#from the song girl talk by the amoeba people

[match-your-steps]

have been thinking SO hard about (french accent) "honhonhon hee I'll go under the sea"

[karen-elaine]

Hey guys!

So I’m currently on vacation! My family and I are doing a cross country trip! For reference, I live on the east coast and had never ventured away from the east coast. This has now obviously changed and among our many stops was LA. While there my dad and I decided that it was crucial we stopped by the iconic Amoeba Music located on Hollywood Boulevard.

I did my fair share of shopping around, got some cool stuff, and overall had an epic experience. So, I figured I’d talk about it on here!

THE STORE

Here’s the store itself just chilling on the corner living it’s best life. It’s not super grand or anything from the outside, you get most of that wow factor when you walk inside. Still super cool though and they had some super chill employees hanging out right outside the door to welcome people in and chat with the customers.

When you first walk in to the store this is what you’re greeted by! It’s this awesome, colorful, record mural with those nice LED lights in it. I didn’t take anymore pictures once inside, but it was huge! There were rows and rows of records, cassettes, CDs, band tees, and equipment for listening. It was crazy and there was so much stuff to look through! If it wasn’t for the limited time we had due to the parking meter, I could’ve spent forever in there just looking through everything.

ARCTIC MONKEYS - FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE

First of the many records I got today is Favourite Worst Nightmare by the Arctic Monkeys! I got one Arctic Monkeys album a couple of months ago (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not) and now I’m on a mission to get all of their albums. Needless to say, I was super excited to stumble across this one at Amoeba.

This record has a very epic song list! In total it contains 12 songs including:

Brianstorm

Teddy Picker

D Is For Dangerous

Balaclava

Fluorescent Adolescent

Only Ones Who Know

Do Me A Favour

If You Were There, Beware

The Bad Thing

Old Yellow Bricks

505

I believe this one just to be pressed on a black vinyl, but I won’t be opening it until I’m back home.

ARCTIC MONKEYS - A.M.

Yes I got myself another Arctic Monkeys album because why the heck not? In my defense though I never see these two at my local record shops, so that’s my excuse!

This album is a classic and I find a staple in many people’s collections. It features many of their big hits and is overall just an iconic record to own. With that being said, the song list is pretty awesome. A.M. features 12 tracks:

Do I Wanna Know?

R U Mine?

One for the Road

Arabella

I Want It All

No. 1 Party Anthem

Mad Sounds

Fireside

Why’d You Only Call Me When Your High?

Snap Out of It

Knee Socks

I Wanna Be Yours

Once again I do believe this to be on a plain black vinyl. Either way, my best friend is super excited that I got this one.

BIKINI KILL - REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW!

Last time I came at all of you with a Bikini Kill record it was Pussy Whipped. This time around though I picked up Revolution Girl Style Now! which is pretty great! The “B” section of my collection is really starting to bulk up and I’m not mad about it!

As always the songs on this album are most excellent. This one has:

Candy

Daddy’s L’il Girl

Feels Blind

Suck My Left One

Carnival

This Is Not a Test

Double Dare Ya

Liar

Ocean Song

Just Once

Playground

Sticking with the common theme here, I’m assuming the vinyl is just a standard black pressing.

BIKINI KILL - YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Yes I got another Bikini Kill album! I swear this is the last one of multiple from one artist. It’s just Arctic Monkeys and Bikini Kill this time around.

Any who, this is another classic album of theirs with many great, well known songs from them. This includes:

White Boy

This is Not a Test

Don’t Need You

Jigsaw Youth

Resist Psychic Death

Rebel Girl

Outta Me

George Bush is a Pig

I Busted in Your Chevy Window

Get Out

Why

Fuck Twin Peaks

Girl Soldier

Not Right Now

Once again, I’m assuming that this is just a plain black vinyl. I don’t even think there is any colored pressings of Bikini Kill, but I could be wrong. Who knows?

FALL OUT BOY - TAKE THIS TO YOUR GRAVE

Here we have an artist I’ve been looking to add to my collection for a while now, Fall Out Boy! I can never seem to find their records in person, but today at Amoeba Music they had this one and Save Rock And Roll. That one was super expensive though with a lot of extra stuff. I was not looking to drop $40 on one album today, so I decided on this one instead!

The song list on this one is sweet. It features 12 songs all of which I’m pumped to listen to once I arrive home:

Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today

Dead On Arrival

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy

Saturday

Homesick At Space Camp

Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

The Pros and Cons of Breathing

Grenade Jumper

Calm Before the Storm

Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes

Such a great album and it’s also such a great pressing! This copy of Take This To Your Grave is pressed on the limited edition silver vinyl which is super sweet.

MELANIE MARTINEZ - CRY BABY

I wasn’t even planning on this one but when I saw at the store I couldn’t say no! This album was my favorite in 6th grade and I was such a hardcore Melanie fan then. This album and Melanie herself is so iconic and I knew I had to get it.

All of Melanie Martinez’s packaging is always stunning too! I know this one has a whole picture book in it with a page for each song that connects the whole album in to one story. Super cool stuff!

This record contains 13 sweet songs including:

Cry Baby

Dollhouse

Sippy Cup

Carousel

Alphabet Boy

Soap

Training Wheels

Pity Party

Tag, You’re It

Milk and Cookies

Pacify Her

Mrs. Potato Head

Mad Hatter

This is the standard black pressing, but as I said before, the packaging for this is great so it’s all good! I’m super excited to give this guy a listen when I get home! My favorite through middle school was Mad Hatter so that’s going to be so fun to hear on vinyl.

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE- DANGER DAYS: THE TRUE LIVES OF THE FABULOUS KILLJOYS

Final record purchase of the day is by none other than My Chemical Romance! I got their album Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys and I’m super excited about it!

This record marks my second MCR vinyl in my collection, other than this one, I have The Black Parade which is another awesome album.

As always he have a very epic song list consisting of 15 tracks including:

Look Alive, Sunshine

Na Na Na

Bulletproof Heart

SING

Planetary (GO!)

The Only Hope for Me Is You

Jet‐Star and the Kobra Kid/Traffic Report

Party Poison

Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W

Summertime

DESTROYA

The Kids from Yesterday

Goodnite, Dr. Death

Vampire Money

As shown in the image, this is not a standard black pressing! I got the fancy picture disc which was the only available option and I’m definitely not mad about it. Super cool, and my very first picture disc. Can’t wait to spin this one!

T-SHIRT

While I was there I also had to pick up some Amoeba merch to take back home with me!

They had a really epic graphic tee section. Some of which were for various musical artists while others were for the store itself. They had so many too!

I ended up going for this simple, black, logo tee with this super cute pink logo in the center. I think it’s adorable and I’m so looking forward to styling it back home.

PIN

As I was chilling in line I spotted the pins display and took a quick look at that too. I ended up grabbing a little rainbow pin with the Amoeba Music logo in the center. Once I’m home I plan to put this on my denim jacket that I’m currently trying to fill with cool pins and patches. It’s definitely going to be a really cool addition to my jacket. Unfortunately though, no pictures because I reached the max number of pictures. Very sad.

[choibinn3]

get to know me game!!

tagged by: @tyunni

tagging: @tyuncafe this is suuper long btw so dont mind it if u dont wanna do it!! hehe

what day is your birthday? dec 8th, sunghoons bday 😥 (thats how i heard abt enhypen actually, my friend was like "OMGG u share a bday wirh my bias!!!!")

what’s your favorite color? pink <33 it makes me so happy

what’s your lucky number? 8!!! like my bday date :')

do you have any pets? no :(( want a kitty real bad though

how tall are you? skipping. no comment. next question.

how many pairs of shoes do you have? like THREE and i rotate between two ♥️

favorite song? kpop?? um rn fever by enhypen or ghosting.. non kpop would be amoeba by clairo (shits GOOD plz go listen to it)

favorite movie? not the biggest fan of movies, but im suuper into slasher films/horror!!! so maybe smthng from there??

what would your ideal partner be like? jungwon ♥️ LMAO

do you want children? nope!! love kids but parenting doesnt sound like smthng id want to do unfortunately

have you gotten in trouble with the law? not that i know od?? Dont tell anyone

bath or shower? shower.. i dont thinj ive ever taken a legitimate bath b4, always showered

what color socks are you wearing? soz to say this but socks suck!! also irs 11pm and im in bed BUT THAT STILL STANDS

favorite type of music? like genre?? no clue, but i typically like music that reminds me romantic pining (aka, fever ♥️ or around you by hyunjin)

how many pillows do you sleep with? pillows are four!!! plushies,?? infinite bitch!!

what position do you sleep in? curled up on my side hugging smthng hehe

what you don’t like when you’re sleeping? yk that sleep where like,, ure sleeping... but u feel awake the whole time?? and rhen u wake up fuckin groggy like uve just been lying there.. that.

what do you have for breakfast? no breakfast!!! 2 cool 4 that. also i wake up at like uhh 11am-3pm sometimes

have you ever tried archery? NO!! sharp objections should not be in my possession apparenrly. tch 😒

favorite fruit? strawberries? mangoes?? anything fresh

favorite swear word? no favs, jm too indecisive for that :((

do you have any scars? yea, i dont have a cool story for them though.. i was just a scab picker kid lol

are you a good liar? SHITTY. horrible, the worst. i cant lie dor shit nd it gets me all shcoked everytime someone is like "mai ure LITERALLY so bad at this" during a lying game lol

what’s your personality type? istp-t!! same as huening whoooo 🎉🎉

what’s your favorite type of girl? mean girls...... i jusy like mean ppl in general but mean gurls have a special space in my heart ♥️!! theyre so demonized but as long as theyre not acrually complete assholes (like homophobes, bigots yk?) they r everythint 2 me

innie or outtie? gots an innie :]

left or right handed? right

favorite food? no favs again!!! but SPICY FOOD YUMM

favorite foreign food? probs uhh Bún bò Huế!!! im viet so idk if that counts as "foreign" but omgg ITS SO GOOD

are you clean or messy? messy!! i feel like everythings much more comfy and natural.. not like too messy though

most used phrase? BARK BARK (not proud of this one guys)

how long does it take you to get ready? like 40-60mins... ONLY BC i zone out tthough and forgot im meant to be gettinf ready LOL

do you talk to yourself? Yes. i do <3 thats also why i read&write fanfictions

do you sing to yourself? mhm!!! esp when the songs too good i sing along or throughout the day

are you a good singer? actually, literally not sure at all. i took chorus since like elementary school tho if that helps

biggest fear? heights and commitment ♥️

are you a gossip? what does this mean. but i think?? i like heaeinf gossip but im not tonna get outta my way to talk abt it ?

do you like long or short hair? on myself short!!! but guys&girls nd just everyone in general look so damn good with long hair sometimes

favorite school subject? none lol <33!! school sucks this question pains me every time i see it on back2school answer sheets

introvert or extrovert? introvert, im a lil hermit all cooped up inside my room all the tim3 ://

what makes you nervous? ppl i like are cool!!! or like ppl in general, i cant even order my boba by myself dude

who was your first real crush? i THINK. it mightve been my bff from when i was in 5th grade.. idk if this counts bc i (THINK) but like...... i cried so fucking much when we stopped being friends. it felt like a breakup and im still not over it tbh (tmi?)

how fast can you run? not fast at all but i can JUMP

what color is your hair? black, still have virgin hair!!

do you like your own name? umm tbh no, but my screen name (mai) is my middle name anyways so i dont think that matters too much

what makes you angry? people who dont listen :( pisses me off but tbh i dont get angry often

do you want a boy or a girl as a child? NEITHER. if i had to pick maybe boy but NOOOOO

what are your strengths? ive been told im endearingly stupid (like twice by the same friend) and it stuck with me. like AWWW :(( U THINK IM ENDEARINGG??

what are your weaknesses? id say im too socially anxious, public speaking makes my hands shake and i cant speak so its real bad

what’s the color of your bedspread? like white with blue polka dots ^_^

what’s the color of your room? this nice beige color,, like the color of my blog rn actually!!!! i based it off of jungwons color scheme but ig this works too

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Small World: Abra-Disaster” (Part 1)

Written by: Haley Mancini, Jake Goldman

Written & Storyboarded by: John West, Angela Zhang

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

Like this reboot was a world of laughter before...

This special begins with Penguin Pete's, complete with their theme song: "Penguin Pete's, Penguin Pete's, yum yum yum yum yum." It's certainly no Cookie Cat jingle. This special will really focus on each of their personalities, at least early on, and this starts right from the beginning in this scene.

Buttercup has a brownie chocolate fudge that is so extreme, it's banned in six countries. Blossom, on the other hand, has gelato made of wheatgrass and soy. Because only nerds would want to be healthy. Bubbles has all 42 flavors, because, fitting to her character in more than the ways that they intended, she couldn't decide on which one to get.

However, this all gets interrupted by a bunch of minor villains starting crime. The Gnat is also swatting some poor sap with a giant fly swatter. And all of this is happening at the same time.

When the original Puffs had to do something like this, it ended with them getting exhausted to the point where they had to consider creating another sister. The Reboot Puffs can barely take on one crime at a time, so I highly doubt they're just going to beat up all of these villains and then eat their ice cream.

Except, that’s exactly what they do in this episode! In fact, they don’t even let go of their ice cream while they’re easily trouncing these villains. They even beat up some villains that didn't make it into that intro, like Pot-Head, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and even the Amoeba Boys.

Discount Jojo shows up with his Baggy Jeans Bot. Apparently, he's very conscious about being with the latest trends in fashion when he's committing his crimes. He even confirms to some random hipster passing by that it is acid-washed. With real acid, as he almost douses that hipster with it from a hose. At least it's because Jojo missed, and we can't use this as proof that the regular Townsville population have better reaction time than the Reboot Puffs.

With this powerful jeans robot that seems to fit the Fashionistas more than him, nobody can stop Jojo now...

...until Blossom pops him right in the kisser. Another big surprise: we actually see Blossom punch Jojo in the face without a hit flash! They just bash him left and right. Bubbles even takes over the jeans robot, and kicks his butt with its giant butt.

Unfortunately, before the Powerpuff Girls can punch him repeatedly and take him to jail just like the old days, with Buttercup even threatening to actually "lock him up for good", he suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke. The Powerpuff Girls say "huh" at this, but don't seem to pay it any mind. After all, maybe they were just so strong that Jojo ran out of HP!

However, that turns out to not be the case, as we see where Discount Jojo ended up. He has a decent theory just after waking up in this overly fancy place.

Discount Jojo: Oh no! Those Powerpuffs punched Mojo so hard, he landed in another dimension!

Didn't think this reboot would steal from the old Dragon Ball Z dub. Discount Jojo does seem like an infinite loser to me. No, not really, as the owner of this "another dimension" turns out to be a villain of legend! The Archduke of Anarchy! The King of Coiffures!

Lester Van Luster!

Don't worry if you never heard of him before, because it turns out this is his first appearance. However, we're supposed to see this guy as this legendary villain who managed to shrink the Eiffel Tower. I think this guy is supposed to be like some sort of Siegfried and Roy parody, but he looks more like some overly sugary cupcake to me. A Cupcake Shrinky Boy, if you will. I wish I came up with that.

But none of that matters to Discount Jojo, who is this guy's biggest fan. He kept a scrapbook of him, and even asks him to sign his brain when he shows off the shrunken Eiffel Tower. Yeah, in a way far too similar to Gru from Dispicable Me, this guy's gimmick is that he likes to shrink things.

Would the real Mojo Jojo look up to anyone, never mind someone like Cupcake Shrinky Boy here? Even this Jojo was angry over someone being better than him in previous episodes, but now we're supposed to believe he's a total fangirl of someone who we never seen before. That's one of the many reasons why we call him Discount.

