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13runningsomething · 2 months ago

Text

Chain of Events

@tmnt-write-fight Attack For @turtle--thoughts

Based on their prompt:

TMNT 2003, Donnie not coping as well as he seems with both the aftermath of Good Genes and how that indirectly led to the Foot Mystics being freed (bonus if Hurt/Comfort ensues)

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Word Count: 4021

Donatello liked to think of himself as the most sensible among his family. His scientific mind was easily capable of putting logic first in any given scenario, and dealing with any emotional fallout after the fact. He knows this quirk has more or less become a skill in the last couple years, given all the wild adventures he and his brothers have found themselves on, adventures that often compounded on top of each other with hardly any breathing room in between. That’s the old saying, isn’t it? Out of the frying pan and into the fryer?

That was probably the best description he had for the events of the last couple months. First it was some mutant monsters, courtesy of Bishop’s outbreak, then a persistent cold that refused to break, which naturally culminated in a seemingly blackout weekend that started in April’s apartment and ended at Area 51 of all places, after which Donnie was told he’d actually transformed into a raging monster himself. Huh…

The downtime after that was consequently spent resting by order of his family, and trying in vain to remember any of it for himself. Though he had noticed some small changes in that time, his logical mind concluded that he would just take longer to heal. He was the only mutant affected by the outbreak, after all. His recovery was bound to be different, right?

Weeks that felt agonizingly slow in the moment became far too brief when they were whisked away to Japan to train with the Ninja Tribunal, and informed of the looming threat of the Shredder Tengu and his Foot Mystics. None of them could afford to rest with the world at stake, and it meant everyone was essentially teetering between deep exhaustion and tense anxiety. The lighter moments were few and far between, and even those had been tainted by the deaths of their new friends and the Tribunal at the hands of the Mystics.

Those stupid Mystics.

Their most recent encounter with them was still at the forefront of Donatello’s mind. How could it not be? Considering they’d managed to resurrect their master from his grave and nearly put Karai in one of her own…

And they dropped the bombshell that’s been rattling Don’s head all night.

You are the ones who sealed her fate.

Without you we could never have freed the Shredder,

For it was you that freed us.

When you took that crystal on behalf of Agent Bishop,

You set a chain of events in motion that led to—

Everything that was currently going wrong in their lives.

He couldn’t dodge quickly enough. He couldn’t recognize his cold for what it really was. He couldn't be there to help Leatherhead, which left Bishop and Stockman as their only other option.

And they still couldn’t entirely fix him.

Don had made it into the bathroom earlier to wash up and prepare for another day of waiting to see what might happen, but having the revelation from the Mystics intruding his every thought has also managed to bring up issues he thought he’d set aside.

Like the fact that his nails are still tougher and sharper.

It isn’t by much, no where near as bad as his brothers had described from his temporarily monstrous state, but they still weren’t back to normal. Donnie tried to cut them just before they’d been Shanghaied (as Mikey put it), only to nearly break the clippers with how much extra effort it took. Even the scissors struggled with the job. If that wasn’t enough, it seemed his nails would only grow back into the same pointed shape, regardless of how flat he cut them.

Don couldn’t really convince himself that it was just in his head either, that it was some anxious response his brain manufactured if his nails got too long, because while they took a month or so to grow back, the scarring was always there.

He didn’t have to be a genius to understand why. He went from being 5’2” and 180 pounds to over seven feet tall and double his weight in a matter of seconds. He knew there’d be stretch marks, and considering how fast the “cure” took effect, he’s surprised he didn’t have more. Donnie wasn’t necessarily bothered by them cosmetically, but the fact that they were always there served as a constant reminder that their weekend at Bishop’s was real, and not just some wild story his brothers had made up to freak him out.

Don’s also not entirely unconvinced that his temporary growth spurt may have affected his actual growth, too. He and his brothers had only just turned eighteen, and he was sure they were bound to grow at least once more, mutated status not withstanding. In the weeks since his recovery though, he’s noticed himself looking down at his brothers more and more, which just felt wrong. They’ve been the same height for so many years, and being next to the youngest among the four, he didn’t expect his growth spurt to happen first. Rationally, he knew it was possible, but a deep part of his brain kept whispering that it wasn’t probable.

Unless there was something helping it along.

With this whispering in the back of his mind, Donnie began checking every drawer and cabinet in April’s bathroom for a tape measure. He rustled desperately through all of them, knowing he could’ve been quieter and more respectful of their host’s space, but his anxiety was taking on a mind of its own. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, and let the tape unroll until it was just touching the floor. Don moved in front of the mirror, holding the tape upright in one hand and pinching it off with the other where it met the top of his head. He slowly brought it down to see—

5’6”

—He really wasn’t imaging things, huh?

His infection had left him permanently scarred, permanently changed, and may now lead to the end of the world—

Nope! Nuh uh. Don was not going to hop on that little train of thought right now. Shredder and the Mystics were out somewhere, plotting their next move. Karai has yet to wake up, let alone recover from all her injuries, and they all needed to focus on understanding these new “Dragon-forms” of theirs before they could even think of using them in battle again. Donnie took a moment to breath, to find his center, and move all the spiralling fears to the back burner. There’d be plenty of time to deal with them when the world wasn’t at stake.

