#fire nation girl school era we missed

[herebutnotpresent]

Current wip _(┐「ε:)_

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Mesmerised: Mai x female reader - Imagine being a singer and capturing the attention of the stoic knife expert herself.

Mai’s POV

Mai had never liked singing. 

Ever. 

She found every singer hurt her ears or was just dreadfully dull. She was sure music was the most over-rated form of art....until she heard you sing. 

Mai was truly perplexed and intrigued by her fondness for your singing, it was almost unantural the effect it had on her and Mai had no idea why it affected her so much. She had been walking home one day when your voice drifted out from a cafe. It had tugged at her and she found herself slowing down. She’d never heard a voice like yours. There was something so appealing about it, something so...emotion-provoking, Mai actually felt something stir in her. This had never happened to her and Mai was both surprised and alarmed at the sensation. She carried on walking and shrugged it off but you lingered on her mind. She wondered who sang like that and why she hadn’t heard that song before. It was comforting and beautiful but she knew she had never experienced anything like it before. Your voice played over and over again in her head until finally, Mai gave in. She walked back to the cafe at the same time the next day and ordered a drink. She noticed there was a stage so she took a seat with a good view and waited. As time ticked by she was ready to leave and abandon her fool's errand when you appeared. When she saw you she just knew you were that beautiful voice. Sure enough, when you started to sing the same sensation swept over her, she felt an odd array of emotions and was transfixed by every word. She finally got what people meant when they said music moved them and she liked it. But this new sensation only applied to your music specifically. She realised with an abrupt reminder as the next artist began to perform that she still hated all other music and so she sought yours out to pinpoint exactly what it was that she liked. She came back to the same cafe the next night and then the next and before long she had your schedule memorised. She also learnt the other places you sang at and went to them too. She was slowly becoming a stalker or groupie or something but she still hadn’t figured out what it was that transfixed her and so she came back night after night just to listen to you.

Your POV

You sang at an array of fire nation cafes but even with the hundreds of bars and cafes in the fire nation capital it was difficult to make ends meet. But you’d sought a creative career in a country that favoured efficiency and concrete solutions, what did you expect? You really were a dreamer. You’d noticed this girl had been in the main cafe you sang at every single night you’d been there. Maybe it was just a coincidence and she came here every night anyway but you noticed her in the crowd a lot and hoped she was here for you. She was so mysterious and impressive. She just looked cool and emanated power dressed from head to toe in long black clothes lined sparsely with red. She was very beautiful and you wondered more and more about her every day, what her story was, where she was from, what she did for a living, just everything and anything about her. One day you got your wish.

You stepped outside the bar after a successful gig and there was the girl. She was waiting on the corner yards away from you. She turned as you came outside and your breath caught in your throat. You looked at one another and she stared at you. Her eyes were concentrated and serious adding to her mysterious powerful persona. You blushed at her intense gaze and looked away. She darted her eyes away too but you noticed she kept glancing back over at you. She stepped towards you when suddenly a pink blur appeared. "Mai!" the pink girl cried and she wrapped her arms around her. 

So her name was Mai? 

You smiled, it suited her.

Mai’s POV

"I’ve missed you so much" Ty lee cried still hugging her and Mai let her having learned a long time ago the easiest thing to do was just let Ty lee hug you. "It’s only been a day since we last saw each other" Mai replied dryly."Well you’re so great i missed you even after that amount of time" Ty lee cried kissing Mai’s cheek. Mai rubbed at it annoyed, she didn’t want you getting the wrong idea and thinking Ty lee was her girlfriend. She looked back to see if you were watching and found your spot empty. You’d left. "Is everything okay?". Ty lee asked noticing Mai was staring and she nodded "yeah it’s fine, let's go" and they made their way home.

“We’re home!” Ty lee called as the door swung open and Suki appeared in the corridor “Mai! How was your visit to your family?”. “Boring” she shrugged before pausing “Tomtom is getting so big now” she smiled softly. Suki nodded “I bet! I thought your ship got in at 6?”. “It did, I swung by the lavender inn”. Suki frowned “again? You’ve been going there a lot" she commented and Mai shrugged "i like it there". "Why? It’s not that nice a place" Ty lee frowned and Mai paused "i...i like the staff". When Suki and Ty lee hesitated Mai rushed to cover her back "they serve me quickly, have my order memorised and leave me alone for hours, it’s bliss". Mai could hardly tell them she actually went to lots of different cafes and bars because of a girl and not just any girl but a singer! She knew they’d tease her endlessly for liking a girl so unlike herself and Mai had berated herself over that but she couldn’t help it. You were simply her guilty pleasure and she had no intention of letting you go. 

1 day later

Mai showed up at your usual place the next day and took her regular seat. She was relaxed and ready to hear your music when another girl walked on stage instead. She introduced herself and began to sing. Mai frowned, where were you? She wondered if maybe this girl was the warm-up act but as time stretched on Mai wasn’t so sure. More than a little disappointed Mai discreetly made her way towards the exit. A door leading to the back room opened and Mai heard an argument within. She paused as she recognised your voice. Mai stood casually by the door and listened to what she could hear. You were arguing with someone and it appeared to be over your wages. "I can get more money if I bring in more singers!" a man said and Mai heard you sigh “I’ve had this spot for a year! You can’t just half it, I rely on tips, this will kill my takings”. “That’s not my problem” the man retorted “you either perform here for half the time or go find somewhere else, singers are easy to replace, there are hundreds of performers exactly like you”. You laughed “no there’s not but good look finding one! You can stuff your slot!” you cried and before Mai could react you stormed out from the door past her and exited the cafe. Mai paused and waited an appropriate amount of time before following you. She looked around and saw you’d walked away from the cafe a few feet before you sat on the pavement your head in your hands. Mai watched you, clearly upset, and wondered what she should do...despite her better judgement Mai approached you. "Hey" Mai said and you paused and looked up. "I saw you storm out of the cafe...are you okay?". You nodded your head, your eyes darting over her "i’m fine i just got fired...or quit? I don’t know" you shook your head and Mai frowned. "Well it’s their loss, you're the best performer here". You glanced at Mai curiously "i am?". Mai nodded "i’ve heard you sing quite a few times and nobody sounds like you or does your style...they’ll regret it". You smiled "i have seen you around before and the other night on the corner with your girlfriend!". Mai paused and cursed Ty lee. "That was me but Ty lee isn’t my girlfriend, i don’t have a girlfriend...at least not yet" Mai said and cringed at herself. She wanted you to know she was single and that she liked girls but she’d been so obvious! You chuckled slightly and Mai’s blush rose. "Good to know, your names Mai right?". Mai nodded her head. "My names y/n, it’s nice to finally meet you". Mai smiled "it is". Your eyes met and you looked away first blushing slightly which aided the recovery of Mai’s ego a little. "Can i ask you something?" Mai said fuelled by her burst of confidence. You nodded and she took a breath "so i hate singing, any form of music basically makes me sick to my stomach but i don’t hate yours, I don’t even dislike it!". You paused before smirking "thank you?". "No that didn’t come out right...what i meant was i like your music better than anyone else's and i’ve honestly never heard anyone sing the way you do, so my question is what's your inspiration? Why do you sing so differently?". You paused, that was a big question and you weren’t sure where to start. “Well I mean I’ve always liked to sing, music was my favourite lesson in school but I found there were too many restraints on it! Don’t move when you’re singing, don’t stray from the century-year-old anthems, don’t add any personality to it...” you sighed “I always found it so odd and cruel that we weren’t allowed to just express ourselves but nobody else seemed to, they all called me odd for wanting to sing in a different key or learn a different song. I didn’t fit in with the conventional music...so i quit music classes and practised music in my own way, I found a library book of old songs from before firelord Azulon’s era, apparently they were deemed too unconventional and weak for traditional fire nation custom but I loved them! The songs weren’t harsh or imposing, they were delicate but powerful, emotional but liberating! After I learnt all of those I decided to make more. I’ve developed hundreds of adaptations but the style stayed the same because it feels so free and creative, so un-fire nation. So long story short i guess my style is so different because i rebel against anything that fits with fire nation tradition. I know it’s sacrilegious" you grinned "but i sometimes feel so trapped by all our customs and rules...singing is my rebellion". Mai smiled and you blushed as silence settled "i bet that sounds so overdramatic". Mai shook her head "i know a little about rebelling against the fire nation, it makes sense. It makes me like you...i mean your music even more" Mai said going red. She heard you chuckle under your breath and cursed herself. You went to speak when a voice called out your name. You stood up and waved to the figure "my ride is here". Mai looked down the street where a girl was waiting for you and frowned. She’d embarrassed herself enough so why not push a little more? "Ow...your girlfriend?". You smiled at Mai’s not so subtle question and looked at her "no Loren is just a friend. I don’t have a girlfriend...at least not yet" you said mimicking her earlier response and Mai blushed. "Good to know" Mai said copying you and you smiled at her. "So i should go but it was really nice talking to you Mai, I’ll hopefully see you around?". Mai nodded "yeah I hope so too" and with a smile, you disappeared.

Mai was in excellent spirits when she got home. Not only had she talked to you but she’d flirted (well an attempt at flirting) and she was fairly sure you flirted back. However the best thing was you liked girls and currently didn’t have a girlfriend. Mai kept replaying the smirk on your face when you said “not yet” and was ashamed at the light blush it caused.  Things couldn't have gone better and hopefully she’d see you again soon.

__

Man I love Mai!

She’s in my top 3 for Avatar characters but I find her quite hard to write for because half of her scenes revolve around Zuko so it’s hard to write for her alone when we’ve got so little Mai content!

But either way, this idea came to when I was listening to this classical Chinese song titled 芒种 by 音阙诗听 & 赵方婧 and it’s honestly the most beautiful song i’ve ever heard so I’d really recommend giving it a listen a https://youtu.be/8L2ds1XxrvA. I always have one song on repeat for every imagine I write but this song totally inspired this whole piece and this is how I imagine the reader sings.

Life story over, I hoped you enjoyed the soft cute Mai content!

[snailg0th]

here’s my giant leftist to-read list for the next few years!!!

if a little (done!) it written next to the book, it means i’ve finished it! i’m gonna try to update this as i read but no promises on remembering haha

Economics/Politics

Property by Karl Marx

Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx (done!)

Wages, Price, and Profit by Karl Marx (done!)

Wage-Labor and Capital by Karl Marx (done!)

Capital Volume I by Karl Marx

The 1844 Manuscripts by Karl Marx

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Fredrich Engles

Synopsis of Capital by Fredrich Engels

The Principles of Communism by Fredrich Engles

Imperialism, The Highest Stage Of Capitalism by Vladmir Lenin

The State And Revolution by Vladmir Lenin

The Revolution Betrayed by Leon Trotsky

Fascism: What is it and How to Fight it by Leon Trotsky

In Defense Of Marxism by Leon Trotsky

The Accumulation of Capital by Rosa Luxemborg

Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg

Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault

The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin

On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky

Profit over People by Noam Chomsky

An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory by Ernest Mandel

The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith

The Postmodern Condition by Jean François Lyotard

Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher

The Socialist Reconstruction of Society by Daniel De Leon

Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman

Socialism Made Easy by James Connolly

Race

Biased: Uncover in the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

Blindspot by Mahzarin R. Banaji

Racism Without Racists: Color-blind Racism And The Persistence Of Racial Inequality In America by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

How To Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy And The Racial Divide by Crystal M. Flemming

This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How To Wake Up, Take Action, And Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell & Aurelia Durand

The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism For The Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs

Tell Me Who You Are by Winona Guo & Priya Vulchi

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesymn Ward

Class, Race, and Marxism by David R. Roediger

America for Americans: A History Of Xenophobia In The United States by Erica Lee

The Politics Of The Veil by Joan Wallach Scott

A Different Mirror A History Of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki

A People’s History Of The United States by Howard Zinn

Black Theory

The Wretched Of The World by Frantz Fanon

Black Marxism by Cedric J Robinson

Malcolm X Speaks by Malcolm X

Women, Culture, and Politics by Angela Davis

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Davis (done!)

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis (done!)

The Meaning of Freedom by Angela Davis

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Ain’t I A Woman? by Bell Hooks

Yearning by Bell Hooks

Dora Santana’s Works

An End To The Neglect Of The Problems Of The Negro Women by Claudia Jones

I Am Your Sister by Audre Lorde

Women’s Liberation And The African Freedom Struggle by Thomas Sankara

W.E.B. DuBois Essay Collection

Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. DuBois

Lynch Law by Ida B. Wells

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Sula by Toni Morrison

Song Of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Paradise by Toni Morrison

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

This Bridge Called My Back by Cherríe Moraga

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Black Skins, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Killing of the Black Body

Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P Newton

Settlers; The myth of the White Proletariat

Fearing The Black Body; The Racial Origins of Fatphobia

Freedom Dreams; The Black Radical Imagination

How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

An Argument For Black Women’s Liberation As a Revolutionary Force by Mary Anne Weathers

Voices of Feminism Oral History Project by Frances Beal

Ghosts In The Schoolyard: Racism And School Closings On Chicago’s South Side by Eve L. Ewing

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon To White America by Michael Eric Dyson

Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, Big Business, Re-create Race In The 21st Century by Dorothy Roberts

We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race & Resegregation by Jeff Chang

They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era In America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery

The Common Wind by Julius S. Scott

Black Is The Body: Stories From My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, And Mine by Emily Bernard

We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates

American Lynching by Ashraf H. A. Rushdy

Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson

Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affects Us and What We Can Do

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life Of Black Communist Claudia Jones by Carole Boyce Davies

Black Studies Manifesto by Darlene Clark

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Souls Of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

Darkwater by W.E.B. Du Bois

The Education Of Blacks In The South, 1860-1935 by James D. Anderson

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery And The Making Of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist

The Color Of Money: Black Banks And The Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran

A Black Women’s History Of The United States by Daina Ramey Berry & Kali Nicole Gross

The Price For Their Pound Of Flesh: The Value Of The Enslaved, From Womb to Grave, In The Building Of A Nation by Daina Ramey Berry

North Of Slavery: The Negro In The Free States, 1780-1869 by Leon F. Litwack

Black Stats: African Americans By The Numbers In The Twenty-First Century by Monique M. Morris

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique M. Morris

40 Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, And Redemption of The Black Athlete by William C. Rhoden

From #BlackLivesMatter To Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

A More Beautiful And Terrible History: The Uses And Misuses Of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharis

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History Of Medical Experimentation On Black Americans From Colonial Times To The Present by Harriet A. Washington

Working At The Intersections: A Black Feminist Disability Framework” by Moya Bailey

Theory by Dionne Brand

Black Women, Writing, And Identity by Carole Boyce Davies

Slavery By Another Name: The Re-enslavement Of Black Americans From The Civil War To World War II by Douglass A. Blackmon

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Some Of Us Are Very Hungry Now by Andre Perry

The Origins Of The Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality In Postwar Detroit by Thomas Surgue

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

Beyond Containment: Autobiographical Reflections, Essays and Poems by Claudia Jones

The Black Woman: An Anthology by Toni McCade

Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female by Frances Beal

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Indigenous Theory

Colonize This! by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman

As We Have Always Done

Braiding Sweetgrass

Spaces Between Us

The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen

Native: Identity, Belonging, And Rediscovering God by Kaitlin Curtice

An Indigenous People’s History Of The United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, And The Pursuit Of Justice For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid

The Other Slavery by Andrés Reséndez

Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga

All Our Relations: Indigenous Trauma In The Shadow Of Colonialism by Tanya Talaga

All Our Relations: Finding The Path Forward by Tanya Talaga

Everything You Wanted To Know About Indians But Were Afraid To Ask by Anton Treuer

Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life by David Treuer

Latine Theory

Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of Pillage of A Continent by Eduardo Galeano

Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism by Laura E. Gomez

De Colores Means All Of Us by Elizabeth Martinez

Middle Eastern And Muslim Theory

How Does It Feel To Be A Problem? Being Young And Arab In America by Moustafa Bayoumi

We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future by Deepa Iyer

Alligator and Other Stories by Dima Alzayat

API Theory

Orientalism by Edward Said

The Making Of Asian America by Erika Lee

On Gold Mountain by Lisa See

Strangers From A Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans by Ronald Takaki

They Called Us Enemy (Graphic Novel) by George Takei

Yellow Peril!: An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear by Edited by John Kuo Wei Tchen and Dylan Yeats

Yellow: Race In America Beyond Black And White by Frank H. Wu

Alien Nation: Chinese Migration In The Americas From The Coolie Era Through World War II by Elliott Young

The Good Immigrants: How The Yellow Peril Became The Model Minorities by Madeline H. Ysu

Asian American Dreams: The Emergence Of An American People by Helen Zia

The Myth Of The Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism by Rosalind S. Chou & Joe R. Feagin

Two Faces Of Exclusion: The Untold Story Of Anti-Asian Racism In The United States by Lon Kurashige

Whiteness

White Fragility by Robin Di Angelo (done!)

