#this doesn't make sense i know i just want to write them having endless arguments during sex

[kiefbowl]

I think the idea of "neoteny" in human females doesn't make any sense from a scientific or feminist stand point. I'm only bringing it up because I have seen it floating around radblr for the past year or so from a couple people as if it is, uh, fact (a scientist positing it doesn't make it fact...), and also at least one person brought it up to me on one of my posts criticizing "pretty privilege", again as if it was fact...

so here's my criticisms against the idea that men breed women (hated writing that) to be more childlike in their features intentionally, as I understand that to be what people are referring to as neoteny:

We aren't really that dimorphic of a species. The differences between men and women are noticeable to us, but when compared to the animal kingdom at large, we are very similar looking despite our different sexes.

It doesn't make sense that the choice of female partners would only affect female children. This doesn't add up with what we understand about genetics. If you are choosing women based on their big eyes and small heads or whatever the argument is, then men would also start to develop those features as well.

In order to massively affect the genetics of a species to that specific degree, you have to truly breed that species systematically. We only know this because humans do that. From breeding dogs to cows and anything in-between, it takes several generations to create a new breed of anything, and it takes large scale control, and it also doesn't make the old genetics disappear. Just because we have poodles doesn't mean german shepherds don't exist, etc. The human genome is the human genome, and if it becomes something else then that means another species has arrived...

From a feminist standpoint, we understand women do not control their reproduction (if you don't agree with this statement, you and I have a fundamental misunderstanding about feminism). To limit female control of reproduction, men have to be less selective about their female partners, not more. It makes sense for women to want to be choose-y, and for men to take that choice away by forcibly breeding as many women as possible, not as few.

Furthermore, we have endless proof that men are, in fact, not selective at all about their partners. Not only do the majority of women in the world get married, the majority of women have children regardless if they are married. Women are married off, regardless of what they look like, and made to bear children, and then men also divorce them and marry younger women to have more children, as well as have mistresses and girlfriends in which they also have children, and also rape in order to have children. In fact it is an act of war to forcibly impregnate woman on the "opposing side". How do men do this and then also be selective breeders?

I honestly felt silly even typing this up. Unless I have completely misunderstood what people are positing, this just feels like fantasy logic. Just because there are differences in the female and male body doesn't mean there is an inherent value in those differences. Women having, say, larger eyes than men generally doesn't mean it's not just a fact of nature. Any value or cultural interpretation is just that: cultural.

The idea of men "favoring" more youthful characteristics in women has a lot more to do with controlling women's behaviors through beauty rituals than actual human mating.

okay I'm done. you can yell at me if you want.

[familyvideostevie]

Can you write about a reader being a dice goblin. after the reader and eddie had a huge argument and he apologises to reader with some pretty dice.

thank you for the request! i did some googling bc i don't play ttrpg, so i hope this makes sense! let me know <3 | 0.9k, fem!reader, fluff after a fight

The dice click in your hand as you turn them over in your fingers. You've almost finished organizing your collection, an effort that you began to keep your mind off of the fact that you haven't spoken to Eddie in four days. Honestly, you don't even remember what you were so mad about, or how the fight started, only that it ended in tears and he dropped you off and drove away and neither of you have cracked yet. But you know that even though you were angry and you know it was a real fight, you figure if you can't recall what caused it then it shouldn't keep you apart.

Plus, you miss him. You miss his voice, his smell, his hugs. You miss talking games with him, planning campaigns, just looking at him. So, you decide enough is enough. It's time to see your boyfriend. You return your seemingly endless number of pouches of dice to your desk drawer and set off for his trailer. The sun has just started to set and it's not a far walk, though you could use the time to figure out what you're going to say.

Your shoes have just started to crunch on the gravel of his part of the park when the door to Eddie's trailer flies open. Eddie himself stumbles out, running his hands through his hair and muttering something and checking all of his pockets like he's carrying precious cargo somewhere. He looks as exhausted as you feel. He makes his way to his van and he's so distracted you don't know if he'll see you, so you call his name.

"Eddie," you say, though it comes out softer than you'd like. Even so, he looks up sharply and catches sight of you, blinking like he can't believe what he's seeing.

"Sweetheart?" he says. "Is that you?"

"Course it is." You frown, a little confused that he's even asking. God, you just want to touch him. He looks at his van and then back at you.

"It's just...I was on my way to see you and here you are." His cheek twitches like he wants to smile but doesn't know if he's allowed to.

