#of course the paramore segment

[jula483]

rhett and link + stevie as paramore!!!!!

(x)

[sgiandubh]

The Only Exception

I am back home, with a very dark, strong coffee under my nose.

None of your reactions disappointed. Some were enthusiastic. Others, less so: egos clashed, agendas were unsettled. This is not my problem and I am not going to comment further. Those persons are free to think whatever they want, of course. The Anon I was not sent apparently made the rounds in the shipper community: others got it and have their own take on what they saw - again, that is their point of view, not mine. I was simply sent a link to a YouTube clip and told to look for a possible hug at around the 01:00 mark. Suffice to say I had no particular expectations: in fact, I found that DM on my #silly way to the bathroom, at about 03:30 AM, local time. And then tried to make sense of it. That took me four hours.

This is the link I have been sent :https://youtu.be/h6lcHzBCFkM?feature=shared. And this is the clip. It is aerial footage (drone? I am not a specialist), taken live from the Paramore segment of Taylor Swift's Edinburgh concert:

First of all, I would like to walk you through my own steps, trying to make sense of it. Before anything else, I downloaded it from YouTube, using a basic free downloader, in 1080 p resolution, mp4 format, Full HD:

Then, as I told you, I simply used the VLC media player (https://www.videolan.org/) and its very easy, intuitive options:

Red arrow is the 'take a snapshot' button. Blue arrow is the 'frame by frame' button. I have patiently clicked frame by frame, and took tens of snapshots. Seeing all these in order gives you a very clear idea of what happened and one more time: I know what I saw. And then I opened the snapshots, zoomed on the tent where the cast was and snipped the S&C relevant portion of the image.

I have not brightened the images. I have not sharpened any contrasts. I did not want to adulterate anything. Zoom was an issue, because what you gain in focus, you sometimes lose in clarity. I have no idea of compression, resolution and such things.

Certainly not the best method and perhaps crude tools. I am NOT an expert videographer. I have NO formal training in that field. I just wanted to be of service. If you think you know better and can do better, by all means: be my guest. But do better and show arguments. Also, try to be civilized and do not insult me or come in DMs to tell me that somebody else saw something else, parroting that person's POV: I simply do not care. This is what I did, in all good faith and I take full responsibility for it.

The Screeching Banshees have asked for specific footage, thinking (like some Shippers) that I only had pics. That is not true, as I just explained. It is their constitutional right. All I could do was to crop the part where the band is looking at the tent zone:

You are free to do whatever you want with it. As far as I am concerned, I have seen a loving couple who could not help themselves. I have seen joy. I have seen an open secret and the John Bell/Joey pretorian guard protecting that open secret.

I have given you all the information I could, to the best of my abilities. Again: do better, be better than me. If you have better knowledge and/or better tools, USE THEM. If that could help ALL OF US, Shippers, have more clarity and less doubts, so be it. I have no ego when I am very serious about something and I take NO credit (and use NO watermarks) for anything, only my responsibility.

I am not fishing for any compliments and I expect more insults and more doubts to seep in, for various reasons. I thank all of you who reacted positively from the bottom of my heart. But I will stand by what I have seen with my own eyes and for me, it is enough. This, nobody could take from me.

[atiny-for-life]

Fashion

Back in the early days of VLive, Hongjoong used his time on live with Atinys to paint his phone case, tie-dye shirts and upgrade his bag. It was like arts and crafts with Hongjoong:

The segment came back, in a way, during the making of section of the Michael Jackson cover, where he tie-dyed some fabric for the music video and we've gotten glimpses of his love for painting over the years during logbooks, like when he painted the megaphone for a Guerrilla performance, reformed gloves for a stage outfit, painted his shoes, and more.

In 2021, Hongjoong collaborated with Baverse Studio on a 1 hour video where he got to express himself as an artist outside the music sphere:

Opening with Eminem and Nate Dogg's Till I Collapse playing over the footage, we kick things off with Hongjoong in a messy art studio surrounded by spray cans and tarp. From here, we get to hear a mix of Hongjoong's cover songs and excerpts from his playlist while we get to watch him paint a new pair of sneakers (it's nice to have on while sketching or painting).

His first full deep dive into the fashion world came about a year ago when he got to fly back and forth between Copenhagen and Paris to attend the Balmain Presentation in Paris (Balmain being his favorite designer):

He was clearly nervous, saying early on in the video: "The fact that I'm going alone makes me feel very empty... It's like I wore a bag, but there's nothing in the bag, do you know that feeling? Like going to the airport without a passport."

And less than four minutes into the video again: "Being here alone... It's like I left something behind. I'm missing something. It's like having a meal without the rice. I'm feeling like that in various ways. Feels very awkward."

Still, he pulled through, wearing a black velvet suit with self-selected accessories, giving lots of interviews, taking pictures, and getting showered in compliments by Olivier Rousteing who's Balmain's creative director.

7 months ago, Hongjoong went back to Paris for Balmain Show after getting invited again:

And unlike last time where he felt so lonely, this time around, Wooyoung met up with him the day after the show while still in Paris, which he could do since he'd flown out with his older brother on a shared vacation.

Originally meant to be a joke (allegedly), Hongjoong told him he should come by with his brother, offering to pay for the hotel and everything, but then Wooyoung actually did it so now they've got a deal: if Wooyoung ever flies out to Paris for work, he'll have to pay for Hongjoong and his brother's stay in return.

Now, Hongjoong's officially a part of Balmain's "Army" aka ambassadors, Instagram announcement and all:

His latest steps in the fashion world have already been documented on his new Instagram account as well:

Paris Fashion Week 2024 would, of course, not be complete without an appearance of Hongjoong at the Balmain fashion show. Pictures of his styling for the show were shared on his Instagram and also reported on by Teen Vogue and other outlets.

On October 18th, 2024, the Balmain Behind the Scenes video was released in the form of a super vibe-y edit to some chill jazzy instrumental music.

For the first time, Hongjoong also attended the Vivienne Westwood runway show. His outfit was posted on his Instagram, where the official Westwood account also left a comment for him.

During his stay at the Westwood show, he got to chat with music legends like Hayley Williams from Paramore and Cardi B.

On October 5th, 2024, the Behind the Scenes video for this appearance was released in the form of an edit put to some old school rock-type instrumental.

Other Covers

Last year, Hongjoong appeared on Leemujin Service where he performed multiple songs, including an acoustic version of Bouncy where he slayed Jongho's high note.

Just last month, June 2024, he also appeared on I.M on the Beat where he performed excerpts from multiple songs, including a whole-ass medley (it's sick as hell, you better watch it).

Original Songs

As mentioned in the photography section, Hongjoong released an original song for his exhibition back in November 2023 titled A Walker.

The music video takes us through his exhibition, switching between color when he's out in the world and black and white clips shot in an empty studio space as he goes from present to past and back.

Meanwhile, the lyrics tell us of his experience with getting older and how he's realized he spent his younger years rushing through life, missing out on actually living, but now he's learned to take his time, to walk instead of race, so he can actually make some memories while he's still in his twenties without being scared of falling behind.

Next up, we've got Why Do You Love, released August 23rd, 2024. Shot in the classic 4 by 3 format, the video transitions between clips of Hongjoong out in the real world (in his bed, in a stairwell, out by a river) and very vibe-y black ink sketch-animation.

It seems to be written from the perspective of a bitter ex who can't handle the fact that their past lover moved on and is in love with someone else. It describes this toxic mindset a lot of people end up in post-break up, the obsessive "If I can't have you, no one can", and "I can't exist without you", and "Stop making me obsess over you", but also "I'm not crazy, you know that, I'm just speaking facts".

I Am A Singer

On September 10th, 2024, KBS2 announced the imminent start of filming for a variety show about busking which would include K-Pop idols being sent across the world to busk.

As part of this show, Hongjoong and Jongho were both flown out to Germany and later moved on to Austria, travelling together with other artists. Among other stops, they visited Thurn and Taxis Castle in Regensburg where they held a private concert for the royal couple:

On December 8th, 2024, their nearly half hour long episode was released on YouTube:

BY. HONGJOONG (Pt 2)

For his birthday in 2024, Hongjoong released a cover of Wonderwall by Oasis, an absolute classic you'll have likely heard frequently from anyone who can play the acoustic guitar. The accompanying music video is a compilation of both Atinys and Hongjoong running 6k for a campaign meant to spread awareness for all children across the world who have to walk that far just to get water each day. You can learn more about this campaign here.

Creative Spotlight #1: Kim Hongjoong

Masterlist

Intro: With so many new Atinys coming in, I figured now would be a good time to shed some light on all the boys' creative solo projects over the years, big and small.

Photography

Hongjoong's love for photography goes way back to his predebut days. In one of the first videos ever uploaded to their channel, you can already see him holding a camera on the set of Pirate King.

2 years ago, in 2022, he got to announce his first photo exhibition, FROM NOVEMBER 7, 1998, as a birthday present to himself, which took place from November 1st to 7th at gallery99 and was used to collect money for charity.

There was no entrance fee but spots had to be reserved online to ensure there'd be no dangerous crowding. During the exhibition, there was a little event planned for all attendees in which fans could collect points which were then converted to money that was later donated under Hongjoong and Atiny's name. The total donated amount was 10 million won!

In Logbook Episode 101, we got to see Hongjoong visit the exhibition himself and take a stroll through memory lane.

Due to the success of the 2022 exhibition, Hongjoong held another one last year which took place between November 3rd and 9th, 2023, and was titled A Walker - the event was accompanied by the release of an original song and led to the donation of 50 million won under Hongjoong's and Atiny's name to the Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation.

BY. HONGJOONG

Back in 2018, Hongjoong shared during their stay in LA as KQ Fellaz, that he barely went to school since he already started producing music during his high school days. And yes, this is during the same tear jerking monologue where he calls Ateez his family for the first time and says he needs to hurry so he can see their sleeping faces before he goes to bed.

The first time we get to see Hongjoong fully in action as a producer is during his first 1-Day-Vlog in 2020 in which he's working on his Prince cover (more on that in a second).

But now to the main event: Hongjoong has an entire series going where he covers some of his all time favorite songs. Whenever he does, he likes to make the songs his own by recording his own instrumental track and typically adding an additional Korean rap verse with self-written lyrics highlighting his interpretation of the song's message.

Kicking things off with Space Oddity by David Bowie, a classic.

Side Note: As a lover of unisex clothing/androgyny, Hongjoong is likely not just inspired musically by Bowie, but also fashion wise. You can learn more about Bowie's influence on the climate surrounding gender and sexuality here.

Dressed in white, matching both his hair and the background, Hongjoong turned himself into a clean canvas on which he projected first footage of Bowie and later some floating orbs - it's very aesthetic.

Between the original verses and chorus, he placed a Korean rap verse in which he writes from Major Tom's perspective and laments his mental state while stuck alone in outer space, asking ground control to tell his mom he loves her while stating he still appreciates the beauty of space but feels lost and lonely all by himself.

Next up, we've got Purple Rain by Prince, another classic.

Side Note: Like Bowie, Prince too was famous for being androgynous in how he presented himself and toying with what society deemed masculine and feminine. He's famous to this day among the queer community for how persistently he defied gender norms and labels. Learn more about him here.

Instead of filming himself, we get a lyric video this time, fully kept in pastel lavender. Once again, Hongjoong added a rap verse of his own in which he speaks to a lost friend, talking about how he hopes that, even though they're apart now, his friend will still recall him as being sincere and that they can still think of each other fondly and remember the good times.

In a far more elaborate production, we've got Black or White by Michael Jackson up next.

Using green screen and multiple outfits, we get a fun spectacle of a little passion project featuring multiple versions of Hongjoong, background collages, emojis, and more:

Despite being shorter than the other covers, we still get the signature rap verse preceded by his famous giggle and, this time, he's got quite a bit to say.

Diving into the lyrics, he talks about how we're all different colors. Colors which are meant to be mixed. Our roots don't define us. Throughout life, we'll all get mixed up with each other, as we should. He doesn't want to see us divided. To quote: "What's wrong with you, babe? Stop it. You've already experienced the 20th century. Blah blah by dividing groups."

The song ends with the rap verse before the video dives into the making of in which Hongjoong specifically addresses his intent to talk about social issues like Michael Jackson famously used to while he was alive (think: They Don't Really Care About Us).

So long time by Yoon Jong Shin comes next with a sepia-toned video featuring Hongjoong at a grand piano. It's a pretty ballad highlighting his vocals and the use of multiple camera angles allows us to watch him play.

Shortly before we hit the 2 minute mark, Hongjoong gets up and we transition from the shot of the piano to a cassette player while the audio shifts to the original for a moment before Hongjoong returns.

We've reached the rap verse where he mourns a lost love, speaking of memories he can't let go of, even as he pretends everything is okay. He's cold and lonely now, a little mad at himself for continuously getting lost in the memories, and calls himself a fool before we return to the cover-part of the song.

At 3:58, the song wraps up and we've reached the making of section of the video where he talks about how his cover stems from the idea of a time machine taking you through the song, with the first verse (playing the piano) being the past, the rap verse symbolizing the present, and the memories then taking back over as he gets lost in them, leading to the piano's return.

Next up, we've got Last Christmas by Wham! which opens to a short clip of Hongjoong's acting on a pretty Christmas film set before we transition to a simple white back drop.

This time, the signature rap verse comes in early at 50 seconds with a little giggle before he talks about leaving the past in the past and moving on, letting the snow settle over painful memories.

However, this time, we also get a second rap verse at 1:45, where it becomes clear he hasn't moved on at all, plus a Korean vocal section at 2:43 which carries through to the end. Here, he highlights even further that he hopes they'll reconnect next winter so they can leave the painful past behind and live out a shared future.

Hongjoong in his emo era. This is the first Ateez-related video I've ever seen because I was born in '96 and my emo phase never ended so of course this was recommended to me when it was first released.

Numb by Linkin Park got the full Hongjoong treatment and was even reported on by Rolling Stone, quote:

The cover began trending on social media and YouTube within hours of its release, but the true prize came a day later when it caught the attention of Linkin Park themselves. The rock band’s official Twitter account ‘liked’ the post on ATEEZ’s page, with co-founder and vocalist Mike Shinoda confirming on a livestream that he’d seen and enjoyed the cover. As of this writing, Hongjoong’s version of “Numb” has over half a million views on YouTube and has garnered tremendous praise from Linkin Park’s fans.

We get the black eye makeup and nail polish, the plaid half skirt, the dramatic music video with fake fog and red lighting. The rap verse comes in hard, talking about getting mentally weighed down by an abuser and finally breaking free, cutting the ties.

As a long time Linkin Park fan, I love how unique this cover is and Chester would've loved it too I'm sure. I wish he could've seen it.

Fools Garden's Lemon Tree is another classic and I come back to it on the regular because the video has such a unique vibe and the song is famous for getting stuck in your head.

The video features Hongjoong alone in a house surrounded by colorful toys and games, bored out of his mind and visibly seeking a distraction from life but failing to find something, no matter how out of pocket his thinking gets.

Shoutout to the license plate - it's the release date of the song, November 3rd, 1995.

At 1:33, Hongjoong sprints off to the basement which is doused in red and we get a warped version of his signature giggle before the rap verse kicks in. The camera work in this section reminds me a bit of his rap verse in Not Okay.

While down there, he gets more and more deranged, talking about being locked up day by day, imprisoned, losing track of time, but being unable to break out. Instead of trying to escape, he just attempts to distract himself, listening to sad songs on a loop until his pain disappears and his world switches back to yellow.

