#but dad is also going to be so sick of me playing one album over and over when i drive

[rragnaroks]

alright, bitches, i have been preparing, and it's TIME

you know what i've done? i've gone full 2000s and ordered the so much (for) stardust cd. and not listened to a single song but the first single before this moment

god im giddy with excitement

i've been listening to all the old albums, for the past 3 days it's been folie a deux on repeat everywhere i go. just now i've prepared my living room. i have refreshments. if i smoked weed i would be packing the bowl right now. i got the cd in the mail yesterday but mum was over for the night so i couldn't get the full experience yet, so i decided to postpone it, but right now. im about to start listening and im so. fucking excited i could vibrate out of my skin.

[unfixablebabyyy]

so i just read You and was obsessed w the perspective and also i just love getting a lil peak into dennis's brain so this is a something i wrote idk (also slightly inspired by that one meme of that anime girl lol)

(nsfw, minors DNI)

Dee's taste in... well, everything is absolutely abhorrent, but her taste in people is especially repugnant, which is why I can't fathom why such a striking creature would ever consider her a friend. What do you see in her? She's annoying and rude and abrasive, but you, you're none of those things. And I knew that the second I met you, but I had to be sure. So for the last week or so I've been doing a bit of research and it turns out, you really are just perfect- kind, smart, fun, absolutely stunning. Your only flaw lies in the fact that you're so incredibly naive. You leave your doors unlocked, your windows open, you always walk around the city with headphones on and your face in your phone. You're such an easy target. Don't you know how sick the world can be? But it's ok, it's not your fault- you're prey. Good thing I've got my eye on you. I'll protect you, even if it means you never go outside off leash again.

And now, as you sit across the bar from me, I can smell your perfume and I just want to drown in it, in you. You're half turned away, joking with Charlie as he throws darts, and from your side profile I can make out the tiny bumps of your nipples under your shirt. The past three nights you've come with Dee to the bar, you haven't worn a bra. You're clever, but not subtle. It's beyond cute. When you turn to me, I make sure my gaze lingers on your chest a second too long. I want you to know that I noticed.

"Hey!" I could never get tired of your voice. I need to know what it sounds like after a long night of crying.

"I.D., please."

You giggle. I've been carding you since the first night you came in, it's become a joke between us. Really, I just love reminding myself how young you are. When you hand it over, I brush my fingers against yours. I pretend to examine it and nod approvingly before handing it back. You grin, and this time, you brush your fingers against mine.

"Alright, what can I get you?"

You bite your lip, "Surprise me." Of course you want me to decide for you. I smile. I could surprise you. I could slip you something and we could have a night full of surprises. But not yet.

"You got it." And I know exactly what I'll make you- I saw the cranberry juice in your fridge and the vodka on your counter while doing my research. You were at work.

"Just don't make it too strong." Don't worry, I won't start making them strong until you're at least three in. Your eyes go wide as the song playing over the jukebox changes from some Dire Straits Mac had put on to Depeche Mode. "Personal Jesus". Kind of on the nose, but you won't notice.

"Oh my god I fucking love this song," you're so bubbly, and I know, I saw the album sitting on your record player. That's why I queued it up when Dee mentioned you'd be stopping by.

"I saw them when I was in middle school," don't forget, I'm old enough to be your daddy. I was in my twenties when you were born. You like that- I can tell by the way your cheeks get a little more pink.

"Ugh you're so lucky, I would love it if they toured again," I slide you your drink and smile.

"Well, if they do, I'll take you." Did your dad ever buy you concert tickets? I bet he did.

"Then it's a date," now you're really blushing, "or whatever." You're so sweet it's making me lightheaded. 'Or whatever'? So submissive. I imagine if I were to take a bite out of you I might get a toothache.

"It can be a date," of course it's a date. You bring your drink to your lips and sip and god I wish I could just reach over and taste you. You smile as you set it down.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think maybe you like me," Like you? Last night I was looking at custom dog bowls for the cage I'm going to put you in. I can't sleep at night without touching myself to the thought of cumming inside of you, marking you, making you mine. I don't like you, I want to cut you open and crawl inside of your ribs and hold your heart in my hands.

"You're adorable," I could rip you apart with my teeth. You cross your legs and readjust in your seat. Again, not subtle. I wonder just how wet you are. I mean Jesus Christ, all I have to do is look at you and I can practically hear that little lamb heart beating in your chest, and I can only wear this wool for so long. Sooner or later you're going to see the teeth and the claws. Maybe they'll scare you, maybe not. Either way, it won't matter when they're making you bleed, and judging by how red your face gets when I speak to you, I think you'll bleed easy. Bruise easy, too.

"Do you flirt with all of your sister's friends?" you're starting to get a little bolder. I lean in so that my face is inches from yours, like I have a secret. Your eyelashes flutter.

"No. Only you," I won't play your games, I want my intensity to bring you to your knees. The last couple of days have been fun- toying with you, making you wonder whether my charming smiles and compliments and gentle touches were platonic or not. But it's time to show you who's in charge. You bite your lip. I swear to god I can smell the pheromones on you.

It doesn't take me long to get you drunk enough to slip out the back door with me while everyone else argues over a game of pool. You really are such a lightweight. As the door swings shut behind us, I cup your little face in my hands and press my lips to yours. I don't want to. What I want to do is rip your clothes off and pull you to the ground and watch as the panic begins to rise when I slap my hand over your pretty mouth to muffle you. But that could be dangerous and I have to control myself. You kiss me back and slip your hands under my t-shirt where they roam across my chest, up my shoulders, down my back. It's giving me goosebumps and making it harder not to hurt you. I decide to test my limits. When I push you up against the rough brick exterior, I shove a little too hard and you yelp. But it only seems to make you want me more. So when I lean in to kiss you again, I bite down on your bottom lip, and you moan. Of course you're one of those girls. You love the abuse.

My hand finds your neck and you gasp even though I don't tighten my grip- I just want you to know I could- I want to. Someday I will- I'll choke you so hard and for so long you'll pass out, and then I'll smack your face until you wake up, just to do it again. I'll make you beg for the privilege of breathing. But not tonight. If I ever want to get to that point, I have to stay focused. Besides, just the feeling of my fingertips on your throat is turning you on- I can feel a wet patch forming on my knee where I shoved my leg between yours.

The heat of your body is making your perfume stronger and I feel like I'm going insane, like I'm on the verge of doing something depraved. You push your hand into the waistband of my jeans, then my boxers, and I can't help but growl when your fingers wrap around my cock. As you start pumping your hand up and down, I lose myself for a moment and dig my fingers into your neck. You whine, and when I release, I notice the dark red crescents my nails left on your soft skin.

It's best if I make my hands busy, so I work on the button of your pants as you continue to play with me. I groan into your neck as you squeeze me hard. Pretty soon I'm going to have to pin your wrists to the wall. When you do it again I bite your neck hard enough to serve as a warning and you quickly soften your grip as your jeans inch down just enough. Good girl.

You shiver as the night air breathes down the alley. I can feel your pulse in your cunt as I touch you over your panties. You're so pathetic, you easy little whore. I haven't even bought you dinner and you're already about to let me fuck you stupid next to a dumpster behind my bar. But I won't. I'm gonna make you beg for it. I want you to be so achy and needy for my cock you'll let me do anything to you. I can't fuck you tonight, you haven't earned it.

I sigh and retract my hand. "You're drunk," I press my lips into the crook of your neck and practically feel you deflate against the wall. "Why don't I take you home?"

"Oh," your voice is so sweet and soft, "ok."

I pull away and brush a loose strand of hair from your face before planting a kiss on your lips. Relax, angel. I'm not done with you. You pull your hand out of my pants and the absence almost hurts.

"My car's just down the street, I'll tell Dee you got sick," I brush my thumb across your cheek and peck your forehead before snaking my arm around your waist and leading you down the alleyway. At the end, before we step onto the sidewalk, you stop.

"Did I do something?" Your eyes are so big.

"Consent is really important," I lie, "I just want you to feel safe with me," it'll be all the more enjoyable for me when you realize you're not. My answer seems to satisfy you.

When we get to my Range Rover, you raise an eyebrow, "Nice car."

"Thanks, Frank bought it for me when I got into Penn," it doesn't matter if it's true, now you think I know how to take care of something for a long time. I've established my ability to commit.

"Jesus, isn't that Ivy League?" And just like that, you see that I belong to an elite community of scholars.

"Yeah."

In the Range, you begin looking through my CD collection, pulling out albums you recognize, asking about ones you don't. You like old music, old cars, old men. You mention that your dad introduced you to Christopher Cross, so of course I slip it into the radio and skip to Sailing and tell you it's my favorite, which is true, but I happen to know it's yours, too.

I pretend to be lost and ask you where to go even though I've made the drive at least 20 times in the last week. When we get to your place, I park the car right outside of the familiar front doors and look up at your dark window.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" you spread your legs ever so slightly. So obvious.

"How about I cook you dinner tomorrow night," you'll act like a whore when I say, first I've got to teach you some manners.

"When?" you don't want to leave.

"I'll call you." Get out.

You step out onto the curb and wave.

