#i love my funky space elves

[milleart]

two kinds of xeno romance

#rogue trader #yrliet lanaevyss #warhammer 40k #marazhai aezyrraesh #millydoodles #i love my funky space elves

[comicaurora]

Hi Red! Me again. Your magic system is the coolest thing ever, and it's by far my favourite from any fictional universe! Do you have any advice on coming up with a magic system that works for me? I'm building a world where I have the races divided based on the liquid they subsist on (blood, water, nectar or tree sap) and I'm having trouble. I know I want it steampunky in urban areas, and I want sap-drinker druids in some places, but I can't seem to codify what magic is or how it works.

Ah, man. Magic systems are a real pain in the butt. Fundamentally, they’re the one part of worldbuilding where you really have no real-world basis to play with.

In general, magic systems are subcategorized as “Soft” or “Hard” magic systems depending on how ironclad the rules are. I personally prefer hard magic systems because they let me define a few axioms and build out the rest of the system from first principles.

Example: Alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist is a hard magic system where the axiomatic first principle is “equivalent exchange” (to create something, something of equal value must be lost) and the way this is explored in-story is by examining and expanding on the concept of “value” central to that principle. All characters can rearrange or transmute one mass of matter into an equivalent mass of matter, which is the simple application of the first principle. But things get messy when people start transmuting souls, because while it’s possible to do that in this magic system, the “value” of a soul can’t be quantified, so the transmutation always goes funky and the alchemist pays a hefty personal price. Then this exploration of the magic system gets reversed with the Philosopher’s Stone - described as being able to break the laws of alchemy, what it actually does is perform the soul equivalent exchange in reverse, burning human souls for alchemic power and creating the illusion of making matter or energy from nothing. Nothing in-story ever breaks the law of equivalent exchange, because that’s the sole principle that defines this hard magic system.

In contrast, Lord of the Rings has a very soft magic system. This magic system doesn’t have ironclad rules, exactly - the world itself is just intensely magical. Elves can see forever because the world is physically flat from their perspective. A magic ring can corrupt the intentions of everyone who possesses it because it contains a tiny fragment of a corrupt being of pure evil. Gandalf can just do vague wizardy things like messing with shadows and fires, but he can’t just wave his hand and make the bad guys go away because… reasons. The world was sung into existence.

Tolkien based his world and his magic system off of Norse mythology and folklore, where magic was similarly everywhere and didn’t particularly make much sense. Folklore doesn’t usually get cohesive worldbuilding. The entire universe was contained in the branches of a really big tree, there were magical spirits in the mountains who could create magic artifacts and weapons that could do basically anything, there were dragons under every other hill and valkyries sometimes fell in love with mortal men. Soft magic systems tend to permeate the world with a vague haze of magic and the sense that anything is possible, but at the same time not everything is possible. This can be frustrating if, like me, you reflexively pick at these systems to try and figure out how they work, and “magic~*” is not considered an acceptable answer.

Star Wars also has a semi-soft magic system because it’s basically just a classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy story reskinned to be in space. The Force is a vague magical ambience that surrounds and binds everyone and everything and some people are more tapped into it than others. On a basic level it lets its users do stuff like telekinesis, on a more advanced level it lets them sense and manipulate the minds of others, most users have a small amount of precognition, etc - but the actual parameters and limitations of The Force are unclear. Can only Dark Side users do the force lightning thing? Do you have to keep your emotions in check to stay balanced, or were the Jedi just being uptight? Does the Dark Side actually make you more powerful, or are you just paying the price little by little and physically deteriorating the more you use it? The rules are never clearly established, which lets every movie come up with their own nonsense (eg “a dyad in the force~”) without having to justify much.

Our buddy Hello Future Me did a video about soft and hard magic systems a couple years back, it might be helpful to check it out.

Building the right magic system for your world is tricky. Ultimately, it’s informed by what kind of story you want to tell. Soft magic systems compliment worlds where the rules are vague and ethereal and magic Stuff can just happen sometimes. Hard magic systems produce worlds where magic is essentially another field of science - maybe not a hundred percent understood, but still working by quantifiable rules and studied in that capacity. You also get hybrid systems, like D&D, which essentially have several magic systems - gameplay-wise, everyone works by Hard magic rules (a finite number of spell slots, having to learn new spells, a spell always has the same required components and time, etc etc) but the lore is more of a Soft system (some people are just magical, random plants and animals can have all kinds of ethereal powers, magic bloodlines, wild magic, etc). The gameplay being Hard allows the game to actually be played with rules, but the setting being Soft allows the GM and players a lot of creative freedom when it comes to setting up interesting settings, scenarios and characters.

I guess the first question to consider is: do you want your magic to feel like magic or science?

#aurora #asks

[divine-motion]

my rewrite of tmnt 2012 is turning more into “my fan iteration within the story of 2012 which i change a bit to suit my self-indulgence” (which it pretty much was from the start but hey) so i’m just gonna write down some General Stuff abt it like arcs and stuff

Tang Shen is alive but did get sliced by Shredder like when she dies in canon, so she has scars and Shredder believes her to be dead. Tang Shen also believes that Yoshi went and disappeared on her when he went to buy those turtles so, you know, rough couple of years for her w/ regards to thinking her infant daughter is dead, moving away from japan w/ her husband, and then her husband mutates into a rat and doesn’t tell her abt it. now she works as a robotics engineer at Stockman labs and while she’s still depressed she’s getting better, she likes her work, and she’s working on a certain nanobot project which is going good

(Nano is in this version but they instead are in an arcade cabinet that the turtles then bring to the Lair so that Nano has a family and they get to play with the turtles often. Happy end for Nano!)

Raph is the one who first meets Shen and Shen starts signing the adoption papers for the turtles

Splinter is pretty much the same as in 2012 but like, he gets confronted abt his shit instead of just being Flawless Wise Mentor, mainly by Michelangelo and then Shen when she meets him again. think he’s still gonna die but only once instead of. what. three times?

the turtles have known April for about three years since they went to the surface in secret and met a curious human girl. April quickly decided she has four brothers now and they agreed whole-heartedly

April’s parents are both alive btw and very good parents, though since “the Kraang want to kidnap April” isn’t a thing here they are both unaware of her mutant friends

April isn’t trained as a kunoichi and instead relies on her telepathic powers, which would grow at the same rate as the turtles become better fighters. i have a whole list of her powers and their limits - for example, tinfoil hats do work to keep your head protected from telepathy, much to everyone’s surprise. a metal pot also works, or a metal helmet. Shredder is unknowingly immune to it with his helmet always being on...

the brain worms serve a slightly bigger role, but they are instead creatures from Dimension X, a weak, telepathic parasite that crawls into people’s brains and controls them to keep the worm safe while it feeds on the person. they are what Kraang Prime mutated himself with to create the Kraang hivemind. they are also called “mind maggots” in Dimension X, “brain worms” is just what Stockman and Donnie started calling them when first discovered. removing a brain worm from a person without using telepathic powers can result in the person’s death or severe brain damage

also the Kraang are a more literal hivemind. if one of them sees you, they all see you. the turtles have to use all their ninja stealth to deal with them, and it’s always a risk because the Kraang can easily overwhelm them with how many of them there are

Kraang Prime is probably gonna be offed at the end of the “season 1 finale”, probably by Leatherhead. he deserves it. offing Prime also frees the Kraang hivemind from his control and the Utrom have their autonomy back. either that, or they manage to release the hivemind from his control another way, and it leaves Prime like weak and useless somehow. maybe by plucking off those weird crystals on his head, i dunno, still thinking abt it

oh Leatherhead! Leatherhead is a doctor for mutants, being a bit of a mix between his 2003 and 2012 self. he wants to help other mutants since he knows they’re victims of the Kraang too, however indirectly, and that they can’t exactly get medical help. mutants do have greater regenerative properties, but that’s only going to help you so far, and your bones might grow back wrong quicker. so, Leatherhead spent his years of freedom studying medicine and mutant biology, using stuff he stole from the Kraang during his first escape.

it would be a lot more focused on helping mutants in general. like, there would still be mutant villains that would be fought when needed, but Mikey and Donnie would put their feet down and try to offer the mutants help in settling into their new life. the turtles would also not be disgusted with mutants like they are in 2012 like jeez, dumbdotcomm really put it into words

anyways the Kraang would cease being a threat after “season 1″ and the truce Karai suggests between Foot and Hamato does happen. Splinter hates it and doesn’t trust it at all

Baxter Stockman has his own lab which is pretty successful, and he is an incredibly smart and eccentric guy with a bubbly personality - until you threaten him or talk down to him, at which point he shows himself to be calculating and ruthless, still with a smile on his face. he doesn’t pick up on sarcasm very well, though, and if you ask him to explain something, he will happily do so in great detail, whether you’re friend or foe. also, he doesn’t get mutated into a fly, and he doesn’t get turned into just a brain, either. he’s just a funky regular human guy

Timothy becomes The Badger in this version. he’s also treated better by the turtles, especially Mikey who takes it upon himself to train Timothy, partially bc Mikey wants to be a superhero but knows he can’t show his face. in fact, Timothy was inspired by Mikey specifically as he saw Mikey trying to be a costumed superhero at one point. when Timothy mutates, he becomes a human mutant like Hun and Ravenwood from IDW, so he can become like an actual superhero with powers

more female characters. like just in general more girls please. i beg of you.

Angel is Casey’s older sister who’s off at college as a STEM student, and she is also Nobody here bc i absolutely love that for her, IDW was galaxy brained when they did that. Alopex is her partner here too same as in IDW, and they jokingly call themselves “Batteries, the Double-A Crime Fighting Duo”. Angel is very much against Casey being a vigilante despite being one herself, but she’s an adult so it’s different, obviously

the turtles ask Alopex to be their teacher, too, especially since Raph notices that she fights using anger in a controlled way, and she is a bit surprised and slightly awkward about it but she accepts. Alopex is an arctic fox instead of a red fox here btw, though she has a summer coat most of the time and only gets white fur during winter.

