THE GAME HAS STARTED #I'VE GOT MY CUP OF TEA READY. I'M WEARING MY SHERLOCK HOLMES HAT AND HAVE A MAGNIFYING GLASS AT HAND #I HAVE A SUSPICION ABOUT ONE SPECIFIC CELEB BEING IN THE SHOW IN S3. THEY WEREN'T IN GROUP A. BUT THERE ARE STILL 12 MASKS LEFT THAT...

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miguel-manbemel · 4 years

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Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 27: A Side is Born Part 2: Grown and Lost

New episode of this fic inspired on Sanders Sides by Thomas Sanders, Joan S. and the Foster Dawg Team. Thank you so much for the good reception that the previous episode had. Now, the story continues, right where it ended. Each episode is gonna feature in the beginning a quick reminder from the most important events in the previous episode, with the fun fact that these reminders are embedded in the story and are of an unique style for each part. Nedless to say, these reminders are full of spoilers from these previous episodes if you haven’t read them. May you enjoy this second part of the story and until next week.

WARNINGS: Romantic prinxiety and logicality. Some light innuendo. Fair warning that in the last part of this episode, the mood switches to strong angst.

SYNOPSIS: In front of the others, Chris has started growing at great speed and they wonder why is it happening. In the middle of this, fearing that they will never know him as a child, Roman decides to take the boy to Sandersia so that Ira and Roland get the news of the newborn before that newborn is an adult himself.

EPISODE INDEX

[a sign reading “In the previous episode..." appears. Flashback images from the previous episode are shown while Roman’s voice is heard off-screen]

NARRATOR-ROMAN: [off-voice] Today has been a memorable day in so many senses. It all started this morning when Virgil suddenly felt not so good…

VIRGIL: I didn’t want to concern you, Roman. Probably it’s just something I’ve eaten that’s not agreeing with my stomach.

ROMAN: Still, my duty as your husband is taking care of you when you’re feeling bad. I thought we had agreed on not hiding things from each other.

VIRGIL: Don’t worry, Roman, I’m sure this is not serious.

NARRATOR-ROMAN: [off-voice] But very soon, things started spiraling out of control.

THOMAS: Heh… It’s funny. If you weren’t a man I would say that you’ve got all the symptoms of being pregnant.

[Virgil slowly lowers his hands from his face and looks at Thomas with a face of horror]

THOMAS: [serious] Wait… don’t tell me that you can…

VIRGIL: Oh… my… goodness… [putting his hands on his belly] For the love of Gerard Way…

THOMAS: But… this is not a Sims game! Since when can a person with male reproductive organs get pregnant!?

NARRATOR-ROMAN: [off-screen] Yep, surprise. We had a bun in the oven. Although it looked more like a micro-wave oven, cause the bun was cooking really fast…

VIRGIL: [in pain, putting his hand on his belly] Aw!

ROMAN: [scared] What was that, Virgil! Are you okay?

VIRGIL: I… I think so… He moved inside me, and kicked me really hard from my insides. It was so weird…

ROMAN: Seriously, Logan. How can this go so fast? This morning he was having the first nausea and now he looks as if he was six months pregnant already!

LOGAN: Well, as I told you, we’re not human. Maybe instead of nine months, Virgil’s pregnancy will be only nine hours. Probably less, judging how fast it’s going.

NARRATOR-ROMAN: [off-voice] And before we could know how, Virgil was lying on the couch in labor.

LOGAN: The next thing coming out of there will be the baby. Now, one last time, use all your might you have left and push as if tomorrow would never come. Now!

VIRGIL: [pushing] NNNNNGGGGGHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!

LOGAN: Here it comes!

[A bright magenta smoke comes out of Virgil’s body. As it comes out forming a magenta cloud, Virgil’s belly shrinks until it returns to its normal flat form, while he shows a face of huge alleviation. Then, the cloud floats to Virgil’s chest and after some seconds, it disappears, to reveal a little baby dressed only with magenta diapers. The baby starts crying]

LOGAN: Well, it’s done. Good job, Virgil.

VIRGIL: [with his eyes full of tears] I… I… look at him, Roman.

ROMAN: [crying] I’m looking at him, Virgil. He’s as handsome as his dad. And I mean you.

NARRATOR-ROMAN: [off-voice] And we thought that was it. We had our newborn son, Chris, we were set to live happily ever after as a family… and that was all. But there was another surprise on board for the evening…

VIRGIL: Um… guys…

ROMAN: What?

VIRGIL: It looks like our little baby is not so… little… anymore… Look…

[Virgil takes Chris out of the cradle. Except that it is now a three year old boy]

CHRIS: [giggling and poking Virgil’s nose] Dad, I want pizza!

THOMAS AND ROMAN: [overlapping] Whaaat!?

[image of narrator Roman looking at the camera]

NARRATOR-ROMAN: And so here we are. What’s happened to our son? What is gonna happen next. Stay tuned, everyone.

VIRGIL: [off-screen] Roman, will you cut it out and come here already!?

NARRATOR-ROMAN: Sorry, Virge. I’m going. Rolling title screen.

[intro sequence]

THOMAS: What… has happened?

VIRGIL: Are you asking me? I don’t know how this works, Thomas, this is my first son.

CHRIS: Dad, I want pizza!

ROMAN: Don’t you think you’re too young for pizza, young boy?

[Chris looks at Roman, then his eyes get full of tears]

CHRIS: [crying] I want pizzaaaaa!

THOMAS: Well, I guess now I know which Side has inherited my passion for pizza.

VIRGIL: We’re gonna need help. Dad! Logan! Could you come here, please?

[Logan and Patton are risen up in Patton’s spot. They are kissing, unaware of their surroundings]

ROMAN: [saying the actual word] Ahem…

[Logan and Roman stop kissing and look scared at the others]

LOGAN: [angry] Hey, do you think this is an appropriate time to call!? We were… [looking nervously at Patton who is just blushing and looking away] busy!

THOMAS: I’m sorry, guys. But this is another… emergency. Look.

[Thomas points at Chris who is still crying next to Virgil]

PATTON: Who’s that boy?

VIRGIL: It’s Chris, dad. Your grandson.

PATTON: What?

ROMAN: He has just aged three years in a matter of a second and we don’t know how.

LOGAN: Oh, wow… I didn’t expect that…

PATTON: Why is he crying?

VIRGIL: He wants pizza. But I don’t think he’s old enough to eat it. I mean, he’s only five hours old. It could sit bad in his stomach. He was drinking his formula just half an hour ago.

PATTON: Young boy, crying is not the way to get the things that you want. If you want to get something, you must learn to say “Please” and “Thank you”. And even so, sometimes we just can’t get what we want and we must learn to deal with it.

[Chris stops crying, then looks at Patton]

CHRIS: [with a cute innocent voice] Please, grandpa. Can I get some pizza?

PATTON: [squeeing] He’s called me grandpa! Of course you can, kiddo. Take all the pizza you want!

CHRIS: [happy smile] Thank you, grandpa!

VIRGIL: Wait, dad, I don’t think that…

[But Chris has already jumped to the pizza and started devouring it]

ROMAN: Oh, my gosh…

VIRGIL: He looks like the cookie monster…

[Suddenly Chris stops eating. He stands still with a face of nausea]

VIRGIL: What is it, Chris? Are you okay? I told you not to eat that pizza!

[Chris burps loudly. As the burp goes out, he starts growing]

VIRGIL: Look! He’s growing again!

[In a matter of seconds, Chris looks like a twelve-year-old boy]

ROMAN: He eats and then grows? Perhaps I should have called him Alice.

PATTON: Like Alice in Wonderland? Hey, think! If he drinks some milk, the kid may shrink back. Oooh… I love alliteration.

CHRIS: Guys, why are you all staring at me? [looks at himself] Oh… I see, it’s because I’m still in these diapers. Hold on, I’ll fix that.

[Chris points at himself and his clothes change to a medieval princely outfit, similar to Prince Phillip from Sleepy Beauty, but the suit is white with a red belt, and the sleeves are dark purple. The cape is magenta and has a hood. He sports Roman’s shield on the chest, but with the background in magenta and a stormy cloud over the castle]

CHRIS: That’s more like it.

ROMAN: [with a smile of emotional joy] Oh, my God… You look… majestic!

CHRIS: Thank you, father. If I’m a prince, I must look like it.

VIRGIL: [same emotional joy] And you even carry a hood! I’m so proud!

CHRIS: I knew you’d like it, dad.

LOGAN: Hmm… Not only he’s growing physically at great speed. He’s also growing mentally. At this rate, he’ll look just as adult as anyone of us in a short time… Chris.

CHRIS: Yes, Logan?

LOGAN: Would you mind if I performed a check on you?

CHRIS: What for, grandpa?

LOGAN: Because… wait, grandpa?

CHRIS: You’re Patton’s boyfriend, aren’t you? That makes you my grandfather-in-law.

LOGAN: Well, technically not until we marry and… wait, we’re deviating. I need to make sure that you’re in perfect condition and that this quick growth is normal.

CHRIS: Okay, grandpa, help yourself.

[Logan gets a little nervous over being called grandpa again, but he puts himself together and places his hand on Chris’ chest. Logan starts shaking for a couple of seconds, then takes his hand off]

LOGAN: I see…

VIRGIL: What?

LOGAN: Chris is totally fine. There’s nothing wrong with him at all. This quick growth is perfectly natural.

ROMAN: But there must be a reason why he’s growing up so fast. We didn’t grow up that quickly.

PATTON: Well, as far as I remember, I was always an adult, so…

LOGAN: Yes, but that’s because you chose to have an adult shape on purpose, or so you said.

PATTON: To be honest, I don’t remember at all, Logan. What I said is my own explanation to that fact. When I met all of you, I always met you sharing the same age Thomas had at that moment in life, but back then, I was already an adult. When I try to go back in my memories, there’s always a moment when everything goes blurry until there’s nothing more.

LOGAN: That’s what always happens, Patton. No human can remember the first two to three years from their existence at all and their memories are blurry until they get around 6 or more. And guys, it’s true that we all took our time to grow up, but you’re forgetting one important detail.

VIRGIL: What?

LOGAN: Chris was born as a baby while Thomas was an adult. It was only natural, as Virgil would have exploded if he had to hold an adult body inside of him. But that doesn’t change the fact that we, as Sides of Thomas, must share with him, among other things, the same age. Chris was born as a baby, but now he’s bound to grow up at a fast pace to catch up to Thomas’ age. Then, he’ll start aging normally like all of us, at Thomas’ same pace.

THOMAS: Oh… Is that all?

LOGAN: Yes. What did you expect?

THOMAS: I don’t know, things with you don’t tend to be so simple.

CHRIS: Are you calling me simple, Thomas?

THOMAS: No, I wasn’t calling you…

CHRIS: [pulling out a classic medieval sword and a shield decorated with the same insignia on his chest, speaking with a theatrical melodramatic voice] Cause I could pull out my sword and challenge you to a duel, my good sir!

LOGAN: [sighs] He’s just as dramatic as his father.

ROMAN: [squeeing] He even has a shield of his own! Oh, my God, you look gorgeous! And what is also great is that now I’ll have someone to practice fencing with. [hopping] Oh, my goodness, I’m so happy right now!

VIRGIL: [smirks] Be careful, my love. You’re gonna slip on the puddle of your drool.

ROMAN: I suddenly had an idea. Since it’s clear that we’re too excited to go to bed right now…

LOGAN: [looking at Patton] Well, I was really excited to go to bed a moment ago…

ROMAN: [beat] You’ll have time for that later. I think we should take Chris to Sandersia, so that he meets my brother Roland and Ira. They don’t even know that he’s been born and I can’t wait to see their faces.

THOMAS: Isn’t it a little late for a journey, though? It’s eleven o’clock, and I’m a little tired, you know? Couldn’t we leave this for tomorrow? It’ll be Sunday, and I have all the day free of compromises.

ROMAN: [begging] Oh, come on! I want them to see him while he’s still a child! If we wait, he’ll be an adult already, and it just wouldn’t have the same surprise effect! I don’t wanna miss it! Pleaaase!

