#music has been all downhill since this song

[redclercs]

DELICATE✰ CHARLES LECLERC.

x. what a shame she's fucked in the head.

— the one where they tell you what your word is worth.

❝𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦❞ —𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵.

warnings: abuse downplay, bashing towards taylor swift (i obviously adore her pls don't come for me haha), online bullying, new york inaccuracies, corny taylor references per usual, etc. 2k words + articles

in my head there's a mix of begin again and cornelia street playing as background music.

masterlist ✢ next

NO one likes a mad woman, but not for the reasons Taylor Swift made you believe in the lyrics of her 2020 song. Although we are definitely afraid y/n might get 'more crazy'.

Honestly, who gave her the right to speak like that about Aidan Kim? As it turns out, the three-year relationships she willingly stayed on was a 'dead-end' one, and Aidan "abused" (and I cannot stress the quotations enough) her through several stages of their shared time.

Well, I call bullshit.

How is it that after Aidan Kim helped her build whatever she has going on that people call a 'career' she wasn't bothered about being told 'how to look and how to act' (direct quote from her own video, by the way).

Breaking up with your sneaky link and calling him your friend won't save what you did before, y/n, it's the oldes trick in the book. Everything she said in her Youtube video, one I regretfully watched despite the knowledge that I won't get those 45 minutes of my life back, is rehearsed and calculated and just tried to paint the real victims in a bad light.

Playing the victim worked for Taylor Swift in 2009, 2017, 2019... but we surely won't let it happen again, right folks? y/n needs a new tactic to crawl back from the hell, because we're not believing anything that comes out of her mouth anymore.

It's true what they say, an untalented actress makes an untalented liar.

By Lia Yim

Victoria Presley is worried about best friend's y/n y/ln's well-being after the actress 'completely ghosted her' since moving back to New York.

"One day we were fine and the next, she had packed her bags and left my house," Presley said in an exclusive interview with iNTouch. "I'm not going to lie, I was deeply hurt by her actions. I offered her my home as a safe haven and she left without explanation."

y/n had been living in Victorias Los Angeles home since mid-February until this month when she returned to her infamous SoHo apartment, one she shared with Aidan Kim until their breakup.

"I can find it in my heart to forgive her, of course," 'Vic', as she's known on social media, added. "Right now, I just want my best friend back. I want the y/n I've known for years and not this person she became since Matilde Bassi and Charles Leclerc inserted themselves in her life."

Victoria Presley, the founder and CEO of Presley Beauty, is the daughter of Luke Presley and Claire Walker and has been in the influencing business for a few years now.

"If y/n ends up reading this, I want her to know that I will support her decisions but not in the way her new 'friends' are doing. I just want what's best for her."

SEE ALSO:

→ Vic Presley on having to start from zero: "I'm not a nepobaby!"

→ A look inside y/n's SoHo apartment, the one Aidan Kim paid for.

→ Is Charles Leclerc's career going downhill thanks to y/n?

By Beatrice Mann

With y/n y/ln's latest controversy, the whole world has turned their backs on the actress. But, is it really that bad? Or is it just because she's a woman in the business?

The online community's hottest topic is y/n's Youtube video where she speaks on her relationship with Aidan Kim, her friendship with Charles Leclerc and, most importantly, how all of this has affected her career. And I want to tell you all, y/n is right.

If the roles were reversed, Aidan Kim would be thriving on a newly unlocked 'Heartbreaker' persona and y/n would still be constantly humiliated for not being 'wife material'.

I believe y/n deserves much better than what she's getting. The woman admitted she escaped a relationship where her partner LAUGHED at her and manipulated her actions for his comfort. And people are still siding with the man? Seriously, people, use your brains and dig up your morals!

The only thing we're communicating to younger generations by constantly doubting women's words and putting them in the spotlight for standing up for themselves, is that only men's words are worth something.

June 14th, Manhattan, New York.

It isn't much of a surprise when Charles calls you while you're trying to get your Moka pot to work that morning. It's your third attempt at it and the previous mornings you've left it alone with tears in your eyes to walk down the street and get Starbucks coffee. You might be a little too attached to that coffee maker.

Charles got to New York city the previous night, and reminded you that you promised to show him around more than once. You intended to keep your promise, thinking you would have more time before the day came.

But as you walk to the restaurant where you decided to meet him, you can't help but think how exciting it is that you get to show the city you love so much to Charles. And just like that morning in Monaco, you can't help but remind yourself that this is a friendly get-together.

Charles has slowly, but surely, become one of your closest friends in the middle of the frenzy that your life is. With your ex-best friend saying you walked out on her and your failed fiancé insisting that it was you, who acted like a 'total psychopath' towards the end of your relationship, you have more fingers than people you can count on.

You watch him carefully as he smooths the napkin on his legs twice and then drops in on the table again, fidgeting with the loose threads in the corner.

Your wristwatch says it's 10:00 am, which is the exact time you agreed to meet. You wonder how long he's been waiting if there's an empty cup of coffee in front of him.

"You know, it's also rude to be too early for a meeting," you say as a form of greeting once you approach the table.

This startles him enough to drop the napkin on his lap again, proceeding to scramble to return it to the table before pushing his chair out to get up.

You chuckle, but before you can say you were joking, Charles is engulfing you in a hug. Your stomach flutters because of the way he holds the back of your head with his palm. It feels like you're being reunited after months instead of just two weeks. Time doesn't feel real sometimes, you would know.

"Soleil!" he says excitedly, putting his hands on your shoulders. "It's so good to see you,"

"It's nice to see you too, Charlie."

There's the nickname again. You've tried not to think too hard about it. Is it a European thing to call your friends that? When you asked him about it the last time he called before taking his flight to New York, his response was a simple 'it suits you'.

Charles pulls your chair for you and grabs your purse to place it on the empty chair between you two. He grabs his napkin again, pulling one last time on a thread before smoothing it down and forgetting about it.

"How are you?" Charles asks, a bright smile on his face. It falters in a barely perceptible way because he doesn't want to give you bad thoughts, which seem to come automatically every time the question is asked.

"Well, I'm okay," you assure in a soothing tone, "Still looking for jobs. And you?"

"Alright. Lots of work in the simulator and I'm hoping this is a good weekend,"

"Are you sure you'll be okay getting to Montreal tomorrow?" you smile at the waitress that approaches your table, "Can I have some coffee, please?"

"Of course," Charles assures, with a gesture of his hand. He's getting to Montreal at seven in the morning and running straight to his motorhome. "There's time for everything."

"What do you want to do, then?"

You don't want to exhaust him by showing him around New York, he has a long weekend ahead. To be honest, you really wonder what compelled him to make this stop instead of going straight to Canada. Sure you had talked about him coming to New York, eventually. Not a day before he had to start his Grand Prix weekend.

"Anything you want us to do," he replies, the single-dimpled smile on his face. "I'm open to anything."

"MoMA? Central Park? Something not so touristy?" you suggest, before thanking the waitress as she places a hot cup of coffee on the table.

"Just show me the places you like, y/n, don't stress about it." Charles laughs, eyes returning to the open menu in front of him. "I only care about hanging out with you."

"Thanks," is all you manage to say as you sip the scalding coffee, you do your best not to wince as it burns your tongue and down your throat. "Let's do it then."

"So, what do you think? Everything you expected and more?"

You're taking a walk in Central Park after Charles agreed to see the Alice in Wonderland statue. It's a warm morning in New York and although you haven't been walking around for that long, Charles seems content enough with what he's seen.

"It's very... you," Charles replies, and you're sure he means it as a compliment, but New York can be really ugly too. "In a good way!" he adds when he sees your expression.

"Thank you, Charlie." you laugh again. It's easy being with Charles, laughing with sincerity and really being in what's happening in the moment.

You didn't lie when you said you weren't afraid of speaking up anymore, but the dread of actually doing it is inevitable. Your words are being twisted and marked as false because Aidan is far 'more loved' than you are. Not to mention Victoria's interview about your lack of reciprocity to her humble feelings

You're still thinking about suing her. But it hurts to know that she was your best friend a week ago.

A few people stop you both to ask for pictures and autographs on the back of phone cases. A few of them ignore you, others smile politely at Charles before asking him to take their picture with you.

"I'm really polishing my photographing skills," Charles jokes as you walk away from a group of young girls who gush about how much they wish they could dress like you.

"Sorry if it bothers you," you whisper, looking at him only from the corner of your eye.

"Of course not, y/n. They ask nicely, and you're okay with it." he shrugs.

There was one time when a teenager, around fourteen or fifteeen, asked Aidan if he could please take a picture of her and yourself. It was an innocent question, she had already acknowledged him as 'that guy from Star-5' and how he'd been in Supercut with you.

But just by the way you saw his expression change, you told the girl a selfie was a better option, you would hold the phone yourself if she was okay with it.

You didn't hear the end of it for the rest of night. Aidan berated your career for the first time of many, saying it was frankly offensive that he’d been treated that way. It didn't matter that you told him the girl was barely a teen and she hadn't been rude. Still, he was more famous than you, he didn't deserve to be made felt like the opposite.

"What are you thinking?" Charles asks, touching your shoulder gently to make you pause your walk.

You really don't want to admit you were thinking about your ex-boyfriend. Not that it matters, Charles knows you think about Aidan often in a mostly negative light, but it feels weird to say it here. So you shrug and sigh. "I wish I thought of nothing, to be honest."

Charles squeezes your shoulder in a half hug. He doesn't push your boundaries, although he wishes he knew what was actually going through your mind.

─────────

It's when you two are having dinner in a restaurant in SoHo that Charles asks the question that has been eating him away since he landed in New York the previous night.

"Do you want to come to Canada with me?"

"Am I not blacklisted from the paddock?" you tease, although Elix is gone. You wonder if Ferrari people blame you a little bit for their sponsor dropping them.

"Absolutely not," Charles frowns, "And you would be my guest, you get to be in the Ferrari Suite like always."

"Thank you, Charlie–"

Charles tries not to seem disappointed as he waits for the 'but' to follow, so he drinks from his wine.

"—but I have some back to back things to do this weekend," you do regret not being able to make it, you loved the few Grand Prix you were able to attend and you would love to see Carlos too. But you have booked a few interviews with people who, more than anything want to consume gossip, but have disguised it as 'letting you tell your truth in more depth'. You cannot back down from what you started.

"That's okay," he assures with a quick wink. "You know you can come to races whenever you want to, though, right?"

"I can?" you raise both eyebrows and Charles rolls his eyes. "The benefits of having a Ferrari driver as a friend. I should have befriended you sooner."

"Very funny," he says as he hides his smile behind his glass of wine again. "Do I get invited to the Red Carpets?"

"You kind of befriended me at the downfall of my career. It's going to take a while for you to be on a Red Carpet."

Charles clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "You're only just getting started, soleil. Don't say that."

You hope he's right, because you have castings lined-up for next week too and you don't want to call him, or Mati, or your mom, crying about how unwanted you feel.

You shrug, drinking from your own wine.

"I'm being serious, y/n," Charles' tone is stern for a moment, yet not aggressive. "You have a lot of wonderful things to do in the future."

"Yeah, thanks." you dislike yourself for ruining the mood yet again, but Charles isn't bothered as he smiles at you once again.

