#but my god does his music punch me in a specific part of my soul
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eggmeralda · 1 year ago
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damián antón ojeda my beloved
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ok first of all, The Ninth Hour musical (on yt & spotify) is INCREDIBLE. It's a retelling of Beowulf (ofc), however the actress playing Beowulf and the actress playing Grendel's Mother sound more or less exactly alike, which gives the whole thing an additional layer of OW OOF OUCH MY EMOTIONS.
Grendel himself is also phenomenal. If I could recommend you one song to get you into this musical, it would be this one:
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also highly recommend "Grendel's Mother" by The Mountain Goats. lyrics can get a bit cheesy but it still hits like a punch in the guts
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okay, next up..... shit, where do I even START.
Sam & Dean are the best portrayal of Grendel & his Mother that I've EVER seen- and I'm saying this as a folklorist/beowulf scholar first, and spn fan second. The more you get into actually studying these creatures/characters, the more fascinating spn becomes because
1) it tells a story that desperately needed to be told, and does it amazingly well
2) IT DOES IT UNINTENTIONALLY. Nobody on spn's writing team sat down and said "hey. this is a show about Grendel". It just HAPPENED and its UNIRONICALLY WONDERFUL.
3) this is more of a thing that matters re: folkloric & historical context, but I cannot stress enough that Sam & Dean canonically de-christianized themselves. that is. fcking fascinating. like I don't even have words for how cool that is. what a choice for these characters. it's been 1500 years and Grendel & Mother finally had enough, packed up and left back to whatever pagan belief system they came from.
ok anyway. tangent here, but re: what you said about liking/being DEEPLY fucked up by the idea of their souls never being allowed to settle or find peace... please look into The Wild Hunt. Overly Sarcastic Productions on youtube has a very good video on it that covers most of the points that you would be interested in. the idea of a ghostly hunter damned to ride eternally across the sky in early/midwinter kinda Hits Different the past two years yknow?
(and yes there are connections between the Wild Hunt and Grendel's Mom. not direct connections, but they're definitely present. see last post's comment abt Valkyrie!Dean)
last thing for this particular longpost: the names "Sam" and "Dean" are EXTREMELY.
EXTREMELY *SOMETHING*.
IN OLD ENGLISH.
"Sam" is a common prefix in Old English (the language Beowulf was written/originally told in) that is used with many words. However, depending on pronunciation/accent it has two different meanings:
"half, partial, lacking, incomplete"
or
"together, concordant, combined, same"
...ow. ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. that's. ouch
"Dean" doesn't have a direct equivalent, but "Daene" "Daen" "Dane", "Dene", etc all have translation variants (Old English translation is NOT an exact science. I'm taking a class in it next semester, pray for me lmao) that mean the same thing
"Danes" or "People of Denmark"
why is this relevant? Because the first 2/3 of Beowulf is set in Denmark. Grendel & Mother are FROM DENMARK. and the people they prey upon, who Beowulf arrives to defend
ARE THE DANES.
also, this specific bit of ironic naming has actually been used before! one of the most well-lauded modern retellings of Beowulf, Maria Dahvana Headley's "The Mere Wife", is told from Grendel's Mother's pov, and set in a modern, rural/western American (though disappointingly* nonmagical, focusing on social commentary in an entirely "real-world" way) setting. This is, afaik, the first major work of Beowulf literature that gives Mother a name....
Dana. her name is Dana. as an ironic jab at her original iteration's rivalry with the Danes
or "Daene" in the Old English. or "Dane" or "Daen" or "Dene"
...I both love and hate this language. what kind of fucking names are "Sam and Dean". its almost like God hates them or something-
oh yeah right. That Part.
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this is lines 102-114 of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, and the audience's introduction to whatever the fresh frick Grendel & Mother have going on.
and
to quote almost directly from a Supernatural post I saw on tumblr like three weeks ago, from someone with (afaik) NO idea what Grendel is:
WHAT WAS THEIR REWARD EXACTLY??? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN
hhhhhhhhh
tldr
*screams in agony*
Fun fact of the day, anytime someone compares Dean Winchester to Mother Mary, I take -20 psychic damage
It ruins me horrendously, keep doing it
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sealer-of-wenkamui · 3 years ago
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Started fighting the archdemons, starting with dragon god…. I know a lot of people don’t like this fight but personally I love the idea of a tense stealth-based boss (I love atypical bosses after all) and even the music reflects it, slow but powerful. The punches so strong they kill the framerate also make me laugh (it’s mostly the first one that has the really bad drop, but it kinda adds to the effect in a way?)
Storm king I could bring my own stormruler for this time, which is a relief since I didn’t want to disturb the crystal lizards until I’m at PBWT since I need that pure darkmoonstone drop…. I love that they just brought back stormruler in DS3, and also Morion blade which is formed from its soul
And finally….. the best and most painful part of the game, Astraea and Garl Vinland…. I specifically waited to do them third because of the music change. Which I did not know about first time and just happens to fight them third so I thought it was because I killed Astraea. But it feels most fitting after them so I did it again…. The music when you first enter telling you something isn’t right, Astraea’s voice, Garl’s pleas to turn back…(which. I didn’t get the first time I think you have to be human? So I did it in human form this time)…. I love them ;A; I forgot how little magic does on Garl so I fought him with the flamberge it worked well… and of course you then need only talk to Astraea…….
I did black phantom Garl as well after, he could kill me in one hit and had a lot of health, backstab fishing with the fatal secret dagger worked best… now I can go tell Selen of his fate….
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orange-waterfalls · 4 years ago
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Reader w/wings hc's p.2: lesser- known egos/egos i just didn’t wanna put in the last one
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ty @fancybootm for the request!
A/N: IT’S BEEN A WHOLE ASS MONTH SINCE I GOT THIS I AM SO FUCKING SORRY. school is suck. anyways. my brain convinced itself that I had to have the same amount of egos in this one as the last one so shit's long again. I had a bit of trouble but scrounged up enough of them. uhhh I don't... we don't really know a lot? about the personalities of these ones? so I just went with what I thought. for Heistiplier, I like to think Mark in AHWM and ADWM is a completely separate person from Actor. Like until we get to the Actor timeline he is a separate person altogether. Night Guard Mark is like mark from the fnaf musical because i can and fuck you. the egos are very random and from many lesser known videos so uh. you might not know all of them. I didn’t even know all of them at first. some of these fuckers annoy me to no end so I had to make them more likable for my own sanity cjfufydy. I only skimmed through after I wrote so it might suck lol. Uh rated T for cursing. Mentions of religion and mental health. Enjoy!
Y/N(reader) w/ wings headcanons p.2
Ed Edgar saw you as a profiting opportunity.
Bastard only uses you for commercials at first
Wings sell shit, don’t they? Kids are into wings these days?
One day you get pissed and just punch him
He respects you after that…
He’s very loud, of course, and your ears tend to be sensitive
He tries to quiet down when he sees you make a face
It’s difficult because that… that’s just his normal volume
He talks about his son sometimes. Not to you specifically
He gets sad… you still don’t completely understand what happened.
Sometimes it feels like he doesn’t either
You instinctively wrap your wings around him for Safety and Comfort
He is a MAN who DOES NOT CRY but goddammit, he was close 
He enjoys your company
The Silver Shepherd thought he was gonna rescue you
He’s a superhero, he HAS to save you, right?
Nah, you’re the one saving him more often than not
He tries not to be jealous, but goddamn
Your wings are just. So big. And pretty
He’ll complain to you about his girlfriend “cheating” on him
You know the bullshit he pulls, but you listen because why not
He appreciates that you at least pay a little bit of attention
He doesn’t do a whole lot of hero work, but he usually brings you along
Just for a bit of extra support
More often than not, you’re doing most of the work
You let him believe he did something, though
You boost his very low ego, and so you get along
Derek Derekson was a little bitch
Also saw you as a profiting opportunity
Yelled sometimes when you messed up
You took deep breaths and tried to stay calm the first few times
Then you snapped, calling him a variety of... words...
He stopped yelling at you, but not much else changed
You got along well with Eric, and he appreciated you for that
He does care about his only living son, at least a little
You two don’t… talk a lot
He’ll watch you from afar, occasionally
You constantly encourage him to TALK TO HIS CHILD and GO TO THERAPY
You still don’t like him, and he feels the same way
But he’s… trying
Randall Voorhees thought you were badass
He wasn’t as used to magic and weird shit as the others
You were absolutely awesome to him
He’d never seen an angel before!
Even though he didn’t really KNOW that you were an angel
He just assumed and refused to change his mind
Harder to hide you wings in crowded cities, like where he lives
You spend a lot of your time with him cooped up in his apartment
He felt bad, so he rents a mountain cabin up in Albany whenever you visit
You two ski and snowboard look me in the eyes and tell me the bitch isn’t a snowboarder
He’s a construction worker, so he’s usually busy
You visit him on his lunch break sometimes.
The other workers claim to see you, but he’ll always deny it
He buys a pizza whenever you visit and you eat it together
You two are so cute it’s sickening
Yandereplier claimed you as their new senpai
They saw you, you had wings, you were nice
And now you are Senpai
You aren’t sure why you get a weird feeling whenever they call you this
Luckily, you don’t have many friends, at least none that they could kill…
They showed you their weapon collection to impress you
You were scared and also impressed
They take you to a cherry blossom tree near their house
You talk and hang out and eat lunch
They don’t call you senpai anymore and they talk to you normally
And you no longer stare at the blood on their uniform
Night Guard Mark prayed you wouldn’t try to kill him
He might have PTSD from Freddy Fazbear’s
Those animatronics left a mark…
It took a little while for him to trust you not to harm him
When he did, HOO BOY is he a chatterbox
He has so many theories about the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Chain
Dark’s told you not to talk about the actual lore. It might break his spirit
You get very worried sometimes
He looks like that one picture of Charlie Day. You know the one.
Sometimes he gets panic attacks
You wrap him in a cocoon of your limbs and wings to ground him
He likes you for that
You hang out, playing games and watching movies. No horror. Absolutely NONE
You can handle him, and he likes you
Dr. Plier was curious about you
He wondered how you felt about… everything
He asked if you were ok one day and you broke down
He felt guilty and bought you ice cream
He sees you as a sort of… psychological experiment
Like he asks you very strange and slightly personal questions
Ok, very personal, but he’s a therapist, what can you do
He eventually stopped the interrogation and talked to you normally
You get along fine, but it’s kind of the same situation as Dr. Iplier
Chef Iplier wasn’t really all that phased
You were surprised by this because… well… wings
But he just… treats you normal, for the most part.
Sometimes he’ll pet your wings, but only if you let him
He loves how soft your feathers are
He doesn’t make that his entire perception of you
It’s a nice change of pace
He tries to cook for you sometimes, but uh. It doesn’t go well
You’re still confused as to how someone can set a glass of water on fire
You mostly just order take out
You hang out like normal people
Which neither of you are, but you’re both fine with that
Paranormal Investigator Mark is obsessed with figuring you out
Nearly had a panic attack when he first saw you
He wanted to prove the supernatural exists, but he didn’t have a lot of evidence before
And then your mystical-ass came along
Like the Jims, he tried to get pictures, and they all ended up blurry
He threw a fit over it, and you felt kinda bad
You tried to take the picture yourself but it came out the same
He gave up after a while
He info dumps about paranormal stuff to you
It can last from 5 minutes to 5 hours
You do pay attention though, and that makes him happy
He takes you on investigations sometimes
You don’t do much except break shit with those giant wings of yours
He stopped taking you on investigations
Cooliplier is not sure what to think
You have wings! Great! There’s absolutely nothing he can do about that
Not the most normal, but not the weirdest either
He tends to put on a tough-guy persona around new people
You were a lil intimidated
Then you became friends and mans did a full 180 around you
Went from “Your daughter calls me daddy too” to “I’ll have her home by 9 sir”
His personality is sort of a mix of the two
Catch you both screaming the lyrics to Mr. Brightside at 12:00 am
Took you to a mosh pit once
You got kicked out cause of the wings
He felt bad, but you had fun
He teaches you how to dance and roller skate
You also go for rides on his motorcycle
Once you just started flying while he was driving and it was the most fun shit ever
You’re “buds”, as he often tells you
Goopiplier likes you a lot
They like having another not-completely-human creature to talk to
I mean, some of the others aren’t exactly human…
But they’re not the best conversationalists…
Then again, neither is goop.
They mention the Dark Gods ONCE and suddenly no one wants to talk to them…
But you do!! Yay!!!
You mostly just hang out, do whatever
Watch movies, play games, or just talk
They like to draw you
They’re not very good, but you keep them all anyways
Sometimes they do… rituals. While you’re around
You are… a little scared, but that’s okay!
You have sleepovers and act like teenagers
You mock the others and then giggle, getting louder as you go
They’re not that funny, but you had to be there
Elder Jeremiah is terrified of you
He nearly pissed his pants when he saw you
He thought he was finally going to have to pay for his sins
He started crying, and you panicked
Why the FUCK was this 20-something-year-old well-dressed man crying at you???
He dropped his bike and fell to his fucking knees and begged for forgiveness
You felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation
You told him to get up bc he was dirtying up his pants
He eventually stopped crying and you told him you were not an angel
Also not a demon, as you said when he asked
He avoids you, mostly, still thinking you’re gonna drag him down to hell
He stopped the uh. The stealing since you came around
He will hang around/with you sometimes to see if you “reveal your true form”
You haven’t yet, and never will, BUT WHEN YOU DO, HE’LL BE THERE
He does think you’re very nice, though
Preistiplier thinks you’re an angel sent to assist him
He is doing holy work, it only makes sense that He would send a helper
He was disappointed, to say the least
He then came to the conclusion that you lost your memory of being an angel
You couldn’t exactly dispute it, since you don’t remember
So, he takes you on hunts
You don’t do much except make a bunch of fucking NOISE with your WINGS
He’d hoped you’d smite the demons
Or at least scare them, but they know you’re not an angel
He still takes you on hunts because, he’d never admit it, but he… gets scared
You promised not to tell a soul
You confess your sins to him sometimes
They’re usually not what he considers sins, but he listens anyways
He thinks you are a good person, and he enjoys conversations with you
Heistiplier was just normal around you
Well… as normal as he can be
You’d enjoy his company a lot more if he didn’t have such a god complex
You still like him a lot
He likes you too
Even if you did refuse to rob a bank with him
He’s a very… exciting person
Though you don’t really want to be around him when he gets upset
The entire world literally seems to revolve around what he does
He’s a drama queen, and completely feral
It’s worrying at times
You two are normal friends
Playing video games, watching youtube, etc. etc.
You listen to his stories and wonder how he's not dead yet
But you can admit, he's really fucking funny
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fvlminare · 4 years ago
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✗✗✗   you see [ camille rivas ] around lately? yeah i heard that the [ cis female ] is up to no good. [ she / her ] has been here for [ three years ] now but they’re still pretty [ calculating ] which is fine because they’re also [ ardent ] so it balances out. the [ twenty-six ] year old [ dancer at mayhem ] actually looks like a lot like [ sofia carson ], don’t you think? it’s best to watch out, though, because it’s been said that they’re really into [ the rush of cocaine in her veins & a vice grip on her throat ]. 
henlo it me again! i hope u guys aren’t sick of me yet bc here’s my other bb! say hello to my boss-ass bish gal camile! she’s sassy, classy and a lil badassy. she’s a rather feisty, fiery, ball of rage and anger who cba with ur bullshit tbh n she’ll tell u this too if u piss her off enough! she’s lowkey cutthroat and always out for number one, aka: herself. but, i mean, she does have some redeeming qualities and her hair is bomb af so that makes up for it all really, doesn’t it? basically that meme: ‘ she’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll punch you in the face. ’ anywho, you know the drill, slap a lil luv on this n i’ll come pester u for all the good stuff : - ) 
fundamentals.
