#also yes melanie martinez themed title! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

raidergamerspice · 4 months

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It feels like forever ago, but I once made a tumblr post about what I thought Melanie Martinez's Cry Baby album plus the EP tracks would look like if all the songs were lowercase, to contrast the PORTALS songs all being uppercase. I still think it would've been a neat idea 🤷‍♀️

But anyway, I bring that up because I got struck with another idea: trying to figure out new names for some of the Cry Baby era songs (most of them outtakes) to better fit the theme of childhood. Like, one of the most important parts Melanie's albums is that the songs for each album fit the theme for said album, from Cry Baby being about birth and childhood to K-12 being about school and growing up, and PORTALS being about spirituality and rebirth. But when looking at all the songs from the Cry Baby era, especially the outtakes, I can't help but notice many of them having names that just...don't strike me as childhood-themed. I'm not criticizing Melanie in her talent, obviously she named each song whatever she felt fit them best, and I still respect that. But I also can't help but think that some songs stick out like sore thumbs when you take the overall theme into consideration.

So, here are my ideas for what to rename certain Cry Baby era songs to better fit the theme:

Bittersweet Tragedy: Melted Ice Cream. The lyrics mention melting a couple times, as well as ice cream near the beginning. I feel like a good metaphor for a relationship falling out could be the feeling of ice cream melting in your hands; it was gone before you could really enjoy it. And of course, kids would be devastated if ice cream melted before they could eat it. Plus, there was a missed opportunity for Melanie to not have a song called Ice Cream - yes, there is I Scream, technically, but no reason to not have both. Two outtakes are literally called Eraser and Erase Her.

Bombs on Monday Morning: Pinky Promise. This was really what kickstarted my idea because even though it's a great song for an outtake, a title like that is not very kid like. Kids should not be exposed to bombs. Period. So, I figured that Pinky Promise is a more childhood-themed title, especially since that's what opens the whole song in the lyrics. Alternatively, it could even be shortened to simply Monday Morning, though perhaps a title like that would fit the theming for K-12 more than Cry Baby since it could also be school-related (although bombs and school going together is not something we like to think about, ever).

Dead To Me: Rainy Days. It's mentioned once in the lyrics to go along with the main premise of the song being present at a funeral in the rain. Personally, I hope that children aren't going around and telling people "you're dead to me" in any context, so try Rainy Days instead. Some kids like rainy days because they can jump in puddles and whatnot, or they don't like rainy days because it means they can't play outside. Either way, kids have some kind of connection to rainy days.

Drowning: Clock in the Kitchen. This was a weird one because to quote the Melanie Martinez wiki, "This song is an unfinished concept with no concrete theme, tune, or even confirmed lyrics. It contains some gibberish as Melanie was trying out different melodies for the song and did not have many lyrics figured out, and its already existing lyrics seem to tell a vague story that doesn't make much sense." Because of this, the only lyric available that I figured could be somewhat childhood-themed is Clock in the Kitchen. I don't know, maybe some kids grew up with cuckoo clocks in their parents' kitchen? Besides, a Cry Baby outtake called Drowning has me thinking of Ben Drowned 💀

Gold Diggin' Love: Shelved. Kids really shouldn't be exposed to gold diggers at a young age. But like Drowning, this was a pretty hard one to rename. I settled with Shelved since it is a word in the lyrics, and it made me think of Toy Story 2, with Mr. Potato Head telling Rex that "Woody's been shelved". Kids definitely would have their favorite toys or other items be "shelved" for one reason or another. Plus, within the context of the song, the titular Gold Digger basically "shelves" her lovers as she goes through them.

Half Hearted: Half and Half. In this case, I'm mostly projecting a part of my own childhood - one time when I was a kid, I ate cereal with half and half instead of milk because we were out of milk and I thought there wasn't a difference. My mom found it funny, but I haven't done that since. Maybe there were kids that made that same mistake, or there could be other instances where "half and half" describes a certain situation? I don't know, maybe this song didn't need a rename.

Haunted: Ghost Stories. I suppose you can argue that this didn't need a rename either since kids might love the scare of a certain place being "haunted", like haunted houses. But in case it was too scary to childhood-themed for the album, Ghost Stories might be a better alternative, since kids also love telling/hearing ghost stories.

Mistakes: Break Rules. I'm kinda reaching at this point, mainly because the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this song was the fact that some kids were told by their parents that they were "mistakes", and that's heartbreaking. Since the song is about childhood rebellion, I thought that Break Rules or something similar was a slightly nicer name.

Psycho Lovers: Down the Rabbit Hole. I mean, explain to me how a title like Psycho Lovers can be childhood-themed. I don't think you can. Since the lyrics involve asking someone to go down a rabbit hole with them, I thought that'd be a great alternative, especially since it can go hand in hand with Mad Hatter.

Schizo: Favorite Toy. Schizophrenia is definitely a difficult subject for children to comprehend in any context, so I personally find it hard to imagine a kid referring to someone with it as a "schizo" (I could be wrong, of course, maybe it's happening somewhere in the world right now). But with the lyrics presenting Melanie as someone else's "favorite toy" for someone else really made a case for Favorite Toy to be a good alternative title. I mean, kids always have favorite toys.

Trophy Wife: Miss Pageant Queen. Much like Gold Diggin' Love, a trophy wife is something I don't like the idea of children knowing about at a young age, since it could potentially lead them to growing up believing that that's an acceptable term to describe someone as. And since there are kids that compete in pageants, I feel like Miss Pageant Queen was a more fitting name for the theme. Of course, child pageants in general are a bit of a rough subject anyway, in my opinion, but I digress.

You Love I: Puppet Show. I don't know if kids would ever say "you love I" in any context, 'cause I wouldn't as an adult. But I can assume that some kids enjoy puppet shows, so Puppet Show might be a better alternative.

What do you think? Are these good alternative names? I don't completely want to replace their names in my head or anything, I just think that, if Melanie committed to the theme of childhood for all the songs she wrote for the Cry Baby era, these might have been what she'd use, too.

As for her other era songs, I only came up with alternative names for a small handful of After School songs (all but one being outtakes, of course). I just felt like they didn't exactly fit the school them like the others:

Absorb: Project Piece. I'm honestly not sure why Melanie settled on naming it Absorb when something like Project Piece was right there, especially since it fits the song's theme of two people trying to make their relationship work. Working on a project is a perfect metaphor for a couple working on their relationship.

Brain & Heart: Calculated. I actually love the original title, but again, it just doesn't really fit the school theme that much, in my opinion. I feel like Calculated would fit better, since everyone used calculators in school lmao.

Maze: Blame Game. I've personally never been to a school that had a maze, if we're being literal. I know that they exist, but I've never physically seen one. I feel like Blame Game is slightly better since school is full of so much drama, blame games are played all the time.

Paper Cut: Stitches. This one is different from the others because it's not that I don't think the original title is school-themed, 'cause it is. It's just that...there's also a K-12 outtake called Papercut. As you can imagine, fans are annoyed that two different outtakes have far too similar names (they're literally the same name, with one having a space breaking it up), so many of them have opted to refer to it as Stitches instead to reduce confusion.

Phew, that was a lot lmao. What do you think of these? Are they good ideas, or was there no reason for me to even bother? I mainly did this as a fun project, as it were, and I just wanted to share with the class (heh, these school puns).

Also, I left the PORTALS era songs alone because they honestly seem fine on their own, for the most part (though WALKIE TALKIE is an interesting one 🤔)

#melanie martinez #cry baby #k-12 #after school #just some ideas to make all the appropriate era songs fit their themes #not something to take seriously #just potential conversation starters I guess

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hotchocolatefanfics · 4 years

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Reboot PoTA Couple Theme Songs and their Meanings

Boy did this take me a while to finish! This is something I’ve been working on almost all of 2019 and I’ve finally finished it (2019 was not nice to me-my classes were, but everything else was a blur of getting sick and going from no anxiety to anxiety attacks happening daily. It was just a mess!)

Like the title says, it’s a theme song list for our favorite Planet of The Apes shippings and couples (I only did a few to save time but if this gets popular enough, I could do another involving any shippings and couples that aren’t present here (such as Will X Caroline or Malcolm x Ellie)).

Each couple have their own five theme songs (because one isn’t enough to tell their full story) and each song represents something unique about the couple dynamic or how the shipping can be interpreted and will include a description underneath (some may be longer than others (the more I know on that shipping/more I have to say, the more I write about them)-I apologize in advance for that!). If there’s any information that is missing or details that I overlooked (or even if you disagree with the description) please feel free to share!

Please note that you are not obligated to listen to these songs and you are completely and totally free to add a song to these couple lists. Part of the reason why I made this was in hopes that maybe it would spark a conversation amongst us PoTA fans about our favorite PoTA shippings/couple and explore other shippings.

