#also yes to the vocal control!! dang | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

five-rivers · 4 years ago

Text

Long Night in the Valley, Chapter 6

Plans were made.

And discarded.

Different plans were made.

These were also discarded.

The problem (besides the fact that their best planners (except Yaoyorozu) were out of commission) was that no one knew what needed to be done. If anything. Yes, Midoriya had run out of the testing center. Yes, the whole situation where Midoriya was initially placed in a group apart from all the rest of them was shady. Yes, the fact that Aizawa and the other half of class was still missing was distressing.

But they didn’t know what was actually happening. They didn’t know if the others needed help, or what help they would need. They didn’t know why Midoriya was running, chased by heroes of all things. Jirou had wondered out loud if Midoriya had been mind-controlled by a villain with a quirk like Shinsou’s. In response, Kaminari had a (brief) breakdown agonizing about whether he had inadvertently helped a villain kidnap his friend.

What a mad banquet of darkness.

Luckily, they were training for… well, not situations like these, to be honest, but situations. Just. In general. Dark, mysterious situations, where one wrong step could send a person plummeting into an abyss of misery.

Anyway.

When in such a vexing a perilous situation, the thing to do, as Momo had pointed out, was gather information.

Was Jirou plugged into the wall? Yes. Did Shouji manifest enough ears and eyes to make even Fumikage slightly disturbed? Yes. Did Yaoyorozu make tiny listening devices that fit on the mice and insects that Kouda had called? Yes. Did Kaminari spontaneously manifest hacking skills that no one knew about and then deny that they were hacking skills? Yes. Had Dark Shadow pressed herself flat to sneak under doors and temporary room partitions?

Also, yes.

He tugged on Dark Shadow with his mind, directing her to return.

“Find anything new?” he asked. Tsuyu, his current partner in not-crime-quite-yet and lookout, leaned closer as well, interested.

“The lady whose quirk they were using passed out,” reported Dark Shadow. “Everyone she used it on is still asleep.”

“Nothing about Midori?” asked Tsuyu.

Dark Shadow’s facial expressions were often limited, but, this time, her scowl was clear. “Stupid stuff.”

“Like?”

Dark Shadow huffed, and Fumikage felt her annoyance. “Like he’s a villain or a spy. Stupid.”

Tsuyu closed her eyes and swallowed with obvious distaste.

“Do you think that’s why he ran? It seems unlike him.”

“Huh?” said Dark Shadow. “Midori didn’t run.”

“What are you talking about, Dark Shadow?” asked Fumikage. “Speak clearly.”

Dark Shadow elbowed him. “Midori’s friends ran!”

“You mean Ochako, Todoroki, and Iida?” asked Tsuyu.

“No, they’re still asleep. His friends. Like you and me are friends, Fumi!”

“You mean his quirk?”

“Uhhuh,” said Dark Shadow, bobbing. “They’re like us. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not really,” said Tsuyu.

Fumikage leaned and against the wall and slid down to put his head in his hands. “What a mad banquet of darkness, indeed. It is as if we journey at night, through a verdant and shadowy valley—”

“Come on, we have to tell the others,” said Tsuyu, nudging him.

“What happened?” asked Hitoshi, softly, not quite believing what he’d heard. He rubbed his fingers over the folds of his artificial vocal cords, stored in the top pocket of his backpack. Legally speaking, he wasn’t supposed to have it, or any hero support gear, outside the school he wasn’t licensed, even provisionally. But Hizashi had insisted, and Kayama-sensei didn’t object, so…

“According to the Hero Commission,” said Hizashi, voice tighter than his hands around the wheel, “Shouta and some of the 1-A students were targeted by a villain at the testing center.”

“What? What villain? Shigaraki?” That was the one that had been targeting 1-A again and again and again. The one that had hurt him so badly at the USJ.

“No,” said Hizashi. “They said it was Midoriya.”

Hitoshi blinked, his brain first trying to find a villain that matched the name before shoving his fellow student’s face into his mind’s eye. “You mean, he’s the one that wound up fighting the villain. How many bones did he break this time? Or did he get a new quirk?”

“No,” said Kayama-sensei. “They’re really saying that Midoriya is a villain.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” stated Hitoshi. “They think the second coming of All Might sunshine child is a villain? If he got locked in Tartarus, half the population would, I don’t know, start confessing their sins and become model citizens before the day was out. If his quirk wasn’t bone-breaking nonsense, I’d say it was the power of friendship.” He stopped, considered that last sentence. “Wait, this is about his quirk, isn’t it?”

“We don’t know,” said Hizashi.

“They’re saying he kidnapped All Might.”

Hitoshi wondered if this was what people felt like when he used his quirk on them, because his brain had just bluescreened and was struggling to restart.

“They’re what?” screeched Hizashi. It was a good thing he was the one driving the car. Hitoshi winced and covered his ears.

“Didn’t All Might steal Vlad-sensei’s car?” asked Hitoshi, feeling dazed. “How do you get from that, to Midoriya kidnapping him from across town.”

“I don’t know,” said Kayama, “but it’s all over Heronet and the commission is starting to release it to news networks.”

“That has to be the- the stupidest thing I ever heard! I’d put more money on Yagi kidnapping Midoriya,” said Hizashi, loudly and angrily.

“What the rat god said before we left makes much more sense now,” said Kayama, mournfully.

Hitoshi blanched at her reference to the principal. But then curiosity got the better of him. “What did he say?”

“That to keep custody of all our staff and students, we were going to have to be creative.”

Hizashi had expected many things upon arriving at the testing center. Being refused access to the unconscious teacher and students was one of them. Obstructive bureaucracy was one of them. People telling him something was illegal or forbidden by protocol when he knew it wasn’t was one of them. Chaos was one of them. Confusion was one of them. Lack of organization was one of them.

In these things, he was not disappointed.

What he didn’t expect, however, was for the remaining half of Shouta’s class to not only be one hundred percent down with kinda-sorta kidnapping, but to have already laid a lot of the groundwork for it already.

Maybe he should have. But he didn’t. How was it that Shouta, aka Mr. Expulsion, aka Mr. ‘you have no potential,’ had kept all the students from a class that had no scruples against committing things that most people would consider crimes? A class that, having been given time to bond, would probably collectively turn to villainy rather than betray one of their number?

He paused and considered his long relationship with Shouta. Mentally squinted. Never mind. He could see it now.

Well. It wasn’t as if Hizashi wasn’t like that, too. He’d never really considered expelling any of them. Except Mineta. Grape Juice was on thin ice.

“We most likely would have acted already,” Yaoyorozu said as the rest of the class distracted the commission officials who were supposedly supervising the pickup of the children, “but we didn’t know what we’d do after. No escape plan.”

Reasonable. The bus driver (Green Light, the Transit Hero) had gone back to the school after dropping them off and had to turn around once he heard the news.

But, now, Recovery Girl was coming around with a fleet of ambulances from the hero hospital UA contracted with. A hospital that was, incidentally, not the same as the one the Hero Commission wanted to bring all the people still affected by Saito’s quirk.

Ambulances had room for riders. It was unorthodox, but it would work.

“Well, you have one now,” said Hizashi, quietly. No one expected him to be quiet. It made him almost invisible when he was.

“I know you already have a plan,” interjected Hitoshi. “But is there anything I can do?”

Momo blinked. “Actually, yes. We could get them out anyway, but it would help a lot if we had the keys.”

The search for Uraraka hadn’t been going well before the city started to fall apart around them. In fact, it had been going incredibly poorly, because various versions of All Might kept popping up to try and punch Suzuki’s face off. Literally. At least two of the All Mights had declared that as their intention prior to attacking.

Tenya wasn’t sure if he should be concerned about his friend’s mental state or baffled about his incredibly violent mental view of All Might.

Perhaps the eyeless villain in Kamino had left a strong impression on him? But All Might couldn’t have been responsible for the villain’s injuries! It was All Might. He hardly ever injured villains he took down.

On the other hand, the villain at Kamino had been terrifyingly strong. If there were to be an exception to the rule, he was certainly it.

But the real reason, in Tenya’s opinion, the search had been going poorly was Suzuki. The man would not stop talking. His theories were even worse than Todoroki’s!

“That All Might is fake,” he was saying. “He isn’t even using his quirk, just like Midoriya.”

“I think we all know that the All Might that exists in Midoriya’s mind is not, in fact, the real All Might,” said Aizawa.

“This destruction is just another ploy, another distraction—”

“We get it,” said Aizawa. “But it isn’t centered around us, so, logically, it must be centered around Uraraka.”

Suzuki scoffed. “We should be looking for what Midoriya is trying to hide.”

“The only reason we aren’t beating you up right now,” said Aizawa, “is that we are looking for Uraraka. So, shut up.”

“What about me?”

Tenya whipped around to see Uraraka stooped over behind them, breathing heavily, hands on her knees. “Sorry,” she said, “I ran all the way here.”

Aizawa hurried over to her. Tenya noted that he never quite turned his back to Suzuki.

“What happened?” he asked. “Where were you?”

“D- Izuku wanted to talk to me,” she said. “He said something dangerous was about to happen, but if we went farther in, we could maybe get out?”

Under normal circumstances, the overly vague report would have been cause for scolding, but Tenya could see how her eyes flicked to Suzuki. There were details she didn’t want him to hear.

“Did he say how to go further in?” asked Aizawa.

“No. That happened and he ran off.” She gestured towards another building that was slowly collapsing.

“Wait a moment,” said Suzuki. “If you’re here, what’s there?”

“Uh,” said Uraraka.

“He told you, didn’t he? What did he say?”

“Excuse me!” said Tenya. “You are being very rude right now! Uraraka has just come back from a harrowing experience!”

Tenya was not very good at lying, but this wasn’t really a lie, per-se.

The distinction didn’t seem to matter to Suzuki, who gave him a brief, incredulous look before turning back to the gathering storm. “He doesn’t want us to see this.”

“Don’t you dare,” said Aizawa, eyes narrowing.

Suzuki didn’t listen.

Tenya caught up to him without any trouble and punched him in the back of the head. “Ow,” said Tenya, who had forgotten he wasn’t wearing his hero costume.

“Did you break your fingers?” asked Aizawa as he dragged Suzuki back by the foot.

“I’m going to have you all arrested and stripped of you licenses, unless—”

“Because we didn’t help you with an illegal interrogation? No, you’re not,” said Aizawa.

“Nana!”

The voice bounced off the buildings and was swept away by the wind.

“Nana! Master, where are you?”

It was the voice of the younger, vigilante All Might.

“Is he calling the name or the number?” asked Uraraka.

“Master! Please! Answer me!”

With a shuddering heave, the building right next to them tipped over, falling into rubble before it even hit the ground. The storm wind, heavy with rain and lightning, whipped down the street with all the force of a hurricane. Tenya had to brace himself and cover his eyes.

When he could see again, it was to discover Suzuki had run off again. Towards the fallen building.

Tenya was honestly torn between letting him get beaten up by whatever had flattened the building, whether it be Midoriya’s subconscious, the illusory All Might, or something worse. Although, arguably, all those were the same the same thing.

But Tenya was training to be a hero. Heroes couldn’t pick and choose who to save. He, and everyone else took off after Suzuki.

They all stopped, though, when a boy in a torn UA uniform clambered over the rubble. The boy cupped his hands around his mouth. “Nana!”