"Magic," you tease, giving him a small smile of your own.

"Magic," he agrees. He shoves his hands into his vest pockets do he doesn't reach for you. That won't do.

"Can we hug?" you blurt out. Eddie exhales with his whole body before you meet in the middle and he engulfs you in his arms. You slide your hands around him under his vest and breathe that scent you've missed so much. Detergent, cigarettes, a little bit of weed. Why did you stay away for so long?

"I'm so fucking sorry, baby --"

"I don't even remember what we fought about --"

"-- I almost called you every day this week, like every hour --"

"--but I'm sorry for avoiding you --"

"I love you," you say at the same time. You pull away from him just a little and he looks so relieved that you both burst into laughter.

"Why were you coming to see me?" you ask him. He hasn't totally let go of you, so your words are directed at his jaw more than anything else.

"Was gonna apologize," he says. "And uh, give you something."

"Oh?" You can't stop smiling, your eyes crinkling at the edges. You feel so much better with Eddie close to you.

"Yeah." He flushes. "Wanna see?" You nod. Eddie has never failed to make you feel special, picking up trinkets he thinks you'll like, or just giving you his own stuff. You always tell him you'd be happy with just you, baby, but he never listens. He pulls one arm back from around you and digs into his jean pocket, producing a black velvet pouch.

"Eddie," you gasp, "are those--"

"Dice? Course they are. Pretty dice for my pretty girl." You hold out your hand and he cups it with his own, gently pouring the contents of the pouch into your palm.

"I know you already have lots of sets, so if you have one like this already let me know --" You gasp when you see them.

"Oh my god, Eddie!" you squeal. They're purple but in a way where they look like small crystals shimmering in your hand as you roll them around. The numbers are gold and they glow like there's a tiny ember in the center of each one. They are the prettiest dice you've ever seen.

"Reminded me of you," he says softly. You look at him, faces still close enough that you can feel his breath.

"They're beautiful," you say. "My new favorites." You surge forward and plant a short, happy kiss on his mouth. He whines when you pull away.

"Worth the fight?" he teases, payback for you not kissing him properly. You just glare. "Kidding! Kidding, honestly. Please can we never do that again?"

"Deal," you assure him. "I really love them, Eddie. Thank you." He kisses your forehead, rubbing your back with one hand.

"Shall we take them for a spin?" You nod, happy to do anything so long as you're with him while you do it. He tucks his palm into your back pocket and pulls you into his side before leading you back to his trailer.

tags (i've started to tag for ask fics, let me know if you'd like to be taken off!): @sunshinehollandd @sunlitide @gloryofroses19 @carpediem1219 @themarvelousbee @katsukis1wife @ruinedbythehobbit @imherefortea @superflannel

want to be added to my tag list? send me a message and specify for steve, eddie, or both!

reblog, send feedback, requests open, masterlist here!

#emma's asks #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x female reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things fic #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfiction

[supremechancellorrex]

I've been hearing a lot of people say that Ozai in the Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon isn't supposed to be "developed" because he's a "symbol". My problem with this is that a character can both be well-developed and a symbol at the same time, so why choose otherwise? "It makes sense because he's supposed to represent" doesn't justify leaving the writing a little loose.

In the cartoon, Ozai is hardly a character to sink your teeth into. You can surmise and speculate things about him, but ultimately every discussion was more about Zuko or another character overcoming him and how satisfying that was than any character depth of Ozai himself. On the Day of Black Sun, Zuko and Ozai's confrontation is less an argument and ideological battle with layers between two human beings and more an extremely developed character yelling at an evil cardboard cutout.

The Problem With Ozai

Zuko: "It was cruel and it was wrong."

Ozai: "Lol."

Zuko: "We need to replace this era with an era of peace and kindness."

Ozai: "Lame." (*scowls in annoyance, tries to leave*)

Zuko: "Stay or I'll cut you." (*waves swords*)

Ozai: "Fine. Whatever. Go on" (*proceeds to sit back down and wonder if he's having spiced fire rice cakes for dinner*)

The way the cartoon presents it, Ozai just was a bit too a moustache-twirling villain and that's even considering his actions. It's not even him being morally bankrupt or sadistic, but that his entire character only exists on the surface level. Him being "superficial" and "ruthless" isn't even a character trait because he has no real character beyond "I'm arrogant, selfish and evil". Even some of the worst dictators in human history from Hitler and Stalin to Mussolini and Mao have more complex 'psychological depth' than Ozai, despite committing the most evil and awful acts against other human beings.

