#i need to find a way to consistently draw jay. i used to draw her a lot but then my art stule changed WILDLY

[ghostspokebloggin]

🌋 OC in camping or adventuring gear for jay ^^

Bustin' out the good leather jacket for this JFJJDN

[soundsfaebutokay]

So I've recc'd this video before, but it deserves its own post because it's one of my favorite things on youtube. It's a Tedx Talk by comics writer, editor, and journalist Jay Edidin, and I really think that it will connect with a lot of people here.

If you live and breathe stories of all kinds, you might like this.

If you care about media representation, you might like this.

If you're neurodivergent, you might like this.

If you're interested in a gender transition story that veers from the norm, you might like this.

If you love the original Leverage and especially Parker, and understand how important it is that a character like her exists, you will definitely like this.

Transcript below the cut:

You Are Here: The Cartography of Stories

by Jay Edidin

I am autistic. And what this means in practice is that there are some things that are easier for me than they are for most people, and a great many things that are somewhat harder, and these affect my life in more or less overt ways. As it goes, I'm pretty lucky. I've been able to build a career around special interests and granular obsession. My main gig at the moment is explaining superhero comics continuity and publishing history for which work I am somehow paid in actual legal currency—which is both a triumph of the frivolous in an era of the frantically pragmatic, and a job that's really singularly suited to my strengths and also to my idiosyncrasies.

I like comics. I like stories in general, because they make sense to me in ways that the rest of the world and my own mind often don't. Self-knowledge is not an intuitive thing for me. What sense of self I have, I've built gradually and laboriously and mostly through long-term pattern recognition. For decades, I didn't even really have a self-image. If you'd asked me to draw myself, I would eventually have given you a pair of glasses and maybe a very messy scribble of hair, and that would've been about it. But what I do know—backwards, forwards, and in pretty much every way that matters—are stories. I know how they work. I understand their language, their complex inner clockwork, and I can use those things to extrapolate a sort of external compass that picks up where my internal one falls short. Stories—their forms, their structure, the sense of order inherent to them—give me the means to navigate what otherwise, at least for me, would be an impassable storm of unparsable data. Or stories are a periscope, angled to access the parts of myself I can't intuitively see. Or stories are a series of mirrors by which I can assemble a composite sketch of an identity I rarely recognize whole...which is how I worked out that I was transgender, in my early thirties, by way of a television show.

This is my story. And it's about narrative cartography, and representation, and why those things matter. It's about autism and it's about gender and it's about how they intersect. And it's about the kinds of people we know how to see, and the kinds of people we don't. It's not the kind of story that gets told a lot, you might hear a lot, because the narrative around gender transition and dysphoria in our culture is really, really prescriptive. It's basically the story of the kid who has known for their whole life that they're this and not that, and that story demands the kind of intuitive self-knowledge that I can't really do, and a kind of relationship to gender that I don't really have—which is part of why it took me so long to figure my own stuff out.

So, to what extent this story, my story has a beginning, it begins early in 2014 when I published an essay titled, "I See Your Value Now: Asperger's and the Art of Allegory." And it explored, among other things, the ways that I use narrative and narrative structures to navigate real life. And it got picked up in a number of fairly prominent places that got linked, and I casually followed the ensuing discussion. And I was surprised to discover that readers were fairly consistently assuming I was a man. Now, that in itself wasn't a new experience for me, even though at the time I was writing under a very unambiguously female byline. It had happened in the letter columns of comics I'd edited. It had happened when a parody Twitter account I'd created went viral. When I was on staff at Wired, I budgeted for fancy scotch by putting a dollar in a box every time a reader responded in a way that made it clear they were assuming I was a man in response to an article where my name was clearly visible, and then I had to stop doing that because it happened so often I couldn't afford to keep it up. But in all of those cases, the context, you know, the reasons were pretty obvious. The fields I'd worked in, the beats I covered, they were places where women had had to fight disproportionally hard for visibility and recognition. We live in a culture that assumes a male default, so given a neutral voice and a character limit, most readers will assume a male author.

But this was different, because this wasn't just a book I'd edited, it wasn't a story I'd reported—it was me, it was my story. And it made me uncomfortable, got under my skin in ways that the other stuff really hadn't. And so I did what I do when that happens, and I tried to sort of reverse-engineer it to look at the conclusions and peel them back to see the narratives behind them and the stories that made them tick. And I started this, I started this by going back to the text of the essay, and you know, examining it every way I could think of: looking at craft, looking at content. And in doing so, I was surprised to realize that while I had written about a number of characters with whom I identified closely, that every single one of those characters I'd written about was male. And that surprised me even more than the responses to the essay had, because I've spent my career writing and talking and thinking about gender and representation in popular media. In 2014, I'd been the feminist gadfly of an editorial department and multiple mastheads. I'd been a founding board member of an organization that existed to advocate for more and better representation of women and girls in comics characters and creators. And most of my favorite characters, the ones I'd actively seek out and follow, were women. Just not, apparently, the characters I saw myself in.

Now I still didn't realize it was me at this point. Remember: self-knowledge, not very intuitive for me. And while I had spent a lot of time thinking about gender, I'd never really bothered to think much about my own. I knew academically that the way other people read and interpreted my gender affected and had influenced a lifetime of social and professional interactions, and that those in turn had informed the person I'd grown up into during that time. But I really believed, like I just sort of had in the back of my head, that if you peeled away all of that social conditioning, you'd basically end up with what I got when I tried to draw a self-portrait. So: a pair of glasses, messy scribble of hair, and in this case, maybe also some very strong opinions about the X-Men. I mean, I knew something was off. I'd always known something was off, that my relationship to gender was messy and uncomfortable, but gender itself struck me as messy and uncomfortable, and it had never been a large enough part of how I defined myself to really feel like something that merited further study, and I had deadlines, and...so it was always on the back burner. So, I looked, I looked at what I had, at this improbable group of exclusively male characters. And I looked and I figured that if this wasn't me, then it had to be a result of the stories I had access to, to choose from, and the entertainment landscape I was looking at. And the funny thing is, I wasn't wrong, exactly. I just wasn't right either.

See, the characters I'd written about had one other significant trait in common aside from their gender, which is that they were all more or less explicitly, more or less heavily coded as autistic. And I thought, "Ah, yes. This explains it. This is under representation in fiction echoing under representation in life and vice versa." Because the characteristics that I'd honed in on, that I particularly identified with in these guys, were things like emotional unavailability and social awkwardness and granular obsession, and all of those are characteristics that are seen as unsympathetic and therefore unmarketable in female characters. Which is also why readers were assuming that I was a man.

Because, you see, here's the thing. I'm not the only one who uses stories to navigate the world. I'm just a little more deliberate about it. For humans, stories formed the bridge between data and understanding. They're where we look when we need to contextualize something new, or to recognize something we're pretty sure we've seen before. They're how we identify ourselves; they're how we locate ourselves and each other in the larger world. There were no fictional women like me; there weren't representations of women like me in media, and so readers were primed not to recognize women like me in real life either.

Now by this point, I had started writing a follow-up essay, and this one was also about autism and narratives, but specifically focused on how they intersected with gender and representation in media. And in context of this essay, I went about looking to see if I could find even one female character who had that cluster of traits I'd been looking for, and I was asking around in autistic communities. And I got a few more or less useful one-off suggestions, and some really, really splendid arguments about semantics and standards, and um...then I got one answer over and over and over in community after community after community. "Leverage," people told me. "You have to watch Leverage."

So I watched Leverage. Leverage is five seasons of ensemble heist drama. It's about a team of very skilled con artists who take down corrupt and powerful plutocrats and the like, and it's a lot of fun, and it's very clever, and it's clever enough that it doesn't really matter that it's pretty formulaic, and I enjoyed it a lot. But what's most important, what Leverage has is Parker.

Parker is a master thief, and she is the best of the best of the best in ways that all of Leverage's characters are the best of the best. And superficially, she looks like the kind of woman you see on TV. So she's young, and she's slender, and she's blonde, and she's attractive but in a sort of approachable way. And all of that familiarity is brilliant misdirection, because the thing is, there are no other women like Parker on TV. Because Parker—even if it's never explicitly stated in the show—Parker is coded incredibly clearly as autistic. Parker is socially awkward. Her speech tends to have limited inflection; what inflection it does have is repetitive and sounds rehearsed a lot of the time. She's not emotionally literate; she struggles with it, and the social skills she develops over the series, she learns by rote, like they're just another grift. When she's not scaling skyscrapers or cartwheeling through laser grids, she wears her body like an ill-fitting suit. Parker moves like me. And Parker, Parker was a revelation—she was a revolution unto herself. In a media landscape where unempathetic women usually exist to either be punished or "loved whole," Parker got to play the crabby savant. And she wasn't emotionally intuitive but it was never ever played as the product of abuse or trauma even though she had survived both of those—it was just part of her, as much as were her hands or her eyes. And she had a genuine character arc. My god, she had a genuine romantic arc, even. And none of that required her to turn into anything other than what she was. And in Parker I recognized a thousand tics and details of my life and my personality...but. I didn't recognize myself.

Why? What difference was there in Parker, you know, between Parker and the other characters I'd written about? Those characters, they'd spanned ethnicities and backgrounds and different media and appearances and the only other characteristic they all had in common was their gender. So that was where I started to look next, and I thought, "Well, okay, maybe, maybe it's masculinity. Maybe if Parker were less feminine, she'd click with me the way those other characters had." So then I tried to imagine a Parker with short hair, who's explicitly butch, and...nothing. So okay, I extended it in what seems like the only logical direction to extend it. I said, "Well, if it's not masculinity, what if it's actual maleness? What if Parker were a man?" Ah. Yeah.

In the end, everything changed, and nothing changed, which is often the way that it goes for me. Add a landmark, no matter how slight, and the map is irrevocably altered. Add a landmark, and paths that were invisible before open wide. Add a landmark, and you may not have moved, but suddenly you know where you are and where you can go.

I wasn't going to tell this story when I started planning this talk. I was gonna tell a similar story, it was about stories, like this is, about narratives and the ways that they influence our culture and vice versa. And it centered around a group of women at NASA who had basically rewritten the narrative around space exploration, and it was a lot more fun, and I still think it was more interesting. But it's also a story you can probably work out for yourselves. In fact it's a story some of you probably have, if you follow that kind of thing, which you probably do given that you're here. And this is a story, my story is not a story that I like to tell. It's not a fun story to talk about because it's very personal and I am a very private person. And it's not universal. And it's not always relatable, and it's definitely not aspirational. And it's not the kind of story that you tend to encounter unless you're already part of it...which is why I'm telling it now. Because the thing is, I'm not the only person who uses stories to parse the world and navigate it. I'm just a little more deliberate. Because I'm tired of having to rely on composite sketches.

Open your maps. Add a landmark. Reroute accordingly.

[starksvixen]

Best Shot - Part 1

Warnings: Some angst, mentions of death, little bit of fluff, some gore but not too detailed, mentions of sex trafficking, poor description of medical terms.

Word Count: 1021

Prologue - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 (finale)

-~-

“Dr. Rhodes,” you say with a smirk. “We meet again.”

“Yes, we really must stop running into each other like this. I clean up much better then this.” he replies with a similar, flirtatious smirk. 

“I’ll take your word for it,”

“What do you know about the victim?” Jay quickly interrupts, a tense aura radiating off of him at your flirting. It left a weird feeling at the pit of your stomach. 

“We found her outside of Med,” Connor explains as he takes you both to the victim’s room. “She has blunt force trauma to the ribs and hips, bruising pretty much everywhere on her body. I need to take her to surgery to put plates on some of her broken ribs. There is trauma to her uterus and cervix, which leads me to conclude that she was being sexually abused and trafficked.”

“Poor girl,” you whisper softly. 

“Can we talk to her?” Jay asks.

“Maybe it’s best if (Y/N) goes first, she’s only comfortable around women at the moment.” 

With a simple nod, you walk into the room and close the curtain, offering the fragile girl any privacy she may have left. Before you can even begin to ask questions, the tattoo on her wrist reveals it all to you. A viper around a cross, the tag of Chicago’s most known sex trafficker. 

“Hi, I’m Detective (Y/L/N), I’m part of the Chicago PD.” you explain softly.

“Are you here to stop him?” a tiny voice erupts from the pile of limbs and blankets in front of you.

“Do you mean Quentin Diaz?” 

The girl slowly shifts towards you, revealing a broken, battered face clouded by a mask of tears. She slowly nods, her entire body vibrating at the very mention of his name. 

“Yes, I’m here to stop him. But first, I need you to tell me everything you know about him.” 

-~- 

You stand in the bull pen, looking at the sprawling board in front of you as the team tries to make sense of the wild goose chase Diaz has you on.

“He was last scene dumping our Jane Doe by Med, any ideas to why he could be there?” Voight asks, leaning against a desk.

“Maybe a trade for a better girl, or even just to dump her?” Jay says. 

“No,” you interject. “Diaz and his men, they own their women until they die. A dumping or a trade wouldn’t make sense. This sounds like they were using Jane Doe as bait.”

“Then that means they must have some kind of hide out or base nearby.” Jay says. 

“Alright, I want every unlicensed or abandoned building flagged and remotely searched for suspicious activity. Halstead and (Y/L/N), you’ll case any that seem like a hit. The rest of you, try to find any consistencies between the cases.”

You and Jay nod before quickly leaving the bull pen and heading outside. Jumping into Jay’s truck, you quickly load up a building you know on your phone’s map. 

“Already have a place in mind?” he asks. 

“Yeah, this place always seemed to suspicious to be abandoned.”

“Let’s check it out then,” 

Jay drives through the packed Chicago streets towards the building. Once he parked outside the building, a familiar face had already popped up. You immediately call Voight, his gruff voice amplified by being on speaker phone, but your thankful for the distraction of Jay looking towards you.

“We spotted Quentin outside of the building on Cherry and Mohawk. I think we found his hiding spot.”

“Both of you, get as close as you can to the building without raising suspicion. I need to know a way into that building with a clear shot.” 

“Yes sir,”

Hanging up on Voight, you quickly hide your badge in your belt, your gun in your waistband and put on your coat and beanie. Jay mimics your movements and quickly gets out of the car. With a shaky breath you prepare yourself for what’s coming. 

“You okay, (Y/N)?” Jay asks from beside you, worry and suspicion drawing his eyebrows downwards. 

“Always,” you whisper with the fakest smile you can plaster on. 

Just the smallest glace at his face and you know your reply has left him unconvinced. Nevertheless, he wraps his arm around your shoulder and holds you close to him. Shakily, you reach up and hold the hand that is slacked around you and smile.

“So what should we have for lunch, babe?” Jay says to you.

That word hits you like a punch to the gut. 

“You know I’m not that picky,” you reply with a smirk. 

Both of you cross the street, goofy smiles and small sounds of chatter along with laughter acting like a shield to the reality of your act. But still, you lose yourself in the moment. Pretending that for a while, Jay was actually yours. That he felt this way about you and that this was your life. 

The mirage is quickly interrupted when you spot Quentin walking straight towards you, his head pointed half to the ground but just enough to see your faces. 

“Baby, don’t look now but I think that’s your favorite celebrity.” you whisper. 

The secret code word between you two alerts Jay to Quentin’s presence. His speedy pace towards you fills your veins with adrenaline, ready to run, shoot, or fight at any moment. 

“Nah, I have my favorite celebrity in my arms right here.” he says with a smirk. 

Quentin gets way too close for your liking. You go to pull Jay into a hug to hide your faces, but he chooses a different method. Pulling his arm off your shoulder, he cups your face in his hands and kisses you. 

The mission fades from your mind, the looming threat no longer a worry. All you can think of are how soft his lips are, how calloused his hand are right where he holds his gun so tight. Without a second thought, your hands find their home on his chest, and your lips dance the same steps as his. 

When he pulls away, uncontrollable tears spring to your eyes, no matter how hard you push them away. You take a step away from Jay and quickly case the building. Simple back entry accessible from the alley way and a broken window you or Jay could easily shoot from. 

“Woah, (Y/N) what’s wrong?” Jay says as he notes the unshed tears in your eyes.

“Nothing,” you brush off. “it’s just the cold air.”

Pulling your phone out, you call Voight about your findings, Jay’s eyes filled with more worry and confusion then before. 

“Alright, get your asses back here and suit up. We have a plan.” 

Taglist: (leave a comment to be added)

@shipshipshipau 

[dossi-io]

An introduction to DeVita

Do you want to learn all about the AOMG artist DeVita? This article will cover everything you need to know about the third female member to join the labels roster.

The content of this article is also available in video format, embedded at the bottom of this article.

Prelude

In early April of 2020, the Korean hip-hop label AOMG ambiguously announced that a new artist was signing onto the label. This label was grounded by the Korean-American triple-threat; Jay Park, who’s also one of its executives. This is a label with a very organic feel and artist-oriented nature, which stands out compared to many other music labels.

On April 3rd, the label’s official Instagram account posted a video. It was titled, “Who’s The Next AOMG?” where fellow AOMG members talked about this upcoming recruit. They sprinkled small hints and details by sharing their thoughts on the artist without mentioning who.

Around the world, fans immediately began speculating on who this could be. The major consensus was that it had to be the solo artist Lee Hi, due to reporting like this: “AOMG responds ‘nothing is confirmed’ to reports of Lee Hi signing on with the label”

A few other names got thrown in fan speculations like Hanbin (B.I), previous member of IKON, Jvcki Wai, and MOON (문) aka Moon Sujin. This despite a few of these already being signed to other labels.

On April 6th, three days later, the account was updated with a part two. This time dropping more hints, which would exclude many names from fan speculations.

On the 7th of April, the label’s official Instagram account posted a short teaser. The video sported an 80’s retrofuturistic setting, with a woman turned from the camera, dressed in all black, rocking braids, and some glistening high-heels. As it seemed to be a female, some were now certain that it had to be Lee Hi. A small few actually guessed correctly that the one who would be joining AOMG would be Ms DeVita.

Finally on April 9th, it was official! She debuted with the music video, from which the teaser clips was taken from, EVITA!, which accompanied the release of her EP, CRÈME.

What does the name DeVita mean?

The name DeVita, draws inspiration and meaning from two things. Firstly, Eva Perón – also known as Evita – who was Argentina’s former First Lady. When Chloe was learning about Eva’s life, it inspired her to combine “Devil” and “Evita”, thus creating “DeVita”. The name signifies the duality of how both Eva Perón and DeVita could be perceived. Either being a devil, or an angel depending on the eye of the beholder. Secondly, Salvatore Di Vita, a character from Cinema Paradiso, was also a source of inspiration.

An introduction to DeVita

Chloe Cho – now known under the artist name DeVita – was born and raised in South Korea, until the age of eleven. In 2009, she moved to Chicago, where she would learn English.

In 2013, she went back to Korea and participated in the third season of the show; K-pop Star. A talent show, where the “big three” (the three largest music labels in Korea) hosts auditions to find the next big k-pop star. However she didn’t win, therefore neither got signed.

Later on, she returned to Chicago and graduated high school. After reflecting on what she wanted to do next, she decided to make music. In 2014, her pursuit to become an artist brought her to the talent show Kollaboration. On this show, she performed covers and actually ended up being a finalist. Despite her talents, she did not triumph as the winner of the show.

Not letting these losses stop her, she started releasing music on Soundcloud. The earliest release I could find, Halfway Love (Ruff), was from 2016. Her catalogue consisted of both covers and original music.