THOMAS: [sighs] Okay, if it’s so important to you, okay.

ROMAN: [hopping] Yayyy!

THOMAS: Are you good to walk, Virge? You’ve just given birth some hours ago.

VIRGIL: Oh, I think I’ll be fine, Thomas. I don’t have any pains and I feel strong enough.

LOGAN: You don’t need to fear for Virgil, Thomas. His recovery will be a lot quicker than in normal physical childbirths. If he doesn’t go through too intense physical activities at least for tonight, he’ll be fine, and tomorrow he’ll be good as gravy.

THOMAS: Okay.

ROMAN: Then it’s settled!

THOMAS: Okay… Let’s go to Sandersia, then.

[All of them sink down and rise up in Roman’s room, then they head to Sandersia. It’s nighttime over there too. They all get in the royal carriage, always waiting at the door as usual, and head to the royal castle. As usual too, the carriage arrives in no time]

ROMAN: Well, here we are. Oh, the door is locked? That’s weird.

LOGAN: Weird? What did you expect, a welcome committee? You didn’t announce our visit and it’s freaking nighttime!

ROMAN: Not for long, though.

[Roman rises both hands. In a matter of seconds, the sky turns blue and the sun rises over the sea]

LOGAN: [a little blinded by the sudden sunlight] That’s cheating.

[Roman knocks the door using the knocker several times]

VOICE: [from inside] Okay, okay… why the rush?

[the noise of locks opening from inside are heard and the door opens. Ira comes outside wearing a green pajama

IRA: Oh, it’s you. When I told you to come for a visit, I didn’t mean for you to come in the middle of the… [noticing the sun is in the sky, confused] …morning? Did I oversleep? What time is it?

ROMAN: Oh, it’s twelve midnight, I just did a little tweak, so that you didn’t trip over anything in the dark.

IRA: But why? Is there any emergency of some kind?

ROMAN: Yes, and no. I just want Roland and you to meet someone.

IRA: Someone? [noticing the presence of Chris] Oh, good morning… I mean evening… I mean… whatever.

CHRIS: Good evening, sir.

IRA: And who is this lad, if I may ask, Roman?

ROMAN: I’m not telling yet, it’s a surprise. Go call my brother, please. I want you two to know who he is at the same time.

IRA: Okay. I’ll call Roland. You can wait in the throne room. Come in, make yourselves a home.

ROMAN: Thanks, Ira.

[Roman and the others get to the throne room while Ira goes away]

THOMAS: [yawns] Roman, I’m a little sleepy. We should have waited till tomorrow.

ROMAN: Hold on a little bit, Thomothy. Soon we’ll be done. Maybe we could even sleep here if Roland lets us.

THOMAS: Is that possible for me, though? What would happen if I fell asleep while inside the Mind Palace?

LOGAN: Well, for certain we would all fall asleep with you. All except Virgil, who is the only one that, if he wants to, can resist sleep or wake up while you slumber, due to him being your fight-or-flight impulses.

CHRIS: I can do that too. A gift from my dad.

VIRGIL: Oh, that’s good to know.

THOMAS: But would Sandersia stay in place?

LOGAN: Of course, Thomas. For Sandersia to have structural problems, you would need something worse than sleep. You’d have to be almost in a coma.

THOMAS: Well, I’m not going to that extent to do the experiment, and besides I don’t want Sandersia to be damaged, so it’s good to know that. Thanks, Logan.

LOGAN: No problem.

[Roman and Ira enter the throne room. Roland is wearing a dressing coat]

ROLAND: Hi, Roman, hi guys.

ROMAN: Hi, Roland.

IRA: Okay. We’re both here. Why all the rush, Roman?

ROMAN: Well, let me introduce you to our new addition to the family. This is Chris. Chris, these are my brother Roland and our good friend Ira.

CHRIS: Good evening. Nice to meet you.

ROLAND: Nice to meet you.

IRA: Good evening.

ROMAN: I think I’m gonna let him to properly introduce himself. Okay, go ahead.

CHRIS: Well, my name is Christian Gerard Sanders. And I’m the Side of Angsty Creativity. But you can call me Chris.

ROLAND: Angsty… Creativity?

IRA: Hold on, weren’t those two concepts assigned to Virgil and you earlier? [face of realization and shock, then he smiles widely] Oh! Oh, my goodness, I get it! Congratulations, Roman!

ROLAND: What? What’s the matter?

IRA: Don’t you see? This boy is the son of Virgil and Roman! Angsty Creativity!

ROLAND: Oh, my goodness! How…? When…? Congratulations, guys!

[Roland and Ira hug Roman and Virgil, then they also give a quick hug to Chris]

ROLAND: I should have paid more attention. Of course he’s your son. His shield is a mix of both your insignias. I’m so happy to meet you, young man.

CHRIS: I’m happy to meet you too, uncle Roland.

ROLAND: Oh, that’s right. This boy is my nephew. And as your son… he’s the new heir to the throne of Sandersia! That’s great! But when did this happen?

VIRGIL: Today.

ROLAND: Today?

VIRGIL: Well, yesterday already. He was born just a few hours ago.

ROLAND: But he’s so grown-up already!

CHRIS: [suddenly showing a funny face] Oh…

ROLAND: What’s wrong?

CHRIS: If you think I’m a grown up now… wait and see…

[Chris points at his own clothes. They grow until they are of an adult size, too big for him]

ROLAND: Why would you do that?

CHRIS: [suddenly with adult voice that startles everyone] It’s happening again, I can feel it.

[Chris starts growing up in front of Roland and Ira, who watch with a stunned expression. In a matter of a few seconds he looks like an adult, and his outfit fits him perfectly]

IRA: I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. But now… now I’ve just seen everything.

CHRIS: Well, I think the growing phase is over. Now I just have to age a little bit until I get synchronized with Thomas’ age and that will be it. Now I’m totally ready to start working as a Side of Thomas.

VIRGIL: Oh, my God… Kids grow so fast. It feels like yesterday when I was cradling you in my arms and now you’re a full grown-up man. Except that it was literally yesterday, of course.

CHRIS: It’s okay, dad. I may look like an adult, but I’m still your one day old son, ready to learn from you and father anything you’re willing to teach me to be a better Side.

VIRGIL: [bursting in tears] Why am I suddenly so emotional lately? Yesterday, I would have dismissed all these emotions as corny and now look at me. This feeling of love is so overwhelming I can barely resist it.

PATTON: [putting his hand on Virgil’s shoulder] Welcome to my world, kiddo. Nice to have you. That’s exactly how I feel about you all the time.

VOICE: [evil mocking tone] Isn’t this nice?

[everyone starts looking in all directions trying to find the source of the voice]

THOMAS: Who’s there!?

VOICE: I’ve been waiting for so long for this moment to come and finally, it’s here!

[Suddenly, Chris is surrounded by what looks like a dark bubble]

CHRIS: What gives!?

[the door opens and the Dark Master enters in, wearing a black cloak with silver ornaments on the shoulders and the hood. The dark bubble flies next to him with Chris inside]

THOMAS: You again? How many times do we have to defeat you, boy?

DARK MASTER: Long time no see, Light Master.

ROMAN: [pulling out his samurai sword] Release our son! Right now!

DARK MASTER: Release him? Oh, sure, I will release him, as soon as I’m done with him.

VIRGIL: If you touch just one hair of him, I swear…

DARK MASTER: Oh, don’t worry emo, I’m not going to harm him. I need him in one piece for my plans.

VIRGIL: [progressively angrier and more hysterical as he speaks] What plans? What are you going to do to him? Let him go, you bast**!

DARK MASTER: Let him go? After all the time I’ve been waiting for one of his kind to appear? Never.

PATTON: What’s so special about him? I don’t understand.

DARK MASTER: [giggles evilly] I certainly did a good job with you, Patton.

PATTON: What?

DARK MASTER: Erasing your memories was so easy. It wasn’t a perfect work, but nevertheless it worked. You wouldn’t even try to get your memories back. You just got contented and started behaving like the stupid father figure you are right now.

PATTON: I don’t understand…

VIRGIL: Neither do I, but I don’t care! Release him!

DARK MASTER: It’s your only fault that I’m taking your son right now, Virgil! You brought this onto him!

VIRGIL: What?

DARK MASTER: The original plan was to take you instead of him. You were born for that only reason. But you had to escape to the Light Realm and ruin everything.

VIRGIL: What would you know about my birth?

DARK MASTER: Oh, everything. I know everything about it. I even had you in my arms not long after you were born. You looked so tiny, so vulnerable. So suitable. You just needed to grow until you were mature enough. But Patton had to be a goody daddy and the Light Master had to ruin it all!

THOMAS: Me? What…?

VIRGIL: What is he talking about, dad?

PATTON: [confused] I promise I don’t know, kiddo. I don’t remember…

DARK MASTER: Perhaps I can help with that.

[The Dark Master points at Patton. A light blue sphere appears on his hand]

DARK MASTER: This, on my hand, are your stolen memories. You’re no longer a worthy enemy, so I won’t be needing them anymore, and I need to make room for… another procedure. Here, take them back.

[the light-blue ball is projected at light-speed and impacts into Patton’s head, making him walk two steps back. The light enters inside Patton’s head, who holds his head with both hands and groans as if he was suffering the worst headache ever, as if his head was about to explode right there.]

VIRGIL: [scared] Dad!

LOGAN: Patton!

[in a few moments, Patton adopts a serene face. He stops holding his head and looks fiercely at the Dark Master]

PATTON: [serious deep voice, never heard before from him] Now I remember… everything.

DARK MASTER: Good. Then now you know it all. How does it feel? Please, tell me that it hurts you, it would be so rewarding for me.

PATTON: Yes, I remember. Yes, it hurts. And no, you won’t get away with your plans.

DARK MASTER: [evil voice] I challenge you to stop me. If you want to find me, you know where to look for me… sweetie. [back to an unconcerned, mocking voice, to Roman] Oh, by the way, thank you Roman, I couldn’t have done this without you.

ROMAN: What?

DARK MASTER: If you hadn’t entered Sandersia with Chris, I wouldn’t have been able to reach him, and if you hadn’t turned the night into day, I wouldn’t have known you were here, allowing me to come here to check what you were up to. What a pleasant surprise you gave me when you introduced your boy. Thank you for your invaluable help.

ROMAN: [face of remorse] What have I done…?

[the Dark Master starts levitating and so does the dark bubble holding Chris in. Chris shows a face of fear for the first time and starts banging at the bubble, desperately trying to break it]

CHRIS: [scared whining] Father! Dad! Help me! Don’t let him take me!

VIRGIL: [in tears] You bast**! He’s just a baby! Thomas, do something!

THOMAS: I’m trying! I’m trying to go into Light Master mode… but I’m so tired I get dizzy when I try! I can’t keep it together!

DARK MASTER: Well, as the old cartoon said, that’s all folks! Bye!

[The Dark Master flies away through the door and the bubble follows him with Chris inside]

CHRIS: [screeching in horror] Heeeeelp!

[his cry for help gets lost in the distance before the others have time to react. Then Virgil starts running to the door]

VIRGIL: Come back! Give me my son back! I beg you! Take me instead! No!

[he stops before reaching the door, with pain in his stomach over the effort. Roman runs after him and holds him]

VIRGIL: [hysterical, he turns around and starts punching Roman’s chest with both fists, while Roman looks at his husband with a face of intense suffering and remorse] Don’t touch me! This is your fault! This is all your fault! They took him away because of you! I hate you! I hate you! [he stops punching Roman’s chest and lies on it sobbing on it while Roman hugs him, also crying] I hate you…

ROMAN: I’m sorry, Virgil. I didn’t know this would happen… But we’ll fix it. We have always defeated the Dark Master and this will be no exception. I promise by my royal crown that he’ll get what he deserves and we’ll rescue our son! I solemnly swear it!

[a sign reading “To be continued, guys, gals and non binary pals appears”]

[ending card]

[a couple of minutes have passed, The guys are sitting down on some benches. Virgil is lying on Roman’s shoulder, his face completely void, looking at the infinity, trying to evade himself from the horrible reality he’s facing]

THOMAS: I’m so sorry, guys. I wish I could have been of more help. I just couldn’t call my powers out of exhaustion.

