#minimal it isn't lackluster by any means which i really like

[vinyls-and-valentines]

Ah, yes, the two stances on canon: "you're fucking dead to me" and "wanna make out sloppy style in the parking lot?"

[what-in-the-gloobie-glob]

Heavy mw3 spoilers (tagging bc its only been a day since full access) soap/interactions characters had with soap

Before the rest of the post I just want to say that I am aware that news has been going around that the game ended up getting rushed due to activision pushing dates(?) Or whatever (idk I haven't read into it)

I have an actual problem with soap's death. And I mean, I feel like it might have been more acceptable for everyone (including die hard cod boys or whatever) if there was more purpose to it. Or even if it was just... more cinematic (?)

It was so lackluster, and I understand the whole "It's supposed to be realistic" but it's a game. The entire point of it is to be entertaining, it doesn't matter if it isn't realistic, because it's supposed to immerse and entertain the viewer,and catch their attention. This death... was not that. Infact it was any thing but that.

It didn't even feel like there was an out of game purpose for it. If it had been at the beginning of the game, at least then the game could have been "revenge" driven. You put it from anyone's pov and (without even making it gay) you could have an emotional drive for revenge. (Of course I AM going to make it gay because that who I am). And if it's kept at the end of the game they could just play up the cinematics a tiny bit, and boom, payer satisfaction. But nope

Now lets go back to if it was the beginning of the game. I'm only gonna focus of the remaining main 3 of the 141.

If soap died at the beginning, the game could be largely price's pov. And we already know in the original price saw soap as a son figure. So just copy+paste character dynamics, and oop, you've got a more immersive emotional connection that draws the players in. It gives the character (price) a motivation, which can also explain some of the OOC behaviors that are exhibited in the game. Because Price is supposed to be this confident, level-headed leader. And the entire game he feels off, unsure of his own decisions, and he makes decisions that arguably are illogical for someone of his rank to make.

Onto Gaz. He seemed too stoic, and cold for this game. If soap had died at the beginning, it could be explained by him being angry and vengeful, and shutting off his emotions. Think about it, he lost a fellow Sergent, whom he'd thought of as a brother. That does things to a person. But they didn't do that so we just got what feels to be an ooc gaz, with minimal interaction with soap who he called a brother. Now I realize that calling soap his brother could just be a term of endearment or whatever, but it anything it felt like a desperate grab to make a last connection between the player and the character by showing a "deeper" connection (which wasn't there). As a side note, when I say gaz feels ooc I mean that in mw it seemed (to me) that he thought about his actions more and their impacts. He didn't just follow orders blindly like a good little soldier, like in this movie. In mw he was more self-righteous (if that's the right word) and he seemed to care a lot more for how his actions would have an impact on the world/people that he was fighting for.

And then we have Ghost. And sorry to sound repetitive but the interactions with him and soap were lackluster. We can start with the fact that there was very little interaction between the two, much less than in mw2 obviously, but I just want to point out that it ALMOST feels like Shepherd had more screen time than the two did together (to me). I know that that isn't true but that's how it feels. And we have even less meaningful interactions. Sure we have ghost and soap interrogating milena but they didn't interact all that much, and we have SOME banter but not a lot. We also have ghost claiming soap to go with him before they drop onto the island, and them pairing up after the vidcall with Shepherd and graves. But that's basically it, aside from soap's death scene (not including the flashvack because they didn't really interact much/the same way). Also I don't know if anyone else felt like this but to me it felt like their banter/interactions were too stilted/formal for the level of acquaintance that they are. Especially after Las Almas, and the game implies that they have fallen into a routine of going on missions together since then, and their conversations/interactions don't feel like they're at that level of knowledge of eachother that they should be at.

I'm putting soap's actual death and aftermath here since I have misc. thoughts.

I want to point out the parallel between laswell and hew wife disapproval with smoking, and Ghost with johnny (i know it's veen pointed out before) but it basically confirms soapghost/ghoap

Also ive seen it pointed out that ghost checked soap's pulse to check if he was alive, even after he was shot in the head, he also pats soap chest like he's teying to confort him.

I also want to point out that at no point between soap dying and the bomb does ghost say anything about the bomb, nor does he go gelp gaz stop it. I get that the point is to force the player to stop the bomb, but they could have added it as a non-canon ending where he was too late or off time with gaz and thus the bomb still blew up. But no. He just says by soap's body the entire time...

Ghost was also apparently the one in possession of soap's ashes, AND the one to spread his ashes, which seems too intimate if activision was trying to stomp down ghoap.