When he finally felt fit enough to leave, he reached for the doorknob and flicked off the light—

Red…

His eyes… were red!

Don yelped, backing away from the shocking sight until his shell collided with the wall, staring in abject horror at the glowing orbs reflected in the mirror.

He knew they were his. Despite the almost complete darkness of the bathroom, he could still see himself in the mirror clear as day.

His normal self.

Donnie takes careful steps back toward the mirror, reaching for the light switch hesitantly.

When he flicks it on again, everything seems fine. His irises are invisible beneath the white membranes, and opening those reveals their natural hazel colour.

When he flicks the light off, the burning red returns.

On again, nothing.

Off again, bloody crimson.

He continues toggling the light switch as his brain struggles to make sense of this new quirk of his. The reflection staring back at him was clear, despite the minimal lighting in the small room, the only source other than the main light being a small emergency bulb plugged in just above the vanity. He couldn’t recall at the moment if his night vision’s been any better in the last several weeks, but he figures a hulking turtle monster would probably need it for killing hunting its prey. He hadn’t had much opportunity to catch a glimpse of his own reflection while they were training in Japan (nor did he want to, given the state of his scars). If his family and friends ever noticed anything in the low candlelight they were often surrounded by, surely they would’ve brought it up with him, meaning they hadn’t seen it, which meant it wasn’t as bad as he thought and he could probably forget about it until—

“Donnie!”

The interruption, coupled with a hand snatching his own away from the light switch, startles Donatello out of the spiral. He catches Leonardo’s eyes in the mirror, gazing back at him and full of worry.

“You trying to round up April’s electricity bill or something?” The elder speaks with a soft chuckle, but they can both tell it’s forced. The concerned stare never drops.

“No, I…” If they haven’t brought it up, that means they haven’t noticed… “It just stopped working for a minute. All good now.”

“Really?” Leo squints at him, “I was sure I could see the light flickering from down the hall.”

“… I must’ve had the wrong switch then,” Donnie tries. “It was the fan that wasn’t working.” He toggles the other switch to prove his point. “And now it’s working fine! Sorry about that, Leo.”

Donnie really tries to get past his big brother, but a hand catches his upper arm before he can make the doorjamb.

“Don, look at me.”

He refuses at first, keeping his gaze locked on the tile floor. He doesn’t want Leo to notice.

“Please…”

It’s the desperation that breaks him, so Don slowly looks up.

He’s definitely shorter than me now.

“What’s going on with you?”

Leo speaks so gently, so patiently, like he was afraid of scaring off a wild animal, and Don finally let’s everything boil over.

“It’s my fault.”

He doesn’t know when he started crying, or when standing became such a chore, but Leo catches him before he can fall, and lowers them both down against the vanity.

“Talk to me,” Leo pleads, as he pulls him into a side hug and rubs his upper arm comfortingly. “What do you think is your fault?”

“Everything,” Donnie breathes out. “The Mystics were set loose because you guys had to save me, because I couldn’t move fast enough. Everyone that they’ve hurt, that The Shredder hurts, it’s on me!”

“Don—”

“And I thought I could ignore it. If I could focus on fixing everything and saving the world, I could worry about the why and how later. But my scars, my body… it’s always gonna be different and it’s always gonna be proof of just how bad I—”

“Donnie.” Leo grabs him by both shoulders, turning to face him head-on. “Listen to me, and listen well. This is not your fault.”

He wants to protest, but Leo presses on. “None of us knew what the Mystics really were when we stole the crystal. And I don’t think we would’ve even considered the possibility of another Shredder before Splinter and the Ancient One first talked about him. You might be a genius, Don, but as good as you are at preparing for the future, you can’t predict it. I promise, it’s nothing we would ever hold against you, so there’s no need to hold it against yourself.”

As nice as it was to hear, Donnie’s still not convinced. “You heard what the Mystics said, though. This nightmare wouldn’t even be possible if I hadn’t gotten infected in the first place.”

Leonardo’s expression softens, but the determination doesn’t go away. “You can’t take what the Mystics say to heart. They’d say anything to distract us if it made defeating us easier. Besides, the day you were infected, it could’ve easily been one of us instead. We all make mistakes sometimes, and no matter how good or bad they work out, we just gotta move forward and learn from them, not spend time dwelling on them.”

“It’s harder when your mistake could bring about the end of the world, though.” Donnie draws further into himself, and Leo can feel the argument becoming lost. He thinks for a moment, drawing on anything that might truly make Donnie believe him.

“…If you really need someone to blame for this, then it would be my fault.”

Donnie’s face shoots up like a rocket. “No. What— why would you even say that?”

“Because we were the ones who stole the crystal,” Leo puts simply. “You had no say in the decision at the time, and since I’m the leader, the responsibility falls to me.”

“Leo, that doesn’t make any sense, even by your own logic,” Donnie argues emphatically. “You didn’t know about Shredder and the Mystics either, and you were still doing it to save me.”

“The responsibility doesn’t solely fall on you, Don—”

“But it doesn’t fall on you either! I thought you already got that through your head when you were with the Ancient One!”