"I mean it,"

He does, and so does Mati, and your mom. You are bound for great things, although they're taking time to find you right now.

"I know. Thank you Charlie, you're very kind. I hope you have a good race this weekend."

Charles huffs. "Yes, me too. Wish me luck?"

"I feel like I jinx you more than help you, Charlie."

"You didn't wish me luck in Spain, look how that went," he fakes a shudder and you snort. You hated every minute spent in Spain after FP3.

"Good luck, you'll do great." You pat the hand that he keeps on top of the table a couple times and before you can take your hand back, he grabs it, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Your heart races and you take a deep, sharp breath, like that would help it go back to normal. You have tried not to overanalyze everything about today, from the way Charles looked to the words he said, to the way your body responded to it. You don't want to go down that specific spiral.

"Thanks for stopping by," you take your hand back and keep it busy with your almost empty glass of wine. The alcohol has turned your cheeks warm. "You really want to see New York, huh?"

"I really wanted to see you," Charles replies, nonchalantly.

And you know you'll be spiraling, despite your best efforts.

─── team principal radio: ❝thanks for reading! also thank you so so so much because last chapter got to 1k+ interactions and i was beyond shocked!! it means a lot that you're enjoying delicate!♡❞

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[gloombeauty]

I watched Lana's full Coachella set.

These are my thoughts:

1 - She looked gorgeous. Dresses, hair, face and shoes were on point. She hasn't looked this good since 2017. The magic of losing weight for health and fucking vanity. Good for her.

2 - It all goes downhill from there. The setlist was a tragedy - not in a good way. First of all, you're at Coachella and you don't do Coachella (Woodstock On My Mind). Where was Shades of Cool? National Anthem? Music While Watching Boys? Venice Bitch? Off To The Races? Thunder? VB/Taco Truck?

Like, this is a fucking festival mama. Nobody spends that much money for a festival just to go to sleep. She chose to play so many piano driven songs. That's the thing. Her last four albums have been really slow piano driven songs. She should change it up for the next one (the one after Lasso...) and add some guitars, beats and drums. She's overdue for a change in sound.

3 - Lana barely sang. I don't know if she was bored out of her mind or just plain nerves - but her vocals were nonexistent. The stans are saying it was bad audio or tech issues, but I had no issues hearing the background singers, Jon Batista or Billie Eilish. How is it I can hear everyone else on stage except Lana? There were moments when Lana actually opened her mouth and sang loud and clear. But for the most part, she was like a dead fish vocally. She just wasn't into it.

I also noticed there were no background tracking vocals playing. It was all live. She has been using background track vocals for years. Maybe she got too use to having that playing in the background that it made her damn lazy to sing?

4 - The execution of the show/set. The set was gorgeous, but the way it was carried out was a fucking mess. A hologram during Hope is A Dangerous Thing...? The awful dancers. The instrumentation. What the hell happened? How did a stage set so beautiful end up being so messy and wrong?

5 - By the end of her performance, half the audience was gone. The camera picked up on that. When she was riding away in the bike, there really was no excitement. The people in the audience didn't even wave at her.

Last year, Blondie did Coachella. These folks are in their 70's and they rocked the house out.

Anyway, let's see what happens next week. She needs to open her mouth and fucking sing. She's been singing on stage for over 15 years. It's time for her to get over her stage fright or just don't perform anymore. Also, shake up that setlist.

There's a few more performances coming up that I'm interested in.

I hope Lana's performance the following week is better. This performance was a 3/10 for me.

[seoafin]

you and nagi meet in middle school. he is a loner with a penchant for playing videos games and sleeping during class. you are a high maintenance individual with dismal grades known for your dour disposition and carrying around the violin you practice obsessively. the two of you have no friends. your middle school has designated and granted you a music room to use where you can practice in peace for your upcoming competitions. until one day you find nagi curled up in a corner of the room, asleep. obviously you're peeved. this music room is for your use only, not some secret hideout slackers can use to catch up on sleep. but also it's not like he's being a disturbance. you'll let him off. just this once. then you'll start to lock the doors.

it's not until the sky is pitch dark outside and your fingers twinge with use do you begin to gingerly pack your violin. you get so absorbed in playing you wouldn't be surprised if the slacker got up and left hours ago. you are surprised when you turn around to find nagi spread out on the floor, gaze latched to the ceiling, wide awake. in a drowsy voice, he tells you that that single song you were playing over and over again sounded like the OST of some game he likes. (you are immediately offended. the great composer bach didn't die to be compared to some video game soundtrack). then he asks if you're in this room everyday, practicing, because he can't comprehend that level of effort and devotion to anything because he isn't that interested in anything. but he liked it. the sound of you playing. you were good. the best he's ever heard. and all you can hear is the best the best the best and you're so pleased that you don't mind when he comes back the next day. and then the next. then the two of you are walking to school together and walking home. (wow the two of you were neighbors?) and when you get into the prodigious hakuho academy on a violin scholarship, nagi tests in with ease because he didn't bother to do any research and just chose the rigorous high school you got into.

it's good for a while. then it isn't. there's a violin competition gone wrong. you lose. badly. second place, which realistically isn't bad. but you wanted first. you wanted to be the best. realistically you've always known you weren't a genius. you weren't born with the talent. your fingers were fumbling over the same strings other fingers were gliding over. but you practiced. every single day. hours every morning before school and hours every night after. it's the first time you've ever competed against a genius, and you're heartbroken at the gap between your skills. your competitor took up the violin only four years ago. you've been playing since you were a child. the news outlets call him a prodigy while you're just a temporary talent.

nagi tells you to give up. realistically, he says, you'll never be first as long as long as you're up against a genius. what he doesn't tell you is that the devastation on your face made his heart hurt. he doesn't want you to hurt. but your heart breaks all over again. you lash out. it's the last time the two of you speak together on friendly terms and nagi doesn't talk to you again. turns out, there's somebody else occupying and monopolizing his attention now.

you meet mikage reo and it all goes even further downhill from there.

[garak-pussy-indulgence]

Hi. Tumnlr user Garak Pussy Indulgence here.

now that I have your attention please please please listen to me abt my Primary Interest that is far too niche for my liking:

Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera is best described as a concert with a story. Though it has a plot, and 4 characters, the experience is far closer to a live rock concert than musical theater. It follows a ghost known as Old Bones, who becomes jealous when his living wife Constance tries to move on and find love again with another man named Friedrich. Shit goes downhill very quickly because of this, especially when Friedrich's jealous ex Florence gets involved in all the nonsense. By nonsense I mean literally everyone ends up dead. 💀

What started as a bitter vent project by two college students about how much love sucks, has now become a nation-touring, noggin-gripping, beloved experience by many. The appeal is that everyone is so so cool and hot, and it offers 4 blorbos to take your pick from! As well as the full rock band, onstage the whole time behind the characters. You can also love them too if you like. I sure do.

There's no spoken dialogue, the whole show is told through song. That sounded stupid when I first heard it. It is not. It's actually the best thing I've ever seen.

Just like Rocky Horror Picture Show, simply listening to the music doesn't compare to actually seeing it live. Fans dress as their favorite characters, do little rituals at certain points in the show, (there's a thing with Peeps I'm trying to make work), and especially at smaller shows, the interaction between characters and audience is HIGH. You might get a gentle hand kiss if you're annoying enough.

^if you wish this was you, I can help.

Personally I've been following this show since I was 13, and you'd be surprised how many aspects of my personality and daily life can be traced directly back to Deep Love. Because it's such a fundamental part of me, I'd love ppl to understand wtf I'm talking about. But literally nobody has heard of it. I'm here throwing fanart out into the void. Maybe you could be the one to take this journey with me.

Also they're releasing an official album on streaming, possibly this October. If you can't wait, there ARE older live recordings available!

I can help you. Let me help you. I'm so so fucking serious. Ask me about this. Thanks.

[crushedsweets]

i was listening to twin size mattress by the front bottoms and was like. hmm this is the most toby song ever

SO i was wondering do u have any songs that remind you of specific creeps? could be from lyrics or just general vibes yk yk

- 🌙 anon (im new here hi)

HII welcome. ok ok. so i listen to music in a very boring way and never analyze lyrics/artists/albums/etc. but for you i will try to change.

also these lryics with toby oh wow.. wow. ok. wowwww. wow. ok. wow. STUFF UNDER THE CUT BUT KNOW IM DEEPLY WARPING THE ACTUAL MEANING BEHIND A LOT OF THESE SONGS LOL. i religiously listen to love songs so its hard

toby and honey by coastal club. (my fave song rn..)

whether its from his perspective or not.. it doesnt even have to be romantic either. just his friendships with everyone around him, both from people like tim and brian seeing this SEVERELY TROUBLED kid. . . 'wide eyed..dying to get outside' feels very :((( yk. he was a kid trapped in a fucking horrifying situation all his life. or him looking at his friendship with nina. "youve got a way with me... alive and so full of life, i'm mesmerized by your love" etc. maybe jack or clockwork with the "i started laughing at the words you spoke, i kinda like you and your stupid jokes"... AGAIN I KNOW ITS A LOVE SONG but i see it applying in so many different forms of love. and i love love. also a ton of like, car and driving references which is um. lyra reference sorry

nina x clockwork and "a big brown dog named bagel" by nep

ok this doesnt apply so much to my au(nobody is canon in mine but yk)... buttttttt... yeah. ugh. this is so nina @ nat. sorry guys ive been changed. one ask always diverts my attention at the speed of light. "I like the way she bites, the way she talks, the way she looks when I smile" is just SO FUCKING NINA ADORING NAT. nina just wants to be in the most fairytale coming of age movie ya novel lovestory and she says that her biggest dream in life is to get married. she wants to take care of her lover and give and give and give so fucking much and "I'll buy you a big old house on a big old hill And I'll grow old with my baby, 'til she's dead" is so very her. of course i chose clockwork cuz 'she's tall in the knees' and 'some green in her eyes' plus im a lesbian and havent fawned over sapphic relationships in months since i began my creepypasta return. LOL

eyeless jack and "downhill" by lincoln

there r few words to describe the amount of guilt, horror, and devastation that jack feels after what he's done, all he's lost, and what he has to do to survive. he has a year of his life that he was literally possessed by a demon and went around fucking tearing humans apart and eating their remains. even as he's """recovering""" and settling into a cabin, his friendships with the creeps, trying to just feel okay. he's on his last leg, he can tell that people know he's a shell of what he was but they'll never know how warm, kind, inviting he used to be. "i went downhill at such a steep inline" ... yea he did his life changed immeasurably in a single night and it's never coming back. the lyrics "'Cause I was born into the world on a silken cloud / And I got bored of the world before I hit the ground" ... while he had a ton of pressure. he loved his life, loved his family, was the type to constantly express how grateful he was for everything that got him where he was. and then he hit rock fucking bottom because he wanted to chase a little excitement with the pretty girl inviting him to join a 'club.' poor guy

liu and "i'm not angry anymore" by paramore

i dont think i need to explain this because um..... lols... liu just wants to fucking move on. he just wants to escape everything. he wants his family back, including the little brother he'd play catch with in the front yard for so many years. but he has his moments where it all comes barreling back, and he makes real fucking brash decisions - he lost his marriage because he spiraled trying to find jeff and moved to fucking alabama. so you know.

jane and "everest" by beabadoobee

again, i dont think i need to explain this. maybe this could be mary(jane's wife) singing to jane, cuz she was one of janes main supports after her parents death. jane can only act strong for so long but she is so so so fucking sad and mourning and she was always so soft and gentle and sweet and she lost everything in a single night. she spent a short period of time filled with rage, as she would be, but her story eventually evolves into her just wanting to help others with their cases, be happy with her wife, take care of sally, grow old, make her parents proud. she's climbed mountains and is probably in the best place of all the creeps. holds her. i dont touch her character too often because i just want her to settle happily lolz..

ok thats all i got guys :3.. thank youuuuu thank youuu. sorry if my music taste is bad guys. LOL.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

No following; Planet of the apes fanfic Chap. 4

*Author's note*

I think this was my favorite chapter to write because this really shows the special bond that both Lin and Caesar share with one another. No matter what species they are, they grew up together and will always be brother and sister to each other. But it also hurt because this is where things go downhill from Caesar being taken away and the Rodman family gets torn apart so if that scene makes you cry, get your tissues ready and prepare yourselves.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

@psychosupernatural

@queen-paladin

_____________________________________________________

Five years later.  Doesn’t seem that long ago does it but a lot can happen and for the Rodman troop, it did.  Grandpa’s health continued to improve thanks to the medicine he had been given, Will and Caroline were still going strong as a couple.  Hell there’s even been private talks between him and I about him potentially proposing to her before I leave for college.

