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slipping-through-my-fingertips · 3 years

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If Glee did a Taylor Swift Tribute Episode...

Just my opinions, feel free to add on to them. I know I have some fellow gleek swifties following me. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Obviously they have to do some of the hits but I think some people would have some out of the box picks.

*This post assumes all Taylor songs are available to choose from as of May 14th 2021 but focuses on Taylor’s first 6 albums (if you want more glee and Taylor I have fics with that; LOVER and FOLKLORE) and takes liberties with where this episode’s placement is in terms of canon. But since it’s all made up anyway who cares (but Blaine’s involved so I guess season 3 idk).*

Okay, trying to do a full plot here (completely inspired by @kurtdeservesbetter head canon posts. I hope this lives up to her fabulous posts). This will be my version of glee so everyone gets solos and Rachel can’t hog the spotlight. Also, this is about to be super long (both post wise and episode wise).

Let’s open the first episode with

...Ready For It because the New Directions are in their reputation era. Santana does the opening cough centerstage. Everyone in black and/or camo green outfits (can you just see Kurt in a dark green bedazzled snake jacket, Santana in a black leather dress, and Tina digging out some goth clothes for people to borrow?), snakes everywhere, but probably no Karyn (she just wouldn’t fit on the auditorium stage). Santana takes the first verse but we have Blaine step up for verse 2. (I just love their friendship in the Michael tribute, cute little badasses are BACK. Also him singing “Burton to this Taylor” is such a Klaine thing to do).

Everyone is still dressed in their rep outfits but we’re in the choir room now. Mr. Schue is talking about why Taylor had to disappear and clap back with rep, how rough the industry is for women and tries to uplift the ladies in the room and encourage them to not silence their voices (cue snarky comment from Santana about Rachel needing to be silent).

Then, Mr. Schue goes on about how you can only understand how Taylor got to her rep era by studying her earlier music. So we have a performance of Tim McGraw. Simple, front of the choir room performance, maybe Puck does guitar, and sitting on stools.

Everyone is surprised to find out how pumped Sam is for this assignment but he is all over it. “It's about time we did some country in this room.” Cue Sam and Quinn at her locker talking about their ‘date’ last night, Sam’s all cute and teasing and Quinn is not into it. She tells him it was fun but she was wrong, they shouldn’t do this again. In turn, he does a wonderful performance of Bye Bye Baby. He thought it was more but clearly he’s “a part of her past.”

Then, we’re in the empty choir room. Tina and Mike are there. (I love their cutesy duets) They sing Everything Has Changed and it’s utterly adorable. Can’t you hear Mike asking Tina if she’s “good to go” like Ed does? And while we’re on the subject of cute duets and RED, we flash to the courtyard to see Santana and Brittany. They turn Stay Stay Stay into a duet. “I’ve been loving you for quite some time,” “before you I only dated self-indulgent takers who took all their problems out on me,” “no one else is gonna love me when I’m mad, mad, mad,” and “it’s occurring to me that I’d like to hang out with you for my whole life” it’s perfect for them. Adorable ladies kisses are had.

Let’s toss in some boy drama for fun. Idk shit about football but somehow Puck is praised by their coach over Finn, which gets him all pissy, and Puck’s upset and jealous because Finn is back with Quinn now (this is why Quinn shut Sam now earlier, she changed her mind). Can we say duet of Bad Blood? “So if you’re coming my way...just don’t.”

After their dramatics, we have a Brittany solo in the choir room. It’s after school at this point (or whenever glee club is). Brittany does You’ll Always Find You Way Back Home.

When she finishes Mr. Schue tries to explain that it’s a Hannah Montana song. Britt injects that it’s confusing how she’s really Miley Cryus “like how can you be two people at once?”. Before Mr. Schue can continue, Kurt pipes up “you never specified that the songs had to be sung by Taylor Swift, just that they were her songs.” Mercedes adds, “yeah, Mr. Schue, Taylor wrote that song.” Mr. Schue concedes that he has once again been outwitted by Kurtcedes. The friends do their little hand shake thing.

With a sigh, Mr. Schue asks Mike if he’s ready to go and Mike asks to take things to the auditorium for some dancing room. Everyone’s on stage with him and it’s kind of a group number but Mike is the focus. It’s Shake It Off. All inspired by the music video. He’s tried to fit in elsewhere (i.e. football, with the smart kids, etc..) but he’s really himself in glee when he’s dancing.

Part 2 of Taylor Tribute Episodes

We begin with an ALL GIRL NUMBER of A Place In This World. Just because.

Glee is dismissed and we zoom in on Artie. He’s watching Tina with Mike and Brittany with Santana. Both Tina and Britt have broken his heart by this point. So, he’s rolling down the halls singing A Perfectly Good Heart. While Artie’s soloing, we cut to Rachel watching Finn and Quinn chatting. Artie’s song playing over this scene. Rachel is feeling similar to him at the moment.

She’s pretty sure Finn dumped her to be with Quinn again even though Kurt and Blaine told her they saw Quinn and Sam at the movies last night together making out in the back row. Fine, if that’s how he’s going to be, she doesn’t need him anyway. Cue Mr. Perfectly Fine. Uber dramatic solo performance walking around McKinley’s halls watching Finn and Quinn together ending in the auditorium alone. (see what I did there, both broken hearted peeps singing a song with Perfectly in it (this was not at all planned, actually, happy accident))

After some good old heartbreak, we have Kurt and Blaine on screen. Blaine walks into the auditorium to see Kurt sitting on the edge of the stage. “What’s all the fuss?” he asks from the door. Kurt had texted him “EMERGENCY.” The band starts to play and Kurt just starts singing, Enchanted. It’s time to profess their love for each other, just like they sing Perfect together in the car, this duet needs no audience. Blaine catches up and sings while walking towards his boyfriend. It’s very reminiscent of past New Directions competitions where they come in from the back and make their way to the stage. “Wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you?” Kurt and Blaine both know the answer to that question now but just a few months ago they were both wondering that exact thing.

They kiss before we cut to Kurt and Blaine walking hand in hand into the choir room where everyone else is already. Mr. Schue is praising the performances thus far and of course asks Rachel if she’s ready to solo (some practice for her completion solo). This causes an uproar from Mercedes and Santana. Another classic argument of how she gets too many solos. Mr. Schue tries to shut them both down but Santana tells Rachel to watch her back, and we get three very different reactions to this.

All three girls storm out.

First, we visit Mercedes alone in the courtyard. This solo is all about being hurt over this great thing in her life (glee) and her being denied happiness within that club. Thus, Cold As You. (mostly to indulge myself because she’d blow us away with this song).

Next, Rachel in the auditorium. A huge bridge on stage (very Speak Now Tour of her), belting out Better Than Revenge. Santana’s dropped the last straw (the humiliation, name calling, Finn at one point and now solos,) it’s too much this time.

And finally, Santana walking around McKinley, showing us flashes of Rachel ‘outshining’ her and the rest of glee and Mr. Schue being unfair, while singing Look What You Made Me Do.

Tina walks out at the same time as Rachel, Mercedes, and Santana but no one seems to put two and two together. She feels just as underutilized as the latter two do. She ends up in an empty classroom and sings The Outside. “Nobody ever lets me in” and “on the outside looking in.”

Once the 3, err 4, divas have left the room, Finn sticks up for Rachel. Quinn, of course, has something to say about this along the lines of “you always defend her.” Finn, intimated by her ‘scary Quinn’ fumbles and blurts “because she’s my girlfriend” WHICH IS NOT TRUE AT THIS POINT. Quinn dumps him on the spot, cuts quickly to Blaine and Kurt sharing some ‘oh my god, can you believe this’ expressions, and vanishes from the room.

By this point, Rachel is long gone from the auditorium but the bridge is still there.

Here’s where we go way off script but imagine, Quinn has decided to just quit boys. They’ve all failed her anyway, she’s better off being alone. She walks up the bridge and thinks to herself “god Rachel’s so dramatic, where did this thing even come from” before it hits her “fuck, I’m as bad as Finn. I want her.” Then, she starts singing Clean to herself in the auditorium, likely tearing up throughout and ending with a good cry. (Because Dianna would DELIVER with Clean.)

While Quinn is having a sexuality crisis, the rest of glee is still happening. They’re discussing upcoming competition and debating solos and songs.

Kurt’s all: “Mr. Schue, if I may” and performs a lovely rendition of Call It What You Want. Those opening lines are too good. “My castle (ie McKinley) crumbled overnight, brought a knife to a gun fight (ie couldn’t fight off Dave Karofsky), “I’m doing better than I ever was ‘cause my baby’s fit like a daydream,” and “at least I did one thing right.” When he’s done, Blaine’s a mess in the back of the choir room, and Mr. Schue says: “not really what we’re looking for but very nice, Kurt” however, Kurt’s too busy sitting beside Blaine teasing him about blushing.

Then, the missing girls return to the room having sung out their emotions. Quinn, having realized her feelings for Rachel, ends up soloing You Belong With Me to the New Directions in the choir room. Odd looks all around, no one knows what’s up with her and why does she keep glancing at Rachel? (Faberry just fit so well I had to add it, don’t know if I’m a shipper or not but it’s here now) (also thanks to @spicygemini for pointing out the obvious “Quinn would have ate YBWY”).

Mr. Schue wants to move the group to the audition to perform their final number of the Taylor Swift tribute well but Tina asks to sing first. He’s surprised but allows it, taking a seat with the rest of the New Directions.

Tina sings Beautiful Ghosts. “Watch from the dark, wait for my life to start” because New Directions is refusing to use her talents AGAIN. She’s singing this to Rachel and the girls who were in the Treble Tones. Because she absolutely SMASHES this number, the glee kids agree she gets solo for their next competition (and they deliver on that promise).

To conclude Part 2 of the Taylor tribute episode, we have a group performance of Long Live. “One day we will be remembered”, “all the years we stood there on the sidelines wishing for right now”, “for a moment a band of thrives in ripped up jeans got to rule the world” ie wining completions, “when they look at the pictures please tell them my name...”

#this took so long please enjoy it #Taylor tribute glee episode #glee head canon #gleek swifie #glee #taylor swift

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peace-coast-island · 3 years

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Diary of a Junebug

Down by the fishing hole

The guys from Airy are back for a fishing tourney and more musical fun times! Joining them are Franny and little Ellie May, both who are enjoying the camp very much. It's been forever since I've seen the two so it's been great catching up with them.

Ellie May's full of spirit, she's a lot like her dad and aunt. I'm surprised that she kinda remembered me a little from when I last visited Airy, which was maybe four or five years ago - not too long before I came to the camp so around that time period. She was probably around two as she was walking and talking by then.

Sam says that Ellie May couldn't wait to come to the camp so she's been marking down the days until the tourney on the calendar. It's no surprise that she's into the great outdoors like her parents. At home she would tag along with Sam, Buddy, and Storm on their fishing trips at Sawyer Lake right outside town. And like the guys, Ellie May has a knack for fishing.

Franny's a bit of an outlier as she's not an avid fisher, but she does like hanging out with the guys. Though it's more so she can keep an eye on them. Buddy and Storm have a way of attracting trouble while Ellie May has Sam wrapped around her finger so it's up to Franny to be a couple steps ahead when their antics drive them up a wall.

What I love about Franny is that on the outside she looks like the kind of person who's got her shit together - the sole braincell of the gang. Independent, intelligent, creative, badass - there's a reason why she's a force to be reckoned with. Though on the inside she's just as crazy and eccentric as the others - and that's why everyone looks up to her.

While fishing, we got to talking about what's been going on in Airy. Ellie May's on the soccer team at school and taking piano lessons with a neighbor. Sam and Franny's dad is semi-retiring from the Airy Gazette, which is slowly phasing out newspapers to go completely online by next year. The community choir album is progressing while In Hopes and Dreams is a hit, prompting Storm to work on recording more music. Buddy's running the gas station/auto shop as usual. Franny is filling prescriptions and keeping up with current events. Sam's balancing town council and home life as well as dabbling as a songwriter.

Airy's one of those small towns that has adapted and changed over years while still retaining its heart. People like Franny, Sam, Ellie May, and Buddy are rooted firmly to their town, their families having been there for generations. Franny and Sam's grandpa, Andy Beryl, was a well known townfolk. He was the good samaritan, the kind of guy who takes the time to help others and actively worked to make the town a better place. There's a plaque in the courthouse dedicated to him in the office where he worked - it was brand new when I last visited.

We also got to talking about Andy Beryl a bit as it's been almost ten years since his passing. Imagine if he had lived a few more years he would've gotten to know Ellie May. Sam and Franny speak highly of him, talking about fond memories of him telling stories of the shenanigans he and his friends got up to in town. Among his friends included Buddy and Storm's grandpa, who was also known for getting into sticky situations that involved Andy stepping in to save the day.

Being part of the town council, Sam and Franny feel a sense of responsibility for the town. Since taking on the role of head council, Sam has kinda followed in his grandpa's footsteps - even mirroring his life in a way. Along with being the go-to person in town, Sam, like Andy, is also a single parent who's trying their best. The Beryls hold pride in their family name but at the same time avoid putting it up on a pedestal. After all, they're regular folks just like everyone else - something that seems to get muddled over the years but the message's clear enough. They have a legacy that they're proud of and want to keep it up, to make things even better for the next generation.

Speaking of generations, what's interesting about Airy is how different things were thirty years ago. During Andy's time, the town was mostly white - English, Irish, Scottish, German - most who have been living there for generations. Now most of the people in Airy are mixed, mainly white and Asian like the present company. Sam and Franny's father, Andy's son, married his college sweetheart, a Cambodian immigrant. As a result, Sam and Franny grew up with a mix of both cultures and know how to speak Khmer. It's fun seeing them bickering in their second language, because even if you don't understand what they're saying, at least you get what's going on.

(Also I'm lowkey jealous of how well they speak Khmer. I can barely hold a basic conversation, plus my pronunciation totally butchers the language. They say theirs isn't that great either but compared to mine, it's nothing. Sorry Mom, I'm trying but Khmer is hard.)

And as for Ellie May, her mom, Ellie, was born from Mexican immigrants. Ellie's parents visit often so Ellie May's picked up Spanish from them, making her trilingual. It seems early, but her grandparents want Ellie May to have a quinceañera, though before we know it, that day will come soon! It's good to see Ellie May proud of her heritages as well as showing off her impressive language skills!

Again, I find it interesting how much the demographic? culture? of Airy has shifted so much over the past 30-40 years, which is basically Sam, Franny, Buddy, and Storm's generation. Pretty much everyone around their age is born from a longtime Airy townfolk and an immigrant. I wonder how much more Airy will change with Ellie May's generation.

In between fishing sessions, we did a bunch of fun activities. Buddy was in his element at OK Motors tinkering with engines. He's a bit unconventional when it comes to fixing cars but he's got his ways. Storm messed around with engines too while looking for songwriting inspiration. He and Sam have written a couple songs over the past few weeks so they'll be dropping by the island in the near future to record. I'm happy that Storm's getting back into writing music, especially now that things are finally working out in his favor in terms of creative control.

