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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 6 months

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Why We Never See Elendira's Story

In a story that emphasizes the human or otherwise sympathetic aspects to its focal characters, it’s very intriguing that Elendira remains an enigma right up until the very end of her story.

We receive some tantalizing hints that there is much, much more to Elendira than what we’re explicitly shown – asides from her apparent sole interest in witnessing the end of the world (to which she'd prefer to see Knives' chosen ending, but is prepared to act herself if he fails), she looks somewhat resigned when saying that nice men “die so easily”, that no matter what Vash does, humans will “ruin it”, and so on and so forth.

[ID: Two screenshots from Trigun Maximum Volume 11. In the first, over a rocky ground, Elendira says "I liked you better when you had nothing to lose. What a shame." She looks down, somewhat resigned, and continues "I don't like nice men. They die so easily." In the second, she stands, frowning and saying "No matter what Vash the Stampede does... there will always be those..." On a close up of her right eye, she says "...who ruin it." End ID.]

Elendira seems to have little to no faith in humanity, and in that sense, she seems a lot like Knives. Knives, who aims to become more and more powerful, and in the process, severing all meaningful ties he has with others on his quest to ensure no one can take advantage of him or use him. We know, of course, that Knives doesn't quite succeed here... but Elendira has. She is the peak of human (or part human? We never get an answer to her unexplained abilities) capability in speed, skill, and strength. The only reason Livio stood any chance in that fight was due to his incredible regeneration.

(As an interesting aside, she also has an interesting commonality with Vash - what comes to mind is her telling the kids to bury Livio because he "died" trying to protect them. Why does she care about that? Why does it matter? None of the other GHGs do this. This is not important to the point I'm making here but it's just interesting to me. There's very few characters who explicitly make a point of burying the dead.)

The point being, Elendira is the height of strength... and at the top, she is alone.

[ID: A panel from Trigun Maximum Volume 13. Elendira is in the action of dropping her white coat, which she has taken off to reveal an underarmour suit that is almost skeletal in appearance. She looks confident. End ID.]

In a story where characters' motives and pasts are told through their connections with others, through their memories with people they cared for, and through the eyes of the people who care for them...

Vash's story is eventually told in pieces to humanity through Meryl, through Luida, and through his sisters. Rem survives in Vash's memories, and we see the part of her story that young Vash saw, just as we also see his own past from this recollection of her.

Milly is a clarifier and communicator who sees so strongly the sides of Meryl and Vash that they suppress, all that grief and fear, for the sake of remaining steadfast. She is the one whose eyes we see through. It had to be seen to be told. Wolfwood does this too.

The rest of GHGs get some elaboration also. Hoppered is defined through his loss of the woman he cared for in July. Midvalley is defined by his fear and contention with Knives. They also have a dynamic between them that few of the other GHGs shared - and it's likely for this reason we received more elaboration on the two of them than many of the others. But even characters like Rai-Dei, for whom we don't get very much at all, has at least his sunk-cost fallacy explained through the memories of the people he's killed to get to that point.

Chronica's story, though largely removed from the people of No Man's Land, is given definition and stakes through the loss of Domina, and we are told about her incredible determination and strategy she has through her reputation with the Earth fleet.

Legato, desperate to play a singularly important role in Knives' story, tells his own through that lens and that lens only. The moment his life changed was the moment Knives entered it, and that is likely the most important memory to him - Knives is the only meaningful bond he has (sadly for him, this was not reciprocated). Well, an argument can be made for the contentious dynamic he builds with Vash too.

Even Knives, for all that he tried to separate himself from others, is known and seen through his connection with Vash - and his acceptance and unwillingness to fully lose this connection is not only what eventually saves him, but also the reason we, as the audience, know his story so well.

We see characters' stories in Trigun mainly through the bonds they share with others - never the whole story, but the sides that others knew of them.

So, who does Elendira have? Every interaction she has is shallow, dismissive, and exceedingly temporary. Through her dislike of Legato, we get that she may be somewhat bitter about his important status to Knives... but there is no elaboration, because it goes no further than that. Knives calls her directly on the phone, and she is very invested in his vision for the end of the world and intrigued by him... but it goes no further than that. He does not really seem to care about her beyond her effectiveness, and she does not offer any information about herself. Even her allegiance is kind of flimsy. She's only there because she wants to be.

During their final fight, Wolfwood lives on through Livio, through his actions and resolve. It is the teamwork between him and Razlo, in the spirit of Wolfwood, that eventually overpowers Elendira. Amusingly (at least to me), Livio is quite literally never alone, because he always has Razlo - and now, Wolfwood too.

"Yer too strong... and that's why yer gonna lose."

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Maximum Volume 13. Livio narrates over a shot of his eye, Razlo's eye, and finally, his whole face, with Wolfwood's final vial of serum between his teeth. "...to me... to Razlo... and to him." End ID.]

Elendira has succeeded in separating herself from everyone – she is the most powerful of the GHG, and every battle with her is basically one-sided – but she’s alone, and that’s not only why she loses… it’s also why we never get to know her in any meaningful way.

Because no one knows her. She has no personal connection with anyone. Her motivations never get any clarity. We don’t even know who did her modifications or how she gained her power. Even if she did have someone she cared for in the past, she apparently does not hold onto their memory. And maybe that's the reason she told the kids to bury Livio - not out of respect, but because to her, that is where the past belongs - dead and buried, soon to be joined by the rest of the world and humanity as it all comes to an end.

We never see Elendira’s story… because there is no one from whose eyes we can see it in any capacity.

#storyrambles #just my two cents lmao i'm sure there are far simpler explanations such as 'the author just didn't write it out' hdfbvdsh #but i like this one thematically #elendira is so cool. she's one of my favourites fr #trigun #trimax #trigunbookclub #elendira the crimsonnail #trigun meta #call me ace detective the way i am ace. and also a detective.#can i get all my analyses done before october ends? let's find out! (aaaaaa)

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abject-indulgence · 9 months

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transmasc/transman legato relationship hcs with someone who is also transmasc/a transman? sfw and nsfw if that’s okay :))))

Gladly.

