#Mike!Trap Verse

[alienssstufff]

smth smth about the Federation tampering with the memories of island members as a way of keeping them on the island like before he was kidnapped q!Quackity was going on about no longer having attachments to the island after finally coming to terms with Tilin's death. Similar as well with q!Slime but not as obvious, throughout the Election arc showing signs that he's ready to grow from his mistakes and also was ready to leave the island to be himself before he met New!Juanaflippa and the fake paradise under Eggxile pushing him back to square 1, essentially overwriting all that development.

Possible reason why Quackity's mind was completely wiped and not Slime's was because his memories are tied closely with the damage he has caused on the island and at least Slime is already isolated himself.

[clericism]

⠀“ Mike! ”⠀He's used to running by now;⠀has done it his entire life whether it was running away or towards something⠀—⠀and yet, his lungs burn with exertion as he pries open the door, hazel hues scanning the room. He'd grabbed something along the way as a means to throw it at the assailant... but looking at it now, he didn't see how a kitchen bowl would be any use against the sort of eldritch creatures they've faced.

⠀“ Are you okay? I heard you yelling ”⠀Will's always been ashamed of not being strong enough, not being able to fight hard enough. Constantly in his head, terrified of all the possibilities of losing his loved ones. He doesn't want to be afraid anymore.

prompted starter for @wheeling / mike wheeler

[boombox-fuckboy]

any podcast recommendations for guys Going Through It. im a sucker for whump and i’ve already listened to TMA and Malevolent sooo

Fiction Podcasts: Characters Going Through It / Experiencing the Horrors

Gore warning for most, here's 15 to get you started:

I am in Eskew: (Horror) David Ward is arguably the Guy Going Through It. Stories from a man living in something that very much wants to be a city, and a private investigator who was, in her words, "hired to kill a ghost". Calmly recounted stories set to Eskew's own gentle, persistent rain. The audio quality's a bit naff but the writing is spectacular. If you like the writing, also check out The Silt Verses, which is a brilliant show by the same creators.

VAST Horizon: (Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller/Suspense Elements) And Dr. Nolira Ek is arguably the Gal Going Through it. An agronomist wakes from cryo to discover the ship she's on is dead in the water, far from their destination, and seemingly empty, barring the ship's malfunctioning AI, and an unclear reading on the monitors. I think you'll like this one. Great sound design, amazing acting, neat worldbuilding, and plenty of awful situations.

Dining in the Void: (Horror, Sci-Fi) So, the initial pacing on this one is a little weird, but stick with it. A collection of notable people are invited to a dinner aboard a space station, and find not only are they trapped there, but they're on a timer until total station destruction: unless they can figure out who's responsible. And there's someone else aboard to run a few games, just to make things more interesting. The games are frequently torturous. If that wasn't clear.

The White Vault: (Horror) By the same creators as VAST Horizon, this one follows a group sent to a remote arctic research base to diagnose and repair a problem. Trapped inside by persistant snow and wind, they discover something very interesting below their feet. Really well made show. The going through it is more spread out but there's a lot of it happening.

Archive 81: (Horror, Weird Fiction, Mystery and Urban Fantasy Elements) A young archivist is commissioned to digitize a series of tapes containing strange housing records from the 1990s. He has an increasingly bad time. Each season is connected but a bit different, so if S1 (relatively short) doesn't catch your ear, hang in for S2. You've got isolation, degredation of relationships, dehumanisation, and a fair amount of gore. And body horror on a sympathetic character is so underdone.

The Harrowing of Minerva Damson: (Fantasy, Horror) In an alternate version of our own world with supernatural monsters and basic magic, an order of women knights dedicated to managing such problems has survived all the way to the world wars, and one of them is doing her best with what she's got in the middle of it all.

SAYER: (Horror, Sci-Fi) How would you like to be the guy going through it? A series of sophisticated AI guide you soothingly through an array of mundane and horrible tasks.

WOE.BEGONE: (Sci-Fi) I don't keep up with this one any more, but I think Mike Walters goes through enough to qualify it. Even if it's frequently his own fault. A guy gets immediately in over his head when he begins to play an augmented reality game of entirely different sort. Or, the time-travel murder game.

Janus Descending: (Sci-Fi, Horror, Tragedy) A xenobiologist and a xenoanthropologist visit a dead city on a distant world, and find something awful. You hear her logs first-to-last, and his last-to-first, which is interesting framing but also makes the whole thing more painful. The audio equivalent of having your heart pulled out and ditched at the nearest wall. Listen to the supercut.

The Blood Crow Stories: (Horror) A different story every season. S1 is aboard a doomed cruise ship set during WWII, S2 is a horror western, S3 is cyberpunk with demons, and S4 is golden age cinema with a ghostly influence.

Mabel: (Supernatural, Horror, Fantasy Elements) The caretaker of a dying woman attempts to contact her granddaughter, leaving a series of increasingly unhinged voicemails. Supernatural history transitioning to poetic fae lesbian body horror.

Jar of Rebuke: (Supernatural) An amnesiac researcher with difficulties staying dead investigates strange creatures, eats tasty food, and even makes a few friends while exploring the town they live in. A character who doesn't stay dead creates a lot of scenarios for dying in interesting ways

The Waystation: (Sci-Fi, Horror) A space station picks up an odd piece of space junk which begins to have a bizzare effect on some of the crew. The rest of it? Doesn't react so well to this spreading strangeness. Some great nailgun-related noises.

Station Blue: (Psychological Horror) A drifting man takes a job as a repair technician and maintenance guy for an antarctic research base, ahead of the staff's arrival. He recounts how he got there, as his time in the base and some bizzare details about it begin to get to him. People tend to either quite like this one or don't really get the point of it, but I found it a fascinating listen.

The Hotel: (Horror) Stories from a "Hotel" which kills people, and the strange entities that make it happen. It's better than I'm making it sound, well-made with creative deaths, great sound work, and a strange staff which suffer as much as the guests. Worth checking out.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: I may have activated my own trap card

Spoilers for a movie that's two months old and also out on home release.

So, Miles, Gwen, Pavitr (Spider-India), and Hobie (Spider-Punk) all seem to have modern left-wing politics, though Gwen's got edited out. Hobie's introduction specifically says he hates "fascists", which carries over from the original comics.

By the time Hobie came around, I assumed he was just another poser, cooler than the hero rival character, expressing generic leftie politics, and his punk ethos wasn't sincere.

Which is exactly what the writers wanted me to think.

Not only is Hobie perfectly sincere about being anti-authoritarian, but he's been helping Miles since before they even met. He's been blatantly stealing junk from the Spider Society to build his own universe-jumping watch, and disguising it as petty vandalism.

He even tries to talk Miles out of trying to join the Spider-Society before the reveal that Miles himself is an anomaly, and the SS (geddit?) tries to detain Miles.

When Hobie says he's against authoritarianism, he really means it.

Speaking of the left-wing politics, Miles has a "#BLM" pin on his bag. It's very visible while he sits next to his dad.

Who's a cop.

(TANGENT: A few years ago, someone drew a stupid, very bad comic where Spider-Man (Peter Parker) was a) black, b) hated cops, and c) assaulted and subdued riot cops when they asked him for help.

