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froggibus · 2 years

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Daddy Issues - Soldier 76

Pairing: Soldier 76 x reader

Genre: fluff but its a lil suggestive

Word Count: too many for this prompt 1.5k

Summary: in which your little crush on the Commander doesn't go unnoticed, and he wants to see just how far he can push you

CW: young! Soldier, Overwatch days, reader is shy + gets flustered easily, fainting, teasing, Soldier is a bastard

reader is described GN but is described to be blushing/having red cheeks a lot! i know this description may not fit everyone so i am putting this here to not waste time/ruin the immersion!

ok anyway im too lazy to write today so you guys can have my drafts lmao anyway enjoy <3 i am very down bad for this man anyway

————

John Francis “Jack” Morrison: super soldier, Overwatch commander, the best of the best, and unfortunately for you, a total DILF.

The man was gorgeous. Despite working closely with him and Overwatch for years, you still couldn’t even look at him without getting flustered. Stuttered words and red cheeks had become a staple of your conversations with Jack, and all you could do was pray he didn’t notice.

Unbeknownst to you, it was common knowledge among the other agents of your little crush on the Commander. Jack himself had always found it somewhat cute regardless of the teasing he received from Ana and Reyes, and found himself wondering how much it would take to push you past the breaking point.

“L/n,” Jack’s voice boomed, “can I talk to you for a second?”

You squeaked, the tips of your ears burning, and approached him. You were painfully aware of the looks the two of you were receiving along the way.

“W-what’s up?”

“I was just wondering if you’d be open to taking on a mission next weekend.”

“Oh,” you looked everywhere but his eyes, trying to hide the desperate flush on your face. “I-I can for sure. Who’s all going?”

“It would just be you and I.”

If your face was burning before, it was an inferno now. A mission, all alone with Commander Morrison?

“I-I…”

“Come on, y/n,” he rested a hand on your shoulder.

His touch on your shoulder and the way he was looking at you sent butterflies to your stomach. You stuttered out a bunch of words that essentially meant ‘yes’, and that was good enough for the Commander. You walked away quickly, covering the lower half of your face with your hand.

Ana Amari laughed, “come on, Jack. Give y/n a break.”

“Mind your business,” the Commander said, but even he knew he was pushing you a little hard.

—

It was the dead of night, and you were yet to sleep. It had been too hot and then too cold, and then your mind could not stop racing. Thoughts of Jack and the mission filled your head.

As soon as the clock ticked to 2:22am, you found yourself rolling out of bed and slipping your feet into your slippers. You tiptoed your way down the hall, being careful not to wake any of the other agents. You knew how skittish they could be, especially in the dead of night.

You made it to the kitchen and turned on the kettle, sitting at the counter and waiting for it to boil. Soft footsteps behind you made you whip your head around, your eyes settling on Jack.

You immediately flushed at what he was wearing. A pair of grey sweatpants, no shirt and bunny slippers. You couldn’t help but look at his bare chest. He was all shredded muscles and perfectly carved abs. Duh, he’s a super soldier, you thought.

“What are you still doing awake?” He asked, your eyes flicking up to meet his.

“I-I could ask you the same thing.”

He shot a glance at the steaming kettle, “couldn’t sleep, I guess.”

“Same here,” you nodded, your gaze once again slipping to his bare stomach.

He smirked, knowing full well where your gaze was. The words tumbled out before he could stop them, “like what you see?”

You instantly hid your face in your hands, trying to avoid looking at him. Jack cursed himself—he was normally so composed, so in control of himself. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself.

“Jack!” You squealed, voice going up an octave.

He laughed slightly, “hey, I’m just teasing.”

He wanted to say that he also liked what he saw, but he thought that was a little too far given your current state. Still, he thought you looked gorgeous. In your pyjamas, hair a complete mess, looking all sleepy and cute.

“S-still,” you mumbled, finally peeling your hands away from your face. You grabbed a mug from the cupboard and set a teabag in it, “I’m too tired for this.”

Jack backed off for now, deciding to give you a reprieve you from his teasing. The image of you all flustered and trying to hide your face was burned into his mind, and it would suffice for tonight.

—

Combat training was your favorite part of the week, making every Monday somewhat bearable. Usually, you would pair off with Ana or Angela, given they were around the same skill level as you.

Today, though, Morrison had claimed you before you could even say anything. As soon as he announced the two of you would be partners, your face was pink tinted and all thoughts left your brain.

“So, what do you want to work on first?” Jack stretched his shoulders. He was wearing a pair of track pants and a tight blue Overwatch shirt that clung to his abs.

Memories of the other night in the kitchen filled your brain, setting a fire inside you. “I could use s-self defense practice,” you admitted.

“Okay, I have a few ideas then.”

Before you knew it, he was positioned behind you, grabbing your hips tightly. He tugged you towards him slightly, your hips slamming against his. You let out a soft whine, instantly pressing a hand over your mouth.

Jack mumbled in your ear, “too much for you?”

You shook your head quickly, grateful that he couldn’t see how hot and sweaty your face was. “I-I can keep g-going,” your voice was an octave higher.

You tried to focus on anything but the pressure of his hips against yours, his hard chest on your back, his warm hands on your hips.

“Okay,” he said and moved an arm up to around your shoulders, and stretched the other around your waist. “So if I were to do this, what would you do?”

He gripped you tight enough to pick you up off of the ground. His touch was so intense it was hard to concentrate, taking you a minute before you could remember the steps.

You twisted in his grip, ducking under the arm on your shoulder and using it as leverage to turn him around. You held it tightly behind his back.

“Good, really good,” his praise made you flush, “but you have to be faster than that in the field.”

In an instant, he broke free of your grip and threw you over his shoulder. He tossed you into the ground, cradling the back of your head and the small of your back as he did to break your fall. You landed with a soft groan, Jack on top of you.

His face was only a few inches from yours, a smirk plastered on his face. Your heart raced in your chest, hammering against your rib cage. The blood rushed to your face. There was no way he didn’t notice how flustered you were.

“You’re cute when you’re flustered,” he noted.

Blood roared in your ears. You squeezed your eyes shut and tried to move your hands to cover your face, but he was holding them down.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he tsked. “Why are you trying to hide from me?”

You shook your head, eyes still closed. “I-I’m not.”

“Then why can’t you look at me?”

“Cause you’re so close to me!”

He laughed, letting go of your hands, “I thought you’d like this position.”

