#all the clips floating around were kind of the same section of the song so I picked the longest one 🤪

[kindahoping4forever]

Clip of Ashton performing I See The Angels @ The Hotel Cafe - 25 June 2024

[happymetalgirl]

Five* Outside albums of 2020

I do this little list every year of my favorite albums that fall mostly “outside” the metal sphere and weren’t so metal-adjacent that I reviewed them formally during the year. The past three times I have written this little piece, I have kept it to five, but *this year, I’ve just had a hard time narrowing it down, so I figured, why do that? Well, I could go through a few dozen albums or so that I fucked with this year outside the metal sphere, but I’m compromising with the addition of a new, quick (we’ll see) honorable mention section.

So, in the interest of keeping my verbose tendencies in check, I’ll cut this introduction off and get into the honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions:

Anna von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly

I did review Anna von Hausswolff’s previous record, Dead Magic, back in 2018 as part of my bunch of metal albums reviews that year, because it was kind of tangentially metallic. It wasn’t a lot at a technical level, only a few metallic elements here no there, but it had a lot of harrowing qualities that I thought metal listeners might appreciate. For the Swedish singer and pipe-organist, that album really was the closest she ever came to metal’s territory, and I don’t think any flirting with the genre was intentional on her part. Most of what she does is haunting, neoclassical, organ-based music that’s usually not as wild as what Dead Magic was, and this year’s album is a real scale back to her roots and an appreciation for the pipe organ. While I do miss her bewitching vocals on this entirely instrumental album, All Thoughts Fly stands well on its own merits as both a solid tribute to von Hausswolff’s organ playing and as a beautiful, incredibly immersive ambient album that does so much with its relatively small palette. I’ve talked a few times on here about really shitty ambient music that’s approached with a clearly lazy attitude because of its supposed background role. Rather than being made to be ignored, All Thoughts Fly pulls you in and around in a swirl of lush sounds that aren’t too common in ambient music, and with a relatively minimal approach, relying on the naturally serene tambre of the instrument to fill the space with a lightening, floating ambience and well-structured movements to do the gentle moving. It’s a beautiful example of what an ambient album can achieve if it’s actually made with a lot of love and care.

Shabaka & The Ancestors - We Are Sent Here by History

Okay, that first one went pretty long. I’ll try to keep the rest of these here relatively short. Sons of Kemet band leader, Shabaka Hutchings, takes his other group on slightly less chaotic Afro-jazz odessey that what Sons of Kemet have been delivering us. While more contained on the surface within the genre’s usual light grey areas, Shabaka & The Ancestors move with freedom and flexibility on this album in a way that highlights the natural appeals of the Afro-jazz sound pallet through constantly engaging arrangements from masters of the craft.

Lady Gaga - Chromatica

I know we’re all well aware of Lady Gaga, but the pop icon has been relatively quietly been making the best music of her career since taking the edge rather than the center of the spotlight, from 2013’s diverse Artpop to 2016’s more bare-bones Joanne. And now, after her mellower, more traditional Americana-influenced album in 2016, Gaga cranks the volume and the fun way back up. Chromatica is a blast of an album whose wide span of dance pop albums influences new and old keeps it varied and lively all the way through. This album feels very much like it’s Gaga unleashed, just doing her thing and having a good time with a bunch of dance music styles that she’s always loved, and it’s impossible not to feel that enthusiasm secondhand, and groove the hell out along with it.

Black Thought - Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Abel

Black Thought has had nothing to prove since the relative inactivity of The Roots this past decade, but he has sure been rapping as if he does have something to prove on his solo work. The Philadelphia rapper put out a couple of EPs back in 2018 that showcased his impressive modern lyricism and flow, and the third, LP-sized installment in the series is just another offering of further proof of the man’s lyrical chops. There’s a little bit of an understated delivery in the music overall, but Black Thought really lets his words speak for themselves more than his moderate bravado. It’s not super flashy because it doesn’t need to be.

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

Indie folk has always loved to soak in the puddles of personal sadness, but Californian singer Phoebe Bridgers takes the style to whole new depths of personally gripping, bordering on the outright emo, and that is by all means a compliment for rather than a shot at. The album’s candid journaling of Bridgers’ personal struggles is so tangible and so genuine that it would probably rival Connor Oberst’s best work with Bright Eyes. It is just a beautiful, yet tear-inducing album.

Alright, now on to the five “main” “non-metal” albums of the “list proper”.

Hexvessel - Kindred

Hexvessel are a Finnish six-piece whose sixth album of psychedelic folk here manages to touch on the same haunting, gothic tones that groups like Opeth and Gazpacho do at their most forest-y. Indeed, Kindred is an enchanting album, with sprawling styles and a full-bodied sonic pallet to keep it interesting the whole way through. And it’s as strong in its more bombastic song like that which opens the album as it is in its more stripped back acoustic tracks like that which closes it. Songs like “Magical and Damned” straight-up evoke Mount Eerie, while songs like “Kindred Moon” hearken to The Beatles at their most minimal and folky, and there’s plenty of spooky, mystical energy to go around. Definitely one of the best finds of the year for me.

The Strokes - The New Abnormal

Coming at the end of a seven-year gap between it and their previous album, 2013’s somewhat fan-polarizing Comedown Machine (which I liked a lot), The Strokes’ aptly named return is a return to the spotlight, but hardly to normalcy or the musical roots in garage rock that so many of the band’s fans have been sweating for. Twisting the electronic alternative rock of their Angles era into some odd, but mesmerizing forms, The New Abnormal is a subtly wild ride of an album through lots of melancholic overtones and undertones whose impact is made all the more potent by the occasional teasing of sorts with the few more traditionally rockin’ moments on here. It doesn’t take long to pull back the seemingly preppy synth rock or 80’s rock curtains to find the melancholy beneath “Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus” and “Bad Decisions”, respectively. But the band aren’t even that subtle with the immediate depression of just the straight-up guitar melodies on songs like “Selfless”, “Not the Same Anymore”, and the chill-inducing soar of “Ode to the Mets”. The album’s prize piece, though, has to be the utterly gorgeous and empathetic minimalist synth song, “At the Door”, whose simple melodies and bare delivery make for one of the most gently heart-piercing songs I know and of my favorite songs of the year and probably my favorite Strokes song ever, as hard as it is to listen to. Welcome back Julien and company.

Rina Sawayama - Sawayama

Quite possibly the best outright pop album I have heard in a long while, Sawayama sounds simultaneously fresh and vintage in the landscape it was born into, making use of a lot of early 2000’s pop rock instrumentation, even some heavy metal guitars here and there, but most importantly, a real sense of passion that seems to be flat-out absent from so much of the pop that I (usually inadvertently) hear. I don’t want to overstate the prominence of the metal elements, but the album does have a bubbling, infectious energy both vocally and instrumentally from front to back that the occasional bursts of heavy guitars between Sawayama’s charismatic, dance-inducing performances do provide a good snapshot of. Furthermore, there’s a rich diversity of song types across the album that dive into the pop sphere beyond the standard trend-hopping that dominates streaming playlists and make for a dynamic and fun, rather than disjointed, pop album. And that’s all only possible with the consistently tight compositions o the album. Indeed, this is one of the best pop albums I have ever heard, certainly in recent years.

clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned

clipping. are the second artist to be on here two years in a row after last year’s spectacularly spooky There Existed an Addiction to Blood, and Denzel Curry’s one-two punch of TA13OO and Zuu in 2018 and 2019 respectively. There Existed an Addiction to Blood was a thrilling and fresh take on many tropes of horrorcore with the band’s already forward-thinking and creative noise-driven instrumental production guiding harrowing stories of femme fatales and street violence in a more modern setting that often flipped the script on victims and perpetrators, as well as settings themselves. Visions of Bodies Being Burned is quite literally a continuing sequel to that explosive album, also released in time for Halloween this year; the material was recorded in the same sessions as the previous album and in the same unique vein. Consequently, there’s not really a whole lot I can say about this album in contrast with the last without getting way too in-depth and spoiling the fun. Whereas MC Daveed Diggs’ hooks were one of the biggest strong points of last year’s album, the creatively noisy production is the big star on this album. The fans seem to be leaning a bit more toward this year’s release, but I think I’m still a little partial to There Existed an Addiction to Blood. Nevertheless, Visions of Bodies Being Burned is a blood-pumping follow-up not to be missed.

