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blueberry-lemon · 2 months

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When trailers outshine themselves

I like watching trailers. Maybe even more now than I used to.

I’m well aware that the purpose of a trailer is to build hype and interest. It’s a commercial, to get you to buy something. In some cases, they spoil or ruin the very story they’re advertising. In some cases, it’s way better to go in “blind” than to look at marketing materials.

But, like many of us, I can’t help myself.

I really love a good trailer. It’s a cool artform. Somewhere between an advertisement and a music video. And because the trailer is such a different artform than the actual movie or game that it’s advertising, sometimes the trailer itself is even better than the final product. Sometimes I’ll go back and rewatch a trailer over and over, even after I’ve completed the actual thing it was hyping it.

I write this post not to complain about being disappointed about films or TV shows or games, but rather to give a shout-out to the trailer teams who I think did a fantastic job with their assignment.

The first examples that always jump to my mind are from Marvel Studios. I think they’re pretty great at trailers. I started noticing this when they started making their Disney+ shows.

WandaVision: Both the initial trailer and the mid-season trailer are fantastic. I’ve watched them over and over. They do a good job of being charming, romantic, and lovesick. They do an even better job of being mysterious and unsettling. It’s a pitch-perfect way to get you to buy into the concept and want to check out the show. I enjoyed watching the full WandaVision show, maybe moreso than any other MCU Disney+ show, but I wouldn’t hesitate to admit that I like these two trailers even more than the show. Kudos to the editors that put these together.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier: I had absolutely no intention of watching this show. I’m not particularly interested in this genre or either of these two characters. But the trailer sold me on it, with its hype music choices and intense cutting. I ended up enjoying the show enough in the end, but definitely not as much as this hype trailer.

I thought Marvel did a great job again with Loki’s trailer and Hawkeye’s trailer. Loki’s trailer makes the show seem a lot more mysterious and surreal than it actually ended up being, haha. Hawkeye does that classic “sweet Christmas music juxtaposed with action sequences” trick.

They got me again with Moon Knight, a character I didn’t know anything about. Although I’ll give credit, I feel like Moon Knight was about as weird and wild as the trailer hyped up it would be. So in this case I think it was a satisfying match.

Another satisfying match? The trailers made for Undertale. The release trailer and Nintendo Switch trailer come to mind. They’re fun, funny, and show off how the game works. I love this unique version of the Bonetrousle track that they use, which becomes very dramatic and grandiose. They’re also good examples of including original material into trailers that aren’t actually in the final product. That practice, generally speaking, doesn’t bother me. I don’t mind if trailers “lie” or show different footage, so long as it’s effective and doesn’t feel misleading.

There are other trailers that I feel like match pretty well. I didn’t feel any gulf in expectation or emotion between the trailers for Avengers Infinity War + Endgame versus their final movie versions.

The trailers for Pixar’s Turning Red made me blubber and tear up, and the full film completely lived up to that and even exceeded it. So for me, that was a great film where the trailer editors captured it perfectly.

And for an example of one where I felt mixed on the end product, both the trailer for Pixar’s Elemental and the full Elemental film felt pretty equivalent to me. It wasn’t my favorite movie in the world, and I feel like I got that vibe accurately from the trailers.

But now, finally, for the trailers that brought me to writing this.

I really love the trailers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

I’ll include two here. One is the “release date announcement”, and the second was the “theme song announcement” that was aired at The Game Awards.

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This is great. It’s moody. It moves into one of the game’s fantastic battle themes (which is itself a sweeping battle rendition of the original game’s main theme.) It’s shows off how the combat works beautifully, intercut with tantalizing plot snippets. The trailer builds up mystery and adventure. It confirms that Yuffie and Cait Sith are playable. It shows cool Synergy combo moves. It manages to somehow transition gracefully into Golden Saucer minigame mayhem. Love it.

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Another fantastic one. And the last piece of marketing material I would ever need to see to sell me on getting the game.

The trailer is split into two halves. The first half establishes the plot of the game. It gives us Cloud and Zack’s stories intertwined. It shows us weird, confusing story stuff that sets the Remake trilogy apart from the original. It shows us different environments you’ll travel through. Gives us a heartfelt conversation between Cloud and Tifa. Snippets of Barret’s story too.

The second half is the new original song for the game, No Promises to Keep, which was performed live at The Game Awards along with the footage. I really adore this song, to be blunt, so maybe that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting here. But it really makes me emotional and ties a lot of these disparate clips together. The animation of Aerith singing is beautiful, and it ends on a heart-tugging cliffhanger.

Now….my partner and I have been playing Rebirth. I’m early on, but they’ve only got about a quarter of the game left. We’re enjoying it, it’s great.

But…

…would it be out of line for me to say that the trailers are more effective than the game itself?

Much like WandaVision, the trailers for Rebirth sew all of the different scenes and emotions together into a seamless tapestry. It makes everything feel intentional, beautiful, well-paced, and packing an emotional punch. When my partner and I play the game itself, it feels harder for that intentionality and emotion to come through. Of course your mileage will vary. But, for me, it’s hard for the minigames to live up to the frantic montage when playing them in-game isn’t super fun. It’s hard for the emotional storytelling of the game to live up to the trailer when it’s spread out thin over hours and hours. Nothing in the game itself as made me feel as emotional or hooked in as these two trailers have, at least so far.

Again, this is not a knock on Rebirth. It’s the reality of how much easier it is to move hearts with a 2-minute trailer versus a 60-hour video game. A completely different artform.

And, most of all, it’s kudos to the trailer teams who work at Square and at all these companies for knowing the assignment and knocking it out of the park. I really love what they did with it.

#blogofkylelab #blog #final fantasy vii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #Youtube

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frostyreturns · 8 months

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Frosty Ruins The Lord Of The Rings (1978)

This will be my first time ever watching this version of Lord Of The Rings, I didn't even know it existed until fairly recently. So this review is based on total first impressions.

To start with it opens like an old film serial and looks kind of janky. You could tell it was from a time where a lot of people probably didn't even know what Lord Of The Rings was, back when it was a far less mainstream property, back in the days where Robert Plant could slip plot details from the book into a song and expect that nobody would really take notice.

I'm not sure if the opening is live action or is rotoscoped like parts of the rest of the movie but it looks like they just filmed actors but did them all in shadow so they didn't have to design quality costumes. The voice over is classic 70's and is vaguely the same as the opening of Jacksons Fellowship Of The Ring, which becomes a theme.

The movie differs from the books and the Peter Jackson movies because it puts the scene of Smeagle murdering for the ring in with the introduction. However you can also see that Jackson obviously took a lot of inspiration from this version rather than just using the books as source material.

You can also see the ways that Jackson made it better, there are elements of the storytelling that to me are missing in this version. For example in this version as the nature of the ring is being revealed by Gandalf, he knows coming in what the ring is and begins the conversation by saying it is evil. Whereas in the movie there was some additional tension added by Gandalfs uncertainty, and there was a bit of a fake out and a moment of false relief. There's also the way Frodo just casually slips in the line about wishing this wasn't happening in his time…but it hasn't yet been established just how dire the situation is so the line falls flat.

As the animated portion of the movie takes off, you kind of see also that originally the story was marketted more exclusively to kids. The art style is a lot more cartoonish than I would have guessed, it's like studio ghibli crossed with an 80's cartoon like He-man. The voice over also sounds cartooney and is done in that same 80's cartoon manner. While I don't enjoy it as much as the live action which to me was near perfect…it's not terrible. The character design isn't my favourite but the art style is still very good even though the realistic live action animation rotoscoping doesn't mesh well with the cartoonish simpler animation or look all that great, but it is interesting, very well composed. The backgrounds look like they would all make good paintings that I would frame and hang around the house. The movie looks like it's a product of its time so I can see there being a dedicated fanbase for this version but I can also see people saying it's cheesy and dorky.

Speaking of bad character design. I hate what they did to most every character especially Sam, they made him look and sound like a little effeminate homunculus. Saruman the white they for some reason depicted in a red cloak. The Nazgul looked less intimidating and more zombielike, they had the movement of lurchy hunchbacks that would have been reminiscent of old 30's horror movies. Aaragorn also looked so frumpy and plain, almost native american looking. Elrond looked so plain and looked more like Kevin Nealon than the animated Kevin Nealon from 8 Crazy Nights where he played the mayor. The orcs and trolls looked like smudgy incoherent blobs, the only reason you can tell it's supposed to be a creature is the glowing eyes. Even the balrog looked weird and less intimidating…and they didn't really build it up in the Moria scenes like the books and other movies do. Although one interesting thing about the characters is I thought the voice actor for Frodo was excellent and actually sounded a lot like Elijah Wood, to the point I wonder if that effected his casting at all.

There are moments compositionally that seem amateurish, for example they introduce Merry And Pippin by having them simply walking behind the main characters without introduction, and then they threw in dialogue about them agreeing to follow them as far as Bree…but the audio sounded different and it sounded like the voice actor rushed the line to make it fit into the scene before it changed. Seems like they made a last minute change because they had to cut the scene where they introduced the characters or because they realized they forgot to explain who they were. Then it cuts to a shot of them doing a weird little dance and then the scene changed again…very strange and makes the whole thing looks less professional.

One other complaint I have is that the visual depictions of magic use are not well done at all, and if I did not already know what was happening I would have no clue what I was looking at. The duel between Gandalf and Saruman was just flashing lights, and there was a prolonged scene with the black riders where the background kept shifting in and out and it looked like they were in the sky one second and on land the next. And they just held out their hands and Frodo just seemed to stand there watching them point at him for no reason at all. Knowing the story I know what is happening but without the context of the books or the Jackson movies this scene would have been very confusing.

The action is also underwhelming. The way they swing their swords makes them look like less effective weapons than a twig, they hit enemies with a sword like they're using a blunt object, it's hard to describe what I mean but it just looks wrong.

The other main issue I have with the movie is that because it squeezes the whole story into one two hour movie a lot is missing, a lot is glossed over and many of the scene changes seem abrupt. For example they talk about going through Lothlorien and then cut immediately to talking with Galadriel. The biggest problem with this version is that so much is missing. It's only half the story with Return Of The King completely missing because of a cancelled sequel. But even much of the parts they did show were greatly cut down and much was ommitted.

One thing i liked about this version is that they never really explain in the Jackson movies how Frodo kept gollum in line. The idea that he could threaten to use the ring to command him as a thrall was never in the movie but it was in the books. So for all my complaints I can't say it wasn't a faithful adaptation. It was an interesting one time watch and for parts of it I did enjoy it, it is still Lord Of The Rings so it can't be totally bad. I'd certainly rather watch this than anything Amazon shits out. Overall though it wasn't good and it's enjoyablity depends on how much you enjoy anachronistic cartoons about classic fantasy literature.

#lord of the rings #1978

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aureumdraconeus · 1 year

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2. What are your unpopular opinion(s) of the fandom you’re rping in? 3. What rp trends are you so over and can’t wait for it to die? 5. A ship everyone in the fandom you’re in loves, but you can’t stand? (any fandom for 5 and 2) 10. Any fandom(s) you don’t want to rp in or crossover to? 20. If you’re feeling salty right now, this ask gives you a free reign to pour out your frustration.

Late Munday Salt Asks - Featuring AD

2. What are your unpopular opinion(s) of the fandom you’re rping in?

Alright well, ya'll about to get some fun takes from the man who is known for having the best takes in the universe (this is true I made the rules):

RWBY: The fanbase can either be absolutely fucking toxic to hell and back with little to no media comprehension that makes a goddamn preschooler look like Socrates, or overanalyze everything to the point where they then get pissed that their hyper-specific headcanon isn't canon and there is BARELY any in between.

Sonic: Folks really needs to stop treating the classic games like they're some godly piece of media that cannot be considered bad and that the modern games have ruined them. Ya'll just never played Rush.

Panty and Stocking: Stocking is absolutely more of a sex-freak than Panty is and you will never change this.

Exes: Cringe culture may be dead, but by god ya'll need to come up with better ideas. Stop tryin' to be Lord X 2.0

Hazbin / Helluva: The excuse that Hazbin is for women and Helluva is for dudes is bullshit, let Millie DO something for once.

Studio Trigger: They should honestly make a sequel series to Klk and just go even more nutso than they did the first time around.

Undertale / Deltarune: People overhype Spamton and Jevil a bit too much considering they may not even be relevant in the final release. They're pretty cool though.

Persona: A lot of these games are unfortunately pretty fuckin' dated when it comes to the shit happening in them - I'm sorry folks but Atlas are kinda shitty when it comes to how they portray anyone that isn't straight.

Super Mario Bros: Dimentio is the best Mario villain and you cannot convince me otherwise.

Dragon Ball: When was the last time any of us actually had fun with this series? Like be honest.

3. What rp trends are you so over and can’t wait for it to die?

Honestly it's the fact that there's really little to no accessibility for finding icons these days. A lot of folks seem to say "Do it yourself" which like, fair dues, but at the same time...Maybe some folks kinda want to be able to do other things outside of slaving away in a photo editing program for hours on end?