They’re both surprised by the outburst, and Donnie feels like he’s sinned somehow. None of them really talked about Leo’s guilt complex after his trip abroad unless they really needed to, and Don’s just gone and used it against him like it was nothing.

He was just making things worse.

“Leo, I—"

“No, Don, it’s okay.” Despite what Donnie believes, he does in fact look okay. “You guys don’t need to walk on eggshells around me anymore. I know I still have things to work through, and I am, but that’s not why I would be responsible for all of this.”

“Leo, you’re not—”

“It’s because I would do it all over again, knowing the Mystics would be set free, knowing the Shredder would be set free, as long as we got you back.”

The silence in the bathroom is heavy. Donnie is too stunned to speak for a moment, and what comes out is ripe with disbelief. “How… how could you say that? How can you even justify that? I’m one person, one mutant. I’m not…” He feels like he’s gonna start crying again.

“You are to us,” Leo pleads, gripping his shoulders tightly. His face takes on a faraway look before he continues. “I don’t know if you remember, but you would’ve died without a cure.”

Donnie remembers. Leatherhead gave him a complete rundown of what had happened as soon as he was coherent enough to receive it. “Leatherhead was the one who found it, though.”

“Yeah,” Leo confirms, “and he admits that without Bishop’s lab resources, he doesn't know if you would’ve received it in time.”

Donnie hunches uncomfortably. He can’t really argue with that.

Leo turns back to him, looking earnestly at him. “We can’t survive without you, Don. If saving the world means losing you forever, I don’t think I could live with making that call, and I know Raph and Mikey couldn’t either. You’re too important to us, and I need you to see that.”

He says it like a confession, and for a brief moment, Donnie is struck by an image of his brother thirty years older, more haggard and world-wearier than he could ever believe, blinded by combat, but still no less of a warrior.

He realizes for the first time that things could’ve been even worse than they already were. His logical mind starts firing again, and he wonders just how long the Mystics have been looking for a way to break free of their prison. If it hadn’t been Bishop, would it have been someone else? Would his brothers have been left to fight them off without him, or with a monstrous version of him who couldn’t support them the same way he could now?

Would they have already fallen apart before they had the chance?

That alternate future was already a frightening enough nightmare for Donatello. The idea that it could have easily come to fruition in his own dimension, and so soon too, was paralyzing. Thinking about this, he supposes he’s grateful that it hadn’t been worse. The fact that he and his brothers were all here, together, meant that they had a better chance of succeeding, just as they had there. The future may be unpredictable, but in his case, it at least set a precedent.

The reminder of his monstrous potential does derail his relief, however, as Donnie takes in the marks he can see from his position on the floor. He musters his courage, but still worries what kind of answer he’ll get when he finally asks the question that’s been plaguing his head for months. “Even if I came back from Bishop’s different? Or… wrong?”

Leonardo feels the shift in his brother’s anxieties, and follows it just as quickly. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Donatello, I swear.” He gives Donnie a once over. “Your scars, they don’t cause you pain, do they?”

Don shakes his head.

“Then the way I see it, they’re proof that you survived. Proof that you’re strong enough to get through whatever life throws in front of you. It’s nothing you need to hide, and it’s certainly nothing you need to be ashamed of.”

Leo massages his left shoulder as he says this, and Donnie can picture the chunk missing from the shell on his back. He knows his brother is speaking from experience, and supposes he can be grateful that most of his deep muscle pain had subsided during his recovery.

“What about my eyes?” He asks.

Leo tilts his head at him. “What about them?”

Donnie slips out of his brother’s hold, standing to face the mirror again. Leo quickly follows suite, glancing between his brother and their reflections. Don looks him in the eye one last time before he shuts the light off again.

As expected, his irises glow bright red beneath their membranes.

“Oh, wow.”

Donnie turns toward his brother’s reflection anxiously.

He looks back reassuringly. “It’s not bad, I promise. Just surprised me a little.”

Don’s not sure he believes that. “Have you guys really not noticed?”

Leo shrugs. “Our membranes glow under certain lights too, don’t they? It could just be this one that’s setting it off.” He points to the orange-tinted emergency light.

Donnie supposes that’s possible, but the fact that it’s visible even beneath the protective membrane concerns him. “What if it becomes a problem on missions? Or it gets worse?”

“Then we’ll deal with it if it happens,” Leo asserts. “You don’t know that it ever will, Don.”

You can’t predict the future, he recalls.

Donnie chooses not to tell him about his nails, given how they might fall into that same state of limbo, but from where they stand in front of the mirror, the other change is made glaringly obvious.

“I’m taller than you guys now,” he whispers.

“What?”

“Oh, come on,” Donnie faces him, now slightly annoyed. “I know you’ve at least had to notice that.”

Leo shrugs again, seeming somewhat guilty. “Maybe a little.”

Despite the apprehension, Don’s surprised to see no discomfort in his brother’s expression. “And that doesn’t upset you?”

“Should it?”

Donnie scoffs. “We’ve been the same size our entire lives, Leo. It doesn’t bother you that you need to look up at me now?”

“Well,” he thinks, “it would probably bug me more if you were rubbing it in my face all the time.” He finishes with a chuckle.

