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infinity-squared-comics · 2 years

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Chaska’s favorite place.

Mahad thought he might find him here. As the only member of this impromptu friend group with their own house, he had been tasked with taking in the two “strays” they had picked up. Yep, an alien and a homunculus, living in his apartment. Not to mention the fact that now his rent got bumped up for having an extra person living there (his landlord didn’t know about Jin. Perks of being an invisible alien, he supposed). But there was a bright side. Beyond just enjoying the company(don’t you dare tell anyone he said that)the two were more than willing to help out in any way they could. It was actually worrying, how eager they were to help. Mahad was pretty sure they could use some therapy (who couldn’t) but not being human tends to complicate those sorts of things.

“Sir Mahad?”

Surprising. Mahad didn’t know he’d been noticed. He should probably respond, though. Not like he could just stand here thinking. Well, maybe he could. Chaska didn’t know much about normal social interaction yet, it’d probably be fine to be weird around him. Anyways, response. Yes. Chaska was probably looking for one of those.

“‘Sup? Something bothering you, kid?”

“Well, no, but… I was just… tell me, please. What is that thing?”

Chaska gestures towards the sparkling network of road bellow them. Oh, right. The kid was less than a year old, technically. Pro’ly never seen an intersection, let alone one this fancy. Should he explain the basic concept, or this specific one. Oh well, he’ll just start talking and hope for the best.

“That’s called Starlight Junktion. It’s an intersection, connecting Hero City to our three nearest neighbors. We’re here in the southeast. To the southwest is Dark City, and there’s a stretch of road leading to Grandopolis in the northwest. It was built as a symbol of unity, between our three cities. Makes travelin’ a lot easier too”.

“Ah. So then… what’s to the northeast?”

Oh right. He’d probably have to explain that now. While, it’ll be ok. Just don’t go into uncomfortable detail.

“That leads to Endymion. It’s my hometown. Well, that’s not quite true. They annexed my hometown just a bit before we left. Probably why we left, to be honest, but my parents never talked much about that. They’d always change the subject whenever I asked.”

“Oh. Sir Mahad?”

“Yeah bud? Another question?”

“What does this word ‘Annex’ mean?”

Oh no this kid is way too innocent. Ok. He can do this. Just… try not to traumatize the child.

“Well, Annex is a verb, it’s a thing you do. But you probably got that already, since I just used it as a verb in a sentence. Well, to annex is to take an independent land, and make it part of your land, commonly by military force. At least, that’s how I’ve seen it used.”

“What if the people there don’t want to be part of this other land? What happens then?”

Oh no this kid is so pure. Should he really tell him all this? No. Better to learn here then wait ‘til he sees it in action.

“Well, when you’re being annexed, you have three options. Either you submit, listen to what those in power say, or you fight and they kill you or lock you up. Or, you can do what my family did. You can run.”

It took everything Mahad had to keep himself from adding “like cowards” to that last statement. The kid didn’t need his baggage.

“H… how? How could… how c… what type of monster was it, that did this to you?”

Oh this poor sweet child. He was crying.

“Wasn’t a monster. It was a man. Endimyon, the “I have a gajillion titles because I’m insecure in my accomplishments”. Although, man might not be the right word either, not after all the modifications he went through to stay alive. I’m sorry, Chaska. People aren’t as good as you think they are.”

“I know that. People steal, or cheat sometimes. Sometimes they even try to hurt each other. But this… killing? Mass killings? And for what? Power? Land? What could possibly be worth this much pain? What joy could be derived from something, anything that comes at such a… terrible cost? I do not understand. I do not understand! I DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!”

Oh no this poor child. He seemed to have reached the second stage of his freak out, and miniature cosmic flares were exploding out from all over their body. Mahad couldn’t even get close like this, never mind the fact that he was now slowly beginning to levitate ok this is weird. Ok ok ok. He just has to… do something. This kid needs his help! Ok, plan one. First some magical protection and then-

LEG HUG!

Mahad grabbed Chaska by the legs, partially to offer some support and partially to keep the kid from floating off.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry kid. You shouldn’t have to hear about this. It shouldn’t have even happened in the first place. I don’t understand either. I don’t understand how someone could have such… such little concern for human life. It doesn’t make sense, to sacrifice so much for so little. But we can’t change what happened. Believe me, I’ve tried. We just have to get through this. Just gotta survive. And it’s not fair what happened, what happened to those people, to my friends. But now we just have to survive. It’s over now. It’s been over for a long time now. And we’re still standing. We didn’t die when they tried to stomp us out. We fought, he hid, we ran. And we survived. I have something to show you when we get back to the apartment. But I need you to calm down a bit first. Ok? Can you do that for me, bud?”

…

“Ok.”

Chaska lowers to the ground. The flares lessen and soon extinguish. Chaska hugs Mahad, cries into his arms.

“I do not want to think about it anymore. Can we talk about something else? Please?”

“Of course, kiddo. Anything particular you wanna chat about?”

“No. Please. I just want to speak of something else.”

“Ok then. Well, in that case, I have a question for you. How are you not freezing? I’m chilled to the bone up here. And you’re not even wearing a shirt!”

Chaska laughs. It’s a small laugh, but it’s genuine. Good. This is good.

