#mob Rubee

[kamigui]

In every other universe, Rubee falls for Wally ,and in every other universe, it doesn't end well…

Well, it's a first time for everything, right?

Welcome Home Hunt vs Hunted AU Wally ( @nonomives) x Human Ruby (W➡️⬅️R)

Welcome Home Mob AU Wally ( @clownsuu) x Mob Rubee (W⬅️R)

Welcome Home Haunted House AU (me) x Maid Rubee (W➡️⬅️R)

ASGDHDFBKSDFJSDF, I finally made it! Hope you guys like it!

[kamigui]

Spider!!!!! Love the design!!!!

and my baby girl is so cute qqqqq thank you!!

Our arachnid seamster, Mob Hopper Huntsman!

Info on Mob version of Hopper:

A Seamster

Since not a poisonous spider, he uses needles or acupuncture to stun enemies.

Has 5 arms due to Wally taking one.

12ft tall, tall boi.

Eyes inverse, black to white, to see better at night.

Poor eye sight, has a pair of reading glasses.

To make a web, he’s unable to in this version, is that he makes special sewing nettles that he ties special string that is strong and sharp and throws them in a way that simulates a web.

Also some doodles of other mob oc’s!

Mob Robbie and Lovelie by: @clownsuu

Mob Dolly by: @nonomives

Mob Robbie: @eldritchparasol

Mob Odalia and Ashton: @ashchoo

Mob Poppet: @cupophrogs

Mob Colt: @thelone-copper

Mob Terrin and Silvie: @theknifeclown

Mob Clover and Daisy: @chimeracarnival

Mob Rubee: @kamigui

Mob Maria and Marcos love plus Hopper Huntsman: @ok-i-draw (mine.)

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest.

Who's Counting?

Day #4 - Prompt: Eddie | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: Future Fic, Famous Corroded Coffin, Older Steddie, Exes to Lovers, Let's Try This Again, One More Time

Hoping tonight won't be the night that his skin-fucking-tight leather pants split right up the asscrack when he squats down, Eddie drops into a crouch right in front of center stage. Looking into the eyes of the guy right in front of him.

And nearly falls into the pit. 

Steve Harrington is looking back at him. Older, and more gorgeous than ever. Looking right into Eddie's eyes the way he is, makes Eddie miss the next line, but he recovers, gripping the wedge monitor at his side to stand back up.

Turning his back on the crowd. On Steve. Again.

What the fuck?

This can't be happening.

They couldn't be together, but they couldn't be apart. Until they were, and now here Steve is. Forty-something, and fucking fine. 

Eddie finishes his song, the set, but he's off-balance. Rattled in a way he hasn't been on stage in decades. 

As soon as they step off the stage, Gareth slings his arm around Eddie's waist, leaning close, "So, what'd you do up there? Shit your pants? You froze like a goddamn rube."

Eddie laughs, but turns to look at his best friend, "Steve was right there."

"Oh fuck, goddamn. I'd rather have shit my pants than come face-to-face with any of my ex-lovers."

"Don't say lovers," Eddie says. He doesn't know what he and Steve Harrington were, but lovers sounds wrong. They were just two kids that couldn't make it work, no matter how hard they tried, or how many times.

"You gonna find him?" Gareth asks, like that's an actual option.

"In a crowd of forty-two thousand? Yeah, I'll get right on it," Eddie snaps, but yeah, of course he's going to do exactly that. He knows he is, Gareth knows he is, because he'll always go to Steve if there's a chance. Any chance.

"Yeah, okay. Don't get mobbed," Gareth says, squeezing Eddie's side with his hand way too hard, then he's gone.

Eddie's showered, pulled his hair up off his neck, and is standing outside the venue, watching the remaining crowd slowly file out. Stragglers. 

Steve's gone. Steve's always been gone. 

Just out of his grasp, never his to hang onto for long.

Eddie pushes off the wall, turns the corner of the arena, and down in the distance is a familiar figure, leaning against the wall.

Eddie laughs, and the sound must echo and carry, because Steve turns to look at him.

"Wrong side!" Eddie yells, pointing at the building as he jogs towards Steve.

"We always were out of sync like that," Steve says as soon as Eddie's approaches, standing straight and opening his arms. Eddie barrels into him, hugging him around the neck.

"Good to see you," Eddie says, because it is. It hurts, it always hurts, always will, but it's been way too long. 

"You too, Eddie," Steve answers, pressing his face to Eddie's neck.

