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absolutebl · 3 years

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This Week in BL

Sept 2021 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Bite Me Ep 1 (Viu & Viki) - A BL DRAMA ABOUT THAI FOOD IS OFFICIALLY THE GREATEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN TO ME. AND OMG IT’S GOOD! Chef Aue spots the boy/cook of his dreams, Aek, and wants to make Aek his protégé (and husband) but it’s not that easy for the boy in question. I think this is going to be a Korean-style slow burn, low heat, with strategic use of tropes. Sophisticated for Thai BL. Also, everyone wave at Gameplay! (We love him, okay?) Here are my thoughts on ep one. I won’t be doing a full recap because it’s on Viki (too hard to screen cap).

My Boy the series Ep 10 fin (Line) - I jumped back in to finished it out, seems to end on a cliff hanger and still has all the issues I dropped it for, so I’m happy is didn’t bother. Still, I feel pretty safe in saying NOT RECOMMENDED. (note there might be 2 more eps.)

- Love Area Ep 6 (is now being uploaded officially to Gaga at 2 eps a week) it seems to have become hard to find elsewhere as a result. I certainly couldn’t get hold of it. Still I’m happy it got distribution.

Siew Sum Noi ep 3- 10 eng sub 11-12 unsubbed (Drama Cool) - two fistfuls of tiny disasters, better then we have a right to expect, especially if you can make it to ep 4 (trust me, skip the singing). I like the northerner baggage and how the different characters handle the classism of it. IG is great at pining. The side couples (especially in the north) are super cute. There’s even an out gay character. Still, we are in major pulp territory with ALL THE TROPES including some homophobic and problematic ones. RECOMMENDED WITH SERIOUS RESERVATIONS.

The Yearbook Ep 8 fin (Line) - thank goodness that’s over. Honestly this could have been 4 eps instead of 8. Frankly, it could be one of Y-Destiny’s minisodes. And what the hell with that stinger? Just gah. It’s getting a 6/10 from me, RECOMMENDED IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO. And I really mean NOTHING. This is the BL equivalent of watching paint peal and feeling sorry for the wall getting exposed.

Don’t Say No Ep 5 (Line) - now this one I AM trash watching. We are in TT2 territory where it’s all a whole riot of nothing happening. DSN is like eating jello salad. I’m like...What’s going on here? Am I enjoying this? Sadly I think i might be. Do I hate myself for that? Wait, WHAT was that? Leon reminds me of Mark from Gen Y while Pob reminds me of Kaow from Brothers. This is a good thing, cute combination. Full on discussion of jello salad meets BL in the trash watch recap.

7 Project Ep 1 “Would You Be My Love” (iQiYi & YouTube) - it was fine, as expected SantaEarth delivered decent acting, great chemistry, and good kiss. Bullying isn’t a trigger for me so I thought this one was perfectly serviceable if not groundbreaking. I guess each one is going to be 1-2 hours (one couple) like the Close Friend series. So I’ll only be watching the BL & GL ones.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

- Friend or Lover (YouTube) Ep 6 - Taiwan’s quirky indie piece didn’t drop its final ep so far as I can find, but they don’t seem to be on a fixed schedule.

Love is Science? (BL sub plot Viki) Ep 11 - Taiwan finally brought back everyone’s favorite confident gay meets disaster bi and we are so grateful. OuWen, my love, I missed your adorable suits. Although, to be fair, I love Mark’s arty looks too. Anygay, other stuff happened to other people but we got another desperate confused grab and kiss from the disaster bi. Now we are all waiting to see what confident gay will do. Gonna be good.

Love Is the series (YouTube) Ep 1 - a cute soft new Pinoy BL I picked up because it looks like it might be sweet. Liking it so far but these ones can go askew easy. Still it seems like a fun indie studio. There is a poor seme/rich uke thing going on that I enjoy.

Peach of Time Ep 1, 2, 3 (WeTV & Viki not USA, I’m finding it on YouTube & DM) - Korean/Thai BL It’s sad out the gate so we know what we’re in for. Language is both Thai and Korean. Even I, who do not speak Korean, can tell that Jimmy’s accent is ADORABLE. Tommy plays a ghostly fairy godfather. Basically: Two boys, one of whom is dead, have to solve the sorrows that lead to that death as well as past family trauma. It has a very He’s Coming to Me feel that i (of course) like a lot. Although I am not banking on this one ending happily.

In Case You Missed It

I thought Thai BL Love Advisor was going to be a series but it turned out just to be a microfilm (c. 30min). It’s stylish, has a very Wes Anderson feel, and queer aura (rather than BL) and the subs are decent. It’s basically a pretty one act play with very few cuts and good production values. I got Nampu (Top Secret Together) vibes from one of them (a very good thing) but I found it a little dull. Good acting but a slow pace. Interesting twist ending and a more Korean feel than one might expect from Thailand right now. 7/10 RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Thai mafia BL KinnPorsche dropped a new teaser from its new studio. Much lower production values same main couple.

Red Devil and Heroine Su available with eng subs on youtube. It’s a microfilm Chinese GL version of Word of Honor.

Gossip

Any My Engineer RamKing fans out there? Anyway Perth (who is the sweetest cinnamon roll) has a two part series reacting to the RamKing scenes. Talay joins him for the second half. It’s great. They talk about BTS stuff like workshopping and acting with animals. Perth speaks in English, Talay in Thai, but there are good subs (Perth did ‘em.)

Korean BL My Sweet Dear that I reported on last week seems to be restaurant set. YES!

Queer Korean production studio Strongberry has a new microfilm coming out called A First Love Story. Trailer here. I’m looking forward to it.

There’s another new Korean BL in the works, The Tasty Florida. I’m a mite suspicious of this one, while it seems to be university meets food themed (my fav) the description and title do not inspire optimism. Will this be Korea’s first BL pulp? Maybe... Will I watch it? OF COURSE. Oh and Yoo Hwan, former leader of the Kpop group SPEED, is one of the mains. Does this make me happy. YES VERY. Here go watch SPEED do one of the greatest tricks in the history of k-pop at the END of Don’t Teese Me when they should have been exhausted. I’ll wait. Our boy is one of the three acrobats (white shirt or black shirt with white on the sleeves in that big trick, or pink hair high-flipping at the very end).

In other news, was that Korean actor in a kpop band a decade ago? I WILL NEVER LET IT GO. Never.

Thai BL Unforgotten Night (adapted from the y-novel Mafia's Bad Love) as been listed as in production. Office grunt Kim has been pining after his senior for a long time. To forget about him, he decides to have one night stand with a random stranger. That stranger becomes obsessed with him. Mafia man Kamol is kinky and (I’m assuming a Dom) and no one is able to satisfy him until Kim. I’m assuming this is a KinnPorsche knock off, but hey if that doesn’t get made who are we to look down on the Golden Bloods of the BL world? Stars Yoon (YYY) as the mafia Dom and Choke (Y-Destiny, he was opposite the boy who time-slipped) as the sub. Honestly the poster makes me think this might all be a joke:

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Slim pickings this week, @heretherebedork is doing a September V-BL rewatch and I’m IN, if any of you want to join us. My V-BL list is here. HTBD’s is here and is better.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moments?

Just them, being back. Smooching.

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weirdthoughtsandideas · 2 years

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Which do you like more? The current Violetta fandom, or the one from when it was airing?

That's a hard question! The old days were fun because we all just saw it as it aired and could discuss the latest episodes. I also recall us having theories about season 3. There was a bts pic of Fran's bedroom and we all thought there would be scenes taking place there. THEN all we got was a 10 second shot of her waking up from a dream lmao

Also we made edits and WILD fanfics- like there may be very few fics of Violetta on ao3 but on wattpad? Even if I dislike that website, there's TONS of fics there and they are on another level. They were in so many different languages too, I found plenty in swedish even. Also, crackships really were always a thing - sure, people loved the canon ships but I really feel like they loved crackships just as much. Honestly the ship wars and stuff were really kept in youtube comment sections or in real life. It was pretty chill... except on the wiki. THE WIKI, god- PEOPLE, WHEN NEW EPS CAME OUT IT WAS FUCKING DRAMA ON THE WIKI WHETHER OR NOT THEY SHOULD UPLOAD A NEW PAGE FOR THE EP OR WAIT UNTIL IT AIRED IN THE UK OR SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW- just... just go on the wiki and look in the comments for any page. There's always drama and it's hilarious.

But nowadays I actually have like... internet friends. Mutuals. Back then, sure, I could recognize usernames and people who commented stuff, but we just were more like "I don't know anything about you except that you need to comment on every Leonetta video that Tomletta was better" than mutuals. We never DISCUSSED or INTERACTED or anything, if it wasn't to answer each other's youtube comments we left in misspelled english.

Also now it's better because I can see the show in a retrospective now and see it differently than I did as an 11yo (however 11yo me DID analyze and discuss a LOT of things I saw, but the thing was that I had no platform to turn to because I didn't know tumblr existed at the time (and no one in the violetta fandom used tumblr because we were all too small, or we just didn't have anyone to discuss it with there anyway so it was no point) - so I had to just post my analyzes on youtube or on Violetta live blogs in an ocean of comments where people otherwise just wrote "I love Violetta Leon they are best" or something)

Fun fact is that I actually posted about Violetta here on tumblr already in 2019 - however, since basically no one else cared then, I didn't post about it as often. It wasn't until late 2020 when people actually seemed to notice my Violetta stuff, and that's when I posted more! So that's fun! :D

You guys are the reason I became more active in the fandom again after kind of just observing it from afar for several years.

So to answer the question: It's great now, and back then it was also great but in another kind of way.

#thanks for the ask!#violetta

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sanstropfremir · 3 years

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some thoughts and questions:

about kingdom - seeing peniel join the mix of ateez and skz was odd for me lol that threw me entirely off and i think is the large reason why i’m personally not a big fan of it. i watch peniel’s stuff outside of kingdom and he’s just a v chill dude overall; even in btob’s performances, he’s not a big standout and is there and does his job. whereas for ateez and skz (i don’t watch skz enough but this is based on the kingdom content), their energies match very well with each other in terms of performance. ateez definitely wins in stage presence compared to skz but their sounds and dance compete, if that makes sense. what did you think of peniel in this performance (aside from the krumping mentioned in your long review, if you have any more thoughts)?

i also think wolf is such a bold song choice. it’s one of the sm staples - really only sm groups can pull off these songs and concepts because it was designed literally for them. e.g. snsd i got a boy, rv rookie, fx/tvxq/ nct songs. there’s a uniqueness to them that can’t be replicated imo. if a non-sm group is going to cover it, it’s almost always a fail (or is missing v important components to the song/performance that it lacks in comparison).

also, what do you think of the stages overall? like, in terms of variation. there’s nothing wrong with serious, dark, and/or thematic performances. but i feel like all of the groups are sticking to it because it makes their stages ‘valid’. if that makes sense. to simplify it, i wish groups did more ‘bright and fun’ concepts and played around more. ikon and btob are groups that do this but for these kingdom stages i don’t get the same energy.

about kpop in general - in your review of the recent kingdom ep, you mentioned that you can only think of 2-3 groups where most of (or all) members of the group have great stage presence. what groups do you think have this quality? off the top of my head, i think of shinee and seventeen. every time they perform, each member makes themselves known and carry their part. even for a large group like seventeen and some members get only like 3-5 seconds of screen time. when a member is missing it’s painfully obvious too.

this is so long and thoughtful, thank you! i’ll try to answer everything but if i miss something just let me know! i’m putting it under a cut because long.