“I have told you previously, I do not feel cold. I do, however, feel tactile sensations, and shirts-“

“Ooh! I remember this part! Your back is really sensitive, and shirts make you feel uncomfortable, right?”

“Yes. Very good.”

“Actually, I have an idea for that. But! Feeling better?”

“A little.”

“Good. Now, let’s head home. It’s getting late.”

“Let us.”

……………………………..

Later, in Mahad’s apartment. Mahad, Jin, and Chaska are all asleep. The laptop is open to a shopping site with the search phrase “‘virgin killer’ sweater SFW grey”. On the central table sits a doll. It’s a very special doll. It’s made of wood fibers, woven together in a special style that, if a certain would-be conqueror had his way, would be lost to time. But it survived. They always survive.

~the end~

#yu gi oh!#ygo #“human” au #Mahad #dark magician #Chaska #stardust dragon #can you tell I rewrote this to help me cope with the crisis in Ukraine? yeah.

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thotsforvillainrights · 4 years

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Are you currently taking requests right now ? If so , could you possibly make HeadCanons of Shigaraki , Dabi , Spinner , Overhaul and Toga with a gender neutral s/o who has panic attacks sometimes and how they help them with it ? If you do make these HeadCanons , then I thank you ! But if you’re not taking requests or if you don’t want to make this then that’s totally fine ! Hope that you have a wonderful day/noon/night ! P.s , I love your writing 💕

(Most my work is open ended so this will be a breeze! Hope you don’t mind the gajillion mile long title)

~Shigaraki/Dabi/Shuichi/Kai/Toga help their S/O who has panic attacks, cope~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

~Shigaraki~

-He’s had a panic attack or two before in his lifetime so he knows how scary it can be sometimes. You feel like you’re dying sometimes. Other times it feels like the world is closing in on you. Sometimes it’s the way the room spins, and other times it’s the way every single sound around you seems to get louder and louder. Tomura knows this all to well, believe me. The only issue is that he’s almost no good at expressing his affections around you most of the time. Through your panic attacks/breakdowns, he learns better and better. At one point he used to just look at your with blank scarlet eyes. He couldn’t find words to say that would help you. He wasn’t even sure he was able to hug you or make anything better. Eventually he realized attempting to do something was better than just doing nothing and watching you break down. Nowadays Tomura can be found nestled at your side during panic attacks. Holding you, stroking your arm, whispering how things will be okay in that raspy voice of his. He will literally stop WHATEVER he was doing just to make sure you are okay. He’ll even stop in the middle of matches to help you.

~Dabi~

-Most of the time he comes off as an unfeeling asshole but he doesn’t try to be like that. He’s naturally sassy and sarcastic. His tone of voice is no better. Dating him takes a lot of patience and understanding. On top of that, he’s not the most romantic man in the bunch either. Yet, he still tries for you so you have to pay attention because it might be hard to tell. He’s got literally no experience with this type of thing so you have to let him adjust when you have a few. Then explain to him the process, or link him some sort of article he’ll read on the toilet later on. Once he gets a grasp on things, he’ll do that whole “Just be calm and don’t have anymore” skit which is annoying since you just can’t magically shut off a panic attack. With a bit more time he realizes this. At the most he’s gonna ask ‘you alright’ (which probably makes things worse, but please believe he’s trying his best). He settles on letting you breath/cry it out while he stands close by with some tissues and some food. He’s trying so this is a pretty big deal to him. He loves you, I swear it

~Spinner~

-Baby boy is baby, and he will lay down his life to protect you. So what happens when you attack yourself? It’s a little hard to grasp. Spinner feels a little hopeless when you have your first one around him. All he can do is sit there, with you squeezed tightly into his chest as he rocks you side to side on the bed. Believe it or not, he starts to cry silently onto your head. He hates the fact that he can’t magically take this away from you. He hates that he can’t shoulder your burden for you. So every single time you have a panic attack, Shuichi is bound to cry. If it were up to him, he’d take every ounce of pain away from you 100% Since he can’t do it, he settles for supporting you any kind of way he can. “I love you so much Y/N.”

~Overhaul~

-He’s a bit too logical for these types of things. First he thinks it must be because of some random person with a quirk messing with you. Then he thinks maybe one of his underlings has stressed you out until you reached this point. Finally he settles on the fact that this is a mental thing. He offers left and right for you to let him use his quirk on you. Sure it would possibly help, but nobody wants to be purposefully rearranged/killed and reasurrected. Plus you have to consider the intense pain of the whole process. Since you wont let him do that, he finally settles on taking you to a doctor or therapist for prescription medicine. Once you get on it, he sees to you taking it religiously. Like SERIOUSLY...he does not get off your ass. All of this is because he really and truly cares about you. When he’s not being super annoying about things, he’s there to give you some long awaited physical affection.

