#this is a BIG problem with all three of her companions though btw and especially ryan. RYAN BABYGIRL THEYRE DOING U SO DIRTY

[quietwingsinthesky]

like okay easy example. s11 is a weird season in that there's practically no references back to anything before it, no reoccuring villains, just the doctor and her tardis to keep the show doctor who. and that's fine, i like that actually, i think it was fun. but! it does mean that when resolution comes around and there's a dalek! that should be a big thing!!!

and i'm not gonna compare it against thee Dalek episode of all time because that would be cruel.

so im gonna compare it against an episode i don't even like to prove i'm not being biased here. power ranger dalek spectacular: victory of the daleks.

victory of the daleks is not a good episode, but it is a good episode for mining out moments about the doctors relationship to the daleks and how their ptsd shapes their interactions with even a seemingly friendly dalek. (<- guy who has. at least twice now. seen that daleks can change.) which is to say: he starts beating the fucking shit out of it when it won't react the way he wants it to. and in the end, fucking himself over by doing so, giving the dalek what it wants.

DOCTOR: You are my enemy! And I am yours. You are everything I despise. The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again. I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks.

thirteen doesn't really have an equivalent moment with the dalek. not that im saying she needs to start hitting it with a hammer, that would be weird for her specifically, but it's all very. rote, i suppose. her interactions with it don't really create the sort of unease that characterize the doctor's interactions with daleks in nuwho. there's very little drawing out of her worst sides to face this thing.

she does have one moment, towards the end, that i'm insane about, specifically. but i don't think i was supposed to take it as seriously as i did. this one:

DOCTOR: No, it won't. No matter how many times you try, no matter how long you wait, I'll always be in your way, backed up by the best of humanity. Now, final, final, final warning, cos I'm nice. I really do try my best. Stop the signal, get off this planet. DALEK: You are not my commander. DOCTOR: I tried. You heard me, right? I tried! I gave it a chance. YASMIN: Yeah. RYAN: Yep. GRAHAM: You did.

because this entire exchange is framed as a comedy beat. funny, the doctor turning to her companions and wanting affirmation that her murdering something in cold blood is fine, actually, because she gave it a chance to surrender. that feels like it should be an huge moment for thirteen, who just last episode was threatening to throw graham off the tardis for wanting to kill the guy who killed his wife. it should be off-putting that the doctor not only is going to kill something but wants to be told that she's doing the right thing. but it isn't. we pass over it in a moment. the dalek goes in a supernova (do not get me started on ryan & his dad's thing, do not, i don't have time to talk about how badly that's handled) and we move on.

i'm not saying that thirteen needs to yell at things more. because it makes the moments she really snaps in the timeless child, when she loses her cool and shove the master onto the ground, all the more startling in how uncharacteristic that feels for her and yet, how right. but i'm saying. i don't know. i wish she was given more space to lean into her being the kind of person who genuinely thinks eternal imprisonment is a Good Option. who will kill something herself but wants reassurance that she was right.

(extra side note: but it often feels like the show both wants the benefits of doctor who's legacy of decades of television while also wanting to be detached from it. for as much as i like the timeless child twist, this is it's biggest weakness. it wants to recontextualize everything about the doctor's history and gallifreyan society. but it also burned gallifrey to the ground so that we don't have to reckon with how knowing this would change it. you see it a lot with the master, too. like we can all make conjecture about how you get from missy -> spymaster, and damn good conjecture too! the actual show is not interested in that history or how that's shaped him. again. again. i know i've said this before and thing that appeal only to me alert but! the doctor's not the only child experiment of gallifrey. the master was, too! but nary a mention of that in the whole episode, though you'd think that would color everything about how he perceived the knowledge of the timeless child. (and to be clear, i don't mean 'i think he should have been more sympathetic', if anything i think that you could use his history with gallifrey using and rejecting him to make an even better case than the show does for why he burned gallifrey to the ground.)

okay. i think i've put my finger on what i don't like about thirteen's era. not that i don't like thirteen's era as a whole, mind, i still greatly enjoy it. but the problem is, i think, that there sure is a lot happening! it's all extremely surface level, though!

[4dtk]

@jaemimpulsive said: “hello love! How u doinnnn? Can I request u and jaemin buying a puppy and bringing it home? It’s up to u for the breed, hehe. Thankie!( ˘ ³˘)♥︎” hi baby, sure you can! hope you enjoy <3 btw the dog breed i took reference from is the jindo dog ^^

[5:37pm] "oh, but a samoyed would be so cute! what about a golden retriever?" jaemin exclaims excitedly, clapping his free hand with your interlocked one as you take a stroll to the dog shelter.

"jaem, baby, we live in a dorm," you raise your eyebrows, with the mask you had on failing to hide your deadpan expression.

"and...?"

you sigh, "a samoyed would probably overpower everything in the dorm. have you seen the number of trinkets and souvenirs we have? the dog would knock everything down in a second because of its size."

being the voice of reason was hard, especially with your boyfriend, who you never could reject when he wanted an extra snack or kiss. you frown, squeezing his hand as comfort, "a samoyed or a retriever would be the dream, but with how much you guys are out for schedules and me with my job, i don't think we can give the dog the life it deserves."

jaemin only whines in response, leaning against your cold palm in the chilly weather even though he towers over you.