ok to start: peniel. i agree, there is quite a bit of dissonance having him in with a group that’s comprised of 98-01 liners, and especially because he does have a very laid back personality. i do think he stepped it up pretty well in the stage, even if his energy wasn’t a perfect match. and he clearly did put on a different performance than he usually would, if eunkwang and minhyuk’s incoherent and hilarious screaming at the end of the stage was any indication. it was a smart choice to position him as the ‘alpha’ wolf of the stage. when there’s that large a gap of performing experience with idols, no matter what you do, it's going to show. even if he wasn’t a chill guy, his stage presence is just gonna be different. same thing with minhyuk in the rap stage. i know having a low member number puts them at a bit of a disadvantage, but btob (and subsequently ateez and skz) actually kinda lucked out in that regard for this stage. say for example, the full group was competing and they sent multiple members to the performance unit like the other two groups did. because ateez and skz are the same age and have relatively compatible performance styles, they can make a cohesive unit, but now you have multiple performers who have an incompatible style and will stand out from that group. how do you thematically bridge that gap within the performance itself? when you only have one unhammered nail, you can capitalize on that nail being unhammered. hence making peniel the alpha wolf, or making minhyuk the ‘boss’ at the end of the rap stage. there just isn’t enough time with this show to actually do the rehearsal to make a truly cohesive unit, so the best thing to do is highlight the difference.

my position on covers is that it's futile to try and match the original perfectly, so match the energy but make it your own. one of my all time favourite covers is kings of leon’s dancing on my own. yes, the robyn song. also the 1975’s cover of thank u, next. rtk features a few stages that i think got the right idea, with pentagon’s follow and their collab with onf for kill this love. sm songs are tough for this for though because yea, they are pretty tailored to their groups, and the groups themselves have very unique signatures and theyre often so famous that it's hard to separate them from their contexts enough to pull off a more abstract cover.

honestly the variety of themes hasn’t been the worst? obviously i’m a person who likes narrative and thematic elements though so i'm going to be a little more biased towards those types of stages. i think people keep using the term ‘dark’ to describe any concept that’s vaguely thematic and has moody lighting. i wouldn’t describe any of btob’s stages as dark, or ikon’s, and i wouldn’t describe ateez’s wonderland stage as dark either. i do want to see more variation in aesthetics, especially in the costumes. really only ateez and btob have got this one down; you can tell the group’s style and that it's the same designers/stylists, but there’s been enough variety that none of their looks have felt the same. tbz and sf9 have only worn embellished suits so far, ikon has not made much effort with their costumes all, and skz have just been alternating one stage black one stage white in like, exactly the same outfits. boring!!!! where is the drama!!! so yes, i would like to see everyone having a little more fun on stage and with their concepts, but i also dont know if i'm willing to risk the 60% chance that it will be school uniforms for the younger groups. because i really Do Not want that.

and as far as groups where all the members have great stage presence, i'm so sorry but i suspect you were typing this while i published a post where i detailed the exact reasons i dont find seventeen compelling, please do not be offended. i guess i can say they have good collective presence? the ones that i was thinking of are shinee and tvxq. shinee for obvious reasons, and tvxq is just two dudes, so they both have to have stage presence or the whole thing would have collapsed in 2011. oh, by default also superm, because sm cherry picked seven of their best performers and slapped them together in a group. honestly baekhyun is probably the weakest link in terms of stage presence but he makes up for it in screaming so i forgive him. if we wanna count 50%+, where the group has good presence as a whole but not all the members, i would say ateez, got7, mx, and vixx. vixx is a weird one because 50% of their stage presence is hakyeon, jaehwan, and hyuk being pretty normal charismatic dudes and 50% of it is leo’s absolutely incomprehensible cryptid vibes. why is he like that. we'll never know.

#kingdom #thank you for these thoughts and questions anon!!#i got stuck in a youtube hole watching bbc radio 1 covers while writing this #if you read my taemin favourite song list and was confused about me listing final dragon and 2kids in the same tier #and are now seeing a kol and a the 1975 rnb cover here #yes my music taste is wack no it does not make sense to me either #got7 has had the wildest changes in stage vibes over their career #watching their rookie stuff is so funny when compared with their most recent comebacks over the last two years #mx just grew up very well #vixx.........man i dont even know #i think anyone would be hard pressed to explain how vixx works #kpop questions #text #Anonymous #kingdom asks

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just-a-girl-and-her-ships · 4 years

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Slibbs Writers-Christopher Waild

(Note: while doing this, I realized....he's kinda the "implied Slibbs" writer. Like, we don't actually see a lot of outright Slibbs scenes, but what happens in his eps, implies a deeper connection than what the scene gives us. Does that make sense?)

Season 15

Double Down (15x10) dir. Alrick Riley

At the beginning of the episode, Jack and Nick are escorting a Senator in Afghanistan. Gibbs calls Jack and after Jack is telling him how it is going he says, "not a social call". Umm, do they do that? Call each other just to chat?

We also get the first glimpse of backstory about the Wingos and hints of what happened to Jack. At the end, we are probably cheated out of a Slibbs hug, when they show up at Gibbs' place after coming home.

Death From Above (15x18) dir. Rocky Carroll

NCIS is put on lockdown and Jack is stuck in MTAC with Vance and McGee. Maybe not a great setup but when they are finally able to get out.....the worry she has for Gibbs.....well, this is the episode right after One Man's Trash. They've just had their first steak night and he's shared a part of his dad's past with her. Make no mistake. She cares for him.

Fallout (15x23)

Cowritten with David North (they did the teleplay together. Story by Waild.)

Directed by Terrence O'Hara

Kasie is back as a temp to get the team moving again after Abby leaves. This is the first episode involving Gibbs friend, Phil Brooks. Jack has a nice scene with McGee about his books (she's read them) and asks him why he became an agent. But there's a nice shot at the end. Slibbs enter the lab together. Where have they been?

Season 16

Third Wheel (16x04) dir. James Whitmore Jr.

Gibbs and Jack are separated the entire time but the episode does not disappoint. Phil is back and he has crashed Gibbs' cabin time. Then Fornell shows up and is all "I'm sorry who are you? Gibbs' best friend? Who knew Gibbs had more than one friend?" Oh and as if that wasn't enough.....hello Izzy!

Ellie to Jack: She would be fun on karaoke night.

I'm sorry. Karaoke??????? We need to see THAT scene. Now.

Toil and Trouble (16x11) dir. Leslie Libman

Slibbs interrogating that scientist. (Remember, he coughs and Jack is all "oh god") At first, we don't see a lot of them actually working together but we know they are by the texts to Vance. When we do see it, they play off each other very well.

Judge Jury... (16x21) dir. James Whitmore Jr.

The case with the poisoned candy. Jack takes the stand as an expert witness and Gibbs shows a hint of pride while watching her.

...and Executioner (16x22)

Cowritten with David J. North

Directed by Terrence O'Hara

First, while Jack is talking to Leon about Mallory: The heart wants what the heart wants. 😍 Then.....

Great scene between Sliibbs in Observation. Leon is about to question Mallory, after she has turned herself in for shooting Gibbs' truck at the diner.

Jack: After everything that's happened with Leon, Clark,..........you (she reaches out for his hand out of camera range)....this woman turns herself in? Why?

Gibbs: Hopin' to find out.

Jack: Do you think it's wise to send a jilted lover in there alone?

Gibbs: It's not my call.

Season 17

Someone Else's Shoes (17x04) dir. Michael Zinberg

Slibbs try to solve a case involving homeless vets while also trying to help a marine who is more focused on learning the stories other vets have to tell.

At one point, Jack could use a second pair of eyes and enlists Gibbs help in looking at Barney's file. So they go to her office where she let's him use her glasses. 😍😍😍

They later stay overnight at the bus depot where the homeless live, taking watch. And then work together to bring down the murderer.

IRL (17x09) dir. Terrence O'Hara

Gibbs is concerned that he isn't helping Phineas. He goes to Jack for help.

"I think you won first place in the science fair."

"You're a good man, Gibbs."

She later gets all wifey on Gibbs when she finds out that Phineas' mom said "no screens" so he gave the kid the biggest screen at NCIS. 🥰

Ephemera (17x16) dir. Diana Valentine

Not a hugely Slibbsy episode. Heck, Jimmy gets a hug out of Gibbs, not Jack. "So warm."

In the flashbacks where they assume the identities of the people involved in their case, Slibbs assume the lives of a brother and sister. Seriously? But the scene at the end with Arturo is beautiful to watch. Maria Bello is amazing.

#ncis #slibbs #slibbs writers #slibbs directors

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johannepetereric · 3 years

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I just imagined another thing to my AU where the Blaster Blade, Dragonic Overlord, CEO Amaterasu/an OC super-obscure super-dowry named Genesis, Asura Kaiser, and Blaster Dark of my AU (Unit #4 about “Genesis” was a BS-wrote-itself sitch, didn’t exist put I put that first part of this what-if down on here) are yeeted into the bodies of their Vanguards (you can easily assume who they are) in the reboot—starting from ep 1.

Ok, after the Kai vs. Aichi fight (in that one, no stakes are there anymore. The two Clan Leaders recognized each other immediate and it just turned into a regular teach-the-noob-the-rules game. Dragonic Overlord kept the challenge, cuz dueling Bladter Blade is super-duper fun, but he would’ve given his mate his card anyway. They talk like old friends are they completely avoid any question of how they suddenly got so buddy-buddy as if the “extras” (Dragonic Overlord’s opinion) didn’t exist and Miwa didn’t know about it)), after Kamui is introduced, Q4 can just be chilling alone in the lobby downstairs for like 6 hours or somethin’ and NOT play Vanguard. “Misaki” is reading a book, “Aichi” is reading a book on a bench, “Kai” is napping on “Aichi,” “Kamui” is doing exercises, and Shin is wondering wtf they’re just doing nothing in A FRICKING CARD SHOP!

The Misaki sub-plot is shut-down cuz it’s Misaki’s trauma and not Genesis’ trauma. It’s just another of teaching “Aichi” the new version.

Same with Kamui—mostly. Their fight is just because they can.

Asura Kaiser wins that one cuz I say so.

Ok, back to the chillin’:

Dragonic Overlord can be calmed (well, it’s just them and the others don’t wanna do anything so this stops any “rampage” of his) if he’s being given physical affection by his mate for a long period of time. In this one, his mate is scratching the dragon’s (so to speak, cuz he’s stuck with a regular human body) ear rhythmically and always for those six hours—the ear will be red and throbbing and “burning” (to the human, but this is a dragon so it’s like the burning doesn’t exist), but Dragonic Overlord misses being red.

Genesis (supreme ruler of Oracle Think Tank and Genesis combined, but she doesn’t appear for official matters. It’s just to hang with the other leaders fir a fortune to be told or something.) is reading a book at the cash register. Assista-cat is napping all day.

Blaster Blade is reading a book one-handed. That scratching-hand never strays from its scratching, but Blaster Blade is already experienced in being one-handed with his dragon so it doesn’t matter. As if he’s doing it two-handed.

If that scratching-hand stops or tries to leave, Dragonic Overlord will wake up immediately and do something and “deal with the threat” (the default assumption, even tho he can clearly see it’s night).

Asura Kaiser is just exercising loud enough to be chi but not to distract anyone or wake the Overlord.

