#and this is like really high quality professional music

[chantylay]

Romania is getting a lot of hate this year, and I wanna say some things.

In terms of the song quality, Theodor Andrei is in his last year of whatever the Romanian equivalent of high school is, and not affiliated with a record label. He wrote the song himself and had it produced by a buddy of his, who (if I remember correctly is a couple years older and makes music semi-professionally). This was a 0 budget production, and it sounds like it. That said, there are some genuinely interesting things going on in both the lyrics and composition ("I'm Feeling Good" sample emulated on a keyboard not withstanding). There is a lot of talent here, but neither experience nor resources. A revamp that used real instruments or even just a higher quality emulator could have done a lot for the song, but Romania never revamps.

The national selection staging was also very clearly something he and his friends from the school drama club came up with. There were a lot of ideas, and not all of them were good. But it showed a lot of passion and creativity. It got people voting. But based on what we have seen from the rehearsals, the delegation said "we are not paying for transport for any props or dancers. We don't care that you are 18 and don't have the money to foot the bill yourself the way some previous acts have. Sucks to suck. Here's an ugly LED."

Like, I feel really bad for this kid. He really wanted to do Eurovision, and his delegation is doing him so dirty. I hope he gets to be more established and comes back sometime in like 15-20 years. Because there is good stuff here, he's just too young and too broke to make much out if it.

#eurovision #romania #d.g.t. (off and on) #theodor andrei

[leafsvflowers]

I am not professional astrologist. It's just for fun^^ There may be some mistakes in the interpretation. Source: my own knowledge and understanding + internet

Sullyoon is a part of korean girlsband NMIXX. Today we will take a look at beauty indicators in her chart + prominent asteroids

Used asteroids: Psyche (16), Sappho (80), Medusa (149), Kleopatra (216), Bella (695), Sirene (1009), Apollo (1862), Nefertiti (3199), Shigemi (7597)

It's a shame we don't know her rising sign. On the internet I saw two version that i don't know where are they from. It was about her being pisces or taurus rising.

She has Pisces signature through placements in her chart making her appearing very dreamy, dreamlike. Her Pisces Venus (planet of beauty) conjunct asteroids Medusa and Kleopatra. People are enchanced by her appearence and sense of fashion. She is someone who looks great in blue and white. Her big, watery eyes catch everyone's attention. Sullyoon will be becoming more and more beautiful with time and her beauty will be more recognized (Venus-Saturn).

Because of Medusa she catch negative attention regarding her connection to arts and spiritual matters. People will envy her beauty.

Kleopatra gives off royalty! Sullyoon most likely appears mysterious to others. She is like a dream, an illussion everyone want to catch, but it's impossible. Do you know how Kleopatra died?

Apollo conjunct her Pisces Moon suggest her image as an idol is part of this general illussion of her being emotional, spiritual and dreamlike person creating an alluring aura of innocent person. It may even give her fairy, angel like vibes. Soft and delicate like a bubble. Besides her Moon is at 29° that is known as fame indicator. It's very favorable placement in terms of being known from beauty, music and art.

Her Sun and Neptune are in Aquarius. It does gives Sullyoon airy touch to her beauty. She makes impression on whoever she meets. It's easy to fell in love with her. Sappho suggests that even other women find her beautiful, not only in platonic way. She has a lot of traits that many would consider angelic. Sirene suggests that's also her darker side. She can lure people out by her sweet and innocent appearance. I think the queerbaiting will be easy for her. Sullyoon doesn't even need to seduce anyone, because her delicate and genuine aura will make it effortless to her.

Bella in Virgo is really lucky. Brings attention to her face and make it symmetrical. Her appearance is clean and harmonious.

Mercury in Capricorn conjunct Nefertiti and Psyche. Sullyoon is recieved as beautiful person for most people - in canon of beauty. She makes an impression of hard-working person.

Shingemi conjunct Pluto shows that Sullyoon propably would do well as jewelery, brans ambassador. She gains power through advertising high-quality goods. The clothes or accessories she use don't even have to be that good - they will be seen as good if she wears them. It girl vibes ✨

I think through years her image can advance from delicate, angel-like girl to high priestess archetype making her an icon on her own.

She has high potential for cultivating her own believers amd fans. It will be easy for people to have fantasy amd idolize her.

Psyche (16) and Medusa (149) as a beauty asteroids are understood as enviable beauty indicator.

Sappho (80) indicates bisexual energy.

Kleopatra (216) and Nefertiti (3199) are asteroids named after the most famous and beautiful egyptian women. Kleopatra is more about sexappeal and charisma, when Nefertiti is more about graceful, classic beauty.

Bella (695) is one of the most known beauty asteroids that show us where are we the most beautiful/what is our beauty.

Sirene (1009) takes it names from sirenes, so logically speaking, it indicates the most alluring, but dark points of beauty.

Apollo (1862) mostly connected with talents and artisty, but Apollo was known also as god who adored beauty and had his own group of artsy and beautiful women. Thanks to this asteroid I can see points that makes Sullyoon beautiful to her fans.

Shigemi (7597) tells us about luxourious beauty.

#kpop astrology #nmixx astrology #Sullyoon astrology #nmixx Sullyoon astrology #seol yoona astrology

[kavehsclaymore]

Traces we Left

an 4nemo smau

DISC 1 - Track 5 : A Second Opinion

"Yahoo~!" The hum of the air conditioning is too loud for the studio he's in, but he isn't recording right now, so Kuni ignores it. Jean should have kicked him out of the building by now, but 4nemo's success gives them certain privileges within their agency; Kuni will take advantage of that without a shred of remorse. "Hello, Venti," he says anyways. "You sound... energetic." "Hi!" Venti replies through the speaker. "Yeah, it's morning! I'm full of sunshine!" "Morning bird," Kuni replies. "You say it like it's a bad thing!" Venti laughs. "Anyways... What's up, 'mouchie?" "I need your advice," Kuni responds. "As a professional... And a friend." He ignores Venti's dramatic gasp. "He called me a friend!" "Can you listen to a song?" he asks. Venti gasps again. "Wait... You wrote a song?" He can hear the way Venti's voice takes on a new level of excitement. "Oh, oh!!! You're writing a single!" "An album, actually," Kuni admits. "If someone would actually listen to the first piece so I can move on to the rest." Venti makes a high-pitched noise that sounds embarrassingly like a squeal. "Okay, okay, I'm listening! Go ahead!" They switch to a video call. Kuni props his phone on the table. "The quality'll be shit," he warns, and reaches for the guitar propped against the wall. "Don't care! Sing, 'mouchie!" And he does. Kuni plays the chords and sings the words he's written down for this song. Once he's played through it once, he goes over his ideas for instrumentation and points out the places he thinks need polishing. Venti is silent for a moment when Kuni is done. "You're pouring your whole heart into this," he notes. "I can tell." He smiles. "Now, as for the song itself, it's got a few problems." Kunikuzushi can take criticism at face value. (All the 4nemo's can; it's the only way they've survived for so long in a cut-throat industry.) "What did you hear?" he asks instead, straight to the point. "What do I need to change?" "It isn't that you need to change much, per se. It's all really pretty and appealing, aurally..." Venti twirls a finger around one of his loose teal-dyed locks thoughtfully. "But you're trying to say too many things in one song. I think you should spread those ideas out. Like this part--" he hums part of the song "--that's a whole other melodic idea, you can make it a different song entirely!" Kunikuzushi looks at the sheet music spread out before him, plucking strings absently as he goes, and then reaches for his pencil. He marks the spot Venti means, and then a few more places where that also applies. "So, in this spot, too..." He strums the chords he had written down, humming the melody; Venti joins him. Then he changes the chord qualities and his strumming pattern, and Venti makes a noise of approval. "Ah, I see." "Yeah, that's the spirit!" He taps his chin. "And about the instrumentation... It's your first solo album, and your 5wirlies are more into that introspective stuff, so you can keep it pretty simple if you want to. Whatever you write, it needs to fit your album's narrative, at least loosely." They go back and forth like this for the next hour, until the clock shows that it's past 3am when Kuni looks up next. He begrudgingly tells Venti that he has to get some rest, and after a bit more back and forth, they end the call. Kuni gathers his belongings and heads outside. As he slips into his car and drives home, his mind goes back to what Venti said, over and over again. He knows the advice is solid - Venti's a musical prodigy, and getting a master's in composition, so one would hope he knew what he was talking about - but it sparked a different thought for Kuni altogether. Namely, that his songs can follow the same narrative.