Speaking of Not So Secret Service, the Powerpuff Girls are celebrating their victory by playing another violent fighting game. The Professor's strategy from keeping them from those has been replacing One Must Fall 2041 with Brutal: Paws of Fury. Nobody would want to play a fighting game ever again after playing that, but sadly for him, it didn't work.

As they're beating each other up in the game, they talk about how everything is just so easy for them. I understand that it was a general problem that the Reboot Puffs get beaten up, but this is really overcompensating that. In other episodes, they could get beaten by glitter, the Dewey Decimal System, and air, but not this time. Here, they can beat anyone, anywhere...

Bubbles: ...with any hair!

Ah, a running gag that even the other characters are annoyed by, as Buttercup tells her to stop doing that the very first time she does it. This running gag is supposed to be bad, guys! Laugh!

This episode goes in the complete opposite direction of most reboot episodes, which usually sees the Powerpuff Girls getting defeated rather easily so someone else can save them. It does not even try to ease us into it. Do not give us 90+ episodes of Monster Punch, Girls Down, and then tell us “these girls are invincible! Anytime, anywhere, any hair!”

Suddenly, their video game gets interrupted with a message from Discount Jojo. How did he get on the moon? How can he breathe in space without any kind of space suit? How did he hijack a video game like it was a late night Doctor Who rerun? He'll give us the answer in just a minute!

Blossom is, of course, worried. Via a bunch of stock images with some decent amount of work to make them a little more animated. Bubbles adds that if the moon blows up, the cow wouldn't have anything to jump over!

Cow: (scare chord) Mooooo!

Yes, that's a cow. The reboot needed to let us know what a cow is, just in case we didn't know. They were even helpful enough to make it moo. Who said this show wasn't educational for your toddler?

Much like the last beatings they dished out, they’re not even going to focus 100% of their energy on beating him. They bring their video game with them, which manages to still work even though there’s no electricity around. Maybe this is one of their other rare superpowers: the ability to give out electricity to video game consoles.

While speculating on how many seconds it would take to take Jojo down for what is supposed to be the umpteenth time, they’re suddenly whacked in the face with a magician's top hat. Discount Jojo the Not-So-Magnificent shows his face to these Puny-Puffs, and Blossom can't help but point out something I already pointed out.

Blossom: Hey, how can you even breathe in space?

Discount Jojo: MAGIC!

Oh, hush, Discount. Even Buttercup calls this a lame excuse. They rush in, and I'm sure they're going to beat this monkey up again and finish their video game just like they said they would do.

Magic Punch, Girls Down, womp womp. In several different "magic" ways, too. He's really taking his new gimmicks very seriously. He uses playing cards to stick Bubbles to a rock. He bashes down Blossom and Buttercup with a hammer after doing a disappearing trick. Bubbles then gets distracted by the classic "pulling a rabbit out of a hat" trick. Despite what Rocky says, that trick may work after all! The last one's a bit slow, but the others are okay.

It seems like it's another "Powerpuff Girls get beaten up until some magic being shows up to save them in the end" scene. Thankfully, that doesn't happen, as they do manage to get up and do a few parlor tricks of their own. Just like a certain episode of the original, really.

Specifically, Abra-Cadaver. It is one of the episodes they definitely have seen, since they referenced it in Memory Lane of Pain. In that episode, Abra-Cadaver, not Memory Lane of Pain, a magician is thwarted by the Powerpuff Girls learning a few magic tricks of their own. That's essentially what they do here, even combining it with their own aura powers for good measure. Fighting fire with fire, and there's some good gags here, too.

It all ends with Blossom doing a grand finale: putting him in a coffin. Thankfully for Jojo, Blossom decided not to use an iron maiden this time. Jojo gets put in iron chains instead. Probably not as strong as ordinary rope, but that probably terrifies them.

But, uh oh, they spent all of this time beating up Jojo the Not-So-Magnificent, they forgot all about the bomb! The Powerpuff Girls decide to stay in one place and do a big no, knowing that even if they tried, they would just fail anyway.

How do they manage to get rid of this bomb without making that poor cow angry? Turns out, they didn't need to, in a twist that even I couldn't expect. If you read this far, I'm sorry to say I do not do the ellipsis any more because I now assume you read these after you watch the episode. Right?

The bomb "explodes", with confetti and a big sign that says "BOOM". The bomb turned out to be a fake, and it was all just a distraction; an "opening act" for the real act. Besides, with his brains, Discount Jojo knows the dangers of blowing up the moon. I mean, what would the cow jump over?

Cow: (scare chord) Mooooo!

Just in case you missed it, kids. This is a cow. She goes "moo". He then uses his magic hat to show a projection of said "real act": Sparkly Sprinkles is about to do his biggest magic trick yet from his sky-high Secret Lair. Pretty sure you can't really be that secret if you're up in the sky, but that's beyond the point.

Blossom gets a call from the Mayor on her smartphone, which apparently gets really good reception on the moon. She hears the Mayor is adoring this big shiny light in the sky that is getting ever so closer. They fly all the way down to the place they called home for so long, only to find that...

Blossom: It's...it's gone.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Wow. I mean, that's actually a very powerful end for this first part. No unneeded random quips, no farting, no fancy dream catchers, just "oops, Townsville's now a giant crater, and it's all our fault!" It made me anxious to see the next part, and that is something I didn't expect.

Does this part’s title fit?

Yeah, this is the one that really plays up the magic angle.

How does this part stack up?

The “we’re invincible” gag got really old, especially considering this reboot tends to go against that far too often for me to take that seriously. That’s really the only problem with this particular part. The whole special has its own issues, which I’ll detail when I’m done with this.

Some decent magic trick jokes, some good cameos in the beginning, and an ending that actually hooks you in for the rest of the special. All in all, a pretty good opener.

With a relatively good opener, it could only go downhill from here, right? See you tomorrow for Part 2.

← Salamander ☆ Small World: Stone Cold Spider (Part 2) →

[acharlescoleman]

It’s funny yesterday I told my sister that I was thinking about going to see more shows as I asked if she was thinking about going to see Christina Aguilera this weekend at the Hollywood Bowl,  she said she was going to ask me the same thing so now we’re going. 

I was thinking about it going back home because on the podcast I was listening to they were talking about concerts and live shows a bit and after I see Christina,   I’ll have seen pretty much all the biggie female popstars (okay except the Spice Girls) of my teenage era of the late 90′s/early 00′s. 

I briefly got to see Avril do “Complicated” when she opened for the Backstreet Boys. That was show was ridiculous,  I think she played at the dot of 7:30 or not too long after because when we got into the Forum we could hear “I’m with You” almost ending and then I think her saying she was gonna do one last one. And we weren’t super late either. She was still great though.

I’ve seen Mandy Moore twice,  should’ve went thrice when she was doing a residency like two or three years ago at some small venue in LA. But anyway,  I saw at a TV taping after her third album came out in like 2001 or 2002,   the one with In My Pocket. It’s still one of my favorite albums, legit it’s pop goodness. It has Cry, Turn the Clock Around, Crush and a bunch of other bangers. Then I went to see her at Amoeba in 2009,  when she was promoting Amanda Leigh, it has “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week”. It’s more a singer/songwriter-y album, haven’t heard it in a while but I remember liking it. I got her autograph and it was cool meeting her. I forget what I said to her, it was either thanks (for the autograph) or thanks and that was great (something I usually say if I get an autograph after a show at Amoeba). 

I’ve seen Jessica Simpson at a music venue but she didn’t perform,   she was there watching Ashley Simpson (!),  but I saw her in the back with Nick Lachey at I think the old Knitting Factory in Hollywood which doesn’t exist now and is probably a store or something. I think it was Ashley’s first show ever possibly,  pretty sure it was briefly mentioned on their reality show back in the day. 

Lastly,   I’ve saw Britney at the height of when “older” people were like oh she’s lip syncing at her shows and stuff,   I think even my dad was wondering why me and a dude friend of mine were going to see her since it was on the news that she lip-synced. I think I was like I bet she doesn’t lip sync the whole show plus me and my buddy liked the two albums she did at the time like from front to back, her first album, Baby One More Time and second album, Oops I Did It Again. Also,  at the Forum! It was the best time to see her if you liked those albums because that’s all she did and I remember the crowd ate it up. I think that’s what I mostly remember because we were up high,  not quite nosebleeds but a notch better than nosebleeds. The crowd was loud as hell, mostly because there were screaming girls like it was a Beatles show,   and I remember having lots of fun, singing and bopping to all her songs. And she did I think a remix of Baby One More Time and then the lights went out and I’d never been to a show before so I was naively like is that it? And then like maybe ten minutes later, she shout up from below the stage and she was like “Oops I did it again” and went right into that song. And that’s when I went deaf prolly lol. I think me and my dude friend went nuts and screamed too. Pretty great way to go deaf though. 

Anyways,  that’s my little trip down music show memory lane,   I’m so looking forward to Christina Aguilera at the Hollywood Bowl this Friday, she’s singing with an orchestra (!). Admittedly,   I don’t really know her newer songs like I do her older ones I grew up with, I know that first album really well especially like the first six tracks, I’d love it if she’d do all those songs but she’s done a bunch of albums since then. I’ll be happy if she does Come On Over, I Turn to You,  and Fighter. I figure she’ll do Genie in a Bottle, Reflections, probably not Dirrty but who knows, either way it should be fun! 

[chrishoulihan]

FYF ADVENTCHEA

So this shit turned into a fucking novel, I’m putting it under a cut and it’s just as much for my own recollection as it is for anyone who wants to hear about my festival weekend. Get into it

So I arrived in LA on Thursday morning after my flight was delayed by an hour and ended up getting there at the exact same time as Anna A @yourveryeyes which was fortuitous! We took a Lyft to Exposition Park to pick up her wristband for the festival, wandered around a little bit, and ended up taking the Metro downtown to meet up with Kylie @electric-candyman who was GREAT TO MEET and was also going to the festival, and her friend Chris who doesn’t have a Tumblr afaik and was going to both FYF and the Planetarium show that night. We went to MOCA which was pretty sweet, they had a Rothko room and a few Rauschenberg pieces that were really cool to see in person. After that Anna and I split off to go to Hollywood and check out Amoeba on our way to Sufjan and that was obviously amazing, I didn’t have enough space in the bags I packed to buy any records (which was by design, my broke ass can’t afford to drop a lot of money on vacation and you can’t waste money on stuff if you don’t have room to carry it home *tapping head guy meme*) but I bought a little heart-eyed cat emoji pin as a souvenir and I definitely wanted to buy 5000 things I couldn’t have.

From there we went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for Planetarium and met up with Anna L @louisdebumhole ANN- SQUAD REUNITED HELL YEAH. We got to the cemetery and went in all together like over an hour after the doors opened but since it was a lawn show there was still barely anyone lined up at the stage by the time we got there and we got just behind the rail?? AMAZING. I haven’t had the opportunity for rail at a Sufjan show since the Christmas pageant in 2012. Chris showed up not too long after us and joined us right by the stage and Anna L’s friend was there on the rail too so it was a party.

OBVIOUSLY PLANETARIUM WAS INCREDIBLE. My dumb ass forgot to save my Instagram story so I don’t have any of my own videos but it was so great. Sufjan wore his stupid beautiful clashing pajama suit and some fuckin moon boots and he looked fabulous and sang like an angel and said a lot of nonsensical inspirational stuff (like this which is the only video I managed to salvage.) The whole record sounds even richer and fuller live; Jupiter, Moon, and Venus sounded especially amazing. AND fun fact, Matt Berninger was there and watched the entire show from the left side of the stage! My indie dad Matty B supporting his homies!! I also got a setlist after the show ended, which was exciting even though of course it’s literally just a list of planets and in the exact same order as the record lmao. But it’s my first Sufjan-related setlist and I will cherish it forever.

So we got back to Anna L’s house I think around midnight that night and by then I had been awake for like 21 hours so I was exhausted and basically passed out as soon as I could. Next day was the START OF FYF and Anna A/Kylie/Chris and I decided that we wanted to go for Bjork rail, since she was the first act on the main stage on Friday and there weren’t really any other bands playing before her elsewhere that we were dying to see. Before we went to the festival Anna A and I hung out with her friend Jen who was great, we got boba and then went downtown to The Last Bookstore, which was bomb, and had lunch at Grand Central Market. Got to the festival about half an hour before the gates opened, made it through the long ass queue, and went immediately to the main stage where we got basically center-right just behind the rail!! For fucking Bjork!!! Commence freaking out for the next three hours. Chris and Kylie showed up later right behind us and it was such a fun and easy queueing experience for me, everyone around us was super chill and everyone was so hype to see Bjork that we pretty much just looked out for each other and bonded over our mutual fandom. Anna and I had intended to see Bjork together in NYC back in 2015 but it got cancelled so this was a LONG TIME COMING and I’m so glad that we were able to make it happen.

So Bjork was the first set of my whole festival weekend and honestly it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen?? SHE WAS AMAZING and I knew I was gonna be emotional but I wasn’t fucking prepared for how surreal and incredible it felt to hear THAT VOICE in person and to be that close to her while it happened. Unreal. She had Arca with her as her DJ and a whole string ensemble, and she came out wearing a glow in the dark lime green headdress mask thing and a huge puffy dress that made her look like a beautiful pinata. Everything about it was fucking perfect; she did at least one song from every record except Vespertine. Multiples from Vulnicura/Homogenic/Post, Come to Me, Mouth’s Cradle, Wanderlust, Mutual Core. Fucking awesome. Favorites for me were probably Joga (CRIED), Mouth’s Cradle (fuckin bomb arrangement and a huge surprise), Isobel & Bachelorette (two of my all time faves), Notget and Hyperballad which had LITERAL FIREWORKS AND FIREBALLS going off onstage behind her?? What the fuck?? Amazing. And it was the most fun and loving group of people on the rail I’ve ever been part of; everyone around me was so genuinely excited and emotional and singing along and I could FEEL THE LOVE.

So that was an amazing start to the festival obviously and after Bjork we met up with Anna L and went straight to go see Anderson Paak who I missed BOTH TIMES he was here in Portland last year because I’m an idiot, and WOW he is so great live!! I’m actively offended that he is not my boyfriend tbh, he has the most beautiful and infectious smile I’ve ever seen on a human being. Big ol dance party up in the lawn stage. After that we went back to the main stage to watch Missy Elliott for a while and that was a lot of fun; found out after the fact that Bjork and fucking BEYONCE were watching off stage, so like, now I can say I have been in the presence of Beyonce. Went to Flying Lotus early which was the last set of the night to get a good view, with our sweet Flylo-branded 3D glasses obv. Flylo was amazing as always and the 3D show was awesome, I hope he takes it on the road cause that shit was fire. I’m also really into the mystical shaman look he seems to be cultivating lately lmao, and he looks cute as hell with the longer hair!! One of the biggest highlights of the whole weekend for me was when he started the Captain Murphy stuff, got one verse through The Killing Joke, and then was like “you know what fuck this I changed my mind, I want to do this song cause I never get the chance to do it” and fucking busted out with COSPLAY, which is only my favorite Captain Murphy track ever!!! I wasn’t expecting it cause it’s pretty obscure even for the Captain Murphy stuff and I lost my goddamn mind it was so much fun. (Gotta say though that the longer he keeps riding out Murphy tracks from 2012 at his live shows, the more egregious it is that he still hasn’t fuckin dropped a Murphy album or any substantial Murphy release since then. Come on bro. I’ve been waiting 5 years) ANYWAY so that was great of course. Day One = big success.

