#<- killer earworm

[blueberry-ink-93]

i lied to you

in typical kindred fashion i have found my new interest to go insane over and research into the early hours the day before my exam lmao :')

its going to have to wait till tomorrow night tho where ill be watching every video essay in existence and combing through tumblr and co. for everything i can possibly fit into my brain.

in the mean time moots and peeps and literally whoever wants lol if u could throw me anything and everything u got from analyses to arts to resources and articles or yell at me abt the soundtrack cinematography and costuming id be eternally grateful :>

spoilers welcome btw gimme everything >:)

[kayespencer]

A to Z Challenge 2024 - Q is for Killer Queen #noveltysongs #earwormsongs #atozchallenge

My April 2024 A-to-Z blogging challenge theme is novelty songs and earworms. I’m defining these types of songs as gimmicky, humorous, or parodies of a popular song, and the tune or snippets of the lyrics embed themselves in our brains despite every effort to rid ourselves of the annoying things. Here we go with today’s involuntary musical imagery. Q is for KILLER QUEEN Queen… so many great…

[rugessnome]

if things had gone a bit differently I might have turned up earworm™:

this song's gonna get stuck inside your head/this song's gonna get stuck inside your—

or:

for too long I've been afraid of/sharing my increase square law/well here it comes: Principia Mathematica!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Fu-Schnickens

Picks and Shovels is a new, standalone technothriller starring Marty Hench, my two-fisted, hard-fighting, tech-scam-busting forensic accountant. You can pre-order it on my latest Kickstarter, which features a brilliant audiobook read by Wil Wheaton.

I can't remember where I first heard dancehall reggae, but I do remember where I bought most of my dancehall cassettes: at Play De Record, a great hip hop/reggae DJ store on Yonge Street in Toronto whose bins were all killer, no filler. I'd go into the store every couple weeks and more or less pick three albums at random and love every one of 'em. I just discovered that PDR is still in business, which makes me extremely happy:

https://www.playderecord.com/

Look, I know that mostly I use this blog to talk about tech politics, monopoly, impending fascism and the climate emergency, with the odd science fiction review. But all that other stuff (modulo the sf novels) are weighing on my heavily this week, and I feel like posting something a little more lighthearted. So I consulted my editor (me), who called a special meeting of the editorial board (also me), who kicked it up to the publisher (still me), and they all agreed that I could write a post about a weird hip-hop album that's been earworming me in the best way imaginable since 1992.

I'm pretty sure I bought Fu-Schnickens' debut album "F.U. Don't Take It Personal" at Play De Record. Certainly, I have a memory of stopping on the sidewalk outside of the store to wrestle the cellophane off the cassette and pop it into my walkman. I definitely remember my first walk through the city with the music in my ears. I laughed aloud. Several times. I might have even danced a little:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2wD7FbIzGI&list=PLJw–ySHyZNwsmLcxfW3NWTyxQX7mARas

At the time, I knew nothing about Fu-Shnickens. In the years since, I have listened to F.U. Don't Take It Personal approximately one heptillion times and somehow managed not to learn anything about Fu-Schnickens. Today, I read their all-too-short Wikipedia article and learned that the group was together between 1988 and 1995, that their second album (which I remember not being as impressed with) had a top-40 novelty track with vocals by Shaquille O'Neal, who said the Schnickens were his favorite hiphop group:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Schnickens

I get it, Shaq. They're great. First of all, they're incredibly silly. Long before Wu-Tang Clan, they were doing this weird kung-fu movie schtick in their songs (which, admittedly, walks an uncomfortable line between "parodies of racist depictions of Chinese people in the movies" to "racist parodies of Chinese people in the style of those movies"). Their songs are jammed with pop culture references in a way that puts, say, Paul's Boutique to shame. You can get a sense of this by looking at the lyrics transcribed over at Genius (where they are criminally under-annotated):

https://genius.com/artists/Fu-schnickens

Take "La Schmoove," a song that references "The Jeffersons," "Leave It To Beaver," "Superfly," Honey-Nut Cheerios, Popeye, Elmer's Glue, Elmer Fudd, Pippi Longstockings, "Married With Children," "Three's Company," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Do-Wah-Diddy," the board game Battleship, and Pepe Le Pew. It features rhymes like "we in there like swimwear," "Adios muchachos dorme vous unbuckle my Fu-Schnick shoe," and "Yo zilch kaput me nada none son." It's legit bonkers.

But also: they're really good. The frontman, Chip Fu (Roderick Roachford) raps really fast, has amazing flow, and periodically just starts rapping backwards, like literally saying the same syllables he just said, but backwards, with that same amazing flow. They are steeped in old dancehall, and it shines through (they more-or-less single-handedly revived Tenor Saw's now-familiar "Ring the Alarm").

Many of their songs feature a kind of hiphopified Phil Spector wall of sound, a kind of melodic drone that underlays the beats and lyrics. As soon as I hear that drone, I start smiling, because I know what's coming.

I have been earwormed by these tracks for this entire century and much of the past century. It's always really hard to explain why you like something, but I think that Fu-Schnickens' pop culture stream of consciousness and nonsense syllables are a kind of rhythmic version of my own internal monologue, which is a kind of endless babble of fragments of books, music, movies and TV; dumb jokes; words repeated until they lose all meaning and become meaningless phonemes, all kind of splinters of ideas and words floating around, bumping into each other.

There's lots of dancehall and dancehall-adjacent stuff that's arguably better than this album, like "The Good The Bad The Ugly & The Crazy," the amazing and underappreciated collaboration between Necka Demus, Junior Demus and Super Cat:

https://www.discogs.com/master/158493-Super-Cat-2-Junior-Cat-Junior-Demus-Nicodemus-The-GoodBadUgly-The-Crazy

And I could listen to Shaggy's cover of "Oh Carolina" all day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtLqmWt2h2g

Or Apache Indian's "Boom Shack-A-Lak":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzBd41NuZw

Or even better, "Ragamuffin Girl":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGhrpajNtKk

But none of music is on continuous shuffle-play in the back of my brain the way "F.U. Don't Take It Personal" is and has been since the Clinton administration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2wD7FbIzGI&list=PLJw–ySHyZNwsmLcxfW3NWTyxQX7mARas

What's more, this is one of the very few (non-Talking Heads, non-David Byrne) albums that my daughter and I like listening to together in the car. It's so perfectly silly, virtuosic, funny, and danceable. Still as good as it was when I was young and had the hips I was born with. I've owned it on cassette and CD and as MP3s. I somehow own the vinyl (though I have no turntable).

I'm grateful to the management of this publication for the opportunity to share it with you.