ROMAN: It’s not your fault, Thomas. Like the Dark Master said, it’s my fault and only mine. I’m sorry, guys. [to Virgil] I’m sorry, my love.

VIRGIL: [looks at Roman and holds his hand, then speaks with a weak, heartbroken voice] And I’m sorry for hitting you earlier… I was out of my mind and I didn’t mean what I said. Of course I don’t hate you.

ROMAN: [kissing Virgil’s hand] I know, my love. But you were so right at the same time…

PATTON: You didn’t know this would happen, Roman. Don’t torture yourself.

ROMAN: A marvelous father I’m turning out to be. The first thing I do is delivering him in a silver plate to the enemy.

PATTON: Well, I don’t think I was any better, to be honest.

VIRGIL: [looking at Patton] What do you mean, dad? You have always been there for me.

PATTON: Not always, son. Not always. Now that I’ve got the full picture with the missing piece of my memories, I had… I have so much to regret and so much to apologize for.

THOMAS: It’s hard for me to believe that you, among all of us, could have a dark past of some kind. My mind simply can’t process it.

PATTON: And yet, I do. The Dark Master took good care of shaping my mind in a way that would never ever make me question the holes in my mind. He probably gave me that stupid naive personality so that I would never wonder about the kind of stuff he didn’t want me to remember. And it worked. I was so happy in my stupidity I got completely blind about that.

LOGAN: Don’t say that, Patton. You were not stupid.

PATTON: Yes I was. So silly, so childish. I’m so ashamed when I look back and remember the stupidity of my mind I had these past years.

LOGAN: We loved you the way you were. I loved you. I still do.

PATTON: I’m sorry, Logan, but as Deceit would say, you’ve fallen in love with a lie. The Patton you fell in love with is not real. It was never real. I don’t deserve any kind of love.

LOGAN: Falsehood! That’s not true!

PATTON: Yes it is. You don’t know what I did. What I made Virgil go through because of my weakness… Oh, my God, you’re gonna hate me so much when I level with you all. I’d wish that the Dark Master hadn’t restored my memories. I was happier in my stupidity and now I feel like I’ll never find peace in my life again. Maybe that was his intention, to see me suffer and torture myself forever.

VIRGIL: Dad, you are my father. Nothing you could have ever done could be so bad that I couldn’t forgive it.

PATTON: You don’t know the truth yet, son. Once you know, you won’t be able to say that again with conviction.

VIRGIL: Then tell me dad, to prove you that you’re wrong. What is that truth that is so unforgivable?

[Patton sighs]

PATTON: The truth about who your father is.

VIRGIL: You are my father, what do you mean?

PATTON: I mean your other father.

VIRGIL: My other father? You remember now his identity? Who is he?

PATTON: You already know him too well. You’ve lived with him for years in the Dark Realm. You lived under his yoke and his tyranny for many years, and I couldn’t save you, may God forgive me.

[Virgil looks at Patton. A grimace of horror slowly starts appearing]

VIRGIL: No… that’s not true… that’s impossible!

PATTON: Yes. As painful as it is for me to admit it, but it’s true. The Dark Master is your father.

VIRGIL: [progressively more hysterical as he speaks] I can’t believe you! He can’t be my father! He can’t! If he was my father, he would have never treated me the way he did in the Dark Realm! He would have never taken my son away from me! It’s impossible! No! I refuse to believe you! You’re a liar! You’re no better than Deceit!

ROMAN: [holding him by the shoulders and shaking him] Virgil, calm down! You know he would never lie to you, especially in a matter so serious!

[Virgil sits down. He can’t look Patton in the face]

PATTON: [sad] See? I told you you would hate me.

[Virgil doesn’t answer. He just stares at the infinity, with rivers of tears running down his cheeks, in complete silence. Patton looks at his son, and his eyes also get watery and red. Logan hesitates about if he should hold Patton’s hand, his face noting he'd really wish to do so. Eventually he shies away and doesn’t.]

ROMAN: Just give him some time. It’s too much to assimilate in one go.

THOMAS: I have so many questions…

PATTON: [sniffs and swallows his tears, then trying to show the voice of a dad commanding something to his son] I know, Thomas. But for now, they’ll have to wait. If we want to stand a chance against the Dark Master, you need to sleep. We all need it, for the record.

THOMAS: That’s easier said than done, though. How am I going to catch sleep with all this turmoil of emotions and thoughts running through my mind? I don’t feel sleepy, just tired, really tired, but not sleepy.

PATTON: You’re exhausted, Thomas. You don’t feel sleepy because of your nervousness over all of this, but I’m sure if you try, it won’t take you long to fall asleep. And while you sleep, we will all fall into slumber, including the Dark Master, so that could at least delay his plans with Chris. And since Chris can resist slumber, it could give him a chance too, if he could ever break out of that ball, that is.

THOMAS: What are the Dark Master’s plans?

PATTON: No, Thomas. Not now. Now, sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you everything.

ROLAND: You can all use the guest bedroom in the castle. I always have it ready in anticipation for days like this when all of you would come over. The sheets were changed just this morning. And you, Thomas, can find some sleeping clothing in the closet that will suit you. After all we all have the same size in this world, right?

THOMAS: Thank you so much, Roland.

ROLAND: Don’t mention it.

ROMAN: Okay, time to bed, then. Tomorrow, we’ll call Deceit, Honesty and Remus and we’ll think about what to do.

ROLAND: Is it really necessary to call Remus, though? I’m quite unnerved by his presence. He tried to kill me, just in case you’ve forgotten, that’s why Ira came to live here with me, to be my protector against him. It just doesn’t feel right for me that you’re all so… attached to him right now. I don’t trust him.

ROMAN: I know what you mean and I understand your concern, but Remus is no longer the same as he used to be. I mean, he’s still pretty chaotic and all, but he’s harmless now, and he’s trying to fit in with us, in his own unique way. Besides, we need to be all together for greater chances of success.

ROLAND: [sighs] Okay, if there’s no choice, okay. But don’t ask me to behave nicely to him, because he wasn’t nice to me.

ROMAN: It’s fair, but you should try to give him a chance. Now, let’s go to bed. I’ll turn the day back into night so that we can sleep well, even though it’s almost morning at this point.

[they all stand up and follow Roland. Virgil, apparently unaware that the others are leaving the room, remains sitting down for a moment, still looking at nowhere, before Roman grabs him by the hand and asks him to follow them with the sweetest glance he could come up with. Virgil just follows them like an automaton to the huge guest bedroom which has eight beds. Thomas puts on the pajama he finds in the closet and gets into bed. The others just summon pajamas for themselves and get into the other beds. It only takes a matter of minutes for the exhausted Thomas to fall asleep. When that happens, the rest of the Sides fall asleep too. All of them except Virgil, who just keeps staring at the ceiling, still crying in silence, all night long]

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #prinxiety #romantic prinxiety #logicality #romantic logicality #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fic #fanfic #fic #fanfiction #aspects and fanfics

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tiesandtea · 4 years

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Interview with Artmagic from July 2012 for Spindle Magazine

By Amy Lavelle on July 12, 2012. Archived here.

Doors close; windows open etc. One of the many valuable lessons to be learned from the Sound of Music and when Suede’s door closed, another window of shining opportunity opened in the form of Artmagic: the new project and meeting of minds of Richard Oakes and producer, now vocalist, SeanMcGhee (Imogen Heap, Britney Spears et al.). Then yes, Suede’s door reopened, but fear not, that won’t be affecting the duo.

We caught up with them for a chat/‘peak behind the magic,’ if you will.

Full interview under the cut. Teaser:

SEAN: Please don’t call us “indie”. Do we look like skinny 18 year olds? I was never skinny, or young. This policy will continue. RICHARD: Please do call us “indie”. It’s funny to watch Sean’s reaction!

SPINDLE: Before you hear Artmagic’s music, it seems at first like an unlikely pairing; how did you form? What’s the story behind Artmagic? SEAN: I was a big admirer of Richard’s work and was curious that he’d seemingly disappeared when his other band split. Here was this enormously talented guitarist and writer, suddenly off the radar. I must have been in a fearless, bolshy mood, because I just decided I wanted to write with him. A friend of mine was egging me on, and it turned out that he knew Richard’s brother. So I was able to get in contact and arrange to meet up. We wrote our current single, Forever In Negative on the very first day of working together; once that was under our belts, we both knew this wasn’t going to be a one-off. RICHARD: We exchanged show reels via our manager Charlie in late 2007, but we didn’t actually meet until July 2008, and started writing straight away. Not really the traditional way bands form – meeting at art school, sharing a squat etc… But right from the off Artmagic was never going to be a typical rock ‘n’ roll outfit. I think of it as a project, rather than a band, with none of the clichéd behaviour, image or attitude. Sean doesn’t model himself on his influences, and this definitely attracted me to working with him. SPINDLE: Why the name? SEAN: It comes from something film director John Waters said about modern art; he noted how it lets you take seemingly unrelated everyday objects and, by using them in the right way, turn them into something meaningful. Art, he said, is magic, like alchemy – transformative. And I loved that, immediately, because song writing is art. We take disparate fragments and craft them into the whole. I’m not afraid to appear pretentious when I say that. I’m get exasperated by the clichés of rock, so framing what we do in artistic terms suits me much better than relying on tired posturing. RICHARD: Sean chose the name, my input was a shameful zero! My past career has left me with a strong ethic that the only thing that matters is the music; everything else is secondary. It’s easy to spot the bands in the past who have concentrated on name, image and impact first… and then forgotten about the actual music. SPINDLE: Obviously there were a lot of expectations for the band; were you at all apprehensive putting new music out there in the beginning? SEAN: Not at all; the moment we released the I Keep On Walking EP was when Artmagic became real, and I think we were both hungry for that moment. I can’t really imagine what expectations people had, but I hope we confounded them by giving them a moody song cycle about 3 unwillingly intertwined lovers. I’m immensely proud of it, and I think it was a gutsy way to lead off. RICHARD: Releasing your work to the world is always exciting yet daunting, no matter what you believe the expectations to be. I’ve had reviews of my past work that have ranged from glowing to utterly awful, and I’ve learned to take both with a pinch of salt. The most important thing is that people get to hear it; I believe there will always be someone in the world whose life is touched by it, and that’s the whole point. SPINDLE: How have you found the reception so far? SEAN: Gratifying. It’s thrilling, really, that we’ve already got some very passionate fans and it’s very exciting when we do shows and we can see the audience getting it. Obviously some people have had difficulty moving beyond our previous work, and get upset or confused because it doesn’t sound the same, but you can’t please everyone, and I wouldn’t want to anyway. Pleasing ourselves is the first priority, and will remain so. RICHARD: I believe we’ve attracted the kind of people who like music in the same way we do. When talking to someone at a gig you can instantly tell if they’re there for the right reasons, a genuine open minded love of music as an art form, or whether they’re there just to stare at you. People who have the usual prejudices won’t appreciate what we do, and I have no interest in playing to them. SPINDLE: Sean, how was it making the transition from ‘behind the scenes’ as it were to taking the mic and being at the forefront? SEAN: Artmagic happened because we realised that no-one else could sing these songs we were writing – they were too personal. That, and Richard’s support, gave me the confidence to be the man to sing them. Doing so was both the realisation of a long-held ambition and a serious challenge. But that’s a good thing, because anything that’s easy to do is generally not worth doing at all. SPINDLE: Richard, after taking time out of the spotlight following Suede’s split, how was it releasing new music? Is it something you’ve been working on since the break or did you take time away from it all? RICHARD: I did take some time out to move house, but I had been working on a whole load of music, some of which became the backbone for the album, for a couple of years before I met Sean. The intensity of being a Suede member for so many years cast a long shadow over my work, and it took me a lot of soul searching to realise exactly what I wanted to do with my career. The one thing I was certain of was that I didn’t want to simply join another band, or have a new band formed around me. I wanted to just write and write, and when I met Sean, that’s what we concentrated on. I threw a lot of (probably very confused-sounding) music at him, and he was able to pinpoint the underlying emotions and feelings, and turn them into very personal songs. SPINDLE: How does the creative process as Artmagic differ from previous projects for both of you? SEAN: The process is both the same and different. I’ve written with a lot of people over the years and I’m past being tentative; you have to fearlessly throw down your ideas and say, “what about this?” to get a song happening. Truly poor songs get written by the disinterested or uninspired. That is never an issue with Richard because he’s always got something great up his sleeve, and that means I have to respond in kind. That’s not always been the case for me in the past, so I relish it. RICHARD: The biggest difference for me is that Sean invites me to be involved when he writes the melodies, there is no separatism. This was never the case in Suede; almost all co-writing would be done alone, often even by post. It just goes to show how many different ways there are to write a song. We have a few that have come out of spontaneous jamming round at Sean’s, but they’re a world away from the traditional band rehearsal room jamming! Something that rarely works well. SPINDLE: Have you faced any major hurdles so far as a band and if so, what? SEAN: Not really. Any musician who has a career is living a charmed life, and they know it. Never mind the endless whining we hear, saying how hard it is. It should be hard, because that weeds out the faithless. I’m a true believer in Artmagic specifically, and music generally. I crave widespread appreciation for Artmagic, because I think our work deserves it. RICHARD: The only hurdles, the only hoops we’ve had to jump through have been self-imposed, in the writing and recording. We set ourselves a high standard, and despite having no corporations breathing down our necks, it was hard work, but the end result was all the more satisfying. SPINDLE: What’s next?

