#Grandmaster claire

[rinahiroshi67]

Old art of Gacha world characters

The last pic of kuku is for a trend I made on YouTube

[lunimeaddict]

feels accurate

i think i shouldve gave reed a gun or something

[shameless-sol-apologist]

reed: just commited a crime. god i love killing people for money

claire: hey you shouldnt do that! you should be killing people because you enjoy it, not to play a part of a capitalist cog!

reed: youre so right, im such a buffoon

[crayonverse]

MY rbg trio

thinking So Hard about flower symbolism .

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Will Kempen/James St Clair - Dark Rise series by C.S. Pacat

Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose - All For The Game by Nora Sakavic

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/ Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

[tortured-artist-tourney]

TORTURED ARTIST TOURNAMENT

Cole St.Clair (Wolves of Mercy Falls)

Actually an Artist

Mentally Ill (depressed, terrified of showing genuine emotion)

Self Destructive

Identity Issues

Wei Wuxian (The Untamed)

Actually an Artist

Mentally Ill (went through hell for 3 months, mental health worsening due to being in a war)

Literally Tortured, and an Artist

[manic-intent]

Hi there! About five years ago, you provided reading recommendations for me in the “weird western” genre. It took me on a journey that exposed me to many incredible, diverse authors and reignited my love of reading. Would you be willing to share some more book recommendations? Doesn’t have to be weird western - I like your taste and am always happy to expand my horizons.

Thank you so much for your time and I hope you’re doing well!

Hello!

I haven't been reading that many English novels lately... I fell into the hole of reading Chinese danmei novels and with all its popcorn bloody drama it's been hard to turn back. If you're willing to try danmei, I rec:

Qiang Jin Jiu (officially licensed, or you can look up the English fan translation). Probably my fave danmei of all time and my fave book of the year from a couple of years back. Incredible read. Alt history novel.

Scum Villain's Self Saving System (same as above)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (same as above). Has been adapted into an animation and a tv show that is on Netflix (The Untamed).

Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know (x)

The Demon Venerable's Wistful Desire (x)

Peerless (x)

Books by priest (Guardian, Mo Du, etc). For priest if you're unfamiliar with her work I rec starting with the tv adaptation of Tian Ya Ke (Word of Honour) that is on Netflix

For English/English Translated novels, I've always loved:

Jin Yong (The Legend of the Condor Heroes is deservedly one of the most-read books in the world. I grew up with this, as did many people across the Chinese diaspora. On the official translation it's billed as the "Chinese Lord of the Rings", but it's nothing like Lord of the Rings--it's wuxia. Hell, it's probably more read than Lord of the Rings by sheer reader volume. tbh the official English translation annoys me because of the random name translations, so I rec the fan translation here)

NK Jemisin (Fifth Season series etc, incredible books, fantasy)

Liu Cixin (Three Body Problem etc: now adapted into several tv shows, including one on Netflix. I haven't watched any of them yet but you can try those first if you don't want to commit to the books)

Claire G Coleman (Terra Nullius, The Old Lie)

Saad Z Hossain (The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday etc)

Nnedi Okorafor (Akata Witch etc)

Yoon Ha Lee (Ninefox Gambit etc)

Nahoko Uehashi (Moribito, Beast Player etc)

SA Chakraborty (City of Brass etc)

Stephen Graham Jones (The Only Good Indians etc)

... and more :) Hope that helps as a starting point!

[veliseraptor]

February Reading Recap

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer. I didn't find a whole lot new in this book, as far as thinking through questions of how to deal with art made by people who have done things or hold opinions that one finds morally reprehensible, but it was a well-written and thoughtful probing of the subject nonetheless. I really appreciated the fact that Dederer was comfortable (or, if not comfortable then at least accepting) of coming to a place with no easy answers. rea

Stars of Chaos: vol. 1 by Priest. I'm not sucked into this one yet, but I am intrigued by it enough that I'm going to keep reading. I haven't hooked into the main relationship, and it hasn't had the same level of delightful banter (at least, as yet) that I have enjoyed in other Priest novels I've read, but I do have volume 2 sitting on my shelf and I'm looking forward to reading it.

