#also convinced said song is not so much an ally anthem as it is one of self discovery and awe-struck wonder | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

artzychic27 · 3 years

Text

In honor of the glorious pride month (Coming up soon), please enjoy these Miraculous Pride Headcanons!

Inspired by this post by @transvoltronhc

You a TERF? Fuck off, beeyatch!

Marinette- The Pan Trans Queen we all Need 🏳️‍⚧️

She/Her- Pansexual/Polyamorous

Every time Marinette inhales, a terf gets punched

Every time Marinette exhales, a trans kid gets a flag

She and Nathaniel supply the face paint

She’s very vocal at pride and gets super violent with protesters

Marinette: *Punching protester while her friends cheer* I don’t wanna see your disgusting face here ever again, you filthy pig! Same goes for the rest of you!

Terfs go to protest, walk away covered in bruises and with a tiny crush on the bluenette

Got into a muscle-flexing contest and won first

Dyed her hair the colors of the pan flag and walks around with a brightly colored, bedazzled trans flag cape

Supplies juice boxes and cookies for the pride kids

She and Marc pass out colorful binders, flower crowns, and starter makeup kits

Drag Queens and Kings LOVE her and are always giving her hugs whenever she walks by / She’s even been commissioned by them to make outfits for their next shows. The audience loved them

Alya- The Badass Pansexual Pirate 🏴‍☠️

She/Her but is not opposed to They/Them

Actually has dressed like a pirate with a sword the colors of her flag. Anarka was so proud

Will punch TERFs with their Pan bestie any day

Ships random people

Leaves many girls swooning as she walks by in her thigh high leather boots

Alya: Sorry ladies, I’m spoken for. *Kisses Nino*

No one dares to flirt with her because she’s out of everyone’s league

One protester made a transphobic comment about Nino, and Alya immediately hit em with a frying Pan

The chaotic aunt of pride

Death drops are flawless!

Hands out phone cases they painted the colors of different pride flags

Born This Way is her anthem

Has many pride-themed superhero tank-tops ‘Super Gay 4 Super Girl’ ‘I’m Bi Man’ ‘Deadpool was at Stonewall’

Nino- The Insanely Cool Bi Trans Guy 😎🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him

Marinette made him a bedazzled cape so they could match

Mari and Kim’s brother in Transness

Dresses in hoodies no matter how hot it is

One of the mom friends. / Everyone wants to be adopted by him. / He once put everyone on baby leashes so they wouldn’t wander off

Everyone refers to him as “Trans DJ Jesus” because he wore sandals with a long curly wig one time. (To this day, no one knows why he did it)

Takes a five-minute break to Vogue with the drag queens

Supplies the music while skateboarding. He blasts every gay national anthem known to humankind

Alya, Adrien, Marinette, and Kim are very protective of him. Once, a TERF pushed him to the ground. Alya, Marinette, and Kim beat up the TERF while Adrien treated his friend to some ice cream

Adrien- Shit! We lost the baby! 🏳️‍🌈😱

He/Him & She/Her- Bigender/Bisexual/Polyamorous

Can’t stop, won’t stop wandering off because he’s never been to a Pride parade before

He was surprised at how accepting his father was. Although, it probably had something to do with Nathalie and Gorilla threatening to expose him as Hawkmoth if he didn’t let Adrien go

The class goes ballistic whenever she goes missing and will interrogate anyone

Myléne: *Interrogating a drag queen* Are you hiding him in your wig?! / Marinette: Get her out! She’s so frail! Her dad doesn’t feed her! / Nino: Found him! He was getting ice cream. / Myléne: ... You are free to go.

Nino has to put him on a baby leash every time

Drinks the most juice boxes and eats the most ice cream

Can’t tell when he’s being flirted with / Rando: Hey, cutie. / Adrien: ... My name is Adrien.

Bigender legwarmers, bracelets, and headbands

Dresses in pastels every year, and people just wanna hug him / He's happy to oblige and will hug anyone / Vows to hug the hate out of protesters

Every time Adrien smiles or laughs, a transgender child is accepted by friends and family and then gets a flower crown

Keeps getting asked if she and Marinette are dating. / Adrien: No, we’re just shopping buddies. (Secretly wishes for more)

A girl once asked if he was Cinderella when he wore a blue headband, and he immediately said yes. Now every week for Pride month, she dresses as a different Disney Princess

Nearly fainted when Marinette and Luka entered a flexing contest and Luka’s sleeves tore

Kim- Mari and Nino’s Bi brother in Trans Pride🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him & They/Them- Gender nonconforming

Kim: I’m a guy, I like blouses and heels, deal with it, people!

Kim/Mari/Nino: Bedazzled Cape Squad!

Muscle shirts and converse sneakers / Has a tank top that reads, ‘I flexed so hard the sleeves came off’

Got into a muscle-flexing contest against Luka and Marinette and got third place (No one beats Marinette)

Also can’t tell when they’re being flirted with

Alix and Max convinced him to dress in drag, and he went all out. Now he has the respect of many drag queens. And every pride parade, he wears heels and a huge wig

Gives everyone (Mainly Max) piggyback rides

Asked Max to be his boyfriend at one pride parade, and people thought it was so cute! They named that day, ‘Kimax Day’

Max- Not a Robot, I’m Agender 🤖

They/Them

Has many pride tank-tops and pins with puns / ‘Error 404 Gender Not Found’ ‘I Don’t Speak Binary Code’ ‘2/3 of the Invisible Trio’

Has Marinette paint their cheeks the colors of the agender and asexual flags

Has one of those digital backpacks with pixelated images on the front

Downloads Pride songs for Markov to blasts from their speakers

When they and Alix convinced Kim to dress in drag, Max may or may not have drooled a bit

Progress Pride Flag cape, socks, and nails

When protestors attack, Max goes all LGBT scientist on their butts, explaining the difference between gender and sex, what hormone blockers actually do, and how not every gay person has AIDS

Once beat up a sleazy protester for... Feeling Kim down there / Max: *Hitting protester with a baseball bat* If you ever do that again, I will fit Markov with a laser and have them slice your rotten dick off!

Marinette and Nathaniel helped them make pride bracelets with the sexualities and gender identities written in binary code. The pride nerds LOVED them

Nathaniel: Our Beautiful BiRomantic Son 🎨

He/Him

He and Marinette paint everyone’s faces before every pride parade

Painted an asexual heart on his Bi flag and wore it as a cape

Cuffed jeans, boots, tucked-in shirt, beanie, pride buttons / Paints pride flags on his denim jacket and shorts

Marc does his makeup, and he looks fabulous

His grandma teaches him how to fight in case of violent Christian protesters / Grandma: Sweetie, you’re Jewish and Bisexual, the world is gonna tear you apart. Learn how to give a mean left hook.