Yep, in just a month I’ll graduate high school and I’ll soon be heading up to the University of California and join the Berkley Symphony Orchestra on a full-run scholarship.  Apparently during one of the shows I had played with the community center, there were some college scouts attending the performance and both UC as well as Julliard came up to me and offered me a full 4 year scholarship to join their orchestra programs.

After much debate since that performance last Christmas I finally decided that Berkley was the best choice.  I’d still be close to the family, I could visit every weekend, and even be there for the future wedding for my future aunt (fingers crossed Will at least proposes before I leave).  And of course I can’t leave out the biggest member of the troop.

Ceasar.  Well needless to say I can’t quite call him my little brother anymore.  He is now a few inches taller than me, hell he’s almost as tall as Uncle Will when he stands up right.  Not only that but according to Caroline, he has now reached full maturity so he is now considered a full-grown chimpanzee.  But even though he is now all grown up, there are times where he still retains his child-like behaviors.

Like whenever I try to leave for my summer tours for the community orchestra or go to school.  I still always have to sign to him our ‘no following’ command to him.  God I wonder how he’ll react once I leave in a few months.  Of course I’ve told him what’s going to happen as have Will and Caroline but you never know with him.

Once again we had taken him to the redwoods for him to get his daily exercise and fresh air.  And while Will and Caroline had their little picnic date, I had walked further along into the woods and began practicing my violin playing.

For the past year and a half for the community center, I have been their soloist violinist. And with my final performance happening a week before graduation, I needed to make sure I nailed this solo.  So every day I was always practicing and making sure to do the solo as best I could.  I had burned a copy of the song onto a disc and downloaded it to my playlist so that I could practice it on the go whenever I didn’t have my music sheets on hand.

So with my earbuds in, I had the song playing and I would do my solo whenever it came on.  And being that this was a Celtic piece we were performing, the Redwoods provided me some good atmosphere and inspiration to truly feel the music as I played it. 

At the end of the song, I faintly heard the sounds of applause from behind me and I turned to see uncle Will, Caroline and Caesar standing behind me.  Uncle Will gestured for me to take my earbuds out so I did and I could hear him say.

“While it’s not bad for you to practice, there is such a thing as overdoing it Lin.”

“Oh look who’s talking Mr. Overachiever scientist man.”

“That’s Dr. Overachiever scientist man to you missy.” Uncle Will teased.

“In all seriousness Lin, you’ve practiced enough. At this rate you could do more damage to your fingertips.” Caroline advised me.

“Yeah I know, I know. It’s just—I’ve been performing with the community center since I was 12. I want my last performance with them to be memorable. So that people can say, ‘Oh yeah Lin Rodman was their best violinist.’ ‘yeah no one could ever top her’.”

“We know Lin. But you’ve proven that more times than anyone in the orchestra. You’ve gained a scholarship from not only UC but Julliard themselves. And you chose to turn the later down even though they’re like the top ranking performing arts school in America.” Uncle Will said.  “You got this kid.”

Caesar then came up to me and gently took my bow from my hand and gave me a firm nod.  His eyes showing nothing but support and praise as he signed.

‘You’re ready. Take time to heal now.’ I smiled as Caesar then placed his free arm over my shoulder and brought my forehead to his.

“Thank you little brother.” After we separated our familial connection, Will decided that it was time for us to head back home.  As we walked back towards the bridge, we soon came across a family walking their dog and the second they saw us, fear and concern spread across their faces as the mother said astounded.

“Is that a chimpanzee?”

“Hi.” Uncle Will merely nodded as we passed by them.  Their German shepherd, however, didn’t take kindly to Caesar.  He growled and lunged at the end of his leash barking aggressively.  The woman only said one command but the dog was too high-strung now to even listen to the most basic command.

That’s when I began to notice Caesar fingering his own collar and the leash that Uncle Will was starting to yank on to pull Caesar away from the family.  The dog continued to bark aggressively until finally Caesar turned and let out a fearsome roar which scared the German shepherd and the family continued onward across the bridge.

“Caesar? Caesar.” Uncle Will called out before yanking on the leash to snap Caesar out of his rage.

“Will stop it! He’s not like that dog!” I snapped at him.  I walked up to Caesar and held out my hand. “C’mon little brother, let’s go. Forget about that mutt.” Caesar hesitantly took my hand and we continued walking back up the trail until we reached the car.

I got in my usual spot behind Caroline and went through my playlist to find something else to listen to.  That’s when I heard the door beside me open and Caesar suddenly sat down beside me instead of in the trunk space of the station wagon where he usually sat.  I took out an earbud as uncle Will came by Caesar’s window and softly knocked on it.

“You okay pal?” Caesar fingered around his collar uncomfortably before signing.

‘Is Caesar pet?’

“Are you a pet? No. you’re not a pet.” Uncle Will said.  Then what the hell was that all about back there? Grandpa and I have told him he didn’t need a leash whenever we come here and yet he continues to leash him like one.

‘Who Caesar father?’ Caesar signed again.

“I’m your father.” Caesar pondered his next sign before he finally asked.

‘What is Caesar?’ uncle Will voiced Caesar’s question and Caesar let out a small huff confirming his question.  Will let out a sigh before saying.

“Okay.” He took off his backpack and set it the car before immediately coming to the front seat.  “Lin, take your earbuds out I don’t wanna ask you again. You’re gonna need to hear this too.”

“Yeah, sure okay.” I took my earbuds out and put them back in their case as uncle Will turned the car on and immediately pulled out and drove across the bridge.  However instead of heading home, we drove further into the city until we came a windowed building and at the top the word GEN-SYS was written across in grey and orange colors with the DNA symbol inbetween the words.

“Caesar, this is where I work. This is where you were born. Your mother was here with other chimpanzees. But she’s not here anymore. So that’s why I took you to live with me.” Caesar took in the first half of the information about his birth before sadly asking.

‘Mother…..dead?’

“Yeah. Your mother’s dead.” Caesar’s saddened expression broke my heart.  But the next thing uncle Will said made me ponder something.  “The thing is, she was given medicine. Like the medicine I give to Charles. She passed it on to you, that’s why you’re so smart.”

“Five years ago, when grandpa was able to play the piano again. You’ve been testing that drug on chimps? This whole time?” I asked.  “Why not go with rats or mice like any normal scientist does?”

“Because chimpanzees and humans share only a two percent difference in DNA. We had to make sure there were no failures before trying on a human volunteer.” Uncle Will answered me robotically.  I leaned against my seat flabbergasted as well as anger.  And Caesar was no better as he felt like his whole world was coming apart.

“Let’s take him home.” Caroline said firmly.  Uncle Will put the car in drive and we drove away from the lab and finally headed home.

The second we came in the house, Caesar raced up the stairs and Will said to me.

“Lin, why don’t you—”

“I can’t even look at you right now!” I stormed up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door breathing heavily.  So this whole time, Will was using grandpa as a test subject? What if something had gone wrong? What if grandpa got worse? How could he be this stupid and reckless?!

I threw myself onto my bed, grabbed my pillow and screamed into it before collapsing backward.

As night began to settle, I thought back on everything with a clearer head.  Before the drug, grandpa was practically gone and it would’ve been a matter of time before he passed away.  Sure Will thought what he was doing was out of love, but he should’ve at least told me what all of this was really about, especially Caesar.

After all both of them have the same drug flowing through their veins.  If something were to happen to grandpa, could the same be said for Caesar? Could the drug stop working eventually with Caesar and he’d revert back to a primal animal? He should’ve been truthful with us from the beginning.

I looked up toward my ceiling and sighed heavily before standing up and reached up for the attic staircase and pulled the string down and brought the stairs fully down.  Slowly I walked up the stairs and saw Caesar standing in front of his mirror looking at himself in self-deprecation.

“Caesar?” he turned toward me jumping slightly.  “Sorry, should I leave?” Caesar gestured for me to come in and so I did.  With slow, cautious steps I came over to him and sat down on his bed and looked at him as he continued to stare at himself in the mirror.  Fingering over his birthmark before huffing harshly, his facial expression filled with self-hate and confusion.  “What’s going through your mind?” I asked him softly.

‘Caesar and Lin not brother and sister.’

“What do you mean? Of course we are.”

‘Caesar not human Lin! And Lin not ape.’ He said turning towards me, his eyes burning with tears of anger and sadness.  My heart sunk and I said with a nod.

“I know, Caesar. We may not exactly be the same species but you’re still my little brother.”

‘How Lin? How is Caesar your brother?’

“You wanna know how I know?” I stood up and walked over to him.  I had him look in the mirror and continued, “Because Caesar has two eyes, like mine. Although I’d prefer if we matched, I always did favor green eyes.” I teased as I leaned up against him. “And a nose….somewhere—ahh there it is.” I then booped his nose to which he let out a small huff.  “Two ears.” I said fiddling with his ears as he let out a small shriek as he tried to get me to stop and we both laughed softly. “And let’s see what else is there…..hmm?” I playfully pondered before Caesar gestured to his hands with a small grunt.  “That’s right, two hands.”

We pressed our hands together and for a moment I thought I had gotten him out of his self-deprecation state but he then took his hands back and looked down solemnly.  I let out a somber sigh before lifting his chin up.

“Close your eyes.” He closed them. “Now forget what you see,” I took his hand and placed it over his heart. “What do you feel?” I stepped back and he opened up his eyes as he signed.

‘My heart.’

“Now come here.” I extended my arms out and he came close to me.  I placed his ear over my left breast so that he could hear my heartbeat.

‘Lin’s heart.’ He signed.

