#ii. verse › spade era .

[enjomo-arch]

@kugiuchi , isuka asked : ❛  you're not gonna get rid of me that easily.   ❜

normally  ,  having  a  marine  on  his  tail  would  be  a  nuisance  ,  causing  him  to  slow  down.  ace  ,  on  the  other  hand  ,  couldn't  say  it  was  a  bad  moment  when  he  met  isuka.  in  fact  ,  he  admired  her  tenacity  and  will  to  follow  in  his  footsteps  wherever  he  went.  but  the  concept  was  running  through  his  mind.  why  him  ,  when  there  are  dozens  of  other  pirates  to  choose  from  ?  he  always  managed  to  sneak  his  way  past  ,  and  this  time  was  no  exception.  

he  swallowed  ,  chewing  on  the  remaining  remnants  of  corndogs  he'd  gotten  from  the  foodstuffs.  wiping  the  crumbs  from  his  cheeks.  ❝  damn  ,  you  never  give  up  ,  eh  ?  isuka  ?  ❞  his  statements  were  followed  by  a  little  snicker.  rather  amusing  ,  than  mocking  her  in  this  situation.  ace's  only  option  was  to  shrug  his  shoulders.  he  was  not  going  to  be  apprehended  by  a  marine.  not  now  that  he  had  found  the  crew  who  would  assist  him  in  achieving  the  one  thing  he  had  been  working  towards  his  entire  life.

❝  'm  not  gonna  get  cuffed.  forget  'bout  it.  ❞  ace  said  with  much  confidence  ,  finishing  his  food  with  a  pleased  sigh  of  having  his  stomach  finally  filled.  a  tip  of  the  brim  of  his  hat  ,  fixing  it  on  top  of  messy  ,  black  locks.

[angerinthenation]

Is Hip Hop Dead?

A Commentary by Idris Salaam (Boscoe from The Bronx - Bigboscoe Productions)

Is Hip Hop Dead? On Life Support?

If you refer Hip Hop to only as Rapping, then, in some ways, yes it is dead. I mean, just think about it. We are in the period right now where we didn't have a song chart until, out of the blue, one did. (I still they did that because it showed the quality of music finally hit rock-bottom). A lot of entetainers of this era were saying fans were tired of the same stuff, and that's why the record sales were going down. We've had artists having to cancel shows because they can't fill arenas. There's but so much ass the "Bitches" can sell, just like there's but so much money "Niggas" can have and jewelry to flash.

[[More]]

So, if you only looking at it in terms of Rapping, yes, Hip Hop is Dead.

But, are you talking about Hip Hop or are you talking about rapping? And this is where people seem to be confused.

Do they realize Hip Hop comes in many forms?

• Hip Hop is music other than just Rap: Listen to the sounds that crafted the genre. (The samples from Funk, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Soul, etc). Listen to the Instrumentals of past songs. The rhythms. Before 2000, Hip Hop had music for everyone, not just the ones who love the stereotypical "I'm a real nigga/Bad Bitch" scenario.

• Hip Hop is living a particular lifestyle. The fashion, the style. If you look at how Hip Hop is portrayed in Asia, it's almost idenitcal to Hip Hop in its purest form. In fact, pure Hip Hop strips women of the Bad Bitch persona. The men become more Masculine and protective.

• Hip Hop is art (Graffiti). There's a whole Culture of Art revolving around Hip Hop. (Phase II, Dondi, Blade, Fab5Freddy, IN, Comet, etc). There are museums across the country displaying Hip Hop art.

• Hip Hop is the DMC: Turntable battles and performances. (DJ Craze, Roc Raida, Perly, Sonic Jewel, ISP, Jazzy Jeff, etc). These competitons consists of drumming (Using a record to create an entirely different beat), body tricks, etc. Even the parties are amazing as you will hear some of your favorite songs being flipped an entirely different that even the original artists couldn't do. And yes, turntablists have music on the market. The mainstream doesn't play it for obvious reasons.

