#next is the christmas ep so u know what that means :’)

[cryscendo]

kurt hummel in every performance

2x09 - Special Education

Valerie - Santana Lopez + New Directions

[micer2012]

skizz. 11+12?

5. EX: "What about their backstory makes me emotional?" theres.. theres a LOT.IN . EX. lore, especially with jeff,, but "backstory" doesnt mean much when we dont. even know what they Are8U9HU. but counting "backstory" as just all noncurrent lore,, man. man. S5>S6. the fact ex LITERALLY W A S GOOD. XISUMA BANISHED JEFF FROM HIS MIND, THEY DIDNT HEAR THE EVIL VOICE ANYMORE, they were happy and normal and thought them n x were the "best of friends". they were Shy according to the christmas episode (where. ex apoligized First Thing n x went "oh dont worry abou tit !! ^v^" before Demeaning him n Shaming them later in the episode,,SO THAT WAS A DAMN LIE,) they were fighting crimes n hijacking podcasts with wormman, they were happy,,, before x just decided "no, this is an act. ill catch them in the act!" . luring them into a TRAP when wm was missing. (stuck in s5) and dropping. "aren't you supposed to be good now?" "yes!!" "no one believes that...." . ex being Convinced that they Really Are evil, making that whole His Very Own Episode ep where.. where they are Pretending. they dont have any powers, theyre terrified of LIGHTNINGSTORMS, theyre acting like a little kid amazed by water elevators n things,, Convinced they Have to be evil (which,, w jeffs former control.GGG) and then being banned by xisuma and sent back into jeffs nightmare. xisuma is the villian of exs story change my mind. x plays the same role as jeff in exs story-

6. Skizz: "The moment of theirs that makes me the saddest" the entirety of LL W6. you're the martyr of that group huh. skizz desperately trying to keep his "Family" together and get everyone to sweep it under the rug n forgive eachother BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE WOULD DO. and he sees them as extensions of him, he sees the best in them he cant understand Not seein eachother as brothers,,, also "MY BROTHERS LEFT ME TO DIE." from next episode.yeah

(MAKING AN AMV OF THIS ITS ALMOST DONE. >:]]])

7. Wormman: "The moment of theirs that makes me the happiest" THE SQUEE . THE SQUEE when ex says he'll be his sidekick. also when he comes to save ex in evils fault. also "you're eyes arent red-"

11. Skizz: "My favorite relationship they have w/ another character" FAVORITE. NICHE RELATIONSHIPS I ROTATE EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. Pearlypop his sister,, (I WANT TO EDIT TOGETHER ALL THEIR CLIPS..), LOGIC the only person who looks up to him n he thinks hes the coolest cat on the entire block they are each making u clap for the specialist boy about to enter the room (the other). ISKIZZ REAL. but of course i think Imp's gotta take the cake. thats his damn brother

12. Skizz: "What I like about the way the fandom portrays them" week 5 of LL, when bdubs got yellow again and everyone was drawing art of skizz hugging all of BEST was the best day of my life. when people acknowledge him as impulse's brother who cares Too deeply about his family n is big n strong to give hugs. yes perfect. also shoutout to all the people drawing him sexy for 3L's ending its what he deserves and also made me pay attention to him alright 💜

[leetaehwan]

Hi, thanks for answering my ask! It's your Stayblr Secret Santa again, this time asking what your favourite things are about Minho and what made him stand out to you. I was talking to someone today and lamenting how I noticed that Lino got the only beige item in an otherwise all-white wardrobe for the Perfect Day with SKZ Photoshoot. Who decided HE had to be the one dressed in beige cardigan and shorts, aka dad uniform? Hope you're having a good day and weekend.

omg true i mean the dad uniform is kinda cute but they definitely could have done better for him 🫢

my weekend was good i went to my work holiday party and got to put up more christmas decorations around my house! i don’t have my tree yet but i’m def feeling a bit more festive ✨✨

gonna put the rest under a cut bc i def rambled a bit oops 😁

my favorite things about minho hmm where to begin sjsjdhshs i think at first it was his visuals that stood out to me (ofc i mean look at him 😵‍💫🤧) but also his dancing is incredible (danceracha captain title well deserved!) u can tell how passionate he is when u watch the dance practices like he’s in this shit for life! and the way he helps everyone when they learn new choreos, like obviously that’s part of his job but it seems like he’s rly looking out for the other members and he wants them to do well. i always think about when felix said something about how he feels safe and comfortable when he’s dancing next to lino or when lino is helping him practice new choreos and like 🥺🥺🫶🏼

also i love that he is the designated Weirdo™️ of the group. i mean . lbr they’re all weirdos but he is king and i can’t help but stan <3 one of my mutuals has a series called “shit lino says” and it’s just gif sets of some insane thing he once said off-hand in a skz-talker ep or something and it brings me endless joy 🥰 the chaotic scorpio energy is off the charts and i love him for it. i watched the 2 kids show with him and chan the other day and that ep is literally pure chaos it was just the two of them clowning mc changbin for 30 minutes and maybe like 2 minutes of them actually being sincere ALDNDKDB he may never admit it but he loves those idiots with his whole chest i just know it

some favorite physical attributes include his giant sparkly eyes (literally the embodiment of 🥺), HIS NOSE, the lil freckle on the side of his nose, the marms (minho arms), that one time during maniac tour last year when his hair was really long.. 🫠 i could literally go on it’s so embarrassing how much i love him </3

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 2x01 Review

New Year’s Eve was a great way to return to HSMTMTS especially after such a long gap. Let’s dig in!

Vladimir Lenin once said that, ‘’ there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen". It’s been almost a year and half since S1 ended but this past week has seen revelation after revelation as the fandom has resurrected itself and promotion for S2 kicked into high gear: Joshua Bassett came out, Frankie and Joe confirmed that they are a real life couple, Larry seemingly confirmed that S2 will only have 11 eps rather than the 12 initially ordered, and perhaps most importantly Olivia revealed that she and the main cast are under contract for 4 seasons and made clear that she’s leaving the show as soon as her contract is up.

I really enjoyed this premiere, it felt like picking up right back where we left off. I’m guessing that S2 was originally supposed to premiere around Christmas or New Year’s but the holiday decorations and real Utah snow add a charming aesthetic to the ep. Tim Federle deserves credit for giving HSMTMTS more of an ensemble feel which is no easy feat with a cast as large as this show has. It likely won’t last due to covid restrictions  but at least for tonight we got to see all the characters hanging out together acting like a real group of friends.

The dialogue tonight really reminded me of Glee and I think I mean that as a compliment. Miss Jenn in particular seems to be doing her best April Rhodes impression minus the alcoholism. 

The rini scenes tonight were lovely. Perfect gift was a great song and I loved the rini duet during the music in me as the world faded around them leaving just the two of them. The Harry Styles reference is funny in light of Josh’s coming out interview. Of course, it’s hard now to separate Nini and Ricky and Olivia and Josh. Their chemistry shines through as 2x01, 2x02, and possibly parts of 2x03 were filmed pre Jolivia breakup which seems to have happened around summer 2020. Whether they can keep that same chemistry later on in S2, not to mention future seasons, remains to be seen.

A major theme tonight was communication and clearly Rini need to work on theirs. Poor Ricky had to learn that Nini’s moving to Denver the night before she leaves town which has to remind of him of his mom effectively abandoning him. Ricky saying that he’s never gonna breakup with Nini ever again sure sounds like foreshadowing for a disaster though the odds that this time Nini initiates the breakup are pretty good. 

I’m glad that the show is continuing to delve in the Bowen’s divorce story with their house being sold and Ricky and his dad having to move into an apartment. Divorce is expensive and the division of assets typically leave people less well off. Mike Bowen needs to work on his communication skills but he’s rocking that beard; it takes him from depressed divorced dad to depressed divorced daddy.

Seblos was cute and in a nice change of pace Disney doesn’t seem to be cynically teasing them then cutting their scenes. It was refreshing to see them just being a couple and to hear Carlos casually refer to himself as gay. In that regard tonight’s ep didn’t seem like it was a Disney show at all and it’s major progress that there are now two main gay characters on HSMTMTS. We learn that Carlos is rich which seems likely to be a source of conflict with Seb who comes from a large farming family.

Bet on It was really fun and I liked that Ricky apparently couldn’t stop singing it. The medley of HSM 2 songs was fun but I’ll be real with you wildcats, I never thought HSM 2 or 3 were nearly as good as the first movie so I’m not sad that they’re doing something else this year.

Wild that Big Red’s mom also calls him Big Red. Salt Lake Slices seems poised to be a big part of S2 both as hangout spot and work location for some of the characters. Redlyn are sweet together but sometimes Big Red comes off as a closeted gay guy which isn’t ideal for a het pairing that is supposedly a big part of S2.

Nice to see Gina so excited to have sleepovers with Ashlyn. We know from 2x03 that Gina contends with being single on Valentine’s day and from her glances at Ricky tonight she’s clearly not over him. Tim’s playing with fire and I can only hope he knows what he’s doing. I liked the little detail of Kourtney having AOC on her vision board, it feels true to the character (hopefully AOC gets elected president one day if the USA doesn’t collapse into a fascist dictatorship or civil war before then). EJ’s beard has got to go but I like that he seems committed to being a better version of himself; very doubtful his plan to go straight to Duke like his forefathers doesn’t change by the end of the season. 

Derek Hough did a good job of playing Zach as a subtly condescending man who managed to swiftly undermine Miss Jenn’s confidence, we’ll see what he and North High bring to the table.

Looking Ahead:

Next week are auditions for Beauty and the Beast, we know Ashlyn gets the role of Belle and EJ has conveniently removed himself from the running for Beast which presumably clears the path for Ricky to take the lead. There’s been some controversy over the casting choices and I’ll save my comments about it for the 2x02 review.

We get to see Lily who looks like a meaner version of season 1 Gina, we’ll see how much depth she actually ends up getting. Howie is introduced in 2x03 and Antoine likely shows up later on. Jack likely shows up towards the end of the season.

Howie seems to have a connection with Kourtney though the character synopsis does say he gets close to a wildcat or two which certainly leaves room to slide him into Gina’s plot. We know Antoine is into Ashlyn so that’s another love triangle to look forward to. Jack was described as having wanderlust and most of the cast seems not to have filmed with him so I think it’s likely that he plays a role in convincing EJ to take a gap year rather than head straight to Duke. 

A translation leak on TikTok reveals that in 2x03 Gina is sad that she’s only gotten a Valentine’s Day gift from her mom. A brief clip from the promo shows up her on her porch at night holding a heart shaped box of chocolates. If that’s supposed to be from a secret or semi-secret admirer than it has to be from either EJ, Ricky, or Howie. If it’s a platonic gift then it could be from anyone, we’ll see what Tim has up his sleeves.

Nini moving back to SLC is a question of when not if. It’s going to be very difficult to bring her back in a way that’s justified and also doesn’t leave the time she spends in Denver looking like a total waste. Frankly, I’d rather the show just bite the bullet and bring her back with as little fuss as possible.

We’re possibly around a quarter way through HSMTMTS given that the mains have 4 season contracts and presuming that the show is not cancelled earlier. At the very least the show will be radically different after S4 if they try to continue it as Olivia has made very clear that she’s going to leave asap to pursue her burgeoning music career full time (notably she’s only done the bare minimum of promo for S2). 

Looming over the remaining seasons of HSMTMTS is what the professional relationship between Olivia and Josh looks like especially since in many ways the show is built around Ricky and Nini. Off screen relationships have often caused on screen problems and dating a co-worker is rarely a good idea since even clean breakups leave lingering resentments. Obviously the Jolivia breakup was not clean, Driver’s License, Deja Vu, and Good 4 U (which is a certified bop) were clearly written from a place of hurt and in some ways were written to hurt. It’s no surprise that Joshua has dropped his duet with Sabrina Carpenter from his EP; someone on his team at least is trying to stop the damage to his reputation. There’s a decent chance that Olivia’s songs becoming such hits has irreparably damaged Joshua Bassett’s reputation among the same pool of largely young women that he’s targeting his music towards thereby cutting off his music career at the knees. If nothing else this behind the scenes drama should keep things entertaining for a while.

