#hes so silly i wanna bash him with a hammer! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ell-does-stuff · 30 days

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MAKING A BIG OL POST OF EVERYTHING I GOTTA SAY ABOUT THE NEW SPOOKY MONTH BECAUSE HOLY SHITTTT THERES A LOT

‼️‼️SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY‼️‼️

THE THIEVES ARE BACK WOOOOOOOO!! IVE MISSED THEM SM

also eepy lila

while gathering images for this ive noticed that the "pile of dexter" as im calling it is staring at the thieves the whole time they're in the attic (specifically fat thief)

is he somehow still alive???? just possessing a pile of dead doll????????

so cool to see the big ass spider get some actual relevance!! def gonna be important next episode for sure

ROSS'S DAD!!!!!!!!

also jaune is so pretty with her hair down like omggg... love to see her being such a supportive friend to lila as well

"are you throwing away dad's stuff mom?" WAAAAAA MY POOR BABYYY IM GONNA CRYYY

HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN HI KEVIN

theyre so me

DEXTERRRRJRJRJRHSHSHDBBDBSB!!+!!!!!(!!

"this cat looks sick im taking it to the vet" BULLSHIT i know what you are. 👁️👁️

DEXTER'S MOM!?!?????!?!?!?!?!!!??? i had no idea she would ever show up like wow i did not expect to see her at all

poor little babies and their lack of parents

ok sorry ik im joking here but MAN this scene made me feel bad 😭😭😭

THE FUCK.

pretty sure this dude is the same guy as the "costume bob" in the last episode??? i felt bad for him last time but here he seems like kind of a pathetic and weird ass man ngl lol

RADFORRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!(!!(;+;!;(;;(;??;(;;!!(+!!++!(++!

HES SUCH A GOD DAMN SILLY NERD MAN LIKEEEEE "he even sounds like he does in the movies!!!!!!" BROOOO I LOVE HIMMMMMMMMMM DJJDGWHDHSHFH

he is EXACTLY how i pictured he would be!! my brain is not gonna shut up about him for the next few days i just know it HAHAHAH

also my caramelpopcorn (thats their ship name right?? or was it candycorn??? i forgor lol) heart is completely full, i loved actually seeing him and kevin canonically interact, they are perfect <3

HES IN THE CANDY CLUB OUTFIRTBD RJSHNF EBDJFBSBDJC EJDUFBEBW DKXN SCUEBFNFBRJSJCJCHDB!!!!(!!!!!;+;(;!!(+!!

"im... uh... like an uncle!!" "i just wanna help the children..." BROO??? feeling kinda bad for frank rn, these are like the only kids he genuinely cares about and hes being turned away from em

ik hes a shady guy but STILL

GREGOR LOOKS SO GOOFY DOING THE DANCE JDBDHSHFHD LIKE WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE THATTTTT

also i made this gif myself yall better like it

aaaaaaaaaand dexter's mom is dead.

like son like mother i guess 💀

love how ignacio's door has small little boards on it from when they bashed it with a hammer HAHAHHA

also, looking at the inside of ignacio's house, is that john's family on the little table there???

one of the images in the arg gives a better look at this, but i had no idea it was in IGNACIO'S HOUSE of all places. why does he have that??? and right by the gun too.... what is this silly cult man planning......

(the arg image in question if yall were wondering)

"we understand you" "we're here for you dude" "thank you guys, i just wish things weren't so..." HATZGANG FRIENDSHIP WAAAAA!!!!!

also ROY HAS BEEN THROUGH SHIT MY POOR GUYYYY i wanna hug him mannnn 🥺

IMAGE LIMIT IS KILLING ME SO IM GONNA REBLOG THIS WITH MORE SHIT TO SAY BECAUSE I AM NOT DONE MANNN‼️‼️‼️‼️

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bang-bang-gang · 1 year

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quick dynamite watch rundown

im glad that mox hasnt forgotten about lee moriarty being on the BCC shortlist, even if seemingly everybody else has. he's been so busy being away for work and he's been stepping in to help out his son(s) (im not forgetting shooter here) wherever he can, but claudio's really stepped in for much of the parenting. regal's distracted playing hard to get towards mjf. we all know what bryan's been up to. despite this dysfunctional polycule, moxley STILL wants to expand the family desperately so he's baiting lee moriarty to prove himself.

the elite vignette HURTS and i think we should stop referring to AEW and start calling it AW instead. i have little hope for them returning before Full Gear.