He smells good, his hairspray and cologne, familiar. 

Eddie pulls back before he does anything stupid.

"How's the missus?" Eddie asks, holding onto Steve's elbows.

"Ex-missus, these days," Steve says, and it feels like Eddie's heart turns over in his chest.

"Oh, I hadn't heard that. I'm sorry," Eddie says, even if he's not sorry, not really. That's not true. He wants Steve to be happy, and he thought he would be when he got married. Both times.

Steve smiles, "Thanks. It's not new news. Not now. I figured Henderson told you."

Henderson definitely did no such thing, the little prick. 

"He didn't," Eddie answers, "and he'll pay for that."

Steve laughs, "Don't be too hard on him. You know he was just trying to avoid implosion number, what would it be now, six?"

Eddie grins. Six, eight, ten, who's counting?

"Wanna get a drink? Talk about which accelerant we should try this time?"

Steve laughs, and gives him that warm smile he's missed so goddamn much, "Definitely."

Eddie's hand is high on Steve's thigh in the fancy hotel bar, in a secluded room Eddie's name opened the door to, with ease. 

It feels different this time, easier, and Eddie hopes that this is not just his big fucking blindspot for Steve Harrington rearing it's ugly head.

"You got a room upstairs?" Steve asks.

And the grin on Eddie's face feels ear-to-ear and wicked, "You know I do, big boy."

Eddie drags his tongue up Steve's belly, and maps all the changes. 

"What happened here?" Eddie asks, running his tongue over a new scar. Healed, but fresher than the bat bites. 

"Appendix burst. Nearly died," Steve says, like that isn't the most horrifying thing Eddie's ever heard.

Eddie whines, and Steve laughs, "I'm fine. You're being dramatic. Just like Robin was about it."

Eddie's not. He knows he's not, and neither was Robin. But at least she got to know.

"Oh, you almost died and nobody told me. That's cool. Love that," Eddie says, sarcastic. 

"If it'd gotten bad, somebody would have called you," Steve assures, and Eddie isn't sure that's true. Not anymore.

Eddie doesn't want to talk about it, though. So, he runs his rough fingers over Steve's chest, making sure there isn't anything else new he needs to know about. Not finding anything, he leans down and kisses Steve's stomach, loving the feel of the rough hair under his mouth. 

He's missed Steve. All of him, and he hadn't been prepared for him to stumble back into his life after all this time. It'd been too long, he thought Steve was married, again, and Eddie would never be over it, over him, even if he'd learned to do without him. Had to. He hadn't had a choice.

And now here Steve is, back under Eddie's hands. 

"I've missed you," Eddie says, and Steve cards his hand through Eddie's hair, grinning.

"Me too, Eddie. Think we can do it this time?"

Eddie has no fucking clue. History says no, but his heart says yes, so he looks right in Steve's eyes, smiles, and declares, "Fuck yeah, we will."

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @corrodedcoffinfest and follow along with the fun! 🦇

[clownsuu]

Hello, sorry to bother you, I really love your oc and au, so I drew these drawings!

Because I was shadowbanned a while ago, so I’m not sure if you’ve seen these before.

Please let me know if this bothers you! Have a nice day!

Robbie is really cute and cool, he’s giving a vibe like “Chaos? I called it FUN!!!”

And of course, Mob! au, I can imagine that Robbie throw Rubee to speed her up and help her change the direction!

And the besties went to jail together, I love relationship between mob Julie and mob Sally, so cute!

AWEEEE ROBBIEEBBBBB SO MUCH LIL GUY CONTENTTTTT

[frogaroundandfindout]

“Just get me an arm up over the charivari…allez oop!”

“The charWhat?”

“The clown mob! You spend much time with circus folk?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I forgive you in advance for not recognizing our slang, like—Hey Rube!”

“Ah, the old rally cry for help! Got your back dickie-boy!”