Donnie frowns. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.” Leo makes sure to give Donnie his most sincere expression. “Look, for all the things the four of us have in common, we still have our differences. I don’t expect that to change as we get older, and I’m sure you know that it won’t.”

Donnie thinks for a moment. He’s never really investigated their mutations all that much, aside from what’s required for medical treatment and general upkeep. Though they were all originally exposed to the same ooze, that couldn’t guarantee they’d all be affected the same way, or how they’d be affected in the long term. They were still just teenagers, after all. They could potentially have years left to grow before they stopped.

“Besides,” Leo continues, “having your growth spurt first doesn’t mean much when it’s only a few inches. Mikey could very well be looking down at you by next week.”

The mental image is like a jump scare. After recovering from the shock, Donnie shoves him by the shoulder. “Why would you say that?” He laughs it off before he can think about it too hard, laughter that Leo immediately joins in on. They eventually go back to sitting on the bathroom floor as it tapers off.

The silence that follows is a lot more comfortable than it had been before. As they catch their breath, Donnie can feel that at least a few of his anxieties have simmered down for the time being.

Leo wraps and arm around Don’s shoulders, squeezing him slightly. “Regardless of who ends up being the tallest, or how tall any of us get, just remember that we’ll always be brothers, so we’ll be dealing with it together.”

Donnie smiles up at him. “I know.”

“And we’ll do the same with the Tengu Shredder,” Leo remarks, smiling back at Don. “Right?”

Donnie’s a little surprised by the return to their original conversation.

He doesn’t answer fast enough, apparently, because Leo leans in and repeats, “Am I right?”

After everything they’ve talked about, every argument proposed and rebuked, Donnie finds he can’t really disagree with him right now. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Leo replies cooly. “I am still the oldest, after all.”

Donnie knocks into his side, feeling fond exasperation for just how cheesy his big brother can be when he’s trying to cheer them up.

The sound of footsteps makes them both look to the door, where Raphael appears a second later. He switches the main light on, blinking like he’s still half asleep. He peers for someone at eye level before his gaze drops to the turtles huddled together on the floor. “What’s going on in here?”

“Nothing.” “Impromptu sibling hug.”

Raph pinches between his eyes. He’s definitely just woken up. “One at a time, please.”

“Just get down here,” Leo exclaims.

The two seem to have one of their silent conversations before the red-clad turtle complies. “Fine, if no one else cares that this is a bathroom, I guess.” He takes a seat beside Donnie, looking them both over unsubtly.

He must find something that tips him off to Don’s prior distress, because Raph looks at him a bit softer now. “Seriously, you all good, bro?”

Donnie glances back at Leo for a moment, who has a knowing smile on his face. It makes him more confident that everything will in fact turn out okay. “Yeah,” he turns to Raph, smiling. “I think I will be.”

Raph smiles back at him, joining the hug and squeezing him tightly.

He’s about to complain about the air his lungs are losing when Mikey appears in the doorway, surprising all but him.

“Woah woah woah! You’re doing a group hug without me?”

“Mikey, don’t—”

Raph’s protests fall on deaf ears as the youngest leaps at the huddle, crushing the air out of all of them when he lands.

“Thanks for that, Mikey,” Leo squeaks out.

“No problem,” Mikey replies as he moves into a more comfortable sitting position. “Every team needs their star player, right? And no one gives better hugs than this guy.”

He proves his point by wrapping his arms tightly around Donnie, who’s now trying to figure out how Mikey knew they were in there for him. He stops thinking about it when the others join in from either side, instead focusing on the warmth, belonging, and love he feels being at the center of the turtle pile.

“Not that I wanna cut this short, but I’d still like to brush my teeth sometime today,” Raph teases.

They all laugh at the complaint, but manage to stay huddled on the floor for an extra fifteen minutes. If the lighter moments were gonna be few and far between right now, they might as well savour every second of them.

#tmnt write fight #tmntwritefight #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2003 #donatello #2003 donnie #ase fics

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herrlindemann · 1 year ago

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Sonic Seducer, December 2015

Thanks to ramjohn for the scans!

What's 32 cm high, weighs 3.5 kilos and contains 14 discs? Rammstein fans probably already know the answer: it's “XXI - The Vinyl Box Set”, a big box set that will enable the Berlin band to look back over their 20-year career in early December. Even if the band's website recently announced a meaningful "It goes on” [“Es geht weite”], the fact that all the sextet's works will soon be available in record form for your personal collection comes just at the right moment: "XXI - The Vinyl Box Set" contains all the studio albums on double vinyl, from "Herzeleid" to "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da", and adds two LPs with previously unreleased tracks and versions as well as "Raritäten". So it's interesting to review the career of Germany's most internationally popular band since Kraftwerk, from their early days as a band with a martial R roll, to their export successes filling arenas and stadiums around the world.