Mac Miller - Circles

The posthumous release from Pennsylvanian rapper Mac Miller captures the man at his most chill and contemplative. The album is more of a minimalist ambient singer-songwriter sort of album than hip hop and its serene atmosphere becomes kind of inadvertently tragic in the posthumous context, but it serves as a beautiful swan song for the creative rapper whose struggles with addiction sadly prevented him from being able to bask in the deserved wide appreciation of his sixth album. Circles is a soulful, bittersweet cap to Mac Miller’s legacy that I think anyone will be able to feel the love and raw humanness of.

[teaplease1717]

Fireworks

Title: Fireworks

Relationship: Todoroki Shouto x Yaoyorozu Momo

Chapters: 1 of 3

Rating: G+

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26685007/chapters/65087851

A little late, but happy second year writing anniversary to me! Wahoo! Thank you everyone who has supported me over the last year. It sure has been crazy, but seriously all your love, kudos, and comments have kept me going. THANK YOU!

This is a small 3 part story that was originally going to be a one shot, but got really long. And since I hate long chapters decided to break it up into 3 parts. All the parts are done but won't be posted until they've been beta read.

Shout out to all my betas for this work: FlourChildWrites, Emberstork, Crazyelf2018 and C's Melody ! (thanks also to Taq too for calming me down when I was a spaz, and Revaliciousness for doing a final read)

And, staying on the topic of betas, HUGE shout outs to my betas for the entire year: C’s Melody and FlourChildWrites. They’ve been helping kick Ashes of Love and War into shape and seriously I could not have done it without them. Any beautiful imagery is thanks to FlourChildWrites pushing me to be more descriptive. And, although as readers you probably can’t see it, C’s Melody has helped with the story flow and advised where scenes didn’t hit. Both have pushed me to be a better writer and I’ve learned so much from them, so thank you!

To celebrate my anniversary, I’m throwing everything I’ve learned into this piece. Last year, my big takeaway was how to keep a scene in one character’s pov and I got better at adding movement to bring a scene to life. This year, I think my biggest improvements have been learning when to use commas vs periods in dialogue and how to make sentences shorter and to the point.

Other notes, this piece was heavily inspired by Kaguya-sama: Love is War. I watched both seasons of Kaguya-sama and fell absolutely in love. I’m not usually into those kinds of romantic comedy stories but this show killed me. So now you all have to put up with my TodoMomo version of the fireworks episode.

XXXXXX

“I’ve got it!” Ashido’s chair screeched back, and she slammed her hands down onto the dorm’s dining table, causing Momo to start. Hagakure’s fingers paused in Momo’s hair as Ashido looked excitedly between the class 2-A girls. “We should go to the Sumidagawa festival!”

It had been a month since the last of the cherry blossoms had fallen, and the brisk chill of spring had given way to the cloying heat of summer. With the changing seasons and their fast-approaching summer break, an infectious excitement had taken root in class 2-A.

Unlike their first year, when they had been shipped off to the mountains to train, the summer of the class’ second year was looking to be far more tame. No training camps. No extra classes. Besides their mandatory part-time internships for the holidays, U.A. was leaving the students to enjoy their second-year summer in relative peace. And no one appeared more excited about this than Ashido Mina, who had called an ‘emergency’ girls meeting to discuss possible options.

“Sumidagawa?” Momo repeated slowly. She could feel Hagakure’s fingers scrape lightly against her scalp as she resumed braiding her hair. Momo looked down and pressed the knuckle of her index finger to her chin, trying to remember where she had heard the name before. She had only been to a festival once before — during first year, with Todoroki Shouto.

Momo felt her heart stutter in the manner she was growing accustomed to when thinking about her seatmate. Recently, her mind had grown prone to fixating and overanalyzing Todoroki Shouto’s words and actions. And, in particular, one of her favorite moments to focus on was their time together exploring and watching fireworks at the Ennichi festival.

She shifted in her chair, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles from her lace night shorts.  Her fingers caught at the edge of the fabric and Momo wrapped the end around her finger.  There was no reason for her to be thinking about it this much. Todoroki showing up at the festival had been a coincidence. And his decision to escort her was an act of kindness that any hero in training would extend to a fellow classmate. So why? Why did her mind insist on returning to that night, over and over?

It must be because Todoroki had never expressed interest in spending time with her before that night. In fact, up until the sports festival, he had seemed the solitary type, uninterested in getting to know anyone in their class. The fact that he felt comfortable enough to open up to her, of all people, about his family made her chest swell with happiness.

“It’s super, super amazing!” Ashido continued excitedly, drawing Momo out of her thoughts. “And it’s not too far from here. We have to go.”

The name finally clicked, and Momo looked up at the girls surrounding the table. “Ah, I’ve seen the Sumidagawa fireworks from my room before.” She held up a finger and smiled. “It’s a historic event that can be traced back to the Kyoto famine in 1732, when fireworks were launched as part of festivals for the dead –“  

“No!” Ashido interrupted, crossing her arms into an ‘x’ above her head. “That’s not why we are going, Yaomomo!”

“Vice President, that’s not it at all,” Hagakure chastised lightly from behind her, her invisible fingers pausing their task of pleating Momo’s hair into a braid. “The festival is about fireworks, food stalls, and yukatas.”

“Exactly!” Ashido’s voice cracked as she nodded in agreement.

“They’ll have so much good food,” Uraraka echoed from across the table, cupping her cheeks. “Okonomiyaki, yaki imo, takayaki...”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Hagakure said, unintentionally yanking a section of Momo’s hair, making her flinch. “And they’ll have your favorite Uraraka-chan — mochi!”

“Mochi!” Uraraka’s voice grew shrill on the word. Her expression lit up as if she already tasted it.

Momo hid a giggle behind her hand.

“It would definitely be a fun summer activity, kero,” Asui added, tapping her chin and smiling. “My sister gave me a new hair clip that I’ve been meaning to wear.”

“I’m sure the guys would love to go too,” Uraraka said, pressing her fingers together, except for her pinkies which stuck up in the air.

Jirou raised an eyebrow as she looked across the table at Uraraka. “Are we inviting the guys? Or keeping it just us?” she asked, twirling her earphone jack around her finger.

“I think we should include them,” Uraraka said thoughtfully. “It would be fun to do something all together.”

Ashido leaned closer to Uraraka, a grin twisting across her lips. “So sly, Urarka-chan,” she said, elbowing her in the side. “You just want to hang out with Mi-do-ri-ya, don’t you?” she whispered in a sing-song tone. The black of her eyes glittered suggestively.

Uraraka flushed. “No! It’s nothing like that,” she said, waving her hands in front of herself frantically. Her eyes glanced around the living room quickly. It was deserted except for them. Uraraka’s shoulders relaxed and she leaned back in her chair. “I just…” she trailed off, dropping her gaze down to the table. Her expression turned whimsical. “It's just maybe our last year that we can do something like this — all together — before we graduate.”

Momo’s chest tightened.

“Ochako-chan,” Asui said; her voice was soft. She reached over to rub Uraraka’s back.

Everyone’s expressions fell as the reality of Uraraka’s words hung over them. Once they became third years, they’d be busy interning and applying to agencies; they wouldn’t have time to spend going to festivals. And, even if they did, the likelihood that they would all have the same evening off on one of Japan’s busiest days of the year was slim.