Another way to wake the sleeping dragon (pun intended!) is for a threat to walk in: Dragonic Overlord considers Koutei too weak to consider Koutei even remotely a threat so not even a stir, Leon is powerful so he’s wary and likely to move his mate cuz some plot s**t would go down, Blaster Dark is the love rival so immediate full-frontal assault and it’s a full-our war to stop the trigger-happy berserkers, and everyone else doesn’t immediately wake him up but he stays just conscious enough to be able to immediately respond to any threat/“threat.”

Also, they get to hear their theme songs/OSTs from the OG anime magically play in their heads during, well, on cue. The first time it happens, it’s to Dragonic Overlord during his (first) fight against NwO. He’s just shaking his head wildly to see where it’s coming from. Genesis offers, “Maybe someone allowed you to break the Fourth-Wall?” And they just accept that cuz there’s no other explanation.

Yeah, the Team Handsome plot stays cuz Asura Kaiser is just G-era Kamui here and he wants to show “Aichi” around. He isn’t as invested in Emi here, just admits that she’s cute, but it’s not strong enough to cause any shenanigans and related comedy. Still revolted with Nagisa, and they’re all surprised af with this Nagisa’s initial alliance (aka hating on Kamui).

Yeh, lotsa stuff change.

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daisy--sorbet · 4 years

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heyyy, hope you’re having a good night!! if you have the energy and feel okay answering, what’s up w taz graduation? i haven’t checked it out yet but i was thinking ab it. just asking bc you’re the first person i saw talk ab the show having serious issues, but also feel free to not answer this!! hope you have a good week!

i took a nice hot bath, had a strawberry kiwi capri-sun, and did a nice face mask and i’m feeling pretty good - so, y’know what anon? let’s talk about it.

for anyone who likes taz grad who sees this post: it’ll be tagged with “taz grad hate” (although i feel hate is definitely a very strong word - it’s for the simplicity of tagging it) - so please block the tag if you don’t want to see this post (especially because i put a readmore on a post before and it didn’t show up on mobile and instead gave the full post). mobile tumblr has a tag blocking system, so please feel free to use it! i don’t mind haha

anyway, so this is... probably going to be a lost post, and i wanna go ahead and preface it: this absolutely isn’t any hate on the mcelroys themselves. i love the brothers and their dad a lot, and while i doubt any of them would ever see this (or have it sent to them, or shown to them, because im pretty sure they try to distance themselves from this sort of thing), i just want to make it clear that criticizing a product is different than bashing a person. which brings me to the point of if i do end up sounding as if im bashing someone - please call me out on it! it’s not my intention to target anyone.

with that said, let’s talk about this campaign.

so my problems are as thus: the railroading, the shipping (a fandom problem, but it’s present in the podcast), the NPCs, and some misc problems others have addressed better than i have.

which. i know. that’s basically the entire podcast. (i promise i’ll bring up some positive points to balance it all out). keep in mind i’ve only personally listened to... what, six episodes? and it was enough for me to drop it. some people dropped it first ep, some dropped it ep four, and others are still forcing themselves to listen.

the railroading

there was a time i could handle travis and his railroading [making sure the story goes exactly the way he has planned], because it was the very beginning of the podcast and that’s what you can kind of expect from a plot-heavy podcast. hell, i wouldn’t mind it if the interactions and goofs weren’t a huge part of why i listen to TAZ in particular (which, by the way, is why amnesty still stuck out to me - even if there was a direction griffin wanted to push them towards, the interactions between the players (or players and npcs) made up for any railroading). it’s kind of hard to not railroad a little when it’s story-heavy and you’re trying to built up a world that you’ve put a lot of thought into. however, a huge part of d&d is the spontaneity.

it’s kind of why i think balance was so popular. while there was railroading towards the end, there was the presence of improv that made it all good. most mcelroy content is enjoyed because of the goofs. the magic brian moment is memorable. the jenkin’s fight still stands out because it was funny (albeit a result of some bad rolls). the boys teasing angus sticks out because the four would play well off of each other. even without that - griffin had talked about how he had to roll with things (the fact he had planned for a fight atop the train, but ditched the idea for what his family members came up with instead). even in amnesty, a couple moments that stick out to me still are ned with the jetpack taking out a pizza hut sign, and the scene with the water where jake was trapped inside. they aren’t as fun, but they still stand out as “things i didnt expect to really end the way they did.”

with grad, it’s just. one after another. the thundermen want to subpoena a xorn? cool, let’s run with that until actually the xorn gets fed rocks and goes home and who cares about the subpoena now. fitzroy wants to keep his cloak? lets talk about it for a while and you also get no rolls to even try to keep it. fitzroy goes to meet higglemas in his office? oh, why are you here fitzroy? im going to keep asking you until you answer fitzroy? you arent getting out of this scene until you answer me, fitzroy, so just tell me why you’re here already, alright, fitzroy?

and even later in a episode i read a transcript of: hey argo, remember how you have this whole secret motivation? fuck you, im gonna talk about it here in your dream and reveal it to listeners and remove any tension you had building up, and you dont get a choice to talk about it because this all-knowing villain knows all about it :)

and even NOW in the latest episode, there’s a comment that “we should cap argo’s skills here” instead of just... making the checks higher. rogues are good at certain things and usually arent the best in battles. better hope argo never makes it to level 11, because who knows how people are gonna handle the fact that he gets a skill that’ll make it so certain skills can’t have a roll below 10 (reliable talent).

(griffin, thankfully, calls travis out for that, but still - travis, why would you even imply that, considering you should be aware of how rogues work considering magnus multiclassed into rogue and you played one on tiny heist?)

and in the newest episode, their Big Bad chaos (which, god, i personally hate that name) straight-out says “dont do this” to the thundermen. travis tries to say, on twitter, “a character saying “dont do this” is different than me saying it” but i need to point out that it’s one thing if you’ve said “no” in character but worked with the PCs doing otherwise, but the railroading says differently.

the shipping

ill try to make this quick, because it’s nothing to do with the fandom (ship however you want, man) - but i really feel the need to draw attention to this.

fitzroy, as confirmed by griffin in a ttazz episode, is asexual. not aroace, but ace nonetheless. and i find it... troublesome that the idea of rainer and fitzroy having a relationship is still pushed nonetheless, despite the fact that fitzroy (to my knowledge) was never once shown to reciprocate any feelings. not to be that person, but i really hope that grad doesnt have any sort of romantic relationships in it (at least - not between NPCs and PCs unless they’re actually like... warranted?).

i dont know, man. one of my closest friends is ace, and i know she wants a relationship, but i think it would reassure her a lot to see an ace character who isn’t pushed into one in case she ever changes her mind. someone once mentioned that they hope fi/tz/ra/in doesnt happen because theres relationships that have that “oh, you can just date” and it goes upwards there to “oh, you can have sex just to please them <3″ (which, to be honest, is kind of a gross mindset - if someone isnt interested, they arent interested).

also, uh, the TTAZZ where griffin states this, there’s kind of the mention tht the whole sexuality question was posed in relation to the episode “creative thinking” (the dream one i mentioned earlier) - which. uh. i don’t know if anyone caught this, but... rainer straight-up wrote fitzroy a letter in the dream like “are you going to accept my proposal? a girl doesn’t like to be left waiting” which. leaves me with some gross feelings because uh.

if... if the whole thing about fitzroys sexual orientation was addressed here, then why would you push your ship anyway? feels kinda iffy, man.

to which i want to say: fitzroy can date. he’s allowed to date. griffins allowed to do whatever he wants with his character. but when a lot of the flirting is met with nothing, i’m not gonna see the chemistry there. just because travis ships it doesn’t mean it’s canon.

the npcs

ah yes. lets talk about the npcs.

there’s... a lot. a lot a lot. i think travis trimmed down how many were present in a scene, but uh. there’s still a lot. and... uh... i kinda wish there wasn’t?

look, i know im going back to balance/amnesty, but just. hang in there for a moment. chill with me. vibe.

balance didnt have too many NPCs present at all times in each mini-arc. gerblins had some big names like barry, klarg, gundren, killian, yeemick, and magic brian. rockport limited had angus, jess, graham the juicy wizard jenkins, and all of the tom bodetts mentioned.

amnestys first arc had mama, barclay, jake, dani, pigeon, kirby, minerva, and that was about it for like. big names? and not all of them were present in each scene.

in the first episode of grad alone: gary, hernandez, jimson, rolandus, zana, rhodes, buckminster eden, rainer, leon, tomas, hieronymous, higglemas, stuart, jackle, bartholomeus, mulligan, groundsy, germaine/victoria/rattles (the skeleton crew). and those are the ones i wrote down (minus groundsy, who i just. ignores. idk him).

like holy shit, my english prof got onto me for having too many characters in my first chapter and i didnt even have half the amount listed there!

it’s just a huge cast. does this take place in a school? yes! theres bound to be a lot of students present - but you don’t have to name every single one of them, at least not in the first episode!

the miscellaneous

i don’t know if travis ever actually addressed it, but wheelchair users have actually like... said that rainer’s introduction bothered them, because she was like “please ask me abt my wheelchair :)” when travis saying she was in an ornate chair would have sufficed.

uh. the colonization vibes people have discussed within the centaur arc. mentioned here, the replies here, and this post (and its replies) here as well.

the overall lack of d&d when the campaign was kind of advertised as a return to d&d if i remember correctly

also no one seems to be taking literally any criticism at all which like. ignoring the petty shit, sure, but people have stopped donating to taz and their listener-ship must have dropped some during this entire time - you’d think that maybe someone could say “we need to find out why people dont like the thing and fix the thing” consider this is. yknow. their livelihood.

anyway uhhh

tl;dr: travis railroads way too much (even now), the shipping in-game has become pushy and gross (especially bc its shoving a relationship onto an asexual character), theres too many npcs that dont stand out well enough, and no ones taking any criticism about the major issues with grad.

#taz grad hate #taz graduation hate #Anonymous #ok im gonna go to sleep now goodnight #maybe ill wake up to hate tbh that'll be wild

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safflowerseason · 5 years

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With the exception of season 1, I think that the show doesn’t go awfully deep into the actual physical dynamic of having Amy being the only woman on Selina’s staff. Like, I feel like so many of the tampon and menstruation jokes given to Gary could have done more if given to Amy to establish their relationship. Kinda focusing on menstruation so I’d love to hear what you have to say but if you have more to say in the same general sphere I’d love to hear as well.

This is a very astute question, Anon. First things first, let’s not forget Sue! Sue is also a woman on Selina’s team! (although her relationship with Selina is not nearly as intimate as Amy’s, so I understand why the question isn’t about Sue.) Also, I’m really thinking of S1-S4 in my response here…the gender dynamics of S5-S7 are a separate (and far more monstrous and less nuanced) thing entirely.

In general, I would say that the reason that Gary gets the jokes about menstruation and make-up and Selina’s general physical needs is to demonstrate to the audience that those aspects of Selina’s experience as a woman are “professionalized.” In order to do her job as the Vice President, Selina’s personal needs, like menstruation, eating regularly, looking well-groomed, and feeling awake, have to be dealt with equally seriously as writing press releases and developing policy. It’s important enough that it has to be someone’s entire job—Gary’s job. Selina can’t afford to be all hush-hush with the only two women on her staff when she gets her period. Someone has to be prepared for it. And while that’s not in the job description of the chief of staff (Amy) or the executive secretary (Sue), it is the job description of a politician’s body man.