System Collapse by Martha Wells. I find that I've liked the early Murderbot books a lot more than the later ones, and this one unfortunately continued that trend. I don't think the series has overstayed its welcome for me yet - I'll probably continue to read it, at least for now - but I find myself losing interest.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. I said I was going to reread it and I did! And it didn't blow me away in quite the same way I remember it doing when I read it the first time around several years ago, but I still really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it enough this time around (and was still compelled enough by the worldbuilding, which I do remember being a big part of what stood out to me), that I plan to reread the rest of the series as well. But while, again, it didn't blow me away the way I remember, I would say that I generally recommend it, particularly as a fantasy that is doing some things different.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Manhua): vol. 5 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. I am only and specifically reading the volumes of the manhua that have Yi City in it, so I'm pretty much exclusively assessing this based on my Yi City feelings. And while overall I feel like the art style isn't working for me in a way that is impacting my ability to really get into it there was at least one panel that really conveyed something and made me Feel Things, so it gets credit for that. I am enjoying the experience of doing Yi City in a whole new format, though, that's enjoyable for the sheer "getting to do Yi City, again, but in a different medium this time" reason.

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinker. I read this book for a book club I'm in and I found it rather too didactic and the ending a little too pat. The family dynamics were strongly written and I sort of feel like Pinker could've written a stronger book that was just about a family without the part about New and Suspect Technology. I wouldn't even say that I necessarily disagree with the points I think she's making in this book, but I would say that it went a little too hard and a little too obviously on making those points.

Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. I liked this one and particularly as of the last...idk, five pages or so, I'm so on board for what comes next. I am promised that it gets even weirder and given that it was already fairly weird...I'm fascinated by the worldbuilding here, and the conceit of the Enlightenment-style contrasted with the future setting is a fun one. I'm looking forward to more.

Ring by Koji Suzuki. I was neither scared by this book (though perhaps I was ruined by knowing the whole thing more or less beat for beat) and did not particularly enjoy the experience of reading it, and then the part where Sadako was revealed to be...genderweird? somehow? unclear to me what the author was going for exactly, sort of tanked it for me. I probably will not be reading the rest of the series unless I get truly desperate for horror to read.

Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler. I don't know that I'd say this was the highest quality fantasy I've read recently but it might be the new-to-me one I've liked the best in a while. It was a lot of fun, very fast-moving, and I was intrigued enough by the entire set-up that I pretty much immediately put the second book on hold at the library after finishing this one. Maybe it's just been too long since I read a new-to-me fantasy book that really grabbed me, but I liked this one rather a lot and even if it was maybe more "fun" than "good" I'm still calling that enough to give this one a loose recommendation.

[s10127470]

Video Game Idea: Marvel vs. Capcom 4: Heroes Return

Hey! Marvel vs. Capcom is popular again! And it's all thanks to the recent account of Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection, a compilation pack of all the arcade MvC games and Marvel arcade games Capcom produced that's being released later this year.

This has gotten many people excited for three reasons...

This is the first time we've heard anything new about the Marvel vs. Capcom series in almost a decade!

This is the first time the games have been complied together

This possibly means that the Marvel vs. Capcom may actually be returning for a new installment in the near future

And this led many people to speculate and give ideas on what a Marvel vs. Capcom 4 would be like.

And since I like coming up with game ideas, I figured I'd hop on the train.

So sit back, relax, and join me while I take you on a train through my idea for the game....

Marvel vs. Capcom 4: Heroes Return!

(This is gonna be a short one, so bare with me)

Gameplay-wise, Heroes Return would essentially follow the same mechanics as Fate of Two Worlds, from the combat system to even bringing back being able to switch between three characters.

The new gameplay addition would the modified Team Combos.

Here, either two or three of your team can perform a Hyper Combo.

And it would be accompanied by actual names for the Combos, and a cool ass cinematic!

