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basedkikuenjoyer · 6 months

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Memento Moria

Kiiiii-shi-shi-shi! Happy Halloween! Last time we took the whole month for Victoria Cindry with our #Spooky Sidestory. That was fun, if you don't know Cindry always borrowed from a famous ghost story about a spirit named Okiku. Which means you maybe need to think a little more in hindsight about her being an actress whose story relies on a theme of toxic obligation. We touched on Moria a bit, how he serves as a warning to what lies ahead. But I always wanted to give him his due. He's such a good seed for the yonko; baiting the idea of separating the crew, the zombies as an analogue for infighting, his shadow keeping you from even touching him. How many people did he beat without lifting a finger? This becomes a huge motif by Totland & Wano.

Moria is a great villain, though I'll never fault a younger fan for not quite getting it yet. Other characters share this idea of their dreams dashed by the buzzsaw of the New World, but Moria is the one who really embodies it. He's not just someone who experienced loss, he's defined by it. I mean this in the nicest way possible, you won't truly relate to Moria unless you've had some kind of tangible past success. Laurels to rest on long enough you know how dangerous that can be. I love this "whiteout" panel, how his face looks so bat-like. If you need a refresher on why this pertains to Kiku:

Kiku's introduction already leans on drawing from One Piece's history, subtly baiting key associations. Bat-Man being one of the first Gifters is certainly a choice, and his extremely shallotesque shape reinforces the reference. For those who don't know, Moria's animal motif isn't a gecko. It's a bat, Gecko Moria. Komori=bat. That in Kiku's intro is worth pointing out alone, much moreso when we get an update on Moria paired with a reflection (Catarina) of what we just highlighted out of the star of the first act. Those two are solid thematically, now add the Ringo ripple.

Does it have to mean anything? No, but theoretically if we wanted to have one of the Akazaya involved somehow there's a certain logic to Kiku the Ringo native being the intuitive choice. It's just like the Shanks/Buggy angle. We have someone so oddly worldly in Wano and yet again a known thread is set up it can easily run through her. I might actually want to see a flashback of Kiku & Moria having a chance encounter over Shanks. If only because I can guess how Shanks would go. You think Moria might make a play at recruiting the demonic prodigy of the Akazaya? Say what you will about his necromancy, which I'd imagine Kiku would abhor, I don't see Moria being the type to care about the trans aspect. Being earnestly good about it like Luffy seems reasonable.

Moria though, just as a villain he's grown on me. Or really I've grown, lost groups of people I once felt brought out the best in me. Lazily replaced them with shadows, spun my wheels in a position that sounded like a good enough spot to be in. I get Moria, he's kinda over it but hasn't fully given up. Just taking a lazier, safer approach because he's scared of what lies ahead. Shadows Asgard and taking in 1000 shadows is a big example of growing on me. Makes so much more sense when you see how Kaido/Wano builds off of the concept. Moria has the power to be a top contender, he doesn't have the will to control it. Shadow Asgard, false divinity.

Back then, even the Straw Hats see it right away. Luffy turns to the crew and tells them to take care of the rest cause he's gonna get reckless. I love the parallel of Luffy having to take on a taste of Moria's true power and Zoro well, that time when nothing happened. Kuma's getting plenty of focus now but we'll wait until the flashback ends to do him proper. Keeping that strong and famous crew he could count on over more zombie mooks won the day. That under the threat of daybreak is good shit.

#one piece #gecko moria #spooky sidestory #post-wano musings

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wingodex · 3 years

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that speech analysis for tog was super informative and in-depth! thank you so much! i feel like i've never done this kind of thing or read it before. also, it felt like you were writing for an american audience who understands what aave refers to. i'm not that person unfortunately. could you explain a little more if you have time?

Oh that was totally oversight on my part, I can’t believe I missed that. AAVE gets talked about a lot in online spaces so I just kind of assumed people would know about it? Anyway, I can give a bit of a rundown here. I do wanna preface this by saying that I'm white and also not from the US.

AAVE or BEV stands for African-American Vernacular English/Black English Vernacular. In academia, African American Language (AAL) or African American English (AAE) are usually used when talking about the dialect, while AAVE itself refers to a specific informal vernacular variety, but online most people use AAVE as a catch-all (that's why i used it in the analysis bcus it's what most people are familiar with). For the sake of this discussion, it’s more useful for me to focus on AAE, but I’ll talk a bit about AAVE as well. AAE is a dialect of English that is primarily spoken by Black people in the United States and in Canada. While the exact linguistic origins of AAE aren’t known because of a lack of documentation due to historical racism (and there’s a lot of debate about this), it’s well established that it was created and developed by African slaves in the American South during the 17th and 18th centuries. As Black people migrated North during the 19th century and The Great Migration, they brought the dialect with them, and that’s part of why AAVE is associated with urban metropolitan areas. The continued segregation in many northern cities, as well as a strong sense of cultural identity has made it so that AAE is still widely used today.