Also, I didn’t include OC relations here but feel free to add them in your reblogs(you may also re-use songs that are already on these lists if you feel they could describe your OC x Canon shipping)! All love stories are welcomed on this post! (the only rule is there can’t be any underage or huge age difference couples).

My information sources are:

All three Reboot movies, Firestorm, Revelations, The Planet of The Apes Fandom Wikia and also reading a couple of stuff/peaking around on AO3, FanFiction.net, DeviantArt, and Wattpad.

With that said, enjoy the theme songs!

Caesar x Cornelia

Stand by you - Rachel Platten

Better Together - Jack Johnson

Say Something (I’m giving up on you) - A Great Big World

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

The Call - Regina Spektor

Description:

As this is a couples list, it only makes sense to start it with the king and queen themselves!

I think it’s more than safe to say that these two loved each other very much.

We saw Caesar and Cornelia’s relationship grow from Rise, Firestorm, Dawn, Revelations, to War and during that time, we’ve seen them grow closer (I actually think that, as their relationship progressed, Cornelia made Caesar a better leader-as she pointed things out to Caesar that he either ignored/didn’t realize/know in Firestorm).

When I personally think about this couple, I think about Caesar: The life he grew up with, the family he left behind when he chose to stay in the forest with the apes, the hardships he had to face in the earlier days/years of freedom and I think about all the stress and the anxiety that he had to have felt during those times. He had to have felt that he had to show strength in the presence of his followers-that would have meant not thinking/talking about Will, Charles or Caroline or letting it be known if he missed them at all.

Then I think about Cornelia. As his wife, she had to have known everything about Caesar. From his childhood to anything and everything he feared and worried about as king and leader. If there was anyone in the whole colony that Caesar could have shown that side to him, that uncertain, missing his family side to him, it would have been Cornelia, and I would imagine that she understood that he missed his human home. That she listened to his worries and comforted him-possibly reassured him if he needed it.

I didn’t know if it’s talked about very much but, as king and queen they’re very similar in personality: Both being compassionate and kind, but also fiercely protective of both the colony and of their friends and as parents, both are (also) protective and loving towards Blue Eyes and Cornelius (examples being Caesar protecting Blue Eyes from the bear and later protecting both sons from Carver in Dawn and Cornelia keeping Cornelius safe in Revelations).

This couple is featured in nearly every fanfic out there and every Planet of The Apes role-play that Tumblr has but I feel like we don’t talk about it enough. In War, Caesar was more than devastated by Cornelia’s death (and by the death of Blue Eyes) as he became vengeful, murderous and (pretty much) ready to kill because of it (remember that man with the wood at the oyster farm where they found Nova?).

If you really want to go there, it says a lot about his and Cornelia’s relationship during the war. That (maybe) the war took such a tool on Caesar (mentally and emotionally) that she became his strength. That (maybe) Caesar was already on the verge of losing it well before the attack on that hill (like having a breakdown or panic attack)-and I wouldn’t be surprised, as he was betrayed by Koba, then by Red and other followers of Koba, and his apes were being attacked, threatened and/or killed by the soldiers.

Maybe Cornelia kept him grounded, reminded him of who he was and what was important and when the Colonel killed her, it broke something in Caesar and when he lost her, he lost part of himself and may have forgotten who he was (only remembering when he realized he couldn’t kill the Colonel).

Blue Eyes x Lake

Kiss The Girl - Ashley Tisdale

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Colors - Halsey

It’s all coming back to me now - Meet loaf

When you’re Gone - Avril Lavigne

Description:

Blue Eyes and Lake clearly loved each other in War. We know they grew up together and played with each other as children though their (romantic) feelings for each other likely came later (around the time of Dawn/Revelations).

We didn’t get to see much of their relationship (due to Blue Eyes dying and/or being sent away in Revelations) but, considering that Blue Eyes was protective of his friends and family (and openly affectionate towards them in War), I think it can be assumed that he would have been a loving husband to Lake and would have protected her if she were in danger.

Lake appeared to love children, so it is reasonable to imagine they would have had children together and she would have, more than likely, been a wonderful mother to them. Lake was also brave (as seen when she defended Caesar in War), which makes it likely she could have assisted Blue Eyes as his queen (if he had lived to become king).

And now, the Fan-Made couples!!!

Caesar x Koba (aka: ‘Caba’)

Little Do You Know - Alex & Sierra

Hold On - Chord Overstreet

A Moment Like This - Kelly Clarkson

Breathless - Shayne Ward

Teddy Bear - Melanie Martinez

Description:

Yes, I absolutely had to start with this one as it’s, if I’m not mistaken, the most common shipping in the fandom (and it’s also my favorite too!).

Caesar and Koba were obviously very close in Dawn (as best friends and honorary brothers) as Koba saved Caesar from that bear in the beginning and Caesar later gifted the pelt to him. This relationship was created when Caesar rescued Koba and other apes from Gen-Sys and continued in Firestorm.

I can’t remember if I got this far into Caesar’s Story, but I wanna say there was a part in the book where it talked about Koba having feelings for/falling in love with Caesar(?)(Please correct me if I’m wrong).

It all came crashing down when the humans showed up and Koba’s hatred of them was reborn and it became clear to him that Caesar still ‘loved’ humans (when Koba said “Caesar loves humans more than apes” he may have actually believed that-it is also possible he may have thought Caesar loved humans more than him).

It eventually leads to Koba shooting him (which means he, essentially, abandoned his love for Caesar in favor of his hate for humans) and then declaring war on the humans-and later, resulted in Caesar having to kill him. Koba’s betrayal deeply hurt Caesar and so did killing him (let’s not forget that Koba’s ghost haunted him in War).

What I’ve noticed with this shipping is it’s all about the vulnerable and damaged side of Koba’s personality and about Caesar’s protective and compassionate heart.

Fanfics of this shipping sometimes follows the story of Dawn (with Pope as the bad guy or with Koba’s betrayal being deeper than just about revenge on the humans) and other times it’s completely different (nodding at the ‘Caesar and The Bonobo’ Beauty and The Beast AU on FanFiction and all other Caba one-shots(all deserve a read!)) but in all fanfics and fan arts of this shipping, there’s always a sense of heartache for the couple (either due to how Koba suffered before Rise or knowing how their relationship ended in Dawn).

Everything about this shipping is tragic and (when well-written out) heartbreaking but at the same time, it can be adorable and beautiful (I’m also tempted to call it irresistible for many fans-seriously, look on AO3, DeviantArt Wattpad, FanFiction.net-literally all of these sites has three or more fanfics/one-shots of this shipping (though I would advise you all to be careful as some of them may be, let’s say, ‘Rated R’)!).

I have not found any role-plays of this shipping on Tumblr (yet!) so I wouldn’t know how the shipping is portrayed in that category (Seriously, are there any role-plays of this? Cause I’d like to know!).

Koba x Stone

I Still Love You - Josh Jenkins

Yours to Hold - Skillet

Grenade - Bruno Mars

Hero - Enrique Iglesias

Immortal - Evanescence

Description:

I’ve, sadly, only seen this shipping on role-play blogs here on Tumblr so much of this is guessed (if anyone reading this has role-played this shipping before or have more experience with it, please correct me if I’m wrong!)

Stone was one of Koba’s friends and first followers in Dawn (aside from Grey) but his motives for following Koba are never talked about (also in Revelations, it says he’s dead but he’s clearly seen alive in War…Does he have superpowers or did he just disappear and showed up again for War?)

(Here’s my guess) Stone likely disagreed with Caesar’s role (to some extent but I doubt he was as extreme about it as Koba was) but what if, his main reason for following Koba had more to do with him having secret feelings for the bonobo than anything else? What if Stone saw and knew that Koba was still haunted by his past and comforted him when no one else would? And by the time the humans reappeared in Dawn, Stone developed his own hatred for the species that had hurt his love?

Meanwhile, Koba, who likely doesn’t feel comfortable talking about his past with anyone and felt betrayed and angered when Caesar disregarded his hatred of humans, probably would have resisted Stone’s affection for a long time before he finally let him in and fully accepted the comfort and love from the chimp (it is also possible Koba used that very sympathy to manipulate Stone into doing his bidding but I’m not sure if he would have needed to as, again, Stone would have already hated humans for torturing Koba in the past anyway).

Now about Stone’s death/survival: Let’s say that Stone survived Dawn (as seen in War). If he really did have feelings for Koba, it’s likely he would have felt guilty and somewhat responsible for his love’s death as he had chosen to agree with him that the apes should go to war with humans instead of talking Koba out of it (to be fair I’m not sure if Koba could have been convinced otherwise after the fight with Caesar in the dam but I think Stone would have had a better chance of reasoning with him anyone else).