SEAN: Touring and festivals in July, more touring in September. Our second single Down In The River comes out in October. We’re working hard to give Become The One You Love its due, and once that’s done and dusted we’ll start thinking seriously about album two. We already have some songs in hand, and some very interesting ideas about how to approach the process differently next time around. But I don’t want overthink it; better to run on instinct.

RICHARD: Live appearances in the many different guises of the band, up and down the country. I’m especially looking forward to the album release gig at St Pancras Old Church on 9th July with the whole band. But I can’t wait to start writing again – I believe that is the most important part of our job. Creativity will outlive industry. SPINDLE: Anything else to add? SEAN: Please don’t call us “indie”. Do we look like skinny 18 year olds? I was never skinny, or young. This policy will continue. RICHARD: Please do call us “indie”. It’s funny to watch Sean’s reaction!

#artmagic #richard oakes #sean mcghee

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on-the-shelves · 4 years

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on my shelf: soundtrack to my fourth year of uni - winter

Wow, it’s that time of year again! So, you’re supposed to finish my course in 3 years, but barely anyone actually does... This semester I had very few classes and commuted very little, but there’s still a couple of albums that I listened to a lot and so here we go....

Tessa Violet: Bad Ideas (2019)

Finally!! I’ve been eagerly anticipating this album ever since Tessa first announced she’d be releasing one and opened a Patreon for it (was it 2017?? maybe 2018). The first single, “Crush” is kind of different from her older music, but not in a jarring way - you can definitely hear a progression towards this lowkey indie-pop sound throughout her previous EP “Halloway” (very recommended too btw!). “Crush” sounds more cheeky though, but in a very specific way: Throughout the whole album Tessa’s voice has this quality of “trying to play it cool”, but as the story progresses, she becomes more sincere and more openly distressed. Basically, the album tells a story, but that story is never-ending because the album is cyclical - the last song connects thematically and sound-wise to the first song. It starts off with Tessa forming a “Crush” on a guy but she wants to keep it casual. Eventually she realizes he is playing “Games” with her and she mentally spirals down from there, uncovering things that are beyond just heartbreak, ending up at a place where she feels completely emotionally isolated, in the last song “interlude iii”. Throughout all this there’s certain instruments and motifs that keep coming back, but they’re twisted in different ways each time, manipulating what they meant the first time you heard them and connecting all the songs to each other in a way.

TL;DR this album is so well crafted in music and lyrics.

Tomorrow X Together: The Dream Chapter: Magic (2019)

This album opens with such a good bass riff, right out the gate, and continues moving through seemingly different genres, but everything flows nicely. The boys have audibly matured from their first release, The Dream Chapter: Star, in the sense that the music still sounds fun but less Disney Channel (which was not a bad thing for Star!). As I mentioned, they also tried out more different styles, like R&B and almost-Indie-Pop, this time around and all of them fit them very well. Something that stands out about TXT compared to other K-Pop groups I’ve heard is that they lack an overbearing power and someone with a very deep voice (both things I personally find kind of annoying). They thrive on a more young, yet not childish, image. From their looks alone you’d think they were very innocent, but the lyrics show the concerns about the future and friends of a teenager, which half of them still are. The music has a sort of comforting aura. On this album only one of the members contributed to a song, but seeing as the other members seem to be busy writing too, hopefully we can hear what their perspectives sound like on the next one.

Red Velvet: The ReVe Festival Finale (2019)

The first Red Velvet song that caught my attention was “Umpah Umpah”, the lead single off The ReVe Festival Day 2 because it reminded me of Disney Channel music of my childhood. Listening to that entire album is so incredibly pleasing to my ear because of the way the girls’ voices sound. They mesh together perfectly and cover a range of different tones, which is something I’d not heard much in K-Pop girl groups, who tend to have most members singing Soprano with a very specific tone that makes me uncomfortable for some reason. Red Velvet’s mix of tones work very well together and that shows especially well on their R&B and Ballad songs, while their more Pop songs stand out because of their specific sound, but also the combination of incredibly catchy upbeat sound and slightly more sinister lyrics and music videos (a favourite combo of mine). So this album specifically combines the songs of the previous two albums, The ReVe Festival Day 1 and Day 2 and adds 3 new songs, with the lead single being “Psycho”. This repackage made me listen to the songs off Day 1 more. For a K-Pop album, many of them don’t make sense, but taking that lense off shows what good Pop all of these songs make. In a way, a song like “Zimzalabim” (which was initally met with much confusion) is very K-Pop because of its strange structure that somehow still makes sense to the ear. It just doesn’t have the typical sound, even the EDM-breakdown lacks something (in a positive way). Either way, all of these songs have a tendency to be on a very loud loop in my head constantly but I can’t stop listening to them because the texture of these songs are so pleasing and at times very visceral.

Wonder Girls: Reboot (2015)

For this album’s performances of the lead singles, the girls had to learn to play instruments and they did so pretty well. I doubt they played on the album itself (though all the members did write on the album) but they definitely did play them live during a couple of performances, which is amazing for a K-Pop group to do and I wish more would use a “band concept”. This album is very obviously influenced by 80s synth pop especially because of some of the instruments they used, but it retains a modern feel and of course a bit of that specific K-Pop sound that’s hard to describe exactly. It flows well from song to song and, similar to Red Velvet, sometimes has this specific effect on my ears where the aural texture feels very visceral. In general this album feels somewhat melancholy, but remains interesting and well crafted musically. If you like 80s synth pop but want something more modern that doesn’t seem like a parody or a carbon copy, then this is for sure the album for you.

__________________________________

btw there’s also been just a constant stream of BTS (nothing’s changed there).

So this semester was very female and K-Pop heavy, but not your typical type of loud, aggressive, and/or bright K-Pop. The texture is very important and everything tends to lean more towards R&B. I’ve also been loving certain songs here and there (like Mamamoo’s “gogobebe” and “HIP” and ITZY’s “Dalla Dalla” and “ICY”, songs that SUGA has produced, and Epik High’s “sleepless in ____” EP, as well as K-R&B in general). I’m planning on writing my BA thesis on K-Pop so uhh yeah this is uhh research.. A year ago I wanted to avoid Korean music as much as possible but I think that was mostly because I knew I was gonna get sucked in like this. But now it’s helped me find an interesting topic for my thesis, which is something I was worried about for a while, so so what?

#on my shelf #tessa violet #txt #red velvet #wonder girls #review #music

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capitalchaostelevision · 4 years

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Tonight I had the pleasure to attend the Dragonforce show at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. To my surprise, the music venue was full almost to the point of looking like a near sold out show, which was surprising to me because of the current coronavirus scare in San Francisco ( and the rest of the world), which has a lot of people taking precautions and trying to avoid big crowds or events all together.

First up that night was symphonic metal band VISIONS OF ATLANTIS from Austria. VISIONS OF ATLANTIS is an Austrian-French-Italian Symphonic Metal band that was formed in August 2000 in the beautiful town of Bruck an der Mur. VISIONS OF ATLANTIS have featured harmonies of male and female vocals since the beginning of their career, which makes them extraordinary and distinctive from other bands of the genre. This band has been around for awhile and since the bands creation back in 2000 they have put out seven studio albums two EPs and nine music videos.

As soon as the band got up the stage, Clémentine Delauney (female vocals) caught my eye with her very cool stage outfit that reminded me of an elvish wizard/mage. They opened with the song The Deep & the Dark of their 2018 album of the same title, it had a very catchy and powerful chorus sung by both vocalist that you couldn’t help and join in and sing along, and I also loved the power metal guitar riffs. I believe The Deep & the Dark was an excellent choice to open the show and get the crowd going.

The band followed up by the song New Dawn of their 2011 album Delta. Visions of Atlantis played a mix of old and four new tracks from their new album Wanderers and ended the set with the fan favorite song from their previous album Return to Lemuria. I really like that fact that VISIONS OF ATLANTIS has two very talented vocalist (male and female), their voices blend together wonderful with the bands style. Clémentine Delauney has been with Visions of Atlantis Since 2013 and Exit Eden Since 2017 while Michele Guaitoli has been with VISIONS OF ATLANTIS since 2018 also does vocals for Temperance since 2018, Overtures since 2003 and Kaledon since 2003.

Visions of Atlantis are:

Clémentine Delauney – vocals

Michele Guaitoli – vocals

Christian Douscha – Guitars

Herbert Glos – Bass

Thomas Caser – Drums

Set list of songs played at Regency Ballroom in San Francisco 3-8-2020

1) The Deep & The Dark

2) New Dawn

3) Heroes of the Dawn

4) A Life of Our Own

5) A Journey to Remember

6) Nothing Last Forever

7) Return to Lemuria

Their new album Wanderers is out now

—————————————————————————————————————-

Second up was Unleash the Archers. Vancouver, Canada based Unleash the Archers was formed in late 2007 by vocalist Brittney Hayes (a.k.a. Brittney Slayes) and drummer Scott Buchanan with former member Brayden Dyczkowski on guitar. Since the bands creation, they have won multiple awards like Best Metal Band 2015 Vancouver Whammy Awards and Best Vocalist 2015 Vancouver Whammy Awards.

If you have ever been lucky enough to attend an Unleash the Archers show you will know these guys have no problem getting the crowd going. As soon as they started with the song Awakening from their 2017 album Apex, not even a minute into it, the crowd had already formed a mosh pit and was going at it.

Unleash the Archers opened with two songs of their 2017 Apex album (Awakening then The Matriarch) followed by Soulbound. The highlight of their performance for me was when they performed Apex and my all time favorite Tonight We Ride from their 2015 album Time Stands Still.The energy Brittney Slayes (Vocalist) and the rest of the gang bring to stage is incredible and quickly spreads towards any crowd to who they perform to. Their new album will be coming out sometime this year, follow them on Facebook to know when the album gets release.

Unleash the Archers are:

Brittney Slayes – Vocals

Scott Buchanan – Drums

Grant Truesdell – Guitar, Vocals

Andrew Kingsley – Guitar, Vocals

Set list of songs played at Regency Ballroom in San Francisco 3-8-2020

1) Awakening

2) The Matriarch

3) Soulbound

4) Northwest Passage

5) Ten Thousand Against One

6) Tonight We Ride

7) Apex

Now it was time for the UK extreme power metal band DRAGONFORCE. Founded in 1999 Grammy-nominated extreme power metal band DRAGONFORCE is based in London, England. Their platinum-selling record, Through the Fire and Flames, brought them international acclaim and was featured as the most-challenging song on Guitar Hero II Their energetic and humorous live performances have won them fans on every continent. These guys did not hold back with their stage props, they had two giant arcade machines (one on each side of the stage) and some really killer looking neon rave glasses with lights on them.