“See, there’s exactly the same.” I stroked the side of his face, “You’re mine Caesar. Mine to me. No matter what species we are, or what others may say, you will always be my little brother.” Caesar let out a sad huff before reaching behind my head and pressed our foreheads together.

As the weeks passed, the only one Caesar really began to rely on was me and grandpa.  He never looked at Will the same after that day he took us to his work place at Gen-Sys.  We all sat around the table eating breakfast, however Caesar didn’t really have an appetite for his.

“Caesar eat your food.” Uncle Will told him but Caesar brushed his tray aside.  As I took a bite of my tater tots I said.

“I was thinking instead of going out to a restaurant for my graduation dinner, why not have a barbeque in the backyard?”

“You sure Lin? Next week is your week, you sure you don’t wanna go out? Don’t you want to spend it with your friends one last time?”

“I’ve got the entire summer to hang with them. Besides they all got families coming in and parties of their own to go to. Most will be busy for at least a month.” That’s when we both saw Caesar gently reach out and take grandpa’s hand.

We then watched as he slowly took the fork that grandpa was holding and flip it the correct way before releasing his hand.  Will and I looked at each other worriedly and Will asked him.

“Dad you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Grandpa shrugged it off before eating his breakfast like nothing happened.  I knew it, I knew this was too good to be true.  Even though I was too young at the time to know the signs but now knowing the actual symptoms of Alzheimer’s, I knew that grandpa was starting to regress.

The medicine that Will snuck from his lab and had been giving grandpa for five years now, it’s failing.  Soon he’ll go right back to where he was, no scratch that he’ll get worse.  After five years of the disease being put on hold, it’ll flood my grandpa’s mind like a tsunami.

And my fears were soon realized.  Day by day grandpa’s health got worse and worse by the minute.  There were times when he’d sit for hours on end, still and completely silent, and other times he’d be wandering off outside without Will or I knowing.

So now instead of counting down the days till graduation, I’m having to spend fretting over whether or not my grandpa is going to wander off while Will’s been staying at the office working overtime trying to find another way to help grandpa.

For now though, grandpa was sitting in his chair still as a statue yet again.  I held his cold, pale hand between mine softly stroking it as I spoke to him.

“Graduation is in three days gramps. Can you believe that? Seems like only yesterday you were—dropping me off at kindergarten and now I’m about to go to college. To be honest I’m—actually afraid. I mean….this is the point where childhood ends, and the doorway to adulthood happens now, right? Were you ever this scared to walk across the stage for your diploma? Was Uncle Will? Or even……mom?”

His face remained stoic and his eyes were glossed over with the thousand yard stare.

“Grandpa?” I softly called out to him.  “You—want something to drink? You hadn’t had anything since last night. I’m gonna get you some water, okay?” he didn’t respond.  I took a sharp breath in and kissed his cheek before walking towards the kitchen.

My nerves were rattling, my stomach was swirling and my throat was dry and heavy.  I felt myself going through the motions of getting a glass but I felt—distant from my body.  That was until I heard the smashing of the glass and I jumped up shrieking as I felt my whole body shaking.

Why this? Why did this have to happen to us? We’re a normal family who did nothing wrong to anyone? So why were we being punished like this? I slowly slid down to the floor on my butt feeling my chest constrict as I curled up into a fetal position feeling the tears burning behind my eyelids.

Suddenly I heard a loud crash coming from outside.  I quickly sat up and ran to find the front door wide open and I raced outside to see Hunsiker pulling my grandpa by his robe out of his car.  My anxiety attack soon turned to red, hot rage as I cried out.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!!” I raced down the stairs and pushed him as hard as I could growling like an animal as I yelled. “DON’T YOU TOUCH HIM!!”

“ME HURT HIM!? HE’S THE ONE STEALING MY CAR!!”

“THAT’S BULLSHIT!!! HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING!”

“I’M A PILOT I’VE GOT TO GET TO THE AIRPORT! HOW AM I GONNA GET THERE NOW, HUH!?!”

“FOR ONE I WOULDN’T LEAVE MY ENGINE RUNNING WITH THE DOOR OPEN DUMBASS!!”

“YOU NEED TO LEARN SOME RESPECT YOU LITTLE BRAT! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

“YOU EVEN TAKE ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS MY GRANDPA, AND I END YOU!!!” I shoved the bastard as hard as I could.

“Maria please,” grandpa said calling me by my mother’s name once again.

“Grandpa, I’ll handle this. Just go inside.” I told him assuringly and as calmly as I could.

“LIKE HELL HE IS! ANSWER THE GODDAMN QUESTION WHAT WERE YOU DOING?”

“I—I have a car just like……” grandpa began to answer but Hunsiker interrupted.

“Oh well it obviously wasn’t. You know what, I’m done, I’m done the police can handle this.” He took out his phone and began calling the police.

“Yeah sure go ahead call them! Then I can tell them how you stupidly left your car with the keys inside for 20 minutes and threatened an old man with VIOLENCE!!” I said loud enough for the operator to hear.

“NO YOU STAY RIGHT THERE!!” Hunsiker ignored me as he blocked my grandpa from moving.  I got between them again and shoved Hunsiker and snarled.

“I’M SO SICK OF YOUR ARROGANT BULLSHIT! You’ve always believed to be the High and Mighty guard dog of this neighborhood well here’s the deal asshole! You’re nothing but a Karen! Yeah an over-controlling, arrogant, egotistical, self-righteous mother—” SMACK!!

Next thing I knew, I had felt a sudden whiplash and my head was throbbing.  I raised my hand up as I felt blood coming out of my nose.  My right cheek was also throbbing and I looked up in shock as Hunsiker fully turned his attention back to my grandpa like he didn’t just assault me and continued to yell in my grandpa’s face.  All the while aggressively jabbing his finger into my grandpa’s chest.

It all happened so fast after that, a flash of brown fur shot out from the house, Hunsiker ended up on the street, grandpa had been knocked over and I heard Caesar’s angered shrieks echoing the streets as he proceeded to beat the shit out of our neighbor.

Hunsiker hit Caesar with a trashcan lid to get him off and proceeded to race back towards his house, but Caesar was hot on his tail.  Trailing up through the Hunsiker’s front garden, he used their porch column to swing around and double kick Hunsiker in the chest, sending him rolling off his front porch and back to the side walk.  As Caesar continued the chase after Hunsiker screeching angrily, I crawled over to grandpa and said.

“Grandpa, are you alright?”

“Lin? What’s—happening? How did we get outside?” he soon heard Caesar’s angered screeching and looked out in horror.  “Why is Caesar attacking him?”

“You got into Hunsiker’s car and he was threatening you.” That’s when grandpa took in my bloody nose and the bruise that must’ve been forming on my face.

“Oh Lin your—your face.”

“Nevermind me.” That’s when other concerning neighbors began coming around us and asked us if we were okay.  “We’re fine please just leave us alone.” I tried to tell them.

“Honey, your nose is bleeding and your cheek is bruising up badly, here.” Said Mrs. Goosby, a kindly widow from down the street said as she reached into her purse and took out a handkerchief.  I placed the handkerchief over my nose when Caesar’s shrieks caught my attention again.

Everyone watched in horror as Caesar tackled Hunsiker to the ground, forcefully grab the hand that he was not only pointing at grandpa with but had also hit me, and he bite off his index finger.

“CAESAR STOP!!” both grandpa and I cried out.  I covered my mouth in horror as Hunsiker’s daughter soon came out calling out for her daddy.  Now seeing the neighbor who had threatened us be nothing more than a sniveling mess cradling his bloody hand, Caesar came down from his rage and stood there frozen in shock.

“Caesar.” Grandpa called out.  Caesar bounded over to us as the neighbors around us all backed away in fear.  Caesar immediately curled into grandpa’s side, his head resting on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around him huffing anxiously.  All while he looked up at me fearfully.  “It’s okay, hey it’s okay you didn’t mean it. It’s okay.”

I came over to Caesar and gently wiped Hunsiker’s blood from his face using the handkerchief Mrs. Goosby gave me.  I placed my hand on top of his head as we looked to the neighbors who could barely look at Caesar without fear in their eyes.  The sounds of sirens began to grow louder and louder as they came around into our neighborhood.

Hunsiker was immediately taken to the hospital with the finger they managed to find in hopes they could reattach it.  Grandpa and I were also being checked out for minor injuries but I couldn’t focus on them because Caesar was being loaded up by animal control.

I ran passed the paramedic that was trying to check for any concussions.  Even as he tried to pull me back, I lashed out with a punch and raced over to the animal control guy and pleaded.

“Please, don’t do this.”

“He’s too dangerous for you to keep.”

“NO! YOU’RE NOT TAKING HIM! We’re the only family he’s ever known! You take him away, he won’t stand a chance!”

“You’re getting too hysterical miss.” The animal control guy said to me in a nonchalant tone.

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING! HE NEEDS US!” I felt myself being held back by another paramedic.

“He’s a wild animal kid! A wild animal that’ll soon be put down if the court deems it so! Be thankful it wasn’t you that he attacked or your grandfather. Or do you just not care about your family’s safety?” he said nothing else as he got into his car and drove away with Caesar.

“CAESAR! CAESAR! WE’LL GET YOU OUT CAESAR! I PROMISE! WE’LL GET YOU BACK LITTLE BROTHER!!” I screamed out as another paramedic joined the other one to hold me back as I tried to race after the animal control truck but it was all in vain.

After finally getting checked out with no concussion, I immediately called uncle Will and Caroline and was in hysterics as I tried to explain to them what happened.

‘Dr. Rodman speaking.’

“Uncle Will!” I sobbed.

‘Lin? What is it what happened?’

“Caesar freaked out cause grandpa got out and accidentally got into Hunsiker’s car. He was yelling and screaming at grandpa and I tried to stop him. He—he…..they took him uncle Will! Animal control took Caesar away!”

‘Okay, okay calm down. Lin breathe. Answer me this, are you two okay?’

“Grandpa is, I got punched by Hunsiker but I’m fine. No concussion.”

‘That son of a—alright if you say you’re fine I’ll believe that. For now take Charles inside. Lock the doors don’t answer it for anyone okay? I’ll take care of this from here.’

“Okay. Okay.”

‘Alright, and Lin. Don’t blame yourself, okay? This wasn’t your fault.’ I sniffled and choked out a sob.  ‘Take your grandpa inside and try to relax, okay? Let me take care of things from here, alright?’

“Okay.” I whimpered.  “Please do—don’t let them kill him.”

‘I’m not gonna let that happen kid.’ He then hung up and I took grandpa back inside the house and locked the door.

It had been two and a half hours since I had called uncle Will and neither he nor Caroline had come home yet or at least called to tell me what’s going on with Caesar.  God I hope they showed mercy and didn’t put him down, he was only defending his family? Should he really be put down for something like that?

That’s what I always found wrong with the world.  People must always suffer even if it’s for someone else.  Like if that had been me to fully attack Hunsiker, I’d still be arrested and put in a cage all because someone was harming my grandpa.  When I heard the clicking of the locks being undone, I immediately rushed to the door and soon Will and Caroline came in.

I rushed and hugged uncle Will first who immediately embraced me back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m so sorry.” I wept.

“Don’t. This wasn’t your fault.” He told me as I felt him kiss my temple.  He held my face between his hands but was careful of the bruise on my cheek.  “Does it still hurt?”