Once took over a face painting booth, now he does it every Pride Month

Enters the 'Crush a watermelon between your thighs' contest every time and always wins first

Saw couples cosplaying as Mightillustrator and Inverser, and cried tears of joy

He and Marc cosplay as couples at every pride parade. The fan favorites are Keith and Lance, Tweek and Craig, and Michael and Rich

CANNOT have too much sugar or he goes crazy and wakes up with no memories of what he did

The next day after an intense sugar high, people were saluting as he walked by and calling him ‘General of the Bisexual Battalion’ / He’s not complaining or questioning it / He has an army now and will one day take over all of Europe. Then the world.

Marc: The Rainbow Flag has Taken a Human Form🏳️‍🌈

Nonbinary- He/Him & They/Them

A True Pride Legend

Born on June 1st at a pride parade.

A singer helped deliver him, his cord was cut by a sword Lesbian, he was swaddled in a drag queen’s glitter cape, and their name was thought of by a drag king

This moment was so beautiful that many protesters cried and decided to join the parade

Everyone will literally stop what they’re doing just to get a picture with them / Everyone loves Marc!

Got into a splits contest and won

Makes flower crowns and knits rainbow flag scarves to pass out to everyone

Certified Mom Friend

Does everyone's makeup

Loses his shit when his shorter friends get lost in crowds

Hugs pride kids who were forced to sneak out or were kicked out of their homes then buys them ice cream / He and Nathaniel have adopted over fifty Pride kids who were kicked out of their homes

Joins Adrien in dressing like a Disney Princess. He SLAYED as Snow White

It may not seem like it, but Marc can throw a punch and fight with one hand right behind their back

Beat up a transphobic asshole for trying to “correct” a trans boy by forcing himself onto him. / They never did find the man’s body. In fact, all of his personal information was gone. Almost like he had never even existed... / Marc looks cute, but he can be terrifying when he needs to be

Alix: Two Out of 3 💚💜🖤🤍

She/Her & They/Them

Leaves many girls swooning as they skate by

Devious little shit

She doesn’t beat up protesters like her classmates. She pranks them until they cry / One year, they all ended up covered in rainbow glitter and pink feathers / Adrien and Rose help them make glitter bombs to throw at protesters, then they run away giggling

Wears sarcastic Pride shirts and black shorts with her roller skates

She and Jalil come out to their father every June

Alix: Father. I am AroAce! / Jalil: Also, I am gay! / Alim: Kids, I know. You’ve been doing this every year. / Jalil: Well... Thank you for being an ally!

This is the only time she’ll wear makeup / She wears it like war paint. Only it’s rainbow

Drinks the most juice out of everyone

Ships people with Alya. SHIPPING BUDS!

Myléne: Smol Asexual Bean ♠️

She/Her

Goes all out for Pride Month / Rolls around in glitter with Rose and Sabrina before every parade

Dyes her hair all rainbow / Wears a ‘Shakespeare was Here’ shirt with her asexual flag skirt

Has also beaten up homophobes and transphobes

Is the most vocal when it comes to putting those assholes in their place. Ivan has to hold her back sometimes

After an acephobe after they made certain comments (You ace folk know what I’m talkin ‘bout) She roundhouse kicked them / Every protester knows not to mess with the bohemian girl

Will blast The PROM soundtrack at max volume from her phone

Cosplays as musical characters. Veronica Sawyer was a fan favorite

Part of the “Where the Hell is Adrien?” Squad

Ivan: My Girlfriend is Stronger than Me, and it’s So Hot 💪😍

Prefers He/Him but is cool with other pronouns - Questioning his gender so isn’t using any labels right now

The responsible auncle

Mari and Alya’s partner in Pansexuality/ He can’t help if everyone is attractive, he just can’t!

Looks like he can kill you, but is actually a cinnamon role. Myléne on the other hand...

Has let Marc do their makeup and nails, and looks gorgeous!

Did drag. Slayed. Rocks those three-inch heels.

Tank tops and shorts club

Like Marinette, no one dares to flirt with him. Not because he’s out of their league, but because they’re scared of his girlfriend

Dyes his blonde tuft pastel pink every year

More pacifistic than her friends are when it comes to protesters, but if the right buttons are pressed, hell shall be raised

They join Alya and Alix in shipping random people

Rose: The Lovely Lipstick Lesbian💄

She/Her- Breaking lesbian stereotypes est. 2004

The kind aunt who supports all of her niblings

Has been going to pride with her dads since she was born/ One of her dads is a retired drag queen

Wears her rainbow fairy wings every year

Has a lesbian flag with dozens of girls' phone numbers written on it. / Doesn’t wear it anymore now that she has Juleka

Throws fistfuls of glitter at protesters and yells at them, “LIGHTEN UP!”

Sprinkles glitter on pride kids and tells them to sparkle

Marinette helps her make rainbow unicorn plushies to hand out to children every year

Dresses as Disney Princesses with Adrien and Marc. Princess Squad!

Bakes cookies to pass around

Drag Kings and Queens love this girl! She’s cute, loud, and carries glitter everywhere

Butch lesbians learn not to flirt with her after their encounter with Juleka

To piss of protesters, she dipped Juleka and kissed her for ten whole seconds / Rose: I bet your husbands don’t love you like that. / Drag Queens: BUUUUUURN!

Juleka: The Gay Witch 🖤🏳️‍🌈

She/Her & They/Them - Total lesbian

Was there when Marc was born, and will never forget that day. (She has an impressive memory, even as a baby)

They swore they saw a rainbow when he was born

Dresses as a witch and wears red eye contacts to every pride event so she freaks out protesters

Has actually cursed them / They just bought the spellbook off of Amazon

Carries around a rainbow parasol

Carries Rose under every threshold she comes across

Is a lot louder at pride events than on regular days

She actually sang Girls Like Girls up on stage, and everyone went wild

Sometimes wears suits

When they saw Rose being flirted with by some butch lesbians, they went ballistic / Now the butch lesbians are terrified of her forever

She and Luka help out with painting her friends’ nails and dying their hair

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride month

Luka: The Responsible Hot & Chaotic Auncle 💖💚💙

Agender- They/Them, He/Him, She/Her - Polysexual/Polyamorous

“For me, gender is like silence... I’m just not into it.”

Doesn’t really care what pronouns people use for him

Wears dresses to every pride parade. Anarka and Juleka have never been so proud

Is always doing drag cosplay. Marc and Nathaniel have never been so proud / They had people gawking when they did Jessica Rabbit cosplay

Purposely bends over in front of people, while wearing leggings, skirts, skinny jeans, or short shorts. Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien got nosebleeds

Marinette/Kagami/Adrien: Luka's ass in those shorts is a Godsend.

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride parade

The minute June starts, they’ll get up in the morning, grab their Polysexual flag, and just run around the city

Has been coming up with Pride songs to sing at protesters. Many of the songs insult them. / Luka: Okay! This one goes out to the trash behind barriers, it’s called, “Please shut the fuck up, you homophobic dildos!”

Got into a flexing contest and won second, but at the cost of their sequined sleeves

Asked Adrien, Marinette, and Kagami to be his significant others at a pride event. They all said yes

Has carried Adrien and Marinette on her biceps, and Kagami on her shoulders

Adrien: ... I marrying them first. / Marinette: Get in the back of the line, blonde wonder! / Kagami: Both of you move to the back.