From the get-go in the first song Highway to Oblivion they blasted out confetti’s out of cannons towards the crowd which was very awesome and got the crowd fired up. on their second song “Fury of the Storm” they shot up the Co2 cannons and by the third song , vocalist Marc Hudson came out with a handheld cannon Co2 Cryo Gun and shot towards the crowd.

Unfortunately during the 5th or 6th song they had some technical issues and kept losing power on the stage, the band members were real professional about it and did the best they could to keep the crowd entertained with great constant back and forth interaction, at one point we had Herman Li (guitarist) doing some stand up comedy. The crowd really seemed to not mind the technical issues as they understood sometimes shit happens and they were getting a very unique out of the ordinary show.

Once the crew had fixed the technical issues, DRAGONFORCE continue the show as nothing had happen and played the rest of their set.

To sum it all up these guys was a lot of fun to see on stage, everyone had a blast even when Dragonforce was not playing music and was just standing on the stage drinking beer and going back and forth with the crowd cracking jokes. At one point near the end of their performance they sang a cover of Celine Dion My Heart Will Go On which you all know from the Titanic movie. But the highlight of the night was when guitarist Sam Totman, let a guy in the crowd borrow his guitar, next thing you know they started performing Crazy Train ( Ozzy Ozbourne) , Aquiles Priester (DRAGONFORCE touring drummer) nailed it on the drums while Sam Totman karaoke style the shit out of it! Their new album Extreme Power Metal is out now!

Dragonforce is:

Herman Li – guitar

Sam Totman – guitar

Marc Hudson – vocals

Gee Anzalone – drums

Alicia Vigil (touring bassist)

Aquiles Priester (touring drummer)

Set list of songs played at Regency Ballroom in San Francisco 3-8-2020

1) Highway to Oblivion

2) Fury of the Storm

3) The Last Dragonborn

4) Ashes of the Dawn

5) Heart Demolition

6) Video game medley

7) Black Fire

8) Razorblade Meltdown

9) Cry Thunder

10) Remembrance Day

11) My Heart Will Go On

12) Through the Fire and Flames

Remaning tour dates below.

Sat, MAR 14 Red Flag St. Louis, MO

Sun, MAR 15 House of Blues Chicago, IL

Tue, MAR 17 The Agora Theatre Cleveland, OH

Wed, MAR 18 Saint Andrews Hall Detroit, MI

Thu, MAR 19 Roxian Theatre Mckees Rocks, PA

Fri, MAR 20 Palladium Worcester, MA

Sat, MAR 21 Warsaw Brooklyn, NY

youtube

Pictures and review by Alex Macias. Please visit Alex @ his website for more stunning images. alexmacias.photoshelter.com

Concert Photo Review: DRAGONFORCE with UNLEASH THE ARCHERS And VISIONS OF ATLANTIS @ Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, California Tonight I had the pleasure to attend the Dragonforce show at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.

#dragonforce #Regency Ballroom - San Francisco #unleash the archers #visions of atlantis

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snkpolls · 5 years

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SnK S3E13 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 539 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 534 Responses

WIT kicked off the arc fantastically according to the viewers! This episode got overall positive reviews, with 95% of respondents giving it a 4 or 5 rating.

An ideal opening episode in my opinion!

Incredible start for possible the best season yet ♥

Awesome opening episode to set the stage for the arc to come. Pacing was just right, imo.

HYPE MY SOLDIERS

I think it was a great ep and did pretty well with the chapters it adapted. The dialogue was there and so were the scenes, the ending hyped what is coming so much so I'm already in love!

Lack of creavity when it come to the OP and ED visuals, but the ep overall was good.

The soundtrack slaps, voice acting is on point, and the animation proves to be very promising. Overall, it's a great episode to start off the second cour!

Awesome episode with awesome soundtrack.

One of the best episodes of the whole series, which was surprising.

RATE THE OP 533 Responses

Overall respondents liked the new Linked Horizon opening, which was a great summary of the current arc, but overall it fell flat as a song that most would be willing to label as their favorite.

OP depicts the upcoming battle well!

Great adaptation, just wish the opening was a little more original

It is the worst OP of all. The song is disappointing; it sounds like typical, boring song from random shonen series.

The opening definitely had some parts to it that felt recycled from previous openings, but I guess it's just Linked Horizon's way of linking them all together.

SPACE OPERATION RAINBOW!!!

To me it looks like they ran out of time to make an OP so they slapped a green filter on what they had done already.

RATE THE ED 530 Responses

The 104th-centered still-frame ED has some mixed reviews with most of the fandom sitting somewhere in the middle between loving and hating it. Respondents overall are leaning more toward the positive, however.

ED is perfect with the time skip just over the horizon

WE GOT A FEW NEW SAWANO TRACKS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THEM? 530 Responses

Well over half the fandom are already pumped for new music from the series’ composer Sawano Hiroyuki! A whopping 76% already feel that he’s killing it. 22% need more time to decide how they feel. A small sliver of respondents don’t really care for the OST. Who hurt you?

ost perfect as usual

It was good but at this point everything sounds like it's been reused a bunch of times. Hopefully we get some new great tracks later on..

Hyeh

The bassline in the new rendition of "Attack on Titan" (or however Sawano spells it) is amazing. I cannot wait for the S3 soundtrack to be released.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 532 Responses

The scene with the Beast Titan appearing with his army of titans took 30% of the vote, with Levi attacking Reiner as a close second with 22% of the vote. 10% overall liked the entire episode, and 7% favorited the cliffhanger staredown. We can all agree the battle to come has us all hyped!

I repeated the scene where Reiner appears until the end of the episode tons of times already

Did they really had to skip Levi's frustrated expression after he failed to kill Reiner? It was my favorite moment…

Levi attacking Reiner and everything after that has become one of my favorite scenes in the series. Damn!

Nice Erwin Screentime, nice Levi nyooming behind Eren

Best girl makes her appearance

the last three minutes of the episode where the warriors show up was fucking amazing

ON SCALE OF ARMIN TO ERWIN, HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT GIVING ORDERS? 526 Responses

The majority of respondents relate to Armin’s timid nature a bit more when it comes to overall confidence in giving orders. Just a small 6.3% of you guys feel you have the charismatic swag that Erwin brings to the table.

I loved Armin giving orders politely.

How was Armin overcoming social anxiety a billion times cooler then eren flying over a 60m wall, becoming a titan and basically saving humanity.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO GO HORSEBACK SURFING? 528 Responses

This was in no way a serious question. But at an almost even split, 35.8% of voters would totally try their hand at horseback surfing, while 35.2% would never risk their life doing such a dangerous activity!

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ANIMATION QUALITY IN PART TWO SO FAR? 529 Responses

Overall respondents are pleased with the animation in the first episode of the RtS arc, with 54% stating that it’s the best animation they’ve seen from the series yet. 42% feel it could be better, but is also not the worst. A small percentage don’t find the animation all that impressive.

I can’t believe how clean all of the animation is looking. SUPER impressed with the difference in art-style compared to season 1 as well.

The animation is on the highest level.

i miss the thick lines the show used to have

i really love the colour palette of this season and the op especially.

IMO the color tones on this episode could've been handled better, it was too gloomy on some scenes :(

The animation & art style was almost as good as season 2’s (which is one of my favorite pieces of animation of all time) but still lacked in some areas.

Looks like they went all out with budget on this season and I'm loving it

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CG COLOSSAL TITAN IN THE OPENING? 532 Responses

57% of respondents aren’t too upset about the GCI Colossal Titan in the opening and say they don’t mind either way. 35% aren’t happy at all with the decision to make the Colossal CGI, while a few actually find the effect super cool.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO FINALLY SEE THIS ARC ANIMATED? 533 Responses

The overwhelming majority are extremely excited to see this arc animated after all these years. With its high levels of action and drama, it’s no surprise to us to see that the fandom is looking forward to getting this arc in an animated form!

IVE WAITED MORE THAN 2 YEARS FOR THIS IM NEVER BEEN SO FUCKING HYPED IN MY WHOLE LIFE

I've waited so many years that I'm satisfied and ready to pass now that my favorite arc is being animated

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ADAPTATION OF RTS SO FAR? 532 Responses

67% of respondents are feeling very satisfied with the way the arc is unraveling in the anime, finding that it’s a very close adaptation of the original source material. 23% feel that it’s still too early to judge the adaptation properly, and a few less feel that the adaptation so far is somewhere between good and bad.

Fantastic adaptation.

Good pacing jumping right into the action, while staying faithful to the manga.

Overall very good, but could be a TAD better

I think the adaptation so far has been great, but I need to see how the action is handled before I say for sure whether it's well adapted or not.

It was ok.

It was very well-adapted! All the important details were there and nothing important seemed to be missing, which was something I was sad about in the last arc. It seems like everything I want will get covered.

How do we come back from there without breaking my heart?

PART 2 IS SLATED FOR 10 EPISODES. DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH TO ADAPT THE ARC WELL? 531 Responses

Voters are confident that WIT knows what they’re doing by shortening the amount of episodes that will air for this action-heavy arc, with only ¼ of respondents feeling that they haven’t given themselves enough screen time to cover every last detail. 10% don’t want to say either way.

i was disappointed in knowing it was a 10 episode arc, but seeing the quality and taking into account that this is an action-heavy arc, i'm bouncing off of the walls to see what wit has underneath their sleeve. hopefully they don't ruin the best arc

one advantage of the short season is that they cant draw out the serum bowl for too long. God, that was a painful wait when the manga was dropping those chapters.

Really well done, the pacing in particular was great. After seeing it I was convinced 10 episodes was perfect for this arc. A 6-4 split is perfect.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE VERY SPOILERY OPENING? 532 Responses

61% of respondents agree that the opening, while spoilery, is a great summary and teaser of what is to come for those who only watch the anime. Without context, they can’t know what every last symbolic image in the opening means, after all! 23% of voters expressed distaste at how much WIT is spoiling the viewers, however. 9% aren’t even concerned about it.

The whole opening was just one big “fuck you” to people who don’t read the manga.

it only becomes obvious b/c manga readers keep pointing stuff out. Yes, the intros have always hinted at things but it goes so fast that I don’t think every person will know exactly what something means if they’re anime only.

The Opening is good representation of this phase of the story ending.

I don't get why people are making a big deal over the "spoilers" in the opening when they're not even anime-onlies themselves in the first place.

Man, it only seems spoilery for those of us who know what's coming. Anime onlies don't understand the context of the images, so they can't recognise them as spoilers unless it's directly identified as such! We gotta stop judging this stuff from the perspective of someone who already knows what's coming.

It's definitely not holding back on the indications that'll happen in the arc

HOW DID THE NEW ED MAKE YOU FEEL? 527 Responses

61% of manga readers felt nostalgic seeing the images of the 104th during their trainee days coupled with a somber song. 20% felt sad about the ending, and 15% were just disappointed with the entire thing.

Lazy ending.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE RED EYES ON THE TITANS? 533 Responses

Just over half of the fandom feel that the red-eyed pure titans was a cool aesthetic to add to show that they are under some form of control by a shifter. 33% feel it’s a cool addition, but not really necessary. 11% don’t care.

I was on board with the red eyes until the cart titan also had them. No longer made any sense.

I don't get why Pieck's eyes are red when she's not a mindless being controlled by Zeke…

Like the red eyes but why does Pieck have them too.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 530 Responses

Perhaps unsurprisingly, over half of the fandom is most hyped to see the Eren vs. Reiner showdown in Shiganshina. Although not far behind, 28% of respondents are excited about Erwin’s badass unhooding moment as he challenges Reiner.

THUNDER SPEARS FOR NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Even though I totally know what will happen, the episode is written and directed in a way I still get goosebumps and forget I actually know what will happen. And the music, oh god. That's amazing. These two together have a really good effect.

I need the next one RIGHT NOW.

AAAAAHH!!!!

It was an introduction episode, so imo, it's just there to put the basis for the rest of the season. There was a good balance between the "emotionally charged" scenes and the more quiet ones, all this accompanied with an increasing tension in the background.