Check out my Kickstarter to pre-order copies of my next novel, Picks and Shovels!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/17/holy-batfu-its-an-apple/#ba-schnicker-bah-snchnucker

[markiafc]

tagged by @chateauofmymind ❤️ i'm very much not a music person but i'm making an effort to listen to what other people like and share! so doing this to also unlock other people's recent earworms 😌

st. chroma by tyler, the creator - got sucked back into the world of anime fanvids and that's where most of my music has been these days, this one from a chainsaw man edit

my way by frank sinatra - from the edit that made me start nge in the first place, and i've gone back to listen to the song throughout my watch and after i'd completed the show

creep by radiohead - i am, once again, discovering songs and then realizing it's a famous song people have loved for ages now. it was an nge asuka fanvid that did it for me........

we both reached for the gun, the christine baranski version - heard it twice or thrice over across multiple different edits and it stuck, a jjk one and another csm one and so on.

big dawgs by hanumankind - jjk fanvid. unfortunately undergoing a mini-jjk renaissance at the moment so.

for your love by montaigne - from a fave fave fave rgu fanvid that is always there in my youtube's auto-generated mixes

all the things she said by t.A.T.u. - from gromky's motogp edit, i've been listening to it at work nearly every day for months now

she knows by j. cole - i like songs about cheating!

杀手 the killer by jj lin - i like songs about stalkers!

maneater by nelly furtado - i like songs about heartbreakers and promiscuous players and the like!

tagging @nightofking @donnapalude @doggeddetermination @utenah @bredforloyalty @loveisthedevil1998 @thefinalpaperheart @gromky @gabriestat @normalbrothers @rinbylin @dtriad

[save-the-data]

Khaotung Thanawat "Destroy Love" OST. The Heart Killers | Official Music Video

Okay I am in love with this song already, love the beat and damn when he whispers Can You Call Me Destroyer? at the end. Hot. This will be an earworm for the next few days.

[glassartpeasants]

Run Rabbit Run .09

Yandere!Eustass Kidd x F!Reader

Warnings: angst, mentions of past abuse, pregnancy, implications of death,

A/N: So since theres gonna be a little more people in this chapter then usually so some people are gonna have the same colors but different size fonts to indicate a different persons talking. hope its not to confusing. The key to help for people with the same color is below

Chopper- small orange Nami- regular orange

music playlist

pt.1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 pt.5 pt.6 pt.7 pt.8 pt.9 pt.10 pt.11

~~~

“We’re here! Everyone assume positions and get ready to dock!” The sound of thunderous footsteps and Tashigi’s voice breaks through your nap. You rub your eyes as the sun shines through the windows of the bunk room. 

“Wake up (Y/N)! We’re at Sabaody!” Tashigi’s voice once again cuts through the silence as she calls out to you from behind the door.

“Mmh, I’m up…just give me a second.” You stretch gently before gathering the strength to push yourself up. Breathing heavily, you manage to sit up, the purple turtleneck you wore slightly riding up before you pull it back down. You grab your hat from beside you and position it so that it keeps your hair in place and hides the scar along your face.

“Do you need help picking up your things?” The door opens as Tashigi peaks inside to check up on you.

“That’d be wonderful. I can’t really pick up things like that anymore, haha.” You watch her grab some things and hand them to you before she carries some things herself.

“There's no need to do that. I’m going to have to carry it after I get off the ship.”

“I’m using it as an excuse to just hang out with you for a little longer. Smoker might make me do something.” You couldn’t help but laugh at the slight pout on Tashigi’s face. Yet, you were happy you’d be able to talk to her as friends before you guys became ‘enemies.’ The thought made your heart bleed, but there was nothing you could do about it. Even if you were enemies outside, you’d always be friends in your soul.

The thought of not being woken up and seeing the smiling faces of G-5 marines made a small voice inside you tell you to stay. That you’ll miss them more then you think you would. It was like an earworm replaying the same song over and over again. But when you bite your tongue harshly, all those thoughts leave, and the voice telling you to return to the Straw Hats and that your almost home comes back. It’ll always be hard, never being able to talk to them peacefully ever again. But the memories will soothe the pain. 

“Captain! We’’ve docked! We’re on tree 30!” One of the marines notifies Tashigi and you on th ebay that the ship was anchored. Thankfully, quite a bit away yet close enough to bay 41. While you weren’t looking forward to walking that far, it’d be worth it in teh end to see everyone.

“Here’s to hoping my shoes don’t get drenched in whatever makes those bubbles here.”

“It actually doesn’t! Truly weird stuff. Have you never been to Sabaody before?”

“I’ve been here but haven’t actually been on land. Just a quick sight as we passed by to head to the new world.”

“It’s a pretty place but also full of bad people. Bounty hunters, other pirates, and not to mention those disgusting Celestial dragons. Makes me sick.”

“Anyone sane would want to see those horrible people go down.”

Memories of the Celestial Dragons you encountered two years ago flood your mind as you hold back the urge to vomit everywhere. You remember a conversation you had with Killer months ago when you were still under Kidd’s lies. How he told you about how the Celestial Dragons mark their slaves by burning their symbol into their skin. Almost exactly like the jolly roger scarred into your own. Once again, though, you escaped your kidnapper's clutches. But there's so many people who’ll never be given the chance you’ve had. Never be able to see the sun as a free person.

‘No. Don’t dwell on that. Today’s supposed to be happy. Stop thinking about things you can’t control.’

“Well, this is it.” As soon as you were 20 feet from the ship, you and Tashigi stopped. Turning around to face the ship, you saw everyone gather to say goodbye, including Vice Admiral Smoker.

“So this is it, huh?”

“I guess so.” A little chuckle leaves your lips before it turns into tears. Despite trying your best to silence them, they continue to flow.

“I’m so thankful for all of you…You’ve always done so much for me, and there's nothing I can do to repay you. I’m going to miss you all so much.” You can feel Tashigi wrap her arms around you before starting to cry as well.

“Don’t leave (Y/N)! Stay with us!” The two of you held each other tight as tears continued to cry harder.

“I’m sorry! We can still be friends regardless of our sides!” Tears made your vision blurry as you held onto Tashigi for a little while longer before leaving her embrace. Walking up to Vice Admiral Smoker, you lower your head.

“Thank you for everything, Vice Admiral. I promise to protect the honor of G-5 and take down any pirate who dares speak ill of you. And I also promise that no civilian will be hurt by my hands.”

“They better not. Now, get out of here before I change my mind.” With a chuckle, you lift up your head and grab your things with Tashigi’s help.

“Oh, Tashigi, one more thing before I go. I have to ask you something.” With all the overthinking you’ve been doing, a scenario popped up in your head that you couldn’t help but ask her to be a part of.

“What is it?”

“If, by some chance, I do end up keeping the baby with me, and I happen to pass away, would you take care of them for me? Like a godmother or something?” Once again, you were wrapped up in Tashigi’s arms as she cried.

“I’m so honored! Of course, I will. Oh my god (Y/N), you're so sweet!” The two of you hug a little longer before separating. Wiping the tears from your eyes, you wave to the other marines, who wave back to you.

“Goodbye, everyone! I love you all!” With a final wave, you turn your back and make your way to the thousand sunny.

“Do you think she’ll be safe? I can’t help but worry.” Smoker watched as the captain of G-5 gently wiped her tears away. How a single pirate managed to worm her way into the hearts of G-5 will forever be a mystery to outsiders.

“She’ll be fine. As much as I’d like to arrest those Straw Hats right now, I’ll wait. We’ll definitely be seeing each other again. A pirate can only escape for so long.” Crossing his arms, he watches you walk away.

He’s never met someone like you in all his years on earth. Someone who’s been through hell twice yet still has kindness to give to a world that turned their back on her. How you’ve managed to pull through all these months was a miracle. So many nights, people were awakened to the sound of your cries from the night terrors you suffered, but no one said a word about it to him until a day ago. To suffer all that and still find a way to smile is a trait not many can say they have. It’s admirable.

“Let’s get ready to go back to the New World. Everyone get ready!”

“Yes, Vice Admiral!” Watching the Marines scatter helps Smoker ignore the sadness in his chest. Despite how he’d outwardly deny it, he’ll miss you. You can only hang out with someone for so long before they worm their way into your heart. And somehow, you managed to set up a place without meaning, too.

