Two songs from a little-known singer

[kestrel404]

Not many people have heard of Jonathan Coultan, but thus far, everyone I know who's heard his stuff thinks it's great. Here are two songs that I think may grant interesting powers:
"Mendelbrot Set":
Pathological monsters! cried the terrified mathematician
Every one of them is a splinter in my eye
I hate the Peano Space and the Koch Curve
I fear the Cantor Ternary Set
And the Sierpinski Gasket makes me want to cry
And a million miles away a butterfly flapped its wings
On a cold November day a man named Benoit Mandelbrot was born
His disdain for pure mathematics and his unique geometrical insights
Left him well equipped to face those demons down
He saw that infinite complexity could be described by simple rules
He used his giant brain to turn the game around
And he looked below the storm and saw a vision in his head
A bulbous pointy form
He picked his pencil up and he wrote his secret down
Take a point called Z in the complex plane
Let Z1 be Z squared plus C
And Z2 is Z1 squared plus C
And Z3 is Z2 squared plus C and so on
If the series of Zs should always stay
Close to Z and never trend away
That point is in the Mandelbrot Set
Mandelbrot Set youre a Rorschach Test on fire
Youre a day-glo pterodactyl
Youre a heart-shaped box of springs and wire
Youre one badass fucking fractal
And youre just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
Mandelbrots in heaven, at least he will be when hes dead
Right now hes still alive and teaching math at Yale
He gave us order out of chaos, he gave us hope where there was none
And his geometry succeeds where others fail
If you ever lose your way, a butterfly will flap its wings
From a million miles away, a little miracle will come to take you home
Just take a point called Z in the complex plane
Let Z1 be Z squared plus C
And Z2 is Z1 squared plus C
And Z3 is Z2 squared plus C and so on
If the series of Zs should always stay
Close to Z and never trend away
That point is in the Mandelbrot Set
Mandelbrot Set youre a Rorschach Test on fire
Youre a day-glo pterodactyl
Youre a heart-shaped box of springs and wire
Youre one badass fucking fractal
And youre just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
And youre just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
Go on change the world in a tiny way
Come on change the world in a tiny way
Would probably give exceptional skill at mathematics with a specialization in chaos theory.
Also "I Crush Everything":
I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that Ive been dreaming of
And Id like to swim beside you
Getting dizzy in your wake
Getting close enough to touch you
Getting brave enough to take you into my arms
And bring you down to be with me
But I cant do that thing anymore
I cant be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
My bodys strong, but my will is weak
I got pretty nice arms, but I hate my beak
And the dolphins are all phonies
They seem nice enough at first
They pretend to be your friends
Until they see you at your worst and then they leave you
Without a word they swim away
So I cant do that thing anymore
I cant be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And everything I want I take
And everything I love I break
And every night I lie awake
Did the stars come out? Did the world spin round?
Does it matter that much when youre ten miles down?
And in the light that filters down
Into my giant yellow eye
I can see the sails unfolding
Stretching white against the sky and I forgive them
I forgive and I let go
Cause I cant do that thing anymore
I cant be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

This would either summon a Kraken, or polymorph Doug into one. Though Doug doesn't have any other shapeshifting songs.
Jonathan Coultan's website has several of his songs for free download, and most of them can be sampled.
www.jonathancoulton.com/
My personal recommendation is "Skullcrusher Mountain".
"Not this again!" Minerva said. "Albus, it was You-Know-Who, not you, who marked Harry as his equal. There is no possible way that the prophecy could be talking about you!" - Harry Potter and the Method of Rationality, Chapter 84

[classicdrogn]

Well, he's got Eye of the Tiger for a shapeshifting song - I think this sounds more like shapeshift than a simalcrum. If anyhting, Clutch's Release the Kraken[/i] would be the simalcrum, I think. Actually, combining the two might make for a good two-stage hit&run type plan - first the trasformation, to bust up the primary targets, then swtich to the simalcrum to be a distraction while he escapes, with its more random fighting style - or for that matter, to break open defences and draw attention while he goes after some other objective on site, since there's any number of transport songs to get Doug out of trouble once he's done, and who's going to look for him doing the infiltration thing when the giant monster he was seen to turn into before is still running rampant?
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bob Schroeck]

Hi, kestrel404, and welcome to the forums. With than handle, you wouldn't happen to be Gregg Sharp, would you?
I'm pretty familiar with Jonathan Coulton; in fact, I have queued up in my list of bills for my next paycheck a note to throw some money his way. "Mandelbrot Set" is a particular favorite; I have it on a mix CD in my car and listen to it frequently. It's also cued up in the notes for two different Steps as a possible weapon song. Doug basically stands in a seal of Solomon that recursively complicates itself into a Koch curve while doing little things (flicking his fingers, throwing pebbles) that cause vast problems for the enemy (windstorms, avalanches).
I have to admit not hearing "I Crush Everything" yet, but rest assured that when I get a chance to go online tonight at home, I'll be grabbing a copy and listening to it.

-- Bob
---------
For Jor-El so loved the Earth, he sent his only begotten son...

[kestrel404]

"you wouldn't happen to be Gregg Sharp, would you?"
Nope. My name's Glenn. I just use kestrel404 as my normal online handle.
"I'm pretty familiar with Jonathan Coulton"
Excellent. All of my friends listen to his music, but outside of that group it's pretty rare that people have ever heard of him.
"Doug basically stands in a seal of Solomon"
Sweet. I was thinking along similar lines...but less combat oriented and more abstract. Then again, my RP characters tend to be of a much more scientific bent than Doug. Even with his technical skills.
"Not this again!" Minerva said. "Albus, it was You-Know-Who, not you, who marked Harry as his equal. There is no possible way that the prophecy could be talking about you!" - Harry Potter and the Method of Rationality, Chapter 84

[Bob Schroeck]

---

Nope. My name's Glenn. I just use kestrel404 as my normal online handle.

---

Ah. Gregg -- probably best known as Metroanime, the man behind the infamous Bet fanfics -- has used "Kestrel" as a handle on occasion, which was why I was wondering. Either way, you are more than welcome to the forums.

---

Excellent. All of my friends listen to his music, but outside of that group it's pretty rare that people have ever heard of him.

---

You're not the first to suggest him here -- I think it was Valles who pointed me at him a couple years ago (and if it wasn't, my apologies to whoever did for forgetting). I suspect that you'll find that we're an eccentric, idiosyncratic and far-ranging community as far as music tastes go. (I suspect that liking DW somehow relates to that in a mutually-reinforcing way...) You may find odd and unusual things that you never heard of before here. For instance, I was about to recommend Mister Stick, but it appears his website has vanished, so there's no point to it...

-- Bob
---------
For Jor-El so loved the Earth, he sent his only begotten son...