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unnecessary-database · 5 years

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back at it with the movie au

Before we get started, for chronology, these are the big fat posts in chronological order: the movie au i couldn’t quite help, the movie au strikes again, oh look more movie au, it’s the freaking movie au again, and now this, back at it.

Yeah, I’m not sorry. No one’s contractually obligating you to read this.

"Don't think I don't remember the hickey incident, you two," Sam muttered, pointing two accusatory fingers at them from across the room, and Kara and Lena both blushed.

"I think going around with hickeys for over a week and everyone knowing exactly where they came from was enough punishment without bringing it up again, don't you?" Lena said lightly, and Kara nodded vigorously. "Shut up Kara," Lena added, shoving at her shoulder. "The ones you left on me were way worse and you know it."

Kara's laughter burst out of her, and Lena and Sam both bit back smiles at her. "It's not my fault, you started it," Kara said, and Lena rolled her eyes. "You know who I grew up with, and you thought you could win any kind of fight with me? Besides, if you'd get out in the sun every once in a while maybe they wouldn't be so obvious."

"You're talking about a hickey fight? You're incorrigible."

"Ooh, big word," Kara teased, still giggling. "Did you learn that one from Percy Jackson?"

"Funny, I seem to recall you also stating it was a literary masterpiece, and, funnily enough, that was before you split your head open."

Kara was still giggling, completely incapable of stopping it now. "I told you I was fine," she gasped.

"Was this before or after you cussed out the world like it was the 2016 election all over again?" Kara was completely incapable of responding, bent over now, and Lena sighed dramatically as she let Kara slump into her. "This is a pathetic showing for someone who claims to win every fight." Kara just kept wheezing and Lena adjusted her posture without real thought to let Kara lean into her more fully, wrapping an arm easily around Kara’s shoulders and pushing a stray strand of hair.

"Nice, guys, looks great," came Sam's voice from across the room. Kara giggled once more before managing to sober herself up and sit up straighter, determinedly not glancing at the cameras that surrounded them on the couch in case Sam did that thing again where she used footage from after she called cut. Lena shoved at her shoulder and Kara leaned back into the couch, pretending to be wounded, still chuckling.

"Actually yeah," came Sam's voice again. "Lena, go after her. You know." Lena turned on her smoky-eye-drive-you-crazy charm all at once, the kind Kara still thought should be patented or trademarked or whatever it was, and leaned over Kara, suspending herself for a long moment with one hand planted on the side of the couch and the other by Kara's shoulder. Kara felt her eyes flicker involuntarily down Lena's body as she stretched her arms above her head deliberately, and Lena smiled that dangerous smile.

She moved towards Kara infuriatingly slowly, and Kara felt her smile slip away as Lena pressed against her, Kara's hands moving to wrap Lena up, one arm around her waist and the other hooking around the back Lena's neck gracelessly to drag her closer. Lena, for all her swagger, still kissed her gently as ever, their first kiss in something close to three and a half years delivering an electric shock through Kara's system that made it feel like she was waking up. Kara gasped into the kiss, and Lena pulled away just a little, and Kara could feel her breaking character, she was going to ask Kara what was wrong because she cared more about Kara than about the take, but Kara didn't want that. She chased Lena, moving up and kissing her again, relaxing as Lena leaned back into her without a question, her fingers steady in Kara's hair, holding her gently.

"Nice, that was good." Sam's voice cut across Kara's bliss again. Kara reluctantly released Lena, still blinking dazedly as she unwound her arms and Lena pushed up off Kara slowly. "I really liked that. I want a few different angles, let's take it again from where you shove Kara down, sound good?" Kara and Lena both voiced their assent and sat up. They filmed a few more takes. It got a little bit easier with each one. Just a little. Four more times of Lena hovering over Kara with that dangerous smile and Kara felt a buzz like alcohol seep into her brain by the time they were done, but she didn't feel blinded by it. She felt loose. Powerful and energetic and coiled and ready to jump a fence and run a hundred yards. Ready to film a hundred more scenes where she could wrap Lena up and kiss her with abandon and chuckle off compliments on her acting.

"Excellent work," Sam said, smiling at both of them, pleased. "You still got it. Excellent, really. I'm really pleased with what we have. Thanks for coming in for the screen test and being so flexible with no lines and stuff. I would have prepped you a little more but I trusted your natural chemistry, and I was right."