• Hip Hop is understanding the Culture: What do you know about Hip Hop? Do you know the hostroy? Listen to some of the rhythms that birthed the genre: The Jubilaries (The first rappers) James Brown, The Last Poets, Parliament-Funkadelic (The sound of the West Coast's "G-Funk" was birthed from), Electronic. Research the Culture and how it came about. The Black Spades, the Casanova Crew, The Zulu Nation. When you get to Hip Hop (it was called B-Boying), start learning about Kool Herc and his crew, the Godmother MC Sha-Rock (The Funky Four + 1 More), Grandwizard Theodore (The Fantastic Freaks), The Cold Crush Brothers. Theres plenty more.

In today's society, people refer to Hip Hop as just Rapping, when Rapping it's just one element. We have to blame this on the mainstream as they have dictated the way Hip Hop is being interpreted. And just because you're a rapper doesn't mean you represent Hip Hop. There are many songs across each genre where people are rapping. But does that make them Hip Hop?

We allowed outside forces (the same forces that tried to shut hip hop down in his early days) to dictate what hip hop is. We allowed them to call anything with a rap verse, "Hip Hop." And because we decided to "Get the bag," we also decided to go along with it.

If you're only into listening to Rap hits, then yes, Hip Hop is Dead to you. But if you want to see how Hip Hop is still living it's best life, step outside of the Rap World you live in and explore Hip Hop in a whole. Just like 80% of the ocean hasn't been mapped, the same can be said of Hip Hop.

[wazafam]

After Michael Bay’s second or third Transformers movie, it became clear that this franchise would be offering nothing but loud robot fights, incoherent plotting, and stereotype-driven humor. But audiences were happy to go along for the ride to a certain extent. It wasn’t until Bay’s fifth entry in the series, 2017’s The Last Knight, that Transformers’ reign over the box office came under threat.

RELATED: Transformers: 5 Things Bumblebee Got Right (& 5 It Got Wrong)

Just when it seemed like the Transformers franchise was dead in the water, Travis Knight came along with Bumblebee, an ‘80s-set spin-off. Bumblebee isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is more enjoyable than all the previous Transformers movies combined. Now, the franchise just might have a chance.

10 Bumblebee (2018)

The opening prologue of Bumblebee set on Cybertron is the Transformers movie fans had wanted to see for over a decade. Michael Bay made a string of action movies about cars turning into robots and punching each other, but this is a rich sci-fi universe.

Travis Knight injected some fun back into the Transformers franchise after it had devolved into incomprehensible dull action scenes (complete with distracting aspect ratio changes) and eye-rolling “jokes.” Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson is a far more compelling human lead than Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky or Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager ever were.

9 Fast Five (2011)

When Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returned to The Fast and the Furious franchise for the fourth installment, a pseudo-reboot titled Fast & Furious, they turned it from a street racing series into a straightforward action franchise. But that movie was pretty weak.

In 2011, Diesel and Walker knocked it out of the park and turned Fast & Furious into a must-see blockbuster franchise with Fast Five. With the story of Toretto’s crew embarking on a daring heist in Rio, this became a series of large-scale actioners about mercenaries getting involved in big, explosive set pieces across the world. With bigger and bigger action sequences, The Fast Saga has essentially become an exercise in cinematic one-upmanship since Fast Five shook things up.

8 Batman Begins (2005)

George Clooney joked publicly that his movie Batman & Robin was so bad that it may have killed the franchise. This almost became a reality, as Warner Bros. struggled to find a director with a vision for a Batman reboot that would redeem the property in the eyes of fans who were still scorned by Joel Schumacher’s infamous movie.

Of course, the franchise was saved when Christopher Nolan came along with a gritty, semi-realistic take on the Bat’s origin story. Batman Begins’ dark tone changed the face of blockbusters forever.

7 Skyfall (2012)

After Daniel Craig’s stint as James Bond got off to a terrific start with the breathtaking realism of Casino Royale, his second outing Quantum of Solace arrived as a bitter disappointment. It’s just a generic action movie when Bond movies can be so much more (as demonstrated by Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, and GoldenEye).