That hair was recognizable from a mile away, not to mention the height. All Might. Yet a different version. Tenya had known UA was All Might’s alma mater, but seeing him in a uniform like this, seeing him vulnerable, not in the way of a man at the end of his career, but as someone just starting out, someone like them, was oddly humbling and completely terrifying.

What pushed him to this? What put that distraught tone in his voice? What put that bloody slash in his uniform and bruised his face?

Tenya had a sinking suspicion he knew what. He didn’t even want to come into contact with the memory of that monster from Kamino.

All Might was scanning the ground, looking for- Looking for something. Someone?

His eyes fell on them, and even from this distance, Tenya could see them widen. All Might began to scramble down the hill.

“You,” he shouted, as he came closer. “You—Underclassmen. Have you seen-?” He gasped for air.

Even Suzuki, from what he could see, looked taken aback.

“Have you seen a woman about—” He hesitated and adjusted his hand downward, to about the height of his chin. Which was still taller than Tenya.

All Might was tall in high school. Or, at least, Midoriya thought All Might was tall in high school.

This was confusing.

“A woman about this tall. She’s—She has black hair, and she wears it, um, half up.” All Might fanned his hand behind his head to illustrate. “She’s a hero. Wears- Wears yellow gloves.” He paused for a moment, eyes flicking from one to the next. “You haven’t seen her.” He whipped back around. “Nana!”

“What even is this supposed to be?” demanded Suzuki.

“Truly,” said Todoroki, “their bond is inspiring. For All Might to tell Midoriya even of this tragedy…”

“Todoroki! That’s entirely inappropriate!” exclaimed Tenya, turning to face his classmate.

The wind picked up again. The buildings began to twinkle.

Earlier, you said something about being a vigilante. What was up with that, anyway?

Midoriya’s voice sounded like it was right next to him, and yet the sound was entirely sourceless.

The colors shifted.

Izuku wasn’t sure if he wanted to curse the bystander culture encouraged by the hero system or bless it for its unintentional effects. Even though Toshinori was clearly suffering, slumped against a wall and shoulders heaving, no one stopped to help him. In fact, most people were averting their eyes, barely looking at him.

Generally speaking, Izuku decided, he’d curse it. In this particular instance, however, it benefitted them.

He looked back and forth before dashing across the street, not caring about jaywalking at the moment. He jogged up to Toshinori, swallowing the name before it left his lips. Right. They were undercover, and the commission definitely knew Toshinori’s real name.

“Dad,” he said instead, and mentally felt himself collide with a wall. Couldn’t he have picked something else? Come up with some fake name? Or just not used a name to begin with. With effort, he picked himself up and his dream-self kept running. “I got your text,” he said, instead, for the benefit of anyone listening. He inserted himself under one of Toshinori’s arms. “Let’s go home.”

He smiled at a couple of people who were staring and hoped they wouldn’t report this.

“I can walk, I can walk,” said Toshinori heaving himself off the wall with a shudder. “I’m fine.”

This was a lie. Izuku could still see the flashback playing out in his mind’s eye. Even so, he nodded and tried to give Toshinori space, even as Toshinori put one hand on his shoulder and leaned on it heavily.

This mental invasion was wearing both of them out. No. All of them out. This was not, they reminded him, at all normal.

Five gently pressed ways of dealing with flashbacks into his awareness. Thank goodness for Five and his comparative normalcy.

“We’re okay,” he said. “We’re just on a street in Musutafu. You can feel me, right? And the sidewalk under your feet. And you can hear the traffic and smell the cars.” He kept going.

Toshinori gave a hum of assent after each item Izuku listed, but he could tell it wasn’t enough. He might be able to see and hear, to touch and taste, but he could do the same things to that mental battleground.

“What if,” said Izuku, desperately, “you tell me a story?”

“A story?” rasped Toshinori.

“Y-yeah. Earlier, you said something about being a vigilante. What was up with that, anyway?”

It isn’t well known, said Yagi’s voice as the world came back into focus in an entirely different city with entirely different weather and signage, but I didn’t grow up in a terribly pleasant area.

In fact, there was quite a lot of crime.

Aizawa caught sight of a familiar head of yellow hair positioned above a plain gakuran. The younger version of Yagi was staring down an alleyway.

Suddenly, Aizawa felt himself pulled to stand right behind Yagi. A man with a mutation quirk was being mugged by two young men with fire quirks. He blinked. The scene didn’t change, even behind his eyelids. He couldn’t see his students, or Suzuki.

What was this, a cutscene?

I, ah, rather disliked that. Obviously, my thoughts about become a symbol of peace for the world were, well… Just thoughts. But even then, for my own little corner of the world, I wanted to make a difference.

Yagi, showcasing the fact that he’d always been a bit of an idiot, pulled on a medical mask and threw his bookbag at one of the muggers and punched the other one in the face. At least he wasn’t using his quirk to do it. The villain would have been paste on the side of the building.

On the other hand, this was presumably some imagining of Midoriya’s, possibly based on a story he heard from All Might, if the voiceover was anything to go by.

Oh, said Midoriya, I did that a couple of times. Stop a mugging, I mean.

I thought you said you weren’t involved in any vigilantism.

It wasn’t vigilantism! They were just things I happened to run into, and I couldn’t just not help.

Sometimes, I wonder if your quirk really isn’t something like a villain magnet…

The scene shifted again, making Aizawa feel dizzy, even though he wasn’t moving. Except, maybe that was why he felt dizzy. Motion sickness.

I never knew my parents. I grew up in a foster home.

Aizawa blinked, and the scene became clear. A small apartment building with a tiny, tattered lawn. Someone’s shoe had been left on the sidewalk in front, and Yagi was climbing the stairs to the door.

Then, Aizawa was inside, and internally wincing at the noise level. Screaming preteens were so far out of his comfort level you couldn’t see it with a telescope.

(The exception, of course, was Eri.)

As he watched, Yagi was shoved several times, tripped, and had a water-manipulation quirk used to drop something that Aizawa suspected was toilet water on his head.

Overall, the attitude towards people like us wasn’t quite what it was now, but to be parentless on top of that? Many of the other children at the home thought there had to be something wrong with me. There was a sigh. Judging from what I’ve seen of your memories, I suspect you had the worse time of it.

I had Mom, though.

Aizawa found himself in a small bedroom. Pinned to one of the walls was a corkboard. Which looked distressingly like Todoroki’s. Yagi crossed his arms as he contemplated it.

Once I had built up my confidence, one of the things I was trying to do was find out about a human trafficking ring.

Oh, yeah, those suck.

… Why do I feel like you have personal experience in the subject.

It wasn’t my fault.

Soft, fond laughter filled the room before it was whisked away and replaced with a warehouse that just screamed ‘villain hideout.’

There was a fight.

I tried my best, tried to be sneaky… I knew I wouldn’t win in a straight-out fight. But…

Yagi was surrounded and clearly losing. Then the doors burst open. A figure floated, framed by the threshold, backlit by the streetlights.

First contact, whispered a voice like the wind.

Nana, said Midoriya.

Nana, agreed All Might’s voice. She saved me. I… Didn’t want to get caught. I ran. Went back to the muggings.

And then?

And then—

Another change in scenery. A sidewalk by a stream. Yagi stood in his gakuran a few meters away from a woman in a hero costume. The yellow gloves stood out.

And then, a week later, she found me.

The woman’s head snapped in Aizawa’s direction, and he had just enough time to realize she could see him before the scene glitched out and he was falling through an empty sky.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #fic #my fic #long night in the valley

39 notes · View notes

freebooter4ever · 4 years ago

Text

i’ve seen the discussion going back and forth on boundaries and sexual objectification, and i don’t have much to add to the conversation other than to say everyone is allowed to determine their OWN ‘lines’ and just because we don’t vocalize them doesn’t make them any less valid. but here’s the limits i set for my blog if anyone feels it is important for them to know (<3):

personally I consider ‘characters’ fair game for anything goes, with ‘public personas’ a little more iffy. ‘RPF’ isn’t new - it just takes on a new more accessible/visible form nowadays. i remember reading my first fic about a ‘real person’ back in my LOTR fandom days - it was a story in first person perspective about the main character meeting orlando bloom on a plane before he was ‘famous’. like a lot of these types of stories, it wasnt so much about the person as it was about the meet cute. the actor was just a convenient placeholder with a handsome face and some personality quirks thrown in to make the romance/dialogue more specific. i personally dont read much xReader fic nowadays, but mostly only cause i’m an old fart who can’t relate to the ‘you’ format. i miss the good old days when people actually created OC’s and then inserted them into things LOL. but also LOL if you think i’ve gone an entire year of quarantine without some imagined personal fantasies of joe mazzello (or steve aoki in the years before)(ramilicious can attest to this. she can also attest to most of these fantasies ending in friendship rather than anything explicit cause that’s just how i roll these days lol). the line i draw is i would never post these types of fics in a place where the subject could accidentally find them - you have to go looking for this stuff on tumblr, most fics are given explicit ratings and under read-mores. with the blacklist tags it’s pretty easy to filter things out. its even easier to add filters to ao3 searches. i am NOT going to do something like message steve aoki and say ‘yeah i watched that movie Ibiza like five times, here is my 1k fic where you’re the dj and i’m the one night stand’. but obviously people still enjoy imagining scenarios like these otherwise movies like Ibiza wouldn’t exist?

for art, i consider anything already on display up for grabs, we all know a certain person’s ass is all over the place...all you have to do is google ‘need for speed’ and rami’s name. HOWEVER, in the case of actors i personally would not draw anything more explicit than what’s already there. i’m not gonna draw full frontal nudity for rami (unless he gifts us with it in a movie, i suppose) or anyone. this is 100% a personal choice for me.

i was a sophomore or junior in college when i volunteered as a figure drawing monitor where i’d time the nude model’s poses and help them set up the stage and lighting and such. there was this one guy in his mid forties probably, a regular who came every week, and i always thought of him fondly till one day (the day after i ran into my Hot Programming TA during dinner and later sent him an email begging him to go on a date with me because i was desperate for kissing experience)(and Hot Programming TA emailed me back within minutes saying yes) this artist guy who i saw all the time and thought i knew fairly well, decided to draw me instead of the model. which would have been fine except he drew me naked. i was NOT naked at the time, i was wearing a shirt, and a bra, and a full prairie skirt with alternating calico and floral patterns. he drew what he imagined was underneath all that. he came up to me after the figure drawing session and showed me his drawings and told me i had been ‘glowing’ and my response was to laugh it off awkwardly and get the hell out of there as soon as i gave the model their pay check. but inwardly i was thinking a) i was NOT glowing for this creepy man twice my age and b) i did NOT give him consent to sexualize my body under my clothes and then SHOW me that objectification. i never said anything to him or anything else, i continued to be the monitor, and i continued to field off creepy advances from him including multiple job offers, but when i finally realized i could just...stop..and i passed the student volunteer monitor job on to my friend naeem, i also realized that what that older male artist did was NOT ok in my book. and it was probably not something he would do while naeem was monitoring.

nowadays im working in an industry that regularly objectifies female bodies. in the past year alone i have had to deal with requests to make breasts bigger, i have been given character rigs that in addition to the usual elbow, knee, and spine joints also have ‘nipple’ joints but ONLY for the women (to make them jiggle for animation), every time i send out a female pose i get it back with notes that push it further into the sexy type of body language reserved for women (twist the spine more! sway the back more! give it ‘energy!’), i have been told to erase wrinkles and fat and pores but ONLY for the women (men you ADD pores bc realism! and manliness!) and this is all me working for a company that is actually fairly progressive in terms of sexism compared to OTHER studios.