I approached this set of thoughts specifically with TriStamp Legato in mind. Given, however, that he's had approximately five minutes of screen time so far, these impressions may change in the future as we learn more about this particular iteration of the character. For now, I hope these will suffice.

'YOLO', as the youth say.

CW: NSFW HCs (below the yellow 'adult content' divider), gender-affirming medical care, emotionally unhealthy dynamics, dubcon fantasy (implied), dominant/submissive dynamics, degradation/humiliation kink elements, use of toys

🍷 'Relationship' is likely a generous word for the dynamic at play. Legato is more apt to call it simply an 'arrangement' when left to his own devices, if indeed he calls it anything at all. You're playmates, as far as he's concerned -- but only at the appropriate times and in the appropriate places. He's not an 'attachments' kind of man, after all; as he's so very fond of reminding you.

🍷 (And that's an important thing to keep in mind, really -- the aversion he has to personal attachment. In truth, whether or not he's as incapable of understanding such things as he claims -- [he's not] -- isn't the issue. What is the issue though is the fact that his devotion to Millions Knives will eclipse all other things in his life so long as Millions Knives exists for him to fixate upon in the first place. Legato is nothing if not a loyal man; and Knives had his loyalty long before you came into the picture. There's very little you can say about this that he hasn't heard before.

What I'm saying is: you will never 'fix' Legato with patience or love alone. So -- what will you do?)

🍷 Legato favors a cultivated, sleek variety of masculinity in himself -- (less the brutalizing crush of a hammer, more the clever precision of a garrote) -- and thus takes a certain amount of satisfaction in his sighthound-like figure. There's a slinky, understated 'not altogether one, not altogether the other' quality in his looks that he's come to like, straddling an amorphous border between 'masculine' and 'feminine' in a way that's his to control and channel as he sees fit.

🍷 (Likewise, he favors a masculine presentation in prospective partners as well. He has something of a private little liking for people with a more physically imposing build than he himself possesses.)

🍷 Legato looks well on competence. He doesn't care for 'cute', and he doesn't care for 'naïve'; seeing excess softness in others as a childish flaw best either rectified, or toyed with for his own amusement. If he sees you as too gentle or too readily distracted from the bigger picture by your own emotional whims, then he's in no way above winding you up, manipulating you, or engineering situations designed to strain your commitment to your principles. He sees it as a favor, really -- even if you aren't inclined to agree just yet.

🍷 Legato has had top surgery -- (less as a specifically, strictly, consciously gender-affirming matter and more as a 'breasts, even small ones, are annoying and throw off my silhouette in a way I find visually irksome, and I would like to simply not deal with them anymore' matter) -- and opts for ongoing hormone replacement. He has no interest whatsoever in bottom surgery.

🍷 Legato typically takes a more domineering sexual role, somewhat stone-adjacent, due to a combination of personal factors, including [a] being particular about how people interact with various parts of his body and when, thus preferring to orchestrate the experience himself [b] relishing the sense of power over others in their most unguarded moments, and [c] an intense, general mistrust toward others which makes him wildly unwilling to be vulnerable in the ways that matter.

🍷 (This does not mean, however, that he doesn't privately fantasize at times about being taken, completely, by someone or something he couldn't say no to even if he wanted to. It's not so unusual, after all, for the very people who luxuriate in control to be fascinated too by the notion of having that control stripped away.)

🍷 He strongly prefers clitoral and external stimulation over vaginal penetration, to the point that it's typically best to assume that he doesn't want anything inside him unless he specifically invites it.

🍷 He also doesn't generally have much fondness for receiving oral. It's invasive, the combination of slimy, squirming tongue and panting breath is viscerally discomfiting if he isn't primed to tolerate it, and, quite frankly, most people are just not particularly good at it in the first place.

What he does like, however, is standing over you and letting you have a taste of him, passively permissive as your mouth urges against his cunt in needy, sloppy little pulls. If he doesn't feel like you quite deserve that at the moment though, he's prone to simply dipping a couple fingers inside himself for you to suck clean. Or gag on, for that matter.

🍷 Legato hates having his face stared at during sex. While many people find prolonged eye contact immensely intimate in erotic encounters, Legato finds it wildly irritating. At the best of times, he's apt to respond by self-suppressing, shifting in a way that breaks the line of sight, using the veil of his own hair as a barrier, and so on. At the worst of times, he's likely to snap something to the effect of a nettled, "Do you mind?" or, if his mood is soured enough, put a stop to things entirely and simply redress, radiating icy displeasure.

🍷 Legato finds strap-ons aesthetically inelegant, offputting, and, with few exceptions, absolutely ridiculous. He has no interest in using one on you. He might let you use one on him if he's feeling especially agreeable, but you'd best believe he's going to cock-shame your toy mercilessly all the same. You'd best also believe that he's going to pin you under him and spend as much leisure time as he wants figuring out just how to grind himself down onto it in a way that's utter torment on your cunt.

🍷 It's a bit of a game to him to see just how much of his hand he can fit inside you over time. Can you take all four fingers, do you think? How about his knuckles too?

#trigun #trigun stampede #trigun headcanons #legato bluesummers #legato x reader #mdni

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severalspoons · 4 years

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Liveblog: Rewatching Trigun, Episode 20

Surprise, this blog series continues! I have no intention of letting it end at episode 19. (I mean, that’s not even a nice round number!) While these aren’t liveblogs any more, they still give me an opportunity to discuss meta.

Life lesson learned: once you start a series of anything, do not stop until it’s finished--no matter what other projects come up, no matter how shiny they are, and no matter how much you’re dreading watching episode 23. Since I do my best work when feeling inspired, I hate to wait and let my enthusiasm for the new project cool, but jumping ship only ends in two unfinished projects instead of one.