“Only if it’s touched. I put peroxide on the small cut about 30min ago.” He nodded.  “Is…..is Caesar…..”

“He’s at the San Bruno Primate shelter. He’s gonna have to stay there until I can get a court appeal date. Which they say will be 90 days but I can’t accept that.”

“90 days?” I asked exasperatedly.

“I promise you Lin, I’m going to get him back. We’re not going to wait three months till we hear something.” He kissed my forehead and asked me, “Where’s Charles?”

“I put him up in his room.” He nodded and raced up the stairs.  I turned to Caroline and hugged her.  She rocked me back and forth rubbing my back.

“Was he scared?” I asked her.

“He was. Kept wanting to go home and even signed your name.” I sniffled as I buried myself into her chest and held her tighter.

“This is bullshit.”

“I know. But we’ve done all we can do for today Lin. C’mon, let me make you some tea and we can sit down for a while.” She guided me towards the kitchen and prepared us some warm chamomile tea.

[theclearblue]

MORE QUESTIONS because more fun

feel free to skip any you dont wanna answer btw

Has there ever been a media that you really liked, but then went downhill, but you see a lot of potential in/would wanna rethink it/rewrite it yourself?

Favourite instrument sound in music?

What's the last song you heard/song stuck in your head right now?

Do you like video/board games, if so do you have a favourite? What's the oldest one you remember playing?

Media I really liked that went downhill?

So many lmao. I would say Voltron and Game of Thrones tv show are the two big ones for me. Voltron especially hurt cause I was there since the beginning pretty much and was SUCH a big fan of the first few seasons, I think I could easily rewrite some of those later seasons to be better. Also on the lower key side but Attack on T/itan as well. Like most of it is fine I don't mind the ending like a lot of people do, but season 4 truly presents the most clumsy and poorly executed historical allegories I have ever seen in my life with the Eldians in Marley. I wouldn't say I dislike the series entirely bc of it but it definitely soured my feelings towards it and I end up not talking abt it really at all even though at one point I was really obsessed lol.

Fave Instrument sound in music?

I do have a soft spot for trumpet bc that's what I played for a long time <3 But a good French Horn or a clarinet specifically for jazz is sooooo great too.

Last song you heard/stuck in your head?

Been listening to the Wicked soundtrack again so been listening to a lot of What Is This Feeling (happy pride to those two lesbians fr) and For Good as well

Do you like video/board games/favorite/oldest one u remember playing?

LOVE video and board games! I don't really talk about it much here but it is my other big hobby/obsession lol. Fave video game is probably Hollow Knight or Hades or Super Mario Galaxy or the entire Zelda series really (by amount of hours though I've played over 1400 hours of Overwatch 💀). Fave card/board game would be Love Letter/Betrayal at House on the Hill. Oldest board game I remember is probably Sorry lol and oldest video game is probably Mario Kart Double Dash on the GameCube <3

[winterwhisperz-blog]

hi hi!! hope you’re doing well :]

i was wondering if you could just do some general Mhin hcs? nothing in particular i just haven’t seen much written about them and bby needs some more love

thank you and have a wonderful day/night :]

YES OMG, tysm for this ask because I love Mhin so much—definitely think they deserve more attention—WHICH I SHALL DO MY BEST TO PROVIDE (also ty I hope you have a wonderful day/night too :D)

Again, hopefully these haven’t been done before—my memory sucks and I consume a lot of media so I might accidentally repeat stuff I’ve seen 💔

ALR LES GO

Warnings: None I think

General Mhin Headcanons

Plays the piano- OKAY HEAR ME OUT-

Imagine Mhin playing the piano, maybe because music helps them express their emotions better-maybe I’m just projecting but Mhin seems to have a harder time expressing how they feel through words(twins??) so they turn to music.

And maybe they also play music because it calms them down, and helps them stay grounded. Also it just paints such a pretty picture and I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH

LIKE IMAGINE THEM PLAYING FOR U

Okay I’ll move on because I’ll probably become feral if I think about this too much

Ahem ahem

Had two pet cats—named Nyxia (meaning night sky EEEEEE) and Estella (star- or divine strength)

Like maybe they’ve always fed strays, and one time they even adopted two that followed them home.

One, probably Estella, was white and fluffy—and Nyxia was all black and silky.

Mhin is a cat parent, and now all cats flock to them

NOW SPEAKING OF STARS

Mhin LOVES STARS—and is interested in astrology

Before they became a hunter or before everything went downhill for them, it would’ve been rlly cute if Mhin was studying astrology and was RLLY getting into it

Like they’re such a nerd for the night sky and space and constellations and it’s SO CUTE because they’ll talk about this stuff for HOURS if people would let ‘em

I would let them 😇

Alr Alr Alr next one—

Unlike fellow Touchstarved LI—Mhin can cook.

Like they don’t usually have time to cook something extravagant—but when they do—Omg their meals are TOP TIER

They know how to spice things JUST right, and make the best desserts (though be careful—these are packed with sugar and sometimes are overly sweet)

They also cook special animal-safe food for the cats. Cute lil fish treats.

AWWWWWWWW

Okie this one is inspired by the Love Quiz thing and Mhin’s results.

Loves Spooky stories and exploring said spooky places—they have a weird love for the genre and ghost hunting too

They also come up with the best spooky stories and they tell them with the most deadpan expressions so no one ever knows if they’re true or not 💀

OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY SO

Definitely the type of person that would randomly hand you a pretty rock that reminded them of you. (Without saying it did- you just get a random rock and look at them like “Thanks? 😳” ) you return the favor by handing them random mushrooms and snails

They do this for anyone they like. Kuras has a nice little collection of rocks in a secret drawer

Though they love cats and cats love them— BIRDS, are another story

Birds and Mhin don’t get along (A slight hint at their monster form but also because CROWS KEEP STEALING THEIR PRETTY ROCKS)

Perfect person to explore with, THEY LOVE EXPLORING. And since they can slide into the shadows and waltz around without being detected most of the time—they know a LOT of places, and definitely more secret exits and entrances(they’ll show you them at some point)

EEEEEEEEEEE

ALR, WE ARE DONE

Tysm again for the ask !! Mhin is just— GAHHHHHH

I think they’re my second favorite LI, RLLY EXCITED FOR THEIR ROUTE OMG

They are just such a nerd but can also kick ur butt and I just think that’s cool.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed those! And have a wonderful day, listen to a playlist full of your favorite songs, do things that make you happy, and get a bunch of fun compliments! (When the Sun’s missing from the sky, flowers turn to you instead !! 🫶 hehe, there I helped with that one- OKAY BYE NOW LOVE U)

[mihai-florescu]

Hiiii could i ask about what exactly happened between leo and izumi? I've read checkmate, but I don't quite get it about how it's izumi's fault why leo started to lock himself up and all that stuff, especially when leoizu started talking during the performance. It's a bit confusing, but from what I understood, leo crumbled because of knowing the fact that he's been used and not loved, and chess breaking up from the inside. Thank you!!

Hii I'll start by saying that this is what I've made sense of this plotline for myself based on what i've read but I am welcome to other interpretations or insights or anything from anyone, it's also likely i could be forgetting things etc so if you have different views I'm curious to listen🫶 i totally welcome the possibility that i could be interpreting or piecing things together wrong (i'm mainly going off of checkmate, hortor night halloween, and next door) so, yeah, putting the disclaimer out there.

Let's see...

Things start going downhill since Leo realizes his music is seen as a weapon and chooses to act accordingly, and to make himself into one too. There's a response to rejection and to a world that doesn't think and feel like he did. But Leo loves bringing joy to people and doesn't actually like destroying others, so the pressure adds up. That's not what breaks him quite yet though (we'll return to that). He has Izumi he's vowed to fight for, a lifeline. But Izumi is driven by his pride and that gets bruised the more they fight, the more opponents' resentment follows them. They were doomed since the moment they started fighting through the dreamfes system. Making enemies out of fellow students when the system is based on student votes is bound for failure, let alone the mental turmoil being constantly surrounded by hatred and fighting brings.

So... Izumi and Leo are on edge more and more, sinking further with every battle. They already struggle with not really understanding or getting through to one another, or to interpret each other. Izumi believes Leo's breaking point came from being hated by others, and that he caused it alone by bringing the sensitive, trusting Leo to fight with him against the other students (taking advantage of Leo, even though Leo himself offered it. And he's not as blameless or stupid as one would think...). He never shows Leo gratitude or love anymore, is always unhappy and the 2 start arguing more seriously, their mental states plummeting the more they struggle, knowing it's futile. So when Leo breaks, Izumi can't help but blame his actions, his ambitions, him using Leo, him and his pride.

On the other hand, we only get Leo's pov in the Next Door monologue, where he reveals what broke him was using his genius songs as weapons and thus drowning out every other individual song that wasn't as skilled but could've been loved by someone. And at some point he starts doing it knowingly, in a way selling out. The unbearable atmosphere of wanting to win that sucks all joy out of music. While Knights is getting resented, Leo uses his composing of songs for others as weapons, drowning out their own voices and creating more destruction. So... it's still his love for people that breaks him in the end, in my opinion, just not what we originally thought through Izumi's view, or at least not fully that.

Leo's breakdown comes with a musical slump. And having tied so much of his worth to his songs, it takes the biggest toll on him. But... I really think it's a combination of everything. Leo's surprisingly self loathing the more you read stories with him so I don't fully believe his monologue in Next Door where he says it's all his fault, especially considering the state he was in during those chapters. I don't believe any of the characters when they say it's all their fault, too many little things were at play and piling up into tragedy, and none of them are really...reliable narrators. They're all in terrible headspaces when they thinks about what happened. But that's also why I feel like I myself could still be interpreting things wrong and welcome new insights and views.

Also... imo Izumi doesn't quite realise how much he cared for Leo until he's out of the picture, broken down, and they can't get back what they had. Ah i got side tracked. What was the question again. Did i even answer the question at all. All these guys are self loathing unreliable narrators...

[artists-ally]

I had a very lovely anon ask me some questions recently and I’m gonna answer them for ya babes!

1. How long have you been writing?

Oh lord that is a great question. I actually first started writing in like the 7th grade I think? My best friend at the time had introduced me to fan fiction and it was downhill ever since. I used to HAND. WRITE. things in a notebook about this one guy I had a crush on it was FOUL. So I’ve got a good 7 years of practice going for me

2. Are you planning on making this a profession or just for fun?

My absolute DREAM GOAL in life is to be an author. I have several series ideas planned out but I’m 19 years old and I just have no idea where or how to start. I would love to be able to write all day every day and want nothing more in life than to be the next fantasy author.

3. Who or which character do you prefer to write more for?

Azriel. My sweet, lovely Illyrian baby Azriel form ACOTAR. I love how much depth his character has and we hardly know anything about him. I cannot wait to know more. I also have gained in interest in Lucien thanks to @thelov3lybookworm for getting me hooked on him. And we cannot forget Xaden Riorson. But Az is by far my favorite.

