#i miss this era of dragon age man!

[scribeofmorpheus]

"Those stone walls, Celene thought, likely dated back to when the elves first built Halamshiral. She wondered if they ever imagined that one day, those walls would protect human nobility from the elves who burned on the other side."

Masked Empire, Trick Weekes, p.132

[rivilu]

I do think this game loses a lot by not having any real origins/2 style abominations.

Both in terms of contrast with what Lucanis/spite have going on but also all the undead as well. A failed Zara experiment shouldn't be a random undead in a cavern shouldn't be an undead in the necropolis. Am I making sense?

[shannonsketches]

You think you'll never get old and then one day you log on and there's a "First Manga" poll that Bleach, Sailor Moon, Naruto, and DBZ didn't make the cut for

[gx-gameon]

I just read Jaden in 5DS era AU and I want to know if that is part of the Yugi adopts Jaden AU or Canon Jaden.

Also about BBT in the Jaden Muto AU, what is Jaden feeling the entire time? It isn't everyday you team up with the younger self of your dad XD

The 5Ds era Au will probably be cannon Jaden.

I want it to be approachable to any reader. The Yugi Adopts Jaden au is going to have a lot going on in it already.

I also haven’t decided if Jaden will go home at the end of that Au. I think Jesse will come forward in time and they will join the 5Ds crew going forward. And if that is the ending, Jaden gaining new friends and now the “Robin” of the crew. Then I don’t know if I want to connect it to Yugi adopts Jaden since Jaden won’t come home. He’d miss having like 30 years with his dads and that’s super sad.

But let’s focus on your second question.

In the Yugi adopts Jaden Au the bonds beyond time movie is wild.

Because Jaden is currently traveling the globe. Helping out where needed and just finding himself again. He hears that Zane/Syrus’s cyber dragon has been stolen and he’s looking for it, when Jesse calls. Rainbow Dragon has been taken. That is not something Jaden can allow to happen.

Personally I love the idea that Jesse actually met up/ran into Jaden in Venice. Maybe he was looking for his friend. Maybe he was there for a tournament and bumped into Jaden. Maybe they arranged to meet there or Jesse was surprising his friend. (I’ve read some great fics like this)

Either way Jesse is with Jaden when Rainbow Dragon is stolen. Jaden watches as Jesse loses a member of his family and swears to get it back, rushing off before Jesse can follow.

By the time Jesse catches up the square is already destroyed and Jaden is already with Yusei.

But back to topic.

In this au Jaden mets Yusei and everything goes according to plan, until they travel back in time and met Yugi.

Holy cow is this weird for Jaden. That’s his Dad!! But he’s young and the millennium puzzle hangs around his neck and Jaden knows what that means. This is back when Yugi and Atem shared a body.

But Yugi is crying because Grandpa is dead? And the whole square blew up. Jaden’s head is spinning. Gramps can’t be dead! No that’s not right. Gramps had just called him not even a week ago and the old man was still as sharp as ever. He couldn’t be dead.

Worse this is Yugi before he adopted Jaden. Jaden didn’t know it at the time, but now that he’s the same age that Yugi was when he adopted him Jaden understands how much Yugi sacrificed to take him in. To be his dad. And he knows a lot of that was only possible because of Gramps. Sure things changed when Oto-san and Dad got married but earlier on it was Yugi and Solomon taking care of him. Atem to after he adjusted to living in the modern era.

If Gramps died then would Yugi even be able to take Jaden in? Would they even meet? And he feels awful for think it. After all he shouldn’t be thinking about himself right now. But his whole reality depends on this one going right.

Plus he hates seeing his dad cry.

Paradox had stolen Jesse’s family member, killed Jaden’s great grandpa and made his dad cry. Jaden’s going after him with all he has.

The duel itself is awesome. Dueling along side Yugi and stem when they shared a body is so weird yet also one of the coolest things ever because he can see both their strategies at play and how the seamlessly blend them.

Yusei is an amazing duelist to and Jaden is honestly having the time of his life fighting beside them. He’s going to have to make it a goal to meet Yusei again.

They win and Jaden gets returned to his time (successfully) and says goodbye to Yusei. (They will met again)

He mets up with Jesse to return Rainbow Dragon and tell him about his adventure. While doing so he realizes he needs to call to people. He calls grandpa first just because he wants to make sure the old man is alright. (He’s just fine and over joyed to hear from Jaden) second he calls his dad and Uncle Atem.

He tries to dance around it but the both just laugh and say that they remember him. It’s really weird. They didn’t have these memories before today. But whatever alternate reality Jaden and Yusei had stopped from happening by meeting up with Yugi must have merged with their own.

Yugi didn’t seek Jaden out because of their duel against paradox. Their meeting was complete accident or fate depending on how you want to see it. But now that he has those memories he, Jaden and Atem can all discuss the duel and Yusei.

[maluceh]

That painel was AMAZING, thank you thank you thank you! ❤️

Sorry for missing a few references, could you share a list of all the universes?

damn ok… ummm (from top left to right and so on with every row)

brooklyn nine nine (amy and jake)

morticia and gomez

modern family (claire and phil)

tangled

they’re just drinking chescos in this one

band au

i got lazy so kissy time

dinosaurs

the last of us au

game of thrones au

10 things i hate about you

celebrity au but i tried to do the cinderella concept art cause 50s

old people

slasher

sapphic jily victorian era

mexican folklore dancers

i got lazy again and i just sketched them as spooky cartoons

deleted scene from dead poets society but it’s not them as dps characters, i just wanted a snowy scene

barbie

pirates of the caribbean

anne with an e

legos

elevator love song by BeeDaily (it’s a fic)

cowboy au

how to train your dragon (astrid and hiccup)

percy jackson (them as percabeth)

sapphic jily in the 14th? 15th? century with princess jamie and her loyal guard lily

this is just a kids drawing so you can interpret it as you want (harry drew it or little james or little lily)

vampire au

couple selfie!