This is going to be arranged by theme, not so much chronologically. Also, it ended up being more about Wolfwood than originally intended. Including a spoiler, so be careful.

Millie’s Transmitter

Millie reports that the Chief of Bernadelli gave her a transmitter/tracking device, which must be a rare, valuable piece of technology -- to prevent anyone from outwitting her. Meryl replies that this is nothing to brag about. I disagree.

First of all, the chief cares about her enough to entrust her with this bragworthy technology. She must have earned his trust and good opinion, also an achievement. He could easily punish or fire her, but instead gives her a tool to perform better. Countless people with learning disabilities dream of bosses like this.

People tend to take a harmful all-or-nothing attitude towards disabilities. Either PWD are incapable of doing things and nothing can be done about it, or they are capable of doing things, and shouldn’t need help. Since people with disabilities themselves live in society, they end up indoctrinated and taking the same attitudes towards themselves. Shame and self-hatred often result. People strive for years, often with therapy, to get to the matter of fact acceptance Millie shows here.

***

Vash in Hell

Everything is red, from the beginning. The sand, himself and his clothes, the sky. Knives comes into view, blurry and mostly in shadow, only one eye visible. What looks like meteors, probably chunks from the ships, fall through the sky like rain. We’re seeing from Vash’s point of view.

When waking Vash, Knives’ voice is normal, sounding like a real child. It doesn’t change to his growly evil voice until Vash accuses him of being a murderer. Then, his eye loses its pupil, and he suddenly appears to have fangs. He looks like he’s become some sort of monster. Not human, as Vash says.

Knives beats him up for even daring to compare him to a human. What hurts the most about this is you know it’ll be a long time, and probably many more such beatings, before Vash leaves.

Was it ever possible to take care of Knives? Was Rem’s last request reasonable?

Vash announces he’s finally ready to face Knives. What impresses me most: he’s finally making a significant decision for himself.

***

Meet the Folks

How is Vash more attractive in normal clothes than his signature coat, even in scenes showing only his face? Speaking of which, this episode is full of beautiful shots of Vash’s face. Wolfwood’s, too.

How the hell did Wolfwood get here? He said he was concerned about Vash crying then jumping off a cliff, and followed him. However, he seems to have climbed up from below. How would he have found a floating platform? Certainly, none is visible below him. And since he seems to know nothing about the flying ship, he can’t have taken Vash’s strategy and jumped onto a platform at just the right time.

“Come meet the folks!” Yes, they actually do have a summer cottage in the sky. Ever wonder why Vash’s head is always in the clouds? ;)

Wolfwood actually says “I’m getting sick of your lies.” Hypocritical much?

Wolfwood is the first guest Vash has brought “home” in over 20 years (in other words, since he became The Stampede)!

Does that mean that the whole time Vash has been on the run, he hasn’t visited the SEEDS ship (probably to prevent anyone tracking him from discovering it)? Vash could have simply hid out for the last 20 years in the SEEDS ship; it’s his home, after all. Instead, he chose to go out and protect people from Knives, and each other. (How many of us would have made the same choice?)

***

Inside Legato’s Lair

What does this informant know about Chapel’s duties? From the way Legato dismisses his concerns, it seems like Knives’ followers aren’t given much information about each other.

Wolfwood is now doomed. “You’re such a fool. Had you behaved, you might have lived to see Doomsday. But I’m pleased, for I now have the opportunity to carry out another of my master’s wishes.”

A surprisingly restrained evil chuckle from Legato. Thank you for sparing us a full-on villain laugh.

How does Legato get shoulder padding that sticks out that far? Each shoulder is almost twice as big as his head.

***

A Series of Awkward Events

The ship has a whole observation team. No one should be able to get up here without the SEEDS leaders knowing, right? Right? ...

The old man tells Brad Vash has changed over the years. How?

After all this buildup, Brad opens the door, letting in blinding light, and this is what he sees:

The legend acting like an idiot and getting his butt kicked. Very dignified.

This is Brad’s reaction:

“Is that your great legend?! Huh?!” “What a relief! He hasn’t changed at all.” (A relief? What were they afraid would have happened to him?)

Brad is not amused by Wolfwood’s touchy-feely ways.

“Who’s he?” Vash, looking embarrassed: “I’m not sure.” Fair enough, but not very helpful, and Wolfwood doesn’t elaborate. We already know and love Vash’s embarrassed grin, but I can’t get over Wolfwood’s almost sinister smile in the mirror.

A cute moment where Vash looks back like, “isn’t my place great?” and Wolfwood just gapes like an idiot. (Close your mouth, my dude. Flies are gonna get in).

Vash last visited about 20 years ago, and Jessica was a small child then, so she should be about 23 or 24. However, she looks and acts like a teenager. Vash inadvertently becomes part of an unwanted love triangle.

To his credit, Vash tries to put her off, in a joking way (”I have a reputation for being easy but even I need a bit of advance warning”). Wolfwood makes the whole situation worse by teasing Vash about his “girlfriend” in front of a fuming Brad. It’s as if he were going out of his way to antagonize the people on the ship.

When Vash actually has a chance to look at Jessica’s face, he remembers her. Think about that. He may only have met her once, it’s been 20 years, and he still recognizes her and remembers her name. How many other people does he remember from the past ~130 years? This is how he uses his powerful plant brain--Knives would view it as a waste.

Jessica cooks a feast for Vash, which, tragically, he won’t get to enjoy. How did she cook all this food so fast? It’s enough to feed the whole ship.

***

Wolfwood is mistrusted for the wrong reasons

Wolfwood actually takes off his shades and armor of acting like a jerk while introducing himself to Jessica. This is unusually open and vulnerable of him. He actually is trying to behave. But Brad, worried about “a bunch of outsiders” bringing war to their flying paradise, hits him where it hurts.

...Did I mention Wolfwood has beautiful eyes?