April would also have an arc where she strives to understand her mutant side and powers better, so she would venture into Dimension X alone to find the Utrom, and learns about their society before and after Kraang. Rook and Queen (named Quin here bc Bishop isn’t a Utrom in this version, and Utrom don’t have a concept of queens and kings) would have bigger roles, as they would help April out with her powers and figuring out what being part Utrom/Kraang means for her identity.

Rook is also an alchemist/scientist who created mutagen in the first place, and Kraang was her assistant. this isn’t super important to April’s arc but i just thought it’d throw it out there

the brain worms/mind maggots would result in a City Fall arc i’ve decided. but it would be the only time mind control/brainwashing becomes a plot point in this series bc i think 2012 really overused that trope. like it was there with Splinter and the Rat King, with the parasite wasp mutant episode, and then again with the brain worms but like, several times over.

this also means that Karai doesn’t get the brain worms pumped into her brain. remember that scene where she’s hooked up to the machine and Shredder’s like “damn that shit sucks i’m sorry Hamato Yoshi’s doing this to you”?? that scene was pretty fucked up. anyways Karai has like. agency in her own arc this time

in the City Fall arc Splinter would die and at the end Karai kills Shredder, and Leo and Karai as new leaders of the clans would be like “alright this stupid fucking ancestral cycle of vengeance” ends here

Northampton time after that because it would be a Lot

after that i think it would be space arc time? it would start with the turtles being separated across dimensions and planets a bit like when SAINW happened, but without SAINW. like, Donnie would get to Neutrino (elves with crazy hair version), Leo would get to Usagi’s dimension, etc. etc.

also in case it wasn’t obvious Tang Shen will play a big role as the turtles’ Better parent and she’d have her own stuff to work through, like meeting her daughter she thought was dead and finding out her boss, Stockman, is evil, that her husband got turned into a rat, and that her new kids get into all kinds of dangerous trouble constantly

anyways that’s um. already quite the wall of text so i’ll shut up now ‘til i have more art to post, digital art this time so you can like. actually see what things look like.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #i just think tang shen should be alive and well! #lovi speaks

[theunmappedstar]

kotlc christmas is now my favorite thing ever. sophie switching to red and green clothing, trying her hardest to make an ugly sweater (and succeeds - no offense soph lmao) she introduces the ugly sweater idea to the gang and they all try their hand at it. biana can't grasp the "ugly" concept, but keefe is loving it. she also tells them about stockings (which confuses them at first - why put presents in socks foster that's fucking weird) and that's it because i'm running out of space for this ask

NO LITERALLY THE KEEPERS AND CHRISTMAS IS GOLD

allow me to give a few examples!

  ◦ sophie introduces her friends to christmas, from hot cocoa to the legend of santa claus!

long story short everyone’s fucking confused. yet? 

those elves are….

kinda fuckin rad. funky little dudes. tiny bells on the feet. how can that not be cool??? and such great work ethics?? 10/10. (well, 10/10 for some. dex isn’t too comfy with the idea).

(he’s also horrified that’s what sophie thought all elves were like.)

  ◦ speaking of elves, sophie gets an elf on the shelf.

she sticks it everywhere in her house, from on top of their fridge to dangling from the leapmaster crystals, waiting until one fateful day when grady finally notices it.

there’s a lot of confusion.

and screaming.

  ◦ keefe slaps mistletoe everywhere. every. fucking. where. he’ll get a kiss this holiday season for sure!!!

  ◦ the only kiss he ends up getting is a peck on the forehead from edaline. 

he glady accepts it.

  ◦ (LEGACY SPOILER!) TEAM VALLIANT GETTING EACH OTHER FUZZY SOCKS WITH LITTLE ANIMAL DESIGNS THAT MATCH THEIR MASCOT (LEGACY SPOILER OVER!)

  ◦ i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again: the crew would get together to decorate calla’s panakes with christmas lights. i don’t make the rules

  ◦ juline thrives during christmas. she’s literally elsa. you want a snowman, bitch? you got a snowman.

  ◦ the keepers try their hand at making little gingerbread houses! 

sophie, dex, and linh make a tiny havenfield that’s a little batter and bruised, but it’s still cute as hell! they make a bunch of mini animals, too, and spread them around the frosting grass. they take so much time on it that at the end their fingers are shaking from the effort and their backs and neck hurt from bending over, their legs sore from standing… but it’s done!!

tam and keefe make replicas of their childhood homes before eating them (rather viciously). …. another way of coping, i guess?

after that fun round, though, keefe makes another house – something close to what he hopes his house will look like when he’s older. (sophie notices it looks like it’s a animal sanctuary, but doesn’t say anything.) and of course it’s the best out of all of them. fuckin artist boi.

fitz, wylie, and marella all make some mashup house. it looks like slurps and burps had a bunch of pride flags barf all over it, but it’s cute. they put work into it okay!! they TRIED!!!

◦ it’s a well known fact that silveny loves swizzlespice, but it turns out she’s also in love with cinnamon sticks. the crew discovers this when sophie tries to make a cup of hot cocoa. she brings it outside, complete with a little stick of cinnamon propped inside the cup… sets the cup down and walks away for a second…

and that fucker is gone.

silveny’s claimed it.

sophie is not getting that stick back.

#kotlc #kotlc christmas #christmas #merry chrysler #sophie foster #keefe sencen #dex dizznee #tam song #linh song #fitz vacker #marella redek #biana vacker #kotlc headcanon #kotlc headcanons #keeper of the lost cities

[lovemesomesurveys]

5000 questions survey series--part forty

LOTR The Two Towers

3801. Who is your favorite Lord of the Rings charater and why?

I’ve never seen LOTR or had the desire to see it. This isn’t a whole survey about it is it...

3802. In the Lord of the Rings...how do the characters go on when the forces against them are so powerful?

How can they go on when so many awful things have happened?

3803. What is it that makes middle earth worth saving?

3804. Is Frodo making a personal sacrifice by taking the ring to be destroyed?

3805. What would you do in Frodo's place?

3806. When you saw the two towers did you really want the Ents (Treebeard etc.)to get involved in the war?

3807. Why didn't Merry and Pippin just allow the Ents to take them home to the shire? 

What could two tiny hobbits do in a great war?

3808. Why did the elves go to Helm's Deep?

They had a dusty old alliance but they could have escaped and made a new and better life, without risking their lives.

3809. Who is the most heroic LOTR character and what makes them a hero?

3810. What characters in LOTR put their own interests before the interests of all?

What characters put the interests of all above their own interests?

3811. Aragorn left the elvish girl he loved. How could he leave someone he loved? Isn't love the highest thing that there is? What could he possibly have valued higher than love that he left her for? Do you agree with him?

3812. What LOTR character displays the most humanity?

3813. What did you notice that was different between the Two Towers book and movie?

3814. Why is Frodo so kind to Gollum?

3815. You are in Helm's Deep on the eve of battle. Do you put on a suit of armor and fight, or crawl into the caves and hope to be protected?

3816. What have you risked your life for?

What would you?

3817. With the constant threat of violence, war, nukes, terror, chemicle weapons, etc. aren't we all in a similar position to those in the Lord of the Rings?

3818. How can we go on when the evil in this world is so powerful? No one and nothing is more powerful than God and He will always prevail.

How can we go on when so many awful things have happened? A lot of bad has happened, but a lot of good has, too. 

3819. What is it that makes our Earth worth saving? Because there is good that exists. We’re only here but a short time. We need to do what we can while we’re here.

3820. Who's responsibility is it to save our world? Ours.

3821. Who was more technilogically advance in LOTR, the 'good guys' or the 'bad guys'?

3821. What was Tolkien saying by causeing the Ents (trees) to come together with the river (by breaking the dam) and over throw Sauromon?

3822. Should Wormtoung have been killed? Should Gollum? Why or why not?

3823. In the battlee for Middle Earth, which LOTR character would you most like to be like and why?

3824. Which character do you think you actually WOULD be the most like?

3825. What is the over all ___ that you took away with you from this movie?

**End LOTR**

3826. Why do most people associate being spiritual or connected to the world as being a hippy? *shrug*

3827. Why is passion and honest emotion equated with hallmark cards/ I didn’t know it was.

3828. What words set off alarms in your brain (for me it's anarchy, pagan, etc)? Uh, a lot do.

3829. Are you dancin in the dark? I’m not dancing at all.

3830. Name 2 things you have never done in public:

1. Went out naked.

2. Used the restroom.

3831. If you had to choose out of what you just named, which one WOULD you do in public? Neither!

3832. Challenge yourself. Do whatever it is in public. Absolutely not.

Why not?

What are you so terrified of?

3832. Is hell REALLY other people? Hell is a place.

3833. Or would it be more hellish to live totally without other people? I wouldn’t want to be alone and without my family. I don’t do well in crowds, and I’m not very social or outgoing, but I wouldn’t want to be completely alone. 

3834. Leggos or linkin logs? I’ve played with both cause my younger brother was a Lincoln Logs kid, but I was definitely a Legos kid.

3835. What books have you read more than once? I’ve actually never read a book more than once. I don’t know why.

3836. Do you get different things out of reading a book a second time a year or more after reading it the first time? Is it because you are a different person after time passes?

3837. The person who goes to ____ is not the same person who comes back. Fill in the blank with anything you think fits.

3838. Quick! Empty your brain here! I don’t really have anything in particular to say.

3839. What's the best movie soundtrack? There’s many, but I do really enjoy the Sweeney Todd soundtrack.

3840. Tissues with or without aloe? I’ve never used any with aloe, but that sounds nice.

3841. Are you on any medication? Yes.

3842. Does any part of your own body disgust you? All of it...

If yes, isn't that odd? What could have caused that feeling of disgust with your own body? I’m just a very self-conscious person with a lot of insecurities and imperfections.

3843. Want some popcorn? Nah.

3844. What if Atlas shrugged? What.

3845. Who has led the most interesting life?/ A lot of people have.

3846. What movies are comming out next year that you are looking forward to? I’m not sure about next year yet, but there’s a ton I want to see this year.

