#now this ones a banger right although am i allowed to say these jokes as someone whos cis | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

albatris · 5 years ago

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do you have the meanings of the songs on the atdao playlist written out somewhere? NO PRESSURE im just. fascinated by how ppl make playlists and also im in love with atdao

hi! playlist anon again! just realized this playlist is. very very long so. i am not going to ask you to explain it all ghdfhdkfhsfds. what i AM going to do is put all these songs on my work playlist because you have very good music taste thank u so much

AHAHA I’M SO SORRY oh my god, yeah, it’s long. it’s so long. I have a playlist problem. I absolutely do. not even going to try to deny that

and like, we can joke about this, absolutely, for sure, but me writing out in excruciating detail the specific meanings behind each of the 150+ songs on this playlist….. that is 100% in-character for me

like, it’s honestly somewhat surprising to me that I haven’t already done that

ANYWAY MOVING ON

first off, thank you so much for the message!! and the lovely words!! oh gosh

ppl sending me messages about my playlists is an insta-kill straight to my heart like I am on the floor. hello. I’m glad u like the tunes and also my music taste and also atdao. and also I love you. I do! I love you. thank you for this message, it made my entire week

AND HEY if you do have any questions about specific song choices I would be more than happy to answer them!! though a few of my choices are a mystery even to me and others I might have to respond to with “it’s a secret” or “the reason I included this song is super fucking cheesy and I don’t want 2 say” hahahaha

ALSO SINCE YOU MENTIONED you were interested in how people make playlists I can talk a lil (very briefly) about my general song-picking process under the cut although it may not offer any grand insights

so on a surface level songs that end up on the playlist fall into the following categories:

plot songs

character songs

theme songs (like, songs to do with the themes, not, like… theme songs)

general atmospheric vibey songs

“I literally spent an hour scouring this book and all its contents trying to find a plot-relevant excuse to include this ABBA song and then I said fuck it and threw it in there anyway because it’s a banger” songs

but within those there are also further subcategories such as and by no means limited to

songs that evoke the same emotional response in me that I want to evoke with this particular story/scene/interaction/description/etc

This Song Might Be An Interesting Direction To Take The Plot But I Haven’t Decided Yet

not literal canon, but canon as it pertains to Tris’s psychosis, so like, canon But On A Different Layer

there’s a huge fucking hole in my outline and all I know is that this song fits in it perfectly

I imagine this song in the movie soundtrack in my self-indulgent daydreams

literally only three lines of this song are relevant but they’re really really good lines

so like

my WIP playlists used to be a lot more unruly before I opened them up for people to actually listen to, like, there used to be all manner of super irrelevant songs floating around on the atdao playlist that I just tossed in there on various whims

now I’ve cut waaaay back on the “this song is barely relevant at all but I just like including it” songs and the “this song invites interesting and relevant daydreams but doesn’t have anything to do with the actual story” songs and the “this is a weird AU I had one time” songs and I would say like….. about 91% of the stuff on the playlist has actual on-page concrete relevance?

most of the songs have actual on-page concrete relevance! which is a big achievement for me

except for the ABBA songs

but they’re allowed to do whatever they want because they’re ABBA

anyway what I’m saying is there’s all kinds of reasons to choose a song for a playlist! you can throw in whatever you like, if certain songs help you daydream or just give you the right vibes or just Feel Right, then that’s cool! the world is your oyster, you can do whatever!

I’ve just tried to cut down on the doing-whatever since people actually look at this playlist ahahahaha

for me playlists are for exploration and adventure and looking at things from different angles! so I try not to focus on being like “this is my story and I have to find things that fit it exactly” because then ur list becomes a very restrictive box. u gotta… u gotta just get wild with it and look for all the strange and pointy angles. playlists are for growing flowers

thanks for coming to my ted talk!

#i like to imagine that you sent this bc you were listening to it and a song came up that you #were just kinda like #logan with all due respect what the FUCK does this mean #bc there are. a few of those on there #Anonymous

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ringdingdumb · 5 years ago

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Of course it was fucking raining. Of all of the possible evenings it could rain throughout the year in sickeningly sunshiny Los Angeles, California, meteorology beckoned the sky to weep on the one night he and Jason had a fight. Or rather, the one night Jason’s anxiety and frustration had finally culminated into an explosive screaming match between the two. The atmosphere suddenly changed from concerned and disapproving to straight up hostile, and Ethan’s disputes left his mouth as yells much quicker than the hand of his subconscious could take control of the volume knob. Even before he could fully register what he was saying, he knew he had said too much. And he knew he had to leave. That’s just how it worked.

If only he’d bothered to grab a fucking jacket before he stormed out. He cursed himself, bitterly and coldly, shoving his mitt-like fists into his jean pockets. One upside to having an abundance of curly hair that frequently shielded his eyes — if there had to be an upside — was that he could at least partially see. This was good news, since Ethan had a long way to travel. He’d had his destination locked in mind seconds after the door slammed shut behind him.

The walk to Fennie’s mansion (or “very roomy house,” as she insisted on calling it) barely left him unscathed. He was too riled to bother stopping at crosswalks, almost willing some unfortunate driver to plow him down. And with the nighttime rain pouring harder and more aggressively with every passing minute, he humorlessly thought it would be more efficient to swim there. The distance was far enough that he always had to take one of the Metro Local busses as far as it would go on the outskirts of the city, and then he had to walk another couple of miles on top of it, not factoring in the formidable stretch of her driveway, the likes of which he now had to scale to reach the front door.

When he finally made it, he freed one of his hands from the confines of his jeans and reached for the comically large door-banger handle, or whatever it was called. But before he had the chance to channel some of his lingering frustrations out on her towering manor, the door flew open. Fennie stood before Ethan in what he assumed were her going-to-bed clothes, with her hair tied into a messy, spilling knot on top of her head. Ethan also noted that this was only the second time he had ever seen her wearing glasses, which made him think she was minutes away from going to bed when he texted her on the bus. It was almost jarring to see his best friend — who, if he had to be honest, usually looked quite beautiful and put-together — in such a simple state.

Even more jarring, however, was the piercing intensity of her bright amber eyes, which were now surveying every inch of Ethan’s soaking-wet frame. He was wearing a scowl that buried a full range of emotions dangerously close, still, to spilling over. Ethan knew she was thinking carefully because she was being uncharacteristically quiet. Growing more and more uncomfortable with the silence, he bit his lip irritably and fidgeted with his hands. He opened his mouth to say something to her; an apology for showing up dripping wet in the dead of night, a question of some sort, a snide remark about her glasses, whatever happened to reach his lips first.

“I saw you walking up the driveway,” she announced, beating him to the punch. He couldn’t help but notice the poorly concealed concern on her face. “Sorry I couldn’t lend you the boat — you might’ve gotten here quicker.” She flashed him the grin she usually wore when she made an inconvenient joke.

He bit his lip again, still fidgeting with his hands and now starting to shiver under the weight of his cold, wet clothes (and other bubbling feelings). He opened his mouth again. “I’m sor—”

“Don’t be,” Fennie said with a quickness, dropping the pretense of humor finally. She reached for his wrist and led him in. “Come on, come inside already. You’re goin’ to get hypothermia or somethin’. Your little snake body can’t handle this mild coastal weather.”

“You don’t have to pull me,” he muttered, his insides suddenly flooding with a feeling that was unfamiliar to him but comforting all the same.