One day, Kirin, an artist and CEO of the music label 8balltown Records, was introduced to DeVita’s music. He liked what he heard and the two linked up. In May of 2018, WEKEYZ, one of 8balltown’s producer duos released a track titled Sugar. This track featured both DeVita, and the AOMG rapper Ugly Duck. This was the beginning of many collaborations to come.

On August 28th of 2018, just a few months later, AOMG released Sugar (Puff Daehee Mix).

This was a remix done by Puff Daehee, the alter ego of Kirin. Along with this track, it was accompanied by a music video starring Kirin, DeVita, and Ugly Duck. For most people, this was their first time seeing DeVita.

DeVita continued doing features on many songs by Korean artists while creating a little buzz for herself. There’s one notable feature, which could be seen as an important milestone in her career. That is her feature on the track Noise, from AOMG artist Woo Won Jae’s project, titled af.

In a tweet a few days after the release of CRÈME, she shared the significance of this moment.

“I was still making minimum wage working at a restaurant back when Noise dropped- I wrote my part during my shift on the back of this receipt paper. This was about a year and a half ago. A little bit after that I got a call from Pumpkin at 3am Chicago time. He said Jay wanted to meet in Philly in 4 hours. They put me on a plane and the rest is history.”

The phone call she mentioned in her tweet, about Jay wanting to meet, must have been made around September 2018. Jay was performing in Philadelphia at the time. The moment they met in Philadelphia was actually captured through a photo of the two. However, this picture ended up getting removed later on.

Fast forward a few months and Jay had just released his Ask About Me EP. The project focused on a western audience, so he went to the States on a promo run. During his visit, he also met up with DeVita once again, as can be seen here.

Finally, on April 9th, her being signed to AOMG was officially announced and she debuted with her EP titled CRÈME. Her joining AOMG, looked like something that happened pretty naturally. The vast majority of artists she had collaborated on tracks with happened to be AOMG members. Getting comfortable with the AOMG family, likely made the decision to join crystal clear.

Artistically

Just a quick look at her body of work thus far, a majority of it is in English. However, she has no issues singing in Korean, as proven by her feature on Code Kunst’s; Let u in. The tone in her voice has this sort of mixture of many singers, a melting pot of sorts. It reminds me of Audrey Nuna, SAAY, H.E.R, some vocal riffs from Dinah Jane, and at times, just a tiny bit of Ariana Grande.

As an artist, she’s still in the early stages of carving out her own unique sound and style. There’s incredible potential here, but her distinct identity is not completely there yet. I see before me a caterpillar that within a couple years, will transform into a butterfly, with its own identifiable pattern to spread its wings out on.

From what she’s shown so far, I would say she seems most comfortable doing R&B and soul music. However, beyond a quick description I prefer to refrain from categorizing her. Mostly because artists generally feel limited when categorized. More importantly, because we have no idea what she has in store for the future.

Debut EP: CRÈME

CRÈME is DeVita’s “crème de la crème”. She constantly modified the tracklist to present her debut project in a way that held her personal standard; essentially presenting us her best tracks. The result is CRÈME, which consists of five tracks, with a runtime of fourteen minutes altogether.

This EP showcases the fact that she is a competent songwriter, able to write some soulful, emotional ballads. It is completely in English and all the tracks are written by her, telling both life stories of her own and that of others. A majority of the production was handled by her “musical soulmate”; TE RIM, but other notable names, like Code Kunst show up as well.

Tracks:

Movies, introduces the project in a very gentle manner. In the track, DeVita paints a picture of a criminal couple, getting a rush, by committing crimes together. The lyrics feel inspired by movies like Bonnie and Clyde. My initial thoughts were that, for some ears, it could possibly be “too” calm as an opener. It doesn’t demand attention the way EVITA! does. Simply put, it’s not a bad track. I would just have put this track later on in the EP.

EVITA!, is something different compared to what I hear from others in the K-R&B lane. I love the 80’s aesthetic in both the track and music video. Sonically, the nostalgic saxophone riffs, warm lush synth pads, thumping bass line, results in a trip back to the 80s. With this recipe, topped with DeVita’s “current” contemporary soul and R&B voice makes for an interesting combination. The music video had that futuristic 80’s look with the neon colors, and I loved how the guns she played around with looked a lot like the “Needlers” from the Halo franchise.  The title is once again just like DeVita’s name, an ode to the controversial Eva Perón. The instrumental was originally used by TE RIM, the producer of the track in 2017. His version has the same title as DeVita’s version and I recommend giving that one a listen as well, as it has a different feel to it. This track was definitely one of the highlights of the EP.

All About You, is a simple yet beautiful piano love ballad. Originating from her own tales of love, her vocals effortlessly capture what she felt during these moments.

1974 Live, is yet another ballad, but this time, with a calm guitar backing, playing a poppier R&B chord progression. DeVita’s voice is given a lot of space to be in the center of the track. As soon as I heard this track I became curious. What was the significance of this year, which would have her title the track as such? My questions were left unanswered… until the EP had marinated a while, when she tweeted: “1974 Live is about Christine Chubbuck”. In case you’re unfamiliar, Christine Chubbuck was a television news reporter, who made history in 1974. She was the first person to commit suicide live on air. According to her mother Christine’s suicide would on paper be due to an unfullfilling personal life. All throughout her life, she had experienced unreciprocated love. With this information tying back to the track, it becomes a lot less ambiguous and reveals a more cohesive narrative.

Show Me, is the final track of the EP, featuring immaculate production from the talented CODE KUNST. The sound is very moody, which fits her voice like a glove. This is my favorite performance on the entire EP, both lyrically and vocally. The lyrics present someone who’s fed up dealing with men, who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. Now she’s looking for love with someone who’s honest and “real”.

With the project being a year old now, it has already gotten her nominated for both Rookie of the Year along with EVITA being nominated for Best R&B & Soul Track in the 18th iteration of the Korean Music Awards.

A majority of listeners seemed to enjoy the project. Many seem to be in love with her voice judging by the endless amounts of praise she has received, often described as painfully addicting, soothing, smooth, and so on.

I also asked a friend who’s a huge fan of Korean music, especially the hiphop and r&b scene to share her thoughts on the project. Here’s what she said:

"This whole project is empowering, in particular the tracks Show Me and EVITA! DeVita being a new artist, managed to impress me and many more listeners through this EP. As mentioned earlier, empowering lyrics with unique melodies and beats. Especially with the track EVITA! The fact that 1974 Live and EVITA! was referring to, two historically important women, is something that I love. This is one of my favorite EP:s of 2020 and DeVita is now included in my list of favorite artists." @Haonsmom

From what I’ve seen, only a few have been vocal about not really being too fond of the project. Some were left a bit disappointed, as they were expecting more hip-hop and R&B from an AOMG artist. The lack of “danceable” tracks was also a concern to some. Despite these criticisms, one thing was always mentioned; the girl has a beautiful voice and is obviously talented.

After listening to this EP, I hear a lot of potential. Being an EP with just five tracks, it definitely avoids overstaying its welcome. It’s brief enough to allow a listen through the entire project, no matter what you’re doing. My favorite tracks would have to be Show Me and EVITA!, but I found the whole project to be enjoyable. This EP is sprinkled with lovely vocal performances and simple but captivating production. I do still stand by my opinion that Movies would have fit better later in the tracklist if you’re chasing that mainstream ear.

I think the way EVITA! kicks you in the face, demanding attention, would’ve been a better fit as the opening track. In contrast to the other tracks, the energy level is unique, making the placement feel odd as the rest of the tracks have a chill vibe. All in all, this project gave me a taste of the “crème” but left me with a curious yearning for what this chef will whip up for dessert.

Bright future ahead

The addition of more female artists to the AOMG roster was much needed. Hoody was the first and only female member for about four years. This was the case up until late 2019, where she was then joined by sogumm, who had just won AOMG’s audition program called SignHere. Now funnily enough after DeVita, Lee Hi actually did end up officially signing with AOMG on July 22, last year.

Based on what I’ve heard during Devita’s Kollaboration days, she has improved immensely. This topped with her leaving the impression of someone passionate about their craft, bodes well for what's to come. She seems to be someone who'll constantly evolve.

Following an artist, at the early stages of their career, is something that I always find exciting. With such a lovely debut, I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for DeVita.

To view the content of this article in video format simply play the video embedded below.

Thanks for reading, watching. If you enjoyed this content feel free to follow my socials to stay up to date on when new content is posted.

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Credits:

The first image in article: Original photo, pre-edit from @jinveun

Gif from the Sugar Puff Daehee MV: @moxiepoints

[thegeekerynj]

All Death Metal Review (And nothing from Sweden!)

Death Metal: Trinity Crisis One Shot 

Writer: Scott Snyder   Artist: Francis Manapul

‘And who are YOU supposed to be? I’ve faced enough Dark Knights that no Batman scares me anymore!

Ha! Then it’s a good thing I’m not a Batman! I’m his MOTHER!’

———————————————————————————————————

Sweet Christmas! That took me by surprise!

Harley kissing Jonah Hex, that was really sweet, and gods awful creepy, and kinda gross,  after the exchange, and some thought…

This is it, Gentle Readers… the Beginning of the End of the Beginning of… Oh, crap, now I’m lost… This is where the story starts rockin’!

The Gang’s all together, and the Black Lantern Bat has determined what they need to do.

The plan? Split up, naturally. That AL-ways works…

When we left them in DM #3, the Lanterns are protecting the Home Base, and taking out the Crisis Energy Antennae on the Earths left in the known Universes, The Flashes are off and running through the Speed Force, trying to find Metron, and stay ahead of the Bathattan who Laughs, while the Trinity (Superman / Antilife, Black Lantern Batman and  Warden Wonder Woman) along with Swamp Thing, Harley, Hex and Jarro, head for Castle Bat, to gain access to the Crisis Earths, where the Crisis Energy is being harvested for Perpetua.

**WHEW!**

Getting into the Castle involves getting past an army of Dark Knights… and we have a bunch of real winners here! 

Bat Monday - Salomon Grundy in Bat ears, I could have busted a gut laughing, until I thought about what kind of weapon a zombie with Batman’s training could be, and shivered…

Kull, the daughter of Batman and Wonder Woman, corrupted by the Dark Universe…

Ark, the living embodiment of Arkham, with all of the knowledge and abilities of ALL her worst inmates…

Chiroptor, the amalgam of Batman and Chemo (Great Elder Gods!!)… 

And the Pearl, Martha Wayne, in the equivalent of HellBat Armor, complete with her iconic pearl necklace.

This is a real mindscrew for Batman, and the panels depict it, most intently.

One nice thing about Scott Snyder… he is consistent about tying up loose ends. Once we are in Castle Bat, we find out what happened to Barbatos, the Big Bad from Dark Nights: Metal. Not that we were actually wondering, since we got Perpetual, and the Batman Who Laughs, but, like I said, it ties up the package nicely.

Then, we are introduced to the character I have been most happily waiting for… the Robin King, and his Utility Belt of Death!

Gentle Readers, this is the story we have been waiting for, the chapter which tells us what the Heroes Plan of Action is, and where the story has been going, for over 40 years. You see, the opening page of this book tells us where this story began… with Marv Wolfman and George Perez, and Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Not to spoil too much, but Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and Final Crisis, ]well… they have all played a part in getting us to this story. It seems, the “Crisis Energy’ has fed Perpetua while she was trapped within the Source Wall, and, now, she wants it all, so she can recreate the Universes in her image.

Great job, if you can get it…

I can’t say enough good things about this story and artwork, as Snyder and Manapul have put together a really tight, hard hitting bottle / lead story, bringing us to the next step in the saga… 

Jeebus on a popsicle stick, I hope no one lets me down… that will hurt!

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

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Death Metal: Multiverse’s End #1

Writer: James Tynion IV   Artist: Juan Gedeon

‘Mr. Rabbit?

Yes, Young Lady?

Thank you for saving me.

What a kind thing to say! It was so scary out there, and you stayed so brave. I don’t think I could have done it without your courage.

You’re really, really soft.

I use a special carrot shampoo.

———————————————————————————————————

Once upon a time, about a million, bazillion years ago in cranky fat man years, somewhere around 1982, Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw! brought Earth-C into the DC Multiverse, the earth of anthropomorphic animals… yes, they brought Super-Hero Cartoon Animals to the Super Hero Universe.

Our introduction to this Earth was Rodney Rabbit, a comics writing and drawing hare, who created the Just’a Lotta Animals comic by day, and was Captain Carrot, a Superman-esque rabbit, who got his powers from super charged carrots, when danger struck.

But, I digress… because I got really excited!

So, we have teams on the 6 Earths, each Earth holding a tuning fork, focusing the psychic pain energy of the population to Perpetual, powering her attempts to recreate the Multiverse in her image. The Earths in play, Earth - 3 (Crime Syndicate), Earth - X (Nazi Earth), Earth - 29 (Bizarroworld), Earth - 43 (Blood League World) and Earth - 50 (Justice Lords Earth) are all worlds of pain and suffering.

Their energy is the right flavor for destroying, and creating.

The heroes, organized and led by the Green Lanterns of Sector 2814 (Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz), are working to take down the Antennae before the energy can be fed to Perpetual to power her Cosmic Undoing. 

So, teamed with the Lanterns, we have Hawkgirl, Kid Flash (Earth-22), President Superman (Earth-23), Wonder Woman (Earth-6) and Captain Carrot, all hellbent on stopping the respective Antennae.

The problem… Each Earth’s inhabitants have been laced into the antennae, to directly feed the psychic energy to it..since the energy is effectively terror, well, what better way to induce some? Of course, this isn’t the only problem to be contended with…

Leave it to James Tynion IV to come up with a way to make a villain creepier than the Batman Who Laughs… How, you ask? Well, take the true polar opposite of Batman, and make him realize HE IS what Giggles says he is, and you have an interesting new ballgame.

You see, while the Batman who Laughs is the Ultimate CORRUPTED Batman, Owlman is the Anthesis of Batman, the purest EVIL to the Batman’s GOOD. And he plans to make sure that he continues to be the True Opposite…

Gedeon’s artwork is rough, but considering the story being told, and the pain portrayed by the characters, it fits, perfectly. Some times, I see Joe Staton and Nic Cuti in these pages, a little cartoony, but that’s not a complaint… The story concentrates a bunch on Guy Gardner and Cap, so, it seems to fit (and the art is reminiscent of the ‘A Guy and his G’Nort’ storyline from 1991). 

All in all, a very good story, and a fantastic use of a truly underused treasure.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speed Metal #1

Writer: Joshua Williamson   Pencils: Eddy Barrow   Inks: Eber Ferreira

‘Hey, Flash Family, Is it true a Flash has to die in every Crisis?!’

———————————————————————————————————

And the levels of snark from the Darkest Knight have reached Epic Levels!

The first three pages of this issue give us a rehash of everything  having to do with Wally West, since the beginning of the Rebirth Era, from Barry pulling Wally out of the Speed Force, to Barry and Batman finding the Comedian’s Smiley Face button embedded in the Batcave wall, to the events of Heroes in Crisis and Flash Forward.

The action picks up as Barry, Wally, Wallace and Jay leave the Batman’s Vault, in search of Metron’s Chair, with the Darkest Knight hot on their trails. 

In the Speed Force.

With the Darkest Knight’s presence corrupting the Speed Force, Barry and Wally bickering the entire time, I’m reminded of why I hated the post Crisis Flash… Wally wasn’t mature enough to wear the mantle of Barry’s fame.

Sure, he had the speed, he was even faster than Barry, but he was still the same jealous little kid inside, the one who needed to be patted on the head, the one who couldn’t get on with the Titans, even though he was probably the most powerful of them. 

He was just an immature kid, and here, Williamson dragged that all into the foreground once again.

All so Wally West, the King of the Redemption Arc, could have another Redemption Arc…

Sorry, that did me in. 

The rest of the story is pretty good… the art is wonderful, the Jay / Barry / Wallace interplay is really kinda neat, and all the Black Flashes… well, I’m a sucker for Death icons, so a mass of Death Speedsters, well that’s fun with a CAPITAL F!

But, did we need another Wally gets to whine story?

Sorry, this wasn’t the finest arc of the Death Metal Saga.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death Metal #4 ‘Shot In The Dark’

Writer: Scott ‘Scream King’ Snyder   Artist: Greg ‘The Muscle’ Capullo  Inks: Jonathan ‘Bloodied’ Glapion

“So, ever wonder why you never see A Harley Who Laughs’?’

———————————————————————————————————

And, that Gentle Readers, is the crux of one of those puzzles about this series… Why don’t we ever see more twisted versions of the Villains who infest Earth Prime?

The Robin King (this is the character who rates SECOND on my memorable Characters list, especially with his own One-Shot—— Who’s First?? Time, Gentle Ones in time…) puts the explanation out there, and it is very simple.

And worth the read… But, I digress.

So, Issue 4 picks up with Sergeant Rock describing what has been happening on Earth - Prime, and we finally get to see who has been carrying him around… AMBUSH BUG! Yes, the character that made the Fourth Wall more transparent than an open Anderson window has been carrying Rock around as his own personal narrator…

Which, if you know the Bug, is a joke unto itself.

So, here we go, the ride is picking up steam, and we are now following 6, count’em SIX, separate story lines. A guy could get whiplash, or Bullwhip or some other third rate character… But, I digress.

We have the Trinity storyline, the SpeedMetal storyline, Multiverse’s End, and the Lantern Storyline from the last issue, the Justice League / Legion of Doom story… am I forgetting anything? 

Oh, and of course, the Robin King.

Where to start with this… I guess the simplest place to start is the artwork.

Greg Capullo’s pencils are absolutely wonderful. For anybody who it's to watch the process of drawing I want to watch so he's got a really wonderful touch I recommend Greg Capullo’s Instagram site. As he's drawing pages for these books, he posts the pencils as he finishes pieces of the process . Normally, he has six or seven photo panels showing exactly what he's been doing.  In man cases, this involves crowd scenes, with extensive detail. His work is beautiful, it’s easy to see why he is such a sought after talent.

Jonathan Glapion’s inks on Capullo’s pencils are comparable to Austin on Byrne, and Janson over Miller, Janson over Colan… Enhancing, and not hiding the intricate detail rendered in the pencils, adding that last flash of lightning to bring it all together. The balance struck between them is almost organic, a constant growth between the two, bringing them to levels bordering on the true Classic Art teams of the last 50 years.

I do not make these comparisons lightly

Now, to the story. Scott Snyder is powering a roller coaster with a rocket sled. The coordination between the different aspects of these stories is both intricate and daring. With all the different aspects of this story spinning like plates on sticks, Snyder juggles the plot lines, and what is left to him by the myriad of writers as Emmet Kelly did in the heyday of Ringling Brothers.

His deft touch, and subtle influences are balanced by lace covered sledgehammer blows, leaving the reader reeling, and wanting so very much more.

Scott Snyder, much like Tom Taylor, has pulled out all the stops, cut the brake lines, kicked out the jams, insert favorite euphemism for creating a high speed, non-stop mad ride to Hell!

And, much to my wallet’s chagrin, I am very happy about it.

Now, as it crosses to other books, and other writers pick up the reins, I am sure Snyder will still be the whip hand driving the story, not allowing some of these writers to go too far astray (unless it’s Tom King… then, well Woo Hoooo!)

I can’t say enough good things about this story, or the team creating it. I’m beginning t feel a little biased, but, what the heck.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death Metal: Robin King #1 ‘The Robin Who Would Be King’

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi   Artist: Riley Rossmo

‘Aw! Come on, this is the fun part!