Franny and Ellie May enjoy hiking and foraging, they've gathered a lot of berries so we're gonna be making something with them. We're debating on whether to make a pie or a bunch of little tarts - either one sounds good. Sam brought his guitar, prompting spontaneous jam sessions throughout the camp. Like Storm, he's been getting into music too, especially since discovering his talent as a lyricist. We've heard live performances of the new songs - Out of Reach, Dandelions, and Where the Ferns Grow - all which sounded fantastic. Hopefully there's more where that came from.

Since working on In Hopes and Dreams, Sam has also been seeing a counselor. With the song being about grief and loss and now that Ellie May's become more curious about her mom, Sam finally realized that he needed help. Talking about Ellie has been difficult but he knew that he can't keep avoiding it forever, especially for Ellie May's sake. I haven't known Ellie for long but her absence is felt, which I think says a lot about her.

While the others fished, Franny collected seashells and took a bunch of pics. Sam managed to catch a lot of doubles as well as a shark during the off hours. Despite almost getting yeeted in the middle of the ocean, he managed to drag the shark to shore - with our help, of course. Ellie May drew a cute sticker for him that says "I fought a shark and won!" with a funny doodle to go with it, which he stuck on his jacket for all to see. The two have such a sweet bond, it's fun seeing Sam carry Ellie May up on his shoulders as they laugh and run around the camp.

Earlier today we took a short hike along the thornberry trail behind the camp. That probably wasn't the best idea as the path's kinda narrow and we had to watch out for thorns. Sam had to go after Ellie May, who was running around, and both ended up stuck in a bramble bush. Thankfully their injuries are nothing serious, but they looked painful. As soon as they took off, Franny knew that something like that was gonna happen as both have a tendency to be too curious while easily distracted. It doesn't matter how grown up you are, the older sibling never stops being the caretaker for the younger one.

Just for the record, Ellie May was a lot braver than Sam - and she has more scrapes and bumps than him. Though for him, it's less the pain and more that the sight of blood puts him off. There's a reason why Franny followed their mom's footsteps to study medicine and he didn't.

Aside from that little mishap, everything else has been going well. Franny, Daisy Jane and Norma made fish pies that turned out great. They're basically like seafood chowders with a puff pastry layer on top. Stu and Buddy helped Reese and Cyrus build a gazebo that's ready to paint so that's what we're gonna do tomorrow. Storm, Candi, and Tipper hung out at Sunbust Island and harvested coconuts to make smoothies. Sam and Ellie May helped me run errands while sightseeing and stocking up on supplies. Just another fun and busy day at the camp!

In between those activities, we met up at the beach for another round of fishing. The tourney fish seem to gravitate towards the area near the cliff so we called that spot the fishing hole. It's a nice area to be situated in, kind of like our own little nook in the ocean.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

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pirlaemeritus · 4 years

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First Ritual Experience: taint tickling in Mantova.

Two days ago I finally got the chance to see Ghost live for the first time. I had such a great night, it was really an outstanding concert, which I had been waiting for for months, so I was super excited about it. My boyfriend offered to come with me to Mantova (Italy) to see them, and it was really nice of him, since 1) he had never heard of Ghost before, and 2) Mantova is about a 3 hour drive from where we live. I was a little afraid that he would have gotten bored, since he didn’t know any of the songs or anything about Ghost in general, so I tried to give him something to listen to, to see if he liked it. Though he fell in love with Prequelle, going to a Ritual was still a pretty daunting experience for him, but I really appreciate that he came with me anyways.

We both ended up having a great time! He was really curious about all the lore around the Cardinal, the Papas and the Ghouls and I did my best to explain to him without sounding like too much of a dork or a weird ass cult member. But besides of this, I was excited to see what reaction could a full Ghost concert cause on someone like him. Therefore, I collected all the best moments from the Ritual, as a kind of a social experiment (?), but also because I don’t want to forget any of them.

Here we go:

- before going to the show, he saw me putting on makeup and asked me to help him apply some eyeliner, saying “I already have enough dark circles to look like the cardinal, I might as well copy his look properly”.

- when the lights turned on at the beginning of the concert, he didn’t notice the presence of the Ghouls at first, because they were standing still on the stage and got scared when they started moving around because he had no idea they were there.

- when Copia came out on the stage with the red suit on, the first thing he noticed was literally his thiccness, saying that “it’s just not fair”.

- “Is... is he trying to finger the microphone stand?”

- he felt sorry for Aether when Dew started bullying him and called Dew “a mean grasshopper”.

- he kept asking me where the female choir voices were coming from, and when I pointed out the presence of the Ghoulettes (they were kind of far from us, and you couldn’t really see that their masks were different), he was absolutely astonished to find out that there were also girls in the group.

- we were not close to the stage enough to see Copia kneeling down to Cirice someone, so I decided to be a romantic dork and Ciriced my boyfriend. I’m sure I’m not half as charming as Copia or Papa III, but I swear I have never seen anyone looking both so flustered and confused at the same time. It was absolutely adorable.

- he screamed “YES GRANDPA!” during Nihil’s saxophone solo. He had no idea who Nihil was before this.

- when Copia came on the stage wearing the white suit, he claimes he looked “unsettling yet charming”. I’m pretty sure the Cardinal would have appreciated.

- he saw the Plague Doctors roaming on the stage before Dance Macabre started and with the most serious voice, he said “Amazing. I guess we’re going to die”.

- he took a shit ton of pictures during Dance Macabre’s performance, because of the rainbow-colored lights, which he said fitted with everything that I had ever told him about Ghost.

- since he had never heard Year Zero before, he was totally not expecting the crowd to explode screaming “HAIL SATAN!” , and after trying to get over the shock, he stated “My grandma would be so proud”.

- he got scared by the pyrotechnic stage effects and said “I could feel my eybrows catch fire, how are they not dead yet”.

- “I have never met this Sister Imperator that you keep talking about, but she sounds terrifying”.

- he had the most confused look during Copia’s speech about taint tickling, ass wobbling and nipples in general, but he kept laughing as well, so I guess it’s not a bad thing.

- (Referring to Copia) “I love that he’s so obsessed with nipples. I want to have a conversation with him”

- during Kiss The Go-Goat, he asked me what Dewdrop and Aether could be bickering about, and when I told him about the meaning of the song, he said he would definitely go for Aether, since “that other one looks like the spawn of Satan”.

- he hugged me super thight during He Is. I don’t really have a reason to add this moment to the list, but I want to share it anyways, because it felt so special to me.

- when I introduced him to every band member, I told him to keep an eye on Swiss, since he is so fun to look at when he’s performing. After a while, he stated that he’s “a little slutty, but like, in a really intimidatory way” and I guess he’s right.

- he was super hyped up for the Ghoulettes, and screamed “YOU GO BEYONCE!” during Mummy Dust’s keytar solo. I honestly don’t know what he was trying to say, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.

- he was really sad that I wasn’t able to catch the guitar pick that Aether threw at us (it hit my arm and fell on the floor, but the guy that was next to me picked it up before I could find it), so after the concert was over, he went around the pit, trying to find something else. He ended up finding two Ghost dollars, which made me really happy.

- after we had come back from the concert venue to our hotel, he kept looking at his own butt in the mirror and asked me if I will ever love him as much as I love Copia, even if he’s not as thicc as he is.

- when I told him about how, according to the lore, Sistor punched Nihil and gave him and his sons a white eye, he nodded and said “If she’s badass around to fuck up your genetics, you know it’s going to be a damn strong marriage”

I guess that’s it! I’m sure there are a lot of things that I forgot to add, but this is everything that I can list off for now! I’m so glad that my boyfriend enjoyed the show as much as I did, it was nice to see the ritual from a different perspective. I am also super grateful to him for choosing to come with me, and I’m so happy to hear that he had fun too. We had an amazing night in Mantova, and I can’t wait to see another Ghost concert as soon as possible!

#cardinal copia #the band ghost #ghost bc #the ultimate tour named death #ghost mantova

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 4 years

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for the celestial ball asks: 3, 4, 10, 17, & 18.

Oh thank you so much for asking! Let’s get this party started!

3: How did your MC get asked to the Ball {or} How did they ask someone to the Ball (even just as friends or as a group)

In the canon Celestial Ball, I’m definitely going with Ben for Gail because it’s the one time he’s actually an available option and he’s the person that she’s closest to - but it’s probably just as friends. Gail will bide her time until Badeea is available. As for Luca, I may just go with Merula for every quest across the board, or I might go with Tulip for as long as she’s available first. We all know how the Asking plays out for the Celestial Ball, but I figure Gail would be the one to do the asking, Luca would probably get asked because they’re shy. Though I can genuinely see something like...I dunno, Luca trying to write Merula a song. It would be absolute trash. But a sweet effort. I can see Gail not even asking Ben and more like, telling him. She can be a tad controlling, but she means well.

For the Yule Ball/Circle of Khanna class reunion idea, I figure it would go something like this. Luca and Penny meet up with Ismelda and they all go to visit Beatrice as she’s getting out of Potions class or something. (You’ve seen enough of my posts to know where this is going.) Cue Luca and Bea awkwardly trying to catch each other’s eye because they’ve been writing to each other for a while but probably haven’t seen each other for several months. Beatrice off-handedly mentions that no one asked her to the Celestial Ball. Penny catches on and makes an excuse to drag Ismelda away. There’s no official asking because I feel like these two have a lot of non-verbal communication, but before leaving Beatrice gets frustrated and says something to the effect of “Just promise that I can depend on you for a dance or two.” Luca takes the hint and offers, “Maybe more than that?”

4: Did your Jacob ask anyone or get asked to the Ball (even just as friends)? If so, how?

Assuming some kind of dance happened pre-HPHM for this one. I am, and I have always been, a major fan of Duncan/Jacob. In my head-canons, these two are constantly competing and trying to one-up each other, but also trusting one another with their lives. Jacob is the one Fawley that I can see Beating, and I think Duncan would have too. They’d try to outdo each other constantly - but also defend each other from outside threats with no hesitation. There’s only one brain cell on site and Olivia is the one to hold it. I figure she would push both of them into acting on their feelings. Try to encourage them to rise to the “challenge” of making their feelings known. Beating the other to the punch in asking them to the dance. Essentially, I interpret this dynamic as being like a blend between MC’s bond with Rowan, and their bond with Merula.

Jacob and Duncan both launch into convoluted plans to try and lead the other into a “trap” where they can be asked out and they’ll say yes. It comes to a head when they argue about all the previous tricks they’ve pulled on each other and Olivia, ever the Harry to this Romione romance, bursts into the room and yells “Oh my god, you two fancy each other! Duncan, you’re taking Jacob to the Ball and that’s final!” Or something to that effect. At which point the two boys start to stammer and be all flustered and shy around each other for the next few days. It’s great. Of course, once they actually get to the Ball, all bets are off and they try to out-dance each other, because that’s just what they do. It’s like Fred and Angelina but even more intense.

10: Do your MC and Jacob have a “routine”? (Aka song and/or dance they perform together?)

I’m gonna be real with you. Luca adores Jacob. Gail cannot stand him. Oh sure, she loves her brother, of course she does. But Luca would say that Jacob is their favorite person in the world. Gail would say “He shares my blood so I’m obligated to hang out with him, even though he’s infuriating.” All that being said, Luca is exceptionally shy and doesn’t know how to dance, but I feel like Gail would actually really like dancing even if she’s low-key about it and never really mentions it. And then there’s Jacob. He would be the child that jams out when music is playing in the house and starts a concert every time. I’ve said before that my Jacob has more in common with the fanon version of young Sirius Black than anyone else, and...yeah, it would take a lot of coaxing but he would convince Luca to rock out with him in some kind of duet. Maybe Gail would go first, just to help Luca feel less shy. Only to tell Jacob afterward “Yeah, this never happened.” And push Luca onto the dance floor. Course, once they actually start dancing, they forget their social anxiety because Jacob always makes them feel better.

As to what the songs would be? Well, we only know like, a handful of songs that wizards actually listen to because Celestina Warbeck and the Weird Sisters are the only two artists we really know of. But there are several invented musical artists that I’ve heard of “Stupify’d” is one, as well as the “Bent-Winged Snitches” seriously, that one makes me crack up. The Fawleys all grow up listening to Wizarding Wireless Network. But there are also the songs that the Frog Choir uses, and because the Fawleys all adore Professor Flitwick and I’m such a stan for the Prisoner of Azkaban film, I feel like a perfect song for any two of the three Fawleys to duet a dance to, would be “Double Trouble.” Seriously, Jacob and their Sibling dancing to that song. Tell me it’s not perfect.

17: If your MC had an Entrance/Walkout song (that played when they walked into a room, such as entering the Ball, or the Great Hall after break, or onto the Quidditch pitch if they play - guess this could also be considered a “theme” song) what would it be?

I feel like this is getting a bit more meta, and would have less to do with songs that actually play in-universe. But for cinematic moments, there’s always an awesome background music, right? If you think I haven’t widely considered the various background themes for the Fawleys in various situations, you are quite mistaken my friend! So let’s get to it!

First of all, Luca’s overall theme. It wouldn’t really work for the faster paced, more exciting moments...but this is the song of their soul. I found it fitting because “emotion” is the name of the game with Luca. Their greatest strength is the freedom of their emotions and the kindness they express. Gail’s overall theme is likewise pretty emotional, but quieter, and a bit more sinister because she tends to flirt with the dark side a little more, but she’s one of those characters who doesn’t believe that she’s done anything wrong. Ironically, I used the theme of a character who I’ve compared to Jacob in the past.

As for more victorious, happy moments...like Quidditch games or special events like the Ball, it’s a bit more difficult to say, but I know what Luca’s theme would be. Seriously, I can imagine this playing during a Quidditch game where they’re a chaser. It’s just perfect. Exciting but light hearted. Gail’s theme is still a bit up in the air, because she’s so much more ambiguous. Actually, I think I know just the song. This captures the erratic turmoil in her heart, that she always hides under calm elegance. Rakepick taught her well, after all.

18: If your Jacob had an Entrance/Walkout song, what would it be?

Speaking of ambiguity, I know what Jacob’s overall theme would be. This is the song that I can hear playing in all of the moments where Luca and/or Gail investigate his disappearance and learn about all the shady activities he was getting up to. Imagine this song playing when MC reads the note from R to Jacob, or his notebook where he talks about Rakepick. Meanwhile, I do have a song in mind for his more exciting scenes as well, like where he’s dancing, making an entrance, or flying in to a Quidditch game. You’re probably going to think I’m silly if you know this song, and even if you don’t - but it matches what a badass Jacob is, what a broken hero he’s always been. The ultimate renegade. This song signals that Duncan is dead and R has made a serious mistake. They’ve made an enemy of Jacob Fawley. He’s coming for them. The one they fear.

#Fandom Asks #Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery #HPHM Jacob's Sibling #HPHM Jacob #Hogwarts Mystery OC #Luca Fawley #Gail Fawley #The Fawley Twins

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batgirl-87 · 5 years

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For the MC ask, 5, 6, and 7 please?