sapphic jily with a reference to glee (the cheerleader uniform). so this one is kind of like cheerleader x outcast type of thing

pride and prejudice au (bingley and jane)

set it up (it’s a movie on netflix)

rocks

greys anatomy au (them as mark and lexi)

role swap (quidditch player lily/muggleborn james)

ice skater couple au

juno (reference to the intro credits from the movie where there’s like drawings and stuff, i thought it would be cool idk)

the office (them as jim and pam)

haikyuu (tanaka and kiyoko are literally jily in another font)

patronuses

genderswap jily

romeo and juliet (2013)

before sunrise (1995)

titanic movie

ferris bullers day off (i think they fit sloane and ferris A LOT)

friends (chandler and monica)

maurice (1987)

detectives au (i tried to emulate 1940s drawings but alas i’m only a girl)

mermaid au

mlm jily as Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete I BELIEVE this is Dos tipos de cuidado (1953) i wanted to draw them as homoerotic mexican actors from the golden age of mexican cinema

canon jily

sapphic jily in bly manor (as dani and jamie)

animal crossing jily

big fish (2003)

sapphic jily as pirates who got caught

idk i took it from a pinterest pic

shadowhunters jily

fantasy jily (?

sapphic jily kissing at sunset

worms

idk what movie this is, i wanted to draw them as silent actors from the 1930s i also tried to use the same art style they used in that era but alas i’m just a girl

widow victorian lily and ghost james (this is a direct reference to Anders Zorn the widow 1883 i believe)

how to lose a guy in 10 days au

shadow and bone au (them as nina and matthias)

ballet dancers au

romeo and juliet AGAIN (1996 tho)

anastasia (1997)

the princess diaries 2 (them as Mia and nicholas)

them with a cat (it’s algernon, the cat is algernon by the way)

spiderman (itsv spider-man to be exact)

i got lazy again and i just doodled them listening to music together

ants

genderswaped jily as emma and mr. knightley (2020)

mamma mia (2008) (love that movie, sophie and sky made me the bisexual i am with that one beach scene)

the hunger games mockingjay part 2 (them as katniss and peeta)

hogwarts professors

coworker rivals

mlm jily but at hogwarts

sapphic jily just vibing (heartstopper vibes??? idk i put the leaves)

shelf awarness by GhostofBambi on ao3 (one of my favorite jily fics)

and that’s it

[amnestria-the-elf]

I had a dream that my 77-year-old mother was isekai'ed into BG3, so of course I had to write a small little ditty about it.

To be clear, my mother would make a terrible Tav. She has no interest in fantasy or sci-fi and spends the majority of her time on Facebook. Being outside is her least favorite activity. Her favorite TV show is one of the Sunday morning news programs (I have no idea which, because I have not watched broadcast television since 2012, but she definitely tells me about the stories they have on that show all the time.) She is not a decisive person; she was raised in the toxic traditional gender role post-war Boomer era, and is perfectly fine to let others dictate how her life turns out.

Having said all of that, she'd make a decent Bard. For a sweet-looking older lady, she can come up with some surprisingly sick burns. Probably all of that repressed rage that she refuses to get therapy about. Anyway.

*~~~*

Linda was far too old for this shit.

Other women her age spent their time knitting, or going to their little exercise classes, or watching their soaps, or swapping stories about their grandchildren, or writing interesting Facebook posts. God, she missed writing Facebook posts.

But not Linda. Oh, no. Linda had somehow gotten pulled into a horrifying universe and had some kind of parasite inserted in her head, and now found herself surrounded by an unlikely band of misfits who shared the same affliction.

Perhaps she was having a psychotic break. Maybe she was really back home and her daughter had placed her in some kind of institution because she was entirely unresponsive. Honestly, she hoped that was true, but her back hurt like hell and every wound she sustained bled real blood, and that odd little Goth girl had to heal her every time, so she was reasonably certain that what was happening was real.

She was getting better at not getting wounded as often, at least. She learned that she was of better use to the group when she stayed in the back and just yelled insults at the enemies while everyone else did their thing. The angry alien lady seemed perfectly happy to take her rage out on anyone in her way and that disturbingly pale elf did well with his little bow and arrow. He really needed to get some color into his cheeks; he’d never find someone to be with looking like that. If only she could go to Walgreens and get him some bronzer. It would do him a world of good.

The magical bearded man did a surprisingly good job of cooking their meals. Linda tried to help but quickly realized she had no idea how to cook over an open fire. She longed to be back in her newly-remodeled kitchen, with the induction cooktop and smart fridge that automatically reordered her groceries for her. How did any of these people even function without wifi? They would never get to see the funny cat videos that she sent her daughter every day. Such a shame.

The most helpful companion was the heroic young man who had jumped down to fight the goblins in front of the Grove. What was his name? Will? No, Wyll with a “Y.” She remembered the odd little Goth girl teasing him about it. He had been so good with those little horned children after the fight. Her granddaughter would love playing with him.

Tears stung at her eyes as she thought about her granddaughter. Would she ever get to see her again? She sighed heavily as she stared down into her bowl of porridge.

“Are you alright?” a kind voice asked.

Linda looked up to see Wyll coming to sit down on the log next to her with his own bowl of porridge.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking about my granddaughter,” she said.

“Oh, you have a granddaughter?” Wyll asked. “What is she like?”

“She’s about the same age as those kids you were training back in the Grove. I think she’d like you, actually. She’s very active. She tears around the house as fast as she can, slaying imaginary dragons or pretending to be a lion.”

Wyll laughed. “A courageous heart, no doubt. I hope I can meet her someday.”

Linda sighed wistfully again. “She lives… very far away from here.”

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You must miss her very much.”

“Yes,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes again.

“Istik, enough sniveling,” that angry alien lady interrupted. “We must find the creche today. Purification cannot wait.”

“Give her a break, Lae’zel,” Wyll said. “She misses her family.”

“Tch,” Lae’zel said with an eye roll, but walked away.

“We don’t have to listen to her, you know,” Wyll said when Lae’zel was out of earshot. “You can choose what we do today.”

“I don’t know what we should do,” she replied. “You decide.”

Wyll frowned. “Well, the area where the githyanki were spotted is not far from a little settlement, Waukeen’s rest. There might be a healer staying at the inn there. It’s a longshot, but…”

“That sounds fine,” Linda said. “Lead the way.”

*~~~*

The burning building put Linda over the edge. No way could she handle rushing into flames and smoke to save somebody. Let the young people kick in doors and risk life and limb. Wyll seemed very proud of himself as he rushed in, so Linda just sat down on the edge of the fountain with a soft groan. Minutes passed; she started to worry that perhaps they weren’t going to come back out when a group of sweaty, sooty people stumbled out, coughing. 

When it became clear that Wyll was actually the son of a Grand Duke, Linda’s mind was made up.

“That’s it, Wyll. From now on, you’re in charge,” she said.

“I’m… what?” he asked, bewildered.

“In charge. You make the decisions. I’m done,” she said.