5. A ship everyone in the fandom you’re in loves, but you can’t stand? (any fandom for 5 and 2)

This one I'll be more concise with, cuz there's a lot of fandoms I listed: I honestly think that a lot of ships are fine? The only ones that I can think of are those made out of spite or just seem spiteful in nature. Like erasing characters' sexualities or shit like that.

's weird yo.

10. Any fandom(s) you don’t want to rp in or crossover to?

USUALLY I'm pretty open but like...I guess the best example is fandoms for shows that are v e r y kid oriented. Like, I understand some of ya'll are enjoying shows like Bluey and that one with the sentient numbers and...stuff like that?

I DON'T THINK you wanna have some of my muses just sorta showing up and causing shit.

That being said if any of ya'll wanna ask if I'm OK with your fandom and such then just hmu in DMs.

20. If you’re feeling salty right now, this ask gives you a free reign to pour out your frustration.

Honestly the only salt I be feeling is when I go to make myself something that takes about 30 seconds and then being told to leave the kitchen by your older siblings. Like, it takes 30 second to cook this shit gimme some room damn you.

#staticmonitor #{ ;; Words of Wisdom...? | AD Speaks }#{ ;; THE STAGE OF HISTORY | Asks }

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 6 months

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Today, Paramount delayed a handful of films, including the fourth theatrical SpongeBob movie (went from May 2025 to December 19, 2025).

The most interesting of the delays, and among the most inevitable, was MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONI- I mean... It's not going to be called that anymore.

This past summer's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE chapter was titled MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE. But now, Paramount is opting to call the eighth movie something else.

The home video release is on Halloween, too. It's too late to go back in and snip the PART ONE from the opening credits (plus it's on the case, too), unless a later edition cuts it out.

Like... It's set in stone, this movie is called DEAD RECKONING PART ONE, unless, like I just said, a later edition that comes out a little before the release of Movie #8 corrects the opening titles.

If so, that would also be rather fascinating. Some editions have it as PART ONE, some don't.

Hey! Another Tom Cruise action movie that happened to involve this film's director, Christopher McQuarrie (who also directed the 5th and 6th M:I movies), had a similar thing happen.

That movie was EDGE OF TOMORROW... Oh sorry, LIVE. DIE. REPEAT: EDGE OF TOMORROW... Maybe...

EDGE OF TOMORROW, which was originally supposed to be titled ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (which is the name of the manga it is based on), came out in June 2014. The tagline for the movie was "Live. Die. Repeat." EDGE OF TOMORROW is a classic case of a movie lots of people dug (critics & audiences alike, including this fella), but ruined by a misguided marketing campaign. It opened quite poorly for a movie that cost $178m to make, but it had really good legs over the summer and ended up doing okay. Maybe not profitable as a theatrical release, but good enough to spur on-and-off sequel talks.

Warner Bros., who released the film, noticed that they screwed the pooch on this one. When the film was released on Blu-ray later that year, the packaging bore the revised title LIVE. DIE. REPEAT: EDGE OF TOMORROW... It loads on a PS3/4/5 with that title, too... Digital versions of the movie call it that when you boot it up... But watch the movie itself - disc or digital, and the title card just says EDGE OF TOMORROW... Like it did, theatrically...

So now we have a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie with "PART ONE" in its title, but its followup will not be called PART TWO. That's gonna look weird on my shelf, for sure! "Uhhh, where's part two?"

Anyways, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE VIII is now set to open May 23, 2025, taking SPONGEBOB 4's old slot. Filming was underway before the strikes, and it was never going to make it to next summer anyways, so this is good... And if you remember, DEAD RECKONING was set for a multitude of dates, waylaid by COVID-19 and other complications. Once thought to be a summer 2021 release with Part Two following in summer 2022, and then later a summer 2022 release w/ Part Two in 2023... We finally got it this year, with Part Two two years from now... MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE really is facing an impossible mission of just getting finished and being released. Weathering COVID, filming complications, two strikes...

For context, the first MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie came out in 1996.

So now DEAD RECKONING can possibly join the pantheon of movies that carried different titles/title cards over time. Some animated examples include:

The Fleischer studios' 1941 feature MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN, a Paramount release, which was known as HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN in the UK and on re-issues/TV airings

Disney's THE BLACK CAULDRON, re-titled to TARAN AND THE MAGIC CAULDRON for a test re-release that didn't materialize into a wider release

Disney's THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, which was titled THE ADVENTURES OF THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE for its one theatrical re-release, and its title card appeared on all video releases of the movie until 2010

The Miramax edit of Richard Williams' THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER, titled ARABIAN KNIGHT in theaters, but THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER on home video

Speaking of other Paramount dates... It was clear as day that that QUIET PLACE prequel wasn't opening March 2024 alongside DUNE: PART TWO and SNOW WHITE and ELIO and KUNG FU PANDA 4 and GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE 2. (More of those should be moving, as the strikes are continuing.)

Bet we'll see more delays from the big studios. Sony already rerouted a ton of movies, like the aforementioned untitled GHOSTBUSTERS sequel (we have the poster at my cinema), SPIDER-VERSE 3, and a few random live-action titles. Paramount then made their move...

Who's next? I'm thinking it'll be Disney. No way they sandwich SNOW WHITE between their own ELIO and a bunch of other family flicks like KUNG FU PANDA 4... Plus, opening their LION KING Prequel two days after Universal's DESPICABLE ME 4? I don't think that's very smart. I think a lot of the live-actions/tech demos get some push, with animation largely staying in place. (Sony delaying BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE, I feel, had a lot more to do with the fact that it was barely in production and was never going to make that previously-announced spring 2024 release.) At the very least, I think the Pixars will make their spring and summer slots next year, I'd imagine INSIDE OUT 2 is far enough long and no re-recording of the cast needs to be done, but... We'll see...

But first and foremost, a good and fair deal needs to be reached so the strike can end.

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a-weird-cryptid · 1 year

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With more and more of my favorite childhood cartoons ending, I'm starting to notice that the era of them seems to end.

I'm a 2000s/2010s kid, depending on the definition you take. And most of my best and earliest childhood memories are of me watching TV and all of the different shows on it. Most of which were cartoons. Thankfully, I was born in the perfect time to grow up with them, seeing many of the old classics in my very early childhood and the newer ones during the "prime time" of it.

Reaching from the old, almost forgotten cartoons like Fillmore, American Dragon, Johnny Test or Momo, to newer shows like Gravity Falls, Star vs the Forces of Evil, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball and many, many more.

They, together with Studio Ghibli movies and so called "Family Cartoons", which came every Friday on the German channel SuperRTL, are responsible for me being the person who I am today.

With noone else around to teach me about kindness, forgiveness and similar, with noone else giving me comfort as a child, I always found myself imagining to be in one of those different worlds. Learning about most of the social things I know today from them. Being heard, seen and comforted by their characters...

But this era seems to end for good. Slowly, but surely. 2D animated shows are almost extinct on TV (and otherwise) and most I can find on my beloved kids channels these days (when I decide to check them out again out of curiosity) is 3D animated trash. The "Cocomelons" of TV.

What are kids suppose to take from Miraculous for example? That it's ok to be a creepy stalker when you have a crush on somebody? That you should never care about any consequences because you can just "miraculous ladybug" them?

Now compare that to American Dragon, for example, which teaches how to be a better person. With our main character starting out as an asshole, but slowly learning how to be nicer to others. (As far as I remember. Correct me if I'm wrong)

Or Momo, which teaches to always have an open mind and heart for people.

Or Gravity Falls, Amphibia and The Owl House, all teaching us that it's ok to be different and making it easy to accept that we all grow up at some point.

I'm really sad to see that 3D animation starts to take over everything. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful medium and seeing something beautifully 3D animated can really make my day. But they're things that you could never show or express in live action, nor in 3D. And doing so only ruins the magic, especially if it's a remake of an original 2D animation. Think of all of the new Disney remakes for example.

#cartoons #2010s cartoons #nostalgia

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bankingpiner · 2 years

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Tails of iron publishers

New equipment and the effects of wearing them are where the Souls-like elements are most apparent. Throughout your adventure, you will pick up new armor and weapons. You will also have the occasional NPC partner to fight by your side. Besides that minor gripe, the game is ultimately fair. It seems like the area is too wide at times and that enemies spam this particular move. This is indicated by a circular icon, and enemies will try to slam into you and the surrounding ground to damage you. However, sometimes the hitboxes can be a bit unfair, especially with ground attacks. It’s impressive how many enemy types, variants, and animations there are, and they all look pretty good. It’s mostly a matter of knowing each enemy’s animation and judging the speed of said baddie’s move speed cycle. However, the giant variants of frogs are slower and stage attacks obviously, but they have more health. For example, the massive mosquito-like ‘Mozis’ will orchestrate when they land at you when they fly overhead. There are four enemy types, and your approach will vary accordingly. However, getting up close to an enemy can sometimes remove the signal altogether, and an enemy will dish out a quick attack out of nowhere. It works well for the most part and adds for some leeway and risky situations (do you counter or just block?). A visual signal precedes each enemy attack, indicating if that attack is open for a counter, blockable, or unblockable ground/forward attack. While these things sound simple enough, the game’s challenge lies in the timing. R1 unleashes an attack, holding L2 blocks, and is a dodge. Tails of Iron plays from a 2D perspective, and you are armed with a melee weapon and a shield. While the story didn’t entirely grab me, the imagery often did. Regardless, it’s a fantasy tale starring a cutely impish rat laying waste to salientian invaders-it’s safe but okay. I won’t spoil it, but I wish the game had been like it from the start. However, that changes mid-way through, where the game reveals a clever change of theme. Despite the anthropomorphic animals, the plot has a mostly serious tone that conveys its storybook fantasy tropes with slight subversion or surprise. I am indifferent towards this baritone voice by now, but there are some lines Cockle delivers well with both dramatic and humorous inflections. I have heard this guy’s voice endlessly as the witcher, and he gives a performance basically the same as in that fantasy game. You probably know the voice actor as Geralt of Rivia. It’s a solid premise, presented in an almost storybook format through Doug Cockle’s narration. It is up to you to save your brothers, restore your keep and kingdom, and exact revenge. They also leave your family’s stronghold, The Crimson Keep, in ruins. However, just as you earn your right, your father, King Rattus, gets killed by the cruel Greenwart, leader of the Frog Clan. Well, he’s not a prince for long, as you get to win the throne at the beginning of the game. Tails of Iron is set in Ratdom, a kingdom of rats, and follows prince Redgi. Kings, battles, and glory-these are what makes classical, but also possibly bland, chivalric tales. My Kingdom for a… wait, there aren’t any horses Odd Bug Studio’s intentions are mostly successful, as Tails of Iron is a thoroughly enjoyable action-adventure with a great art style and some surprises along the way. While Tails of Iron has some of Dark Souls‘ DNA, it mostly tries to do its own thing by emphasizing action over role-playing. Souls-like games have come in all shapes and sizes, some borrowing less from the source material than others. Tails of Iron Review (PS4) SeptemLorenzo Lombardi - No Comments

#Tails of iron publishers

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nicknellie · 3 years

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Anonymous requested: “tricked into 7 minutes in heaven at a party” AU with willex, where theyre close friends and apart of the same friend group, and their friends know they both like each other and are tired of watching them dance around each other so they devise a plan to have a party and play seven minutes in heaven, and get them to be alone together in a closet or room or something. so a sort of getting together/modern AU with some kissing cause the boys deserve it?

I had to Google what 7 Minutes In Heaven is. Anyway!! I love this prompt so much, it’s so so sweet. We love some getting together fluff. Thank you so much for suggesting it!

Title from Alone by Heart.

The Secret Is Still My Own

Alex could have kicked himself for not realising what this was much earlier. It was probably Luke’s idea. Maybe Julie’s – she could be sneaky when she wanted to be. It didn’t really matter who had devised the plan, all that Alex was worried about now was the fact that he was about to spend seven minutes locked in a small room with Willie and the likelihood was that it was going to be utterly dreadful.

A few months ago when Alex and Willie had first met, it wouldn’t have been so awful. Their friendship had been fresh and exciting and there had been an easy banter flowing between the two of them that made Alex feel light and giddy. He had been glad to spend time with Willie then, looking for every excuse to hang out with him because who wouldn’t? Willie was funny, kind, intelligent, and everything good in the world. Alex would have been mad to not want to spend time with him. It didn’t take long for Alex to realise he was falling for Willie, quickly and with no signs of stopping.

And he made the grave mistake of telling that to Luke.

“Dude,” Luke had said, grabbing Alex’s shoulders. “You gotta ask him out!”

“What? No!” Alex had protested. He tried to wriggle free but Luke’s grip was like iron and he gave up after a moment or two. “I don’t want to. I like being friends with him.”

“Yeah, but imagine if you were more than friends,” Luke pressed, grinning wildly. “It’s not like he’d say no – he’s head over heels for you, man.”

“He is?”

“I think so.”

“That’s not proof,” Alex deadpanned. “You also thought that if you ate watermelon seeds one would grow inside you. Then you cried when Reggie ate them.”