For the look of this game, it would bring back the cel-shaded look of Fate of Two Worlds, but obviously a little more polished with the advanced technology of today’s consoles.

Now we come to undoubtedly the most important part of the game: the roster.

Heroes Return would feature the biggest roster seen in the series by far, with a total of 100 characters (with there being 50 characters evenly for both brands).

And those 50 characters on both sides would be split evenly into two groups: Heroes and Villains.

Let’s start off with Capcom, since they deserve to go first after the bullshit they went through with the last game.

On the Heroes side, returning from the previous games we have….

.Ryu

.Chun Li

.Mega Man

.Viewtiful Joe

.Phoenix Wright

.Dante

.Amaterasu

.Strider Hiryu

.Arthur

.Morrigan

.X

.Monster Hunter

.Captain Commando

.Jin Saotome

.Frank West

As for the new Heroes, we have….

.Leon Kennedy

.Claire Redfield

.Luke 

.Kimberly

.Victor von Gerdenheim

.Apollo Justice

.Lady

.Regina

.Masamune Date

.Sissel and Lynne

As for our Villains, the returning baddies would include….

.M. Bison

.Wesker

.Vergil

.Sigma

For the new Villains, we’ll be getting….

.Juri

.Vega

.Dr. Wily

.Manfred von Karma 

.Grandmaster Meio

.Strider Hien

.Alastor

.Demitri Maximoff

.Lord Raptor

.Fatalis

.Scumocide

.Nemesis

.Alcina Dimitrescu

.Carlito Keyes

.Tyrone King

.Cyclops (Tyrannosaurus)

.Nobunaga Oda

.Hideyoshi Toyotomi

.Yami

.Astaroth

.Commander Sith

Now we come to the Marvel side of the roster.

On the Heroes side, our returning faces would consist of….

.Spider-Man

.Wolverine

.The Hulk

.Captain America

.Iron Man

.Thor

.Venom

.Cyclops

.Storm

.Psylocke

.Colossus

.Iceman

.Doctor Strange

.Iron Fist

.Deadpool

As for our new Heroes, we have….

.Nightcrawler

.Mr. Fantastic

.The Invisible Woman

.The Human Torch

.The Thing

.Ant-Man

.Wasp

.Daredevil

.Elektra

.Luke Cage

As for the Villains, the returning baddies include….

.Doctor Doom

.Magneto

.Sabretooth

.The Juggernaut

.Dormammu

.M.O.D.O.K.

.Ultron

In terms of new Villains, we have….

.The Green Goblin

.Doctor Octopus

.Carnage

.The Abomination

.Red Skull

.Baron Zemo

.The Mandarin

.Loki

.Enchantress

.Mystique

.Pyro

.Toad

.Baron Mordo

.Steel Serpent 

.Diamondback 

.Annihilus

.The Kingpin

.Bullseye

As for the stages, this game features total of 30: with 15 representing Marvel, while the other 15 represents Capcom.

On the Capcom side, we have….

.Genbu Temple

.Castle Wily

.Movie Land

.Courtroom

.The Demon World

.Kamiki Village

.Kazakh City

.The Ghost Town

.Zeltzereich Castle

.Metro City

.Space Fleet

.Fortune City

.Castle Dimitrescu

.Ibis Island

.Odawara Castle

As for the Marvel side, we have....

.The Daily Bugle

.The Weapon X Facility

.The Gamma Base

.HYDRA Island

.The Valley of Spirits

.Asgard

.The Danger Room

.The Sanctum Sanctorum

.Harlem

.The Baxter Building

.Asteroid M

.Shadowland

.The Negative Zone

.Jotunheim

.Latveria

And finally, this game would actually have a Story Mode! Being the first in the franchise to do so.

The first of actual worth....

Anyway, the story is pretty simple. It's essentially like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, except with Capcom thrown into the mix.

Essentially, an alliance between various Capcom and Marvel villains have been formed, led by M. Bison and Doctor Doom, who plan on using their combined skills and abilities to conquer the world and further their respective goals.