a/n: hello scaranation! some things to note:-pretend that inazuma and mond have totally different timezones ok ok -update: i fixed the link, but it broke the formatting of the pictures and i cannot for the life of me fix it.... sorry :<

Summary: As your final semester in university begins, your childhood friend-turned international idol Kunikuzushi decides to make good on the promise he made to you all those years ago.

He's going to write you a song.

Scaramouche/Wanderer x gn!y/n

ALBUM: Traces we Left

prev | masterlist | next

Credits: Y/N's circle || Kuni's circle

DISC 1:

Track 1 | Track 2 | Track 3 | Track 4 | ▶ Playing Now: Track 5 | Track 6 | Track 7 | Track 8 | Track 9 | Track 10

DISC 2:

Track 11 | Track 12 | Track 13 | Track 14 | Track 15 | Track 16 | Track 17 | loading....

((message to be added to taglist))

taglist: @misfireezreal @crowbird @i5yanfei @tjjjrsj @kunikuzushisbeloved @raideneiari @dazaisfavgf @orionicchaos

#scaramouche x y/n #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche x gn y/n #scaramouche x gn reader #kunikuzushi au #scaramouche au #genshin impact #genshin impact smau #scaramouche smau #kunikuzushi smau #wanderer smau #4nemo #4nemo au #4nemo smau #5wirl #venti #barbatos #6reeze #kunikuzushi x reader #wanderer x reader #wanderer x y/n #kunikuzushi x y/n #smau #does this count as fanfic? im tagging it anyway lmao #fanfiction #traces we left #scaramouche #wanderer #kunikuzushi #4nemo venti

[wolvertooth]

share your silly billy headcanons

fuckkk i gotta think of some silly ones….

ok these arent all silly but. perhaps a bit billy.

Random Logan Headcanons;

i think logans got a real sweet tooth. but also just poor eating habits in general. like he’ll just eat tubs of icecream and call it dinner. its not really much of a headcanon ig, since its shown a couple times in canon….

ig a headcanon related to that would be that he has no fucking clue how to shop for groceries, mainly just eating whatevers around the xmansion or going to the gas station/corner store for snacks. if he went to an actual grocery store i feel like he’d get easily overwhelmed, overthink it, and get paranoid about people judging him(grocery shopping is peak Normal human behaviour and the standards are EXTREMELY HIGH). he also just hates shopping in general.

for a lot of things in his life he tends to settle for just surviving, not really having much care for the quality of his living conditions, just as long as theres somewhere to sleep n things to eat n alcohol to drink.

logan makes more animal noises when hes around his friends, and even more when hes alone. theyre basically vocal stims.

he talks/monologues to himself a lot. used to a lot more, but now its mostly when hes alone.

despite all the talk of needing to be more Man than Animal, he actually likes showing of his mutant abilities. like hes always up to arm wrestle, race someone, or do a cool trick with his claws. he’ll show off his healing factor too, ignoring the pain for pleasure of just getting a reaction out of someone, especially if hes doing a bit.

watches sports just to have some stimulation for his brain. he doesnt really have an interest in sports, but has picked up some context over just from watching it for so long that he knows the basics of whats going on. mostly comes in handy so he can have an excuse to yell at something. but honestly he’d probably even yell at a cooking show.

sleeps nude, mainly just a texture problem. he can sleep in terrible conditions when out on missions and stuff, but when at home he tries to have it as comfortable as possible.

reads a lot of books(again, as a way of keeping his brain stimulated) and leans towards more slice of life ones, as well as romance.

chews on his dogtags.

Random Victor Headcanons;

also makes animal noises as a vocal stim, but a lot of them are more involuntary. his meowing is also really high pitch compared to his regular speaking voice.

listens to music to keep his brain stimulated. loud stuff. he also gets some noise cancelling headphones at somepoint, and likes that they just look like regular headphones.

flicks his nails together as a stim.

a harmful stim he has is scratching himself, like long lines across anywhere on his skin.

he kept one of logans button up shirts after a fight one time, a super long time ago, and uses it as something to snuggle for comfort when he sleeps. side effect from this is that sometimes when fighting, logans scent will make him sleepy….

likes trench coats that have a fuck ton of pockets. he likes to be prepared, but also refuses to buy a handbag, so hes got all kinds of weird stuff in his pockets.

watches a lotttttt of tv. and movies. hes kind of a cinephile.

the reason his hair is so perfect all the time is that the healing factor applies to stuff like hair and nails as well. unlike logan(who uses a bunch of hair product daily) victor keeps his natural. he rarely even needs to brush it. he took to putting it up in a ponytail for when he needs to look more professional, since normally its fairly big and fluffy. he’ll sometimes put it up in a high ponytail or bun too, and occasionally add accessories n braids to it.

prefers hot showers/baths. also hangs out in his hot tub a lot. makes him feel clean.

huge wardrobe, all kinds of outfits. he tends to keep a lot of his clothes from over the decades, even if he doesnt wear them anymore.

#asks #sabretooth #victor creed #wolverine #logan howlett

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

I've seen quite a few times that the Mutter era was bad but what exactly was going on there? What caused it and stuff

Hi! I'm sure someone else has already posted about this earlier, but i can't really seem to find it, so i'm giving you my view of things here.

(Over the years (especially between let's say 2002 and 2010) several of the Rammstein members talked about it in interviews and there are several videos and transcripts out there.)

What imo basically happened that while making and recording the Mutter album, the Rammstein democracy was stretched to it's limit. And it all boiled down to Richard's ego and feeling of self-importance becoming too big and he tried to control the band. He insisted that things were done the way he wanted it, wasn't open to critique by the others, wasn't willing to change music he wrote for the songs. A massive burst of workaholicness, fueled by an equally massive amount of cocaine didn't help either. It was his way or the high way.

Initially when the Mutter album came out (to many, including me, one of their best ever), these things weren't immediately clear to the outside world, but over time, it became clear from veiled (and eventually not so veiled) comments, that the atmosphere between the bandmembers was at an all time low, especially (but not just) between the guitarists there was no love lost. Although in some interviews there were hints that it wasn't just as black and white as Richard was wrong and all the others were right, and Paul i think also took some of the blame in saying that he wasn't always the most cooperative either, eventually over time also Richard himself acknowledged that the way he acted was the trigger for the fall-out and arguments.

