#im gonna still keep up the radio aesthetic considering- that me
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goin thru somthn rn brb gonna change my entire layout because it tastes like wet cardboard and i dont like that
#ah but of course. generic cloud background my beloved#yknow its funny bc angelcore is one of if not my favorite aesthetic. the hex code for the grey is even 99999 and i think thats so pretty :)#*blows kiss to the sky* for the angels <3#[immediately gets smitten due to my crippling sins]#rip to my Ancient ass also-based-on-mythology-but-was-super-subtle layout#did you know i edited that image completely by myself to match with my old pfp?#if any of yall used warriors amino i was in a group called Skillclan that would help others find pictures to use to make their pages pretty#didnt gain anything other than brain damage but! ive always had the ability to edit images who am i kidding LMAO#fuck amino me and my homies HATE amino#i could build a house with the amount of walls of texts im creating with my tags good god#the adhd urge to go on 3 mile long tangents no one wants to read on my stupid personal posts#this is the future liberals want /j#did you know i used to have a text tag?#r.transcription#<- its this :). i dont use it anymore cause i kept forgetting but it was basically referring to. transcriptions#im gonna still keep up the radio aesthetic considering- that me#but its also supposed to have like. themes of divinity. timelessness. communication through voice seperate from mortal plane#my gender is that one radio tower angel post#are you still here? do you even process what the fuck im writing or is it just funny typewriter monkey text to you#cause i dont blame you i think its funny too. just me with my stupid little brain writing on my stupid little phone whatever comes to mind#i would blame the fact that its 3 am on this but it really doesnt actually affect anything i am just a menace 24/7. to my health that is#remember that tag on the prev post? radio shut the fuck up challenge [IMPOSSIBLE]? yeah that wasnt an exaggeration lol#i cant stop dont stop wont stop will never shut the fuck up#calling myself stupid is kinda cringe ngl. self depreciation is cringe.#one time i made an addition to a suggestion post and another suggestions blog rb’d my post ->#telling me not to self deprecate and it kinda scared me but also. it lowkey wasnt self deprecation. twas observation#stupid fucking idiot [self-endearing]#god i feel bad for anyone who opened these tags for some reason. hi i hope your doing well trying to scroll past my#do you love the color of the 3 mile long block of tags?#its ironic because i personally hate blocks of text. theyre stupid fucking hard to read both for my eyes and my attention span :(
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Hey this is for your matchups which again yayyy congrats on nearly 200!! Anyways for my matchup:
1-3) My nickname is Em, she/her and idm who you pair me with
4) I'd describe myself as shy at first then once you get to know me I'll open up, an overthinker and I like to be organized
My hobbies are writing, I really love it alot, I also like to draw if I get time and I love music alot too
In a partner I'd look for someone who makes me laugh and who's patient
For dealbreakers it's pretty general but I couldn't be with someone who doesn't consider other ppl's feelings
5) I don't have an aesthetic but I like pastel aesthetics but then I also like dark aesthetics and light academia so it's a mix I guess
6) Colours to describe me would be teal blue and silver, well according to you anyways
7) Right now I'd say my favourite song is Tru Luv Street by Awfultune or Fight Night Champion by Cyberbully Mom Club
8) Idk about a specific genre but some artists I like rn are: Awfultune, Carpetgarden, Cavetown, Clem Turner, Cyberbully Mom Club, Girl in Red, Joji, Lorde, Matt Maltese and Twenty One Pilots (sorry that's alot)
9) Ooh and I wanted to include that my favourite book is Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
Thank you in advance and also ily, you deserve all the love and more!! <3
EM MY BELOVED I HAVE DONE IT
@sugasfanfics this was so fun wtf like-- ugh i love this
ANYWAY i know i already kinda spilled the beans but im gonna match you with....