Get up and let’s FIGHT!’

———————————————————————————————————

Games, within games, within games…

So, the Batman who Laughs wasn’t infallible.

And the Robin King is going to be the bigger threat to the Darkest Knight than any combination of the Trinity, Flashes or their cohorts.

At least, that’s my takeaway from this issue.

We continue the story of the Robin King, as started in the Tales of the Dark Universe one shot.  Bruce has grown up, and grown into his sociopathy, and genius. He has used the family fortune to get all the training necessary, and to accumulate all the tools, to begin his reign as the true Evil Overlord of Gotham.

Utilizing his accumulated weapons, he has taken out Commissioner Gordon, Firestorm, Animal Man, Adam Strange Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), and the Red Tornado, all in truly spectacular and extraordinarily grisly fashion.

While the Black Hole Implosion for Firestorm was a particularly well thought out death, I think, so far, the ‘Mortal Coil’ Death, for the Red Tornado was the most imaginative… making his powers totally uncontrollable, while moving him closer to his ultimate dream, to be a real person, before his form totally destroys itself from the stresses of his own speed.

Marvelous! Fantastic! Gross!

Enter the Batman who Laughs, with the proposition to make the Robin King special, one of his own…

But, he’s a Robin, so, off to the Groblin Pit he goes!

Hence, his mistake, and possibly another chink in the boiler plate of his plans… since Bruce Wayne is NO Robin!

Peter Tomasi’s scripting for this issue is simply remarkable. The creep factor he brings to this iteration of Bruce Wayne is almost eviscerating. Reading this was painful to my eyes and psyche, feeling the levels of insanity drip off the page, and scratch across my mind like a little bird’s unnaturally sharp talons.

He really hit all the horror factors.

Then, there was the artwork for this story. Riley Rossmo’s artwork set the mood for this story. His shattered pencil / inks style, which can be distracting, was integral to telling this story. It allowed the Reader to view this story as if it were playing out in Bruce’s mind, its all the fracturing being how he is viewing the world.

For me, this story has been the highlight of the series… thus far. I am anticipating this, which is near the midpoint of things, is setting up the Wednesday Night Episode…so, - 

Tune In, Gentle Readers! 

Same Bat-Time

Same Bat Channel!

The Best Is Yet To Come!

Did I neglect there is a B-story, with Signal, Spoiler, Orphan and Red Robin taking on Quietus, the amalgam of Batman Ras’ al Ghul and Duke Thimas, from another Dark Universe, written by Tony Patrick and drawn by Daniel Sampere?

This story brings in a plot line for ‘What’s happening for the Other Bat-Family Elements’, as they try to find their way through Castle Bat’s myriad streets… 

I am guessing we will start to see more of these stories.

I am completely fine with this, rather than having to recap things later…

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

[black-streak]

Waiting for the Worms - Don't Leave Me Now

Part 20

So funny thing, I had this chapter 90% finished at the beginning of last weekend and planned on having it out by then. Instead I got horrifically sick AGAIN. I hate January through February. I either stay consistently sick or contract acute bronchitis. There are no exceptions.

Anyways, there's probably only four chapters left of this story, if that. So hopefully I'll get those out faster without so many pauses between. As always, thank you for your patience and support.

CLOSED LIST of ridiculously nice and patient people: @northernbluetongue @thethirdwheelfriend @shizukiryuu @theatreandcomicfreak @michellemagic @karategirl119 @moonlightstar64 @my-name-is-michell @mystery-5-5 @zalladane @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @miraculousdisapointment @dorkus-minimus @jardimazul @allthebooksandcrannies @g-arya @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @persephonescat @mycupisbroken @luciferge @18-fandoms-unite-08 @dawnwave16 @alwaysreblogneverpost @kris-pines04 @emjrabbitwolf @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @weird-pale-blonde-person @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @kokotaru @naclychilli @slytherinhquinn @clumsy-owl-4178 @ladybug-182 @darkthunder1589 @evil-elf16 @dast218 @lysslovsanime @emilytopaz @naoryllis @iloontjeboontje @thepeacetea @danielslilangel @finallyaniguana @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @vixen-uchiha @yuulxd @bleeding-heart-romantic @magic-inthe-stars @st0rmy-w1th1n

~---~

Barbara knocked on their door at eleven on the dot, rolling in and immediately greeting Tim, who laid across the couch where he'd spent the night until they could find a more permanent sleeping situation. Jason stood frozen in the doorway to the bedroom, barely registering as Mari came up behind him from the bathroom only to stop dead as well.

"Hey Jay. Been a while, hasn't it?" Babs spoke with a strained smile, tears glittering in the corners of her eyes.

He saw Tim dart his eyes back and forth between the two before a startled expression stretched across his features, turning back towards him and Mari, the latter gripping tightly to the back of his shirt, "You were gone before the incident."

"What incident?" Mari growled out behind him, hands clawing at his back in agitation until his hand reached back for her own, in which she immediately adjusted to hold on.

"The Joker. He captured me not long after you died. I hear someone took care of that though?" She rolled closer from her wheelchair, and wasn't Jason just so grateful his soulmate chose an accessible complex. Exhaling a shaky breath, he moved forward to give her a hug.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's gone now."

…

The four of them sat together for an hour, discussing what had happened to them all, Tim staying mostly quiet about his own past, but cutting in to help Barbara along with her story at times. Damian stayed away in his room, tuckered out socially from the last few days and deciding today would be dedicated to drawing in his room away from prying eyes. Occasionally he ventured out to get a drink or check on them, but otherwise kept away.

As time seemed to pass and Babs reacquainted herself to the two, finally understanding why Alfred use to treat Jason like two seperate people at times, the boy to Jason's left slowly seem to slouch in his seat. Apparently the ease in which they interacted with someone he trusted helped them into the teen's better graces. When the teen came to rest on folded arms and fell into a doze, he considered this an appropriate time to ask, "How often does he get sleep? I know for a fact he didn't get any last night."

"He's a work in progress on the sleep front. Never had anyone to force a sleep schedule on him so he's been awake most nights."

"You mean?" Mari asked.

"Absentee parents. Gone now, but just not present when he was growing up. Between the neglect and lack of praise, he's got a bit of a complex. Stays up even more since he's been with Bruce."

"I wonder how much he'd hate being kept to a more rigorous schedule," Mari wondered.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to try. You seem pretty good at using logic to force him into seeing your way and with how he's been acting since we found him, that's likely what he'll respond to," he stood up and made his way closer to the sleeping figure, "I'm going to lay him up in our bed, hopefully he'll take a while to wake up."

With that, he wrapped tucked an arm under legs and tilted Tim carefully into his chest in a bridal carry. The second he lifted, the teen jerked awake, attempting to escape his hold that had tightened to keep him steady. 

"Yo, Tim, knock it off," he half growled as he avoided another flailed limb only to relax when the smaller one went still, eyes training on him.

"What… Why are you carrying me?"

"You fell asleep on the table. Just getting you somewhere more comfy. Relax birdy, I'll set you down in a second," Jason relayed, continuing into the main bedroom, ignoring the watchful look from behind as he sat Tim down into the bed, "Just go back to sleep, we'll wake you up to say goodbye to Babs before she leaves," he called over his shoulder, leaving the door open behind him so that the cautious Robin could keep track of them and listen in enough to calm once more.

"You're taking this a lot better than I would expect," Barbara commented as he rejoined them around the counter.

"Which part?"

"Being replaced."

"I wouldn't say we took it well, per say. We did go after Bruce a little and launch him across the sky," Mari cut in quietly, sipping from her mug.

"Well yeah, there's that," she chuckled, "but I was speaking more towards your reaction towards Tim specifically."

"It's not like it's his fault Bruce doesn't know when enough is enough. I get that Tim sought the position himself, but that doesn't take the responsibility off of Bruce's shoulders. I'm not going to hold that over his head, especially considering he was, what, twelve? Thirteen when he became Robin? Just a kid. I doubt his intentions were so dark as to want to replace a dead boy."

"Thirteen, yeah. He's fifteen now, but he seems so much older and yet so much younger at times. It's strange," Babs responded, looking towards where she knew Tim lay awake, listening.

"We were all forced to grow up too fast. It's insane to think we're only two years older than him. I feel ancient and yet he looks so young."

"You still look young yourself."

"Oh shut up, you know what I meant."

"What do you plan to do with him?" Babs asked carefully, looking towards Mari more than himself.

"Nothing," he responded for her.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," he offered a small grimace, "If he'd like to stay with us, we'll take him in, but that's up to him. We're not going to push him to do something just because we deem it the right thing to do."

"Hmm, I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

Out of his peripheral, he took satisfaction at seeing Tim finally settle fully into the bed, slowly drifting back to sleep.

…

Three nights passed when Tim overstepped an unknown boundary. In hindsight, it should have been obvious, if not expected to happen. The innocence in the act only made it all the worse for those involved. 

Everyone knew Tim never slept proper hours. The other occupants, however, tried to keep relatively normal hours if only for the sake of the youngest, who needed a consistent schedule. Tim assumed the others to sleep lightly if at all, considering all of their pasts. In a way, they proved him right.

Marinette heard a whisper in the night, pulling her from her slumber and into full, rigid consciousness. That was not Damian.

It ghosted softly across the floor, picking its way over to her side where she could almost feel the soft breath it released near to her face. Had it not been for her training, the sounds and air pressure change would never even occur to her. As it was, she felt her muscles coil tight as a spring, keeping everything still so as not to give herself away. When the hand descended towards her shoulder, she grabbed the thin wrist and twisted it down, forcing the body to kneel bedside with the captured arm atop the bed as she launched herself behind him and yanked a dagger from under her pillow tight across his throat, not enough to cut, but enough to get the warning across. 

Move and you die.

The person cleared their throat a few times and called up tentatively to her bedmate, who sat up the moment they moved, "Jason?"

Jason jumped up immediately and gripped large, callused hands about her shoulders, ducking his lips near her ear, "Mari? Bit of a hostile hold you got on Tim there. Mind loosening it up?"

Snapping into focus once more, she took in her captive, seeing the thin frame and silky black locks, the slight fearful tinge to icy blues. Marinette couldn't help but scramble back into Jason's arms, dropping the dagger and kicking it across the room. Tim turned slowly, eyes meeting her own in a wary stare.

"I'm so sorry, Tim, I didn't even recognize you and I- that's. That's no excuse. I'm so very sorry I hurt you, you don't deserve to deal with that," she felt her body shake, eyes watering in the corners as she felt arms tighten around her.

"Are you okay? Did you need something?" Jason inquired in a deep soothing voice, eyes trained on the teen before them.

"I'm fine. It was nothing, I'll leave you be. Sorry I came in without permission," he stated calmly, ice blues not betraying anything.

"It's alright. If you need something at night, approach me, yeah? Less jumpy."

His eyes flashed before her with something, maybe surprise, before shutting off again, "of course. I'm going to move now," Tim directed at her, making her flinch, but nod slightly.

He picked his way around the edge of the room, closing the door behind him. Marinette slumped into Jason's chest, "I fucked up, didn't I?"

"Not your fault, buttercup. It'll probably be a set back, but there's not a thing you could do bout your gut instincts."

The next morning, Tim was gone.

…

A week passed before he reappeared.

They heard from Barbara that he stayed at her place for a few of the days, traveling on others, but never returned to the Manor. When he showed up, his lips gave a sheepish little smile, eyes squinting ever so slightly and shoulders tense as Damian answered the door for him.

"Ugh, the stray is back," Damian stared up at him, narrow eyed at the boy who upset his Mari. When Tim didn't move, the kid's lip curled up, "Well get in already," he prompted, watching Tim enter and closing the door behind him.

Marinette kept quiet as Jason and her prepared dinner, exchanging glances and coming to a decision wirelessly as they placed down a fourth plate. When they all sat about the table, Tim hesitated by his chair, a confused twist to his lips.

"You don't have to eat if you're not hungry, but I would like if you sat with us," Marinette addressed him, with enough reassurance on her voice and apology in her eyes to convince him to sit down and tuck in to the meal they set before him. As the other three talked, listening whenever he decided to speak up or moving on when he seemed uncomfortable with a topic, they watched as Tim's shoulders slowly relaxed, forearms no longer pressing into the table, fists delicately cradling his fork instead of in fists around the metal. Marinette couldn't be sure what changed his mind and made him come back, but Jason had a hunch.

Dinner ended with Tim asking to stay the night. One night turned into many.

…

On his fourth night, Marinette and Jason woke to the sounds of hushed voices outside their door.

"Don't go in, she won't recognize you in sleep. It's dangerous."

"Of course she is dangerous in her sleep. She was trained to assume any approaching unknown is set to attack and kill. She will not attack me. Let go."

"She didn't even recognize me, you're going to get yourself killed."

"Did you go to her before in her room? Make yourself familiar at a time she wasn't sleeping?"

There was silence for a long while, until finally a hushed response, "Her subconscious mind sees me as an unknown. I haven't really leaned one way or the other to them while awake either. Of course neither of them would take well to me coming into their sanctuary while they're vulnerable. You're their kid, I'm just a flighty presence until I tell them otherwise." 

At this point, Damian opened the door, casting a look back at Tim as he walked up to her and climbed up between the two and snuggling into her waiting arms.

She met eyes with Tim over Damian's head, sure that Jason was doing the same. The teen had a contemplative look, before pained understanding dawned upon his features. He nodded to them and closed the door. They could hear him shuffle back over to the couch, settling down into it. 

Soon. 

Whether anyone was ready for it or not, Tim would make his decision soon, and they all knew it.

[danwhobrowses]

AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament - Full Review

So as of tonight’s Dynamite the winner of the Eliminator Tournament is in the books, either Nyla Rose or Ryo Mizunami have overcome the other to earn the right to face Hikaru Shida at Revolution on Sunday

But now is time to look at the tournament as a whole and review how well AEW’s latest ambitious Women’s Division Project would/should be received

Warning: There will be immediate spoilers for the Winner under the ‘Keep Reading’, if you do not wish to know the Winner do not read until you have

So when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Ryo Mizunami came out on top having pinned Nyla Rose for the win, claiming the spot at Revolution and the tournament.

Boy was my prediction wrong eh?

After being given the trophy by Shida however, Aniki refused to let go of the champion, trading and inviting blows from each woman until Shida was able to knock Mizunami down and raise the title aloft.

Was she people’s first choice to win? Probably not Is she an unworthy winner? Absolutely not

Mizunami is extremely experienced, her charisma can reach all ages, she has a genuine love for the wrestling (her sunglasses even have ‘I <3 AEW’ on them), she has aforementioned history with Shida and she went through 2 Fan-Favourites, the legendary Aja Kong and finally the previous Women’s Champion and No.1 Ranked Woman to get here.

And while we are on that topic, to the people who immediately condemned and criticized the tournament when Nyla made the finals: Don’t you get tired of being worked so easily? Honestly we had the exact same thing with the Deadly Draw, people don’t want competitor A (Nyla/Brandi and Allie) to win: so AEW put them in the finals so they root for competitor B (Aniki/Diamante and Iveliesse). Ye of so little faith

I also like to mention that it’s quite nice of Mizunami to be this rewarded by AEW and Shida given how she appeared on their first show at Double or Nothing, I didn’t know it at the time of my bracket rundown but apparently Mizunami was about to retire after DoN, but the crowd and energy of the match inspired her to keep going and push to reach a wider audience - which AEW is now letting her achieve.

Get it out of the way - The Negatives Make no mistake this tournament was great, but it doesn’t mean it was perfect. Of course my earliest criticism was that we could’ve had more, a bittersweet feeling I got when I realised the tournament was nearing its close. While yes it would’ve been nice to see the likes of Big Swole, KiLynn King, Allie, Penelope and perhaps even some debuts/returns, we cannot slight AEW too much for keeping the bracket small.

Time however was a bit of a constraint on AEW’s part. Having revealed late that the winner will face Shida for Revolution, the tournament matches started coming out fast...but on Youtube. Personally, I had no problem with the matches being a sole focus stream on Youtube, but I can also understand why not putting at least the entire American bracket on Dynamite would’ve hurt the tournament. If the tournament had more time I do believe that each match would’ve had a Dynamite showing and not a broken BR Live stream (but please note that BR Live were the problem there, not AEW).

A non-AEW criticism as well for Injury screwing over Anna Jay right as she was about to have her match, extremely rude of the world and we hope her shoulder heals up faster than usual.

The final criticism is probably with the BR Live US Bracket Finals video, simply put it was lacking compared to other streams. Madi vs Leva and Leyla vs Alize didn’t shine as much as Riho vs Rosa and the 6 Woman Joshi tag did in the prior stream, we could’ve probably gotten better matches out of that.

Why I loved it - The Positives I will look at anyone who says that this tournament was a waste and meaningless dead in the eye and tell them they are wrong, and they will be shocked to find that I am not lying.

The tournament not only put a lot of attention on the competing women but became a platform for AEW to show that they have some impressive women on their roster. The returns of Yuka, Emi and Riho paired with the stalwart performances of Baker, Rosa and Nyla as well as the bright showings of Madi, Anna, Tay Conti and Leyla shows that AEW still have a really good Women’s Division - I mean I love WWE but you have to admit their NXT women’s division bought many of their stars ready-made; Io, Toni, KLR, Meiko and Candice were already established names before WWE. Stack that on top of impressive performances by Red Velvet and Jade Cargill last night and the ranks of Big Swole, Allie, Penelope Ford, Kris Statlander, Shanna, KiLynn King and Tesha Price and you still have a strong division.

The tournament proved its worth also by the fact that there was not a single bad match on there, we had some bangers on each stage ranging from Yuka vs Emi, Rosa vs Riho, Nyla vs Baker and Leyla vs Rosa, among several others. The tournament succeeded in giving us great wrestling even with different formats of face vs face, heel vs heel, speed vs power, technique vs power, and even some new shades to the women such as heel Sakura and face Nyla.

I cannot praise the tournament without heaping a ton of praise on the Joshi. Shida and Kenny had always been adamant to show that the Joshi can be a revelation to Western audiences and they were paid in kind in that regard. All six Joshi brought out their A-Game to the point where several are asking for them to be signed, Sakura’s heel ‘Killer Queens’ faction rose interest with a fantastic entrance, while VENY dazzled with their gymnastic talent (and their wearing of the late Hana Kimura’s kimono), Mei Suruga and Yuka Sakazaki lit up the room with their speed and fun and Maki Itoh continues to be adored by the wider world into megastardom. The six woman tag as well was a nice cherry on the top to once again showcase the women, including Rin Kadokura who was fed to Aja Kong in the tournament, every bit of energy and charisma from the Joshi landed on the mark, it has opened several new fans to their home brands (TJPW however did kinda give away that Yuka wouldn’t win given how she was booked for one of their shows, but they’re still great) and have us gasping for more of those six and perhaps some extra, Miyu Yamashita for instance? Think about it TK

One thing that can really harm a tournament too is predictability, which this tournament did not have. You have to commend the balls of AEW to set up 5 fan favourite choices to win and have them each be felled and swerve the entire fanbase. It was for the most part good swerves as well, leading up to the Nyla work included, and actually made me feel like this tournament had big stakes for each member. People will criticize its unpredictability but I won’t be one of them, just because it didn’t go how you personally predicted it doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Also a stand out yes for Rosa’s several gear, especially the Selena one against Riho, and Hikaru Shida herself slaying it in the white suit, like lord almighty thank you for this food.