“Um, you’re sure? I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes…”

“I’m sure. I don’t think any of the others can handle it. Magic man talks too much–”

“Magic man?” Wyll asked, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“I’m not good with names!” Linda snapped. “The pale one is too whiny and these two–” she gestured to Lae’zel and Shadowheart– “won’t quit fighting. That leaves you. Help me. Please.”

Lae’zel and Shadowheart both started to grumble, but Linda cut them off with a withering glare honed by years of experience taking care of children and a husband. Wyll eyed them, then nodded and took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll take charge. And make sure everyone gets what they need,” he said pointedly towards the others.

Good. Let Wyll do whatever needs to be done. From here on out, Linda was staying at camp.

[hstylesmermaid]

A Spectacular Fashion Voyage with Taylor Swift's Eras Tour!

As the final notes of the American leg of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour echo in our hearts, let's revel in the extraordinary fashion journey she's gifted us with! From the mesmerizing Lover era to the captivating depths of Reputation, each phase unveiled a distinct style, outfits that spoke volumes, and an aesthetic that transcended time.

She starts the show in her Lover Era with “Miss Americana and the heartbreak prince” followed by the first bridge of the night form “cruel summer”. For this era she has worn three custom bodysuits from Versace, all of them full of rain stones in shades os pink, blue, gold and purple, inspired byDuring this set in “The Man”, over the bodysuit, she wears a sparkly blazer as a dress, also from versace.

Fearless is next, Roberto Cavalli was in charge of creating these dresses that Swift rocked while dancing in a storm. The gold fringe dress was reminiscent of a similar look the designer created for her Speak Now Tour in 2011, the three dresses rememore the ones she wore back them, golden fringe and tassels that belong to her more than ever.

Long story short, while performing various songs from her album Evermore she took the stage in a yellow Etro dress that featured a corset top and beading detail down the front. For her magical performance of “Willow” she added a matching Etro cape. Playing into the woodsy nature of the Evermore album with a darker burgundy color and ruffles throughout Marco de Vincenzo, creative director of Etro, designed another dress for this set.

One of her most dramatic looks was the Roberto Cavalli one-legged jumpsuit. The design features a black sheer sleeve, glittering material and a three-dimensional embroidered snake motif winding from the bottom of her leg to the top of her neck. The ruby red snake contrasts with the black bezels of the design, it was reminiscent of the many bodysuits Swift wore during Reputation Tour as it was covered in black sequins scales.

For the end of a decade and the start of an age, she wore a custom-made Zuhair Murad Couture tulle ballgown – featuring beautiful beading, sequins, pearls and crystal embellishments all over the voluminous skirt and bodice. The impressive dress required 50 metres of tulle, while the elaborate design took more than 350 hours of handwork to create in the brand's atelier. In addition to the shimmering Zuhair Murad gown, after the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) she wore a beautiful lilac Nicole + Felicia ballgown, featuring a tiered tulle skirt that captured the light beautifully, thanks to its crystal-embellished finish. Another gown Swift fought dragons is was a Elie Saab one covered in flower apliqué and shimmery beading.

She was never good at telling jokes but the punchline goes, and she know it too well because she wore a sequinned Ashish t-shirt embroidered with quotes such as “Who’s Taylor Swift any wat? Ew”, “A lot going on at the moment” and “we are never getting back together like ever” with a Gladys Tamez Millinery hat that she gave to different fans every night.

So far we had a marvelous time leading to Folklore where the singer performed in a more delicate look in the form of a floaty, layered lilac dress by Alberta Ferretti. "Thinking about these stage dresses for her also pushed me to reflect on my career milestones," explained Ferretti. "I think what we have created reflects this journey where the key elements of my style stand out: lightness, femininity, romance, attention to detail and a delicate, gentle seduction." She wore a green chiffon gown with a deep neckline, flowing sleeves and embroidered leaf detailing, designed by Alberta Ferretti too. Swift added to her repertoire of beautifully designed dresses in a custom-made orange Etro gown, with an embroidered ruffled bodice.

Darling, she’s nightmare dressed like a daydream in three shimmering two-pieces by Roberto Cavalli. Its beautiful design gave the illusion of crystal water droplets, which moved effortlessly as she performed onstage. She wore the outfit with her go-to sequin Christian Louboutin boots. For the surprise song, Taylor topped this cavalli matching sets with Jessica Jones ruffled dresses in matching colours.

From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes, the last part of the show started with a midnight blue bodysuit full of sequins and rainstones with a matching garter by Oscar de la Renta. In a lighter shade of blue, Zuhair Murrad designed another beaded bodysuit. In the lasts shows in LA, she also wore a bodysuit similar to the one she wore in the 1989 tour, with cut-outs and fringe bottom. Every time, everybody agrees that Taylor Swift wears the best looks on stage, and for Anti-Hero Taylor wears her second Oscar de la Renta look consisted of a sequinned 'aurora borealis' T-shirt dress with a co-ordinating lavender faux fur coat, which also featured delicate crystal droplets. For Karma she vibes like that with a tassel coat just to say see you later to the swifties.

An epic wardrobe, just like her music, just like @taylorswift

If you want to know more about fashion you can follow me on ig itsjessania 🩷✨🫶🏻💕

[synergysilhouette]

Writing another Magnifico villain song

This is like the 4th Magnifico-related song I've written. This is starting to get ridiculous, but I did have two new ideas for Magnifico. First: an idea of what if Magnifico, rather than being a sorcerer, was a fallen star, or even the shadow of our main character Star, who was cast down from the heavens due to innocently granting wishes, only to be taken advantage of and in turn, the heavens gave him amnesia and turned him mortal, making him age like anyone else. When Magnifico decides to grant Amaya's wish--to know where he came from so many years ago--he realizes what happened to him, and how the people of Rosas are making him repeat history. He's angry, he's hurt, and he's ready to take it out on people. He's realizing his full divine-level power after years of putting others before himself, and now he wants to get revenge on the people who ruined him and become a godlike being once more. He only needs to get Star (his brother, so to speak) in order to reclaim his status, as well as throw Rosas into disarray, going from a kingdom of dreams to a kingdom of nightmares. If you need a comparison between Star and Magnifico here, think Vanitas and Ventus (BBS era and a bit of KH3 era).

