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wheremytwinwatches · 5 years ago

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 9

So, I’ve spent the last few days trying to type up my thoughts on the last episode, sort of like I did for Episode 3. However, each attempt kept turning into random keysmashing and more profanity than I think that this forum will allow, and you guys did a good job of covering how complex the situation is. Therefore, let’s keep moving.

We open with aw jeez I have to see this again. My newest ship of Sayaka and Kyoko are at the train station, shortly before Sayaka’s Soul Gem breaks. (Also, what the heck is with this show and my ships? I ship Madoka and Mami, and Mami gets eaten. I ship Sayaka and Kyoko, and Sayaka turns into a Witch. I am therefore swearing off shipping in this show, as apparently my thinking two characters are compatible is Urobuchi’s sign to ax one off. My Ship of Death is hereby docked.) Sayaka mutters about a balance between happiness and curses, her tear falls… “I was so stupid… so stupid.” And we are in a new Labyrinth. This one created by Witch-Sayaka. There are strange runes floating around, musical bars and a checkered floors/walls, train tracks stretching through space. So it’s a mixture of Sayaka’s music-based wish and the trainstop environment? Also, what the hell, why is the music so awesome. This is a tragic moment, I do not need music that sounds so good I want to download it. Sayaka- Sayaka’s body falls through the air, Kyoko immediately transforms into MG mode and leaps for her- it. The Witch launches train tracks and train wheels and apparently a whole train at her, but Kyoko makes it through and grabs the body, ending up right in front of the screaming Witch. Sayaka’s body slumps in Kyoko’s arms while Food Girl tries to figure out what’s going on, or more likely refuses to acknowledge what just happened. I sadly do not have that luxury, as I have to report my thoughts to all you jerks. I hope you’re happy. Kyoko continues to dodge the tracks and wheels, until one explodes in front of her? Homura! I- I have mixed feelings about you showing up. Because on one hand, yay, you can help Kyoko out. On the other hand, the last time you were around Sayaka… Homura tells Kyoko to get back and the animators stop drawing her, then they draw a cylindrical grenade right in front of the Witch. Ok, I know the last one looked like a frag grenade but was actually a flash-bang. This one looks more like the flash-bang type I know from shooters, is it going to… yup, big bang. REALLY big bang, sends Kyoko’s hair waving. Homura pops back in front of Kyoko and tells her to take her hand, and then activates her shield when she does. Suddenly the Witch freezes, hand and sword casting a shadow over the three-two Magical Girls. Kyoko’s confused, and Homura warns that if she lets go of her hand time will stop for her as well, before they start running away. Kyoko asks where that Witch came from. Sorry to tell you Kyoko, but- Homura beats me to it, bluntly says that it’s what used to be Sayaka Miki. Kyoko doesn’t say anything like “What?!” or “That’s impossible” but just asks if they’re just going to run away, making me believe that she did realize but just wasn’t accepting it. As for running away, Homura says “If you want to fight it, drop that needless baggage and we’ll turn around to kill it right now.” … That’s… Ok, I know that Sayaka’s soul was already out of the body, but… for all my comments on meat puppets, it was still her body. To call it ‘needless baggage’... Knowing that Homura’s a freaking TIME TRAVELER and has presumably seen this before is one thing, but… Kyoko’s only response is “Like hell!” and keeps running, to which Homura says that she’s only dragging them down. Since Kyoko refuses to drop the body to fight the Witch (and likewise, doesn’t take action to fight the newly-created Witch in general…) they’re heading out. And in a burst of white light they’re back in the real world. Kyoko slumps to her knees still holding the body, and Homura does a Hair-Flip as the musical notes around them fade. Hoo boy. This is a predicament. Intro of LIES Episode 9: I’d Never Allow That To Happen There are flies/moths on a lamppost, forming a skull shape. Random happenstance? Sign of a Familiar or Witch labyrinth? Urobuchi and the artists being jerks? Who knows? Madoka slowly walks along some train tracks. When did we last see her? Oh right, it was right after Kyubey turned (temporarily) into Swiss Cheese and emotionless Homura broke down crying. And good grief, reading back over that part I am amazed at how naive I was. I was actually pissed off at Homura for killing the Incubator, because I thought that Madoka could finally get some powers. But good grief, after learning that apparently Magical Girls who run out of power turn into god-damned Witches, I am so freaking happy that the Incubator was stopped in time. Or at least for a while. We’ve already lost Mami and Sayaka, I don’t wanna lose little Madoka too. Then she looks up and sees two pairs of legs Oh. Oh no. I don’t want to see this. Madoka just saw Sayaka’s body. Said body being carried by the girl who she saw fighting Sayaka to the death a few days ago, and followed by the girl who murdered the Incubator right in front of her. Understandably, she freaks out, rushing forward and… asking Sayaka what happened… and where her Soul Gem went… Homura just does a Hair-Flip and says that her Soul Gem turned into a Grief Seed, and was destroyed when it hatched a new Witch. No, Madoka. They’re not joking. I wish to god it was a joke, that Sayaka would open her eyes and laugh and say “Boy, we got you good Madoka!”. But it’s the truth. The final secret of the Soul Gems. When they grow tainted/run out of power and turn completely dark, they turn into Grief Seeds, and the Magical Girl is ‘reborn’ as a Witch. “This is the inescapable fate of all who become magical girls.” A train roars by and Madoka collapses, saying that all Sayaka wanted to do was protect people from Witches. And now she is one? “It could only last until she had suffered an amount equal to the good she had wished for. From here on, for ever person she has saved, she will curse another.” Man, this is the dark side of karma, isn’t it? I’ve always heard of it in a sense of “life will get better than it is now, look forward to the future”. But this? If Fate/Stay was a cynical take on “The Needs of the Many”, then this is his take on karma. Kyoko lays Sayaka’s body down in front of Madoka. Then spins around and grabs Homura by the collar. Yes, thank you! Homura, I get that you’ve seen this before in the other timeline, that you’ve had time to process the event, but for us its the first time we saw Sayaka turn into a god-damned Witch! Show a little understanding! And maybe explain why you didn’t warn us this was going to happen, like you didn’t warn us about how Magical Girls are lichs! I mean, good God! I gave you so much flak about your Hallway Threat way back when, but now I can see that you were being too soft! If you knew this was going to happen, maybe you could give a more direct warning? Or a more clear threat to scare Madoka off, so all this doesn’t happen? Kyoko chews Homura out for acting all “Ooh, I’m a Time Traveler, I know all this stuff and you don’t”. She was Sayaka’s best friend! They knew Mami for a few days, and that was tragic enough. Madoka knew Sayaka for years! But all Homura does is say that they truly know what the thing they wanted to become is like. Oh, and try not to be seen with the corpse you insisted on dragging along, alright? Don’t be sloppy disposing of the middle-school girls remains, otherwise the cops might find it and then things just get distracting. ...wow. I’m going to have to take away your seat cushion for that, Homura. Kyoko asks how Homura can even call herself human when she acts so callous in the face of loss. And even I can know how Homura’s going to respond to that one: “I don’t, of course.” Hair-Flip. “And neither should you.” Well. You may have had an alternate timeline/who knows how many years as an immortal lich to get used to ‘not being human’, but Kyoko is not only likely younger, but came from a religious background. It’s not that easy for her. One final Hair-Flip and Homura walks off. It’s later now, and Madoka is in her room, curled up on her bed in her pajamas and failing to sleep. YOU. GET OUT. The Incubator is outside her window. Nope, no, uh-uh. I am not in the mood to put up with your shit right now, Incubator. I don’t care what you’re going to say, what excuses you’re going to give like “But you never asked” or “What does it matter what form your Soul takes” or “Well, we’re down a Magical Lunch Lady. Guess you need to pick up the pace to keep me fed. On that note, I know where you can find a newly-hatched Witch, shouldn’t be too hard to fight…” NOPE. Not putting up with your shit tonight.