Of course, no one was expecting such resounding success when Rammstein was formed in Berlin at the end of 1993, from members of East German bands The Inchtabokatables and Feeling B, among others. The first album from 1995, “Herzeleid”, was a bombshell: some drew parallels with the sound and image of over-identification and pseudo-fascist totalitarianism of Slovenia's Laibach. Others suspected Rammstein were the counterpart to Die Krupps, the electro-metal band that was enjoying huge success at the time. The first sign of life from their Motor Music label was the promotional CD of the song “Du riechst so gut”, the mix of thick synthetic groove, brutal industrial metal and powerful male vocals was immediately on everyone's lips and in everyone's ears. “Herzeleid" barely cracked the top 100 album charts when it was released, but a growing audience began to take an interest in these Berliners when they opened for Project Pitchfork, among others. Even cult director David Lynch took notice and chose the songs "Rammstein" and "Heirate mich" for the soundtrack to his film "Lost Highway" — in the US too, Rammstein made an early name for themselves, soon to become a fixture on the international (industrial) metal circuit. "Herzeleid" laid an impressive cornerstone in this respect.

“Herzeleid” (1995)

The first album opens with a song that quickly became a crowd favourite: "Wollt ihr bas Bett in Flammen sehen" introduces massive guitar punches and a bubbling electronic base. What's more, Till Lindemann repeats the band's name so often that no-one can ignore who's playing. The album already shows the extent of the Berliners' palette: the opener and hits like “Du Riechst So Gut” and “Asche Zu Asche” are set against “Seemann”, a ballad that proves Rammstein can slow down the pace without losing any of their intensity. But “Herzeleid” is most legendary for its brutality — admittedly, there's nothing on the album, musically speaking, that Oomph! hasn't mastered, but the gigantic staging of itself and the overflowing pathos give Rammstein its own signature right from the start.

"I find the 'Herzeleid' cover so bad that I can't watch it anymore.” — Richard Kruspe (1999)

Rammstein made a big impression on metal, industrial and electro fans with just one record, as demonstrated by the single "Engel", which stormed the charts before the release of their second album "Sehnsucht". After “Herzeleid” frightened uninformed listeners with songs about scandalous subjects such as necrophilia, sexual violence and plane crashes, the “Engel” music video turned out to be a more or less explicit homage to “From Dusk Till Dawn”. But the controversy was over the cover of “Sehnsucht”, by Austrian extreme artist Gottfried Helnwein, who fitted the members' faces with surgical instruments — so the similarities with the artwork for Scorpions' 1982 album “Blackout”, also by Helnwein, were not coincidental. The second single, "Du Hast", also made it into the German top 10, and Rammstein took the top spot in the album chart with "Sehnsucht". Abroad, particularly in the United States, a similar success was beginning to be felt: "Sehnsucht" won a golden record there and continued to sell well, going platinum record at a later date. A year later, Rammstein were represented with their cover of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" on the tribute compilation "For The Masses" — alongside international acts such as The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure and Deftones. The fact that the Berliners used scenes from Leni Riefenstahl films in the video not only earned them accusations of right-wing extremism, but could also be seen as a clever provocation. Rammstein denied any fascist tendencies, however, and soon after went on a "Family Values" tour across the United States with Korn, Limp Bizkit, Orgy and Ice Cube. By then they had become stars.

“Sehnsucht” (1997)

With “Engel” and “Du hast”, Rammstein had already scored hits before the release of their second album, and this one did not disappoint. So it's hardly surprising that the song “Tier” was so clearly inspired by Die Krupps' “The Dawning Of Doom” that Jürgen Engler received the copyright after the fact. In terms of content, the band also goes all the way: incest and the resulting parricide, sado-masochistic sexual practices and female genitalia craving cunnilingus are all hot topics — and with “Klavier”, we also find a legitimate successor to “Seemann”. Sales of "Sehnsucht" have long since topped the 2 million mark.

Rammstein in Mexico 1999

Needless to say, Rammstein have not given up in the face of this phenomenal success: ever since the band toured Central and South America with Kiss and Soulfy in 1999, the qualities of these men with showmanship skills have been known there too. With the first retrospective of their work "Live aus Berlin", the first phase of their creative process came to an end shortly before the turn of the millennium, and after a concert at the Fuji Rock Festival in faraway Japan, Rammstein tackled their third album. And, of course, the band didn't think to get rid of its provocative habit, even though singer Till and keyboardist Flake Lorenz had been arrested two years earlier in Massachusetts for simulating anal sex on stage and spraying themselves with artificial sperm on the song "Bück dich". Instead of being sexually explicit, the 'Mutter' album polarised attention with its cover illustration of an allegedly dead foetus. Nevertheless, Flake shakes his head about his arrest and the allegedly evil band Rammstein in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine: "What are they blaming us for? That we dare to use words like 'ficken' and 'Fotze'? That's what every hip-hopper does these days". Especially since “Mutter”, with the song “Links 2 3 4”, effectively distanced the band from the accusations of fascism that the worried media were constantly calling for. An important album for this reason too.

"Mutter" (2001)

Could this be the reason why Rammstein tribute band Die Bestien were originally called “Mama ist die Bestie”? In any case, the pleasure of listening to bestiality is once again guaranteed on "Mutter", as the opening track "Mein herz brennt" already indicates, with its thunderous orchestral guitar. The Swedish director Lukas Moodysson featured this piece prominently in his tragic drama film "Lilya 4-Ever". What's more, with the right-turn rejection of “Links 2 3 4”, the electronically infiltrated mass delirium of “Ich will”, the suggested cloning insult of the title track and “Rein raus”, which calls for abdominal activity, there's enough to cause a stir, if not outrage. Not at all revolting: “Mutter” also topped the charts — like every Rammstein album since “Sehnsucht”.