~Toga~

-Being best friends with Bubaigawara has given her plenty of insight into mental breakdowns. She’s often viewed as a blood-crazed psychopath but this is not really true. She’s actually pretty centered, and is the baby of the league. She’s kinda loving, and you can tell she cares about her friends so you are no different from that. As soon as you start showing early signs of a breakdown, she’s at your face immediately, gentle holding it in both her hands. They’re so soft, and smell like the glitter passion hand sanitizer she used earlier. She talks in a gentle, and almost parent-like voice. “I know you’re feeling overwhelmed right now but it’s okay. I’m gonna get you through this so hold on tight.” Then she holds you, hums a light tune, and sometimes goes over breathing techniques. She’s got such a gentle aura to her when she’s not on a killing rampage

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

TIp Jar: https://cash.app/$YuTakeyama

#shigaraki #dabi #spinner #overhaul #toga #shigiraki tomura #shigaraki tomura #bnha dabi #shuichi iguchi #iguchi shuichi #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #toga himiko #himiko toga #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia

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blunder-x-blog · 6 years

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The 25 Best Albums of 2017

the Staff

2017 has been a little bit of a whirlwind year. If we thought that 2016 could get somehow worse in any way, 2017 has topped it. But taking a break from possible nuclear world war III, losing the power of the internet, men being whiny babies because retribution is finally coming for the awful scumbags in Hollywood, and our president cheeto’s tiny, waving hands, music is our savior. Music is universal, music is wondrous, and these artists made that abundantly clear. From collaborations made in heaven to strumming guitars recorded on Iphones, 2017 is diverse, daunting, and yes, oh so good. Throughout the year these albums have stuck with me in one form or another. They’ve come with me to Australia, and to my first solo apartment. They’ve played as I worked my first internship job, and they’ve been the soundtrack to my final senior thesis project. They’ve been with me as I’ve lost love and found it, and they’re with me as I move into my final semester of college. Today I present to you my personal top 25 albums of 2017.

Honorable Mentions:

As a radio host, this list began in 2015 and I only had 3 hours to do the show, so I kick off the list of the albums that would have definitely made a top 50 list, but neither me nor anybody else has that kind of time.

Toro y Moi // Boo Boo

King Krule // Ooz

Lil Yachty // Teenage Emotions (Bring it back)

Gorillaz // Humanz

All of which were absolutely fantastic, but ultimately did not make the list (hey, I’m only human). So, without further ado, from bottom to top:

25. Lil B // Black Ken

So here’s the thing about Lil B. Yes, he is the #basedgod, and yes, I did listen to his hundreds of mixtapes in high school, but one of my favorite things about Brandon McCartney is his undeniable message of improvement. He went on tour in 2009 for a self help book he wrote, which still cracks me up to this day (#staybased). And after 2015’s unforgettable Hoop Life, he went on a bit of a hiatus, coming back with one of the most well-produced, succinct rap albums I’ve heard in a long time, let alone coming from Lil B himself. He takes us through a little bit of the story with “Still Run It” and “DJ Based God”, and yet this album is worlds away from his previous work of drunkenly freestyling over unmastered beats. Slick and jazzy with excellent drops and good flow, Black Ken is unforgettable, coming from one of the most unforgettable rappers out there.

24. Jay Som // Everybody Works

Every so often there is an indie rock album that you hear that you cannot forget any time soon. Alvvays 2014’s Alvvays is in a similar vein, and Everybody Works is the kind of album you can put on, jam out to with gin and orange juice and forget a little bit that everything kinda sucks. And yet, most of these songs are about things sucking, at least in a romantic sense. Many of the songs feature heartbreak (“One More Time Please” and “The Bus Song”). And yet there is also overcoming fear; to go on and perform in front of a crowd, to share your message and have it mean something (“(Bedhead)”). Jay Som is definitely someone to watch over the next few years.

23. Mount Eerie // A Crow Looked At Me

Music is emotional, and this album is the kind of album that reminds me of Joni Mitchell’s Blue, of the sickness and heartbreak and sadness that is human. A Crow Looked At Me was a response to the death of Phil Elverum’s wife, and this loss can literally be felt with every pluck of his guitar strings. From the opening line of the album, that “Death is real”, to the final track of the album, of a tender walk in the woods with his wife, seeing a crow flying over the trees. The crow was an omen, says Elverum, he just wasn’t sure of what it was, and A Crow Looked at Me takes us that place of uncertainty, yes, but ultimately it takes us with Elverum as he returns to the world. It takes us through his loss and into the void to emerge from the other side, human, and not quite sure what’s going to happen next.

22. Alvvays // Antisocialites

Okay yes, I’ve already mentioned Alvvays on this list literally two slots ago but it was because I flipped out so much when this band released this album that I’ve been waiting for for three years. When they first made headlines in 2014, it was from their lead single, an extremely sarcastic anthem of...matrimony. There is no “Marry Me, Archie” on this album, and yet each track is still just as poignantly indie-rock as their debut. “In Undertow”, the first single released on the album, was released about midway through the summer. This song is ultimately about a relationship ending, and just having pulled myself from a similar situation as the narrator, it’s chorus of “there’s no turning, no turning back after what’s been said” struck a chord, as one might say, with me. There is no turning back, but “You find a wave and try to hold on for as long as you can”, says lead singer Molly Rankin, and I can at least hold onto that wave, too.

