#starting off 2024 with a banger (at least for me)
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#wow akans is back to drawing ultrakill stuff? impossible!#ultrakill#gabriel ultrakill#v1 ultrakill#gabv1el#digital art#v1#akans art#I actually really really really love how this one turned out#starting off 2024 with a banger (at least for me)#absolutely inspired by that other coahuilaceratops piece I did the other day- on my alt#tarot card or church stained glass; I don't know what this is but it's becoming my comfort art style#drawing/doodling like this is therapeutic for me istg xD just straight lines and circles and dots :>
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Thank you for the tag, @kiwiana-writes and @hippolotamus! @cha-melodius also tagged me in her "first sentences of 2024" post, and... well, this little snippet qualifies for that too!
I am hoping to have this done over the weekend, but for now... Have a snippet of my Doctor Who Festive Special AU, featuring Pez as a Timelord and a NYE timeloop in Paris:
June, Nora, and Bea widen their triangle to make room, and the five of them make a tight circle in the crowd of strangers. The formation happens naturally: Nora to the left of Alex, Henry to his right, then June, with Bea squeezed between her and Nora. Henry clearly has no idea what to do with his limbs, though, so Alex gets his hands on his hips to gently guide their rhythm.
Seeing this, Bea whoops, and Alex enjoys watching the blood rush to Henry's cheeks more than he did earlier.
"All in the hips, sweetheart," he says, just to watch Henry's blush deepen.
And the DJ must have one hell of a megamix because Alex swears they get through banger after banger—at least fifty different songs—before the countdown starts. It should only be, like, twenty minutes, but time feels syrupy as the whole crowd moves together under the stars. It's the kind of fun Alex was looking for tonight. It's more than he'd hoped for, actually, as Henry loosens up beneath his hands. He's goddamn beautiful in the flashing, colorful lights, and Alex never, not in a million years, expected this.
Eventually, Nora's back ends up against his as their little circle narrows, and Henry's hips get closer until they're practically flush with Alex's. A gentle touch in a storm, Henry's hands rest lightly against his chest.
The scratch of the record indicating the start of the countdown makes Alex jump, but then the five of them huddle together to count backwards from ten. Alex realizes they're sectioned off again, too: the girls back in a triangle formation, and Henry's blue eyes staring into his.
When they get to 'four,' Alex moves to wrap his arm around Henry's neck.
"Three!"
Henry moves his arms around Alex's waist.
"Two!"
Alex rolls up onto the balls of his feet, closing some of the gap between his lips and Henry's—
—but, instead of fireworks lighting up the sky, the night goes completely black.
The music is replaced by a persistent banging, and Alex's head is suddenly throbbing.
"Alejandro! Get your ass out of bed." Nora calls between knocks. "If you're not downstairs in two minutes, we're going to the patisserie without you."
Grumbling from under the sheets, Alex blindly reaches for his phone on the nightstand to check the time:
9:01 A.M., December 31st
"Fuck, okay, I'm up."
Tagging some lovelies under the cut (in alphabetical order lol), even though it's only Wednesday for another 30 minutes here. If you have not been tagged and you want to be, consider this your tag!
@blackandwhiteandrose, @cha-melodius, @cricketnationrise, @duchessedepolignac, @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, @inexplicablymine, @jettestar, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @missgeevious, @myheartalivewrites, @nontoxic-writes, @notspecialbabe, @priincebutt, @rmd-writes, @rosedavid, @sparklepocalypse, @three-drink-amy, @treluna4, @vanillahigh00, @welcometololaland, @orchidscript, @ships-to-sail, @stereopticons
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Ranking all DnP videos 2024
Hello everyone here to hear me yap! Below I am including all of the videos dnp have released in 2024, rated from my favorite to least favorite. PLEASE NOTE that I actually do love all of them! And this is just a silly thing! But feel free to discuss or send me asks with your opinions :)
I'll start from the bottom up.
10. i have a spicy confession...
This one was lots of fun (wtf is wrong with yall with these confessions) but I'm not gonna lie Phil felt incredibly off in it and like... really performative? Like idk something didn't feel right to me and although he said some really sweet things it felt... off somehow. Not sure how to describe it. Funny though lol
9. HONEYMOON IN JAPAN!
I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW
It was a good video!! I just feel like it didn't have a lot of *those moments* that these other videos had idk. Like yes it was very sweet and a milestone for the sims universe but it kind of felt like that was it for me. The symbolism was inSANE but just strictly talking about the video itself yk. New pics released were nice though
8. Poppy Playtime Chapter 3
This one was a lot but it was SO nice to have such a long video- two hours long who??? That's tbh the reason this one goes above the honeymoon video- the length. The reason I put it lower is that although I am NOT complaining about the length, both of them were SUPER focused a lot of the time and not really talking much haha
7. Viewers Pick My Birthday Presents 2024
The only reason this one isn't higher is because all the ones above this I consider part of their *magnum opus* era. I loved the mini golden pig, the omatone, the shirt, and the Shrek smut. Always fun to see him surprised with cursed stuff loll
6. THE PUBLIC WOOHOO INCIDENT
Pretty self explanatory I think. Dan SCREAMING as Dab and Evan got it on made me actually piss myself. I can still hear it echoing in my head.