In the meantime, Rammstein had reached the centre of metal society, as evidenced by the award for "Best International Live Act" at the Kerrang! Awards 2002. While the band were working on their fourth album, the three-hour DVD “Lichtspielhaus” kept the audience on their toes: it contained all the video clips shot so far, plus a few making-of and various concert highlights, recorded at shows in Sydney and Rock am Ring among others. A deep breath before the next album, “Reise Reise”, whose cover depicts a flight recorder. If you rewind the CD before the first track, you hear the last radio messages from a Japanese airliner that crashed, killing over 500 people. Other provocations were not long in coming: the theme of the single "Mein teil" was the criminal case of Armin Meiwes, who had gained dubious notoriety as the cannibal of Rothenburg, and for some uninformed listeners, lines like "Weiche teile und auch harte / Stehen auf der Speisekarte" were already too much. Keyboardist Flake couldn't understand the excitement on this track either: "Doing a song about something that's really happened, I think that's the most normal thing in the world! Nobody complains to the presenter of the 'Tagesschau' about the alarming news he reads either!" For Rammstein, on the other hand, the attention paid to the unsavoury anthropophagy affair was anything but normal, given that at the time the war in Iraq had just been approved without the national media being overly concerned. A context in which the hateful praise of “Amerika” took on a whole new meaning.

"Reise, Reise" (2004)

This record definitely propelled Rammstein to the top of the list of most successful German bands abroad — it was ranked in the top 10 in nearly 20 countries, and number one in five of them. The “Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien” (Federal Office for the Supervision of Media Harmful to Young Persons) could do nothing better with "Mein Teil" than ban the video clip, which is not very tactful in night-time rotation — a half-hearted sanction which Rammstein accepted with a shrug of the shoulders. Surprisingly, the band not only responded with musical crudeness, but also with dark, romantic, sometimes bluesy songs like “Los” and “Ohne dich”, and also with some ferocious and bizarre visual humour: in the video for “Keine lust”, the members appear extremely overweight and take the song about lack of energy and saturation to the extreme. But the truth is, Rammstein are far from fed up.

As benefits a band that subsequently sells out four concerts in a row at the Parkbühne in Berlin's Wuhlheide. And this time, it didn't take Rammstein long to recharge : so many songs remained from the “Reise, Reise” recording session that the sextet quickly returned to the studio to finish “Reise Reise Vol. 2”. But as the band doesn't like the idea of a musical residue, the new opus is finally called “Rosenrot” and not only continues the sound of its predecessor, but also takes new directions : The relatively tender experimental ballad "Stirb nicht vor mir" ("Don't Die Before I Do") features Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri in a duet with Till Lindemann, and "Feuer und Wasser" refers to Friedrich Schiller's poem "Der Taucher". Drummer Christoph Schneider sums it up : "We knew we'd recorded too many quiet songs for “Reise Reise”. That's why we were aware, when writing "Rosenrot", that we needed to compose some slightly harder material to round it all off". "Rosenrot" was not, however, completed by a tour, and performances in the United States, Mexico and Asia fell through due to the long-term illness of keyboardist Flake.

"We had no desire at all to produce this theoretical music on the computer. In contrast to "Mutter", this album is very hand-played." — Flake Lorenz

"Rosenrot" (2005)

The direct successor to “Reise Reise” is certainly not the most surprising album in Rammstein's discography — the punchy but familiar introductory single “Benzin” proves that right from the start. "Mann gegen mann" also rocks straight ahead and is once again only genuine with a video clip that was belatedly banished to the night hours, for which "Spun" director Jonas Akerlund has staged the band naked and had equally undressed men jostling each other. But on “Rosenrot”, Rammstein can also do things differently, orchestrating the Spanish song “Te Quiero Puta” with mariachi brass and ending the album with the modest title “Ein lied” — dedicated to all Rammstein fans. It's likely that some of them felt concerned.

"A situation that was completely new to us until then : writing songs from the nights in a very short time. There were many doubts within the band as to whether we could produce good quality songs in such a short time." — Oliver Riedel about "Rosenrot"

The breaks between albums became longer : apart from the live DVD "Völkerball", which was released in 2006, Rammstein disappeared from the scene for a while after "Rosenrot". But as usual, the band came back with a bang in 2009. But this was without taking into account the suspicions of the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (Federal Office for the Control of Media Harmful to Young Person), which quickly placed the fifth album, “Liebe Ist Für Alle Da”, on the blacklist. What had happened ? Well, the song “Ich tu dir weh” appealed to sadomasochistic fantasies, which is hardly surprising in the Rammstein context, but was enough to warrant a blacklisting. The band expressed their dismay at the censorship, and much of the press sided with the band and against the authorities. "Spiegel" even imagined a fictitious and absurd round table discussion on the subject between the Minister for the Family, the band members and popular music star Florian Silbereisen. But you'd have thought the problem lay elsewhere, because the single “Pussy”, which pokes fun at German sex tourists abroad, lent itself much better to controversy. In the video, shot once again by Jonas Akerlund, the members of the band appeared without hesitation as hardcore pornographic actors — the fact that they were dubbed in the end did nothing to detract from the scandalous nature of the clip. According to guitarist Richard Kruspe, the initial impetus for this sultry little film came from the director, who sent an e-mail to the band with the words "Let's make a revolution! Let's shoot a porn!" And that's just the way it is : policing morals has never had any effect on the big boys of Rammstein.