Thank you for asking!

Asking About Your Hogwarts Mystery MC

5. What electives do they take throughout their time at Hogwarts?

Alchemy! Keira was hell bent on taking Alchemy as an elective and she didn’t care if she was the only student interested in the subject, she was going to take it!

Ancient Studies is another class I think Keira would really enjoy. She loves history and learning about ancient magic would be of a great interest to her and also help her feel more connected to her mom and adopted mom. And if she does go to Egypt with Bill it would be beneficial to know. It would probably be another class like Alchemy she would demand to take even if she’s the only one interested.

Ancient Runes is actually another class Keira really enjoys and is one I feel she’s better at than Bill so she handles the Ancient Runes homework and side of things and he can handle the Arithmancy homework and side of things =p

Honestly, Keira hates Arithmancy and only takes it because she has to if she plans on becoming a Curse-Breaker with Bill (although honestly she doesn’t plan on surviving until graduation but her friends don’t like when she talks like that, especially Bill so he probably forced her to take it with him) - She totally has Bill do her homework for her and even continues to send it to him to do after he graduates =p

She’d try Divination and Magical Creatures but I can also see her not continuing with those electives through all the years at Hogwarts, especially Divination because she probably cannot handle Professor Trelawney. Ghoul studies may be another class she’d be interested in or at least try it out and see if she’d want to stick with it or not.

And of course the Apparition class. May not be her favourite method of travel but again good to know how to do!

6. Are they in any clubs or extracurricular activities? What about Quidditch?

1990 Quidditch World Cup Champion here =p (More about Quidditch below)

Keira is probably most active in the duelling club, alongside Barnaby and Diego, because she enjoys the adrenaline rush of a good battle and anything to help her get out some pent up anger and frustration in a healthier way. However she also joined Ben’s Astronomy Club, although she probably doesn’t make it to every meeting…. She also is considered a member of Barnaby, Charlie, and Liz’s Magical Creature’s Club although she rarely attends those meetings as well nor does she remember actually joining that club….

She will not join Penny’s Potion Club - sorry Penny, just not her thing. And why join a Gobstones Club? No offense, but to her it just seems stupid =p And while she loves singing, the Frog Choir is also just not for her. But if the Weird Sisters need her for another show, she is there!

(Is that it? Are there any more clubs/extracurriculars? I’m sure I’m forgetting some…)

Keira & Quidditch:

Keira has always had a passion and interest in Quidditch although she didn’t really play herself. Sure, sometimes recreationally for fun with her brother but he was the competitive Quidditch player. When she attended Hogwarts she never missed a game her first few years there, especially when she befriended Andre and Charlie. Her passion and knowledge of Quidditch definitely caused people, such as Andre and Rowan, to push her to try out for the team but she always felt that Quidditch was Jacob’s thing. Plus she had to find her brother.

During her Third Year, Madam Hooch pulled her aside and suggested she try out for the team as a healthier way to let out her pent up anger - had she gotten into some trouble her first few years for getting into fights and hitting people….- and as a way to connect with her lost brother again. Keira talked to her friends who were Quidditch players and thought a lot about it before finally deciding to try out her Fourth Year because she didn’t really care if she made it or not honestly. She was focused on finding her brother and becoming Prefect so she was already pretty busy - but keeping busy is also her sort of coping mechanism…

(I also hc that Rowan went to try out with her for moral support and ended up getting on the team as well! Barnaby had already been on the team as a Beater.)

She could have been a Chaser or Seeker probably but she ultimately chose Beater because getting to hit things, obviously, was very therapeutic for her. And Madam Hooch was right, it did make her feel connected to her brother again (however she now has a bat to hit people with instead of her first so maybe not the best idea because she definitely hits people with her Beater bat =p) Quidditch was one of the few things, possibly the only thing, that brought her true joy and happiness despite her missing brother and everything else going on with the Vaults.

Fifth Year she became Captain of her team with the previous Captain graduating and with all her knowledge of Quidditch thanks to her brother and adopted father. Barnaby and her enjoy practicing together in their free time in the Dungeons (which annoys Snape to no end).

She miraculously gets the opportunity to play for Team Canada in the World Cup which is a whole tale by itself, but all the traveling and practicing is a lot in general, but adding that to the Vaults, her brother, R, etc. - while it may be exhausting, as I said before, Keira keeps busy to “cope” (avoid thinking about everything) so having to practice basically during all her free time and getting to travel away from all the drama is a big perk for her.

7. How studious are they? What kind of studying strategies do they use? Do they have any study groups with their friends?

She’s not as studious as Rowan or probably even Tulip but she fortunately has a pretty good memory. And it helps that, again, she keeps herself busy to avoid everything crashing down on her and being overwhelmed with it all so often late at night when she can’t sleep she’ll be up late or all night finishing up her homework or studying.

Writing things down helps her memorize them better so she takes pretty thorough notes, fortunately a fast writer, but there are also plenty of doodles and underlining, arrows, etc. Even just reading a textbook for class she’ll take notes since it helps her remember better than just reading it. Study snacks are also essential! And music also helps her focus as long as it’s instrumental because lyrics will probably distract her but the instrumental help her stay focused and calm instead of allowing her mind to wander to more stressful things.

She also needs versatility in study location, whether alone or with a friend or group. She cannot study in the same place every time and frequently needs to move around to a new spot to get work done. As if she gets too used to a spot and has found ways to distract herself from studying and needs to find a new place to be the “study spot” until that one gets too comfortable as well (if that makes sense). Even if it’s just switching tables in the library or studying outside, at the Three Broomsticks, in the Great Hall, or different places around her Common Room.

I think she’d also be more of a visual learner or possibly tactile but I think she’d prefer studying and analyzing how something is done before tackling it herself.

Listen, Keira is competitive so that drives her to do well in class, get good grades, perform well when learning a new spell so yeah, she wants to make sure she knows what she’s doing, doesn’t want to embarrass herself in front of everyone, and yeah, wants to be the best. Now she realizes that Penny is always going to be better at her in Potions and Herbology is definitely not her speciality but she still wants to strive to do her best and also likes to prove people wrong (and if she can be better than Merula then hey =p)

But she also likes to appear effortlessly cool and confident, despite how accurate that may be, so while her friends may see her reading and taking notes during study sessions or in class, she does a lot more studying at night (as mentioned before) and a lot more practicing of new spells in private to master them possibly even reading ahead and practicing spells before they are taught in class so when they do them in class she has a bit of an upper hand. And if she can look like she just effortlessly masters new spells then mission accomplished =p She’s awesome and badass, don’t mess with her and no she definitely wasn’t up all night practicing this spell! She’s just naturally this awesome =p

Keira does enjoy study groups with her friends although they might not get a lot of studying done =p Smaller groups definitely get more studying actually done, such as her, Rowan, and Barnaby, or her, Tulip, and Andre - if Rowan or Tulip are there some studying will get done. But some combinations, like getting Charlie, Barnaby, and Liz together will just end up in discussions of other topics like Magical Creatures, or Tonks’ presence can disrupt Tulip’s focus so it’s really about finding the right combination of people to actually get studying done if that is the goal. But they do end up being fun and I think Keira enjoys them regardless if studying is accomplished or not because it’s a little bit of normalcy they get - they’re students studying, or failing at studying like every other student at Hogwarts and not worrying about the Vaults and all the stress surrounding that subject. And they have also led to some of the best sleep she’s ever gotten at her time at Hogwarts =p

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my mc #adelyn keira black #thank you for asking #Anonymous

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rruffian · 5 years

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pt. 5

“what did the reviews say?” — “ehh, don’t ask”

i just read them, and they’re all sanctimonious. this is par for the course, and i can easily let them slide, but i wouldn’t want to be in P&C’s shoes, whether or not they ignore the reviews or read them, as per their music hall comedy routine. how thick a hide do you have to grow to survive this uniformly testy critical response year in year out? i had to go back and watch this thing of beauty (and loyalty) just to cleanse the palate.

i thought the friday show i saw was pitch perfect, frankly, the same way i thought Anthems For Doomed Youth was perfect, considering the circumstances. maybe it takes a very specific balance of expectations and stakes, because it’s not like i’m a blind fanatic (though i am relatively new to this), but i genuinely don’t see what my sons have ever done wrong, musically. at this junction it was absolutely the right call to go “unplugged,” unsure as they were about it. i’m sorry but if a band has a back catalogue full of 24 carat gold tunes, and not many bands of the 00s indie explosion do, you have no business judging them for revisiting it and saying an acoustic setting makes no sense. i guess being a latecomer i never did see them as sweaty scuzzy punks, never witnessed the ugly tabloid circus first-hand, so i can’t conceptualize them as these badass danger boys, like this vid does, for instance. i love me some noise, i find the garage rock sound very charming actually, but surely it’s not their roughness that defined them? what struck me right away, back in ‘17 when i first came across them, was the staggering beauty of the songs. it was almost ridiculous how soft and gentle some of the melodies were, how nimble the songwriting. words chasing notes across the measures, pretty rhymes, perfect crimes, perfect lines for love to bind. listening to everything i could get my hands on while reading up on the whole epic 20-year saga, i felt like i’d stuck my arm elbow-deep into ocean sludge and grasped around and pulled out a large handful of pearls.

these songs sounded as organic as they did arranged with the string quartet and trumpet and backing choir because in many cases, no major rearrangement was even necessary (hence carl choosing them, i presume). we’ve always had the bugle! waterloo, milkman and doomed youth were all epic ballads already, featuring the piano, the cello, and expansive backing vocals, respectively. for lovers already had that orchestral sweep, literally, and albion might as well have had it. katie with the classic 60s swagger, plan A with the sinister carnie brass band vibe, the good old days with the groovy jazzy verses, none of these reimaginings were exactly a stretch. even the surprising choices worked for me—the lush soul songstresses completely changed radio america around, and i won’t hear a word against cha cha waster, that tune would have been brilliant even as bossa nova.

i don’t get the accusations of sloppy performance either, sounded fairly tight to me? they can’t have had more than a couple of proper run-throughs, if not just the one on wednesday, which is nuts. i can’t imagine the nerves on the first night, bless their jittery souls.

finally, standing in stark contrast to that charisma vacuum of an opening act, bathed in on-the-nose heavenly backlight, these two are simply the shiniest frontmen i’ve seen in my many years of being dazzled by rock frontmanship. you know how when you listen to comedy bands for a while, all other music seems too self-serious for some time afterwards, or when you see a particularly energetic band live, everyone else seems lazy in comparison? well the deal with peetur and carlos is, they make the rest seem lackluster. milquetoast. the bar has been raised and from now on i will only accept no less than: laugh out loud funny, ridic antics, long complimentary reading list, mad vortex of interpersonal dramz with a happy ending, beautè, magnetismé, verve, fashun, naked emoshun, erotic mic shares, demonstrably life changing, manic pixie dreamness undermined hilariously by excruciating dad dweebness and weird uncle-ness later in life, and finally—good to fans. which is to say: i’m done being dazzled, no one will ever compare.

#ldn

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miasswier · 5 years

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miasswier’s ultimate glee ranking: no 24

24: I Do

Written by: Ian Brennan Directed by: Brad Falchuk

Overall Thoughts: This one is a tough one to rank, mostly because the parts that I love I love so goddamn much, but the parts that annoy me annoy me so goddamn much. It’s pretty high up on the list because, objectively, it’s a really strong episode. It’s smack-dab in the middle of the strongest set of episodes in season four (lasting from “Sadie Hawkins” to “Guilty Pleasures”), and has really good entertainment value, while also showing a fantastic portrayal of the difficulties of living with mental illness. I originally had it higher on the list than I do now, but I re-watched it again and ugh, seriously, the parts of this episode I dislike drag it down so goddamn much. Still, it’s really strong, and it has some of my favourite moments in all of Glee history.

What I Like:

Finn telling Rachel that not everything is about her. What I like most about this moment is that it’s true. It’s not just Finn telling Rachel that to ~conceal his true feelings or whatever. Him kissing Emma legitimately had nothing to do with Rachel.

Okay, this whole storyline annoys the fuck out of me, but the scene before Jake and Marley sing their duet is pretty funny. It’s too bad they didn’t give Ryder more of a chance to be funny, because Blake Jenner has fantastic comedic timing.

Kurt and Blaine making out in the backseat of that car. Obviously.

“This is just bros helping bros.” “I love it when you talk fratty.” These two are the biggest fucking dorks.

“Tell me that’s not Tina again!”

Becky as the angry flower girl, throwing her petals with so much fucking force.

Jake calling Ryder out on his racist assumption that Jake would steal, or that Marley would assume Jake was stealing. As far as I remember there’s been no indication that Jake has ever actually committed a crime? He’s just lippy with teachers and sleeps with tons of girls and thinks that makes him a badass, but he isn’t a thief.

Jake and Marley not having sex. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: nobody can convince me that Marley wasn’t asexual. Still, I remember hearing the spoilers that five couples would go into hotel rooms and that four of those would be having sex and instantly hoping that Jake and Marley would be the ones that didn’t. I mean, Jake talks a big game about “taking it slow” but they’ve only been dating for four episodes, so that’s, what, a month? Maybe two? I’m glad that Marley didn’t let herself be pressured by the romantic gestures and such.

Santana raising her arms above her head while she follows Quinn into the hotel room. She’s so excited for the sex she’s about to have.

Honestly, Santana and Quinn in general in this episode. Everything about it is perfect, other than Quinn instantly shooting down the possibility of bisexuality, but my absolute favourite exchange is when Quinn tells Santana that the only non-gross guys are Will (ew) and Al Roker and Santana goes “Al Roker is disgusting, by the way.”

Seriously, though. Santana and Quinn had sex. Twice. That is a canonical thing that happened. I think about it every day tbh. God bless Glee.

Brittany taking pictures of Sue as she walks down the aisle and whispering “you look so good.”

“Oh, look, it’s the glee kids.”

Kurt very obviously hiding his boner behind his jacket as he gets out of the car, and Blaine’s adorable “oh my god.”

“You do realize how trashy blasphemous this is, right?” “Oh, come on Mercedes, everybody hooks up at weddings.”

Kurt pulling Blaine into the hotel room by the fucking tie.

I really enjoy the entire montage of couples post-sex (or post-not-sex, in the case of Jake and Marley). Obviously the Klaine scene is my favourite, but even the Artie/Betty scene is pretty cute. Also, Finn and Rachel’s scene is really heartbreaking in hindsight, since that’s the last time we see them on-screen together (in the same location, at least), and it’s the last kiss Rachel ever gives Finn.

Honestly, although it does annoy me in the context of the episode and in the context of when it aired, in hindsight the whole “we are endgame” speech is pretty sad. Hearing Finn talk about how he and Rachel are going to end up together, no matter what, is like a knife to the heart. Like, wow. There’s so much stuff on this show that in hindsight is just gutting.

That being said, it’s hilarious when Finn gives that whole pseudo-deep metaphor about seeds and Rachel just responds with “are you telling me you want to be a gardener?”