5. Phil's Birthday Livestream
Another case of "the only reason this isn't higher is because the ones above it are SO good." I loved the livestream, and was able to attend live for about the first hour. Such chaos. Such good. Amazing.
4. Dan and Phil Get Married, Have Kids, and Retire
Saw the notif while I was getting out of school and I literally snorted out loud, very embarrassing. They're just taking the piss at this point and I'm loving it. Phil's teasing him towards the end with "oh, I think I'll start another photo album!" GOLDEN. "Henry gives me that good dick." "Me and Susan have been rawdogging it." Amazing. Incredible.
3. Phil Pushes Dan's Button for 18 Minutes
A comfort video for REAL. When this came out I was SHOCKED that they had two BANGERS one right after another, but boy was I in for a surprise.
The slime? The slime on Dan's head while he's talking? Phil placing it on his forehead while he stares off into space? Hell yeah I want more of that slime I could look at it all day.
2. Who is the Real Daniel Howell?
Yall. We were fed GOOD today. Dan singing 'my lumps' absolutely DEADPAN while Phil looks at him in Awe? I WANT PHIL'S SWEATER IF ANYONE CAN TELL ME WHERE IT'S FROM I WILL BE GRATEFUL.
So? many shoulder touches? idk what that's about but i aint complaining ig
editing tips! *stuff* coming out your nose! etc!
This one had such a particular vibe to it- I think partially because it wasn't edited by the editor they've been using! To be clear - the editor has been doing a great job and I applaud them :) but sometimes it feels a bit over-edited, if you know what I mean? (For example the count-downs on the sims video going down the mountain felt a bit much) But having a video that was edited by Dan or Phil kinda hits different idk
WDAPTEO2024
I cannot, CANNOT say enough good things about this video. I cannot. I cannot. It holds my whole heart and soul and I have only rewatched it twice because I am trying to preserve the magic but GODDAMNIT I love their shenanigans. What a series.
I was very worried when they came out with this video STRAIGHT into 2024 because I was like, "WOW. that was amazing but idk how they're going to follow this up? will everything feel like a disappointment now that this masterpiece has come out?" (not that dnp uploading could ever be a disappointment, but I digress) BUT I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. Still though, wdapteo is 10/10 my fave so far.
I hope you enjoyed my yapping! I know many of you don't agree and that's okay lol, feel free to share your opinions if you so please ! And also with the ones that were lower ranked, the reasons I listed for the being lower ranked was NOT me complaining. Each video is different and awesome in their own right, this is just a ranking of how much I personally enjoyed each one!
Thank you and goodnight!
#dan and phil#dnp#phil lester#dan howell#danandphil#daniel howell#dan and phil games#dapg#dnpg#amazingphil#wdapteo
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UMK24 thoughts
UMK24 was boradcasted on TV last night. I had listened the songs through weekly and formed my opinions on them. But how they would work live?
I saw some pictures on news outlets, but didn't know much. My friend who was there didn't say anything, other than sending a little clip of Käärijä's and Erika Vikman's performance after the contestants (more on them later).
So how was the show overall?
Kuumaa & Benjamin - Ylivoimainen & Hoida mut
Gay ship of the year?
I thought this was nice. "Ylivoimainen" works well as a ballad. Benjamin's and Kuumaa's singer's voices work well together. Throwback to last year, which was when UMK really got attention in Finnish press and abroad. Like a send off from last year's artists.
On other note, Benjamin, Pilvi and Viivi were good hosts. Nice to have three people doing the work. Better than Samu Haber last year for sure.
Sini Sabotage - Kuori mua
I warmed up to Sini's song after not so flattering first impressions. She has the charisma.
She sings well live, kind of prefer it over the recorded versions. But the peformance didn't quite work here. It has the peeling off clothing for sure. But I don't know.
Good start at least.
Cyan Kicks - Dancing with Demons
I wasn't a huge fan of this song's recorded version. Toothless? Weird thing happened. I thought live version of "Hurricane" was weak, but "Dancing with Demons" works better live. Susanna Alexandra sounds better live at least now.
If the song sounded like this on recording , I would like it more. Performance wasn't that special. I feel that bands are in disadvantage, when they can't have dancers and such on stage.
Jesse Markin - Glow
After some time, "Glow" became my top song out of this year's contenders. Studio version is solid as hell. I was bit worried how this would work live.
It worked well! Live it sounds different. He has more energy at the end when he repeats "You're gonna make it!", which is nice. Good studio and live version.
I voted Jesse.
Mikael Gabriel x nublu - Vox Populi
I didn't care about this song and it had some discourse going on before this.
Live version works better than studio. Mikael Gabriel had more energy in his voice and could actually make what nublu was rapping.
I don't want to hear this song ever again...
