rōnin // ibaraki feat. gerard way

Propaganda

Machiko Kyō (Rashomon, Floating Weeds, Older Brother Younger Sister)— Considered an early sex symbol in Japanese cinema. Also just an ethereal beauty who can also go feral/unhinged in a glorious way.

Judy Garland (Meet Me In St. Louis, A Star is Born, Summer Stock)— Judy is the GOAT when it comes to classic movie musicals. The voice of an angel who deserved so much better than she got. She can sing she can dance she can act she's a triple threat. Though she had a turbulent personal life (her treatment as a child star by the studio system makes me mad as hell like Louis b Mayer fight me ((she was made to believe that she was physically unattractive by the constant criticism of film executives who made her feel ugly and who manipulated her onscreen appearance by capping her teeth and using discs in her nose to change its shape and Mayer called her "my little hunchback" like imagine hearing that as a child and not having damage)) she always goddamn delivered on screen and in any performance she gave. She began in vaudeville performing with her sisters and was signed to MGM at 13. Starting out in supporting parts especially paired with mickey Rooney in a bunch of films (she's the best part tbh) she eventually transferred to the lead role. She is best known for her starring role in movie musicals like the iconic Wizard of Oz (somewhere over the rainbow still hits hard and is ranked the top film song of all time), meet me in St. Louis (Judy singing have your self a merry little Christmas brings tears to the eyes she is that powerful), the Harvey girls (she looks like a technicolor dream and sings a catchy af song about trains), Easter parade ( dancing and singing with Fred Astaire), for me and my gal, the pirate, and summer stock ( with pal Gene Kelly who she helped when he was starting out and he helped her when she was struggling). But she also does non- singing just as well like the clock ( her first movie where she sings no songs and is an underrated ww2 era romance), her Oscar nominated a star is born ( like the man that got away she put her whole soul in that and I have beef with the fact she lost to grace kelly ((whom I love but like still not even her best work)), and judgement at Nuremberg (a courtroom drama about the nazi war criminal trials). Outside of film she made concert appearances to record-breaking audiences, released 8 studio albums, and had her own Emmy-nominated tv series. She was the youngest (39) and first female recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. Girl was a lifelong democrat and was a financial and moral supporter of many causes including the civil rights movement (she was at the March on Washington and held a press conference to protest the 16th street Baptist church bombings). She was a friend of the Kennedy family and would call jfk weekly often ending the calls by singing the first few lines of somewhere over the rainbow (she thought of them as Gemini twins).She was a member of the committee for the first amendment which was formed in response to the HUAC investigations. Though she died far too young and tragically she remains an icon for her work and her life. As a girl who didn't feel like i was as pretty as everyone else I have always felt a connection to Judy and I just really love her.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Machiko Kyō:

Judy:

Judy's voice alone qualifies her for at least top ten hottest HOT VINTAGE MOVIE WOMEN. She was a truly incredible swing singer, with a stunning voice on top of her technique. Her short dark hair looked incredible in just about any style. Have I mentioned her swagger? I can’t do it justice with words. She had swagger. She was funny as hell, and clever too. Incredibly charming and cool. I adore her.

Her eyes, her voice have bewitched me

I mean how can you beat the one and only Judy? She's beautiful, her smile is contagious, the way she sings with her whole body. You can't help but love her.

Beautiful woman, love her singing voice. And she can do everything between happy or silly and angry or heartbroken

the way house of leaves has been revived for a cult following is so funny. it's completely backwards! it was a music industry book. the singer poe, who made waves with her debut for having a few tracks produced by j dilla and then if i remember correctly doing a 500+ show tour, essentially tanked her career to promote the book (written by her brother)

not like on purpose but it was supposed to be a paired project and there was a remix with a book excerpt read by mark (the kyrie bmw sex scene) and like, i don't know, a tie-in website -- but then her label got sold or merged or acquired and the project was eventually cancelled after languishing in limbo for a few years. there's also an aspect of this where like, a texas oil executive posed as a friend of her late father (possibly true) in order to manipulate legal proceedings (?) to ultimately own her writing and recording copyrights post-acquisition (dubious allegation, which also relies on her having signed away both types of copyright to her label in the first place, arguably a larger problem spanning the whole industry, even today, still coming up in legal proceedings from kesha and taylor swift and so on)

anyway the album (haunted) and the book were both inspired by the same event (death of their father, tad danielewsky -- as an aside, a professor of theater at brigham young university). the album features samples from a box of cassette tape recordings of his voice. and also some fake samples from a couple of guys pretending to be tad danielewski with an obviously ridiculous accent and a couple of kids pretending to be her as a kid. and it takes place inside the house. the growl is there and everything i swear