Busking Event

In 2021, Hongjoong decided to put together a busking event featuring live performances of some covers, plus acoustic versions of some of their songs. Accompanying him were both Ateez and Maddox. You can find the full playlist here:

Collaboration

3 months ago, Chungha made a return to the music scene after escaping her former label and chose Hongjoong as a collaboration partner for her new debut. Beyond his rap verse, she also incorporated a move from Crazy Form in the choreography (she's lovely):

[purplesurveys]

735

Hola, hablas espanol? Un poco. Haha most of my Spanish is based off of context clues from similar words and phrases that we have in Filipino, and the very basic lessons I’ve gotten from Duolingo if that even counts, so I most likely would not survive a conversation. Overall though, I can read Spanish much more quickly and better than I can listen to/speak it. Music is playing right now, isn't it? What song? No but for some reason I have the OST of one of the Mario Kart 8 tracks playing in my head. Do you use AIM? What's your screen name? No, I didn’t really catch that era anymore. How many cell phones have you gone through in your life? I had two of the classic Nokia phones, a flip phone, a hand-me-down from my dad, two iPhone 5S, and my current iPhone 8 so that makes it a total of seven. Do you have a little sister? What's her name? Yeah. We’ve always called her Nina at home but for some reason she chose to go with her full first name in school and everywhere else, so it’s always a source of confusion when her friends and I are in the same room and we call her different names hahaha.

Who was the last person you screamed at? Why were you screaming? I think my mom? I was filming my dad doing one of the Tiktok dances (yep, my parents are into Tiktok lmaooooo) but my mom blocked the camera at some point so I jokingly yelled at her to go away. Can you crack your joints? Which ones? Just my fingers, which is all I ever feel like cracking anyway. What's your favorite name for a guy? And a girl? I repeat my fave girls’ names too much on this damn site, y’all know at least one of them by now. I don’t really think of boys’ names but I suppose my current favorite is Miguel. Are you good at answering trick questions? I don’t really encounter them a lot so I wouldn’t know. Do you use Myspace or Facebook? Or both? I don’t use Myspace/was never addicted to it the way I am to like Twitter now. I do use Facebook for various reasons – to stay connected to family, to be updated with announcements from school, to communicate for work, and to share memes hahahaha. Do you need spellcheck in order to spell things correctly? Not really. Sometimes I’ll Google a word before typing it out to be 100% sure but it’s only usually for words that are commonly misspelled, like ‘occasionally.’ Do you do too many surveys? How many have you done today? I don’t know if taking them daily counts as taking them too much but to be fair I only take one to three surveys a day. I definitely take much fewer surveys than I did, like, seven years ago when I would fill out ten a day. Have you ever changed yourself to impress someone? Who? I remember trying to like bands like The Summer Set, You Me At Six, The Maine, We Came As Romans, This Century, etc in Grade 6 because all the cooler, hipster kids liked them. UGH thinking about how I acted during that period is so cringe because I never even liked any of the fucking music but I tried so hard to, lmao. There were only three bands I ended up genuinely enjoying: All Time Low, Sleeping With Sirens, and We Are the In Crowd. After that I stopped paying attention to what people liked. Who was the last person you gave up on? Why did you give up on them? I think it was Macy. She has changed a lot and it’s obvious we are not as close as before and when we do talk it’s mostly awkward small talk. I don’t know what happened along the way, but I just hope she’s happy. What was the last thing you printed? Is there even ink in your printer? I usually have stuff printed in school because with my dad not being home most of the time, my mom and brother never printing anything, and my sister living in a dorm, it doesn’t seem worth it to keep buying ink just for me. The last thing I printed was a news article I needed to turn in for business writing class. What's your favorite number? Is there any reason that's your favorite? 4. I honestly liked it initially because it’s Beyoncé’s favorite number so I just stuck with that answer for the longest time haha. What kind of shampoo do you use? Does it smell amazing? It’s one of the Dove shampoos. It’s nothing life-changing but seeing as it’s a hair care product, it of course smells nice and decent.   Do you go to concerts? What was the last one you attended? Not a lot. I save my attendance for my absolute favorites which means that so far I’ve been to two Paramore shows and one One Direction show. I make sure they’re bigger, more mainstream acts that don’t happen in the Philippines a lot because it’s my dad who pays, and I wanna make sure what I’m asking him to treat me to is gonna be a super super worth it experience, if that makes sense. Have you ever had a conversation with someone through bulletins? I don’t think so. Do you shop online? With your own credit card, or someone else's? I have food delivered from online but I barely buy other stuff online. I use cash on delivery since I don’t own any kind of card. Who's your best friend? How long have you known each other? I’ve known Angela for 15 years and Gab for 9. Who was your first boyfriend/girlfriend? Why did you break up? She freaked out and thought we were rushing too much at 17, which she was right about. Have you ever gotten your nails done? Or do you get them done regularly? Never but Gabie keeps telling me that we should have a nail day hahahaha. Idk, I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of someone working on my fingers or toes or any part of my body. Have you been outside yet today? What were you doing? Sure. I stepped out into our backyard to walk my dog for a few minutes in the afternoon; in the evening my family and I had dinner on our rooftop which is technically a part of outside. Tell me about the last thing that made you laugh until it hurt. It was one of the more recent segments from a Korean reality show I watch. It’s not gonna be funny if I narrate it lmao but suffice it to say it’s a show about kids and their dads, and the kid that I watched in particular is exceptionally smart for his age and says a lot of witty things. One of the things he said was bullseye for me and I ended up nearly screaming in laughter at 3 AM. When was the last time you got a new bed? Is your bed comfy? 2008. We never changed my bed from when we first moved here. Yes, I’d say it is. What kind of games did you play on the playground when you were younger? I loved playing at the sandbox because I found the texture really fun to touch and play with; I also liked the swing and the trapeze bars.

Have you ever buried a time capsule with a friend? Did you dig it up yet? Nope. I find them very interesting though. Tell me one thing you'd like to change in 2010. There's gotta be something. That was a whole-ass decade ago, holy shit. I don’t remember what I sought for 2010 back in 2009 but I imagine one of them is for me to find a friend to be with because it was in 2010 that two of my closest friends, Andi and Angel, both migrated to New Zealand and Canada. Spoiler alert: I didn’t, and I was sad the entire year. Do you have or want any tattoos? Of what? Yes. The only design I can think of right now is my dog’s pawprint. Do you remember the first time you ever drove a car? Who were you with? Yeah, it was in my parents’ old Mitsubishi Lancer. I was with my mom and I drove too close to curbs/walls the entire time haha. Do any of your friends drink excess amounts of alcohol? Do you? JM drank a lot at the start of the quarantine to the point that I started to get worried, but I think he’s lessened his intake in the last few weeks. Other than him I don’t know anyone with a drinking problem. I certainly don’t have one. What color is your favorite hoodie? When did you get it? Hoodies aren’t really my thing so I don’t have a favorite one. How many pairs of shoes do you have? Are they under your bed? Around 10-15 would be a safe guess. They’re in a shoe rack in a bodega-like space underneath our stairs. What exactly is under your bed? Is it a mess? Not a mess. I just have my old WWE magazines and other various magazines that I collected as a teenager with Beyoncé and Kristen Stewart on the cover stored in two large containers. Have you ever been in handcuffs? Why, exactly? Not by the police, lol byeeeeeeeeeeee What's your favorite thing to do when drunk? Would you do this sober? I join games a lot more and I’m generally friendlier and louder. I can be the first two when I’m sober, just a lot more reserved. When was the last time you bled? What happened? I caught a mosquito sucking blood off of my knee a week ago. Have you ever had to be put to sleep at a hospital? Why? Nope. Do you actually have a calendar on your wall? What are the pictures of? I do not. When are you planning on moving out of your parents' house? In 2-3 years when I’ve saved enough, probably. I’m itching to do it as soon as I can though. Tell me about your day today. :) It was my parents’ 23rd wedding anniversary so we had a bigger brunch that consisted of pancit Malabon, several sticks of barbecue, sisig, and various kakanin to celebrate. The afternoon was uneventful and I just spent most of it brushing up on my Spanish lessons hah, then I had a quick siesta; then for dinner we had burgers from a local place that recently opened again while the quarantine is ongoing. Are you a fan of dogs? Do you have any pets? I LOVE dogs, except for chihuahuas which I genuinely am unable to start liking because of (most of) their personalities. I will definitely care for one if I see them starving at a road but ugh idk, I just like all other dogs a lot more. And I know there are cuddly and behaved chihuahuas out there but I’ve simply seen more feisty ones and since then it’s been hard to have my mind changed about them. Who was the last person in your family to graduate high school? Was it you? My sister graduated in 2018. Have you ever been on a cruise? How many? Where did they go? Yeah, just once, for my 18th birthday. I went to China, Japan, and South Korea.

[cyberneticlagomorph]

>Cyberneticlagomorph is live on Caster! 🔴

>Jack  is back at it again at his ranch in space, his breath fogging in the freezing cold, thin air as he floats around almost aimlessly. The dusty, kelp-grass covered ground beneath him is sprinkled with tools, seedlings, bags of seeds, and his little glowing sunfire friend.

>the chat is filling fast with familiar faces, each excited about space. There’s Paramore playing instead of normal High Wilderness ambiance

>a few giddy newcomers spam the chat with questions

>”zippitydoodumbass: wtf is this? like where is he?”

>”fee-fi-fuck-off: YOOOO IS HE IN SPACE??? HOW IS HE IN SPACE HOW IS HE BREATHING?? IS HE AN ELF?? AN ALIEN?? WTF??”

> apatheticInfinity donates 420 bytes and asks Jack to do a flip, which he does while answering the numerous questions and loudly contemplating adding a FAQ to his stream description

>”Hello i’m Jack, today we’re out in space, specifically we’re in the High Wilderness, which is space but in an entirely different timeline than the one I live in.”

>As he lazily does a flip in zero gravity the chat floods with even more questions asking how he can cross timelines

>”The High Wilderness has air, it’s just thin as all fuck, and colder than the sad empty void my ex calls her heart. I can hop timelines ‘cuz magic. Many of my friends are from other timelines, this stream is broadcasting to other timelines actually, I’m very thorough.”

>He does a very wiggly, complex maneuver that puts him back on the ground. You can see where he is now, see everything from the first person perspective of whatever camera he’s using to stream. Likely his cybernetic eye.

>The place is beautiful and strange, so very strange.

>he’s definitely in space, some dinky little planetoid covered in odd plants that sway like seaweed and kelp, strange sail-like trees with tiny black leaves like moss against the trunk. Harsh howling winds blow across their numerous hollows and produce a haunting flute-like sound

>far away, in the star-speckled void, are vibrantly hued dust clouds and nebulae, and the dark dusty band of a nearby asteroid field.

>something bright and glowing gold scampers up to him, speaking a language that hurts to hear. The stream glitches and flickers for a second before a very cute graphic of jack tangled up in computer wires comes up, proclaiming technical difficulties. It doesn’t last long before the stream comes back and the strange language the little glowing creature was speaking is wholly understandable. This language is Correspondence, it doesn’t so much as translate clearly into words as it does notions, feelings, and concepts that one can both hear and feel

>”Hullo friend, star friend, feeder friend, soulless and sweet. Will you furrow the earth today? sail the stars today? challenge gods today? I’m hungry... your boat came.” its voice is without gender but is high like a child’s, it looks something like a very small star, something like a clump of souls, and something like a cat or a monkey. It floats effortlessly through the thin air to nuzzle Jack’s face with it’s flame-haloed head. Jack scratches it behind what might be ears, or what might be gills. It’s very hard to tell what does what on something so strange.

>Jack says something back to it that suggests affection and warmth on the tail end of a gentle scolding. The little glowing thing pulsates like a beating heart and perches on Jack’s shoulders. The chat is filled with ‘awws’ and ‘dawws’ and further questioning as to who/what the fuck that thing is

>”This is Glimmer, a ‘judgements heart’, i picked them up during my last trip here. They’re sweet and warm and I love them. Say hi Glim”

>Glimmer says hi back and Jack grabs a garden hoe off the ground.

>”Today’s itinerary is getting these seeds in the ground and then going hunting the the asteroid field out yonder.” He jerks a thumb towards the dusty gray line in the distance. Glimmer is singing to themself, a strange nonsensical song about dirt and wells and things that write poems for worms. Glim isn’t of much help as Jack tills the soil and plants strange seeds of all different shapes and sizes. He buries bulbs and roots, blankets odd black tumors with mulch, and transplants long creeping things with long hollow ‘leaves’ that thrum like violin strings whenever the wind blows.

>Jack doesn’t explain anything about the plants and seeds, only that they’re a surprise for later. His final act of botany is to plant a number of rose bushes and berry brambles around the base of the Ranch house, along with some other things that look like they’d climb just as eagerly.

>Gardening in space is much harder than it sounds considering everything wants to float away when you're not looking, but he sticks to his task and gets it done just in time for the door to his ranch house to open and reveal a tall, beautiful woman in red. Her long white hair kisses the back of her ankles, blowing elegantly in the wind as she seems to glide up to him. Her silver eyes glint with the same gentle affection that tugs the corners of her mouth up into the barest ghost of a smile. Other than that she's stonefaced and a little mean looking, like she'd cut you if you breathed at her wrong.

>The chat breaks out in heart eyes emojis and shouts of "WIFE", Jack is purring, a sweet whirring-rumble like an old school computer. He greets this woman with a soft, dreamy hello and a half-assed warning that he's streaming this live

>"Don't you fret lapin, I know how to behave." Her voice is sultry, almost mockingly so as she leans in to kiss him only to pull away before their lips can meet, and the chat howls that she's a tease. She introduces herself to the chat as Jeanne. She is one of Jack's fabled two wives and by god is she beautiful, ethereal, terrifying. She seems more fae than he does somehow, every move she makes is artwork, and the world is her canvas. The Caster chat is suddenly a sea of [message deleted] as some of the less... tactful comments about Jeanne removed at Jack's discretion. Everyone is warned to keep it in their pants or else he can and will curse them over the internet.

>That stops everyone cold. Quietly wondering if he is that powerful. He likely isn't but someone who can marry THAT and also afford a ranch in fucking SPACE is obviously not to be fucked with. So the chat settles down like a pack of scolded school children. Jack leaves Jeanne to linger in the fields, while he circles back behind the barn to wash off at least some of the dirt he is now caked in.

>You'd expect a well in such a rural setting, but no, instead there is something like a bastard cross between a normal stone well and a gas pump with a windmill strapped to its back end. Empty canisters litter the ground around it, some rusted, some new, all of them painted a ghastly florescent yellow that makes them easier to see among the dark foliage. Jack asks the chat to watch before he takes the pump and squeezes it into empty air. Fat globs of water, like shimmering soap bubbles, flow from the nozzle trembling and steaming in the cold cold air.

>He sticks his hands into it, giggling like a dork. He manages to get most of the dirt off before the glob evaporates or freezes... honestly it's hard to tell just exactly what happens to it after awhile. Mostly cleaned, he makes his way back to join Jeanne but is interrupted by a great scarred calamity of a Curator, shrieking about hunting, singing shrill songs about teal eyes, North, and meat.

>Jack explains to the confused chat, that this is Mr Veils, an associate of his. Veils is a Curator, a giant starry furred horned space bat native to the High Wilderness that drift about hoarding things, and selling said things to other species they come across. Most are nicknamed after their hoards. Mr Veils deals in fine fabrics... usually. But today Veils couldn't give a damn about buying or selling, it just wants to hunt.

>The chat is entranced really. Jack stows the last of the gardening tools in the barn before pointing towards the asteroid fields and asking Veils to meet him there. Veils flies off with a joyous cry and a thick layer of foam coating its lips. He watches the quickly shrinking dot that is Veils grow ever smaller before turning to Jeanne.

>"Race you." He says, sounding a little cocky. She merely lifts an eyebrow before leaping into the air, a pair of gorgeous moth's wings appearing at her back as she swoops away in the direction Veils went. Jack, along with the chat, shouts that she's cheating to which she replies

>"Since when has any witch ever played fair, lapin?" you can hear the smile in her voice, even over the wind as Jack shifts into something winged and powerful, flying right after her. He loses of course, landing grumpily on a large asteroid at the edge of the field, Glimmer still clinging stubbornly to his shoulder.