3847. If someone is half man and half dog is he his own best friend? Sure.

3848. Paper or plastic? Reusable bags.

3849. Why did things make sense in childhood, but they don't now? We didn’t really understand and we were naive. The good ol’ days.

3850. Is it crazy time? Yes.

3851. If there is a lotto with 50 numbers, and a player picks 6 numbers without repeating any, what are their chances of getting all 6 winning numbers? I don’t know, man.

3852. If there were no laws and no rules name 3 things you would do that you don't/wouldn't/can't do now? I don’t know. I feel like the things I want to do but don’t do aren’t because they’re illegal.

3853. It's a costume party. What will your costume be if the theme is:

the 70's? The typical hippie look.

80's? Side pony tail, neon colors. 

under the sea? Ariel.

3854. Have you ever wanted to release the lobsters from those tanks in restraunts and put them back in the sea? No.

3855. How funky is your chicken? Sigh.

How loose is your goose? ...

3856. What's your favorite animal out of these: emu, otter, duck billed platypus, moose, skunk? Otter.

3857. priest, rabbi, or other religios leader, a judge, or a sea captain to perform your wedding? Priest.

3858. Do you think that it's okay for people to write their own wedding vows? Yes?

3859. Rank these as places to be married. 1 = best.

Your House or Yard

The Beach: IF I ever got married, this is where I’d want it to be.

A Park

Disneyland

A Forest

A Catering Hall

Las Vegas

A church or temple

A Courthouse

On a Boat

On a Space Station

3860. The Earth is doomed. A giant asteroid is headed our way. It will decimate the planet in 3.2 days. You and your family own a space pod and you have room for 7 people from the list below. Everyone else dies. Who do you pick? Orlando Bloom, Justin Timberlake, Joan Jett, John Denver, Baby Eve (the first human clone), Jennifer Lopez, Johnny Depp, George W Bush, David Bowie, Charleton Heston, Ralph Nader, Moby, Jeff Bridges, Kelly Osbourne, Frank Zappa, Bill Clinton, Britney Spears, Osama Bin Laden, The Pope, Eminem, Madonna

3861. Rank the following dead people in order of who you would like to spend the day with. 1 = you'd like to hang out with them the most.

Joan of Arc

Groucho Marx

John Lennon

Joey Ramone

Anton Levay

Tupac

Jack Kerouac

Aaliyah

John F Kennedy

Lucielle Ball: I’d love to be able to hang out with her. I love Lucy!

Jim Morrison

3862. If you could grant immortality to one person you know (can't be yourself) who would you give it to? My brother.

3863. If you could grant immortality to one person who you do not know personally but know of (writer, politician, etc) who would you give it to? I don’t know.

3864. Name a person you love: My family.

Name a person you admire: My mom.

Name a friend: My mom.

Name a relative: My mom. haha. 

If you had to condemn one of them to death to save the lives of the others who would it be and why? No.

3865. Would you rather be one of Santa's elves or a dentist? One of Santa’s elves, definitely. How fun. I’d totally be like Buddy.

3866. When you first meet people what do you talk to them about? If I’m just meeting them then it’s awkward small talk.

3867. You have been invited to a party with any sports team in the world. Which one? I don’t care about sports.

3868. Finish the sentances.

In a world where:

He was:

She was:

Together, they were:

Why do so many movie trailers start off by saying 'In a world..'? Because it takes place in a world. Ha.

3869. Make up a superhero with really unhelpful powers: Destructo. He’s very destructive, which includes the destruction of good things.

3870. A couple of days ago this guy won 14 million dollars and tried to donate 1 million to the salvation army. The salvation army turned the money down saying they didn't want dirty gambling money. Did they do the right thing? I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the Salvation Army, so that’s kinda funny they’d act like they were all innocent.

3871. If you had a spare million for charity work who would you donate it to? Something for children.

3872. What's the craziest most shocking moment of rock and roll history that you can think of? Uhhh.

3873. Why is it that if a man kills another man in battle it's called heroic, but if he kills a man in the heat of passion, it's called murder?

3874. What kind of punishment do you feel the following crimes deserve:

premeditated murder?

date rape?

drug sales?

drug use?

burglery?

3875. If you could kiss anyone in the world on midnight at new year's eve, who would be the lucky one? Alexander Skarsgard. Not so lucky for him, but. haha.

3876. You have just taken two sexy people prisoner because they found your hide out and you think they are spies. What do youd do: kill them, hump them or have crumpets and tea? Wtf.

3877. What is your new year's resolution? I don’t make those anymore.

3878. Should the U.S. focus more on the threat from N. Korea or Iraq?

3879. Would you ever have plastic surgery? If it was for reconstructive purposes.

3880. How can George Bush be considered a Christian when he a war-monger and the ten comandments say do not kill?

3881. What is the most inetesting premise for a reality tv show that you can think of? I don’t know. I watch a lot of reality TV, though.

3882. Who is the Hollywood Star next to die of a drug overdose? Yikes, I don’t know. :/

3883. Do you find yourself caring a lot about online people, even if you haven't met or spoken to them off of the computer? Yeah.

3884. When you hear the song puff the magic dragon what do you think? Marijuana. 

3885. Let's give you a tarot reading. Go on, ask any question: No thanks.

first card: the reversed high preistess.

you may be expecting things to come too easily. You should be careful not to give up if they dont go your way. You're feeling a desire to escape, to withdraw into yourself. Shrug off your current lack of focus and work diligently to acheive the goals you want.

second card: the reversed hanged man.

You shouldnt be close-minded with your situation. There are many alternatives and possible solutions to your problems. Try something new.

The last card: Justice.

what goes around comes around. Seek advice on the matters at hand from elders. Do healthy things, spiritually and physically.

3886. What does 'boo' mean dn how did it become a slang word of affection? It comes from the French word, “beau.” Huh, interesting. 

3887. How often do you stretch? I stretch out my arms and fingers a lot.

3888. Have you ever wished that you didn't have to be yourself? Oh yes.

3889. Would you rather wear shoes full of earthworms or a hat full of spiders? jlaskdjkljdklsjflks

3890. What are some things that for most people go unsaid? How we really feel about our loved ones. We don’t tell them enough, maybe not at all.

3891. I said, 'Play me the best song in the world.' You put on: 3892. What happened last year that you would like to forget? Blah I don’t know. These past few years have been really hard.

3893. What are you not able to do alone? I wouldn’t survive long on my own.

3894. Do you feel more connected to earth air fire or water and why? Water I suppose since I love the beach. I’m a big scardy cat to get in the water, it’s a terrifying thought, but I love being near it and watch/listen to the waves crash in, smell that ocean air, and feel that ocean breeze. 3895. Which two words belong together and why: life, seawater, chocolate, blood, hair piece Life and blood. You need blood to live.

3896. If con is the opposite of pro, what's the opposite of progress? Uhh.

3897. Have you ever wanted to meet the inspectors with the numbers for names(i.e. inspected by 36)? Nah.

3898. Who is the most thought-provoking person you know, &why? Hmm. I don’t know.

3899. If you could change 1 thing you did in the last 24 hours, what would it be & why? I would have taken a longer nap.

3900. What is the most bizarre thing you've ever done? Who knows.

#phew I really struggle with this survey series for some reason #and the first part of it had to do with something I know nothing about so I skipped a bunch #I'm trying to just finish this series once and for all but it's a lot man #personal #text #survey #surveys #5000 question survey

[apocalypticacolyte]

Finola convo

[09:21] -- waveRider [WR] began pestering apocalypticAcolyte [AA] at 21:21 --

[09:21] WR: heya nerrd

[09:21] AA: hello!!!!!!!

[09:22] WR: arrgaia just told me to stop talkin to you

[09:22] WR: so guess vvhat i'm doing

[09:22] WR: talking to you!

[09:22] AA: :O

[09:22] WR: ha

[09:22] WR: fuck herr

[09:23] WR: she doesn't get the rright to make the rrules anymorre

[09:23] AA: may i ask why not???

[09:24] WR: she scrrevved a bunch of us overr in ourr game

[09:24] WR: and it doesn't even matterr novv, rright?

[09:24] WR: like, ourr session is toast vvhetherr vve like it orr not

[09:24] AA: oh

[09:24] WR: shouldn't matterr about enforrcing all these bullshit rrules

[09:25] WR: i mean i vvish ourr session vvas still out therre somevvherre

[09:26] WR: that vvay maybe vve could go back and trry to fix things, knovving vvhat vve knovv novv

[09:26] WR: ha

[09:26] WR: yeah rright

[09:26] WR: it vvould take a mirracle to get ourr grroup vvorrking togetherr again

[09:28] AA: :(

[09:29] AA: that sucks

[09:29] WR: i just rreally vvant to get my povverrs and not let everrybody dovvn, yknovv?

[09:30] AA: yeah

[09:30] AA: :(

[09:30] WR: not that vve'd have a good time playerr orr anything anymorre

[09:30] WR: sorrrry you don't knovv vvhat that is

[09:30] AA: could you explain what it is???

[09:30] WR: uhhh just knovv it's rreally helpful forr biggerr and shittierr grroups

[09:31] WR: because vve fuck up a lot morre than smallerr vvell-coorrdinated ones like yourrs

[09:32] WR: but nooooo vve get stuck vvith the time playerr that doesn't give a shit about anyone but herrself

[09:33] AA: :(

[09:34] WR: blah blah can't do this can't do that can't fucking fix ANYTHING

[09:34] WR: like that's yourr entirre fucking job!!

[09:34] WR: anyvvay

[09:34] WR: sorrrry

[09:34] WR: doesn't much matterr novv i guess

[09:35] AA: its fine to rant or vent to me if you want to!!

[09:35] WR: avv dang

[09:35] WR: thanks man

[09:37] AA: since you mentioned time players are there other types of players???

[09:37] WR: uhh yeah that's the povverr shit i've mentioned beforre

[09:37] WR: you got like a fuckton of those

[09:38] WR: can't even think of them all to list

[09:38] AA: !