✧𝐴𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖 𝐾𝑒𝑖𝑗𝑖✧
AGASHIII
and no it's not just because you're already in love w him i have good reasoning behind this because i said so anyWAY
✧𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑀𝑒𝑡✧
how you met, for in case you cant see my fancy text
Cafe
C a f e
But like
A cafe specifically for nerds
This is just my like 2nd dream job okay but like hear me out
They have coffee & tea & a bookshelf full of old books and a chalkboard
You can write all over the chalkboard
You write super tiny and just let a little mini vent out in the corner because you’re stressed out and need to get everything off your chest
BUT you come back the next day and there’s a little note in the same little corner
Your message is gone
But instead is a little note from someone
“If you ever need to talk to someone, let me know”
And an Instagram username
So you give it a shot and you’re like why not talk to this random person Y’know maybe make a new friend if anything just thank them for the offer
You message him and start talking (and low key stalk his page just to see what he’s like, or maybe that’s just me being a snoop) and he’s actually really cool! So you guys meet up and get coffee and actually start talking all the time it’s really sweet
✧𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠✧
general headcanons
When i think of akaashi, I think of stars
When i think of you, i think of picnics and for some reason, water
Like the ocean
SO EVEN IF ITS NOT THE OCEAN
Your ‘spot’ is by this lake where he took you on a date one time
Maybe for an anniversary or something
But you guys did a little picnic dinner thing and were out when the sun went down so sat and stared at the stars
You buried a rock there and both of you like to stand on that spot where the rock is when youre there with the other
Or send the other a picture like “hiii baby look what i found” w your shoe in the picture
Bokuto is your #1 shipper high key
Like he thinks you two are so cute
He loves you so much too like
He and akaashi are kinda a package deal so like if ur dating akaashi ur dating bokuto just with less kissing (bokuto likes to kiss your cheek or forehead) (after making sure this was ok with akaashi of course) (ur his girlfriend of course)
But anyway just bokuto
He’s so sweet
And so clueless
You two will be walking together and then he’ll just walk up behind you and sling his arms over your shoulders
If youre holding hands w akaashi? He’ll put his hand over both of yours
God now i wanna write a fic but anyway
Bo is just the sweetest and is akaashi’s #1 hype man when he’s worried about a date
He’s ur #2 bc im ur #1 sorry to tell u
Bo totally tried to coin the platonic soulmates thing i love you kou but gtfo my em
Im arguing with fictional characters
ANYWAY
When akaashi is stressed he likes to wrap his arms around you and lay his head against your neck
He’ll never admit it out loud because he thinks its weird but he thinks you smell nice
When he’s starting to overthink too much + spiral he just will grab you and hug you until all the bad thoughts go away
When he thinks to of course
When he doesn’t, there are times you gotta find him and calm him down
Which he loves so much
Sit him down on the floor so he feels more grounded and hold his hand (or hook pinkies that's so cute i jhbflebf) (not the time spencer gtfo)
That way ur not crowding him but you’re still there y'know
And sometimes he’ll talk, sometimes you need to talk him down, sometimes you just sit in silence
Eventually he will lean forward into you and hug you because he doesn't want to talk, but he wants you to know he’s okay
Rub his back, kiss his head, you’ll both be okay
He’s really good with you too
When you’re stressed out he might push a couple buttons but he means well
He just wants to know who made his star upset (he calls you his star or darling convince me otherwise)
So he pushes buttons until you finally talk about it because obviously it’s bothering you why wouldn't you talk about it?? He just wants to fix it??
Sometimes this gets more irritating, sometimes it helps, it depends on the day
But even if you do get into an argument, expect to hear from him before the end of the night apologizing because he feels so bad for arguing with you that he doesn’t even care what the argument was about he just wants to make sure you still love him
I think im getting off topic but tbh this part is always just me rambling lol
Another thing I think of when I think of akaashi is rain. I don't know why but i do
You have to at least know OF the notebook & the rain scene to get this
I don't know the book lol i just know this much and i'm a dork so we’re using it & some quotes just a heads up
But just imagine its pouring and you’re bored and text him like “i wish i could see you but its raining & we didn't really make plans & i don't want you to get caught in the rain anywhere”
This mfer
RUNS ALL THE WAY TO UR HOUSE
JUST SHOWS UP
OUT OF NO WHERE
And being the freakin
book nerd he is
He texts you and goes “I wrote you 365 letters.”
And then just “(come to the door and I’ll finish the quote)”
So you bolt to the front door
And there he is
Soaking wet & smiling like an idiot
“I wrote to you everyday for a year.”
To which you start laughing and barley are able to make out a “it wasn’t over’ (which is the beginning of the next quote) before kissing him
And this jerk pulls you out in the rain with him because WHAT is more romantic than kissing in the rain
Nothing
Anyway he ends up with a cold but you give him some of the clothes you probably stole from him to get into dry clothes and you cuddle under the covers with tea
After you smack him (playfully of course) because “you IDIOT keiji it's pouring out here!!” “I wanted to see you too so i ran over” “you're impossible”
Anyway yeah #emkaashiotp
✧𝐴 𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎✧
a date idea
Bookstore
I'm really good at naming places aren't i
Anyway
Bookstore date
But do something fun where the two of you have to go through an aisle and find a random page and read it in the like
How do i explain this
Make it sound suuuuper sexual without it actually being that way and not laugh
Whoever loses buys lunch
Lets just say you lose a lot dear im sorry (he insists on buying anyway, sometimes he wins that argument)
You’re smiley :) (guys her smile is so cute ebflbejfb em ILY)
Oh also doesn’t matter if he bought lunch or not he always gets you something
Whether it be that book you decided you couldn't get this time or a little trinket that reminded him of you, or sometimes it’s just ice cream
It’s all very sweet (hahaha pun)
He always walks you home and gives you a little kiss when he drops you off
Doesn’t leave till you’re inside & he knows you’re good
You make him promise to text you when he gets home
Which he does, without fail
✧𝑍𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑐 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦✧
zodiac compatibility
Sagittariuses are very intelligent, fair-minded & honest, similar to a Libra’s cleverness & rationale. Because of this similarity, trust is a huge thing in these relationships. It can be all or nothing, but finding balance is important to keep both people happy. Luckily, Libras are very good at this. From everything I’ve seen, these signs together have a very high compatibility and can have a very long-withstanding and healthy relationship.