I don’t know very much about the role of the body man in politics, unfortunately…most of what I do know is gleaned from The West Wing and Veep, which aren’t exactly “real” sources. I would love to know if Hillary Clinton had a male or female body man…for one, it does seem like the job requires a lot of carrying things. In general, I think the physical dimensions of politics tend to be examined less in popular culture. There’s a reason why campaign staff have to seriously respect the interests and wishes of a candidate’s spouse, even if they disagree or think that person is a nightmare…because hardly anyone else has that kind of physical access to the candidate. This is why Selina had to be unmarried in Veep…if she and Andrew were unhappy but had remained together for appearance’s sake in some sort of Clinton arrangement, he would still have a kind of access to her that would complicate Selina’s relationship with her team. For Veep to really work as a show, with Selina’s particular psychology, her team—and above all, Gary—need to be the people in closest physical proximity to her.

So, in short, the reason that a lot of jokes about Selina’s physical needs and experiences in the world went to Gary is because the writers were trying to explore the realities of Gary’s job. Plus, Selina and Gary's relationship is the interpersonal connection that is arguably at the heart of the show, and their physical closeness and constant proximity to one another is a huge part of what links them together. (And the writers also wanted to poke fun at/critique the fact that because Selina is a woman, her body man has to deal with things like tampons and lipstick, and in the eyes of most men, such as Dan, that somehow makes Gary less masculine.)

Also, the idea that Selina and Gary first encountered each other at the hospital where Selina delivered Catherine is patently ridiculous. Like, did Selina really insist on taking the random candy-striper guy home with her after that?! Did she just start paying him as her private…attendant? She hasn’t even run for Congress yet! None of the internal logic of the final two seasons of Veep makes any sense.

I do very much agree that the show never really does anything with the reality that both Selina and Amy are comparatively diminutive women and they’re constantly surrounded by a bunch of a very tall men who could theoretically inflict personal harm on either of them at any damn time. The show played with Timothy Simons’s height quite a lot, in a variety of different ways, as well as the height differential between Reid Scott and Anna Chlumsky, but their smallness compared to all the men around them is never something that actually links Selina and Amy together. Their connection is sketched out in terms of emotion, not their shared physical experiences. Certainly, Selina is very physically touchy-feely with Amy in a way she can’t be with Dan or Mike, which reinforces how close they are. However, the physical realities of being women in a man’s world do not seem to be part of what draws them together, at least in the way the show presents their relationship.

For example, we never see S1-S4 Selina “look out” for Amy when it comes to the male politicians and staffers she encounters. In the very first episode, she’s totally fine with using Amy as bait to get Jonah to surrender the condolence card. She never tells Jonah (or Dan, for that matter) to back off Amy, she never says “be careful” whenever Amy has to meet with a man alone. We know Selina has been sexually assaulted before, and yet, even in the early seasons of the show, she’s never worried that something like that might happen to Amy. Nor does Amy ever reach out to Selina to ask for guidance or support when it comes to dealing with men. We never see them talk about how much it sucks to wear heels all day. In general, it seems their relationship is not explicitly grounded in the fact that they have similar experiences of inhabiting (attractive) female bodies in the world. (And then in the Mandel years, Selina does things like actively endanger Amy by trying to sell her to Leon, so….a different issue entirely.)

The closest I think we get is the miscarriage plotline in S1, where Selina asks Amy to fake a miscarriage for her, which is obviously a very gendered gesture that she can only ask a woman. And the subtext of Amy’s attempts to soothe Selina in 1.07 very much read as “I’m a woman, unlike Gary, Dan and Mike, so you can talk to me about your boyfriend if you need to.” And of course, there’s ep. 2.05, when Selina and Amy have very similar reactions to Osmo groping Selina. Still, it’s Gary who knows about the miscarriage first, and Gary who immediately finds out about the groping incident, simply through the demands of his job.

The general lack of exploration into that dimension of Selina and Amy’s experience is probably linked to the broader hesitance of the show to delve into the nuances of sexual harassmant and violence except when the plot demanded it. And I suspect there are other reasons as well…Selina’s narcissism obviously plays a huge role in how she thinks about Amy, as well as her own complicated relationship with feminism. And, not for nothing, Selina is consistently surrounded by Secret Service, and I think she is self-centered enough to assume that sort of protection would surround Amy even when she’s not physically with Selina. In other words, she might subconsciously assume that Amy is untouchable through her association with the VP’s office. I also doubt that Selina is thinking very much about what happens to Amy when Amy is not in her direct line of sight, or when she doesn’t need something from her.

I also wonder if, by the end of S2, Selina—and probably Ben and Kent—might be taking for granted that Dan is probably with Amy wherever she is, which means she’ll be safe from any predatory men because Dan is projecting his possessive caveman vibes all over her. Most of D.C. probably assumes something is going on between Amy and Dan, which could act as a deterrent for predatory behavior as well, since some men only respect women who are “spoken for.” (Obviously, some do not.) (Men are the worst no matter what.)

Anyway, the intersection of gender, interpersonal relationships, and workplace politics represents a really fascinating, if canonically under-examined, thread within the show. Thanks Anon!

#selina meyer #amy brookheimer #veep gender politics #veep workplace politics #gary walsh

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ghosty-schnibibit · 5 years

Text

finally found time to listen to the first ep of graduation and holy shit!!! i love it so much!!!!! liveblog below ^u^

so i’ve stayed off tumblr for the last five days to avoid any spoilers and damn it was both hard and worth the wait, i am so hype for the rest of this season!!! i think this may be the longest liveblog i’ve ever done so apologies in advance to mobile users if the readmore doesn’t work.

oh dang! starting off with narration!

newa? oh cool we're not in faerun

“a blessing of unicorns” travis i am in love with your world already

loving the spookiness of the place names

trav i love it but this is so much lore so quickly bud i've had to pause to take notes like three times

"and our deaths become all but inevitable" jesus travis

i am so excited, this is going to be so much fun

this music is giving me such dreamworks vibes

AND A CAT :D

SPECTRAL CAT :O

and here's the other three boys!

griffin is getting out years of dm saltiness and i love it

a handsome half elf boy, neat

agro keen! nice name clint

his voice is like griffin put artemis sterling and indrid in a blender

sir fitzroy maplecourt, i love him already

clint no, i am too a ace for this

water genasi, that sounds fun

i cannot wait to see the fanart of this dude, he sounds so pretty

"you had me until the mustashe" same griffy, same

JUSTIN THIS CANNOT BE THE VOICE YOU USE FOR THE WHOLE CAMPAIGN, JUSTIN W H Y

clint started off vaguely crunchy and veered right into ned

this is untenable justin

just throwing this out there, just purely based on the voices, i think fitzroy is my fave so far

oh fun! like caduceus

"that's an absolute unit!" mood

i need art of this dude so bad

... so the same name you gave the nitpicker lol

GARY THE GARGOYLE

fitzroy you precious baby boy

oh god this is bringing back memories

"what is a bunked bed?" says griffin 'every fantasy world i create contains elevators' mcelroy

"there is no shame in this" what does that mean justin

fitzroy is my sweet boy and i love him so much, my wee aristocratic dipshit

nice! 17 for the first roll of the campaign!

huh, nice! i like this mechanic

clint ilu

you mentioned maps in the ttazz trav, give me the maps

loving the verb usage lol

oh god its hagrid

i'm loving bud more and more each time he talks

"that's groundsy's place" that's where groundsy hides the bodies of students who displease him

ARGO WTF ARE YOU DOING

"both in different ways" dang

barn and battleground side... this sounds fun

does fitzroy want to be a knight? i love this

love the use of the word smooshed

hippocamp? oooooh horse mermaid, fun

BABY :D

nice, that sounds cool as hell

TRAVIS HOW HAVE YOU MADE ME CRY, THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIRST EP AND I'M LITERALLY IN TEARS OVER THIS BABY

y'know what, his voice has grown on me

justin you are crushing this entire scene and i love it

we're already getting some foreshadowing here and i am loving it

oh this music is so choice

YEAAAH first competent woman of the arc! :D

nice, go argo

"oooh, you're sir fitzroy" why does my boy have a reputation already

did my boy get kicked out of the hero tract without knowing it???

is he crying?????

"i had my feelings hurt by a strong man" b a b y b o y

who's the asshole?

argo my sweet sarcastic boy

oh fun, new npc buddies :D

i'm getting some wicked malfoy vibes from this guy

argo is being a dick but in a very deserved way

travis was not kidding about the sheer volume of npcs, holy shit, i'm only about 45 minutes in and i think that's seven different npcs with names and distinct personalities

oh fun! fantasy wheelchair 0u0

make that ten named npcs

his full name is argonaut, cool!

i am so excited for her holy shit, i need to draw every single pc and npc but i want to draw her the most, i love her so much

fitzroy is a dipshit and i love him

ooooh i get it now, so it's almost more like an acting school, i am digging this setting so much trav

damn that is confident

... are they the only ones clapping?

higglemis is such a mood

justin ilu holy shit

i love leon so much already, he's so soft spoken and sweet

"you would not survive that" fair call lol

griffin no you're going to destroy me with second hand embarrassment

what are you doing fitzroy my dumb dumb boy

"i'm in heck" g r i f f i n

oh my sweet summer child. oh my poor baby :(

yes, what is your class my sweet failure boy

so he's a wizard boy, love it

thank you for trying bud ilu

f i t z r o y 2

druid boy!

rouge buddies :D

so we've got a druid, a wizard, and a rouge, nice balance, a little heavy to magic users but so was balance lol

... i am terrified to know what this squirrel thing is

never mind that is actually freakin adorable, and i love her so much

oh goody malfoy's back

... it's hazing. he's going to haze them.

trav’s doing a really good job of giving npcs with similar pitches of voice different cadences to their speech

the fuck griffin

"that would put me right off lemons" a r g o

oh he has a cape... i know i kept thinking of him as a sort of malfoy character but now i can't stop picturing eridan

i am genuinely loving all the hp digs, this is so good

SNEAKERY

oh nice! birdy teacher :D

griffin what owl character are you referring to??????

i love how mundane this is, no joke, it makes it feel really grounded

good to know since they don't really have a healer

they have a dedicated party class, i love this

are they actual skeletons??? holy shit travis i love this so much

he's such a nervous baby, awww

DAMN GRIFFIN NICE

i love how supportive these boys are

how did you manage that trav, dang

HE'S A WHAT GRIFFIN??? I'VE BEEN PICTURING HIM AS A LIL NERD BOY THE WHOLE TIME, HE'S A BARBARIAN????? H O W

"we don't talk about it" i love this

is that a spell? i need to look that up

i love this skeleton friend so much

clint's tradition of naming his weapons continues and i love it

clint what are you d o i n g

NICE! go argo :D

"fuck life lessons!" jesus fitzroy

so it's more of like... a vocational school, size-wise, which aligns with a lot of the background info trav's given us. nice, easy to mentally picture

blame taking???

"you're the one whose magic came and ruined everything!" i am so eager to know this magic barbarian boy's backstory

agro's going for a more errol flynn aesthetic lol

puppy :D

"we feel settled on bud" i just realized this is the second character justin's playing that we don't know the real name of lol

i am so eager to learn what the heck this is and i just know it's going to end in a cliffhanger with only 11 minutes left in the ep

"does a plant cry out? it is plant!" i love this sweet firbolg boy

awww, ranier is a sweety, i love her so much, she's my favorite npc so far

bud’s giving himself some larry bird boots lol

everyone but bud are dumb dumbs lol

this music is so good

i am so intrigued travis holy shit this is so good

a credit to trav, this is the first npc that's made me think of magnus in terms of vocal cadence and tone

oh groundsy

poor fitzroy lmao

I AM SO READY FOR THIS

in conclusion: i am so incredibly hype for the new season!!! i know this ep was mostly setup but i’m already super interested in everyone’s characters and the mystery of whatever’s going on in the spooky forest, and i’m loving the direction travis is taking with the world and how he’s combining the magical with the mundane to make a grounded yet fantastical setting! i can’t wait for the next ep and for all the great things to come this season with everyone ^u^

#taz #taz graduation #the adventure zone #ghosty liveblogs taz #taz spoilers #sorry this is so incredibly late holy shit #but the last week has been so busy #and i wanted to set aside a good amount of time to listen when i knew i wouldn't be interrupted and that time didn't come for half a week fm #i'm so freaking excited!!!#and also so proud of trav!!!#this was so good!!!!!