[09:38] AA: !!

[09:38] AA: !!!

[09:38] AA: !!

[09:38] AA: !

[09:38] AA: is there anything i need to know about them before going into the game???

[09:38] WR: ha look at you go vvith yourr funky little pyrramids

[09:38] WR: and uh

[09:38] WR: vvell

[09:39] WR: the vvay you get yourr povverrs is kinda surrprrising

[09:39] WR: so just uh

[09:39] WR: don't be too shook orr anything i guess?

[09:39] AA: huh

[09:40] WR: and be carreful vvith yourr extrra lives (that's vvhat you guys call them in games, rright?)

[09:40] AA: (i think so??)

[09:40] AA: alright!!!

[09:40] WR: they'rre imporrtant

[09:40] WR: you prrobably vvon't see vvhy forr a vvhile but they arre

[09:42] WR: oh hell

[09:42] WR: just looked ahead

[09:42] WR: yourrs arre prretty cool my man

[09:42] AA: owo

[09:42] WR: novv hold up just a flipping second

[09:42] WR: did you serriously just "ovvo" at me??

[09:43] AA: maybe i did

[09:43] WR: like you just totally unirronically ovvoed at me

[09:43] WR: man maybe arrgaia vvas rright i shouldn't talk to you!!

[09:43] WR: (jk jk)

[09:43] WR: you furrrry

[09:43] AA: im not the furry in my group!!!!!

[09:43] AA: thatd be kacy!!!!

[09:43] WR: HA

[09:43] AA: he has a fursona and everything!!!!

[09:44] WR: vvait

[09:44] WR: vvait vvait vvait

[09:44] WR: like no shit?

[09:44] WR: that man has an honest to gog furrsona??

[09:44] AA: yeah!!!!

[09:44] WR: that's fucking horrrrible i love it

[09:44] WR: vvhat an icon

[09:46] AA: i should make him a fursuit for his next birthday

[09:46] WR: HA

[09:46] WR: vvait vvhen's his birrthday

[09:46] WR: because if it's not in the next uhh couple vveeks orr so...

[09:46] AA: i dont really remember when it is,,, dont tell him i said that

[09:47] WR: oh nah i vvon't don't vvorrrry

[09:47] WR: you'rre the only kid i talk to thrrough the vvhole thing i think

[09:47] WR: orr at least the parrts ive alrready done?

[09:47] AA: !!!!!!!!

[09:48] WR: vvhoa therre

[09:48] WR: vvhat arre ya so excited about?

[09:49] AA: im just !!! that im the only one of us youve talked to so far

[09:52] WR: yeah and?

[09:52] AA: just uhh forget i sent those !!!!s ok

[09:53] WR: alrright if you insist

[09:53] WR: considerr them forrgotten

[09:53] AA: good

[09:54] WR: 8)

[09:54] WR: 8) 8)

[09:54] WR: 8) 8) 8)

[09:54] WR: 8) 8)

[09:54] WR: 8)

[09:54] AA: !!!!

[09:54] WR: in the trrue spirrit of lana, an emoticon pyrramid

[09:54] AA: !!!!!!!!!

[09:55] WR: (man cmon that vvas the perrfect opporrtunity forr you to follovv up vvith anotherr pyrramid!)

[09:55] AA: (sorry i just got really excited that you also did it!!!!!)

[09:55] WR: oh neat that's fairr

[09:57] WR: avv hell you guys got a ton of cool povverrs

[09:57] AA: oh???

[09:57] WR: sorrrry im just lookin ahead don't mind me

[09:58] WR: it's like you got all the good ones

[09:58] WR: i mean technically vve did too? because vve got all of them?

[09:58] WR: (big grroup and all)

[09:58] WR: but vve had

[09:58] WR: uh

[09:59] WR: shitty people vvith them

[09:59] WR: man hovv come only the assholes got povverrs huh??

[09:59] AA: :(

[09:59] AA: thats super unfair

[09:59] WR: i shouldn't say that it's not entirrely trrue

[10:00] WR: karr and pos arre alrright

[10:00] WR: vvouldn't say theyrre assholes

[10:00] WR: i mean karr can be annoying sometimes surre but he's an ok guy i guess

[10:02] WR: yeah i guess novv that i think about it vve did get a fevv ok people vvith povverrs

[10:02] WR: mixed in vvith the assholes

[10:05] WR: pos gets annoying vvith herrs sometimes

[10:05] AA: what are hers if i can ask???

[10:06] WR: not surre i can say specifically but just knovv she's annoyingly optimistic as a povverr and she trries to make the rrest of us feel betterr about ourr shit situation

[10:06] WR: doesn't alvvays vvorrk vvell

[10:06] AA: huh

[10:07] WR: i'm surre you can imagine

[10:08] WR: man she is RRRREALLY trrying harrd on elv huh

[10:08] WR: everry damn perrson up herre knovvs she's crrushing harrd

[10:09] WR: everryone except elvirra, naturrally

[10:09] WR: sorrrry to derrail the converrsation she's just rreally playing it up rright novv

[10:09] AA: huh

[10:09] AA: do you have a crush on anybody up there if thats ok to ask???

[10:09] WR: hah

[10:09] WR: these assholes?

[10:09] WR: nah

[10:09] WR: no <3 forr me

[10:10] AA: valid!!!

[10:10] WR: sometimes that's betterr, yknovv?

[10:10] AA: also ruby asked if you could give us any more info on what were going into

[10:10] WR: <3 gets rreally trricky in such a confined space - oh uhhh lemme think

[10:11] WR: just uhhhh

[10:11] WR: take it serriously, it seems like a game but rreally it's superr fucking serrious

[10:12] WR: you'rre on a prretty strrict time limit, so uh prriorritize and shit

[10:12] WR: prriorritize yourr frriends overr the game and the game overr us

[10:12] WR: some people vvill tell ya that the game's the most imporrtant thing

[10:12] WR: but rreally it's yourr grroup

[10:13] WR: you need ALL OF YOU to succeed

[10:13] WR: that's vvherre vve fucked up

[10:14] AA: thank you for the info!!!

[10:14] WR: yeah no prroblem

[10:14] WR: but like 100% no shit put yourr grroup beforre yourr session

[10:15] WR: because the game is strrange

[10:15] WR: it makes you think you'rre supposed to do one thing, and you get so focused on that thing,

[10:15] WR: but rreally that vvasn't it at all

[10:16] WR: and if you decide that a possibly vvrrong goal in the game is morre imporrtant than yourr frriends, vvell...

[10:16] WR: it's not good

[10:16] WR: it was the worst mistake we ever made

[10:16] WR: and look where we ended up

[10:17] WR: everybody'll tell you you can't trust anybody and all that crap

[10:17] WR: but really the one you can't trust is the game itself.

[10:18] WR: it's not you versus each other or you versus us or even you versus the queen. it's your group versus the game.

[10:18] WR: that's how i see it anyways. not that anybody listened. not that i knew it in time to make a difference.

[10:19] WR: not that i could've, without any powers.

[10:20] WR: you have to stay together. promise me that. i know kirrin's told you not to give a shit about us, that you have to win.

[10:21] WR: she's partially right.

[10:21] WR: don't give a shit about us.

[10:21] WR: about me.

[10:21] WR: winning is keeping your group together.

[10:21] WR: don't lose each other, because then you've lost everything. not just the game.

[10:22] WR: don't lose yourself either.

[10:22] WR: especially you, lana. don't lose yourself.

[10:22] WR: please.

[10:22] AA: alright.

[10:24] AA: i promise you im going to do whatever it takes to keep my group together.

[10:24] WR: thank you, lana. but remember to keep yourself together too.

[10:25] WR: i don't know why the game picked what it did for you. but i'm worried about what that could do to you.

[10:27] WR: don't be afraid to ask for help

[10:28] WR: the others are there for you too

[10:28] WR: you have a good group, lana.

[10:28] WR: i know why the game picked you.

[10:28] WR: ha

[10:28] WR: look at that

[10:28] WR: guess i finally figured out where i stand on this god/technology thing

[10:28] WR: fesvah was right

[10:29] WR: so was kirrin, in a way

[10:29] WR: the game is a sort of god

[10:29] WR: it wants what it wants and we don't understand why

[10:29] WR: but yknow what

[10:29] WR: we're gonna kick this god's ass

[10:29] WR: you and me, lana

[10:29] WR: you do the kicking i'll call the shots

[10:29] WR: it's gonna be EPIC

[10:30] WR: and i think that maybe

[10:30] WR: just maybe

[10:30] WR: if we work together

[10:30] WR: if you all work together

[10:30] WR: you can win

[10:30] WR: we can win

[10:31] WR: and maybe we can get out of here

[10:31] WR: but hey that one's only if we have time ;)

[10:33] AA: i hope theres time for that

[10:33] WR: don't worry about that too much

[10:33] WR: i'll see ya if the game means for it to happen

[10:33] WR: and if not, hey.

[10:34] WR: i'm sure we'll have a great time on the inside together, even if i'm stuck up here.

[10:34] WR: and maybe we'll still be able to talk afterwards

[10:35] WR: in any case, don't change your chumhandle. i'll try to reach ya if you guys end up moving on

[10:36] WR: maybe kir can rig something up, she's good at that tech stuff

[10:38] WR: you been quiet for a while over there, buddy. you good?

[10:38] AA: im good im just,, thinking

[10:38] WR: about?

[10:38] WR: share your thoughts with me bud

[10:40] AA: about the game and whats in store,, i hope we can get you and your group out of there!!

[10:41] WR: seriously bud you gotta stop worryin about us

[10:42] WR: worry about your friends!