~~~

‘This place is much bigger than I remember. I hope I’m going the right way. Not like I can ask for directions.' You were trying to avoid the public eye yet not look suspicious, so you just kept your head down. With your hair covering your scar and your hat hiding your face, a slight sense of safety coursed through your veins. But not enough for you to ignore the wanted posters that had your face scattered everywhere. Even though there was so much noise around you, you still managed to catch your name being talked about.

“When the hell are the Marines going to catch her? Doesn’t she know the destruction and death she’s caused?!”

“She should just go back to Captain Kidd. Everyone would be safer and happier. She’s being selfish.” Those words make you stop in your tracks as a rage boils inside you. You know you promised Smoker that you wouldn’t lay a hand on a civilian, but how dare they call you that? They don’t know what you’ve been through. How can they tell you what you should do when they haven’t experienced anything you have?

“Let’s not forget she’s pregnant! The most infamous worst-gen pirate has a child! No doubt that child is going to be just like their dad!” Your knuckles turn white from how hard you were gripping your belongings. Every cell in yoru body begged for you to teach them a lesson. To tell people that they had no right to treat you the way they were. That if they went through what you went through, they wouldn’t be talking the way they were. You can feel your body shake in anger as they continue to talk.

‘I have to keep moving. I’m gonna do something I’ll regret if I don’t.’ Taking a deep breath, you begin to fast walk away from the two civilians. You’ve come too far to blow your cover now.

“300,000,00 berri’s if given to Captain Kidd, but only 100,000,000 if given to the Marines? Why would anyone turn her into the Marines if the price Kidd is asking is much higher?”

“Right?”

‘Just keep walking. Just keep walking.’ Water begins to appear at your tear line as you try to ignore the angry tears that threaten to spill. Your heart beats hard as you look at the ground, only sneaking glances at the trees to see that faithful 41.

“Please leave me alone! I’ll give you all my money. Just let me go!” A woman screaming caught your attention, making you scan your surroundings. When you turned your head to the right, down a dark alley, you saw a large masked man gripping a woman's wrist harshly. The scene triggered your own memory of being in her shoes.

“Please! Just let me go! I-I’ll give you all the money I have! Just let me go!” You try to pry his meaty hand off your wrist, but inside, you know it was pointless. It seemed your desperate attempt amused him.

“Now, why would I let something I caught fair and square go?” The way his eyes looked up and down your body made a shiver go down your spine.

“I could get a pretty penny selling you as a slave. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No! Someone help me!” You begged for someone to help her. The chances of your cover being blown would multiply if you jumped in. Yet, the more seconds that went by, the more your hope diminished. Images of that man two years ago, the day everything happened, popped into your head. The man begged for help, and all he wanted was to see his family, but no one did anything. All they did was ignore him as those horrible people arrived and killed him.

You couldn’t do anything then, but maybe now, you could.

Picking up your bags, you walk into the dark alley, your heart beating wildly. Looking up just enough to see the man’s chest, you crack your knuckles before speaking.

“Didn’t you hear her? Let her go.” The sounds of struggling stopped before a raspy laugh left the man.

“Your kidding me? A pregnant lady trying to jump in and help? What are you gonna do? Waddle over here and give birth on me?” His words only made you see red.

“I’m going to give you one more chance. Let her go, or else.” The familiar tingling in your fingertips reemerges as you wait for the man’s next move. Your fingers twitch as you can hear barely silent crackling.

“Oh, I’m so scared!” The man mocked you and seemingly gripped the woman's wrist harder. 

“You're hurting me!” As those final words leave the woman’s mouth, you curl your fingers into claws before feeling the tingling get stronger and the crackling gets louder.

Light began filling the dark alley, flashing and flickering as the ball of pure electricity in your hand started forming. Each snap of electricity only made you pour more anger into your attack.

“A devil fruit user? Go figure. Just because you have some powers doesn’t change the fact that you're weak-” After deeming it has enough charge, you throw it straight for the masked man. You watch him try to dodge, only to have it hit him directly in the chest.

The woman manages to pull her wrist free from the man’s grip before running behind you. Both of you watch as the ball of electricity disperses and runs across his entire body. You watch him grab his chest before falling back and landing on the ground with a heavy thud. Without saying a word, you watch as the man spasms on the ground, trying to get a breath in.

“We need to go now.” With the woman nodding, you both quickly walk away from the alley and into the road. Having all your belongings in your hands, you feel slightly drained. Your lungs burn as your mouth goes dry. Sure, you’ve used your devil fruit powers on pirates while in G-5, but that stopped when you found out you were pregnant. So it’s been months since you’ve used it on anyone.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you anywhere else, right?”

“No. And yes, I’m okay.”

“Good.” Turning your back, you begin walking towards Grove 41 once again.

“Wait!”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t come.”

“No problem. Just make sure you stop using back alleys and stay on public roads.”