Fennie dropped her hold on his wrist. “Okay. Follow me, then,” she said simply. She made her way across the room and darted for the staircase that created an elegant, spiraled path to the mansion’s second floor. Ethan couldn’t marvel at her home’s rustic, distinctly Scottish decorum quite as well in the dark, but he still paused to uncomfortably take in the opulent surroundings.

She must have noticed his dawdling because she suddenly barked at him, “Don’t fuck around, you need to get out of those clothes.”

“What else am I gonna fuckin’ wear?” he hissed at her, closing the distance between them and following her up the stairs. He was employing a much softer tone than he normally would. Ethan almost felt too out-of-place to be inside of her house at any time of day, let alone past midnight, soaking wet, and yelling all about.

Although her back was to him, he somehow knew she had rolled her eyes. “I have a ton of clothes, Ethan,” she asserted, using his name pointedly. “Something I have in that mass pile of shit is bound to fit you.”

He grumbled, keeping his eyes aimed anywhere but directly in front of him. He gripped the wood-carved railing as tightly as his fist would allow to finally expel some of his pent-up frustration. Ethan was relieved when they reached the top of the spiraled staircase and he no longer had to go out of his way to avoid glancing at a part of her he knew he had no business glancing at.

They walked the remainder of the way to her room in silence. Fennie waited until Ethan had trailed in behind her to turn on the light and close the door. It shut with a snap, causing him to flinch.

“Hey, careful!” he spat through barred, slightly chattering teeth. “Last thing I need is your fuckin’ parents wakin’ up and bargin’ in!”

He did see her roll her eyes this time. “Don’t worry about them. Let’s worry about you for a second.” She made a beeline for her closet (or rather, the mountains of clothes that barricaded her closet) and began to make more hilly piles.

Ethan waited for the moment she inevitably asked about the incident that led him here — drenched in rainfall, standing in front of her front door in the dead of night — but it never came. Too worried about soiling any of her belongings, he sat down by her bed and watched her sift through different shirts and pairs of lounge pants (which he was thoroughly surprised she even owned). Even while executing this mundane task, her brow scrunched in concentration, a slight curl to her lip. It was the same expression she wore when making a shot with her bow or analyzing an enemy-filled landscape as if it were a chessboard.

“Give these a go,” she said suddenly, throwing two pieces at him and breaking Ethan out of his thoughts. He reacted quickly, catching the red-and-black plaid shirt and dark grey sweatpants.

He looked down at them before glancing back at her. “Uh,” he began, feeling a tinge of warmth on his cheeks. “Aren’tcha gonna,” he swirled his finger, “turn around?”

She snorted. “No. You’re going to go in there.” She pointed to the door that led to the attached bathroom. “To dry off,” she added as a response to the perplexed look he gave her. “So you don’t get sick,” she continued.

It was Ethan’s turn to roll his eyes this time. “Okay, yeah, yeah, I get it,” he insisted, rising irritably from the ground. “¿Alguna vez te callaste?”

“I don’t know what you just said, but no. Wait—,” she said suddenly as he dragged his feet limply to her bathroom.

Ethan paused, angling his tired head toward her. “What?”

“You just—,” she hesitated, her eyes carefully scanning his face.

“What?”

Without warning, her expression shifted. She hummed softly and turned her attention to his hair, biting her lip to prevent the corners of her lips from betraying her. “You look cute with your hair all wet like that.”

He felt the tinge of warmth on his cheeks deepen and spread. Ethan turned his head away quickly, contorting his features harshly. “Not funny,” he grunted, now trudging to the washroom with more haste. He darted into the porcelain chamber, which was far more spacious than Ethan thought it had any business being. He breathed out through his nose and wondered how many of his bathrooms could fit into this singular area.

Ethan stripped his clothes off with fever, wincing when the rush of cold air prickled and pierced his skin but feeling relieved all the same to have the cold, damp weight off of his body. He reached for the nearest towel (which was just big enough to wrap around his head) and ran it all along his skin from top to bottom. As he pulled on Fennie’s gray sweats and buttoned up her barely big-enough flannel, he heard light footsteps approaching the bathroom. He turned his head when the soft thuds subsided.

“What happened?” came Fennie’s voice from the opposite side of the door.

Of-fucking-course.

Ethan snapped his head forward, taking the semi-damp towel and aggressively attacking his dripping hair.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” His tone was harsh and coarse, but he couldn’t stomach this conversation right now. He couldn’t bring himself to regurgitate his venomous words and Jason’s gut-wrenching conclusions. He’d spent long enough playing and replaying scenes in his head that he now could not shut out, however badly he wanted to.

If only a harsh tone of voice was enough to placate her.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it,” she asserted, her tone just as commanding as his. “But I need to know what happened to you. You can’t show up looking like—!”

“You don’t need to know shit,” he bit back with a growl. He regretted these words the second they left his lips, feeling his chest clench as if the sharp, knife-like phrase had bounced off of the door and cut through his own skin. He threw the towel aside and clenched his fist, beating rough skin against the marble countertop.

The violent crash bellowed through her eardrums and squeezed something inside of her painfully, but Fennie did not falter. She only narrowed her eyes, staring more fiercely at the bathroom door as if she were looking upon Ethan straight through it. Despite her sturdy, immovable stance, her voice softened to that of a gentle hum.

“Yeah, I do.”

She breathed out a shuddering sigh. Slowly, she raised her formerly clenched hand, allowing the smooth skin of her palm to make contact with the barrier that stood before her. “You may not want to tell me about everything, all the time,” she began, her voice gaining back strength with each syllable. “I understand. I get it. But Ethan, I—.”

Her pause sent a slight shiver down his spine.

“If I can’t know anything else, I have to at least know when you’re okay… And when you’re not.” He heard the soft, faint sound of nails scratching on wood.

“So at least tell me if you’re okay,” she went on, speaking slowly as if the weight of her every word was as important as the last. “And tell me how I can help you.”

It was too much. He gazed down at his hands, looking through them more than anything, noting how toasty and comforting her clothes were on his skin, and felt a wet, horrible sensation gather and build pressure around his eyes. He shut them quickly, as well as shut off whatever emotion his body was forcing himself to experience — however painfully.

He chewed at his lower lip to work out some of the tension that had long been built up in his shoulders and jaw. Then Ethan let out a slow, easy breath.

“You already are,” he admitted quietly, his chest swelling with a mingled sensation of alleviation and guilt. “You always do. Even when—,” he hesitated, gripping the counter in front of him for support. “Even when you probably shouldn’t.”

Fennie stared back at the door that separated them with a tenderness as if he had just kissed her, her lips parted. “That’s stupid,” she said finally. “I do need to be here for you, whether you want me to be or not. You mean so—,” she cut herself off with a sharp bite to the lip. “You’re my best friend. You don’t get to deal with this shit alone anymore.” She lowered her hand and grasped the doorknob. “Open up.”

Nothing.

She shook the knob warningly.

“Let me in, Ethan. Seriously.”

Still held firmly in her hand, she continued to gyrate the knob and now began to pound on the door.

“Let me in—!”

She retracted her hand immediately when she heard movement and felt knob-fumbling coming from the other side. Staying rooted to the spot, she adjusted her gaze to his eyes when the door was pulled back and Ethan stood before her. He retuned her stare, his eyes glassy. She couldn’t help but sense something vacant about the look he was giving her. They held each other’s gaze for a number of seconds that many would consider far too long, but rarely did they pay any mind — let alone understand — what other peopled deemed abnormal about their relationship.