Day Two! Before we went to the festival that day we met up and had lunch with Anna L’s bf Jesus, who had a Saturday/Sunday festival pass and is a lovely man with great taste in music and cat photos and baseball caps. First set of the day for me was Thundercat and it was my SIXTH time seeing him live, which is hilarious (gonna be 7 times in September.) One of the first things he said to the crowd after getting on stage was “you guys look like you smell weird,” which was accurate. Obviously he’s always great live and I loved getting to hear more of the Drunk songs since the last time I saw him. He’s also rocking some pretty sweet neon pink dreads right now. Caught the end of Noname’s set with Anna A and Chris afterwards and really enjoyed it! I want to check out her album now cause she was great. Grabbed some food and then the whole crew met up together again to see Perfume Genius – GORGEOUS. I’d never seen him live before and he’s so captivating to watch. His performance of Slip Away to close the set was one of my favorites of the whole weekend.

After that I ended up splitting up with everyone, watched some of Arca’s set but ended up leaving to go hang out on the lawn before Erykah Badu because my feet were killing me and I really needed to sit down and recharge. Erykah was supposed to go on at 9:50; cut to 10:15 and she still hasn’t gone on and I was already planning on cutting out of her set at 10:30 to try and snag a semi decent spot for Frank Ocean, so I said fuck it and bailed to go do that. BUMMED I DIDN’T GET TO SEE HER TBH I was really looking forward to it. But it’s kinda good that I left sooner rather than later because the main stage was already pretty packed by 10:30 for Frank. I got an okay spot to the right of the stage probably about 10+ rows back from his platform catwalk thing, and it was easily the most crowded audience I was in all weekend. Talk about being packed like sardines it was madness, if I had showed up like 10 minutes later than I did I would have had an absolutely shit view.

So like…..FRANK FUCKING OCEAN. Never ever thought the day would come that I’d see him live, and the whole experience was so incredibly special to me. I DEFINITELY cried buckets when he sang Lens, which has weirdly become one of my all time favorite tracks in the last few months, and Ivy really really got to me out of nowhere too. Literally everyone around me within earshot sang along to every single word of every song and it was amazing. He played an unreleased cover of some old school funk track that was absolute straight fucking fire, me and the girl next to me danced our asses off together. That shit better get an official release on his radio show like he said he was planning!! Also Brad Pitt was on stage at one point and that was HILARIOUS tbh I wish I had gotten any sort of video of that myself, but the way the wasted dude behind me shouted “WHAT THE FUUUCK” when he popped up on screen will remain fresh in my memory forever. The whole show was gorgeous and I just LOVE FRANK OCEAN!!! I want him to tour so bad so I can actually plan out a scenario where I can get rail for his show and have a better view.

Aaaand Day Three. Got to the festival kinda lateish because the first act the Ann- Squad wanted to see wasn’t till after 6 (Little Dragon), so once we got there we took some photos and wandered around a bit, met back up with Chris and Kylie and took these majestic photobooth pictures, and then Anna A and I went to Little Dragon early for a good spot. I had never seen them before and it was a blast, just a total dance party. They mostly played stuff from Season High which was fine by me cause that album fuckin bangs. Then mood whiplash when we went straight from Little Dragon to Moses Sumney lmao. We got to Moses’ set right when he started our mutual fave Lonely World, serendipitous tbh!! He is beautiful and I loooove the lighting setup he’s got going for his show, it felt really unique to me among the loud dancey festival fare.

After that we went back to the main stage for Solange, which was great; I’m not as familiar with her music as I could be tbh but I really enjoyed how conceptual and dance-oriented her show was. At one point a whole massive brass section streamed in out of nowhere just for one song and it was fuckin awesome. Towards the end of Solange’s set Kylie texted me to say that if we hurried there was still a little bit of rail space left for Run the Jewels in fifteen minutes, to which we were immediately like UHH YES WTF and hustled our way the fuck over – made it in time, got just behind the rail for motherfucking Run the Jewels right before they went on somehow, *Killer Mike voice* goddammit it’s a motherfucking miracle. Give Kylie 5000 gold medals tbh. And RTJ ended up being probably my favorite non-headlining set of the weekend, SO MUCH FUN. The crowd was fucking nuts, everyone around me was going stupidly hard, and I discovered that I know pretty much every word of RTJ3 lmao. The only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been if they’d done Panther Like A Panther, WHICH THEY DIDN’T and was greatly missed by me. But it was amazing. I’m kind of in love with El-P’s ridiculous ass tbh.

Last show of the weekend – Nine Inch Nails!! Who I love!!!!! And hadn’t seen live in almost four years!!!!!! I’m always fucking trash for Nine Inch Nails honestly, their live shows just turn me into a raging dancing idiot and this was no exception. ‘Wish’ will always be one of my favorite songs to hear live from any band ever. Also got to hear Something I Can Never Have and Reptile for the first time ever for me which was awesome!! Bold move of Trent to throw in Something I Can Never Have as the fourth song in a festival set but I was loving it. Like I said yesterday I randomly lost my fucking mind to The Hand That Feeds lmao, I was actually jumping around like a moron. The newer songs were great too, Field On Fire FUCKING BANGS live holy shit. Basically it was just so great to cap off the weekend with band that I’ve loved for ten years and are always fucking immaculate live. And then when it was all over I got chicken strips and fries and walked out of the festival with the fam eating my delicious food. Perfection.

So that was my weekend and I honestly could not have dreamed of having a better time. I’m so so glad that I was able to do this, see some of my favorite bands with an awesome group of people who love music just as much as I do, get out of town and clear my head, and find some healing at a time when I really needed it. I feel very lucky.

[weirdpaul]

Every Band I’ve Ever Seen Live!

Abdominal Snowmen

Abysme

Action Camp

The Afghan Whigs

Alabaster Box

Alan Astor

Alaska

Algebra Suicide

Align Alike

Allegheny Rhythm Rangers

Allies

Alpha Control Group

Alzo Boszormenyi

AM/FM

America Hearts

Amoeba Knievel

Anita Fix

Annie and the Bombers

An Offhand Way

The Anti-Psychotics

The Antiques

The Antiquities

The Aquabats

Assassinate Caesar!

Atom and His Package

Atomic Mosquitos

ATS

Auk Theater

Automatic Matty P

Aydin

Baby Bird

Baby Shakes

Bad Fathers

Bang Bang Lulu

BaggyPantsRich

Bald Mountain Band

The Bassturd

Bastard Bearded Irishmen

The Bastards of Fate

Bastro

Bat Zuppel

The Beagle Brothers

Beard Science

Bearsuit

Beasters

Beat Happening

The Bedspins

Ben Blanchard

Bennett-Blanchard

The Benquick

Big Mouth Strikes Again Billy Castle

Billy Catfish

The Billy Nayer Show

Birdcloud

Birthday Suits

The Blandinas

Blast Off 3.0

The Bloated Sluts

Bloodbaby

Bloodless Cooties

Bloody Incisors

The Bloody Seamen

Blue Chair

Blue Oyster Cult

Blue Skies Collapse

Blunderbuss

Bob Log III

Bobby Conn

James Bogacz

Bomb Banks

Boom River

Bootsy Collins

Bottomless Pit

Bowhunter

Bradford Reed and the Amazing Pencilina

Brain Handle

Brass Chariot

Brass Panda

Braz Cubas

Brewer's Row

Broke Boland & the Dirty Pickles

Brown Angel

BS2000

Buddy Nutt

The Bumps

The Burndowns

Burning Cacti

Burnout War Cry

Butter Kings

Butthole Lipstick

The Buzzcocks

C-Money and Karl Kash

Cactus Wheelhouse

Camp PP

Canasta

Candy Machine Guns

Canned Hamm

Captain Catfeesh

Casino Bulldogs

Casy Stelitano

Catnip Coma

The Causey Way

Caustic Christ

The Ceiling Stares

Celebration

Centipede E'est

Cex

Channel Scorpion News

Charlie Anteater

Charlie Slick

The Cheats

Chestnut Station

Chet Vincent

Child Bite

Children of October

Choke City

Chris Leo

Chrome Moses

Churchbuilder

Chux Beta

City Dwelling Nature Seekers

The City Steps

The Claymores

The Clearing

Cloaca

Clownvis Presley

Cobalt Black

The Cocktails

The Code

Colin and the Shots

Colombian Express

Combustible Three

Concrete Elite

CooCoo Rockin' Time

The Copyrights

Corpus Christi

Cougars

Crank Radio

Creta Bourzia

Crisis in America

The Crow Flies

Crucial Unit

Crunk Witch

Cryptorchid Chipmunk

Curses and Kisses

Daily Grind

Daiquiri

Daniel Johnston

Danielson

Dark Lingo

Darren Keen

Dave Bernabo

David Liebe Hart

Dead City Dealers

Dean Cercone

Death of Samantha

Decaffeinated Grapefruit

Decision Way All-Stars

The Degenerettes

Demander

Deral Fenderson

Derek Deprator Band

Derica

Dethlehem

Developer

The Devil Dogs

The Devil is Electric

The Devil's Jukebox

Devin Russian

Devo

Die Kruezen

Dirtbag Diary

The Dirty Charms

Dirty Fences

Dirty Sunshine

Dirty Weekend

Discuss

Disrobe

Divine Seven

Divorce

Do Crimes

Don Caballero

Don Capicola

Dollar Shots

Donora

Doog

Dookie Houser Emcee

The Douglass Brothers

Down By Law

Downside

The Dozal Brothers

DQE

Drink Tax

The Dripp Brothers

Drug Dealer

Duckmandu

Duke of Uke

The Dumplings

Duo!

Dwarf Fortress

Ear to Ear

Earlimart

Earls of Industry

Ec8tor

Echolalia

Edie Sedgewick

Ed's Redeeming Qualities

Eggs

8 Cylinder

Eighty Eight Magnum

'85 Flood

El Boxeo

El Grosso

Electric Grandmother

The Elemental

Elephant Bones

Elf Power

Eli “Paperboy” Reed

Elliott Sussman

Elsinore

Ember Schrag

The Emergency

Emerson Jay

Emily Jo Fabiszewski

Endless Mike and the Beagle Club

Eoley Mullulay

Erectus Monotone

Eric and the Electric MP3 Player

Erika Carey & the Calamities

The Eruptions

Eskimo '88

Estelle

Eugene Chadbourne/Jimmy Carl Black

Euphonic Brew

Everyone Everywhere

Evolution Control Committee

Ezra Lbs

Face Down in Shit

Falon

Fancytramp

Fangs of the Panda Fat White Family

Fate of Icarus

Jerry Fels and the Jerry Fels

Fezzwig

The Fife and Forth

The Fingers

Fire & Sex

The Fireworks

First Into Space

First Jason

First Person Singular

The Fizzies

Flaming Lips

The Fletch-heads

Flotation Device

Flotilla Way

Folk Implosion

The Forbidden Five

Forgotten Nobody

Four Dead Flowers

The Four Roses

Four Seasons Boys

Frank Barone

French Toast

Fry Jones

Gadgits

The Garden

The Garment District

Gary Musisko

Gary Twoman

Gentleman Auction House

George Willard

German Shepherd Ghost Road

Gil Mantera's Party Dream

Girl Talk

Girl Trouble

Glad Girls

Go Pills

Go Pillx

The Goblins

The Goonies

Goonland

The Goops

The Gothees

Grand Buffet

Grand Piano

Granola Explosion

Grant Valdes

Gravel

The Graveyard Rockers

Great Ants

Greg Cislon

Groundwater Mafia

The Grow Ops

Grumpy

Guided By Voices

Guru Guru

Guyliners

Half Japanese

Happy Flowers

Har Mar Superstar

HARM

Hard Money

Harry and the Potters

Heaven & Hell

Heavy Cream

The Hecklers

Height

The Heiz

Helmet

Hell Yeah the Hellcats

The Helper T-Cells

The Heretics

The Hidden Twin

The Hi-Frequencies

The Hillbilly Varmints

The Hips

The Hodag

Hogwind

The Homostupids

The Hope Harveys

Hot Dog Forest

Hot Mess

Hotness

Houdini's Psychic Theater

House of Assassins

Household Stories

Hovland

Howard Jones

HTML

The Human Brains

Hungry Bill

Hurra Torpedo

I am the Lost Sea

I Speak Tree

Ian Semasko

Ice Capades

Icon Gallery

In the Wake of Giants The Independents

Instead of Sleeping

International Espionage

The Invisible Nothings

IO

Irene Moon

Ivenfaint

J. Marinelli

Jack in Irons

Jack Medicine

Jack Sabbith

Jackson

Jad Fair

Jake and the Jakeman

Jam Messengers

Jana Bates

Jandek

Jane's Addiction

The Jasons

The Jealous Zealots

Jefferson Golfcart

Jericho Theory

The Jim Dandies

Jody Perigo & Laura Totten

Joe Jack Talcum

Joe Landes

Joey Molinaro

Johnny and the Razorblades

Johnny Locomotive & the Engineers

The Johnsons

Jonathan Hape

Jonathan Richman

Jonny Cohen

Joybox

JPS Brown

Judas Priest

The Juicy Girls

Juno Vega

Jupiter's Girlfriend

K-Hun

Kafka Romance Dissolver

Kalon

Karl Hendricks

Kazimier

Kevin Finn

Khaled

Kick Old Man

Kick the Can

Kill Or Be Killed

Kind of Like Spitting

King Karcass

King Kong

King Missile

kingdom Of Not

Kisswhistle

Kitty Pryde and the Shadowcats

Koala-T

Kracfive AllStars

The Kyle Sowashes

The Lady and the Monsters

Landing Strip

Landmonster!

Laura Kahl

Lavacola

Le Cachot

The Left Turns

Leonard Cohen Ensemble One

Leo's Operation

Les Georges Leningrad

The Lesser Apes

Let Them Eat Cake

Libre Duo

Life in Bed

The Limbs

Living Praise Choir

Liz and the Bandits

The Lobster Quadrille

Loose Interpretation

The Lopez

Lord Grunge

Lorelei

Lorenzo's Oil

Los Swamp Monsters

Lost Weekend

Lou Barlow

The Love Drunks

Lover 29

Lunachicks

Lung Mountain

Lydia Lunch

Mac Sabbath

Magic Wolf

Magnolia Electric Co.

Maguillacutty

The Main Events

The Make-up

Mama Spell

Man Found Dead

Manherringbone

Manhole

Margo Van Hoy

Mark Mallman

Marshmallow Pop Orchestra

Marumari

Marvin Dioxide

Massif

Master Mechanic

Maurice Rickard

Maxi-Pads

McCarthy Commission

MC Cliff B

MC Habitat

Meatballs/Fluxus

Mecca Normal

Medium Ugly

Meeting of Important People

Meisha

Meltdown

The Melvins

Bill Merante

The Meridians

Microwaves

Middle Children

Midge Cricket

Midnight Creeps

Midnite Snake

Mike Dillon Band

Mike Maimone

Mike Tamburo

Mikey C

Milagres

The Minders

Mindless Chaos

Miniature Giant

Miniature Table Concerts

Miss Massive Snowflake

Missile Toe

Missing Pilots

Modern Life

Modern Vending

Modey Lemon

Moldies and Monsters

The Molecules

Molesuit Choir

A Moment of Clarity

Mommy's Little Monster

Moonlight Motel

Moons of Saturn

Mortis

MOTO

Motorhead

The Motorpsychos

Mr. Funky

Mr. T Experience

MSC

The Muckrakers

Mud City Manglers

Murder of Bridges

Murphy's Law

Mustache Required

Mutant Mountain Boys

My Boyfriend the Pilot

My Captain, My Sea

My Dad is Dead

My Niece Denise

My Prodi

My Sexiest Mistake

My Superhero

The Name of This Band is Not Talking Heads

Nanako

Narse

Byron Nash and Plan B

Nathaniel Seer

The National Rifle

Nautical Almanac

The Need

Negative Reaction

Neighbors

Neil Hamburger

Nest

The New Alcindors

Newband

Nicholas Megalis

Night and the City

Night Shall Eat These Boys and Girls

Night Terror

The Noble Brats

Nobunny

Noctuelles

Northern Bushmen

The Northern Spy

Nosotros

Nox Boys

NRBQ

O Lendario Chucrobillyman

O.C. Feef

Oakley Hall

Octopus, Inc.