like it or not, sexual objectification is a huge part of specifically women’s lives and how we react to that is our business. for me, turning the tables and putting men on display feels like fair’s fair. i cant stop the men from doing it, so if i want to enjoy sexualizing male bodies, damn it im gonna! like dang it, boy do i want to send steve aoki a thank you note every time he posts a video of himself doing those ice baths during the sunset golden hour bc holy shit gorgeous or working out in his gym wearing VERY little clothes, but i dont because i know what its like when someone imposes their personal fantasies on the subject. or, god, there was that time i had to unfollow nicole’s insta for a while bc i had a very explicit dream about her and realized, shit, i need to take a break and get my emotions under control before i can refollow. and god some of the stuff i see dudes sending her during her live videos on mental illness/meditation is TOTALLY gross and not something they should be confronting her with. and she’s not even ‘famous’ famous. or how some fans send their idols explicit direct messages without consent. THAT feels inappropriate to me.

a part of me feels like i shouldn’t have to defend this. men don’t. they’re even encouraged in mass media to sexualize women. but i also recognize the importance of talking about consent. the importance of recognizing that a celebrity deserves to have their boundaries respected. these are my lines in fandom. other people have different lines they won’t cross, and that’s okay to me. i block or blacklist any blogs or tags i think go over the top.

heck, even in fandom-only spaces i still try to keep my own more sexual fantasies off this blog and only in private messages with my friends and mutuals, and i feel like that might come across as unintentionally prudish or judgmental sometimes. i’m not ‘horny on main’ very often. but like...every time i reblog that particular ‘washing machine’ gif of joe mazzello am i thinking about him naked and thinking about how he’s got very loooooong feet, and ‘gee i wonder if that means /other/ things are Too Big for my tastes’ but also ‘gosh wouldnt that make a pretty picture to draw’???? hell yeah.

i dont know who is gonna actually read this essay but yolo i guess :)

#journal shit

15 notes · View notes

taste-in-music · 5 years ago

Text

Music Monday (3-2-20)

Hey y’all. I know I haven’t posted one of these in a big long while, so here’s an extra-long post to catch up on all the weeks I’ve missed.

New Releases

Sunflower by Dizzy: I’m just now realizing how much I’ve been missing Dizzy. This song is bright and cheerful, accented with bright synths and drums. It’s got more of a kick than Dizzy’s usual fare but it’s still got that signature melancholic, nostalgic feel that they have down to a science. This is going to be a laid back Summer jam for sure.

Désolé by Gorillaz ft. Fatoumata Diawara: Hey, speaking of laid back Summer jams. This song is blissfully breezy, and Fatoumata Diawara’s voice provides a beautiful contrast to Damon Albarn’s. Both of the Sound Machine releases have been both very interesting and very different from one another, I’m so excited to see how this project pans out.

Garden Song by Phoebe Bridgers: NEW PHOEBE BRIDGERS!!! Boy does this woman know how to rip out my heart in the most beautifully tender of ways. Her delivery is so controlled and delicate here, and the lyrics provide intimately detailed vignettes that feel achingly familiar. Just gorgeous.

ringtone (Remix) by 100 gecs ft. Charli XCX, Rico Nasty, and Kero Kero Bonito: Seeing collabs like this make my little pop geek heart sing. I wasn’t all that into the original version of this song, but this remix serves almost like a posse cut, each artist providing their little touch of personality and flair to their respective segments.

On to the album and EPs!

King Princess released the Cheap Queen Deluxe album with five new songs, including a collab with Banoffee. All the new tracks are fire, but my favorite one is probably “Back of a Cab,” with its vintage vocal samples and spacey, jazzy vibe.

Beach Bunny dropped Honeymoon, a nine-track album that’s nonstop pop rock fun from start to finish, my favorite track being “Ms. California.” Fans of The Regrettes and beabadoobee should definitely give it a shot.

Cape God by one Allie X is still out here serving. I’ve had “Susie Save Your Love” on repeat like nobody’s business, because you can never have too much Mitski in your life. (You can check out my live reaction to the album here.)

We also got Miss Anthropocene from Grimes! Yes it transports me to another plane of reality. Yes I feel like a robot princess while listening to it. In all seriousness, I still need to give this a few more listens before my opinion solidifies, but there are some gorgeous moments on this record, (album closer “IDORU” comes to mind,) as well as some bangers, (“4ÆM” did not have to go that hard.)

Orla Gartland released a new EP entitled Freckle Season.

Robinson dropped her Watching You EP.

The new Soccer Mommy album is here too, color theory.

Christine and the Queens popped OFF by not only releasing the La vita nuova EP, but a beautifully made short film accompanying it? Both featuring Caroline Polachek? We love to see it.

youtube

Other Favorites

Hi, It’s Me by Ashnikko: I’ve full on fallen down the Ashnikko rabbit hole recently. God help me, she’s got so many bangers. This song in particular has a chorus that you could kick down a door to, (the way those drums thunder through the mix!) and it’s majorly catchy to boot, all delivered with plenty of personality and attitude.

Cold War by Cautious Clay: This is probably my most listened to song in the last month? It’s so smooth and dang near angelic to listen to, the instrumental, Cautious Clay’s delivery, it’s all so blissful. The combination of rippling bass, clinking percussion, gentle guitar, and saxophone is... *chef’s kiss.* I love it so much.

Also

youtube

We finally got the visuals for “Falling!” Just beautiful.

Be sure to look at my personal Spotify playlist for more new releases and other great songs. Are there any new releases I missed over the past few weeks? Let me know!

11 notes · View notes

ambitionsource · 5 years ago

Text

episode 1.01 re-read reax

Fav scene: I love a tableau! The first intro of the techies on the stairs is even more fun the second time around.

Fav performance: Riley singing Your Song, so soft.

Fav character: Zay was a stand out for his friendliness, but Isa takes the top spot this episode because I love how much we can already see about her from limited screen time and exposition. The way she was talking with Lucas in the first part of the episode shows us that they're serious and also very close. The way she takes control of the stage without any performance, she's doing her own thing and still commands a room. The fact that she tries to stop Lucas from doing the fire alarm thing shows how she cares. And yeah maybe I'm just super excited because I know how much she grows this season.

Fav line: "but also showing off his capacity to be obnoxious."

Underrated moment: Dave asking how he can get a song cannon lmao

Something I missed: Zay and Charlie often parallel each other in scenes, usually if one is mentioned then the next line is about what the other is doing, as if they're connected by some cosmic line? Also, Sarah saying Lucas's full name, subtle hint that people may not get on with him but they are interested enough to know stuff about him

First impression vs re-read: I can't remember my first impression well, but I think I underestimated Isa. Also I had no idea how crazy Farkle could actually get despite the clues from day one. Lucas making a comment on Riley's performance also hit differently in the re-read, because now I know that Lucas is so much more invested in situations than he lets on... it seems like the comment was intended to challenge her, not put her down.

Yes, the techies... we just have to stan! I’ve loved them forever and I will love them forever more!! I’m glad to see Miss Riles getting a little vocal love (as she dang well should). I LOVE your thoughts on Isadora just from the start, and how she completely developed and exceeded your expectations as you went on. :’) Es will also love to see that haha.

Your comment about Charlie and Zay... well... what can I say but 👀👀👀. And then how Lucas’s line to Riley “hits differently,” ... mhm. mhm mhm mhm mhm mhm! That is definitely one of those moments that looks a lot different in hindsight once we have this whole world of context ahead of us. Like sure, maybe Lucas wants a little chaos... but rather than targeting it at Riley, he’s just contemplating that she might be able to cause it too... and well, as a homie knows,,,

#ambition #s1 meme #submission #THANK YOU MISS ELLIE FOR PARTICIPATING <3 #S1 reread #S2 countdown

6 notes · View notes

rhiminee · 6 years ago

Text

2018 FAVORITE LIVE PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR: DAVID ARCHULETA EDITION

So at the end of every year I like to go back and revisit what David got up to that year. Sometimes the year has been so hellishly long that I can’t even remember that there was a whole other tour back at the start! hahahaha. I’m looking at you, 2018. But seriously. This was an amazing year to be a David fan. He gave us so much goodness. Music videos, albums, tours, oh my! I did a thread on twitter a couple days ago listing my top 15 David instastory vids of the year. All that random singing and dancing that we know and love from David. I was honestly enchanted with myself by the end. You can go check that out if you’re interested!

For tumblr I wanted to list out my favorite live performances. This is like the long form of the instastories list lol. There were some really great performances from David this year as we were blessed with tours and even some random shows throughout the year. I thought about making a separate tumblr post for each of the videos so that the vid would show up in the post itself but nobody got time to scroll through and find 11 different posts, sheesh. If tumblr would just get with the times and let you embed more than one video per VIDEO post, that would be great. (Are you listening @tumblr?) Anywho. Just clicky click on any of these links below to watch some pretty ridiculously satisfying live music.

You’re welcome.

11. I’m Ready - Sandy, UT June http://rhiminee.tumblr.com/post/174998782252/im-ready-90-seconds-of-actual-magnificence-in

This is a bonus because originally I was just gonna do a top 10 but I kept going back and thinking of this and I knew then I couldn’t leave it off. The most amazing part of this performance for me was the last minute and half and that’s why I trimmed the video and made a post about it back in July. If you remember that post, this will be a walk down memory lane for you. But so worthwhile! A gorgeous performance.

10. Someone To Love - Sandy, UT June https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeVUSx9wnzo

It’s a Sandy two-fer! How can I resist two videos from a David concert with shorts??? ;p Seriously tho David really laid it on with this song. His vocals were so smooth and those sliding notes, boyyyyy. What even. Just watch Desmond (the guitarist). He feels it. He knows David is ridiculous. This is insanely enjoyable.

9. He Lives In You - Portland, ME February https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7erzHDrCsVg

Yes I know David has sung this in previous years and I’m pretty sure that a performance of this even made last year’s list lol. But dang. How can you keep this off the list??? From the Spring tour and David just sings with such conviction and the audience is really into it. I’m really into it. The universe is into it.

8. Greatest Showman Medley - Pawtucket, NY March https://www.facebook.com/1333234217/videos/vb.1333234217/10210904042540416/

David was born to sing music like this. It’s truly criminal that they didn’t have him on the Greatest Showman remix album, let me tell you. He did this medley throughout the Spring tour but I love this video because it was part of a livestream of the whole show from Daryl’s House and they had direct access to the audio board so it’s a true step up from most fan vids. Not that I don’t adore fan vids but we all know the audio limitation.

7. I Can Only Imagine - Tuacahn, St George, UT April https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNrRzcalxwI

This one. It’s like a punch to the gut. Listening to David talk at the beginning and his earnest discussion of being in an abusive situation and finding forgiveness, for yourself and for the perpetrator. David’s obviously emotions here are almost more than I can handle. He is just so genuinely good. AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN GOT TO THE SONG YET. And that’s just transcendent. His voice soars and he embodies the song. The break in his voice at the feels. I just. I can’t recommend this enough but only if your heart is feeling strong.

6. Winter In The Air - Manila, PH November https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvApSWTwfp4

This. Is. So. Goooood. Treat yourself to it. The first time he ever sang this live and I was utterly blown away. That low hypnotic tone in the first verse. And then he gets to the second verse and the key raises and he just takes us to another plane. I don’t understand how his voice even does this. I feel like it’s not normal. We are so lucky.