Until next week Wildcats 

[yayninjabob]

Why don't you like the Rowdyruff boys?

Well for one, there is no escaping them in this fandom apparently even if I don't actively write about them or talk about them, now I'm just constantly asked why.  Seriously I get more Q's about them than about my actual fanfic that I work pretty hard on which suUUCKS.    It is pretty annoying, ngl.

I mean no one asks why no Amoeba Boys in Villain: Redux and they're literally in more episodes of the og show, and I most definitely considered trying to find a way to have the Amoeba Boys fit into the story WAY more than I gave the Rowdyruff Boys a second glance.

For the record: I don't dislike the Rowdyruff Boys.

What I dislike is the PpG fandom's obsession and distortion of them and how the spirit of the original series gets lost in the Rowdyruff shipping STORM that hasn't quit for years.  TBH I question sometimes whether some of these shippers have even SEEN the show.

The boys are 99.9% of the time just used as romantic props which... ugggghhhhh..  Look if it were less of a thing, I probably wouldn't give a shit.  Hell, being in this fandom off and on for as long as I have, of course even I wrote some RrBxPpG ship stuff but I can honestly say never again because I refuse to be a part of that problem lol.  Enemies to Lovers- hell yeah!  You kidding me?  I love that stuff!    But dude, the fandom has just been SO overboard on all the RrBxPpG stuff for SO long that I. Am. Tired. Of. Seeing. It.

The Rowdyruff Boy's debut episode is absolutely one of my favorite of the series.  Look, I grew up with this show as it aired and I remember when this episode premiered DUDE this one and Dynamo were like the most epic things ever- WHAT A COMMERCIAL BREAK BUT THE EPISODE ISNT OVER OMG THIS IS INSANE  AIRGHSAKSHFGHAKAHSKK!!?!! Got to school the next day like YO DID YOU SEE LAST NIGHT'S PPG???  Recess time we were all playing PpG vs RrB on the monkey bars and shit. Great times lol.  But the whole Rowdyruff revival?  Ehhh.... Did it have to happen?  Nah I don't think it needed to, and as a fan I wish it hadn't.

And in regards to Villain: Redux taking place after season 4, that more so comes from my own experience with the show than trying to "leave out" the Rowdyruff Boys.   Villain: Redux is like my love letter to the show I grew up with, and for me that's seasons 1-4 and the movie.

... OK I go off on a bit of a rant here so more under the cut if you care to hear me whine and complain about seasons 5-6 and the RrBs lol...

I was 7-8 when the Powerpuff Girls premiered on What a Cartoon! in 1995.  From the jump my sisters and I were fans of those shorts and even had the openings to their episodes memorized so if we tuned in and saw it wasn't the eps with the PpG in it, we'd usually go watch something else- but if it was OH BOY GET READY GUYS HERE WE GO.  My sisters and I absolutely lost our minds when we saw commercials advertising they were getting their own show.  I mean we loved super hero stuff and we were three sisters so you know- instant love there.  Anywho.  I stayed a fan watching every premiering episode and recording it on VHS to rewatch again and again and again later lol. Up until season 4, I had everything on tape and even when my sisters moved onto other stuff I stayed obsessed.  The movie came out when I was in middle school and the tv show was just repeats for the longest. I assumed the show had ended because I didn't see new stuff for a while and my parents were like "great can we cut down on our cable bill now?" Lol.

And yeah season 5&6 certainly get their critique from a lot of fans so I won't dive too deep into that stuff, but more than that because of the delay in those seasons release even myself- a super fan I'd say- had no idea those seasons were even airing until after they had been completed.  YEARS later... One Christmas Eve, I was at my grandparents and Twas a Fight Before Christmas came on and I was like "hold up... I have never seen this WHAT" ok and Princess is my fave so you can only imagine how psyched I was to go find these episodes I missed post-movie time.  And then when I got to those seasons... well, it definitely didn't quite feel like the show I had grown up with.  I got to the RrB eps and meh.  That was how I felt. Dude the one that pissed me off though was Nothin Special ghrhkasjhdha WHAT.  Course later I learned Craig McCracken was no longer involved with the show so FOR ME, I just don't treat those seasons the same as the previous seasons and the movie.  There's a lot of contradicting things that happen and so yeah.  I don't consider them as "canon" as the Craig McCracken stuff. Which ok technically they ARE.  They're episodes from the og show still but... I dunno.  I can't help but put them in their own category.  And I know a lot of other fans have expressed feeling the same way.

And dude when the 10 year special dropped by Craig McCracken and the Rowdyruffs were NOT in it when like EVERY other villain was- to me it was like confirmation that those characters should have never been brought back and I do NOT consider them main cast at all.  And you know what?? Dude outside of the internet based fandom, I do not think they were missed.  Because the PRIME of the Powerpuff Girls series was seasons 1-4- that's what most fans of my generation remember and love. THAT is the show I like to write fanfiction for and that's what Villain, VillainE and VillainR are all inspired by.

So yeah. Haha anywho what was I talking about?  Oh yeah.  Rowdyruff Boys.  So version 1.0 that exploded- they're A-OK in my book.  Seasons 5&6 I don't particularly like and so I don't particularly like the Ruffs 2.0. Don't hate em, don't even really dislike them- they're just... Irrelevant?  I dunno.  Why write about them when they're are so many KICK ASS villains on this show?  That's how I feel.   Give me more Mojo, give me more Him, more Gangrene Gang, and more Princess <3 YES please.

[aerielz]

another Ted Lasso lb

205: rainbow under the cut!

How do people watch this without laughing their lungs out? No seriously. It takes me three times the runtime to watch episodes because I keep pausing to laugh. I showed it to my mom and she just giggled here and there and like???

Roy's "Why would you let me be happy?"

Or Ted doing the cross thing?

Rebecca making herself big I mean what the fuck why yall not dropping dead on the floor w me

what's wrong with all of u

Or me? Oh my God I think it's me.

"Eleph-Rhino"

Ted is too cute. Too pure.

I have so many spoilers for this show but honestly it's so good I just find myself fully enjoying whatever comes and Nate's whole journey in this episode has been so so so special I love itttttt

The level of the acting in this show I'm SORRY ok I know I talk about this a the time but Jesus fuck

[Dear Santa,

If I have to trade every Christmas present for the rest of my life for the joy of having a cast and crew this talented and work on something this special even if for just one season in my entire career, fine, I'll do it.]

"And have some fucking fun"

That hit me hard 🥴

I've been trying hard to suppres the fact that I really want a Richmond sweater for a whole season now. But I'm not strong enough. I really am not. I'll probably finish the episode and Google it only to be rudely reminded that the USD to BRL conversion is like 1-5,7

IM ALSO JUST A COACH

STANDING IN FRONF OF A BOY-

Fuck offfffffffffffffffffffff

NAT KING COLE'S LOVE ARE YOU SHITTING ME

I HAVE SO MANY SPOILERS BUT ITS NOT ENOUGH AND THIS CUT BETWEEN TED AND REBECCA TEXTINF WAS ENOUGH TO BREQK ME

this show needs to stop with the fucking quotes I'm not strong enough

Apologies for the colorful language is now a fixture of my own colorful vocabulary.

Roy's realization rant is the most beautiful thing. This show is like we took the best out of 90s rom-coms and just stretched it into 2 seasons of doing it the wackiest ways.

Norah Ephron would be so proud 🥲 Rest in peace kween your legacy is being taken care of

Shit the Roy/Isaac story in this ep is hitting so hard.

THE BOYS BEING KIDS IN SO HAPPY THEY LOOK LIKE CHILDREN IN THE FIELD omg I miss watching my cousins play so much I'll never forgive this show for finally making me like football this is unforgivable

The first notes of She's a Rainbow always make me feel something I can't explain but this is somwhow so much worst what is happening to meeeeee

"I miss all of it"

Cool cool coolcolcooolcolcoll it's fine this is fine I'm fine

THE RICKSHAW

I AM NOT FINE.

my uncle is working next to me in the tiny living room of my dad's apartment and I'm fucking crying silently because of Roy Kent and HE'S HERE HE'S THERE HE'S EVERY FUCKING WHERE ROY KEEEEEEEEEEN and YOU HAD ME AT COACH and I'm making such a fool out of myself jesus fuck there nothing like the love between roy and Richmond ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

THE CHANGE IN THE SCORE WHEN THEY CLOSE UP ON NATE OH MY G-

I absolutely lost control of my life. What's going on.

That’s it. That’s it, I’m emailing Sudeikis and begging him to let me wait the writer staff hand and foot just so I can be around and maybe soak up some of this

Oh and the Richmond sweater? It goes for 70USD on the wbshop, which means almost 400 bucks my money.

Fml.

[engaged19times]

RHONJ Recrap - season 11, ep 1 - C U Next Tuesday!

Greetings fellow prostitution whores and welcome to my new weekly recrap of American institution The Real Housewives of New Jersey! Before I jump in I’ll introduce myself by saying that I’m a housewives super fan (I even watched DC, an experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst sister-in-law), an underemployed comedy writer (I can’t define “napalm” either, Lauren Manzo), and nothing makes me happier than to watch 6 bedazzled hypocrites in Cheesecake Factory mansions argue etiquette and loyalty between physical altercations in the world renowned cultural hub of Paterson, New Jersey. I know essay recaps are a bit of a relic but I am fond of ye olde written word so please enjoy this blast from the past, you scumbags!

We open without fanfare mid-scene to red-eyed Jackie and dead-eyed Teresa sitting in Margaret’s partially finished, wallpaper smothered home. We get the Bad Girls Club black-and-white flashes but unlike in Beverly Hills we’re not flashing to “three months earlier” but instead to “three days earlier.” It might take women of less gumption precious time to build to a production-halting confrontation but it only takes these agents of chaos half a week to get the meatball rolling.

Let’s back up a little to the ominous “three days prior” and catch up with our hot girls. It’s Jackie’s giant hot husband’s 46th birthday so she’s throwing him a party under a tent in the parking lot of a Greek restaurant. We learn that Teresa and Joe’s father has sadly passed in the offseason and Dolores Thee Stallion and Margaret have both had full cosmetic overhauls - Dolores with a second butt enhancement that left her with a giant hip scar rivaled only by Sally from Nightmare before Christmas and Margaret with a boob lift and apparent nipple sharpening (is that a procedure?) that she advertises in a blush silk top with no bra. Never one to be outdone at a parking lot birthday party, Joe Gorga arrives with his storyline - I mean wife, Melissa - also smuggling raisins under a skin tight children’s white T-shirt. Nipples are trending, ladies!

The Nightmare Before Christmas.

A beautiful boob lift.

Tarzan’s headlights.

Margaret’s hot employee Lexi and Teresa’s hot realtor Michelle (both of whom are official friends-of this year), as well as iconic social wrecking ball and Aydin Center for Plastic Surgery mascot Jennifer all saunter in for car park cocktails at this 3D nipple fashion show and as the night devolves we see the cast getting truly shit-housed on shots when out of nowhere storyline sniper Teresa drops the bomb that she heard sexy birthday Bigfoot Evan is cheating on Jackie... more specifically, that he “does stuff” at the gym but mysteriously can’t remember any details or where she heard this head-scratching accusation that draws as many gasps as it does “huhs?” Honest straight people question: do y’all hook up at gyms? And if so, where? Are there co-ed saunas now? Also can one of you explain the allure of Mike and Molly to me? Moving on. Most shocking was that the Perez Hilton of North Jersey doesn’t just drop this wild accusation once, she gleefully skips through this asphalt soiree like a goddamn town crier, addressing everyone she passes like Belle through the town square.