i LOVE lee moriarty's green hair and his neon green shorts, but i would like it better if the colours matched. god i love watching him wrestle though.

the acclaimed birthday bash is absolutely 5/5, best thing in the world. i love max casters silly little outfit i love his shorts. i love that they give billy foam fingers so he can still scissor, even though they tear immediately. i love the love they have for the fans in the audience. i love the fucking ADOPTION PAPERS. i love the risky DX reunion shoutout. i love that they never give billy gunn the mic. i love that his sons-by-blood get offended. i am kinda sad there wasn't more body horror, or sneaky swerve doing more fucked up shit to daddy ass, but i guess halloween is over :/

forget my AW idea from a few bullet points back. keep AEW in the logo but change the wordmark to Acclaimed Every Wednesday already.

you cant pay me to care for FTR but i do enjoy that they come out in acclaimed-pink and stand across them in the same colours

ok so ive been slowly making my way through the AEW back catalog and watching april 2020 now, which is the point britt and tony schiavoni become besties. so britt's segment is extra special to me. i have to say i ADORE how britt neglects to show up with renee and saraya for a sitdown (two new hires, already famous from WWE) and instead insists on doing an interview with her bestie tony, who has been at AEW since day 1 - just like her! PERFECTLY mirrored by how saraya, in her segment, talks about how AEW seemed a cool rebel thing when it started but how it gained legitimacy in her eyes when all the ~big names~ joined. britt's here to say fuck you we're homegrown and proud of it! a recurring theme this episode(*)

the colt cabana thing is insane and extremely funny to me. excalibur called him "marcia cabana's baby boy".

the BCC vs JAS fight was great, ill never ever have enough of this feud. camera suspiciously pulling away from bryan "pussy delirious" danielson & daniel "dragon slayer" garcia at all times because you *know* the moment they laid eyes on each other they [redacted].

rey fenix being too much of a good boi to use the hammer. i love you catboy

keith lee is SO upset by the shit swerve's been pulling! he's laying it all out for swerve! ("ACCUSATIONS! FALSE ACCUSATIONS!") swerve just wants to make up, keith lee wants to know who's sick enough to abet in the mutilation of daddy ass.

i was paying a lil too much attention to twitter drama earlier this week, and jade and marina got a lot of heat because their fight would supposedly be bad or boring. im OBSESSED with the fact that we barely saw them exchange 3 strikes on screen. it was just nyla taunting jade the whole time. nyla's absolutely one of my faves at the moment holy FUCK i needneedneed to see her beat jade for the TBS title sooner rather than later! vicky guerrero's voice is my sleep paralysis demon, she should be on commentary every match mainly because it would make people angry.

house of black epic >:)

TONI'S FINALLY GETTING SOME PLOT??? TONI STORM IS GETTING CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT'S MORE THAN JUST "ohh i wanna fight :)"??? WE'RE SEEING JAMIE VS TONI AT FULL GEAR? aaaa

(*) to elaborate on the "fuck you we're homegrown and proud of it" statement: i'm seeing it in britt baker's promo, in the Elite vignette, colt cabana being the mystery ROH champion, even in the Acclaimed's sheer popularity to a degree. people online keep saying they should use the punk vs elite drama as an angle and i think that in this way they are??

#i said quick i never said short #vera watches aew #aew dynamite #veraposting

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stardusttrashed · 3 years

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Part 1 - A Choice

A/n: hey loves!! I know it's been a while since I've posted Part 1, but I promise Part 2 is still otw. It's currently sitting at like 7K words gah damn and there are still a few more scenes I wanna add. Hopefully, I can finally finish it sometime this week and get it posted during the weekend

Update: Part 2(With no regrets) is now out

W/C: 700

“Le,” you called out at the sound of the front door opening, “I made you tea…, but it got cold, so I might’ve drunk it.” You chuckled to yourself, dog-earing the page of the book in your hands before setting it on the bedside table. “There’s more water in the kettle, though.” You crawled out of bed, padding towards the kitchen. “And I left the soup in the pot so it wouldn’t get as…,” you trailed off as you were greeted by Jean and Levi awkwardly standing by the doorway.

Jean pushed down the overwhelming jealousy growing in his chest. Levi had the perfect life. Respect. Freedom. A cabin with a beautiful view and a stream a few meters away. But you trumped everything else. You made Levi’s life perfect. Your presence, your love, your smile, everything about you made Levi’s life seem that much more perfect. But more than anything, everything about you only reminded Jean of how you were the missing piece in his life that he was so desperately trying to get ahold of.