Second idea: Magnifico is an Evil Queen-like villain who was being manipulated by his magic mirror, having devoured wishes for centuries in order to maintain his youth and power, with said mirror convincing him that this was fine because he only devoured "meaningless" wishes. Over time, the people of Rosas became shallow with their wishes, fueling Magnifico's ideology even more. When Asha wishes Star into existence (or rather, corporeal form), the mirror comes to represent all of Magnifico's negative qualities (fear, anger, sadness, control, etc.), and since he spends a lot of time alone, it gets to him, until he comes to the conclusion that capturing Star and enslaving and/or killing him will give Magnifico unlimited power that will make him the ruler of Rosas for eternity--though seeing how he was mistreated, he plans on razing the kingdom and starting anew with more grateful citizens, which likely involves abandoning Rosas and then taking over a new kingdom and establishing himself as a divine ruler there. Of course, all this curroption is moreso fueling a demonic side to him. While Magnifico is mostly singing to Star and then the people of Rosas in the first idea, this concept has him singing to various people in Rosas, followed by Star during the chorus (in this instance, being in his shadow refers to feeling overshadowed by Star's abilities and luminescence; it's kinda like how Jafar felt overshadowed by Genie).

Either way, I was trying to go for different vibes at different pieces of the song. I'm sure it looks chaotic (I was going from fast and slow interchangeably, as well as the melody change), but hopefully on rereads it feels more cohesive!

I'm in a panic.

Don't understand it.

Trying to stay calm,

Slowly going manic.

Do you get it?

You regret it?

These events are in motion

All because you set it.

I'm crawling and stumbling

How can I be fumbling?

You left me alone

Now the dragon is rumbling!

I am the ocean

You cannot fathom me

I am the storm

You are the ripped up trees

LeT It beGiN...

Falling from the skies....

I never knew why...

I wanted to be free...

From your shadow, can't we...?

No! You missed your chance

I won't let you in.

You ruined me,

Got under my skin.

I granted some wishes,

Fixed famines and droughts,

But you cast me aside,

AND YOU SHUT ME OUT!

(I. CAN'T. BREATHE.)

All of the life you want to

(TAKE. FROM. ME.)

How could you do this?

(UNDER LOCK. AND. KEY.)

Now it's my turn.

(YOU SHOULD'VE LET. ME. BE.)

I'm battered and bruised,

But I'm not one to lose!

And you messed with the man

With your lives in his hands!

I am the ocean

You cannot fathom me

I am the storm

You are the ripped up trees

LeT It beGiN...

Falling from the skies....

I never knew why...

I wanted to be free...

From your shadow, can't we...?

No, it's too late for that. Try to keep in mind that I did try to be reasonable for a LONG time. But you're used to doing things the easy way. But I've spoiled you long enough! I'm sure that very soon, you'll start to see things my way. Sweet dreams, mis rosas.

I never thought I'd be making song rewrites months ago, but I've done it so much by now that it's starting to become a habit. Hope you enjoyed it! I'm also considering making a villain(ish) song with Amaya and Magnifico based on my idea of them being Star's parents. I swear, I need to consolidate all these songs or at least get rid of some of them. I'm pretty sure everyone's confused by now, lol.

[davrosfan23]

I felt they really missed a trick with the final boss in MK1…..so here is my take on how to improve it

The Problem

I found it rather disrespectful that after 30 years Shang Tsung was finally coming back to the series as the sole villain and Final boss. He has always been a prominent bad guy but is usually overshadowed by a bigger villain or has to share the spotlight with someone else . This was his time to shine again as the main antagonist …….and he,s reduced to being a reskinned version of his New era incarnation and has all the same moves despite it not making much sense because they are very different people

He also spent a good chunk of Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath feasting on the souls of others to steal their strength and power…so that should have been implemented……it just comes across as very lazy because they implement boss fights in invasion mode but cant do it for one of the most iconic haracters

APPERANCE

In an ideal world we would bring back Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa to reprise the role but if that was not an option I would give him the following look

He is dressed in extravagant crimson and black robes with the crown of kronika upon his head. His skin has become pallid and corpse like with eyes that now glow a sickly green, He now resembles something akin to shinnok than the mortal man we once knew . He has used to his new role as Time Keeper to dabble further into the darkest of magic and it has corrupted his body

Basic attacks

They do more damage than the average fighter with some of his more powerful moves being capable sending his opponent flying . It makes sense he would have enhanced strenth from taking the soul of Shao Kahn

Special moves

· The triple fireball/: is now his only projectile …..it does more damage and is faster than the new era shangs version

· Triple ground fireball same

· Slashing: This shang does not have the claws so he instead summons 2 lightning swords similar to Raiden in MK 11 and slashes with them**. He absorbed Raidens soul in 11 so is exploiting another skill he gained**

· Spikes: Titan shang summons a large clawed hand from the ground to skewer his foes**. As a godlike being he now wields power similar to shinnok and is at the height of his magical prowess**

. Lightning bolt: summons a bolt of red lighting to strike his opponent.

The soul steal: He draws energy from the crown to create a shield around himself that both protects him from damage and restores a portion of his health (requires recharge so he cant spam it ) The idea here is that thanks to the crown …….he now no longer needs to feed directly on his foe and can simply summon souls  from the crown

· Sindels scream: with the same banshee effect from 11

· Time stop: waves his hand and stops time for a few seconds

· Shape shift : he changes into whoever he is fighting and gains access to their move set

· Rather than shape shifting into an old man he instead shifts between his regular form and Damashi

Fatal blow: He shapeshifts into various people he’s absorbed such as night wolf and Shao kahn to deal heavy damage. This would be similar to his MK11 fatal blow where he became the ninjas.

Fatality 1: He summons a tiny wisp of fire from his hand and sends it into his opponent through their mouth It proceeds to expand within them and basically disintegrates them from the inside out. The only thing that is left is the orb now transformed to the size of a small sun ……floating ominously

Fatality 2: He morphs into Damashi and gently places his/her hand upon the head of whoever they are fighting……and they simply age to dust.

All this gives this iconic villain his due as he reclaims his throne as the final boss ….and makes him truly a Titan

this would be the basic inspiration of his robes …

[reelvibes91]

Frame by Frame: From Classic Animation to Modern Animation

For most people who grew up in the 80s and 90s, they waited with eager anticipation for those new episodes of their favorite animated series. Whether it was Spider-Man, Batman, TMNT, Dragon Ball Z or X-Men, there was always that excitement for what came next.

In the 2000s and 2010s, we saw a shift towards studios wanting to push live action versions of our favorite animated series growing up. We saw several failed takes at TMNT, there have been multiple live action Batman takes, and Transformers tried to appeal to a new generation.