Now let’s say Stone had actually died and Koba wasn’t defeated by Caesar. I think it’s more than safe to say Koba would be screwed if he was the one to have to go to war with the Colonel in War instead of Caesar (and it may be reasonable to suspect he may eventually realize the gravity of what he did and would regret it all as the war continues) but if this war took Stone early on, and if Stone and Koba were romantically involved, it’s also reasonable to assume Koba would have regretted that most of all-seeing Stone as the last (and by the time of War, the only) to love him and care about him and feeling lost and alone without him.

All in all, this shipping has a love lost and a sort of ‘dam(sel) in distress’ feel to it.

Koba x Cornelia

Sk8ter Boi - Avril Laringe

When I was Your Man - Bruno Mars

Uptown Girl - Billy Joel

Bad Boy - Cascada

Dear in The Headlights - Owl City

Description:

I have the same problem here-total guesswork!

Based on what little I know of this shipping so far, it reminds me of the ‘outcast falls in love with popular person’ scenario that is sometimes seen in high school movies. But this shipping could seriously work as a love triangle story!

Koba and Cornelia have little to no interaction in the books (the ones I’ve read so far anyway!) or in the movies but it is known that they see each other as honorary brother and sister (due to Caesar and Koba being honorary brothers). It’s reasonable to assume they had mutual respect for each other and that Cornelia was just as betrayed by Koba’s actions as Caesar was.

However, it is never revealed what Koba’s plans would have been for Cornelia had Caesar truly died (there is a chance he could have forced her into marrying him but I also think there's a chance she would have rebelled against him and Koba could have decided to kill her (or kill Cornelius as punishment and then kill her? I dunno know)).

Also, what if Koba had wanted Cornelia as his wife all along and only decided to kill Caesar when he did because the humans ‘conveniently’ showed up (unlikely but maybe)? I think this shipping was born from the idea that Koba always had a secret crush on Cornelia but kept it a secret because she married Caesar and knew he had no chance with her.

Another thought (and this is highly unlikely but still): In the wild, chimps would have multiple mates (Rocket in Rise for example) so there's also a (tiny) chance that Caesar could (in theory) be married to both Cornelia AND Koba-I have never heard of this particular thing happening and I’m not sure if the Caba and/or the Koba x Cornelia shippings are popular enough to warrant that sort of dynamic but it would make an interesting fanfic.

Koba x Pope

Issues - Julia Michaels

Battles Scars - Guy Sebastian Ft. Lupe Fiasco

Love the Way you Lie - Eminem Ft. Rhianna

Next To Me - Imagine Dragons

Courage - Superchick

Description:

For those who don’t know, Pope is the main villain from the Dawn comics. He’s very similar to Koba (as they’re both apes that came from labs) but worse as he enslaved primitive apes and saw them as lesser beings-going as far as calling them ‘stupid animals’.

Anyway, me and a friend made this one up a while back in our discussions and, from what I remember, we had two or three(?) different scenarios for this shipping.

One being that since they were both abused and tortured by humans, they may find comfort in each other (finding it easy to show vulnerability to someone who’s equally damaged) and fall in love from their shared experiences.

In the comic, Pope’s past is only hinted by Koba when he says: “He was like me…A lab ape. Bad Things, maybe worse.” and then his past is never mentioned of again however, Pope does say: “Never show weakness.” after the killing of a human later in the comic. Based on that, it’s reasonable to suspect that Pope may harbor a similar hatred to humans as Koba does and may suffer from demons of his own but keeps it well hidden from other apes.

Two being more about their personalities: Both Koba and Pope are capable of hurting people (as seen when Koba killed Ash and shot Caesar and Maurice in Dawn and when Pope killed the alpha, killed Fifer and Cora and enslaved all the primitive apes in the comic) and both are described by the PoTA Fandom Wiki as ‘cruel and tyrannical’ (with Koba being described as ‘belittling’, ‘unstable’ and ‘manipulative’ and Pope as ‘immoral’, ‘arrogant’ and ‘egomaniacal’).

Considering these traits, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine one of them to perceive the other’s vulnerability as ‘weakness’ and actually abuse the other (like Pope abusing Koba or Koba abusing Pope). Based on their personalities, it’s possible the kind of abuse they’d inflict on each other would likely be physical, emotional, or mental abuse (or all three).

Third (and this is more of continuation of the second one!), even if Koba and Pope weren’t abusing each other, their relationship would likely be argumentative, unhealthy, troubling, rough and just very dysfunctional.

These are two very damaged apes with traumas that were not properly dealt with or given help for and full of pent up rage and hate towards humans (plus Pope hated Caesar and disrespected his rule). If they were to be a couple, their own traumas and hatred would feed off of each other and may, inadvertently, make it worse (this would likely not be a problem if Pope and Koba were with other people as a person who doesn’t have the same experiences or resentment as them would likely help ‘heal’ them). Maybe their relationship could work but they may need therapy (psychotherapy and/or couple therapy) before it gets there.

Red x Winter

Sorry - Halsey

Please Don’t Leave Me - P!nk

Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows

Secrets - OneRepublic

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Description:

Eeeeeek! This one is my second favorite! I can’t wait to share this dynamic! :D

Both gorillas are first seen in Revelations. Red being manipulative, defiant, aggressive and violent (as shown when he manipulated Grey, lead the soldiers to the building where the colony was hiding in, tried to kill Cornelia (twice and one being while she was trying to help another female ape give birth!) and also when he slapped Cedar) and Winter being fearful and timid (as seen when he faced the wall after the building next to the colony’s hiding place was blown up and when he failed to kill Cornelia (which Red manipulated him into trying to do anyway)). Both are seen again in War, where Winter proves himself as a coward and Red a traitor.

Needless to say, both of these gorillas have very different personality types. The interactions they had both in Revelations and in War weren’t enough to say they were friends (let alone romantically involved) however, Red clearly knew Winter was easy to control. Why else would he consistently manipulate him? And Winter appeared to be afraid of Red. This could be because Red was more aggressive than him and Winter feared confrontation.

However, there’s a lot about the two gorillas that were never revealed (backstory wise. I actually do have a backstory theory for Red but that’s a post for another day). For example, Red was shown to have a lot of anger built up in him and while it is believed to be due to Caesar killing Koba, it feels much deeper than that.

Koba was only leader for a day and or two (or less, my math isn’t great) and Red was willing to kill Cornelia, manipulate and endanger other apes and betray the colony over that? No, this anger didn’t develop overnight. It had to have been there BEFORE Dawn (and it somehow has something to do with Caesar)!

Then there’s Winter. We know his father died before he was born but we don’t know how or what his relationship was/the whereabouts of his mother (this does open the door for speculation of whether or not the circumstances of his father’s death and the relationship he had with his mother could have anything to do with Winter’s fearfulness).

Finally, their relationship: What if Red’s anger and hate was all a mask? What if, deep down inside, he was actually a very hurt, troubled and damaged person and only knew how to show it through anger? And what if Winter’s greatest flaw was actually his strength? Winter was more open about his feelings in both Revelation and in War (whether it be fear, shock, or worry) while Red was very closed off.

What if that difference was what originally attracted Winter to Red? What if Winter, despite being intimidated by Red, viewed him as mysterious and was drawn to him by that. Meanwhile, what if Red was secretly jealous of Winter being so open about his vulnerabilities-even if he knew others would look down on him for it.

With all that said (sorry it was that long!), Red and Winter’s relationship would be built on shared (either expressed or hidden) vulnerabilities and traumatic experiences. Both have flaws and neither of them are weak. They just depend on each other for strength and (in one-shots where they survive War) for belonging as they have no one else.

Blue Eyes x Ash

Bad Day - Daniel Powter

Dark Paradise - Lana Del Ray

Perfect - P!nk

Complicated - Avril Lavigne

Count on Me - Bruno Mars

Description:

This is another shipping I’ve only seen briefly-I’m not sure if there are any role-plays of it on Tumblr (but then again I never really looked either!) but there is a fanfic or two out there of this pairing (again, if I miss something a detail regarding this shipping, please let me know!).

Ash is first seen in Dawn when he and Blue Eyes are fishing together. Right away, it’s pretty clear these two are close friends and likely grew up together (which would make sense as their fathers are so close). Based on the interactions between him and Blue Eyes in that scene and the council meeting scene, Ash can be described as humorous (such as when he poked at Blue Eyes) and confident in himself (like when he was teasing Blue Eyes over the bear incident) and Blue Eyes, is protective of him as he (presumably) protected him from Carver before Rocket and the other apes intervened.