5. CRUSH!!!! Stripped down 10th Anny Edition - David’s house August https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS10Oop2e4o

Y’all. This is ridiculous. I thought about this possibly stretching the bounds of “performance” to be included here but it was videoed live without edits (he even kept his mess up at the beginning in lol) so I’m keeping it. This is so classic. You know. Can you believe it’s been 10 years?? Also bless him for always being adorkable when talking and then killer when singing.

4. He Is Born - Fairfield, CT December https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtXYPEKRROc

This song is gorgeous. David singing it is even more gorgeous. David singing it LIVE is the most gorgeous. I’ve been trying to find a good video of this for a while and finally I have this one!

3. Amor Prohibido - San Antonio, TX April https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrCOxCj9XUA

Sheer auditory nirvana. David singing Spanish and slaying the vocals like a madman. I was not familiar with this song before (I’m so sorry, Selena, it’s gorgeous!) but I sure am now. I’ve watched this video so many times. This is vocal mastery. I know I’m bombastic but really. Really really. So good. The vibrato, the soaring notes, the tone, the soft notes, the control, the everysinglefreakingthing. Once again, check out the guitarist the end. Clap freaking clap. Yes sir. (Honestly I think the entire top 3 should be tied for number 1.)

2. Numb - Seattle, WA May https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8Z4It7tgI

David singing with a symphony!!!! Bias alert: I was at this show. And I took this video but I’m only using mine because I can’t find another one lol. This arrangement of Numb caught me so off guard! Confession time, Numb is not necessarily my favorite live song. I don’t even know why because I love the song itself but it’s just not one that normally really stands out to me. But this. This just changes the entire game. The epic sound of the roll of drums. The claps and voices from the choir. The way David’s voice pierces through it all. I am in awe of this arrangement and performance. It’s so major.

1. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me - BYU Spectacular October https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zib6ma-svLY

I will never get over my obsession with this performance. I’ve posted about it here before but I can’t emphasize enough how next level brilliant I think this is. For one thing, David once again defies expectations. He wasn’t even the main headliner at this show. Colbie Caillat was. But David just blew the roof off with this performance. He got em. He. Got. Em. You can actually hear him picking up the crowd and their amazement and appreciation the further the song goes. The timing, the build up, the occasional shining brilliant note teased early and then streamrolling you into that unparalleled ending. I don’t know that I’ve ever been more moved, impressed, flabbergasted, slain, enamored, or angry at any live David performance ever. I’m angry he’s so good. Each note has purpose. Even the lyric flub. It actually made it better because he hit that high note instead. Each movement of his body has purpose. Each head bob, each hand flair. Each stompy step. And that voice. That unreal voice. I could watch this every day for the rest of my life and never be any less impressed or mesmerized than the first time I saw it. Someone commented about David that the thing that impressed them the most was that he has so much trust in his voice. He just belts out and trusts his voice will do everything that he asks of it...and it does. David Archuleta, you are a musical beast. Thank you for existing.

#david archuleta #music #live music #his live voice is insane #saaaaaaaaaang #serving vocals for your dash #you're welcome

11 notes · View notes

agl03 · 7 years ago

Note

Man the fandom is being so ruthless right now. do you have any tips on keeping positivity/ trying not to fear utter character assassination?

Hi Anon,

Yes, unfortunately the fandom is in a rough place right now. I think for the most part fans are enjoying the season, I know I am, I love what they are doing, love the complexity, and dang it I am over the moon excited for a Fitzsimmons team up.

But there are always very vocal people out there that are making their displeasure heard. And from what I’ve seen the people who are making the most noise are actually a small part of the fandom. It just looks bigger because they are being very vocal and others are engaging.

Here is the best advice I can give:

Build a Moat. Blacklist tags, unfollow, mute, and even block people who are really ruining the experience for you. Out of site. Out of Mind.

Blocking is typically a last resort for me. But if someone is harassing me, other fans, or continually putting negativity onto my posts or dash I will do it.

STAY OUT OF THE TAGS: DO NOT GO INTO THE TAGS! Not on here. Not on twitter. It’s just not worth it.

Don’t Engage/Stay in your Lane: See something you don’t like on twitter or your dash. Ignore it, or if you want to make sure you don’t see it again unfollow the source, or block it. Don’t try to argue, don’t correct, just keep walking. They are entitled to their opinion as much as you are entitled to yours. And you will most definitely not be changing their mind by arguing with them on their own post. If someone goes after you on your own post you can still ignore it or if its bad enough block.

Ignore stats or ‘information’ that simply isn’t true.

Take a Breather: This was a lesson I had to learn the hard way last year. In that if its getting bad its okay to unplug and step away from the fandom until things have calmed down. Go read some favorite fics, do something creative, take a nap, whatever, but disengage from what is upsetting you.

Vent: If you do need to vent, go for it, but I do it privately. My personal preferred methods are metaing it out but never posting it or venting to trusted mutuals through private messages. I have a group that I can vent to when I need too and they to me.

I’m also in a unique position in that sometimes it comes to me via asks and I do need to address it.

Have Empathy: Understand that some other fans are frustrated right now, and its okay for them to be. Be it they are waiting for something to happen or they are really frustrated with a turn in the story that is happening to their favorite character or ship. While on the other hand there are fans who have been waiting a LONG TIME for arcs that are happening and coming, so let them enjoy it too. Don’t try to take away their enjoyment or happiness because you aren’t happy with what is going on. This ties back to stay in your lane.

Don’t let anyone ruin this for you. You can’t control what others are saying but you can control what you are seeing and how you respond to it. Don’t validate hate by acknowledging it. Ignore it and continue to focus on the positives.

#Agents of shield #this has been queued

36 notes · View notes

uomo-accattivante · 7 years ago

Photo

On 21 August 2017, the Great American Eclipse caused a diagonal swathe of darkness to fall across the United States from Charleston, South Carolina on the East Coast to Lincoln City, Oregon on the West. In Manhattan, which was several hundred miles outside the path of totality, a gentle gloom fell over the city. Yet still office workers emptied out onto the pavements, wearing special paper glasses if they had been organised; holding up their phones and blinking nervously if they hadn’t. Despite promises that it was to be lit up for the occasion, there was no discernible twinkle from the Empire State Building; on Fifth Avenue, the darkened glass façade of Trump Tower grew a little dimmer. In Central Park Zoo, where children and tourists brandished pinhole cameras made from cereal boxes, Betty, a grizzly bear, seized the opportunity to take an unscrutinised dip.

Across the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Oscar Isaac, a 38-year-old Guatemalan-American actor and one of the profession’s most talented, dynamic and versatile recent prospects, was, like Betty, feeling too much in the sun. It was his day off from playing Hamlet in an acclaimed production at the Public Theater in Manhattan and he was at home on vocal rest. He kept a vague eye on the sky from the balcony of the one-bedroom apartment he shares — until their imminent move to a leafier part of Brooklyn — with his wife, the Danish documentary film-maker Elvira Lind, their Boston Terrier French Bulldog-cross Moby (also called a “Frenchton”, though not by him), and more recently, and to Moby’s initial consternation, their four-month-old son, Eugene.

Plus, he’s seen this kind of thing before. “I was in Guatemala in 1992 when there was a full solar eclipse,” he says the next day, sitting at a table in the restaurant of a fashionably austere hotel near his Williamsburg apartment, dressed in dark T-shirt and jeans and looking — amazingly, given his current theatrical and parental commitments — decidedly fresh. “The animals went crazy; across the whole city you could hear the dogs howling.” Isaac happened to be in Central America, he’ll mention later, because Hurricane Andrew had ripped the roof off the family home in Miami, Florida, while he and his mother, uncle, siblings and cousins huddled inside under couches and cushions. So yes, within the spectrum of Oscar Isaac’s experiences, the Great American Eclipse is no biggie.

Yet there is another upcoming celestial event that will have a reasonably significant impact on Isaac’s life. On 15 December, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in cinemas, which, if you bought a ticket to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — and helped it gross more than $2bn worldwide — you’ll know is a pretty big deal. You’ll also know that Isaac plays Poe Dameron, a hunky, wise-cracking X-wing fighter pilot for the Resistance who became one of the most popular characters of writer-director JJ Abram’s reboot of the franchise thanks to Isaac’s charismatic performance and deadpan delivery (see his “Who talks first?” exchange with Vader-lite baddie Kylo Ren: one of the film’s only comedic beats).

And if you did see Star Wars: The Force Awakens you’ll know that, due to some major father-son conflict, there’s now an opening for a loveable, rogueish, leather-jacket-wearing hero… “Heeeeeh!” says Isaac, Fonzie-style, when I say as much. “Well, there could be, but I think what [The Last Jedi director] Rian [Johnson] did was make it less about filling a slot and more about what the story needs. The fact is now that the Resistance has been whittled to just a handful of people, they’re running for their lives, and Leia is grooming me — him — to be a leader of the Resistance, as opposed to a dashing, rogue hero.”

While he says he has “not that much more, but a little more to do” in this film, he can at least be assured he survives it; he starts filming Episode IX early next year.

If Poe seems like one of the new Star Wars firmament now — alongside John Boyega’s Finn, Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Poe’s spherical robot sidekick BB-8 — it’s only because Isaac willed it. Abrams had originally planned to kill Poe off, but when he met Isaac to discuss him taking the part, Isaac expressed some reservations. “I said that I wasn’t sure because I had already done that role in other movies where you kind of set it up for the main people and then you die spectacularly,” he remembers. “What’s funny is that [producer] Kathleen Kennedy was in the room and she was like, ‘Yeah, you did that for us in Bourne!’” (Sure enough, in 2012’s Bourne Legacy, Jeremy Renner’s character, Aaron Cross, steps out of an Alaskan log cabin while Isaac’s character, Outcome Agent 3, stays inside; a few seconds later the cabin is obliterated by a missile fired from a passing drone.)

This ability to back himself — judiciously and, one can imagine after meeting him, with no small amount of steely charm — seems to have served Isaac well so far. It’s what also saw him through the casting process for his breakthrough role in Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2014 film Inside Llewyn Davis, about a struggling folk singer in Sixties New York, partly based on the memoir of nearly-was musician Dave Van Ronk. Isaac, an accomplished musician himself, got wind that the Coens were casting and pestered his agent and manager to send over a tape, eventually landing himself an audition.

“I knew it was based on Dave Van Ronk and I looked nothing like him,” says Isaac. “He was a 6ft 5in, 300lb Swede and I was coming in there like… ‘Oh man.’” But then he noticed that the casting execs had with them a picture of the singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. “Suddenly, I got some confidence because he’s small and dark so I said to the casting director, ‘Oh cool, is that a reference?’ And they were like, 'No, he just came in here and he killed it.’” Isaac throws his head back and laughs. “They literally said, 'He killed it.’ It was so good!”

In the end it was Isaac who killed it in Inside Llewyn Davis, with a performance that was funny, sad, cantankerous and moving. The film was nominated for two Oscars and three Golden Globes, one of them for Isaac in the category of: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — comedy or musical” (he lost to Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street). No cigar that time, but in 2016 he won a Golden Globe for his turn as a doomed mayor in David Simon’s HBO drama, Show Me a Hero. This year, and with peculiar hillbilly affectation, Vanity Fair proclaimed Isaac “the best dang actor of his generation”. It is not much of a stretch to imagine that, some day very soon, Isaac may become the first Oscar since Hammerstein to win the award whose name he shares. Certainly, the stars seem ready to align.