Luckily, this manages to catch the attention of Dr. Light and Nick Fury, who decide to retaliate by forming their own alliance of heroes to fight against them.

Once again, really simple story, but what will really make it engaging are the world-building and characters iterations.

The world of Marvel vs. Capcom has always been interesting to think about, since it appears to be a world where the Marvel and Capcom characters co-exists with each other.

But we've never really been given an in-depth look on what the world is like or how it works.

From what it seems like, the two brands have always shared this world.

And if that's the case, it would be cool to see how the corners of Marvel and Capcom connect to each other.

Or maybe this could like Battleworld from the Secret Wars event, where their world is the result of the Capcom worlds and the Marvel Universe being merged into one huge world!

As for the characters iterations, I can see so many between the Marvel and Capcom characters.

Some of the ones I can think of the top of my head include....

-Cyclops and Ryu being friendly rivals akin to the latter and Ken. Well, before Ken....ya know, fell off.

-Spider-Man and Morrigan being total besties and often throwing quips together while in battle.

-M.O.D.O.K. and Dr. Wily getting into constant arguments and trying to prove whose the better genius.

-Toad constantly simping for Juri, who as you would expect, isn't having any of it.

-Iron Man being a big brother figure to Mega Man.

-Hulk being an absolute dog person around Amaterasu.

-Deadpool constantly hitting on Chun Li, complimenting her thick legs, only to get his ass kicked every time.

-Magneto and Vergil bonding over their "I'm better than you" personalities, usually talking trash about their fellow villains behind their backs.

-Venom being Claire's big buddy and always telling her to...

Well that's all I have for now!

Let me know what you guys think about idea of mine's.

But most of all, let me know what you all think about the roster, since I believe that's the most important part of any Marvel vs. Capcom.

When making it, I wanted to make sure that both sides were perfectly even.

And for the Marvel side of things, I wanted to include faces from all over their universe rather than just utilizing the ones who are the big names in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And addition to that, there will be no MCU SYNERGY at all in this game.

Because we all know how much it helped the last game....

[isolaradiale]

Lost in Space #56

Howdy, Isolans! We have conducted an activity check for the month of October!

If your character isn’t on this list, make sure to check this page to see how many stars that character has earned this month! Stars can be used for purchases at the marketplace.

The blogs that were removed from the Isola Radiale masterlist are under the cut. Note that both blogs with broken links and deactivated accounts will be included both at the top of this list and in their proper categories.

If you were removed in error, please simply send a re-application message. Several different people work on the activity checks, so it’s possible there are mistakes! If this happens to you, you will be able to keep everything you previously had, you just may be placed in a different residence.

Our general activity rules regarding checks are as follows:

Make at least two in-character posts during a calendar month (for instance, if the activity check is for May, have two in-character posts between the 1st and 31st of May).

Only one meme response of 300+ words counts as activity.

Only one drabble of 500+ words counts as activity.

One-liners or minis not tagged #isola mini also do not count.

Please Note: If you are removed during two consecutive activity checks, you will not be allowed to re-apply as that character for one calendar month.

Additionally, anyone removed during the activity check will have a 12-hour window from the time of posting to re-claim their character. Any character not reclaimed during that period will be open to the community at large.

Please send in your reapplications from the account of the character that was removed.

ARKNIGHTS

The Doctor (HOUSE 119)

BALDUR'S GATE

Karlach (HOUSE 113)

BLUE ARCHIVE

Shiroko Sunaookami (CONDO 403)

DC

Dick Grayson (Nightwing) (APARTMENT 301)

DEAD BY DAYLIGHT

Dwight Fairfield (HOUSE 121)

DEVIL MAY CRY

V (HOUSE 111)

FATE

Caster (Merlin) (APARTMENT 302)

FINAL FANTASY

G'raha Tia (Château de Akiudo (Cotes Ward))

GENSHIN IMPACT

Aether (HOUSE 114)