"i guess so... they shed a lot too," he mumbles, shoulder slumping even after entering the shelter. jaemin's mood switches like a lightbulb, however, immediately greeting the excited dogs who perked up at the sound of the doorbell's chime.

he lets go of your hand like a little kid, allowing himself to get tackled by the dogs as you look on with a small smile. there's already tons of scenarios going on in your head: cuddling the dog, cuddling the dog with jaemin, taking it out on walks, getting an onslaught of 'aw' messages from the members...

the volunteer's voice catches your attention, interrupting your thoughts before explaining your situation to her. she listens intently, occasionally eyeing your boyfriend playing in the background.

"uh... miss? it looks like one of our dogs has already made its choice," she giggles as you turn back, coming to face a cooing jaemin lying on his chest while he interacts with a curious jindo puppy. 

the energetic dog jumps around his head, entertaining the little bursts of movements from the male as high-pitched barks stand out against the others.

its little tail continues to wag even after you squat down, one hand resting on jaemin's back and the other reaching out to pet the puppy on its head.

"hey there," you grin, the soft fur under your fingers not feeling too different from when you had to brush out the tangles in jaemin's hair. the dog barks in response, nudging your hand for more pets and taking a liking to you as much as it did with jaemin.

with jaemin's pleading eyes, it was clear that the jindo's charms and matching expression had pulled him in quickly, rolling around on the concrete as he continues to play a game of peek-a-boo with the puppy.

"gureum never fails to tire out. he's always jumping and moving around; quite the contrast to his name, honestly," she laughs.

the process went smoothly, with your boyfriend hardly listening to the volunteer as he played with gureum. with a wave, you're departing from the shelter in no time with a dog crate, food and a few toys for the puppy to busy himself with.

all the way home, jaemin's swinging your arm excitedly, barely containing his happiness with the adoption with upbeat steps and a singsong voice. soon, you reach the dorms, receiving a greeting in the form of a quiet space except for the television playing in one of the rooms.

getting an off-day as an idol was a difficult thing to come by, and when the dream members did manage to get time off from dancing or recording, their bodies yearned for one thing: sleep.

the calming silence is broken by gureum's excited barks, thankfully not waking the rest of the members. jeno peeks his head out, breaking into a big smile when he spots the white tuff of fur in the crate.

pointing to jaemin's room, both males follow you to get the puppy accustomed to the dorms, letting him come to you as you open the crate. gureum doesn't seem to be fazed by the new face, eagerly running around the three of you as he explores the area.

"gureum!" you call out as he runs off into the main room, perhaps thrilled at being in someplace that wasn't the shelter. the puppy glances at every single thing before another catches his attention, finally taking his rest on the comfortable sofa cushion that had fallen to the floor.

"oh my god, he's just like jaemin," jeno jokes, giving the dog a few pets before retreating to his unfinished show. he swiftly evades a smack from your boyfriend, who now mirrors gureum's sleepy state with his head on your shoulder and a clingy grasp around your waist.

"y'know, they say the pet takes on the owner. i didn't think it would've happened so fast," you teased.

jaemin hums, nevertheless dragging you to the couch as he snuggles into the small sofa himself. he wordlessly opens his arms to you, asking for a companion to sleep with as the fatigue of the day catches up to gureum.

you could say the same for the two of you, sinking into his embrace with no problem as the sun sets in the background.

"good...night...?" you whisper with a laugh, reaching up to kiss gureum on his head. likewise, you peck jaemin on the lips, finding comfort in his chest.

"goodnight, my love," your lover says, relishing in the soft rays casting their light across the puppy as well as you. jaemin's happy to spend his day off with the two of you, even if he's only gotten to know gureum.

[0lshadyl0]

Can I request a yandere Aizawa with a fem s/o whose quirk is exchanging her own life to revive someone from death? Reader have been friends with Aizawa since they were kids, they love eachother but never confessed until Aizawa died in battle. Kisses him and finally confesses then- ill let you decide what happens next 😉 I love your works btw gives out like a classy style~

of course sweety, btw I really want to know what kind of classy style I give 

No time left, Aizawa Shouta x Reader

warnings: death

word count: 1935

You knew it, that is his end, Aizawa, your childhood friend, which you knew from the moment you were aware, with whom you grew up supporting him at every moment of his life to the point where your heart only started beating for the love you had towards him but that you kept secret since it was dangerous to enter into a relationship with him ...  because it was dangerous, especially right now, for this precise reason

Shouta had been following in the footsteps of a dangerous organization that worked under government support to do the dirty work of them, creating massacres, disappearing people, among other horrible crimes that ended in the death of many, heroes, villains and civilians, all equally

Recently Eraserhead discovered that this organization called "the elite legion" had begun to arrive in Japan to commit its heinous criminal acts, he knew he should do something to prevent it

He thought to inform the authorities as to other heroes, but the government of Japan refused to help and forbid the heroes to act against this group, after all, they had special permission to act in the country, that permission it covered any kind of attacks, disasters, kidnappings, hacks, and even murders

Although the truth was that the elite legion had solved the problem of a dangerous international terrorist group acting in the country and as the government had signed agreements with them the legion could do whatever they wanted in the country, of course, in exchange they should help with all the dirty problems that the government had