"Goodnight," I say and you turn and head in. I don't leave until I know you're inside, safe. In fact, I don't really leave at all. I park the Range a block away and walk back. Your light is still off, but even in the darkness, I can see you up there. You really should close your curtains, especially when you're inside, naked and panting, humping your pillow like a bitch in heat.

[lovehypegirl]

LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER (2)

SYNOPSIS: BEING MANAGER NAM'S TEENAGE DAUGHTER WARNINGS: NONE NOTES: NONE WC: 1.7K

In his opinion, you were easier to handle as a child since you were very predictable

He knew when you were hungry, when you were tired, when you were sick, when you were thirsty, when you wanted to play

But now you're a teenager, you weren't as vocal and a little more closed off

Until he got used to your new teenage mannerisms, he would have to ask you how you were feeling

Also, he did not put up with your attitude. He was a rather firm father and he had no problem with telling you when your attitude was out of line

"(name)" he said in a firm manner. "I'm not sure if my absence has caused you to think that you could act out of line but that is not what's going on" he looked you in the eye

You looked to the side trying to avoid his firm gaze "'m sorry". Your fifteen-year old self felt like a soldier under his disciplining gaze

"I know you are, so you need to change your behavior from now on, do you understand me?" he placed his hands on your shoulders

"Yes, dad" you nodded "I understand"

"Good"

He had placed you in martial arts from childhood and here you were in your teenage years competing

Whenever you stood in the center fighting against another teen your age he would always be giving you a critical eye and criticisms after your matches

But as always, he praised you. You were his daughter. The daughter of A.R.E.S' 'world class' fighter. His genes went strongly. No wonder you always won first place.

"Your arm could have been higher for your third block"

"Dad, this ain't a battleground...it's a martial arts match" you pointed your first place trophy at him

He ruffled your head messing up your hair "I know, I know. You did good, as always kiddo"

After Minjis kidnapping arc, his first idea was to make sure you never ran into Manager Kim, Jincheol Park, and Hansu Seong

Okay, so that didn't work

Apparently, you attended the same school as Dabin so Jincheol got a hold of you and told you that your father was in the hospital (he also included that he was the one who beat your father up)

Jincheol pulled him into the 'dad's-with-daughters-club' which Nam did not want to be in but really didn't have a choice since you don't exactly oppose Jincheol

You easily got along with Jincheol who was going on and on about how Nam had raised an amazing daughter who was mature and well-behaved and such and such and how he wished how that you were friends with Dabin and Jesus Christ his smile probably stretched over his face and around the world when you told him that you and Dabin had your duo

He went on and on about how much you looked like your father and how Nam should be proud of having a daughter like you

(They did apologize for beating up your father)

And GOD FORBID you date Taehun Seong, Nam would NOT be happy

I'm sure he'd live with it but would not like it. Like at all

"Really? Him?"

You blinked a few times "Were you expecting me to bring Choi San in through the door?"

"With how much you talk about him? Yes"

"Well- okay fair"

He doesn't really understand k-pop but he'll buy you albums whenever you ask, he'll get you everything you need for your photocards, he'll buy you concert tickets and whatnot

Anything to keep you from running your mouth about all the concepts he doesn't understand, granted he's an ex-mercenary

He loves you dearly, but he doesn't care about Wonyoungism. But he'll buy your skincare

Does he know what salicylic acid is and what it does? No, but he trusts you to know what you're buying

And although he loves you dearly, he DESPISES parent-teacher conferences (he's had a few of your female elementary school teachers hit on him before)

When he gifts you things for christmas it's gifts like vinyl, kpop albums, makeup (that you make a list for), new shoes, clothes, ect

But for your birthday, he gifts more precious items, as he sees your birthday to be of highest importance. He's gifted you Cartier, Van Cleef, and would have you

He encourages you to do what you want but there are some jobs he's restricted you from. Like the military. But he did allow you to join the JROTC since he thought it would push you towards ideas of valor and loyalty. He doesn't want you to end up like him, stuck in a mercenary group with killing everyone being the only way out. Doesn't matter if naval aviation is different from the AKL

"C'mon, I wanna be a pilot!" you said as you lifted yourself up and down on the counter in a vertical press-up fashion

"Then fly an airplane" he said nonchalantly

"I don't wanna fly a commercial plane! I wanna fly a fighter jet!" you leaned on the kitchen counter as he cut up the vegetables in precise pieces

"Doesn't matter, it's not happening pet"

"Ughhhh"

Imagine you're someone who enjoys true crime and you're sitting on the couch watching a particular gruesome episode of your favorite show while you're waiting for your dad to come home

You sat on the couch with your knees drawn to your chest as Chicago PD played on the screen. Your heard your father come in through the front door

You heard your fathers footsteps stop behind the couch as the tv screen showed the cops pulling a decapitated body out of the water and cutting to a scene of the decapitated head

"What on Earth are you watching" he said

"Chicago PD. It's getting good" you replied, not even turning around but keeping your eyes glued to the screen as they gave a close-up of the body

"Jesus. Whatever happened to Bluey or Kipper the Dog?" he asked as he tossed his suit jacket onto a nearby chair

"Dad quiet, they're examining the body" you held up your pointer finger to 'shush' him

He usually doesn't fuss too much over your grades (I don't think he did that well in school) but he just cares about the effort that you put in towards your grades more so than the result

When you were younger, you got a really bad grade on a certain subject so when you got out of school, you ran home and dug through your mailbox to find your report card and tuck it into your pants and you shuffled through the house heading through barricade "Dad" giving him robotic one worded response

You tucked the report card under your mattress and hid in your room the rest of the evening and shuffled downstairs for dinner

The entire meal you avoided his eyes and he had to bribe it out of you with cake and a trip to the zoo

He wasn't mad at you for the bad grade but he was disappointed that you hid the report card

You stopped hiding your report cards since your grades got better and in your teen years, you had no reason to hide report cards since your school had a website for parents to check on grades

Additionally, when you were little, he didn't know anything about what clothes little girls liked to wear so he bought what you pointed your finger at

You ended up with a leather aviator hat with goggles that you begged your dad for at the Intrepid in New York City, a baseball shirt, cargo shorts with a water gun tucked into your waistband

like this (You were also the pinnacle of Yotsuba from Yotsuba&! when you were a child)

or you would wear a tutu instead of shorts with knee-high socks with stripes and hot pink sneakers and it was fashion

In your teen years, he would just give you his card to shop with for all your clothes

Messy pigtails with bows that would be crazy lopsided at the end of the day turned into long hair pulled back neatly into a claw clip

Dirty fingernails from catching cicadas turned into perfectly manicured fingers wrapping your knuckles in tape after a match

Wet t-shirts from spending afternoons catching frogs turned into feet in the water while fishing with Nam in the summer

A portrait of you and him stood proudly on his nightstand. Him in his military uniform and you in your JROTC uniform. He looks at it every day and brought it with him to the A.R.E.S base

And cause you learn to fight, you've gotten into a few fights with girls at school who've tried to pour milk on you but you pulled a pocket knife on them

The car ride home was silent as Nam drove you back from school. Early pick up and a four day suspension. You poked at the leather of the BMW car seat mentally preparing for whatever lecture your father was going to give you He slowed the car down at a red light and let out a sigh The signature dad 'I'm gonna say something to scold you' sigh. Nam could swear up and down that he's never sighed like that until you came along "y/n" he began and you slowly looked over at him "If you were going to fight then you should've kept it under wraps. I thought that I had taught you to plan for damage control" "Um" how were you supposed to respond to that? "Now, I don't know what this girl did to make you lash out - so much so as you pulled a knife on her-" Nam said as the light turned green and he began to drive again "Oh please, it was a Swiss Army Knife. Those are lousy weapons" "Do you think the school board cares about that? Especially since "Her father is on the school board" "Her father is on the school board" You said as the same time "Yeah yeah" you waved it off. "He can't expell me I'm the best student AND! The school won't release this to keep their image good" you looked over at him "The only issue is shutting up the dad" you said as you pointed your finger at him "First of all, put your finger down. Secondly, don't change the subject - I'll deal with you at home. And thirdly, leave her father to me"

Tbh, he never understood half of what you did (or said) but you were his only daughter and he loves you so much

© 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙃𝙔𝙋𝙀𝙂𝙄𝙍𝙇 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 | modification and translation of my works on any platforms are strictly prohibited

[notkeepittogether]

Talking about Making Space

i dubbed this a concept album when i made it, but i think i misunderstood the definition at the time. i’d written a handful of songs during the year, which i had intended to release as an EP or an album, but most of the demos i had remained unfinished, even by december.

all of these songs are about my time in san francisco, over my birthday & also the christmas period in 2021. the plan was to go for my birthday, meet up with my friends, and have a silly time together. you may remember the great resurgence of covid cases that occurred in november/december of that year, which definitely plays a part in this. but keep in mind i had booked my flight in june.