CAMILLE ALARA RIVAS     —     twenty-six, dancer at mayhem,   +   an honest-to-god vixen   /   hellcat   /   lil demoness ! 
aesthetics   ➤   dresses of black lace and red velvet, the scent of chanel perfume lingering in the air as she floats past, blood-red fingertips coiled around the pistol grip of a gun, red-bottomed heels clicking against marble floors, rose gold highlighter shimmering along the height of prominent cheekbones, satin dresses draped over a svelte frame that is shrouded in an air of mystery and intrigue, baby pink roses in a vase on the window sill, deft fingers stained with charcoal and oil paint, the melodic chime of piano keys, delicate digits adorned with moonstone gem rings, a coy smile spread across full crimson lips, long raven locks blowing in the cool breeze of a summer’s evening, battered books with dog-eared pages, a sense of freedom and carelessness when dancing for fun, & a sense of allurement and captivation when dancing for work.
nicknames. cam, cami, mil, millie, spawn of satan >:~)
date of birth. april tenth.
gender. cis female.
pronouns. she + her.
birthplace. manhattan, new york.
orientation. pansexual + demiromantic.
education. bachelor of dance degree obtained from nyu tisch school of the arts.
spoken languages. can speak fluent english, spanish, & latin.
negative traits. capricious, ornery, impulsive, guileful, caustic, brusque, obstinate, destructive, deceptive, & promiscuous.
positive traits. ardent, whimsical, intrepid, graceful, poised, elegant, headstrong, observant, independent, & confident.
strengths. optimistic, energetic, creative, practical, spontaneous, rational, knows how to prioritise, great in a crisis, & relaxed.
weaknesses. stubborn, insensitive, private, reserved, easily bored, dislikes commitment, & has a rather risky behaviour.
talents. ballet, knife throwing, hand-to-hand combat, horse riding, figure skating, piano, violin, painting, singing, & dancing.
physiology. hazel eyes. dark brown hair. five feet, four inches tall. of a petite, slender stature with subtle curves and long hair. has a long silvery scar on her back. her skin is clean of any tattoos. has both earlobes pierced. requires glasses but wears contacts most days. is right-handed.
psychology. aries zodiac. fire element. ravenclaw house. istp-a. true neutral. type seven enneagram. choleric temperament. intra-personal intelligence type. addicted to alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. suffers from addiction and abandonment issues. her vices are lust, greed and wrath. her virtues are ... ( again ) honestly, probably just diligence tbh.
background.
possible triggers   :   child abandonment, abandonment issues, foster homes, alcohol, drugs, violence, gore, blood, murder, & death.
a synopsis.   ok so for this gal, let’s all give a big, warm welcome to sadness ( no, i was in no way at all inspired by salem from sabrina for that line ) bc boy oh boy, her life has been constant grief and pain, tbh. strap in for the bumpy ride, i’ll give u cookies for compensation. OK SO, camille was abandoned as a baby, never did—and still doesn't—know her biological parents and she doesn’t want to either, tbh. she bounced around from foster home to foster home, never sticking in one place for too long. given her turbulent upbringing, she was somewhat of a difficult child. too boisterous, too unruly, too stubborn, too inquisitive. too much of everything but never enough of anything. never enough for anybody to want her. it didn’t take the girl too long to figure out that it was just her alone, against the big bad world. from the age that she was old enough to realise it, camille knew that she had to fend for herself—that she could never truly rely on a single soul but herself. the hollowness inside her chest never quite satiated, leaving her empty and only too well aware of the lack of her real parental figures. as a young adolescent, this started to crawl under her skin and mess with her mind. it rendered her void of affection and unable to form genuine bonds with others—filling her with deep-rooted resentment that festered beneath the surface of the indifferent demeanour she plastered over herself every day. she always felt starved of love: as if some integral part of her heart was missing, leaving a gaping void that nobody could ever fill. anywho, she fell in with the wrong crowd which did little to aid her foster families hostility toward her. truthfully, most of her experiences in various homes were ... not pleasant. she’d encountered abusive ‘parents,’ horrible ‘siblings,’ and even worse schooling days. pressing the self-destruct button is this gal’s speciality thus she found herself gravitating towards her vices: things and people she knew were no good for her. drink, drugs, people, you name it. quickly, she realised that these things were no longer any good at keeping her dark side at bay: she needed something more, something deeper. thus, she began going down the road of petty crimes—stealing cars, smashing windows, theft, setting fires both metaphorically and literally. due to this lifestyle, she wound up entangled with some real shady folk who did … even shadier things. most specifically, she started dating a real jackass who was violent and truthfully, a horrible person, really. stupidly, she decided to run off into the metaphorical sunset with him * insert eye roll emoji here. * so, fast forward a year or so and things took a swift nosedive when her lowlife boyfriend’s hands were round her throat and not in the kinky way. while she’d clawed at him and tried to fight him off, she struggled against his weight and strength until, eventually, she lifted the first makeshift weapon she felt: a rusted pair of scissors. [ TRIGGER FOR VIOLENCE, GORE, BLOOD, MURDER, DEATH ] and, in a blind state of panic, she jammed them right into his jugular vein, his blood squirting out and decorating her face in crimson splatters. he’d stumbled backwards, clutched onto his neck, blood spurting from the webs between his fingers. naturally, camille was shook about this but somehow managed to flee the scene with less guilt rattling her soul than she’d imagined. [ TRIGGER OVER ] in her mind, it was an act of self defence. it wasn’t too long after the incident that she found herself in a rather perilous situation that resulted in her sudden realisation that she needed to get her damn life on track. therefore, she done the responsible adult thing and got herself a decent education. somehow, she managed to get into university where her life started to shape into a positive one—the kind she’d always dreamed of. once she graduated, camille decided that she wanted to see the world. following a couple of years travelling, she wound up in santa ysabel where she quickly fell into the employment of mayhem. admittedly, this was a far cry from the future she’d envisioned when she was just a sweet, innocent lil child. still, all in all, she kind of digs who she is and what she is: after everything she’s been through, she loves herself. it’s been a long and winding road but camille finally believes that she’s settled in her life now. tho she still refuses to let people in, her abandonment issues terrifying her to the degree that she feels that anybody she’d ever let into her life would eventually leave her in the end. * insert sad face emoji here. *
random extras.
her tell? playing with her hair: when she’s lying, nervous, flirting—you name it!
can drink any man under the table. 
she loves art in every form: paintings, sculptures, music, dance, people, etc. she loves the freedom that expressing herself through these mediums gives her.
she’s ... experimental. she’s experimented with just about everything: hairstyles, clothing, drink, drugs, people ...
can be hella calculating and vindictive so do not cross her.
quite power-hungry tbh.
she does have a shot at redemption but she doesn’t want it lmao. she’s already been to hell so why bother trying to right her wrongs?
and boy, are her wrongs a century-long list shkjsh.
high key is not above killing people who don’t do things her way.
doesn’t believe she’s capable of loving anyone.
she’s lowkey a perfectionist to the point of being ruthless, also cutthroat and egotistical.
if ya ain’t of use to her, then what the heck is ur purpose???
she’s v ambitious, v morally ambiguous, v self-serving and v self-involved.
she can be ... aggressive sometimes and most definitely has anger issues.
dry sense of humour one million per cent.
her signature look is her blood-red lips.
extremely skilled with knives and blades. and always carries one on her person at all times.
her most prized possession is her brushed chrome zippo lighter. it has her initials engraved into it and where she got it from, or who is something she’ll never tell.
always says she needs to quit smoking but never does and probably never will either.
did someone say ... resting bitch face???
tho when she smiles it’s like sunshine uwu
high key will sleep with anyone.
first place is the ONLY acceptable place, ok??? 
one of those people who just excels at everything she tries her hand at.
absolutely adores animals. much prefers them to humans.
she’s quite adventurous and loves to feel the adrenaline in her blood.
doesn’t take herself or her life too seriously.
always up for a good time and is usually the life of the party.
outspoken and quick-witted with a sharp tongue.
much too sassy and sarcastic for her own good.
really, she does what she wants to, when she wants to, without seeking the approval of others.
truthfully? she’s a bit of a spitfire if you really irk her. so, watch out.
you can find a pinterest board for her by clicking anywhere here.
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nightcoremoon · 4 years ago
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here's some controversy that has nothing to do with social issues.
a lot of people hate the band five finger death punch. saying those words provoked a visceral response in half the people reading this, and a "who?" in the other half. they're a groove metal band; similar to slipknot, mudvayne, disturbed, all that remains, system of a down, korn, and killswitch engage. they're one of those really controversial bands that are hated because they're ~not real metal~ by dumbshits who think that NWOBHM is the only valid metal genre. even though england ruined metal and punk but that's a conbfetsation for another day.
now, if you just don't like metal, that's fine. I don't expect everyone to like every genre. so obviously you won't like them, or any band in the genre. obviously. and these are not the people who are being targeted with this post. no, this goes to those who love metallica, ozzy, megadeth, slayer, pantera, testament, opeth, tool, manowar, meshuggah, children of bodom, cannibal corpse, fear factory, mercyful fate: this is to the people who love metal. now, I say this as one of us, but metalheads are one of the most judgmental groups of people in history. and frequently I find that metalheads make the same remarks in regards to their opinions on five finger death punch.
they do nothing but covers. they just yell and cuss. forty year old men with teenage angst. bad musicianship. they look stupid. they fuck their sisters and daughters. they sold out to the military. they're gay. they do too many ballads. they're redneck bait. they're toxic masculinity and macho personified. they rely on guest stars to carry their songs. they're talentless hacks.
these are all complaints I've heard multiple times from multiple people. and frankly I'm sick of it. I'm sick of hearing the bullshit complaints rather than the ACTUAL REASONS why they aren't the best band in the world. which I'll go through now.
they have an overreliance on breakdowns as if they were a post-hardcore band but they're not. breaking benjamin also skirts the line between post-grunge metal and post-hardcore and have many breakdowns, but the difference is that BB's breakdowns have math rock roots and use different patterns that syncopate well. five finger's breakdowns are... eighth notes. it's the difference between, say, black veil brides- who have excellent syncopated breakdowns- and as I lay dying, who have shitty and boring breakdowns. the only difference is that AILD has blast beats (and is fronted by an abusive asshole), and five finger has... ivan growling threats or whatever because they think that it sounds cool to have metal blaring while he says shit like "you wanna disrespect me? I will slap you so fucking hard you'll feel like you kissed a freight train, fuck you," or "if there was ever a time for you to back the fuck up it's right fuckin here and right fuckin now" or "it's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog," or "in the end we're all just chalk lines on the concrete, drawn only to be washed away; in the time that I've been given, I am what I am", etc, all preceding screams. and no these are not exaggerations, these are literally exact quotes. there's also one that plays radio chatter from the military while he goes "hut hut oorah", which is different slightly. and in any case, they have done nearly a hundred different solos over their career, there is NO REASON for them to have such a ridiculous amount of breakdowns. they rival memphis may fire in that regard, but MMF actually has great breakdowns. churko is a metal producer, NOT a hardcore producer, and they sound empty when you strip out the vocals.
sometimes they will overuse a chorus, and hit the pop music pitfalls of having a song that's over half chorus. I'm sure they did this so the label would be happy with singles because the music industry is a commercialized garbage fire and holding it against the artists would be so fucking stupid especially since tool (the best metal band in existence) fucking said it best, "all you know about me is what I sold you, I sold out long before you ever knew my name, I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit, then you bought one; I've got some advice for you little buddy, before you point your finger you should know that I'm the man and if I'm the man then he's he man and you're the man as well so you can take that fucking finger and shove it up your ass". translation; the fact that you know a band at all means that they sold out to even exist in the first place because that's what selling out is. so even this complaint I have that sometimes they have repeated chorus is more of a complaint about a music industry which dumbs things down to sell radioplay to the lowest common denominator, which EVERY SINGLE ARTIST IS GUILTY OF. so moving on.
sometimes they'll have songs which are fairly simple from a harmonic/mechanical standpoint. opening verse chorus verse chorus solo bridge chorus chorus ending. verse goes some mix of eighth and quarter notes and rests in 4:4, solo is just the vocal line of the chorus, bass and drums are nonexistent and only serve to be a melodic backbone, and the music only exists to serve the lyrics... oh wait I can make the exact same arguments about metallica, rage against the machine, pantera, disturbed, and a hundred other bands. those guys aren't hated as much as five finger. hmm. wonder why.
the lyrics are often angsty. namely that they deal with honor, government corruption, mental illness, we live in a society, religious corruption, abandonment issues, recovering from toxic relationships, hey wait a minute these are all just insanely common topics for metal songs!
they usually play in the same key- wait shit every band has a favored key.
they do a lot of covers- wait shit they have literally more ALBUMS than covers.
(yeah that's weird to me too, but they only did a new level by pantera, from out of nowhere by faith no more, bad company by bad company, mama said knock you out by LL cool J, house of the rising sun by the animals, gone away by offspring, and blue on black by kenny wayne shepard... that's 7. they have 8 albums now.)
so shut the fuck up forever about the cover songs. metallica and the deftones and a perfect circle all had fucking cover ALBUMS, van halen only has a career because of the kinks, and every single rock band in the world is just ripping off the beatles, pink floyd, black sabbath, the who, led zeppelin, and cream. pick a legitimate reason to hate on a band, hypocrite.
alright what else...
"they're gay"
I'm not gonna dignify that with a response.
"they suck"
so does your favorite band. boom roasted.
"they're bad at music"
I'd like to see you do better then.
"they sold out to the military"
no they support the veterans and the troops; they fucking hate the military if you pay any attention at all. they believe in the good parts of the military that the government pays half our taxes to make us believe. you're not better than anyone else just because you see through one specific piece of propaganda because odds are you're blinded by another dozen. they write songs about how war is hell and how when vets come home they should be treated better. and anyway when you're in the dog eat dog world of the music industry hey guess what you need a market to sell to or else it's back to baskin robbins. I don't blame them for one second. if I had the option of endorsing cops to pay my bills you bet your ass I'll fly a blue lives matter flag and sell my soul to make money, and then donate shit to the black lives matter movement. flying a flag is worthless if I can do actual good with the money that those dumbasses send in. and name better irony than fighting to abolish a group that pays me to do it go on I'll wait.
"you're just a fanboy"
a) it's fangirl but metal elitists don't give a shit about the LGBTQ and b) just because I like a band doesn't in any way diminish the validity of my statements and any bias I might have is easily countered by whatever bias you might have and c) they're not even my favorite band you idiot I just think there's way worse out there just like I think it's unfair to say nickelback is the worst band in existence when drunk mom rock like hinder buckcherry savingabel and kidrock exists, and limp bizkit is standing right there, and d) they're not even the worst groove metal band, just look at fucking lamb of god, and e) if I was a fangirl I wouldn't have pointed out the flaws you fucking brainless troglodyte, and f) even if they were my favorite band in the world it doesn't matter if you think they suck because music taste is subjective anyway you goddamn moron. those guys write their own music, play their own music, perform their own music, and they love their fanbase more than most other bands. andrew biersack and kellin quinn and pepper keenan and glenn danzig and liam gallagher and axl rose and van halen and ted nugent and kurt cobain HATE their fans, or at least are huge fucking assholes. but not five finger. jeremy played until he literally broke his back; he's as devoted as phil collins, and if he made like atreyu and sang while drumming he'd be singing from a wheelchair, or like dave grohl when he broke his leg right in the middle of a concert, went to the hospital and got set and put in a cast, THEN CAME RIGHT BACK TO THE FUCKING SHOW AND PLAYED GUITAR AND SANG IN A CAST AND WHEELCHAIR. oh but wait, people say phil collins and dave grohl suck too, and turn around and suck mustaine's dick even though he's the biggest asshole in thrash metal behind tom araya and drunk james hetfield. point being, just because x doesn't like y doesn't diminish z's opinion.
"the singer fucked his daughter lol lol his grandchild is his son too lol lol his daughter is his wife lol lol it's funny because rednecks and incest lol lol" he's from colorado not alabama you dumb motherfuckers, and all the lol incest in georgia jokes are rooted in good ol yankee classism. also the guitarist is hungarian so the american redneck jokes don't even fuckin work. shut the hell up, you have all of the intellectual capacity of a common bog leech.
you can dislike the band. you can say you don't like it. you can say that you'd rather listen to different music. that's fine! that's okay! listen to justin bieber if you like him, listen to taylor swift if you like her, listen to new kids on the block if you want! I don't care! but stop expressing your opinions that you stole from someone else as fact. all you're doing is meme bandwagoning so you can find a community because you don't have the social skills necessary to meet people through the things you love so instead you try to pull serotonin out of making other people feel as miserable as you do.
with that being said, fuck all of the annoying dudebro douchebags who listen to the band and show 5FDP next to the confederate flag, blue lives matter flag, don't tread on me flag, punisher skull, trump sticker, and the crossed assault rifles on the back of your truck. you're all shit for reasons other than your music taste.
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the-beskar-alchemist · 5 years ago
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Sometimes I wonder what Billy's opinions would be of modern metal music, and what bands he might listen to: (in no particular order) - I Prevail - I feel like he would enjoy the Lifelines album but wouldn't officially be "sold" until the Trauma album, especially when he listens to "Bow Down".....not that "Scars" didn't work. - Marilyn Manson - Billy enjoys Manson on occasion, but he probably would be more invested in Manson's covers, most recently "God's Gonna Cut You Down", he gets a little emotional while listening to it. - Greta Van Fleet - Not really metal, but they're similar to Led Zeppelin (a band considered to be metal), he was hesitant at first but upon hearing them he couldn't help himself. - Rage Against The Machine - Billy's not a huge fan of rap music (he does enjoy a bit of Eminem), but when it comes to RATM the riffs make the rapping almost perfect. - Korn - "Coming Undone" is his theme song, the beat, the riffs, they're very much like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", it's therapeutic. - Breaking Benjamin - He goes through these little spurts where it's all he blares all day long.....and then nothing for several days. - Avenged Sevenfold - He enjoys the riffs, but his sweet spot is the guitar solo from "Hail To The King". - Deftones - If ever there was a playlist for feeling pissed off, Deftones would be included. He likes to play "Diamond Eyes", and crank the volume up so high he hopes the vibrations rattle his lungs. - Disturbed- If Korn's "Coming Undone" is his theme song, than Disturbed's "Down With The Sickness" is nearly 5-minutes of self-deprecation that he uses to wear himself down and become lost in that dark part of himself, hoping to exorcise his demons. - Five Finger Death Punch - He doesn't really say it, but FFDP is his "guilty pleasure", he sometimes shuffles through a playlist while working on his car. - Linkin Park - A little bit of soul searching, basically just Billy taking a moment to accept the fact that while he has his faults, he is human and working to be a good one. - Pop Evil - "Torn To Pieces" helps him come to terms with what he's done, particularly the things connected to the Mind Flayer. - Radiohead - He likes to throw a playlist on when he needs to simmer down, or if he just needs a bit of relaxing background music while he does his homework. - Red - "Hymn For The Missing" reminds him of his mother leaving, he only listens to it when he's feeling particularly lonely and wondering where she is, how she's doing, and if she misses him like he misses her. - Shinedown - "Diamond Eyes" practically screams Harringrove, with Billy wanting to kill anyone/anything that tries to hurt Steve. When it gets to the part about the angels falling from the sky, he feels an ache in his chest. - Skillet - He used to blare them when he was younger, now it's on a rare occasion, when he's feeling reminiscent. - Sleeping With Sirens - He struggled with Kellin Quinn's voice at first, but eventually the band grew on him. One day "A Trophy Father's Trophy Son" came on and he didn't talk for the rest of the day (yeah the song was about fathers abandoning their children.....but it still struck a chord). - Pierce The Veil - Four words.....”King For A Day”. - Ice Nine Kills - The Silver Scream album is on repeat lately, he loves slasher flicks. - Thirty Seconds To Mars - Jared's voice is magic, but Billy can't look at him the same now that he's seen Suicide Squad. - Thousand Foot Krutch - "Step To Me" feels a little cocky and rambunctious, it hits in all the right places when he's feeling a little riled up. - Three Days Grace - Pretty self-explanatory, every song feels like it was written specifically about him. - Bad Wolves - They hit hard on the newest album, Tommy Vext is a beast, and their cover of "Zombie" won over Billy from the first chord. - In This Moment - Neil tried to enforce a "women are the lesser folk" kind of mantra, but once Billy got a taste of Maria Brink he was intoxicated with how powerful and strong women could be......and how badass they were performing in metal bands. - My Chemical Romance - Technically punk......and Billy wouldn't actually identify as emo.......but MCR is legendary, and it gives him the same vibes as Queen, particularly "The Black Parade". - Green Day - Reminds him of The Clash, but more political, and rebellious. - Evanescence - There's something magical about Amy Lee; her voice, her hair, her way of making him think fairies are real. Once she hits those high notes he's lost. - Volbeat - Fight music, plain and simple, but not to actually fight TO......more like a warm-up. He feels empowered listening to "Warrior". - Halestorm - Lizzy is the Joan Jett of the modern era, her raspy voice makes Billy want to burn bras in a public bonfire.