RELATED: 007: 5 Things Skyfall Got Right (& 5 It Got Wrong)

Then, with Craig’s third Bond movie Skyfall, director Sam Mendes married Martin Campbell’s gritty realism from Casino Royale with the silly gadgets and formulaic plotting of the franchise’s classic era. The result was the first Bond movie to top $1 billion at the box office.

6 Scream 4 (2011)

The first Scream movie was praised as a sharp satire of slashers, then the second one tackled slasher sequels. With Scream 3, the franchise risked settling into the kind of humdrum slash-‘em-up series it had originally sought to lampoon.

Then, with Scream 4, the franchise was redeemed. The fourth movie updated the franchise’s satire and commented on the rise of torture porn in contemporary horror cinema.

5 Star Trek (2009)

After years of critically panned Star Trek movies revolving around The Next Generation cast, J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with new actors playing the iconic roles from The Original Series. This could’ve easily gone terribly, but the 2009 Star Trek reboot is surprisingly great.

Although Abrams’ action-driven, planet-hopping storytelling is more akin to Star Wars than Star Trek, the movie did succeed in getting casual moviegoers interested in Trek. And Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto were perfectly matched as Kirk and Spock.

4 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Brian De Palma’s initial Mission: Impossible movie was an agreeable spy thriller whose central set piece — Tom Cruise hanging from wires during a daring infiltration — has become iconic. John Woo’s second one was a little too silly to be entertaining, then J.J. Abrams’ threequel settled into mediocre action movie territory.

RELATED: Mission: Impossible: 5 Ways Fallout Is The Best Movie (& 5 Ghost Protocol Is A Close Second)

Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reinvigorated the franchise by sending Cruise out onto the facade of the tallest building in the world. Now, the Mission: Impossible movies are must-see actioners, because Cruise keeps pushing himself to do crazier and crazier stunts.

3 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

After The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did almost everything wrong — making all the same mistakes as Spider-Man 3 and a bunch of new ones for good measure — Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming reinvigorated the Spidey solo movies.

Hot off his highly anticipated debut in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland deftly proved he could carry his own movie in Homecoming. Watts made the film as a John Hughes-style high school comedy, which gave it a fresh, unique feel. A year later, a new bar was set for the Spider-Man franchise by the animated masterpiece Into the Spider-Verse.

2 Men In Black 3 (2012)

As has been pointed out, the critically panned Men in Black II just rehashed all the jokes from the first Men in Black movie and repackaged them as winks to the audience.

The third movie, Men in Black 3, shook up the formula with a time travel plot that saw Will Smith’s Agent J going back to the ‘60s to team up with the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent M, played by Josh Brolin (whose Jones impression is spot-on).

1 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

George Miller’s third Mad Max movie, Beyond Thunderdome, was one of the ‘80s-est movies of the ‘80s. The fourth movie was stuck in development hell for years. Miller spent so long trying to get it made that at the beginning of pre-production, Mel Gibson was supposed to stay in the role of Max.

After Beyond Thunderdome had lost the visceral intensity of The Road Warrior, Fury Road brought it back in spades with a feature-length car chase through a post-apocalyptic wasteland that’s been praised as one of the greatest action movies ever made.

NEXT: Jaws & 9 Other Timeless Classics That Didn't Need Sequels

Bumblebee & 9 Other Movies That Saved A Dying Franchise from https://ift.tt/3s3bCUH

[enjomo-arch]

a  little  bit  in  my  ace  spade  era  feelings  today  because  i  was  kind  of  browsing  through  the  concepts  and  whanot.  when  it  comes  to  the  crew  itself  i  think  except  deuce  and  skull  ,  ace  was  very  emotionally  open  around  banshee.  because  she  was  one  of  the  older  people  in  his  crew  and  sort  of  whether  ace  wanted  it  or  not  ,  banshee  had  such  ....  authority  as  guardian.  