Odin Heed and the Headwinch

Ohmu

The Ohsees

On Vinyl

Only Flesh

The OPD

Orvill Rex

Ouais

Overseas

Owl Style

The Pacifist Femmes

PAK

Paleface

Pam Hanlin

Pancreatic Aardvarks

Parvulus Infectus

Patrick Elkins

Paul Green Rock Academy

Paul Kotheimer

Paul Labrise and the Trees

Paul Lynde 451

Paul Tabachnek

Pete Bush and the Hoi Polloi

Pete Donnelly

Pfunkt

The Phantom Maggots

Phat Free

Phat Man Dee

The Phone Calls

Phred Rainey

Piasa

Picasso Trigger

Pierogi Pizza

Pig Iron

Pikadori

Pinche Gringo

Pitchin' Woo

Pleaseeasaur

The Pleasureheads

Poingly

The Polyatomic

Polvo

Ponytail

Poopy Necroponde's Burgee Boys

The Pork Torta

Porno Tongue

Pox

PPDB

Presque Vu

Pretty Girls Make Graves

Professor Purple

Proto-martyr

Psycho-a-go-go

Puma Barrier

Quaranteened

R. Stevie Moore

The Radio Beats

Radio 4

Rainy Day Regatta

The Ramones

Rapscallionz

Ray Zen

Reason and Eos

Red Vs. Black

The Red Western

Refried Boogie

Reo Speedwagon

Requiem

The Residents

The Resistables

Rex Morgan M.D. Trio

The Rhodora

Rick Bach

River Is To Train

RJ Myato

Xylen Roberts

Robin Vote

Rocket From the Tombs

Rocketsled

The Roger 6

The Rogers Sisters

Rollins Band

Rot Shit

Roulette Waves

Round Black Ghosts

Royal City

The Ruins

Run DMC

The Sablowskis

Sad Tropics

Salt Chuck Mary

Sam Goodwill

Samuel Locke Ward & The Boo Hoos

Santa Inferno

Satanic Bat

Satyr/Elfheim

Savage Lines

Says She

The SB

Scandal

Science is Dead

Scott Demian

Scott Fry

The Scratch n Sniffs

Scrawl

Seam

Seas We Fear To Sail

Season Finale

Sebadoh

Secret Paper Moon

The Seeing Eyeballs

The Semi-Supervillains

Senator Flux

Sewercide

The Sewing Machine War

SFX

Sheer Mag

Shitappa Oyabun

Shonen Knife

The Show is the Rainbow

Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous

Signifiers

Silbia Han

Silkworm

The Silver Eagle Band

Sissy Baby Boys

Skinless/Boneless

The Skirt Tasters

Slant 6

Slate Dump

Sleeping in Class

SleepyV

Slices

The Slow Reel

Sludgehammer

Smokey Bellows

The Smugglers

Sneaky Mike

Sodastream

Soft Sickle

Solarburn

Son of Bitch

Song of Zarathustra

Songs About Robots Sorry I'm Dead

Soul Excursion

Sounding Rockets

South Ken

South Sea Sneak

Sovron Court

Spacefish

Sparrow

Special Ed

The Speeds

Spidercake

Spoon

Sports Metaphors

Spudboys

Spynda, Pace and Kress

Star fk Radium

The Stars

Stars of the Dogon

Steady Matt

Stephen Foster and the Awesomes

Steve Boyle

Steve Malkmus

Steve Whitten

Sticky Pink Chew

Stone Temple Pilots

Jim Storch

Stuck in Standby

Styles For Modern Living

Styx

Subdevil

Sugar Daddy

The Suicide Dolls

Summer Erickson

Summer Lungs

Super Fun Time Awesome Party Band

Superchunk

Supersystem

The Surface Dwellers

Sweet Icing

Sweet Nothing

Take No Damage

TBA

Tecumseh EQs

Ted Leo + Pharmacists

Telecorps

Telefonics

Telesys

The Telethons

Television

Terror, Inc.

Testament

The Test Patterns

Thee 50's High Teens

Thee Speaking Canaries

They Might Be Jerks

Thin Sketch

Things That Aren't There Anymore

Third Class

.38 Special

This Present Expression

Three Day Stubble

The Thunder Chickens

Thee Starry Eyes

Tianna and the Cliffhangers

TigerHorseSheepPigCow

Tilt

The Tinklers

Tonks and the Aurors

Torus

Treeline Freeline

The Tree Three

Triggers

Tron Ate My Baby

Truckasaurus

True Love Always

Truxon

TsuShiMamiRie

Tub Ring

Tulpa

Tusklord

TV John

2020K

Uke and Tuba

Ukebox

Ukiah

Ukulady Liz

Ultimate VAG

Ume

Uni Sami

Universal Congress Of

Unlikely Japan

The Upholsterers

Upskirts

Vale and Year

Vampire Nation

Vampire Weekend at Bernies

Vehicle Flips

Vel

The Velcats

Velvet Monkeys

Vequinox

Videohippos

Viewers Like You

Village of Dead Roads

The Viragos

The Visitations

The Vivians

Von Ludendork

Vox Robotica

Wake

Wallace's Fallen Obelisk Kidz

The Wasps Nest and Valerie Kuehne

The Waxwings

WE are the Asteroid

We are the Dead

We Came From Space

The Weasels

Weird Al Yankovic

Werewolves

Wesley Willis

Western Pennsylvania

The Whipped Cream Explosion

The White Stripes

Will Simmons & Turdburglar

William Wesley and the Tiny Sockets

Wimp Factor 14

The Winterbrief

The Wire Riots

The Working Poor

Workshop

Wyld Stalyns

The Wynkataug Monks

X.13

The X Brothers

Asher Yatzar

The Youngstown Tramps

Your Favorite Assassin

Yung Ka

Z-Man

Za Dharsh

The Zambonis

Zigtebra

Zelazowa

The Zou

Zubat and the Bees' Knees

The Zvills

[not-ash-sunny]

1: 6 of the songs you listen to most?

The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver by All Time Low Mr. Brightside by The Killers Everything is Temporary by Cavetown Best Friend by Rex Orange County Somebody Out There by A Rocket to the Moon Peach by The Front Bottoms

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? My lost cat, Ky. 3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

“He had the suffering-in-silence thing down to an art,” (Extraordinary Means: Schneider, 2015)

4: What do you think about most?

Will I ever be geniunely happy and contented?

5: What does your latest text message from someone else say?

“Hi Ash, Kamusta yung assessment mo?”

6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on?

with

7: What’s your strangest talent?

I can sleep anywhere, anytime. standing. sitting. during my graduation. at a coffee shop. name it.

8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence)

Girls can and should rule the world.

Boys “are rats, listen to me, they're fleas on rats, worse than that, they're amoebas on fleas on rats. I mean, they're too low for even the dogs to bite. The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy.”

9: Ever had a poem or song written about you?

yes. more than twice.

10: When is the last time you played the air guitar?

I have never?

11: Do you have any strange phobias?

not really a phobia. but swimming at somewhere deep give me panic attacks.

12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

none that i know of?

13: What’s your religion?

Roman Catholic by contract.

14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

eating or window shopping.

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Behind.

16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

A Rocket to the Moon

17: What was the last lie you told?

I can work during the weekend.

18: Do you believe in karma?

yes, absolutely.

19: What does your URL mean?

Universal Real Link ??? lol idk

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Greatest weakness: I’m a bad liar. Greatest strength: I am very friendly?

21: Who is your celebrity crush?

Aidan Gallagher.

22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

haven’t! but its on my list.

23: How do you vent your anger?

ranting to other people, but mostly of the time to myself.

24: Do you have a collection of anything?

Albums? Bags? Shoes?

25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

Video chatting.

26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

not yet.

27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

hate: horns! love: sound of nature.

28: What’s your biggest “what if”?

what if i wasn’t afraid?

29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

yes. yes.

30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

right: big ass wall mirror left: my phone

31: Smell the air. What do you smell?

somehow, the smell of ironed clothes?

32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

near smokey mountain.

33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast?

west coast.

34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?

35: To you, what is the meaning of life?

life is bittersweet.

36: Define Art.

Art is diverse, yet unified.

37: Do you believe in luck?

no, but I believe in lucky people.

38: What’s the weather like right now?

Fucking hot.

39: What time is it?

10:24pm

40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

not yet, or maybe never?

41: What was the last book you read?

The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

42: Do you like the smell of gasoline?

nope.

43: Do you have any nicknames?

ash. 

44: What was the last film you saw?

Sex and the City?

45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

Sprain.

46: Have you ever caught a butterfly?

haven’t.

47: Do you have any obsessions right now?

fanny packs and bucket hats :(

48: What’s your sexual orientation?

honestly, don’t care.

49: Ever had a rumour spread about you?

none that I know of.

50: Do you believe in magic?

I believe in witches hehe

51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

not really.

52: What is your astrological sign?

star: virgo  moon: pisces

53: Do you save money or spend it?

SPEND IT.

54: What’s the last thing you purchased?

Chicken curry.

55: Love or lust?

love, ofc.

56: In a relationship?

yep.

57: How many relationships have you had?

3 serious ones.

58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

can’t.

59: Where were you yesterday?

Alabang.

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

yep.

61: Are you wearing socks right now?

nope.

62: What’s your favourite animal?

cattttttttsssss

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

my weirdness, humor, and spontaneity.

64: Where is your best friend?

they are everywhere.

65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr.

I only have one ever since, http://blossomfully.tumblr.com/ .

66: What is your heritage?

Filipino and Spanish, I think?

67: What were you doing last night at 12AM?

ML.

68: What do you think is Satan’s last name?

Morningstar.

69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

what?

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

yes, I think so.

71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

call someone to help me save the dog, then call my boss about the situation.

72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

I won’t tell anyone. I’ll do everything and anything. I would be afraid.

73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love.

love. with love there is trust.

74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Mr. Brightside by The Killers

75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

6140

76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

accepting the changes and still loving.

77: How can I win your heart?

cats.

78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?

yes.

79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

volunteering.

80: What size shoes do you wear?

8

81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

Alis Propriis Volat.

82: What is your favourite word?

meow.

83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

love.

84: What is a saying you say a lot?

“this is all I got”

85: What’s the last song you listened to?

Idk.

86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours?

yellow.

87: What is your current desktop picture?

cats.

88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

ignorant people.

89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

Initially I would automatically cover myself with a blanket and just have a panic attack.

91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

I don’t want any super-power. I just want to be a witch. I guess, scarlet witch’s power ?

92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

The days I was travelling freely and happily.

93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

I won’t erase anything cause I believe its part of who I am and it would be an excellent story to tell.

94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

currently not idolizing anyone. but, Matty Healy!!!

95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Vietnam!

96: Do you have any relatives in jail?

None of I know of.

97: Have you ever thrown up in the car?

YAS HAHAHHAHA and it was a taxi cab. I’m sorry.

98: Ever been on a plane?

yep.

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

Spread love, positive vibes, and always be kind.

answered as of March 31, 2019.

[katef-m]

field notes (sat, sun, mon)

Saturday 7/8: bridges and bookings, coffee and heat, and packing bags yet again, and late night ice cream trucks:

The ice cream truck at ten thirty at night in Brooklyn sings the same twinkled tune I heard sitting on my childhood bed seventeen years ago

dusky July, hot, grasshoppers on the ceiling, evenings long and light summer’s endlessness nearly suffocating and all that time and the days uncountable. A thread through still nights, I think Mr Whippy’s soft repeating notes are how this strange summer stretching of time would sound if it spoke strange strange to think that once I was there and now I am here three thousand four hundred and forty eight miles and seventeen years

displaced summer’s bedrock an ice cream truck song.

Sunday 7/9: morning brew in a basement coffee shop, piney and enamel mugs and fans, and a Puerto Rican parade gathering outside, the kind of cars you imagine in Cuba, and a rainbow-feathered cavalcade that holds me up from getting to the subway station. S lives in a fancy new apartment on Wall St and you wouldn't know fourteen years had passed, the way we talked. there're chandeliers in the lobby and I am free from my hiking bag at last. an Irish bar for afternoon cocktails and chips (and here, when they say chips, they mean proper chips) and a slow slide into evening tipsiness. walking home through the financial district and the sun is perfect, the way it hits the stately grey of the buildings and tickles the stone pink, the way windows glow in the blue wash. then i realise my sunglasses are not on my head. back at the bar an irish folk band are playing where we’d been sitting and nobody can find my glasses. this throws me: i almost have to gape back tears: and i am not sure why, exactly, except that i have worn these sunglasses almost every day this year. they’re peeling at the nose and the lenses are scuffed but they’ve seen everything with me. to lose them is to make physical the loss of Berkeley in my life. it’s not the glasses I care about (though they were a good shape for my face), but that another link back to Berkeley has been severed. and the loss also articulates something i hadn’t realised until this final evening: that i was finding it emotionally difficult to leave new york. sort of like an aftershock of how it felt to leave Berkeley, I guess, but I’d been so damn content here. five weeks in your favourite city can really leave a dent. i’m glad i’ll be back in a month. leaving isn’t easing the heaving in my vines.

Monday 7/10: sweat-soaked, bag-laden, moving through the west side of the city, down the avenues until fashionistas replace tourists, builders replace fashionistas, and homeless men replace builders, their huge plastic bags stuffed with empty water battles tied like balloons to the fence, waiting to make their pennies. the Greyhound is only half full, but it overheats in the swamps of Jersey and we wait for another bus to pick us up. I’m keeping an eye out for Bruce on his bike, naturally. the journey is fast and smooth and i listen to Bruce whisper his autobiography into my ears again. he’s in California for the first time, it’s the late sixties or early seventies, and like me he’s cynical about the new age crap. the people dressed in sheets on the grass ‘returning to amoeba stage’. the herbal remedies. the visions of ‘infinity’. i have seen many similar scenes in Berkeley and though i love california, and could live there, just as Bruce has, i will always be a hardened, cynical, gritty east coast girl. i’m too London to buy any of the hippy horseshite. In Philly I walk west to east, my hostel’s in the old part of town, and I make my bed and go for a walk. I still love Philly but I miss New York. and being in a hostel reminds me of travelling with friends, and guess what, I miss them too.

extra things: Taxi Driver (why did I take so long to watch this film - it is everything) Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks (also everything) cut to the feeling still amused by freeway signs. today: ‘Where are you going? Heaven or hell? Dial 855-FOR-TRUTH’

[escailyyy]

Exasperating also starts with E

(Note: this is an Au where Eurus never killed VT and grew up as normal in the Holmes household as the baby of the family, she’s still a sociopath, so this happened…)

"Are you ever going to tell Molly Hooper that you love her?” Was the first thing Sherlock heard upon entering Baker Street after a long case, admittedly he should be used to his little sister showing up at his flat for no reason other than to annoy him, but honestly he thought it was Mycroft’s turn this month .

“And good evening to you too Eurus” Sherlock sighed turning around to find her sitting in his chair casually eating from a tub of (obviously expensive, imported specifically for high priority clients, delivered just two hours ago by a messenger with sweaty hands) Marchetti Gelato, she was wearing the Pajamas Mycroft had give her last Christmas and apparently seemed to have the ludicrous idea that he was back to his eight year old self who’d indulged her in as many pretend tea parties as she wished “I thought you said sleepovers were for goldfishes and amoeba brained females not worth associating with”

(Adult Eurus had never graduated from her ‘force my brothers to play tea party with me’ phase. And unlike Mycroft, who’d easily used his seniority to escape their little sister’s manipulative feminine machinations as soon as humanly possible, Sherlock never really had it in him to push her away)

“And he avoids my question, big surprise there, do have some Gelato, I even had this Ginger Nut flavor comissioned just for you” Eurus smiled extending the tub in his direction “you know that you are my favorite brother don’t you?”