“Will Schuester is a weepy man-child whose greatest joy in life is singing with children. And his best friend? Nineteen.”

“Well, don't say that to Will Schuester. He'll have you singing a stripped down acoustic version of I Will Survive in a choir room full of teenagers with meaningful looks on their faces.”

Rachel telling Finn the honest truth that Emma running off has literally nothing to do with him. I’m glad that we’re at the point in the show where Finn making every woman in his life’s drama about himself is getting nipped in the bud.

Blaine and Kurt flanking Tina in red and white. They look like the angel and devil on her shoulders. Also, they’re totally going to make out during Showgirls.

The portrayal of Emma’s downward spiral over this episode and the previous one is so fantastic. Because it’s real. Here is a woman getting ready for what is supposed to be the happiest day of her life, and she’s just dreading it. Her anxiety gets worse and worse, and that just makes her OCD flare up even more-so than usual, and the result we get in the scene leading into “I’m (Not) Getting Married Today” is so wonderfully acted by Jayma Mays. I can think of very few TV shows who accurately dealt with this downside of mental illness: not even being able to enjoy the things that are supposed to bring you joy. Emma wants more than anything to marry Will, but she just can’t do it. It’s so raw, and emotional, and I’m so glad that we got to watch her perspective and not just Will and Finn’s. It’s just… god, I love that whole scene and that whole story. It’s just so goddamn real.

What I Don’t Like:

Mercedes calling Kurt and Blaine her “arm gays”. No thanks.

Okay, yeah, in hindsight the Finchel stuff is really sad, and I did tear up at a few of their scenes, but for fuck’s sake. It’s season four and we’re still dealing with this bullshit? They don’t have that much screen time, but it feels like every one of their scenes is never ending. And just exhausting. Plus, one of those scenes takes place while Kurt and Blaine are singing and I’ll never forgive Glee for that. Never.

In a similar vein, Artie and Betty have way too much screen time considering she was a one-episode character, and they also have a scene during Klaine’s song. It’s almost worse than the Finchel scene because it involves Artie literally annoying a girl into dancing with him via insulting her. She said no, bud. Leave her alone.

Jake/Marley/Ryder is SO ANNOYING OH MY GOD. Of all the annoying heterosexual bullshit I’m forced to put up with in this episode, theirs annoys me the most. First of all, we’re supposed to be rooting for Jake and Marley, but Glee is clearly showing us that Jake is the worst. But then Ryder kisses Marley, who is dating his best friend, so guess who just got added to the list of “the worst”? Seriously , why were these two the only two options given for Marley? She would have been way better off dating Unique.

I know this is a stupid, nitpicky thing, but I hate when Ryder says “she’s just a sophomore” about Marley, because I’m 98% sure that he and Jake are also sophomores, but this makes it sound like they’re both these mature adults or at least seniors, which just ends up making it seem creepy that these two guys are trying to get with this girl who they both clearly see as innocent and inexperienced, and seem to like all the more because of those qualities.

Again, one of the few episodes where I could accept Will having a lot of scenes, and he’s barely in it. Why does Glee always shove Will down my throat when I don’t want him, but hold back on him when he should actually be there? This is his goddamn wedding and he just got stood up. At least show him going to the honeymoon sweet in the hotel alone or something.

Another nitpicky thing but Mercedes isn’t at the reception and that makes me sad >:(

Songs:

You’re All I Need to Get By: I like the scene that comes before this, but the actual performance is boring, mostly because I do not give a rats ass about Jake and Marley. Also, it’s weird that Marley has solo lines in this. I would understand her singing along to some of it, but why is she singing parts by herself? She didn’t know this performance was happening!! HOW DID THEY CO-ORDINATE!!!

Getting Married Today: An awesome performance and amazing vocals by Jayma Mays. I love all of this except for the weird, floating Will Schuester head that is horribly green-screened to hove over Emma running away.

Just Can’t Get Enough: I really, really like this song. The performance, however, frustrates me. You barely see Kurt and Blaine! There are two scenes interjected in the song of straight couples talking, and almost all of the shots during the song are of straight people dancing. WE GET IT FOX! You didn’t want too much gay on your TV, and this episode already had two boys making out, and the implication of them having sex, as well as two girls having sex. Can’t let the boys actually be seen singing together after all that. (Seriously, though, the cover itself is fantastic).

We’ve Got Tonite: Despite my frustration with Finchel in this episode (and always), I really adore this song. It’s the last time they sing together, but even before it was that I still loved it. It’s slow, but sweet, and has fantastic emotion behind it. Plus, we haven’t had Finchel duets shoved down our throat for quite a while now, so I can appreciate how nice they sound together all the more-so. I also love the sneak-attack group song approach they took. Having everyone sing one line and then Finn and Rachel close it off was really clever and makes for a cool song and a great performance.

Anything Could Happen: This is a fun, upbeat song, and it’s a fun, upbeat scene, but honestly, it feels out of place. We aren’t at a fun, upbeat place when this episode ends. Rachel thinks she’s pregnant. Will can’t find Emma. Finn still feels guilty even though Rachel told him explicitly that it wasn’t his fault. Marley feels weird about Ryder kissing her (even though it wasn’t her fault!). The only storyline that really had a happy ending was the Klaine/Tina one (technically Artie/Betty too, but since we literally never see her again…), so I don’t know why this is suddenly all upbeat and happy. It feels like a really odd note to end such an emotional episode on.

Final Thoughts: I’ve always held this episode close to my heart. There is so much that happens in this episode that is so important to me (mostly Quinntana sexy times, but a lot of it is the Emma stuff too). Yeah, some of it annoys me, and the stuff that annoys me really annoys me, but it doesn’t outweigh all the awesome parts of this episode. Just, overall really strong and well-crafted. A+ Glee!

#ultimate glee ranking

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myste-rae · 5 years

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Eluveitie - Ategnatos - My First Impressions

I’m listening to this for the first time, I figured I’d do something of a review and first impressions of the newest album by my favourite band!

Ategnatos

I heard it when it first came out, I loved it then and I still love it now. It feels more like a medley than a song in itself and it seriously just shows all the best that Eluveitie has to offer! So good!

Ancus

One of those little whisper prayer songs, those add so much flavour

Deathwalker

Holy shit this goes hard!! That opening riff is killer. And in the chorus, I love hearing Fabienne and Chrigel singing together! The contrast of his growling and her gorgeous voice, so good. Damn, the way it fades out and back in after the chorus! This is seriously such a headbanger

Oh my gods, then it goes quiet after the second chorus, we get some beautiful Fabienne singing, then a hurdy and fiddle riff with badass rhythm guitar. This is like... pure Eluveitie. I can’t get over how good this is! Then Chrigel’s scream... wow

Black Water Dawn

Ahhh.... that opening is so beautiful and calming. The guitars kick in with thick chords, building on it and letting the flute breathe. The verse goes a bit harder but it’s far more lyrical and bardic than aggressive

Holy crap! Fabienne does the chorus, and it’s stunning. According to the digibook, this song is all about the otherworld, the journey of death and thereafter, and this song is amazing for it, so peaceful and beautiful

Ohhh... and we got our first guitar solo of the album! Honestly, it’s a controversial topic, but I really like them. They still let the folk instruments shine, but the guitarists, who are an integral and amazing part of the band get their moments in the spotlight too

Gods, I can’t get over Fabienne’s chorus, describing the beauty of the otherworld, it’s so beautiful

A Cry in the Wilderness

This starts out peaceful and atmospheric, until the guitars kick in, and they go hard as fuck. Then silence, peace... and then the verse kicks in. I love how they play with tone

After a couple of verses, we get more of the silence and peace, what sounds like harp playing a gentle melody, leading into a flute solo, once again supported by that signature Eluveitie rhythm guitar

Holy crap, the screaming after the solos is intense as fuck

The Raven Hill

Oh wow, this starts out so epic, with that hurdy and violin melody, transitioning to an ethereal choir led by Fabienne. Then it’s replaced by an absolutely grooving verse with Chrigel at the helm. This is a bit different than what I’m used too but it sounds so good

The chorus has such a bardic/folk melody, it straight up sounds like an old folk song they’d sing dancing around the fire. Honestly the whole song has that folk dance groove to it. This might be my new favourite Eluveitie song to be honest, it really makes you want to sing along

Ohhh, the digibook says the chorus is based on an old irish rebel song or ancient clan march, “Oh-Ro, welcome home”. That makes so much sense!

The Silvern Glow

This is a lovely calm acoustic piece like they often do, letting you calm down for a bit

Ambiramus

Yes! I loved this when it first came out, the whistle in the opening is so good, followed by Fabienne’s amazing singing. She absolutely knocks this out of the water, the song is beautiful, driving, epic. The verse/ build-up/ chorus each have a different tone and it builds beautifully

Mine is the Fury

Ohhhh... the guitar in the opening is freaking amazing with the heavy drums. The verse feels a lot like Havoc, it’s aggressive, warlike, it’s a battle song. The chorus features Fabienne and Chrigel singing together once again, which is an effect I didn’t know I needed in my life, but I certainly did

After the second chorus, we get some unsettling whispers, a hurdy buildup, then Chrigel’s absolutely massive screaming kicks in with the heaviest guitar and drum beat off the album so far. This honestly gives me chills

The song is based on the celtic druid belief in the coming apocalypse, when the earth will cleanse itself. The song describes the events of the apocalypse, the prayers of the druids bringing it forth, and the gods’ view of it. It’s epic, angry, and so fucking heavy

The Slumber

This is... such a contrast to Fury. It starts out gentle, like a lullaby, followed by Fabienne’s sweet singing, then more heaviness from Chrigel and the guitar rhythm, holy crap. His verse, then the chorus are both freaking epic

Worship

The opening to this is so tense, featuring a narration over some chilling atmosphere. After a minute of it, it kicks into what I can only describe as a ritualistic worship song that gives me chills, then finally going into the heavy guitars. The chanting continues throughout

Holy shit. When Chrigel starts singing, it sounds sinister, like a selfish, evil god revelling in worship. It’s so aggressive and dark, it’s amazing. After the solos, we get another ritualistic worship bit. It kinda makes me think of the chanting of Catvrix or Sucellos

This is seriously the most sinister and dark sounding Eluveitie song I’ve heard, and I’m living for it, this is freaking amazing. I’ve always loved Sucellos, Catvrix, Dessumiis Luge and such

Omg, we briefly get the distinctive Sucellos whipping sound. This is totally an elaboration of that style and I love it

Trinoxtion

Ohhh... another quiet prayer. Fabienne does an amazing job of it. I should probably say, I absolutely love her. Anna was okay, but I felt like she sounded bored and uninterested, making her songs less fun to listen to. Fabienne is animated, passionate, and even in these prayers, you can hear her passion

Threefold Death

Holy.. this starts off so beautiful and sweet with gentle singing by Fabienne, then suddenly the guitars, drums, and Chrigel’s scream break in. It’s a sharp cut, pulling you out of your trance

The melody after Chrigel’s first verse is pretty amazing, it seems to use some unusual intervals, creating some interesting dissonance. Then we get a bit more of Fabienne’s singing, and I find myself just waiting for the sudden burst of aggression. They’re doing amazing at building tension

Ohh... towards the end, we finally get Chrigel singing the same lines as Fabienne and it’s so good. Gods they’re really going hard on the heavy as fuck guitars

Breathe

The opening of this is classic Eluveitie and I love it, beautiful folk melody with a badass guitar rhythm. Fabienne’s singing is on point as always. As the guitars kick in, then the chorus, more and more I feel like this is their Rose for Epona, their Call of the Mountains, and I freaking love it. I’m enjoying this so much more than either of them

Oh fuck!! Suddenly halfway through, we get some seriously sinister rhythm guitars that made me jump out of my seat, followed by another awesome guitar solo

Wow... and towards the end, we get some gentle choir. I didn’t expect that, but it sounds so amazing

Rebirth

Fuck yesssss! It sounded amazing when it first came out more than a year ago, it sounds amazing now. The flute music with the rhythm guitar, the guitar slide, followed by Fabienne’s folk singing, so good

This might objectively be the best song off the album. Gods, I forgot how good the chorus is, with Fabienne and Chrigel singing together

It feels like they changed a bunch, there’s different lines, and the guitar solo happens after the first chorus? Though it works pretty well, letting the folk solo happen after the second chorus. This is my first time noticing that droning on the hurdy, that’s seriously amazing. Wait! There’s another guitar solo at the end!

So the first half of the original solo from youtube got put after the first chorus, then they recorded a different one to go after the folk solo, and the second half of the guitar solo is the same? Neat!

Gods, their screaming after the solos, it never stops being amazing

Eclipse

There’s those lines, the running theme throughout the album. Recited in Ategnatos, sang by Fabienne in Rebirth, and now once again in this song, though this is far more gentle and emotional. It’s so beautiful

It’s basically a solo performance by Fabienne and it blows my mind, it’s stunning. Her voice and talent is amazing. She fades away into the wind, closing the circle of rebirth, the theme of the album. This song gives me chills for sure

BONUS TRACKS:

Ategnatos (Acoustic Version)

The album works when played on a loop, with Ategnatos following Eclipse, but this is an even better followup, with epic orchestral drums. Oh gods, those drums, with Fabienne’s chanting, this is mind blowingly good

Just like the original song, this song feels like a medley, a journey. I think I prefer this over the metal version. The folk instruments do an amazing job of carrying themselves and Fabienne’s stunning performance

With empty hands

Nothing but light

This is an absolutely beautiful performance, I’d call it a masterpiece. I loved it

Ambiramus (Acoustic Version)

Wow, even the flutes are so gentle. Once again, the acoustic version really shines, though I wish they changed Fabienne’s performance, or at least the mastering. It sounds like it’s the same as in the original song, including the distortion in the build up, which clashes somewhat with the gentleness of the folk instruments

Ohhh, to their credit, they had one chorus without singing. I just feel like gentler singing would work better, instead of her screaming over what was guitars

I still loved it, but it could have been better

Threefold Rebirth (Acoustic Folk Medley)

Immediately I can say, I love how it starts. I’m pretty sure it’s the exact same effect as the opening of Rebirth. Then it goes into the melody that’s the theme of this album, backed up by those orchestral drums

This feels like a mashup of all the various folk parts from all around the album, making yet another journey through the songs. It definitely really works, it’s a lovely folk song to listen to, though it kind of jumps all over the place

Ohhh, it features Fabienne’s singing from Threefold Death, though without the sudden burst of aggression, instead of transitioning to the melodies of Rebirth

This is definitely an amazing way to end the album

#maya rambles #eluveitie #ategnatos #witchblr #pagan #music review

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legendsmag · 4 years

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A COMPLETE RUN DOWN OF THE 2020 LEGENDS AWARDS PERFORMANCES

WINNIE KANE

Winnie Kane opened the evening with a double performance of “Lose You To Love Me” and her latest single, “Look At Her Now”. She started off a little shaky but that’s to be expected with a less experienced performer, especially on one of the biggest stages there is today. Visually she looked incredible. The black and white filter was a really nice touch. There were some timing issues, some pitch issues and I kept waiting for her to shake off the nerves, hoping that maybe something more high energy would help as she moved into “Look At Her Now”, it didn’t. Her dancing needs work, vocals need work, pretty much all of it needed several more days of rehearsal.