Momo bit her lip. She had enjoyed seeing the fireworks last year at Ennichi with Todoroki  —

Todoroki.

Would this be the last chance she’d get to see them with him? Momo's heart dropped.

Ashido’s expression flickered, and she straightened. “That settles it,” she said firmly, curling her left hand into a loose fist and pounding it against her right palm. Her eyes were intent. “Let’s invite everyone. We have to live this up if it’s going to be our last summer that we can all hang out together!”

Momo nodded, her spirits lifting at Ashido’s words. “I can speak to Iida-san about the planning.”

Ashido gave her a thumbs up. “Perfect!”

“And we have to dress up,” Hagakure stressed.

Ashido’s expression lit up. “Of course! If we are going to take pictures, we got to look good.”

“If we are going to dress up, I think I’ll have to go buy a new yukata,” Jirou said, a small smile pulling at her lips.

Momo felt a rush of excitement. “I know a wonderful shop that sells yukatas!” She laid her hand over her chest and smiled brightly. “Why don't we go together? And anyone else who needs one is welcome to join us, of course!”

"Oh! To be expected of our Vice President," Hagakure said. Her voice was filled with admiration.

Momo’s cheeks warmed under the praise as she watched the elastic sitting on the table float up and disappear behind her head. She felt Hagakure’s fingers thread the ends of her hair through the band and release the loose braid with a snap.

“Then that settles it. The Sumidagawa festival it is!” Ashido cried, pumping her fist into the air. “Summer here we come!”

XXXXXX

Momo took a sip of her lavender tea, then tilted her head back to stare at the vase of wisteria flowers that sat on the shelf above her vanity. It had been an hour since Ashido’s summer planning meeting had ended. She should be going to bed, but her usual bedtime ritual didn’t seem to be calming her eager thoughts.

Her stomach fluttered. She dropped her gaze back down to stare blankly at the chemistry encyclopedia that laid open in front of her.

It sounded fun — going to the festival with everyone — with him.

Her hands curled tighter around her warm cup, and she smiled to herself. Last year, Todoroki had escorted her through the Ennichi festival, but they had both been too new to the experience to do anything more than explore the stalls.

Perhaps, going back this year, she could try some of the food Uraraka had mentioned, maybe even play street games. Would Todoroki want to escort her once more? Her heartbeat increased. And what if he complimented her on her yukata again?

‘It suits you.’  

Heat spread across her face, staining her cheeks pink. Momo shook her head. Placing her cup down on her desk, her lips thinned. This was going to be a class activity. A class activity. Not — whatever it was her mind seemed to be hoping for.

Momo sighed, then straightened in her chair, and forced herself to inhale slowly through her nose.

Seriously, she was in the hero course. There was no time for these sudden and confusing teenage feelings.

Momo closed her chemistry encyclopedia and pushed it to the top of her desk. Then leaned down and pulled out the blue notebook from her school bag that she had designated for class representative activities.

If she wasn’t going to go to sleep or study, the least she could do was start thinking of possible festival activities to discuss with Iida after class tomorrow. She opened her notebook to a new page and smoothed out the paper. She picked up her pen and, in careful lettering, wrote ‘Sumidagawa’ at the top.

Leaning back in her seat, Momo tapped the end of her ballpoint pen to her lip. Besides fireworks, they’d need to make sure there were enough other events to keep everyone happy.

She tried to think back to what Todoroki and she had enjoyed last year and froze. Her throat closed as she realized, with shame, that she didn’t even know if Todoroki had enjoyed the Ennichi festival.

Her stomach twisted.

Now that she thought about it, Todoroki had never suggested anything or acted in a way that might imply that he thought of the night as special or enjoyable in any way. In fact, he had even said that he had felt out of place.

Momo took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Had she just been projecting her own thoughts onto him this entire time? Could it be…had he hated it?

A sharp wave of guilt struck her, and Momo felt her stomach drop in disappointment. All this time, she had been thinking about the Ennichi festival as such a magical night without ever considering Todoroki’s feelings.

Momo opened her eyes and set her pen down on her desk. Then she slumped forward and buried her head in her arms. She was so selfish and presumptuous.

How could she have forgotten that Todoroki had revealed that he had felt out of place? Festivals were for families, he had said. And, although he had never elaborated on it, his expression had been drawn in a way that alluded to the fact that his family wasn’t on the best of terms.

Slowly, Momo sat back up. She pulled her hands into her lap and curled them into fists. Perhaps, if they were all going as a class, Todoroki would feel differently? Maybe he would have a better time than when it was just the two of them…

Momo swallowed over a lump in her throat, and set her jaw, shoving away her insecurity as she picked up her pen. She wouldn’t let herself get down.

Last year, her attending Ennichi had been a selfish, impulse decision, one she made against her mother's wishes because Uraraka and Hagakure made it sound like an experience every person should have at least once. Momo would plan better this year.

She straightened in her chair and picked up her pen again. The key to a good event was preparation. And, if there was one thing Momo excelled at, it was planning.

‘You’re good at that sort of thing.’

Momo dropped her pen with a small squeak at the unbidden memory from Todoroki and her midterm battle against Aizawa. Her heart raced. Where had that come from?

Her fingers fidgeted as they pulled her braid over her shoulder. She drew in a deep breath and absently played with the ends of her hair as she tried to calm down.

It must be her subconscious reminding Momo to trust in herself. Just as Todoroki had believed in her and voted for her to be class president - because he thought she’d be good at it. Her heart rose in her chest.

Yes. That must be it.

She breathed deeply and released her hair. Todoroki was right. Planning was her area of expertise. She could do this.

Momo squared her shoulders and picked up her pen again. She would use these emotions — the guilt and disappointment in herself — to make sure Todoroki would have the best time this year. And not just Todoroki. If this was the last chance they all had to hang out together and see fireworks, she would just have to make sure that everyone had the best time possible.

However, even as she thought this, Momo couldn’t stop her sixteen-year-old heart from beating a little faster at the idea of once again looking up at a night sky, full of fireworks, with the boy she admired most.

And maybe this time she would know for certain that he wanted to be there just as much as she did.

XXXXXX

Shouto felt his stomach do a strange flip. She was humming.

He had never heard Yaoyorozu hum before. It was quiet, barely noticeable, and he probably would have missed it if he wasn’t sitting next to her. But it wasn’t just the humming that was different. There had been a determined gleam in Yaoyorozu’s gaze all day that had drawn his attention and made his chest tighten.

Maybe he had heartburn?

He watched her from the corner of his eye as he slowly slid his pencil case into his school bag. Yaoyorozu continued to ignore him as she scribbled determinedly in a blue notebook that he recognized as the one she used for her class representative duties. Her lips curved up into a faint smile.

“Did something happen?” he asked before he could stop himself.

Yaoyorozu paused and turned to look up at him. Her dark eyes blinked innocently. “Todoroki-san?”

The school day had ended a few minutes ago, and the other students of class 2-A had already filed out. Iida had gone to use the restroom, leaving Yaoyorozu and him alone in the classroom.

Shouto had never been the type to rush, but somehow, hearing Yaoyrozu humming had slowed his feet down more than usual. His hand tightened on his notebook as he picked it up and slid it into his school bag next to his pencil kit.

“I was just wondering if something happened? You seem happier today.”

Yaoyorozu’s expression flickered, and then lit in understanding. "Mhm. I guess I am," she said, sitting back in her chair.  She tucked her loose bangs behind her ear, then raised her head. Her dark eyes glittered as they met his. “Last night, the other girls and I were discussing a possible summer outing over the holiday break — one that we could do as a class. We were thinking of scheduling an event to go see the fireworks at the Sumidagawa festival. I’m going to meet with Iida-san now to discuss the arrangements.”

Shouto nodded. He closed his bag and pulled the strap over his shoulder as he straightened. “I see. I’m sure everyone would like that.”