>From afar it looked barren, maybe even mournful, but up close it is lush, and wild, and strange, oh so very strange. Each and every chunk of pitted stone is alive with plants. Strange swaying things that look more at home at the bottom of the sea than space. Translucent, sail-like things, strange whistling trees, even stranger bushes and undergrowth that retreat into hollows in the rocks when disturbed. Each and every 'plant' clings stubbornly to the stones with armored roots. What isn't stone, or plant, is ore and ice glowing with what little light can be found here.

>Some ores are recognizable, others are impossible colors and textures that ooze when Jack touches them, or slither and shift. There are gems stuck in the stones as careless as sprinkles on a cupcake. There are animals here too, as equally strange as their surroundings. Eyeless deer leaping from stone to stone, scaly rabbits with tough hides to protect against the pebbles and grit blowing in one the winds, geese-like things with segmented necks and pincers like bobbit worms drag anything that scampers too close shrieking into the darkness of their burrows.

>There are birds and fish, massive crabs, strange mantas, jellies, cat-faced harpies, all bounding though the waving grasses and cavern mazes. Spider-legged beasts lap at exposed patches of ice, or gnaw lazily on transparent lichens.

>Jack is overcome with awe that is quickly replaced by annoyance as Veils swoops low and plucks some hapless beast off a rock and into the sky, the animal bellowing in fear. He remembers that he is here to hunt, not sight-see, and his entire demeanor changes. His body drops low, his movements suddenly fluid and catlike, but it's somehow clear that he hasn't changed shape again. This is all him.

>He slinks off like an animal, picking across the ground on all fours with surprising ease, as if  he were born out here. The chat keeps making 'dummy thicc' jokes

>"inutechy: hrn colonel, I'm trying to hunt, but I'm dummy thicc and the clap of my ass cheeks keeps alerting my prey."

>Jack is far too focused on the eyeless deer thing in front of him to be amused. His normal tactics won't work here, so he has to be fast and brutal. Just as he prepares to strike, the beast is shot cleanly and he just sort of sits there, dumbfounded.

>"Too slow." Taunts Jeanne as she flits off to do more damage elsewhere, gun still smoking. Jack scowls at her retreating back before slithering off to find more prey. Between Jeanne and Veils and his overall unfamiliarity with this place, Jack has a tough time catching anything, but manages to snag a few not-rabbits ("cannibalism" proclaimed the chat), and the evil geese-worms ("cursed. Thanks I hate it" whined the chat).

>Amid the gunfire and Veils... everything, another curator descends upon the scene. Much chubbier than Veils, with small folded ears, and a very stony expression. Its holding a much much smaller Curator with long rabbitlike ears and horns similar to Jack's antlers.

>Jack drops everything (mostly a half dead... something his teeth were in) to go and greet the pair of them. As he gets closer it's clear to all that even though the smaller bunny-like Curator is obviously a baby, that she is nearly the size of an average human adult. Curators are absurdly huge but Jack doesn't seem to mind. He greets them both with kisses and hugs, introducing them to the stream as Mr Stones and Galena. Galena is the obvious offspring of Jack and Stones, several people make rude remarks about Jack's apparent sluttiness and get banned on the SPOT. Stones wraps a wing around Jack and licks his face.

>Veils sings taunts from high on the winds, betting Stones that it can't out-hunt it this night. Stones merely huffs and tells Galena "Watch and learn." Before hauling its powerful body into the cold sky. What happens next is nothing short of amazing and a little humiliating on Veils end. Stones sails through the asteroids with grace and speed, plucking bobbit geese from their holes with practiced ease, fleeing scalebuns run right into its opened jaws and blind deer meet their ends before Stones even hauls their bodies off the ground.

>It's anything but gory, it's clean, efficient, magnificent and Jack just sort o f stands there, watching. It's clear he's given up on catching anything else tonight, so he might as well sit back and learn from a master. Galena watches too, babbling excitedly in Correspondence, flapping her leathery wings. Soon the fun is over and everyone is dragging their numerous kills into piles to further show off their prowess.

>And then a curious thing starts to happen. The Curators start to sing. Well, Veils sings, Stones raps surprisingly well with its monotone voice. Both spit lyrical disses tearing each other's hunting skills apart line by line. It's beautiful, it's BRUTAL. Jack mentions that normally he'd join in but with a pile as small as his it'd be a fools errand, but somehow he gets drawn into it anyway. His melodies swoop high, combined with echoing tones produced by glittering crystal shards made by his magic. As he predicted he gets lyrically evicerated by the others. Even Jeanne gets in on it, her voice is as pretty as the reset of her and She Does Not mince words.

>By the end everyone is grinning, packing up their kills to take home. Jack carries both his AND Jeanne's catches in his chest space, leaving the chat to wonder just how much room he has in that thing. Stones gives Jack a few parting licks before scooping up Galena and heading back to the ranch house, Veils leaves with something small and fluffy clenched in its teeth.

>The stream ends with Jack trying to tetris everything he and his wife have caught into his concerningly large meat freezers. He promises an update on the plants soon and signs off by blowing a kiss to himself, and therefor the stream in a bathroom mirror.

[fmdtaeyongarchive]

↬ and i gotta get to rock bottom.

date: various in december 2017 & january 2018 (all specified below & over the course of his solo promotions)

location: various

word count: 1,777

summary: your daily reminder that ash is a mess! anyway, this is basically a summary of what ash went through during his solo promotions for i’m young since i wasn’t very active during them.

notes: tw: implied alcohol abuse and vomiting, anxiety attack, panic attack, depression, but everything is in brief segments and pretty surface level (other than the depression obviously which is always there). he’s not suicidal but if some of the thoughts he has that could come off that way so a hesitant suicidal thoughts tw? title credit to hard times by paramore. this has been almost finished for weeks now and was supposed to end in a major plot development for him but i was too lazy and too late so now it’s nothing more than even more ash angst !! (everyone groans in the background)

December 15, 2017

It’s the end of the first weekend after his album release and he should be out celebrating with friends or getting sleep, but instead he’s vomiting the contents of his stomach into a toilet in a gross bar bathroom until his whole body is shaking. He’d known what he’d been doing when he’d downed more drinks than he could count with the highest alcohol content he could find, so there’s no regret mixed in with his raw throat and his burning stomach.

He’d felt too much before but now he wants to feel something, anything, but it’s still not there. He’s numb as hot tears run down his cheeks and he knows he’s done for if anyone finds him and recognizes him, but he almost wants them to.

He doesn’t care if picture of him wasted and disgusting end up splashed on the front page of every website the next day, as long as no one else is hurt by it.

But he does care.

He gets to his shaky legs and arrives back at the dorm with thirty minutes to shower and get into bed before his manager shows up to start the day’s schedules.

“Rise and shine. How did you sleep?” his manager greets.

“Not long enough.” The smile he pastes on his face passes it off as a light-hearted joke and his manager rolls his eyes fondly.

It’s when his manager leaves to wait for him in the kitchen that Ash realizes he forgot to brush the smell of alcohol and vomit out of his mouth earlier. He thanks whatever deity exists that his manager wasn’t close enough to tell. He curses whatever devil is enabling him that he hadn’t been.

December 24, 2017

The room is dark as the credits to “Love, Actually” scroll down the TV screen. Ash pulls the hotel comforter tighter around him as he stares at the screen, failing to take in any of the names or roles in front of his eyes.

He’s alone and lonely. (They’re two different feelings, mingling in the worst way now.) But it’s his choice. It’s his twenty-second birthday and he’s in a country he can barely speak the language of, performing for crowds that don’t make him feel like anything other than a disappointment lately.

Any offers from his group mates or Knight’s team to partake in birthday festivities have been declined politely. “I have other plans already. I’m sorry!” he’d apologized with an empty smile. He doesn’t have any other friends in Japan to have plans with, but he doesn’t mention that.

The happy birthday texts on his phone have either gone ignored or received little more than a “Thanks so much!” in reply. A few who wouldn’t be fooled by such a simple response got a “Celebrate when I get back?” too, a suggestion he has no intentions of following through on.

It feels like the sort of artificiality he’s tried so hard to avoid ever since BC began conditioning it into him, but now it’s his shield. He tells himself so often that he’s evaded the robot BC wants him to be, but it’s nights like these (his birthday) that he wonders if thinking that is further proof of the very opposite.

He isn’t as strong as he thinks he is.

It’s his own fault he’s in this situation and he shouldn’t pity himself.

It’s his own fault that he can’t shake the feeling of being a hollow shell, even on his birthday, a day when he’s supposed to be happy.

He can’t imagine this is what living is supposed to feel like.

December 29, 2017

He’s been here before plenty of times. The end of the year broadcasts are just another schedule to him, although he knows countless other groups would do anything for the chance to perform at them. He has friends who have never been chosen to be on one.

If he was good, he’d feel grateful, but he’s not and he doesn’t. Again, he doesn’t feel what he’s supposed to feel.

Instead, there’s nothing. 

And then, gradually, there’s everything.

It’s as if all of the stress of his solo promotions and all of the feelings he’s been numb to come rushing into his chest at once.

Afterwards, the only word he can think of the describe the dominant emotion that grips him is fear.

It’s like he can’t breathe, that his lungs have forgotten how to take in air and his heart has forgotten how to pace itself. He’s too cold and too hot at once, feeling everything and nothing at all. He’s outside of his own skin and yet the knots in his stomach try to pull him back inside his own body. What turns out to be eight minutes feels like an eternity and an instant all at once.

He’s lucky it happens after the broadcast is over. He’s lucky it happens when he stays behind after all of the other members have left back for the dorm. He’s lucky only a handful of people witness it.

His manager suggests they take him to the emergency room only a minute before everything begins to fall back into place. Ash can breathe again (barely), but he’s aware enough to be embarrassed. He says they should leave. 

He begs his manager not to tell anyone even as the panic is still ebbing from his muscles.

He doesn’t cry at all that night, but he can’t stop replaying it in his mind.

The feeling he’d experienced is familiar only from a day nearly two years prior, in the midst of his scandal. He’d watched as falsified accounts of him using and toying with fans had popped up and he’d watched as some believed them. He’d thought the worst was over, but he hadn’t anticipated the anti-fans waiting for the chance to drag him down further than the press had.

He’d almost passed out that night. He’d thought he was going to die from the intensity of it.

But he’d survived then, and now he survived again.

At this point, he doesn’t know why the universe keeps letting him.

January 3, 2018

It’s after a variety appearance filming that he finds himself curled up in the back seat of one of BC’s vans, sobbing. The tears had crept up on him unexpectedly. He’s no good at these things—acting funny and charming with ten cameras pointed at his face and studio lights beaming down on him, but this time it’d been worse.

Playful jests had started to feel like jabs and he didn’t have another member or a friendly face to save him. It’d been far too much at once and he’d been lucky he hadn’t broken down on camera.

He’s been through worse and the small logical part of his brain still functioning knows the hosts hadn’t meant anything by their comments but the rest of his brain is screaming anything but that.

They hate me because they believe all of the rumors.

They hate having to work with me because I’m not funny enough.

I’m going to get completely cut out of this episode and BC will remind me I’m a waste of time.

They must have heard how bad I am at this from other hosts.

No one laughed at that story and now I look stupid and self-centered for even telling it.

They’re asking me about Dax because they’d rather BC sent him instead.

All the thoughts blur into one stream of reasons he shouldn’t be here (on the show, in Knight, in Korea, existing at all) and he has to excuse himself early to hide himself in the van. He knows it had looked rude, that they must have seen him as entitled and irritable instead of crumbling from the inside out.

By the time his manager slides into the front seat, Ash’s tears have stopped falling, but he’s pulled on a dark hoodie from the backseat (kept there for when it gets cold) with the hood pulled down over his face. 

Despite his best efforts not to look at his manager, their gazes meet in the rear view mirror and Ash panics for a moment, thinking he must have seen his red face and the tear streaks in his makeup.

Neither of them say anything until Ash is ushered back into Knight’s dorm.

“Get some sleep,” his manager says.

Ash nods silently, before shutting the door.

He could have sworn he was supposed to have a meeting after the show.

January 6, 2018

“I’m tired. I’ll be fine.” Those are the first words he says to his manager all day, but with the tightness in his gut and the racing of his heart, he doesn’t believe them himself.

“You look ill.” There’s no unspoken “Nothing some more makeup can’t fix” or “Look happier” like there usually is when someone says those words to him.

“I’m not si-”

“I don’t mean you have the flu.” Ash’s manager has seen him through a lot. He’s his manager, not the group’s, mostly only around when Ash has a lot of individual work, but he’s the same manager who first told Ash he needed to see someone after his scandal. There’s an unspoken understanding between them that he’s seen Ash worse than most, and that that worse is just between them.

Ash swallows thickly. Although he knows his front has been seen through, he can’t find it in himself to agree. He tries to imagine himself nodding, letting himself crack, admitting he can’t keep doing this, but he reminds himself that everyone else is going through this. He isn’t the only one having a hard time. He'd be self-centered to think he is.

Instead, he takes a deep breath, holding himself back, and shakes his head. It’s autopilot and he’s not quite connected to anything he’s doing now.

They could tell the media he has the flu and cut back on his activities, his manager suggests. He can tell what’s going on and it’s a more sympathetic plight to the public than the truth.

“I’m fine. I promise.” He’s still barely hanging on to believing the words, but he knows he could crack at any instant. Before the other man can respond, the door to the waiting room opens and a woman sticks her head in. 

“Taeyong? Are you doing okay in here? We need you ready and out on the stage in three minutes.”

“Yeah, I’m great. Thank you. Can you point me in the direction of someone who can fix my microphone?” he asks, following her out of the room, quickly forgetting the previous conversation to paste on an empty smile.

He’ll get through this. He always does.

[nprinterns]

Carla Solórzano

1. Internship position: Editorial social media intern

2. Hometown/university: Born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington.

3. Favorite DC spot: I'm kind of a homebody, so I don't go out a lot. I do like to walk around Chinatown, though. Oh, and Ted's Bulletin has some amazing noms.

4. Favorite NPR show, blog or podcast: I'm a news nerd and I really enjoy topical humor so I've always loved Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me.

5. No. 1 song you’re jamming to right now: This answer would change every day but lately I’ve been oscillating between "Lowlife" by Poppy, “All My Friends” by WRENN and “Let Me Go” by Hailee Steinfeld. I’m a complex human, okay?

6. Coolest thing you’ve done while at NPR: For some reason they let me run the main NPR Twitter and Facebook pages on Saturdays which yes, is incredibly cool, but also kind of terrifying. In case you're wondering, @NPR has more than 7 million followers but I don't think about that really hard and panic, ever. Also, I got to create a pilot for an original Snapchat segment from conception, to script-writing, to filming. Shout out to Alex, Ema, Holly and Nana for being the “on-screen” talent!

7. Top #NPRLife moment(s): During my first week as an intern I got to see Paramore at the Tiny Desk and I've been a huge fan since I was in high school. That same week I got to sit in on a Facebook Live broadcast of Headlines with Korva Coleman (thanks, Danny!) and Korva said my name. 

8. If you could have @NPR tweet the entirety of one document/work, what would it be? Call me a bad English major, but instead of text I think I would rather that @NPR tweet all of my favorite Vines.

9. Who is your dream Tiny Desk artist? Freddie Mercury/Queen, though Hayley Kiyoko would also be pretty awesome.

10. What’s next for you? Temping at NPR! I'll be helping the weekend digital team with social media, mainly. I’m very excited to stick around some! After February I'll be looking for full-time work in an editorial social media capacity.

11. Advice for future interns? Upon getting the internship, I was of course excited, but also worried about a lot of things. Chiefly, I thought I would have a hard time fitting in with the rest of the interns. I'm just not that great at socializing, typically. So, if you're afraid of that too, I would advise that you don't be! This group of interns was full of some super rad and clever people. I actually made friends? Strange. Your cohort is very likely to be comprised of excellent people too. Oh, and only shooting stars break the mold.