Nightwing, Hawkman, and deadman take on the possessed fighters and find Ollie (The Brave and the Bold (2007) #15)

[eccentric-nucleus]

i read this the other day and it made me think about minecraft mods

it does kind of strike me how many of the Traditional Rationalist Singularity Things are fundamentally... single-player? not a lot of 'you will be able to love and be loved' happening. a lot of 'you will be able to have a big mansion with sexy servants'. even the bit about 'appreciating art' is about appreciating an endless stream of flawless ai art, in much the same tone as the bit about being able to appreciate all the physics the ais will figure out. art, physics, same thing, right

so there was this minecraft mod called 'equivalent exchange' that assigned every item in the game a numerical value. dirt was 1 point. diamonds were 8192 points. iron was 256 points. sugarcane was 8 points. and so on. and the two big things you could do is there was an 'alchemy tablet' that would record stuff you put in it and maintain a points buffer and let you take out any item you had the points to create. so, yes, you could turn one diamond into 4 gold or 16 iron or whatever. equivalent exchange! the other thing was a solar reactor that would just constantly give you points. so once you had found any one thing in the world, you could make infinite copies of it, given enough points.

this mod was somewhat contentious. some people loved it! others did not love it. minecraft is kind of a game that trades on the specific. items aren't fungible. there are sugarcane farms and pumpkin farms and iron farms and mob farms etc, and different kinds of items require different infrastructures to obtain in large quantities. equivalent exchange got rid of all that; suddenly every item is fungible!

you can look at various minecraft mods and be like, okay, is this a mod about giving you a solution block, or is this a mod about giving you a flexible framework to figure out your own solutions? equivalent exchange is pretty much pure 'solution block', but stuff like minefactory reloaded or mekanism is also pretty heavy on the solution block: this block makes cobblestone. this block makes ice. this block makes lava. meanwhile, mods like botania or create are more about giving you blocks that do very broad interactions ('this block places another block in the world', 'this block moves around other blocks', 'this block breaks other blocks') and expects you to make your own rube goldberg machine that automatically manufactures stuff or w/e. because some people find the challenge and complexity of that more satisfying than just being able to press a button to get infinite power. something something there are many lessons we could learn from elf-only inn

anyway until your local transhumanist can design a minecraft mod that people would like to play i don't think i'd trust their ai to design a utopia people actually want to exist in

[thealogie]

😂yeah matthew's mother (who is insane) was divorced from his dad for the second time & had an affair with woody's dad (a hitman for the mob) right around the time matthew was conceived. two little texas boys with a dream and a red string of fate <3

I knew about woody’s dad being a hit man but this is an insane level of coincidence. Not even a red string of fate, more like a red Rube Goldberg machine of fate

[iwrotemrtambourineman]

married to the mob is great the mob has their meetings at a fucking medieval times with a pianist that sings a song when the mob boss enters and the fbi agent is a freak of a man who has a rube goldberg machine a la wallace and gromit to get him ready in the morning michelle pfeiffer sounds like shes going to start crying at every moment and gives the spoonman a dollar even as she’s failing to find a job to try and escape the mobs grasp its great everyone watch it!!

[thepoliticalvulcan]

"Against the Death Penalty except for..." misses the point.

So Biden has commuted the sentences of all but three prisoners on Federal death row.

A bit of throat clearing and explanation for those not hip to the jargon, that's ONLY Federal prisoners. The President cannot commute the sentences of STATE prisoners. So everyone on death row in Texas et al. facing increasingly arcane methods of execution are regrettably still confronting that fate.

Commute also means to reduce the sentences. I doubt Tumblr needs this explained to it but you do see a few people here and there who confuse commute and pardon. So these former death row inmates are now getting life in prison.

Throat clearing finished.

You see a lot of people whose natural resting point is being against the death penalty but will say things like "kill all pedos" or "kill all rapists." I'm not going to wage a rhetorical war to persuade you dear reader that sexual assault, even against children, is something that deserves complicating or contextualizing. I don't know if these behaviors are "conditions" that can be "fixed." My gut feeling is that whatever is responsible for these things happening, the death penalty is not a very significant factor in a person making a conscious choice or giving into a primal instinct and committing these heinous acts.

Which is in part why the morality of the slow death, perhaps even torture by some definitions represented by life in prison vs execution for people who cannot be "fixed" is not actually where I situate my ABSOLUTE opposition to the death penalty.

Even for rapists.

Even for pedophiles.

Let me start with a question: what is the reactionary right's favorite accusation to hurl against its social enemies?

Pedophile.

Groomer.

Recall that poll that something like one in five of all Americans believe at some aspect of the QAnon conspiracy?

A core belief of QAnon is that there's a cabal of child abusing, child murdering occultists (and possible literal demons) instantiated at the heart of American power and predominantly on the left, but sometimes ex-right wingers that fall out of favor with the conspiratorial right like Liz Cheney get lumped in.