Ethan was the one to break their gaze. Instead, he turned his eyes to the ground and walked past her, gently bumping her shoulder. Fennie steadily released the breath she had been holding. Once she was composed, she angled her head over her shoulder. There he sat, squarely on her bed, legs stretched out in front of him and looking as lost as she had ever seen him. Fennie’s feet guided her to him, as if some intrinsic, unstoppable force beckoned her to be by his side.

Gingerly, and with care, she took her spot next to him, not taking her eyes away from Ethan’s troubled form. His dark irises maintained their fixed, forward aim, focusing on nothing in particular. She worked every corner of her brain to put together what could possibly be going on inside of his head.

“Do you ever think it’s too dangerous?” he asked finally. His tone was soft, genuine, as if he were speaking for someone else. It might have caught her off guard any other time, but something about this question felt inevitable.

“The fighting monsters thing we do, you mean?” she pried, already knowing the answer.

He said nothing.

“I suppose it’s dangerous, technically, yes,” she continued, turning her gaze away from him and instead fixing her eyes on the nothing that so intently held his stare. She lowered her voice to a soft near-whisper. “But that’s what I like about it.” She smiled affectionately, turning her head to him once more. “Now what does that have to do with anything?”

Next to her, she felt Ethan’s weight shift. He bounded backward, collapsing against her bed. He now gazed up at the ceiling, his head swimming with warnings from conversations passed, painting painfully detailed portraits of future consequences that ached and felt all too familiar.

“You could die.” His tone was shushed and coarse. “Or get hurt— lose a fuckin’ arm, or die—,” he broke off, his voice cracking.

Her expression changed. “Ethan—”

“And it would be because of me,” he choked out finally. He cleared his throat and blinked fiercely, fighting back a pressure behind his eyes.

“Hey.” Fennie’s tone was pointed, cutting through his fretting sharply. She stared down at her best friend, now refusing to swallow back a fear she’d long attempted to smother in the back of her mind. “You could die, too,” she pointed out. “You think I don’t think about that every day? You think I don’t know what could happen to us? Well, I do.”

“You’re missing the point,” he snapped, sitting up once more. “Yeah, I might die. My dad died. My mom—”

She reached out for him, gripping his shoulder. “Ethan—,” she began again.

“…I almost think it’s just going to fuckin’ happen by this point, like it’s… Like it’s just meant to,” he admitted.

A sharp, piercing pain suddenly took hold of her. She shook her head, willing each and every force of nature in existence to make this ominous, pessimistic prophecy untrue. “No—”

“But you don’t have to.” He rebuffed her hand, turning away from her again.

“Ethan.”

After hearing his name a third time, Ethan turned his soft, dark eyes to her once more. She nodded her head backward and fell back on her bed, implicating him to do the same, readjusting her eyes from the everything that was right next to her to the nothing that lay before her. Miraculously, and without argument or resistance, he laid back as well. They laid together in silence for what could only have been a few seconds, but at that moment, time seemed to be standing still.

“Yeah, I could die,” she acknowledged, using his words exactly. She felt Ethan tense up next to her. “But I love it.” Her words were clear, simple, and direct. And they were the truth. “I love running around with you, getting to see all of the creatures, and the land, even the people… all of it.” She brought her hands behind her head. “Doin’ all of this crazy, dangerous shit with you… it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I’m—,” she paused, weighing the significance of her true feelings. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, ever. But, more important than that,” she added, turning to him.

He felt lighter suddenly, hearing her speak. Although the tight, guilty feeling was still present, it was starting to be swallowed by a warm sensation that tickled his fingertips and trickled all the way down to his toes. He bit his lip, angling his head toward her in response.

“I would die. I’d die ten-thousand times over if it meant saving you.”

His eyes widened in strangled horror, but there was a faint splash of color tinting his cheeks that Fennie couldn’t entirely attribute to displeasure. He began to sit up. “Fennie—”

“And I’d have a fucking blast and be jolly and merry the whole damn time,” she embellished with a light, gleeful note to her voice. “I wouldn’t have any regrets. What we do…,” she continued, growing serious once more. “…makes living feel worth it.” Her eyes lost focus. She shut them quickly and turned her head back to the ceiling, feeling the weight of this confession that spilled out of her mouth like water cascading from outstretched fingers. “And I… I’d forgotten what it felt like, honestly. To want to liv—”

“Listen to me!” Ethan’s voice roared over her self-repressed musings. Startled, Fennie shifted her gaze back to him. She didn’t have to maneuver much, though. Ethan was now hovering over her, the arresting intensity of his eyes stripping away every flimsy paper wall she’d kept stubbornly intact until now. “You’re not going to fucking die. I’m not going to let you fuckin’ die, for me or fucking anyone else.” He grasped her shoulders, continuing his bold promise with a vigor she’d never fully experienced before. “I’m going to protect you, okay? Not the other way around. Don’t get this fuckin’ twisted,” he declared, his shoulders relaxing ever-so-slightly as he eased out the breath he’d been holding. “Nobody will lay a fuckin’ hand on you. Ever. Nobody. So don’t worry about me.”

All Fennie could do was hold his gaze. And she did, her amber eyes now gleaming with all new meaning. She parted her lips in an attempt to speak but was only able to mouth silently like a fish.

Ethan’s eyes, in turn, transformed from their narrow, fierce state to wide, round saucers as the weight of his declaration seemed to crash into him. Fennie observed this vast change in his demeanor and was suddenly overcome by a wave of devotion.

“Well,” she began, not breaking their connection, “if I won’t let anything happen to you, and you won’t let anything happen to me…I guess we’ll be just fine, then.”

After a period of silence, he responded. “Yeah. We’re only gonna get better. We’re gonna get stronger, and tougher, and then none of this fuckin’ conversation will even have to matter.”

A smile decorated her lips. “All you’ve gotta do now is learn how to transform—”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Ethan bellowed, hurling not one but two pillows at her face.

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steve0discusses · 6 years ago

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Yugioh S2 Ep 21: Hey, It’s a Party, Lets All Get Kidnapped!

Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve worked on these. I’m back from my cross-country travels, I’ve overcome my food poisoning because of said travels, and I did like 2 Inktobers so I’m officially allowed to quit and then never do Inktober again till the end of the month so now that’s over with, lets get back to Yugioh. Thankfully, Joey is here to recap for us what has been going on so far in the show, via a phone call to his sister where he literally started off the episode saying this line.

It is episode 21, Joey has run out of excuses, and the crew has decided that now is the time to finally find their friend who definitely is being tailed by a murderer with psychic powers.

Because no one wants to ever call the cops on this show.

I can see why Yugi and Grandpa might not, since Pharaoh may have done some criminal nonsense before he reformed at the end of S1 (I mean Season Zero isn’t not NOT canon) and I can see why Joey might not because bro mentioned that he had some sort of dealing with the mini-Yakuza or something in Season Zero (I look forward to that). Tristan already thinks he is a cop so I can see why he doesn’t either. But maybe Tea should call the police. She doesn’t work at the must-be-18-to-work-here-so-it’s-probably-a-stripper-joint-after-10-PM burger place anymore, she’d be fine. Probably.

I mean they did illegally invade a country last season and was complicit in the removal of that country’s leader’s right golden eyeball so like...yeah...