GRANBLUE FANTASY

Belial (TOWNHOUSE 222)

GRANDMASTER OF DEMONIC CULTIVATION

Jin Ling (HOUSE 114)

HONKAI STAR RAIL

Stelle (HOUSE 103)

KINGDOM HEARTS

Roxas (HOUSE 104)

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

Shadow Link (Link’s Treehouse (4BR) | THE MISTWOOD)

MO DAO ZU SHI

Lan Wangji (HOUSE 110)

Wei Wuxian (APARTMENT 305)

ORIGINAL CHARACTER

Anda Teika (Lord El Melloi II’s house)

Asher Otero (TOWNHOUSE 201)

Aurelius Vane-Tempest (Klaus' House)

Nezha Li (CONDO 401)

Pilgrim (APARTMENT 314)

PANDORA HEARTS

Elliot Nightray (CONDO 402)

PERSONA

Kanji Tatsumi (APARTMENT 318)

POKEMON

Mirai (OC) (TOWNHOUSE 206)

PROJECT SEKAI

Akito Shinonome (TOWNHOUSE 210)

PROMISE OF WIZARD

Cain Knightley (HOUSE 105)

RESIDENT EVIL

Ada Wong (HOUSE 113)

Claire Redfield (HOUSE 102)

Leon S. Kennedy (TOWNHOUSE 209)

SPECTROBES

Rallen (HOUSE 120)

[asoulofatlantis]

Would you look at two of my four blond angels working together like this? The Trails-Sagas continuity is such a blessing ♥ Without it, we would have never been able to see my dear Tita grow up into such a beautiful young woman an work together with my dear Alisa, who also has become such a beauty over time. Not to mention that we will be able to see or hear if/how their relationships with certain people may or may mot have grown in future games. Fingers crossed.

CS4 made sure you see Schmidts good side, even if it is a bit uh... less obvious to see then with other characters. But this line is just him telling Crow to come back, even tho that should technically speaking not be possible.

Even when I am on a schedule I usually do this mission. Because it just feels wrong to leave this situation be after everything we have been through with those two. The game also makes sure time and time again that you see Alan and his situation and it gives you an even bigger sense of urgency and importance.

I DO absolutely understand Rennes position, but I still wish she will at some point just be honest with her family. I mean, I am pretty sure they got it by now and just accept that Renne doesn’t want to talk about it, but it still would be nice for her to at least be: “Hey. I am your missing daughter. Lets leave the past in the past tho and live in there here and now instead”, because I totally understand that talking about her past would be... causing a lot more problems then one wanted to when finally reunited with their family. But I guess we do still have time for this to happen eventually.

The game makes sure that whenever you return to hamel, you suffer. This is a hidden sidequest, however, the ending of this quest is worth all the pain, that is why I am doing it despite the time-limit.

I wonder if Falcoms people thought: “Hm... this might be the last time we can visit Hamel... how do we make it as cruel and painful as possible and yet very rewarding in the end?” XD

It was truly a great reward for getting through the painfulness that is Hamel one last time.

I’ve done them all last time and I can tell you that there is no benefit whatsoever aside from some nice moments/scenes if you finish them all. You will see the bad ending even if you have the earthen cage already and it takes a lot less time to get the earthen cage after the bad ending, then actually finishing all sidequest and getting the earthen cage before the bad ending. So... no more sidequests for me.

Did you know that while a certain part of the church is taking part in Mille Mirage, Ein is actually supporting operation shining Steel? Add her to those “3 more monsters” and I don’t know why we are even worried about possible losing that battle? XD

Uh... was that here in my last NG+ Game too? ^^’ I guess that means we could... you know... skip a step or two and maybe do avoid the bad ending for once? (And here I was, looking forward to crying to Ai no Uta XD)

Edit: I just noticed that it could not have been there in my last NG+ game, because there I did all the side- and hidden missions and thus had defeated the dragon already and came into the position of the earthen cage before I even go to the fortress. So there was literally no need for that thing to be there then - and yet I had to watch the bad ending.