Sara Siipola - Paskana
When I heard this song for the first time, I thought instantly "This will win!" It's a good song, with a powerful message.
Vocal effects on studio version made me worried how Sara would fare live. No worries. She sings well love. "PASKANA!" shout could have more power. Performance was nice looking on the television, I wonder how it looked from the live audience.
Maybe the best vocal performance of the evening?
Sexmane - Mania
Sexmane had a solid song. The amount of vocal effects on the studio version made me worried how he would do certain parts live.
I was bit disappointed. The amount of background vocals bother me. Why he couldn't shout Mania with the background vocals? I was waiting the screech at the end. He did his own screech and background tape did it right after. He sounds better here than on studio version though.
Also why he was connected to those wries and didn't do much with them.
Underwhelming.
I love this song.
I was bit worried how Henri Piispanen would pull off those vocals live, but he did well. At points he sounded like he was running out of breath.
Performance was the craziest this year. Sure was stimulating. Quite an advantage for one person to do the entertaining, while other does most of the vocals.
Bonus performances
After the contestants performed, it was time for other artists to take the stage.
"Disqualified performance". "Eight contestant."
It was obviously playback. Singer was Päivi Hämäläinen, one of the hosts of the evening. She is an actress.
Song is a spoof of common elements in Eurovision. Despite it being a parody, it was absolute banger! I hope it arrives to streaming services, this will be the Pride hit of 2024! XD
Then it was Katri Helena's turn. She performed her classic song "Katso sineen taivaan", which she represented Finland with on 1979 Eurovision in Jerusalem.
Classic for sure, with epic sound.
Then it was time for Käärijä's and Erika Vikman's song, "Ruoska". Käärijä was last year's UMK winner and Vikman was a contestant who didn't win, but got huge boost to her career, inventing her image.
I was honestly disappointed that Käärijä didn't get hit by the whip on the stage. Song is itself is okay.
And of course we get "Cha Cha Cha", the smash of hit 2023. It's still a banger.
International jury points
Jury points were kind of what I expected. Sara Siipola on top. I was surprised that Mikael Gabriel and nublu were third, but I don't like that song... I would've thought Jesse Markin would've scored higher. Nothing super controversial here, I guess jury people don't like eurodance XD
End results after public voting
Windows95man got his points first and sprung to the top spot. At that point it was game over, unless Sara Siipola got more points. It was actually quite nerve wrecking, when Sara Siipola got her points last.
I was sad that Sini Sabotage was last. She was solid and certainly better than Sexmane on vocal performance. But maybe the stage performance didn't impress people. Or the fact she was first.
Sexmane lost to Jesse Markin by a small margin. Apparently Sexmane is popular with devout fanbase. But I guess stage presence of Windows95man was too powerful.
Overall thoughts
I think this year was more even and better than last year. I liked 5/7 songs, compared to 2-3/7 songs last year. Also the move to Nokia Arena in Tampere from Logomo in Turku did wonders to stage peformances. Everything looked bigger. More lights, background videos.
I think Sini Sabotage was robbed, but oh well. I knew Jesse Markin couldn't win after he said he wouldn't go to Malmö if he won. But at least I get to know him. I'm sure to follow him from now on and buy his albums.
If I had to criticize the contestant selection, many of them were established artists before this. Sini Sabotage and Mikael Gabreil came back from hiatus. Sexmane is popular. Jesse Markin is an indie darling. Cyan Kicks competed two years ago, why so soon again? But for Siipola and Markin this is sure to give boost to their careers. I hope so at least.
How Windows95man will fare in Eurovision? We will see. Does he have to change the artist name? Are Eurovision people in the mood for such a song now?
#music blog#umk24#uuden musiikin kilpailu#eurovision#esc2024#esc24#eurovision song contest#Windows95man#Cyan Kicks#Sexmane#Sini Sabotage#Kuumaa#Sara Siipola#Jesse Markin#Mikael Gabriel#nublu
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2, 8, 11, 23 :)
2. Album of the year?
I've listened to a lot of great albums this year, but if I'm sticking to ones I found in 2023, then I'll go with the Chicory: A Colorful Tale soundtrack! It's a great mix of absolute bangers with some really nice music, and it has plenty of variety between all of the tracks! I especially like Abandon Me and Gulp Swamp :)
8. Game of the year?
Oh boy, it's hard to choose just one. I played so many great games this year that choosing just one to be my game of the year would feel like a disservice to the rest, so I'm just gonna list all of my favorites that I started this year :D
Warframe
Easily my biggest timesink of the year, I started Warframe in April and have put nearly 560 hours into it already. It's gameplay is just so satisfying and addicting once you get past the initial hurdle of the new player experience, and is probably the least predatory F2P game I've ever seen in my life. It's just been an absolute blast and I'll absolutely be putting more time into it in 2024!
Lethal Company
Probably not a big surprise, but Lethal Company is insanely fun. I've been playing quite a bit with some of my friends, and every session is an absolute blast and can send me into hysterics at some points. Plus, I love the monster designs :)
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
An awesome game that's really fun and puts out a great message, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Chicory! Great gameplay and soundtrack, highly recommend it!