And although Eraserhead didn't like at all that they could do what they wanted while they were passed by the law, he couldn't help but look away helplessly while taking refuge from his frustration in your arms, you were his only peace at that moment and  in those moments when you two were together, curled up in the armchair while he was lost in his thoughts, you had to endure to not telling him how much you love him, after all, it was not the moment, although the truth If you started thinking a little, you had never found the moment and you had the feeling that you had no time left

The murders were more constant, thousands of lives were lost with each passing week and although there was more security on the streets, of course, everyone was afraid of being the next victim of the elite legion or as civilians believed, villains, people were more cautious about following the law

But when babies, children, teenagers and people with special, powerful or unstable quirks disappeared for the elite legion to wash their brains, train them and finally add them to their ranks of mercenary murderers,  Eraserhead decided that it was enough, especially, for that the elite also decided to kidnap you, the most important woman in his life and that was something he was not going to let happen

You had a special ability that captured the interest of the elite legion after all your quirk allowed you to exchange your health for someone else's, scratches, cuts, bruises, serious injuries and ultimately, your own life for another

For that reason, they tried to take you and Eraserhead tried to stop him, but, amid his worry and fear of failing his goal and losing you forever he didn't think logically in that battle Nor do I take into account that all those who were in the elite legion were people with quirks prodigies, with special training and little moral enough to kill whoever hinders in their mission

For that reason it didn't take them long to neutralize Shouta, after all, they were ten of the legion fully prepared to counter the hero, as if that wasn't enough, four of them were quirkless and armed with guns in if he erased his teammates' quirks, which he did, neglecting the four without quirk who took the opportunity to shoot the hero multiple times

This is how Aizawa ended up with more than ninety shots in his body, his lifeless corpse collapsed strongly on the ground accompanied by your agonized screams for losing your beloved without confessing your feelings while the elite legion laughed out loud because the situation seemed fun to themAt that moment the leader of the group and the one that held you tightly, received a message, her smile disappeared so her face showed discomfort, she immediately released you and you quickly ran towards Aizawa's body, you knew what to do and you should do it fast before the elite legion prevented you from saving his life

One of them, the one with blue skin and three meters high, tried to prevent your task, but the leader prevented it, he saw her in the eyes looking for an answer to why she stopped him" she will use her quirk, if she dies we will have failed," said the big man

"New orders" was all the leader replied "we don't need her alive anymore" she whispered with some annoyance since the previous order specified that you were alive, well, she didn't care if you were alive or dead, she just wanted to finish her mission

"What do you mean by that?" The elite legion gathered around the leader to find out what the message was sayingIn the meantime you took advantage of the fact that they didn't pay attention to you to make the greatest sacrifice of love that someone can make for someone else, to give your life in exchange for that of your dear ShoutaYou activated your quirk and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips where you transmitted all your feelings at the same time that your life to him, little by little, the bullets left his body and his wounds healed while your own body was filled with holes and a terrible pain was beginning to consume you to the maximum point where your nervous system was already disconnected from your brain to not suffer more

Shouta slowly opened his eyes, when he could stop seeing blurry he saw your beautiful face adorned with a sweet smile from which a little blood came out, that made him aware and tried to hold him close to him, Aizawa was scared, you looked terribly slaughtered and although he didn't want to admit it, you didn't look like you were going to survive"But what happened!?, How could they do this to you ... it was not supposed ... quiet, everything will be fine, just resist a little" he was scared and for the first time in a long time his mind was blank, he had no idea what to do and time was not in his favor

"Shouta... I am very sorry not to tell you this... before" everything around you began to look black, your quirk took effect, there was no time left to live, this was your end "No, please no, give me more time, you'll be fine, I promise, just resist" he didn't want you to say goodbye, he didn't want to lose you, they had spent a lot of time together, you were too important in his life, you couldn't go, just like that, without him being able to do something to prevent your inevitable death, he understood that he was the one who was going to die but somehow it was you who had all the wounds, it was you who were dying right now 

"I love you Shouta ..." was the last thing you said before you took your last breath, but you had done happily because you knew he would continue to be alive, you had the hope that he would continue to be a great hero saving many people and with luck, he would end the elite legionHe wanted to answer that he loved you too, but it was no use telling him to an inert body, yet he cried inconsolably as he hugged you and your blood stained his clothes, he regretted not telling you before how much he loved you and the fact of that he wanted to be with you, be your hero, be your boyfriend, your husband, the father of the future children that together would never have now, and grow old with you until death separated you two, he had many plans with you and now none was going to be fulfilled

Suddenly he heard some sobs from afar and saw a member of the legion crying while he was comforted by two of his companions and their leader, at that moment he remembered that he was still in danger, but he didn't care anymore, he didn't I wanted to fight or live in that moment"I'm sorry, I got a little excited, I'm sensitive to love scenes," said the young mercenary who was not over 17 years old, short, with effeminate body to be a man, and black hair with green at the end of his hair

"It was a truly beautiful scene, the drama, the feelings and the declaration of love was moving," said the leader, a young woman with brown hair and three eyes who was wiping tears from her weeping partner "but we did not come to see dramas, we are here for the now dead body ”he smiled cynically as he gave the order to attack" she is going to be the food of one of our members "

"You will have to pass over me before putting your dirty hands on Y/n" he prepared to defend you, he did not want to live, not in a world where you were not by his side, he had already lost someone before and now he had lost you, which was even worse because you were the love of his life, but he would not let those who killed you take your body, much less to be the food of some disgusting being of the legion of the elite