Lena smiled, looking a little breathless, and Kara ran a hand through her hair, grinning widely at Sam, who seemed like she was onto her, but whatever. "No worries Sam. We're thrilled to be working on this project again. I missed these characters."

Sam appeared to bite back a comment, but just smiled. "Me too. Now go home, enjoy the weekend, we'll call you in a couple days, yeah? Good seeing you two, and thanks again." They were dismissed.

Kara smiled, just as pleased as Sam. She sprang off the couch and stretched her hands to the sky, grinning widely at Lena. Kara reached a hand towards Lena, who took it, still looking a little dazed, and pulled her up easily. "Burgers?" Kara said. "I kinda know a place."Lena turned her head and focused slowly on Kara.

"Did, um, did that feel a little different to you?"Kara was a little too blissed out at getting to make out with Lena like five times in a row to notice the waver in Lena's tone.

"You mean the tongue you slipped me the last two times?" she teased. "To be honest, it did a little bit. Did you finally remove the spacer from your piercing?"

Lena hesitated, biting her lip, and Kara had a totally logical reason to follow the movement and think nothing of it, quirking an eyebrow patiently. "I might have," Lena said slowly, and Kara grinned.

"I knew it. You could put it back in if you wanted, don't feel like you have to take it out for me. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward or anything." Kara was stepping from side to side a little bit, dancing in place like she did when she had too much energy. "It switched things up, it was actually pretty fun." Lena looked at her with something like concern, and Kara paused in her dance to meet Lena's eyes before moving her shoulders around instead. "You don't have to put it back in if you don't want to," Kara said easily. "Obviously. Totally your choice, of course."

Lena was still staring at Kara like she was crazy, but this wasn't really new. Kara shrugged happily. "Bye, guys," Kara said, waving to the small crew assembled, who all returned her goodbye. "Bye, Sam! Come on, Lena, food." Lena let herself be tugged away.

---

Filming with Kara in the winter was the absolute worst, Lena decided. And by worst, she meant best and worst.

Filming with Kara in the winter meant Kara in absurdly elegant coats and things that Lena's pretty sure were pulled from Sam's personal wardrobe during the day. Kara a heart-stopping, head-turning kind of presence in the room that turned into a dancing lunatic every time the cameras were turned off. Sam had plenty of videos of Kara doing ridiculously dorky dance moves in expensive, boldly colored but very elegant clothing.

Filming with Kara in the winter meant Kara in the night scenes that were more casual, Kara in slouchy beanies and tight jeans and these boot/sneaker hybrids that were very gay and Lena want to throttle the costume department for putting a human through this. It meant the indoor scenes were Kara in all forms of lazy pajamas that she totally pulled off, and Sam knew exactly what she was doing when she gave the direction for Kara's outfits. There was always some kind of soft on one half and skin showing on the other combo that Kara seemed to not only feel comfortable in but she looked absurdly good in, always showing off a long line of muscle on her arms or legs that made Lena want to go back to the outdoor scenes. (Lena had to admit though, one time she thought of filming with Kara in summer and immediately decided to be grateful for winter instead) At least, though, her character was expected to drool over Kara's.

Kara's character, who had a magnetic sort of presence that tended to melt to mush when Lena's character approached. Lena never got tired of watching Kara's eyes go from flinty steel to stupidly soft when she turned to see her in the middle of a take, a soft smile gracing her lips as she held an arm out automatically and Lena slid into her side gently.

Kara, in short, was not only looking better than she ever had at just past thirty years old, but had the professionalism of Sam and the energy and bounce of Ruby. Kara was the fucking dream. Lena had never felt more like she was stumbling over her feet in her whole life.

On the bright side, Kara was on top of her game, and when Kara was on top of her game, she tended to haul everyone else upwards with her. Kara pulled Lena's performances up from rock bottom into something passable. Watching the scenes later helped Lena realize her lovesick look was obvious, yes, but it played well on screen.

Lena stopped worrying so much and let herself fall into Kara's contagious vibe after a couple stressful weeks of filming. Kara only got happier when Lena joined her in her stupid dances in between takes.

