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dreams-of-valeria · 4 years

Note

For the Xmas request thing can you do 7-Fluff and 1-Smut together?

@chiefharbour asked:

For the Christmas prompts, could you do Smut # 1 & #9? I’m living for your writing!

Cold cuts

F7: Christmas gifts

S1: Secret Santa

S9: Dealer's choice (Surprise)

Pairing: Jim Hopper x female reader

Warnings: Age gap, language, dirty talk, Hopper being his sexy-ass self, SMUT

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the sweet things you guys have said! I am overwhelmed with all the love and although this isn't strictly secret santa, I hope you like this one! Merry Christmas!

Word count: 3,156

You swayed your hips in beat with the smooth acoustic that pervaded the air of the small kitchen, as you wrapped your Christmas gift to Hopper.

Elvis crooning about being left alone on Christmas rang from his record player and with you alike, because it was 10 pm and your boyfriend wasn't home yet. You found it odd to call him your boyfriend--juvenile even, but maybe it was just the townsfolk rubbing off on you. They definitely were, considering you just said townsfolk.

As long as their opinion on age gaps in relationships didn't rub off on you, you didn't care.

Two years ago, you were just the new girl in town whose sole reason to pick Hawkins was to leave her bankruptcy behind as she paid off her student loans. A lot of help your marketing degree was doing you in a place where people called the ATM a banksy. You hated living there and missed the nice life but little did you know that meeting a certain policeman would make it all worth your while.

What followed after that fated and chaotic meet at the bank was petty banter and frustrated sighs, which took both of you a month to understand was pure sexual tension and once you'd fucked and got that out of the way, you had plenty of time for the romance.

Neither was of you was very fond of the chocolates and flowers bit, but were experts in the nude. Sure, there were plenty of gooey and touchy-feely memories along the way, and the amount of gentleness Hopper showed threw you at times. But at the same time, you loved how rough he was with you in bed. It was what you were both good at and you had no complaints. Except for the tardiness.

You sighed as you did the final knot and wrote his name on the card, vowing not to bring it up. You would not be one of those people who chastised their partner over the amount of time they spent doing their very crucial work. Provided it didn't extend beyond 11 pm. Your patience really started to wear thing close to the witching hour.

You headed to the tree and placed the small present by the trunk, grinning in anticipation. You couldn't wait to see his face when he opened it. Your heart beat in wait as you tightened the bow of your grey robe, and fidgeted with the ornaments to cut time.

You noticed that your present was the only occupant under the tree, and told yourself not to be disappointed if Hopper forgot to wrap his. Or get you a gift in the first place.

It was unlikely, but still a possibility. He was just so fizzled out lately, and you hoped it was only a bad streak.

You had just corrected the tilt of a rogue red bauble when the lock turned behind you and your boyfriend (--lover?) walked through the door, brushing the snow off his coat and boots.

“Hey, stranger,” you greeted him at the entrance, leant against the wall with your arms crossed. His face looked flushed like you'd just sat on it and rode it to your climax, and there was something to be said about his unruly hair.

“I know I'm late, baby. Some people, I swear to God . . .” he grumbled as he passed by you, leaving an ice cold kiss on your lips before he settled before the fireplace, warming himself up.

You watched him as he rubbed his hands together, and the way his arms flexed underneath that tight uniform shirt. It was the hottest thing you'd ever laid eyes on, and never failed to leave you wet and wanting.

“Dinner smells amazing,” he commented with a smirk, shooting you a look from under his thick eyebrows. They matched his beard, all rich and prickly, and you suspected one of the reasons he kept it was because of the noises you were making when he went down on you.

“Did you spend all day cooking for me, darlin'?”

You smirked at him with your arms crossed.

You couldn't cook to save your life. Which meant your significant other was calling Swanson's TV dinners his darling. Nevertheless, the endearment made your knees weak. And your panties damp.

“Oh you know how I can't resist my gastronomy when I'm waiting on my tardy hunk.”

“Gastronomy?” He frowned as he kicked off his boots.

“Word of the day,” you told him as you took a seat on the couch next to him. “I thought we could do presents first.”

“I'd rather do you first, but sure,” he shrugged, turning to face you as smiled. You shook your head and watched him with a face-splitting grin, expecting him to retrieve his present from under the tree. But he just sat there watching you quizzically, dumb as the doorknob that's been keeping you company on Hopperless nights.

You sighed and told him what he was supposed to do, but he simply twisted his face unwillingly. “I'm burned, sweetheart, could you get it for me, please?”

“It's two feet away, Hop.”

“I'm not as young as you are anymore.”

“Oh really? You weren't born with a receding hairline?” You snapped as you fetched him his present, but he man laughed, which nearly made his eyes close. You absolutely loved those laughs.

“Should have thought of that before you fell in love with an old man, kitten.”

“I'll remember that for next one,” you teased, making him laugh again as he took his present with a thank you.

Maybe it was your excitement rubbing off on him, but he suddenly seemed thrilled that he had a present with his name on it. You imagined he didn't get a lot of presents before you, when he lived in that Godforsaken trailer like a hibernating hermit. You'd flat out refused to move into that rectangle and that was when he had mentioned a cabin his grandfather had owned, and the two of you had made it your own.

“Let me guess, it's a sign up sheet to Smokers Anonymous?” He teased as he undid the ribbon, and you found your back straighten in anticipation.

“Don't be silly, that's for New year's.”

He let out an amused snort as he peeled off the paper and opened the small box, and his smile died immediately on seeing the content.

It was exactly what you'd expected. He frowned deeply at the piece of paper, with the words 'Pull Me' scribbled across in your handwriting. Hopper looked up at you for answers, but you simply got to your feet and made your way over to the record player, and changed discs. You figured after Elvis, Eartha Kitt would set the mood just right.

“I don't understand,” Hopper let you know as the disc crackled for a few seconds before the song started. You wordlessly made your way over and stood in front of him with a smile, hoping his gaze would land on the ribbon tied around your robe.

It did soon enough. They didn't make him the Chief for nothing. A smirk spread across his lips when he saw it, perfectly capturing the naughty but playful mood Eartha was lilting.

You saw his eyes darken as his hand tapped his thigh, signalling you to get on. You gulped down your heart in your throat and straddled him, kneeling on the couch on either side of his legs.

“Closer.” Hopper demanded, and you leaned forward until your waist was inches away from his face. He moved his hands out of his lap, and you hoped he would touch your bare legs, and slide them up to the apex. Your heart thud in anticipation, and nearly flatlined when he locked eyes with you and took the end of the ribbon into his mouth and held it firmly between his teeth. It took you a moment to understand you had to move back for the bow to come loose.

His eyes were on you throughout the delicious process, but only until your robe parted and revealed a glimpse of red lace.

Hopper's breath caught and he looked up at you to confirm his suspicions, and you smiled as to say yes. Before he could tear your robe away, you stood to your feet again, Eartha Kitt's silky voice giving you courage.

You lightly swayed in place to the beat, and slipped the robe off your shoulders bit by bit, until you were standing only in your lingerie: a red demi cup lace bra with matching panties and a garter belt.

Hopper's breath caught, and you witnessed first hand what it looked like for a person's jaw to hit the floor. Just to up the ante, you moved around in an impromptu dance with the music, giving him sexy rolls of your hips and a view of your back, and watched him grow restless in his seat.

His knuckles blanched from squeezing the edge of the couch, but a ghost of a smile still lingered on his lips. You watched the crotch of his pants shift from within and smirked, turning around to give him another look.

The song was approaching its end, and you could hear the couch springs shift. But you still yelped when his arms closed around your waist and pulled you back to straddle him as he attacked your lips.

The disc had screeched and absolute silence lingered for a beat, before Hopper slipped his tongue into your mouth and your body reacted. Loud.

His hands were frisky and urgent, just like the first time you had sex. You couldn't wait to get each other naked and take everything as quickly as possible. It didn't turn out to be quite as quick as you imagined, just like when you fantasized about him with your fingers in your underwear before you knew each other, fucking your brains out.

His calloused hands cupped your breasts and kneaded, and given the sheerness of the bra, it might as well not have been there at all. It wasn't in the next second, as his fingers unclasped the hook while his tongue still teased yours, danced with yours.

You pulled back for a breath of air, and he locked eyes with you as his hands ran over your erect nipples, pinching and twisting them until they matched the color of your lips.

“F-fuck . . .” You hissed, grinding your hips onto his bulge as his tongue teased your nubs, and you fisted your hands in his hair, goading him to swallow you whole.

Between his prickly beard and moans that vibrated through you and the friction of his pants against your clit, you could feel yourself close to your release, and started to pant in welcome.

But he clamped your hips down captive and bared his teeth against your nipple as he spoke.

“Not so fast, baby. I get to tease you too.”

“Hop, please,” you panted as your vision blurred. “I'm so close.”

He smiled wickedly.

You knew exactly what begging did to him.

“Then finish,” he breathed, before shifting you onto his left thigh. You also knew exactly how much he loved it when you rode his thigh.

“Yes, sir,” you grinned despite your aching need and started off slow, watching him as you rubbed your core against his thigh. You did it knowing it would make him cocky and let it go to his head, but you loved the dominant side of him. Especially in uniform.

Your moans escalated fast enough as you grinded against his thick cord of muscle, and Hopper helped you by flexing occasionally, hitting your clit in a rhythm. Your hand squeezed his shoulder as the other steadied yourself against the couch, and the zing birthed from your apex, and then exploded until it touched every nerve ending, and you collapsed in his lap into a moaning mess.

“That was nice,” you panted, moving your head that was on his shoulder so you could see his face, but only saw neck. Licking your lips, you kissed your way up his neck, and Hopper's answering groan was everything.

You nipped along his skin, determined to leave a bruise. Somewhere his collar couldn't hide it. Hopper said it made him look unprofessional, but you knew that secretly, he loved showing off to the entire town what you did to him. He certainly returned the favor.

Your fingers set to unbutton his shirt as you devoured his neck, the warm flesh yielding easily under your lips. Hopper was in his undershirt by the time you'd moved back to his lips, and his fingers lightly trailed down your bare back and ending behind your knees.

You yelped again when he threw your back to the couch and hovered above you, throwing his white tee over his head and onto the floor. You stared up at him with pure, unrestrained lust, and his eyes drank it all in. Every pant and heave of your naked chest spurred him to pace up undressing, and the way you licked your lips nearly sent him off the edge.

“Do you know how gorgeous you look right now?” He panted as he unbuckled his pants, kneeling between your legs.

“Yes,” you smirked, sitting up to help him get his pants off, but he pushed you back down, tutting as he pinned your arms by your sides. Your hips inadvertently met his, and you locked your legs around his waist, feeling him hard against your core.

“Tell me what you're thinking,” Hopper pleaded, kissing down your neck.

“I was thinking how nice it would be to watch you fuck me like this.”

“Yeah?” He gritted his teeth as he kicked off his pants completely, and his erection bounced free.

“Yeah,” you panted, lifting your hips as he slipped your panties off. “How nice it would be to watch your cock disappear inside me.”

Hopper groaned into your neck as he positioned himself at your entrance, and teased you by rubbing himself between your folds.

“What else?” He watched you roll your hips, wanting more.

“We'd finish and then have dinner.”

Hopper paused his teasing to glance up at you in confusion.

“And then I can hound you about not getting me a Christmas gift.”

He chuckled, kissing your nose. “Baby, I am the gift.”

Your back arched when he pushed inside all the way at once, and you could never get used to the feeling. Of how it made you feel full. Complete.

“Oh, God,” you moaned, fingers digging into his biceps as he moved.

“I did get you a gift, by the way--Godamnit, you feel so fucking good.”

“Yeah?” Your words were punctuated by his thrusts, slow but relentless. “What is it?”

“All good things to those who wait.” He whispered in your ear, before angling himself differently. “Hold on,” he instructed, and your hands immediately flew to the couch, gripping whatever they could. You knew what was coming.

Hopper got up to kneel and grabbed your hips, before starting a rhythm of deep, penetrating thrusts that made your teeth clatter. You held on to the arm rest as he moved, as he made your body feel incredible with only a few inches of his. Well, quite a few inches.

You smiled and bit your lip as Hopper's moans quickened, and you knew he was close. He reached his thumb down to your clit and rubbed, and you felt that zing ready to explode again. You sat up on your elbows and watched him disappear deep inside you, as his fingers helped you along to a climax that was even more spectacular than the last.

You fell back as stars formed in front of your eyes, and soon felt his release inside you, before Hopper's heavy, spent body collapsed on top of you.