That the comic didn't even show the riot cops were wrong. We were just supposed to assume they deserve to be left to the mercy of an angry mob.

Also, in this comic, Uncle Ben was killed by a cop, not a random thug who Spidey could've stopped but chose not to. Which makes me wonder how that would shake out.

It's kind of weird for someone to look at a character who's about personal responsibility to an unhealthy degree, and use him to express their collectivist anti-cop terrorism fantasies. That, or they didn't think through their fantasies.)

During Spider-India's opening, Miles says "I love Chai Tea!" And Pavitr goes on a rant about how "Chai" means "tea". Later on, The Spot says he's been on a "journey of self-discovery", and Pavitr basically says he's racist.

Which is a tad ironic, because Spot is literally white. And also because Pavitr is the one making the racist assumptions.

And I personally go to a church - in England - that has a lot of non-white non-British people. Mostly Africans. And me, of course. I wonder if any Asians ever went on a journey of self discovery to South London.

And I don't just mean as a cab driver.

"Wait, SYABM, didn't you move to the UK for self-discovery?"

W-well, yes, partially.

Aside: I made the mistake of watching a Youtube video with the Chai Tea joke, and then I looked at the comments.

One guy said "tfw when Twitter users write a movie". An idiot (with much more upvotes) said "bro out here wanting blatant racism in movies".

...When the whole point of the joke is that the racism is not blatant.

It's only "blatant" if you're insufferably Twitterized. There are loads of redundant phrasings in English, like "ATM machine", and words often shift when they're adopted from other languages.

Also, "I dislike this joke" is not the same as "I want racism in this movie", when the "racism" in the movie is only there so it could be mocked.

One of the issues with putting real world movements in worlds that are drastically different - it's one of the main selling points of the franchise - is that it may seem odd that those movements exist in very similar form to the IRL version.

For example, Miles supports BLM in both his video game, and this. Which makes me think "did Trayvon Martin get shot in Florida? How about Mike Brown? Wouldn't the existence of supervillains throw things into a new perspective?"

Did I mention the giant George Floyd-style "REST IN POWER" mural to Miles' dead uncle? I cringed at that in the Wakanda Forever trailer, and I rolled my eyes at it here.

Floyd wasn't a saintly martyr, he was an unlucky violent thug.

Also, Aaron was a supervillain killed by another bad guy who nearly destroyed the city, not a cop.

Also, this is at a party to celebrate how Miles' dad is about to be promoted. Assuming Floyd died and the 2020 protests/riots also happened in Miles' universe, then it seems a tad tasteless to have a mural inspired by an anti-cop movement overlooking it, even if the party is not full of cops.

Spider-India lives in "Mumbattan".

The people who settled the Manhattan area were originally Indian. But the other type of Indian. The Indians we're not supposed to call Indians anymore.

The name "Manhattan" is even Native American.

The first permanent settlement was Dutch. Then the English got it. I guess the English could've shipped Indians to the other side of the world and eventually ceded the area to them, or maybe in this world India was a world-conquering superpower and Mumbattan is the result of...importing Native Americans?

Which would make Pavitr's complaint that "the British stole all of our stuff and put it in their museums" seem a tad hypocritical.

Of course, since I wrote all that, someone reminded me that Pavitr explicitly says the joint is in India.

"SYABM," you say, "you're overthinking this."

Yes, I am. Because the filmmakers didn't think it through. If you want to use ha-ha-funny to make a serious point, you invite examination of that point.

Miles (as Spidey) now works with his dad, though he disguises his voice. At one point, Miles tells his father that men bottle up mental health issues.

This is true (and ironic, considering Miles is hiding who he is from Jeff), but it's not the first time I've seen some progressive work try to address men's issues in an very awkward way. At least here, it's played for comedy.

Also, seems a tad hypocritical coming from a guy who wears a "#BLM" pin in the presence of his cop father.

Also, if you work the timeline, that would mean Miles was about 7 or 6 when BLM started. Which means he's gone most of his life knowing nothing else.

There was a controversy over a "protect trans kids" trans flag in Gwen's room, which was apparently edited out.

IMO, it seems a tad strange for a girl who feels estranged from everyone in her world to join a social movement, but what do I know? Maybe it was there before then.

Some people came to the extremely logical conclusion that Gwen herself is trans. Even though she's distinctly physically feminine and possibly too young for puberty blockers depending on Earth 65′s laws.

Like the "oh great, it's Liv" shippers, people are reaching really hard to see what they want to see.

Some people have said that Gwen's issues with her dad and herself seem awfully similar to the issues LGBTQIA2S+ kids go through.

Gee, it's not like, y'know, feeling estranged from one's family is a common theme in fiction about teenagers and superhero, and the whole "superpowers = minority" thing has been done to death for most of the past century.

Perhaps most notably - and clumsily - in X-Men.

I'm not saying this wasn't the intended subtext. I'm saying if it was, it would just be really, really cliche.

There's this recurring theme of people telling miles "how [his] story is supposed to go".

When he's at a meeting with his parents and his guidance counselor, the lady says his story of being a black-Latino son of an immigrant would sound great in the college application letters. His mom is a tad miffed, given that they're a) solidly middle class, and b) as a Puerto Rican, she considers herself American.

Miguel (Spider-Man 2099) doesn't want Miles in the multiversal council of Spiders, because Miles was bitten by the radioactive spider from a different universe. Which is why his local Spider-Man died, and the spider's home dimension has no Spider-Man.

Also, Miguel is fixated on "canon events". The idea that there are certain things, especially tragedies, that have to happen to Spiders, or their entire universe falls apart.

And he knows this, because he tried to take over for a version of him that got shot dead by a thug. Tried to raise his daughter.

And he watched as the universe collapsed in front of him.

So he's projecting his own guilt onto Miles, a tad.

According to TVtropes and other sources, this was actually about the people who didn't accept Miles as a replacement Spidey, possibly out of racism.

Yeah, that's real hard-hitting topical meta-commentary about a character who debuted 12 years ago. 8 years when the first movie came out.

I'd also like to point out that despite stereotypes of comic book fans, certain minority successors to banner superheros have been fairly well-received. Like Jaime Reyes, or Cassandra Cain.

(Note: I wrote that before the Blue Beetle movie came out. And flopped.)

And, of course, loads of people like Miles specifically because he's a minority Spidey, which is also racist, just from the other direction. In fact, a lot of his fans seem to forget the "Latino" part of "Afro-Latino". From what little I've seen of Miles early comics, they did actually put strong emphasis on his race.

I also suspect the filmmakers may be misinterpreting the usual successor knee-jerk reactions

as racism. If you're using an established brand name for your new hero, you're creating some expectations.

Also, you know the most popular meme about regular Spidey that I see? That Marvel's writers just keep making him suffer and don't want him to actually develop. Which would kinda make Marvel closer to Team Miguel than Team Miles.

Miles also gripes that Miguel is letting "some algorithm" tell him what to do. While I agree with the sentiment, I'd like to point out that, again, Miles supports BLM.

A movement popularized by an algorithm.

A movement made up of narratives and assumptions.

A movement which has never proven a single incident was because of racism.

