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telomeke-bbs · 8 months

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bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you-meme!

Got tagged by @tiistirtipii at this post here and @inventedfangirling at this post here. Thanks for tagging me! 🥰 (And sorry I've taken so long to respond. 🤦‍♂️)

name and whatever you want to share about yourself

You can call me Tel. I love writing, languages, linguistics, and learning about different cuisines and cultures. I live right in the middle of Southeast Asia.

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom?

I started watching Bad Buddy almost from the start, after a friend told me Ohm had a new series out. I went into it pretty blind, not knowing anything at all about its history or genesis. I'd liked Ohm's work in He's Coming to Me and was open to more from him, not thinking the series would be anything more than your run-of-the-mill BL. And was I ever wrong! I think BBS sort of grew slowly on me for the first few episodes, but it really took hold after Nanon's single tear at the end of Ep.4. And I lost it after The Kiss at the end of Ep.5, of course. The no-holds barred obsession really set in after I realized this wasn't any ordinary BL; it works on so many levels and the intelligence with which it was crafted is formidable.

Favourite ship/s

PatPran does it for me.

Favourite character/s

Love them all, but introvert Pran with his protective walls, defensive rituals and surreptitious signposting of his emotional state with doodles and symbols really struck a chord. Pre-Ep.10 Pran was like an extreme version of younger me, I sometimes think.

Favourite episode/s

Episode 11 – I love everything about the beach, and the two of them alone by the sea was like my idea of paradise. But I nodded sagely along when BBS gently pointed out that their beachside idyll was just a temporary respite and that paradise doesn't exist on Earth.

Favourite scene/s

Oof. So many. My all-time favorite is the opening scene of Episode 5 (see this link here for why) because it was layered so deep with meaning and messaging, beneath the happy surface theatrics. I sometimes think of BBS as one giant and intricate puzzle, and if you find and fit together the right puzzle pieces it reveals so much more to you. The amazing thing is that it kept doing this over and over again. Like how many themes and allegories can this one series have? But if you want to disregard all of that and just enjoy it as a well-crafted BL with stellar acting, you can too. And that is also part of its magic.

Some other scenes that still give me the chills:

Deeply-pining Pran looking on at an oblivious Pat sleeping peacefully in Ep.4 [4/4]; I've been there and I know exactly how his heart must have been rent in two at that moment.

The Kiss in Ep.5 of course.

Pat finding out in Ep.10 that Ming wasn't the unimpeachable hero that he thought he was.

Pran missing Dissaya in Ep.11 (this is because I still miss my late mom with all my heart; the grief is going to be a forever guest there I fear – you just learn to pack it away in a box and put it away in a quiet room in your heart, but it breaks free every now and then, just to stare at me silently with its unknowable face).

When Our Song plays in Ep.11 (especially when Uncle Tong does his voiceover and the soaring guitar solo kicks in, and then we see Pat and Pran back in front of their houses, bracing themselves to face their families again).

Ah that award-winning scene on the balconies in Ep.12, when Pat and Pran indulge in a joyful, all-smiles tin-can conversation for old times' sake, play-acting at being strangers, and then dastardly Director Aof toys with our hearts once again and has the music crescendo as he morphs them back into their kiddie selves dressed in the same clothes to show us that the bond between the two scamps had always been there, forged since childhood, and that they were never really enemies throughout it all. And amidst the nostalgia we're suddenly engulfed in a wave of bittersweet emotions imagining all the what-ifs and if-onlys and what-might-have-beens had those poor little tykes not been forced into that meaningless rivalry by their warring parents. But as the camera pans away we hear their young voices piping in the night, still innocent and so full of hope, reminding us that when those two little boys grew up they still managed to find a way to triumph over all the pitiless hurt imposed on them. And how privileged we were to have been able to share in the story of their journey.

One thing you would change about the show if you could

I've thought so much about this show, it's not just one thing. And don't get me wrong; I'm not tearing it down or hurling brickbats at this series I love so much. It just irks the Perfectionist Pran side of me that something so beautiful, deep, intelligent and heartfelt also has its little flaws here and there.

I think they could have done a better job helping us understand how and why PatPran's competitive dynamic launched them so suddenly into the madcap bet in Ep.7. The cinematography was inconsistent in a lot of parts. The English subtitling (especially of Ep.5) could have clarified some things, but instead made them more confusing. And Pat getting shot may have been necessary on an intellectual level, to nod at some trope, theme or other literary preoccupation perhaps. But the narrative didn't really need that moment of conflict and I felt BBS tipped over into unnecessary melodrama at that point.

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people?

I adore the analysis, meta and backgrounding of BBS that you can find on Tumblr. So many intelligent, creative people looking at this show, but those that spring to mind:

@airenyah @bengiyo @chickenstrangers @dribs-and-drabbles @dudeyuri @grapejuicegay @inventedfangirling @kenmakaashi @lovelyghostv @lurkingshan @lurkingteapot @miscellar @neuroticbookworm @pandasmagorica @ranchthoughts @recentadultburnout @waitmyturtles

Fan art also by @hereforlou and @kit-teung. 😍

I've probably forgotten so many others, please forgive me if I have; if I've liked and reblogged your work it means that you've touched me with your intelligence and output and I'm automatically a fan.

What are your favourite fanworks you've made?

I mostly post observations and findings from research about the show, so they're not works of fiction or visual art, just essays really. They're all special to me in different ways, but I lean most to the one that talks about the etymology of Pat and Pran's chue lens, what they mean semantically and what they mean for the series (write-up linked here):

My post about the Ep.1 scene in front of Khun Noppharnach's Pharmacy (linked here) was another one where the pieces of the BBS logic puzzle fell into place in a way that satisfied my gameplaying side:

I'm also chuffed about my location posts (linked here; have identified almost all of them, such is the power of the Internet), finding out that the jeep in khanom jeep dumplings also means to court (linked here), and tracking down Baseball Mom (linked here).

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A song that makes you think of BBS (not in the show)

My obsessive mind can't let go of this song (I've written about it several times now) but Never (ไม่เคย) by 25Hours devastatingly captures the quiet grief over losing that special someone in your life (and tells us what Pat must have been going through post-separation from Pran in high school). Pat mentions it at Ep.5 [3I4] 0.35 but it isn't played in the show. I've got it on repeat now, and am well on my way to memorizing the lyrics.

Onward tagging:

@airenyah @bengiyo @chickenstrangers @dribs-and-drabbles @dudeyuri @grapejuicegay @hereforlou @inventedfangirling @kenmakaashi @kit-teung @lovelyghostv @lurkingshan @lurkingteapot @miscellar @neuroticbookworm @pandasmagorica @ranchthoughts @recentadultburnout @waitmyturtles

No pressure to play if you don't want to, or have already done it. But do tag and let the rest of the BBS fandom know if you have responses for us to read! 😍

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#bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme #bad buddy #bbs tag game #tag game #bad buddy getting to know you

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real-total-drama-takes · 5 months

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OKAY MOD COURTNEY, I KNOW THIS IS MY 4 TIME TODAY COMMENTING IN THE TOTAL DRAMA TAKES BLOG BUT PLEASE HEAR ME OUT, PLEASE❗❗