[s-o-n-de-r]

From indie rock to mega pop: sonder editor Andrew’s top albums of 2017

I spent a lot of time paying closer attention to a wider range of music in 2017 than I have in past years, so a lot of records made their way onto the sonder desk. Keeping up with all the new music in any given year is a monumental task, but certain records stick with you, and while everyone has their own picks, these are mine.

SAINTE – smile, and wave

SAINTE, the new project of We Are the In Crowd members Tay Jardine, Cameron Hurley, and Mike Ferri, took a while to get their debut record out, but this seven-song EP is a sleeper hit.

When SAINTE was first revealed, it was pitched as songs written as We Are the In Crowd but didn’t really fit the mold of the pop-punk band. What we got with SAINTE was an awakening, a refresh. Smile, and wave is poppy rock baked in neon-y ‘80s influences – it’s catchy and bright, but it’s not shtick. Whereas the last album We Are the In Crowd put out (Weird Kids) hopped around different song styles, this new band goes full steam ahead in one direction. It’s honest – not just musically, but lyrically, and this hits you hardest when you realize that Jardine spent a good portion of the previous year under the thumb of depression and anxiety. As such, this music is cathartic, especially the freeing and poppy ��With Or Without Me,” the optimistic “If You Ever Feel Alone,” and the cruising anthem “White Lies.” And the first track, “Eyes Are Open,” debuts the whole project: “Starting right now, our eyes are open.” This record is a reason for you to keep yours open, too.

Jule Vera – Waiting On The Sun

When Jule Vera dropped their sophomore album Waiting On The Sun, it was a radical departure from their previous EP, in a great way. Waiting On The Sun mixes and matches all these influences that you would never expect to pair well together. But they do. It’s modern, but it’s folksy, too and has influences from a wide selection of genres, not to mention a palpable sense of southern rock. Each song’s separate identity keeps you going through the album because you’re not exactly what the band will throw out next. Fittingly, the album closer, “Can’t Help,” is the most enigmatic song on the album and leaves you thirsting to go back the beginning and try to process the range of music you heard.

Neaux – Fell Off the Deep End

This one was actually released in 2016, but it got a re-master and re-release in 2017, so we’re counting it for 2017. Neaux’s music, a violet-tinged mashup of shoegaze, grunge, emo, and punk, is captivating even if you’re completely uninterested in the genre. This is especially true of Fell Off the Deep End, which bleeds deliberate lo-fi meandering. It’s possibly the most un-pretentious album of the year. These eight sludgy songs are industrial addictions, conjuring up images of leather jacket smokers in dark alleys on cold nights. This is an album that is difficult to listen to only one song off of. Sierra Kay’s blunt honesty makes her an open book, and it makes this album great to just zone out to.

Neaux also released their follow up, Chain Up The Sun, this year, but we felt it didn’t have quite the magic to it that makes Fell Off the Deep End so good.

Lorde – Melodrama

In the realm of mega-pop, so much of what a musician does can often instantly induce cringe – this is the case with Taylor Swift’s catastrophe Reputation or the disappointingly theatric After Laughter (by Paramore). It almost comes with the territory. Big pop names, in an effort to re-invent themselves every record cycle, often go way over the top. But Lorde, the New Zealand pop singer/songwriter behind the radio hit “Royals,” did the opposite and blessed the world with one of the best pop albums in recent times. Melodrama is a hit because it does what daring pop does: It exists within the confines of a genre that encourages homogeneity by rejecting said homogeneity. Lorde’s glittering vocals glide next to grandiose piano and dreamy electronic arrangements that crash into deep and powerful drum-and-bass segments that echo of some of the grooviest pop of the last decade. All this considered, the album’s best song is “Liability” because it’s just Lorde alone with a piano riff and a heart-wrenchingly honest confessional: “They say ‘you’re a little much for me / You’re a liability.’” Such melancholy coming from a “star” shows us the universality of sadness that can go straight to our core, but don’t over-analyze this song – it just makes you feel.

It’s actually astonishing how well put-together this album is – Jack Antonoff, who you’ll see later on in this list, had a major hand in this record, and it’s his trademark production and co-writing that brings out the depth of this record, although most credit of course goes to the songwriter herself. Lorde is unafraid of not only pushing boundaries, but totally destroying them, and it shows: Melodrama is critically acclaimed all around the music journalism world.

Lights – Skin & Earth

We went into depth on Lights’ latest release in our full-length feature, but as the year has progressed, Skin & Earth has stood strong. Our last three albums on this list all stand out because they have a remarkable sense of journey and adventure, a thread that gets carried throughout the entire album. This is especially true of Skin & Earth – “Intro” and “Skydiving” set the tone for the entire album: Fresh and exciting and a new version of Lights in a growing discography of different things. Skin & Earth is Lights’ take on the broader themes in pop in 2017, but of course in her own way. This album is practically bursting with songs you can’t skip.

The Maine – Lovely Little Lonely

The Maine are easily one of the most under-rated bands in the alternative/rock industry. They may have caught their initial break in the Vans Warped Tour scene, but they’ve long outgrown that. They’ve gone (and stayed) independent and have released phenomenal album after phenomenal album, coalescing with this year’s Lovely Little Lonely. Vocalist John O’Callaghan’s pensive and poetic lyrical voice is at its strongest on this album, and musically, the band sounds more refined than they have before. Lovely Little Lonely is a walk through all the emotions that make us human, and with the record’s wistful transition tracks (��Lovely,” “Little,” and “Lonely”), this album stops to breathe and let the listener absorb everything. O’Callaghan has always had a knack in bringing out meaning in life’s ups and downs, and songs such as “Taxi,” “I Only Wanna Talk To You,” and “Don’t Come Down” send you through such roller coasters. But Lovely Little Lonely is no one-man effort. The Maine may qualify as an alternative rock band, but the tag doesn’t even begin to do it justice. Lovely Little Lonely is genre-bending and utilizes just enough dreamy and baroque instrumentation (such as in the title tracks) to slot it truly within its own world, something of a rare white elk in the music world. It is no coincidence that a truly independent band with a respectable work ethic put out one of the best albums of 2017. Out of all the albums on this list, Lovely Little Lonely is the one with the broadest appeal. It’s a record for nearly anyone.

Bleachers – Gone Now

The margin between Lovely, Little, Lonely and our album of the year was so slim it was almost non-existent. What both albums do spectacularly is transmit their particular sense of emotion with almost 100 percent accuracy. Both of these albums make you feel, and they make you feel heavily. They’re both cohesive and filled with variety and great musicianship, but there can only be one number one, and that goes to Bleachers’ Gone Now.

Gone Now is so well-done it may not only be the album of 2017, but one of the best of the entire decade. If you’re not in the know, Bleachers is the brainchild of Fun. member and general music savant Jack Antonoff, who has had a hand in producing some of pop’s biggest recent hits (he worked on Taylor Swift’s 1989 and Reputation, as well as Melodrama, which I previously discussed, and with countless other big names).

That being said, Antonoff’s best work is with Bleachers, a format that finds him engaging himself at his quirkiest. Often, self-indulgence can be boring and pretentious, but Gone Now is a liquor shot of authenticity in the most Antonoff way possible. Nearly anything Antonoff touches reeks of his style, a unique watermark on a piece of music. Gone Now is this as well – it’s weird at times, infinitely self-referential, and often forgoes typical song structure (because it can), but all of this only enhances the struggle at the core of this album. Gone Now is a beautiful rendition of loss of youth and depression and self-care and working through internal strife. These things, give or take, are often at the core of music, but Antonoff has excelled at writing heart-tugging music since his days in Steel Train, and Gone Now just shows how much he’s honed it. These songs don’t just dump their messages on you all at once; they build up to sonic crescendos and get increasingly neurotic before dropping huge weights on you, resulting in some profound sing-along moments. The lead single, “Don’t Take The Money,” is a great example of this. That’s kind of an anomaly, as most lead singles are just there to catch ears, but each song on the album burns with its own intensity and takes your hand through to the next one. Consider how it starts out with “Dream of Mickey Mantle,” a song about an actual dream, before transitioning into the Ben Folds-esque “Goodmorning,” a song about waking up in the morning and feeling the crushing weights of life fall onto you.

Granted, it could be difficult to process the wild variation in tone and style that this album has, as songs go from ‘80s influenced pop to having experimental saxophone hooks to repeating lines distorted by bizarre vocoder effects, but once you realize that this is actually Antonoff at his most honest, it feels right. In fact, Gone Now works because of how experimental it is, not in spite of. Heck, the album ends with “Foreign Girls,” which starts off sounding like it’s going to be something out of a ‘70s sci-fi movie, but turns into a warm and endearing ditty. Unpredictability explodes from this album, but underneath all of it is genuinely cathartic and meaningful pop music, and that’s what makes it my album of the year.

---

Article and photos by sonder editor Andrew Friedgen. Album art by the respective bands. Like this? Sonder is an independent music, travel and photography publication at sonderlife.com. Give us a follow here or at our Twitter, Instagram or Facebook if you like this!

Also check out:

Our features throughout the year

Our index of every band we’ve photographed

[alainawriteswwe]

Pride and Prejudice and Wrestling - Part 3

Characters: Seth Rollins x Reader, The gang from Raw

Summary: When a superstar Hollywood actress (The Reader), interacts with WWE Superstar Seth Rollins at Monday Night Raw, sparks fly. Can Rollins overcome his pride and convince the reader to take a chance on him when she’s still recovering from a nasty scandal caused by her cheating fiancé?

Warnings: Lots of flirting, angsty longing and maybe some bad words

Tags: @caramara3 @hardcorewwetrash

– Part 3: Crazy In Love

I watched the rest of the matches with interest backstage, even though I was just a guest and could have left after my segment was done.

The next match up was Finn vs Elias with a little treachery thrown in by Bray Wyatt. I stood with Finn while he waited for his music to start. He was wearing his oh so tiny black trunks which left little to the imagination and his signature leather jacket.

Standing next to him, Finn definitely had presence. It was different than with Seth. Where Rollins had sex appeal and a twinge of naughtiness, Bálor had that X factor, that persuasive charm that could never be taught. That had its own sex appeal too.

Finn was also the epitome of cool with the turned up lapels of his jacket. Plus, I was pretty sure I could grate cheese off those abs. Oh the things you could eat off those abs.

This of course made me think of all the things I could eat off Seth’s abs too. I didn’t realize I was smiling so openly thinking about Seth until Finn pulled me from my reverie.

“Ah, here’s the lass that has been giving Rollins so much trouble tonight.” He set those stunning clear blue eyes on me and I shuddered to take a breath.

“Well, I hope I am not too much trouble. I want them to invite me back some day.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that, lass. They loved you out there. You fit in real well here,” he said in that sexy brogue before looking past my shoulder. He waved at someone behind me giving them a wave and a wink.

Then he leaned in close whispering in my ear. “Besides, folks won’t give you grief about taking it to Rollins. He can be an egotistical jerk. What you see out there in the ring and on camera is not an act.”

“Oh.” I felt guilty for gossiping but I just wanted to know what was going on. “I heard there was bad blood between you and him.”

“He is a very jealous and selfish man. Always over reaching into people’s lives. Rearranging those lives as he sees fit. He can’t stand seeing anyone else get a push. Or showing great talent. He has to be first at everything. One day, if you and I meet again, perhaps I’ll tell you the things he did to me.” I touched his arm as an act of comfort. “Are you coming to karaoke? If so, you can tell me tonight.”

He took my hand in his. A sadness came over those stunning blue eyes.

“No. Unfortunately, that post-show socializing is Rollins’ domain. He has made it very clear he doesn’t want me around. And even though he is not in the title picture as The Man carrying the company right now, he still has a lot of pull around here. He could hurt my career if he wanted. I can’t jeopardize all that I have worked for by upsetting him.”

I shook my head. “That’s awful. You shouldn’t be isolated at work just because Seth doesn’t care for you or is jealous of your talent. That’s not fair.”

Finn shrugged. Those gloriously defined abs of his moving as well as he took a deep breath.

“Lots of things are not fair in the WWE, lass.”

A technician came by to tell Finn to get ready for his entrance.

“In case I don’t see you again.” He kissed both my cheeks. My hand still in his. “It was nice meeting you. Hopefully, we will meet again.” He flashed me a huge smile and then looked past my shoulder before he went through the curtain.

I turned around to see who had caught Finn’s attention behind me only to find Seth glaring at me.

The Architect’s match with Dean vs The Miztourage was up next. I wasn’t originally supposed to go out again but The Game himself, Triple H, came down and asked if I would stay ring side at the match, due to the huge pop I got earlier that night. I felt honored. They laid down how the match would go and what I should do at various points.

I felt butterflies when I went through the curtain with Seth. It was fun seeing him go through his whole entrance routine close up. It was obvious he fed off the energy of the crowd. I whooped and hollered with him just as the crowd was doing.

He leaned over to me and whispered in my ear. The look on his face was neutral but his words definitely were not. “I don’t need a hype man or a valet and I definitely do not need a cheerleader. I’m my own man.”

That popped the bubble of euphoria that was fizzing around me. I pasted a smile on my face and went down the ramp. Then Dean quickly followed with his music.

I felt deflated as we got into the match but I let it all go and soon I was getting into the story of the match. When The Miz hid behind Maryse to shield himself from attack, I pushed her to the ground, opening up the A-Lister for a double attack by Dean and Seth right through the Spanish announce table.

The rest of the match went quickly and then it was over with Seth and Dean being declared the winners. They were still wary of each other and when Seth slid out the ring and up the ramp, I let him go up by himself. Instead, I waited to go up the ramp with Dean. I was gesticulating widely with my hands to the Miztourage that Dean kicked their butts and they weren’t anything to write home about.

When we got through the curtain, Dean caught me up in a huge bear hug and then thwacked me hard on the back like I was one of the boys. “You were good out there, kid. Real good.” He looked at his friend. “What do you think Rollins, does she have it?”

“Does it matter? She’s leaving tomorrow anyway,” he stated before stalking off to the locker room.

I ignored Seth and instead focused on the fun evening to come. It would be nice to have a proper night with some girlfriends even if the guys were joining in on the karaoke. After changing into a simple pair of tight black jeans and a gold off the shoulder top, I met the girls to pile into Sasha’s rental car.

The karaoke place also offered food which was great because everyone was starving. Although Dean complained that the food had better be more than just Japanese seaweed and fish balls or he was bailing with Renee for a cheese burger.

We were shown to a private bar area in the back with lots of leather couches surrounding a large coffee table with menus and song books. There was a bar filling the entire wall with a mirror behind the couches and we even had our own private bartender.

We all huddled around and looked at the song books trying to see what songs we would do. I was looking for a song to really take it to Seth for being so cold before and after the final match. Something to show him he wasn’t sh-t and he should tone his ego down. When I got to the page of a certain pop princess I knew I had my song and my revenge.

It took awhile to start as people placed their food and drinks orders. Cesaro and Seth were nowhere to be found. Sasha was going through the long list of karaoke rules they had hammered out when Seth and Cesaro finally made their way into the large private area where we were seated.

Cesaro laughed as he came in. He always seemed so happy. “You know why I am late everyone. Mr. ‘I Have to Look Perfect’ in a baseball cap and track pants was taking forever.” He pointed at Seth who was already very vocally denying his prima donna status.

“It is important self care to look good, man. You of all people should know that Cesaro.” Seth mouthed a sorry at Sasha. Apparently for his lateness.

“All I know is that I have had dates that took less time than you to get ready,” Cesaro said as Bayley handed him her menu for them to look over together.

Seth looked at me. “Perfection takes time, right princess? And in Hollywood probably a lot of money.”

My smile didn’t quite reach my eyes. “Is that why you haven’t mastered it yet?”

Okay that was cruel but he made me mad with his snippy comments during our entrance and because he looked really delicious in those black skinny jeans that I wanted to take off him. Was everyday leg day for him at the gym?Damn him.