it really was one of the top tier 90s concept albums (it was released in 2000 actually) but it is usually FAR too much to handle for casual listening and a lot of it comes across difficult for being so sincere and so unfocused (it is a love letter to her dead father where one of the songs is a list of places she's gotten fucked, because, uh, this is a conversation she wanted to have with him. shrug). and yet it's hard not to take it as it is because it's so consistently well produced

so i know nobody's computer comes with a cd player anymore but to read the book without listening to the paired album implicitly packed in the back of the book jacket is kind of like missing the whole point. there's a whole second act of rashomon you guys are missing. and a third act hello the etsy teleplays. ANYWAY the point i wanted to make is that there are a couple of things about the album sticking to the roof of my mouth as being somehow prescient. there's a distorted "why (are you) so serious" sample that would have come across VERY differently post-joker, but there's also "tell me something dangerous and true," a far more interesting variation on the theme currently circulating. and i'm speaking to an empty room here because it's only the celibate 60% of this website who is reading the book because it allows them a patina of literary validity and several nested unreliable narrators to distance themselves from the sex scenes, but haunted is very authentically, directly and exclusively written in first person and to be honest it fucks too hard for you guys. i'm sorry

Hi there! I hope you're having a good day 💗💗. If possible, could you please do how the Bsd men would react to having a popular singer s/o? They could be like Robin from Hsr. If you don't know her, that's fine!

I believe Chuuya would buy your albums as soon as they're released and get VIP seats every single time. He would make sure to attend your concerts, no matter what.

Dazai would be like this:

chuuya ! buys VIP tickets the moment they come out. he doesn’t care you said he can get a free seat, the money goes to support you and your career. when the flow of your voice overtakes him, he’s awestruck by everything. the energetic dances, the sheen and shine of your costume and just you.

chuuya ! forces the mafia’s cafeteria to forever keep on loop your music during lunch hours. every single member of can recite both the oath to the organization and every song you’ve ever released. for every day of the week, it’s one of your albums or collaborations with other critically acclaimed musicians.

chuuya ! reminds you to take care of yourself. his girl can’t sing with a sleep-riddled voice, nor can she possibly dance with such sore feet, can she? no, you can’t, and so he smothers his care onto you. making healthy and delicious meals that your nutritionist approves of, running a hot bath filled with strawberry scented bubbles and a plate of fruit nearby. and of course, making honey laden tea for your throat to better aid your vocal cords.

chuuya ! has at least four of his most experienced and talented men guarding you when you’re out in public openly. stalkers and other obsessive fans are a common occurrence in your life, and he always has nightmares about someone kidnapping you or god forbid, killing you. an idol has to be protected, and he doesn’t trust anyone but himself to make sure you’re safe.

chuuya ! helps you make album covers and song lyrics. he’s seen so much in his life, and pouring out his story into a seamless chorus of melodies resonated to him. your album covers are always quite elaborate too—whatever you need, he can get it within a day. all he wants to see is your career flourish and for your bright smile to encourage the ones who are stuck in a limbo, just like how he was before you pulled him out from the abyss.

dazai ! runs your biggest fan account. countless glamorized edits and paragraphs that praise you as the ‘best singer in the world’. sometimes if you allow it, he uploads short videos recording your shared karaoke nights. your devotees can easily tell the different between your and his voices—one perfect and akin to orpheus, and the other screeching about suicide.

dazai ! infamously also doxes your haters on a separate and well hidden account. sadly, he’s one of the main contributors to why your fanbase has a reputation for being vicious and overly aggressive towards people who don’t like you. he thinks they deserve it though. you go through so much darkness, and negative comments don’t need to make you cry even more.

dazai ! keeps a shrine dedicated to you in the corner of the living room. merch, posters, vinyls and more are neatly arranged on shelves and small tables. not even a single speck of dust taints the sacred space. his wallet cries at how thin and malnourished it is, begging for even an ounce of yen, but his heart is full with pure adoration for you.

dazai ! sends akutagawa to your concerts when kunikida doesn’t let him go due to dozens of missing work assignments and orders. if he can’t go in person, he’ll watch from facetime and babble about you into the phone while akutagawa gets the perfect angle and view using rashomon. and when you shout out his name as your muse at the end of the performance, he melts into a pile of mushy lovesick goo.

dazai ! thinks his biggest achievement is being your muse. the thought that he’s the inspiration for some of your biggest songs and lyrics makes him want to be the best boyfriend he can be. he’s no demon prodigy, no suicidal maniac or womanizer. he’s just a heavenly muse destined to help steer you on the right track with his heart in your hands.

Tags:

@twst-om-lover, @sinfulthoughtsposts, @starrs20, @little-miss-chaoss, @secretlyagoblin, @broken-spirit101, @briarbabyxo

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #73: “Curling Flower Space” | November 19, 1999 | S06E05

One of my all time favorites! This one starts with the ending of the fictitious filming of Brilliant Number Three (labeled #44c). They then do a postmortem on the show in a Rashomon style, with Jerry Springer being forced to stay late to listen to it.