I got they want to reflect the toxicity of the Fire Nation with him as a symbol, "fear" and "ruthlessness", but these are symptoms and the result of an ideology, and Ozai and this ideology need a bit more than "The Fire Nation's ideology is that they're superior, share the greatness and just kill people". We never see Ozai really talk about this ideology, how he is *civilising* the other nations (well, besides, setting them on fire). Why does he think Fire is superior? Why does the Fire Nation? We can speculate it's the unity of the Fire Nation and its industrialisation, that maybe the Fire Nation thinks they have better tea ceremonies and cleaner cities, but none of the Fire Nation characters really talk about this. Sharing their 'greatness', how?

And, of course, we know and the show know their 'greatness' is a lie and farce really, but for their citizens to buy into this farce realistically for 100 years, sending sons and even daughters to die for it, presumably working in factories endless hours to keep up war production like that giant drill, one would think the smokescreen would be a little more convincing than a couple lines. Yes, in the Headband, they show the kids are taught a warped version history with the Air Nomad army, but what is the unifying ideology of the Fire Nation exactly? And how does this reflect Ozai? Beyond ruthlessness and being a smarmy jerk?

And this brings me to a scene I have quite a problem with. The War Meeting flashback in Sozin's Comet Part 1, essentially Ozai just goes from 'How do we quell rebellion?' to 'We will destroy their hope by killing them all with fire'. Hehe, well, I mean, why even talk about "destroying hope" when they'll be too dead to despair? Of course, Sokka says after hearing that literally "I always knew the Fire Lord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil". Then they throw in an Ozai baby picture to pretend they have some nuance, and then blah, blah, Energybending turtle appears out of near nowhere.

A Better Ozai

(I want it noted how hard it was to get a decent gif of cartoon Ozai, especially in his Pheonix King regalia. That is how little people care about or are interested in him. There is more Daniel Dae Kim gifs from the live-action than the cartoon version)

The funny thing is Ozai burning the Earth Kingdom could have worked if they actually gave him character arc in the cartoon. Have Ozai start out believing he can civilise the Earth Kingdom, who he views as inferior and needing to be kept in check. We see in the show Earthbending is banned in Fire Nation colonies and annexed territory, but they should also show him introducing policies to ban certain styles of Earth Kingdom dress, specifically their green national colour dress, and customs, forcibly *civilising* these territory with authoritarian laws. Earth Kingdom children have to go to Fire Nation school to be indoctrinated in how their cultures and homes are inferior, and told to report on their parents.

However, as time goes on, Ozai becomes increasingly disenfranchised with the war, as colonised Earth Kingdom citizens continue to resist, Earthbend and continue banned cultural practices in secret. He feels rising disgust at these people's Earthbender stubbornness and 'backwards' practices, resisting engaging in and conforming to Fire Nation's 'superior' cultural practices, science, and education. How dirty they are, so unFire-Nation, he thinks more and more. He begins to unravel in his hate and think to himself things like how "You just can't take the root edge out of people, so I should burn the root to the ground. Make the world clean, pure and Fire Nation".

If they showed Ozai in the cartoon shifting from the standard position of his father Azulon to an even more extreme and horrifying position over time, reacting in all the worst ways to whatever the world throws at him increasingly and increasingly, his turn as the Pheonix King could have been far more chilling. Azula isn't the only one who has to go "crazy" due to the Fire Nation's twisted teachings. It would have further emphasised the cycle of toxicity in the Fire Nation that Sozin set in motion.

Imperialism and fascism is often driven by a number of things in conjunction, commonly economics, but also vain pride, fear and discomfort; pride of your own nation at the expense of others, as well as fear and discomfort of others, how 'different' they are, their 'weird illogical customs' diluting the 'pure culture of yours' that you understand, their 'strange appearances' changing the face of the culture you know, that you like and think is the greatest and should be eternal. They could be spies, enemy agents of chaos and degeneration. They need to be 'civilised' or 'exterminated' to silence conflict and bring order, this 'dark horde' of backwards people who just can't ever be allowed to be 'in charge'. I think a weakness here is that Ozai is never shown to show any discomfort, he's just so confident and evil about everything, but if he were to reflect the dark face of the Fire Nation, a people they say aren't wholly evil demons, he does a bad job showing the twisted human face of evil and it makes him irrelevant in a way as a character with the themes other than "Defeat evil guy".