That was your breaking point. Your heart raced faster, so fast it was almost painful, and your breath caught in your throat. You couldn’t speak, you couldn’t breathe. Your skin was unbearably hot, as if it would melt off your bones any second.

“Y/n?” Jack backed off, “are you okay?”

He blinked at you, waiting for you to respond. When you didn’t, he completely got off of you. You managed to take in one, gasping breath before everything went dark.

—

You woke up in the infirmary, a blanket wrapped around you. Your head spun, and when you opened your eyes, there were four Jack’s sitting on the end of your bed. You blinked a few times, and all but one of them disappeared.

Jack was staring at you with a mix of caution and excitement. “How are you feeling?”

“G-good, I think.”

“Good,” he sighs in relief. “Ana would have killed me if you weren’t.”

“What even happened?”

“You fainted,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone get so flustered from sparring before.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, “you’re a jerk. I know what you’ve been doing—and it’s mean!”

“It’s not my fault you look so cute when you’re embarrassed!”

Your face flushed again, and Jack looked at you cautiously. “You’re not going to faint again, are you?” He asked.

“I-I don’t think so, why?”

“Because I can’t kiss you if you pass out.”

Your face burned, but your heart still beat normally. “Y-you really want to kiss me?”

He answered by cupping your cheek and closing the distance between the two of you. His lips smashed against yours, sending electric shocks down your spine. You moved against him and tangled a hand in his hair.

“You’re sure you’re not going to pass out?”

You tugged on his shirt, “shut up,” and kissed him again.

#overwatch 2 #overwatch #ow2 #overwatch x reader #overwatch x you #overwatch fic #ow #xreader #overwatch headcanons #soldier 76 #soldier 76 x reader #soldier 76 x you #jack morrison #jack morrison x you #jack Morrison x reader

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streaminn · 1 year

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the military au has me sooo hooked. like I can clearly picture the scenarios you are painting and it’s delicious!!

if possible would love to know what the nightshades think of Enid & her relationship w her packmates?

i get the impression that even though her personality isn’t the same as Nevermore she’s still caring enough to where her pack love and want to defend her from everything. And they do it cuz they genuinely care for Enid and not just due to her being their alpha??

im glad people are as interested as me ;-; this is an honor

BUT YES!! enid is very much loved and adored by her school, she's just.. too busy sulking from her feelings and stressing over her schoolwork to really notice

a purposeful decision to contrast what i think happened to her in nevermore! Where enid is very much known but just like bianca, since she's everywhere (all the clubs) and just as bright, she's seen as a lil bit irritating. Her not shifting kinda nails it down too

Now Enid during her second semester was known as someone you should back away from because news of how she got her alpha status spread fast and usually? its not everyday a teacher had to break apart a fight. Like they aren't that barbaric so for someone to get it from that..

yeah, yikes

but throughout the semester, enid manages to prove them wrong because while she doesn't know what to say at times, wincing over her words. The pack knows that she listens to taylor swift while working on her essays, she's so caring with the normies whenever they have to do their work immersion-

enid's sweet, she's just built to be this kind person and while she's more withdrawn, she shows parts of herself from before. You can see it in the way the twins fuck up a sweater during class and the next time, its sewed up or even when enid grumbles, she always makes sure to come with omega whenever she wants a snack run. The next day, there's a pile on the table and a note that says "so you can stop running around"

as for the nightshades.. honestly, yoko's jelly asf. Like there's something very annoying in the way twin two easily lays his arms around enid that has her remembering the way they hung out before. The way he chatters off her ear is so reminiscent that she wants to go over and wring his neck

like she's the bestie! not that irritating ass omega and certainly not an irritating shithead that looks like a lanky fucker

#military school au

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knee-stockings · 2 years

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So I’ve been listening to lots of podcasts at work lately to break up the monotony of my office job. Mainly they’re horror, suspense/thriller, drama, that kind of thing. Trying to give ratings without spoilers~

(Check out updated pod recs here)

The Left Right Game (a journalist investigating an urban legend that gets increasingly more dangerous as they go): 5/5, this being one of the first ones I listened to set the bar really high tbh, it was great, immersive sound design, genuinely suspenseful and creepy moments, interesting plot, my only gripe is that I didn’t love the ending but I couldn’t dock a star just for that, highly recommend, maybe I’ll retire to Wintry Bay someday

Alice Isn’t Dead (delivery trucker goes searching for her believed dead wife, comes across supernatural towns and creatures and a conspiracy that goes way deeper than one missing woman): 5/5, so so good, enjoyed a lot, I loved learning the truth about the Thistle men, still don’t completely understand oracles but that’s okay, some delightfully creepy moments, this will be high on my recommendation list (also it’s by the Welcome to Night Vale people, which I actually haven’t listened to lmao)

Harley Quinn and the Joker: Sound Mind (it’s a Harley Quinn origin story basically): 5/5, very enjoyable, sound design great, plot was fun, I don’t know how accurate this story is to the original Harley Quinn origin story but I liked this a lot

The Burned Photo (two women try to fight a familial curse haunting their bloodlines): 4/5, not bad at all, I thought the sound design was great and immersive but I thought the monster’s voice was a bit goofy idk, the plot wasn’t bad though ofc it was pretty bittersweet and sad in the end, tho I think it was never going to be happy for everyone involved

Blackwood (group of teens investigate the town urban legend and uncover more than they bargained for): I can’t decide…3.5 maybe? It was okay. I didn’t love it or hate it, I’m pretty neutral about it. It was interesting enough

Gaslight (girl goes missing and then reappears to her best friend years later with little explanation): 3/5, feels like there should be another season, wasn’t as dramatic/suspenseful as I thought it would be (maybe that’s my own fault tho, from the description and stuff I thought there would be more to it)

Ice-Cream (teens suspect the friendly neighborhood ice cream man of abducting little kids and uncover a dark secret): 4.5/5, interesting and a lil creepy, there’s something oddly funny about hearing someone scream “fuck you Beelzebub” even in context, sound design is pretty good and voice acting is great, finale was also pretty good but I’m docking half a star bc of that very last bit and bc I said so, overall short n’ sweet, no pun intendo (I’m kinda glad that it’s only the one season and not super long, gives the feeling of not overstaying its welcome. Also in awe that they made it within like a month, gonna go listen to their other podcast Cascadia too)

Cascadia (submarine expedition to uncharted waters, gone wrong, we almost died!?): 5/5, by the Ice-Cream people so I expected great sound design and voice acting and said expectations were met tbh, yes god love the drama, ocean depths are inherently scary to me so this is top tier horror, season one was chef’s kiss beautiful and I heard season 2 is coming so I’ll be waiting eagerly for that