Kagami: While You Were Busy Being Hetero, I Studied the Blade 🗡

She/Her - PanRomantic/Polyamorous

Surprisingly, her mother was very supportive. She even bought Kagami a rainbow sword / Turns out, Tamoe had a few flings herself. 😉

Kagami came out to the whole fencing team by wearing a pansexual-flag print fencing mask. Adrien squealed all through practice

She didn’t quite understand what polyamory meant and was confused as to why she had crushes on Adrien, Marinette, and Luka at the same time

After a bit of explaining and reassuring her that it was totally normal and not being disloyal to a partner, Kagami came to terms with being polyamorous

Tamoe allowed Kagami to go to her first Pride Parade. On the condition that she take her sword to ward off protesters

She was so overwhelmed and wasn’t entirely sure what to do until she found Marinette, Luka, and Adrien in the crowd with their friends

The four of them hung out together and got closer

Believes Adrien in pastels is one of the purest things on Earth

When Marinette and Luka entered the flexing contest, Kagami had to keep Adrien and herself from fainting

When Luka asked her, Marinette, and Adrien to be his significant others she tried to resist the urge to jump and squeal, but couldn’t hold it in

Likes it when Marinette wraps her trans flag around her. It’s so warm

Chased off a protester and TERF with her sword. They said some shit about Marinette being ‘fake’, Luka being ‘greedy’, and Adrien being a ‘pansy’, and she just snapped / While screaming in rapid Japanese, she chased about fifty protesters away. Her SOs were so proud.

Sabrina: The Ginger Gent 👑🏳️‍🌈

She/Her, He/Him in Drag- PanRomantic

Rolls around in glitter, as is a Drag tradition

Dresses in drag. / The Ginger Gent is her drag king name and she’s got like a glam rocker theme going on

Sequined leather jacket, coiffed toupee, glitter makeup

Started doing drag when she was twelve. Her dad supported her wholeheartedly and even entered her in junior drag contests. She took first place three times

Sometimes puts on private drag shows for Chloé. (Nothing weird!)

Marinette helps makes most of her costumes

Luka’s partner in Drag / Together, they kick ass and still look glamorous

A makeup expert (Next to Marc)

Roger taught her self defense / If you're going to Pride, learn to fight

Has taken down thirty protesters, his hair still looks awesome, and there's not a sequin out of place.

Chloé: The Badass Polysexual Demigirl 💖💚💙

She/Her and They/Them

Not really that attracted to guys

Best dressed. / Marc/Luka/Sabrina: She wishes!

Only allows Marc to do their makeup, no one else!

She has her own float in the parade / She passes out rainbow boas

Taking names and kicking butt

Has actually choked a protester with their flag and they don't do a thing about it since they're the mayor's child

Chloe: It pays to have political power. / Marinette: In this situation.

Doesn't tell people, but they came to Marinette, Nino, and Kim about gender stuff when they were questioning their identity

The day was spent teaching Chloe about the trans spectrum until she found the gender that felt right to her

Whenever Chloe gets excited, she makes out with the first girl she comes across. / Many young female protesters started questioning things when the blonde's lips grazed against theirs'

254 notes · View notes

fandom-thingies · 3 years

Text

Worth a Try

Eret sits alone on the day L’manburg is reclaimed.

Not that they didn’t help with taking it back- of course they did, right? They have a lot to atone for, and they’d been waiting, waiting, waiting for an opportunity to take back a few of their sins.

So they did help take it back, stood atop a tower firing down at Dream and his allies, watched Schlatt’s infamously poor health come back to bite him in the most final way…

But they don’t stick around long, after that. They don’t stay for the presidential game of hot potato, the founders of the nation passing its ownership back and forth.

They would have, normally, but.

Eret has worked with Dream, in the past. Everyone loves to remind them of it, and they often do so themselves, but something oft forgotten is that Eret knows Dream, knows the obsession he has with ending L’manburg, knows the methods he’s most fond of, that game of pawns and traitors he excels at so notoriously.

And Eret knows Dream gave Wilbur 11 stacks of TNT.

Now, supposedly it’s all gone. Various people have looked around and none have been able to find a trace of it, but Eret knows Wilbur, knows the message he wants to send, and before the battle, they checked somewhere no one else did.

Not many people know the podium is hollow, so not many people noticed when it stopped echoing if you hit it and started making a dull thud sound instead.

Eret notices a lot of things.

While Wilbur is taking his place on stage, Eret goes around the hill, digging toward the podium they’ve guessed to be filled full with TNT.

It takes them a while, but when they find it…

There’s so much.

The smell of sulfur is overwhelming, and they take a moment to pull their shirt over their nose before they begin to dig it out.

They don’t get it all, they don’t have time, but they find the blackstone room and the redstone that runs from it and they make dead sure all the explosives near it are broken.

Then, they dig into the room, because why not? Sue them, they’re curious.

What they find is… exactly what they expected and nothing they could have imagined, at the same time.

It’s unassuming, at a glance. Dingy, poorly lit, small.

It’s also a terrifying representation of Wilbur’s mental state, with the anthem scribbled on the wall in the messiest handwriting they’ve ever seen from the former president, who’s usually so neat and tidy.

There’s no button, which is odd. Perhaps he means to place it himself?

(Eret has no illusions he’s changed his mind. As they said, they’ve worked with Dream before. If he hasn’t extracted some promise from Wilbur to blow it all sky high no matter what, they’ll steal their crown from George and eat it.)

They stand for a moment, just taking in the place, before they hear blocks breaking from the passageway out and realize just how close they’ve cut it.

Hurriedly, they block up the hole they’d used to enter, hoping Wilbur won’t realize they’ve destroyed the TNT.

(Hoping he’s too distracted by his own thoughts to hear them close it)

Only moments after the hole is shut, he comes into view, breaking the dirt blocks that hide this chamber from sight.

The day outside is far brighter than the hidden room, and the contrast makes it so all Eret can see of Wilbur is a dark silhouette haloed by the clear blue sky.

He doesn’t seem to see them at first, coming almost halfway down the passage before he stops, noticing their presence.

“Eret.” His voice is as calm as it always is, when he says it, but they can tell he’s surprised.

“Wilbur.” They greet in response.

“I didn’t expect to find you here. Come to blow it up yourself?” Eret sighs. The hostility in his voice is... not undeserved.

“Not quite.”

“Still trying for your redemption arc, then?” There’s venom in his tone.

“...as much as I can, yes.”

Wilbur deflates, and it seems like the anger in him has fled as quickly as it entered.

“Why are you doing this, Eret?”

The answer to that is… complicated. There are a lot of reasons. They don’t want L’manburg blown up, for one. It’s suffered rather enough, especially with some of Schlatt��s alterations. They also don’t see a better way to try and make up for what they’ve done than stopping someone else from doing the same, but neither of those are really why. The real reason, the truth of why they’ve spent days knocking on hollow objects and digging random holes in the ground until they finally found the bombs?