21. Torres // Three Futures

I saw Mackenzie Scott go on tour for this album, and she showed up on stage wearing a blazer over a sports bra and 5 inch heels. It was pretty intimidating. Scott made my best album list back in 2015 with her incredible release Sprinter, and yet, Three Futures resonated somehow more with me. Perhaps it was the title track’s chorus, singing, “You didn't know I saw three futures / One alone, and one with you / And one with the love I knew I'd choose”. Yes, something may end, but we may emerge from that darkness again and end with something w both want. Also, the music video for “Skim”, the lead single, is something else, and definitely worth a watch.

20. Kesha // Rainbows

This album for me was an anthem. Kesha Sebert has been kind of an icon for middle-school me; “Tik Tok” dropped when I was twelve, and it dominated the music of middle-school dances. And if it wasn’t “Tik Tok”, it was one of the gajillion other top hits. And then I learned that her producer had been sexually harassing her and preventing her from having practically say on any of her artistic releases. And Kesha’s struggle somehow that year became all of our struggles. Kesha fought a long, uphill battle separating away from Kemosabe and Dr. Luke, and this record is a direct response to that. It’s even more fitting then that men are finally getting what’s coming to them. As Kesha sings in one of the singles, “Woman”, “I'm a motherfucking woman, baby, alright / I don't need a man to be holding me too tight”

19. James McAllister, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, Sufjan Stevens // Planetarium

Okay, yes. This album is long, this album is kinda mostly experimental classical music. It’s a lot of beeps, it’s a lot of boops. But listen though; I still maintain that everything Sufjan Stevens touches is absolute gold; and also, this album is a classical music match made in heaven. I may be just making excuses, but when “Saturn” dropped back in June, I lost my shit. And again after “Mercury” dropped three weeks later. I may be one of the only few people who loved this album, but let me tell you, firstuvall, it’s an album about space, and seconduvall, the transitions from “Kuiper’s Belt” to “Black Hole” to “Saturn” is something remarkable. I know “Jupiter” is a little overblown, but like, let’s be real, “Mercury” makes up for it, following the nearly 15 minute long instrumental “Earth”, ending with Steven’s quiet voice over intimate guitar, singing, “All that I dream / Where do you run, where do you run to? / Now I am messed up”. Yeah, Suffy, I’m a little messed up too.

18. Slowdive // Slowdive

Okay, I didn’t think that I would get into shoegaze this year, but let me tell you, this release changed my mind. I’m sure that the infamous reputation of shoegaze concerts gets out there, but actually going to one and just kind of sitting there mesmerized in the green light, standing without moving as some guy is just staring at his feet as he mostly just changes the pedals on his guitar? I’ll admit that sounds silly, but ho boy is it pretty dope. And Slowdive kind of did the perfect thing you could do: have only a limited catalogue for fans, go on hiatus, keep all the people who actually mattered in the band, and then release a damn good album after ten years. “Star Roving” kinda changed my view on shoegaze; pedals guitars never sounded so good.

17. The National // Sleep Well, Beast

I think the National have yet to release something that isn’t brilliant in every way possible. I’m not intimately familiar with their catalogue, but on a cold evening when I’m working on studying and want to slam my head against the blackboard, the quiet guitars and the deep, soothing voice of Matt Berninger singing about how much more life can suck keeps me going. Like a bunch of other albums on this list it’s once again about heartbreak, this time a marriage falling apart. “Day I Die” has Berninger singing to you, “I don’t need you, I don’t need you”, but his hushed quiet whisper on the last track/title track of the album whispering, “I’ll tell you about it sometime” leading up to this almost weirdly crunchy guitar riff closes out the album leaving you with something of a sort of hope, at least. Which is mostly what the National does -- it’s pretty sad stuff, and yet, somehow, you keep coming back to its brilliance.

16. Sampha // Process

2017’s music scene came in two parts: part one was people we all love releasing really good shit, and then the second part was people I’ve never heard of releasing really good music from absolutely nowhere. Sampha was part two. He had done a bunch of stuff (in re, collaborate with Kanye West) but I had never heard of this guy. Until he released an album centered around his mother’s battle with cancer and ultimate death. The first time I heard “Timmy’s Prayer”, I thought to myself, damn. Quiet music has a good place, and Sampha’s hushed voice over the ambient chords singing “I messed up, ooh / I know now / There's no room for me to play now” reminds me that yeah, I’ve messed up too. The real magic of the song, however, comes from the building of the bridge as Sampha sings with increasing fervor, “I wanna tell you that love comes and goes / That it comes and goes.” We all make mistakes, and sometimes it’s pretty fucking hard, and yet that process can lead to something beautiful, something wondrous.

15. Kelela // Take Me Apart

There is a reason that pop music is changing. For so long it’s been defined by EDM, and finally (finally) it’s shifting -- yes, to r&b. Thank goodness. And this album is the kind of album that reminds me why r&b is so good. Take Me Apart is Kelela’s debut, and you can bet I’m going to be paying attention to her in the next few years. I like to save songs that I really enjoy on a playlist for the season and I had to keep myself from just saving the entire album on the list as each song was equally as brilliant as the song that came before. A transition between to relationships, the album begins with a breakup song, but the brilliance comes from not only the lyrics, but the utterly intoxicating build through the first verse until the beat drops as the chorus begins, Kelela singing, “Couldn't take it back even though you wish I could / If you think I'm going back, you misunderstood.” (”Frontline”) The album takes you through the emotional journey of beginning another relationship however, and ultimately ends with a track of encouragement, that yeah, black women can fuck up the world, too: “There's a place for everyone / Let me remind you, let me remind you.”