Space Ghost, Zorak, and Moltar take turns telling their version of the events, which all involve Space Ghost making a pass at Sarah Jessica Parker and being interrupted by an errant ceiling tile. Space Ghost’s story paints the tile as a sophisticated villain that Space Ghost bravely bests, all while suavely wooing Sarah Jessica Parker with the suggestion that they “do sex”. Somebody told me that "doing sex" was actually parlance taken from the 1996 motion picture Freeway, a film that has always been part-way down a list of movies I keep in my head as movies "I really should see some time." Maybe I will--okay, pal?

Zorak’s story seems closer to the truth, in which Space Ghost humiliates himself while jumping around like a jackass and Sarah Jessica Parker is repulsed. It also features a lengthy tangent where Zorak gets picked up by Boston, represented by that spaceship that’s on an album cover. I am pretty sure that Boston is just one dude. I only sort-of know stuff like that.

I gave Dorkin and Dwyer a lot of credit for keeping the H-B references fresh in the show. This episode continues that spirit by using the old Space Ghost end-episode sting whenever Space Ghost gets quippy. Also the sequence where Zorak rocks out a bunch of different planets is full of vintage H-B clips. 

My favorite scene is the one with Moltar’s flashback. His little summation of the events, where Space Ghost falls down in slow-motion while interviewing one of those cymbal-clashing monkey toys, is one of my favorite jokes of all time. Then it’s followed by ANOTHER one of my favorite jokes (thank you snard.com for the transcript)

(A red sports car pulls up to Moltar and crashed into the control console) Moltar: Where's the driver? Car: I'm a talking car. Moltar: Why are you here? Car: Why is anyone here? (The car backs out of the control room) Moltar: Whoa. (Flashback ends) Moltar: And that was when I decided I just need to spent a lot more time in church.

This is the joke I repeated to all of my friends the next day.

Episode ends with a designation of “200 Series”, which I’m still not sure I understand the meaning of (I think another later episode ends with a “100 Series” label). I think I said this elsewhere, but I think I assumed this meant they made 100 episodes of the show, so maybe that confusion is the entire joke. 

This episode has one of the best illustrations on the Volume 5 DVD. It’s the sorta thing you look at and wonder what the hell Sarah Jessica Parker ever did to them. 

albums from the past week. faves: wolverines, lights and sounds, no gods / no managers. least faves: the silver scream, tocsin, rashomon.

Tagged by @sapokanikan thank youuuuu

Albums

(I'll do songs because I don't listen to whole albums)

Putting on the Ritz, Irving Berlin

I can't decide, the Scissors Sisters

Yes Sir I can Boogie, Baccara

Viva La Gloria/Little Girl, Green Day

Brazil, Geoff and Maria Muldaur

Books (fiction or we'll be here all day)

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming

Complete Poems of Oscar Wilde

Movies

Rashomon, 1950

The Red Shoes, 1948

The Producers, 1967

The Seventh Seal, 1957

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, 2023

ryan's top five metal albums of the year

rakshak by bloodywood (nu/folk)

shiki by sigh / rashomon by ibaraki (both prog/black)

the majesty of decay by judicator (power/prog)

deceivers by arch enemy (melodic death/thrash)

zeit by rammstein (industrial)

honorable mention: starlight and ash by oceans of slumber (doom)

Top 15 Metal Albums of 2022

(This is in order of release this year. Otherwise, I love them all the same.)

Synchro Anarchy by Voivod

This World is Going to Ruin You by Vein.fm

Ecstasies of Never-Ending Night by Devil Master

Rashomon by Ibaraki

Scoring The End of The World by Motionless in White

Electrified Brain by Municipal Waste

Nonnegative by coldrain

The DREGGMUSIC Mixtape by DREGG

Of Kingdom and Crown by Machine Head

Curse of Existence by Miss May I

Netherheaven by Revocation

Patient Number 9 by Ozzy Osbourne

Opvs Contra Natvram by Behemoth

The End, So Far by Slipknot

The Generation of Danger by Tallah

Runners-Up:

(Not quite as good as the main entries, but still worth mentioning.)

Voyeurist by Underoath

Requiem by Korn

Zeit by Rammstein

Break and Cross the Walls II by Man With a Mission

The Sick, The Dying...and The Dead! by Megadeth

Viper Wrapped 2022

I thought I'd take a quick moment to share my favourite new album and single releases from this year (in no particular order!). Old albums dominated my listening history this year, so I wanted to shout out the new stuff I really vibed with.