You panted out your highs, wrapped in each other's arms like that. The only sounds were from the crackling fire, the heartbeat in your ears, and the breath of the man you loved above you. This was exactly how you saw your evening pan out.

After a while, when you'd circled your fingers in his damp hair, he asked, “Where'd you get the lingerie?”

You smiled. “Believe it or not, Flo helped me.”

He snapped his head up to look at you, face blanched.

“Not like helped me pick it out, jeez baby,” you chuckled, smoothing his hair back. “I meant she told me about a store in Carbondale.”

“That's two towns over,” he commented, nuzzling his head back into the crook of your neck.

“I know.”

“Looks like Flo helped both of us,” he said after a while, and freed his arm from underneath you.

“So you liked it?”

“Of course,” he smiled, hovering on his elbows above you. “You want me to get exercise one way or another, but I didn't mean this is what Flo helped with.”

You frowned, seeking out answers from his crystal blue eyes. Hopper sighed and stroked your face, leaving a feather like kiss on your lips.

“She pushed me--well, threatened is the word really, that if I didn't stop jerking around and give you this gift I've been carrying around for a year, she would burn my hat.”

“You've been carrying a new microwave around for a year?” You frowned.

“No. What? No.” Hopper shook his head. “Wait, you wanted a microwave?”

“Yeah? To cook dinner.” You said in a matter of fact voice, and he sighed with his eyes closed.

“I'm sorry to break it to you, princess, but I'm not spending that much money on a girlfriend.”

You stilled, and his playful smirk was the only thing that kept you from going off the rails. And then when he held out his gift to you, your heart did go off the rails.

“However, I would change my mind if it was for my wife,” he smiled, holding the small diamond ring between his fingers in the space between you. You could feel your jaw drop this time as tears came to your eyes, and your hand flew to your mouth.

You knew about his history. You knew he had had an unsuccessful marriage, and still, he was willing to try. For you.

“So, what do you say, kitten? Microwave or not?”

You chuckled through your tears, holding his face in your hands to kiss.

“I'm gonna reheat so many leftovers for you, baby.” You sniffled, and watched his lips form into a grateful smile. And it only grew as he slipped the ring onto your finger, shedding a few tears himself.

“Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it.”

You chuckled between kisses, stroking his hair lovingly. “You can make it up to me.”

“Newly engaged sex?” He grinned, eyes full of adoration.

“After dinner,” you promised, standing corrected.

The evening did not pan as you'd foreseen.

And you were grateful.

#jim hopper imagine #hopper x reader #jim hopper #jim hopper fanfic #hopper x you #jim hopper x you #jim hopper x reader #chief hopper x reader #stranger things #hopper smut #hopper thirst #jim hopper smut #david harbour #hopper fluff #hopper x oc #christmas writing prompts #christmas

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crystalmemoria · 4 years

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Another Madoka OC of mine is named Marie, and she’s sorta intended to be a “Dark Magical Girl”-esque character. She’s older and a bit more experienced than Alice (A good four year age gap), and she doesn’t really want some kids wandering around in Witch’s Labyrinths, getting in her way.

Her story starts out rather simple. She lives with very strict parents with high expectations of her, and she feels as though she has to work extremely hard to live up to those expectations.

Always be polite, always be courteous, always do this, always do that, never complain, always get good grades, study hard, etc.

And honestly? She hates every single bit of it. She hates her life. She hates that other students constantly go gaga over her because she has good grades, because she’s so “nice”, and because she works so hard.

She just wants to be left alone. She doesn’t want to be bothered. She doesn’t want to have to stretch herself so thin that she doesn’t even know what she wants anymore.

She hates every bit of it. She wants to do something she wants to do, and not have to be some “perfect princess” that everyone fawns over.

That’s when Kyubey comes in.

She actually signed on for the idea of fighting Witches very quickly. Finally something she would have HER say in. She could do it how she wanted without anyone complaining or being disappointed in her. It was all hers, and hers alone.

She thought very carefully about her wish, and decided to use it to her advantage. She decided to wish for the ability to be in multiple places at once. That way she could still do what her family expects of her (Whether she hates the expectations or not, they’re still her family) AND she could be free to kick the crap out of Witches.

The contract was made, and Marie took to fighting Witches very quickly due to the intent behind her wish being to help make her life fighting Witches easier. She never held back. She was brutal and harsh in her fighting style, addicted to the thrill of the hunt and the battle.

She didn’t care for teamwork or anything like that. She just wants to do it her way.

The only place she can show her true self is when fighting a Witch, and Alice and Yuri are two of the only girls that have seen that side of her due to crossing paths with her.

Marie: “Stay out of the way. This is no place for kids like you.”

A cold tone that she doesn’t let out anywhere else. She doesn’t like the idea of inexperienced kids getting involved. Particularly Yuri, who isn’t and cannot be a Magical Girl. At the very least Alice can improve herself with time and training.

Marie also has an interest in imperfection. Odd objects that weren’t made quite right, damaged items, etc. all catch her interest and she actually collects them.

Her Magical Girl form (Which I sadly do NOT have a picture of yet) even plays into this with a lot of asymmetry. She’s meant to have a punk-like style to contrast her normally prim and proper appearance. She even wields a nail bat as a weapon, affectionately referred to as her Chaos Nail Bat.

Perhaps there’s a good girl somewhere deep in this cold heart though? Alice and Yuri sure seem to think so.

For Magia Record she’s DEFINITELY a Dark Magical Girl with three Blast discs, one Charge disc, and one Accel disc. She is absolutely brutal in battle and her stats would totally be all for the offense.

I’m not certain what her Connect would be like, but her Magia would involve a lot of copies of her appearing and striking all foes. It would be “ Multiplicité du Chaos”, which supposedly means (according to Google Translate) “Chaos Multiplicity” in French. The effect would probably provide exclusively Marie with buffs, perhaps even Evade (Probably something good you can do when there’s multiples of you that you can have pop up).

When she’s your favorite Magical Girl, she’s a rather quiet young lady, although not shy. She just doesn’t have interest in talking to anyone. The player knows about her job fighting Witches so she doesn’t hide anything about it. She fully admits that she’s only being courteous to you because it’s what’s expected of her and that if you guys were out in a Labyrinth that things would be far different.

Marie: “You shouldn’t expect this all the time. If you expect me to simply smile sweetly out there, then you’re mistaken. I’m not the girl you think I am...”

#Magia Record #magireco #madoka magica #madoka #pmmm

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reading-hub · 5 years

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Imagine: Slow dancing with Steve Rogers

- - - - - - - -

Dancing with the star spangled man was something every woman back in the 1940s and even now was a fantasy to have. Including mine, a little, ok maybe a lot...

But, who can blame me? Steve is the manliness of men. A super soldier that was idolized by many, and rumored to have knocked out Hitler over 200 times, which is also a plus.

Finally, with my years of hard dedication in robotics, I've now gotten the golden opportunity to work close with the very core of the Avengers!

And by very close, I mean I've gotten closer with said star spangled man over the past months by working with the Avengers. Sure, I'm not exactly apart of the battlefield, but with Stark's help, I've been able to built weapons and robots that I couldn't even imagine...

Although I've gotten to work with them for the past five months or so, it was very rare to come across the rest of the Avengers. I always believed that all of the Avengers lived together in one giant building, but reality check, not the case.

All the others were most likely busy with other worlds, cities that they lived in, or missions.

The Avengers I work with most of the time are Tony and Bruce. Sure, I know Steve pretty well, but we just small talk until Fury or someone else of high authority calls him up, ending our conversation unsurprisingly.

But when the three are busy with other things, I'm pretty much alone most of the time.

Not that I mind most of the time. Silence is something I can get by when I'm working by myself. But when Tony and Bruce banter back in forth with each other about science jumbo, I forget that I was ever alone in the first place...it felt nice for once.

My thoughts were completely blank when I heard my name called as I was still working. I looked up from my holographic working station seeing the star spangled man, a cheeky but swooning smile to greet me. Let's just say, it's working on me perfectly.

"Back from knocking out Hitler?" I playfully remarked to the captain. His cheeky smile dropped a little, not-but-also-expecting that from me. He laughed in boredom at my joke "Very funny, definitely did not see that one coming from you, Miss [F/n] & the Hologram." I took back for a minute there...

"Did--Did you just make an 80's reference?" I asked confused but also amused. Steve was also confused at the remark he said. "No, wasn't me. I overheard Stark say it." Steve cleared up.

"So you don't know what Jem & the Hologram is?"

"The what?"

"Nevermind, what are you doing back here so late?" I changed the subject, back into the real original question I wanted ask. "I could be asking you the same thing." He retorted with wit in his voice.

"I have some unfinish blue prints that I wanna finish this week." I admitted, a little guilty of myself. "Ah, Science mumbo-jumbo that I could never understand." He sighed in defeat. "The only 'sciencey mumbo-jumbo' I said was blue prints!" I laughed. "And that's not really scientific either, there just basic structures I have to draw out before building anything." I explained.

"Uh-huh, science mumbo-jumbo." Was all he said right after. It was almost if he didn't listen. "Anyways," He paused. "Since its just the two us in the tower, how bout I invite you somewhere?" He purposed. Alone together? Invite? Somewhere? This is something I would hear from a dream.

"Ok, sure. Just let it be quick so that I can finish up back here." I agreed loosely. After my words, Steve pulled me close and walked me around the hallways. Until we stopped at the training room. As I had a confused look on my face, puzzling what's happening next, Steve let go of my arm to unlock the door.

"Steve, you know how I feel working out in front people..." My confusion was replaced with worry, imagining the super solider watching me as I do pathetic push-ups and small weight lifts.

He chuckled. "We're not here to work out." He said simply as he opened the door quietly. I was back to being confused again. What on Earth is he playing at then?

Once the door was open, there was no training equipment in sight! It was almost as if someone moved it. I shrugged and thought that maybe the janitor moved it out of the way to clean the flooring.

The only thing I saw was a record player, a very old one that Steve could possibly recognized, no offense to him. It was placed in the middle of the room on top of a small table to stand up nicely on.

I went up to it, gazed at it as if it were something ancient, which it technically is. My fingers grazing the box from the outside.

"What do you think?" I turned to Steve who lightly smiled at me. "It's nice, never seen one up close before." I gazed more at it again.

"I wasn't talking about the record player." He said simply with a smirk. "Oh, then what is it then?" I asked nervously. He came close to me, and placed the needle on the disc. "This."

After that played Frank Sinatra - I Fall In Love Too Easily. I was taken aback until I felt Steve's hand hold onto mine delicately. "[F/n], today marks the day I first talked to you."

"Whoa, you keep track of that type of stuff..?" I blurted out. He chuckled at what I said.

"Yes, It was when I went to talk to Stark at his lab and asked him nicely to not be so reckless. Then I saw you, with Bruce talking about science things. Stark caught me staring at you for a second and introduce me to you." I blushed at how detailed Steve was describing it. Suddenly, I felt his hands move from my own. Placed one hand on my lower back, and the other on my hand. Swaying me right and left.

His icey blue eyes looking at me with such empathy that I couldn't help but not turn away. I was so focused on both his words and loving face, that I didn't noticed our bodies were close together, our feet moving us around the room.

He continued. "You were looking at me with such admiration and shyness that I couldn't help but want to be around more at that moment. And so, I made it my own mission to always be around you whenever I had the chance. Talking and being with you made me feel like I was this young Brooklyn kid again. No one else made me feel that way like you did and I didn't know why."

I've never felt so special in my life. It was just so much to take in. THE Steve Rogers telling me about how he loves hanging out with me! Ok, now I don't wanna let him finish talking.

"Then, I remember being on a mission. The only thing that kept me going in completing that mission, was knowing that you were in the tower still hard working as always and finally talking to you again soon."

He thinks of me when on a mission? That must be alot thinking then, and flattering too, for me.

"Then I noticed, I never think of anyone other then the objective when on a mission. Only if I really, really care about that person or something. So there was only one explanation for that."

Our small dancing stopped, his hands released me and both reached on each side of my face delicately. His forehead touching against mine so tenderly.

"I am in deeply in love with you." He whispered softy.

My eyes widen in shock, whole body paralyzed at those words that I thought I would never hear, only in my thoughts and dreams!

"What do you say, [F/n]?"

One of my hands shaking, reaching for his to grasp onto. Faintly smiling at him. "So is that a yes then?" I nodded, a million times if I could!

Before I could think, Steve held my head close to his chest. As a response, my hands reached onto him for support.

"Still wanna finish up those blue prints?"

"No, I'm good here."

Best night ever.