14. Arcade Fire // Everything Now

Arcade Fire never does anything lightly. They had a whole fake branding down to the fake website for Reflektor, which ended up being a nearly 70 minute long somewhat-bloated excapade. Then they decided to do disco, and for some reason the critic world decided they didn’t like it. Fuck that. Everything Now was my summer listening album (other than a few more noteworthy albums to come). My coworkers and I blasted the lead single “Everything Now” through the open window of our field sampling van as we took buckets of crabs into the lab, and my friends and I sang the lyrics to “Signs of Life” as we strutted through the streets of Manhattan on our 21st birthday. I don’t even care that Pitchfork tore this album to shreds, if you don’t dance when the chorus of “Looking for signs of life / Looking for signs every night / But there's no signs of life / So we do it again” drops, something is wrong with you.

13. LCD Soundsystem // american dream

I’ll admit, I have never listened to LCD Soundsystem that much. I respected them as one of the more well known rock bands of the indie scene, and I had obviously heard a few of their more popular numbers on college radio (“All My Friends”). When their synthesizer/DJ genius person Gavin Rayna Russom came out as trans, it caught my attention. So when american dream came along, the release after a hiatus (post hiatus albums always get me, in re: Fall Out Boy, Sleater Kinney and obviously Slowdive) I listened to it. And it was a fantastic intro to the band: the long dancy kinda songs (“other voices” and “tonight”) to the even longer anthems (“how do you sleep”) and the even longer experimental EDM songs LCD is so well known for (“pulse v.1”), this album impressed me, and I came back for more. I understood why LCD soundsystem was so acclaimed; their music was damn good, and worth the wait.

12. Migos // C U L T U R E

Donald Glover called “Bad n Boujee” the best rap song he had ever heard. I’m not sure it’s the best I’ve ever heard, but Migos’ Culture was a damn good album. Impressively produced by 18 people and yet the three rappers at the center of the album are never lost. “Bad n Boujee”, the obvious hit from the album and collaboration with Lil Uzi Vert, is pretty relevant in today’s materialism, talking about getting rich and being with women with expensive taste. With lines like “cookin’ up dope in a crockpot” and “I'm young and rich and plus I'm boujee (hey)”, the song is big, and relevant, and addicting. Bourgeois is the new 1%, and if you’re not living it up, then what’s the point of living.

11. Run the Jewels // Run the Jewels 3

Run the Jewels’ first album was a little more of an experimental thrust into the world, and their second album brought the politicism and polarized lyrics we’ve come to know. Their third album takes what has been established and solidifies it into something uniquely theirs: big, bad and in your face; only the lyrics pack a little more punch than you first thought on the first listen. With team-ups with Danny Brown (“Hey Kids (Bumaye)”) to songs that are just RTJ taking it to the next level and keeping it as hype and as loud and as relevant as we’ve come to expect (“Talk To Me” and “Legend Has It”), RTJ3 is excellent, staying with us all the way through 2017 since its release in January. Oh, and if “Pather like a Pather” isn’t featured in Marvel’s Black Panther, they’re doing something really fucking wrong.

10. Vince Staples // big fish theory

When Vince Staples announced that he was departing from the previous sound of his critically acclaimed Summertime ‘06, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Then I heard that SOPHIE, of PC Music notoriety, was helping produce his album. The songs that carrie SOPHIE’s touch are obvious (“SEMO”, “Yeah Right”); SOPHIE is not a subtle producer, but this newer, bigger sound didn’t drown Staples’ raps, they exemplified them. Staples thrives in this sound as he thrived in the atonality of Summertime, and songs like “BagBak” and “745” are impressively big, hooking the listener in and keeping them coming back for more. I was impressed, and big fish theory is an album I have returned to several times this year. Staples takes us into his life with “Big Fish”, looking out at the world from how far he’s come in his fish bowl, and somehow the intimacy comes through amidst the bigger, badder sound.

9. Syd // Fin

This album was released in February. My friend called me and told me I needed to “have sweet lesbian sex to this album right now”. I couldn’t, so I put it off (idiotically) until I finally (only) listened to the album months later, in July. And I felt like an idiot. Syd, one half of the funk/r&b duo The Internet, is a queer icon. She shits gold, and her voice is the kind of smooth, cocky voice that is addicting and extremely sexy. Fin exemplifies this. Only Syd can pull of a braggadocio, egotistical song about fame, money, and of course, bitches: “I’m the one your girl been posting tweets ‘bout / This the kinda life me and my niggas used to dream ‘bout / Riding round your city in a mother fucking spaceship” (”No Problem”). Only Syd can sing this explicitly about sex and somehow make it tender: “Baby we can take it slow, say my name / Don't let go, I can hear your body when I / Pull your hair, what’s my name” from “Body” basically sum up the album. It’s Syd bragging about how great she is, and fuck yes, is she great.