✧𝐴𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐✧
aesthetic
✧𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡✧
playlist
House of Gold - Twenty-One Pilots
Lvr Boy - awfultune
A Shitty Love Song - Jye
Darling Get Up - awfultune
Something Just Like This - Alex Goot
✧𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑈𝑝✧
runners up
Nishinoya Yuu, Sugawara Koushi
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hello!! all the ocean asks !!
my answers will wash u away xdxdxdxddxddddd im sorry
pearl: if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? ny bc :^)))))))))))))) also it’s just the Iconic City
sails: describe your perfect partner. someone simply understanding, bc intuition and the capability to understand others goes a long long way. also preferably they wouldnt be a fake bitch lmao
lighthouse: how much makeup do you wear? none. nadda. zilch. my face is all natural and that’s all anyone will get
shells: would you prefer to be a vampire or a werewolf? shit, vampire probably. vampires are immortal so like??? documenting history would be interesting.
mermaid: most embarrassing moment? i mean i remember once yelling at everyone in the middle of class to shut up and they just wouldnt stop talking and i was stared at for .5 seconds before everyone started talking again. that was a day
turquoise: weirdest dream you’ve ever had? i remember having a dream where it started off as a pet competition but it turned into a battle with human-sized nutcrackers, to simplify the whole thing
waves: favourite season and why? winter, cold weather in my area for once + xmas + my birthday. also it’s the most bittersweet yet hopeful season
breakers: would you ever consider getting married? sure, although honestly at this point in time the idea of finding a lifelong partner seems kinda idealistic
seafoam: describe your ideal summer vacation. going to stay in a cabin with some friends + family members and just exploring the area and having a good time with them
rain: if it were possible, what exotic animal would you keep as a pet? red panda. i could have it drape itself across my neck 24/7
sunlight: least favourite song? uhhhhh actually im rlly irritated by break up in a small town by sam hunt bc i just. my family constantly listens to it. my brother ALWAYS sings it. and it just gets,,,,,,v irritating after a while. esp considering country music isnt even that g,,ood
marine: would you ever consider plastic surgery? no. bitch if i cant even have the heart to keep my face how am i gonna have the heart to do anything in life? i look alright and that’s enough
sea glass: what do you consider to be your best physical feature? uhhhhhh. i dont necessarily have,,,good features,,,,,but not /bad/ ones,,,,,,, i have freckles though??? freckles are nice
storm: do you like piercings and tattoos? Why or why not? sure, they’re a neat way to accessorize urself
boardwalk: who is your favourite fictional couple? probably sheith
coral: if you had to describe your personality as a food, what would you be and why? im too tired to think about this but this reminded me of potato-based foods and now im hungry. idk what kinda food would describe me though
nymph: old-fashioned or modern decor? old-fashioned??? anything cozy is game
seawater: scariest movie you’ve ever watched? i dont remember honestly i dont really watch scary movies at all
siren: in a fantasy setting, would you be a warrior, rogue or mage? shit, probably a mage??? rogue always sounds badass but im. not. but mage still sounds cool
tempest: your favourite Pokemon? uhhhhhh idk pokemon but the eeveelutions are cute (eyebrow wiggle @ u)
tropic: what is your least favourite thing about your appearance? my nose??? is kinda big?????? also my hair is frizzy as fuck it will never not be that way and it’s annoying as fuck
aquamarine: describe your dream date. laying on the roof of a car w someone and listening to the radio while gazing up at the stars. that seems aesthetically pleasing enough
brine: gold or silver? silver
tidal: what is a colour that best describes your personality? uhhhhhhh same as the food thing. i just dont know and im too tired to search for one that fits
azure: what is something that you do that makes you happy? listening to music while messaging friends, staying up until 3-4am with said friends, sleeping lmao
fog: describe where you think you’ll be in five years. shit man, idk. i really,,,dont know where i’ll be in 5 years
coastline: what is your favourite flower? shit uh. lavender is a nice flower, that’s the first one that came to mind so there that’s my favorite i guess
shallows: what is your typical Starbucks order? i dont drink starbucks
voyage: what are your favourite names? idfk i dont have favorite names bc i dont necessarily kno a lot of names but uh. oliver and aristophanes and
shipwreck: do you have an OC? If so, describe them. many many many ocs. too many ocs. gimme a species and/or “type” and ill give u some details abt one th ough, i just cant choose a rando one out of all the ones i have if u feel me
cerulean: do you believe in true love? not really
shoreline: if you could become fluent in another language, which would you pick and why? spanish bc im taking classes for it and learning another language is :^)) and it’d be nice to have something less to worry abt
tsunami: describe a dream outfit of yours. lmao dream outfit????? a hoodie and blue jeans and sneakers is ay okay with me.
riptide: are you introverted or extroverted? Are you happy with this? idk, probably introverted???? im not exactly the greatest at communication anyway
hurricane: describe a strange habit of yours. uhhhhh i bite my bottom lip a lot to the point where skin comes off, but like. that’s not exactly,,,,”strange” u kno
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I don't know if you're still into servamp and the c3 ot3 (was that what you called them? lol). And I also don't know if you read fanfiction, but there is like one now on ao3. I just thought I'd let you know about that
Thank you!!!!! For letting me know!!!!!!!!!! Holy heck I’ll be sure to read it asap!!! *O*
Anon said:the other day I was listening to the weather forecast on the radio and they talked ab it very poetically, at some point they said "we might get the appearance of a shy lightning in the afternoon" and I just... Denki.