#marvel x reader #steve rogers imagines #marvel imagines #steve rogers x reader #captin america x reader #marvel/reader #hubbywritings

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dewaynehersom-blog · 5 years

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roxana12765220-blog · 5 years

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delamitrinews · 6 years

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From Changing Everything To The Here And Now - an Interview with Del Amitri

Last November Del Amitri surprised fans with the announcement of their long-awaited return to the stage - four years after their first UK dates for more than a decade. A hint about new material has appeared on their blog, but since they put the band on ice in 2002 the music industry has gone through drastic changes that have had huge repercussions for how music is now recorded and consumed.

In this exclusive interview for the Del Amitri Fans Facebook account and Twitter feed - run for the fans by fans - Justin Currie and Iain Harvie tell Rhiannon Law about the past, present and future of the band.

It’s an uncharacteristically balmy afternoon when I sit down with the two founding members of Del Amitri at Justin Currie’s Glasgow home. As both men get themselves settled - facing each other across a coffee table with mugs of coffee and a plate of rather delicious ginger biscuits - the beginning feels like the best place to start. So, what are their earliest memories of meeting each other? “The first two guitar players that I’d gone to school with had buggered off to university” explains Currie, recalling the need to recruit new members to the band, which had already played a dozen or more gigs by that point. That incarnation of Del Amitri had also put out the ‘Happy Birthday/What She Calls It’ flexi-disc (alongside The Bluebells). Following an advert placed in McCormack’s music shop, the interview process began for anyone who could play anything.

“So for two weeks we just met all these really rubbish people,” says Currie of the many “deeply insecure” wannabe lead singers that approached him. “And then Iain came in and it was just a completely different ballgame - a proper person who was interested in music and really into writing as well.”

“I’d only been in school bands and bands that had played covers in social clubs,” recalls Harvie. “So I just had this perception that there was no way I was gonna get into this band because they were just so successful...but it was quite quickly shattered!”

Once the two bandmates have stopped laughing, Currie explains that the Del Amitri rehearsal space at the time was a small janitor’s flat in the basement of a Victorian school. They then moved into an even smaller room next door on the basis that they didn’t have to share it with anyone and could lock their gear up. Despite being the size of a toilet, it proved to be enough space to do the rehearsals for their first album.

“It was always key to us to have our own space because none of us really wrote songs separately,” says Currie. “We all wrote collectively and that was very time inefficient. There was a lot of time spent in rehearsal rooms just staring at each other going ‘do something!’ So, it was really important to have your own space rather than just renting a room once a week.”

Following the release of the first album - and due in some part to some arrested funds - the band took off on a self-funded tour of America. This is a concept that many young bands would be familiar with today, but something that was quite radical for the late 1980s. “The last money we had we spent on the air tickets, so we had no money in our pockets when we got there” recalls Currie.

I’m told that the plan was to become pen pals with fans in America and then enlist their help to put on gigs and to crash on their floors. “It was a kind of pre-internet social networking,” says Harvie. However, despite the best-laid plans of their manager at the time, the tour didn’t go quite to plan. “The first gig was a financial disaster” Currie admits, “we did the whole thing and we got round by basically begging and borrowing.”

Luckily that initial experience of touring didn’t put them off for life and our conversation quickly shifts from the past to the present. Del Amitri will shortly be heading out on their first UK tour since ‘The A-Z of Us’ tour in 2014. “We really enjoyed 2014,” says Currie. “We didn’t know if we would enjoy it or not. We were very apprehensive about it, but we loved doing it. So we thought we’ll probably end up doing this again at some point and it just seemed like the right time. And we got offered the [Edinburgh] Castle again and we thought that’s quite tempting.”

The lack of an album to plug offered the band the chance to go on the road for the first time without the pressure of doing additional promotional work. Although Currie is quick to point out that promotion was always part of the job and something they were happy to do in the most part, he adds that the lack of this in 2014 was refreshing. “We’re getting paid to eat nicely catered food every day and play to really enthusiastic audiences and we don’t have to do anything else, we’re just doing the gigs. So that was a bit of a revelation, that this is great fun.”

When I ask if they still get nervous, or at least apprehensive, before shows, Currie responds almost instantly with an emphatic nod “yeah”, whereas Harvie smiles. “I never really got nervous particularly,” he says. “Even if things were going colossally wrong on stage, I’ve never really suffered from nerves. But maybe at The Hydro I was expecting to be quaking in my boots before we went on stage.”

Both bandmates concede that the size of the Glasgow venue, which has a 13,000 capacity, had potentially caused a few jitters. “I remember clearly going behind the stage at The Hydro and just thinking ‘who are all these people’?” exclaims Harvie. “There’s like hundreds of people. There are ambulance guys at these stadium shows and then there’s all the local crew and there might be like twenty of them all waiting to get the support band’s gear and then there are TV guys. So you come out of the dressing room and there are fifty people you’ve never seen before hanging around - all working. And they all kind of defer to you. They all just get out of your way and don’t make eye contact with you and you think ‘oh god this is weird’.”

But it was the response of the crowd at The Hydro that helped to calm any unease at the situation. “The audience all got up on their feet and they didn’t sit down,” says Currie “and that really helped us because we didn’t feel like we had to get them. They were just all over us from the start.”

Despite audiences clamouring for more after the 2014 tour, the band still express surprise at the reaction to the 2018 dates. “Oh, they’re still there!” Currie gives a little laugh but there is a hint of relief in his voice. The response from the fanbase to the tour announcement was to turn-out en masse, with many Edinburgh Castle tickets being sold on the first day of release.

“The weird thing is that people are so into going to these sorts of concerts now and we’re basically selling more tickets than we ever did really, it’s quite bizarre,” says Harvie. “We’re not going to do so many shows, but the venues that we’re playing at are big, if not bigger, than the venues we’d been to in 2002 when we stopped. It’s quite mad.”

I wonder aloud if this could be put down to the fact that fans are concerned that each tour may be their last opportunity to see Del Amitri live? “We never suggested in 2014 that we wouldn’t do it again because we didn’t really know” asserts Currie. “I mean it’s a possibility that we won’t do this again - it might not be feasible, we might not want to do it. For us, four years seemed like kinda the right amount of time. If it had been two years since The Hydro and all that sort of stuff it would have just felt a bit like we were trying to milk it.” He pauses for a few seconds before adding “Who knows what we’ll be doing in 5 or 10 years? Maybe we’ll all be dead!”

I mention that there has been a bit of criticism on social media regarding the prices for this tour, with some tickets costing £75. “Personally, I think that’s too much,” says Currie. “We don’t put on our own shows, we don’t have that kind of manpower. If we did we could control ticket prices. With the dawn of the music-is-free era, most bands main, or only, income is from live performance. I’ve watched ticket prices creep up, seemingly inexorably. I think that’s really unfair on those fans, like me, who still pay for their recorded music rather than streaming it all on YouTube. The most galling thing for me is the insultingly low fees that opening bands receive on my solo gigs especially. We will often subsidise that on a small scale to ensure we get the acts we want. That needs to change.”

So, will we get to hear any new Del Amitri material on this year's tour? Currie sounds positive in his response. “We’re thinking about doing new songs, like maybe one or two, on the tour.” However, he is more uncertain when it comes to the question of whether an album will follow. “We were sort of thinking about doing a record...we’re just humming and hawing about I guess.”

“We need to get back into the rehearsal room and get things moving again and see where that takes us” Harvie agrees.

There nearly was a new record a while back, as it turns out. Harvie went to Currie with some ideas for an electronic album - something radically different to anything they had released before. “Iain at that time was into programming stuff and writing things on the computer and I thought it was a great idea,” says Currie. “We did a few writing trips and wrote a ton of stuff that we really liked, but there was never any great impetus behind it. Our manager didn’t particularly like it. It didn’t sound like anything Del Amitri had done before, but we thought it was Del Amitri because it was me and Iain writing all the tunes and it was all quite melodic.”

However, they were advised not to release it as a Del Amitri album and it is apparent that this caused them concern. “We just couldn’t see a way for Justin and I to release a record that wasn’t going to be a Del Amitri record” explains Harvie. Hearing them reflect on it now, it seems like the advice from their manager, John Reid, was sound. “I don’t think I was aware until after we stopped touring that Del Amitri had acquired a kind of identity that wasn’t necessarily my identity, or even our identity.” Harvie continues.

The electronic album would not only have potentially been a step too far away from the Del Amitri identity, but it would also have been released at a time when the music industry was in complete turmoil. Both agree that it would have been a crazy time to reinvent the band. However, it’s clear that they loved the material and when they talk about this unreleased music it’s as though they are still coming to terms with the fact it didn’t happen. “We really liked it. We were dead into it, you know.” Currie enthuses.

It’s Harvie that notes the difficulties it would have caused for future tours. “I think it would have been odd to do these shows now if we had gone off in another direction, which is why I think John was maybe quite astute.”

I note that adding an electro section to a Del Amitri set would be a tricky proposition from a practical point of view and Harvie agrees. “That would have been a bit rubbish,” he says, “as if we’re like Spinal Tap on a sort of jazz odyssey.”

So, they’ve avoided the potential pitfalls of releasing something radical at a time when they would have needed a big promotional machine working for them, but what do they think about the current trend of releasing crowdfunded music? “I’ve avoided raising money from a fanbase because to me that makes you, psychologically at least, beholden to their expectations and I think that’s quite dangerous,” explains Currie. “When Del Amitri made ‘Change Everything’ I found it quite odd because for the first time ever we were making a record that had an audience expecting it out there. For me, that was a completely different way of thinking about what we were doing and I found that quite confusing. And I think I would find it quite confusing if a hundred people gave us an amount of money to make an album. I would be pretty sure what those hundred people would be expecting and I think that would limit us in where we felt like we could go.”

Harvie agrees “It seems a bit cheeky from our perspective to crowdfund a record. If you want to make a record, go and make a record and then sell it to me”. That said, both are quick to acknowledge that it can be a useful way for those starting out to get a project off the ground in this way.

Currie and Harvie have both had their own projects in the years between the pause button being pressed on Del Amitri and the 2014 and current tours. Currie has been making solo records for more than ten years, with his fourth album ‘This Is My Kingdom Now’ released last year.

Harvie’s most public-facing work was a project called ‘Aliens’ that he explains was done with a neighbour. However, what many people may be unaware of is that the majority of his time has been - and is being - spent on scored music. He did a masters in composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and is now in the middle of doing a three-year doctoral level composition project at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. “I think it has given me quite a lot of insight into what we did in the past,” he says before Currie interjects with “Yeah, you don’t want that, insight” and laughs.

I’m keen to understand how they know when a song, or a riff, or just the seed of an idea is for Del Amitri or for something else. “Recently I went away on a wee writing trip on my own with a sort of Del Amitri head on, rather than a Justin Currie solo head on and it’s definitely really different,” says Currie “If you put yourself in the headspace of writing for a specific thing you will write different things. It’s quite odd.”

Harvie goes back to the idea of an identity that has been created. “It’s quite a coherent body of work and that’s kind of how people recognise the identity,” he says. “There is something in there that you can tune back into and refocus. We were probably doing it sort of subconsciously at the time.” Currie agrees, saying “We did try and do something different on every record but, as Iain’s saying, there was a sort of cultural expectation or framework around the band that we probably didn’t go outside of.”

With the tour fast approaching, I ask how they choose a set list from the substantial Del Amitri back catalogue. “It was kind of easy last time because the concept was ‘The A-Z of Us’, so we knew we were going to do at least something from the Chrysalis album and try to cover all bases. We don’t really have a concept this time.” Currie confesses.

“You can’t really get away with leaving certain things out,” Harvie acknowledges. ”And from our perspective, you might think ‘well nobody wants to hear that again’, but that’s not really the case. But that’s going back to that identity thing. Would it be Del Amitri if you didn’t do ‘Kiss This Thing Goodbye’ or ‘Always The Last To Know’ or ‘Roll To Me’ or ‘Nothing Ever Happens’ or ‘Be My Downfall’?”

There’s a bit of nervous laughter as they realise just how close the tour is and that the set list will soon have to be confirmed. “We’re feeling our way into how we make it different from 2014, but it is essentially still the same thing because we’re not selling a new record,” confirms Currie.

“There’s a few wacky ideas going around, but we can’t share them with you yet,” says Harvie, despite my best efforts to get some more detail. “Actually it did cross my mind that we could cover the new Abba song that nobody’s heard yet.” From the raucous laughter that follows his comment, I gather that an Abba medley is off the list.