Blue Eyes is left devastated and deeply hurt after Ash’s death and, throughout Revelations, thinks about him constantly and later having a dream about him.

Since I don’t know that much about this pairing, this is where the guesswork comes in: As these two grew up together, it’s more than likely they also knew each other on a deeper level than their parents did-for example, Blue Eyes could have told Ash all his secrets, whatever worries or fears he had, maybe ranted to him about his anger and frustrations with his father or about being prince.

I don’t know if Ash had any issues with his parents (as he and Rocket appeared to be very close as father and son-and we don’t really see Ash interacting with Tinker) but if he ever had a bad day, he’d likely talk to Blue Eyes about it just like Blue Eyes would.

This relationship would be founded on childhood friendship, turned best friends, into lovers. Likely turning into a ‘you’re the only person I trust with my secrets’ kind of relationship while also being a very supportive and protective kind of relationship too.

McCullough x Caesar

I Hate Everything - Three Days Grace

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

Hold Me Down - Halsey

You Don’t Own Me - Grace Ft. G-Eazy

Hellfire - The Hunchback of Notre Dam

Description:

I dabbled on this one in my Whumptober one-shots but if anyone’s interested in more of this shipping, there’s a few on AO3 (it’s easily the black sheep of this list but I think it deserves a place here for clarification as to what this shipping could be versus what it sounds like). It’s a weird pairing but it’s worth checking out!

I think we all know Colonel McCullough as the most evil human in the reboot movies (as he is willing to kill apes and any human who is infected with the virus-his own son for example) and seeing how he treated Caesar in War (chaining him up, forcing him and the ape colony to work, having him whipped and tied to a cross with no food or water for days, killing Cornelia and Blue Eyes) it’s easy to see why this shipping would raise eyebrows but it all depends on how one looks at it.

For example, I see the shipping as a possible twist on War: As the war between the apes and AO soldiers unfold, McCullough’s desire to capture and/or kill Caesar turns into something else. He becomes obsessed with the Ape King and decides the best way to defeat him and get rid of the apes would be to destroy Caesar’s life. So he deliberately kills Cornelia and Blue Eyes knowing it will provoke Caesar to go after him and later in the base when McCullough has Red and Preacher bring Caesar to his office, he blackmails Caesar into marrying him (saying that he’ll let the colony live if he agrees).

As a result of it, Caesar becomes McCullough’s “chimp-wife” and is a prisoner in this forced marriage, the ape colony thinks he’s abandoned and/or betrayed them, the AO soldiers and the Donkeys are confused by the whole thing and Red and Preacher (who witnessed the Colonel’s blackmailing marriage proposal to Caesar) are thinking “WTF is happening here?”.

Another way one could see this shipping would be as something funny. Yes, it’s dysfunctional but that could be the point! If one wanted to make a fanfic of this shipping, they could use the dysfunctional aspects of the relationship and make it funny. Think Marge and Homer Simpson for example.

For those who have an issue with this shipping, I 100% agree this relationship would be doomed from the start (if we decide to take it seriously). If McCullough and Caesar were to be married, I can picture the Colonel being abusive and predigest towards Caesar and his species, blaming him for all things wrong in the world (such as the virus, the fall of the human race), likely never showing any love or affection towards Caesar, and poor Caesar would become depressed and miserable from this awful marriage.

Bon x Pope (from the Dawn comics!)

Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

Follow Him - Peggy March

I would Do Anything For You - Foster The People

Just The Girl - Click Five

All You Wanted - Michelle Branch

Description:

To be honest, I’m not sure if Bon was really this close to Pope as he only appeared once or twice in the Dawn comics BUT! he was one of his loyal followers and while it is possible he only disagreed with Caesar’s rule, there’s another chance that he may have had feelings for Pope (much like my description of the Stone x Koba shipping).

For those who didn’t read the comics, let me sum up the interactions between these two: Bon was one of Pope’s followers and is seen returning back to the zoo after (unsuccessfully) searching for an ape named Fifer who escaped them and informs Pope that there are humans nearby. Bon also took part in the battle between Pope and Koba and was later banished along with Pope’s followers while the primitive apes followed Koba back to the Ape Village.

As this shipping, almost no leg to stand on (and is more made up than the others on this list) allow me to explain it here: Much like Grey and Stone towards Koba, Bon (and a gorilla named Rex) followed Pope-presumably because they also disliked Caesar and/or his rule. As Pope didn’t actually plan on killing Caesar until later in the comics and didn’t realize there were primitive apes, in the beginning, I don’t think there was any manipulation going on from him.

Now let’s look at Pope for a second: Pope was an ape who looked down upon anyone who showed weakness or was primitive and had no problem with enslaving, torturing, endangering or murdering other apes. Like I said in my description for the Koba x Pope shipping, Pope was also a lab ape (with fishnet scars on the left side of his face, shoulder and chest giving us a hint as to what he was put through-though it’s never actually discussed) so it is reasonable to imagine he may have his own demons and traumas, much like Koba does (unsurprisingly, Pope also hates humans).

The thing about Pope that I’m curious about is if he is traumatized from what had been done to him at the hands of humans, does he show it? He likely doesn’t as he appears to dislike seeing it and other apes showing weakness but that would mean that, much like Koba, he’s holding things back, probably much more than Koba was (as Koba is seen in Dawn talking (briefly) about what he went through with humans to Caesar).

Now looking at Pope and Bon, it makes me wonder if Bon could have picked up on that. Like what if Bon saw the pain that Pope was covering up and reached out to him?

That, and it is also possible Bon was into the ‘bad boy’ type.

Phew, glad that’s over! XD

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peerless-soshi · 4 years

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Cancer (for Mechanum Mundi I guess), Phoenix, Virgo :)

CONSTELLATIONS ASK GAME

(*wiping a tear* I knew I can always count on you <3 Thank you for asking)

Cancer - What’s the name of songs from the musical rendition of your project? (aka, have fun! come up with fun names)

A small glossary of terms (for new followers): Mechanum Mundi is my personal project which I should share more often because I love it, but I’m also shy. If you want to take a look, here and here are playlists I’ve created for my protagonists.

The opening tone would be named The mechanical city (prologue) or something similar! I’d also make titles and melodies match each character, so I imagine Adam’s songs to be more... blunt... like Boy with a gun or Who are you and where are you from? - it’d play nice with Adam’s first scene. You see him, you hear him, so you know him. On the other hand, Imitia’s titles can be a little more lyrical. Maybe mysterious. A girl in a tower? Tall wall? Will you remember me? There are some more unspecified titles that come to my mind: Only bullets are meant to fly or Life’s too short to live, because I’m edgy. But what I know is the villain’s song - A heart too hard to carry. And I think you also know why ;)

On the side note, I have some songs that would make quite a reference. For example, I can hear Show and Tell by Melanie Martinez as Imitia’s theme song. The lyrics are not perfect but the arrangement, with sounds of a wind-up toy? It does hit the point. Or Killing Butterflies by Lewis Blissett played for the villain. Cain’s design is the one that has changed the most, I can’t wait to share it. And yes, butterflies are an important element ;)

Phoenix - How do you develop your ideas?

I treat fanfiction like a training session - I always think: I’d like to try my hand at comedy! I wonder if I can write fantasy? Let’s check my stream of consciousness. Let’s learn how to plot. So my fanfiction ideas usually start as those very raw concepts that I see and wish to polish myself. To come up with OCs, I have to be hit by inspiration. Mechanum Mundi began while I was listening to music; Son of Rust’s album made me think of a world of humans and machines and everything in between. Another time I was studying for exams and planning historical fantasy. It’s like a drop from a book, movie, music or conversation which can sometimes turn into a stream.

When an idea becomes serious, I tend to: a) watch series/read books with similar themes to inspire myself - I observe pacing, used tropes, how certain ideas were twisted to be more surprising etc. Basically, everything you can learn from people better than me, b) talking about ideas, mostly with my sister - you don’t even need to give me an advice. Just speaking about my plots makes concepts more clear and gives me more ideas. It’s traditional “Thank you for help!” when the other person said nothing.

Virgo - Describe your favorite tropes.

I don’t think I have many favorite tropes - everything can be good if done right, or vice versa. But I generally enjoy rivals to friends/lovers, and enemies to lovers, or opposites attract (though there’s a thin line between deep and shallow and those types of couples often end up as annoying). As a variant of enemies to lovers, I also like dark and demonic characters with pure and angelic ones, the light and darkness type. And generally I like good and altruistic characters if being good is not shown as naive or stupid. We need more nice and decent characters, and less “badass” and “kickass”. However, just as often I like characters struggling with inner demons, hesitating between two paths, regardless of their final choice. Hmm... one of the tropes I also like is what I’d call “karma always comes back” or “history repeating itself”, with parallel scenes. I think I’d fine some more, hahaha. But I don’t stick to tropes as much as some people do, I like variety of content.