i  think  her  wisdom  and  general  attitude  to  help  him  in  distress  came  from  being  a  mermaid  as  well.  using  the  word  maternal  authority  would  be  wrong  in  this  sense  because  after  all  she  was  his  crewmate  ,  a  kind  of  family.  but  when  ace  had  a  problem  he  knew  he  could  just  sit  with  her  and  talk.  she  showed  him  support  and  sympathy  as  like  ,  a  family  member  would.  an  auntie  that  always  made  ace  feel  a  little  bit  at  ease.  

i  generally  think  ace  has  so  much  trust  and  faith  in  his  crew  that  he  could  pretty  much  talk  to  anyone.  even  with  mihal  who  spent  most  of  his  time  in  the  ship's  library  and  only  went  outside  when  the  ship  was  in  danger.  mihal  was  a  teacher  and  i  believe  he  was  also  teaching  ace  everything  he  lacked  from  education.  he  was  demanding  and  ace  wanted  to  eat  his  own  hands  after  lessons  with  him  in  the  library  but  he  certainly  made  progress  when  his  education  was  in  truth  lousy.  

[enjomo-arch]

🕯️ ( from deucey )

ace  noticed  his  first  mate  at  the  late  evening  hanging  around  mihal's  library.  not  only  was  the  place  the  teacher's  favourite  but  the  journalist  as  well  seemed  to  hide  his  presence  in  between  the  books  and  shelves.  unlucky,  that  ace  came  around  to  look  for  the  spade  pirate's  sniper  in  here.  ❝  i  wonder  what  deuce's  writin'.  looks  like  he's  really  hooked  up  on  that.  ❞  the  fire  fist  thought  to  himself,  he  decided  to  slowly  approach  the  unaware  writer.  ace  stood  there,  almost  looming  over  deuce's  shoulder,  his  eyes  intensely  fixed  on  the  words  forming  on  the  page. 

his  presence  felt  intrusive,  but  his  curiosity  was  insatiable.  ace  couldn't  help  himself  but  tilt  his  head  slightly  and  read  whatever  was  written  down  the  pages.  it  was  a  story,  or  a  poem.  hard  to  tell  for  someone  who's  not  a  friend  of  the  literature  but  it  was  definitely  beautifully  written  and  then,  the  spade  captain  noticed  something. 

brown  orbs  squinted  to  get  a  better  look.  ❝  's  that  my  name...?  ❞  the  thought  came  out  as  a  mere  whisper  rather  than  silent  words  within  the  fire  fist's  head.  

[enjomo-arch]

@taiixuan , emil ( masked deuce ) asked : [  ALMOST KISS  ]  *  my muse leans closer to your muse almost like they’re trying to initiate a kiss, only to pull away in the last second. ( TEEHEE ACEDEU )

as  the  day  drew  to  a  close  ,   the  sun  descended  toward  the  vast  expanse  of  the  open  sea  ,   casting  a  breathtaking  palette  of  colors  across  the  horizon.  the  sky  transformed  into  a  canvas  of  vibrant  oranges  ,   pinks  ,   and  purples  ,   while  the  tranquil  waters  below  mirrored  the  wonderful  spectacle.  a  gentle  breeze  whispered  through  the  air  ,   as  the  fire  fist's  relaxed  gaze  seemed  to  pause  in  awe  of  the  incredible  sight. 

despite  the  fact  that  he  had  seen  the  sunset  millions  of  times  before  it  always  left  something  special  in  his  heart  ,   a  feeling.  for  as  long  as  he  could  remember  ,   sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  cliff  with  his  younger  brother  ,   he  had  watched  this  image  of  natural  ,   maritime  beauty  every  evening.  now  ,   however  he  was  doing  it  with  his  first  mate  at  the  side  which  felt  just  as  special.  sitting  on  the  spadille's  railing  ,   one  arm  resting  over  his  knee  with  a  bottle  of  booze  in  the  other  ace  could  only  think  about  so  much  in  moments  like  these.  