Also I thought soap was catholic, so in my mind, I would have expected maybe a small (possibly unmarked) grave, instead of cremation (im not entirely sure on catholic funeral rituals, so don't come at me if this is wrong). And to me soap's character seemed like it should have been buried instead of cremated and forgotten to the wind (personal preference) but I think he should have had some spot on earth that was his to remember him.

And I'm not gonna say the ashes scene was lackluster, or rushed. Because it wasn't, but it did feel like it was an emotional grab. And it just felt off in general.

Ok that's all I have

[happymetalgirl]

Bring Me the Horizon - amo

For better and for worse, this one has been a long time coming. If Sempiternal was the irritated throat fans brushed off as nothing, then That's the Spirit was their first terrifying handful of blood coughed up after ignoring diagnostics, and amo is the progression of the untreated pop infection in Bring Me the Horizon's lungs that has progressed beyond treatment. For fans uneasy about the band's trajectory in 2015, this album is no easy pill to swallow.

I've been rather critical of a lot of bands aping Bring Me the Horizon's more try-hard anthemic metalcore style since the success of 2013's Sempiternal, but for Bring Me the Horizon themselves, I've actually had at least a little bit of appreciation for the boldness and ambition with which they have seemed to try to push their brand of metalcore since their 2010 album There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret. But with that appreciation of what they are trying to do to bolster their sound has also come with a lot of frustration when it comes to the execution, whether it be the repetitive formula on Sempiternal yielding some seriously irritating tunes whose energy only magnified their obnoxiousness, or the horrendous watering down that neutered any idea of ambition on That's the Spirit.

It has been about four years since the band's aggravating previous album, and for myself, the metal community outside the band's fanbase, and even within, those four years have been spent nervously gritting teeth in anticipation of what the band would progress toward next. And now it's here. Given the sour turn the band took with That's the Spirit, my hopes for amo were not high at all. In fact after a series of lackluster maimstream-ish releases so far this year, I was ready for the cherry to top the shit sundae with this album. That being said, amo is definitely bolder and a much more thoughtful continuation of Bring Me the Horizon's quest for pop glory, and one that is at least more determined and more comprehensive than That's the Spirit. The band finally commit to the sound they clearly wanted to make their way to, and in some ways it's good that they're not trying to cover their bases as thinly as possible like they were with their previous album. Indeed, there are a few tracks on here I enjoy quite a lot.

The band fully commit to the sounds and writing styles of Top 40 pop these days, and this album would definitely blend right in with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes. I feel like I have to address my distaste for Top 40 music in general and clarify that it's not based in a simplistic, tribalistic feud I see lots of metalheads take part in, where it's the principle of pop vs. rock or mainstream music vs. outsider music that's being fought over. No, I definitely enjoy me some thoughtfully done pop music and even some indulgently tasty pop as well. What I don't like is the sterility of the music from the likes of Halsey, Macklemore, Camila Cabello, or whoever made that shit song "The Middle" selected to be the goal for pop artists to strive for to reach radio/playlist success. And then there's the despised Imagine Dragons, the only pop rock band in existence apparently, based on how much time they suck up on the radio. I know this is a sidetrack and I know that radio is not the prime outlet it used to be, but it still represents a lot of what pop trends towards these days, and it continues to set a precedent for vapid, lazy songwriting, and corporately calculated pandering. That being said, there's the occasional song I'm surprised, not so much by my enjoyment of, but of the presence of something enjoyable coming from a mainstream pop outlet, and that's what amo seems to be going for.

I gave this album quite a few listens, both to really get to know it as per usual, and because this kind of pop isn't my usual forte, and it was interesting to see how the album transformed in my eyes with each successive listen. My first time hearing it, I knew I was going into a straight-up pop album, and with the ilk of Top 40 stations as my barometer, I was actually pretty relieved and pleasantly surprised to not be slamming my head against the nearest wall for the 51 minutes it lasts. But then I remembered, "wait a minute, this is a pop album, it loves to ride a good first impression, see how it is after 4, 5, 6 listens." And sure enough, it waned on me the more I listened.

The parts that I really enjoy did rise to the top as the rest sank, but with a better understanding of this album's content and what it's trying to achieve, I end up with a lot of the same frustrations I had with the band on Sempiternal and its predecessor, just in a less heavy format/context this time. Like the band's first metalcore-departing albums, amo has some good stylistic ideas and it works well with them, but the band's inconsistent results with the repetitive formulas they emply continues to be the limiting factor for them. On the vocal front, Oli Sykes clearly channels Minutes to Midnight-era Chester Bennington all over the project, from the raspy borderline shouted melodies and overwhelmingly polished cleans, while also making a very pop-influenced use of his falsettos as well, and as much as it often teems over with blatant imitation, at least I can't complain about his execution; he's on point pretty much the entire time, which could be thanks to some production crutches, but Sykes' performances sound watertight nonetheless. The rest of the band are much more present than I thought they would be, not as drowned out in gaudy pop production (which does still become a bit too much at some points, but for the most part it's pretty tasteful and balanced throughout the album).