"Liebe Ist Für Alle Da" (2009)

"Das Warten hat ein Ende / Leigt euer Ohr einer Legende" — the opening words of Rammstein's sixth album, which has once again lost none of its metallic power, textual provocation or musical versatility. As well as the catchy, almost cheeky "Pussy" and the hyperactive mosher "Ich Tu Dir Weh", the band pay tribute to Edit Piaf's "Non, Je ne regrette rien" on "Frühling in Paris" and draw heavily on the "Moritat von Mackie Messer" from Bertolt Brecht's "Dreigroschenoper" for "Haifisch". Admittedly, due to the aforementioned blacklisting, the song could only be sold to major customers for a short time, but a watered-down version of the offending track followed. Needless to say, by this time “Liebe Ist Für Alle Da” had already climbed the charts and Rammstein were still the most popular German band — both at home and abroad.

Rammstein 2014 in der Volksbühne

A lot has happened since the release of "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da": Rammstein were invited to the Wacken Open Air for the first time in 2013 — and didn't miss out on performing the song "Sonne" with Heino, who had covered it on his "Mit freundlichen Grüßen" covers album. Richard Kruspe lives again in Berlin and in 2014 presented his second Emigrate album "Silent So Long" with a lot of noise and the participation of Marilyn Manson and Jonathan Davis of Korn. Till Lindemann made common cause with Swedish metalhead Peter Tägtgren under the name Lindemann on the "Skills in Pills" album. And the announcement at the beginning of the article, "It goes on !", gives us hope that album number seven won't be too long in coming. In the meantime, let's listen to Rammstein's discography in detail once again — with "XXI - The Vinyl Box Set", of course, a luxurious package of power that Santa Claus will have trouble transporting. "If we had put more emphasis on the live structure, then some things could have been a bit better, harder, more beautiful! And yet I'm simply happy that we've succeeded in making this record!" - Richard Kruspe about "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da"

#rammstein #till lindemann #paul landers #flake #oliver riedel #christoph schneider #richard kruspe #2015 #*scans #translation #*#translated by endlich-allein

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darkmaga-returns · 4 days ago

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Introducing the top 10 stories they chose not to tell you this week.

The Vigilant Fox

Nov 24, 2024

10 - One of the most heavily vaxxed parts of America is now facing a heart attack crisis.

98% of people in King County, WA (Seattle) took at least one COVID shot, and the data is not looking good.

A peer-reviewed study has found a jaw-dropping 1,236% surge in excess heart attack deaths among King County's 2.2 million residents.

2020: 11 excess heart attack deaths

2021: 75 excess heart attack deaths

2022: 111 excess heart attack deaths

2023: 147 excess heart attack deaths, a 1,236% increase compared to 2020.

Moreover, cardiac arrest deaths, in general, rose about 25% from 2020 to 2023. In the same time frame, King County's population shrunk slightly.

Reflecting on this alarming data, Dr. Peter McCullough said, “So it looks like the vaccines are the smoking gun.”

But that's not all. A bombshell autopsy study now proves COVID vaccines are causing large numbers of deaths.

Powerful interests CENSORED this study TWICE, but now it has been peer-reviewed and published for the world to read.

It reveals that 73.9% of the deaths (240 of 325) were DIRECTLY linked to vaccination, with physicians confirming the vaccine as a direct or significant contributor to death.

Dr. Peter McCullough joins the show to discuss.

9 - Neil deGrasse Tyson embarrasses himself as Bill Maher exposes him as “part of the problem.”

8 - Hillary Clinton exposed in yet another massive hoax.

7 - Joe Rogan EXPLODES on The New York Times’ deranged “fact check” on RFK Jr.

6 - General Flynn sends a dire warning ahead of Trump’s presidential return.

#5 - Damning report highlights growing intolerance and violence against Christians in Europe.

#4 - The Biden administration just made the border crisis even worse.

#3 - Bill O’Reilly drops a METEOR story, leaving NewsNation panel speechless.

#2 - Google AI threatens student with bone-chilling message.

#1 - Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy reveal DOGE blueprint to cut government waste.

BONUS #1 - Elon Musk’s X Corp. Intervenes in Bankruptcy Case of Alex Jones’ Infowars with Surprise Filing

BONUS #2 - NBC Guest Delivers Harsh Reality Check to Those Trashing RFK Jr.

BONUS #3 - The Greatest Medication You’ve Never Heard of

BONUS #4 - Bill Maher ERUPTS on Yale Psychiatrist Urging Liberals to Cut Off Trump-Supporting Family Members

BONUS #5 - The Shocking Truth About Skin Cancer: What You’re Not Being Told About the Sun

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didanawisgi · 19 days ago

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#covid-19 vaccine #covid-19

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majorbaby · 1 year ago

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Isn't Trapper's nickname a euphemism for rape. I think that could have been explored more in depth in the show. And Hawkeye's hookups aren't always the paragon of enthusiastic consent either.