Levi didn’t have to look at the man next to him to see his lovestruck expression. No, it was apparent enough just through the corner of his eye, which made him wonder why you never seemed to notice it yourself.

“Hey, horse face,” you broke the short-lived silence teasingly, nervously smoothing out your sundress. You sank your teeth into the side of your cheek in an attempt to hold back the smug smile on your face. You knew he hated the nickname, but that made you use it even more. Not out of hate, but out of a pure desire to tease him. You relished in his reactions every time. The way his eyebrows knitted together in annoyance, or how his cheeks flushed over, even his adorable grumbles.

The ridiculous nickname never sounded better than when it left your lips. Every time the god-forsaken nickname was uttered by you, it became hard to hate it anymore. Instead, you made it sound like the sweetest thing anything could be called. “Hi, mon Ange,” Jean replied in a tender voice, a caring smile spreading across his lips.

Levi’s left eye twitched at Jean’s nickname for you. He wondered if Jean had ever even bothered translating the name for you. Even if he hadn’t, it bothered Levi. Not so much because of the name itself, more because he didn’t have a name for you like that. He watched the radiant smile the name drew from you followed with a death grip of a hug.

You practically flung yourself at Jean, wrapping your arms around his torso. You buried your nose in the crook of his neck, clinging to his welcoming warmth and calming smell. He was just a friend, and you’ve hugged like this plenty of times in the past, but something about the way his fingertips ran up and down your spine drove your mind insane. Your heart was hammering in your chest, growing faster with each languid feathery touch. It probably should’ve been the least of your worries, considering the fluttering occurring between your legs.

“Honey, you didn’t tell me we were having company for dinner,” you pulled yourself away from Jean, smoothing out your sundress as you turned towards Levi momentarily. “I would’ve gone to the market.” With a sigh and a shrug, you turned back to Jean, “any special requests?”

“He’s not here for dinner,” Levi grunted, a light blush tinting his cheeks. He shifted his weight from one foot to another awkwardly. It seemed like a good idea earlier, but right now, with you in front of him, the idea seemed kind of silly- stupid even.

“I wouldn’t dare turn down your cooking, though,” Jean blurted out with a bashful smile. His eyes trailed down your body, subconsciously roving over all your curves. “But, I think Levi wanted me to taste something a little,” his eyes locked with yours as he pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, “sweeter.”

#levi ackerman x reader #levi x y/n #aot levi #snk levi #jean kirschtein x reader #aot jean #jean kirschtien #jean kirstein #attack on titan x reader #attack on titan #attack on titan x black reader #shingeki no kyoujin imagine

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anthonyed · 4 years

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buckytony: tequila (I saw this post and I couldn’t help myself.)

-//-

Tony is, perusing.

It’s his first day of school as an exchange student and he’s joined the class in during their second semester. The class that has been together and getting familiar with for the last two years and a semester, and Tony is a newbie. An American among Europeans and he’s already conscious about his age – younger by half a decade at least and good lord are these people so fucking tall!

He already felt like a midget back at home but right here in Romania, Tony is feeling like a dwarf. But these people are kind, nice and very, um, familiar. In the sense that they’re not afraid to get familiar; his first day and first class and this huge guy from Norway, Thor, lifted him up and spun him around until Tony shrieked like a girl. Thor was bashful about it after but he very soon saw that that was just how Thor goes around, greeting friends. And, well, nobody had befriended Tony so quickly like that before so Tony is okay with it. Thor is swell; he’s huge and over enthusiastic but all around a nice guy.

Then, there is that scary red head who reminds him of Pepper but a more violent version of her: Natalia Romanov. Her sister, Yelena Belanova; both from Russia and Tony’s lost count how many rounds of shots they’ve gone through so far. But neither looks like they’re going to tip over anytime soon, which is incredibly impressive. There’s another guy, James, whom Tony initially thought, was Natalia’s boyfriend, because they seem pretty close. She kissed his cheek and he’d piggy backed her from their last pub to this one, but the way he’s gyrating on another dude on the dance floor tells a different story.