Songs like "nihilist blues" do well to set futuristically melancholic moods through modern electro pop instrumentals, while on songs like "MANTRA" and "sugar honey ice & tea" (a cheesy roundabout way to title the song "shit"), the band try to keep the guitar-driven energy high while blending more pop-oriented elements and performance/production techniques, and the blend is at least a refreshingly alive spin on the egg-shell-treading stlyes of this era of pop music. But the band still don't really manage to make what sounds good on paper actually sound as good as it should through speakers, churning out some annoying melodies through the overly repetitive structures that take bad pop songs from displeasing to disgusting. And these songs have some potential and some parts of them that I wish weren't wrecked by overproduction or cheesy choruses, "sugar honey ice & tea" especially has some invigorating building rock instrumentation in its verses, but the band don't really follow through on the hollow, high-pitched electro vocal-laden chorus. But then there are the songs that (I think) don't really have any redeeming qualities.

The songs where Bring Me the Horizon really just lean all the way into this new role as a prospective pop act are the ones where they of course fall into the styles' predictable pitfalls. Straightforward pop numbers like "mother tongue" and "medicine" channel kiddish lyrics about love and embodying vindictiveness respectively through bland, unimaginative instrumentation. Another track, "in the dark", runs in kind of the same vein of unadultered pop with Oli Sykes doing his best Shawn Mendes impersonation, but is at least a little bit more soulful and less robotic.

Back in the gray area is the song "heavy metal", which takes aim at the attitudes of discontented fans being mad at the band for continuing to shift styles. I understand that there are definitely a lot of stubborn people willing to let that be sufficient justification for their reasons for lampooning the band's change in style, but there are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about this new direction that lots of other people are articulating that the band could have addressed instead of minimizing the criticism surrounding them to the reductive basement-dweller strawman. Instrumentally though, it is one of the heavier songs on the album, ending with the album's only screamed breakdown, as short as it is.

As far as highlights go, the song "why you gotta kick me when i'm down?" is a convincing electronic banger that finds low-register synths mimicking the crunch of the guitar the band usually uses, and doing so well. Lyrically it oozes of the same kind of inability to accept criticism as "heavy metal", but at least this song's fierce potency makes a good case for the band's being above the type of simplistic criticism they lament. The song "wonderful life" is by far the best song on the album with its gritty electro-nu metal guitar groove and its anthemic vocal melody in the chorus raising a defeatist toast to growing old and burning out. The pop influences are still easily palpable, but taking a support role rather than the lead, with the band driving the song with the down-tuned metal riffage they do well that made Suicide Season and the best parts of Sempiternal.

For what could have been the definitive nail in the coffin for a lot of people like me who hated That's the Spirit, amo is definitely a mixed bag in classic Bring Me the Horizon fashion, but that sure is a lot better than the torturous train wreck I was expecting (especially after hearing "mother tongue" and "medicine" as preliminary singles), and it at least shows that this band does indeed have the potential to do well in this metal-flavored pop niche they're trying to carve out, and by all means I would love for them to do well with it. I think it is important for metal to continue to make good entry-level material for the new generations, and entry-level material that immersed fans can bond with new fans over as well and for younger generations to be able to look back at fondly after diving deep into the wonderful world of metal music. I definitely don't think amo is quite that album, but it is a gateway, and it does suggest that somewhere in Bring Me the Horizon's collective creative potential exists that album, which only tenacity and further perfection of this style they've arrived at can uncover.

better than Halsey/10

[badrowboats]

Hi, sorry to bother you, but I have a question. You know quite a lot about MCU and its fans, so I need your help with something. I don't get why the fandom loves Darcy Lewis so much, yes she is a good character, but she isn't what people make her out to be. Did I miss something when I watched the movies? I just don't get that level of, lets say fanaticism. I mean I adore Daisy, but I have reasons for that (she is perfect, we had 4 season to see that), what are reasons for loving Darcy so much?

I mean, you know why. 

There was a post a while back that I wish I could find where I think the takehome is that Darcy is punky, spunky, and white? (Pretty much?) And I had answered this and then saved it as a draft like a million years ago, but recent events have reminded me of the “never trust anyone who loves Darcy too much” truism, so…

tbh, there’s stuff to unpack here (that I’m not sure I can really unpack that well because it really doesn’t really apply to me?) about the way fandom supposedly loves “blank slate” characters with minimal characterization so we can write onto them and/or self-insert. It definitely seems to me that this idea of “we love blank slate characters” is really only applied in a heavily gendered and racialized way (ie, it seems to me like this usually applies mostly to white dudes, hi movies Coulson, you’re nothing). I almost want to say I’m surprised that so many people love Darcy as much as they do, given the way other supporting white female characters with low onscreen character time get screwed by fandom (see: Sharon Carter and Laura Barton), but unlike them, Darcy doesn’t get in the way of any big ships. And unlike someone like Jane, she’s not tied to a specific romantic relationship.