In the Rammstein democracy it is almost never the case that it's always the same people on one side of the argument and the same others on the other side, the factions often shift depending on the topic at hand. But in the Mutter era conflict it is generally believed that only Till was still on speaking terms with Richard, and was likely the one who kept the band together. Till is not imo one to like heated discussions, and Till and Richard go way back, both professionally and in private. Paul is definitely on the other side of the argument, despite his sunny sweet easygoing guy image, Paul is a very determined person, no pushover and always ready to speak his mind and fight for his opinion. Schneider is generally believed to be on Paul's side during the Mutter years, although he is also known to be a mediator between the two guitarists when things overheat again in later years.

The argument had long shadows. With every further album the others feared Richard would start acting out again, and Richard feared the discussions and critique of the others. Some stated in interviews years later that they would out-veto or throw out something Richard made, just because it was Richard's idea. Not a healthy reaction maybe, but an understandable one. Richard often turned to Till and played the music he came up with first to him, knowing that if Till got inspired by a piece, and came up with a lyric to it, he would have a better chance of getting his songs past the Rammstein quality board. Powerplay really, but it is what it is, and the way it worked for years after.

They all lament after each album how difficult it is to work with the Rammstein democracy, but none more than Richard who after every single album stated in interviews that this would definitely be the last Rammstein album, because it was just exhausting. Fortunately he always changed his mind (that's the thing with Richard, he usually means it when he says it, but changes his mind pretty quickly), and there was always another album.

It wasn't until much later, i think in 2017 or 2018 that Paul mentioned in an interview the 'great chemistry right now and we love eachother more than ever', and the fact that in 2019 the Untitled album was released was a surprise to many, because many fans thought a new album would never happen. Ofcourse Richard still stated in some interviews that it would be the last, but traditionally we fans knew to ignore that and just rolled our eyes, and indeed by now we have another album, Zeit. Funny enough, of all the interviews that i read with Richard after Zeit, he didn't mention it would be the 'last' Rammstein album...and i've read many of them 🌺

The Mutter years, and Richard's huge creative drive to come up with new music, imo lead him to create Emigrate. In Emigrate it's all Richard's way, he decides everything, he chooses with who he wants to work. It also gave him a chance to work with other musicians he admired like Lemmy, but the urge to create and not be reigned in is at the basis of Emigrate. The others in Rammstein at first were weary; was Richard starting his own band and leaving Rammstein, especially when Richard wanted (and did) to invite Till to join on a few songs. But in the end it did help to balance things out. Richard gets his way in Emigrate and is more cooperative in Rammstein (still not an easy guy, but they manage it better now). Flake mentioned in one of his podcasts Richard being so prolific, coming up with so many ideas, it was just too much for one band; so i wouldn't be surprised if the others eventually felt the same.

again, my 2 cts, for what it's worth

#rammstein #mutter era #rammstein conflicts

[bestutfanonpoll]

The forms have closed, which means it is time...

To meet the Contestants!

(which is happening this year for reasons)

Prunsel

Submissions: 2

Prunsel was born 27th of February 2021 from the dream of a Tumblr user then named tammycat, who now goes by @nyanoraptor . They dreamt they were playing Undertale, but when they reached Snowdin, Papyrus was replaced by an enormous, high contrast, photorealistic eyeball that looked directly at the viewer. This eyeball was, according to the dream, named Prunsel. Whenever Prunsel spoke, the music completely cut out and instead of text, a red glow would emanate from the text box. Since then, Prunsel has developed quite the fanbase for a character that came from a dream, and some even joke that it may be the brother Sans talks about in Deltarune.

Why it should win:

"Sans needs another sibling. For no reason except that having a giant hovering eyeball around would either greatly increase or decrease the quality of his life, and I think he would be willing to take that chance."

"All seeing eye"

Everyone is Neurodivergent

Submissions: 2 (indirectly)

Returning from the first season after being eliminated by Everyone is LGBTQIA+ in Round One (much sad). Many characters in Undertale (and secondarily, Deltarune) are headcanoned as being neurodivergent. Almost every character can be read as autistic (or anything else if you look hard enough, really), Frisk and Chara's fanon dynamic mimics DID (so I've heard, I do not have DID nor am I familiar with it, it's just what I've been told), and characters such as Alphys, Sans, Toriel, Kris and Flowey show signs of mental illnesses like depression or PTSD. Not to mention I'm pretty sure a lot of the fandom is neurodivergent themselves. Overall, headcanons like this are very common. (If I got something wrong or said something weird, please tell me so I can correct it, I'm not professionally diagnosed with anything and am mostly basing this off of what I've heard secondhand.)

Why it should win:

"I think it's cool and fits their character" (in reference to a submission of Kris being autistic)

Fanfiction

Returning from Season One after being eliminated by Fangames in Round One. Fanfiction is a pillar of every fandom and though there are, of course, the good, the bad and the ugly, fanfiction is one of my favourite things about this fandom and has even led me to some conclusions about myself (ask me for fanfiction recommendations I have some good ones!)

Cosplay

Returning from Season One after being eliminated by Headcanons in Round One. Cosplay is seriously underappreciated. Speaking as someone who's first ever cosplay was Undertale, that's hard work, and cosplayers turn out with some amazing stuff.

Shipping

Submissions: 3 (indirectly)

Ah, the best and worst part of any fandom, the shipping. Shipping is both beautiful and a warzone, romantic or horrifying. I personally am not a big shipper (I like Alphyne and don't have strong opinions on almost anything else) and hold the opinion of like what you like, and if I don't like it I can block people. Popular ships in the fandom include Alphyne (Alphys x Undyne), Papyton (Papyrus x Mettaton), Soriel (Sans x Toriel), Sansby (Sans x Grillby), Suselle (Susie x Noelle), Krusie (Kris x Susie), Kerdly (Kris x Berdly), Kralsei (Kris x Ralsei) and Queen x Rouxls (I don't know their ship name lmao). As you can see, many of them are gay.

Why it should win:

"Lancer parent silly" (In reference to a submission of Queen and Rouxls being T4T)

"I love it Very Very much. I think that the silly gamers should have Minecrap dates together and stick it to the player" (In reference to a submission of Kerdly)

Theories

Submissions: 1

With such a lore-heavy game in Undertale and an unfinished game like Deltarune, theories are rampant in the UTDR fandom. Ranging from iconic meme theories (Steven After Not Surviving, Sans is Ness) to more recent theorising on future Deltarune developments, it truly is the lifeblood of our fandom.

Why it should win:

"I am way too tired to type a full answer but they are so interesting and even the 'bad' ones are interesting. There are so many and it's entertaining to watch people piece together these things."

Papertrail

Submissions: 1

Papertrail is a Deltarune AU comic made before the release of Chapter 2 by lynxgriffin. It features original lore and most likely other amazing things I don't know about (I haven't read this one either).

Why it should win:

"It's a Deltarune fan comic that was started pre chapter 2 which is surprising, the creator expanded upon the little info we had and made their own interpretation of the story, having such emotional moments and amazing art. The ending to the comic was absolutely fantastic and I love it soooo much!!! I love the designs and ideas of the dark worlds, they're all so unique! Also all the different Ralsei-like creatures are each fun in their own ways and don't end up being the exact same characters, they also align with Undertale's soul colours! Also Lancer calls each Ralsei-like creature a different flavour of toothpaste and that's very funny. (Did I mention how well they handled Kris and their being controlled arc???)"