admittedly, it was a stupid idea to plan a meetup with internet friends you made during lockdown, only a matter of months after said lockdown measures had been slightly relaxed. it was june and i’d figured things would be much better with the rate that things seemed to be improving and opening back up again. i had managed to avoid catching the dreaded illness up until that point, and i’d confidently gone in to take my fit-to-fly covid test two days before. but the night before my flight, my mum took a test of her own amidst coming down with what seemed to be a heavy cold, and when she called for me up the stairs with a panicked voice, i knew exactly what she was going to tell me.

i was faced with a tough decision. i hadn’t yet received the results of my fit-to-fly test but i realised i was potentially about to receive what i deemed would be earth-shattering news. i went to my dad’s place to spend the night and hopefully avoid catching the virus (if i hadn’t caught it already), mere hours before my flight. i told my friends that there was a chance i wouldn’t be able to make it, but even if my test was negative, there was still a chance that i had caught it and was still in the incubation stages.

we decided as a group that if the test was negative, it was probably better to just risk it and go anyway, rather than waste all the money i had already spent on getting there and staying there. so when the test came back negative, i went.

as you can probably guess from all this buildup, two days into the trip i developed my first covid symptom, and two days after that, i tested positive. i wasn’t the only one, though. we hadn’t thought in depth about what would happen if we weren’t able to get the negative tests we needed to get home. we had to extend the trip to accommodate for the ten day isolation period and to also let enough time pass by that we could produce negative tests again. this meant having to relocate to a smaller airbnb where we’d stay for christmas. what ensued during this period of isolation was what you might expect from four ill, stir-crazy, homesick people who had to spend christmas in a place with one bedroom in it. i won’t go into detail about what exactly happened, though - that’s what the album is for.

the album is the aftermath. the impact of this trip was still fresh in my mind and on my body as i had flown home on december 29th with seemingly worse symptoms than i’d had when i was actually sick with the virus. a delayed reaction (and probably a result of not sleeping for 36 hours on the journey home) with my lungs has flared up my asthma at the worst it had ever been. i was basically bedridden for the two weeks following my arrival home. i was feeling a lot of things, too. i had so many regrets - things i hadn’t said or done while with the people i was convinced i’d probably never see again, things i had said or done that i felt i had no control over at the time while my brain was at mercy to sickness and discomfort, making the decision to go while knowing the risks and bringing everyone down with me.

EDIT: we were also drunk for a lot of the time. i think that’s worth mentioning.

now, almost two years later, i don’t regret anything. (well, maybe some things.)

1. Making Space

this one’s very blatant in its lyricism. we, or at least i, was going completely stir crazy in this airbnb that had one bedroom in it. i was hating myself pretty intensely both during and after all of this had happened. i was rejecting the affection of all of my friends.

2. The Art of Texting

the year preceding this trip hadn’t been easy. i found myself seeking comfort in my friends who were willing to let me completely lean on them, so long as i let them do the same with me. this resulted in some unhealthy codependency that, despite the implications, i still look back on somewhat positively. how do you convey your deepest feelings to someone when all you can do is text or call them? (miscommunicate).

3. Understand (All the Best)

i came home feeling like i was broken. i had strong feelings, but they felt like the wrong feelings, and i regretted not letting myself get fully comfortable around the only people i’d ever been comfortable with.

4. Dunes

i believe it was on boxing day that i had finally had enough of being indoors. a friend and i went on a long walk down a nearby beach, at night, where we shared airpods (until they died) and listened to music out of a phone speaker (until it died) while walking up and down and climbing some of the sand dunes that had formed. it was the most peaceful i felt the entire time i was there.

the image for the album art was taken on this walk.

5. Are We Alright?

mainly focused on the aftermath of this trip - i had a lot i needed to fix once i got home. guilt was not enough. i was unthinkably cold. i had to wear gloves in my room.

6. New Year

written about the year of 2021 as a whole, and what i went through with my friends. i used this song as a general outlet for my deep desire to repair a friendship that i’d fucked up. i think it helped.

7. Bad at Talking

every single friendship i had was in a state of disrepair after this trip. i wasn’t entirely sure what everyone thought of me after meeting me in person for the first time and then immediately seeing me at my worst.

8. Late Again

i was feeling inadequate as a long distance friend, and also inadequate to fulfil life’s basic expectations of me. i wish i remembered the exact intentions i had as i was writing this. but the stuff about missing my train and being thirty minutes late to class actually happened.

9. Twin Beds

on my last night in san francisco, my friend and i shared a twin hotel room. it was the first time in a week that i had my own bed to sleep on. he floated the idea of sharing a bed and i thought it was both funny and outrageous.

i flew home the next morning, but two of my friends were hit with an endless stream of complications. one had such extreme delays due to weather that he missed his layover and had to spend an extra night away from home. the other found out that canada’s covid policies were different to that of the us and uk. they had to spend an extra two weeks(?) in san francisco, by themselves. i felt bad about how relieved i was to be at home while they still had not made it. part of me, now, wished i had stayed.

10. All the Best / Goodnight

reading these lyrics back, i’m transported back into the toxic mindset i was stuck in for a while after i returned home. i was struggling with a lot of self hatred, for a whole plethora of reasons, and i spent a lot of time wishing nobody knew me or thought of me at all now that i was painfully aware that people knew me and were thinking of me.

i still write songs about this experience today. i need to stop, but honestly it somewhat shaped me into the person i am now, unlocking desires and urges i didn’t know i had.

[sequestered-song-skirmish]

Round 1 Poll 63

Shoetown：　「Alright, strap in because my passion for this artist and song are basically unmatched! Cam Waters was a local legend when I was a small child, playing in crowded bars and small stages in my very hometown. I used to go to these shows with my parents and absolutely loved every minute of it, and when he died in 2009, my dad was close enough to him feature in newspaper articles about it and go to his funeral. This album has been a constant in my life. This song itself however, is the opening tack off of his 1998 album Shoetown. The "shoetown" in question is Red Wing Minnesota, a small city on the Mississippi River known as the home of the Red Wing Boots factory. The song takes a winding narrative, speaking on the people who live there and the activities that take place throughout the year. The rich vocals are accompanied by Water's skilled steel guitar strumming. This song is to me a warm blanket and the epitome of comfort. And its almost lost media I kid you not. I currently possess the only copy of every one of his CDs that I've ever seen. There are only three or so videos of him performing online, and only his final album before is death is on any streaming service. Every single person I bring this guy up to has never heard of him and then wants me to send them every song that I have ripped to my laptop. So, please, sit back, relax, and enjoy some small town blues with me!」

Star Sickness：　「So this is from an artist who averages about 10-25k on spotify but around 7-30 views for his topic page on youtube, and even on Spotify he only has 451 monthly listeners. This is a little suprising to me now since he's been the keyboardist for a relatively popular band (Franz Ferdinand) since 2018, but no one seems to know about his work except for hardcore fans of that band.

One really neat thing about his solo work is that ALL of the instrumentals and production were put together by just him. And it sounds great! He has a really soft and smooth voice that adds to the more personal nature of a lot of his songs.

This song seems to be his most popular and still only has 47 views on Youtube. It feels pretty spacey, fitting to title and the city night album cover, while also having a bit of a sea theme in the lyrics too. It manages to be atmospheric and have great buildup to the first chorus while still progressing quickly, I think it doesn't even feel that long despite being over 5 mins.

Overall I just think his work deserves more attention, you can barely even tell it was just one person working with what he had!」

[victoriabyrnearth101]

My favorite animal when I was a child was a duck. My dad and I used to go for early morning runs on the Erie Canal and pass by ducks in the morning sleeping or just waking up. I love them because they are cute and just mind their own business unlike geese which will chase you if you come anywhere near them. Something I found out about ducks is that they cannot feel cold in their feet because they have no nerves or blood vessels in their feet.

During the fall for some reason I am always in the mood to listen to American Authors. When I played travel softball in middle school and high school, my mom and I would listen to their album “Oh, What a Life” on our way to my tournaments. For some reason, that album always reminds me of fall. My favorite fall movie is the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown movie. I am a big fan of horror movies, but overall that is my favorite fall themed movie. I love Linus dispensing his wisdom on everybody, Peppermint Patty making Charlie play football, and Snoopy and Woodstock trying to cook the meal. It just puts me in the fall mood!

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was established in 2002, the year I was born. This is a very important act for businesses as it aimed to make financial statements more accurate and reduce fraud. It increased the standards for companies as the company leaders now are required to sign off on their financial statements, making them personally responsible if there is any material misstatement. This came about because of mostly the Enron scandal where the company was knee deep in fraudulent activities, as well as some other large companies that were doing similar activities. I found this interesting because this comes up a lot as an accounting Major, and these big accounting standards came into place the year I was born.

The song “You are my Sunshine” (the Norman Blake version) was my favorite song as a child. I absolutely loved this song and still do. I made my parents play it on repeat during car rides until they became sick of it. It really is a sad song, but I have always loved it. The lyrics “you make me happy when skies are grey, you’ll never know dear how much I love you” always made me feel comforted, even though it is a song about a man’s wife leaving him for another man. It is a song about unconditional love as the man is pleading to his wife to come home and he will spend the rest of his life trying to make her happy and love him. As a child I saw it as a happy and sweet song, and even though I now know it’s meaning, it still resonated with me in the same way when I hear it. To me it means unconditional love and not giving up on someone.