*one angry sleep later*

*Deep breath*

Alright, Incubator. Let’s see what excuses you’ll make this time.

Oh, well thank you for asking to come in, instead of just showing up like at Homura’s. Very polite of you.

Madoka is very unsurprised to see that the Incubator is alive, considering last time it was Swiss Cheese. I’m guessing Homura told her?

Oh, never mind about being polite, the Incubator’s inside with all the stuffed animals now. Permission, what’s that?

Madoka asks if what Homura said was true, the Incubator’s all “Yep, true enough I can’t protest it. I can’t lie, nosiree.”

Aw, Madoka no. She looks so… blank. Burnt out.

She asks if the Incubator really has been turning them into Magical Girls just so they’ll become Witches.

“Please don’t misunderstand.”

Oooh boy. *Sits back, munches on popcorn* Alright, you little monster. You justified tearing out these girl’s souls to make them more effective Witch fighters, let’s see how you excuse Contracting them into becoming literal monsters.

You… don’t do this out of ill will towards humans?... bwuh?

“Everything we’ve done is for the sake of prolonging the life of the universe.”

...turning young girls into monsters is good for the universe. Seems legit.

Ok, huh? Why are you talking about entropy now?

Energy a fire gives off is not equal to the energy to create its fuel, sure. Standard thermodynamics here. How does this relate to Witches?

Amount of usable energy in the universe is decreasing, sure…

Does this apply to Magical Girls as well?

Hold up, I think I’m seeing where this is going.

Incubator’s Race: “Oh no, we need warriors to defend our physically weak race and get us food from stronger creatures. Hey, these ‘humans’ can wield great power, but they can’t unlock it on their own. Let’s uplift them and get them to fight our battles. This could in no way backfire!”

Incubator’s Race: “Hooray, they’re defeating all our foes… but they’re using up all of our power in doing so, they lack any idea of subtlety. We need some way to cull their numbers… hey, we just figured out a flaw we can introduce into their Soul Gems, if they use up too much power at a time it shatters and their soul corrupts, they can’t use our power anymore. They turn into monsters, sure, but there are so many humans we can always Contract a few more to fight them. And hey, these ‘Witches’ drop tasty treats!”

Ok, sorry for random speculation. Been on a Mass Effect kick lately, made a tenuous connection between the settings. Back to the Incubator.

So their race looked for an energy source that wasn’t bound by thermodynamics, to counter entropy. And they found a solution with Magical Girls?

The Incubator’s civilization created technology to convert… emotions? Into raw energy? An impressive technology, but then why not just use it on yourselves, unless humans are somehow more emotional? A sort of Vulcan/Humanity emotional divide? (And I feel dirty for comparing Vulcans to this little jerk.)

Wait, you don’t ‘possess the capacity’? Like, at all? Huh.

So they searched the universe for species to serve as emotion batteries for their new tech, until they finally found humans.

(Hoping that the finale is a bunch of these other races that didn’t meet the Incubators’ needs showing up and helping out the “young” Terran civilization against the Galactic Jerks)

Shots of empty chairs?

So since humanity was a Yeerk Class 5 species (big population, fast reproduction), and the emotional-energy (emergy?) produced by a single human is more than they use between their birth and growth, the Incubators had found their power source.

Yep. The Incubators consider human souls as the perfect fuel source.

Abridged!Mr. Popo: That carpet gets 10,000 miles to the soul. Abridged!Bulma: What? Abridged!Mr. Popo: The gallon.

Oh, but why settle for unleaded humans for emergy, when the most effective of all are girls in their “second stage of development”? Seeing as they experience the greatest fluctuations between hope and despair.

Hmph. And I’d imagine that girls who are not fully informed have more ‘fluctuation’ than girls who know exactly what they’re getting into, hmm?

Oh for-really? Really?!

“In the moment when your Soul Gems flare out and turn into Grief Seeds, enormous energy is created.”

That’s it?

That’s the whole reason for this farce?

Ok, sit down, Incubator. I SAID SIT DOWN.

Look, maybe there’s something I don’t understand about the process. But not a minute ago you said “a single human” produces more emergy than the energy they use in a lifetime. Bam, problem solved, you have energy for days right there. But no, you just had to get greedy, didn’t you? It’s not enough that you’ve got a source of emergy with plain old humanity that bites its thumb at thermodynamics, that solves your “Oh, energy of the universe is running out” problem just as it is. Nope! Instead you manipulate young girls into giving up their souls and turning into monsters because that gives you even more emergy!

This is not logic! This is greed! I am so glad to be wrong, you aren’t the Vulcans. The Vulcans would never stoop so low for a little bit extra. You’re the Ferengi!

*Sigh* So the Incubators go around collecting the energy, ‘hatching’ Soul Gems into Grief Seeds. Buddy, setting aside how wrong that is, what about all the lost potential emergy from the humans a Witch eats? Is one Grief Seed forming really enough to make up for that?

Madoka’s still in shock, mutters a question asking if Incubators really just see humans as disposable energy supplies. The Incubator asks if she knows just how many species there are in the universe, and how much energy they use all the time.

...which implies that the other species’ energy use is supplemented by the Incubators. Suddenly hoping they don’t show up after all.

“And someday even you humans will be able to leave your planet and come join all of us.”

Which will probably be pretty awkward. “Hey, so you’re the species that we’ve been harvesting to power our hot tub? Cool, cool, nice to meet you.”

Actually, why don’t they Uplift humanity? If a single planet of humans create enough emergy to conter the energy use of the rest of the universe’s species, how much emergy could be created by a Human Federation? See, Incubator? I’ve only known about this for a few minutes, and already I’m finding problems. You fail at logic!

Ahaha, NO. Incubator, you don’t get to try and blame humanity for the rest of the universe’s species using so much energy. Maybe they should cut back on their electricity, turn down the AC? If we leave our world to find an “empty and desolate” universe, that’s not our problem.

...don’t make me say it.

...I really don’t want to say it.

...ok, FINE. You may have a tiny, itty-bitty point. Yes, it would be advantageous for humanity as a whole to rise up into an established universal community.

BUT. You are saying that this comes at the cost of human lives.

Read my lips, Incubator. It was NOT okay for Mami to die. It was NOT okay for Sayaka to suffer. It was NOT okay for Kyoko’s family to implode.

“But we always ask and receive your consent before making the contract. Doesn’t that alone show our good will?”

Madoka screams that they do it by tricking all of us. YES.

“We aren’t able to comprehend what you mean by ‘tricking.’”

…

“Why is it that when humans regret a decision based on a misunderstanding they feel resentment toward the other party?”

…

… *snap*

FUCK. YOU. BUNNY-CAT.

This is not logic, this is not “for the greater good”, this is just being a dick. You claim to be an advanced species? Then you damn well understand what we mean by ‘tricking’ someone else. You knew all the details, and only gave out information at your leisure. If someone makes a decision based on a misunderstanding, it’s not their fault for not having all the knowledge. It’s the fault of whoever did have the knowledge, and neglected to share it for their own advantage.

Here, let me try something. Hey Incubator, I know about this other planet with a species that produces ten times as much emergy than any human, even a Magical Girl. Just fly off to the Alpha Centauri system, you’ll spot them easily!... Oh, what’s that? You flew all the way there and used up so much energy, but there was nobody there? Aw, what a shame. Hey now, what are you blaming me for? It’s not my fault you misunderstood that I was joking.

Madoka can’t follow the Incubator’s so-called “logic”. Believe me, Madoka, it’s good that you don’t understand that little jerk’s excuses.

Oh come the FUCK on, Incubator. You’re going to act the victim here?! Oh, I’m so sorry that it’s so hard for you to understand humans and our values system. We’ve got nearly 17 billion people, with 10 more every 4 seconds-

“-why should you care so much about the loss of a tiny handful?”

...WOW. Ok then.

