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cyanichexanthine · 6 months

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Tagged by @scarstarved to list 9 favourite characters (thank you for the tag 🥲💕💞🫠)

It’s under a read more bc it’s kinda a big post lmao, also not particularly ordered because my brain combusted just trying to think of 9 (ended up with 8 but why not it’s my favourite number) and a bit on why they’re there bc it was a fun revisit tbh.

Oh this is going to be a great getting to know me exercise 🥲

1. Rick Prime (Rick and Morty)

The current favourite little goblin. Could never explain why he was a fave but after unmortricken and the subtext threaded throughout s7 I think it's finally coming together especially when I think of other faves in this post (I have a bad habit with faves with seeing them for 0.5 seconds and deciding they're a fave and only later realising why as more about their character is revealed)

To avoid sharing more of my thoughts about his character (and clowning harder than I've already let slip and bc it's mostly interpretation and hc) Let's just say I think there's so much about Prime that is not fully understood yet and I can't wait to see how they address it (also pour one out for another victim of the curse of many of my faves dying in horrible brutal ways with unresolved emotional conflict)

2. Tartaglia/Childe/Ajax (Genshin impact)

Can’t explain this one too much either yet tbh. Another on sight fave. Precious little goblin who cares immensely for his family and seems to want to have friends/an adventurous life but is distanced by how he's wrapped up in conflict and chaos ever since he fell into the abyss as a child.

"You shall ever be the eye of the storm,"

"And the clashing of steel shall ever accompany you."

He has a constant desire for battle and proving himself (likely because it’s how he learned to survive/possibly because it keeps him occupied and it is a horrible cycle). He’s likely also addicted to the thrill of winning/surviving/overcoming due to this as well.

I constantly worry he's going to die. Pleasantly surprised that he hasn't so far. I want to see him develop. I want to see him peel away from the Fatui (bc he’s clearly unhappy and he dislikes a majority of the other harbingers but they’re a means of both keeping his family supported and seeking challenging battle). I want to see him do well and realise he's more than just “a weapon” to serve the tsaritsa’s purpose but the whole abyss thing is a LOT of unresolved trauma that he has never properly been addressed. And boy oh boy does he have a lot of death flags.

3. Amanda Young (Saw)

Ohhh Mandy. She's so, disaster. She has this depth of compassion and raging conflict inside her. Following John just because he gave her a hint of purpose while still regretting what she's become to some extent (secretly continuing harm/trying to kill Adam/wanting to help the fellow addict and being visibly distressed when they died etc) and making unwinnable traps as she thinks they didn’t deserve a second chance.

Likely because she harbors the fact she both doesn't feel worthy of a second chance herself and knows what this "second chance" has made her become, she doesn’t feel that purpose, doesn’t feel like she is grateful for living as John claims. The whole scene where she’s pointing the gun at Lynn and the “nobody fucking changes, it’s all bullshit, it’s all a fucking lie and I’m just a pawn in your stupid game. I don’t mean anything to you.” “So help me. Fix me. Fix me motherfucker, I’m standing right here.” Haunts me a little. Ahhh mandy 😭 I cry every time at that fucking scene.

It hurts to see her devotion to John (and he refuses to give up on her to the point of his death, he believed in her most of all, because she was the example of his ideology) while also seeing her so fundamentally disagree with his principles through her own struggles. She's just pain, pain, agony. Pain. (Another victim of the unresolved emotional conflict deaths 👏)

4. Danny “Jed Olsen” Johnson (Dead by Daylight Ghostface)

Idk why but the dbd ghostface is just so so good. Like I love the Scream movies sure but Danny is a special case. (Also I was a ghostface/stealth killer main back in my dbd days lmao) Danny's story and persona is great, from the Roseville murders, to how he writes/visualises the crimes before they happen, the way he wears certain perfumes during special kills. He’s just so interesting as a ghostface. He seems obsessed with the horror; the unexpected, the atmosphere, the anticipation, the thrill, the reverence of his stories and legacy. He seems to almost feed off of the human response, the fear and resulting chaos when people read his stories in the paper after each kill.

The local police were confounded: the murders were carried with fury akin to a crime of passion yet coldly premeditated.

The scarier the story, the more he appreciated his life. The truth of the stories made them far more potent.

He’s so in love with making a carefully constructed, terrifying story come to life. Yet he’s still impulsive and hot headed when something in his design falls apart. Ah reminds me on the days I’d write paragraphs on analysing his character based on the small background we had before the archive tome 🥰

And I will always adore how well his gameplay in dbd lines up with him as a character.

5. Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)

Listen I have such a soft spot for Gintama and by extension Gintoki himself. He acts lazy, aloof/sarcastic, unattached and a bit "not my problem, don't care, glhf with that"/selfish but he always has a good heart in the end. Often putting himself in danger to help others and going the extra mile for them when they're at the end of their rope. Notably from memory for broken families and people desperate for reconciliation/a second chance.

This anime had so many emotional beats for how silly it looks on the surface. I remember crying from emotional impact into crying from laughter in the same episode when I first watched the series. Also a lot of heartfelt moments of advice and commentary on the human condition. He’s so adorable. Parfait king.

6. Kokichi Oma (DRV3)

Here we go. Not my proudest one (was honestly a little scared to mention him because of the fandom/character perception etc but DR series was a huge part of my teen years along with RPG horrors so rip) but man does this kid mess me up. It hurts so much how he was just trying to investigate and end the killing game in his own way (trust issues so he refused to openly team up). And the way he spirals so hard in the trial after getting Gonta (who, I think he did consider a friend) killed as self defence against Miu is just 💔

The way he considered them all friends and in an attempt to end the killing game, he died slowly and painfully, while knowing they all hated him.💔 Yes his means/the way he went about it were fucked, yes I understand why people hate him. But jesus christ does understanding his motives and his emotions during the game fucking hurt. (another unresolved emotional conflict death let’s gooo)

7. Tiffany Valentine (Child's play series/chucky tv show)

Oh I love her so much. She gets two gifs bc I can’t choose. She was like the highlight of s2 especially. I love her energy, her swings, her endless obsession with/pursuit of knowing true, all consuming love; the way she will not be devoid of all humanity and loves her kids and will realise some things Chucky does are awful while still conversely doing absolutely abhorrent things herself (the Nica incident perhaps?). Will never argue with seeing more of her. I'm so glad the show delivers. (I still need to catch up on s3 though). I would honestly love a little more of her formative story, how she became Valentine.

8. Michael Myers (Halloween)

Another showing my love of horror here but this big guy is a classic. Actually what got me into horror so intensely tbh. I love his little arts and crafts. The way he'll string up a whole scene just to get the most screams and fear. The way he panics when his mask is removed. I do always wonder about him. I mean we're told he's evil in human form but I can't help but feel Loomis gave up on him. Everyone did. I don't doubt it's as basic as him being the shape of evil and that's fine but I like how ambiguous it has always been. There is no clear cut answer on why Michael is what or who he is and I love it.

Wow love the recurring themes here. I’m sure I probably forgot a few older faves too but oh well. Time to not analyse those and go sleep.