"Do not worry, we will make sure that you meet your beloved very soon, after all, we have orders to disappear you for conspiring against us even though everything we do is legal," said another legion member

“What a waste" said the blue man looking at you body "she gave her life to return yours and in the end, you will die anyway, she would have lasted longer with me, although of course, with some bruises, hickeys, and wounds, Y/n is a very nice name, perfect for her, she was very beautiful, with a nice sexy body, don't you think the same Eraserhead? ”said the blue man as he ran his tongue over his lips, making Aizawa understand what the mercenary would have done to you if he had the opportunity, this angered Aizawa in such a way that I only thought is to destroy all of that group and especially the blue subject

Again they engaged in another fight, this battle lasted a little longer than the previous one and although the hero gave his best, he was again outnumbered, and they played dirty by trying to attack your body so that he couldn't take care of himself cuz he was trying to protect what was left of you

In the end, the hero Eraserhead was never seen again, nor his closest friends and the other heroes who sought him got a clue of him, after all, it is very difficult to find one of the secret bases of the legion, where his the body and that of his beloved became food for one of the most dangerous members

[cooltrainererika]

Alt-talia Compilation: December Fun

Well, it’s already New Years for me. Fortunately this is the last story I want to get out since I’m delaying Key to Zorn part 2 again. Hooray. All I need to do is that alternate ending and I’m done! Goodbye 2019! 

This compilation is three super short fics: December 22, 2019: Snowball fight/Skiing/Christmas without snow. The first two are for Skiing, the last one is Christmas Without Snow, though it could also be filed against “Decorations”. While admittedly the first two aren’t Christmas related, the last one is so hopefully it still counts. 

Btw this is a semi-AU. I don’t have time to explain, so those unfamiliar with it, please reference my other works. 

And the awful titles are especially bad this time around. And the writing quality is super rough. Still, I don’t really have much time here. 

Name key: Denmark: Simon, Norway: Lukas

So without further ado, happy new year! 

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This is a message from the event holder:

I would like to ask one thing (but this isn’t part of the rules, so don’t worry) , if it is not too demanding… please, if you like someone’s work say it (comment), I personally think that put only a “heart” on it doesn’t make enough justice for the artist. I mean… as an active fan that contributes for the Hetalia’s fandom… a “heart” means nothing to me, at least reblog it. “Creators” get demotivated and sincerely it doesn’t hurt be nice to others. Of course, this is my opinion and a selfish request, so I won’t expect too much.

Please listen to them, I would really appreciate it. 

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Skiing Lessons

“Orv... You make it look so easy!”

Lukas seemed to glide across the snow, the boy weaving between thin trees agilely as if it took him no effort. 

Simon could only admire his Union-Brother’s skills; he had to observe closely, after all. 

That morning, Simon had finally decided to ask him about it; Lukas’ skiing had helped him in so many wars over the years. While Simon was considered to be part of Scandinavia, his land being as flat and close to the ocean as it was, the art of skiing was never something he had to learn; Lukas was different. On the snow, where horse hooves sunk impotently, he commanded the ski as his steed. Ever since he was very young, he had used them not only to run circles around his enemies, but as one of his companions in daily life. 

“Teach you?”

“Yeah! You’re so good at it, and it’s helped us in so many wars, so… could you? Please?”

Lukas had nodded. 

“Mmm. No problem. I have a few boards as spares. Though it’s not easy. I’ll warn you.”

So now, here they were, up north. 

And indeed, it was much harder than it looked. 

For the fifth time that day, Simon fell facefirst into the snow. 

Lukas shook his head like a monk chastising a child. 

“Get up!”

“I’m trying!”

“Danmark, you’re not supposed to put that much weight on your feet. You’re supposed to glide atop the snow. Don’t dig in too much. Let the snow carry you.”

“Right…”

He pushed himself along. 

“Glide... Glide atop the snow...Wait... I think I’m getting the hang of it!”

Mmmm. That’s it... follow me.”

“I can do it! Look Norge, I’m doing it-“

And then he fell into the snow again. 

“It’s not that easy.”

Lukas pulled him out of the snow, his Union-Brother’s face having gone pink from the coldness but still determined 

“We’re doing it again.”

“Yessir!”

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Alpine Rivals

Austria and Switzerland cascaded down the mountain, dodging everyone on the slope as they went with masterful skill. 

The two raced neck-and neck, the freezing air whistling past, nipping their cheeks, through the hair that wasn’t tucked inside their helmets. 

Italy had been close behind, but in a moment of distraction had reverted to his klutzy self; a split second which had proved disastrous, and sent him falling into the snow with his feet sticking out like a cartoon, and now he was way behind, desperately trying to catch up. Poland was a close third, wrestling his place with Bavaria, and France and Germany were a few meters behind those two. However, especially as the Nordics were taking a different course on the other side of the mountain, the undoubted champions here were Austria and Switzerland, as they long had always been.

But even if the Nordics were racing with them, it was entirely possible they would still be left in the dust. For they were the Alpine duo; the only ones who even rivaled, even surpassed, Norway himself in the ancient sport of downhill skiing.  

But as usual, Switzerland seemed to be winning this time. There was a reason he had the most Alpine skiing medals in the Olympics. 