Anyway, everyone gathers around staring at Wolfwood from a distance, while he drops cigarettes on the ground. There’s an entire pile lying at his feet. The whole scene is the definition of passive aggressive.

What seems to anger Wolfwood is not so much how they treat him personally, but their denial combined with moral superiority. Not to push a metaphor too far, but these folks are able to take the moral high horse because their literal high position keeps them safe. Yet, they use this immense privilege not to help the world below, or to prepare for the ship’s inevitable fall, but to hide in their castle in the sky. It clicks for me that Wolfwood probably feels about running away the way Vash does about suicide (think back to episode 11).

The SEEDS dwellers do not seem to understand that Wolfwood is both trying to help them and a little resentful of what they have. To them, he is everything they’ve been taught to fear and hate, up here poisoning Paradise for them with his unpleasant ideas. Of course this sort of dynamic never happens in real life.

Also, keep in mind that none of them know anything about the people below directly, only from hearsay. They’re not wrong about Gunsmoke as a whole, but they treat Wolfwood like a monster rather than a person. That also never happens in real life.

Then he gets to the scene of a crime too late--but just in time to look like the one responsible. Although the ship dwellers would love to see him dead, he leaps to defend them against his own colleague. Knowing, perhaps, that doing this would confirm he switched sides, and his own days might be numbered. He doesn’t even pause to think, he just goes, the same way he did when the child went missing in episode 9.

***

Vash Will Save The Day

“Like you care. Five years is probably like a blink of the eye to you anyway.” Vash denies it, but the second part is probably true. He looks so surprised to hear it’s been five years.

It can’t be easy for Vash to admit that he was responsible for the “Fifth Moon Incident,” and is probably more dangerous than Knives. Once again, his only argument is “please.” But there’s no buffoonery or melodrama here. He’s dead serious, and that’s more convincing.

Wolfwood tries to stop Leonoff from saying his name. No one who would understand the significance or matters to him is present, just Brad and Jessica. Is he merely afraid others will hear? Does he still consider himself to be Chapel?

Even facing Leonoff, Wolfwood still hasn’t put his shades back on.

Now imagine if Vash managed to find ways out of no-win situations and save the day without all the whining and crying.

Wolfwood can pause and wait for once, having faith that Vash will show up. He knows there’s always a third option for Vash. He does not yet see any for himself. Still, progress nonetheless.

***

Unfortunately for me, Vash is back with his red coat in Vash the Stampede mode, yellow glasses hiding his face.

OK, I can see how Leonoff’s puppets get into the ship without being noticed, but how on Earth did the big guy even get here?

#liveblog #liveblogging #trigun anime #trigun #millie thompson #meryl stryfe #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #seeds ship #legato bluesummers #gung ho guns #leonoff the puppet master #character analysis #meta #brad and jessica #love and peace #ethics #faith

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nonoboymusic · 7 years

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Mitski Part I: Early Musical Influences Yumi Matsutoya and Miyuki Nakajima

One of the contemporary artists I’ve been researching recently is Mitski, a 26 year old “indie rock” musician who has found some success with a pair of excellent recent albums (Bury Me at Makeout Creek & Puberty 2) which examine youth and all its messiness through memorable melodies, striking vocal performances, while utilizing late 90s alternative fuzz guitar centric rock. Mitski uses her lyrics to explore different facets of her identity (youth, race, gender, sexuality) with great nuance and depth. Deservedly so, her single “Best American Girl” made many 2016 best of lists. The song, besides being a great, dynamic musical piece of power pop, articulates ideas about growing up looking or feeling different on the edges of the Richie Cunningham nuclear family ideal. The video--which features a Coachella girl stereotype making out with Mitski’s “best american boy”--does the song no favors and flattens out the complexity which her lyrics and the music can convey upon careful examination.

youtube

Mitski’s background is what it is. People make too much it from surface level observations that she is 1.) Japanese 2.) mixed 3.) a woman 4.) a rocker. From my research (both reading articles and interviews and speaking to her fans), I’ve found that other people are keen to identify her as “an other” and then use this outsider position as a journalistic angle, or, in the case of some of her fans, they want her to be a political spokeswoman for marginalized people, specifically Asian-Americans. Certainly, Mitski looks different (and writes differently) from what we have seen and heard before in indie rock, and she acknowledges that. In a surprisingly long email correspondence, Mitski was nice enough to write an essay length response to questions which aimed to flesh out Mitski as Asian-American rockstar, or Asian-American woman taking center stage, and add layers, historical, social and political, to who Mitski the human musician is.

As someone who is studying “Asian-American” musical cultures, it’s frustrating when journalists or fans latch onto people because they’re Japanese or Korean or Vietnamese or whatever, and make that dominate the narrative. It assumes things that may or may not be true for the artist in question, and it also flattens them out. If that’s the lead line and there is no examination of what it means to be Asian-American, then that cheap analysis is an exoticizing tool meant to capture a reader’s imagination. Unfortunately, this exoticization associates one-dimensional images of whatever Asian things mean to you onto that person and further perpetuate stereotypes. Few of these articles seem to care even where Mitski’s Japanese family is from in Japan (Mie prefecture), while in the same magazine or blog you will find stories about how (mostly white) musicians really lay claim to a certain sound of a certain region where they’re from or grew up or moved to or visited once.

Mitski, like myself, and other Asian-American musicians I’ve spoken with recently has a complex and complicated background, and it’s kind of a bummer to see the “Asian” thing (or the “woman in rock” thing) used in such a shallow way, to just set up an “outsider makes good” narrative. Those narratives are important for political reasons, because there is still real racism and sexism and not enough songs like “Best American Girl” out there. But the real story lies in calling into question the idea of the outsider based on racial lines by actually taking the time to tell that artist’s story which in turn breaks down the validity of any kind of superiority of an “insider” culture. That’s what I hope to do in sharing Mitski’s interview here. In bits and pieces, I want to go through some of what Mitski wrote to me. She offers a lot, so I’ll unroll this over time, but let’s start with the basic introductory music journalist question:

What music did your mom and dad listen to respectively?