But now that Yugi has the company of three people inside of his head and Kaiba alongside him--who is always communicating with Mokuba on his jacket walkie talkie (like he went out of his way to make a jacket that has solely one function because it clearly doesn’t keep him warm without those arms--and the function is to call up his little brother and complain about the people who are two feet away and can hear him complaining about them), but this means Yugi actually has more people in his 2-person party than the other crew of 4 people. Anyway, he’s certainly not lonely.

But first we gotta throw Tea’s phone around and have some comedy hijinks.

(read more under the cut)

Tea x Cell Phone giving me more energy than Tea x Yugi but that’s actually true of every teenager and their intense relationship with their phone. Accurate. Hell, it’s true of me as an adult.

I also love how they throw this phone in our face just to remind us how neither Yugi has called Tea or how Tea could easily call Kaiba AKA the guy in charge who knows where everyone is, since he’s in their High School phone book, but wtv. We gotta first sort out who’s gonna pick up Serenity from the hospital although her bandages aren’t even off yet.

We’ve already clarified how dangerous this whole tourney is, and the fact that during these finals they might be ground zero for when the world might actually stop functioning entirely, maybe don’t throw your blind sister into the mix? Girl has enough problems right now. Maybe keep her in the hospital preemptively. Y’all are probably going to end up there anyway. She can book you a reservation.

I do appreciate the Tristan stance in this shot.

Anyway, sensing that the crew might actually do something, Bakura decides to show up and make some mad insane nonsense again. Ah, our wild card, Bakura, our Charlie Kelly.

Lol What? His big master plan is to feign an injury? (I’m assuming this is fake? But he’s also sweating a whole lot? Maybe they had a fight club behind the scenes that got edited out?) But you know, if you’re gonna try to sell a broken arm then wouldn’t you want to like...wear an sling?

Wtv, we’ve already learned from last season that literally all these people are the very worst boy scouts and would absolutely die in the woods. Apparently they would also absolutely die if they had to administer actual first aid rather than vague card magic. I was kinda thinking that Marik miiiight be a better scout from all his tomb runs, but from the looks of it he’s too busy being as incompetently evil as possible to learn how to tie a simple bandage.

Nice that Bakura waited until the moment Tristan left to start being shady again. I guess that Bakura also remembers that one time that Tristan hulk-punched him so hard - in the shadow realm where mere mortals should not be able to even move - that God-Mode-Bakura passed out for like 45 minutes.

I’m a little confused at how this at all works with Marik’s plan, since it’s really not that hard to abduct Grandpa, but o well, this was the plan they went with. They ARE teens after all, and teens kind of live by the mantra of “I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” I guess it’s less complicated than making sure he watches a haunted VCR tape.

So off Grandpa goes with Bakura, meaning Gramps is probably going to be a card or some other sort of lifeless husk in a few episodes or so. It was a good run, Gramps.

Honestly, Bakura should just heavily suggest Gramps just go back to work the counter of his Super Gonna Curse You Weasley’s Wizard Wheezly’s, you know, the shop he actually owns. That shop who’s name is canonically “Turtle Game” (good name for a card shop, really gets it across. Great business decision.) And really, it’s been 2 days since he’s stayed open past 9 AM. Does he not pay rent? He seriously might not, we do not know who’s the owner of that house/shop. For all we know it’s Yugi’s Dad who is........somewhere?......

And speaking of missing people, the two most direction-less folks in the universe decided to make this show even longer when they could have easily skipped like 8 episodes if they had just crossed the street. Instead, they’re going to backtrack back to the Shamu exhibit while somehow not overhearing Bakura screaming in his British(?) accent.

Sometimes I’m impressed by all the well placed irony in this show. Here come the two God-characters of the A-team. One has the infinite reaches of technology, the other has the infinite reaches of dark magic. They can do anything except navigate a map and find their friends who are within I assume a 10-block radius.

Now I know, I know, Namu’s an actual name people actually have. Much like Mary Jane. Or AceBluntz420. But forgive me, I am from California.

Also I just went down a rabbit hole of K-pop and the only song I could find that said “tree” enough times was “tree of Sephiroth” which was a pretty good banger but not what I was going for. Again, I’m stymied by my naive, elementary level K-pop education. One day I will be a master of K-pop but I am yet just a newbie with a couple of Black Pink and BTS on my Spotify.

One day I will know enough about Kpop to know which of the songs are about romance and which are about weed but alas, I just like looking at the pretty lights and the pretty colors and the fun dancing like a newborn babe.

But anyway, couldn’t help but notice - THAT’S the name he actually chose for himself, huh?

I mean I looked it up and Namu is also a Buddhism reference in Japanese and that’s probably what the show makers were going for, but safe to say, Marik is clearly not a Buddhist. He is literally in charge of a Pharaoh cult. Well, used to be. It seems like Marik’s just out to destroy his own God. He’d be the hero in really any other anime with motives like that. Hm.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for Marik wanting to vaguely rule the world I’d probably side with him completely, lets be real. Pharaoh is kind of a huge problem. And while I do like Pharaoh now, it took me kind of a while, and if Marik showed up S1 I’d be like “Yes, finally, please kill the already dead insufferable ghost.”

So, Marik decides to become friends with Joey and Tea.

This sure was a lot of work to become friends with Joey and Tea. Did Marik not realize that if they’re also buds with a guy who is possessed by a ghost, they might have low enough standards that he doesn’t need to jump through any hoops?

Marik could have just walked up and said “hey, remember me? From class?” and these two would have been like “yeaaaah” because it’s been so long since they’ve attended that they would have had no idea that he was never enrolled.

Anyways, Pharaoh’s arrived to scream at the top of his lungs about a bomb threat at a theme park.

Bummer that Mako Tsunami finished his act and I guess went back to his home island on the back of another whale he had parked outside the theme park.

Also it says a lot about what this town goes through that Yugi, shouting about how everyone’s going to die, doesn’t seem to perturb a single member of this audience. They’re just like “shaddup, I’m looking at the large dolphin.”

The total amount of time that Marik could handle being friends with Tea and Joey : maybe about 30 seconds.

Which makes you wonder why he even bothered with this charade, but maybe he just wanted to get rid of Bakura because that guys kind of a mess.

And then just when I thought it would never ever actually happen.

It happened.

I don’t recall any era where non flip-phones had little antennae. I think this was kind of before my time. Good. Finally something on this show that I’m too young for.

Jokes on this mook for thinking he could ever crush a Nokia with his shoe. Actually impossible. I’m sure there’s Nokias that have outlived being run over by a Jeep.

Yo my payphones never had digital minute indicators on it. You can even read the numbers on the numpad? And there’s no gum lodged in the coin slot? This is not how I remember payphones.

Yo second thought, maybe those are 33 seconds and not minutes? Eh, what do I know, I’m a millennial, I don’t really remember how those awful things worked. RIP payphones, you were always spooky and the worst. Like honestly if a ghost Pharaoh would live in anything, it would be a payphone. If you ever had to use a payphone with a phone card, then you’d understand that it’s more an unsolvable puzzle than any puzzle pyramid.

And I guess that Mokuba just felt left out, so he decided to leave his brother and just wander off by himself on a rooftop where there’d be no witnesses?

Mokuba, why are you on the roof? How does everyone in Domino have roof access? And is the internet so bad in this town that you must be on a roof to get any signal?

please admire the leg wraps on this guy’s ankles. They’re like high fantasy legwarmers.

*why ever duel with cards when you can freakin fly*

WOW, KIDS SHOW. That sure is dangling a small child off a helicopter!