For so many people, these shows defined their childhood and rightfully so. Back in a time when if you didn't rush back from the commercial, you missed crucial scenes. That was hectic. You had 2-3 minutes to refill the drinks and snacks while your friends or siblings stood watch at the television.

Recently, we have seen a shift back to animated tv projects, and they seem to be alleviating some of the genre fatigue. Projects such as Invincible, X-Men 97 and My Adventures with Superman have brought some of that nostalgia back for all of us who missed it.

The success of Into the Spiderverse to me is a big reason why all of this was capable. It brought the younger generation into the mix and showed them what 80s and 90s kids already knew. Animation is just as cool if not cooler than live action. The feats that can be accomplished within animation are phenomenal, and only recently have we seen live action stuff that is equivalent. Even the 80s and 90s live action superhero content is very campy in comparison to what animation was doing through those decades.

You can point the finger at various staples along the way that changed the game for animation. In the 80s, there were transformers, He-Man, and others that set the stage for the 90s, which is arguably the best era for animation. It is great that animation is making a fierce and triumphant return while not giving into becoming contemporary messes. They are still opting for hard-hitting themes and not trying to complicate things with modern messages. The age of amazing animation seems to be upon us once again. I truly implore those who have an interest in animation to explore those that set the trend. Perhaps now they will look a little dated, but as with everything else, it is hard to appreciate where something is without respecting where it came from.

[localsya]

Soooo... I saw you like Star Wars too! Can we get Star Wars/Elden Ring hcs maybe?

Ty if you answer!

helooo! sorry it took me so long to answer but HEHEHE OFC OFC, methinks i will be just giving them sabers according to which color/style/form matches their characters uvu

Elden Ring/Star Wars lightsabers for each character 💛

Ryckard- Inquisitor Saber// Form 2 Makashi

NOT GIVING THIS MAN THE INQUISITOR SABER IS A FUCKING CRIME, red kyber too, his slow decent into the dark forces HMMMM also ryckard is def a form 2 user, this man is an absolute beast in getting the upper hand in one to one duels, insanely skilled too

Ranni- Dual Wield// Form 7 Juyo

the ahsoka set but with purple kyber crystals, ranni would probably be way more strong with the force tho, and def a form 7 user, same reason why purple kybers, 10/10 this woman would use without a doubt dark side force to achieve her goals, bUt tHatS mOrALly wRoNG, yeah thats exactly why 💀💀💀💀

Malenia - Single Curve Handle // Form 5 Djem So

AGAIN SAME AS RYCKARD, red kyber cause this poor girl has seen some shit... not giving this woman count's dooku's saber is a crime, this hilt was literally meant and thought for excellency in one on one duels, combined with form 5 agressiveness and blade to blade skill, lethal combo

Melina - Guardian Saber // Form 3 Soresu

OBI WAN KENOBI OF ELDEN RING SMH, yellow kyber too cause this woman would def be a guardian, a protector of the force rather than a fighter and same reason why her fighting style would be the ultra defence of soresu, same reason why soresu users rarely get beaten

Godwyn- Tirall Lightsaber Pike // Form 4 Ataru

probably one of the best forms of combat, very acrobatic and a show off to look at, very balanced since its also really stronk with the force, yellow/orange kyber for godwyn too since this particular pike would come from the old republic (the dragons era)

Rennala- Lithium Saber // Form 3 Soresu

FINALLY A BLUE SABER JESUS, very elegant and sleek, quick and light to handle, same as ranni rennala would be much stronger with the force and its why soresu fits her perfectly, she would def be a very defense wielder and most of the time would rely on the guidance of the force, blue kyber not only because of caria but because... this is the way.

Marika/Radagon- Crossguard Saber // Form 7 Juyo

Its inestable as hell, crystal quite literally broken, red kyber for obvious reasons (that would originally be yellow and maybe white once the age of stars ending is reached) and same as ranni, a very rare fighting form to use that would without a doubt use morally doubtfull ways to win a duel

anyways gonna do only those methinks, kinda missed a bit answering these kind of asks, ty anon uvu 💕

[voidcat-senket]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @hxhhasmysoul and @subdee!! <3 <3 <3 who are both v lovely go like. look at their blogs. anyway

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

.161

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

520,484 - 27% of that is one fic looool

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now just HxH and SW:Fallen Order series. Sherlock and Star Trek AOS were big ones too

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Closing the Space (Between Us) - again its 27% of my wordcount! It deserves it! the Hunter x Hunter Killugon Reunion fic of my dreams. I am SO PROUD of this one I have handed it to irl friends! On purpose! My partner got me a physical copy for Xmas 2021!

2. Crying Over Yuuri - a Kyou Kara Maou! fic, which is a fandom I am amazed is still being read. It's a Wolfram POV fic where he, you got it, cries over Yuuri. Pretty fluffy ending. I credit the numbers to the fact that not a lot of fic gets written for KKM anymore so it doesn't disappear under all the new stuff

3. Not Unusual - A ST:AO3 Academy Era McKirk. Bones gets a bunch of clues to something going on with Jim... he gets it a little wrong, Jim freaks out because this man has Issues, but it resolves in the end. I wrote this one as a pinch-hit for an exchange back when I was still RPing Jim Kirk @thewinningscenario

4. 5+1: Are They Or Aren't They? - Somehow my Mystrade (Sherlock BBC) still gets hits with fair regularity and I'll never understand why. It's definitely not my best work but it's cute! 5 times people weren't sure if Mycroft and Lestrade are dating, and the time they know (because they receive a wedding invitation!!)