The next day the hard partying crew of Jersey Shore: All Grown Up recovers from their throbbing hangovers and we see cool mom Melissa traipsing through her particle board mausoleum in see-through sweatpants with a visible thong in front of her kids’ friends (you girls keep me young!), Marge Sr. driving a blue Mini Cooper with eyelashes on the headlights (which I assume are like the spinning rims of the Jersey Grandma community), and a flashback of Margaret’s Joe puking next to a tree (relatable, my dude).

Marge Sr.: Fully Loaded.

You girls keep me young!

Over at Jennifer’s palatial child farm we learn that her parents fight so much these days that she moved her father (Carl from Up!) to her multi-generational compound which has only angered her mother more.

Jennifer’s sweet dad.

We then find out Dolores’s dry boyfriend David with whom she shares the burning passion of a melting ice sculpture now lives with her bulging slab of a son Frankie Jr. in the house he and Delores built together but Dolores curiously still lives with her also bulging but slightly slimey ex Frank Sr. in her original house, a near Braunwyn-level web of over-explained but still vague relationship fuckery of which none of them seem on the same page. Dolores hid her surgery from David until the day before, David still works constantly so she hangs out with her ex all the time, and I can’t help but think that we aren’t getting the full story on whatever the fuck is happening under these two roofs. Are they brother-husbands? Is Frank Sr. piping both of them? Can Frankie Jr. DM me his nudes please? The only one being straight-forward in these duel households of confusion is Dolores’s dog who is simply named Dog and I honestly appreciate his refreshing transparency.

Dog Catania, king of transparency.

Finally, Jackie calls Teresa to organize an infamous Jersey sit-down because she somehow got wind of the out-of-thin-air accusations that Teresa all but presented with a bull horn and a PowerPoint at Evan’s parking lot social. They decide to meet at Margaret’s partially constructed house/ wallpaper showroom because it’s neutral territory to hash things out in a relaxing landscape of ladders and contrasting patterns and the tension is so thick you could cut it with one of Margaret’s newly renovated nipples.

Jackie pleads with Tre to clear her husband’s good name and Tre enters a baffling Kelly-Anne Conway bullshit loop which includes such hits as “woman to woman, if I heard this you wouldn’t want me to tell you?” (a reasonable point which is actually working against Teresa because it’s the opposite of what she did), then explaining to Margaret the immediately contradictory “I didn’t tell her and it’s not like I told Evan, I told my friends” (which is an explanation of what she obviously did wrong but said in the tone of a defense), the wacky last ditch nonsense deflection “Alright let me tell you the reason why I did it. This year, now, you know I’m single now. I’ve been approached by a lot of married men that think that it’s OK to have affairs,” and finally just saying fuck it and rewriting history “I did not spread a rumor, I heard a rumor.”

The truth is that Teresa was retaliating for a cheating rumor Jackie entertained about her last year but neither can be held to such unreasonable expectations like addressing reality or admitting fault which is actually ideal because if I cared to see emotionally mature community leaders converse thoughtfully I’d watch Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday not this unhinged turnpike circus.

Jackie’s rival won’t budge so she chooses the nuclear option, looks the reigning matriarch of Paterson in her vacant eyes, and declares confidently “I heard Gia snorts coke in the bathroom at parties” which stopped time on Earth as far as I’m concerned. Is this wild accusation true? Probably not. Was this retaliatory tit equal to the offending tat? Debatable. Do I blame Teresa for immediately whipping into a tailspin and storming out screaming the C-word (no Kathy Wakile, not “canoli kit”) at Jackie no less than 80 times? Girl, no I do not. Jackie has since clarified (backtracked?) that this was an analogy not a rumor she heard which... OK, and whether or not either of the atomic bombs dropped in this breakneck premiere were true, I’m excited to watch our Paterson superstars battle it out for another batshit season!

Esteemed poet laureat of Paterson, NJ.

Join me and my own rock hard nipples next week to recrap a girls trip to Lake George, more developments in the case of Jackie vs Teresa: Jersey Crime Story, and hopefully another cameo by breakout superstar Dog Catania! Please share this recrap with the prostitution whores in your life if you enjoy and follow me on Tumblr (engaged19times), Insta (@engagednineteentimes), and Twitter (@_engaged19times)! I’m recrapping weekly but I don’t get screeners (yet) and it takes me a few days to catch up so please be patient!

XO engaged19times

[actuallyrandomperson]

My thoughts on the Sanders Sides Spotify playlists- Virgil Edition!

Note: this is Purely me saying whether or not I like the songs, not theorising about any deeper meanings. I’ve done them all, so just click on the names to see my reactions to the others: Patton, Roman, Logan, Janus

Impressions from looking through the playlist: I don’t specifically know most of the songs (I know more of the bands), but I feel like that’ll be a recurring theme as I tend to stick within my very specific music taste and only add songs to my playlists if I hear them while I’m out and about and like them enough to find them on Spotify, which means my horizons aren’t broadened very often. The ones I do know do not surprise me that much (neither do the bands, for that matter), as they feel very Virgil

1: ‘Sunrise, Sunset’, by Bright Eyes. I didn’t mind it at first? But the chorus was a bit too,,, shouty for me. Probably Definitely a song I’d skip if it came up on a playlist in the future, as much as I liked the tune(/melody?). Not surprised to find it on Virgil’s playlist though, it gives off Angst. Was very in my face as I tried to continue reading fics.

2: ‘Lets Kill Tonight’, by Panic! At The Disco. One that I have probably heard before, as while I myself didn’t have an emo music phase, an ex friend did. I liked it more, as I expected to as I tend to like p!atd’s songs. Not one that I’d go out of my way to listen to again, but has been added to my 32 hour long playlist on Spotify (not my slightly more curated 10 hour one tho, but I mostly play the 10 hour one while doing work or while others are around soo). Once again felt like it suited Virgil, (as I imagine all of them will, so I might just call out ones that feel Odd if any do.)

3: ‘Sally’s Song’, by Amy Lee. It might shock some of y’all, but not one I’ve really heard before! I live in Australia so Halloween’s not a massive thing and I actually don’t know that many people who’ve watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. Thomas is actually one of the main reasons I know that the movie exists. I really liked it, unsurprisingly, so it too made its way to my 32 hour playlist (not the ten hour one, but only because I try to keep mostly ‘normal’ songs on there so there’s not that many songs from movies in it)

4: ‘It Ends Tonight’, by The All-American Rejects. I recognised the band, but not the title. I think I’ve heard this before though- I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. I wouldn’t skip it if it popped up in a playlist at some stage in the future, but I haven’t added it to either of my playlists.

5: ‘I’d Hate To Be You When Everyone Fonds Out What This Song Is About’, Mayday Parade. Very long title (ok, I know in emo song title standards it’s not even that long but as I said I didn’t really have an emo phase so these sorts of titles always shock me) that slightly confuses me (who’s you? why is what the songs about bad for them??), but I liked it! Is now on my 32 hour playlist. I suspect that at the end of listening to all of these it will be longer than 32 hours.

6: ‘A Decade Under The Influence’, Taking Back Sunday. Another one that I liked enough that I wouldn’t skip it in the future, but didn’t add to my playlist. I just didn’t vibe with it enough. Happened to line up with Roman having a Bad Feeling™ in the fic I was reading tho so that was entertaining

7: ‘Thks fr th mmrs’, by Fall Out Boy. This was the first song to invoke feelings of Nostalgia™ in me, and I’m kinda shocked it’s not already in my 32 hour playlist. That has been remedied. This song was played a fair bit in my childhood, both on the radio and by an older sister. I imagine a lotta people my age had a similar thing. Obviously one I Love. Got me to stop reading in favour of being a doofus by lip syncing and dancing around while lying in bed (and deafening my eardrums as I turned it up louder) during the chorus.

8: ‘Be Calm’, by Fun. This was the second song that I didn’t recognise either the title or the band for. I liked it, even though the initial warped carnival-esque tune thing made me think of Pennywise. Pretty much as soon as the singing started I added it to the 32 hour playlist. It might make its way to the shorter one one day, as I actually really like it. It’s just a bit odd, and as I said I try to keep that playlist to more ‘conventionally normal’ songs as it’s designed for me to be able to play around other people without getting weird looks.

9: ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’, by My Chemical Romance. Let’s be real. I would’ve cried if this song wasn’t included in the playlist. You would’ve cried if this song was not included in this playlist. If all of their songs aren’t in their respective playlists I’ll be disappointed. This song being in the playlist prompted me to go back and rewatch that episode. so many jokes originate in that ep. also we only knew one name back then? and the dark sides were barely a blip on our radars??? how????? ok back to the song- not my favourite, but I wasn’t expecting it to be. Probably won’t skip it every time it comes up in the future, but it’s definitely not my cup of tea.

10: ‘Imaginary’, by Evanescence. I laughed when I realised this was next up, as rewatching the q&a reminded me that Virgil said they were his favourite band so I’d noted that I had to look out to see if any of their songs were on the playlist. I liked it enough to add it to the 32 hour playlist, but wouldn’t go out of my way to play it in the future.

11: ‘Soft Shock- Acoustic Version’, by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. When this started my first thought was ‘oh, I think I’m gonna really like this one!’ and my second was ‘I’m kinda surprised it’s on Virgils playlist, but it feels right somehow.’ (It made more sense as I listened to the lyrics, I think I was just massively caught off guard by it being acoustic). I hadn’t heard of either the song or the band before this, but my initial instinct was Correct and it has in fact.... made it onto the ten hour playlist!! Hell yeah!! I actually liked it enough to listen to the og version as well, which I still liked but slightly less. (Also I have heard some of their music before as I realised looking at the album this came from that my one of my sisters used to listen to them, which I’m not that surprised about as we have Similar tastes in music)

12: ‘The Good That Won’t Come Out’, by Rilo Kiley. I liked this enough to consider adding it to my 32 hour playlist, and the lyrics were interesting, I just didn’t vibe with it that much. 🤷‍♀️

13: ‘Sick Sad World’, by Nervus. The bands name feels very apt for Virgil. I liked the rhythm of this one, and it was also a Certified Mood tbh. Got added to the 32 hour playlist!! Also made me wanna hug Virgil.

14: ‘Ignorance’, by Paramore. I wasn’t expecting to love this, as I don’t remember really liking much of Paramore’s music in the past even though I know I must’ve heard some, but I didn’t hate it. Didn’t get added to either of my playlists, but I probably wouldn’t skip it in the future.

15: ‘The Ice Is Getting Thinner’, by Death Cab for Cutie. I was expecting to like this one, as one of my favourite youtuber’s fave songs is a death cab for cutie song and I really like it as well. I did like this one quite a bit, but it only made its way onto my 32 hour playlist.

16: ‘Overkill- Acoustic Version’, by Colin Hay. I didn’t mind this, but didn’t like it enough to put it on the 32 hour playlist. I possibly would like the original version more, but I can’t be bothered finding it especially given my first impression is just meh

17: ‘Under Pressure’, by My Chemical Romance. I didn’t love it as much as I love the original, but it did prompt me to check if I’d added the original to my two playlists. Apparently I didn’t, even though I was listening to a Lot of Queen when I was deeply entrenched in good omens.

18: ‘Everything is Alright’, Motion City Soundtrack. I liked this one! I think I might’ve heard It before, but it’s been a while. It got added to the 32 hour playlist.

19: ‘The Middle’, by Jimmy Eat World. I didn’t recognise the title b u t I did recognise the song. Obviously. Because I’m a gen z with older siblings. It was the second big nostalgia feels song, which was made even stronger by me not immediately recognising the title (unlike thks fr th mmrs). Was added to the 32 hour playlist as soon as I realised what song it was

20: ‘Vindicated’, by Dashboard Confessional. I knew this, but mostly from a music podcast called Punch up The Jam so hearing it in full was weird. Added it to the 32 hour playlist but wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it again.