Now "some part" means that one in five may not agree with all aspects of the way I just characterized it, but belief in some version of it, however watered down, illustrates what I think the danger of the death penalty is. Look how readily humans are to believe in child sexual abuse allegations against people who irritate us with their baffling political and moral beliefs.

If there is an approved category of people who we are allowed to kill, then that is a category that can be weaponized against people who aren't actually guilty of that crime but fit the mental template that the accusers, prosecutors, jurists, judge, and the mob have for that category.

Pedophilia is real.

It is dangerous and sick. But the death penalty opens it up to being used as loosely and maliciously as "super predator" was. Think about how often you've encountered the story of a person about to be executed despite calls from even former prosecutors in some instances admitting that they got it wrong, the evidence was contaminated, new evidence has been discovered etc. etc. and that person is often executed anyway.

Remember when Elon Musk called a man trying to save children trapped in cave a "pedo guy?" Not only did this thin skinned CEO get big mad because someone correctly pointed out that his own Rube Goldberg scheme failed to achieve anything, Elon won the defamation suit that Vernon Unsworth brought against him. Now Elon seems to be a quasi "shadow president" whom Congressional Republicans are more afraid of than Trump himself since Elon has pledged to wield his fortune as a weapon to fuel primary challenges against anyone who crosses him. Now look, Elon's relationship with Trump and with the GOP may be doomed. There are heads of lettuce that outlasted formal and informal counselors to the President in Trump's first term.

But the point is that a man who wields the term pedo frivolously is adjacent to the highest law enforcement office in the country.

The death penalty is a leopard.

You cannot tame it.

There may be people in this world who deserve to have their face bit. Maybe you feel very confident in your ability to discern who should have their face bit.

But you cannot ever be certain that it will not solely bite the face of the people you think deserve it.

If you allow it to eat faces, it will eat your face.

Its only a matter of time.

The only way to be sure it won't is to not keep leopards as pets.

Abolish the death penalty.

[kamigui]

Whenever Rubee sees a broken doll, she picks it up and fixes it. Whenever she sees a broken limb, she wants to sew it back together. Maybe it’s to make up for past mistakes. She is just doing this to make herself feel better. She doesn’t know why, but it works…

Fun fact (?) Rubee made mini dolls for everyone in the family, but she never had a chance to give it away.

[ok-i-draw]

The buzz around the neighborhood! 🐝

BEE GANG! 🐝I’m starting to make a lot of bug friend groups….

Bill bumble by: @theknifeclown

Rubee bee by: @kamigui

Human Mob!Marcos and human Mob!Maria sketches in @clownsuu art style!

[arom-com]

hi hope this is ok but i've seen sooo many of ur posts tagged as renbrand and i am ... perhaps .... a little curious .... would u like to tell me abt them !!!! 👀👀 (its ok if not ofc)

Ofc!! I sure have been tagging them a lot huh

The short version is that they’re my unhinged lesbian ocs stuck in a murder timeloop

Longer version is this:

(I am not going to be able to explain this in any way approaching coherent) (but I will try!!) (sorry in advance for the Wall of Text)

So RenBrand stands for these two:

Ren Hayashi (23, she/they) university student studying criminal psychology, abandonment issues out the wazoo, Going Through It

Brand Reitveld (26, she/her) local gang leader, Control Issues TM, definitely the cat in whatever cat-and-mouse thing they have going on

They’re in love — it’s not even remotely healthy.

Basically, through no fault of their own, they got stuck in a long-form time loop (days/months rather than strict 24h) that resets whenever one of them dies, which wouldn’t be too much of an issue? Except a) they’ve never met and don’t know they’re stuck together, and b) Ren keeps getting fucking murdered

Bc!! Ren’s psychology prof is running a secret cult (trying to turn his crim psy students into serial killers, it’s a whole thing, very cringe of him) so she gets killed for accidentally getting in the way a couple times (she doesn’t know about the cult), and then ofc starts investigating, which only makes it worse (I feel so bad for her but it’s also really funny, saddest most pathetic sopping wet oc I’ve ever created)

(Some of Ren’s deaths are also caused by Brand who’s like listen I don’t have a grudge against you or anything but you do keep getting my people killed so I have to eliminate the threat, no hard feelings! And Ren is like I am in abject misery)

(strangers to enemies to lovers except the strangers to enemies is a speedrun and the enemies to lovers is a slow burn)

The story they’re from is sort of a dark mystery-slash-romance (think nbc hannibal meets groundhog day, which is certainly a sentence), and it’s mainly centred around Ren and her corruption arc as she goes from “tired student just trying to finish her dissertation if it kills her” to “codependent mob-wife who kills first and asks questions later”