Chants of Sennar
Very enjoyable puzzle game about deciphering languages! There was one part in particular that completely blindsided me and was easily the highlight of the game for me, but I won't spoil it just in case anybody reading this wants to play it themselves
Ultrakill
Also probably not a big surprise if you've looked at my posting activity in the past few days. Extremely fun gameplay, awesome character designs, great music, etc. :)
Honorable mention to all of the games that I didn't start this year but I still played and obsessed over, like Battlefield 1
11. Something you want to do again next year?
Tough question, since there's not really anything super special I did this year that I haven't done before, but I suppose I do want to try cooking more! I've been more and more interesting in cooking and baking ever since I made empanadas earlier this year, so I wanna try finding more recipes and making more stuff :D
23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?
Another tough question! I think for me personally, not a lot changes between the first day of the year and the last, so I wouldn't really have many serious things to say since we're basically in the same position. I think one thing I would say is to try not to sacrifice myself too much to other people. I took a lot of mental health hits this year by essentially acting as a therapist for people (By my own decision, absolutely nothing to do with them), so I think I would tell myself to take it easy. I don't have to solve every issue, and as much as it pains me to see my friends in pain, I would often be in more pain after hearing their struggles. That isn't to say I'd completely shut myself off from hearing them out, but I would try not to overextend myself emotionally in these circumstances. That is the struggle of being as much of an empath as I am
#ty for the ask! sorry it got a little sad at the end lol#at least i got to talk about video games :)#inbox
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January 2024 Reads:
I'm trying to write more again so I'm writing down all of my candid thoughts on all the books I read this year. Starting off strong this year with 4 books read. Well over my average for the month despite the new job, partner, and constant new layer of responsibility that gets added every few weeks it seems. They were all enjoyable at the least and fucking bangers at best so let's get started.
1.) Defiant by Brandon Sanderson
This was a great finale to an already beloved series of mine. It scratched all the right itches and I left satisfied. It wasn't absolutely mind-blowing but it served its purpose. I enjoyed how much Spensa grew over these four books and found myself finally loving her instead of just liking. One of the downsides for me was how much it relied on the reader knowing the Skyward Flight novellas to fully get 100% of it. I know that fans will probably read every bit available but if I were just some random bloke I would've just gotten the four main novels. I may go and read the follow up series if I run out of other stuff to read in the future but for now I'm happy where it ended.
4-/5
2.) The Will of the Many by James Islington
Best read of the month, probably year if I'm being honest. I was enthralled with this book. I put off plans with friends to read this book. I read this book during my lunch break and in between parent-teacher conferences. Absolute banger. Read this book.
It was the best iteration of an Academy that I've read and enjoyed all facets of it from the academic to social to political and everything in between. I didn't know who I could trust I didn't know what to believe everything about the mysteries of the world had my mind racing.
And there were characters and moments in here that will stay for me for years to come just like all my favorites in my mind's hall of fantasy greats. I can't wait to see what else is in store.
5+/5
3.) Pines by Blake Crouch
I listened to this one and couldn't tell if that helped it or not. This definitely sounded like something that was written to be adapted into something. Had a cool premise and a mystery I was genuinely hooked by but something about the written descriptions and mannerisms that just struck me as weird. Like there were definitely some lines that people said that would never be uttered from a person irl it seems. If you know the story it may have been intentional but I'm gonna assume not. We didn't need that to clue us off that something was off here.
Despite how it seems above I actually liked it and continued on to the 2nd book (which I'm almost done with at the time of writing and am enjoying it so much more than this one). First time for me also diving into Crouch without realizing I had other stuff by him on my TBR so looking forward to more.
3/5
4.) Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
This was something I didn't really think to read until I saw it available at the library and was like, "oh, I recognize this cover. I think my friend told me about this I'll check it out." and I'm so happy I did. This was such a short and sweet novel that told all the story it needed to. I feel like it had the impact of a book even twice its length. I didn't need much to get invested in the different characters and the weaving timelines to solve this anomaly that wasn't even so major in the first place. But it just had me hooked. Read it in like 3 days. I love Emily's writing too. It's so artistically succinct(?) and there's always a jab in there. Like a line of text that just hits and rings so true and resounds regarding injustices in the world and especially during the times the snippets take place in.
5/5
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Writing update
Four days ago, I wrote in this post that this year, I will focus on In Love and War. But only two days later, I decided that I needed to return to the second instalment of my A Dream Too Large To Bear Alone series because there is still lots of work to be done before I can even think of handing Did My Heart Love Til Now over to a beta-reader.
The reason for that is simple: The story is an awfully boring concatenation of fluff and smut interspersed with a little plot, which is far from the vision I had in mind for my first YOI sequel. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with fluff and smut, but when reading your own story aka the product of your grand vision becomes a tedious job that bores you to death, it's time to take drastic action. The urge to wipe the file off my hard drive and start anew from scratch was strong, but I'm too much of a coward for such a thing because I fiercely cling to what I have. So, I decided to revise this story again, but with a method that in the past has proven to raise my awareness for superfluous paragraphs, poorly written dialogue, too little characterisation, and other capital sins of writing.