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shirtlesssammy · 5 years ago
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15x02: Raising Hell
Then:
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Cousin Oliver’s Cousin Oliver makes his grand entrance, and we love him
Now:
The ghosts of Harlan, Kansas are contained, and most of the townsfolk are corralled in the high school 5 miles away. One daring resident, Nan, decides to check out things herself, and armed with nothing but her pashmina scarf, she scouts the town. Her neighbor, Rob, is there and, let me say, if he was that much of a weirdo in life, I would have moved across the country to get away from him. EEEk. 
*Gratuitous Buckleming Bullshit Alert*
Nan is stabbed repeatedly by the ghost possessing Rob. And then the ghost makes a spelling bee funny. 
And we laughed and laughed. 
At the high school, Cas worries that they’re benzine cover story isn’t going to last much longer. One woman already disappeared. Chief!Sam steps up and makes an inspiring speech to the frustrated townspeople.
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It’s kinda awkward? I think Sam is nervous about leading (and it breaks me a little to think about the trauma that he’s processing when he made this decision to lead again.)  
FBI!Dean and Belphegor are patrolling the perimeter of the ghost circle. We learn that the ghost in the opening is Francis Tumblety, a.k.a. Jack the Ripper (*Boris puts on Sam Winchester nerd glasses*: No one actually knows who Jack the Ripper was, and he’s not “cool” Dean. Anyway, go read The Five, y’all.) 
Some vigilante townspeople decide to take matters in their own hands and make a plan to go back to their houses. 
*First Quarterly Meeting of the Harlan Ghosts Alert*
Francis Tumblety, President, opens the meeting with an announcement that they were all kicked out of Hell by God himself. Is it just me or did Hell make all these former people WAY dramatic, like they’re all taking part in a small town theater production? 
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Two of the vigilantes sneak past the quarantine zone barrier and are almost immediately greeted by two ghosts. Wherps. 
Our favorite witch, Rowena, interrupts Sam and Cas arguing about how to handle the restless townsfolk. Rowena throws her usual love towards Castiel. I think Cas is getting used to it. (And way to deflect your real desire to just chit chat with Sam, Rowena.) Sam asks Rowena about building another soul bomb. They need something to collect the ghosts in.
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Before too much flirting can happen, they’re interrupted. There’s a situation. 
Sam rushes to Dean and Belphegor. They’ve found the two possessed townspeople. Sam starts talking to them like they were just totes normal staring at them. Their eyes start bleeding black goo and our intrepid heroes realize they’re possessed. Francis Tumblety pops up and demands to be released. The people possessed are tortured from the inside --and Sam and Dean just stand there. Shoot the ghost, dudes! Make him go away! Ah, that’s for HERO Ketch to do instead! Yay, Ketch! (I feel dirty just writing those words as a joke, and will now burn both my computer and my fingers for typing them.) 
Back at the high school, the brothers discuss the AMAZING and COMPLETELY HELPFUL appearance of Ketch. Ugh. Rowena asks Sam for a Scotch (I mean, she says “Dear”, that’s Sam, right?) Ketch tries to set things right with the witch, but she “hasn’t forgotten” their past. (KILL HIM, QUEEN). 
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Ketch learns that Jack is dead and now we’re Team Belphegor. It seems that Ketch has been tasked with assassinating Belphegor. Awkward. 
Meanwhile, in Reno, Amara’s living her best life. She’s getting a massage, when her derpy asshole brother makes an appearance. (Sidenote: I’m supposed to hate Chuck, but wtf? I can’t hate Rob! It’s physically impossible to not be charmed. Aagh. Oh, wait, he liked the ending to Game of Thrones. BURN HIM. But seriously, that’s some lovely shade, and it renews my faith that they’re going to stick the landing with Supernatural.) 
Cas has to handle customer service for a bit, and quite frankly, he’s a fucking saint. 
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Rowena and Dean talk ingredients for her soul bomb spell, and Dean plays matchmaker for her and Sam! Specifically, he tells her to “find another boy toy” when she asks about Ketch, but she was just asking to learn what’s the best angle for killing him. Dean doesn’t know that though. Dean might be going through a messy break-up but he’s still making sure his brother is happy. 
*DEANCAS ALERT*
Cas finds Dean in a room. Cas makes an awkward sports reference (HE’S JUST TRYING TO FIT IN, DAMNIT --also, I like to think he’s trying to throw a little levity into their awkward exchanges.) Dean’s pretty mad, and I’m pretty sure I read a few dozen coda fics with this exact dialog last week, lol. Dean’s mad about everything --his whole life has been a lie. Cas bites back, angry about Chuck killing Jack, but he makes it clear to Dean that what they’ve done over the years isn’t a lie. 
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Dean can’t believe they’ve ever had a choice in anything. Brb, crying in the corner. I’ll just leave this here for now:
Cas: Dean, you asked, “What about all of this is real?” We are.
(I can’t find it now but someone on sm compared this to “You idiot. You asshole..” and I am compromised.)
Later, Dean and Ketch walk the perimeter. Dean gives Ketch an iron chain to wear to keep ghosts away. They head to a Meat Packing warehouse, where the F in Dean’s FBI jacket disappears. Wherps. Ketch gets tossed around a bit, AND I’M HERE FOR THIS. Dean gets tossed a bit too so, no thank you. A voice tells the ghost to back off. KEVIN!
Dean tries to wrap his brain around Kevin, who was unfortunately sent to Hell instead of Heaven by good ol’ Chuck. Kevin reports that the barrier is fading, so they’re running out of time. He also boasts that he has a “bad boy rep” in Hell. You do you, I guess? 
Chuck continues to be THAT GUY, hanging out in Amara’s hotel room and channel surfing. She tries to do yoga. 
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When he tries to convince her to jet off to another dimension, she refuses. “I am running a hot streak in craps. I like Reno. Everyone here is so not…you.” Amara senses that Chuck is…off. When she discovers his injured shoulder, she tells him that he’s weak and afraid. 
Sam and Dean (and bonus Belphegor) assess the state of the barrier. Belphegor insists that the Winchesters can’t just shuttle Kevin off to Heaven. Once he’s been in Hell, he’s destined to stay there. (Can I just say, we’re basing this all off the word of a hinky demon? So IS this really canon truth, is what I wanna know?) (Boris: That wasn’t true for Bobby?)
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In Reno, Chuck touches his bullet wound and hisses in pain. Sam cries out at the same time. Oof, TIED TOGETHER. Sam lies to Dean and tells him that he’s feeling better. Dean does his best inquisitive face.
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The ghosts, meanwhile, are still hanging out in their weirdly vanilla home base. I can’t believe nobody’s painted viscera on the walls yet! Other Colonel Sanders stalks around, grandstanding about the failing warding and their plan to attack the weak points. Kevin flashes in. Our dear Kevin tries to act tough, but gets bullied by a bigger…ghost. (Suggestion: a ghost’s power isn’t inherently proportional to their size in life, but to their intelligence and mastery of their ghosty powers.) But WHATEVER the big, bully ghost puts a halt to Kevin’s plan to infiltrate the group pretty much immediately. 
Rowena flirts (apparently, ugh) with Ketch while mixing potions in a science classroom. 
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As much as I love and support Rowena and want her to GET SOME whenever she damn well pleases, I find Ketch to be a tool through and through. It’d be different if she wanted something from him but…alas. There they are. They flirt with awkward magic versus science innuendo. Ketch strips a plug and jolts her potion. (Boris and I wander off, our hands shielding our eyes in second-hand embarrassment.) 
 Rowena races through the neighborhood with her soul trapping bespelled crystal. Other Colonel Sanders zaps in. He once had a relationship (ReALly?) with her and is appalled that she’s working for the Winchesters now. Ketch pops up and shoots the ghost while Rowena runs off. As Ketch stares off in the distance feeling very smug, the ghost zaps in behind him and knocks him out.
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The Winchesters head in to the very beige suburban home to talk to the ghosts. Other Colonel Sanders threatens to kill Kevin, then sticks his hand in Kevin and starts to suck away his soul. Um. Okay, is this a ghost power now? Or is that how demons are made? Rowena uses that moment to suck several ghosts into her crystal, but it’s not enough. She’ll have to catch them one by one, practically. Kevin tells them about the barrier-busting plan, and they head out to survey it. 
The ghosts manifest as little red balls of flame as they hit the barrier. Dean shoots at them like he’s playing a carnival game and is DESPERATE for the red cowboy hat at the top of the booth. Shooting them one by one is pretty fruitless, so Rowena’s called to the plate. Ketch escorts her to the front and I kinda want to punch him as he gestures for her to go ahead. Like, go eat a lemon and die, Ketch. 
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Rowena lets loose her ghostbuster ray and starts sucking in ghosts (through…the barrier?) but Ketch knocks her out. It turns out, he’s ghost-possessed! Sweet Dean Bean’s out of salt rounds and Ketch has the crystal now. He boasts about its power and how it’ll be the most perfect thing to break the wall. Dean shoots Ketch, knocking the ghost out of him, and Rowena sucks ‘em in.
Later, Ketch is getting loaded up into an ambulance (glad to see these random first responders are helping out right at the border of this freak gas leak). Cas tells Sam quickly that he tried to heal Ketch, but failed. Ruh roh, Cas! 
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Dean holds a conciliatory conversation with Ketch (to sad music) while Ketch gets hauled away. Ketch exchanges mournful glances with (EXHAUSTED SIGH) Rowena. Dodged a bullet there, Rowena. 
Dean and Sam bid farewell to Kevin, who believes Belphegor’s line about Heaven’s no admittance policy. Kevin’s going to wander the world as a restless spirit, rather than head back to Hell. Belphegor zaps the warding, opening up a door-sized hole for him to go through. See you soon, we hope! 
For Kevin Looks FINE Science:
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Back with the gods, Amara heads out on her own. “I am willing to coexist with you, brother. …In the universe! Just not anywhere near you.” She tells him that he has little power against her now. Furthermore, he can’t leave the world without her help. “I’ve become the better me. And you are still the same. Petulant, narcissistic…” Amara is pleased that she’s been able to trap Chuck on the very world he’s trying to escape right now. 
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At the barrier, souls continue to whir towards the weak point. Dun dun DUN!
______________________________
These Quotes are Real:
A town full of ghosts? Messy even by Winchester standards.
Can you boys do nothing on your own.
We ran our own race. We made our own moves. And mostly we did well with that.
Dean, you asked, “What about all of this is real?” We are.
Turns out, God’s a dick.
I like soul catcher.
______________________________
Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 
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tfw-no-tennis · 5 years ago
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hunter x hunter thotz so far
soooo ruth and i started watching hunter x hunter woohoo finally! we’re like 10 or so eps in so i decided to collect some thots below on what i think so far (i havent rlly been spoiled so im interested to look back on this once ive watched more)
first off i love gon sm, hes immediately so endearing...hes just a baby!!!! just a little baby boy!!!! hes just so cute and good, im so not ready for him to get put thru the wringer later on as ive vaguely heard happens
the first few episodes were really fast paced which i enjoyed and thought was for the best. the characters came thru really strongly and i feel like we heard juuuust enough about the setting, premise, and what a hunter is 
i wasnt expecting leorio and kurapika to show up in the FIRST EP lmao that surprised me. i love so much how the three of them like IMMEDIATELY became a family unit in like 3 eps lmaoooo it was like ok here are 2 parents and their son bam. also leorio and kurapika having a showdown on the boat (which didnt end up happening) was a wild ride 
i have like zero fucking idea what a hunter is and the more they attempt to explain the more confused i get. its honestly kind of hilarious how little sense it makes. to be clear this doesnt detract from my enjoyment of the show at all (if anything it adds to it)
oh my god fuckgin hisoka is the worst he hasnt done much but i hate him so much already. good villain writing/design so far, hes so hateable
ruth every time hisoka shows up: WE HATE UR PUSSY BIIIITCH 
the character design in this show is....a lot lmao. ruth and i decided its a cross between soul eater, jojo, and one piece in terms of aesthetic. the designs are certainly unique and so many of them are just so ugly hvbjafdbdskgs it reminds me of that post thats like ‘masterpost of jojo characters who look busted as shit’ lmao
i already love this show a lot tbh like the way its structured so far has been kinda atypical for a shounen, at least in terms of fights - we really havent seen a lot of fighting yet. also nen hasnt shown up yet and its reminding me of stands not becoming a thing in jojo until p3 lmao 
anyways in litrally ep1 i already loved the 3 main characters we saw...leorio is a wild dude, i love him sm, especially as a fellow medical binch who wants MONEY. like, thats literally me. and kurapika is also wild, like damn they rlly just dropped their backstory in ep 1 huh. like we rlly are jumping right into this 
also when leorio said he was a teenager i was like WHAT???? just like evryone else which YEA omfg. i cant believe hes that young lmao. kurapika too
so leorio is one of those 19 yr olds who looks 40 and kurapika is the type of teen who looks like a 12 yr old
and KILLUA i love him sm also....hes an adorable assassin catboy and hes perfect. i love how quickly he and gon hit it off (tiny bfs.....) and how hes just like, this extra as hell 12 yr old with a SKATEBOARD and ASSASSIN SKILLS and then he sees gon and is like guess im gonna fall in love 
i gotta talk abt gon again i just love him. hes so polite and cute and kind and good, i just love him...wht a good protag. his motivation is just wild too, hes like well my dad abandoned me to go off and be a hunter (which he isnt even mad abt, what a nice lad) so im gonna do that to see what the deal is
i love how gon (just like the audience) doesnt really know what a hunter does/is and just goes into the exam totally blind lmao. also the fact that his skills seem to include jumping good, being speedy, having the energy typical of a 12 yr old, being a weather sniffer, being nice, and having good instincts/constitution as a result of having eaten random grass and forest shit growing up...amazing. 
is this gonna turn out to be one of those things where its like, wow theyve been using nen this whole time without realizing! tht would honestly explain a lot lmao 
i really enjoy how like....semi-normal the power levels are rn? while also being all over the place and wack as fucks obvs (like hisoka dissolving that guys arms in his first appearance was A Lot, as well as all the card stuff hes done..). like the part wher that blue guys (evil franky one piece) punches the ground and it leaves a crater and everyones like !!!! wow wtf thats unnatural! that literally threw me off bc that kinda thing is so normal in anime lmaoooo. but i like that thats the starting point bc it leaves a lot of room for power escalation w/out it getting too out of hand 
specifially our protags are starting out pretty low on the Shounen Badass scale - especially gon (and leorio, tho i kinda predict he wont be as fight-y? what with him being premed)
i find it kinda hilarious how killua hasnt done too much (aside from murdering those 2 randos in like half a second) despite being so clearly skilled...like when they have to do the 5v5 fight thing in the tower, i wouldve thought hed be the first up cause hes so badass but nope
actually thats what i find interesting - i was expecting all 5 (or maybe 4, we’re in the middle of leorio’s ‘fight’) of the fights to be physical smackdowns but so far nope, theyve been very cerebral. that bodes well, w/how smart the fights have been, bc i doubt the fights will get stale tht way 
tho they might be kinda frustrating sometimes - there are times when u DO just wanna see a good ole fashioned shounen beatdown yknow. but we do get enough of that now (and im sure we’ll get plenty more) to satisfy (like kurapika decking fake-franky) 
oh also the opening. its so charming and cute and i love the song...its also so hilariously basic and classic - like one of those typical 2000s anime openings where theres stock run cycles of all the main characters and theres a little animation of all the characters fighting together (and that fight doesnt actually happen, its just for the op) 
also love that leorios the only one who doesnt fight in the OP, instead getting saved from death by gon lmao. im curious if he’ll end up fighting at all (i assume a little?) and if he’ll use nen (probably healing type nen?) 
also i already wanna fistfight ging for abandoning his perfect angel son. also leorio is literally gons dad already, they even look alike wow 
that guy hanzo has done basically 0 things so far but i rlly like him already, im curious if thatll change. also sorry for calling u ‘hanzo overwatch!?!?!?!’ upon first viewing my guy 
tonpa is str8 up so annoying pls leave u pathetic loser 
tho it cracked me up when he and Evil Mr Clean were facing off and starting getting all detailed/shaded and i was like o shit is he actually badass. are we abt to see like a nen battle or st. but no....lmaooo
i found it interesting that leorio didnt really admit to wanting to be a dr at first...hes such a good dude, he kinda just let kurapika think that his motives were superficial and greedy when in actuality theyre selfless
also wanting to be rich can be a rlly interesting character motivation and i love when its done right
oh my god i cant believe it took me this long to mention the hilariously edge ED....like holy shit, its so 2000s, the song sounds like its been re-recorded like 40000 times bc of how bad the audio quality is, or something, idk how to describe music but its hilariously specific in tone and its rlly funny to see shots of the main characters smiling while this screamo whatever plays in the bg....wow. 