“Enjoying your first pub crawl?” The cool brunette who hangs out with Thor asks, tipping the remaining half of her beer down her throat and Tony tries not to gawk, sipping on his own second glass of beer. He doesn’t have an issue with alcohol but he doesn’t know this lot yet, and getting drunk on his first night out with them is something he’s cautiously avoiding, even if the rest of them party with such extreme abandonment. He’s not comfortable losing his control in strange crowd, at least not when he’s so out of his element; strange country with no Rhodey or Pepper here to call for back up.

Sif, is her name. Tony remembers now. She’s tall too. Dammit. Everyone is tall. “I could get used to it.” He grins at her and she grins back, just as easily. Wow, he thinks. It was never like this back at home. These people are so nice, it almost makes him wary. But he sees Natalia bending over, her ample bossom almost spilling out of her lacy blouse and Thor is there, helping her, not even a double look. He doesn’t even bat an eye, simply picks up the bill that she’d dropped, adjusts the blouse for her and she kisses him on the cheek, something soft in her eyes as he grins. He sees the way they protect each other, and he feels something inside him unwind a little.

The guy, James, stumbles over to where Tony sits, pats him on the shoulder with a silly grin on his face and he looks hammered but when he speaks, he’s still remarkably coherent. “Hey, you wanna do shots?” He asks, already signalling the bartender for a round. Yelena sidles up next to Tony and Sif hikes herself up on a free stool next to James, they seem like they’re joining in so Tony shrugs, “Sure.”

James beams. He’s hot. He’s also sweaty from dancing, is wearing a black see-through shirt and a pair of tight black leather pants, got a good five o’clock shadow going on and his eyes are so attractive. He is all around attractive. “Cool. Tony right?” He slides a bill to the bartender, sitting next to Tony.

“Yup.” Tony pops his P. Taking the shot glass that James offers.

“Know how to do a tequila shot?” The guy asks, bright eyes twinkling. On the other side of Tony, Yelena snorts, muttering something in what sounds like Russian.

Sif shakes her head. “Watchout for the playboy, Tony.” She warns in a sing-song.

Tony quirks an eyebrow at James. “I know my shots.” He tells him.

James tongue slips out, red and wet, licking over his bottom lip and he leans close to swat at Yelena but he doesn’t lean back. Tony can feel his hot breath over his neck when he laughs and asks. “How about body shots?”

Heat curls up in Tony’s lower abdomen. If James think he’s inexperienced just because he’s 21 and he’s what? 26 or over, then he’s very very wrong. Tony tips his head and says, “Care to teach?”

James’ eyes glint and sparkle under the pub light; reflecting bottles hanging over head them, light bulbs shoved into them in the name of rustic décor and Tony sees the way those dark pupils dilate, sees the lime and salt by their elbow reflected in them and he smirks.

James exhales, his face still relaxed with a lazy grin and he licks his lips again, looks Tony up and down, and licks again. Then he takes his glass and murmurs, “Open up.” Tony relaxes his jaw, already feeling blood whooshing South and he holds onto his own shot glass, tipping his head back, closing his lips around the bottom of James’ shot glass. He hears giggles and snickering and soon he sees James clear eyes intent on him, feels his hand holding onto his face and his mouth closing around the top of the shot glass and he tips Tony’s head down, the tequila spilling into his mouth and Tony lets go of the glass, leaning back and smacking his mouth shut as James swallows, takes the glass out of his mouth and he winks. His hand’s still cupping Tony’s cheek and Tony holds out a slice of lemon for him which he bites, and sucks, all the while looking straight into Tony’s eyes.

“O boze.” Yelena says, sounding far away but Tony knows she’s technically just right behind him. He sees Sif giving her a look, hears the bar stools scrap against the floor and knows that they just got left alone on purpose. But he doesn’t care. He’s feeling good tonight, the crowd’s nice and James is hot. He’s not drunk or tipsy, still isn’t planning to be, but there’s really no harm in flirting with a hot guy in the prime of his youth. It’s Europe, there are no papz stalking his ass to see what the Stark heir is up to. As far as they’re concerned, he’s sound asleep in his dorm in MIT.

Ah fuck it, he thinks, leaning in to whisper huskily into James’ ear. “My turn now,” He pinches some salt, rub them down James’ neck and along the curve of his exposed shoulder, licks a long stripe up to his ear, tips the shot glass back and he takes a bite of the lemon.

James’ hand slips from his cheek to his neck and he grips Tony, yanking him forward, his tongue plunging in, chasing the last of the sour lemon down Tony’s mouth.

Two hours later, lying in a bed, naked, Tony’s wondering if he’d just fucked it all up with his new classmate.