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ear · 6 years

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PLEASE share your vld reboot ideas aja the show canon is garbage and your mind is so galaxy brain

OK OK ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!! alright so idk what kind of. earth landscape this reboot occurs in…. like yallve got this retro 80s/90s neon future verse going on but i didnt think my reboot version would fit into that so yall go wild with whatever hc for this earth reboot thing u want cuz im not creative and i didnt really think that far ahead

ALRIGHT here we go. this is so long i HAVE to put this under the cut but i hope yall enjoy the creations of my MIND……

- akeno “KEITH” shirogane: (age: 19) [gay] hes japanese/black/galran. hes still half galra in this reboot bc i fuck with that honestly but hes got more visible galran traits. his bottom canines are larger than usual and poke out from his bottom lip so he wears a mask to cover his mouth and his eyes r still purple but instead of his sclera being yellow(tinted), hes just like. got some odd golden flecks in his eyes. he normally wears a dirty mechanics jumpsuit with the top half tied around his waist and a black or white tank top underneath (hes still a high school flunk out so he works full time at a car repair shop so hes able to buy food and shit at LEAST + hes still got his motorcycle to keep in shape). his casual clothes r just regular grey sweats, hoodies, and adidas or whatever brand is closest in their future lol. hes blood related to shiro who ill get to in a second.. shiros blood related to him as his uncle (brother of keiths dad) ALSO his hair isnt long in this reboot, hes got a short messy head of hair that he mostly just pulls back into a TINY little pony tail on his forehead (like in the game show ep) so it doesnt get in his face while hes working. he also has goggles bc thats the one thing from yalls reboot ideas i actually like (endgame lion: he momentarily pilots black during shiros disappearance but his permanent and stationary lion is red)

- fal’allura “fala, ALLURA” naguna’ephy: [lesbian] (age: 21 or close to that in alien standards) shes altean on her fathers side and teem (what we’re gonna call nymas race) on her mothers side. she bares more altean features except her eyes are solid yellow and shes only got four fingers on each hand. instead of crescent shaped facial markings, she has painted on red and golden lines across her nose and her upper lip. her hair (very dark purple with silver highlights and literal glowing, twinkling stars) is VERY long, brushing the floor as she walks except and (now bear with me cuz this might be hard to explain) her hair, the farther down u look kind of fades away? like it becomes semi to absolute transparent… idk how else to explain it but i hope u understand…. she does wear a crown but its more like a headdress.. (imagine beyonces headdress).. she doesnt wear it often, usually only on diplomatic missions to greet other worldly rulers bc its heavy and it makes her neck hurt :/.. her dress! looks like this! but a little more spiffy .. u know.. her casual/training clothes are just…. idk imagine a royal looking sports bra and leggings?? i guess … ALSO ALSO ALSO she can still shape shift but instead of limiting her shifting to just the changing of skin tone and height, she can completely mimic different alien species but only humanoid races.. like she can have those indented looking knees and huge ass horns and all that but she cant like. turn into an earth lizard u know what im saying. also also also also she still speaks with an accent just… not a british one….(endgame lion: no lion. she keeps leading and piloting the castle ship until destruction, where she leads and pilots the atlas)

- alejandro “LANCE, ale” reyes-leon: (age: 19 ½) [bi] hes cuban/black/vietnamese. his dad is black and vietnamese and his mom is cuban! hes got longish afro textured hair he keeps back in a pony tail most of the time like this or a bun when training bc hes too lazy to put any actual effort into styling it. hes got a couple moles/freckles scattered across his face and hes got sectoral heterochromiaaround his left pupil so theres a little bit of blue in one of his other wise dark brown eyes (like this).. i havent really figured out what his clothing style is.. i thought about keeping his clothes close to vld canon like his jacket (bc that was a really good jacket) but im gonna go a little wild here so hold on. he wears one of those surfer type looking skin tight turtleneck shirts underneath his heavy bomber jacket.. he wears just regular ripped jeans and hightops like in canon…….. hmm……. he wears a pink bead necklace under his shirt that was made by his little cousin just a couple weeks before he was shot off into space and he hasnt taken it off since…………. he also has a tiny stick and poke tattoo on his ankle he did when he was thirteen bc he thought it would look cool but it turned out kinda lop sided so he never takes his socks off in embarrassment (endgame lion: blue to red (during keiths reign as black paladin) then to black when shiro leaves voltron to lead the atlas alongside allura)

- takashi “SHIRO” shirogane: (age: 31) [gay] hes japanese/black. hes keiths uncle and the only family keith really has .. his design doesnt really change much except hes got long hair (like kuron) but its pulled up into a messy bun or pony tail.. in MY canon hes still gay and married to adam (whos name isnt adam i just cant think of a new name for him yet) (and adam lives dont worry) and theyre working on adopting a daughter before shiro has to leave for kerberos. shiro usually dresses in work out outfits so like. gym shorts… tank tops.. leggings.. imagine those white blonde dudes who always wear a man bun and only eat vegan and drink chai from starbucks bc thats exactly how shiro acts but ONLY ironically ……… when shiros abducted on the galra freighter and forced to fight in the ring, his hair streaks white but instead of just a clean scar across his nose, he has multiple long scars scattered across his face from a one x one between his face and some debris thrown at him by a gladiator. his prosthetic looks and remains kinda the same i guess but this time its decked out with claws on the finger tips so it looks a little more galran yeah? (endgame lion: no endgame lion. he pilots the atlas alongside allura)

- francesca “frannie, frankie, PIDGE” eleonora: (age: 15) [trans girl lesbian] shes . just italian i guess. so anyway shes not gonna be an asshole bitch like canon pidge.. shes gonna be the caring sweet but KINDA mean little sister we always wished we had.. the little sister who would tell u, with all honesty, that ur winged eyeliner was smudged before u hit the town with the girls and made a fool of urself……. ANYWAY shes still gonna be the ‘hacker’/computer geek techno girl but not as much ykno? shes JUST a little girl so she just kinda does her own thing. i rlly like all the fanart i see of her wearing overalls and stuff SO thats her canon design…… she wears faded overall jeans over a short sleeved pale pink tshirt w a dog one it and scuffed up chucks. she wears glasses but instead of just taking them from matt she has an actual prescription and is basically blind without them. i literally cannot stress this enough but shes such a nice girl like the team pretty much adopted her as their little sister the moment they boarded the castle ship. idk what else to add on to her!!!! i literally did not put any thought into pidge at all! (endgame lion: permanently green)

- opetaia“HUNK” tuitama: (age: 19 ¾) [bi] hes samoan/black. hunk was adopted and has two moms and three other siblings, all of who are younger than him. im not sure about his fashion other than i KNOW deep down in my heart that he would wear cargo shorts…. i cant find it in me to get rid of his bandana thing so i let him keep it except he uses it to tie his hair up instead of using it as a head band thing….. HUNK in my au is more of a tech freak/engineer than pidge so he handles most of that stuff with the occasional help from pidge (like wiring… she has tiny fingers that can grab the wires easier) hunk probably wears the crocs/sandals with socks combo but just because he loves hearing lance bitch about it whnever he struts into a room. hunk also looks good in his vest so im gonna let him keep that but it looks more modified… like it has a bunch of pockets and stuff to keep bolts and nuts and other stuff he needs to work with.. thats also why he wears cargo shorts; just for the pockets.. (endgame lion: permanently yellow)

also ur probably wondering “if lance is in black and keith is in red and allura doesnt pilot a lion, THEN WHOS PILOTING BLUE????” …….. heh… peep this………..

- ADAM elsammak-althani(thank u mal @fuckvld for ur gorgeous arabic adam hcs..): (age: 32) [gay] i dont have much to say about him other than read mals hc lists and that ADAM LIVES IN MY REBOOT and he also joins the voltron team and pilots the blue lion (i FIRMLY hc that hes a very free/wild spirit and just loves to make jokes and is just.. a really fun guy to be around and obviously blue would open up to him in a SECOND. dont even @ me) (endgame lion: BLUE!)

#VOLTRON #this is SO long im sorry mobile users :^(#ALSO..... HEH...... ill draw them soon...... someday... i promise..#also if i messed anything up just tell me and ill fix it.. muwah #Anonymous

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toogoodmusic · 3 years

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THE TOO GOOD TEN with Hand Made House

Los Angeles pop band Hand Made House - made up of life-long friends Tucker Click (lead vocals) and Josh Nardine (drums) with Maison Thomas-Eudy (guitar/vocals) and Amin Mortada (guitar/vocals) - celebrate the release of their latest single, “Like The Weather” which follows up the seven song project Honestly, Honesty that released late last year. “Like The Weather” gives fans a taste of an edgier side of pop for the four-piece band and one that they’re excited to explore. Get to know know about the new song and the guys of Hand Made House by checking out their Too Good Ten interview below:

1. Hand Made House was originally started and created while pursuing degrees at Berklee College of Music. What aspects/techniques/advice from your time there do you still implement in your music or personal lives?

TUCKER: I think we learned to time manage well. We were working, going to school, and trying to start a band from the ground up. I personally took a lot of inspiration out of being surrounded by such talented people all the time as well. I had some professors that really believed in me and the band and I think that set me on fire with direction and drive.

JOSH: Obviously many of us have direct skill sets that we learned from being at Berklee whether that be production, songwriting, or music business. But one of the best things I feel we learned at Berklee was how to be in a band. Berklee gave us the opportunity to mess up and learn as we go without major consequence. We learned how to build our business and write with people. I attribute a lot of our growth to that community whether we knew it or not.

2. Hand Made House is such an interesting and cool name for a band. What’s the story behind it?

TUCKER: I was writing a song about my friend who was going through a really difficult time and was feeling very alone. The last verse of the song had the lines:

“If hand made house / And heart makes home / You’ve got what it takes / To build one of your very own”

I felt like we had built a home within our band and it felt like we had built it from the ground up. I remember telling the other guys I wanted that to be our “thing” we bring to the music industry. I want our fans to want to feel like a community when they come to ours shows. So, we pulled that line and named the band!

3. Being in a band can feel more like being in a family which can have its benefits and challenges. What’s each member’s strongest contribution to the band? How do you guys normally sort out creative differences?

MAISON: Yeah, I feel like we can identify as a family more than most since most of us live together and have lived together for years. We always talk about just how crazy it is that it just works. I mean, we obviously have our moments but we usually sort everything out when it comes up. I don’t think we ever leave a room still dwelling on a problem - we always just talk it out until everyone is back to messing around again. As far as strengths, I think Tucker and Josh have a really good sense of organization. They are the ones to make sure projects get done. Tucker always pushes people to be their best selves and do everything they need to. Josh is always right there with him doing the fun nitty gritty behind the scenes stuff. Amin is the most creatively driven, he always wants to write new stuff and sends new ideas to our group chat every week. I’ll throw my strengths to comic relief.