White Kids: Growing Up With Privilege In A Racially Divided America by Margaret A. Hagerman

Waking Up White by Deby Irving

The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter

White Like Me: Reflections On Race From A Privileged Son by Tim Wise

White Rage by Carol Anderson

What Does It Mean To Be White: Developing White Racial Literacy by Robin DiAngelo

The Invention of The White Race: Volume 1: Racial Oppression and Social Control by Theodore W. Allen

The Invention of The White Race: Volume 2: The Origin of Racial Oppression in Anglo-America by Theodore W. Allen

Immigration

Call Me American by Abdi Nor Iftir

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist At Work by Edwidge Danticat

My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero

The Devil’s Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay In Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli

Voter Suppression

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson

Give Us The Vote: The Modern Struggle For Voting Rights In America by Ari Berman

Prison Abolition And Police Violence

Abolition Democracy by Angela Davis

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis

The Prison Industrial Complex by Angela Davis

Political Prisoners, Prisons, And Black Liberation by Angela Davis

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (done!)

The End Of Policing by Alex S Vitale

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea J. Ritchie

Choke Hold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler

From The War On Poverty To The War On Crime: The Making Of Mass Incarceration In America by Elizabeth Hinton

Feminist Theory

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft

Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

7 Feminist And Gender Theories

Race, Gender, And Class by Margaret L. Anderson

African Gender Studies by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí

The Invention Of Women by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí

What Gender Is Motherhood? by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí

Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity by Chandra Talpade Mohanty

I Am Malala by Malala Youssef

LGBT Theory

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

Performative Acts and Gender Constitution by Judith Butler

Imitation and Gender Insubordination by Judith Butler

Bodies That Matter by Judith Butler

Excitable Speech by Judith Butler

Undoing Gender by Judith Butler

The Roots Of Lesbian And Gay Opression: A Marxist View by Bob McCubbin

Compulsory Heterosexuality And Lesbian Existence by Adrienne Rich

Decolonizing Trans/Gender 101 by B. Binohan

Gay.Inc: The Nonprofitization of Queer Politics by Merl Beam

Pronouns Good or Bad: Attitudes and Relationships with Gendered Pronouns

Transgender Warriors

Whipping Girl; A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity

Stone Butch Blues by Lesie Feinberg (done!)

The Stonewall Reader by Edmund White

Sissy by Jacob Tobia

Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein

Butch Queens Up In Pumps by Marlon M. Bailey

Black On Both Sides: A Racial History Of Trans Identities by C Riley Snorton

Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

Ezili’s Mirrors: Imagining Black Queer Genders by Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley

Lavender and Red by Emily K. Hobson

[thatsgay-writes]

Suki x Reader x Ty Lee Part 3

Summary: It’s been 10 years and now is time for the eclipse and comet. Even though you haven’t seen your friends since Serpent’s Pass, you know you have to help.

Warnings: Light Cursing?

*6 Year Time Skip*

If someone had told you ten years ago that you would be married to Ty Lee, you would laugh. But now, you wouldn't change it for the world. After having dropped of Mai six years ago, you and Ty Lee traveled the world together, relaxing, saving villages, and having some... fun. However, three years ago your freedom had changed. While saving a village from the Fire Nation, a house fell killing the family of a two year old little girl. At first, you wanted to hand the child off to some other family or find an orphanage but one look at the little girl stopped you. She looked like you and Ty Lee so much it was scary. You and Ty Lee had talked about having children before but decided to wait til after Sozin's Comet so Aang could bring the world back to an era of peace but, you just couldn't bring yourself to leave that little girl behind. So you took her with you, moved to the Fire Nation, used some of Ty Lee's family's money to buy a house, got a job and settled down. You knew settling down in the Fire Nation was weird but it wasn't under the constant threat of attack like the rest of the world was. You just made sure to steer clear of Azula and to make sure your daughter knew about what the Fire Nation was actually like, and not letting her get brainwashed by school. You also told her about her aunts and uncles, even adding in Sokka and Suki much to Ty Lee's surprise. When she had asked you about it, you said that you had her now and that what had happened was so long ago.

Marrying Ty Lee had happened a year ago. It wasn't a big celebration or anything. You and Ty Lee were still weary about living in the Fire Nation and decided to get eloped with her family and your daughter to act as a witness. You both had written your own vows to each other and you promised that once everything was over, you would throw her the biggest wedding party the world had ever seen. Ty Lee being her cheesy self told you that none of that mattered as long as she had you and Ming, your guys daughter. When the day of the eclipse and comet came, everyone in the city had ran to hide. You told Ty Lee that you had to help your friends, even after not speaking to them for a decade. She understood that you needed to do this and tried to come with you. "Ty Lee you must stay, please, and protect our daughter." "But---" "Ty Lee, please. If you get too scared head down to the bunker until I come back. Stay safe, I love you." You say before running out the house to join in the fight between the Fire Nation and Sokka's invasion team. Ty Lee held back her tears trying to be strong for her daughter. "Come on Ming, lets go spend some time in the bunker." "Will mommy/daddy be coming with us?" Ming responded with childlike innocence. Ty Lee smiled down sadly at her daughter before picking her up and walking towards the bunker. "You know how mommy/daddy and I use to tell you story of your aunts and uncles and how they are great heroes?" "Yeah! Uncle Aang can bend four elements!" Ty Lee smiled at her daughters excitement. "Yeah, well mommy/daddy went to go help them." "That's so cool! Mommy/daddy are a hero too!" "Yeah and after they win and defeat the bad guy, they'll come home to get us. And maybe you can finally meet your aunts and uncles." "Awesome!"

The battle had been hard and long. Aang couldn't find Fire Lord Ozai during the eclipse and had to fight him after, during Sozin's comet. It didn't seem like you were gonna win until Aang went into his avatar state and took Ozai's bending away. You watched with a smile as everyone hugged their loved ones before walking over to the Gaang. "Y/n!" Katara yelled before her, Aang, and Toph pulled you into a hug. "We've missed you so much!" You smiled at the three in front of you as you pulled away. "I missed you guys too! We have so much to catch up on!" They all nodded their head in agreement before you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned to see Sokka looking at you with a sheepish smile. "I know when you left we were on a sour note and I want to apologize for---" You cut Sokka off with a hug, surprising everyone. "I've forgiven you for sometime now Sokka. Yes I was very much hurt in the beginning but if stuff didn't happen the way it did, I probably wouldn't be as happy and content with life as I am now." Sokka smiled at your statement before pulling you back into another hug, "I still am very sorry." You smiled, "I know." Now that that bond was repaired, you thought as you turned to look at the girl who had broken your heart. There was another one that needed to be fixed. You took a step forward her, opening your mouth to say her name, when you noticed a movement to the right of her. A Fire Nation general, who was not pleased with the outcome of the battle, had stood up and was in the process of throwing a spear right at Suki, who was too focused on you to notice. Your yell changed from one of happiness to fear. "Suki!" you yelled running full blast at her. She looked at you confused before turning to the right the see what you had seen. Her eyes widened at the sight of the tip of a spear already halfway to her, leaving her no time to dodge out of the way. As she watched the spear fly towards her she felt a sudden push from her front, sending her flying  backwards to the ground. Hearing a solid thunk from where she just stood.

When the dust cleared, she looked up in horror to see you standing there with a spear sitting in you. It had gone in from your right side and stopped after coming out your left side, you looked like a kebab. Suki watched as the Fire Nation general was taken down after everyone noticed what happened. She watched as you stumbled some before falling forwards, about to face plant on the ground, but get caught by Aang instead. Suki stood up fast and ran over to you and kneeled on the opposite side of Katara, who just kept mumbling no over and over again. "There's too much internal bleeding, too many things have been severed by the spear. Taking it out would just kill them faster." Everyone looked at you with tears in there eyes. They had just gotten you back! You couldn't be leaving them again so soon. "My wife..." You whispered, pain clear in your voice. The Gaangs eyes widen at your statement. "Please my wife and daughter, I want to see them one more time. Its the first house behind the palace, please." Sokka wasted no time before standing up and sprinting away, towards your house. You felt like your body was on fire, "Please move me to sit against a wall, I don't want my daughter to see me sitting in a pool of blood." Katara and Suki nodded at your request before moving you to lean against a palace wall. You grunted at all the movement, feeling pain every time you breathed. It was getting harder and harder to fight your tiredness and you just wanted to see Ty Lee and Ming one more time.

"Y/n! Y/n! Oh my spirits!" Ty Lee yelled, seeing you leaned against the wall. "No..." she said as she kneeled down next to you. The Gaang looked at each other in shock, seeing that you actually had a wife and kid, Ty Lee being your wife no less. Ty Lee had tears coming out of her eyes like a water fall. "No... We were supposed to grow old together, meet our grandchildren, see Ming get married. Have that big wedding party you wanted to throw me." You smiled at her sadly, putting a hand to her cheek and wiping away tears. "I'm sorry, my love. I didn't mean for it to end this way. I love you so much." You pulled her into a kiss before looking at Ming, who was hugging Ty Lee and looking at you with tears in her eyes. She had already lost her family and now she was losing half of her new one. "Ming, mommy/daddy has to go away for a while but I want you to know something before I go okay?" Ming nodded, "Watching you grow up has been one of my most favorite things in the world. While I'm gone I want you and mama to take care of each other for me okay?" Ming nodded before climbing into your lap, it hurt a lot but you didn't show it. You wanted to hold your daughter one more time. Ming looked at you with her tears now over flowing, "Are you gonna go see my mommy and daddy?" You never hid the fact from Ming, even though she was 5, that she wasn't originally yours but she had told you that she didn't care and that you would both always be her mama and mommy/daddy. At her question you finally let yourself cry. 

"I am pumpkin and I'm so so sorry. I don't want to leave you." At this point your had leaned your head on Ty Lees shoulder, who was still kneeling next to you. The rest of your friends had stood around you, looking at the scene in front of them with tears of their own. After a moment of silence Ming spoke up again, "Does it hurt?" You didn't know how to respond, you didn't want to scare her but at the same time the black spots that kept clouding your vision were getting worse and worse. "Yeah." You answered being truthful. Ming grabbed your cheeks with her tiny five year old your hands, "Its otay to let go mommy/daddy." Her words messing up a little, she was still having trouble with her K's and C's. If you weren't crying before you would have been now. How had your daughter been so mature at such a young age. But with her statement you blink your eyes a couple times to clear your vision. You looked at your friends, who you had just reconnected with and look at Suki. "I forgive you." You tell her not wanting her to feel guilty about what happened after your death. You looked at all your friends, "Take care of them for me, please." You say, talking about Ty Lee and Ming. "Of course y/n." Katara says, holding on to Aang tightly. You smiled at your friends before looking at your family. You lean forward and kiss Ming on her head and kiss Ty Lee on the lips. "I love you both so much." "We love you too." "Love you too mommy/daddy." You heard before leaning your head against Ty Lee's shoulder and letting your eyes close for the final time.

PREVIOUS

[manychocolatefactories]

CatCF Milk Chocolate: Part 1, the kids

About this version: Milk Chocolate was inspired originally by a mix of the book, the vibes of the 1971 movie and the Tim Burton movie aesthetic. A bit more goofier and whimsical than the other versions. In term of era, I thought of it as a mix of 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

In this version seven Golden Tickets are spread throughout the world, and each time one is found the same female reporter (her character is a reference to the musical) goes to interview the children. Another recurring joke is that while the hunt is going on for the Tickets, there are all sorts of ridiculous debates on television such as: do the Golden Tickets really exist, or is this just a hoax ? Do the Golden Tickets give cancer? Can animals go on a tour like humans? What happens if a Golden Ticket winner dies before the tour? Are the Golden Tickets linked to the rise of youht delinquence? Are the Golden Tickets a proof of Wonka's alleagiance to the obscure sect of the Golden Bird?

  First Winner: Augustus Gloop

(Based on Augustus Gloop)

This Augustus was actually based on an idea Stained-by-the-sea allowed me to "borrow" a bit. Stained noted that Augustus always made him thought of this section from the movie "North", about Buck and the Texan parents. If you don't know what I am talking about, I'll leave links down there. And this is such a perfect matc I had to dig a bit down there.

This Augustus is basically a mix of all the archetypes associated with Texas and Nevada. But more precisely, he is basically "Buck" from North - a boy whose family (and his own mindset) embody the motto "bigger is better".

The Gloop family always thought that they should be "the biggest and the bests" and that "bigger is better". Ironically, the Gloop parents themselves are regular-sized people, but they clearly enforced this mentality on their son. Augustus is a big boy. Literally. He is tall, he is thick, he is fat, he is very, very big. He is probably one of the tallest, and definitively the largest boy on the tour (in fact, he once or twice gets stuck in the doors of Wonka factory). He eats ten meals per day, and we are not talking of regular sized meals. We are talking piles of ribs, kilos of potatoes, entire chickens... His parents also prepared for him a "big" and "best" future - paying the local sportive teams to claim he is a sports champion despite Augustus never setting a foot on a sports field, arranging his marriage with the local beauty queen of the state he lives in, already preparing the three different houses he will live with his fifteen kids... As a result, Augustus isn't just big and fat physically, he also has a massive and bloated ego. He thinks that he is the best at everything, and that he should have absolutely everything he wants.

The Gloops themselves are actually the masters of the state they live in, so to speak. They are the wealthiest and most influential industrials of the area: they built highways, casinos, hotels, private villas, they are cow-farmers, owing a lot of slaughterhouses, and also dig for oil and gold. They want their business to be the "biggest there ever was" and all they do is exaggerately big: their villas are enormous, their hotels are everywhere, their farms hosts several thousands cows, their mines are among the deepest in the world...

Trouble is that, due to their expansion and consumption of everything, they are a threat to the landscape and the environment - destroying forests to build their roads and buildings, drying out the lands to feed their farms... in fact, part of the reason why their state looks like the most desertic parts of Texas and Nevada is due to their actions.

Think... Buck from North. Think Art Land from Mar Attack. Think an evil (and obese) version of Clay Bailey from "Xiaolin Showdown". In fact, if I remember well in one episode Clay turns into a sumo for one of the Showdowns... this would probably be Augustus' appearance in this version: sumo Clay Bailey. (Edit: Yes, I checked out, it is episode 23 of the series).

 Second Winner: Clarence Crump

(Based on: Clarence Crump)

Clarence didn't had any kind of personnality in the original drafts outside of a desire to prove he was right. As a result, I decided to have a lot of fun and create my own character.

The idea of vanity has already been touched several times with the other brats, but I wanted to give it its own character and kid. I also wanted to create a polar opposite of Augustus, denouncing the fact that being skinny can be just as bad as being fat when in excess. As a result, Clarence Crump is here a boy obsessed about being thin, and proud of being too skinny for his own good.

Mr. Crump is a pseudo-health guru that keeps writing phony and very dangerous diet books, the kind that will advice you to stop eating altogether to lose weight. As for Mrs. Crump, she is a beauty pageant champion (local and regional, and while she acts as if she was some national beauty champion, she always failed at nationals). From their union was born a child who inherited their vanity, pride and obsession with "health"

Black haired, very pale, very thin, very slender, to the point his bones show, Clarence delights in being skinny, and works as a teenager model promoting the "thin-fashion". He is also the embodiment of fat-shaming, never missing an occasion to insult fat people (in fact he often calls Augustus a big fat cow). He uses however the excuse of health for that (a trick his parents taught him) - promoting extreme thinness by talking about health and fat-shaming people in the name of health allows one to be much more horrible than normally accepted.

A good proof of how Clarence actually is just very vain and obsessed with being thin, and not at all defending health - Clarence condemns sports for being unhealthy, because according to him "muscles are unhealthy because they don't make you look beautiful, they make you look ugly".

He always wears short and black sleeveless tank-tops, the point being that he needs to show as much as his body to the world as possible, to be a "living example". He even wears his black short and tank-top during the tour (despite it being winte - the only thing he wears on top of his clothes to not get cold is a skunk fur coat).

  Third  Winner: Miranda Grope

(Based on: Miranda Grope)

This character was based on Dahl's own character of "Miranda Grope" from early drafts of the story, the horrible and atrocious girl allowed to do "whatever she wants".