also s/o to killua for being king of edgy with that ‘tear of blood’ shot
i rlly like how much of the plot, especially the early hunter exam stuff, is moved along simply by gon being a good kind polite boy. 
love the fact that he and leorio and kurapika (and later killua) all team up without even saying anything...i love that, most shounen would have them be like ‘che, i cant team up with anyone, i have to prove myself ALONE or my victory wont be EARNED’ or w/e idk. who knows that might happen later but rn i love how they all effortlessly work together (and how they all contribute - without each other they would have all failed at different points) 
oh man also killuas first appearence was so funny when he drank a bunch of tonpas poisoned drinks and was like [smirks] tch, loser, im immune to poison. get dunked on. [skateboard away] i love him so fuckgin much 
omfg that part where killua looks all shoujo/kawaii and is talking abt how hes gonna kill his family or w/e and gon is just like ^_^? i love they
HOOOOLY FUCK I ALMOST FORGOT, BUT 65% OF THE REASON I MADE THIS POST WAS TO MENTION HISOKAS THEME LMAOOOOO his music being like fuckgin, spanish guitar/traditional mexican type music is sooooo goddamn funny to me for some reason, like the first time it played i was like ok whats going ON with this spanish guitar lmao but then i figured out that its his theme and god thats so funny 
hisoka is also so fuckign jojo like he could so easily be in jojo. he and dio would be the fakest best friends ever and would constantly try to kill each other on the lowdown and shittalk each other constantly in private but be super sweet to each others faces. also they would hatefuck. no im not taking criticism bye 
i rlly love everyones backstories also, and i find it interesting that weve gotten to hear/see at least some of all 4 of the MCs backstories. theyre all compelling and interesting and i cant wait to dive in further 
also calling it now but kurapika is totally gonna get way too absorbed in revenge and get fucked up/disregard their own life (maybe in the style of robin in one piece?) we’ll see but i feel like it aint gonna end well. i could be wrong, i really havent been spoiled at all, thats just my guess 
hbahjfbshjf the ep that was called ‘hisoka x is x sneaky’ was SO funny that reads like a dora the explorer ep title 
also i had no idea the ep titles were formatted like that w/the x’s and thats rlly funny 
ok but the part where leorio - who seems to be pretty bad at fighting - tries to fight hisoka - whose literal first appearence involved him effortlessly dissolving a dudes arms - is so fucking funny. leorio rlly b a premed w/no brain cells....same bro. 
also i loved the Cutthroat Kitchen portion of the hunter exam and how not a single contestant was any good at it lmaoooo. do they not have the cooking channel in hxh-verse earth 
ok i love how the main characters are all intuitive in different ways depending on their own skills, like how killua can immediately guess that kurapika has never killed anyone before after they didnt kill evil-franky
kurapika joined killua in the Edgy Corner during that part also. like, they both have legit reasons to be edgy, but the shots of kurapika sitting in the darker tunnel part was kinda funny
also killua, a literal 12 yr old, calling out kurapika for being a murder virgin was pretty hilarious 
ok also i didnt know that madhouse animated hxh which is rlly funny but w/e i love the animation especially the occasional chibi parts and the facial expressions (like killuas ‘i love murder’ catboy expressions) 
oh also when killua murdered those 2 guys and his hand was all vein-y and his nails were pointy, his hands looked like hisokas do...i wonder if thats a legit connection or it hisoka just b getting his nails did 
kurapika talking abt how even seeing a regular spider makes them rlly angry was both very sad and kinda funny. kura u have so many issues god bless 
kurapikas smackdown on evil blue franky was fuckin dope tho. and the red eyes reveal was SPOICY 
rlly love how the individual fights highlights the characters strengths/morals/motivations/whatever....the writing is already really strong tbh 
ugh ok ive ranted enough this is a Lot lmao its so disorganized but w/e 
basically i love this series so far and im rlly curious whatll happen next. also everything seems pretty chill and upbeat so far (relatively) and i know this shit gets dark and im NOT FUCKING READY. 
til next timeeee
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janiedean · 5 years ago
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so admittingly I don't know much about springsteen but your top 5/10 springsteen songs and why?
WELL THEN HERE WE GO (sorry this required a long answer) (also if I start going like ‘this is it bUT IN THIS VERSION NOT IN THAT ONE it’s because actually he has wildly different version of the same song XDDD)
*cough* *drum roll* videos for the first five + links for the others as usual xD
one: the ghost of tom joad
youtube
I once ranted about this specific song in detail so here if anyone’s interested, but: it took me years to decide on which one was my favorite overall but then I went for tom joad because it has all. it’s a heartbreaking song that updates one of my favorite ever novels (the grapes of wrath) to current days situations and guys I swear to god the fact that he put to music tom’s speech to his mother in the novel at the end after rehashing the themes in a new light in the rest of it killed me and I want it tattooed, so. tom joad now and always thanks guys. I love this damned song to levels that are embarrassing as hell.
two: no surrender (in the live 75-85 version)
youtube
so: no surrender is originally on born in the usa and actually it’s my favorite song from that record regardless - like, it opens side two and I remember that the first time I heard it was on a tape a friend’s dad (haha) had lent me bc he knew I was into bruce and he was too and I turned it to the second side of the tape and played it and I was like holy crap this is it but then I heard the acoustic live version from the following tour and guys. guys. if you ever had friends you fell out of touch with but still remember fondly and/or friendships you know that even if you don’t talk for a while you’ll always be close when you meet again this is.. just… idk it hit me like a punch in the stomach and it never left. I cried every single time he played it live when I went to see him. no regrets. I love this song sfm and the melancholy in the acoustic version just destroys me.
three: for you (acoustic piano version)
youtube
I 100% realize this is probably a weird choice for top three, but: this was on his first album and the version on there is pretty damned good - it’s about a guy whose girlfriend tries to commit suicide and reminesces about their relationship - and you’d go like why, but: first of all he has some of his best lines in this (my electric surges free I just sdgsldjl) and the entire last stanza where he goes from where I found you broken at the beach to the end is just a knife into your heart, but this goddamned version here just goes and tears your heart out and stomps on it and I swear if there is one thing I want from bruce is that he plays this in front of me next time I see him live because for now I never managed and just - the slow piano kills me. I love it. the fact that when I asked brian fallon in a tumblr q&a his fave bruce song and he said this specific one just confirmed he’s a true intellectual. ;)
four: drive all night
youtube
or: this is the love song. I just. the first time I heard this I fell off the chair or something and it was the studio version which is nowhere near as heartfelt as the live versions and I swear it’s just - it has very lovely lyrics that perfectly balance melancholy and hopeful and don’t make it saccharine, the fucking sax solo destroys me every single goddamned time I hear it and when you get to the end and he says that she has his love heart and soul it’s The Most Heartfelt Thing I Have Ever Heard In My Life Or Close To It and I just, I love drive all night with every inch of my atoms, bye.
five: badlands
youtube
I ranted about this extensively yesterday here so I refer you to it for long rant about it, but tldr: this was actually the first bruce song I ever heard knowing it was by bruce - it wasn’t what got me on that train but it still was the first and like… I didn’t understand it for a long time bc my first run-in with bruce was a hit and miss but then I did and like, this song is basically quintessential bruce because it has all his themes rolled up into one, all the good stuff, everything that is good about his music and most of all live it’s a goddamned religious experience. 
so, that was for the top five, but top ten…
six: youngstown (click here for full rant from last year) which was a hard choice but this damned song slays me whether acoustic or electric and I love his use of language and how he built it and how he teaches you things in five minutes pretty much and how the music/mood matches the words in both versions and seems to mean different approaches but still doesn’t change the core of it, and is2g the last two lines and the second stanza and the line he recycled from the mahardige book he inspired himself with when he wrote this are just goddamned out of this world and like this one raised the ladder for years but I just, love it to pieces
seven: rosalita (come out tonight), or: bruce does serious and politics incredibly well but this one is just a delight from beginning to end, it’s fun, I could listen to it for a month without getting tired, it always puts a smile on my face and the entire last part where he tells her to inform her dad he has a record company now so no reason to hate that his daughter is with a moneyless musician is just… so… lovely and fun and lighthearted and I just really love this song a lot ;;
eight: highway patrolman or, there’s no way a top ten bruce songs has no nebraska material from me because nebraska Is A Damn Masterpiece and this one’s my fave off it, but tldr: the utter, absolute way this thing slays you with just voice and guitar and the way he makes you feel about the cop who ends up letting his brother with ptsd from vietnam escape after he accidentally kills someone is out of this world and I just, this one really has a way to make you empathize with the narrator and my heart ;_; (also the movie they made from it which is in that video is really good k viggo mortensen playing the brother with ptsd isn’t leaving me anytime soon)
nine: thunder road (rant attached to the link) or: this one is short and sweet but honest, it’s not The Definitive Love Song To Me just bc drive all night exists. this damned song is a masterpiece in itself. it’s flawless. it has the crescendo, it has the fact that at whichever moment in his life he sings it it works, ‘it’s a town full of losers and I’m pulling out of here to win’ is the most iconic line that ever ended a song or close to it and it’s exactly the kinda love song you wanna hear if you want realistic love song material and just, legendary. okay? legendary.
ten: american skin (41 shots), or: this actually is what got me into springsteen bc I borrowed the live album it was published on originally after my first try with darkness went so-so, I listened to it and was like ‘okay yeah he’s good’, then I got to this one and went like ‘wait a fucking moment this isn’t just good’ (count that I was twelve and understood maybe 1/5th in the english songs I heard), I actually looked it up, went like woah wait aaand listened to it for two weeks straight, bought the record, translated everything by hand, started reading about what the fuck was wrong with the circumstances for which it was written and here I am twenty years later dying over bruce and having been introduced thanks to him to 80% of his country’s societal issues or I’d have had no idea that early in my life. anyway: other than the sentimental value, it’s honestly out of this world good and the live version just nailed it way better than the studio that was released years later and I love bruce a lot, k? k.
thanks for letting me rant ;)
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hazelandglasz · 5 years ago
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Voltron Legendary Patissier (A Shklance AU)
I came across a wonderful drawing by @lemonjuiceday when visiting a con and I was immediately inspired to write this little fic. Nothing major, just a bout of fluff and food porn for our favorite boys (strictly food porn, you pervs ;))
On AO3
Lance didn’t expect to find himself in such a position, caught between two hard chests while working his part-time job.
Then again, he didn’t expect his part-time job to be in a bakery.
“A pâtisserie, not a bakery,” his boss insists, his fond, exasperated smile growing less and less fond and more and more exasperated with each time he has to repeat it to one of them.
Lance doesn’t blame him, he would be very specific too about his craft if he was … well, as crafty as Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane, his associate and their apprentices.
While Shiro splits his time between the kitchen and the till, Lance strictly works behind the counter, serving the customers and writing down the special orders.
And daydreaming about the way Shiro’s biceps flex so wonderfully in his tight shirt, and how mesmerizing are his eyes when he watches someone trying something new fresh out of the oven …
“Lance?”
And just how beautiful he is, inside and out.
“For Apicius’ sake, Lance, snap out of it!”
Lance blinks back into the moment and back to the voice calling his name in such a pissed off manner.
Sure enough, Lance’s binome glares at him, angrily shoving delicate little chouquettes in a paper bag while their customer smiles at them, her eyes moving back between them as if watching a tennis match.
“Yes, my dear colleague, how can I help you?” he replies sweetly--too sweetly to be subtle, if the intensification of Keith’s glare (and of the customer’s giggle) is any indication.
“For the third time, since we apparently lost you in the void between your ears,” Keith replies in the same dulcet tone, “can you, please, if it’s not too much of an imposition for you to move, get in the kitchen and get back mille-feuilles for the showcase?”
“Since you asked so nicely,” Lance says, winking at the still-giggling customer while simultaneously hip-checking Keith out of his way, “of course, of course.”
Keith’s sigh still reaches Lance’s ears before the door closes between the two rooms. Lance takes a moment to breathe.
As much as he finds Shiro attractive and amazing, he cannot shake the itch that has crawled under his skin ever since he met Keith Kogane.
A need to punch him in his perfect face, with his fist or with his mouth, the jury is still out on that one.
Keith has seniority over Lance but he also works only in the front of the store. 
And thus lays Lance’s problem.
While he can escape Shiro’s … shironess every now and then, Keith’s mindfucking keithness is always around him, hovering, glaring, grumbling in a way that should not be as sexy as it is, dammit.
So, yeah, Lance is in a hell of his own making and, heartache be damned, he loves every minute of it.
##
Okay, this has gone on for too long.
Lance cannot prove it, but he would bet his favorite nerfgun that Shiro is doing it on purpose.
It here serves as a summary of everything that Shiro does around the shop: carelessly shaking his hips to the sound of the music drifting from the records shop next door, licking the tip of his fingers when he accidentally gets cream on them.
Accidentally, right, as if.
And he supposes Shiro also left a flour handprint on Keith’s ass by accident.
By all that he holds dear, Lance is not mentally equipped to deal with the image of those two together, together.
Separately, they are already forces to be reckoned with and Lance tries really har--ahem--he really tries his best to stay professional and not do something stupid, like drool all over them.
But if they are together?
Well, that takes care of his fantasies of dating either of them, but that sparks a fire under the possibility of dating them both.
Madre de dios, he’s only human and that’s just, to quote the great 21st century philosopher Bruno Mars, too hot, hot damn.
Lance sighs before shaking his head.
He needs to focus. If he cannot have the man, men, whatever, of his dreams, then he’s going to work, and have one aspect of his life that will be successful.
Oh, they’re out of Divorcés.
As there are no customers in the shop at the moment, Lance skips to the kitchen to get a tray of the delicious pastry.
Except that there is a conversation taking place that he is not supposed to hear and cannot resist any way.
“... insane, Shiro.”
“It would be complicated, sure, but--”
“Complicated? Try disastrous. You know that I agree with you on how attractive he is, but bringing him into our relationship? Let me spell it out for you: D-I-S-...”
“Keith …”
“Shiro …”
“Come on, babe,” a soft, wet sound pauses the conversation, “you’re always ranting about ways to shut him up.”
A soft laugh answers that, one that Lance would definitely characterize as a giggle if it didn’t come out of Keith “Badass” Kogane’s lips.
“You think that would do the trick?”
“No,” Shiro replies, laughter in the back of his voice, “but maybe you wouldn’t object if what came out of that beautiful, pouty mouth was moans and your name.”
“Or yours.”
“Or both.”
“God, Shiro …”
More wet sound that leaves little to Lance’s overactive imagination, and he flees the hallway to get back to the safety of the bright shop, where no one talks about threesomes and moaning and beautiful bodies intertwined …
Lance snaps his eyes shut and takes a deep breath just as the bell over the door rings.
“Welcome to Paladelicious, how can I sweeten your day?” he says reflexively, putting a smile on his face.
If he focuses on his job, he’ll find a way to bury his feelings, be it his lust or his jealousy over the man Shiro and Keith apparently want to bring into their bed.
Lucky bastard.
##
Or he can quit.
Lance doesn’t want to, he really likes this job, especially since he adores the world of pastry and really could see himself thriving in this field.
But.
This is just too painful.
He knows that neither Shiro nor Keith saw him eavesdropping on them, but ever since that day, Keith’s glare only intensified and Shiro is …
Well Shiro is Shiro, welcoming and warm like a cozy sweater and a hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkled on top, but there is something behind his gaze that pulls on Lance’s heartstrings.
It’s with a heavy heart indeed that Lance came to the conclusion that he has to leave Paladelicious, and he’s not the only one already regretting it.
“Dude.”
“Hunk, don’t try to change my mind.”
“B-but, Lance!” Hunk still continues while Lance keeps on writing his resignation letter to Shiro--yes, he’s taking the cowards way out of writing to instead of facing Shiro, but can anyone really blame him?
“Lance, Lance, Lance, Lance, I’ll continue to say your name until you stop and look at me, Lance, Lance, Lance, L--”
“Hunk! Stop it,” Lance replies, making the rookie mistake of looking up at his best friend.
Because in spite of his height and bulk, the only real danger coming from Hunk Garrett is his puppy eyes.
“You don’t really want to leave us, do you Lance?”
“Of course I don’t want to!” Lance explodes. “But the alternative, it’s just too … too much for my--”
Before Lance can finish his sentence, his mouth finds itself otherwise occupied.
With an oversized chou, which is definitely on the petit side.
“Hmph!!!”
“Eat.”
“Hunpbdfrr!”
“You’ll thank me later. No one can be as moody as you were after my praline’d crème pat. And then we can close this silly conversation.”
As reluctant as he may be, Lance has to admit it: Hunk’s crème patissiere could ungrump the grumpiest of Grumps.
“Grumph.”
“Swallow.”
Lance laughs, most of the chou soothing his soul and filling his stomach already. “You know I always do.”
Behind them, at the piano, Pidge tsks as they boil several caramels in copper pans.
“Now, do you still want to leave? That means no more free goodies.”
“You’d still feed me some goodies when we get together, Hunk, don’t lie to yourself.”
Hunk blushes. “You’re probably right. But no more trying out my ideas if you’re not here.”
“You wanna leave?”
All three heads turn toward the door where Keith is standing, face even paler than usual and, oh dear Lord who has no mercy on Lance, hair tied in a messy bun.
Hunk and Pidge turn to Lance, a question in their eyes. What are you going to do now?