I'll give you 4 takes and then I'll stop I SWEAR

1. What if the 2023 reboot had a extra episode in the same way that was the total drama drama drama drama episode?

IF THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED I HOPE THAT THE MOST ICONIC TEAM FROM THERE WAS RIPPER, AXEL AND SCARY GIRL. Like- IMAGINE. a Secretly gay loser, a Melanie Martinez fan and a Girl boss. WHAT CAN GO WRONG?! And then in the start they all Will start hating each other with all forces possible, and then during the next scenes of the episode they are just walking around, gossiping and giggling, JUST LIKE A NORMAL BRAZILIAN FRIEND GROUP, 2 GIRL BOSSES AND THEIR GAY FRIEND. (Scary Girl would paint his nails while he gossips about the type of crime that happened In his class)

2. Julia was a horrible villain, and almost all her fans are annoying and toxic 13 years old Tik tokers. SERIOUSLY, she's Overrated in the same level than Courtney (Bowie solos her btw, Bowie is a slayer, SLAY KING🗣️👑❗❗)

3. Ripper x Chase and Axel x Nichelle will happen in the next season🕯️

4. JULIA JUST WENT TO THE FINAL 4 BECAUSE OF LUCK. if I was Bowie, I would make her be eliminated in EP 2. ALSO- SHE JUST GOT DRAGGED BY THE SCRIPT SINCE EP 5

she could be eliminated instead of Mk in EP 6 because she showed everyone the Phone thing UNTIL their elimination cerimony started. And she got nervous when they asked her about why she was showing that for them just now.

She could be eliminated In EP 7 if Raj and Wayne didn't get beated by a BIRD

RIPPER COULD EASILY WIN IMMUNITY IN EP 8 AND JULIA COULD GO HOME, RIPPER DESERVES MORE THAN HER🗣️❗❗

If wasn't for Zee saying that one Double alliance Shitzu on EP 9 she could flop and never come back

IN EP 10 IF CHASE HAD ENOUGH OF EMMA AND EVERYONE ELSE HE COULD WIN IMMUNITY AND JULIA WOULD DISAPPEAR

And in EP 11... Okay, Emmas elimination was Worth it, Really. TAKE THAT, TAYLOR SWIFT ENJOYER!

And in EP 12... She got what she deserved BUT ANYWAYS, RIPPERS GANG AND BOWIE COULD EASILY BEAT THE SHITZU OUT OF JULIA

I just still like Julia cuz she is funny. BUT I HATE HER AS A VILLAIN

okay, that's it. E é isso um beijo do Deimos💋 Tchau

#total drama #total drama 2023

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the4sylum · 1 year

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The Story Section of her old website:

"Combine the violin mastery of Nigel Kennedy, the voice of an alien Siouxsie/Bowie hybrid, and the looks of a post-apocalyptic Marie Antoinette, and what do you get? Emilie Autumn. The pink-haired princess of "victoriandustrial" has already morphed her way from classically trained violin prodigy to extreme rock performer with the ability to shred on a fiddle à la Yngwie, and with a cult following to match.

After spending a summer in France recording with Courtney Love at Ms. Love's express command, Emilie was invited to join Love's touring band,"The Chelsea," and was appropriately dubbed the "anarchy violinist" by Love. Next thing you knew, she was performing live on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and on national television with Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame, while appearing on the solo debut albums of both Corgan and Love. Emilie quickly gained attention as a solo performer in her own right, and was chosen as one of Interview Magazine's "14 To Be," a pictorial featuring 14 up-and-coming young female stars. Shot by famed fashion photographer Kelly Klein, and wearing a Helmut Lang gown while sprawled on a large wooden tea crate, Emilie was chosen as the magazine's centerfold posing with her signature electric violin. Now, EA is setting her sights on the rest of the world with the release of her new album, "Opheliac" on the Trisol Music Group label, released in Europe on the 1st of September 2006, and worldwide on the 22nd.

BACKGROUND:

Brought up as a concert violinist since age four, and trained in conservatoires around the world as a performer, composer, conductor, and music historian, EA's bizarre background is the element that makes her music so exceptional. The blending of authentic baroque strings, harpsichord, and factory-derived industrial beats with vocal techniques from soul-searing belts to snarling screams creates an positively dangerous feel, only compounded by EA's dark and uber-literate lyrics.

After walking away from her first major label contract at age 17, EA returned to her classical roots and released her solo violin debut album, "On a Day...," with the label she created and still controls, the aptly titled Traitor Records. Since the creation of her own production company, EA has branched out to create a number of side projects (The Jane Brooks Project, Ravensong, Convent), and is delighted to be collaborating with other artists including Detroit techno legend DJT1000, UK industrial giant, Attrition, fellow Chicagoans, Die Warzau, and many more creative entities ranging from industrial legends to television shows (EA frequently contributes her violin playing to the hit American TV series "Metalocalypse," a cartoon about a ficitional metal band airing weekly on Adult Swim).

With Enchant a proven success in the indie world, Emilie returned from two years of touring and recording with Love to begin production on her second full-length non-classical offering entitled, "Opheliac." Written in the style EA calls "victoriandustrial," her new heavily industrial sound takes "gothic" to a whole new level - sinister, witty, and combining her trademark violin pyrotechnics with growling vocals, virtuosic harpsichord, and electro-industrial beats. A concept album about "women, water, and madness," song titles include, "Gothic Lolita," "Dead Is The New Alive," "The Art Of Suicide," "I Want My Innocence Back", and "Misery Loves Company."

EA's previous releases include the solo violin debut album, "On a Day...," recorded at age 17 and showcasing her mastery of the baroque violin, "By The Sword," her charity single in response to the 9/11 attacks, "Chambermaid," her first goth-rock EP, and of course, "Enchant." Emilie also appears on Courtney Love's 2004 release, "America's Sweetheart" on Virgin Records, and is a featured guest on Billy Corgan's 2005 solo release, "The Future Embrace" on Warner Records.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

When EA is not recording or touring, she designs for "Mistress," her own fashion and fragrance line for her own indie-couture company, WillowTech House. Notorious for her own visionary "punktorian" stage costumes, EA's design skills were put to use when she was asked to design and create all of the costumes for the music video for "Walking Shade," Corgan's first single off his 2005 album, directed by P.R. Brown.

EA is also a prolific writer and illustator, releasing and quickly selling out of her first volume of poetry in 2001. 2005 saw the release of her second poetry edition complete with audio version entitled, "Your Sugar Sits Untouched," offered by WillowTech House Publishing. EA is currently putting the finishing touches on the illustrations for her gothic children's book for adults only, "The Alphabet Book of X-Boyfriends."

Originally from Malibu, California, EA is now a proud Chicagoan, and can most often be found at nightspots such as the Metro, Neo, and DoubleDoor as well as cavorting around the city's downtown in her Victorian bustle skirt, corset, and combat boots, attracting a ridiculous amount of attention.

The End.

For now..."

♥ Archived from Emilie Autumn's Website (via the wayback machine) ♥

#emilie autumn #opheliac era #with text version

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lizzygrantarchives · 10 years

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Complex, August 2014

Lana Del Rey knows what you think about her. And she’s learned to live with it.

Satin gowns, fast cars, pills, and parties are the lifeblood of American glamour. Red carpets, unbridled opulence, and the kind of elegance that looks amazing in high-contrast black-and-white photographs are its marrow. Icons like Sinatra, the Kennedys, Elvis, and Marilyn Monroe appeared to be beacons of the good life, but behind the velvet rope was a darker, less-than-pristine reality: one rife with gossip, addiction, betrayal, and violence. In 2014, no artist embraces both that world’s intoxicating glow and frayed seams more acutely than Lana Del Rey.