This is THE CUTEST THING I’ve read all week thank you oh my g o d ............. a shy lightning........................... so cute.........................h e c k I’m smiling so hard r i p
Anon said:Fran thank you so much for existing! Love your art! And thanks to you I have so much more Kiribaku songs right now. Your posts always brighten my day. Again thank you and love you ❤❤❤
You’re SO SWEET oh my gO D S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I’m happy you enjoy my (not-so) subtle song recs hahaha
Anon said: I sometimes feel anxious but recently your bnha fusions manages to make me smile and seems to be amazingly therapeutic making me relax and enjoy things again. I've been researching dances, names and experimenting with the ideas of quirks and I was wondering if you would mind if I wrote a little fanfic about it or maybe some hcs? I wouldn't dare to do it if it made you uncomfortable so I guessed it was better to ask first
I don’t mind one bit!!! I’m glad that AU can make you happy, and if you end up posting anything I’d very very much like a link to it, if you don’t mind!!! :D
Anon said: I just wanna tell you that I love you and your art style! I hope you'll have a good day!
Holy smokes, thank you!!!!!!! I hope you’ll have a great day too !!
Anon said: ur punk kiri gives me life
T h aNK you omfg though I might argue that Kiri is kinda punk in canon too!!
Anon said: I gotta say until recently I was most involved in the v*ltron fandom but now I'm most active in the bnha fandom and it's like jumping out of a burning building into a pool. I'm loving it.
Ohhhhhhhhh I feel this a lot hahaha the bnha fandom is overall real nice though, right? It has its issues but it’s definitely one of the chillest I’ve been in a long while~
Anon said:I just saw your post abt Ojiro and i'm sc r ea m i n g bc i love him so much and i love seeing him being drawn in your art style??? Heck i love bnha in your art style, i love your art in general, everything you draw is just.... precious and amazing and you're amazing and thnak you so much for everything youve drawn(esp ojiro, love the ojiros)
Ojiro is pure and great and amazing and I’m SO GLAD you like him this much anon he needs ALL the love!!!!
Anon said:bless ur soul for ur tamaki art and bakushima man, i cry
Thank you for liking them!!!!!!!!!!! I cry a lot too t b h
Anon said:Love all ur art but especially livin for the bokuroo
THANK!!!!!!!! YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anon said:did you hear that kami has his own appreciation week coming up?
WHEN I didn’t!!! know!!!! When is it happening!!!!!!!!!
Anon said:Todoroki and sero? Ooh never considered that one! Do tell 😁
Well, I would tell but all in all it boils down to the fact that I kind of really like Sero with... anyone.......... rip he’s so pretty and Todo is also pretty and their rooms are next to each other and when I saw their “fight” in the anime again I kinda went why not t h o?? I dunno I’m weak to nearly all Sero ships SO!! it’s nealy purely aesthetical lmao
Anon said:fun fact : kiri means penis in iranian
..............what am I gonna do with this information now a n o n
Anon said:i finished writing a wedding fic and posted it, and im still crying over my own words. i made it so sappy and untraditional but thats just how kiribaku goes right?? when do they do things traditionally?
Traditional and krbk definitely don’t go together!!! Being emotional over your own stuff is good though, let those emotions be free anon!!!
Anon said: frrraaaaaaan i'm dyyying from uni but thank god there's your bakukiri art because it keeps me going alive in this dreary and cold period where i am dying but i see life at the end of the tunnel OTL (legit losing it from stress)
BE STRONG ANON!!!! I’M SURE YOU CAN DO IT AND COME OUT OF IT VICTORIOUS!!!! *patd playing in the distance* no but seriously I’m glad I can help you destress a little! Channel the Kirishima in yourself and hang in there!! 💪💪💪💪
Anon said:I love shinsou so much but I can't seem to convince my friend that he isn't creepy ;-;
There’s???? Nothing creepy about Shinsou??? He’s just a stressed and tired cat loving disaster???
....hm. When you say it like that he’s just like Aizawa isn’t he. Anyway! Nothing creepy about the lavander son!!!
Anon said:^^ I love your art, man. Though i dont really understand most of whats happening in the comics anymore considering I never watched/read anything bnha related, i still find your content charming. Thank you for making so much content :'>
Oh my god!!! Thank you for sticking around even though I fell in the bnha pit then orz I’m actually so happy to hear this!! Thank you so much seriously!!! ;u;
#fran answers#ship asks#that shy lightning ask man....#man...........................#why did it get to me so much oh my gosh..........................#so cu t e....................#i can so see kiri calling kami that...................................r i p#tho kami isn't really all that shy is he#it's okay it's sweet anyway im weak#rip me and my soft disaster of a self lmao#kirikami#is that my tag for them#kamishima#???#either of the two#lol#my sketches#anonymous
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MIA: This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me
Maya Arulpragasam is bringing dancehall, hip-hop and grime to this years Meltdown. Is the outspoken British Sri Lankan the best argument for positive cultural appropriation?
The Guardian said that you couldnt shag to my record. As conversational openers go, MIAs beats the banal niceties of, say, Hello, how are you doing?. Its no surprise that she charges straight into a chat about why her last album was considered too confrontational for the bedroom by this paper. Its an icebreaker moulded to MIAs very own design: abrasive, compelling, underpinned by sex. Yeah, she finally concedes with a grin when I suggest we move past it, you cant have it all, can you?