"Right?!"

Shouto jumped despite himself. Yaoyorozu’s hand shot up to cover her mouth.

“Sorry.” A light bashful red dusted across her cheeks. She dropped her hand and looked down at her notebook. A small, embarrassed smile tugged at her lips. "I guess I’m more excited than I thought I’d be.”

He stared at her. Something about an excited Yaoyorozu made his chest tighten. It was like the way her whole face lit up talking about chemistry — raw, unfiltered. So different than him. After a moment, the red across her cheeks deepened, and Shouto realized he was taking too long to respond.

“It’s okay,” he said, avoiding her gaze as she looked back up at him, her eyes searching his face. Shouto cleared his throat. “I think it’s good to do something as a class.”

Yaoyorozu’s expression warmed. “I agree.” Her smile returned. “I've actually gotten really into the preparation. I want this to be a memorable event, so I’m going to do my best to plan properly so everyone has a good time."

Shouto looked down at the notebook opened on her desk. A list of activities, dates, and what looked like restaurants was listed in neat calligraphy.

He snorted. She really was good at these types of things. That's why he had voted for her as class rep after all.

Yaoyorozu was a leader; she was smart, dedicated, and had always been the type to go out of her way to think of others. Even last year, when they had gone together to the Ennichi festival, she had been more concerned with his feelings than making sure she had a good time.

Shouto swallowed and curled his left hand into a fist at his side. The memory of watching the fireworks with Yaoyorozu still felt surreal.

During the sports festival, Shouto had told Midoriya what had happened with his family, but he had a purpose when he had done that. Midoriya was a rival, and Shouto needed him to understand why he was going all out to defeat him. But with Yaoyorozu, it had been the first time he had voluntarily spoken about his family to someone who was not involved. He still didn’t quite understand what had made him decide — after fifteen years — to open up that night. He had just felt comfortable.

His heart beat faster at the memory.

That’s right. Yaoyorozu was that type of person. She was dependable and could make others feel at ease.

Shouto looked back at her. Warmth spread in his chest. She really was going to be a great hero.

Yaoyorozu’s expression flickered. "What-What is it?" She reached up and touched her cheek as if feeling for something. "Is there something on my face?"

Shouto shook his head, eyes softening. "No." He felt his lips twitch. "It's just...you're amazing, Yaoyorozu."

Her eyes widened, red returning to spread across her cheeks. “Eh?”

“Planning an event so that there is something for everyone to enjoy. I’m sure you’ll be able to do it.”

“Well…I hope you will enjoy it too,” she stuttered quickly.

His lips flicked up slightly. “I’m sure I will if you’re the one planning it,” he said.

He looked up as the classroom door slid open with a clack, and Iida walked in, smiling brightly.

Shouto’s throat felt tight. He swallowed and reached up to adjust the strap of his bag, unsure why he suddenly felt annoyed by his friend’s arrival.

He rolled his jaw, as sudden impulsive words clawed up his throat.

“I look forward to escorting you again,” he said as he turned and made his way out of the classroom. His heart raced. He cleared his throat as he discreetly activated his right side to cool his suddenly warm insides.

He would definitely need to talk to Recovery Girl if this continued.

XXXXXX

Momo read over the text message again. “How does this sound?”

“Yaomomo, it’s fine.”

She looked up from her phone. Jirou was sprawled across her king-sized bed, flipping absentmindedly through a magazine advertising the latest guitar models. “You’ve read it over a hundred times already,” Jirou added in a flat voice without looking up.

Momo’s lips thinned. Then she glanced back down at the screen, scanning the text again. She was grateful Iida had graciously agreed to let her handle the details of the planning, but now that she was drafting the invite, Momo couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious about the whole thing.

What if everyone hated the restaurant she chose? Was shopping for yukatas three weeks beforehand even enough time to find the perfect one?  However, what worried her the most, sitting like a heavy, black piece of coal in the back of her mind, was what Todoroki would think of her plan - especially after telling her he’d escort her. And what exactly had he even meant by telling her he’d escort her again?

Momo bit her lip. “But what if someone has a question…”

“Then, they can ask you.” Jirou finally looked up from the magazine and met Momo’s gaze. She quirked an eyebrow. “What’s really the matter? You’ve been fidgety all evening.”

Momo sighed. “I just want the night to be perfect. I was talking to Todoroki-san earlier- ”

“What did the Ice Prince say to you?” Jirou interrupted. The bed squeaked as Jirou sat up abruptly, and her eyes narrowed. “Do you need me to slug him?”

“No!” Momo sat back in surprise. As much as she loved Jirou, Momo was still not used to how quickly she would threaten violence against the guys of their class, especially towards her new boyfriend, Kaminari.

Jirou Kyouka and Kaminari Denki had begun dating at the beginning of the year, after what had been careful persuasion, and in Momo’s opinion, an unreasonable amount of pining between the two. It had been Momo who had finally convinced Kaminari to confess to her friend.

“Todoroki-san didn’t say anything. He was very kind. He just said that if I’m the one planning, then the event will surely be enjoyable…”

Jirou’s expression relaxed. “Oh, is that it?” She sat back down and crossed her legs. “Then why are you overthinking this?”

Momo sighed. “I-I just feel so badly.” She looked down. Her fingers fidgeted with her phone.  “Last year, Todoroki-san was so kind and escorted me to Ennichi, but I was horrible and never even thought about his feelings on being there. He probably hated it...”

“You’re not horrible, Yaomomo. And I doubt he hated it if he was with you.”

“But last year he said - !" Momo hesitated, her heart sinking at the thought that her telling Jirou about him feeling out of place could be a betrayal of his confidence. "He just...didn't look like he enjoyed himself. And I'm scared that people won't enjoy this either..."

Jirou gave her a look. “Yaomomo, you’re worrying too much. First off,” she said, holding up her finger, “Todoroki wouldn’t have stayed with you if he hated it.” She raised another finger. “Second, everyone is going to have fun, no matter what happens. It will just be great to all be together.” She dropped her hand back to her lap.

“Maybe…” Momo said, avoiding Jirou’s gaze.

“Look.” One of Jirou’s earphone jacks rose in the air and pointed at Momo. “I know you are worried about Todoroki, but he isn’t the type of guy who would do something he doesn’t want to. And the fact that he stayed with you all night — when he was still just getting out of his early-roki stage — means that he wanted to see the festival just as much as you did.”

Momo nodded slowly, and then looked away to stare down at her hands for a few seconds.

Jirou exhaled through her nose. “I know there is something else on your mind. Tell me,” she coaxed, getting on her knees and crawling to the edge of the bed to sit by Momo’s chair.

Momo bit her lip. “He...” She paused for a moment. “He also said that he was looking forward to escorting me again.” Her voice was small. She could feel heat curl around her ears as she whispered the words she had been thinking about all evening.

Jirou’s eyes widened faintly. “Oh, that’s exciting,” Jirou said, leaning forward. “And what did you say?”

She shook her head. “He walked away before I could respond…."

Jirou snorted. “Well, that’s still exciting. Congratulations on finally moving forward with the Ice Prince.”

Momo felt her face grow warmer. “Co-congratulations?” Her voice squeaked slightly at the end.

“Yaomomo.” Jirou’s lips curved up into a grin. “You don’t have to be shy. You’ve liked him since forever, haven’t you?”

“Eh?” Momo cupped her face. Her cheeks were burning. “I…I don’t know what you mean.”

Her chest felt tight.

Jirou’s smile widened; she shook her head. Then she leaned forward and poked Momo’s side. “Yaomomo, you’re too cute.”

Momo wanted to hide. Did she really like Todoroki? Well, of course, she liked Todoroki. But, like ‘like’?

Was that why she had been thinking about Todoroki more? And was that why she had been overanalyzing his words all evening?