4. What do you do when you’re out of ideas?

I listen to music. I find it very helpful to listen to songs that have some sort of story or underlying meaning to try to spark an idea. That or I just stare off into the distance and wait for it to come. One of those two will eventually work 😭😭 (if anyone needs any good song writing playlists they’re on my masterlist)

5. Lastly, will you please give advice for the young readers out there?

Honestly, write whatever the hell you want. No matter who it’s about, what it is, just fucking do it. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense to the rest of the world it makes sense to you. Don’t feel pressured to write things you have no interest in writing. If you don’t love a character, don’t write for them!! If you’re feeling angsty, write angst. If you want the most jaw dropping, soul twisting adventure, WRITE. IT. Write everything and everything that comes to mind. I have a note in my phone that has three separate sections: Characters, Titles, and Ideas. That is the first place my initial thoughts and ideas for stories go. Or if I think of a random character name, it goes there as well. Find something that works for you is most important. To be a solid writer you don’t need to write 1,000 new words a day. Sometimes progress is just reading what you already have and developing thoughts for where you want the story to go. If it’s not working, come back to it another day, go write something else.

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Once Upon a Mattress

August 21, 2024 | Broadway | Hudson Theatre | Evening | Musical | Revival | 2H 30M

The first twenty or so minutes of this show is so quaint and charming. And then she bursts onto the scene and it's all downhill from there. Any enjoyment I had for the Encores version is gone. I hated every minute Sutton Foster appeared on that stage. This time, knowing I didn't like her in the Encores production, I took along a friend who adores everything Sutton Foster is in and didn't say a word against her beforehand. And wouldn't you know it? My friend was as irritated by it all as I was. It's too much. Sutton is still doing far too much. If you shaved off even half of her mugging, you'd be able to take off ten minutes from the runtime. It's worse on Broadway in every way. Drawn-out, excessive, unfunny. Is it like a thing for her where she gets some kind of thrill out of shoving things into her mouth in front of an audience of a thousand people?

Anyway, never mind her. I've already been mean enough in my Encores review. Here's what's changed since the Encores concert. A mostly-new cast of principles with Brooks Ashmanskas just kind of there, but hey, it's a paycheck before Smash this spring; a new Jester who has been out; Will Chase as a very stupid man; and Ana Gasteyer as the Queen. Cleavage impeccable, wig a delight, acting choices and accent...a little baffling, but sure. I don't know if I liked what she was doing, or hated it. It kind of feels like every single actor was given a separate director, and no offense to the amateur theatre circuit, but it's very reminiscent of a bunch of community theatre actors who rehearse for an hour after work once a week.

Now, the regular Jester actor has been out recently, leaving the understudy to struggle through the show as best as he can, occasionally script-in-hand. And he's doing great. Good for him. There were several nail-biting moments where he went up, but all things considered, props to him. Now, having seen J. Harrison Ghee in the role, I think the understudy's take was more appropriate for the part as written. The Jester is meant to be a novice with the Wizard as a senior figure. J. had a lot of confidence and swagger the whole time, making it difficult to believe they were some young kid fresh on the scene. The regular Jester on Broadway is a 44-year-old man to Brooks's 55 years, and I don't know how that dynamic plays. The understudy is 25, and seems far more appropriate, but then again, everyone is too old in this cast. And I'm saying that.

Verdict: A Long Slog to Curtains

A Note on Ratings

I know the estate probably had a hand in revitalizing this on Broadway to get more traction in regional and community circles, but god this should not be on Broadway. You could easily chop an hour off this show and it wouldn't lose an ounce of cohesion. Almost every song is filler, and Mary Rodgers knew it.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I'd finished most of the new stuff on my comedy list before I went on my trip to the UK, and since I've been back, I haven't started any new long-running audio comedy things. I will at some point, but not right away, as August is dedicated to stand-up. When I'm home at my computer I'm catching up on comedy admin and Edinburgh NextUp streams and things, don't need to get into anything new besides that. However, I still have commutes to and from work and breaks during work and I need something in my headphones because real life is not a good thing, so I've been re-listening to stuff.

This is how I've been reminded of how very funny some of the old Kitson radio stuff is. Very very funny. And I must, once again, recommend it. Because we are lucky enough to have a bit of the internet where those radio shows are, as of last year, thanks to my very helpful friend, easy to find and listen to.

I helped a bit with that collection; I did the editing on a bunch of the older recordings, and I collated some of the track lists. I also listened to all the recordings and organized them with all the metadata I could find, which included some very forensic research to get dates for a few of them. A whole lot of digging through message board threads from 2007.

But the vast majority of work on that site is a friend of mine in London. Thanks to his efforts in collecting these recordings through various means over the course of years, doing lots of editing on them, and creating a site to host them, anyone can easily access all the Kitson radio that we've been able to find. Which is a hell of a lot of Kitson radio. Not all of it. We know there existed a Triple R episode from 2005 ft. Demetri Martin and David O'Doherty, and another featuring Chris Addison, they're both missing and I would give my hypothetical firstborn child for either of those recordings. But at this point we have a pretty comprehensive picture of all the radio stuff Daniel Kitson has done, and that archive has a significant amount of it.

The main editing job was creating versions with the songs taken out. Both versions are hosted on that website - the complete version has the talking and the music, the edited version has the talking only (unless a guest performed a song live in the studio or down the phone, as Gavin Osborn did a few times and I think David O'Doherty did once, I left those in the edited versions). I did most of the editing on the files from 2013 and earlier, my friend did most of the more recent ones.

I do recommend listening to the complete versions, if you have that kind of time and are interested in that kind of music. I've listened to the complete versions at least once each, and I have a whole folder just for songs I've discovered via Kitson radio, there's a lot in there that I really liked. Well, a lot I liked from 2013 and earlier. Later than that, there are still a few songs that I liked enough to save to my folder, but a lot more songs that I disliked. Though I suppose music taste is subjective. Are you into experimental electronica and annoying discordant sounds? Then you'll love Daniel Kitson's music taste, circa 2016-2023. Are you into fey indie (his term, not mine - actually "fey indie" started as a term a fan used to describe his music on a website, Kitson read it and then defensively started describing his own music taste that way) rock and folk-ish music? Then listen to the complete versions of Daniel Kitson's radio shows, 2006-2013. The 2013 Resonance run is sort of in the middle, though. He got really into LCD Soundsystem in 2012, and it's all been downhill from there.

But anyway, as much I enjoyed some of the music, four-hour episodes is a bit of a ridiculous thing for people to jump into listening to. Sometimes you don't have time to listen to a four-hour episode with all the music. Editing out songs cut the four-hour episodes down to around an hour each, which is more manageable. Also, even though I like a lot of the songs, I have chosen to put on Daniel Kitson radio because I'm in the mood to hear Daniel Kitson (and/or his friends) say stuff. If I wanted to hear his favourite music, I'd put on stuff from my "Kitson radio songs" folder instead. Hence the utility of edited versions, which lets me choose which bits I hear. The website that my incredibly helpful friend made allows you to choose that even more easily, as there are edited radio episodes with only the chat, and Spotify playlists with only the songs (and documents with track lists, if you want to find the songs but you, like me, don't do Spotify).

I put all that effort, a year and a half ago now, into making edited versions of the radio episodes that my friend had not already edited, so there could be an option to easily hear the chat on its own. But until I did some re-listens this week, I hadn't properly taken advantage of my own work to enjoy that stuff myself. I loved listening to that stuff last year, but hadn't really re-visited it since I'd completed all the edits.

I'll do a quick summary of what's in that archive, which I posted about a year and a half ago now so it seems worth repeating. Resonance FM is an artsy community radio station in England. Triple R is like that but in Melbourne.

Daniel Kitson's Listening Club, Resonance FM: Daniel Kitson talking and playing music from 1:30-4:30 AM, an initial run of an episode per week in early 2006, then a couple of one-off episodes in October 2006, and a couple more episodes in early 2007, these all featured Kitson on his own until the 2007 ones, where Gavin Osborn was with him

Graveyard, Triple R: When traveling to Australia, Daniel Kitson would host radio shows from 2 AM to 6 AM, usually with one person with him but sometimes with two or more guests, usually one or two episodes per week for the few weeks of MICF, but a couple of times he was in Australia on non-MICF tours and did one-off episodes - our archive has his complete runs from 2007 and 2008, as well as a few episodes from other years, we know 2005 was the first year he did it but we haven't found any of the 2005 recordings (the last year for which we have recordings is 2012, I think that's the last year he did it at all)

Comedy Special, Triple R: three episodes, recorded one per week from MICF in 2009, from midnight-2 AM, the only radio stuff that Kitson has hosted in front of a live studio audience, with a bunch of musical and comedian guests live in the studio (including performers from various countries, as they were all in town for the festival), though Kitson also played some songs and comedy routines off CDs, Kitson tried out some new stand-up bits in between the live and recorded guests, so overall Kitson acted more as a live gig compere than a radio host in these, which is why those three episodes are the only ones for which we didn't make edited versions, the songs and comedy routines are such a big part of this that it didn't seem to make sense to cut them out

2013 Resonance FM run: one episode per week, January-March 2013, midnight-2:30 AM, Daniel Kitson talking and playing songs on his own

Captain Bang-Bang's Magic Castle, Resonance FM: one episode per week for four weeks in October 2016, midnight-2 AM, Daniel Kitson talking and playing songs on his own

Trifle, Resonance FM: Monday-Thursday from midnight-1:30 AM, for all of August 2020, Daniel Kitson talking and playing songs - it's different from the others in a way I don't want to spoil, but basically, Daniel Kitson made something that came together in a way that means he nearly did manage to do an Edinburgh show (by which I mean a new artsy show of the sort he normally does at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival each year, not a show literally performed in Edinburgh... though it was sort of almost that too...) in the first year that Edinburgh was cancelled (the last few episodes feature various guest stars, the first Kitson-hosted radio shows to feature non-Kitson people since he last did Triple R Graveyard)

A Reason to Wake Up, Resonance FM: Daniel Kitson has turned 40 and does not wish to stay up all night for no reason any more, which is fair enough, so these shows ran from 7 AM-9 AM, still Kitson on his own talking and playing music, usually with a new episode every weekday for the two-to-four weeks that the run lasted - he did one run in 2018, one in 2019, one in 2020, and one in 2023

Misc.: This is Daniel Kitson appearing on shows where he wasn't the host, most in Australia but some in England (generally, the ones in England are very old, from before he started refusing to do publicity things like appear on other people's radio shows - but for years after he stopped doing that stuff in England, he'd continue doing it in Australia, particularly on the Triple R Breakfasters program)

So I've been going back to that stuff this week, and it's been great. I've re-listened to every episode of the Triple R Graveyard run he did from MICF 2007, and that run might be perfect. I think the MICF 2007 run, more than any of the rest of it, is like an album without a single skippable track. Six episodes, which come to only 6.5 hours in the edited versions, very easy to listen to in a week. He did two episodes per week for six weeks - one episode with David and Claudia O'Doherty (though in the final week, David was sick so he just had a Claudia, David called in for a bit), one episode with a different guest. Those different guests being Steve Hall, then Andy Zaltzman, then Steve Hall. Look, no one has accused Daniel Kitson circa-2007 of being particularly diverse in his comedian friends. This was peak Chocolate Milk Gang era (the Triple R Graveyard stuff in general is pretty much the best source of CMG content we have), and I am aware that the Chocolate Milk Gang is not the most demographically diverse group in the world. Though Claudia O'Doherty was like 23 that year (it's all right, I think her and David just barely scraped by on the "half your age plus seven" rule - and the fact that I greatly enjoyed their joint appearances while they were dating is my proof that 1) I don't hate all comedians bringing their romantic relationship into their comedy, just most of them, and 2) I don't hate all relationships with an age gap, just ones that start when someone's a teenager) and yet she managed to consistently stand out as the funniest thing among people who'd been doing comedy for far longer.