Left to right, 1-9 above, 10-18 below:

'Voyeurist' - Underøath

'THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND' - Bad Omens

'Shrine' - Bleed From Within

'Scoring the End of the World' - Motionless in White (alternate cover art)

'Spectre' - Stick to Your Guns

'Euthanasia' - Stray From the Path

'TEKKNO' - Electric Callboy

'Darkbloom' - We Came as Romans

'The Hell We Create' - Fit for a King

'ERRA (Deluxe)' - ERRA

'Rashomon' - Ibaraki

'Deathrattle Sing for Me' - Norma Jean

'True Power' - I Prevail

'the classic symptoms of a broken spirit' - Architects

'Misery Made Me' - Silverstein

'Heroine' - Thornhill

'Color Decay' - The Devil Wears Prada

'Salvation Through Misery' - Gillian Carter

And some bonus singles that didn't get full releases this year:

'My Will Be Done' - Powerwolf

'Doomswitch' - Make Them Suffer

'Abandon Us' - Bury Tomorrow

'boy' - The Killers

'Boltcutter' - Bury Tomorrow

'Pull From the Ghost' - ERRA

'Bad Habits (feat. Bring Me the Horizon) - Ed Sheeran

'Riptide' - Beartooth

'Feel Something (feat. Excision, I Prevail) - Illenium

I'm trying to think of some of mine, off the top of my head:

Quadrophenia (the 1973 album, not the 1979 movie). Oldboy (2003). Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. SE7EN (1995). Rashomon (1950). The Leftovers. Blackbird, the play by David Harrower. The Sound Inside, the play by Adam Rapp. True Detective S1. Hannibal, both the Thomas Harris book and the 2001 movie. Hamlet. Heat (1995). Thief (1981). Lost In Translation (2003). Little Children by Tom Perotta. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). American Beauty (1999). First Reformed (2017). Disco Elysium. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). The Conversation (1974). Evangelion. Failsafe (1964).

GWAR IN THE DUOVERSE OF ABSURDITY REVIEW! Part 1 of 2

It's finally time for me to write about their newest comic/album, "Gwar in The Duoverse of Absurdity" and "The New Dark Ages"! As an avid reader and writer myself, I love concept albums the most, such as the ones put out by Cradle of Filth, the Insane Clown Posse, or Marilyn Manson, but when Gwar does it, it's on a totally different level. That being said, as much as I enjoyed TNDA initially, I was missing a massive degree of context, and most of the songs lacked meaning. After reading Michael Bishop's (the slave of Blothar) thoughts on many songs and reading the comic, referred to as Duo henceforth, my feelings towards it have skyrocketed, and I have a lot to say about it. Surprisingly enough, this is all my opinion, and just like my previous post, I won't be arguing too much with anyone with a bone to pick. At the end of the day it's all Gwar media, and we're all here because we love Gwar.

I wanted to talk about the comic mainly, but considering it was composed alongside the album, it's impossible to speak on just one without bringing up the other. Before I delve into Duo though, it behooves me to say something about the first two comics from this modern era (I haven't read Slave Pit Funnies, sorry. Can we get a trade paperback collecting them someday?). Orgasmageddon is okay for what it is, a story about Mr Perfect sending Gwar off on a time-travelling dick rocket before they come back, beat up Bozo Destructo, and kill Mr Perfect. There's some fun stuff where they pass by the Jerry Springer show and see Oderus and that kid who believes in everything Gwar stands for, and the art is amazing, but the book really shines in its back up stories, which are drawn and written by Hunter Jackson and others. The Billy and Mandy) invader Zim cartoon nastiness really shines there in a way that it doesn't quite gel the way I think they were hoping. Reading this one really made me wonder why they didn't try to adapt the narrative of Battle Maximus, but I think I like that story existing in musical form.

"Enormogantic Fail" was actually the first Gwar comic I read, and while I don't think it's entirely successful in what it's trying to do either, the art is even better here, and the Rashomon style narrative wherein all the Gwar members give their version of the destruction of Flab Quarv 7 is pretty clever, especially when you get to the relative grimness of Pustulus' story, with its more serious art and dour writing. While I like this book and recommend it to fans of Gwar, I do think it strays too far into goofy territory without saying much. To give you an idea of what kind of book this is, we meet Blothar on the toilet after he's taken a bunch of drugs. He's meditating on the toilet, the fumes of his feces getting him higher than before. If that's funny to you, this might be your favorite comic book!

I also feel like the way the Scumdogs talk to one another feels off. They all talk in one-liners, and for the most part are interchangeable. One more thing that irks me is their treatment of Oderus. He doesn't seem to be part of their little group of death dealers, and at the end there's an epic battle between Gwar, the Destructos, and Cardinal Syn, and Oderus is there as well, for some reason. Maybe I've missed some nuance, I don't know.