Was it worth it? - Conclusion This is an emphatic yes for me. AEW will always have its critics, fair and unfair, but if you have to wonder whether this tournament is a success you have to simply look at it this way

Were you entertained?

For me yes, there was a 100% consistency in good to great matches in this tournament paired with genuine surprises that got people talking and invested in the tournament itself.

Did it give you something fresh?

A dark horse winner who earned her way to face Shida for the 5th career time and 1st time in an AEW ring through outwrestling, outpowering and outwitting their previous opponents, unique heel/face changes and a showcase of new wrestlers and matchups? I’d say that’s a yes

Did anyone get over?

You ask anyone before this tournament was announced who Ryo Mizunami, Maki Itoh, VENY or Mei Suruga was and you’d likely get blank faces, thanks to AEW they are known and commended by several fans outside of Japan. You ask people if Tay Conti can bring a physical match to Nyla and almost win and you’d get a few murmurs, if you asked people if they though Kenny was valid for his push to bring the Joshi into a wider audience prior to this may’ve said no. Those minds were changed because these women got over. In addition to that the popularity of Thunder Rosa, Riho and Yuka Sakazaki has continued to rise as some of AEW’s top babyfaces, Leyla Hirsch, Emi Sakura and Tay Conti’s stock have rose thanks to the tournament and Nyla and Baker have delivered on strong match performances.

When you consider those three, there is no way you could call the tournament a failure or a waste, people benefitted from it in a good way which means it was a good tournament.

I for one will look forward to seeing Shida take on Aniki and see how it unfolds at Revolution - which I hope to do a review for, I’m also guessing that Paul Wight’s aquisition is either Christian or Okada. Many will of course assume that this is an easy retain for Shida (and act like winning the tournament means you should win the following match as if people don’t win the Royal Rumble/MITB/KOTR/Dusty Classic and lose in their title shot), but how many of those people thought that Itoh, Kong, Yuka and Nyla would beat Mizunami? She keeps on extending the party and coming out on top, you cannot underestimate the tournament winner, Shida produced this tournament, she’s picked her winner now she needs to fight them.

[altughuner-blog]

Namaste! How else should I begin this post!

The greeting is the first thing that you learn about a place. It is the first thing that you get to hear in your flight, at the airport, in the taxi and of course at the travel destinations. Greeting from your homeland is also something you carry with you.

Namaste is the most commonly used greeting in India. Very often, when people realize you are an Indian, they fold hands and greet you with a Namaste.

However, when nothing in India is universal, how can our greetings be. Here is a list of some of the commonly used greetings across India.

Thanks to my Twitter and FB timeline for adding to this list. I knew most of them, but some of them like Dhaal Karu from Himachal was a revelation for me.

Researching for this post was absolute fun.

1. Namaste & its Variants

Namaste means ‘I bow to the divine in you’. Ask any Hippie and they would even say ‘The divine in me bows to the divine in you’.

The term has many variants – Namaskar, which is ideally used when you address more than one person.

In Kerala it becomes Namaskaram, in Karnataka it goes as Namaskara and in Andhra states Namaskaramu.

Nepal also uses the same term or Namaskar to greet.

They all mean the same – acknowledging the divine or good in you before any conversation or transaction begins.

2. Ram Ram & its variants

After the more popular Namaste greeting, Ram Ram and its various variants are used in most of the Hindi speaking belt to greet each other. In Awadh and Mithila you hear Sita Ram, Sita Ram. At areas of Bihar and Jharkhand, it becomes Jai Siya Ram. In Haryana, it is usually Ram Ram.

The idea behind this greeting to remember Sri Ram who is the 7th Avatar of Vishnu. Considered Maryada Purushottam, it is probably a way to remind each other and oneself to follow his conduct.

3. Jai Sri Krishna in Gujarat

If you have traveled in Gujarat, interacted with Gujarati families or even watched Gujarati content on TV, you know they all greet each other with ‘Jai Sri Krishna‘.

Krishna chose to make Dwarka his golden city, he ruled the world from here and continues to rule the hearts of the people of Gujarat.

In Dwarka, the greeting becomes more specific to – Jai Dwarkadhish.

4. Radhe Radhe in Braj Bhumi

In Braj, Radha rules. She is the queen and she is the Gopika. To reach Krishna too, you have to go through her. You don’t need to read or know anything about her. Just land anywhere in Braj and ‘Radhe Radhe‘ is not just a greeting but it means excuse me, leave my way, an exclamation and anything that does not need other words.

Jai Sri Radhe is a variant that you hear in temples of Braj sometimes.

5. Sat Sri Akaal in Punjab

A common greeting among Sikhs and Punjabis is Sat Sri Akaal. Sat means Truth, Sri is a respectful honorific and Akaal means timeless. So, you are essentially remembering the Timeless Truth or that Truth is Timeless and resides within all of us.

Sat Sri Akaal is a part of the clarion call given by Guru Gobind Singh – Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akaal.

Another longer greeting is ‘Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh‘ – it is a reminder that all of us come from that one supreme being which is pure and at the end that is what remains.

6. Vanakkam – Tamil Nadu

Vanakkam is used by Tamil people living anywhere in the world. Essentially it means the same as Namaste. It is bowing down to or respecting the divine inside you. It comes from the root word – Vanagu meaning to bow down. Some literature mentions that Vanakkam specifically refers to the divine at the third eye located between your brows.

7. Khamma Ghani – Rajasthan

I first heard Khamma Ghani in some Hindi films based in Rajasthan. Next, I heard it during my visit to Udaipur. In my mind, it got associated with Rajasthan, but no one could explain what it meant. Now, I have two theories for this:

First is simple – Khamma comes from Sanskrit Kshama meaning forgiveness. Ghani means ‘a lot’. So, the greeting Khamma Ghani simply means – seeking forgiveness for any inadvertent hurt that may have been done or any lapses in hospitality.

The second source one is more historical – in 8th CE AD, 3 successive Mewari Kings, sharing the common name Khumaan, averted many attacks by Arabs. Due to this, the people in their kingdom lived happily for the next 1000 years or so. So, people started greeting each other ‘Khamma Ghani’ meaning ‘May we be blessed with many Khumaans’.

Take your pick for the meaning but when people say it with folded hands – it is a sweet greeting to exchange.

When used with elders Sa is added at the end – Khamma Ghani Sa.

8. Jule – Ladakh

When you travel through the Lahaul Spiti Valley in Himachal or do road trips in Ladakh, you are bound to be greeted with ‘Jule’, pronounced as Joo-Lay. It is a greeting mostly used by Buddhist dominated areas of the Himalayan valleys. It probably means ‘Respect’. I am not sure what it means and what is the root word. If you know, please share.

Just like Radhe Radhe, Jule too can mean thank you, please, excuse me or just Hello.

Tashi Delek is also used in some places.

9. Jai Jinendra – Jains across India

Jai Jinendra is used by all Jains to greet each other. We do not hear it very much as the Jains are a very small minority even within India and they usually use it among themselves only.

Jai Jinendra means victory to Jinendra or the Tirthankar, the souls who have won over their all their senses and have realized the ultimate knowledge.

This greeting directly bows downs to those who have real knowledge.

10. Swami Sharanam by followers of Ayyappa

Swami Sharanam or Swami Sharnam Ayyappa is actually a chant that is also used as a greeting by followers of Ayyappa when they meet each other. They start and end the conversation with this chant. Ayyappa followers are found in Kerala and all other south Indian states.

11. Aadab – Muslims primarily

Aadab is used to greet by followers of Islam and in places where Urdu is spoken. Could not find the meaning or intent of the word. If you know, please share.

12. Dhaal Karu in Himachal

This is another greeting from Himachal, though I will be honest, I am yet to hear it. However, my Himachali friends confirm this is used in Kullu Manali region of the state. The meaning is most probably similar to Namaste.

13. Narmade Har – On banks of Narmada

When you walk with the Narmada, the most common greeting you would hear is ‘Narmade Har’ – may the Narmada take away all your sorrows and sufferings.

Har Har Gange is also heard at places like Rishikesh, Prayagraj, and Varanasi, but not so consistently.

14. Jai Jai – Bikaner

During a trip to Bikaner, I heard the hotel greet us with ‘Jai Jai’. When I inquired, they said, this is how Bikaner greets people. I have not heard it outside the hotel, but it sounds very sweet, royal and full of Veer Rasa or emotion of bravery.

15. Pranam – for the elders

This is an India wide greeting used by the younger people to greet the elders. More often than not, it is complemented by touching the feet.

16. Region-based Greetings

Jai Bhole Nath – Varanasi. The city of Shiva has to have a greeting with his name

Jai Jagannath in Puri and around Odisha

and more

Jai Shri Mahakal in Ujjain

Jai Sri Radhe Govind in Jaipur

17. Hello

Hello is not really an Indian greeting but probably the most used, especially on phone and in urban areas. Before writing this post I had no idea about the origins of the word ‘Hello’, although we used it so many times every day. Apparently, it is not a greeting per se but a way of drawing attention. Another contender for this is Ahoy.

Read this shockingly Short History of Hello.

Hi, it seems is the shortened version of Hello.

18. Good Morning

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening or Good Night is the neutral or should I say secular ways to greet anyone. I think I picked it up in school and continued using it till my corporate life. The Good Morning though got reduced to just Morning 🙂

19. Jai Jhulelal

Jai Jhulelal is used by the Sindhi community. Jhulelal is supposed to be the incarnation of Varun, the lord of the seas.

20. Jai Mata Di

It is used by the followers of the Devi or the divine feminine. Mata here refers to Jagadamba or the mother who is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of everything that exists in this universe.

21. Ayubowan in Sri Lanka

Ayubowan in Sri Lanka comes from Sanskrit – Ayushman Bhava which means ‘May you have a long life’.

22. Sawasdee in Thailand

Sawasdee, the ubiquitous greeting of Thailand, also said with folded hands from Swasti which means wishing well.

All the greetings that have an origin in India or Sanskrit are said with folded hands formally, although informally sometimes you just say them.

Have I missed any Indian greeting? Tell us in the comments below.

The post Namaste! Learn 20 More Ways To Greet In India – Surprised? appeared first on Inditales.

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #116

Thurs Jul 25 2019 [06:01 PM] Wack'd: Yes, it's our first Doom team-up! But more importantly--holy shit is that a gradient on the title at the bottom?!

[06:01 PM] Wack'd: A bold new age of comic book coloring is upon us! [06:02 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile, in the credits, Lee's title has been changed from "plotter" to "editor" [06:04 PM] Wack'd: The remaining three decide they need to make a plan themselves and I gotta admit? I'm surprised that this is our first issue where Reed literally can't work out the solution for them [06:04 PM] Wack'd: With this established a pattern, that's a good hook [06:05 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out the machine Reed slipped into earlier was radioactive [06:05 PM] maxwellelvis: oops [06:06 PM] Wack'd: And Sue determines that they might be able to trace that radiation signature to find Reed, using one of his gizmos [06:07 PM] Wack'd: (They can't use an actual geiger counter because, if an ordinary device could find the amount of radiation on Reed, he'd be very very screwed) [06:08 PM] Wack'd: Unfortunately, the landlord has got out and led the cops to the Baxter Building [06:08 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny fire-bombs them [06:08 PM] Wack'd: He fire-bombs the cops [06:08 PM] Wack'd: Normally I'd be all for this but, uh, time and a place, dude [06:09 PM] Wack'd: Good luck avoiding jail after that! [06:09 PM] Bocaj: Consequences are for people without superpowers [06:09 PM] Bocaj: like money [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "Fuck da police!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "Not now, Bic-head!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "JOHNNY NO!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "JOHNNY YES!" [06:10 PM] Wack'd: So rarely do heroes wading through the sewers acknowledge that actually it's not a fun time

[06:11 PM] maxwellelvis: Spider-Man grumbles about it all the time. [06:11 PM] Wack'd: So! Was Reed mind-controlled? Yes and no [06:12 PM] Wack'd: Reed's earlier boastfulness was him daring the Over-Mind to try and take him over [06:12 PM] Wack'd: Counting on the idea that he'd be able to resist [06:12 PM] Wack'd: And, well [06:12 PM] Wack'd: NOPE! [06:13 PM] Wack'd: Reed's arrogance gets his ass completely, thoroughly kicked [06:13 PM] Bocaj: Good [06:14 PM] Wack'd: Even the ol' "power of love" trick doesn't work!

[06:15 PM] Bocaj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvh_jB6c70 [06:15 PM] Bocaj: Hey this is some good imagery though [06:15 PM] Wack'd: It is! [06:15 PM] Wack'd: Buscema rules, actually [06:15 PM] maxwellelvis: Pretty sure that's why they got him to draw all those Conan comics [06:16 PM] Bocaj: I mean, he still can't draw children like a lot of artists can't [06:16 PM] Bocaj: Franklin is an unending nightmare [06:16 PM] Bocaj: Cherubic terror [06:16 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed is two seconds from being full-on mind-flayed when Johnny and Ben show up to kick the Over-Mind's ass [06:16 PM] Wack'd: Considering this went great when it was all four of them I'm sure this'll be no sweat [06:16 PM] Bocaj: wtf is sue? [06:17 PM] Wack'd: Glad you asked [06:17 PM] maxwellelvis: Getting backup, I think [06:17 PM] Wack'd: She's on monitor duty [06:17 PM] Bocaj: 😐 [06:17 PM] Wack'd: But seeing the guys getting their asses kicked she's like "actually, fuck this" [06:18 PM] Wack'd: And flies over to force-field Over-Mind into submission [06:18 PM] Wack'd: But hey, uh, remember last issue when he effortlessly broke her force field? [06:19 PM] Wack'd: And also how he just kind of in general is impervious to fire and brute force? [06:19 PM] Bocaj: yes [06:19 PM] Wack'd:

[06:20 PM] maxwellelvis: I was kinda hoping you'd say "Archie doesn't" [06:20 PM] Bocaj: So its not going great is I think what you're insinuating [06:21 PM] Wack'd: You know what? Picking up Johnny by the head *while he's flamed on* is one hell of a move [06:21 PM] Wack'd: Respect [06:21 PM] Wack'd: Also I initially interpreted this as Over-Mind hitting Ben with Johnny [06:22 PM] Bocaj: you gotta hit that motherfucker with this motherfucker [06:22 PM] Wack'd: Which also woulda been pretty cool [06:22 PM] maxwellelvis: You know, for a guy called "Overmind", he's surprisingly beefy [06:22 PM] Bocaj: Might overmind [06:22 PM] Wack'd: He was super strong first and then his entire race filed their brains into his head [06:22 PM] maxwellelvis: Ahh [06:22 PM] Bocaj: As ya do [06:23 PM] Bocaj: If you're a space nonsense [06:23 PM] Wack'd: So with Johnny and Ben out of commission and Reed being promoted to Over-Mind's second-in-command, Sue decides she needs backup [06:24 PM] Wack'd: (She also evades Over-Mind ordering Reed to kill her by taking her weird space bike as high as it could go, and then doing a hairpin turn which causes Reed to topple over, which is pretty neat) [06:25 PM] Wack'd: So anyway, about backup [06:26 PM] Wack'd: The Marvel Universe has conspired to that basically every single superhero has some out-of-NYC stuff happening in their own books [06:26 PM] Wack'd: (Or so the narrator claims--I'm certainly not about to go check) [06:27 PM] Bocaj: It was neat but probably unsustainable how the marvel universe used to do that [06:27 PM] Bocaj: If Iron Man was said to be too busy to do Avengers one month then his book tended to reflect that [06:27 PM] Wack'd: Huh! [06:27 PM] Bocaj: If Beast popped over to do an X-Men crossover, then he's not in Avengers [06:28 PM] MousaThe14: Yeah I’m relistening to Jay and Miles from the start again and it’s interesting to know that they at least attempted to keep that sort of thing consistent with Wolverine disappearing from the main book to have his own solo series and other such things [06:28 PM] Wack'd: Man Buscema out here killing it with the splash pages

[06:28 PM] Bocaj: I know that during Jim Shooter's era he tried to keep things organized like that so that the shared universe felt more unified. And with New Universe every book was supposed to progress a month at a time with every issue but not all the writers got the memo [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: oooh [06:29 PM] Wack'd: Kinda makes long-form storytelling tough [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: but huh [06:29 PM] Bocaj: It does [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: ye [06:29 PM] Bocaj: Its more manageable if the universe is smaller [06:29 PM] Bocaj: That space bike looks unnecessarily unergonomic [06:30 PM] Wack'd: And while I'm handing out kudos, the color department's doing killer work

[06:30 PM] Bocaj: Anyway, there's a website that tries to put all the marvel universe in a chronological order. I'll go check what they have to say [06:31 PM] Bocaj: (Huh, Franklin looks less horrific here) [06:31 PM] Wack'd: I feel like with Stan and Jack gone, everyone's starting to stretch their muscles a bit [06:32 PM] Wack'd: Or maybe it's just the natural progression of time, who knows [06:33 PM] Bocaj: Ok so the Avengers were busy with the Kree/Skrull War, including having to deal with the skrull cow loose ends that Reed left behind [06:33 PM] Bocaj: Thanks Reed [06:33 PM] Wack'd: Sue rolls a nat 20 on persuasion

[06:34 PM] Bocaj: Did she invent his honor and nobility out of whole cloth and mindfuck him into thinking thats who he was for decades to follow? [06:35 PM] Wack'd: It's been there in a few previous issues, though thanks to Stan it comes and goes depending on the needs of the plot [06:35 PM] Wack'd: I remember during the arc where he trapped them in Latveria the story couldn't make up its mind whether or not he cared if his subjects died [06:36 PM] Bocaj: Where he had the DOME? [06:36 PM] Wack'd: He also has a tendency to let the Four go when he's bored, which I suppose is kind of honorable [06:36 PM] Bocaj: if you think Goku is honorable [06:37 PM] Wack'd: But yeah, the idea that he isn't just an egomaniacal loon has kinda gently poked him on the shoulder now and again [06:38 PM] Wack'd:

[06:38 PM] Wack'd: "In about 20 other issues, but I don't recognize it either" [06:39 PM] MousaThe14: Old Man Johnny [06:39 PM] Wack'd: Doom and Goofy have the same dentist apparently

[06:39 PM] Bocaj: "I'm glad we don't have to deal with a bossy autocrat who tells us what to do everyday" [06:41 PM] Wack'd:

[06:42 PM] Wack'd: So Doom's plan is that Over-Mind will be too distracted by Johnny and Ben to fight Doom, who will use a "stop hitting yourself" device on him [06:43 PM] Wack'd: But anyway Doom does the comic book thing of announcing his moves [06:43 PM] Wack'd: And Over-Mind is, as established, not an idiot [06:43 PM] Wack'd: So he ignores Ben and Johnny and just wails on him [06:44 PM] Bocaj: Ha [06:44 PM] Wack'd: Sue was the contingency--she could use her force fields to protect Doom [06:44 PM] Wack'd: But, uh [06:45 PM] Wack'd: Well, he was supposed to take more of a beating first [06:45 PM] Wack'd: To weaken him [06:45 PM] Wack'd: So her force field does nothing and Reed is still convinced he needs to murder her, so [06:45 PM] Bocaj: This plan is butts [06:45 PM] Wack'd: It would've worked if Doom wasn't a boastful idiot! [06:46 PM] Bocaj: It was fundamentally flawed [06:46 PM] Wack'd: Fair