AMIN: Generally, all our songs are collaborations within the entire band. Usually, Josh and I are heavily involved in the early stages of a song. We’ll workshop an instrumental track a few times before its picked up by Tucker and Maison to be developed even further. When it comes to dealing with creative differences I take the approach of thinking about what’s best for the song rather than what I think is right for me. I think it’s important to separate your emotional attachment from an idea and look at the bigger picture. Generally when the band is running things that way we come to an agreement/compromise much faster.

4. Congrats on the release of “Like The Weather” which you guys have described as your “edgy comeback” after last year’s pop-driven EP, Honestly, Honesty. What was the inspiration behind this one? Why did you feel inclined to comeback “edgy” than straight pop-focused?

TUCKER: I remember writing this on our drive to LA, while we were still releasing Honestly, Honesty. I think I had a lot of bitterness from being stuck inside due to quarantine and was generally upset with the direction of the music industry at the time. I also had a conversation with Amin and Josh about how I was getting serious imposter syndrome about our last EP, because they’re generally happy songs, and I simply wasn’t happy. I feel like “Like the Weather” is my first touch on a slightly different lyrical style I’ve always wanted to do, and pushes us in a direction I’ve always wanted to try.

JOSH: You know, for the most part we all come from Rock/Punk backgrounds. It’s what we all grew up on and pulling from that felt right for us. About a year ago we had a pretty strong realization while writing Honestly, Honesty about what our identity and sound as a band would be and could be. Back then we struggled to know what the right move was when we were writing those “pop” songs that made it on that EP. We didn’t know how we could possibly transition to that sound and It was a bit of an identity crisis for us as a band. I think we all realized the nature of modern music is very Genre-Fluid and that’s been the approach we’ve taken ever since. “Like The Weather” I feel is the culmination of all those things. I think it’s the beginning of Hand Made House working to create music without restraint.

5. One of the lyrics in "Like The Weather” is “I get drunk / I go and get tattoos” What’s every members go-to drink order when out at a bar? Have you guys drunkenly gotten tattoos before?

TUCKER: It depends on the bar, but I have to say - I love a margarita. And funny enough, the first month of quarantine I gave myself a stick and poke tattoo at like 5 AM after a night of multiple spicy margaritas. It turned out surprisingly good.

MAISON: Well, I’m definitely allergic to alcohol. So, probably water. However, I do wish I could drunkenly get tattoos. One time I had a dream I got a tattoo, and I still want that tattoo.

AMIN: If it’s the afternoon, definitely a Bloody Mary. Night time, I’ll take a nice IPA. Yup...I don’t wanna talk about it.

JOSH: I’m not a big drinker, in fact I barely ever. However margaritas are really wonderful mostly for the salt rim.

6. You guys recently played the Music Lives 2021 Live Stream festival. What was the experience like? What’s one of the biggest learnings from putting together a performance for a massive live stream like that?

AMIN: Honestly, it was just like any rehearsal. You guys got a sneak peak of what rehearsal looks like during that show. It was super fun and its a great feeling being part of such a great line up.

JOSH: It was a ton of fun! I think it was cathartic for all of us knowing we haven’t played a show in over a year. Playing that set was one of the first times in a while I felt like I was really performing for someone even though it was over a computer screen.

7. How was it finding out your single “In Bloom” had gained traction without much promotion? Does it make you rethink promotion strategies each release?

TUCKER: It was really interesting to see “In Bloom” grow the way it did. “Through You” had been our biggest song for over a year, and “In Bloom” slowly grew until it popped up to our #1 spot. I think it goes to show that - even if we promote a song a ton, the people will always listen to what they want to listen to. Especially with indie artists like us who don’t have the means to promote a song like major label artists do.

8. What’s one piece of advice or quote – related to career or life – that you wish you would’ve known sooner?

TUCKER: Success is all a mentality. I know there are people who wish they could be in my shoes, just as much as I wish I could be in other people’s. I think it’s important to realize where you’re at currently, respect that spot and continue to try and grow.

MAISON: As far as career advise, growing up with family in the industry and spending so much time with people working at the top of their career paths. I’ve learned that just being a good person and fun to be with will get you far. Other than that, my dad told me once, “be better” not meaning that I was doing bad or that I wasn’t “reaching expectations”. He just wanted me to be better than my own expectations or limitations that I put on myself. As small and simple as it was, I think about it everyday.

9. For each member, if you could only listen to (5) artists for the rest of your life who would they be?

MAISON:

Kings of Leon

Young The Giant

Nothing But Thieves

Foo Fighters

The Band CAMINO

TUCKER:

Nothing But Thieves

Lil Peep

Phoebe Bridgers

The 1975

Frank Ocean

AMIN:

A Tribe Called Quest

Stevie Wonder

Children of Bodom

Steel Pulse

Iron Maiden

JOSH:

Elton John

Jesse McCartney

Frank Sinatra

The Fray

James Taylor

10. What’s the rest of 2021 look like for Hand Made House?

TUCKER: It’s hard to tell for sure with the state of everything that’s going on, but I think we’ll start playing shows again once we feel it’s responsible. I think we’ll be releasing new music that’s outside the box for us, and continue doing what we do best - playing shows and writing music!

Stay up to date with everything Hand Made House and be on the look out for new music releases and possible tour dates by following along below:

Facebook

Instagram

Spotify

Twitter

Website

The Too Good Ten interview series is dedicated to giving you a quick glimpse at some of the freshest voices in music. Ten Questions. One Artist. Too Good. Let’s go.

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sinceileftyoublog · 3 years

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Boulevards Interview: Funky Gut Punches

Photo by Jordan Rickard

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“I wish I could Men In Black erase my shit so I could listen to it with fresh ears,” Jamil Rashad tells me over the phone from Raleigh, North Carolina. The garage funk artist who records as Boulevards is about to release Brother!, a four-track EP (with an accompanying 2-track single) via Normaltown Records, an imprint of New West. But the restless singer-songwriter’s coming back from recording even newer music, for a potential LP, and has to get in the mindset that in a couple weeks, he’s dropping something he recorded a while back, especially because it’s his most assured (recorded) music to date, all the while exploring new aesthetic and thematic territory.

Rashad finished writing the songs on Brother! early on during the pandemic and messaged various artists he admired to see whether they’d produce the record. Blake Rhein, of Durand Jones & The Indications, bit. Rashad had long admired them. “Durand Jones & The Indications was one of the first soul revival groups in the game,” he said. “They kind of paved the way for Black Pumas and the other cats on Colemine [Records].” It turned out to be the perfect fit for what Rashad was trying to do. “I wanted to do some soul shit but still stay focused to the garage-funk element of Boulevards,” he said, something immediately apparent from the warbling psychedelia of the guitars and strut of the drums from the opening and title track. “I’ve always been chasing my predecessors,” he continued, referring to not only the contemporaries that paved the way for him but classics he grew up listening to with his father, a radio DJ: George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield, and Rick James. Rashad’s always been an avid indie rock and punk listener too, citing The Strokes’ Is This It and early Black Keys albums as just as formative.

You can hear Boulevards’ journey to this genre-averse point from listening to his discography. He released his debut LP on Brooklyn post-punk label Captured Tracks, bouncing around different labels and different styles (earlier this year, he released a collaborative track with “Bulletproof” synth popper La Roux) before finding a home on Normaltown. “I had to make those records in the past to make it to this point,” he said, citing New West’s increasing levels of genre diversity, from Caroline Rose’s pop-rock jamfest LONER to their recent Pylon box set, as a reason why he kept asking them to release his EP. When they said yes, he felt like they got it. “If you’re friends with [Normaltown co-founder] George [Fontaine, Jr.] on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll see how eclectic his tastes are. If anybody could get what I was trying to do, George gets it. It’s not like the Thundercats, the Leon Bridges, the Gary Clark Jr.s of the world,” he said. “This is Carolina soul shit.” As a bonus, Rashad was already friends with a couple New West signees: singer-songwriter Jaime Wyatt and American Aquarium’s BJ Barham, the latter of whom helped Rashad get sober from alcohol.

It’s certainly not lost on Rashad that, in his music community, he’s a Black singer-songwriter surrounded by many white ones, many of whom are his friends but don’t have to face the differences inherent in being Black in America. Some of these differences, he sings about, like on “Shook”, a song about being afraid of the police in Raleigh. But it’s the disparities in the music world that he hopes to directly reduce with Brother! “You have indie rock and the soul revival stuff and the psychedelic stuff, but you don’t have the straight garage funk records unless you see an old record on a Spotify playlist,” he laments, citing the dearth of existence and/or influence of old school, “Black small rare funk bands” as a reason for wanting to bring funk to the forefront. In a post-George Floyd protest world of white American racial reckoning, influencing everything from opinions on law enforcement to music listening habits, Rashad wants to tell his story, share his thoughts on the world, and dance while doing it.

Read the rest of my interview with Rashad below, and check out his live stream from the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro via NPR tomorrow night at 7 PM CST.

Since I Left You: It’s hard to point to a short EP as a turning point for many artists like this is for you. Why did you want to do just these four songs as opposed to a bigger project?

Jamil Rashad: I mean, I wanted to do a bigger project. That’s why we’re writing an LP right now. But for me, the writing never stops. I’m always writing. At first, I wasn’t even gonna do an EP here. I was gonna do singles and see how my fan base reacted. I wasn’t even gonna have a label. Every record, I always feel like it’s gonna be a turning point. You never know. I was thinking about this the other day. It’s almost like I’m starting fresh. These are songs I’ve been wanting to write--it’s just taken me time as an artist to get to this point to be able to zone in on the sound that I wanted. A 4-song EP is a little bit of the past and what’s to come with Boulevards, which I’m really stoked about.

SILY: You can tell that immediately from the title track, the first track on the EP. It’s got that psychedelic, garage element to the guitars, but it’s also really funky.

JR: I was tested a lot on this record, learning how the voice interacts with the microphone. Blake was pushing me to do it, which no producer has never done before. It’s turned out really dope. The goal was always to be the face of garage funk. Back in the day, my parents and your parents had the George Clinton records, Isaac Hayes, [Curtis Mayfield], they had all these different artists that were bringing the wave of funk. James Brown. You don’t really have that now. You have soul acts, R&B acts, indie rock acts, country acts, Americana acts, but you don’t have anyone that [brings] the funk shit. That’s what Boulevards is all about.

SILY: More than ever for you, these songs are political. Did you want the EP to be both a thematic and aesthetic turning point, or was that just a coincidence?

JR: It was both. Being 36 at this age, and looking at what’s going on in America, there are things you can’t ignore. I’m not a political expert, but maybe I should post what I’m feeling, what I’m seeing from white friends and Black friends and what’s going on with my community, and put it into these songs. I don’t think if a lot of this stuff didn’t happen with George Floyd, the pandemic, small businesses struggling, and people struggling, I would have been able to write these songs. I’m still gonna stay true to love and heartbreak, and self-growth, and trying to overcome obstacles and things of that nature. Those things I’m always gonna write about. But what was going on in the world definitely inspired and influenced those lines and crafting those songs. I’m not one to preach--you have a lot of these artists who have political records and preach. I wanted to make something about what I’ve experienced that people can still vibe and groove too.

SILY: Only “Shook” seems to be outwardly political. The rest of the songs are about Black life, but they’re really about your Black life.