Which brings me to Duo. This comic is a lightyear ahead of Gwar's previous offerings in terms of art, writing, and conception. The Gwar characters banter and bicker like the Ninja Turtles, with the book opening with the grouchy Pustulus punching the dog-like Jizmak so hard he hurtles through the walls, disturbing Blothar as he meditates quietly in his room, levitating off the ground. Blothar in particular is really well-conceived here. He's written as a giant slob, but also a meditative Viking warrior, like he's the mythological Thor. The other notable thing about Duo is its usage of the song titles from TNDA.

The first one is "Bored to Death", which is sung by Pustulus and Balsac on the album. It's an amazingly heavy and fun song, about how he's bored of killing people, and is trying to, to use the song's pun, bore people to death with drills. They're also bored of being Gwar, which leads to the inciting incident of the story when Jizmak, thrown through the fortress by the irate Pustulus, breaks Blothar's magic mirror. The two are pointlessly watching TV, Balsac is commiting suicide, and Beefcake is reading a newspaper. Things are so mundane and sucky that the slaves are actually drinking tea by the fireplace! It's like Gwar wants chaos to befall them.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the opening, where Oderus is locked in battle with his erstwhile foe, Techno Destructo! A regular jagoff named Will Fence happens to be with his dog, Pookie, when a chunk of Techno's processor gets knocked off, killing his dog! The distraught man takes the processor back and hooks it up to his computer, probably creating the internet.

Blothar and Pustulus get pulled into the broken mirror, and though Balsac, the relative genius of the group tries to repair it, he succeeds in bringing back not Blothar and Pustulus, but Blofart and Rhinestone Maximus!! While Blothar is a composed, if lazy warrior, Blofart is an insane Berserker! And while Pustulus Maximus is the hardcore metal guitarist of Gwar, Rhinestone is a fucking country singer!

The ideas at play here are so fresh and exciting that it took me by surprise, especially coming off the flimsiness of "Orgasmageddon".

The song "The New Dark Ages" is the thesis statement for this concept album/comic book. Whatever your politics, we're living in strange times. The world is more polarized than ever before, and there are people who literally live in their own realities, divorced from facts or common sense. Go to 4chan, you'll see people that think the Jews defeated Trump as part of "The Great Replacement" scheme. It's crazy.

"No more age of reason/darkness, men are lost in the gloom/No love of light is left/Where there once was science/Is now a cult of death", sings Blothar in the song, and he and Pustulus in the comic find themselves in the mirror universe, where pretty much every wild conspiracy theory is made manifest. It's a mystical space brought into being by human imagination, where the Queen of England is a lizard person, the earth is flat, and the moon landings were false flag movies made by Stanley Kubrick!

We also get a reference to the song "Blood Libel" here as Blothar and Pustulus are served babies with straws in their heads when they try to order a pizza, which is a hilarious reference to a more modern conspiracy theory, Pizzagate. Here in the mirror universe, it's real! Our heroes are monsters from space though, so they aren't too weirded out by this. It's moments like this where the inherent cheesiness of the Gwar concept really pays off, as well as the mirror verse conceit. I'm the song, "Blood Libel" Blothar points out that they aren't killing babies for adrenochrome or whatever, they do it just for fun because they're fucking Gwar. If anyone's raping babies, it's the Catholic Church! By showing it in the mirror verse, it's a tacit point that it isn't really happening in the real world. The chapter closes out with Blothar and Pustulus meeting President Sleazy's Secretary of State, who tells them how in their universe, Gwar took over the world in order to make it great again after Sleazy resurrected them with adrenochrome harvested from tortured babies. Also, he taught them to play country music instead of metal because it's a more commercial, crowd-pleasing genre. Funny stuff, especially with Gwar gleefully poking fun at themselves and their underground status.

The third chapter, "Completely Fucked" follows Blofart's rampage. Beefcake laughing at the US military's futile attempts to stop him is hilarious. Why should Gwar care if an alternative version of Blothar is destroying the world? They're Gwar! Meanwhile, Jizmak is in Mecca as Rhinestone Maximus is hypnotizing everyone at the Kaaba with his Gwarified version of achey breaky heart. Rather than avoiding the brainwashed pilgrims as they attack him, he slaughters them! I'm sure Spider-Man would approve!

Important to note as well is that the song, "The Venom of the Platypus" is referenced here as Balsac, coordinating with Bonesnapper, Jizmak, the slaves, and the rest of Gwar not in the mirror verse, has a virtual assistant named Raspy that is shaped like a platypus, and is provided by the comic's version of Apple, Macrohard, which itself is powered by the chunk of Techno's armor that Will Fence retrieved.