Yesterday, I thus compiled a spreadsheet that lists all scenes sorted chronologically by chapter plus additional columns for plot-relevant, character growth, and relationship growth. Ideally, each scene should have at least one of them. (Funfact: Did My Heart Love Til Now has an insane number of 186 scenes!)
During the next few weeks, I will randomly pick scenes from this sheet and check them for their relevance. If their not relevant, I will either cut them, merge the important bits with other scenes, or add meaning, depending on what makes the most sense for each scene.
Then I will revise each scene and improve prose, characterisation, and imagery and condense what can be condensed--in short: I will treat each scene like a one-shot. That's important because I've noticed that for one-shots, I usually put much more focus on these aspects because I want to tell a story with no more than a few thousand words and to accomplish this, I must be concise.
I am aware that some people reading this will shake their head and think that I'm putting way too much work into a stupid fanfiction, so let me say a few things to this:
I treat every story I write very seriously and I don't care if is fanfiction or an original work.
Believe it or not, but I deeply enjoy the process of creating a story that matches the vision in my head as well as I enjoy playing around with words (and that's still true in times I complain about revision).
My stories are far from being banger stories and I really want to become a better writer who can engage their readers and touch their hearts and I'm pulling all the stops to make that happen.
I really don't care what people think of me anyway (or at least I'm trying to)
This process won't drastically cut the smut and fluff, if anything, these will get a deeper meaning.
Writing-wise, In Love and War is still my main focus in 2024, I will resume working on it a little later.
#writing#fanfiction#yoi fic#my yoi fic#ADTLTBAverse#Did My Heart Love Til Now#In Love and War#yoi#writing update
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March 08 - 2024 Friday
11:59pm
7/10
It's been so up and down the past few days given my 1/10s and 6-7/10s. Today was pretty good though. I meant to start this morning off by doing something to put me in a good mindset but I didn't know what to do really. I journaled a bit in my private journal and did a little cleaning which I haven't done in about a week. I had 'me time' in the shower because it felt right to my body but thats all. For breakfast I made corned beef hash, an egg, and toast. It was a good breakfast considering I've been needing some fat in my diet.
Work went good. I ended up talking a lot about some vague things on my mind despite also declaring that I'd rather the stream be a little less personal. Some good conversation was had and I got my work done.
After stream I did my workout which was 4 miles on my treamill. Every other song on my playlist I'd jog for and I started off jogging for the first quarter so over half was a jog. I went hard and it felt good on my body, but my ankle feels a little hurt again.
For lunch I made a grilled cheese and bean soup. Also called my dad while I cooked and told him about things. Forgot to ask him about my birth certificate though.
After lunch I finished this Izzy pic which took almost 2 hours. I started streaming it in David's server but no one joined. Eventually I left to just have a stream on the side. I joined back in David's server towards the end since someone was in there but not much came of that. Im feeling like I don't really wanna put time into that server, Ive not been feeling it ever really. I spent some time working on Plaz's saloon world and it was productive.
For the evening I just watched the stream I had on and put together a new vaporwave bangers playlist and a list of their samples. I ended up checking my insurance for some reason and learned I owed $700. Kind of super pissed about it. If I had understood the process better, I would have been doing therapy only every 2 weeks instead.
Daisy and I got in VR and did some classic world hopping which was fun. We ran into some funny individuals like someone in character as Amethyst. At the end we did some V*vz*ep*p tier lists. RP guy joined which was WEIRD but I disarmed him. In bed we did puzzles and watched Jerma do a jigsaw puzzle. After she fell asleep, I joined Turkey briefly in desktop since I told her I would if I had a little time. I wish I could have stayed with her group longer, they were doing a treasure hunt thing and all of them were drunk.
~~~
Today went well. I kept myself in a good headspace partly because I was burnt out and partly because I knew what was bothering me and I fixed it, at least today. My trust issues have been bad for a long time. I always though if I can only feel like things are okay then I'll be fine and I can do so many of the things I want without worrying. Well today I lived by that "trust is a decision, not a feeling" rule and was much better off for it. Whenever I had a feeling that I could describe as distrust, I just remembered that I can choose and it worked.
3 Things That Made Me Happy Today:
Doing a good workout.
World hopping with Daisy.
Chatting briefly with Turkey.
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So, did you hear the news that the Moana series for Disney Plus is now being reworked into a Moana sequel coming this year? Thoughts seeing how between this, Zootopia 2, and Frozen 3 and 4, Disney's really emphasizing sequels a lot this decade with their currently being no announced original idea movies yet from their in-house animated movie studio?
Okay thoughts on Moana 2 first as i'm very glad someone asked this: I'm not against a Moana sequel, nor retooling the tv show into a movie. After all Toy Story 2 and A Goofy Movie, two of my faviorite disney films, were started as DTV projects.