And like, Mokuba just hangs there for a while--no joke, he’s just hovering in the background of every shot for kicks and I’m just like...how did this kid’s show get made????? The 00′s was a different time.

This past week I’ve been watching my older brother’s 5 kids and so I’ve been watching their TV shows and youknow The Descendants 2 would have been a very different movie with edgy, rogue helicopters in it. Though I will admit Yugioh could do with a couple more dance sequences. (and Yugioh might legit have better fashion than The Descendants 2, why the hell was Cruella DeVil’s son wearing bright red baggy capri shorts to a cotillion ball? Anyway, I’m putting Descendants on my “possibly recap this later” list.)

I get that the intern who was putting this scene together might not have known about the helicopter incident in the shot right before this when they drew in these people just on the street on their cell but mannnnnnn.

I love the implication that this happens so often to children in Domino that no one freakin cares anymore.

Reminder that Kaiba refuses to believe in magic and has no idea wtf is going on. Like he knows there’s some yummy cards he wants--that’s it. He doesn’t think this is the end of the world, he doesn’t think anyone here is magic. He just thinks Yugi is a super weird kid from Spanish class who's voice keeps cracking and that Marik is some sort of weird mafia boss. He was not expecting this tourney to become kidnapping central and I mean no one could have predicted this next part either.

...

So Marik’s plan, lets just walk through it.

These two loose to Kaiba and Yugi, then these two violently pass out, Pharaoh runs over and shakes up the fat one for a little bit, and then Kaiba and Yugi go to a theme park. These two guys intentionally lost and got beat up for no reason?

And then, he sends the same people who have Already Lost back to Yugi and Kaiba, to use a different deck than the one they used the first time?

Why not use this amazing deck they had the entire time the first time? Why are all of Marik’s plans so roundabout?

I mean I guess they had to lure these two to the roof but not really actually--once you beat Yugi in a game then boom the puzzle is yours so you don’t actually have to...whatever, they’re on a roof and and it’s edgy and it’s scenic and it’s gonna get real Jack Baur on us.

oh man this workaround to “but they never actually go splat because they die before they hit the bottom” which is infinitely worse than actually just falling down.

So seeing no other solution, they decide to endanger the lives of hundreds of people and play this exploding rooftop version of Yugioh.

I mean last season we sure did go through a lot of time trying to get Kaiba off a ledge of a tall building and now he’s just...back on that ledge. Well. OK then. These kids and ledges.

Really was a line in the show that Kaiba listed the only two things these guys have done wrong and it’s like--well they used the wrong deck the first time. That was probably actually a really big thing they did wrong. Also they could have kept Pharaoh in an infinite rock-paper-scissors loop but passed up on the opportunity. TBH these guys make a lot of mistakes but we’ve been over this before, Kaiba can only remember 2 things. Weird that this has become canon, but here we are.

I guess Kaiba suddenly remembered he had a grudge.

He forgot for a few episodes, but the grudge is back. He must have written it on the back of his hand “don’t forget you hate Yugi” and then when he went to scratch an itch was like “OMG I can’t believe it, I forgot again!”

That bean.

Anyway, next week, on Yugioh:

Does Kaiba’s helicopters get into a helicopter fight with Marik’s helicopters and keep Mokuba dangling there the entire time? Does Joey get to throw a couple mooks over his shoulder like that time he took on 18 ruffians in a warehouse or will these ruffians be too ruffian even for Jo? Will Tea, after her hearts been consumed by darkness, and she becomes a nobody or a heartless or whatever, realize that she’s dating a dark wizard this entire time so it literally doesn’t matter?

Anyways, I mentioned K-pop so here you go, a moment of happy handsome boy Zen in this overwhelming world.

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atrophiedcompassion · 7 years ago

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my definitive Avengers Infinity War review

spoilers abound

so, i saw it for the third time yesterday night and oh boyyy. knowing what happens and how poorly it ends for the good guys kinda marred the jokey parts. i mean, i don’t think i was able to keep 20 consec mins without tearing up. for instance, the whole thor - rocket discussion is spent in tears, even if initially and the second time i had laughed at the jokes.

note that eventually quill & wanda did what they had to do, even if it didn’t matter. note that thanos says he can’t not do what he has to do once again, not even for gamora. note that gamora, most likely knowing she wouldn’t resist / be able to lie to thanos asked quill to kill her. note that red skull tells thanos that everyone thinks they’re ready for the soul stone sacrifice, but they are all wrong. note that being out of time, time related phrasing is used throughout the final 20 mins, including by thanos. note that wanda is firing at vision with one hand while with the other she’s holding thanos back - effortlessly. note that stormbreaker cuts right into the all six stones beam and ends in thanos’s chest, so stormbreaker is stronger than the infinity stones!? note that thanos fake dies twice. note that thanos looks awfully sorry when he says it cost him everything.

so, what i take. gamora in the soul stone will break thanos’s resolve. as red skull said, he will regret killing her. the time stone hasn’t had its last play. wanda and thor with stormbreaker might be key in defeating thanos. (of course, i am not forgetting captain marvel!!!!)

the movie overall is very sombre, the jokes tug at your strings even if they make you laugh. or they make you laugh to shake you out of the sadness.

now onto the chars: i came into the MCU via tumblr’s tom hiddleston obsession in early 2012. i most likely started with thor and then saw avengers. i remember seeing a torrented copy of avengers and a week later going to the cinema to see it. i didn’t like cap america in avengers, chris evans (who i totally dug) looked weird, too blond, his face with too much makeup (whedon!!) and RDJ’s tony was a delight. i caught up more or less with the MCU and then winter solider happened and i was taken with cap. so, i was team cap in civil war. and could never relate to tony, to his my way or the highway pov.

but the tony in infinity war is such a great character, he was one of my favourites. he is unflinchingly one of the bravest people in the game and the way he goes after thanos with his suit basically falling to pieces is one of the best action and emotion sequences i’ve ever seen. and tony’s so human, trying to keep up the spirits, to maintain optimism, to find a silver lining, to give 110%, to find strength even in defeat. and that’s not even touching on his relationship with peter. i guess civil war isn’t really a captain america movie, because, as always RDJ/tony steals every movie’s he’s in.

tony’s the 4th best char in IW, and that’s because i’m not a tony fan.

third best is gamora, who has some of the most disturbing and yet wonderful developments. she’s first seen as loose, finally open, singing along to an 80s banger, then it all takes a dark and darker turn. and like i said above, i think she knew she would be the price for the soul stone in a way. it’s such amazing acting when, after she’s done mocking thanos for crying (for being refused a present). she realises she’s gonna be the sacrifice. this is probably my fav emotionally draining scene in IW. it’s raw, sort of unexpected with her suddenly cheerful and then turning immediately sinister. in death, gamora has still a lot of influence on what happens next.

second best is thor. thor goes through a lot and that’s before taking the whole power of a star! he’s the protag of the story, showing strength, sorrow, emotion, regret, faith in his fate, determination. thor has my three favourite scenes in the movie, the discussion with the sweet Rabbit about loss, the forging of stormbreaker, (and yes it does help that hemsworth looks like that as he opens up the star!) and his arrival in Wakanda and it shows a really well fleshed out thor, ready to take on challenges and be the hero and yet allowing himself a moment of grieving, of raw emotion.