Animations

Submissions: 1 (indirectly)

Speaking as someone who's dabbled (made a three minute PMV once) in animation, it is really hard, which makes all the amazing animations this fandom creates all the more excellent. With creators such as Lupucs, who makes stunning Deltarune 3D animation, and long-running series like Inverted Fate (featured in season one), the creations of this fandom deserve all the love.

Why it should win:

"The animations take a lot of time and work, all the models being made by Lupucs themself. The shading and textures and smooth animation is also just so stunning, there's one animation where they have a giant crystal statue of Susie and it is so well made for just a 5 second clip, it's insane." (In reference to a submission of Lupucs)

The Other Puppet

The Other Puppet is an AU in which the secret bosses are swapped with the main characters- Spamton and Kris, Jevil and Susie and Seam and Noelle all swap, while Ralsei is replaced by a being known as Dinsoda. It also is intended to have an adult show tone, according to the creator.

Deltarune: Chapter Rewritten

Submissions: 1

Yet another AU I know next to nothing about. It was created by The Winterer, and is a role-swap AU that swaps Darkeners around.

Why it should win:

"Really cool AU with great music, recently got a fangame, definitely the best Deltarune fan content" (a note that this was submitted for season one)

Undertale Red

Submissions: 1

Undertale Red is a fangame created by Taxiderby, featuring an OC of theirs called Red.

Why it should win:

"It's a genuinely nice fangame with a good OC that isn't another AU Sans. It's well tought through with good looking sprites and I believe it deserves a place in the good things of the fandom." (a note that this was submitted for season one)

Deltarune: Neglected Oversight

Neglected Oversight is a Deltarune AU created by @boredgrace23. It's basically Deltarune on Hard Mode; it follows the plot of Deltarune but everyone who steps into a Dark World, including Darkeners who live there, forget who they were and become lifeless shells. Kris and Susie are the only ones who remember and it is their jobs to save everyone by closing the fountains.

And those are our contestants! Once again, may the best UTDR fanon thing win!

#bestutfanonpoll #undertale #deltarune #not a poll #announcement #season 2 #prunsel #papertrail #the other puppet #deltarune chapter rewritten #neglected oversight

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

BSD Singing and Performance Headcanons Part 1

Note: This is near entirely based off character vibes and it's not all that specific but hopefully it's fun.

Atsushi - Atsushi is convinced he sounds terrible but he can actually hold a tune pretty well! His voice is definitely untrained, but a lot of his wavering is from nerves more than anything else. He has issues with being able to project without some noticeable strain. He likes singing along to cheerful, upbeat songs, and when he gets a little more confident with it, his enthusiasm is infectious.

Kyouka - She's not super confident singing in front of people, but she has a pretty voice, if a bit lacking in inflection. Kyouka has similar problems with projecting as Atsushi, but her tone is clear as a bell. Kouyou is recording from the corner - "You're doing amazing sweetie." While she can and does sing on her own, she prefers singing with someone else, so her and Atsushi have sang together at karaoke a few times. It's a bit hit or miss, as when the backing track is too loud, you can't really hear them, but when you can, their voices compliment each other and it's incredibly pure.

Tanizaki - Also convinced he cannot sing, only to hit every single note perfectly with incredible emotion in each phrase. Everyone is stumped and he thinks it's because it was terrible. In truth, because Naomi loves to sing, he's gotten in a lot of (unwilling) practice. He isn't the best with anything high energy, but his voice is well-suited for ballad type songs, which he sings with a sincere, intimate quality.

Naomi - She loves to sing. She drags Tanizaki and Haruno to sing duets with her as often as she can. Naomi's quite the presence on stage - she's confident, playful, and completely unabashed. While some of the lyrics are a little... a little... hm....... most of the time, she's a complete joy to watch because it's clear she's just having so much fun. Naomi has killer range and somehow nails every freakishly high note with little effort.

Haruno - She cannot, absolutely cannot, perform on stage, no matter how much Naomi tries to convince her. She would melt into the floor instantly. That said, she's quite happy to sing along with Naomi when it's just the two of them, and sometimes when everyone else is out and they have the agency to themselves, they break out into elaborate duets and get super dramatic about it - reclining against the furniture with hands to their hearts, gripping each other's shoulders and singing tearfully into each other's faces, and so on. Haruno actually has a few years of classical music training under her belt and is a natural with harmonies - she's a great duet partner.

Kenji - Kenji's always humming as he works, and on slow days or days when his coworkers are having a tough time getting motivated, he sings some traditional work-songs from Ihatov as encouragement. He isn't the best with holding a tune, but Kenji is literal sunshine and so it does not matter. However, he turns out to be an excellent whistler, and can hit notes perfectly in that way.

Yosano - She sounds like a professional - her voice is smooth, relatively deep and portrays all the mastery and grace of a singer in an evening gown. Her voice turns heads, is what I'm saying. Yosano likes kind of old-timey songs, with a bit of jazz or swing syncopation to them... at least, she does when she's sober. When drunk, she's a hundred times more chaotic, singing rowdily along to a ton of high-energy songs, anywhere from musical theatre to rock to fucking anime openings. She's loud, laughing through most of the lyrics and completely off-key. There is absolutely no elegance to be found and it's fantastic.

Ranpo - He's decent. Ranpo doesn't particularly care for performing music - he'd much rather show off his latest deductions if he's going to use a stage for anything. He's sang a few times with Yosano though, and he brings a lot of confident energy with him. His tone is a little raspy and therefore not super clear, but he can hold a tune well enough. He often disrupts songs by shouting out random improv lines or changing the lyrics in the middle of it, mostly for the attention, but also because it makes Yosano lose her perfect poise and devolve into giggles (...but mostly for the attention).

Dazai - No one knows if this asshole can sing because he purposefully sings as loudly, terribly and out of key as he can. He's only too happy to get up front of a crowd and drag people up with him but generally, he's just making a fool of himself and amping up his ridiculousness - though he is, despite all of this, somehow incredibly charismatic still. Only one person knows what Dazai's actual voice sounds like, mainly because he only sings in the rare moments he is both lost in thought and peacefully relaxed, and stops the second he becomes aware of another's presence. Dazai sings along to slow melodies under his breath with a fairly pleasant voice, though it is clearly untrained and tends to crack a bit, shifting between quiet song and whisper. There is a distinct wistfulness and mournful quality in every word.

Fukuzawa - No. He likes it when his subordinates are having fun but singing isn't really for him and no one is quite bold enough to attempt to get him on stage (except perhaps Ranpo but Ranpo doesn't really care either way). In his childhood, he used to dabble with a handful of plucked string instruments. He was actually pretty good, but claims he has since fallen out of practice and hasn't been able to pick it back up. Only Ranpo knows that sometimes he will play for the neighbourhood stray cats.

Kunikida - He pretends he's just not interested but the truth is he has terrible stage fright. He comes across as way too stiff and tries to overcompensate for his nerves by singing way too loud and then petering out in embarrassment once he's realized what happened. Even when he does manage to sing clearly, it's like he can only focus on one thing at a time - he's so focused on trying to make his singing technically perfect that he forgets to imbue it with any personality or emotion. One time, however, Yosano dragged him up for karaoke when they were both drunk, and all hell broke loose. Kunikida's voice did a 180 - nowhere close to technically perfect but with all the passion and drive the man has in his heart which is... a whole lot. Combined with drunk Yosano breaking out into giggles every line, their unashamed raucous energy, and their refusal to leave until they had sung through every single song on the machine, it made for a truly... unforgettable night. Unforgettable as in, Dazai recorded it and won't let Kunikida live it down ever.