“That was ages ago!” Luke whined.

“It was last week, but alright.”

“Alright, fine, I’m a bad example,” Luke admitted. “But what if I told you that Julie thinks Willie likes you?”

Alex considered it for a moment. Julie was definitely more reliable than Luke, and where Luke was almost definitely guessing about whether or not Willie had feelings for Alex, Julie had probably spoken to Willie herself to find out. So he shrugged and gave Luke a short nod.

“Does she think so?” he asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice.

“Dude,” Luke scoffed. “She was the one to point it out to me. You and Willie are made for each other, bro! Ask him out or I’ll have to do it for you.”

Alex hadn’t asked Willie out. It hadn’t been because he didn’t want to or because he didn’t think Luke and Julie were right – it was because he simply didn’t know how. How was he supposed to go up to Willie, a literal angel, and ask him on a date without spontaneously combusting? He didn’t want to make a fool of himself, not in front of Willie.

He had thought that Luke was joking about getting Alex and Willie together himself. That had, of course, been an incredibly naïve thing to believe. When Luke said he’d do something, he meant it – Alex should have learnt that from the time Luke had said he would lick an electric fence and then followed through immediately and without hesitation. So really he shouldn’t have been surprised when Luke made it his mission to get Alex and Willie together.

The first time it had happened was when Alex and Willie were hanging out alone in the studio. They had been talking, just catching up with each other, and it had been nice. Willie had been halfway through a story about one of the kids at the nursery he worked part-time at when all of a sudden the lights in the studio had dimmed and slow, romantic music had begun drifting from the stereo in the corner.

Willie had looked utterly bemused, a quiet half-smile gracing his features. “What’s all this?”

“I don’t know,” Alex told him, standing up and flicking the lights back on, then going to the stereo and turning the music down all the way. “Sorry about that. It’s never happened before.”

“You mean you didn’t set it up?” Willie asked.

“No,” Alex replied, looking around the studio. Unsurprisingly, he had spotted Luke in the attic, hidden amongst the beanbags, the stereo’s remote in his hands. He didn’t even have the good grace to look guilty, instead giving Alex a cheery wave.

“Oh,” Willie had said. His tone made Alex turn to face him – there was something in it he couldn’t quite put a name to. “Okay. Anyway, so, as I was saying…”

Luke’s plans had not improved from then on. He had pulled the classic “invite both of them to hang out but don’t show up so they’re just spending time together one-on-one”, he had dedicated an entire setlist to Willie at their most recent gig and told the entire crowd that it had been Alex’s idea, and every time Alex and Willie had a conversation he would find a way to muscle in and very unsubtly suggest they go on a date.

It was making Alex’s life a misery.

Because now every time he saw Willie felt painstakingly awkward. The both of them were just waiting for Luke to show up and do whatever he’d planned, after which they’d be steeped in brittle, tense silence until one of them found an excuse to back out of the situation. The ease and light-heartedness their friendship had once been built on was pretty much shot to pieces. Alex knew that Luke meant well, but he was almost certain that he had ruined everything.

It didn’t help that Luke had got Julie, Reggie, and Flynn in on it too, though they were much less heavy-handed than he was when it came to getting them together. Reggie’s main tactic was ask if they’d been on a date yet every time he saw them but leave it alone once they said no, while Julie and Flynn tended to talk to Alex away from Willie and try and convince him that they were, in Flynn’s words, a match made in heaven.

“He totally wants you to ask him out,” Flynn gushed on one of these occasions. “Did you see the way he was looking at you earlier? He’s in love.”

“Things are awkward enough between us as it is,” Alex had explained. “I’m not going to make it worse by asking him out.”

“Well, maybe you don’t need to ask him on a date,” Julie suggested, ever the voice of reason. Alex inwardly thanked her – at least somebody was on his side. “But I do think you need to at least talk about what’s going on between you.”

He revoked his inward thank-you.

“We don’t need to talk,” Alex insisted. “If we just leave it alone then the problem will eventually go away.”

“That’s always your solution,” Julie said.

“And it never works,” Flynn added.

“If you just face your feelings head-on and actually try communicating with him you might get somewhere,” Julie said. Alex looked at her and knew she was telling the truth – her eyes were wide and kind, her mouth set into a gentle smile, and she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to help Alex. “You’ve been dancing around each other for so long, all you need to do is figure out where you both are. Trust me.”

He had shrugged inelegantly and let Flynn change the direction of the conversation, grateful to be talking about something else.

But he hadn’t taken Julie’s advice. Talking to Willie was difficult. Their banter was all but gone and their conversations lasted no more than a few minutes at most. It was a lot easier when they were with all their friends, in a big group where they could talk to others, which had been exactly the reason that Alex wasn’t worried about the impromptu party Julie had invited everyone to that night.

And look where it had got him.

It had been Luke who suggested it during a lull in conversation.

“Why don’t we play Seven Minutes in Heaven?”

The suggestion had been met with excited ‘ooooh’s from most of the group sat around the studio, all except Alex. The last time he’d played Seven Minutes in Heaven had been in middle school – he had been locked in a closet with a girl in his class, she had kissed him incredibly awkwardly, he had blurted “I’m too gay for this” and fallen ungracefully out of the closet with six minutes still left on the clock. While that had been years and years ago, the memory still burned with embarrassment.

“Count me out,” he said. “That game is cursed.”

“I think you’re thinking of Bloody Mary in the Mirror,” Reggie supplied. “That game is cursed. This one’s just a bit of fun.”

“Absolutely not,” Alex said, shaking his head. “You guys can play, I’m staying out of it.”

“Oh, come on, Alex,” whined Luke, “everyone has to play! Otherwise it’s no fun.”

“You might not even get picked,” Julie said helpfully.

“But also you might,” Luke added.

Alex looked around the room at his friends – Reggie was smiling encouragingly, Luke looked put-out that Alex had even thought about refusing, Julie and Flynn were looking at him with hope and excitement in their eyes that he really didn’t want to crush, and Willie… Willie was avoiding eye contact altogether.

He didn’t know what it was that did it, but finally he relented. “I’ll play.”

Luke punched the air triumphantly and began entering everyone’s names into a generator he’d brought up on his phone. Alex watched with bated breath as the little wheel spun, slowing down until it landed on a name. The screen lit up with an over-the-top fireworks animation and the name ‘WILLIE’ in garish bubble writing.

Alex didn’t look at Willie, but he did feel his own insides squirm. What if he was picked next? He wasn’t sure he could last seven minutes alone with Willie. What was he supposed to talk about? What was he supposed to do? How was he meant to act like it wasn’t the most awkward thing he’d ever done especially after everything that had happened in the past few months?

Luke set the spinner off again and Alex watched nervously as it ticked through all the names. The firework animation lit up the screen again and when it was cleared the name ‘ALEX’ was left behind, glowing in all its bubble writing glory.

He tried not to sigh in defeat and he stayed put, no matter how much he wanted to leg it from the room and never come back.

“Alright then!” Julie said, clapping her hands and beaming. “Alex and Willie! You guys feeling up for this?”

Alex didn’t have an answer, but it appeared that Willie did. He stood up and offered a hand to pull Alex to his feet too, smiling gently.

“I’m ready,” he said, though Alex didn’t miss the waver in his voice. “How about you, hotdog?”

He could feel his friends’ eyes boring into him like lasers, but kept his own eyes trained on Willie, searching his expression with no idea what he was actually searching for. Eventually though, he gave a resolute nod and said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

“You can go into the bathroom,” Julie said, pointing towards the little room at the back of the studio. “You’ll have to lock the door yourselves.”

Alex nodded and mutely followed Willie into the bathroom. He shut and locked the door behind them, then flicked the light-switch on. Immediately, Willie flicked it back off.

“Why can’t we have the lights on?” he asked. “I can’t see you.”

“Those are the rules, hotdog,” Willie returned. His voice sounded like it was coming from the opposite side of the room, but Alex couldn’t be sure. After all, he couldn’t see anything.

He could feel his heart hammering in his chest and sweat starting to bead on his forehead as he slid himself down the wall to sit on the floor. He had no reason to feel so nervous right then; he’d been alone with Willie a thousand times, this didn’t have to be any different just because it was in a small dark room and they had a time limit ticking over their heads. Admittedly, he hadn’t been alone with Willie all that often recently, but he shouldn’t have been too out of practise.

“So,” he ventured, rubbing his hands along his legs, hoping the repetitive movements would dull his nerves. “What do you want to talk about?”

Willie was silent for a moment and Alex was sure that he’d somehow already put a foot wrong. Briefly, he considered unlocking the door and trying to leave very quietly so that Willie wouldn’t notice, but he realised quickly that plan wouldn’t work because he would never get past his friends in the studio. All he could do was stick it out for six and a half more minutes.

But mercifully, Willie finally spoke.

“Things have been weird recently, huh, hotdog?”

It teased a laugh from Alex, if only a small one. Because yes. Yes, things had been incredibly weird and he hated it.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “it’s been weird. I’m sorry about Luke and the others.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Willie said. Alex could hear the smile in his voice and found himself relaxing. “It doesn’t really bother me. But… I mean, it seemed like it was bothering you. I’ve been trying to give you a little space but I don’t know if that’s what you want.”

“No,” Alex said, far too quickly. He tried to rein himself in a little, not wanting things to descend back into that dangerous awkward territory. “No, I don’t want you to give me space. I really like hanging out with you, Willie. I don’t want to stop that. I just wish they’d stop teasing.”

There was another pause, smaller this time, barely perceptible.

“Why?” Willie asked quietly.

“Because,” Alex began, but he quickly found himself lost for words.

How was he supposed to explain it to Willie when he found it hard to explain it to himself? He didn’t like their teasing because he was scared. He didn’t like their teasing because he didn’t want to make Willie uncomfortable. He didn’t like their teasing because this thing, whatever it was, between him and Willie was theirs and only theirs and he wanted to keep it between that way. Because he wanted to make these decisions on his terms, not when his friends decided he should.

“Because?” Willie prompted.

Alex swallowed his pride and his nerves and made himself speak.

“Because I really like you, Willie. And when our friends try and find ways to get us together it just feels awful because I want to do it myself. I don’t want them to intervene or mess this up. I want to do it my way. They keep saying that you like me too – is that true?”

Silence again. Alex could hardly stand it.

“Yeah,” Willie said finally. With that single word Alex felt like he could breathe more easily than ever before. “I do. Like you, I mean. And I get it. I’m sorry this whole thing has been such a mess.”

Alex huffed a laugh. “Blame Luke.”

“Oh, I will,” Willie replied through a chuckle.

Alex heard him shuffle across the bathroom floor and felt their sides press together as Willie came to sit next to him. Without thinking he laid his head down on Willie’s shoulder, then felt Willie rest his head on his in return.

“So,” Alex said again. “What does this mean for us?”

“What do you want it to mean?” Willie asked teasingly, the smile on his face evident in his voice.

“Are we dating?” he asked. He could feel his own smile tugging at his lips as Willie slipped an arm around his shoulders.

He felt Willie press a gentle kiss to the top of his head. “Yes, Alex. We’re dating.”

Maybe it was the late hour, maybe it was the dark room, maybe it was the rush of adrenaline he got from hearing Willie day the words “we’re dating”, but something gave him a warm and welcome rush of courage and he said, before he could think better of it, “Can I kiss you?”

“Well,” Willie said, “I think that’s what usually happens in this game.”

“I don’t want to kiss you because of the game,” Alex told him. He knew Willie was probably joking, but he wanted to be certain. He wanted to make it clear that none of this was because of the game (mainly because Luke had probably rigged it somehow and Alex still wanted to do this his own way). He needed to show that this was for Willie and for himself, nothing else.

“I know,” Willie said gently. “I don’t either. I just want to kiss you.”

Alex slid a hand up to cup Willie’s jaw and they slowly came together. Willie’s lips were softer than Alex thought should be allowed, the kiss gentle and slow. It felt perfect, like fireworks had been lit in Alex’s soul (though much better fireworks than the terrible animation on Luke’s random selector wheel). He felt Willie’s fingers knot through his hair and pull them closer together.

It hadn’t gone the way Alex would have really liked. He didn’t get to ask Willie out on his terms. But from now on, with Willie as his boyfriend, they could do everything else on their terms. They could go at their own speed, hand-in-hand, with no ticking time limit set by their friends. They could move at their own pace with nobody but each other.

And Alex could breathe easy.

Taglist (if you want to be added or removed just let me know): @ace-bookworm @williexmercer @willex-owns-my-heart @itstiger720 @the-reckless-and-the-brave @that-one-newsie @bluedarkness @lookingthroughmirrors @teammightypen @salty-star @julieandthequeers @lmaohuh @sunnysbright

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sprawa-przybyszewskiej · 3 years

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Ekphrasis in The Danton Case, Thermidor, and their adaptations

Ekphrasis is invoking a piece of visual media into a literary piece. It can be done for a variety of reasons, from entirely pragmatic (mostly grounding the literature in reality - if the invoked piece is a real piece of art, one you could find in a museum, for example) or more poetic (drawing some symbolic meaning between the piece of art and the idea behind the text).