Its a theme she warms up to when we talk about her edition of Meltdown at the Southbank Centre, which were ostensibly here to discuss. Usually, I wouldnt do something like this, she says, slouched under an oversized khaki coat dress. [But the organisers] were like: Hey, you can do whatever you want. Still, putting on the South Banks annual festival, curated in previous years by the likes of David Bowie, David Byrne and Patti Smith, has turned out to be a fairly arduous affair for MIA who says she doesnt do computers at the moment.
They didnt tell me it was nine days long. I thought it was a weekend. And then all my lists were, like, Well, this person wont be in London and that person is doing Glastonbury. Organising festivals is actually really complicated, she stresses. It wasnt just about dreaming something and then it appeared. Programming literally means, like, programming.
For all that Maya Arulpragasam didnt quite know what she was letting herself in for, one suspects the Southbank Centre didnt either; logistics aside, the mornings photoshoot has already been met with some flapping from the press officer made nervous by MIA climbing on the roof without safety clearance. Still, her lineup dancehall, Brooklyn hip-hop, depressive Swedish rap and Nigerian grime is perhaps the most underground the festival has seen in its 24 years. How much is she expecting to shake up its comfortable concert halls, cafe bars and conference-room spaces?
youtube
Click here to watch the video for last years Go Off.
When I was a teenager in London, I would just get a Travelcard and go somewhere, explore the city and go to weird places, she says. I would never judge the place, like, This is middle class and white. This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me, but there wasnt ever a limit on where I could go or what I could do.
A long, elliptical digression on London then and now follows, which takes in the optimistic multiculturalism of the 90s, Tamil house parties, empire and British identity. Its the bento box of an MIA interview: individually contained ideas that dont obviously bleed into one another and yet, overall, make a collective sense if youre prepared to go with it. Thats the key thing about MIA: you have to be willing to go with her to properly get her. Given that she still looks and sounds like a beautiful, bratty, art-school upstart and is prone to labyrinthine tangents, its easy to portray her as inarticulate or unhinged. But MIAs intelligence is instinctive rather than intellectual, and fuelled by the political.
The Mehrabian maxim that reckons that only 7% of communication is verbal is one that might best be proven by the transcript of a chat with MIA removed of all tone, attitude, context and body language. Take, for instance, her explanation of why only the future remains relevant:
As humans, we dont use our past and our history to work out the importance of what our role is in the present, she says. And if you cant use the past to define your present, then it should not be an element that holds back the future. Greece is a perfect example. More than Britain, they were brought to their knees, and not a single white country thought about saving them. And it was part of their heritage. Its where their mythology comes from or their concept of capitalism and democracy comes from. Nobody cared, everybody cared about the modern. Right?
Kim Kardashian is actually more powerful than Greece. She has more money than the whole of Greece, she continues. Therefore, thats where the power lies. If you then define it that way, then you kind of just have to live with that. And maybe whats happening in modern society: that if youre going to judge it by that, then other countries are gonna come in and define the future.
In print, its a statement that seems lacking in logic and coherence. In the moment, Im fairly sure Im able to follow her and we go on to consider how and where this future is being defined (for the record: You cant ignore the fact that China is going to be doing their thing in the next 50 years) and how Arulpragasam believes the immigration issue has become a red herring covering up a truth that can explain the American and British swing to conservative populism.
With Brexit, the idea was to get away from Europe and reinvent our identity, she says. And really, that identity was going to be American, but then they gave us Trump! So, everyone now is like, Oh shit, what is Britain? Are we going to rewind back to the 1800s? We cant. Its too late for that. So, going forward, we need a charismatic leader who then va va vooms the British identity. And we dont have that either.
People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted … MIA. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/The Guide
The prime minister has called a snap election on the day we meet. Does MIA have any faith in our political system? Or in the left?
Everyone keeps going, Corbyn cant do this, but its, like, well, who else is there? she says. If people just left him alone to actually do the job and actually gave him some support, maybe hed be different. Treating him with so much contempt fighting that takes all his energy. How the fuck do you expect him to do interesting things? In any case insists the estranged daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, politicians are people who couldnt get jobs somewhere else.
MIAs politics, unwieldy and unslick though they may be, have often made her an easy target for tedious sneering in the press; the most insistent narrative is that, like Banksy, shes big on arch, subversive statement but lacks substance. Or that she is a hypocrite for making herself the poster girl for the worlds most marginalised people. And yet, shes one of the best pop stars Britain has ever produced. For all the ear-clanging experimentation of her five albums, MIA has always kept a sleeve full of pop bangers Bucky Done Gun, Paper Planes, Bad Girls, Finally that have sounded like little that came before or since her. Even if she didnt have the tunes, here is an art-school refugee Sri Lankan single mother with a visual aesthetic co-opted by everyone from Vetements to Versace who was born into political rebellion and revels in controversy. Gleefully gauche and carefree, MIA is the best argument for when cultural appropriation works. Bland singer-songstress beloved of Radio 2 playlists she isnt. So how much has the criticism bothered her?