“My mother was never really a music-listener, but she would hum or sing to herself often, and I found out later in life that she was singing Japanese songs of her youth - Japanese Pop songs of the late 70's-early 80's. She mostly sung songs by female singer-songwriters Yumi Matsutoya and Miyuki Nakajima, who I actually find my own songs sound a lot like! So I think a lot of my songwriting is subconsciously but greatly influenced by those two artists.

My father was something of an amateur ethnomusicologist. His specialties were the local/traditional music of Latin America (especially Cuba), Irish/Scottish/American Appalachian folk music, and Tibetan and Mongolian traditional music, including throat singing. This sounds really pretentious, but he just genuinely liked that music, so that's what was playing in our homes all the time, and that's what I'm familiar with.”

The artists Mitski name checks are fantastic and certainly deserve recognition. As noted, they were foundational “J Pop” artists of the 80s and made some phenomenal music.Here is a brief introduction to a few choice Yumi Matsutoya and Miyuki Nakajima tunes.

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"Rouge no Dengon" was released in 1975 on the Alfa label under Yumi Matsutoya’s former stage name Yumi Arai. She was born in 1954 in Tokyo. This song, which was a big hit for her, trades in vintage 1950s American rock n’ roll. The strings and background vocals which sweep in during the second verse are joyous and push the song towards its truly outstanding chorus section. Yumi’s voice is controlled and understated for most of the track, soaring only when necessary. For all the camp of the production of the video, and the obviously cribbed greatest hits of American 1950s tropes, it still manages to feel exciting and not played out. The song has a sense of movement, a buoyant propulsion which never bores the listener.

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By the late 1980s, Yumi Matsutoya’s work adopted the au currant synthesizer instrumentation which resulted in her most commercially successful work. “September Blue” from the 1988′s incredibly titled Delight Slight Light KISS is a synth feast of orchestra hits and a clave pattern which sounds pretty fresh now that we’re in this mid 2010′s tropical house moment in pop music production. By the time the song reaches its repetition of outro choruses and the background vocals are swelling and the horn hits are coming in and out, I am genuinely excited by the sweet jam unfolding before my ears.

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Miyuki Nakajima, born 1952 in Sapporo, is first and foremost and incredible songwriter. “Wakareuta (The Parting Song),” has such a brilliant melody and cool vibe. The string orchestration (chunky 8th notes mixed with legato patches) and minor key harmonies create a slinky cool feel which is just, like, super hip. I love the upstroke guitar work and the threatening dramatics of the song which hints at Rocky type theme music. J Pop, or whatever you want to call this late 70s era of production in Japan, was smashing together so many cool sounds, and because of writers like Nakajima and Matsutoya, they had some really great material to arrange and orchestrate.

#mitski #TPP #japanese #jpop #pop #music #miyuki nakajima #yumi matsutoya #influences #asian american

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bronovafourteen · 6 years

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Nina

Nikolina Bronova Mori, professionally known as Nina, is a brazilian and naturalized american, bulgarian and japanese singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, dancer, choreographer and actress under Columbia Records. She is amongst a small group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Nina holds the record for the artist with the most singles to top both the Billboard Hot 100. She is also the only artist to have all albums debut at the top of the Billboard 200.

Profile

Full name: Nikolina Bronova Mori (Николина бронова 森). Birth date: December 7th 1996 (21). Birth place: São Paulo, Brazil. Zodiac sign: Sagittarius. Chinese zodiac sign: Fire rat. Height: 1.68cm. Weight: 52kg. Blood type: O. Voica type: Soprano. Vocal analysis: Star.

Curiosities

Animals: Miku (pomeranian) and Misha (rottweiler). Body type: Theatrical romantic (medium height, hourglass and voluptuous figure, medium to big bustline, small waist, fleshy arms and legs, small and delicate bone structure with a soft sharpness). Cup size: B. Ethnicity: Brazilian, bulgarian, italian and japanese. Face type: Classic (balanced and symmetrical). Family: Shigeru Mori (father), Ekaterina Konstantinova Bronova (mother), Elena Bronova Mori (older sister) and Karolina Bronova Mori (younger sister). Hobbies: Reading, drawing, listening to music, singing, dancing, watching movies and television series, exercising, traveling, collecting pens and notebooks, taking pictures, riding her bycicle and writing music. Instruments: Acoustic guitar, banjo, banjo ukulele, baritone guitar, bass guitar, clarinet, classical guitar, drums, electric bass guitar, electric guitar, flamento guitar, flute, harmonica, harp, keyboard, piano, synthesizer and violin. Languages: Bulgarian, english, french, japanese, korean, mandarin, portuguese, russian and spanish. Religion: Catholic. Sexual orientation: Heterosexual. Shoe size: 7.5 (US).

Early life

Nikolina was born in Ribeirão Preto, the daughter of a bulgarian lawyer and a japanese farmer. She lived in Brazil until the age of seven, when she moved with her mother and sisters to Bulgaria, following her parent’s divorce. From the age of five, she wanted to become a singer, and took various musical classes throughout her early years. She moved to the United States as an exchange student in 2010 and, after posting music covers on YouTube, she was discovered by a representative of Columbia Records and signed to the label.

Personality

Positive traits: Adventurous, brave, broad-minded, charming, compassionate, creative, determined, diplomatic, faithful, freedom-loving, friendly, good-humored, honest, humanitarian, independent, intellectual, intuitive, jovial, loyal, magnetic, modest, optimistic, philosophical, realistic, self-confident, sensitive, sympathetic, warmhearted and well-liked. Negative traits: Competitive, compulsive, greedy, escapist, idealistic, irritable, obsessive, resentful, restless, selfish and a worrier.

She is known for being very nice to her fans. Many of them report being well treated by her whenever they meet.