Katai - Yeah, good luck getting Katai to leave his room, let alone get him on a stage. You wouldn't want him up there either honestly, because the man cannot hold a tune to save his life. He loves music and loves singing along to it but goddamn son. Sometimes, when Kunikida comes over to visit, Katai will put on his latest favourite heartbreak song and sing along with complete and utter abandon. Ordinarily, Kunikida would find this annoying (again, I reiterate that Katai is so bad at holding a tune that people could easily mistake him for tone deaf gjhdbn) but because it's Katai, he honestly just finds it kind of endearing.

#this is so self-indulgent and probably not what you guys followed me for but whatever #had these stuck in my head for days and decided to share #if i have to be stuck with these thoughts you do too :) #bsd #bsd singing headcanons #bsd armed detective agency #storyrambles

[siberat]

thanks to @mr-miss-anonymous this pairing just would not leave my mind today. So have a blast off/ onslaught Drabble.

…..

He finally did it. He finally grew the ball bearings to speak up and confess his feelings.

Well, kind of.

Blast Off has been crushing on Onslaught for so many vorns now: their leader practically lived in his processor! Every free moment, Blast Off daydreamed of spending time together- be it helping with coming up with strategies, chilling, or other stuff. Yes, there were plenty of nights the shuttle snuggled his pillows, pretending it was his leader.

Just don’t ask him about it- he will deny it!

But no matter what he tried, the mech of his affections didn’t notice him. True, the shuttle tended to keep to himself. He wasn’t the most social ‘Con around. But Onslaught socialized.

Just not with him.

At least outside of their duties and such. The truck-former was professional and took his responsibilities seriously, always ensuring his teammates knew what they were doing. He would gladly converse with them until the plans were crystal clear. He was well respected.

And in the shuttle’s optics, well desired.

Oh, how he would fantasize about those hands roaming over his frame, whispering loving words into his audials as they cuddled! To feel needed, to feel wanted- to be noticed- would make him feel so special! Yes, he also dreams about other kinds of touches and interactions, usually late at night, so his muffled wails don’t wake up the rest of his gestalt.

So, now was the time to act. To speak up about how he feels. And what better way than to leave a sappy love note signed by a secret admirer? In the note, that was hand made of course, he wrote to meet him at a lesser-known bar in Kaon, for privacy reasons.

And Blast Off knew his leader received said note. His teammates invited him for a night of boozin’ and movies, and he declined. Onslaught simply said he was beckoned for other plans when questioned about it. Even with all the grilling from the other Combaticons, his lips were sealed, and his plans not thwarted.

Blast Off briskly walked to his desired location. In one hand, he clasped a box of chocolates. Yes, it's a bit cliché, and while not the finest candies on Cybertron, the treats were of higher quality. He had to really barter hard to get these! In his other hand was a bottle of high-grade engex, Onslaught’s favorite. He may have stolen it from Swindle. But this was for a good cause!

His newfound confidence threatened to crumble as the bar entrance was seen. As much as this excited him, his energon tingling as it pumped through his revved-up frame, his stomach was flip-flopping.

Would Onslaught be disappointed his secret admirer was him? His incompetent gestalt member that slumped back in the shadows, never drawing attention to himself? What if Onslaught knew of his crush and ignored it because he was uninterested? Or was he repulsed?

Blast Off shook his helm.

Thoughts like this would drive him crazy and make him turn back. He closed his optics and drew in a deep breath. It’s now or never.

Without further hesitation, he opened the bar door and stepped inside. Music played as lights flashed, but the place wasn’t packed. One could find privacy here. Scanning the room, Blast Off gleefully looked for his crush.

And his optics widened upon spotting him. His spark skipped a rotation as his stomach twisted in dread. A heavy feeling crept across his chassis that threatened to steal his breath. Fluid welled in his optics as his cheeks warmed. The gifts nearly slipped from his servos as he stood there, gobsmacked.

Yes, his leader was here. But there was another mech straddled on his lap. Those strong hands that the shuttle wished would ravish his frame roamed and groped another mech. Faces pressed together in a sloppy yet passionate kiss. Clearly, both were enjoying themselves.

Oh, Blast Off did want Onslaught to have a good time tonight. And those plans are becoming a reality.

Just not with him.

… …. …

poor baby! This was wrote in a whim. I do have to research the chars a bit better. But hopefully ya’ll enjoy, even if it’s a bit sad.

#siberat writes #blast off #onslaught #one-sided feelings #Transformer drabbles

[junebugwriter]

Bodies

Sign early on that I was trans but did not clock until later in my life: I never really wanted to be a man.

I genuinely did not know that most boys actually did want to be a man. Or that they found that they could relate to their role models in some way.

I honestly didn't have any role models. There wasn't really a lot of people I wanted to be like. I always thought it was weird that my guy friends could idealize themselves into being a pro basketball or baseball player. And when I got to high school, and they started getting sports scholarships and being scouted for athletics, it never clicked for me that "oh, they're going into actual adult sports because they are adults now and wanting to be a sports player was them preparing to become one as an adult."

I wanted to be a writer. That was my big dream as a young person. It was the only thing that held interest for me, the only thing that made sense for me to do. I liked teaching, I liked creating, I liked coming up with interesting ideas, but a writer is uniquely disembodied. There is a level of distance between one's body and the words that one can produce upon a page. It is an intellectual exercise, even removed from things like mathematics or science, because a story is an ethereal thing. Even more than music, a story existed in the mind, and I found that purity of disembodied-ness compelling.

I didn't want to have a body. I didn't know why I didn't want to have a body, though. I figured I was stuck with a lemon of a body anyways. Even when I was at my athletic peak, even when I ran every day and lifted weights, I was always pretty awful at doing things with my body. My body and I have always been at odds.

There was a time when I was more sports minded, when I was a part of a swim team--but I hated taking my shirt off. I hated being perceived, because of how I looked. It was more than me being fat. It was that I was the wrong shape. I was the wrong body. There was an inherent wrongness to my existence that I could not name, did not have the words to explain, outside of "I'm not very athletic" and "I'm fat." No amount of exercise or diet or shame would ever remove that wrongness. I would never look or feel like other people. I would always bear a complete and utter wrongness of body, and I think that is why I lost myself in my academic and professional pursuits.

As long as I was smart, nobody cared that I was fat, or that I was... shaped wrong. As long as I could keep them thinking, as long as I could keep them distracted, I could not be perceived, but rather my mind, the real me, would be what they saw. My words became my body, and I found words far more malleable than my body.

But my words are not what people interact with. My words are not the vehicle I experienced the world with. There was a complete and utter disjointedness to my being, because I was never going to be comfortable with being seen as this thing that I was. Clothes would never fit right, nor feel right. My face would be hidden behind a beard because it was easier to exist if I never had to see myself. I wore baggy clothes. I liked office wear and casual, baggy tees. Because these were Acceptable. And it just... was. I couldn't do anything about it. I'd never lose the weight, not to the satisfaction of the world. But more than that, I'd never feel myself, because my body and the things that I thought of as my self were so separated.

As I began research for my PhD, however, this disjointedness of body and mind could not continue. My research into theories of mind, theories of self, theories of the soul, led me to the inescapable conclusion that I actually was my body. That one could not actually separate mind from body, not in any real way, because mind and body and soul are all the same damn thing. It's all a monad, a single entity. To separate it out is to kill the whole thing.