“I will.” You watch the woman run in the opposite direction from you and take that as your cue to continue your original quest.

~~~

After walking for what felt like hours, the familiar smiling lion comes into view, and you feel your heart jump in your chest. Seeing the thousand sunny after being in the dark for so long felt like seeing a miracle happen before your eyes. A new-found energy bursts inside you as you start walking faster with a new vigor.

‘I’m here! I’m here!’ Holding your belongings with a crushing grip, you can feel a huge smile spread to your face. You could hear laughter the closer you got, and your heart felt as if it were going to explode!

Soon enough, you were close enough to where you were able to see a clear view of the crew. You try to speak, but nothing seems to come out. It felt like it was a dream. Even though you were speechless, your presence seemed to be enough as a familiar face called out to you.

“(Y/N)?!” You watch her run up to you along with the others.

“(Y/N)!”

Not even seconds pass before you're encased in a hug. The feeling of being near them was enough to have you start sobbing. Being surrounded by pure love and care but the people you owe your life to felt unreal. You’ve dreamed of this moment for so long, and now that it is finally here, you don’t know where to start.

“You're okay! I was so worried about you!”

“Yeah, me too!”

“We all were,”

“I missed you all so much…I’m so happy!" Despite your limited ability, you try to hold everyone close to you. It’s been so long since you’ve been so happy that the feeling almost felt foreign.

“I can’t believe this is real. I was so afraid I’d never see you guys again!”

“Come on! Let’s go sit down now. I bet you're tired.” Through your tears, you nod as you let them take you aboard the Sunny. You notice a shiny substance covering it. 

“What's that?”

“Oh! It’s the coating that’s going to help bring us down to Fishman Island!”

“Wonder if Franky enjoys having his ship covered in bubbles.” Laughter erupts through the tears. Having your shoes crunch against the grass of the safety has a wave of safety washing over you. Sitting on the bench connected to the mast pole, your able to let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Robin and Nami sat next to you while almost everyone else sat on the grass.

“Where’s Luffy and Zoro?”

“They should be here soon. I swear if that moss head got lost.” You finally take off your hat as the sun is beating down harshly, making you sweat. With your hair finally being able to move, the strands that once hid the huge scar on your face disappeared. Leaving it for them all to see.

“Oh my god, what happened?! How did you get that scar?!” While you knew you shouldn’t have been surprised they’d notice it right away, it still managed to shock you. Maybe you just lived with it for so long that you’ve forgotten what you used to look like without it.

“This? Oh. I went face first into a corner of a crate.”

“Does it hurt? Here, let me check!” You watch as Chopper hops onto the bench before examining your face. 

“How you are not blind is amazing, considering where it’s placed.” Feeling Chopper's little hooves on your face causes a small warmth to erupt in your chest.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. I’ve had it for a while. And it hasn’t caused any problems.”

“What about this one? There's a huge one on the back of your head.” You feel Robin's nimble fingers gently brush through your hair, her gentle touch reminding you of your mother. The sensation made you bite your lip as you choked back tears.

“Can you do that again, Robin? It felt nice.”

“Sure.” Her calm voice and touch made your eyes close as you tried to regain composure.

“(Y/N)?”

“Hm? Yes Robin?” A shiver goes down your spine as you feel her trace the scar.

“Did….Kidd do this to you?” Simply hearing his name makes tears finally slip down your cheeks, and some even onto Chopper's hooves. With your vision blurry, you close your eyes and nod. Even saying his name would leave a bad taste in your mouth.

‘God damnit. I should be crying tears of joy! Not sadness!’ You argued with yourself as you tried to pull yourself together. Gripping your pants, you dig your nails into the fabric.

“How about we change the subject? Umm—” A loud rumbling echoes around everyone, making you hold your stomach.

“Sorry. I haven’t eaten a snack or something.” With the adrenaline finally settling down, you realize how tired and hungry you were.

“Do we have supplies restocked?”

“Of course (Y/N)-swan!”

“That’s good. I’ll just go get something to eat real quick.” Just as you go to sit up, Nami sits you right back down.

“Sanji can get it. You’ve walked all the way here, so Sanji can whip you up something. Right, Sanji?” The stare-down Nami gave the cook made a giggle slip past your lips. You watch Sanji run so fast to the kitchen that dust almost flies behind him.

“Okay, the rest of you, except Chopper, scram.” Nobody moved for the first 20 seconds.

“SCRAM!” Everyone begins to run in different directions until only you, Nami, Robin, and Chopper are left.

“Okay, now that they’re all gone, we can talk about more important things.”

“More important things?” Nami puts her hand on your back, and Robin continues to gently comb through your hair. You watch her look down at your stomach before looking back up at you sympathetically. 

“How are you holding up? Do you have any pain?”

“It’s okay. Not anything right now. I get migraines sometimes from the head injury and back pain, but that’s it. Just regular pregnancy things, I suppose.”

“Have you been eating properly and sleeping well? Taken a tumble or anything?”

“No. I’ve been stable on my feet. And almost all I do is eat and sleep.” Chopper lets out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good.”

“I do work out and exercise. Gotta keep myself strong, ya know?”

“We just don’t want you to overdo it. Pregnancy is no easy feat, so it's nice to hear that you're doing well.”

“How far along are you, do you know?”

“Six to seven months.” With Nami and Robin comforting you, it was easier to talk about the baby growing inside you. Yet the nagging thought in your head kept coming back.

“Do you think Luffy will let me stay a straw hat? Even after knowing that I’m pregnant?” You can hear your heartbeat in your ears as you look at Nami and Robin.

“Of course! You’ll always be a straw hat!”

“No matter what!”

“Everything will be okay (Y/N).” You put your arms over Nami and Robin and hold them close. Chopper cuddles close and hugs you as well. Tears fall from your eyes, and you never want to let them go.

“I don’t know what to do, your guys. It feels like no matter what I choose, everything is the wrong decision.”

“If I give the baby up for adoption, there's a chance Kidd will find them or the marines will use them as bait. If I were to keep them, the Marines and Kidd still would be after us. All I want is for them to grow up happy and safe. Is that really too much to ask?”

“No. Not at all. No matter what you choose, we’ll stand beside you.”

“You’ll never have to be alone again.” You see Chopper jump up from the shared hug with a look of shock and wonder in his eyes.

“Chopper? Are you okay?” Everyone split from the hug and looked at Chopper in concern.

“I felt them kick me! When we were hugging, I felt them kick me in the face!” Normally, such words wouldn’t have a positive reaction, but this seems to be a different story. Nami and Robin seemed excited, too, at Chopper's confession.

“Really?! Aw!”

“They know were talking about them.” Robin smiled and giggled softly.

“Have you thought about names?”

“Not really. I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl even.”

“Well, do you have names that you planned on naming your baby with (....)? Perhaps you can name the baby after them?” It’s been a while since you’ve heard your late fiance’s name—almost to the point that you’ve forgotten it with all the chaos that surrounded your life.

Kidd didn’t know your fiance's name, or you hope he didn’t. On one hand, you somewhat liked the idea. But at the same time, it’d be a constant reminder of the love you lost. You fear you might accidentally compare the baby to a person they’ve never met. And even though the baby was innocent, the fact it’d be the offspring of the man who took everything from you, having their name felt wrong and tainted.

“They deserve to be their own person, so I don’t think I’ll give the baby (....)’s name.” You rub your stomach subconsciously.

“What if they look like him? I know it’d still be my child, but…”

“Even if the baby looks exactly like Kidd, it doesn’t mean they’ll be like him. I bet one of my tangerine trees that they’ll be the exact opposite.” A chuckle leaves your lips as the ease Nami brings seems so natural.

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” You and Nami shake hands, and the sound of the kitchen door opening lets you know the food is finally done.

“After you're done eating, I'd like to give you a checkup to see if everything's healed alright.”

“Sounds good.”