I’m obsessed with time as a narrative device, and especially time loops, because it can be used in such interesting ways!! And the interesting part about time loops to me is that they’re like,,,,, rube goldberg machines for character development? You only stick a character in a time loop when you need them to undergo a pretty drastic change without a proper catalyst, and it forces them to wear themselves down to their bones, to find the very essence of what they are, and then build themselves back up again into their ideal and purest form of self. (Of course, some people just use them as a tool for romance, but that’s boring!! Boo)

Usually time loops exist to make a character better, because they’re given some kind of epiphany that makes them the best and kindest version of themselves. (Alternatively, they can be used as the cosmic equivalent of a washing machine spin cycle if you’re writing horror) But what interests Me is the idea of using a time loop to make a character worse, which is what I’m doing to Ren (and to a lesser extent, Brand)

And it’s not just corruption for corruption’s sake, either! Ren, as she is, is miserable — she’s completely isolated, unable to achieve any of her goals, and ultimately ends up getting killed in an impersonal way for impersonal reasons — but once the loop begins and she gets her second chance, she starts to wear away at all her self-imposed barriers and boundaries until she can start making her own decisions and being an active agent in her own life. Of course, she’s not choosing to do good, but the best version of herself is not necessarily Good or Kind, it’s just Authentic.

Brand, on the other hand — because she has more support and isn’t as repressed — is experiencing the time loop less as a vehicle for character development, and more as a perpetual time travel fix-it (which is SO fun, having two characters get wildly different outcomes from the same experience). Her problems are more interpersonal rather than internal, so where Ren is using the extra time to understand herself, Brand uses it to understand the world around her (and is thus doing a much better job at actually solving the plot, we love a girlboss).

Brand’s conflicts are with her brother (who I can’t even Begin to explain without adding another thousand words to this post), and (as the leader of the local gang) with the police & the murder cult, which means that a lot of her loops are spent information-gathering (and murdering, dw abt it)

Personality-wise Ren is pretty quiet, she doesn’t like to ask for things which means she gets into miscommunications a lot (people not helping when she wishes they would, people helping when she doesn’t need it bc they think she just doesn’t want to ask), she’s a very “the only one you can rely on is yourself” kind of person, which isn’t exactly ideal for someone you’re stuck in a time loop with but at least it means she never gives up? She also doesn’t really care what people think of her — or rather, she does care, but she doesn’t let it stop her

Brand is suffering from a lethal combination of being the youngest sibling and simultaneously the eldest daughter, so she’s great at asking for help and using her resources but it means that she a) is a little entitled about it, and b) needs to feel like she has perfect control over everything or she’ll die. She’s very possessive and protective over things that she considers hers (hence murdering Ren for getting her people killed, it’s fine they get over it)

Renbrand also come equipped with two sets of narrative foils (Brand’s disabled ex-ballet dancer brother and his bodyguard/love interest, and the cult leader professor and his prized pupil who both hates and loves him for what he’s become) but the word count on this is already obscenely, embarrassingly long so I’ll talk abt them another day maybe

[worldofwardcraft]

Another rube falls for the con.

November 21, 2024

Lots of people think Elon Musk, the illegal immigrant from South Africa, is a certified genius. But this is the guy who bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and immediately destroyed its brand by changing the name to X. Then he proceeded to run the social media platform straight into the ground by inviting in all manner of MAGAs, Nazis, racists and assorted loonies. Today, X is worth less than $10 billion. Some genius.

Musk's reputation as a business mastermind was built on his ownership of the Starlink satellite internet service and the quasi-successful Tesla car company, making him one of the richest men in the world. But as CNN points out:

[H]is "creations" deserved an asterisk — his businesses emerged through absorption of other people’s technologies, ideas and start-ups.

Moreover, both companies rely on billions in federal grants, subsidies and tax abatements, rather than on Musk's personal brilliance. Indeed, the demolition of X raises the question of whether, instead of being a genius, Musk is in fact an idiot. Degenerate con artist Donald Trump apparently seemed to think so. He spotted Musk as an easy mark a mile away.

From being a supporter of Democrats, such as Obama, Clinton and Biden, Musk fell for Trump's flimflam following the COVID pandemic and became a full-on, red hat-wearing MAGA. According to Fortune magazine, he gave at least $132 million to elect Trump and his allies this year. Plus, he used his social media platform to push Trump's election, even though Trump had very publicly left it to start up his own competitor site, Truth Social.