[06:47 PM] Wack'd: So! [06:47 PM] Wack'd: Doom is down. Sue is down. Johnny and Ben are worthless. The gizmo is broken. And Reed is more of a jerk than usual. [06:47 PM] maxwellelvis: Only the author can save them now [06:48 PM] Wack'd: Man, Archie Goodwin's way more buff than I thought he'd be

[06:48 PM] maxwellelvis: Oh no, not THIS asshole [06:49 PM] Wack'd: You're acquainted, I assume [06:49 PM] Bocaj: He's a gem fusion [06:49 PM] MousaThe14: The Stranger is looking less like a hobo than I last saw him [06:49 PM] maxwellelvis: He's the guy who basically heralded in one of the X-Men's lamest periods by literally spiriting away Magneto and Toad to his alien zoo. [06:49 PM] MousaThe14: But last I saw him was in an Essential X-men [06:50 PM] Bocaj: I like that his icon is his own mustache [06:50 PM] Wack'd: So turns out murdering Sue is a bridge too far for Reed, even as mind-whammied as he is, and he passes out [06:50 PM] Bocaj: They call that the ghola test [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Stranger: You call yourself unbeatable, and yet you are the sum of the Eternals, who were once beaten.   [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Over-Mind: By the survivors of Gigantus. What of it? [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Stranger: 😏 [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Over-Mind: well shit [06:55 PM] MousaThe14: The Eternals? You mean the Irrelevants? [06:55 PM] Wack'd: These Eternals will eventually be retconned to be those Eternals [06:55 PM] Wack'd: Don't worry about it [06:56 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Stranger traps Over-Mind in the Micro-verse and pisses off [06:56 PM] MousaThe14: This is one hell of a deus ex [06:56 PM] Wack'd: It was actually set up earlier in the story! [06:56 PM] maxwellelvis: That's all the Stranger is is a walking deus ex machina [06:56 PM] Wack'd: It's more of a Chekov's gun, really [06:57 PM] Wack'd: If you put a race of beings capable of defeating your baddie above the mantle in the first act... [06:57 PM] MousaThe14: Oh well that’s fine. [06:57 PM] MousaThe14: Setup payoff, only the most basic form of storytelling. You’re free to go, F4 comic. [06:58 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Doom decides he's gonna go walk it off and next time, Richards! Next tiiiime, that whole bit. [06:59 PM] maxwellelvis: "Oh, by the way, Reed, I despise you, and all that you stand for, and oh you know the rest!" "He's a good kid" [06:59 PM] Wack'd: Johnny's pissed that the Stranger let them get their asses handed to them for like three issues when he coulda curbstomped Over-Mind whenever he wanted [06:59 PM] Wack'd: And concludes this was an act of deliberate malice on someone's part [07:00 PM] maxwellelvis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96sqmTFsss [07:00 PM] Wack'd: For once, Johnny actually has a point before storming off

[07:01 PM] Wack'd: The Watcher, seeing this, decides "fuck it, I'm gonna make this mean something"

[f-l-writes]

Inspiration- Scenario

Warnings: Smut, swearing, degrading talk

Word Count: 3639

Requested: Yes

As always, enjoy and feel free to request!

You released a sigh as you stared at the bright screen of your laptop, the words that decorated the screen beginning to blend together as you tried to think of something to write. You were a fairly well know erotica novelist and you were expected to be releasing your newest book by the end of the following month. As time dragged on, however, you began thinking that it would be best to alert those who were awaiting the release of the novel that it would be postponed.

When you heard your door open, you didn’t even bother looking behind you to see who it was. The only person who had access to your apartment and the only one who bothered to visit was your manager and editor. Within the last week, you were thinking about taking away his key to the apartment but you knew well enough that he would drop you in a heartbeat if you cut off his source of checking up to ensure you were writing effectively. When his voice rang through the apartment, she almost let out a groan.

“You need to find inspiration to finish this novel. We have to have it out by next month. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your fans, would you?” he questioned.

“No, Jinhwan, I wouldn’t. I just can’t seem to find anything. I’ve been in my own dry spell and obviously that’s reflecting on my writing,” you grumbled out the last part, glaring angrily at the only source of light in your apartment.

The man snickered a bit before he spoke up again. “Step away from it for a day or two and see if you can find any inspiration for it within that time. If not, just step into your imagination. Make it wild. Make it realistic in an unrealistic world, just do what you have to do to get it finished.” with that, he left you on your own, though not without turning on the light in your room before walking out, causing you to squint and flinch slightly at the sudden burst of light.

The following afternoon, you had found yourself seated in front of your best friend, Demetri, at a cafe near your house. He had been questioning you about the novel and had taken on a bit of a pity look when you explained that you were in a rut. He had told you pretty much the same thing Jinhwan had told you the night before before he was suddenly called out of the short meeting by his boyfriend, Jinho.

With a sigh, you sat by yourself and finished off your coffee. As you were on your way to throw out the cup, you heard some girls frantically talking about some underground dancer. Letting your curiosity take over, you turned to them and spoke.

“Where’s this show your talking about taking place?” you questioned, eyes glittering in interest as you looked at them, making you look more awake than you had looked over the last few days.

“Uh…” one of the girls started, clearly startled. “It goes on in a couple of hours at Cake Shop…” the woman stated, looking to her friend to save her from the situation. Before the other one could speak up, however, you had already thrown away your cup and were making the trek back to your house, wondering if the club was where you could find you inspiration.

About an hour before the show started, you found yourself staring down at three dresses that laid out on your bed. One was a green/blue velvet, sleeveless dress that kept itself completely up with a choker. The second of the three was a sequined black dress that had thin straps and stopped at about the bottom of the thigh. The final one was a deep, crimson color that had a plunging neckline, and stopped at about mid-thigh.

Within a few seconds, you had decided on the red dress, figuring it would draw the most attention to you that night. If you were going to find any inspiration for the story, you were going to have to pull eyes to yourself and see who would take the bait first. If they were interesting enough, you would just have to bring them home and hope the rest of the night went well.

Now, after changing into the red dress, you found yourself standing in front of the mirror in your bathroom, looking over the dark eye makeup you had on. This consisted of a blackish gray eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and mascara to make your eyelashes look longer. You hadn’t done much for the overall face aside from foundation and you had done your lips in a very complimenting color. Over all, you looked beautiful and readily fuckable.

Finishing with the final touches, you made your way out of your room and into the main part of the flat, grabbing your wallet, phone and keys before walking out.  Quickly hopping into your car, you made your way to Cake Shop, ready to find someone who would hopefully be able to spark your inspiration again.

Upon reaching the underground club, you stepped inside, marvelling at the lights and music that sounded through the place. Checking your phone, you realized you had about twenty minutes before the dancer went up and did his thing. Walking over to the bar, you seated yourself and ordered a drink, using it as a way to to pass the time before the dancer went up on stage.

As time inched on, you were becoming quite disappointed that nobody had even so much as stopped by to talk to you. You also came to notice that a large portion of the bar patrons were there with their significant others, making it additionally more difficult to catch the sheep that you needed and wanted.

When it finally came time for the dancer, whose stage name you picked up on to be “Jay”, you made your way closer to the stage, curious about the hype that came about when the man was spoken about. When he was introduced to the stage by the DJ, the lights didn’t cease to continue moving and instead, you were left wondering who the man was and if you would get the chance to see his face at all during, or after, the performance.

With a beer in hand, you watched as he began to move his body sensually to the mid-tempo beat that was booming through the room. The longer he danced and the longer you watched, you could feel an odd desire for the man building within you. While it may just be that you had been in a personal dry spell and the way he moved seemed to be something that promised a good time, there was also a feeling of… familiarity with the man. Like you knew him from somewhere and the hidden desire was coming to the surface while you watched him.

All too soon, the song and dance was over and he was left exiting the stage. Following him with your eyes, you began to weave through the crowd, meaning to catch him on his way out the door. Unfortunately, you had gotten caught one too many times and he was already out the door, but you had managed to burst out into the chilly night and catch up to him, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around quickly.

What you hadn’t expected to see was your editor and manager, Jinhwan. It had left you in a shocked state but you quickly pulled yourself out of it, as you composed yourself to speak. Instead of your normal voice, however, it dipped down just a bit lower and became extremely sultry towards the man.

“Why don’t we have a talk at my apartment, Jinhwan? I think there’s some things we need to know about one another.” You looked up at him through your lashes, catching the surprised look on his face as he silently nodded, pulling open the passenger door for you.

“I… wasn’t expecting to see you here, Y/N,” he said, shock still weighing down his mind a bit as well as wondering what the hell you were doing looking so devilishly sexy. In his mind, all he could think about was tearing the dress from your body and having his way with you right in the car. What he didn’t know was that you felt very much the same towards him.

When he began to drive, you began to speak. “I didn’t know you could dance so well, Jinhwan. It was certainly a sight to behold…” you purred out, letting your hand drift over to his knee and grip the fabric that wrapped the man’s leg so tightly and perfectly.

His breath seemed to have hitched in his throat a slight bit before he responded, a blush now dusting his cheeks. “T-Thanks, Y/N. I’m glad you enjoyed the sh-” he suddenly clenched his jaw shut as you began to roughly palm his already growing erection.

“You already seem to be enjoying this, Jinhwan,” your said teasingly, leaning over the middle counsel to get closer to him, destroying the distance between you and him.

“And you need to wait until we get to your apartment, Y/N,” he manage to get out without so much as a breathy groan or moan at your continued adminitrastions.

“But isn’t this more exciting?” you breathed into his ear, biting down gently on his ear lobe.

“It is, but you need to wait. This could get dangerous and I don’t want to crash the car because of you,” he ground out sternly, taking up a strong dominant aura.

“Yes, sir,” you said, dropping back down in your seat, now pulling your hands into your lap and remaining obedient until you reached the apartment, though not without the occasional glance in his direction, your eyes clearly portraying what you wanted him for more than your current actions could.

As soon as the two of you stepped into the apartment, it didn’t take very long for you to get to action. After pushing him back into your room and onto your bed, which consequently resulted in crushed papers and papers falling onto the floor, you had positioned yourself to straddle him, teasingly grinding yourself down on him. You grinned as you heard the quiet groans slipping past his lips before you finally dragged the dress, which had decided to pool at your hips, above your head and toss it off to the side. As soon as he was able to take in the entirety of your body without clothes, he almost let out an animalistic growl.

“Such a naughty girl…” he began, “no bra… You really must have been meaning to go all out to find your inspiration tonight,” his voice became more of a purr towards the end as he watched you undo his belt and the button to his pants before pulling everything down.

Your eyes followed as his erection sprang up to settle against his abdomen, leaving you watering at the mouth. He was certainly more than you had expected in every way. He was thicker and longer and you knew you were in for a good night that night.

Quickly, you set to work with first pleasing him with your mouth. Licking a stripe on the underside of his length, you teased the head for a few moments before you took the entirety of his cock in your mouth. Almost expertly, you began to bob your head up and down, delivering Jinhwan with the best blowjob you could manage.

At the moment, you were completely focused on sucking him off until he demanded that you look at him. Immediately, you did so, keeping your eyes trained on his as you continued your administrations. Not much longer after, however, he began thrusting his hips up erratically, fucking your face and causing you gag around his cock and pricks of tears to appear at the edge of your eyes. You pushed on however, ignoring the feeling of saliva spilling from the sides of your mouth and instead focusing on the sound of Jinhwan’s deep groans that let you know how good you were making him feel.

When he finally pulled himself out of your mouth, your were a panting mess. This didn’t put a slow to Jinhwan’s roll, however as he quickly flipped you onto your back, attaching his lips to your neck. He kissed and bit at various places until he found the perfect spot that made you moan slightly. Quickly, he picked up in that area for a few more moments before moving down, kissing down your neck and chest until he reached your breasts. With his teeth, he bit around the surface of your left breast and used his right hand to pinch and roll your harded right nipple in his hand. Finally, after what felt like forever, he took your left nipped in his mouth, scraping it lightly with his teeth before flicking his tongue over it a few times. All the while, he was eliciting quiet moans from your mouth as you tried to urge him to continue down. Already, you could feel that your panties were soaked through with your arousal and you wanted nothing more than him to fuck you on the spot.

“Jinhwan,” you whined out. “Please touch me.” the words left your mouth in a desperate plea as you rolled your hips up into where his torso was pressed against you.

“Such a needy girl. How bad do you need me, Y/N?” he questioned quietly, letting his left hand crawl downwards onto your thigh before stopping there, teasing you through your drenched panties.

“I need you so bad. I would do anything for you to fuck me, Jinhwan. I need it,” you were a writhing mess under his gentle touches and you wished that he would just touch you properly already.

He let out a mock of a thoughtful hum before his hand left your mound and slowly began to drag your lacey panties down your thighs before taking them off completely and tossing them with where your dress was.

“You look so beautiful spread out before me like this, Y/N. A needy, desperate little whore who would fuck anyone for inspiration. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Sir,” you let out in a high pitched moan to his answer. Just as you were going to ask him to touch you again, you let out a gasp as he wasted no time in using two fingers to stretch you out. You let your eyelids flutter shut before snapping them back open at the feeling of a stinging pain on your thigh.

“Keep your eyes open,” he scolded as he continued to pump his fingers inside of you. He praised the way you felt around his digits as well as the moans that you failed to stifle from falling out of your mouth and were surely annoying your neighbors.

“Ah, f-fuck,” you moaned out, meaning to tell him that you were about to cum. All the sudden, however, he pulled his fingers from within you, earning a whimper from you due to the loss of contact.

“You’re not allowed to cum just yet, baby girl. I’m not out of my shirt,” he teased, using his clean hand to tug lightly at the collar. As you kept your eyes on him, he moved the hand he just fingered you with to his mouth, popping his fingers in and licking them clean from your arousal. For whatever reason, this made you want him inside of you even more and you couldn’t help but to voice that to him.

“Please hurry up and fuck me, Jinhwan,” you whined out, letting you own hand creep down in hopes of finishing the job yourself before he swatted your hand away.

“You’ve gotta be a good girl, Y/N else I can’t. Can you be a good girl for me?”

“Yes, sir. I can be good. Just please, please fuck me,” you continued to beg, looking him dead in the eyes as you did so, hoping to elicit some sort of reaction.

Though there was nothing visible on his face, when you let your eyes wander South, you were able to note the angry red color to his cock and he was clearly in need of a release as much as you were.

He didn’t take much longer to jump back onto the mattress, further crumpling and knocking pages off of the bed, before he had himself placed just at the edge of your entrance, teasing you for a moment before he slipped, easily done through the amount of juices that coated you and were slicking your thighs at this point. For a moment, he refused to move, letting you adjust to his size before he began to thrust slowly.

He kept the pace up for a few more seconds before he began to speed up, letting the room fill with your moans and the sound of skin slapping skin. He filled you and stretched you perfectly and it was a wonder you hadn’t found yourself trying to seduce him earlier on in your working relationship.

At this point, he was fucking you so hard that the bed was rocking back and forth and he was panting and grunting with each thrust, his hot breath tickling your ear. You felt the previously ruined knot in your stomach return as he continued to rock into you and, before long, you felt the need to let him know you were going to cum.

“J-Jinhwan, I’m gonna cum,” you moaned out, your hands finding their way to his shoulder and your nails digging into the skin lightly.

“Good. Cum around me, baby. Cum on my cock,” he whispered in your ear as he continued to thrust inside of you. Just before you were about to do so, he managed to hit your g-spot and cause you to let out possibly one of the loudest moans you had ever heard from your own throat. Not much longer after, however, he let himself empty inside of you. You could hardly care from how well you felt after that, but somewhere in the back of your mind you made a mental note to remember to take your pill the following morning.

Jinhwan didn’t immediately drop beside you, like you were expecting. Instead, he headed to the bathroom and grabbed a rag, using it to first clean himself up before cleaning you. Once he was done, however, he moved the rest of the papers from his side before crawling into bed with you and deciding it time to fall asleep.

The following morning, you had expected him to slip out when he woke up. Instead, however, you found him in the kitchen making food for the two of you. With a slight release of breath, you stepped into the kitchen and hopped onto the only clear part of the counter you could find. “I want you to be my inspiration until I finish this novel. If I’m lucky, I can have it done in a couple of weeks and you can be free to do your own thing but… last night… I had such a good time that I couldn’t think of giving it up when it suddenly hit me with some ideas for the novel,” you blurted out after a moment. Jinhwan turned to you, rather calmly, and nodded.

“Alright. I can do that. It’s a fair request as long as it doesn’t turn out that world-renowned erotica novelist and her editor are fucking,” he responded.

“Of course not. This is strictly between me and you.”

“Then we have ourselves a deal,” he finished with a smirk as he scraped your part of the food onto a plate, passing it to you before making his own. “I’m sure I can give you plenty of ideas for your novel,” he muttered with a smirk, watching as a gentle blush rose to your cheeks as you ate.

Over the following weeks, you and Jinhwan had had quite a few exciting moments from fucking in a public bathroom, to him finger fucking you at a company dinner, to him having you against a window and pounding into you as the sun set, daring anyone to look up and see him having his way with you.

Over these weeks, you had found the best inspiration for your novel and, about two weeks before it was supposed to be published, you finally finished it. When you did, you let out a happy squeal, prompting Jinhwan (who had previously been in the living room) to come rushing to your room.

“I finally finished the novel!” you said happily, spinning in your chair to face him.

“Oh wow! Glad to hear!” he said. However, you could hear the false positivity, which confused you greatly.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… I was kind of getting attached. Not just because of the sex but… emotionally. I was able to see a side of you that I couldn’t have seen as just being your editor…” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“How about we stay together then. You can be my continued source for inspiration and it doesn’t have to be just about sex anymore. We can be together as a normal couple,” you responded, standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “I don’t want to let you go either.”

When he finally looked into your eyes, he nodded. “Then that’s what we’ll do. I love you too much to let go just because you finished your novel, Y/N,” he responded before pressing his lips to your mouth. “I love you…”

“I love you too, Jinhwan.”

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 5 - Guam

Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving! I'm on break right now, and its actually my birthday today! It would be a great gift if you guys read and enjoyed the story today! But, on this day, I hope I can give you guys the gift of another great chapter! let us get started!

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Chinese forces had amassed near the US territory of Guam, and they were making their assault. Alex and Toothdee didn’t like how the Chinese were attacking Guam as one of their first major strikes. This attack, coupled with their incursion into Chima, made the two think that the Chinese were trying to employ a tactic that involved attacking important points at random intervals, with no set main front of Chinese forces pushing across the globe. If this was true, it would make Chinese forces especially hard to track and effectively fight. But, the main focus now was fending off the attack on Guam, and right now the typhoon was landing at a town in Guam, while explosions and gunfire sounded off nearby. Chinese and US fighter jets fought it out in the skies above as plumes of smoke rose high into the sky from destroyed vehicles.

“Away team!” Retsuko said via radio as Alex and Toothdee were gearing up in the armory “a large portion of the infrastructure on the island has been destroyed, the military base on the island has almost been wiped off the map, and there’s a Chinese fleet offshore, consisting of 1 aircraft carrier and escort vessels. Our forces are about evenly matched against the Chinese forces, but we’ve got our backs against the wall. The civilians are almost fully evacuated, but US forces are suffering heavy losses in the evacuation process, and need your help!”

“Affirmative!” Alex said, as him and Toothdee exited the typhoon, filling their role of being the first forces in and last forces out. A US soldier was already waiting to guide Toothdee and Alex to the evacuation site.

“Captain,” the soldier said to Alex “we’re not doing to well here, we can’t keep track of all the Chinese forces, we believe some may have gotten around our defensive lines and-“

Suddenly the soldier was cut off and fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his head.