Attendance Prompt:

“Gold has always been the color of reverence and revered itself. Part of its allure lies in the mineral’s scarcity and uneven distribution. Although mines have been discovered all over the world, gold rushes mean that they are quickly exhausted and abandoned in favor of those that have been newly uncovered.” (Page 85, The Secret Lives of Color)

I chose this quote because it reminded me of the Taylor Swift song “Gold Rush”. It is one of my favorites of her songs because it relates to this concept of people flocking madly to something desired. The song is about a guy that all the girls are in love with, which is like how people treat gold. They see or hear that there is gold and they rush to make it theirs. The scarcity factor of gold also reminds me of the economic idea of scarcity. In economics we face scarcity of resources, money and time, so gold reminded me of that and how the limited supply of it makes it a good form of money.

[numetaljackdog]

what i'm listening to 6/8/2023 (song notes under cut)

spot. link//yt link

Laura Les - Haunted: haunted. by laura les.

Death Grips - Hacker: nothing super unique to say about it other than that it's genuinely just one of the best songs. like probably ever. we know this

Limp Bizkit - Clunk: smiles. it's me. clunk is nowhere near my favorite song on three dollar bill y'all but it's like. the best of the bad songs. it never could have been a single bc it doesn't have the strength and the hook is wimpy as fuck but i have fun with it :) i like the part where fred says clunk a bunch of times and i like the breakdown :) come closer i am normal about this album

Ada Rook - TRU U (Live at ELECTROPUNKz 2023): ah, rook's performance at electropunkz. another thing that i am normal about. i believe i've professed my love for the album this song is from before, so i'll save that ramble, but i had a lot of fun with the live ep here. and tru u is such a fucking banger i love every second of it, from the silly anime sample at the beginning to the little pause in the last chorus where the word "death" intrudes. i've said before: ada rook makes the music that i wish i made. this remains true

Danny Burstein & Jessica Hecht - Do You Love Me?: i've had Theatre on the Brain for the past week or so, which led me to listen to the soundtrack to a show that my high school did (although i didn't work on that show myself, i knew people who did). fiddler on the roof is a good show imo, and while i don't really feel qualified to talk about some of the more complex subject matter of a lot of the play, this song is relatively accessible and also drives me a little crazy. i just can't get over the careful, straight-faced profession of love between two characters who never considered before that their marriage might be anything more than a practical and social necessity. it's a tribute to the fact that sometimes love is unglamorous, sometimes it's really as bland as spending all your time with someone just because they're there and while that might not be the fairy tale we all like to imagine, it doesn't make the love worthless. tevye and golde SAY that it doesn't change a thing, but i don't think we're meant to believe them. it doesn't change their often grim material lives and daily realities, true, but i like to think that knowing there's love between them will make the rest of their days just that tiny bit sweeter. i'm so normal about this

Nirvana - Pennyroyal Tea (Live on MTV Unplugged): links to this post. it's just so crazy to me. we had five or so years of kurt cobain screeching the most agonized poetry the music industry has ever seen, cutting through the bullshit of shiny happy pop music and voicing the blood and death and sickness of an entire generation, and now they're just remembered as that one old band who did the song you hear people playing at guitar center. i command of you. actually really listen to this band, take the time to go through some deep cuts, listen to the weird little eps and bonus tracks and shit. there's so much to uncover. this song came on shuffle at one point and i just was floored by it all once again, so it's here as representative of the sentiment

Cab Calloway - St. James' Infirmary: i've been obsessed with an old betty boop cartoon that features this song, which i put in the youtube playlist. you might have seen a clip from it making some rounds on tumblr, but the full thing is worth a watch. cab calloway was known for his flamboyant performances, but all that energy takes on kind of a dark, unsettling tone when placed in the context of the moderately-fucked-up cartoon. good stuff

Billy Joel - Movin' Out (Anthony's Song): i've never been much of a billy joel fan but i've felt the need to explore more of his stuff after getting into this one. it came on the radio in the car and i was on an easygoing road so i got the chance to really LISTEN to it, y'know. like i've probably heard it in passing a million times, and my dad and i would always make fun of the "heart atTACK ACK ACK ACK ACK" part, but when i really listened to it... it's a damn good song! got that earnest, heart-aching singer-songwriter realness. who knew!

Skee-Lo - I Wish: TWO new todd videos since the last WILT, so you know that shit is making an appearance. i genuinely really love this song, i think it's so fun and creative with an *amazing* sample, i kinda wish skee-lo had gotten a little better than he did. you should follow my nu metal tournament blog, because i'm gonna put a bunch of other non-nu metal polls up when the bracket's done, and skee-lo is gonna make an appearance. i need more skee-lo warriors, basically. that rabbit in a hat thing is bullshit though

Caravan - The Dog, The Dog, He's At It Again: this is a find from charlotte charlottan's "Intro to Prog" playlist that i immediately fell in love with. it's so floaty and lovely, while managing to both gesture towards a wide variety of themes AND be catchy as all hell. it's good song, basically. i know nothing about caravan so that's basically it, but it's even got dog in the title :V

Parkway Drive - Boneyards (Live): it doesn't technically count as a repeat bc this is the live version!!!! i just love this shit so much. relistening to horizons after having not heard it for so long was such a breath of fresh air (this was like 3 months ago and i'm still talking about it lmao). i love the big stupid breakdown so much, boneyards has nearly permanently entered my rotation of songs to imagine myself performing. i also just love to imagine like. picture going to some punk or metal festival around the time horizons came out, and parkway is there, and your buddy is like yooo come on we GOTTA see these guys they fuckin kill live. and you're maybe not really familiar with them but you figure it's worth checking out. and they play this song and you're like damn yeah this is pretty good. and then the fucking breakdown happens!!!!!! i feel like you'd just be standing there and realize wow. i'm going to die in this pit. and that's really the feeling i'm pining for

Scatman John - Scatman's World: now some of you in the crowd may be familiar with our friend the scatman.... i've personally had my eyes opened to a whole slew of scatman hits that i never even knew about thanks to the enthusiasm of local scatman expert violet gec (hi violet!!!!!) and although this particular track is one i already knew of, i expect a lot of you might not know it. go ahead and take a step into scatman's world, baby! it's a beautiful place! and also the song will get stuck in your head despite your inability to mimic the sounds he makes!

underscores - Count of three (You can eat $#@!): i'm a pretty casual underscores fan, i just know songs here and there, but i do really like what i hear. count of three is SUCH an earworm, and i love a good "fuck you" song when it's done correctly. i also just appreciate the quality of the censoring job in the title. it's not perfect but there's effort... a lot of people just pick four random characters but here, $ obviously looks like S, # is similar to H, and so on. these are the kinds of things i think about

Bring Me The Horizon - AmEN!: continuing to ask the question of "what the hell are these guys doing ever and why does it sound good." first of all, we have to address the lil uzi feature. that makes... two? i think it's just two fuckin international pop stars that bmth have collaborated with. i mean, i know uzi is a rapper but considering rap's dominance in the pop sphere and their sheer popularity, i think i'm justified in calling a pop rapper a pop star. it's been said to death, but it's just crazy that these guys have become one of the biggest rock acts around considering where they started. as for the song itself, it's not like... my favorite? but it's cool, it's catchy. i don't find their lyrics nearly as impactful now as i did when 1. i was younger and 2. they wrote about suicide and nihilism and shit all the time. i guess the themes are still dark but it all just kinda washes over me now. i'm just here for the heavy heavy and the big chorus, and that's what i got. so i'm happy :)

Everclear - I Will Buy You A New LIfe: as you may have seen, i had a big sappy emotional moment for a few days at the end of last month, and that had me returning to my roots. post-grunge. a genre with no shortage of lame pop rock relationship tunes, including this one. i even made a playlist of sappy songs, of which this was one. i just like the idea of pledging all these expensive things to someone you love, but doing it as kind of a joke. like the sentiment is real, but you both know that's never gonna happen, because all you really have to offer is yourself. and hopefully that's enough. it's like if two princes by the spin doctors was less fun. i fuck with it mildly

Third Eye Blind - Jumper: that's right folks. not one, but TWO mellow and corny 90s rock tunes. i have nothing to say about this song other than that it's pretty good and, more importantly, you should watch the most recent trainwreckords video (told you we'd get both todd videos in here). i've even conveniently included that very video in the youtube playlist :) DO IT

Kesha - Eat The Acid: i listened to and enjoyed the new kesha album, but this single was definitely the song that stuck in my mind above all the others. it just made such an impression. even in her current era, i don't think i or anyone else expecting... this. it's very psychedelic, and while it doesn't completely deviate from pop by any means, i think it's a pretty bold step for her and i hope it pays dividends. i would be 100% down for more strange experimental kesha, i wanna see where this goes

Tina Turner - What's Love Got to Do with It: tina turner is featured on two WILTS in a row... if only the circumstances weren't so unfortunate. as i'm sure i said last time, she was a fantastic vocalist, and her biggest hit here gave her the space to really holler. i thought it was fitting as well to put this song right next to eat the acid, as both are the returning singles of women finally casting themselves free (or at least attempting to) of the figures that tied them down and abused them in the music industry. What's Love might reek of the 80s, but it's the good 80s. and for the record, i went back and listened to the full album and found a lot to like about it. RIP to a legend, for real

Roxy Radclyffe - YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME: another song whose presence is moreso indicative of a broader listening trend. i've been really interested in this artist's work recently, although i haven't had the opportunity to really dive headfirst in yet. i discovered her through a rym/bandcamp rabbit hole and was fascinated by the quanitity of projects she has running. i would recommend checking out her neocities and poking around, i've found some interesting stuff so far. definitely the kind of thing i think my crowd of oddballs on tumblr dot com could enjoy

[fratboykate]

Papi, you always ask us for prompts, but I was wondering if you would share some of your favorite little prompts/headcanons/whatever from any of the aus. And it doesn't have to be pages long, just whatever little ideas you have

let's see.......ill give you something for each of the ones i just made the thing for??????