“I--I have considered it,” Lance mumbles. “May be best for everybody, all things considered.”
Even though I don’t want to. Even though it will hurt like a thousand knives dipped in hot sauce.
“But, I thought we--we bonded ...,”Keith opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, eyebrows going from a frown to sad before settling on anger again; funny how Lance never noticed how expressive those eyebrows were before.
“Fine,” Keith finally says, voice a lot colder than it ever was. “Do whatever you want, like I care. Not having to deal with you will bemmph?!”
Apparently, chou-shoving is Hunk’s move of the day.
“Do not. Finish. That sentence.” Hunk’s voice is frighteningly normal. Lance would be glad not to be on the receiving end of that tone if his mind was not replaying Keith’s words on repeat, with added acidic commentary.
Like I care. See, silly, he really does not need you in his life, not even as a co-worker so can you imagine dating him? It’s a wonder how you can even walk and breathe at the same time. Time for you to be useless somewhere else.
“Hunk, what the hell?!”
“We want Lance to stay and you are being mean.”
“You could have killed me!”
“With a chou? A deadly weapon for sure.”
“Guys?”
“What?”
“Lance left.”
Hunk glares at Keith. “Go fix what you broke.”
“But …”
“I am not afflicted with Lance’s obliviousness. Go; get him back. For everybody’s sake.”
Keith repeats his goldfish impression before giving Hunk a firm nod and rushing out.
Hunk picks a chou from the plate and munches on it. “Stupid men being stupid, amiright?”
Pidge nods vigorously, opening the chou open to suck on the creme. “Men being men, then.”
“Hey!”
“Not all men are as wise as you, Mr Garrett.”
“A’right, can’t deny it.”
##
Shiro doesn’t say a word, once Keith is done explaining what just happened in the lab.
He doesn’t frown, he doesn’t glare, he doesn’t yell.
He stands, shakes his head and opens the door to his office, aka the door to the back alley behind the store, nodding toward his bike.
Overall, Keith feels shittier than he did when he heard Hunk talking about Lance leaving, which is saying something.
He almost would have preferred for Shiro to scream at him.
At a redlight between the store and Lance’s place, Shiro pats Keith’s hands crossed over his stomach.
In Shironese, that pat means “it will be okay but you fucked up, my love.”
Keith tightens his hold on him.
In Keithan, that means “I am so sorry I got scared I fucked please forgive me.”
Since Lance took the bus back to his place, the three of them arrive at the same time.
Keith can see the moment Lance spots them on Shiro’s bike: Lance’s eyes widen and he stumbles.
“Lance, can we have a word?”
God bless Shiro for keeping his cool.
“What more is there to say?” Lance replies dejectedly with the saddest shrug Keith has ever witnessed. Now that he’s closer, Keith can see how red his eyes are and how pink his nose, and he cannot help the mixed feelings of guilt and adoration for the man standing in front of them that threaten to submerge him.
“I think Keith here has something to say,” Shiro replies softly, not so gently nudging Keith forward. “And I wouldn’t mind adding my two cents to what seems to be a classic miscommunication-provoked mess.”
Lance considers them, the unhappy downturn of his mouth increasing until he sighs, dropping his head to his chest. “Fine, come on up.”
Shiro and Keith exchange a look before following Lance up the flights of stairs leading to his apartment.
Keith spares a second to take in his environment and he has to repress the smile that threatens to appear at the sight around him. Lance’s place looks, well, it looks like him, warm and just a little bit messy but inviting and comfortable.
“Keith?” Shiro calls him, one eyebrow raised perfectly to push Keith to get on with his apology already.
Keith turns to Lance with a deep, strengthening breath. “Lance, I--I’m sorry for what I said back at the shop. I felt, um, I was hurt by the idea of you leaving us so suddenly, because, well, I--I, err, don’t want you to leave. The shop. Or,” he pauses, blidnly reaching for Shiro behind him, “or us, really.”
Lance’s eyes drop to their joined hands and if anything, his arms tighten around his torso.
Almost as if he’s trying to hold himself together.
“We don’t want you to leave,” Shiro repeats, taking a step toward Lance while still holding Keith’s hand. 
Lance’s frown increases. “‘S not like I’m such an important cog in the Paladelicious’ machine,” he mumbles, turning his back to them.
Shiro blinks before sighing fondly. Keith is familiar with that sigh.
It’s Shiro’s “God knows why I am getting myself in such a mess, but boy do I love every minute with you” sigh.
“Lance,” he says quietly, letting go of Keith’s hand to put both his hands on Lance’s shoulders, “I didn’t say a word about my store.”
Lance freezes before following the motion Shiro’s hands are provoking.
When he faces them again, his eyes are wide and shiny. “What are you sayin’?”
“I’m saying that we,” Shiro moves his hands from Lance’s shoulders to his cheeks, “want you in our lives.”
Lance’s mouth parts open, eyes darting to Keith. “Both of you? You--with me?”
Keith takes the one step separating him from the two other men and cups the back of Lance’s head. “Both of us, with you,” he whispers before leaning over Shiro’s arm to lightly press his lips to Lance.
Pina colada flavored lipbalm. Of course.
Lance laughs and hiccups at the same time, resulting in an adorable “meep” sound. With one hand, he covers Shiro’s hand on his cheek while the other reaches for Keith’s waist.
“What do you say?” Shiro asks, voice barely above a murmur as he runs his nose along Lance’s temple before pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“I--I say,” Lance starts before pausing, eyes fluttering shut as Shiro continues on kissing odwn his cheek and jaw, “I say that I’m all in, baby!”
Both Shiro and Keith lean in to kiss Lance, which results in quite a messy situation where noses are bumped and lips don’t necessarily meet the previously aimed for location, but neither of them would have it any other way.
“Hey!” Lance exclaims, pushing both men away. “Does that mean you want to shut me up? I resent tha--mph!”
As a matter of fact, it turns out that Shiro was right.
Kissing the living Hell out of Lance is a perfectly efficient technique to shut him up.
The End.
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artofaboythatoncewas · 5 years ago
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Romantic Composers 2
Leo: Johann Strauss II. I’m gonna prank-call a Domino’s in San Juan, give me a minute. «Oro, we’re in the middle of the sea, I doubt there’ll be a good enough connection or a cell-tower near enough to let you-» <Sudden static is heard, and a gruffy voice comes on.> «Este es el Domino’s; ¿Qué te gusta probar nuestro nueva pizza stuffed-crust?» <Oro gives an impossible look at Viz, implying that he never doubted himself, but that Viz was a total moron for doubting him.> Yes, I’d like a, uh… <Oro’s eyes begin rapidly scanning the environment for clues.> Anchovies… Pineapples… A Hawaiian pizza, basically: That’s the mellow flavor I’m feeling today. «¿Algo más, señor?» Oh yes, I’d also like those marble brownies for a dessert, and an Orange Crush for the drink. <Viz wonders how Oro is able to receive a cellular connection in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.> That should be it… Oh no! «¿Señor?» Augh! I fell off this pier, and I think I’m d-drowning! Please, send someone to help; I can’t swim! «¡Mierda!» <Viz watches Oro kick his feet through the water, making very convincing splashing sounds. He then begins to produce fake choking sounds, leaving the Domino’s worker quite terrified.> «Why did I ever agree to come out here with you.» <Viz punches the makeshift sailboat the two are in, startling Oro and causing him to drop his phone.> Viz, what the hell? I still had 3 gigs of data left on that thing! «Data? It’s a flip-phone. Smart phones haven’t been invented yet because they’re a science-fiction concept, dipshit. Now you have some terrorized soul in an island hundreds of miles away from here.» Actually, he’s at the bottom of the ocean. «Don’t speak to me again, I swear to God.» […] <The scene of the discord fades away as we peer into the bottom of the ocean, where we find the phone there, still on call. The voice rings out and says:> «¿Crees que está jugando conmigo?» […] Man, wouldn’t it be hilarious if I did that? <We cut back to reality: Oro is sitting in the front seat of his banged-up truck, killing time while Viz lays half-conscious in the back.> «That’d kind suck. I mean, who’s gonna be on the ocean? Nobody’s that stupid: The ocean’s big and scary.» You and me both, but don’t deny that isn’t hilarious. «Heh, I did appreciate the joke about the phone at the bottom of the ocean: You were setting that up miles in advance.» [,] Shit, am I getting a phone call?
Taurus: Frédéric Chopin. "The automobile is perhaps the only invention that is at once phallic and womb-like. As columnist George Will once remarked, “the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.” While his comments are laughable for a number of reasons, collectivism as a goal (or even a word) smells of Cold War-era mildew. Will does hit on one truism: Humans love cars to an irrational degree." Hmm, that’s a very interesting think-piece you have here. But tell me, why should I care about Americans and their car-culture? I hike up here every day, and when I have to travel lower, I take a moped like everyone else. Though, mine’s bigger for obvious reasons. «Don’t blame me; I just put the papers on the table. Those crazy op-ed writers will publish just about anything to get people’s anger brewing.» You’re right… The morning’s been quite inactive though, and I just wanted something to talk about. Heaven knows I talked about every trinket in this place. «You can try talking about the cuisine, specifically how I can learn from you. That’s just something you’ve been stubborn about lately, and maybe this boredom is just the karma of that.» I knew you’d say that, but you need to realize that my cooking is something you can only experience, never narrate. I let things speak for themselves a lot, and I never found a purpose in taking down notes that do nothing but become clutter later on. <Bodhi whispers to themselves> «That’s the guy I know: Always asking you to live out things fully because understanding things holistically is better than growing personally.» [,] You whisper too long but also too sweetly. Please keep doing it until we have a customer coming so I can feel like there’s some activity here.  «Bullheaded as always.» […] <Gresham takes a meaningful sip of tea, it fails to burn his old throat, but can punch through the atmosphere to reveal a friendly puff.>  A lot of the time, I’m tired of being so cynical: Where’s the room for being clumsily sincere? I have to refuse making money by telling dirty jokes or other obscene things like, ugh, phone usage. <Like he never said, he’s not too old, it’s that technology doesn’t catch up to him for his liking.> [,] The window is just soothing enough to warrant not cleaning it yet, but I don’t wanna get another tourist complaining about how they don’t have the best mountain view. Whoever sits here will have to learn how to appreciate the fault… I’m complaining to pass the time again: Not a healthy habit, Gresham. […] Nothing strange, just a nice day: A little foggy though.
Aquarius: Giacomo Puccini. How would I describe the graphical style of the game Little Red Hood for the NES if I were to use persistent, geographical allusion? Well, I’d say that it’d be like what would happen if you tried to translate the geography of Afghanistan onto 8-bit graphics hardware, particularly how it appears near a strong river like the Helmand: It provided that Galilean backdrop that so many directors used in their films about Christ. Now, that’s what I did think back in my flawed memory of the game, but now that I look back at it again, the landscape is definitely more inspired by that of Florida, particularly around the parts where sawgrass is heavy and palm trees are native, but it’s not a tropical landscape per se, nor is it an entirely swampy one. It’s particularly the presence of palm trees that struck me as confusing, because my brain has always associated the odd, yellow colors of its groundwork to that of a renovated Pacific area, but the game proves that it doesn’t use the palm trees throughout the entire game. But the opening levels still confuse me because the story of Little Red Riding Hood that the game’s based on originates in various parts of Europe, and the foliage we see in the opening act doesn’t reflect that of any European landscape. It could just be an artist interpretation in the case of making the presentation of the game think you were in a Pacific island or near the heartlands of Okeechobee, but I think it might’ve just been a case of “not giving a shit” as they say. There’s more to talk about with how my brain subconsciously linked my flawed memories of the game’s graphical presentation with that of the riverbanks of the Helmand; I guess I just wanted to prove my initial biases and not examine how the game doesn’t even commit to even my ideas whenever I think of Afghani scenery, but maybe even those are failing to catch up with the fact that there’s so many different aesthetical implications within the vastness of the nation of Afghanistan that, uh, I don’t know: I just like Afghani landscape. Have this picture of a village in the Bamyan desert. [,] «Aukai, what the hell are you talking about? I’ve been eavesdropping back here since you started and I still don’t understand.» I’m t-trying to paint this scene in my head, but I don’t have my tools to do it, so I’m thinking loudly about it. «…Whatever.» […] There’s no doubt in my mind that he’d make a great tamer: Our protagonist of this beautiful world, now ravaged by corruptors that his world has gone to hell for trying to stop. He’s the only one who can control the beastly and brutish forces of the corruption that infests his world. <The one earlier who was questioning Aukai opens her door and holds out a hand full of paint-brushes.> «Here, take these, please. I liked you better when you were quiet.» <Aukai is insulted and satisfied.>
Pisces: Franz Liszt. I’m fucking devastated: My favorite rap-battle channel on YouTube just deleted their channel. Not only that, all of their social media accounts are gone. They had such great works as "Goku vs. Rick Sanchez", "George Washington vs. the Invisible Man", and "Luigi vs. Slenderman." I don’t know if I can keep going the same route of content consumption knowing that the only ironic rap battle channel deleted everything. «Hold on, your favorite video-channel on the Internet was ironic? I don’t think I’m getting this, Maggie.» Let me explain it: It was good because it didn’t take itself seriously. For a while, that was it’s niche, and certainly other creators arose to copy it, but they were always the first. «So, is this like, some independent person making all of these or is there an entire network of people collaborating to create this music?» You’re right the second time: They used to be part of this collaborative effort to make these videos, but the guy I like, in particular, broke off from the bigger picture. Now, their content is what I like; I haven’t seen the uploads by the other creators ’cause it’s not really the same experience, is it? «That’s crazy… and they just deleted all their content after how long they’ve done this for?» I’ve been following it for a year, but they were their most active near October. [,] «You actually have me interested in their music now. I mean, I know you can’t play it anymore, but do you at least have backups or remember how some of them went?» I think I have backups, but I know some of these by heart, man. What I’m trying to say is that it’d be far better if I could recite these to you than if I just played them. «So, what you’re saying is that you don’t have any backups?» Do you have any backups, or do you wanna see me recite some of the best lyrics you’ll ever hear? «Let it rip.» [,] "I got the Dragon Balls; I’m gonna win. I’m gonna eat your pickle, Rick. Oh wait, SHIT! Your mom licked my Dragon Ball(z); I’m just Super Saiyan. Kamehameha, I ain’t playin’. Rick Sanchez always wanna start drama; don’t make me do Dirty Sanchez on yo’ mama! I bet your only comeback is you making a burp. Rick Sanchez winning? Stupidest shit I’ve ever heard." At this point, Rick Sanchez would offer up his verse to Goku, and his verse goes something like "thirty-thousand witches in Goku’s house! God isn’t real; I touched Bulma’s blouse. I got like, seventy more episodes with Morty, and being with Morty just makes me real-" «Stop, this is way more awful than I expected.» Well, I’m the only one you can get these bars from, and now you’re saying you don’t want them? I don’t have to recite them. «You have backups; you lied to me earlier. I don’t care about them now, but look: You got potential outside of just reciting those bars. Maggie, you got your own talents.» I’m not a lyricist, but thanks. «You’re a poet, that’s one-or-two steps away from being a lyricist.» I rapped purely for the purposes of recitation; I don’t know what you’re getting at. «Nah, I’m convinced that only you can write something this absolutely… passionate. You made up this entire channel, this entire guild, this entire deletion scandal: You made it all up so you can kickstart your career.» I’m not- Okay, we’ll roll with it this time. [,] Yeah, I’m starting my own rap battle channel in the wake of the one that deleted itself. «Are you gonna cash in on the ironic rap-battle market or are you trying to be more sincere with this?» Of course it has to be ironic! I’m following in the master’s footsteps thanks to you, and now I can’t disrespect his legacy. «That’s cool, but it’s not enough: You gotta make it one of those ARGs.» ARG? «Like, some game of Clue you send your audience on to discover interlinked details that seem to form a bigger picture but end up getting nowhere, and it’s all for the purpose of promoting your brand.» Oh, I see. I can include like, hints in the middle of the jokes in the verses, and I’d make an entire fictional universe of followers that leave behind clues. «No, you don’t even have to do that: Just get a random mugshot, make up some believable names and accredit them to your project, get some weirdos on a message-board to write about it for you, and you’re set.» …If you’re gonna be this disheartening, I don’t wanna continue with it. «That’s not what I meant!»
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no-ill-wind · 6 years ago
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Top 10 Tracks of 2018
After the announcement of Grammy nominees, I sat down to sort out my ten favorite new tracks of 2018. Last year saw major releases from my top three favorite acts and releases by a few more groups that would become new favorites. This year did not pack that same punch but thus allowed me to branch out further and latch onto some other artists I might not have explored as much. As usual, I’m only sharing one track per artist. 
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10. Best Part - Daniel Caeser feat. H.E.R. A favorite in pop circles in 2018 that also offers some of the most distinctive and delectable harmonies of the year. These two collaborators come together so genuinely that they sound like they’ve been one act all along as they sing, “You're the coffee that I need in the morning // You're my sunshine in the rain when it's pouring.” What a beautiful sentiment. From dancing to this song with my partner to hearing my guitar students eager to learn it in class, this song has followed me through the semester and I am glad for it.
The list continues below with Gorillaz, Childish Gambino, and more.
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9. Black Eyes - Bradley Cooper While not the banner song of the crowd- and critic-favorite film A Star is Born, “Black Eyes” is no less impactful, being the electrifying opener to the 2018 film. It strikes you with the one-two punch of, “Wow, can Bradley Cooper sing!” and “I can’t wait to see what else this film has in store!” It’s a moment of true musical cinema. Cooper and Co. leverage the power of music in incredible ways from start to finish, and as a result this introductory song stayed with me long after leaving the theater.