finally, the best character is of course thanos. he is also fleshed out and i think some people have a hard time accepting his motivation because they miss that thanos has already begun his world halving, gamora’s and drax’s world have been part of it, through fire and blood. in comparison to that kind of “balancing”, of course the snap with largely non painful turning to ash removal from existence seems the more judicious, less destructive method. his rapport with gamora and even nebula is also well done. and his tears, his grief, seem normal. he is presented as an abuser, of gamora with “good” intentions, making her strong and whatnot, and with nebula out of sheer cruelty. this is also touched upon in GOTG2 when the sisters have their heart to heart. thanos definitely wants to seem like he thought this through, like he is ready, for everything, but he isn’t. red skull’s warning is pretty clear. his pained response to soul stone girl gamora is also clear. his smile upon viewing the sunrise is a fakeout. thanos will probably at least try to undo what he had done, at least part of it.

special mentions

peter parker - not really a fan, but tom holland really sells the character. it really does help that he’s a very young actor, with a high voice and small, slim figure, he sells the fun boyishness of spiderman macguirre and garfield couldn’t ever really pull off. the fun, quippy spiderman up until the final moments actually highlights the awful ending, although, on my third viewing it seemed a bit long, milking it for the audience (had the same impression the first time, yet the second time i was really moved by it).

dr strange - better fleshed out in this movie than his very own, where i guess the formulaic origin story hindered the development of this cold calculated persona we see in IW.

wanda & vision. they were severely underpowered. wanda keeps thanos at bay with one hand, yet she needs help vs proxima midnight & corvus glaive?! lame. hard to understand how two mind stone powered heroes (or just one, since vision was severely hurt by CG’s spear thingy) are less capable than cap, nat and falcon. but i guess this is the superman syndrome, you can’t unleash these folk’s full power cause otherwise what would the other heroes get to do. still, okoye’s quip is well earned.

yet, i loved their love story. finally a lovestory well handled in the MCU, which is so rare. their final scene together, in particular wanda’s comments to thanos about loss and her almost relieved face when turning to ash was incredible, very powerful.

rocket & groot were poignant and had some wonderful scenes, this time around groot ashing up really made me spring new tears.

everyone else got just a few scenes, and indeed, one can say we spent way too little with cap, nat, t’challa, shuri and most of the wakanda section. i suppose the movie was all but done by the time black panther became such a major hit and maybe spending less time with these chars now would ensure more time in Avengers 4. for chars like cap or nat, it’s all we needed. for black panther, maybe it was too little. esp that he too turned to dust at the end.

overall, the movie is impressive. it has weight and moves almost seamlessly from scene to scene. it’s got plenty of heart and it leaves you needing more but also quite sated!?! also, this was my final viewing, it gets too emotional too fast for further enjoyment of the fun, light scenes.

#avengers infinity war #infinity war #tony stark #gamora #thor #thanos

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sheilacwall · 5 years ago

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Legends: Rakim – Hip Hop Golden Age Hip Hop Golden Age

Introduction by @TrueGodImmortal – There are some rappers and MCs that transcend the culture. They become even bigger than Hip Hop in the neighborhood, they become worldwide icons. They become the greatest. They became legends.

One of the first true legends in Hip Hop, Rakim, is our topic of discussion today. Yes, you might know him for crafting classics next to Eric B., but make no mistake about it, Rakim is the premier lyricist in the history of the genre and one of the most influential artists in the entire genre of Hip Hop. Today, we wanted to continue our DAR Legends series with a look at the incomparable Rakim, talk some of his greatest verses, and his legacy as one of the true pioneers of the game.

@CherchezLaPorsh – There are a few MC’s who are frequently mentioned when talking about legends, but there is only one that is widely known and considered as the “God MC”. He’s someone who has influenced hundreds of artists and has established himself as the greatest of all time IMO. Hip Hop would be introduced to Rakim back in 1987 when he paired with friend and DJ Eric B. The two became Hip Hop powerhouses and through each album release, Rakim’s “God MC” claim became clear. Those of us who are familiar with the duo know the standard which they set. Eric B mastered scratching and DJ-ing while Rakim fascinated us with his lyricism. 1992 would give us their last album together “Don’t Sweat The Technique” and while the complications and label legalities were plentiful, Hip Hop said farewell to one of the most influential duos and the only MC that proved he really was “godly”.

So what makes Rakim such a God in Hip Hop? It’s his ease of delivery, the intricacy of his lyrics, the precision in his word choice and metaphors and of course his impressive level of creativity. His articulation and eloquence are still unmatched and while many try to uphold the purity of Hip Hop, Rakim did this naturally and consistently. 1997 would be the year Rakim resurfaced and he was better than ever (if that’s even possible). He dropped his solo debut The 18th Letter and once again fans were amazed. Apart from his early work, this would be my favorite album in his solo catalog.

Rakim has always managed to have impressive production on his albums and this one was no different. DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Father Shaheed and a few others made this flawless. Each track met the standard which he set (for himself) so many years before thus making it one of the greatest releases of the year. Every track is great to me but the one that stands out the most is “Guess Who’s Back”, as it’s got impressive tempo, incredible energy and it’s the perfect display of Rakim’s rapping prowess. In fact, the first verse shows exactly why he’s godly.

“It’s the return of the Wild Style fashionist

Smashing hits

Make it hard to adapt to this

Put pizazz and jazz in this

And cash in this

Mastered this, flash this and make em clap to this

DJ’s throw on cuts and obey the crowd

Just pump the volume up, and play it loud

Hip Hop’s embedded

Before I said I wouldn’t let it

But me and the microphone is still magnetic

Straight off the top

I knew I’d be forced to rock

Dance floors just stop, the spot’s scorching hot”

He rhymes words in the middle of each line/bar and at the end, while also changing the rhyme pattern every few lines and he manages to match it seamlessly with the increase and decrease of the beat. It’s flawlessly delivered and so effortless.

Although Rakim was never (and will never be) a big time household name in the mainstream so to speak, he established his ranks in the genre. He’s a favorite of purists and is credited for influencing almost every rapper of the “Golden Age” through his precision, confidence, eloquence and flawless skill. He referred to himself as a God MC and proved it over and over and over again.

@JADBeats – Back in 1985, Eric B. found the perfect MC to take his beats to the next level. Rakim was one of the guys back then that would be unknowingly changing the game before my official introduction to Hip Hop. He’s the guy that my pops, uncles, and older cousins regarded as the best along with the likes of BDK, MC Shan & KRS-1. I really fell in love with Hip Hop around 1993, but growing up I remember Rap City and Yo MTV Raps playing videos like “Paid In Full”, “Microphone Fiend”, “I Aint No Joke”, “Don’t Sweat The Technique”, etc. The TV was always blasting while we were glued to it in awe.

This man had a gift with words. It wasn’t exactly his message but more so how he said it with his relaxed and laid-back delivery with the ability to get aggressive at times. The way he boasts about his style with such confidence showcasing his clever, articulate, and metaphor driven flow with ease was so unique that no one could really copy. There are some rappers who just mesh perfectly over jazz and funk instrumentals, and Rakim is that. Although he has many classic songs, if I had to choose one it would be “The Punisher” of the Don’t Sweat The Technique album. He went absolutely crazy on that song. The song really embodied the title. It is one of those songs that you rewind to catch how dope the lines were. He’ll go down as the innovator of multisyllabic rhymes, internal rhyme schemes, alliteration with letters, referencing and sampling his old songs in new songs.