Austria wasn’t giving up so easily though; when it came to skiing, his suppressed competitiveness had a rare opportunity to shine. And best friend or no, or especially because of that, it wasn’t over until the end of the slope. 

He was certain that Bavaria was going to complain about it after all of this as he usually did though. His father wasn’t exactly known for being humble.  

“See you at the bottom!”

“Gah! Get back here!”

Soon, the foot of the mountain came into view, flattening to soften the landing. 

Almost there…

Wait, was that…

Snow flew in waves as Switzerland skidded to a halt. 

“Eek!”

An extremely familiar voice squeaked. 

When the snow cleared, standing there, brushing herself off, in her skis, was Liechtenstein. 

“Look, look! I won! Finally! I told you I practiced!”

Switzerland raised his goggles, his jaw ajar. 

“...Since when were you here?”

“About a minute ago?”

They heard the loud muffled sounds of snow crunching as Austria skidded to a stop above them.

“Österreich... It’s Liechtenstein. She won.”

“...Mein Gott. Goodness. I did know you were quite good, but…”

Her cheeky grin widened. 

“I’m Alpine too, you know!”

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Starry Streets of Tropical Bethlehem 

Now, think of Christmas. What do you think of? 

Not just the trees, the music, or even the religious elements. What is expected of the scenery outside? 

Snow, of course. Without snow, Christmas just seems so incomplete. 

Most of us aren’t fortunate enough to experience a white Christmas, however, there is something inseparable about these two things in our minds.  

Or so it seems. For one nation, while knowing little of snow, may be one of the biggest lovers of Christmas of all. 

“YEHEY! YEHEY! IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!”

Others looked on in confusion as the personification of the Philippines barreled through the halls as soon as the meeting got out. 

It wasn’t too long until she had crashed into America, sending papers flying everywhere. 

“GAH! Whoa! Whoa! Hey, slow down!”

“I can’t wait! It’s almost Pasko!”

“Wha?”

“Christmas!”

America stared at her in confusion. South Korea was standing above, his face blank as he processed what just happened. 

“...Wha? But it’s September! I swear, Christmas gets earlier every year, but I didn’t think it was this bad!”

“What do you mean, Kuya America? Of course it’s long! All my people come home on Christmas! ...Ay! There’s something I want to show everyone.”

She reached into her purse and pulled out a flyer; a clearly handmade one, with just a date, location, and absolutely nothing else. 

“Come to San Fernando on the Saturday two weeks before Christmas! I’m inviting the rest of ASEAN too!”

“Wha?! What are we being invited to?!”

“It’s a surprise!”

“She always is so excited, this time of year…”

Then, she grabbed South Korea as well, thrusting the “flyer” into his hand, her dark brown eyes sparkling. 

“You come too, Kuya! Please?!”

“I… I presume so…”

“Yehey! See you!”

With that, she ran off. 

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For Philippines, Christmas started at the beginning of September in the truest sense of the word; the carols started, everyone broke out the trees, and talk of presents was fresh on everyone’s mind. 

For some, this may have seemed absurd. However, even without the snow, even without many Christmas trappings, she never tired of this festive, yet sacred atmosphere which enveloped her islands for half a year. 

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Even in the middle of December, it was warm in the Philippines. 

Though everyone expected it, actually experiencing it was a bit strange for America, though Australia seemed to not notice any difference. And poor Japan looked like he was going to melt. 

For some ASEAN members, those who could afford to come anyway, the festive Christmas cheer emanating from everywhere was an unusual sight in it of itself. 

So many other people had already gathered around them under the San Fernando sky, mostly locals. 

“So… what are you goin’ to show us, hermana?”

Philippines grinned a wide grin. 

“You’ll see, Kuya Mehiko! Oh, it’s starting!”

Just as the music started, she threw open her arms. 

“...NARITO! MALIGAYANG PASKO!”

And immediately, like that, as her voice boomed into the air, everything lit up. 

Star-shaped, intricate fractals of light, red, orange, blue, green, yellow, white, silver, gold, big and small, arranged in beautiful designs. 

They moved, spinning and dancing as they lit up the night. 

A collective gasp took over them as stars lit everything in their field of vision. 

“...It’s… it’s awesome!”

“See? I told you! I told you!”

And so, under a tropical urban December sky, a starry night shined brightly not above, but right on Earth. 

[interesting-blog-name]

SLIGHTLY NEW ALBUMS I LIKED (Little Simz - GREY Area; Monsune - Tradition; Backxwash - God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It)

More loose reviews that I write and instantly want to get out of my Word document and into Tumblr without much of an overlaying theme between the albums or any planning as to which ones I’ll be releasing at which point, but it is what it is. This time I’ll be compiling some recent-ish albums I’ve enjoyed, two of which I’ve come to know from TheNeedleDrop (I try not to watch reviews before writing down my opinion btw), and one EP from an artist I like. Here it is.

Little Simz – GREY Area

Little Simz, the 26-year-old British rapper, is an artist I’ve loved the first time I heard her, when I listened to Selfish for the first time and saw her cover of Feel Good Inc. in triple-j’s Like A Version. Today, May 30th, I was planning on listening to White Chalk by PJ Harvey, but from what I read, it’s a pretty depressing album, and I’m not in the mood for that right now, so I picked GREY Area from my future listening list.