In Przybyszewska's plays ekphrasis is nonexistent, at least on the foreground. I don't recall any clearly established visual, given to the readers by the original author. It's not weird in any way - how many pieces of medai do you recall which refrain from its sophisticated and additional piece of subtext and iformation? Hundreds, probably. The only other artistic thing that she has weaved into her plays is La Marseillaise, which is invoked twice in The Danton Case. There are also three book references to Othello, Orlando furioso and this one book Robespierre summarizes to Saint-Just when he's talking about hatred (but of which I have no idea if it's a real one - it probably is - or not). Other than that - nothing, plus the books count only a little, forekpfrasis should be, as I said, visual in nature.

Of course, the historical aspect of her works is what grounds them in our reality, and so cleverly, too (seeing as they're not really historical plays in any way or form, but manage to fool most anybody). And thanks to her extensive stage directions, we have no need of any additional element helping us visualize the scenes, for she does it perfectly enough on her own.

However, seein as these are plays calls for a mirror ekpfrastic effect and thus theatrical and cinematographical adapations are born. And they, on the other hand, have a potential to be filled to the brim with visual refernces. Here I would like to have a look at a few, which are taken from one of the most well known staging and the famous Wajda movie (plus some). In no particular order, there goes:

This is the very first scene of a controversial theatre adaptation of The Danton Case. Instead on portraying Robespierre as a firm leader, who only in the very end collapsed temporarily under the huge responsibility he now had to bear, the director decided to portray him as someone physically weak, not in the sense Danton meant when he called him a weakling, but in the sense of somebody who already bears so much responsibility, pain, physical ailments, doubts and whatnot. Just: everything, everythin a human could possible deal with, he deals with, and has to do so in a way that doesn't make people suspiscious about his "shortcomings". There is a interesting parallel between him and Saint-Just, whose upright and unbreakeable character is symbolised by a neck braces, something which people wear after a spine endangering accidents - and incidentally, wasn't it Saint-Just who accused Robespierre of "breaking his spine"? But not in this adaptation, oh no - here their very last scene is cut extremely short and they recite the last few sentences along with some Thermidor lines as two floating heads, a vision into the future which awaits them.

Enough about Saint-Just, though, let's focus on Robespierre and Marat. I must admit I know next to nothing about him, only what some passage here and there in this or that historical study might tell me, but I know, as does everybody, that he was known as L'ami du Peuple, which is why of the reasons, I think, why the director took this image and transposed it onto Robespierre: to make him even more likeable, to show for the umpteenth time that it is Robespierre whom we should cheer on and whom we should feel sorry for. This might also be a parallel between their both's tarnished health, their premature deaths and - last but not least - the role of an icon of the Rvolution both of them play in nowadays' audience's minds. You don't have to study history to knowwho Robespierre was, you don't have to study art to know this painting. Even if you don't agree with some more in-depth explanation of linking this person to this painting, it is a good opening image. It captures our attention in a good way.

I had mention Saint-Just and there he is, in the background of the picture, symbolically assisting Danton and his clique in their last moments. Instead of shwoign them in torn shirts, the director went into another direction altogether and enshrouded them in white sheets from heads to toes, making them all look like very stereotypical ghosts, whom they will all become in just a couple of moments.

In Polish culture, the first thing that comes to mind when talking about ghosts is Dziady, an old slavic tradition that is now replaced with the Catholic All Souls Eve. Dziady is no longer, apart from perhaps some small minorities who still practice old pagan faiths, but as a ritual, they are immortalised in a play by Adam Mickiewicz, undoubtedly the greatest Polish poet ever. Everybody know this play, some scens - by heart, and they were and are being staged pretty much constantly from one point on. Needless to say, they inspire a lot of art, and I decided to show this very fmous poster by the most famous Polish poster designer, Franciszek Starowieyski…

…who is important in this case, because he played David in Wajda's movie.

Not many people know - because his other carreer overshadowed by a lot his first one - that Wajda was a painter. Who actually hated his art, some of his pieces are in the national museum of contemporary art in Łódź alongside stars such as Władysław Strzemiński (the hero of Wajda's very last movie), which is a fact he absolutely detested. I dont know, nor do I care, why was that, because what matters is his previous education as an artist at the very least helped him not only to envision the visuals of the movie, but also acquainted him with great works of art. On which he could model this or that setup. I think it's a nice little detail he catsed Starowieyski as David, a real painter acting as another real painter, it adds a layer of reality onto the movie, and presumably makes for a more natural acting in the few scenes he was in his studio (I also think they look alike).

Speaking of David's studio, I once stumbled upon a lecture which drew parallels between some scenes in the movie and some paitings, which was mostly focused on character and costume design, and truth be told didn't contribute much to the overall watching experience of Danton. However, I must admit the lecturer had a very good eye in this one particular case, in which he pointed out that this quick shot in David's studio pretty obviously invokes the Fussli's The Artist's Despair Before The Grandeur Of Ancient Ruins. I don't think it's a coincidence (or at the very least, would be funny if it were) this shot is shown during the scene where Robespierre starts to grasp at desperate measures to save the country/save his own face in the trial. It is an artist's despair, only artist of a different kind. And it is a despair when being faced with a (possible) ruin of something great, even if its greatness is not yet formed, as opposed to the greatness passed.

The very last example I was able to think of was this photo I found of The Danton Case from 1975. It is one of those old, very classical (I presume) adaptations, which are mostly filled to the brim with riddiculosly attractive people and very often deliberately drew from other sources of artistry, like the one pictured above. No matter what the real relationship between Louise Danton and her husband was, in the play it is portrayed as something atrocious, and I cringe whenever directors try to make it something else without good reasons for doing so, so I am very glad in the past at least they stuck with classicaly depicted acts of violation against women, not because it is a violation, but because in the classical stories (like the myth of Persephone shown in the sculpture above) the woman will usually get her revenge. Just like Przybyszewska's Louison did.

Thank you for bearing with me until the end, and if you have any other examples of this come to your mind, I compel you to share them with me!

List of pieces of art in the order of their appearance:

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat

Franciszek Starowieyski, Dziady

Jacques-Louis David, Self-portrait

Heinrich Fussli, The Artist's Despair Before The Grandeur Of Ancient Ruins

Gianlorenzo Bernini, The Rape Of Persephone

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haifengg · 3 years

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A = Affection (How affectionate are they with a s/o?) Hendery is pretty much the guy for a classic friends to lovers trope so I guess the way he shows affection in pblic would be pretty lowkey. Like quick sweet pecks when no-one is paying attention. At home he would be quite cuddly, chilling with you and your pet maybe is his favorite thing.

B = Breath (What could their s/o do to take their breath away?) When he saw you at your friends wedding he was glued to the spot staring at you. Seing you in a proper dress for the first time - it was over for him.

C = Cuddling (Do they cuddle? If they do, how and when do they cuddle?) Huge cuddler. All the time.

D = Dream (What do they dream of doing with their s/o?) I think his main goal with you is staying together being happy, wihtout having to do huge huge sacrifices. He wants you both to be happy with each other and that’s his top priority. As far as his dream goes would probably be to start a family with you if your lifes have room for it. Otherwise he will stay together with you either way - married or not. E = Effort (How much effort do they put into a relationship?) A lot. As I said having a fulfilled relationship is super important to him so he would try to be home early and take time for date nights and everything. He would get the food and make up for the time he can’t be with you because of work.

F = Fear (What do they do if their s/o is scared? How do they handle it?) Maybe he would be a little bit overwhelmed if you for example have a panic attack or soemthing. Because he is the youngest sibling he is not used to take care of others - he was the one other took care of usually. Regardless of that he would try his best, asking you what you need and not be mad at you if you maybe yell at him or something because you’re stressed. Eventually he would hold you tight either way and maybe watch a TV show to distract you or take you for a walk with an arm around your shoulders. G = Gifts (What type of gifts do they give their s/o? Do they want a gift in return?) He would love to get self-made gifts from you. If you crotched a keyring thing for him he would worhsip it and use it for years. The letter you wrote him the year you were away for new years? It’s framed in his studio. Same thing goes for giving presents. Altough the guys maybe talk him into buying you something he would always make sure to give it a personal touch. Maybe Ten helps him decorate sneakers he got for? Or he’d get you the first copy of your favorite books but put a foldeed heart in between the pages as a bookmark.H = Hugs (Do they hug their s/o? How often?) He would hug you when you’re cooking or doing the dishes, give you a little smoosh on the head when he walks past you and you’re sitting somewhere studying.

I = Intimacy (How romantic are they? Do they have problems with intimacy?) I don’t see any problems i this department so let’s not create any if there aren’t any~ J = Jealous (Do they get jealous? How do they act when jealous?) Hendery might a little jealous but not much. You were freinds before you started dating so he knows your male friends and he knows you still chose him over all of them ~~

K = Kiss (Are they a good kisser? Do they like to kiss? How often do they try to kiss you?) Lot’s and lot’s of soft make out sessions. He is not a greedy kisser. This man has a goofy soft personality and it shows!

L = Love (When do they say they love you? How often do they say it? Do they prefer to say or show it?) He strikes me as the kind of guy who leaves it to nonverbal communication. Hendery shows it more than saying it with small gestures like nose boops or he blows in your neck a little bit when you’re watching a movie. He also maybe pulls you in and whispers soemthing sweet into your ear but I don’t think it would be exactly ��I love you’.

M = Marriage (Do they want to get married? If so, what kind of ceremony?) Hendery definitely wants to get married. He doesn’t nessecarily wants everyone to know you’re his but he wants you to know how much heh loves you and that he wants to be with you until the very last day. He only has eyes for you and you know you only see him. It’s not about the others, it’s about you guys. And about his sisters and his mother they would end him if they don’t get a wedding picture with their only son/brother.

N = Night out (What type of dates do they like to go on? How often do they like to go on them?) Having a busy schedule he will make room for dates whenever he can. You would be the person waiting for him at his work place to be over with his shift to surprise him and take him out to cheap cozy pubs or your favorite streetfood places. Especially in winter when your breath condences and your noses are all red, you would get some hot snack and stroll through the streets and just enjoy each others company. O = Out of the Ordinary (What’s something they don’t normally do with/for their s/o?) You guys would seldomly go somewhere expensive or dress fancy/ got clubbing. The two of you can get excited and party but clubs just aren’t your thing. P =Playful （Are they playful in a relationship?) I suppose Hendery Is quite playful! He turns small daily things into a challenge even though he is not the most competitive person. He is the kind of person give playful cute little pecks or teasing you in a lot of harmless, non-suggesting ways. Q = Questions(Do they ask their s/o their opinion on things? Do they share theirs?) You guys car about each others opinions because it’s important for you what the other think but he wouldn’t change his desicions because you think differently abotu something. R = Random (How spontaneous is their relationship? Do they do things on the spot or plan ahead?) Hendery is pretty spontaneous. He would sometimes pop into the bathroom when you’re already brushing your teeth asking you if you will go to a movie with him. Ofc you will! S = Sleep (How do they sleep with their s/o?) Actually I can see him as both the big and the little spoon. Both have their benefits, it depends on the day really. T = Trust (How much do they trust their s/o?) 200% He introduced you two his mother and sisters. If he trusts you with that situation, he will trust you with anything else.

U = Unique (What makes them unique as a s/o?) Hendery is cheerful but in a very chill way. He will root for you and has this great quality of making you feel great about yourself. That’s what you love about him and why you fell for him. V = Vulnerable (How long until they can be vulnerable around their s/o? What are they like in this state?) As mentioned before: You were friends before lovers. During the first half year of your friendship he held back on telling you his problems or letting you know when he fet down. During that time he usually met less with you when he was stressed or knew he wouldn’t be in a good mood, maybe ruin yours. W = Wild Card (Get a random domestic headcanon of the character of your choice) Every now and then you would find the time for a game night with some of the members. I am not talking board games but computer games! While everyone chills on discord you would sit in the same room or across the hallway. You usually played for the opposing team and every now and then you yell across the halway or physicially try keeping eachother from winning if their team is doing too well. X = X-Ray (What would they do if their s/o got injured?) During the first few seconds: Plain panic. But ones he sees it’s not that bad and you just hit your head on one of the cupboard doors he will get you a cooling pack and maybe laugh at you a little bit. “When will you stop hitting your head on the same door over and over?” Y = Yuck (Do they have any annoying/weird habits? Are there any habits that might bother their s/o?) Being chinese he loves drinking hot water. So far no problem but it always bothers you when you mix up your waterbottlesin the morning and you’re at college/work burning your lips on freaking hot water. Z = Zeal (Are they passionate as a s/o? Do they want or like passion?) Muted passion it’d say. He can get raunchy and everythign but alwas in a very subtle way. Of course he is down to switch it up if you want him to.