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There are two MCs we regard as the greatest now, who like many others, have borrowed or sampled from Ra like Nas when he says “I’m the N, the A, to the S-I-R/ and if I wasn’t, I must have been Escobar/” and Eminem’s “I am whatever you say I am, if I wasn’t then why would I say I am”, which are both inspired by “It’s The R”. He’s had ups and downs in his career, but has created so much greatness that it is set in stone. It makes me happy that I see producers, rappers, commercials and movies using Rakim & Eric B. songs to carry on their legacy. Ra is my favorite rapper’s favorite rapper or at least in their top 5 lists, so respect to The God MC.

Outro By @TrueGodImmortal – Where do I begin? For a young MC myself, Rakim was a huge influence. Lyrically, his ability to showcase internal rhyme schemes, lyrical dexterity, and an abundance of wordplay is second to none. His influence on my favorite rappers like Nas, Jay-Z, and numerous others needs to be recognized. He’s paved a legacy that is majorly unmatched in the game and though as a solo artist later in his career, he didn’t experience the same success so to speak as with Eric B., I think as a lyricist, his strengths grew even more after this. Now don’t get me wrong, love Paid In Full, Follow The Leader, Let The Rhythm Hit Em, and Don’t Sweat The Technique, but I wanted to focus on Ra when he was on his own. We hear so much of him with Eric B., and rightfully so, but aside from those 4 amazing albums as one half of one of the greatest duos ever in Hip Hop, Rakim has shown his lyrical growth through the three solo albums he’s had, most notably on The 18th Letter and The Master, his debut and sophomore solo.

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This is clear on tracks like “When I B On the Mic”, the DJ Premier-produced banger from the 1999 release The Master. Lyrically, this is one of his strongest performances in the later point of his career. The third verse is the best example of his lyrical strength and growth to me. Take a look at how many rhyming words he fits into the verse. Check it out:

“To my elite peeps

With the murderous mystiques

I hit the streets with beats

And they critique for weeks

They be like, How that kid Ra reach the peak?

Pull out the heat and use my technique to speak

It’s dangerous

Sit calm and explain to kids

What part of the game this is in foreign languages

They hold Ra’s events in different continents

Put my lyrical contents in monuments

In ghetto garments, I rock a towel like a pharaoh

Mind travel, design style like apparel

My fashions last long as a lifetime

‘Cause I can see the future when the god write rhymes

They’re mad ‘cause I managed to reign so long

Like their chance to make money done came and gone

This is strictly for my listeners on the corners at night

And the sisters that be keepin’ this right, when I be on the mic

That is a masterful lyrical work IMO. Another verse that I’ve always loved came from his solo debut The 18th Letter, which has some amazing lyrical gems on it. My personal favorite song from this is the Pete Rock-produced “The Saga Begins”, and Ra kills it all three verses, but the 2nd verse has always stood out to me the most. Take a look:

“Yo, my never-ending epic

Got the world spinning hectic

I quickly spread it

Till the whole city’s infected

Suspense that I supply intensify

Then commence as my daily events go by

You get involved in thisParagraphologist

Paragraphologist

Narrating novelist

Market this, sound marvelous

I’m the star in this

Which means the author’s authentic

Most definite, every episode’s an epidemic

So when you research, check it, here go the evidence

They represent with lyrical negligence for presidents

My science existed, without the fiction

Every inscription is a special edition

So all hail the honorableMicrophone phenomenal

Microphone phenomenal

Persona is unbombable

Trust me son, I continue like a saga do

Bringing you the drama to

Allow you that the chronicle”

I think verses like those showcase why Rakim is a top 5 lyricist of all time and the original complex lyricist in the game. His ability to switch rhyme patterns, stuff line after line into one couplet, and his precise flow is quite possibly unmatched along with a very recognizable voice. While most people would point to the Eric B. & Rakim days for their favorite memories of Rakim (and I understand why), I think more credit needs to be shown to his days as a top tier MC alone. We often overlook some of the greatest legends’ best work based on nostalgia. In my humble opinion, The 18th Letter and The Master, as well as The Seventh Seal gave Ra his own true identify away from Eric B., and solidified him to me as one of the greatest to ever do it even more. There are many in Hip Hop who aspire to legends, and one name that a majority will say is their influence is Rakim. That right there says more than enough.