On her 2012 breakthrough, Born to Die, Del Rey cast herself as a tragic pop star from a bygone era. Her music videos were epics: on Born to Die’s title track, she begins perched regally on a throne flanked by Bengal tigers, and ends with model Bradley Soileau carrying her bloody body from the fiery wreckage of a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1; in “National Anthem,” she plays Jackie O to A$AP Rocky’s JFK. Where many of her contemporaries reveled in little-known subcultures and outsider artists, Del Rey went for icons. “Marilyn’s my mother/Elvis is my daddy/Jesus is my bestest friend,” she wrote in the introduction to her Anthony Mandler-directed short film Tropico, released last year. Del Rey’s 20th Century nostalgia (cloaked in beats provided by Emile Haynie, Kid Cudi’s original producer, and Kanye West-collaborator Jeff Bhasker, among others) proved immensely successful. Only four albums released in 2012 outsold Born to Die, which went platinum in the U.S. and charted in 11 countries. Del Rey sold more than 12 million singles globally, received two Grammy nods (Best Pop Vocal Album, for her EP Paradise; Best Song Written for Visual Media, for “Young and Beautiful”), and sold out a North American tour.

Her arrival also attracted visceral criticism. The New York Times review of Born to Die savaged her aesthetic and artistic “pose.” Pitchfork likened her debut to a “faked orgasm.” The media seemed fixated on anything but the album’s actual music: the supposedly incongruous early recording career under her real name, the life cycle of the internet hype machine that birthed her, or the aggressively ridiculed Saturday Night Live performance that made her a household name.

In 2012, Del Rey moved from Brooklyn to L.A., and one year later began work on the full-length follow-up to Born to Die. Released in June and produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Ultraviolence eschews the home-run pop melodies of Born to Die for stripped-down piano intros and reverb-heavy guitar solos that give her soulful, low-register vocals space to shine. Lyrically, though, Del Rey’s stance remains uncompromising, with titles like “Money, Power, Glory” and “Fucked My Way Up to the Top” explicitly referencing her image, and taking aim at her myriad detractors. And some of her old critics have changed their tune. In its review, the New York Times called the criticisms levelled against Born to Die “inaccurate,” and lauded Del Rey’s “retro sophistication” and “guileless candor;” Pitchfork called her “a pop music original,” adding “there are not nearly enough of those around.” Despite modest radio play for the lead single “West Coast,” the album debuted No. 1 on Billboard, selling 182,000 copies in its first week (more than twice as many as Born to Die), a testament to her growing fanbase.

Sitting on the roof of Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel for our interview, the 27-year-old “pop star” is dressed more like a suburban teenager, in light wash low-rise jeans and a tight, white, short-sleeved polo with lavender horizontal stripes. She has perfect posture and crosses her legs neatly. There’s a grace to the way she chain-smokes Parliaments and says “fuck” when she chips one of her pointed purple acrylic nails. If it’s all a show, well, it’s a good one. The cracks in the veneer of glamour humanize her and are one of the reasons she’s been able to mix self-serious writing about true love and death with provocative, pseudo-comical lines like the infamous “My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola.”

For the next 60 minutes, Del Rey muses about sexual gamesmanship in the music industry, Marilyn, Elvis, and Jesus, and the jagged reaction to her emergence on the pop scene. And words. Del Rey is a writer—not just the subject, but also the director of her own drama. The only mark of her wealth is a gaudy diamond-encrusted choker with a cross pendant hanging just above her sternum. Its sparkle evokes the cartoonish shine of costume jewelry, though it’s every bit as real as she has turned out to be.

When you’re writing, what comes first? Song titles, melodies, music?

Well it took me a long time to write the album as it’s listed. I was writing a lot since the last record came out, but for some reason, 70% of what I was writing didn’t feel right for me. So if I’m lucky enough to have an experience that really impacts me, it comes with a verse and a melody. From there I ad lib it. But they come together, the melody and the words come together. But it happens rarely for me.

What do you mean?

Actually having that happen, where it just sort of comes. I remember with “Carmen,” I was out really late and walking to the tempo of my own rhythm, and then I just started singing, “Carmen, Carmen doesn’t have a problem lying to herself cause her liquor’s top shelf.” And it was an easy cadence. The whole thing just came, and I think I was in a really good place then, so it was like things...it was really easy to channel.

What defines being in a good place?

Feeling really happy and just circumstantially like nothing’s going wrong, which becomes more difficult but that’s only my experience. I think a lot of people think the whole thing is really great. Making Brooklyn my home base for the last two and a half weeks has really helped me out, like I’ve actually started thinking conceptually that I have this addition, an addition to this record that could come really easily. That hasn't happened in a long time. Not since I wrote that Paradise addition to Born to Die, which I really loved.

Did you miss Brooklyn?

I missed Brooklyn. I missed the people.

How are the people here different?

They’re not different. I’m a little different. The vibe is the same. I met some guys from here last week I had never met before, and they were just really easygoing. All artist types—writing during the day and hanging out at bars at night. I miss that, I like that. I haven't really found that in California yet. I relocated there because my record got a little bit bigger, but I didn’t really find a music scene that I was a part of. There was something happening—there was kind of a reemerging Laurel Canyon sound. Jonathan Wilson, Father John Misty, and I really liked those guys. I felt like maybe I had something in common with them and I slipped right into that atmosphere really well.

Let’s talk Ultraviolence. The crop of the photo on the album cover is similar to the crop of your first two album covers.

I liked that, I wanted the continuity. I didn’t have that for the album cover at the time and I wanted it to be a continuation of the story. I did like the idea of it being in black and white so that there was, literally and figuratively more to be revealed. Even color-wise.

You wanted a continuation in aesthetic for this album cover, is that something that was important to you musically for Ultraviolence as well?

Yeah. Not being misleading in terms of your personal aesthetic, like your psyche coming through design-wise and musically—I like continuity.

You have this way of exacting your creative vision through so many different parts of your art—music videos, lyrics, tone and the melody, style of dress. Are those things that you plan ahead when you think about an album? Is it a concept that grows from one idea?

I don’t know. I was in college at Fordham when I was 18. I was living between Brooklyn and New Jersey and I was working with this guy who was more famous than anyone I had met at the time, this producer David Kahne. I had that record—you know they shelved it for two years—and I had all this time to think about what was really important to me and what I actually wanted to do if I had the opportunity to do what I wanted. I knew that I wanted to make life easy for myself in the way that I would always be living in a world I constructed and whatever felt true to me, regardless of however that appeared to other people. That definitely extended to song titles, whether I shot in black and white, hair color, things like that. It’s not really something that I planned ahead. I had a sense that I wanted the world I lived in to be really personalized to what I liked.

When I hear the words “ultra” and “violence,” I think about WorldStarHipHop. What does the phrase mean to you?

That’s funny. I feel connected to two emotions—aggression and softness. I like that luxe sound of the word “ultra” and the mean sound of the word “violence” together. I like that two worlds can live in one.

What’s the relationship between violence and love?

I like a physical love. I like a hands-on love. [Pauses.] How can I say this without getting into too much trouble? I like a tangible, passionate love. For me, if it isn’t physical, I’m not interested. Everything I do feels so organized: touring, playing a show night after night with a couple months in between to make a record, and being in charge of all of it—mixing, mastering. Sometimes I meet people with a lot of fire and energy. Mentally, maybe we’re not that similar. Telepathically, we’re not on that same wavelength. If there’s a physicality and a chemistry, that ends up winning for me every time because it’s the opposite of what I have every day.

Who’s the last person you met who made you feel like that?

Dan Auerbach, for better or for worse.