OLIVIA MARIE

The pick up in energy did take place once Olivia Marie took the stage to perform “Cool For The Summer” (very fittingly). She looked amazing, badass and much of that was reflected in her vocal delivery. The change of scenery was welcomed, she delivered her performance from the streets of LA, where the crowd seemed even more enthusiastic and loud. It was sexy, steamy and technically sound. This is how you deliver a performance.

RYDER TOMASI

The sole hip hop-rap performance of the night, Ryder Tomasi sings about “Stoner Girl” while clearly being inebriated himself. However it didn’t really distract from his performance. He did well for what it was, there wasn’t much expectation of anything better so Ryder did what hes known to do. Overall a fine performance.

BELINDA BLANCHARD

Belinda Blanchard sings about how “California Gurls” are unforgettable while delivering one of the most forgettable performances of the night. Belinda, who is quite pregnant, pranced around in a metallic mini dress while doing half assed choreography with a set of backup dancers. You can tell her voice has some assistance, which isn’t uncommon during a performance, but it just made her sound fake and unenthusiastic. Not much else to say. She can do better, hopefully.

MAXWELL HARPER-BENNETT

Maxwell Harper-Bennet never fails to be a crowd pleaser, even with a more mid tempo song like “Lights Up” he really gives his all on that stage. With very little production, mostly just him, a mic and a band backing him, he manages to shine and keep everyone invested in his performance. His little dance during the vocal break was very Max and you can tell that he honestly loves being on that stage. The audience backed him up on his last chorus continuing to prove he's a fan favorite.

RYAN PRICE

Ryan Price mellowed things out with his performance of “Heart Out”, contrary to that of Max before him, but it works. His vocals were where they needed to be and he seemed to be having a good time up there, which clearly translated to the audience who joined in on the fun. Less spectacle, more music and it worked.

CALLAN DUFFY & MAIA KARIM

This performance was simply a beauty. Callan Duffy and Maia Karim are a duo that seemingly came out of nowhere but it works perfectly in the fact that it’s really a showcase of what happens when you bring two great talents together. Their voices blend so beautifully with one another, and Maia in a different stripped down setting was truly a sight to see. They suckered in the entire audience with this one, had everyone in the palm of their hands.

CHLOE ZUICQ & CARTER BLUE

Chloe Zuicq and Carter Blue were up next with a somewhat forgettable performance of their song “One Kiss”. Visually it looked really cool. The colors and stage production were lovely and, vocally, Chloe was near perfection but it just seemed rather low energy given the song they chose. It’s supposed to be a dance track yet Chloe, who we know is a great dancer, just kinda stood there swaying back and forth. Carter may have saved this performance just by live mixing it but honestly it was a bit of a low point in the show. Neither really put their all into it and it showed.

QUINTON HARPER

Quinton Harper can sing! Vocally this was a huge stand out moment for the show. It wasn’t the radio version of the song everyone was expecting but honestly, this was way better. He did the entire first verse with minimal backup, proving to any of his haters that he really is that talented. Even when the band and backing vocals kicked in you couldn’t help but feel the passion Quinton brought with flawless vocal execution and the dance break on the rising platform was spectacular.

LYNN SAWYER

The sole country performance of the night delivered by Lynn Sawyer did not disappoint. Her voice was on fire from start to end. Not shying away from the country roots and highlighting the banjo was a bold move, but that’s exactly what this entire performance was. Lynn brough the fire and owned that stage in a way no other performer that night had done. This performance felt straight out of a broadway show with it’s theatrical delivery and it was perfect. The choir was a delightful touch and really filled everything out beautifully. The lighting was stellar as well. The representation of country music was important and who better to deliver it?

ROMAN

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Roman deliver a performance, and it fit nicely into the program following Lynn’s fire. He kept things simple, but it was the unique nature of his voice that won over audiences. It’d have been nice if there was a little more energy kicked into him, but his voice emoted the song, “Take Me To Church” perfectly. The performance would have benefitted from some sort of spark or change of pace, but it served its purpose. The band sounded amazing, and that was what mattered here.

PENNY LANE

Penny Lane was next to take the stage and boy was this a performance you did not want to miss. She is simply THAT performer. We got the two sides of Lane we love and adore and the first side came through the flawlessly belted out “Imagine”, the title track of her latest album. It was clear she felt this one, and the feeling bled through to her vocal. She looked beautiful and the accompanying orchestra was a beautiful compliment to not only her voice but to the aesthetic of her performance. This part was short and sweet as she quickly dove into the classic “Favorite Things” as a transition into her most recent hit single “7 Rings” This triggered a loud audience reaction in addition to a costume and set change. Now we got the second side of Lane we love… the bad bitch. Featuring probably the best choreography of the night, this 7 Rings rendition was on point, featuring an impressive split moment to be remembered. She closed off with the final bridge and chorus of “Thank You, Next” which was delivered emotionally yet triumphantly as a grand finish.

KYLIE BLUE

I mean, really. Did anyone think that Kylie Blue would be anything other than mind blowing? From her wardrobe, to the stage, the features she included in her performance, to the choreography, it was everything you could want in a performance and then some. She kept the energy up with “You Need To Calm Down” a fitting choice given it being Pride month, however, it was her premiere of her new song “Lover” that stole the show. After a very quick wardrobe change, Kylie walked downstairs to the applause of the audience and delivered what could arguably be one of her best performances to date. Between showing Kylie the camera flashed around the audience highlighting some of the couples including a very sweet moment between Olivia Marie and Maxwell Harper-Bennett slow dancing but it was very clear Kylie only had eyes for one man as her attention kept being drawn back to sing lovingly to Callan Duffy (was that a tear, Callan?). Vocally she was flawless, proving once again that she can sing her heart out and we can already tell that this will be a fan favorite track off her upcoming album.

YOUNGBLOOD

Youngblood, about to take off on tour, stood as the sole band to perform and, as always, did not fail to deliver. Levi’s vocals were on point, Zeus didn’t miss a single moment, Saint pulled double duty with piano and later on in the song bass and Benjy showed why he’s one of the best drummers in the game by not only keeping the rhythm steady but also providing major backing vocals with near flawless delivery. However it seemed like the chemistry was slightly off? The boys typically play off each other a lot more and this performance felt like four separate guys playing their roles but not really vibing? Hopefully it was just an off day. Maybe they were just a little tired from all the tour prep?

ESSENCE WOODS

Closing out the show, Essence delivers a keen to the ear rendition of “Summertime Sadness” a song that has quickly taken the world by storm. There’s not much to the performance, just vocals and Essence taking up all of the attention but that’s pretty typical of an Essence Woods performance. There’s a wish for the show going out with a bigger bang performance wise, especially following up some of the nights earlier grandiose showcases, but the name Essence Woods is a pretty big thing in itself. She managed to keep the audience entertained however, as this served as one of her more vocally charged performances. It was also very beautiful to see the quartet of violinists accompanying the piano is a simple sonic setup that elevated the sound quality of the performance. The final chorus felt like a climax and a good send off to the show. Though we wish she had gone a little bigger, the performance was good on a bill of great showings.

The Best: Quinton Harper definitely leaves tonight the golden boy despite only taking home one trophy. His performance is the one moment of the show people will be talking about for years to come. He proved his star status and talent.

The Worst: Belinda Blanchard/Winnie Kane both ladies could’ve given us much more here or much less and we would’ve been better satisfied. Both rookie performers here so the hiccups are expected.

#legend awards

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durenjtmusings · 7 years

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The Great SPN Meta Scavenger Hunt: Round 2 - The Exclamatories, Expletives and Key Words/Phrases Listicle

(or TL;DR - “Suck as it may, our perky nipples are defcon screwed with signs of douchery, so shut your cakehole, you whackjob, before I make your posh spice ass have a code brown moment and use you for an angel condom. Asshat.”)

[No abstract here because writing them is hard and f*ck that sh*t it is 4 am.]

Introduction:

Thanks to @elizabethrobertajones for kickstarting my “SPN Character Voice Database” project with this challenge. The verbal creativity and qualities of each character’s “voice’ has always been one of the things that has greatly entertained me about Supernatural. So, in attempting to write SPN fanfic, I am pretty obsessed about making character’s dialogue *sound* right. @chiisana-sukima and I were chatting recently about our struggles to 'write’ the boys swearing convincingly (I make then swear lamely and she has to take swears out) and BOTH of us are struggling with making Sam swear right (tip – turns out, that’s because he doesn’t very much). [I think this is the presenting problem or sorta the research question, but again, 4 am and not getting paid so ;P]

In the spirit of scientific investigation, I have begun to address this problem in a typically “academic” way – I collected and analyzed unique character language patterns data for all 12 of the initial SPN episodes (using Excel and everything). Analysis consisted of *highly subjective* qualitative and quantitative methodologies using the rubric below (thanks to @k-vichan for the rubric framework from their “Dean the Action Hero” entry)

Review of Existing Research:

As far as I know – this research is unique in fandom – if someone has already done this, PLEASE let me know so I can do something ELSE with my time.

Definitions of Key Terms:

Exclamatory – ‘throw-away’ words which, if removed from the sentence, have no real effect – they are there for punctuation, character flavor, etc. and often start or end a sentence. Includes ‘pet words’ for people like son, boy, douche, Giraffe, etc. For my purposes, I did NOT count ah, well, alright or OK, because EVERYONE USES THEM ALL THE TIME in this show. Some words counted in this category ONLY if they were NOT used ‘correctly’ in context – examples (correct usage in brackets): Hell (the place), God (the person/entity), hey (to get you to turn around), c’mon (to get you to come with someone) and man (to indicate a male person).

Expletive – swears, substitute swears and blasphemes (technically all exclamatories, but in a class by themselves). These were casually assigned ‘strength’ by how much I got in trouble for saying them when a kid (words like friggin’ were counted for strength as if they were the swear they replaced). We were not a religious family so blasphemes were all counted as lamer than more scatological swears.

Key Words and Phrases – Crack stuff said by characters that ‘define their voice’ – things that make them uniquely them. Fun phrases and sayings. Includes innocuous stuff like “Seriously?”, “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” and chick. Sometimes a colloquialism was counted, like ‘ain’t been’ because it seemed unique to the character. NOTE: Cas is a special case here – his entries tended to be overly formal words no one else ever really says OR cases where he starts to use human idioms at ALL.

Method:

Re-watched all initial episodes over the course of 5 days and recorded all entries in the above 3 categories by character, with extras grouped as a block. Then grouped all recurring characters of note in a “friends and family” group for easier analysis, creating 4 main groups: Dean, Sam, F&F and Xtras. These four groups were then analyzed in the following categories and assigned scores by one completely biased reviewer.

Quantity - actual # of items recorded across ALL characters. Repetitions were counted individually.

Variety - (scale of 1-5) measures how unique and interesting items are for this episode, as well as ‘strength’ of expletives.

Originality - 5 points per item that made me chuckle or raised my eyebrow the 1st time I watched the episode

Sam vs Dean - % of Sam items to Dean items as an integer. Sam hardly swears, so we want to give him lots of credit for when he DOES do so. This also serves as a measure of ‘balance’ in verbal creativity for the episode.

Family & Friends - (scale of 1-5) QVO (see above) across other core characters (+1 bonus point if Cas had ANY)

Xtras - (scale of 0-5) QVO across any Xtras

Impress me – 5 points per character whose performance REALLY stood out to me (purely subjective, don’t argue with the researcher)

Controlling for Bias: @chiisana-sukima and I also discussed how the writer for each episode had a lot to do with language, so we’ve included that data in the results. Other items that may affect the data include a) how much silence there was built into the script, b) how MANY characters appeared in the episode, and c) how plot affected the character (Demon!Dean, Demon!Bobby, Leviathan!Cas, dead-hallucination Bobby-in-Sam’s-head, etc.). For my purposes, if they LOOKED and tried to ACT like the character, their words were categorized for that character. But, essentially, I didn’t sweat this stuff and did whatever I wanted, because no one is paying me, so there.

Results:

SO – no surprise this is stupidly long and full of illustrative screencaps. Read below the cut for the Fun stuff! {Oh, and pre-emptively: “Screw you, my math is perfect.”}

1.1 Pilot (Kripke)

Dean: Whoa; easy tiger, are you kidding me?; hell, gig, dude, not bad, scored (got); do some digging (research), cakehole, check it out, c'mon, I betcha, here's the deal; dude, took a swan dive, "what the...", I'm super, chick, what a bitch (she is), I don't get it, no chick flick moments, bitch, hey man, dude, five-o, take off, crap, boobs, nice work (well done), saved your ass, screwed up, shag ass, whatever, helluva,

Sam: crap, hell, hey, c'mon, the damn thing, working overtime on a Millertime shift; man, dean; jim, jack and jose; I swear, man; kinda, hey, genius (deprecating), hey, jerk, hell, we got work to do.

F&F: John –hell, (sports reference) ; Mary - oh my God

Xtras: hell, smartass, hell, Hell

Quantity – 60

Variety – 4

Originality – 20 [cakehole; no chick flick moments; working overtime on a Millertime shift; jim, jack and jose]

Sam vs Dean – 18/35 or 51

Family & Friends – 1

Xtras – 1

Impress me – 10 [Dean, of course, made a strong first impression in this pilot episode, but comparatively this is one of Sam’s strongest episodes as well.]

Total = 142

2.1 In My Time of Dying (Kripke)

Dean: man, c'mon, gimme, thank god, screw you, c'mon, lay some mojo on me, c'mon, what the hell kinda, hey, frickin', man, dude, full on Swazy'd that mother. What the…, get the hell away, now what?, sorta, you gotta be kiddin' me, god, I'll be damned, damn straight, I'm screwed, son of a bitch (angry), chick, far too laid back, hell, cut me a break, I'll pass, not into (x) chicks, what the hell, ditch it, c'mon, c'mon,

Sam: I swear to god, you wanna bet, lay some mojo on, thumbs up our asses, I got it covered, hey, aw man, pissed (mad), what's going on?, go to hell, hey, man, hey, c'mon, man,

F&F: John - our only card, meet up with, hey, pick it up (for me), hey, dude, buttin' heads, I seen; Bobby – you got it (yes), damn; Tessa - freaked, I'm dealing, flipped out; YED - get the hell out

Xtras: oh my god

Quantity – 64

Variety – 2.5

Originality – 5 [full on Swazy'd that mother]

Sam vs Dean – 15/34 or 44

Family & Friends – 2

Xtras – 0

Impress me – 0 [Really kinda banal, noting major happened verbally in this episode. Dean was lively, but not really inventive.]