So Lena dropped her guard, let herself fall into character, let Kara take her hand and swing her around whenever she wanted, still looking stupidly classy despite her dopey smile. Lena fell headlong into Kara and resolved to enjoy it while she could. She'd deal with it sooner or later. For now, she flirted as obviously as she felt like and let Kara’s loud laugh wash over her in response, soaked up as much time with Kara as she possibly could, and let Kara talk her into anything and everything and kissed her on screen with abandon.

---

Alex was worried by the time she came to visit halfway through the five month film schedule. She drove up north the four hours to their film location to surprise Kara for a weekend visit and walked in on them filming the last scene of the day in a spacious lobby filled with smartly-dressed extras, and suspicious activity was abound.

Kara was holding one of Lena's hands, legs at shoulder's width as she demonstrated. "See, I move my left arm, then my right, like I'm only moving one part at a time, and when the movement reaches you through our hands--you move." Kara moved as she spoke, and Lena moved obligingly as the motion reached her hand, a little more clumsily than the Broadway star, which was definitely forgivable. What was not forgivable was the easy way she adjusted her grip on Kara's hands, the easy smile on her face as she laughed and looked back at Kara for confirmation.

Something had changed in the way she looked at Kara. Alex couldn't describe it. Not with words. But she was a federal agent and a successfully married lesbian besides, and her wife was a cop. Her little sister was a bi disaster who everyone fell in love with and she was well-practiced in protecting. Alex watched silently as they tried the move again, Lena moving with more fluidity this time, Kara's movement still more graceful despite her elegant coat that was a little on the bulky side around her shoulders when she lifted her arms.

Sam stepped up beside her. "It's been like this for a while," Sam said quietly.

Alex sighed heavily. "I figured."

"It hasn't been too painful, actually," Sam said, sounding surprised at her own words. "The screen test, like, wow. I could see Kara floating off to cloud nine at finally getting to kiss Lena again, but Lena looked like her world had tipped over. Kara was too blissed out to notice."

"Please maybe don't ever use that word to describe my sister ever again, thanks," Alex said, wincing, and Sam chuckled.

"It was like, the exact opposite after their first chemistry audition. Kara looked like she'd never eat again, Lena was bouncing off the walls. Except then, Lena was obviously totally unaware and stoked on a good audition. Kara obviously knew and that was the first time they had kissed. Now Lena's caught up and it's like they're both very aware they're in love but thinks the other is just psyched to be back on the movie and will never love them back like that." Sam paused. "It's kind of painful for me and everyone that's not them, actually. They seem to be doing fine with it."

Together, Alex and Sam looked over at Lena and Kara, who were practicing the dance move again and both struggling to hold in giggles at the same time, neither doing a very good job. "Are you going to say something?" Sam asked. "Interfere with your sister's love life?"

"I'm a federal agent. I'm a big proponent of interfering."

Sam laughed. "It's good to have you around, Alex." Alex smiled reluctantly, and they hugged before Sam slipped away to call out the final couple takes' instructions.

Alex watched from behind the cameras as her sister slipped into character, smiling despite her irritation. Watching how far Kara had come was still something that made her proud after all these years. Kara had an irritated and sharp conversation with a man with a little too much gel in his hair, her eyes cold and a little dangerous. Kara ended the conversation and turned to see Lena entering with her usual graceful and slightly disaffected air. Kara's irritation drained away at the sight of her, tension bleeding away and a smile rising on her face as Lena moved towards her. Lena pressed into her side gently and kissed her cheek, taking her arm and leading her away as they had another, much calmer conversation. Sam had them run it twice more before she was satisfied.

"Nice work, everyone. Let's break. We'll see you all Monday." There was a general murmuring as everyone began to break, and Sam added into her small megaphone, (looking entirely too pleased she got to use a megaphone) "Hey, uh, superstar, you have a delivery."

Kara frowned at Sam in confusion, trotting over obediently anyway, and Alex noted wryly the way she let go of Lena in stages, letting their arms slip out of their linked position but holding her hand, then letting that go but her fingers still drifting towards where Lena trailed behind her. Kara was halfway there when she caught sight of Alex and shrieked in delight the same way she had since she was seventeen years old and Alex had surprised her by driving all night in the middle of the semester to see Kara's performance in the high school theater program. Kara rocketed towards Alex, thankfully dodging all the expensive equipment and throwing herself into her sister's arms. Alex staggered back as she caught Kara, grinning like mad despite her exhaustion and irritation. Kara pulled back just enough to beam at Alex. "You didn't tell me you were coming up!"