8. HAIM // Something to Tell You

HAIM has been my favorite band since I first heard “The Wire” on my college radio as I drove home one afternoon just before I graduated as a senior. I listened to that album nearly every day that summer, and since then, I listen to the band and think of home. I was so nervous the moment I heard the news about their new release; I was terrified it was going to be a sellout record and absolute garbage. It wasn’t. It was no Days Are Gone, but it was just as wistful, just as smooth as Days Are Gone was, with a little extra disco. Sure, there are moments when it’s a little overproduced (sorry Ariel Rechtshaid, I don’t really care to hear this weird pop fake horse neigh on “Want You Back”, I just want to hear Este Haim’s slap bass and Alana’s first extended vocal solo since “Spirit Wind”). I may not have every song memorized yet, but you can bet I scream along to the chorus of the cathartic “Found it in Silence”: “But I found it in silence, I finally see / There's no turning back, I know what's good for me” or the almost Imogen Heap-like “Kept Me Crying”: “I was your lover / I was your friend / Now I'm only just someone you call / When it's late enough to forget”, and finally we hear the Danielle Haim Guitar Solo we’ve been waiting to hear since the beginning of the album. There’s throwback disco (“You Never Knew”), there’s raging blues rock (“Little of your Love”), there’s cathartic goodbyes (“Right Now”), and yeah, I’m a little teary. My band didn’t disappoint, and I am happy.

7. Jlin // Black Origami

This album was released in February, and has stuck with me throughout the entire year. It’s a black woman who refuses to let people (aka, white men) produce her work for her. It’s experimental and percussive and sometimes makes your brain feel like it’s melting (“1%). There aren’t many lyrics in the album, it’s almost entirely EDM experimental percussion, and gosh man, is it good. I listened to the album for the first time and I physically felt myself leave my body for a few moments to forget I was human. The percussive roots of the album are apparent in tracks like “Kyanite” and “Nyakinyua Rise”, and she gives us quieter moments with “Calcination” a rest from the percussive sound centered at the album’s heart. This album blew me away and stuck with me, and was one of the most out-of-nowhere albums of the year. There are surprises hidden away in this world; you just have to find them.

6. Giraffage // Too Real

So it was not once but twice my friend called me in frantic haze, saying, “Molly. Remember when I called you in February to tell you you needed to listen to Syd’s album that very moment and you didn’t and it bit you in the butt? Listen to this album right now.” I had never heard of Giraffage, and when I pulled the album up on spotify I was greeted by a naked blue guy’s butt, resembling Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan, looking at a crumbling earth. Little was I to know that some vaporwave album from nowhere would go on to be one of my absolute favorite albums of the year. It’s indietronica/vapor soul at its finest: little to no lyrics except for the vocal distortion of “oooOOh YEAH” on the album’s opener “Do U Want Me” (somewhat off putting) until the funk kind of chimes in about 15 seconds later and takes you on the smoothest journey to vaportown. This may seem like I’m chiding the album, but that is the album’s vibe. It chides you until you listen to it 8 more times just that week. Something about future funk is addicting, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.

5. St. Vincent // MASSEDUCTION

How about we take the fallout of a relationship between two of the most iconic women on earth, that we thought for sure were gonna get married, have the musician at the center of the fallout write an album inspired in part from it, and have Jack Antonoff produce it. And let’s have every track be so St. Vincent that the album may in fact be her best album yet. From the moment “New York” dropped in the middle of the summer and became one of my quickly most listened to tracks of the year (“you’re the only motherfucker in this city who forgives me”) to the dropping of “Los Ageless” as a crunchy indie rock anthem (“How can anybody have you? / How can anybody have you and lose you? / How can anybody have you and lose you / And not lose their minds, too?”) to the fervent listen I gave the entire album the second it dropped on a September Friday, to seeing Annie Clark herself perform the album in its entirety live in Maine, this album has been one of my defining albums of 2017. In the end, Clark hints at what made that relationship fall apart on possibly my favorite track of the album, “Slow Disco”: “Am I thinking what everybody's thinkin'? / I'm so glad I came, but I can't wait to leave”. We’ll miss you until next time, Annie. But we’ll keep coming back.

4. Kendrick Lamar // DAMN.

Kendrick Lamar has been on my top albums of the year list since 2015. The man releases a living masterpiece, To Pimp a Butterfly, to critical acclaim. Next year, the same year Kanye West releases one of the most overproduced albums I’ve seen in my living years, he drops untitled unmastered, which went on to steal my heart. This year, he decides to make an album about growing up as a young black man in Compton, CA, and somehow makes it the most listenable rap album of the year. He is deservedly on the top spot again for both Pitchfork and NPR and a number of other publications, and deserves nothing less. From the songs everybody has on their party playlists, “Humble” and “DNA”, to collaborations with Rihanna and, um, U2?, to the end track of the album “Duckworth” telling the story of Lamar’s now-producer avoiding a robbery at Lamar’s father’s counseling, rewinding back to the beginning of the album, right back where we started: “So I was takin’ a walk the other day...”. The cycle repeats, and Lamar is left right in the center of it all, exactly where he should be.