In my version, the Grope parents are hippie-like people, the father having a very long beard and being covered in fleas, while the mother is covered in flowers and oss (plants that grew over her), and both always wearing rose-tinted glasses. They are the kind of parents that refuse authority and orders, seeing these (and social norms as a whole) as a "dictatorship". They prefer to trust their daughter to find her own way in the world, believing that experience is the best teacher in life. The result? They lazily raised her by telling her they would never forbid her anything and that she could do anything she wanted.

Miranda is a devilish little girl who does only what she wants, and becomes extremely violent when prevented from doing something. Or when people say something she doesn't want to hear. Or just when people she dislikes are near her. She shouts, the screams, she insult, she kicks, she hit, she throw enormous and terrifying tantrums. She has a very wide range of insults, and a truly evil mind : most of the things she wants to do are borderline crimes. It seems for her only chaos and destruction is "fun", a true little punk.

Miranda has a disastrous haircut because she cuts her hair herself, and she is always wearing the same clothes that she rarely washes): a white shirt, a blue sweater with long sleeves, and a plaid tiles skirt. An outfit that looks strikingly like a school uniform - but it is pure irony, because Miranda hates more than anything in the world school. She doesn't go to school, and the only time she went near one was to try to burn it down. (Her appearance is in fact based on Lauren Child's illustrations for Miranda, if you are wondering).

  Fourth Winner: Veruca Salt

(Based on: Veruca Salt)

For this Veruca, I wanted to do something slightly different... here, Veruca doesn't want everything just because she is a spoiled rich brat. She is still one, but she is also the product of post-WW2 consumerism.

This Veruca was born surrounded by advertisements, logos, slogans and product placements. On television, in the streets, in shops, in journals, at the radio... She grew up with them and was influenced, brainwashed by them. As a result, she is obsessed with obtaining everything that was advertised, and she herelf looks like a walking billboard since she is covered in big, flashy logo and keeps reciting different brands' slogans and mottos. As soon as she sees something she saw publicity of before, she needs to obtain it at once. She is a true zombie, only hearing the call of the shopping mall and of the television advertisements.

One idea I had was that the Salt parents actually worked for (or where at the head of) a wealthy advertisement company, known to produce, design and create all kinds of famous publicities and slogans - and that they used their daughter as a guinea pig for their tests, and delighted in Veruca being so addicted to consumerism. In fact, they may have named her Veruca because at the moment of her birth they were working on advertisements for an anti-wart product, so that's all they had in mind.

  Fifth winner:  Herpes Trout

(Based on: Mike Teavee)

I went with this version of Mikee Teavee with the focus on "violence" already present in the original work, but also heavily used in the opera (and touched a bit in the 2005 movie).

This Herpes Trout is the embodiment of the fear of kids becoming violent upon watching television and playing video games (his only two passions in life). He has a true fascination with guns and firearms - US soldiers shooting aliens, gangs shooting each other, cowboys shooting at bandits, it's all he ever plays and watches. Herpes worships violence, and is absolutely obsessed with war (here I am thinking of all the wars present from the 60s to the 80s, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars...). War propaganda and the fight being glorifyed heavily influenced him - as a result his biggest dream is to go at war in some foreign country to kill everyone there and come home a hero.

Herpes comes from a family of rednecks and hillbillies from the deep country. They are not poor however, they are wealthy enough to have television and several video games, but they are uneducated people full of stereotypes, discrimination and hate. They named their son Herpes because they ignored what it meant but just thought of it as an "intelligent" name. Herpes has everal brothers and sisters, and all have a disease name.

Herpes himself is a big and strong kid, who followed body-buildings process a la Charles Atlas and military training, becoming impressively muscular. However, he retained a soft, childish and chubby "baby face", which kind of ruins the effect of this massive, muscular, almost adult body. Always dressed in a military outfit, he carries everywhere with him guns and firearms, the question being: are they real? Or are they not?

  Sixth Winner: Violet Glockenberry

(Based on Violet Beauregarde)

I wanted with this version to take back the idea of a competitive and "sportive" girl obsessed with contesting and winning - introduced in the Tim Burton movie.

This Violet is a tall, muscular and strong girl. She won numerous sportive competitions, but this doesn't make her just arrogant and prideful like in the Tim Burton version. In my version she is also very aggressive and violent (a bit like in the original novel). She is a nasty and rude bully easily prone to anger (in fact, if she keeps chewing gum it is mostly to calm her down sot hat she doesn't punch everyone around). Her parents originally pushed her towards competitions to manage her anger issues, but sports only gave her more strength and destructive power. In fact, they became terrified of her, while she considers them losers here to serve her - she basically thinks of herself as self-made, literaly.

  Seventh Winner: Charlie Bucket

(Based on: Charlie Bucket)

For this Charlie, I wanted to go with a Charlie similar to the original illustrations of the character: blond hair, blue eyes, a white boy...

Basically, he is the original Charlie. Very sweet, very innocent, a gentle kid, the best of the group.

However I changed slightly his background. Charlie in this version is not the grandson of four grandparents, but rather the big brother of four younger siblings - and his family here struggles with trying to feed five children (and a total of seven mouths) despite having very humble and low-paid jobs. I think Charlie has taken the role of a parentive figure for the siblings, but at the same time him spending so much time with young children helped him keep in touch with his "childish" side.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Pitchfork Music Festival 2021 Preview: 15 Can’t-miss Acts

black midi; Photo by YIS KID

BY JORDAN MAINZER

While yours truly won’t be attending Pitchfork Music Festival this year, SILY contributor Daniel Palella will be covering the actual fest. If I was attending, though, these would be the acts I’d make sure to see. 5 from each day, no overlaps, so you could conceivably see everyone listed.

FRIDAY

Armand Hammer, 1:00 PM, Green Stage

Earlier this year, New York hip hop duo Armand Hammer released their 5th album Haram (BackwoodzStudioz) in collaboration with on-fire producer The Alchemist. It was the duo’s (ELUCID and Billy Woods) first time working with a singular producer on a record (though Earl Sweatshirt produced a track), and likewise, The Alchemist actually tailored his beats towards the two MCs. Haram is the exact kind of hip hop that succeeds early in the day at a festival, verbose and complex rhymes over languid, cloudy, sample-heavy beats, when attendees are more likely to want to sit and listen than dance. And you’re going to want to listen to Armand Hammer, whose MCs’ experiential words frame the eerie hues of the production. “Dreams is dangerous, linger like angel dust,” Woods raps on opener “Sir Benni Miles”, never looking back as he and Elucid’s stream-of-consciousness rhymes cover everything from colonization to Black bodily autonomy and the dangers of satisfaction disguised as optimism. (“We let BLM be the new FUBU,” raps Quelle Chris on “Chicharrones”; “Iridescent blackness / Is this performative or praxis?” ponders Woods on “Black Sunlight”.)  There are moments of levity on Haram, like KAYANA’s vocal turn on “Black Sunlight” and the “what the hell sound is this?” type sampling that dominates warped, looped tracks like “Peppertree” and “Indian Summer”, built around sounds of horns and twirling flute lines. For the most part, Haram is an album of empathetic realism. “Hurt people hurt people,” raps Elucid on “Falling Out of the Sky”, a stunning encapsulation of Armand Hammer’s world where humanism exists side-by-side with traumatic death and feelings of revenge.

You can also catch Armand Hammer doing a live set on the Vans Channel 66 livestream at 12 PM on Saturday.

Dogleg, 1:45 PM, Red Stage

It feels like we’ve been waiting years to see this set, and actually, we have! The four-piece punk band from Michigan was supposed to play last year’s cancelled fest in support of their searing debut Melee (Triple Crown), and a year-plus of pent up energy is sure to make songs like “Bueno”, “Fox”, and “Kawasaki Backflip” all the more raging. Remember: This is a band whose reputation was solidified live before they were signed to Triple Crown and released their breakout album. Seeing them is the closest thing to a no-brainer that this year’s lineup offers.

Revisit our interview with Dogleg from last year, and catch them at an aftershow on Saturday at Subterranean with fellow Pitchfork performer Oso Oso and Retirement Party.

Hop Along, 3:20 PM, Red Stage

Though lead singer Frances Quinlan released a very good solo album last year, it’s been three years since their incredible band Hop Along dropped an album and two years since they’ve toured. 2018′s Bark Your Head Off, Dog (Saddle Creek), one of our favorite albums of that year, should comprise the majority of their setlist, but maybe they have some new songs?

Catch them at an aftershow on Saturday at Metro with Varsity and Slow Mass.

black midi, 4:15 PM, Green Stage

The band who had the finest debut of 2019 and gave the best set of that year at Pitchfork is back. Cavalcade (Rough Trade) is black midi’s sophomore album, methodical in its approach in contrast with the improvisational absurdism of Schlagenheim. Stop-start, violin-laden lead single and album opener “John L”, a song about a cult leader whose members turn on him, is as good a summary as ever of the dark, funky eclecticism of black midi, who on Cavalcade saw band members leave and new ones enter, their ever shapeshifting sound the only consistent thing about them. A song like the jazzy “Diamond Stuff” is likely impossible to replicate live--its credits list everything from 19th century instruments to household kitchen items used for percussion--but is key to experiencing their instrumental adventurousness. On two-and-a-half-minute barn burner “Hogwash and Balderdash,” they for the first time fully lean into their fried Primus influences, telling a tale of two escaped prisoners, “two chickens from the pen.” At the same time, this band is still black midi, with moments that call back to Schlagenheim, the churning, metallic power chords via jittery, slapping funk of “Chondromalacia Patella” representative of their quintessential tempo changes. And as on songs like Schlagenheim’s “Western”, black midi find room for beauty here, too, empathizing with the pains of Marlene Dietrich on a bossa nova tune named after her, Geordie Greep’s unmistakable warble cooing sorrowful lines like, “Fills the hall tight / And pulls at our hearts / And puts in her place / The girl she once was.” Expect to hear plenty from Cavalcade but also some new songs; after all, this is a band that road tests and experiments with material before recording it.

Catch them doing a 2 PM DJ set on Vans Channel 66 on Saturday and at an aftershow on Monday at Sleeping Village.

Yaeji, 7:45 PM, Blue Stage

What We Drew (XL), the debut mixtape from Brooklyn-based DJ Yaeji, was one of many dance records that came out after lockdown that we all wished we could experience in a crowd as opposed to at home alone. Now's our chance to bask in all of its glory under a setting sun. Maybe she’ll spin her masterful remix of Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” from the Club Future Nostalgia remix album, or her 2021 single “PAC-TIVE”, her and DiAN’s collaboration with Pac-Man company Namco.

Angel Olsen; Photo by Dana Trippe

SATURDAY

Bartees Strange, 1:45 PM, Red Stage

One of our favorite albums of last year was Live Forever (Memory Music), the debut from singer-songwriter and The National fanatic Bartees Strange, one that contributor Lauren Lederman called “a declaration of an artist’s arrival.” He’s certainly past arrived when you take into account his busy 2021, releasing a new song with Lorenzo Wolff and offering his remix services to a number of artists, including illuminati hotties and fellow Pitchfork performer (and tour mate) Phoebe Bridgers. Expect to hear lots of Live Forever during his Pitchfork set, one of many sets at the fest featuring exciting young guitar-based (!) bands.

Catch him at a free (!!) aftershow on Monday at Empty Bottle with Ganser.

Faye Webster, 4:00 PM, Blue Stage

Since we previewed Faye Webster’s Noonchorus livestream in October, she’s released the long-awaited follow-up to Atlanta Millionaires Club, the cheekily titled I Know I’m Funny haha (Secretly Canadian). At that time, she had dropped “Better Distractions”, “In A Good Way”, and “Both All The Time”, and the rest of the album more than follows the promise of these three dreamy country, folk rock, and R&B-inspired tunes. Webster continues to be a master of tone and mood, lovelorn on “Sometimes”, sarcastic on the title track, and head-in-the-clouds on “A Dream with a Baseball Player”. All the while, she and her backing band provide stellar, languorous instrumentation, keys and slide guitar on the bossa nova “Kind Of”, her overdriven guitar sludge on “Cheers”, cinematic strings on the melancholic “A Stranger”, stark acoustic guitar on heartbreaking closer “Half of Me”. And the ultimate irony of Webster’s whip-smart lyricism is that a line like, “And today I get upset over this song that I heard / And I guess was just upset because why didn't I think of it first,” is that I can guarantee a million songwriters feel the same way about her music, timely in context and timeless in sound and feeling.

Catch her at an aftershow on Saturday at Sleeping Village with Danger Incorporated.

Georgia Anne Muldrow, 5:15 PM, Blue Stage

The queen of beats takes the stage during the hottest part of the day, perfect for some sweaty dancing. VWETO III (FORESEEN + Epistrophik Peach Sound), the third album in Muldrow’s beats record series, was put together with “calls to action” in mind, each single leading up to the album’s release to be paired with crowdsourced submissions via Instagram from singers, visual artists, dancers, and turntablists. Moreover, many of the album’s tracks are inspired by very specific eras of Black music, from Boom Bap and G-funk to free jazz, and through it all, Muldrow provides a platform for musical education just as much as funky earworms.

Revisit our interview with Muldrow from earlier this year.

Angel Olsen, 7:25 PM, Red Stage

It’s been a busy past two years for Angel Olsen. She revealed Whole New Mess (Jagjaguwar) in August 2020, stripped down arrangements of many of the songs on 2019′s amazing All Mirrors. In May, she came out with a box set called Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories (Jagjaguwar), which contained both All Mirrors and Whole New Mess and a bonus LP of remixes, covers, alternate takes, and bonus tracks. She shortly and out of nowhere dropped a song of the year candidate in old school country rock high and lonesome Sharon Van Etten duet “Like I Used To”. And just last month, she released Aisles, an 80′s covers EP out on her Jagjaguwar imprint somethingscosmic. She turns Laura Branigan’s disco jam “Gloria” and Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance” into woozy, echoing, slowed-down beds of synth haze and echoing drum machine. On Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “If You Leave”, her voice occupies different registers between the soft high notes of the bridge and autotuned solemnity of the chorus. Sure, other covers are more recognizable in their tempo and arrangement, like Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell ballad “Eyes Without a Face” and Alphaville’s “Forever Young”, but Aisles is exemplary of Olsen’s ability to not just reinvent herself but classics.

At Pitchfork, I’d bet on a set heavy on All Mirrors and Whole New Mess, but as with the unexpectedness of Aisles, you never know!

St. Vincent, 8:30 PM, Green Stage

Annie Clark again consciously shifts personas and eras with her new St. Vincent album Daddy’s Home (Loma Vista), inspired by 70′s funk rock and guitar-driven psychedelia. While much of the album’s rollout centered around its backstory--Clark’s father’s time in prison for white collar crimes--the album is a thoughtful treatise on honesty and identity, the first St. Vincent album to really stare Clark’s life in the face. 

Many of its songs saw their live debut during a Moment House stream, which we previewed last month.

The Weather Station; Photo by Jeff Bierk

SUNDAY

Tomberlin, 1:00 PM, Green Stage

While the LA-via-Louisville singer-songwriter hasn’t yet offered a proper follow-up LP to her 2018 debut At Weddings, she did last year release an EP called Projections (Saddle Creek), which expands upon At Weddings’ shadowy palate. Songs like “Hours” and “Wasted” are comparatively clattering and up-tempo. Yet, all four of the original tracks are increasingly self-reflexive, Tomberlin exploring and redefining herself on her terms, whether singing about love or queerness, all while maintaining her sense of humor. (“When you go you take the sun and all my flowers die / So I wait by the window and write some shit / And hope that you'll reply,” she shrugs over acoustic strums and wincing electric guitars.) The album ends with a stark grey cover of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s “Natural Light”; Tomberlin finds a kindred spirit in the maudlin musings of Owen Ashworth.

Get there early on Sunday to hear select tracks from At Weddings and Projections but also likely some new songs.

oso oso, 2:45 PM, Blue Stage

Basking in the Glow (Triple Crown), the third album from Long Beach singer-songwriter Jade Lilitri as Oso Oso, was one of our favorite records of 2019, and we’d relish the opportunity to see them performed to a crowd in the sun. Expect to hear lots of it; hopefully we’re treated to new oso oso material some time soon.

Catch them at an aftershow on Saturday at Subterranean with fellow Pitchfork performer Dogleg and Retirement Party.

The Weather Station, 4:00 PM, Blue Stage

The Toronto band led by singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman released one of the best albums of the year back in February with Ignorance (Fat Possum), songs inspired by climate change-addled anxiety. While the record is filled with affecting, reflective lines about loss and trying to find happiness in the face of dread, in a live setting, I imagine the instrumentation will be a highlight, from the fluttering tension of “Robber” to the glistening disco of “Parking Lot”.