Final thoughts: I know I said I never had an emo phase in music, but I do actually like a lot of it even tho I was never That Kid, so I was kinda expecting to at least like a lot of these songs. My favourite song was definitely Be Calm, closely followed Soft Shock and Thks Fr Th Mmrs. 12/20 got added to my 32 hour playlist, and 2 (I eventually decided my love of Be Calm was strong enough for it to be an exception) to the 10 hour one!

@thatsthat24

[discountdyke]

I know nothing about TMA but I’m a gossip pls release the rant if you’d like 👀

firstly id like to say this ask is a christmas gift in itself, i LOVE an excuse to rant about tma. this is gonna be long tho so lets head under the cut

tma is a podcast produced by rusty quill which really means that it started with a few white guys, and as such, the voice cast is almost completely white and its one of those media with “aracial” characters. however, they’re clearly written as white bc, well, there wasnt any effort to do otherwise. so this is the beginning of many problems.

the biggest instance of racism is with a family of avatars of the flesh - a horror power involving flesh/meat. the family is chinese, and sells ppl human meat in their chinese restaurant. this is extremely and overtly racist, and back then they didnt have any sensitivity readers or common sense i guess, so they just. did that. one of the episodes involving them had a “horror” element in which one of the characters speaks in english. this is supposed to be scary bc “how could a chinese person know english??” in order to avoid addressing this, in a later episode the characters only refer to them vaguely without names. this issue was unaddressed for YEARS before an apology was given, only for them to do what? more racist shit.

two of the main characters in tma are cops and as such are a heavy-handed metaphor for police brutality. one of them, daisy, commits violent atrocities bc she is an avatar of another power called “the hunt”. she basically just kills whoever the police tell her to. her cop partner, basira, excuses her actions bc “they were criminals”. its clear that these characters are supposed to be bad but then things get weird - theres an entire arc about whether its morally correct to kill daisy. bc she has a little redemption arc. unfortunately, if ur a cop, u dont deserve a redemption arc. so theres this big thing about “well shes a better person now” etc coming from all of the characters, not just her partner. it really waters down the message imo.

so, what do you do when you write a horror podcast with themes about capitalism and police brutality? you write an episode about a white person going to prison and experiencing police brutality. i cant even begin to express how inappropriate that is - especially since its a lazy attempt at horror. their excuse was “well, 2020 is unprecedented”. uh, cops have been committing police brutality since their invention. the blm movement started in 2013 - no excuse for saying ‘we wrote the eps in advance and theyre just hitting close to home”. 

and, tbh, it could have been written well but it just wasnt? and then there was a high profile police brutality case in the us so they delayed release until the next week - bc police brutality only happens once in a while, right? imo it wasnt the episode itself that was the most offensive, it was the idea that black ppl are only murdered by cops every once in a while and its just a topical issue, not something that happens every day.

i started off with the racism bc i think thats tma’s biggest problem, but the thing about it is this: tma is well written. or it was, up until season 5. but when season 5 started airing it was bad. it was really bad. it throws away the entire formula that it used for the first 4 seasons, has a couple that constantly argue and try to undermine each other, the main character has suddenly flipped into full murder mode so that each week they just kill off another character. it became extremely bland, the horror which was generally surreal - random doors appearing, uncanny valley creatures, skies that never ended - into everyday horror. it was a huge tonal shift and now instead of hearing about an endless neighborhood with no people, it became “capitalism sucks. the government sucks. the police suck.” over and over again which, while true, does not a good horror podcast make.

the point of this is: when you look at how bad season 5 is, you realize how bad the rest of it is as well. it doesnt hold up under its own writing. little details that could be ignored, or even huge problems like the continual racism suddenly became glaring issues. not to mention character arcs which had developed slowly suddenly took huge turns in s5 out of nowhere. 

the worst example (which i stopped listening so ive only heard this second hand) is a character who was a spooky woman who had a weird door that made u crazy, turns out to be politcally conservative the whole time. and she was about how, like, you think you know ppl, and then theyre conservative. or something. just, really bad political analysis. 

id also like to point out that in the prison episode in s5 which is a culmination of the “police are evil and bad” theme ends with the characters talking about how this one guy deserves to be in prison. liberalism at its finest here. 

there are a lot of narrative issues in tma but it really boils down to this: we excused a shitload of racism bc there was good writing. and now theres no good writing. also jonny sims singlehandedly created the most annoying gay characters to ever exist.

i dont think that jonny is a bad guy but he is woefully inequipped to deal with the big real world problems and themes he built on. its sad, tbh, bc its something that COULD have been really amazing. 

he tweeted once that the s5 finale would be a “chocolate torte of tragedy” where i assume hes going to kill off either one or both of the gay characters, but the real chocolate torte was the way he ruined his own podcast.

tldr; tma’s writing built up to something it couldnt actually do. and that made the whole thing collapse. also its really, really racist. 

[aarianas]

if you could rename all of ariana's albums + ep's based on one of the tracks what would you choose?

this is such a good question omg?

Yours Truly- the album was originally supposed to be called daydreamin’ so i won’t say that cos that’s a boring answer, i think honeymoon avenue would have been good, considering that’s like the song that really defines that album, despite it not being a single. also the title is just pretty. but i like yours truly it really adds to the whole feel of it

Christmas Kisses EP- aren’t all the songs covers except for santa tell me? and that wasn’t even really on the EP that was for the Japanese version i think. but i think love is everything would be cute but it doesn’t really scream christmas (which honestly i like but most ppl wouldn’t) so maybe it would have to be santa tell me

My Everything- idk i don’t really like this album and most of the songs i do like wouldn’t sound good as an album title, except for i think one last time MAYBE could sound good. my everything is a good title imo just i don’t like the song or the album that much, but it’s a nice title

Dangerous Woman- the album was originally supposed to be called moonlight so once again i won’t say that since it’s a boring answer, but there are a lot of good names, i think be alright is like the honeymoon avenue of that album, and it truly defines the whole album but wasn’t a single, and also that’s a cute title. maybe knew better/forever boy bc it also kinda defines the whole album, and it would be unique

Christmas & Chill- winter things would be super cute idk adding christmas onto everything seems tacky but the actual phrase “christmas & chill” if it’s what i think it refers to then it’s a pretty fitting title considering the meaning of most of the songs kjdalsjkd

Sweetener- there are so many good titles i think almost any song could be an album title (except for...u know ) i honestly don’t even know if sweetener is my preferred title but i still really like it. i think God is a woman would be good but in terms of marketing,, def not and i’m glad she didn’t name it that. no tears left to cry would have sounded good back then but after thank u next it would be a little outdated imo, an angel cried would be good, raindrops itself would be good, i hate the light is coming but that also would have been a good title (but it has a feature so i feel like it wouldn’t truly belong to HER), get well soon is my personal favorite song title so i’d have to say that

Thank U, Next- once again there’s a lot of good song titles on this album but unlike sweetener i think thank u next is the best option considering the impact of that phrase lol it’s perfect and at that moment if she had announced the album with any other name it wouldn’t have been as exciting i guess. in my head is my favorite song and the lyrics on in my head are >> so maybe that one would be good, i think bad idea or fake smile would also sound nice 

k bye for now- idk if this counts but i hate the title so i would probably say the light is coming is like the most tour like title if that makes sense asjks like if u were to describe a tour it would make the most sense if u used that phrase. R.E.M would also be cool idk. i hate that title i’m sure it’s an unpopular opinion but truly i cannot stand the title also fun fact when it dropped it was technically still my birthday too (it dropped midnight dec 23rd but it was still dec 22nd for me) which is. idk. 

[blackmuzak8484]

nortey dowuona’s best of 2020

to be completely honest, I decided to do this entirely for TSJ. otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered at all. Best end lists are for music nerds and billboard chart nerds and industry vultures, and i happen to be subscribed, in the discord and in the comments of the youtube vids of these folk. so, i decided to pick 10 out of random from the big best of 2020 i was compiling for the whole of the year, which I was gonna post to this Tumblr at the end of the damn year, but I guess I can just post the link to the playlist in the bottom of this post. Here, i’m gonna write about 10 songs I personally love, and pick out a few artists i specifically loved:

artist of the year.

RAP Ferreira put out his best album and best verses in a year everybody either stagnated, fell off or got rendered irrelevant by the world at large. He was ebullient, hilarious, thoughtful and even surprisingly honest. I enjoyed the fact that now he’s begun to create a real platform for many talented folx, and I hope he continues to do that in the margins and make even more beautiful music in the years to come.

rookie of the year.

Enny by a mile. Everybody else who debuted this year got hamstrung by the pandemic but she created 3 great songs, each thoughtful, insightful and a joy. Apparently she just started publicly releasing music to a large audience, and I hope she gets better and better, and even gets bigger than J-

most pleasant surprise.

Vic Mensa’s V Tape. An artist who I though had no more moves left completely turned around his whole career with a fantastic performance at Lollapalooza, a fantastic fleet of features and tis gorgeously produced EP which had some of his most brilliant songs on it. I love it all, Vic Mensah is well and truly back. Welcome back bro. (ALSO, DROP THE DRILL TRACK.)

GREAT THING A GHANAIAN ARTIST DID.

Strongman Burner, Amarae, Okunta Kinte, Vic Mensah in general.

cool things my friends and classmates did.

Justine Darcenne’s #4TheBaeless. Valencia Rae’s Siren thyhomebodies’s Coming of Age. (Phil, a producer in the group, made his own studio!) Brad built his own computer. petit abri put a track on APT9 Record’s compiliation album Volume II. khaalid anderson’s transitions. (khaalid will also be performing at Beats & Brunch on January 23, 2021 at 11 am.) Yannick Paul’s Bear Fruit. The Big Climax’s This Is Ya Boy kxng jetson’s Waves (ft. Kokko Williams & Mike Mezzl) Nicole Gonzalez performed in The Composer’s Melody. Victoria Marie released a bunch of beaufiful covers on her Insta, @toriiii_marie @ph0ssy_jaw works as a counselor online. Pay her at her PayPal. Johnny Aperano Yoba was on People AND Vogue. Dalitso is a wonderful pianist at his church back home in Zambia. Kobina is a fantastic drummer at his church. Kayla graduated with a BS in Music Technology and Industry! Damian been cookin on his insta. Travis graduated! (Look out for Clan of Dragons.) Rorghino Flores made a documentary! Francis (and Animax FYB) put out Mmofra on AmaLexPrime! (play it with yo kids.) A Hype has been dropping crazy all year, roll by his SoundCloud and check out Persistence Of Memory. Reina H been doing great covers on her Insta, @challenges_inlife. Hannah placed music on C. B. S.

best albums of the year (that nobody’s written about).