Listening now:

Within the Wires (season 1 is relaxation cassette tapes from another world, season 2 is a guided museum tour I think): also by the WTNV people, interesting so far, the plot that unfolded in the first season was cool to watch as it played out, but also I am so sad. I like it so far

Rabbits (girl goes searching for her friend who disappeared because of this mysterious Rabbits game): feels like a really slow start after a few episodes, I kinda wanna get to more action soon please

Wake of Corrosion (apocalypse where characters are trying to find other survivors and also answers): mild shrug, not sure what to make of it just yet. Only like 2 episodes in so I think I need to give it a bit

Ars Paradoxica (scientist accidentally invents time travel and is thrown back to the 1940s): pretty interesting so far, science is fun

Spoiler comment for Cascadia under the cut bc it's the one I just finished and I have Thoughts

As much as I enjoyed Cascadia, when I think about the expedition for more than 2 seconds I get confused. Not the whole alien thing, that’s fine, it’s Badger and Maria and their ulterior motives. Why in the world did Badger spend millions of dollars to make a submarine that’s faulty on purpose? And there was so much media coverage around it so the second something went wrong reporters were practically beating him over the head with microphones, so why risk so much bad press? Plus sacrificing three other talented divers who trusted him with their lives??? That’s the most confusing to me. There’s no way Badger foresaw them getting attacked underwater and losing Declan alone, so he must have been fully prepared to lose captain AND crew. Holden said that he saw Badger as a father, and yet he chose Holden to die? He said he handpicked them, so what did Holden, Alia, or Iris ever do to him to deserve being sent on a suicide mission? Doing all this just to get rid of Declan and be with Maria doesn’t feel right. Feels like there should be something more there. Tldr: surely Badger had another reason for conducting the suicide mission, right? Also since season 2 starts with Lila all grown up, a diver just like her father, I wanna know her opinions of her mother and of Badger. Did she learn about her mother’s betrayal? Is Badger still involved in funding deep sea diving or did the FBI take him out of that? Omg who’s the father of her little sibling…I’m so curious…

#ignore me #mimi reviews #the left right game #alice isn't dead #harley quinn and the joker sound mind #the burned photo #blackwood #gaslight #ice-cream #cascadia #within the wires #rabbits #wake of corrosion #ars paradoxica #i can't believe i had the patience to tag all these...

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moonlitringss · 11 months

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Lil BATB BKDK Snippet <3

Beauty and the Beast Bakudeku but it’s the library scene and Katsuki is listening to Izuku ramble about the books. I wrote what was basically a draft on discord and decided to expand it into its own lil thing. This is also one of my favorite scenes in the movie (I prefer the animated original but love both!)

✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✧-✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✧-✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧ A huge stack of books the human particularly enjoyed sat elsewhere on the table. Set aside for later as Izuku got right back to the shelves, Katsuki following behind. Each book was different, the green-haired man explained. In one held the story of a lonesome prince overtaken by a terrible curse. In another was an inexperienced adventurer on a quest for a rare flower, finding more than expected in the process. Sometimes Izuku read a story because he felt he related to the protagonist, sometimes because he envied their life. The freedom, the friendship, the excitement. Little things like that. Things the human brushed off with a laugh so as to not sour the mood.

And while the beast found him extremely annoying, he couldn’t help being captivated by the human and his incessant rambling.

There were no doubt thousands of books in the prince’s library. Sure he’d skimmed through a handful and read through even less, but by no means was he a bookworm. If he wasn’t going to take interest in the library’s catalog, someone had to. Right?

Besides, Katuski never had the patience to read on his own. The thousands of stories in his library could’ve been tackled in the many years he’d been turned, but alas. Having large claws and an explosive temper meant many of these books would be destroyed the second anything pissed him off anywho.

How interesting was it the human’s love of books seemed to triumph over any fear of Katsuki as well.

Still was the human chatting about these books. One moment he gushed over the library’s size, comparing it to his go-to. The next he’d sift through book titles to gauge familiarity, or take out ones he knows he’ll want to read later. (Hence the pile on the table). Every time the stack proved too heavy (despite Izuku insisting he could carry it), the blond beast snatched them to carry himself. ‘So you don’t fall and break anything’ was his excuse. The human simply chuckled in amusement, as the prince’s tail’s slow wags contrasted his harsh nature.

Izuku only quieted when Katsuki deemed he’d chosen enough books (for a lifetime). That, and Izuku was more than impatient to dive into a new book. Seated at the table, a book in hand, Izuku beamed. He was ready to begin when the chair beside him scooted back in a silencing screech, seating the beastly prince.

At first, Izuku didn’t mind. Smiling so bright as he quickly delved into the story of his book. The silence was comfortable, at least on his end. The beast’s hoarse breathing proved to be nothing but white noise.

Izuku could read among the loud and the quiet alike, although he preferred the latter. There, he wouldn’t have to worry about the peering judgy eyes of his town. Immersion in his story constantly broken by snide whispers. It got to him more than he’d like to admit. Maybe that’s another reason why he envied the lives of these characters. Why his nose was constantly buried in pages.

“Something wrong with the book? Don’t tell me the story’s shit after 2 pages.” Katsuki rumbled. Izuku jolted. “What do you-” “You stopped smiling.” The beast stated.

“Oh! I didn’t realize, sorry.” The human smiled, but it was feigned. He may have been a stranger to Katsuki, but even he knew the grin shown now couldn’t compare to the one just minutes prior. Katsuki wanted that one back.

Katsuki huffed. Hard enough to blow forward some of the book’s pages and Izuku’s curly bangs. He wouldn’t say Izuku had nothing to apologize for, because he should apologize for losing that damn smile. The prince wondered how he could get it back.

“Just get back to reading. And out loud. You being all quiet is annoying.”

Izuku laughed. He couldn’t help but find the beast’s oddly directed anger charming. The few pages read flipped back to the first. Izuku didn’t mind restarting. Only a little of what he read was retained anyway.

As soon as he began to read, the beast’s demeanor shifted and softened. Intense red eyes softly watched the human read. The beast was paying attention to the story, yes, but not nearly as much as he was watching the man reading to him.

Occasionally did the prince’s mind wander away from the story and onto his reader. The way Izuku read wasn’t monotone by any means. His tone rose at the mention of action, and calmed at the solemn moments. Any dialogue he read felt genuine. The characters were easily distinguishable by the voices Izuku gave them. (Katsuki thought it was cheesy). If not by his voice, then Izuku’s expressions gave way to the mood of the book.