FBAU:

-kate actually did convince yelena to have another baby after sonny but they lost that one too (like the one between alex and maks) and yelena was like "yeah...i cant go through that again. we're DONE done." it's probably the most painful loss they ever have. so much so they don't even talk about it. literally. often when they talk about the kids just the two of them they say "four" because they count the miscarriage after alex. but they never brought that up to "five". too hard. it's kinda like...not ever addressed. unspoken agreement not to. unhealthy? sure. but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to cope with shit.

PDAU:

-yelena is helllaaaaaaaaa streets smart but she didn't even graduate high school. she dropped out in like 9th grade or something. so when kate "summa cum laude at cornell" is like "mom, dad...this is my...girlfriend...not friend who's a girl...but like...y'know...she makes me limp on the reg after she fucks me silly...and she also was one of my clients with a mile long rap sheet...and people want to kill her...and she didn't graduate high school" to her rich ass parents that uhm...doesn't go well. but blondie eventually gets her GED cuz she's trying to impress her tol bae with like...bare minimum life accomplishments and kate is actually really proud.

MAU:

-at least once a year they all play hooky for a day. that's a rule. at least one day a year they'll wake up and be like "FUCK IT!" and everyone will call in sick to work/school. and they just have a day fucking around. just...being together. obviously ri started the tradition with yelena when she was little but it lives on all the way until lina (y'all always forget she exists but SHE DOES) graduates from high school.

BGAU:

-kate's most awarded album in her career and the one that had the biggest hits was the first one she released after the divorce. that shit slapped IN THE PAINFUL WAY. like..."cleaned up at the grammys" type of shit. and yelena just had to sit there and take it. knowing those were all about her. and she had to listen to them EVERYWHERE. not a fun time for yelena.

KYAU:

-the kidnappers have decided to keep baby nat and have now applied for full custody of the child. they've fed her and kept her alive for over a year now so...they go to court on monday LOLOLOLOLOL

[28whitepeonies]

Born in Doncaster, Tomlinson was part of the boy band One Direction, who sold more than 70 million records worldwide. After they split in 2016, he launched his solo career and returned as a judge to The X Factor, the show that launched the band. He has a son, Freddie, six, from a previous relationship with the stylist Briana Jungwirth, and lives in north London.

I’m not an early riser. When I was touring with One Direction, I used to wake up at 4pm as the adrenaline of being on stage and after-show partying meant staying up until 3am was normal.

I’ve been touring solo all year and the post-show energy is still intense, but I’m out of bed by midday now.

If I’m not touring, Doncaster is where my heart is, but I split my time between my house in north London and LA, where my son lives.

The first thing I do every day is have a strong coffee. I love a full English but I’m lazy, so I’ll probably have a bowl of cereal.

I’m very good at just watching shit TV all day, but if I’m trying to be productive I like to inspire myself by watching interviews with other artists I admire, like Arctic Monkeys or Liam Gallagher. It’s dead interesting hearing the way they think.

If I’m having a lazy day, I’m not gonna lie, I rate Bargain Hunt. I love it when someone pays well over the odds. I’ve not been invited to the celebrity version yet but if my career starts winding down one day, who knows? If I’m writing or recording, I’ll never start a session before 2pm. I’ve learnt not to get too carried away when a tune gains momentum. Sometimes you think it’s a f***ing banger, then you come back to it three days later and it’s not quite as good as you remember.

There’s a different sort of pressure being a solo artist, and the lows are lower on your own. In One Direction we made decisions collectively, but now it’s all on me. That also means the highs are higher. This year I did a concert in Milan in front of 34,000 fans. The adulation was almost overwhelming, but I could take all the credit — not just one fifth.

For lunch, I love a tuna sandwich with salad cream — not mayo — and some prawn cocktail crisps on the side. I’m a shit cook. I’ve survived on microwave meals for years, but I do feel sorry for my son — he must be sick to death of cheesy pasta.

I never work too long away from LA, so I see Freddie as much as I can. After my LA gig he came on stage and played the drums, which he loved. I think he assumes that it’s normal for everyone’s dad to tour the world performing.

Being a father has changed me but because my mum used to work nights and I was the oldest, the responsibility fell to me to feed, dress and bathe my younger siblings, so I’ve already had a parenting crash course. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t challenging, but it’s so rewarding too.

Social media has been really important for connecting to my fans, but I’ve got a funny relationship with it. It can be a toxic place and I’ve had some unhinged messages sliding into my DMs. I can’t keep up with these people posting 20 photos a day on Instagram, though, as all I’m doing is watching Bargain Hunt and that’s not that interesting.

If I’m performing in the evening, I have a double vodka and Red Bull to calm my nerves. When I was in One Direction, that pre-show ritual made me feel like a rock star. It just gives you such a great f***ing feeling on stage. I’d love to say I don’t get more nervous if I know Harry [Styles] or any of the other boys are in the crowd, but I do. You want to give your best.

When I come off stage I need five minutes to decompress, but I’m still buzzing so normally a big group of us will go out. I won’t be touring like this for ever, but while I am I want to have all the fun I can. That usually ends at about 3am with me crawling into my pitch-black bunk on my tour bus before we start the whole process all over again the next day.

Tomlinson’s album Faith in the Future is out on Friday on BMG

Words of wisdom

Best advice I was given

Always be a student of music

Advice I’d give

Have faith that if you’re not happy with where you are, eventually you’ll be all right

What I wish I’d known

Make the most of the lack of responsibility that youth brings, as being young won’t last for ever

[vintagepresley]

On the topic of Elvis i’ll say my story on how i became absolutely infatuated,

I’ve heard Elvis my whole life, my dad played him (and continues to do so) basically every day and as a kid i found it really annoying, especially because my aunt and her husband were obsessed with him too. I’m talking going to their house basically looked like an Elvis shrine and still does now.

Anyway i never really payed much attention to Elvis growing up since i found him annoying at how much he was played around the house, I’d actually never seen him in his younger years, just the late 70’s so child me thought ‘whats all the hype about this dude?’

Then in June 2022 i think the most exciting thing for me was going to see Harry Styles in concert, and i kept hearing about the Elvis movie and Austin Butler and i kinda shrugged it off, especially because of the whole tangent about Austins ‘Elvis’ voice.

I remember the soundtrack coming out and i really liked the eerie sounding suspicious minds snippet on the album and played it on repeat, but i kept insisting and refusing that i liked Elvis, i just liked the song since i’d never heard it. (Jailhouse rock, way down & all shook up were the most i knew, my family used to have a talking fish that played all shook up lmao)

I went to the concert and got extremely sick afterwards to the point i was in bed for a week, i decided to take that time and see what the hype was about on the Elvis movie, so i waited for it to come out and watched it on an illegal website since I couldn’t go to the theatres.

To say i was obsessed with it immediately is an understatement, i fell in love with it the first time i watched it. At first it was the clear infatuation i had with Austin and his performance that pulled me into the hectic Elvis world, and that progressed and progressed to the point in June and July alone I’d probably watched it over 20 times, unluckily i never got to see it in theatres though, I’m sure it was magical on the big screen.

Later on i started watching Elvis performances and was impressed at how amazing Austin did, i pretty much watched every Austin interview, made an edit account (y’all will never find that.) and that summer was one of the best summers of my life.

In the end it progressed into me being absolutely enthralled by Elvis and Austin, i began watching every Elvis movie i could (i still have a few to watch) watched everything austin was in and was shocked when i’d already seen him on icarly and aliens in the attic.

And here we are, over a year later and i’m still absolutely obsessed, (hopefully for more years to come too, also i think the watch count on that movie is now over a hundred no joke.)

My wall is covered in pictures of them both, my keychain is Austin as Elvis and a TCB pendant i got from the exhibit, i have a picture of Elvis in my purse/wallet, a music box that plays cant help falling in love, a light up multicoloured Elvis light, an austin candle, Elvis books, Austins favourite book (or one of them; what we talk about when we talk about love) a tote bag of Elvis from the exhibit, an Austin graphic shirt..safe to say it’s a little concerning..