There are many fans who will be hoping to hear some of their less well-known album tracks and b-sides on this tour. However, Currie is quick to note that they have a varied audience - many people may be coming to see them because they’ve got the greatest hits album or because they saw them once years ago and just fancy seeing them again. “You’ve just got to be aware that you don’t want to be being too specialist,” he says. “Commercial success creates expectations and you need to be really smart to subvert them and get away with it.” Both agree that a venue like Edinburgh Castle would not be the place to try to do that, although there is a hint that the Barrowlands dates may provide the opportunity to do something a bit different.

Despite their achievements, Del Amitri have always maintained they were “never hip”. I’m interested to know if that has helped them to return to the stage. “If you’re never relevant, you can’t suddenly become irrelevant! Yeah, I think that’s absolutely true” Currie agrees. “And also, if you’re not selling yourself on some sort of cutting edge hip thing then age is slightly kinder on you as well, to a certain extent.”

“It sounds an odd thing to say but we did want to make timeless rock and roll,” says Harvie. “What a dreadful cliché, but we were very much in that idiom where it was two guitars, bass and drums. It was a totally classic format. We were deliberately trying to be not of the time. We didn’t perceive it necessarily as being retro or being timeless...I wish I hadn’t used that word, but I think it’s probably the right word.”

Staying true to this format has meant that the band has had to stick to their guns over the years, particularly during the making of ‘Waking Hours’ when there was pressure to go against their ethos and use lots of shiny new production techniques. “It was quite a brave thing to do at the time,” Harvie says. “It does put us in a position now where we can do exactly the same thing and it still sounds right, which isn’t the case if you’d got into that whole 80s production thing.”

While the band has been away there has been plenty of Del Amitri related activity - organised, mostly, by the fanbase. The ‘Pasted Beyond Recognition’ Del Amitri covers album and concert raised thousands of pounds for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland. Harvie notes that he really enjoyed the concert and “found the whole thing quite touching.”

There is also the forthcoming book ‘These Are Such Perfect Days: The Del Amitri Story’ by Charles Rawlings-Way. “We gave him as many contacts as we could and then electronically introduced him to people that would be relevant, to be part of the story,” says Currie. “I’m really chuffed that he’s done it and it feels like all that information is of no great import and the story is of no great import, but at least it’s all in one place and, having read it, it’s all true”.

“It’s interesting in that he started off with a specific thesis about the band that he thought would make a good book but in the process of talking to everybody that thesis sort of reversed” Currie continues. “I like that. I like that we confounded him.”

Currie also notes that, coincidentally, the ‘Rip It Up’ exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh is also opening on the 22nd June and some Del Amitri memorabilia will feature, including a tartan guitar. “We don’t have a record and we’ve never intended on having a record, but there’s other things happening so it makes you feel like there’s a reason to be doing everything this year,” he says.

To conclude our conversation before the coffee runs dry and the biscuits are just crumbs, I ask the question that I know they will be dreading: what does the future hold for Del Amitri? “We’re trying to write new songs and we’ll see where that goes,” Currie confirms. “I don’t think we ever thought we made a killer album. There was always something slightly wrong with every album, in some cases more than others. There were better songs on albums that didn’t sound as good as other albums that had worse songs on them and that kind of thing. So there’s an opportunity there to try and rectify that, but if we didn’t feel like we were getting close to rectifying that I don’t think we would put anything out.”

“We’ve never had to do anything in a world where people don’t actually buy music!” Harvie exclaims. “But that’s quite interesting because it changes things. In 2002 the change [in the music industry] was perceived as being brutal and negative, but I don’t know if it necessarily has been in the long run. In a sense, we’re kind of feeling our way back into that and seeing if we might be able to do something useful.”

The music industry has changed. The way people consume music has changed. The concept of an album has changed - Harvie calls it a “romantic idea” and “slightly ludicrous” in the current climate. So what does the future hold for Del Amitri beyond the tour? “We’re going to reinvent the music business in our own image in an effort to preserve the identity of Del Amitri,” says Harvie with a playful smile.

A lot may have changed since the band took their extended break, but talking with them today the enthusiasm for playing their music obviously remains and the excitement for the forthcoming tour is clear. Whatever the future may hold, for the time being, Del Amitri are a band very much focussed on the here and now.

(Words: Rhiannon Law)

Del Amitri 2018 UK tour dates

July 20 - Newcastle City Hall July 21 - Edinburgh Castle July 22 - Manchester Apollo July 23 - Birmingham Symphony Hall July 25 - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall July 26 - London Hammersmith Apollo July 28 - Glasgow Barrowlands July 29 - Glasgow Barrowlands

#delamitri #justincurrie #iainharvie #interview

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literaryeagle · 7 years

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Okay, so the Yuri!!! on Ice item that I'll be reviewing today is Yuri!!! on Stage, on Blu-ray. (It’s also available on DVD, but I chose to get the Blu-ray because the image quality would be better.) I'm sure a lot of people have talked about it already, however I will translate the scene titles and discuss an additional feature that you might have missed if you didn't explore the menu screen. I will also show the bonus items packaged with the disc, and show the extra special items that you could only get if you ordered it from Animate! So, hopefully this review will still have something useful. ^_^

Just in case anyone isn't familiar with Yuri!!! on Stage yet, it was a live show that took place on April 29, 2017 at Maihama Amphitheater. The voice actors for most of the male skaters were there, plus the voice actor for Takeshi Nishigori, and series writer Mitsurou Kubo. They did a bunch of fun stuff like discussing their favorite scenes from the anime, playing games, and performing a NEW STORY that takes place after the TV series (the new story was an audio drama that they voiced live, so it wasn't animated). The Yuri!!! on Stage event actually occurred twice on that day... once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. There were a few differences between the two versions of the event, however the audio drama was the same story both times. The Blu-ray and DVD are a video recording of the evening version. As an example of one of the cute things you can see in the video, check out the image below... from left to right, that's Junichi Suwabe (voice of Victor), Toshiyuki Toyonaga (voice of Yuri), and Koki Uchiyama (voice of Yurio):

Sorry for my bad photograph of the screen, but taking high-quality screen captures from BDs is a no-no. Anyway, yes, the above image is a reference to Yuri poking Victor's hair in the anime, except here it's Victor's voice actor doing it to Yuri's voice actor. Hilarious! Also, wow, Suwabe bleached his hair to look more like Victor. Talk about dedication!

Want to know more? Keep reading for the rest of the review, plus a few more pictures!

There are no subtitles, so you'll miss out on a lot if you don't understand Japanese, although for some reason the end credits are in English. The scene selection menu is written in Japanese, but don't worry, I'll translate the scene titles for you! The first one is simply called "Opening", and it's the part of the show that introduced the characters and their voice actors. Unfortunately, the actors who play as JJ, Otabek, and Michele were not able to make it to the event, however they had recorded videos that were played later in the show.

The second segment is named "Jibun o Suki ni Natte... Popovich no Carabosse no Heya", which means "Like Yourself... Popovich's Room of Carabosse". (The "Like Yourself" bit is a reference to the title for episode 4 of Yuri!!! on Ice, "Like Yourself... And Complete the Free Program!"). The MC for this part was Wataru Hatano, the voice of Georgi Popovich and also the artist who sang the anime's ending theme, "You Only Live Once". Basically, the voice actors were divided into groups, and the actors discussed their favorite scenes from the anime involving their characters. For example, Kensho Ono (voice of Phichit) chose the "Congratulations on your marriage!" line from episode 10 as his favorite Phichit scene. He has good taste! Mitsurou Kubo also commented on the fans' enthusiasm for that scene. Here's an image showing Wataru Hatano on the left, and Mitsurou Kubo on the right:

The third part is called "Chou Chou Chou Chou Ganbaranba! Katsudon Pirozhki Soudatsu! World Question!" ("Gotta Super-Super-Super-Supercharge It! Katsudon Pirozhki Contest! World Question!"... Whew, these titles are a mouthful, ha ha!). For this part, a bit of dialogue from the anime had been translated into Russian, and after a Russian-speaking person read the dialogue out loud, the voice actors had to guess what scene from the anime it was. (For the afternoon version of Yuri!!! on Stage, a scene had been translated into Thai instead of Russian.) By the way, it turned out the Russian speaker's name was Emil, much to the amusement of Satoshi Hino, the voice of Emil Nekola.

Even though Mamoru Miyano (voice of JJ) wasn't able to make it to the event, there was a video of him giving the voice actors a hint for this Russian game. Frankly, the scene was pretty simple to guess even without the clue (you can hear Emil say "pirozhki" and "katsudon", which narrows down the possibilities quite a bit), but I'm always up for more JJ Style, so I enjoyed the hint video anyway.

The fourth section is named "Afureko Imagination Show" ("afureko" is short for "after recording", meaning adding sound after a film has been made... so I guess it can be translated as "dubbing" or something like that). For this part, they played various clips from the anime, but instead of using the recorded audio from the show, the voice actors performed their dialogue live! Very cool.

Next, the fifth part is called "Special Video Letter", which had video messages from Yoshimasa Hosoya (voice of Otabek) and Tomoaki Maeno (voice of Michele), since they weren't able to make it to the event. After that, there were a few more clips from the anime, with the voice actors for Victor, Yuri, and Yurio performing their lines live... but with something very special added to the stage! Part of the floor had been replaced with a miniature skating rink (just a small square of ice, really), so figure skater Honoka Kawanishi could perform Yurio's free skate during these scenes. Wow! Since the square of ice she had on the stage was so small, there wasn't enough room for her to do the jumps, but it was still a lovely performance. What a brilliant idea! Check it out:

The sixth segment is named "Roudoku Geki Hasetsu Exhibition Onsen!!! on ICE Victor with Friends" ("Reading Drama Hasetsu Exhibition Hot Springs!!! on ICE Victor with Friends"), which is probably the part of Yuri!!! on Stage that people have talked the most about already. As mentioned earlier in this review, it's a new story that takes place after the TV series. It was written by Kimiko Ueno. This story is not animated, but the voice actors are fun to watch as they read their scripts, and music from the anime is played in the background, which is a nice touch.

I won't get into too much detail about the plot, because so many other people have posted about it already. But to put it simply, the skaters have gathered in Yuri's hometown for an ice show called "Victor with Friends", however a little too much drinking and partying happens the night before the show. If you've ever wondered what would happen if Victor and Yuri both got drunk at the same time, well... it involves a lot of flexibility, and not much clothing! There's also a hilarious misunderstanding involving Yuri's drunken ramblings about a statue of Shachihoko (a legendary creature that is part tiger and part fish), which Victor mistakenly interprets as Yuri reminiscing about a really flexible ex-lover named "Chihoko". Silly Victor, getting jealous over a fish statue! It's pretty funny. (By the way, there was another live event in the summer called Yuri!!! on Festival which included a sequel drama, about Yuri getting possessed by a squid demon. Unfortunately, word has it that Yuri!!! on Festival will not be getting a DVD/Blu-ray release. Hopefully they'll change their minds, or at least release the drama part as a CD.)

Okay, moving on... The seventh part is called "LIVE You Only Live Once Yuri!!! on ICE feat. w.hatano". As you can probably guess by that title, Wataru Hatano did a live performance of the ending theme to the anime. He was accompanied by two backup dancers.

The eighth section is called "Ending", which had everyone wrapping things up and thanking the audience. After that, everything seemingly ends with the credits... If you have the Blu-ray or DVD, did your video player just go to the menu screen after the credits finished? That's what mine did, however there's actually more on the disc! If you look on the menu screen, the last numbered segment is part 8, which is the aforementioned "Ending". But after that, there's one more item, which doesn't have a number. So be sure not to miss it! This last bit is another version of the Special Video Letters from Mamoru Miyano (JJ), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Otabek), and Tomoaki Maeno (Michele). You can tell these must be from the afternoon version of Yuri!!! on Stage, because Mamoru Miyano gives a Thai clue instead of a Russian clue.

That's it for the show, so next I'll talk about the bonus items packaged with the disc, and then I'll talk about the extra special goodies that you could only get if you ordered it from Animate. Yay! First, there's a little booklet that comes with the disc. It has a shiny silver cover, but unfortunately my photo doesn't do it justice:

This is basically a miniature version of a pamphlet at that was sold at the Yuri!!! on Stage event, except the mini version is missing a few pages advertising Yuri!!! on Ice merchandise (although it makes up for it by having extra artwork for the last page). I think the reason why it's miniature is because it had to be the same length and width as a DVD case, to avoid an awkward packaging situation. It includes some really nice photos and profiles of the voice actors. I actually have the full size version of the pamphlet that was sold at the event, so I'll be covering that in a future review. In other words, I will wait until that review before I get into further detail about the contents of this booklet. (EDIT: My review of the pamphlet is now available!)