I wish theyd reanimated the scene of armin talking to eren about the opening instead of just reusing the animation from season 1.

that Zeke smile is like : hey there, i am here to euthanize you all. Love it !

I'm buying tickets into denial islaaand, bye, bye!

Airpipes. AIRPIPES. p.s. cracking soundtrack

Reiner has been enjoying himself some Marley protein, he extra swole now.

Armin was the MVP

PIECK!!!

I don't like the fact that WiT decided to spoil a lot. Some anime onlies already have guessed that Armin is going to be burned and then will become the next CT. So the serumbowl won't be as emotional and exciting for them anymore. I don't understand why WiT decided to do such thing. Don't they want anime-onlies to enjoy the show?

Exactly as expected you'll find a strange titan next to the beasty

I love Mikasa’s improved design and hope they show more of her working in a team like the manga. Focusing on the mission ect without pandering

RIP nameless soldier killed by Reiner.

Very happy to get a glimpse at best girl Pieck

Really no questions about our exactly right girl in this poll ? I am dissapointed :/

Watching this episode is bringing back all the suspense and awe I felt when I read this part in the manga. What a treat to be able to relive it!

They did a great job at keeping the tension and the "well shit everything's about to go wrong" from chapters 73 and 74, and managed to make the explosion at the end worth it, despite the fact I still think Reiner's continued survival throughout the arc is stupid and wish the anime had changed it so it'd be more believable, but here we are.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 514 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk spoilers #snk s3 #poll results

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megamanxfanfics · 5 years

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The End of Season V

Happy Independence Day!!!! Season V is finally Finished!!!!!

As we close out this last arc, I wanted to make some final thoughts, before I say goodbye to X5 forever!

----------------------------------Ep. 13--------------------------------------------

I said just about everything I want to say about this one already. [See previous entry] The only thing I’ll say is that it was really hard to keep any of the original narrative without making X & Zero’s relationship irreparable.

----------------------------------Ep. 14------------------------------------------

This was interesting! Having a true Aftermath episode, after years of wondering what I might write next.

X needed to recover, and the world needed.. rediscovering on our part. We know that the World was heavily damaged from X5 and the X6 intro, but we never get to explore just how much, from the games.

I had some fun exploring this through some final Dynamo continuity and of course, I took advantage of this with some final Gate continuity. In Dynamo’s case, he won! This is it!! He got everything he wanted. But now he’s left with this empty feeling inside. ‘Now what...’

As for Gate, he’s just happy he’s alive and surprised at Isoc for keeping that mysterious barrier tech from Serges. [The irony of this statement is not lost on me.] There is a lot more that Isoc knows, that he isn’t letting on. Gate remembers that Isoc liked to dumpster dive for parts after a fortress would be destroyed in the past. We saw this in Xtreme 2. That is why he suspects nothing of Isoc having X-Hunter tech. Moreover, now they can continue to rebuild his reploids and take over the Research Community. By force!

I love how at this point, everyone wants to reshape the World. Not so much, Dynamo. He just wants to enjoy it. But Gate & Isoc have the Elite Reploid vision. We find out Zero’s motivations later. And X, we know wants a World where reploids and humans co-exist in peace; this would later be called Elysium.

Back at Hunter Base, while X is asleep and recovering, I had a.. tough time dealing with Alia and the Rescued Reploids. A little bit of Pre-X6 spilled in here, but the dialogue was all over the place. I had Reploids reacting very aggressively, or Alia being too bossy and I recall having to edit it down a lot. I attempted to keep the reactions as real as possible, because absolute strangers wouldn’t just automatically volunteer to be Maverick Hunters. No matter how grateful they are for being rescued, they don’t owe you anything.

When we cut back to Zero, I had a blast writing him fly through the Zero Space 1 level. There is no threat, and as far as Sigma is concerned, he is Home. So of course there would be no lasers, firing at him. But then I saw an opportunity at the boss lair that I couldn’t pass up. This gave me a new writing motif for Ep. 15.

Back to X, he’s back up! And sooner than expected!! This was the first time I had to write an item-grab episode. And honestly, it was kinda fun! This part of it woke the episode up a little bit. It was fun to write nostalgic settings like, Adler’s Lab and Dr. Glow’s Fortress. It was also neat to explore X’s new Gaea Armor in a more peaceful way. As we slowly warm up to the idea that X can traverse through spikes and bash through unbreakable blocks, like a Mech.

I had to give us some kind of stakes at the end of X’s item grab mission, in Dino-Rex’s well. X reverts to his base armor and tests out the Speedster chip, as he needs it to grab a heart-tank before lava can hit him.

That was fun. But then, when X got home it got complicated. The job well done was short-lived, before he was introduced to the new recruits BY NAME. [Yes, I spent some time looking up usable names from the X6 Rescued Reploid list.] That conversation itself, reminded X of Zero which makes him cry... Then, it got weird. Emotions were a little all over the place, so I edited it as needed, but Signas was the saving grace here. He introduced the idea that X might not need to kill Zero, but just save him. The same way he did in X2.

Either way, X is nervous, but he goes in after Zero to finish what he's started.

---------------------------------Ep. 15----------------------------------------------

This was an awesome episode, that covered more ground than I thought it would. X explores all of Zero Space Stage 1, with all the bells and whistles. Lasers and mechaniloids are flying after him left and right. X needs to use the Dark Hold and go in his base form, because the Gaea Armor is too slow. [This caused enough of problem IRL when I was doing my research playthroughs.]

But once X got to the first boss, I had fun. I took us back to 2 hours ago, while X was sleeping. This is where Zero tore up the Shadow Devil like he was nothing. And due to his clear knowledge of crammed Megaman History, he knows exactly who the Shadow Devil is, and it’s legacy to Wily Creatures.

When X learns that Zero destroyed this creature, he is instantly optimistic that he can bring Zero back, but Alia warns him not to feel that way.

Then we stay in the past with Zero for Z-Space Stage 2. [At this point all the Mavericks were spawned by Sigma and Zero cleared them all, so for X these stages were a breeze, barring the first one, where Zero wasn’t a threat to Sigma yet.] Despite Zero having to deal with Mavericks, this was not your average stage direction play through. Zero had all these game breaking powers that I could use to my advantage and keep things interesting, and I did!

I really wanted X to fight the Rangda Bangda though. So I came up with something for Zero to get through the room. Sigma just introduces himself in that room and taunts him, letting him through. “Welcome home, boy! I'm gonna enjoy working with you...”

Meanwhile, X deals with SIgma’s death trap. Only, the Gaea Armor easily lets him get through it without too much trouble at all.

From Zero’s perspective, we find out a lot of his motivations and realize that he gets more and more tired every time he uses his God-Virus powers. With a final flight to the gate, he is exhausted and all of the fighting he's done with X, the Shadow Devil and the mechaniloids up until now has finally taken it’s toll on him. As he enters an empty room, Zero is confused, but also takes this moment to rest.

Meanwhile, X catches up to him, about 2 hours later. Zero has now gotten a nap in, and the two are locked in the room together.

-----------------------------------Ep. 16-------------------------------------------------

The fated duel was upon us again!

The whole point of Battle of 2 Fates in the first place, was to skip this part. But years later, my narrative has changed, and here we were.

I decided to turn it on it’s head though. By this point, my version of Awakened Zero was really starting to come into his own. He has revealed that this is His life and he is going to do what he wants. The Old Man doesn’t control him, and neither do the Maverick Hunters. And Sigma is still his target.

2 out of 3 ain’t bad. X just has to work on that last part and maybe they can salvage this friendship. Minus the whole controlling thing.

So Zero tells X this. He has his own dreams. Zero wants to live in a World where he rules over the survivors and guides them into a new era where the word Maverick doesn’t exist.

While, not terrible, this is too impure for X. There’s still something evil lurking in there, and now his data is untraceable like Sigma. It doesn't help that Zero wants to make the Fallen Colony his home and is willing to align with whomever survives, Maverick or not.

It is not only for this reason that X decides to take him on. He does want to save Zero. Like I said, 2 out of the 3 things are there. If he can just do what he did in Season II, maybe it’ll all work out.

Well... that move never gets to happen.

I had a lot of fun making new fight choreography for this. I pulled out all the stops, this time. I even kept old fight choreography from the remainder of Battle of 2 Fates, but in all honesty, it wasn’t much. And what was kept was already shaved down into something completely different.

So with that said, I really went for it. Charged X4 & X5 weapons alike, using that Ultimate Buster chip like Alia & Douglas suggested in episode 14. It was all happening, now. And then... it was over!

11 pages too soon, too!

But fuck it. I didn't need to pad this. And I wasn’t going to cram and rush 2 Sigma fights in this chapter either.

I really enjoyed having Sigma enter the room after the battle was done. This happens in the game, but what also happens canonically is that he inexplicably LEAVES THEM when he HAS THEM. He could’ve killed them right there, while they’re both comatose on the ground. Or taken them in for re-programming. And that is what I opted for.

Since Xtreme 2, I’ve really been thinking, what would Sigma do if he actually won. And I’ve been honestly thinking that he’d keep X & Zero around, but in his own image. Maverick Minions to do his bidding. An Awakened Zero and a Maverick iX. That would be his dream team.

----------------------------------Episode 17--------------------------------------------

And here in Episode 17, I finally got to explore this!

I didn’t want to cheapen the stuff that comes later, but I really needed to show us that this plan wasn’t going to work. Despite the fact that he HAD them!!!

Sigma uses his virus specters to enter into their pores. It works with Zero, even giving him some final breaths of life, but it does not work with X. In fact, he has some mysterious barrier, protecting him from any infection.

This frustrates Sigma, who reveals that he just wants to make him iX.

From there, X wakes up and I’m not gonna write the whole episode again. lol

We get our much deserved fight, but keep in mind X has not recovered yet from his insane battle with Zero. And he’s already used one Sub-tank.

So now X is going in, half-drained and with 1 Sub-tank!? Yeah, that’s a death wish.

Still. I worked with it. It took away the Ultimate Buster Chip advantage, explaining that Sigma removed any chip enhancers he already had. Armors are internal, however. Sigma wasn’t able to get in there [clearly].

I’m really proud of the Gaea Armor fight. Specifically the “Predict this!” bit with the Giga Attack.

Using the 2nd Sub-tank during Sigma 1 was risky, but necessary. X was now fully recovered, while Sigma was down, and he easily transformed into his Force Armor to discover Sigma’s weakness - the Tri-Thunder.

Once that was in play, this fight was practically in the bag. Still, I needed a dramatic finish with the charged Tri-Thunder. A Force Armor Nova Strike was in there, too, which only makes the stakes more desperate, because those moves really kill X’s stamina.

Now in Sigma Fight 2, it was hard to keep this interesting. Dialogue, aside, X’s fight with him is a lot of back and forth, pattern memorizing, shoot the giant head nonsense.

I kept this up, however and even had fun with Sigma climbing over his shoulder, and shooting him at close range with the Spike Ball. I also enjoyed how he used the radar one last time to find out his weaknesses.

But when I had enough, and narratively, when X was angry enough, he was able to transform into his Ultimate Armor with a hard Nova Strike to the face. This does not kill him, but it definitely dwindled his energy way down for like, 5 more hits. [I didn’t count.]

And theeeeen, I finally got to add in a line I created for Zero, basically at the beginning planning stages. Zero makes a surprise Z-Buster shot, indicating that he is indeed alive, and still on X’s side, or at least.. his friend. To the very end.

“Some things... go beyond our programing...”

I’ve had that line forever and now I finally got to use it!

X needed a final cool thing, besides just a Nova Strike, so I shoe-horned in this new attack, which is basically an Uppercutting Nova Strike.

The idea was that the hadouken evolved into the shuryuken, which evolved into the Hyper Aura, which evolved into the Nova Strike. But now this was like a combination attack. A blue flamed uppercutting Nova Strike type thing. There is no name for it, because I made it up. I probably won't use it again, either. [But never say never...]

And there it is. Sigma died, and we got our endings.