People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted because Im not, she ays. I just had to fight for shit, and I still do. I just dont care any more. I dont know. She stops and starts. What I deal with as an artist, the media, the public persona, its a walk in the fucking park, compared to how confusing the universe really fucking is. Theres so much beauty in it and theres so much mystery, theres so much confusing shit in it. That is way more interesting to think about than why, like, Patricia hates me. You know what I mean? I laugh. Its like, Who the fuck is Patricia? and How can Patricia say this shit about me?. It just does not matter to me at all.As it is, she says shes most preoccupied with how to be a functioning grown up, an adult and a mother to an eight-year-old son (whose father Benjamin Bronfman is son to the billionaire heir of the Seagram fortune) born into immense privilege.
When the war came to an end in Sri Lanka in 2009, it actually did affect me, she explains. Everyone was, like, What the fuck does she know? Shes, like, a pop star, but that was my life. It was 50% of who I was, it was my identity. I didnt know what to do with myself. So I had a kid. Its the year the cause died, but the year my personal cause my son was born. And then, OK, I have to figure out what to do in very small parameters: I have a son, how is he going to see his grandma, am I going to make it there on Saturday? Can I make sure that I dont mess up his head by being depressed about certain things?
She struggles to reconcile her upbringing poor and living in Sri Lanka for her childhood to poor and living on a council estate in Mitcham, south London, in her adolescence with her sons. Im not very straightforward as an immigrant. That whole My kids would never see the pain that I saw; Im not like that. Im totally up for reintroducing him to the pain. I dont have any qualms about that. Her problems havent changed, she says, because of money or better circumstances. Whether Im in a mansion or a council flat, I would feel the same anxiety waking up going: I need to write this thing in a scrapbook, wheres my notepad? I would still have all those problems. I might still overcook the fish fingers. Those things are not going to magically transform because your house has changed. At the beginning I thought that money couldve saved my family. Very quickly I realised that money is not the thing.
Her conflict in wanting to being huge and commercial versus credible and ahead of the curve has been a persistent tension threaded through MIAs career. When I got into the music game, it was never an option to shut up and make lots of money. she says. To be a huge pop star, I would have to be, like, Yes, I think bombing Afghanistan was a great idea, I love our democracy and what it has achieved. I love the American flag and Im going to make a jumpsuit out of it. I just think it was important to have all of those Arab Springs, and its great and lets drink Coca-Cola. I had to do that, and do it all in a thong. Could I have done that if it meant that my mum had the nicest house in Chiswick by the river?
youtube
Click here to se the video for MIAs Bad Girls.
Does she worry about money now? If youre preaching living within your means, you have to, to some extent. But I also know that if youre someone in society that speaks out about injustice or political issues, one of the things that happens is that you get economically punished, 100%. I take that hit all the time.
The most recent, obvious example was MIA being forced to quit her headline slot at Afropunk last year, following a contentious quote in which she asked in an interview why Beyonc and Kendrick Lamar might not discuss why Muslim lives matter or Syrian lives matter. I dont regret [raising the issue], she says, with triumphant chutzpah. You saw how bad it was. And the Muslim ban didnt happen just with Trump, it was already happening under Obama. But you couldnt say that about him, you couldnt say that he introduced the Muslim ban, or banned seven different countries, or was already monitoring people, or dropped more bombs than Trump has. In truth, Obamas administration did identify the seven countries on Trumps list for additional screening measures, but it didnt bar their nationals. Shes already skipped ahead. The quantity of damage cant be quantified right now, she insists. Well have to wait the four years. After eight years of Obama, we kind of knew [his failings], but we just werent allowed to say them because he was so great. He was better than any person in Hollywood that I wouldve watched. He was really likable and just had loads of swag. That doesnt mean that you have to deny the truth, though.
This (and much more) comes moments after she tells me she has no time for opinions these days. She claims she doesnt read the news any more and that her primary sources for information are customers at the local kebab shop, taxi drivers and then sort of figuring it out. What about the state of the world? MIAs moment as an agitprop pop activist has never seemed more potent. Politics? I have no time for these things because Im so stuck in the zone. Ive become a hermit. [Meltdown] is actually giving me the chance to actually go out and meet people again. Ive gone for weeks without talking to a person, I do that happily. I tell her I dont believe her, as I suspect it would be a recipe for her to go fully barmy.
Im actually quite an extreme person, so I dont see that as madness. I see that as, like, solitude, doing a phase of solitude is not that bad. After declaring her fifth album AIM to be her final one, shes also trying to find new ways to channel her creativity. Im trying to write a film. I havent stepped into it yet because I want it to be good. Once you hit the start button you cant really stop it. She has, she tells me, the added complication of ADD to contend with. When was that diagnosed? I just have it. Dont even need diagnosis, its a waste of time, its a waste of the NHS. In truly blithe MIA style, she adds: Its just when you have too many ideas and not enough ways to get them out.
MIAs Meltdown is at the Southbank Centre, SE1, 9-18 June
Read more: http://ift.tt/2rBtxTD
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MIA: This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me
Maya Arulpragasam is bringing dancehall, hip-hop and grime to this years Meltdown. Is the outspoken British Sri Lankan the best argument for positive cultural appropriation?