Revisit our preview of their Pitchfork Instagram performance from earlier this year. Catch them at an aftershow on Friday at Schubas with Ulna.

Danny Brown, 6:15 PM, Green Stage

The Detroit rapper’s last full-length record was the Q-Tip executive produced uknowhatimsayin¿ (Warp), though he’s popped up a few times since then, on remixes, a Brockhampton album, and TV62, a Bruiser Brigade Records compilation from earlier this year. (He’s also claimed in Twitch streams that his new album Quaranta is almost done.) His sets--especially Pitchfork sets--are always high-energy, as he’s got so many classic albums and tracks under his belt at this point, so expect to hear a mix of those.

Erykah Badu, 8:30 PM, Green Stage

What more can I say? This is the headliner Pitchfork has been trying to get for years, responsible for some of the greatest neo soul albums of all time. There’s not much else to say about Erykah Badu other than she’s the number one must-see at the festival.

[forsetti]

On Racial Justice: Time For Action

When I was in high school, a young girl went missing. There was a rumor she had been abducted. This was years before cell phones and then internet. Word spread through phone trees, in diners, at the gas station, in the barbershop and hair salon. The entire county became quickly invested into finding her. It was as if someone took a big stick and beat the hell out of our little beehive.

She was found, later that day, up one of the canyons that bordered the rural valley where we lived. She had been killed. I know this because my father was the county coroner, as well as the local mortician. As the news of her murder spread as quickly her abduction had earlier in the day, a wave of anger and fear blanketed the valley. Anger because of what had happened to “one of their own.” Fear because there was an existential threat to their own children out there, somewhere, still at large. The beehive was whipped up into a frenzy.

I can't remember if it was later that same day or the next but the local police soon found and arrested what they described as “a drifter from California,” for the young girl's abduction and murder. They locked the man up in the little jail that was located in our town hall.

Once news of the arrest and jailing hit the hive, the emotions that had been building over the past couple of days began to boil over. By that evening, after a number of drinks at one of the local watering holes, a number of men had worked themselves up into a frenzy over what had happened. At some point, one of the men suggested they drag that “mother fucker” out of the jail and administer some “good ol' country justice.” Before you could say, “vigilante justice,” a number of armed men in pickup trucks were parked in front of the town hall ready to reenact their own personal version of “Death Wish.”

With all respect to the local police force, the few officers on duty were able to talk the inebriated, heavily armed group off the ledge. The men eventually drove off to their respective homes, no one was lynched, and a crisis was averted. A few hours later, in the middle of the night, the police transferred the prisoner to a larger jail a hundred miles away.

The reason I bring up this story is because I am reminded of it every time I hear white people lecture black people on how to behave after one of their unarmed sons and daughters is killed by the police. I watched, in real time, an entire community get worked up to a fever, murderous pitch over the course of a couple of days over the murder of one of their own. Yet, people just like those I grew up around who, within a few hours, rationalized a lynching over one unjust death, cannot imagine the release of pent-up fear and anger many black communities feel that has been building for generations.

The reason Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the National Anthem wasn't because of the killing of one person. The reason there were riots in Ferguson MO in 2015 wasn't just because of the death of Michael Brown. The reason there are protests and riots in all fifty states right now isn't just because of the deaths of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor. The reason for all of these is the centuries-old, systemic practice of viewing and treating black bodies as expendable.

When citizens do this like we've recently seen with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is horrible and deserves moral outrage and legal repercussions. When this happens at the hands of those entrusted to serve and protect the very people it kills, without consequences, it is evil. When this happens over and over and over and over....again, it is a moral failure not just of the law enforcement officers who do this but of our society because we've turned a blind eye to the deaths, pain, and suffering of our own.

It doesn't take a lot of thought to imagine what would happen if it was unarmed white people being killed by the police. One of the turning points in how the nation viewed of the way our government was handling the Vietnam War was shooting deaths of four young, unarmed students at Kent State in 1970. Like the rural area where I grew up, white America doesn't tolerate the killing of their own by agents of the government. Not for one fucking second.

Yet, a whole lot of white America can't seem to understand why Black Americans get so worked up whenever one of their own is murdered by the police. I've seen more video of white people screaming at police for pulling them over or for asking them to obey safe practices during a pandemic than over the killing of their fellow, unarmed citizens.

I know there are a host of hot takes as to why white America doesn't really give a damn about the killing of unarmed minorities. If the analysis doesn't begin and end with, “as a whole, white America views minorities as inferior and expendable,” it isn't worth a damn. This doesn't mean all of white America is racist. It means that, as a group, white America doesn't care enough to change the status quo. This shouldn't be a revelation to anyone who pays attention to the world around them. White America hasn't given a damn about minorities since, forever. They have really never cared about Native Americans. They've only given a half-assed care about blacks and that was only after seeing images of church-dressed men, women, and children being attacked by police dogs and brutalized with batons and fire hoses at the hands of racist, Southern police. Once the Civil Rights Act passed, White America pretty much went back to not giving a damn about black people. It almost seems like giving blacks the right to vote was all the care White America could muster and a lot of them couldn't (and still can't) do that. The fear and anger the people in my community felt over the course of a few days back in the late 70s led them to be willing to break whatever laws they deemed necessary to get the justice they felt they deserved. Imagine this same fear and anger not building up over a few days but a few centuries. Imagine not one member of your community being unjustly killed but dozens and dozens each and every year. Imagine the fear and anger not that these deaths were the result of some random person but by the very people hired and entrusted to protect your community.

The surprising thing isn't that black Americas are angry. The surprising thing is they've kept their anger in control as well as they have. White Americans protest and riot over their favorite sports team winning or losing. They protest and riot over a beloved football coach being fired. They protest and riot over having their favorite drink being taxed. They protest and riot over not being able to get their hair cut and flower beds properly tended. Black Americans are protesting over the killings of their loved ones.

I cannot imagine what it is like to fear for your life every time you encounter the police, regardless of the circumstances. I cannot imagine worrying about any of my children being harmed, let alone killed by the police. I cannot imagine being punished more harshly by the police and courts for doing the same things that others have done. I cannot imagine being viewed as “violent,” “lazy,” “a thug,” “a threat,”... , no matter how wealthy or successful I am, by a good portion of society, just because of the color of my skin. I cannot imagine my water supply being poisoned with lead and no one with any power gives a damn. There are thousands of things about being black in America I cannot even imagine.

Just because I can't imagine these things doesn't make them not real. It doesn't make them not important. That I cannot imagine these things just means I've been fortunate enough to be on the other side of the systemic racism in our country. As I watch the current protests over the latest police killings of unarmed blacks, I'm hopeful and afraid. Hopeful because the number of protests not just in big cities but around the country in towns large and small means, like the images on tv from the 60s of the Civil Rights marches, are having a real impact on white America. Fearful because I know the history of this country when it comes to the levels it will go to protect the white patriarchy.

Within the past few years, I watched the election of someone who is the personification of white supremacy as a backlash to the first black president. Trump won the election because the majority of white men and women voted for him. They may not do the same next time around but that they did the first time tells you all you need to know about where White America stands when it comes to racial justice and equality.

When it comes to the deaths of unarmed blacks by police, to the overpopulation of our prison system, to the gross wealth disparity of whites and blacks, to too many issues to list here, to my fellow White Americans, I quote Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” You know damn well you wouldn't tolerate being treated how blacks our in our country. You know damn well you wouldn't tolerate the killing of your sons and daughters by anyone, especially the police.

It is time to stop pretending the problem isn't systemic and it is the responsibility of minorities to fix. White America built the system. White America has and still does, to a great extent, support it. White America, all of it, benefits from it. It is up to us to dismantle it. We can either go down as the ones who did what was necessary to live up to the promises of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, or we can go down in history as just another era that made promises it never intended to live up to. This isn't something that could or should wait another day to happen. It is centuries behind schedule. Trying is no longer enough. To quote a Jedi Master, “Do or do not, there is no try.” We owe it ourselves but, much more importantly, we owe it to Black Americans past and present.

[clairebeauchampfan]

Anne with an ‘E’: a personal review

I loved this book as a child (well, as a teenager....I discovered it very late into my teens). I loved the Kim Braden BBC TV version too, which was very faithful to the book, if memory serves me right. So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I began watching the CBC/Netflix version produced by Moira Walley-Beckett and staring Amybeth McNulty as Anne, because I knew it had taken liberties with the Book and injected a lot of late 20th and 21st Century ‘woke’ issues, into what I remembered as an innocent, sweet book about an odd little white orphan girl adopted by an elderly spinster and her brother, growing up in a late 19th century all-white farming community. in Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island.

Would revisionist Anne of Green Gables therefore be a Afro-Canadian  or First Nations (that’s Red Indian to you, if you are still asleep) girl with a physical disability,  adding to her already disadvantaged status as the abandonned waif reluctantly adopted in place of the boy that Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had asked for?  Would Anne and Diana, her bosom pal, discover the delights of teen lesbian sex? Would we be treated to Anne indulging in a bit of onanism, or giving Gilbert a hand-job, or worse, and Marilla and Matthew ejoying incestuous relations  (see ‘Sanditon’ for more of this kind of revisionist and grindingly ‘woke’ television)? 

Fortunately for lovers of Anne of Green Gables, the wildest excesses of ‘woke’TV were avoided. We DID have one of the schoolboys, Cole the pretty, artistic type( spot the cliche!), 

being bullied by the sporting jock Billy Andrews and his gang of brainless acolytes (more cliches), before finding shelter and a release for his artistic talent at the home of Diana’s  Aunt Josephine, who in this series is a Sapphic and hosts amazingly decadent parties for her gay and arty friends ( I had no idea PEI was so advanced in the late 19th Century: gay central and great fun!). We had the minor character of the French boy Jerry Baynard (Buote in the book?) become a major character, in love with Diana but spurned because ...well, he’s French, and of course the English people are baaaad (all the wealthiest people are English English with cut glass accents with which to cut people dead, the snaaabs). 

And, we are introduced to Sebatsian (’Bash’) a Trinidadian friend of Gilbert, who starts his own Afro-Caribbean family , also outsiders in Avonlea and struggling with racism and former slave cultural cringe whilst setting his hand to farming.

 Plus, lest we forget, we have the horrific tale of Ka’kwet, the Mi’kmaq friend of Anne whyo is forcibly sent to a government boarding school to have the Indianness beaten out of her. 

 Naturally the perpetrators are Catholic nuns (hiss, boo!), whilst the character in the book who Anne describes as her kindred spirit, Rev. Allen, is of course here a bigotted clergyman leading the group of reactionary old white men (hiss!) who endeavour to get beautiful, trouser wearing, motor-bike riding feminist teacher Miss Stacy fired, and burn down the school for good measure. (Yah boo and double hiss! )

So much for the wokeness. Which is what  we old snaaabs who like traditional opera and theatre performances find infuriating, where for example  the director strives desparately to make things relevant by dressing Puritan-era soldiers in Nazi uniforms (see! fascist parallels! Boo, hiss!) , or having the cringingly ‘woke’ Shakespeare you can see these days at London’s Sam Wanamaker theatre, with HenryV played as a transexual-of-colour. just in case you needed to be woken from your slumber with right-on wokeness beaten into your brain with a mallet. Ah, it’s such fun to ‘epater les bourgeois’ and signal your virtue at the same time. 

But in this version of Anne’s story I’m  glad to say that although forced and didactic at times  the new characters and novel situations,  were extremely well acted and put together, ( notably Bash and his tragic wife Mary) whilst for the most part fans of the original book will be very, very happy. 

All the leading roles, especially Matthew (RH Thomson) and Marilla (Geraldine James).  (spoiler alert: Matthew doesn’t die in the only three seasons allowed us by those buffoons in Netflix), were well played. 

Fascinating, character revealing  back-stories were put into the basic story. I loved the evocation of 1880′s Prince Edward Island (I can’t wait to go there),  and what is was to be  school-children in a one-room school-house. I liked Rachel Lynde’s feisty character and her love for her bumbling husband. And I’m always fond of dear old dutiful Diana,

 and earnest Gilbert Blythe. 

But the crown should go to AmyBeth McNulty for her sparkling performance as Anne, struggling with her insecurity, her awkwardness, her gaucheness,  her worldly knowledge of how cruel the world can be, and her determination to do something about it,  all among the perils of growing up from innocent child  (the first period episode is priceless) to barely adult college student.  Anne.   With an E. I think you’ll love it

#anne with an ‘e’# anne of green gables  #anne cancelled after only three seasons

[chipcoffeyblog]

Looking for something fun and totally outside the (candy) box for you and your special someone to do for Valentine's Day? Something totally different and a little bit off-the-wall? Then keep reading! Most of us enjoy spooky TV shows and movies, right? We love that delicious adrenaline rush of being creeped out just a bit by thoughts of ghosts and the paranormal! If that sounds like you - and/or your special Valentine - then keep reading! Wouldn't it be big fun for you and your Valentine to spend a night (or weekend) at a haunted hotel? Just imagine what you might experience! And think of the bragging rights you'll have when recounting your ghostly adventures to family and friends! As part of my work as a psychic and medium, I have traveled extensively and stayed at some of the most interesting - and haunted - hotels in the United States. I like to stay at places that have a rich history, combined with stories about the spirits that reportedly roam throughout the properties. I have seen and heard otherworldly things that would send delicious little goose bumps up and down the spines of most people! Below is a list of some of the haunted hotels that I have enjoyed visiting and predict that you will enjoy visiting, too. New York City: The Jane Hotel - Some of the survivors of the sinking of the Titanic stayed in the building that is now the Jane Hotel in NYC's Greenwich Village. Guests report seeing ghostly apparitions and hearing the sound of sobbing . And the elevator often appears to have a mind of its own, traveling up at down between floors randomly. Guest rooms are inspired by luxury ship and train cabins and tend to be on the small side, many with shared baths. If you desire an en suite bathroom, choose to stay in one of the Captain's Cabins. Added bonus: You're in NYC! There is so much to see and do! Visit all the sites and see a Broadway show!