Edit 2: Ups. Its the earthen prison. I don’t know why I remember it as the earthen cage...

The voice speaking is said to be the grandmasters. Makes you wonder why it makes Rean feel nostalgic. As far as we know, he never heard her voice before...

You can say what you want about Claire and Lechter but I always liked them (tho I do prever NOT seeing Lechter in a Hawaiian-Shirt... XD) because in a sense, that they stayed true to their path, even when it hurt them, was also a kind of strength. But despite that, they also caved in, when necessary and showed us that they do have a good heart deep down. Obviously, they are traitors too in a sense, but with them, I do feel they deserved their second chance more than certain other characters. One could argue about that, but isn’t it the same with all our traitors? With Crow, a lot of people say that he had the right to do what he did as C because of his oh-so-tragic past. But people often overlook that he didn’t just try to kill Osborne who may or may not arguably had deserved it, he risked the lived of MANY innocent people in the process of his revenge and while he was doing it, he wasn’t showing much remorse or regret. Even more so, he didn’t even fully stop being an enemy even tho Osborne was dead and his revenge should have been over. With George many people (including my dear Olivert) believe that him showing weakness and thus enabling the possibility of Olivert and his Crew surviving was enough to redeem him, even tho he only paid justice to feeling guilty and the time he offered the Courageous would have been for naught if not for Victors sacrifice and Bs magical intervention and even then people got badly injured in the process. If Victor hasn’t sacrificed his arm and if B didn’t intervene they would all have died despite Georges little stunt. Arios, even tho not being the murderer himself, has backed up the man who murdered his best friend in cold blood with a shot in the head from behind. Yes, he felt guilty enough about it to feel like he murdered him himself, but he didn’t feel guilty enough about it to actually reveal his true murderer, not even when he saw that guys beloved little brother was suffering. Cedric has been called a terrorist himself who deserved a dead sentence for supporting Osborne in starting the war and being part of this mess. But why is he different from Crow who everyone loves? Or George who everyone has forgiven so easily? Or Arios who people still find so damn cool? Is the fact that he was a sickly and weak prince always in the shadows of his stronger and more charismatic siblings not sad enough of a background story? Was the fact that the curse would have killed this young character who is basically still more a child then a man if he hadn’t given in to it not enough reason to give in to it? In all of the storys above there is A LOT of egoism involved. Revenge. The want and need for power and strength. The desperation of struggling to finding ones own path. Curses, manipulations, brainwashing and trauma. And they all had their good and weak moments at some point. They all felt guilty about what they did and said so out lout at one point. They all have been understanding of their mistakes and that they deserve punishment or don’t deserve their position/social standing. So this is the reason, why at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, who is a traitor you will forgive and who is one you won’t forgive, comes down to how much you like a character. It makes us all a bit of hypocrites I guess, especially seeing how we love and support former Jaegers who killed countless of people. But as it comes down to our personal opinions, I guess at the end of the day we are all entitled to have them to some degree. What I do not like tho, is when their sins are whitewashed. Crow shot a man in the heart, point. It was murder. He risked many innocent lives while doing it. He could have missed and shot someone else, for example. There was a huge Crowd there back then. He let comrade G run into his certain death, even tho he was his comrade. He risked the safety of plenty innocent people when he allowed that stunt in Garrelia Fortress. Even if he had always planned for Class7 to stop it, if anything would have gone wrong, Crossbell and with it Zemurias biggest Leaders (including my Olivert!) and people like his beloved Towa would have been dead. That is not something to play down. Not something to fully excuse. They did some real bad shit and thats not okay, no matter what. And yes, the same goes for Cedric. He allowed that his very own father was almost shot to death, he allowed his brother to be blown up, his sister and mother treated as hostages, he almost killed the big leaders of Zemuria and their only hope of salvation too. He was supporting a plan that could have meant the end of the world and the reason behind it was ultimately his own weakness. You can make excuses for that, but that doesn’t make it right or undone. When the times comes, he as to come face to face with what he had done and apologize to his family and prove himself to Erebonia and thank Shirley for not just putting up with him the whole time, but also getting him were he wanted to be in a way that is uncharacteristically selfless of her. But I do hope we get there eventually.