"That's why it's called a surprise," Alex told her, and Kara rolled her whole head along with her eyes.

"Whatever, nerd," she said. "Thanks for coming."

"Anytime," Alex said, squeezing tighter. "I love you, kiddo."

Kara released her, still smiling that megawatt smile. "I love you too." Kara turned like she knew the exact moment Lena would approach, turning that same megawatt smile on Lena, whose own smile widened in response.

"Hey Alex," Lena said, smiling a little shyly.

Interesting. "Hey Lena," Alex said, pulling her into a hug. Over Lena's shoulder, Kara beamed.

Oh, they were going to have a talk.

#supercorp #movie au #whooops #finals not going too bad!#sleep is for the weak #all in one big post because let's not play the formatting game shalle we

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obsessedwithereri-nz · 5 years

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Stone Cold Chapter 1 (FULL)

Hey guys! I decided to post the full chapters of my first ever fic on Tumblr because why not! Follow the tag #stonecoldfic to find the rest of the chapters! Enjoy!!

Levi x Eren

Summary: Ever since Levi was a pre-teen, he knew he’d have to marry her, otherwise he’d have to answer to his abusive uncle which never turned out well for Levi’s wellbeing. But after meeting a certain singer at his favorite bar, he knew he was in deep, deep shit.

Warnings: None

SLAM

The polished wooden door slams open. A dark-haired man of short stature bolts from inside the gorgeous ‘American Dream’ home, desperation is written all over his objectively perfect face. A thick layer of pure white snow coats the driveway, almost making him slip and fall as he makes his way to his parked car now also covered with snow.

Reaching into his trousers, he pulls out his keys with shaking hands and attempts to insert the key into the driver door lock.

“For fuck’s sake. Come. On!” the man yells.

“It’s okay, Levi. Calm. Take a deep breath and calm…” The familiar voice sounds inside Levi’s head, but he gasps as if someone were whispering in his ear. He glances around him, however, realizing that, of course, he’s alone.

Levi lowers his grey-blue eyes back down to his still trembling hands. Releasing the furrow of his brow, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. He looks down once more to find his hands perfectly still.

The corners of his mouth pull upwards ever so slightly, which has become an almost foreign feeling to him once again.

“I’m coming. Please wait for me.”

-----

Alcohol and good music.

That’s what Levi would answer with if someone asked him what he thought made a good time. Music can make you feel good, and alcohol can make you feel even better, plus if you drink enough of the good shit, it’ll make you forget about all the bullshit going on in your life. But in Levi’s case, he wishes it’d do more.

“Maybe if I just keep drinking, it will all disappear,” Levi says to himself as he sits in his car, parked outside an old fashioned building covered in white paint. The car is his most prized possession, a beautiful black 1966 Chevrolet Impala. He takes one last long drag of his cigarette before stepping out of his car, throwing the butt to the ground and snuffing it out with the heel of his leather dress shoes.

“Tsk… yeah right. But one can only try.”

Just like any other Monday afternoon at exactly 5:45pm, Levi exits his car, locks it, and walks up to the usual bouncer.

“Ackerman! What a surprise.” Not really. “Another rough day at the office?”

“Does today end with ‘day’, Nile?” It’s a good thing for Nile that he knows Levi decently well after all his visits here, otherwise, he’d probably be shitting his pants at the deathly look Levi never ceases to wear. His cold grey eyes, sunken into his sockets, shadowed by dark circles, and his contrasting pale white skin could make even the manliest of men look the other way.

“Ha- always the jokester, aren’t we, Levi?” Nile laughs alone. “Go on in, man. I think you’re going to enjoy yourself tonight. We got a new face for the stage! He’s a goodie.”