Total = 117.5

3.1 The Magnificent Seven (Kripke)

Dean: freaky, weirdo, bupkiss, drivin' me crazy, I aint sweatin' it, get this, spiffy, whackjob, stupidx3 (in one sentence), showtime!, sit here with our junk in our hands, send [him] packing, hell warmed over, poor bastards, chick, whatever it takes to get you through the night, goose chase, welch out of it, so help me god, tuff, whatever, sons of bitches, raise hell,

Sam: ah, god; beats me, man, my god, what the hell, good bet, stark raving psycho, bustin' my ass,

F&F: Bobby - (double negative), pack it up, damn it, half-cocked, this joker, son (at Dean),

Xtras: "Hell's Bells", Hell, bastards, damn fools, man, rat's ass, piss poor, damn

Quantity – 47

Variety – 3 [very little repetition, several new words by several characters]

Originality – 15 [whackjob, sit here with our junk in our hands, stark raving psycho]

Sam vs Dean – 8/25 or 32

Family & Friends – 1

Xtras – 2 [more quantity and variety than previously]

Impress me – 0 [ solid performances, but no one really stood out]

Total = 100

4.1 Lazarus Rising (Kripke)

Dean: Preachin' to the choir, dammit, bad mojo, some [one's] bitch boy, badass, hell yes, damn, douche her up, bit it (die), freaky, weirdo, crap, I'm game, bring it, work him over, perky nipples, cut me loose (from Hell), tell you squat, "don't come crawling to me when they show up on your doorstep with vaseline and a firehose", whatever had the juice to, bad mofo, peachy, (serious) as a heart attack, bigtime [knife], get caught with pants down, helluva, "ring the dinner bell" (call up bad guy), get the hell out, I'm not buying (it - belief),

Sam: hell, they booked up here, thank god, what the hell's goin' on, hell,

F&F: Bobby - dead set on it, took off, what in the hell, aint been, sticky question, damn thing (2 x), kid (at Sam), you can't be serious; Pamela - Grumpy (at Sam); ruby: getting pretty slick

Xtras: damn, gotah Hell

Quantity – 47

Variety – 4 [Dean’s range alone here pulls this up from a 3]

Originality – 20 [douche her up ; perky nipples; don't come crawling to me … vaseline and a firehose; Grumpy]

Sam vs Dean – 5/29 or 17

Family & Friends – 2.5 [about avg quantity and variety]

Xtras – 1 [pretty lame]

Impress me – 5 [Dean really lit this episode up – back from the dead and spittin’ words!]

Total = 96.5

5.1 Sympathy for the Devil (Kripke)

Dean: What the hell, keep our heads down, whatever, hey, stupid bastard, asshat, sons of bitches, cram it with walnuts, ugly; two-faced douche, jack squat, you dicks, son of a bitch, hey, bitch blood, yeah, right wavy gravy; thank god, angel condom (vessel), son of a bitch, eat me, big dicks, what the hell, screw him, screw [them], crap (adj), give 'em hell, crap, a snowball's chance, hell, man,

Sam: Jeeze, hey, ass, meatsuit (posessed human), hey,

F&F: Bobby - Romeo (at Sam), ass, kid (at Sam), damn, snot-nosed son of a bitch, kick your friggin' ass, we're boned, nine kinds of crazy, boy x2 (at Dean and at Sam), damn (adj); Chuck - x the crap out of him, oh God; oh crap, sucks ass; Nick (pre-Luci) - man, why the hell; Meg (dark) - pain in the ass; Zachariah - Chucklehead, screwing around

Xtras: holy crap

Quantity – 55

Variety – 4 [nice range from both Dean and F&F]

Originality – 25 [asshat; cram it with walnuts, right wavy gravy, angel condom, nine kinds of crazy]

Sam vs Dean – 5/30 or 17

Family & Friends – 4 [nice quantity and variety, with some originality and group participation as well]

Xtras – 0 [boring really]

Impress me – 15 [Dean, of course, stood out again, but also this was a standout episode for Bobby, and Chuck because like 50% of his total episode lines counted]

Total = 110

6.1 Exile on Main Street (Gamble)

Dean: crap (adj), chicks, dig (like), man, freakin', how the hell, [?] what the hell, c'mon x2, you gotta be kidding me, god knows why, sue me, damn, sons of bitches, stick my neck out, whatever, you bet,

Sam: Hey, crap, go gunnin' for (hunt), that's nasty,

F&F: Bobby - dammit, mi casa es su casa, damn

Xtras: thank god, what the hell, my god, shook loose, helluva, oh my god, you son of a bitch

Quantity – 30

Variety – 2 [softer curses, common, some repetition – generally blah]

Originality – 0 [not an danged thing new]

Sam vs Dean – 4/16 or 25

Family & Friends – 1 [only Bobby and lame showing]

Xtras – 3 [Better quantity than everyone but Dean, decent quality]

Impress me – 0 [for obvious reasons]

Total = 61

7.1 Meet the New Boss (Gamble)

Dean: this is nuts, c'mon x2, ah well; stick your neck out, figure it out, off the deep end, pissed, pray to god, kicked in the daddy pills, scuzzy, piece of…, thingy, hear us out, (X) is our bitch, both of you put your junk away, really?, crap, piehole, out of the cards, hey x2,

Sam: I guess (yes), seriously?, hey, friggin', crap, hey,

F&F: Bobby - diddly, c'mon, kid (Sam), sport (Sam), son of a bitch, Jenga (eureka); Cas - genitals, cannot abide, atone, unpleasant; Crowley - bollocks, jig is up, bend them right over, come on, giraffe (at Sam), mash us like peas; Death - you're joking, shut up; Lucifer - long time no spooning, right on, yank the wool off of your eyes

Xtras: heck, oh my god,

Quantity – 49

Variety – 3 [pulled up by some Dean inventiveness and the variety in F&F]

Originality – 10 [kicked in the daddy pills; long time no spooning ]

Sam vs Dean – 6/20 or 30

Family & Friends – 4 +1 [more than DEAN! And. Of course, Crowley’s imaginativeness, And Cas HAD some!]]

Xtras – 0 [Frickin’ BOring]

Impress me – 0 [Crowley was a near thing, but not really]

Total = 97

8.1 We Need to Talk About Kevin (Carver)

Dean: you son of a bitch, you bastard, keep your nose clean, dammit, my ass, things got hairy towards the end, in the wind, turned tail on, knee deep in god's armpit, bully for you, damn, no signs of douchery, So what? You dropped your peanut butter in her chocolate?; 31 flavors of bottom-dwelling nasties, dental apocalypse (vamp), lookin' for a soul train, hey, wow, come sniffing around, I got bupkiss, sweet mother of god, come again?, wipe the slate clean, bastard, Spanky, by a long shot, jackass, hitting the head, helluva lot, beat a dead horse,

Sam: what the.., frickin', right, I did not have a roadmap (no clue), hey, throw a bitchfit, check this out, dude, it sucks, might suck, what the hell,

F&F: Crowley - Heavens no, sky's the limit, throw me a bone, hullo boys, moose (Sam), last time we danced (met), chop chop (hurry), meatsuit; Benny - what the hell, jackass, hump my soul (carry), howya holdin'up?, keep your nose clean; Kevin - hell, eat me x2, what the hell,

Xtras: dude, bitch, dumbass

Quantity – 62

Variety – 5 [avg to strong performances from ALL involved, even the xtras]

Originality – 25 [knee deep in god's armpit; no signs of douchery; 31 flavors of bottom-dwelling nasties, dental apocalypse; hump my soul]

Sam vs Dean – 11/31 or 35

Family & Friends – 4 [good quantity variety and strength.]

Xtras – 1 [pretty basic]

Impress me – 10 [Dean, absolutely on this one; & Kevin – for eat me x2 said with absolute conviction]

Total = 142

9.1 I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here (Carver)

Dean: whatever the hell, pissed at, we'll work it out, man, screw it, with ears on (listening), jimmied ourselves out, man, all due respect, don't be a pouter (speak up), son of a bitch, what the hell, hey, pissed, what the hell, dammit, whoa, give a damn, bite me, what the hell, you kidding me?, no way in hell, what the hell, dammit, dudn't mean squat, hell, hell no, angelic pacemaker, whoa, handsy, hell,

Sam: seriously? friggin' crapfest, shuttup (no/negative), the thing is, I bet you get off on this, what the hell, crap, we got work to do

F&F: Bobby - hell yes, you didn't do jack, suck as that may, idjits, basackwards crazy, son (Sam) x2; Cas – devote; Death - not my bag;

Xtras: what the hell x2

Quantity – 51

Variety – 3 [lotta repetitive hell in this one, most not terribly strong, either]

Originality – 15 [angelic pacemaker; friggin' crapfest; suck as that may]

Sam vs Dean – 9/31 or 29

Family & Friends – 3 [on the strength of Bobby alone, really]

Xtras – 0 [dull, dull, dull]

Impress me – 5 [Bobby (or Sam, however you want to think about it) for a dead guy with a small part, he was pretty verbally lively]

Total = 106

10.1 Black (Carver)

Dean: oops, bitch, douche, you sold me out, you all suck, two-bit skank, sure as hell, knock yourself out, whatever jam he's in, damn sure,

Sam: you got it (yes), get this, jumped the gun, kick his butt, son of a bitch, meatsuit, what the hell, look buddy, turn tail, army recruiting ad that spit you out

F&F: Cas - I'm sensing awkardness, like a million dollars, put up much of a fight?; Crowley - you're budgin' it, moose x3, what's eating you up, out of your depth, what tickles me, what makes you lose your chickens, good luck with that, demon chum, does the tin man have a sheet metal willie?, fetid petri dish of broken dreams and beer, out with the club circuit and in with the stadium tour, my bad, midwifing you back to life; Cole - chicken wing (arm in sling), ass over teakettle, hurt like son of a bitch, I'm karma,

Xtras: eat me, jackass, douche, code brown moment, your funeral, screwed up

Quantity – 58

Variety – 4.5 [only because I’d like to see the variety more balanced among characters]

Originality – 25 [army recruiting ad that spit you out; what makes you lose your chickens; does the tin man have a sheet metal willie?; fetid petri dish of broken dreams and beer, code brown moment]

Sam vs Dean – 10/10 or 100

Family & Friends – 5+1 [Crowley, oh dear lord, was masterful, plus Cole was fun too. And Cas HAD some!]

Xtras – 4 [the Gas and Sip counter guy Rocked]

Impress me – 15 [Crowley OMG; the Gas and Sip counter guy xtra OMG, Sam – for EQUALING Demon!Dean in verbal skills this episode]

Total = 212.5

11.1 Out of the Darkness and into the Fire (Carver)

Dean: What the hell, easy buddy, stay cool, heyx3, is this like a Magic Mike moment?, whoa, take it easy, everybody goes '28 days later'?, hell, like a sunnofa bitch, dudn't it, sumpin' straight, untenable, bite us in the ass, horse sense, we broke it we bought it, where the hell, defcon screwed, shove x up his ass, hell yes, farting sawdust, frickin', no way, c'mon x2, godspeed (good luck), screwy, kick her ass,

Sam: seriously? we know jack, you were on a roll, these things have a shelf life, hey, our crap, only half of the bumper sticker, hey, sons of bitches

F&F: Cas – transgressions; Crowley - you excrement, old school it is, daddy's home;

Xtras: freaking out

Quantity – 43

Variety – 4 [actually quite a creative episode, verbally, with little repetition and not a lot of boring exclamations]

Originality – 30 [is this like a Magic Mike moment; everybody goes '28 days later'; untenable; defcon screwed ; farting sawdust ; only half of the bumper sticker]

Sam vs Dean – 9/29 or 31

Family & Friends – 1+1 [Because Cas]

Xtras – 0 [I mean, really]

Impress me – 5 [Dean kicked it for me this episode]

Total = 115

12.1 Keep Calm and Carry On (Dabb)

Dean: flat on his ass, be pissed (mad), c'mon, new duds, whoa x7, hell yeah, what’s his face, bitch, (freak),

Sam: screw you, accent in a pantsuit, screw you, Screw.You., go to hell, screw you

F&F: Mary - come again?, sweetheart,

Xtras: Holy Mother…, hold up (wait), no way, were a bitch, chick, psycho, fricking, (demons): busted bitch, dude, gross, posh spice ass

Quantity – 24

Variety – 3 [and not a 2 purely due to the xtras]

Originality – 10 [accent in a pantsuit, posh spice ass]

Sam vs Dean – 6/15 or 40

Family & Friends – 1 [and not a 0 only because the way Mary says sweetheart to Baby melts me]

Xtras – 4 [good solid showing here]

Impress me – 10 [Sam – because, well Duh, Screw. You. And the xtras]

Total = 92

Conclusions:

In general, it looks like writers wanted to keep to at LEAST above 100 on the “@Durenjtmusings Verbal Inventiveness Rubric” for decent verbal variety in a script. Both Carver and Kripke were pretty good at this. Dabb should take note.

Ranking of episodes:

Worst - 6.1 Gamble – 61 (note that both Gamble’s scores were low – not judging, just holding it up for ridicule)

12.1 Dabb - 92

4.1 Kripke - 96.5

7.1 Gamble - 97

3.1 Kripke - 100

9.1 Carver - 106

5.1 Kripke - 110

11.1 Carver - 115

2.1 Kripke - 117.5

8.1 Carver & 1.1 Kripke – 142 (Both good showings, although I like 8.1 better, personally.)

Best - 10.1 Carver - 212.5 (Aaaaannd, Crowley wins this episode the trophy – who is surprised? Plus someone hire that Gas and Sip counter guy - comedy timing gold. Also, of note, Demon!Dean talked less, and less creatively - letting his sneering and violence say everything for him, evidently. Because of this, however, Sam EQUALLED Dean for verbal inventiveness this episode, for perfect brother balance. Yea for the Mark.)

Bonus: Results Presented Chronologically – in case you care:

1.1 Kripke - 142

2.1 Kripke - 117.5

3.1 Kripke - 100

4.1 Kripke - 96.5

5.1 Kripke - 110

6.1 Gamble - 61

7.1 Gamble - 97

8.1 Carver - 142

9.1 Carver - 106

10.1 Carver - 212.5

11.1 Carver - 115

12.1 Dabb - 92

Final Thoughts: I have begun to note a number of fun cross-episode meta things – like Sam tends to echo expletives that someone else has already said in an episode, Angels are REALLY boring verbally except for Zachariah, and Dean is way more verbally creative when he’s just come back from exile (hell, purgatory, etc.) – but I’m holding on to this until I have more data on the 250+ episodes I have left to analyze.

Extra Credit for the Obsessed Experts: Go back over JUST Dean’s collected words and see how much of the episode you can visualize from his verbal creativeness alone.

Also - this was fun and I am clearly a compulsive academic…someone please stop me before it is too late.

#the great meta scavenger hunt #spn meta #writing character voice #I am a compulsive academic #cracked SPN research #the eekp database

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nora-reads-homestuck · 7 years

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Nora Listens to HS: Homestuck for the Holidays

Hello everybody! You’ll have to forgive my reprehensible lateness on this one; I had a HELL of a New Year, and things are only really just starting to settle down. But, technically, until Epiphany tomorrow, we’re still within the historical bounds of Christmas, so at least I have a (partial) excuse.