@kpopsnowball

@starrdustville

@jeonghanmoon

@himitsu-luna

Masterlist

#wayv scenario #wayv scenarios #wayv imagines #wayv fluff #wayv boyfriend #wayv hendery #hendery #wayv kun #hendery boyfriend #wayv xiaojun #wayv ten #wayv lucas #wayv winwin

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notbecauseofvictories · 3 years

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oh I'm interested in the tag novel on how fan spaces becoming more meat spacey benefits the producers!! also happy Halloween! 🖤🧡🖤🧡

It’s not a particularly academic argument---I don’t have sources to back this up, I haven’t done research. I’m also wary of painting a picture of “fandom” as anything more than a lot of weasels in a trenchcoat, because that word means a lot of things to a lot of different people, some of whom hate each other. But as long as everybody understands that this is the ethnographical equivalent of drunkenly throwing darts at a copy of the AJS...sure.

[under a cut because it’s long and baseless, and also I had a lot of thoughts and feelings. Sorry.]

My basic premise is that fandom occupies “fanspace.” Fanspace is not solely online, since fanzines and conventions are fanspace too, but since the 90s it has become increasingly and primarily internet based. While some websites are designated fanspace (e.g., AO3, ff.net, stand-alone fansites) fanspace is not necessarily contiguous with a hosting site (e.g., there is fanspace on tumblr, but tumblr is not a fanspace). Fanspace is really just those urls, message boards, threads, blogs, accounts, etc. designated for fandom and/or where fannish activity takes place.

Its deeply-rooted internet presence has allowed fanspace and what I call “meatspace” to operate on different rules. Meatspace has always informed fan spaces, of course---disclaimers on fic to ward off accusations of copyright infringement, for example, or asking readers to attest that they’re over 13 before reading an R-rated fic. But traditionally, fandom has accepted as norm things that don’t apply to meatspace: fake names and anonymous posts, pictures of someone else’s characters, lengthy self-published stories featuring violence, explicit sex, sometimes even gay people. Fanspace is in many ways an artificial carve out from meatspace, where fewer of its rules apply; fanspace supplements these with its own norms.

The division between fanspace and meatspace is not and has never been a clear, settled line, however. Debates on how much meatspace should inform fan spaces have been raging for as long as I’ve been on the internet, and to be fair to meatspace, it has made good points. (I’m not sure if “don’t be racist,” counts as a meatspace rule given...racism, but fandom frequently reacts to it like a meatspace intrusion so I think it should count.)

However, what used to be intra-fandom conversations have become increasingly more public, for a few reasons:

Part of this is just the natural development of the internet---it’s not like fanspace was ever hidden, but there just weren’t as many people online, and stuff was harder to find in a pre-google, pre-algorithmic promotion world.

Part of it is the changing architecture of fanspace---websites shutting down, Strikethrough, and the tumblr porn ban have all, in their own ways, served to alter fanspace and move towards more and more public-facing sites.

But part of it---and this is the biggest factor, I think---is that over the last two decades, we’ve seen content-producers** increasingly willing to engage with fandom.

On its face, this sounds good! After all, fans like people who make things, people who make things want fans. What could possibly be wrong about both sides recognizing their mutualism?

I think this works when the most interaction you could expect with a creator was showing up a bookstore to ask Tamora Pierce a question, or writing fanmail to Paul Gross. But it falls apart when you consider just how public-facing fanspaces have become, and just how much interest content-producers have taken in cultivating the fannish audience. Content-producers engaging directly with fandom are a thumb on the scales of mutualism, and a heavy one. After all, one side of the relationship is a loosely collected anarchic cult, migrating along a series of websites they mostly don’t control, making do with nothing but ongoing wank and general obsessive tendencies.

The other side has D*sney, Harper Collins, and Comcast.

That thumb on the scale has paid off, more than I think even the content-producers could have anticipated. Fandom is good at loving what it loves and talking loudly about it, but capitalism is way better at doing what it does---turning everything into profit. So now people pay $100 a pop to go to Harry Potter World. Conventions are well-produced extensions of their parent companies, raking in money and providing a blitz of publicity---directly to the source most likely to take your messaging and amplify it. Make a superhero movie and the minute the trailer drops you conjure up thousands of online fans will be your de facto, unpaid publicists---generating interest via fan art, fic, and controversy with minimal corporate effort. Of course fic writers who have established online presence are the darlings of the publishing world---what publisher wouldn’t want a built-in hype machine for a new author?

And, just coincidentally, of course, fanspace and meatspace are drawn closer together, that line further blurred by this new and very, very interested third party.

I’m not saying this is some big conspiracy. No tv exec is out there rubbing their hands together and cackling evilly about how they’re going ruin fandom. But in exchange for meatspace validation and an endless stream of new content, I think fandom has ceded important ground. And I think it’s changing fanspaces, even now:

One of the founding rules of fanspace is that it does not generate money---you risk real copyright infringement that way. (This isn’t to say that money hasn’t been involved in a few massive fandom scandals, but it’s not typical.) Increasingly, however, the grumblings about getting paid for fan art and fic have gotten louder, probably due to meatspace’s general emphasis on the side-hustle, and seeing content-producers churn out more and more fan-like things for a profit.

(It seems unimaginable now, but once upon a time the HP Lexicon was an invaluable resource, a rare unicorn in a pre-wikipedia age. Now, D*sney wouldn’t even think of releasing a tentpole movie without a novelization, a picture dictionary, and a tie-in novel.)

Also, those calls for fan art that “might be featured” by a content-producer are (rightfully) scorned for asking for work pro bono. But the takeaway seems to be “we deserve to be paid for our fan art!” rather than “how dare the content-producer intrude on our fanspace and its activities!”

Fanspaces have never expected or required legal ID, permitting anonymous or pseudonymous activity in order to protect individual privacy. And while there’s still no expectation you link your legal ID with your online/fan ID, the norm has shifted---it’s no longer considered gauche to go by your legal ID, even necessary when turning mutuals and followers into an “audience.” We’re not anonymous fans, engaged in our mutual hobby anymore---some people are doing that, and others are potential content-creators.

I’d argue that even purity wank if an example of this new blurring, classic “don’t like don’t read” arguments taking on new life now that meatspace is so nearby---we wouldn’t want to offend the neighbors!

Even these things benefit the content-producers: the more fan-like stuff they churn out, the less fanspaces will create on their own; the more fanspaces that emphasize linking legal ID to online ID, the less people will be able to engage in fan activities privately; the more meatspace rules assert themselves on fanspaces, the less fanspace we’ll have.

Now, maybe this is just...evolution. As I said before, there is a porous and shifting border between fanspace and meatspace. I remember angry threads about whether m/m fics should be rated higher than a het equivalent; I remember the tagging debates, the incredible resistance to accurately describing what happens in your fic. Maybe in a few years, my longing to return to a more separate fanspace will seem equally as embarrassing, incorrect, and unnecessary.

But right now, it feels more like an erosion---one fandom is about as willing or able to resist as the tide.

** “Content maker” is a term that’s come to mean “anyone who makes something” which is sheer nonsense. There’s a difference between publishers/television producers/movie studios and someone recording a podcast in their bathroom. There’s even a difference between D*sney, a vast undead creative monopoly animated by copyright protections, and someone like James Patterson, who uses a stable of ghostwriters to churn out “his” works. We shouldn’t be scrutinizing all these things them the same way, it’s lazy, and intellectually dishonest.

#long post #long post for ts #........this is a whole honest to god essay what the hell #nonsense. malarky. ridiculousness and speculation.#guys I'm so sorry this is A Lot #(ps is it election terror driven towards sometime I can maybe describe without vomiting and panic attacks? I mean MAYBE)#either way here I am coming up with fun intricate theories as the world burns #transannecarson #celestial emporium of benevolent knowledge

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ladyorlandodream · 3 years

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Agentha Fältskog interview - English translation

In September, Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA agreed to grant Swedish radio presenter Carolina Norén an interview for the classic Swedish chart show ”Svensktoppen” on Swedish Public Service radio. The interview was broadcast September 19.

Carolina Norén: ”Don't Shut Me Down” by ABBA – and with me on the phone I have Agnetha Fältskog. Hello, Agnetha!

Agnetha Fältskog: Hello, Carolina!

C: And, of course, congratulations to entering the top of the chart, Agnetha!

A: Wow, what a surprise! That was amazing, really fun.

C: Let's just say that I wasn't that surprised, and neither was the rest of the world. However, ABBA.s last number one here on Svensktoppen was actually ”Waterloo”, back in 1974!

A: Was it that long ago? Well, there you go. It was about time, then.

C: It was about time! Exactly.

A: I'd like to take the opportunity to tell you how happy, grateful and moved everyone in the group is by the enormous reception. It feels very nice and warm inside.

C: I'm thinking, the first time you received a call like this from ”Svensktoppen”, and I don't know if you remember this, Ulf Elfving was calling. It was in 1968, you were 17 years old and ”Jag var så kär” (I Was So in Love), had reached number three.

A: Yeah, it's been quite a few years, ha ha.

C: What has Svensktoppen meant to you over the years?

A: It means a great deal. We're so used to charts, and have enormous success in several countries, but ”Svensktoppen” – it's our native country and the audience we have back here, and it obviously means a lot. We're very moved by the reception everywhere. I remember that first interview with Ulf, I was very nervous, and almost couldn't believe that I'd entered Svensktoppen, it's something you don't forget. This was also an enormous surprise, because you can never really know how it will turn out. One is never sure that something is going to be successful, and one is glad when it happens.

C: I was actually thinking about that a bit: I know that you love spending time in the studio working, and so on, but was there any point while working on this new material where you started to feel doubt or fear: what if it doesn't work?

A: Yes, we said that in the beginning: a long time had passed since we recorded, and you can never be sure that the voice is going to hold up – was it going to sound old? However, we heard pretty immediately – from both Frida's voice and mine – that it sounded more or less as it did back then. However, you may have to make another kind of effort, and give more, or how to put it, of your ability to tell a story, to empathise with the song. I always used to do that, but it's a lot more now that one has lived an entire life. You put more emotion into it.

C: I was thinking, whose idea was it to do this – who was the driving force behind the comeback?.I mean out of you? From the fans' point of view, it's always been a given.

A: Yes ... Well, one thing lead to another, somehow. We felt that we wanted to do a few new songs for the avatar project that will open in May next year, in London. So we said ”let's do a few songs and see how they turn out, how it sounds. One thing led to another with a few more songs, and then Benny kind of said ”why not make an entire album?”. Yes, and that's how it happened, and since we enjoy working in the studio, it's fantastically fun to be able to create and such.

C: Yes, and you have said that it's sometimes easy to ”tempt” you into doing things if they sound like fun.

A: Yes, that's true.

C: So you weren't hard to convince, when it came to doing this?

A: No, I don't think any of us were. Not doing this. The avatar project, I had to give it a think, since it meant a lot of work, as it were, on stage. Because I'm not a stage personality in that respect, but I can convey more feelings in the songs.

CN: Indeed. The rumours around this comeback started back in 2018. We got to know the song titles, and it feels like these two songs that we have heard, have been underway for a while. Have you polished the songs over the years? What has happened since we first heard of them in 2018?

A: Well, we have been at it. At first we worked on the avatars throughout February...let's see, was it the year before last? No, it was last year. We had just finished working with that, when the Corona situation appeared. Then, after a while, we started recording these songs and it's continued like that.

C: When the songs were released a little over two weeks ago, fans gathered around the world simultaneously. Björn and Benny participated in the live stream and you and Frida were part of the edited program. Björn and Benny said that you were following the broadcast from a distance. How did it feel watching it?

A: It was actually enormous. I've been watching our fans a little, when they're listening to the songs, and they're actually crying. It's quite enormous what a reach it had all around across countries. It's almost hard to take it in, actually.

C: I was present at Gröna Lund (in Stockholm), where fans had been invited, and there were many fans from other countries. I can really attest that emotions were enormously strong. It was, you know, almost sacred. Just like you said, they cried and were deeply moved. One thing many of them said, at least the ones I talked to, was that they missed you – ”the girls”, they said: Agnetha and Annifrid.

A: Yes.

C: Do you know when you will get together next time?

A: I don't really dare to say. We're a bit older now, and have our minor ailments, ha ha. But we struggle on. But I don't dare to say, because it's a bit uncertain. At the moment we feel happy that we got this together, and let's hope everything goes well in London, at the premiere over there.

C: Right, in May next year. The avatars. Incredibly cool, actually.

A: Right.

C: You touched upon the thing about the voice, whether it would hold up. When you released your solo album in 2013, you mentioned in an interview that you'd had the same worry, and had taken singing lessons – which turned out to be one lesson. How was it this time, Agnetha? Did it end up being any singing lessons?

A: Haha. No, it didn't. One knows this, that it has to do with support from the stomach, that you shouldn't ruin...so it doesn't become too much for the throat. Instead, you find support in the belly, and it just fits so well, once you're in the studio. You just, ”wow, it holds up!”. One has different … I like to sit down when I sing. Frida usually stands up. It varies a lot, how you feel that you get the power.

C: You are the one doing the main vocals – at least most of them – on the single ”Don't Shut Me Down”. I should add that ”I Still Have Faith in You” is also in the chart, at number four.