“FIND COVER!” Alex yelled as shots from a group of Chinese soldiers hit the ground nearby. Alex and Toothdee hid behind part of a destroyed wall, as bullets continued to fly by. Then the pair spotted a figure emerging from the typhoon. It was JayJay, still sporting her trademark red dress, but now she also had a gear belt around her waist, along with a bulletproof vest that was dyed red to match her dress.

“JayJay?!” Toothdee yelled, “what are you doing here?!”

“I told you,” JayJay said “I can handle myself. I’m a warrior!”

The wolf reached for her hip and pulled out an iconic 1911 pistol that was decorated with bright colors of blue, yellow, and plenty of pink. JayJay fired out a volley of shots, downing 3 Chinese soldiers, before charging forward, putting away her 1911 and drawing a Škorpion machine pistol, which she used to strike down 3 more Chinese soldiers. Alex and Toothdee watched as the wolf took down Chinese soldiers, switching between her weapons and reloading when she had too.

“Hey, you shouldn’t have doubted her,” Alex said to Toothdee as he ran out from behind cover to join JayJay in the battle. The pair stood back to back and gunned down enemy soldiers that entered their lines of fire, while Toothdee took care of a couple of Chinese soldiers getting a little to close to the typhoon.

Another squad of soldiers snuck into the 2nd floor of a destroyed building and opened fire on Alex and JayJay, forcing them to take cover. Noticing the structural instability of the building, the captain tossed a grenade into the first floor. The grenade detonated, bringing the entire building down and killing the Chinese soldiers. The area was now clear of hostiles, and US forces were arriving the secure the area.

“Not too shabby,” Alex said, patting Jay on the shoulder.

“Thank you” the wolf beamed.

The rest of the typhoon’s crew exited the ship, all kitted out and ready for combat, dressed with armor and carrying weapons that they definitely knew how to use.

“What happened?” Jack asked.

“Just a couple of Chinese soldiers, they’ve been dealt with,” Alex said. “Jack, Judy, Nick, Skye, Eris, and Laval, you 6 stay here and keep the typhoon safe, it’s automated defenses are strong, but it wouldn’t hurt to have guards. Kion, Jasiri, you're with Me, Toothdee and JayJay”

“You're going in for a ground assault?” Jack said. “A captain’s place is on the bridge”

“Not this captain,” Alex said

“Sir!” A soldier interjected “Our forces guarding the evacuation site are about to be overrun! They’re just a little ways in that direction”

The soldier pointed down a damaged road.

“Thank you, soldier, let’s go!”

The team sprinted down the roadway, needing to get to the evacuation site as quickly as possible. They passed by destroyed buildings and a few armored vehicles that were now engulfed in flames.

“WATCH OUT!” JayJay yelled as a US fighter jet crashed into the street in front of the team, skidding into a building nearby.

“We gotta get those civilians out of here fast!” Alex said, the team continuing its race to the evacuation site.

000

The evacuation site was complete chaos when the group arrived, with US and Chinese soldiers fighting it out. Within 30 seconds of arriving on scene, the team had already gunned down 2 enemy soldiers and proceeded to move across the evacuation zone in a swift line formation, acting like a wave sweeping away Chinese soldiers. Quickly the Chinese forces had been mopped up, and Alex ordered everyone to fan out across a ‘line of defense’, not letting any Chinese soldiers pass. 3 helicopters were still on site, with civilians being rushed on board.

After the Chinese forces in the area had been dealt with by either Heroes or US soldiers, one of the helicopters took off and flew towards a US aircraft carrier offshore.

“Here comes more of them!” Alex yelled, spotting hostiles approaching “let’s show them what we’re made of!”

A force of about a dozen Chinese soldiers entered the area, with friendly forces opening fire as soon as they got a visual. Alex used a grenade to drive a few soldiers out of cover, before gunning them down with his rifle.

As another group of soldiers took cover in a destroyed building, Kion hid behind a pile of rubble and used it to sneak around the Chinese soldiers and get inside the building, before cutting the hostiles down with his sword.

Toothdee, JayJay, and Jasiri all lined up shots and opened fire, downing any Chinese soldier that exited cover, all the while US forces continued to fight alongside them.

The second wave had been destroyed, with the bodies of hostile soldiers littering the area, and the second helicopter taking off towards the aircraft carrier.

Suddenly more Chinese soldiers showed up, as well as a small buggy and troopers armed with rocket launchers.

The gunner on the back of the buggy killed 2 US soldiers, before JayJay dispatched him with ease, due to a lack of protection around the turret.

“Take out those rocket troopers! They’ll destroy the helicopter!” Jasiri yelled while shooting down a hostile trooper aiming his rocket launcher.

Noticing a few rocket troopers taking cover under part of an overpass, Jasiri fired at one of the troopers, causing him to fall backward while pulling the trigger on his launcher. The rocket hit the overpass above, causing it to collapse and killing the enemies beneath it.

Toothdee killed the last rocket trooper while a friendly soldier hopped on the buggy turret and mopped up the last few enemies.

As the last helicopter left, friendly forces, including Heroes, started cheering as they watched the chopper fly towards the aircraft carrier. Suddenly a missile struck the helicopter, causing it to crash into the sea, inciting gasps and yells from the assembled soldiers. A volley of cruise missiles then struck the aircraft carrier, and it began to capsize. Everyone watched in horror as civilians tumbled off the capsizing vessel into the water below, and screams filled the air.

There was utter silence as the ship continued to disappear beneath the waves. Minds raced as they watched all those lives, obliterated in seconds. It was hard to watch, but there were still Chinese forces all over the island, and they were still itching to do damage.

“Come on” Alex sighed, taking a deep breath “We still have a job to do. We can morn later”

“All those people...” Kion said while Jasiri patted him on the shoulder.

“Look I know it hurts to watch. But we have to get through this and push on, or else more people will die”

Toothdee thought it seemed heartless, but what he said was true, and the team needed to keep going.

JayJay continued to look out towards the sea, almost in a trance, before the captain brought her back to reality.

“Hey, we’ll get through this, ok?”

The wolf shook her head and cleared her emotional state before responding with “Ok” and a  newfound sense of determination spreading across her face.

Heroes separated from the US soldiers and headed down a destroyed Main Street before Haida called in over the radio.

“Guys, there’s friendly aircraft incoming,” the hyena said “their planning to attempt one major strike on the island that will put the Chinese on the defensive”

“Acknowledged” Toothdee said.

The team heard the sound of an engine and spotted a Chinese tank coming onto the road up ahead.

“Move!” Kion yelled, running into a building.

The vehicle fired its main cannon, reducing a nearby structure to rubble.

“We need to take this thing down!” Alex yelled, moving behind cover as the tank fired its machine gun at him.

“Are you crazy?” JayJay said, “we don’t have any rockets or explosives!”

“See if you can find some, there’s got to be US military gear all over this island”

While Alex headed up into the second floor of a building, Toothdee and Jasiri opened fire in the tank, but their bullets did no damage, forcing them to fall back as the tank returned fire.

Alex was above the tank now and had found what he was looking for, some C4 charges, left by US forces fleeing the area. Calling out that he had discovered explosives, Alex picked up as many as he could carry, and ran to a hole in the wall where he had a great view of the tank.

“Lure it below Alex!” Kion yelled, seeing what the captain was attempting.

Kion and Jasiri ran to the end of the street and opened fire on the armored vehicle. The tank moved towards them and readied its main cannon.

Alex jumped on top of the tank and kicked the remote-controlled mounted LMG a few times, breaking the weapon and rendering it useless. Alex then attached C4 to the commander’s viewfinder, and the gunner’s viewfinder, before jumping off the tank and running into a building where JayJay was currently hiding.

“Cover your ears,” Alex said, to which the wolf obliged, and Alex clicked the detonator.

The tank was enveloped in an explosion, but once the fire and smoke cleared, the tank continued to operate. It’s optic sensors were destroyed, meaning the crew couldn’t see, but they were still able to fire and move. The tank was now moving and firing wildly, with bullets spraying the area. As the tank’s main cannon aimed at the building Alex and JayJay were in, the pair ran out and took cover in a collapsed part of the street as the building was destroyed.

Suddenly the ground shook, and dust fell from nearby structures.

“What was that?” Kion asked.

“Must have been those airstrikes Haida mentioned” Alex said, before getting down as the tank backed up. Alex took this moment to plant another C4 charge in its treads once the vehicle stopped. A few seconds later, the tank moved down the street, and Boehm pressed the detonator again.

Another explosion enveloped the tank, and its left track was destroyed. The vehicle no longer moved or fired, meaning the crew was either dead or about to exit the tank due to a loss of movement and visuals.

“Watch out for the crew!” Toothdee yelled as Alex hopped up on the tank. The main hatch opened and a Chinese soldier started crawling out before Alex shot him. Jasiri jumped on top of the tank and dropped a grenade down the hatch before the 2 jumped off and the tank exploded.

“Scratch one Chinese tank,” Jasiri said, as the heroes grouped up and continued up the road. Passing over a small ridge of rubble, the team linked up with a group of US soldiers and armored vehicles, that were moving up the road.

Retsuko’s voice came in over the radio. “Guys, friendly aircraft have succeeded in backing the Chinese into a corner, and your heading right for them”

“If we take them out then the island is free,” Kion said.

“No, there’s still the fleet to deal with,” Alex said, “Toothdee, is the remote piloting feature for the typhoon up and running?”

“Yep, why? You want me to bring the ship in for a landing here so we can climb aboard and go deal with the fleet?”

“You just read my mind”

While Toothdee used a screen on her gauntlet to call in the typhoon, the US forces engaged the remaining Chinese forces, who were grouped up and ready to go down fighting. A rocket trooper destroyed a friendly armored vehicle, while the team pushed forward, gunning down Chinese soldiers as they went.

Alex cut 2 soldiers down to size with his sword, before deflecting incoming bullets straight into another soldier, then preceding to shoot 1 more hostile with his sword’s chi blaster. Kion and Jasiri performed a maneuver that involved the lion throwing Jasiri into the air, so she could get some shots from above on hostiles.

Despite downing many enemy soldiers, there was still a hail of bullets going by Alex, forcing him to take cover. Then the captain spotted something, JayJay was hiding near the group of Chinese soldiers currently pinning him down. Alex gave a nod to JayJay, and the wolf nodded back, before closing her eyes for a few seconds. An angry scowl crossed her face and she leaped at the enemy soldiers.

The wolf kicked and punched with unyielding ferocity, beating the Chinese soldiers into submission with her attacks, and dodging any retaliatory attack the Chinese made. The hostiles tried to combat the wolf, but her assaults and rage were too much for them to handle.

“Typhoon is coming in, should be here any second” Toothdee said, going over to Alex, before noticing JayJay battling enemy soldiers.

“Where did you find this girl?” Toothdee asked Alex while gunning down an enemy soldier. “What’s she so angry about?”

“Eh, let's just say there are some... issues with her past. But personally, I think this is a good way to work out any stresses she has. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I’d call it a progressive form of anger management”

The wolf finished off the last enemy soldier by hitting him with his own weapon, before taking a deep breath, and her friendly, fun-loving attitude came back.

Alex gave her a thumbs up, and JayJay gave a thumbs up of her own.

“Typhoon’s here!” Jasiri yelled.

Alex and Toothdee looked up to see the vessel hovering overhead, with Skye and Jack standing in one of the ship’s exit doors and firing their assault rifles at the remaining Chinese soldiers, downing many in quick succession.

The remaining enemies realized the battle was lost and dropped their weapons before putting their hands up in surrender.

Skye and Jack threw a rope ladder down, enabling the team on the ground to climb up back into the ship.

“Nice to see you two know how to use those things,” Alex said, climbing up to Jack and Skye.

“We can do a lot more than fire weapons,” The rabbit said as Alex reached the ship.

Once everyone was onboard, the rope ladder was pulled back into the ship, and everyone raced up to the bridge.

“Toothdee,” Alex said, hopping into the captain’s chair “give me a systems report”

“Weapon systems coming online,” Toothdee said “hull strength is at 100% and ready to withstand any assaults”

Not everyone on the ship was currently on the bridge, so Alex pressed a button on his console, activating the ship’s intercom system.

“Attention all crew, man your battle stations! Repeat: man your battle stations!”

Alarms blared and armored panels came up to cover the ship’s bridge window. The room was darkened for a second before an advanced video feed covering the entire main window came online. This video feed made the window look like how it would normally look, if the armor panels weren’t there, enabling for a good visual view of the battlefield.

Using the controls, Alex lifted the typhoon a little ways above the waterline and guided the ship towards the Chinese fleet, which was already being engaged by US vessels.

“Here come their air defenses,” Toothdee said as a squadron of Chinese jets blasted the typhoon with missiles and bullets. Alex activated the ship’s air defense cannons, downing 2 hostile jets under a hail of shots. As the jets came around for another pass the typhoon’s cannons downed a third hostile jet, with the plane crashing onto the typhoon’s deck before skidding off the ship into the sea below. The remaining hostile aircraft were chased off by friendly jets as the typhoon moved closer towards the enemy fleet.

“Ready starboard cannons!” Alex said as the typhoon neared an enemy escort vessel. “FIRE!”

Shots from the typhoon ripped the escort vessel to ribbons, as its deck buckled and exploded. The typhoon engaged another vessel, one that was already firing back with its rockets and cannons.

“Damage report!” Alex said as the typhoon shook while the 2 vessels battled it out.

“No hull breaches!” Toothdee reported.

Boehm maneuvered the typhoon to a better firing position and engaged the enemy vessel once again. The Chinese warship was flaming and smoke billowed from its hull. With one more volley of shots, a massive hole opened I the vessel’s side, and it started to capsize.

The typhoon moved to engage two more hostile vessels, these ones already damaged by US ships. Using the computer targeting system, Alex directed the cannons to fire on the ship’s bridge, creating an explosion that rendered the Chinese vessel inoperable. The typhoon then fired a barrage of missiles, bombarding the second damaged warship and reducing it to scrap metal.

3 Chinese patrol boats swarmed the typhoon, with one even managing to pass under the ship due to the typhoon hovering above the water. However, the ship’s machine guns and a few shots from its cannons destroyed 2 boats and forced the last one to retreat.

“Alex that aircraft carrier is still launching planes, it’s a major threat,” Toothdee said, noticing a squad of Chinese fighters taking off.

“Ready the main cannon,” the captain said, pulling the typhoon away from the carrier before pointing its bow towards the enemy vessel.

The typhoon’s runway bent and opened up, the ship’s massive central cannon showing itself, pointed right at the Chinese aircraft carrier.

“Target locked!” Toothdee said, checking a computer screen.

Alex pressed a glowing red button and the typhoon shook as the cannon fired a massive blast, cutting right through the Chinese aircraft carrier, and splitting it in two. A series of explosions ripped through the Chinese carrier before the 2 halves of the vessel began to sink.

Cheers erupted on the typhoon’s bridge as everyone watched the ship sink. JayJay patted Alex on the back while Jack gave him a high five and complimented him on his skills as a pilot.

“Alex! Toothdee! Everyone!” Retsuko’s voice said via the intercom.

“Its Skye, go right ahead”

“We just got a report of another Chinese fleet heading towards us. It’s being lead by a new kind of warship, something that we’ve never seen before”

Everyone stopped celebrating, the battle was not over yet, and there was some kind of special prototype warship nearing Guam.

“Do we have any information on this new warship?” Jasiri asked

“The report says it looks exactly like our ship, the typhoon. Except it’s painted completely black”

------------------------------------------------

So, did you guys enjoy seeing the typhoon and our new characters in action? Be sure to review, and I'll see you next time!

[violetosprey]

Good/Redeemed Male Yandere Examples

So I decided to organize a little and make this post after a long conversation I had with someone on tumblr recently.  In the conversation, I stated both my general definitions of a “good yandere” and a “redeemed yandere,” as well as gave a brief list of examples I’ve seen.

I figure not everyone’s going to want to hunt back through the original post specifically for the list every time, so here’s a shortcut for you.  I’m basically copy pasting what I said before (with maybe some rewording on some parts so they make sense).  It’s a small list and those that have been around the block looking for male yanderes will probably recognize these titles.

You’ll notice not a lot of otome game characters make the list here because a) that’s not what the original asker was interested in and b) to be honest a lot of yanderes in otome games come from the “bad endings.”  That’s falling more in the villain category then.

So HOPEFULLY, with the good/redeemed male yanderes, I have remained consistent at the very least with what they are.  Please feel free to let me know if the definitions below don’t appear to have been very evident in my posts, or if this contradicts past posts too much:

-        Good Yandere: Still exhibits behavior and actions of a yandere that are deemed either inappropriate or bad when displaying one’s affection for the love interest, BUT still manages to keep certain behavior in “check” for the sake of their love interest (and possibly others), and shows genuine love as opposed to just obsession towards their S/O

-        Redeemed Yandere:  A yandere who somehow changed to understand that they need to respect/understand the point of view and feelings of those around them (particularly their love interest).  Usually start off over-the-top, crazy, or villainous, but realize they’ve gone too far and end up changing for the better.  Redeemed yandere can then either end up as “good yanderes” or actually fall out of the yandere category if they decide to either love in a more natural manner, or even forfeit their love interest to someone else.

Male Yandere

1)      Nozomu from Hadashi de bara wo fume (Stepping on Roses) – Redeemed Yandere

While not a fan of the artwork for the story, it’s one of the best examples of a prominent male yandere in a story.  Used him as an example for my “good endings” post.  Without spoiling exactly what happens, I will make it clear that he just becomes redeemed, not a good yandere.

2)      Kairak from Abide in the Wind – Redeemed Yandere?

I can’t find the raws to read, and it’s still being translated.  I am 99% sure this has a happy ending though.  I actually really recommend this story in general.  Seeing as Kairak is both literally and figuratively a “different animal,” he’s a good example of making a character that becomes a very clear yandere, but that it makes sense what happened and why he can be forgiven.  It’s all about how the character is set up.  Like I said, I haven’t seen all the raws though, and I don’t want to spoil too much here.

3)      Toma from Amnesia- Redeemed?/Good?

First off, I don’t know if you want to include this guy because while there’s an anime, it’s technically based off an otome game.  So it’s really only just…episode 9 and 10 I’d say you can take a peek at for fun. Since it’s based off an otome game and only a 12 episode anime series, it’s kind of shallow though with the change. That’s why I’d say it’s kind of questionable if you agree with what Toma does and why and if he properly learned his lesson.  So I can’t outright declare him as a “good yandere” or a “redeemed yandere.”  That’s probably more of a personal opinion thing. …It doesn’t help that I find him kind of cute though *sweats*

4)      Jung Yu from Cheese in the Trap- Good?

It’s a Korean webcomic that I really enjoy.  This one would require quite a bit of investment from the reader though to determine what they think of Jung.  I’m going to be blunt…there are many signs in the series that he’s actually a sociopath (or close to one).  No, this isn’t a horror or thriller webcomic.  This would be what I’d say is the best example of a sociopath who is NOT a psychopath.  Sociopaths generally don’t care about others, just themselves.  It’s REALLY hard to explain, and Jung still has some genuine caring moments.  Like I said, this would be a project to get into if you want to properly determine if Jung is a “good yandere,” if you can even call him a yandere at all.  I haven’t read the end yet, so I don’t know if he “redeems” either.  Just know that in this story, Jung does/thinks some things that are “not right.” But he’s in love with Seol I believe. The yandere moments are sadly spread out too, but you’d notice them.