The Guardian said that you couldnt shag to my record. As conversational openers go, MIAs beats the banal niceties of, say, Hello, how are you doing?. Its no surprise that she charges straight into a chat about why her last album was considered too confrontational for the bedroom by this paper. Its an icebreaker moulded to MIAs very own design: abrasive, compelling, underpinned by sex. Yeah, she finally concedes with a grin when I suggest we move past it, you cant have it all, can you?
Its a theme she warms up to when we talk about her edition of Meltdown at the Southbank Centre, which were ostensibly here to discuss. Usually, I wouldnt do something like this, she says, slouched under an oversized khaki coat dress. [But the organisers] were like: Hey, you can do whatever you want. Still, putting on the South Banks annual festival, curated in previous years by the likes of David Bowie, David Byrne and Patti Smith, has turned out to be a fairly arduous affair for MIA who says she doesnt do computers at the moment.
They didnt tell me it was nine days long. I thought it was a weekend. And then all my lists were, like, Well, this person wont be in London and that person is doing Glastonbury. Organising festivals is actually really complicated, she stresses. It wasnt just about dreaming something and then it appeared. Programming literally means, like, programming.
For all that Maya Arulpragasam didnt quite know what she was letting herself in for, one suspects the Southbank Centre didnt either; logistics aside, the mornings photoshoot has already been met with some flapping from the press officer made nervous by MIA climbing on the roof without safety clearance. Still, her lineup dancehall, Brooklyn hip-hop, depressive Swedish rap and Nigerian grime is perhaps the most underground the festival has seen in its 24 years. How much is she expecting to shake up its comfortable concert halls, cafe bars and conference-room spaces?
youtube
Click here to watch the video for last years Go Off.
When I was a teenager in London, I would just get a Travelcard and go somewhere, explore the city and go to weird places, she says. I would never judge the place, like, This is middle class and white. This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me, but there wasnt ever a limit on where I could go or what I could do.
A long, elliptical digression on London then and now follows, which takes in the optimistic multiculturalism of the 90s, Tamil house parties, empire and British identity. Its the bento box of an MIA interview: individually contained ideas that dont obviously bleed into one another and yet, overall, make a collective sense if youre prepared to go with it. Thats the key thing about MIA: you have to be willing to go with her to properly get her. Given that she still looks and sounds like a beautiful, bratty, art-school upstart and is prone to labyrinthine tangents, its easy to portray her as inarticulate or unhinged. But MIAs intelligence is instinctive rather than intellectual, and fuelled by the political.
The Mehrabian maxim that reckons that only 7% of communication is verbal is one that might best be proven by the transcript of a chat with MIA removed of all tone, attitude, context and body language. Take, for instance, her explanation of why only the future remains relevant:
As humans, we dont use our past and our history to work out the importance of what our role is in the present, she says. And if you cant use the past to define your present, then it should not be an element that holds back the future. Greece is a perfect example. More than Britain, they were brought to their knees, and not a single white country thought about saving them. And it was part of their heritage. Its where their mythology comes from or their concept of capitalism and democracy comes from. Nobody cared, everybody cared about the modern. Right?
Kim Kardashian is actually more powerful than Greece. She has more money than the whole of Greece, she continues. Therefore, thats where the power lies. If you then define it that way, then you kind of just have to live with that. And maybe whats happening in modern society: that if youre going to judge it by that, then other countries are gonna come in and define the future.
In print, its a statement that seems lacking in logic and coherence. In the moment, Im fairly sure Im able to follow her and we go on to consider how and where this future is being defined (for the record: You cant ignore the fact that China is going to be doing their thing in the next 50 years) and how Arulpragasam believes the immigration issue has become a red herring covering up a truth that can explain the American and British swing to conservative populism.
With Brexit, the idea was to get away from Europe and reinvent our identity, she says. And really, that identity was going to be American, but then they gave us Trump! So, everyone now is like, Oh shit, what is Britain? Are we going to rewind back to the 1800s? We cant. Its too late for that. So, going forward, we need a charismatic leader who then va va vooms the British identity. And we dont have that either.
People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted … MIA. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/The Guide
The prime minister has called a snap election on the day we meet. Does MIA have any faith in our political system? Or in the left?
Everyone keeps going, Corbyn cant do this, but its, like, well, who else is there? she says. If people just left him alone to actually do the job and actually gave him some support, maybe hed be different. Treating him with so much contempt fighting that takes all his energy. How the fuck do you expect him to do interesting things? In any case insists the estranged daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, politicians are people who couldnt get jobs somewhere else.
MIAs politics, unwieldy and unslick though they may be, have often made her an easy target for tedious sneering in the press; the most insistent narrative is that, like Banksy, shes big on arch, subversive statement but lacks substance. Or that she is a hypocrite for making herself the poster girl for the worlds most marginalised people. And yet, shes one of the best pop stars Britain has ever produced. For all the ear-clanging experimentation of her five albums, MIA has always kept a sleeve full of pop bangers Bucky Done Gun, Paper Planes, Bad Girls, Finally that have sounded like little that came before or since her. Even if she didnt have the tunes, here is an art-school refugee Sri Lankan single mother with a visual aesthetic co-opted by everyone from Vetements to Versace who was born into political rebellion and revels in controversy. Gleefully gauche and carefree, MIA is the best argument for when cultural appropriation works. Bland singer-songstress beloved of Radio 2 playlists she isnt. So how much has the criticism bothered her?