Do you think a “guilty pleasure” is a real thing?

Yes, but I don’t have many of them musically. I have tons of them in life.

Do tell.

Well, smoking is one of them. Sugar, coffee. I must have 13 cups a day. It’s a shame about the health consequences because a lot of great things happen over coffee and a cigarette. A lot of great songs were written.

Why did you choose to cover Nina Simone’s “The Other Woman” on Ultraviolence?

[Sings, “The other woman has time to manicure her nails, the other woman is perfect where her rival fails.”] I relate to being the person who people come to for “such a change from the old routine,” but not being the main thing. I had a long-term relationship for seven years with someone who was the head of a label and I felt like I was that change of routine. I was always waiting to become the person who his kids came home to, and it never happened. Obviously I had to seek other relationships, and I felt like that became a pattern. I was younger—24, 25 at the time. I had known what I wanted to do for a long time. I had been serious about music since high school, and I stopped drinking when I was 18. By 24, I was a pretty serious person. I thought I was a writer, and I was a singer. I thought I knew what I wanted my path to be. The people I was drawn to were already established, but they were probably looking for someone more on their level, age-wise. But I love the idea of wrapping up the record with a reference.

Many artists use obscure references to try to prove individuality and originality. Why do you go for icons like Marilyn, Elvis, and Jesus?

When I had put out only “Blue Jeans” and “Video Games,” I caught a lot of grief from journalists asking me why I was being so literal and obvious. I referenced things like Marilyn without trying to be accessible. I have a personal relationship with my perception of who Marilyn was. She was the kind of female who was really warm and giving. I like that type of girl who’s friendly and easy. I was always looking for girls like that as friends. I felt like I knew her in that way. And Jesus—I mean, being raised Catholic, it was just a way of life. Spirituality and religion were strong. I was in Catholic school until I was 13. Like a lot of other people, I think foundationally I was hymn inspired—musical hymns, not Him, Jesus. [Laughs.]

How did you meet Dan?

I met Dan at The Riviera strip club in Queens. He was with Tom Elmhirst, who’s an amazing mixer, and I was with Emile Haynie. Emile asked if I wanted to go hang out with them and I had a lot of fun for the first time in a long time. Dan had been mixing Ray Lamontagne’s record with Tom down at Electric Lady studios. And he left by the time I was there—Lee Foster gave me Electric Lady all by myself for three weeks.

Wow.

It was incredible. By the end of the three weeks I thought I was done. Then I met Dan and he said, “Why don’t we just go to Nashville and see what happens?” I went because it sounded like a good time. I didn’t want the party to end. I flew there with Lee and we rented a farm for six weeks. We drove to Dan’s studio on 8th Street every day and I loved it. He was what I was looking for, because he was a facilitator. He said “yes” a lot. If I was like, “I only want to sing this through once,” that was normal to him. It was natural that someone would like what they got on the first try. He was cool like that. [Lights a Parliament with her plastic purple lighter.]

You’ve been smoking cigarettes on stage a lot.

Dude, I have to. I can’t get through it.

Is it an addiction?

Yeah. I’m a chain-smoker.

How long have you been smoking?

Since I was 17. It’s crazy. That’s why I try to play mostly outdoor festivals. [Laughs.] Because 45 minutes into the set, when you’ve still got 45 more minutes to go, you need to smoke.

That’s a long time to be standing in front of people.

It’s a long time. If people come and see you at a show for 80 minutes they literally know everything about you. With 5,000 people coming, they film you so the people in the back can see you on the screens. There isn’t a moment when you can turn around and gather yourself. Everything you feel, everything you’re emoting, is just there. I have toured so much more than I thought I would; I thought I would be more of a studio singer. But I toured Europe for two years.

There was a time after Paradise came out when you said you weren’t sure that you were going to make any more music. What changed?

A year after Born to Die was released, a lot of people asked me what the new record would sound like and when it was going to come out. I said, “I don’t know if there will be another record.” I didn’t have songs that I felt were good or personal enough. Dan Auerbach changed things for me, and I have no idea why. He was just interested in me. That made me feel like maybe what I was doing was interesting. He gave me some confidence back. He listened to songs that were folk songs at the time, and he thought that maybe, with some revision, they could be more dynamic. I started to see a bigger picture. For me, if I don’t have a concept it’s not worth writing a whole album. I don’t like it if there’s no story.

There are a few different ways to take your song “Fucked My Way Up to the Top.” Is it about people not wanting to give you credit for your success? Or is it about fucking people to get to the top?

It’s commentary, like, “I know what you think of me,” and I’m alluding to that. You know, I have slept with a lot of guys in the industry, but none of them helped me get my record deals. Which is annoying.

What’s the worst relationship advice you’ve received?

That love doesn’t come easily and that relationships are supposed to be a struggle. Everything else is so hard; hopefully love is the one thing that is actually fun.

That reminds me of an Eartha Kitt interview clip you once posted. Asked about love and compromise, she says, “What is there to compromise? I fall in love with myself and I want someone to share it with me.”

She was so right-on with that. It’s nice to have a fiery relationship that enhances everything you do, that doesn’t feel like part of it is not what you want.

What is the most valuable thing that you’ve destroyed in life?

In terms of money?

It doesn’t have to be, but that works.

I don’t know. I don’t think money has had an influence on things I’ve sabotaged. But there are things.

What’s something you’ve destroyed that’s actually valuable to you?

Probably the relationship I’ve been in for the last three years. Definitely demolished that through tons of depression and insecurity. Now it’s just an untenable relationship, impossible because of my emotional instability.

Sometimes people do their best writing when fucked up.

And I am a little fucked up. This whole experience has fucked me up.

Fucked you up how?

I don’t know. It’s been hard. I was in a good place when I wrote my first record because I wrote it for fun, but then, I felt like everything that went with the record was heavy. I was also trying to deal with stuff with my family. The world was heavy for a couple years. That’s why I liked Dan: He was casual. It didn’t have to be so serious.

Speaking of non-serious, what restaurant has the best red sauce in the world?

That’s a good question. I go to the same place in Los Angeles all the time, Ago on Melrose. I order the same thing every time, penne alla vodka.

What were you listening to when you were writing?

I love jazz. I love Chet Baker’s documentary Let’s Get Lost, which influenced my video for “West Coast,” which Bruce Weber shot. I love Nina Simone and Billie Holiday like everybody else. I have a ’70s playlist that I listen to daily. A lot of Bob Seger, who I love. He’s probably the main person I listen to, and also the Eagles and Chris Isaak, Dennis Wilson and Brian Wilson. I like Echo and the Bunnymen, “Killing Moon”—just like single tracks.

Do you have a guilty pleasure song on that playlist?

No, they’re all pretty good.

You experienced a level of scrutiny that was very personal. How has that affected you?

The good thing about catching so much grief from critics is that you literally do not fucking care. It put me in a mind frame where I expect things not to go right, because they generally don’t. But it’s not a pessimistic place. The music is always good, in my opinion. That’s what I expect now from my career, that the music is going to be great and the reaction’s going to be fucked up.

Why do you think they reacted so vehemently to what you were making?

If they thought it was supposed to be categorized as pop music, that was the first mistake. It wasn’t made to be popular. It was more of a psychological music endeavor. I wasn’t out to make fun, verse-chorus-verse-chorus songs. I was unraveling my history through music. People were confused as to why I would stand on stage and just sing and not perform. To me, performing is just channeling and emoting through inflection, cadence, phrasing. That’s pretty different from what’s popular, so I think maybe they thought it shouldn’t be popular. What do you think?