Instead of being offended as I intended he just thumped his hands on his chest and gave us that trademark cackle which turned into a loud feigned guffaw. He pointed to me. “Look everyone, the Princess has got jokes.”

Sasha ignored him and continued to lay down the rules while everyone dug into the shared appetizers. The Legit Boss was taking charge. She stood up to make her announcement.

“Okay. Its normal karaoke rules. Boys against girls. Losers pay for all the food and drinks tonight. Everyone will go once, then we will have a group round. Got it. And our judges tonight are Dean, Renee and Jojo.”

“Hold up, man,” Seth interjected. “How come there are two ladies as judges? That’s a disadvantage to us guys.”

Sasha rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. She was definitely signaling that she wasn’t taking any guff from the Kingslayer. “Seth you make the same argument every time. It’s best to have a odd number of judges in case they are deadlocked.”

Seth grumbled but didn’t protest anymore. He then turned his attention to complaining in his nasally voice about the song list. “There’s no pop punk in any of these song books? No Parkway Drive. Not even a lot of Paramore. How will I show off my immense singing talents?”

“If your singing talents are as big as your ego you should be the next Ed Sheeran,” I said and patted him on the back. Seth had no comeback. So I talked with Cesaro and ordered a drink from the bartender. A Coke.

Seth shook his head at my choice. “That stuff’s poison, Princess. You know that right? Empty calories, high fructose corn sugar. It will ruin that curvy figure you got going on.”

I ignored him and took great delight in sipping my soda in front of him through a straw while Seth focused on stealing a distracted Cesaro’s plate of chicken skewers.

I took a seat on the stool between them and talked to Cesaro and Bayley who were thinking of doing a duet before the competition started. Bayley seemed hesitant but was carried away by Cesaro’s enthusiasm.

“Go on and do it,” I said to them. “It will be fun.”

Bayley looked over to Seth for his advice but he just shrugged his shoulders. Cesaro convinced her though and they went off to put in their selection.

That left Seth and I at the bar. He was so close. Part of me just wanted to touch him. To lay my hand on his arm and flip my hair and flirt shamelessly. His hair was in a messy bun at the nape of his neck covered by that backwards cap that I always thought did him no favors when it cast a shadow over those gorgeous puppy dog eyes of his.

He picked up his beer and took a swig. I never noticed his hands up close before. They were large, callused from many sessions working out. His fingers, long and nimble. I wondered how it would feel to have them roam all over my body, caressing my skin. Dipping into naughty places and causing me to surrender and cry out his name.

“Why does everyone seem to need your permission to do things around here Seth? I asked.

He gave me that famous smirk of his. “Because I’m ‘The Man’.”

I rolled my eyes at him. I stole one of the already purloined chicken skewers from Seth’s plate and ate a piece. “So why do you exclude Finn? I talked to him tonight and he said he wouldn’t be welcome here because of you.”

The sexy smirk disappeared. “I wouldn’t believe everything Bálor says to you.” His eyes narrowed. They seemed accusatory. “You’re not meeting him later are you?”

I let out an angry breath. “What business of it is yours?”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I’m making it my business. I saw him talk to you before his match. He made sure I saw.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “Why would he do that?”

“To get at me.”

I laughed. “That’s crazy. He’s just a nice man who you seem intent on mistreating terribly.”

“He’s jealous.”

“Jealous of what, exactly?”

“You and me.”

“There is no ‘you and me’, Seth.”

Those dark eyes drank me in from head to toe undressing every strip of clothing covering my body. “Not yet. But there will be.”

I shook my head no, even though everything in my brain was screaming yes.

“You have no shame. You know that Seth. We may have good banter but I am not a foregone conclusion. I won’t be your evening’s entertainment back in your room and I definitely won’t be responding to your poor excuse for sexting either.”

He chuckled. “So you know about that.”

“Everyone knows about that.” I poked him on the arm. “And you’re not irresistible you know.” But that was a lie. He was. He really was.

He put down his beer and pushed his plate away. “Okay. Deny it.”

“What?”

“Tell me there is nothing between us.”

“I just did.”

Seth shook his head and leaned in closer to me. “No. Tell me you don’t look at me and think about all the fun we would have in bed. Tell me that the tips of your breasts are not straining against your shirt right now because I can see that they are.”

He took my wrist in his hand. “That your pulse doesn’t quicken when I’m around. That you don’t suffer from the anticipation of what could be so damn good between us.

“Or maybe you can manage to squeak out the lie thar you don’t want me to lean in just a few more inches and kiss that very expensive lipstick off your lips…roughly. That secretly you want me to bite that full lower lip that has teased me all night.”

His hands covered my bare arms just shy of my breasts. “Tell me that you don’t want my hands to cover your breasts right now or that just the thought of my touching you, caressing every inch of you is not making you wet even as you try to form words to the contrary.”

He gave a smile but there was no triumph in it for him. But there was truth. Sincerity. “I know the signs. You want me, Princess. Even if you will not admit it. Just like I want you. We are both afflicted by this thing between us. It’s like a string of electricity coursing between you and I in waves. It’s been there all night.”

I opened my mouth to lie and deny everything he said even as my body was doing everything he said. Even though my blood heated and coursed to my core causing my body to beg for the release he could give me. Damn him.

Seth continued. “I see it Princess. Finn sees it too. He wants you. The fact that you want me galls him. He likes to be first.”

Just then the karaoke music fired up, complete with garish ‘90s looking graphics on a big screen. Seth glanced up at Bayley who was gathering her courage to take the mic with Cesaro and he smiled at her to give her courage.

The distraction of the music didn’t stop me from lighting into him though.

“That’s disgusting Seth. I’m not a toy for you and Finn to fight over. Maybe I would want someone else.” I looked up towards the stage as well. “Cesaro is super fit. Maybe I will text him later and ask him to tuck me in bed. How about that?”

“I think your spelling is off, Princess.”

He shook his head and turned back to look at me. I wanted to smack that self satisfied look from his face.

“You may appreciate Antonio’s body and maybe even his European charm but he’s not the one you want to pull your hair in bed and make you scream with pleasure. I mean like really let go. Wake the neighbors kind of stuff.”

He paused, leaning forward. His hands moved up my arms in a slow caress only to stop and gently massage my shoulders with his powerful fingers. The moment he touched me that way my body wanted to sigh in relief. “You know you are really wound up. I could help you with that.”

I broke the hold his hands had on me and pushed his massaging fingers away. Part of me wanted to cry at the loss of contact. “You are really the absolute limit Rollins. You’ve got some nerve.”

He put his hands up in surrender. “I’m just telling the truth, man.”

I wanted to argue, was looking forward to it even but any conversation was soon drowned out by the karaoke.

So Seth and I swiveled our stools to see the action at the mic as Bayley and Cesaro began their duet. They tried their best but murdered a medley of songs from Grease. Bayley seemed hesitant about her voice but was having fun while Cesaro couldn’t sing a note and didn’t care. He belted out the lyrics with gusto, hugging Bayley as they got through each verse. Even though they were terrible, everyone clapped along, hooting and hollering when the song was done.

Soon the competition began and it was all games faces from the guys and gals.

Bray was first up, singing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ in a clear strong voice that wasn’t that bad. The Miz and Seth, on the same side for once, cheered on their fellow contestant.

“That’s how you do it man. We are gonna mop the floor with the girls. Not one of them can sing,” Seth taunted.

I turned to open my mouth and counter but Sasha got up. “Let me handle this.”

I thought she was going to taunt him back but she just got to sing. She started grooving and singing Adele and we were all speechless. Not only was Sasha a ‘Legit Boss’ in the ring but she was also one on a karaoke mic and she belted out how we could have had it all.

To his credit, Seth was the first one to hug her when she finished, kissing the top of her head. But I did hear him whisper. “We’re still gonna beat you though,” which made us all laugh.

Samoa Joe did Sinatra proud with a knock out rendition of ‘My Way’. Alexa did well with Christina Aguilera’s Genie in a Bottle, which she sold not as much through singing but through her presence on the mic and her dancing and gestures. The Miz tackled Ed Sheeran. Bayley sang a song I didn’t know from DNCE and Braun did ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica real justice.

Seth found his Paramore. Belting the familiar song out loudly and in between verses, cackling and heckling us girls that he could beat us all by himself because he was The Champ. When he finished he took a huge bow. And I shook my head even while I clapped for him.

It was now my turn. I was the last of the singles portion. I got up to the stage. Butterflies in my stomach. Everyone was looking at me in anticipation. Right before the music started I winked at Seth and mouthed, ‘this is for you.’ He mouthed back, ‘make it good’. He was now sitting on the couch with Sasha curled up next to him but his attention was fully on me.

I took a deep breath and began to sing, looking directly at Seth belting out the lyrics in a way that would make Britney Spears herself, proud.

Superstar Where you from, how’s it going? I know you Got a clue, what you doing? You can play brand new to all the other chicks out here But I know what you are What you are baby

It was hard to see everyone’s expressions with the lights from the stage on me but I could somehow see Seth clearly. I wanted to bask in my victory of taking Seth down in karaoke. See the anger that would appear and wipe out that ego driven expression on his face.

Womanizer, woman-womanizer You’re a womanizer Oh, womanizer, oh You’re a womanizer, baby

You, you, you are You, you, you are Womanizer, womanizer Womanizer

A smug smile was pasted on Seth’s face as I began the song, but it slowly slipped as the lyrics went on and he realized what they meant. Ahh, here we go. He was gonna be so angry. The arrogance he displayed tonight would be put in its place and fade.

Daddy-O You got the swagger of a champion Too bad for you You just can’t find the right companion

I guess when you have one too many Makes it hard, it could be easy Who you are That’s just who you are baby

But instead of the anger I wanted to relish, Seth gave me hurt. I could tell my words wounded him. Hit a mark and I felt kind of guilty but then I thought of the misery he had caused Finn and I felt like maybe Seth deserved some misery of his own tonight.

Lollipop Must mistake me, you’re the sucker To think that I Would be a victim, not another

Say it, play it, how you wanna? But no way I’m ever gonna Fall for you Never you, baby

My victory was short lived as Seth’s smile turned into a grimace for just a moment. He looked at me. There was a sense of disbelief and betrayal on his countenance. His eyes narrowed. His nose scrunched. He quickly recovered though. Pasted on a smile although underneath the surface he was embarrassed, hurt. That smile did not quite reach his eyes though.

I was horrified. This was not my intention. I just wanted to knock him down a peg. Not hit him with a finisher to do him in. My heart sank to my stomach like a stone. I was suddenly so embarrassed. The lights on the stage, way too hot. Everyone in the audience was quiet. I still had two more verses of the song. And while the audience was polite it was decidedly frosty when I got to the final verses.

When it was over and I wanted to run out the door and back to my apartment in New York and hide. But it was Seth who got up and clapped enthusiastically.

“There you go!” He yelled. That’s how you karakoke.” He pointed at me. “We are still gonna kick you girls’ butts though. Let’s see what you got for the group competition.”

I wanted to run and get a beer or just disappear but Sasha saw me make a beeline for the bar and stopped me. She was in leader mode and told us the song she picked for the group portion of the competition. It was Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ and Alexa and I did our best to keep up with Sasha in doing some basic choreography everyone knew from the video. The audience ate it up. Seth looked unimpressed.

We went to sit down on the couch when we finished. Confident that we were winning the night.

Seth though, wasn’t giving up. I tried to grab his attention after my botch with the Britney song but he just looked right past me. I was gutted. I had to apologize and make this right.

He gathered his final team, himself, The Miz and Somoa Joe, for the final song. Seth glanced over to Sasha.

“The last time we did karaoke you chose Rihanna for your group song. So I was fairly certain you would go with Beyonce tonight. So I figured we would fight fire with fire.”

He motioned over to the employee who was operating the karaoke music and Beyonce’s ‘Crazy In Love’ started. Seth, Joe and The Miz all took a verse. Singing their hearts out. You couldn’t help but love them as they also did the choreography from the accompanying video. But their steps were better than ours. It was obvious they had done a bit of practicing. The Architect always has a plan.

And when Seth, in full Beyonce mode leapt from the stage and sat on Sasha’s lap for a bit we all whooped and hollered. But they weren’t done. As they got to the last bit of the song they all stripped their shirts off. Flinging them to the ladies. We all stood up and cheered.

The judges didn’t take long to declare the guys the winners. Sasha was gutted but acknowledged that the final song clenched it for them. Seth was subdued in his celebration. So unlike him when he was talking trash all throughout the evening.

I tried to make my way over to Seth as he headed for the door with Cesaro. I needed to apologize. Not just so I felt better. I needed to know that I had soothed some of the pain I caused him. As I made my way after Seth as he was about to slip through the door, Dean stopped me.

“Dean. I just want to apologize to Seth,” I pleaded.

“Oh no you don’t,” Dean said. “You know you have got some nerve.” He gestured wildly at me with his hands. “You come here to Raw and we think you are pretty cool. But you are really petty. Seth may have made some mistakes but he’s our brother. You have your own scandals but no one here mentioned them tonight. I guess we are just classier than some fancy actress with fancy awards.”

Sasha butted in. “Dean. Stop. She said she was sorry.”

But Dean didn’t have to say another word. The shame I felt was pretty deep. And what was worse, I wouldn’t be able to fix this. Seth was gone.

–

Thanks for reading everyone! Please let me know if you would like to be tagged for future chapters.

[avaliveradio]

Rock Mania Rises Again Playlist hosted by Jacqueline Jax

TODAY'S LIST OF WHAT'S FRESH COMING INTO A.V.A LIVE RADIO. THIS IS A ROCK GENRE SHOW SEGMENT FULL OF MUSIC THAT WILL INSPIRE YOU AND SEND YOU SEARCHING THE ARTISTS PAGES FOR MORE. EPISODE HOSTED BY JACQUELINE JAX.

Todays show is all about Rock and Roll. Get ready Rock fans to discover some new favorites.

Listen to the show : 2 pm et : https://anchor.fm/ava-live-radio

FEATURED ARTISTS:

Artist: Beautiful Things New Release: Hey Hey Hey (Electric Mix) Genre: Alternative Rock Sounds like: Garbage, Placebo, Curve Located in: Los Angeles, CA

Our band creates ethereal pop-rock with deeply personal lyrics. I wrote this song about my experiences with the music industry, looking back to a time when I was much younger and more trusting. I let people guide me and represent me who didn’t have my best interests at heart – only their own. I learned so much from these experiences about human nature which ultimately strengthened me and made me a smarter, wiser person. 

I wanted this song to be empowering, hence the lyric “I won’t be a victim, no never again.” I’ve since chosen the people I surround myself within all areas of my life very carefully and have learned to trust my intuition. It’s made all the difference. Our new Dream World (Revisited) EP is made up of re-imagined songs from the first Beautiful Things album released 10 years ago, called just Dream World. We are working on a new single and will be making a video to promote it.

LINKS:  https://open.spotify.com/track/0G9QeybSCD1SYCIpr6vrA6 https://twitter.com/officialthings https://www.facebook.com/beautifulthingsmusic https://www.instagram.com/beautifulthingsmusic

Artist: Dream Eternal Bliss

New Release: Circling

Genre: alternative rock

Sounds like: Berlin, The Cardigans, Garbage, Duran Duran

Located in: Franklin Lakes, NJ

This song is a moody ballad about your life being stuck in a holding pattern. Challenges we face tend to provide great songwriting material when you want to craft truly personal and heartfelt lyrics. If you’ve ever felt like time is passing you by and you’re sort of immobilized by your situation, powerless to take control and make a change, whether it’s a relationship or work or something else, that’s exactly where “Circling" came from. I find that the happiest times in my life are the most challenging times in which to write personal lyrics.

This song encapsulates a variety of musical influences. It starts with a synth-meets-U2 vibe over some electronic percussion that evolves into something dark and somber, and then in the second half, big drums and heavy guitar kick in. Right now we are shooting a video for this song!