Lessons Taught Improperly

Now some would try to defend Ozai in that Avatar: The Last Airbender is a kid's cartoon, but I would say that makes it more important when discussing real-life issues. What is the point of lesson if it is taught improperly? Sometimes that can do more harm than good.

Avatar includes a number of mature themes, including the genocide of Aang's entire people and Gyatso's skeleton. Judging by the Tibetan influences in Air Nomad culture, a real-life people who have also been genocided, I think it is necessary and good practice for even kid's shows to make sure the lessons on real-life evils like the concepts and systems of imperialism, colonialism and nationalism are taught well. Because otherwise you get an inaccurate picture of what it is and how it actually works, and what is the point of that?

Stories want to impart lessons on things being "bad" as a message, but often I think they fall short in getting to the point of why they happen. I wonder if that makes them a little pointless in a way, because the reasons why characters/people and nations do things is both important to good writing and real life. If you aren't taught it properly, how well can you recognise it in your own country? And if you can't, then hasn't the lesson failed to be imparted?

#avatar legend of aang #avatar the last airbender #atla ozai #fire lord ozai #fire nation #imperialism #colonialism #air nomads #atla aang #atla gyatso #air nomad genocide #prince zuko #fire nation royal family

[aaronieros]

little tobiizu ficlet (utilizing my hc that izuna likes to paint and does so to destress)

The first time, Tobirama could suppose he had something like ill intent when he'd chased Izuna. He'd just about heard his argument with Madara across the whole village, as if their intensely flaring chakra wasn't enough of a giveaway. When Izuna fled into the woods outside the village, Tobirama assumed the worst. He followed him intending to ask Izuna what he was planning to do, and react as needed depending on how he responded.

Tobirama watched him carefully, finding him seated in front of a river with a scroll across his lap. Endless possibilities, endless threats crossed Tobirama's mind, but when he looked closer, Izuna just seemed to be writing. When he went on for an absurd amount of time for a letter, Tobirama changed position to get a better angle of what Izuna was doing.

Painting. He was painting the river in front of him, and his anger was being assuaged by the minute for it. The revelation was enough for Tobirama to consider him innocent, but he stayed to watch anyway, for reasons he didn't quite examine.

The second time Tobirama sensed Izuna's chakra crackling around a tantrum, he didn't leave the village. Instead, he climbed the mountain overlooking it and Tobirama followed, observing him from afar once more. He sat quietly and let the wind play with his hair for a while, and then he pulled out his brush once the sun was where he wanted it. Tobirama already knew he wasn't up to anything, yet he watched him anyway.

The third time, Izuna calls out to Tobirama just as he's getting ready to paint, and he doesn't voice the question of whether Izuna knew he'd followed him in the past.

"Am I not allowed to sit on a roof?" Izuna asks him, annoyed. "Quit following me around all the time."

"I'm only checking on you. You have quite the temper."

"Uh-huh. I must be only one in the whole village who gets mad sometimes. Is that why I'm the only one you stalk?"

Tobirama doesn't quite appreciate his choice of words, but can he deny it?

"This won't bring you any joy to hear, but you're hardly the only person I've monitored. Your brother included."

He's right: Izuna did not like that at all.

"If I tell you what I'm doing, will you leave me alone?" he asks, anger renewed.

"I assume you're intending to paint, same as always."

Izuna huffs sharply.

"Then why "check" on me? You already know I'm not doing anything wrong!"

Why, indeed? The truth is, Tobirama has been curious to see Izuna's paintings. The distance never allows him to make out any details.

"My presence here is not an indictment. It's not an accusation," Tobirama tells him.

"Yeah, right. Are you here to take painting lessons, then?"

Tobirama inhales-- remembers Hashirama pleading with him to try to find common ground with the Uchiha clan, any of them, especially Madara, please?-- and exhales. Izuna flinches when Tobirama leaps up and lands close him before sitting beside him.

"And if I said yes?" he asks, and Izuna is wide-eyed at first, before suspicion sets in.

"If you said yes, I'd call your bluff. You would have at least brought a brush if that was really your intention."

"... Then, would it be possible for me to just watch you?"

Izuna's eyes stay stuck on him for a bit, confused, searching, and then he tears them away.

"I don't have time to argue with you, Senju. The sun's gonna move soon," he grumbles, readying his brush.

It's tentative acceptance, for all it's worth.