His eyes twinkled from the sparks of hope. Tears blurred twinkles when hope seems lost. Sometimes his smile would go too. As he read, Katsuki wondered if Izuku was the same way when he read to himself. Or was he playing it up to keep the beast interested.

Izuku’s gesture was one Katsuki couldn’t fathom. The staff of the castle treated him well, they cared. They had also been there not only when the curse was cast, but for the prince’s whole life. They knew him from his earliest days and watched him grow into the man, and beast, he’s become. To Katsuki, his staff weren’t merely staff, but family. Although he’d never admit it.

Yet this complete stranger, one he’d only yelled at and threatened, sat beside him, at ease. Katsuki made him a prisoner. He fully intended to keep the human in that barred cell with just enough food to keep him alive. Fueled by his own misery and anger. Nearly every interaction the two had was filled with such negativity. He’s scared Izuku away. Literally sent him running. Even after saving him from wolves did Katsuki roar at the one who was only trying to help. So with all of that, how could he sit here and read to Katsuki with no ounce of fear or frustration present? Why?

Katsuki had no idea. And for that moment, he didn’t really care.

All the beast wanted to do, all the beast did, was lay with his head in his arms, and watch the green-haired man read with the fondest eyes he’d given anything in 10 years.

✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✧-✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✧-✧･ﾟ-✧･ﾟ-･ﾟ✧

#bnha #deku #midoriya #izuku midoriya #bakugo #Katsuki bakugou #bakudeku #bkdk #katsudeku #beauty and the beast au #starry writings #mha #still figuring out tags whoowooowo #ktdk

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rosalindwrites · 9 months

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Hello! I stumbled across your blog and I love your Yugioh writings! (I haven't thought about Yugioh in years and then suddenly it dug its claws into me this year~)

If you take requests, can I request Aster or Zane in a meet-cute situation please~?

Hi!!! I'm so glad you like my stories! I, too, had not thought of Yugioh in a very long time but recently got back into it while nostalgia-watching old shows. Thanks for your request, had fun picking a lil meet-cute scenario - I decided to choose Aster since I hadn't written for him yet and he's always been a fave of mine. Hope you enjoy <3 :)

Coaster of Coincidence

Pairing- Aster Phoenix x Reader

Word count- like 700

Summary- Fate leads to you and Aster being stuck on the top of a rollercoaster together, cuteness ensues

The sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm golden glow over the sprawling Kaiba Land amusement park. You, a devoted duelist, had decided to take a break from the intense dueling scene and immerse yourself in the lighthearted atmosphere of the theme park. As you walked around, your eyes widened with excitement at the sight of the towering rollercoasters and vibrant arcade games. You had always been drawn to adrenaline-pumping rides, like a moth to a flame. Kaiba Land was known for its crazy dueling-themed rides, and you couldn’t resist the temptation to experience them all.

Aster Phoenix, the world-renowned professional duelist (that you, admittedly, were a big fan of), had also chosen that particular day to take a break from the competitive scene. As fate would have it, both of you found yourselves standing in the same line for the most formidable rollercoaster in the park— The Blue Eyes Jet Coaster.

The rollercoaster was notorious for its twists, turns, and exhilarating 350-foot drop that made it a must-try for duelists and amusement park enthusiasts alike. The line snaked its way through a maze of barriers, and you couldn't help but feel the anticipation building as you approached the ride's entrance.

Unbeknownst to both of you, fate had a plan in store. As you both approached the entrance of the rollercoaster, the attendants ushered you into the same line. The atmosphere buzzed with excitement as riders chatted nervously about the twists and turns awaiting them.

The line moved steadily, and before you knew it, you found yourself seated in the cart next to Aster. The restraints clicked into place, and the ride began its ascent, slowly climbing higher and higher. The view from the top was breathtaking, with the entire amusement park spread out below like a miniature world.

As the roller coaster crested the peak, ready to plummet into a series of exhilarating loops and turns, the unexpected happened. A mechanical glitch caused the ride to come to a sudden halt, leaving you and Aster suspended at the highest point of the coaster. Nervous murmurs and uneasy laughter filled the air as the riders realized they were stuck.

You turned to Aster, who met your gaze with a calm expression. "Looks like we're in for an unexpected duel of patience," he remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

You chuckled nervously, "I hope it doesn't take too long to fix. I had my eye on that Marshmallon-themed ice cream stand."

Aster raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Marshmallon-themed ice cream, huh? Sounds like my kind of treat. What’s your favorite flavor?”

And so, amidst the suspended animation of the roller coaster, a conversation sparked. You found yourselves sharing stories of your most memorable duels and favorite decks. The initial awkwardness melted away, replaced by a growing sense of camaraderie.

Time seemed to stretch as the maintenance crew worked on resolving the issue. But rather than growing frustrated, you and Aster discovered the joy of each other's company. Laughter echoed in the air as you swapped dueling strategies and debated the merits of different card combos.

Eventually, the roller coaster started moving again, and the ride resumed its course. As the adrenaline-fueled twists and turns played out, you couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration that went beyond the ride itself. The unexpected roller coaster malfunction had become the catalyst for a connection neither of you had anticipated.

As the ride came to a smooth stop, you and Aster exited with smiles on your faces. The sun had begun to set, casting the amusement park in hues of pink and orange. Aster turned to you, his expression warm and genuine.

“So,” he said, his eyes reflecting the colors of the sunset, “Ice cream?”

You smiled and nodded, realizing that this chance encounter had transformed a regular day at the amusement park into a memorable experience. As you and Aster continued to explore the park together, the roller coaster incident became the first chapter in a story that promised more thrilling twists and turns ahead.

Unexpected adventures really do make for the best stories.

#aster phoenix #aster phoenix x reader #yugioh #yugioh x reader #fan fiction #fanfic #yugioh gx #yugioh fanfiction

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mothwingwritings · 1 year

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I hope I’m not the only one here on your blog just for the Tokyo revengers content because I never watched Baki should i thought??

I have been very Baki focused as of late, huh? ^^; You are def not the only TokRev fan though, I assure you! My first really sizable chunk of followers came from my Taiju fic, and though I have been slacking a bit on posting anything TokRev related, I promise you much more is planned/being written currentl. A large chunk of bigger fics I am working on are actually mostly TokRev, I just wanted a lil break and so I focused on smaller stuff for a bit, and pretty much all of that happened to be Baki.