JR: Of course. Me being a Black man and my struggles and things I’ve been through and seen other people go through. “Shook” is a song about being afraid of police. Being a Black man, every time I leave my house, I have to calculate every move that I make. It’s not like that for a lot of my white friends. That’s fine--that’s what America is. Well, actually, it’s not fine, it’s where America’s at. If I see Raleigh PD and am walking in a predominantly white neighborhood, are they gonna stop me? I live in this neighborhood I worked my ass off to be in. Are they gonna stop me because I don’t look the part and look like I’m up to something? So that’s what inspired “Shook”. Elijah McClain, just doing his thing, cops killing the brother. I didn’t want to do it in an overly preachy way, but at the same time, as America, we have to have uncomfortable conversations with each other. White on white America needs to show awareness with each other for things to actually change.

“Brother!” is mostly about working. Working your ass off for somebody and nothing changes. [laughs] You’re putting in the hours and the time, you’re making money for somebody else who doesn’t give a shit about you. You’re trying to get the promotions, you’re putting on a face. I worked at Best Buy, you can imagine being a touring artist and then having to put on a blue shirt and dealing with customers over some TV or kitchen appliance shit. I’m obviously doing my job, but I’m not gonna get a promotion there or get an advancement there. It’s about being a Black man in the work force and making somebody else money. At the time, I wasn’t sober, too, so the bar was my only release. It was the only way I could cope with that. [At the same time,] being in the Black community and being in Raleigh, and seeing my father interact with other Black men and even white men, saying, “Brother so and so” [inspired the song.] That’s how we greet each other sometimes. It’s also talking to myself talking to a man out there.

SILY: Whether these songs are about your personal experiences growing up or problems you’re facing now, as serious as they are, you can dance to them.

JR: Curtis Mayfield was good for that. Funkadelic, even Marvin Gaye. That’s what I wanted to be able to accomplish. Funk hits people in the gut. You can still politically come from a serious perspective.

SILY: Tell me about the video for “Luv n Pain”.

JR: It’s a simple, fun video. [Director] Patrick [Lincoln] pitched the idea. He wanted to have a day of Boulevards alone in his home, reflecting on being alone, reflecting on the things that have caused me personal heartbreak, without a partner. Getting ready in the morning, drinking coffee, wanting to share it with somebody but not having anybody to share it with.

Every video I’ve done up till this point, I’m always dancing. He wanted to slow things down, but still have it be Boulevards, stay true to me, have me dance in certain scenes but also have me reflecting, looking at the fire, up at the ceiling, things we do in our own homes. We [also] wanted to make something visually appealing and fun with bright colors. We didn’t really try to overthink it. Something simple that reflected Boulevards. When I’m at home, I’m always dancing.

SILY: You reference Gil Scott-Heron on “Shook” (“The revolution is now being televised.”) When was the first time you were aware of him?

JR: When I was a kid. My dad used to pick me and my sister up from track practice, and he worked at the radio station and was always getting these records. Gil Scott-Heron, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “Whitey on the Moon”, all these songs. He’s a poet. I started out as a poet before I became a rapper, MC, or funk artist. Every time I do spoken word on a record, it’s never written. The verses and hooks are, but here, I said to the engineer, play these couple bars and just let me talk. It just came out. It also came from watching peoples’ stories and thinking, “The revolution is being televised now.” We’re seeing the anger, the pain, people expressing their frustration with the system of racial inequality in America. Not just Black people, but white people and Latino too. [Before,] they didn’t want people to see what was going on in America. Now, people are seeing it and are looking and are more aware of it now.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album art?

JR: Sly Stone and Funkadelic, predecessors I grew up loving. That was influenced by a Sly Stone record. 60′s/70′s swag. I worked with a photographer in Raleigh named Jordan [Rickard]. I wanted to do something simple. I did it in my crib at my front porch. When I’m working on a record, I always have these vision boards. I always think about the colors, being a Black man, what’s gonna look good. I reached out to a stylist in L.A. who’s a good friend. I’ve always wanted to do a burnt orange background, and the sky blue represents Carolina blue because I’m a big Tar Heels fan. That color coordination blue and orange looks good together.

SILY: Why are you also putting out a two-track single in addition to the 4-track EP?

JR: That was more the label, how we wanted to go about the campaign. Initially, “Luv n Pain” was the first single I wanted to release regardless. “Shook” would be too predictable. There were so many artists releasing protest songs. “Luv n Pain” is more the past and present of Boulevards. When we finished it in the studio, [I knew.]

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clubdecode-blog · 7 years

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In the minutes before they took to the stage of Glasgow’s Garage, we spoke with liverpool 4 piece The Night Café! Read below as we talk Stange Clothes, their upcoming UK tour, supporting themselves and playing a weird venue in Sheffield.

Hey guys! What made you guys want to pursue a career in music? How did The Night Café come to be?

Josh: By accident.

Sean: Yeah by accident.

Carl: I think we all really wanted to make music like when we were growing up and stuff.

Sean: Yeah it’s always a dream to be in a band.

Carl: We’ve been in bands throughout school. Like not this exact band but we’ve been in bands before in school.

Sean: We’ve been in bands with each other yeah.

Carl: and that’s just how it came together really.

Josh: There he is!

Carl: And here’s Aaron, the latecomer.

Aaron: I know, sorry.

Sean: You’re ruining my funny vibe here.

Carl: Yeah I think it was just coming together to be honest, instead of making us wanna be like celebrities. We just really wanted to do it just to make music and like enjoy it.

Sean: I don’t really want the side to it that comes… like I hope it doesn’t come for us, I hope we are one of those bands that people just love the music and that’s it. You know what I mean.

You’ve recently released your single “Strange Clothes,” how do you feel about the reception it has received?

Sean: It’s absolutely amazing!

Carl: It’s received a great reception! It went on a playlist the Friday!

Sean: Straight away!

Aaron: New Music Friday.

Carl: Yeah new music Friday and it’s got nearly 60,000 plays in over a week! Wait, just under a week sorry!

Sean: That’s the first time that’s happened for us as well.

Carl: It’s the first time. There’s been that much reception over the week to be honest, it’s normally like 20,000 then it rises with time. But it just seems to have gone up dead fast, we’re quite pleased about it like!

What was the writing process behind the single? Where did the inspiration come from?

Sean: To be honest, we had like a week or 2 where we were literally kinda smashing out random ideas and we made this song. And for like 2 months, we didn’t really like it that much and we just thought it was like your standard song. But then I think we spent a bit more time trying to-

Carl: Beef it up!

Sean: Perfect it yeah! We had to record a song didn’t we? For something I can’t remember! We got put on the spot to like record a song and it was in the studio where like-

Carl: It was very different to what it is!

Sean: Yeah like we wrote a bit more on it whilst we were actually in the studio. Like only little bits like backing vocals and stuff like that, but it made the song what it is now.

Cause from our point of view, it does sound very different from the other stuff you’ve released before!

Carl: We sort of like crafted it instead of you know… we just wrote the song.

Sean: I think it’s how the maturity is coming through in that song, cause like all our other songs we kinda just make a tune.

Carl: Jam it out and then it’s done.

Sean: Jam it out and that’s it! But this one we spent a little time working on it.

Carl: Yeah it took a few months didn’t it? It took a few months to write but it’s there now, it’s getting the reception it should be!

Definitely! You are in the middle of a tour with Sundara Karma, how has it been so far?

Carl: It’s been fucking sick! It’s been a pleasant few days to be honest. I loved every second.

Sean: The legless tour as they say.

Josh: I actually haven’t been drunk once.

Sean: I have been sloshed every night.

Carl: Skished. Skished every night.

Aaron: This is our last night tonight though.

Aw is it?

Carl: Tonight’s our last night!

Josh: The supports are changing, like the other band that’s been doing all the dates with us finished yesterday.

Blaenavon? It broke my heart that they aren’t here today.

Sean: Gorgeous lads them .

Carl: awww the lads.

Josh: Our guys.

Carl: We’re going on tour with them again!

You’re not on the Glasgow date though are you?

Carl: No we are only doing the down south dates though sadly. But we are coming back to Glasgow!

Sean: It’s cause I go on holiday, not because we didn’t want to do them! It’s because I had already booked going away.

Carl: We’re coming up to Glasgow on our tour!

Sean: Yeah we are!

That follows into the next question! What can fans expect from your headline tour in May?

Aaron: Ruthlessness

Carl: Yeah, some new material!

Josh: Frivolities.

Aaron: Good verb.

Carl: I didn’t even know that was a word mate.

Sean: I still don’t know what it means but it sounds right… I just think a lot of fun from our headline tour. I just think it’s gonna be hopefully a big step up from the first one. We are playing some of the same venues but like we’re playing some bigger ones.

Carl: Like we’ve moved up to Dingwalls in London. Which is like a proper sick venue to play and it’s only up from there then hopefully!

Sean: We played The Old Blue Last first and I think it’s up capacity by like 300 people.

Josh: That was like an 18+ venue though.

Carl: Yeah it sold out as well.

Josh: We can get that many people there and we can get all ages people as well.

Carl: With all ages I definitely think it should be ok.

Sean: All gigs should be all ages anyway.

Carl: They should… apart from babies.

Sean: Apart from babies.

Carl: You don’t want any babies mosh pitting around and all that.

What was a standout moment from 2016?

Carl: T in the Park

Sean: Trump becoming president. That was a bit weird wasn’t it?

It’s hardly a standout moment!

Sean: It’s like a standout moment in a bad way though.

Josh: That’s not a standout moment.

Carl: A standout moment for us was playing T in the Park in Scotland yeah.

Sean: Yeah that was boss but a standout moment for the band!

Carl: Yeah but we played the festival!

Josh: First sold out headline show and Birmingham was sold out as well.

What can fans expect from the next 6 months?

Carl: A lot of new music, we’ve got an EP coming out in March. That’s the first EP then… before summer is it? Or in summer the second one coming out.

Aaron: Yeah, 2 EPs.

Carl: After that will be like that album then. That’ll be early on next year hopefully! If everything goes to plan.

So we’re going to do a quickfire round! What was the first gig you ever went to?

Josh: Busted.

Sean: very quick!

Carl: I don’t know… Do you know?

Sean: No but I don’t know the name of them but it’s whoever sang who let the dogs out! It was when I was on holiday.

Was it not like the Baha men or something like that?

Sean: Whoever that was, that was my first gig.

We’ll google it! (It was indeed the Baha Men)

Carl: I went to see Biffy Clyro, that was my first ever gig in Manchester.

Aaron: I think The Wombats for me! Mental, yeah!

If you could have written any song ever what would it be?

Josh: A song called Desire by a band called The Cairos.

Carl: Yeah that’s it!

Sean: I’m gonna-

Aaron: Can we have the same answer?

Yeah if you want!

Carl: I’ll probably say… nah I don’t know. I’ll probably say that one! Cause that is-

Sean: That’s our band favourite song at the moment. That is my favourite song ever.

Carl: If it weren’t that I would probably choose like-

Aaron: A Steely Dan song.

Carl: Yeah Steely Dan – Black Cow, that’s what I’d choose.

What is your dream support slot?

Carl: Eh, you know what…

They could be dead or alive.

Josh: So we could watch us!

Sean: You know what yeah!

Josh: We never get to watch us! You know what I mean. Not from like a vain perspective, to see what we sound like to a crowd!

Sean: No but it would be interesting to see what we’re like!

That’s the first time we have ever had that!

Josh: I would like to watch us and be like we need to change that! Like that’s not cool!

Carl: On stage, everything doesn’t sound like it does off stage! You only get what you need!

Sean: We have always said we wanted to watch ourselves and just see-

Josh: That sounds so vain.

Carl: It sounds bad, it sounds bad! But we don’t mean it!