[10:42] WR: it seems so natural to have them there with you that you kinda forget how important they are while they're with you until

[10:42] WR: well,

[10:42] WR: until they aren't

[10:43] WR: i guess

[10:43] AA: :(

[10:48] WR: you guys don't do moirails so it'd be different for you but

[10:48] WR: uh

[10:48] WR: yeah

[10:48] WR: just be careful

[10:49] WR: it sucks, no matter what your relationship with somebody is

[10:49] WR: or was

[10:49] WR: or could have been

[10:50] WR: it always sucks to lose somebody

[10:50] AA: yeah :(

[10:54] WR: anyways

[10:54] WR: might be bad advice i dunno but

[10:54] WR: get your team together as soon as possible

[10:54] WR: like in the game physically together in the same place

[11:01] AA: ok

[11:02] WR: i think that'll help ya

[11:03] WR: anyway

[11:03] WR: sorrrry to dump all this stuff on you

[11:03] WR: i should go

[11:03] WR: bye forr novv i guess

[11:04] AA: bye please stay safe

[11:04] WR: it's not me ya need to vvorrrry about, kid

[11:04] WR: sleep tight

[11:04] -- waveRider [WR] ceased pestering apocalypticAcolyte [AA] at 23:04 --

[blueeyedshuichi]

Late to the party but work is time consuming

I was tagged by @legendarybitch

Rules: tag 15 people you want to get to know better

I tag: @queen0fgames; @pikarosie; @janneiki; @koishiiorg; @gothicallura; @accioyarn; @tomoeyukishiro-kenshin; @glibray; @legendsinlove; @theannoyingfangirl; @kuroyume7; @stay-funky-ponyboy; @blurrilines; @tomodachi-to-koibito; @shimmeringdarkness097

Relationship status: Single (and planning on staying that way)

Favorite Colours: Blue, maize, green

Lipstick or Chapstick: Er... chapstick... definitely chapstick

3 Favorite foods: Beef fried rice, pizza, shrimp scampi

Song stuck in my head: “Fade to Black” by Metallica

Last song I listened to: “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd

Last movie I watched: Starman. Yes, it’s an old movie but it showcases John Carpenter’s take on a friendly alien. And the soundtrack, especially at the end, makes me imagine I’m the one traveling through space.

Top 3 TV shows: Right now it’s Stranger Things, Glow, and Hellsing Ultimate.

Books I’m currently reading: Just finished The Silmarillion (again) By J.R.R. Tolkien.  Love the lore and the origin of elves and Arda (Earth) in Tolkien’s universe. And The Tale of Beren and Luthien within the book is a story that should become a movie dammit! 

Last thing I googled: What dreaming about a gold watch meant.  Apparently time is running out for me (though in what way I am unsure.)

Time: 1:23 am

How many blankets do you sleep in: Just a sheet in the summer because I have no air conditioning and I sleep with three blankets in the winter because though I have wood heat, my room is on the far end of my house and it’s freaking cold.

Dream trip: Scotland, Ireland, and Japan.

Anything you really want: Enough money to get a new car and fix the roof on the house. Just have to finish my book or win the lotto... fat chance on either one of those happening.

#question and answer #thanks for the ask @legendarybitch #don't get many of these

[furtho]

Playlist 2017

Music posted on furtho.tumblr.com during 2017:

48 Chairs’ Snap It Around, spikily joyful new wave

ABC’s The Look Of Love (12″), classic early 80s extended remix

xAF Moebius’ Blau, minimal synth from 1980s East Germany

A-ha’s Soft Rains Of April (piano demo), exposing the inner workings of the gloomy pop gods

Akira Kosemura’s Luna, gentle piano arpeggios

Alex Kolobolis' Closure, lightly elegant, floating piano

Aline’s Elle M’Oubliera, icy cool Francophone indie

xAlliance’s At The Dawn, 1980s synthpop from the Soviet Union

Alligator’s Riviera, angular minimal wave from exciting new French duo

Analogue Dear’s Obrecht, haunting piano ballad 

Anna Meredith’s Honeyed Words, swoopy gloopy electronic drone

Aphex Twin’s Aisatsana [102], Satie pastiche of quiet piano patterns

Arsenic!’s Pure Ideology, ramshackle but heartfelt dreampop

Arvo Pärt’s Summa For Strings, poised, eternally unresolved modern classical minimalism  

Asuna’s Her Fringe, Ferris Wheel, Ruins Of Twisted Yarn, gently interweaving acoustic loops

Australian Testing Labs Inc’s Moto Moto, pulsing motorik tones, with suitably hypnotic video 

A Year In The Country’s A Measuring, fractured electronic sketch

Bachelorette’s Blanket, the warm embrace of analog synthpop

Beat Mark’s Flowers, sweet-but-scrunchy-chorded indie from France

Best Picture’s Isabelle, modern rock ‘n’ roll, huh

Blankscreen’s Dead Planet, gripping spoken-word post-punk

Blue Plutos’ Disagree, ecstatic Rickenbacker-driven janglepop

Brian Eno & Harold Budd’s An Arc Of Doves, ambient experimentalism shot through with warmth

Burning Hearts’ In My Garden, welcome return of the Finnish indie titans

Caroline Devine’s Driftspace, Space Ham, something for everyone: field recordings, radio experimentation and an interview with an astronaut

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone’s We Have Mice, bedroom pop supreme

Caught In The Wake Forever’s Under Blankets, super-slow evolving drone  

Chuck Johnson’s Balsams album, mystifyingly successful slide guitar meets ambient drone 

Chumbawamba’s You Can (Mass Trespass, 1932), acoustic paean to Benny Rothman and the Kinder Scout trespassers

Cindy & The Gidget Haters’ Pogoin’’s For Me, shoutily engaging homemade new wave

Closure’s Slow Drive, Motorama-esque doom-indie from Jakarta

CM-DX’s Radiophonic Reprographics, paean to the office photocopier

Colleen’s Your Heart Is So Loud, musical box rendered as looping, enchanting lo-fi ambient

Cosmic Ground’s The Watcher, long-form kosmische ambient

David Evans’ Suddenly Woken By The Sound Of Stillness album, field recording on the Trans-Siberian Railway

Deutsche Bank’s Zero Gravity, seamless post-Komputer synthpop 

dné's Asos Model Crush, homemade percussion coupled with delicious piano composition

Dominique Grange’s Les Nouveaux Partisans, Maoist folkpop from late 60s France

Echopet’s Strung, tightly organised short-form drone

epic45′s Monument (Isan remix), blissed-out synth remix

Even As We Speak’s Bizarre Love Triangle, charming jangly cover of the New Order classic

Fader’s Laundrette, bleak kitchen sink electronic ballad

Fieldhead’s Accents, contemplative modern electronics 

Foliage’s Dare, glossily frantic dreampop

Francisco The Man’s Take A Picture (Bodies In The Sun), driving Alvvays-esque indie rock

Freezepop’s Stakeout (Donnerschlag remix), Casiocore classic

Galaxians’ Out They Minds, super-catchy funky disco-house thang

Get Smart!’s Just For The Moment, dark-but-trebly post-Joy Division pop

Ghost And Tape’s Vár, spellbinding clack-and-crackle ambient

Good Shoes’ The Way My Heart Beats, fuzzed up Buzzcocks-y guitar pop

Greg Haines’ Azure, dramatic slow-build ambient 

Group A’s Initiation (Tom Furse remix), darkly relentless synthpop

Grouper’s Holding, hold-your-breath gorgeous lofi pianoism

Günter Schlienz’s Outer Corridors Of Space, light ambient arpeggios

Hakobune’s Airworthy, weightless drifting ambiance

Hand Of Stabs’ A Month Of Sundays, creepy improv weirdness from the back lanes of Kent

Hidden Rivers’ In And Out Of Days, light-of-touch chiming ambient

Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Green, supremely delicate ambient sketch 

Holden’s Ce Que Je Suis, melancholy francophone indie ballad

Huerco S’ A Sea Of Love, weightless electronic dreamscape

Iko’s Digital Delight, minimal wave from early 80s Canada

I Tpame I Tvrame’s There’s No Place To Call Home, hypnotic Albanian minimal synth

I’ve Lost’s ... And I Saw Her Again, Then She Was Gone, minimal ambient guitar drone

Jeff Parker’s Slight Freedom, extraordinary long-form guitar loop/improv/ambient

Jess Garon & The Desperadoes’ The Rain Fell Down, classic bittersweet indie jangle    

Jim’s Twenty-One’s Throwaway Friend, exhilaratingly ramshackle indie

Jóhann Jóhannsson’s The Cause Of Labour Is The Hope Of The World, socialist-inspired modern classical soundtrack  

John Cage’s In A Landscape, solo piano elegance

John Maus’ The Combine, characteristically doomy synthpop

July Skies’ See Britain By Train (Pevsner version), sepia-tinged ambient post-rock

Justin Hopper & Scanner’s Low-Tide Crow, under-stated poetry/ambient collaboration

Kero Kero Bonito’s Trampoline (St Etienne remix), infectious dubby reworking of the London-based J-poppers 

Kinder Meccano’s Atomic Energy Lab, playful arcade game-inspired experimentalism

Kirill Nikolai’s Dolly Dances, patterns of modern classical piano and strings

Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, extraordinary live performance on US TV in 1975

Letting Up Despite Great Faults’ Pageantry, driving oomph-laden electro indie

Liquid Liquid’s Cavern, much-sampled infectious post-punk rap

Look Blue Go Purple’s Cactus Cat, frantically-strummed love letter to a feline friend 

Lubomyr Melnik’s Butterfly (live in Copenhagen), constantly ebbing and flowing modern classical

Luke Howard's Digits, captivating blend of bleep and piano

xMachinone’s 火の雨, electronic chimes as gentle lullaby

Maraudeur’s Value The Death, gloomy minimal post-punk

Mark Fry’s Aeroplanes, elegant folk ballad 

Mechanical Cabaret’s 304 Holloway Road, synthpop commemoration of Joe Meek

Memory Drawings’ The Nearest Exit, creaking, creepy ambient folk

Mica Levi’s Love, synth strings drone from the soundtrack to Under The Skin

Middex’s Low Life, experimental minimalist noisepop

Milkmustache’s Submarine, dreamily aquatic janglepop, complete with memorable video