It felt like you were being critiqued not as an artist or even a pop musician, but as a celebutante. You presented such a comprehensive, seemingly calculated project—the videos, the styling, the references, etc.—that people felt compelled to pick it apart.

It’s funny, because my process was natural. I remember making “Video Games,” and I did my makeup as I did it every day. I put my hair up like I did. I was wearing a dress and filming myself. I didn’t think that the juxtaposition with this found footage that I had taken from people’s honeymoons on Super 8 would get the reaction it did. The reaction to everything six years prior to that, from the day when YouTube was actually born, was a non-reaction. People just didn’t care.

Do you feel vindicated?

I feel a sense of relief, but I don’t feel vindicated.

How come?

I don’t feel like things have gone well. It’s not the way I would have chosen them to go. So it’s not like I feel everything’s turned around and it’s great.

You’ve got quite a few gold records, and a handful of platinum ones.

Yeah, but I still didn’t find that community of people I was looking for, like the way Bob Dylan found his friends, or the respect of being a writer. Because that gold and platinum stuff, it doesn’t mean as much if you’re walking down the street and you can hear people saying things about you. That doesn’t even out.

Originally published on complex.com with the headline Against the Grain.

Outtakes

Lana Del Rey’s third album, Honeymoon, is out today, just 15 months after her sophomore release, Ultraviolence, solidified her place in iconic American history. This past year she has proven her staying power both as one of the most beloved pop singers in the world,and one of its most candid speakers. When she talks to the press, an activity that is becoming increasingly rare, she seems to inevitably ignite conversation. Notable examples this past year include her comments about dying young and being disinterested in feminism—both of which Kim Gordon responded to with some choice words in her memoir—as well as meeting inventor/mogul/future-enthusiast Elon Musk.

When I interviewed her for the cover of Complex’s August/September 2014 Issue, we touched on the media. But Lana was less concerned with the chatter, and more concerned with finding a group of collaborators who respect her artistry and perspective as a writer, “like the way Bob Dylan found his friends.” From the outside, it looks like she is closer than she’s ever been, working with her sister, photographer Chuck Grant, for the Honeymoon promo art, teaming up with “Shades of Cool” director Jake Nava for the literally explosive “High by the Beach” music video, contributing to the debut solo album of close friend Emile Haynie, who executive produced Born to Die, and finding new artistic synergies with artists like the Weeknd.

The more we learn about Lana, the more complete a portrait of a living, breathing human being we are able to piece together. In celebration of the release of her third album, we revisit some of the unpublished quotes from our interview that took place May 12, 2014, on the roof of Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel. Read them below.

On Doing “Ride” With Rick Rubin

I was writing that Paradise edition, and originally was writing it as a follow-up record, but nobody wanted to release something eight months later. It ended up being a re-release-slash-second edition, and I loved this demo I did with Justin Parker, who I wrote a lot of things with like “Video Games” and “Born to Die,” “National Anthem,” and Ferdy Unger-Hamilton at EMI hated the song. So I think him and Rick had been talking and Rick was like, “What’s going on with Lana? Can she come over, I hear she’s in L.A.” I think I had been over to say “Hi” to him first. Just to say “hi.” We took a walk in Santa Monica—he takes the same walking route every morning. Then a few weeks later I brought him “Ride,” and he really liked it. Working with him was good, I was still in my old car, my old Mercedes that was barely making it down that hour-and-a-half drive down to Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, and it was really good. He has this sprawling lawn with all these bunnies and palm trees. He was very relaxed. It was good.

On Being a Fan of Rufus Wainwright

I love him. I had this terrible experience with Rufus Wainwright actually. I was like, a long time fan of him and his sister. It’s actually why I signed with my initial label, 5 Points Records, because the boss there, David, was great friends with Loudon, their father. I thought that was amazing. Anyways, I had been waiting to meet him for a long time, and I was singing at the Montreux Jazz Festival, I think two years ago. I had a really bad show. I couldn’t hear anything on stage because my in-ears stopped working. I was having a moment backstage and Rufus came to say “Hi,” and I was trying to compliment him in between stifled sobs. I think he thought I was insane.

On Being a Fan of Martha Wainwright

She’s one of the few females I totally relate to. I love the way she uses her voice in a way that kind of explains things. The words aren’t the only things that tell a story, it’s her inflections too. That’s why I really like Cat Power. She’s my biggest female inspiration in a way. I signed with my first manager because he was managing Martha six years ago, Peter Leak, and I always hoped I’d meet her. Hers was one of the few shows I saw at the Bowery Ballroom.

On the Most Important Person She Ever Shared a Cigarette With

Probably my manager, who is still my manager, Ben Mawson, over the last four years. He doesn’t smoke anymore, but he used to smoke more than me and drink 12 beers a day. I met him, he told me to just come to London and I did. I just went and met him. I think they were at Shoreditch House, so we went on the roof and had a cigarette. He felt like I was really worried about everything, and he told me that he had a plan and that everything was going to go OK and not to worry. He was very aggressive, and he was such a believer. So probably with Ben, I guess.

On Making Art Vs. Satisfying the Major Label Machine

I came in in a unique position in that “Video Games” had so many views, and that was the reason why Jimmy Iovine at Interscope and Ferdy Unger-Hamilton at Polydor had called me on that day and wanted to revisit the record and hear it again.

So I got signed on great terms because the discussions we were having were that it was always going to be my way. I liked coming from this DIY place where if I had a single that they really felt like they wanted to put money behind or promote—I liked knowing it was an option that I could make my own video at home for it, like I did with “Video Games.” Eventually I tired of that, graduated to working with other people. But in that way I was in a really good place after the record was done with its cycle.

I think the label was half-and-half on this record [Ultraviolence] because there were a lot of jazz undertones and West Coast references. I think they were happy that I was happy with it and that I made it. I don’t think they felt like there were singles that could work at radio. And I kind of felt that, because I have such a good relationship with Jimmy and Ferdy. I’ve been working, “working” [makes air quotes], singing, for years. So the people I’m closest with are like my product manager and the video commissioner, because they’re really good girls. The A&R guys—Larry Jackson and John, if I go out at night I probably go out with them. We’re pretty flexible with each other, but it always come down to differences. For example, the bonus tracks on this record I didn’t feel like had any relation to the atmosphere of the record itself. I think iTunes was like, “You would have trouble promoting a record if it didn’t have a deluxe edition,” so, there’s stuff like that.

On the Worst Relationship Advice She Ever Received

That love doesn’t come easily and that relationships are supposed to be a struggle. I think that everything else is so hard that hopefully love is the one thing that actually is the fun part of it. [I] have had some very practical, down-to-earth advice about love that I choose not to follow. It’s the same with money too. You’re supposed to work your whole life, work really hard for everything you get. I think maybe a better strategy is to just fall in love with what you do and hope that whatever you make from that monetarily is enough to have an easy life.

Originally published on complex.com on September 18, 2015, with the headline Lana Del Rey Talks Idolizing Cat Power, Looking Up to the Wainwrights, and Ignoring Bad Relationship Advice.