Momo’s heart rate increased. She certainly admired him and thought him an excellent student and friend, and — okay, maybe she did like Todoroki, but only… if she was going to think about it scientifically, as much as a beaker. Well, maybe a little more than a beaker. Perhaps a flask. A tall, well-made flask ...

Momo hid her face in her hands. She was ruined. How could she have not known?

“Yaomomo, you don’t have to get so flustered. Everyone knows.” She could hear the smile in Jirou’s voice.

“Everyone?” Momo asked in disbelief. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.

“Well, everyone but Todoroki...probably. But it’s okay, since he likes you too.”

Momo dropped her hands. “You’re wrong. He couldn’t possibly like me.”

Jirou smiled surreptitiously. “I don’t know about that.”

Momo shook her head. “Even if he did like me as more than friends — which he doesn’t — he has never made any suggestions."

“What about him saying he will escort you again?”

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Momo said hurriedly. “He meant going as a class.”

Didn’t he?

Momo’s heart fluttered like hummingbird wings in her chest. No. Jirou was wrong. She was planting ideas in Momo’s head.

It was one thing for Jirou to know Momo’s heart, she was her best friend after all, but it was entirely different for her to presume to know Todoroki’s.

“Hmm,” Jirou hummed, looking at her thoughtfully. “Why don’t you just ask him, then?”

“No! I can’t.” Momo leaned forward and grasped Jirou’s hand. “And please, you can’t say anything either. Not to anyone.”

Jirou’s eyes softened. “Okay, okay. I won’t say anything. I promise.” She patted Momo’s hand.

Momo felt her shoulders relax. That was right. Todoroki didn’t like her, because if he did, that would mean Jirou was right and Momo was wrong — which wouldn’t make sense. Momo was the smartest student of their grade. There was no way that she would have missed the signs that he liked her.

Would she?

XXXXXX

Notes:

Ennichi Festival – this is from the Boku no Hero drama CD. Hagakure and Uraraka see a flier for the Ennichi festival and decide to go. They end up telling Momo and asking if she wants to join them, but Momo says she will pass because her mother doesn’t approve of street festivals. Uraraka and Hagakure then leave, and Momo wonders if she made the right decision. Feeling like she is missing out, Momo makes a yukata and goes to the festival by herself, but ends up getting nervous and is loitering by the entrance when Todoroki finds her. They end up walking around together, as neither have been to a festival before. The story ends with Momo asking if Todoroki enjoys the festival and him revealing that he feels out of place because festivals seem like something fun for families. He is about to leave when the fireworks go off. You can watch the full thing on youtube under boku no hero drama cd Ennichi festival.

Earlyroki - this is a slight spoiler for later in the manga. The class uses it to refer to Todoroki’s early emo stage of the first two seasons.

Sumidagawa festival – An actual festival in Japan. The Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival is an annual fireworks festival held on the last Saturday in July. They are known for having the biggest, most spectacular fireworks display of all Japan festivals with stunning pyrotechnic displays of over 20,000 fireworks launched in 90 minutes! (per Google)

[lovestrucked-again]

Ship Of Theseus

Fic Masterlist Jung Jaehyun | Fluff | College AU Word Count: 1.3K

Summary: A young woman, Y/N, picks up a book left behind by a stranger at her university library. Inside it are his margin notes disclosing a reader entranced by the story and revealing his own personal stories as a disgraced college student. Y/N responds with her own notes leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown. While searching for the mysteries of the author, the two individuals are forced to face crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they’re willing to trust one another with their passions, hurts, and fears

The aisles of the library had slowly become a way of collecting dust. Spider webs wove loosely around books, dirtied shelves, and stands, busted lamps hung from the braided wires that were embedded into the cracked ceiling. Dust floated lazily in the air causing a few students nearby a difficult time breathing, and every step put more of the particles into the air. All that was heard were the faint chirps of birds outside, the scurrying feet of invisible rodents, and the rustling of papers catching the draft.

You ran a finger across the spines of the books as you walked through the empty aisles, studying the faded colours, the fonts, the titles and thinking about how long the books may have been untouched for months, perhaps years. For the past few weeks you’ve been trying to locate a book. You had chased after this one available copy of the book all over the state, inquiring about book loans and finally requesting it to your local university library. You hadn’t gotten any calls yet but the habit you had of wandering the lonely aisles during your free time had bought you back.

Before your able to reach the end of the aisle you’re currently strolling through, your finger stops, pausing at a unique font on a spine of a book. Hm this looks interesting. You think to yourself, pulling the book out of its stiff position and attempting not to knock the other books off the shelf. You flip open the front page and then the back, looking for a blurb or short synopsis, but there isn’t one. The book was old and heavy, most likely left unwanted amongst the shelves.

After debating a little whether the book was still worth reading or not, you decide to try a few chapters considering you had nothing else to do anyway. Taking a seat in the corner of the room you were in, you brush the back of your fingers against the hardcover, noticing the outlines engraved Ship of Theseus – V.M Straka.

You take out the notepad from your bag clipped with the pen in the binder. A habit you had made from reading over the past years was to always take down important details, symbols or lines just to easily recall the story plotlines. You flip through to the first page and start your reading. However, as soon as you’ve made it past the title cover, a faint scrawl within the first chapter declares the book has once been touched. You notice the messy handwriting spread over the page. From there the words appear and disappear quickly as your eyes flutter across the pages, picking out any marks littering the across the pages.

One of the pages forces you to pause as you stare at the open book in awe. Whoever wrote in this book must have been analysing this in depth. The margins were scribbled with pencil and phrases were underlined with their interpretations explained. One of the phrases in particular clicked with you, “What begins at the water shall end there, and what ends there shall once more begin.” UNK: This is what happens: Men become lost; men vanish; men are erased and reborn. 

What a strange way of understanding you think to yourself, continuing to read the rest of the chapter.

After reading a few chapters in, the people around you begin to move and the sounds of chatting becomes distinct. A low volume announcement is made, signalling the last 10 minutes of the opening hour. As much as you wanted to take the book home and continue reading, the thought of perhaps ‘stealing’ it away from someone clouded you with a guilty feeling. I’ll just come back another day and finish it, you think to yourself.

“The library will be closing in 5 minutes, please make your way to the counter for any final borrowing. Thank you.”

As you stand up and gather your belongings back into your bag, you stare at the page open in front of you, the scribble pencilled into the sheet leaving behind a meaning of the original text you could never think of. You decide to leave a note of your own on the cover page, letting the anonymous know that you've seen it.  

Y/N: Hey – I found your stuff while I was looking around in the aisles. I read a few of the chapters (with your notes as well) and not going to lie but its impressive. Felt bad for stealing the book from you since you obviously need it for your work. I’ll have to get my own copy.

You decide against leaving your name, preferring to remain unknown.

_______

A few days later and your back inside the library weaving between the shelves, humming to a song playing through your earphones. Without realising it, you’ve managed to make your way back towards the “S” section. Maybe I should finish reading that book. You pull the book out of its placement and walk back towards an empty area.

Satisfied with your seating area and finally settled into a reading mode, you flip to the cover page to see if your note still remains. However, being a little startled to see an unknown handwriting underneath your own, you gasp a bit too loudly and the students surrounding you all turn. You mumble a quick apology and the heads turn back leaving you to face the shock.

UN: If you liked it, you should finish it. I need a break anyway. (leave it on the last shelf in the south stacks where you’re finished).

How nice, you think to yourself smiling. You turn over through the pages, attempting to find the last page you were on from the other day. The announcement rings just as you’ve managed to finish through the halfway mark and you sigh in relief, stretching your legs and arms out. Before you pack away your belongings you pull out the same pen you used previously and leave another note on the cover page.

Y/N: Thanks! Read through to the halfway mark in one sitting, haven’t read such an amazing book in a while (I’m an art major). Loving all the mystery – the book, all of it. I really needed an escape.