I’m here today with an extracurricular on the recommendation of my ask screener @SkaiaMechanic, who pointed me to this “unofficial official” album arranged on the side by the otherwise-legit Homestuck musicians, just for funsies. I’m actually really excited! I know that most of the time they’re probably composing exactly what they want to compose anyway, and Andrew Hussie just uses what he likes, but this is even more free rein, if that makes any sense. Granted they’re working toward a unified theme (and you know how I usually feel about theme albums), but the holidays are a pretty broad topic. So let’s see what they’ve got! ^0^

Quick aside: oh my god, that album cover. It’s super cute and well done, but I am losing my shit at Rose’s outfit. Ok, on to the actual music!

Time for a Story: Listen my children and you shall hear / of the midnight ride of Paul Revere Ahaha ok, let me actually hit play on this. ...Oh. Oh, god. Who is this?? OH MY FUCKING GOD, THE NON-CANONICAL CHRISTMAS APOCRYPHA, AHAHAHAHA. OH MY GOD. The ex-Catholic in me is HOWLING.

A Skaian Christmas: And that faded right into the first song, which has all the Christmas trappings, like sleigh bells, and horns, and... Oh, haha, it’s this theme! I kind of dig it! The additions actually go really well, festive but unobtrusive for the most part. 1:28: Oh heck yeah, that choir is rad! Short and sweet. I’m enjoying this so far.

Anthem of Rime: Aaand we’ve faded into what’s starting off as Carol of the Bells. Are we going to fade into another familiar theme? That’s what I’m predicting and hoping. Ding... dong... ding... dong... I sang this song in a Christmas choir once, and actually knowing all the words makes me some kind of weirdo, apparently? Oh hey! Yeeeahh! We’ve got... what’s the name of this one? *looks back* Terraform! Looking back on my initial review of this song, I think I’ve warmed up to it a bit. (Because the song title has ‘rime’ in it?? GET IT??? :D) Or maybe it’s just that it sounds more badass when it’s all Christmassy? Not sure. Heh, this chopped and screwed ending is fun.

Pachelbel’s Gardener: Basically if you’ve been on the internet any amount of time and you haven’t come across this video before, then... Well, I don’t even know what. Anyway! Hah. Yep, there’s those chords, and those eight notes. Whoa, that’s a weird synth. And this beat! I’m getting, weirdly, Taco? 1:25: Aha, there’s Gardener for realsies. I’m not sure if it actually really fits with the Canon in D bassline, especially considering the melody phrase is 4 measures to Canon’s 8, but it’s close enough. I’m not sure if I actually like it, but it sure is interesting. My feelings on the original were pretty tepid too, IIRC.

Carefree Perigee: D’aww. This one’s short, but I loved the Carefree Victory melody a lot, so it’s nice to hear it again. I like the reimagining of the chord progression. So syruppy and sweet. <3

The More You Know: Oh lawd.

The Squiddles Save Christmas: Woo, Squiddles! The Squiddles album has been getting a lot of play on my iPod lately. Unironically, even. Huh, this is another neat reimaginning of an existing progression! Oh... ok... these vocals are a tad bit creepy. Sounds like the singers might have had a biiiit too much eggnog before recording, haha. 1:17: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHSAJKHD. ...Nog baby????? Wtf???? Like a ‘food baby’?? WOW THIS TOTALLY WENT OFF THE RAILS WOW.

Billy the Bellsuit Diver Has Something to Say: It’s beginning to look a lot like Squiddles... Hmm, this one’s more fun so far, but I just know it’s going to get weird in a second. Isn’t it. ISN’T IT?? 0:47: Ok, yeah, here we go. 1:55: OH GOD. Unpleasant ASMR back twitches, oh no. Wow, turned down to like, 3 kbps or whatever, it starts sounding like whale song. ...Huh, the ending is actually sort of nice. Overall I don’t think I enjoyed it much, though. :(

Squiddly Night: Oh wow, I looked away from the window and didn’t realize that it had actually become a new song. AHHHHHH NO THAT ENDING WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING.

The Santa Claus Interdimensional Travel Sleigh: Wait, so they do believe in Santa, but Jesus Jegus is non-canonical? EVEN BETTER.

Land of Light and Cheer: Noel, noel, etc., etc. Are we going to bring in LoLaR’s theme here? Whoa, yep! And it’s actually really nice? I like the instrumentation in this one. That flute is gorgeous! This is a Ferkol piece, so it might very well be live.

Gog Rest Ye Merry Prospitians: Let nothing you dismay! And... somebody chugging eggnog? More like, NOG REST YE, AMIRITE? Oh whoa! Suddenly Sburb. Cool, though. Is this another Ferkol piece? The sudden loudness changes smack of his style. Hah, yep, I’m getting good at this. It helps that he’s working with established pieces that have very definite melodies; keeps the meandering to a minimum.

Carolmanthetime: Oh whoa. This is neat! Pretty heavy for a Jit piece, but I like it. And that’s hints of Showtime and Walk-Stab-Walk, if I’m not mistaken. Jit’s compositions often use somewhat cheesier-sounding instrumentation, but they’re always pretty solidly put together, and of course his piano talent is damn amazing.

Candlelight: Hah, Candles and Clockwork. To be honest, I’ve always felt like this melody had a lot of potential that’s never really been realized so far. So far this arrangement is pretty pleasant. I’d love to hear it performed by live instruments sometime. ...Wait, this one says ‘lyrics’ next to it. Eh? Oh. Oh. Welp, scratch that off, then.

Oh No! It’s the Midnight Crew!: ...Exactly what it says on the tin. Oh wait, shit, they have an actual cameo?? Ahaha.

Let It Snow: Hah, this is fun! Kind of like an off-brand Vince Guaraldi Trio. Very ‘mall food court’ vibe, especially with all the reverb. It almost makes it creepy without the accompanying voices and laughter. An abandoned mall food court at 3 in the morning? (See what I did there??)

Hella Sweet: ...Mighty big sack indeed.

Shit Let’s Be Santa: OH SHIT, this one has lyrics too. On the plus side I’m not really expecting any kind of quality, so what I hear can only be an improvement. ...Huh, this has a lo-fi early 90′s synthpop feel to it. I actually... like it?? The lyrics rhyme, too. I almost wouldn’t expect that of a SBaHJ-themed song.

Choo Choo: George the Conductor of what? ......1:12: AHAHAHAHA.

Overall thoughts:

Well, it’s a bit less than I was really hoping for, given that a good number of the tracks are just bizarre rambling (but still with extra points for the Apocrypha thing), but I don’t know that there was anything on the album that I heard and thought ‘wow that’s terrible’. I’m a fan of Christmas music, generally speaking, anyway, so I’m not sure if it would be everybody’s cup of tea, especially if you celebrate different holidays. But hey, it’s free content, and there’s certainly a few things worth listening to if only to hear some interesting rearrangements of your favorite tunes.

Top five six tracks in order or favoritude:

Carefree Perigee

Land of Light and Cheer

Carolmanthetime

A Skaian Christmas

Anthem of Rime

Shit Let’s Be Santa

Album Rating: 6/10. Drink some eggnog first for a funner experience!

#NRHS #Nora listens to Homestuck #Homestuck #Homestuck liveblog #Homestuck for the Holidays

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teababe27 · 5 years

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Countdown - Top 6 Slayer Cover Songs

“That was the greatest weapon against the infestation of the dirty and smelly hippies... Slayer!!”

Every week on the Metal station on XM radio, there is a show called Corridor of Covers, where they play an hour or so of metal cover songs. Sometimes with a theme, sometimes just whatever.

Every episode (except if the theme doesn’t fit with it), they start the show with a Slayer cover, either the band covering something, or someone covering the band, along with the above South Park reference. I’ll be focusing on the latter for this list.

I’ve been listening to this show for a while, so I have gathered a decent amount of Slayer covers in my memory bank. There are a crap-ton out there, though, so it was hard to narrow it down to 6. Might have to make a Part 2 sometime.

General rules:

It had to have been released on an official album. They can’t just have performed it live once in concert and be on a crappy bootleg.

One cover per song on the list, and no repeating artists either. For example, there won’t be 2 covers of “Angel of Death” on the list, though there are multiple good covers of it.

If a cover is not on the list, then either I haven’t heard it or don’t like it enough to put on the list. This is my opinion. Try not to make a big stink about it.

Let’s do this.

6. Brides of Lucifer - “South of Heaven” and Hatebreed “Ghosts of War”

I legit could not decide for this spot, so it’s a tie.

Let’s start with the former; one of the most creative Slayer covers I’ve heard.

Brides of Lucifer is an interesting idea. It’s basically metalcovers, but the vocals are a female choir. Makes for some interesting interpretations of metal songs. Makes this song sound a little weird, but in a good way.

Hatebreed’s cover is just straightforward and aggressive and adds a lot of oomph. Jamey Jasta’s screaming vocals just work.

5. Children of Bodom - “Silent Scream”

I’m not normally into Children of Bodom’s covers, as I have a strange aversion to ironic covers for irony’s sake. However, they did a good job here with this.

Took a couple liberties with the vocals here, but their choices work. Interesting that the keyboard was used with the guitar for the solo instead of two guitars.

4. Havok - “Postmortem”

I’m cheating a little with this one, since Havok covered “Postmortem” and “Raining Blood,” but put it into one song like how most metal stations play it. I’ll only cover the “Postmortem” section, since...

*spoiler alert*

...there will be a “Raining Blood” cover later in the list.

But anyway, they nail this one. Havok are one of the better retro-thrash bands I’ve heard recently (except I have mixed feelings about their last album, but that’s another matter for another time). Guitar work is great, vocals are great. The singer especially nails the high-pitched scream of “Await the final caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllll”, which is impressive.

Not quite as good as the original, which is in my top 10 Slayer songs, but pretty dang close.

3. Vader - “Raining Blood”

Amazing how just down-tuning a song can sometimes make it that much more badass.

This was actually one of the first Slayer covers I ever heard when I was in college.

As stated earlier, I find this cover very badass. The vocals help to make this song a lot heavier as well. Especially in the last verse; the vocals just work with the “Raining blood from a lacerated sky...” part.

2. Monstrosity - “Angel of Death”

This was my #1 pick for a long time, until I started listening to the Corridor on a more regular basis.

I don’t even know why I like it so much, since it’s pretty similar to the original, just with death metal growls.

But then again, Slayer might as well have been a death metal band if their vocals were different. The subject matter works so well with death metal. This cover doesn’t need to do anything different.

1. At the Gates - “Captor of Sin”

This cover. Wow.

Everything about this cover works. They speed it up a little, but the speed doesn’t bring it down or make it un-listenable.

I like the layered vocals in the chorus. Gives it more creepiness and oomph.

Honestly, I think I like this one more than the original.

And that’s why this is my #1 pick.

#slayer #cover song #cover songs #metal #thrash metal #death metal #my countdowns #lists #brides of lucifer #hatebreed #children of bodom #havok #vader #monstrosity #at the gates

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 7 years

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[Exclusive] Interview with Lindsay Schoolcraft of Cradle of Filth and 10/31 Soundtrack

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/exclusive-interview-lindsay-schoolcraft-cradle-filth-contributor-horror-anthology-1031/

[Exclusive] Interview with Lindsay Schoolcraft of Cradle of Filth and 10/31 Soundtrack

When I learned Lindsay Schoolcraft would be contributing to the soundtrack of Rocky Gray’s upcoming Horror Anthology, 10/31, I had to reach out.

Lindsay and I share mutual friends, growing up only towns apart. And, also being among the few gothic persuasion in our neighbourhood, I followed Lindsay and her rising solo career under the name Schoolcraft, and silently cheered her on in 2013 when she joined iconic dark metal band, Cradle of Filth. Lindsay continued on with the band, serving as live keys and back-up vocals, as well as contributing the female vocals, keyboard, and harp on the bands’ most recent albums; Hammer of the Witches (2015), and Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay (2017).

And, with the recent release of Cradle of Filth’s Cryptoriana, her work on a highly anticipated solo album, as well as contributing to the soundtrack of an upcoming horror movie, we had much to discuss! Read on for our exclusive interview with Lindsay Schoolcraft.

Photo by Melissa Matheson.

Nightmare on Film Street: This interview all came about because I stumbled across your involvement in the soundtrack for Rocky Gray’s upcoming Horror Anthology, 10/31. Anything you can tell us about the project?

Lindsay Schoolcraft: Rocky and I have been in talks about collaborating together for quite some time now. We were just waiting for the right opportunity and project to come up. Earlier this year he asked me if I would be interested in doing a song with him on his horror anthology soundtrack. Of course I agreed to it because Rocky and his work with Evanescence has been a huge influence on me since my teens. So far the writing process has gone smoothly. He is easy to work with and trusts my abilities as a writer, which is a huge compliment coming from him.

NOFS: Is this your first forray into Horror? Any interest in contributing to future soundtracks or scores?

LS: This definitely is. It’s also my first contribution to an original track that will be exclusively for a movie. I was trying to pick Rocky’s brain for theme ideas on how to approach the lyrics for this song. I want the listener to fall into a story and give them a sense of storytelling and finding their own perception or take on the story they are hearing. I was asking for what the stories were like in the flick, he said “just make it spooky and open to your own idea”. At first it was difficult, but then the ideas started coming. I am just completing the lyrics over the next few days.

I am slowly getting into the horror world. I’ve never been massively into slasher flicks, I’m more of a sci-fi and fantasy fan. I am looking forward to seeing what Rocky has created with 10/31.

Depending on how well this song is received I would be interested in doing more soundtrack contributions in the future. I find there is less pressure with one track verses doing a whole album and making a group of songs cohesive to one another. There is more freedom in one track.

NOFS: So much of the tone and mood in Horror is set by the particular film’s score a music choices. Do you have any personal favorite scores or soundtracks that inspire you?

LS: Thanks to Dani Filth the Dracula soundtrack has really grown on me. I would have to say the soundtrack that has had the biggest influence on me is from The Queen of The Damned. It’s influenced a lot of my work and never grows old for me.

NOFS: The latest album from Cradle of Filth; Cryptoriana- The Seductiveness of Decay, just dropped last week. What can we expect from the new album?

LS: It’s different then what we’ve done before in many ways. The guys really pushed themselves to compose their best on it. The addition of the choirs is what really ties it together. Also it is one of our more thrash driven albums too. So far the feedback has been great, I’m happy everyone is enjoying it!

NOFS: The recently released Music Video for your single Heartbreak and Seance is a beautiful, moving vignette of classic Victorian, Gothic imagery; soft snow falling among dead trees, wax dripping from the candles of a silent altar. Can you tell us a little bit about the process of creating that video? What was the experience like bringing the single to life?