But the list of those who jumped aboard the Trump bus, only to be thrown under it once Trump had no further use for them, is a long one. Just ask Rudy Giuliani or Mike Pence or dozens of others. And the signs that the Trump-Musk bromance is ending are already beginning to show.

Like Trump's recent humiliation of Musk by naming him and Vivek Ramaswamy (another discard) to lead an imaginary “Department of Government Efficiency” in his second administration. Also, as Politico's Playbook reports, insiders say:

Musk has become almost a comical distraction, hanging around Mar-a-Lago, sidling into high-level transition meetings and giving unsolicited feedback on Trump’s personnel decisions.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post tells us Trump’s inner circle is displeased with the perception that Musk has been operating as a “co-president.” And in Trump's mafia mob world, there's only room for one narcissistic boss. Sooner or later, not-as-smart-as-he-thinks Elon Musk will turn out to be just another gullible victim of an accomplished fraudster.

[vox-off]

re: your grumpy friend who’s annoying playing mtg

I’m not as socially deficient as this guy, but I get some of where he’s coming from. While I do like to play competitively or recreationally, things like storytelling, art, lore, the feel of the world, etc. are a big part of what attracts me to one game or another, one expansion or another, etc. I also really don’t care about limited formats or draft formats, for the same reason. Deck cohesion and theming is a big part of what makes card games fun to me, so I’ve only ever really like tribal sets in limited.

I’m not as big of a crybaby about people playing to win as I used to be, or as much as he is, but idk how old he is. I was obnoxious as a kid.

ANYWAY, actual advice:

If you guys really want to keep him as a friend, have you considered just playing something else? It seems like he’d have a lot more fun playing a collaborative game, or a ttrpg, or doing a different activity with more of a role-playing creative aspect

not trying to tell you how to live your life, but I can see how a guy like that would find a competitive game very frustrating, I almost exclusively play single player games and watch movies these days, or play commander precon v. precon as a very casual party game.

league of legends was like, life-ruining frustrating for me, as much as I got invested in the world and its characters, the actual gameplay experience was just kinda ass

oh believe me, i also get where he's coming from, i'm not saying that his style of play and what he finds rewarding in magic is wrong or lesser than mine, and if my original post implied that, that absolutely was not my intent. i get it from a parallel sense; he enjoys constructing stories with his decks and i enjoy constructing rube goldberg machines with mine. both are correct ways of playing magic

i also feel i should clarify the pod's "competitiveness": we all play kitchen table. my favorite 60 card deck of mine to play is a madness deck that costs about $6. the most expensive deck ever to hit our table was around $70 and it was HIS eldrazi deck. it's never been a rout either, he has the second highest winning record in the pod. we keep a tally - he wins more than he loses. lol i have the worst record in the pod by far, and it is a bummer i very much get it, but i don't scream obscenities at my friends when i lose

and we DO play ttrpgs - half of my mtg pod is also half of my tt group (it's like a venn diagram of my nerd friends). i've invited him to play multiple times, but he only wants to play rogue trader or 5e and i'm currently running a pbta campaign. i've encouraged him to run his own rogue trader campaign - i've been a DM for over a decade, i LOVE opportunities to be a player again - but he's never taken me up on it. our magic nights are sort of... open? if that makes sense? we post times and who's hosting in the discord, whoever wants to show up shows up and we play. no one's forcing him to play magic with us, he's making the conscious choice to come to magic nights

what bothers me is that for him, gameplay is not a two-way street. if he takes out something on my board, that's "strategy." if i return the favor - because on what planet am i going to let Krenko, Mob Boss stay on a battlefield already covered in goblin tokens if i have a Murder in hand - i'm "targeting him." he behaves as if his opponent is supposed to be his audience, not a participating player in a game

also, if this puts anything into perspective, he's almost 40

[airadam]

Episode 176 : It's Goin' Down...

"I AM"

- Chuck D

Hope you've had a good start to 2024! While it's been a bit bumpy over here, the selection on the first episode of the year is strong from start to finish. If you know every single one of these tracks already...we should probably have a chat as you clearly have an ear for the good stuff! 