The issue I have more is the timing: Not only was crunch probably involved but it just comes off desperate: Disney had a disapointing year, and thus wanted to bump up something they had close to ready that would put butts in seats. I'm also disappointed that LIn Manuel Miranda isn't coming back as his music was one of the best parts of the original. I will give the film a fair shake... but I do worry disney rushed a good film and it may suffer for it, and if it didn' then the animators did just to get more money.
As for the Sequelgeddon in general.. i'm not a fan of it. Part of it is that 2024 SEEMS rich in sequels: We have Inside Out 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, Megamind Vs the Council of Doom (Which is more a tv movie pilot for Megamind Rules but i'll still count it. ), Despicable Me 4 and now Moana 2. Last year had almost as many with Across the Spider-Verse, Trolls Band Together, Paw Patrol 2, and even more if you count the adult swim finale movies, but we also got Ruby Gilman, Nimona< Mutant Mayhem and Elemental to even things out. And yes 2 of those are based on existing ip but Nimona is visually stunning and it's own take on the graphic novel (if one by it's creator ND Stevenson), and Mutant Mayhem is an even more visually stunning spin on one of the best franchises around after it BADLY needed a new direction with Rise abandoned. There was a pop and life to most animated films last year i'm just not seeing as much in this crop with only Inside Out 2 really being a huge anicipated thing for me.
I'm also not saying sequels are inherently bad. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, is a sequel to a film I barley paid attention to while I watched it and only saw due to word of mouth, but it's one of the best films of the decade. I"m saying, at least in trailers, most of these films feel uninspired. And I feel that way about frozens 3 and 4: You already blew your chance to expand this world with 2, unless Hans gets a pop number a film now you've lost me.
Zootopia 2... isn't NECESSARY.. but is a sequel i'll gladly watch (Same with Moana)> I really liked the first one, and with Nick and Judy's intense chemistry, the massive world and just how hard it can be to change systemic issues, ther'es tons of potetial for a sequel, especailly after George Floyd. Like I said sequels aren't INHERENTLY bad... but these feel like disney is desperate for a hit again instead of remembering their biggest hits have come from giving an original idea a chance.
I do HOPE these films will be good or at least decent. AT the very least i'm hoping we don't get another Ralph Breaks the Internet level of trainwreck as even Frozen 2 as just.. okay (And at least had two banger songs in it to help). But Disney needs to actually try something new and take a risk, something they struggle to do in the best of times and these are very much not their best.
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Fuck me, Fuck The Algorithm is fucking fucked-up …
… in a fucking good way, obviously.
Eclectic is an over used term in music reviews: usually merely indicating that a country/Americana act strays occasionally into CSNY territory, or a blues outfit manage at least once to leaven their relentless Chicago dumpa-dumpa-dumpa-dumpa with a splash of NOLA syncopation …
And there’s nothing wrong with either of those, but in the eight tracks of manic, maniacal, genre-mangling mash-ups of Fuck The Algorithm Mango Thomas redefines ‘eclectic’ as an ADHD chameleon on acid in a kaleidoscope during a laser-strobe light-show.
The opening track alone, Pjunkle, careens between a blizzard of high-speed machine drum, guitar and incandescently furious growled vox, and Eastern-spiced spacey electronica interlaced with lithe bass lines, burbling synths and melodic harmonised guitar… via a metal-cum-drum’n’bass maelstrom. Oh yeah, plus a closing ferocious excoriation of the www.
Musically that pretty much sets the template (of there being no template) for what comes after: a relentlessly-grinding deconstructed boogie opens Punk Bitch, breaking down to a beats-and-Parklife-on-steroids rap interspersed with fusiony guitar squiggles and playfully venomous music-hall psychedelia; a surprisingly stonery laid-back late-night jazz passage from electric piano and loose-limbed drums gives way first to minimalist jamband death metal twin-guitar lines, then a double-speed pogoing anthem, before a hanging close reprise of the ‘stoner jazz’ piano…
Hypnotically deep trancefloor bass, bubbling marimba-like accents and textured string synths underpin the increasingly urgent mantra of Whaddya Want, which canters (via some nice 80s samples and a Moroderesque hook) into a wall of melodic prog-fusion guitar and tricksy timings, ending in a staccato, punchy dead-stop.
Headlock almost convinces you it’s just the one thing: the complex percussive techno banger runs nearly half its 4-plus minutes with no more quirks beyond a bit of rapping and an occasional (very accomplished) noodling fretless bass… until that bass line returns in a full-on rendition augmented with guitar and increasingly abandoned multi-voice wordless “Na, na, na-na”s sounding like a terrace-chant Bond theme, rising to a wild peak.
As with Mango Thomas Goes De.EP his previous release, Fuck The Algorithm includes a trio of mini-tracks: Did You Mean’s spoken voice/SFX humorous rant against the Siri-tyranny of patronising suggestions; #fuckthealgorithm, a reprise of the polemic from Pjunkle set over a rather Hawkindish interstellar overdrive start-up; and Frosty Mornings, which actually does stick to its single groove of smoothly-swaying soully electric piano, heartbeat pulse rhythms and lush synth strings (although the swirling modulation, panning and phasing add an unexpected off-kilter spacey edge).