Okay, the other item packaged with the disc is this Makkachin selfie light, which can be attached to a smartphone:

Isn't that adorable? All right, next I'll talk about the additional goodies that were obtainable by ordering Yuri!!! on Stage from Animate. The first one is a "portrait". On the outside, it looks like a thin gray hardcover book...

...but it's not actually a book, because there's just a picture inside. But it's a very nice picture. What kind of picture, you ask? It's a beautiful textless version of the Yuri!!! on Stage cover art! Check it out:

So nice! And finally, people who pre-ordered from Animate under certain conditions were able to get a cute little Makkachin can badge. I took a close-up of it, so you can get a really good look:

Overall, Yuri!!! on Stage is funny and entertaining, and the bonus items packaged with the disc are cute. The additional special items from Animate are great as well, although I'd imagine those are sold out by now. However, please keep in mind that the Blu-ray and DVD are not subtitled, so you'll miss out on a lot if you don't understand Japanese (although the voice actors' antics are still fun to watch), so it's up to you to decide if that's worth it. The Blu-ray and the DVD are both still available on Amazon.co.jp (NOTE: the DVD is Region 2 only!), however Avex Pictures has placed a restriction on their CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays being shipped outside of Japan. Unfortunately, this means that Amazon.co.jp will no longer ship those items overseas, so if you don’t live in Japan you’ll have to either buy it from a source that’s not affected by the restriction, or get a shopping deputy to help you with the purchase.

Thanks for reading, everyone. I have other official Yuri!!! on Ice merchandise that I’ll be reviewing, so keep checking my blog for new stuff!

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sheilacwall · 5 years

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hip hop isn’t dead.: Ice Cube

Somehow War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) is only the sixth solo album from rapper-slash-actor-slash-professional basketball league founder O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson. It feels like we’ve been discussing this motherfucker forever, or at least since 2007, right? Obviously the man has been doing a lot since his entrance into our chosen genre via N.W.A.: aside from his whole actor/writer/director side gig, he’s released compilations, been a part of multiple soundtrack releases, and even found time to create an entirely separate group, Westside Connection (alongside his protégée Mack 10 and his friend WC). But the man hasn’t ever truly stepped away from his solo career, which is part of the reason we’re talking about today’s subject.

War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Album) is the second half of a project that Cube conceived way back in the previous century (read: 1998). War & Peace, curiously named after the soft drink and not the Tolstoy doorstop, served as our host’s excuse to deliver the gangsta rap and social commentary he was best known for post-Jerry Heller, along with some attempts to construct a much broader audience through radio airplay, club bangers, cautionary tales, and skinny-dipping in the waters of different musical genres. Although for some reason I’m remembering this being announced as a double-disc effort, Ice Cube released the first volume, subtitled The War Disc, close to the Thanksgiving holiday in 1998, with The Peace Disc scheduled to follow soon after, as they were recorded and compiled at the same time.

The War Disc was met with mixed reviews, as Cube rested on his laurels a bit too much: there’s one song that is a direct sequel to one of his classic tracks, “Once Upon a Time In The Projects 2”; he leaned heavily on a younger artist signed to his label, Mr. Short Khop (who, interestingly enough, doesn’t appear on The Peace Disc at all); there’s a collaboration with motherfucking Korn called “Fuck Dying”. (Cube also appeared on Korn’s 1998 album Follow the Leader: both songs helped cue up the inaugural Family Values tour, which they were both headliners on.) But aside from a couple of tracks that played into his storytelling skills, The War Disc quietly vanished from rotation, leaving our host to retool the planned follow-up in an effort to course-correct.

War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc), the final album released under Cube’s deal with Priority Records, is definitely not what was already completed when The War Disc was released. For one, the very first track, “Hello”, is a collaboration with former N.W.A. bandmates MC Ren and Dr. Dre, a move which wouldn’t have happened in 1998, but made more sense in 2000 after N.W.A. officially reunited for a song off of the soundtrack for Cube’s Next Friday (and also after Dre released 2001, a blockbuster project that put him back on the map). In addition, the first single, “You Can Do It”, came from that same soundtrack and was Cube’s most popular radio hit since 1997’s “We Be Clubbin’”. So I get why he’d want to retool the project to capitalize on those strengths.

The Peace Disc vanished seemingly quicker than its predecessor, possibly due to the chart dominance of his friend Dr. Dre and Dre’s artist Eminem at the time. It did manage to sell over five hundred thousand units in the United States, but find me somebody who proudly has this one displayed in their collection. I dare you. I double dog dare you, motherfucker. Nobody gives a fuck about War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc), and I include Ice Cube in that description. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the album is entirely bad, so let’s peek under the hood and review this sucker.

1. HELLO (FEAT. DR. DRE & MC REN)

O’Shea hits the ground running, commissioning an N.W.A. reunion that is much more successful than their official comeback on the Next Friday soundtrack (“Chin Check”, for those of you keeping score). A simplistic Dr. Dre. prescription, which bangs, lays the groundwork for Dre, MC Ren, and our host Ice Cube to… complain about the current (as of 2000, anyway) state of hip hop like the elder statesmen they are: they have a specific grievance regarding not being credited for “start[ing] this gangsta shit” (which absolutely isn’t true, but regardless of who you think kicked off the sub-genre, the various members of N.W.A. are cited as influences all. The. Goddamn. Time. Maybe not Yella). As far as old dudes talking shit as though evolution in language and culture hadn’t ever occurred, Ren comes across as alright (his comment about lesbians not exactly homophobic but still iffy nevertheless), while Andre sticks with his “I’m rich, I don’t have to do shit” mentality. Thankfully, O’Shea tears through his verse with a ferocity he hasn’t displayed since Westside Connection’s Bow Down, and I say that even though the phase of his career where he insisted on nicknaming himself the “Don Dada” is still represented on here. So yeah, this was a success overall. Thank God, right? I mean, can you imagine two subpar late-period N.W.A. reunion tracks in a row?

2. PIMP HOMEO (SKIT)

I know Cube’s trying to be funny here, but this was bad. At least it wasn’t homophobic, though, as the title may have implied. Absolutely misogynistic, though.

3. YOU AIN’T GOTTA LIE (TA KICK IT) (FEAT. CHRIS ROCK)

Fairly confusing, as “You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Ta Kick It”) isn’t really the love rap sort-of promised by the preceding skit. O’Shea spits his boasts-n-bullshit, which, interestingly enough, include proclamations of being a great father, while guest Chris Rock threatens to undermine the entire operation with his contributions to the hook. The concept isn’t set up well enough for this three-man production (this was credited to former Bad Boy Hitman Chucky Thompson along with Rich Nice and Loren Hill) to make any fucking sense, as Cube isn’t really hitting on anyone as much as he’s offering up facts about himself as though he recorded his bars while standing behind a podium, while Rock tries to come up with the most ridiculous lies during the hook. Dude is kind of amusing toward the end, but overall this shit was a misfire. It was good while it lasted, though.

4. THE GUTTER SHIT (FEAT. JAYO FELONY, GANGSTA, & SQUEAK RU)

LOL there’s a rapper named Gangsta? Have we officially used up all of the words? Anywhoozle, our host envisioned “The Gutter Shit” as a collaboration with like-minded West Coast artists, but could only convince Jayo Felony and two other no-names to commit, and my Lord does this Cube- and T-Bone-produced aural interpretation of a sad face emoji suuuuuuuuuck. The two artists on here that you’ve never heard of before or since seem excited enough for the opportunity but flounder when called upon, while Jayo is terrible as always. But the true loser here is our host, who somehow found the time to contribute two awful verses that wouldn’t even be stocked in the same type of store as the gutter shit he was once capable of. And what the fuck is with that reference to the previous track?

5. SUPREME HUSTLE

There is no planet within our galaxy where Ice Cube could have honestly believed that “Supreme Hustle” was a song good enough to make War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc). My guess is that the production trio from “You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Ta Kick It)” had called in a collective Make-A-Wish, as this elementary excursion into simplistic rap boasting is embarrassing as shit to listen to. At least our host sticks with his theme: each of the three verses places emphasis on “I”, “you”, and “we”, respectively. But there is no hustle to be found on here, and O’Shea’s hand-waving about what he considers to be the cause of domestic violence was puzzling as hell. I cannot stress enough how fucking godawful this shit was.

6. MENTAL WARFARE (SKIT)

…

7. 24 MO’ HOURS

When critics mention older rappers struggling to sound relevant with their newer songs, “24 Mo’ Hours” is what they’re referring to. If War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) were released today, the Battlecat instrumental, which both sucks and doesn’t fit our host’s general aesthetic, which is a strange critique given Battlecat’s history of producing Cali-based bangers, would almost certainly be swapped out for something from the likes of Metro Boomin’ or Zaytoven, and it would still sound terrible. Ugh.

8. UNTIL WE RICH (FEAT. KRAYZIE BONE)

I heard “Until We Rich” on the radio once probably in 2000 or so, and then have apparently never thought of it again until right now, which I believe is an accurate representation of how forgettable this Chucky & the Thompsons production was. Guest star Krayzie Bone, still riding a Bone Thugs-N-Harmony career wave at the time, circles and underlines Slick Rick’s “Hey Young World” with his performance, which is dull, while O’Shea tries his darnedest to give listeners an optimistic, motivational speech, even going so far as to censor his own cursing, so as to reach as wide an audience as possible. Sure, “Until We Rich” fits the ‘peace’ requirement of this project, but at what cost?

9. YOU CAN DO IT (FEAT. MACK 10 & MS. TOI)

You two already know this song, which first appeared on the soundtrack for Next Friday in 1999 but was popular enough to justify Priority Records placing it on as many projects as possible, I suppose. For the handful of readers who somehow missed this footnote in popular culture, “You Can Do It”, a spiritual follow-up to “We Be Clubbin’”, the hit single from our host’s directorial debut The Players Club, finds Cube, Ms. Toi, and his boy Mack 10 putting their asses into a One Eye-produced club effort that is slight on lyrics, but is rather catchy otherwise. It sounds so fucking absurd today that it somehow shifts from “corny” to “entertainingly corny” during Cube’s opening verse and never once budges again. At least our host sounded engaged on here, unlike most everything else on War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) thus far, and having Mack 1-0 perform over a fast-paced beat forces him to match that energy or die trying. Inessential, but it brings the pretty girls at the club out onto the floor, in case that helps you in any way.

10. MACKIN’ & DRIVING (SKIT)

Playing War & Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc)’s first single, “Pushin’ Weight”, in the background of this interlude only reminded me of rapper Mr. Short Khop, whose career was abruptly halted after Cube stopped giving a shit about his young charge. I mean, why else would he not have been a good enough performer to make it to the second volume? Good call by the way, O’Shea.

11. GOTTA BE INSANITY

Curious, but not entirely out of left field when you remember “You Can Do It” was a hit, so why wouldn’t O’Shea go back to that well? The funky-ish guitar loop on this Mario Winans (!) production reminded me of Jermaine Dupri’s “Going Home With Me”, except I like that song and found this one to be middling at best, as Cube panders to the lowest common denominator while trying to get back inside the club. I can’t be sure who our host thought his audience was when he recorded “Gotta Be Insanity”, but he’s done enough good work and has earned the ability to record and release whatever he wants. Still doesn’t mean we’re all required to listen to any of it, however.

12. ROLL ALL DAY

As we all know and agree with every third Wednesday at our meetings, the best storytelling raps are the ones where you don’t realize the artist is even telling a story until the third verse. That’s what happens on “Roll All Day”, anyway. Over a One Eye beat that doesn’t entirely gel but has its moments, Ice Cube boasts about having purchased a full tank of gas (a fact repeated throughout, with a humorous callback toward the end) and offering to cruise around with a woman he just met in exchange for sexual intercourse. You know, standard-issue rap-type shit, but it begs the question: why is she so interested in the car? Has the woman in question never been inside an automobile before? Cube could have probably rolled up on a pedal bike and worked out a similar proposition just because he’s Ice Cube, but I suppose there’s no vehicle for a story there (pun intended). Regardless, he never gets that far, as by the third verse she’s [SPOILER ALERT FOR A NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD SONG] broken the car’s windows and, later, stolen it outright. His flow is strictly boasts-n-bullshit until the ending, where he reveals some of that sense of humor he tapped into while writing Friday. “Roll All Day” is meh, but the effort was appreciated, at least.