Now, as for if you should watch Baki…

Short answer: Yes! :D

Thoughtful answer: I think Baki is a very interesting take on the fighting genre, and I do highly recommend it. The saga of the Hanma family is as engrossing as it is entertaining, and there is a colorful cast of characters that support the series that you can’t help but love, hate, or love to hate. I have been kind of waiting for a Baki renaissance for a while now-I feel like other than in Japan, it really isn’t a super popular series and that’s a bit of a shame because it truly is an entertaining watch/read. The Netflix adaptation I think has helped the series a lot (and we are all grateful for it, to see our lovely boys animated so beautifully :)) and put it on the map for newer audiences to enjoy, but I definitely recommend the manga too. It’s a pretty fast read because a large chunk of it is action, but it’s pretty cool to see how Itagaki’s art has changed over the years and also how he has grown and changed as a story teller. Earlier Baki is much different than newer Baki, and some of the characters feel a bit foreign when you go back and reread some of the earlier stuff after being immersed in the newer content.

Baki also has some very bizarre and downright comical aspects as well that kind of put it on par with JJBA while making it very charming. The mangaka def adds some quirky flairs to his story telling, which while sometimes I can get a little annoyed/bored/confused with them, I feel like overall they make the experience of watching/reading the series its own unique and fun experience.

And if you love delinquents, Kaoru Hanayama is like… one of the best and coolest delinquents. If you put that man in Toman he would be running the whole gang within days and 90% of the bullshit everyone had to go through in Tokrev probs would have been resolved fairly quickly, if it even happened at all. This man would grind Kisaki to paste in the blink of an eye and I would pay to see it happen. :)

THAT ALL BEING SAID: Not everyone likes Baki, and that’s fine too. I know personally a lot of people are turned off by the art/how the characters look and honestly… That’s valid lol. I remember I once showed my friend a picture of Biscuit and her direct response was “Why does he look like he’s made out of balloons, like a clown constructed him?” LOOOL and often times if my friends mention weird body proportions in comics/manga someone inevitable asks when I am gonna chime in with a Baki manga panel. ^^; Most of the rest of my friends don’t really have any desire to partake in it though, and a few that have just really weren’t in to it. It’s very heavy on fighting and martial arts, and though the fighting is rather fantastical in a lot of cases, it (usually) doesn’t have supernatural elements or magic involved. So if that seems kind of bleh to you, you may want to avoid it.

Horny answer: Incredibly sexy men who are at least half naked a large majority of the time beating the shit out of each other is very fun, nice, and fulfilling to watch. :)

So I say give it a try if you are interested at all. At the very least, some of the fics on here may make a little more sense.

REGARDLESS THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!!! Please stay tuned for more TokRev in the future, I have at least one more alphabet ask that is for a Tokrev chara so that may be the first thing I post, but bigger stuff is coming soon too~ <3

#I miss my delinquent boys #there are so many of them I want to write for and so many ideas i have begun uwuuugh #also dont feel bad-as far as minorities go I know there is at least ONE person who followed me after i posted my Zenos fic #who was solely here for FFXIV content #if you are still out there and see this... I love you and you are free to hit me up and tell me about your WOL at any time #<3 #anyway thank you for the ask!#if you do watch/read Baki let me know what you think of it! :3 #mothresponse

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m-ilkiee · 2 months

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YOOOO I LOVE IT!! ITS JUST SO GOOD 😭😭

I love How reader don’t wanna take Bonten crap and all that, she’s just too good!

Can reader take a break from getting insulted and treated like shi? I just wanna hug her and whoop their asses!

Ngl i felt tension when she sat between Mikey and Sanzu.

Mikey a jerk 😭 and that lil after is 👌🏻

I love it! Your stories are just so amazing and you never fail to make me feel like i was in it and it felt real!

And I hope reader don’t get a bad ending please! 😭😭🙏🏻🙏🏻

First of all, thank you so much for liking it. It's been a while since I touched the draft and my creativity has been waxing and waning because of how tough school is. You saying my story is immersive really makes doing all this worth it.

Secondly, yup Reader in simple terms is a 'girl boss' at least to anyone that isn't in the inner circle. However, she's far more complex and even more assertive and flawed than many readers I've written in the past. Her relationship with each of the Bonten members is an intertwined web of deceit, betrayal and generational trauma.

As for a good ending, I know in the summary I said she will come out on top, but being on top doesn't mean she's happy.

#deadly affairs 🍷

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therecordconnection · 10 months

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Ranting and Raving: "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang

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Recently, I started reading The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop, a really great book by Jonathan Abrams that came out back in October last year. It’s a thorough work, taking its time to really cover the genre, from all its major landmarks (New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the Midwest, etc.) and most of its major players are interviewed and represented in it. I really recommend it if you’re someone who doesn’t know a lot of the deep lore surrounding hip-hop’s history (like me) and you’re looking to learn more.

2023 marked the year of hip-hop’s fiftieth anniversary and it’s done a lot of well-earned celebrating throughout. There were tons of retrospectives done, the Grammys held a live concert to honor the occasion, and many Spotify playlists were made to help a new generation of hip-hop lovers go back and become immersed in the full history. It’s a good thing that the fiftieth anniversary had so much dedicated to it and people could enjoy looking back, because this year has been very strange for the genre in terms of mainstream Billboard chart success.

From August 2022 to August 2023, no rap song topped the Hot 100 chart, which hasn’t happened for twenty-three years. Rappers were still very much successful and there were still albums that hit the top of the album charts (Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape, Travis Scott’s Utopia, Drake’s For All the Dogs topped it twice) but there was no single song that topped the Hot 100. That dry spell finally ended when Doja Cat managed to break the slump with “Paint the Town Red,” which became a number one hit back in September. In a year where Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift reigned supreme with no end in sight (especially if you’re Taylor Swift), it was almost a good thing that hip-hop was able to focus on looking back and enjoying how far it's come and celebrate all that the genre has achieved in such a short time.

Anyway, as I was reading the first chapters of The Come Up, which focus on hip-hop’s birth in the Bronx and how it grew out of New York and out of the block parties DJ Kool Herc was throwing in 1973, I was captivated. As I kept going though, there was one thing I kept wondering about.

When do the Sugarhill Gang enter into the story?

When I was young, I had always been under the impression that the Sugarhill Gang were among the first rap pioneers, more or less believing they were the first MCs to spit into the mic and bring hip-hop into the world. They... kinda did, but also not really. They were responsible for playing a major part in the genre becoming the cultural juggernaut we recognize it as today, but as for pioneers? Your mileage will vary on that and I hope that’ll become clear soon as we start discussing them.