“Yes I am aware, considering that the other option is Mycroft and I always win by default, although I apreciate the effort to sweeten what will undoubtedly be a conversation fraught with manipulation tactics and no I do not love Molly Hooper” Sherlock replied, putting away his bellstaff loosening his scarf and accepting the gelato “speaking of which how is your dear James?”

“Still hiding behind his lawyer in an effort to avoid me” Eurus sighed dramatically with a wave of her hand

“Well to be fair Moriarty isn’t an idiot, I think most men would prefer his high security prison in the middle east over facing your wrath after his failure to remember your aniversary” Sherlock didn’t have to make his disapproval of his sister’s choice of boyfriend known, after all it was the frequent topic of discussion among family dinners and the only subject Mycroft and he agreed on lately, but when it came to life sentences the Holmes brothers didn’t think that there was anything worse than being subjected to Eurus and the mercurial moods she hid under her sociopathic personality, so they both refrained from outright trying to get themselves rid of him.

“As James should” Eurus huffed “but he won’t be able to plead guilty forever if I make sure evidence of the contrary begins to accumulate around him” And considering the latest petty crime Moriarty had pleaded guilty for involved the assassination of a well known Middle East religious leader, Sherlock didn’t doubt his sister’s threat “are we done with your deflections Sherlock?, answer me already, when is that love confession taking place?”

“Very well Eurus, I’ll humor you” the 'else you’ll never let the subject drop’ was implied but thankfully not voiced, if one thing was true among the Holmes family was that Sherlock loved his like minded sister and rarely left an opportunity to talk to her go to waste “why do you think that I am as you so eloquently put it 'in love’ with Molly Hooper when you know I firmly believe that sentiment is a waste of time”

“Because you are, do you need me to make a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate it?” Eurus snorted, reminding Sherlock of their teenage years and her old perchance for whining about always being right “Anyone with high IQ can see it”

“So Papa has finally given you the grandchildren ultimatum huh?”

“No more than he gave it to Mycroft but that’s not the point”

“Youre his only daughter of course its the point, Papa wants grandbabies to spoil and you as the daddy’s girl that you are, do not want to dissapoint him, you wouldn’t be here trying to matchmake me otherwise” Sherlock shot back smugly “stop saying I’m in love with Molly”

“may I remind you that of all the people in this sentiment riddled universe Molly Hooper is the only one you’ve voluntarily apologized to?”

“It doesn’t prove anything” Sherlock dodged sitting in his armchair “I respect Molly, she’s my friend”

“You analyze her life choices and clothing preferences more than you do any other female in your acquaintance and that includes mummy, Mrs Hudson, Mary Watson and Me” Eurus listed off ticking her fingers “I don’t have much experience with actual friends but as the social manipulation expert in this family I can tell you that friends do not do that”

“I do NOT analyze Molly’s life choices, I deduce them and offer helpful advice, which according to John IS what friends do”

“Then why do you always hold your deductions whenever the topic of sex comes up around her?” Eurus challenged him with a smug smile as if to say 'go ahead, try to deduce yourself out of that question’ “it wouldn’t happen to be because your mind palace automatically supplies complimentary material would it? You used to say that intercourse was part of human nature”

Sherlock internally blanched, his sister really knew too much “because it has come to my attention that talking about someone else’s sexual habits and preferences in a social setting is potentially embarrassing for them”

“I see I’ll have to help you along, honestly your level of denial is quite impressive” If Eurus had been a little younger she’d have reached for fake glasses and written Sherlock’s name on a clipboard like she used to do when she’d mockingly declared she wanted to be a psychologist after her tenure in Sherrinford “why if its potentially embarrassing do you still do it to virtually anyone…exept Molly?”

“Because Molly is different, she’s not an idiot, she’s useful to me and good at her job”

“So you get no satisfaction out of making her feel like an idiot I understand, yet one could argue that Mycroft and I arent idiots either and you infer about our sexual lives often enough” Eurus pointed out taking a spoonful of gelato “why is molly different?”

“Because she is!” Sherlock grunted instantly regretting it by the knowing look his younger sister was giving him “what I mean to say is that, talking to her about the subject never feels correct to me, Molly isn’t …”

“Able to talk about sex like a normal adult? Why Sherlock she’s a healthy woman in her thirties who disects naked human bodies for a living, I would think she’s probably very open about it” Eurus ventured innocently “her past boyfriends seem like they were enjoying themselves at the very least”

“Would you please stop taking about Molly Hooper and sexual expertise in the same sentence!” The consulting detective finally snapped

“You ruin all her relationships”

“Its not my fault that she seems to attract men with criminal tendencies”

“Oh please, you announce to any who can hear the most inconsequential things, who cares if the paralegal with the bleach teeth was evading his taxes? His only crime was talking to your precious pathologist during her lunch break” why was it that Eurus always managed to sound fifteen whenever she tried to meddle in his life?, she was a genius in all parts of her life, but as a sister Eurus Holmes could really be a pain in Sherlock’s ass when she wanted to be"If you haven’t deduced it, I’ll have you know even James could tell that her relationships are your blind spot"

“Please don’t remind me about the famous 'Jim from IT’ considering that masquerading as Molly’s date isnt an ideal way of meeting my younger sister’s psychopath boyfriend ”

“ Life partner” Eurus corrected without missing a beat “James and I don’t use amaeba terms to classify our conection” then remembering something funny she added with a chuckle “The 'Molly factor’ blindsided your deductions so badly you even thought James was gay, as if someone like him would limit himself by the sexuality and gender of his partners”

“Nowdays I even doubt that he’s limited by their consent, species or lack of pulse” Sherlock rolled his eyes, glaring at his sister “But then again he’s saddled with you, so what should I expect? After all I’ve seen his bruises and heard the tortured screams”

“What can I say I like things rough and James is the only man I know who gives as good as he gets” Eurus shrugged and Sherlock had to remind himself that she wasn’t the type to worry about the gender, sexual orientation, lack of consent or inmorality of her sexual acts either “he has a certain je nes se quais that fits me so well”

“Spare me the details Eurus, there’s a reason I never frequent your Knightsbridge flat”

“Me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much, your Molly hasn’t been raised under a rock you know, why, if my airlines didn’t keep me so busy I’d think I might even grow to like her, I would wager my escapes with James wouldn’t shock her”

“Keep your evil machinations away from Molly Hooper sister mine” Sherlock warned narrowing his eyes “You already played you games with John and it almost cost him his marriage, if you so much as try the same on Molly so help me science I will make you regret it”

“Why would I want to make my future sister in law despise me?” Eurus laughed letting Sherlock see in her eyes a glint of the madness she kept firmly under lock and key in the confines of her own mind palace “you should really hasten that love confession Sherlock, you won’t be virile forever you know, after all we don’t know if all those drugs you’ve taken in the past have affected your fertility” she taunted in a sing song voice

“I’m perfectly fertile and perfectly virile! Molly would have nothing to complain about in that aspect” Sherlock exclaimed outraged realizing belatedly thst he’d falken for Eurus’ bait “I meant it in a purely hypothetical situation”

“ARGH I blame Mycroft for this! If he hadn’t put the 'emotions are evil’ mantra in your head you wouldn’t be acting like a preschooler pulling the pigtails of the girl he fancies” Eurus groaned putting her head in her hands “what have I done to deserve this?” The answer : probably a lot

“Funny, Mycroft blames you for crippling Victor’s legs in that blasted well and coloring my perception of human relationships with trauma”

“He locked me in SHERRINFORD for three years because of it, excuse me if I disregard his opinion on the state of your psyche”

Sherlock sighed, he supposed they all were self fulfilling prophecies, being the middle child in a family of geniuses had never been easy, specially because their whole sibling dynamic hinged on Sherlock’s hability to stay neutral in the feud between Eurus and Mycroft, who by all means hated each other during a good day

But Eurus liked Sherlock and Mycroft liked Sherlock so they made an effort to not attempt mutual murder if it kept them in their middle brother’s good graces.

“Sherlock you leave me no choice! If you don’t get your head out of your rectal cavity where Molly Hooper is concerned and tell her that you love her I’ll have to force the issue with Mycroft” Eurus outlined in no uncertain terms, eyes flashing the way they only did when she played violin “and believe me I won’t be as nice to him as I’m to you”

“It would take a battering ram to knock down Mycroft long enough to give papa grandchildren and we both know it” Sherlock exclaimed, then narrowing his eyes the posibility that Eurus was in fact unhinged enough to put her brain to the task of breaking Mycroft “you wouldn’t, even YOU have to draw a line somewhere”

“Andrea has been working with him for how long? Since high school if I’m not mistaken, I happen to know a philanthropic a armament mogul that is looking for a public relations manager and well…How bored must Andrea be in that silly little desk, chained to our brother, doing paperwork all day, a woman of her capabilities deserves more and Mycroft doesnt let her do an ounce of fieldwork, if I happened to offer the position to her, adding the fact that our mogul has the highest number of assassination attempts in any bounty hunter’s book, she’d accept right away, if only to get to use her fancy guns” Eurus began innocently as tough outlining her lunch break plans

Deducing exactly who she was referring to Sherlock groaned “Nikolai Udinov? You would send Andrea to manage the life of that reprobate? Mycroft would never allow it”

“Well what do you expect? If Andrea leaves her job and him for good I calculate that it will take Mycroft less than two months to crack, she does his laundry, paperwork, calls, orders him his cakes, decorates his bunkers, manages his agents with an iron fist, Andrea practically breathes for him and Mycroft needs the wake up call” Eurus smiled with a hint of malice “so many agents have fallen in Udinov’s maze of secrets…It would be a pity if Mycroft’s greek flower was next”

“That’s because Nikolai Udinov is the type of assignment that goverment agents train for years to take on, the bullseye in his back is larger than Mycroft’s ego ” Sherlock snapped wondering again why he hadnt trottled his sister yet “you’d be manipulating Andrea into strong arming Godfather Death”

“Correction Mycroft will THINK she’s taking on Godfather Death” Eurus snapped rolling her eyes “She’ll be fine, I wasn’t lying when I said Agent Anthea is quite competent and she’s been wanting to do fieldwork since her thirtieth birthday, my people will make sure she doesn’t get killed”

Sherlock didn’t even want to ask about who 'her people’ were, like he did with Mycroft and they did with him, the less the Holmes siblings knew about eachother’s ocassional dabblings in the wrong side of the law the better “You’ll just have Mycroft believe she is, but why?”

Eurus huffed tempted to just repeat Sherlock’s famous 'you see but you don’t observe’ dribble that he always spewed to John Watson “Because it will kill Mycroft to lose Andrea and I’ll enjoy seeing him suffer” Eurus shrugged “think about it Sherlock, Andrea has been a fixture in Mycroft’s life since your uni days, the only time you and I see him without her is on social situations and even then she’s always one text away from him, he trusts her with all of his sensitive information”

“You assume that he cares about her” Sherlock snorted mystified “Mycroft doesnt do sentiment Eurus, not even for Andrea”

“Oh how blind my brothers can be when they wish to” Eurus laughed taking out a bag of chips from her purse and biting a couple “I don’t assume, I KNOW, just as I know that you love Molly, the difference is that Andrea is more likely to wait to have children, but as I said I’ll force the issue if I have to”

“If Agent Anthea dies because you wanted to get out of giving our parents grandchildren then forget about Sherrinford, he’ll hire a submarine and drop you in the Atlantic with a crew of deaf personell”

“You could also tell your morgue mouse that you love her, then I wont have to threaten Mycroft’s potted plant”

Eurus like always, had a better grasp of the ins and outs of sentiment than her two elder brothers, a fact both Sherlock and Mycroft often resented, because while Sherlock fought his battles with logic and Mycroft with dry politics, Eurus manipulated people using their emotions against them. She’d rarely used her 'gift’ on Sherlock preferring to keep herself occupied with her chain of airlines and her side work as a data analyst (when she wasn’t dabbling in her illegal hobbies) apparently tough she was doing it now.

Sherlock didn’t find it amusing.

“I suppose I should be grateful that you have not threatened to kill Molly yet and instead chose to talk to me about it in a rational way, isn’t that what your point is?”

“Yes! And I feel deeply offended that you don’t appreciate the gesture, I could have bulldozed trough your childhood traumas just to make you see sense” Eurus huffed clearly not happy by Sherlock’s lack of gratitude “I don’t see why you wont just admit the truth”

“You’re seeing things where they don’t exist, don’t you think that if zi loved Molly I would know?”

“NO! BECAUSE YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND SENTIMENT” she shot back with an angry glare, then Eurus sighed and did the one thing that always brought Sherlock to his knees, she opened her big dark eyes and gave him a very sincere part of her vulnerability “Sherlock” she began, her tone belying how much she wasn’t trying to manipulate him this time “you’ve been there for me trought all the hard things in my life, you who have supported me even in things we both know you knew better than to support…Is it really such a surprise to know that I want to see you happy?”

“as my little sister, wanting to see me happy comes with the territory” Sherlock replied putting the desert down and returning her sincerety “the truth is that I don’t see a future where I can keep Molly safe, I have too many enemies…she deserves better than me, she always has”

“And yet she loves you, all of you, far strongly than you deserve”

“Foolish woman that she is” Sherlock chuckled “I can’t love her Eurus, I’d be placing a red mark in her forehead if I did”

“Sherlock, there’s always going to be Blackwoods, Magnussens and Black Lotus organisations in this world, in fact there’s drunk drivers and bad weather and unhealthy eating habits all who cause death on daily basis, but for you there’s only one Molly” Eurus tried reasoning softly “ its hard enough for people like us to form lasting human connections, I’ve come to learn it takes years of persistence to completely bond with someone else and the fact that you are capable of it is something I’ve always admired far beyond Mycroft’s Iceman facade”

“Speaking from experience?” He raised an eyebrow taking care not to break the fragile bubble of vulnerability they’d reached

“Its always nice to know that there’s always someone out there who will care about you beyond the trappings of your psyche” Eurus agreed cryptically, giving Sherlock a tiny insight into the twisted reason why his sister hadn’t allowed Moriarty to blow his brains off after Sherlock’s fall “isn’t that how Molly makes you feel? I admit she’s no Nocturne like Irene Adler in looks or sexual appeal but I don’t believe I could be wrong in what I see when you look at her while her back is turned”

“Don’t put Molly in the same category as the woman…Irene is a capriccio, an Intermezzo with too many Staccato harmonies and not enough tenerezza, more Opera than Nocturne she’s filled with high octaves and acciaccaturas, Molly is her own sonata”

“Now that is quite surprising” It had never occurred to Eurus that Sherlock might have a melody for Molly, mainly because if he did he’d want Eurus to hear it at least once, given her brother and her shared a love for violin that often lent itself to describing people in musical terms according to how they saw the world but honestly Eurus expected Sherlock to classify Molly as a chloral “how does Molly sound?”