Maya Huyana -1991 DaWeirdo - Broke and Ugly $ilkMoney - Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 VI Seconds - Because Why Not/Never Knows Best Erik Cain - Heart & Soul Vol. 2 Dimitri & the Scarecrow - Messenger is Sender (from 2015, finally got released onto streaming this year, still pretty great and another great Zimbabwean rapper for us to all fawn over, just like billy woods) Flowking Stone - Gifted 1 The Hoodies - Incommunicado Jayy Grams - Every Gram Counts Domo Genesis/Mike and Keys - Just in Case1/2 Madwiz - God’s Gold Teeth Maez301 - Hasaan Daara J Family - Yaamatele Dai Burger - Dessert EP TeePhlow - Road To Phlowducation II Tef Poe/Blvck Spade - Preacher in the Trap Terrell Hines - Portal One: The Mixtape redveil - niagara Nyukyung - Trap Harmonix AdrianXpression - Sucka Deante Hitchcock - Better (Deluxe) maassai & jWords - ve.loc.i.ty tobe nwigwe - cincoriginals everything Kelsey Lu did this year.

strangest things happening in music in general.

vic mensah actually making a great record. goldlink going through a narcissistic collapse and winding up making the best music of his career. redveil blowing up off Fantano calling him wack. pharoahe monch finally making a rock pivot and it actually works. meet me@the garden coming 10 years too late for my 14 year old self. RAP Ferreira being in the NYTimes, selling a vinyl record for $72, creating an actual nostrum grocers in a video game so we can listen to his next record. The entirety of the playboi carti phenomenom. The entirety of the lil uzi vert phenomenom. The entirety of Chance’s instagram EP being far more money worthy then the entirety of the Big Day and yet being released on Insta and not immediately monetized. Deante Hitchcock releasing a great album and being completely forgotten armand hammer releasing their underground kings wayyy too early. my ass continually not actually looking into amapiano despite always loving it when I review it. several good songs needing to be tacked on to a prior youtube vid as an ad for me to find them instead of actually listening to the artists. santan dave still releasing good verses after he made his illmatic. (expect his new album to suck.) slowthai becoming cake. (we let that go way too far.) Guapdad and BfB Packman being wonderful. Finding out BfB PAckman is a better rapper than Sada Baby. John Boyega putting on Ego Ella May. Having to admit Young Dolph was good all this time and i missed out like a fool.

best tv performance.

Chance The Rapper’s “A Chi-Town Christmas.” IDK’s “Change The Channel.” Sa-Roc’s Tiny Desk Concert. Chika in general. Robert Glapser’s “This Changes Everything (ft. Denzel Curry).” SZA at the Roots Picnic. Sampa The Great at the Roots Picnic. RAP Ferreira in general. Umi’s “Introspection Live Show.” Alexa Esperanza’s cover of “Is It A Crime.” Bad Bunny in general. the jwords, nappy nina and MIKE performances at Satellite Syndicate

most embarrassing piece of music i love with all my heart

Logic’s No Pressure. In all sense of the words I should not love this album like I love my siblings but I do. It is beautiful.

best 10 songs of this year objectively

1 - RAP Ferriera - An Idea Is A Work Of Art (ft. Mike Ladd) [prod. by Kenny Segal, mr. carmack and Mike Parvizi]

I know, I know. In all honesty Doldrums should be here. Then Noz put it on his best list and I had to be all ChiTown Go-Getter and pick the next better thing: this. And in all honesty, it has the best lyric RAP spits on the album: “we build better answers.” But it’s not just that, it’s RAP’s most animated performance, the most dexterous piece on the whole album and the most gorgeous beat, a loping bassline sliding behind the flatfooted drum, allowing Mike Ladd, his musical father, to gently drift through, saying, “what if royalty depised us?” and knowing the only gold is soul and giving it to all of us, all us maggots and vultures and locusts and weevils, to hold to the light so we can finally see. On the quest to get open and free, we continue.

2 - Chika - U Should [prod. by Lido]

I heard this the night it dropped and shot 2 insta videos playacting as it played. But apart from that, it’s a intimate, beautiful song about getting to know a new lady love, so tenderly sung it might melt and disappear if not held gently, with a sweeping guitar lick and purring trumpets sliding all over the place, Chika softly holding each frayed piece together into a considered, gorgeous piece - wait, she’s talking her shit.

3 - Issa Gold - Boys Don’t Cry [prod. by Kingjet & Sherwyn and Matt Zara]

The only reason this isn’t number one is because it dropped on Christmas Eve. But otherwise, it’s a openheart letter to us all. “it’s a lonely path being different,” Issa says, swimming in the melted ice caps as he once danced happily on the edges of melting glaciers that failed to drown him, looking at the world that keeps hurting his heart, yet he still opens his eyes and smiles, and dances. The heavy drums are so bouncy the whole song suddenly flies, formerly a hidden murmur becoming a bright sunlit flight across the sky so we can all see. I can’t wait to see Tempus, if it’s anything as good as this was.

4 - Deante Hitchcock - Growing Up/Mother God [prod. by Brandon Phillips-Taylor]

In all honesty, “Growing Up” is really not the best song on Better. It’s a sweet, happy song with a smooth, crackling bassline with soft, ghostly synths, but still kinda ok. It’s the song added at the end, “Mother God”, that has warm, sizzling piano chords and gorgeous singing in the back. It’s one of the few time I’ve ever heard a man pay homage to the woman in his life and to the God above while being entirely sincere and not faking the funk. The way he praises his mom, his lady, remembering the women in his family taking care of him and him foolishly neglecting Breonna due to his overburdened mind feels full of details, remembrances, explanations and praises. Plus, it actually makes sense that God, if she exists (she does) is a woman since -

5 - Yana Perrault - whiskey and weed [prod. by slate]

Apparently, Yana Perrault is verified now. Excellent. {YES YES MY GOD YESS}, It means more folks know about how great this song, and Yana herself is. If I had any sense, I would’ve written up 12:21 as the best song of 2018, but such is life. Anyway, we have this smooth, bass heavy slinker with shimmering percussion and lumbering drums about hooking up with a former flame who’s “sober” yet keeps on calling Yana to break their sobriety, “know we ain’t talked in a while but you still know my address,” she wryly mentions. As the beat sprints away under a warm cocoon of accapella echoes, it mirrors a relationship so tenuous it might disappear into the wind. Yet still strong enough to have whiskey on call.

6 - Marlon Craft - Culture Sick Freestyle [prod. by Cormill]

Apparently this was supposed to be a shot at Flex. And since Flex is a woman beater and a lame, good for him. Shouldn’t have even gone on Flex to be honest, but then again neither should Jay Critch or Tyler or Black Thought and besides, I watch those freestyles too. And on the freestyle, Marlon frankly put things in perspective. “You don’t want us to better, you just want to be cool still.” This describes all of rap media to be real. And tellingly, it only has 310,000 views. Methinks nobody really wants real. But I do. Thank u Marlon, you continue to be the best white rapper alive. (Nowhere near the best rapper tho, and if Token hadn’t fell off -)

7 - Miah - Cascades [prod. by Cedes]

I’m sideeyeing the boy Miah cuz I had to search up his Audiomack to find the producer’s name (it’s Cedes, and they have a really great avalanche of Drake Type Beats is you like that kind of thing). Were you trying to trick folk into thinking you produced it yourself? You don’t need to do that shit. Especially since you’re writing stuff like “back in high school all my peers were tryin to hit the league / until the league too far from reach so they tap dancing over beats.” When you can frankly break down life that clearly, don’t be trying to hide producer’s names unless you actually learn to produce too. Plaster your name all over that shit.

8 - Justine Darcenne - Off Days [prod. by Mikhail Miller] / Enny - Peng Black Girls (ft. Amia Brave [prod. by Paya]

Justine is indeed my classmate, but that’s not why this song is here. it’s here because it’s a nice little guitar driven song with a spellbinding bridge that’s the best thing I’ve heard her do yet. And I’mma keep it short cuz I already wrote this up at the Singles Jukebox.

Enny released this soft, cushiony record with washed out synths over bulky drums and floated FLOATED over them without even trying to run in the tar, saying frankly, “He said to me, 'they put guns in the streets, that’s what they wanted for me.’ And I said, ‘G, someone can fix you a plate but no one can force you to eat.’” After all, why not try to live for something greater than what the world has expected you to be. And Amia sings, “We’re gon be alright, ok?” with the joy and excitement of someone realizing the words coming alive on their tongue. One of the best songs of this miserable year, and it’s kinda funny watching Jorja accidentally Drake out Amia and even Enny (and by funny I mean irritating.)

9 - Tobi Lou - okay (ft. Dreezy) [prod. by Matteo Woods & Dilip]

Fun fact: Dilip did some great songs with Otxhello, a producer who recorded and mixed 2 records on my first album. That again is not why this song is here. The warm, swinging synths and heavy, bouncy drums are why this is here. Oh, and Tobi’s goofy, silly lyrics and his surprisingly effective Missy Elliott tribute are great too. But obviously, the verse that vaulted this into top 10 was Dreezy, which opens with such a openhearted line, “i can’t help it, it’s too hard to say I’m sorry.” And every line is harder than the last, until she closes with “and I ain’t talkin frontals but we got the city sown up.” Absolutely amazing.

10 - Strongman Burner - Pilolo (ft. KelvynBoy) [prod. by Nixie]

The sweet, gooey synths are poured over the soft, zipping and smooth drums as the wiry bass whirls between Kelvyn’s soft, thin crooning as Stoneman tap dances over the drums, both desperate and defiant, trying to salvage a sinking relationship that he knows is already gathering coral and snappers. It’s the best afropop song of the year and yet it still has a Nigerian on it (well, I put 4 Nigerians on here, next year I’m rectifying that.) And they even did a song together last year , not as good as this. At all. (still pretty good tho.)

best 10 songs i love (but not enough to write full paragraphs for, I already put 10 in and this is already 5 goddamn pages)

11 - Logic - Heard ‘Em Say

best song on the project that isn’t Dadbod but at least it isn’t tempting fate.

12 - Deqn Sue - Creep

I already love this for having a gorgeous bridge, and is cute af. Yes Sue, you can creep.

13 - Quelle Chris & Chris Keys - Sudden Death/ka - i love {moms, mimi, kev}

QUELLE CHIS CAN SANG SANG./ka can heart heart write.

14 - IDK - Square Up (ft. Juicy J)

I don’t know why this is here either but this slaps regardless.

15 - Nappy Nina - Modestly (ft. Maassai)

Maassai is creating some of the best raps out here. so is Nappy Nina.

16 - Kehlani - Lexii’s Outro (ft. Lexii Ajaii)

Let’s celebrate our great rappers when they’re alive (and this includes me. Pls Chika, don’t win Best New Artist.)

17 - Samad Savage - Goodnight

What Travis Scott should’ve tried to be instead of what he is now. Samad still dope af regardless.

18 - Bad Bunny - Si Veo Tu Mama

The way Bad Bunny actually hits that last note makes me feel so excited and alive.

19 - Fat Tony - Back In The Saddle

I fucked up. But I’m getting back in the saddle, back in the saddle next year. NO NIGERIANS ALL NIGERIENS. #ENDSARS tho.

20 - Lady A - the truth is loud

Why am I the only one who has this on a best list? I have 34 bot followers. Vibe, step it up.

best of 2020 music right here folxs.

worst music things of the year:

The Pop Smoke album. Just in all areas. (Better win that Grammy tho.) Travis Scott in general. (So loud and empty and boring.) Big Sean’s Detroit 2. (why does this exist? Just put out Deep Reverence and Detroit Night Cypher and leave everything on the cutting room floor fo the next album.) Remembering all the great rappers who are dead or incarcerated. No Kendrick album (just leaks. Not good enough.) J. Cole and Noname beefing and Noname getting strung up by twitter. Jay Rock pushing being anti-vaccinations. The realization that Normani might never drop a single record ever again. Tory Lanez in general. Joyner Lucas making actually good songs and falling off almost immediately. Cardi B in general. Anything positive being said about steven Universe songs. Luzamity shipping (until it’s canon please stop! Willuz is RIGHT THERE!)

[mrf34r4rch1ve]

 < commentary/liveblog for s4e11 eXit_ >

OKAY BUT IS ESMAIL REALLY OUT HERE GONNA SAY THERE’S A SEPARATE UNIVERSE WHERE MR ISNT AN ALTER AND HE IS THERE PHYSICALLY? BC DARLENE JUST FUCKING SPOKE DIRECTLY TO MR UP AGAINST THE CAR holy shit

And this is obviously the dickhead MR that shot Elliot in the head and yells grandeur because he’s being a dick RIGHT NOW

SO LIKE MAYBE THAT DAMN DOUBLE MR THEORY IS CORRECT AND I MIGHT BE ANGRY IF THATS THE CASE

also sidenote MR in TWO scarves? Honey. Honey bear,,pick one you nerd

Okay so it is our MR, he just got testy bc he’s concerned about this obsession. I don’t want him getting shut out ei t he r

I’m just sitting here like THIS CANT BE AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE HE HAS A MOTHER AND A FATHER AND A LITTLE BROTHER AND DARLENE AND HES DOING THIS SHIT I won’t allow it. If he’s suddenly going to say it’s all been Alternate Universe shit and not DID......