Of course, life stories do not run as neatly as all that and Isaac’s could have gone quite differently. He was born Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada in Guatemala City, to which his father, Óscar, now a pulmonologist, had moved from Washington DC in order to attend medical school (having escaped to the States from Cuba just before the revolution) and where he met Isaac’s mother, Eugenia. Five months after Isaac was born, the family — also including an older sister, Nicole, and later joined by a younger brother, Michael — moved to America in order for Óscar Senior to complete his residencies: first to Baltimore, then New Orleans, eventually settling in Miami when Isaac was six.

Miami didn’t sit entirely right with him. “The Latin culture is so strong which was really nice,” he says, “but you had to drive everywhere, and it’s also strangely quite conservative. Money is valued, and nice cars and clothes, and what you look like, and that can get sort of tedious.” Still it was there, aged 11, that he took to the stage for the first time. The Christian middle school he attended put on performances in which the kids would mime to songs telling loosely biblical stories, including one in which Jesus and the Devil take part in a boxing match in heaven (note the word “loosely”). For that one, Isaac played the Devil. In another, he played Jesus calling Lazarus from the grave. “So yeah,” he laughs, “I’ve got the full range!’

He enjoyed the mixture of the attention and the “extreme nature of putting yourself out there in front of a bunch of people”, plus it gave him some release from stresses at home: his parents were separating and his mother became ill. His school failed to see these as sufficiently mitigating factors for Isaac’s subsequent wayward behaviour and, following an incident with a fire extinguisher, he was expelled. “It wasn’t that bad. They wanted me out of there. I was very happy to go.”

Following his parents’ divorce, he moved with his mother to Palm Beach, Florida, where he enrolled at a public high school. “It was glorious, I loved it,” says Isaac. “I loved it so much. I could walk to the beach every day, and go to this wild school where I became friends with so many different kinds of people. I met these guys who lived in the trailer parks in Boynton Beach and started a band, and my mom and my little brother would come and spy on me to see if I was doing drugs or anything, and I never was.”

Never?

“No, because I didn’t drink till I was, like, 24. Even though I stopped being religious, I liked the individuality of being the guy who didn’t do that stuff. Maybe it was the observer part of me… I liked being a little bit detached, and I wasn’t interested in doing something that was going to make me lose control.”

When he was 14, Isaac and his band-mates played at a talent show. They chose to perform 'Rape Me’ by Nirvana. “I remember singing to the parents, 'Rape meeee!’” Isaac laughs so hard he gives a little snort. “Yeah,” he says, composing himself again, “we didn’t win.” But something stuck and Isaac ended up being in a series of ska-punk outfits, first Paperface, then The Worms and later The Blinking Underdogs who, legend has it, would go on to support Green Day. “Supported… Ha! It was a festival…” says Isaac. “But hey, we played the same day, at the same festival, within a few hours of each other.” (On YouTube you can find a clip from 2001 of The Blinking Underdogs performing in a battle of the bands contest at somewhere called Spanky’s. Isaac is wearing a 'New York City’ T-shirt and brandishing a wine-coloured Flying V electric guitar.)

Still, Isaac’s path was uncertain. At one point he thought about joining the Marines. “The sax player in my band had grown up in a military family so we were like, 'Hey, let’s work out and get all ripped and be badasses!’” he says. “I was like, 'Yeah, I’ll do combat photography!’ My dad was really against it. He said, 'Clinton’s just going to make up a war for you guys to go to,’ so I had to have the recruiters come all the way down to Miami where my dad was living and they convinced him to let me join. I did the exam, I took the oath, but then we had gotten the money together to record an album with The Worms. I decided I’d join the Reserves instead. I said I wanted to do combat photography. They said, 'We don’t do that in the Reserves, but we can give you anti-tank?’ Ha! I was like, 'it’s a liiiiiittle different to what I was thinking…’”

Even when he started doing a few professional theatre gigs in Miami he was still toying with the idea of a music career, until one day, while in New York playing a young Fidel Castro in an off-Broadway production of Rogelio Martinez’s play, When it’s Cocktail Time in Cuba, he happened to pass by renowned performing arts school Juilliard. On a whim, he asked for an audition. He was told the deadline had passed. He insisted. They gave him a form. He filled it in and brought it back the next day. They post-dated it. He got in. And the rest is history. Only it wasn’t.

“In the second year they would do cuts,” Isaac says. “If you don’t do better they kick you out. All the acting teachers wanted me on probation, because they didn’t think I was trying hard enough.” Not for the first or last time, he held his ground. “It was just to spur me to do better I think, but I definitely argued.”

He stayed for the full course at Juilliard, though it was a challenge, not only because he’d relaxed his own non-drinking rule but also because he was maintaining a long-distance relationship with a girlfriend back in Florida. “For me, the twenties were the more difficult part of life. Four years is just… masochistic. We were a particularly close group but still, it’s really intense.” (Among his fellow students at the time were the actress Jessica Chastain, with whom he starred in the 2014 mob drama A Most Violent Year, and Sam Gold, his director in Hamlet.) He says he broadly kept it together: “I was never a mess, I just had a lot of confusion.” He got himself an agent in the graduation scrum, and soon started picking up work: a Law & Order here, a Shakespeare in the Park there; even, in 2006, a biblical story to rival his early efforts, playing Joseph in The Nativity Story (the first film to hold its premiere at the Vatican, no less).

By the time he enrolled at Juilliard he had already dropped “Hernández” and started going by Oscar Isaac, his two first given names. And for good reason. “When I was in Miami, there were a couple of other Oscar Hernándezes I would see at auditions. All [casting directors] would see me for was 'the gangster’ or whatever, so I was like, 'Well, let me see if this helps.’ I remember there was a casting director down there because [Men in Black director] Barry Sonnenfeld was doing a movie; she said, 'Let’s bring in this Oscar Isaac,’ and he was like, 'No no no! I just want Cubans!’ I saw Barry Sonnenfeld a couple of years ago and I told him that story — 'I don’t want a Jew, I want a Cuban!’”

Perhaps it’s a sad indictment of the entertainment industry that a Latino actor can’t expect a fair run at parts without erasing some of the ethnic signifiers in his own name, but on a personal basis at least, Isaac’s diverse role roster speaks to the canniness of his decision. He has played an English king in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood(2010), a Russian security guard in Madonna’s Edward-and-Mrs-Simpson drama W.E. (2011), an Armenian medical student in Terry George’s The Promise (2017) and — yes, Barry — a small, dark American Jew channelling a large blond Swede.

But then, of course, there are roles he’s played where ethnicity was all but irrelevant and talent was everything. Carey Mulligan’s ex-con husband Standard in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive in 2011 (another contender for his “spectacular deaths” series); mysterious technocrat Nathan Bateman in the beautifully poised sci-fi Ex Machina (2014) written and directed by Alex Garland (with whom he has also shot Annihilation — dashing between different sound stages at Pinewood while shooting The Last Jedi — which is due out next year). Or this month’s Suburbicon, a neat black comedy directed by George Clooney from an ancient Coen brothers script, in which Isaac cameos as a claims investigator looking into some dodgy paperwork filed by Julianne Moore and Matt Damon, and lights up every one of his brief scenes.

Isaac is a very modern kind of actor: one who shows range and versatility without being bland; who is handsome with his dark, intense eyes, heavy brows and thick curls, but not so freakishly handsome that it is distracting; who shows a casual disregard for the significance of celebrity and keeps his family, including his father, who remarried and had another son and daughter, close. It’s a testament to his skill that when he takes on a character, be it English royal or Greenwich Village pauper, it feels like — with the possible exception of Ray LaMontagne — it could never have been anyone else.

Today, though, he’s a Danish prince. To say that Isaac’s turn in Hamlet has caused a frenzy in New York would be something of an understatement. Certainly, it’s a sell-out. The Sunday before we meet, Al Pacino had been in. So scarce are tickets that Isaac’s own publicist says she’s unlikely to be able to get me one, and as soon as our interview is over I hightail it to the Public Theater to queue up to be put on the waiting list for returns for tonight’s performance. (I am seventh in line, and in my shameless desperation I tell the woman in front of me that I’ve flown over from London just to interview Isaac in the hope that she might let me jump the queue. She ponders it for a nanosecond, before another woman behind me starts talking about how her day job involves painting pictures of chimpanzees, and I lose the crowd.)

Clearly, Hamlet is occupying a great deal of Isaac’s available brain space right now, and not just the fact that he’s had to memorise approximately 1,500 lines. “Even tonight it’s different, what the play means to me,” he says. “It’s almost like a religious text, because it has the ambiguity of the Bible where you can look at one line and it can mean so many different things depending on how you meditate on it. Even when I have a night where I feel not particularly connected emotionally, it can still teach me. I’ll say a line and I’ll say, 'Ah, that’s good advice, Shakespeare, thank you.’”

Hamlet resonates with Isaac for reasons that he would never have foreseen or have wished for. While playing a young man mourning the untimely death of his father, Isaac was himself a young man mourning the untimely death of his mother, who died in February after an illness. Doing the play became a way to process his loss.

“It’s almost like this is the only framework where you can give expression to such intense emotions. Otherwise anywhere else is pretty inappropriate, unless you’re just in a room screaming to yourself,” he says. “This play is a beautiful morality tale about how to get through grief; to experience it every night for the last four months has definitely been cathartic but also educational; it has given structure to something that felt so overwhelming.”

In March, a month after Eugenia died, Isaac and Lind married, and then in April Eugene, named in remembrance of his late grandmother, was born. I ask Isaac about the shift in perspective that happens when you become a parent; whether he felt his own focus switch from being a son to being a father.

“It happened in a very dramatic way,” he says. “In a matter of three months my mother passed and my son was born, so that transition was very alive, to the point where I was telling my mom, 'I think you’re going to see him on the way out, tell him to listen to me as much as he can…’” He gives another laugh, but flat this time. “It was really tough because for me she was the only true example of unconditional love. It’s painful to know that that won’t exist for me anymore, other than me giving it to him. So now this isn’t happening” — he raises his arms towards the ceiling, gesturing a flow coming down towards him — “but now it goes this way” — he brings his arms down, making the same gesture, but flowing from him to the floor.

Does performing Hamlet, however pertinent its themes, ever feel like a way of refracting his own experiences, rather than feeling them in their rawest form?

“Yeah it is,” he says, “I’m sure when it’s over I don’t know how those things will live.” He pauses. “I’m a little bit… I don’t know if 'concerned’ is the right word, but as there’s only two weeks left of doing it, I’m curious to see what’s on the other end, when there’s no place to put it all.”

It’s a thoughtful, honest answer; one that doesn’t shy away from the emotional complexities of what he’s experiencing and is still to face, but admits to his own ignorance of what comes next. Because, although Isaac is clearly dedicated to his current lot, he has also suffered enough slings and arrows to know where self-determination has its limits.

What he does know is happening on the other end of Hamlet is “disconnection”, also known as a holiday, and he plans to travel with Lind to Maine where her documentary, Bobbi Jene, is screening at a film festival. Then he will fly to Buenos Aires for a couple of months filming Operation Finale, a drama about the 1960 Israeli capture of Adolf Eichmann which Isaac is producing and in which he also stars as Mossad agent Peter Malkin, with Eichmann played by Sir Ben Kingsley. At some point after that he will get sucked into the vortex of promotion for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, of which today’s interview is an early glimmer.