13. CAN YOU BOUNCE?

This was fucking terrible, and that’s without O’Shea making a Pokemon reference, which he absolutely does on here. So that happened. (Also, Younglord apparently produced the beat. Was War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) designed as Ice Cube’s covert demo reel to hopefully snag a label deal with Bad Boy Records? Because the gambit hasn’t paid off yet.)

14. DINNER WITH THE CEO (SKIT)

…

15. RECORD COMPANY PIMPIN’

The flip side of EPMD’s “Please Listen To My Demo”, down to the same Faze-O “Riding High” sample being used, as Ice Cube and producer Bud’da urge the youth not to get involved in the rap game without learning the business side of the industry first. Advice such as this can only come from someone who was famously jerked around by their label in the past, as Cube was during his short stint with Ruthless Records, but while the man clearly knows of what he speaks, that doesn’t mean “Record Company Pimpin’” (a topic many artists have tackled before and since O’Shea put pen to paper) is an entertaining song to actually listen to. Our host should have taken these ideas and given a TED Talk instead. That’s not a joke: imagine how many people he could help in the process. But you can skip this track outright.

16. WAITIN’ TA HATE

So it turns out that War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) is a stealth EPMD tribute album filtered through a Puff Daddy lens. That’s a lie, obviously, but “Waitin’ Ta Hate” is the second song in a row to pay homage to Erick and Parish specifically, although this time around producers One Eye and DJ Joe Rodriguez (that name gets to the point, can’t be mad at that) get lazy by choosing to just sample “So Wat Cha Sayin’” directly. For his part, O’Shea sounds downright angry on here, which informs an entertaining performance that isn’t reminiscent of his finest work, but let’s be real, it’s the best we’ll get at this point. The production doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from the EPMD standard, but maybe, this time around, it isn’t such a bad thing. (Side note to E-Double: you should give Cube a shout for a future collaboration, as the man is clearly a fan.)

17. N—A OF THE CENTURY

Accompanied by someone that could be that Pain In Da Ass dude whose entire shtick was aping flicks such as Scarface and Goodfellas to open up early Roc-A-Fella Records projects but likely isn’t, which means there were two of these guys in our chosen genre at some point, which seems wasteful somehow, our host caps off the evening lobbying for an award that doesn’t exist. Charley Chap’s production is too dull to properly reward Ice Cube as a winner of any competition, and O’Shea’s own bars aren’t worth wasting a paragraph on. At least we’re done here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) approaches self-parody at points, as Ice Cube genuinely seems to not understand just what it was about his work that listeners connected with back in the early 1990s. It certainly wasn’t this shit: nobody ever wanted to hear what it would have sounded like had Cube signed with Bad Boy Records twelve years after his prime. The O’Shea Jackson found on this project is a man who is content with his station in life: the only time he ever really comes across as passionate about anything is when he’s schooling younger artists on the inner workings of the music industry, a topic that obviously resonates with him. Even his generic threats on “Hello”, a song I fucking liked his performance on, sound more like amiable suggestions than anything. When Cube gets in his storytelling bag, he seems to at least be having some fun with this shit (not that it always translates for the listener), but when he’s simply talking shit, the momentum on War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc), or whatever little momentum exists, halts immediately. Twenty years removed from his debut solo project, this album proved that Ice Cube was no longer vital to the ongoing health of the local hip hop concern. He has all of his other ventures to fall back on, and of course he’ll always be welcomed at the barbecues, but unless he’s laser-focused on targets (we’ll always have the first Westside Connection effort), he loses the plot very quickly, and one can only coast on charm and the acclaim derived from your prior work for so long. I won’t go so far as to say that War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) is a “peace” of shit, because that pun is beneath me, but it’s plenty awful.

BUY OR BURN? Neither. If you absolutely must, stream the tracks listed below, but, you know, life is short.

BEST TRACKS: “Hello”; “Waitin’ Ta Hate”

-Max

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mredwinsmith · 6 years

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Ben Oort And The Coming International Youth Renaissance

Ben Oort is an ultimate player from the future. Not because of his game, although he is versatile, capable of thriving in any position on the field. Not because of his age, although he is the youngest player in the AUDL – eighteen-years-old, born on the 1st of January, 2000. Ben Oort is the tip of the wave of modernization soon to crash into the sport of ultimate because he will do anything to get better.

Ben was born among the first generation of Frisbee players who would play the game from birth. His father, Jeroen, discovered ultimate at the age of twenty-three and fell in love with the sport. He has represented Dutch National teams at least ten times, playing in cities from Ottawa to Prague, Minneapolis to Vancouver. During Ben’s early years, family vacations were organized around Jeroen’s tournament touring schedule.

“He taught me to throw when I was three or four years old,” remembered Ben. “The first time I threw a backhand, the disc would be so big, every time I threw it, I had to spin one circle, that was my way to do it. I would spin one circle, I threw it with all my force, and then I would fall down on the ground. I couldn’t catch at that point, so I would just throw it, and he would throw a scoober on the ground towards me again. I would pick it up and do it all over again.”

Jeroen remembers Ben learning to catch as well.

“He was five. We were on holiday,” explained Jeroen. “He couldn’t stop or move direction or [move his hands] higher or lower. He just ran and clapped his hands. If we were lucky, he would catch it. But many times, he just got hit in the head or on his fingers, and he didn’t mind. I never forced him. He wanted to do it. He would lie down and cry for two seconds, and then he would stand up and, let’s do it again. In the beginning, only one out of ten he would catch, [but] he was so happy.”

By the time Ben was nine-years-old, he was introduced to the organized sport of ultimate Frisbee. Children from all around the Netherlands came to Amsterdam to play in sorts of hat tournaments, as each city didn’t have the numbers for individual teams. Even at a young age, Ben was beginning to stand out from his peers.

Those thirty or forty players would be the origin of Grut, Ben’s beloved mixed club team. Though currently a rookie on the Toronto Rush, Ben’s one true Frisbee love is Grut. His girlfriend, Floor, also plays on Grut, and Ben and Jeroen both admit that she is a better player than he.

The seedling of Ben’s idea to move to North America to play in the AUDL grew from his trip to Chicago for CUT Camp when he was fifteen. He boarded the plane alone.

“Your fifteen-year-old, he behaves rather maturely, but still,” laughed Jeroen, remembering his reservations. “He did that [trip] all on his own. We allowed him to fly without an adult, so that’s when he started. It was around that time, at fifteen, sixteen, he had done basically everything [in ultimate] in the Netherlands, except for the adult [national] team.”

Ben and Jeroen knew that he needed to play on teams for which he wasn’t the best player. Generally the youngest player by several years on whatever team he joined, Ben’s throwing talent allowed him to thrive. He needed more challenges. He briefly joined PELT, a terrific Irish club team, for a tournament in Belgium, and loved the experience. It would foreshadow Ben’s decision to join the Toronto Rush.

Thirteen-year-old Ben Oort skys his father for the disc. Photo Courtesy: Martine Bootsma, Amsterdam

After his trip to Chicago, Ben knew that North America was the most fertile grounds for him to improve his game.

“I think [playing in North America] was always something I wanted to do because I’ve always been a big sports fan, just watching Frisbee. And so I’ve always watched world championships on live stream. Everything that was available, I watched. And I just noticed right away that in the US and Canada, that’s where the real stuff happens. I think it was always a dream.”

At the 2017 Beach World Championships in Royan, France, Jeroen found contact information for Sachin Raina, the head coach of the Toronto Rush. Sachin’s history was a sign that the Oorts had come to the right place.

Sachin has long been a fixture in the Canadian ultimate scene, but in 2009 and 2010, he lived in Amsterdam teaching at Vrije University. He joined a club team called the Cakes, who regularly scrimmaged against the Red Lights, a Master’s team that rostered one Jeroen Oort. The two were never close, but they shared a mutual respect on and off the field. Even almost a decade later, Jeroen knew that he could trust Sachin with his teenage son, and Sachin knew that any offspring of the athletic initiation cutter he remembered from Amsterdam would be talented enough to contribute to the Rush.

“I was like, frig, if this is Jeroen’s kid, and he’s this eager, he’s at least worth a look,” explained Sachin. “Jeroen 20 years ago would have been very much worth a look and probably would have been on the team.”

Furthermore, Sachin was excited to contribute to the development of a Dutch player, as he had played for the Amsterdam club team at World Club Championships in 2010 and the Dutch National team at World’s in 2012.

Ben arranged two tryouts in Toronto and D.C during a short, six-day trip to North America.

“If they say yes I come back [to North America], and if they don’t say yes, I had a fantastic week.”

Ben did not think he performed well in tryouts due to attendees’ desires to show off, and his versatility didn’t shine. However, he had an important qualification on which he could rely. Ben came second in the European Youth Player of the Year Award, after only making the video thinking it might appeal to AUDL teams.

Ben was eventually invited to play on both Toronto and D.C, but he chose Toronto due to its talent, internationalism, and Sachin. Mostly it’s talent. The chance to compete for an AUDL championship was unmissable.

“I love winning. I love winning. That’s something that I really enjoy,” said Ben.

And so an eighteen-year-old found himself boarding another plane back to North America, unaccompanied, in order to spend all of his savings and play professional ultimate Frisbee.

“They found it a bit suspicious at the border,” laughed Ben. “I spent some good times at Custom’s, when I got here.”

Ben spends his days when he’s not with the Rush working out and throwing discs. He knows why he’s in Toronto and stays dedicated to the task of improving. He explores Toronto, and his favourite area thus far is Kensington Market. Ben spent a month living with teammate Goeff Powell and his girlfriend Courtney. Powell described Ben as the perfect houseguest and makeshift son.

Powell introduced Ben to American sports, watching the Leafs and Raptors lose heartbreakers. They talked about cultural differences and, of course, sports. At Easter, he tried Turkey for the first time, and purportedly loved it.

When he moved out, Ben bought Stroopwafels – a Dutch dessert cookie meant to sit overtop of a steaming cup of coffee – for his Canadian parents, giving a bag to each of them, knowing that Courtney would never eat any if he only left one bag.

“It was nice to have someone else around, definitely. It was kind of sad when he left yesterday. It felt kind of empty. We’re like empty-nesters now,” mused Powell.

On the field, Ben is already contributing to the Toronto Rush’s success. With a 6-foot-7 wingspan, Ben has used his length to contribute via throwing. His speed and athleticism have allowed him to record some receiving highlights, already compiling five goals on the young AUDL season.

Two plays in particular stand out. Ben has played in two games for the Rush. In the first, against the New York Empire, the athletically gifted Jeff Babbitt was covering Ben, who made a deep cut to space and earned a flick huck from teammate Mark Lloyd. Babbitt flew inside of Ben, laying out just in front of the rookie for the remarkable block.

Ben, however, didn’t hang his head.

“I went and talked to him and said listen, don’t worry about that, that throw has got to be out to space,” said Sachin. “And Ben’s response was, naw, I should have made the play earlier. I could have had that. I should have beat him. That was his mentality. It wasn’t like, oh man, yeah, you’re right, that wasn’t a good throw, or that wasn’t my fault. Or, I’m not good enough to play against a guy like Jeff Babbitt. It was no, I can make that play.”

Ben quickly found more success against the defending champions San Francisco FlameThrowers. With his team up 6-5 in the first quarter, Ben saw a poach opportunity while on defence and chased down an opponent’s huck. Starting several strides behind a former World Champion in Byron Liu, Ben caught up to make a clean block against the much older and more accomplished player.

“I’ve watched that [play] over and over again,” marveled Jeroen. “It was a beautiful D, I mean perfect.”

Ben doubts he’ll stay in North America for more than six months, but he doesn’t know his future. He may go to university. He’s worked as a cook in the past, which he enjoyed. No matter what path he walks, ultimate will accompany Ben, leading him like it did his father. I asked Ben what his goals were in the future, ultimate or otherwise. He answered immediately.

“I think I would like to see the Netherlands as a country and my club team Grut as one of the bigger ultimate teams in the world,” said Ben. “I would love to win a medal at a World Championship with the Dutch team, not an American or Canadian team.”

Ben is already a world-class player, and he won’t hit his prime for a decade. He has the potential to be one of the best players in the world. Like an Arnold Schwarzenegger sent back from the future, Ben is single-minded in his focus on ultimate. And yet, he isn’t focused on himself, but instead on Grut. They’ve already captured Dutch and European Championships – with Jeroen as the coach – but Ben is searching for glory in greater pastures. One of the main purposes of the trip is to return to his treasured team and use his newfound talents to help Grut win a World Championship.

Ben knows that this trip will be about more than Frisbee. Everyone with whom I spoke described him as outstandingly mature, and he’s sure to wring every last drop of reward from this adventure, including during those moments that extend beyond the sport.