#tobiizu #ficlet tag

[alittlefrenchtree]

Hi, I'm happy to know your opinion on a certain "social" issue because I like your objectivity and your arguments on each topic but if you think this message could create "drama" of any kind or be misunderstood, please feel free not to publish it even if it's absolutely not my intention to do so, I just like exchanging opinions and talking about everything in a polite and calm manner.

So first of all I want to clarify that I don't think celebrities' social networks are everything and represent their relationships and their lives 100%. I am aware that what we see is a small part and as far as I understand on a "fan" level, it's good seeing interactions of any kind, I am also part of that group of people who, if they don't see anything on social media, aren't interested in it.

So talking to you about this absolutely doesn't come from that but more from a need, after dealing with various things in the fandom, to face and understand if there is a double standard for the boys

I couldn't help but notice the different reactions when Taylor supports and publicly likes Nicholas' projects (as he's doing now for Mary & George) the reactions are normally: oh bless him he's obsessed, oh he'll definitely have his notifications turned on , oh we feel you Taylor, oh we know you and happiness and euphoria in seeing that he did something publicly for him. But I've also noticed that when someone, even in a polite manner, shows "sadness" or expresses a thought of wanting to see something from Nicholas's side too then everyone goes for the jugular and loses their mind and starts making accusations like "are you interested in Nick just for the interactions with Taylor, he's not here to do fanservice, he doesn't owe you anything" etc and I find it strange? because yes it's more than correct, but why don't they apply it to the other boy too? Is it really so strange and absurd that someone wanted to see a gesture of public support for a major event for Taylor, as others in the cast did? Why one is "oh yes he's obsessed he's a big fan of m&g obviously, well done Taylor" but the other is "he doesn't owe you anything, he doesn't do fanservice leave him alone" is there actually a double standard in the perception of both guys EVEN in the fandom? where one is hyper protected while the other is a little more... the toy that just offers interactions and entertainment?

Hi! 

Like you said, it can be an open door to drama so I’m going to try to be very quick with my answer.

If more people want to react by sending asks, know that I’m not sure I will share or answer to any of them regarding this question. This usually create endless discussions that end up going nowhere and it’s not really the content I want to spend my time on.

A few things to consider regarding of your message :

a) it’s important to not consider "the fandom" as a group of people with one unique opinion. In reality, there is way more than one fandom (there are the RWRB fandom (with a subdivision of book people and movie people), the Nick fandom who was there before RWRB and the one that came after and same goes for Taylor). Inside the said fandoms, there are numerous groups of people, each of them agreeing and disagreeing on some levels with every single other group. People inside the same group doesn’t even agree with each other most of the time. So really, it’s hard to analyze anything regarding of "the fandom" as the whole. In my experience, trying leads to non-sense and putting people against each other, forcing them to choose, to make statement of whatever they agree or not with their mutual who said this or that and creates a very shitty environment for everybody.

b) The Internet is a drama queen. Overreacting everything, being dramatic and write hyperboles in every post, tweet and message is very often the way it’s done. You find people saying stuff like their life depends on it and says the opposite thing with the same conviction within an hour and without sweating a bit. Take everything with a pinch of salt and don’t think too much of anything in a place that should be all about fun.

c) Ultimately yes, they will always be double standards everywhere, inside a fandom included. Because people have different stories within a fandom, have different expectations as a whole or regarding this or that person, different level of love, fun and seriousness. I understand the meaning of "double standards" is kind of negative and unfair, it also seems logical to me that two different people would be considered differently as they are, indeed, two different people. It doesn’t justify being mean or disrespectful obviously but, I can try to understand where some may come from. If a fan of Nick as been a fan of Nick long before RWRB and suddenly see a bunch of newcomers coming and feel (rightful or not) that some of them are linking every bit of Nick to RWRB somehow, I can understand a sense of protectiveness coming from them. What they should do tho, is ignore what they don’t like and move on with their lives. Because people who are here only for or because of RWRB and just want to bask in that are also entitle to have their fun that way. Of course, the same thing would go for Taylor fans and whatever non-related RWRB project he’ll do next (after that damn sequel).

There would be more to be said but that sums up most of what I think. More important for me being the point a). A fandom is like political party: on the front, it looks like one big family but in reality, you should stick to hang out and trust like 3 people and consider everyone else as some distant neighbors. Some of them are friendly from afar but not so much from up close, some of them are nice acquaintances who could be your friends if you had more time but most of them are people you would and should never invite to diner.