Tagging @potetosaradas @dayglomasochism @lara60 @drawmanations @zanukavat if any of you want to share your faves. 🥰

#tag game #long post #hexed rambles #there are a lot of characters I like but not many faves it seems #faves I have to have been mentally or emotionally unwell over them at least once #the funniest thing to me is some of these aren't even in my top 10 media #adding nick valentine as my 9th bc replaying fallout 4 😢 ily detecto peepaw

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airlock · 4 months

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well, the winners and top 20s for CYL8 got announced while I was ass-deep in the CK3, so I missed the midnight hustle; ain't that splendid. anyway, seems they dropped earlier because, uh, only they dropped, and the deeper results -- y'know, the part of this that really interests me -- aren't out yet. weird, since they must have already tallied those, but I guess it works out some way for people who are more interested in the final results

anyway, under the cut are my impressions about those top 20s

Alfonse winning men's is a jeb bushening the likes of which we haven't seen since Eliwood, or ever really. funniest thing that could possibly happen to Felix, too, since Diamant couldn't keep up and the Jugdral people failed to focus fire again so this CYL would have been all his if not for, y'know

on the women's side, f!Robin just barely squeaked ahead of Yunaka (2000 votes on the topmost spots is narrow difference; not so much elsewhere in the poll), so we actually got a 0% victory debut for Engage after all. but also not even due to Engage actually failing to make much of an impression, it was just how the die landed. that's how it be in this bitch of a world sometimes!

speaking of the Jugdral people -- I was expecting people to be pushing Leif, but in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have been too surprised about Sigurd getting a fresh influx of attention this year. Engage just gave him one of the more preeminent roles among the Emblems after all, both in story and gameplay as it were!

still on predictions on the men's side that I got wrong: well, I was spot-on right pretty much about Diamant and Alcryst, but Alfred only just barely hung on to the top 20 at all, which is about the furthest you can get on this list from my original prediction of, y'know, possible actual victory contender. he's not even beating Rosado

now, as for the alears: both of them broke top 10 but are a ways still from real contention, especially seeing as they're both third place so far even among Engage characters. in the direct comparison between the two, it seems that f!Alear is the fan-preferred avatar gender this time around -- and it's not very close, with a difference of nearly 4000 votes between them. we've seen worse (remember how much dirt m!Corrin ate in CYL1?), but the preference is clear

although, interestingly enough, a different avatar -- Shez -- has actually swapped gender tendencies this year, with m!Shez taking a pretty solid 900-vote lead. last year they were very close with f!Shez only barely leading in votes, so I guess that tie is somewhat breaking now? either that, or it'll just swing again next year.

anyway, I had an initial impression from these results that the Fódlan deathgrip is as strong as ever, but looking at the lists closer, it's loosening up a bit actually. to an extent this is because almost all of their top 10 CYL material have actually won CYL by now, another two more this year even, but elsewhere in the list they're losing ranks fast. Sylvain slid all the way down to #17 overall this year, while a lot of the lifers from other continuities just don't seem very disturbed to compete for space with Engage characters at all. (although the Elibe stocks on that front are in shambles -- Nino is decisively out of the top 20, and even Lilina just barely made it)

lastly, man, turnout for CYL is still looking abysmal these days, even with the fandom freshening up a little, huh. it has pretty firmly become seen as a FEH thing rather than the Fire Emblem thing it used to be embraced as, and FEH is, well, I know overwhelmingly more people who got sick of it than are playing it right now, Alfonse win notwithstanding. still though, our big winner this year again doesn't crack 20000 votes. remember when Edelgard won with over 70000 votes? (this was, in fairness, back when they allowed you to vote without a Nintendo account, but still!)

#my stupid text posts

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kigozula · 1 year

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Gladiator 300th Chapter Celebration

Here are my answers and I have to admit, I realized how hard it was to answer some of them xD

FAVORITE…

1.OC: It has always been Rui Shi. But in general, I do like so many OC's. Tiang is one of them as well. As I say often, Seyary is the Queen of the best OC's!!

2. Guard: Since I chose Rui Shi as my favorite OC, I choose Fei Li here. Funny and cute

3. Gladiator: The Millenium Dragon is a nice person. The Blind Bandit maybe? Or wait, Haru? Honestly I don't really have a favorite Gladiator other than the Blue Wolf come to think of it

4. Sponsor: I'm going with Zhao

5. Pair/Couple (besides Sokkla): Songshi<3 These two are the cutest

6. Friendship: Azula and her childhood friends Mai and Ty Lee. I miss their friendship these days... Azula and Rui Shi, Azula-Sokka-Rui Shi-Song

7. Villain/Antagonist/Opponent: Yes he is evil, but Rhone brought action

8. Suitor for Azula: Kuan and Hahn. Here too, I liked the action it brought. And I enjoyed it how Hahn ended up. As for the characters I like as suitors Zhao and Chan. I believe Chan will be a good character in the future(?)

"Oh?" said Ozai. "And what sort of gift is that?"

"Why, no other than him, of course," said Kuan, pointing at the man he had brought with him.

"Why, your first engagement present to me is a man?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows. "Your ideas for courting are quite unconventional, Governor Kuan." Chapter 69

Had to drop this here, since I am re-reading this arc currently. One of the funniest scenes xD

9. Place (any houses/island/cities…): Fire Nation Capital (the Palace, Sokka and Azula's house/garden, Ty Lee's, Ember Island, Shu Jing

10. Event (weddings/festivals…): Not sure but Azula‘s birthday and the Gladiator Fight afterwards. And the second Fire Nation Festival with the catastrophic ending

FAVORITE TOP THREE…:

Sokkla Kisses in Part 2 when they become finally a couple: I really like making things difficult don’t I? I might be missing some but at the moment: Their rejoining after the second Fire Nation Festivals, on the ship when Sokka rushed in Azula‘s room while Ty Lee is still in there, Shu Jing domestic life, aaannddd I think on the ship when Azula accidentally spills out the word love and is „angry“ afterwards, Oh and when she hurts her wrinkle and Sokka tends to it and kisses her *_*

Sokkla Love Making: The whole Festivals Arc, random moments, Northern Air Temple, Anniversary

THIS OR THAT:

1.Part 2, or Part 3 (so far): I really have no answer to this. Been reading since nine years, my absolute favorite arcs and moments aren't much more in one part than the other. So, I have to answer it this way ;) in no particular order:

Introduction arc Attack of the White Lotus arc Ember Island arc The Notorious Stingray arc Azula’s Birthday arc Fire Nation Festivals arc Giving in arc Northern Air Temple arc Kinslayer arc Toph finds out arc Fire Nation Festivals #2 arc Sokka and Azula’s anniversary arc Gladiator Brawl arc Return to Shu Jing arc The Spirit Library arc Fire Lord for a Week arc Wedding arc

2. Zuki Family or Mai Jian Family: I'm honestly impressed by both. I never thought Zuko would be such a good family man. Mai Jian is a dream. I guess at the end Mai Jian outweighs Zuki even if juuuust little

3. Festivals Arc or Anniversary Arc: Again I guess I like making things difficult xD. Both are bomb... Again there is only the littlest difference and my choice goes with Festivals...

4. Captain Rui Shi or Captain Fei Li: Captain Rui Shi forever

5. Ozai or Zhao: Zhao. He made a 180 degree turn out of nothing these days. But I still like this man in part 2 as well as the beginning of part 3. He treated both Azula and Sokka well in my opinion. Before the whole pregnancy reveal, he's been a good man to his wife Azula. Zhao is one of the best characters in the whole story!!