Balsac, being the thinker he is, decides that though the magic mirror has properties that allow Scumdogs to communicate freely across the vastness of space, it shouldn't be able to make alternative facts become real, let alone warp them into the real world. He deduces that it's because he connected it to the internet, where crazy ideas fester and take on a life of their own. Incisive commentary I wasn't expecting. Speaking of incisive commentary, Raspy, the platypus shaped Siri spoof, is an excellent critique of our reliance on the internet for our shopping, thinking, and navigation. The platypus is adorable, but is secretly venomous; furthermore, Raspy is taking orders from the entity that became self-aware when Techno's hard drive became the internet. Apple-i mean-Amazon-i-mean-google-i mean the Mad Monk!

The stage is set for carnage as the Mad Monk conspires to bring his alternative universe through the magic mirror, Rhinestone and Blofart work to take over the earth, Blothar and Pustulus try to reach President Sleazy, and Balsac is forced to call in an old enemy to help out! This post is long as fuck, so I'll have to post the rest later! Stay tuned, bohabs!

Dare You To Love Me

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Jy86cUZ by BewitchingNotes Three months ago, he was doing fine. Three months ago, work was fun and he was happy. But now? There were days when music made Atsushi feel uneasy, and he avoided it like the plague. Dazai stared him down for a moment, face unreadable as always. And then he gave a dramatic shrug. “Well if that’s how you’re gonna be, I have no choice.” He whipped out his phone and started typing away on it. “Huh? What are you doing?” Atsushi asked warily, a bad feeling in his gut. “Cashing in on a favor. We’ve been patient Atsushi, but we’re out of time. We’re coming up on the deadline for the album, not to mention you have a concert in a week. If you can’t finish this album yourself, we’ll just need to call on someone who can.” Dazai explained simply.   OR: Atsushi's the lead singer of the famous band, Weretiger. When Atsushi's love for music fades and he can't bring himself to finish his latest album, Dazai calls on someone who can help: The guitarist, and main song writer, of the famous band, Rashomon. OR OR: Atsushi and Akutagawa have to write a song together. Too bad they both make terrible first impressions and immediately hate each other. Words: 1089, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Miyazawa Kenji (Bungou Stray Dogs), Tanizaki Junichirou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Yosano Akiko (Bungou Stray Dogs), Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Izumi Kyouka (Bungou Stray Dogs), Yumeno Kyuusaku | Q (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Gin, Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fukuzawa Yukichi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Edogawa Ranpo (Bungou Stray Dogs) Relationships: Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Music, Band Fic, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Singer Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Musicians, Guitarist Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Orphan Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Trauma, Depressed Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Sexual Tension, Enemies to Lovers, Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya Bickering (Bungou Stray Dogs), Eventual Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, He/Him Pronouns for Yumeno Kyuusaku | Q (Bungou Stray Dogs), Other Additional Tags to Be Added read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Jy86cUZ

kinda embarrassing to reveal myself as a judges a book by its cover bitch since id prefer to get those mei ah dvds that have really bad subtitles but also i do find soemthing genuinely charming abt those subtitles. like I KNOW so much context is being lost and lil nuances oversimplified but im also like MAYBE it means something more despite just being a bad translation lol. decided to treat myself since it was my bday and i did nothing but be sad during it all and rn just ordered a good amount of dvds and some really nice stuff for cheap. in the same way that i want all my fav albums on CD (which i mostly have all of already aside from like aozora hyakkei) i wanna get all my fav movies on dvd if possible. and was surprised to find that some of the ones i thought would be hard to track down/find for cheap were actually just listed for super cheap :D got that ‘98 seven samurai dvd cause 1 i love me a good old dvd and i think its kinda interesting it isnt the snapcase despite being old or maybe its a later pressing or ssmthn but i dont mind sicne the covers nice and its the same movie so ya and then also got a mei ah dvd of hidden fortress. wonder if theres any variety in the translation or if theyre all the same quality as the sanjuro one.really wanna find yojimbo sooooon but it doesnt seem to show up often at all it was once there for real cheap but i forgot to get it :(  but if it shows up again im def jumping for it cause that might be my 2nd fav kurosawa film after dersu uzala. tho also idk its hard to pick he honestly might be my fav director cause i love so much of his stuff. like seven samurai really is one of the greatest films ever just thinking abt it is like insane.. so idk what 2nd would be for me. i do think yojimbo is better than sanjuro which i think is obv to every1 but me cause the end of sanjuro just always knocks my socks off. but i also love rashomon and hidden fortress alot. there was rly a time where i would just watch his movies non non stop just like id watch yojimbo everyday n stuff. so like theyre all burned into my brain where its hard to choose since my heart jumps thinking abt all of them

The Top 10 Albums Of 2022

One of the hardest years for me. The quality of music released this year was a grace for the post Covid world. But I have been able to put together a pretty great list.