During the big chase scene, we see a Spider girl in a wheelchair, aka Sun-Spider. She's from the comics. Same initiative that gave us "Web-Weaver".

Who is, of course, an extremely effete gay fashion designer Spidey. I kinda like his outfit, though the Spider-eyes with eyelashes is a little too far.

And Sun-Spider seems exactly like a character a stereotypical 90s executive and focus group would come up with. Down to the backward baseball cap.

(Turns out she's Dayn Broder's actual Spider-Sona.)

Also, while I was looking up that one black and white Spider who said "nowhere to run" (Metro-Spider, played by record producer Metro Boomin [/sic]), I found out that Aunt May's full name is "Maybelle", not just "May". TIL.

There's a bit of a double standard with this version of Spider-Woman, who's black and pregnant. -People in the movie - including Peter B - regularly point out how Peter B endangering his infant daughter Mayday by taking her along with him. But for some reason, nobody says a word about Jessica, who's an active-duty stunt-biking superhero.

Even regular motorbiking can be dangerous for pregnant women.

In fact, the movie portrays this as heroic and impressive. When Gwen sees  Jess is preggos, she asks if Jess can adopt her.

Not to mention the whole "afro and hoop earrings" thing, which seem like a bad idea for a type of hero who often gets into melee combat, even with Spider-Sense.

Yes, I'm aware that female heroes, including the Spider-Ladies, often have exposed hair. It's a genre convention. Incidentally, it was nice to see Batwoman wore a detachable decoy wig in the comics. Some bad guy tries to grab it in a fight? It comes right off.

Also, Jess doesn't have much actual character.

Being pregnant is not a character trait. In fact, her only real traits are basically "cool but stern sassy mentor", to contrast with Peter B. -Incidentally, someone on TVtropes pointed out the double standard. And when I saw the page again, a page-camper had deleted it, with no explanation.

Guess they couldn't stand someone pointing out the flaws of their waifu.

(One) Spider-UK in this movie is Muslim. I know she's Muslim because she wears a Spider-themed headdress. Note that regular Marvel 616 has a muslim lady Spider-UK, but her name is Zarina Zahari and she doesn't wear a hijabi.

(Also, she could be mistaken for Ms. Marvel.)

ms marvel.jpg

You might be thinking "wait, isn't a headdress impractical in a melee fight? Doesn't it give your enemy something to grab?" Yes, it is.

But so are Jess's earrings, afro, and being pregnant, so clearly there's a lot of artistic license going on.

Maybe it's partially tearaway, like Batman's cape.

I gotta wonder about the religious rules of wearing a head covering over a mask that *already* covers your entire head. Did she go see her imam and go "Okay, I have a really weird question..."

Come to think, Spidey is usually slim, but a lot of lady Spideys in this movie seemed to have wide hips. Including muscular ladies. Kris Anka's concept art goes really hard on wide hips. I don't know why. Stronger, faster character reads during the big chase?

I guess Spiders could be expected to have strong legs.

BOTTOM LINE:

I liked the movie overall, though the progressive bits made me roll my eyes a little. I...want to see the third one, with reservations.

[sterlingarcher23]

Max's memories are forshadowing: ElMax & Lumax

Inventive foreshadowing creates a sense of unity in a story even when the audience may not be consciously aware of the foreshadowing and payoff., David Trottier

Sort of. The happy memories actually give us the basic structure of Max's character arc in regards to relationships in Season 5. (As far as there is scene material because I think there's something else.)

Now the first thing is Lucas & Max from S4, but then they start to show us several scenes but completely out of order.

Lucas "I'm right here" (at her bedside - S4 or 5?), Swallowing the red Skittle/the ghost like Pac-Man mid flight ("You were wearing that yellow benny's burgers t-shirt and it was so big it almost swallowed you whole")=consumption of a ghost, followed by the linking sequence, going back to S2 apso out of order, the boys meeting the killer & Lucas and Dustin teaming with Max, the ghost trap, photos of ElMax, like frozen in time (Doctor Who=single moment in time). Lucas and Max when he calls her Madmax (like Mad Max Rockatansky), again ElMax together ....

...even Mike appears (a talk between him & Max like Kota and Lucy having a conversation?), foreshadowing the movie date, ElMax hugging, Lumax not unhappy and, Highfive! Winners.

Lover in the mind - lover in the physical world.

Lucas speaks to the dying (physical), El speaks to the going (mind).

Both have patterns that need another verse in order to rhyme bc of a tiny change midway through (similar to a certain D&D bridge puzzle😉)

Elumax Endgame.

Byler on the left, ElMax on the right, both when Will or Max respectively, have their possession phase.

Oh, and the movie date scene is a basic story writing technique: a promise. And this needs a payoff. The question isn't IF but HOW. (And how you get abilities is been established in Season 4.)

It's you and me won't be unhappy.... Promise, progress, payoff.

So, they made a promise, are now (with the revival) in the process of a progress which will be added through the way how Max will wake up....

...and this will get a payoff. Simple. Right now, most can't imagine how, given the circumstances even though the writers gave us the rules for doing it and every foreshadowing possible that will lead to a payoff. Max can't feel nor see - both! So, either both will be mended or none. Excluding one is bad writing. - So, its both. We learned how, therefore it's not a Deus ex machina, and we will learn why. Max only needs to take his, I mean her medicine. Darn pronouns.

That payoff is only possible through ElMax and note how they use sequences with them in which they are physically close to one another after the mall scene in which they link, like they are...inseparable.

Here separated...

...after this they are combined. Linked. "Love goes through the stomach"

It's all One and One for all = 11

A bit dated (admittedly)

[cyarsk52-20]

I know that it’s been weeks since my Spotify wrapped but I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my top songs

First track: "Killing in the Name" is a song by the American band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album.It features heavy drop-D guitar riffs. The lyrics protest police brutality, inspired by the beating of Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

The guitarist Tom Morello wrote the riffs while teaching a student drop D tuning; he briefly paused the lesson to record the riff. The band worked on the song the next day. According to Morello, "Killing in the Name" was a collaborative effort, combining his riff with Tim Commerford's "magmalike" bass, Brad Wilk's "funky, brutal" drumming and vocalist Zack de la Rocha's "conviction".Morello recorded his part on a Fender Telecaster.

this song (their signature song btw) combines elements of punk and hip hop and has been described as alternative metal, rap metal, rap rock, hard rock, and proto-nu metal. The journalist Peter Buckley described it as "a howling, expletive-driven tirade against the ills of American society". The song builds in intensity, as de la Rocha chants the line "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me", building in a crescendo the next four times and aggressively screaming the line the final eight times, culminating with the scream "Motherfucker!" The song contains the word "fuck" 17 times.

The lyrics were inspired by the police brutalitysuffered by Rodney King and the subsequent 1992 Los Angeles riots. The refrain "some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses" draws a link between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Ku Klux Klan. According to BBC News, "Killing in the Name" protests the military–industrial complex, justifying killing for "the chosen whites".