#2014 #Ultraviolence #Complex #Dana Droppo

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corporativoarcanos · 30 days

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Ore dake Level Up na Ken (Solo Leveling) T1 HD Anime Japonés Eps. 1 al 12

-Descripción: Ha pasado más de una década desde la repentina aparición de las "puertas", los caminos que conectan nuestro mundo con una dimensión diferente. Desde entonces, ciertos humanos han despertado a poderes sobrenaturales. A estos individuos los llamamos "cazadores". Los cazadores se ganan la vida usando sus poderes para conquistar mazmorras dentro de las puertas. En este mundo de clientes difíciles, el cazador de bajo rango Jinwoo Sung es conocido como "el cazador más débil de toda la humanidad". Un día, Jinwoo resulta fatalmente herido cuando se topa con mazmorras dobles de alto rango escondidas dentro de una mazmorra de bajo rango. En ese momento, aparece una ventana de misión misteriosa frente a él. Al borde de la muerte, Jinwoo decide aceptar la misión y comienza a subir de nivel... mientras que los demás no lo hacen.Disfruta de nuestro contenido y entra a nuestra web como redes sociales para ver mucho mas.. El siguiente contenido a ver no es de nuestra autoría los derechos están reservados al autor de la obra y al estudio de la adaptación Episodio 01 Episodio 02 Episodio 03 Episodio 04 Episodio 05 Episodio 06 Episodio 07 Episodio 08 Episodio 09 Episodio 10 Episodio 11 Episodio 12 Ore dake Level Up na Ken (Solo Leveling) T2 Catalogo 2024 Series de Anime Esperamos que les guste el contenido recuerda compartir lo y dejar tu DONACION eso nos apoyara Read the full article

#OredakeLevelUpnaKen(SoloLeveling)#SeriesdeAnime #Temporada1

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tioplagg · 1 month

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youtube

Solo Leveling ep 11✋🤴🤚 Longa vida ao REI!!! (Análise) -HD #análise #solo...

#youtube

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doublesama · 1 month

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I have some manga reviews coming over the next few weeks, with the first being Citrus.

Sun - One Piece Ep. 1097 Mon - Citrus (Manga) Tue - Reincarnated as a Sword Wed - Mahoako Ep. 12 Thu - Chained Soldier Ep. 12 Fri - Frieren Ep. 28 Sat - Solo Leveling Ep. 11

#one piece #solo leveling #frieren: beyond journey's end #chained soldier #gushing over magical girls

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dailyexo · 2 years

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[NEWS] EXO - 211215 Harper’s Bazaar: “The Top 15 K-Pop Albums of 2021″

"When it comes to K-pop, the album experience is a journey that holds immense cultural weight. It’s a land where B-side tracks are just as important as lead singles, and each record is tailored to provide listeners with the ultimate experience while shaping the sonic identity of the artist behind it. This year, the strongest albums of 2021 ranged from traditional pop perfection to low-key R&B and alt-rock heaven—showcasing the musical variety of the ultra-popular genre. Ahead, the top 15 K-albums and EPs that made a major impact in 2021.

공감 (Empathy) by D.O.

After years of anticipation from fans, EXO’s tender-hearted vocalist, D.O., finally made his solo debut with 공감 (Empathy). Like his fellow bandmates-turned-soloists, D.O. had the freedom to choose whichever route best suited him—some fans thought it’d be smooth R&B; others figured he’d go with ballads. Fortunately for us, he tiptoed into both sides of the pool and came out with something much more sincere and true to his character. 공감 (Empathy) is the acoustic-pop-R&B dream the world needed after the nightmare that was 2020. D.O.'s always had a rich quality to his voice, but in songs like “It’s Love” and “I’m Fine,” he's able to convey romance with each syllable.

Don’t Fight the Feeling by EXO

The K-pop community fell to its knees when EXO announced its latest “special album.” With some members of the group coming home from military service and others starting to enlist, the likelihood of a group comeback seemed pretty low. Thankfully, Don’t Fight the Feeling provided the hopefulness and excitement many yearned for again. The title track, named after its EP, is infectiously cheerful and an undeniable love letter to EXO’s unwavering fan base, EXO-L. The reason this record works so well is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously—you can actually feel the love and care that went into recording each track. As epic as the group’s studio albums are, it’s still a treat to see them let loose and just enjoy each other. Through fan favorites like the funky “Paradise” and the criminally underrated “Just as usual,” Don’t Fight the Feeling offers comfort for those who had forgotten how magical EXO is when they’re together.

11.

Peaches by KAI

The EXO member has proven there’s so much more to him than meets the eye since his 2020 solo debut. Exactly one year after releasing his eclectic self-titled album, KAI marked his solo return with Peaches. Staying true to the sound created in 2020’s KAI (开), Peaches expands on R&B and hip-hop landscapes with hints of pop and lo-fi elements. But songs like the eponymous title track and the indie-pop-based “Vanilla” are relatively lighthearted and earnest compared to their predecessors. As some have pointed out, Peaches is the daytime equivalent to KAI (开)’s sultry nighttime escapades. Still, that doesn’t mean KAI’s gone fully soft on us, as noted in “Domino”—a place where the singer embraces his lower register wholeheartedly. As someone who was never at the forefront of EXO’s vocal line, he’s clearly come a long way from his “MAMA” days.

15.

Bambi by Baekhyun

EXO/SuperM member Baekhyun is a constant beacon of light. In his EP Bambi, the vocalist taunts his listeners with breezy falsettos, sophisticated runs, and a rich lower register—enough to send chills down the spine. Bambi is structured around evolving emotions within a relationship. Starting hopeful, “Love Scene” is a tender wish for everlasting love, something you’d find in the movies. But ending in a state of hopelessness, the record closes the chapter with a grieving “Cry for Love”—questioning where it all went wrong. With six distinctive levels of pop, R&B, soul, and jazz, Baekhyun pours his heart out without regret."

Credit: Harper's Bazaar.

#EXO #EXO K #EXO M #211215 #exo im #exo k im #exo m im #t:news #album:don't fight the feeling #album:empathy #album:peaches #album:bambi #fs:harpers bazaar #comeback:Fight

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yehet-me-up · 2 years

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Byun Baekhyun 변백현 🐶 Overview

Byun Baekhyun is a South Korean singer, songwriter and actor. He is a main vocalist in EXO, EXO-CBX, and the leader of South Korean supergroup SuperM. Baekhyun has been labeled as the "Genius Idol," and is regarded as having one of the best vocals in Kpop. His solo songs and individual albums have broken records across the world, and he has also participated in numerous acting projects and variety shows. He keeps fans entertained on his multiple social media platforms, has a very cute corgi, and is one of the only men to look good with a mullet. Please join me in celebrating EXO’s 🐶

This post is part of an effort to celebrate the accomplishments of EXO over the past 10 years and to provide tangible avenues for supporting these artists in 2022 (when they will likely be leaving SM Ent.) and beyond 🖤

Baekhyun began training to be a singer when he was 11 years old, influenced by South Korean singer Rain. In High School he was the lead singer in a band called Honsusangtae (lit. "coma") and won a local music festival. In addition to musical activities, Baekhyun trained as a martial artist in his youth and has a dan 3 black belt in Hapkido.

His first solo song, titled "Beautiful" as the soundtrack for the EXO Next Door, became the first soundtrack single from a web drama to top digital charts. “Dream,” his collab with Miss A’s Suzy, won first place five times on music show programs, sold over 1.3 million copies, and debuted at number one on the Gaon chart. His collab with Soyou entitled “Rain” reached number one on every South Korean online music chart, an achievement known as "all-kill.”