Aaaand we have reached the tipping point. Madoka, our all-loving Protagonist, has said “If that’s how you think, then you really are our enemy.” Good job, Incubator! You proved to be so immoral with your faulty logic that sweet little Madoka has named you Enemy.

The Incubator soldiers on, acting all gracious that he came to try and explain themselves to her.

“I was hoping you’d understand what incredible good your sacrifices have done for this universe.”

Oh, well if you think that sacrificing these girls for the universe is for the best, then who am I to stop you?

The Incubator can’t understand Madoka’s point of view, and Madoka can’t accept the Incubator’s.

But the Incubator keeps up the compliments, saying that one day she’ll be the most powerful of Magical Girls. And then the wickedest of all Witches. A Witch with protagonist powers, brrr…

Oh, I’m so happy to hear that the harvesting of Madoka will get you an incomparable amount of energy, Incubator. That makes everything so much better!

“So if you ever feel like dying for the the sake of the universe, please call me anytime. I’ll be waiting for you!”

...wow. You dick.

The Incubator jumps away, and Madoka starts to cry.

*slight break between posts*

Aw jeez, sorry guys. I thought I’d take a few days to get settled into the fall semester, not get delayed over a month getting back. But on the plus side, as I’m sitting here, about to pull up Crunchyroll and resume the episode, there’s some emotional distance from that last part. Yes, I recognize the irony. And in that time, I have come to two realizations: Kyubey is right. And Kyubey is a moron. Hear me out. I’m going to try and do this response justice. If we accept what Kyubey has said as truth, then we are not alone. There are other species out in the universe, other inhabited planets. I don’t know how many there are, but let’s assume at least two others besides us and Kyubey’s race. If we go by pure, ‘unemotional’ math, we can say that humanity is outnumbered by 3 to one. And that’s not even factoring in the likelihood that these other races have settled more planets than our single world, the ratio could be much, much higher. Going by pure numbers, we are in the minority. In pure voting terms, if the other races are in agreement, our ‘discomfort’ means diddly-squat. And even beyond that, we’re talking about the heat-death of the Universe, the Incubators and the other races are working to prevent the end of reality. If that’s your goal, what sacrifice is too great? Especially if it’s not you who’s doing the sacrificing? So yeah, the need is there. Using emergy is a solution, perhaps the only solution, to the heat-death of the universe. Assuming that Kyubey isn’t lying about it being greater than entropy. In that, this single point, Kyubey is right. What I find painful however, beyond that whole ‘sacrificing young girls who knew not what they were getting into because you didn’t tell them’ thing, is that the Incubators are being criminally inefficient about this. It’d be funny if it wasn’t measured in lives. As Shay Guy said, they’ve found a local maximum with the emergy from a single human and just focused on maximizing that. Which I find to be criminally short-sighted on their part. I mean, seriously? You find a species that is the single solution to the heat-death problem, you maximize the emergy from young girls, and then you just leave it at that? Let’s run a scenario: Instead of sulking about in the shadows, creeping on little girls, you land a spaceship in front of the UN. An Incubator saunters inside, reveals that there are multiple alien species out there, and that they rely on human emotions to prolong the universe. Set up a few emergy-capturing satellites in orbit, rather than whatever method you use to gather emergy from individual girls, and start uplifting humanity to settle other planets, set up more emergy satellites… Hell, at worst if emergy satellites won’t work you get people who contract knowing the price. For crying out loud, I’d be willing to make the Contract myself, knowing that I’d get to enjoy power for at least a little while, be wary about my magic use and falling into despair so quickly, and knowing that my passing would result in the entire Universe lasting just a little bit longer. Ugh. Just, ugh. Incubators, what you are doing now is like finding a coal mine and setting it on fire to stay warm. Or whatever, I just cannot wrap my head around the inefficiency of this so-called advanced race. Bleh, whatever. Let’s get back to the Magical Girls. Been a while since I saw the episode, so I’ll pause here, watch up to where I left off, and then come back once I’m in the proper mindset. *Ten minutes later* FEEEEEEELS. Also, I demand an Incubator plushie for Christmas so I can punch it repeatedly. Camera is panning over Anime City (I know it has a real name, but I can’t remember how to spell it), settles on a table loaded with food. Ah, Kyoko! What are you up to? ...That’s Sayaka. No, that’s Sayaka’s body. Why do you have Sayaka’s body, Kyoko? What are you doing with your Soul Gem? INCUBATOR. GET OUT. It asks what Kyoko hopes to achieve, using so much energy to “keep the body fresh.” Aw, Kyoko. You haven’t given up on Sayaka, have you? I get it, I really do but… you know what happens when a Magical Girl uses up their energy or gives into despair, you’ve seen it happen right in front of you. Don’t put yourself at risk. Kyoko asks if there’s any way to get the Soul Gem back, the Incubator- Oh, you dick. “None, as far as I know anyway”? That is the worst kind of manipulation, saying that you don’t know but not completely dismissing the possibility. Because after all, it only benefits you if Kyoko uses up too much energy trying to fix Sayaka and Witchifies herself. Aaargh. Yup, after the Incubator says that Kyoko stops eating and pounces on the possibility, the fact that there’s stuff even the Incubator doesn’t know. Oh. Oh damn you, show. I accept that Sayaka is gone, that there’s no hope of her coming back, but then… “The existence of magical girls defies logic as it is.” This is a world of magic, of power greater than entropy. I can’t rule anything out. Heck, there’s apparently a time traveler running around (and doesn’t that say volumes about the show, that someone being a time-traveler has taken a backseat to this current issue). Like Kyoko, I am thinking about the possibility. I want it to be true, so bad. Argh, and the Incubator just keeps not committing. “There’s no precedent for it.” Speaking the truth, but framing it in a way that these poor girls are getting played. “Unfortunately, I can’t offer any guidance at this time.” GOOD. Now get out. Kyoko (and I) are done with your ‘advice’, you can just shove off. Later, it’s a new day! The sun is shining! The birds are singing! Madoka shuffles along to school, knowing that her best friend has become a Witch and fielding well-meaning questions from Hitomi! She tries to claim that she just didn’t get enough sleep. “Speaking of which, it looks as if Sayaka is staying home again today.” … Please stop talking. Please stop talking about how you should go visit her later, but you’re worried about how awkward things are between the two of you at the moment. Madoka is about to speak up- Sudden Kyoko telepathy! She rightfully calls Madoka out for trying to act like everything is normal and going to school, after the bombshell of yesterday. Kyoko says she needs to talk to Madoka, who says she’ll stay home today too and runs off, leaving a very confused Muggle behind. In what I assume is the touristy part of town, with the clean streets and windchimes, Madoka meets up with Kyoko. “Don’t you want to save Sayaka Miki?”... what are you planning, Kyoko? Maokda immediately leaps on the possibility of saving her best friend, and damn you Incubator I can see where this is going. Kyoko wants to save the girl who countered her “live only for yourself” philosophy… Side note: I know that I said I would stop shipping people in this show because apparently my saying “they would be a cute couple” is a death sentence. But am I allowed to ship people if one of them is already dead? I still think that comic of Kyoko and Sayaka is adorable, and she should be safe now that a ship is impossible. Right? Anyways, Kyoko questions why Madoka was going to school, not trying to save her best friend. Ouch. Well, I mean, I assumed that becoming a Witch was irreversible, too. Can you really blame Madoka for not trying something that she thought wasn’t possible? Oh? Kyoko’s apologizing for her phrasing? Damn, her personality has really mellowed since her first “let the Familiars feed on Muggles” introduction, hasn’t it? Still stubborn and headstrong, though, as seen here when she says that until they are certain whether Sayaka can be saved or not, she’s not going to give up. Ok, so what’s the plan?... Talk at the Witch and hope that when Madoka calls out to her, she’ll get back her human memories? Um. I… am not certain about the validity of this plan. I mean, if it is possible, then her best friend Madoka would probably be the only one capable of getting through to her. But given this show’s track record, I’m not so certain that “magic of friendship” plan is going to work. Kyoko admits that she has no idea if it’ll work or not. But that’s just the reason that she wants to try it. Heck, maybe if they cut the witch apart Sayaka’s Soul Gem instead of a Grief Seed would pop out. “Wouldn’t that be something? It’d be like one of those stories where love and courage triumph over all.” Urobuchi, stop laughing. I can hear you from here. Let me have this. Awwww. Kyoko’s talking about how she probably became a MG in the first place