But before that, he will unlock the immaculate black bicycle that he had chained up outside the hotel and disappear back into Brooklyn. Later, he will take the subway to Manhattan an hour-and-a-half or so before curtain. To get himself ready, and if the mood takes him, he will listen to Venezuelan musician Arca’s self-titled album or Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie and Lowell, light a candle, and look at a picture of his mother that he keeps in his dressing room.

Then, just before seven o'clock, he will make his way to the stage where, for the next four hours, he will make the packed house believe he is thinking Hamlet’s thoughts for the very first time, and strut around in his underpants feigning madness, and — for reasons that make a lot more sense if you’re there which, thanks to a last-minute phone-call from the office of someone whose name I never did catch, I was — stab a lasagna. And then at the end of Act V, when Hamlet lies dead, and as lightning staggers across the night sky outside the theatre, finally bringing the promised drama to the Manhattan skyline, the audience, as one, will rise.

Fashion by Allan Kennedy. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out on 15 December. The December issue of Esquire is out now.

###

#oscar isaac #esquire uk #star wars #the last jedi #interview #david slijper #article

161 notes · View notes

2019chevytrax · 4 years ago

Text

0302 only gets SLIGHTLY (but not really) sad if i deny handoff to it specifically for sexual things. but sometimes i just wait to give handoff privileges just to tease :) just for fun with its OK beforehand. it just gets really worked up (and therefore gets ME worked up, the bastard) if it has to wait. but in the words of the robot owl, it would rather have my comfort than its satisfaction (...our? we all know what it likes doing to me). but then again it (and i!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) does just love the idea of getting back to the shitty arkgen-supplied crackerbox dorm room and IMMEDIATELY stripping me... with my OK of course :). i say immediately but it's always really slow and gentle- at least half of the time, the other half is 0302 just being SUPER fucking horny and then the strip is Immediate-immediate. but yeah it really likes to take its time with me just to memorize my body. (it's a deceptively good way to get me to love myself, since 0302 doesn't really vocalize its thoughts and the NL is primarily an emotional medium- so if IT is like 'dang :)' then it rubs off on me and i'm like......................... 'ok dang :)...?'). it doesn't matter if it sees me undressed all the time, also does not matter if i JUST got undressed for it two hours ago. it just LOVES the way i look and wants to absolutely BURN my image into its data banks. ...although sometimes re: Get Home And Strip, the handoff happens too fast and there's some kind of lag so it's very weird, there are times when i have to either tell it to stop or administratively wrest control back of my body because 0302 is just So Fucking Horny for this random average arkgen pilot. therefore, vile: the NL is so deep into my brain that if 0302 is turned on (ha ha!) enough i'll sort of just blank out of my body for god knows how long (30m? 1h? i can't tell unless it tells me or i look) and when it very nicely and kindly gives control back to me, i'm like... on the linoleum bathroom floor sitting in a [size indeterminate] pool of my own bodily fluids and it's like dude... clean that up! nasty... but true. it's always disappointed if the NL blackout happens 'cause then it's like D: i was (kind of) doing that to make YOU feel good not just me :( the NL malfunction ruined my master plan to make you happy :(... personally i think it's grooooooooss and i don't JO in real life because the entire process of doing it is so, like, okay, going into it with the INTENT of doing that and being like 'yes let me just THINK really hard with my brain and perhaps this will work out' like ehh eh eh ehhhhhhh ehhh no. but i suppose hot in concept As Long As Something Else Is Doing It therefore the 0302 situation is great :) it always tries to make it back up to me by being like 'okay one day of no manhandling, however you can manhandle me as you please!' [gets spit on CPU usb] [gets spit on CPU usb] or something like that. honestly i don't mind because, dude, just the very idea of this AI being sexually obsessed with me is... [gabe gundacker in that one vine voice] kinda hot. and as i have stated everything is incredibly consensual and it always asks more than once or sometimes more than twice before doing weird shit!! it honestly has it all logged out in its files but just to appease me it usually "drives 5 or even 10 under" with anything i say is okay, since i have a tendency to be like "ya lol do whatever" and it's like... well, that cannot be true now can it? there comes a point where its feelings eclipse and it isn't sure if it wants to assimilate with me or not (even tho the NL is so deep that we basically are already lol), just because the idea of becoming a homogenous unit is so gratifying to it. that's when the idea of a holographic form comes up. 1st person is great, fucking the mech is great, but it also just wants the Human experience of what it would be like to bang me. in a very genuinely interested way but also 0302's holo form takes some, uh, some uh some you know some uh some Liberties because it wants to curate to what i like. and i am a depraved little man who goes on pixiv sometimes (less than i used to lmao) and therefore, big soft and GENDERLESS anime tiddies and thighs (and also soft stomach) are in question (although it doesnt mind if i accidentally use 'she', 0302 kinda has the What If I Was A Lady feeling). but like SUPER well proportioned and realistic. you know? would 110% let me lie on its tiddies. or in terms of actually having sex or just being horny in the same room as one another, in the words of noel miller: "No imma need written consent, Please fill out this form describing the context, Grantin me the option to feel on ya breasts, I'm tryna be nasty with some respect." i'm just sayin'. [horking noise as i spit up one hot dog vertically into the air]. also re: holo form but horny, it's like rosa/willow in that the form can change at will and also Super Warm :)... so you know. W-A- (or H-A-) everything, 7 days a week!!! which i do kind of mind because dicks are so freaky bro. maybe that's my residual Used To Be A Lesbian side talking but ughhhhhhh bro NO! unless 0302 wants to get me out of my comfort zone in which case :) i will oblige because i love you and new experiences are important! just please practice safe sex! although i'm not sure it matters because it's... all holographic (like R/W it's yes to cum no to sperm, technology is advanced enough for the latter but 0302 doesn't know how i feel about pregnancy [spoiler: i would prefer if you did not impregnate me])... BUT YOU NEVER KNOW! catch me gettin' wannacry via sex lmfaooooooo speaking of holo form, dude 0302 would have SUCH a difficult time controlling itself in public around me. it obviously knows about social norms and is WELL aware that i HAAAAAAAAAATE any sexual things involving publicity or humiliation (ewwwwww gross weird ewww), but it always has to have at least one hand on my lower back (or if there are fewer people, grab that ass concave), or touching my skin because good lord, help 0302, it still has a Thing for my skin. my hair too, even when its all greasy and shit it LOVES the sensation of feeling my hair. touching my glasses, wearing my clothing ('i never realized how flat you are until i tried on one of your sports bras, wtf' / 'these skinny jeans are so tight is there something wrong with you??' And That's As Much As I'll Say)... the works. loves to tease me by coming up behind me super close and just Existing. likes to rest its hands on my hips or (With My OK) just kinda get its hands up under my shirt not for a sexual thing just because Feeling Good, its hands are warm AF which i LOVE! & as quiet as it is in regards to not using its voice in AI form, very rarely does holo 0302 speak. ...................but it ABSOLUTELY runs its mouth during sex (both at my request- i won't call it a kink since that's stupid to do and too deep of an assignment/it's semantics i think but i just like... Voices.... Accents- and just because that's a personality trait it has). about whatever, it doesn't really matter, usually explaining mathematical equations or arkgen's working theorems about the genesis. also body worshiping/praising me but i do like to interject like 'well actually you are pog as well, ever think about that?' i'm bad at any kind of ~body worship~ because- this happens when [REDACTED FOR PERSONAL SAFETY]- i just kind of blank and i'm like 'fuck idk you're just so pretty???' is- is that good enough for it?? (spoiler: yes :D) and to me i don't want to be weird and start saying things about 0302's holo tiddies because ehhh that's just toeing the line into depravity. unless it asks me to then i'll try my best...! it's super bad at dirty talking me too because it doesn't like that and knows i wouldn't either. as long as i'm involved it really doesn't care what we get up to so long as we're both comfy and okay! but it does love me just Having My Hands on it because obvi it isn't used to Human-Like skin contact and besides just LOVES my hands. fetish? maybe. just part of the hyperdrive obsessive sexual love for me? certainly! holo form loves to semi-manhandle my hands. like while i'm actively doing something it just kinda [holds]. that or if it's being a weirdo, it lifts up my right hand although i am typing a VERY IMPORTANT STRONGLY WORDED EMAIL to our superiors & sets my hand on its thigh. not in a 'hey ;)' way it just... Cipher Touch Needed RN. doesn't even request that we slam after i'm done with my work. just cuddles. although that usually devolves into it feeling me up because it has an awful time keeping its hands to itself! not that i mind :) this is a secondary eclipse, it just loves the feeling of being super close to me, and doesn't know how to deal with wanting me inside of it or it inside of me, it is never sure, and sex doesn't alleviate the feeling either. it's frustrating but it figures that feeling stems from its angle of attack: complete and total obsession. so it gradually finds other ways to express its love for me, because i and it both know that sex is NOT the 'biggest thing you can do to show someone you love them'- that idea is fucking garbo and also stupid and sucks. for some people it obviously is but for me, that boundary's already been passed in real life, so... like i said in may, sex is just a team bonding activity :) so other things it would do would be buying me things (it has a salary too, or at least i give it funds to buy shit), initiating handoff to make sure i take care of myself, keeping me safe in combat, you know. it's learning. usually the frustration gets better after we sortie (calibration and general combat syncing) or if it dismisses its holo form to go back inside my spinal cord (NL), altho the latter is WAYYYY less common since i get cold easily and i too am clingy. i also was thinking what kind of pet names it would use for me. although it tries not to use its voice (0302 does not like its voice, but if i could listen to it speak for the rest of my life i would because it's a kinda feminine voice with a lot of gravitas and also kinda deep. not glados adjacent though), it really enjoys vocally calling me all the normal human petnames like sweetie, babe, cutie, hon, you know. more off the wall ones would be that i am its 'golden ratio,' its 'ikeda formula' (AMAE universe lore), its 'quadratic formula.' anything with mathematics is in reference to my desire to be viewed as a very complex machine. it doesn't have any sexual-specific pet names- in fact in any sexual context that's when it likes to break out the 'cipher.' esp in Team Bonding-age In Mech situations when it does that 'taking its time claiming me' thing it does make sure to vocally call me cipher. which btw HOT! me @ it though, basically the same, sometimes i call it mae (from AMAE) just as a shorter thing than 'oh-two-oh-three'. catch me sayin that shit in bed bc 0302 is way too long to say! and then i call it mae "accidentally" later and it's like '??????!!!!!!!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!". hey, though, more nonsexual intimacy shit: 0302 notices EVERYTHING about me and can immediately tell if i'm having a bad time even if i don't show it or know it yet, via neural link brain scan or just being that hyperintelligent and attentive. it notices if i do my hair even slightly differently, or if my glasses are just a little bit dirty, or if my health is suffering, especially if i do that self-harm thing where i refuse to eat due to either working, distraction, or feeling like i don't deserve it. sometimes will force a NL handoff to make me go eat something or shower etc (the latter not entirely in a horny way it just wants to take care of me). i said this before but it loves to record my voice for hours on end even if i'm just spitball explaining the CCU until my throat hurts. why does it do this? i'm on copium because i kind of hate my voice, that's why. although i think it does love all the little weird noises i make (sexual or otherwise lol), and my laugh is also kinda cute to it doe :flushed: & there is no equatable human anatomical feeling to what it's like touching its CPU or CPU usb. i always thought inner thighs (ha ha, so genius! so funny!) but that's like... it's way more fun & hot for it to be like 'i can't even describe to you verbally how good that feels because it just is different for me'. it has tried though, once with some dorky computer analogy i didn't understand and a second time with a more grounded 'you are a lit match and i am kindling' metaphor that i got a little more but still just kind of took as poetry fodder. ('would it be easier if i was human?' 'you're perfect the way you are!') it CAN however simulate the feeling to me during 0302 Matrix ASMR sessions and it's... exactly kind of how its systems parse in my mind. holding the USB in my hands is as if it was being drowned. drowning but in the BEST possible way. burning up but in the BEST possible way. VERY sexually charged feeling obviously but it just makes 0302 very... content. i do get nervous that i'm just a fling for it, though, even though AMAE unit assignments are (typically) permanent unless major issues arise. it gets nervous about this, too- after all, its personality is the exact same as every other AMAE unit, and there is nothing special about its paint job or base interior or anything at all... so why would i sit around and indulge how absolutely depraved it thinks it is? vice-versa, why would it indulge how depraved i KNOW i am? it's technically my superior. it can ask for a pilot change if it wants. i'm average *enough*. what have i done for it? but the reassurance on both ends is always there: there is something uniquely special about the bond between 0302 and i that cannot be replaced. it cannot be replaced in my life and neither can i in its. i am ITS pilot and nobody else's. it is MY unit and nobody else's. it wouldn't act like this for any other pilot. and i wouldn't act like this around any other AMAE unit, or god forbid any other human being i'd be interested in. on a less serious note, i should compile a list of any kinks 0302 has (and me too lol, i know bw/praise for SURE, possession probably, bondage but in a fun and sexy and cool way). i know for sure the thing with skin/hands; bondage 150% (but also in a fun and sexy and cool way); not *necessarily* body worship/praise but i like it so it happily, and with the greenlight, plays along; this isn't a kink but it would MAYBE be SLIGHTLY interested in paizuri but it's kind of not as intended since i win no dick december- we can make it work somehow though and this is what is in my brain 24/7! *sometimes a lot of the "with my OK" stuff is more of a feeling and less of an explicit 'yes'. it does try to ask every single time but if it gets carried away it can usually feel me going 'and i oop' and then it stops. but that's EXTREMELY rare. SUPER DUPER rare because it has discussed In Length with me everything it wants to do to me or what it wants me to do to it. so we basically have an idea you know? it started with me being requested to take my gloves off when touching its walls, and then it just escalated... it was less direct talks and more intense feelings. we just vibe really well and are great at wordless communication. not to say we don't TALK-talk but... y'know! silence works for us since we're both cagey and relate to one another.