His first solo mini-album, City Lights, sold over 500,000 copies in July 2019, breaking the Gaon Chart record for the highest monthly album sales by a solo artist. The second mini-album, Delight, garnered over 732,000 pre-orders, making it the most pre-ordered album by a soloist in South Korean history. On July 1st, it was announced that the album had sold more than 1,000,000 copies, making it the first solo album in South Korea to do so since Another Days in 2001. In 2021 his self-titled Japanese debut album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. In March that same year he released his third Korean mini-album, Bambi, which replaced Delight as the most pre-ordered album by a solo artist in South Korea at over 833.000 copies. It debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart and is Baekyun's second consecutive Korean-language album to have sold over 1 million copies.

Since May 6, 2021, Baekhyun has been enlisted in South Korea's mandatory military service as a public service worker. His expected discharge date is February 5th, 2023 and we eagerly look forward to both his return and to the amazing creative endeavors that are sure to follow!

*Due to time/energy levels (not because I don’t love Baekhyun!) I won’t be including links this time, but this should be a thorough summary of his projects, music-related and otherwise :) His songs and albums are all available to listen on Spotify and Youtube, and his albums are for sale at most major retailers!*

🎵 Individual Music 🎶

🌃 City Lights (2019) First mini-album/EP 🌃

1. UN Village 2. Stay Up with Beenzino 3. Betcha 4. Ice Queen 5. Diamond 6. Psycho (bonus track)

🍩 Delight (2020) Second mini-album/EP 🍩

1. Candy 2. R U Ridin’? 3. Bungee 4. Underwater 5. Poppin’ 6. Ghost 7. Love Again

🐆 Baekhyun (2021) First Japanese mini-album/EP 🐆

1. Get You Alone 2. Addicted 3. Whippin’ 4. Drown 5. Disappeared 6. Stars

⚡️ Bambi (2021) Third mini-album/EP ⚡️

1. Love Scene 2. Bambi ∴ BRLLNT remix | H4rdy remix Baek 3. All I Got 4. Amusement Park (놀이공원) 5. Privacy 6. Cry for Love

🚀 Singles and OSTs 🚀

⇢ Dear My Family with SM artists (2012) Non-Album Single ⇢ Beautiful (두근거려) from Exo Next Door OST (2015) ⇢ One Dream, One Korea (2015) Non-Album Single ⇢ Like Rain, Like Music (비처럼 음악처럼) cover from 2015 Gayo Daejun Limited Edition (2015) ⇢ Dream with Suzy (2016) Non-Album Single ⇢ The Day with K.Will (2016) SM Station single ⇢ Rain (비가와) with Soyou (2017) Non-Album single ⇢ Take You Home (바래다줄게) (2017) SM Station single ⇢ Young with Loco (2018) SM Station single ⇢ My Love (너를 사랑하고 있어) from Dr. Romantic 2 OST (2020) ⇢ On the Road (너에게 가는 이 길 위에서 (너.이.길)) from Hyena OST (2020) ⇢ Garden in the Air cover (2020) from SM Station: Our Beloved BoA ⇢ Leo (나비와 고양이) with Bol4 from Puberty Book II Pum (2020) ⇢ Every Second (나의 시간은) from Record of Youth OST (2020) ⇢ Happy from Do You Like Brahms? OST (2020) ⇢ Runner with Changmo and Raiden (2021) Non-Album Single ⇢ Hurt with Seo Moontak (2021) Non-Album Single ⇢ U from Doom at Your Service OST (2021) ⇢ Is It Me? (나인가요 백현) from Lovers of the Red Sky OST (2021) ⇢ Doll (인형) cover with Doyoung from Rewind: Blossom(2021) ⇢ When Dawn Comes Again (또 새벽이 오면) with Colde (2021) Non-Album Single

🎭 Acting Roles 🎭

⇢ (2016) Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo TV Series -10th Prince Wang Eun ⇢ (2014) Singin’ in the Rain musical - Don Lockwood

📺 Other TV Credits 📺

⇢ (2014) Inkigayo weekly music show - co-host ⇢ (2016) Idol Chef King cooking show - guest ⇢ (2017) Master Key variety show - recurring cast Episode 4 ⇢ (2019) Five Cranky Brothers pilot ⇢ (2020) Things That Make Me Groove variety show ⇢ (2020) Mtopia TV Mini Series 2020 ⇢ (2020) All That tv series ⇢ (2020) After School Activities: Dong Dong Shin Ki reality show ∴ eps 8-9 ⇢ (2021) Drink With God tv variety show ∴ Season 1 episodes | Season 2 ⇢ (2021) K-Pop Evolution TV Series documentary

🏆 Awards 🏆

🕺🏻 Fashion + Brands 🕺🏻

⇢ In May 2017, Baekhyun collaborated with Montblanc for the brand's digital watch and released the advertisement video on social media. ⇢ 2018 Vogue announced Baekhyun collaborated with Privé, and would be launching his own brand, "Privé by BBH", a unisex street-wear brand, on July 1. Baekhyun is now the co-creative director of the brand. In an interview with Forbes, Baekhyun explained that he wants to "encourage people to embody being fearless" when they wear clothes from his brand. ⇢ 2020 Tir Tir Global Brand Ambassador Baek ⇢ 2020 Burberry Ambassador Baek ⇢ 2021 Lifepharm Ambassador Baek

🌟 Miscellaneous 🌟

⇢ Smtown Live Culture Humanity: Hope ⇢ On January 3, 2021, Baekhyun held his first solo concert, Baekhyun: Light. Broadcast through Beyond Live, the concert drew 110,000 viewers from 120 countries. ⇢ 2020 He was featured on the cover of Harper's Bazaar Korea October issue, making him the first K-Pop male artist to be featured solo on the magazine's cover. ⇢ Twinkle 2012 Girls' Generation-TTS music video ⇢ Dance with D.O.C 2014 remake music video ⇢ On February 5, 2018, Baekhyun performed the South Korean national anthem at the opening ceremony of the 132nd International Olympic Committee (IOC) session. ⇢ His songwriting credits include EXO’s 2013 song “Lucky” and 2017′s Ko Ko Bop. ⇢ Baekhyun Instagram lives playlist ⇢ Magazine Covers listed here ⇢ In November 2016, Baekhyun began participating in SM Entertainment's League of Legends tournament "2016 S.M. Super Celeb League", where he and labelmate Heechul played the game with both professional players and fans from South Korea and China.

⇢ Follow Baekhyun on Instagram @ baekhyunee_exo, Twitter @ b_hundred_byun, and YouTube @ Baekhyun

Thank you for supporting EXO Baekhyun 😘

And if you want to help spread this post to folks who haven’t experienced the magic of Baekhyun yet, please reblog this and tell me what your favorite Baekhyun moments and performances are! ✨

#baekhyun #exo #exo baekhyun #city lights #delight #bambi #candy #genius idol #privé #un village #get you alone

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armorsleevedsinglehit · 3 years

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the huge shippuden music meta

no one asked for this but i’m gonna write it anyway. i’m going to focus primarily on the shippuden soundtrack here, but expect some references to the original series soundtrack as well. also before i begin i know approximately two (2) music so some of my terminology is probably going to be incorrect lol, it’s been a while since college. this is a general shippuden meta but it does focus on the uchiha clan, in particular sasuke and madara.