Hope this answer your question! 😊

#alft asks #not tagging because it feels more like general fandom talk to me than anything specific to the people mentioned as examples

[ahdriking]

do you ever think about what Blue Blood kp are doing right now? What shenanigans they've gotten up to ... have they made any fun new friends? What sorts of arguments they have .... how many trips they've been on? I think about this sometimes and was wondering if you have to. (This is not me asking for side stories... but you know hehe)

ANOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON. YOU'RE MAKING ME CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

Listen, the ending for Blue Blood was something I really poured myself into. Having gotten the characters into the situations I did, I actually really struggled over how to bring the story, and their relationship, to a close. It was always going to be a happy ending (I can't really handle anything else) but the nature of that happiness was something I knew I had to handle carefully. In the end, I'm really, really satisfied with how things turned out. Porsche being independent and free, but also choosing to give himself to Kinn. Kinn giving himself in turn to Porsche, and allowing Porsche to dictate the nature of what they are to each other. It felt right. It felt complete. I got them to a good place, a hard-earned place, a beautiful place, and then I said goodbye. And I let them go.

Sometimes I think about what their future could look like, but honestly it almost.... It kinda doesn't feel like it's my story to tell anymore? Does that make sense? Probably not. It just feels like their lives, and their love, is on a trajectory that I almost don't want to pin down. The possibilities are endless, infinite, and intangible, and I like it that way. It means that whatever comes next for them is up to you to decide. It's like..... they're my children that I lovingly cared for and nurtured, and now they've grown up and they're off living their own lives and I'm just happy that I got to be a part of it.

I can't really see myself writing any more in the Blue Blood universe. I toyed with it for a while, but honestly I would really rather leave it as it is to just enjoy it for what it was. I could always be tempted with a commission or a particularly wonderful idea, but for now, that's where I'm at!

ANON I'm so happy you think about Blue Blood still. It really does bring me such joy! I would absolutely love to hear your ideas for what kinds of shenanigans they could have gotten up to, or your speculation on what they're doing now. Please, please, please drop by again anytime you feel like pondering!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

#ahdris asks #kinnporsche #blue blood

[faint-waves-music]

Discussing Far East Winter.

My new EP, Far East Winter has been a very interesting EP to make and because of that, I wanted to write something of an article in regards to it. So, here we are! I'm going to discuss the background of this EP, my influences, inspirations, some of the ideas I had with this record, a short run through of each track, and a few things I learned along the way. Hopefully this is an informative and interesting read and hopefully you enjoy the record, too.

I had contemplated doing an EP of this nature for some time, in fact, you can hear my earliest inclinations toward this idea on my "Cherry Blossom" single from 2017. I've always been a lover and admirer of sounds from all over the world, but music and sounds from the East and the far East have always really caught my ear. I think so many of the instruments and the scales/notation they tend to use are absolutely beautiful. The only reason I hadn't done this sooner, is because I didn't want to do this just to do it and because I'm not sure I was totally ready to. If I was going to do it, I wanted to do it some semblance of justice. If "Cherry Blossom" was me seeing if I could pull it off at all, "Far East Winter" is the more refined, realized vision of incorporating these elements into my music.

As far as who/what inspired and influenced this record, I'd say it was a good mixture of eastern and non-eastern artists. Many of my ideas were informed by Roxy Music, Prefab Sprout, Tears For Fears, Vangelis, Hiroshima, Kitaro, Hiromitsu Agatsuma, and Himekami, just to name a few. I was in a creative space where I also wanted to kind of continue the easy listening/downtempo/adult contemporary-inspired direction I've been taking Faint Waves since 2017, but I had to do something interesting to really change the pace a bit and since I wanted to do a winter release, I knew the sound couldn't just be sunshine and ocean waves. The result is a more winter-into-spring sounding EP, not necessarily dark or discordant sounding, but a bit more bittersweet and melancholy in places. That's not to say there aren't hopeful moments, as the first and final tracks on the EP are a bit more optimistic than the rest, indicating glimmers of hope amongst the moodier parts of the record.