Ozai... well, even if he our Diva Lord is a likable character, (I mean part 1 and part 2 were very funny with him), and even if I don't truly hate him as a character, I can never see him the way I did after all the things he did to my baby Azula

6. Gladiator Brawl, Sponsor Race, Pairs Tournament or Scavenger Hunt: All are very good. My final decision is Gladiator Brawl

7. Xin Long or Appa: I ike Appa. But Xin Long wins here!!

8. Azula’s Squad or Sokka’s Squad: I'm gonna go with Rui Shi's future Squad(?) xD

9. Ty Lee or Mai: Ty Lee I like more in part 1. Mai is always good. This woman and her sudden comments are humorous. Their absence is very noticeable

10. Shoji or Kino: Shoojiiiiii

11. Ruon Jian or Haru: We didn't see much of Ruon Jian, but I still like him. I like Haru more still. He was very funny around Azula at the beginning xD

OTHERS:

1.A Place you would like to visit or live: The Capital I would want to live in. And visiting, I would like to see every place. Esepcially Ember Island

2. If you could give Part 2 a title it would be: "A BOND UNBREAKABLE"

3. Something you look forward to: Chan. Rui Shi and the guards. *coughs* chapter 327/329. Azula visiting the South Pole. Reuniting and being happy together again forever*-*. Azula giving birth to more children with Sokka by her side

4. Favorite Sokkla Artwork from Part 2:

These two babies right here*-*:

GUESSING TIME:

Future Ships you think will happen: I thought about Reirei at then beginning (Rei and Renkai) but then I found out about the age difference. Honestly, I don't think there is going to be a big surprise

Azula and Zhao will divorce when/because of … I think Zhao might commit betrayal and lose the royal family's trust (the Spirit Oasis)

When Hakoda meets Azula and Hotaru for the first time …: One of the things I am very much looking forward to. Admiration on both sides and happiness. Maybe some tears?

When Ozai and Ursa see each other …: .................................................................................................................................................... Angry Ursa.... I think she will play a major role in Ozai's future downfall, emotionally(?). Everything aside, I would support some moments of affection and longing from both sides =D. Urzai is a good ship... HAD the potential of being one of the best...

I think Ozai's future looks like...: Since things can change in this story, I don't really have an opinion on that that I can be sure of. All I can say is: I think he will stay alive...

When Azula finally visits the South Pole, I hope/wish/think …: Igloo Sokkla. Fun family times. *wantstocry*. Admiration of the whole tribe for Azula, their new family member

First things Azula and Sokka will do after their reunion:

Be happy, cry, take in each other's scent, cuddle together with their baby daughter, then sharing their miserable journey with each other, Sokka finding out about the letters and her tears and trying to keep his anger in check and never ever letting her go for the rest of his life, no matter what happens.

@seyaryminamoto , congratulations on the release of the 300th chapter! As always, I feel happy-sad and can't believe Gladiator is a journey we've been on for a decade. You already know how much I love this story;). Your hard work and love for writing and making these beautiful artworks amaze me. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to host events for your masterpiece and I feel valued with your trust! Thank you! I've already started re-reading my favorite arcs. They give me joy!

I'll be posting the correct answers to the quiz on sunday evening.

#gladiator300thchapter #sokkla #captain rui shi #zhao #seyaryminamoto #kigozula #for more events in the future hopefully:))#the Original questions were even more difficult believe me xD #I‘m glad I edited the challenge several times

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spark-glow · 1 year

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top 5 gulag moments

This is so fucking hard, dude. I'm gonna say this one is in no particular order just because of the nature of it. Also doing 10 because the Gulag is too funny for just 5.

1.) When Rewind was off his gourd on pain meds and desperately tried to warn King about his peppers when y'all were playing Stardew Valley.

2.) That one time Snow ordered really really hot wings on accident and I instructed him to up the sensitivity on his mic so we could hear him suffer through every single bite and it was, without a doubt, the most horrible 15 minutes of our lives. I would make him do it again.

3.) This bit from when we were binging the entirety of the George Lopez show.

4.) When we rocked some random poll on babycenter for DAYS ON END so some poor kid out there would be named fucking Nedward. Genuinely possible that we led to a real human being being named Nedward.

5.) Tony's peggle stream. Literally had me, him, King, and Remy sitting there for 2+ hours, entirely invested in every single part of what was happening in that game. The 3 of us were sitting on the sidelines while he was playing like trusted military advisors, goading him into ploys such as 'just trust the zen ball, zen ball knows more than you 4head'. When we finally beat the last level, it was like we were on the streets when WW2 was declared over. Bedlam.

Also Tony made the stream look like fucking THIS by the end, which was a MESS.

6.) Both of these instances of Tau sleepy posting just days apart. I know it's technically 2 events but they're so intertwined in my head. Him perfectly and coherently saying 'DROWN' in the middle of the convo is literally legendary to me.

7.) Every single silly bit we've ever done in Red Dead Online, but especially the two times we've spent 25+ minutes sailing from Saint Denis to Thieves Landing so we could go over the falls in a big conga line of boats, AND all of the time we've spent at the fucked up bridges at Hennigan's Stead.

Shout out to Percy for clipping an instance of the latter together for us. Sad I don't have the footage of when Tony got slingshot into a rockwall and was forced to see a version of Kicking Horse (my character) that was just a generic white lady, but this is just as good.

youtube

8.) That one time I convinced Rewind to secretly send a fucking Intruder makeship plushie to Tony's house, so he could not only avoid really expensive norway shipping but also have a funny surprise for when he came to the states next. We uh... did not expect his mom to open the package and give Tony the funniest fucking heart attack in the world.

9.) Remy editing Shockwave's tits to be bigger and then trying to see if anyone would notice. Shout out to King for getting my ass when I wasn't even fucking AWAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10.) This could go to so many fucking things but i'm gonna go ahead and put down when we were arguing about what color Prime Ratchet was and found out the Pope died smack in the middle of the debate.

Special shout outs go to armored freaks, olm posting because I was forced to see bad TF content, and every single one of the really fucking funny Apex clips we've gotten that I can't share cause they aren't up anywhere yet.

I love the Gulag.

#SONAR #gulag #long post #ask game

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zimithrus1 · 1 year

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Top 5 fanfic tropes

Ask Me My Top 5/10 Anything!

Ooh my favorite tropes 🥰 Here they are in no specific order! I don't even know if you would call some of these tropes but eh, I just love these things the most in the things I see/read/write~ 😆💚

Found Family Just - I love this so much. I love characters coming together for some kind of purpose (end goal, task, etc) and eventually they all learn about each other and understand the others, breeding trust where before there was either neutrality or even animosity. I will always love this in anything I watch, read, or write 💖

Friends to Lovers It's about the familiarity here for me hehe, I just love it when two characters have a history together; they've known each other longer and better than anyone else, and to see them realize that they could love and trust them more than they already do gets me every time! 💚

Sick Fics The care, the tenderness, it's all about the sweet softness, the act of caring for someone when they aren't at their best. To be there for them, to make sure they stay safe, warm, well-fed and well-rested. It's just so soft and intimate. And honestly, when you're sick and have someone to care for you, whether it be a partner, family or amazing friends; it's hard to feel anything else but loved. Empathy and kindness smooshed into a lovely, loving sandwich 😌

Hurt/Comfort You can't have comfort without the hurt and vice versa. The hurt makes the comfort that comes so much more meaningful and impactful, and without the hurt before, the rawness of whatever happened, then there'd be no comfort lol! Again, it's all about the build up and the come down of an individual's emotions and how another or something else can help ease and soothe. I love it forever lol 😆

Fluff Cute, sweet, light-hearted; showing off the brightest, funniest, most lovely parts of life and love. Need I say more? lol! These points really can all tie together with each other huh? What can I say, I like what I like, and that's a raw jaggedness followed by a soft gentleness 💖

Thanks so much for the ask! Sorry it took so long to get to! 😅💚

#ask game #zimianswerz #ty again!! I love doing these XD #fave tropes

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cursedvibes · 2 years

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I have to request JJK for the ask game. Also Dorohedoro if you want. These only have one season so you could replace that with "arc" maybe?