Levi not at all subtly rolls his eyes and enters the bar, which goes by the name The Library and is, in reality, more of a lounge that features excellent live music, delicious food and the most unique cocktails around. The booths have extremely comfortable sofas on either side of black and white marble tables. Hanging from the ceiling are human-sized bubbles filled with cushions and a place to put drinks, and a nice small stage over in the corner furthest from the entrance and right by the bar. What’s better is that the good performers take song requests. Which is why Levi is beyond grateful it’s not a jukebox, because humans can say no to the shitty songs.

It’s a place anybody who is of age can go to do almost anything- relax, drink, eat, study, drink, work, play board games, drink, listen to music… you name it. Levi absolutely only goes for the music and booze; all the other bars in town around are filled with loud, smelly drunk assholes who have no respect for the other people around them, and Levi has no tolerance for people like that. Especially after being around said people at his work, minus the drunk part.

Although he does enjoy a strong drink, or five, he doesn’t do it for the social life, or to ‘let loose’ as some say. He drinks to escape and forget his cursed reality, even if it’s only for an hour or two.

He waltzes through the building over to the bar, takes his usual cushioned stool seat, removes his sleek suit jacket and lets out a sigh when he sees the bartender flirting it up with another customer down the other side.

“Oi, shitty glasses!” Levi projects down the bar, giving them a very unimpressed look. “You gonna do your job and get me a drink or not?”

“Leeeeeviiiiii!!” the bartender screeches like banshee, seemingly forgetting they were just talking to someone not five feet from them.

Levi winces at the awful sound then proceeds to grunt in annoyance when he sees them vaulting over the bar and racing over towards him with their typical ginormous smile that even the Joker would be terrified of. And, before he knows it, he can’t breathe. Shitty Glasses may not look physically strong from the outside, but fucking hell they would break Levi’s back if they hugged him even 0.1% harder.

“Get your fucking paws off me, crazy hag!” Levi groans with all of his might, and shoves them away. They stumble back a few feet, glasses falling down the bridge of their nose, and stare at him.

“Tsk”, Levi says with the tiniest of smirks that only people closest to him would recognize as a smirk, “how you doing, Hanji?”

“You always do know how to keep me on my toes, Levi,” Hanji exclaims as they vaults back over the bar flawlessly after playfully winking toward him. “Well, I am doing much better now that your booty is in that bar seat. Now, what can I get ya?”

“Jameson on the rocks.”

“Oh, going straight for the good stuff, huh?”

“Trust me. If I have to keep going home to all of that bullshit, I need that liquid gold in my system. And a lot of it.”

After hearing the melancholy tone in Levi’s voice, Hanji gives him a sad yet comforting smile then grabs the bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey off the shelf, grabs a glass for each of them and begins to pour.

“Alright tough guy. What happened?” Hanji demands.

“Huh? What makes you think that anything ‘happened’?”

“Do you want them in alphabetical or chronological order?” Hanji giggles. “Well, for starters, you always start off with the strong stuff when you’ve had a particularly shit day. Was it the parents?”

Levi is shocked at how their first guess is spot on. Although, it wasn’t his parents either of them were thinking of or referring to.

Levi works for his girlfriend’s family in their furniture business, but it’s no ordinary furniture business. This shit is all handmade with the finest materials one can buy and majoritively custom orders from very “important” people with very “high net worths”.

Does Levi give a fuck about furniture? No. Does he give a shit about the difference between an Ottoman and a Hassock? Fuck no. Does he give a rats fucking ass about all these very important people? Absolutely fucking not! The only thing Levi does care about is getting through the day without punching somebody’s lights out or getting alcohol poisoning that night.

Sometimes he wishes he could purposely mess up these people’s orders just to make sure they don’t come back and buy from them again. But then he would have to deal with his soon to be parents-in-law getting on his ass even more than they already are. And as of this day, he has not made an overly noticeable mistake in years, yet they still find something to pick at as if they don’t have a fucking company to be running.

“Do I really need to answer that?” Levi answers as he buries himself in his glass.

“Oh, hun, I really don’t understand why you don’t just up and quit already. You’re obviously miserable there.”

“You know I can’t do that, Hanji.” He puts down his now empty glass and stares at the freshly cleaned bar top.

“Actually, I don’t know. You’re not exactly one to share details, Levi. Not that I mind, of course, like yes I’d like to know what’s making you so upset all the time but I’m not going to pry.”

Levi finally looks at Hanji again and raises his eyebrow while keeping his stoic expression plastered to his face.