I had sat with this truth for years. Sat with this belief in the monadic quality of the body and self. It was fact. Truth. Inescapable. And I had to admit that yes, this was my body. But it never felt mine. It never felt like I owned it. And I had to interrogate why.

In the background, of course, my politics propelled me forward. I was progressive, then radical. I'm an anarchist, in that I do not believe in unjust hierarchies, or rather, that unjust hierarchies should not be allowed to exist. That we ought to dismantle the injustice of the world because it dehumanizes us all. In my beliefs, I encountered more and more trans people. And because of that, the idea of gender finally began to snugly fit in that place where the wrongness of my self existed. Gender slowly came into focus.

For a while, I was content to simply exist as a very feminine man. That everyone knew that I tended to go against masculinity in a lot of ways, that I did not behave as a typical man would. Yet even I didn't quite know how deep it went... until I allowed myself to question it all. Allowed myself to look back into my life, my relationship with my body, and see that I've always known that it was wrong.

I know that it's cliche to say that "I'm a woman born with the wrong body," but honestly it is a helpful model for people beginning to understand how gender and sex can be at odds. However, the thing that is true for me is that... I didn't always know it. I didn't know that I was a female in the body of a male, because I didn't know that I could be female at all. That gender presentation was something that could be addressed. That body could be changed to match what feels better for a person.

As of this writing, I'm a little less than four months into HRT. Things are changing slowly. My hormone levels are good, though, and I feel better than I have in actual years. Probably all my life. I'm able to access my emotions better (sometimes a little TOO well). I'm beginning to notice some changes in my body shape. I swear I look younger. It's going to be a long time--most likely around 3 years or more--for the full effects to take place. They are happening.

I'm still not 100% comfortable with my body, and I'm sure there will always be a level of discomfort there. But any comfort is better than the none that I lived with for far too long in my life. I will take all the joy and happiness and comfort that I've began to feel in the past four months. I will take it and run with it. I'm finally beginning to feel like a self, united in body and mind.

#transgender #blog #lgbtqia+ #lgbtq #trans #personal #theology #mind #mindset #gender

[grntaire]

what are your thoughts on GOmens: the Musical? The (very technically crude) few performances I’ve seen were lovely songs, and I hope they get a proper budget to fulfill the vision. ideally complete with a life-sized Bentley that “drives” (on an independent platform ofc), elaborate set design, a full orchestra, personally designed costumes and lots of fun SFX to include a real flaming sword.

i haven’t seen much of it! what i have seen was some excellent acting and the pit sounded great but i really haven’t heard much of the singing. i personally feel like good omens as a musical (or in a stage adaption at all) would have to be super kitschy to make it work. as for budget there’s two wolves inside of me. imo for a musical the first expenses should be on your pit bc no matter how good everything looks, if your players don’t sound professional then the whole thing flops!

as much as i’d love fully fledged elaborate costuming and set design i really cannot imagine a good omens stage production of any kind looking like anything other than a starkid show lmao. something almost egregiously comedic and intentionally minimalistic in a high quality way.

#imo it’s a tough story to adapt to stage bc a lot of the non-essential stuff is what evokes the kitschiness of the world building #and the non-essential stuff to the plot is what would have to be cut for time #asks

[hologramcowboy]

Things that come to my mind when I see convention photo ops:

Conventions organizers need to update their definition of what a great photographer/retoucher is.

The photographer needs to update his definitions of great lighting, set up and framing. ( Big clue: we are no longer in the 80s, start by getting updated on your craft)

Fans need to engage their emotional intelligence and realize when something they are requesting makes the actor feel violated. (Y'all don't even conside the actor's very visible feelings and that's just sad, they are not circus animals. Little clue: Actors should never feel how obsessed or lustful you are, that is entirely your problem and boundaries are your friend and no, they don't owe you compromising their mental or emotional health.)

Some "fans" dress so trashy it really makes me wonder if deep down they hate themselves and their lives. You go to conventions to meet people you admire, why wouldn't you want to be at your best? Whatever your style is, find a balance that brings out your best features and that feels good. The energy you will project will be entirely different IF you value yourself. Some of you dress and primp like you are in the back alley of a trashy bar, I'm sorry but that doesn't send a stellar message to anyone, let alone to the people you admire that you are there to see.

Manners, manners, manners, I get that most are in the throws of their infatuation but that doesn't excuse you from being a considerate human being towards the actors that bring you joy.

Fans' definition of high quality showmanship, comedy and singing is...surreal...I don't mean that in a good way. Please get in touch with high quality music, performances and comedy, your bar is so low it is starting to affect the level of the actors who are becoming complacent with being mediocre. That's usually when their careers go to die. I see people praising off key singing, lack of creativity, fakeness, etc and it's like: is this what you want the artistic world to be like? Are we just going to forego quality? If you're not there to be inspired by art and by the artists/performers, why are you there and why would you set the bar so low? Don't you want them to evolve?

Same goes for the performers and actors involved, won't name names but some seem to fail grasping that people paid for an experience and that experience should come with a level of quality and professionalism they fail to adopt entirely. That is pure cringe and it just makes you look bad. If a casting director will happen upon videos from a con they will get a snapshot of you and your skills that won't place you on the top choices list...just sayin', if you can't do it for the fans, do it for your career, at least.

That being said, there are also a lof of things I appreciate about cons. The most important being the balanced, genuine people who do connect with the actors respectfully. Also, the actors who focus on bringing joy despite being faced with no so pleasant energy, attitudes and contexts sometimes.

Disclaimer: These are just my views, please discard anything that doesn't resonate. I just wish people would put more quality and heart into what they are doing but that's just my personal preference.

#i rant therefore i am

[your-talos-is-problematic]

Thank you @throughtrialbyfire for the tag :)

5 Random Things I Enjoy:

Dungeons and Dragons: I’ve been playing for about two years, and while I don’t get to do it often, it’s super fun when I do. I really enjoy DMing and I’ve introduced my family to it :). It’s not DnD, but one of my friends is inventing a TTRPG and planning to create a group for it and I’m extremely excited.

Musical Theater: Yep, theater kid alert. I’ve done it basically every year since elementary school. I do it with a company that’s pretty high quality for non-professional theater. Going to be in Anastasia soon!

YouTube: Generally commentary or video essay type things. Basically any topic- mostly about politics or media. Big fan of the Kurtis/Danny/Drew trilogy, but also people like José, Big Joel, and Strange Aeons.

Stuffed Animals: I am a big collector of stuffed animals- my bed is like 50% them and 50% me. Had a massive Webkinz phase a while ago, but current obsession is Warmies because they’re really good for back pain and period cramps.

Nashville (the show, not the city): This is my least popular interest that borders on special interest. It’s on Hulu (if you want to watch it so I have a Tumblr mutual to talk about it with 🥺), and it’s a soap opera. About country music. It gets pretty off-the-rails and it’s great. I’m almost done with the show at this point, sadly.

@trickstarbrave @full-pockets @theoneofwhomisblue :)

#not tes

[michaelgruberfan]

"Broadway song-and-dance man hits PCPA"

Quintin Cushner / Life & Times Writer Jun 15, 2003 (X)

Before Michael Gruber sang on Broadway, he was an NCAA All-American diver at the University of Michigan.

"I was diving during the Greg Louganis era," said Gruber, 38, referring to the prolific American athlete who medaled in three separate Olympics. "There was really only one more space after his on the team. After the 1984 Olympic trials came and went, I needed to make a choice about whether I wanted to train another four years (for the Olympics)."