By seven tracks in, we’re all Mango Thomas veterans now, so Algorithms’ light and airy acoustic picking and mellow folky troubadour vox-led ‘love song’ aren’t fooling anybody… sure enough, the expected Oi-meets-Nu-Metal explosion of syn-drum and gutsy guitar heralds a blokey belted-out “We’re all algorithms” denunciation of the foregoing syrupy delusions, topped with very Frippish atonal guitar and a deconstructed brassy jazz-funk finale.
Now, this might all sound like a recipe for disaster, or at least a cacophonous dog’s dinner, and in the hands of someone less adept it could well be... but Mango Thomas pulls the feat off with considerable aplomb. Fuck The Algorithm is one of a handful of home-grown albums that has had me grooving and grinning simultaneously and, even more rare, laughing out loud at its invention, audacity and sheer joyous insanity. It’s fucking brilliant!
Oh yeah, almost forgot…
*****PARENTAL GUIDANCE*****
... both for the album and this review!
First single Pjunkle will be available to stream from 9th February 2024 (with subsequent releases following every 2 months) - click here for links to pre-save singles, buy the album, merch, and much more: https://linktr.ee/mangothomasmusic/
#mango thomas#fuck the algorithm#breakcore#rock#IDM#funk#folk#metal#chillhop#punk#heavy mental#jamband
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2024/01/14 English
BGM: Electronic - Feel Every Beat
It was a day off today. This morning I had felt slightly depressed, therefore I could do nothing. I needed to change my mood so went to the library, and found two interesting books at there. "The Genetic Lottery" and "The Future is History". I borrowed them, and I could feel better again. What a simple mind.
With The Smiths' bangers (especially the ones in "The Queen is Dead",) I started reading "The Genetic Lottery". Yes, this world must be a result of inequality as this book has taught us (although I just read only its beginning part.) For example, I am a human being (what would it become if I were a tree? etc.) and I am male. I can add many things to this list. I am (as I have said many times) autistic, a pervert, Japanese, an English learner, etc. Therefore I have to live this life with thinking these factors as a kind of given, already decided limits about myself. They must not be able to be changed (at least, they are really difficult to be changed.)
About this, I always remind of "The Serenity Prayer." Especially, I must need the courage to accept the things I can't change. And… I want to add this. I also need the courage to change myself if I can do so, because (as an autistic person) it is often so difficult for me to do so. Therefore, I need to read books to learn the true shape of myself (in other words, the limit of imagination of myself by reading difficult ones.) By learning that shape, I can get tenderer to myself and others. That's an idea of the spirit of "liberalism."
This evening, I've read Hiroki Azuma's new one (東浩紀『訂正する力』.) This book is also telling me about that kind of "the courage" for me (in my opinion or as my personal reading, of course.) This title says "the power/ability of re-correcting ourselves." It must need the truly "critical" cool mind and a warm heart (this Azuma must have both.) Could I have them? I can't see…
Like this, I have read really complicated, difficult books. For me, it's just for fun (although I accept that I have done that for killing boredom, too.) Yes, this life is for me to enjoy.
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Ben v 2024
Three days into the new year and so far I’m not liking what 2K24 is offering up! Got a cuppa in hand? Ok, let’s go:
I spent New Year’s Eve & Day at Cheltenham racecourse, which eventually panned out ok, but started poorly. The van I was scheduled to take broke down the night before, which meant I had to spend 3-and-a-half hours in the office on NYE morning with a colleague getting the replacement van up to speed before I could go. Normally it wouldn’t be such a laborious task, but horse racing is very different to most of our other jobs, so it wasn’t a quick plug-and-play situation.
I arrived at Cheltenham just before 2:30, which still gave Crofty and me ample time to get ourselves ready for the following day’s racing. Despite our backlog of work and a few more gremlins rearing their heads, we made good progress for a couple of hours before we were suddenly plunged into darkness - we’d been powered off! Some bright spark had told the chap in charge of power that the site was clear, even though we’d informed the unit manager we were sticking around. This was all the more baffling given that whoever it was that gave the order was not onsite themself!
That brought the day’s shenanigans to a screeching halt, and left us with more ground to make up the next morning than we would have liked. However, we managed to deliver a clean show against all odds, and I was able to breeze the 2-hour journey home fuelled by this little victory. For added fun, someone nearly careered into me on a roundabout, which resulted in a very different kind of screeching halt.
Day 2 also went heavily off-script - Dad drove down to mine to lend me his car for a month or two - mine is beyond saving, and wheels are gonna be very handy in the immediate future (read on, Macduff). We stayed long enough to jump start my old banger (in readiness for a scrapper coming to collect), before we hopped back in Dad’s car so I could drive him home to Oakham. On a good day, the journey is no more than 2 hours, and we were making very good progress until we reached the outskirts of town to discover that every single road had been flooded by Storm Henk. Dad had only left a few hours previously, so it must have absolutely chundered it down.