Physical appearance

Black and straight hair. Green eyes. Fair skin. Curvy. Dimples. Two piercings on her left ear and three on her right ear. One tattoo on her left ribcage (“to the stars to the moon”) and one tattoo on her right shoulder (japanese writing of “Mori”) and one tattoo on her right wrist (written “honey”).

Vocals

Critic Of Music

Vocal type: Spinto-soprano. Positives: Legendary interpretive wit, thanks to incredible knowledge of musical phrasing and vocal pedagogy. A defining, trademarked voice. Incredible breath support, showing no signs of fatigue and carrying extensive legato passages with ease. Incredible utilization of dynamics, using all volumes from fortissimo to pianissimo and everything in between to craft incredible phrases. Great control of her passagio and incredibly balanced instrument. Powerful, resonant belts that are mixed with head voice, that are well-supported and healthy, projecting massive resonance with ease. A master of breath support. Able to rapid fire mid and upper belts. Her low notes are also well supported, dark and full. The head voice is resonant and piercing, full and fluid. Her vibrato is well developed and rolling, and can be executed with ease. Her timbre is velvety and luscious and makes for a perfect midrange. She is also able to sing complex melisma in all registers, with every register well connected. Her falsetto is light and sweet. She also has unparalleled register transitions, switching from chest to head, head to whistle, and even chest to whistle without as much of a pause. Pitch perfect in 99% of performances. Technically, a brilliant singer. Negatives: Occasionally raises her larynx in upper-belts.

Albums and singles

Yours Truly (2014) Into You Love Me Harder One Last Time Problem (ft. Big Sean) The Way Too Little Too Late

Vivid (2015) All I Want For Christmas Emotions I Wanna Dance With Somebody Love On Top No One Physical

Revival (2016) Bills, Bills, Bills Bootylicious If I Were A Boy Independent Women Say My Name Single Ladies

Here, My Dear (2017) Attention Can’t Feel My Face Diamonds Let’s Groove September Sexual Healing

Fever (2018) Bad Liar Dangerous Woman Do I Wanna Know? Psycho Killer Take Me To Church Wild Thoughts

Portrait (2020) Back To Black Chandelier Drunk In Love Love On The Brain Stone Cold Un-Break My Heart

Spirit (2022) Hello Rolling In The Deep Send My Love Set Fire To The Rain Someone Like You

Who I Am (2025) Because Of You Bleeding Love Fallin’ Halo If I Ain’t Got You I’m Not The Only One

Time (2028) Can’t Make You Love Me I Have Nothing I Look To You I Will Always Love You When We Were Young

How Does That Grab You? (2030) Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) Dust In The Wind Every Breath You Take Killing Me Softly The Sound Of Silence

Katerina (2032) Bohemian Rhapsody Come Together I Want To Break Free Sign Of The Times Somebody To Love We Are The Champions

Waiting To Exhale (2035) Always On My Mind Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood Hurt The Blower’s Daughter Wonderwall

The Diary Of Nina (2038) Can’t Help Falling In Love From This Moment On Here Comes The Sun Loving You Yesterday You’re Still The One

Glassheart (2040) A Change Is Gonna Come All The Man I Need Cruisin’ Greatest Love Of All Let’s Stay Together Say A Little Prayer

Bird Of Happiness (2045) Dreamlover Hero Love Takes Time Someday Vision Of Love We Belong Together

These Are My Blues (2050) At Last Feeling Good I Put A Spell On You Respect Something’s Got A Hold On Me This Is A Man’s World

Albums and non-title tracks

Yours Truly (2014) Bad Decisions Be My Baby Closer Fools For Him Gone And Found Greedy Higher How I Want Ya (ft. Jordan Fisher) How To Be A Heartbreaker I Don’t Care Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart Let Me Love You Never Wanna Know Only One Paper Heart Right There Sometimes Tattooed Heart Tears (ft. Clean Bandit) Touch Me Wild You’ll Never Know

Vivid (2015) All That Baby, I Body Language Boy Problems Can’t Sleep Love Come Alive (ft. Toro Y Moi) Cry Dorothy Dandrige Eyes (ft. Esperanza Spalding) Dust Is Gone Finesse First Time Gimme Love Hard To Say No I Didn’t Just Come Here To Dance Maiden Making The Most Of The Night Primetime (ft. Miguel) Run Away With Me Say You’ll Be There Schoolin’ Life Store The One Too Good To Say Goodbye We Were Rock & Roll Your Type

Revival (2016) 10-20-40 Be Alright Countdown Cyber Stockholm Syndrome Ego Fantasy (ft. Amber Liu) Gave It Away Glow If I Ever Fall In Love (ft. Janelle Monáe) I Got The Juice (ft. Pharrell Williams) Knew Better Listen No Mythologies To Follow No Tears Left To Cry Oh No! Primadonna Girl Red In The Grey Ridin’ (ft. A$AP Rocky) Rose Gold Simple Things Slow Love Tears (ft. Clean Bandit) Ugly West Coast What An Experience

Here, My Dear (2017) 6 Inch (ft. The Weeknd) Adorn After The Love Has Gone A Lonely Night Bound Broken Clocks Coffee Done For Me Emotion Every Kind Of Way Falling For You Fetish (ft. Schoolboy Q) Fire Rides Heart Less In Your Bed Love On The Weekend Lovely (ft. Khalid) Ocean Eyes Passionfruit Perfect Sir Greendown Somebody Else Something About Us (ft. Daft Punk) Sure Thing Thinking About You Too Good (ft. Alan Love) Touch Me

Fever (2018) After The Storm (ft. Bootsy Collins and Tyler, The Creator) Are You Satisfied? Baby Boy Birth In Reverse Black Sheep Cupid’s Chokehold Empty Nesters Faster Forrest Gump I Wanna Be Yours Locked Inside Miracle Alligner Night By Night No Control One For The Road Puppet Love Redbone Run Baby Run Self Control Someone New Stockholm Syndrome Strange Mercy To Be Alone Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? Yeah Right Your Teeth In My Neck Zombie