Thank you for giving me an excuse to gush about JJK and Dorohedoro! I'll cover drhdr in a seperate post to not make this one too long.

favourite "male" character: Kenjaku (putting them here because they currently have a male body) They are basically everything I like in a villain. Intelligent, funny, not sadistic but still cruel, bit of a Mad Scientist/Doctor, well calculated plan, ganre-savvy, queer. What I especially love is how they are such a threat without needing to resort to direct violence. No big flashy shonen battle. They pull the strings in the background and let others do the dirty work for them. Just saying the right thing to the right people was enough to push Tokyo into chaos. They're all about fight smart not hard. I could go on for hours but just gonna leave it with, I'm looking forward to seeing how their connection to Yuuji will cause conflict in the future.

favourite female character: Uro Takako Crazy how she has been here for less than 10 ch and she's already in my top 3. Can't wait to seeing more of her past and how her conflict with Yuuta will develop. That strife for individuality is what I really admire about her. She has been given a 2nd chance in life and she's gonna make the most out of it, become what she was never allowed to be. If we come down to it, she isn't that different to the protagonists, they basically have the same goal (survive the CG), Yuuta was just being an idiot when talking to her. I would like to know what she plans to do when the CG is over. What are her new goals in life.

least favourite character: There aren't any characters I really hate. There's assholes like Naoya but he isn't relevant enough to have strong feelings about him. I would say out of all of them I like Geto the least. He is a very well written character and seeing his downfall adds a lot to the story, I just don't like him as a person. And as an antagonist he commited the gravest sin of having a stupid plan. Killing ~70% of the world population for the way they were born? Aside from morals, it wouldn't even fix the issue he had with jujutsu society and there will always be non-sorcerers born from sorcerers. He could've gone after Tengen and the higher-ups with Gojo but no... Good thing he lost his brain, he wasn't using it anyway. And that whole monkey talk, ugh. If he comes back in some form, I hope Maki kills him again. Thanks to Sakurai's va he is very entertaining in the movie though.

prettiest character: Gojo in the anime but to such an extreme that it goes into uncanny valley at times. The actual prettiest one would be...Mei Mei? She's a horrible person but she does look very good.

funniest character: Takaba Kenjaku probably. I like their nasty humor. "I don't remember taking out your brains too" is still one of my favourite lines. And that smile they gave Wasuke

favourite arc: I've been loving basically everything since the CG started but my fave would be Perfect Preparation. It has so many good moments. The Zenin Massacre, Tengen reveal, background on Kenjaku and their plan/relationship w Tengen, Yaga's death and the information about Cursed Corpses, the introduction of Kirara and Hakari. My only complaint is that Yaga's death and the Zenin Clan could've been build up better but that's due to Akutami's burnout, so I understand. Hopefully the anime will ellaborate on it w e.g. the information about the Zenin Clan we got from the Volume specials. It would be really interesting to see Maki's time in the Kukuru unit at some point in the manga or anime.

favourite chapter/moment: The chapter I've read the most would be ch 145. So much juicy information. There are a lot of great moments in other chapters but this is the one I come back to most often to read it from start to finish. As for favourite moment, the wolf-rabbit chase scene with Yuuji and Mahito. So chilling. The look in Yuuji's eyes, damn. Can't wait to see that animated.

favourite ship: Kenjaku/Jin In exorcism movies I always thought "why not just talk to the demon?" Jin took it a whole mile further and married the demon. Agreed to make the antichrist with the demon... I really want to know more about their relationship. Jin is definitely sussy. Kenjaku isn't a good actor, so everyone who willingly stays with them for 9+ months must have some problems. There is also the great horror potential that comes with slowly realizing that your partner has been replaced by someone else. Or that your new girlfriend has jars w aborted fetuses in her basement.

favourite family ship: Honestly, the more we learn about Yuuji's (extended) family the messier it gets and I love that. As for family-like relationships: Jogo's group. It's heartwarming to see them play, argue and hang out like normal people. Really got me when they all -except for Mahito - met in the afterlife(?) again.

favourite friend ship: Yuuji and Megumi The care and trust they have for each other despite having differing views in certain regards is really refreshing to see. I'm glad they aren't just rivals and I hope they won't be forced to fight each other but with Sukuna having plans for Megumi...

worst ship: Anything along the lines of Gojo/Yuuji, Higuruma/Yuuji or Gojo/Megumi. Really wish those ships weren't so popular

#asks #jujutsu kaisen

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hackedxy0x · 3 years

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My top 10 favorite shows

It was really hard to pick only 10 because I have so many shows that I adore. Kinda felt guilty for leaving some shows out.

My tastes go from dark to kid friendly. Half of these are animated.

Anyway, let me know how similar our tastes are. And if you think we have a similar taste, this is a top 10 recommendation list.

10. Sex Education

This show is something any teen with questions should watch. I didn't think I'd like this show as much as I did, but here we are. Sex Education handles intimacy and sexuality really well. It answers all of those questions we were too scared to ask when we were teens. And there is 0 shame involved. All of the characters are well developed and the humor is amazing (warning: a lot of sex related jokes). This is also one of those shows that knows what a strong female character means.

9. She-Ra

Power of lesbians, let's go! Jokes aside, She-Ra is great. I'm obsessed. Filled with interesting and diverse characters, a fantasy storyline and a bunch of great ships. I love how the relationships between the characters are handled and of course, the power of love saves the day.

8. Anne with an E

Okay, so I'm a sucker for anything that features fancy dresses, suits and courtships. I loved this show a lot more than I thought I would when I was going in. Anne is such a vivid, interesting and amazing character. She's a bit hot-headed but has such a beautiful view of the world (way ahead of her time). This is based on a book "Anne of Green Gables" (also great), but is a bit different. The show handles a lot of topis that probably would've been a bit controversial for that period of time which is really great to see.

7. Gravity Falls

You can't beat the classics. Gravity Falls may have only two seasons, but they really made the most of it. The show has a great sense of humor, great characters and fantasy world building with a funny twist to it. The Pines twins really give us that realistic sibling bond and their opposite personalities make them a real comedic duo.

6. Rick and Morty

One of the best adult cartoons out there. Rick and Morty shows us what disfuncional family looks like but in the funniest way possible. All of the characters are deeply flawed (I'm looking at you, Rick), but the show doesn't try to hide it from us. They give us characters with flaws we can relate to and it shows us that thing aren't always as simple as we think. Not to mention the fact that this show does dirty jokes in style.

5. Infinity Train

Can someone please explain to me why they had to cancel this amazing show? Infinity train is a mini-series set on a...therapy train? Every season has a new set of characters dealing with their own probles. Pack that in with some great world building. This show made me feel thing and it's the type of show where you'll relate to at least to one of the main characters.

4. Fleabag

This show deserved all of the awards it got. Another mini-series, but it's British with British humor. The main character is Fleabag (no, we don't know her name) and she's another deeply flawed character (I seem to have a thing for those). We see Fleabag dealing with the problems she has and the fact that most of them were made by her. She's an unreliable narrator of her own story. Unique thing about this show is the fact that Fleabag talk directly to the audience which really make you invested in her story.