~~~

After finishing your lunch, you head up to the infirmary. When you sat on the bed, you noticed just how out of breath you were. The stairs have been getting harder and harder each day. What used to be an easy task now felt like you were being asked to climb a mountain.  

“You okay (Y/N)?” Holding a clipboard, you watch Chopper walk over to you and look at you in concern.

“Stairs are just getting a little harder, but it’ll be okay. So what's your first plan of action, doctor?” It was always so cute to see Chopper get all excited when called a doctor.

“Can I check out any wounds or scars that may have happened since we last saw each other? I’ve made scar cream that is supposed to help reduce the size and stiffness that comes with said scars.”

“Oh, okay. There’s…a lot. Just give me a second.” You begin to take off your sweater before placing it beside you. Chopper's eyes widen as he tries to focus on a single scar, but there's so much more than the last time he’s seen you. He doesn’t know where to start, but he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable by staring.

“Is there any place you want me to check first?”

“I don’t know if there are any on my back, so you can check there.” you feel Chopper jump on the bed and start to inspect your back. The bra you wore gave the reindeer enough space to inspect your back. While it didn’t cover the scar you hated the most, you simply hid your chest with your hand.

“Not seeing much. Just small ones anyone could have." Chopper goes and grabs your left arm to check it out. You feel his hooves put pressure on the scars before stopping at your hand.

“Did you get shocked? What happened that caused all these small scars?” The realization that you haven't shown anyone your devil fruit powers yet shoots through your mind, and a small excitement courses through your veins.

“Chopper, can you let go of my arm real quick?” Chopper cocked his head before letting go. A big smile plasters on your face before you take a deep breath.

There were sizzling and cracking echos in the room as electricity started to form along your arm and slither around your scared skin. It gave off a flickering glow as you began to accumulate it in your hand.

“Woah! I didn’t know you had devil fruit powers! Why didn't you tell us earlier?”

“I only got them during the two-year separation. I’ve worked my ass off to have control like this. I’m probably not as strong as the rest of you guys, but I think this’ll help.” All your words seemed to go in through one ear and out the other as Chopper watched the electricity form into a ball in your hands.

“I’ve never seen an electricity logia type devil fruit. I didn’t even know there was one.”

“Well, here I am, haha.” Chopper laughs alongside you before he stops. You wonder why, but you soon figure it out when you follow his eye direction. Since he asked to see your arm, you left the branding scar open for him to see. The look of horror is present on his face.

“Oh my god, how did I not see this?!” Moving around to get a better look, Chopper stands next to you on the bed. Carefully moving his hoove near your chest, he stops.

“Is it okay if I check this out?” Swallowing the lump in your throat, you nod.

“Yeah.” You feel Chopper place his hoove on the scar and watch as his eyebrows knit together.

“Unlike the other ones, this one is raised above the skin rather then indented.”

“Is that…a bad thing?”

“No. The one on your chest is a hypertrophic scar, it’s normal to scar like this on ones chest. The others are simply atrophic scars. They're all fine, but…”

“But?”

“I just can’t believe it. With this being in such a sensitive place, I can’t imagine the pain this caused.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t a fun recovery.” Tears gather in your eyes at the memory. There are a million memories you wish you could forget, and this just happened to be in your top five. Remembering Kidd’s approach with that heated metal pole speeds up your heart rate and constricts your chest. Your breath goes jagged as the tears start flowing.

“I look like a freak. Everywhere I look is a reminder of him. How can someone ever love me when all they see is a disfigured shell of a human.” You begin to cry into your hands as the room feels suffocating. Tears slip through your fingers and onto your tummy as you try to catch your breath.

“What have I done to deserve this? Everyone in my family is dead, and I don’t even have a home to go back to! My entire island was wiped out in a single afternoon, and there's only five people who survived to prove the island even existed in the first place! Why do they have to perish while I live?! What’s so great about me?!”

“What’s not great about you?” You and Chopper freeze and look at the infirmary door. There stood Luffy with a big smile on his face.

“Luffy?” Dropping your hands to your thighs, you look at him through your blurry vision.

“I was wondering where you were! But Usopp told me you were in here with Chopper and-” Luffy’s happy voice soon cuts off as he fully registers the state Kidd had reduced you to. You watch his eyes zero in on the branding before his expression darkens.

“Did he do that to you?” He points to the scar, and even though you try to sound tough, you hiccup out a ‘yes’ as you feel your body shake.

“I know it’s their Jolly Roger, but I promise I didn’t want it! Please don’t kick me out, Luffy! I—” You stop in your tracks when you feel something be placed on your head. Rubbing your eyes, you see the brim of Luffy’s straw hat in front of your face. You are at a loss for words as your heart beats in your ears.

“You're not going anywhere (Y/N). I’ll make sure he’ll never lay a hand on you ever again.”