PS. Since it’s a writing ask, it’s good to note that I needed like, a week to answer it... Sorry about that, I think work is sucking up all my energy and the ability to communicate in English. But I’m working on it!

#asks #I'm coming back to life! look!

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showerthoughtsreviews · 4 years

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As the year ends, I’ll start a tradition of sharing my 15 favorite projects

As 2019 ends, I’m able to reflect on my top 15 projects delivered this year, and I’ll do it every year from now on. Here they go.

#15 Romance by Camila Cabello

Even considering Camila’s sophomore album had questionable moments, I do think Romance brings something that 2019 was all about: experimenting sounds, blends and conventional approaches. To me, this is a project that might be able to grow as it has a lot of aspects that are pleasing, but as a whole it did lacked cohesion.

#14 Love + Fear by Marina

Love + Fear was Marina’s solo debut, as previously known as Marina and The Diamonds, and to me this project deserves to be included on the top list starting from the state of mind the singer is at this moment. The messages brought here were beautiful and her vocals are simply incredible, and a lot of tracks here end up growing on you a lot than you actually expect them to.

#13 Blood Harmony by Finneas

Finneas opened himself up to us this year with his debut EP and it did seemed like he brought some nostalgia on how good music can be; how mesmerizing lyrics can really be and grab you and also how simple production can still make the most out of a project.

#12 Cuz I Love You by Lizzo

Lizzo’s work this year was, definetly, a breath of freash air in such a good and happy mood. This project can be liked for a lot of different people because of her approach, vocal ability and whole concept of the album. Its uplifting flavor can really grow on you.

#11 III by Banks

Banks really got to take us into such a beautiful journey with III. It is amazing how much it feels she challenges the conventional in music but it still sounds so nostalgic and homely at the same time. This is a very good piece of work.

#10 Charli by Charli XCX

With her self-titled project, Charli XCX brought once again amazing flavour in what comes to the futuristic pop approach, creating very interesting bridges between production and vocals into her tracks. It does seem like a grower as well, and a introduction, per say, to a new way of music making.

#9 K-12 by Melanie Martinez

K-12 secured his belt in this listing not because of its production, even though amazing but lost at times, but yes for the lyrical content on it. Melanie is not the most talented song writer out there, but the amount of messages K-12 transmits to you, so softly directed but not too harshly given to you is the main reason you might fall in love with this project.

#8 Cheap Queen by King Princess

This was one of the best debut albums we got this year. King Princess delivered such a cohesive, amazing and beautiful body of work, full of relatable moments and surprises. This is a very interesting direction for the singer, as its proved already lyrics are excelent and production finds its way of working really good with it.

#7 WWAFAWDWG? by Billie Eilish

Speaking of debuts, Billie really created the hype for her’s, and she didn’t disappointed at all. The challenge of approaches and how these can be blended into artistry were very explored by Billie and mostly sucessfull in my opinion. This project does make you think about what music can really be in upcoming years.

#6 Truth Is by Sabrina Claudio

Truth Is is the most cohesive body of work the singer has presented yet to us. Sabrina Claudio found an amazing way of keeping a concept of an album described from start to finish, without going way too overboard on it.

#5 Turn Off The Light by Kim Petras

Turn Off The Light also secures a belt for how much it challenges musicality itself: this is a halloween themed project, and it is so beautifully arranged that you don’t need to listen to it only in halloween season. Kim braced herself and delivered amazing harmonies, runs and electro-pop sounds, not so predictable as you may think they are.

#4 Lover by Taylor Swift

In 2019 Taylor not only told us she was deeply in love, she invited us to experience it in almost every way possible. Lover brings a lot of nostalgia of how the singer used to approach music before, but also brings new elements that show she is somehow evolving; it’s blending the best of both worlds in a way. Lover is a wild ride of emotions and amazing stories, because Taylor does that in a beautifully divine way.

#3 thank u, next by Ariana Grande

Ariana brought something most of us weren’t fully expecting: incredibly personal and raw body of work. This project shaped a lot the view of music in 2019, as Ariana delivered a very r&b blended with pop sound, but in a fresher way than before, ans also her peak as an artist and as how her artistry really can shape her work.

#2 Madgalene by FKA Twigs

Magdalene is one of 2019′s gems. The way FKA created this world for us to dive in, so full of surprises and unexpected moments but also how deeply we can fall in love with her art with this project; all the constructions are non-conventional, all the approaches are made in order for you to exit wherever you are and enter this beautifully sad world.

#1 Norman F*****g Rockwell by Lana Del Rey

2019 brought Lana’s return in a bomb-like way that no one was really prepared for. Norman F*****g Rockwell comes with such perfect cohesion, lyrics, harmonies, vocal ranges, transitions, and a whole amazing vibe and state of spirit. This is without a doubt an amazing peak and an amazing body of work that is almost untouchable.

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hetmusic · 7 years

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Q&A with HÅN | HumanHuman

HÅN’s single “The Children” has been named one of the most stunning debuts of the year with praise from When The Horn Blows, Indietronica, HighClouds, Going Solo and The Line Of Best Fit, with a review written by none other than discoverer Matthew Kent. In the space of a few months the 21-year-old newcomer from Lake Garda, in Northern Italy, soared to the position of Promising Artist with an impressive 25 agrees from some of our most influential users.

In the last month, the dark-pop musician has delivered a stunning sophomore album titled “1986”, a cinematic approach to songwriting that glistens with Balearic tinges and wistful vocals. It’s also the second track from HÅN’s forthcoming EP, which she openly speaks about, “‘1986′ is to me the strangest track on the EP since it’s very personal lyrically but at the same time, it has a production which is really different from everything I’ve ever made.” With yet more material to be revealed, we’re keen to learn more about this rising, alternative talent and here we discuss her music, songwriting, the Italian music scene and some of her favourite artists right now.

Hello, HÅN! First of all, were you surprised to be regarded as a Promising Discovery on HumanHuman so soon after your first release?

During these months many wonderful things have happened, and I did not expect any of them. My goal is to constantly improve, so being defined as a promising artist, is something that I truly appreciate.

That debut is “The Children”, a wonderfully airy dark-pop song, which you’ve described as “like someone running away from the things that they know and from the place in which they always been, becoming aware of the oppression of 'the safe place'.” Can you expand on this backstory?

When I wrote this song I wasn't thinking about a certain theme or something. I just put out some phrases that I knew were what I was feeling in that moment. It was just when I finished the lyrics, that I realized the song actually had a theme. It’s about this big mess which is growing. It's the urge to get away from something you've always known because you need to live and take risks, decide for yourself and all that kind of stuff. But you’re aware that you can’t really “get away” from something which has always been in your life. You grow and you leave things behind but at the same time you miss them. So it’s an ambivalent feeling.

Right now, you’re 20-years-old, but when did you first begin your interest in music and particularly in songwriting?

The first instrument I've ever played was the violin, and I was in primary schools. I started singing a lot later actually, and I got into songwriting around 15-16 years old, even if I had already tried to write something by the age of 12. (typical “bad first attempt” sort of things) In the last few years, songwriting has become not only my main means of expression but also what I really want to do with my life. Being able to create my own world is something I could never get tired of.

Which artists have been most influential to your sound?

Lately I've been listening to a lot of major alt-pop acts (Halsey, The 1975, Lorde, Melanie Martinez etc.) that emerged during these years, as I am really interested in knowing what works and what doesn't work today, as well as in their music concept, but I wouldn't say they have been my main influence.

In terms of sound, bands like The Smiths and Radiohead have helped me to develop a more mature vision of music. I would also say that artists like Björk, James Blake and Jeff Buckley have been a big influence to me. I like to explore various corners of contemporary music, and lately, I've been really fascinated by pop culture.

Are there any contemporary musicians who have been on your radar as of late?

Let’s Eat Grandma! What I like about them is the freedom of their music and their childish vibe, which you can see mainly through their live shows. They’re cool because they seem to come from another world, and as a result they do music in their own personal way. I would say they make pop, but it’s a weird one for sure. Another original thing about them is how they use a lot of instruments on stage, including a saxophone, a flute and a xylophone.

Speaking of current talent, you also share a label (Factory Flaws) with fellow Promising Discovery Giungla. That must be a great feeling?

I met her during a live show in Padua where we both played, but I already knew her because we’re on the same label (Factory Flaws.) I was really curious about seeing her live show because she performs completely alone on stage, with just pedals and guitar. Her live energy and stage presence struck me, so I would definitely recommend to give her more than a listen.