“What? I know my boundaries,” they say, lifting their hands up off the bar to either side of their head.

“Not when it comes to personal space you don’t,” Levi mutters as he returns to look at his empty glass. Hanji sighs, grabs the whiskey bottle again and fills Levi’s glass with more.

“Hey now, everybody needs a hug every now and again. Anyway, you know little ol’ me is here to listen if you need, and I’m not gonna blab. Hell, I don’t know who I’d blab to!”

“Look, it-!” Levi slams his hands on the bar, startling Hanji and other bar-goers around him. Quickly realizing his sudden outburst, he looks around and sits back down in his seat and buries his face in his skinny hands. “I’m sorry, I just… I can’t, okay. That’s all you need to know.”

“Alright, I’ll back off. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed. I’ll be right back.”

He lowers his hands to reveal his furrowed brows, and all they do is wink and walk away from behind the bar and behind the curtains by the stage. Levi rolls his eyes, downs his already filled glass and begins to eye the whiskey bottle Hanji left out in arms reach, considering pouring himself another glass. Yes, this would be his third glass and probably not his last, but he does need to drive home. Sure, he could get a cab, God knows he can afford it, but there’s no way in hell he’s leaving his baby out for drunkards or teenagers to vandalize or steal. Although, this wouldn’t be the first time he’s driven home drunk before. He knows it’s wrong, he knows he could get somebody seriously hurt or worse, but all his cares and worries in the world fade away when that first drop of amber liquid makes contact with his taste buds.

As if out of nowhere, a loud screeching noise sounds from the stage, snapping Levi out of his alcohol-induced daze to see Hanji standing right beside him, blocking his view of the stage.

“What the fuck? You letting some amateur on the stage tonight or something?” Levi says with a big scowl on his face, irritated that his quiet place was disrupted by something louder and more annoying than Hanji’s voice.

“Don’t worry, you’re gonna like this one.” They send him yet another wink and walk out of his line of sight, revealing some snot-nosed kid standing on stage.

However, that not particularly nice thought vanished from existence as soon the ‘kid’ looked out into the crowd. Then all Levi could think and say was:

“Wow.”

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swimmylionni · 7 years

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Let me tell you about my favorite band, bloodthirsty butchers.

bloodthirsty butchers were a Japanese band active from 1988-2013. (Yes, it is stylized as “bloodthirsty butchers,” without caps. Don’t let Wikipedia lie to you, it’s written that way in all their music videos and almost all their album covers.) Most websites have trouble categorizing them, so they go with “punk” or “indie.” Indie doesn’t mean anything, of course. Early on they probably fit the Punk label pretty well, akin to a slightly heavier Blue Hearts. At their peak, they were more like a punk/neo-psych fusion band. Most of the songs were high-energy, fast-paced, with unmusical yelling vocals and awesome, unique, lengthy guitar solos. Hideshi Yokimura couldn’t sing, but his guitar playing was entertaining as hell. I won’t vouch for the skill involved--I don’t play guitar and can’t tell technical ability. But I can tell whether someone builds tension well, and as far as I’m concerned he was the best ever.

The best bloodthirsty butchers songs end with several minutes of guitar noodling, sometimes longer than the lyrical portion of the song. Y’know Sleater-Kinney’s Let’s Call It Love? Y’know how it’s their best song? bloodthirsty butchers were basically ~20 years of that.

Here’s a rough guide to bloodthirsty butchers. If we go chronologically we’ll start and end kinda weak, so let’s jump around and find ourselves in the middle. ‘Kay? And if you don’t care, there’ll be a nice tl;dr at the end you can look at.

Bloodthirsty Butchers [1990]

I’m Standing Nowhere [1993]

Lukewarm Wind [1994]

Their first albums were 2 cassettes released in 1988 and 1989. They are basically impossible to find, unless you want to shell out the $400 for the complete box set. I can’t comment on how they sound.

I can comment on the 3 albums released in the first half of the 90s. This is the period when the butchers were a kinda by-the-books Japanese punk band. The songs are mostly short, fairly catchy, very poorly produced, and loud. They’re all worth a listen, if you like that kind of music. (I do.) Of the 3, Lukewarm Wind is by far the best. The songs are ordered to make a more coherent sonic narrative. Occasionally it takes a break from LOUD FAST.