It’s not a surprise that this song has been on my Spotify wrapped multiple times in the past few years but I never thought it would be number one twice in a row.

second track: "Superhero" is a song by American rock band Jane's Addiction and it’s from their third album Strays . Though not a single, it’s best known for the theme song for HBO original series “Entourage “ (2004-2011)

I’m not a huge fan of Jane addiction but this one slaps hard

third track: “like that” is a song by American rapper Future and record producer Metro Boomin with fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar . It’s the third and final single from Future and Metro's collaborative studio album, We Don't Trust You, on March 26, 2024. Rodney-O & Joe Cooley are also credited as songwriters as the bass line in the song contains samples of their 1986 song, "Everlasting Bass". "Like That" also has additional elements that contain samples of Eazy-E's 1989 single, "Eazy-Duz-It", and contains a vocal sample of Michel'le.

A trap and hardcore hip hop song that is predominantly composed of lively percussions, "Like That" received acclaim from music critics, who primarily praised Lamar's performance and Metro's production. His verse, which attracted significant media coverage, is a diss aimed at fellow rappers Drake and J. Cole in response to their 2023 collaboration, "First Person Shooter." 

Lyrically, Lamar uses his surprise appearance to directly respond to "First Person Shooter", rapping: "Yeah, get up with me, fuck sneak dissing / "First Person Shooter", I hope they came with three switches". He also rejected J. Cole's idea of the three rappers representing hip hop as its "big three" and claims that he alone takes the top spot: "Motherfuck the big three, nigga it's just big me". Throughout his verse, Lamar compares his rivalry with Drake to Prince's reported feud with Michael Jackson ("What? I'm really like that / And your best work is a light pack / Nigga, Prince outlived Mike Jack"). Drake has notably compared himself to Michael Jackson on numerous occasions, including during the final verse of "First Person Shooter", and Lamar has similarly compared himself to Prince. Lamar also makes references to the Click ("Niggas clickin' up, but cannot be legit / No 40 Water") and Stephen King's 1983 novel Pet Sematary("'Fore all your dogs gettin' buried / That's a K with all these nines / He gon' see Pet Sematary").

Lamar verse is the contender for iconic feature verse in a hip hop song of the year and that’s saying something

Fourth track “lights on “ is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes from his second studio album Illuminate. This song contains lyrics about lovemaking in a way that is not too racy or overly sexual in nature. Very classy, very demure and mature

fifth track: "Meet the Grahams" (stylized in lowercase as meet the grahams) is a diss track by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on May 3, 2024, through Interscope Records, during his ongoing feud with Canadian rapper Drake.

The song is written in the form of a letter, with each verse addressed to members of Drake's family, including his son Adonis, his parents Sandra and Dennis Graham, his alleged daughter, and Drake himself.

In the song, Lamar accuses Drake of being an absent father, signing sex offenders to his OVO Sound record label, and being a sexual predator himself. He even goes as far to compare Drake to disgraced Director and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein saying that people like him should die.

He also alleges that Drake is running a sex trafficking ring out of his Toronto mansion, saying it will soon be raided by law enforcement. Lamar further accuses Drake of lying about his family, his OVO Sound labelmates, and Lamar himself.

Produced by the Alchemist, "Meet the Grahams", unlike Lamar's previous responses, takes on an unsettling, haunting atmosphere, with an eerie piano-driven beat, sampled from Timothy Carpenter & Triunity's "I Want To Make It" accompanying critical lyrics accusing Drake of a number of wrongdoings including parental negligence, sexual exploitation, sexual grooming, sex trafficking, and another incident of child abandonment.

I remember when I heard about this track. When I first heard it I knew the moment I heard the opening lyrics “dear Adonis, I’m sorry that man is your father” along with the haunting, unsettling atmosphere of the beat(combined with a eerie piano playing) this is going to be brutal . From beginning to end I was stunned speechless and then I was like oh my gosh. Totally brutal and dark (and the darkest song in the history of my Spotify wrapped ,and that in a world where “we cry together “ featuring Taylor page exists, see my 2022 version of Spotify wrapped) and yet methodical and creative.

[phynoma]

Oh hi!

I'm Phyn! I write things. I'm not going to get into a bunch of identity stuff, but I'm queer, I'm an adult, and I like writing queer adult stuff. Mostly horror (see: queer) and absurdity (see: the world)

I have degrees in english, theology, and more theology, which just means I have a bunch of experience doing critical thinking and analysis of storytelling, and enough imposter syndrome that I don't know how to put that on a resume.

FANDOMS!

If you're already following me it's probably for Pillars of Eternity, TMA, or LOTR/Silmarillion. I cycle through hyperfixations every few years. It's still TMA/TMAGP right now. You can find my TMAGP sideblog here, where I just collect art.

Other things I like: Fallen London, everything by Pia Foxhall/not_poignant, re:dracula, SILT VERSES, Rivers of London, Murderbot, Critical Role, Saga, Wicked+Divine, anything by Neil Gaiman, I Am in Eskew, norse myths, egyptian myths, jewish myths, the dragonlance books (don't judge me they were foundational), pretty much everything Mike Flanagan makes, and much much more

WRITING!

I'm on ao3 as Phynoma! What do I write? Well. I write in-depth explorations of characters placed in harrowing situations which draw out the very inmost parts of their vulnerabilities and--

Smut. I write smut, okay?

Almost all of these fics are explicit and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD mind the tags, I am *very* careful with my tagging for good reason!!!!

HERE YA GO, YA FILTHY ANIMALS!

The Magnus Archives:

I mentioned this is my current fixation, right?

an extant form of life: pollen fic! You could say, maybe, that the Consuming AU uses pollen tropes, but I'm counting this as my first-ever pollen fic. Jon/Tim, Jon/Martin, maybe Jon/Tim/Martin, we'll see if Sasha gets thrown in there. Ongoing.

Hey, Jude: A hurt/comfort fic about what happened after Jon shook Jude Perry's hand. Jon & Georgie & the kindness of strangers (not those strangers) Oneshot.

The Consuming AU: My pride and joy. My baby. I started this halfway through listening to TMA the first time and finished the original fic in about two months in time for the Rusty Quill Big Bang of 2023. Canon is basically the same, with the addition of "what if there was a Entity of Hunger, (fear of) Intimacy, and Codependence?" Also Jon is turning into a succubus. Main fic is complete at a little over 100k words. Sometimes I add one-shots to the series.

~Incredible bookbinding done by @bluejayblueskies HERE ~Art of human-looking Rhia (by me) HERE and commission of eldritch angel Rhia by @isbergillustration HERE ~Commission of Naadia by @dcartcorner HERE

Kittens & Kink AU: Fluffy Somewhere Else one-shots. Cat play. Mostly nonsexual kink. Oliver/Jon/Martin. Ongoing, until I get bored of it, basically.

Pillars of Eternity:

The In-Between Series: A series of fics following the relationship of Watcher Mirad and Aloth Corfiser, ten years or so after the events of Deadfire. The world of Eora is ripe for a new cataclysm, and these two elves are trying to finally have the relationship they've been dancing around for two decades. Ongoing, on hiatus as my hyperfixation is elsewhere. I do plan to finish it, though.

Moments: same universe and characters as above, focusing more on events that happen in canon-- ie, during gameplay. Complete.