It's really the dynamics among everyone that make those episodes so funny, though. They're all different. The Kitson/O'Doherties episodes have this sort of tension and competitiveness that I find very funny to listen to, particularly over who knows the most indie music (the answer to that is clearly DO'D). It's the sort of friction you get when people who are too similar try to outdo each other, and when people who know each other very well can use that to annoy each other, especially if it's 5 AM and you've been locked in a radio studio together all night. That's what those episodes feel like. A very strong sense that this is three people locked in a radio studio together all night, and they all like each other very much but also want to fight. Mainly, it's delightful to listen to.

But not as delightful as the Andy Zaltzman episode, because nothing in the world is as delightful as listening to Daniel Kitson and Andy Zaltzman stay up all night in a radio studio, playing BBC sound effects. I re-listened to that one on the plane home from the UK, which was a pretty depressing journey as I was sad to have the trip over, but I couldn't be that sad, because Andy Zaltzman for some reason had access to the entire BBC sound effect library (they don't actually explain why he had this), and Daniel Kitson was making him press buttons, and it is so much fun to listen to.

I've heard Kitson and Zaltzman try to meld their extremely different comedy styles together before, usually on stages that also contained other comedians, and at least contained an audience, and that tends to be awkward at best. But it turns out that when it's just the two of them in a room, they can do it. It is nothing short of adorable, how hard Daniel Kitson tried to modify his own style to accommodate whatever the hell Andy was talking about. He set Andy up for all those esoteric jokes. Asked him to do his esoteric impressions. Giggled with baffled delight at Andy's obscure sports references. And when they ran out of things to say to each other, they'd just play more sound effects. Kitson even tried to get Andy Zaltzman to play some of his radio show The Department, which Andy refused to do because obviously that's a copyright violation, so instead, they dedicated one entire link to Andy Zaltzman doing one of his stand-up routines. It's a routine I've never heard Andy do elsewhere (though it's very similar to some stuff he did in early Bugle episodes), and it must be taken from his 2007 stand-up hour, so I think it may be the only bit of that show that's been recorded anywhere. It was a bit of parody sports commentary on the world championships for a sport that doesn't exist, extremely classic Zaltzman and not Kitson's type of humour at all, but Kitson let him do it anyway (or, more likely given their dynamic, made him do it).

And Kitson only lightly mocked Zaltzman's old and weird music taste, when just one night earlier he'd been ripping into DO'D for tiny differences in their broadly similar music. The unedited version of the Zaltzman episode is pretty funny to listen to, because it's got the normal Kitson music and then every once in a while there's a song by Muddy Waters or Boney M that tonally clashes so much, but he let Andy play it anyway.

I find it extremely funny that Kitson went so far to accommodate Andy Zaltzman's very different style of comedy, and the extent of Andy returning the favour was one time, he talked some shit about Daniel Kitson's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, which was a very 2007-era Kitson-esque thing to do, and not at all a Zaltzman-esque thing to do. But of course, Andy did that shit talking in Latin, because you can't expect him to change that much. Oh, and one time, Kitson claims he called a song "a bit gay" off-mic. Also a very 2007-era Kitson-esque thing and a very un-Zaltzman-esque thing, because, and I suppose this is a good time to give this warning for the pre-2010 Kitson radio stuff in general, this was at the height of Daniel Kitson's "finding ironic bigotry very funny" era. My attitude on that specific type of ironic bigotry being - I was in high school in 2007, and everyone spent that entire year calling things "gay" in a disparaging way with no irony at all, so actually, I'm fine with the fact that Daniel Kitson apparently spent that year saying it in a way that points out how stupid that is. But I'm also very glad he eventually stopped doing that.

I also find Andy Zaltzman interesting in that episode, as it's a side of him I've not heard much, despite the many hundreds of hours I've spent listening to Andy Zaltzman speak. His stand-up is often densely written, and even though The Bugle is unscripted, he turns up to it with a lot of prepared material. So those four hours he spent in a radio studio with Daniel Kitson are a rare way for me to hear Andy Zaltzman with no prepared material at all (except, I guess, that one link that was just a stand-up routine). There's a recording from the last night of Late 'n' Live from Edinburgh in 2007, where Andy Zaltzman doesn't do an actual set but just hangs out on stage with Kitson and improvises at the crowd with him, and it's a similar case of getting to hear what Andy Zaltzman comes up with off the cuff.

It really emphasizes how much Andy Zaltzman's sense of humour is just lies. I find it impressive how fast he comes up with lies, in the Late 'n' Live recording and in this radio show, where he's not even prepared them but can bullshit in real time. Snooker references and lies. It's fucking great. And I love the way Kitson interacts with it, not able to easily get a back-and-forth with it the way he could with a comedian who's more similar to him like DO'D, but he'll just throw to Andy like a news presenter every once in a while - okay, Andy do you have anything on this? And then Andy will tell a lie, Kitson will giggle at this weird man with his unending well of bullshit, and they'll move on. This sometimes gets stilted when they try it with too many people around, but it is pure, distilled delight when it's just the two of them.

Anyway, I did not mean for Andy Zaltzman describing to become such a big part of this post, especially since he was the only person to appear in the 2007 run only once. We complete the collection with the Steve Hall episodes, which are an entirely different type of energy but I am also obsessed with them. Daniel Kitson and Steven Hall have a dynamic that is difficult to describe, and I'm not sure I want to describe, but I hugely enjoy listening to it. Fairly combative, but in a different way from how he is with David and Claudia, and that difference is also difficult to describe. I'll put it in this way: in one of the 2007 O'Doherty episodes, there's a bit where they keep escalating making fun of each other until David does a very brief imitation of Kitson's stutter, before cutting himself off and there's an immediate sense that that may have gone too far, they pull it back from there. While in the Steve Hall episodes, one of them ends with someone getting hit in the face against the microphone, and that seems entirely in line, tonally, with the rest of the show.

Steve features on four Triple R Graveyard episodes - 2 in the main MICF 2007 run, a one-off in fall 2007, and one from MICF 2008 - and they're all extremely funny. Definitely the darker and edgier side of Daniel Kitson radio. I do really, really like listening to Steve Hall. His weird teetering between deferential and aggressive, edgy and apologetic, thoughtful and, to use their word, smutty. There was an extra weird energy in the room during his initial episodes from MICF 2007, as his girlfriend has just left him, and that topic came up repeatedly and inappropriately. Not in an incel way... mostly... I mean it might have got borderline occasionally, but when I say it was brought up "inappropriately", I don't mean because of misogyny, I mean he did things like awkwardly mention it while Gavin Osborn was just trying to play a song. (Actually, bringing this up reminds me - I have just downloaded the new sitcom Daddy Issues, from reviews it doesn't look all that great, but I am greatly looking forward to watching every episode anyway it because of who made it.)

The Steve Hall episodes from the MICF 2007 run are also the ones that feature the guest stars via phone calls, which is fun. Josie Long texted in a couple of times, unfortunately didn't call. Gavin Osborn called in, though, and sang a song down the phone (after expertly sidestepping Steve Hall nearly derailing the whole thing), which was absolutely lovely. And what I'm pretty sure was a very high Phil Nichol (I mean, it was definitely Phil Nichol, I'm inferring the part about recreational drugs being involved) called in to tell Daniel Kitson he loves him, which is both amazingly funny and sort of genuinely sweet. On the subject of guest stars via phone call, there's a very good bit in the MICF 2008 run, during the David and Claudia O'Doherty episode, when Kristen Schaal calls in to tell them how great they are.

I found Steve Hall so incredibly likeable in those Kitson shows that that I went looking for his other stuff. I have to be the only person who watched the entire We Are Klang sitcom in 2023 just for one actor, and that actor was not Greg Davies. There are a few We Are Klang live bits on YouTube too, which I've found very funny, though I cannot in good conscience recommend them to anyone else. I even listened to a couple of episodes of Frank Skinner's radio show from 2018 because it was a rare case of Steve Hall appearing on a show in recent years, and Steve was fun there, though I found Frank Skinner so insufferably annoying that I could barely get through it (he is, of course, now off the radio, and he left while complaining that all the radio stations are getting rid of old dinosaurs like him to make room for the young and hip crowd... only to be replaced by middle-aged straight white male divorced comedian Jon Richardson, but at least the woman from whom Jon's divorced was an adult when he met her). I don't know what Steve Hall does these days. He spent many years as a writer on Russell Howard's TV shows, which is fine, bringing in Jordan Peterson probably wasn't his personal fault. Hopefully.

Okay, I think that's pretty much what I have to say about that. Like I said, all the Kitson radio stuff is fun, a lot of it is very very good, but the MICF 2007 run is one where we have every single episode recorded and archived, and there are zero misses. Listening to the edits of all those is a great way to spend 6.5 hours. Or the complete versions, that's more hours but still good, because it's back when Daniel Kitson's music taste was... I will be fair and say "more in alignment with my own subjective taste than it is now", even though what was really mean is "back when it was good". I highly recommend that, if you're all right with an occasional dash of ironic bigotry in the earlier stuff, I believe it was 2013 when Kitson started announcing that he'd figured out that saying stuff like that ironically wasn't as funny as he used to believe. I don't think anything in those radio episodes gets that bad, but I have just finished listening to the collected works of Peacock & Gamble, so I have a fairly high bar for what constitutes bad in that way.

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

Music is music. What the fuck is westernized. It is people like you that are so pretentious about music that make me think you guys are not real. Not writing music doesn't make you any less a musician. Jungkook has been singing Justin Bieber from 2014 and covering american songs since 2015. How is this direction such a shocker. How many more "westernized" songs does jungkook have to release until you stop talking about him. Bts music not being westernized then what is dynamite, butter, ptd, my universe, and all their title tracks that are released with big american artists.

"Music is music."

Something we can agree on... but I feel it's about to go downhill from here...

"What the fuck is westernized."

"It is people like you that are so pretentious about music that make me think you guys are not real."

Because I'm SOOO pretentious, I decided to add a dictionary definition to the previous part.

And if I'm not real then clearly I'm a figment of your imagination... I would get that checked out... seriously...

"Not writing music doesn't make you any less a musician."

Ah, another thing we can agree on.

[WHISPERS TO MY FOLLOWERS] If only they read more of my blog!

"Jungkook has been singing Justin Bieber from 2014 and covering american songs since 2015."

I know, I love his cover of Bieber's Purpose & 2U and more recently Styles's Falling.

"How is this direction such a shocker."

It's not. But some people believe based on history and JKs own lips, that he has been working on songs for several years. It's easy to them conclude he might release his own songs... just saying.

"How many more "westernized" songs does jungkook have to release until you stop talking about him."