5)      Onyu No from Metronome- Good

At least I think he is. Story is still getting translated. Guy’s definitely a yandere, and I recommend this because other characters than just him appear to have an obsession with the main character.  So far based on the plot…I think you can call him good?  Will kind of have to see what happens.  He’s also the type that would never want to harm his S/O (at least I think so), so that’s a plus.

6)      Darin Kim from Cherry Boy, that Girl- Redeemed

You know what…I actually DON’T consider him a yandere XD  Which is weird, because he has many moments displaying behavior that is EXACTLY like a yandere.  I can only attribute this to how…less threatening I feel he his?  Don’t get me wrong though, he’s pretty darn manipulative. I just wanted to put this on here because I recommend it a lot.  Warning, you will hate ALL the characters though for the first few chapters.  You gotta ride it out a bit to get past the point “I don’t sympathize with anyone here, what the heck?”  You get to the GOOD development later, trust me.  Because Darin portrays at least yandere behavior, I’d say check it out to judge for yourself.  It’s completely translated and finished.  If you call him a yandere, I’d say he’s redeemed at the end.  Up to the reader if they’d ever call him “good.”

7)      Jarte from 100% Perfect Girl- Redeemed/Good?

Actually a manhwa, not a manga.  Like a modern day Cinderella tale.  Jarte’s yandere side starts to come out more as the story progresses and the drama occurs (serious drama at least).  I’d definitely call him redeemed by the end.  DURING the story you can debate if you’d call him a “good yandere.”  I don’t it personally.  He REALLY loves Jay, but yeah the stuff he ends up doing would not be okay in real life :P  Most of the yandere stuff is the last 2 volumes I believe (but there’s minor hints before then).  This is one of those one’s that’s either going to draw people in due to the way that Jarte and Jay talk with each other (or avoid talking with each other) on how their relationship is/was at any current point in time…or it’ll drive you nuts and make you pull your hair out honestly because they seem crazy.  This is actually one of my favorites where I feel I like how it came to the ending it did, but in real life I would have never forgiven Jarte :P

8)      …Some manga I found recently that I CAN’T REMEMBER THE NAME OF!!!- Good

Look the premise is that the male yandere kidnaps a young girl he’s obsessed with, but she’s totally cool with that.  The reason is because she’s glad to be away from her abusive parents.  I haven’t read too much into it yet, but the yandere himself is thinking “she probably needs to put her guard up around me more than she realizes, because I CLEARLY have something wrong with me” (cue room covered with photos of the S/O).  I’ll have to see if I find it again sometime.  This would be a good reference though for a good yandere who has very clear yandere behavior, but due to other circumstances in the story, is not as much of the bad guy as one would think.

…wow where the heck are my yaoi stories?  I know I’ve read a bunch of them, but most were probably short with a Japanese title so I can’t remember right now >_<  That or they stuck with the villain trend I liked so no point in putting them here anyway.  There’s two off the top of my head right now still in the works that are WAY too extreme for me to consider either of the villains “good yanderes” at any point.

Bonus: Female Yandere

1)      Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki/Future Diary – Redeemed/Good

People can still debate on her I guess, but I’d say she’s good because of the circumstances of the game they’re thrown into, and a lot of people believe at the end it develops into a genuine loving relationship.

2)      For the love of god, WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER SOME OF THE “GOOD” YANDERE STORIES?! -Good

Look there’s this comedy one I found awhile back.  Not a lot of chapters, but it’s a female yandere whose boyfriend is fully aware she’s a yandere.  It’s a great use of dark comedy, and the boyfriend is actually pretty good at keep her on a leash (and he does love her).  I wish I could remember the name though.  If you find it, it’s not long right now and at least it’s a good reference for comedic yanderes in a relationship with their S/O :P

Aaaaand sorry that’s all I can think of at the moment XD.  I mostly find female yanderes by accident :P  I’m usually just hunting for the males.  Some people can debate if a certain magical girl from Madoka Magica is “good,” but I’ll leave that up to them :P  I’ve pretty sure there’s a bunch of female yanderes not from otome games that are redeemed or “good,” I’m just drawing a blank at the moment.

So what you might have noticed from this list is it may be more common to find a redeemed yandere rather than a “good yandere.”  You more often will see the yandere give up after a long fight or learn to love like a normal person would, rather than maintain their yandere qualities by the end. They can be “good yanderes” during the story if the character is fleshed out enough and it complements the plot, but it’s super rare for them to still be a “good yandere” by the end of the story.

[ichi-peachy]

Cups.

Lily usually didn’t mind Ichi tired looks or late night noises. Her older sister was an adult, and she didn’t want to bother her by worrying unnecessarily. Ichi knew how to take care of herself, right?

That’s what she used to think anyways. Lately Ichi has been looking like a zombie. Occasionally wandering around with absent eyes into a room for a moment before recalling what she was doing. The bags under her eyes seemed to get worse by the day, and no matter how much Lily tried to help clean up, the analytic still never seemed to have time to sleep. Their activities together usually consisted of drawing or reading together now, both of which she’d doze off for a minute before snapping back and trying to look okay. 

The worst part was that Ichi wouldn’t listen to her about sleeping more, simply shrugging off Lily’s worry and telling her that she was too young to understand. That wasn’t fair! It was insulting.

Hearing the rustle of papers late at night meant that the analytic was up once again, doing adult work for god knows how much longer. It wasn’t until the fourth night that Lily decided to do something, racking her brain in the attic with her raccoon looking for ideas.

“Rocket, you’re a genius!”

The raccoon simply stared at her blankly, hanging its mouth open over the fruit it held. When Lily descended down the ladder, the rodent finally bit down on the apple, staying where it was to finish its food. Whatever Lily was excited about, Rocket was sure she could handle herself.

Making her way to Ichi’s room, Lily took a few deep breaths. When she was right in front of the room, she made a full stop to prepare. After closing her eyes, she began trying to think of sad things. Real sad things. Hungry puppies, missing kittens, etcetera. After a minute or so, she finally managed to get a few tears to form. Just enough to stain her cheeks. Prepared to carry out her plan, the guardian creaked the door open.

“Lily, it’s past ten, you should be- is something wrong?”

Glancing down at her sibling, the analytic's monotone voice became softer at the sight of tears. When they waddled closer with outstretched arms, Ichi rose from her chair to pick up her sister from off the ground.

“Nightmare.”

Unsure of what to do, Ichi simply held onto Lily for a while, fighting the sudden loss of vision from getting up so quickly. She tried not to sway to much either, finding it hard to stand completely still from exhaustion. 

“Can I sleep with you?”

Hearing Lily ask for permission was a bit strange, since the child routinely snuck into her room in the middle of the night to sleep with her. The puppy eyes Lily gave her made it impossible to say no, despite the work she still had to get done.

Just for a moment. I’ll put Lily to bed, then I’ll move to the living room.

“Okay.”

Carrying them both to bed, the analytic sat down at the edge, on the verge of tucking the child in before Lily pulled her in as well, determined to get Ichi as comfortable as possible so she’d stay. Even when Ichi was resting beside her, Lily still clung onto her waist. She needed the analytic to stay just a little longer.

“Sing me a song?”

Although Lily loved hearing Ichi’s voice when she sang, she merely asked because it was the first thing she could think of. Noticing her sister’s hesitance, the small angel unleashed the doe eyes, and Ichi quickly fell victim.

“Okay.”

Reaching into her hazy mind for something to recite, Ichi hummed in thought to prepare. Something quiet and soothing, something warm and familiar. The first one that came to mind was the one that Robin often hummed, and on rarer occasions, sang. 

Nails moving to her bed stand, her fingers began tapping to a familiar melody.

“I got my ticket for the long way round, two bottle whiskey for the way~”

“And I sure would like some sweet company, and I’m leaving tomorrow whaddaya say~”

She wondered what the origin of the song was, considering she never heard anybody ever sing it except from Robin and Jay. Even the lyrics weren’t from here, and the words felt almost foreign in her mouth.

“When I'm gone, when I'm gone~”

“You're gonna miss me when I'm gone~”

“You're gonna miss me by my hair, you're gonna miss me everywhere, oh you're gonna miss me when I'm gone~” 

Lily fought to stay awake, but it was admittedly getting a bit harder. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to ask Lily for a lullaby, but it wasn’t like she could interrupt now.

“When I'm gone, when I'm gone~”

“You're gonna miss me when I'm gone~”

“You're gonna miss me by my walk, you're gonna miss me by my talk, oh you're gonna miss me when I'm gone~”

Back sagged against Ichi’s chest, Lily felt herself giving in as one of the analytic’s hands reached over to methodically comb through her hair, over and over. It was almost to the pace of the song, moving slowly and longingly

“I got my ticket for the long way 'round~”

“The one with the prettiest of views~”

“It's got mountains, it's got rivers it's got sights give you shivers~”

“But it sure would be prettier with you~”

With a smile, Ichi emphasized the last word with a tap to Lily’s nose. Despite the droop of their head, a tired giggle was heard. Feeling both of her sister’s arms wrap around her, Lily closed her eyes, letting herself get comfortable.

“When I'm gone, when I'm gone~”

“You're gonna miss me when I'm gone~”

“You're gonna miss me by my walk, you're gonna miss me by my talk, oh you're gonna miss me when I'm gone...”

Her voice finally died out, realizing all that was left of Lily was gentle breathing. Their hold was weak, and they didn’t seem to react when Ichi shifted and shuffled to the edge of the bed. 

“...I guess it’s time to get back to work.”

Eyes moving back to the sleeping angel, Ichi bit her lip in uncertainty. Maybe for a few hours she’d sleep, it had been multiple days already, and the comforting sensation of momentary rest was beckoning to sleep. The next report was due in a few days, she had time for a bit of rest.

Crawling back in under the sheets, Ichi slowly lowered her head onto the pillow, pulling the sleeping child to her chest as she fell asleep. It was comforting. The sensation of time freezing while she held everything near and dear in her arms, secure and safe, away from harm.

[junker-town]

What vegetables are best for carving into baseballs? A Secret Base investigation

Dave Bresnahan pulled off a legendary stunt by carving a potato into a pretend baseball. Here we follow in his footsteps.

Last week we related Dave Bresnahan’s Potato Caper, a fake-baseball stunt which got him released from his AA team way back in 1987. Bresnahan’s idea, inspired by the goofs of baseball deep past, was to carve a fake baseball from a potato, throw it away in the hopes that the baserunners might try to advance, and then tag them out with the real baseball.

But there’s one important, unanswered question: it’s all well and good to carve a fake baseball out of a potato, but is it the best option for faux-baseballs? Are potatoes not a bit too moist? Might other root vegetables work better?

To help solve this problem, I spoke to Eater Chicago’s Senior Editor and Chicago White Sox fan Ashok Selvam. Surely the food experts at Eater would know enough about vegetable carving to get to the bottom of this.

According to Ashok, what we’re going to want to look for is weight, mushiness, spoiling and color. His initial suggestions were ube and especially daikon, a kind of Japanese radish. However, on account of the daikon (drawing below, because I think it’s cool) being probably unavailable to your average minor league backup catcher in the 80s, we had to find some other options.

Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Ashok points out that due to their moisture content potatoes can spoil and the smell might give the game away, especially if you do Bresnahan levels of preparation. Keeping a carved potato around for two weeks sounds unpleasant in the first place, and even if one imagines that home plate in a AA baseball game smells ... not good, the aroma of rotting potato might cause something of a stir.

What we really needed is for someone else to have solved our vegetable carving problem for us, to have found something with the right consistency and then worked out how to carve and display it with minimal spoilage. And thus Ashok introduced me to the Night of the Radishes.

The Night of the Radishes is a festival in Oaxaca, Mexico. It involves, uh, radishes. If you’re anything like me, the word ‘radish’ invokes the mental image of a fairly small red vegetable, nowhere near as big as a baseball. But radishes, it turns out, are wild and wonderful and can get rather a lot bigger than the little summer radishes I’m used to.

The Night of the Radishes takes full advantage of the spectacular diversity of radishkind. The radishes used in the festival are allowed to grow long past the time they would have ben harvested, which lets them reach gargantuan proportions. What about the spoiler problem? “There are techniques to making sure those Mexican radish carvings don’t wilt, so perhaps that could applied to the fake baseballs? Like keeping them in a humidor.” Problem solved.

While in theory the answer to our baseball-carving question — thanks again, Ashok — is “a monster radish,” theory is only half the game, and I don’t think we’re going to be able to grow Custom Monster Radishes for our fake-baseball needs. We have to do some experimenting. With that in mind, I asked SB Nation designer Tyson Whiting to go to town on a collection of fruits and vegetables. Which would be our faux-baseball champion?

One of these is a baseball. BUT WHICH ONE?

First, an important aside about the reference baseball. Take it away, Tyson:

Harold Baines hit this home run ball to me June 21st 1998 I was 9 years old. My grandfather was a wanna-be gangster from Salt Lake City. He would have been a real one if he didn’t have a heart of gold, but he had connections to the most random people all over the country. He knew Tim Johnson, the Toronto Blue Jays coach in ‘98 and we went down to meet him in the dugout. It was cool. Early in that same game my Dad told me to pay attention because Baines was going to hit it right to me. And he did.

The ball blasted out to right center field in Camden Yards and bound off this poor lady’s fingers right in front of me. The ball landed at my feet, I picked it up jumped around, and every one cheered. 15 years later I finally got him to sign it. At the time, he was the assistant batting coach for the White Sox, so we called him over. He was probably surprised three grown men were yelling at him to come over and not any of the players. He signed the ball and tossed it back, and then we watched the Nats get stomped by the White Sox.

The ball then sat in our family living room for years. And then one day I come home to find the ball sitting in the dog bed. Sans autograph. The exterior nibbled to a fine grain, soft to the touch. You’d never know it was a major league ball at all unless I told you. I asked my mom if she had any clue what had exactly happened, “I saw her with it … but figured it was just a dirty old ball.”

Canine tragedies aside, it’s time to see what we could make of our assorted produce. By the way, radishes didn’t make the list, because we couldn’t find any big enough to be a plausible baseball (Sorry, Ashok.). All grades on the 20-80 baseball scouting scale, with seams superimposed as a visual aid. Tyson said he wasn’t about to ruin his red markers drawing on vegetables for me, which is fair enough.

Apple

Shapability: 40 Moisture: 20 Density: 40 Color: 50 Overall: 35

Potato

Shapability: 50 Moisture: 30 Density: 50 Color: 30 Overall: 35

Onion

Shapability: 40 Moisture: 40 Density: 25 Color: 60 Overall: 35

Rutabaga

Shapability: 60 Moisture: 50 Density: 60 Color: 55 Overall: 55

Sweet Potato

Shapability: 45 Moisture: 50 Density: 55 Color: 30 Overall: 45

Turnip

Shapability: 30 Moisture: 30 Density: 20 Color: 60 Overall: 25

There you have it: the rutabaga is triumphant. Obviously, if you have access to giant radishes, you should follow Ashok’s advice and use those, but if you can’t find one and wish to pull off a Bresnahan, the rutabaga should be your choice of vegetable. Feel free to experiment with making your own baseballs, and share in the comments.

[girl4music]

The 6th studio album from Demi Lovato is here and it’s ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. I made sure to give this a good listen a couple of times through so I could get all the details down of what I wanted to say about it in my review. I heard it on a rushed initial listen and I disliked near to every song on it because of the musical production. I didn’t like how dead and dull the beats sounded. But later I found out that the production did not actually sound that bad, I was just listening to it through earphones that had a broken right ear and I did not realize it. Musical and vocal production is most important to me when it comes to the music. If you have not got that right, then you haven’t got anything right. If the musical production is bad, then it’s all going to sound bad. If the vocal production is bad, then the singer is going to sound bad, no matter how well they performed in the studio. Clarity is key when it comes to both kinds of production. I need to be able to hear everything that’s going on in that track. All the detailed nuances and dynamics in instrumentation. Of course how it’s mixed and mastered plays a huge role into how it sounds on the final cut but it’s mainly the producer that has the job of making sure the track sounds clear so that everything is equalized. These days though the producer also mixes and masters the tracks, so they are pivitol to the finished release. When it comes to the vocal production, that is also extremely important. Especially how the vocalist phonates the lyrics. How they convey their thoughts, feelings and emotions to the listener so you can better understand the story or concept behind the music. Demi is very good at that in general, and on ‘Tell Me You Love Me’, it’s truly what sells it.

This is a track by track review where I talk about the specifics of what I personally picked up both negatively and positively about each track and how I rate it based on those opinions. I’m not your average reviewer. Those of you who read my reviews already know that I am a subjective one. I only draw from my own perception. Everything I see, hear, feel and know about the music is what I talk about. I do not talk about sales, charts and awards. I don’t talk about numbers at all. So if that’s what you’re expecting, you should move along because I never do that. I do not consider it a necessary thing to talk about. But what I do consider necessary to talk about is the music itself and how the artist/band has grown from their previous efforts. What has improved and what has decreased. This shows their development as an artist and that has more benefit to them than me just praising them for the success they’ve already achieved. I attempt to give them critical acclaim through constructive and unbiased criticism. So I will do the very same with this review. Here we go…

1. Sorry Not Sorry

The debut single to ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. This song is a great summer song. She released it at the right time and makes her market. In several interviews Demi talks about how she was the only one that wanted this track to be the first single and that nobody else on her team agreed with her and would of much rather chosen the title track ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ instead. Until she went to seek out the advice of Jay Z at Roc Nation and he told her that she was right. That it should be the debut single. That was what made the debate settle and they went with ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ as the first single of a whole new era for Demi’s music.

I think they made the right decision. It’s a great song. It has it’s pop vibe for radio to latch on to but it also showcases the soulful side the album is offering. It features a choir as many tracks on this album do. It’s sort of an intentional set theme Demi wanted to go for with it’s soulful/gospel style. It’s got a very catchy chorus, something you will sing along to, if you can. Demi’s songs are always difficult for even a classically trained singer like myself to sing to, let alone just anyone. I want to point out how interesting I find the techno bass vocal effect that’s in the track. She uses this effect quite a bit in this album and it’s interesting to me because usually I don’t like this kind of thing in music. Modulated/pitch-shifted vocals usually puts me off. But I actually quite like it in this album. It gives it edge and attitude and it contrasts well with the gospel choir, making it compliment the track overall rather than destroy it. There is too many songs out there where even small things like that can make or break the song. It was a risky decision and it payed off for Demi.

9/10

2. Tell Me You Love Me

‘Tell Me You Love Me’ is the title track of the album and as previously mentioned earlier, was supposed to be the debut single for it. It’s a great song that really shows just how soulful Demi wanted to go with this album and I think that’s why her marketing team were fighting for it so hard against Demi. But she argued that people know her too much for this kinda thing when it comes to her music, so she wanted to prove to the public that she can also be a party girl. She’s versatile and I absolutely LOVE that about her. It’s a big reason why I am a fan.

This track brings in a Jazz band. Horns and brass instruments are heard sounding out in the intro and they have a prominent existence all throughout the entire song. It makes it sound sophisticated and mature musically and sonically and that’s something Demi definetly wants to have if she’s trying to get The Grammy’s attention. The drums that make their way into the track at the chorus are real drums. Big deal for me. I’m tired of hearing drum machine beats. I love the sound of a real drum kit. Demi’s vocals go for the goals with hitting those high upper-belts that she’s known so well for. Upper-belts are her trademark. You know it’s Demi when she’s hit about 5 F#5′s consecutively in the same breath without even so much as a stagger in vocal control. Yeah, to say I’m jealous is an understatement. She said she’d give us an album that showcases other sides to her massive vocal capacity, and she does, but you just come to expect the powerhousing alongside it and think nothing of it. It’s just what she does and she does it very well. For musical production and vocal production as well as vocal performance this makes it one of the best songs on the entire album for me. It scores as high as her voice.