Faetales:

Mat & Kal: Fae AU: You know how sometimes you keep writing characters and put them through a blender so many times that they just become something completely new? That's this AU. Mateo and Makalo are two ancient fae beings trapped in the human world during the events of The Ice Plague (by not_poignant) who become bound by each others' lives and deaths. They hate each other, they love each other, they're in weird psychosexual sadistic codependency with each other. They're a cat-person and a snake-person. I'm not a furry but I like some of their ideas, okay? Series complete.

See commissioned art of Mat & Kal by @shojoshark HERE

The Silmarillion:

Mistakes Were Made: Imma be real, this is just straight up torture porn. Sauron is punished by Morgoth after the loss of the Silmaril to Beren & Luthien. Basically, I was annoyed by all the fluffy Angbang fics I was reading and wanted to depict them in all their horrifying, codependent glory. Complete.

Cost of Surrender: I read a really good fic about what it took for Mairon to grovel/debase himself to Eonwe to gain his freedom and I took it a bit further. Complete.

Good Omens:

the beautiful and the fitting: pretty sure the title of this is a quote from St. Augustine, too. I almost didn't include this one because I don't even remember what it's about. Fluffy sex times with nonsexual beings, I think. I started writing it because Good Omens is one of my favorite books, but tbh the fandom for the show exhausts me and I don't know if I'll come back to this. Abandoned, probably.

[chronicrabbit]

Home Coming

Part 3

The third time was different.

Worse, but…

Better.

The monster had been unfathomable.

They were all horrific, but this one…

It was an amalgamation of blood, bone, and sinew; bubbling melted person.

People Steve had grown up with.

The losses had been numerous;

Heather and her family, that Russian scientist, countless Hawkin’s citizens, Billy Hargrove,

Hopper.

That one hurt the most.

Seeing the tears in Joyce’s eyes as she approached Eleven, taking her in her arms as they sobbed together cut Steve more deeply than he could explain.

He wanted to reach out, offer some words of comfort, but what could he say that would make anything better?

So he stayed where he was, sat beside Dustin as the EMT’s looked them over.

His head was throbbing as he forced his bleary eyes to scan over the paperwork that’d been thrust into his hands. Yet another NDA; third verse same as the first.

No matter how many times he blinked, rubbed at his eyes, hoped, his vision refused to clear.

“It might not”, is what the EMT had told him when he’d complained, shining her little flashlight directly into his swollen eye.

“Three major concussions in such quick succession, it’s a wonder you’ve managed to avoid more averse side effects.”

He sighed in mild frustration, giving up entirely on reading and simply scratching his signature across the dotted line.

He set the clipboard aside with a grimace, unfocused gaze searching across the packed parking lot, the emergency vehicles with their flashing lights, the government agents in their respective stuffy suits and fatigues, the burning mall not even 100 feet away; it thankfully didn’t take long before he found who he was looking for, catching sight of Robin sitting beside Erica in the back of an ambulance across the way, the two sharing a woolen orange blanket as they read over their own paperwork.

She looked overwhelmed while Erica merely looked unimpressed.

Steve fought not to chuckle at that. Laughing would only exacerbate his head trauma.

“Mr. Harrington?”

Steve tensed at those words, going stock still as two shiny black shoes stepped into his direct line of sight, expensive and out of place in the chaos of the aftermath of Starcourt.

His heart hammered in his chest.

He raised his gaze slowly, past the finely pressed lines of the suit, the stiff posture of the man beneath it, only to release the breath previously trapped in his lungs as he was met, not by the stern gaze of John Harrington, but one of the government agents patiently waiting for him to display any sign that he was listening.

It took him another moment of confusion before he realised that he was Mr. Harrington.

“Yes?” he answered, unable to hide his frown at the almost sympathetic look that had overtaken the agents poker face as he prepared to speak.

He didn’t need to. Steve knew what was coming.

He’d been through this song an dance enough for the intricate movements to become muscle memory.

“You couldn’t get ahold of my parents, right?”

The agent’s expression dropped further; never a great sign.

“No, we did,” he said with nod, the paper he held out toward Steve crinkling in the light summer wind. “Your father’s secretary asked me to pass along this message.”

Steve took it, squinting down at the neat script which read:

‘Steven,

Conference ended early. Holiday has been extended. In Norway until September 20th.

J. Harrington.’

“Oh,” was all Steve could say in response, steadfastly ignoring the look of concern he received from the agent.

It wasn’t a surprise, per say, the reaffirmation that his parents were simply too busy, too important, to care about him.

That didn’t make it hurt any less.

-

Little by little, the rest of the party was picked up; Karen Wheeler raced out of her car to pull Nancy and Mike into a crushing hug.

Claudia Henderson’s nervous tittering carried across the entire parking lot as she fretted and fussed over Dustin.

As they led them hand in hand to their car, Charles and Sue Sinclair made both Lucas and Erica swear to never ever scare them like that again.

Joyce, Will, Jonathan, Max, and Eleven left together, Max and El holding each other as they continued to cry; continued to mourn and grieve.

But they had each other.

They all had each other.

And who the hell did Steve have? Brenda, his dads secretary? Or was it Brandy now?

He could never seem to keep them straight.

Who did Steve have to take comfort in? To confide in? To cry to when the nightmares became too much?

His eyes searched the significantly emptier parking lot for only a moment before he once again found-

“Robin?”

She was still there, sitting in the back of the ambulance with her blanket around her shoulders.

He remembered her mentioning her parents were going out of town a little more than a lifetime ago, before Russians and drugs and giant flesh monsters from hell.

She was alone too.

-

The drive back to Steve’s house was silent and slow.

The pain of the last 48 hours had fully caught up with the both of them, so once they finally reached their destination, they wordlessly headed inside and up the stairs.

Robin didn’t say a word about his positively heinous decor, the total lack of personality, she simply caught the clothes Steve tossed to her and together they changed out of their filthy uniforms and climbed into bed.

Sleep, as usual, didn’t come easy, but it was easier with the steady in and out of Robin’s breathing in his ear, the dip and creak of the mattress as she rolled over and threw an arm over Steve’s side, urging him closer.

He rolled to mirror her position, hugging her in tighter until his face was buried in her shoulder.

“This is surreal,” he whispered, unwilling to break the silence completely.

“What is?” she asked just as softly, her voice little more than a rasp.

Steve shrugged as best he could with Robin weighing down his arm.

“Not being alone for this part.”

Robin didn’t need him to explain. She simply squeezed him tighter and whispered:

“Well, sorry to say, but you’re stuck with me, now. You won’t ever be alone again.”

And it was fine.

This was fine.

They were fine.

Or they would be, so long as they stayed together.

Steve allowed himself to relax, drifting off into his first dreamless sleep since ‘83.

Not alone.

Never again.

Tag list:

@idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @plyerice27 @alienace @vi-an-te @cr0w-culture

[regretevatorforrealrep]

[Verse]

Step on the lift thought I'd explore

Never guessed what was on each floor

Started off simple but then it changed

Feeling trapped in a ride so strange

[Verse 2]

Onward to Gnarpy's alien spree

Invasion at camp floors three

Xe snuck on board rude and mean

This ride turned into a crazy scene

[Chorus]This is the regretevator song

I regret getting on this elevator

Let me out none of these are my floor

Why'd I want to explore

[Verse 3]

Next stop a subway underground

Partynoob with a groovy sound

Fun and kind love to party

But this ride's still risky

[Bridge]

Partynoob makes it less grim

But danger lurks floor-to-floor whim

One good won't fix this tour

Wishing I chose a safer door

[Chorus]

This is the regretevator song

I regret getting on this elevator

Let me out none of these are my floor

Why'd I want to explore

[Verse 4]

Doors open, Arch made of brick right in front of us!