Girl it was just a sign for you to be an Elvis fan especially with being around him so much because your dad loves him! It was meant to be bestie! I love your story!!! I love that you walked away with an obsession for Austin and Elvis. 🥺

I can relate like he’s taken over my bedroom by this point. He drains my back account. But as one of my good friends once said..

Money is temporary, Elvis is forever. 😂

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

its funny cause i give my parents updates on this tournament, and the only frame of reference they have is the bands/people i'm into generally. (my mum says "well, you should be glad i don't know who you're talking about because that would mean i'm trying to be hip and cool" lmao). anyways

i think its soooo funny because like. my parents obviously know who oasis is. i have a poster i got from knebworth 22 in my room (place of pride for real), and i've played them in my care a LOT. my mum has a very vague idea of who HIM is because i've got a shirt for them (heart pentagram is such a sick design and i will die on this hill). i showed the two of them to my mum and she was like "obviously liam. the other one looks too much like a girl." and on one hand it was like "you don't understand." but on the other hand, validation. cause like. yeah. liam's gorgeous obviously. but then like. i showed her other picture of ville valo cause i totally voted for him (i'm so sorry liam but how could i not) and she GOT IT.

anyways, dad's upset mariah carey won because "she sings that hideous christmas song and anyone is better than her" and also, he's of the opinion that i should have immediately wanted to vote keanu reeves instead of holding out until i knew who he was up against (still not over liam vs. ville valo the ultimate betrayal and sadness lol)

dad's opinion is also that axl rose should win the next round solely based on the fact that he knows who he is, but really, what does he know, cause he made fun of me rooting for jarvis with my entire being.

idk where i'm going with this sorry. i love this tournament, and hilariously i'm more invested in this than the original bracket, but that's cause my most beloved albums got eliminated soooooo quickly (seeing the same in the 2000s bracket and i tell myself that my taste is just more niche rather than bad)

-from the very tipsy anon that sent something in quite awhile ago. very sorry that you only get these very long winded anons when i've had a few

n.e.ways. this blogs great and i got a kick out of you saying you'd integrate the trent reznor fuck or be like teenage girl thing into your belief system.

also, i agree with the anon that said than radiohead man aged real nice where as damon didn't. given, i last saw him with a mullet, and thought he aged like spoilt milk, but radiohead man (remembered his name Thom! aged real nice)

also, as much as creep is like the stereotypical radiohead song and kinda considered overplayed, it UNDERSTANDS ME and also me as a teen. props to him. idk if i can bring myself to vote for him though (not cause he's kinda weird looking - odd looking people are HOT ok) but cause i had a devestating crush on a guy who was obessed with radiohead and he literally told me that i give off "emotionally unavailable vibes and its cool to make friends with someone so similar to me" and it ruined me emotionally for a good like 5 months)

also, props to oasis for having supersonic as one of their top songs, cause hell yeah Give Me Gin and Tonic! literally my drink of choice lmaooooo

once again, very sorry for very long anon, had another g+t while writing this (that makes 6!)

have a very good evening! i adore this blog! and i think youre hella cool and i could never imagine trying to rum a tournament and answer all the asks that you do (there's reason i'm anon unless i have the amazing urge to send pics in aid of my very special blorbo)

<3

omg no this is lovely actually

Apparently my blog has already met the parents?? I'm so proud ahaha and your parents have some of the funniest takes. I love reading these long asks, it's like a sneak peek into the minds of my viewers and honestly means the world to me. Enjoy your gin and tonic, anon, and a wonderful evening to you as well <3

[berrymilkwithsugar]

Strengthening bonds. (Homestuck)

A/N: I haven’t written a fic like this in a long time, my bad if I’m a bit rusty. This is also purely indulgent so sorry if it’s a bit ooc. Otherwise enjoy. Tw for swearing.

The scent of vanilla filled the air, music was playing softly in the kitchen as Mr. Egbert was preparing another cake. It was his son’s birthday after all, so he felt like this is the perfect time to bust out the Betty Crocker cake mix and slave over a hot oven. Time consuming yes, but he didn’t see anything wrong with spoiling John with cakes.

Despite it being abundantly clear that over the past few months John and him have started to grow distant from one another, maybe he was overdoing the fatherly doting, or maybe he wasn’t spending as much time with him anymore. The oven’s timer begin to beep snapping Mr. Egbert out of thought, he quickly put on some oven mittens and removed the fluffy cake. He placed it on the rack for it to cool down. Glancing over at the photo of him and a six year old john on the wall, he sighed.

Oh what he’d give for them to rekindle their father son relationship.

Maybe they could go to the Dadly depot, no John would get bored rather quickly. Make a cake together? As much as he would love for him and John to do that, John might not be as enthusiastic. God what can they do. He grabbed the now cooled down cake and removed it from the tin, he then begin to apply the fluffy vanilla icing. While this was nice, he still couldn’t rattle an idea in his brain on how to bond with his son.

Once the cake was finished he decided to walk to the living and look through the photo album for as a guide, flipping page after page, he felt like he was hitting a dead end until he saw one photo where it showed him tickling a little John on his tummy. Mr. Egbert smiled at that memory, John was around four year’s old and refused to go to bed, so he had to pull out the “tickle monster” to tucker the little tike out. It had become a bedtime ritual for the Egbert’s whenever John wasn’t keen on clocking in for the night. Not that Mr. Egbert was complaining, his son’s bubbly laughter always left him with a smile on his face.

Wait.. that’s it.

The sound of rapid typing can be heard from outside John’s bedroom door. Presumably chatting with one of his friends. Slowly Mr. Egbert opened the door quietly, glancing over seeing fake arms in his son’s cake. “Well, that’s one way to decorate a cake.” He mumbled under his breath. He cleared his throat, startling John a bit. “Dad what the fu— I mean what the frick?!” He said as he quickly exited out of pesterchum. “Sorry, I’ve just wanted to see how you were doing.” His father’s voice was calm and soft, causing John to ease up a bit and sigh “I’m fine, just chatting with friends… stuck fake arms into a-“ “The cake.” John’s father cut him off. John tilted his head to side before glancing over to the cake. “Oh, well. I was getting sick of cake.” He admitted, a frown donned Mr. Egbert’s face as he sighed and shook his head. “You could of just asked me to store it in the fridge for later.” He mumbled, “But never mind that now.” He waved his hand “I wanted to ask you something.” His expression turned stoic.

“Do you hate me?” Mr. Egbert pondered, John was taken aback by the question “Wha-What? No!! Why would I?” How could his dad come to such a question. “Well, it’s just that we’ve.. seem to grow rather distant over the past few months. I understand it’s normal for there to be teen angst but I didn’t think it would effect our father-son bond this much.” Oh that’s how.

John was astonished, was he actually acting that bad? Sure his dad can be a pain in the neck from time to time but he didn’t think he would chalk it up to John hating him. “Dad..” he reached his hand towards his dad before pulling back and looking down. Shit is it really this difficult for him to find the words to help comfort his father. Just as he was about to speak, his dad began to speak. “So I decided that it was long overdue to reintroduce you to an old friend.”

John gave a quizzical look as he got up from his seat. “You have a guest over?” He asked, Mr. Egbert took a step forward prompting John to step back. “Yes, and and I think you know him quite well.” John tried to rack his brain to see if there was anyone his dad could be referring to. “He used to visit you when you little, when you had those nights where you refused to go to bed.” Once that sentence slipped from his father��s mouth, John’s eyes grew wide in remembrance. No.. there’s not way he’s actually-

“Dad.” John took a few steps back, raising his hands in defense “D-Don’t even think about it.” A wobbly smile formed on John’s lips, “I-I’m beheheing serious.” He said through nervous giggles. Mr. Egbert cocked a brow. “Dad? Who’s this Dad you speak of? I’m the tickle monster!” Mr. Egbert then shot his hands out only for John to dodge them, he tried to run past his dad only to pulled in a hug from behind.

“D-Dad wait-“ But it was too late, his father’s fingers were dancing around his rib cage, causing John to bite his lower lip to stifle giggles. “D-Dahad c-come ohohon I’m nahat a little kihid anymore.” Mr. Egbert smiled at his son’s fruitless attempts to muffle his laughter. “Oh? You’re not? Hmm, well I guess you wouldn’t react if I did this.” He switched over to John’s sides, breaking the dam as sweet laughter filled the room. “Ohohoh gahahahad!” John tried to pry his father’s hands away from his sides, but the man was too strong. Mr. Egbert smiled at his son’s melodious laughter, sounding so carefree and lively, and his reactions to different spots was the cherry on top.

John’s laughter reached an octave as his dad went for his tummy, “WAHAHAHAHAIT NAHAHAHAT TH-THEHEHEHERE!” He squealed, instinctively backing away from the tickles only to further pin himself to his father’s chest. “Aw what’s wrong, is your wittle tummy to sensitive.” He teased, John’s face burned a bit brighter. “IHIHIHIHIHIHIHI’M NAHAHAHAHAHAT A BAHAHAHAHABY!!” John protested against the teasing. God why did those work on him. “Oh does the wittle baby hate the teasing, does it make the tickles worse?”