It’s really nice to hear a rap album like this once in a while. The instrumentation is organic and well thought out, her flow is amazing, and her lyrics have so much substance and personality to them, ranging from the happier, more reminiscent tone in 101 FM to the much more aggressive tracks Offence, Boss, Venom and Pressure, she’s always giving her take on life, telling the experience of what it’s like being a black person with big dreams in England, seeing friends die while she tries to go somewhere in life through music.

The main tone she picks for her self-narrative is an unapologetic view of the world around her; she tells the listener: “’til now I ain’t ever been the selfish type, ‘till now I ain’t ever told nobody no, don’t get it twisted. This shit ain’t happen overnight” in the biggest song off here, Selfish, featuring the most calming and lavish pianos and violins in this album, and an amazing feature by Cleo Sol on the hook. Pressure features an amazing batch of verses all about. Same thing with the intro, Offence, with its bold, empowering chorus; although the track comes off more playful with its cartoonish sound effects nearing the end than the raw message of the track mentioned previously. A great, high-spirited track to start off the album.

What isn’t as high-spirited is the next track, Boss, or, to be fair, almost all the other tracks in the album. Boss is a big fuck you to anyone you might dedicate the song to: the hook has Simz’s most aggressive delivery in the whole record, and the entire message is about getting over those who hurt you and coming up.  The second verse is something else.

Wounds, featuring Jamaican singer Chronixx, deals mostly with the gun/crime problem ever-so-present in marginalized communities all around the world, and she tells the story from the perspective of both herself and as a companion of the “gun man”, repeatedly mentioned in the song (“When a gun man only knows self-hate, them bullets show no love”). I’m not super crazy for Chronixx’s hook, or the much slower tempo of the track, but it fits well with the groovy instrumental. Venom, on the other hand, is a super exciting, menacing song. She goes all out over the violins playing in the background, but unfortunately, the track burns twice as bright to last half as long.

To lighten the mood a bit, 101 FM brings the most electronic instrumental, with cheerful, banging 808s and synths, and lyrics about her come up as a rapper, probably the verses where her British accent and slang dominate the most, giving them a more personal feel somewhat. Pressure doesn’t feature the most compelling instrumental or hooks in here – the Little Dragon refrain is mixed very poorly and the vocalist just doesn’t do a great job -, but the verses compensate for that, especially the first one, probably one of the most heartfelt and important ones in this album. Therapy talks about Simz’s struggles with finding comfort in therapy. The instrumental is average for the project, but still slaps, so that’s nice.

Sherbet Sunset is an ode to a broken relationship, and a theme that could be handled so poorly by other artists is handled masterfully by Little Simz. In three verses, she displays so many sides to what I assume is one relationship, so many emotions and thoughts that she shares, it really feels like she’s transcribing something of a focused, bright mind rush over the track, and it amazes me how she can reveal her feelings so well on a track like this, progressing from the regret of not seeing how it’d go wrong, to the anxiety that comes from spending all that time for seemingly nothing, to coming to terms with it in the last verse (although not quite). It’s a stunning song now that I listen to it again.

To close it all off, we have Flowers, mainly a tribute to various artists from the 27 club, with mentions of Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse in the verses, trying to relate to their struggles with drug addiction and quick fame. It’s incredibly powerful and a great finisher.

I don’t dislike one track in GREY Area. It’s well conceived, a great statement, it really feels like she gives her all to make every track memorable, and even though her delivery is mostly monotone throughout the whole album, that also works to her favor, as she has a very unique and recognizable voice. So the lyrics are extremely well written, and the only reason I don’t give more examples of that is because I got a whole lot of school shit to do, the instrumental work is clean and precise, and I don’t have a whole lot to complain about. Check this shit out if you haven’t.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: 101 FM, Venom, Selfish, Offence, Boss, Pressure

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: lol nah

 8.7/10

“Why you wanna all dress lies as truth? Have you ever seen what silence do? I don’t wanna see no violent troops putting out fires that haven’t been started”

 Monsune – Tradition

Damn I did not expect to like this as much as I did.

Monsune is a Chinese-Canadian singer who has recently been gaining some popularity from his amazing song OUTTA MY MIND, which features a funky bassline and high-pitched guitar playing that some have compared to Childish Gambino, specifically his album “Awaken, My Love!”. I decided to check out this short EP by him to see if he had anything more to offer, and it’s safe to say, he does.

The first track off Tradition already shows what this guy can do with his production. It starts off with the same vibe off of his previously mentioned biggest track, but on steroids: a prominent bassline, pitch-altered backing vocals, sunny guitars, and drowned out drums. His voice is also reaching higher notes in this song than in OUTTA MY MIND, but then in the middle of the song it all slows down for a very welcome beat change that shifts the song from this summer anthem to a very chill R&B tune. It’s amazing stuff, although I don’t understand why he chose to put some very noticeable autotune in this part.

CLOUD is my least favorite from the EP, but it’s still a very solid song, it’s just not amazing. The bass is still very strong, and the bridge later on in the song is addictive as shit. After that track comes OUTTA MY MIND, and then his style completely switches in MOUNTAIN, which starts off with some solo guitar and his low, beautiful singing. It’s actually really moving for some reason lol. It then picks up in the hook, the drums kick in along with what I assume is a keyboard, and his voice reaches the top of his range for the backing vocals, it’s a very well-made song.