The grass flat, We arrived on the flatgrass floor!

This feels less like an elevator

More like I'm traveling universe to universe!

[Verse 5]

A ten feet tall concrete man smiling with a blue scarf? At this point call this elevator a game!

But he's polite with a bit of a wet cement addiction

"Gray stuff" they call it and i think he needs help

[bridge]

But this elevator's infinite it goes everywhere

so on the 3008 floor we gotta find lampert!

[Chorus]

This is the regretevator song

I regret getting on this elevator

Let me out none of these are my floor

Why'd I want to explore

This is the regretevator song

I regret getting on this elevator

Let me out none of these are my floor

Why'd i want to explore

[Verse 6]

Some floors kill the passengers, Toxic gasses, fire and so much more. I've lost some friends and npcs to some of these floors..

And this ride won't ever end!

This ride switches from boring to crazy

From Mannequin Mark arguing with Wallter to Wallter fusing with a hole in the wall

At this point i might as well leave the ride

But some of these passengers seem pretty cool!

[Chorus]

This is the regretevator songI regret getting on this elevator

Let me out none of these are my floor

Why'd i want to EVEN EXPLORE?!

I should've never rode on and got interested

Because now I'm subject to this elevator

Its fun, its dangerous, its sad and its crazy

I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE!

I REGRET THIS!

okay if zomeone knows where tf thiz comez from pleaze tell me bc i looked up "regretevator fansong" and i legit couldnt find it

At firzt I thought it waz a Benji zong or a parody of it, but nothing on hiz channel zhowed thiz zong and thiz doeznt fit hiz lyricz at all (dont azk how i know that)

Then I thought it waz thiz zong bc i didnt know Mike Geno made muzic for Regretevator, but nope

Guyz help where tf iz thiz from. Iz my YouTube fucking up bc i legit couldnt find a regretevator fanzong with lyricz

-Mod Mozelle

[thelensofyashunews]

Chief Keef Ascends with Highly Anticipated 'Almighty So 2' Album

With over a decade in the game and a litany of followers in his wake, Chief Keef pushes rap music forward with every release. Today, the 28-year-old artist releases his highly-anticipated album Almighty So 2, via his own label, 43B, formed last year in a joint venture with BMG and RBC Records. The new album is the sequel to one of Sosa's most acclaimed and influential projects, 2013's Almighty So. Spanning 16 tracks, Almighty So 2 explores beyond the mind-expanding territory staked out in the original, creating a grand-scale epic that ranks among the best works of the proud Chicago native's incredible career.

Crafted over a period of two years, Almighty So 2 is largely produced by Sosa himself. The young auteur mostly eschews melody on the new album–instead, he resolves to showcase his prodigious abilities as an emcee, sharpening his pen and emptying out his arsenal of flows. Sosa throws his entire body into his vocal performances, whether he's building in intensity until he reaches a thunderous crescendo, or delivering his smirking punchlines with an audible disrespect.

Starting with the towering intro "Almighty," which expertly features a sample of Carl Orff's iconic "Carmina Burana," the early part of the album uses liturgical and classical music samples to establish Almighty So as a larger-than-life, nearly mythical figure, who was ready for stardom since before he was even born ("I was born in '95, I been ready since '91/Let's give a thanks to the God, yeah the mighty one/B*tch, I'm almighty, I'll shoot ya with my mighty gun," he shouts).

After he demonstrates his imperial might, Sosa proves that there's no sound he can't warp until it fits his expansive sonic palette. Keef duets with the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, on "1,2,3" and warps a hidden 70s gem on the Nancy Wilson-sampling "Runner." The haunting "Prince Charming" features Sosa's take on the Detroit sound, with squelching bass and propulsive hi-hats, while the flute-inflected cloud-trap of "Drifting Away" pays tribute to the underground sound he helped inspire before Sosa reminds the audience who really invented drill.

Though the production is a one-man show, Sosa welcomes a series of kindred spirits to share the mic. He and new favorite collaborator Sexyy Red unite over churning french horns on "Grape Trees," while Quavo brings his dulcet melodies and triplet flows to "Never Fly Here," and fellow drill pioneer and South Sider G Herbo joins the fray for the oh-so-Chicago "Neph Nem." Tierra Whack makes an unexpected appearance on "Banded Up," delivering a double-time verse as blistering as any released this year. Featuring additional appearances from Sosa's 43B signee Lil Gnar and longtime associate Ballout, Almighty So 2 is available to stream on all platforms via 43B / RBC Records.

Almighty So 2 continues an incredibly busy 2024 for Chief Keef. In March, Sosa teamed with Mike-WiLL Made-It for DIRTY NACHOS, an acclaimed mixtape. Hosted by Trap-A-Holics and featuring guest spots from Sexyy Red and 2 Chainz, DIRTY NACHOS finds the two street titans harkening back to the classic mixtape era on singles like the furious "DIRTY NACHOS" and "DAMN SHORTY." Recently, Sosa collaborated with Sexyy Red on two singles from her Hood Hottest Princess (Deluxe)–"Ghetto Princess," and "Bow Bow Bow (F My Baby Mama)," and teamed up with Lil Yachty for "Say Ya Grace," a highlight from All Is Yellow, the first album by Lyrical Lemonade. The song's Cole Bennett-directed video reached the top 5 of YouTube's Trending chart, and racked up over 3 million views in its first week of release (8.5 million total). Chief Keef makes his long awaited return to Chicago on June 16th, performing his first show in his hometown since 2012, at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash.

With Almighty So 2 out now, Sosa continues to build his legacy as one of the most innovative and influential rappers in the history of the game. 

[notebooknonbinary]

hey!! i was looking at your merthur fic recs, and i was wondering if you have any stranger things recs? i like reading longer fics in canonverse a lot, but i dont really have too many preferences hehe, anything you really enjoy, as a fellow mike-appreciator, would be amazing

Oh gosh☺️ making me feel like a fic rec authority. Making my day. Okay! Longer canon-verse with maybe an emphasis on the good-good son Mike Wheeler. (Fair warning, almost all the Mike fics I read are byler centric lol) Many of these fic authors have written multiple wonderful ST fics🥰

One of the first ST fics I ever bookmarked was A Hope to Cling To by midnighteverlark which is slightly canon divergent for the Shed Scene in season two. It’s a fic I return to often because it’s just a very lovely fic. It switches between Mike and Will POV and has five chapters.

@wiseatom just wrote a fic called just gotta call on me, which is a 5+1 fic about phone calls between Mike and Will. It is Very wonderful and takes place from post S2 to post series.