LS: Oh thank you! It was a magical time and full of great memories. We flew out to Riga, Latvia to work with Arthur Berzinsh, which had done the album artwork for our past two albums. We love his work and he really understands us and what we need visually to match our music. This was definitely the biggest music video production I had been a part of since joining the band. Dani had also mentioned that it was one of the biggest video production that band has had in a long time. The crew and makeup artists were a treat to work with and we made it happen in just two days. I believe after we left there was more filming happening for two days after we left. It shows in the results. I’m really happy I could be a part of it.

vimeo

NOFS: Both in the music video and during your stage performances, you always wear such amazing headpieces and unique, gothic inspired fashion. Can you tell us a little bit about your fashion influences?

LS: Oh thank you! The lot of my headdresses are made by Hysteria Machine, but for the new music video I got Morgan Lander of Kittie to design my crystal deer skull headpiece under her line Thelema Crystal Skulls.

My influence and ideas change every few months. I have definitely been on a long black evening gown kick the past few years, I have a feeling that will change starting mid next year. My dress designs come about with whatever I’m feeling at the time and the influence of the time of year. I find I get more inspiration in the autumn in winter months for my image as apposed to spring in summer where I get more of my musical creativity from.

I usually carry a small sketch book with me on tour and sketch all my ideas into them as they come up. They aren’t the best doodles in the world, but they are passable until I can bring the headdress or the dress to the designers.

NOFS: Your previous album with Cradle of Filth, Hammer of the Witches, was inspired by the infamous persecution of suspected witchcraft. Were there any specific real-life or fictional stories/films that inspired you when creating the album?

LS: Usually the theme of the music doesn’t come until later and it’s decided by Dani. With Hammer of The Witches we just started writing and picked the best of what came about. Of course there was a theme of darkness with anger and sadness when we wrote that album. In the beginning we never know just what Dani will make the theme. He often needs the music first because he can start getting creative.

NOFS: The Female audience tends to be under-represented in both the Metal and Horror communities, though we make up a growing, significant (and badass) chunk of their fan-bases. Is there any advice you have for those macabre and creative gals who are interested in exploring a darker career-path?

LS: It’s a learn-as-you-go experience so I don’t really know what advice I can offer. You just have to be you and find out what is is that you can uniquely offer with your own little added flair. If you told me 6 years ago that I would be the creepy woman in Cradle of Filth to sing backings and play the keyboard I would have never believed you. But it happened and here we are. I was slowly moving away from the dark fashion and look that I loved so much just before I got the offer to join and then I just got sucked right back into it. It’s definitely been fun to experiment and find my look with makeup though!

NOFS: Speaking of which- what’s it like being the only Female in a Dark Metal band?

LS: It’s nothing different really. Sure, I am a nurturing person and I get sucked into the role of being the “tour mom” with handing out band-aids and being thoughtful and caring when others break themselves. But it’s nice to be a part of something and represent the feminine aspect, which is something I take very seriously considering some people consider me a role model.

NOFS: Do you have any personal favorite Horror Movie Go-To’s on the road?

LS: Would Repo! The Genetic Opera count? It’s pretty much my favourite movie ever!

NOFS: It totally counts. In addition to Cradle of Filth, you are also half of Black Metal duo Antiqva, and release music solo under Schoolcraft. Do you have any projects in the near future you can tease? Also, do you ever find downtime?

LS: Downtime? What’s that? Haha.

Antiqva is coming together, but very slowly. Which isn’t a bad thing because we get to take our time and make sure we are happy with everything we are constructing. I’m honestly very excited about this project. There is a lot of freedom to take my time and experiment and build the orchestral sections as one of the main composers.

As a solo artist my main debut is almost done being recorded and should be out sometime next year. I think people will freak when they find out who I wrote the album with and who the guest singers are. This has been my biggest accomplishment as a song writer so far. It’s the music I have always wanted to make and I think the fans will really dig it. I did my best to be as honest and humble as possible when creating this album. I wanted to tell stories and really pull the listener into the songs. It’s been a long journey and we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As for free time though: I mainly just play around on my harp or watch cartoons. Of course I’m still slowly self teaching myself the wonderful world of makeup artistry. I’ve also been slowly piecing together new song for my next solo release. It’s a never ending process.

NOFS: Where can readers of Nightmare on Film Street find and follow more from you?

LS: You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. My Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Schoolcraftofficial And don’t forget to check out 10/31’s indiegogo campaign at http://igg.me/at/1031movie

Cradle of Filth’s latest album, Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay is available now. The band will be kicking off their European Tour in the Late Fall. Tour details can be found here. Horror Anthology 10/31 is currently funding on Indiegogo with a little over a week remaining.

#cradle of filth #gothic fashion #gothic metal #gothic style #lindsay schoolcraft #lindsay schoolcraft of cradle of filth #metal #repo the genetic opera #rocky gray 10/31 #rocky gray evanescence

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thementalattic · 7 years

Text

A couple of years after Estelle and Joshua saved the kingdom of Liberl, trouble brews in the lands of the mighty empire of Erebonia, and it’ll be up to Class VII to save their home. This is The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel.

Genre(s): RPG

Developer: Nihon Falcom | XSEED Games

Publisher: XSEED Games

Release Date: August 2017

Played Main Story

Platforms: PC, PS Vita

Purchase At: Steam

Good:

Great setting and plot.

Great voice acting.

Fantastic music.

Bad:

Simplified quartz system.

Review

I heard about Trails of Cold Steel while playing the second chapter of Trails in the Sky, and while I was on the fence about buying the two games in this new entry of the Legend of Heroes series for the PlayStation Vita, XSEED announced the release of this PC version of Trails of Cold Steel. Preferring the upscaled visuals if not just the bigger screen and the new content, I jumped at the chance of playing Trails of Cold Steel on PC.

And you know what? I absolutely love it. I often play games for reviews with a distinct sense that I’m not fully enjoying the game as much as I should, since I’m working with a deadline. But with Trails of Cold Steel, I was hooked from the very beginning and even though I still played with a deadline in mind—one I inevitably missed considering the length of the game—I just couldn’t pull away from playing, spending hours playing it every time I had the chance.

I spent my last couple of weekends playing for hours Saturday and Sunday, something I haven’t done in a while.

Arts are even flashier in Trails of Cold Steel

Trails of Cold Steel takes us back to the world of Trails in the Sky, the world of the Orbal Revolution, the fantasy quartz equivalent of the industrial revolution, with the difference that Orbal technology leads to anything from Magic to airships and even a crude form of internet and mobile networks. Basically, it’s the starting point for technological innovation, one that drives progress and even social, political and economic changes.

Trails in the Sky showed us Liberl, a Kingdom not without its issues but generally very relaxed, with nobles and commoners on the same level, where the people love the Queen and she’s humble and kind.

Here’s the gang!

Trails of Cold Steel on the other hand gives us Erebonia, a country you hear in passing references in Trails in the Sky, particularly for its military might. In this game, however you see how it works from within, the conflicts that keep its population tense, the near-war state it maintains with its neighbouring countries and the Empire’s constant struggle between keeping its traditions and moving forwards.

While in Liberl Nobles are much like commoners in their outlook—save for that one annoying noble in Trails in the Sky whose attitude is played for jokes—in Erebonia they’re very different. Nobles control their regions very differently from one another, with the greater houses often treating commoners with contempt.

Where you’ll spend most of the game, and the place hiding most secrets!

Opposing them are the Reformists, commoners in government who earned everything they have, who even have the Emperor’s backing and support. They want to centralise and standardise things, to keep the wheels turning as they should, even if it means taking some power from the nobles.

And that schism, that conflict of ideologies is at the core of this wonderful setting, which in true Nihon Falcom and specifically Legend of the Heroes fashion, gives a name, a face and a distinct personality to every single citizen you come across. Every NPC, from the little girl playing with her dog to the old cranky pawnshop owner have their own life, a spark that makes them feel alive.

Bosses can be massive!

The protagonist Rean and his classmates start their new lives as part of Thors Military Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in the country, one where both commoners and nobles attend, though they don’t mingle. Nobles are in Classes 1 & 2 and the commoners take the next three numbers.

Except for our heroes, Class VII, a new course that draws its students from across the nation and makes no distinction of social classes or family heritage. They have different background, opinions, ideologies and yet they’re supposed to work together to overcome the challenges ahead of them, using their new experimental battle orbments, the Arcus units, to form “Combat Links” that boost their effectiveness.

Aren’t these adorable?

The problem is, those links depend on the personal relationships. If the students despise or mistrust each other, forming those links is impossible and this plays into the interpersonal conflicts and growth of the characters in the game, a clever way of combining story and gameplay. In fact, Trails of Cold Steel goes even further. If a character decides that they won’t be active in combat, they really won’t be.

Trails of Cold Steel’s plot has some amazing political and social intrigue—and a few genuinely awesome twists—but at its core is about the characters, their lives at school, their issues with their families, no matter their social standing. In fact, these stories play out in tandem with the crises the characters face in their monthly “field studies,” which in game terms follow the same blueprint as the story arcs of new settlements in Trails in the Sky, where you can complete a set of optional quests for rewards and some mandatory ones that push the story forward.

Turbo mode is a blessing in this port, especially in the Nord Highlands!

Trails of Cold Steel also adds a bit of this on the school town, with Rean, the protagonist, helping the student council by completing tasks for the student body and the nearby townspeople. Doing so nets you some nice rewards and you can use these “free days” to interact and improve your bonds with your classmates, unlocking new manoeuvres for when you’re in a combat link.

While the Combat Link mechanics of the Arcus orbments is pretty fun and leads to some amazing moments, such as the Burst link technique, I’m not a fan of the quartz and Orbal Arts system of the game, which has been streamlined too much. Where before you combined quartz of different elements and strengths to unlock arts, in Trails of Cold Steel you get the arts by equipping the quartz that gives them. There is no longer the need to experiment with different combinations, what you see on the quartz is exactly what you’re getting.

Part of this streamlining comes from the Master Quartz mechanic, a special quartz that levels up and unlocks special abilities for the equipping character. Arts are among those special abilities. The cookbook approach wouldn’t have played very well. The downside is that we lost some flexibility. Trails in the Sky also attempts to convince you to change the master quartz, even giving you shops, but with how difficult it is to level one of these quartz, changing them around never feels worth it.

Combat is as good as ever and in Trails of Cold Steel it feels much faster, which adds to the excitement. At first it took some getting used to, as the area of effect and pushback mechanics of the fights are easier to follow from the isometric perspective of Trails in the Sky, but once you get the hang of it and learn to “unbalance” opponents to give your linked buddies an opening to attack, even the longest fights become a joy to play.

Love the dialogue in this game

One part of this game that deserves special praise is the voice acting, and the PC version includes many more recorded lines. I’ve read harsh descriptions of the talent, calling the amateurs, but if they’re amateurs, they’re fantastic. There is a degree of earnestness in their voice, and while some of them have characters with rather strange turns of phrases, such as Laura and Jusis, the noble-born, even their deliveries feel genuine. And the writing is clever enough to poke fun at some of the more cringe-worthy dialogue and deliveries. Though that’s not to say there aren’t some weaker performances, because there are. Elise, Rean’s sister is perhaps the worst of all, both in delivery and voice tone.

This dude is such a badass that he stands on tanks while they fight!

Reminds me a lot of Persona

Skeletal dragons, a classic. I approve!

Yep, there are grades, much like they were in Trails in the Sky

Oh Angie, she’s after every woman with a pulse. Gotta love her!

Yggdrassil is such an insanely powerful Earth Art

Isn’t Legram gorgeous?

Love these maps

She’s adorkable

Massive and incredibly phallic-looking guns. Is the Empire compensating?

Rean Schwarzer, main character, nice guy, total badass!

Some optional, some required in every Field Study. They rarely pay you money though…

This mechanic could’ve been better. the bonuses are great, but it takes too long to level.

S-Crafts are amazing as ever, especially Angelica’s

That’s a questionable name for a food place.

You’ll be seeing these a lot!

Those eyes…

Some familiar faces show up!

Home sweet home

The rest of the cast, those with easier characters to play, really shine and do something I think is still very difficult to do, they made the translated Japanese jokes work. Their delivery is spot on and I found myself laughing at many of their comments. It’s great when voice acting feels so natural that it brings the characters to life. Instructor Sara’s actress is superb, as you can feel the character’s humour and simple joy of life and booze in every line.

Music is of course superb, as it tends to be in Nihon Falcom games, and the theme for one of the final bosses is outstanding. There is something about RPGs and fighting against incredible odds that makes orchestral music and choirs feel incredibly epic.

Conclusion

Trails of Cold Steel is one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played in my life and the new standard by which I will judge future entries in this long-running Nihon Falcom series. The only other thing I can say is that I hope XSEED releases Trails of Cold Steel 2 on PC soon and then give us Trails of Cold Steel 3 as soon as possible after its September release in Japan. I cannot wait!

TMA SCORE:

5/5 – Hell Yes!

I absolutely loved #TheLegendOfHeroes #TrailsOfColdSteel! Our review! @XSEEDGames @nihonfalcom

A couple of years after Estelle and Joshua saved the kingdom of Liberl, trouble brews in the lands of the mighty empire of Erebonia, and it’ll be up to Class VII to save their home.

I absolutely loved #TheLegendOfHeroes #TrailsOfColdSteel! Our review! @XSEEDGames @nihonfalcom A couple of years after Estelle and Joshua saved the kingdom of Liberl, trouble brews in the lands of the mighty empire of Erebonia, and it’ll be up to Class VII to save their home.

#Erebonia #Gaming #Hell Yes!#JRPG #Nihon Falcom #PC #Review #RPG #The Legend of Heroes #The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky #The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel #Trails of Cold Steel #Video game #XSEED Games

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kkutlesa · 7 years

Text

Genre(s): RPG

Developer: Nihon Falcom | XSEED Games

Publisher: XSEED Games

Release Date: August 2017

Played Main Story

Platforms: PC, PS Vita

Purchase At: Steam

Good:

Great setting and plot.

Great voice acting.

Fantastic music.

Bad:

Simplified quartz system.

Review

I spent my last couple of weekends playing for hours Saturday and Sunday, something I haven’t done in a while.

Arts are even flashier in Trails of Cold Steel

Here’s the gang!

Where you’ll spend most of the game, and the place hiding most secrets!

Bosses can be massive!

Aren’t these adorable?

Turbo mode is a blessing in this port, especially in the Nord Highlands!

Love the dialogue in this game

This dude is such a badass that he stands on tanks while they fight!

Reminds me a lot of Persona

Skeletal dragons, a classic. I approve!

Yep, there are grades, much like they were in Trails in the Sky

Oh Angie, she’s after every woman with a pulse. Gotta love her!

Yggdrassil is such an insanely powerful Earth Art

Isn’t Legram gorgeous?

Love these maps

She’s adorkable

Massive and incredibly phallic-looking guns. Is the Empire compensating?

Rean Schwarzer, main character, nice guy, total badass!

Some optional, some required in every Field Study. They rarely pay you money though…

This mechanic could’ve been better. the bonuses are great, but it takes too long to level.

S-Crafts are amazing as ever, especially Angelica’s

That’s a questionable name for a food place.

You’ll be seeing these a lot!

Those eyes…

Some familiar faces show up!

Home sweet home

Conclusion

TMA SCORE:

5/5 – Hell Yes!

0 notes