3. Arcane

Even though it's come out only recently, this show took my breath away. The first thing that gets you is the amazing and detailed art and animation. You can see the hard work in every single frame (pause at any moment and boom, wallpaper). What get's you next is the unpredictable story. The show tells a story in a way that you can't be bored even for a second because there's always something going on. The best part about the show are definitely character, though. Every character is a complicated individual with their own story. There are no black-and-white characters. Morally grey is the theme of the day.

2. Killing Eve

The same person who created Fleabag also created this little masterpiece. Killing Eve is just one of those shows that is literally for everyone. It has great humor, action, murder, spies and romance. Villanelle and Eve have their little game of cat and mouse going on and they're killing it. The humor in this show is so good you legit feel like you're watching a sitcom sometime and not a show about a badass female psychopath assaissin. Villanelle is an amazing character you can't help but love.

1. Hannibal

This was the first show that popped into my mind while making this. I've never seen a more beautifully twisted show in my life. The entire thing is like a work of art (Hannibal would approve). I had to read the script just to make sure I didn't miss out on any hidden meanings (the only other script I've ever read was Fleabag). Like Killing Eve, this show features another cat and mouse story, this time between Will and Hannibal. The obsession they share is displayed in such a beautiful, dark and poetic way that it msles my soul hurt. Will is such a complex character and his character development is one of the best things about this show. We also get to see a lot of different and interesting murders. Every character in the show is well developed and this show has one of the best made episodes I have seen in my life (season 2, that's all I'm saying). It's not all darkness though. If you look at it close enough you'll see a rom com featuring cannibal puns. Beautiful.hannibal

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kindnessisweakness2 · 3 years

Text

{DELUSIONAL- PART 3}

*gif not mine, just thought it was insanely cute*

Delaney rushed into the office, red faced. "Sorry Gem. I overslept. All the things you texted me to get are in my car, I have the girls unloading it now." Gemma could see straight though delaney's lie. The bags under her eyes showed the young girl was anything but well rested. Gemma noticed the little things about people. People's body language showed more than what they wanted it to. More than what people are willing to say. You can find out alot about a person my observing them, their mannerisms, their characteristics. What makes them tick. What's going on on the inside. You had to read between the lines with Delaney. She would never outright say when things were upsetting her. She was always too worried about other people to bother them with her own problems. Gemma could tell just by looking at her that something was eating at her. For example the sky blue nail polish was extremely chipped, Delaney's usually long nails were bitten down nearly to the nub. It was her worst habit. Gemma knew she only did it when she was stressed or worried. Or even the fact she didn't have a stroke of make up in her face pointed out something was wrong with the girl. Delaney was naturally beautiful. She didn't need make up but she was never seen without it. She portrayed herself as so put together, and usually seemed so strong but something was breaking Delaney and Gemma was going to find out what it is.

A couple of hours Later Delaney was finally done laying the table of finger food in the club house. These boys could eat as much as they drink. "Hey D" Delaney spun around a massive grin spreading on her face. "Your home!!" Her arms wound tightly around Jax's torso, pulling him into a tight hug. In that moment she finally felt safe for the first time in weeks. She felt like she could finally take a breath without drowning in panic. She didn't want to let him go but she had to. "How was Nevada? Jury all good up there?" Delaney sat next to Jax at the bar and for the first time in a while the wide smile on her face reached her eyes.

Gemma watched as Delaney and jax sat catching up. It didn't take a genius to feel and see the chemistry between the pair. It's been like that since they met. Delaney moved to charming a few months after Tara left and the impact she had on jax was massive. She made him smile again, laugh again. Made him realise that life could go on without her when he couldn't see it. Delaney picked Jax up and made him whole when her world was being torn apart. Gemma quickly became fond of her because despite what people told her about samcro Delaney never treated any of them any different. She didn't pry into club business when she overheard bits of information around the garage and She never asked questions. She got hired for the office job and was soon accepted into the fold. She was privy to things many people wasn't and she was trusted by everyone. Jax quickly became protective over Delaney. That's why when she was having trouble with her shithead boyfriend Alex it had to be Gemma and Unser who helped her. Jax still doesn't know what happened to this day and he can't. Jax would kill Alex without a second thought and would still be serving time in Stockton. Gemma couldn't let that happen.

By 10 o'clock the party was in full swing. Delaney was behind the bar as usual, laughing with half sack and juice. "I'm sorry sack but that's the worst pick up line I've ever heard". Delaney patted him on the shoulder before moving to serve Jax a drink. "You need to teach that boy some of your sexy charm. Hes never gonna get laid on his own." Still giggling at the cheesy line sack tried to work on her she poured Jax a whiskey. "You think I'm sexy?" Jax chuckled as she went red. "Those words never left my mouth Teller". Shaking her head Delaney put the bottle of Jack on the bar. "Well you must do something right with the ladies or are they just fucking you because your the Prince of charming?" Delaney rolled her eyes as jax seemed to be enjoying this abit too much. Leaning over the bar Jax kissed her cheek and winked at her "wouldn't you like to know darlin" Delaney shook her head as he sauntered away towards Opie. Cheeky fucker. Truth is she would. She would love to know how people just fall at his feet. She was one of his many victims who would give anything for a relationship with the 'prince'. Except while others want Jaxon Teller the vice president of Samcro. Delaney wanted Jaxon Teller the goofball who was rubbish at video games and snored softly when he slept. The idiot who set his mom's kitchen on fire when he tried to make her breakfast when she was sad. The man who skipped club parties and women who would do anything he asked them to sit in her front room in star wars pyjamas and eat pizza. The soft side to Jax teller that people were not lucky enough to see was the only side of him she knew. And that made her love him more.

Delaney sighed as the party started to die down. Various club members went off with women, some passed out on the sofas not capable of making it to the forms and some went home early eith their old ladies. The funniest of the bunch however was Tig, Who was passed out on top of the pool table face burried in a croweaters chest. Delaney started to clean up the bar feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of going home. Would he be there waiting for her? Would he watch her again? Would he try to get in this time? What if--? "Hey you ok?" Gemmas voice cut her thoughts short. "Y-yeah I'm fine" Delaney forced a smile. "C-can I sleep here tonight? In the spare dorm? Too tired to drive home" Gemmas eyebrows lifted in speculation. Delaney fiddled with the glass in her hands nervously as she waited for Gemma to speak. "Sure baby I'll get you some clean sheets." Delaney could of cried in relief as she turned away but froze as Gemma spoke again. "I know something's bothering you. I know something's wrong and your scared. I wont force you to tell me what it is right now." Locking eyes with Gemma, Delaney felt like a small kid caught in a lie. "But you will tell me. Eventually it'll all become too much and you'll have to. Secrets aren't good baby. They get people hurt." Nodding her head Delaney turned to put the glass down as Gemma walked away.

The last thing Delaney wanted to do was hurt anyone. This was her problem. She needed to deal with it. But she didn't know how much more she could take. How much longer can she cope with this stress and live in fear?

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

And that's it guys!! Part 3 is up! I'm loving how this is coming along. As usual feedback and advice always welcome. Part 4 coming soon!

So what do you guys think Delaney should do? Tell Gemma Or keep it secret? Let me know what you think!!