JADE finishes Tradition off extremely beautifully, with a smooth acoustic guitar intro over a nice-ass bass, some ethereal, trippy scenes of Monsune floating over the ocean and appearing out of thin air in front of you (probably not you, the listener). And then all of a sudden this madman screams off the top of his lungs in the middle of the track and I fucking love it.

The flaws this EP has are mostly related to the mixing, which I think can be a little too harsh in some sections such as the big breakdowns in JADE and MOUNTAIN. Plus, I know lyrics aren’t a focus on a project like this, but it would be nice to get something more than love songs in the future perhaps. Still, loving this EP, so glad I checked Monsune out. You should too.

 WORST TO BEST: CLOUDS, 1998, JADE, OUTTA MY MIND, MOUNTAIN

 8/10

“Don’t you wanna come down? Cause I’m so bored of walking on the same old sky”

 Backxwash – God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It

God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It is an album by American rapper Backxwash, who received a new wave of attention after Anthony Fantano reviewed this album in his channel and gave it a decent 8. I haven’t watched the review yet, but I was interested in checking it out because of the high score, and especially since when I looked it up on Spotify, the songs only had around 8000 views.

Dark subject themes and the whole dark trap aesthetic are the core of this album. I, personally, have always been a fan of aggressive, heavy rap music, from more underground names like gizmo and Fukkit, to the more mainstream variant of these sounds, like XXXTENTACION. This album, however, operates in somewhat of a separate lane.

Many of the dark, edgy rap I used to listen to religiously back in the day was borderline mindless. Shit about ripping someone open, hollow flexing, except separated from mainstream rap only because the rapper in question is screaming their brains out when talking about designer clothes, instead of mumbling like your average Lil Baby, and, of course, personal problems, depression, being mad about whatever it was. Unlike its other contemporaries, however, it seems Backxwash has much more thought and elaboration into what she wants to yell about. Instead of hiding behind bass-boosted rather formulaic instrumentals, she takes the more scenic route, with still very dark, but more intricate gothic beats, sampling various religious speeches and implementing them into songs about black magic and overall unhappiness. The Black Sabbath sample that opens up this album should be enough for any listener to immediately understand what they’re about to get into, as the title track brings heavy percussion and some of the most graphic lyrics in the album, which it already doesn’t lack. Lines about downing pills and vodka, contemplating suicide, and blank vocalizations of anger (“I want war with these bitches, I want corpses and weapons”).

The track that resembles an average edgy Soundcloud rap song the most is Black Magic right after, with its own interpretation of the “ay” flow, shouted with a tone reminiscent of someone like Craig Xen. The big difference comes with the much grander production, especially the growling guitars that get introduced halfway, reminding the listener of Backxwash’s skill as a producer. From what I could tell, she was responsible for the production of the tracks in here, and considering there are no vocal guests except for Malldate’s quick appearance in Into The Void, I’m assuming the features listed in the tracklist are all producer credits as well, the feature in this track being Ada Rook, providing the amazing guitar work for this song.

Spells is mixed for me. I don’t enjoy the attempted singing in the chorus, and it falls completely flat to my ears; the beat is hard as ever, but the lyrics feel slightly disconnected with each other. At one point, she’s talking about going to Hell to her mom, at the other she mentions doors opening and closing in an office and how there’s no one in some corridor, and it doesn’t go anywhere from that, with lines such as “heart is so dead with tissue” not exactly evoking any sort of emotion or imagery.

Black Sheep is the most effective song out of the first four; it seems to filter all the positive aspects of the other tracks and package them into one quick serving. The beat is chaotic and in a constant state of unrest, the lyrics are centered and aimed at various of Backxwash’s problems in life, such as her father, people who want to bring her down and put her “in line on the X and O’s”, and overall venting. After that comes a brief interlude, the first of two that don’t have much use in the album except as pallet cleansers. It’s followed by Into The Void, a track that mentions her paranoia of being harassed and possibly killed when walking around in the streets and the deli. It’s haunting, and definitely the best song in here; it is laser-focused in the exact way I wished the previous tracks would be. Her vocal delivery is extremely expressive, and she tells the story in a way that gives the listener a brief, but at the same time immense glimpse of the reality that trans people face and have to go through, in a morbid fashion.

Adolescence is very short and eases the pace a bit after the intense emotions of the last. It’s a message to her younger brother that quickly descents into a confession of her inner struggle, mentioning possible overdoses and being too old for the 27 Club and fearing going to therapy. What’s great about this song is the fact that, even in such a short amount of time and with a less explosive instrumental, Backxwash manages to evoke her emotions so well; this is definitely what she does best in this record, and it overcomes the times where her delivery is flawed and her words are slurred and hard to understand. After this comes Amen, and holy fuck is this an angry song. Criticizing the hell out of the church, Backxwash comes at greedy pastors and their irresponsible spending when the churchgoers who support him are in need. My big problem with this song is the fact that the hook, as impassionate as it is, doesn’t do much for the subject, and the verse is way too short to have any impact with its theme. Lines like “these politicians politicking” don’t help much either.

The very distorted second interlude, Heaven’s Interlude, takes us to the last track, Redemption, the least intense song in here, which is appropriate as a sendoff. She expresses her frustrations towards her dad’s frustrations towards her being trans, and while the entire sentiment of the song is great and well formulated, I can’t find a way around the lines “Fuck these fucking boomers, fuck these fucking losers. Fuck theses motherfucking fuckers in their fucking two truck. Fuck these fuck(sic)abusers, and fuck these fucking rumors.”, they just emanate Limp Bizkit energy.