“A nice BAD. place to live.” Lmao

Ah yes, Whiterose’s signature move. Knocking down Christmas trees.

The E in E Corp has a sun in it but it looks like a fracture. Better not be an AU e or I’mma be angry fjdjf

Ok wtf too easy don’t hug me I’m scared

MOTHERFUCKING SANDWICH GUY I HATE HIM SO MUCH FJDJJFD

This also appears to be a commercial free ep I don’t get that but wow sandwich man spoke

DIGGING this afterhours song, this is the shit mr likes to listen and sing along to // eg: TAKE A DRIVE WHERE YOUR MIND CAN CEASE TO FEEL what an Irving mood

BITCH THATS QWERTY

B I T C H DONT HURT THAT FISH ESMAIL I H8 U

That’s the book MR was reading when he pushed Elliot off the pier I think. I don’t like this.

THATS THE SAFE DEPOSIT BOX I JUST AUDIBLY SAID BITCH AT MY TV FIVE TIMES IN A ROW

Sitting at the edge of his chair like a band geek d’you think Elliot’s mother made him learn an instrument

She has a point and she is also captivating.

Elliot’s speech making me fucking cry Rami this is some next level shit.

Please put the gun down I don’t want this I don’t want another universe I don’t want

Don’t leave MR don’t leave us don’t do this I don’t like this

LEAVE ME HERE IN THE FIRST FUCKING EPISODE AND NOW DONT LEAVE ME HERE FUCK FUCJ

Oh my god what the fuck is happening

Holy fuck what the fuck

Is this au elliot what the fuck

ITS DEFINITELY AN ALDERSON LOOP THING THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN ISNT IT I AM SO GOING TO CRY

And this is why he forgot Darlene the first time because he had just hopped into that shithole loop I don’t like this I d

Oh my god his father. My heart hurts I am going to vomit

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING SOMETHING IS DARLENES FAULT AND IF HE. Go d dsmssns I feel sick

And his LOGO IS FUCKING BEST BUY HOW DO WE CONTEND WITH THIS IS THIS THE NEW CANON WHAT IS GOING ON WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WHAT DO WE DO

They are going to try and get rid of me again and I need you to not let them. I will always be here for you.

And all safe is barely different hfhdhd hs f

AND IN THIS UNIVERSE HE STILL LIVES IN AND COMMUTES FROM WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP?

And Stella b was the chick he was .. and ROSE and Deus group and

He has a fucking satchel

I still don’t know what to do with this information. which. iteration do I write.?

HOLY SHIT HES GIDEON? SO WHERE IS GIDEON?

THAT MEANS THIS ELLIOT IS GOING TO DIE WHEN ANOTHER FSOCIETY EMERGES.

It’s Tyrell it’s Tyrell it’s Tyrell oh my God.

And he looks like Gideon with his glasses and stubble and light blue pLAID BUTTON UP—

E Corp. always on your side. Fck oFF

Great. Now fucking Angela is the one who’s sick.

SO ITS ANGELA’S DAD WHO’s SICK AND ELLIOT’s MOTHER??

ISNT THIS SHAYLA’S FAVORITE SONG OR SOMETHING I KNOW IVE HEARD IT BEFORE

But this isn’t. He . But. He.

[swearronchanel]

7.09🎄🌟

Comments on the Call The Midwife Christmas special! *proceed with caution* 

Here we gooo

aw Lucille hey

That’s a cute baby 😭

You right Jenny Lee, if only I had a damn map of life lmao

SPACE ELVES LMAO

Reggie!!! My harrrt

That paint probably is pure lead sjskks

Vi’s hair is rough

LMAO who is this old woman she is annoying already

go home shelgah is the new go home roger (if you know you know!! Lol from the show Sister, Sister)

ROCKIN AROUNDDDD THE CHRISTMAS TREEE

new car in this bitchhh

shealgh’s yellow scarf and coat is cute af

AW TEDDY

TRIXIE MY QUEEN!! SHSJKS SHE HAS RETURNED THE SHOW CAN GO ON

!!! THAT WILL BE ME IN 12 DAYS ARRIVING IN LONDON !!!!

the babs pic :(

their tree tho😍

Sister MJ annoyed to have to walk is a big mood

“our work is here” wow this is sad already

Phyllis already knows there’s something sus going on

“They gonna see everything you got” LMFAO LUCILLE

THE QUEEN OF POPLAR IS HOME

wow just kidding 😂😂

omg the Asian babies are so adorable

but what is up grandma from Balto

NOTHING TO DECLARE BUT MY ANNOYANCE LMFAO OK ME AGAIN AT THE UK CUSTOMS

mama bear phyllis😭😭

sister MJ is like listen I’m the sweets and candy queen here back up

HERE SHE IS

BEATRIX IS HOME💖💖

PUCCI?! HONEY GOT SHMONEYYY

omfg my heart MAMA PHYLLIS BATHING THEM

babs sweater omg 😢 I’m crying already

Phyllis omg stop Fuck my heart

PATSY AND DELIA IN SCOTLAND

GARBO OMG LIKE GRETA GARBO she was famous and famously gay I see what they did there najsksk amazing

SISTER MJ FAKING AGAIN LMAOO??

oh shit morphine maybe not faking then lol that can f*ck u up 😂

Fred our pure ridiculous angel

Omg stop sister MJ 😭😭 when she dies it’s over man

Didn’t think the mother house would be by the beach/sea

My mom just made a funny ass remark but  it’s kinda mean I shant say

OH SHIT SHES GONNA CRASH

who is that woman tho?

LMAO sister Mildred is like sister E I’m kinda vibing with it 😂 but if she comes for Phyllis then I will have a problem

Sister J just SNAPPED 💀 she is not leaving poplar and that’s that !!

Omg this kid looks like my little cousin

My gal is already back at work!! grinding all day let’s get this bread

Ok I feel their annoyance but it’s true hospitals have a lot of upsides

like number one there are doctors there lmao

oh no😭😭 why is the kid left alone? that’s not fair 😭

YOU’D GO UP LIKE A BOMB FIRE SJSKKS VI IS RIGHT

Aw the little angels (lowkey reminds me of the best Christmas pageant ever LMAO again if u know, u know)

Trix’s coat!! A damn look

A damn BELL?? holy sh*t this convent is like a prison

sorry @ God but I would never

Fred wants to gather the orphans gifts omfg he is SOFT <3

Aw Mother Jesu (but also I don’t know what I imagined her as but this lady isn’t it)

Sister J will not go bc we would riot

*throws to ground* I felt that

APPALLING MUSIC LMAO SHELAGH IT’S CALLED HAVING TASTE

it’s prob the stones I bet

Lucille looks so CUTE love the fit

Lucille and sister MJ together is always a sweet moment

The Turner’s new car is fire I love the color

Shelagh’s pink scarf is cute too, she got the whole rainbow. She has to make up for all the lost years of not being able to dress lol

ok but I have to say the three shades  of pink is bothering me, looking like a Scottish pepto bottle (or peppa pig😂)

AW FETUS SHELAGH/SISTER B

📢📢📢 just bc she wants it doesn’t mean it’s right 📢📢📢

Another Mavis wow can they stop recycling names already Lmaoo sheesh it’s not that hard

throw a Gabby in the mix, or matter of fact cast me (imagine LMAO)

This is so sad omg, the little girl watching the others be adopted I can’t 😭😭

Ok sister winnie we see u with some vocals!

Oh shit TB yikess

“Sometimes love is not enough” ouch that shit ‘hurted’ :(

Oo k trixie 😍 we see u

sweetie was in Paris Yass as she should (but lol love how they ignore the fact she left bc she relapsed)

PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE LMFAO VALERIE STOP

trixie running in her dress and stockings I can’t lmaoo but we love a fashionable midwife but imagine how gross her feet will be through those sheer nylons

not at all relevant but I remember tipsy-ly walking around the Brooklyn bridge barefoot after my hs prom and my feet looked like charcoal after 💀💀😂

SHE’S PUSHING STANDING UP???

My sister in law is cringing bc she’s currently 7 months pregnant and is imagining giving birth outside on the street

the Beverly sisters with rubber gloves 😂

Well that dress is ruined trixie 😂

How do they make those umbilical cords look so real?

the Barbara name tag😭

“It’s only a dress...” character growth ok, Beatrix has grown up 😢

I keep saying but I really can’t if shelagh adopts May

What is up with this pregnant lady who spooks like a dear?? (My sister in law said that lol)

no way she remembers something from 2 years old

SHELAGH IN BLUE SLACKS?? YES A LOOK  OK

Glad she finally is in pants tho lol, serving Laura Petrie looks

📢📢Everyone has a story.. 📢📢

My mom just said she wants those vintage tree icicles 😂

It’s been real sister W but bye bye

LMAO WAIT SHE SNAPPED

I remember reading that she was leaving so I’m not surprised

“I feel called to stay here and I don’t care who’s calling me” OK SIS !!! 📢 TELL EM

“Is your knocked elastic gone?”LMFAO aka don’t get your panties in a twistttt

A donkey I’m weakkkk

Patrick gave him Tim’s tree aww

LMAO Tim is pissed

This damn donkey lmaoo this is funny

ofc he likes candy😂

Shelagh and Sister J delivering a baby! This is pure

They said clever girl so take a shot

Another boy today!

LMFAO FRED AND REGGIE SCHEMING

It’ll be crazy fr if shelagh takes this little girl home, she’s already got two kids she doesn’t watch 😂

I’m triggered when I watch elections, takes me back to that horrible day in 2016..

Shelagh and sister J on the beach <3

BURGUNDY SLACKS YAS SHELAGH shawty got 2 pairssss

SECRET CIGS LMFAO OMG I LOVE THISSSS

Patrick can mind his damn business ok

They’re bonding over smoking and I love IT

THE INTENSE ASS MUSIC

IM NERVOUS WTF

SISTER JULIENNE CRYING OMG MY HEARR

SISTER MILDRED TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM THANK U LORDT

BEATRIX SERVING 60s DREAM LOOKS 😍 why doesn’t my hair look like that?

I’m also lowkey sad at the lack of Phyllis in this ep

ANGELA SPOKE HOLY SHIT IT’S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

THEY FOUND BILLY OMFG ANOTHER CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

“You come home with me” BYE MY EYES ARE SWEATING

Trixie looks so damn good & her hug with sister Winnie was cute

the Turner’s are now that family in “in takes two” who they say collected kids 😂😂

This is so cute but I can’t believe it!! And then their were 5 Turner’s!

Neal as one of the 3 kings I am a mess

Vanessa Redgrave PLS chill I can’t I’m shedding caucasian tears 😭😭

LUCILLE HAS A BOYFRIEND??

OMG NO SHE BROUGHT THE CHURCH 🥰🥰🥰

Val is also serving a look!

STOP NOW IM CRYING FR FR

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SINGGGGGG

I LOVE THE CHOIR UGHH

EVEN PHYLLIS SINGING <3

“we share the shift from darkness into light..” 😭😭❤️❤️ UGH MY HEART

That was so good I can’t wait to be able to watch season 8 in real time next month in LONDON!!