because she used to love those sort of stories. She’d forgotten… but it was Sayaka who reminded her again. Crap. Crap crap crap. I did it again, didn’t I? I just doomed Kyoko with my Ship of Death. I’m sorry, Food Girl, please forgive me! I didn’t mean to put you in Urobuchi’s crosshairs, I thought it was safe to ship you with a dead girl! And that sounds way creepier than I intended! Kyoko’s frank, saying that she won’t force Madoka the Muggle to follow the plan, that it’ll be dangerous if she does, and that Kyoko can’t guarantee that she can protect her. But our Protagonist agrees. Go Madoka, show that stupid Bunny-Cat what for! And we get the adorable pair-up of sweet, friendly Madoka and the tough, cool Kyoko. One joke about Madoka cramping her style and giving her some food (The Kyoko Seal of Approval), and the plan is in motion. Ouch. The classroom is looking a little emptier now, with multiple “absent” future-desks. And Homura claims sickness, walks out. Later that day, as the sun is setting, Kyoko and Madoka are walking along under a highway, heading to Sayaka’s Labyrinth. Madoka asks about if Homura would help them, but Kyoko blows it off, saying that she’s not that kind of person. Methinks Kyoko’s still a little bitter about the “drop that useless baggage” comment from the night before. Madoka, sweet loving naive Madoka, asks “Aren’t you the two of them friends?” Kyoko says not really, they did team up to beat enemies that they couldn’t defeat alone- Oh crap, Wally-Watsit, the Super Witch! I completely forgot about them! I mean, knowing that Homura is a time traveler, I’m not thinking that she’s intentionally summoning it, but… Ok, wild theory time, thinking about Homura’s philosophy of power. I think my idea that she summoned Wally-Witch could still work in the original timeline, but when she realized that she bit off more than she could chew she (somehow) went back in time to try it again. Try to warn Mami about the hospital Witch, keep Sayaka from making a Contract and turning into a Witch and distracting them from preparing for Wally, recruiting the outsider Kyoko to help in the fight… seems like a good plan to me. Pity it all went to pot. Oh, Kyoko is telling Madoka about Wally (Walpurgisnacht) now, warning her that it’ll arrive in a few days. Stronger than either Kyoko or Homura, if they team up they stand a chance. Incubator: “Oh, how brave of your friends to fight this terrible foe! But it’s really dangerous, they may not survive. But of course, if they had help from another Magical Girl, one with loads of potentia-” *Gets punted by Kyoko* And they’re at the construction site. Kyoko’s sure that it’s Sayaka, since the magic patterns are the same as yesterday. Kyoko finishes off her whatever-on-a-stick and transforms, checks one last time to make sure Madoka is up for the Labyrinth. “I’ve gotten kind of used to this, actually. Although… all I ever do is trail along behind others.” Nope, nope nope nope. You are doing just fine, Madoka, do not give into peer pressure now. But she’s still brave enough to go in as a Muggle. Kyoko smiles… and opens the Labyrinth. Inside what appears to be a dark brick-wall hallway, Madoka asks Kyoko if she’s a coward, since everyone else fights but her. Kyoko just asks why she would ever become a Magical Girl. It’s not a job just anyone can do. If Madoka gets to live a life that Kyoko dreamed of when she was younger and her father’s church was failing, good food every day and a happy life with her family… why give it up to fight monsters? “I’d never allow that to happen.” Daw, and Kyoko has joined the ‘Protect Madoka Brigade’. You may think that you’re weak, Madoka, but frankly you’ve got superheroines tripping over themselves to protect you. But of course Kyoko adds her own twist of tough love to this declaration of protection, saying she’ll pound Madoka’s face in before she became a Magical Girl. Heh. “I mean, putting your life in danger… only people who’ve got no other choice should do that.” Aw, Kyoko’s turning from a Barbarian to a Paladin. She keeps calling heroes idiots, but she is becoming quite a heroine. Damn you, Urobuchi, for making me see that as a sign of death. Let me have the hope that heroes can prevail, not just die tragically. Stop crushing my optimism. “But maybe a time will come when you’ll have no choice but to risk your life and fight. You should wait until then to think about it.” And with that lovely quote, they approach the end of the hallway. Now there’s another one, with glowing walls and a bunch of musical notes… oh yeah, Sayaka’s magic signature was music notes! Man, this scene’s going to have some good music, isn’t it? Yeah, I can hear an orchestra starting up- crud, the door just slammed shut behind them! She’s coming! Music is picking up- oh hell yes, it is an orchestra. And the Witch herself, swaying as if she’s conducting. Ladies and gentlemen. Showtime. Come on, Madoka. Call out to your friend. Let Sayaka be in there, let her hear Madoka. Let us get a happy ending… no, the Witch is attacking now. Kyoko summons up a barrier for Madoka and tells her to keep calling out while Kyoko parries the train wheels. Madoka’s pleading for Sayaka to remember how she wanted to fight for justice, to go back to her old self. But it’s not working. The (awesome) music is swelling as the Witch sends a stupid amount of train wheels at Kyoko, and oh crap the barrier just went down. Ok whew, Kyoko is still ok… but looks tired after that barrage. She just tells Madoka to keep it up, resummons the barrier and keeps at it. But she’s getting knocked around, Madoka’s not getting through. Come on, Kyoko, keep fighting, don’t just stand there and get hit. Aw hell no, Kyoko. Don’t get all maudlin on me now, stop talking about how you started off trying to kill each other. You gave her food, doesn’t that mean something! Stop reminiscing and start kicking ass! But nope, she’s thinking about a red-and-blue image of Kyoko reaching out to Sayaka only for the Blue to shatter and the image collapse. Crap. You really did like Sayaka, didn’t you? The barrier is down again, Madoka is exposed. Crap, the Witch grabbed her! You let our Title Character go! There we go, Kyoko is pissed off, get back up! She’s cut Madoka free, is yelling at the Witch… crud. Madoka is unconcious, the floor is collapsing, and Kyoko is praying. Is that… Kamijo? Oh thank god Homura’s here, caught Madoka. But… Kyoko is not doing too well. And she doesn’t have Sayaka’s healing ability. “Hey. You… take care of her for me…” No. “I was an idiot for dragging her into this.” NO. NO! Kyoko! You pull that barrier down this instant, young missy! Homura just got here, don’t you dare keep her from helping you! Don’t you dare throw her “you can’t fight when weighed down with a burden” words back at her, make her retreat with Madoka. Don’t you dare pull a self-sacrificing Paladin! Don’t you fucking dare! Kyoko undoes her hair, and a hairpin falls out. She grabs it, and then kneels down in front of the barrier and beings to pray, or rather use her magic to summon a bunch of giant spears. She talks to Sayaka, says that she’ll be here with her… kisses her Soul Gem… and then stabs it. Explosion. Homura and Madoka are out in the real world. And the Labyrinth is nowhere to be seen. Later, at Homura’s house/apartment/residence. Homura is sitting in her room, staring at the floor. Or maybe at the maps scattered on her table. Still planning for Wally-Witch, then? But without Mami, Sayaka, or now Kyoko, can you still face it this time without Madoka giving up her soul? INCUBATOR. GET OUT. Homura asks if there was any real chance for Kyoko to save Sayaka. “Of course not. She should have known that it was impossible.” Oh fuck you, Bunny-Cat! And then to go on, say that you would have stopped her if “her death had been needless”? That getting her out of the picture served a very important purpose? But of course, this all works out to your favor. Because like I said, now there is no one else to help Homura against Walpurgisnact. Even with the experience of a past life, she is not strong enough to face the Super Witch alone. “In order to protect this city, there is no choice but for Madoka to become a Magical Girl.” And here’s the terrible, terrible choice. Homura is defined as doing whatever it takes to save others from the fate of giving up their souls, becoming a Magical Girl. Everything she has done has been to prevent Madoka from making that sacrifice. But when the cost of Madoka’s freedom is her city getting attacked by a Super Witch? Can one life be preserved at the cost of the many? Homura won’t let Madoka make the Contract. She swears it. … OH FUCK YOU, UROBUCHI! You end on this downer note, I’m practically crying over the injustice of the Incubator manipulating things to where Madoka has to Contract in order to save the city, and then you blindside me with this beautiful artwork of Kyoko and Sayaka?! God damn it, just take my heart and stomp on it, why don’t you? And this end-credits song… Da fuq? Final artwork piece of Kyoko looking a lot older and much more cat-like. Ok? Alright, let’s hear this teaser for the next episode: “No one believe me about the future.” Oh my god. Oh my god oh my god oh my god. We finally get to see Homura’s story? Her previous life? “No one can accept the truth about the future. I won’t rely on anyone anymore.” ...oof, this next episodes going to be a gut-punch, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve come to accept that these episodes are murder on my emotional state, but seeing Homura try to distance herself from these people, to keep from despair? This is going to be brutal.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm 9