People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted because Im not, she ays. I just had to fight for shit, and I still do. I just dont care any more. I dont know. She stops and starts. What I deal with as an artist, the media, the public persona, its a walk in the fucking park, compared to how confusing the universe really fucking is. Theres so much beauty in it and theres so much mystery, theres so much confusing shit in it. That is way more interesting to think about than why, like, Patricia hates me. You know what I mean? I laugh. Its like, Who the fuck is Patricia? and How can Patricia say this shit about me?. It just does not matter to me at all.As it is, she says shes most preoccupied with how to be a functioning grown up, an adult and a mother to an eight-year-old son (whose father Benjamin Bronfman is son to the billionaire heir of the Seagram fortune) born into immense privilege.
When the war came to an end in Sri Lanka in 2009, it actually did affect me, she explains. Everyone was, like, What the fuck does she know? Shes, like, a pop star, but that was my life. It was 50% of who I was, it was my identity. I didnt know what to do with myself. So I had a kid. Its the year the cause died, but the year my personal cause my son was born. And then, OK, I have to figure out what to do in very small parameters: I have a son, how is he going to see his grandma, am I going to make it there on Saturday? Can I make sure that I dont mess up his head by being depressed about certain things?
She struggles to reconcile her upbringing poor and living in Sri Lanka for her childhood to poor and living on a council estate in Mitcham, south London, in her adolescence with her sons. Im not very straightforward as an immigrant. That whole My kids would never see the pain that I saw; Im not like that. Im totally up for reintroducing him to the pain. I dont have any qualms about that. Her problems havent changed, she says, because of money or better circumstances. Whether Im in a mansion or a council flat, I would feel the same anxiety waking up going: I need to write this thing in a scrapbook, wheres my notepad? I would still have all those problems. I might still overcook the fish fingers. Those things are not going to magically transform because your house has changed. At the beginning I thought that money couldve saved my family. Very quickly I realised that money is not the thing.
Her conflict in wanting to being huge and commercial versus credible and ahead of the curve has been a persistent tension threaded through MIAs career. When I got into the music game, it was never an option to shut up and make lots of money. she says. To be a huge pop star, I would have to be, like, Yes, I think bombing Afghanistan was a great idea, I love our democracy and what it has achieved. I love the American flag and Im going to make a jumpsuit out of it. I just think it was important to have all of those Arab Springs, and its great and lets drink Coca-Cola. I had to do that, and do it all in a thong. Could I have done that if it meant that my mum had the nicest house in Chiswick by the river?
youtube
Click here to se the video for MIAs Bad Girls.
Does she worry about money now? If youre preaching living within your means, you have to, to some extent. But I also know that if youre someone in society that speaks out about injustice or political issues, one of the things that happens is that you get economically punished, 100%. I take that hit all the time.
The most recent, obvious example was MIA being forced to quit her headline slot at Afropunk last year, following a contentious quote in which she asked in an interview why Beyonc and Kendrick Lamar might not discuss why Muslim lives matter or Syrian lives matter. I dont regret [raising the issue], she says, with triumphant chutzpah. You saw how bad it was. And the Muslim ban didnt happen just with Trump, it was already happening under Obama. But you couldnt say that about him, you couldnt say that he introduced the Muslim ban, or banned seven different countries, or was already monitoring people, or dropped more bombs than Trump has. In truth, Obamas administration did identify the seven countries on Trumps list for additional screening measures, but it didnt bar their nationals. Shes already skipped ahead. The quantity of damage cant be quantified right now, she insists. Well have to wait the four years. After eight years of Obama, we kind of knew [his failings], but we just werent allowed to say them because he was so great. He was better than any person in Hollywood that I wouldve watched. He was really likable and just had loads of swag. That doesnt mean that you have to deny the truth, though.
This (and much more) comes moments after she tells me she has no time for opinions these days. She claims she doesnt read the news any more and that her primary sources for information are customers at the local kebab shop, taxi drivers and then sort of figuring it out. What about the state of the world? MIAs moment as an agitprop pop activist has never seemed more potent. Politics? I have no time for these things because Im so stuck in the zone. Ive become a hermit. [Meltdown] is actually giving me the chance to actually go out and meet people again. Ive gone for weeks without talking to a person, I do that happily. I tell her I dont believe her, as I suspect it would be a recipe for her to go fully barmy.
Im actually quite an extreme person, so I dont see that as madness. I see that as, like, solitude, doing a phase of solitude is not that bad. After declaring her fifth album AIM to be her final one, shes also trying to find new ways to channel her creativity. Im trying to write a film. I havent stepped into it yet because I want it to be good. Once you hit the start button you cant really stop it. She has, she tells me, the added complication of ADD to contend with. When was that diagnosed? I just have it. Dont even need diagnosis, its a waste of time, its a waste of the NHS. In truly blithe MIA style, she adds: Its just when you have too many ideas and not enough ways to get them out.
MIAs Meltdown is at the Southbank Centre, SE1, 9-18 June
Read more: http://ift.tt/2rBtxTD
from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2rbYbGf via Viral News HQ
0 notes