Portrait (2020) Belly Ache Betsy On The Roof Bored Cake Copycat Django Sambo Eyes On Fire Hostage I Don’t Wanna Be You Anymore If These Walls Could Talk Liability Love Is A Losing Game Nicest Thing Pilgrim Reality Russian Roulette Serial Killer Talk Me Down Tears Dry On Their Own Teen Idle Tunnel Vision (ft. Shamir) Victory Until We Bleed Use Me You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore You Know I’m No Good

Spirit (2022) 57821 (ft. Deep Cotton) All I Ask Dark Paradise Hometown Glory I Can’t Get Started I Don’t Trust Myself With Loving You It Takes A Lot To Know A Man Love In The Dark Lucky Million Years Ago Never Been In Love Before River Lea Rumour Has It Sad Girl Salvation Speechless Sweetest Devotion Tightrope (ft. Big Boi) Turning Tables Venus Video Games Vultures Water Under The Bridge You Young And Beautiful

Who I Am (2025) Almost Is Never Enough As Long As You Love Me Bad Religion Cannonball Crave You Draw Your Swords Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic Fireproof Freak Home Just A Boy Let’s Get Lost Listen Malibu Midnight Bottle Moonlight Oh, Maker! Older Chests Start Of Time Talking To The Moon Tell Me That You Love Me Training Wheels Valentine Volcano Whatever You Like

Time (2028) 9 Crimes All Of You Can’t Pretend Caught Don’t Look Back Emotion Illuminated I Miss You Jealous Lies Little Boy Blue Love Nick Of Time Nirvana Nitesky (ft. Robot Koch) Nostalgia One (ft. U2) Palace Pink (ft. Grimes) Religion Remedy The Chain Wolves Wondaland

How Does That Grab You? (2030) All I Have To Do Is Dream Build Me Up Buttercup But Not For Me Can’t Live Without Your Love Heal The World I Fall In Love Too Easily If I Had You I’ll Be There I’m A Ruin I’m Gonna Find Another You Immortal It’s My Party Look For The Silver Lining Look Into My Eyes Make You Feel My Love My Funny Valentine Only Hope Pink Matter Quickie Slow Dancing In A Burning Room Solo (ft. Andre 3000) The Touch Of Yours Lips Want You Back Wonder You Don’t Own Me

Katerina (2032) Bloodsport Boogieman Come To Mama Holding On Ivy Japanese Denim Killer Queen Land Locked Blues Leave Me Lonely (ft. Macy Gray) Like Real People Do My Favorite Faded Fantasy Neon Valley Street Pain Please Don’t Leave Me Regret Sally Ride Sinner’s Prayer Sober Slow It Down Somebody Told Me Stop The World Touch When You Were Young Who Knew Yellow Brick Road

Waiting To Exhale (2035) A Heartbreak All The Way Down Blood Dazed In Daydreams Delicate Elephant Everywhere I Go Freedom (ft. Kentorey Johnson) Guiding Light Heart Beats Slow I Don’t Want To Change You I’m Afraid In Chains Love Me Like I’m Not Made Of Stone Medicine No Such Thing One Flight Down Pink + White Put Your Number In My Phone Rootless Tree Run Say It To Me Now Ship To Wreck The Animals Were Gone You Don’t Have To Go

The Diary Of Nina (2038) Big Jet Plane Blackbird Burning Love Clementine Color Me In Creature Fear Dogs Don’t Know Why Falling Slowly Flightless Bird, American Mouth Gravity Happily He Was Too Good To Me Love Has No Pride Lua My Ideal Paper Aeroplane Slow Dancing In A Burning Room Stand Tall Strong The Long Day Is Over The Moon Song Time After Time Waiting On The World To Change

Glassheart (2040) All This And Heaven Too A Woman’s Worth Believe In You And Me Crazy, Classic, Life Follow Rivers Hardest Of Hearts Honeymoon Avenue I Am Every Woman It’s Always You Like You’ll Never See Me Again Never Let Me Go One Night Only Picture Me Gone Radioactive Run To You Screwed (ft. Zoë Kravitz) The Light Is On Tired Of Being Alone Tomorrow (ft. Tame Impala) Valley Of The Dolls Want You Back You’re Still My Man

Bird Of Happiness (2045) Alterlife Always Be My Baby Anytime You Need A Friend Can’t Let Go Cosmic Love Dirty Computer (ft. Brian Wilson) Drumming Song Falling I Don’t Wanna Cry I’m Not Calling You A Liar Lay All Your Love On Me Like Someone In Love Living Dead Make Me Feel My All One Summer Night Shoot The Moon Suspicious Mind Take Me To The River The State Of Dreaming Wildest Dreams Without You

These Are My Blues (2050) Ain’t No Way Buy The Stars Code Cold Cold Heart Don’t Judge Me Do You? Embraceable You How Deep Is The Ocean? Hypocrates I’d Rather Go Blind I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes) I Want You I Was Here Lipstick Long Long Way Love T.K.O My Future Just Passed Take A Bite Too Much Heaven Valerie Voila What’s New? You Light Up My Life

Singles

No Tears Left To Cry (2018) No Tears Left To Cry

Collaborations

2015 Hymn For The Weekend (ft. Coldplay)

2016 You Know You Like It (ft. DJ Snake)

2017 24k Magic (ft. Bruno Mars) Loyalty (ft. Kentorey Johnson)

2018 Sensual Seduction (ft. Cardi B)

2021 Get Lucky (ft. Daft Punk) Lose Yourself To Dance (ft. Daft Punk)

2027 Lost On The Way Home (ft. Chromeo)

2029 Stay (ft. Mikky Ekko)

2034 Digital Love (ft. Daft Punk) I Feel It Coming (ft. Daft Punk)

2036 Beautiful (ft. Miguel)

2043 Empire State Of Mind (ft. Kentorey Johnson)

2058 How Deep Is Your Love (ft. The Bird And The Bee)

Soundtracks

La La Land (2019) City Of Stars I Won’t Say I’m In Love The Audition

Lés Miserables (2024) On My Own

Breakfast At Tifanny’s (2026) La Vi En Rose Moon River Once Upon A Dream

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (2033) The Bells Of Notre Dame

Pocahontas (2037) Colors Of The Wind If I Never Knew You Just Around The Riverbend Savages (Part One) Savages (Part Two)

Funny Girl (2041) A Piece Of Sky Don’t Rain On My Parade My Man The Man That Got Away Why Don’t You Do Right?