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8. Suspirium - Thom Yorke Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke followed in the footsteps of his counterpart, Jonny Greenwood, in pursuing film score this year. While Greenwood has already enjoyed an Oscar nomination for his soundtracks, Yorke is just now applying his electronic and ethereal musical sensibilities to the world of film music. Despite the appropriately eerie and desolate electronica that accompanies most of this year’s Suspiria remake, the title (ish) song that also served as the soundtrack’s lead single is a bare but entrancing piano waltz. “Suspirium” thus captured my imagination immediately, as I knew it would as the latest brain child from the brain behind my favorite band. Everything that I love about Radiohead is here.
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7. This Is America - Childish Gambino Donald Glover proves himself to be one of my favorite working artists with everything that he does. The mere fact that he does everything is inspiration enough. For years he was one of my favorite actors and comedians. Then in 2016 he surprised even die-hard fans with what unarguably became the best song of the year with “Redbone.” “This Is America” deserved all of the attention it got. A pastiche of musical styles and a barrage of complicated images, the video which introduced this song to the world is as complex as they come. The music is visceral, perhaps the most significant factor that divides casual media with serious and meaningful art. The answer to “How could he top ‘Redbone?’” is this. 
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6. Magic City - Gorillaz Everything about this album is a reaction to 2017′s Humanz, from it’s length to it’s relative though glaring lack of featured artists. As someone who cherished Humanz as the first release from the band I experienced as a converted fan, I struggled to really get into The Now Now at first. I am all about it now, but from the beginning the track that I felt perhaps the most affection for was “Magic City.” With surreal imagery and sincere emotion operating side-by-side, this track works as the heart at the center of this chill and synthetic album. It plays in my head constantly.
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5. 100 Years - Florence + the Machine Though The Guardian deemed this track a “misfire” in their tempered review, I knew from first listen that it would become my favorite from the album. Though I agree with some of the reviews that High as Hope marks perhaps F+TM’s most tepid album thus far (don’t get me wrong, it is still remarkable), I disagree here and knowingly go against the grain of criticism in declaring “100 Years” the best song on the album. What the album suffers from is a low-rumbling sense of self-parody, as if this album was someone else’s attempt to create “Florence” with a capital F. Here on this rousing track, Florence and her machine rise above their own formula to bellow out the most fresh, bold, and sincere thrill since How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.
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4. Movement - Hozier Hozier’s next big hit, though arriving late in the year, was instantly captivating. Perhaps it was the bewitching switch from minor to major as the music flows from verse to chorus. Perhaps it was the hypnotic grace of dancer Sergei Polunin. “Movement” boldly announced itself as a worthy successor to Hozier’s breakout “Take Me to Church,” perhaps its superior. In suitable fashion, Hozier reasserts himself as beloved purveyor of graceful, harmonious indie rock. 
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3. Make Me Feel - Janelle Monae  This might be Monae’s year, as she wields the potent weapon of her third studio album, Dirty Computer. She sets her sights on the hearts of critics and audiences alike with music that is both intensely addictive and socially advocative. The song feels like the moment just before bubblegum pops, like the euphoria of feeling so in love that you can feel it in your stomach. It’s the song that has come to define “bisexual lighting” while also being one of those songs that you can put on repeat and never lose the way it makes you feel. I am afraid that Dirty Computer is too interesting to walk away with the Album of the Year award it has been nominated for - the Grammys prove time and time again to be bound by the gravity of what is simple and what is everywhere - but Monae certainly deserves the accolade if the Recording Academy can muster the courage. 
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2. Please Don’t Die - Father John Misty God’s Favorite Customer was Father John Misty’s The Now Now. It is an about-face from an album released the previous year that many people deemed too big or too full, focusing less on the outside world and turning inward to the artist himself. Unlike Damon Albarn, however, Father John Misty stayed jarring rather than go languid. The fifth track from his fourth album is jarring before you even hit play with such an abrasive and forthright title. What follows is a heartfelt and concerning look at his own self-destructive habits from the outside, specifically from the point of view of his concerned wife. She shows up in the music video as the angelic hero he has always painted her to be, but the daring falsetto that strains above the plodding undercurrent of the devil’s sleigh bells intimates the fear that it might be too late to be saved. It is a potent song that wakes the album up from the ennui of formula. While the album is angsty through and through, it sounds at times like someone else was paid to write a Father John Misty album based on the model of his first three albums, in much the same way that Florence’s new album does. “Please Don’t Die” thus plays the role of wake-up call in more ways than one, and from the first listen claims the title of enduring favorite that will, ironically, outlive the rest of this album. 
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1. Beyond - Leon Bridges By perfecting a throwback sound that you can’t help but look forward to, Leon Bridges has crafted what is easily this year’s most charming music. The Fort Worth darling has proven himself more than just “interested” in recreating the sounds of decades past, but damn good at it. If we opened the yearbook of this year’s musicians to look at the Superlatives, Bridges would be “Best to Bring Home to Mom and Dad.” It all seems genuine though. It’s more than just a novelty act, summoning the Ghosts of Soul Music Past. The whole album delivers the power of soul straight to present audiences like he’s a man dancing by a jukebox in a diner in the past who is so in love that his song can be heard not just across space but across time. As catchy and endearing as it is well-constructed, “Beyond” is wholesome music that feels like butterflies, probably best summed up by the wonder-struck fadeout, “O me o my I can’t explain, she might just be my everything.”
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theultimateegghead-blog · 6 years ago
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30 FOLLOWER 5 PART SPECIAL! TOP 50 HARDEST BOSSES I HAVE FOUGHT.                                    Final - bosses 10 - 1
These bosses are the hardest. They are difficult the first time and difficult the tenth time. It takes extreme skill and patience to best these baddies. These are the ten bosses that gave me the most trouble of all bosses I can recall fighting.
NUMBER 10 - Neo Exdeath (Final Fantasy 5)
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Neo Exdeath is the final form of the final boss of Final Fantasy V. I feel that I might have said final to much in that last sentence…oh well. Neo Exdeath is divided into five parts; each part is responsible for a specific attack. This boss can use very powerful magic such as meteor to just bombard the main cast. The ultimate corruption of the warlock Exdeath, this form simply wishes to return all of existence back to utter nothingness. He attacks relentlessly, leaving little room for error and will bombard even the most slightly unprepared player. In FFV, the job system is more important than leveling, so make sure you have a good job lineup. His ultimate attack is called Grand Cross, which is announced before he actually uses it. Grand cross can wipe a party out instantly, as it infects them with a bunch of status ailments, and the farther the battle drags on, the more he uses it. After a long and difficult fight, this monster is swallowed by the very void it coveted. Neo would later reappear in the MMO Final Fantasy XIV as a boss.  
Hardest thing about this boss – His ultimate attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 9 - Senator Armstrong (Metal Gear Rising Revengence)
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Senator Armstrong is the main antagonist and final boss of Metal Gear Rising. The senator of Colorado that played college ball at the university of Texas. Senator Armstrong owns his own PMC (Private Military Company) and uses it as a police force for the city of Denver. A cold man who has big dreams for America but does not care about cutting down innocent lives of his own people to do so. He utilizes social media to his advantage in order to “use war as a business to end war as a business”. When Raiden fights him, he first uses a massive metal gear, but Raiden makes quick work of it, then the senator and Raiden engage in a long fight. Armstrong has these things called Nanomachines which render him near invincible. Most attacks do not even phase him, and his attacks can be devastating. He can cause fire to spew from the ground, he can throw giant metal pillars at Raiden, and he can just deliver simple yet decimating punches.  He is the only boss with 200 health and can regenerate at will. The fight will be very tough, and any mistake will be meet with a nanomachine fueled punch to the face.
Hardest thing about this boss – Trying not to get distracted by the awesome music. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 8 - Sage Kabuto (Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3)
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Ok, so the ultimate ninja storm games are not that hard. Most bosses are flashy but easy. Ultimate ninja storm 3 had perhaps the toughest bosses in the series, such as Zabuza, Madara and Tobi. However, in the secret chapter only available in the special edition do we get to fight Kabuto. Kabuto is tough, most bosses in the game have about 2 – 3 bars of health, Kabuto has nearly 10. Kabuto has a very wide variety of moves, combos and plenty of AOE attacks and other special moves. He has unlimited chakra as well, meaning he can spam his special attacks if he so pleases and can always rush towards and away from you. He is also constantly in his ultimate form, meaning his physical attacks are amplified. The only upside is that you get two characters to play as. The quick time events are not difficult and can give some reprieve from his overbearing nature. I would regard him as the hardest boss in the Naruto game series.
Hardest thing about this boss – His elaborate attacks and boatload of health. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 7 – Vergil (Devil May Cry 3)
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Vergil is the last boss and main antagonist of Devil May Cry 3. Vergil is Dante’s brother, and the two are always at odd ends with each other. Vergil sides with demons while Dante sides with humans. Vergil loves swordplay and detest guns, probably due to his brother’s fondness of guns. He is fought early on in DMC 3 where he defeats Dante. However, due to circumstances I wont cover here, he must fight alongside his brother to combat a bigger threat… Only to turn on him and have one final showdown. Vergil is as skilled as Dante; his swordplay makes in a deadly foe. He can use magic to attack at a range and he can quickly close in gaps of space and give Dante very little breathing room. Since he is also a son of Sparda and a half demon, Vergil has a demon form much like Dante. In his demon form, which he can activate multiple times, his attacks are even more powerful and its easier for him to land the deadly blows. Vergil has a lot of health and can even regenerate, albeit slowly, in his demon form. Eventually he is defeated and chooses to stay behind in the demon world. This choice does not work out for him, as seen in the original Devil May Cry. DMC 3 is a prequel by the way.
Hardest thing about this boss – How fast he can be. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 6 - Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat 9)
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I wont lie, this boss is perhaps the most brutally unfair fight on the list. Shao Kahn is the big baddie of the Mortal Kombat series, and in every game he is in, he is a cheap and overpowered boss. Of all the times I fought him, his appearance in Mortal Kombat 9’s story mode was the worst. You fight him as Raiden (not to be confused with Metal Gear’s Raiden). For me, Raiden was not a character I enjoyed playing as, but Shao Kahn made me improve my thunder god skills. Kahn knows every move you will do and will punish you for just about anything. His attacks do a lot of damage and your attacks do next to nothing. He can easily brick wall you (meaning he wont flinch) and knock you out of a combo. What’s worse is that you must beat him twice in order to truly defeat him. I nearly outright quit MK 9 because of this fight. I persevered, and after one grueling hour of rage, I beat him. He is not as bad in arcade mode, but he is still as cheap as dirt.
Hardest thing about this boss – WHY IS EVERY ATTACK SO BRUTAL?! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 5 - The Nameless King (Dark Souls 3)
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The nameless king is a secret boss in Dark Souls 3 and is often considered to be the hardest boss in the base game. After overcoming Archdragon Peak and reaching the end, you are met face to face with the supposed firstborn of Gwyn, the main god of the Dark Souls story. The battle starts with the king riding a storm drake. For this part the drake must be defeated first. It often flies high out of range and the king throws lightning and tries to slash at you with his spear. The dragon also breaths fire and tries to crush you with its body. After the dragon is slain, the king takes you on one on one. He is fast, hard to stagger and his moves can easily destroy you. The key is learning when to dodge his attacks. Blocking can get you destroyed so dodging is the best option. He does leave himself open often, but he has a lot of health and is quick to retaliate against aggression. If you die to his second form, you must fight the first form again. Also, he is the only bosses that must be defeated 3 times to get the platinum trophy… Thanks Fromsoft.
Hardest thing about this boss - His second form’s aggressive style and damage output. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 4 - The witch of the Lake (Salt and Sanctuary)
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Of all the bosses on this special, from 50 to number one, this is the boss I despise the most. More than Shao Kahn, more than Dr. Robotnik and his beans, more than Carry Armor and its laser. This boss takes the cake for ultimate worst boss on this list. Salt and Sanctuary combines metroidvania exploration and platforming with the combat and learning curve of dark souls. The witch of the lake is a late game boss that punishes all types of players. She is the only boss I would consider blatantly unfair. All of her moves can easily one shot you regardless of level or armor. She attacks aggressively and tends to keep herself airborne so getting her into a combo is next to impossible. Many of her attacks home in on you and stretch out in such a way that dodging them might be downright impossible. Her one melee attack can send you flying and will also allow her to follow up with a magic attack to destroy you. This boss is downright cruel and serves as a roadblock for many players. The only upside is that there is a checkpoint right next to the arena.
Hardest thing about this boss – The relentless magic attacks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 3 - Sephiroth (Kingdom Hearts 1)
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Sephiroth is a recurring superboss in the Kingdom Hearts series, appearing both in kingdom hearts 1 and 2. While both incarnations are hard, KH1 Sephiroth takes home the gold. Sephiroth is the only opponent of the platinum match, and Sora fight him alone. Sephiroth has the highest health of any enemy in the game and also has some of the most damaging attacks in the game as well. He starts simple, slashing his large sword around for moderate damage. He will then start to teleport and summoning powerful fire based AOE attacks. He will use dark magic to attack Sora, chain together EXTREMLY long combos in a berserk rage. However, his two most deadly attacks are his meteor spell, which summoning huge rocks that damage on touch and render him invincible, and his heartless angel attack. The heartless angel reduces Sora’s HP and MP to 1. HE often follows up with teleporting behind Sora to finish him off. He likes to teleport out of Sora’s sight to use heartless angel, so mobility and awareness is key in this duel. Upon beating him, you are rewarded his journal entry, and in final mix you get a new key blade.
Hardest thing about this boss – His heartless angel attack and it’s follow up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER 2 - Darkeater Midir (Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City)
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Darkeater Midir was for me, the ultimate challenge of Dark Souls 3. Every Dark Souls game has a DLC dragon. One had Kalmeet, who I destroyed on my first try thanks to my halberd. Two had Sihn, who gave me trouble but not nearly as much as the horrible boss immediately before him. Three has Midir. Midir is the largest ‘proper’ dragon in the series, and boy does he have the health to prove it. Midir has over 15000 hit points and insanely high defense, so in other words buckle up because you are going to be fighting him for a while. Midir is rarely not attacking, he has physical attacks that can hurt, fire breath that can destroy you…and a Godzilla beam that will obliterate all in its wake. As the fight rages on, he starts to even use abyss magic against you. Any error in this fight may very well result in a death. On top of all that, its only weak spot is its head. In order to cut the timer short and beat this boss in less than 10 minutes, you will have to risk fighting it directly. Calling for help may not be the best option, because it makes Midir’s ludicrous health pool even deeper.
Hardest thing about this boss – His extremely high HP and his devastating attacks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NUMBER 1 - The Orphan of Kos (Bloodborne)
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Now, I know I have been using the word “aggressive” a lot in these past few parts. Pardon my redundancy. This boss is not aggressive, no, he is super-ultra-ultimate aggressive! The Orphan of Kos is the ultimate challenge in Bloodborne, a game all about fighting crazy battles, trading blows and going up against men, beast and even aliens in a weird Eldritch world. The orphan is the final boss of the DLC of Bloodborne. Fought on a beautiful beach, its hard getting settled while being bombarded by its screams at all times. This monster never lets up, he is always on the offense. Armed with a rather disgusting weapon, the Orphan speeds around and will make mincemeat of any hunter who dare approaches. If you have not mastered the art of parrying with a firearm in this game, you are doomed. He has high health, hardly flinches and has more attacks than I can possibly list. Any mistake will result in you getting obliterated, and this is only the first form. After taking enough damage, it will grow gross fleshy wings and become even faster! While in this agitated state, it hits harder and can even take to the sky momentarily to divebomb you. If you are half a second off with any shot, you will be punished. This boss also has several damaging AOE attack, however, its lightning one can give a hunter a moment to breath due to its long animation. This is a boss where absolutely no mistake can be made. Due to this, I consider the Orphan of Kos to be the pinnacle of boss difficulty. There may be harder bosses down the line, perhaps when I get around to playing Nioh or the other Ninja Gaiden games, but the Orphan deserves the gold medal.
Hardest thing about this boss – EVERYTHING! HE NEVER STOPS! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, so thats it.We made it. Thank you all, you made this possible. Our next multi-part special will be at 50 followers! So see you then! A final, huge shout out to @savannahsunstone for being my best friend for the last six years and for introducing me to tumblr. Had it not been for them this blog would not have existed. So a raise of the glass to one of the best gamer that I know!
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that-curly-haired-lesbian · 7 years ago
Note
Hey! Could you possibly do a queer reading into Dear John and how it could possibly be about coming out?
Dear John…I-I mean @ryanprettyboyrossI just wanted to start out by telling you that I’ve been excited about writingthis forever,but then depression sucker-punched me in the soul and put a stop to all mywriting (academic or otherwise) for literal weeks and when I finally got out ofthat there was a ton of essay to write… fuuuuun! 🙃🙃🙃
Anywayyyy, I’m out ofmy funk and just wanted to let you know that ever since you sent me this askages ago I’ve been intrigued by it.
I thank you all foryour patience during my absence and hope that this analysis was worth the wait! 😊
Dear John is one of my absolute favorite Taylor songs and in myopinion one of her most underrated, but solid works lyrics-wise.
In it I think hertalents as a poet and writer really shines through (friendlyreminder that Tay wrote the whole Speak Nowalbum by herself at 19 *cries in pride*) and for that I adore the freaking sparkleout of the song in question.
However, as I’vepreviously mentioned in asks and the like, for me it’s also always been one ofthe most interesting and complex ones to analyze. I’ve always kind of assumed Dear John is one of those songs that isnot what it seems.