A: Yes, how fun!

C: How does it work when you divide it between the two of you? Do you choose your favourites, or is it directed by the respecive voice registers? Do tell.

A: Yes. It's probably the guys who are in charge of that. We get some lyrics, get to listen a bit, and try a little. It's also happened that one has felt ”this one I'd like to do”. There are no fights about anything. We try it out, but it's usually the guys, I think, who already know who is supposed to sing what. We're also part of each others'... Even if one of us sings the solo verses, we're always join together for the choruses, for the most part.

A: You have also a background as a songwriter, and ran your solo career in the beginning. These days, Björn and Benny usually end up talking about the project. How much are you able to go in a change things, or feel ”that doesn't work, let's try this”.

A: Back in the day it happen pretty regularly, but these days it doesn't. I can come up with a lot of ideas: ”could we add some finesse at this point in the song?” I'm also pretty good at harmonies, but the guys handle most of it. We do as they say, and it turns out well.

C: Another thing when one talks about ABBA and ABBA's music, your songs have been quite associated with you as people over the years. The most obvious example may be ”The Winner Takes it All”, which is about divorce. How about today – what do the songs say about you as people, and artists today?

A: It's probably mostly in the lyrics, and you should probably let Björn answer. One can read one thing or another into composers', songwriters' or lyricists' work, and of course you add a bit of ”it's about him, or me”. But it's general, how to say, relationships. Because it's often about love.

C: The two most recent songs, maybe a little more general. Now that we are talking about love, I've go to ask you: you have said that you're are a romantic person, Agnetha.

A: Yes, I am.

C: And you like romantic music.Will there be more romance on the album? More love?

A: Haha! Well, it's very varied. I can't say much about it now, but it's very varied. I can tell you this much: if you like these two songs, you will probably like the entire album. I do think so.

C: Right. That's good. I feel I need to scratch the surface a little more. What we have heard is a timeless ABBA sound. Can one imagine that it will continue with that sound as well?

A: What do you mean, on the CD?

C: Yes, on the album.

A: Ah, yes. It's very much the ABBA sound. We're not trying to sound different or letting ourselves be affected by other, current things, so to speak. We're trying to keep ... It becomes what it becomes – and it becomes very ABBA when Frida and I get together in the studio. It's almost like a marriage between our voices, and almost hard to tell them apart at times.

C: Now, I know that a lot of people are looking forward to the concert in London in May next year. First, there's the album, in November. The one we were talking about. We mentioned the avatars. What went through your head the first time you heard of the idea?

A: Haha. Well, yes, none of us probably really knew what to expect, but we've worked with it a lot, so you grew into it, eventually. We stand there, doing these songs, with– I don't know how many cameras and people. And then, somehow, it was technologically transferred, in some way that we don't even understand, to other people that are going to be on stage as us – but it's still us, haha! I can't really explain it, it's so hard, but there's a lot of technology and lights involved. But it felt great to do in the end. Because it was so different. Also, there was a vibe, one felt that ”maybe it's the last thing we do”. Same thing with this album.

C: Ooh, you can't say that, ha ha! We want more!

A: You can cut that out.

C: Jonas and I will cut that out! Solo album in 2013. I can reveal to you, here and now, that in the summer of 213, ”Dance Your Pain Away” was the only thing I listened to.

A: I see! That's nice.

C: I know it inside out, but I won't sing it!

A: Yeah, that was cool, actually.

C: Is there anything in the pipeline solo – another solo album from you, Agnetha?

A: Not at the moment, no. I think, and I feel, that I've done a lot now. So I can't promise you that. We have got to find joy in what we have, and all that awaits.

CN: Indeed. May I also add that I was very happy when I heard that you would be with us and share. Because I've learned that you are somewhat restrictive when it comes to doing interviews. What do you think, are there further public appearance from you ahead?

A: Not really. But, as you say, I've never really retired that way, but I am restrictive, and I feel that a lot of things are being written, and have been written, about us. We agreed to do, and have done, so many interviews. There's a risk that you ruin it by talking too much. You want keep a little something to yourself. Something private.

C: Agnetha, we respect that, and we are very happy here at Svensktoppen, and, I would imagine, that the listeners who haven't perhaps fainted from the surprise, and have stayed with us, are happy that you could join us. Once again, huge, huge congratulations to topping the chart.

A: Thank you. I also want to send greetings from the rest of the group. I know that they are all very happy about this. It means a lot to us.

C: Wonderful. I hope we can talk again. I almost get shivers suddenly doing the presentation here. So I say: new number one: ABBA and ”Don't Shut Me Down”. Thank you very much, Agnetha.

A: Thanks so much to you, too!

English translation by Anders Lundquist

#abba #agnetha fältskog #agnetha #agnetha abba #abba voyage #don't shut me down #i still have faith in you

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hello-alonso · 3 years

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Piano & Violin Symphonic Duet

God, who knew violin could sound so epic. I actually feel like it’s the end of a battle scene and someone is triumphing victory. The instruments, the way he uses them so cautiously is what creates these masterpieces. Piano and violin are by fart my favorite instruments, and damn, this song goes off on both of these instruments. MiddleIsland never misses, always continuous masterpieces.

MiddleIsland, also known as Misaki Nakajima, is a Japanese music composer and he specializes in classical, symphonic, and some instrumental with a hint of rock added into it. In this blog post, I’ll be featuring one of his tracks called, Aldo, from his album, String Performance Transcendence, which was released all the way back in 2010. Little is known about MiddleIsland, however, I do know that he made some albums between 2007-2011, and not much after the year 2011,

Where to start, hmm, well, maybe right when the music begins. Instantly, you hear some crazy violin being played along with some very emotional piano in the background. The song then starts to slow down, and it slowly builds back up using the violin. The violin is the star of this track. During some parts of the track, I couldn’t believe how fast he was playing. For example, 0:52 seconds in, the violin goes hard. at The same goes for the piano. At 1;23, my mind was blown. The piano gets played so fast and yet it flows so naturally with this track. The beauty of these instruments really shines through and lets you appreciate them.

youtube

Just like the YouTube thumbnail shows, I picture myself in the skies or above the world listening to this. It’s almost like the heavens are calling through the violin. And when the piano sections play in, it feels like I’m being lifted. Weird to describe, but that’s how it feels like.

In some parts, it feels like the piano is fighting for the spotlight against the violin and it creates this dramatic melody, until the violin takes over the show during the chorus. Like I mentioned earlier, this sounds like it could be played in a battle theme or in a live action movie where there’s fighting going on. These symphonic songs are the perfect fit for these films, they create such a dramatic environment that really immerses the listener or viewer.

Towards the end in parts like, 2:43, the violin gets really high pitched signifying the climax of the song. When I heard that part for the first time, my mind was blown. Solo artists can do crazy things with a violin and can get so dramatic with their track. The song ends with a few more pieces of violin and when the violin stops playing, the piano fills in the gap, until the last few seconds where both are played at the same time, and the violin concludes the song.

Classical, and symphonic music are some of my favorite genres ever, one because the song can’t be ruined by a singer since only instruments are being played. Two, because the melody feels so nice and natural flowing, there aren’t any studio produced sounds for the most part, just nice sounding instruments; in this case, violin and piano.

Anyways, thanks for reading and listening to this very unknown artist, I love featuring these types of creators on my blog!

#violin #piano #classical #music #symphonic #middleisland

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jonismitchell · 3 years

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A track by track review of 1979’s reputation, one of the most critically acclaimed pop/rock albums of all time. Dive into enigma Taylor Swift’s hits with top reviewer Alice Lam… and maybe find a fresh perspective on these old songs.

PRELUDE: This prelude sees Swift angrily repeating ‘people like a show’ while compatriots at the recording studio read negative headlines aloud. It is a sonic mess with a loud guitar backing, hitting a mix of sound that effectively portrays both chaos and clarity. It is not a song but a minute long intro, at the end of which the sound cuts out, Swift stops whispering, and there is a silent moment before she whispers ‘reputation’ and the album begins.

SO IT GOES: “We’re on the precipice of a good time,” Swift sings on her album’s opening track. She brings clever detail and confessional songwriting to a story of lovers who meet in a bar and quickly turn on each other, holding and losing in tandem with the crashes of music in the background. This is Swift’s first proper rock song, and it’s clear that she’s chosen the best of the bunch in terms of producers.

DON’T BLAME ME: While largely overlooked on its original album debut, ‘Don’t Blame Me’ quickly became a classic after the theatrical performance it gained on the accompanying tour. In it, Swift screams about “love making her crazy” at high notes she had previously never attempted in her career. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest examples of her vocal performance, even if she didn’t quite have the range of certain soprano peers.

I DID SOMETHING BAD: This sardonic ode to the witches in Salem has a distinctly powerful and feminist quality with Swift’s biting lyrics. While a first draft of the song features snippets such as “I never trust a narcissist, but they love me” and “this is how the world works, you gotta leave before you get left,” the final version serves as a scathing critique of men in general. This was a recurring theme in Swift’s late work.

THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: This Gatsby-esque experiment in camp brings Swift at her melodramatic best, biting subtly at the celebrity feuds most thought she would address more directly. Even though the song claims that Swift is enamoured with ‘looking for her Daisy,’ one gets the sense that she could rather be curled up in a corner with a book and the lover she toasts to.

LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO: A sharp pivot from the giddy laughter of the previous track, Look What You Made Me Do shows Swift as vengeful and scorned. As her voice soars over the lyrical density of the chorus, the accompanying strings evoke images of a scorned goddess in tandem with the Nine Muses and Aphrodite references. This came later, but as Swift herself would say: “there’s nothing like a mad woman.”

INTERLUDE: This largely instrumental interlude starts with a continuation of the strings in Look What You Made Me Do’s outro, but fades from that rage and intensity into a simple melody on the acoustic guitar. As the strumming continues, one can hear Swift say “isn’t that so pretty to think? That all along, we were going somewhere?”

GETAWAY CAR: While the kingdom established lyrically in the first half of reputation is fraught with fear and change, this nearly perfect pop song takes place in an extended metaphor of running away with a lover. Swift seems to know the relationship won’t last (“should’ve known I’d be the first to leave, think about the place where you first met me”) but revels in it all the same. At the very end of the song, you can hear Swift’s car actually pulling into a motel. This song is a fandom favourite and of the most well-known Taylor Swift songs.

CAROL: Although Swift never explicitly confirmed the subject of the track, its title and lyrical content suggest that it draws inspiration from the 1952 novel ‘The Price of Salt.’ It drew hot debate in coming years due to the fact that it is explicitly sung about a woman, (as was 1982’s ‘betty’) but was dismissed alternately as a male perspective and a fictional story. Nevertheless, the emotional details of the song prove Swift’s salt as a songwriter.

GORGEOUS: This acoustic song set at a bar goes through the drunken emotions of meeting someone and being instantly attracted to them. “I go through phases when it comes to love, I’m nothing that you want, but can I just say… you’re gorgeous,” Swift almost whispers, tentative in this first declaration of love despite her reputation. This is the first truly stripped song on the album and is beautiful in this regard.

DELICATE: Picking up exactly where ‘Gorgeous’ left off, ‘Delicate’ deals with the growing emotions of a relationship complicated by outside measures. “My reputation’s never been worse,” laments Swift, but brightens as she sings “so you must like me for me.” With equal measures of misery and hope, ‘Delicate’ is an oft-covered tribute to first love.

END GAME (ft. Lorde): Swift collaborated with Ella Yelich O’Connor (more commonly known as Lorde) for this track about believing that your lover is the last one for you. Originally cut with rapper Future and singer Ed Sheeran, Swift was forced to politely explain to the former that she “did not want to ruin her status as a talented artist by including Ed Sheeran on a track.” The version that was recut with Lorde featured backup vocals from future and the indie singer’s trademark incisive metaphors.

DRESS: Yet another ode to falling in love with your best friend, the breathy and sweet production brings a classic love song to the table. The hook drew attention for being decisively more sexual than Swift’s prior work, much to the artist’s surprise. “There’s a reason I put ‘So It Goes’ at the beginning of the album,” she told AMK Magazine in 1980. “Did people not get it?”

KING OF MY HEART: The second half of reputation alludes to a new kingdom with the lover, but none so explicitly confirm it as this acoustic celebration of Swift’s unnamed lover. Using an extended metaphor of pieces in a chess game, she declares that she would die to keep the secret of her love and that she believes it is “the end of all the endings.” Fans celebrated the heartbroken songstress’s supposed happy ending in 1979, but quickly fell to pieces once Swift confirmed her breakup on 1982’s folklore. Still, no one knows who this song was about.

DANCING WITH OUR HANDS TIED: Building upon the secrecy theme, this song features Swift, her guitar, and a trembling voice that packs in syllables as if trying to finish so the owner can cry in a corner. Indeed, rumours claim Swift cried extensively before recording this song. It’s easy to see why: the trial and tribulation of loving someone in spite of deep fears is never better rendered than in this miserable song about almost-lost love.

CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT: “My castle crumbled overnight,” sings Swift, “I brought a knife to a gunfight.” While slightly more produced than the last several offerings, ‘Call It What You Want’ is a calm love song about moving past fears of what those might say. Swift finally casts aside her bad reputation and invites listeners to comment on her supposed relationships, almost casting the audience an eye roll in the comfort of a stable love.

NEW YEAR’S DAY: The album closer is a simple piano offering, but features beautiful lyrics that are played consistently on January 1st. “Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere,” Swift entreats her lover, acknowledging her fears and her hopes in the same breath. It feels almost too private to listen to - and in a way, that seems exactly as Taylor Swift wants us to do. reputation makes it clear that no matter how much she tells us through her music: we still won’t know her at all.

BONUS SONGS (2015 CD RELEASE)

SYLVESTER SKY: As of 2015, no one has seen Taylor Swift for more than thirty years. (“Good for her,” grumbled Goran Stelkoff, longtime correspondent at AMK Magazine.) This so-called new song was played by Swift at several clubs in 1980, although never to more than a couple dozen people at a time. This nearly-flawless recording is a rare find. The lyrics are classically Swiftian, filled with anxiety for the future while revelling in the love she enjoys at present. “We’ve got to get back to that Sylvester sky,” she croons, wondering at a heaven where she and her lover can exist without fears. It is a thematic companion to the album’s ‘Dancing With Our Hands Tied.’

BOTH SIDES NOW: Citing this as one of her favourite songs from the moment it was released, Swift covered Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ dozens of times on her reputation tour, presumably as an ode to her new perspective of fame. Several quality recordings have been spliced together here to form a haunting effect. As you listen to this song, imagine Swift sitting on a stool in front of her legions of fans and strumming a guitar, quietly singing the lyrics she knew by heart.

#arden speaks #taylor swift #70s icon taylor swift #jjddkd hope amy + anon enjoy!#reputation

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picturejasper20 · 4 years

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Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts Review

Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts is animated show that was created by Radford Sechrist ( Kung Fu Panda 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Penguins of Madagascar) and developed by Bill Wolkoff (TRON: Uprising, Star Wars Rebels and Once Upon a Time). It´s based of the webcomic ¨Kipo¨ created by Radford Sechrist. The show was produced by Dreamworks Animation Television and animated by Studio Mir.

The story of the show takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in which mutated animals called ¨mutes¨ live on the surface while humans live in underground cities ¨Burrows¨ to ensure their safety from the dangers of the surface.

The protagonist is Kipo Oak, a 13 year old girl, that is forced to leave her own burrow and search for her father, Lio Oak, after she is separated from him. On the surface she meets other humans survivors and friendly mutes than join her in her journey.

Animation

The show was animated by South Korea’s Studio Mir, which is known for animating shows like The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defenders.

The animation of Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts is good overall, is not Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles´ animation but it works well for modern animation standars.

At first glance, is easy to notice the show is highly inspired by anime.Radford Sechrist has admitted he is inspired by anime films such as Tekkonkinkreet (2005) and the Studio Ghibli films.

The show has some good character design as well, while they are based of anime, the show has its own style that makes them feel more unique.

While the humans designs are decent, the series really shines when it comes to the mutes designs. Each is different from the other and it is hard to find two mute that looks exactly the same.

It also has some wonderful backgrounds that really make you feel that you are in a post-apocalyptic setting, with human cities ruins that have been abandoned for more than two hundred years.

Soundtrack and sound design

The series has some pretty memorable soundtracks that usually fit well with the scenes and rarely feel out of place.

The person behind the soundtrack is Daniel Rojas, who also wrote many songs for the series.

In a interview, Daniel Rojas explained that while working on Kipo they tried to have diverse soundtrack, they would mix up different genres that would change depending on the episode.

¨Rad Sechrist’s vision for the show was to be diverse and inclusive on all fronts, including the music. We wanted to tap on a ton of different genres and mix them all up: take folky banjo riffs and put them on top of a trap beat, write a classical piece for Scarlemagne but do a hip-hop remix of it – it was a purist’s nightmare!¨

The music and songs of Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts are one of best parts of the show in my opinion, and i think it wouldn´t be the same without them as they are important for story and characters.

As for the voice cast, most of them work well for the show,some performances are better than others but overall they are decent.

Story and characters

The story of Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts is quite unique for modern cartoons: It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, which is rare to find in Western animated series.

There has been some animated series whose setting is post-apocalyptic like ¨Adventure time¨ and ¨Steven Universe¨ but these story elements were usually secondary or part of the lore in those shows. The fact that Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts is post-apocalyptic is very important for the story and characters.

The show also has 30 episodes and each one lasts between 23-24 minutes, which means that many things can happen in one episode. The pacing, however, is well-done despite being a short series. There are some episodes that focus more in the story while others help developing the characters and their relationships.

The foreshadowing is well-executed most of time, sometimes is very subtle, which makes it easy to miss the first time watching it. Since many things are foreshadowed it rarely makes the story elements feel that they came out of nowhere or just appear for the sake of the plot

The lore its very interesting as well: In almost every episode a new type of mute is introduced. Each type of mute has their own culture and lifestyle, which keeps the story fresh and nonrepetitive.

For example: The timbercats are anthropomorphic cats that live on trees and are woodcutters, they love to sing and would do anything they can to protect their home.

One of the main themes is about the unending war between mutes and humans that has lasted more than 100 years. The relationship between humans and mutes is one of the most important aspects of the story and its what drives the main characters.

Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts pacifism and human´s relationship with nature themes seem to be clearly inspired by Studio Ghibli´s films, specially from Princess Mononoke.

Another big theme of the series is that people have the capacity to change, to grow and become better individuals, which shares a few similarities with the animated series Steven universe. It´s not uncommon for the series to have antagonistic characters that become allies later in the story.

As for the characters, they are well developed, each one having its own arc and backstory. Many episodes focus on their relationships which are quite complex and change over time.

Kipo Oak, the main protagonist, is someone who always believes there´s good in everyone, even those who hurt and take advantage of others. She´s unique in the sense that she tries to be positive in a world where pretty much everyone is selfish and only care about themselves.

To quote the exec producer, Bill Wolkoff: ¨I loved Kipo instantly. Here is this relentlessly positive person with this great sense of wonder, set it in a dangerous world, which would turn most people cynical. This was the perfect character to root the rest of the show around.”

While she prefers solving conflicts through talking, Kipo is someone who is not afraid to fight if someone dares to hurt her loved ones. She usually tries changing her methods according to the situation.

The other protagonists are: Wolf, a tough yet caring girl who grew on the surface and has a dark troubled past; Benson, a carefree teenager who loves music and his best friend Dave, a talking bug mute; and Mandu, a small pig mute that is adopted by Kipo.

Each character is given enough screen time to develop and explore their psyche. However, some character arcs can felt a bit rushed at times due to being a short series.

Another thing i liked about the series is how the conflict is not black and white, many characters have a reason that explains why they act in a specific way and we get to learn about both sides of the conflict, no one is 100% good or 100% evil, which feels accurate with post-apocalyptic setting

Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts has also been praised for having a inclusive cast: Many characters in the show are POC and some even are LGTB+. Wolkoff has talked about how it was important for the show to have this type of representation since times are changing and so does the media we consume.

“We also have a really diverse cast that is reflective of the world today,” he adds. “It was really important for Rad and I to have a creative team that was diverse and inclusive to tell these stories in the best way. We wanted to empower our team to make decisions that we couldn’t have made on our own. That’s why the show feels authentic and has a fresh perspective. It’s also very funny.”

Conclusion

I think Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts is very well done and is a good example on how to make an good animated series. It would be great if more creators in animation tried taking more risks and making shows that both kids and adults can appreciate.

Due to its setting, characters and story, the series also manages to feel unique and different, which is good in a medium that sometimes relies on using the same tropes and story elements.

It´s a short series but its worth of watching if you enjoy Studio Ghibli films, anime or shows like Steven universe.

Sources cited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipo_and_the_Age_of_Wonderbeasts

https://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/its-the-end-of-the-world-and-shes-just-fine-kipo-and-the-age-of-wonderbeasts/

https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/interview-with-daniel-rojas-composer-on-kipo-and-the-age-of-the-wonderbeasts/

#Kipo and the age of wonderbeats #KATAOW #kipo kataow #wolf kataow #benson kataow #Western animation #post apocalyptic #sci fi #Series review

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jessethorn · 4 years

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Some Los Angeles Tips

People are always asking me what they should do when they visit LA. I am by no means the greatest LA expert on earth, but I’ve lived here more than a decade now, and I have some ideas for you. Note that I live in the far Northeast corner of LA, and really rarely travel to the western half of town. So if you are looking for advice on Beverly Hills stuff or Malibu stuff or whatever, I am not that helpful. Also this is very subjective and really non-comprehensive in general. Just some stuff I like!

In General

Rent a car if you drive, but don't be afraid to take the bus or subway. There are some very long distances to traverse, and not everything is convenient to transit, but the transit is reasonably comfortable and efficient for a lot of purposes (going downtown, for example), particularly when combined with some judicious ride-sharing. There's plenty of parking everywhere, despite what Angelenos would have you think. Don't try to do too many things in one day, or cross town on the 10, 101 or 405 at anything even resembling rush hour (ie between like seven and ten thirty or three and seven on weekdays). Stick to one area for the day, maybe two.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology This is the best thing in Los Angeles and one of the best things in the world. It is part museum, part art project. To explain it much further might ruin the experience of visiting it, but please take my word that it is one of the most amazing places in the world.

The Watts Towers As the name suggests, they're in Watts, a bit out of the way for some trips, but absolutely without a doubt worth the travel. They're an incredible artwork/building built in a backyard out of rebar, concrete, glass and tile by an illiterate Italian immigrant in the mid-20th century. Worth signing up for a tour, they are cheap (it's a city park) and not all that long. There's also a little gallery on the site. One of the great works of American outsider art and a deeply beloved city treasure.

Other, More Regular Museums LACMA is a world-class art museum. The collection is a bit scattered (and as of this writing a wing is closed for renovation and replacement), but it's really good. It's in Mid-City on the Miracle Mile, and surrounded by other museums. The Petersen Automotive Museum is pretty cool if you're into cars. La Brea Tar Pits are more park than museum, but the museum is fun in a kitschy way, if you're into prehistoric creatures. It's also a nice place to eat lunch. In Exposition Park are a few major museums - the Natural History Museum is pretty good, though not better than others in other major cities (the Field Museum or whatever). The science museum is OK but significantly outclassed by the competition (it's no Exploratorium), though it does have a real space shuttle, which is pretty sweet. The Annenberg Space for Photography does what it says on the label. A good mid-size museum of photographs, check what show is up. The Broad is a nice contemporary art museum in a beautiful building that's right near Walt Disney Concert Hall, also an incredible building. They have a second campus in Little Tokyo that's very nice but smaller.

Architectural Stuff The LA Conservancy runs affordable walking tours that take you into some of the most fascinating built environments in LA. The subject matter ranges from Art Deco in downtown to the modern skyscrapers of the 50s through 90s. They're mostly Saturdays, but a few also run on weekdays. Can't recommend them enough if you're up for a couple hours of walking. You can go inside the Bradbury Building and up into the upper floors! It's cool. (The Conservancy also runs screenings in the big movie palaces downtown, which are mostly otherwise closed to the public. Definitely recommend those.) A couple of other architectural highlights: the Hollyhock House is in Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz. It's a restored Frank Lloyd Wright estate willed to the city many years ago that as of relatively recently runs regular tours. Also in the park is the city art museum of LA, which sometimes has some cool shows. Cal Poly Pomona students run tours on Saturdays of the Neutra VDL studio and residences in Silver Lake, which can be combined with a nice walk around the lake and some middle-aged-hipster watching. The Gamble House in Pasadena is an absolutely breathtaking craftsman mansion with a lot of

Griffith Park Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It has all kinds of stuff within it - the LA Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, some great hiking. It's a great place to spend some time. If you have little kids, they will love Travel Town, a train graveyard/museum that's inside the park (and free!). The zoo is good if you like zoos, though not incredibly great or anything. The Autry Museum of the American West is worth a visit if you're into that kind of thing.

The Grove I know that we talk about The Grove a lot on Jordan, Jesse, Go. Please do not waste your vacation time at the Grove. It's a mall. It's fine. This also applies to the Americana at Brand, which we sometimes talk about because we have talked about the Grove too much. Also a mall. A little nicer than some? I went there when I needed a new power cable for my Surface.

Dodger Stadium Look, I am a Giants fan and hate the Dodgers, but if you are a baseball fan, Dodger Stadium is a great place to watch a baseball game. Even I can admit that. Angel Stadium is about as generic as it gets, but if you go on a weekday you can take a train from Union Station in LA.

The Getty Center The Getty Center is a beautiful building on a breathtaking piece of real estate. It's pretty cool to visit, but be aware that most of the art is pretty early, so if you don't like busts or paintings of feasts and stuff from the bible, then it might not be your jam art-wise. And getting up there is a whole thing. That said: it really is a beautiful building and an incredible view, so you probably won't feel like it's a waste. And if you like busts, then get your ass over there.