So... but before we deal with our treacherous prince and our bloody Shirley, I have to take a break. Its hot and the pool is crying my name XD

[ninasbookshelf]

march 2023 reading wrap-up

quick overview of what i read in march:

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

Galatea by Madeline Miller

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (re-read)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

Foster by Claire Keegan

Blue Period Vol 6 by Tsubasa Yamaguchi

[affairesasuivre]

Népal : "Adios Bahamas", plus qu’un disque d’or, tout un symbole

Des disques d’or, il en tombe pratiquement tous les jours dans le rap français. Pourtant, la certification d’Adios Bahamas, l’album posthume de Népal revêt une importance toute particulière, et ce même après sa mort.

Son talent le destinait à un avenir plus brillant encore. Malheureusement, Népal, membre historique et fondateur du collectif parisien 75e Session a prématurément rejoint les anges. C’est le 9 novembre 2019, que Népal nous a quittés. Il fallut cependant attendre onze jours, soit le 20 novembre pour que la triste nouvelle atteigne les oreilles du public. Ce délai de communication témoigne de la discrétion que le rappeur a toujours cultivée de son vivant, lui qui préférait laisser parler sa musique pour lui, plutôt que de capitaliser sur son image.

C’est aussi à cette date que ses proches ont annoncée la sortie de son premier album à titre posthume, l’ultime chapitre de son œuvre musicale intitulé Adios Bahamas. Sorti finalement le 10 janvier 2020, l’opus a été certifié disque d’or plus d’un an après, le 23 mars 2021, synonyme de plus de 50 000 ventes cumulées en France. Pour mille et une raison, cette prouesse est somme toute, extrêmement symbolique.

La consécration pour un malade de rap

Bien que les causes de sa mort n’aient jamais été officiellement révélées, une chose est sure, c’est que Népal aura donné sa vie pour le rap, lui qui en 2017, dans son morceau Maladavexa rappait "Dieu merci, j’ai une passion qui fait qu’samedi soir J’vais pas m’finir à l’exta Le rap j’suis malade avec ça". Et la maladie a parfois du bon, car s’il n’a probablement pas vu la mort venir, Népal avait totalement anticipé son succès.

La légende raconte que peu avant sa disparition, lors d’une discussion avec son pote producteur Diaby, il lui confiait une prémonition, comme quoi, il allait percer en 2020. Loin d’être des paroles balancées à la légère, l’artiste a tout mis en œuvre pour y parvenir.  Si sa mort a indubitablement permis à Népal de toucher un plus large public, il n’en demeure pas moins que cet album a su convaincre par la noblesse de sa démarche artistique.

Pour son « premier album » dévoilé en tant que tel, son ambition était alors de mettre en musique de manière hybride et harmonieuse, ses réflexions positives, sa profonde sagesse et sa philosophie de vie universelle. Une approche forte qui peut se résumer en un seul commandement : prendre de la hauteur quoi qu’il arrive et en toutes circonstances. A l’écoute des douze titres d’Adios Bahamas, force est d’admettre qu’il a réussi son pari.

Au niveau des collaborations, il a délibérément choisi de se cantonner à une réunion familiale, n’invitant que ses plus proches collaborateurs et amis à poser avec lui. Nekfeu, Sheldon, Di-Meh, Doums, 3010 peuvent lui dire merci. Népal est peut-être parti, mais en restant jusqu’au bout fidèle à ses valeurs, il s’est présenté aux portes du Paradis comme un roi.