“Molly is shades of Adagios, Dolce notes and intermitent Allegros, that rise and fall without damaging the integrity of the composition, any more notes and she could have been a ballet or a solft waltz” Sherlock sounded so sure, humming a few bars to let her understand the gist of his thoughts, always far more comfortable expressing sentiment trough music than in words

“I wonder why you have never played her for an audience” Eurus genius that she was didn’t need to see him play to hear the notes in her head, the soft tone of the violin and the spikes of the Sonata’s hidden edges “she sounds like comming home” was all Eurus could say after the song finished playing in her mental fortress “your very own masterpiece”

“Her melody isn’t for public to hear” Sherlock replied ruminanting in his sister’s words, because she had put into words the elusive title that he’d never given to the Sonata that belonged to Molly Hooper 'comming home’ was an apt name for the piece and if he was honest with himself he had to admit it had been that way for a long time, Molly herself was the kind of person who’s existence validated the part of Sherlock who needed a place to run to when things got difficult “she makes me feel accepted, when it comes to Molly I always know that whatever I do, or wherever I go, I will always have a place to call home in her life, the Sonata always changes in degrees of subtleties” hadn’t that been the reason he’d felt so hurt by her (failed) engagement to Meat dagger? Because he’d assumed she would always be there… and on the heels of that thought the realization struck “Because I love her”

Eurus could have clapped her hands in joy at the breaktrough of her brother, and to think it hadn’t taken any death threats, really Sherlock was so much better to reason with than Mycroft “then why do you keep wasting so much time?” She asked still trying to be understanding

“You don’t understand Eurus, I LOVE HER” Sherlock exclaimed in shock and Eurus could see the beginning of what looked like a very Holmes panic attack “And I’ve hurt her in the past so badly…and you KNEW” he was referring of course to the fact that Eurus hadn’t told him what she suspected since day one

“In all honesty I thought that you would have noticed your attraction to your pathologist since the moment you began your game of 'flirting for organs’ I didn’t expect the situation to last this long” Eurus admitted sheepishly reminding Sherlock of the way she used to intentionally assume that he’d clean his bedroom when he had a nasty experiment rotting in his desk, conveniently not reminding him to throw it away “its not my fault, its yours” So maybe his mind palace was undergoing a major rearrangement, Eurus could work with that..hopefully

“What do I do now?” Sherlock groaned putting his head in his hands “I love her”

“You do whatever mummy would do I suppose, she’s the one who is good at handling non-sociopaths” Eurus tried to help along “maybe you should confer with Dr Watson, I fear my continued advice in that subject would nderimental to your latest breaktrough” Aka: Eurus would not give Sherlock romantic life hacks, she simply wasn’t willing to.

“Mummy…would make lunch, maybe a pot of her favourite tea” Sherlock agreed pensively “and ease Molly slowly into the situation”

“Not too slowly, I want my first nephew to be born preferably within the next year or so” Eurus asserted as tough she were giving Sherlock her takeaway order “you will make mostly male children given both of your genetic profiles but I’d still like at least one of them to be named after me if possible”

“Have you ever thought that Molly might not want children? If anything she hasn’t agreed to even date me yet, let alone get engaged or conceive with me…”

“Tiny crime solving pathologists?” Eurus supplied when he couldn’t bring himself to say the word children “Sherlock a basic deduction of Molly’s life would point towards a desire for a nuclear family, more to the point she’d want it and she’d want it with you, the only sibling in our circle liable to be successful in raising another generation of Holmes geniuses” considering Mycroft and Eurus would most likely cause their offspring some degree of psychological issues with their parenting techniques, it didn’t sound so much like a compliment

Aaaand there went their bonding moment, Eurus was back to her manipulative self “Maybe you should leave” Sherlock muttered comming in and out of buffering mode “as much as I enjoy our interludes, I don’t think I’m fit for company or will be for the next few hours”

“Maybe I should, my work here is done” Eurus agreed rising from her seat and dusting her Pajamas “I expect that a sleepover wouldn’t be any fun anyway, not with the way your thoughts are shouting”

Noticing the changes in the tone of her voice Sherlock briefly paused his panic attack to regard his sister with a suspicious stare “Stay away from my pathologist Eurus, I mean it”

“I will, but be a smart boy and keep an eye on her, I heard your old friend Victor is back in town” Eurus attempted to joke “Maybe you should move her here for a few days, you know, for security reasons” And with that parting shot his sister breezed out of Baker Street leaving a very stressed Sherlock no choice but to phone Molly

“Gasp and Bloody Works what can I do for you?” Molly’s cheerful voice answered her mobile, Sherlock could hear the sound of a bone saw in the distance and deduced he’d caught her in the middle of an autopsy

A million thoughts raced trough his head but he settled for a mundane response, no need to alarm her “Bad time for a call?”

“Oh it’s you Sherlock, sorry I didn’t see the caller ID, funny you should phone I just got the most interesting body with a unidentified brain aneurysm, I thought you might find it interesting so no its not a bad time at all” she always sounded in good mood whenever he called, give or take a few exemptions, Molly always tried her best to be positive about everything including his cases.

“Really? A brain you say” Sherlock perked up before remembering the subject at hand “actually I was calling to ask for a favor, but the brain aneurysm sounds quaint, please save it for future study”

'smooth Sherlock real smooth’ mind palace john muttered

'Not now Watson’

Molly who knew him well enough to know that if he wanted to ask for something big he’d do it in person and not by phone had no qualms in replying “what kind of favor? Sherlock is this for a case?, you know that as long as its within my power I will help you”

“No its not for a case, this is more of a personal favor, I need to stay in your flat for an undefined amount of time” there he said it now all he had to do was get Molly to agree, because while this wasn’t the first time he’d used her place as a bolthole it was the one time he’d do it for sentiment’s sake and consent was important.

“Wait, why? Are you okay” the bone saw was turned off and Sherlock could hear the unecessary concern in the voice of the woman he’d just realised he loved.

“yes I’m fine, but I have reasons to believe that my privacy in Baker Street has been compromised” and he needed to make sure Molly’s hadn’t been. Lest Eurus perchance for giving people a push in the right direction landed Molly in the bottom of a well.

“By who?”

Sherlock gave a long suffering sigh and answered “by my sister”

An: I’ve thought up Eurus as a dark version of Georgiana to Sherlock’s Mr Darcy hope she wasn’t to occ, this fic is for all my Sherllolian folks on tumblr, who are just awesome

[ccreepri]

CREEP’S LEADER & HITMAKER YORI DOES LIVE RADIO INTERVIEW

 ( disclaimer: Yori is a fictional character for the purpose of roleplaying in the idolverse, and writing creativity. gif used is of my own creation, original video can be seen here. )  Yori walked into the station wearing sunglasses, skinny jeans and a leather jacket, quite the casual appearance considering the pop idol’s current rising popularity. She bowed as soon as she came in, greeting all staff members with a refreshing smile. Quite the different image than the one she shows off on stage and in the music videos she’s featured in, where her image has always come off tough , “angry” and that of a femme fatale.   Yori is the recently turned 26 year old main vocalist and leader of EDM girl group “Creep” , a horror and more adult concept group that debut under Double Kill Ent. in November 2014. The group has been turning heads ever since with notable talents, catchy music, and ground breaking concepts each time. Considered as the group that “ always brings Halloween “ to Seoul City no matter the time of year, it’s a standard that they live by, giving new meanings to what goes bump in the night.   The main brain behind all of that iconic genius? Well she sat right across from me with an easy going smile as she removed her sunglasses, seemingly at ease despite this actually being her first ever solo interview throughout her whole career.

( Annotation of video: ) Q: Nervous at all? You seem nervous. A: Well , no. I mean--- actually yeah I am a bit nervous. Q: Why? A: ( laughs ) I don’t know, I guess because it’s my first interview without all the other girls with me....feels a bit weird? I usually just let Koemi do the talking because I tend to start trouble with how I talk. Q: Trouble?   A: I’m just very blunt. Not many people are ready for that. Q: ( adjusts mic ‘) Well I daresay I hope to be ready for it. Care to introduce yourself? A: ( nods and turns to the camera, it zooms in on her and she smiles enough to show her teeth, waving both hands. ‘) Hello, I’m Kwon Yeori, known as “Yori” the leader of Creep. If any Aliens are watching, I love you! (’ makes small finger hearts at the camera before laughing and turning her face away ‘) Q: And the “Aliens” are?

A: Ah...it’s what we call our fans. Creep’s fans are Aliens. Because Aliens are from out of this world right? and they’re considered to be very ethereal, stunning, strange but also a curiosity. Our fans are definitely all stunning in those terms so we gave them that name. Q: Ah, I see. And you guys just had your third album release? A: Yes, this would be our... fifth time promoting? But it’s only our third time promoting a full album. It’s called “Persephone” and tells a modern version of the Greek Myth of Persephone, and Hades. We put a lot of work into the album, and it’s been doing well right now -- it seems. Thanks to everyone who has been making purchases and requesting the music shows to feature us! Q: ( laughs at something ) You sure do thank people a lot Yori. A: Ah, do I? I’m just so thankful. Q: It must be a dream come true, being apart of a concept so special. Tell me a bit about your group’s concept? A: It’s a horror concept, drawing some inspiration from classics like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. We always want to make music that makes people want to get up and dance, while making our visual representations fun and scary all at once. It’s not something you see women do often in this industry, at least, not as a permanent concept. So it’s refreshing to a lot of people. Q: I certainly agree, I’m a fan! A:  ( bashfully bows her head ) -- ah... thank you... Q: Now about you, you’ve been having a busy year! Besides your group’s promotions and practices you’ve been making a lot of solo appearances this year, can you tell me about those? A: Ah! yes, I attended Seoul Fashion Week with some of my idol friends this year and I met a few promoters who wanted to listen to my beats. My hobby has always been arranging audios , crafting beats and doing all the behind the scenes stuff. Even before singing I did this for fun, and though it was scary at first, after I started being more....courageous about showing off what I could do? I’ve been getting a lot more calls since then--- since the creation of my soundcloud, and the release of my original songs and arrangements to the public. ( nods slowly as she talks, moving back and forth in her chair. ) Q: Calls from? A: Well other idols, singers mostly. They want to collaborate. Since I’ve been focusing so much on Creep’s comeback, I’ve had to turn down a lot of calls... ah, I’m sorry for that! I’m going to have free time again soon so please call me again!  (’ nervously laughs and fixes her hair’) Q: Well there was one call you definitely did take this year, one for Trigger’s ( @triggrrd​ ) risque music video shoot this year? A: ( sits up straighter’ ) Ah no no, he didn’t call me--- I called him! He was doing auditions for dancer’s in his video, and he’s an old friend so i thought I could help out. Q: Any words for the negativity you received from it?   A: I don’t have much to say about that. We tend to get negativity whenever we do anything. I mean, women. It’s sort of how the industry is at this point, and I’m aware of how fans can be. But, I think it’s fine for woman to be proud of their figures, dance how they like and be whoever they want to be. We’re in a new era, a new generation, you know? Such things shouldn’t be taboo anymore. Q: So you’re saying that provocative themes and risque style dancing isn’t or shouldn’t warrant the negative comments? A: No I believe in the universal right to disagree with things. I’m just saying, to each their own , you know? I just think the new generation should be a bit more accepting too. Q: Gotcha. So now, I think I will have to ask a serious question. You said there was something on your mind? A: Yes, something I wanted to inform everyone about Creep’s future. There hasn’t been a lot of media talk of it yet, but I would rather the fans hear it from my own mouth first. Ah....Creep is not a group that will dissolve or disband at any time now, or in the future. We’re all pretty adamant about that. We might split ways at times, but we will always be together and always be Creep.   Q: And this statement is being made because of Ivy’s ( @poisivy​ ) withdrawal? A: Yes, and I know how much the fans cherish her and love her, as do we. We all still keep in touch with her and the relationships are good. She just wanted to venture off into her bigger dreams, and I wholeheartedly support her, and I ask for Creep’s fans to please all do the same. ...and support all of us as well. We all have our own separate dreams, and Creep is where we meet as one. The remaining five of us are staying together for a long time, count on that! Q: That’s pretty well said, actually. Is this perhaps hinting at something coming from you? Any solo ventures? A: Ah, well I’ve been working on a numerous projects during Creep’s release of Persephone this month, including a song with Mellow’s June ( @fyjune​ ) and my own baby Kira ( @93kira​ )  which is being released tonight. I helped produce two songs for Chaeyoung’s ( @bangyeong​ ) Moderato album, and I have many unfinished projects, unreleased tracks with big stars from SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and Starship. I hope once all of these projects see the light they’ll be well received and supported as much as the music I do for Creep is.  Also, at popular demand I will be doing song covers and new releases at fans requests to my soundcloud! I do read all my comments so I promise I’ll get to most of the songs being requested. Q: That’s pretty impressive! SM? May I ask who it is? A: They’re a pretty private person, so I can’t readily disclose that. Just know he’s quite talented in the industry himself, actually. ( laughs ) I think he’s a bit like every idols dream to work with. Q: Someone you look up to then? A: Yes! But there’s a lot of great artists I look up to so much. LE from EXID, ZionT and all of Amoeba Culture. I’m really a big fan of Punchnello and all his work, and a user of Soundcloud named Yeseo95 is remarkably talented. And of course- I’ve got the heart eyes for everything my pal DEAN does. ( @deeanfluenza​ )  the guy is dope. Q: Dean! He’s popular right now, especially with women. I didn’t think that was your style... A:  ( shakes her head ‘ ) Oh you’re talking about looks right? Dean and Gray are both really popular in that department. No I’m strictly talking music, I heart eye him professionally-- stink eye him socially, heh. Q: So I take it you’re good friends. Ah, but is there anyone in particular you DO have an ideal of? A celebrity crush? A:  ( laughs ) They always ask that question. Why do people always ask that question? Truthfully I don’t pay enough attention to looks in this industry. I fall in love with talents-- voices --- music. If I had to pick one I’d tell you I’m pretty smitten with Crush right now, and that guy who has been picking up on fame a lot more lately..Chancellor? but my ultimate favorites will always be M.J Blige and Rihanna. Q: I’ll have to check Chancellor out for sure, if you’re recommending that. ( laughs at something) Ah, did you draw that?   A:  ( while the interview had been going she had been slightly doodling on a notepad and lifted it up to show a picture of the interviewer she had drawn ‘) Yeah it’s you ! Want to keep it?  ( rips it out and hands it to him ‘) Q: Ah, that’s cute... Well we’re almost out of time for the interview but I know you have one more announcement? A: Ah, yes. I’ll be appearing in a Television Drama starting February 16th! It’s called 101 HighSchool , and I can’t reveal much yet, but it’s got an amazing cast and an equally amazing storyline. It deals with a lot of real life issues the youth of the current high school generation can relate too. Q: Sounds exciting! So it’s your first time acting-- right? A: Yes! I’ve been getting help from Koemi on practicing it, and I hope I do well. i hope everyone can support it regardless of my lacking skills. ( laughs again and looks off. ‘) Q: I’m sure you’ll do well. Well that’s all the time we have now! It was nice getting to meet you  Yori. A: ( reaches out to bow her head and shake his hand ‘) Yes, thanks so much for having me. haha. ( clip changes to the stations outtro, before playing clips of Creep’s Persephone music video. ‘)

[saturnsovereign]

all except 15, 29, 62, and 102

holy shit, ok

1.Who was the last person you held hands with?my gf

2. Are you outgoing or shy?i’m shy, but if you put me in a group and everyone is shy, i’m outgoing

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?My gf and my friends :)

4. Are you easy to get along with?I mean, I’d like to think so

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?Yes, I trust her :)

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?idk it kinda just happens? But like, I have to have some sort of trust with that person first

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?Hopefully my gf doesn’t get tired of my ass

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?my brother bc his hair makes him look like a rooster

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?No, bruhs I’m pretty chill with most things people tell me

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?my gf

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?it was gay and i cried

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?I’m Still StandingAmsterdamHallelujahSleeping at LastWhat dreams are made of

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?ye, but like… only my gf?

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?I mean, I believe in bad luck bc I’m unlucky and miracles bc my gf likes me

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?Yes

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?I mean, it’s possible, but like lightyears so we might only see their amoeba stage or some shit

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?Nah, I unfriended that mofo on fb a long time ago.