Mitra Mitra’s Indecisive Split Decision, minimal synthpop from Vienna

Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, towering performance of the modern choral classic by the Los Angeles Master Chorale

Nonconnah’s I Hope Every Week Changes My Life (demo), uncharacteristically light ambient guitar drone from ex-Lost Trailers  

Norihito Suda’s Light Snowfall, beautifully judged drifting ambient 

Ø’s Twin Bleebs, ultra-minimal techno experimentation

Olivia Chaney’s Eternity, sensational acapella recording of Rimbaud’s poem put to music by Emily Hall

Ourselves The Elves’ Wounds, restrained, slow-paced indie jangle

Pale Spectres’ D[r]iving, infectiously uptempo janglepop

Parliamo’s Lucy, youthfully exuberant Scottish jangle

Percussions’ Digital Arpeggios, hypnotic long-form technopop

Peter Maxwell Davies’ Farewell To Stromness, modern classical hymn to Orkney 

Plinth’s Solicitude, chiming ambient electronics and piano

Polypores’ Deep Undergrowth, darkly pastoral drone

Pye Corner Audio’s Black Mist (long version), characteristically hauntological electronic pop

Relmic Statute’s Just A Thought, lo-fi electro-acoustic loops  

Rhythmus 23′s Guerra Fría, Cold War-inspired minimal wave from Mexico  

Robert Fripp’s Night 1: Urban Landscape, eerie ambient loops constructed with a Roland guitar synth

Rodney Cromwell’s Barry Was An Arms Dealer, bleakly infectious 80s-inspired synthpop

Roedelius’ Le Jardin, late 70s Berlin pastoralism

Ross Baker’s A Time After Computers (remixed by Cubus), experimental folktronic mix

Ruhe's Heritage, blissful long-form pastoralism

San Charbel’s Nacer Morir, laidback, homemade dreampop from Mexico

Sara Goes Pop’s Sexy Terrorist, bonkers 1980s agitpop

Sawako & Hayato Aoki’s The End Then Start Again mini-album, whispered field recordings and electroacoustics  

Seazoo’s Shoreline, urgent indiepop with a big grin

Secret Meadow’s Endlings, Smiths-a-like pop from Indonesia

Skylon’s Skylon, heartfelt hymn to the Festival Of Britain 

Sound Meccano & Jura Laiva’s Salty Wind And Inner Fire Part 1, spacious, airy electroacousticism

Spaceship’s The Imagined View, As Yet Unblighted, field recordings and drone from rural Kent

Spirit Fest’s Hitori Matsuri, charming bilingual down-tempo folk-pop 

St James Infirmary’s Terry Marriagehead, under-the-radar 1990 janglepop gem

Stealing Sheep’s Apparition (Pye Corner Audio remix), squelchily hypnotic electro reworking 

Susumu Yokota’s Tobiume, drifting beauty from the late Japanese electronica king  

Swoop And Cross’ 10439, epically restrained modern classical

Sylvain Chauveau’s Find What You Love And Let It Kill You, melodic ambient dronepop

Tangerine Dream’s Live At Coventry Cathedral, remarkable 1975 footage of the electro-hippies in action

Taylor Deupree’s Fenne, drifting, take-a-bath electro-acousticism

The Bats’ No Trace, more janglepop from the kings (and queen) of Kiwi indie

The BV’s Neon, lofi guitar overload dreampop

The Creation Factory’s Let Me Go, infectious garage rock, stuffed to the gills with 60s stylings

The Donkeys’ Four Letters, unapologetic new wave powerpop from 1979

The Foreign Resort’s Skyline/Decay, Cure-esque dreampop from Copenhagen

The Harvest Ministers’ You Do My World The World Of Good, long-lost video for lovelorn treat

The Hum Hums’ London, pleasingly brief, polished-but-trashy powerpop

The Inventors Of Aircraft’s No Returns, slowly looping ambient

The Leaf Library’s On An Ocean Of Greatness, meandering ambient pop, stuffed full of ideas

The Luxembourg Signal’s Blue Field, big open-hearted indie jangle

The Mascots’ Words Enough To Tell You, Swedish Merseybeat from the heart of 1965

The Mells’ McCallister, blistering-with-a-touch-of-gloss dreampop

The Memory Band’s Norfolk Before Dawn, spellbinding country field recording

The Names’ Life By The Sea, epic Belgian new wave

The Royal Landscaping Society’s Goodbye, beautifully constructed janglepop from Seville

The Starfires’ I Never Loved Her, er-yes-you-did-really 1960s garage rock

The Wake’s Firestone Tyres, sprightly post-post-punk from Glasgow legends

Thomas Dolby's Oceanea, he's-still-got-it ballad from steampunk pioneer 

Tobias Hellkvist’s Kaskelot (Segue remix), ethereal beats ‘n’ drones

Tomorrow Syndicate’s Okulomotor, kosmische pop musik from the heart of Mitteleuropa: Glasgow

Unhappybirthday’s Kraken, drum machine-driven indie from Germany 

Un Verano En Portugal’s Hielo, frantic, blurred dreampop

Vacant Stares’ Ennui, perfectly-titled doomy gloomy dreampop

Vanessa Rossetto’s Whole Stories album, field recordings and musique concrète from the city streets

Vansire’s Driftless, echoing, distant dreampop

Werner Karloff’s Views Of Movement, thrilling minimal wave from Mexico City 

When The Clouds’ The Dawn & The Embrace, managing to stand out even in the crowded category of Italian instrumental post-rock 

********

The playlist for 2016 is here. The playlist for 2015 is here. The playlist for 2014 is here. The playlist for 2013 is here.

#ambient #indie #indiepop #guitar #electronic #acoustic #playlist #drone #electroacoustic #synth #synthpop #electropop #minimal wave #janglepop

[eldritchsurveys]

1031.

5k Survey LXXV

3826. Why do most people associate being spiritual or connected to the world as being a hippy? >> Okay, so the first 25 questions in this section were all specifically about LOTR The Two Towers, for some reason? I’m not interested so I just skipped them entirely and am smushing the remaining 25 questions in this part into the other 50. Whatever. Anyway, because that’s the stereotype they’ve internalised, idk. Looking down on non-materialistic worldviews is a common modern pastime in the Western world, just in general. (Not that being a hippie is inherently a negative or stupid thing to be, but that’s definitely the sort of context this stereotype is going for.)

3827. Why is passion and honest emotion equated with hallmark cards? >> I feel like my answer to this would just be similar to my answer to the previous question. These ideas don’t necessarily have the same root, but they’re definitely related. 3828. What words set off alarms in your brain (for me it's anarchy, pagan, etc)? >> *blinks* Certainly not those words. Usually it’s words like, idk, “American values” and “lizard people”... 3829. Are you dancin in the dark? >> No. 3830. Name 2 things you have never done in public: >> I’ve never done the Charleston or the Riverdance in public.

3831. If you had to choose out of what you just named, which one WOULD you do in public? >> I don’t even know how to do those dances, which is part of the reason why I’ve never done them in public. 3832. Challenge yourself. Do whatever it is in public. Why not? What are you so terrified of? >> ... 3832. Is hell REALLY other people? >> The actual context of that quote is so much more interesting than seeing people using it as some kind of antisocial mantra. 3833. Or would it be more hellish to live totally without other people? >> We’re all aware that humans are social creatures, correct? Just making sure. 3834. Leggos or linkin logs? >> I had Lincoln Logs as a kid but not LEGO. 3835. What books have you read more than once? >> I’ve read The Fountainhead three times. 3836. Do you get different things out of reading a book a second time a year or more after reading it the first time? Is it because you are a different person after time passes? >> Yeah, I do, and yes, that’s why -- but first I have to convince myself to read a book more than once. My to-read list is so long all the time and then I learn about yet another interesting-sounding book and jump on that and the cycle never ends... it feels like a waste of time to go back and read books I’ve already read. Even though I know that’s not a logical way to think at all. 3837. The person who goes to ____ is not the same person who comes back. Fill in the blank with anything you think fits. >> Whatever. 3838. Quick! Empty your brain here! >> ... 3839. What's the best movie soundtrack? >> I’m partial to Clint Mansell soundtracks, personally. 3840. Tissues with or without aloe? >> I rarely even use tissues, but when I do, I’m not terribly precious about what kind they are. I just use whatever Sparrow bought. 3841. Are you on any medication? >> No. 3842. Does any part of your own body disgust you? If yes, isn't that odd? What could have caused that feeling of disgust with your own body? >> Having a body disgusts me, overall. Yeah, I’m not fond of the relationship I have with my body either, but it’d be one hell of an uphill battle to reprogram my brain to not think I’m gross. I’m doing my best, all right. 3843. Want some popcorn? >> No. 3844. What if Atlas shrugged? >> I imagine he’d do it in far less time than it takes to read that book. 3845. Who has led the most interesting life? >> ... 3846. What movies are comming out next year that you are looking forward to? >> Ha, what movies are coming out next year... that’s the question, innit. 3847. If someone is half man and half dog is he his own best friend? >> --- 3848. Paper or plastic? >> I usually get plastic bags. 3849. Why did things make sense in childhood, but they don't now? >> What things? 3850. Is it crazy time? >> --- 3851. If there is a lotto with 50 numbers, and a player picks 6 numbers without repeating any, what are their chances of getting all 6 winning numbers? >> I don’t know, dude.