As with any dialect, AAE is systemic and rule-bound, although that’s something that’s not largely understood or appreciated by both white and non-Black people due to racism and also the concept of prestige in sociolinguistics. AAE is considered a “nonstandard” dialect, which means that it doesn’t have institutional support or sanction. It has not had standardization (hence… nonstandard). It’s not used in formal education, or higher academia and it’s not used for public communication or in government. It’s only recently, within the past 60 years, that there has been any linguistic research into AAE. Until even more recently than that, it didn’t have standard spelling as it was primarily a spoken dialect rather than a written one. It’s often viewed as being grammatically incorrect or “bad English” which isn’t true. It has its own syntax, it’s logical and it’s internally consistent and coherent, which is why people who aren’t fluent in AAE frequently misuse it. As I mentioned, there are multiple varieties of AAE and these are often, but not always, based around socioeconomic class. There are regional variations of AAE too, but they tend to share a lot of the same rules for syntax and grammar, and the greatest difference between them is pronunciation and lexicon. The phonology of AAE is quite diverse and there are upwards of ten distinct accents. The most well-known and most studied variety is AAVE, which is the one that’s primarily used by the working class. Unfortunately, in sociolinguistics, vernacular can have multiple meanings, but with respect to the way that most current linguists use AAVE, vernacular refers to informal style rather than a nonstandard dialect. This distinction acknowledges that AAE can be used in settings other than casual and informal. While this is something that linguists can talk about, it’s not really reflective of broader white anglophone society in the US and Canada, who frequently don’t take AAE seriously regardless of whether it’s formal or not. That’s why code switching between AAE and Standard American English is so common, because it’s something that’s demanded of Black people to avoid discrimination and judgement, and to be taken seriously in any capacity. Black people frequently encounter racism related to the way they speak and AAE is very stigmatized.

There’s been a lot of discussion online about the appropriation of AAVE, as a lot of people consider it “internet slang” without any knowledge of its origin, or if they are aware of the origin, they use it without any real regard or respect for that origin. Non-Black people who are not fluent in AAVE frequently misuse it, or deliberately co-opt Black language in a way that is exploitative, performative, and racist. The language that people use and the way that they use it can be harmful, whether it’s intentional or not. White people are allowed a freedom of language that is simply not afforded to Black people about their own dialect. That’s a big reason for why I do kind of go on about using caution when writing Nile. It’s important for us to 1) recognize that AAE is its own distinct dialect with its own syntax and vocabulary, so you can’t just wing it and hope for the best 2) be aware that the misuse and appropriation of AAE can lead you to make racist fanworks 3) be aware that writing in AAE comes with a lot of specific racist tropes and 4) recognized the privilege that we have with regards to our ability to use Black language and to give that the thought and consideration that it deserves.

#anonymous #asks #tog linguistics #it's important to recognize that if you're white and you write nile using aave incorrectly #regardless of whether it's intentional or not #that is not a neutral statement #long post #racism

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hillbillyhippiemusicreview · 3 years

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ALAN "CORDUROY" BROWN "LET ME KNOW" ALL ABOUT HIS MIRACULOUS 2021 AND THE ALBUM IT INSPIRED

The COVID-19 pandemic put undue stress on the music industry that we are just now starting to recover from. It's been a long, dark, and uncertain road for many--but unfortunately for some like musician Alan "Corduroy" Brown, lead singer and guitar player for the Huntington, West Virginia-based band Corduroy Brown, it was a true matter of life or death. In fact, Alan did succumb to the nightmare of COVID-19, just to be reborn with a new spark and outlook on life. Below is a transcribed interview between Hillbilly Hippie Music Review and Alan concerning his band’s upcoming album releasing on August 14th, "Let Me Know," and the personal experiences that influenced its conception.

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L: Hi, Alan! We’re so glad to have you join us at HHMR today for a chat to get to know ya a little better. How are you doing?

C: Honestly....pretty great! Live music is BACK and it’s so cool to see all my friends creating and showing off their talents again.

L: That’s great to hear—and I think we can all agree with you on that notion! So, a little birdie told me that there is new music on the horizon—but, before we discuss that, I want to touch on the life-altering experience you underwent in 2021 and how that altered your overall outlook on life after your literal rebirth.