Also shoutout to the metal bands this year. This list is full of them and this has been a great year for that genre.

And as always, I didn’t hear every album this year, this is my person list and I counted anything released this year.

10. Wilderun – Epigone

Don't you just love it when you find a band that came from nowhere and becomes one of your favorites. That's what happened with these guys. When it comes to metal, I always glide towards the more interesting side and these guys present one of the most colorful palettes when it comes to the genre. Mostly this band keeps it on the more quiet and soft side, leading to an epic build up where vocalist Evan Berry goes from crooning to growls from another dimension. Lyrically the band are also coming from some other dimension as if taking the listener on a journey through some wormhole which ends up leaving them emotionally floored and changed in someway. Art needs to be shown and put back into metal and thankfully these guys do this very well. Although I think this album is only a taste of what's to come.

Genres: Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Extreme Metal, Folk Metal, Symphonic Metal, Art Rock, Avant Garde Metal

Country of origin: USA

9. Soilwork – Övergivenheten

Soilwork have been a band that I've enjoyed but never really loved. I always knew that there was a side to them that was unexplored and it seems that since David Andersson joined the band they have been spreading their wings into more uncharted territory (their previous album Verkligheten had moments of this which made me peak my interest) and this album is the culmination of 20 years of them finding their sound and this is the best thing they've ever created. Musically heavy, catchy, aggressive and beautiful, finally the band have actually took advantage of Sven Karlsson's keyboard work which was usually always in the background is finally in the foreground creating a rich palette of colors. Vocalist Speed has given the performance of his career fully showing of how much range he has and that he is one of the most underlooked and best in the business. Lyrically the album deals with a range of dark topics, which sadly came to life when guitarist David Andersson sadly passed away. Overall this is one of the best metal albums of the year and is the greatest album these guys have ever made.

RIP David Andersson

Genres: Melodic Death Metal, Extreme Metal, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal

Country of origin: Sweden

8. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

Ever since Damn, people have been dying to hear Lamar's opinion on what has happened in the world since then. And then when he finally released this album...he had nothing to say. One of the biggest left turns I've seen culturaly, Lamar stripped it back and made an introspective look at himself, his faults, his flaws, what he's done wrong in his life and how it affected him and the people within his cultural sphere. This is not an easy listen lyrically, but it's something that had to be  sayed, and only a true genius like Lamar could have presented this so truthful and classy. I do prefer To Pimp A Butterfly, but this album is in a world of it's own. Musically quiet, not over flashy, nuanced and the perfect backing to his lyrics. His flow is un matchable and it just proves that he is possibly the greatest rapper of all time.

Genres: Conscious Hip Hop, Progressive Rap, R&B, Hip Hop, Rap

Country of origin: US

7. Ibaraki – Rashomon

When it comes to Matt Heafy's musical output, it usually is interesting enough to like, brilliant or incredible cringe. But last year his band Trivium released In The Court Of The Dragon, which narrowly missed my end of year list. This project is something he has been teasing for a while and my first look at it was the track Ronin and I was blown away by the chorus where it had some of the greatest black metal rasps I've heard in a long time...and it turned out Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance was doing them. And the surprise of this song is very much why this album is so great, what sounds like it won't work does and it does at such a level you doubt any fears you previously had. Lyrically the album takes Heafy's interest in Japanese myths and presents them both beautifully and powerful. The guests he has on this album other than Way are obvious choices for this project, but having Ishahn & Nergal on the album are good collaborations rather than a forced badge of honor.

Genres: Extreme Metal, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Oriental Metal, Metalcore

Country of origin: Japan & USA

6. Black Midi - Hellfire

Only a band like Black Midi can release 2 albums back to back within a year where not only do they bring their A game but more. While I do prefer Cavalcade overall is still a progression from it and overal something entirely different. Musically bonkers, the band prove that they are some of the best talent out there. Lyrically absurd and at times very funny, there is a fine line between ridicule and genius that these guys successfully are able to obtain. Although I think we are only getting a glimpse of the potential these guys have because their genius seems to have no bounds.

Genres: Progressive Rock, Hipster, Jazz Fusion, Avant Garde, Experimental Rock, Post Punk, Hard Rock

Country of origin: England

5. Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel

Big surprise these guys are on the list. 2 years ago one of the bands weaker albums made my list, so this shows you how much I love these guys, and the reason for it is because they are constantly doing something interesting. Musically poppier than their previous albums and more electronic than usual, it doesn't shy away from their talent. Lyrically odd, the album uses an AI to create some very odd lyrics and ideas. This could have been a disaster but it just proves these guys can do no wrong because these guys are one of if not the most interesting musical groups growing today. Can't wait to see them again in 2-3 years time on my list again. If not I'll eat my tin foil hat.