Love to you all, stay safe! 🍃

#sons of anarchy #soa imagine #jax teller x reader #jax teller #soa fanfiction

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animeraider · 3 years

Text

I posted 136 times in 2021

122 posts created (90%)

14 posts reblogged (10%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 115 tags in 2021

#spotify - 45 posts

#new music - 24 posts

#youtube - 13 posts

#streaming - 7 posts

#chris reed and the anime raiders - 6 posts

#radio free california - 6 posts

#covid19 - 4 posts

#scary pockets - 4 posts

#music video - 3 posts

#vaccine - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 39 characters

#the boys with the perpetual nervousness

My Top Posts in 2021

Just so that you don't think I skipped a week I'm going to post this, because I simply couldn't resist when the next number in the sequence was "2112". This is my list of Rush songs I like. I have been a fan from the first album through to the last. I have put usually two songs from each album on this list, occasionally more and once less (I'm not a big fan of Caress of Steel). I skipped the live albums.

These are the songs I like, not necessarily the hits. For example, Tom Sawyer is NOT on this list. I've never thought that was the best track on Moving Pictures. For me that's always going to be Limelight. Spirit of the Radio is also not on this list, although I do believe that's a great song. There's just stuff on that album I like more.

And of course 2112 is on there. I'm not a fan of the Ayn Rand-ish horseshit, but if you listen very very carefully, you'll find that neither were they.

They started out life as a Zepplin-ish rock band, got very proggy when Neil Peart joined, and then started moving to a more synth-based sound. Peart developed into an amazing drummer and Alex Leifson just got better and better and more experimental with each album. They kept on evolving and kept on taking risks, right through their last album - a concept sci-fi work that brought in an outside string section, that they toured with.

When inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Peart was serious and talked about influences and the life and thanked the fans, Geddy Lee talked about the fun and they joy of what they do and thanked the fans, and Alex Liefson gave the most memorable speech in history. Seriously, go and google the damned thing or look it up on YouTube. It's the funniest and most outrageous thing ever done - it will never be topped. It just can't be done.

Anyway, this is my list. New music will return with Radio Free California Episode 2113.

1 notes • Posted 2021-03-20 17:58:09 GMT

Math or something

Funny how the percentage of the current population who is still getting #COVID19 and dying from it is directly proportional to the population that remains unvaccinated.

It's almost like it's math or something.

1 notes • Posted 2021-06-19 22:28:30 GMT

We're still in the "we're fucked" zone

I have been collecting daily stats on #Covid19 since the previous administration stopped publishing them. In other words, since June of last year. I've done this every day, which is why I know we're still in the "we're fucked" zone of the pandemic.

But a number of states aren't publishing their stats anymore as of today. It is the public health policy of an Ostrich. All of them, without exception, are "red" states.

In 4 to 6 weeks this is going to get MUCH worse.

I'd like to be wrong - but I haven't been yet.

1 notes • Posted 2021-05-22 17:34:49 GMT

Anti-masking is child abuse.

Last WEEK, nearly 94,000 children caught COVID in the US. That's 50% MORE than the number of children that caught POLIO in it's worst YEAR.

3 notes • Posted 2021-08-11 16:38:48 GMT

My Kevin Gilbert Story, and my latest single.

As some of you know I’ve had a few brushes with the “big break” that many in my line of work crave. I was signed to a major label in the early 1990s, and the record I turned in was shelved. The label wanted me to be the “next Michael Penn” and by that point not even Mr. Penn was interested in that, let alone me. I had three songs picked up for a movie, which was never released. I got out of my record contract and signed with another label, releasing an album that included 5 songs from the one that was shelved. The label put no money behind it. I had a big hit in 2009 and signed a European distribution deal, which fell apart when the married couple who ran the business fell into a messy divorce. I sold thousands and thousands of records in Eastern Europe – which were being sold by pirates. It took several years to get that fixed.

I had an audition that everyone felt I was a lock for to play keyboards for a Japanese band that had a huge following. My flight to the audition was supposed to be September 12, 2001. I actually watched the plane I was supposed to board land as it was the last flight grounded. I’ve done some engineering and performing I don’t get to tell anyone about – the NDA’s are pretty strong. One of my songs became the theme to a German Television show.

But let me tell you the story of a relationship I almost had with a multi-Grammy-winning star who soared high and made it further than I have, whose song I have made a cover of and released as a single today.

So where to begin. First of all, yes, I knew Kevin Gilbert. No, we weren’t friends, but we were colleagues and classmates. We performed together a few times – all of if school related. That’s it. Oh, and he invited me to a jam session he was going to have once and I turned him down. I’ll get to that.

Believe it or not, I have to tell this story starting in the middle. There was once a band called Toy Matinee. I loved that band. Clever songs, well written melodies, a sense of darkness and a sense of fun. It was a band that me and my roommate Max could agree on and we cranked that album loud and often. We went and saw them live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and were about 10 feet from the stage. This is NOT the live album released in 1999, but I can tell you they rocked the place that night. Played almost every song from the album, and did an encore of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” that smoked.

A great night.

Now I jump into the past, to tell the tale of the UCLA Synthesizer Ensemble. It was the brainchild of Professor Roger Bourland, who at the time was only in his 2nd year as a professor at the school and would later become dean of the department. He searched out the most rock and roll musicians in what was mostly a stuffy classical music department. Me. Dave Koz. Joel Harnel. And this kid named Kevin. The five of us took another student’s source material and arranged up a musical. Straight musical theater and full of schlock, and all performed on synthesizers. We eventually put on four shows, with the five of us in the orchestra pit. I wrote the show-stopper ballad and a Latin inspired piece. I hate to say it, but I no longer remember what everyone else did, although I remember Dave mostly for his EWI playing and Joel for multiple reasons – including the fact that he wrote and arranged all of the drum parts.

I knew Joel fairly well – we had played together a few times and he was even more rock and roll than me, with more experience. Dave Koz was, even then, Dave Koz. The only saxophonist I had met up to that point in my life who was better than me. We had played in jazz bands together but he was already a rising star. When he beat me for the gig with Richard Marx’s touring band his career just took off – but all this was before then. I was one of Roger Bourland’s students – in fact, I had been in the “test” classroom when he had auditioned for his job.

I barely knew this Kevin kid. I was constantly getting his name wrong – for whatever reason my brain had him wired as Kevin Anderson.

My only real interaction with him outside of this 12-week experiment was down in the practice rooms. Many of these rooms had pianos in them and on any given day you could hear Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and all of the other usual suspects. I would go and write my own material and be pounding out rock and roll. Kevin did that too. Once while in the middle of the writing process for the musical he came into my practice room while I was working on a song in the style of Elton John. He invited me to a jam session the next Tuesday he was going to, and I declined. Tuesday was when MY band practiced, and as their lead guitarist I needed the practice.

That was the end of it. After the musical was over we all drifted our separate ways and for the most part didn’t run into each other again. I ran into Dave once at a music festival in San Francisco and he introduced me to Clarence Clemmons, which was pretty damned cool.

By now you’ve figured out that Kevin was Kevin Gilbert. Congratulations. I hadn’t. For many years to follow I would remember him as Kevin Anderson.

Now I’ve told you all of this so that you understand that this is long BEFORE Max and I went to see Toy Matinee in concert. I became a fan of the band without knowing that Kevin was its leader. I was ten feet away from him, performing for an hour. I had performed with him myself.

I didn’t recognize him. Nothing clicked in my brain that this was the same guy. I didn’t put two and two together. I rolled for my intelligence check and got a one.