After a few failed alternative routes, we struck upon the nearest train station, which was giving no sign of issues. However, once we rocked up at Kettering station, it was clear that the rain had put paid to that idea, too. We debated our options for a while before deciding to deposit Dad at a nearby hotel and cross everything that the following day would allow him to complete his journey. Happily, he did indeed make it home the next day, ending that segment of drama.
I spent the majority of Day 3 in Luton looking for a new place to live after I received an early Christmas card from my landlord informing me that I had two months to make myself scarce - which is never welcome at any time of year - but the timing made the deadline seem a lot closer.
Viewing #1 was cancelled at the eleventh hour, #2 was the size of a shoe box (and a very grubby one at that), and #3 - although much more acceptable - was smaller than my current flat and pricier with it. I can at least say I got the ball rolling and got some viewings under my belt, but it was a bit of a dud day in truth. I consoled myself with the fact that I managed to fit in an impromptu blood donation while I was in town, so at least somebody benefitted from my efforts over the last few days!
#twentytwentyfourfuckssake#Chelter skelter#dam floods#WTH (What the Henk)#all that for a drop of blood
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Thoughts on this absolutely exquisite night of national finals below (warning I might sound like a whiny spoilt little girl but who cares)
You can call me pretentious, or that I sound like a 70 y/o that does not understand why all these mainstream pop songs are so popular at the moment and does not get the hype with other trendy stuff such as tiktok (no, I don't have it, and probably won't plan on getting it any time soon), but you really have no idea how gut wrenching this night had been lmao
I was already used to the fact that my favorites almost never win national finals, but at least there were one or two per night that made it. This night? None. Even if I didn't pay that much attention to it.
Let's take them by order, shall we?
Estonia had my favorite rock song in a while, Venom, which I dismissed at first for some reason. While I knew from the start when I listened to the lineup of Eesti Laul that Alika will win, it was still kinda dissapointing. It's probably my favorite of the night but I'm still not quite that attached to it. It builds up nicely, then that's it. And it feels like she sings with no passion. Still, the vocals are great, she has good control on her voice. The instrumental is very pretty. Maybe yeah, I can see myself ranking this high in my top. Moving on
Denmark, sIGH oh my god. There are only a few songs in this mumbly and breathy style of singing that I tolerate, and this is not one of them. His voice sounds pretty whiny to the point that I can't listen to it whole. Nicklas had such an entertaining dad rock and the two girls' song was so calming, the message added a bittersweet tone to the song. This? I can only listen to it for one minute. Or maybe this kind of indie semi-singing style is not for me. Idk I'm trying to be positive but I can't.
Romania, I'll try my best to not be too critical. Perinita had everything. Folk sound, stage show, they even changed the folklore parts that sounded similar with the original song. I admit, during the auditions Andrei grew on me. A lot. I could see him winning the nf. But that staging was. Not it. You will call me a purist, I don't care, but that dude is basically barely legal, yet he had women on stage that were more than half naked, with freaking straps around them which came across as extremely creepy to me. I might be alone in thinking this. If he kept the staging dark or whatever, sorta like his audition version I might have been more content with him winning. His make love not war thing came off as tryhard, though, we didn't need that. At least it's in romanian. And as a bonus, the hype for Aledaida and her shitty striptease club banger uwu drove me up a wall. Sorry for bringing it again but holy fuck was that annoying. It had the worst fans out there.
Latvia, along with Estonia, actually chose well. It was tied with Patrisha for me but in the end I would have been okay with both. I like their song. Hope Latvia will make it back in the finals this year. They deserve it.
Idk man, I feel like people love to swarm around these basic pop songs like ants because yasss queen slay delivered (insert country's capital) 2024 she aaateeeeee 💅👌✨ or mumbly 9th grader who just discovered Billie Eilish is rElAtAbLE yay deppreshun is what matters now in music. Nobody actually seems to pay attention to anything other than pop or that has a good message or is heading towards a different sound than what you normally hear being pOpUlAr these days. Or maybe it's just me being dramatic and flaunting that my tastes are uncommon and nobody understands my music taste boohoo
Anyway, that's it with this rant, I even contemplated for a while if I should bother watching esc this year but of course I will because it's literally my life and soul at this point. I can't say the same about national final season. I don't think I'll touch it with a 3 meters pole after this year, I'd rather listen to the selected songs after they're chosen, thanks. Honestly I find it extremely hard to choose a song that I genuinely love so far. Last year I had Moldova, France, Iceland, this year? Well, I think it's still too early to tell. Will wait and see and maybe I'll find a song to root for. But for the time being, I think I have said enough. Brb I'm going back to listening to all those boring old eurovision classics such as Net als toen on full volume to forget about the dissapointment of today.
#screw it i'm not reviewing croatia#italy will probably send something good ig#and malta i don't care about still something basic I presume#txt
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