3852. If there were no laws and no rules name 3 things you would do that you don't/wouldn't/can't do now? >> --- 3853. It's a costume party. What will your costume be if the theme is: the 70's? 80's? under the sea? 3854. Have you ever wanted to release the lobsters from those tanks in restraunts and put them back in the sea? >> Nope. 3855. How funky is your chicken? How loose is your goose? >> --- 3856. What's your favorite animal out of these: emu, otter, duck billed platypus, moose, skunk? >> Otter. 3857. priest, rabbi, or other religios leader, a judge, or a sea captain to perform your wedding? >> We had a nondenominational minister for ours. I’m sure we would have rather have gone with someone who wasn’t any flavour of Christian, but going through the French Quarter Wedding Chapel kind of was a path of least resistance. It’s hard to plan a wedding from a completely different part of the country than the place it’s being held, and the Chapel did a lot of the legwork for us. 3858. Do you think that it's okay for people to write their own wedding vows? >> What on earth would possess me to think otherwise? 3859. Rank these as places to be married. 1 = best. Your House or Yard The Beach A Park Disneyland A Forest A Catering Hall Las Vegas A church or temple A Courthouse On a Boat On a Space Station 3860. The Earth is doomed. A giant asteroid is headed our way. It will decimate the planet in 3.2 days. You and your family own a space pod and you have room for 7 people from the list below. Everyone else dies. Who do you pick? Orlando Bloom, Justin Timberlake, Joan Jett, John Denver Baby Eve (the first human clone), Jennifer Lopez, Johnny Depp, George W Bush, David Bowie, Charleton Heston, Ralph Nader, Moby, Jeff Bridges, Kelly Osbourne, Frank Zappa, Bill Clinton, Britney Spears, Osama Bin Laden The Pope, Eminem, Madonna >> *longsuffering sigh* 3861. Rank the following dead people in order of who you would like to spend the day with. 1 = you'd like to hang out with them the most. Joan of Arc Groucho Marx John Lennon Joey Ramone Anton Levay Tupac Jack Kerouac Aaliyah John F Kennedy Lucielle Ball Jim Morrison 3862. If you could grant immortality to one person you know (can't be yourself) who would you give it to? >> I don’t want to grant immortality to anyone. 3863. If you could grant immortality to one person who you do not know personally but know of (writer, politician, etc) who would you give it to? >> --- 3864. Name a person you love: Name a person you admire: Name a friend: Name a relative: If you had to condemn one of them to death to save the lives of the others who would it be and why? >> Just... not even going to touch this one. 3865. Would you rather be one of Santa's elves or a dentist? >> What... 3866. When you first meet people what do you talk to them about? >> There’s no one specific thing that I talk to people about... it’s obviously dependent on many factors (at least one of them having nothing to do with me). 3867. You have been invited to a party with any sports team in the world. Which one? >> No. 3868. Finish the sentances. In a world where: He was: She was: Together, they were: Why do so many movie trailers start off by saying 'In a world..'? >> I had a feeling this was about movie trailers, lol. I’m guessing it’s just convenient or something. (Also, that doesn’t happen much anymore. There’s a new set of trailer tropes now.) 3869. Make up a superhero with really unhelpful powers: >> --- 3870. A couple of days ago this guy won 14 million dollars and tried to donate 1 million to the salvation army. The salvation army turned the money down saying they didn't want dirty gambling money. Did they do the right thing? >> They did what was right from their point of view, which is a dogmatic conservative-Christian POV. 3871. If you had a spare million for charity work who would you donate it to? >> --- 3872. What's the craziest most shocking moment of rock and roll history that you can think of? >> --- 3873. Why is it that if a man kills another man in battle it's called heroic, but if he kills a man in the heat of passion, it's called murder? >> Perspective. 3874. What kind of punishment do you feel the following crimes deserve: premeditated murder? date rape? drug sales? drug use? burglery? 3875. If you could kiss anyone in the world on midnight at new year's eve, who would be the lucky one? >> ... 3876. You have just taken two sexy people prisoner because they found your hide out and you think they are spies. What do youd do: kill them, hump them or have crumpets and tea? >> What the fuck. 3877. What is your new year's resolution? >> --- 3878. Should the U.S. focus more on the threat from N. Korea or Iraq? >> --- 3879. Would you ever have plastic surgery? >> I don’t know, maybe. Mostly I just can’t afford shit like that, so the answer’s “no” by virtue of that alone. 3880. How can George Bush be considered a Christian when he a war-monger and the ten comandments say do not kill? >> Oh, you know. 3881. What is the most interesting premise for a reality tv show that you can think of? >> --- 3882. Who is the Hollywood Star next to die of a drug overdose? >> --- 3883. Do you find yourself caring a lot about online people, even if you haven't met or spoken to them off of the computer? >> Not... like, as a rule... 3884. When you hear the song puff the magic dragon what do you think? >> Weed, I guess. I don’t have any other associations with that song. 3885. Let's give you a tarot reading. Go on, ask any question: first card: the reversed high preistess. you may be expecting things to come too easily. You should be careful not to give up if they dont go your way. You're feeling a desire to escape, to withdraw into yourself. Shrug off your current lack of focus and work diligently to acheive the goals you want. second card: the reversed hanged man. You shouldnt be close-minded with your situation. There are many alternatives and possible solutions to your problems. Try something new. The last card: Justice. what goes around comes around. Seek advice on the matters at hand from elders. Do healthy things, spiritually and physically. 3886. What does 'boo' mean and how did it become a slang word of affection? >> www.dictionary.com 3887. How often do you stretch? >> Whenever I feel like it. I don’t schedule it or anything. 3888. Have you ever wished that you didn't have to be yourself? >> Yep. 3889. Would you rather wear shoes full of earthworms or a hat full of spiders? >> --- 3890. What are some things that for most people go unsaid? >> Bold of me to assume I know what most people are not saying out loud. Pretty sure mind-reading ain’t a thing. 3891. I said, 'Play me the best song in the world.' You put on: >> --- 3892. What happened last year that you would like to forget? >> --- 3893. What are you not able to do alone? >> Operate a seesaw. 3894. Do you feel more connected to earth air fire or water and why? >> Air, because I have a lot of it in my birth chart, I guess. Also, I just like space. (Both in the sense of “having physical space around me” and “outer space where all the stars and shit are”, although the latter isn’t air per se.) 3895. Which two words belong together and why: life, seawater, chocolate, blood, hair piece >> Depends on what you’re trying to reference, I guess. I can go with “life and chocolate” (obvious movie reference) or “blood and chocolate” (less obvious YA book/movie reference). 3896. If con is the opposite of pro, what's the opposite of progress? >> Yeah, we all know this joke. 3897. Have you ever wanted to meet the inspectors with the numbers for names(i.e. inspected by 36)? >> What? 3898. Who is the most thought-provoking person you know, &why? >> Me. I stay thinkin about myself.  3899. If you could change 1 thing you did in the last 24 hours, what would it be & why? >> Meh, nothing. 3900. What is the most bizarre thing you've ever done? >> I’m not sure.

#surveys #survey #5000 question survey #not for reblogging *glare* #yeah sometimes i regret still taking this survey. sue me

[saftasming]

My thoughts on Ben 10 or “Why Abi didn’t go to bed at her usual time last night because she was consumed by Ben Tennyson feels.”

Ben 10: I seem to remember HATING this show when it first came on air and the reason why was because my precious Teen Titans was now over and was being replaced by some annoying 10 year old kid who I wanted slap every time he came on screen. I caught one or two episodes when they were on and I guess they were okay??? But Ben and his Grandpa were very urrrgh. Gwen and Charmcaster were probably the only reason I was interested in the show at the time because I love female sidekick characters (and redheads) and I thought Charmcaster was pretty interesting because at the time all we knew was that she and her uncle were funky magic users which pulled me in.

There are a few episodes that weird me the hell out though...Like IDEK. - THE CHRISTMAS ELF EPISODE. WHAT THE SHIT. KIDS WERE BEING TURNED INTO XMAS ELVES?! - The one where Ben gets stuck in his own nightmares or some shit and there are some pretty weird scenes like...WEDGIES AND SNAILS OR SOME SHIT, IT WAS DISTURBING AND KIND OF GROSS BUT IT WORKED BECAUSE I’M PRETTY SURE AS A 10 YEAR OLD I HAD SOME WEIRD ASS DREAMS LIKE THIS AT SOME POINT SO THESE ARE ALL VALID TERRIFYING FEARS. - The Sumo Slammers ep...I guess it was an okay premise but it wasn’t something I was interested in seeing Ben and Gwen getting themselves into. I remember doing a rewatch some years later mostly because it aired stupidly early when I was getting for work and I started to appreciate it a little more. Ben was still an insufferable little asshole though. “My big fat alien wedding” is probably my favorite episode though. It’s alot of fun, okay? Until I do another rewatch and find another episode that fills me with fun fuzzy glee as that one did it’s at the top of my favorites. ALSO WTF I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED THE EPISODE WHERE MAX WAS A FULL ON DOUCHE BAG BUT WHEN ISN’T HE ONE, TBH? ...Wait so how many alien GF’s did Max have because youtube keeps sending me B10 recs and I had honestly forgot about that one alien chick who turned up and Ben was super jealous and rude to her for whatever goddamned reason other than being a brat. Ben 10 : Alien Force YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. So I honestly forgot what pulled me into watching this other than “Oh fucking finally teenagers fighting space crime and super villains.” It was honestly the kind of shit I really missed watching. And I think overall it really did remind me of The Roswell Chronicles or whatever that show was called that I used to be all over because there was the same kind of vibe. Darker storylines and interesting plot twist/reveals were definitely more my thing so I was more into this. Also Beastboy and Terra were back in my life...sort of? So it was nice having familiar voices back on my TV set.

And my gosh we got ALOT of stuff that I was totally into. (SPACE DRAGONS YOU GUYS. WE HAD AN EPISODE ABOUT COOL MAP MAKING DRAGONS IN SPACE AND I’M SO SALTY WE NEVER GOT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM IN LATER EPISODES.) Also we had the introduction of one of my best girls from B10 and I’m still kind of sad Julie and Ben later split up because out of all the girls Ben was with Julie was one of my faves. (Esther and Eunice are my other two and good lord.) Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Okay so it’s a continuation of Alien Force but with more alien forms I guess? Also I feel like I missed ALOT of UA somehow. Like we had some weird Cthululu BS going on with Vilgax which I barely remember other than Julie ended up joining some weird cult. Then didn’t Kevin go evil again at some point?