Mastodon : @airadam@mastodon.me.uk

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Organized Noize ft. Big Boi, Big Rube, Sleepy Brown, and Cee-Lo : We The Ones

A very fortunate find during a recent digging expedition, I didn't even know that the "Organized Noize EP" existed until I had it in my hands. Looking around on Discogs, it seems that it was a limited release in 2017 of 500 copies, on fiery orange vinyl and with a fantastic cover. Apparently twenty years in the making - probably because the production team behind OutKast, Goodie Mob, and more were kind of busy - it's a quality seven-song collection that you can now also get digitally! I heard a few seconds of this track at the listening post and it was the one that convinced me to buy the record, a musically-stirring and always-relevant and timely call to stand up and fight against oppression.

Orbital : Adnan's

This industrial-sounding track from the 1996 "In Sides" album was an extended version of a song they contributed to the 1995 "War Child" charity LP, and was named after a young boy who was killed by a missile during the war in the former Yugoslavia. Paul Hartnoll of Orbital broke this, and the rest of the album, down in a way only one of the creators could - so I'll link you to his own words.

Sepalot ft. Blu : Surrender

I've heard the instrumental of this many a time and had actually forgotten that there even was a vocal version! The beat went down well on the most recent #BeatsOnly show on my Twitch channel, so I thought I'd bring it out on this episode. The angular production from German producer Sepalot lurches, twitches, and squelches, with Blu fittingly being a bit more aggro lyrically than you might have expected from some of his better-known work. I have this on the B-side of a 12" headed up by "She Likes Me" with Frank Nitty, but you can also find it on the 2014 "Red Handed" LP.

Jigmastas ft. Shabaam Saadique : Too Ill

Does what it says on the tin! DJ Spinna on production on this track with the dramatic backing, courtesy of a well-known old TV show sample, while the processing on the vocals makes it sound like weak MCs are being admonished over the phone! By the way, the spelling of Shabaam's name is different than what I've seen on previous releases, but as it's written this way on this album ("Resurgence") I'm taking that as being correct unless/until I find out otherwise.

Public Enemy : Louder Than A Bomb

A classic from what is often said to be the greatest Hip-Hop album of all time, "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" (lot of text to write on a cassette label btw). Those who follow me know I'll sometimes refer to the more grimy records as "not calling for the building of a new nation or anything" but this track literally does! Chuck D will always be the first name that comes to mind when pro-Black, politically-driven Hip-Hop is mentioned, and this is just one of his outstanding vocal performances. Bomb Squad on production of course, with a hard-hitting track that would dominate most other MCs, even now. Sonically, you might notice that the sound is busy but not "thick" - if it was made nowadays, I suspect it'd be mixed with a lot more bass, not to mention built with more high-fidelity samplers. Would that have been "better"? Hard to say, but this is revolutionary in all senses regardless. 

Bumpy Knuckles & DJ Premier : B.A.P. (Bumpy and Premier)

For those of more gentle dispositions, you may as well skip to the next track! Otherwise, this is quintessential boom-bap rawness, courtesy of DJ Premier - one of the finest exponents of the style - and fellow Gang Starr Foundation MC Bumpy Knuckles. Wicked track from the "KoleXXXion" LP, where Bumpy starts each verse with the same four bars, before raining fire on snakes, suckers, and studio gangstas over the rugged beat. No sir, Bumpy did not fall off, not even a little.

Stro Elliot : Miles Funk

I may have been late getting on the Stro Elliot train, only hearing his stuff in the last three years or so, but now I'm firmly on board and settled with a book and some snacks. The drums are cracking and merciless on this track from his 2016 eponymous LP, and they lead the way for the bassline and funky guitar to do what they do. Definitely check the album - it's really excellent work.

Dubbul O & Jointhedots : Life:Mics

A great new Manchester release to open the year! You should already know that Dubbul O is one of my favourite MCs from any coast or territory, while the excellent Jointhedots have been holding it down in fine style since most of the members were part of the best-known lineup of The Mouse Outfit. The most special feature on this track is the guitar of the much-missed Phil Ratcliffe, who sadly passed away in 2022, and whose family will continue to benefit from any posthumous releases. Coming together over the peak of the COVID restrictions, this track started when bassist/bandleader/producer Defty sent beats around Manchester for musicians to add their own touches to. As well as Phil Ratcliffe, the flautist Dr Claire Press got busy on here - you may remember her memorable work alongside Dubbul O again on "Never Get Enough" all the way back in 2012! Flavourful and polished music as always from this collective, and worthy of your support.