My theory for a longtime has been that it’s some kind of metaphor describing queer identity andexperience and then you came along and placed this coming-out-narrative in mylap. Thank you very much, by asking me to stick to that thesis you’ve made myjob a lot easier, otherwise this analysis would’ve been all over the place withpossible theories! 😊
So let’s talk aboutthis for a sec, the majority of the fandom seem to assume it’s a song writtenabout the conveniently named John Meyer with whom Taylor was allegedly in arelationship from December 2009-February 2010. Meyer even went along with thatnarrative claiming the song “humiliated” him (x) to which Taylor responded thathe was being presumptuous in blatantly assuming the song to be about him. (x)
While therelationship did last for Taylor’s bearding-standard of 3 months a lot ofGaylors do seem convinced that Meyer was Taylor’s one (at least post-fame) non-PRboyfriend, for my personal thoughts on that please read this ask. (x)
Meyer may be namedJohn and the timeline during which the song was written may fit with thetimeline of whatever was going on between him and Taylor (PR or otherwise) but “DearJohn” as a phrase or title has a history longer than that.
Perhaps what most contemporary people think of(besides the Taylor song, provided they have any musical taste at all 😊)when hearing the phrase is the 2010 movie by the same name (it possibly cameout right around the time Tay was writing the song and we do know she likesromantic movies, so she may very well have found her inspiration there) whichin turn is based on the 2006 novel by Nicholas Sparks.
Another perhaps lessknown use of the phrase is the so called “Dear John letter.”
It refers to a wifeor girlfriend writing her husband/boyfriend a letter while he’s in themilitary, the letter is written to inform him that his partner has foundsomeone else and wants to break up/divorce, the phrase dates back to at leastWorld War II.
Wikipedia defines a “DearJohn letter” simply as “a break-up letter to an absent boyfriend or husband.”(x)
That does indeed seemto fit the bill for the song, Taylor sings to a “John” that is no longer a partof her life and informs him why the relationship had to end. (This song is to let you know why.”)
So, if the song isn’tabout John Meyer at all and we were just encouraged to think so, who or what isit really about?
Well, John is apretty common all-American name, in fact it was so common during the WWII erathat it was picked specifically to be a placeholder name when referring tobreakup letters addressed to solders (“Dear John letters.”) I think it’spossible that Taylor is using this pretty generic name as a placeholder too.
In the context of hersong “John” is the set of rules, ideas and practices (such as bearding) put inplace within the music/entertainment industry (specifically the country scene)to systematically closet performers to “save” or benefit their careers. 🤮
Long story short, Ibelieve “John” to be the heteronormativity and societal pressures to conform tosaid normativity which is keeping our singer in the closet. If you will, “John”is her own internalized homophobia which is stopping her from publicly comingout.
That being said thisis just an idea (cred to the asker, @ryanprettyboyross of course) on what thesong may be about, I personally have thought up many a theory regarding thisone in my time and everyone else is free to do so as well.
Credit for the lyricsbeing used goes to AZLyrics as usual; you all know the drill by now.
Without further ado,let’s get analyzin’
Long were the nights when
My days once revolved around you
Counting my footsteps
Praying the floor won’t fall through, again
Let’s have a look at these opening lines, Taylorclaims to have difficulty sleeping, this is because her life (or “her days” akaher every waking moment) revolves around pleasing someone who isn’t herself. 
Her days revolve around living up to the perfect image of America’s LittleHeterosexual Sweetheart™ that her team as well as her masses of adoringconservative fans built for her.
She can’t truly be herself and has to be careful whatshe does, what she says and how she acts. A feeling I’m sure many closetedpeople are more familiar with than they’d like.
She watches her every steps, every movement, everyword very carefully as to not accidentally out herself. She prays that peoplewon’t catch on and she’ll fall from her country princess throne (or through thedelicate floor of heteronormativity she has to constantly step on) and ruin herown career.
That constant fear is stressful for anyone who iscloseted, but must be so on an evendeeper level for someone who’s so public and simultaneously so deep in thecloset. A sad fate for such a young, talented artist and quite frankly it devastatesme to think about it in any greater detail. 💔
And my mother accused me of losing my mind
But I swore I was fine
Taylor must feel lonely to say the least, essentiallybeing required to refrain from being herself and hiding her truth, but one can atleast hope she has the unwavering support of her family and close friends towhom I think it’s safe to assume she’s out and has been for quite a long time. (Probably at least since high school, maybeeven earlier? My point is that she was most likely out to at least the family,if not to most of her friends long pre-fame.)
Her mother is mentioned here and my interpretation ofthe line is that Andrea is starting to see what the constant bearding andheteronormativity is doing to her daughter.
Perhaps she worries that Taylor is truly losing hersense of self and inquires whether the oldest of her children feels the PRgames have gone too far and if she wants to stop it and publicly come out? Afterall, Taylor’s parents raised her in a family free from homophobia if we’re tobelieve Taylor herself.
Taylor however reassures her mother that it’s fine;it’s all just a necessary part of the job and a small price to pay to get tolive her professional dream.
Chely Wright, a lesbian country singer who was closetedin the industry for a long time wrote the following in her book, Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland CountrySinger:
“I’d made a dealwith God early on that I’d go without love in my life, just give me music” (x)and I think that’s a pretty universal mindset among closeted musicians.
The chance to have music and performance andcreativity in one’s life is worth giving up on a happy and truthful personallife for. As long as you get to practice your art any personal sacrifices don’tmatter, or at least they’re not supposed to. Taylor promised her mother thiswas the case for her as much as anyone else.
You paint me a blue sky
And go back and turn it to rain
Here I think Taylor’s describing what this idea islike in theory, the idea of a fruitful career with hordes of adoring fans andcommercial success is all she ever dreamed of ever since she was a little girlwho repeatedly begged her parents to relocate the family to Nashville.
In practice though, it turns out Nashville is a prettyscary place for a young, gay singer, in fact the community there is viciouslyhomophobic. (x) Something that probably became apparent to Taylor pretty soon.
The perfect dream of country music stardom wasTaylor’s blue sky, but pretty soon it had been turned to rain by the systematichomophobia in the community she now found herself a part of.
And I lived in your chess game
But you changed the rules everyday
PR is a lot like chess, it’s one thoroughly thoughtout move after another, but instead of getting your opponent’s queen you moveand strategize in the hopes to please the general public with its conservativecountry fans. Not only them, but also producers, record labels and PR teams allcommitted to keeping the public image of heterosexuality, the one that sells andkeeps their artists afloat in the mainstream.
Taylor does her best to keep up with these moves andcountermoves, but it confuses her and she feels like what is expected of herchanges from day to day thus causing her to struggle with keeping up. Whatshe’s allowed to do, say and sing all changes constantly to adapt to the latestPR strategy and Taylor feels lost and helpless in the machinery that is theeconomy of homophobia, like a pawn lost on a giant chessboard.
Wonderin’ which version of you I might get on the phone,tonight
Well I stopped pickin’ up and this song is to let youknow why
Who is she talking about here then?
Well, I think this line is describing her relationshipto Team Taylor. I am assuming a kid like Taylor has had extensive mediatraining on how “not to appear gay” or whatever *puke* so if she messes up shelikely knows she’s going to get a call from her publicist.
Sometimes I’m sure that phone call wasn’t all toonice, as we’ve discussed before it seems Taylor’s publicist from her youngerdays was a very big fan of having Taylor stay in the closet, so if Taylor daredto publicly venture out of it in even the smallest of ways I’m sure she’d knowwhy that wasn’t advisable by the end of the night.
I’m not saying Taylor’s publicist was homophobic ornasty or mean, because obviously I don’t know that. I’m saying however, that I’msure she did what she thought was necessary to protect Taylor’s career andimage (aka to keep her safely closeted.)
I’m also not saying Taylor literally stopped pickingup or started ignoring her publicist, I think what the “stopped pickin’up-line” means is that perhaps she stopped listening, or at least she stoppedletting what was said get to her.
The song as she mentions was written to let “you” knowwhy it is that she stopped listening.
I don’t think“you” is the publicist, I actually think that “you” here is a more general you,as in all of the people who tried to get Taylor to understand that homophobiais just a given part of the music industry.
This is the song where Taylor says she’ll keep goingalong with their games, at least for the time being, but she’s had enough ofthe self-hatred.
As young gay people I think we’re all familiar withhow being constantly surrounded by homophobia, be it from our parents,classmates, or just society in general (or you know, a conservative musicindustry) keeps us from truly accepting ourselves.
We may very well be aware that we’re gay, but we don’thave to like it, we can wish it away and hate ourselves for feeling what we’refeeling. (Chely Wright’s Wish Me Away,anyone?)
Dear John isthe turning point for Taylor, she decides that no matter what anyone else saysand the fact that she has to stay in the closet, she can still love herself andbe okay with who she is, at least within herself. Just because she’s goingalong with the bearding and the heteronormativity doesn’t mean she has toapprove of it, she doesn’t need to hate herself just because it seems everyoneelse does. Somehow there’s strength in that heartbreak, I think.
Dear John, I see it all now that you’re gone.
Don’t you think I was too young
To be messed with?
As the chorus comes around Taylor addresses her owninternalized homophobia (who she’s apparently named John, perhaps becausesociety expects her to conform to their heteronormativity and end up with aJohn, a generic cishet boy) for the first time.
Now that her internalized homophobia/“John” is goneand she’s realized she doesn’t have hate herself she’s starting to see howfucked up it was that she ever did in the first place.
Many on thissite have discussed the fact that a pre-fame Taylor didn’t seem scared ofappearing gay, but it seems sometime after her mainstream recognition there wasa shift and she started fearing her gay side.
The heteronormative, homophobic values within theindustry truly messed with her, as she chose to word it. She went from out andproud to closeted and terrified.
She brings her age into the conversation, asking ifshe wasn’t too young to be messed with?
It seems that Taylor is as livid as me when it comesto the prospect of society teaching kids to internalize homophobia andself-hatred.
She wasn’t brought up that way (x) but she came tolearn that she was supposed to be ashamed of who she was as soon as she wastold by the people in the industry, the very people who were supposed to lookout for her that she had to sing about boys and “not act gay” if she everwanted to get on the radio or reach mainstream success.
The girl in the dress
Cried the whole way home, I should’ve known.–
The “girl-in-the-dress-line” is interesting to me andperhaps it is the line that resonates most with me in this entire song.
As someone who’s all too familiar with being forced toact feminine and wear dresses and being guilty of constantly policing their ownbody language as to not “act too gay” or “too un-feminine” I can say that I seemuch of myself in that person who wants to rip their pretty dress to shreds,but just ends up crying about it when no one can see instead.
Why? Well, making a public statement and refusing towear the dress would mean taking a step out from the shadow of thatinternalized self-hatred.
Admittedly though, I struggle with dysphoria which I’massuming (or rather hoping since I wouldn’t wish it on anyone) Taylor hasn’t. Despitethis I would say that being uncomfortable in dresses and “not being yourtypical princess” (to borrow a phrase from Taylor) isn’t limited to those of uswho aren’t actually girls, there are girls and women who aren’t comfortablewith being feminine or with wearing stereotypically feminine clothes (“she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts”)and I’ve previously spoken of how I suspect Taylor to be one of them. (x)
Obviously I can’t know that for sure, but I feel thatperhaps Taylor is a lot less feminine than she publicly lets on and that’swhere this dress-line comes in.
With its beer and its cowboy hats and manly men Iwould assume that in addition to being at least implicitly homophobic thecountry music scene is also fairly dependent on gender roles, meaning that forsomeone like Taylor that means dresses and boys and makeup galore.
In my analysis of NewRomantics I mentioned that attending some event with a boy she barely knewand a pretty dress must’ve felt incredibly alienating at times to a young starwho’s just started understanding the perceived necessity of bearding andheteronormativity in this industry. So alienating in fact that I wouldn’t blameher for shedding a few tears from time to time, “mascara tears in the bathroom”as well as tears on the way home in a pretty dress she didn’t want to wear.
The dress couldalso be a metaphor of course, one to describe the heteronormative role she’dbeen forced into with all the bearding and femininity. A metaphor that’s saying“the girl you made look so pretty on the outside felt so ugly and ashamed onthe inside” the girl in the pretty dress that appeared to have it all couldn’t bringherself to be truly happy. (Lucky One, anyone?)
Lastly she’s saying she should’ve known this would bethe outcome of entering the industry, she should’ve known it had been naive tothink she could continue to be her authentic self while also being mainstreamfamous.
Well maybe it’s me
And my blind optimism to blame
Or maybe it’s you and your sick need
To give love then take it away
Whose fault is it, then, that poor Taylor is somiserable?
Well, she suggests, maybe it’s her own for being sonaively optimistic and thinking that staying closeted wouldn’t feel like a bigdeal as long as she got to work with music. Or maybe it’s the industry’s faultfor adoring and praising her as long as she followed their set of rules, buttaking that love away the moment she started to break the rules, not to mentionthreatening to take the fame away entirely should she ever dare come out. It’ssick says Taylor, how two-faced these so-called “fans” and “supporters” are andI wholeheartedly agree!
And you’ll add my name to your long list of traitorswho don’t understand
And I’ll look back in regret how I ignored when theysaid,
“Run as fast as you can.”
We’ve talked about “gender traitors” before, a termthat shows up in Margaret Atwood’s TheHandmaid’s Tale from 1985 (as well as the excellent 2017 HBO series) aswell as in a bunch of feminist course lit I’m familiar with, to describe homosexualsand primarily homosexual women.
I know Taylor likes classical literature, but I can’tbe sure if she’s read that one, although I hope so since it’s brilliant!
Anyway, regardless of her reading habits I don’t thinkthe term is what Taylor’s referring to here. I think she’s simply saying theindustry will blacklist her. Put her on a list of traitors to the industry whoaren’t committed to upholding the order and the rules and doesn’t understandwhy it’s necessary to keep the environment so conservative and unaccepting.
In other words,were she to ever come out the country music community would freeze her out.This seems to be a real fear among those in the closet in Nashville and Chely Wright spoke about it at length. (x)
Someone seems to have warned Taylor not to getinvolved with the bearding and the systematic closeting. Maybe it was hermother or someone else who saw the potential dangers of internalized hatredsuch a process would create within such a young girl and thus advised Taylor torefuse to conform and run far away from that homophobic nonsense before shelost her sense of self.
Taylor of course, didn’t listen she was too busyreaching for the dream of music she’d always wanted and now that she’s olderand wiser she of course regrets letting the closeting process be the price shepaid for it all, but she was young and thought the adults who told her to goback in the closet knew what was best. Now of course, she wished she would’verun and taken steps to be an out artist from the start, instead of going usualroute of forced closeting and aggressive hetero marketing.
 (Chorus)
Dear John, I see it all now it was wrong
Don’t you think nineteen’s too young
To be played by your dark, twisted games?
When I loved you so, I should’ve known.
At one point in time Taylor obviously had a real andvery strong love for country music (and given the fact that she still occasionallyghost-writes a country hit or two I’d say she still does) but here she addresses“John” who now seems to be the country music industry itself and says shethinks she was too young to be dragged into the systematic homophobia thatlives rampant within that industry. She loved the music so much, she loved thepeople and the aesthetic, but the dark side of the industry in Nashville was anunfair price to pay for that love Taylor reasons. Don’t forget that Dear John was on Speak Now the album that came before Red which in turn was the first album where Taylor definitelystarted leaning more towards pop music. 
She’s said that Red wasn’t “sonically cohesive” and there seems to be a reasonfor that, Red wanted to be pop, butTaylor didn’t yet dare to fully take the leap that’d later come with 1989 and leave country behind, so Red became a mixture of Taylor’s desireto break free from country music and her very strong love for it, a toxicrelationship indeed, with the country music industry.
Nonetheless I think Dear John was Tay’s breakup song for country music, Red was the first step towards leavingthat industry behind and Dear John waswhen she first decided it was time to do so and shake off (sorry I couldn’t resist) that homophobic environment.
You are an expert at “Sorry”
And keeping lines blurry
Never impressed by me acing your tests
She laments some more about the rules and the peoplewithin the country music “machine” (as Wright refers to it) she says they’revery good at not personally being homophobic, it’s like when someone says “Ihave nothing against you gays, BUT”  the industry at large and perhaps mostlythe people within it who work close to Taylor claim that they wish things couldbe different, but that the homophobic structure in the music industry is necessaryto uphold it or whatever. They’re basically experts at making excuses for whyhomophobia is so deeply ingrained in Nashville and country communities ingeneral. They keep the lines blurry between claiming they’re keeping Taylorcloseted to protect her from the homophobia exuded by fans and parts of themusic industry and by doing it because they themselves are blatantly homophobicand scared Taylor will stop making them money if she comes out.
It’s the sortof situation where you think “Are they doing this to protect me or to protectthemselves?”    
Taylor plays her role perfectly, she has everyoneconvinced she’s as straight as they come and yet Team Taylor don’t seem happy,they have more hoops for her to jump through and more strategies with which tokeep her locked in the closet and they never seem 100% happy with Taylor’s “StraightPerformance (aka her “Acing their tests”)
All the girls that you’ve run dry have tired lifelesseyes
Cause you’ve burned them out
Then she goes on to mention other people who are inthe closet and work in country music, or in Hollywood, people (and here,specifically other women) whose closeting processes are so far along that theyhave just accepted they’ll never be able to come out and live as their trueselves. Girls who have accepted this is just their lives now.
The girls who go into lavender marriages and just dealwith it, no one being able to spot just how dead they are behind the eyes,except for a young, fellow gay who’s terrified she’ll end up like them. End uplike the women the entertainment industry  has already ran dry and ensnared in their PR gamesto the point where they see no way out, girls who are so closeted they’ll taketheir truths to their graves.
But I took your matches
Before fire could catch me
So don’t look now
I’m shining like fireworks
Over your sad empty town
It might be too late for those girls, Taylor pointsout, but not for me, not yet. By writing this song she’s taking the firsttentative step towards stopping her own closeting process. She won’t let theindustry dampen her passion for music or her will to be herself, she’s stoppedthem now, or at least she’s going to, they’re going to witness her succeed evenwhile breaking out of that tightly locked closet. She’ll shine like (colorful… 🌈🌈) fireworks over the sad reality that is homophobia and bearding.