10/10

3. Sexy Dirty Love

Initially I did not like this song but it’s grown on me with every listen to it. It’s a grower track. It’s an infectious disco tune. Like something you’d get from Donna Summer back in the 70′s but with more modernized musical and vocal production. Using the techno bass vocal effect gives it that updated pop production as well as the electronic bass and drum beats. Demi’s proved she can do fast-tempo music with her cover of Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ for the soundtrack to The Angry Birds Movie. She’s never really done disco for her own music though. It’s very different for her, but as usual, she smashes it because she’s just that vocally versatile. Although, not a favourite from this album or really anywhere close, it gets respect and praise from me for her experimenting and trying something new which furthers her development as an artist.

4/10

4. You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore

Now we get on to our big power ballad. ‘You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore’ is gorgeous vocally. Demi finally uses her falsetto register to a degree where it’s clear and consistent and her voice is not wavering around. She has good control of it, proving that she is fully capable of singing in head voice whether recording in the studio or live in performance. She just needs more practice with it. The tonal quality and brightness of her head notes are stunning. A beautiful and light timbre that’s perfect for singing R&B/soul music. Because in soul more than just the modal/belting registers are needed. R&B is about the vocals being used as an instrument. Everything is about vocal capability. It requires flexibility and dexterity. It requires a mixing technique where you can go from head to chest voice easily and fluidly. If you haven’t got that or you can’t execute your vocals to do that consistently, then R&B is not right for you. This is the only reason I was skeptical of Demi going R&B. Not that I doubted that she could do it. I had all the faith in her. I just wanted her to prove to me that she was ready to. This track is what cemented it for me that she can and she will succeed as an R&B/soul artist. I 100% believe that all she needs is more vocal training. I want to see her perform this one live without changing her voice to chest when she has to do the falsetto parts or avoiding the notes completely. Whatever weakness she believes she has is all in her mind. She is capable of it physically, she’s just doubting herself and hesitating when it comes to actually executing it in performance. If she can do it in the studio, she can do it live. No excuses.

As for the musical production, it’s old-school style instrumentation. Lots of violin and cello. It’s got big strong kick drum beats that give it a really dramatic feel. It’s very reminiscent of ‘Stone Cold’ from her last album ‘Confident’. The lyrics, and I don’t often talk about lyrics, are very interesting. Demi has confirmed that while the song sounds like it’s about a breakup song with a lover, personally for her, it is not. It’s about her breaking up with her old self and saying that the alcohol and the drugs don’t do it for her anymore. Of course you can interpret it any way you like, but I think this is a very interesting take on the song. Self-reflective lyrics are something I would resonate with or relate to more than if it was just about a relationship going down in flames, which Demi leads you to believe it is about when she refers to what she’s singing about as a “who” instead of an it. Clever multi-perspective lyrics. I am very impressed with her songwriting on this. The fact it is so brillaint musically, vocally and lyrically make this song the epitome of the album. The highlight of the entire body of work that she’s created and put together.

10/10

5. Daddy Issues

This is my least favourite track on ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ because of it’s messy electronic production. Her vocals sound great but the electronics are so punchy, in your face and distorted that nothing sounds clear at all apart from her vocals. But even they sometimes at some points in the track get lost in the mix of the mess it is. It all just kind of clumps together and isn’t very well arranged. The distorted electronic drum and bass beats, the weird video game-like sound effects, the techno rhythms and melodies don’t make it a very appealing song to listen to. You might feel differently, but it just doesn’t work for me. The only part of the song I like is the dance break bit and with her singing “daddy issues, huh”. Otherwise this song is just disappointing to say the least. I wish she would stay away from DJ’s and EDM-style so-called producers because they cannot provide for her the musical quality her voice needs to be surrounded by to really just exemplify how fantastic of a vocalist she is. I want for her material to be just as strong as her voice is so that she’s taken seriously as a vocalist and an artist. This electro-pop stuff just isn’t right for her at all.

Also, does anyone know why they censored out the word ‘fuck’ in the first verse? If you do, let me know. I thought I had downloaded the clean version until I realized it’s like that on the explicit version too.

1/10

6. Ruin The Friendship

This bluesy little number captured me eventually. I skipped passed it on the initial listen because my earphones were just making it sound just as bad as everything else sounded. Dull and dead. But no, the track doesn’t actually sound like that. I just need better listening gear. I love the drum beat and bassline on this track as well as the sensual Jazzy instrumentation. Those trumpets sound so sexy. I feel like it was missing a saxophone solo, but you can’t have everything. I’m just such a big fan of real and orchestral instrumentation. Demi’s vocals here are also very sensual and sexy. Using a softer and lower vocalization in the main vocal track but also doing the backing vocals in a high and light falsetto. Gives it a confident and yet vulnerable contrast. She’s almost whispering when she gets to the bridge. It’s really arousing. She gets louder and more forceful towards the end of the song. That gets your attention and pulls you out of that foggy haze her sensual vocals have put on you. So very emotive.

I am not gonna go into the lyrics. We all know who it’s about as she doesn’t exactly keep it illusive. I think it’s a really good track. Not as good as some of the others though so it’s not a personal favourite. You might feel differently and that’s perfectly fine.

7/10

7. Only Forever

Another ballad. A much needed departure from the faster tempo we’ve had for the passed few tracks. Demi has mentioned that this song is sort of like a part two from the last track ‘Ruin The Friendship’, so clearly it’s about the same thing and the same person. I won’t get into that. Although, I am very intrigued, I’m keeping it strictly about the music.

So the track opens with the sound of out-of-tune piano notes. Like they’re being played on an old, dusty, hasn’t been touched for years piano that’s so out of tune it just doesn’t function properly anymore and sounds awful. I’m sure there is an artistic reasoning behind this so I’m not gonna point it out as a fault. It’s probably got something to do with the story of the song. Connecting the musical production and the lyrics together to tell the story. I love songs that do that. The techno bass vocal effect makes it’s way into the album once again. She seems to really like that effect. It must provide or mean something specific for her. Not sure what that could be but it’s interesting enough to make me peruse my thoughts about it. And I love thought-provoking music and art of any kind. I love interpretating and coming up with theories and headcanons on that art. I always say we never look for the meaning in a piece of art. We create it for ourselves. It’s very synthy. Got lots of atmospheric synthesizers. Could almost pass for a dream-pop song. I find it a bit boring to be honest. However, it does make it more entertaining when she picks up power and tempo in vocals.

6/10

8. Lonely (feat. Lil Wayne)

Demi’s one and only collaboration for the album. There was supposed to be two but one fell through apparently. A midtempo borderline ballad I would call ‘Lonely’. It’s just basic percussion and bass. I think I hear an organ but I’m not sure. Any instrumentation in it isn’t very prominent. What makes it worth listening to at all is Demi’s emotive vocals. They sell the song. Like no question about it. Those creaky, raspy, husky vocals, emoting all the pain and grief and conveying them to the listener’s ears. You can hear everything she does without all the distracting instrumentation and you feel it. You feel how upset and pained she is. You literally feel how lonely she is. Or maybe it’s just me because I have the ability to feel what she feels anyway. Long story…

Her emotive vocals communicate everything there is to care about in the song because Lil Wayne’s feature is terrible. I mean, it’s really bad. 1. It’s covered in autotune. 2. Because it’s covered in autotune, you cannot make out a damn thing he is saying. 3. It just sounds like he is underwater for the whole thing. Maybe it’s a conscious artistic choice though, I don’t know. I thought he would be a good collaboration but nah… he might as well not even be there for all the good his rapping contributes to this track. It just doesn’t. It’s all Demi. Absolutely from start to finish, it’s all Demi. ‘Lonely’ would actually be a better track with just Demi solo. Lil Wayne is just that useless and pointless to it that you could edit him out and have Demi doing the rap and the song would actually be better. Maybe something to think about when she performs it on tour. If she performs it on tour…

5/10

9. Cry Baby

“I’m no crybaby, but you make me cry lately. I’m no crybaby, but you make me cry baby. Crybaby”.

This song if you can’t tell from the lyrics alone is just an absolute masterpiece. The musical and vocal production, the vocal performance, the rhythm of the verses, the guitar solo, the lyrics. Everything. Absolutely everything about this track is incredible. The chorus hits hard. The chorus is so fucking good! Let’s just talk about the intro to start with though before I get ahead of myself. When I heard the lone electric guitar echoing through my ears like it was being played in an empty arena, I immediately thought of ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’. But not Cher’s version. The Nancy Sinatra version from the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Volume 1. It’s actually one of my favourite films in history. Obviously not the same melody because that would be copyright. But I mean just the aesthetic of it. I fell for this track straight away. Hopelessly and helplessly fell in love with it. I’ve repeated it God knows how many times since it came out.

The musical production reminds me a lot of ‘Mistake’ from ‘Unbroken’ album. A very underrated track. But hopefully this won’t recieve the same treatment. Tayla Parx wrote this song along with another song called ‘The Beauty’ that unfortunately didn’t make it on the album. I’m dying to hear that one if ‘Cry Baby’ is this damn good! No guesses which song is my favourite song on the album.

10/10!

10. Games

This one has weird electronic sounds and effects like ‘Daddy Issues’ but I find them more tolerable than in that track. Again, it’s just an electro-pop track. Doesn’t sound very R&B or soulful at all. But maybe that’s just me. I don’t have much more to say about it than that. It’s not the worst on the album but it’s not much better than that. Not for me. It could have easily been replaced with a much more worthy track such as ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ from the exclusive Target version of the album.

2/10

11. Concentrate

‘Concentrate’ starts off as an acoustic/stripped down ballad at first. Snaps, claps and acoustic guitar. A little bit of reverb on Demi’s voice as she sings the lyrics in the verses. Then an electric guitar melody, her gospel choir and a drum beat comes in at the chorus and there’s definetly an organ that joins in too. It’s a very laidback track but it builds up to a climax, so it’s quite progressive and Demi sounds really great on it. Emotive vocals full of soul and attitude really lift the song into the stratosphere. When the heavier instrumentation comes in, it does not overtake her vocals. The vocal production remains clear and it’s easy to make out how she sounds and what she’s saying. It’s a good song but not a standout.

4/10

12. Hitchhiker

Bassline sounds off in the intro and brings us into another bluesy little number from the album. I especially love the backing vocals in this song. The gospel choir was a great addition to this era and this album. This song will sound amazing live with them. This is another song I’m really looking forward to hearing live. I love the musical production too. The driving guitars sound awesome. I wish there could of been a blues guitar solo. It would of really added the cherry on the cake to end off the standard version of the album.

8/10

This is my most favourite to least favourite tracks:

Cry Baby

Tell Me You Love Me

You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore

Sorry Not Sorry

Hitchhiker

Ruin The Friendship

Only Forever

Lonely

Concentrate

Sexy Dirty Love

Games

Daddy Issues

This is my track by track review of the standard version of Demi’s 6th studio album ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. I would of done the deluxe tracks but I don’t like ‘Instruction’ at all and there’s nothing really much to say. The ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ acoustic version with the choir sounds great though. You should definetly check that out if you haven’t heard it yet. She’ll probably post the video of them performing it eventually. There is an exclusive Target version with 2 tracks on it called ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and ‘Ready For Ya’ but since I don’t class them as part of the album itself, I’m not gonna review them either. But I do think ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ should of replaced either ‘Daddy Issues’ or ‘Games’ as I don’t like those tracks much but I do love that one. Thanks for reading. Give feedback.

- Girl4Music

[mandelsmusic]

Playlist & Analysis

I have created a playlist consisting of ten songs for a journey to Mars.  There is a link at the bottom to listen to this playlist but this is my in-depth analysis of each of the ten. 

My first song on the playlist Space Oddity by David Bowie. This song not only fits the theme of our cosmic journey but also takes listeners on an individual journey of their own. Space Oddity an influential song which has been used in the media landscape of today and past decades, causing a timeless renown reputation. The production on this song features fascinating panning effects, which make the listening experience “out of this world”. 

Following Space Oddity, I have chosen My Way by Frank Sinatra. This song is notably bold in its lyrics and speaks to me in a very meaningful way. In this song, Sinatra takes a retrospective look at his life, recognizing his regrets and losses, not everything he did was right, but through it all, he did it his way, and he was proud of that. This is a true song to the legacy Frank Sinatra left on the music industry because following his death no one could quite do it “his way”. Recently, my good friend’s mother passed away after fighting a courageous battle against cancer. The thing that stuck with me after her untimely death was that as she passed, her last wish was to hear My Way. For the length of time that I knew her, she had always had cancer, but lived such a bold and exciting life that you forgot she even had it. Through it all, I truly believe she lived this song to Sinatra’s intentions. In the face of great sickness, she lived her life her way, and that is something I will always remember.

Next in the queue is Tiny Dancer by Elton John, a classic anthem that I believe will never grow old.  Growing up in Los Angeles, this song always spoke to me. I thought it was the vague mention of “LA Lady”, or the fact that my mom always played it in her car, I couldn’t figure out why I loved this song so much. Earlier this year, Elton John released a music video 45 years after the release of Tiny Dancer. The music video depicted individuals living very different LA lifestyles, but all singing along to Tiny Dancer as they crossed paths. The music video captured the beauty of both LA culture and the song itself, and most importantly it captured what the song meant to me. No matter who you are, where you are, or what you are doing, this song has the power to unify a set of complete strangers because everyone knows the lyrics. While it isn’t Rocket Man, I believe my fellow astronauts and I could benefit from blasting this one together.

Next up is If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out by Cat Stevens. When I was younger, my father used to drive me to my soccer games, and we listened to an eclectic set of tunes, ranging from Garth Brooks to Weird Al Yankovic. If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out stuck to me as a track I particularly enjoyed my Father’s unique playlist. But the significance and beauty of this song is the lyrics.  I always found that my Father emphasized these lyrics in his parenting, allowing me to “sing out” and do whatever I put my mind to.  Both he and my Mom have always been there to support and encourage me throughout every step of my life. I need this song as a reminder that I have the loving support of my parents wherever I travel.

Taking a break from the classics, my next song choice is from my favorite rock and roll artist, Jack White. Jack White is behind so many influential songs and bands and to choose just one song to represent his repertoire is a challenging task. I have chosen one of my favorites, You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket from The White Stripes early album, Elephant. Jack White has always fascinated me as an artist because of his distinct branding. For each band he is in, as well as his solo career, there is a different color scheme and a new persona presented which allows the listener to understand Jack in a different aspect each time. The White Stripes had a color scheme of red, white, and black and played bold inspirational ballads. Jack White’s current solo career has a color scheme of blue and black, representing the change in his style of music to somber rock songs centering around the challenges of love. It is very important for music to be both seen and heard. White’s attention to design and branding adds a vibrant concept to his artistry and shows his anthology of sound through brands he has crafted over the years.  I love and respect Jack White as an artist greatly and cannot live without at least one of his songs. 

Another musician who I draw inspiration from is John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zepplin; he was truly was the backbone of the band and created a unique sound from jazz but applied it to a rock aspect, thus changing the possibilities for rock as it had not been seen before.  The band captured this interesting drum beat by using the Glyn Johns recording method which had not been seen before but after, was widely used by most bands because they loved the amazing quality and simplicity of the technique, consisting of 4 microphones.  But the band was able to work so well because Bonham was able to get in sync with the guitar player; typically, the drummer gets in sync with the bass player to get the best rhythmic feel but Bonham got in sync with the guitar player and if you listen to Fool in the Rain, you can see the tightness between the guitar and drums as they change constantly through the phrases.  Within Fool in the Rain, the drumbeat is absolutely insane!  Bonham plays a steady polyrhythmic 4/4 beat, meaning that he is playing two beats simultaneously; the first beat is executed through the triplet high hats which are accented by opening and closing them and adding ghost notes on snare in between; yet Bonham adds a twist by doing a swung half-time shuffle with his bass and snare drum which is difficult on its own.  Although the beat is challenging on its own, he adds more difficulty by play with the piano and guitar which are a 12/8 time signature which adds a syncopated triplet feel to the song that anyone can groove to.  To me, Bonham is what made Zepplin great and in totality, it was his drumming within this song that truly allows an audience to groove to.

The next song chosen has a lot of sentimental value as a musician; Nights & Weekends by Cold War Kids was the first song that I ever recorded. It was the song that motivated me to expand my skills and learn about production. I began by listening to every individual instrument track and was amazed by the production quality, with the smooth transition from electronic type drums to an ambient acoustic sound that comes in strong for the chorus.  I was truly inspired by the album as a whole because it was a different direction that Cold War Kids portrayed; originally being a band that produced songs focusing on the problems of and containing an instrumentation of a rock band, Cold War Kids tried a different approach, adding electronic samples on top of the live drums into the piano and guitar heavy tracks.  I was motivated to make my rendition of this song because I loved the vibe of the entirety of the album but this song in specific stuck out because of the catchy chorus and interesting transition from electronic to acoustic drums.  I also really love the organ and feel that it should be used as a staple for their sound.  My initial recording was very poor in quality being that it was my first recording ever and I was using a single microphone for everything, yet I recently redid it to show how I have evolved as an artist and I find that there is still room for improvement, though it is decent. 

Transitioning from this, I Sumatran Tiger by Portugal. the man which is also known as the endangered song.  Interestingly enough, there were no digital copies of this song but instead 400 copies of the hard copy record were produced and eventually the record, made out of polycarbonate material, would stop playing and become extinct.  The message clear, if we do not do anything, then the species will go extinct.  Portugal. the man created this song with the intent of the song becoming extinct unless reproduced.  But this exclusivity tactic is very fascinating and has been practiced by many artists such as Jay Z and Beyoncé, ultimately it doesn’t work because eventually it will go to other streaming services but this concept of extinction unless shared within the community is like no other.  Not only is this a genius tactic to promote the preventing from extinction but it is also an amazing song.  Sadly, it will be overlooked by their one hit wonder Feel it Still but the endangered song will forever hold a place in my heart being that it is a masterful medley of instrumentation, high pitched male vocals, and a message like no other. 

Directly after this, I have chosen Alright by Talk.  Talk is a band I was honored to become apart of during my time at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU this past summer. I chose to put this song on my playlist as a reminder that you can accomplish great things if you work hard. As a band, we wanted to create a song that encapsulated all of our diverse musical talents. I am very proud of our band’s hard work on this track. My primary role was as a drummer, but we all worked hard on co-producing, branding, and managing to create a cohesive end product, that sounds pretty good.  But taking leadership for this band, we produced a book that is like no other, which gives the consumer a visual representation to enjoy as they listen to the song. 

To close out the playlist, I have selected Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips. I honestly love everything about this song form the beautiful instrumentation to the incredibly powerful and realistic lyrics. The Flaming Lips adds tasteful elements to transform the track to a galactic melody by using robot generated noise, crazy synth sounds, and random church bells.  Wayne Coin, the lead singer of the Flaming Lips, inspires me as an artist through his authenticity and creativity. This is one song I cannot live without.

Check out the playlist on youtube!

Rock On, 

Justin Mandel

Follow me on Instagram @mandelsmusic