________

The next day you find yourself back at the library, taking the familiar route towards the aisle in anticipation with a nervous kind of energy tingling inside. The feeling swept through you like electrical sparks on the way to the ground, gathering in your toes as you approached the shelf. The night after you had seen a reply was a struggle for you to sleep. You were curious about the anonymous person, wondering about their gender, their major, their reason for such interests in this book. But before you knew it, the book was back in your hands and the conversational texts open in front of your eyes.

UN: Dear undergrad art major, if you thought it was an ‘escape’, you weren’t reading closely enough. Want to try it again?

Huh. What an asshole, you think to yourself taking a seat on the floor instead and pulling out a pen from your bag preparing to scribble out a rather petty message in return.

Y/N: Dear arrogant, I made some notes in the margins too so you can see just how closely I read. But what do I know? I’m just an art major. Don't bother leaving the book for me. Good luck with your work. Oh and by the way, you missed something important about Straka.

I bet you this must be a guy, I should’ve known, look how messy the handwriting is, and look how rude he is, you reason with yourself, annoyed at how excited you were from before. And with that you slam the book shut, not even the slight bit concerned about bothering others, stand up to place the book back in between the shelf, and storm off back home.

- - - - -

I guess this is a little confusing and its more of an introduction to the concept and how everything will work. I wanted to do coloured text for each person but couldn't figure out how so if this is still too confusing let me know. Please feel free to leave feedback :)

[theconservativebrief]

Who among us can resist getting a little verklempt upon hearing the strains of some familiar Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood song? Hum with me:

It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive It’s such a happy feeling, you’re growing inside And when you wake up ready to say, “I think I’ll make a snappy new day!”

Generations of American children now have grown up watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, in part because it runs on public television, something that Fred Rogers himself was instrumental in saving. Somewhere between a playmate, an affable uncle or grandpa, and a fairy godfather, Rogers’s slow and compassionate approach to children’s television ran counter to what we typically expect of TV shows for kids; there are no bright, flashy, fast-moving cartoons or slapstick humor in his neighborhood, just simple, direct conversation and storytelling. You got the feeling he cared.

Those same qualities might seem to disqualify Rogers from being a very good subject for a documentary, unless it’s the kind that “exposes” a public figure. But Morgan Neville’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor tackles him anyway, and comes to the benign conclusion that Fred Rogers was, in fact, the guy he appeared to be. It’s a gentle film that doesn’t take a lot of risks but doesn’t really need to. Fred Rogers was a kind and gentle man who saw children as important, his work as ministry, and kindness as essential to human existence.

So the main goal of Won’t You Be My Neighbor is to convince us that while kindness and empathy are in short supply today, it need not be that way. Through interviews with Rogers’s close collaborators and friends (his wife, several performers, and the head of the Fred Rogers Center), archival footage (some of it rare), and interstitial animated segments, the film builds out a portrait of a man who saw in the new technology of television an opportunity to communicate with a generation of children and tell them that they were special just the way they were.

And in 2018, that makes him a subversive figure.

The film opens with black-and-white footage of Fred Rogers in 1967, playing a piano and then using a musical metaphor to explain, in the familiar gentle cadence that somehow never comes off as patronizing, that one of his jobs is “to help children through the modulations of life.” What he means is helping children figure out how to express and regulate their emotions during exciting, scary, and confusing moments they encounter in life: dealing with bullies, experiencing parents’ divorce, feeling uncertain about the future, and going through frightening world events.

David Newell and Fred Rogers in Won’t You Be My Neighbor. Focus Features

That last one — the world events that children in the late 1960s and onward have had a greater awareness of, in part due to the very medium Rogers worked in — is a key part of Won’t You Be My Neighbor. Neville (Best of Enemies, 20 Feet from Stardom) is less interested in giving us a straightforward cradle-to-grave account of Rogers’s life than in making an argument around his subject. That argument is that Fred Rogers’s worldview, a kind of humanism that had roots in Rogers’s Christianity but expressed itself as a commitment to everyone’s dignity, is what helped many navigate the scariest events of childhood (RFK’s assassination, the Columbia shuttle explosion). And the power of that worldview, the film suggests, doesn’t stop when childhood ends.

The film is structured around those big world events. The first episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired in 1968, amid heated political debates about borders and wars. On the show, King Friday (the stern monarch of the Land of Make-Believe) erected a border fence of his own around his castle, and was convinced to take it down only by messages of goodwill and peace that other characters (both puppet and human) floated over the fence.

The parallels are almost too obvious (a border wall in the first week, 50 years ago?), but this really was the way the show started, and the film carefully shows how Rogers went on to gently and subtly address other cultural battles. In one segment that aired during pitched battles about integration, he soaks his feet in a small wading pool outside his home, then invites the black mailman to cool his feet in the pool with him. Today, a shot of the two men’s feet in the same pool may register as little more than a nice image, but Won’t You Be My Neighbor splices the show’s footage together with images from that time of black children being chased out of a public pool. Rogers knew what he was doing.

Sections like this are the strongest in the movie, straightforwardly told with historical footage to contextualize the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood segments and to remind us what it was like, as children, to see an assassination or explosion on TV and wonder what it meant for the future. Rogers’s commitment to addressing these events is framed as stemming from two things: his Christian faith (he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, and many interviewees talk about how he saw the show as “ministry”) and his deep interest in child psychology. Those two things led him to believe that children’s emotions were important to address and talk through, and he spent his life doing just that.

“The space between the TV screen and whoever is watching is ‘very holy ground,’” Rogers says in archival footage at one point.

What’s so striking about Won’t You Be My Neighbor isn’t really onscreen, though. It’s the effect the film has on the audience, and what that reveals about us.

As a number of critics have noted, what’s so startling about the movie is the revelation that Mr. Rogers was, as far as anyone seems to be able to tell, basically the person he presented himself to be onscreen. And more importantly, that’s unexpected. Watching the film, it’s hard to believe it’s true. Even after seeing the film, it seems a bit suspect, as if a story of a hidden crime will eventually come to light if we just wait long enough.

That we expect this so keenly (and fear it just as sharply) tells you almost everything you need to know about the times we live in. And it’s reflective of a conversation that many women have been having during the era of #MeToo — making lists in private conversations of the men we know or respect whom we’d be shocked and genuinely devastated to discover were predators. They’re very short lists.

If as a nation we were to make one of those lists, Fred Rogers would almost certainly be on it. The man who told us through the TV every day when we were children about our own worth, about feeling our emotions and then learning to control them, about living in harmony with other people — we need that man.

Thankfully, what Won’t You Be My Neighbor turns up is just that man, and a crowd of people who loved him. That’s probably why just watching the trailer of the film can induce weeping: It’s jarring to realize how much his simple message still makes sense, and how little it is evident in our public life.

And maybe most uncomfortably, the film surfaces why. There’s a clip near the end of the film in which a talking head on Fox News decries Rogers and the “narcissistic society he gave birth to.” I briefly expected the audience at my screening to riot, because it was such a plainly stupid response to what we’d just seen.

Fred Rogers believed in radical kindness. Focus Features

But it’s also a good example of the confusion that marks public discourse today, in which kindness far too often is decried as weakness, courtesy as political correctness run amok, respect as pandering, and the belief in each individual’s dignity and worth as narcissism. These things can all go in toxic directions, of course. But it seems clear that ordinary, old-fashioned goodness has gone out of fashion.

Rogers, the film proposes, was interested in “making goodness attractive in this next millennium,” as he says in a PBS segment recorded late in his life. The idea that everyone has inherent dignity was obvious to him; if you say otherwise, for him, “you might as well go against the fundamentals of Christianity.”