[linos-teeth]

i got tagged

in the 50 questions and the about me tag by @chngbok ty browse!! these are a lot of questions and idk who i want to bother with them (unless you wanna be bothered then consider yourself tagged) but in case you wanna know some random stuff abt me there’s a lot of that under the cut!

what takes too much of your time?

currently, fic writing for sure

what makes your day better?

uhhh ideas, music, skz (except lino bc he literally just makes me cry)

what is the best thing that happened to you today?

lino in the victory song dance practice? (wow there's a theme already)

what fictional place would you like to go to?

hmmmmm the arbor wilds, the crossroads, the forge, h-047c, watford

are you good at giving advice?

nah

do you have any mental illness?

uhhhh not theoretically (as in not diagnosed oops)

have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

luckily not

what musician inspired you the most?

boy i rly can't say, usually it's writers or games that inspire me and music not so much?

have you fallen in love?

most likely yeah

what’s your dream date?

idk man surprise me like...going out exploring and doing things i haven't done before that don't include any drugs or stuff also movies are good

what do others notice about you?

my hair (it's long)

what is an annoying habit that you have?

biting my uh...the skin next to my nails? and my lips? i guess?

do you still talk to your first love?

ha nah

how many ex’s do you have?

zero

how many songs are in your playlist?

i have 685 deezer faves

what instruments do you play?

piano, idk if recorder counts, used to play the oboe but...not any more

who do you have the most pictures of?

myself XD, my da/me chars, also random idol pictures for reaction memes

where would you like to go before you die?

uhhhhh a lot of places like...there's a lot of cities in europe i still wanna see and i wanna go back to paris and london and i also would love to visit like 294503 national parks in the us also maybe a desert (bc stars) and somewhere far north (for northern lights)

what’s your zodiac?

scorpio

do you relate to it?

nope

what is happiness to you?

just like...a content feeling? like...idk words for it but when you just stop and go like fuck this is rly good i'm rly comfy rn and not sad??? like just being good in your own skin?

are you going through anything right now?

not more than usual

what’s the worst decision you’ve ever made?

i made a few sucky time management decision throughout my uni time and still am so i guess that

what’s your favorite store?

what's a store

what’s your opinion on abortion?

i don't rly think i get to say much abt it while i'm not in a position where i can talk yknow? you should be allowed to but i imagine it's tough as shit too

do you keep a bucket list?

nah

do you have a favorite album?

A FEW there's wildness by snow patrol and mania by fob and wild world by bastille and miroh (that's currently tho that shit changes a lot)

what do you want for your birthday?

my birthday isn't happening for a while and what i want i kinda need before so xD for my birthday i wish i could be with my family but i won't be able to :/

what are most people’s first impression of you?

uhhhhh awk i guess which is right, also rly smart and like...organised which is wrong

what age to you seem according to most people?

apparently like 16, i always get asked when i finish school

where do you keep your phone while sleeping?

on my bed next to my pillow, stuffed under some plushies

what word do you say the most?

idk honestly i don't talk much probably some expletive

what’s the oldest age would you date?

idk man i'm not rly attracted to ppl much older than me never have been if it ever happened they'd prolly be like 2 years younger oops that's like the norm with crushes

what’s the youngest age would you date?

oh uh see above i guess like...currently i'm 23 so like? not younger than 20?

what job/career do most people say sould suit you?

they don't rly say anything abt that xD

what’s your favorite music genre?

uhhh rock? alt stuff? i love some folk and some pop too and i'm a slut for lofi

if you would live in any country in the world, where would it be?

here tbh

what’s your current favorite song?

u h h probably still chronosaurus! doesn't look like it's leaving that spot any time soon oops

how long have you have this blog for?

a bit over a month now?

what are you excited for?

how pathetic is it if i say my summer course? idk just...smth new i guess i'm looking forward to it (not to being away from games and photoshop)

are you a better talker or a listener?

listener

what is the last productive thing you did?

i finished vacuuming the house today

what do you want for Christmas?

s h r u g

what classes do you get the best grades in?

language stuff, music

on a scale of 1-10 how are you feeling right now?

a 4? maybe?

what can you see yourself doing in 10 years?

idk man i wanna go into speech therapy so?? that? or research even? but i gotta get into the masters first rip

when did you first get your heartbreak?

oh dear. probably like...in kindergarten when my crush was an absolute ass (so far, 80% of them have been there's a theme) i was pathetic

at what age do you want to get married?

idk man i guess in like 100 years when someone finally decides they rly want to put up with this mess

what career did you want to have as a child?

florist, author, actress

what do you crave right now?

hugs? and drawing skill

1. How tall are you?

i'm jisung-sized

2. What color are your eyes?

hazel

3. What color and style is your hair?

uhhhh dark blonde would be the accurate desc prolly? it's like...blondebrowngoldish and too long and i usually braid it and i have a super messy fringe

4. Do you wear glasses?

no

5. Do you have braces?

luckily not!

6. What’s your fashion sense?

casual and basic with a dash of experimental and sometimes a bit cutesy

7. Full name?

8. When were you born?

long, long ago, too long ago

9. Where are you from and where do you live

germany!

10. What school(s) do you go to?

no more school for me, i'm going to university

11. What kind of student are you?

the one that kinda gets by far too well for procrastinating so badly (all i have to say in my defense is that i'm anxious as shit abt everything)

12. Do you like school?

i used to!! like...the last 3 and first 3 years were chill

13. Fav subject?

music, history, english, latin

14. Fav TV shows?

i rly only watch b99 but i would be careful calling it my favorite since like...3 eps ago

15. Fav books?

my current fave is less by andrew sean greer (aka it was my fave last autumn and i've read like 3 since and they weren't super great)

16. Fav pastimes?

uhhh writing gaming music and lately, giffing too!

17. Do you have any regrets?

a couple

18. Dream job?

i mean i do still wish i could just like...do smth artsy like be an author or an illustrator but i'm bad at writing and literally cannot draw at all so

19. Would you ever like to be married?

yes absolutely

20. Would you like to have children?

kinda yeah?

21. If so, how many?

2

22. Do you like shopping?

only for a limited amount of time

23. What countries have you visited?

denmark, norway, france, the uk, spain, italy, austria, slovakia, we also drove through switzerland like twice

24. Scariest nightmare you’ve ever had?

uhhhhhh basically all of the end of the world/war scenario dreams i've had?

25. Any enemies?

does myself count

26. Do you have a significant other?

nah

27. Do you get along with your family?

yeah? we're not super close but we don't hate each other

28. Do you believe in miracles?

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES WHERE YA FROM YOU SEXY THING no but rly i do

29. How are you?

not terrible

[tonguetiedmag]

interview: Milkk

After making their way through a blizzard to play a house show with a last minute venue change, indie 3-piece Milkk sat down to chat with me about upcoming music, celebrity crushes, and the time lead vocalist Pat Kiloran was convinced to dye his hair yellow after a show. From the non-stop teasing between the trio to their effortless ability to finish each other’s sentences, the men of Milkk clearly share a light-hearted and special bond that only adds to their likeability.

Let’s kick things off with some fun. If you could have any celebrity star in your next music video, who would you choose?

Kiloran: “I love Ellie Goulding, she’s my secret crush. But.. on the other spectrum, I have my man crush on Jake Gyllenhaal, naturally. So let’s bring Jake in...and I don’t know what he’s doing in the video, but just looking great, being Jake. “

I love that! Strawberry milk, chocolate milk, or white milk?

John Ogelby(Percussion): “Chocolate.”

Kiloran: “Chocolate’s like a treat, I guess on a day to day [basis] I’m more almond milk. In my coffee I like to put oat milk or coconut milk.”

Jack Vondrachek (Guitar): “Strawberry.”

Kiloran: “Why?!”

Ogelby: “Comes out of nowhere, I love it! Right when you think you know him...”

What’s your favorite place to eat, on the road specifically? A roadside restaurant, if you will.

Ogelby: “Consistent, Chick-Fil-A.”

Kiloran: “Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle, probably.”And on Sundays its Chipotle, right?

Ogelby: “On Sundays we break into Chick-Fil-A. I love.. I think it’s called ‘Pok Pok’ in Portland?”

What kind of food?

Ogelby: “It’s like vietnamese fusion, but they have these wings that are just.. I don’t know what the secret is, but its amazing. The spices and seasoning, it’s like nothing I’ve ever had -- I don’t even like wings, but I love these.”

Kiloran: “There’s this tamale place in Indianapolis that I’ve been several times that I love.. There’s this deli in New York called ‘Katz deli’ that’s famous, but it lives up to the hype. It’s like twenty dollars for a sandwich, but it’s so worth it. There’s a place in Ft.Worth, Texas called ‘Joe T. Garcia’s’, it's this big patio mexican place and there’s like two things on the menu. You can just pay and they bring it to you, and it’s just a good vibe.”

Ogelby: “I feel like there’s a lot of places we’ve all hit up separately, but because this is only our second tour, we’re figuring it out. We’re pretty much on the same page though as far as food goes..”

Kiloran: “I don’t think anyone’s too picky. Obviously sometimes if we’re driving quick we have to get fast food, but we try to keep it relatively healthy-ish.”

2018’s almost over-- what have been your favorite album releases this year?

Kiloran: “I liked Lany’s new album, its good.”

Vondrachek: “I liked new Kanye. It was weird but, I liked that.”

Kiloran: “I love the Fickle Friends album. I know they’re a little smaller but it’s super good.”

What have you guys been listening to on drives lately?

Kiloran: “Senses Fail, Underoath, all the old crap that we grew up on. Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Chapel. We listened to One Direction today. We did a couple, mostly off of “Four”. We did ‘Steal My Girl’, ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, we did ‘Drag Me Down’.”

If you could set up your ideal tour, what bands would you want to tour with?

Kiloran: “That's a hard question because I think there are a few different ways to answer that. I think there’s ‘What would the DREAM tour be?’, and I think at the end of the day for me, the dream tour is, getting to the point where we’re the headliner and just doing headline tours. Obviously, I think a lot of people want that. But, if we were opening for someone, on the dream tour level... the last several years I got into bands in the more indie pop world -- some of the staples, like The 1975 or Lany, I just genuinely like those bands. Even though they’re so popular, I like them. Those are some I would enjoy as far as that, but then there’s the other level of next year, just on a realistic rise, ‘Who would we tour with?’ ...It would be really cool to do some co-headliner smaller support stuff with.. we’ve been talking to Chapel a lot and I’m hoping we can work something out with them, because I know we’re both interested in that. It’s kind of a hard question -- I think as long as..it’s artists that are similar in vibe to what we’re doing, and that make sense as a tour, and that are just doing something that’s cool...I think that’s what matters as far as touring with someone. We’re just kinda trying to do our own thing, and so if someone else is doing their own thing and it’s cool, and it fits together, then I feel like its a good tour.”

Ogelby: “It’s always awesome, too, when personalities just work out, ‘cause it just sucks touring with people that you don’t get along with.”

Kiloran: “We’re doing some on the west coast coming up, but we’ve done a handful of dates this year with that band The Stolen, its co-headline stuff, and they’re really nice guys. Musically they’re a little more rock than us, but it’s similar enough that it works and the hangs are good. So really, those are the things you look for.”

I know you guys haven’t toured much, but have you had anything particularly odd or funny happen to you while traveling?

Kiloran: “We did a show in upstate New York.. out in the mountains, and me and Jack ended up staying up til like 2am, and that’s when the yellow hair happened. Someone dyed my hair yellow and we just hung out by a fire pit and chilled. It was super cold, I was half asleep and had zero brain cells left -- it wasn’t odd or weird, it was just a non-traditional tour experience, because I feel like house shows, in general, are not as common in our genre. We just got to hang out with the people who came there to see us which was really fun and cool, and then it ended up..dying my hair outside and getting sprayed with a hose trying to wash it off, and getting bleach all over my pants and shoes...it was just a funny experience.”

Ogelby: “I thought of something. We played in Philly at this arts center, and it was a good point in the tour where we were hanging out with The Stolen a lot and it was good, it was friends. So we’re loading in and setting up, and the sound guy introduces himself..he’s pretty nice, but all of a sudden --

Kiloran: “--you could tell he was a little bit of an anarchist punk type.”