I owe TheGreatClement, from YouTube a huge thank you for already putting this together in his LP years ago. I would’ve done the same thing, but his compilation made it so much easier to throw this together.

Then came inserting the bad ending.

1 Week Later, X forgets stuff. And he HATES Zero!

I had to change that. This was a challenge. I didn’t want X to get mind-wiped at all by Dr. Light. But now... I have room for gray area in X6... So I compromised with the non-canon. If X6 must indeed be a combined scenario of Good and Bad ending. And in X6 he does indeed remember Zero fondly... Then, I needed Dr. Light to mind-wipe something else. “...all the Painful Memories.” The painful memories of fighting Zero, himself. [Whether that includes Season II or not, is up in the air.]

But as Alia explains, there’s a ‘Protection’ on X’s memory data now. He can’t remember anything related to the Colony. I went a step further to say that he remembers Zero destroying it, and then fighting Sigma together with him. That’s it. And even that memory is hazy, because Zero’s legs were missing during that fight.

So now, we have a firm compromise. X can remember all the best parts of their history. He can remember palling around at the base, and their proudest feelings together on good missions. He still has his Best Friend in his heart.

The 2nd part of the bad ending doesn’t deal with this as much. It introduces the idea of Elysium, which is just the name of the idea he has already had since X1. But now he wants a Paradise. His idea is fully formed, rather than.. a hopeful philosophy, I suppose. If X gets his way, he will Do this! They have a broken world they have to rebuild, but first they need to rebuild their base.

Also, before I leave this part, I need to mention something irritating. I chose... X6 Reploid names, specifically to replace “Hunter A” and “Hunter B” in the ending. Specifically, Araki & Batsu. Those were the names. I placed them both in this scene, and it felt great. (At first.)

Then when I got to the good ending, I gave names for those 3 cooler ones that he talks to. Iso, Cody and Tekk.

I could’ve left it at that, but from here, I decided to look at the X6 sprites of Rescued Reploids, including Hunter 1 and 2 from the intro stage, and assigned more names. When I looked at what these guys actually looked like, and compared it with those I have chosen, Hanse & Hal just stuck out like a sore thumb.

The fact that there were only 2 reploids rescued from Dr. Glow’s fortress cemented this decision. They were gonna be the only true Yellow Reploids that are rescued from X5. And therefore... Araki & Batsu, the true Hunter A and Hunter B had to be replaced with Hanse & Hal, due to just being cooler and getting better designs.

It’s not the biggest thing in the World, but it’s just weird how planning works out sometimes. It’s my own hangup, I know, and it might not make sense, but there it is.

ANYWAY.

Then the good ending kicks in, 2 weeks later.

[I really wanted to put 3 weeks later, but that 1st week with the bad stuff had to happen.]

X stands with Iso, Cody and Tekk as Alia lets them know that there is a new Mechaniloid in HORIE block, or whatever.

This scene will be expanded on in X6, and this isn’t the place for it, but you can only imagine what HORIE Block is. - That’s right. The intro stage to X6.

I already alluded to 2 other Hunters being in trouble - Data and Batsu, so there ya go. [Yay, Hunter B is in there after all.]

But more to the point, we get our Good X5 Ending. With X gripping the familiar saber in hand, and feeling stronger than ever, knowing that Zero is still with him.

---------------------------------tl;dr-----------------------------------------------------

My final thoughts on X5. I really hate that game, man. X4 was so solid, and honestly... if the text-based cut scenes were anime cut scenes, that would already do a World of Difference for me. But gameplay mechanics wise, the introduction to the wire hook was interesting and the duck was necessary. But otherwise... I dunno. Some enemies were too strong, I hated the boss level up system, and the timed mission - while different, set a whole different tone for the game. Gone was the chill exploring, even though you could go wherever you wanted to. Alia would reprimand you if you were in an area that you didn’t belong in yet.

Still, the things that I like are that you are not really fighting Mavericks here, but instead visiting Reploids who could be infected, or in one way or another have a grudge with you.

And it’s those things, plus the prior Zero motivations that carried me through this Season. Zero hating on the Repliforce turned into an evil ugly monster that threatened to ruin his friendship with X.

Also, Dynamo was a class act. Not quite, Deadpool 4th wall breaking, but fun enough to really add life in places that were already tense and nerve-wracking.

Gate & Isoc’s sub-plot was pretty neat. It turns out I had a little more for Gate to do than just brood in his own trailer. I didn’t think Isoc would interact with him as much as he did, at first.

Showing a vulnerable Sigma whose dreams are falling apart before his final battle with X was risky, but one worth taking in my opinion. Despite all these games, I feel like I don’t show him enough, so it was nice to delve into his thoughts a little bit.

And lastly, of course - the 3rd Arc roll call.

Ep. 13 - An Epic Battle written in 2011, revised into something even better in 2019.

Ep. 14 - An awesome aftermath episode that explores the damage to the world and it’s effect on Dynamo, Gate, Isoc, Sigma, Zero and X, who must recover items before he takes on Zero again.

Ep. 15 - Zero Space was crazy! Zero fought way more than X, although, X did go through Stage 1 the hard way and they both fought the same amount of bosses.

Ep. 16 - An Epic Rematch! Probably even better than Ep. 13. That’d be a fun debate.

Ep. 17 - The Climactic Ending. It’s all come down to X vs. Sigma, again, but the battle brings surprises to all of them. When it’s all said and done, the Maverick Hunters are ready to move forward and rebuild.

And that’s all he wrote, folks.

There will be a Season Vi. Yes, I will be taking a break. But yes, you will be getting updates.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed Season V. Despite hating that game, I enjoyed writing more of this Season than you’d think. There’s a lot more in there that I didn’t touch upon, I’m sure. But anyway, you get the gist.

Later folks and as always. Thank you for Reading.

#Season V Diaries #The End of Season V #Thoughts on the 3rd Arc

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fyloona · 7 years

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(INTERVIEW) The all-girl K-pop group with a unique coming together story

LOOΠΔ are a girl group who are ambitiously announcing their 12 members over a string of solo singles – we speak to the members of subunit ODD EYE CIRCLE

A little over a year ago, something big was quietly manifesting on the edges of South Korean pop music with the reveal of HeeJin, a then-15-year-old who was the first person to be announced for a new, 12-member girl group called LOOΠΔ. The process of introducing LOOΠΔ to the world ranks as one of the more ambitious projects undertaken by a single entertainment agency (in this case, Blockberry Creative), with each of the group’s members unveiled not over a matter of weeks but over 18 months. Each girl has a symbolic colour and animal, and each releases a solo pre-debut single and video, interspersed with music by subunits formed of the already-revealed members.

While LOOΠΔ’s multi-pronged announcement strategy might seem hard to wrap your head round, large scale concepts and storylines for girl groups aren’t an anomaly in K-Pop. One only need look back upon T-ara’s 15-minute film around “Cry Cry” and videos like “Lovey Dovey” for precedents, or to newer groups like the J-rock-centric Dreamcatcher and GFriend’s ‘school trilogy’ of music videos. But LOOΠΔ stand apart amongst girl groups and even in the wider K-Pop world for the sheer ambition of their world-building, with each music video knotting another thread into an increasingly complex web of theories and imagery. Only EXO have in recent memory so carefully created a far-reaching origin story.

LOOΠΔ are yet to make their official debut. Right now there are still four members who’ve yet to be revealed – currently HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul, ViVi and YeoJin make up the subunit LOOΠΔ ⅓, while Kim Lip, JinSoul and Choerry combine for LOOΠΔ/ODD EYE CIRCLE. For now it’s the latter who have become key purveyors of what’s known as the ‘LOOΠΔVERSE’. The trio’s solos (Kim Lip’s “Eclipse”, JinSoul’s “Singing in the Rain”, Choerry’s “Love Cherry Motion”) are sleek, compelling cuts of electronic pop, stylistically linked via their MVs (music videos) and tinged with 90s R&B, future bass and Katy Perry-esque vibes respectively. As LOOΠΔ/ODD EYE CIRCLE, they’ve also solidified themselves as one of 2017’s brightest groups, with both their EP Mix & Match (which climbed to #10 on Billboard’s World Chart) and its just-released repackage Max & Match pulling together the boldest elements of their individual songs.

“Chaotic”, “Uncover” and “Starlight” are drenched in unpredictable percussion and spacey synths against the girls’ feathery yet firm vocals, while on “LOONATIC”, they skip beyond familiar turf and channel Grimes’s dream pop. Two singles – the upbeat and assured “Girl Front” and “Sweet Crazy Love” – pile on new and existing visual clues (circular mirrors, maps, their ‘odd’ eyes) and recreate shots from the group’s previous videos.

As they discuss the struggles of debuting and breaking the mold, Choerry (at 16 the youngest of the three) calls their overarching concept “a first”. “It’s new, intriguing, and we’re proud,” she says. “It’s like being in a fairytale.” Open and assiduous for this, their first ever international interview, Kim Lip, JinSoul and Choerry are also feisty, confident and endearingly prone to dissing each other like siblings. Say hello to your new favourite girl group.

You each have a colour and an animal... did you get to choose either?

Kim Lip: The company chose each animal based on each member’s character. When I heard I would be an owl, for a moment I was like, ‘Huh?’, because everyone would want something pretty, like the deer for ViVi or a cat for HyunJin. But I like my symbol animal now. I think it goes well with my solo track.

JinSoul: When we first heard Choerry would be the fruit bat, everyone was surprised because it’s not very girl group-like. But given that Choerry will be going back and forth between both LOOΠΔ ⅓ and the new one coming later, I believe it fits the theory very well.

*full interview under the cut

Theories already abound about multiple dimensions in the LOOΠΔVERSE – one for each sub-unit, including those yet-to-debut – and everyone needs to find each other to debut a whole. Can you give us any hint to the full story?

Kim Lip: There are several theories, but we want to show the process of putting puzzles together through our videos and music. I’ll give you one hint – we’re wearing a band on our wrists based on each of our colours and that band is twisted. People might not have noticed, but ‘Möbius’ is an important hint for LOOΠΔ moving forward.

JinSoul: LOOΠΔ is 12 solos, three units, then the complete group, but I can tell you that this is not the end, rather just a beginning. There could be a new unit with different combinations, for example, HyunJin and I could be a new unit.

It’s unheard of for girl groups to develop narratives that are as complicated and prolonged as yours. What did you think about LOOΠΔ not only having a story but their own world?

Kim Lip: When we first heard about – like, how it would be actualised – we were quite surprised, because normally girl groups would just perform good songs with nice clothes. But as the theory unfolds, even we’ve gotten more curious and we’re finding it enjoyable!

If I said LOOΠΔ has the potential to change the creative landscape for K-Pop girl groups, how would you feel about that?

Kim Lip: It’s definitely a goal we’d like to achieve. Each solo has its own power, and each unit has an independent power rather be a typical unit, then all together we become LOOΠΔ. We want to be like Marvel’s Avengers.

How did each of you join LOOΠΔ? What did your friends and family say when you told them you were to be in an idol group?

Kim Lip: I tried out in so many auditions to find the right agency. I was pretty exhausted. But then my company contacted me through Instagram. I auditioned, made it, and became a trainee. It was challenging to adjust, realising ‘This is what a trainee’s life is like,’ and I spent time worrying about if I’d be able to become a member. But I practiced hard and finally became part of LOOΠΔ. All my family and friends celebrated with me. They were as happy as I was.

JinSoul: I auditioned a lot. I had good opportunities through street casting but didn’t make it through. But, like Lip, our company contacted me through Instagram. My family is very proud, and my friends have been supporting me a lot even before my debut.

Choerry: I participated in a vocal contest and got casted for an audition and became a trainee. My parents didn’t like the idea of me becoming a singer at the beginning, but they support me a lot now and give me the strength to go on.

LOOΠΔ/ODD EYE CIRCLE is said to have ‘strange and mysterious charms’. What’s your strange charm that only your family or friends understand fully?

Choerry: Kim Lip may pretend to be inattentive or indifferent, but actually she always keeps her eyes on others and takes care of them. She has that cold-but-warm charm.