After all, Jesus’s answer to someone who asked him “Who is my neighbor?” was to tell the story of the Good Samaritan, a parable in which the most “righteous” and powerful members of his own society passed by a man lying in a ditch on the side of the road. Who finally rescues him and cares for him? A Samaritan — the people whom Jesus’s listeners considered to be less worthy of dignity and respect than themselves. There’s no chance that Fred Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, didn’t have this story in mind when he structured his entire show around the concept of neighbors.

And you can’t miss the parallels to today. Rogers was against the fast-paced children’s programming of his time that, as he saw it, found most of its humor in denigrating its characters’ dignity via pratfalls and cartoonish violence; it’s an easy line from that to the loud and shallow form that cable news uses to get its adult viewers addicted. Similarly, his slow, self-effacing, and deliberate way of speaking, with a gaze that made his audience certain he was paying attention only to them, is in stark contrast to all kinds of public figures today, not least the one leading our country.

So while Won’t You Be My Neighbor isn’t a particularly inventive film as a piece of cinema — its choices are expected, and we’re still left with questions about how Rogers’s work shaped his own life — that may in the end be for the best. The film succeeds on the radically subversive and obvious notions we learned when we were children: that being nice is not a weakness; that speaking with care is a thing we do simply because we believe the person we’re talking to is a human being with worth and dignity. What’s most startling about Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and what makes it feel almost elegiac, is how very jarring that message feels.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor opens in limited cities on June 8 and will expand over the following weeks.

Original Source -> The Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor feels radically subversive

via The Conservative Brief

[muzakmaker]

Madeon Achieved Fame Through Copyright Infringement, And That’s Okay.

Hugo Pierre Leclercq is a French Producer, DJ, and Singer-Songwriter and just generally a typical EDM artist. Better known by his stage name Madeon. While he had some prominence in the EDM community, winning some remix competitions, Leclercq started his rise to fame when he released a 39-song mashup/song (the two will be used interchangeably in this case) known as Pop Culture. The song was created live online on a 64-button drum pad (also called a launchpad, the name brand) from samples of various popular songs, all of which, according to my research, were at least popular in France and parts of Europe if not also more globally including the United States. The genres and styles of the artists included are widespread. There’s safer, poppier pieces from all eras including Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Katy Perry while also using rock artists like Linkin Park and Coldplay and Hip-Hop and R&B Artists like Gorillaz and the Black Eyed Peas. Even more interesting, Madeon also included samples from his fellow EDM artists, using Deadmau5 tracks and other artists’ remixes of popular tracks. To top it all off, Madeon sampled himself using his own remixes of Deadmau5’s Raise Your Weapon and Yelle’s Que Veux Tu. Madeon’s masterful blending of all the different sounds of these artists and producers into something entirely new and cohesive is a testament to his skill as an artist. This high level of skill coupled with the popularity of songs created an entirely unique listening experience that employs juxtaposition and pure joy which then pushed Madeon and his mashup into the spotlight and launched his career even when copyright and royalty restrictions kept the song confined to the Internet.

Song Breakdown

The song first opens with a short sample that neither I nor Whosampled.com can seem to identify, it is played first forwards, then backwards, then forwards again. Then the opening hard-cuts to several openings combined, the main two being the now “meme-song” Bag Raiders’ Shooting Stars’ simple snap pattern of an opening and a sped up version of the piano opening to Capsule’s Can I Have a Word, then jumping into the one of the primary beats of the song. This core loop is a little long and kind of strange to describe, For the sake of time, I will refer to the first part as the “Around the World” section, as its main hook before it repeats is a sample of Daft Punk’s Around the World. This section appears throughout the song and changes slightly every time to add a little flair for this live performance. After a few trips around the world (pun intended) we get the first taste of some cohesive theme lyrically to the seemingly random mish-mash of pieces. Madeon Plays the “Missing you” hook of of One-T + Cool-T’s The Magic Key

After that, the majority of the music drops out and leaves the listener floating while Madeon throws in the chorus of Boys & Girls by Martin Solveig, using this chorus brings the overall song sound closer to a remix rather than a mashup but the prevalence of other songs makes the song’s qualities as a mashup much more apparent.

After two repetitions of the line, it does one last one while building back up to jump back into the Around the World loop, again slightly changing every time. The song then drops out again, this time using a slightly modified version of The Who’s Baba O'Riley and begins another build up. First starting with the opening lines to Madonna’s Hung Up, her lines talking on the passage of time over the subtle sound of a ticking clock coupled with the floaty feeling of the song give a Sci-Fi time-travel type of sound. This is then followed by even more buildup from the “Missing you hook” again and vocals from Gossip’s Heavy Cross. Then the real drop for the song comes in with possibly the only part that is completely original to Madeon. He wails away on a synth he plays on the same launchpad. As stated before, this solo is the only completely new composition Madeon has in this song. Lastly, the song fades out in a way very similar, but, as usual, not quite the same as fade in from the beginning.

    A technical breakdown is all well and good, but what does it all mean? The truth is, Pop Culture does not have much, if any, deeper meaning to it. One could make an argument that Pop Culture was created as a critique of mainstream music by taking the typical pop sound and transforming into a EDM banger but that poppy influence is still very prevalent in the song, youredm.com went so far as to call the song “sweet, sugary, bubblegum ear candy.” It is also important to mention that EDM was arguably on the cusp of being mainstream or being very much in the mainstream by time Pop Culture was released in 2011. My evidence in the lack of Pop Culture’s meaning is rather strange: a lack of mainstream evidence. Basically every article I’ve found on Pop Culture is a more or less a puff piece that boils down to “Hey, check this out.” or just lists the songs samples and reminisces on its release nearly seven years ago now. Pop Culture is very much about having fun and just enjoying yourself. It uses its juxtaposition of very thick and very thin textures to give the listener distinct rises and falls to sway and dance to and keeps most of the parts on the line between predictable and random so the audience can keep up but remain surprised. The reception of this song on youtube and other forums is much better evidence of this song’s significance and impact. I have three youtube videos that show how the Internet Community latched onto the song to give it more depth. The first being the unofficial music video for the song:

Released a couple years after Pop Culture, This video is visually very interesting and, more importantly, helps to illustrate just how many songs that Madeon used. By splicing together the music videos of every song that is present in Pop Culture’s aural foreground (i.e. the pieces that are easier to hear, lyrics, riffs, and hooks as compared to just beats.) This splicing adds to Madeon’s already choppy and contrasting styles. The song that truly brought the song into the spotlight is Nathan Barnatt’s dance video to the song.

Being released soon after original Live Mashup video, this video pushed Pop Culture into the spotlight and it exemplifies the pure fun of Pop Culture in addition to bringing in EDM culture’s general love of self expression and just letting go. By depicting a rather plain guy just dancing in a wide variety of locales, the video also illustrates Madeon’s love of juxtaposition. Barnatt’s carefree attitude of just dancing wherever he pleases coupled with the occasional person in the background joining in really illustrates the song’s poppy fun aspects and self expression. Compounding on that, the moment right before the synth solo, where our protagonist thinks he’s about to be ridiculed and alienated. by deviating from the norm is instead embraced and internet illustrator Jenny Fine joins in on Nathan’s fun.

The last video I have to show is a bit of a left turn from the last two. It still shows Pop Culture’s two main elements of pure fun and contrast but in a different way. This video is titled Fan.tasia and is a modern take on Disney’s Fantasia set to Pop Culture.

This video is technically part of a broader class of youtube culture known as AMV’s or animated music videos, the majority of other AMV’s typically use clips from Anime, hence why you may often see the “A” stand for anime instead of animated. Fant.asia is what introduced me to Madeon’s song and his work in the first place. The exemplary video editing greatly adds to the song but in a different way from the other two. Fan.tasia typically uses much smoother cuts and transitions than Barnatt’s or the spliced-together music video. The juxtaposition instead lies in the wide variety of clips across Disney’s decades-long catalog and using scenes from Disney’s many musicals in a different context played against a style of music very different from the source material. The video content absolutely drips with childhood joy and nostalgia which is adds to Madeon’s music choices that themselves are fairly nostalgic by time Fan.tasia was released in 2016.