The italian music industry is basically sorted into three categories: the rap/trap scene, the Italian indie music, and singers of the hour from the latest talent show. Obviously, I’m talking about what the majors are pushing and promoting. From an independent point of view, there are a lot of brand new artists that are offering quality music. I genuinely believe that we have many talented songwriters, artists who I personally feel are most of the time underrated. I would say it’s difficult for the audience to discover them, since they aren’t well-publicised, and the majority of people here just listens to what the media push forward. But still, if you are an avid listener you’ll find a way to reach the right network.

Do you still live in your hometown near Lake Garda? Do you think that rural, somewhat isolated setting led you to seek out the world of music?

Yes, I still divide myself between my hometown and Trento, where I study. I actually traveled a lot during my teen years, and I think that opened my mind a lot. I love meeting people and sharing opinions, though that's not the main reason why I started making music. But yes, that played a part. Being a big artist means being able to connect with a lot of people, and that is a thing that surely enriches your life.

Could you recall your first musical memory?

When I was in preschool my father and I used to listen to “Peter and the Wolf” by Prokofiev, which is a symphonic fairy tale that features horns, string instruments, timpani, and bass drum. Every character is represented by a different instrument. I remember just sitting there, completely struck by the sounds I heard. Maybe that’s why I love so much deep, dark sounds.

Aside from music, do you have any other passions or interests? Perhaps these also find their way into your songwriting?

I really enjoy traveling, I almost visited the whole of Europe, but I've never been in America or Japan, two countries I'm longing to visit. Books and poetry have been a big influence lyrically speaking. I love poetry that uses small words and goes right to the essential.

Recently, there’s been whispers of a SoundCloud shutdown, which we both know is incredibly important to the online music community. How have online platforms like SoundCloud helped your own career so far?

I believe that online platforms can make a substantial difference in terms of trends in today’s music industry. Platforms like Spotify decide what is trending right now, when for example they put a song in a 500k-followers playlist, and so on. In my experience, I was really surprised by the number of streams my song got in a month (both on Soundcloud and Spotify), considering that I'm an emerging artist and literally no one knew who I was. Still, I think that there’s so much competition in today’s music industry that it is really hard to reach a significant number of streams and impactful interaction if you’re an independent artist. But, I’m still trying to understand the degrees of importance of everything.

There are plenty of artists that built a following through online platforms, especially like Youtube, which I believe is the most “audience-directed” online platform of them all.

Are there any favourite musicians who you discovered through SoundCloud?

I discovered Peacock Affect through SoundCloud, and two songs in particular have caught my attention: “Wallflower” and “Who Cares If You Exist”. He may seem depressing but he’s not, he’s emotional! The lyrics and the titles of the songs are a bit pessimistic, but they’re part of the character, I think. His songs are perfect when there’s rain outside and something is not going in the right way.

It’s now been two months since making your debut, what have you been up to since then?

We recorded all the songs for my upcoming EP and decided how the graphic would have looked like along with the whole aesthetic of the project. We toured a bit testing the live show, we laid all the foundations, and now we're waiting for things to happen haha.

Do you have plans to start playing live shows in the future?

We actually did a small tour this summer around Italy, and we also played a gig in London at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen. It was a lot of fun. I had never toured before, so I'm just now starting to learn what it's like. We will start playing live shows again around October.

https://humanhuman.com/articles/interview-with-han

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sugasugasuga · 7 years

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mvs im kind of in love with (a wip)

#wyd by ikon - i love this one because i feel like with boy band mvs they often fall into the weird “6 boys (sometimes literally) chasing the same girl which proves most writers and directors and stuff are male because any woman would know that said girl would be scared for her life)” trope and this mv is the complete opposite, and portrays romance, or rather the cutesy precursor to romance (yes things aren't/shouldnt be inherently romantic but the vibe and interactions and overall feeling of the this song/mv hints at romance so well, i’m more than okay with it. it’s romantic, but this kind of romantic i support) so well. it’s rarely dramatic (or at least not the mv type of dramatic) and there’s not usually a GROUNDBREAKING moment where you confess your undying love for each other and live happily ever after. those kinds of stories can sometimes feel like more of a caricature of real life, whereas this feels like a snapshot of real life. it does an excellent job of showing those small little moments in the honey moon phase that lead up to romance. the characters are tiptoeing around each other and there’s nothing explicitly romantic but the combination of the music and visuals are enough; nothing needs to be explicitly romantic. one of my favourite things about mvs like this is that i don’t feel like i need to know the words theyre singing in order to understand. it just sort of speaks for itself in its own way and it portrays the emotions its trying to show so well since it doesnt solely rely on the lyrics. airplane (which i also really like, but not enough for it to make it on to the list “officially) does a similar thing, and i like that it has more of an arch than this one, but i do feel like looking up the lyrics for that made a lot more sense. at first i felt that the third wheeling/””friendzone”” (for the lack of a better word) thing felt a bit out of place and like they were trying to tell 2 different stories at once but now i feel like it’s just trying to portray a more fleshed out relationship

i am you, you are me by zico - this is my favourite music video of all time (i love the entirety of inu/run/the prologue etc more but that counts as more of a ‘mv series’ in my mind and you cant compare the two since they’re trying to achieve such different things). i feel overwhelmed by how much i love this mv every time i watch it. i genuinely can’t handle it and i have so many thoughts, starting to talk about it is kind of intimidating and i’ve been putting it off for ages. several months later: OK I REWATCHED IT LETS DO THIS. every time i watch this mv i am overwhelmed by how much i love it. every time im like “it cant be as good as i remember” but then it is. watching it just makes me feel so soft and warm and quiet. there’s nothing in the whole mv that feels out of place. i love the clothes, i love the hair, i love how natural everything feels. the set is phenomenal, it creates this strange, distant, otherworldly, completely independent little universe. the products that are perfectly lined up and the lights and the way colour and the flickering of the light/the tv is being used makes it feel a bit like a dream. the sparkle at the beginning also gives it a fairy tale kind of vibe. it just feels surreal, blending reality and fantasy in a really god way. the close ups of the people/the sets are being used in the perfect moments, it just creates this beautiful balance that just works so well together. there’s a lot going on, but it never feels like its too much. i love love l o v e the two characters interactions. the mv feels like a whole story that says soooo much without having to say anything at all. the exchanged looks and the gradual development and the interactions are just so perfect. its one of those things where things dont need to be explicitly romantic to be romantic, the combination of the visuals and the song just conveys this very specific feeling extremely well. i love the way they toe around each other and test each other a little bit, how it feels very careful and new at first but then gets more familiar. i love how they look at each other. i love the parts where they sit back to back and the camera spins around them. i love the part where you have a red close up of zico and she's layered above in blue. that could have looked strange but it works extremely well. everything in this mv feels like it happens or is there for a reason. it feels very intentional, but in a casual way, if that makes sense. i love the pace. i think this is partly caused by the fact that it looks like everything is just slightly slowed down, so it feels more relaxed and gives off this “we have all the time in the world” vibe, and also similar to the otherworldly feeling i mentioned earlier. i love how the sign went from opened/closed to opened/opened.i just dont even know how to say it but from 0:16-0:22, the way the perspectives are shown is just wonderful. i love the way its blurry for a split second at 0:12. i just love all the details. i love how this mv makes me feel. i want to live in this.

sentimental by winner - ngl i just love the way this is shot and the colours and the styling and chilled and lazy and careless atmosphere that the visuals and the song create, but also how it somehow shows this underlying frustration? looking up the lyrics helped with this one - i kinda guessed the whole “i miss u” thing because of the title and it has this bittersweetness to it? i just think that this is a great example of a series of seemingly borderline nonsensical/weird/”random” things (eg. the lobster, the bathtub, the guy dancing around with the cat or the guy riding the bike whilst lying on the floor) but it made sense, somehow? it felt like all those little details just showed the frustration and boredom and that they’re not quite sure what to do with themselves and how missing someone can drive you a little bit crazy. not to mention that the cat is a metaphor for “im going to die alone with 18 cats” and the bike thing reminds me a little bit of carousel by melanie martinez, in other words just feeling like you/a relationship is going nowhere. i also love the repeated use/portrayal of musical instruments (even/especially the ones where they go a bit crazy) because it feels like that shows working through your feelings through creativity and expressing yourself. and i also love the couple making out in random places because that’s essentially what it feels like when you like someone who likes someone else, them being with that person is always just sort of... there... i like the almost intruder-like portrayal of it here. i also love the separate rooms because they’re such a cool way to show the characters’ isolation and give them a bit of individuality, whilst still tying it all together with the band/kitchen sequences.