LINKS: https://www.reverbnation.com/dreameternalbliss/song/30421617-circling https://open.spotify.com/track/1cqQihDUv9ZInj9Qpeh9jh https://www.facebook.com/dreameternalbliss https://www.instagram.com/dreameternalbliss

Artist: Ugly Melon

New Release:  Rainbow in the Dark

Genre: Hard rock / Metal /Rock /

Sounds like: Black Sabbath / Disturbed / Shinedown

Located in: Toronto Ontario Canada

Ugly Melon comes from an era of classic hard rock from the 70s Black Sabbath to today modern edge of Disturbed. 'Rainbow in the dark' is a song written by Ronnie James Dio back in 1983 from the Holy Diver album, the Original song was an up yet simple song.  We put our Ugly Melon twist to it and made the song a more Modern ballad anthem.  The feeling of being alone and rejected but you are really a rainbow in the dark. When doing such an epic song like this that was a huge hit for Dio, you've got to make sure you don't butcher the song.  Our new album 'Just a Man' is a piece of work we are proud of and love hearing it every time.  

Ugly Melon will be releasing a video soon probably on Halloween song called 'If You're Wrong'. A song about questioning and challenging religious beliefs and to be open-minded to others beliefs. 

LINKS:  https://www.reverbnation.com/uglymelon/song/30535606-rainbow-in-the-dark https://open.spotify.com/track/6jkS0MMp6jl45iyjO3xNE5?si=6aXL5FW2QrWHm_ofcGZ7Iw https://twitter.com/Ugly_Melon https://www.facebook.com/uglymelon Instagram @Ugly_Melon

Artist: Jet Set Future

New Release: VICE

Genre: Alternative, Indie-Rock, Post-hardcore

Sounds like: : Best Coast, Pvris, No Doubt, Bloxx, Wavves, Foo Fighters, Paramore

Located in: Plymouth, Massachusetts United States of America

This song is a nice Blending of Beautiful vocal melodies with a Lead bass, loud drums, and powerful catchy guitars. This song, in particular, has a post-hardcore, chill feel. It's about waiting for the right person to come along, and all of the struggles, and heartache that comes before it. This release is important to our music direction because it shows you a foreshadowing of what's to come on our Full Length. But without giving you too many details. We can be poppy and peppy. We can be dark, we can have a feeling like you're relaxing on a beach, we can also add a sense of classical. As of now we're finishing up and putting our final tweaks onto our first Full-Length album. Next, we will be working on a music video for our next single.

LINKS:  https://www.reverbnation.com/jetsetfuture/song/31128331-vice https://open.spotify.com/track/2kja9ILXtyiaXRbsojRIog?si=xFs7SXFdSrepvLc5N8qu4g http://www.twitter.com/jetsetfuture4 https://www.facebook.com/JetSetFuture https://www.instagram.com/JetSetFutureBand

Artist: Population U

New Release: Now you see

Genre: Alt Rock, Indie Rock, alternative, emo

Sounds like:  Offspring, Green Day, rise against

Located in: Anaheim, Ca USA

'Now you see' is not just a song about a breakup or losing someone you love, it's a song about realizing your self-value after it's over. The song showcases our songwriting and it is one of our favorite songs to perform. We are releasing this single with a Music Video to showcase our Stage Show With our PopU Dancers. We are focusing on a Stage show for the New Year. With a year in preparation behind us to create an alternative rock stage show that incorporates actual Dancers with the music, it's time to get the ball rolling.  Right now we just finished a video for our single "Now you see" and will be releasing it on our YouTube channel. We have a few more videos to shoot and we have 2 shows with our dancers. By the beginning of next year, the band will start recording more singles. 

LINKS:  https://twitter.com/populationu https://open.spotify.com/artist/02vPDEV6Eqm4tbozbKDNHL https://soundcloud.com/population-u https://www.reverbnation.com/populationu https://www.instagram.com/populationumusic https://www.facebook.com/populationu

Artist: Black Rose Reception

New Release: Up jumped the devil

Genre: Hard rock Sounds like: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden

Located in: Indiana

The music we are creating is old and new school music mix. The message in this song is you can overcome the demons of depression, suicide, and stress that we all deal with. There are great and professional people out there who can help so never feel embarrassed to ask fo help. Right now we are going in studio recording more new tracks.

LINKS:  https://open.spotify.com/album/0HEOkTc5fXQyYCr1jwFSeF https://twitter.com/blackroserecept https://www.facebook.com/BlackRoseReceptionMusic https://www.instagram.com/blackrosereceptio https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/BlackRoseReception

Artist: NewClue

New Release: Hail to the King (Henry VIII)

Genre: Nostalgic Metal Reborn

Sounds like: : AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, XYZ, Dio, Queenrych, Nostalgic Metal bands.

Located in: New London CT, USA

Nostalgic Metal Reborn with a NewClue. This is a biography of the life of King Henry VIII with some GREAT guitar leads!

The music we are creating is NOSTALGIC METAL REBORN. As formed in the very late '80s as NoClue and after about 7 years, went our separate ways. We Reformed into NewClue in 2014, which has won many awards and put us into rotation on many radio stations worldwide.

With many of the yester-year's 80's and 90's rock bands on tour today and all of the tribute bands going over like Blockbusters, it's the perfect time to catch a NewClue.

Right now with all the mania alive towards classic rock bands and the Tribute bands on the circuit, we are creating a Godsmack tribute band. Of course, NewClue will always be the opening act!

LINKS:  REVERBNATION: www.reverberation.com/newclue SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/user/22kksixsltmqrozubnt3xytoa/playlist/01MSrnctE7bm1Qs7VhHgHt?si=MY3PWLymQuepRp90nTHJCA TWITTER: www.twitter.com/NewClue2 FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/NewClueBand INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/neil.whittington Our favorite: Number One Music: www.numberonemusic.com/newclue

Artist: David Bucci

New Release: Dangerous

Genre: Indie Alternative Rock

Sounds like: Bon Jovi, Chris Stapleton, Bryan Adams, Ritchie Kotzen, Goo Goo Dolls, Keith Urban

Located in: Channel Islands, Ca

When asked to describe his new release in a few words, David Bucci said, "Dirty boots, blue-collar, indie alternative rock music. Dangerous, off the new album, Country Club." 'Dangerous' has a heavy acoustic guitar and drum-driven influence with electric guitar layers and soling over it along with my lead vocals and backup harmonies by Robert Cross. The message behind ‘Dangerous’ is a sort of realistic caution about life, that we can be derailed very easily and things can spiral quickly. We need to take care of ourselves and don’t put ourselves in bad positions and places.

Right now we are preparing for the album's release, planning a new music video. Tour, not yet, local clubs and bars at the moment, but who knows, arenas and stadiums may be right around the corner.

LINKS:  Website http://www.david-bucci.com Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/0SFT53gEfnxneyzaEvgEGK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidbucci_official Facebook https://m.facebook.com/thedavidbucciofficial Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/DgbBucci

Artist: The Yellow Jacks

New Release: Georgia Peach

Genre: Rock, Blues Rock , Psychedelic Rock, Country Rock

Sounds like: : Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Cream, The Beatles, The Black Keys, Wolfmother and The Artic Monkeys

Located in: Long Island, New York United States

This is a song about a couple of guys from New York going to Georgia. Four piece energetic, soulful original rock band inspired by classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Cream and The Rolling Stones. We are also inspired by modern rock bands like The Black Keys, Artic Monkeys and Wolfmother. We just released our debut album entitled From The Ashes and want to keep growing our discography by releasing new music and playing live shows. Music is our passion and we want to touch people's hearts with our songs and performances.

LINKS: Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/album/0BNflbZX7Nj00NaylB5PXk?si=XLcv8mzfSUSqRN_bTvNoHw The Yellow Jacks (@TheYellowJacks): https://twitter.com/TheYellowJacks https://www.facebook.com/theyellowjacksLI https://www.instagram.com/the_yellow_jacks

Artist: Shehzad Bhanji - Instrumental Guitarist

New Release: Matched Hearts

Genre: Instrumental Rock, Melodic Rock, Soft Rock, Pop Rock

Sounds like:  Lady Antebellum (for the new song Matched Hearts) and Joe Satriani Joe Satriani (For the majority of the tracks)

Located in:  Doha Qatar

‘Matched Hearts’ is an anthem that describes deep and intimate love as two people’s hearts being in sync with each other. The song is about celebrating the different moments that come with love unedited and completely raw: from moments of desperation to moments of pure bliss.  I'm an instrumental rock guitarist whose powerful melodies have touched millions of hearts. Matched Hearts is the first release from my 3rd Album DREAMS. I’m releasing a music video of Matched Hearts, which will provide the launchpad for the release of my 3rd solo instrumental album.

LINKS:  Presave the Album: http://bit.ly/shehzadbhanji New Music Video: http://bit.ly/matchedhearts Website: www.shehzadbhanji.com Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shehzad-bhanji/matchedhearts/s-dVnAP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shehzadbhanji Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shehzad.bhanji Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShehzadBhanji

Artist: Graham Greene

New Release: Night of the Djinn

Genre: Symphonic Metal - Instrumental

Sounds like: Nightwish, Kamelot, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Joe Satriani,

Located in: Perth, Western Australia

A symphonic blend of Eastern, Classical and Metal to conjure images of the mystical Orient. Orchestration meets heavy guitars to tell the Djinn's tale. This song flowed from beginning to end in the writing and recording process, and I found myself caught up in the story as I went. Sometimes you write the song, and sometimes the song writes you. New videos are in the planning to promote the new album, "A Ripple in Time", which is now online in all the best places.

LINKS:  https://open.spotify.com/track/0KvqWl95ymm8mUhsCtzlmp?si=bcPCG25LReO4aPhRyiaEUA https://www.facebook.com/GrahamGreeneGuitarist https://twitter.com/Graham_Greene https://www.instagram.com/grahamgreeneguitarist

Artist: Dave Molter

New Release: Tell Me That You Love Me

Genre: Rock

Sounds like: Beatles, Byrds, Searchers

Located in: Pittsburgh, PA USA

An accomplished veteran of the East Coast and Midwest music scene, Dave Molter counts the Beatles as his primary Influence. His latest single "Tell Me That You Love Me" is a tribute to the Fab Four and the British Invasion era, when getting the attention of someone you loved was the moving force for young people. It has Beatlesque harmonies and tone as well as the 12-string jangle of the Beatles, Byrds, Holliea, and Searchers. It's a happy song! "Tell Me That You Love Me is one of five songs on my debut EP, "Foolish Heart." Right now I'm excited to continue working on a full CD, which we hope will be available in early 2020.

LINKS:  https://www.reverbnation.com/davemolter/song/31091471-04-tell-me-that-you-love-me Twitter: @molter_dave www.facebook.com/davemoltermusic Instagram: @davemolter

Artist: Vovkulaka

New Release: my Devil

Genre: Metal/Dubstep

Located in: Odessa, Ukraine

Music creator from Odessa composing music that investigates the unusual.

Have you ever been in a relationship where you find yourself doing things that normally, you never do? The situation almost possesses you to struggle but still, you can't manage to break away. The desire is the conundrum. Like Demons with thoughts... A living Hell. You stop and think this is my Devil.

The music we are creating is Dark... Angry... Evil... Metal

Right now we are preparing to release our CD. LINKS:  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3928niLRX3PB1EbxuRvhpu?si=OSLSKd0JRA-g8eghCufsrQ Twitter: Twitter.com/VovkulakaMusic Facebook: Facebook.com/VovkulakaFanPage Instagram: Instagram.com/VovkulakaMusic

Artist: Collins & Streiss

New Release: Freedom's Captive

Genre: Rock, Commercial Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock

Located in: Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

"Freedom's Captive" is about our growing addiction to our devices, whether it's cell phones, computers, tablets, social media and so on, and this obsession and need for acquiring followers and likes in today's web of virtual existence. It's a compounding obsession in a lot of cases where we have all this freedom and ability to exist and do what we want virtually now, but at the same time are becoming captives to it! This song involves a few other players and has more of an overall band feel to it. The song is upbeat, edgy and energetic and full of catchy melodies and hooks which is common in our music. It's derivative of our rock roots which has a broad range of artists and rich heritage.

LINKS:  Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/collinsandstreiss Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2zOmvGgES8y4jvKtzVGOa3 Twitter: https://twitter.com/collins_streiss Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Collins-and-Streiss-762369407204284 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collins_and_streiss FOLLOW OUR PLAYLIST

[loveoldskool]

Blog Post 5: Target Market

Vans started in Orange County, California in the 1960’s. That time in the OC started a revolution of sports. Starting in this area and time drew a lot of attention to skaters and surfers, which is Vans’ main target market. Vans became the “IT” shoe for athletes. They started to request new colors, designs, patterns, and textures. Today, I see everyone, and when I say everyone, I MEAN EVERYONE, wears Vans. Because of Vans starting in the 1960’s, all of the people who grew up in that time in the OC (geographic segmentation) still have a pair or many.

Who likes Disney? Don’t we all!? Well, get ready for this psychographic segmentation. Vans made a specialty line with Disney shoes and apparel. Of course, they have children’s shoes too! Imagine seeing a baby boy with Micky Mouse Vans? Vans really focuses on their demographic segmentation because they want to make shoes and apparel for every age, gender, and race.

Let’s talk about the events that Vans sponsors. Vans Warped Tour positioned their brand into a festival, which started in 1995. Many artists played in this festival over the years such as Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and My Chemical Romance. Doing this expanded their target market into the punk rock music scene. Unfortunately, Vans Warped Tour came to an end in 2018. I was super depressed about it, because I had some cool memories there with my family (family life cycle).

How Vans Became The Go-To Brand For Rebels, Mavericks, And Misfits. (2017, July 28). Retrieved from https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/vans-marketing-strategy/

THANK YOU FOR 24 SUMMERS! (n.d.). Retrieved from https://vanswarpedtour.com/splash/

[photosofusly]

Exclaim!'s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far

As originally seen on Exclaim.ca.At this point last year, we’d already experienced massive album drops from the likes of Beyoncé, Kanye West, Radiohead, David Bowie and Drake; by the end of the year, we were left wondering just what was left to come out in 2017.

The answer is a swathe of albums by artists whose names might not adorn stadium marquees, but whose work shone brightly as beacons for another good year in music. Between long-awaited debut full-lengths, worldly, philosophical album statements and surprising genre crossovers, 2017 has seen a wealth of riches.

As the year’s halfway mark approaches, we’ve separated the great from the merely good in order to present the best albums released so far this year.

Click next to read through the albums one by one, or use the list below to skip ahead to your favourites.

Exclaim!’s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far:

1. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. 2. Sampha – Process 3. Feist – Pleasure 4. Father John Misty – Pure Comedy 5. Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me 6. Drake – More Life 7. Jay Som – Everybody Works 8. Mac DeMarco – This Old Dog 9. Joey Bada$$ – All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ 10. Slowdive – Slowdive 11. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic 12. The xx – I See You 13. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3 14. Thundercat – Drunk 15. Oddisee – The Iceberg 16. Code Orange – Forever 17. Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens 18. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy 19. Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound 20. Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer 21. Do Make Say Think – Stubborn Persistent Illusions 22. Incendiary – Thousand Mile Stare 23. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana 24. (Sandy) Alex G – Rocket 25. Future Islands – The Far Field 26. Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution 27. GAS – Narkopop 28. Paramore – After Laughter 29. Ryuichi Sakamoto – async

29. Ryuichi Sakamoto async (Milan)

A good deal has been made of the possibly autobiographical nature of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s triumphant return, async. The disc landed a little less than three years after his throat cancer diagnosis, and is replete with mournful synth lines, scratchy noise (if ever there was a track that made you want to clear your throat, it’s “andata") and spoken word segments about mortality.

There’s much more than nostalgia at work here, though. The 65-year-old, who calls both Tokyo and New York City home, delivered us a complex, at times difficult listen. Yet async remains wholly accessible. It’s beautiful without being pretty, engaging and, at the same time, comforting.