Anastasia (2046) Journey To The Past Learn To Do It Once Upon A December

The Nightmare Before Christmas (2049) Finale Kidnap The Sandy Claws Sally’s Song

The Prince Of Egypt (2057) Deliver Us When You Believe

Filmography (movies)

La La Land (2019) Breakfast At Tiffany’s (2026) The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (2033) Funny Girl (2041) Two Days, One Night (2044) Anastasia (2046) The Nightmare Before Christmas (2049) I Am Love (2053) The Prince Of Egypt (2057) Amour (2084)

Filmography (television series)

Pocahontas (2037)

Theatre

Lés Miserables (2024)

Covers (on YouTube)

2011 Everytime by Britney Spears. Like I’m Gonna Lose You by John Legend.

2012 E.T by Katy Perry. Paparazzi by Lady Gaga.

Cover performances

NBA All-Star (2016) Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key.

BBC Radio 1 (2017) Bad Romance by Lady Gaga.

American Music Awards (2019) Got To Be Real by Cheryl Lynn (with Cheryl Lynn).

Grammy Awards (2023) Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (with Pentatonix).

BBC Radio 1 (2028) Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez.

Super Bowl (2034) Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key.

BBC Radio 1 (2042) Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears.

MTV Music Video Awards (2049) My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion.

Partners

Owen Teague (2012) Tidiou M’Baye (2016-2017) Jeremy Lin (2018-) *married in 2019

Children

Anton Lin (2027) Isabela Lin (2029) Luna Lin (2032)

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bronovaseven · 6 years

Text

Nina

Nikolina Bronova Mori, professionally known as Nina, is an american and naturalized bulgarian and japanese singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, choreographer and actress under Columbia Records. She is amongst a small group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Nina holds the record for the artist with the most singles to top the Billboard Hot 100. She is also one of the only artist to have all albums debut at the top of the Billboard 200.

Profile

Full name: Nikolina Bronova Mori (Николина бронова 森). Birth date: December 7th 1998 (19). Birth place: Washington, United States. Zodiac sign: Sagittarius. Chinese zodiac sign: Earth tiger. Height: 1.68cm. Weight: 52kg. Nicknames: Goddess Of Music, Queen B, Songbird Supreme and The Voice. Blood type: O. Voice type: Soprano. Vocal ranking: Star.

Curiosities

Animals: Miku (pomeranian) and Misha (rottweiler). Body type: Theatrical romantic (medium height, hourglass and voluptuous figure, medium to big bustline, small waist, fleshy arms and legs, small and delicate bone structure with a soft sharpness). Cup size: C. Ethnicity: Brazilian, bulgarian, japanese and portuguese. Face type: Classic (symmetrical and balanced features). Family: Shigeru Sugahara Mori (father), Katarina Montes Bronova (mother) and Karolina Bronova Mori (younger sister). Fandom name: Beehive. Hobbies: Reading, drawing, listening to music, singing, dancing, watching movies and television series, exercising, traveling, collecting pens and notebooks, taking pictures, riding her bycicle and writing music. Instruments: Acoustic guitar, banjo, banjo ukulele, baritone guitar, bass guitar, clarinet, classical guitar, drums, electric bass guitar, electric guitar, flamento guitar, flute, harmonica, harp, keyboard, piano, synthesizer and violin. Languages: Bulgarian, english, french, japanese, korean, mandarin, portuguese, russian and spanish. Nicknames: Goddess Of Music, Queen B, Songbird Supreme and The Voice. Religion: Catholic. Sexual orientation: Heterosexual. Shoe size: 7.5 (US).

Early life

Nikolina was born in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a bulgarian lawyer and a japanese farmer. From the early age of five, she wanted to become a singer, and took various musical classes throughout her early years. After staring in the Broadway production of Lés Miserables and winning a Tony Award for her performance, she was discovered by a representative of Columbia Records and signed to the label.

Personality

She is known for being very nice to her fans. Many of them report being well treated by her whenever they meet.

Physical appearance

Black and straight hair. Green eyes. Fair skin. Curvy. Dimples. Two piercings on her left ear and three on her right ear.One tattoo on her left ribcage (“to the stars to the moon”) and one tattoo on her right shoulder (japanese writing of “Mori”).

Vocals

Critic Of Music

Albums and singles

Vivid (2015) All I Want For Christmas Emotions I Wanna Dance With Somebody Love On Top No One Physical

Yours Truly (2016) Into You Love Me Better One Last Time Problem (ft. Big Sean) The Way Too Little Too Late

Revival (2017) Bills, Bills, Bills Bootylicious If I Were A Boy Independent Women Say My Name Single Ladies

Lemonade (2018) Can’t Feel My Face Diamonds How Can I Ease The Pain? Let’s Groove September Sexual Healing

Fever (2019) Bad Liar Dangerous Woman Do I Wanna Know? Psycho Killer Take Me To Church Wild Thoughts

Portrait (2020) Back To Black Chandelier Drunk In Love Love On The Brain Stone Cold Un-Break My Heart

Who I Am (2022) Because Of You Bleeding Love Fallin’ Halo If I Ain’t Got You Million Reasons

Spirit (2025) Hello Rolling In The Deep Send My Love Set Fire To The Rain Someone Like You