Genres: Art Rock, Indie Rock, Electronic, Pop, Hipster

Country of origin: England

4. D'Virgillio, Morse & Jennings – Troika

A supergroup combined of artists who aren't strangers to my top 10 lists, but this time they're making soft pop music. I'm a massive fan of all the projects these guys are involved with and the list of albums, projects or bands they are all in would be a list longer than this one. But the reason this is here is due to the execution. Prog rock and metal guys making pop music could go horribly wrong, but this just proves how brilliant each invidual is as a songwriter in their own right. Also I love harmonies, and the 3 vocalists (with a lot of attention on D'Virgillio & Jennings) have such a beautiful union together. I really hope this isn't the last of this project and it's not just a one off.

Genres: Soft Rock, Pop Rock, Progressive Rock, Acoustic, Hard Rock

Country of origin: USA & England

3. Willow - <Copingmechanism>

My list is never complete without a wild card. And my wild cards are usually odd, but never this odd. But that's because this is an experiment that never should have worked. It seems that the crossover from pop to rock may gain some attention but doesn't really artistically have much merit, take for example Machine Gun Kelly. But this is a different story. Being the daughter of one of the world's biggest actors, I was always interested in Willow's voice as she matured into a stand alone artist. While her mum's metal band was interesting enough but still kind of cringe, I never expected this foray to go well. So while her dad recovered from the outcome slap heard from across the world, Willow decided to go into a rock and metal world and it paid off...pretty fantastically may I said. I always love bands like Paramore and Marmozets and if one of them released this album it would be on their best. But the real highlight of the album is Willows voice. Not only is she a fantastic singer, but she goes into realms that you wouldn't expect the Whip My Hair girl to go into. If you want to completely avoid this for name alone, I would advise just to listen to any of the singles and I bet it will change your mind.

Genres: Pop Rock, Hard Rock, Post Hardcore, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal

Country of origin: USA

2. Jamie Lenman – The Atheist

He got album of the year for his last proper album so I was expecting big things as he is currently one of my favorite artists. With a title like The Atheist, I was expecting more snarl and fun...that's not the case. Most artists mature and this is one of those moments. Less screamy and more introspective, lyrically Lenman has matured into a brilliant lyricist that could match any singer songwriter. Musically more catchy and to the point, it's a lot less experimental than Devolver. Lenman also has really improved as a singer too, with a wide range of tones and moods offered throughout. While I do prefer the latter, this just proves that he is one of the best songwriters and solo artists in rock today.

Genres: Pop Rock, Hard Rock, Post Hardcore, Alternative Rock, Fist

Country of origin: England

1. Conjurer - Páthos

Their previous album Mire was loved by friends of mine. While I did enjoy it, I knew this was only a taste of what was to come. I didn't expect the band to release their masterpiece so soon. But this album absolutely floored me. Incredibly powerful and crushing musically, mood wise the album can go from the sickest twisted evilest sound to something so beautiful. Vocalists Dan Nightingale & Brady Deeprose present an incredible palate; from the deepest of growls, the harshest of shrieks, the painful cleans to introspective spoken word. When it comes to the riffs, they are heavier than blue whales smashing into planets. This album is a piece of art that is utterly horrifying, awful yet so beautiful and powerful that it almost can bring you to tears. I think this may be one of the best metal albums if not in the past few years but possibly of all time. If you are a fan of metal in the more extreme way, I plead you to listen to this and see if you get the same reaction. It's very rare a band of the extreme metal persuasion get into my top positions, so you really have to impress me to get to this stage. And I am beyond impressed.

Genres: Extreme Metal, Post Hardcore, Death Metal, Doom, Progressive Metal, Post Metal, Sludge

Country of origin: England

MY TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2022 (2/2)

MY TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2022 (1/2)

Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror

Favorites Songs : Straight Outta Hell, Imaginary Fire, Day Stalker

Ibaraki - Rashomon

Favorites Songs : Ibaraki-Dōji, Tamashii No Houkai, Rōnin

Conjurer - Páthos

Favorites Songs : Rot, All You Will Remember, Those Years Condemned

Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed

Favorites Songs : Death Is A Relief, Empty Vials, True Loss

Sadness - Tortuga

Favorites Songs : falling in love with you, rana, your hand melts into mine

Poets of the Fall - Ghostlight

Favorites Songs : Heroes and Villains, Lust for Life, Beyond the Horizon

Shinedown - Planet Zero

Favorites Songs : Dysfunctional You, A Symptom of Being Human, Daylight

Wednesday Campanella - Neon

Favorites Songs : Orihime, Edison, Buckingham

Sayuri - 酸欠少女

Favorites Songs :  酸欠少女, 世界の秘密, レイメイ

Mark Tremonti - Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra

Favorites Songs : I've Got You Under My Skin, Fly Me To The Moon, My Way