New York State - Catskills area: Burn Brae Mansion in Glen Spey, NY - Spectral apparitions and ghostly sounds are often heard by guests at this lovely bed and breakfast that was once the elaborate Victorian home of the widow of George Ross MacKenzie, third president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Other unexplained occurrences include doors opening and slamming shut; the sound of children playing; the sound of animals when no animals are present; and the sound of an organ playing, although there is no organ in the house. During my visit there, I distinctly smelled cookies baking in the downstairs area, but no one was baking cookies. Added bonus: The surrounding area is beautiful! Go for a hike, horseback riding, rafting, etc. Los Angeles, California: Millennium Biltmore Hotel - The ghost of Elizabeth Short is said to haunt the Biltmore. Ms. Short was last seen alive at the Biltmore shortly before her gruesome demise in 1947 and that still unsolved case has been dubbed "The Black Dahlia Murder." Soldiers who stayed in the building during and after World War II and young children are also said to roam around the hotel. Perhaps iconic stars from bygone Hollywood days pay post mortem visits to The Biltmore? Added bonus: Hollywood, with all its star studded sites, is close by...and so are California beaches! Atlanta, Georgia: Georgian Terrace - In December of 1939, this hotel hosted the "Gone With the Wind" Gala after the movie's premiere in downtown Atlanta. Clark Gable (and wife, Carole Lombard), Vivien Leigh (and future husband, Laurence Olivier) and other stars of the movie were in attendance. Some say that a gangland-style murder and other deaths have occurred here and there are frequent reports of ghostly activity occurring within the hotel. Added bonus: The haunted Fox Theatre is across the street from the hotel...and you're close to downtown ATL.   Austin, Texas Driskill Hotel - This lavish hotel, located in downtown Austin and completed in 1882, was built by Colonel Jesse Driskill, a cattleman who spent his entire fortune to build "the finest hotel south of St. Louis." He is said to haunt the hotel, along with a little girl who fell down the grand staircase while chasing her runaway ball and two brides who allegedly took their own lives in the bathtub of room 525, exactly 20 years apart. Added bonus: There are great places to eat, drink and be merry nearby. Do your part to help "Keep Austin Weird"! Denver, Colorado Brown Palace - One of the spirits that is said to haunt the Brown Palace is a young boy, dressed in Victorian era clothing, who has been seen rifling through the luggage of hotel guests. During one of my stays there, I returned to my room to discover that little intruder looking inside my backpack that was sitting on a chair! When we saw each other, we both gasped and he instantaneously vanished, leaving me startled and wide-eyed! Added bonus: The hella haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado is about an hour drive from downtown Denver. The stately hotel was the inspiration for author Stephen King's best selling novel, "The Shining," which he wrote after he and his wife were guests there. The hotel has been featured on numerous paranormal TV shows. Kansas City, Missouri area Belvoir Winery and Inn - This cozy and comfortable, yet quite elegant, 9 room bed and breakfast, with its 1,500 square feet bridal suite, is located in Liberty, Missouri on the site of a huge former Odd Fellows complex. The inn was once an orphanage, so the sights and sounds of children who once called this building their home are regularly seen and heard by Belvoir guests. Numerous television shows have filmed at the inn and on the property, including Kindred Spirits, Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters and American Pickers. Added bonus: Have a glass or two of Belvoir's wines or your favorite cocktail at the inn's lovely bar located on the main level. And visit George, the inn's "mascot," who just happens to be a real skeleton! New Hampshire Omni Mount Washington Hotel - Located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, this property is simply spectacular! The most prominent spirit that is said to haunt the hotel is Princess Carolyn, former owner of the hotel, whose lovely suite is now available for guests to occupy. The hotel's dining room has a permanently set up table for Princess Carolyn in case she happens to stop in for lunch or dinner.  Added bonus: Sightings of the elusive Bigfoot have been reported in the area! Soak up the gorgeous scenery! Take the cog railway to the top of Mt. Washington. Go skiing on the nearby slopes during winter months. Boston, Massachusetts Omni Parker House Hotel - Rich in history and hauntings, the Parker house is the birthplace of Boston Cream Pie and Parker House Rolls! The Kennedy family, arguably America's "royal family," often visited this hotel. It is said that future president John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier at a table in the hotel's restaurant. At one time, civil rights activist Malcolm X, Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse were employees of the hotel. While staying there, I was confused when I encountered the spirit of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. My encounter finally made sense when the hotel's historian told me that Booth had frequently stayed at the hotel and had even practiced firing his gun nearby. Added bonus: Granary Burying Ground (cemetery), final resting place of numerous Revolutionary War patriots, including Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, is nearby    Tampa, Florida area The Don Cesar - Affectionately known as "The Pink Palace" and located in St. Pete Beach, not far from Tampa on Florida's west coast, this hotel, like others on my list, is said to be haunted by its original owner. Wealthy New Englander Thomas Rowe built the hotel in 1925 in remembrance of his unrequited love for a lovely Spanish opera singer. The star crossed lovers are said to haunt "The Don," as are members of the New York Yankees baseball team, including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, due to the fact members of the team once stayed at the hotel during spring training. Other reported spectral guests include gangster Al Capone and World War II era soldiers who may have stayed (and died) there while the building was being used as a convalescent hospital for aviators and pilots. Added bonus: The hotel has a lovely Gulf of Mexico beach.  San Francisco, California Queen Anne Hotel - A charming Victorian era boutique hotel located in the Pacific Heights neighborhood. Both the public areas and guests rooms are furnished in an eclectic style. The hotel was once an exclusive boarding school for young ladies, as well as a brothel that housed "ladies of the night." The headmistress of the girl's school, Miss Mary Lake, reportedly haunts the hotel, sometimes unpacking suitcases, tucking guests in at night and singing to them while they fall asleep. The most haunted room is said to be room 410, which was once Miss Mary Lake's office. Voodoo queen Mary Ellen Pleasant lived across the street from the hotel in the 1800's and it is thought that perhaps her spirit also roams the halls of the Queen Anne. Added bonus: Enjoy all that The Golden Gate City has to offer! Ride a cable car; eat some great seafood at a waterfront restaurant; visit Fisherman's Wharf and the spectacular Palace of Fine Arts, built for the 1915 World's Fair. Portland, Oregon The Benson - A world class luxury hotel that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built by Simon Benson and opening its doors in 1913, it is believed that Mr. Benson is the primary spirit who haunts the hotel. He is frequently seen on the grand staircase, in the hotel bar and dining room, and on the 7th, 9th and 12th floors of the hotel. A small and mischievous little boy, whom people assume is the ghost of one of Benson's sons, often appears and plays pranks on hotel guests. The ghost of a former porter who worked at The Benson is also sometimes seems, as well as the spectral images of a lady in white (doesn't every haunted property have a lady in white? LOL) and a lady in blue. Added bonus: Take a trip to see the nearby and spectacularly beautiful Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls! New Orleans, Louisiana Bourbon Orleans Hotel - Once the location of the Sisters of the Holy Family's convent, girl's school, medical ward and orphanage, the Bourbon Orleans is reportedly haunted by the spirits of those who resided there during that earlier time. A Confederate soldier has also been seen at the hotel, as well as a lonely ghost dancer, seen dancing solo in the hotel's ballroom. The 3rd and 6th floors are said to be some of the most haunted areas. Added bonus: Laissez les bon temps rouler and enjoy all of the delicious and decadent delights that The Big Easy readily serves up! Savannah, Georgia East Bay Inn - This stately old building was built in the mid-1800's and once housed the offices of cotton merchants, as well as warehouses for cotton. In the mid-1980's, the property opened as a charming inn with 28 guest rooms. The rooms are spacious, with wooden floors, exposed brick establishing walls and high ceilings. A friendly ghost named Charley, a former worker in the building, allegedly haunts the inn. It is claimed that he is heard walking the halls late and night and sometimes will jiggle the doorknobs. Witnesses have said that lights flicker and some of their personal belongings mysteriously disappear. Room 325, known as "Charley's Room," is said to be the most haunted. Added bonus: Is there really anyplace in Savannah that isn't haunted? Visit them all! Walk along River Street. Take a ride on the riverboat. Put on your walking shoes and visit Savannah's numerous squares. And don't miss a visit to the magnificently beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery. San Antonio, Texas The Menger Hotel - The land on which the Menger sits is part of the historic site of the Battle of the Alamo. It is said that between 32 and 45 ghosts haunt the Menger. (Who came up with that number?!?) Among those ghosts are Teddy Roosevelt; Sallie White, a former chambermaid at the hotel who was shot nearby by her common law husband and died on the hotel's 2nd floor; and Richard King, a cattle baron who often stayed at the Menger and died in his suite on the 3rd floor. If you are brave enough, you can stay in the King Ranch Suite where Richard King died and sleep in the same bed where he took his last breath! Added bonus: Visit The Alamo. Walk along the River Walk. Dine in some of San Antonio's fabulous eateries. San Diego, California (Coronado Island) Hotel del Coronado - The elegant hotel, located on Coronado Island, has a resident ghost named Kate Morgan. Kate was a guest at the hotel in 1892 and killed herself with a gun a few days after an ugly break-up with her male lover. Guests at the hotel have reported seeing Kate's ghost walking in the hallways and along the hotel's lovely beach. During my visits to the hotel, I always hope to encounter the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, who shot the film, "Some Like It Hot," on the property back in 1958. Added bonus: While in the San Diego area, pay a visit to the haunted Whaley House in Old Town San Diego, where you can also shop at some of the area's charming stores. Washington, DC Hay-Adams Hotel - Washington socialite Marian Adams, known by the nickname Clover, reportedly haunts the Hay-Adams. Clover was an amateur photographer who died after ingesting some of the potassium cyanide that she used while developing her photographs. Her death was ruled a suicide, but some believed that she had been murdered. The ghost of Clover Adams haunts the hotel's 4th floor. Maids have told stories of hearing a woman sobbing, calling out their names and asking "What do you want?" in unoccupied rooms. Some guests say that visits by Clover's spirit are accompanied by the scent of almonds. Potassium cyanide, which caused Clover's death, is extracted from almonds! Added bonus: Visit the many beautiful monuments in DC, as well as The Smithsonian and nearby Arlington Cemetery. 

[tokupedia]

Halloween 2019 costume ideas: Power Rangers pt. 2

Jason Bischoff’s Beast Morpher Rangers

Jason Bischoff was the former global marketing guy for Hasbro and is an artist.

He is a genuine fan of tokusatsu (mentioned Kamen Rider on his Twitter and his love of Ex-Aid and several Heisei Rider shows) and it shows. In his final months with Hasbro, he and a buddy of his named Micheal O’ Hare came up with art for concepts of new Rangers not original to the Go-Busters source material.

The first is a Green Ranger based on the Frog Buddyroid from the Go-Busters Summer Film, “what if she had a Ranger companion”?  The next is a gray Polar Bear Ranger and an Orange female scorpion Ranger based on Jason’s viewings of Kyuranger and Sasori Orange. 

A Bat Ranger based on Blaze, a “what if the bad guy reformed and got a new suit” kind of thing. (though given its Batman’s 80th, you could also use it as an excuse to go around saying in a gravely voice “I’m Bat-Ranger!”) 

Lastly, a Magenta Sea Urchin Ranger and Hammerhead Beast Bot for you and a buddy to dress up as. 

X-Men/Power Rangers Amalgam

A while ago at the Edmonton Expo in Alberta, Canada, Jason David Frank discovered a cosplay that had to be seen to be believed. A Canadian fan mixed the White Ranger with Wolverine. Mr. JDF then posted this to instagram

Now, this isn’t the first time that X-Men and Power Rangers have crossed paths as both shared the Fox Kids block on Saturday Mornings in the 1990s and a SDCC gatefold variant cover paid tribute to X-Men #1. Not to mention MMPR’s comic rights were once with Marvel and the whole Marvel/Super Sentai connection. The idea of X-Men Rangers is an interesting one, why not complete it?

Cyclops Red, Jubilee Yellow, Beast Blue, Pink Phoenix (if considering season 2 MMPR), Gambit Black and Rouge Green. As an alternative to Wolvie, Storm can be the White Ranger or added as the 7th Ranger team member of any color you choose. Add a Professor Z (a tube head in a hover wheelchair or a blue bald guy) and you have the complete set! Or go wild and make a Brotherhood of Mutants version of a Ranger Team!

Lord “Zackkon”

Submitted for your approval, one Zachary Taylor, a virtuous teen who was offered a deal with the devil to be something greater, but refused. What if the youth, resentful of the choice of his team’s leadership, accepted the path that Rita Repulsa offered? 

I envision a Black Ranger who fuses his power first with the Dragon Coin, but then with powers of Green and Black Rangers after him. The core idea is to combine the Mastodon motif with a Dragon in a way that aesthetically looks good. 

Remi, the Orange Solar Ranger 

(Ari’s Legacy Wars Bio confirms it!)

Last year, I pitched to the fandom to option dressing up as newest kid on the block, Ari aka the (Purple) Solar Ranger. This year, I’m submitting her life partner and love Remi who became the most recent addition to the Solar Rangers and another of a growing number of representatives of LGBTQ+ heroes. For those looking to cosplay with the person they love or for a fun cosmic night of Halloween, here is a Ranger couple that we hope to see more of in the future.

A Morphing Master

The Morphing Masters are the mysterious all powerful beings who protected the Morphin Grid and dedicated their lives to studying it. The Boom! Studios comics dedicated some time to explaining them a bit more in Beyond the Grid, including a new look. 

Why be a mere three dimensional linear being on All Hallow’s Eve or at a con when you can wear a look that says “I am a supreme being beyond your trivialities and I look fabulous doing it.” 

Warbunny

Aka my new favorite Power Rangers monster. Warbunny is a ‘roided up anthropomorphic rabbit whom, if his Conan inspired garb hasn’t telegraphed, talks like a certain former Governator and wields a large Warhammer that fires energy blasts. Cosplayers who do Warcraft costumes and other fantasy cosplay might gravitate towards this one since it parodies Arnie and Conan.

The Soul Era MMPR Rangers

In the comics, we learn there was a ill fated team in 1969 which fought Psycho Green. Pitch: What if there were a MMPR Rangers team 5 years later in 1975, the year Gorenger was created? The era of disco and soul, big cars, afro hair kung fu movies and Watergate. The challenge I present is combining the Gorenger suits with the MMPR suits. 

Disco collar capes, platform heel variants of the boots, flashy brighter neon colors with glitter and woodgrain on the weapons because products in the 1970s had woodgrain even if it didn’t make any aesthetic sense to do so. Civilian forms would be based on 1970s fashion, at least one Ranger should have a real or fake Burt Reynolds-sized mustache and/or afro for period accuracy. 

Dark Super Megaforce Yellow

For Ranger fans who wanna let out their inner bad girl, I present another Dark Ranger redesign of a Power Ranger from Battle For the Grid. The Gokaiger suit decked out in black and pants and a gold trim “coat” is just so good, really makes the yellow pop and looks more “piratey” than the standard suit. As you can see you can opt for an all black undershirt and yellow gloves or vice versa.

A new standard Lord Drakkon created for evil Rangers is that unlike their heroic counterparts, all of them have blood red visors instead of the standard black tint. (This also recently extends to Sentai, but we’ll get to that later.)

Houou Ranger (Chun-Li ver.)

While Ryu got to play Power Ranger, the devs of Legacy Wars decided to let none of the other characters participate in the fun. Many fans who love and respect Chun-Li were naturally outraged that she got shafted and began speculating what kind of Blue Ranger she would be. There was artistic debate as to what motif she would have with most gravitating towards a tiger, a peacock or her totem of fighting style, the crane.

I on the other hand think if Ryu lifted a Dairanger’s name for his Ranger form, it only makes sense the developers would do the same for Chun Li and give her a Chinese Phoenix motif.

The common consensus all fans share is that such a form has parts of Miss Li’s costume as part of her Ranger outfit much like with Ryu Ranger with his boxing gloves, bandanna and black belt. Whatever you choose, you are sure to be a knockout!

Supersonic Green

The first Green gone bad chronologically in the comics, Trek was a bitter Xybiran who got sick of being benched while his team went on missions and soon that bitterness turned into hate as he empathically read the feelings of his teammates about him. He murdered his entire team and then pledged allegiance to Dark Specter to become Psycho Green.

The Fiveman team these Supersonic Rangers are based on never had a sixth ranger, since sixth Rangers were not really a thing until Zyuranger. This bring up one conundrum for this Ranger in terms of those wishing to design a full costume...what exactly is Trek’s helmet motif? 

For those who have never seen Fiveman, the theme was about types of school education each Ranger was part of. Red was a science teacher, Blue was a physical education teacher, Black was a language teacher, Pink was a math teacher and Yellow was a music teacher. 

I suppose a history book on the helmet for social studies would be appropriate as would be an apple or money symbols for home economics. It should be noted if one commits to making a helmet, the Fiveman/Supersonic Ranger helmet visors each have lines running through them to signify their numerical designation (Red has 1, Blue has 2 etc.) so Green would have six. 

That’s all I’ve got! 

Happy Halloween Ranger Nation! 

[thelankyrandman-blog]

Full Album-A-Day List in Alphabetical Order: 2017

Full Album-A-Day List in Alphabetical Order: 2017

Alright, it’s been too long since the end of the year, but here my list of albums I listened to in 2017. There are 365 albums here in alphabetical order by artist and then by release date in each artist. I am repeating the challenge for 2018 and so far I’ve listened to 62 albums. Let me know what you guys think of this list and please check out some of the music on here. Some of my favorite albums ever are on this thing.