5. One Flew East, One Flew West - a Killugon Modern AU in which Killua and Gon meet at a Psychiatric Recovery Center, with Kurapika as another patient and Leorio as a therapist. written for HxHBB2020. I'm very fond of this one. It makes me cry <3 I'm so happy there's so much fandom diversity in these! (The next 11 are all either HxH or Sherlock, l o l )

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I wish I could say I did! I mean to! Sometimes I am not in a good place so I mean to do it later and then I forget..... whoof. I am so thankful for each and every review, and I want to repay that!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I wrote a LOT of fics in my teens where people died (not all of them are on A03, it didn't exist at the time. I'm not giving you my ff.net ;) ) Surely, one of them! More recently, I wrote a Dragon Age: Inquisition Lavellan/Dorian in response to Dorian preemptively breaking up with me (rude!) that is Pretty Hecking Angsty. It's tagged "hurt no comfort"

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Closing the Space (Between Us) did so much work to get where it was, and they ended up with Everything! My boys <3 (And Alluka)

8. Do you get hate on fic?

Very rarely! I'm pretty lucky in life that I don't get hate generally. Maybe it's because I'm not Out There enough but- who cares! People are nice and sweet and lovely mostly, and I love writing fanfic for/with them :3

9. Do you write smut?

Sometimes it will appear in other fics. I don't really do PWPs, and smut itself is pretty rare because I don't include it unless it's... necessary? Kinda? Like if the story demands it. I personally only read smut in certain moods, so when smut's included I make it easy to skip, but it certainly exists

10. Do you write crossovers?

It depends! In my Sherlock days I had a Sherlock/Stargate Atlantis crossover series and a Sherlock in the HP universe series, but I haven't done any recently.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! I heard people copy fics over to Wattpad sometimes but I've never looked. I'm not usually in MegaFandoms anyway, so I don't think I'm in any real danger.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES!! A few different Sherlock ones! (I guess I was pretty well known in the Mystrade sphere?? IDK that was back on livejournal. Anyone else miss KinkMemes?) I think one got translated to Russian and one to Chinese. Both reached out to me and asked for permission first, which I of course granted! It's very flattering <3

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Way way way back in my teen years I cowrote a few times- one in YuGiOh and one in Fruits Basket with a high school friend. Recently I am technically cowriting a fic with @spyscrapper atm- I say technically because its really an rp l o l (Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Canon Divergent Spyscrapper, it's pretty hecking cool! And painful! :D ) I once cowrote a fic where the other author just like. eliminated my plotline. so. It's not always good, but it's still fun to try!

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I refuse to pick One. Killugon (HxH), McShep (Stargate Atlantis), Seishirou/Subaru (Tokyo Babylon & X/1999) and any combination of McSpirk (Star Trek) have probably had the most long-lasting impact on me. And

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

I often feel like I should finish Pulling The Trigger because it's an interesting casefic and I like the thought of a mystery, but... it's 12 years old at this point, so...

16. What are your writing strengths?

Nature-themed metaphors and descriptions! And I feel like I have pretty strong character points of view! Oh, and angst. I'm good at angst. >:)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Planning 🙃 oops what's that. And I use adverbs too much! (but it's fun so I'll keep doing it)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

It depends why! If a fic is from the POV of Character A and Character B is talking in a language they don't understand, for example, it's fine to use it (though please provide a translation for your reader!) The language switch has to be for a specific reason, and if the character understands it the reader should too. (In One Flew, Gon and Killua sometimes swap to Japanese to disguise their conversations from everyone else- I show that by changing their conversation to italics in most cases.) I definitely wrote a fic as a teen that had all Japanese because I was a weeb and... lol don't do that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Yugioh, 2001!! It was probably two paragraphs long hahaha

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Closing the Space (Between Us) for sure! God it's so good. I am begging people to read it. If you're going to read One Thing I have written in my entire life-so-far, please let it be that!!

"Tag 20 people:" that seems like a lot hahaha uuhh @spyscrapper @avtorsola @mmuffncakes @nightingalesighs @etoiline @iwishtocountthestars @unicorncoalition @shalnarkonice @missinkylace @thefledglingdm 10 is a reasonable number. but tbh if you wanna do it, do it, I wanna read ur response!

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

don't get me wrong, i enjoyed black sails, but i really don't understand why it's so revered as "peak queer cinema" when it wouldn't even show two men kissing. and yes, there were lesbians and wlw but is no one questioning why they were so willing to depict those sex scenes when the mlm stuff was mere implication? it doesn't even get the excuse of the time it was released, because spartacus came out in 2010 and depicted quite a few mlm and wlw sex scenes over the seasons.

Yeah. Like I'm not saying you have to hate black sails or whatever. But I watched the first episode and tbh as a gay man the scene between Max and Eleanor made me feel like the scene just was not for me. I know that sounds weird and self centered but what I mean by that is that there's scenes with two characters who love each other that, even if they appeal to people sexually attracted to the characters, also have enough emotional weight to make it so that it still appeals to people who are not. For example many of my lesbian mutuals went insane when Stede slammed Ed against the wall despite the fact that presumably they are attracted to neither of them. But the scene with Eleanor and Max was like way too sexually gratuitous in a way that I could feel appealed primarily to straight men way too fast for me to be like "oh good for them" because frankly as much as I liked Max, she was operating on the hooker advantage for me (also hooker), and with the amount of characterization they got and the amount of personality that scene had it felt very much like "look at the manic pixie dream girls kissing each other" and then i saw gifs of the black sails kisses with two men:

And it's like... Oh so you're appealing to a Certain Audience here. We're having young thin attractive women make out in the first episode but we won't even show you Flint kissing his man in proper lighting.

Like I have no animosity towards black sails fans but we have to acknowledge that this is prestige TV coming out during the game of thrones era which is trying to capture the Game of Thrones market. I've been critical of the fact that they depicted Max, a black queer sex worker, being sexually assaulted at the behest of Charles Vane but honestly I think that speaks mostly to the shows Black Sails was trying to capture the market of. They knew people liked that shit in game of thrones and they wanted that dragon money. They gave us some gay characters as well because the golden age of piracy was pretty gay and they wanted to give it some flavor, but not so gay that the missed out on that market. And I guess thats fine it seems to be how you're meant make a show in this day and age unfortunately. But I wouldn't say it's super groundbreaking.

Anyway I'm making this unrebloggable and not tagging it I learned my lesson from the last Black Sails vs OFMD poll

[gretchensinister]

Book Recommendations 2023!

Hello from someone who read 111 books this year! Time for favorites and recommendations!

Favorites:

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang: I read this back in January 2023 and when I did I was like, “Did I read my favorite book of the year already in January?” Well, I did. In a world where the British Empire solidifies its power with silver infused with magic based on translation, a Chinese boy becomes an Oxford student and then has to decide what he’s going to do in the face of this system. Absolutely fantastic. (Also scratches that “school story + magic” itch that we’re all supposed to pretend we never liked.)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: This one was pure fun, about students in a magical school with reasons for “no adults” and “high risk of death” that I was down with for the world. Main character has been foretold to be the most powerful evil wizard in the world. She doesn’t want this.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson: This is a nonfiction book by a lawyer who is working against the death penalty, and I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about WTF is going on in the current US criminal justice system.

Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections by Shaun Tan: Art, highly charming art of creatures and monsters.

Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: This is the first book of the series The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which I loved as a child and decided to reread this year. It’s about a princess who decides to go work for a dragon as the dragon’s princess, because it’s better than being wooed by a stupid prince. Fun, earnest fantasy. Also Kazul (King of the Dragons, she/her) please call me I love you.

Translation State by Ann Leckie: Things I really liked about this were that it included people in widely varying strange situations trying to figure out their futures. And one of the people doing this was a middle-aged adult. Also involved one of those Advanced Sci-fi Intimacy situations with two other people, which I always enjoy hollering about.

Revelations by Mary Sharratt: This is a novel about Margery Kempe, a medieval mystic, her life, and her travels, taking the work of Julian of Norwich to other communities in secret. This book really stood out to me because I found it really showed a deep understanding of the era it depicts, and the characters really feel like they have the framework of their time. I’m not a medievalist but I think I have read more than average about the European middle ages and that’s what I’m basing this opinion on. I thought it was very beautiful and very human.

The Wordhord by Hana Videen: This is a nonfiction book about Old English with chapters on topics like “health and the body” “travel” “occupations” etc. The idea is to examine what we can tell about the lives of Old English speakers based on the words they had. A significant amount of Old English vocabulary is included. Made me want to start putting Old English puns in the next thing I write but maybe I recovered from that.

Other recommendations:

Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez: Do you want to know WTF is going on with the Christian Right in the United States? This will help.

Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning: Another book that I felt helped me understand a little more of WTF is going on re: the military/security culture

The Stones are Hatching by Geraldine McCaughrean: This is a book I read as a kid and missed a lot of because I didn’t know about a lot of traditional British faeries/creatures. I think anyone interested in folk horror as a genre would have fun reading this. It didn’t go on my favorites because the main character’s older sister is treated fatphobically to a degree that taints the overall book for me.

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots: This is a fun book about a woman who makes a living as a henchperson for supervillains. After she gets injured by a superhero, she starts analyzing the actual cost of superheroes to the world, and this work leads her to working for one of the world’s top supervillains. I think this isn’t in my favorites because...IDK, it’s like...it felt vaguely like a reply to one of tumblr’s endless writing prompt posts? It’s good, and I know I have no room to talk about the tumblr style or whatever, but there’s a certain vibe...I don’t know how to describe it. I really do still recommend it.

NOTE: Reading is my main form of entertainment. I’m not keeping up with movies, videogames, TV shows, comics, etc. I have no qualifications with these recommendations except that I am a person who read 111 books this year.

[mrscorpio]

[Electronica/Beats] MrScorpio's HOUSE FIRE Podcast #301 - June Sweetness Edition - 23 Jun 2023 Mixcloud: http://bit.ly/Mixcloud301 D/L: http://bit.ly/DL-HF301 Shows: http://bit.ly/ScorpioPodcasts

Name/Artist/Album Tropical Twilight/Rick Wade/Golden Era Deceiver (VIP Extended Mix)/Green Velvet, Chris Lake/Deceiver 4Real (Extended Mix)/Piem/4Real Scatted Dub/Red D/Novelties EP Hallelujah In Heaven feat. Andreya Triana (Groove Assassin Extended Edit)/The Vision, Ben Westbeech, KON/Hallelujah In Heaven Groove Assassin Extended Edit Beggin' (Extended Mix)/Aluna, Chris Lake/Beggin' In2u/Maya Jane Coles/In2u The Function (Extended Mix)/CID, Sage Armstrong/The Function It's in My Ears/Gallegos/Permanent Vacation 8 Good For Ya (Pezzner Remix)/Rework/Good For Ya Fallenquas/Byron The Aquarius/Black Man Of The Echo Tree The Truth/Theo Parrish/Free Myself Breakdown (Ft Jack Johnson)/Handsome Boy Modeling School/White People Fresh for the Summer/Termanology/The Summer Pack F#$%@#$%ck Yoooouuuu feat. Thirstin Howl III & Lathia Black/Cool Calm Pete/LOST (Director's Cut) Flashback/Boldy James & ChanHays/Prisoner of Circumstance Out Of Service (feat. Josiah The Gift)/Royalz/Bloodsport None Of These feat. Termanology/Wais P & Dame Grease/Pimp Grease Boy Meets World(prod.by Emani)/Thought Provokah/I Let My Tape Rock Til My Tape Pop Text Me When You Get Home (feat. Lola Vialet & Uhmeer)/Full Crate/A Kid From Yerevan Danny Ocean/Maze Overlay/Nouveau Antiqua SURPRISE (WITH JAMIE WOON)/ROLROLROL,Jamie Woon/MUSIC Cloak Folk Business/The Doppelgangaz/Black Cloak Lifestyle (Deluxe) The Pope And The Pastor (Feat. Ab-Soul)/Al-Doe & Spanish Ran/Holy City Zoo Little Miss Petty (Feat. LS+B, Thurz, Speed Walton & Point Of Realization)/Shafiq Husayn/So Gold Legna/The Gaslamp Killer & the Heliocentrics/The Gaslamp Killer Meets the Heliocentrics Legna Past Life (feat. Alex Bent + the Emptiness)/Factor Chandelier/Moving Like a Planet Aged Eyes/Alfa Mist/Variables Late May/ChasBeats/Concrete Hustle Gold/Little Dragon/Gold

Send me your tracks at Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/mr_scorpio Check out all your tracks on my show THE HOUSE FIRE/ every other Friday @6-8 PM GMT on InvaderFM: http://invader.fm Stream the podcasts at my Mixcloud: bit.ly/MrScorpiosShows Friend me up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mrscorpio247 Look me up on Tumblr: http://mrscorpio.tumblr.com Shoot me your videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MrScorpio

Peace,

Scorp

[ausetkmt]

Allah supreme: how Pharoah Sanders found freedom and rebellion in Islam | Pharoah Sanders | The Guardian

The day the music died was 24 September 2022. On that Saturday, the legendary tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, a man who blew his horn “as if he was a dragon breathing fire”, passed on, at age 81. With his death came the end of a majestic era, a time of saxophone spirituality and musical mysticism that will probably never be surpassed or even replicated. Sanders, like so many of his generation, channeled spirit into song, drawing inspiration from a panoply of sacred sources.

For a while, younger hip-hop generations also found words and meaning in a similar kind of search, and the music –along with the quest – continued.

But jazz has changed and hip-hop has changed.