Much of the record I think has a very soft rock and sophistipop vibe, but there are few moments that are a bit more downtempo, new age, or experimental. I also made some stylistic choices on this EP that kind of set it apart from other things I've done, namely with the drums and bass. I've often relied on a fretless bass emulation for many (the vast majority, actually) of my songs, it's been a tried and true element and staple in the music I've made. However, I felt this record warranted something different, so I've switched things up and used a finger style bass emulation. It has a much deeper sound and I think has given the record a bit more of a soft rock or vintage R&B vibe. As for the drums, I made a similar stylistic decision to go after more of an organic feel. So, rather than using solely Roland and Linn samples as I have in the past, I opted to use more live sounds. That doesn't mean I haven't used those Roland and Linn samples at all, as they're still in the mix. Many of the songs feature a live kick drum layered with a Linn kick and on "Lovers In The Cold", you can very clearly hear the use of a CR-78 hat sample alongside the rest of the drums. Small changes in the grand scheme of things but I think they've made a big difference in the overall feel of the EP.

The first song I had completed and the one that really solidified the fact that I was doing this, was "Lovers In The Cold", which ironically became the last track on the EP. "Lovers In The Cold" is a bit of a sophistipop track with both western and eastern instrumentation, including a Xylophone, Sax, an Erhu (a violin-like instrument of Chinese origin), and a brilliant emulation of the Ruan (a plucked instrument of Chinese origin). I'd say the sound and structure were most influenced by acts like Hiroshima and Roxy Music, while the blocky pad chords remind me more of Prefab Sprout. It's definitely a pretty layered track for me, lots of moving parts. The way I've always seen the song, structurally, is as an argument between two lovers. Xylophone is one party, while the Erhu is another. The Xylophone is very quick moving and aggressive but the Erhu is more relaxed and to the point. They have this back and forth, but every other time the Erhu comes in, there's one extra note that wasn't played the previous time. So, it's almost like someone is getting the last word in there. Then, you have this kind of breakdown in the song where everything slows down a bit and rather than them playing separately, you have the Xylophone and the Erhu playing simultaneously. Going along with the two lovers metaphor, that part of the song could be them reconciling, working together to make things work before everything falls apart again.

There were a lot of demos with this EP, more than maybe any other EP I've ever made. A lot of stuff didn't make the cut or just plain didn't get finished. The next track that saw completion after "Lovers In The Cold" was probably the fourth song I had made overall and it's a tracked called "Only Tonight", which was loosely inspired by "Advice For The Young At Heart" by Tears For Fears. This track was one that definitely went through a lot of changes before it became what it was. It started out very synthpop, with these big electronic strings, before I transitioned to a more organ-centric sound. It took quite a few demos for it to start to take shape as it is now, a piano ballad. I think after the organ became integral to the song, the drums were what really started to make it take shape. Those drums, at least where they start initially, have a very Burt Bacharach feel. That shaker-sidestick combo he's so fond of. It starts in that kind of Bacharach-like place but as the track goes on, the drums get a little more aggressive and eventually the sidestick is replaced with a snare. For the piano, I didn't want a big sound because the organ/bass combo was already doing that for me, so it's pretty much this continuous riff of single notes. Then the piano is accompanied by a Shamisen (a stringed instrument of Japanese origin) and later on, a sax. The track also features a Vibraphone and a Gong sample. The Vibraphone is this kind of arpeggiated-sounding series of a few notes, it really gives the track an underlying sense of movement and urgency. "Only Tonight" is an interesting one because I feel like it became what it is very naturally, but it did take some time to get there. Glad I didn't give up on it though, as it's a favorite of mine.

After that, I think came "Snow Summit", which also went through a lot of changes as it went on. It's kind of a weird one. It doesn't sound like it at all, but it was pretty Vangelis inspired. Vangelis, Yello, and Kitaro are the big inspirations for that one. It went through a lot of changes and I don't think I was ever really sure the track "worked", so to speak. Once I laid down the bass for it, I feel like it all clicked a bit better, but it's still by far one of the most oddball tracks I've ever produced. It was inspired by a Yello song called "Homer Hossa", which if you aren't familiar with, is basically just a lot of sound effects, percussion, and little actual melody. "Snow Summit" is kind of that way, except it basically has this big brass backing track accompanying all these weird sounds. I think my intention with it, is that I wanted it to be as foreboding and endless feeling as the summit of a mountain would be. You're cold, the wind is blowing, there's snow everywhere, and you can see for literally miles. That kind of thing is intimidating and I think I wanted to convey that with this noisy, aimless kind of a track. It's probably the most "experimental" thing I've done. Huge brass, eastern percussion, simulated wind, white noise stabs, and huge bass drops. That's "Snow Summit" in a nutshell.