“I know better than anyone how much doing this will destroy you.” They say.

And that’s the truth of it, isn’t it? The unvarnished fact of the matter is there’s no moral motivation here, as much as they’d like to pretend. They just don’t want anyone else to feel the guilt they’ve felt, and maybe there’s a selfishness in that, but maybe it’s important, to acknowledge your mistakes and do what you can to stop others from making them.

Wilbur laughs, and there’s no humor in it.

“Of course that would be your reasoning,” and the anger in his voice is back, and Eret is preparing to respond, and Wilbur gives them no chance to before he continues.

“Maybe I’m already destroyed, huh? Maybe I’ve already seen too much of what the world can offer to recover from it!” He swings a hand out wide, indicating the writing on the wall in an aggressive motion that makes Eret shrink back.

“I wrote a whole fucking song for this place, Eret! You were there, you know I did, you were in both versions of the damn thing, and what the fuck is left?” Wilbur inhales, before continuing in a softer tone, “What the fuck is left of it, Eret? I built L’manburg to be special, to be free from tyranny, and look what’s it’s become.”

“Schlatt’s dead, though. He can’t stop you from building it back up.” They counter, but Wilbur doesn’t falter.

“Yeah, and? We violently deposed him, Eret. He had a heart attack sure, but this was a coup through and through. We killed the rightful president of L’manburg. We’ve made ourselves just as bad as him!”

...no?

No, they’re pretty sure that’s not how that works.

“Isn’t it the right of the people to rebel against rulers who treat them poorly? Schlatt had terrible policies, exiled his political opponents, taxed his citizens into starvation, and destroyed historic monuments,” they adjust their glasses slightly. “Didn’t he kind of have it coming?”

Wilbur stops. Blinks.

Eret suspects he’s never thought of it that way, before.

“But we still killed him. That’s still wrong.” He says, but he sounds... uncertain, now. Off balance.

“Well, we would have. He died before we could.”

“That doesn’t change the intent.”

“Fair enough.”

Eret pauses to collect their thoughts in an orderly manner.

“I still don’t really think it would have been wrong, though. Not any more than it would have been wrong if you’d killed me.”

Wilbur snorts, and says, “Just because you’re drowning in self loathing doesn’t mean you get to snap me out of my self destructive spiral. I’ve been doing just fine with it on my own, thanks.”

Sure he has.

They know terrible coping mechanisms when they see them, is all Eret is saying here.

He must see something of their thoughts in their face, because he continues almost immediately.

“You haven’t got any right to talk, anyway, mr. ‘it was never meant to be’.”

Ah. Hm. He’s got a point there.

Though, their own experience with this is what prompted them to confront him in the first place, so.

“I was wrong, when I said that. I was wrong, and you proved me wrong.”

They mean it, too. They’d been blind when they’d said those words, trying to justify what they were doing to themself by saying the revolution would never have succeeded anyway, and they’d been so fucking stupid.

Wilbur just laughs, though. He laughs for a while.

“You really don’t get it, do you, Eret? You were right, then! You were fucking right! None of this was ever going to work, not with Dream against us! He was always going to find a way to throw a wrench in the gears, and maybe Schlatt got to it first, but there’s no happy ending for this place!” He steps forward, and they realize how close he is to them. “There’s no way out, here! I’m going to press the button, Technoblade is going to summon withers because he’s the goddamn traitor, and Dream’s just going to sit back and watch and be just as untouchable as he always is.”

Wilbur takes another step closer to them, laying a hand on their shoulder, and though he’s only barely taller than them, those two inches feel like two miles, with the way he looms.

“I’ve been to this room, over and over again! Seven or eight times, I’ve been here, staring at this fucking wall and the fucking button, and I-!” He runs his free hand roughly over his face, and Eret sees something suspiciously like tears in his eyes.

“I can’t do this, Eret. I’ve given so much for this country, everyone has, and there’s just nothing left. I’m so tired, Eret. I’ve lost so much of myself to this.”

Eret raises their hand slowly, telegraphing the motions so Wilbur can pull back if he wants, and puts it over the one he’s placed on their shoulder.

They take a step and they’re basically touching him, and carefully, carefully, they reach their other arm around him until they’re embracing.

It’s not quite a hug, really. The position is a bit too awkward, especially with both of them barely fitting in the tiny room, but it’s close.

Wilbur stays tense, but he doesn’t push them away, doesn’t tell them to let go.

They hope it helps him, hope they’re right and he needs as much as it seems, and the evidence doesn’t seem to contradict that hypothesis.

It’s good, that this has worked. Good that they were able to convince him, to make him realize this isn’t the answer.

Click.

A moment of silence.

Wilbur laughs, a real laugh, not a pale imitation fed by anger and self loathing, and keeps laughing for nearly a full minute before he regains his composure.

“Oh, Eret, you bastard.” He says, and they can hear the smile in his voice. “You broke the redstone, you glorious motherfucker.”

It’s then that Eret realizes what just happened.

Wilbur had used the hug as a cover to place a button on the wall and press it, not realizing all the TNT near the room was safely in their inventory.

That fucking prick.

Eret laughs then, too, fueled half by the sheer fear of realizing Wilbur actually did it, actually pressed the button, and it was only their having broken it that stopped L’manburg being blown up again, but the laugh is also coming from the desperate, desperate relief they feel because even if they didn’t succeed in convincing him, even if they didn’t change his mind, they still stopped him from making their mistake.

“Why even try to talk me out of it, if you already made it so I couldn’t?” He asks, bemused.

“I can’t exactly stop you from getting more TNT and trying again, can I?”

Wilbur tenses against them, before they continue.

“Please don’t, Wilbur. I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish with it, but… give yourself a chance to heal, please. Schlatt is dead, and even if you’re right, and Technoblade is the traitor, no one is going to let him destroy this. Even if he breaks every block of this nation, we’ll put it back, because this place has never been the builds, or the podium, or the walls,”

“L’manburg is the people, and we’re not going anywhere,”

#dream smp #dsmp #dream smp fanfiction #dsmp fanfiction #wilbur soot #eret #wilbur soot fanfiction #eret fanfiction #november 16th #my writing #hurt/comfort

37 notes · View notes

decoding1432 · 7 years

Text

BRIDGES...

Melodically it might not be the strongest one in the album, & not the favourite one for many, BUT conceptually is the perfect song for single choice. Let me elaborate… Mainstream media regularly doesn’t touch subjects aside of sex, love, heartbreak & partying.

Logic stated something similar during his VMAs performance: “I just want to take a moment right now & thank you all so much for giving me a platform to talk about something that mainstream media doesn’t want to talk about…” Speaking about mental illnesses on his song “1-800-273-8255” is such a powerful, raw & real statement. If you have heard the song or watched his performance that night, don’t tell me you didn’t get chills or a lump in your throat. Now, this is an statement that has achieved a #1 on Spotify’s US Top 50 chart; got a new peak of No. 5 this week on the Hot 100, a platinum certification & continues to rise (not to mention the impact that has had on the lifeline, it’s unprecedented). Personally, I’m extremely happy that a song like such is getting that amount of success. Doesn’t mean there hasn’t been anyone that has treated this subject in the music ever before but take a look at the BB charts from these days & there is not another similar single on the market right now. The GP appreciates these songs that convey a different type of message other than the trivial ones we’re used to hear on the radio all the time.