Gruber, who performed in high-school musicals, opted to leave competitive diving to focus on becoming a song-and-dance man. He transferred to the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where he honed his performance skills.

He then moved to New York City and earned roles in the musicals "A Chorus Line," "Miss Saigon," "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Swing." His most prominent Broadway role to date was as Munkustrap in "Cats."

Through July 20, Gruber is starring as Bobby Child in PCPA/s revival of the comic musical "Crazy for You." When not belting out a classic Gershwin brother/s tune, Gruber (as Child) spends most of the play trying to win the hand of local beauty Polly Baker (Melinda Ann Parrett). Guess whether he gets her.

Audience and media reactions to Gruber/s performance indicate that competitive diving/s loss has become the Central Coast/s gain.

A Times review of the play raved that Gruber "gives a performance that recalls musical idols of the Silver Screen, who literally swept their ladies off their feet with graceful dancing."

Starting Friday, Gruber and the "Crazy for You" cast will move south to Solvang to perform in that town/s open air Festival Theater.

"Michael is one of the rare breed of triple-threat performers who sing, dance and act 77 all first-rate quality," said Craig Shafer, PCPA spokesman. "His presence strengthens an already strong cast of resident and guest professional artists and interns on and off stage."

Recently the Times caught up with Gruber via telephone to talk about his life in the arts.

Times: So, do you miss New York?

Michael Gruber: We had two weeks off after the Santa Maria shows and before we moved down to Solvang, so I went home to New York. To be honest, it was like major culture shock. I was used to this mellow environment (on the Central Coast), so I was a little fried when I went to Manhattan. I was very happy to get out here again.

Times: Have you seen much of the Central Coast?

MG: I/m living in Santa Maria right now. I/ve also gone to Pismo Beach and the Avila Valley Hot Springs. They/re great. I/ve gone up to San Luis Obispo and down to Santa Barbara. I/ll have Mondays and Tuesdays off soon, so I hope to do more traveling. It/s so beautiful out here.

Times: Do you mind doing shows outside of New York?

MG: I/m happy to fill in the gaps between Broadway shows by going out of town. I like to get a break from the manicness of New York. Regional theater often has more interesting projects.

Times: After performing in melodramatic Andrew Lloyd Webber shows like "Cats," how do you approach something lighter like the Gershwin-inspired "Crazy for You?"

MG: The audience really informs you of what you can get away with in something like "Crazy for You." They sort of construct your performance by their reactions.

You really have to extend yourself when you/re doing farce, and take some chances. There/s a lot of slapstick, tripping and falling. The audience sort of constructs your performance. A show like this is so fun, but you have to be brave. And so far the audiences have been great. Everybody/s really enjoying themselves.

Times: Do you see any parallels between diving and theater?

MG: I guess being in the zone, and having that kind of concentration is very similar. And both are a kind of performing.

Both diving and acting involve judging. There/s a lot of bias and politics to both. If you/re competing against Louganis, and you did a dive comparable to one he did, he would still likely get the higher score. In theater, it/s the same way 77 a lot of it is mystique.

Times: Do you still have to audition for shows?

MG: Sometimes I/m just offered parts; that/s really what I prefer. Sometimes, if they don/t know you, you have to audition, but I never have to go to cattle calls anymore. They do what are called agent-submissions, where you/ll go to a private audition. Each show is something slightly different.

Times: Do you have any interest in doing television or movies?

MG: They/re such different industries. So much of (filmed) work is by who you know and who knows you. I don/t have any kind of network in the industry. And I/m much more broadly skilled in theater craft.

Times: Is it difficult to have relationships when you/re on the road so much?

MG: I/m not a big relationship person. I have my friends, but I/ve never really dated that much. It/s very hard to pursue relationships in this business. I/ve actually sort of been dealing with that right now, because as I get older I/m starting to want a more serious relationship.

Times: What would you do if you didn/t make your living as an actor?

MG: I/ve been working with a partner on composing some (musical theater) pieces. We/ve done three pieces together and we/re writing the fourth one right now. It takes place in 1975 and it/s called "Vegas Organic."

I/m totally addicted to The Beach (a Central Coast radio station), because that/s the era of music we/re writing for. I love Heart, Steve Perry from Journey, Freddie Mercury and Queen, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith … classic hard rock.

Times: So, I read that you were into psychotherapy? Are we talking Freud?

MG: No, classical analysis didn/t really work for me. I found it too one-sided. And from what I/ve read, classical therapy has not been that successful. It/s not necessarily practical.

The therapist I have now uses gestalt therapy. It/s great. He collaborates with me. We have a dialogue. It involves more problem-solving and is more immediate. But when I/m on the road, I take a break. I don/t want to become too obsessive about it.

Times: What kind of foods have you been eating in Santa Maria?

MG: It/s total In-N-Out and Taco Bell. When I/m late for rehearsal it/s McDonald/s drive-through. It/s bad because my metabolism isn/t as fast as it once was.

Times: What have you been doing for fun around here?

MG: I went out last night to a friend/s house. We watched TV and laughed and talked, drank a few beers and ate a pizza. College student-type stuff. It was a lot of fun.

Times: What/s the future of the Broadway musical?

MG: It/s tough to say, because the economy isn/t so great right now, and people are more careful about how they spend their money. In this type of an economy, and when a Broadway ticket is ,90, people are gonna want to see "The Producers" or "Phantom (of the Opera)." Or maybe they/ll see "Chicago" because the movie was so successful. Those shows will always make a killing.

Producers want a market value. Unless you/re Stephen Sondheim, it/s very hard to get a different kind of musical produced. And even his shows don/t have longevity because they/re not going to bring in tourists.

"Long Day/s Journey into Night," by Eugene O/Neill, would never be produced on Broadway now if it didn/t have Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard, who are all movie actors. It/s all about the economy. Once the economy improves and rich people start spending more money again, there might be more risky productions.

Times: What role do you really want to play?

MG: I/d like to play George in "Sunday in the Park with George." It/s beautifully written and I relate to its themes, which involve the isolation of an artist.

Times: Are you looking forward to moving down to Solvang?

MG: It/ll be cool. We/re doing five shows a week with no matinees. It/s a cool town and it/s always great to work outside.

Times: What/s your favorite part of doing the show?

MG: I enjoy the contrast of doing the romantic side of Bobby Child and the wacky silliness of Bela Zangler 77 that whole level of being in disguise.

(For part of the play, Child disguises himself as the wealthy Bela Zangler)

There/s a song in the show, "Embraceable You," and it/s the first time Bobby realizes that Polly/s falling in love with him and not Bella. It/s the turning point. He doesn/t tell her who he is because he doesn/t want to lose her.

And he/s realizing where the journey is going, and he doesn/t know how to handle it.

#michael gruber #interview #2003 #2000s

[uraharashouten]

What do you think would urahara's voice be lovely and soothing when singing or deep and harsh ....like old manly ?

Starting on a note in the upper middle of his range, he arpeggiates upward— "la la LA LAAAAAA~" and holds the high note loud and long. Somewhere distant, glass shatters, dogs bark, a cat yowls, and several car alarms sound off.

All right, time for some voice headcanons! But first, I think I'll ramble a bit about his speaking voice. Now, my introduction to Kisuke was via the Michael LIndsay (may he rest in peace) dubbed English version of the anime and, as I later discovered, that take is a little different from Shin'ichirô Miki's. It's stoner vs. crafty.