I don’t have a whole lot to say here. “ALLIGATOR” is a popular song but I’m not crazy about it. I’m more a fan of stuff like “Pressure,” which is a great way to end a record. If you like that song, look at Lukewarm Wind and work backwards from there.

No Album Mudai [2010]

Youth [2013]

Let’s jump way forward, to the end of the butchers. Yokimura, the band lead, died in 2013, so Youth is most likely their last album, unless for some reason they decide to plod on with a different lead or there’s enough new material already recorded to put out one more album.

These albums aren’t great! No Album Mudai has 2 songs worth listening to, at the very end. They are good to hear in order: Ocean, Curve. They work well together. Almost nothing else on this album works. It all sounds tired and by-the-books.

Youth is a bit better on average, but doesn’t have any songs as good as Ocean or Curve. This isn’t super surprising. A lot of bands get boring after 25 years. Cheers to the butchers for at least putting out something listenable. Compare to, say, most of Nick Cave’s recent albums, which leap between “kinda good” and “OH MY GOD TURN IT OFF.” Putting out good albums for more than a decade is hard!

Ok, now that leaves 7 non-compilation albums, plus some good EPs and live stuff, between 1994 and 2010. Also stuff I probably don’t have because English websites aren’t as reliable in regard to Japanese bands. Let’s break them down.

1999 - 2001: The slow, plodding stuff

Mikansei [1999]

Yamane [2001]

2 of the top 5 albums for sure.

Mikansei (which means “Incomplete”) is one of the first albums with serious neo-psych elements. (I skipped the first. We’ll get to it later.) It opens with “Faust,” which is not slow or plodding at all. I gave that description more because of “Boku,” which is good but not interesting enough to be as long as it is, “Mikansei,” which is about as good as title tracks can get, and “Sankaku,” which is fairly energetic but ends with about 10 minutes of kickass guitaring that isn’t energetic for much of the time. I feel like these songs give Mikansei a much more downbeat feel than previous albums. If you want to know why I say they’re punk/neo-psych fusion, give any of these a listen, especially Sankaku. (You might find it under “「△」.” “Sankaku” means triangle and sometimes the title is stylized that way.) This one has its rough spots and is clearly a transition album, but it’s one of my favorites. Someone must really like this album, because there’s easily-available romanization and English translation of most of the songs online--not so for the other albums, except Kocorono.

Yamane was the first butchers album I ever heard in full, and it was love at first listen. Almost every butchers record has at least 1 instrumental song, and Wagamama No Hotori is my favorite. It fits so beautifully in its place before “-100%.” I’m sorry I can’t find a link. Yamane is a lot slower than other butchers albums. It begins with a rather skippable trumpet opening, then opens proper strong with “Happy End.” It is not a happy-sounding song but sonically, the proper reverb use and repetitive structure and beautiful guitars make it a personal favorite. The last 3 songs on the album are “-100%,” “Moeru, Omoi,” and “-100% No.2.” Both of the 100%s have the same bass line and mellow melody. They’re relatively peaceful and lovely, if you like noise the same way I do. “Moeru, Omoi” is a long, intense divider between them, where every word is screamed as loudly as Yokimura can. The buildup around the 4-minute mark is the reason I love this band so much. “-100% No.2″ is the best song on the album. The production is immaculate, “-100% No.2″ has this fuzzy distortion that makes me feel so relaxed and happy. I’m sorry I can’t find links to any of these online. It is some of the best butchers material there is.

2003 - 2004: The weird stuff

Kōya ni Okeru bloodthirsty butcher [2003]

Birdy [2004]

Neither of these these rank among my favorites, but they undeniably have some super good songs.

Kōya ni Okeru has “Lucky Man,” which feels a bit like a return-to-roots attempt. This is what those first 3 albums would have sounded like if they had more experience back then. “Dorama” is... an “Obladi Oblada” cover? More or less? There’s no way it’s an exact translation, but it is almost the exact melody. “ 悲しみをぶっとばせ！“ is an instrumental song that’s mostly good except it has this really annoying synth around the 2:50 mark. There are a few segments where they experiment with atonal sounds, but it doesn’t work well for them.