You don't get get to do decide what and who I talk about on my blog so... Fu...

"Bts music not being westernized then what is dynamite, butter, ptd, my universe, and all their title tracks that are released with big American artists."

I'm leaving this one to my followers because to me they are more ARMY and more JK fans than you will every be...

[ruvviks]

BONESSSSSS i absolutely adored the graphic (and playlist!!) you made for urban dynamite so ofc i have to ask, who are the members that make up urban dynamite?? specificall,y i'd love to hear abt the drummer or main vocalist <3

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH AAAAA <3333 i shall put this under a read more because idk how long this will end up being ASGHJFDHG but yeas all info safely stored under the cut >:^) for anyone wondering, this is the graphic i made and this is the playlist!

rowdy mccain (she/they, 26 yrs old) is the lead vocalist of the band. she can also play the guitar and can often be seen with one on stage. she has heavy neck cyberware installed which came with a voice module; it emphasizes the raw edge of their voice and causes it to sound lightly mechanical, which is what makes their voice stand out from other musicians. she mostly sings in english but also occasionally writes in her first language, spanish

rowdy is a bit messy and while they enjoy being in the spotlight, they're also shameless and honest and blunt which makes them controversial in the bigger picture of things in night city; many politicians and corporations- usually rowdy's first targets in the songs she writes- do NOT like her ass at all. but rowdy does mercenary work on the side so even if it would come down to having to fight for their life, this isn't a problem at all for them <3

she comes from the acting industry, having done several small gigs in and around night city and she made a decent living off it but she wanted More out of life. the band started as a garage band kind of deal with billie (their childhood bestie) and nikita (who they met at a tv-show they both starred in) and lalo joined later after getting back in touch with them, and casey joined after that through lalo

rowdy brings amazing energy on stage, hyping the crowd up and taking her time to set the mood for the rest of the night. she often places her mic stand near billie for homoerotic purposes

billie bernhart (she/her, 27 yrs old) is the lead guitarist of the band, but she also plays the cello and violin which they sometimes use as background instruments. she's less of a spotlight person than rowdy but with her bright pink afro hairstyle and best outfits of the entire band (in my honest opinion) it's kinda hard to miss her in a crowd and she gets a LOT more attention than she was initially expecting to get

billie is basically the only one of the whole band who's always been into music. after high school she started doing small gigs as background guitarist for. well. whoever wanted her really LMAO and she made a living like that for a very long time. when rowdy reached out to her again to ask if she wanted to help set up the band obviously she couldn't refuse <3 she's very well-spoken and with that the social backbone of the band because she's the only one who can talk to the public normally without accidentally starting some shit with some random politician

lalo gutierrez (he/him, 24 yrs old) is the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of the band. he can also play the piano and occasionally swaps roles with rowdy as lead vocalist. he's the most reserved and quietest member of the band, yet simultaneously the one with the wildest backstory since he basically got hunted for sports for about 1.5 year because of how vocal he was about evil megacorporations, raising awareness about homelessness, and how the streets of night city were too dangerous for innocent people

like rowdy, lalo comes from the acting industry and actually played in the same tv-show with her and nikita! after that is when life went downhill for him because he tried to use his platform for good, and he lost contact with all his friends because he didn't want to get them in danger. this is when he met casey, a netrunner who helped him hide, and he even was under brief protection of vitali dobrynin after lalo reached out to a fixer for help. he's no longer being hunted nowadays and tries to stay out of mercenary business to keep it that way

nikita maślany (he/him, 24 yrs old) is the drummer of the band. he also has experience with mixing so whenever they make a song that leans more into edm territory he can help casey out with that. he's essentially a musical miracle as he can come up with stuff on the spot and has great intuition, which allows him to perfectly understand what the other band members are going for and he can adjust accordingly to that

niki moved to the nusa around the age of 18 and when he and lalo met, they bonded over both being all alone in a foreign country in a big city that moved way too fast for them. the tv-show they played in together had their characters end up in a romantic relationship; all of that, plus the fact lalo had to move in with niki at some point because he had ended up homeless, caused niki to get a crush on his friend, but they never ended up in a relationship

much like rowdy, nikita is very blunt and not scared of what people think of him. he rarely sings, but when he does, he makes no effort to try and cover up his polish accent which is very sexy of him if you ask me

casey parker (they/any, 26 yrs old) is the latest addition to the band and basically plays all the other instruments. she also takes care of mixing and/or dj-ing for the band's edm songs. they come from the mercenary life and then specifically techie stuff and netrunning gigs; this is also how they met lalo and he decided to try and keep the guy safe, and they stayed friends after that period of time in lalo's life was over

casey is a bit less involved in the band's things and mostly just joins to do her thing and then bounces to focus on her own shit again; though they do consider the others their best friends and whenever rowdy and niki need assistance in a merc gig, casey is more than ready to support them through the net >:^)

[alarrytale]

It's approaching three years since the last studio album and he's been touring fitf forever./

///////////

Fitf was released 11 November 2022 so it's not even two years. He had 3m monthly listeners in February, he has lost another 600k since then, despite us all thinking that playing festivals would broaden his audience 😥The festivals look packed but maybe it's still mainly Louies there not new people? It's tough to know what's going on.

Just a clarification - you mentioned that it is approaching 3 years since Louis’ last studio album. It’s actually 2 years - FITF released 11 November 2022

Louis on his way to just having 2 million Spotify monthly listeners, and then it's downhill from there.

I’m really tired of this Spotify discussion! First of all, people listen to music other places than Spotify! Second of all, Louis’ music is not on Spotify generated playlists like Harry’s for example is, because he haven’t had a radio hit like AIW or WMS. That means Harry gets a lot of listeners just because of those two songs that people hear once in a while, while Louis’ listeners is probably consistently listeners who is his fans.

Spotify listeners is not the only thing that decide if an artist is successful or not!

Hi, anons!

Sorry, i keep thinking it's three years and not two. I keep feeling like it's been more than that, because this tour has been going on forever. It's probably going to be three years between albums though, which is a year too long imo.

Also, despite all of us thinking that his festivals would broaden his audience - not me! And i've said so many times. They are trying to broaden his audience, and reach more men by doing these festivals, but that was never going to be successful. I think Louis is doing festivals, because he loves festivals. It's not the best career choice, but it's what he wants to do, so...

Last anon, i think we need to distinguish between popularity, success and music interest. No, spotify streaming numbers isn't a good measure for success. There are plenty of artists with double Louis' monthly listeners who doesn’t have a big enough fanbase to tour. Louis' got a big fanbase, he's an international touring artist, but the interest in his music in particular isn't all that. I think Louis would want more focus on his music, rather than him being popular and loved as a 1D member or as one half of Larry. He's making more indie/alt/pop rock/punk music though, and i don't think that's the type of music that's going to give him a broad appeal. People are still going to stan and support him, just not listen to his music that much.

So for Louis as a music artist, spotify numbers matters. His fandom is pretty big, so he's still going to have number 1 albums and be able to tour the world. So he is successful and making money. He's popular and will get headlines and attention if he's out and about. I do think he's more known for everything else, rather than his music.

[fairyeunji]

Another list of groups/soloists who need a comeback immediately (as of Feb 2024):

Alice/Elris - Not only have we not had a comeback since APRIL of 2023, but Do-A and Yeonje are still on hiatus with basically no updates????? Ngl, I'm getting a teeny tiny bit worried about them

AOA - .....wishful thinking. never gonna happen. just leave me to cry

Apink - Not too worried about this tbh, even their last comeback was April of 2023, it's natural for a group that's lasted so long to focus more on individual releases and solo work. I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon, and I'm happy with a yearly album. Still, I do think it's time for the comeback lol

Apink CHOBOM - Again, wishful thinking. One of the best sub-units of all times, I NEED another Copycat

ARTMS - They are preparing for their debut, but I just need it to happen quicker

Billlie - Hear me out, this one is specific - OT7 comeback or nothing. Sua and Suhyeon come back, the kids miss you....

Blackswan - Karma and Cat & Mouse were 10/10, DR is literal dogshit but cmon, Blackswan go viral on twitter every five minutes

BB Girls/Brave Girls - I feel like they re-debuted/re-launched and disappeared???

bugAboo - never taking them off this list, idc if they're all doing separate things and have re-debuted, i am putting my hands over my ears and closing my eyes so that i can live in delusional peace

Cherry Bullet - Going off their once a year comeback strategy, this should actually be happening sometime soon. Cherry Dash was March 2023, so who knows?

Choi Yoojung - if Weki Meki aren't allowed to have a comeback, give Yoojung something, I'm begging

Chung Ha - this is long overdue, I need her to release bare & rare pt. 2 immediately

CLASS:y - I know they released a barely-promoted winter single a while back, but their last proper comeback was October 2022. That's so fucking long ago.

CLC - CLC reunion??? who said that??? pls i'm begging

CSR - Not too optimistic, most of the members have been shipped off to a survival show. Sucks cause CSR had a really strong start, but their promotion went really quickly downhill after Shining Bright

DreamNote - I'm just tired..... please.... I'll take a digital single atp

EL7Z-UP - Hasn't been that long since they debuted, but I still would love a comeback lol

Everglow - my ult of all ults do something. Me and every other forever on twitter are rocking in the corner and predicting april for the next comeback

Fifty Fifty (the ACTUAL group, not the brand) - 3jeong return pls. not to attrakt, just to releasing music. keena pls leave that company, i'm literally begging.

Fromis_9 - Unlock My World was June, Hybe it's been a while. We all know you hate Fromis, but do your job. Give the people what they want

Geenius - They debuted last month lol, but I just can't wait for their first comeback. I loved Voyage so much, so I'm definitely tuning in for any comebacks whenever they may happen

Gfriend - I will beg.

Girls Generation - again, delusion. 20th anniversary???? please???

Girls Generation Oh!GG - why did they evaporate into thin air, sm.

GOT the Beat - bring them backkkkkk

IOI - there's always more room for delusions guys. they're totally gonna have a comeback guys. it'll happen i promise, i saw it in a dream

Iz*One - same here. a talking cat told me they would have a comeback.

Jeon Soyeon - she's overworked as hell, so i do not want this, but i also really really really would love another solo album

K/DA - Riot stop picking random groups to release theme songs, bring back the mothers themselves

KARD - i just think it'd be neat

Kep1er - the fact that we only have 6 months left is sickening. genuinely. i need a full album

Kiss of Life - whenever they get around to it tbh, not too worried.

Kwon Eunbi - please please please go back to glitch and door

Lee Chaeyeon - I just love her songs, they're so fun. Let's Dance was September, so sometime soon???

Lee Hi - I am on my hands and knees please give us an album

Loona - delusions.... i think you mean truth

Loossemble - need this soon or else

Mamamoo - mothers come home

NewJeans - I was so surprised when I actually realised it's been a hot minute since Get Up came out... like 7 months is weirdly long

Pixy - an actual comeback pleak

Purple Kiss - can we go back to horror now, 7heaven was cute but not what we all love

Rocket Punch - yeonhee get back in that building and remember your roots

Weki Meki - not even gonna say anything...

Wendy - one of 3 people who can release a full ballad album that I will enjoy

WJSN - this is a need

Yuju - up there with wendy