3. SZA // Ctrl

Sometimes there are people in this world who are born with the voice of an angel and Solána Rowe is one of them. I idiotically did not listen to this album upon its immediate release; it was not until I was recapping the summer did my friend berate me for not listening to Ctrl. I listened to it and immediately fell head over heels in love with Rowe and everything she’s ever released. Ctrl took the minimalistic groundwork laid in Z and upped the ante, making the songs even more listenable than you thought. There’s a reason that r&b makes such good soundtracks to any sort of activity you could imagine; exemplified by the smooth base and twinkling synths of “The Weekend” to the more laid back “Drew Barrymore” as she sings, “am I / Warm enough for ya outside baby, yeah”, worrying like all of us do, in a moment of self doubt, if we are in fact good enough for the loved ones around us. Ctrl exemplifies this self doubt, making it poignant, universal, and oh so listenable.

2. Lorde // Melodrama

Lorde is my age, and it’s a little bit jarring. And yet, every single thing she sings about being a 21-year old is somehow reflected back into my life. Perhaps it was the release order of her singles, from “Green Light”, which sounded like a typical pop song with pretty good lyrics, to “Liability”, easily the best song Lorde has ever released in her entire life (“They say, "You're a little much for me, you're a liability / You're a little much for me” / So they pull back, make other plans / I understand, I'm a liability”), to “Perfect Places”, one of the greatest party anthems I have heard over these years, Lorde has outdone herself again. And if it couldn’t get any better, she takes one of the weaker songs on the album, “Homemade Dynamite”, and releases a remix with Khalid, SZA, and Post Malone (yes, you heard me right). Everything about this album is exactly what it needs to be, from the “glamour and the trauma and the fuckin' / Melodrama” to her whisper at the end of the album as the music crashes leaving her alone and tired and young, Lorde has created a masterpiece. I still ask myself, since the album has released, as I dance in dark lights crossfaded on friday evenings, surrounded by people...“What the fuck are perfect places, anyway?”

1. Khalid // American Teen

I’ll be real; this album may not have been as poignant as DAMN., as universal as Melodrama, or as listenable as Ctrl, but the moment this album was released in May, from the ending chorus of the opening and titular track “American Teen” sung by Khalid’s friends, to his smooth voice over a single piano at the end of “Angels”, I knew Khalid had my album of the year. Heartbreak, frustration, independent and lack of it, struggle, peer pressure and over it all, Khalid’s molasses voice singing over the release of (in my opinion) one of the best r&b albums I’ve heard, this album is universal. Every teenager has been where Khalid has been; trying to hide the smell of marijuana in his car from his parents (“8TEEN”) to losing hope when we thought we could make it through the hardest part (“Winter”), to the heartbreak of young love (“Another Sad Love Song”) we’ve been there. I listened to this album a gajillion times this year. I may not be a teenager anymore, but I’m about to graduate from college and be an adult. It’s a little terrifying. And if a 19 year old can make it through that process of independence (and then go on to release an exceptional album), then damn it, I can make it through too.

#albums of the year #music #culture #blxnder

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Why the Baltimore Orioles didn't close up sellers at the deadline - Baltimore Orioles

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Why the Baltimore Orioles didn't close up sellers at the deadline - Baltimore Orioles

BALTIMORE — Depend Zach Britton among those people who didn’t foresee the Baltimore Orioles getting prospective buyers at this year’s trade deadline.

“I’m kind of amazed that no a person bought traded,” claimed Baltimore’s closer on Tuesday afternoon, a lot less than 24 hours following the non-wavier deadline expired. “I believed, just based on what I read, there was a fantastic chance I was likely somewhere.”

Britton went nowhere. Not to the Astros. Not to the Dodgers. Not to the Indians or the Nationals or to any a person of the dozen or so contending teams that had been among this year’s purchasers.

At this point, it is really challenging to know exactly what transpired in the closing hours leading up to Monday’s four p.m. ET cutoff. What we do know is that coming down to the wire, it seemed like a foregone summary that Britton would be delivered elsewhere.

A model-title closer with a sparkling resume and a deal that’s established to expire following the 2018 period, he was this year’s variation of Andrew Miller: A game-changing again-close reliever who brings filth from the still left facet and had the potential to impact several postseasons for whichever club was eager to pony up for his solutions. What’s a lot more, his present club was floundering.

Considering that opening the period 22-10, the Orioles have played .405 ball — the next-worst clip in the American League. Their starting off rotation has been abysmal, publishing a 5.73 Period that’s the optimum in the AL by a lot more than fifty percent a operate. Inspite of a slight uptick given that the All-Star split — they had been eight-7 in the fifteen games prior to the trade deadline — there was no shortage of facts suggesting that, for the very first time given that typical manager Dan Duquette took more than prior to the 2012 period, the O’s would be in sell manner.

On the morning of July 31, the O’s had a fifty-54 document and had been 6.5 games out in the AL East. They had been 5.5 games again of the next wild-card spot, trailing five teams and tied with two other people. Perhaps most alarmingly, up coming-degree math instructed they had been really even worse than their document indicated: Based mostly on their minus-72 operate differential (only two AL teams had been even worse), the Orioles should have been a lot more like fourteen games under .five hundred in its place of just four.

The trade-deadline forecast seemed so distinct in Baltimore: Provide, sell, sell. (Looking at you, Zach Britton.) But the O’s did the specific opposite. Why? Tommy Gilligan-Usa Nowadays Athletics

No ponder FanGraphs gave them a lot less than a 5 p.c chance of generating the playoffs (3.eight, to be specific). All of which is to say, from the exterior wanting in, Baltimore — a franchise whose farm technique is extensive overdue for a restocking — seemed awfully seller-ish.