19. Do you like bubble baths?DO I LIKE BUBBLE BATHS THE ANSWER IS HELL YEAH

20. Do you like your neighbors?I don’t even know who my neighbors are :/

21. What are you bad habits?Procrastinating, not remembering shit

22. Where would you like to travel?Anywhere as long as it’s interesting

23. Do you have trust issues?Like, I give my friends a basic level of trust and everyone else just varies. I’m not saying I have issues, but I’m just more reluctant really

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?exfoliating while in the shower

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?Thighs

26. What do you do when you wake up?I jump up and go take a shit

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?Maybe a bit lighter so i can get a decent fucking foundation tone

28. Who are you most comfortable around?My gf

30. Do you ever want to get married?Hopefully

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail?Proudly

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?Katie McGrath and (dear god idk who else)

33. Spell your name with your chin.feeoli9ce… yooooooooo

34. Do you play sports? What sports?No.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?TV

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?First crush

37. What do you say during awkward silences?“So… how have you been?”

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?My gf

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?OH OH Barnes and Noble and Michaels

40. What do you want to do after high school?Something in the medical field? Idk I just wanna help people

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?Yes

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?I’m angry or I’m sad

43. Do you smile at strangers?ye

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?OUTER SPACE I WANNA DEFY GRAVITY

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?Panic and colorguard (and excitement that i get to see my gf in the morning)

46. What are you paranoid about?Everybody secretly hates me

47. Have you ever been high?Nope

48. Have you ever been drunk?Nope

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?Um… like we hope certain people don’t out me and my gf if thats what you mean

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?dark grey

51. Ever wished you were someone else?sorta

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?idk like I wish I had been a bit more outgoing as a kid

53. Favourite makeup brand?Don’t have one really

54. Favourite store?Didn’t I just answ… Barnes and Nobles

55. Favourite blog?my gf’s?

56. Favourite colour?PURPLE

57. Favourite food?WAFFLES AND CHICKEN

58. Last thing you ate?chicken

59. First thing you ate this morning?choco dino pebbles cereal

60. Ever won a competition? For what?I was the fastest runner in elementary if that helps?

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?no

62. Been arrested? For what?technically

63. Ever been in love?… just scroll through my blog, if you find something tagged #otp and #banana bread, then yes

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?It was at a sleepover and we were sharing a sleeping bag. And idk, we kissed when everybody else was asleep

65. Are you hungry right now?thirsty

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?I barely have any tumblr friends and they’re mostly people i know in real life

67. Facebook or Twitter?facebook

68. Twitter or Tumblr?Tumblr

69. Are you watching tv right now?no… OH SHIT LUCIFER IS BACK ON

70. Names of your bestfriends?Bella (Unfortuante), Kyra, and then my Nebraska dorks

71. Craving something? What?cuddles

72. What colour are your towels?white

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?I JUST UPGRADED TO 4 SUCK IT BITCHES

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?no they’re all in brentwood :’(

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?10?

75. Favourite animal?It’s a tie between puppies and porcupines

76. What colour is your underwear?grey

77. Chocolate or Vanilla?Chocolate

78. Favourite ice cream flavour?Rocky road

79. What colour shirt are you wearing?idk its kinda teal

80. What colour pants?white with red polka dots… they’re pajama pants

81. Favourite tv show?I’ll keep it short and say supergirl for now

82. Favourite movie?Treasure Planet?

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?Mean Girls

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?Mean Girls

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?Janis

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?Those turtle dudes

87. First person you talked to today?Mother

88. Last person you talked to today?My gf

89. Name a person you hate?not really hate but more dislike SS

90. Name a person you love?my gf

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?  anybody giving my gf a hard time

92. In a fight with someone?idk if i’m still fighting SS

93. How many sweatpants do you have?none

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?a lot

95. Last movie you watched?Sing

96. Favourite actress?Katie McGrath

97. Favourite actor?idk?

98. Do you tan a lot?Naturally bc I’m Filipino

99. Have any pets?I got a rat terrier chihuahua that likes to fite

100. How are you feeling?I’m calm and ok

101. Do you type fast?I mean a bit faster than average, but not that fast

103. Can you spell well?For the most part?

104. Do you miss anyone from your past?My Nebraska dorks and my first friend in CA

105. Ever been to a bonfire party?Er… if you call a fire in the backyard of my gf’s house bonfire then yeah

106. Ever broken someone’s heart?yeah :/

107. Have you ever been on a horse?I sat on one

108. What should you be doing?sleeping

109. Is something irritating you right now?The world is kinda shitty sometimes

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?yeah

111. Do you have trust issues?… i’m pretty sure i just answered this

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?my gf

113. What was your childhood nickname?Feliz Navidad

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?Yes

115. Do you play the Wii?Used to

116. Are you listening to music right now?No

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?Ye

118. Do you like Chinese food?Yup

119. Favourite book?Um… idk, can it be a series? Like there was this one series “The Dark is Rising”

120. Are you afraid of the dark?If I’m by myself in a strange place then yes

121. Are you mean?heh a lil bit

122. Is cheating ever okay?No

123. Can you keep white shoes clean?Not really?

124. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Crush at first sight

125. Do you believe in true love?ye

126. Are you currently bored?not really

127. What makes you happy?heh. the 4 P’s. Puppies, potatoes, puns, and heh

128. Would you change your name?If I get married yes

129. What your zodiac sign?Cap(ricorn)tain America

130. Do you like subway?ye lets go build a sandwhich yo!

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?I’m sorry but how?

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?My gf probably

133. Favourite lyrics right now?I have Defying Gravity stuck in my head

134. Can you count to one million?no, i’d lose motivation by 50

135. Dumbest lie you ever told?I thought you were eating a banana

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?I like them closed

137. How tall are you?5’2”

138. Curly or Straight hair?doesn’t matter

139. Brunette or Blonde?doesn’t matter

140. Summer or Winter?Winter

141. Night or Day?Night

142. Favourite month?um… i don’t have one…

143. Are you a vegetarian?No, I refuse to miss the beauty that is medium rare prime-rib steak

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?Milk chocolate

145. Tea or Coffee?Coffee

146. Was today a good day?kinda?

147. Mars or Snickers?Snickers

148. What’s your favourite quote?“One day you’ll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember”

149. Do you believe in ghosts?they make me gay

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line“…object of some interest in the eyes of his…”

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “A Slight Hiccup”

Written by: Haley Mancini

Written & Storyboarded by: Alicia Chan, Caitlin Vanarsdale

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

This is far more than a hiccup, trust me.

An apology in advance: there is not a lot to say about this episode, so do not expect as much text as the last one. This episode is a very "high concept" episode, the kind of episode idea that would appear as a short gag in The City of Clipsville. The big difference is that this short gag is going to be 12 minutes long.

Blossom: Stop right there, evil-doer!

Ah, finally, an episode that starts with a crime being fought, just like the old days!

No, she’s just practicing her next battle lines, just in case they ever have to use them. Other rejected lines include "villains stink", "we’ll save you", and "we're heroes"! Honestly, I would just stick with "not so fast."

The girl currently talking to herself about battle lines is interrupted by Buttercup trying to teach Bubbles how to do the perfect burp. Yes, it is that kind of episode.

Surrounded by tens of soda cans littered across the house, which Blossom is apparently not bothered by, Blossom asks what Bubbles and Buttercup are doing. To subvert our expectations, Blossom tells Bubbles that she should not listen to Buttercup because she should listen to her on the subject of burping. She's the leader, so she must be the best at everything, including belching!

We get a very long sequence of the Powerpuff Girls drinking several cans of soda, filling their cheeks to the brim, and throwing them on the floor. Such great role models, drinking very unhealthy drinks and littering! Hiccup punch, girl down, womp womp.

Bubbles celebrates her first good burp, apparently because she's the blonde, but Blossom knows that this is just a mere hiccup. A mere hiccup that causes them to launch across the room a split second after the hiccup. I think the timing is a little off, guys.

The Professor makes a short visit to this episode to explain what is happening to them: since they're superheroes, their hiccups are super, too. He recommends that they drink a glass of water, but it doesn't stop the hiccups. Worse, Bubbles says that now she needs to pee. They never follow through with that, and I am glad that is the case.

They get a call from the mayor that the jar district is being attacked. The Powerpuff Girls spend quite a bit of time getting shocked by this. No, not by the very existence of the jar district, or the fact that the Mayor actually called them in this reboot, but how anyone could attack the lifeblood of the town!

We cut to the Jar District...and it seems to be fine to me. The Mayor did manage to see a blimp in the shape of some green troll-faced character.

Tour Guide: And to our right is the infamous Jar District...

Random person: The lifeblood of the town!

If it is the lifeblood of the town, how is it infamous? Words have meaning. Speaking of infamy, we finally get to see some trouble.

The real threat shows up minutes later, as this episode about super-hiccups has to have the silliest of super-villains. The Gnat is here, and I deeply regret ever saying this guy is my favorite of the reboot villains. For starters, Bianca Bikini is a lot better. His gimmick seems to be committing crimes when the Powerpuff Girls have issues. Well, that and being there when the Powerpuff Girls can get beaten up so Bliss can save the day.

He pretends to be this big threat to this Jar District, and then takes a significant amount of time coughing and being incomprehensible to the other people he's threatening. I am sure this was meant to be hilarious, and not just a desperate plea to the audience that they could not squeeze enough water out of the burp and hiccup plot stone.

The Powerpuff Girls show up desperately try to stop this hot air balloon, only to be thwarted by their super-hiccups. Even worse, their super-hiccups end up interferring with what are essentially cutaway jokes. Since they already used up all of the hiccup jokes they can muster, they decide to fit in all the jar jokes they can think of.

Like...one of the super-hiccups interrupting the Jar Czar. Because Jar sounds like Czar. Bubbles, on the other hand, manages to hiccup her away into another building.

They spend a lot of time on the aftermath of that, as if this was the most tragic moment of them all. They even made a song that is in no way a reference to What A Wonderful World. How is this worth that? Is it because it’s the all important jar district? At least it's actually animated; they could just randomly put a bunch of random stock footage, I say not knowing anything about what happens later in the episode.

One part that is caused by Bubbles' accidental act of tragic destruction is that a giant jar lid almost lands on the sobbing Mayor. The Powerpuff Girls do show off another superpower other than flight in that they catch this lid, only for the Mayor to keep crying. I know, he loves his pickles, which happen to come in jars.

They do a hiccup, causing them to spin around. It turns out, while they're holding this giant jar lid, the force of their hiccups manages to make them spin at super fast speeds. What do you know, something that heavily detrimented them is now to their advantage; this episode is just going through the cycles. All we need is for them to suddenly lose those hiccups as soon as it becomes inconvienent.

In the end, this causes a giant tornado. This was something they were able to do without super hiccups earlier in even the reboot, but that regular non-hiccup tornado didn’t even stop a giant spider monster, never mind this blimp. They really needed these super-hiccups to make a tornado that easily beats this reboot’s version of the Amoeba Boys.

Of course, now there’s a giant tornado running across Townsville. The girls’ actions lead to consequences, who would have guessed? It’s also heading towards this all-important and yet infamous Jar District.

They try to stop it by hiccuping against it, only for their hiccups to go away as soon as they need them. I told ya! It’s practically a cartoon law: whenever the bad thing that happened becomes essential to their victory, they suddenly have to lose it. What are the Reboot Puffs to do? Drink more soda, of course! Cue the obvious "trying to get soda out of the vending machine" joke!

While they get the soda, they don't seem to get the hiccups. However, Bubbles is making a weird face, and not the kind used for the usual wacky face gags. To bookend this whole thing, Bubbles finally gets to do the burp she was trying to do since the opening. A burp so big, it couldn't be animated. Oh no...

...they have to use stock footage. Unlike some of the other uses of stock footage, I could see where they are going here. This burp is so monstrous, it affects real life, destroys real buildings, and even dogs from Tex Avery cartoons! May not want to reference better cartoons in your bad one, guys.

The episode ends with the irony: the episode ends with a pan shot of the rest of the city being destroyed by the stock footage-y stock footage burp of stock footage, but at least most of the Jar District is okay! This may be one of the few highlights of this episode; I could see an episode of the original ending like this.

Does the title fit?

It is about hiccups...not very slight ones, though.

How does it stack up?

This episode was chosen to be the preview episode, and I can only wonder why. It's a very silly idea, and they couldn't get of a lot of material out of it. There are episodes that have bad ideas that end up being okay in the end, and this is not one of them.

Next, Discount Jojo interrogates some toys! It's better than it sounds, but maybe it's because of this episode.

← The Buttercup Job ☆ Toy Ploy →

[shemakesmusic-uk]

INTERVIEW: Katie Von Schleicher.

Katie Von Schleicher’s deeply personal new album, Consummation, is out today via Full Time Hobby. While exploring past trauma, Von Schleicher greatly expands her sonic palette; its 13 shape-shifting songs are at once potent and listenable, strange and familiar, and, perhaps most of all, teeming with life. At its core, Consummation evokes the pain of being unable to bridge that vast psychic distance between oneself and another.  

The follow-up to her 2017 debut Shitty Hits, Consummation is, in part, inspired by an alternate interpretation of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Von was struck by its largely unanalyzed subtext of abuse. She knew immediately that this hidden narrative, which spoke to her personal experience, would be the basis of her album. Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost also proved to be particularly influential; soon after revisiting Vertigo, Von Schleicher stumbled upon Solnit’s lacerating take on the film, describing the “wandering, , stalking, haunting” of romantic pursuit that it depicts as “consummation,” while “real communion”—understanding and mutual respect between two lovers—is, to the men in the film, “unimaginable.” The consequence is a fundamental failure of communication.

We caught up with Katie and discussed the making of Consummation, what she would change about the music world today and much more. Read the interview below.

Hi Katie! We last spoke with you three years ago around the time that you released Shitty Hits. How has life been since then? And how have you been coping with the current lockdown?

"Lots of touring occurred after that. I’ve been fine, if I had to sum up three years in a sentence. I live in Brooklyn and I’m a little worried about the coming hot weather - the park is packed on any nice day. The lockdown is tough for creativity, surprisingly not terrible for my anxiety, bad for sleeping patterns."

You're gearing up to release your new LP Consummation which is, in part, inspired by an alternate interpretation of Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

"I started writing in late 2018 after watching Vertigo. The Weinstein scandal was everywhere, there were fresh lenses through which to see society and our experiences. I remember earlier that fall having dinner with my sisters and sisters-in-law, the six of us together with age gaps as much as twenty years and wide political differences of opinion. We discussed what was going on, it turned personal, and suddenly everyone was sharing their experiences with men. I’d never had a conversation like that with them before.

"I had anger. I grew up being friendly with a man who’d abused my mom because that’s considered private business, because domestic abusers don’t always get excommunicated and they certainly don’t get called out at the dinner table. It’s her business and she can laugh about it, because she’s strong as hell, and I respect that. We talked about it at the sibling dinner, and not everyone is in agreement that it even happened. That’s a side effect of silence.

"Hitchcock notedly was abusive to his leading women. Maybe that’s why Vertigo, which is so many films in one, felt more like watching A Woman Under The Influence that December than it had the first time, which is to say it felt like a character study of a woman falling apart under duress. It’s almost like Hitchcock inadvertently imbued it with the personal. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, that’s just how I felt, and I used it as a guiding principle. I knew the colors for the album would be blue and green, that I’d talk about heights (the working title was Climbing Mountains With Assholes, citing the movies Force Majeure and 45 Years, and that bell tower from Vertigo).

"The result isn’t transparently as heavy as all that, or as direct. It’s just what filled me up while I made the record."

What were your musical influences for Consummation? Who were you listening to around the time of writing it?