Kevin Gilbert would go on to a solo career, win seven Grammys for his work with Madonna, be part of the driving musical force behind Sheryl Crow’s first album, become one of the founders of the Tuesday Night Music Club, and become one of my songwriting heroes. The man could paint a picture with very few words and his musical ability was enviable.

And then he died; a victim of his own vices. I’m not going to go into that here – I know nothing at all and can shed no light on the subject.

Several years later I relocated to San Francisco with my family. I discovered the band Giraffe once I was on their home turf, and of course discovered the fact that Kevin Gilbert had been their leader when he was a teenager. BEFORE I knew him. Giraffe was a pretty damned good band that had come so startlingly close to making it big – their albums are worth hunting down and they did a fantastic live rendition of Genesis’ “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (the full album mind you) that is lots of fun.

I was looking for a recording studio for my second album when I ran across a man named Steve Smith who owned a recording studio down the peninsula from where I was living. In his bio, he briefly mentioned that he was the drummer for Giraffe. Awesome. On his web site of the time if you dug in a little bit there was a bio of Kevin Gilbert, and he talked about the brief time he spent at UCLA.

Parts of the story looked and felt awfully familiar to me. Smith talked about the musical without mentioning the name, and again, it felt familiar. Me being slightly brave, I wrote an e-mail to him to ask what was the title of that musical and that I might have been involved in it. He confirmed it for me.

Holy crap.

All of the pieces started falling into place then. The rehearsals, our discussions about piano playing, that I went to one of his shows and failed to recognize him? The fact that I think he invited me to come join the FUCKING TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB and I didn’t even fucking notice!?!!?!!?!!?

I’m an idiot.

Actually, in looking back at the timeline I don’t think he invited me to join TNMC. That came a couple of years later – I think. I’m never going to know for certain. If he had told any of the other members I don’t know about it. I’ve exchanged about a dozen words with one of the other members over social media but we certainly don’t know one another.

I wonder if he saw me in the audience that night and laughed. I will never know. I can tell you there is an album version of that night you can listen to and/or buy. A then-unknown Sheryl Crow played keyboards in the band, dressed up like a dominatrix biker chick. When I found out about that later I was amazed – I didn’t recognize her either.

I’m an idiot.

Nick D’Virgilio of Spock’s Beard played drums. I don’t remember the name of the bass player but what I remember is this man with the thickest eyebrows I have ever seen in my life. Marc Bonilla played lead guitar. Oh, the people I could have met.

I never did work in Steve Smith’s studio. I no longer remember why.

When I was working on my third album in my newly built home studio I recorded a number of covers and one of those was Kevin Gilbert’s “Tea For One”. It’s a fantastic song of unrequited love and missed chances told from start to finish in only a few dozen words. I have no idea if he would have liked what I did to his song – he had a wicked sense of humor that I can recall now but I never got to know him on a personal level as a songwriter, which was my mistake. I could have but I was so focused on myself in those days that even if the overtures were made I probably didn’t even notice.

I recorded the song in what I called "Garage Pop" during those days. A bit uneven, imperfect vocals - what you might get from a band practicing in their garage instead of a polished studio version. If you want that, I recommend hunting down his version.

But I recorded “Tea for One” just the same – it’s a great song and I’d like to think I gave it some justice – even if it doesn’t come close his version. It was on the original version of my third album "The Long Goodbye", which I released myself, but was cut when the album was moved to digital streaming services (In all fairness, I cut 21 songs from the original release – which was a 2 CD set).

My music career has been dark for several years, but it got jump started in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and I’ve been revisiting a lot of my unreleased work since, and of all the covers I did this is still my favorite. I am releasing it now, in tribute to a musician I admire and could have called friend if I had just paid a bit of attention.

The guy holding the roses was me, as it turns out. I had no idea.

+++++++++++++++++

For those of you with very long memories you should listen to the full single on Spotify, because I’ve thrown in a little bonus for people who remember the 1980’s band ASK. Just a little piece of a little ditty written by me, Kevin Donville and Ed Lee.

5 notes • Posted 2021-04-16 15:29:34 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Spotify

0 notes

mysynthfetish · 4 years

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Um, Yeah.

Well it's damn near March already. What the hell? Where does the time go?

The whole world is in a huff about COVID-19, and here in Japan too, obviously, but people are in full-on freakout mode. First thing they did was go on a panic-buying-spree of masks, like surgical masks, you know, the ones everyone here wears when it's either flu or hay fever season. So, there's a shortage of masks now. "ONE BOX PER CUSTOMER!!" signs at the shops with any remaining stock. For me, the funniest thing is that masks do not prevent the wearer from catching a virus. The seal around the face is not perfect, so guess what, shit don't work. Unless you strap on a military grade chemical warfare motherfucker of a mask, like with the filter cans and shit? Nope. I mean, even the homepage of the WHO where you can find a coronavirus FAQ says so ("BUT THE WHO IS CONTROLLED BY THE UN AND THEY'RE SECRETLY OUT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD SO YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT!!!!" yeah yeah yeah. Shame. On. You). But nahhhh who cares about actually using your head and thinking about how viruses spread. See, the masks work (sorta) when worn by people already infected, as they trap most of the fun stuff ejected by a sneeze or a cough. Not all of it. We can still hope for some fun to be shared among the general populace can we not? Ahhh but it's easier to be a total idiot and follow the herd mentality and panic-buy useless shit. Then there was the fiasco with the cruise ship and not letting passengers disembark, and then it turns out a number were let off without having to go through screening, but the Chinese are still being confined to quarters blah blah blah. Jeeezus Fucking Christ EVERYTHING is made in China anyway, from rubber dog shit to the (probably) fake ICs in your military hardware to your beloved smartphones and related devices, shit, even the incessant machine-diarrhea geyser of clone synths too, so what the hell is the big deal about a potentially pandemic-level megavirus every few years? Chinavirus. Next in the ongoing series. Personally, I don't really care where the viruses originate, and to tell the truth, I get a warm feeling inside when people lose their shit over stuff like this, and even warmer when the death toll rises and rises. Can't think of a better species to get a good culling than the old homo sapiens. Heh. Mister Misanthrope at your service! But anyway.....

Found this ancient beast sitting forgotten and forlorn in a closet at work. It's a Luxman 38FD "High Fidelity Stereo Integrated Amplifier" made around 1970 (like me!). It is in near fucking mint condition. HEAVY. AS. FUCK. And the winningest part of the whole thing besides it being destined for the Big Garbage pile and as a result free for the taking? IT WORKS. Oh, and even better...

IT'S A VACUUM TUBE AMP!!! Those are the main tubes, 50CA10, pretty much but not totally unobtanium. Yeah, they fucking glow a warm orangey red, and after a bit you can see blue vapor inside. Well, if you turn off all the lights and take the top cover off. It runs hot as fuck too. I was just shocked the thing worked. It's sitting comfortably atop the desk in the lair, where you'd normally park a printer, with a pair of Yamaha NS-100X speakers on risers above it. Sounds great. There's considerably more noise (hiss?) than a modern amp, but with the volume knob raised to about 10 o'clock, it's already loud enough that the hiss isn't even a consideration anymore, and any louder would be asking for trouble with the neighbors. I can't believe it because the amp is supposed to be a mere 30 watts per channel. I guess 30 watts from vacuum tubes is a hell of a lot different from even triple that from a modern amp. LOUD!!! So yay me.

Oh and speaking of viruses....