Birdy opens with two of their best songs: “JACK NICOLSON” is one of their most popular, I believe. It also has a neat video, check it out (though cw for suicide attempt). The last line of the chorus translates to “I want to be a bad role model.” “Birdy” is simple but fun. For a song released in 2004, it really sounds like something someone would have put out in the 90s in the US. It’s kinda downhill from there. “Love Supreme” is one of their better instrumental songs. Again, there’s atonal stuff that doesn’t work--the album’s real pitfall.

2005 - 2007: The FUCK YEAH stuff

Banging the Drum [2005]

Guitarist Wo Korosanaide [2007]

I’ll come back to Banging the Drum. There’s too much to say. But I want it to be clear it belongs in the FUCK YEAH category.

Guitarist Wo Korosanaide translates to “Don’t Kill the Guitarist.” It begins with “yeah#1″ and OH MY GOD, YES, THIS IS HOW YOU BEGIN AN ALBUM, FUCK YEAH FUCK YEAH FUCK YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! This song RULES. It’s energetic as hell, dynamic enough to be more than a simple fast punk song, and is so very butchers in sound. It is, unfortunately, the highlight of the album. But there’s other really interesting stuff here, and nothing grating, so FUCK YEAH! I really like the female guest vocals on “Mushizu to taikutsu.” “Story” is like a better version of the type of songs that would be on No Album Mudai, their next album. This is solid work in general, even if it’s not their best.

1996, 2005: The stuff I skipped

Kocorono [1996]

Banging the Drum [2005]

I skipped them because, y’know, best for last.

Kocorono is probably their most popular album. There is a reason for this. It’s almost perfect 90s punk, with a narrative, evolving sound, musical callbacks, fantastic guitarwork, and my favorite guitar solo of all time ever. It’s another downbeat album, for the most part, but is the real start of the punk/psych fusion sound I love so much. Each song is a month, starting February and ending December. (A bit like Album of the Year.) The original album didn’t have “January,” but it’s on the 2010 re-release. It’s a better closer to the album than “December” and I recommend getting it. Every single song is great. If this post weren’t already so long, I’d want to go into my favorite parts down to the second of each. (Maybe later.) The awkward sax opening of “November” is the only thing I think doesn’t work. “July” is my favorite song ever. It is half guitar solo, wonderful, wonderful guitar solo. I could watch live performances of it all day. It is a true shame I’ll never get to see the butchers perform, because hearing this live would be a nigh-spiritual experience for me. I get goosebumps when I hear the opening.

Banging the Drum is my favorite album. I mean of any band, ever, not just bloodthirsty butchers. I don’t know that others feel the same--looking around at internet reviews, it seems other people like Guitarist wo Korosanaide more. But this is my blog, so I’m rambling about this one.

It begins with a kickass drum solo. (”Joshou”) That song leads into a high-energy punk song (”B2″) and from there it gets even better. Every song flows effortlessly into the next. Every song is interesting. Everything they try works, nothing sounds bad or grating or annoying for even a second. I find it hard to listen to any song in isolation--I need the whole album every time. At most, I can listen to the final two tracks--”No. 6″ and “Banging the Drum”--in tandem. They fit together far too well.

There are a some female vocals on this album (uncommon for the butchers), and they all sound great. “YAMAHA-1″ is the winner, in that regard. In “PLUS/MINUS” they act as lovely backup.

Track order is an art in itself--it’s why I almost always listen to whole albums rather than individual songs. I love the artistry involved in constructing a long sonic narrative. I think Banging the Drum has one of the most impressive album structures I’ve ever heard. It’s not quite Raining Blood (the best I know of), but everything fits together so, so well. (It helps that all the songs are great.) “Banging the Drum” is one of the best album outros ever.

Much like Yamane, the production works very well with the songs, and they have just the right amount of lovely fuzzy distortion. Again, I could go into every song by second and mention my favorite parts, but this is too long already. With that in consideration...

tl;dr

Listen to Kocorono and Banging the Drum. If you like either, listen to Yamane. If you like that, go for Mikansei, Guitarist wo Korosanaide, and maybe Birdy. Let bloodthirsty butchers into your heart. Amen.

#bloodthirsty butchers #jrock #punk #neo-psych #japanese punk #favorite bands

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