If you feel like crying @andiwriteordie wrote a lovely birthdaygate series called how light carries on endlessly where everyone forgets Will. Very lovely read but Ow it’s got me crying in the club. Post S4 and still ongoing.

paper rings by mogiah is a sweet fic that has a few angst moments. The Party plays the game of ‘where do you see yourself in ten years?’ while briefly trapped in the Upside Down. Mainly byler-centric

I don’t miss the feeling (of being alone) by boygirl is Lucas-centric & Partycule bc I’m a sucker for the main four as a couple and this one is lovely written. It’s so sweet and honestly just aaaa. Post canon and Max is alive ☺️ (ik this isn’t Really Mike centric but since one of the people Lucas likes in this is Mike I feel it qualifies. Also Lucas is 💕)

I’ll be your first, I’ll be your last by agustplz is a very wonderful 5+1 about Mike calling in dedications on the radio for Will.

@buck-yyyy wrote Is Hell Cold? It’s a season 5 speculation fic. It’s lovely, like poetry and I was lucky enough to be among the first to read it☺️ And they’ve got a lotta other wonderful fics to read too!!

I am, ofc, often vocal about my love for @perexcri ‘s writing. I recommend starting with To Hell and Back which is Very Romcom and fun and aaaa. Takes place during S5, Will and Mike get stuck in the Upside Down

reaching for starlight by chainangel is a Mike character study about gender. I Adore this fic So Very much (nonbinary Mike nonbinary Mike nonbinary Mike nonbinary Mi—)

Be the Boy by katbatsupreme, Mike overhears Will talking to Jonathan about his crush. I am a big ol’ sucker for Mike Jealous of Himself fics and this one is Very good🥰

I know the end by bookinit is a largely canon-compliant ST retelling with an emphasis on byler. And tbh Until byler is officially Together As Boyfriends On Screen, no one can tell me these fics aren’t canon. They’re on season 3 right now (Ow my Heart) and updating pretty regularly.

a game of truths by RomeoWrites, the title is pretty self explanatory☺️ very sweet. Goes from Pre-series to post:) Also! This writer wrote the boyfriend problem, where Ted thinks Mike and Will have been dating since pre-S1 very cute and funny

Us against the world by wasabi8000, immediately post-S4, Mike finally puts the pieces together about Will’s feelings. Sweet and a tiny bit angsty with a little bit of miscommunication. A good fic!

I hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this). by blackdeathmamba. A lovely 5+1 fic about Mike kissing Will but Will not realizing why. Miscommunication and lotta kisses:)

I’m sure you’ve already read a dream always the same by @sevensided (sorry to tag u), bc it is The Mike Wheeler centric fic, but just in case you haven’t, it’s an extremely well written, Wonderful fic (as are its’ sequels). Set post-S3.

eyecatcher by smoosnoom, Jealous Mike post-S4 with no angst, just Mike being pouty over girls getting crushes on Will. It’s very funny and cute!

mom I’m gay, wait you are too? By dragons_like_s’mores is sweet and silly and a fun read, and introduced me to a ship that I like but hadn’t thought of before lol. An offhand comment by Mike causes Karen’s lesbian awakening, while in the background Mike simps for Will and maybe learns how to do chores.

This is not an exhaustive list of all my fav fics but if I put All of them down we’d be here literally All Day lol

Also!!

Some of my mutuals/blogs I follow are in the process of fics which I will ofc reblog when they post them🥰🥰 (also friends please please feel free to add to this list, I’m Always in the mood to read ST fic)

[medusacomplex]

very generic space au notes (or brainstorming really, this is super open to changing and i might decide on a totally different route if i think one up bc i don't think i'm sold on this entirely lol):

nancy was fascinated by the stars from a young age, but terrified –  when it came to her interests, though she held this loose awe-struck desire to investigate the unknown, she found it often too large and too abstract to feel at ease with. she opted instead for the natural world, predators of any sort, sharks and bears and humans alike. a great many things she could touch and see and feel. for that outside of her world, she harbored a reverence, disguised at times as a disinterest.

i think on the opposite side of things, mike was probably more of the space-inclined type between the two of them – verse dependent regarding whether space travel is new or well-established within society, but i think whenever it's developed the party is ecstatic and talk about it nonstop. nancy sort of plays the cool older sister rolling her eyes at the whole thing role.

typical e.t. fashion, jane is an alien i think in this situation –  not from this neck o' the woods. she lands, makes a whole fuss, if space travel is normal then perhaps it's because she's from a planet which is hostile towards earth or vice versa and therefore, whatever the reason, the us govt is trying to track them down.

in terms of barb ... i think getting caught up in a govt vs. aliens sort of deal ... nancy thinks it's likely she's still alive, because will was abducted, and they all seem to believe they can get to him and get him back, but eventually nancy finds barb wasn't that lucky, really. she was killed by govt agents searching for jane, a casualty in the process. in the aftermath, they cover up the death, and only nancy advocates for the truth –  govt agents are determined to keep the cover that barb was a victim of alien abduction, a way of antagonizing their enemy and shrugging off the blame.

while teamed up with jonathan prior to the resolution of everything, i think she and him find some kind of ship or something. it's probably mechanically fucked and needs salvaging, so they start working on it (calling a little on the ingenuity they started to promise us in s1 with jancy because i loved so much the idea of them building those traps, and i think in theory it kind of works that they might be building something more than that). jon thinks it's a little silly maybe, but at the time nancy is dedicated to getting it working because it would mean she's a step closer to finding barb. when all is said and done i think she continues working on it because she is so horrified and alone by the fact that barb is gone, that everyone's pretending it was something it wasn't, that no one seems to care.

once the ship is done, once she's graduated from school, once she's generally able to leave hawkins – she ventures out! and i think ends up in space, with an interest in chronicling her time out there and seeking a sense of closure for barb that she wasn't able to get. she focuses on govt corruption and is a strong advocate in exposing the less-than-savory ways in which earth handles intergalactic politics.

[clericism]

⠀“ ... I had a dream last night ”⠀he finds himself announcing out into the silence that occupies the minimal distance between the two boys, not particularly looking at anything except for the wall in front of him. Exhaustion weighs heavy in his bones, the lack of sleep affecting him in more ways than one. Will knows he should sleep;⠀there's nothing good in depriving himself of what his body needs and yet, there's nothing but nightmares playing out behind his eyelids. Nothing but flashes of horrors.

⠀“ Or maybe it was real. I can't tell the difference anymore ”⠀the confession is barely above a whisper, almost as if he's terrified to admit to it⠀—⠀the hope that he'd get ahead of the dark forces as opposed to giving in.

prompted starter for @ripmike / mike wheeler

[yegormirnov]

Travis Scott’s “UTOPIA” or How You Can Justify the 5 Years for an Album

On the 28th of July, the long-awaited album “UTOPIA” by Houston rapper Travis Scott was released to a global audience. After the commercial success of his 3rd album, “ASTROWORLD,” the bar was set extraordinarily high. This album's hype permeated globally, featuring mysterious briefcases, an Egypt performance (unfortunately canceled), and mastering from Mike Dean. It seemed as if the album was Travis’s version of "Graduation" or "MBDTF," so the question is:

Did the protege manage to succeed?

“UTOPIA” is weird, absurd, creepy, and fantastic. Those four words were the first that came to my mind after listening to the whole thing. In comparison, “ASTROWORLD” was akin to a rollercoaster or entertainment park, offering an experience of entertainment and amusement, which clearly played it much safer than “UTOPIA”.