Okay now John was convinced his face is on fire. Or at least it had a color to rival the Betty Crocker spoon. “YEHEHEHEHEHEHEHES- HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOLY FUHUHUHUHUHUHUKING SHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!!!” John cackled as Mr. Egbert let out a gasped at his son’s profanity. “My my, such a filthy little mouth, I think this calls for a punishment don’t you think?” John felt himself being picked up bridal style before his father sat down, placing him on his lap. John took this moment to catch his breath before he felt a hand picking up the hem of his shirt. He froze and panicked “Dad! Wait please, I’m sorry just don’t do that!” He begged.

Me. Egbert pretended to be deep in thought before he took a deep breath and place his face over his son tummy, causing John to squeal. “W-WAIT WAHAHAHAIT!!” Mr. Egbert grinned at this “I didn’t even do anything yet and you’re already laughing up a storm.” John opened one of his eyes to look at this father, huh guess he wasn’t-

Right when his guard was down, Mr. Egbert bent back down a blew a large raspberry on John’s belly, causing the thirteen year old to shrieked. “NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE NAHAHAHAHAHAT FAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAIR!!!” Tears of mirth began to roll down the bespectacled boy’s cheeks. “All fair in love and tickles.” Mr. Egbert quipped before blowing another raspberry only this time it was directly on John’s belly button. “*Snort* NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD *Snort* PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE *Snort* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” There it was, that snorty laughter Mr. Egbert knew and loved.

He decided to let up on the boy, using his thumb to wipe away the tears from his’s son’s cheeks. John giggled as the ghost tickles were still in effect. John took off his glasses and wiped his eyes before looking at his dad, who had a smirk on his face. “What?” John tilted his head in confusion.

“Oh nothing, just during all of that, you never once told me to stop tickling you.” John froze, Christ he was right. “W-Well.. um..” John stammered a bit. “You must have really liked it.” Mr. Egbert ruffled his hair, John pouted and crossed his arms. “Okay NOW I hate you.”

“Watch it.” Mr. Egbert gave a warning pinch on John’s side. “I’m keen on having round two if that’s how you’re gonna act.” John stuck his tongue out. “Only if you catch me old man.” With that John quickly got up and sprinted out of the room, giggling as he did so. Mr. Egbert smiled as he shook his head. “You may not hate me, but you’re still gonna get it.”

Soon with Egbert household was filled with laughter once again.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II

I slept on Wayne for too long. I suppose he was hitting his stride when I was barely a high schooler, but I have no excuse for not checking out his backlog sooner. Tha Carter II is a solid contender for his best work and represents a huge jump in quality from his previous work. That's not to say Tha Carter I is bad, far from it, but Weezy completely and utterly destroys the competition on this one. Behind the laid back lazy vibes there's a lot of highly technical shit happening in the verses here. Weezy can maintain a rhyme scheme well past when a normal person would have run dry and the multisyllabic patter is layered into the rhymes until he's practically juggling rhyme and rhythmic ideas. The ability to glide from laid back to intense staccato flow and from lazy to frenetic pace is an amazing achievement. When Lil Wayne declared himself the best rapper alive he was not kidding. He sincerely was one of the best rappers alive.

Mobb Deep - The Infamous

For people that are not already big hip hop heads this album is a bit of a hidden gem. It came out among a scene that was reinventing hardcore hip hop on the east coast, but didn't quite achieve the long term success of Enter the Wu Tang or Illmatic. Possibly the starkness is slightly to blame. There is no time for goofy skits and even the bravado isn't in the name of fun, this shit is serious. There's less individualist bravado here and more 'none of are gonna make it unless we all work together' vibes. East coast hip hop has a few notable hallmarks and my favorite is the oh so predictable inclusion of what I like to call "haunted piano". This tends to lend a more serious, stark sound to east coast hip hop as opposed to the funkier west coast. In the case of The Infamous these stark beats and dead serious subject matter make for an intense experience. Plus the features by Nas, Q-Tip (who also produces), and half the Wu-Tang crew make this album a who's who of east coast rappers.

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

When the Beatles broke up John and Paul started their solo careers and Ringo went back into the Ringo box or whatever. George Harrison however had an ace up his sleeve. While John and Paul had been stealing the limelight he had just been writing a billion fucking songs and so his solo debut is a triple album. Surprisingly there is very little of the psychedelic raga influenced ramblings that you'd expect, instead Harrison seems to have gotten interested in country and blues. And it really works! There is of course a fair bit of psychedelia, My Sweet Lord was the big hit after all and the title track is pretty psych too. But imo the album's strongest moments are after a reprise of Isn't It A Pity where he just spends the rest of the album doing extended bluesy hard rock guitar jams.

Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late

Listen I'm such a fucking hater for Drake. So it pains me to say that this album isn't a complete dumpster fire. It is still impossible for me to take Drake seriously as a rapper but hey at least he's trying to actually rap right? I think this might actually be enjoyable if it was pared down a bit and if the beats were punched up a bit and if someone other than Drake rapped over them.

Aerosmith - Rocks

I'm gonna start being known as that girl who will go to bat for mediocre dad rock bands aren't I? I like Aerosmith, they genuinely nail the stupid guitar god machismo of the 70s. The guitars can scream, the drums go wild, and Steven Tyler's camp ass voice feels completely unrestrained. All they have to do is keep up that energy and they do. When Last Child started playing I legitimately air guitared to that sick ass riff.

Madvillain - Madvillainy

MF Doom and Madlib were a match made in hip hop heaven. Madlib could flip a sample better than anyone in the industry at the time and the esoteric nostalgic beats were the perfect accompaniment for Doom's supervillain persona. Doom's rapping is at its peak here, pretty much take every good thing I said about Wayne's technique and turn it up to eleven. Faster, effortless, deliberately sloppy, mumbly yet perfectly enunciated. Rhymes in rhymes in rhymes are stuffed rapid fire in a minute and a half what would take other rappers four. Doom's GOAT status is unassailable. The thing is that Madlibs beats are so incredible that if you just removed Doom from this record it would still be an amazing listen. These two are just so incredibly individually talented musicians that also happen to be the perfect fit for each other.

[navysealt4t]

blue blue blue, tell me all about your show i wanna hear it all!!! (obviously if you don't want to you don't have to but ya know... <3)

YESSSSSS ID LOVE TO :))))

god the whole show was so much fucking fun :) i’ve complained quite a bit about my munchkin coroner costume because that skirt PERSONALLY hated me, but once i got a tighter clip on the waste it works great :) it’s so much fun to twirl in in poofs out like 4 times my width it’s amazing.

the show was just so so much fun. in the poppies scene (where the wicked witch curses the poppies and dorothy falls asleep but then glinda comes and saves everyone) goddddd i love the poppies scene it looks amazing… the poppies has these HUGE red paper flowers that looked amazing and they were attracted to our hands. the poison were dancers and had big clothes they threw over dorothy and lion and tin man. the snowflakes!!! we’re in lil white leotards and tutus and had buckets of white glitter they threw as snow!!! and all the snowmen had white tuxedos ! that song is the closing of act 1 and almost everyone is one stage it is the best i swear!!!!! i’m a poppy and i had so much fun :)

one day one of the snowflakes was too sick to come and I COULD HAVE BEEN A SNOWFLAKE I WOULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY FUCKING LOVED IT SOOOS O MUCH :( but my friend who is the other snowflake didn’t ask me </3

OH MY GOD!!!! in the dressing room girls always played music to hype us up and just to make noise lol! and and one day they played anastasia the musical…. that was the show they did last year and it was what convinced me to go to this school :) the entire dressing room was singing along and bc i listened to the album for like 3 months on repeat after watching the show i knew all the lyrics!!! it was fun :)

ALSO OHG MY GDO. so. closing night. everyone was sobbing right. lots of tears and hugs and being nice :( i hugged so many ppl last night even ppl i never talked to. and fucking!!! the senior who plays scarecrow came up to me! and and he’s rlly cool he’s so fucking cool and he was saying he loved my solo soo much and that during the rehearsals he would also dance along with me on the sidelines ! and when he was doing his change in the dressing room he’d be like “yes sing it blue!” AND FUXKING. bro told me i have an amazing voice and to keep doing theatre and singing and i just :(((((( aAAHAGSGGHGHH. yknow. when i get a genuine compliment about something i rlly care about…. i go insane.

sorry i’m kinda mentally i’ll i cried so much last night and today :( i’m gonna cry so much through out the week it’s gonna be so weird going home and not going to the theater on wednesday….

ALSO. god i have so many stories. a senior and sophomore (who plays toto!!) drove me home after a show when my dad couldn’t and we all sand theater songs together and :) i got home at midnight but it was so so much fun :) i got to duet with the senior on ‘seventeen’ from heathers bc she always sings tenor and male parts it was so much fucking fun :)

sorry lmao i’m going crazy if u wanna hear more i have sooo much lmao

[cryptidsurveys]

Sunday, July 14th, 2024.

Have you ever left your front door unlocked all night? It's probably happened at some point.

Do you prefer cold or warm weather? Pleasantly warm weather is fine, but I do tend to prefer the cold.