“Cause I’m gonna kill that bastard for doing this to you.”

~~~

Sitting in his workshop, Kidd twirls a sharp scrap of metal between his fingers while looking at the wall. All the bounty posters for the straw hats are plastered on the wall, covered in holes from the number of knives and sharp scraps he’s thrown at them. Even seeing their faces makes rage course through Kidd’s veins.

His eyes zero in on the captains before he throws the metal scrap at the poster. It hilts the man on the poster right between the eyes. His poster is the most shredded. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have been taken and escaped in the first place.

It’s been six months since you left the Victoria Punk, and every second has been a waking nightmare for everyone. While their captain had always been a hothead, he’s been ten times worse ever since you left. The amount of blood on his hands could rival the devil’s—and to many, he was.

The Victoria Punk has become one of the most feared pirate ships currently sailing. When the Victoria's big jaws came into the sight of any other pirates or marines, all they could do was pray. They prayed that by some miracle, Eustass ‘Captain’ Kidd would take pity. Unfortunately, the New World was not known for its kindness, and neither was he.

There was even talk about naming him a new emperor of the sea.

While the title would help him on his path to becoming King of the Pirates, it meant nothing if he still couldn’t find you six months after the fact—couldn’t find you or his unborn child. He didn’t know how you were doing, how the pregnancy was progressing, or what the gender was. It didn’t matter much to him because, in the end, they’d make a great future ruler of the sea.

“Kidd!” Bursting open the workshop door stood the right-hand man of the Kidd pirates. He huffed and puffed, trying to regain his breath after running from across the other side of the ship.

Moving his eyes towards the man in teh doorway, Kidd responds before throwing another scrap metal at the posters.

“What is it Killer?” Walking up closer to the table, Killer slams down multiple papers and photos.

“What am I looking at?”

“I know who’s been harboring (Y/N).” Jumping from his seat, Kidd gets closer to what Killer was showing him. 

“What?! Who?!”

“After looking through enough photos and newspaper, I’ve managed to pinpoint the marine squad that’s been hiding her.”

“Well?! Spill it!”

“Marine squad G-5. It’s occupied by Vice Admiral Smoker and Captain Tashigi. How many lower rank marines are on the ship, I don’t know but it can’t be anymore then twenty.” Gritting his teeth, Kidd looks at the pictures of each crew member.

“Next marine ship we see, keep a marine alive. We’ll use them to get G-5’s location.”

“And after we find them?”

“Kill every single one of them. I want that ship to paint the sea red.”

~~~

@rebeccawinters @iggy5055 @dairygrrl @childconnoisseur @menifire1092 @nerdgeekandeverysweet-blog @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @lovemesomefanfic846 @ryuv1i @carpinchootaku @misoxramen @pinkfoxmusic

[backjustforberena]

🥺🎶👀 for the writer ask game! (I would want to ask most of them actually, but I'll limit myself to those for your sake)

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

I like a good hug. Holding hands, as well. There is a reason that the Corlys/Rhaenys hand-holds live forever in my mind. One of my favourite things is that they seem to gravitate towards one another. And so it's always important, to me, when writing them that they are continuously physical connecting.

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I do listen to music when I write. Sometimes this can be inspirational or specific to the WIP that I am writing, and then other times it is the latest earworm that has no connection whatsoever to the fic, and then other times it's just whatever Youtube Music decides to throw at me.

Nothing specific for fic, but amongst the latest bunch of songs that I've been gravitating towards are: Heartlines by Florence & the Machine, When You Were Young by The Killers, Way That I'm Going by Vance Joy etc etc etc. Honestly, loads. I'll tell you what, every time I listen to The blue by Gracie Abrams, I think of Rosaline and Jacob from "Maryland"!

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Oh, such a hopeful phrase, isn't it? "Up and coming". Like I'm not going to get to 4000 words and give up, eh? Okay, well, I will tell you about what I've been working on this week, which is a domestic sort of a fic for "House of the Dragon". No one is dying, near-death, sad, crying or otherwise going through the wringer.

It's set quite a while before Episode One, so we have a status quo, and Rhaenys flies to King's Landing after Corlys has been seconded there for weeks because of his Master of Ships role. She's missed her husband so she's taking the dragon out for a spin, leaving the kids at home. I've written her flying into the city, being greeted by Otto, having her post-flight bath and then reuniting with Corlys, all before picking a dress because they've been invited to dine with the King & Queen. I promise it's not boring (a constant worry whenever I try fluff).

And I am telling you this to give a complete shout out to @joycieillustrations because she is a gem, a wonder and a total translating marvel who has been giving me High Valyrian flirting - because how else can you say suggestive stuff when the maids are still in the room? Corlys has to let his wife know:  “Avy olvī iotāpin.” (I thought of you often.) 

[inadvisablebutinevitable]

what time period accurate songs do you think jeremy would be listening to in tsc? 👀

Miss California by Dante Thomas

Anon I love you so much because you have no idea how much I ask this to myself on a regular basis. A couple weeks ago I was walking to work whilst brainstorming Jeremy Knox music headcanons and almost died to the tune of Believe by Cher while crossing the street. (Embarrassing, but also, what a way to go)

after changing my mind about 700 times, I decided that Jeremy, at least on a surface level, will dance/sing to literally any popular song with a good beat, (whether or not he actually sings the right lyrics is always 50/50) but he does love to sing. This comes from a tumblr post I saw like years ago saying that Jean takes a video of Jeremy singing Kylie Minogue’s “Your Disco Needs You” at 3am, and now that’s just canon Jeremy to me.

Jeremy was a kid in the 90s so TONS of 90s nostalgia stuff, all upbeat. Song 2, All star, What is love, Baby one more time, Tubthumping, all the catchy earworms he would hear on the radio and belt out as a kid. (It’s @kevinsdsy’s fault song 2 was the first on this list. The Jeremy Knox blur brainrot is real)

Jeremy, having heard these songs as a kid, knows all the lyrics just by memory. Even he doesn’t know about this until Cat plays Ricky Martin on her boombox and all of a sudden Jer is on the table with a solo cup microphone.

(“isn’t he only attracted to men?”Jean whispers to Cat as they watch Jeremy belt out ‘She Bangs’ in the most enthusiastic way possible.

“Honestly, l didn’t even think about that. I’m just pissed that they’re only playing the English version”, Cat whispers back)

Jeremy is also notorious for dancing to other team’s entrance songs when they walk on the court. The Breckenridge Jackals, for example, walk on court to Who Let the Dogs out, and Jer unironically uses that as pump up music. He aggressively nods his head to the beat of Let’s Get it Started when Penn State walks out. This leads to many (many) YouTube compilations titled something along the lines of “10 mins straight of Jeremy Knox shaking ass to his opponent’s anthems”

BUT also, privately, on his little 2006 iPod Mini (lol remember those), Jeremy listens to more alt rock (modern-day dad rock), like Muse, The Killers, Queens of The Stone Age etc… (this is based on a lighter version of the style of music Nora assigned to Andreil in the EC, and also my personal taste from that time period). I think it’s what he listens to on bad days, either bc he needs to drown out his depressing thoughts after seeing his family, or bc he isn’t quite mentally ready to fully process the insane truths Jean reveals on a day to day basis. Also days where he’s feeling more in-tune with his emotions and stuff.

anyway, I’m sorry, this got really long. I guess the tl;dr would be: imo, In TSC Jeremy loves to sing and dance to literally any popular 90s/early 00’s song bc that’s just who he is but privately on bad days he likes 2000’s alt rock.