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lanadelreyfiles-blog · 7 years ago

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How Lana Del Rey Wrote Her Most Politically-Engaged Album Yet By Meaghan Garvey for Billboard Magazine. When mysterious, melancholy Lana Del Rey announced her fifth album with a beaming smile and a lead single simply called 'Love,' it seemed change was in the wind. Coming on the heels of 2015's darkly introspective ‘Honeymoon,’ a Billboard 200 No. 2 album, fans theorized that this would be Del Rey's “happy album.” Instead, as the 2016 election worked its way into her writing process, Del Rey, 32, metabolized the surrounding chaos into a work both engaged and transportive. "I like the Leonard Cohen quote: 'There's a crack in everything/That's how the light gets in,'" Del Rey says. "I feel like this is the year where we're seeing a lot of cracks -- the cracks that have been there forever. But the blessing in [that] is that we get to shine light on the problems that have been in society for a long time, and hopefully fix them. That makes me feel excited, actually." Along with her longtime collaborator, producer Rick Nowels, Del Rey wove '60s folk with stripped-down hip-hop percussion and, for the first time in her career, welcomed a thoughtfully eclectic guest roster (including Stevie Nicks, The Weeknd and Playboi Carti). For Del Rey, one of few album-oriented pop artists these days, tapping into the mood of the moment paid off: Lead single 'Love' spent two weeks atop the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, and ‘Lust for Life’ became Del Rey's second Billboard 200 No. 1.