Never mind that only some of these artists adopted the faith itself. It was their notes and their tones that counted. Plaintive, modal, quarter-toned and chromatic, these aural landscapes of east and west and everything in between stretched the imaginations of both players and audiences. Inside the music, new alliances were forged between people and with all that was holy.

To some people, though, the music just seemed cacophonous and angry. White critics often didn’t understand. Even as astute a thinker as the English Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote, in 1959, that jazz’s “flight into Mohammedanism or some other non-white culture” was a way to “sidestep” a rising avant-garde jazz that was seeking white acceptance. Describing the era, Hobsbawm explained that “the marvelous political awakening of all the oppressed and underprivileged in Roosevelt’s America put a new tone into the jazz musician’s instrument: open resentment”.

If all you heard during the long civil rights era was an endless blow of rage, you were missing out since you weren’t listening. The love was everywhere and all over the music. The piano player Ahmad Jamal told an interviewer: “I get my approach to life from the Holy Qur’an. I belong to the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. Our motto is, ‘Love for all; hatred for none.’” (Many of the jazz musicians of that era came to Islam through the Ahmadiyya movement, a religious revivalist movement that began in late 19th-century India. It was led by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a charismatic reformer who believed he had received divine revelations that required him to promote the unity of all religions as manifest through Islam. Ahmadis came to the USA in the 1920s and found receptive audiences in African American communities.)

And it was a love supreme. I’ve argued elsewhere that Coltrane’s most famous song, A Love Supreme, has its own Islamic echoes (the chant “a love supreme” starts to sound a bit like “Allah supreme” after a while). Pharoah Sanders, who played with ’Trane starting in 1965, extended Coltrane’s legacy after his death in 1967.

Meanwhile, Sanders continued to build his own spiritually inflected, religious ecumenical style. His 1969 hypnotic track Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah meditates on the words “Prince of peace / Won’t you hear our pleas / And ring your bells of peace / Let loving never cease” for an enveloping and achingly beautiful 15 minutes. His classic The Creator Has a Master Plan had its own second coming when it was re-released in a trip-hop remix in the mid-90s. The Trance of Seven Colors, Pharoah’s work with the master Gnawa musician of Morocco Mahmoud Guinia is simply transcendent on an interstellar plane.

And it was a way of connecting to Africa. “The Christianity of the slave represented a movement away from Africa,” Amiri Baraka wrote in this classic text Blues People. “It was the beginning of Africa as ‘a foreign place’.” For the jazz musicians of this long and spiritual era, to reconnect with Africa was more than idle curiosity. It was a way of suturing back an essential part of you that had been forcibly torn from your collective body generations ago. By the mid-1950s and 1960s, African-themed events at nightclubs and restaurants in Brooklyn and Harlem abounded, with UN diplomats from newly independent African countries frequently dropping in. The jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston described the era: “Many of the African countries were just getting their independence. And the wonderful thing about being in New York, the United Nations is there. So I had an opportunity to meet many African diplomats. Many people from Kenya, from Nigeria, from Ghana, from Egypt, many parts of Africa. And I would always talk to them to try to understand a little more about the continent.”

Weston eventually relocated to Morocco for about five years and traveled throughout the African continent before returning to the USA in 1972. “I went on a spiritual trip back home,” he told DownBeat magazine in 1998, referring to Africa. “I wanted to hear where I came from, why I play like I play, why we play music like we do. We went to about 18 countries, and wherever we went we asked to experience the traditional music of the people. Hearing the traditional music was like hearing jazz and blues and the Black church all at the same time.”

Weston also joined forces with master Gnawa musicians in Morocco. (He was playing with them and learning from them before Sanders did the same.) Others, such as Alice Coltrane, were moving in more eastern directions while still others, like Sun Ra, lived in intergalactic space and called us all to move in with him.

The spiritual jazz movement continued, but it didn’t take long for it to be eclipsed by other trends, everything from commercially accessible fusion, launched by the likes of Miles Davis, to the less accessible avant-garde innovations of Cecil Taylor or Albert Ayler. By the 1990s, jazz was also firmly ensconced in the ivory tower, featuring at prestigious arts institutions such as Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.

Still, the Islamic influence in American popular music never went away, though it did change addresses. Shifting from sound to word, Muslim references could now be found more in the new hip-hop than in the new jazz, even if hip-hop Islam was a yet more heterodox creed than the one found within the Ahmadiyya community. Foundational hip-hop artists including Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and the Wu-Tang Clan were invoking the words and numbers of the Nation of Gods and Earths, an offshoot of the Nation of Islam.

Five Percenter language has permeated the pop cultural lexicon. For example, the “G” in “wassup, G?”is not “gangsta”, as many might think, but “God”. In this creed, Five Percenter men are considered Gods, and Five Percenter women are known as Earths. “Dropping science” is a term from the Five Percenters, as is the emphatic term “word”, a short form of “word is my bond”.

Scholars have written on the important influence of Five Percenters on early hip-hop. But there are also other, more mainline Muslim influences on the American scene. Five Percenter doctrine was foundational in hip-hop, but it operated as an esoteric language among the educated and enlightened. The way the language and numerology (with an emphasis on the number 7) operated was to signify kinship and belonging, which was particularly important in the early hip-hop years. But other Muslim rappers, often associated with Sunni Islam, performed their deen, their faith, more in line with the jazz tradition that preceded it, as a search for self.

Mos Def is hardly the only one who invokes this devotional search. A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip (Kamaal Fareed) is another. “Praise the Lord of the worlds that’s unseen / Respect me for that and let me do my thing,” we hear in the song Get a Hold. More recently, the Five Percenters, the Nation of Islam, and Sunni Islam (and more) tentatively unite to find a home in the lyrical power of Jay Electronica. “All I have in this world is my flag and my sword / I’m on the battlefield with the flag of my Lord,” rhymes Electronica in Fruit of the Spirit. “My shahada is my cantada / My heart chakra light up when I make sajda at fajr.”

While spiritual quests such as Jay Electronica’s aren’t as common in today’s hip-hop, the search hasn’t disappeared entirely. After all, the history of Black music shows us time and again how the journey seeking the divine produces such a profound musical experience.

And that’s what Pharoah Sanders leaves behind. His was an unyielding search for a way to transcend the secular ugliness of this world, and with his passing Sanders may have finally achieved that goal. Yet music – like all that is holy – never dies. And Pharoah’s saxophone will honk and shriek and envelop all our senses, reverberating to heaven and back, and maybe even beyond.