A:

Actress - AZD

Alvvays - Alvvays

Alvvays - Antisocialites

Aminé - Good For You

America - America

Anderson .Paak - Malibu

Andy Shauf - The Bearer of Bad News

Andy Shauf - The Party

Angel Olsen - Half Way Home

Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

Angel Olsen - My Woman

Angel Olsen - Phases

Animal Collective - Marriweather Post Pavilion

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Ariel Pink - Pom Pom

Atmosphere - Fishing Blues

The Avalanches - Since I Left You

B:

BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

Beach House - Depression Cherry

Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman

Berhana - Berhana EP

Blank Banshee - Mega

Big L - Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous

Big L - The Big Picture

Big Sean & Metro Boomin - Double or Nothing

Big Thief - Masterpiece

Big Thief - Capacity

Bob Dylan - Empire Burlesque

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded

Booker T. & The M.G.’s - Green Onions

Brockhampton - SATURATION

Brockhampton - SATURATION II

Brockhampton - SATURATION III

C:

Capital STEEZ - AmeriKKKan Korruption

Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION

Chance the Rapper - 10 Day

Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap

Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Charli XCX - Pop 2

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest

Chet Baker - She Was Too Good To Me

Childish Gambino - Because the Internet

Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love

City and Colour - If I Should Go Before You

Clarence Clarity - No Now

Clipping. - Splendor & Misery

Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love

Connan Mockasin - Caramel

Crosby, Stills, & Nash - Crosby, Stills, & Nash

Crywank - Tomorrow is Nearly Yesterday and Everyday is Stupid

D:

Daniel Caesar - Freudian

Danny Brown - The Hybrid

Danny Brown - XXX

Danny Brown - Old

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

Dave Brubeck - Time Out

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Death Grips - Exmilitary

Death Grips - The Money Store

Death Grips - No Love Deep Web

Death Grips - Government Plates

Death Grips - Fashion Week

Death Grips - The Powers That B

Death Grips - Interview 2016 EP

Death Grips - Bottomless Pit

Deerhoof - The Man, The King and The Girl

Deerhoof - The Runners Four

Deerhoof - The Magic

Deerhoof - Mountain Moves

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Denzel Curry - Nostalgic 64

Denzel Curry - Imperial

DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs

Dirty Projectors - The Glad Fact

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

Dirty Projectors - Dirty Projectors

E:

Earl Sweatshirt - Earl

Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside

Elucid - Valley of Grace

Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton

Everything Everything - Get to Heaven

F:

Fantastic Negrito - The Last Days of Oakland

Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear

Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Feist - Let It Die

Feist - The Reminder

Feist - Metals

Feist - Pleasure

Fever Ray - Plunge

FKA Twigs - LP1

Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up

Flying Lotus - 1984

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra

Frank Ocean - channel Orange

Frank Ocean - Blonde

Freddie Gibbs - Shadow of a Doubt

Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata

G:

Ghost Ship Octavius - Ghost Ship Octavius

Girlpool - Powerplant

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

Greta Van Fleet - Black Smoke Rising EP

Grizzly Bear - Horn of Plenty

Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

Grizzly Bear - Friend EP

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear - Shields

Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins

H:

Harry Styles - Harry Styles

Huncho Jack - Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho

Hurray For The Riff Raff - The Navigator

I:

Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai

Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted

Ice Cube - Death Certificate

IDK - IWASVERYBAD

Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights

Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo EP

Isaiah Rashad - The Sun’s Tirade

J:

J Dilla - Donuts

J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive

J. Cole - 4 Your Eyes Only

Jaden Smith - SYRE

Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet

Jay Som - Everybody Works

Jlin - Black Origami

Joey Bada$$ - 1999

Joey Bada$$ - B4.Da.$$

Joey Bada$$ - All-AmeriKKKan Badass

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights

K:

Ka - The Knight’s Gamble

Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid

Kamaiyah - A Good Night in the Ghetto

Kamaiyah - Before I Wake

Kamasi Washington - The Epic

Karriem Riggins - Alone Together

Kaytranada - 99.9%

Kelela - Take Me Apart

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d City

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.

Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

Kesha - Rainbows

Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon

King Krule - The OOZ

L:

LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening

LCD Soundsystem - american dream

Lil Pump - Lil Pump

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed

Lorde - Pure Heroine

Lorde - Melodrama

Lou Reed - Lou Reed

Lou Reed - Transformer

M:

Mac DeMarco - Salad Days

Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog

Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note

Madvillain - Madvillainy

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?

Matmos - The Marriage of True Minds

Melvins - Eggnog EP

Melvins - Lice All EP

MF Doom - Operation Doomsday

MF Doom - Metal Fingers Presents: Special Herbs, Vol. 1 & 2

MF Doom - Mm.. Food

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Mick Jenkins - The Water[s]

The Microphones - Don’t Wake Me Up

The Microphones - It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water

The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2

The Microphones - Mount Eerie

Miles Davis - Porgy & Bess

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

Moses Sumney - Aromanticism

Mount Eerie - “No Flashlight” Songs of the Fulfilled Night

Mount Eerie - Lost Wisdom

Mount Eerie - Dawn

Mount Eerie - Wind’s Poem

Mount Eerie - Clear Moon

Mount Eerie - Ocean Roar

Mount Eerie - Sauna

Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers

Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Fault Less Youth

Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives

The Mountain Goats - Goths

M83. - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

N:

NAO - So Good EP

NAO - For All We Know

Nas - Illmatic

The National - The National

The National - Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers

The National - Alligator

The National - Boxer

The National - High Violet

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

The National - Sleep Well Beast

Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Neon Indian - Era Extraña

Neon Indian - VEGA INTL. Night School

Neutral Milk Hotel - Everything Is EP

Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies

Nick Murphy - Missing Link EP

Noname - Telefone

Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

O:

Oddisee - The Iceberg

Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

P:

The Pablo Collective - The Death of Pablo

Paramore - After Laughter

Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It

Perfume Genius - Too Bright

Perfume Genius - No Shape

Phoenix - Ti Amo

Phosphorescent - Muchacho

Pixies - Bossanova

Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti

Portishead - Dummy

The Postal Service - Give Up

Princess Nokia - 1992 Deluxe

Q:

Quelle Chris - Being You is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often

Quasimoto - The Unseen

R:

Radiohead - Pablo Honey

Radiohead - The Bends

Radiohead - Kid A

Radiohead - Amnesiac

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

Rapsody - Laila’s Wisdom

Ratt - Out of the Cellar

Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill

Richard Dawson - Peasant

Rogue Wave - Out of the Shadow

Run the Jewels - RTJ3

S:

Sampha - Process

(Sandy) Alex G - Beach Music

(Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

SBTRKT - SBTRKT

SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land

ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron

ScHoolboy Q - Blank Face LP

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty

Shabazz Palaces - Quazars: Born on a Gangster Star

Shapes & Colors - Love / Sex / War EP

The Shelters - The Shelters

The Shouting Matches - Grownass Man

Slint - Spiderland

Smino - blkswn

Snakadaktal - Sleep in the Water

Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Solange - A Seat at The Table

Sorority Noise - You’re Not As ___ As You Think

Spoon - Hot Thoughts

Squarepusher - Feed Me Weird Things

Squarepusher - Music is Rotted One Note

Squarepusher - Go Plastic

Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher?

St. Vincent - Marry Me

St. Vincent - Actor

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION

Stan Getz & Cher Baker - Stan Meets Chet

Substantial - The Past is Always Present in The Future

Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

Syd - Fin

SZA - Z

SZA - Ctrl

T:

The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave

The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt

The Tallest Man on Earth - There’s No Leaving Now

The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home

Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog

This is the Kit - Where it Lives

This is the Kit - Bashed Out

This is the Kit - Moonshine Freeze

Thom Yorke - The Eraser

Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse

Thundercat - Drunk

Todd Terje - It’s Album Time

Tonedeff - Polymer

Travis Scott - Rodeo

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders

A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service

Tycho - Past Is Prologue

Tycho - Dive

Tycho - Awake

Tycho - Epoch

Tyler, The Creator - Bastard

Tyler, The Creator - Goblin

Tyler, The Creator - Wolf

Tyler, The Creator - Cherry Bomb

Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy

U:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

V:

Vagabon - Infinite Worlds

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend - Contra

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait EP

Vince Staples - Summertime ’06

Vince Staples - Prima Donna EP

Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

Volcano Choir - Unmap

Volcano Choir - Repave

W:

The War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues

The War on Drugs - Future Weather EP

The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient

The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream

The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding

Warren G - Regulate… G Funk Era

Wavves - You’re Welcome

We Made God - It’s Getting Colder

The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

WIFE - What’s Between

Wiley - Godfather

Wolf Parade - Wolf Parade EP

Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

Wolf Parade - Expo 86

X:

X - Los Angeles

Xiu Xiu - Forget

The xx - Coexist

The xx - I See You

Y:

Yes - Close to the Edge

YG - Still Brazy

Young Pappy - 2 Cups Part 2 of Everything

Young Thug - Beautiful Thugger Girls

Young Thug & Carnage - Young Martha

Your Old Droog - Packs

Z:

Zola Jesus - Stridulum

Zola Jesus - Okovi

#’s:

21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin - Without Warning

[1rmono]

100 Reasons to Love Kim Namjoon

today is my 3 year anniversary of loving namjoon and so here’s 100 reasons everyone should love him !!!!!!!

he gave up a stable future of studying and going to college (despite being so smart) to risk everything and pursue his dream of becoming a rapper

had to fight criticism for being an ‘idol’ rapper and struggled for years with his decision and identity

when he says he loves himself !!!!

never forget this cute tummy flash !!!!!!!!

he loves all his members so much sosososo much, he always puts them before himself 

WHEN HE’S LAUGHING REALLY HARD AND HE STARTS SEAL CLAPPING

that one time tae came to sleep next to namjoon and namjoon sleepily held tae’s hand and wouldn’t let go

his signature move when he takes his two index fingers and covers one of his eyes while looking deadass into the camera

HIS DOE SHAPED PRETTY CHOCOLATE BROWN EYES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

professional self-dragger, literally willingly drags his own ass

his mixtape release in 2015, every song was so important and deep and okay, it’s largely forgotten because of yoongi’s mixtape but it has so much emotion and meaning behind every song

he loveloveloves dogs !

literally has looked like the best thing the world has to offer no matter what rainbow ass hair color bighit sticks him with

that golden age when his hair was black when will that look come back from the war ://////////

you know that thing he does when he’s been rapping and suddenly breaks out into a smile and scrunches his nose and winks with one eye mmmmmmmmokay !!!!

his angry rap when his neck veins show because he’s literally putting his all into it

the way he looks in beanies !!!!!!!!! with one ear tucked in and the other sticking out

the mole on the left side right under his jawline 

the fact that he literally read books on philosophy for hyyh

THE WAY !!!!!!!!! HE LOOKS !!!!!!!!!!!! IN A SUIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that time his speaker wasn’t working and he yelled at it and it started to work, Legends Only

the fact that he isn’t afraid to try out weird kinds of fashion and won’t hear shit about it

has been known to support LGBT since 2012

THAT TIME BTS WERE IN ISAC IN 2015 AND HE WAS EVERY MEMBER’S HYPE MAN 

when he’s too lazy to wear contacts so he wears his thick black rimmed glasses :’(((((((((((

that time he had a wardrobe malfunction and had his whole shirt ripped off during that dance break and he did the whole performance holding up the sorry remains of his shirt 

the fact that kim namjoon invented dimples !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no really he did

how he is literally incapable of doing a fan sign without making it a display of how much aegyo he can fit in any given span of time and then immediately be shy and embarrassed about it

6 feet tall, he is 6 feet tall also don’t forget that he is literally the eiffel tower because nothing is taller than 6 feet just sayin

that amazing and blessed time he had silver hair and my heart literally exploded !!!!!!!!!!!

HIS PRETTY PINK POUTY PLUSH PERFECT LIPS 

that time bts was doing rainism and he was the only one who didn’t know all the moves and messed up but pulled it off confidently in the end

he literally loves his mom so much i’m :’(((((((

HIS ALL BLACK OUTFITS AND THE WAY HE LOOKS WHEN HE WEARS ALL BLACK AND THE WAY ALL BLACK LOOKS ON HIM AND -

the fact that every time someone tells him to do a freestyle dance, it’s literally the same awkward robotic jerky dance with the failing arms and legs since 2013

when he tries to sing even though the members laugh at him

HE JUST WANTS TO CATCH CRABS FOR GOODNESS SAKE

his cute soft pretty pink knees :’))))))))))

in the fire era when he had that acorn haircut and pulled that shit off when will your fave ever

he reads, he has an IQ of 148, he was the nation’s top 1% in 5 subjects in high school, he -

his smile his beautiful glorious soft glowing stunning breathtaking smile that smile that you only have the privilege of seeing someone have one in a million times in your life, the kind of smile that could change the world

the way he looks in a choker the way he looks in a choker the way he looks in a chok-

okay !!!!!!!!!! but his cute squishy tiny nose so kissable n someone please bop it and pinch it and it’s soosososo cute 

the way he gets his hands inky and dirty every single fan sign every single darn one !!!!!!!!!!!! why are they dirty? what is he doing ?????

THE AUDACITY HE HAS TO WINK AND BITE LIPS AT CAMERAS THE SHEER AUDACITY

the way his arms look in sleeveless tops his arms !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the way he looks in snapbacks mmmmmmmmmmmm

that time on running man when everyone was supposed to have as many boxes as possible and he literally got his box snatched from his hands and he tripped over nothing he’s the dorkiest softest boy -

SAILORMON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that time he wore the army khakis and outfit and i just ://////// oh my god

his side profile his perfect gorgeous beautiful angelic side profile !!!!

his obsession with ryan and how happy he got when jimin got him a ryan cake for his birthday fkdsfhgfd

legs for days !!!!!!!!!!!!!

that time namjoon was a minion for halloween 

“I had to dance to survive in this cold, cruel world.”

his cute outfit in the baepsae dance practice video :((((((((((

he looks sosoososososo unbeliveably beautiful bare faced i just love him so much 

that time during the hyyh prologue shooting when all the members were piling onto him and he yelled ‘MY BALLS, MAN’

his fucnkgn !!!!!!!!!! puma photoshoot binch !!!!!!!!!!!

the fact that he sang expensive girl and took the fact that he didn’t get a grammy for it like a man :///

that time they won their first award in 2015 and he was cleARLY CRYING but denied it like “i’m not crying”

THAT TIME HE LITERALLY DESCRIBED HIS ERECTION ON LIVE RADIO AIR IN ENGLISH 

that one time !!!!!!!!!!!!!! bts had an outdoor performance and his white shirt got sososososooso sweaty it was basically stuck to him and see through if you don’t know what i’m talking about then goodbye

those RARE times when he smiles and sticks his tongue out at the same time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that time he was complaining about jungkook and the fruit flies and the weird as shit way he pronounced ‘vaccuum’

his messy friendship with jackson 

the fact that he apologized for the mistakes he has made in the past and made no excuses about them 

award for having the world’s cutest and flattest tushy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i don’t know if anyone noticed but the way he holds his fingers when he’s explaining something like he puts them in awkward bent angles and they’re really long and expressive i just looooovvveeeee

that time he was doing a duet with this female singer for a show and he picked her up from the airport and held a sign with her name and got shy around her he’s the biggest gentleman DDDD:

deep husky voice like shots of pure liquid gold sends shivers down my spine ://////////

 KIM DAILY

that time he held a tiny itty bitty baby frog on his index finger i dont know why it was so cute of him i just !!!

sweaty namjoon when namjoon sweats the sweat namjoon produces 

that time he tried to twerk but ‘something keeps dangling’

when !!!!!!!!!! he wears tight pants and his thighs are almost bursting out of his pants jdfkkhkj

the way he says ‘baby’

EVERY ‘WHAT AM I TO YOU’ PERFORMANCE HE’S EVER DONE

that time he was asked to pick between solo and bts and didn’t hesitate for a microsecond before saying bts

THAT TIME NAMJOON DID THIS GUITAR ACOUSTIC WITH SOMEONE ELSE AND HE RAPPED SO SWEETLY MY HEART OVERFLOWED

taught himself english by listening to 10 english dvds 10 times over 3 years 

special thank you to every namjoon stylist who made him wear low cut shirts

THE WAY HE LOOKS WEARING A MASSIVE HOODIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

‘and i’m sexy like a porn star’

accepts and settles for being the least popular bts member

the way he looks when he wears headbands 

when his sleeves are super long so he has sweater paws and his pretty fingers stick out slightly jdsfkshgkjfmncvb

sub par body rolls that can still make you squirm and cry :////////

once when he was the first in a lineup in a fan sign he told a fan ‘now you’ve practiced on me, you can do this in front of your real bias’

got to write in “힙합하다 1” (‘This is Hip Hop 1: South Korea, Hip Hop and Life’) which is a hip hop book for 42 top korean hip hop artists

THAT TINY MOLE BELOW HIS BOTTOM LIP THAT YOU CAN ONLY SEE IF HE SMILES REALLY WIDE

the way he looks in a tie ohohohoohohoho my gosh !!!!!!!!!!!!!

that time in the ariport the cameraman said ‘the girls love you guys’ and namjoon was like ‘thanks, we love you too’

the way he wrote about the sunset in his diary when he went to dubai 

HE HAS BENDY ARMS !!!!!!!!! NO REALLY I SWEAR THEY BEND BACKWARDS 

he once told a fan ‘sorry’ when she told him she got him photocard

he said that he wanted to know what it was like going to college and sometimes he feels like he missed out on that experience :///

can you believe namjoon invented having pretty hands??????? Amazing

he cares sosooso much about other people he’s always wondering how his fans are doing, what they feel like, always giving advice, always learning and growing, never stopping

“I’m still existing, still breathing. Even though I keep looking forward and run, sometimes I still look back. The path in front and behind are still far, but even so, if the people who look at me are still dreaming and picking up their strengths, that alone makes me feel good. It’s okay to live this way, breaking down, getting hurt and looking back at the past. I will live. I am living like this. Me. Us.”