Take a look at other very successful pop singles by female singers that have spoken about matters that don’t have anything to do with the common “mainstream-ish” ones:

Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”… Reached double platinum on the US, & did very well on the BB lists)

Katy Perry with “Firework”… Commercially successful, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top five on 20 charts around the world. It has sold 7.1 million copies in the United States, and over 1 million in the United Kingdom.

Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”…

[“I really can’t believe it. I’m humbled, honored and overwhelmed at the reception to ‘Born This Way’. This has been so life-changing for me. Between Billboard and the international No. 1s, and the radio numbers… I couldn’t be more blessed to have the fans I have. I knew when I wrote the song it was special, but I also knew that perhaps my fans or my label were hoping for me to deliver ‘Bad Romance the Third’ or ‘Poker Face the Third’. I wanted to do exactly the opposite.”] — Gaga talking to Billboard about the commercial reception of “Born This Way”.

These are just the first examples I could come up with, surely there are other options that I’m missing right now. My point here was to highlight how these sort of songs do great in terms of the commercial reception & sometimes even better than expected.

Back to Bridges, by making it a single the girls would totally be showing the GP a side of them, musically speaking, that they have never been given the chance to showcase. I want to believe it would get them the respect they deserve. I’m positive it would change the GP’s view on them since it’d be a total different approach. I would even dare to say that they could go viral since anything that slams Trump’s administration, rightfully does (like Miss Texas two or three days ago). Concerning stan Twitter, hopefully it would lessen the slander towards them.

I know most are begging for Lonely Night or DSYLM for the third single. Almost everyone is rooting for the powerhouse ballad that DSYLM is, don’t get me wrong this song is everything we all have ever wanted from them since “Who Are You” but the absolute best time to have gotten this song out would have been their debut as a foursome, releasing something no one would have expected nor sonically nor vocally. But we know Epic adores sabotaging them. Regarding Lonely Night, the girls are known for bops, adding another one to their hits list won’t bring a change onto their name. Here’s what I mean:

For a girlgroup that’s not taken seriously more than half of the time; that has sadly secured a solid place on the stan Twitter bandwagon hate list; & the label that loves fucking up their singles choices… just look at Down, as much as they want to sell us the idea that they all agreed with it as the debut, it’s obvious that LAND didn’t pick it. Tbh if it had actually been for them I don’t think they would have included it on the tracklist. For a band that’s been doubted since always, having a single out there climbing the top spots on the charts protesting about today’s political situation; speaking on behalf the lack of love & division reigning over society; stating about equality in general… It’s such an outstanding concept.

Four POC women basically singing in harmony a big fat fuck you to the giant Cheeto head & his regimen founded on racism & bigotry while taking over the mainstream radio it’s such an statement, I just got chills from merely thinking about it.

Apart from the fact that the GP could be very receptive of it, most importantly, it’s a much needed message that don’t even doubt for a second, Lauren, Ally, Normani & Dinah wouldn’t want to share with the world on a bigger scale. Yeah the song is out there, sure thing. But not every outsider will give themselves the chance to hear it. Many don’t even know the song exists. With a well budgeted music video (preferably that contains an actual storyline) & the adequate amount of promo it’s a song that could definitely get the recognition & appreciation it deserves.

I repeat, Epic won’t ever pull this card (I’m sure it must be true that they have already selected Sauced Up) but if the fans unite to demand this, definitely the girls won’t reject the idea & maybe we could really get them to change it EVEN if the third song is put out there by that moment. Many moves likes this have been done in the past, due to the fans’ petitions. E.g. Lady Gaga had everything prepared to promote “Ayo” & she changed it last minute to “Million Reasons”. One Direction had begun promoting “Infinity” but directioners wanted “History” instead. We could do it, we could get the label to exercise this option. Besides aren’t we told almost daily that we’re the fifth member? Just saying…

If you have made up your mind about other song for the next single, remember the other songs talk about about the trivial topics that the mainstream media consistently push. Not that there’s anything wrong with them of course, but from my POV it would just be another hit added to their brand & that’s pretty much it. Not that this last is not a big deal but imagine if they could have a hit with an anti-Trump anthem, love encouraging piece. Sounds better or is it just me?? Idk, don’t want to sound like I’m exaggerating but this could be huge for them. Plus bringing a different element into the table for a change seems persuading enough to me. By the way, the girls just said recently said in an interview that they wanted to be remember for spreading love & positivity… What a perfect opportunity to exhibit this to the GP than with Bridges.

Not convinced enough? The portion of the general public, that got to hear it already, praised it quite A LOT. (I’ll attach later some ss with tweets demonstrating this last point)

The world deserves this message. The girls have it. It’s just a matter of pushing it & spreading it a little bit more. This shouldn’t be an opportunity gone to waste. Especially if this is really their last project as Fifth Harmony. In the end it’s not the girls who got to decide this latter, it’s the label, (even if they try to sell us otherwise). Not to mention right now it’s the most fitting time. The situation in America, the world crying for love & compassion… It’s a must to get this anthem out as soon as possible. The time is now.

#MakeBridgesASingle

#bridges is an important song #reblog if you agree #& if you don't think about it #please help me spread this #on twitter on IG #just pass it on #petition to make bridges a single #it would be amazing if we could manage to trend this #bridges #fifth harmony #lauren jauregui #normani kordei #dinah jane #ally brooke #5h fandom #harmonizers #self titled album #fifth harmony blogs

314 notes · View notes

keywestlou · 4 years

Text

WAR ON DECENCY AND DEMOCRACY

There are some things that take priority over all else. Today, Lisa’s birthday. My baby is 56 years old. And still my baby.

Amazing how time flies. The little girl I knew so well gone. Today, a bright cheerful person. One who has given me 2 lovely grandchildren. Robert and Ally. Both high schoolers. How swiftly they have grown.

Happy birthday dear Lisa! May I be around many more years to say that to you.

Helen Reddy has passed on at 78. The woman who gave us I Am Woman. The song became a feminist anthem. It will be so for all time.

Now to the War on Decency and Democracy.

The Presidential Debate last night. I caught the last hour.

Trump ruined it. As he does all things. He made it a dark event. The man is a buffoon. The more I see of him, the more convinced I am he does not have it mentally.

Trump has always been unhappy that New York society and elite never welcomed him into their ranks. Who would want to be a friend to someone who acts as he does.

Some comments I came across in reading various reviews this morning. One writer described the debate as a “revulsion.” Due to Trump’s presentation. Another, “ugly.”

The New York Post reported that Trump’s “over belligerence” led him to stumble. USA Today described the event as a “horror show that had to scare America.” CNN described the debate as “total chaos.”

The moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump at one time to denounce a far right or white supremacist group. Trump appeared reluctant. Biden suggested the far out radical group known as Proud Boys.

Trump’s response shocking. He told Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” In other words get ready, I may need you. Proud Boys celebrated last night their recognition by Trump and his apparent need for their assistance at some point in time.

The “stand back and stand by” sounded like a call to arms.

Mike Allen in AXIOS this morning wrote the debate was similar to what is going on in the country today. Division big time. Radicalism definitely on one side. Not much on the other. A President egging on far right enthusiasts.

On Good Morning America, Bob Woodward described Trump’s performance as “attempting to assassinate the Presidency.”

Biden said something profound. Think about it for a moment: “Dirty fighters don’t win.”

Chris Wallace failed as the moderator. Perhaps anyone being moderator would have. Trump was out of control. Ranting and raving.

Wallace could not control Trump, could not make him comply with the rules for the debate set beforehand.

If I had been Wallace last night, I would first have warned Trump re his conduct, tell him if it continued he would be cut off till it was time for him to speak again. Yes, close his mike down so he would stop interring with Biden’s responses.

Let him rave all he wanted in his own silence.

Trump has received his third nomination for the Nobel Peace Award. Would you believe!

The nomination came from a group of professors in Australia who praised the “Trump Doctrine” against endless wars.

Biden provided his tax returns several months ago. Yesterday, he and his wife provided their 2019 tax return. The return set forth $944,737 in income. Their tax payment $346,204.

Trump has not provided his. The 20 years of tax returns the New York Times has appears to be from a source other than Trump himself.

With tongue in cheek, I must say I admire Trump’s transparency.

Nicholas Kristof’s Opinion piece in today’s New York Times is titled: “Watching A Cataclysm of Hunger, Disease and Illiteracy.”

The article’s first 2 paragraph’s telling.

“We think of Covid-19 as killing primarily the elderly around the world, but in poor countries it is more cataclysmic than that.”

“It is killing children through malnutrition. It is leading more people to die from tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS. It is forcing girls out of school into child marriages. It is causing women to die in childbirth. It is setting back efforts to eradicate polio, malaria and female genital mutilation. It is leading to lapses in Vitamin A distribution that will cause more children to suffer blindness and death.”

Trump claimed last night the economy was in the best shape ever because of his efforts till coronavirus hit. He further claimed he has done such a good job with the virus that the economy is on its way back to where it had been.

If so, why are major employers advising large layoffs?

The most recent is Disney. Disney announced it was laying off 28,000 employees. The Pandemic the cause. Disney’s theme parks taking the biggest hit. Sixty seven percent of those to be laid off are part timers.

On this day in 1927, Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the 1927 season. The record stood for 34 years.

College students returned to school. Within days, the numbers began coming in. Within 2 weeks, the numbers were off the wall. Many universities closed down.

High school, middle and grammar school children have generally returned to school across the country. So far no word as to whether the virus is infecting them. This includes the Key West High School.

The silence gives me concern. Are the schools free of coronavirus cases? Or, there are cases and the schools are keeping them quiet?

Some things are hard to believe. There is an underground movement to hold an unstructured Fantasy Fest. Limited to certain events.

Fantasy Fest was cancelled in July. For good reason. Some people do not understand nor fear the virus. Tourists as well as Key West bar and restaurant owners.

It is claimed the underground movement began when the hotels refused to return deposits for Fantasy Fest week. A Facebook page and other social media outlets started talking about the underground.

Tampa a big one. Tampa apparently has a 1,100 member Key West Fantasy Fest Club. They do not want to stay home during the week. So they have gone to social media and advised here would be parties, etc., except under different names. Black Lingerie Matters would replace the Zombie Bike ride for example.

Irish Kevin’s is openly advertising in Tampa for those who will be attending the underground Fantasy Fest to come party with them.

The numbers will go up. Not just in Key West. Also, in Tampa and from where ever else the tourists come.

Enjoy your day!

WAR ON DECENCY AND DEMOCRACY was originally published on Key West Lou

0 notes

themusiciantraveler · 5 years

Text

For Whom the Bells Toll in Dresden

Sunday. May 27, 2018.

It was the first morning any of us have actually “slept in” since we departed the States at the beginning of our trip, and let me say that the extra bit of rest was much needed. We once again stuffed our faces before heading into Dresden for a rainy Sunday morning. We arrived in the heart of the city just as it started to sprinkle outside — the fog heavy as the sun began to peek behind the clouds. The moment we stepped out of the van we instantly stepped back in time to the height of the 1800s with their grand balls and premiers of the latest Wagnerian opera.

The towering sight of the Zwinger — a castle and fortress that ended up only being mere walls and a courtyard, turned into a porcelain and crystal museum — greeted us as we were transported to the era of late-Romanticism. Fountains and gothic architecture graced the darkened grey skies, almost blending in together. We were running late (as per usual with 14 other traveling companions) so we only had time for a brief walk through the courtyard before walking to the main square that opened up to the Semper Opera House.

We stepped out into the courtyard of the Semper Opera House only to be greeted by a quartet of brass players performing a stunning Bach chorale. The notes gracefully intermingled in perfect, genius harmony as the reverberated off the lofty corners of the surrounding architecture. After they cadenced their beautiful reverie we tipped the talented musicians and decided to try our luck with a song request – specifically the National Anthem of the United States of America. They looked at us and then looked at one another before kindly acquiescing to our odd request – I’m certain they had never been asked to play the piece ever before based on their reactions. But soon the familiar strains that bring hats off heads and hands to cover hearts began to drift through the courtyard. Pride swelled in each of our hearts as we sang the lyrics that accompany the famous verses – the dictionary definition of juxtaposition as we took in the extremely European history around us.

youtube

The Elbe River flowed directly alongside the town square, hemming in the antique architecture that surrounded our world. The rain began to pick up until it was falling steadily as we joined the queue to wait for the English tour of the opera house. A small tip, plan to have at least two hours to spend on the tour — we only had about 45 minutes to spare before our next excursion, so we unfortunately only barely got to see the stage and stunning seating boxes in the heart of the opera house. Also, check the daily schedule if you are there on a weekend, there may be a performance or two going on and you will need to plan around them accordingly because all tours will stop 2 hours before curtain call. Additionally, if you would like to take pictures of the magnificent marble columns and stunning chandeliers you will need to purchase a photo license at the beginning of the tour for a 3-Euro fee. If you don’t, they will kick you out of the tour if you take any photographs.

Just a few months before WWII ended the Allies bombed the living daylights out of Dresden, in retaliation for the loss of Coventry, completely destroying both the Semper Opera House and the Frauenkirche. In fact, the opera house that was originally commissioned for infamous composer Richard Wagner, had been destroyed on 2 previous occasions (both times by fire) so the building we got to tour was actually the 3rd reincarnation of the magnificent performing arts center that architect Semper had originally envisioned.