Now, I want it to be known that being a white guy from Bumfuck Nowhere, Pennsylvania, my hip-hop history knowledge has always had giant gaps in it that I’ve only been starting to fill up in recent years. I imagine for many others like myself, they’re only just now really learning the history of hip-hop’s birth in the Bronx and what the first MCs unleashed. If you’re not much of a reader, Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution is a really great series that covers a ton of that early history. Charlie Ahern’s 1982 film Wild Style also serves as a historical time capsule of that history as it was being written. The Sugarhill Gang get discussed in Hip-Hop Evolution’s second episode, but they’re nowhere to be found in Wild Style.

So, as I was learning about hip-hop and rap’s origins in New York, eventually the Sugarhill Gang did make an appearance. What I ended up learning gave me an entirely new fascination with a song that up until recently I had just found enjoyable and didn’t think too much of. “Rapper’s Delight” is such a fascinating song. Let me count the ways. Why don’t we start with who the Sugarhill Gang are?

The story of the Sugarhill Gang begins with a woman named Sylvia Robinson, often dubbed the “Mother of Hip-Hop.” A shrewd businesswoman, she was the head of All Platinum Records, a label that started in and ran through the seventies (Sugarhill Records, where “Rapper’s Delight” was released, was a subsidiary of All Platinum and formed in order to focus on the emerging rap scene). Robinson was also a musician herself, being one half of the guitar duo Mickey and Sylvia, scoring a hit in 1956 with “Love is Strange” (a song you definitely know if you’ve seen Dirty Dancing). Sylvia herself also had a hit in 1973 with the song “Pillow Talk.” Robinson has lived a life that goes beyond the scope of our subject today, so we’ll stick with knowing her as a businesswoman. If you want to learn more about Robinson’s story, this Billboard piece on her from 2019 is a good place to start.

In 1979, All Platinum was facing bankruptcy and was in desperate need of a smash hit in order to save it. Robinson had agreed to attend a party at Harlem World, a popular disco club in the late seventies and early eighties at 116th & Lenox Ave, in Harlem. Abrams tells the story of how Robinson first discovered the music that could save her label in The Come Up:

“Robinson witnessed Lovebug Starski work the turntables and the crowd into a frenzy with his call-and-responses. Robinson wanted to capture the music and release it commercially. When Lovebug Starski declined the arrangement, Robinson went on a hunt for other artists.”

Robinson’s search for talent, led by her son Joey Robinson, Jr., took them to a pizza parlor in New Jersey. It still exists today. It’s Crispy Crust Pizza in Englewood, NJ (the surviving members of the Gang are interviewed there in Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution). The story goes like this:

The Sugarhill Gang are made up of three guys: Michael Wright (“Wonder Mike”), Henry Jackson (*Big Bank Hank”), and Guy O’ Brien (“Master Gee”). Robinson only came to hear Big Bank spit, but Wonder Mike and Master Gee also auditioned for her. Unable to make a decision on which one to go with, she ultimately decided to say “fuck it!” and made them a trio.

It’s the best decision she could’ve made.

They auditioned on a Friday night and by Monday they were in the studio cutting the track. The three guys just kept passing the mic to one another and eventually the full song wound up being fifteen minutes long.

We’ll get into the rhymes a bit later, but now that we’re familiar with the gang, we should cover what “Rapper’s Delight” ended up being the first of. Hip-hop may have already existed in the Bronx and New York scene for about six years before the gang came along and scored a bonafide hit, but the song does have legitimate cred. It’s the first rap song that made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 and the first rap song to break into the Top 40. It paved the way for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to get onto Billboard with 1982’s “The Message” (peaked at #62) and led to eventual chart dominators like Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys, which would start sprouting up a few years after the Gang made their mark. The Sugarhill Gang are also some of the first rappers to film an official music video (which is linked above at the top) and be seen performing on pre-MTV television (there are so many videos out there of them performing this on TV shows. It’s nuts).

Listening to it, it’s not hard to understand why this song still gets written into the history books. First, this shit holds the fuck up. Second, it’s probably the easiest example to use if the aliens ever visit and Captain Cleevmorp asks, “W h a t i s t h i s t h i n g y o u c a l l . . . ‘r a p m u s i c’?” It’s ripping off a disco song that was barely three months old at the time (“Good Times” was released June 4th, 1979, “Rapper’s Delight” appeared September 16th, 1979) but at its core, it’s a rap song and nobody could mistake it for anything else. Did I mention this is ripping off a disco song that was barely three months old at the time? I feel like that’s an important part of the story.

Do you like “Good Times” by Chic? If you do, then hoo boy, do I have the song for you! I don’t think I’m blowing any minds here when I say that musically, “Rapper’s Delight” is quite literally just three guys rapping over an instrumental version of “Good Times” by Chic. I feel the need to stress that it is NOT a sample of “Good Times,” though you would be forgiven for thinking it is. “Rapper’s Delight” came out during a time when the technology for rap sampling and looping didn’t exist yet, so the production team behind “Rapper’s Delight” had to bring in session guys to recreate the song from scratch. They did such a good job recreating it, Nile Rodgers (guitarist) and Bernard Edwards (bassist) from Chic threatened to sue them. They eventually settled out of court, getting co-writing credits on the song and, according to the Library of Congress, “a substantial undisclosed amount of money made off of album sales and performances.”

Chic won, but Curtis Brown, better known as New York rapper Grandmaster Caz, didn’t. Now might be a good time to start talking about the lyrics to the song.

For brevity’s sake, we will not be going over all fifteen minutes of this thing (I’ve never made it through the entire song. It just goes on-and-and-on-and-on-on-and-on). Rather, we’re going to focus on most single/video versions of the song and just cover the most important parts.

Wonder Mike is the first one up. Equipped with a friendly voice and a smooth delivery, he spits some of the most important opening lines in rap history.