[emmittk-writingblog]

Why Losing Federal Legal Protections Won’t Erase Trans* Existence

The Trump Administration wants to change the legal definition of gender under Title IX, but that won’t magically make us go away.

We like to think that, when any minority group faces persecution or oppression from the federal government, there comes a time for resistance.

A time when minority individuals and their allies must band together to push back against discrimination found in the laws intended to protect every American citizen. To battle for equal rights and recognition - socially, legally, and physically. To earn justice for the underdog. To triumph through perseverance and willpower.

A time when those who fought back can rest easy knowing that from that day on, the way forward - paved with civil liberties and good intentions - is set in stone for future generations.

But if you still think that romantic fantasy has any basis in reality, you need to take off your rose-colored glasses and take a long, careful look at the world.

The truth is, we are still fighting. 

We will always be fighting.

The nature of power is cyclical, and when one barrier falls, a new one will quickly be built in its place.

It’s easy to feel hopeless, reading the proposals that come out of our current administration. Each seems to outdo the last in a dangerous combination of bigotry and ignorance, which I like to refer to as “bignorance.” 

Not all that long ago, Trump shook the trans* community to the core by announcing, via tweet, a surprise ban on transgender individuals - anyone who falls under the trans* umbrella, be they transgender, transsexual, or genderqueer - serving in the military.

In case your literacy of federal policies needs a refresher, Title IX is a civil rights law banning discriminatory rules, practices, and language based on gender or gender identity in any education program receiving government funding. “Title IX” is often dropped in discussions on preventing sexual harassment or assault in schools and protecting survivors, but most often applying exclusively to cisgender women. 

Then, at the tail end of October, The New York Times broke the news on a more nefarious plot brewing deep within the Department of Health and Human Services: to redefine gender through a very narrow lens “as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth” under Title IX.

Not that the attacks haven’t already started. Despite some forward-thinking states embracing varied gender identities through gender-neutral options on federal forms of I.D., the last decade has seen a rise in laws aiming to cram everyone into the little binary boxed set - Girl and Boy, with nothing in between.

Enter the dreaded Bathroom Bill: legislation ruling that bathroom use must correspond with the sex listed on one’s birth certificate.

It’s easy to forget how impactful this law can be on the health, safety, and well-being of trans* students, who are especially vulnerable to harassment; The National Center for Transgender Equality reports that 75% of transgender youth feel unsafe at school, were more likely to miss school out of concern for their safety, and were less likely to plan on continuing their education. Those that persevere consistently end up with lower GPAs. And that’s with Title IX protections in place.

Every trans* person who’s heard the faulty logic behind these amendments - like North Carolina’s own HB-2 - can spot the fallacy easily. “If we have gender-neutral bathrooms,” proponents wail, “if we don’t enforce the law of male and female segregation on everybody, what’s stopping creeps from waltzing into the lady’s room to peep on our wives and children!?” 

As this change to Title IX looms in the distance, threatening to revoke the legal definition of our genders, we can fire back with a taste of their own medicine:

Well, genius, what exactly about that flimsy little sign glued to the door is stopping them now?

You think a couple of words are going to erase us? 

We’re already existing in the face of adversity. Of discrimination. Of invalidation. Of physical harm.

As things stand, the Human Rights Campaign reported 29 confirmed homicides of transgender individuals in 2017, and the number has already reached 22 for 2018. The Trump administration has done everything in its power to roll back Obama-era regulations regarded as huge victories for the trans* community, and with political polarization giving credence to violent extremist movements, trans* people are rightfully afraid.

Fear is perfectly acceptable. It’s rational and fueled by instincts of self-preservation. 

It’s tempting to curl up around our fragile bodies and let the bigots win. But they want us to cower in the shadows, to avoid confrontation, and to be complacent with our oppression so that they can remain ignorant, washing their hands of us and our legitimacy. 

The only thing that isn’t acceptable is resignation.

Alone, we are vulnerable; we wear targets on our backs. Together, we are a maelstrom - one that will lash out with the fire and fury of those too long denied the right to a peaceful existence, over and over, until we are heard.

If we resist, unapologetic and unified, we can summon a courage so deafening, it’s impossible to drown out. If they declare “Mob Rule!” in response to every political protest, every act of defiance and love proudly displayed in city squares and along busy avenues, let’s give them what they asked for.

[chinad]

rattling rats from PRC surveillance.

Sep 15, 2018

these days pestered by upper floor's rats a lot. they had access to PRC telecom's account administration and frequently closed my Internet connection. since last week it totally shutdown my Internet after they failed to intercept my vpn traffic. in 2 days my dorm fiber optics broken, I had to rely on my mobile cellular data. at first I thought it would soon resume. later I thought might be I forgot to hand over Internet fee due to busy workload around salary day this month. waited to Monday I recharged my dorm Internet and found it wasn't caused by my account deficit. my account valid still cut out of service by PRC Internet cop. late Monday my fiber optics network restored after filed connection failure complain. in the harsh I bought my son a second mobile, a product of HTC, Taiwanese digital producer, for the price too attractive. after broke neck looking forward twice, first time a cheap bolt version then replaced our order to HTC 10 for popularity and max compatibility, we got it. then misled by online developer's community, I upgraded is OS to android 8 and unable to unlock its boot loader. I tried all means, in wilder sought for replace its verizon bundled OS with custom rom which easier and user friendly. after so many tries, I finally turned it brick when trying flash its boot loader. after nearly half month relentlessly sought settling it, now I had to wait the vendor repair it in another half month. this is a peaceful sunny morning. it's not too bad, isn't it, God dad, after so many best buy in this Summer and Autumn? I felt so bounty with these equipment and ready tools. in every sense of office and warehouse, I had it. this month also saw my younger brother sent us moon cake when lunar Mourning Day coming. I shared some with my concerned people around the dorm. it's bountiful, too. I also talked first time to my nephew, ie. second son of my 2nd elder brother, since his marriage broken and refused female in his life as his mom rumored when a year before my elder sisters shared their lunar Spring festival with us. my elder brother carefully protected his dear son not to hurt by reckless chatter, but this time he allowed me talked with his innocent kid. I urged him not to give up enjoying life, material living. I demonstrated my workspace I gathered in my half life, with my recent satisfactory. my nephew listened a lot, admitted his continue efforts to carry on family life. I also told my elder sister my complacent upon this year's purchases. I fearless under espionage around trying paralyze my workspace, humiliated me by torn apart my vpn and secure web. God dad, the rats on upper floor made relentlessly noise when I worked. rid me off the hazard sooner. bring me sooner my Royal China, bring me my Crown Queen, Asoh Yukiko, from Japan. bring me sooner my new family and house. grant us, esp my concerned son, woz, his enjoyable school experience. violent dark web of PRC trying these days to afraid me, let them fear, scatter their mob. God dad, save us in faith securer.

Aug 27, 2018

dreamed in my hometown I likely in my vacation. the village driver, the only son of passed carpenter, asked me to find my younger brother to help him drive for an event. I open my proud book I reading which full of symbols and very precious legacy, to search my younger brother's phone number. it soon settled and all happy with that. my brother in dream already a nearly millionaire with his mills. the dream very vivid after I got up. I intended to blog it at once around 6am. but the upper floor's insane PRC surveillance, likely a freaky, made sounds warned me the under skin espionage, so I would rather wait. the state backed agent not only surveillance me, but also every chances attempted to terrify me with its psychotic: recklessly closely approaching me and coercing me with relentless noises it can make on the thin sensitive floor with chair, stride, nail, bump etc at every synchronic moments beside wall. last week we refreshed with my younger brother's loan for monthly cinema and dine out. he previously attempted to detain my help cry, refused twice my mobile calls when I tried to change our broadband capacity, which requests ï¿¥500 but in fact that's dirty cheat from unqualified chinatel staff while in its official office next week the crew girl charges free to change our plan for 200MB/s within a data bundle discounts to 82CNY/mon includes mobile data limitless. my mean brother each time reluctant to draw his purse for me, usually in cause not to admit my investment or deluxe lifestyle. I had previously determined to carry out the data plan change on my own. so when he buzzed back claiming he had been accompanying his son to park and missed my calls, I told him nothing special. but he was listening, so I told him my story: my son's mobile 4G data plan deficits in his morning exercise while playing with his pals outdoors and I intending upgrade to speeder broadband for the sake of modern fiber optic broadband and time saving on internet time lapse. he almost defied it in hurry to close talk to drive. returned to dorm, I felt I hardly cope the expenditure with my poor salary. so I messaged him he can loan us ï¿¥800 as he previously admitted to help me repair my erode tooth base. he replied he only responsible for my living, not my other costs. I waited a night. next day I sms him in rage about our ancestor's legendary: Ming Dynasty's 1st prince tried to use imperative force to restrain his blood sibling, killing family love with ruling power, which only resulted in disastrous himself suicide in Royal city he inherited from his grandpa, Founder of Ming Dynasty, with his all fondness and fidelity. I didn't expected reply nor reward. but next next day when I search all means to pay groupon for my son monthly cinema and dine out, I found my brother already remit us 1000 CNY 2 days ago. I had previously check my financial account several times and never gained. so I doubting if my brother aid's arrival date hacked by state intelligent agency, just trying defying power of my persuading and prophet. after all, the ï¿¥1000 let us so plenty in entertainment and business capable: I renewed zho.io for 2 more years with our domain registrar, equip myself another ssd of 128GB for scenarios like copying larger file fat32 forbidden. It's just too wonderful to be constrained in scarcity. last weekend, I also overnight worked out to switch our old chromebox OS from chromeOS of google to open source chromiumOS, which adorably native supports Android apps, even google play store. Sunday night I non-break 6 hours to re-flash my son's new zonfone 3 with custom rom world developers contributed, after found previous OS let down chinatel gsm calling and sms. even finally I didn't fix sms and calling failure, but LTE data at least working, allowing us making full potential of our new data plan with chinatel: no limit of data! and my son's wifi heavily under PRC surveillance attacks, almost all internet traffic through the router disabled vpn. we badly sought auxiliary channel to evade deadly blockage in falling PRC wasteland cyberspace. God dad, bring us sooner our viable work space, secure our growth independently, out of entrenched by state backed hackers. bring me sooner my Royal China for relieve all trapped Chinese in felling PRC. bring me my Crown Queen from Japan, Asoh Yukiko, for unites Japan and China after turbulent world war 2, for ambitions 2 nations manifested in centuries, in tears, glories an proud, in likage of language. grant our workload meaningful and intact through ruin of PRC dictation, rampant fires of national revolts in insanely depressed and depravity.

Aug 17, 2018

dreamed my university era artist friend, Benba Chungdak. at first with his friend Li Moufeng, in the campus I familiared. then in Benba's house or my house we at leisure. my son joined our conversation. Benba in dream now a well know artist. we talked a lot. my son trusted our guest and learned. my dorm internet under a new wave of surveillance and breakin attempts. I already gave up router but client, which also sometimes unstable. new weekend arriving, there is a new blockbuster PRC granted to import, Antman 2. my son chose it from 2 other optional USA films on show recently. he also delayed my invitation to visit my dorm this weekend, rather he will invite his peer into his house, likely for gaming and entertainment. It's a cool morning. wardless web turns so hard to archive now. I more and more speechless now, amid hardship tyrant PRC exerts upon my living sphere. there are more state intelligent agents in QRRS Dorm surrounding my room here to surveillance me 7*24, costly on PRC fragile totalitarian treasury. God dad, how long we will wait for the overturn, I in faith of the future out of burning campfires among insanely pressed domestic nations. in bitter reality, I hope it fosters revolution rips us off the poorly endangered dictation. bring me sooner my Royal China. my Crown Queen from Japan, Asoh Yukiko, come and overturn my prison our enemies engulfed. live us freedom, so to China bitchy mob, jobless riot. game changer, Dad God, let out the active agenda for the sake of better China. thx God, survivor is U.S.

Aug 12, 2018

last night watched a talk show of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. his easygoing charactor deeply touched me. turth of life, of fortune, of mission, expand in front of me. in dawn dream, I worked for him, then in army, both reveals truth, or secret of success, course inchangeable. aging let me harder now to memorize dream, but its scenario conforts me. it's a boring morning. the ugly lesbian again lingered in the shabby neighbor room chattering, pretending she had a job there. the whole dorm administrative team moved from their offices seperate into the dorm, mimic my office in dorm. they can't believe they doomed to lose their jobs. their cheap copycat deprives their means of living. they are all thieves in fact, or robbery of innocent. the room in my upper direct floor likely occupied by state backed intelligent agent. they constantly made noise in key situations trying to coerce me. my new chromebox frequently encountered abnormal quit, likely hacked by PRC government online. my son last night just returned from his mom's hometown journey. they visited again the woman's relatives in their hometown, a small town hours away by train. I hope my son enjoy it but affraid he was hijacked by his stupid mom in fact. hours later I will reunite him for lunching out and shower in spa weekly. my new chromebox not only securer, but largely changed my workflow and efficiency. I now consume news most of workday, rather than prevously only in the begining of moring, restricted by portable device for desktop windows might fail me in its insecure. last night I check my alipay credit, found my installment total near ï¿¥900, which much a relief for my monthly return alipay ï¿¥1300 and stumbled about uncommon expenditure. made clear of debt base, I immediately recharged our mobiles fee, around 300 CNY. God dad, lift my dependence on my local loaner, who might turning reluctant. grant us a richer salary this month for I due to pay some extra bills including medicine, clothes, etc. secure my worksapce with findings, revealing truth our mission concerns. bring me sooner my Royal China, my Crown Queen from Japan, Asoh Yukiko, for ease of living. let me stay in self-contain upon life stream and social motivation. guarantee my cyberspace publishing booming and plenty of self-rely.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2NIjavg

[followmetoyourdoom]

Words // Chpt 2: Nerves

Jim is getting on Strickler's and as if that's not enough, Strickler has to decide what he's going to do now that his once greatest foe knows about his plan to propose to that same past-foe's mother. Can he bring the proposal forward, or will his nerves get the better of him?

Just gonna say this upfront lol don't expect the next chapter update to be this fast xD (Sorry, I'm trying to get better at writing consistently)

Lempke is the name of the museum curator in the trollhunters book; and this is the song Strickler hums.

Read it on ao3 or below:

Strickler was very much still asleep. He'd once gotten into a routine of waking up early and actually feeling like a normal person, until of course the whole ordeal with Jim and the rest of the trollhunters had occurred, and he'd fled the country for a while.

For some strange reason national school boards didn't like it when you disappeared for weeks on end with no explanation. Weird, huh?

But no matter, he would soon get back into the swing of things.

He sipped the coffee he'd called for on his way to work appreciatively, he definitely needed the caffeine today.

An out of town middle school was visiting and he found himself looking forward to it. It was no secret that he liked teaching, educating the youth about the past... well, it was an honour. And one that he found he was missing.

Strickler was happy he'd have a chance to revisit that today.

He smiled into his latte and hummed 'My Girl' sleepily, sure that the day would prove to be marvellous.

It didn't take long for him to be proven wrong.

Walking into his office, nothing had seemed amiss until he'd sat down at his desk and open his draw to sort through the new collections documents.

Straight away he noticed that the carefully placed and important pebble - a small ordinary grey one Barbara had given him for no apparent reason - was no longer sat perfectly in the middle of said pile of documentation. It wasn't even sat on the paperwork at all, but rather off to the side.

Instantly fearing the worst, Strickler quickly opened the last draw to check the ring he'd hand-crafted for Barbara.

Yes, it was still in the box - that was a relief - but it was missing one of the diamonds.

Strickler frowned. Someone had definitely been here.

He could refit another diamond in its place easily enough, he was more concerned about who could have broken in, and why they hadn't taken anything.

A quick glance up told him all he needed to know.

At first it just looked like little white stickers plastered all over his door at seemingly random intervals.

How curious.

When he got closer his curiosity turned to exasperation, and he rolled his eyes.

Well at least he knew who had snuck into his office now; there was only one person who had a tendency to call him 'Dickbutt' among other things. Strickler cocked his head at 'Slightly More Dangerous Kermit', surely he was a lot more dangerous, not just slightly.

Like c'mon, give him some credit.

He couldn't keep the smirk off his face when he saw 'Motherfucker' listed as a nickname. That one was true at least, though he did wonder why it was up here. Unless of course, Jim had gotten his friends to help. It wouldn't surprise him.

Sighing heavily, Strickler got to work peeling off all the labels.