Ten hours later, James makes him breakfast and kisses him goodbye.

Two months later, they’re the Uni’s new hot couple.

Two years later, James visits him in America, stands by his side while they lower Howard and Maria into the ground.

Ten years later, they’re engaged to be married in two months. Tony thinks, as he licks another stripe up James’ neck on his bachelor night, thank god for tequila.

#winteriron #buckytony #bucky x tony #bucky barnes x tony stark #inkiniris writes

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brandonkbills · 4 years

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Ghost concert on Acid

Back in September a friend of mine introduced me to Ghost, showed me some of their more popular songs and music videos and my fancy you could definitely say was tickled. I was instantly drawn to the costumes and the theatricality of them. I’d continue to listen to their more popular songs like Square Hammer, Cirice, Rats, Dance Macabre etc.

He invited me to come see them with him on their Ultimate Tour Named Death in SLC, Utah. I was immediately down. I was so looking forward to this show but had no idea what exactly I was in for.

In the parking lot he offers me some LSD and he was expecting us to just microdose but feeling brave I decide on taking the full tab. Things feel pretty normal as I groove to Twin Temple, the Satanic doo-wop band who’s opening for them. I look over to my friend, he has another tab of LSD on his fingertip and offers it to me. We both take an additional tab, we’re going in balls deep now.

Twin Temple ends their set and the audience waits with anticipation. I start to really feel something as I watch the people in the pit from the seats above; they move around like their own living organism. Suddenly, black out. The audience roars eagerly waiting for the show to begin. They kick it off with Ashes immediately followed by Rats and just rock my dick off immediately but even the instant dick rocking couldn’t prepare me for what was to come. Cardinal Copia is just mesmerizing to watch on stage. It’s immense fun to watch him dance around and sing all so passionately, and his intense sexual charisma is just hypnotic. He’s especially delightful in between songs. He holds the audience in the palm of his hand. Then he ominously utters “We’ll see how well we get to know each other” I now know shit’s gonna get crazy. The Cardinal asks the crowd “Are you all feeling tingly yet?? No? We’ll get you there.” I’ve no idea what that’s about.

I’m now tumbling down deep, dark mental roads during this badass satanic spectacle. The two Ghoul guitarists begin a riff off. A Heavy Metal Ghoul Duel if you will. My mind’s digging far down into my soul as these two masters of their instruments pull out deep rooted interpersonal quandaries from within my psyche. It’s like each guitarist is a little ghoul on my shoulder and each have their turn making their solos a chance to make their case. The Ghouls guide me down this train of thought as the black guitar Ghoul leads to the thoughts “You’ve always been curious of Satanism but that’s not you. You’re really not a Satanist.” I’ve never seriously considered the thought of being a Satanist. The Ghoul with the white guitar brings me to “Oh? And Why’s that? What exactly about it do you not agree with?”. I think to myself “Oh shit”. I don’t disagree with any of their ideas necessarily. Independence from Religion and being the Master of your own reality sound pretty fuckin cool to me. I stand in awe as these two ghouls shred opposite the stage from one another across the checkerboard floor. It’s like a mental chess match and it’s no question that by the end of it the white guitar ghoul was the victor. “I’m just tripping, I’m on drugs.” I think to myself. “Just because the white ghoul won the guitar battle doesn’t mean I’m a Satanist now...but also it doesn’t mean I’m not...I’ll keep an open mind”. The song continues to rock on and they just absolutely dominate the arena. After the song, the audience blows up with applause. I clap. Man, I clap so hard. I clap so hard I can hardly feel my hands and before I know it, I feel this insane vibrational aura around my hands. The Cardinal speaks with certainty “Oh yeah, You’re feeling tingly now”.

Holy fucking shit.

Miasma starts. I’ve never heard this song before but I’m instantly digging it and jamming away and then Papa Nihil appears out of thin air in a cloud of white fog with this epic fucking Saxophone solo. This is easily the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever witnessed. A Satanic Pope with sunglasses fuckin blowing everyone away on a Sax like Bill fucking Clinton on late night. What could be cooler?? It’s equal parts mind blowingly ridiculous and hilariously awesome.