De plus, qualifier « d’album posthume » Adios Bahamas sonne presque comme un abus de langage. Car si le projet est bel et bien sorti après la mort de son auteur, il n’a finalement de post-mortem que le nom. En effet, à l’annonce de son décès, les proches de Grandmaster Splinter ont fait savoir que ce premier album était en réalité déjà terminé. Dans l’ombre et bien vivant, Népal avait déjà une vision très claire de son œuvre d’art. Tout était pensé, tout était construit. Autant les morceaux que les clips, tout était prêt et avait été enregistré avant son départ. La date de sortie avait même déjà été fixée par l’artiste.

Ici, c’est donc dans le seul et unique but de "respecter sa volonté et sa vision artistique" et avec une intégrité sans faille que les proches de Népal ont décidé de sortir cet album, en appliquant à la lettre les plans de sorties de son créateur. Nous sommes donc loin de la logique des albums posthumes "traditionnels", ceux qui sortent aux États-Unis notamment. Avec tout le respect que nous devons aux disparus, (RIP 2Pac, Biggie, XXXTentacion, Mac Miller, Lil Peep, Guru…), leurs projets posthumes sont souvent réalisés et créés de toutes pièces à partir de couplets et leftovers déterrés des studios, dans un but essentiellement commercial. Dans le cas de Népal, ce n’est pas son spectre qui plane sur ce disque, mais bel et bien ses derniers éclats de vie.

Le début d’une nouvelle ère pour le rap français

Pour toutes ces raisons, les fans diront que voir Népal et Adios Bahamas couverts d’or est un juste retour des choses, mais qu’on se le dise, il s’agit dans l’histoire du rap, d’un véritable exploit. N’oublions pas que KLM, depuis ses débuts en 2011, a toujours été un artiste de niche cantonné aux sombres caves de l’underground parisien. Dans un souci d’indépendance, il préférait distribuer ses projets uniquement via son site 444 Nuits. Jusqu’à son opus 2016-2018, aucun de ses précédents travaux n’étaient disponibles sur les plateformes de streaming (ils n’étaient donc pas non plus éligibles aux certifications du SNEP.) Comprenez alors que sa visibilité était relativement limitée pour le grand public. Malgré tout, Adios Bahamas a touché l’or et ça, rien ni personne ne pourra lui enlever.

La certification d’Adios Bahamas s’inscrit également dans une dynamique très actuelle présente dans le rap français, à savoir le regain d’intérêt du public pour une scène plus "underground". Nekfeu à l’époque, puis PNL, Alpha Wann, Dinos, Laylow, Freeze Corléone, Hugo TSR ensuite et aujourd’hui Népal. Tous ces artistes sont tour à tour parvenus à franchir les portes du mainstream en conjuguant succès d’estime et succès commercial. Un phénomène rendu possible par un relatif  raz-le-bol du public face à une industrie musicale avide de tendances rapologiques toujours plus aseptisées.

Malheureusement pour Népal, on aurait aimé en entendre plus et le voir évoluer dans cette direction artistique qui lui semblait si chère. Après cet album, ses proches nous ont bien gratifiés de cinq singles supplémentaires (Dans le fond , Cheddar, Coach K, Même vie et Benji), mais il faudra résolument s’en contenter.

Qu’à cela ne tienne, l’œuvre de l’historique membre de la 75ème Session est et restera immortelle. Un exemple de réussite passionnée, authentique et silencieuse qui inspire déjà de futurs grands nouveaux rappeurs encore tapis dans l’ombre. Pour tout ce qu’il a accompli et pour tout ce qu’il représente, Népal peut désormais reposer en paix, le disque d’or fièrement posé près de sa couronne.

[fostersffff]

I know they tried to go “oh the Ironbloods are as devoted to Osborne as Ouoroboros is to the Grandmaster” but Ouroboros members aren’t constantly casting sideways glances over how how bad they feel about The Atrocities, I’m gonna be upset when they try to give Claire a redemption arc.

Honestly I’m with Ash on this one, she can only look sad about being complicit in atrocities so many times before I start to wonder about her, regardless of how hot she is.

[archer-world]

posting an old piece i outlined like a year ago lol

[shameless-sol-apologist]

what if... butch claire...