Jeroen admitted that Ben’s trip should benefit his life more than his Frisbee game.

“I hope to have some friends after this,” said Ben, when asked what his North American journey will bring him beyond Frisbee. “I’ll see them around at tournaments or world championships after this, some other time.”

It always comes back to the sport. Life and Frisbee are inseparable for Ben, like they were for Jeroen when Oort vacations revolved around Jeroen’s tournament locations. When Jeroen was in his prime, there was no professional league, and he only learned about the game in his early 20s. Ben has grown up on a Frisbee field. Perhaps the thousands of hours he’s spent throwing before his twentieth birthday have seeped through his fingers into his blood, like a welcome and wanted germ.

The AUDL is a beacon signal that draws players of Ben Oort’s ilk. It may seem strange for an unaccompanied teenager to voyage across the world to improve his ability in a sport that will likely not be his career. Neither Ben nor his family ever doubted the decision.

“Why am I spending all my money in a half year? Because it’s worth it, I think. I have a passion for Frisbee, so this will get me better. And this is an experience for my life, like whether it’s Frisbee-wise, or just life-wise, it will be something to never forget.”

The post Ben Oort And The Coming International Youth Renaissance appeared first on Skyd Magazine.

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burndownthehousetonight · 7 years

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((Welp, @wolvesbotsetc wanted to mess around with a new character, and I’m honestly super into this ship now oh my god I actually love these two together))

“Sorry, boy, but there’sa bit of an issue.” The snake behind the counter was glaring at the mongoose who ran the shop with him. “Turns out we’ve only got one Fortune Castle CD left, and another guys asking for it.”

“Ah, man, really?” Manic pleaded. “I’ve been waiting for that mess for months! Come on, you can tell him we’re all out, right?”

The snake shrugged. “My partner’s already telling him. Go chat it up with that robin kid.”