New Sector Movements ft. Allysha Joy : These Times

Neither of these artists were on my radar previously, so it was a big bonus when First Word Records included this cut on the "Two Syllables Volume Twenty" compilation! As it turns out, New Sector Movements is actually an alias of IG Culture, a UK stalwart respected for his work as part of Dodge City Productions, and of course he shows the deft touch of a veteran on the music here. The vocals are carried by the powerful voice of Australian songstress Allysha Joy, who started singing as a youngster in the church and you can hear the influence very much still with her! This track in full is actually about six minutes long, so if you like what you're hearing, you know what to do...

Common : The Movement

I'll have you know that I did actually mix this in bang-on, but J Dilla decided to go all the way weird with the timing and drum placement at the start, to the point I almost re-ripped the tune from the "2K6 : The Tracks" CD to be sure! This one had somehow escaped me on first listen, but it's got that electronic sound that was increasingly a feature of Dilla's late work, with that edginess contrasting with Common's smooth and familiar voice.

Actual Proof ft. TP : Show You The Way

North Carolina in the house, with Actual Proof (Enigma and Sundown) linking with guest TP (who I don't know much about) for a 9th Wonder-produced track that sounds very different than the intro might lead you to expect. Lyrically, in places it almost comes off as a rougher, less civilised take on "Mind Sex" by dead prez, blended with some of that LL Cool J - in attitude, if not in flow! Track down the 2012 "Black Boy Radio" LP for this one.

Mecca:83, Buscrates, and J Vibes : Amber Hue

Such warm vibes emanate from this 2019 composition, with Macclesfield, Pittsburgh, and Aarhus (Denmark) in collaboration. I don't know who did what, but the final result is a thing of beauty!

Tall Black Guy, Craig Mack : Flavor In Ya Ear Remix

The original beat by Easy Mo Bee is one of the greatest in Hip-Hop history in my opinion, so it takes a brave man to put his production in its place - and right here, Tall Black Guy is that man! Tough drums and a relatively simple bassline provide the structure for some spaced-out touches and soul vocal sampling to undergird TBG's take on one of the all-time great posse cuts.

1773 & Strange Soul Music : Dialed In

Manchester's Strange Soul Music is a fearsome producer, the man no-one wanted to face in last year's WORKINONIT beat battle! He's been putting in that work for years and this is from one of his latest releases, "The Strange Soul Project" a seven-track collaboration with Chicago MCs Jay Nagoma and Wisdm Uno. Themed around a method of internet access that might be unfamiliar to the younger listeners, this is a brief, but strong, opener to the project.

Clear Soul Forces : Nine 5ive

It's a shame that the 2020 "ForcesWithYou" LP is ostensibly the last from this Detroit crew - their stuff has always been energetically high-quality. Ilajide on the beat of course, while on the mic, CSF reference everything/one from Busta Rhymes to Mortal Kombat via George Washington Carver in a track that lasts well under three minutes. May the force be with them, indeed.

Heather B : Steady Rockin'

Straight-ahead Hip-Hop, with the commanding voice and bars of Heather B over the boom-bap production of DJ Premier. Vocalist Twyla adds a little sugar to the hook, but the rest of this track from 2002's "Eternal Affairs" is pretty much as stripped-down as you can get.

Khrysis : The Devil Wears Designer (Instrumental)

North Carolina representing again here, with a groove borrowing clearly from a classic soul record on this instrumental from "The Hour Of Khrysis".

DJ 2-Tone Jones ft. Prince Po, Asheru, Joe.D and yU : Not Down

I've always thought that one of the most important inflection points in the culture was when our ability to self-police was countered by the epithet "playa hater", which nowadays is more likely to take the form of "but he getting the bag tho". This call to arms from the "Contraband From India" LP features real MCs with real commitment letting us know that the leeches, the culture vultures, exploitative corporate interests of various shapes, and everyone else taking away from the culture rather than adding on need to be ejected. The production is not minimal as such, but well-spaced, with the sparse drum pattern and Indian string samples avoiding a situation where the instrumental ends up fighting the MCs for the spotlight, which is critical when what they're saying is of actual importance.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

[kamigui]

Sleep issue

The Mob! Julie and Mob! Sally belongs to @clownsuu

Rubee often can’t sleep because of the trauma of her past. Whenever she closes her eyes, she sees those horrible nightmares. That’s why she went to Julie for help. But the last anesthesia accident caused her to sleep for a long time…

I will draw Rubee’s past one day! Hope you guys like it! Rubee had a good sleep this time, don’t worry!