Downtown Stuff I will again recommend the LA Conservancy's walking tours to get a flavor of downtown LA, which is very walkable and full of incredible stuff. The main library is a beautiful edifice, the history of which is detailed in Susan Orlean's The Library Book. Worth wandering around in. Grand Central Market is a great place to get a bite, though pretty bougie at this point. Right next to Grand Central Market is Angel's Flight, a block-long funicular that is a lot of fun and costs next to nothing. Besides this, there are still functional specialized commercial districts in downtown LA. The flower district is particularly fun - the big flower market opens early for wholesale sales but is open to the public and there are tons of stores selling silk and artificial flowers which are very fun to wander through. There are also areas with stores specializing in selling imported toys, store fixtures (a favorite of mine), jewelry and fabric. Most of the fabric is kinda garbage honestly but there is a good tailor supply store called B. Black and Sons and a great hat making store (worth visiting even if you don't make hats) called California Millinery Supply. FIDM also has a thrift store with cheap fabric leftover from LA-based factories.

Movies The Arclight is a fancy movie chain, and the Hollywood location (near Amoeba Records) is also the home of the Cinerama Dome, which is pretty fun. The Vista is a great single-screen theater on the east side. There are some great rep houses on the west side - check your local listings.

Comedy Stuff The UCB has a few great shows every night at both locations. It's hard to go wrong, though you should be aware you will be seeing things that are a little rougher than whatever makes it to your town as a road show. The signature improv show is Asssscat, which is absolutely as good as it gets. Dynasty Typewriter (right by our office) has a lot of great shows these days. A great standup show is Hot Tub at the Virgil. The big comedy clubs have pretty comedy-club-y comedy in them, not necessarily what I'd recommend, though you will certainly see a lot of relatively big names doing sets. The Improv Lab sometimes has MaxFun-adjacent headliners who've put together their own lineups, as does Flappers in Burbank. Largo has bigger-name shows of this variety as well, and if you go see a show there headlined by a Sarah Silverman or Patton Oswalt, the lineup will likely be packed with their pals, even if they aren't advertised.

Some Places To Eat This is NOT a comprehensive list. First: Jonathan Gold died a few years ago, but he is still the king of LA food. Anything he recommended in the Weekly or Times is still the gold standard (no pun intended). He was also a wonderful writer and a champion of foodways that are unfamiliar to many in LA, much less outside LA. If you are a food nerd, KCRW's Good Food is a superb local food show (and podcast) produced by Nick Liao, who used to work at MaxFun.

Philipe's The French Dip A restaurant that's been around for literally a century, with sawdust on the floor, big jars of pickled eggs, ladies in hairnets and really tasty French Dips. They have competing claims to having invented them but the other competitor turned into one of those goofy sleeve-garter-barman subway tile exposed lightbulb places about ten years ago. Philipe's is totally for real and great.

Pie N Burger This is just a burger place in Pasadena that sells classic SoCal-style burgers and is really great. Cash only, though.

Langer's The only one of the Jewish delis in LA that's really worth a special trip. The #19 (pastrami, cole slaw and swiss on rye) is truly one of the world's greatest foods. Pastrami here is better than anywhere else I've ever eaten, including those famous delis in New York.

Park's BBQ

One of many great Korean BBQ restaurants in LA, but the only one recommended to me personally by Jonathan Gold. (I also like Soot Bull Jeep, which barbeques over charcoal and will leave you smelling like smoke, and Hae Jang Chong for all-you-can-eat.) (There are LOTS of different kinds of Korean food, but I am not an expert on the soups and blood sausages and bibimbaps and etc., but if you're adventurous, you could eat a different Korean food at a different spot every month in LA and make out well.)

Guelagetza Oaxacan food is one of the best kinds of food in the world, and Guelagetza is an LA institution that serves good-quality Oaxacan food. Moles, tlayudas, queso fundido. If you've never eaten any of this stuff, a couple of chicken moles are a great place to start (as is Guelagetza).

Dim Sum You can drive all the way to the San Gabriel Valley and eat at one of the many wonderful dim sum places there. That's where the best stuff is. If it's not worth a special trip to you, I like a place called Lunasia in Pasadena, and they also serve dim sum for dinner. Not a HUGE menu but good food.

Mozza This pizzeria, now a sort of group of restaurants, is an unimpeachably excellent Fancy Meal in LA. So (per my producer Kevin) are the other restaurants run by the same chef, Nancy Silverton.

The Dal Rae This is an old-timey fancy restaurant in Pico Rivera, a semi-industrial part of LA. It's just a great place to wear a suit to and eat Clams Casino. Famous for their table-made Caesar salad (legit great) and pepper steak (too peppery for me). Generally the food is excellent in a 1955 sort of way.

Bludsoe's Best Texas-style barbeque I've had outside of Texas. Used to be a window down by the airport, now a fancier place on La Brea, but I'm told the food is just as good at the fancy place.

Pupusas I love to eat pupusas. Maybe my favorite food. I really like to eat pupusas at Los Molcajetes on Hoover in Westlake (near Koreatown). Note they are weirdly big here (a regional variation of some kind) and they only take cash. (Note also this is one of 10,000 restaurants in LA named Los Molcajetes.) I also sometimes eat at a nice sit-down Salvadoran place called Las Cazuelas on Figueroa in Highland Park.

In N Out In N Out is good! It will not change your life! But it is very tasty, especially for a $4 food! Some people complain about the fries, which are fresh-cut and fried only once and thus are less crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside than some others! I think they are fine! Try In N Out, why not! But maybe don't make a whole special trip to do so!

Tacos and Other SoCal Mexican Food Stuff Everyone has their own favorite taco places, and none of my favorites are so special they should be destinations. They are mostly my favorites because they are close to my home and work. But I can tell you that I like to get sit-down Mexican-American food at La Abeja on Figueroa in LA, where I eat a lot of carne adovada and enchiladas and sometimes albondigas or breakfast. I also really like to eat carne en su jugo at Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez on Pasadena in Lincoln Heights. I eat tacos from Tacos La Estrella on York in Highland Park or the truck (with no name) across from the Mexican consulate on Park View at sixth in Westlake. At night I sometimes get cheap tacos (I like buche) from the place that opens up on Pasadena at Avenue 37. I like the shrimp and fish tacos at Via-Mar on Figueroa. I like Huaraches from Huaraches Azteca on York. The burritos at Yuca’s in Los Feliz (or Pasadena) are great, though they are totally different from the SF-style burritos that I grew up eating. I sometimes get nachos at Carnitas Michoacan on Broadway in Lincoln Heights, which feature meat and cheese sauce and are gross but also really, really good. I have also eaten at the very fancy Mexican restaurant Border Grill and to be honest it is really good even though the interior feels a little like a cross between a fancy restaurant in 1989 and a Chili's.

El Coyote This is a famous Mexican-American restaurant from the early part of the 20th century, but you shouldn't go there because the food sucks.

Stores I Like This is going to be REAL subjective, but a few stores I like which sell the kinda stuff you'd expect me to want. &etc - A great (small) antique store at 1913 Fremont in Pasadena. The Last Bookstore - A downtown bookstore that is the closest thing to a "destination" book store in LA. Good selection and reasonable prices on used books, and a nice art book room. (Records as well, but they're not very good.) Gimme Gimme Records - I like this record store in Highland Park. You'll pay retail here, but reasonable retail, and the selection (while not immense) is really excellent. Good stuff in all genres.

Secret Headquarters - One time at this small comics store in Silver Lake the lady at the counter asked if I was Jesse from Jordan Jesse Go and they won my business forever in that moment. Don Ville - My friend Raul makes and sells shoes (and repairs them!) in the northern part of Koreatown. If you have the dough, get him to make you some shoes! The Bloke - A really great little menswear store in Pasadena. Sells cool (expensive) trad-ish brands like Drake's and Hilditch & Key and Alden. The Good Liver - A beautiful shop in Little Tokyo specializing in perfect home goods. The perfect scissors, the perfect dish towel and so forth. Some things are expensive, some aren't. H Lorenzo Archive - The "outlet" shop of a designer clothing store on the west side. Discounts aren't huge, but the selection is really interesting, and they have a good collection of one of my favorite brands, Kapital. Sid Mashburn - Excellent classic clothing shop on the west side. Suit Supply & Uniqlo - if you haven't got these where you live, they're the places I usually send people for reasonably-priced tailored clothes (Suit Supply) and cheap basics (Uniqlo). Olvera Street - This is an old-timey tourist attraction, a street of folks selling Mexican handcrafts (and their Chinese-made analogs). Right near Union Station and Philipe's, and a great place to buy factory-made huaraches (the shoes, not the food). They even have sizes big enough for me, which is pretty much impossible to find in Mexico or most Mexican-American shoe stores. Thrift Stores - I go to a lot of thrift stores but if I told you which ones you might buy something I would have bought so I'm not going to tell you which thrift stores.

Flea Markets You may know I am at the flea market every weekend. The good fleas are on Sundays, and there's one every week. First Sunday of the month is Pasadena City College, a big (and free) market with pretty reasonable pricing. PCC has a pretty big record section in addition to the regular flea market stuff. Second weekend is the famous Rose Bowl flea, which is HUGE and has a big new goods section (blech) and vintage clothing area (good!). Third weekend is Long Beach Airport, which is a great overall show. Fourth is Santa Monica airport, which is smaller and a little fancier but very nice. The Valley flea is also fourth Sundays, at Pierce College, and that's not huge but sometimes surprises me. With all of these, the earlier you can arrive, the better you'll do (not least for weather reasons). I usually try to get there around 7:30 or 8:00. The Rose Bowl in particularl is a 4-6 hour operation if you do most of it. There are also a lot of swap meets - I don't know enought to recommend any in particular, but these are much more about tube socks and batteries and bootleg movies than antiques and collectibles. Still can be fun, though, and are certainly a proud SoCal tradition. (The Silverlake Flea and the Melrose Trading Post are garbage, don't go there.)

Going to the Beach I'm not a huge beach goer, but by all means go to the beach if that's your thing. The Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica is a great place to base your operation, though you have to arrive in the morning on busy days to get a parking spot.

Kid Stuff I mentioned Travel Town, that's pretty great. Kidspace in Pasadena is a very good children's museum. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater is a great place to see a marionette show straight out of 1966. There's a good aquarium in Long Beach though it's a bit nutty there on weekends, and the zoo in Griffith Park is a good zoo. I really like Descanso Gardens, a big botanical garden northeast of LA. Huntington Gardens is also very nice, though it's much more expensive and hotter.

Geography Los Angeles is BIG. I'd say try to spend each of your days within about a sixth of it, geographically. It's entirely possible to do west side and east side stuff on the same trip, but don't try to do them on the same day. Look at a map and look at driving times when you're planning. Neighborhoods in LA are BIG, geographically speaking, don't assume two things in the same neighborhood are an easy walk. There aren't a ton of urban neighborhoods suitable for wandering in the way there are in some places. A few manageable general areas for stuff you might like: Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park, Koreatown, Highland Park, downtown, Little Tokyo and the Arts District. (I live in the northeast part of town, and don't spend much time on the west side, which is one reason why this list focuses more on east side stuff. Some folks like West Hollywood and Venice on the west side. Long Beach and Pasadena are both neat towns with their own thing going on that might be worth a visit, too.)

Books & Media The Great Los Angeles Book is probably City of Quartz, a socialist-leaning history of LA. I really loved Susan Orlean's The Library Book, which is about the library as an institution, but also specifically the LA central library and the mysterious fire that nearly destroyed it. And a wild guy named Charles Lummis who was one of the founding fathers of LA culture and was really something else. (You can visit his house - it's right off the 110 near Highland Park.) An LA movie I love is The Long Goodbye, which is sort of a predecessor/inspiration for The Big Lebowski. A shaggy mystery directed by Altman where Elliott Gould just sort of wanders around LA. Another really cool one is Los Angeles Plays Itself, a long (long!) film essay about the ways the real Los Angeles has been used to create fictional worlds in film over the decades.

TV Tapings I'm not an expert in TV tapings. I can say that I've been to a few Conan tapings, and while it takes a LOOOOONG time to get in there, the show is fun to watch live. This is generally true of talk shows and most game shows, which tape more or less as-live. Sitcoms take WAY longer than you were expecting them to. Make sure to try to book tickets early if you have something you want to see. No matter what it's a most-of-the-day thing.

Nightlife Is a word that describes evening activities - especially dance clubs. I am old and don't know about these things.

The Magic Castle I can't get you in, please don't ask me to. I went a couple times. It's fine. If you're not into magic you're not missing too much. If you are, then obviously, it's a priority.

The Walk of Fame and Hollywood Not recommended, not worth it, don't bother.

Disneyland Why would you want my opinion about Disneyland? It's Disneyland. You're in or you're out.

San Diego If you happen to plan a side trip to San Diego, you can take the Amtrak there, and it is a breathtakingly beautiful and exceedingly pleasant trip. I have no San Diego expertise to impart beyond that, however.

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