Great. Every time he went to buy an electronic dance or electroswing or electrowhatever CD or the like, something went wrong. And now he was gonna have to barter it out of the hands of some random dude. The cardinal looked at him, sighing as he heard over what was being discussed. “What, you can’t wait a week?” He said to the hedgehog Was he wearing a hockey jersey? Casually around the city? Manic almost wanted to judge, but with his ridiculous up-do, he decided to keep quiet. "Man, I've been wanting to listen to this record for months." He smiled back, hoping a friendly attitude would help. "Hey, I'm glad people are listening to it, but I need this. Come on, that's all I'M here for, what about you? Any other things you could get instead? I think Technicity put out a new CD, like, two week ago." “Please, I already got that cd, but if you have something you think I’d be interested in, I’d be willing to trade.” He said, a sly smirk on his face. Manic huffed. This was just what he'd feared. "Fine, what kinda record are you looking for?" He shot back, not entirely amused. "You mostly listen to electronic stuff, 'cause I don't have too much of that stuff." They were in a music store, he though, and there was a CD rack nearby. "How 'bout you pick up something, and I'll pay for both. Sound good?" “If you don’t listen to much electronica then why do you want this so bad?” He said, turning around. “You have nothing, and apparently don’t care for the genre, so how about you just get a better taste for the music.” "Alright, buddy." Manic responded. His anger almost seemed... amused. Like he was presenting his question as a genuine challenge. "If my taste is terrible, teach me. What kind of electronica do YOU listen to? How about we pick up this record, and you show me where I can buy the GOOD music?" Yes, there was his cheeky grin. He was making a serious offer. “What music do I listen to eh? Well…. I listen to this,” he said, holding up the CD, and chuckling to himself. “Hey, there is no good or bad music, just people’s opinion. But i don’t like your opinions on music.” "I ain't saying I don't like it," Manic said. "I just don't listen to it too much. And I ain't gonna listen to it if I don't get that CD." Manic grabbed it with one hand, his partner's hand gripping it just as tightly. They stared for a moment. "You ain't giving up easy, are you?" Manic understated. As competitive as they were being, they didn't seem legitimately angry. "Whaddya want in trade?" The cardinal stayed silent in thought. “You have a computer or somethin, we could probably just download it there and I can keep the disc for myself,” he soon said, in a bit of an epiphany. "Ooooh no, I'm keeping the disc!" Manic said with a smile. "I collect these things, I'm not-" "Guys, we're closing soon. Are you gonna buy it or not?" The mongoose behind the counter hissed. "Yeah, we're buying it!" Manic said with a smile. "Alright, how about this? We hit up a few other music shops, see who's open this late... and if no one else has a copy, we do that mess. Deal?" The bird rolled his eyes. “Fine…” he said. He puts the disc on the table and payed for it. “But it’s mine until we figure something out.” "Deal." Manic said. Even the two sales reps seemed to be arguing with each other over who would run register. Maybe these two just lived to watch people fight. He stood back and waited as the transaction was finally completed. "Yo, name's Manic." He greeted way too far into the game. "I just walked down here, you got a car, or are we walking like three blocks?" “Car’s in the shop so, 3 blocks it is. And Dante.” He smirked, before walking out. “So you usually buying this stuff at 9 pm at night? Or just something else that made you come so late?” "Nah, I was working all day." Manic replied. "I'm a session musician, and I pretty much play whenever they're in a rush. And they were rushing so many kinds of things today..." He smirked back. "You usually go out and buy you superior music taste in a hockey jersey?" “No, I’m an actual hockey player. I ran over once I got out of my game.” He stated matter-of-factly. “Well, I can at least respect that though, so… if anything we can blame the stores.” "Whoever it was, it wasn't us. Unless they don't have a copy." He nudged Dante playfully. "Then I'm blaming you. So like, you're a real hockey player? Like, with pucks and horrible brawls and everything?" He raised his thumb in approval. "Sweeet.' Although he seemed to be leaving out the most important detail. "So, did you guys win or what?" “Yup, I have a big stick and know how to use it,” he said, smirking. “And we won by 5 points. Not our best but hey, at least we won. Our team is finally starting to get recognized actually, we may be getting on tv if we keep winning enough,” he continued. “Still, I have to keep fit and such, as well as keep a good image, so yeah…” "Maybe if you weren't spending all your time going to music shops and taking my CDs, you'd have more time to work out," Manic joked with an exaggerated grimace that quickly disappeared. "Nah, you're fine. You're winning, ain't you?" He didn't bring up the stick joke. He was a little cute, but he still had Manic's CD. And that was an offence he couldn't ignore. So he was determined to keep prodding him until he got his disc. The cardinal and hedgehog soon arrived at the other store…. quickly finding it sold out. “Welp. Guess you’re out of luck,” he said, smirking. “Boo hoo~” "Oh, don't give me that," Manic teased right back. "You said I could download it to my computer or something, right? We're walking back to my place, and I'm getting that music." He stuck out his tongue in a mischievous teasing smile. "Your car's broken, it ain't like you have any rides to catch. And don't you need to keep in shape?" “I thought you wanted the cd and nothing but the cd,” he teased back. “Getting desperate are we?” He said, before chuckling. “Fine, let’s go, it’ll be a good laugh to see your place.” "It always is." Manic replied. He never even pretended to deny it. "And don't worry, I'm making sure I get that CD." Five blocks away, and the two of them had plenty of time to kill while they walked down the streets in a worse part of the city. "So like... Why electronic stuff specifically?" Manic finally asked. "I'm mostly into like, real instruments. Like, I'm fine with electronica, but... I dunno, what are you seeing in it that I'm not? I'm always trying to like music more, y'know?" “It’s just what gets me pumped really, I can’t really describe it. I just like it,” he said, shrugging. “Anyways… does your place have anyone else there? Or you live by yourself?” "Naaah," Manic said. "It's just me. I ain't lived with anyone for like..." He took a moment to think. Had it been that long since he'd seen Scourge. "Last time I lived with anyone was like two years ago. That fine with me, I can practice drums and listen to my crappy music in peace. Ain't like anyone's gonna call me out." The moment stung, but he wasn't going to let that stay. Even if they were messing with each other, Dante seemed nice enough. “Oh, I’m sure you’re a lovely neighbor,” he said, exaggerating the word. “I’m sure everyone gives you compliments at 2 am.” "I mean, they wouldn't even if anyone really lived in the building," Manic admitted. "Nah, I'm not THAT bad with my neighbors. I'm not gonna play power metal at 2 AM or something. Besides, my apartment's kind of far from the other people who live there?" He sighed and smiled. "Though my old boyfriend would all the time, but I guess there's a reason he doesn't live there anymore." He laughed at his own stupid joke. Dante raised an eyebrow. “Old boyfriend? What happened there exactly?” He asked, not wanting to prod too deep but interested nonetheless. He didn't want to just admit to a stranger everything that happened, but he didn't want to lie. "Pretty much? I dunno." He smiled. He'd told the story enough times to pretend it didn't phase him. "He just... disappeared one day, that's pretty much all anyone knows. But that was two years ago, it's- You get used to it." He let out a long heavy sigh, and deflated his shoulders. "Sorry, didn't mean to get heavy. Don't worry about me... just worry about trying to keep that CD." “Oh, uhh… I’m uhh, sorry to hear that…” He laid a hand on the other’s shoulder. “S-sorry about that…” Manic kept smiling as the two walked closer and closer. "Hey, don't worry about it, you didn't know. Like I said, you get used to it..." The walk wasn't quite comfortable for either of them after that. But Manic did try to lighten the mood with a few dumb jokes here and there. These jokes were especially easy when they approached Manic's building. Dante would know at a glance with wasn't a great building. It was almost utilitarian, how decrepit and sparce the building looked. “Jeesh, and I thought my apartment was bad… you live like this?” He said, opening the door. “D-do you need like, half my paycheck or something?” He continued, chuckling slightly but half-serious. "I like it here," Manic admitted. "It's terrible and cramped and tiny and awful, but I mean, they don't kick me out for playing drums, and no one wants to live in a place like this anyways." Manic started to flip open his laptop and turn it on. "Why, what do you mean? How crappy's your place?" “Not as bad as this place.” He admitted. “I actually have a bedroom. And a bed. And an extra room. And uhh… not… mold?” he said, examining the walls. “Plus, soundproofing foam isn’t that expensive last I remember… but uhh… you do you man.” "Mold...? Oh, no man, my place ain't THAT awful!" He said, looking at the stain he seemed to be staring it. "No, that's just some kinda curry sauce I had last night. I'll get that mess cleaned up soon." His computer was slogging to life, and the time the music program always needed wasn't helping. "Hey, you need any kind of foodstuff while you're here? Take whatever you want outta the fridge, man. Looks like this mess doesn't wanna be fast today." That got a mixed reaction from the cardinal, before he looked back at Manic. “Still though, can you really say with certainty you wanna keep living in this place? Not to be rash, but I can’t think of one good reason to live here.” Manic was facing Dante with he same smile he'd had all evening, but he didn't say a word. The moments he held his glare and calculated his response felt strangely tense. "...That old boyfriend I told you about?" Manic admitted. "We never really broke up. And we always promised each other, if either of us ever had to disappear, we'd meet up in front of this place. So I've been waiting." Another pause, and another hollow-seeming smile. "The program's open," Manic said to clumsily break the silence. The cardinal put the disc into the computer, waiting to see how the program would react. “Why not just leave a note that says “hey, I’m actually at this location.” I’m sure he’d understand.” Manic shrugged as the disc whirred. "I don't mind living here, dude." Manic reiterated. "This is the only place we're gonna meet up with each other again, so I... wanna be here as much as possible. You get used to it." His laptop was certainly taking it's time reading the files. "Sorry, I didn't wanna get all depressing." “You didn’t do anything, I just uhh… nevermind,” he said, looking at the screen. “When did you get this computer? 300 BC?” He said rather snarkily. “I’d punch it to get it to go faster, but I’m afraid that may break the damn thing.” "I dunno, like... Five years ago?" He didn't seem too sure of his answer himself. "I don't care about the apartment, I need a new laptop, dude." The disc was finally finished reading, and the first track automatically started. It was definitely electronic dance music, but it was produced with real instruments and chords, rather than relying on synthesized instruments. A perfect middle ground for the musical taste of the two. The cardinal looked at the other. “It’s strange listening to music with others. I'm not exactly sure what to say,” he admitted, listening to the music in otherwise complete silence. Manic didn't share this sentiment. "You don't gotta overthink it. Just sit down and listen, man." He motioned to the space on the other side of his sofa. The opening tune had a saxophone riff that was chopped up and constantly played throughout the song. Simple, loud, and effective. Manic bobbed his head along to the music, just enjoying the ride. "Man, these guys've really gotten better since 'polyvinyl high life,'" Manic added as he quietly moved with the rhythm. "They ain't a super popular group, how'd you hear about them?" “I bought an album from them on a limb about a year ago, been hooked since.” He said, shrugging. “How about you, or is it mostly just the same story?” He asked, looking over at him. His foot tapped softly to the beat, barely even noticeable unless you were looking at his foot. "Nah, there's this restaurant I perform at a lot. They've got this girl working there, Marjorie? She's the most annoying kinda waitress, right? She was trying to get everyone hooked on the same bad indie band, so she kept setting our music station to them, right? It just kinda kept changing to better music when she wasn't paying attention, and... well, they came up." The first song was already drawing to a close. "Hey, you ever heard of Meltdown? It's this pizza place near that Honey Clothing department store? I've got a set there every Thursday, maybe you could stop by and here some of my music live." The cardinal looked at him. “If you perform there, I have to imagine it has 7 health code violations,” he said, smirking. “What toppings they have anyways?” "Really?" Manic shot back. "You're gonna jab my music like that and try and segue out of it with pizza toppings? Gimme a second here..." Manic wasn't gonna take that. He rummaged into a large folder in his music library, categorized into a surprising amount of detail. "I don't compose too much EDM, but I've got some good songs in here! How's this for 7 health code violations?" He smarmed and leaned back with a smile. The song that played was electronica in the same way as the CD they were listening to, traditional instruments used in a choppy manner with very few synthesized instruments. Manic didn't use many of his own vocals in the song, but from what he was hearing, Manic had a hell of a set of pipes on him. “You're right…” he said, before smirking. “9 health code violations. Thank you for correcting me there hedge boy,” he said, listening on. “Plus, call me a freak of nature, but I actually don’t like pizza. That’s just always the question I hear people ask about pizza places,” he said, shrugging. “Poorly executed at best, I resign my role as “pizza critic.”" "Hey, I'm not judging." Manic responded with, relaxing back. "I listen to bad pop music, I ain't judging anyone by their taste." Of course, the CD was in his laptop, and he HAD been taking jabs all evening. He made a large smirk as he decided to change his role in his normal joking way. "Though I guess I wouldn't take the word of a second-string hockey player anyways..." “I could shove the hockey stick up your ass and still score a goal. Don’t try me,” he said, a sly smile trailing across his face. “Bet you couldn’t score a goal on me if you tried.” All the things he were saying seemed like innuendos to some degree. Manic decided to let loose and see what would happen. "I'd say I already won," Manic sassed right back at him. "I mean, the CD's in my computer after all." He adjusted his position on the couch, glaring him right in the eyes like he was challenging him. "You honestly think I couldn't beat you 20-nothing no problem?" “I honestly think you don’t know how to skate.” He gave the hedgehog a look. “And I still paid for it, it’s still mine. if you don’t give it back, I will grab the stick,” he continued. “It may be broken by the end of it but I can buy more.” "Right, you paid for it," Manic said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. "How much was it again, twenty bucks?" He couldn't decipher if Manic's overly mischievous expression was genuine or joking. "Tell you what, Dante," Manic said, putting his wallet away. "I'll trade you for the CD. I give you the CD... you give me your number." “What exactly do you want my number for, I thought you had a long lost lover you are waiting in this shitty apartment for,” he said. “Plus, this cd is mine, and asking to pay something for it is basically ransom.” "Hey, Scourge wasn't boring or anything, we were always open." Manic admitted. "Like, we knew we loved each other, we were fine with letting each other do whatever." The question seemed to get under Manic's skin a bit. "Besides, it's been two years. I mean, I miss him a ton, but I still like the company, y'know?" The mood got a bit to serious for Manic's liking, so he slapped back on his snarky smile and his face went a bit more goofy. "Besides, it's technically in MY computer right now..." He joked. “That’s true,” he admitted. “It’s a lost cause for both of us now.” He joked, lightening the mood a bit. “Fine though. I could use some amount of company too, truth be told.” He pulled out a small slip of paper, writing his phone number down in barely legible handwriting. “Now hand me my CD man.” Manic was happy to get the number. And unfortunately, his grin stayed goofy and mischievous. "I don't know about that," Manic said, hamming up every syllable. "If it came out of MY computer, I guess that would be MY CD..." He said all this as he removed the CD from his drive and handed the warm disk right back to Dante. "No, seriously, thanks for letting me rip the music," Manic said genuinely. "Here, I can give you my number too, if you want." He scribbled out his own number on a loose sheet of blank notation paper and tore the corner with his number off. There was a bit of a pause after he handed the number over to Dante. "Hey, we've only heard the first track from that CD," Manic admitted. "We've still got 12 more to go, and I ain't got anything else planned." The cardinal rolled his eyes, before getting up. “Well, if you dragged me to your place, I oughta drag you to mine,” he said, getting up. “Come on, if anything it’s better than this place,” he said, brushing his feathers and starting to go towards the door. "Hey, let's just take my van," Manic offered while he stood up. "No point in walking twenty more blocks, it's right outside." Manic's van was similarly run down to his apartment. In fact, it looked like he slept in the back seat a lot, not to mention the countless scuff marks in the back from where his drum set had presumably clunked around. But just like his apartment, it was run down in a 'well loved' sense, rather than an old, decaying sense. He didn't seem to care one bit about any of the problems with his van or Dante's jabs on the short drive over. The birb got out, looking at the van. “So… exactly why did you walk to the music store if you have that in the first place?” He said, looking it over before going putting his pin into the small number pad outside the apartment complex door, and holding the door open for him. "Eh, it's exercise," Manic admitted. The apartment building looked more modern than Manics, although that wasn't a high bar. "You think all these muscles keep themselves looking this good?" Manic said in his derpiest tone, pretending to show off muscles he knew he didn't have to show off. "Damn, this is actually a pretty nice place," Manic admitted when they finally got to his door. "What, are you secretly rich or something?" Dante stopped in his tracks and looked at him, with a face that could turn someone to stone. “Hockey. Star. I believe that pays a fairly decent amount.” He said in a monotone, annoyed voice, before opening his apartment. It was set up in a fairly neat manner, a few chairs and a couch surrounding a tv, a kitchen with a dirty dish pile that looked like it would topple at any second. That all seemed fine and dandy until they entered the spare room. He had set up his computer, and a few other personal belongings. The rest was a trash heap, you could barely see the carpet below. "Dude, this is like, all of my old apartments," Manic admitted. Hell, this room pretty much WAS his apartment when he was going through a rough patch. If this had been five years earlier, he might have hated everything about this place. But his taste changed considerably in that time, and a couch in the middle of a trash pile was good enough for him. Manic flumped down on the couch. "So what've you got to drink here? Anything fruity or basically anything that doesn't taste like alcohol?" “Well, I’ve got beer and soda, pick your poison,” he said, grabbing a soda for himself. “To be honest I barely drink, just because the team is really fucking strict on it. No drinking during the season or else you get penalized with something or another,” he said, cracking the soda open. “Don’t let that stop you though if you want something.” "Eh, drinking's kinda boring when you're the only one doing it," Manic admitted. He grabbed a soda for himself and sat right down next to Dante. "Lemme get that disc playing, I wanna see what the rest of the songs are like." As he turned on the computer monitor and leaned over the desk to put the CD in, he took the chance to look behind him at the room. "So, uh... better than my place?" “You’d be the deciding vote man, you already know my take.” Dante looked over at the computer, running considerably faster than Manic’s to load and play the song. “So after this you still heading back or should I set up the couch or something? It’s like 11 ain’t it?” "Yeah, but I've crashed in worse places," Manic admitted. He sat down next to Dante again and took another drink. "I'll probably just crash in my car, it's weirdly comfy back there." He looked at Dante with a smile on his face. "I'm still not sure if I like you or hate you, dude." He admitted, although the smile made it clear he was getting at least a little enjoyment out of the evening. "Thanks for taking my CD, dude." He joked. Dante chuckled. “Same here man. Can’t decide if you're hot or if the sight of you should make me puke. But today has only been a mild inconvenience so…” He shrugged, “well, I will let you get back to the shit-mobile if you love it so much.” "Go with hot," Manic said. "Even if you hate me, that's still gonna be true. Honestly, same's true for you, too." He nodded at the offer to go back to his van and took another drink, sitting up to get ready to go. But he was having second thoughts, and decided to lean back against the couch. "Eeh... you know, I think I'm liking this place." He said simply. He motioned Dante to come closer. "Wouldn't mind staying here a little longer." Dante chuckled “Is that so?~” The music playing soon turned to a slighfly slower beat, as he sat down, looking at the hedgehog. “Heh, I bet you want something more, don’t you~” He slowly moved closer to the hedgehog….. ...and punched him. He then started laughing at his own fakeout, looking at Manic's face. The blow to his face didn't injure him, but it definitely stunned him. There were many things he was half expecting. Maybe he'd just blow a raspberry, or move in to get flirty and then say something to reject him. But as soon as he realized exactly what had happened, he started laughing himself. He couldn't pretend like he didn't get punched a lot. "You're such a massive dick," Manic said, giving him a hard punch straight to his arm as revenge. "Or are you just that bad at hitting on people?" “You fucking know it,” he said, still laughing hard. “You hit like a girl, you know that?” He continued, as he brushed off the pain. “You're gonna have to work damn hard if you want a kiss from your new crush~” "You clearly ain't met my sister," Manic joked. "She might be a snob, but she can also punch someone out no problem-" Manic scanned the ground quickly. The ground was covered in all kinds of junk, including a patch that seemed to exclusively be covered in old clothes. As soon as he saw an opening, he lunged at Dante's chest, toppling him over onto the pile of clothes and pinning him down to hopefully hold his head still for long enough to steal a kiss. "Got you," Manic teased, sitting on Dante's chest and holding him down by his shoulders. The birb’s feathers floofed out in anger, as he pushed the other off. “HEY I NEVER TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD PERMISSION!” he said, pouting as he got up. He wasn’t even going to mention that he was happy to have the kiss. “Y-you are such a bitch!” "That's a new one," Manic said, holding Dante's arm as he got himself up. "The adventures of dick and bitch, the worst combination ever." He laughed at himself, finally, FINALLY having gotten some kind of emotion out of him besides smug happiness. The kiss more than made up for missing out on the CD. He sat down on the couch again, reaching for his soda. "We're gonna kill each other at some point, ain't we?" The cardinal rolled his eyes, still apparently pissed. “I bet I’ll kill you first,” he said, a red blush barely visible beneath his same-colored feathers. “I still can’t tell if we’re now dating or preparing for war.” "I bet you're right," Manic said, not even denying the fact. "Let's go with dating, and if we start hating each other... eeeh, I won't be that surprised." He stood up and walked towards Dante again. This time, he didn't force him into a kiss, instead putting his hand on his arm and pulling him slightly closer, letting him make the final call. "You ready for a horrible relationship?" The cardinal looked at him, his eyes searching the other’s for sights of sarcasm. “You know. I’ve always heard the the worst relationships are the ones that form quickly. We have decided to get together after 2 hours of knowing each other. I think this will be the worst relationship known to man kind. I’m ready.” he said, before kissing the hedgie softly.

#wolvesbotsetc #Show's Over #There's A Melody Playing

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sheilacwall · 5 years

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hip hop isn’t dead.: Ice Cube

1. HELLO (FEAT. DR. DRE & MC REN)

2. PIMP HOMEO (SKIT)

I know Cube’s trying to be funny here, but this was bad. At least it wasn’t homophobic, though, as the title may have implied. Absolutely misogynistic, though.

3. YOU AIN’T GOTTA LIE (TA KICK IT) (FEAT. CHRIS ROCK)

4. THE GUTTER SHIT (FEAT. JAYO FELONY, GANGSTA, & SQUEAK RU)

5. SUPREME HUSTLE

6. MENTAL WARFARE (SKIT)

…

7. 24 MO’ HOURS

8. UNTIL WE RICH (FEAT. KRAYZIE BONE)

9. YOU CAN DO IT (FEAT. MACK 10 & MS. TOI)

10. MACKIN’ & DRIVING (SKIT)

11. GOTTA BE INSANITY

12. ROLL ALL DAY

13. CAN YOU BOUNCE?

14. DINNER WITH THE CEO (SKIT)

…

15. RECORD COMPANY PIMPIN’

16. WAITIN’ TA HATE

17. N—A OF THE CENTURY

BUY OR BURN? Neither. If you absolutely must, stream the tracks listed below, but, you know, life is short.

BEST TRACKS: “Hello”; “Waitin’ Ta Hate”

-Max

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