I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie The hip hip hop and you don't stop the rockin' To the bang-bang, boogie, say up jump the boogie To the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

According to Mike in Hip Hop Evolution, these are the lines he used when auditioning with Sylvia Robinson. Those four lines alone tell you everything you need to know about rap flow and delivery. It’s obviously very primitive compared to what MCs are doing now (and even what MCs were doing when this song got big) but to an unsuspecting audience outside of New York that had no idea what the hell rap was at all, those lines are an immediate attention grabber. I’ve always adored the line that comes after those initial four: “Now, what you hear is not a test I'm rappin' to the beat.” It’s a great way to present something strange and new to an audience without alienating them or scaring them away. People in 1979 had long known about disco and would’ve recognized the music immediately, but the rapping part was a new ballgame and Mike’s delivery in the opening verse lays down the framework for the rest of the song. At its core, “Rapper’s Delight” is a laid back and fun party anthem and he immediately sets that tone with his opening verse. He’s a good straight man compared to the goofy braggadocio that starts immediately once he passes it to Big Bank Hank.

If “Rapper’s Delight” is beloved, it’s because Big Bank comes in and just kills it from the moment he steps up to the mic. The man just sells it and then some. He’s got great flow, a fun loving attitude, tons of style, and a goofy but confident swagger completely on lock. Depending on the version you’re listening to, he’s going for almost two minutes straight with barely any breaks. For one of the first rap songs ever put to vinyl, it’s an impressive feat. He’s got a lot of really great rhymes too.

It’s just a shame he didn’t write a lot of them...

Remember when I said Chic won their lawsuit threat but Grandmaster Caz didn’t end up being so lucky? That’s because a good chunk of the rhymes Big Bank is using are actually Caz’s and it wasn’t a secret to the New York rappers hearing it at the time.

One dead giveaway is in this line: “The women fight for my delight / But I'm the grandmaster with the three MCs.” Three MCs, huh? But there’s only three of you. There would have to be four of you in order for that line to work. It worked when Caz said that as part of the group Cold Crush Brothers, because there were four of them. Another Caz line is near the beginning of Big Bank’s first verse: “Check it out, I'm the C-A-S-A-N, the O-V-A / And the rest is F-L-Y.” “Casanova” was a nickname of Caz’s. Caz reveals more stolen rhymes and where Big Bank got them from when interviewed for The Come Up:

“Sometimes I’ve been misquoted, and then sometimes I’ve made the mistake of saying I wrote all of Big Bank Hank’s lines for ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ What I meant is his verses. I meant his rhymes. But the little bridges, the hook, that’s DJ Hollywood. That, ‘Imp the Dimp, the ladies’ pimp. The women fight for my . . ., that’s Rahiem from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Those two things, I didn’t write, but the full rhymes he says, ‘I’m the C-A-S-AN, the O-V-A from the time I was only six years old’ and then the Superman and Lois Lane, I wrote all of that.”

Whether Big Bank got to see a book of Caz’s rhymes and learn them from reading that is up for debate. Caz claims in both The Come Up and Hip-Hop Evolution that Hank didn’t have to study. He knew them all just from knowing Caz and being around him. If you want to hear Caz get bitter about it (which he has every right to be) he addressed this issue of plagiarism in 2000 with the song “MC Delight” (“the cat who bit this rhyme was my manager, pure treason I'll tell you why...”).

It does take the wind out of the sails a bit when you learn Big Bank cribbed from other rappers for “Rapper’s Delight,” because he’s a very fun and energetic performer with a great voice and great flow, but once you learn the rhymes were stolen from guys who would never get any of the glory of “the first rap hit,” you start to feel bad and look at Big Bank as nothing more than a thief. It blows. New York DJ Grandmixer DXT voices the backlash and problematic nature of getting caught ripping somebody else off in Hip-Hop Evolution:

"Hank was saying a rhyme that we was hearing at the parties already, and he's saying somebody else's rhyme. And for us, that's a catastrophic no-no. There were people who would get beat up for saying somebody's rhyme. And here's a record where this guy bites and actually records it. Like, that was just the worst thing ever."

It goes without saying that the biggest problem with Hank ripping off rap’s founding fathers in the Bronx is that the Sugarhill Gang gets credit for being the first rap stars when one of them is pretty shamelessly ripping off lines from every rapper he heard in New York. There’s no evidence that everything in Hank’s verses are ripped off from somewhere, but there’s evidence of plagiarism all the same. Luckily, Master Gee and Wonder Mike’s parts are both authentic as well as fully written by them. Which is good because once Gee takes over from Big Bank, he takes a little time to get going, but eventually starts feeling himself and really starts delivering some Grade-A stuff. Most of his lines are either about bragging about his status as a ladies man, observations about the listener dancing to the music, and how he’s the youngest member of the three, but can still keep up with the best of them. I do like that his first brag is how he goes by the “unforgettable name” of Master Gee. Personally, I actually think all three of their names are pretty dumb and lame as far as rap names go, but they’re among some of the first rappers so it’s not like they had any way to avoid that.

Master Gee’s most impressive moment is this verse right here, written out in full:

I got a little face and a pair of brown eyes All I'm here to do, ladies, is hypnotize Singin' on-and-and-on-and-on-on-and-on The beat don't stop until the break of dawn Singin' on-and-and-on-and-on-on-and-on Like a hot buttered pop-da-pop-da-pop, dibbie dibbie Pop-da-pop-pop, you don't dare stop Come alive, y'all, gimme whatcha got

It’s stuff that’s downright corny by today’s standards, but Gee’s ability to spit all that without getting tongue-tied is more than I can say for myself. He’s got really great control; all three of them do. Mike, Big Bank, and Gee each deliver their parts like a never-ending party and when you listen to the full version of the song (that fifteen minute monster!) it has the feel of a party where you and your friends are just shooting the shit and passing around a blunt or something to each other. The three of them all seem like friends that are collectively goofballs just having a good time, which is one reason why I think the song has enjoyed the long life it’s had.

I also think the reason this song has lived so long is because white people LOVE this song. Of course they do! It’s a pretty sanitized version of the kind of music that was being made in New York at the time. There’s no message to it, no commentary about social issues, or even using old records in a creative way like the DJs of the day had been doing. Everything about this song was specifically engineered to be commercially viable, right down to completely ripping off a song that had already been a hit less than four months beforehand.

A mainstream audience (read: white) was absolutely slammed with pretty much nothing but disco for most of 1977, all of 1978, and most of 1979 before a bunch of people finally snapped and held a massive bonfire in Chicago about it. “Good Times” was something they already knew and something disco lovers still enjoyed, so you could ease them into this strange new thing called “rappin’ to the beat” and they would understand it without being confused. To most, it was probably just a different style of disco song at the time. It wouldn’t be until the mid-eighties when people would start to begin to understand a better definition for what rap is.