C: Someone asked if I was now afraid of dying, but I’m afraid of not living. There are a lot of things you learn in a hospital bed. In February, I thought that I’d be in and out of an urgent care, but ended up on a ventilator, in a helicopter, then put on ECMO life support. Apparently I died some time in that period, so when I got to Morganton, I was actually dead. You know the whole “white light” thing people talk about? It’s completely real. I could write a novel on all of that, but really, I learned that we’ve got a lot to figure out still. Regret hits you heavily. I thought about all the time that I wasted being upset about something/someone , or anytime I’ve been mad about anything. Like, there is a time and a place to be upset, but we have ONE time on this earth to violently pursue our passions and to love each other, while experiencing everything we can.

L: Wow. I can't even fathom what you felt as you rode on that proverbial rollercoaster, but I am SO very happy that you are still with us and sharing your gifts with the world. Speaking of those passions, with your band’s eclectic brand of folk-pop infused indie rock tunes, you’re one of our favorites here at HHMR. We’ve dug the little teaser of your upcoming single with your longtime friend Arlo McKinley and it’s got us stoked for the record release in August! Can you tell us how “Secret War” came about and what that experience was like?

C: This album has a beginning, middle, and end. It fits right in the middle of the whole book. Secret War started as a song of just appreciating everything I have. The first verse says: “I’ve been chillin’ with my head held high, nothing wrong but these untied shoes.” Later on, it turns a bit saying “ lost the battle, war still going.” Arlo comes in on the second verse and layers in the ideas of the battle we are fighting with ourselves all the time. I think we both ended up singing about people who we’ve met in our life that couldn’t handle us at our worst times. It’s a dream to work with Arlo. He’s a genuine human and a loyal friend who was super stoked to be part of this whole thing.

L: Awesome!! As far as the record as a whole, the debut album for Corduroy Brown, is it a concept piece like a story from start to finish, or is it just a collection of some of your favorite songs written from your journey in life? Describe it for us.

C: It’s a story front to back. I included a lot of interludes in between the songs that contain voicemails that people have left me. There’s an interlude where you hear me walking while going to therapy, and the familiar sound of the elevator at the St. James building in Huntington. This album is my life captured from 2017 to now. I finally feel like I got it all off my chest. I honestly feel like I haven’t written my best stuff yet, but this album was necessary to let out everything I’ve let build up for a long time.

L: I love how you've incorporated those moments to create the interludes. Writing is quite cathartic and I imagine releasing your story out into the world like this can be a form of music therapy itself, not only for yourself but for others! In addition to the single with Arlo, are there any other collaborations on the record we can expect to hear?

C: Oh gosh. So many people made this happen. It’s as much mine as it is everyone else's. The album is called Let Me Know because so many people have always said “let me know” if you need anything, or “let me know” what I can do for it. -- Massing, The Dead Frets, from Huntington. A lot of my closest friends like my life mentor and his son are on the album. Jacob from Jewel City Barbershop. The list goes on for awhile, haha.

L: As I always say, "teamwork makes the dreamwork!" That is such a cool concept that you've seamlessly woven into the title and throughout the record, since at times "Let Me Know" seems to just be a cliché that people say. But you and the band have demonstrated how actions *can* match the words! Now, tell me. I've got to know—how did you come up with the name, “Corduroy Brown?” What does it mean to you?

C: Gosh, I can never answer this question. I need someone to figure out a cool story for this. I have no idea.

L: Haha—that's fair! It's a rad name, cool story or not! So for something you can describe, tell me about the music. Since your music is so eclectic and defies the bounds of any one genre, how would YOU describe it?

C: I think technically it’s Rock/Pop/Indie? I don’t know. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, I love Paramore, and I listen to Miranda Lambert everyday. The sound is all over the place because some of these songs are as old as 2017. You grow up and you change. I think the music captured different parts of my life when these songs were born.

L: "You grow up and you change" is such a true statement. In terms of growing up, I want to backtrack for a moment for readers unfamiliar with you, Alan. Can you tell us a bit about your history and background in music, from childhood to the evolution of your band? Has your heart always been set on being a musician?

C: No one in my family is musical, haha. But in 2008, my mom bought me a Fender CD60 guitar. I wanted to be like the kids who played at school. I stepped into the music scene with a band called The Dividends. Kind of like a RnB/Rock group. We had a really good run, but hung it up in 2019. I think I’ve always wanted this, but now I KNOW that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Corduroy is composed of some of the A Team of Huntington musicians. We’re good friends first, musicians second. That’s a great combination to make good tunes.

L: I certainly think you are where you're meant to be! Throughout your life, who were your biggest musical influences? Favorite band? Best show you’ve ever seen? Most influential music experience that stands out in your mind? How did all of these sounds and experiences shape you as an artist?