After that, came "Hatsukoi". Hatsukoi translates to first love, if you're curious. I knew I wanted a beautiful opening song for the EP and after drawing a blank for a long time, this is what materialized. Inspired by Kitaro and to a lesser extent Himekami, "Hatsukoi" is a bit of a new age jaunt. It's basically comprised of strings, a few different kinds of percussion (both eastern and western), a Celeste, a Pipa (a four stringed instrument of Chinese origin), a Xylophone, wave sfx, and bird sfx. This track doesn't really develop beyond the first couple minutes, but I found it very lovely and relaxing and didn't feel the need to add to it. I had a few demos where a flute came in the second half but it was just overkill in my opinion. It's a bit more hopeful and warm than everything else on the EP. It's very much in line with some of the more atmospheric, new age inspired things I've done. It's very much Kitaro by way of Faint Waves, in my opinion. I'd love to explore that kind of sound more in the future, to the degree of acts like Kitaro or Himekami. That kind of Electronica-meets-New Age-and-Classical sound is always brilliant. Exploring that sort of thing could be an EP or album in it's own right, but for this release, I wanted a balance of downtempo/chilled vignettes with more deliberate/aggressive songs.

The next song that came to be was actually an older, unfinished demo that I had lying around. "Tao Of Knowing" originally started as "Charm", a new wave/sophistipop song inspired by Johnny Hates Jazz and Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac. "Charm" was originally much more electronic and instead of a Koto (a stringed instrument of Japanese origin) carrying the song, it was a piano. I revisited this song during my time producing Far East Winter and I found, with a few changes, that it would fit the record. I changed quite a few things; the key changed, the chiffer lead at the beginning of the song became a Shakuhachi (a flute-like instrument of Japanese origin, derived from the Chinese bamboo flute), the main piano riff became a Koto, the poppy drum samples were replaced with the ones I was using for this EP, and I wound up writing a new pad for it as well. Once I had made those changes, the song still went through a few more permutations before it became the song you hear on Far East Winter. The song has a very mystical feel and I think that sets it apart on the EP, in a good way. The original demo had a very new wave feel to it and I think a little bit of that is still intact, particularly in the drums. This one may also be one of the more aggressive sounding songs in the Faint Waves canon, too. Very in your face at times.

The last song to be completed was "City Street". I knew from the beginning that "City Street" was going to be a short interlude kind of a song. My general vision for it from the get go was very similar to how it came to be, I knew I wanted to be very ambient and atmospheric, and to feature a Rhodes. That's exactly how it turned out but I just couldn't seem to get it to materialize. At first, I tried to make the song quicker and more urban sounding, to coincide with the name. It just wasn't working, so I scrapped almost everything except the percussion I had. The percussion I did have, I wound up changing quite a bit, leaving pretty much the bare minimum. Once I was happy with the percussion, I layered a few different sound effects. One was of nighttime ambience (crickets/frogs/etc.), another was just general city noise, and the final was of a little bit of traffic. After that came the Rhodes, which I pretty much treated almost as a pad as I wrote and produced it. I applied a lot of effects to it, reverb and delay mostly, so it would kind of linger well beyond the length of the notes would allow. On top of that, I used a Pipa again, I actually recycled a melody from another song of mine ("Congo") for that and adjusted the notes accordingly. The end result is a very soundscapey interlude that's heavy on ambiance, maybe slightly reminiscent of Kenji Kawai. Good for falling asleep to maybe, as much of my catalogue is.

In conclusion, I learned a lot going into this EP and coming out of it. I did a lot of reading and listening, trying to understand what they were doing as far as Eastern instrumentation and notation were concerned. Reading and learning about scales like the Japanese In Sen scale, as well as putting them to use, was incredibly challenging and fun. I made more songs for this one EP, than I have any release before, and it's because of what I was working with. There's a real beauty and true uniqueness to the music and culture on that side of the world that we don't often see. They do things in music that the West never has and likely, never will. I think my research and desire to understand, is what made this EP so special to me, as well as what has made the EP sound so unique in comparison to the rest of my material. I might have done some familiar things but I don't think I've ever made anything similar to what I've made here. In many ways, I feel like I needed to do a project like this, just to stretch my legs a bit and get out of my comfort zone. This record is a sign of things to come, not in the sense that I'll necessarily be making another record like this, but in the sense that my next record will be just as different. So, stay on your toes and enjoy.

- Faint Waves.

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