you’re the best by mamamoo - i like this one because it’s a great example of “we all like the same person but not in a way that suggests we want to kill them and wear their skin”. also, i love the song and the styling (mamamoo are the only people in this world that can pull off bootcut jeans) and the colours and the choreo and the set and the retro/vintagey vibe it all gives off and how the music video perfectly compliments the song and every things so bright and wonderful and i love the dorky moments and i love the scenes under the white sheet (one of the weirdest things ive said in a while) but theyre just so radiant and soft and i love the little animations, they’re so subtle it took me aaaages to see them and theyre so small and cute and fit really well (its not like lalaland floating galaxy dance that feels out of place) and its overall just such a wonderful experience to watch the mv and also i am in love with every single one of these girls

why so lonely by wonder girls - this one borders on including random things just for the sake of including random things, but it does it so well, i honestly dont care. you do need subs, i think? but its overall just so good that it doesnt matter too much. it just has this “i dont give a shit” in such a classy, controlled, badass lana del rey way. i watched this for the first time when it first came out, i think, about 9 months ago? and i still haven't stopped thinking/forgotten about it, simply because it was so unlike anything ive ever seen before and i honestly wasn’t even sure whether i like it or not. but i do. i love the blocky colors and the styling and the set and the actual format/size of the video and how you have the black borders on the side and how they all fit together perfectly to create this vintage/retro/strange different reality or its own world. the fact that they all perform/sing with this deadpan face and intense eye contact is also that perfect kind of strange that just goes really well with the entire mv. i love the ending and i love that it has this little arch to it, even if its kind of a crazy one, but i love that it’s not wannabe badass (like me lol) or cutesy, it’s just so fucking cool and well made in its own way.

fine by taeyeon this is the one. the mv that will be the death of me. i love how simple this was and that the way it was shot and the variety and the colours and how pretty it was in a soft, subtle way made it really really interesting or ’’’moving’’’’ i guess. (i always say the same thing, i know, but these are just the things i love about mvs??) the underlying theme/repeated use of photographs and that type of imagery to indicate the passing of time and memories was just stunning and perfect and added this feeling of nostalgia and missing someone/something and perfectly complimented the song. i love that this is another one that just feels really sincere and real and not dramatic at all, all the interactions between the couple are just really really cute and i love that one moment where she's just in the kitchen drinking a glass of water because (at least i think that) it’s this strange relatable feeling of being a bit lost and just thinking and wandering around the house and drinking a glass of water and thinking about stuff. it’s just overall wonderful.

never ever by got7 - this is just beautiful. that’s the only way to describe it. all the scenes are gorgeous and well balanced, if that makes sense? i love the colours and the contrast between the white and the bluish black with just enough vibrant colours to make it interesting and the smoke thing and the outfits its all just well rounded, somehow. id be OBSESSED with this band if they were on spotify

fxxk it by bigbang - this ones slightly different bc i saw the mv a while back and i thought it was alright but then i went to hoho’s k pop shop in london and picked up 2 like, credit card sized poster type bigbang things so i was like “guess i should give them another try” and i listened to more of their stuff and i really really really like this song (and a lot of their other songs, actually?? i had no idea that they’ve recently been making so much chilled music?? i guess i just kept thinking of fantastic baby when i heard bigbang) and i think its just another instance of the mv matching the song really well. and i love the styling and colors. i say that every time bUT JUST LOOK AT IT ITS SO COOL

crooked by g-dragon - i just kind of assumed ive already talked about this because its one of my favourites and it has been for like a year or something?side note before i rewatch it and give my detailed opinions: coup d’etat reminds me of a very specific couple of weeks of my life. it basically just feels like walking to the my best friend’s place in may or june in the evenings last year and its still light and really nice and warm and im wearing ripped jeans and doc martens and my leather jacket and me and my best friend hang out and watch a movie or walk around while we’re ”””””studying”””” and its just a. lot. but ANYWAY i just love this so much. i love the song and the music video s o m u c h. not just because i have this weird sentimental connection to it. i just feel like it conveys this feeling of helpless, reckless, careless, self destructive badassness so strongly that there is no doubt about it, regardless of the lyrics. i looked them up once and i forgot and im sure theyre good but i just really feel like the sound and the visuals combine so well that theyre a bonus rather than something you need to understand. it just makes me feel this strange sense of pity and it has that kind of underlying sense of sadness and despair and loneliness and not being sure what to do with yourself and not quite belonging but covering it all with this appearance of not caring even though you care so much at the same time and i just love it so much. all i know is that walking places whilst listening to g-dragon is a very unique, specific feeling that i love

she's a baby by zico - since i am you, you are me is basically my favourite mv ever i put off watching this for like 2 weeks. i was kinda nervous, ngl?? idek know why tbh? i guess i didnt want to be disappointed? but maaan. i was not disappointed. of course i dont like it as much as i am you, but i love love love that it has the same gentle pastel vibe and it just made me feel all soft inside and it made me smile and i just love it. im not gonna go on about how much i love the colors and the way its shot and stuff bc i say the same thing every time but jusT LOOK AT IT. its GORGEOUS.

rumor by kard - this looks cool as fuck on your phone, i really really like the song and just generally love that kard always does completely new, different stuff and does it super well. (i just love their music in general bc their lyrics mean soooo much to me whenever i feel A Lot)

neverland by holland - boy where to even start with this one. to begin with, i want to take the first 30 seconds and hang them up on my wall. tattoo them on my body. they’re just so quiet and pretty and perfect. i love the yellow neverland font. and just the contrast between the dark scenes where he’s alone and the brightness of the beach and the sky when they’re together???? SO damn good. the combination of the two makes the mv feel like it’s like a memory - when you think of someone you used to like, you think about all of it. it’s not just the good and it’s not just the bad, in a way, you’re brain smashes it all together. it just does such an excellent job of making you feel something. and the interactions between the two boys. they’re so cute and soft together but the mv also manages to give their relationship a bit of depth and it’s just great to watch. and their kiss might be my favourite “tv” kiss ever? i usually just find kisses in movies and tv shows (especially dramas) very “whatever” but this one was just so cute. they’re so cute. it’s just great. and i love the sound of the actual music so much? i’m usually not into soft music but this is actually so damn good????? im honestly just dying for holland to make more music

#mine #long post

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peelingtheskinoffmyface · 7 years

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Don’t be a Crybaby!

Themes within popular music very rarely venture outside of the ‘soppy love song’ and the generic ‘lets party’, However floating somewhere in-between are bands and artists trying to break out of musical stereotypes and amongst the few is none other than twenty-one year old ‘The Voice’ contestant, Melanie Martinez and her debut album ‘Cry Baby’. Martinez is a unique artist whose concept at first glance appears innocent, however, Rolling Stone Magazine described her album as, ‘Twisted lullabies about love, danger and madness.’ The themes of the album when put under a microscope, are that of adolescence laced with the poison of serious adult issues. Upon the release of this album, Martinez produced a ‘picture storybook’ to be sold alongside the physical copy that relates and explains the songs from a childish ‘Dr. Suess’ point of view, complete with annoyingly patronising cliche rhymes which, in my opinion was a completely unnecessary selling point.

The order of the songs within the album are that of a very specific nature, the album and storybook begins with the first song titled Crybaby. Like the majority of her songs, Crybaby is brimming with the sound of toxic ‘toy’ instruments topped with a heavy beat helping to push her raspy youthful voice to the forefront, whilst singing lyrics that are based around twisted teenage naïveté which pushes me to draw nostalgia from my own childhood, which is a pleasant aspect of her music. Melanie Martinez’s approach to her music is very much reflecting within her videos, the videos play the role of the storybook in a further visual sense, almost like a film. In the beginning of the Crybaby video, it shows the birth of the character (quite literally) which symbolises in a way, the birth of the entire album. Her videos and metaphors are very melodramatic which seems unnecessarily exaggerated and excessive as if she is trying to prove her dedication to this concept to her fans. As I described the videos before, they play out and come together like a film that describes the life of Crybaby, with Melanie Martinez pushing to be as edgy and ‘original’ as possible with her selling points, of course she had to release videos that stood out or were a little different. When a ‘Soap/Training Wheels Double Feature’ appeared on YouTube, I was shocked to see how far this artist was willing to go to push a concept, however I may diminish her efforts, her dedication and faith that lies with this alter ego is to be applauded. In my opinion Billboard Magazine couldn’t have described this dedication in a better way; ‘Cry Baby shows that Martinez is admirably ambitious, but her insistence on sticking to the album's central idea leaves her contorting into uncomfortable positions.’ Her persistence and dedication to this character, sends her on a spiral staircase through twisted, sinister themes perhaps approached the wrong way.