C: I’ve been a complete Paramore fan from their first album. Their “After Laughter” album in 2017 is on constant repeat in my car. I actually listen to a LOT of female artists. Paramore, Lights, Chrvches, Kasey Musgraves. The best show I’ve ever seen was Cage the Elephant. Some of the rowdier songs lean in that direction. The album is kind of all over the place sonically.....it’s not uncommon for a road trip playlist to go from Migos, [to] Chelsea Nolan, to Slipknot.

L: You know, an album always stands out in my mind if it is sonically diverse, giving listeners a true lyrical and musical portraiture of who the artist is. Being a songwriter myself and songwriting nerd, I’m always intrigued by the writer’s process. How did your songs for this project evolve—from conception of the idea to the finished product?

C: I think when I brought these songs to Jeffrey McClelland, I only had a couple finished ideas. They morphed a lot from the start to finish. It’s crazy listening to the original compositions now. Some songs just happen before you even know they’re happening. Some of them take a lot of love. It takes me forever to write songs because I want to make sure I mean every single word and every single note. I’m envious of people like Taylor Swift who can write so many songs from so many different perspectives. It just seems effortless for her.

L: Oh my goodness—same here! Taylor Swift is actually the reason I started writing over a decade ago, because at the time in country music it was so refreshing to have a young female coming into a male-dominated industry breaking down barriers, all the while writing her own stuff and controlling her musicality. Speaking of breaking down barriers, in your community, you’re a well-known activist for topics still clouded with societal stigmas today, such as mental health and LBGTQUIA rights. Why is it so important to you to incorporate these topics into your music and performances?

C: Therapy and medicine saved my life. Everyone should go to therapy whether they think so or not. Logic is so hard to come by when your headspace is burying you. Chemicals affect our thoughts, thoughts affect our actions, actions become habits. We have to get control of that chain of command [and] it’s 2021. It’s hard to imagine that there are still people opposed to LBGTQUIA anything. Life is so short. Love who you love. I can’t imagine being so upset with the way that someone else is happy [and] I will forever be an ally to everyone I can. Huntington’s Pride Fest is in October of this year and you best believe I will be there. Loud and proud.

L: You are such a good human, Alan, and the world is beyond blessed to exist at a time that you do! Love is power, no matter how you look at it. When you think about Let Me Know and the impact it can have on listeners and the music community as a whole, especially in reference to your journey earlier this year, what is the biggest takeaway you hope fans have after digesting the album? What legacy do you want to leave on the world?

C: We get in our own way so many times. Take every chance on yourself. The first person I could call when I got off of life support was my friend Chris (who plays bass in Corduroy) [and] I literally said “WE GET TO RELEASE THIS ALBUM.” I remember when I was doubting even playing music again after the Dividends.

Seriously, do everything. Hold back nothing. Pursue life with a violent passion. Don’t let your final days be filled with regret. Do it all. There’s a lot of fun in this album. Kind of like dancing, but maybe crying at the same time.

L: YES! I've got chills--that is so true, and what I try to make people realize. Our days are limited, so don't be afraid to live your truth out loud. Now for some more lighthearted questions—if you weren’t writing and playing music, what would you be doing with your life?

C: Shewwww. I have no idea! I would love to be a public speaker or a high school teacher maybe? I’ve really considered being a PTA. I love the chance to directly help people, face to face. Extroverted jobs suit me perfectly.

L: You definitely have a genuine smile and charismatic personality that draw folks to you like a moth to a flame, but HHMR is so glad you decided to pursue your passions in music. Are there hidden talents you have? If so what are the most useful, useless, or weird?

C: I’m literally not cool at all really. lol.

L: LIES! You're cooler than the flip side of our pillow, yo. Unfortunately, it's time to draw this lovely chat to a close with the final question. Last but not least, what is your spirit animal?

C: I took an online test real quick before answering this. I got a wolf. I can kind of see some of that with the leadership qualities I have, but I feel like a bear or elephant? Laid back, but also powerful.

L: Hmm....I can vibe with the the bear idea. Easy to love, gives great bear hugs, but will fight for what he cares about....perfect for you, Alan! Thank you so much for joining us today and letting us know all about you.

“Secret War,” the first single with Arlo McKinley will be available July 15th. The full debut album from Corduroy Brown is set to release August 14th. Pre-save the single at the link below:

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*This is an independent article. The Hillbilly Hippie Music Review was not compensated for this interview.

*The opinions expressed are solely that of the author(s).

*These images are not ours, nor do we claim them in any way. They are copyrighted by the artist and photographers.

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