Meaghan Garvey: How has this year been for you? You’ve had all these great career highs, but at the same time, at least personally, it’s hard not to feel a bit beaten down by the world… Lana Del Rey: Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. I try and take different approaches to how I see things every day. Because I guess if you just watched the news only, and didn’t have your own perspective, it would be hard to get through the day. But I really like the Leonard Coen quote: “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” I feel like this is the year where we’re seeing a lot of cracks—all the cracks that have been there forever. But the blessing in all of these things that have been coming out is that we get to shine a lot of light on the problems that have been in society for a long time, and hopefully fix them. So that’s something I like to hold on to, and it makes me feel excited, actually. Because it feels like it’s happening fast. MG: It’s funny because, leading up to ‘Lust For Life,’ a lot of people were like: “Oh my god, Lana is smiling! This is going to be her happy album!” And definitely there’s a shift that seems significant, but I don’t know if “happy” is the word I would use. How do you feel about that? LDR: I think maybe a good word to use would be more present—less from the outside looking in, and sort of a more integrated perspective lyrically. Like, it’s not just about love, or feeling disappointed, it’s also about being in LA, cause that’s where I live, and thinking about… You know, like a song ‘When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing,’ and the lyric is, “Is it the end of an era? Is it the end of America?”, kind of like we were saying earlier. I was thinking about things that are broader than just my relationships, which was nice for me. Probably nice for the fans, too—a little bit of a reprieve. MG: Starting off with a blank slate, did you have some idea that these were things you wanted to express, that this was going to be a more integrated perspective, or was that just kind of where the songs took you? LDR: Well, I think I started writing the record in the reverse order that the tracklisting is in now. So I started with the more… I don’t know how to describe them. I don’t wanna use the word “negative.” But we’ll say, I started writing the darker songs first. ‘Heroine,’ ‘Get Free,’ and then I kept ‘13 Beaches’ at the front of the tracklisting. I had a lot of songs where I was trying to state my intentions of what I wanted; in ‘Get Free,’ I wanted to move forward, I wanted to feel differently. ‘Heroine’ I was thinking about some stuff that had happened in the past. And then ‘13 Beaches,’ I was lamenting over the fact that it took me that many beaches to find a quiet one to just chill out at. So I had to get through all of my complaining [laughs]. And then once I got to be cathartic in that way, I thought: Alright, now I want to invite my friends in. I want The Weeknd to come in and be on a track, and [A$AP] Rocky’s so cool, I want him to be on a track. Obviously, the election was happening halfway through my writing process, and I was thinking about the election, and I wrote four songs that didn’t end up going on the record that were a little more politically oriented. I didn’t end up using those, but ‘When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing’ and ‘God Bless America — And All The Beautiful Women In It,’ we kept on the record. So i was sort of just letting the process happen to me as I was moving through the election—and also just working through my personal life, which has been… very balanced. That’s all the little things that culminated into the body of work. MG: It’s interesting because we seem to have reached this point of cultural urgency that extends even to pop music—not to say that your music is necessarily pop music, but some people would put you there. And sometimes that works quite well, and other times it’s like, ugh, swing and a miss! [Lana starts laughing] And when ‘Coachella — Woodstock In My Mind’ came out, I think it caught people off-guard—like, wait, Lana Del Rey is getting woke? It could’ve gone so wrong, but you pulled it off completely! LDR: [Laughs] I know what you mean. But everybody has a different level of emotional depth that they draw from, and you know, I didn’t always choose to draw from—you know, that’s not true, actually. I was always drawing from my deeper writing well the best that I could. But I was just in a different place. I know what you mean, though, it can go so badly. It can go so wrong. But I actually was never worried. I’m never really worried about whether I can pull off a sentiment, because I know if I’m even trying to write it, I’ll eventually finesse the language and the mood of it in a way that feels comfortable to me. Because I know if it sounds comfortable to me, it’s gonna be comfortable for the fans. It would never be something that like, reads in a weird way. I mean, I really trust my writing voice so much—even more than my decision-making voice. MG: You’re really good at knowing, like: Sometimes things need to be subtle, and sometimes symbolic, and then sometimes need to be really on-the-nose because that’s just what the situation calls for. LDR: Yea, I think that’s true. MG: It’s also interesting that ‘Lust For Life’ felt so suited to the madness of 2017, but it also was very soothing. It sort of absorbed the madness and metabolized it into something that was transportive, even as it reached out into the world. And that was nice, because it wasn’t just like, “Oh, we’re fucked man!” LDR: I love the way you just described that—“metabolizing” something. My version of that word is “integrating” it, and processing it. Like, I take so much time for myself to think, and to meditate, and to talk to people I really trust about what they think, so I’ve got a lot of perspective that’s wound up into my own. And that really helps me to have a balanced view on everything. I mean, even though overall, it’s pretty dramatic. Even in L.A. right now, with the fires, and in Sonoma up north. And the earthquakes and everything—it’s a lot! But, I don’t know, I just have this really strong instinct that it’s all leading in a much-needed, different direction, that hopefully we’re all leaning into. It’s like a really hard turn to make, because we’ve got all these weird societal norms we’ve gotta break out of, and we’ve been stuck in them. MG: Yea, I guess it requires chaos to shake out of that. LDR: Apparently! It’s pretty weird, but I feel like it’s not a coincidence. It feels a little bit like a movie. MG: I wondered about the process of getting inspired for you. Because some artists get inspired by going out in the world and feeding off energy, and then others are able to create by removing themselves from that noise and creating their own space where they feel comfortable. So I wondered where you sat on this spectrum. LDR: Mm, that’s a good question. I think my most important thing has been just trusting what I want to do every day, even if it’s different. If I wake up and I have plans to do one thing, but I really feel like I’d rather drive six hours north to San Francisco to visit a friend for no reason, I just kind of don’t second-guess it and I go. Spontaneity, that’s a big thing for me. But that being said, still having a place I like to call home, even though I travel a lot. And for me, I don’t really like to write when I’m upset. I don’t really like sharing those thoughts until I’m all the way through them. So I don’t really feel inspired by heartbreak, and I don’t even necessarily feel inspired by something super exciting. I think I’m just inspired when I’m doing whatever feels right in the moment—when I’m really in the flow. MG: I’ve always been a little jealous of people who can make art out of depression or grief. Because for me, that’s when I’m non-functional. LDR: I’m non-functional, too. That’s when I don’t really wanna do anything. I definitely don’t want to make an amazing song. MG: Yea, that’s when art as a priority kind of just falls away for me. LDR: I don’t know how people do that. Those must be people who function really well in high crisis situations. Which I don’t. MG: Going back to ‘Get Free’ for a second: I think it’s interesting you felt like you were getting out negative feelings on that song, because… well, that song always makes me cry, but not quite in a sad way. It’s more overwhelming, because when you sing “Finally, I’m crossing the threshold,” it feels like that moment of change where you don’t know yet what’s going to be on the other side of it, because it’s happening to you, and you’re in it. The album itself almost feels like a document of change—it’s not like at the end of the album, it’s like, “Well, this is the lesson learned…” LDR: Which is how I thought it was gonna be! I thought it was gonna be that way. MG: Do you have any perspective now on, when you say you’re crossing this threshold, what was on the other side? LDR: Okay, so “crossing the threshold” was actually a reference to this little concept, or diagram, that’s called “The Hero’s Journey.” This writer, Joseph Campbell, came up with this little model. And it’s all about this character who has a lot of trouble at the beginning of the story, and then somewhere in the middle of the story, crosses the threshold to sort of face the monster, or the challenger, and in the end hopefully emerges triumphant once he’s beaten the bad guy or whatever. And I had been talking about that with my engineer, and I thought: I don’t usually use metaphors, but I loved the line “crossing the threshold,” and I wanted to bring it into that song I’d already started writing. So I changed those first few lines, so that woven in would be the idea of the hero’s journey. Because I really liked the idea of changing your own past. I think that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t really know if I had control over doing that for a long time, and yeah, I didn’t know what would be on the other side of me making a couple of really strong personal decisions and statement. Even just using my own voice to talk about stuff, that was different from ‘Love.’ And I didn’t really know how the whole thing would go. But I liked so much that it would be my authentic voice at the time, so I just decided that to write what I was feeling was important enough to cross that threshold in the music. It’s kind of hard for me to explain, because there’s so many different levels to it: like, I’m making literary allusions, but I’m also really trying to make changes in my own life. It’s hard to articulate it eloquently! MG: ‘Love’ was what I wanted to ask you about next. First, just the title, because you know, you’ve got this reputation for mystery and melancholy and then suddenly it’s like, boom, LOVE! The most direct, unmysterious title. Was there some significance to you in the directness of that? LDR: Yea. It didn’t start off as ‘Love.’ It started as ‘Young & In Love,’ but I didn’t really like that title, because that wasn’t even the point of the song. I could have gone back and edited the song as well, but I liked how the whole thing sounded, so I didn’t. Then I worked with Sean Lennon, and you know, that Lennon legacy is so tied into that one word. So I just thought, you know what? I just wanna go for it. The whole record is pointing its own little nose in that direction, between like, Stevie Nicks, and Sean Lennon, and ‘Lust For Life,’ and ‘Love’… It felt like once I got through the chaos of making all these little personal statements that I had to almost delete from the music and then put back in, I was ready to say that what I’m getting at is, like so many singers in the past: it’s all about love! And obviously it’s about more than that. It is about more than that. But what you said about being on the nose sometimes—I liked that it was pretty literal, and it felt nice and comfortable to not necessarily have layers to all of the singles. That one and ‘Lust For Life’ were similar in that they were kind of just about having fun. Even if you don’t have anywhere to go, well, so what, just get dressed up and go anyways. MG: Sometimes that line [“You get ready, you get all dressed up / To go nowhere in particular”] kinda made me sad, too, though! LDR: I’ve heard that! MG: I sometimes heard it as, you know, you get dressed up and you don’t have anywhere to go, and you maybe made these plans that didn’t turn out. LDR: All dressed up and nowhere to go. Which is funny, because when I was 20 and writing little folk songs, I had a lot of that line, “All dressed up with nowhere to go.” But sometimes my lines end up slipping on themselves, and I feel differently about them once I’ve got some perspective on them. But I think I was thinking… you know, you don’t need hundreds of friends to have something fun to do, you know? You can have fun by yourself. It was more about just feeling a lot of love whether you’re alone, or you’re with someone. You don’t have to have a party to go to. But I know everyone interpets it in their own way. I read one review that was like, “Well, this is depressing.” And I was like, “Fuck, really? Another depressing song?” [Laughs] You can’t get it there all the way sometimes, you can’t get the message exactly the way you want it. But I think because of the production and the melody, I can also feel the melancholia. And maybe, on some level, I was feeling like, “Fuck, I’ve got nowhere to go.” I don’t remember thinking that when I was writing it, but probably there’s a little of that in there. Who knows! MG: I wondered if you cared about… You know, this album has singles, and that’s more than could be said of ‘Honeymoon’ to begin with… [Lana starts laughing] No, I totally don’t mean that in a negative way, I adore ‘Honeymoon’! LDR: No, it’s just funny! It’s funny. MG: Do you think, like, okay, this song’s gonna be the single, and we’re gonna push it like so? Or is that just the shit that happens later? LDR: That’s like, what John Janick says. He’ll say, “Oh I love this song, I want this to be the single.” And if I like it, well, then I’ll say okay. But not with a record like ‘Honeymoon.’ With a record like ‘Honeymoon,’ he’s like… Have fun! Because that’s just, you know, kind of like a vanity project. I mean, in a good way. Like, a project just for you. With this one— first of all, I love everybody at my label. But John and the guys I work with loved ‘Love,’ and they loved ‘Lust For Life.’ So those were really the only two singles that we thought about, and I’m kind of doing air quotes with “singles” alone in my room right now. What that means for us, at this point, is just that the song’s gonna get a video. So it’s kind of different for us than it is for other people. It usually means, like, there’s a feature on it or there’s gonna be a video, or maybe I’ll sing it on the radio if I do, like, a thing with KROQ. My label’s pretty good about not having too many expectations. I guess I felt like, if one song was going to go further than the other ones, I thought it was ‘Love,’ and I think I was right about that. That’s the one people will remember if they’re just a casual listener—which is good, because I really like that song! Even if just one of the songs goes far, that’s kind of like an accomplishment, because there’s so much music out there. Even if one makes it to the radio, even if it’s indie or college radio or whatever. MG: Do you have expectations for your own records? When you finished writing the record, did you have any idea as to… what you thought it would do? Or if people would like it? Ugh, I don’t know how to phrase this question, do you know kind of what I’m saying? LDR: Yea, I do. I did have expectations for the record. I wanted to see if it was going to be heard for what it was really saying, and overall, from what I read, it was interpreted correctly. Which is a good sign for me, because it means I’m not seeing things one way, and the culture is seeing things the other way. Which is bad—that means there’s some incongruence there. That means you need to check yourself, and I don’t wanna check myself. I wanna stay in the flow, keep writing. From what I read, I didn’t feel like anyone thought I was trying to make some mega-turn in the end, away from what I had done originally. It was just a slow advancement with a couple sparkly details in it. So that was good enough for me. And what’s cool is that I’m only just starting to tour next month. My records are very slow-burning for a long time, and sometimes… I remember with ‘Summertime Sadness,’ that song didn’t even go on the radio until two years after the record came out. My songs always surprise me. Sometimes they find themselves in movies, or getting nominated for things, way after they’ve been out. So it’s pretty cool. MG: Yea, not to like, blow smoke up your ass, but with you in particular, it seems to take the culture as a whole a minute to catch up with you. And that’s true with each of your records, but with ‘Lust For Life’ in particular, it feels like the moment that the culture has met you on your grounds. LDR: Well, that’s a really cool way of looking at it. And when I think about it, maybe that’s because I’m ready, too. Maybe I needed a lot of time to just be me, all to myself, and just be weird. It’s easier when you’re in a mood to be more out there. And I don’t really know what makes that happen; maybe it’s just enough time making music. Who knows why timing works out the way it does? But I like that you said that, I think that’s cool. I really like this record; I think if this was the first record some people heard from me, I’d be really proud of that.