Obviously, the song has a wide appeal and white people really enjoying it isn’t the only reason, but that definitely plays a major factor. You’re looking at the song that inadvertently launched a thousand novelty rap songs in the eighties, all featuring white guys who should’ve never been allowed to be anywhere near a rap song. Rodney Dangerfield with “Rappin’ Rodney,” the Beach Boys with the Fat Boys on “Wipeout,” Joe Piscopo doing “Honeymooners Rap” with Eddie Murphy, and, lest we forget "The Super Bowl Shuffle" by The Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew. What I’m trying to get at is this: The Sugarhill Gang made it so that if they, three dorks from New Jersey working in a pizza parlor, can rap, you probably can figure it out too. Adding to the “White People Have Propped This Song Up as a Monument” theory is how many things have referenced this song over the years. Here’s a Homer Simpson toy that raps the song and dances to it. The grandmother from The Wedding Singer famously does it (also adding to the “elderly women rapping” trope). Jimmy Fallon once had somebody cut and splice NBC anchors Brian Williams and Lester Holt rapping the song. Kid Rock’s breakout 1999 hit “Bawitdaba” references the song in its chorus (“Bawitdaba, da bang, da dang diggy diggy / Diggy, said the boogie, said up jump the boogie”). And there’s of course the famous 2002 Las Ketchup song “Asereje,” though you probably know it better as “The Ketchup Song,” which is about someone who goes to the club and asks the DJ to play "Rapper's Delight" and sings along in gibberish because he doesn't know the English lyrics. The point is that this song has been propped up by a lot of people who should NOT be considered rappers (yes, that includes Kid Rock).

I think the first time I ever started to have suspicions that the song wasn’t universally adored was when I watched In Living Color for the first time. There’s a sketch in the first season where Keenan Ivory Wayans plays Jesse Jackson and goes for the joke that everyone used to make about him: That he speaks in rhymes, almost like he’s a real life version of Gruntilda the witch from Banjo-Kazooie. Anyway, there’s a sketch where Jackson is giving his final State of the Union address (in the world of this sketch, he beat George H. W. Bush in ‘92 and has been president for eight years) and gives his address in the most basic AA BB CC rhyme scheme that wouldn’t look out of place in a children’s book. After a few of them, Wayans-as-Jackson breaks and quickly says: “Hip hop, you don't stop the rockin' / To the bang-bang, boogie, the beat,” which I took to be an insult that the rhymes in that song were just as basic as anything Jackson had ever said. The idea that “Rapper’s Delight” was wack was something I think I had already known in the back of my head but didn’t want to say because I thought that would just make me sound like a guy who hates fun. But, upon reading and hearing testimonies from the founding fathers of rap in New York, I realized that the big sin of “Rapper’s Delight” wasn’t that it was wack...

Its biggest sin was that it was made by a bunch of posers.

Sylvia Robinson didn’t know anything about the hip-hop and rap scene developing in New York, but she knew it was something that could be monetized if it was done and presented in the right way. Wonder Mike and Master Gee weren’t real rappers with any credibility, they were just guys working in a pizza parlor in New Jersey who were given the opportunity of a lifetime. Big Bank was the only one who could lay claim to having connections in the Bronx. He grew up there, worked the doors at famous Bronx nightclub The Sparkle, and also served as a manager for Grandmaster Caz (whom he would later rip off). “Rapper’s Delight” wasn’t made by starving artists who were pivotal to creating a new scene, it was made by a bunch of posers who had everything to gain from it. New York rappers interviewed in The Come Up knew this and were justifiably pissed about the song. The only testimony that was kind to them came from Kool Moe Dee, who understood the backlash as well as the song being embraced by white America.

“I understood why there was a lot of MCs at the time that didn’t like it, because I just think the social construct of oppression puts us against each other in many ways. In my opinion, many African Americans have a hard time giving other African Americans credit for achieving because so much of white America accepted that record and they started to define it from their perspective. And we’re saying we’ve already been here; it’s not new. So a backlash was on Sugar Hill that wasn’t deserved because they didn’t ask for it. ... So it was never not really hip-hop. We just had gotten more lyrically sophisticated at that time and the record was a great record. And looking back, if it wasn’t for Sugar Hill, we might not have an industry as prominent as we have because of the success of ‘Rapper’s Delight.’”

Kool Moe is right. It wasn’t their fault that “Rapper’s Delight” took off the way it did. Robinson was cashing in on what she saw as “the new thing” and wanted in. The song taking off the way it did happened the way a lot of hits happen: it was the right song with the right artists at the right place at the right time. “Rapper’s Delight” has stuck around the way it has because it captures a beautiful moment where music history is at a crossroads. The golden age of disco is going to be gone when the ball drops on January 1st, 1980, but rap music is only just getting started and by the end of the eighties it will begin its big mainstream explosion and keep going from there.

“Rapper’s Delight” captures rap in its beautiful infancy. What it lacks in authenticity, it makes up for by being representative of what was going on at the time. It’s a time capsule. No matter which version of this song you choose, it sounds like a never ending party that everyone is invited to and a party where everyone is your friend. It’s fun, it’s infectious, and the three hosts are entertaining as hell as they pass the mic back and forth and keep the party going. Mike, Hank, and Gee created a fun rap song for beginners: it’s a very easy song to understand sonically and it’s an easy song to learn how to rap along to. The rhymes aren’t super complicated and the most you’d have to learn and work out is how to get the flow right and how to not trip over the words. If you can master Wonder Mike’s opening lines (if a Homer Simpson toy can do it, so can you!) the rest comes easy. Learning Big Bank and Master Gee’s parts aren’t complicated either and it becomes fun to recite along with them once you start getting it down. The beat of “Good Times” is very easy to keep up with and follow so that helps it as an excellent beginner song. Despite the criticisms against it, “Rapper’s Delight” still stands as a fantastic party song and it’s not hard to see why people still enjoy getting down to it even now. If you play it at the right party, you’ll hear a whole room recite the lyrics and just have fun with it. Hip-hop and Rap started life as block parties DJ Kool Herc was throwing in ‘73 and the Sugarhill Gang continued that tradition by capturing that party on vinyl. The rap world has changed in many ways since the Gang started rappin’ to the beat, but it keeps its status as a legendary rap song because it’s the party rap song that all party rap songs aspire to. Forget authenticity and leave your notions about “what rap really is about” at the door and just let loose. With the Sugarhill Gang, the party goes on-and-and-on-and-on-and-on

And the beat don't stop until the break of dawn.

#original post #ranting and raving #sugarhill gang #music criticism #Youtube

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