Is the disc’s title short for asynchronous, which refers to events "not occurring at the same time"? Maybe reading his illness and subsequent recovery into that is a stretch, but Sakamoto’s pre-release materials describe his interest in "the blurred lines of life and artificiality/noise and music." The line between good and poor health is often similarly tough to distinguish, but its exploration would fit perfectly amidst the tender thoughtfulness evident here. Kevin Press

28. Paramore After Laughter (Fueled By Ramen)

Paramore have gone through their share of professional and personal turmoil and lineup changes since their chart-topping self-titled LP. Bassist Jeremy Davis left, drummer Zac Farro returned seven years after an acrimonious split and singer Hayley Williams admitted in pre-release interviews that she often doubted they would ever record another album. The trio address this adversity head-on on the startling, emotionally complex After Laughter, a tuneful, effervescent full-length on which Paramore mostly trade what was left of their punk and emo roots for New Wave synths, sinewy Afrobeat-influenced guitar riffs and percussive Technicolor pop that evokes Talking Heads, Paul Simon and Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac.

In contrast with the soaring, ebullient melodies, the lyrics reflect the band’s tumultuous recent past, most prominently on the LP’s first single, the cathartic "Hard Times." Hitting rock bottom has rarely sounded better than on After Laughter, one of the year’s finest pop albums. Thierry Côté

27. GAS Narkopop (Kompakt)

Wolfgang Voigt has kept busy over the last 17 years through his various projects, but he’s been neglecting the one that earns him the most attention. Capitalizing on last year’s elaborate GAS box set, the 56-year-old returned with his fifth album under the moniker like no time had passed.

His new 75-minute opus, Narkopop, surveys different moods and pulses, filling in the vast space with a range of textures and styles: drone, ambient, neo-classical and minimal techno. The results can be mesmeric and beautiful, though he’s not averse to stirring up discomfiting moments to throw the listener’s meditation off, either.

Although it follows the GAS template in its design and structure, Narkopop, like its predecessors, is very much its own entity and an exciting next phase in the oeuvre of electronic music’s most intriguing characters. Cam Lindsay

26. Timber Timbre Sincerely, Future Pollution (Arts & Crafts)

The sinister synths that flood Timber Timbre’s sixth LP leave little doubt that the Canadian band’s latest record, Sincerely, Future Pollution, isn’t entirely optimistic about humanity’s course. The free-floating folk-noir ensemble, led by the haunting vocals of Taylor Kirk, reach new vibrancy on this record by harkening back to ’80s-era Bowie, drum machines and dystopian narratives to create an album that, like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, comprises a cinematic whole yet is approachable enough to enjoy in individual parts.

Evidenced by the cascading melodies of "Moment," the wide-swath guitar strums of "Sewer Blues" and the clavinet-bumping "Grifting," Sincerely, Future Pollution is much more concerned with world-building than 2014’s sensuous Hot Dreams in both theme and vision. As they have each release since 2006’s Cedar Shakes, Timber Timbre somehow manage to enhance their ever-evolving sound once again here; this time, they do so by borrowing from the past to craft an album as fresh as it is timeless. Mackenzie Herd

25. Future Islands The Far Field (4AD)

Less immediate than 2014’s Singles but ultimately more rewarding, the hooks on Future Islands’ The Far Field are subtler, the sound a little wearier. Anchored by the soulful, strange vocal stylings of Samuel T. Herring, the band still know how to write songs that will sound great at the outdoor festivals they’ve graduated to since the smash success of "Seasons (Waiting on You)" — and there are several of those here — but the real revelation is the bold steps they’re taking in the face of their success.

The woozy, weird "Candles" and the call-and-response Debbie Harry duet "Shadows" are proof that the band aren’t content to play it safe. By resisting the urge to go bigger, Future Islands have instead gone deeper, to devastating effect. Dave Mix

24. (Sandy) Alex G Rocket (Domino)

Eight albums in, the restless Alex Giannascoli — aka (Sandy) Alex G — refuses to be labeled simply as "indie rock." On Rocket, he tackles it all — bittersweet alt-country ("Bobby"), industrial pseudo-rap ("Brick"), auto-tuned R&B ("Sportstar"), weirdo psych-pop ("Witch"), ramshackle experimental noise ("Horse"), and the list could go on — yet it all still feels oddly cohesive, shrouded in a mysterious lo-fi intimacy narrated by Giannascoli’s melodic and dazed vocal style.

Hints of self-doubt, anger, sarcasm and bliss blend together effortlessly thanks to a strange and freaky concoction of plucky acoustic guitar, screeching synthesizers, dazzling violin, piano, saxophone and even random dogs barking. Rocket readily mutates around unsettling emotions using inventive fictional personas; it’s a curious approach, but it grounds the record to a quietly relatable content, and incites new feelings with each listen. Chris Gee

23. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Flying Microtonal Banana (ATO)

Like most of their previous efforts, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s latest project was tied to a concept from the outset — this time around, microtonality.

Flying Microtonal Banana might be the band’s most ambitious concept album so far, using a collection of microtonal instruments to weave unique melodies and Eastern-flavoured harmonies into the band’s usual frenetic grooves. That experimentation shines on tracks like "Open Water," with riffs that sound like an electrified snake-charmer, and "Billabong Valley," on which lead guitarist and singer Stu Mackenzie’s vocal lines mirror the eerie and hypnotic guitar melodies.

Rather than allowing themselves to be boxed in on Banana, though, the band run wild with the concept, transcending the chromatic scale to pull together one of the best psych-rock experiences of the year. Brandon Choghri

22. Incendiary Thousand Mile Stare (Closed Casket Activities)

Incendiary’s Thousand Mile Stare is a blistering return for the Long Island hardcore outfit. In the four years since their last record, Cost of Living, the music industry has seen some dramatic changes, particularly in relation to the current political climate. With these ten tracks, Incendiary prove that not only are they still relevant, but they’re on the forefront of their scene, leaders in an increasingly anxiety-ridden landscape.

The album’s eye-opening lyrics and gut-busting riffs are perfectly exemplified in "Front Toward Enemy," as frontman Brendan Garrone yells about "Fearing revolution": "They got their trigger fingers moving / The threat of oncoming war." Thousand Mile Stare’s unforgiving interpretation of a genre the band helped build, coupled with the passionate message they continue to spew, help make it one of hardcore’s most important release of 2017 thus far. Griffin Elliot

21. Do Make Say Think Stubborn Persistent Illusions (Constellation)

Do Make Say Think have never made a weak album, but nobody expected the legendary Torontonian instrumental octet to come back with such vital urgency after the longest recording gap in their lifespan. Perhaps it should’ve been clear though — they declare literal "War on Torpor" on Stubborn Persistent Illusions’ opening track. And to back the claim, this music is anything but lethargic or mentally lazy.

Everything we love about the band is present — the brash energy of punk rock, the rhythmic complexity of jazz and Afrobeat, the patient, bold dynamics of classical, and those epic, richly interwoven tapestries of guitar melodies and horn harmonies — but while these pieces share obvious genetic material with the band’s best work, none of it feels like an exercise in cloning. It’s like new sonic lifeforms are evolving from the band’s collective primordial soup to populate heretofore unexplored corners of their distinct sound world.

Beautifully realized with the utmost of love and respect for the act of co-creation and a work that may well be the new high water mark in post-rock, Stubborn Persistent Illusions is an absolute gift to fans of the ineffable magic of musical collaboration. Scott Gray

20. Stormzy Gang Signs & Prayer (#Merky)

For a decade-and-a-half, future-minded hip-hop heads and Anglophiles alike wondered how to get grime over to North American audiences. In the last two years, it’s finally happened, thanks in no small part to Skepta. But while he may have been the one to open the door, absurdly tall South London MC Stormzy has burst through it with enough force to remove hinge from frame.

On Gang Signs & Prayer, Stormzy serves up a perfect blend of crisp, rapid-fire delivery, aggro battle rap, heartbreaking introspection and surprising R&B sensibility. Stormzy is a perfect poster child for the new wave of clever, pop-savvy grime MCs. Chris Dart

19. Cloud Nothings Life Without Sound (Carpark)

Almost every year, an album is released that immediately stands out from the punk-leaning, guitar-slinging pack. It was Beach Slang a couple years ago, and now it’s Cloud Nothings’ turn with Life Without Sound, a record that sheds any of the extraneous influence of the past and find the band at their most cohesive and emotionally resonant yet.

The shift in sound from previous LP Here and Nowhere Else is noticeable. The guitars are a little less ragged, the hooks maybe not as prominent, but while the intensity has been dialled back, it ends up refocusing the group’s vision, and elevates Cloud Nothings’ sound to the next level. Marked by themes of self-evaluation, isolation and desperation, Dylan Baldi’s lyrics feel relatable, without being cliché. Those moments where Baldi’s emotionally driven lyrics hit hardest seem perfectly balanced against the band’s momentous riffs, which burst from every angle out of the speakers feeling alive and purposeful. Anthony Augustine

18. Full of Hell Trumpeting Ecstasy (Profound Lore)

Following a pair of collaborative albums with experimental noise artists the Body and Merzbow, Full of Hell stripped away a lot of the chaotic noise elements found on those releases for a more focused and cohesive record. In just a little over 20 minutes, Trumpeting Ecstasy finds the grindcore powerhouses launching a savage assault of blast beats and ear-piercing shrieks with just enough variation to let each song stand on its own.

Throughout, the band manage to infuse their abrasive tracks and organized havoc with thoughtfulness and care, as evident on songs like "The Cosmic Vein" and the blisteringly fast onslaught of "Branches of Yew." And though they’ve dialled back the experimental noise here, the band still manage to fit those sounds into the delicate yet aggressive title track. Trumpeting Ecstasy is a slab of viciously hostile grindcore not meant for the faint of heart. Joe Smith-Engelhardt

17. Kelly Lee Owens Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)

Within its few seconds, Kelly Lee Owens’s self-titled debut evokes the familiarity of an old favourite. Her spacious, pop-inflected techno is both vivid and economical, wringing nuanced emotions from simple elements. "S.O" and "Lucid" show the patience of a seasoned pro, enchanting listeners with cozy ambience before introducing a beat, while "C.B.M." and "8" go straight for the throat, showcasing thumping bass and mind-bending drone, respectively.

Owens’ concise, focused lyrics feel naturally expressive, as soothing as a well-worn mantra. Yet she refuses to coddle her listeners, and both "Anxi." and "Throwing Lines" hint at internal discord without breaking the record’s placid surface. Kelly Lee Owens is as invigorating as it is inviting, and it only gets more welcoming with each repeated rotation. Matthew Blenkarn

16. Code Orange Forever (Roadrunner)

Leading up to the release of Forever, Code Orange’s third full-length album, many questions orbited the band and their future: Would the shift from Deathwish Inc. to Roadrunner Records dilute their unrelenting sound? Would Code Orange’s loyalty to producer Kurt Ballou begin to yield stagnant and predictable results? Having demonstrated much promise in the past, but never fully delivering on their potential, Forever had to be the band’s best effort yet.

Code Orange answered by punishing all scepticism with nauseatingly visceral riffs, behemoth breakdowns, jarring passages and concussion-inducing percussion. Forever is the band’s heaviest and most menacing album to date, while offering the most diversity, too. Having been released only two weeks into the year, the record will face much competition in the battle for 2017’s best heavy record, but it’s inarguably in the conversation; this shit is thoroughly, aggressively good. Lukas Wojcicki

15. Oddisee The Iceberg (Mello Music Group)

It’s an understatement to say that many of 2017’s headlines have inspired cultural malaise. But, as usual, tense political climates have led to some seriously reflective music. And Oddisee’s latest project, The Iceberg, recently joined the highest echelon of socially conscious rap albums.

The 12-track LP delivers a healthy dose of social commentary, discussing police brutality, immigration, gender inequality and, of course, Donald Trump’s presidency. In such an unpredictable era, an album like The Iceberg helps listeners make sense of the world while also disseminating an important message: You’re not alone.

But storytelling is only part of the battle when putting together a masterful rap project, and like only a handful of other hip-hop artists, Oddisee produces his own beats. Throughout The Iceberg, the 32-year-old pushes the boundaries of the genre by layering unorthodox instrumentation with dense synths and prominent percussion. Imagine a hip-hop track guided by an organ; Oddisee did, and he made it sound dope. Anya Zoledziowski

14. Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder)

Like a wild night out featuring several shots of tequila, Drunk is zany and random, an immensely entertaining journey through Thundercat’s colourful mind.

A blend of angelic vocals, quirky lyrics ("I think I left my wallet at the club," he croons) and dizzying bass lines that defy human logic, Drunk has anthems for every variation of inebriation. There’s the fun and fidgety "Tokyo" for the restless drunk, "Drink Dat" for the flirty lush among you and "Lava Lamp" for the more sombre imbiber. "Friend Zone" plays like the gratifying tipsy text you’ll later regret sending, while "Jethro" feels communal and deeply spiritual, like a heart-to-heart between two buzzed strangers at the bar. Featuring clever, full-bodied production from collaborators like Flying Lotus and Soundwave, Drunk is great at first and gets even richer over time, a merry indulgence without the hangover. A. Harmony

13. Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 3 (Independent)

The political ire of nonconformists El-P and Killer Mike has long been at the forefront of their music, and the same can be said of their latest, Run the Jewels 3, a finely executed confrontation of the ruling class and a perfect closer for their album trilogy.

On top of its gorgeous, hard-hitting production, RTJ3 features help from an impressive list of collaborators including Danny Brown, BOOTS, Trina and Kamasi Washington. Run the Jewels have crafted a sound and style that stands alone, and here, it’s sharpened enough to go for the throat. The duo’s ingenuity is recognizable almost immediately, and impossible to duplicate. If their first two records laid the groundwork for battle, RTJ3 finds the rap iconoclasts in the thick of it. Ashley Hampson

12. The xx I See You (Young Turks)

It seems almost contradictory to say that the xx expanding their sound could make their material more intimate — especially given the way they already wore their emotions on their sleeves — but that’s exactly the case with their third album, I See You.

On their first two records, the band matched lovelorn confessions with spare, reverb-heavy guitars, distant drums and the hushed vocal deliveries of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft. This time around, producer Jamie Smith, fresh off his excellent solo record In Colour, infused the record with his signature sample-driven production style, adding a whole new level of character to the band’s signature sound without distracting from the emotional heft of the songs. The record is easily the band’s most ambitious, but also their most rewarding, featuring gems like Madley Croft’s heartbreaking vocals on "Performance" and the danceable "I Dare You."

Their sound palette has expanded considerably, but so has their conviction as a group, a fact that’s clear from I See You’s beginning to its end. Matt Yuyitung

11. Power Trip Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord)

The "crossover" in crossover thrash is on the continuum of metal to punk, but for Power Trip, there’s a whole other crossover happening — from hardcore underground to metal mainstream. With over 10,000 copies sold, Nightmare Logic is quickly becoming a phenomenon, and with good reason — it’s phenomenal.

While artists worry about a sophomore slump, Power Trip have delivered a sophomore slam dunk, outshining their previous material that is, itself, far from lacklustre. There’s new confidence here: Riley Gale’s powerful snarl is now less reverb-soaked; "Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)" and the title track manage to turn straight-ahead chugs into memorable, headbangable riffs; and the opening groove of "Soul Sacrifice" and the blaring thrash with which "Firing Squad" comes out of the gates are incredible. And that’s just the first half of the album.

Not since Municipal Waste blew "rethrash" open a decade ago with their penchant for partying has a band had a better shot at bringing thrash back to its one-time glory as one of the world’s biggest heavy genres. Bradley Zorgdrager

10. Slowdive Slowdive (Dead Oceans)

Releasing a record is a tricky proposition for any reunited band, let alone one as monumentally adored as Slowdive. Come back half-cocked and you’ll risk disappointing fans; refrain from making anything new, and you’ll leave listeners (and band members alike) wondering what could have been.