Kim Lip: JinSoul may look cold and have a strong personality but, in fact, she has sloppy charms (makes cute mistakes).

Kim Lip: Choerry has a bright energy and charm to think always positively, even in bad situations.

Your EP has several tracks that really stand out for their ethereal synth pop. Which track seemed most interesting to you at first?

JinSoul: I have affection for all the tracks, but I liked ‘LOONATIC’ especially because it’s a type of genre only we can do in K-Pop.

Choerry: Also, ‘Chaotic’ is a bit masculine, but we’re proud to express it with our voices.

LOOΠΔ/ODD EYE CIRCLE is based around the ‘girl crush’ attitude – what does that mean to you personally?

Kim Lip: Girl crush for me is a complete turning point from (the ‘pure’ image of) LOOΠΔ ⅓.

Choerry: I think it’s a girl who has a strong gaze and who is cool, a girl who approaches proactively and confidently. Girl crush might be difficult to pull off, but I think we’re good at creating a strong appearance, so it fits us. Haha!

Lip, you have a natural authority about you on and off stage. Have you always been this type of confident person?

Kim Lip: When I was little, I was so shy that I couldn’t even get food on my plate at a buffet. When I thought ‘I want to be a singer’ and went to audition, I thought I should become more confident. I tried hard to change my personality so I could become the Kim Lip of now.

What did you emotionally experience while waiting to debut? What was your biggest fear and biggest hope?

JinSoul: Would I really make it to debut? I did my best in everything with many thoughts. In the beginning, I was shy and had low self-esteem, so I was worried if it’d be okay to debut with this talent and visual (appearance). But I was also so excited for my song coming out!

Choerry, you’re still at school... what does the average day look like for you? How do you juggle schoolwork, rehearsing and performing?

Choerry: Normally I wake up at 6am and go to school. When I have a schedule, I attend only morning classes or take a day off, so it’s sad that I don’t have much opportunity to meet with friends.

Now you’re promoting as a trio and spending a lot of time together, what’s something new you’ve discovered about each other?

Kim Lip: I didn’t know when JinSoul was a trainee but, as we’ve lived together, I’ve noticed her sleeping with her eyes open. I thought it was only in the car because it’s quite uncomfortable, but she always sleeps with her eyes open.

JinSoul: Choerry tends to be bloated well in the morning, so when she wakes up, her double eyelid is gone. So in the morning it’s quite different version of Choerry.

Choerry: Lip is very easy-going, that was quite unexpected. But she is surprisingly cleaner than I expected.

source: DAZED

#loona #odd eye circle #jinsoul #kim lip #choerry #t:interview #t:info

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keiziahknight1886 · 7 years

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My take on SnB:Vs Episode 14, another long trash post from yours truly. Damn I should make ‘My take’ a thing now! LONG. SUPER LONG since I’m ChariNina trash

WARNING: This post is very long and includes rants as well. Read at your own risk.

First I would like to finally say the words I’ve been meaning to shout to all yall, anti or not.

BTCH IS THIS NOT CANON ENOUGH FOR YOU? IS THIS NOT? LOOK AT IT. LOOT AT IT DAMN IT. AINT IT NOT FCKNG BEAUTIFUL? IS THIS NOT FCKNG CANON ENOUGH FOR YOU? BTCH IF YOU’RE BLIND TO THE TRUTH (No offense Chari) THEN LET ME SHOUT IT IN YO EARS AND IF YO TRYING TO BLOCK MY DAMN VOICE LEMME SHOVE IT IN YO FACE CAUSE IT’S CANON. C A N O N CANON BTCH.

That was good, that was reeeeaaaaaal good. WHAT? STILL DON’T BELIVE ME YOU PIECE OF- beautiful human flesh THEN LEMME POINT OUT HOW AND BRUH THIS IS GONNA BE LONG.

First up, my harto. I was stabbed multiple times because of that new opening and no it’s not because I have a raging cold that I feel like something is stabbing my heart I legit felt that. Like bro look at this.

LOOK AT IT. (Apologies for the low-quality screenshots, I couldn’t help myself since I hadn’t downloaded it online and was streaming it so yeah)

You know it’s legit when they’re the first ones in the OP but wait there’s more! (You clearly know this is gonna be pure ChariNina with a little bit of something something but still mainly ChariNina)

Okay time out, let’s appreciate the Chari fan service since people were complaining that they were making Nina fan service now.

I certainly am not complaining though,

Okay back on track, things I like to point out during this episode (basically all the ChariNina in this episode) and starting with the OP.

Okay fine since I like this I’ll- OH WAIT OH MY GOB THAT’S LUCIFER. BABY!!! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR 1 SEASON AND A HALF NOW OMG YOU STILL LOOKING FINE. Oh hey Azazel you’re looking okay too. You both look fine as hell though… quite literally huehuehuehue

Okay back to the OP, it was siiiiick. Some people said they didn’t like it compared to the 1st OP but this one was sick and intense like the first one, sure a little different, more on green less on red but it’s amazing for me. What I do want to point out are these.

Me while watching: GO NINA, RUN TO YO MAN!

Still me: *quiet*

Still me: *gasp*

Me: OHMYGOB CHARIOCE TEARS OMG PLS SEND HELP GET ME A BOTTLE CAUSE THAT SHT’S PRECIOUS! WHY YOU CRYING CHARI NOOOOOOO. I smell a backstory coming up.

Okay now to the episode, I’m sure most of you have seen it so I’m not gonna make story tell cause yall are here to see this trash of a post so you know how it goes, but still here; cute Nina coming home scene which is cute.

Yep, cute. Also, Nina is flexible af

Okay now were moving to the moment where all of us were either too focused and in it to fangirl or were fangirling because of everything that has been said.

Second up, OMG.

Me while watching this: Nina you better say yes.

SHE SAID YES OMG!!! I made it sound like she said yes to Chari proposing to her… that could be arranged though…

Me: *starts to fangirl*

Me: *Fangirls even more*

Me: *FKCNING FLIPS A TABLE*

Me: STAHP, STAHP DOING THIS TO MY HEART OMG THIS IS TOO BEAUTIFUL. SHE FELT SAFE WITH HIS OMG I’M CRYING.

Me: NINA GIRL YOU AINT THE ONLY ONE WHO’S HAPPY. I’M HAPPY, HE’S HAPPY, YOU’RE HAPPY WE’RE ALL HAPPY BECAUSE OF YOU TWO. JUST FKCNG KISS ALREADY.

Me: KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MAPPA WHAT THE HELL!!!!! KYAAAAAAAAAAA OMG I CAN’T OMG I JUST CAN’T I CAN’T RIGHT NOW I CAN’T. AGAIN, BTCH THEY CANON. AND YES NINA YOU WERE LITERALLY MADE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH CHARI.

Me: *insert lenny face here* (This galaxy is beautiful btw, props to the art in BahaSoul this is legit beautiful)

Me: Hihihihihihihihi. Huehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehue. I am pointing out again to the people who thought Nina’s heart was broken after she found out Chari was the King in the previous eps please go and suck on this.

JEANNE IS LITERALLY THE FANDOM RIGHT NOW. LIKE MAPPA LITERALLY PLACED A REPRESENTATION OF THE FANDOM IN-ANIME AND HOLY SHT JEANNE I COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

Me: *pauses*

Me: Naw Nina you don’t mean that girl… I mean you hated what he did as King, not as Chari!

Me: I know Nina… well I don’t know but what I would want is for you to get together.

Me: SEE NINA?! THANK YOU FOR GETTING MY POINT. YOU DON’T HATE HIM, YOU JUST DIDN’T LIKE WHAT HE DID! (Let’s appreciate the triple A writing here like this is some emotional sht right here)

Me answering for Nina and the fandom: YES.

I just want to point out how I said before that Nina wasn’t broken. Sure she felt hurt and this proves it now but she’s mostly confused and is in a state of wonder as to why he did all these things and how she should feel towards a person she loves but is doing all of these things to the other races. This is like Romeo and Juliet yknow. *end of serious*

Me: SEE NINA? YOU DON’T HATE CHARI! THANK YOU FOR CONTRADICTING YOURSELF.

Okay I just wanna point these out. The last images of Nina’s flashback to Chari was when Chari was smiling at her, and the last one was with his disguise as Chris. I feel as though this symbolizes that she didn’t fall in love with a king but in fact a person; a kind and great guy as she describes herself.

I mean look at this.

Aww

Awwww

AWWWWWWWW

All of what she remembers last is his smiles. THE SMILE PEOPLE THOUGHT WERE SARCASTIC AND WAS MEANT TO TAUNT HER. LOOK NOW BTCH, WHERE’S YOUR ANTI A**?

Ehem, anyway. I like what Jeanne is pointing out here.

(Jeanne really is literally the fandom in this right now)

Me: IT AINT A MAYBE JEANNE IT IS REAL! But seriously this is some good sht right here like dang, wow. This speaks to a whole other level, this can be applied in the real world.

Some of you maybe pointing out ‘but Jeanne doesn’t know who she likes and if she does she will definitely say no to this!’ My gob you antis never really shut up huh?

Do you really think Jeanne doesn’t have an idea of who this person may be when 1.) she saw how the king interacted with Nina back at the prison and 2.) she was literally there when Nina fought as a dragon to save her! She saw how Nina didn’t bite off Chari’s head when he came near her and it would be impossible for her not to see how she de-transformed into a human and he carefully caught her because she was fkng there and watching!

And if she really doesn’t know who this person Nina likes do you think she’ll hinder Nina from finding her happiness when the girl who was a complete stranger to her decided to be kind and help her? Nina could’ve left her but she didn’t and that’s because that’s who Nina is. Do you really think Jeanne would be selfish enough to try hinder Nina’s feeling for Charioce? Do you really think Jeanne would be the type of person who would tell Nina she can’t love him because he’s a bad guy?

Gob if you think so then you really don’t know who Jeanne D’Arc is and is just trying to make a way to break of Charioce and Nina.

Jeanne isn’t selfish enough to try and separate Nina from Charioce because of what he’s done. She might ask Nina if she’s sure with this and if Nina answers yes then she’ll support her, if Nina answers she doesn’t know then Jeanne will help her. Jeanne won’t stop Nina from loving who she wants and I want to make that perfectly clear not unless the creators suddenly decided to make Jeanne a dck which is highly not possible.

Okay moving on.

Here we have Nina contemplating on life rn. Don’t worry Nina baby we feel you.

You know something else I really liked this episode? Mama Dragon, I mean she’s not a dragon but Imma call her Mama Dragon. Mama Dragon is so nice and lovely and I feel bad because she lost her hubby, now I see where Nina gets her charms!

Also, thank you Mappa for giving us a legit mom and not some hot super model mother who looks the same age as her daughter. Very nice.

Mama Jeanne and Mama Dragon mom time. This is legit probs the only time Jeanne has ever cried her feelings out, leave it to a mom to comfort another mom.

Overall, I am very happy with how this episode turned out. We go an insight of Nina’s feelings and saw how she’s coping with the info she got. This gives a new depth to Nina since people just see her as an overly optimistic person but just because she’s optimistic doesn’t mean she doesn’t have trouble too. Now I’m happy most especially about badass granny dragon! Like look at her! She’s so cool!

Ah 2017 has been a good year for romance. Not for me though but ChariNina’s romance is enough to make me feel happy for love.

I was gonna add my ED thoughts in here too but that would be a liiiiitttttlle to much for one post (as 2k words isn’t already ‘too much’) so if you’re interested you can go ahead and see that too!

Well this ends another long a** post and yes, this is canon now, you just saw the proof.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts, I aint here to cause arguments and those anti anti things are just forms of expressions so don’t take this too seriously and attack me, although I would like to hear your thoughts my intention is not to cause fights but to fangirl and give my honest opinions.

Feel free to reblog and comment and have a ChariNina filled life!

#charioce xvii #nina drango #nina charioce #charioce x nina #charinina #jeanne d'arc #azazel #lucifer #mama dragon #granny dragon #dragon village #ship #canon #rant #thoughts #i was afraid to tag azazel because of all the hate i might get but meh #shingeki no bahamut #rage of bahamut

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