We left the tour early and in a hurry as the 11 o’clock bells began to toll from the Frauenkirche just a couple blocks down. There are three main services on Sundays: the 7am Mass, the 11am Lutheran service, and the 5pm English Presbyterian service. And once the service begins, you are not permitted to enter the church late, so we ran for all our worth, making it to the doors just as the final bell tolled to signal a change in the hour.

After being momentarily distracted by the beauty of the Frauenkirche, we finally located Doc and the row he had saved for us in the cathedral. We stood as the priest called us to worship and praise. Much of the service was spent looking around, counting and admiring details in order the stay awake because the entire service was in German! Every so often I would catch a word I recognized and my attention would be sparked before returning to my own thoughts. We participated in several traditional segments of a Mass, including the Kyrie and the Gloria, as well as call and response sections of the service. The most amazing part of the service that I will never forget was singing hymns and the Lord’s Prayer in German. Getting to worship alongside the fellow believers in our group in a different language was an incredible opportunity that just absolutely made my heart soar — certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

After the service ended, we talked Doc and Michael into letting us have a 30-minute break to walk around town a bit more, grab lunch, and purchase some souvenirs before getting back in the van for another long drive. We walked the picturesque square until we stopped at a quaint little cafe and bistro. We ordered cappuccinos and several small pastry bites covered in cinnamon and sugar and enjoyed the sunshine and the sounds of a Sunday in Dresden, Germany. The coffee was smooth and rich, a perfect pairing with the light sugar-coated pastries — something I wish my mom and I could have after every Sunday church service, though I do prefer my service in English.

After snagging some souvenirs for friends and a sandwich for the road, we headed back to the van through the Zwinger, the sun now high in the sky as we began our trek to the capital of Berlin. After yet another deep nap and several restroom stops, we finally arrived in the heart of Germany and our hotel for the next two evenings. We were given a chance to freshen up before a few final outings in the slowly sinking sunlight. We began at the Holocaust Museum and Memorial, after a few delays (as I’ve said before, maps are a useful commodity when traveling to a new place). A piece of advice, use Rick Steve’s travel books as resources when researching what sights to see. He often provides hours of operation and days that museums and other sights are closed. Something unique about Germany is that many museums are open on Sundays but are closed on Mondays, so by the time we finally arrived at the Holocaust Museum it had already closed for the evening and would not be reopening until Tuesday, by which time we would already be in another city.

So instead, I took some time to ponder and think on all that had happened to the people of my heritage during those dark years of WWII. The stunning and heart-stopping monument is designed on uneven ground with stone pillars of varying heights. People walk in and out of the pathways that the pillars create, but because of the differing heights of the columns, it makes it appear as though people randomly appear and disappear in the midst of the monument. It is intended to create an atmosphere that reminds the onlooker of what it must have felt like to lose everyone around you, friends and family disappearing suddenly into the night either in escape or in hostage. A frightening, yet nonetheless interesting, fact about the location of the monument is that it is less than a mile away from Hitler’s final stand, where he took his own life in his bunker. The building no longer exists, but a plaque on the pavement will reveal the location.

After taking a moment to slow down and think, we moved on through the city and just around the corner to the Brandenburg Gate – the starting point of the infamous Berlin Wall. The sun was creeping closer and closer to the ground, streaking the sky in pale hues of orange, yellow, pink, and blue, providing a stunning backdrop to such a painful monument in history. After an additional 2 miles of walking in search of Checkpoint Charlie, we finally convinced Michael to stop for dinner at the only place in sight. We ordered as much as we could as fast as possible, seeing that we had only had a small meal since the early morning.

A few final tips as our evening comes to a close. I recommend indulging in the local cuisine of the country you are in — try new things that might scare you, I promise they will provide some of the best food you will eat on the entire trip. And never travel without a map and research your closing times. You will thank yourself later when you are not wandering around a new city blindly or have missed the only chance at seeing a museum or shop you had on your list of ‘must dos’.

0 notes

ricardosousalemos · 7 years

Text

DMX: It's Dark and Hell is Hot

Earl Simmons suffered a lonely and abusive childhood where as a troubled kid he would sometimes wander the streets and befriend stray dogs. Uprooted from his native Baltimore at a young age, the Yonkers transplant did several stints in New York’s Children’s Village group home, where he first started fiddling with drum machines and beatboxing as a means of escape. He segued from DJing to rapping as a young adult, taking the name DMX from the drum machine he used. The young rapper made a name for himself on New York’s battle circuit with a commanding voice and overwhelming tenacity. Aggressiveness would become his calling card as an MC, a defense mechanism held over from when the days when armed robbery helped him survive on the streets. His battles to live and cope both in and outside of rap would lead to 1998’s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, his haunting debut, a tragically clear-eyed criminal manifesto that dared to greet damnation with defiance and a psalm.

Rocking a skull-embroidered hat, DMX the Great appeared in The Source’s Unsigned Hype column in January 1991, garnering comparisons to LL Cool J, PMD, and Hit Squad’s K-Solo (whom DMX had met in prison). The earliest DMX demos were tedious, without the defining presence he’d grow into. But it was in the ring that he truly built his rep, making an indelible mark on the underground scene with heavily rhythmic flows and a battler’s bluntness. When he traded bars with Jay Z in a cramped Bronx pool hall in the late ’90s, head bobbing violently, cigarette in hand, he proved himself to be a raw, almost boorish alternative to Hov’s shifty slick talk. The energy in the room clearly favored X’s style. Jay would later ask industry maneuverer mutual friend Irv Gotti, “You think he’s better than me?” to which Gotti replied, ‘If you look in the hood, there’s less niggas like you and more niggas like him.”

The Unsigned Hype column was known for producing deals. True to form, DMX signed to Columbia Records imprint Ruffhouse in 1992 and immediately cut a promotional single called “The Born Loser.” The track introduced his depressive tone, an ominous and confessional space that would later bring life to his most discomforting scenes. But true to its title, it failed to generate any buzz or airplay, and his overbooked label let him off the hook. (DMX claimed he was under-promoted because of groups like Kris Kross and Cypress Hill.) A few years later, Puff Daddy, head of the burgeoning Bad Boy Records, took interest in X and fellow Yonkers corner boys the LOX, but in the end chose to sign the latter over the former, deciding that X had no commercial prospects. “One thing I respect about Puff, at least he told me to my face what he felt,” DMX told “Drink Champs.” “‘His voice is too rough, he’s not marketable.’” DMX returned to the underground scene, emerging on LL Cool J’s 1997 album Phenomenon with a verse on the now infamous posse cut “4, 3, 2, 1.” Buzzing once more, he followed Gotti to Def Jam.

When Gotti pushed for Def Jam to sign DMX in his first meeting, he got laughed out of the room. “I remember when I left the office, [A&R executive] Tina Davis said, ‘if DMX don’t sell, your ass is fired,” Gotti remembered in an interview with Complex. He didn’t seem to fit with the rap moment. This was a year dominated by Puff Daddy and Bad Boy, who landed six of the seven highest-charting rap songs, delivered a huge critical and commercial success in Harlem World, and won Best Rap Album at the Grammys for the 7x-Platinum album No Way Out (famously and controversially defeating Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Forever). Putting money behind DMX would run counter to Bad Boy’s “shiny suit” era of glam rap.