The British shoegazers deftly avoid both possibilities with their latest LP (and first in 22 years), a self-titled album filled with woozy atmospherics, ethereal vocals and reverb-drenched guitars that pack the same wallop as crumbling ice shelves.

Slowdive aren’t exactly reinventing themselves here, but with their core songwriters having spent the last two decades in the understated Mojave 3, and the whole band having toured together since 2014, Slowdive is a lean and impressive set of songs that improves upon what they do best. Hell, it might even be the best album of their career; it’s certainly the most fully realized. Matthew Ritchie

9. Joey Bada$$ All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ (Cinematic Music Group/Pro Era)

Joey Bada$$’s second studio LP, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, was released early this year, debuting at #5 on the Billboard Hot 200. It marked a departure from his debut album; where that record served more as a showcase of his wordplay and an homage to the golden era of hip-hop, this time around, Joey packed his 12-song project with scorching political commentary that aimed to draw awareness from the younger generation of listeners that have come to hold the 22-year-old rapper in high regard.

Alongside releasing political-minded singles "Devastated" and "Land of the Free," Joey claimed that "I was put here on this Earth not only to inspire but to wake people up" in the lead-up to AAB’s release. Having heard its entirety, that makes sense; the album is a defiant assertion of his status as a leader of millennials and a timely collection of (almost) entirely self-produced, anti-establishment anthems Riley Wallace

8. Mac DeMarco This Old Dog (Royal Mountain)

Mac DeMarco, a hero for the kids with his onstage antics and an inspiration to "keep it light" while wearing a pair of seen-better-days red Vans and an equally beatup baseball cap, has become synonymous with goofiness and good times. So when This Old Dog, his third studio album, was announced, it was easy to assume that he’d continue to bring the "jizz jazz" signature sound that he popularized — but he didn’t.

Instead, DeMarco proved to critics and fans alike (likely shocking both a tad) that not only can he pen a great tune, he’s equally capable of bringing the party and pulling at your heartstrings. He’s teased at this sort of softness before, with tracks like "Still Together" from 2 or Salad Days’ "Let My Baby Stay," but This Old Dog’s focuses on sweetly strummed guitars, melodies that provoke nostalgia and lyrics that address love and his estranged father, with a few surprises thrown in (the slinky "On The Level" and bouncy "Baby You’re Out"). It’s a wonderful surprise, and a sweet one, too. Cosette Schulz

7. Jay Som Everybody Works (Polyvinyl)

Melina Duterte has said that her debut album as Jay Som was inspired by Carly Rae Jepsen’s E•MO•TION, a talking point that has reverberated throughout all of her press. True, songs like "Remain" and "One More Time, Please" bear at least some similarity to Jepsen’s more slow-danceable heartbreak anthems, but reducing Everybody Works to this comparison ignores the album’s character and breadth.

"The Bus Song" is an absolutely timeless indie rock sing-along that makes a solid argument for the return of gang vocals, "1 Billion Dogs" is a fuzzed out alterna-banger and "(BedHead)" is ingenious slowcore. The Jepsen comparison is most on-point in that Everybody Works is so perfect that it sounds like it was laboured over by a team of songwriters and hip producers. But it wasn’t — it was recorded by Duterte, alone in her bedroom. Josiah Hughes

6. Drake More Life (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic)

If VIEWS was the angry rebuttable to Drake’s authenticity being challenged, More Life is the realization that introspective and peace-seeking is his most authentic artistic self. While its swollen "playlist" designation allows for a few unnecessary inclusions, the majority of Drake’s tenth full-length project finds him at his absolute finest.

The underlying theme is celebratory, including the sewn-in appraisal for an increasingly varied selection of global influences. For a brief moment a year ago, it looked as if Drake’s unchecked dominance may be coming to an end, a notion that seems ridiculous in retrospect. Emerging as a humble victor suits Drake best, and allows us all to reap the real spoils. Michael J. Warren

5. Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me (P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.)

"Death is real."

In the past two decades that Phil Elverum has been singing about mortality, nothing he’s said before has been as hard-hitting, direct and heavy as these three words. Recorded during the months following the death of his wife, Geneviève Castrée, A Crow Looked at Me is a document of Elverum’s thoughts, fears and reality.

But what makes his eighth Mount Eerie LP so compelling is how it stands as an example of peerless art. Elverum couldn’t have been thinking of his fan base, record label or any musical scene while recording these songs; he was creating music out of pure necessity, as the 11 songs featured on this LP are bereft of choruses, bridges or even a proper rhyming structure. A Crow Looked at Me is an album Elverum almost certainly wishes he never had to make, but alas, death is real, and therefore it exists. This resulting meditation on grief is both stark and stunning. Daniel Sylvester

4. Father John Misty Pure Comedy (Sub Pop)

Father John Misty’s all-encompassing Pure Comedy finds Josh Tillman addressing the absurdity of human life, the effect of technology on the way we connect with others and the inherent meaninglessness of being here, but he does it all with shocking affection, in an Elton John-esque guise.

Far from a cynical polemic, Pure Comedy is a monster of a record that is never as hopeless as it may appear. It tries to shine a light on the possibility of a brighter, happier future by pointing out trivialities like the ridiculous weight we ascribe to our online presence ("Ballad of the Dying Man"), or by holding up a mirror to our strange human existence/experiment on its title track.

In its final moments, during "In Twenty Years or So," Tillman drives home just what we can learn from and do with meaninglessness: Find our own meaning. And as he sings, "I look at you as our second drinks arrive / the piano player’s playing ‘This Must Be The Place,’ and it’s a miracle to be alive," it’s clear that beauty and meaning and love are not so hard to find — even in a world that might suggest otherwise. Matt Williams

3. Feist Pleasure (Universal)

Leslie Feist’s first record in over half-a-decade might just be her best. Somewhere between the delicate sophistication of 2007’s The Reminder and the rougher bombast of 2011’s Metals, Pleasure finds Feist at her most dynamic, weaving timbres as seemingly contrary as woodwinds and gain-y blues guitar into songs that swing dramatically from placid to stormy in seconds — and that’s just in the first five minutes of it.

Even at their loudest, these songs are minimal: "I Wish I Didn’t Miss You" climaxes with Feist’s voice wailing through a watery delay effect over just her acoustic guitar; "Any Party" sounds like one when the gang vocals join her and her guitar for the chorus; and the propulsive "Century" is lent almost all of its urgency by a crackling layer of handclaps. They’re simple ingredients, but in Feist’s deft hands, they sound like pure Pleasure. Stephen Carlick

2. Sampha Process (Young Turks)

Though many listeners may have first become acquainted with Sampha through his guest features with Drake or SBTRKT, the UK native has firmly established himself as a solo artist with Process. It isn’t just his buttery tenor that makes his long-awaited debut LP a standout of this year so far, but his talent as both a writer and producer, too.

Drawing on the process of overcoming his mother’s passing and his own personal hurdles in music-making, emotional strength is a thematic constant across the record’s ten tracks, from the percussive drive of piano and drums on "Blood on Me" to the hushed keys and enveloping pads of closer "What Shouldn’t I Be?"

The most powerful moment of Sampha’s Process comes when he strips the electronic wizardry away, though; the breathtaking ballad "(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano" finds him seated at the ivories to lay bare his love for both his mother and music. Calum Slingerland

1. Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (Interscope/Top Dawg Entertainment)

Given music’s subjectivity, and Exclaim!’s long-standing policy of allowing writers to freely express their opinions, our original review of Kendrick Lamar’s latest caused some expected consternation. It’s an album that was praised by some, and fell short for others. After polling the Exclaim! writer’s pool, the overwhelming consensus was that DAMN. is the most beloved album released in 2017 so far.

Over sonically skeletal production, Lamar bares his truths and insecurities, fleshing out the songs with new layers and textures as he dramatizes the various characters he uses to speak on his behalf. He balances societal heartache and ferocious resilience, serving as a mouthpiece to tell the stories of his generation, as well as those before him and after us — and unapologetically, at that. The war chants of "DNA." and the introspective depth of "DUCKWORTH." offer jolting insights into the lives of young black Americans, while the animated "HUMBLE." and daunting "PRIDE." explore the waves of fear and acceptance that come with that day-to-day existence.

Whether you love DAMN. or not, for all that it stands for thematically, you have to admire Lamar for laying it all out on the table. Erin Lowers

View Full Article Here: Exclaim!’s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far

Exclaim!’s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far was originally published on CALM | We Drive The Calmest, Strive Regardless

[purplesurveys]

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Gonna take some liberties with bold surveys and elaborate on the ones I feel like talking about, regardless if it’s true or false; and I’ll leave blank the ones I don’t feel like touching on. You're nineteen and a vegetarian. I am three years older and eat meat almost everyday. You've been a vegetarian for over a year. You don't like John Lennon. It’s not that I don’t like him; I just don’t have an opinion on him. Of course what happened to him is very unfortunate. You are studying Mandarin Chinese. No thanks. You have blue eyes and white hair. Wrong. Dark brown and black, respectively.

People often mistaken you for sixteen or under. A few people would but I get mistaken for 17 or 18 most often. Either way everyone’s always shocked when they find out how old I actually am.

You enjoy reading and mathematics. I like reading. Mathematics not so much. You wish your family was healthier mentally. There are definitely underlying issues in there that most of them do not recognize or bother to do something about, which I find tragic because it just means that it gets passed on to future generations. Your favorite flavour of tea is mint. I mean it’s not that it’s not my favorite. I don’t like tea, period. I do enjoy other mint-flavored stuff though, like chocolate.

You listen to foreign music. Yes. I listen to American music. You watch the anime Naruto Shippuden. Other than Pokemon, I’ve never enjoyed anime. You prefer routine to your day. Yep. I like spontaneity to an extent, but when it comes down to it I find the most comfort in routine. I liked my everyday routine of getting up for school, driving, attending my classes, hanging out at Skywalk, and driving home, as monotonous as it would sound for others. It’s just more comfortable for me when things are predictable. You've never attended a concert. I’m not a big concert-goer but I’ve attended my share. I usually only go for the big acts because they’re the ones most likely to visit the country only once every few years. That being said, I’ve seen Paramore (twice), One Direction, and Coldplay. And it’s not a concert, but I also went to a WWE house show once. You're Chinese. As far as I know, no. But the history of Chinese people in our country is very extensive and I wouldn’t be surprised if I turned out to have like at least 0.6% Chinese ancestry. Your favorite sport is basketball. I tried getting into it at one point because basketball got really popular when I was in high school, but I’ve never understood the rules and as such I only watch games that my university’s team play in. Your favorite basketball team is the Lakers. When I was like, five. My dad bought an NBA game for the PS2 and the Lakers were the strongest team on that game, so solely based on that they became my favorite for a while. You basically want to marry Kobe Bryant. :( I had never felt this way, but it’s sad to come across this question now. You have a Samsung S4. Nope. I’ve never owned a Samsung phone. You hate English quite a lot. My grades in English were always good, but I just didn’t like what the class would take up. I never enjoyed analyzing literary works and cracking hidden meanings and symbolism and interpreting what characters do and say – so even though I’m able to do so, it doesn’t mean I enjoy the subject. You like playing card games. Whenever someone whips out a deck of cards at a party, 9 out of 10 times I’d stand up and move to another crowd. You think people who play League of Legends is stupid. I’m vaguely familiar with that but one thing I won’t do is shame people for what they like to do or play. You are often jealous of anything trying to take something away from you. I wouldn’t say it’s often. The feeling just pops out every now and then, and I wouldn’t describe myself as being jealous all the time. Your parents are scientists. (We are turning out to be nothing alike, my dude.) No, they are both in the hotel and restaurant industry. I secretly feel really bad because their industry is the one being hit the most during this pandemic. I’d love to tell them my concerns just so I can get it out of my system, but we’ve always been secretive with one another. You are really good at physics. I hated physics in high school, but my physics prof in college was very smart, a lot of fun, and made physics easier for me. Ended up getting a 1.00 in his class. You prefer noodles over rice. I love noodles, but no :( I never feel full from noodles and always need rice for me to feel like a meal is complete. You want to own a BMW when you're older. It would be a nice bonus, but I don’t really plan on being picky or too flashy with my cars. You were in choir in high school. I cannot sing. You like spicy food. LOVE them. I don’t have as high of a tolerance as say Koreans or Indians, but I still do like pouring chili oil or hot sauce on my dishes whenever it’s appropriate. You're short compared to your friends. I’m not dramatically short but I am the shortest out of everyone in each of my friend groups. You really like Hello Kitty and try to own a lot of it. Never liked it. I personally never saw the hype or found it adorable, but I do find it cute and fascinating when I encounter people who collect Sanrio things :) Your father is slowly dying. No, he’s in tip top shape fortunately. He plays basketball everyday and will go bike around the neighborhood sometimes. Your mother is studying in a university. She went to college in a university, but she’s not currently taking up a postgrad degree if that’s what you mean. You have a crush on someone who is younger than you. I mean, I guess. Even if she’s only a month and a half younger. You like to eat apples a lot. No fruits for me. I like certain apple-flavored things though, like juice. You've had braces and they were recently taken out. I did have braces but they were taken out around six years ago. You recently decided to have bangs for your hair. Yep and like only seven people got to see it when it was in its best form because the stupid lockdown happened righttt after. I feel like my time with bangs is definitely up but I’m not getting rid of them until I feel that enough people have seen them lmao.  You eat rice at least every other day. Yeah but that’s pushing it. I have it everyday. I need it with every meal unless I was having pasta or something. You live in a huge house. It’s not huge; it’s simple and cozy, large enough for five people. You have multiple strangers living in your house with you. Nope, I live with my family. You got a large amount of Halloween candy last year. I haven’t gone trick or treating in a whiiiiile, but I did have lots of alcohol at my last Halloween hahaha. You are really good at badminton. I’m not really good, but I can hold a racket and return the shuttlecock decently. I haven’t played since the 4th grade but I think I’d be better at it now given my experience with table tennis. You like to watch Asian reality shows. I looooove the Korean reality show Return of Superman. I watch at least one segment everyday even though I’ve seen most of them at least once. You have no siblings. I have two. You hate your name. I used to, because kids tend to be bullies. I kinda love it now. You are very aggressive. I’m more passive-aggressive but I do have my aggressive moments, usually when I’ve absolutely had enough. You overeat a lot and feel very guilty afterwards. I never feel guilty about it. Food makes me happy haha. You are used to being left out. Years and years of being an outcast in school has desensitized me to it. You hate missing the person you care for. I hate it in the sense that I always wish it were easier to be together, not because I’m not supposed to miss her. You are a slow learner. Only when it comes to kinesthetic or more hands-on learning, like how to do origami or crocheting. I can’t think of any one moment that I was able to catch up whenever those kinds of activities were being taught. You don't like your teeth. I hate my front teeth and I hate that I lost my retainers. I’ve said on many occasions that one of the first things I’ll spend on with my salary is to have braces reapplied on my teeth. You have dyed your hair orange before. I haven’t. Your friends think you have a great taste in music. Not really; my friends don’t look at me and think music recommendations. But it’s fine, I never claimed to have cool music taste anyway haha. You would chose food over love anyday. Probably, lol. You often swear too much. Either when I’m by myself or with a crowd that’s comfortable with swearing. You have an older sister. No, I’m the eldest sister. Your mother owns a beautiful car. My parents own beautiful cars. You are only nice to people you trust. I’m nice to everyone, just nicer to those I trust. You like mood rings. You obsess over Candy Crush. I get phases, honestly. Right now I’ve stopped playing. You have an iPad or iPad Mini. We have an iPad but it’s like the 1st- or 2nd-gen model so it’s sorely outdated. I haven’t used it since 2016. You prefer your hair in a ponytail more. Both because of the weather and because I get more compliments when my hair’s tied up in a ponytail

You have very noticable dimples. I get compliments on those, too. My left dimple is more noticeable though; I have to smile bigger if I want my right one to show up. You always use a cute voice with people. Only with my girlfriend, and I don’t use it often. You have a blue bicycle. Part of it is blue, yes.