God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It is a very passionate, real, well produced and well-conceived album; it bears themes that are immensely important to be brought to the music scene, and by mixing that message with its explosive and polished production, it amplifies it a ton. However, as powerful as her deliveries are, I believe Backxwash can go much further with her songwriting and song structuring in the future, as well as her intonation, because that was really all that was keeping this album from being legendary. If she can do more of this in songs that are longer and super focused around whichever topic she decides, she can make something legendary. And thank God she got reviewed by Fantano, I hope she can take this opportunity and make something huge out of this.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: Into The Void, Black Sheep, God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It, Adolescence, Black Magic

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Spells

 7.7/10

“Chosen one, sad bitch, lowest scum. Coldest, huh, black sheep talk to ‘em. If the situation changed I would have said the same shit, exactly the same.”

[jynxeddraca]

Weaners

So I have had an interesting debate for the last 24 hours with some people.  Facebook, there’s my problem.  Someone I know commented on a video of a calf wearing a calf weaner and seemed distressed by it so I put her fears to rest by telling her that it is entirely harmless for both calf and heifer.  Oddly enough I happen to have some knowledge of cattle - both the college I went to school at and the big college where I live now both have big agricultural departments and I have an uncle who raised black angus cows until he got too old to do so.  I am also more than aware of the oodles of misinformation about the industry and that some people in the cattle/dairy cow industry are in fact garbage people which doesn’t help with the oodles of misinformation about keeping cows.

But that’s neither here nor there.  And for anyone who is still vague on what exactly a calf weaner is - it’s a plastic tag that clips onto a calf’s septum (literally, it’s a fake nose ring) that keeps the calf from being able to suckle on an udder.  They’re normally used when the person in charge of the cows can’t justify separating the calf from it’s mom for the month it takes to fully wean the calf (because most people do separate them out but cows are social and also might drop a calf at any given time).

Still with me?  Good.

So I pointed out that this was what it was, that it wasn’t hurting the animals at all, the calf is fine because it’s still able to eat - it’s just having to eat grown up food even though it wants to suckle, and that this is common because calves have been known to really hurt a heifer’s udders trying to suckle when she’s trying to wean them (hell they’re born with teeth).  The heifer is standing very calmly and is more or less ignoring the calf.  I looked up dairy cows and apparently dairy cows are well known to a lot of times not really have maternal instincts and have much more tender, more easily injured udders than beef cows.  And cows kick when they’re in pain.  You see where I’m going with this right? 

I got compared to a white slave owner justifying splitting families apart for pointing this out.  I keep seeing the same arguments that ‘the animal knows best when to wean’, ‘we don’t need the milk anyways’, ‘this is cruel’, ‘we don’t do this to human babies’, and my favorite: ‘the people involved should get their mouths sewn shut and arms tied behind their backs and see how they like it’ (I am not even joking about that last one.  Someone legit said that).

I don’t know how more clear I can be that it’s to keep the heifer from getting bit by a too-old calf with teeth that she’s most likely already trying to wean so she’s not injured and therefore not attempting to kick a calf to get it off her tits.  I don’t know how more clear I can be that the calf is fine.  The heifer is fine.  No one is distressed in the video.

Then they keep talking about other videos where supposedly the calves are ripped away from the heifers, hit repeatedly in the head, pissed on, abused, etc and I know exactly what videos they’re talking about - because PETA loves to makes these videos.  PETA has come under fire because of faking those kinds of videos.  While I am aware that some are not faked (see above where I mention human garbage) I am also aware of three things: 1) That’s not what we were discussing, the video we were discussing is a calf wearing a weaner.  2) I know how to do fucking research and buy from companies that don’t abuse their animals and 3) That the majority of cow owning people make their living off these animals and a healthy, happy animal will fetch a better price than one that has been abused and ended in a violent, traumatic way.

And now they’re bringing up pitbulls into the equation.  That’s it’s bad to kill a pitbull but stealing milk from a cow and eating steak is ‘okay’ and they find this contradicting.  NO ONE HAS SAID A FUCKING WORD ABOUT PITBULLS!  And yes, I find killing an animal who was originally bred as a companion animal that has a bad rap but has not hurt anyone wrong - while I also recognize that some pitbulls are in fact violent either due to breeding or training and have to eventually be put down to ensure safety of others.  I do find it tragic that those animals are put down over something that is not technically their fault but I understand the necessity. 

I also understand that humans and cows have spent the last 10,000 years shaping each other.  Cows today, especially dairy cows, are not capable of surviving in the wild anymore - thanks largely in part to humans.  I also am able to recognize that human are opportunistic omnivores and our entire society as we know it is largely in part because we were able to domesticate cows and plants for food.  That our society was built on eating animal based foods and much of the food people eat in low-income households include: milk, eggs, and ground meats because these things are 1) cheap, 2) filling, 3) and include most of the nutrients that we need to survive.  Also that, as with any lactating species, a cow will continue to produce milk long after a calf has grown past the need for it so long as it is milked on a regular basis - this is not harmful to cows and humans do the same damn thing (buying and selling human breast milk is a thing btw).