[acaplaya-musings]

Human - thoughts/commentary

Okay that was really cool actually, I really liked it! But also it's another case where I'm gonna have to go through the video bit-by-bit in order to think of enough things to say about it! So it's time for a running commentary rewatch!

Alright, I got the song lyrics up on my phone, mainly so I can check if there's any alterations to song structure and the like (e.g. if VoicePlay added in an extra chorus repetition or something).

If I didn't know already that this was a Geoff arrangement, the fact that we're getting clicks/finger snaps basically right at the beginning of the song is a good indication!

(Also my god Geoff looks so freaking good in this one, like sir, who allowed you to look so damn fine? (Just had to get that off my chest, moving on!))

Okay so they're not doing the "I'm only human/I'm only, I'm only/I'm only human, human" intro from the original song, instead just having Geoff's bassline and the finger snaps, before Eli starting off on the first verse. (Though idk what the intro in the original song sounds like exactly anyway - I only remember the chorus, and also kinda the "some people got the real problems" line, and I'm not gonna bother relistening to the original just for comparison's sake.

Dang was that a bit of twang in Eli's voice while singing the first chorus? It's not a vocal 'strategy' that he uses very often, from what I can recall. I'll have to see if Jen (Jennifer Glatzhofer) talks about it when she does a reaction/analysis video for this

(Also is it just me or is this chorus kinda sorta a subtle earworm?)

Cesar! Go off! Honestly he's got such a range, just in terms of his timbre and all the different ways he can sing! Breathy, gritty, smooth, soft, fierce, like even if he can't do vocal percussion or sing super low, he's still got so much hidden depth and abilities! <3 (Also the Patreon early access dropped around the time of Cesar's birthday, so happy birthday Cesar!)

Oh yeah and besides that tangent, the way Cesar sings "are you deceived?" sounds a little bit British to me? Especially the "are", just something about the enunciation of it, idk.

Hm, so in the second chorus of the song originally, it goes from "I'm only human" to "you're only human", but VoicePlay (Cesar singing it, specifically) keeps it as "I'm only human" both times. It could just be to keep things simpler and easier to remember, but I like to think that there's some hidden meaning that could be extrapolated from it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And again! Cesar with the killer vocal delivery! "Don't put your blame ooon meeee..." Like man!! Honestly I'm not sure if we've ever really heard Cesar sing quite like this (the closest I can think of right now is Valhalla Calling, but that had a bit more grit and might have been up an octave). Like yeah I know his role in the group is tenor and baritone, but like seriously, compare this to Lion Sleeps Tonight. Two! Different! Voices!

Layne's percussion comes in so smoothly and seamlessly, that I had a moment of like "oh wait, there's drum sounds now, when did that happen?" and I had to rewind to check! (It starts at the start of the "some people got the real problems" refrain)

Eli reminding us that he is the king of runs! (Also dang that first run actually went fairly low for Eli!)

I was a little disappointed that the "for making you cry" line repeat didn't end with a slide down into the basement by Geoff, but we did get a bit of a breathy growl(?) on the "cry" the first time!

"Some people out of-" yep, caught that the first time, didn't need to have the lyrics with me to know they replaced a word with a percussion fill! Kinda reminds me of their Thriller cover a bit in that regard (which was also a Geoff arrangement!)

Go off Anthony! Absolutely killing it with the tenor vocals! (Also at this point he sings "don't put your blame on me", even though the original lyrics for this section have it as "don't put the blame on me"

"I'm only- ... That's all it takes." It happened again!

Eli! King! Of! Runs!

Ooh! Subtle lyric change! Original lyrics say "should go lookin somewhere higher", but in this video it's "should go searching somwhere higher"!

Also only now on my second watch have I realised that while Anthony is going up on the word "higher", backed by Eli and Cesar, Geoff drops down, giving a bit of contrary motion! (I think that's the right term?)

Five part harmony!!!

Also I might not have gotten any subharmonics from Geoff in this one, but whatever he was doing at the end there, I felt that in my chest!

And Cesar getting the final line! Yes! Slay!

Okay, so that's Human (or "I'm Only Human", as I'm calling it, because I think it works better). This does beat Heavy Is The Crown for me (at least a little bit), and I know that's not gonna be a very common opinion, but eh, it is what it is. But regardless, there's still space for bigger and better things to come in the rest of the year, and I look forward to it! Except right now, I'm specifically looking forward to whatever Geoff has got in store for us next (which I had no clue about when I first typed this), and that's likely what my next main posts will be about! See y'all then!

[spearxwind]

hi alex! do you have any recs for songs that sound cheerful and upbeat but are about murder/violence/thrill of the hunt type stuff? kinda like the vibe of choke by idkhow?

OOhh I think I got some! It's not usually the type of song I add to my playlists so i probably have more saved than i know

I want you gone - cyan kicks (idk why I feel like this might fit. the jam is upbeat but the lyrics are sad/violent) insane - black gryph0n (listen i know its a hazbin fansong but trust me it slaps so fucking hardddd) Lights out (remix) - taska black/alioth/OSKI (I lost a dear friend and it was no mistake ?? sounds like murder to me. also this is a genuine earworm. The og version of this is more ominous this one is more upbeat) Praying mantis - FKA Rayne ( i fucking love this song <3333333333) Crazy fuckin robot body - snowblood (I mean. this one's niche cause. robot body. but hey if it works it works!) Another way out - Hollywood undead (we're hunting you down for sport sorry) Get jinxed - Djerv (Sorry for the league of legends but this one also slaps so hard and has for years) Killer - The ready set (A CLASSIC A CLASSIC THE MOST CLASSIC EVER) Kill[h]er - Stand atlantic (I think this one fits perhaps) Bruises - Fox stevenson (ANOTHER CLASSIC!!! FISTFIGHT!!) Fingernails - Don Broco (Idk if this fits but it feels like it does its a cool song and also the video is fun as fuck more bands need to do weird shit again) The blade chose me - rainbowdragoneyes (8BIT OMINOUS SONG ABT CONQUERING ITS GOOD!!)