The three videos above illustrate just how much of an impact the song had in the Internet sphere but that begs the question: “Why on earth didn’t such a massive hit get more mainstream attention?” The unfortunate answer to that is never expressly said but seems rather apparent with enough thought, copyright infringement. A 39-song mashup most definitely infringes upon the copyrights of every song involved. Especially the more prominent songs like Magic key and Boys & Girls which are very much the standing dead center of the song. The inherently illegal nature of the song is potentially also the reason why the song got very little mainstream media attention outside of EDM news sites. Fortunately for Madeon, he still got several offers from record labels as a result of the song and the song is protected on the internet under fair use rules but likely cannot be released on a mainstream music platform, be it physical or digital, but that doesn’t matter. Pop Culture will remain in the digital consciousness for years to come through its creative editing, its unique fan-made videos and through the pure raw joy that it represents. That is the reason why I think that this song is a significant work and why I chose it to write for this project.

[ba2bresearchproposal]

Kendrick Lamar - “Alright” 

Animation as social & political commentary - Extended

“Kendrick Lamar is an award-winning rapper and songwriter best known for his innovative take on life in Southern California as well as for his affiliation with rap star and super-producer Dr. Dre.”  In early 2013, MTV named Lamar the number one "Hottest MC in the Game", on their annual list. Time named Lamar one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.

http://www.biography.com/people/kendrick-lamar-21349281

Lamar’s second album was titled “To Pimp A Butterfly” (2015), it incorporated elements from several different genres of music with Lamar’s poetic style of rapping, and received universal acclaim for its musical scope and, more importantly, in my case, its social relevance and approach to themes concerning African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination.

“To Pimp A Butterfly” cover, showing off “vivid” and “confrontational” imagery of shirtless black men and children celebrating victory infront of the White House. “The cover’s incendiary coup de grace is the white judge – whose presumably recent death is signified by the crude black crosses scrawled over his eyes – splayed across the front of the lawn, gavel dangling limply from his right hand.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/11/kendrick-lamar-to-pimp-a-butterfly-album-cover  - Ashley Clark, 2015

“Lamar’s cover art – and new, Ferguson-referencing song The Blacker the Berry(“Six in the morn’, fire in the street / Burn, baby, burn, that’s all I wanna see”) – situates the rapper within a long history of African American musicians using their medium to engage explicitly, and often controversially, with issues intersecting along the lines of civil rights and race relations.”

ALRIGHT

“Alright” is a single from the album released on June 30th 2015, featuring unaccredited vocals from Pharell Williams. 

“Alright” provides a moment of hope amid To Pimp a Butterfly’s battle to find higher purpose. After “u” – where Kendrick lays out his burdens – “Alright” responds by detailing how Kendrick means to escape his troubles. By trusting in God, Kendrick is able to look past his failures and have confidence that everything will be okay – “we gon’ be alright.”

On the surface, the motif is optimistic and universal, but the message is driven by specific pain and struggle. Awareness regarding the disproportionate police brutality against blacks has left many wondering if the U.S.A. has made any progress toward racial equality. Rather than despair, “Alright” assures listeners that, through solidarity, “we gon’ be alright.”

The mantra made a strong impact in the 2015 summer of protest, as Black Lives Matter activists all over America chanted “we gon’ be alright” to mourn the countless black people killed by police in 2015 and provide hope for a better future.

- https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-alright-lyrics

THE MUSIC VIDEO

Director, Colin Tilley, worked in collaboration with Kendrick and president of TDE, Dave Free, in developing the concepts for the ‘Alright’ music video.

“In a interview with MTV, Tilley answers the many questions watching this video leaves us wondering and speaks on what it was like working with Kendrick:

As the concept continued to develop, I had a lot of great conversations with Kendrick and Dave. We just kept hammering the concept home to really keep digging deeper and deeper. I’ve never actually worked with an artist like Kendrick that wants to keep pushing the creative to a whole ‘nother world. Every little detail matters to him. So, it was really fun to continue to mold the concept from where we started.”

MTV: What were the details that Kendrick specifically tried to fine-tune on this one?

Tilley: Well, you know what’s crazy? The intro where Kendrick, Schoolboy, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock are all in the car and we make that big reveal where the cops are holding up the car. We were talking about this specific image with everything that’s going on right now with the police and we kind of got to that point where we were sitting down with each other and we were talking about this big reveal with Kendrick and the guys being held up by cops like a carriage or something.

- http://www.mtv.com/news/2201127/kendrick-lamar-alright-video-colin-tilley/ -  ANDRES TARDIO 06/30/2015

MTV: There's a lot of symbolism in the video, which makes for a great sit-down viewing of it. What was the reason for using the children in the video? What was the thought process behind that?

Tilley: For me, it comes back to the hero. The whole world we created is like a fantasy, a dream world. When Kendrick's floating through the city, that's him being like a superhero to these kids, him being something these kids can aspire towards. So, when they look up, it's almost like it's Superman, but it's this world we created.

So, I wanted to get these kids' reactions so we can feel the impact Kendrick's creating on the streets around him.

This is the important part for me studying this video and its symbolism through animation. We can see from the behind the scenes of Kendrick Lamar’s music video, that the production company used rigs and cranes to hold him in place whilst he performed stunts...

http://pitchfork.com/news/59693-kendrick-lamar-does-stunts-while-filming-alright-video-in-los-angeles/

As a result, we can assume that the same was done for the “flying” sections of the music video, though I struggled to find behind the scenes images and videos of this in action. In the video, his “flying”, and sort of float walking through the city represents him as an icon for people to look up to, and there are several shots of people doing exactly that, looking at him in awe - he is a poet and a savior. We also see him balancing on a traffic pole where he landed, 

In terms of animation, these rigs must have been masked out to give a desired “animated” effect, and this is animation in and of itself, it is effects and post-production design and aesthetic that really shapes the fundamentals of this video’s message, with the lyrics emphasising this even further. 

“Right after showcasing the car, the video enters into complete surrealism with a floating Kendrick. Without explanation he is literally living out what R. Kelly told us he believed he could do. It doesn’t immediately show Kendrick airborne, between many transitioning clips, they tease the concept by showing his Timberlands in the air before revealing his entire body. As he glides down the road, you see kids acknowledge him by looking wide eyed and stretching their arms out as if he’s Superman, especially once he lands on the lamp post of doom. The kids that were riding their bike in the first scene are shown again at the end looking up to him, telling us that he isn’t some ghost or phantom that can’t be seen.”

- http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2015-07-2-breakdown-kendrick-lamar-alright-video -  By Yoh | 2016 

Comments on this video share the same thoughts as me - we all thought that this sequence in the video was green screened, but it is, infact, rigged and edited for an animated essence in post-production

At the end of the video we see a police officer shoot Kendrick down from the lamp post using a gun made with his fingers - A direct response to the controversies that led to the “Black Lives Matter” activist movement. 

^ We see blood spurt from Lamar as he is shot, it is unclear whether this is animation or special effects via some kind of blood pack

MTV: How difficult was it to shoot that scene in particular? And I don't necessarily mean logistically, but more so emotionally.

Tilley: Right, of course. Whenever anyone's life is being played with - whether it's on camera or in real life - it's a touchy subject. So, that's why we chose to make it more of a fantasy and make it more like a dream - not necessarily a good dream or a bad dream. In that particular scene, it's definitely a bad dream. So, we didn't want to use a real gun. I felt like the police with his fingers as a gun was much more powerful.

MTV: In what sense?

Tilley: I mean, it's kind of like, that effect pretty much was able to bring him down.

- http://www.mtv.com/news/2201127/kendrick-lamar-alright-video-colin-tilley/