So I’m gonna say it’s because she’s a punky, spunky, white female character who doesn’t get in the way of fandom fave ships and who doesn’t have a strong romantic arc herself, so she can travel around the MCU and be shipped with anyone.

As for why Darcy gets so much love while actual perfect (In)human Daisy Johnson doesn’t get enough? (Like, Darcy appears in more fics than Daisy on Ao3, and never forget that at least a quarter of Daisy’s fics are Skyeward fics, and another healthy chunk are Daisy showing up in the background of the other shitty Big 3 Bus Family ships, including as a literal child and lots of variations of a non-morally flawless superhero.)

I think we have enough evidence from past fandom stuff to know that even if Daisy were a blank slate character, she – like many characters of color before her – would still not get the love given to someone like Darcy. Just think back to season one, when people were pretending that Skye/Daisy was basically a blank slate Mary Sue too-perfect character; she just got a lot of hate for the way people failed to understand her complexity and centrality to the narrative. And then she got shipped with the Hydra agent who threatened to rape her and turned into a redemption tool instead of a protagonist, while most of fandom just sort of shrugged and didn’t see that as a real problem. The way that huge parts of fandom have risen up with anti-gross-ship blogs and protection squads for white female characters like Jessica Jones and Rey tells me that the way Daisy was treated was very specifically racialized misogyny.

Then we have the ‘blank slate’ stuff. Because Daisy Johnson is also distinctly not a blank-slate/self-insert character. We have backstory, a lot of emotional context for her past and present, and we see her take actions that are explained in subtext and not so much embarrassingly telegraphed in info-dump conversations. Chloe does a lot (so much) with her beautifully expressive face, which makes it possible to write thousands of words of meta about Daisy’s thoughts in any particular scene. That makes her a perfect subject of fic, imo – there’s a ton to explore, but it’s all grounded in hours and hours and hours of her story. And, honestly, I try to take the “blank slate” stuff as something real people in fandom really feel even if I don’t get it at all, but there’s so much that could be written about Daisy, so much more than self-inserts and using her as a shipping tool or a redemption tool, and I fully believe that – again – racialized misogyny has kept fandom from seeing that.

Because, just like Darcy, Daisy is someone who could absolutely be shipped around the MCU? She’s gorgeous and nuanced and vulnerable and awkward and dorky and powerful and kind (in addition to being flawless). She just spent six months traveling across the country on her own. Her canon romantic arcs on the show have been…non-existent and lackluster, respectively – nothing that remotely ties her down. She and Sam Wilson would adore each other, Steve Rogers would line up behind her, Nick Fury would see himself in her, Natasha Romanoff would want to hang out with her and talk hacking, Lady Sif already thinks she’s a total morally flawless badass, she’s an autodidact who could talk about all Luke Cage’s favorite books with him, she’d have civilized discussions about governmentality and colonialism and Fanon with T’challa, she and Matt Murdock were literally in the same orphanage at ages when they must have overlapped, she would love Trish’s show and politics (plus, I bet Trish has some connections to the Rising Tide in the digging she’s done?), she and Misty could have flirty banter about law vs morality, she and Claire Temple could take care of each other and eat junk food…

And, honestly, I completely believe that if a white character had gotten something like Daisy’s arc (from morally flawless homeless hacker to morally flawless superhero) and Daisy’s character development, that character would be the most popular character in the MCU. (Especially if they were a white dude, yeah.) And I think if white fandom actually saw Daisy as white (instead of mostly using ‘white passing’ as a way of excusing the fact that her most popular ship is with a dude who willingly joined a Nazi-affiliated group), she would be more popular than Darcy.

tl;dr: I think racism that manifests as a fandom-wide tendency to identify primarily with white characters (something I know I have been very guilty of in my past, and something I still work on today – something I think all white fans need to work on) plays the biggest role in why fandom loves Darcy and why fandom had such a hard time connecting with Daisy (though I think there have been some big shifts there?). There’s a layer of misogyny, too, that applies to white women and women of color both (but that is more applicable to woc I think), where fandom always has problems with female characters who are actually well-developed and complex and interesting in their own right – not just shipping tools or self-inserts, basically. And Daisy gets the worst of all of this mess, while Darcy – thanks to her whiteness and relative blankness – is seen as more shipable.

Which is all to say…you know why.