"I made a playlist for mix engineer Eli Crews this time around (he mixed Shitty Hits as well). It has Anne Laplantine, US Girls, Francis Bebey, Shuggie Otis, The Eureka Brass Band, Low, Robyn, Jenny Hval, Julia Holter, Frank Ocean, Cate Le Bon, Prince, Tim Hecker, Mitski, Kevin Ayers, Iceage. There are some people who’ve influenced me endlessly: Cate Le Bon, whose shows last year I legit teared up at. Arthur Russell, Elliott Smith always. Devo was one that surprised me this time around. I’m not sure if you can hear the influences, but on ‘Wheel’ there’s a ring modulator on my lead guitar, and that was directly influenced by Devo."

What was your songwriting/creative process for Consummation? Was it similar to Shitty Hits or did you do things differently this time around?

"I always do one thing, which is write in total solitude. That’s been coming up lately because I have a roommate, and I was explaining that I have a hard time writing with any kind of ‘perceived audibility.’ With Consummation I had a fresh set of intentions and I feel like I forced things to conform to them more than usual. I reached a new place with making music: I realized I’m going to write songs my whole life, no matter what, and that they won’t stop coming, and I stopped being afraid. Being less afraid made me able to work with more guidelines, to steer the songs more tightly, and to have more fun. ‘Messenger,’ ‘Loud,’ ‘Caged Sleep,’ ‘Wheel’, ‘Can You Help?’ and ‘Power’ were all rhythmically led. I worked with drum machines. I thought about tempo and I forced myself to write on guitar, which also has a different harmonic logic than what I do on a keyboard. Shitty Hits was far more keyboard-driven. Touring a lot made me want to play guitar more live, and make music that transported me differently than my previous set of songs."

What do you hope fans will take away from Consummation?

"Even more than allegiances to artists or albums or bodies of work, I love songs. I hope someone finds a magic song on the album, the kind of song you put on late at night, the kind of song that legitimizes how you feel. If the whole record has some of that, even better."

Let's talk about your most recent music video for 'Wheel', directed by V Haddad. How did the collaboration come about and what inspired the concept of the video?

"I’ve admired V’s work for a while, and found out she lives in LA, so imagined we couldn’t do anything together on this record. After quarantine took over I realized that no longer mattered, and I’m glad she wanted to do it. V came up with the concept from the dual inspiration of the music itself and the limitations of our abilities to leave the house."

You donated the budget of the video to Safe Horizon and are also fundraising for the charity via Spotify. What made you decide to do that and what does their cause mean to you?

"I’m still working on it for Spotify! I keep reaching out. We did donate the budget, so far. Donating her fee was also V’s suggestion. I had originally asked V to do a song called ‘Brutality,’ which is directly about domestic abuse, and I’m not sure if that informed part of her suggestion.

"It means a lot to me, only more over time. Abuse is absolutely isolating. I can’t imagine how the current situation compounds or intensifies that."

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

"For the whole of my life? Impossible to say, but I have alternately looked at grad programs while in lockdown and played Mario Kart on Switch against some of my favorite songwriter friends. Maybe we’ll all become professionals at Kart someday."

With having more time to reflect on things these days, if there was one thing you could change about the music world, what would it be?

"There are more than a few things socially wrong with it, representation-wise. But if I had to do one single overhaul, I’d want to see music imbued with value again. Technological progress has changed the way we commodify everything, and as much as I enjoy the accessibility of streaming, I miss an album having value. I rented a car a couple years ago and drove down the coast of California and into the desert. We bought CDs at Amoeba Records in San Francisco because it only had a CD player, and so for a week we had only a few albums to choose from. In college I’d go to Twisted Village in Cambridge, MA, and take a chance on some truly weird shit, and sometimes I’d spent $18 on a CD I didn’t even like. Was it better? I’m going to relent and say not necessarily because I like that artists are thrown together on playlists on a streaming platform, honestly. Small artists get heard, but they get a spin. The psychology is different, it’s not just that as listeners we don’t value ownership of an album enough to make ourselves live with it for weeks at a time. It’s that as a musician I think the product is also devalued. The advice I get, from the business side, is to release music constantly, because that’s the new way to get attention, just never stop. A lockdown occurs, your album’s about to come out, and someone says the solution is to make and release singles into the ether. Avid listeners may relate to this - something you love wasn’t necessarily your favorite thing on the first three to five spins, even. The music that’s really mattered in my life, thanks a lot to finding it pre-streaming, was something I barely understood at first and came to understand through a bit of meeting it halfway. The psychology, as an artist, of making things constantly because you know it won’t be met halfway, is a bummer. The potential outcome is a lot of sonic conformity."

Finally, are you working on anything at the moment during quarantine? And what do you have planned when all of it blows over? I expect you're keen to get out on the road to tour the album?

"My mindset is that this may be a long haul, and I don’t know exactly how to prepare for trying to play an album live for the first time on the year anniversary of its release. I hope to tour again, I hope my lovely booking agents are able to stay in business. Right now I’m working on a collection of songs that will be recorded to tape with strings and woodwinds and orchestration. Beautiful, lush, tranquil, those are the goals - and it’s nice to just let them be what they are. In the meantime I may throw a few singles into the ether."

Consummation is out now.

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

[newyorktheater]

Stephanie J. Block as “Star” Cher

Bryan Cranston

Lauren Ridloff from Children of a Lesser God

My ten favorite individual human performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2018 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews, but let’s begin with a few noteworthy ensembles:

The cast of Dance Nation showed us what it’s like to be an adolescent girl, though the actresses were as old as 60.

Noah Robbins and Edmund Donovan in Clarkston

The six performers of Lewiston/Clarkston confess, kiss and fight literally inches away from the audience

The two dozen actors of The Ferryman, most making their Broadway debuts, are all terrific, believable even when the play takes a turn into fantasy, especially the ones charged with taking care of the live baby, bunny, and goose that accompanies them on stage nightly.

The 1,000 performers of the Mile-Long Opera, stood in their position along the entire 30 block length of the High Line elevated park, singing snippets or reciting short monologues  over and over and over again about life in New York City. It was an astonishing, spectacular, moving, and deeply odd work of theater that required a massive collaborative effort.

Broadway veteran Stephanie J. Block goes beyond just a spot-on impersonation of the mature Cher, called Star, in The Cher Show. As one of the three actresses portraying the entertainer at different stages of her life, she captures not just her look, her mannerisms, her moves, and her voice, but her attitudes and even her aura.

Nobody can do a nervous breakdown like Bryan Cranston. As Howard Beale, long-time network news anchor gone mad, he sits in front of the camera, unable to speak, his face a dramatic repertoire expressing varying shades of reddened desperation. And that’s just one of Cranston’s many memorable moments in the Broadway production of Network. Cranston became a star thanks to his Emmy-winning performance as chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin on AMC’s Breaking Bad, but convinced Broadway of his theater chops in his Tony-winning turn as LBJ in “All The Way.” His performance in “Network” is further proof.

Johnny Flynn portrayed Mooney, the mysterious, sly, sexy intruder in Martin McDonough’s Hangmen. Flynn, who originated the role in England, and played the lead in the bingeable Netflix series “Lovesick,” seems a likely candidate for larger stardom.

  In The House That Will Not Stand, Lynda Gravátt portrayed Beartrice, the matriarch of an all-female African-American household in 19th century New Orleans, giving the gravitas it required, but with her character deepened by the suggestion of a willfully suppressed vulnerability. It’s one of the three distinctive roles she performed on New York stages this year  – a prophetic cellist in This Flat Earth, a scheming funeral director in The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d.  She keeps her sense of dignity even when playing a con artist.

Tom Hollander

Tom Hollander carried Travesties. His energetic clowning never wavered, but he also managed to bring clarity and feeling to Tom Stoppard’s mind-boggling collage of a play.

Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson returned to Broadway in Albee’s Three Tall Women after an absence of thirty years to portray a rich, regal old lady who’s become a monster, and is also dying, a performance that manages to be simultaneously ferocious and vulnerable. Although Jackson herself is now 82 years old, she has that ability that great actresses have of convincing us that her portrayal of a dying 92-year-old is an act; that the actress herself is fully in command of an endless depth and power. In other hands, Albee’s play might seem cold. Jackson’s meditation on facing death finds the heartbreak in it.

Liz Mikel in Fruit Trilogy

In Eve Ensler’s Fruit Trilogy, Liz Mikel gave a final, breathtaking monologue that suggested to me something close to Molly Bloom’s monologue at the end of Joyce’s Ulysses, a passionate outburst about the pleasure a woman’s body can give her – but in Ensler’s play laced with a decidedly feminist message. Mikel completely disrobes, but immediately admonishes the audience not to give her labels like exhibitionist. “What if you were there not to be titillated but instead to watch, learn, appreciate, to perceive and understand my pleasure but not in a lascivious way.”

In what was (incredibly) her professional stage debut, Lauren Ridloff portrayed Sarah Norman in “Children of a Lesser God,” whose language (like the actress’s) was American Sign Language. The actress proved passionate, eloquent and graceful in the upper body ballet that is ASL.

Anika Noni Rose as Carmen Jones

Anika Noni Rose conquers in the title role of Carmen Jones, from the moment she enters wearing that red dress and carrying a red rose, and inspects her silk stockings. It is a subtle gesture that shows us a woman out for herself. Sultry, seductive and destructive, her Carmen Jones is an operatic character of outsized appetites, and Rose’s voice one of operatic force and beauty. But her performance, rooted in her training as a Tony-winning actress in both plays and musicals, offers no hint of the stilted formality we might associate with opera stars.

In her timely and informative play, What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck plays herself at age 15 and at her current age. As winning as her play is, her performance as herself is remarkable. There is a certain slyness in her depiction of a teenager, but when she’s herself talking candidly about the history of domestic abuse in her family, or about her abortion, her emotions feel real. It’s bracing to realize she does this eight times a week

One thing about New York City: There’s no end to the stage talent. I could easily fill another Top 10 list of performances in 2018 And so here it is (again alphabetical):

 Lauren Ambrose in My Fair Lady, Anthony Boyle in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Nathan Lane in Angels in America, Elaine May in the Waverly Gallery, Lindsay Mendez in Carousel, Laurie Metcalfe in Three Tall Women, Chris Perfetti in The Low Road, Angie Schworer in The Prom, Shannon Tyo in The Chinese Lady,  Michael Urie in Torch Song

And, it doesn’t feel right to leave out the puppets of 2018.Behind every successful puppet is a person – usually many people.

King Kong

King Kong in King Kong (Manipulated by Mike Baerga , Rhaamell Burke-Missouri , Jovan Dansberry , Casey Garvin, Gabriel Hyman, Marty Lawson, Robeto Olvero, Khadija Tariyan, Lauren Yalango-Grant , David Yijae — collectively referred to as King’s Company)

Jelani Alladin as Kristoff and Andrew Pirozzi as Sven

Sven the reindeer  in Frozen (Adam Jepsen and Andrew Pirozzi)

Frozen: Greg Hildreth as Olaf

Olaf in Frozen (Greg Hildreth)

Jester, dragon, prince and princess finger puppets by Una Clancy in The Jester and the Dragon

The seventy-five puppets (or one thousand depending on how you cat) amoeba-looking plastic cut-outs and pieces of tinsel , psychedelic pinwheels etc. – in Symphonie Fantastique (Kate Brehm, Ben Elling, Andy Gaukel, Jonothon Lyons, and Rachael Shane, with Basil Twist)

20 Favorite New York Stage Performances in 2018, and 5 Top Puppet Performances My ten favorite individual human performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2018 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews, but let’s begin with a few noteworthy ensembles:

[auskultu]

The Incredible String Band: Once Again, Is It Folk?

Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 March 1968

WHEN poet Pete Brown, lyric-writer for the Cream, heard the new Incredible String Band LP, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, he said: "That's what the Rolling Stones have been trying to do."

When Austin John Marshall, the ex-Observer man, who has just finished a brilliant new film on Jimi Hendrix heard it, his reaction was similar. Only the name was different: "The Beatles can forget it. This is the answer."

As the first critic anywhere to have reviewed the Incredibles' first LP, I can only agree with both of them. And now America is going to hear the gentle, persuasive art of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, in a tour which will take in the West Coast's magic Fillmore Auditorium.

Leaving at the end of next month, they have two concerts at the 4,000-seater Village Theatre in New York on April 26 and 27, are in Boston on May 3, at the Fillmore on May 9, 10 and 11, sharing the bill at one show with Country Joe and the Fish, at Berkeley University on May 17, and in Los Angeles on May 18.

I went down to the BBC's Aeolian Hall to talk to them after they had finished recording a John Peel Night Ride appearance, about their new album and their American tour.

It was an interview filled with sudden, reflective silences in which I sometimes felt that my questions were like rocks being thrown into a deep, clear pool, disturbing its calm. Still, I threw my rocks anyway.

What was the significance I wanted to know, of the new album's title, "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter"? How did they think of the title?

"In a way," said Robin, "you could say the title thought of us. What does it mean? You can explain it at several levels."

"The hangman is death," interjected Mike, "and his beautiful daughter is what comes after."

"Or you might say that the hangman is the past 20 years of our life, and the beautiful daughter is now, what we are able to do as a result of those years."

"Or you can make up your own meaning. Your interpretation is probably just as good as ours."

When I arrived, Mike was sitting on the floor of the control room listening to the playback of one of their Night Ride tracks, a gospel-tinged section from an item that takes up 12 1/2 minutes of the new album, 'A Very Cellular Song'.

In a way, this track sums up where the Incredibles stand at the moment, as far as subject matter is concerned. In previous albums, they have been much concerned with love and its hang-ups, treating it realistically, as in 'First Girl I Loved', or whimsically though with great humour, as in 'The Hedgehog Song'.

This new album is almost religious in its sense of the inter-connection of all things, which comes to the surface most tangibly in the 'Cellular' track, switching from plaintive, almost Oriental melody to a subtle, hand-clapping gospel section, mixing guitar and Arab fiddle and harpsichord and Hammond organ, one moment reflecting on the joys of "living the timeless life" as one of the simplest of living organisms, building up to a quiet but impressive coda, which is like a benediction to the listener.

Musically, Mike and Robin are multiplying as fast as an amoeba, adding new instruments all the time and sometimes playing several instruments at once.

In 'Mercy I Cry, City', Robin Williamson play mouth-organ, whistle, rattle and occasionally mouth-organ and whistle at the same time, and while it sometimes looks incongruous on stage to those who don't know them, musically it makes as much sense as Roland Kirk's multi-instrument playing.

Live, they have added another dimension to their work by including a couple of beautiful dancers who act out the songs; this is conveyed on the record by a neat sense of the absurd, as in 'The Minotaur's Song', performed on stage with the girls as the front and back legs of a brightly painted pop-art bull, but on the record given a mock heroic piano accompaniment by Dolly Collins, with anonymous chorus and noises off.

It's easy to write off the Incredibles as fey, unrealistic, poseurs unless you allow their music to make its own approach to you. They walk a delicately balanced tightrope between, the sort of switched-on prettiness that makes Donovan at his most "poetic" so hard to take and the false simplicity of an intellectual trying to come on like the common people.

They make it to the other side, and despite their exotic instruments, their funny clothes, their refusal to take life on anything but their own terms, they have something very relevant to say in their music.

Is it folk? Certainly it gets as far away from plastic chartbound sounds as it is possible to get, and compared with the average Radio One definition of folk one can only be glad that they are getting an airing with John Peel. And without the revival, music like this would have been impossible.

America is about to get something of a surprise. Having tried with electric rock and all manner of psychedelic tricks to create a music which expresses what is going on in Haight Ashbury and the minds of all its young people, among them these two young Scots arrive like missionaries, to explain to them what it is all about.

I only hope they have the sense to listen.