Now I’ve been to concerts where during a song I’ve thought to myself “This is fine but I can’t wait for the next song”. This is not one of those concerts. I’m totally enthralled by every single set entry. Every single god damn song’s just incredible. The whole show is an audible and visual feast. There are times I catch myself just gazing into the stained-glass style mural in the back. There’s a faux painted portrait of Papa Nihil in the center of the mural. Spirit starts. Papa Nihil’s forehead breaks into fractals and starts to dance and weave into itself infinitely. I begin to suspect Ghost has tons of fans who trip and it’s just a thing that Ghost is aware of. I don’t know how true this is. Either way the idea is entertaining.

From the Pinnacle to the Pit has me staring at the stage during a guitar solo as I literally feel my fucking face melt off. Meanwhile slowly forming a grin on my face like some crazy demon man just to have a *POP* sudden burst of fireworks into a blackout that slaps that silly fucking grin off my face and my jaw nearly drops to the floor.

I start to notice that some people just are not as into the concert as I am. I’m assuming they are just Mormons and/or other religious folk who showed up unaware of how inherently Satanic Ghost’s music is.

Spöksonat begins, it’s very dark on stage but there are these bright blue/violet shapes beaming out from the darkness and some people around me get headaches and exit. I interpret this as weak-minded religious sheep/mormons whose meek minds can’t handle Ghost’s awesome and enchanting music. They’re too buried in their illusory faith. Again, idk how true this is but I love to believe this. It’s definitely what I believed at the time of the trip.

He is starts. I begin to realize. This is my new faith. I am in awe. The song is composed and performed with such conviction and love, I think to myself “If this is Satanism’s attempt to convert me and this much effort was put in to this to make it this beautiful... I just don’t want to refuse.” The next song begins. Mummy Dust. Which in the Cardinal’s words is “So gosh darn Infernally fucking heavy that it will not only wobble your asses but it will TICKLE YOUR TAAIINNNTS” and tickle my taint it does.

Kiss the Go-Goat is yet another excellent groovy jam but then Dance Macabre comes on right after, ooooh shit buddy I get excited. I start clapping and dancing, I stand up on the stairs, grab the railing and whip my hair around. I dance my god damned heart out and as I dance I see the Cardinal walk to the left side of the stage and he looks right at me, I fucking felt it. He nods approvingly and returns to performing. I finally feel like I fully understand the lyrics as I see this song live. “Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you all night”. That’s Tobias Forge not just saying he wants to be with us all night but he wants to enchant and perform for us all night because that is what this brilliant master of his craft was born to do. He has as much fun as the audience does at these shows, if not, more. This song would’ve been a damn fine closer but as stated in the lyrics, he didn’t wanna end like that.

Square Hammer hits and it hits hard. People are losing their minds, myself included. Still riding the energy of that last song, I head bang my soul out of my damn body. Once again, I fully understand the lyrics. “Are you on the Square? Are you on the level? Are you ready to swear right here right now, before the devil?”. I realize absolutely fucking am. When the show ended The Cardinal waved everyone goodbye and you could see how thankful he was for an audience and I’m still not sure if this was the drugs or a special effect (pretty sure it was the drugs) but each band member appeared to have strings like a marionette while waving goodbye and bowed to the audience and the audience appeared to having strings too. It looked like a lighting effect but I still have no idea how that happened, most likely a hallucination. So fucking cool regardless.

I left the arena drenched in sweat, baptized into a new yet familiar world. I don’t see life the same way I did before (but hey, that’s LSD for you). I realized through this trip how badass the symbol for rebellion against tyranny really is. Along with the profound nature of freedom from religion and realizing self divinity; that you the individual possess powers of a god and most importantly, I just had a good fucking time. My first Ghost concert was a religious experience and one hell of bash. They’re easily my favorite band now and I’ve been listening to all their albums on repeat and I can’t wait till I can see them again.

#the band ghost #cardinal copia #lsd #acid #rock concerts #ghost #ritual #psychadelic

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betterdaysareatoenailaway · 3 years

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Out on the Interstate: S’more Thoughts on Neil Young

I don’t have any fentanyl stories today, so I’m writing another Neil Young post. (Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to mention heroin. You’ll see.) I still have a ton of fent stories, don’t worry bout that. I just don’t feel like mining my memory for any right now. Instead, I wanna talk about my favourite Neil Young song ever. It’s called “Interstate.” This performance was recorded at Farm Aid 1985. Young’s backing band at the time were called the International Harvesters, which is a funny joke (International Harvester was a company that manufactured tractors and other agricultural equipment). Young was on a roll in the 80s with clever band names. Later on he would front Neil Young & the Restless. Anyway whoever is playing piano with Young was the perfect choice, plucking individual keys instead of slathering big chords all over the descending minor chord progression. Young’s guitar is tuned to drop D, a favourite tuning of his throughout his career, from “Cinammon Girl” to “World On A String” to “Be the Rain,” and you can hear the low D buzzing throughout, giving the song a raw off-the-cuff feel. Of course, Neil Young is known for his raw performances, especially on albums like Tonight’s the Night, but by the time the 80s rolled around he was making albums with a lot of processing and production like Landing on Water, along with silly genre exercises like Everybody’s Rockin’ and Old Ways.