ALSO APPARENTLY THERE WAS AN EP ABOUT THAT FILM STAR IN A CREEPY RELATIONSHIP WITH A VILLAIN AND THERE WAS SOME KIND OF STOCKHELM SYNDROME BS GOING ON? I don’t think that episode aired over here in the UK though I never caught it if it did air. (Then again CN went through a phase of airing Ben 10 stuff whilst I was at work at this point so I think I missed out on alot.)

Ben 10 Omniverse: I can’t remember my initial thoughts on this show at first.. It was kind of a mess because I was confused as to why we had a teen Ben and a younger Ben in the same show and didn’t really want to try and understand what was going on. ALSO THERE’S A LEGO ALIEN WTF. Obviously later I learned that  most of the times we saw younger Ben were through flashbacks or weird crack happening BUUUUUT After all these years we got Ben 10 doing Teen Titans esque shit and it’s probably my favorite series out of all of them because of how light-hearted and fun it was and at the same time exciting and thrilling all at once! And my gosh, so many new characters to love too. (NGL Blukic and Driba cracked me up so so so much.)

Highlights included more well rounded female characters joining the cast. ROOK BLONKO IS A BLESSING AND IS THE BEST ALIEN CINNAMON ROLL EVER. Hey guys, Remember Secret Saturdays? No? WELL YOU FUCKING SHOULD CAUSE THERE WAS A CROSSOVER EPISODE THAT WAS GREAT. (Though Ben’s crush on Zack’s mom was weird.) TBF Omniverse had ALOT of weird episodes but it worked in the show’s setting and I honestly didn’t mind. (Though the one that makes me cringe the most was the frigging game show one and that one was written by Yuri Lowenthal himself so IDK. It might have been nice to see him write one or two other episdes to see if he had any other interesting ideas he wanted to inplement in the show but it never happened or at least I don’t think it did.

Ben 10 (2017 reboot): I can’t decide if I like this show or not because on one hand we get annoying 10 year old Ben again. But on the other there’s alot of humor I’ve sniggered at on the episodes I have managed to watch on TV.

Not sure why they needed to do the whole Ben/Gwen bodyswap episode again but eh. (ALSO MORE DRAGONS. Okay just the one dragon but that was a fun episode.) Ben 10/Generator Rex crossover WE SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE. I wanted Rex to come to Bellwood. I wanted Six drinking smoothies with Doc Holiday and more stuff. This was one of those crossovers that needed to happen and it did like aaagh it was SooOooOoooOOOo great. Also Gen Rex was a good show and even though I didn’t see much of it I can appreciate kickbutt plotlines and stuff when they happened. (I think if I remember rightly I was pretty miffed B10 was taken off air for a little while and Gen Rex replaced it. BUT LOOK WHERE WE ARE NOW.)

I think there’s some other canon I’ve missed off this list such as the live action movies and some of the longer animated specials/movies. Secret of the Omnitrix I’d quite like to sit through because we get more Azmuth backstory apparently and @cybra-sensei has opened my eyes to the awesomeness that is this grumpy little space frog.

#Abi #Abi Rambles #Cartoons #Ben 10 #Ben 10 omniverse #Ben Tennyson #Gwen Tennyson #kevin levin #Azmuth #Alien Force #Ultimate Alien #IDEK #I wanted to do a ramble last night #and this is what came out #It seems weird that I was determined to hate this show and now it's like one of my main fandoms #western animation #man of action

[anneedmonds]

Hotel Review: The Arctic Treehouse

I thought I’d review this one whilst the crunch of the snow is still fresh in my head; it’s the Arctic Treehouse hotel and rather a different affair to the little London rooms I’ve been trying out recently. Actually, in terms of room size, not so very different, I suppose, but the Arctic Circle location is wildly exciting and there’s a piece de resistance in the room that really seals the deal when it comes to spectacular views.

I was toying with the idea about going to Lapland last Christmas but couldn’t quite decide whether it would be magical or dreadful; did I want to go there with two small children and queue up to see Santa in temperatures so cold that my nose hairs would freeze? Were the kids too young to appreciate it? Would we get there and find that Santa World (TM) was basically like an IKEA warehouse with elves in, a huge queue of parents drunk on mulled wine snaking their way around the cavernous, echoing space whilst children swung between wildly different moods and nerve-shattering music piped in from speakers in the ceilings?

I still can’t answer that actually, because I didn’t end up going to Lapland en famille; instead I was there on a press trip with the beauty brand Lumene. Seeing Santa wasn’t on the agenda, but we did drive past Santa Claus Village and thankfully it seemed to be more Disney than IKEA. Appropriately…red. From outside the high, inpenetrable walls I could just about see turrets inside, though they were a bit like the guard towers that prison snipers sit atop, waiting to shoot at escaped convicts, so who knows what goes on in there.

Anyway, after a couple of wonderful days in the (very powdery) Rovaniemi snow, I did decide that my own children were probably too young for Lapland and an Arctic Santa visit. For a start, getting them into the snow gear would take about a week, then they’d need a wee, the whole thing would be a nightmare. I’m imposing a ban until 2021.

I’ve gone off piste – quite literally! – because I was just going to keep this review short and sweet and give anyone, if they were thinking of booking a Lapland trip, a few pointers. I am by no means a Rovaniemi expert from my 48 hours there, but an evening pottering on Google tells me that this is one of the best (if not the best) hotel there. Purely for its simple – yet genius – design.

The Arctic Treehouse Hotel is formed of a main hub – in which there’s a reception and excellent restaurant, as well as a shop selling furry snow gear that’s straight out of Frozen – and then, across the forested grounds, pairs of stilted treehouse suites with wooden cladding and enormous windows. They rise out of the snow on their legs like sixties prefabs, except the coolest prefabs you’ve ever laid eyes on.

And it’s those huge windows that make this the hotel to stay at; basically the whole end of the long room is glass, meaning that your entire view is of snowy forest. It’s absolutely beautiful. The furnishings inside the treehouse are simple but feel luxe with their mix of textures (furry chairs, pale blonde wood, brass lampshades on the night lights) and the houses are equipped with most things you need (wine, tea and coffee, underfloor heating in the bathroom and hallway) but none of it really matters much, because all you do is stare, open-mouthed, out of the window.

It’s not even really as though you’re staring out of the window, because the view from the window engulfs you, especially if you’re lying on the bed. It’s not a view you need to search for – you’re right there, in the forest, getting freaked out because you’re imagining tall demons hiding behind the thin trees.

Now because of this view, this glorious unspoilt view, I have a massive tip for you: only book one of the treehouses that’s on the front row. I was in 50, and I think that there were around ten treehouses on my row – from 42 to 52 – but please don’t take that as gospel. Anyway, the reason I say this is that the other rows have rows of treehouses in front of them and so you don’t get quite the same view at all. I would hazard a guess that most of the hotel pictures and images online have been taken from that front row – I had a good poke around, and maybe some further up the hillside would be similar, but nothing beats being right up close and personal. Unadulterated vistas.

Look, I’m not saying that other treehouses would be rubbish – they’re all lovely, hidden away in the trees – but after my rudimentary recce of the place I would definitely be requesting one of the rooms 42-52 if I could help it.

Oh wow, I’ve just had a little look online at something called the “executive suite”; whereas the normal treehouse has a double bed, a little fridge/kettle area and then a tiny but perfectly formed shower room, the executive suite has (wait for it!) a separate lounge with a sofa bed that sleeps another three, two bathrooms and a wellness area with a bath, makeup area and sauna with a view! I mean that would be the one to go for if you were in Lapland with two small kids who could nest up on the sofa bed. Jackanory. Mind you, it’s over twice the price, so it would need to be one of those “lifetime treats”. If you were booking for tonight then the standard one would be 694€ for the night and the executive would be 1409€.

I’ve just seen that there’s another option, which has even more room but (oddly) costs less; two proper bedrooms and a lounge that sleeps another two, real fireplace, sauna and deck area with amazing views. The glasshouse cabin is yours for 1344€. That’s if you go tonight, so better get your skates on.

(I’ve gone off piste once more, because you should write what you know and I only know about the Treehouse Double Suite. Those with one accompanying child, though, could bag one of the standard suites with extra nest bed – they look to be the same price as a double.)

What else can I tell you? The restaurant is just excellent – I had the freshest, most delicious seafood I think I’ve ever had. And the water is the most pure water in the world (according to UNESCO), so you can drink it straight from the tap. And the salmon – the bloody salmon! It’s amazing! I had it in various ways (sounds rude, shouldn’t) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If I lived in Lapland I would be the healthiest person alive.

Any downsides to the hotel? No onsite spa or guest sauna – it’s a twenty minute drive away. If I was being really nitpicky – which I am, ask Mr AMR – then I’d say that you’re far from being absolutely in the middle of nowhere as there’s a busyish road around half a mile away. But that’s it. I’m surprised that they don’t have a spa or sauna onsite, maybe they’ll add one. I’m not usually fussed about that kind of thing – if there’s a spa then I feel obliged to use it rather than drink wine wearing just my pants – but it’s curious.

And that’s it. No real downsides. The cocktails are marvellous, the food is exemplary, breakfast is just a whacking great feast of stuff that tastes amazing but is better for you than a week at one of those absurd health camps, but it’s the view – the VIEW, people – that steals the show.

So if you’re braving Santa’s grotto then I can highly recommend this as a place to stay – it’s a hell of a lot more expensive than most of the other options, and I imagine the price rises steeply around Christmastime – but wow. Instagram fodder if I ever did see it.

Unfortunately I hardly have any pictures of the treehouse itself, mainly because I spent most of my time at the hotel dicking about in a leotard and snow boots, trying to do a funky picture for my social media (see above – I’m smiling but so, so cold inside). What I do have, however, is a video – a room tour – so if you fancy a first-hand trot around a Treehouse Double Suite then press play below!

You can find out more about the treehouse hotel on their website here.

The post Hotel Review: The Arctic Treehouse appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Hotel Review: The Arctic Treehouse was first posted on March 30, 2019 at 8:46 am. ©2018 "A Model Recommends". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected] Hotel Review: The Arctic Treehouse published first on https://medium.com/@SkinAlley