#Lana Del Rey #Billboard #Interview

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3lc3lc3lc · 7 years ago

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IT HAPPENED

well folks, a couple weeks back, I got to talk to the one and only Lana Del Rey for Billboard’s 2017 #1s issue. the version that appears in print is quite abbreviated, so I thought I would publish the full transcript for your viewing pleasure. (I left out the part at the end when I asked her for advice about getting over a toxic break-up; you’ll just have to use your imagination with that one.)

MG: How has this year been for you? You’ve had all these great career highs, but at the same time, at least personally, it’s hard not to feel a bit beaten down by the world...

LDR: Yea. Yea, I can see that. I try and take different approaches to how I see things every day. Because I guess if you just watched the news only, and didn’t have your own perspective, it would be hard to get through the day. But I really like the Leonard Coen quote: “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” I feel like this is the year where we’re seeing a lot of cracks—all the cracks that have been there forever. But the blessing in all of these things that have been coming out is that we get to shine a lot of light on the problems that have been in society for a long time, and hopefully fix them. So that’s something I like to hold on to, and it makes me feel excited, actually. Because it feels like it’s happening fast.

It’s funny because, leading up to Lust for Life, a lot of people were like: “Oh my god, Lana is smiling! This is going to be her happy album!” And definitely there’s a shift that seems significant, but I don’t know if “happy” is the word I would use. How do you feel about that?

I think maybe a good word to use would be more present—less from the outside looking in, and sort of a more integrated perspective lyrically. Like, it’s not just about love, or feeling disappointed, it’s also about being in LA, cause that’s where I live, and thinking about... You know, like a song “When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing,” and the lyric is, “Is it the end of an era? Is it the end of America?”, kind of like we were saying earlier. I was thinking about things that are broader than just my relationships, which was nice for me. Probably nice for the fans, too—a little bit of a reprieve.

Starting off with a blank slate, did you have some idea that these were things you wanted to express, that this was going to be a more integrated perspective, or was that just kind of where the songs took you?

Well, I think I started writing the record in the reverse order that the tracklisting is in now. So I started with the more... I don’t know how to describe them. I don’t wanna use the word “negative.” But we’ll say, I started writing the darker songs first. “Heroine,” “Get Free,” and then I kept “13 Beaches” at the front of the tracklisting. I had a lot of songs where I was trying to state my intentions of what I wanted; in “Get Free,” I wanted to move forward, I wanted to feel differently. “Heroine” I was thinking about some stuff that had happened in the past. And then “13 Beaches,” I was lamenting over the fact that it took me that many beaches to find a quiet one to just chill out at. So I had to get through all of my complaining [laughs]. And then once I got to be cathartic in that way, I thought: Alright, now I want to invite my friends in. I want The Weeknd to come in and be on a track, and [A$AP] Rocky’s so cool, I want him to be on a track. Obviously, the election was happening halfway through my writing process, and I was thinking about the election, and I wrote four songs that didn’t end up going on the record that were a little more politically oriented. I didn’t end up using those, but “When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing” and “God Bless America (And All The Beautiful Women In It),” we kept on the record. So i was sort of just letting the process happen to me as I was moving through the election—and also just working through my personal life, which has been... very balanced. That’s all the little things that culminated into the body of work.

It’s interesting because we seem to have reached this point of cultural urgency that extends even to pop music—not to say that your music is necessarily pop music, but some people would put you there. And sometimes that works quite well, and other times it’s like, ugh, swing and a miss! [Lana starts laughing] And when “Coachella / Woodstock In My Mind” came out, I think it caught people off-guard—like, wait, Lana Del Rey is getting woke? It could’ve gone so wrong, but you pulled it off completely!

[Laughs] I know what you mean. But everybody has a different level of emotional depth that they draw from, and you know, I didn’t always choose to draw from—you know, that’s not true, actually. I was always drawing from my deeper writing well the best that I could. But I was just in a different place. I know what you mean, though, it can go so badly. It can go so wrong. But I actually was never worried. I’m never really worried about whether I can pull off a sentiment, because I know if I’m even trying to write it, I’ll eventually finesse the language and the mood of it in a way that feels comfortable to me. Because I know if it sounds comfortable to me, it’s gonna be comfortable for the fans. It would never be something that like, reads in a weird way. I mean, I really trust my writing voice so much—even more than my decision-making voice.

You’re really good at knowing, like: Sometimes things need to be subtle, and sometimes symbolic, and then sometimes need to be really on-the-nose because that’s just what the situation calls for.

Yea, I think that’s true.

It’s also interesting that Lust for Life felt so suited to the madness of 2017, but it also was very soothing. It sort of absorbed the madness and metabolized it into something that was transportive, even as it reached out into the world. And that was nice, because it wasn’t just like, “Oh, we’re fucked man!”

I love the way you just described that—“metabolizing” something. My version of that word is “integrating” it, and processing it. Like, I take so much time for myself to think, and to meditate, and to talk to people I really trust about what they think, so I’ve got a lot of perspective that’s wound up into my own. And that really helps me to have a balanced view on everything. I mean, even though overall, it’s pretty dramatic. Even in L.A. right now, with the fires, and in Sonoma up north. And the earthquakes and everything—it’s a lot! But, I don’t know, I just have this really strong instinct that it’s all leading in a much-needed, different direction, that hopefully we’re all leaning into. It’s like a really hard turn to make, because we’ve got all these weird societal norms we’ve gotta break out of, and we’ve been stuck in them.

Yea, I guess it requires chaos to shake out of that.

Apparently! It’s pretty weird, but I feel like it’s not a coincidence. It feels a little bit like a movie.

I wondered about the process of getting inspired for you. Because some artists get inspired by going out in the world and feeding off energy, and then others are able to create by removing themselves from that noise and creating their own space where they feel comfortable. So I wondered where you sat on this spectrum.

Mm, that’s a good question. I think my most important thing has been just trusting what I want to do every day, even if it’s different. If I wake up and I have plans to do one thing, but I really feel like I’d rather drive six hours north to San Francisco to visit a friend for no reason, I just kind of don’t second-guess it and I go. Spontaneity, that’s a big thing for me. But that being said, still having a place I like to call home, even though I travel a lot. And for me, I don’t really like to write when I’m upset. I don’t really like sharing those thoughts until I’m all the way through them. So I don’t really feel inspired by heartbreak, and I don’t even necessarily feel inspired by something super exciting. I think I’m just inspired when I’m doing whatever feels right in the moment—when I’m really in the flow.