Sean: It sounded vague so you need to elaborate when we-

Carl: It does sound vain but-

You want to improve yourselves!

Sean: Yeah that’s it!

Carl: We want to do it so we can see what we can improve!

Describe The Night Café in 3 words?

Sean: The. Night. Cafe.

Carl: I would describe it as messy lads.

Aaron: But that’s 2 words!

Josh: Thick as thieves.

Carl: Messy lads club!

Aaron: Messy lads club?! We should say 4 words and have 1 word each.

Josh: Sickest band ever.

Carl: Go ahead! You start though!

Aaron: Sickest

Carl: men

Sean: I

Josh: know

Carl: The sickest men I know!

The weirdest or most interesting venue you’ve played?

Carl: Last night in eh-

Sean: NO! Weirdest!

Josh: Thekla?

Sean: The weirdest is when we were in Sheffield. And there was that bloody thing where there was pure pimp chains and that. Downstairs in the club. Remember? Pure like weird kinda sex fest.

Carl: I mean I loved it in there, it was great!

Aaron: That was the weirdest one yeah.

Carl: I thought you said the best venue!

Josh: The Plug it was called.

Carl: The plug! Where’s that?

Sean: Sheffield

Carl: Oh yeah! I remember that! That was years ago that!

Aaron: It was like… It was last year.

Carl: It was 2015!

Aaron: No it was like 5 months ago!

Your best festival or gig experience?

Aaron: Tame Impala in the Albert Hall, Manchester in 2013!

Carl: I would probably say Eminem at Leeds Festival cause I fucking love him.

Sean: When we went to see Kings of Leon. That was a really magic moment for me! It was in 2011!

Josh: I don’t know, I saw Roger Waters at Wembley. That was quite good but.

Your last question! What is your most embarrassing moment on stage?

Carl: Aw we’ve all had them!

Aaron: When you dropped your stick!

Carl: I mean, we were playing a headline show in Nottingham and it got to like the last chorus of the first song. Stick flies out my hand and I had to stop playing.

Sean: Yeah we had to restart the song.

Carl: and I just had to go, I’m sorry about that!

Josh: Remember our gig at the picket

Carl: Yeah we had to restart the song. It was bad from the off.

Sean: Remember when my guitar went off?

Aaron: Oh shit yeah!

Sean: We were playing a gig and I had this guitar which is like… if 2 switches go off in a certain place the guitar goes off and I didn’t know that cause it was a brand new guitar! We were mid song and my guitar went off and I was kind of like fuming at the sound man. Then I just looked down and the switches were there and I had stopped singing and everything. It was embarrassing.

Well thank you guys!

INTERVIEW: Club Decode Meet @NightCafeband In the minutes before they took to the stage of Glasgow's Garage, we spoke with liverpool 4 piece…

#Club Decode meet #Strange Clothes #the night cafe

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stopreadingthisanddance · 7 years

Text

2016 top albums

Here we are, last list of 2016. Top albums of the year with a few honourable mentions. Most of the albums on this list are fairly accessable, if not full on mainstream, so if you haven't listened to them and you're worried they'll be weird, I'll give warning in my short reviews of them. As with my to EPs list, i'll include a link to the full album stream (if i can find one) and one stand out track.

Honourable Mentions:

Do What Thou Wilt. by Ab-Soul was an album I really did not expect to like nearly as much as I did. It's a pretty weird and paranoid album that gives me the impression of Ab-Soul being nearly constantly strung out and panicked about everything, and yet he's got great beat selection and (mostly) strong lyrical prowess. There are a few songs that get a bit preachy, or a bit lost in the rambling mind of a paranoid man, but the hits are high. If you're looking for an interesting hip-hop album check it out. Standout track: Raw (Backwards)

RTJ3 by Run The Jewels would have been higher on this list had it not come out on Christmas. I simply did not have enough time to fully process it as a full piece of music, and thus have nothing truly insightful to say about it. RTJ are gods though so I mean listen to it if you haven't, and if you know about them and haven't listened to it yet WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?! If you haven't heard of Run The Jewels than check this one out, and go back to RTJ 1 & 2 and loop around, because you'll see some real lyrical and production growth. This album gets political, but it's delivered in a way that is awe-inspiring so I can't even get mad at it. Standout Track: 2100.

IV by BadBadNotGood is ostensibly a jazz album, but with heavy features and even heavier draw from hip-hop. If you're not usually into jazz, check out the band's albums (I) & (II) as you'll find interesting jazzy renditions of modern hip-hop that might suit you more. But, if you can appreciate a good jazz track then you'll find some real gems here, and most impressively a really good use of features that really push some tracks to the surface. This spot was almost used for Anderson .Paak's latest slot but I connected more with this album than his, although both are good. My one critisism is that parts of this album sort of fade away into background music, but tracks like Lavender and Confessions Pt. II really grab the ear. Standout Track: Up

Top Ten:

10. Simple Forms by The Naked & Famous is a high energy synth-pop album that really shows what a band can do with emotion and nostalgia. This album reminds me a lot of CHVRCHES debut album, and I love it, full of fantastic instrumentation and emotionally charged lyrics the New Zealand hailing band is the perfect soundtrack for punch dancing and summer nights alike. Standout Track: Higher.

9. Freeform Jazz by Uyama Hiroto is a gorgeous blend of Jazz and hip-hop production that brings back heartbreaking memories of Nujabes. Very few producers can come close to the talent and emotion the late-great did, but Uyama Hiroto manages to almost touch him with this album, full of gorgeous keys and brilliant lyrical features is big cities personified. If you're into jazzy hip-hop and want a good, mostly instrumental, album, you'll be doing yourself a favour by checking this out. A brillant usage of drums, keys and wind instruments manages to balance attitude and class beautifully, and is perfect for late night tales and mid day woes alike. Standout Track: Waltz For Real World.

8. Rojus: Designed To Dance by Leon Vynehall is a beautifully produced deep house album with heavy influences from UK house, offering the same style in a more danceable tone that his previous offerings. Certainty a thematic album with a dedicated begininning, middle and end, Vynehall offers a large selection of tracks that stand alone, together or work brilliantly in a mix. I hadn't heard this album in full before I'd heard all the tracks in various mixes, and as an entire single sitting music I fell even more in love with it. It starts out slow and builds steadily towards a full on funky dance album in the middle before curtailing itself off towards a slow walk home in the middle of the night. Standout Track: Blush.

7. Social Housing by Marquis Hawkes is a ride through the legendary birth of US house music, Chicago. Heavy infuences from disco, funk, soul and classic Chi-house are peppered all over this album that it's hard to beleive it was made in 2016. It's full of classic samples and drum loops for the house aficionado, but more importantly it's danceable and fun for anyone that listens to it. A brilliant use of samples and even smarter synth-usage lets each track feel unique and still part of the pack. The intro is placed a bit awkwardly, but it's a good enough track I can't really hate on it. Standout track: Feel The Music.

6. Coloring Book by Chance, The Rapper is a gorgeous example of a brillant merging of soul, gospel and modern hip-hop. This is the album that a young Kanye would make if he was just starting out now, and it's covered in the same eccentricities and brillance that one of his albums is covered in. Chance and his features deliver some brillant lyrics, full of meaningful content and well produced bangers, and are only let down by some experimental and occasionally flawed production. I loved Acid Rap a lot, and while Coloring Book isn't as catchy as his last project, it is no less impactful, and it really shows off the lyrical prowess of Chicago's latest prodigy. From the banger singles like Mixtape and Angels to the more soul and gospel influenced tracks like No Problem and How Great shows off the range that Chance has gained since his last project. He's even got a few hip-house influenced jams on here, although a shallow homage he clearly is trying to get in touch with the musical roots of his city and it shows. While nothing will quite connect with me like Lost did off his last project, it's still a better album than most artists will ever put out. Standout Track: All Night(Ft. Knox Fortune).

5. Atlas by FM-84 is a trip into the synth-powered-drug-fueled goodness of the 80s. If you haven't heard of synthwave, it's pretty much the music that soundtracked the 1980s and is full of huge synths, a fantastic use of reverb and uses more modern production techniques. Remember that Ryan Gosling movie Drive or the ultraviolent drug trip that was Hotline Miami? It's the music from those icons, but with more depth and better production, at least on this album, and also speicific to this album is the much more upbeat tone of it all. It's easy for a lot of this genre to get lost in the depression of drug addiction that is such a baseline for this aesthetic, but FM-84 manages a hopeful and innocent summery tone throughout. Standout Track: Running In The Night(Ft. Ollie Wride).

4. A New Start by Pete Hurt Jazz Orchestra is a true contemporary jazz masterpiece. I can't find a stream for this album so if you are into jazz music I'm sure you know where to find it. Not an album for everyone, but dear god does it have both brilliant song naming, as well as fantastic performances and even better composition. Born out of a currently thriving UK Jazz scene, this big band recording is full of chemistry and solo performances alike, and manages to bring the very best of modern jazz while adding his own touches. Pete Hurt only takes on personal solo, but his ability to convey his feeling and appreciation of all that has come before him is no small task. Standout Track: Barefoot Samba.

3. Holy Ghost by Modern Baseball is a contemporary offering emo-rock band that wears their influences on their sleve. From the first rift this album bleeds late 90s and early 2000's pop-punk from blink-182 and their kin. I loved their last album, but felt like a lot of the tracks sort of lacked the strength of others, and while they keep a similar angsty and emotionally fueled tone, they've matured musically and possibly thematically depending on how you want to look at the songs. Full of cheery guitar rifts and lyrics about fading love, depression and loss the Maryland based band doesn't live out their welcome in this 27 minute album, and yet gets across their points in short, (mostly)radio friendly tracks. Great choruses that you can sing-a-long to and brilliant rifts that you'll be humming along to for weeks, with great & relevant lyrics like "Days like this I miss listening to records//Making coffee together//Snow globes and Jersey sheets//I tried sleeping in our bed without you last night//That didn't work at all, cause I couldn't sleep" and "Locked your love in a screenshot//They all work that way" show that even if it is just suburban depression that fuels the band's music, it's personal and that matters. Standout Track: Wedding Singer, that god damn opening rift.

2. Nothern Lights by Zeds Dead showcases the impressive range this Canadian duo has cultivated since the early days in 2010s with their huge dubstep and trap bangers with Omar LinX like Rudeboy and You & I. With pop-influenced hits like Blame and the savage throw back to their early hip-hop & dubstep sounds in DNA with Jadakiss & Styles P, they manage to maintain a consistent theme throughout an album packed with wide reaching genres. To me, Zeds Dead will always be great to listen to alone, and even better in a packed venue, and the attitude they bring with massive drums, a fantastic use of varied synths and a nice touch of samples will be forever. They've progressed from just slamming up the volume on their tracks to persuading the listener to do it themselves, and have managed to create a distincitve sound while distancing themselves from the sloppy production of their younger years. Standout track: Slow Down (Ft. Jenna Pemkowski).

1. We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service by A Tribe Called Quest. The supposed last work of hip-hop legends manages to hold onto it's past while being current in ways that seem impossible to predict. Always political, the collective manages to celebrate Phife Dawg, feature legends like Andre 3000, Busta Rhymes and Elton John, mixed in with contemporaries like Anderson .Paak and Kendrick Lamar into a seemless composition of jazz influenced 90's hip-hop. If you can't feel it from the opening rift, then I can't explain it, an album that will last for ages. Standout Track: Dis Generation, not a full song but at this link will last. Besides, listen to the whole album c'mon do it.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand done. Hope you got something from this, cause I did. Music is almost always better together, don't forget to dance

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