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Young would eventually be sued by his own record label, Geffen, for making “uncharacteristic music.” David Geffen would eventually apologize to him, but he wasn’t wrong that Young’s early 80s records were a bit of a disaster. This performance, however, shows that Young hadn’t lost a single step when it came to live performance. His vocal is clear and convincing, world weary but still kinda defiant, like all his best songs. And whether those are real or synth strings, they sound great, and really tug at one’s heartstrings. They have the spook, that high lonesome train whistle feel. To my ears, all the best Neil Young songs are haunting and plaintive. There is a loneliness at the heart of most of Young’s best work (ever hear “Albequerque”? Prolly the saddest song to ever mention the eating of ham?) Neil Young doesn’t write carefree party music. Hell, he once recorded an entire album about the death of his friend and former bandmate Danny Whitten - and to a lesser extent, former roadie Bruce Berry who was fired for pawning instruments to buy heroin...told ya I’d find a way to mention the drug ;). What I’m saying is, Young is no stranger to sad songs. As to which song is his saddest, there are many contenders, but as Young’s biographer himself admits, “Interstate is Neil Young’s loneliest song.” I agree.

Young’s longtime producer David Briggs, who knew damn well that “Interstate” was a rare gem, tried to get Young to record it for 1991′s Ragged Glory, but in typical fashion, “[Young] acceded, but perversely,” eschewing the full-band format and recording a solo acoustic version instead. That particular version would eventually see limited release on the vinyl version of Young’s 1996 album Broken Arrow, a forgettable affair that was hammered by critics and disavowed by most members of Crazy Horse. You can find the solo acoustic “Interstate” on YouTube but I’m not gonna post it, simply because it is so freakin’ disappointing.

I love the line “I can hear a soft voice calling...telling me to bring my guitar home.” In the tradition of the Rolling Stones’ “Moonlight Mile,” "Interstate” is one of the all-time great I’m-A-Lonely-Rock-Star-On-Tour song. A more modern version of this idea can be found in Kurt Vile’s unimaginatively titled “On Tour,” a song where Young’s influence can be identified, especially in the way Vile tunes his lower strings to let them buzz, a technique pioneered by Young in the abovementioned song and most prominently in “Bandit.”

Thank God for YouTube, so that you can hear "Interstate” in all its gorgeous majesty. You can hear Young play the same guitar solo he’s been playing his whole career in minor key masterpieces like “Hey Hey My My,” “Like A Hurricane,” “Goin’ Home,” “Be The Rain.” Every time Young returns to it, you can feel the long shadow of his past, echoes of former greatness, the shambolic glory of his band bashing away at the chords, always emphasizing emotional delivery over technical proficiency. It’s a really really beautiful song, a song I treasure, and I hope you like it.

I’m also posting a rare version of “Shots.”

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In “Shots,” Neil Young returns to a technique previously used on “Cortez the Killer,” where he switches from a third person omniscient voice describing trauma and violence to a first person voice describing personal emotion. In Zuma’s “Cortez the Killer,” Young spends two or three verses describing the endeavours of genocidal explorer Hernan Cortes, and also the Aztecs: people worked together/they lifted many stones/they carried them to the flatlands/they died along the way/but they built up with their bare hands what we still can’t do today/and I know she’s living there and loves me til this day. Now, that’s not Shelley, but it’s an effective and jarring switch. Young tries it again in “Shots,” and for me, the effect is even better. For whatever reason, maybe his sharp right turn when he became an outspoken Reagan supporter, or maybe because of the Iran-Contra Affair, Young’s lyrics took on a particular preoccupation with crime, border zones, and desert iconography in the 1980s, manifestations of which can be heard in “Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I)” “Rockin’ In the Free World,” “On Broadway,” and “Eldorado,” all songs that ended up on Young’s last album of the 1980s, Freedom. But because of the remarkable internal consistency of Young’s discography, you can also hear such sentiments in one of his first 1980s releases: “Shots.” Children are lost in the sand, building roads with little hands Trying to join their father's castles together again Will they make it? Hey, who knows where or when old wounds will mend? Shots ringing all along the borders can be heard Striking out like a venom in the sky Cutting through the air faster than a bird in the night But I'll never use your love, you know I'm not that kind And so if you give your heart to me I promise to you Whatever we do...that I will always be true To jump from depictions of border violence to gooey Hallmark card sentiments shouldn’t work, yet it does. The words might look silly written down, but the sheer conviction they are sung with, and the sheer power of Young’s loon-like vibrato, is what sells them, at least to my ears and heart. I’m not the first to make the loon comparison, Young’s biographer Jimmy McDonough has done so too. Young’s father Scott was the first writer to compare his son’s unique voice to the sound of the loon cry, a very Canadian sound, associated with Muskoka nights in summer, nights often soundtracked by Young’s vast and varied discography.