Ogelby: “--and I’m like ‘I don’t care, that’s awesome!’, but then he starts playing this music....I listen to a lot of music, but this was creepy, gutter-like--”

Kiloran:”--it was just like... weird groaning.”

Ogelby: “And it’s LOUD. It’s not ‘Oh, I’ll just play this in the background’. We were setting up and there were people there to help with merch and take photos, and other people outside of our band, and we’re looking at each other like, ‘How do we ask him if we can somehow play our own stuff?’ We literally had to do it right before doors opened because we were afraid people were going to get freaked out and leave.”

Kiloran:”It was in a mausoleum, so it was even weirder. That was pretty bizarre.”

On to more music related things, the phrase “welcome to my headrush” has been pretty prominent on your socials, and it flashed at the end of the “Thinkin’ Bout U” music video. Can you tell me more about the significance of that, or what it means?

Kiloran: “I guess all I can say for now is that you’ll ..see. Because it’s all part of the plan, it’s just a piece of the puzzle...We’re working on leading up to our first album so everything’s kind of coming to a head with that stuff.”

Should people be expecting another EP next or a full-length album?

Kiloran: “Full length.”

Very exciting!

Kiloran: “They can probably be expecting a couple songs from that album first.”

Do we know when we might be expecting new music?

Kiloran: “Some very soon, and some soon enough. The album won’t be till next year, that’s all I can say.”

Right --I’d be impressed if it was this year, considering it’s almost over.

Kiloran: “Plus music dies after Thanksgiving. No one in the industry answers their phones, it’s just done.”

Vondrachek: “Unless we do a holiday record..”

Kiloran: “Yeah, let’s do a Christmas album!”

Ogelby: “Cookies and Milkk.”

What would you say is different about playing house shows? (vs clubs)

Kiloran: ”I enjoy it, it’s a totally different thing. It’s not really the way you would necessarily expect to hear our music. I think what’s cool about it is it allows the songs to be played in their raw form because a lot of our songs have a lot of production, and stuff going on. I don’t think we’ll do much more of that [house shows], it’s just for this first year to get us from point A to point B. The thing I do like about it is that it does allow us the opportunity to connect with people on a little more laid back level -- there’s no venue, no other bands playing, no security, it’s just really laid back. We’ve had some that are small like this one where there are 10 people, and we’ve had somewhere 30 people show up to it, and it’s just fun in that way; it allows a more personal connection. If it’s just us, it’s most often people who came specifically because they like our songs. When you go play a club.. on a tour with someone else, some people are there for you, some people are there for them, and you never know what’s going to happen — if they’re going to dig what you’re doing or not --, but doing a show where it’s just a couple dozen people and they’re there for you, then we know they’re gonna be stoked on it, and it gets you into it, and then you can spend time with them after and hang out. It’s a good connecting point on both ends, I think.”

What’s it been like playing new markets?

Kiloran: ”It’s always nerve-wracking because you literally never know. We had played Chicago before and we did one of these house shows there, and we saw people come back, so that’s always cool. Sometimes you go in thinking, ‘This is gonna suck, I don’t know who’s gonna show up’. Then there’s a full room and you’re like ‘Oh, sweet!’. Other times you literally have no idea, and there are 10 people.. and you’re like, ‘Cool!’-- It’s just part of it. It’s definitely a little scary, but it seems like there’s been at least a handful of people everywhere, so as long as there’s that it’s like, ‘Ok cool. We’re here.’”

You guys aren’t all from the same place--what’s it been like for you guys’ creative-process wise, being separate but together?

Ogelby: “The internet. Lots of emails back and forth.”

Has it created any difficult obstacles for you?

Kiloran: “Jack and I are producers by trade, so we do what we need to do and send the files back and forth.”

Vondrachek: “It is definitely ideal to be together, though”.

How do you guys all know each other?

Kiloran: “Me and Jack grew up together..we’ve known each other since junior high in Minnesota. Then I moved around a bunch and met John just playing gigs in Nashville the past couple years. When I asked Jack to start this project with me, it was just going to be a duo thing-- but then John and I were on a gig together one time, back when I was doing solo stuff before Milkk ....and it just kind of organically fell together.”

What do you want fans to know about your music?

Kiloran:“I would say I’m probably the principle writer, especially as far as lyrics go...It started as a fun project, just writing songs that sounded cool, and as we’ve went it’s gotten more personal, and the stuff on the album is definitely very much more just straight from my own perspective.”

Ogelby:”Except for the one you wrote about the girl I dated but named it after—“

Kiloran:”-after a different girl?” *laughter* “Yeah okay, so there’s some mutual perspective, that’s fair. I think at the end of the day, as long as someone can connect with it and relate with it and it gives them some sort of feeling, I don’t really care what feeling that is, cause I think that’s the point. I think good music or art just evokes something. So when people are like ‘I HATE this band’, or ‘I hate that band!’, I’m like, ‘Well, sounds like they’re doing something right, they made you feel something.’ When people have told us that we suck, I’m like, ‘Cool1 It evoked something that stirred up a reaction in you.’ It’s better than hearing ‘Yeah, it’s fine.’ I love hearing ‘You suck’, or ‘You’re awesome’.

How has future music evolved from previous releases? What can people look forward to?

Kiloran: “I think it’s getting more and more unique; more personality, more personal. I think it’s steering away from the typical indie pop and some stuff is veering a little more pop. A lot of the stuff that’s coming together, I haven’t heard stuff like it that’s out there right now. I’m not saying it’s drastically crazy or different -- it’s not this weird avant garde thing --, it’s still pop music, but I think there is some sort of unique quality to it. It’s very song focused; song writing. We’ve been trying to write really good songs, and then take the production around that to fit the song.”

Where have you pulled inspiration from for unreleased music?

Kiloran: “Sonically and sound wise, we’re just trying to do what we like and not worrying necessarily about ‘this person’s doing this’, or ‘this person’s doing that’..It’s more of a.. ‘this sounds good to me. ’ ..I’d say the whole point of this album from a lyrical perspective is to open up the mind of an artist to a listener, in the sense that I feel like a lot of times bands or artists sometimes put up a persona, or have a wall there. What I wanted to do is..have this concept of peeling away those layers of the social media, and the photography, and the production and just let it be. ‘This is what it’s like to be a fellow human person who’s doing this weird career., the emotions that go along with that because of it, and also from other life things.’ It’s supposed to open up a little more of the humanity of the ‘glorified artist’ mentality, because I think ‘celebrityism ’ is so common and I think that’s really dangerous. ..What I’m trying to do is connect with people -- like ‘Hey, I know you like what I’m doing, but that doesn’t have to be blown up’. I hope a bunch of people like it, and I hope we can sell out a bunch of stuff, I wanna do all that , but I just like the aspect of that personal connection, and letting people see inside.”

And to close with Tongue Tied’s signature question, How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard music before?

Ogelby: “It’s like you’re tapping your foot, but you’re wondering why you’re crying. A sad bop.”

Check out Milkk online:

https://wearemilkk.com

https://twitter.com/wearemilkk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

https://soundcloud.com/wearemilkk

https://www.facebook.com/wearemilkk/

Article by: Liz Holland

[dingyuxi]

replying directly to ur reply: ofc + THANK /YOU/!! my majors are media & cultural studies + asian studies so nothing as intense as pharmacy but one project was sooooo stressful, i'm glad the semester is over with! ahn bohyun kind of has a punchable face................. i mean i think he was even a boxer or smthn but ..yh i get what u mean. most of the time i can overlook what i think abt actors' visuals unless they're a trashy person like lee byunghun or yoo yeonseok. watching through gifs though is the best way to enjoy a drama sometimes, especially when they're your gifs ;) and YESSS LINK!!! i agree that their visuals look good together and it's refreshing that gayoung is the older one of the two, they had table reading clips out and she seemed like an older friend that teases him !! it'll be interesting to see how they incorporate crime into the drama tho!! also if u have time pls give from now on showtime a chance! it's sooo good ik i said this in the last ask but i look forward to it the most each week out of korean dramas airing rn! i do think to my star had v natural chem and also their visuals were nice together, i'm a sucker for people who have compatible faces..ok that sounds weird but ygwim! SKIPPING THE SECOND COUPLE IN PLUS & MINUS?? *insert kermit falling off building gif* but yh.. fu ligong is my beloved. king could've hidden it anywhere in his apt but decides on one of the most open places 😭i love how cheng isn't rejecting his confession but needs time to think about seeing him romantically, super realistic and sweet! i'm still SOOO behind on lap but junyoung.. all i've been seeing is that she's starting shit like u said. she would've been better off in spainnnnnn. WAIT U THINK ONE SPRING NIGHT IS SUPERIOR TO HALF OF HALF?? i could go on for days abt half of half. the fact that it was shortened 4 eps still makes me MADDDDD. but one spring night is <333 tbh i haven't watched more since i sent u the last message but i wanna savor this haein x jimin magic. kp ep 6.. was amazing.. v obsessed w the ep!! also i only knew about alchemy of souls because of minhyun 😋i have one song saved from both flor and the band camino!! i've never heard of vinyl theatre or gentle bones so i'll definitely check out their musiccc!! also gaho!! <333 i almost saw plt in chicago when they came but i had gone to too many concerts at the time and another ticket was not in the budget 😭i haven't listened to gaho since 2020 but my fave songs are still then and pink walk!! also lucyyyyy, i need to stan them more as a band but i really liked flowering!!! gwangil's cover of 난춘 is also in my favorite videos playlist for youtube, and i very rarely hit the like button on vids but that video is liked!! also umm i saw ur carrot cake post the other day. um. ummmm. sammmm.. how can u like carrot cake ??? after all these times i've said u have superior taste w dramas i'm afraid u don't have superior taste w desserts 😥:( it's been a stressful week but hopefully next week i'll get some answers and have less stress! i'm sorry you tested positive for covid tho :( i remember at the start of the pandemic my mom's son invited my sis and i to decorate his christmas tree and then i went back home and not soon after my mom's son tested positive and my mom blamed me for possibly getting it :)))))))) but i hope u aren't feeling too sick and resting up!! i hope u are having a lovely day as well despite having covid!! - z anon

don't demean the arts like that! your studies are just as vigorous and important <33 asldkjf HE DOESSS (I don't find him hot either :D) sometimes I am a very vain individual and like to watch pretty people being pretty on my screen..."especially when they're your gifs" Z PLEASE. awww that's cute I actually haven't watched the table reading but I've seen the trailers and short clips of them. I totally forgot how old gayoung is lol but they seemed similar in age so I rolled with it. also I think they were both child actors? I know jingoo was, I think gayoung was too but I could be wrong. ahhh I'm glad you're enjoying itttt I've been kinda in a kdrama/cdrama slump since none of them are really hitting for me rn (even of the ones I am watching I'm not like SUPER invested in). kinnporsche sustains me at the moment. I'll keep showtime on the list and try it out if I have time ^^ omg is skipping the second couple a controversial take oops. I don't even want to talk about junyoung...she gets my blood boiling. UMMMM YES?? (ngl I had to google half of half because I forget apoym was also called that lol). Don't get me wrong apoym was soft and cute, but idk own just hit me more with them mature characters and themes. the episode cut our the drama I think, it really could've been better if they'd gotten the full 16 eps. omg PLT in concert! that would've been fun I'm sure. ohhh what concerts have you gone to? I've actually never been to any lmao. gaho my vocal king, love all his covers/arrangements he does with his friends KAVE. love LOVE flowering, the taste! NO DON'T YOU DARE COME FOR CARROT CAKE LIKE THAT. what did carrot cake ever do to you. I actually made carrot cake the other week, cream cheese frosting and all yummm. what's your favorite dessert then? thank you for the well wishes! I was well other than a slight sore throat and sniffles, but they only lasted for a couple days. it just sucked having to isolate myself for the whole week. I'm all better now!!