The last advertisement you saw: What was it advertising? I think it was for car insurance or something like that. I just skipped past it without really paying much attention.

Do you prefer bar or liquid soap? Liquid. It seems more sanitary.

Do you wear any perfumes / colognes on a regular basis? I don't. Strong smells often trigger my migraines…along with pretty much everything else about being alive.

Do you have high or low self esteem levels? My self-esteem levels are somewhere in the middle these days. Not despairingly low, but not yet healthily high either. I think it also depends on the situation - sometimes I'm more confident in my abilities, more comfortable with the company, etc; but other times I feel out of my element.

When was the last time you listened to a song on repeat? What was the song? I haven't been listening to any single song on repeat, but I have been listening to the Precession album by Fifty Dollar Dynasty lately.

How do you feel about being in the house alone? It's peaceful, but there does come a point when a sense of dreamy unreality sets in and I would prefer to have the company of my dad.

What was the last compliment you received? I suppose this counts as a compliment… I was getting ready to leave the animal shelter earlier and Alex was like, "thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." Lucy was scheduled to work today, but she didn't show up. She didn't show up yesterday either. Last Sunday, after I left, I guess Lucy was asking Cassie, "how mad do you think they'd be if I just walked out?" because she wasn't feeling well. Ofc Cassie was like, "wtf, don't you dare, today is my half day and they'll make me stay if you leave." Far be it from me to judge how someone's feeling (if you're sick, you're sick; I'm not going to play the comparison game), but there was also this ~vibe~ about it, like she was just kind of over it. Couple that with her not being there this weekend and…idk whether she's sticking around or not.

Anyway, all that meant Alex had to come in on one of her days off, and things are just kind of a mess lately, and…ugh. I feel for her. She's such a hard worker, always on top of everything, super reliable…so ofc she's the one they're going to call, and ofc she's going to show up. However, she did say that everyone she's talked to wouldn't blame her if she quit, so…I guess it's just a question of when her work ethic + sense of duty + personal pride are surpassed by how done she is with the whole situation. It's part of the reason Amy quit a few weeks back. Orlyn was injured and out for a while and ultimately decided not to come back, so they increased Amy's days/hours to make up for it. I think it was originally supposed to be temporary, but they seemingly forgot about that and let it drag on until Amy spoke up about being burned out (which made them mad?!). Eventually, she got fed up and left. They've just been super short staffed lately, among other things, and it's slowly taking its toll on people. Oh yeah, and Diane is going to be gone for a few days around the end of the month and it's just like...wtf are they gonna dooo...???

Do you like mint or orange flavored chocolate? I like both.

How often do you get spots? Like, pimples? It goes in cycles. My face will clear up, then get really bad, then clear up again…I'm starting to think it might be hormonal.

Do you believe that when your ears burn someone is talking about you? I've never had that experience before, but no, I don't believe that's a thing.

Are you a good host when visitors come over or do you wish they’d leave? We don't really have people over; but when I'm out with others, there's definitely this pull to get back home.

When was the last time you burnt your mouth from eating something too hot? This morning. I was rushing to eat my oatmeal. It was just a slight burn, though, nothing serious. Not like that time I caused a huge burn-bubble to form on the roof of my mouth. D;

What is your favorite foreign language to listen to? (In music or speech) Maybe Japanese for speech and Swedish/Icelandic for music.

Do you prefer instrumental songs or ones with lyrics? I like both.

Name something simple that makes you happy. Delicious iced coffee on a hot afternoon.

What is your favorite instrument to listen to? Guitar or violin.

Pick one: Books, movies or music? Books.

Do you carry a bag around with you often? What does it look like? Yeah. It's just a gray backpack.

Do you like your natural hair color? I'm fine with it.

Do you delete your emails / texts often? I don't bother deleting e-mails, but I will delete texts occasionally.

What was the last book you read about? It's the third book in the Dune series. I feel like I would have to explain the plots from the first two books in order for it to make sense, but I'm just too lazy.

What color are the walls in the room you’re in? White and peach.

Did you dress up last Halloween? As what? I didn't.

Do you have any old friends who you still kinda speak to but it’s awkward? No.

Name one of your favorite memories. Backpacking memories with my dad.

Are you a polite person? Yeah.

When was the last time you used a quote from a movie in real life? I'm not sure.

Have you ever used a chat-up line that actually worked? No.

Can you put your legs behind your head? No.

Do you forget things easily? Small things. Like, on any given day at the animal shelter, I'm bound to forget something.

The last song you listened to: Did it have a male or female vocalist? Male.

Is the heating on in your house currently? No. The swamp cooler is on, though.

Do you often find toothpaste too minty? No.

Have you ever had braces? Do you need them? Yeah.

Are you a subscriber to any magazines? Which? No.

What does your voice sound like? (Loud, quiet, high pitched, etc) It depends on who I'm talking to, but my "normal" voice is medium-pitched and can be somewhat loud, especially if I'm excited or passionate about something.

[xxmolls]

Since I’m posting a lot of PJ Harvey tonight, I’ll share one of my PJ Harvey covers.

I recorded this in 2011. I was 21 years old and incredibly sick with (at the time) an unexplainable illness.

My Tourette’s had increased greatly in severity. In addition to my tics, I was having full body pseudo - seizures. My constant uncontrollable movements made it very hard for me to function.

I also had a bad “foot stomping” tic. I would stomp my feet so hard and so frequently, my doctors were afraid I was going to shatter my feet and leg bones so they insisted I not walk or stand anymore.

I found it very hard to communicate with my constant vocal and breathing tics, so I didn’t speak much.

I had just decided to leave college after my junior year to focus on my health. I was spending my days and nights living in my parents’ basement, often lying on a bare mattress (my tics made it impossible to keep a sheet or blankets on).

I was in terrible physical pain. I would often cry out for help, the pain was so bad, but my family would assume it was a vocal tic, and they wouldn’t come.

I often went to bed in such unbearable pain that I had the absolute certainty that I was going to die in my sleep, and there was nothing I could do about it. I wrote goodbye notes to my loved ones for them to find on my phone.

The bright side of my weird illness was that my uncontrollable movements seemed to lessen when I would sing and play guitar. I also noticed I may have trouble speaking coherently, but I could sing words just fine.

I had a Mac laptop with garage band on it that was my lifeline. I would spend hours in my parents’ basement, often in the middle of the night, recording songs on GarageBand. In that time, I got really into figuring out arrangements of my original songs as well as my favorite songs that other people had written.

I would start with a basic guitar and vocal track, then I would overdub vocal harmonies as well as any random instruments I had sitting around the house.

For one particular song I recorded, I sent my mom out to Walmart at 8 am (after I had been up all night writing music) to get a child’s xylophone that I was CERTAIN would be the perfect addition to a song I was working on.

Oddly enough, despite my entire body falling apart, I think during the worst years of my illness my voice and guitar playing were the best they’d ever been, just because I was using them so much.

2011 was also the year I got into PJ Harvey.

I had formative memories of when her album “Stories from the City…” came out. I was 11 years old and my dad constantly played the record at home.

My favorite songs were “This is Love” and “Big Exit.” I freaked out some of my middle school teachers by singing the lyrics to “Big Exit” in front of them and declaring it my favorite song. I loved how dark the song was (even at 11 I loved some dark shit), but I didn’t realize just how dark and upsetting the lyrics were (if you have not heard the song, it’s about suicide).

In 2011, PJ Harvey came back into my life when she released her album “Let England Shake.” I was obsessed with that album. I pored over the lyrics, analyzing them and looking up different WWI events they referenced.

I fell in love with the autoharp because of that album and immediately went out to buy one at a local pawn shop.

I began to dig deep through PJ Harvey’s entire discography, collecting things like my favorite acoustic live performances of songs, and my favorite b-sides.

On the day I recorded this specific cover, I had just gotten her album “White Chalk.”

About 15 minutes before I recorded this cover of the title song, I heard it for the first time. I was instantly entranced, as well as inspired.

The original version is mostly piano based, but I wanted to figure out a good acoustic guitar version.

I had been favoring playing my 2nd guitar: a Gibson J-45 from 1993. It sounded more tin-ny when plugged in, but acoustically it had such a rich, warm sound.

I pulled it out and quickly figured out the chords and a good finger picking style for the song.

I clearly did not know the words. The melody was instantly stuck in my head, but I have always had trouble remembering lyrics. Since 15 minutes before was the first time I had ever heard the song, I pulled up a safari tab on my laptop and had the lyrics in front of me while I was recording.

I still clearly messed up some of the lyrics. You will definitely notice that if you know the original song.

I had fun adding background vocals in different places, though the song didn’t need much.

I also noticed that on the original track, there’s a lot of delay (I think is the term) so the vocals kind of echo. I added that to mine too (and of course reverb as usual. I was never very light on the reverb when recording demos).

I am pretty pleased with the result. I like the arrangement and the quirky lil effects. It also brings me back to those almost manic days of creativity. The Lyme disease was definitely “eating my brain” at the time (those spirochete bastards easily cross the blood brain barrier), so who knows how much of this recording is hypomania driven.

It gave me a break from my suffering, though, and for that I am grateful.