The next chapter of the story, paints the image of a family who appear to be picture perfect, however, behind closed doors all is not as it seems. The desperation for ‘Crybabies’ voice to be heard about her alcoholic mother, her cheating father and drug addicted brother is very real, real to the point, that me as a listener can feel empathy and you can’t help but relate to. Everybody has heard of or experienced issues that relate to alcoholism, unfaithfulness or drug abuse. As I described before, Martinez’s lyrics are a giant risk and the themes she grasps hold of are dangerous. I can’t help but think that as a debut album for this artist or any artist for that matter, lyrics that surround such dark themes shouldn’t have been touched. When an artist is breaking into the world, should they really strive for such a corrupted image, especially since Martinez approaches them with such fierce teenage angst, stop trying so hard to be a rebel and act your age. The song Sippy Cup is the first song on the album that insinuates anything sexual (apart from the fact she uses the word ‘sex’ multiple times) and with the concept of this album it sounds like these words shouldn’t be used at all, almost as if you heard a toddler on the street swearing, It doesn’t sound appropriate, with this being said, it distracts slightly from the true meaning of the song.

The first time I heard a song by this artist was when FX released the fourth season of the TV show ‘American Horror Story’ which season was about a ‘freak show’, the song released alongside this season was Melanie’s song ‘Carousel’. Carousel is a love song that tells the story of Crybaby falling in love but going ‘round and round’ in continuous circles. With references to the series with name dropping the actual show name ‘freak show’ and the famous magician ‘Houdini’, it is almost as if this song was never meant for this album. To me personally it feels like it doesn’t fit, put it this way, the song was written for the TV Show, then when not enough material had been written for the Crybaby album, the label in a way ‘thrown’ this song on as a last resort.

If there’s one thing Melanie Martinez isn’t short on, it’s ideas, however, this artist strives so much for originality yet, within the song ‘Pity Party’, Martinez has sampled music from Lesley Gore’s ‘It’s My Party’. She is an artist who has tried literally everything in her power to sell as much merchandise as possible by trying to be original, from the storybook and necklaces to the vinyl records and cassette tapes… Yes, you heard me right people, this album is available on cassette tape. With all these ‘extravagant’ selling points, she still felt the need to essential copy.. oops, sorry.. sample somebody else’s music. Apart from the sampling of this song, it’s a catchy single, and probably one of my favourite songs on the album as it isn’t about sex, adult issues or love, just a kids birthday party with nobody attending, which I’m pretty sure everybody has experienced before.

Alphabet Boy is one of the tracks on the album I can honestly say I enjoyed and everybody can enjoy. It begins with a rhythmic baby style babbling, however, this is very cleverly done as it also represents the phonetic alphabet. This song centers around Crybaby being interested in a boy who thinks he’s too clever to be with her as she is essentially just a ‘baby’, so she graciously tells him to ‘fuck off’. However, as clever as I think this song is like previously mentioned, when Melanie Martinez swears whilst holding this facade, it sounds inappropriate, if she wants a naive adolescent image, swearing in what is essentially the most innocent song on the album doesn't really make sense.

And then just when I thought the exaggerated selling points had been exhausted, along came another double feature film like music video. This one was titled ‘Tag, You’re It/Milk & Cookies Double Feature’, which following on from the other song titles, refer to something much more innocent but when truly focused on the lyrics they reveal something far more sinister which make me question well and truly if this was a smart move for Martinez. As spin.com says, ‘the double feature transforms them [the two songs] into a two-part story about Martinez’s devious, doll-like character and a big bad wolf in an ice-cream truck.I well and truly understand why these two songs have been connected in this film like way, they tell a story in two parts. The first ‘chapter’ of the story (Tag You’re It) sounds like the harmless nostalgic game we’re all familiar with, however, with lyrics like ‘Rolling down your tinted window, driving next to me real slow.’ it reveals a far more twisted meaning. The topic of child abduction and sexual assault is a giant risk and should be approached very warily, the way the lyrics and the meaning intertwine it’s almost mocking the seriousness of these issues. I fully understand the approach and by now we all fully understand that you’re dedicated to keeping up with this alter-ego, the lyrics are from the ‘big bad wolfs’ perspective and how abducting this little girl is nothing but a game, but tackling this issue in such a juvenile way and comparing something of such seriousness with a game of ‘tag’ wasn’t a smart move. I’m all for raising awareness of serious issues and congratulations to let people know you support the victims, but don’t mock them just to sell a couple of albums. In the first half of the double feature, we’re introduced the character of the Big Bad Wolf who later on abducts Crybaby just like a wolf on the prowl. As if, the sadistic nature of the song wasn’t enough, the video is just the cherry on top of the cake, with scenes of the wolf sleazily waving at a school bus full of children and Crybaby being picked up, taken and placed in the back of the wolfs van, how refreshing. The second ‘chapter’ entitled Milk & Cookies continues the story of the abduction and how Crybaby escapes from the wolf by poisoning him with her ‘Milk & Cookies’, well, however, the themes may be toxic, this song cleverly counts from one to twelve as it progresses, almost as if she’s attempting to play a game of ‘What Time Is It Mister Wolf’ and leaving us in anticipation, waiting for the big ‘dinner time’ moment, which doesn’t seem to arrive (Such a missed opportunity). It is said that these two songs are what affect Crybaby substantially, they make her truly realise how insane she is and teaches her how to embrace it…Finally, a metaphor that I agree with and can get on board with. When an event that impacts you greatly, it can change you as a person and that is exactly what is being exhibited here. Crybaby gets abducted and sexually assaulted and when she escapes from the big bad wolf, she’s a changed person, almost as if she developed psychosis.

Once Crybaby goes through her ‘character development’ then comes along the song ‘Pacify Her’, which is the first song that takes place after her incident, She explores the territory of mind games within relationships and decides she’ll go for a person who is already taken. I’ve got to hand to Martinez, all the songs in this album are very well linked and make sense as a collective but also alone, the story that plays out during ‘Pacify Her’ takes on a ‘father-like-daughter’ mentality, flashback to ‘Dollhouse’ and ‘Mom, please wake up, Dad’s with a slut’ where her father was caught cheating on his wife, and now Crybaby herself is theoretically ‘the other woman’. This is perhaps the one thing that makes me believe she slipped up on keeping up with her alter-ego, a child of the age she’s trying to play would never be in this situation and singing about it in this way doesn’t really make sense.

As i mentioned before the ‘Tag You’re It/Milk & Cookies Double feature’ is the trigger for Crybaby to realise how crazy she is and finally accepting it, the song ‘Mad Hatter’ is truly the song that reflects and prove my suspicions on Crybaby’s psychosis. This song lies in the world of Alice and Wonderland and the weird and wonderful happenings that happen. My favourite lyric of the entire album rests in the midst of this song, ‘Getting drunk with the blue caterpillar’, not for the metaphor, not for the relation to the alter-ego but purely because of the quirkiness. This song makes you ‘curiouser’ as to what goes on inside this characters head, truthfully, which I like. This song is very much the most innocently un-innocent, Its adolescent nature towards Alice in Wonderland is twisted, which I enjoy very much. Well played Martinez, turning something so naive into a twisted fairytale.

Finally, here comes my favourite song from Crybaby, and that is ‘Mrs. Potato Head’. I genuinely think naming a song about plastic surgery, ‘Mrs. Potato Head’ is very clever. Plastic surgery is one of the themes that’s expressed within this album that doesn’t make you take a step back and question the artists motives. I believe the link between real life and this alternate reality is very intelligent. It says, if you fall in love with somebody and they want you to change, will they love you even if you change, or are you essentially changing for nothing? It also raises awareness to the young adult audience, that plastic surgery is not something that should be messed with and is risky. The build up to the chorus has the words ‘Baby soft skin turns into leather’, which I always admire, it’s addressing a younger audience and how growing up is a real and natural thing and it happens to everybody. The terminology used within this song is also very clever with words like ‘cut and paste’ is easily relatable to the younger audience making me wonder if the message has well and truly gotten through to people.

Overall, as much as it seems that I have hated on Martinez’s work, I admire her. I admire her courage and bravery to approach such tender topics in such a heinous way. Her adolescence and naivety is what makes this album what it is. I may have defeated her efforts as an artist, but I do enjoy her album, but in my personal opinion, I believe that this album is a good album, however I disagree with this being an artist’s debut album, this shouldn’t be the image and themes that an upcoming artist should introduce to the world. With all due respect Miss. Martinez, you did good, very good, but perhaps not good enough.

Blogs Mentioned: http://www.spin.com/2016/08/melanie-martinez-tag-youre-it-milk-and-cookies-video/ http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/6671140/melanie-martinez-cry-baby-album-review http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/10-new-artists-you-need-to-know-september-2015-20150925/melanie-martinez-20150925

#melanie martinez #crybaby #album review

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