Disappointingly, the album version of “Shots,” which appeared on 1981′s Re-ac-tor, is pretty fuckin annoying, with its overblown machine gun affects (done by Young on the Synclavier), and Ralph Molina’s incessant marching beat. The song is already called “Shots,” Neil. You didn’t have to add machine gun sound effects. This isn’t audio verite. I’m not gonna post the album version here but you can find it easily. The album iteration has its fans though. Canadian blue-collar rockers The Constantines would cover “Shots” on a vinyl-only release with The Unintended, in which the Cons covered Neil Young and The Unintended covered Gordon Lightfoot. The Cons picked some weird songs, “Shots” among them, and you can tell they are referencing the Re-ac-tor version, not the superior one posted here. I’m not sure why Young slathered so many effects over the album version of “Shots.” The 80s definitely saw him taking his heavier music in an unpalatable direction. The Eldorado EP, in particular, has one of his most savage recordings ever, a song called “Heavy Love” where Young blows his voice out completely by the end of the song in an attempt to sing louder than the savage pulsing thrust of the band (the abovementioned Young & the Restless). The drummer on Eldorado was Chad Cromwell, not Steve Jordan who’d played with Young on his legendary SNL appearance where he played “Rockin in the Free World,” the definitive performance of that song, where Young tore all six strings from his guitar at its denouement. Unfortunately, SNL guards its content as jealously as a rabid guard dog, so I can’t post it. Maybe one day I’ll find a gif. I’ll leave you with two strong cuts from Eldorado. The first is “Heavy Love,” which is obviously a sister song to “Rockin In The Free World,” with its similar sonic texture and E minor riff. Listening is worth it just to hear Young’s voice go to pieces a la “Territorial Pissings” at the end (3:58 if you don’t wanna wait).

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And this is the title track “Eldorado,” which ended up on Freedom. Young employs a fingerpicking style redolent of 80s megastars Dire Straits, and he sings of mission bells and senoritas and golden suns rising on runways and Mariachi bands while playing the A minor chord, a chord strongly associated with Mexican music and Mariachi styles. It’s a cool verite approach, one that works much better than the machine gun effects of “Shots,” especially when the gun violence Young has been hinting at the entire song finally explodes in a shower of distortion at 4:40. Have you ever heard something so loud compared to the backing track? I remember showing “Eldorado” to my friend/bandmate James, and I told him to prepare himself for how loud it is. Afterwards, James said, “even though I was ready for it, that scared the shit out of me.” It is so fucking loud. Check it out @ 4:40. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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One last point I’ll make...the Spanish-influenced guitar lick you can hear at 1:06 is really similar to the pre-chorus guitar riff Young plays on “War of Man” from Harvest Moon. I don’t consider stuff like that to be self plagiarism. I think it shows a consistency, but also it’s a way to reward fans for paying attention. Frank Zappa was known to do the same thing, re-introduce little musical nuances he’d recorded years or decades before. It’s cool. It’s what makes a discography live on long after the artist has burnt out or faded away. If you’re interested, here is a wonderful live early version of “Eldorado” titled “Road of Plenty” recorded with Crazy Horse in 1986: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By6_oLYfrYk

#betterdaysareatoenailaway #neil young #interstate #shots #ronald reagan #1980s #re-ac-tor #1981 #David Briggs #Scott Young #ralph molina #synclavier #steve jordan #SNL #bruceberry #danny whitten #heroin

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