I’ve always been a little jealous of people who can make art out of depression or grief. Because for me, that’s when I’m non-functional.

I’m non-functional, too. That’s when I don’t really wanna do anything. I definitely don’t want to make an amazing song.

Yea, that’s when art as a priority kind of just falls away for me.

I don’t know how people do that. Those must be people who function really well in high crisis situations. Which I don’t.

Going back to “Get Free” for a second: I think it’s interesting you felt like you were getting out negative feelings on that song, because... well, that song always makes me cry, but not quite in a sad way. It’s more overwhelming, because when you sing “Finally, I’m crossing the threshold,” it feels like that moment of change where you don’t know yet what’s going to be on the other side of it, because it’s happening to you, and you’re in it. The album itself almost feels like a document of change—it’s not like at the end of the album, it’s like, “Well, this is the lesson learned...”

Which is how I thought it was gonna be! I thought it was gonna be that way.

Do you have any perspective now on, when you say you’re crossing this threshold, what was on the other side?

Okay, so “crossing the threshold” was actually a reference to this little concept, or diagram, that’s called “The Hero’s Journey.” This writer, Joseph Campbell, came up with this little model. And it’s all about this character who has a lot of trouble at the beginning of the story, and then somewhere in the middle of the story, crosses the threshold to sort of face the monster, or the challenger, and in the end hopefully emerges triumphant once he’s beaten the bad guy or whatever. And I had been talking about that with my engineer, and I thought: I don’t usually use metaphors, but I loved the line “crossing the threshold,” and I wanted to bring it into that song I’d already started writing. So I changed those first few lines, so that woven in would be the idea of the hero’s journey. Because I really liked the idea of changing your own past. I think that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t really know if I had control over doing that for a long time, and yea, I didn’t know what would be on the other side of me making a couple of really strong personal decisions and statement. Even just using my own voice to talk about stuff, that was different from “Love.” And I didn’t really know how the whole thing would go. But I liked so much that it would be my authentic voice at the time, so I just decided that to write what I was feeling was important enough to cross that threshold in the music. It’s kind of hard for me to explain, because there’s so many different levels to it: like, I’m making literary allusions, but I’m also really trying to make changes in my own life. It’s hard to articulate it eloquently!

“Love” was what I wanted to ask you about next. First, just the title, because you know, you’ve got this reputation for mystery and melancholy and then suddenly it’s like, boom, LOVE! The most direct, unmysterious title. Was there some significance to you in the directness of that?

Yea. It didn’t start off as “Love.” It started as “Young & In Love,” but I didn’t really like that title, because that wasn’t even the point of the song. I could have gone back and edited the song as well, but I liked how the whole thing sounded, so I didn’t. Then I worked with Sean Lennon, and you know, that Lennon legacy is so tied into that one word. So I just thought, you know what? I just wanna go for it. The whole record is pointing its own little nose in that direction, between like, Stevie Nicks, and Sean Lennon, and “Lust For Life,” and “Love”... It felt like once I got through the chaos of making all these little personal statements that I had to almost delete from the music and then put back in, I was ready to say that what I’m getting at is, like so many singers in the past: it’s all about love! And obviously it’s about more than that. It is about more than that. But what you said about being on the nose sometimes—I liked that it was pretty literal, and it felt nice and comfortable to not necessarily have layers to all of the singles. That one and “Lust for Life” were similar in that they were kind of just about having fun. Even if you don’t have anywhere to go, well, so what, just get dressed up and go anyways.

Sometimes that line [“You get ready, you get all dressed up / To go nowhere in particular”] kinda made me sad, too, though!

I’ve heard that!

I sometimes heard it as, you know, you get dressed up and you don’t have anywhere to go, and you maybe made these plans that didn’t turn out.

All dressed up and nowhere to go. Which is funny, because when I was 20 and writing little folk songs, I had a lot of that line, “All dressed up with nowhere to go.” But sometimes my lines end up slipping on themselves, and I feel differently about them once I’ve got some perspective on them. But I think I was thinking... you know, you don’t need hundreds of friends to have something fun to do, you know? You can have fun by yourself. It was more about just feeling a lot of love whether you’re alone, or you’re with someone. You don’t have to have a party to go to. But I know everyone interpets it in their own way. I read one review that was like, “Well, this is depressing.” And I was like, “Fuck, really? Another depressing song?” [Laughs] You can’t get it there all the way sometimes, you can’t get the message exactly the way you want it. But I think because of the production and the melody, I can also feel the melancholia. And maybe, on some level, I was feeling like, “Fuck, I’ve got nowhere to go.” I don’t remember thinking that when I was writing it, but probably there’s a little of that in there. Who knows!

I wondered if you cared about... You know, this album has singles, and that’s more than could be said of Honeymoon to begin with... [Lana starts laughing] No, I totally don’t mean that in a negative way, I adore Honeymoon!

No, it’s just funny! It’s funny.

Do you think, like, okay, this song’s gonna be the single, and we’re gonna push it like so? Or is that just the shit that happens later?

That’s like, what John Janick says. He’ll say, “Oh I love this song, I want this to be the single.” And if I like it, well, then I’ll say okay. But not with a record like Honeymoon. With a record like Honeymoon, he’s like... Have fun! Because that’s just, you know, kind of like a vanity project. I mean, in a good way. Like, a project just for you. With this one— first of all, I love everybody at my label. But John and the guys I work with loved “Love,” and they loved “Lust For Life.” So those were really the only two singles that we thought about, and I’m kind of doing air quotes with “singles” alone in my room right now. What that means for us, at this point, is just that the song’s gonna get a video. So it’s kind of different for us than it is for other people. It usually means, like, there’s a feature on it or there’s gonna be a video, or maybe I’ll sing it on the radio if I do, like, a thing with KROQ. My label’s pretty good about not having too many expectations. I guess I felt like, if one song was going to go further than the other ones, I thought it was “Love,” and I think I was right about that. That’s the one people will remember if they’re just a casual listener—which is good, because I really like that song! Even if just one of the songs goes far, that’s kind of like an accomplishment, because there’s so much music out there. Even if one makes it to the radio, even if it’s indie or college radio or whatever.

Do you have expectations for your own records? When you finished writing the record, did you have any idea as to... what you thought it would do? Or if people would like it? Ugh, I don’t know how to phrase this question, do you know kind of what I’m saying?

Yea, I do. I did have expectations for the record. I wanted to see if it was going to be heard for what it was really saying, and overall, from what I read, it was interpreted correctly. Which is a good sign for me, because it means I’m not seeing things one way, and the culture is seeing things the other way. Which is bad—that means there’s some incongruence there. That means you need to check yourself, and I don’t wanna check myself. I wanna stay in the flow, keep writing. From what I read, I didn’t feel like anyone thought I was trying to make some mega-turn in the end, away from what I had done originally. It was just a slow advancement with a couple sparkly details in it. So that was good enough for me. And what’s cool is that I’m only just starting to tour next month. My records are very slow-burning for a long time, and sometimes... I remember with “Summertime Sadness,” that song didn’t even go on the radio until two years after the record came out. My songs always surprise me. Sometimes they find themselves in movies, or getting nominated for things, way after they’ve been out. So it’s pretty cool.

Yea, not to like, blow smoke up your ass, but with you in particular, it seems to take the culture as a whole a minute to catch up with you. And that’s true with each of your records, but with Lust for Life in particular, it feels like the moment that the culture has met you on your grounds.

Well, that’s a really cool way of looking at it. And when I think about it, maybe that’s because I’m ready, too. Maybe I needed a lot of time to just be me, all to myself, and just be weird. It’s easier when you’re in a mood to be more out there. And I don’t really know what makes that happen; maybe it’s just enough time making music. Who knows why timing works out the way it does? But I like that you said that, I think that’s cool. I really like this record; I think if this was the first record some people heard from me, I’d be really proud of that.

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