he  didn't  say  anything  for  a  long  moment  but  it  was  clear  that  this  didn't  necessarily  catch�� deuce's  attention.  his  lips  softly  parted  ,   as  to  speak  something  but  eventually  he  felt  on  his  cheek  the  leather  glove  that  belonged  to  the  writer.  his  hand  guiding  ace's  face  tu  turn  and  let  their  gaze  meet  ,   the  slowly  approaching  closeness  with  the  azure-haired  man  leaning  in  closer  and  closer  caused  ace  to  skip  a  beat  of  his  firey  heart.  he  didn't  even  know  how  to  react  ,   his  eyes  widened  slightly  in  surprise  but  as  deuce  leaned  closer  he  couldn't  back  off.  he  didn't  want  to.  

a  silent  breath  sucked  up  through  his  teeth  before  the  spade  captain  bent  down  to  close  the  gap  between  them  but  ,   before  their  lips  could  meet  at  the  end  of  the  road  ,   only  the  chapped  skin  of  ace's  own  ghosted  barely  over  the  writer's  petal  peach  ones.  until.

❝  oi  ,   captain  ace!  an  island  at  the  horizon  ,   at  eight  .  ❞

ace  snapped  his  head  to  the  side  ,   upon  hearing  skull  screaming  about  finding  an  island  at  the  horizon.  well  ,   deuce  ended  up  kissing....  the  side  of  ace's  wild  ,   raven  locks.  ❝  holy  shit !?  really !  skull  hold  on  i'm  comin' !  ❞  the  fire  fist  shouted  enthusiastically.  his  attentiveness  completely  changed  its  tracks  and  he  jumped  off  the  wooden  railing  of  the  ship  straight  onto  the  deck.  ❝  oii  deuce  ,   quick !  ❞  he  waved  a  hand  to  the  journalist.  chuckling  under  his  breath  like  crazy  ,   so  happy  about  the  information  of  land  nearby  he  absolutely  forgot  he  was  just  about  to  kiss  his  first  mate.  

[enjomo-arch]

@taiixuan , emil ( masked deuce ) asked : " the trip's gone smoothly, that's what matters. " for by now he's so gotten used to firefist of the dawn to fall asleep and almost risk dragging himself off striker's lithe frame, often forcing writer's chagrin to push and halt and switch their places so that only seat of small little thing could take onto sleeping figure whilst charged dials would continue pushing and pushing further in their stead, a breather when coasts had been by now oh so close for a little more effort and a pat on other's face —gentle smile in palerose's hues onto deuce's lips, a chuckle following suit. " now how about you help me secure the striker to the shore so we can get to survey the place ? i saw a village not that far from here, so maybe we can get some food.

❝  geez  ,  can't  do  deuce.  you  remember  ?  sea  water  ,  devil  fruit.  'm  gonna  faint  if  i  gotta  push  it  to  the  shore.  ❞  a  vague  motions  of  hands  underlined  his  words  with  a  stupid  smirk  -  a  grin  that  deuce  had  seen  dozens  of  times  now  plastered  right  over  the  firefist's  freckled  features.  

his  naps  weren't  the  biggest  problem  ,  and  maybe  they  were  when  his  body  leaned  toward  the  sea  that  would  devour  him  for  such  a  piercing  sin  by  turning  away  from  him  to  let  the  powers  of  the  devil  sink  into  his  skin.  

true  enough  ,  they  arrived  at  their  destination.  and  the  striker  was  lightly  swayed  by  the  calm  waves  lapping  the  shore  of  the  carcass  at  their  fingertips.  ace  was  as  always  ,  slick  and  first  to  avoid  the  weakness  that  was  carried  by  the  sea. 

❝  i'm  so  damn  hungry  how  'bout  you  secure  the  striker  and  i  get  a  look  what  we  can  eat  on  our  way  ?  thanks  deuce  ,  you're  great  !  ❞  a  wide  grin  was  all  the  writer  could  notice  before  the  spade's  body  would  turn  into  hellfire  and  like  a  pillar  of  flames  jump  out  of  the  boat  ,  once  again  assembling  and  appearing  right  on  the  other  end  of  the  shore.

[enjomo-arch]

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