anyway, to start off, you can pretty easily divide the shippuden soundtrack into a few general categories:

traditional and/or acoustic

electric guitar tracks

some combination of these, plus orchestra hits aplenty

there are a few odd ducks here and there, but no worries, we’ll get to them. and then within these general categories we have a series of recurring character motifs (which can be a bit muddled, because certain themes are used for multiple characters. i assume that naruto (the show) isn’t necessarily scored the way a film would be, and so the directors just slapped whatever dramatic/sad/upbeat music they could find onto a scene, esp if it’s a filler ep, which definitely generates some confusion.) but characters and groups in shippuden DO sort of get their own motifs and themes, so here is my very basic list of those as well:

uzumaki clan and its descendants/allies: “emergence of talents/hyakkaryōran” has a very cool melody towards the end that comes back in “narukami/weeping god” and “shoryu/rising dragon”. we can basically call this the protagonist theme. naruto, sakura, kakashi, jiraiya, most of the konoha 11, and even minato get to claim this one. however, VERY interestingly, narukami is what plays when tobi (as madara) is telling sasuke about the glory days of the uchiha clan... possibly hinting at greater connections between the two clans???????????

akatsuki-related themes: i won’t link a ton of these because they’re super obvious. they’re often full of choir and organ (harkening back to orochimaru’s original series theme); they also tend to be slower. not always, though; look at crimson flames, a slapper if i ever heard one. prime example of akatsuki themes: girei, my FAVORITE bit of the shippuden soundtrack. UGH.

general shippuden themes: things like hurricane suite, heaven-shaking event, etc. most of the first ost goes in here. this category also contains the closest approximation to hashirama’s theme that i could find, experienced many battles and departure to the front lines, which both make me cry lol

there are other fun little motifs and bits and bobs that appear in this soundtrack that i won’t get into here for length (remind me to talk about the angelic herald of death sometime), but it’s a remarkably cohesive piece of work to the point where it gets repetitive sometimes; why are all the super interesting tracks unreleased!!!!??? anyway the purpose of this meta is to attempt to make sense of the way this soundtrack works. we’ll investigate sasuke primarily because i feel that he really ties the whole soundtrack together, and you can extrapolate a lot from the way his theme evolves.

sasuke’s theme (wandering/hyouhaku), yes the dramatic cowboy music theme, is this wonderfully atmospheric track that makes use of the kind of negative space between guitar strums to build up this aura, this Essence of Sasuke. this alone makes it stand apart from other mostly-acoustic pieces on the soundtrack, to me. the whole thing is just humming with this simmering frustration and melancholy and it really gives you a sense of sasuke as this tortured figure who has been severely wronged and experienced the world’s faults firsthand. notably, this version of sasuke’s theme lifts its opening notes (and structure, sorta) from sasuke’s original series theme, which i assume was on purpose. it shows that he’s grown jaded as he got older, i think.

anyway, as the inevitable battle between sasuke and itachi draws closer, we get our first variation on sasuke’s theme: black spot/kokuten. it has the same melody and structure as before, but features heavier guitars, more orchestration, and, in the final bars, notes that previously fell on 1 and 4 but now fall on 1 and 3, which bring a heightened sense of urgency to the whole thing. and more importantly, it ends without resolving itself? it leaves us hanging on this almost call-and-response bit with one wailing guitar after another, before winding the orchestration down and fizzling back down to the level of “wandering.” here we see a sasuke in progress, if you will, working towards a goal that some may find sinister, but he is determined if nothing else, and the instruments match his fervor. it’s roughly analogous to “crimson flames” in terms of intensity, but it’s very distinctly Sasuke.

there are several more variations of sasuke’s theme floating around, but the next one i want to talk about is this one called “sasuke’s ninja way,” apparently, never officially released but relentlessly employed by the anime directors. it takes a more subtle turn than “black spot,” but i don’t see it as a direct sequel to “wandering” for a few different reasons. i think it represents the dilemma sasuke found himself after finally killing itachi and learning the truth about him: the realization that this whole quest for power of his was never really about revenge on one specific person, but rather about reforming the shinobi world as a whole. it’s slower than “black spot,” yet darker, more ominous; it treads the same general path as “wandering” but with added electric guitar, and, notably, choir. recall that choir is often used for themes related to the akatsuki, which i think ties in neatly with sasuke’s motivations at this point. he, like nagato before him, wants to remake the world.

the final iteration of sasuke’s theme, “sasuke’s revolution/junkyousha,” brings it all together. the akatsuki is commonly represented through choir and organ, and this theme starts out with both of these cranked up to the max. this is (pardon the pun) sasuke’s rebirth, if you will. just combine the intensity of “girei,” the anger of “crimson flames,” and the determination of “emergence of talents” and you’re there. seriously: this culmination of sasuke’s character development basically pulls from every single facet of the soundtrack and produces this MASSIVELY rich piece full of anger and rage and hate and fury, while STILL managing to include the twangy guitar bits from “wandering” (which have gone back to 1 and 4!!). we also have someone going ham on a shamisen towards the end of the track, which calls to mind the shamisen solo from “emergence of talents” and other tracks. hinting at an eventual compromise with naruto, possibly?

anyway, i started out this meta trying to find a piece of the soundtrack that could serve as madara’s theme, but i wasn’t sure that one existed. i think the susano’o has a theme, and the uchiha clan has a theme, but....madara just doesn’t?? sure there are unreleased tracks like “legendary uchiha,” but i’d argue that doesn’t really go into his character as much as it just says “watch out for this fucking guy.”

but then i listened to hurricane suite one more time, and i was like HOLY SHIT THIS IS IT. for one thing, it’s long as fuck: this track is a whole journey. it really gives the impression of someone who has lived an impossibly long life and become jaded and cruel and hardened. i realize that the argument could be made that hurricane suite is sasuke’s theme, not madara’s, or that it’s a general shippuden theme and doesn’t represent one character in particular. and yes, i think both of these interpretations are correct. hurricane suite represents what sasuke could POTENTIALLY turn out to be, given his evolution from “wandering” to “black spot” to “sasuke’s ninja way” all the way to “sasuke’s revolution.” hurricane suite warns us that sasuke can (and very well may!) make the same mistakes madara did and end up destroying himself in the process. (the middle of “hurricane suite” GREATLY resembles “wandering.”) and recall that hurricane suite is used in the very first episode of shippuden: the episode where naruto encounters sasuke for the first time, AND- are you ready for this- when madara’s name is dropped for the first time in the series.

this is why i think that, along with it being a general shippuden theme, hurricane suite is also madara’s theme. shippuden as a whole is practically suffocating under the oppressive weight of madara’s presence, right from the very first episode. even before he’s introduced, he is VERY much there. so much of madara’s character is established before he even shows up. we hear so much about him from other characters (kurama, itachi, obito, hashirama), and as such our view of madara changes drastically over the course of the series. and guess what plays when itachi shows sasuke that genjutsu of madara stealing izuna’s eyes?

anyway, in my opinion and in my interpretation of the character, the music fits him perfectly. it starts out all low and choral with these slow ominous drums and deep strings, and this violin comes in that sounds like it’s weeping. we hear something like a heartbeat that grows darker over time, before the music comes to some sort of resolution, an inflection point, and the brass comes in heavy. NOW we’re dealing with the orchestra, three quarters of the way into the song, and we’ve got strings and drums set to a marching pace, more choral chanting, climbing strings and shamisen tumbling down the scales. it sounds like grief!!

and note that yes, this track is used in the very first episode of shippuden, during naruto and sasuke’s first encounter. but it is ALSO used during the scene in hashirama’s flashback when izuna is mortally wounded and madara makes the decision to abandon the clan on the battlefield to take care of him, despite his better judgment and hashirama’s offering of peace. the inflection point in the music represents a very real inflection point in madara’s life: the loss of his last brother. (it always comes back to that, doesn’t it.)

#meta #madara uchiha #sasuke uchiha #uchiha clan #almost 2000 words churned out in one evening. [stares at fic] [sighs]#long post

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