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chorusfm · 6 years ago

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Mitski – Be the Cowboy

Mitski Miyawaki (mononymously known as Mitski) is a powerhouse. The Japanese-American artist is only 27 years old, and her new album; Be The Cowboy is her fifth album in six years. Her 2016 album Puberty 2 was released to universal critical acclaim, single “Your Best American Girl” landed on multiple “best songs of 2016” lists, and starting in March this year, she joined Lorde as an opener for the New Zealand artist’s Melodrama World Tour. To say that Mitski has been having a hard working, busy, few years is an understatement. Within Be The Cowboy, there’s a new central focus for Mitski: the loneliness that accompanies a young woman as she relentlessly tours to continue being a musician for a living. Of course, her words are as sharp and powerful as ever. There’s no one who has so effectively mastered the art of explosive, endlessly fascinating songwriting. She switches between personifying fictional characters, while a number of tracks follow her relationship with music (“Geyser” and “Remember My Name” spring to mind) rather than other people, or herself. This is undoubtedly Mitski’s most ambitious album yet, and also the culmination of all her past work. The album has an unbelievable amount of musical ideas wrapped up inside it, and in any other artist’s hands, it might not work. Be The Cowboy is only 33 minutes long – only three songs are longer than two and a half minutes, but it all flows beautifully. All the ideas are anchored by ethereal vocals and haunting lyrical gems. Just looking at the singles, it’s clear that Mitski is confident in making yet another sonic departure. Take second single “Nobody”; an infectious disco-pop banger that’s nothing like anything else in her discography. Album opener “Geyser” is bombastic and combines the piano and organ found in her first two records, Lush and Retired From Sad, New Career In Business and joining them is the crashing, distorted guitars that defined her breakout album, Bury Me At Make Out Creek. Final single “Two Slow Dancers” is a gorgeous, nostalgic piano ballad. There’s no one who tackles nostalgia and loneliness like Mitski. Apparently, Mitski has a real knack for writing pop songs, too. Is there anything she can’t do? “Nobody,” “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?,” and “Washing Machine Heart” are some of her grooviest songs yet. They should be mega hits. “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?” is deceptively upbeat. It’s also pretty crazy, featuring horns, a fun repetitive synth sample reminiscent of the one that framed Puberty 2’s “Happy,” and a synth-and-guitar-lead climax to close the song. Of course, it’s not all fun and games. Mitski sings in a slightly higher register than usual – this immediately caught me off guard, I thought I knew her voice and different tones like the back of my hand. She is dissecting the end of an important relationship, and asks to just “paint it over.” “Washing Machine Heart” could easily be a companion to “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?.” It’s another poppy, unusual song where someone is invited to toss their dirty shoes into her washing machine heart, and “bang it up inside.” The contrast between the self-destructive lyrics and the catchiest melodies in her entire discography is so very Mitski. Be The Cowboy could’ve been “Washing Machine Heart” x14 and remained a captivating listen. Personally, I couldn’t be happier that “Old Friend,” a song that captures wistfulness for a “blue diner” that I’ve never seen but would now love to visit follows “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?.” “Old Friend” is a plain but lovely track that features Mitski back on the piano, and simple acoustic strumming holds it all together. Her longing request to visit the blue diner and “take coffee and talk about nothing, baby” takes listeners to a place everyone in town would know; it’s retro but familiar. Mitski has a talent for writing songs that sound old-timey, like the Angel Olsen-lite “Lonesome Love” and the misleadingly jaunty “Me And My Husband”. In the mournful “Lonesome Love,” we hear Mitski trying to prove that she’s over someone. She spends an hour putting on her make up. She walks in wearing her high heels, “all high and mighty” but ultimately loses once they say “hello.” She then takes the blame for getting hurt again, and explains that “nobody butters me up like you” but “nobody fucks me like me.” “Me And My Husband,” on the other hand, is a bit more unusual. There’s a deep sigh just before the piano and drums come bursting in. Again, Mitski sings in a higher register. She’s already indicating that while the music is joyful, the story is not as it seems. In an interview with the 405, Mitski says this about “Me And My Husband”: …I think a lot of marriages are like that because that’s what it is; it’s no longer about being in love. It’s really hard to stay in love and keep the spark. When you get married and you’re with someone for years and years, it no longer becomes about infatuation or having your heart aflutter. But the song is just about “you know what, this may not be love anymore, and I may be unhappy, and I’m going to die one day and this is just going to be my life.” But then turning around and saying “this is the decision I made, and you’re the person I chose, so I’m just going to stick with you. We have our problems, but this is our life and we’re going to live it.” And that’s what it’s about. It’s heartbreaking, but fits right in to the multiple narratives and themes running throughout Be The Cowboy. Hearing her misdirect listeners with accessible, uplifting sounds and juxtaposing them with some of her most self-deprecating (“I am the idiot with the painted face”), candid lyrics is genius. “Nobody” is arguably the song that accomplishes this the best. “My god, I’m so lonely / so I open the window to hear sounds of people”, Mitski croons in “Nobody,” one of Be The Cowboy’s standout tracks. Like a majority of her lyrical content, “Nobody” is raw. We hear a woman completely vulnerable, and that vulnerability is seeping through the wonderful pop song. In the music video, it’s largely Mitski ft. Mitski in an eerie nightmare scene. It’s interesting watching the colourful, peculiar video for “Nobody” compared to the equally dramatic but grey video for “Geyser.” Be The Cowboy is fully immersed in drama and intimacy, and most importantly: confidence. Mitski continues to explore intimacy in the album’s second half. She shares the softness she feels in her heart through recurring motifs. Recurring motifs in music have always been fascinating to me, and I find it unfortunate that most artists don’t experiment with their lyrical approach and apply a motif or narrative. From “Nobody” onwards, we hear Mitski express a desire to be kissed. She’s “just asking for a kiss,” just “one good movie kiss” and she’ll be all right. In the beautiful, sweeping love ballad “Pink In The Night,” she’s glowing pink because she’s so infatuated with somebody and confesses, “I know I’ve kissed you before, but I didn’t do it right.” In the delightful “Washing Machine Heart”, she’s exasperated and craves to be kissed already! Then, she pleads, “somebody kiss me, I’m going crazy” in “Blue Light.” Mitski is an artist who knows her ambitions, is extremely self-aware and allows herself to portray the need to burst open through her music. Although she’s threatening to burst at the seams, there is something Mitski won’t let herself or listeners forget: she is a woman in control. For Be The Cowboy’s press release, Mitski explains the album title as “a kind of joke”, and continues to say, “There was this artist I really loved who used to have such a cowboy swagger. They were so electric live. With a lot of the romantic infatuations I’ve had, when I look back, I wonder, did I want them or did I want to be them? Did I love them or did I want to absorb whatever power they had? I decided I could just be my own cowboy.” Be The Cowboy is electric. The music seems to effortlessly veer from sombre piano ballads to upbeat pop, to slight jazz to sublime indie rock. This is something Mitski has always excelled at – making the complex sound remarkably simple. And, the simple things she does do are always fantastic. The straightforward fuzzy guitar riff running through “Remember My Name” has been in my head for days, and “I need something bigger than the sky, hold it in my arms and know it’s mine” is already a fan-favourite line. As is “it’s just that I fell in love with a war, and nobody told me it ended” from the epic and melancholic “A Pearl.” “A Pearl” may be the most essential song on Be The Cowboy. It’s the track that nails what Mitski asked herself in the press release – did she love them or did she want to absorb whatever power they had? “A Pearl” finds her rolling the pearl that was left over in her hand, only looking at this pretty object and avoiding examining toxicity that lies inside a relationship. Mitski doesn’t just look at something pretty, for nostalgia’s sake. She takes her listeners on journeys. She brings us to a school gymnasium in Be The Cowboy’s album closer, “Two Slow Dancers.” She keeps her dry wit with her as she reminds listeners of the smell of school gymnasiums; “It’s funny how they’re all the same.” The school gymnasium is the chosen destination for two ex-lovers to share a final dance. They are ��two slow dancers, last ones out”, wishing the moment could last forever. “Two Slow Dancers” is mellow, but Mitski doesn’t hold back from sharing the anxiety of growing old. Though she’s still young herself, she can’t help focusing her fifth album on longing for the past and imagining relationships better than they actually were. To be honest, I’m relieved that Be The Cowboy breaks from the album closers of her past work. While “A Burning Hill” and “Last Words of a Shooting Star” are stunning, intense songs, they are worryingly frank songs that had me feeling like I was snooping through her diary. But here, she embraced fiction and larger-than-life storytelling. She became her own cowboy. With Be The Cowboy, Mitski has a newfound assurance that’s just wonderful for fans new and old to watch blossom before their eyes. Do you want to be your own cowboy? I know I want to be. --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/review/mitski-be-the-cowboy/

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sheilacwall · 5 years ago

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Legends: Rakim – Hip Hop Golden Age Hip Hop Golden Age

“It’s the return of the Wild Style fashionist

Smashing hits

Make it hard to adapt to this

Put pizazz and jazz in this

And cash in this

Mastered this, flash this and make em clap to this

DJ’s throw on cuts and obey the crowd

Just pump the volume up, and play it loud

Hip Hop’s embedded

Before I said I wouldn’t let it

But me and the microphone is still magnetic

Straight off the top

I knew I’d be forced to rock

Dance floors just stop, the spot’s scorching hot”

youtube

“To my elite peeps

With the murderous mystiques

I hit the streets with beats

And they critique for weeks

They be like, How that kid Ra reach the peak?

Pull out the heat and use my technique to speak

It’s dangerous

Sit calm and explain to kids

What part of the game this is in foreign languages

They hold Ra’s events in different continents

Put my lyrical contents in monuments

In ghetto garments, I rock a towel like a pharaoh

Mind travel, design style like apparel

My fashions last long as a lifetime

‘Cause I can see the future when the god write rhymes

They’re mad ‘cause I managed to reign so long

Like their chance to make money done came and gone

This is strictly for my listeners on the corners at night

And the sisters that be keepin’ this right, when I be on the mic

“Yo, my never-ending epic

Got the world spinning hectic

I quickly spread it

Till the whole city’s infected

Suspense that I supply intensify

Then commence as my daily events go by

You get involved in thisParagraphologist

Paragraphologist

Narrating novelist

Market this, sound marvelous

I’m the star in this

Which means the author’s authentic

Most definite, every episode’s an epidemic

So when you research, check it, here go the evidence

They represent with lyrical negligence for presidents

My science existed, without the fiction

Every inscription is a special edition

So all hail the honorableMicrophone phenomenal

Microphone phenomenal

Persona is unbombable

Trust me son, I continue like a saga do

Bringing you the drama to

Allow you that the chronicle”

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