Britton was not the Orioles’ only marketable piece, of study course. Third baseman Manny Machado, a transcendent expertise whose deal also expires at the close of 2018 and whom the Orioles will possible be challenging-pressed to re-sign, could’ve presumably fetched some major prospect loot. Reliever Brad Brach, nevertheless not rather on the degree of Britton, was an All-Star last yr and has sixteen will save this period.

Young starters Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, equally of whom had been significant very first-round picks, have been requested about. Even veteran heart fielder Adam Jones, another totally free-agent-to-be following 2018, could have been a potential trade chip if Baltimore was eager to element with its longtime franchise confront.

In its place, Duquette and the Orioles held. They held everybody, such as Britton. Not only did they not sell, they really bought, buying hurler Jeremy Hellickson from Philly and infielder Tim Beckham from Tampa Bay.

Just how unexpected was Baltimore’s behavior at the deadline? Of the 17 MLB teams that had been under .five hundred at the trade deadline, the O’s had been the only club that fell into the “customer” category. The other sixteen teams possibly marketed or did very little.

“No one is operating away with the American League East,” Duquette instructed reporters Monday afternoon soon following the trade deadline passed, trying to explain his club’s actions. “The teams are so evenly matched.”

Although Duquette justifies credit score for not throwing in the towel, in the approach offering Orioles supporters the potential (however modest) for significant September baseball, his opinions will not exactly ring real.

Absolutely sure, technically no crew is operating away with the division because New York and Boston are only separated by fifty percent a game, but the Yankees have gained 10 of their last fourteen games. Over the past two months they’ve obtained a handful of critical gamers, culminating with the buzzer-beating blockbuster that netted A-checklist hurler Sonny Gray.

For the period, they’ve outscored their opponents by 118 runs. Which is the fourth-most effective differential in baseball and practically two hundred runs better than Baltimore’s margin. So mathematically speaking, opposite to Duquette’s suggestion, it would appear that the Yanks and O’s are not so evenly matched. Even now, the O’s and proprietor Peter Angelos finished up shopping for.

“It’s a minimal outrageous,” claimed an government from a contending crew that was concerned in discussions relating to Britton. “I’m amazed, but not truly. With Angelos, they do factors in different ways.”

How in different ways? In 2015, it took a five-game successful streak in late July to go the Birds more than .five hundred and encourage them that they had been prospective buyers. The result was an unwell-recommended offer that sent prospect Zach Davies to Milwaukee — in which his 26 wins given that then are six a lot more than any Baltimore starter — in trade for outfielder Gerardo Parra, who posted a .625 OPS for a Baltimore squad that concluded with an eighty one-eighty one document.

Two decades later, the O’s look to be in risk of suffering a similar fate, forgoing a golden option to create for the potential by picking to roll the dice in the close to-expression.

Which is not to say they had been dead established versus working Britton. In point, indications are that they had been eager to element with the 29-yr-aged southpaw, who missed most of the very first fifty percent with a forearm injury — but only if the return justified it.

“Aggressive inquiring price ranges,” claimed the exec of Baltimore’s demands. “Higher than our threshold.”

So in the long run, the Orioles finished up hoarding their All-Star closer (and rather substantially all people else) in hopes of generating a operate. Possibly that operate comes about up coming period, in what will be the closing deal yr for Britton, Machado, Jones and Brach, not to mention Duquette and skipper Buck Showalter. Then again, it’s possible it comes about this yr.

As outrageous as it sounds, there are motives to anticipate the O’s to increase down the stretch. Following a shockingly mediocre very first fifty percent of the period, Machado is hitting .343 given that the split with as quite a few walks as strikeouts. Britton and slugger Chris Davis are again from injury, and shortstop J.J. Hardy is anticipated to return soon.

Subsequent an dreadful very first three months, Gausman (a person acquired operate in his last 20 innings) is displaying signs of the next-fifty percent dominance he flashed last yr. And Ubaldo Jimenez, whose career has extensive been a tale of two halves, has set jointly consecutive high-quality starts, suggesting that it’s possible, just it’s possible, Great Ubaldo has when again emerged from hibernation.

“Obviously, we can engage in better than we have,” claimed reliever Darren O’Day, who has been all over for all three of Baltimore’s postseason appearances this millennium: 2012, 2014 and 2016. “We nevertheless have a fantastic team.”

If you will not believe O’Day, just check with the Kansas City Royals. Proprietors of the AL’s most effective document given that June one, they came into Camden Yards on Monday acquiring gained 10 of their last eleven games. By natural means, clean off the deadline, the Orioles took two straight from K.C. to inch a minimal little bit closer in the wild-card race, such as a extraordinary stroll-off win Monday and a convincing 7-2 victory Tuesday.

There are nevertheless a gajillion teams in advance of them (give or get), but hey, at minimum they are moving in the appropriate direction.

“You by no means know how it is really likely to engage in out,” O’Day claimed. “You get in the playoffs, you bought a chance. I’m a glass fifty percent-whole kind of male.”

He’d suit appropriate in with the Orioles’ front workplace.

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