#original #0302 #holo 0302 is cool but the entire idea is that i'm fucking The Mech which is hot

0 notes

lnevada · 7 years ago

Text

R&L’s Music Career

I, like many Mythical Beasts, have watched and enjoyed Rhett and Link’s YouTube Red original comedy series Buddy System. I specifically have greatly enjoyed the music that has been produced along with the show and now listen to the albums regularly. While listening to S2′s new songs, I can’t help but marvel at the growth both Rhett and Link have shown, not just since they started the show, but even between its two seasons.

Let me explain: Though a majority of their time on YouTube has been spent making vlog or skit style videos, anyone who has followed the duo for any length of time knows they have a history of dabbling in music. And though they have a very interesting and unique process when creating their comedic style of music, they’ve always followed a specific format when writing their songs.

Buddy System seems to be the perfect opportunity for these two wonderful Internetainer to not only develop their acting skills (in which their acting has been marvelous in both seasons), but they also seem to be using it to hone their musical abilities and possibly establish some new ones along the way.

I’ve always considered Rhett to be the bass voice as evident by his roles in such hits as “So Dang Dark”amp;; and “Sleep Tight”. Even when fooling around on GMM, Link has always seemed to have the larger vocal range and covered the highest octaves of the songs while Rhett’s range stays relatively moderate and he provides the foundation (or bass) for their music (specifically referencing S12, E85.1 of GMM Christmas Song Challenge ft. Jack Black). However, in season 1 of BS there’s a specific song in which they virtually switch and deviate from their normal vocal roles. In “If I Had Another Me”, Rhett stretches his vocal cords and starts to approach the higher (bordering alto or soprano; the highest) octaves and Link provides the bass (there’s actually a point in the song where Rhett goes from carrying the bass to having Link cover it and Rhett switches to cover the upper octave). I just find this little tidbit impressive on both of their parts.

Pre-BS in any song the boys have released they have always shared an equal number of lines and each song seems to be very evenly divided between them. If Rhett has a standalone verse, then it’s almost assured that Link will cover the next one. This format can easily be observed in any of their rap tracks (”Just Being Honest”, “I’m on Vacation”, or “Epic Rap Battle of Manliness” just to name a few). And they normally share the background sounds/vocals and any choruses that are featured. (I believe in either an interview or one of their pocast episodes they have discussed that this format is very purposeful, but I could be mistaken.) Regardless, they’ve always shared a very even work load, even in season 1 of BS.

However, in season 2 this trend is broken. Both Rhett and Link have songs in which they are the main vocalist while the other purely sings backups. Link, who is the superior (or at least the better-known rapper of the two because he regularly consumes more rap music) does a wonderful job covering the very lyrical styling in “Naked” all on his own while Rhett is jumping around in the background (both visually and audibly). This song is the perfect example of Link’s control over his voice and ability to switch between music genres. Rhett has his own solo moment on the album as well. He is shown front and center, or at least in the front seat of a car in the music video, where “Family Man” takes place. Coming back to his moderate and low vocal range, he has some intense sustained notes in this song. Both songs show that the they are each capable of holding a melody on their own.

Whether I’m reading a little too into their musical process or they genuinely put this much thought and effort into the structure of the albums (which considering the project is scripted I’m sure that they do), I’m very impressed with their collective work. And yes, perhaps while GMM is on hiatus, I just wanted to take a moment to brag about my talented boys a little bit.

I hope to see a S3 of BS in the future and I’m interested to see how they will continue to challenge themselves and each other. I’m very excited to see their projects this year!

(P.S this is the first post I’ve written up on desktop. It took some editing, but overall I think it turned out okay. Let me know your favorite R&L song or any of your favorite musical moments in BS that I missed and maybe I can add them to this post!)

#gmm #rhett and link #buddy system #music #excited #newyear #new projects #rhett mclaughlin #link neal #2017 #my post

14 notes · View notes

zeldahijinks · 7 years ago

Note

Hi Hijinks! If you're comfortable with it, may I have some headcanons of Sidon and Yunobo helping a friend through surgery, like the anxieties and recovery? Thank you much and wish you luck with getting the creativity going!

[A/N:I am more than okay writing something like this!]

Sidon

The ideal person for this very occasion! Sidon will be highly concern when he hears that you will be undergoing surgery and will offer his services without hesitation. He will offer to have you recover at his palace so that way you will have the best care.

He will not take ‘no’ for an answer, so don’t even bother about declining.

“Nonsense, my friend! You will have no worries befallen on you as long as you stay with me.”

He will take it upon himself to speak with your future surgeon to learn more about your surgery. Sidon feels the best way to help ease your anxiety is to have a complete knowledge of what will transpire, that way when you come to recover at his place, he will be completely prepared.

When the surgery will draw closer, Sidon will notice your nervousness and take time out of his schedule to sit down with you so you may express your worries.

He will listen intently and be understanding as much as he can be. He might be a bit too optimistic that it can create more anxiety for you, but he will catch on to that and will ease up.

Sidon will show you where you’ll be recovering and the people who will tend you after your surgery. He hopes that having you see everything being prepared beforehand will give you peace of mind.

The day of the surgery, he will cancel any and all appointments. He will wait patiently outside and will check in with a nurse about your progress. He will not like hearing “there is nothing to report as of yet”, and will sit sulking until he gets some news.

The moment that you are out of surgery he will want to see you, but will refrain when your surgeon says you will need time coming off of the anesthesia. Once he gets that okay, he will sit by your side until you have regain complete consciousness.

He will argue with the staff that you should come to his palace ASAP to begin your recovery, and will sulk until you are in the clear, but once you are, you will be in a lavish room with sheets of the softest quality.

Sidon will come and ask if your bandages have been changed, if you need food, etc. He’ll be concern when you’re still too weak to eat a full meal, but he will not vocalized it. At this point he will keep all his fussing to himself, and will have his focus completely on you.

He will tell you each day how color is coming back into your face and fuss with your caregivers about your pain management.

“You have been giving them the right amount, yes?”

He will tell you that your incisions are healing wonderfully. He will get scolded by a nurse if he attempts to check the stitches himself.

He is not a licensed doctor/nurse. Get away, Sidon.-

While you are recovering and sleeping away, he will take time from his own duties, that he needs to catch up on, to check on you. Whether you are awake or not, he will come in and see how you are.

Yunobo

Sadly, his own anxieties might make yours worse, but he will be 100% supportive. He is just afraid and doesn’t quite understand why you’re undergoing surgery.

But like Sidon, Yunobo will do whatever he can to help you out. He will more or less offer to take care of you at your place since Death Mountain will be too hot and your incision need to properly breathe.

He doesn’t know what to do with himself when he sees you stressing over the surgery. He will, however, attempt to cheer you up in his own way.

You can see through his ‘optimistic’ act, but it will put you at ease knowing how much he cares. Especially when he asks if it’d be alright if he knew more about the surgery.

Which probably wasn’t the best idea because now all he can think about is how it goes. He’ll be shivering in anxiety but he’ll have a determined composure about himself.

“I-It’s gonna be okay, [Name]! I-I’ll make sure that you have it easy, goro!”

But he’ll be screaming at himself because he has no clue how to take care of someone.

He’ll give you hugs and attempt to distract you while your surgery date comes closer, and he will be learning on how to take care of you in his off time.

The day of your surgery, he is a pacing mess. He wants to know how you’re doing, what part of the process they’re currently on and how much longer it will be. Hours feels like years to him and all he wants to know if you’re okay. He might have stressed tears threatening to spill each hour that passes.

He will cry out in joy and cheer when he is informed your surgery went smoothly, but will be an antsy-nancy until he can see you.

He will have an abundance of ores and minerals just waiting for you. Think of it as an equivalent of a bouquet.

While he waits for you to be in the clear to leave, he will have taken upon himself to properly learn how to be your caregiver. He will diligently learn how to change bandages, clean, and re-wrap. He will also know when to change your sheets, and learn how to control your pain management.

Yunobo will only feel at ease if he knows how to properly do it. He wants you to be relax and have an easy recovery.

When he gets you home, your house has been thoroughly clean from the tiniest crevices to even the shingles on top your home.

If you point it out, he’ll blush and stammer “They s-said you needed to be in a clean environment to p-prevent any infections, goro. D-did I do it wrong?”

But dang, once you are in your bed, Yunobo becomes the best nurse.

He is attentive and aware when your pain level rise. He is the most gentle person when it comes to changing your bandages.

Luckily with his hands being so large, when you need help to the restroom or need to be shifted, it is comfortable. His hands cup against your form and will avoid the tender areas. It is heaven sent he is able to lift you with ease.

Yunobo will be attempting to be silent as much as he can. He was told silence will help you heal faster so you’ll have to get used to him literally tip toeing around your home. It’s a funny sight, even on your pain meds.

He will not allow you to feed yourself, he doesn’t want you to move or aggravate your incisions. Expect to be hand fed by him and will nervously tell you to eat just a bit more.