EDIT: I FORGOT TO ADD THE BLADE CHOSE ME

And yeah as always if anyone has suggestions feel free to reblog/reply with them -w-

[a-ikus]

────────⌕ SEARCH: IO/SELFSHIPS-SUGURU

──────── you said i killed you. haunt me then.

n/a

FATAL FLAW;

n/a

COMPATIBILITY;

FEB 3 ☀︎ + MAY 29 ☀︎ — 95% 95% trust ✦ 99% intellect ✦ 60% emotions ✦ 99% values ✦ 80% sex ✦ 99% activities

n/a

SELFSHIP CODED POSTS;

n/a

what i want ~ gregor mcmurry

woo ~ rihanna

yoga ~ onlyfire

tear me open ~ slayyyter

dumbest girl alive ~ 100 gecs

bad idea right? ~ olivia rodrigo

pharmacy ~ isaac dunbar

serial killer ~ slayyyter

earworm ~ cottontail

torture me ~ 100 gecs

same ol’ mistakes ~ rihanna

[kckatie]

Tonight’s earworm: Queen - Killer Queen

[sweetestberryofthebunch]

13, 32 and 99? :)

Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

I love this song its suuuch a good earworm!

Mr Brightside - The Killers

Why … why is this here😩

Kiss with a Fist - Florence + the machine

I love her this is good I’m ok with this song being on here

Heeeey Lina heeeey

[shotattheshow]

[REVIEW] Bowling For Soup @ Rickshaw Theatre

By Jacob Zinn

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Bowling For Soup’s A Hangover You Don’t Deserve was released – but it’s even harder to believe that Friday was their first time performing in Vancouver since the 2003 Warped Tour, before their biggest album ever came out.

But the pop-punk stalwarts finally found their way north of the border for a series of Canadian dates, including a sold out headliner at the Rickshaw Theatre to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary.

[PHOTOS] Bowling For Soup @ Rickshaw Theatre

The temporary trio from Texas (founding lead guitarist Chris Burney is recovering from surgery) was joined by Insta-famous Long Island rock quartet Adam and the Metal Hawks and Rhode Island pop punkers MAKEOUT (formerly Trophy Wives) for easily one of the funnest shows of the year.

[PHOTOS] MAKEOUT @ Rickshaw Theatre

MAKEOUT got things started with a series of instant singalongs like “Childish, “Lisa” (to anyone named Lisa, they’re so sorry) and the ever-catchy “Crazy.” Guitarist Tyler Young and vocalist Kyle Dee warmed the crowd up from the front of the stage while drummer Scott Eckel kept a low profile in the back – all-in-all, an impressive opening set by the touring three-piece.

[PHOTOS] Adam and the Metal Hawks @ Rickshaw Theatre

From social media to the stage, AMH kicked off their set with the Rocky Horror Picture Show classic “Time Warp” and alternated between original tunes such as “Backwards” and “Fine Line” – all heavily influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Tenacious D – and covers of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.”

Then came time for Bowling For Soup – the 21-year wait was over! Going song for song, singer/guitarist Jaret Reddick, drummer Gary Wiseman and bassist Rob Felicetti launched into the came-up-short anthem “Almost” followed by headwear love song “Trucker Hat” and their biggest smash earworm, “1985.”

Touring on an album means playing it front-to-back in its entirety – all 17 tracks – and about halfway through, singer Jaret Reddick acknowledged that their set was inadvertently front-loaded by the album’s three hit singles. (Including the highlight of MAKEOUT taking over the onstage responsibilities during “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)” midsong.)

“This next song is my favourite song on the album,” said Reddick, referring to “Last Call Casualty.”

“I think it should’ve been a hit, but we had three or four other ones off this album, and we’ve already played them so you guys are going, ‘Fuck, shit…’ But here’s the thing, if you guys make it through this whole album, we’re gonna play more hits afterwards!”

And indeed they did! After peppering in some other AHYDD favourites like “Next Ex-Girlfriend,” “A-Hole” and “Smoothie King,” Reddick invited a lucky fan named Brittany onstage to spin a wheel for the next song – she crossed her fingers for “Emily,” and as fate would have it, the spin actually landed on it!

The encore rounded out the night with three of the band’s biggest early-to-mid 2000s throwbacks.

First up, “High School Never Ends” perfectly reminded us of the celebrity culture of its time, and how little has changed in the last two decades. Then, perhaps for some of the younger fans, they led right into “Today is Gonna Be a Great Day,” the Phineas and Ferb theme song – there were more than a few Perry the Platypus hats in the crowd so this was a big one, even for those who attended Punk Rock 101.

And, of course, the show wouldn’t be complete without the penultimate song about your high school crush on a goth girl with a choker, “Girl All the Bad Guys Want.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I hate goodbyes, but I do love the fact that we get to leave you… with THE BEST SONG EVER SUNG,” said Reddick before riffing into the finale.

But he also left the Vancouver crowd with some hope for a return sooner than later.

“It’s been a long time since we played in Canada, it’s been a long time since we toured here,” he said, “and I hope that we won’t take that long of a break again, it would be great to come back a time or two very, very soon.”

[musicarenagh]

Family Ties and Punk Vibes: Trueblood’s New Single Shines Hey music lovers! Trueblood dropped a killer new track called "I Like My Life The Way It Is" which is a total bop and you need to check this out - San Diego's own Trueblood! Now this - the band's actually a bunch of four brothers, including 12 year old Mason who actually wrote the song. How cool is that? A father-daughter duo, these guys teamed up with Homescool to make this pop punk gem about loving life now, not being stuck in the past. This super catchy guitar riff at the top of the song will make you think of Blink 182, until it becomes this awesome alt rock anthem. All that is there - Dylan ripping on guitar, Cameron killing it on drums, Ethan belting those vocals, Mason bringing that youthful energy. And trust me, that chorus is an earworm (you will be singing it for days!) What's cool about this track is that it really feels like you are 'live in the moment'. For a young Mason is has nailed what it is to be a kid in today's world. It’s kind of a big middle finger to all those ‘back in my day’ comments from old folks. Trueblood's been killing it on stages across California and it's not hard to figure out why. These brothers have some crazy chemistry and you certainly can hear it every note. It's a combination of technical skills and catchy melodies, a baby if you will, of Polyphia and Paramore. Bottom line? There is more to 'I Like My Life The Way It Is' than a song. In other words, trueblood's basically saying, "Hey, we're here, we're now, and we're loving every minute of it." If you’re into pop-punk or alt rock, you’ve got to hear these guys. Trueblood is going places and this track is just the beginning, trust me. Listen to I Like My Life The Way It Is https://open.spotify.com/track/1bsfx967bb5sAEnNQmnIru?si=X18bL0wsRj2qsrXEUo61hA Follow Trueblood on Facebook Instagram