“ASTRO” was colorful, but not as motley and vibrant as “UTOPIA”. It had risks, but wasn’t as edgy or even half as bold as the latter. Travis’s goal with “UTOPIA” is to engage you in his album atmosphere once more, achieved here by the effect of shock and amazement.

Explosive instrumentals and angelic outros are fundamental in every Travis Scott album, but the variety of soundscapes represented flawlessly in this LP is tremendous. The album is replete with hip-hop beats in disguise, allowing Travis to flow wherever and however he wills. Most of his rap performance is rough and raw, reminiscent of his older “Owl Pharaoh”/ “Days before Rodeo” style evident in “Hyaena”, “God’s Country”, “Skitzo”.

On his 4th LP, Travis ventures into unknown directions. An instance is “K-Pop,” dancehall-inspired music with elements of Latin involvement. “Modern Jam” is another example indicating his new direction. The boom-bap “Beyonce’s Renaissance” house music dominates this project, illustrating the multifunctionality of Travis’s style. The album showcases peak Travis psychedelic beats and performances, entrancing listeners in this natural, spatial feeling of oddness.

Features:

One issue I had with “ASTROWORLD” was that the feature list mostly outshined Travis, leaving little space for him on the song. However, here Travis immerses you by himself, making it the standout of this project for me.

On “UTOPIA,” invited artists deliver some of their best verses with amazing execution. Each artist sounds seraphic and vibrant, finding their niche and contributing to the complete experience. For example, in “FE!N,” Playboi Carti reveals a more mature, rough, and revolutionary style, an incredible opportunity to showcase his new era on such a long-awaited release.

Additionally, Travis introduces newcomers and upcoming talents. “UTOPIA” introduces Teezo Touchdown on “Modern Jam” and KayCyy on “Thank God”. Both were phenomenal; Teezo’s voice, initially found annoying and disturbing, showcased its subtleties and proper implementation on “Modern Jam.”

Even minor elements, such as Sampha’s feature on ‘My Eyes,’ Young Thug’s verse on ‘Skitzo,’ and immersive vocals from SZA and The Weeknd, display the well-mastered nature of this project.

Artistically, “UTOPIA” represents Travis finally merging both alter egos (Scott and $cott) and utilizing them marvelously throughout the album.

Let’s explore his $cott side. He reverts to the rawness, hunger, and desire seen in older projects, illustrating this rage and hunger on “UTOPIA.” He flawlessly portrays his trap image, ready to stay.

Regarding his Scott ego, it delves into the transparency of emotions, offering immersive and complex structures. Here, Travis reaches new heights, potentially patenting this sound and his psycho/bizarre influence in the future.

Now, for the cons of the album, which though minor, are present.

The inconsistency and duration of the album are significant concerns. While most tracks feature amazing progressions impossible to imitate or repeat, their length with complex constructions can cause boredom and distraction for the regular listener.

Favorite Tracks:I Know?, Modern Jam, Hyaena

Least Favorite Track:K-Pop

In conclusion,

“UTOPIA” is many things - Travis Scott’s version of Yeezus, reminiscent of the past, or simply a unique, dark, immersive experience. For me, “UTOPIA” is a loose concept, seen from individual perspectives. It's not just a place or an album. It's emotions that emerge, creating the feeling of UTOPIA within you.

[davy-zeppeli]

The guys in the hunger games verse would be absolutely screwed.

Like I feel like almost all of them would be turned into Avoxes

Mike would somehow invent a sign language filled with nothing but angry gestures

((Idk I’m trying to think of topics to keep your mind off things))

(Thank you Owl Friend 💕💚💕💚)

I can see Mike being a massive flop with a bow and arrow (memories of Peter and the Debutante) and having to resort to the most barbaric violence you've ever seen in your life

Davy would absolutely be one who sets up little traps and stuff, literally like a little rat who hides and camps

Micky would be skilled with survival training alongside Peter, but unlike Peter, Micky is strangely good with a spear for some reason? Peter is good at foraging however to make up for it.

I think they'd all refuse to kill each other initially, but I can see Davy being the first to cave and try to blow them up...

[randomvarious]

Ted Taylor - "Something Strange Is Going on in My House" Super Blues Legends, Volume 1 Song released in 1970. Compilation released in 1998. Soul-Blues

Plays: 81.7K on Spotify // 13.4K on YouTube

Ted Taylor was a terrific, label-hopping soul-blues vocalist who unjustifiably flew under the radar throughout most of his three decades-plus career. He possessed such a powerful and distinctly high-pitched voice that had this charmingly slick southern pastor's drawl to it, even with a natural whistle appended to the ends of certain words. And I really hate to make this comparison, but it's unfortunately true: at a certain point in his career, he sort of sounded like if Herbert from Family Guy—yeah, the old pedophile—could sing. Taylor tragically died in a car accident in 1987 at 53 years old, but I wonder if the guy who voices Herbert, Mike Henry, drew any inspiration from Taylor's music, because there appears to be an irrefutable similarity there between the voices—and only the voices—of the character and singer.

Anyhoo, Taylor's music career began after moving from his home of Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Los Angeles in 1952. After joining a couple gospel groups and one of them turning towards secular R&B and doo wop, he decided to go solo, and would bounce around a whole bunch of different labels throughout the rest of his career, from Laurie, to Okeh, to Atco, to Epic, and to MCA, to name some of the most popular ones.

But where he wound up finding the most stability was on the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Jewel Records' subsidiary Ronn, for whom he recorded a steady stream of 7-inches from '67 to '74, and then returned in '77 and '81 for a couple more.

Taylor managed to chart a bunch of his singles onto both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, but neither showings were particularly impressive. His biggest commercial successes were "Push Push," which he released in 1960 as Austin Taylor on Laurie (#90, Hot 100) and "Stay Away From My Baby," released in 1965 on Okeh (#99, Hot 100; #14, R&B).

But his second-most commercially successful single on the R&B chart was the great "Something Strange Is Going on in My House," a fun and playful sub-3-minute, lightly funky soul-blues tune sung from the perspective of Taylor that was released in 1970 on Ronn and managed to hit #26. In 1998, Jewel included it on their Super Blues Legends, Volume 1 compilation, which is where I first came across it.

On this song, Taylor recounts a couple highly curious situations that lead him to suspect that his wife or girlfriend is cheating on him. But the song actually has a lighthearted nature to it, with his full backing band supplying some neat tricks to accompany his narration. For example, the bass, and then the piano, emulate a creeping tiptoe on the chorus to represent the unwelcome person that’s likely in Taylor’s house. And in the second verse, he mentions a weird scratching noise coming from the room next to him, and as he does this, the funky guitar, for an ever so subtle split-second, speeds up, which symbolizes that scratching noise. Cool!

In the end, Taylor resolves two things: one, he's going to lay out a trap to catch his lady and her side-piece together, and two, he's not going to end his relationship, but he's going to find his own side-piece in order to get even. Spicy!

Fun and overlooked early 70s single from this pretty underrated soul-blues singer who possessed such a unique and enjoyably high-pitched voice.