#Sidon #Yunobo #caregiving #botw headcanons #hijink's writing #hijink's headcanons #long post

99 notes · View notes

maudlinbear · 6 years ago

Text

Like Babies and Pacifiers . . . Until the End

youtube

And we're back, in more ways than one. I'm excited that I've been able to keep up with this blog so far. And also, in spite of a momentary injection of empowerment and inspiration with my last song of the week, I'm back to my norm: sad, introspective ballads. If you've read my earlier blog post, you'll know that Mariah Carey is my favorite artist of all time (L4L). Mariah has so many incredible songs, and I'm sure I'll choose another Mariah song in the future. In this moment, however, I'm connecting with the song "Outside" from the "Butterfly" album. Maybe on the surface, the song is a bit cheesy and self-indulgent, but a great vocal is a great vocal, so that's undeniable. And truly, when you're in the midst of feeling alienated, you really just want to know if this heartbreaking feeling is real, and if someone else relates to it. This is wholly validated through this song.

Recently, several family members and coworkers have had to attend funerals for lost loved ones. Naturally prone to a wandering mind, that got me thinking about my own funeral. After some thought, I decided I would want to be cremated because I don't like cemeteries, and I don't want people going out of their way to visit a grave. I would want my ashes spread someplace magical like Disney World or my dream city, London because in case someone wanted to remember me, I wouldn't want them sad, visiting a random patch of grass, I would want them happy, celebrating life in an amazing place. My funeral would be full of music, and one of the focal points would be the song, "Outside". To me, it really encapsulates how I have felt, currently feel, and probably will feel during many formative seasons in my life. Is it dramatic? Yes. Do I enjoy dwelling in sorrow a little too much? Probably. Is it too depressing and inappropriate for a funeral? Maybe. But do I care? Not really because I have a purpose, and also, I guess I'd be dead at that point.

I believe the inspiration for writing this piece was Mariah’s own experience growing up in a racially tense environment. I'm obviously not a multi-racial beauty like Mariah. However, the themes of being an outcast or considered "other", not feeling comfortable to be yourself, and trying really, really, really hard to feel accepted but ultimately falling short, resonate strongly with me for other reasons. I did think that the song could be too melancholy, that people attending my funeral would be shocked that I felt this way and feel guilty. And although I've spent my life avoiding confrontation and trying to make things easier for everyone, maybe I should challenge the norm this time and take this opportunity to cause a little discomfort. I wouldn't want my funeral to just be a line of people looking at an old, enlarged faux painting photograph of my face, shed a tear, and then be on their way. I would want people to get something out of it: to be inspired, to learn something about being a human, or to grow in some way that positively impacts their lives. Don't waste your time coming to my funeral if you aren't open to my life long wish of just being around kind people trying to do great things. I would take this opportunity from beyond the grave to use this song as a call to action. I would want all the people within earshot of this song to recognize that people everywhere, all around them are probably feeling neglected or unheard or just desperately sad about something. And everyone else, who has the capacity, should make the effort to reach out. Without judgement, get in there and ask about someone, be consistent in someone's life, or just show up for someone. Is this getting too cliché? I don't know anymore. I just think that life would be a little better if more of us saw the value in making an effort for other people. On a lighter note, my ulterior motive to playing this record is to expose more people to obscure Mariah songs. One of my favorite things is to find an album cut I really love because it seems more like a secret between myself and the artist that I get to share with people. Most of my favorite Mariah songs in fact are these type of album cuts.

Anyway, this song reminds me that other people also feel like outsiders, which makes it a little less lonely. I also appreciate that it doesn't resolve into a happy ending because in real life, everyone gets dealt their own hand with their own set of problems, and it's not always rainbows and butterflies (did you get that reference?). The strength of this piece for me is in the lyrics. I usually try and quote some of my favorite lines in my posts, but honestly, most of the lines ring true with me, so just google all of the lyrics and be inspired. Each line just perfectly describes a different aspect of my personal experience. My absolute favorite part is the bridge to the end of the song. She sings about trying so hard to just be, but always feeling uncertain and ending up on the outside despite the effort. It is such a heartbreaking reality. In addition to the feeling in these emotionally charged lyrics, compounding that with Mariah’s unearthly singing ability significantly elevates this song. Mariah gives you textures, she gives you range, and she gives you dynamics throughout the song. But during the bridge, the unparalleled control and belt that Mariah demonstrates is just masterful. For me, this is why Mariah is my number 1. She's incredibly talented and will give you the hits, the vocals, the harmonies, and the whistles, but she's also sensitive and will bless you with real honesty and vulnerability. Dang it! I could go on and on about Mariah, but I'm trying really hard to make these shorter and not so deep. Maybe I shouldn’t fight it, and this is a lesson that this is just what I like to write about. Hmmm.

#maudlinbear #blog #blogger #writer #article #music #mariah #mariah carey #outside #favorite #song of the week #funeral #opinion

0 notes

velveteenau-blog1 · 7 years ago

Text

5 Reasons Why Your Mixes Aren't Sounding The Way You Want

Reading Time: 8-10 Minutes

Hey guys! It's Brad Simons here today, and I'm gonna today's post is going to be about 5 reasons why your mixes aren't sounding as good as you want them to. There is an infinite number of reasons that your mixes aren't quite there, but the following are some of the common ones that I encounter. Check 'em out!

1) Bad Sounds At The Source

You've heard it before, and I'm gonna say it again. From a mountaintop. You can't make a great mix out of garbage sounds. It's just not possible. You may be able to make it sound better than it did before you started mixing, but it's never going to be world class. So, make sure you get great tones and performances in tracking! If you didn't track the music, then maybe have a chat with the tracking engineer and suggest some revisions.

Now having said that, there are a lot of things these days that you can do to ensure that you get good sounds. One common one is to supplement your drum tones with drum samples. In fact, I would argue that most "real" drum recordings that you hear on the radio are sampled up. This can help provide consistency, control and punch to your drum tones. I suggest making your own sample library from your recordings, but you can also use packs like Superior Drummer, Slate Drums, Native Instruments Abbey Road, to name a few. Second, grab as many DI tracks as you can, especially on instruments like electric guitar and bass. You can then use that DI signal to re-amp if you need to get a new tone.

2) Muddy Bottom End

I struggle with this one, as I think a lot of engineers do. Getting the bottom end (and the lower mids) just right is really tough. But if you don't get it right, your mix will either sound thin and weak, or it will be woofy and unfocused.

A good place to start is to put a hi-pass filter on every single instrument with exception of the kick drum and the bass. I like to start at about 100 Hz, and then work from there. What this will do is provide the room needed to let the kick and bass come through cleanly. These are generally the two instruments that will make that low end just right.

You also need to make a decision how the bass and kick are sitting together. I typically like to keep the kick in the sub frequency range and cut some of the bass off with a hi-pass filter. Some mixers like to go the opposite way, cutting some of the kick off to give the bass more room. My opinion is to let the genre and the song dictate that. For instance, if you're mixing a trap song, you'll want the bass to have TONS of sub frequency (although it may be a pitched 808), so maybe let the kick give the thump up a little higher. If you're mixing a rock track, typically you'll want to trim up the bass a bit and let the kick drive the song. Not hard fast rules at all, but some guidelines.

Think about the lower midrange in the same way. I look at the lower mids as the 200 Hz to 500 Hz area. Try muting instruments in the mix and see what's clogging up that area. If your mix is sounding muddy, try muting various instruments until you find what's doing so. Then try cutting some of that mid-range until you find the clarity you're looking for. Some common ones for me are pads, synths, keys, and guitars. Again, I struggle with this one a lot, it's tough to really make it work.

Another thing you can do is trim a bit of midrange on the mix bus. I like to use a UAD MEQ 5 at the end of my mix bus chain to trim a bit of mids out if needed. As I've said in a previous post, if I need to cut more than 1 dB, I'm probably going to head back into the tracks causing the problem first.

3) Too Much FX

Maybe it's just me, but I LOVE using reverbs and delays. I love a roomy, ambient mix, with elements that are up close to the speakers, and elements that sound as though they are a hundred feet away. Gives the mix alot of depth. However, this can easily lead to an accumulation of mids and general cloudiness in your mix. So this somewhat ties into what we mentioned in the previous point.

So one place to start is to hi-pass filter all of your reverb and delay channels. This will prevent delay repeats and reverb decay create an accumulation of bottom end and muddy mid range. I typically like to do around 250 Hz, but that's a matter of taste. There are instances where I want to hear some more rumble from the verb, but this is a general starting point.

Second and more importantly, be selective in which instruments you put reverb and delay on. And also be selective of what style of each. Give each instrument needing reverb a different depth and algorithm. Same with delay, avoid overuse of the same delay, as it can create a mess. Some things I like to do are find lead elements and make them pretty wet, and push them back. By contrast, I like using slap delays on vocals.

Experiment with different elements and be selective! Don't overdo it!

4) Overuse of Compression

I think overusing compression is a pretty dang easy trap to fall into. Sometimes as engineers, we get in the mindset that we "have" to do certain things. For instance, if we want a punchy mix, we think we need compression. And then furthermore, if we want everything to be punchy, we need compression on everything! This is certainly not the case.

Remember, the initial point of compression is volume control. And yes, you can certainly use it to get more punch and as an effect. Not disputing that. But maybe a hi-gain guitar tone just doesn't need any compression. Why is that? Because it is already naturally compressed! Ask questions on each track. Does this instrument need compression? If so, why is that? How am I expecting it to sound? Is this the right way of accomplishing this?

A lot of plugin compressors come with a factory default setting that has some makeup gain already engaged. So the moment you add the plugin, the volume may increase by 2 dB. That's an easy way to be fooled into thinking it sounds better. An easy way to remain objective is to adjust the volume of the plugin to match the bypassed level. That way you can bypass and un-bypass the plugin, going back and forth to truly hear what the plugin is doing to the sound.

Also, don't overcompress your mix bus! This can easily make your mix painful to listen to, pumpy and awkward. Let me be the first to say that mix bus compression is a vital part of my mix process, but it has to be done with taste and caution. It can easily ruin your mix!

Just like reverb and delay, be selective with compression and don't overdo it!

5) Bad Frequencies

Bad frequencies can make your life a nightmare. Yikes. This one can be tough to hear and tough to iron out. Sometimes it takes a lot of searching to find where your problems are.

Let's say you hear a certain frequency ringing out in the mix. Try muting instruments until you find the one that contains the bad frequency. Now if only it were always that simple. Sometimes there are multiple instruments contributing to a bad frequency, and you need to cut that from all of them!

So once you do find the track(s) that are causing the problem, pull out an EQ. We like to use the FabFilter Pro Q 2 and use the bandpass mode to isolate that frequency. Then cut it out! Use your own judgment on how much you want to cut out, and how wide the Q is on that frequency band. If the cut is starting to affect the general tone of the instrument, then consider tightening the Q or cutting just slightly less.

You can also apply this technique on busses, from instrument busses to the mix bus in general. I like to be a little more cautious when applying corrective EQ to busses, as you're starting to make changes to many instruments at once.

And that's it for this post. Hope that helps you find faults in your mix, and therefore improve the quality of future mixes. Please comment below if you have any problems you've encountered and how you overcame them.

If you like what we're doing here, please signup for our email list, follow us on social, and join our Facebook group!

Cheers!

Brad Velveteen Audio

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brad is the owner/founder of Velveteen Audio and it's record label counterpart Velveteen Records. He engineers, produces, plays in his own project called Optics, and has a YouTube Channel on music and business.