Where had they even got all these nickname from I mean really, 'Baffled Vulture'? 'Long Green Bean'?? 'Beaky McSneaky', 'The Crabbiest Muppet', 'Green Giraffe'???

Strickler planned on having very serious words with Jim once he got home.

His mind drifted back to the ring he was now sure Jim had seen…

Well… Perhaps he could pretend like this whole thing had never happened. Yes, that sounded like a good idea. What was a 'Buttface' label between allies after all?

Though the 'Stone Faced Spring Onion', and 'Horned Pickle Man' labels were pushing it.

Why did he keep getting referred to as produce?

He only just got the labels off in time when a loud knock right next to his ear startled him. Hastily, he stuffed the screwed up labels into his pocket and stepped away from the door to open it.

"Ah, you must be Principal…" Strickler trailed off as he realised, in his haste to remove the nicknames, he had forgotten to check her name.

She raised an eyebrow. "Lempke," she said curtly. "Why were you not waiting outside?"

"I um, had business to attend to prior. I apologise. Why don't we head out there now?" Strickler gestured towards the lobby, almost pushing the woman out of the way as he closed the door behind him.

He silently cursed Jim for affecting his work performance. Strickler had only just been accepted into this role, it would not do for him to be fired before his first week was even up.

Thankfully, the rest of the day went by without a problem.

The middle schoolers were fascinated by every word Strickler uttered and followed him around the museum far more eagerly than they did their principal.

From the prehistoric era to greek history to the scottish vikings to Columbus to victorian england; Strickler took them around each and every exhibit and told them all he knew, and he enjoyed every second of it. So much so he considered taking up teaching on the side.

As the day wrapped up, Strickler returned to his office to collect the damaged ring. He'd have to call at Trollmarket on his way to Barbara's house - another 'family' dinner was planned.

He was tempted to pop the question before Jim could bring it up in front of Barbara and ruin the surprise. However, whether he would actually go through with this temptation proved unpredictable.

If you asked Strickler if he was purposely taking his time he would, of course, say no.

It did however remain to be seen that he texted Barbara to tell her he'd be late before he even started working on replacing the diamond in the ring. And he did perhaps take a little too long pick out the perfect diamond, and cleaning the entire ring meticulously once the stone had been set wasn't exactly necessary.

Once he'd finished however, it glowed and seemed to pulsate in a visual imitation of Strickler's own heart. The heart he had already given Barbara long ago, but would give again and again if needed.

Walter Strickler was not a brave man, not by nature. But he would need to be in order to ask for Barbara's hand in marriage.

So if being brave was needed, brave is what he would become.

This was a mantra he repeated in his head over and over as he pulled up outside the Lake residence at around a quarter to eight.

Through the window he saw Barbara sitting at the dining table, looking behind her towards the kitchen - probably talking to Jim. Hopefully this would work, hopefully Strickler wouldn't bottle it.

His eyes widened as he imagined a scenario in which Jim brought it up before he could, and even then Strickler wasn't able to go through with it. His nerves would fail him. He would-

No. He could do this.

Taking a deep breath, he checked the ring in its box and slipped it inside his jacket pocket.

Walking up to the porch seemed to take an eternity, but he did it; and, hand shaking slightly, knocked on the front door.

[bapakharyoso]

Gjermund Roesholt left the cabin on Einarson Lake, in the remote backcountry of the central Yukon, around 9:30 A.M. on November 26, 2018. He headed out by snowmobile to check a trapline that was laid north of the cabin. His partner, Valérie Théorêt, stayed behind with their ten-month-old baby girl, Adèle.

Théorêt was a grade-school teacher on maternity leave; Roesholt was a wilderness and hunting guide. The couple, who normally lived in Whitehorse, the Yukon’s small capital city, had flown in to their cabin on October 4, intending to stay until the new year, when Théorêt was due back at

Gjermund Roesholt left the cabin on Einarson Lake, in the remote backcountry of the central Yukon, around 9:30 A.M. on November 26, 2018. He headed out by snowmobile to check a trapline that was laid north of the cabin. His partner, Valérie Théorêt, stayed behind with their ten-month-old baby girl, Adèle.

Théorêt was a grade-school teacher on maternity leave; Roesholt was a wilderness and hunting guide. The couple, who normally lived in Whitehorse, the Yukon’s small capital city, had flown in to their cabin on October 4, intending to stay until the new year, when Théorêt was due back at school. At the cabin, they hunted for game and maintained their modest trapping concession, a designated area where they were permitted to catch and kill small fur-bearing mammals, living out a dream of rugged self-sufficiency. Both were experienced in the wild, and they were careful about attractants—they stored the remnants of their hunts in a secure container inside a shed a short distance from the cabin.

Around 2:30 in the afternoon, five hours after he’d set out, Roesholt was working his way back toward home. It had snowed gently on and off throughout his morning on the trapline, and as he retraced his own newly dusted trail, he could see fresh bear tracks heading in the same direction. Before he reached the cabin, the tracks turned away.

When he got to the cabin, it was quiet. Théorêt and Adèle were not inside. Roesholt walked down the well-used trail toward a sauna, calling their names. Increasingly worried, he knew he might have to use the loaded rifle he carried.

His partner and child were not at the sauna. Roesholt kept going, down a trail they used for a small trapline that was close enough to the cabin to be checked on foot. He was about 800 feet from the structure when he heard a bear growl.

The grizzly charged Roesholt from 50 feet, but he got his rifle up in time, fired, and didn’t miss. The bear collapsed, shot fatally through the head. Behind it, just off the trail, Roesholt found his family. They had both been killed.

Later, after he had used his Garmin InReach to contact the nearest detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and after nearly 21 nightmarish hours had passed while he waited for an investigative team to arrive at his remote location and evacuate him, and after the Mounties and other agencies had done their work, a coroner’s report[1], published in March 2019, would conclude that Théorêt’s injuries “quickly proved to be fatal” and that baby Adèle’s were “instantly incompatible with life.”

The bear, a male grizzly, was 18 years old and starving. He still weighed just over 300 pounds, in muscle and skin and bone, but he had already burned away all his body fat. Too emaciated to hibernate and apparently hampered by a weeks-old injury in his abdomen, he had recently taken the desperate step of eating a porcupine, and he was pierced internally by quills from throat to gut.

The bear had followed the snowmobile trail earlier that day, left it behind to circle wide around the cabin and the sauna, and then rejoined the trail south of the buildings. There, investigators believe, he had sensed Théorêt coming toward him, out for a walk, her baby in a carrier on her back. In the chilling phrasing of the coroner’s report, the bear had retreated from the trail and “moved into a position of advantage” under the thick, obscuring branches of a spruce tree, six feet away. It was an ambush: no one could have seen him coming or reacted in time if they had. Théorêt might as well have been struck by lightning.

The next day, at 1:30 in the afternoon, I was at home in Whitehorse when I saw this[2] on the Twitter feed of the Yukon Mounties:

Yukon RCMP and Yukon Coroner’s Service are investigating the death of two individuals following a suspected bear attack on November 26, northeast of Mayo, near the NWT border. Environment Yukon is assisting with the investigation. More information will be released soon.

I remember thinking: Two? That’s weird.

There had been three previous fatal Yukon bear attacks in recent memory. An adventure tour operator named Claudia Huber died in 2014 after a grizzly invaded her home in the Johnson’s Crossing area, off the Alaska Highway. Jean-François Pagé was killed by a defensive mother bear in 2006, after he unknowingly walked by her den while staking mining claims outside the community ofRoss River. And a hiker visiting from British Columbia, Christine Courtney, was mauled to death in Kluane National Park in 1996. I knew these stories well, and I had read about other attacks elsewhere, but I couldn’t remember hearing of a double fatality before. It never occurred to me to think of a mother and her baby.

Awful clarity came less than two hours later, when a media release from the Yukon’s chief coroner landed in my inbox. At the same time, my Facebook feed began to fill up with photos of Valérie’s smiling face. Whitehorse is a small, close-knit community, and while I didn’t know this family personally, our worlds overlapped many times over. As I watched from my couch, our mutual friends changed their profile pictures to shots of themselves with Val, shots of themselves with Adèle, shots of Val and Adèle together. People were reeling and paying immediate tribute to their friend’s life the best way they knew how.

What happened next, I suppose, should have been predictable in our extremely online era. Local news spawned national news and then international news. “Canadian Press picked up the story,” Yukon News reporter Jackie Hong told me. “The New York Times picked it up, The Washington Post. And then suddenly it wasn’t just a Yukon story or a Canada story. It was an international story.” Hong covered[3] the attack for the Yukon News, and soon she was receiving requests from outside media, some as far away as Norway, to help her make contacts or to provide them with updates herself.

I was not exempt from all this. Outside contacted me less than 24 hours after the news broke to ask if I’d be interested in covering it. I was torn: I didn’t want to add to the noise, and I wasn’t eager to ask my friends to speak on the record about their pain. I didn’t want to have to try to track down Gjermund Roesholt and intrude on his agony. But I also didn’t want someone else, someone who might be less sensitive to the issue than I was, to get the assignment. I told my editor I’d be willing if we could wait for the results of the coroner’s report. Then, I thought, I might actually have something new or meaningful to share with readers.

Meanwhile, a TV reporter made the long journey north from southern British Columbia and set up shop outside Whitehorse Elementary School, where Valérie had taught. As grief counselors were made available to the students there, and as local parents struggled to figure out how to explain to their children that their teacher had been killed, the school received e-mail and phone calls from around two dozen different media outlets.

As the story spread, Facebook and Twitter and the comments attached to news articles filled with the most callous contributions imaginable.

“Who in the world takes their wife and 10 month old into bear country,” one person wrote in response to the RCMP’s initial tweet. “Why wasn’t she carrying a weapon?” said another. A third: “They both were torturing animals in traps for their whole lives, and now this bear fought back in his territory. I feel sorry for the baby, for the bear, who paid with his life, and for ALL THE BEAUTIFUL WILD ANIMALS THESE TWO PEOPLE MURDERED !!!”

It was like that everywhere: She should have had a gun. Or they’d been trapping and killing animals, so they had it coming.Or they should never have taken a baby out there.

I wasn’t the only one feeling conflicted about covering the attack. Claudiane Samson is the Whitehorse reporter for French-language Radio-Canada. She knew Valérie socially; they shared a tightly knit circle of friends in the Yukon’s Francophone community. She heard the news before the RCMP and the coroner made it public—she’d heard rumors of a grizzly attack, and then a letter arrived for the parents of children at Whitehorse Elementary, announcing that Valérie Théorêt had died. Samson did the math.

“It’s the kind of story where I hate my job,” she told me. “And it was not my first.” Jean-François Pagé had been her friend, too, and she’d been obliged to report on his death 13 years ago. But back then, social media was in its infancy, not the global force it is now. And so Pagé’s death was not scrutinized in the same way.

“I kind of knew where this would lead,” Samson said. All she could do, she figured, was try to use her work to show what Valérie’s life had been all about—her passion for the outdoors, her love of the Yukon wilderness, and her desire to be immersed in it. Like me, she figured she would do a better job than some outsider. “They were living their dream out there,” she told me. “That was my driving force in my whole coverage.”

But she was in a difficult position. Some media reports struck locals as insensitive—the station that sent the TV reporter to Whitehorse ran a segment that included charging bears and injured mauling victims describing their attacks. Even the most respectful coverage was tainted by the comments that faraway readers left online.

“It became a judgment over our lifestyle,” said Samson, who has had bears pass through the same backyard where her children play. “That’s where we’re at with social media.” (While Roesholt and Théorêt had gone deeper into the bush, and for longer, than most of us do, trapping and hunting are common activities around Whitehorse.) Very quickly, friends of the couple became reluctant to speak to reporters, fearful that even their most loving memories of Val would be smeared by online hatred. Months later, that fear is still fresh—when I eventually approached a friend of Val’s for this story, she described the pain of seeing her friend’s picture everywhere in the days after the attack and always surrounded by harsh comments from strangers. A teacher herself, she worried about fielding questions from her students, about scaring them away from the outdoors. She was no longer living in the Yukon, and she didn’t feel able to tell many people in her daily life about the loss she was grieving.

Reaching out to family members for comment is fairly standard practice when news reporters cover a person’s death. The Mounties had asked the media to refrain from contacting Roesholt or any other relatives. Not every outside reporter honored that request, but all local reporters that I’m aware of did. Samson told me she couldn’t bring herself to call Gjermund. Jackie Hong agreed. “There was no indication at all that he wanted to talk or was ready to talk,” Hong said.

The scrutiny was unprecedented. It’s a running joke among Yukon reporters that their stories only go national when they’re about animals. The wolf that chased a cyclist. The Bohemian waxwings that got drunk on fermented berries and then were locked in the government’s avian drunk tank. The wild boars that escaped from a farm and terrorized a rural subdivision. Now our joke had come true again, in the worst way.

Bear attacks are personal here—there is no hiding from them, no distancing yourself from the horror and thinking,That could never happen to me. As Samson notes, while strangers on the internet accused Valérie of being irresponsible for bringing her baby into bear country, every parent in Whitehorse knows that a bear could wander across their driveway or through their yard someday. Our whole lives are lived in bear country.

My favorite hiking trail winds right by the area where Christine Courtney died—there’s a monument to remind me, in case I’d managed to forget. I didn’t know Claudia Huber, but I had a dozen friends in common with Valérie Théorêt. And when I worked for a mining company as a field laborer a few years ago, I walked into the lobby of the office on my first day—about to head into the bush for a month, where I would hike alone for eight hours every day—and found a memorial to Jean-François Pagé mounted on the wall. Attacks are incredibly rare, but when they do happen, they feel real to everyone in the community.

Maybe that’s why the response to this one bothered me so much. In the aftermath, I found myself surprised and disturbed by the amount of attention the attack received. I felt intensely protective of my grieving friends and my shocked, horrified community—I wanted to shield them from the intrusive phone calls, the strangers creeping into their social-media profiles, the awful, cruel comments appended to every news story. When a reporter for The New York Timescalled[4] the Yukon “desolate,” I wanted to reach through my laptop screen and shake him, to try to make him understand a place he wasn’t describing properly. Life here is amazing, I wanted to say. This is the kind of place where you can hike to a glacier, watch it calve, and then engage in a howl-off with a pack of nearby wolf puppies. This is where grizzlies swipe spawning salmon from streams, and caribou still flow like rivers across the mountains, and the northern lights come out at night. It’s the opposite of desolate.

“This is a great place to live,” Samson agreed. “Yes, we live in bear country. [But] I’m not going to judge people raising kids beside a river because a kid drowned one year.”

In any future tragedies with the awful potential to go viral outside the territory, Samson would like to see authorities devote more resources to helping families cope with the deluge of media requests. The police could connect the family with a designated spokesperson, for instance, and all requests for information could be funneled through them. That kind of thing “helps the families,” she said, “but it also gives media what they need.” It directs their energy away from elementary schools and the Facebook accounts of the grief-stricken while still feeding their need for quotes and copy.

I kept wondering about that need, though. For Yukoners, this was real news—we needed to know that a friend and community member had been killed, where counseling services were available, and where public-memorial events were being held. For a community, the media can play a role in processing the event, even in healing. It can offer people a place to say: My friend was wonderful, and I will miss her.

But what about those outside that circle—the reporters in New York, in Vancouver, in other cities where grizzly attacks are not a threat? What need are they serving for their readers? On some level, it’s obvious: horrible stories travel around the world. We know this. We click on the tales of trauma and tragedy the way we slow down on the highway to gawk at the shrapnel of a broken vehicle. But at least the aftermath of a car accident can remind you to slow down yourself. For people outside bear country, was reading about this tragedy really anything more than voyeurism?

All winter these questions troubled me. As people around Whitehorse strapped canoes to the tops of their vehicles in midwinter to remember Val, whose boat had seemingly always been riding around on top of her little car, and as my friends who knew and loved her went on adventures in her honor, I thought about how the media and social-media dynamics had made their grief even harder. I wondered if it had to be that way. I didn’t find easy answers.

When the coroner’s report came out in March, it emphasized the family’s preparedness, their experience, their safety precautions. The investigators’ reconstruction of the attack made it clear: even if, somehow, Valérie had had a loaded gun in her hand when the bear made his move, she wouldn’t have had a chance. The only thing she could have done differently, I realized, was not be there. Not have gone for a walk with her child in the freshly fallen snow, not have been in the backcountry to begin with.

But those of us who love the outdoors understand: staying inside is no option at all.

Lead Photo: Kevin Gilgan/Stocksy

References

^report (www.justice.gov.yk.ca)

^this (twitter.com)

^covered (www.google.com)

^called (www.nytimes.com)

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