CW for rape mention and sexual harassment

I haven't read the MASH book and I'm not sure how it is represented there but in the movie:

John McIntyre, Trapper John. Only man to find fulfillment in a Boston Maine Railway, in the- in the ladies can! Conductor opened the door, the girl looked out and yelled "Oh, he trapped me! Omigod, he trapped me!"

Unless I'm missing some historical context for the term that's used, "trapped" I don't know that this is rape. With that said, Trapper (and Hawkeye) in the film sexually harass Margaret, no two ways about it, so I can't say it would be OOC for movie Trapper. I'm not sure where the word "rape" came from in this instance but in my opinion, it's ambiguous. I'm totally open to being wrong if there is concrete evidence.

The incident is retconned out of the show, along with much of the cruelty they subject Margaret to - the primary target of public humiliation and shaming in the show Frank Burns (who in the movie is Margaret's only ally and exits the movie halfway through) and with how much character development Margaret gets, to me it seems a deliberate choice to reduce the volume and severity of abuse her movie counterpart endures. You would never catch movie HawkTrap helping Margaret sober up (Hot Lips and Empty Arms) or hide a body (Iron Guts Kelly). In Bombshells Trapper pointedly respects Margaret's "no", that's the crux of the whole episode. He also doesn't seem to enjoy or return her advances when she's blackout drunk in Hot Lips and Empty Arms.

Personally I don't see the value in this stuff being explored in the show. It's sort of addressed in Hepatitis when Margaret asks for "respect" and Hawkeye folds.

I'd actually argue there's more canonical proof from the show of Hawkeye not respecting consent than Trapper. They both kiss Margaret without her consent, Trapper in Rainbow Bridge and For the Good of the Outfit, Hawkeye in Dear Dad and There's Nothing Like a Nurse. I can't think of any more wrt to Trapper but Hawkeye kisses Frank once on the lips without his consent (twice if he caught him in For the Good of the Outfit - it's still sexual harassment even if he didn't), in Ceasefire Hawkeye seems to have promised himself romantically to multiple women, deceiving them so they'll sleep with him.

(I just wanna note that the Ceasefire example seems like a misstep - he's never actually shown misrepresenting himself that way, he's normally pretty up front with his casual hookups, and it never happens again. Seems like a bad subplot rather than something I'd call a recurring flaw)

I know we all love the 'pegging scene' in Carry on Hawkeye but making a big show of dropping your pants so your female coworker can give you a shot is harassment, he does it because he knows it'll make Margaret uncomfortable and he does the same thing again in Hepatitis when she calls him out.

But honestly I can't think of a single example other than Ceasefire where his hookups aren't enthusiastic on both sides. Like part of my problem with the Ceasefire example is that Margie Cutler is one of the women who thinks she'll be marrying Hawkeye after the war she flirts with both Trapper and Hawkeye in Requiem for a Lightweight, pimps out Hawkeye to her friend in Edwina like... girl you knew what this was??? So prior to that episode, she seemed to be pretty enthusiastic.

And honestly I push back pretty hard against the hookups being seen as unenthusiastic. There's plenty of nurses who happily make out with Trapper and I don't believe they're all unaware that he's married, he talks about it openly in OR - yeah that's infidelity and it's morally wrong but it doesn't mean there aren't two consenting adults.

Similarly I have a hard time believing that the nurses don't see Hawkeye with a different girl on his arm every week, they know what they're getting. One of the things I like a lot about early MASH is the sex is enjoyed by all - I value positive portrayals of female sexual pleasure in the 70s over fidelity to offscreen wives because of the historical context. Hollywood is still terrified of portraying cunnilingus and Hawkeye is constantly shaving for his dates. Could it be because he's very enthusiastically kissing women? I suppose. But knowing this show and Alan Alda in general, I dunno.

MASH did try to explore misogyny, it responded to early criticism and dropped some of flourishes it relied upon. That's good and bad imo. It's nice to not hear so many 'honeys' and 'sweethearts' in the OR, but I miss the casual fucking and sucking when it goes away.

We have Inga which gives us a very OOC Hawkeye imo being put in his place. Hepatitis which muddies about with some comparison of Hawkeye to Margaret's in-laws but is ultimately a sweet moment for Hawk-Margaret (really he comes to respect her over a longer period of time but I'll take it). Who Knew where Hawkeye whines about sleeping with Millie in lieu of acknowledging her interiority as though these are two entirely mutually exclusive things - a swing and miss imo. But then you have season 10's Cementing Relationships where Margaret spends the whole episode being sexually harassed and it's played completely for laughs - just because it isn't Hawkeye doing it anymore doesn't mean it's not wrong.

I do appreciate the attempts at addressing misogyny, even though I think it led to some big missteps, but I don't personally feel I missed out on anything by there not being an in-depth exploration of sex and consent. Sex and romance aren't really given much focus in general, so I don't think it would make sense to explore it very deeply.

#replies #re: mash #if you read all of this... good job #rape mention #harassment cw #glad i watched the movie so that i could actually reference it because you can really see the choices they made #made me appreciate the show more

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