(Chorus)
 I see it all now that you’re gone
Don’t you think I was too young
To be messed with?
The girl in the dress
Wrote you a song, you should’ve known.
Now that she’s decided to slowly but surely leave itbehind she can see how messed up systematic closeting is, especially when doneto someone so young and hopeful as herself.
 The girl they dressed up andfeminized, hetero-proofed™ against her will when she was still too young toknow any better wrote them all a song about how messed up they are.
They should’ve known she wasn’t like the others and wouldn’tlet herself be trapped and limited, go Taylor!! 🌈🌈🌈
So perhaps the way I wrotethat didn’t frame the song in so much a coming-out-narrative as an it’s-okay-to-want-to-come-out-narrativeand it’s okay to take tiny steps towards that goal while simultaneouslyflipping off everyone who want to stop you. 🌈
Hope you alllike that idea of this song. 😊
I can’t promiseanything, but I’m hopefully back now as my essay is due next Friday, whereupon Ishall have more time to hang out here and talk to you guys and do analysis regularlyagain! (Hopefully every Sunday)
I’ve really missed itas well as all of you, so if you guys have requests for songs to be analyzed inthe future or just questions for me about Kaylor, Gaylor or anything else, myaskbox is open! 😊
Next song to be analyzedaccording to my list is Fearless! 💃🌈
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megamanx1994 · 6 years ago
Text
Captain Falcon: The First Peacekeeper (Part 2) Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Date (Disclaimer! I own nothing of Nintendo or Inuyasha!) It was 4:00 am and I was dead sleep. The phone rang. I tried to pick it up but picked up an ice bag. “Hello?” I said. I then grabbed the phone. “Hello?” I asked. “Nicholas its Luna,” she said. “What time is it?” I asked. “Early… late…. I don’t know, I’ve been up all night,” said Luna. “Are you alright?” I asked. “Yeah I’m fine,” she said, “I just… detected something.” “What is it?” I asked. “When’s the soonest you can get here?” she asked. “I’m on my way,” I said. Whatever she was talking about it sounded serious. I was in the lab looking at the picture she took. “When I was walking I saw a girl with an arrow and someone else with some kind of giant sword,” said Luna, “And they left this sign.” “Whoa,” I said, “So any leads?” “All I have is this,” said Luna. She played a video of the footage she caught. The person was fighting off criminals. “Based on his fighting style, I can say that he has the power to wipe out more than half the humans in Seattle,” said Luna. “How do we know he’s even a bad guy?” I asked, “He might be a hero.” “Nick, he may be hunting down criminals to steal their souls,” said Luna, “And if there is even a 1% chance that he’s the bad guy, then we gotta take that chance with everything.” “I suppose you’re right,” I said, “If I come in contact with him, I’ll try and reason with him. Its worked before and it’ll work again.” “Be careful dude,” said Luna, “He might be unlike something you faced in your past adventures.” Later I was taking a walk around Seattle. I saw Colleen. “What’s up?” I asked. “You’re coming with me to the store,” said Colleen, “That’s what’s up.” “Why?” I asked. “You’ll see,” she said with a grin. I suddenly realized what it was. “Are you crazy?!?!” I said. “Come on Nick, don’t be so chicken,” said Colleen, “All you gotta do is talk to her.” “But I’m not good enough,” I said, “I’ve lost my spark.” “Come on Nick you look great!” said Colleen. “I don’t know,” I said. “Do it,” said Colleen. “But I….” I said. “Please,” said Colleen, “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease….” “Alright,” I said, “I’ll do it to stop you from doing that.” I went up to the girl. “What’s up,” she said. “Hey,” I said hiding my blush. “So the usual?” she asked. “No, I’m just sprouting,” I said. Colleen gave me the symbol, to keep talking. “Um… I see you here a lot, and I think you’re really pretty, and…” I said, “Would you wanna go out on a date with me? Ever?” There was an awkward silence for a moment. “I think you should go,” she said. “I’m so sorry,” I said as I was about to leave. “I’m just messing with you,” she said laughing. “What?” I asked, “Oh my god! That was really sneaky.” “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” she said, “What’s your name?” We were still laughing. “Oh, Nicholas,” I said, “Nicholas James Cornelius Mikhail Lee Shay. But most people just call me Nick.” “Nick,” she said, “I’m Wendy. Wendy Evans.” “Nice to meet you Wendy,” I said. “Nice to meet you too,” said Wendy, “So you wanna take me out.” “I would love to take you out,” I said. “Where do you wanna go?” asked Wendy. “Well I know this great Italian place,” I said. “I like Italian food,” said Wendy, “When do you wanna go?” “One second,” I said. I went over to Colleen. “She said yes but specifically what time?” I said. “You say ‘how about tonight’,” she said. I went back to Wendy. “How about tonight,” I asked. “Well I get off at 7 tonight,” she said, “Wanna meet here?” “Sure,” I said. “Great,” she said, “Bye.” “Bye,” I said. I left and went outside. “What would you do without me?” asked Colleen. “I’d like to give it a shot and find out,” I said. “Oh come on,” she said. Later she was dragging me into a store. “So why am I here again?” I asked. “You’re kidding right?” asked Colleen, “You can’t hope to go on a date like this.” “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing right now?” I asked. “For starters you look like you just came from a fight,” she said. “That’s cause I just did,” I said. “Bottom line, we gotta get you looking funky fresh for your date,” said Colleen, “And not the splatoon kind of fresh.” She took me to Old Navy to find a new outfit. I came out in different ones and she didn’t approve. “Nope, nope, nope,” she said. I finally came out in one that she liked. “Perfect,” said Colleen, “But…. Aren’t you gonna wear your trademark hat?” “No,” I said, “I haven’t worn that thing since…..” “I know,” said Colleen, “Sorry.” “Its ok,” I said. Her phone rang. “Hold that jazz,” she said, “Hello?” “Colleen, we just got word that there was an explosion at the museum,” said her boss, Captain N. “An explosion?” she asked, “What happened?” “Someone snuck in and stole an artifact,” said Captain N, “We believe it was Mouser.” “Mouser?” asked Colleen, “That guy….. his name sounds familiar. I’ll take the case.” She hung up. “I can see whoever this Captain N is, he’s keepin’ you busy,” I said. “Yeah, but I’m never too busy for my best friend,” said Colleen, “I was just asked to keep a look out for any suspicious characters.” Later I was heading to this restaurant where Wendy was. “Hey dude,” said Wendy. She was wearing a flannel dress and had her hair in a ponytail, but she wasn’t wearing her hat. “Ready to go?” she asked. “Yeah,” I said. I was blushing a little bit. “What’s wrong dude?” she asked. My hand was trembling. “Wanna hold hands?” I asked. “Is that all?” she asked, “Sure man.” She held my hand and we went inside. I made sure I had my wallet and everything. Later we were eating some food. “This is a really good place,” said Wendy. “Yeah,” I said, “The music’s good too.” “I heard you were a music person,” said Wendy, “My old boyfriend was a musician.” “What happened to him?” I asked. “He lied to me saying he wrote a song, but it was someone else,” said Wendy. “Sounds stubborn,” I said. “I know right,” said Wendy, “But that’s all behind me now.” She smiled. “What about you?” she asked. “What about me?” I asked. “What do you do for a living?” she asked. “Well… aside from music I just do anything I can to help others,” I said, “When I was younger I always wanted to help people, and now I got the chance.” “That’s really cool,” said Wendy, “So how do you like Seattle.” “Its home,” I said, “I’m more of a city person, what about you?” “Its new here, but you get use to something sooner or later,” said Wendy. She smiled at me and our feet were touching each other. “Hey guys,” said someone familiar. It was Colleen. “Colleen, what are you….” I said. “Shh,” said Colleen, “Pretend I’m not here.” “Dude, I can’t pretend you’re not here if you’re right here,” I said. She was looking for someone. “Are you expecting someone?” asked Wendy confused. “You could say that,” said Colleen. She saw a man with shades and a strange hairdo. “Who’s that?” I asked. “That’s Mouser,” said Colleen. “That’s Mouser?” I asked, “That’s a midget with a laptop.” “I’ll get backup,” she said. “The guy is 4 feet tall, let’s get him now!” I said. “No,” said Colleen, “He’s a very dangerous man. I’ll be back.” “Colleen…” I said. She was already gone and I sighed. “Excuse me for a minute Wendy,” I said. “Its ok, take your time,” said Wendy drinking. I went over to Mouser. “Mouser,” I said, “Yo French man. Get up, my partner’s looking for you.” “I’m busy at the moment,” he said. “Uh, didn’t you hear what I said?” I asked, “I’m busy too now get on your feet.” He looked at me. “I know you,” he said, “You’re Colleen’s Brooklyn friend, right?” “No, I’m Colleen’s muscle,” I said, “Now don’t let this suit fool you, this is the only color they had left.” I took off the suit. “Now I said get up,” I said, “I ain’t gonna say it again.” He chuckled. “You American are so funny,” he said as he typed on his laptop ignoring me. “And you French don’t hear that well,” I said. I took his laptop and slammed it on the ground. “Little Mouser!” I said as I stepped on it, “Get… your… short… … ass up… outta that chair…. Right… now!!!” Colleen came back and saw everything. You’re messing up my date,” I said, “Now I told you to get up didn’t I?” I went at him but Colleen held me back. “Now I gotta go off on your ass,” I said, “Lemme bust his ass!” “No,” said Colleen.
 “Colleen, hello,” said Mouser, “How’s life treating you?” “I gotta talk to you,” said Colleen. “What about?” he asked. “The explosion at the museum,” said Colleen, “Come with us to the police station.” “The police station?” he asked, “If you have any questions, ask me here.” I grabbed him. “Look man you’re comin with….” I said before I saw a bunch of bodyguards, “Oh my god.” I let him go so they wouldn’t hurt me. “Um…. I’d like to pay you for that laptop, I think I should do that,” I said. “No problem,” he said. “I can get you a new one, I seen it on the internet,” I said. “I must excuse myself,” he said, “Have a good day.”
The bodyguards turned to me. “Colleen, why didn’t you tell me this guy rolls like this?!” I said. “I told you!” she said. “Did not,” I said. “I did too,” she said, “I said… thius.” “What the hell does that mean?” I asked. “It means I go left, you go right.” “I go left, you go right?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said winking at me. “Oh yeah,” I said. I punched a guy on the right and she took out the other guy. They kept coming at us but we held our ground. Colleen kicked a guys shades off and saw his eyes. “No wonder you mad,” she said as she kicked him. One of them had Wendy hostage. “Let her go,” I said. “Why don’t you make me,” he said as he sniffed Wendy. “I said let her go!” I said. I did a jumping kick and hit him in the face. Wendy broke free. Her eyes were glowing red for a second but turned back to normal. After a while we took care of all the punks. “I… just brought this suit,” I said. I looked around for Wendy but she was nowhere to be found. “Wendy?” I asked. She ran because she thought I saw what happened. The next day I saw Wendy in a tree. “Hey Nick….” She said. “Um…. I’m sorry you had to see that,” I said. “Yeah…. That was…. Different,” said Wendy, “I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. But you got the moves.” I smiled. “Really?” I asked. “Of course,” said Wendy, “It was really cool how you wasted those guys.” She smiled. “Look, I wanna say something first,” I said, “I wanna apologize right now in case when I start to get talking and say things that sound really weird.” “Weird?” asked Wendy, “If you want weird, try working in a store all day, and then spending your nights reading about historical stuff that happened years ago, and sometimes never hanging around people and being to yourself, I mean that is weird. If you wanna end this right now, I would understand.” “I was gonna ask you the same thing,” I said, “If you wanna end this right now, and you feel bad about that, if you wanna talk to somebody about it you could talk to me.” She held my hand. “Hey…. Nick?” she asked. “Yeah?” I asked. “If I told you something about me…. Would you still wanna… be around me?” asked Wendy. “What do you mean?” I asked curiously, “Of course I would.” “I mean… no matter what it was, how horrible, you’d still like me right?” she asked. “OF course Wendy,” I said, “No matter what.” She was about to speak. “I….” she said before my phone rang. “Hold that thought,” I said. “Hello?” I asked. “I just got word that Mouser is gonna be at some sort of party,” said Colleen, “Can I ask you to be there?” “I guess so,” I said, “I could bring Wendy.” “Just be careful,” said Colleen, “Something’s up.” Later we were racing each other to GSI where the party was being held. “you don’t stand a chance,” I said, “I’m an athlete!” Wendy was running after me laughing. “I won!” I said as I touched the door. Wendy laughed and said, “That’s what you think.” She ran past me. “That was sneaky,” I said. “I know right,” said Wendy. We went to the top and saw a bunch of people. “So glad you could make it,” said Luna, “Thanks for stopping by people.” She saw me and Wendy. “Hey dude,” she said, “Thanks for coming.” “No sweat,” I said. “And who’s this young lady?” asked Luna. “This is Wendy,” I said. “Pleased to meet you,” said Wendy as she shook her hand, “Pardon the look, I’m sort of an emo.” “Emo or not, you’re always welcome here,” said Luna with a smile. “Thanks,” said Wendy. “I’ll go get you some punch,” I said as I went to the punch bar. I heard talk about Powerman from a black haired guy. “And now there’s talk about the half demon,” he said. I decided to get into the convo. “What about the half demon?” I asked. “Is on the news,” he said, “Its in Seattle right now, and people think its killing people. But I think he’s just trying to do the right thing.” “My name’s Nick,” I said as I shook his hand. “Inuyasha,” said Inuyasha, “So what’s your opinion about the half demon.” “I think its more of a vigilante than a hero,” I said, “Hunting down criminals isn’t how people do it in Seattle.” “Well try talking with this…. Alien,” said Inuyasha, “Calling himself Power Man, using a bunch of powers to handle a situation.” “Well how else can he help?” I asked, “If something bad happens he can’t stay away from it.” “I say he should stay out of the way and let the half demon do his job, right Kagome?” asked Inuyasha. “Now now, let’s not get hasty,” said Kagome. “Its probably just me,” I said, “But Seattle has had a bad history with…. Freaks dressed like animals. Some would say he may be above the law.” “I think you should stop right there,” said InuYasha, “Unless you wanna take it outside.” We shot each other a glare. “Boys!” said someone. It was another man from the party. “This is great, Nicholas Shay meets Inuyasha,” he said, “I love bringing people together. My name’s Ghirahim, I’m a new scientist.” He shook our hands. “Its nice to… ow!” he said as he shook my hand, “He’s got a good grip you should… not pick a fight with this person.” “I’ll try to remember that,” said Inuyasha with a fake grin. The party continued. I took a cigarette and smoked it. “I thought you didn’t smoke,” said Luna. “I don’t need to smoke,” I said, “Remember I was experimented on years ago, so stuff like this won’t affect me.” I heard some ticking. “What is that?” I asked. It started getting faster. Acting quickly I pushed Wendy out of the way before the bomb went off. People were running and screaming. Some shy guy thugs surrounded people. I took Wendy’s hand and ran to get her somewhere safe. “What’s going on?” asked Wendy. I found a place. “Stay here, I’m gonna get help,” I said. “Ok,” said Wendy. I snuck out of the building and saw 3 guys guarding the roof. They were armed. “Shit!” I said. I grabbed my communicator. “Nick, what’s the situation?” asked Luna. “Its bad, we got 3 guys all armed securing the area,” I said, “I doubt I’ll stop them all at once. I think its time to bring out the big guns.” “I just sent it to your location,” said Luna, “Did it arrive?” I saw a small ship fall onto a building. “Right on cue,” I said. I went to it and got out the new suit and put it on. “With this new suit, you’ll move faster and hit harder than with the old suit,” said Luna, “I call it, Power-Man 2.0.” “Sweet,” I said. “You think that’s sweet try using the new mask,” said Luna, “You’ll be able to pinpoint an enemy’s location and use strategic moves to take them down.” I used it and found a way. “Time to give this thing a test run,” I said. I saw the guys and snuck behind them. I saw a new item in the matrix called the smoke ball. I used it to distract them, and then acting quickly I took them down. “All too easy,” I said. I jumped in through a window and started fighting the shy guy thugs. “Oh shit its Power Man,” said one of them, “Waste him!” they shot at me and I grabbed my beam sword and deflected the attacks. One of them came at me and I jumped up and grabbed something and threw it at them.  Another one kicked me and I fell onto a table. “Ok,” I said. I used my mask to determine my next move. I switched to ice and did a jump. I then shot multiple iceballs at the thugs freezing them in their tracks and then took them down. There were more bombs going off and people evacuated the building. I then fought Mouser while everyone got out. We were continuing at each other until he tripped. "Its over Mouser," I said, "You've lost." "No, its you who's lost Shay," said Mouser. He pressed a button and then blew up chaining a massive explosion. I went to go find Wendy. She was running from thugs who found her. “Oh no you don’t!” I said. I swooped in and caught her and flew out of the building before the bombs went off. She held on tight as I was flying fast. “You’re gonna be ok now we….” I said, “Um…. Ma’am. Whoever you are.” “Thanks,” she said as she gave me a hug, “Nicholas.” “Nicholas?” I asked, “I think you may have me confused with another person.” “Relax, I know its you, I’m not an idiot,” said Wendy, “Colleen tells me everything about you remember? Besides, no one can fight bad guys like Nicholas Shay does.” I took off my mask. “How long have you known?” I asked. “I didn’t!” she said with a smile, “Oh man, but I do now. I can’t believe you’re Power-Man!” “Yep, this is me,” I said, “Now you see why I always disappear.” “You’re incredible,” said Wendy.
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