Regardless, as I began relying on the manga more as my source and inspiration, he developed his own voice in my head that matched neither of those: there's still Miki's singsong, but less sly and a bit brighter; a bit theatrical and whimsically polite—think of it like Obi Wan saying 'Hello there!' but less Ewan-McGregor-channeling-Alec-Guiness, and you'll be close.

Having said all that... his singing voice, at least when he's really putting it out there, is the most obnoxiously imaginable result of all of the above.

I do believe, contrary to some, that he can, and does, carry a tune. Intonation is not the problem—he'll stay on pitch. Oh, and he's definitely a tenor. Tessai sings bass; there must be contrast.

But... you know how some quite accomplished singers have a voice best suited for musical comedy?

Yeah.

I will say this, though: he can, and will, serenade you privately with a soothing lullaby, or a sweet love song, and if you're lucky enough to hear one of those, you'll find it a far cry from his public performances. What they lack in professional quality, they make up for in sincerity. He's a man of many variations.

#Kisuke.headcanon #[[ thank you for the question Nonny! ]]

[sindar-princeling]

actually! i have another question! i know you’ve said that ROP’s holistic reception was rather… :/ but how was the show’s true quality? was there any memorable/fitting music? was it plot accurate? was the film quality high? and a bonus, do you have a favorite scene?

not to offload all this on you at once, but i just want to know your opinion of its quality uwu

hi again! ❤️

I just wanna begin by saying I'm no expert on film- and tv-making, so I don't think I'll have much professional input, but. here we go!

(this is gonna be a spoilery review, just a warning)

overall, the quality was pretty uneven, I'd say. the show was advertised as the most expensive series ever made, and... I personally couldn't see that. especially regarding costumes and cgi, i feel like there was a lot of room to improve. some views and wide shots of locations were pretty nice (lindon, eregion, also khazad dum was just beautiful in some shots), but the scene where they were sailing to valinor looked really bad to me, especially those cgi seagulls.

the acting was a mixed bag. there are characters whose acting i really enjoyed (miriel in the second half of the series, elrond, arondir had his moments, adar was GREAT, elendil was pretty cool, durin was good even when the script wasn't), but it only made the rest look worse in comparison, i'm afraid.

I'd say the music was good. I'm not sure i'd call it memorable, because apart from the opening credits music i well. don't remember it, but that may just be my shitty memory jshkjfhjdk but I don't think there were any moments where music felt unfitting or jarring. it was fine.

about the writing... okay, that's a long one.

as for the plot - they didn't have many rights to tolkien's works, so their options were limited, plot-wise. even the intro with some information from the years of the trees and the first age was very general, and didn't even mention the kinslaying.

but while they had to invent a lot of plot, the characters were RIGHT THERE. all they had to do was do them justice, and in my opinion - they didn't. galadriel isn't wise or power hungry (in my opinion), and it's a shame. her arc is in most part just the writers screaming ISN'T IT IRONIC HOW SHE CAUSED THE THING SHE TRIED TO STOP, it lacks any subtlety.

(on this topic, why did sauron tempt her, and not celebrimbor? does it stink a bit of homophobia or...? it's like they were deadly afraid of even a hint of homoerotic subtext. like im sure that's what happened, but it still sucks)

it's a story about forging of the rings of power, and celebrimbor is barely there. i'm really baffled by some of the writing choices, because they clearly had the rights to the rings, celebrimbor and sauron, so why not tell the story that was written? there is enough material there to tell a compelling story, and in my opinion choosing to omit and overwrite it was a bad one. neither galadriel, nor the original plot benefitted from the writing choices, i think. they both ended up heavily flattened and less interesting than their original versions.

galadriel especially had many of her ambitions and stuggles taken away from her - by making her conflict with sauron central to the plot, the show takes away from the fact that galadriel's biggest stuggle has always been with herself - and in lotr, she wins when she resists the ring (NOT sauron - she resists her hunger for power and her huge ambition. it's about HER). it was one of the changes that made me the saddest, because they had a truly amazing, iconic female character right there, and they wasted her potential so painfully.

it WOULD feel wrong to say i wish they just hadn't chosen her as the main character, because we DO still need more female leads - many, many more. but i can't not be angry at the way they stripped her of her ambitions, best strengths and defining flaws.

there are also many changes to the lore, to which my reactions switched between "why add that?" (isildur's sister, the priestesses? witches? whoever they were), "why change that" (mithril lore (im still all "???" whenever i try to make sense of it)), and "oh my fucking GOD" (halbrand as sauron, mordor's on/off switch). especially the last one was... ridiculous. mordor is a country that's seeped through with evil because of the dark forces inhabiting it for ages, and you're telling me they decided to make it so that it was created within a few minutes because a guy put a sword into a keyhole? fuck off

the whole sauron thing is a material for a separate post and this is already long enough, but I'll just say. i don't get why they had to make drama around sauron. everyone and their mother knows who sauron is, you can just use the impact that this character has instead of creating conflict with a weak plot justification. of course it was going to be hard to create a character from someone who in LOTR is more a symbol than a person - but in my opinion, they didn't make any right choices regarding him. and they didn't even tell the actor he was going to be playing sauron until they were shooting episode three, which is a trend that seriously needs to stop.

all in all, if you're looking for bits of story and lore that tolkien came up with, they are not there. solid 90% of the show - maybe more - is something new or changed

the costumes are... meh, mostly. there is one thing in particular that makes my blood boil, and it's Numenorean armor, best visible on Miriel. take a look at her sleeves:

(id in alt text)

it's fucking. fabric with the scales pattern printed on it??? which is either a pretty bad costume idea/design, or THE cheapest, laziest, almost insulting execution I've ever seen.

also, many costumes are only like two layers of clothes, they usually have few details like jewellery and such, so they often look simply unfinished. especially elven costumes are underwhelming. I think as far as i remember, the dwarves' costumes looked best. I'd recommend watching LanaMarie's videos on youtube, I've stumbled upon them while looking for video essays on rop and it's clear she knows what she's talking about when it comes to costuming.

(also, I stand by what i said when the first promo pics came out - why would you get rid of long-haired male elves? I hate that they did that. are they THAT afraid of breaking gender norms?)

last but not least - i was seriously not impressed by the actors' accents choices. you got English elves, irish harfoots, scottish dwarves, cockney (? i'm not sure) orcs... it was a mess of really ugly stereotypes.

(EDIT: I worded this poorly - it sounds like I mean to say it's the actors' fault, but that's not what I meant. I wanted to say that the actors playing certain races seemed to have been assigned certain accents by the creators and along with some script choices it created a few ugly situations that felt very stereotypical and harmful towards real life people who speak with those accents)

HOWEVER, despite all that i'm gonna end on a more positive note and refer to your last question, my favourite scene. this spot is easily taken by the scene where disa and some other dwarves sing to the mountain to let go of trapped miners. it had amazing impact, to me it was a beautiful piece of lore, and it showed the love and respect and trust the dwarves have for the mountains. it was so short and simple yet so amazingly effective in conveying everything it had to convey. also disa's singing gave me goosbumps, the actress has an amazing voice.

okay, i think that's all i wanted to say (wow, that's. a lot). thank you a lot for asking, I hope that tells you what you wanted to learn! and i really enjoyed this opportunity to talk some more about my thoughts :)

#you managed to ask this on the day when i have some free time in the evening so i was excited about replying to this in detail all day #no questions except on party business #fou-and-foue #rings of power #trop negativity