But X brought Def Jam executive Lyor Cohen up to Yonkers for an early Ruff Ryder session and convinced him to sign the MC. At the time, DMX’s mouth was wired shut because of an altercation he’d had with some guys he was accused of stealing from. In an interview with DJ Vlad, Ja Rule remembered the ferocity through which he ripped through the wiring: “He had got into a fight or somebody got jumped... and he was rhyming with the fuckin’ wires in his mouth. Crazy shit. Like the shit about to pop. I was like ‘Okay, I like this dude.’” When they left, Cohen turned to Gotti and proclaimed, “We got the pick of the litter.”

Through his connections at Bad Boy (namely, his friends the LOX and Ma$e), DMX began working on his debut album with a producer from Harlem named Dame Grease, a fellow Yonkers product named P.K. (or P. Killer Trackz), and Grease’s unknown protege from the Bronx, Swizz Beatz. Under direction from Irv and Lyor, Grease, P.K., and X worked up a single called “Get at Me Dog” in ’97, and released it in February of ’98. It functioned as an abrasive prelude, but was at least partially aimed at X’s longtime rival K-Solo. They brought the song to Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex, who aired it and added it to the first volume of his Big Dawgs mixtape. It soon took off, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May. Gotti remembers the video as the turning point: “We back to the hood, and X is the leader of this revolution.” Filmed at New York’s Tunnel nightclub, packed, sweaty, and shot in black and white, X’s crusade is articulated in its opening seconds: “Let’s take it back to the streets, motherfuckers!”

“Get at Me Dog” set the stage for It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, which explores the furthest depths of the human experience. But there is no more fitting introduction to the album than the Swizz Beatz-produced “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” a confrontational, fang-bearing mark of ferocity. The song functions much like a warning shot: Cross this threshold at your own peril. “It’s about to get ugly/Fuck it dog, I’m hungry,” he snaps. The song was a defining moment for both DMX and Swizz Beatz, but it almost didn’t happen. Swizz made the song in Atlanta when he was just a DJ and then moved back to New York to join the Ruff Ryders. DMX didn’t like the song initially, claiming it was some “rock’n’roll track” and he needed some hip-hop shit: “I’m not doing that. It’s not hood enough,” he told the producer. But Swizz and other members of the Ruff Ryders team pushed him to make the record, and it became the theme song of a movement.

It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot was not only the springboard for the Ruff Ryders campaign—launching the careers of Swizz Beatz, Eve, Cassidy, and Jin—it was the catalyst for a greater shift on the New York rap scene and beyond. It was a reset button for street rap, setting the stage for runs from 50 Cent and G-Unit and Cam’ron’s Diplomats crew. “Hittin’ niggas with gashes to the head/Straight to the white meat but the street stays red/Girls gave me head for free cause they see/Who I’ma be, by like 2003,” X rapped on the intro. It didn’t even take that long.

Like Dante’s Inferno, DMX’s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot is a fiendish epic that explores the nature of sin, highlighting acts of violence, wrath, greed, treachery, and lust. The album exposes an internal struggle waged between a man and his demons—a man searching for one light in an all-consuming darkness. He has a talk with god (“The Convo”), but the devil is constantly whispering in his ear and wearing him down. He’s unsure whether his rhyme skills are the product of a contract with the devil (“I sold my soul to the devil, and the price was cheap”) or the generosity of a loving creator. It’s this duality that makes up one of the most gripping psychological studies in all of rap lore: What happens when a God-fearing man makes the devil his ally?

The centerpiece is “Damien,” a winding back-and-forth saga between X and his Hadean accomplice. The album builds to this moment, where X is seduced by his greatest admirer. In the throes of his own greed and pain, DMX embraces wickedness as a fair price for freedom from destitution. By the end, the song becomes a parable about the dangers of giving into desire when Damien coerces X into crimes he doesn’t want to commit: “Either do it or give me your right hand, that’s what you said,” he threatens. “I see now, ain’t nothing but trouble ahead.” Traces of “Damien” can be heard throughout the “Lucy” thread on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, which also examines the points where fame and sin meet. (Kendrick has cited It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot as a major influence.) But “Damien” is even more tightly wound, the relationship more clearly articulated and its energy more affecting. The dynamic “Damien” is a microcosm of It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, which is either in constant motion or disclosing ongoing conversations—whether internal, interpersonal (“How’s It Goin’ Down”), or divine (“Prayer”).

It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot debuted atop the Billboard 200 in May and was certified platinum by June. DMX quickly released his sophomore album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, in December of ’98, and it was double platinum by January. In between the two, he starred in Hype Williams’ directorial debut, Belly, alongside Nas, and the film almost immediately became a cult hit among rap fans. So in a grand total of eight months, DMX became the biggest rapper on the planet. His moment was so colossal that in 1999 Jay Z boycotted the Grammy ceremony (the year he won Best Rap Album for Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life) because DMX was not nominated.

“That was the year DMX took over the world,” Nas remembered in a 2013 interview with Pitchfork. Already a star on New York’s rap scene, the Queens rapper was standing in close proximity when the DMX atom bomb dropped. “There was a guy who worked on Belly with me and DMX who’d heard the record, and every day he would try to tell me how incredible this music that was about to come out was,” Nas recalled. “I tried to get a description, like, ‘What do you mean?’ And he just couldn’t say anything. He just kept saying, ‘It moves your soul.’ He did not lie.”

Nearly 20 years later, there is still no album like it. So many of the songs on It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot document violent crimes and the flood of emotions they induce. They move swiftly, jerking around corners and through alleyways, simulating a rising heart rate and a racing mind. His peers were shooting stills, but X was dealing in savage action sequences (“ATF”) and the shadows they cast (“Let Me Fly,” “X-Is Coming”). Everything about the music—from the harshness of his voice, to the murkiness of his beats, to the bruising nature of his flows—was in service of a supreme hardness. In ‘98, the biggest MCs on the New York scene were narrators using radically different sounds to tell their stories. Busta erupted with pure energy. Big Pun enchanted with an effortless fluidity. As Wu-Tang swarmed, Tribe was in the midst of their love movement. Black Star were a conscious voice for hood theorists. Jay Z brought business acumen to the drug trade. All were reporting live, sharing their powerful perspectives from different city blocks.

But DMX wasn’t a rapper in the trenches; he was a messiah in the gutter, painting a portrait of a community laid desolate by corruption, and the sociopaths its conditions were breeding. He was the voice of the street corners and the graveyards, telling stories of the lost and the damned. From on high, he demanded empathy for man, who were cold to murder and unapologetic for their crimes because he knew it’s hard to be good in a world this broken. “There’s a difference between doing wrong and being wrong, and that ain’t right,” he says on “Let Me Fly.” He breaks the moral compass, then drags you into the abyss.

#reviews-albums

0 notes