I was watching this one on the auction for about a month and a half. The opening bid started out at around $1700 but nobody bid, and the auction ended, and one option here on the yahoo auction is for an automatic re-listing with the opening bid discounted by a certain percent. I watched for a while, then just when I'd forgotten about it, it came up in the look-at-me feed and the price was down to a grand so I bid on it and won. I had one of these before and regretted selling it, thus the TI Polar in my arsenal now, but the 61-key TI has THE BEST keys ever. Feels so good to play. Fatar! I thought yeah ok I'll just say see ya to the Polar and call it even. But... Hmm... Wait... One thing led to another and in the end I decided to keep both the viruses and... and...... and...... sell the ION. Say WHAT?!?! After all the work and repairs and maintenance and customizing LEDs and and and and.... Yeah. It's a hell of a synth, no doubt about it, but I think anything with the Alesis logo on it has a very definite shelf-life. The pots are gonna go, a few are acting up already, and those are unobtanium unless you wanna shell out the dosh and buy from syntaur. You can't get NOS pots either. So... After some serious deep-thinking and careful consideration and deliberation I had to say to myself, "self, it's a wonderful machine capable of some great sounds, but it's only 8-voice polyphonic, there are barely any effects to mention, ok sure the mod matrix and plethora of filter models and waveshaping are fantastic, but you know how ridiculously MORE powerful the Virus TI is almost every respect!" And I admitted defeat. To myself. Weird, I know. But there you go. I don't think I know anyone with two Virus TI (or TI2) synths in their collection. Maybe Anthony Rother. I know he has two IONs.

Ahhhh but this 61-key virus wasn't without problems. Uh, well, OK one BIG problem. The power supply shat itself when I turned it on for the first time. The LCD sorta flashed, there was a brief sign of life with some of the LEDs, but then blip! Nothing. Aaaaargh! Unseat the power cable, reseat it, try again. Nothing, just a high-pitched whine that was getting louder. I put my head up against the front panel, listening for where the whine was coming from, and figured out it was the far right side. That's where the PSU is. Then suddenly the sound changed to a higher pitch that swept downwards over the course of a few seconds, all the while sputtering like it had a downward sawtooth filter on it, then POP! No more sound. When I opened the case up, I immediately remembered that for whatever reason, Access decided to go with a PSU like you'd use with a laptop computer, the big brick-like deals, and that they'd carefully bracketed the brick in so that the eyeglass-socket for the plug lined up with the hole in the rear panel. OK so all I needed to do was find a same-rating PSU and then go about modding the bracket so cosmetically it would look from-the-factory. Incidentally, I contacted Access and asked about parts, but the rep said they don't have any more PSUs for the TI series, only ones for the TI2 series, and that they aren't the same size so when they do the repair, they put a DC jack on the rear panel and the PSU gets left out—goes from internal to external if you catch my drift. Well, no thank you, I do not care for that approach, no sir, I didn't wanna go that route at all. So, thanks to having access to a drill press and diamond-saw dremel tools at work, I made the necessary mods to the bracket, padded it a bit so it would securely hold the new PSU in place, and in the end you can't tell it isn't a factory PSU (from the outside). Yay me, part two.

This is the bracket, post choppy-grindy. Yeah so I "secured" the cabling with Scotch 33+... Hey, from the factory it was held down with hot glue!

Yeah that's where it attached to the PCB. CHEEKY!!!!!!!

Not bad, right? You'd never know. But I've told you, so now you know. Oh and the PSU was $22 from a local parts chain (Marutsu). I think Access wants about $50 but I think that includes free shipping anywhere in the world. I'm just glad it's working fine now.

Other goings on... I've sold the Timeline and Space pedals, and used part of the proceeds to pick up a Sony DPS-D7 delay and a DPS-R7 reverb to use in their place. But the D7 had a wonky input knob that actually broke off in my fucking hand the second time I went to use it. That pot is super unobtanium, so I thought I'd just epoxy the broke-off-bit and not worry about separately controlling the input levels for the L and R channels (does anyone even DO that?)... Here's the pot.

Even after it was epoxied back together, it was fucking bent as fuck. Red line shows the angle, blue arrow shows where the epoxy ghetto fix went down. I saw another D7 listed as-is for $10 and nobody bid so I won it, and I had intended to just cannibalize the pot, but it turns out that it has a newer OS and it works fucking fine, so that was kind of a head-scratcher. People are weird. This delay is stupid deep. There's a multi-tap algorithm that has like 40 separately programmable taps, each with its own level, pan, feedback, and all that. The reverb (R7) is just as insane with parameters... Dudes, and dudettes, seriously, you need some deep-sea rated scuba gear to really get to grips with these Sony DPS motherfuckers. DEEEEEEEEEEEP AS FUCK. I've owned these before too. Had the F7 Filter too. That thing had a 40-band vocoder and a multi-part digital drum synth in it!? Man I think the engineers at Sony had access to some GOOD drugs back when they were working on this line of effects processors. Seriously. I mean, I love programming, but even I was intimidated by the sheer amount of programmability in these things. The ones I had before were a bit noisy, but these aren't at all. Strange. Fun shit though. Oh and there's this:

Ah fuck, looks a bit out of focus. That right there is a TOA DE-1000 delay. Rare as shit, and this one is in NEW condition. Insane! I've had this one on my radar for a while. Why? Because it's fucking WEIRD!!!! So the max delay time is 255ms or something really not that long at all, but you've got three to control: Left, Center and Right. Individual times (LEDs) and levels (white sliders), plus global wet/dry and feedback, AND modulation time and depth sliders. SLIDERS!!?? Ok it only has four memory slots, and no MIDI, but you can get up to some good mischief with this thing. Last two goodies to blab about:

Top: SONICWARE ELZ_1. What a weirdo synth. I heard that it's a raspberry pi under the hood but really? Who cares. It can do some off the wall shit. A handful of wacky synth engines, topped off by four effects processors at the end. And it has a speaker. My only complaint is no DIN MIDI, just USB and you have to buy a class compliant dealie. I suppose I should do so before I forget. Sounds pretty damn good though, and it does things that I've not heard other synths do. Built well. Fun to play and fun to program. Runs on batteries. Worth looking into. I was so impressed with this that I backed their next project (a groove box type thing it seems). Bottom: KORG AM8000R. This fucker does some WEIRD SHIT! I had one before (and its delay counterpart, the DL8000R) and for whatever reason didn't hold on to them. I think I was looking for more bread and butter, set it and forget it type effects. This was really cheap and it's in great shape. I don't think so many people know about these. Relatively easy to program, and you can get some really good, usable stuff as well as some super far out WTF stuff. The WARP! knob is good fun too.

Oh I suppose it's worth mentioning that I had an album released by Anti Gravity Device out of Tokyo a few weeks ago. Let's see if I can find a link...

https://anti-gravity-device.bandcamp.com/album/black-rainbows-agd036

Have a listen. It's stuff I recorded from about November through December last year, maybe even the first week of January this year. Live jam format, no master sequencer, wish I was an octopus because two arms and ten fingers just wasn't enough type stuff. All hardware. Fun!

So, my invisible tumblrpeeps, it's been a busy 2020 so far here. More things in the works. Keep your eyes peeled. Stay well. Watch out for number one, and don't step in number two. (thanks, Carlin!)

#fucktrump #synth DIY #Virus TI #Luxman #38FD #50CA10 #DPS-D7 #DPS-R7 #TOA DE-1000 #sonicware #elz_1 #KORG AM8000R #wackolooniness #asshattery

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